and preserved in the gardens of the religious houses. Henry died in 1547; but the plants introduced in the year after his death, may be considered as properly belonging to his reign. Edm. VI. 1547 to 1553. During this troublous reign, only seven exotic species were added to the British garden, chiefly by Dr. Turner, director of the Duke of Somerset's (then Lord Protector) garden at Zion House. May 1953 to 1558. No plants introduced. Etabeth. 1558 to 1603. 533 species were introduced during this reign. Of these, 289 are enumerated in the first edition of Gerard's Herbal, published 1557. Drake's voyage round the world, Raleigh's discoveries in North America, and the consequent introduction of the tobacco and potatoe, took place during this reign. James I. 1603 to 1625. Only 20 plants introduced during this period. Charla L. 1625 to 1649. 331 plants introduced, which are chiefly mentioned by Parkinson, the first edition of whose work was published in 1629. Parkinson was the king's herbalist, and Tradescant his kitchen-gardener. A taste for plants began to appear among the higher classes during this reign; various private gentlemen had botanic gardens; and several London merchants procured seeds and plants for Lobel, Johnston, and Parkinson, through their foreign correspondents. 0. and R. Cremed. 1619 to 1658. 95 plants introduced by the same means as before. Cromwell encouraged agriculture; bat the part he acted left no leisure for any description of decat or refined enjoyment. Charles II. 1660 to 168.5. 152 plants introduced, chiefly mentioned by Ray, Morrison, and different writers in the Transactions of the Royal Society, founded in 1663. The Oxford and Chelsea gardens were founded, or enlarged, during this reign. Sir Hans Sloane and Evelyn florished. Many native plants were now brought into notice by Ray and Willeccbby. James II. 1685 to 1688. 44 plants introduced. Wiliam & Mary. 1658 to 1702. 298 species introduced, chiefly from the West Indies, and through Sir Hans Sloane and the Chelsea garden. Plunkenet succeeded Parkinson as rees! herbalist during this reign; and botanists were sent from England, for the first time, to explore foreign countries. As in the two former reigns great additions were now made to the indigenous Flora, by Ray, Sibbald, Johnson, and others. Many of the 50 species annually presented to the Royal Society were natives An. 172 to 1714. 230 plants in great part from the East and West Indies, and through the Chelsea garden. George I. 1714 to 1727. 182 plants, chiefly through the Chelsea garden. George II. 1727 to 1760. 1770 plants, almost entirely through the Chelsea garden, now in its zenith of fame under Miller. 375 of these plants are stated as introduced in 1730 and 1731, the latter being the year in which the first folio edition of the Gardeners' and Botanists' Dictionary appeared, 239 in 1739, in which year the 4th edition of the same work appeared. 196 in 1752, and above 400 in 1758 and 1759, when subsequent editions were published. In the last, in 1763, the number of plants cultivated in England is stated to be more than double the number contained in the edition of 1731. George 111. 1760 to 1817. 6756 plants introduced, or con- 1801. 116 | 1805. 169 1809. 1771. With respect to the obvious character of the artificial Flora, 350 species are hardy trees or shrubs; of these 270 are trees above 10, and 100 trees above 30 feet high. Of these, the larch, spruce fir, silver fir, and Lombardy poplar, sometimes attain the height of 100 feet. Above 400 species are hardy grasses. Of the tender exotics, the greater number are trees or shrubs, and the next greatest number annuals and bulbs. The colors of the blossoms are generally rich and vivid in proportion to the warmth of the climate of which the plants are natives. 1772. Purchasable British Flora. The whole of the plants enumerated as forming the British Flora, are probably not at any one time all in existence in Britain. Many of them, especially the exotic species, which were introduced at Kew, have been lost there through accidents or diseases, and are wanting for a time till new seeds or plants are obtained from abroad. Had they been distributed among the nurserymen they would have been abundantly multiplied and spread over the country. Casualties happen even to hardy plants, and a species which at one time is to be found in moderate quantities in the nurseries is at another period comparatively scarce. Thus, if we reduce the actual number of species to be found in cultivation at one time to from 9000 to 10,000, it will be found nearer the truth. In the public nurseries, varieties are very much cultivated, in order, as it were, to place the beauties of esteemed species in different points of view; or to produce in vegetables something analogous to what are called variations in musical compositions. The following may be considered as a popular or horticultural distribution of the species and varieties obtainable from British nurseries. It is taken from a catalogue entitled Prodromus, &c.; or Forerunner of the collection in Page's Southampton nursery-garden, drawn up by L. Kennedy, (late of the Hammersmith nursery,) and published in 1818. It is a work of great practical utility, and with Sweet's Hortus, should be in the hands of every gardener, who has a collection of plants under his care. Total. Hardy, 4580; green-house and dry-stove, 3180; hot-house, 1463; annuals, 820; total, 10,043; of these, above 3000 may be considered as varieties, so that the actual hortus procurable in British nurseries, may be estimated, as to the British hortus of books, as 7 to 12, or including the cryptogamous plants, as 8 to 12. 1777. With respect to the application of the purchasable Flora of Britain, including species and varieties, we submit the following as only a rude outline, the subject not admitting of perfect accuracy from the ever-varying number of varieties. 