April  19,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
325 
Garden  Stock  in  England. 
anti-adulteration  agitators  of  the  period.  The  following  old  distich 
marks  the  time  of  its  birth  in  England  : — 
The  conquest  of  this  country  by  the  Romans  was  the  cause  of  the 
first  impetus  given  to  the  cultivation  of  culinary  luxuries  in  Great 
Britain,  and  the  further  subjugation  of  England  by  the  Normans  was 
attended  with  an  accession  of  hitherto  unknown  treasures  of  vegeta¬ 
tion,  which  gave  to  the  ground  a  wider  scope  for  industry,  and  to  the 
vegetarian  a  more  appetising  set  of  courses.  The  first  fruit  novelty 
introduced  into  this  country  is  supposed  to  be  the  Cherry.  Lucullus 
originally  brought  it  from  Cerasus,  a  city  of  Cappadocia  ;  he  intro¬ 
duced  it  into  Italy,  and  thence  it  was  imported  into  Britain  about  tae 
middle  of  the  first  century.  In  his  “London  Lickpenny  ”  Lydgate, 
the  poet  monk  of  the  sixteenth  century,  thus  alludes  to  their  sale  in 
the  street — 
“  Hot  pescode  own  began  to  cry 
Strawberys  rype  an  cheryes  in  the  ryse.”  j 
But  though  they  had  thus  early  attained  to  a  coster  popularity,  it  | 
was  not  till  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  that  some  inventive  I 
genius  conceived  the  idea  of  hawking  them  on  sticks  to  tempt  the  j 
youngsters  of  the  period.  ; 
The  Pear  has  a  very  ancient  history  as  a  cultivated  fruit  in  the 
gardens  of  the  East,  where  it  was  highly  valued  for  its  refreshing 
and  luscious  qualities.  It  was  brought  into  England  with  the  Peach,  i 
Apricot,  Quince,  Almond,  and  Melon ;  those  exquisite  delicacies  of  [ 
fair  ladies’  taste  were  imported  from  Epirus,  Carthage,  Armenia,  and 
Syria,  and  became  established  in  Britain  under  the  cultivation  of  the 
Romans.  The  Walnut  and  Mulberry,  originally  indigenous  to  Persia, 
were  first  planted  in  England  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  at  which  time,  also,  the  Plum  and  the  Nectarine,  natives  of 
Asia,  were  brought  to  our  gardens  by  the  Crusaders.  Filberts  and 
Apples  that  are  now  of  such  staple  importance  in  our  markets,  were 
first  imported  from  France,  where  the  nuts  took  their  name  from 
Phillipert,  monarch  of  that  kingdom.  As  late  as  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII.  Apples  were  very  scarce  in  England,  and  sold  at  prices 
not  less  than  2s.  each,  while  from  8s.  to  10s.  were  paid  for  a  like 
quantity  of  Strawberries  to  that  which  wo  buy  now  in  the  season 
for  6d. 
Red  Roses  were  such  luxuries  that  Ss.  was  a  moderate  price  for 
a  single  bloom,  and  when  we  take  into  account  the  extra  value  of 
coin  of  the  period,  these  charges  indicate  their  value  as  novelties. 
In  the  same  reign  Lord  Cromwell  introduced  the  Perdrigon  Plum, 
and  Apricots  and  Artichokes  were  luxuries  cultivated  for  Royal  use 
only  by  Wolfe,  the  King’s  gardener.  Clover  Grass  was  unknown 
in  these  kingdoms  till  its  introduction  by  Sir  Richard  Weston  about  the 
middle  of  the  sixth  century ;  and  another  worthy  knight,  Sir  Anthony 
Ashley,  by  importing  the  Cabbage,  earned  a  debt  of  gratitude 
.from  those  who  appreciate  the  appetising  qualities  of  that  vegetable. 
“  Hops,  Reformation,  bays,  and  beer. 
Came  into  England  all  in  one  year.” 
