On the outside of the vineyard wall were planted rows of palms, which occurred again with the dôm and other trees, along the whole length of the exterior wall: four tanks of water, bordered by a grass plot, where geese were kept, and the delicate flower of the lotus was encouraged to grow, served for the irrigation of the grounds; and small kiosks, or summer-houses, shaded with trees, stood near the water, and overlooked beds of flowers.-Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, The Ancient Egyptians."1 A GARDEN enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut SOLOMON Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices. A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Awake, O north wind: and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.-The Song of Solomon. ww 975). AND without the court-yard hard by the door is a great garden, HOMER (B.C. of four plough-gates, and a hedge runs round on either side. 962-927). And there grow tall trees blossoming, pear-trees and pomegranates, and apple-trees with bright fruit, and sweet figs, and olives in their bloom. The fruit of these trees never perisheth, neither faileth winter or summer, enduring through all the year. Evermore the West Wind blowing brings some fruits to birth and 1 From an interesting paper in the Morning Post by Mr Percy E. Newberry, I gather, while correcting these proof sheets, that there is a Tomb at Thebes of a man named Nekht, who, under Thotmes III. (about 1500 B.C.), held the office of Head Gardener of the Gardens attached to the Temple of Karnak, which there is good reason to suppose were designed by him as represented in our illustration. This tomb was discovered first by Mr Robert Hay early in the century, during a residence of thirteen years in the Nile Valley, and has now been re-explored and excavated afresh by Mr Newberry, Lord Northampton, and Dr Spiegelberg. ripens others. Pear upon pear waxes old, and apple on apple, yea, and cluster ripens upon cluster of the grape, and fig upon fig. There too hath he a fruitful vineyard planted, whereof the one part is being dried by the heat, a sunny plot on level ground, while other grapes men are gathering, and yet others they are treading in the wine-press. In the foremost row are unripe grapes that cast the blossom, and others there be that are growing black to vintaging. There too, skirting the furthest line, are all manner of garden beds, planted trimly, that are perpetually fresh, and therein are two fountains of water, whereof one scatters his streams all about the garden, and the other runs over against it beneath the threshold of the court-yard, and issues by the lofty house, and thence did the townsfolk draw water. These were the splendid gifts of the gods in the palace of Alcinöus.-Odyssey, VII. (Done into English Prose by S. H. Butcher and A. Lang.) ми XENOPHON SOCRATES.-But in some part of Persia there is a great prince called Satrapa, who takes upon him the office both (B.C. 444-359). of soldiery and husbandry. Critobulus.-If the king acts as you inform me, he seems to take as much delight in husbandry as he does in war. Soc. I have not yet done concerning him; for in every country where he resides, or passes a little time, he takes care to have excellent gardens (such as are called Paradeisioi),1 filled with every kind of flower or plant that can by any means be collected, and in these places are his chief delight. Crit. By your discourse it appears also, that he has a great 1 'A Paradise seems to have been a large Space of Ground, adorned and beautified with all Sorts of Trees, both of Fruits and of Forest, either found there before it was inclosed, or planted after; either cultivated like Gardens, for Shades and for Walks, with Fountains or Streams, and all Sorts of Plants usual in the Climate, and pleasant to the Eye, the Smell or the Taste; or else employed like our Parks for Inclosure and Harbour of all Sorts of Wild Beasts, as well as for the Pleasure of Riding and Walking: And so they were of more or less extent, and of differing Entertainment, according to the several Humours of the Princes that ordered and inclosed them.'-(Sir William Temple: Upon the Gardens of Epicurus.) delight in gardening; for, as you intimate, his gardens are furnished with every tree and plant that the ground is capable of bringing forth. . . . When Lysander brought presents to Cyrus from the cities of Greece, that were his confederates, he received him with the greatest humanity, and amongst other things showed him his garden, which was called 'The Paradise of Sardis'; which when Lysander beheld he was struck with admiration of the beauty of the trees, the regularity of their planting, the evenness of their rows, and their making regular angles one to another; or, in a word, the beauty of the quincunx order in which they were planted, and the delightful odours which issued from them. Lysander could no longer refrain from extolling the beauty of their order, but more particularly admired the excellent skill of the hand that had so curiously disposed them; which Cyrus perceiving, answered him: All the trees which you here behold are of my own appointment; I it was that contrived, measured, laid out the ground for planting these trees, and I can even show you some of them that I planted with my own hands.'