1778. Varieties of Fruit-trees, and Fruit-bearing Plants, for Sale in British Nurseries. Almonds Total 1417 1779. Esculent Herbaceous Plants, annuals and perennials, used in Horticulture. Cabbage tribe Plants used in confectionary 6 10 7 18 11 18 25 40 and domestic medicine Plants used as preserves and pickles 1780. Florists' Flowers, used in Floriculture. 1781. Hardy Timber-trees and Shrubs, used in Arboriculture, Floriculture, and Landscape-gardening. 1782. Agricultural Herbaceous Plants, grown for Food for Men and Cattle, and for use in various Arts. 1783. Miscellaneous applications of Hardy Perennials, native and exotic. 1784. Application of curious hot-house exotics, or such plants of ornament as require the protection of glass. Of these there are in ordinary green-houses seldom more than 100 species and varieties, and not more than half that number in most of our plant-stoves. The remainder of this class are confined to the public and private botanic gardens, and to eminent public nurseries. Many of this division are of great importance in their native countries, as the indigo, sugar-cane, tea-tree, cinnamon, &c.; the mango, durion, and other excellent fruits, the palms, bamboos, &c. Even some, here treated as entirely ornamental, afford useful products in their own countries, as the camellia, sun-flower, &c. from the seeds of which oils are expressed in China and America. The cultivation or preservation of living specimens of these plants, therefore, in our green-houses and stoves, is a rational entertainment, and also useful, as many species become in time acclimated, and some even naturalised; and uses may in time also be discovered for such as are now merely looked on as objects of curiosity. But it is quite enough to justify much more than all the care that is taken to obtain and preserve them, that they contribute to elegant enjoyment; for what is life when it does not exceed mere obedience to the animal instincts? 1785. With respect to the native habitations of the erotic part of the British Hortus, little can be advanced with certainty. In general it seems to appear that moist and moderately warm climates, and irregular surfaces, are most prolific in species; and judging of the whole world from Europe, we should venture to consider half the species of plants in existence as growing in soft and rather moist grounds, whether low or elevated. The soil of surfaces constantly moist, or inclining to be moist, whether watered from the atmosphere or from subterraneous sources, is almost always found to be minutely divided, and generally of a black vegetable or peaty nature. Immense tracts in Russia and America are of this description, and even when dry, resist evaporation better than any other. In such soils, the roots of plants are generally small and finely divided, as in the heaths, most bog plants, and nearly all the American shrubs. The next sort of habitation most prolific in species, appears to us to be arenarious soils in temperate climates, and in proportion to their moisture. Here the roots of plants are also small, but less so than in soils of the former description. On rocky and calcareous soils the roots of plants are generally strong and woody, or at least long and penetratiug. In clayey habitations, exclusive of the alluvial depositions of rivers, few plants are found, and these generally grasses, or strong fibrous-rooted herbaceous plants, or tap-rooted trees. Such at least is the amount of our generalisations; but as our observation has been limited to Europe, and does not even extend to the whole of it, those who have visited Africa and Asia are much more capable of illustrating the subject. One conclusion we think the cultivator is fully entitled to draw, that the greater number of plants, native or foreign, will thrive best in light soil, such as a mixture of soft black vegetable mould or peat and fine sand kept moderately moist; and that on receiving unknown plants or seeds, of the native sites of which he is ignorant, he will err on the safe side by placing them in such soils rather than in any other; avoiding, most of all, clayey and highly manured soils, as only fit for certain kinds of plants constitutionally robust, or suited to become monstrous by culture. CHAP. VII. Origin and Principles of Culture as derived from the Study of Vegetables. 1786. The final object of all the sciences is their application to purposes subservient to the wants and desires of men. The study of the vegetable kingdom is one of the most important in this point of view, as directly subservient to the arts which supply food, clothing, and medicine; and indirectly to those which supply houses, machines for conveying us by land, or by water, and in short almost every comfort and luxury. Without the aid of the vegetable kingdom, few mineral bodies would be employed in the arts, and the great majority of animals, whether used by man as laborers, or as food, could not live. 1787. Agriculture and gardening are the two arts which embrace the whole business of cultivating vegetables, for whatever purpose they are applied by civilized man. Their fundamental principles as arts of culture are the same; they are for the most part suggested by nature, and explained by vegetable chemistry and physiology (Chap. III. and IV.); and most of them have been put in practice by man for an unknown length of time, without much reference to principles. All that is necessary, therefore, for effecting this branch of culture, is to imitate the habitation, and to propagate. This is, or ought to be the case, wherever plants are grown for medical or botanical purposes, as in herb and botanic gardens. Nature is here imitated as exactly as possible, and the result is, productions resembling, as near as possible, those of nature. 