niTangcment, and in the order in which it was kept till its dcstmction in 1822, was inferior
to none in Britain, thongli at Kew and Liverpool the collection of plants was
necessarily much greater. The collection in 1812 amounted to upwards of 4000 species,
among which were some rare acclimatised exotic trees, which had attained a great size.
This garden was again removed, in 1822, to its present situation ; and in 1833 the sum
of 8000/. was voted by parliament to improve the Caledonian Society’s Gai-dcn, and an
annual sum was granted for keeping up the botanic garden.
645. In the early part o f the eighteenth century, this taste was introduced to the higher
classes by James Justice, F. R. S., who had travelled on the Continent, and spared no
expense in procuring all the best sorts of florists’ fiowers. from Holland, and many
curious plants from London. Such was his passion for gardening, that he spent the
greater part of his fortune at Crichton, near Edinburgh, where he had the finest garden,
and the only pine-stove, in Scotland, and the largest collection of auriculcc, as he infonns
us, in Europe. In 1755, he published The Scots Gardener’s Director, esteemed an original
work, and containing full directions, from his own experience, for the culture of
choice flowers. This work, with variations, was published in 17 64, under the title of The
British Gardener’s Director. About the end of this century, florists’ societies, wliicli had
existed before, but declined witli the decline of gai-deners’ lodges, were revived in Edinburgh
; and there are now several in Glasgow, Paisley, a n d . other parts of the country.
Those at Paisley arc considered remarkable for the skill and intelligence of tlieir members,
and tlie fine pinks and other fiowers produced at their shows. ( Gen. Rep. o f Scot., App.
to chap. ii.) The Edinburgh Florists’ Society gave rise to the Caledonian Horticultural
Society, which was established in 1809, and has greatly promoted this and other branches
of gardening in Scotland.
646. In the middle o f the eighteenth century, the Ea rl of Bute had a rich botanic
garden in tho island from which he takes liis title. Towards the end, a sale botanic
garden was formed at Forfar, by Mr. George Don, the well-known British botanist;
and another at Monkwood, in Ayrshire, by Mr. James Smith.
647. The nineteenth century, as far as it has yet gone, has witnessed a great degi'cc of
progi-ess ill botany and floriculture in Scotland. The establisliment of the experimental
garden of Iiiverlcith in 1824, and the general foundation of horticultural societies
throughout the country, by cxiiibiting new and beautiful garden productions, have called
forth that love of fruits and flowers, which may be said to be dormant in mind, in
countries advanced to a certain dcgi-ec of civilisation. Cemeteries have been formed in
Edinburgh and Glasgow; and one of those in the latter city, the Necropolis, is by far
the finest in Great Britain. The botanic garden a t Glasgow was removed to its present
situation a t 1841.
S ubsect. 3. Gardening in Ireland, in respect to Botanic Gardens, and the Culture o f
Flowers and Plants o f Ornament
648. Botany and flower-gardening have been much neglected in Ireland. Parterres, it
would appear (J . C. Walker's H is t), came into notice during the reign of King William.
Dr. Caleb Threlkcld was among the first of the few who fonned private botanic gai'dens
for their own use, and Sir Arthur Rawdon almost the only individual who displayed
wealth and taste in collecting exotics. Upon visiting the splendid collection of Sir Hans
Sloane, at Chelsea, Sir Arthur, delighted with the exotics there, sent James Harlow, a
skilful gardener, to Jamaica, who returned with a ship almost laden with plants in a
vegetating state. For these a hothouse was huilt at Moira, in the beginning of Charles
the Second’s reign, supposed to be the first erection of that kind in Ireland. In 1712, a
small collection of plants was cultivated in the garden of the Dublin Medical College.
649. The botanic garden o f THnity Co//epe was established in 1786, and though small,
contains the richest and most varied collection in Ii'cland. It was long admirably
managed by Mr. Mackay. There is also a botanic garden at C o rk ; and one was established,
in 1830, in Belfast
650. The botanic garden o f the Dublin Society was established in 1790, chiefly through
the exertions of Dr. Walter Wade. I t contains upwards of thirty acres, delightftüíy
situated, and very ingeniously arran g ed ; and, unlike most of tho other botanic gardens
in Ireland, always excepting that of Trinity College, it is very perfectly kept up. There
arc a few private collections in Ire la n d ; and one of the best flower-gardens is that of Lord
Downes, a t Merville, near D u b lin ; but, in general, it may be stated, that ornamental
culture of every kind is in its infancy in that countrjL Something will probably be
effected by the Dublin Horticultural Society, established in 1816. The origin of this
society is thus given :— In the reign of George I., the Huguenots established a florists’
club, for the promotion of the cultivation of florists’ flowers, which was continued till tlie
reign of George II. From that time the science of gardening was entirely neglected in
Ireland, until a number of the principal gardeners in the vicinity of Dublin formed
themselves into a horticultural society in 1816.
