A dictionary of modern gardening

Front matter

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Author's Preface

Utility, more than either originality of contents or elegance of phraseology, has been the author's principal object in the following pages. He has endeavoured to gather together in one volume, attainable at a moderate price, an arranged, easily consulted, record of Gardening, as it is. To effect this object, has obtained aid from the best living authorities, as well as from their lished works ; but he has not neglected those of other periods, where he found in them directions upon which the moderns have suggested no imvements. Of all the authorities consulted, none has afforded such abundant irmation as the Gardeners' Chronicle, of which it is not too much to say that, t is the best of modern journals devoted to promoting the cultivation of the : , so, whoever is fortunate enough to possess a complete copy of its five jlished volumes, has a work of reference from which he will rarely turn away <atisfied if seeking for information relative to its peculiar subjects, n every instance, the author has endeavoured to give tribute where due, and ie has erred in this, or in any other particular, he will be highly obliged by rection. Besides the work already quoted, he has been much indebted to j. ^xton's Botanical Dictionary ; Whateley's Landscape Gardening ; Glenny's Practical Gardener and Florist; Maund's Botanic Garden; Lindley's Theory of Horticulture; and The United Gardener and Land Steward's Journal. The author does not wish to mislead his readers into the belief that this is a Botanical Dictionary. On the contrary, he has confined his notices to such genera of plants as deserve a place in some department of the garden ; and, for the most part, even in enumerating the number of species in each genus, only those have been reckoned that are worthy of cultivation.

It only remains to be explained that, in the monthly calendars, b. intends the beginning, or first half of the month, and e. the end, or its closing half. The following works have also been freely consulted and quoted : — Cuthbert Johnson, On Fertilizers.

Farmers' Encyloptzdia.

Loudon and Westwood's Kollar on Predatory Insects. [ Loudon's Gardeners' Encyclopedia.

Gardeners' Magazine.

Johnson's Principles of Gardening.

Abercrombie's Gardeners' Dictionary.

Johnson's Gardeners' Almanack.

Transactions of the London Horticultural Society.

Caledonian Horticultural Transactions.

Horticultural Magazine.

Decandolle's Philosophy of Plants.

Preface To The American Edition

The ordinary form in cases of reprint, with additions and explanatory notes, has been departed from in the present instance with a desire to preserve the book from the awkward aspect which it would necessarily present, if every addition by the American editor had been included within brackets, or printed in varied type.

This edition has been greatly altered from the original. Many articles of little interest to Americans have been curtailed, or wholly omitted, and much new matter, with numerous illustrations, added; yet the present editor freely admits, and has desired the publishers to state, that he has only followed in the, path so admirably marked out by Mr. Johnson, to whom the chief merit of the work belongs. It has been an object with the publishers, and editor, to increase its popular character, thereby adapting it to the larger class of horticultural readers in this country, and they trust it may prove what they have desired it to be, an Encyclopaedia of Gardening, if not of Rural Affairs, so condensed as to be within reach of most persons whom those subjects interest.

THE PUBLISHERS.

Philadelphia, April, 1847.

NOTE.

It is evident that with a territory extending over so large a space, a monthly calendar, or direction for cropping, &c, cannot uniformly apply : Those who reside north or south of Pennsylvania, can readily make the necessary calculations as to time.

THE

GARDENERS' DICTIONARY

ABE

ABELE TREE. (Populus alba.)

ABLACTATION, the same as Inarching, and so called because it is a gradual withdrawing of the scion from its parent, the same as weaning, which in Latin is ablactatio.

ABLAQUEATION, baring the bodies of a tree's main roots. This was an old mode of checking the tree's over luxuriance, for the purpose of making it fer-. tile. A much less injurious plan is to drain the soil, and mix it with sand, chalk, or other less rich addition. Another method successfully pursued is to open a trench around the body, at a suitable distance, thus shortening the roots, and arresting the tree's rapid growth.

ABNODATION, cutting off excrescences and the stumps of branches close to the stem. The intention of this is to have the wound heal over, but it is very doubtful, in the case of branches, whether the extremity of a stump properly treated will not heal quicker than a wound close to the trunk. The unsightly aspect of protruding stumps will, however, induce close pruning.

