their subsistence, it is no less wise as respects the race who do exercise these functions, and whose industry and ingenuity it calls forth. Man is thus compelled to adopt and cultivate the succulent food destined for his use; and in the exertion of the bodily and mental faculties which his Maker has bestowed, while his toil is rewarded, he finds a thousand collateral advantages accruing to him, and accumulating in a constantly increasing ratio.

What greatly adds to this beneficial effect is, the power with which culture is endowed of improving the natural productions subjected to its influence. The flowers, the esculent vegetables, and the roots which the horticulturist rears, all receive, under his plastic hand, new and important qualities; or, at least, the properties they naturally possess, acquire additional value. Of one class, the color, the perfume, or the symmetry, is improved; of another, its size, its richness, or its succulent or prolific qualities. That which in its natural state was a worthless weed, is converted, by judicious management, into a valuable garden herb, or beautiful flower; and even the thorns and briers of the wilderness become the ornaments of our parterres and lawns.

Such are the principles impressed on the vegetable creation, which gave origin to the skill of the gardener, and have raised his laborious profession to the dignity of a science. The herbalist, the florist, and, in a still higher department, the botanist, each finds exercise for his powers, and regard for his labors, in the various duties of horticulture; and no where does the lover of rural pleasures acquire a more exhilarating or healthful pursuit than in the cultivation of the field of contemplation which such studies unfold to him. There is in this delightful employment, so much at once to gratify and refine the taste, to enlarge the mind, and to occupy the pious feelings, that it is not surprising that, in every age of civilized society, it should have formed a favorite relaxation to the higher ranks; while, in the more humble, but certainly not less important, view of a useful means of subsistence, there is so much to recommend the produce of the garden to general attention, that it

could not fail to become an object of desire to all classes of the community.

It is obvious that the art of the gardener must increase in importance with the advancement of society, and especially with the progress of commerce. At first the gardens of the poor, and even of the middle classes, would contain nothing but a few indigenous plants of prime necessity. The rich, themselves, would, in the infancy of society, differ from their poorer neighbors more in the extent than in the variety of their horticultural productions. But, as soon as commerce had opened a ready intercourse with foreign nations, the case would be quickly altered. There would be an extensive interchange of the produce of the soil in different countries, and a stimulus would be given to the skill and industry of the gardener, which would constantly increase, and would be attended with important advantages. The principle of competition, in short, and the desire of profit, which operates so extensively, and in some respects so beneficially, in regard to commercial pursuits, would not fail to be introduced into this department. The wider field laid open, would operate, along with the increasing opulence and extent of the population, to give importance to horticultural labors, and a new class of men would be introduced, by the separation of the profession of gardening from other avocations.

This is, in reality, the view, as we shall presently see, which history affords of the progress of the art. Originally, the duty of cultivating the little patches of garden ground devolved almost exclusively on the members of the family; chiefly, perhaps, on the females; but as the population became more dense, and the demand for conveniences and luxuries more eager and extensive, public gardens were formed in the neighborhood of towns,private gentlemen extended their garden ground; and that was converted into a separate employment, which was originally nothing more among all ranks than what it is still among our peasantry, a mere appendage to household labors.

man.

SECOND WEEK-THURSDAY.

HORTICULTURE.-ITS HISTORY.

In looking back to the history of gardening, it is impossible to forget that this was the occupation of the first At his creation, God provided for him a garden, in which, doubtless, was collected all that could charm the eye, or gratify the appetite, and set him "to dress it, and to keep it." This indicates that, even in his primitive state of innocence, industrious employment-something which might gently stimulate the faculties of his mind, and afford exercise to his bodily powers-was essential to his welfare. It was not simple occupation which became part of his curse at the fall; but severe and incessant toil. His employment must have had some useful aim; and hence we may conclude that, even when creation came first from the hand of the Eternal, there was a tendency in the vegetable world to rise into too luxuriant growth, which it was necessary to restrain by art. We may go further, and conjecture, that cultivation was rewarded then, as it is still, by forms of beauty, becoming, under the plastic hand of man, still more beautiful, and objects of utility still more useful. It would be easy and delightful to expatiate on a theme so inviting to the imagination, but at present we have to deal with recorded facts.