651. A botanic garden was established at Belfast in 18.60, thronglj tho mfluoiico of
Dr. Drummond and tho Belfast Natural History Society. Tliis garden is now remarkable
for its excellent collection of herbaceous plants arranged according to the Natural
System. There is also a capital collection of plants from Austn-ilia, V an Diemen’s Land,
and Now Zealand, which are grown iu the open air, and to wliich tho mild climate of
Belfast is admirably adapted.
Sect. HI. British Gardening, in respect to its horticultural Productions.
652. The hncmkdge o f culinary vegetables and cultivated fru its was first introduced to
tliis country by the Homans ; and it is highly probable that the more useful sorts of the
fonner, as the brassica and onion tribe, always remained in use among the civilised parts
of the inhabitants, since kale and leeks are mentioned in some of the oldest records, and
the Saxon month April was called Sprout Kale.
653. The native fru its o f the British isles, and which, till tho thirteenth or fourteenth
century, must have been the only sorts known to tho common people, arc tho following :
— small purple plums, sloes, wild cun-aiits, brambles, raspbcn-ics, wood strawbcmcs,
cranbciTios, blackberries, red-heiTies, heather-borrics, elder-boiTics, roan-ben-ies, liaws,
bolly-berries, iiips, hazel-nuts, acorns, and bcech-mast. Tho wild apple or crab, and
wild chcny, tbongli now naturalised, would probably not ho found wild, or be very rare
in the early times of which we now speak. Tlio native roots and leaves would be earth-
nut, and any other roots not remarkably acrid and bitter ; and chenopodium, sorrel, dock,
and such leaves as are naturally rather succulent and mild in flavour.
654. The more delicate fru its and legumes, introduced by the Romans, -would, in all
probability, be lost after their retirement from tho island ; and we may trace with more
certainty tbe origin of what wo now possess to tbe eeolcsiastical establishments of tho
dark ages, and during the reign in England of tho Norman lino and the Plantagcnets.
I t may in genorai be assorted, that most of our best varieties of fraits, particularly apples
and pears, were brought into the island by ecclesiastics in the days of monastic splendour
and luxury, during the twelfth, thirteenth, fourtccntli, and fifteenth centuries. Gardens
and orchards {horti et pomaria'} are fi-equently mentioned in the earliest chartularies
e x ta n t; and of the orchards many traces still remain in different parts of the countiy, in
the form, not only of enclosure-walls, and prepared frait-tree borders, but of venerable
pear-trees, some of them still abundantly frnitfnl, and others in the last stage of decay.
Of the state of horticulture previous to tho hcginning of the sixteenth century, however,
no distinct record exists. About that time it began to be cultivated in England, and at
more recent periods in Scotland and Ireland.
StlBSECT. 1. Gardening in England, in respect to its horticultural Productions.
655. The earliest notice o f English horticulture winch we have met with, is in Gale’s
History o f Ely, and by William o f Malmsbury, and belongs to the twelfth centmy. Brith-
nod, tho first abbot of Ely, in 1107, was celebrated for his skill in gardening, and for the
excellent gardens and orchards whicli he made near that monastery. “ He laid out very
extensive gardens and orchards, which he filled with a groat variety of herbs, shrabs, and
frait-trees. In a few years the trees which he planted and ingrafted, appeared at a distance
like a wood, loaded with the most excellent fruits in great abundance, and added
much to the commodiousncss and beauty of the place.” (Gale’s Hist, o f Ely, vol. ii. ch. 2.)
Tlic vine, it has been stated, was introduced hy tho Romans in the third cen tm y ;
and both vmeyards and orchards are mentioned by different clironiclers as existing in the
fifth and sixth centuries. Indeed, from the name of tho apple forming a part of tho L-ish,
Cornish, and Welsh languages, that ira it is conjoctured by some to have existed in tlie
British islands even previously to the Roman invasion. (Johnson’s History o f Gardening,
p. 37.) William of Malmsbury speaks of the abundance of vineyards and orchai-ds in
the vale of Gloucester. A t Edmondsbm-y, a vineyard was planted for the use of tho
monks of that place, in 1140.
656. In the thirteenth century (a .d . 1294), the monks of Dunstable were at much
expense in repairmg the walls about the garden and hcrbary of their prioiy ; and the
lierbary mentioned in Chaucer’s Nonne’s Priest’s Tale appears to have boon well stored
with medical herbs, slu-ubs, &c. Paris, in describing the baffkwardness of tho seasons in
1257, says, that “ apples were scai-ce, pears still scarcer ; but that cherries, plums, figs,
and all kinds of friuts included in shells, were ahnost quite destroyed.” (Henry’s Hist.
b. iv. chap. 5. sect. 1.)
657. Previously to the sixteenth century it is generally said, that some of om- mo.st
common vegetables, such as cabbages, wore chiefly imported from the Netherlands, their
culture not being properly understood in this countiy. “ I t was not,” says Hume, “ till
tho end of tho reign of Henry V III. that any s.elads, coiTOts, turnips, or other edible
roots, were produced in England. Tho little of these vegetables that was used, was