ABRICOCK, an old mode of spelling Apricot, Armeniaca vulgaris.

ABRAXAS grossularia. Magpie Moth. The caterpillar of this moth often infests the leaves of the gooseberry bush, as well as the currant, sloe, and even the .peach, in early summer. " The caterpillar," says Mr. Curtis, " is white, slightly tinged with blue, and having numerous black spots on the back ; it is called a looper, from its peculiar mode of walking ; it fixes itself first firmly with its hind feet, and then extends its body fully ; after which it puts down its fore feet, and draws the hind part of its body as close after them 2

AC A

as possible, thus forming an arch or loop." — Gard. Chron.

ABROMA. Two species. Stove evergreen shrubs. Seed or cuttings. Loam and peal.

ABRONIA. Two species. Hardy perennial trailers. Rooted slips. Sandy peat.

ABRUS precatorius. Wild Liquorice Stove climber. Cuttings. Sand and peat.

ABUTA rufescens. Stove evergreen climber. Rooted slips. Loam and peat.

ABUTILON. Three species. One stove, and two green-house evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Light rich loam. A. striatum. Green-house shrub. " As this seems likely to suit a bed in the flower garden, to increase it keep it in the stove, as it will there push even in winter, and every two joints will be sufficient for a cutting, which will make a plant in a fortnight or three weeks. By the time the cutting has pushed far enough to admit of being topped, another cutting may be made of it, and proceeded with as before. If kept in the green-house during winter it will not move at all." — Gard. Chron.

ACACIA. 274 species, stove and green-house evergreens. Cuttings. Sandy loam and peat.

ACiENA splendens. Green-house evergreen. Seed. Loam and peat.

ACANTHOPHIPPtUM. Three species. Stove epiphytes. Offsets. Sandy peat and light loam.

ACANTHUS. Bear's Breech. Eight species. Six hardy herbaceous perennials ; division of roots. One greenhouse perennial seed. One stove evergreen ; cuttings. All require sandy peat and loam.

ACARUS, the Plant Mite. Class

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ACC

Arachnids. The following are the chief of those known to the gardener. Acarus tellarius. the Red Spider, is one of the gardener's most troublesome foes. Its colour varies from yellowish to red-brown, and though almost invisible from its minuteness, yet it preys most destructively upon some trees and herbaceous plants in our hot-houses, as well as upon the kidney-bean, lime tree, &c, out of doors in dry summers. A. holosericeus is another species, distinguishable to an unscienced eye chiefly by its scarlet colour. To destroy them in the hothouse, there is no plan so effectual as healing the flues or pipes, and sprinkling upon them sulphur. The air is thus gently impregnated with the vapour of sulphur, for it begins to evaporate at a heat of 170 c . This vapour is fatal to the insect where the air is thoroughly impregnated with it, and the work of destruction is completed by syringing the infested plants has been propagated from, and the dan with water. This last is the only piac-

A. pseudo-platan aides, or Sycamore, are also desirable varieties. Seed, cuttings, and lavers. Common light garden soil.

ACERAS. Two species, both tuberous-rooted hardy perennials. Seeds. Light loam.

ACERATIOI oppositifolium. Stove evergreen shrub. Peat and loam. Cuttings.

A^ETARIOUS PLANTS. Salading.

ACCLIMATIZATION is rendering a plant capable of the production desired in a climate differing from that in which it is native. In our climate it is usually required to induce a plant to endure lower temperatures than those to which it has been accustomed, and this, though some are intractable, is more easy than is inducing the natives of colder regions to live in our latitudes. When a new plant arrives from a tropical country, it is desirable to use every precaution to avoid its loss, but so soon as it tical remedy to plants in our bordeis, I unless they can be covered over so that i the fumes may be confined, whilst the j sulphur is volatilized over a hot-water plate. Potted plants maybe submitted j to the vapour of sulphur in a similar way. The vapour of spirit of turpentine is said to be as effectual as sulphur. Acarus hortensis, the Garden Mite, thorax ochreous, abdomen white, has been found upon the roots of the cucumber, upon which it is said to prey. I believe it to be the same Acarus often so abundant upon the root of cabbages affected with the Ambury. A. geniculates is a minute, red, shining mite, gregarious, and congregating during spring in prodigious numbers upon the bark of the plum and other fruit trees, near the base of the twigs, and looking like a gummy exudation. By extracting the sap they doubtless weaken the tree, and reduce its productiveness. — Gard. Chron.