Up  to  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  some  of  the  most  important 
vegetables  were  unknown  to  English  taste,  excepting  as  preserves 
Fig.  89. — Dendrobiom  Leechianum.  {see  page  323.) 
It" was  about  1524  that  the  Protestant  Walloons  brought  over  slips 
of  thejiop  plant  from  Artois,  and  cultivated  it  in  Kent,  and  its  first 
-use  in", the  brewing  of  beer  caused  a  serious  commotion  among  the 
Fig.  90. — Phaius  Cooksonm.  {See  page  323.) 
salted  down.  Catherine  of  Arragon,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  the 
use  of  new  green  meat  in  her  native  country,  was  constrained  to  send 
for  her  daily  dish  of  salad  by  special  messengers  to  Holland  and 
Flanders;  such  a  long  journey  to  market  for  a  few  vegetables  is 
surely  matter  for  curiosity  and  amusement  to  the  visitor  of  the  present 
day  to  Covent  Garden  Market.  Throughout  the  rsigu  of  Henry  YIII, 
a  Cabbage  from  Holland  was  regarded  as  a  valuable  present,  and 
during  this  dearth  of  garden  table  stuff  Hull  pushed  a  considerable 
trade  in  Cabbages  and  Onions.  As  late  as  1595  a  sum  equal 'to  203. 
was  paid  in  that  port  for  six  Cabbages  by  the  purveyor  of  the 
Clifford  family.  It  was  about  this  time,  says  the  present  writer  in 
the  “  Standard,”  that  the  English  appetite  was  whetted  for  the 
charms  of  the  Apricot,  Gooseberry,  Pippin,  and  Artichoke, 
and  the  Currant  bush,  originally  brought  from  Zante,  was 
then  a  novelty.  It  was  also  towards  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century  that  Cardinal  Pole  set  the  first’Fig  tree 
in  the  garden  of  Lambeth  Palace. 
In  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  Edmund  Grindal,  afterwards 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  transplanted  the  Taraerisfc  to 
England,  and  it  is  to  the  Carew  family  that  the  country 
owes  the  early  introduction  of  the  Orange  tree.  The  first 
China  Orange  which  appeared  in  Europe,  was  sent  as  a 
present  to  Conde  Mellor,  Prime  Minister  to  the  King  of 
Portugal ;  but  of  the  whole  case  sent  to  Lisbon  one  tree  only 
survived  to  be  the  parent  of  the  Orange  trees  of  Europe. 
Beddington,  in  Surrey,  was  their  English  nursery,  under  the 
fostering  care  of  Sir  Francis  Carew ;  they  had  been  growing 
there  in  open  ground,  under  a  movable  covert,  for  more 
than  a  century,  till  they  all  perished  in  the  great  frost  of 
1739-40. 
It  is  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  the 
benefits  bestowed  on  household  economy  and  industry  by 
the  exiles  of  the  Reformation,  who  sought  England  as  a 
haven  of  refuge.  On  the  arrival  of  the  Huguenots  in 
Spitalfields  they  started  the  horticultural  societies,  that 
quickly  provided  the  country  with  such  luxuries  as 
Cauliflowers,  Turnips,  Carrots,  and  Parsnips.  Those 
refugees  who  settled  at  Portarlington,  in  Ireland,  were  the 
first  to  familiarise  the  British  public  with  the  excellencies  of 
the  Jargonelle  Pear  and  the  black  Walnut;  and  when  the 
Flemings  selected  Sandwich  as  their  adopted  home,  the  r 
first  important  work  was  to  turn  the  land  to  the  best  account 
by  flower  and  market  gardening.  The  celebrated  Canary 
Grass  was  until  then  an  unknown  object  in  our  fields  and 
lanes,  and  the  reputation  of  the  “  Sandwich  Celery  ”  became  celebrated 
throughout  the  kingdom.  “  Common  knowledge  ”  is  responsible  for 
many  mistakes,  amongst  which  Sir  Walter  Rale'gh  is  credited  with 