-' Economicus,' translated by R. Bradley, F.R.S. www SOCRATES. Lead on then, and at the same time look out PLATO for a place where we may sit down. Phædrus. Do you see that lofty plane-tree? Socr. How should I not. Pha. There, there is both shade and a gentle breeze, and grass to sit down upon, or, if we prefer it, to lie dow.. on. Socr. Lead on, then. Socr. By Juno, a beautiful retreat. For this plane-tree is very wide-spreading and lofty, and the height and shadiness of this agnus castus are very beautiful, and as it is now at the perfection of its flowering, it makes the spot as fragrant as possible. Moreover, a most agreeable fountain flows under the plane tree, of very cold water, to judge from its effect on the foot. It appears from these images and statues to be sacred to certain nymphs and to Achelous. Observe again the freshness of the spot, how charm (B.C. 427-347). ing and very delightful it is, and how summer-like and shrill it sounds from the choir of grasshoppers. But the most delightful of all is the grass, which with its gentle slope is naturally adapted to give an easy support to the head, as one reclines. So that, my dear Phædrus, you make an admirable stranger's guide.— 'Phædrus,' translated by H. Carey. 1 Would a husbandman, who is a man of sense, take the seeds, which he values and which he wishes to be fruitful, and in sober earnest plant them during the heat of summer, in some garden of Adonis,2 that he may rejoice when he sees them in eight days appearing in beauty?—Phædrus (Jowett). Socrates. Of whom then are the writings and institutes relating to gardening? Friend. Of gardeners. Soc. Of those who know how to manage gardens? Fr. How not?—Minos. 1 Popular tradition gives the name of Academy (Kathemnia) to a place about three-quarters of a mile north-west of the Dipylum, in the broad belt of olive-wood which stretches along both Banks of the Cephisus from its source at the western foot of Mt. Pentelicus, nearly to the sea. Thus, though no remains of buildings belonging to it have as yet come to light, the situation of the Academy may be regarded as approximately ascertained. 'It is on the lowest level, where some water courses from the ridges of Lycabettus are consumed in gardens and olive plantations. These were the waters which, while they nourished the shady groves of the Academy and its plane trees remarkable for their luxuriant growth, made the air unhealthy. They still cause the spot to be one of the most advantageous situations near Athens for the growth of fruit and pot-herbs, and maintain a certain degree of verdure when all the surrounding plain is parched with the heat of summer.' (Leake, 'Athens.') It is said that Plato taught at first in the Academy, but afterwards in a garden of his own adjoining it, near Colonus Hippius. His house was in the garden, and for house and garden he seems to have paid 3000 drachms. He was so much attached to the place that though it was said to be unhealthy and the doctors advised him to shift his quarters to the Lyceum he positively refused to do so.-J. T. Frazer. Pausanias's' Description of Greece.' 2 The Adonis gardens (кňπoɩ Adwvidos), so indicative of the meaning of the festival of Adonis, consisted, according to Böckh, of plants in small pots, which were no doubt intended to represent the garden, where Aphrodite met Adonis. The Ancients frequently used the term Adonis gardens proverbially, to indicate something which had shot up rapidly, such as lettuce, fennel, barley, wheat.-Humboldt's 'Kosmos.' SOME plants are born and grow by means of nutriment well ARISTOTLE digested; and others, on the contrary, spring from residues, (B.C. 384-322). and materials quite different. Cultivation causes the nutriment to digest, and fertilises it; this it is which produces fruits good to Why is thyme in Attica so bitter, whilst all the other fruits are so sweet? Is it not because the soil of Attica is light and dry, so that plants do not find in it much moisture? .. Why do myrtles rubbed between the fingers seem to produce a better scent, than when not rubbed? Is it not the same as with grapes, of which the bunches submitted to the vintage seem sweeter than the ones gathered from the stock?- The Problems': from the French of Barthélemy Saint-Hilaire. www Theophrastus attached himself to Plato and then to Aristotle, and was the THEOmaster of the comic poet Menander: his true name of Tyrtamus, Aristotle PHRASTUS (4th Cent. B.C.). exchanged for Theophrastus, in allusion to the divine grace of his speech: after the death of Aristotle, Theophrastus possessed a garden of his own, in the acquisition of which he was aided by Demetrius of Phalerus, whose friendship he enjoyed: he died at the age of eighty-five. Diogenes Laertius gives an enormous list of works, all of which have perished except his Characters' (translated by La Bruyère), the History and Causes of Plants, on Stones, the Senses, and several fragments: the Lyceum, under his guidance, was attended by 2000 disciples. I There is no complete English translation of his work on Plants. GIVE to Callinus the land which I possess at Stagira, and all my books to Neleus. As to my garden, the walk, and the houses adjacent to the garden, I give them in perpetuity to those |