ACER. Maple. Twenty- seven species, all hardy trees except Acer oblongum, which is half-hardy. The Sugar Maple, A. saccharinum of the American forests, is perhaps one of the finest night, than gardeners of a previous cen ger of such loss is removed, from that moment ought experiments to commence, to ascertain whether its acclimatization is attainable. That this should be done is self-evident; for the nearer such a desirable point can be attained, the cheaper will be its cultivation, and consequently the greater will be the number of those who will be able to derive pleasure from its growth. Hence it is very desirable that an extended series of experiments should be instituted, to ascertain decisively whether many of our present green-house plants would not endure exposure to our winters, if but slightly or not at all protected. It may be laid down as a rule, that all Japan plants will do so in the southern states, but it remains unascertained to what degree of northern latitude this general power of endurance extends. Experiment, and experimentonly, ought to be relied upon ; for we know that the larch was once kept in a greenhouse in England. Many tropical plants of every order and species, have been found to require much less heat, both during the day and during the species. It forms a full round head, its

deep green leaves changing in autumn

to many shades of orange. The Silver

Maple, A. desycarpum y l$B a light airy

tree, of quick growth, and extensively

planted in the streets of Philadelphia, but it endures uninjured the stern cli-

A. platanoides, or Norway Maple, and ; mate of Sweden. Aucuba Japonica and tury believed. Other plants than those 'ready noticed have passed from the tropics to our parterres, and even to those of higher northern latitudes. The horse chestnut is a native of the tropics,

ACC

ACH

Pceonia Moutan, we all remember to have passed from our stoves to the green-house, and now they are in our open gardens. Every year renders us acquainted with instances of plants being acclimatized : and, in addition to those already noticed, we find that Mr. Buchan, Lord Bagot's gardener, at Blithfield House, in Staffordshire, has an old cinnamon tree (Laurus Cinnamomum) under his care, which ripens seed: from these many plants have been raised that endure the winters of England in a conservatory without any artificial heat. Then, again, there is no doubt that all the coniferas of Mexico, which flourish there at an elevation of more than 8000 feet above the sea's level, will survive our winters in the open air. Among these are Pinus Llaveana, P. Teocate, P. patula, P. Hartwegii, Cupressus thurifera, Juniperus Jlaccida, Abies religiosa, and some others. Many natives of the southern states have been gradually acclimated in Pennsylvania; experience has, however, demonstrated that the nature of the soil is all-important. On sandy or light loamy land with gravelly subsoil, many plants are found to withstand the winter, which would surely perish on heavy or wet land. So also the aspect as regards exposure to the sun, it having been found from repeated observation that tender plants, especially if evergreen, suffer less from cold when screened from the sun's rays. The cause is obvious. An extensive importation of European Holly received at the Landreth Nurseries, were, as a protection from the summer sun, planted on the north side of a high board fence, where they safely resisted the severity of winter : subsequently they were placed in open positions, and all were killed by the combined action of heat and cold. The following general rules are the results of experiments in the London Horticultural Society's Garden, conducted by Mr. Gordon. 1. " Plants intended to be acclimatized, should never be subjected to artificial heat during the winter that precedes their being planted out; if obtained from seeds, as little heat as possible should be employed in raising them ; and starved or stunted plants are more likely to succeed than such as have been forced into a rapid and luxuriant growth. 2. The plants should not be committed to the open ground earlier than the end of

May ; the soil should be poor, dry, and thoroughly drained; if against a wall, the border should be protected through the entire winter by a roof of hurdles thatched with straw, and projecting about three feet."

ACHILLEA. Milfoil. Sixty-four species, all, except A. JEgyptica, herbaceous perennials. Common garden soil. Divisio-n of roots. A. JEgyptica is a green-house evergreen. Cuttings. Peat and loam.

