The mountain Democrat., 1865-02-18

OF daily LIE. The lover crowned himself
with flowers when he went to visit his
MISTRESS, 8Sa9 41r9AD0s OF flowers upon
her doos ,soAfN adorned with wreaths the
Stae0eS OF che dTt1mcies Rh0 were SUD.
I posed to preside over love or marriage.
Scarcely any one entered temple un-
crowned, and according to the character
Of the deity worshiped there, the flowers
of the wreath were changed.
Again, when the Athenians repaired to
the theater, which contained an audience
OF between twenty and thirty thousand
persons, nearly every one wore q garland
on his head. At private parties, likewise,
when they dined or drank together, their
brows were decked with flowers, while
the apartments, in some instances, we're
covered so deeply with roses that they re.
clined upon them as upon sofas. This
taste, that prevailed more or less through.
out the whole country, as well as in Mag.
ma Gi3cia, Sicily, and Asia Minor, NAV
convey some idea of the extent Of floral
cultivation, which everywhere constituted
an important branch of industry Just as
the cultivation of roses still does in parts
of Central Egypt, and the northern prov.
inces Of India. In these eastern countries
vast quantities Of roses are needed for the
manufacture of altar, the most lasting and
dellrate perfume ever invented by man.
In the present day, the Greeks convert
roses TO several uses not much thought of
in the West. At Athens, for example, is
made conserve Of roSes imported occa.
sionally into England, which may be reck.
oned among the most delicious articles of
luxury that can be imagined, being equal.
ly remarkable for taste and scent, as well
as for its power Of stimulating digestion
aud promqing health.
Whoever has tasted the apples of Greece
will readily believe the extent to which
they were exported from that country in
antiquity. So, again, the pears, the pom
egranates, the figs and the water melons,
which cool the travellers lips as he tolls
through the fiery holows Of the Morea,
have always been esteemed the finest in
the Lcvant. But what in commercial
times are regarded exclusively as articles
of profit, were at an earlier period of the
worlds history looked upon from a more
poetical point Of view. 1t was doubtless
the sight Of oranges, when by some Gre
clan wanderer they were beheld for the
first time on the warm and lovely slo, ,e>
of Mount Atlas, that formed the germ of
the myth about the gardens Of the Hes
perl1eS, and caused the trees that bore
them to be stolen from the African shores,
and acclimated among the llellenes. Even
now, when the thing is Of daily occur.
renee, the view Of an orange or ci,ron
grove is one Of the most beautiful that can
be imagined, some of the fruit peeping
through the green foliage like golden
spheres; Others partly Of the color Of the
leaf, partly yell"w; while an abundance OF
expanded or unfolding blossoms till the
| whole atmosphere With an Intoxicating
fragrance. Experience proves what might
otherwise be attributed to the fancy, that
the soil Of Attica is so sweet that every
thing planted in it acquires an additional
dclicacy Of flavor. Thus, pear trees trans
planted from Malta to the gardens of Ma.
ronsi, a village about seven miles from
Athens, not only produce most delicious
pears, but begin to bear the very first sea
son. If such be the case now, when gar
dening can hardly be said to be studied at
NIL in the dominionS Of the young Danish
king, what must it have been of old, when
the most practiced, Skillful, and StudiouS
Of gardeners exhausted their ingenuity in
the attempt to please the palates Of their
faStidinuS countrymen.
We have said that the grounds IF All
Athenan gentleman were devoted partly
to flowers. partly to vegetables, and parity
to trees; but there was cculiar ordrI
in the arrangement, bv which what was
beautiful WAS brought Immediately under
the eye, while that which merely minis
tered to utility was fenced off and screen
ed from observation by copSes 0i agnu>
caStuS or rho1odendrOns, or myrtle, or
oleandcr, which, at the proper periods OF
the year, extended blaze of blossoms
between the kitchen garden and the floraI
department. Among the citizens of tn"
fierce democracy" something Of oriental
tastes and manners continued to prevail
down 20 a very late period the window :
Of the female apartments were usually
turned toward the garden, so that, shaded
by amber or purple hangingS, they could
lean on the silS Of marble or carved ce.
dar, and gaze forth in the cool of the morn
ing upon the bOsquets Of arbatus. CT the
broad waves of pear, apple and pome-
granate blossoms, which led the eye to-
ward the foot of Hymettus, the home OF
the Attic bee, or down to the banks of
the IliSsuS.. shaded by plane trees, and
dotted at intervals with cupolas Of white
marble which gittered like newly carved
alabaster in the sun. And here we may
as we'll notice trait of Athenian man
ners, which will be thought to reflect some
credit on the enterpri>ing and graSping
! Demos, as the men of Dorian blood were
wont to dcnominate it. So little fear had
gentlemen that their gardens would he
plundered by the people, that footpathS
often traversed their orchards, their vine
yards, and their kitchen gardens. One
mans grounds were, moreover, separated
from another's not by high walls or insur-
mountablc fences, but by rows of olive or
plane trees, thirty or forty feet apart or
by loose hedges Of the fragrant phillyrsa,
with frequent gaps, and banks studded
with wild flowers. 1t was even customary
among the more opuent and noble citi
zens to invite the people not only to stroll
at will through their grounds, whenever
they thought proper, to pluck and eat the
fruit, and there is no instance on record
of this liberty having been abused. 1t
may be that the object of such generosity
was to acquire popularity; but, if so. il
was easily gained and most harmlessly
enjoyed.
A phrase, which often occurs in Greek
literature, refers to rule invariably OBJ
served in the laying out Of garden
"You have not proceeded beyond the
rule" To understand the import of this
expression, it must be observed, that wher
you left Grecian home, and strOlled forth
into the garden. the first thing you en-