1788. To increase the number and improve the qualities of plants, it is necessary to facilitate their mode of nutrition by removing all obstacles to the progress of the plant. These obstacles may either exist under or above the surface; and hence the origin of draining, clearing from surface-incumbrances, and the various operations, as digging, ploughing, &c. for pulverising the soil. Nature suggests this in accidental ruptures of the surface, broken banks, the alluvial depositions from overflowing rivers, and the earth thrown up by underground animals. Many of the vegetables within the influence of such accidents are destroyed, but such as remain are ameliorated in quality, and the reason is, their food is increased, because their roots, being enabled to take a more extensive range, more is brought within their reach. 1789. It is necessary, or at least advantageous, to supply food artificially; and hence the origin of manuring. All organised matters are capable of being converted into the food of plants; but the best manure for ameliorating the quality, and yet retaining the peculiar chemical properties of plants, must necessarily be decayed plants of their own species. It is true that plants do not differ greatly in their primary principles, and that a supply of any description of putrescent manure will cause all plants to thrive; but some plants, as wheat, contain peculiar substances, (as gluten and phosphate of lime,) and some manures, as those of animals, or decayed wheat, containing the same substances, must necessarily be a better food or manure for such plants. Manuring is an obvious imitation of nature, every where observable by the decaying herbage of herbaceous plants, or the fallen leaves of trees, rotting into dust or vegetable mould about their roots; and by the effect of the dung left by pasturing or other animals. 1790. Amelioration of climate is farther advantageous, in improving the qualities of vegetables, by increasing or diminishing its temperature according to the nature of the plant; unless, indeed, it is situated in a climate which experience and observation show to be exactly suited to its nature. Hence the origin of shelter and shade, by means of walls, hedges, or strips of plantation; of sloping surfaces or banks, to receive more directly or indirectly the rays of the sun; of rows, drills, and ridges, placed north and south in preference to east and west, in order that the sun may shine on both sides of the row, drill, or ridge, or on the soil between rows and drills every day in the year; of soils better calculated to absorb and retain heat; walls fully exposed to the south, or to the north; of training or spreading out the branches of trees on these walls; of hot-walls; of hot-beds; and finally of all the variety of hot-houses. Nature suggests this part of culture, by presenting, in every country, different degrees of shelter, shade, and surface, and in every zone different climates. 1791. The regulation of moisture is the next point demanding attention; for when the soil is pulverised, it is more easily dried by the penetration of the air; when an increase of food is supplied, the medium through which that food is taken up by the plant should be increased; and when the temperature is increased, evaporation becomes greater. Hence the origin of watering by surface or subterraneous irrigation, manual supplies to the root, showering over the leaves, steaming the surrounding atmosphere, &c. This is only to imitate the dews and showers, streams and floods of nature; and it is to be regretted that the imitation is in most countries attended with so much labor, and requires so much nicety in the arrangement of the means, and judgment in the application of the water, that it is but very partially applied by man in every part of the world, excepting perhaps a small district of Italy. But moisture may be excessive; and on certain soils at certain seasons, and on certain productions at particular periods of their progress, it may be necessary to carry off a great part of the natural moisture, rather than let it sink into the earth, or draw it off where it has sunk in and injuriously accumulated, or prevent its falling on the crop at all; and hence the origin of surfacedrainage by ridges, and of under-draining by covered conduits, or gutters; and of awnings and other covers to keep off the rain or dews from ripe fruits, seeds, or rare flowers. 1792. The regulation of light is the remaining point. Light sometimes requires to be excluded and sometimes to be increased, in order to improve the qualities of vegetables; and hence the origin of thinning the leaves which overshadow fruits and flowers, the practice of shading cuttings, seeds, &c., and the practice of blanching. The latter practice is derived from accidents observable among vegetables in a wild state, and its influence on their quality is physiologically accounted for by the obstruction of perspiration, and the prevention of the chemical changes effected by light on the epidermis. 1793. Increasing the magnitude of vegetables, without reference to their quality, is to be obtained by an increased supply of all the ingredients of food, distributed in such a body of well pulverised soil as the roots can reach to; of heat and moisture; of a partial exclusion of the direct rays of the sun, so as to moderate perspiration; and of wind, so as to prevent sudden desiccation. But experience alone can determine what plants are best suited for this, and to what extent the practice can be carried. Nature gives the hint in the occasional luxuriance of plants accidentally placed in favorable circumstances, and man adopts it, and improving on it, produces cabbages and turnips of half a cwt.; apples of one pound and a half; and cabbage-roses of four inches in diameter; productions which may in some respects be considered as diseased. 