ACHIMENES. Six species. Stove bulbs. " After the plants have done flowering, and the tops die down, in November, allow the bulbs to remain undisturbed in the pots, laid on their sides beneath the green-house stage, or some other place where frost and wet cannot reach them, where they may remain until the latter part of January, then to be placed in a gentler heat, and watered until the soil becomes sufficiently moist to encourage vegetation. When the small scaly bulbs have made shoots about two inches in length, plant them singly in small sixties, in a mixture of leaf mould and a small portion of silver sand. At the subsequent shifting, until the plants are finally placed in sixteens in June, the compost consists of light rich turf loam and peat, or leaf mould, when peat cannot be procured in equal proportions, and on no account sifted. The pots are thoroughly drained, a point which forms the basis of all good culture, both in pots and in the open ground. For growing several plants in one pot, take No. 12 size, into which turn five of the plants previously kept in sixties, placing one in the centre, and four round the edges. These forma noble mass when in bloom ; but never assume the uniform conical shape of a single specimen. The main stem and side branches are to be neatly sticked and tied out as they advance in growth. The temperature of an early vinery is well adapted for these plants until the end of May, at which period they should be taken to a cool pit, where a steady moist heat can be maintained. They should be shaded in hot days between 11 A.M. and 2 P.M., to prevent the sun from scorching the foliage, and they should never be watered overhead. The pots should be placed upon others, inverted, and the bottom of the pit should be kept moist, closing up early in the afternoon, and giving air ia

ACH

ACT clear weather about eight in the morning, so that the damp may disperse before the rays of the sun fall directly upon the plants." — Gard. Chron.

A. Long* 'flora. "The bulbs of this may be started in a warm cucumber frame towards the end of February. Each plant, when it has formed a few leaves, should then be potted off, separately, into small pots, or, preferably, several may be planted together in a shallow box. The temperature of a warm green-house suits them admirably." — Gard. Chron.

ACHYRONIA villosa. Green-house evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Peat and loam.

ACIANTHUS. Three species. Tuberous green-house plants. Division. Loam and peat.

ACICARPHA spatulata. Herbaceous stove perennial. Division. Loam and peat.

ACIOTIS. Two species. Stove evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Peat and loam.

ACIS. Four species. Hardy bulbs. Offsets. Sandy loam.

ACISANTHERA quadrata. Stove evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Peat and loam.

ACMADENIA tetragona. Greenhouse evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Loam and peat.

ACMENA floribunda. Green-house evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Sandy Joam.

ACONITUM. Eighty species hardy deciduous tubers; and thirty-four species hardy herbaceous perennials. "A. Napellus, from napus, a turnip, its grumous roots resembling little turnips, is a well known poisonous plant. Linnaeus says, that it is fatal to kine and goats, especially when they come fresh to it, and are not acquainted with the plant; but that it does no injury to horses, who eat it only when dry. He also relates (from the Stockholm Acts) that an ignorant surgeon prescribed the leaves, and on the patient refusing to take them, he took them himself and died. The ancients, who were acquainted with chemical poisons, regarded the Aconite as the most violent of all poisons. Some persons, only by taking in the effluvia of the herb in full flower by trtie nostrils, have been seized with swooning fits, and have lost their sight for two or three days. But the root is unquestionably the most powerful part of the plant. Matthiolus relates, that a criminal was put to death by taking one drachm of it. Dodonaeus gives us an instance, recent in his time, of five persons at Antwerp, who ate the root by mistake, and all died. Dr. Turner also mentions, that some Frenchmen at the same place, eating the shoots of this plant for those of masterwort, all died in the course of two days, except two players, who quickly evacuated all that they had taken by vomit. We have an account, in the Philosophical Transactions, of a man who was poisoned, in the year 1732, by eating some of this plant in a salad, instead of celery. Dr. Willis also, in his work De Anima Brutorum, gives an instance of a man who died in a few hours, by eating the tender leaves of this plant also in a salad. He was seized with all the symptoms of mania. The Aconite, ' thus invested with terrors, has, however, been so far subdued, as to become a powerful remedy in some of the most troublesome disorders incident to the human frame. Baron Stoerck led the way by administering it in violent pains of the side and joints, in glandulous scirrhi, tumours, ulcerous tubercles of the breast, &c, to the quantity of from ten to thirty grains in a dose, of an extract, the method of making which he describes." — Encyc. Plants. Division. Common garden soil. All are poisonous.

