New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-01-06
.crNTURY's FLORlCULTURE.
,ovru OF THE ART IN THE UNITED
STATES.

co,,,ox FLOWERS WERE INTRODUCED
,.no, r,.RopE IN EXCHANGE FOR NATIVE
NTs-HoRTICULTURAL
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
GARDENING.
A earliest ages. and among the most
From '' me love Of flowers has existed.
savage 'd Identifying the rudest existences.
sofehne exchange OF civilizations came the en-
win '' ~ flowers and from the caucasus ana
change travelled westward the centifoha and
Danas' rose while the lilies and oleanders Of
damasN home with the Crusaders to blossom
syria "s wv Gardens beside the Egyptian lotus and
In hsnioc ;amarisk The whole known earth
inc an &c fragrance TO adorn a garden and
Nnhonee in Great Britain, and from the Cont
80 the plants journey TO our shores
u.,.h no first settlers came the seeds o. pot
W, and vegetables. along with the precious
- and barley. and doubtless many a home
,,,,n may have brought with her slip
:, ,oe--hriar or honeysuckle TO plant beside her
- door i'm the New World. As the clearings
- the housewife enlarged her borders and
suo, ,be,n with the sweet home flowers which
II, - her OF her far-away native land. As
,.s wen, on. and life, at first so hard and dan
corous became easier to the colonists. gardens
- 49,, about their statelier houses. and finding
r.. many 4 plant which hourished in the mild.
80, air NJ the tight little island failed TO bear
49,, scorchng heats and bitter winds of the more
,o~iaile seasons of the New Word they built
Conservatives ami lighthouses, and raised the more
delicate flowers under glass
hundred vars before the Revolution Lord
7,l,Uare took pains 20 make the little wooden
c,prch at jamestown. which he helped 10 build.
IN which Pocahontas was baptized "swcete and
favre with flowers custom which the sterner
fathers Of .ew-Ensland would have thought sa-
vored O, Popery. In Thomas Ash's Carolina;
at of
rublishod in 1872 We find that their gardens
also nosin 10 be beautified and adorned with such
Herbs and Flowers which to the Smell or Eye are
ploasjng and agreeable. viz, the Rose, Tulip, Car
nation, Lilly. etc"
WHEN WEEDS WERE CULTIVATED.
Many Of our common Haunting weeds were cult
waited carefully by the Puritans such as malows.
yarroNs bur ioCks. dandelions, catnip, mint fennel
and dill and from their borders they have strayed
all over the country, to be the pests or the gar
dener Cotton Mather tells us OF the medicinal
value OF garlic e.der sage. rice and saffron, and
the old remedies our foremothers were so ready
with still have traditional esteem IN remote
n,rts of New-England where the good wife gathers
her simples and compounds from the unsavory
draughts. All around them the colonists found
growing new and beautiful plants. about which
curiosity was keen in England. so that prompt
exchange began. full of interest on both sides.
Though many plants thus came and went there
such thing as botanical garden III
America until the days of John Bartram. worthy
Quaker. OF Darby. Penn, who was born March
O. 1899 He was bred a farmer and one day while
ploughing in the field let his eye fall upon a
daisy and forthwith reproached himself for never
before having taken the trouble 10 examine It's
structure. Thereupon he posted straight 10 fhiia-
delphia and obtained botany and Latin gram
mar. from which latter. by the aid of the village
schoolmaster he learned enough to be able 10
~ inns
From such simple beginnings came our first ma
tive botanist He entered into correspondence
with another Quaker in London. Peter Colinson'
distinguished naturalist and antiquary' and by
him was taught 10 preserve and transmit MS
snecimens across the Atlantic. Bartram purchased
niece Of ground near Philadelphia. where he
established botanical garden. which has now
been acquired park by the city. on II stili
stands the curious old house he built with his own
hands and the ancient cypress which came with
him in his sad1le-bags from Delaware and which
he planted on the spot Through Collinson's
agency Bartran was appointed botanst TO the
King and in that capacity travelled far and wide
upon this continent. sending many plants and trees
10 Eng and. for such distinguished collectors as
Lord Petre and the Duke OF Richmond. As early
as l742 the former nobleman had already Imported
10 900 American shrubs and trees. In 17S5 we find
Collnson sending. in addition 10 various fruit and
shade trees many flowers which seem to have
been new 10 America to Bartram with others. Ike
lilacs and double narcissus. which Bartram com
plains are already too numerous as the roots
brought by the early settlers had spread enor-
nously.
NEW FLOWERS FOR AMERICA
Among these we find tulips. double sweei-briar
roses twenty sorts of crocus. lilies. narcissus
gladiolus iris and snapdragon. also the perennial
Oriental poppy cyclamens and carnations. while
in return Bartram sends Collinson bush honey
suckles fiery lilies. mountain-aurel. meadia, dog
tooth yiolets. wild asters. gentians, ginseng and
sweet-fern, with magnolia. tulip and locust trees
the hornbeam. witchhazel cones OF the spruce and
hemock red and white cedar. and seeds OF the
sugar maple. about which the Engishmen were
very curious Bartram. who lived 10 the age of
seventy eight. succeeded in his love OF flowers
oy his son William, who carried on his researches
or the services OF Humphrey Marshall ard
Andre Michaux, OF Nuttall and DR.. Gray, there
is room to speak, though our gardens owe much
TO their discoveries II Is evident that before the
Revolution. the Horticulture OF the colonists was
already well advanced, and that the gardens OF
the well-todo could even then be easily supplied
with native and foreign plants In profusion
Does any modern garden. however carefully ar
ranged however beautifully furnished with ever
blooming and flowers OF marvellous size and
color touch quite in the same way as did the
simpler flower beds, tended by loving hands. with
labor snatched from other pressing occupation?
Perhaps IL was the childish eyes which viewed
hem that makes them seem so spacious ana
brilliant; possibly IT has TO do with the dear old
ladies who showed them TO with modest pride.
cullng a nosegay the while from the sweet-scented
and bright-hued collection. which impressed us
the essence OF all sweetness, or II may be that
all sorts Of youthful fancies may have entwined /
themselves about those flowers; that mingled with /
them is a memory OF a soft voice and blush, with
which a tender maiden thanked one for the bou-
quet. the manly tremble in the voice which /
offered girl "A rose with a heart in it-who shall
say? After all. whatever has "A personal touch +
means most 10 us. whether in art or nature, and
we loving hands which toiled In those gardens /
gave TO them something which the most skiIful /
Sa'aener cannot furnish "a memory and an asso-
citation.
1GreL is nainIInling slZe