É
come jonnicyincn, aiul after a few years’ practice in that capacity, in tliffcrcnt gnrdcns,
they are considered qualified for being masters, or taking tlic charge of villa, private, or
lirst-ratc gardens, according to tlic capacity, education, and assiduity, and the class of
gardens in which they liavc studied and practised. Foreign gardeners scorn at one
time to have been higlily prized in England. The name of the gardener to Queen
Henrietta, at Hammcrsniith, iu 1G91, was M. Herman Van Guisnc ; aud the principal
nurseryman about the same period was M. Antoine Vcsprit.
715. The hcad-gardeners o f Britain are universally allowed to be the most intelligent
and trustworthy part of the operatives of any branch of rural economy, and the most
iiiithiiil and ingenious of tliose who constitute the serving cstablishmciit of a country
residence. Those of Scotland are by many preferred, chieily, perhaps, from thcir having
been better educated in thcir youth, and more accustomed to frugality and labour. “ Scotland,”
Neill observes, “ has long been famous for producing professional gardeners ;
perliaps more so than any other country, unless wc except Holland, about a century ago.
A t present, not only Great Britain, but Poland and Russia, are supplied from Scotland ;
and tlic numbers of an inicrior class to be found in every part oi England and Ireland
are quite astonishing.” ( Gen. Rep. &c., chap. ii.) Lord Gardenstone ( Travelling Memo-
randum, 1790) says, that in every country of Europe, ho found gardeners more sober,
industrious, and intelligent, than other men of a like condition in society.
716. The nse o f gardens in Ireland is of a very limited description ; and tho gardens
tlierc, of all the classes, are greatly inferior to the corresponding classes in Britain. A
few exceptions may be made in favour of the Dublin botanic gardens, and tliosc of one or
two wealthy citizens and extensive proprietors; hut the cottagc-gai-dcns, in many districts,
contain nothing besides potatoes ; and potatoes arc the chief ingredients iu the gardens
of private gentlemen. Pariicl, Wakelicltl, and Curwcn have ably shown that, till wlicatcii
bread and meat take the place of jiotatocs, no great improvement can be expected among
tho lower classes of Ireland. “ Where the habitation itself is so wretched,” observes
Bicheno, “ the ornament of a garden is not to be expected. No rose or woodbine twines
around the door, with some warbling bird suspended near ; nor is there the least plot
appropriated to flowers. The liouscs of the more wealthy arc remarkably dciiciciit in
this respect, although they have a milder climate than England, and might easily preserve
the choicest plants. The lady even does not indulge in a few pots of rarities at
her window. The disinclination of farmers to become gardeners admits of explanation,—
they are gardeners on a larger scale; but, tliat jiersons otherwise occupied should not be
cultivators, is less easy of solution.” (Ireland and its Economy, &c.)
717. I h e artists or architects o f gardens, in Britain, are of three classes. First, hcad-
gardencrs, who have laid out the whole or jiait of a residence, under some professor, and
Avlio comiTicnce artist or ground workmen, as these are generally denominated, as a
source of independence. Such were Brown, White, &c. Secondly, aa*chitccts who have
devoted themselves chiefly to country buildings, and, thus acquiring some knowledge of
country matters, and the effects of scenery, combine with building the laying out of
grounds, depending for tho execution of thcir ideas on the practical knowledge of tho
gardener pro tempore. Tliosc arc commonly called ground-architcets. Such was
Kent. Thirdly, artists who havo been educated and apprenticed, or otherwise brought
up entirely or cliiefly for that profession. 'I’hcsc arc often called landscape-gardeners ;
but the term is obviously of too limited application, as it refers only to one branch of the
art. Sucli were Bridgeman, Ernes, &c.
Î .
Sect. VI. British Gardening, as a Science, and as to the Authors it has produced.
718. Those superstitious observances attendant on a nidc state of society retained thcir
ground in British gardening till the end of the scventccth century. Meager, Mascal,
Worlidgc, and the authors who preceded thorn, regulate the performance of horticultural
operations by the age of the moon. Turnips or onions, according to these authors, sown
when the moon is Mil, will not bulb, but send up ilower-stalks ; and frnit trees planted
or gi-aftcd at that season will have thcir period of bearing greatly retarded. Wc heard
in Scotland, about 1795, the same doctrine as to turnips and onions mentioned by an old
market-gardcncr. A weak tree is to be pinincd in the increase, and a strong tree in the
wane of tho moon. Quintinye seems to have been the first to oppose this doctrine in
France, and througli Evelyn’s translations of his Complete Gardener, he scorns to have
overturned it also in England. “ I solemnly declare,” he says, “ that, after a diligent
observation of the moon’s changes for thirty years together, and an enquiry whether they
liad any influence in gardening, the aflinnativc oi' whicli has been so long established
among us, I perceived that it was no weightier than old wives’ talcs, and tliat it liad
been advanced by inexperienced gardeners. I have, therefore, followed wlmt appeared
most reasonable, and rejected what was otherwise : in short, graft in ivliat time of tho
moon you please, if your graft be good, and grafted on a proper stock, provided you do
it like an artist, you will be sure to succeed. In the same manner, sow what sorts of
grain you pletisc, and plant as you please, in any quarter oi' the moon. I ’ll answer ibr
your success, the first and last day of the moon being equally favourable.”