ACRONYCHIA cunninghami. Greenhouse shrub. Cuttings. Sandy loam and peat.

ACROPERA loddigesii. Stove epiphyte. Division. Peat and potsherds.

ACROPHYLLUM verticiUatum. Green-house shrub. Cuttings. Loam and peat.

ACROSPIRE is the name whereby malsters, gardeners, and others describe the sprouts from barley and other seeds when germinating, and which are the radicle and plumule, the infant root and stem.

ACROSTICHUM. Sixteen species. Chiefly stove herbaceous perennials. A. alcicorne and A. grande are greenhouse plants. Division and seed. Loam and peat.

ACROTRICHE. Three species. Green-house evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Sandy peat.

ACTINOMERIS. Four species.

ACT

AGA

Hardy herbaceous perennials. Division. Peat and loam.

ACTINOTUS. Two species. Greenhouse herbaceous perennials. Division. Sandy loam.

ACYNOS. Eleven species. All hardy. Seeds. Dry sandy soil.

ADAMIA cyanea. Stove evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Peat and loam.

ADAM'S NEEDLE. Yucca.

ADDER'S TONGUE. Opioglossum.

ADELIA. Three species. Stove evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Peat and loam.

ADENANDRA. Thirteen species. Green-house evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Loam and peat.

ADENANTHERA. Two species. Stove evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Sandy loam and peat.

ADENANTHOS. Three species. Green-house evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Sandy peat and loam. A. obovata is best from seed.

ADENOCARPUS. Six species. A. foliolosus and frankenioides are evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Sandy loam. The others are hardy deciduous shrubs. Seeds. Common garden soil.

ADENOPHORA. Sixteen species. Hardy herbaceous perennials. Common garden soil. Peat and loam.

ADESMIA. Eight species, of which A. viscosa is hardy. The others are green-house plants. A. viscosa and uspallatensis are propagated by cuttings. The others from seed. All in sandy loam.

ADIANTUM. Maidenhair. Twenty-nine species. All green-house or stove plants, except A. capillus veneris and pubescens. They are hardy herbaceous perennials. Division. Loam and peat.

ADINA globiflora. Stove evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Sandy loam and peat.

ADLUMIA cirrhosa. Hardy climbing biennial. Seeds. Sandy loam.

ADONIS. Thirteen species. All hardy. Seed. Common garden soil.

jEGIPHILA. Seven species. Stove evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Loam and peat.

iEGLE marmelos. Bengal Quince. Stove evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Loam.

^ECHMEA. Three species. Stove perennials. Suckers. Loam, peat, and sand.

^EGOCHLOA. Six species. All hardy annuals. Seeds. Light rich garden soil.

iEOLLANTHUS suaveolens. Stove annual. Seeds. Sandy loam.

iEONIUM Youngianum. Greenhouse. Cuttings. Sandy loam.

^SCHYNANTHUS. Two species. Stove epiphytes. Cuttings. Peat and potsherds, or wood.

^ESCULUS. Horse-chestnut. JE. glabra. (Grafts.) JE. hippo cast anum, flore pleno. (Layers.) JE. hippocastanum, fol. argenteis. (Layers.) JE. hippocastanum variegatum. JE. ohiensis.

M. pallida. (Grafts.) JE. rubicunda. (Grafts.) All hardy deciduous trees. The common European horse-chestnut JE. hippocastanum, is a truly magnificent tree, at once grand from its magnitude and massy form, and beautiful when in bloom from being covered with large spikes of white and pink flowers, protruding beyond its elegant digitate leaves. Seeds (except where otherwise described). Common garden soil.

AERANTHES. Two species. Stove epiphytes. Division. Peat and pot- .sherds, or wood.

AERIDES, (air plant.) Nine species. All stove epiphytes. Cuttings, except A. cornutum, which is multiplied by root-divisions. Peat and potsherds, or wood.

iERUA. Two species. Stove herbaceous perennials. Cuttings. Rich moist soil.

