_NATURALIZATION OF PLANTS._
"The large number of our native plants (for we call those native which
have adapted themselves to our climate) mark the gradual progress of
our civilization through the long period of two thousand years; whilst
the almost infinite diversity of exotics which a botanical garden
offers, attest the triumphs of that industry which has carried us
as merchants or as colonists over every region of the earth, and has
brought from every region whatever can administer to our comforts and
our luxuries,--to the tastes and the needful desires of the humblest
as well as the highest amongst us. To the same commerce we owe the
potato and the pine-apple; the China rose, whose flowers cluster round
the cottage-porch, and the Camellia which blooms in the conservatory.
The addition even of a flower, or an ornamental shrub, to those which
we already possess, is not to be regarded as a matter below the
care of industry and science. The more we extend our acquaintance
with the productions of nature, the more are our minds elevated by
contemplating the variety, as well as the exceeding beauty, of the
works of the Creator. The highest understanding does not stoop when
occupied in observing the brilliant colour of a blossom, or the
graceful form of a leaf. Hogarth, the great moral painter, a man in
all respects of real and original genius, writes thus to his friend
Ellis, a distinguished traveller and naturalist:--'As for your pretty
little seed-cups, or vases, they are a sweet confirmation of the
pleasure Nature seems to take in superadding an elegance of form to
most of her works, wherever you find them. How poor and bungling are
all the imitations of Art! When I have the pleasure of seeing you
next, we will sit down, _nay, kneel down if you will_, and admire
these things.'
* * * * *
"It is one of the proudest attributes of man, and one which is most
important for him to know, that he can improve every production
of nature, if he will but once make it his own by possession and
attachment. A conviction of this truth has rendered the cultivation of
fruits, in the more polished countries of Europe, as successful as we
now behold it."
The work then divides into _Fruits of the Temperate Climates_, and
of _Tropical Climates_; the first are subdivided into Fleshy, Pulpy,
and Stone Fruits and Nuts, in preference to a strict geographical
arrangement. Under "the Apple" occur some very judicious observations
on
_CIDER._
"The cider counties of England have always been considered as highly
interesting. They lie something in the form of a horse-shoe round
the Bristol Channel; and the best are, Worcester and Hereford, on
the north of the channel, and Somerset and Devon on the south. In
appearance, they have a considerable advantage over those counties
in which grain alone is cultivated. The blossoms cover an extensive
district with a profusion of flowers in the spring, and the fruit is
beautiful in autumn. Some of the orchards occupy a space of forty or
fifty acres; and the trees being at considerable intervals, the land
is also kept in tillage. A great deal of practical acquaintance with
the qualities of soil is required in the culture of apple and pear
trees; and his skill in the adaptation of trees to their situation
principally determines the success of the manufacturer of cider
and perry. The produce of the orchards is very fluctuating; and the
growers seldom expect an abundant crop more than once in three years.
The quantity of apples required to make a hogshead of cider is from
twenty-four to thirty bushels; and in a good year an acre of orchard
will produce somewhere about six hundred bushels, or from twenty to
twenty-five hogsheads. The cider harvest is in September. When the
season is favourable, the heaps of apples collected at the presses are
immense--consisting of hundreds of tons. If any of the vessels used in
the manufacture of cider are of lead, the beverage is not wholesome.
The price of a hogshead of cider generally varies from 2l. to 5l.,
according to the season and quality; but cider of the finest growth
has sometimes been sold as high as 20l. by the hogshead, direct from
the press--a price equal to that of many of the fine wines of the
Rhine or the Garonne."
* * * * *
_OLD APPLE TREES._
"At Horton, in Buckinghamshire, where Milton spent some of his earlier
years, there is an apple tree still growing, of which the oldest
people remember to have heard it said that the poet was accustomed
to sit under it. And upon the low leads of the church at Romsey, in
Hampshire, there is an apple tree still bearing fruit, which is said
to be two hundred years old."