We hear nothing further of gardens before the flood; but, very early in the history of the Israelites, and throughout its whole continuance, they are mentioned in such terms as to show that they were not only familiar to that people, but objects of enjoyment. There is no where, however, any mention of the productions they contained, nor of the mode of their culture, if we except the very general title which sometimes occurs of "a garden of herbs," and the frequent allusion to the act of watering in connexion with the name. It will scarcely fail to strike any mind which has been accustomed to

turn its attention to scriptural analogies and contrasts, that as it was in a garden that Adam spent his days of innocence and happiness, so it was in a garden that He who has been emphatically called the Second Adam, experienced the mysterious agony which formed the prelude to his sufferings.

In profane history, we meet with frequent mention of gardens, as existing in very early ages, often, however, mixed up with fable, and seldom accompanied with any circumstantial account which can throw light on the taste of the ancients, or the kinds of produce which they cultivated. The hanging gardens of Babylon form some exception to this remark; but, while they convey to us an idea of expensive magnificence and extravagant luxury, the details are far too vague to satisfy the curiosity of a horticulturist, as to those matters in which he feels the greatest interest. Nearly the same thing may be observed of the Persians. They are said to have been addicted to gardening from a very early period; but we know nothing of their arts of cultivation, and we hear from historians only of those gardens which were erected to gratify the profuse taste of monarchs, or to contribute to their oriental splendor.

From Theophrastus and Aristophanes, we learn that the Greeks took pleasure in horticultural pursuits; but they only tell us, in general terms, of the cultivation of flowers, of which that elegant people were exceedingly fond. They strewed them at their convivial meetings, and religious ceremonies; they wore them in garlands and crowns; and they attached to them mythological types and meanings which gave a peculiar and superstitious interest to their culture, and to the manner in which they were employed.

From the Greeks, the Romans borrowed many of their habits and tastes, with considerable modifications, however, consequent on their more warlike propensities. Their love of gardening may probably be traced to their admiration of the people whom they acknowledged to be their masters in the arts and refinements of civilized society. The productions which they cultivated, how

ever, were perhaps more numerous than those which adorned the gardens of the inhabitants of Greece, because the range of their conquests was more extensive; and this active and observant people never failed to appropriate to themselves whatever was useful in the practices or possessions of the countries they overran; while, with a generosity, which in some degree compensated for their selfishness, they were eager to communicate to the vanquished the knowledge and the arts of civilized life, which they had themselves acquired. Although we have little specific information on the subject, it may well be believed that they carried with them, wherever they made a permanent settlement, an acquaintance with the useful labors of the gardener.

In China, it is probable that horticulture was early cultivated, and the inveterate habits of that singular people render it likely that their present modes of garden culture have been handed down from a remote antiquity. The missionary Jesuits Du Halde and La Comte, who resided a number of years in China, mention in terms of commendation the manner in which gardens are managed in that country, particularly as relates to the raising of culinary vegetables; and it is even said that the Chinese are in possession of some esculents peculiar to themselves. This latter assertion, however, is not very probable, as we possess several valuable additions to our flower-gardens, derived from that quarter; and, among the rest, some beautiful varieties of the Camellia, Pæonia, and Rose; and there seems no reason why, if useful vegetables, unknown in Europe, existed among them, these productions should not also have found their way beyond the bounds of the celestial empire.

In turning to the state of European horticulture, in modern times, we shall find that the changes which have taken place in society since the classic ages, have not been less remarkable in this than in other arts. Among the natives of modern Greece and Italy, there are few remains of the habits of the ancient inhabitants. They possess gardens, indeed, but they seem to take little interest in their cultivation. The same vegetable produc