1794. To increase the number, improve the quality, and increase the magnitude of particular parts of vegetables. It is necessary, in this case, to remove such parts of the vegetable as are not wanted, as the blooms of bulbous or tuberous rooted plants, when the bulbs are to be increased, and the contrary; the water-shoots and leaf-buds of fruittrees; the flower-stems of tobacco; the male flowers and barren runners of the cucumis tribe, &c. Hence the important operations of pruning, ringing, cutting off large roots, and other practices for improving fruits and throwing trees into a bearing state. At first sight these practices do not appear to be copied from nature; but, independently of accidents by fire, already mentioned, which both prune and manure, and of fruit-bearing trees, say thorns or oaks, partially blown out by the roots, or washed out of the soil by torrents, which always bear better afterwards, why may not the necessity that man was under, in a primitive state of society, of cutting or breaking off branches of trees, to form huts, fences, or fires, and the consequent vigorous shoots produced from the parts where the amputation took place, or the larger fruit on that part of the tree which remained, have given the first idea of pruning, cutting off roots, &c. It may be said that this is not nature but art; but man, though an improving animal, is still in a state of nature, and all his practices, in every stage of civilisation, are as natural to him as those of the other animals are to them. Cottages and palaces are as much natural objects as the nests of birds, or the burrows of quadrupeds; and all the laws and institutions by which social man is guided in his morals and politics, are no more artificial than the instinct which congregates sheep and cattle in flocks and herds, and guides them in their choice of pasturage and shelter. 1795. To form new varieties of vegetables, as well as of flowers and useful plants of every description, it is necessary to take advantage of their sexual differences, and to operate in a manner analogous to crossing the breed in animals. Hence the origin of new sorts of fruits, grains, legumes, and roots. Even this practice is but an imitation of what takes place in nature by the agency of bees and other insects, and the wind; all the difference is, that man operates with a particular end in view, and selects individuals possessing the particular properties which he wishes to perpetuate or improve. New varieties, or rather subvarieties, are formed by altering the habits of plants; by dwarfing through want of nourishment: variegating by arenacious soils; giving or rather continuing peculiar habits when formed by nature, as in propagating from monstrosities — fasciculi of shoots, weeping shoots, shoots with peculiar leaves, flowers, fruit, &c. 1796. To propagate and preserve from degeneracy approved varieties of vegetables, it is in general necessary to have recourse to the different modes of propagating by extension. Thus choice apples and tree fruits could not be perpetuated by sowing their seeds, which experience has shewn would produce progeny more or less different from the parent, but they are preserved and multiplied by grafting; others, as the pine-apple, by cuttings or suckers; choice carnations by layers, potatoes by cuttings of the tubers, &c. But approved varieties of annuals are in general multiplied and preserved by selecting seeds from the finest specimens and paying particular attention to supply suitable culture. Approved varieties of corns and legumes, no less than of other annual plants, such as garden flowers, can only be with certainty preserved by propagating by cuttings or layers, which is an absolute prolongation of the individual; but as this would be too tedious and laborious for the general purposes both of agriculture and gardening, all that can be done is to select seeds from the best specimens. This part of culture is the farthest removed from nature; yet there are notwithstanding examples of the fortuitous graft; of accidental layers; and of natural cuttings, as when leaves, or detached portions of plants (as of the cardamine hirsuta) drop and take root. 1797. The preservation of vegetables for future use is effected by destroying or rendering dormant the principle of life, and by warding off, as far as practicable, the progress of chemical decomposition. When vegetables or fruits are gathered for use or preservation, the air of the atmosphere which surrounds them is continually depriving them of carbon, and forming the carbonic acid gas. The water they contain, by its softening qualities, weakens the affinity of their elements; and heat produces the same effect by dilating their parts, and promoting the decomposing effect both of air and water. Hence, drying in the sun or in ovens, is one of the most obvious modes of preserving vegetables for use, as food, or for other purposes; but not for growth, if the drying processes is carried so far as to destroy the principle of life in seeds, roots, or sections of the shoots of ligneous plants. Potatoes, turnips, and other esculent roots, may be preserved from autumn till the following summer, by drying them in the sun, and burying them in perfectly dry soil, which shall be at the same time at a temperature but a few degrees above the freezing point. Corn may be preserved for many years by first drying it thoroughly in the sun, and then burying it in dry cool pits, and closing these so as effectually to exclude the atmospheric air. In a short time the air within is changed to carbonic acid gas, in which no animal will live, and in which, without an addition of oxygen or atmospheric air, no plant or seed will vegetate. The corn is thus preserved from decomposition, from insects, vermin, and from vegetation in a far more effectual manner than it can be in a granary. In this way the Romans preserved their corn |