The _Fig_ and the _Fine_ are equally interesting, and in connexion
with the latter we notice the editor's mention of the fine vineyard
at Arundel Castle. Aubrey describes a similar vineyard at Chart Park,
near Dorking, another seat of the Howards. "Here was a vineyard,
supposed to have been planted by the Hon. Charles Howard, who, it is
said, erected his residence, as it were, in the vineyard." Again, "the
vineyard flourished for some time, and tolerably good wine was made
from the produce; but after the death of the noble planter, in 1713,
it was much neglected, and nothing remained but the name. On taking
down the house, a stone resembling a millstone, was found, by which
the grapes were pressed."[5] We were on the spot at the time, and saw
the stone in question. Vines are still very abundant at Dorking, the
soil being very congenial to their growth. "Hence, almost every house
in this part has its vine; and some of the plants are very productive.
The cottages of the labouring poor are not without this ornament, and
the produce is usually sold by them to their wealthier neighbours, for
the manufacture of wine. The price per bushel is from 4s. to 16s.;
but the variableness of the season frequently disappoints them in the
crops, the produce of which is sometimes laid up as a setoff to the
rent."[6]
We have heard too of attempts in England to train the vine on
the sides of hills, and a few years since an individual lost a
considerable sum of money in making the experiment in the Isle of
Wight.
At page 257, observes the editor,
_A VINEYARD_
"Associated as it is with all our ideas of beauty and plenty, is,
in general, a disappointing object. The hop plantations of our own
country are far more picturesque. In France, the vines are trained
upon poles, seldom more than three or four feet in height; and 'the
pole-clipt vineyard' of poetry is not the most inviting of real
objects. In Spain, poles for supporting vines are not used; but
cuttings are planted, which are not permitted to grow very high, but
gradually form thick and stout stocks. In Switzerland, and in the
German provinces, the vineyards are as formal as those of France.
But in Italy is found the true vine of poetry, 'surrounding the stone
cottage with its girdle, flinging its pliant and luxuriant branches
over the rustic veranda, or twining its long garland from tree to
tree.'[7] It was the luxuriance and the beauty of her vines and her
olives that tempted the rude people of the north to pour down upon her
fertile fields:--
'The prostrate South to the destroyer yields
Her boasted titles and her golden fields;
With grim delight the brood of winter view
A brighter day, and heavens of azure hue.
Scent the new fragrance of the breathing rose.
And quaff the pendent vintage as it grows.'[8]
"In Greece, too, as well as Italy, the shoots of the vines are
either trained upon trees, or supported, so as to display all their
luxuriance, upon a series of props. This was the custom of the ancient
vine-growers; and their descendants have preserved it in all its
picturesque originality.[9] The vine-dressers of Persia train their
vines to run up a wall, and curl over on the top. But the most
luxurious cultivation of the vine in hot countries is where it covers
the trellis-work which surrounds a well, inviting the owner and his
family to gather beneath its shade. 'The fruitful bough by well' is of
the highest antiquity."
Passing over the Mulberry, Currant, Gooseberry, and the Strawberry,
the account of the Egg Plant is particularly attractive; and that of
the Olive is well-written, but too long for extract.
Among the _Tropical Fruits_, the Orange and the Date are very
delightful; and equal in importance and interest are the Cocoa Nut
and Bread Fruit Tree. In short, it is impossible to open the volume
without being gratified with the richness and variety of its contents,
and the amiable feeling which pervades the inferences and incidental
observations of the writer.
A word or two on the embellishments and we have done. These are
far behind the literary merits of the volume, and are discreditable
productions. Where so much is well done it were better to omit
engravings altogether than adopt such as these: "they imitate nature
so abominably." The group at page 223 is a fair specimen of the whole,
than which nothing can be more lifeless. After the excellent cuts of
Mr. London's Gardener's and Natural History Magazines, we turn away
from these with pain, and it must be equally vexatious to the editor
to see such accompaniments to his pages.
[Footnote 5: Picturesque Promenade round Dorking. Second Edit. 12mo.
1823, p. 258, 259.]
[Footnote 6: Ibid p. 143.]
[Footnote 7: The Alpenstock, by C.J. Latrobe, 1829.]
[Footnote 8: Gray's Alliance of Education and Government.]
[Footnote 9: See the second Georgic of Virgil.]
* * * * *