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CHAP. 19. (4.)
THE PLEASURES OF THE GARDEN.
Having made mention of these productions, it now remains for us to return to the cultivation of the garden, a subject recommended by its own intrinsic merits to our notice: for we find that in remote antiquity, even, there was nothing looked upon with a greater degree of admiration than the gardens of the Hesperides, those of the kings Adonis and Alci- noüs, and the Hanging Gardens, whether they were the work of Semiramis, or whether of Cyrus, king of Assyria, a subject of which we shall have to speak in another work. The kings of Rome cultivated their gardens with their own hands; indeed, it was from his garden that Tarquinius Superbus sent to his son that cruel and sanguinary message of his. In our laws of the Twelve Tables, we find the word “villa,” or “farm,” nowhere mentioned; it is the word “hortus” that is always used with that signification, while the term “heredium” we find employed for “garden.”
There are certain religious impressions, too, that have been attached to this species of property, and we find that it is in the garden and the Forum only that statues of satyrs are con- secrated, as a protection against the evil effects of spells and sorcery; although in Plautus, we find the gardens spoken of as being under the tutelage of Venus. At the present day, under the general name of gardens, we have pleasure-grounds situate in the very heart of the City, as well as extensive fields and villas.
Epicurus, that connoisseur in the enjoyments of a life of ease, was the first to lay out a garden at Athens; up to his time it had never been thought of, to dwell in the country in the middle of the town. At Rome, on the other hand, the garden constituted of itself the poor man’s field, and it was from the garden that the lower classes procured their daily food — an aliment how guiltlessly obtained! But still, it is a great deal better, no doubt, to dive into the abysses of the deep, and to seek each kind of oyster at the risk and peril of shipwreck, to go searching for birds beyond the river Phasis even, which, protected as they are by the terrors invented by fable, are only rendered all the more precious thereby — to go searching for others, again, in Numidia, and the very sepulchres of Æthiopia, or else to be battling with wild beasts, and to get eaten one’s self while trying to take a prey which another person is to eat! And yet, by Hercules! how little do the productions of the garden cost us in comparison with these! How more than sufficient for every wish and for every want! — were it not, indeed, that here, as in every thing else, turn which way we will, we find the same grounds for our wrath and in- dignation. We really might be content to allow of fruits being grown of the most exquisite quality, remarkable, some of them for their flavour, some for their size, some, again, for the monstrosities of their growth, morsels all of them forbidden to the poor! We might allow of wines being kept till they are mellowed with age, or enfeebled by being passed through cloth strainers, of men, too, however prolonged their lives, never drinking any but a wine that is still older than themselves! We might allow of luxury devising how best to extract the very aroma, as it were, and marrow only from grain; of people, too, living upon nothing but the choicest productions of the confectioner, and upon pastes fashioned in fantastic shapes: of one kind of bread being prepared for the rich, and another for the multitude; of the yearly produce of the field being classified in a descending scale, till it reaches the humble means of the very lowest classes — but do we not find that these refined distinctions have been extended to the very herbs even, and that riches have contrived to establish points of dissimilarity in articles of food which ordinarily sell for a single copper coin?
In this department even, humble as it is, we are still des- tined to find certain productions that are denied to the community at large, and the very cabbages pampered to such an enormous extent that the poor man’s table is not large enough to hold them. Asparagus, by Nature, was intended to grow wild, so that each might gather it where he pleased — but, lo and behold! we find it in the highest state of cultivation, and Ravenna produces heads that weigh as much as three pounds even! Alas for the monstrous excess of gluttony! It would be surprising indeed, for the beasts of the field to be forbidden the thistle for food, and yet it is a thing forbidden to the lower classes of the community! These refined distinctions, too, are extended to the very water even, and, thanks to the mighty influence of money, there are lines of demarcation drawn in the very elements themselves. Some persons are for drinking ice, others for quaffing snow, and thus is the curse of the mountain steep turned into an appetizing stimulus for the palate! Cold is carefully treasured up for the summer heats, and man’s invention is racked how best to keep snow freezing in months that are not its own. Some again there are who first boil the water, and then bring it to the temperature of winter — indeed, there is nothing that pleases man in the fashion in which Nature originally made it.
And is it the fact, then, that any herb of the garden is reared only for the rich man’s table? It is so — but still let no one of the angered populace think of a fresh secession to Mount Sacer or Mount Aventine; for to a certainty, in the long run, all-powerful money will bring them back to just the same position as they were in when it wrought the severance. For, by Hercules! there was not an impost levied at Rome more grievous than the market-dues, an impost that aroused the indignation of the populace, who repeatedly appealed with loud clamours to all the chief men of the state to be relieved from it. At last they were relieved from this heavy tax upon their wares; and then it was found that there was no tax more lucrative, more readily collected, or less obnoxious to the caprices of chance, than the impost that was levied in exchange for it, in the shape of a property-tax, extended to the poorest classes: for now the very soil itself is their surety that paid the tax will be, their means are patent to the light of day, and the superficial extent of their possessions, whatever the weather may chance to be, always remains the same.
