to ripen, and strewed on a sort of inilk-porridgc or milk-paste, made from the meal of
buckwheat, and from Polish millet (Digitaria sanguinalis), is reckoned a delicacy.
Bees ai*e kept by some of tlie ireedmen or minor nobles. The Polish iiives, and mode
oi' taking the lioncy, to bo aftemards described, arc exceedingly simple; and, never
requiring tlie dcjitli of tlic insects, seem preferable to any mode of bee-cultiirc yet
devised by tlie bee-masters of other coimtrics. Hirschfeld mentions, that the gardens oi'
Prince Casimir Poiiiatowski, elder brotlier of tlie last king, contained at one time 5000
ananas, in a range of liotliouscs 600 feet long. In 1813, the only pines grown iu
Poland were a few at Pulliawa, and some groivn hy a German, who rented the hothouses
belonging to the late king’s establishment at Warsaw. Only one or two instances
then existed of vines and peaches being grown near the capital, but there was an abundance
of these and other fruits at PuUiawa and Zamoyst, and some few at Villanov.
Tlie Polisli iiobleraen liave gained iu every kind of knowledge from having been so long
a period in tlie Frcncli service; and since tiic rc-cstablishment of peace, tlicy have
set about agriculturiil aud gai'deniiig improvements with a considerable degree of
energy. In tiie culture of useful plants, and the dissemination of that kind of knowledge
amongst the lower classes of society, the Count Wodzicki’s patriotic and liberal
endeavours arc generally acknowledged by his countrymen. His large gai'den Neidze-
ivicdz, near Cracow, and the Gai'dener’s Dictionary, published by him, beiu’ witness to
his merit in tliis department.
493. Planting, in Poland, is but little required for piu'poses of utility. Some public
avenues have been formed near Warsaw and P o sen ; and tiic ehn, one of tlic best avenue
trees, thrives at both places. Tliere arc scarcely any hedges in the country, except in
gardens, and near towns. Tlio larcii tree grows to a very large size in some parts of
Poland, and trees have been cut down whicii, when cleared of the branches and bark,
were eighty-four feet long, thirty-six inches in diameter at the broad, and eighteen
inches at tlic small end. The leaves of tiic pine Iiavc been used in tanning leather. A
sciiool of forest culture has been established at Warsaw by Count Louis Plater, who
has gi'eatly iuiproved the system oi' m anaging natural woods.
494. Original Polish authors on gardening are not to be expected; but translations
of various works on nu-al economy were pointed out to us in tlio library of the Dominicans,
at Grodno. The only I ’olish work on gai'deniiig, wliich may be considered
as original, we believe to ho Mysli Ronze o Sposobie Zakladania Ogrodow, &c., 1808 ;
or “ Various Tliouglits on the manner of planting Gardens,” by Prmccss Isabella
Czartoiyska.
S e c t . X. O fth e Rise, Progress, and present State o f Gardening in Spam.
495. The love o f gardens, or o f rural life, it is alleged by Hirschfeld, is far fi'om being
general in Spain : not, however, from lightness of character or bad taste, but from a kind
of supinencss whicli cannot be better described than hy calling it Spanish. This supineness
is tlie more incomprehensible, as the country, though desert and uncultivated in
many places, is yet full of natural charms in others; thus indicating, as it were, a field of
exertion for the hand of man. In many provinces, Puente informs us, one may travel
several leagues without seeing a tre e ; and, according to the same author, the environs of
Madrid in his time presented neither pavilions nor country-houses ; and it was not till
towards tho end of the eighteenth centm-y that they began to repair the roads around
the capital, and to border them with trees.
496. Spain enjoys a great diversity o f climate, whicli, as L a Gasca observes, enables
her to propagate, at small expense, the gi-eatcr part of the most precious vegetable productions
found ill every quarter of the globe. This is clearly manifested by the numerous
plants from hot countries, which thrive in her gardens, and which were introduced hy
private individuals, from laudable curiosity, or enlightened patriotism. Those which arc
the production of northern regions ai'o also found growing spontaneously both on the
summits of licr high mountains, and on their sloping sides. These fine dispositions of
nature would, doilbtless, have been turned to more advantage by the inhabitants, had
not a depraved government been purposely throwing, for tho space of more than three
hundred years, insurmountable obstacles in tlic wiiy of their efforts. A great many
enlightened and patriotic Spaniards have repeatedly, though ifuitlcssly, endeavoured to
overcome these obstacles ; receiving, as a reward for their benevolent zeal, only sad and
bitter disappointments ; persecutions, dungeons, the galleys, expatriation, and even
death. Such has been the result of their toils, and such will it ever be in countries
where there is no liberty to permit tho diffusion of useful knowledge through the medium
of the press; )vhcre no objects are encouraged bnt those which arc not only useless, hut
hurtful to the national welfare ; where no guai-antce is to be had for the sccui-ity of individuals
and their property ; and wlicre no one can call the soil his own, or cultivate it
according to his free will or pleasure. {Gard. Mag., vol. i. p. 235.)
497. The Arabs o f Spain attended to agriculture, and translated and commented on
the ancient authors. Though they occupied themselves more pai'ticularly in the study
of medicine and botany, they did not neglect the culture of gardens. Many of them
travelled to their brethren in Asia, to pursue natm'al history, and bring plauts to Europe.