719. The influence o f Bacon’s writings produced the decline and i'all of astroloo-y in
the beginmng of tho eighteenth ccntuiy. A different mode of studying the sciciice“s was
adopted. Vegetable physiology and elicmistry (the first a new science, and the latter
degraded under the name of alchemy) began to be studied, and tho iniluence of this
daAvii of intellectual day was felt even in agi-icultuvo and gardening.
720. The practice o f forcing fru ite and flowers, which hccmuc general about the middle
ol that centmy, led gardeners to rdlcct on tho science of thcir art, by bringing move
cflcctmüly mto notice tlic specific influence of light, heat, air, water, and other agents of
vegetation. The elementary botanical works published about the same time iiy dif-
lusing tho doctrines of Linnæus, co-operated ; as did the various hoitieultnral writers of
tins century, especially Miller, Bradley, and Hill, and snbscquoiitly Anderson, Kni.dit
and many others. ' o >
721. Z’/ic ¡7,creasing culture o f exotics. Dr. Ihdtcucy observes: “ from the beginning
ol the eighteenth century, and the greater diflusion of taste for the elegancies and luxuries
UmlCT tho inilueucc of such men as Sloane, the Shcrai-ds, and other great oncoura.mrs
ot science, gardeners acquired botanical knowledge, aud were excited to greater exeition
m their art.
722. The increased zeal fo r planting, and more careful attendance to the nruiiino-
of trees, tended to throw light on the subject of vegetable wounds, and their anaJou-y
Wltli those of animals, as to the modes of lieding, though tho French laughed at our
igiioruiico on the subject (Cours JA g r. mt. Vlaic) at tho close of the eii-'htecntli
century. ^
723. B u t the science o f horticidture received its greatest stimulus from Knight the
enlightened president of the Horticultural Society. The first of tliis philoLp’hcr’s
writings will be found m t\\Q Phdosophical Transactions for 1795, entitled Observations on
the Grajtmg o f Trees. In the same 7'ransa.ctions for 1801 and 1803 arc eoiitaiiied his
ingenious papers on the fecundation of fruits, and on the sap of trees Subsequent
volumes contain other important p ap e rs; and a great number, in ivhieh science and art
arc combined m a manner tending directly to enlighten and instruct the practical
gardener, will be found in the Transactions o f the Horticultural Society. Tlirough the
influence of this author and that society, over which he was so worthy to preside we sec
commenced au important era in the horticulture of this cou n try ; an era rendered peculiarly
valuable, as transferring the discoveries of science immediately to art and rendering-
them available by practitioners. How great may be its influence ou the comforts and
luxuries of the table it is impossible to foresee. TIic introduction and distribution of
better sorts of the common hardy fruits and culinary plants will tend inmicdiatelv
to the benefit of the humbler classes of society; and by increasing a little the size and
encouraging the culture, both ornamental and useful, of cottagc-gardcns, the attaclnneiit
of this class to thcir homes, and consequently their interest in tlie countiy, will lie
increased. Even agriculture Avill derive advantages, of which, as an example, may be
adduced the result of pinching off tlie blossoms of the potato, which, by leaving more
nourishment for tho root, will increase the produce (according to Knight’s estimate) at
least one ton per acre. (Hort. Tr., vol. i. p. 190. Treatise on the Apple and Pear )
724. Gardening, as an art o f design and taste, may be said to have been conducted
mechanically, and copied from precedents, like civil architecture, till the middle of tho
eighteenth c en tury ; hut, at this time, the writings of Addison, Pope, Shenstone ami
G. Mason aiipeared ; and in these, and especially in the Observations on Mixlcni \}ar-
dening, by Whately, arc laid down unalterable principles for the iiiiitaiion uf nature iu
the arrangement of garden scenery. Tho science of this department of the art may
tlicrcforo bo considered as completely ascertained ; but it will probably be long before it
be appropriated by gardeners, and applied in tlic exercise of the art as a trade. “ A somc-
wliat better education in youth, and more leisure for reading in the jieriods usually
devoted to constant bodily labour, will clFeet this change ; and its influence on the beauty
of the sccnciy of countiy residences, and on tlio face of the countiy at lai-gc, would be
such as cannot be contemplated without a feeling of enthusiastic admiration. I f this
taste were once duly valued and paid for by those whose wealth enables them to employ
lirst-ratc gardeners, it would soon be produced. But the taste of our nobility does not,
ill general, take this turn, otherwise many of them would display a very dilFercnt stylo
of sccnciy around thcir mansions.
725. Britain has produced more original authors on gardening than any other countrri
u 3