Cato, we find, speaks in high praise of garden cabbages: — indeed, it was according to their respective methods of garden cultivation that the agriculturists of early times were appreciated, and it was immediately concluded that it was a sign of a woman being a bad and careless manager of her family, when the kitchen-garden — for this was looked upon as the woman’s department more particularly — was negligently cultivated; as in such case her only resource was, of course, the shambles or the herb-market. But cabbages were not held in such high esteem in those days as now: indeed, all dishes were held in disrepute which required something else to help them down, the great object being to economize oil as much as possible; and as to the flesh-market, so much as a wish even to taste its wares was visited with censure and reproach. The chief thing that made them so fond of the garden was the fact that its produce needs no fire and ensures economy in fuel, and that it offers resources which are always ready and at hand. These articles of food, which from their peculiar nature we call “vinegar-diets,” were found to be easy of digestion, by no means apt to blunt and overload the senses, and to create but little craving for bread as an accompaniment. A portion of them which is still used by us for seasonings, attests that our forefathers used only to look at home for their resources, and that no Indian peppers were in request with them, or any of those other condi- ments which we are in the habit of seeking beyond the seas. In former times the lower classes of Rome, with their mimic gardens in their windows, day after day presented the reflex of the country to the eye, when as yet the multitudes of atrocious burglaries, almost innumerable, had not compelled us to shut out all such sights with bars to the passers by.
Let the garden, then, have its due meed of honour, and let not things, because they are common, enjoy for that the less share of our consideration — and the more so, as we find that from it men of the very highest rank have been content to borrow their surnames even; thus in the Valerian family, for instance, the Lactucini have not thought themselves disgraced by taking their name from the lettuce. Perhaps, too, our labours and research may contribute some slight re
commendation to this our subject; although, with Virgil, we are ready to admit how difficult it is, by language however elevated, to ennoble a subject that is so humble in itself.
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CHAP. 20.
THE LAYING OUT OF GARDEN GROUND.
There is no doubt that the proper plan is, to have the gar- dens adjoining the country-house; and they should be watered, more particularly, by a river running in front of it, if possible; or else with water drawn from a well by the aid of a wheel or of pumps, or by swipes. The ground should be opened just as the west winds are beginning to prevail; fourteen days after which it should be got ready for autumn, and then before the winter solstice it should have another turning up. It will require eight men to dig a jugerum, manure being mixed with the earth to a depth of three feet: the ground, too, should be divided into plots or beds with raised and rounded edges, each of which should have a path dug round it, by means of which access may be afforded to the gardener and a channel formed for the water needed for irrigation.
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CHAP. 21.
PLANTS OTHER THAN GRAIN AND SHRUBS.
Among the garden plants there are some that recommend themselves by their bulbs, others by the head, others by the stalk, others by the leaf, others by both: some, again, are valued for their seed, others for the outer coat, others for their membranous tissues, others for their cartilaginous substance, others for the firmness of their flesh, and others for the fleshy tunics in which they are enveloped.
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CHAP. 22.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF TWENTY DIFFERENT KINDS OF PLANTS WHICH GROW IN GARDENS — THE PROPER METHODS TO BE FOLLOWED IN SOWING THEM RESPECTIVELY.
Of some plants the fruits are in the earth, of others both in the earth and out of it, and of others, again, out of the earth solely. Some of them increase as they lie upon the ground, gourds and cucumbers, for instance; the same products will grow also in a hanging position, but they are much heavier even then than any of the fruits that grow upon trees. The cucumber, however, is composed of cartilage and a fleshy substance, while the gourd consists of rind and cartilage: this last is the only vegetable production the outer coat of which becomes of a ligneous nature, when ripe. Radishes, turnips, and rape are hidden in the earth, and so, too, are elecampane, skirrets, and parsnips, though in a different manner. There are some plants, again, to which we shall give the name of “ferulaceous,” anise and mallows, for instance; indeed, we find it stated by some writers that in Arabia the mallow be- comes arborescent at the sixth month, so much so, in fact, as to admit of its being used for walking-sticks. We have another instance, again, in the mallow-tree of Mauretania, which is found at Lixus, a city built upon an æstuary there; and at which spot, it is said, were formerly the gardens of the Hesperides, at a distance of two hundred paces from the Ocean, near the shrine of Hercules, more ancient, tradition says, than the temple at Gades. This mallow-tree is twenty feet in height, and of such a thickness that there is not a person in existence who is able with his arms to span its girth.
In the class of ferulaceous plants we must include hemp also. There are some plants, again, to which we must give the appellation of “fleshy;” such as those spongy productions which are found growing in damp meadows. As to the fungus, with a hard, tough flesh, we have already made mention of it when speaking of wood and trees; and of truffles, which form another variety, we have but very recently given a de- scription.
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CHAP. 23. (5.)
VEGETABLES OF A CARTILAGINOUS NATURE — CUCUMBERS. PEPONES.