^ESCYNOMENE. Eleven species. JE. viscidula a green-house, and JE. hispida a hardy annual, the rest stove plants. Seeds. Sandv loam.

^ETHIONEMA. Six species. All hardy. Seed or cuttings. Common soil.

JETHIONIA. Two species. Greenhouse evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Common soil.

AFRICAN ALMOND. Brabejum.

AFRICAN FLEABANE. Tarchonanthus.

AFRICAN LILY. Agapanthus.

AFRICAN MARIGOLD. Tagetes Erecta.

AGAPANTHUS. African Lily. Three species. Nearly hardy bulbs. Common soil. Offsets.

AGASTACHYS odorata. Green-

AGA

AGR house evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Loam, peat, and sand.

AGATH.F.A. Two species. Greenhouse evergreen shrubs. Young cuttings. Loam and peat.

AGATHOPHYLLUM aromaticum. Madagascar nutmeg. Stove evergreen tree. Cuttings. Peat or rich loam.

AGATHOSMA. Twenty-two species. Green-house evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Peat and loam.

AGATHYRSUS. Seven species. Hardy herbaceous. Cuttings and divisions. Common soil.

AGATI. Two species. Stove evergreen trees. Cuttings. Peat and loam.

AGAVE. Aloe. Nineteen species. Chiefly stove plants. Suckers. Rich loam. " The name is altered from ay&vcc, admirable, which this genus may well be said to be, considering its appearance, its size, and the beauty of its flowers. In mythology, Agave is the name of one of the Nereids. A. americana is a popular succulent throughout Europe. It grows wild or is acclimated in Sicily, the south of Spain, and Italy, and is much used in the latter country, planted in vases as an ornament to piers, parapets, and about houses. About Milan and other towns in Lombardy, where it will not endure the winter, they use imitations of copper so well formed and painted, as to be readily mistaken for the original. Tn France and Germany it is still very common ; and in this country formerly used to be the regular companion of the orange, myrtle, and pomegranate, then our principal greenhouse plants. An idea used to prevail that the American Aloe only flowered once in a hundred years; but, independently of this unnatural application of time to the inflorescence, it has long been known to flower sooner or later according to the culture bestowed on it. : > — Encyc. Plants.

AGERATUM. Six species. Chiefly hardy annuals. Seed. Light rich soil.

arts and sciences." It is " the basis of all other arts, and in all countries coeval with the first dawn of civilization. Without agriculture, mankind would be savages, thinly scattered through interminable forests, with no other habitations than caverns, hollow trees or huts, more rude and inconvenient than the most ordinary hovel or cattle-shed of the modern cultivator. It is the most universal as well as the most ancient of the arts, and requires the greatest number of operators. It employs seven-eighths of the population of almost every civilized community. — Agriculture is not only indispensable to national prosperity, but is eminently conducive to the welfare of those who are engaged in it. It gives health to the body, energy to the mind, is favourable to virtuous and temperate habits, and to knowledge and purity of moral character, which are the pillars of good government and the true support of national independence. — With regard to the history of agriculture, we must confine ourselves to slight sketches. The first mention of agriculture is found in the writings of Moses. From them we learn that Cain was a ' tiller of the ground,' that Abel sacrificed the 'firstlings of his flock,' and that Noah 'began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard.' The Chinese, Japanese, Chaldeans, Egyptians and Phoenicians appear to have held husbandry in high estimation. The Egyptians were so sensible of its blessings, that they ascribed its invention to superhuman agency, and even carried their gratitude to such an absurd excess as to worship the ox, for his services as a labourer. The Carthaginians carried the art of agriculture to a higher degree than other nations, their cotemporaries. Mago, one of their most famous generals, wrote no less than twenty-eight books on agricultural topics, which, according to Columella, ere translated into Latin by an express