Ebn-Alwan has left us a list of plants in the gai'den of Seville, in the eleventh century,
wliich ai'e more numerous than those which were cultivated by the Greeks and
Romans.
S u b s e c t . 1. Spanish Gardening, as an A r t o f Design and Taste.
498. There are few pleasure-gardens, properly so called, in Spain; those that pass
under this description, L a Gasca observes, being of a mixed character, and containing
witliin them spots set apart for culinary vegetables and fruits. These mixed gardens
are, however, numerous; and generally speaking, it may be said with certainty, that,
besides the magnificent gai'dens of L a Graiijii and Aranjuez, and others of less consideration
in Madrid and its vicinity, and that of the Escurial and others belonging to the
king, the arclibishops, bishops, wealthy prebendaries, the grandees, all the monasteries,
many convents of friars and nuns, the titled nobility, and some rich commoners and merchants,
all have pleasure-gardens belonging to their palaces and country-houses. I t may
also be said, that, iu general, there arc more of this class of gardens in the raai'itime provinces
than in those of the interior, and in the eastern and southern more than in the
northern and western. {Gard. Mag., vol. iv. p. 16.)
499. The oldest garden in Spain is said to be that of the Moorish palace of Alcazai',
near Seville; but a great part of this palace was constnicted between the years 1353
aud 1364, by Peter the Cruel, who exactly copied the Ai'abian style of tho ancient
pai't of the edifice; and part was erected by Charles V. The outside of the Alcazar is
miserable in its appearance; but the first court after entering the gate has a veiy grand
effect; the part looking into that court is purely Arabic in its style, though ascertained
to have been constructed since the conquest by the Christians. The courts ai'c ornamented
with marble fountains, and are well shaded with corridors, supported by marble
pillai's. The gai'den of the Alcazar is said to have been laid out by the Moors, and is
preserved in its original state. I t contains walks paved with marble, and pai'teiTes laid
out with evergreens, and shaded with orange trees. In many parts of it there are baths,
supplied by marble fountains from an aqueduct, and there is a contrivance for rendering
the walks one continued fountain by forcing up small streams of water from minute pipes
in the joinings of the slabs, which in this climate produces a most grateful effect. As a
specimen of an Arabian garden in its original state, this is an interesting object, and we
naturally associate with it recollections gathered from the Eastcra wi'iters; especially
from tho Song of Solomon, in which the descriptions vciy avcII agree with this garden ;
for, in addition to the other circumstances, it is completely -walled round, and is secluded
from every one, except the inhabitants of one part of the palace. {Jacob’s Travels in
the South o f Sjiain.)
The remains o f a reputed Moorish garden still exist a t Granada, another residence of the Arabian
kings. It is situated on the Sierra del Sol, or mountain of th e sun, occupies above twenty acres, is
covered with a wood cut into quarters by straight and winding walks, and is interspersed with fountains;
th e latter sometimes ostentatiously displayed, and a t other times secreted so as to escape notice till
they are brought to play on the spectator, and to raise a laugh a t his expense. Sir John Carr mentions
that they take a particular delight in playing off those reversed showers which rise from the principal
walks and places of repose, against the ladies. Several of the fountains, and many of the walks were
formed by Charles V .; so th a t, except certain venerable cypresses, and the old palace, no other part
can with certainty be traced to the days of the Moorish kings. These cypresses, Brooke informs us
are of prodigious size, being the growth of several centuries. (Travels in Spain, &c., vol. ii. p. 212.) ’
500. In the beginning o f the ffte e n th century, soon after the union of Spain under one
monarch, Charles V. made considerable improvements, and formed gardens and fountains
at different palaces, of which little now remain.
501. In the beginning o f the seventeenth century, under tho reign of Philip IV., were
laid out the finest gardens in Spain. These are the gardens of the Escurial in Madrid,
o f_ lldefoiiso in its neighbourhood, and of Aranjuez near Toledo. Evelyn, in 1667,
being anxious to receive some account of them, writes to the Earl of Sandwich, then
the English ambassador at Madrid, who answers him in such a Avay that Evelyn was
“ exceedingly affected with the descriptions, and grcjitly instructed in many pai'ticiilars.”
JZ/rg-irrrtera*'me Dscuna/adjoin the palace, from which you descend to them by vast terraces and
stairs of marble, varied by fountains. T h e garden, or ra th e r park, below, is of great extent, and the
compartments formed by th e intersection of the alleys arc filled with different sorts of fruit trees. This
is the general outline; and for the details of the statues, fountains, trellis-work, basins, &c., we must
refer the reader to Thompson’s Descrijdion o f the Escurial, or the art. Escurial, in the Enajc. Brit.
The Escurial is in a wild and gloomy situation : there is no town or city nearer to it than Madrid, a
distance of thirty-four miles. The terraces and gardens contain nothing remarkable. Ildcfonso, and
La Graiija arc the same. The palace was built by Philip V. Among the fountains arc two re .
markable ones with statues. The one representing lam e seated on Pegasus, raises a je t to the height
of 132 fe e t: the other, called Plazuela dc los ocho Calles, consists of eight fountains, which unite, and
form a beautiful and chaste temple of the Ionic order, adorned by columns of white marble. (Inglis'.^
Spain in \ m . ) *