The cucumber belongs to the cartilaginous class of plants, and grows above the ground. It was a wonderful favourite with the Emperor Tiberius, and, indeed, he was never without it; for he had raised beds made in frames upon wheels, by means of which the cucumbers were moved and exposed to the full heat of the sun; while, in winter, they were withdrawn, and placed under the protection of frames glazed with mirror-stone. We find it stated, also, by the ancient Greek writers, that the cucumber ought to be propagated from seed that has been steeped a couple of days in milk and honey, this method having the effect of rendering them all the sweeter to the taste. The cucumber, while growing, may be trained to take any form that may be wished: in Italy the cucumbers are green and very small, while those grown in some of the provinces are remarkably large, and of a wax colour or black. Those of Africa, which are also remarkably prolific, are held in high esteem; the same, too, with the cucumbers of Mœesia, which are by far the largest of all. When the cucumber acquires a very considerable volume, it is known to us as the “pepo.” Cucumbers when eaten remain on the stomach till the following day, and are very difficult of digestion; still, for all that, in general they are not considered very unwholesome. By nature they have a wonderful hatred to oil, and no less affection for water, and this after they have been cut from the stem even. If water is within a moderate distance of them, they will creep towards it, while from oil, on the other hand, they will shrink away: if any obstacle, too, should happen to arrest their progress, or if they are left to hang, they will grow curved and crooked. Of these facts we may be satisfactorily convinced in a single night even, for if a vessel filled with water is placed at four fingers’ distance from a cucumber, it will be found to have descended to it by the following morning; but if the same is done with oil, it will have assumed the curved form of a hook by the next day. If hung in a tube while in blossom, the cucumber will grow to a most surprising length. It is only of late, too, that a cucumber of entirely new shape has been produced in Campania, it having just the form of a quince. It was quite by accident, I am told, that the first one acquired this shape in growing, and it was from the seed of this that all the others have been reproduced. The name given to this variety is “melopepo.” These last do not grow hanging, but assume their round shape as they lie on the ground. A thing that is very remarkable in them, in addition to their shape, colour, and smell, is the fact that, when ripe, although they do not hang from the stem, they separate from it at the stalk.
Columella has given us a plan of his, by which we may have cucumbers the whole year round: the largest bramble-bush that can be procured is transplanted to a warm, sunny spot, and then cut down, about the time of the vernal equinox, to within a couple of fingers of the ground; a cucumber-seed is then inserted in the pith of the bramble, and the roots are well moulded up with fine earth and manure, to withstand the cold. According to the Greeks, there are three kinds of cu- cumbers, the Laconian, the Scytalic, and the Bœotian, the Laconian being the only one among them that is fond of the water.
There are some persons who recommend steeping the seed of the cucumber in the juice of the herb known as the “culix;” the produce, they say, will be sure to grow without seeds.
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CHAP. 24.
GOURDS.
Gourds resemble the cucumber in nature, at least in their manner of growing; they manifest an equal aversion to the winter, too, while they require constant watering and manure. Both cucumbers and gourds are sown in holes a foot and a half deep, between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice, at the time of the Parilia more particularly. Some persons, however, think it better to sow gourds after the calends of March, and cucumbers after the nones, and at the time of the Quinquatria. The cucumber and the gourd climb upwards in a precisely similar manner, their shoots creeping along the rough surface of the walls, even to the very roof, so great is their fondness for elevated spots. They have not sufficient strength, however, to support themselves without the aid of stays. Shooting upwards with the greatest rapidity, they soon cover with their light shade the arched roofs of the houses and the trellises on which they are trained. From this circum- stance it is that we find the gourd classified into two primary kinds, the roof-gourd, and the common gourd, which creeps upon the ground. In the first kind, from a stalk of remarkable thinness is suspended a fruit of consid
erable weight and volume, and quite immoveable by the action of the wind. The gourd, too, as well as the cucumber, admits of being lengthened to any extent, by the aid of osier tubes more particularly. Just after the blossom has fallen off, the plant is introduced into these tubes, and as it grows it can be made to assume any form that may be wished, that of a serpent coiled up being the one that is mostly preferred; if left at liberty to grow as it hangs, it has been known before now to attain to no less than nine feet in length.
The cucumber flowers gradually, blossom succeeding blossom; and it adapts itself perfectly well to a dry soil. It is covered with a white down, which increases in quantity as the plant gains in size.
The gourd admits of being applied to more numerous uses than the cucumber even: the stem is used as an article of food when young, but at a later period it changes its nature, and its qualities become totally different: of late, gourds have come to be used in baths for jugs and pitchers, but for this long time past they have been employed as casks for keeping wine. The rind is tender while the fruit is green, but still it is always scraped off when the gourd is used for food. It admits of being eaten several ways, and forms a light and wholesome aliment, and this although it is one of those fruits that are difficult of digestion by the human stomach, and are apt to swell out those who eat of them. The seeds which lie nearest to the neck of the gourd produce fruit of remarkable length, and so do those which lie at the lower extremities, though not at all comparable with the others. Those, on the other hand, which lie in the middle, produce gourds of a round shape, and those on the sides fruit that are thick and short. The seeds are dried by being placed in the shade, and when wanted for sowing, are steeped in water first. The longer and thinner the gourd is, the more agreeable it is to the palate, and hence it is that those which have been left to grow hanging are reckoned the most wholesome: these, too, have fewer seeds than the others, the hardness of which is apt to render the fruit less agreeable for eating.
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