AGNOSTUS sinuata. Green-house decree of the Roman senate. — Hesiod, evergreen tree. Cuttings. Sandy peat, j a Greek writer, supposed to be cotem- AGRICULTURE, as compared to [ porary with Homer, wrote a poem on Horticulture, is the culture and man- ! agriculture, entitled Weeks and Days, agement of certain plants and animals I which was so denominated because husbandry requires an exact observance of times and seasons. Other Greek writf'or the food and service of man : it is, as Marshall observes, "a subject which,

viewed in all its branches, and to their; ers wrote on rural economy, and Xenoftillest extent, is not only the most important and the most difficult in rural economies, but in the circle of human phon among the number, but their works have been lost in the lapse of ages. — The implements of Grecian agri-

AGR culture were very few and simple. Hesiod mentions a plough, consisting of three parts — the share-beam, the draught-pole and the plough-tail ; but antiquarians are not agreed as to its exact form ; also a cart with low wheels, and ten spans (seven feet six inches) in width; likewise the rake, sickle and j said to ridge.' Pliny mentions a plough

\ AGR

curious antiquarian, than of the practical cultivator. The plough is represented by Cato as of two kinds — -one for strong, the other for light soils. Varro mentions one with two mould-boards, with which, he says, ' when they plough, after sowing the seed, they are ox-goad ; but no description is given of the mode in which they were constructed. The operations of Grecian culture, according to Hesiod, were neither numerous nor complicated. The ground received three ploughings — one in autumn, another in spring, and a third immediately before sowing the seed. Manures were applied, and Pliny ascribes their invention to the Grecian king Augeas. Theophrastus mentions six different species of manures, and adds, that a mixture of soils produces the same effect as manures. Clay, he observes, should be mixed with sand, and sand with clay. Seed was sown by hand, and covered with a rake. Grain was reaped with a sickle, bound In sheaves, threshed, then winnowed by wind, laid in chests, bins or granaries, and taken out as wanted by the family, to be pounded in mortars or quern mills into meal. — The ancient Romans venerated the plough, and, in the earliest and purest times of the republic, the greatest praise which could be given to an illustrious character was to say that he was an industrious and judicious husbandman. M. Cato, the censor, who was celebrated as a statesman, orator and general, having conquered nations and governed provinces, derived his highest and most durable honours from having written a voluminous work on agriculture.

In the Georgics of Virgil, the majesty of verse and the harmony of numbers add dignity and grace to the most useful of all topics. The celebrated Columella flourished in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, and he wrote twelve books on husbandry, which constituted a complete treatise on rural affairs. Varro, Pliny and Palladius were likewise among the distinguished Romans who wrote on agricultural subjects. — With regard to the Roman implements of agriculture, we learn that they used a great many, but their particular forms and uses are very imperfectly described. From what we can ascertain respecting them, they appear more worthy of the notice of the with one mould-board, and others with a coulter, of which he says there were many kinds. — Fallowing was a practice rarely deviated from by the Romans. In most cases, a fallow and a year's crop succeeded each other. Manure was collected from nearly or quite as many sources as have been resorted to by the moderns. Pigeon's dung was esteemed of the greatest value, and, next to that, a mixture of night soil, scrapings of the streets and urine, which were applied to the roots of the vine and olive. — The Romans did not bind their corn into sheaves. When cut, it was sent directly to the area to be threshed, and was separated from the chaff by throwing it from one part of the floor to the other. Feeding down grain, when too luxuriant, was practised. Virgil says, 'What commendation shall I give to him, who, lest his corn should lodge, pastures it, while young, as soon as the blade equals the furrow!' (Geor., lib. i., 1. 111.) Watering on a large scale was applied both to arable and grass lands. Virgil advises to ' bring down the waters of a river upon the sown corn, and, when the field is parched and the plants drying, convey it from the brow of a hill in channels.' (Geor., lib. L, 1. 106.) — -The farm management most approved of by the scientific husbandmen of Rome was, in general, such as would meet the approbation of modern cultivators. The importance of thorough tillage isillustrated by the following apologue: A vinedresser had two daughters and a vineyard ; when his oldest daughter was married, he gave her a third of his vineyard for a portion, notwithstanding which he had the same quantity of fruit as formerly. When his youngest daughter was married, he gave her half of what remained ; still the produce of his vineyard was undiminished. This result was the consequence of his bestowing as much labour on the third part left after his daughters had received their portions, as he had been accustomed to give to the whole vineyard. — The Ro~