72 
OLD-FASHIONED GARDENING 
na-atan” was specifically the “Island of the Place of 
Surpassing Beauty.” 
The first poet of the colony, Jacob Steendam, sup¬ 
plements Van der Donck’s fruit and flower and vege¬ 
table lists with his “Praise of New Netherlands, a 
long poem written six years subsequent to the De¬ 
scription.” It is a rather nice poem, too; so for its 
own sake as well as for its corroboration of the plenty 
of garden and field to which Van der Donck had pre¬ 
viously testified, I shall quote that portion which is of 
definite interest here because it tells of these things: 
“Whatever skilful science more may know, 
And in your lap, from other countries, throw 
For culture: these, fresh strength on you bestow, 
Without consuming. 
You’ve most delicious hand-and kitchen fruits, 
Greens, salads, radishes and savory shoots, 
And turnips; and the cabbage you produce, 
In large heads poming. 
The biting herb—the strong tobacco plant; 
The carrot and the Maltese parsnip, and 
The melon, pumpkin, Spanish comfrey, grant 
The sweetest pleasure. 
Exotics which, from foreign climes, they bear 
Unto your bosom, need no special care; 
But reach, untended, in your genial air, 
Their proper measure. 
