Horticulture (from hortus, garden, and colo, I till) includes in its most extensive signification, the cultivation of esculent vegetables, fruits and ornamental plants, and the formation and management of rural scenery for the purposes of utility and embellishment. The earliest effort of man to emerge from a state of barbarism was directed to the tillage of the earth: the first seed which he planted was the first act of civilization, and gardening was the first step in the career of refinement; but still it is an art in which he last reaches perfection. When the savage exchanges the wild and wandering life of a warrior and hunter, for the confined and peaceful pursuits of a planter, the harvests, herds, and flocks take the place of the simple garden. The mechanic arts are next developed; then commerce commences, and manufactures soon succeed. As wealth increases, ambition manifests itself in the splendor of apparel, of mansions, equipages and entertainments. Science, literature, and the fine arts are unfolded, and a high degree of civilization is attained. It is not until all this has taken place, that horticulture is cultivated as one of the ornamental arts.

Egypt, the cradle of civilization, so far perfected her tillage, that the banks of the Nile were adorned by a succession of luxuriant plantations, from the cataract of Syene to the shores of the Delta; but it was when Thebes with its hundred brazen gates, and the cities of Memphis and Heliopolis, were rising in magnificence, and her stupendous pyramids, obelisks, and temples, became the wonders of the world. The hills and plains of Palestine were celebrated for beautiful gardens; but it was not until the walls and temple of Jerusalem announced the power and intelligence of the Israelites, and the prophets had rebuked their luxury and extravagance. The queen of the East "had heard of the fame of Solomon;" his fleets had brought him the gold of Ophir, and the treasures of Asia and Africa; the kings of Tyre and Arabia were his tributaries, and princes his merchants, when he "made orchards," "delighted to dwell in gardens," and planted the "vineyard of Baalhaman." The Assyrians had peopled the borders of the Tigris and Euphrates, from the Persian gulf to the mountainous regions of Ararat, and their monarchs had founded Nineveh and Babylon, before we hear of the gardens of Semiramis. The Persian empire had extended from the Indus to the Archipelago, when the paradise of Sardis excited the astonishment of a Spartan general, and Cyrus mustered the Grecian auxiliaries in the spacious garden of Celaenae. The Greeks had repulsed the invasions of Darius and Xerxes, and Athens had reached the height of her glory, when Cimon established the Academus, and presented it to his fellow citizens as a public garden.

Numerous others were soon planted, and decorated with temples, porticoes, altars, statues and triumphal monuments; but this was during the polished age of Pericles, when Socrates and Plato taught philosophy in the sacred groves; when the theatre was thronged to listen to the poetry of Euripedes and Aristophanes; when the genius of Phidias was displayed in rearing the Parthenon and sculpturing the statues of the gods; when eloquence and painting had reached perfection, and history was illustrated by Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon. Rome had subjugated the world, and emulated Athens in literature, science, and the arts, when the superb villas of Sallust, Crassus, Pompey, Caesar, Maecenas and Agrippina were erected, and the palaces of the emperors were environed by magnificent gardens. The history of modern nations presents similar results. Horticulture long lingered in the rear of other pursuits. Most of the common fruits, flowers and oleraceous vegetables which had been collected by the Greeks and Romans, from Egypt, Asia and other distant climes, were successively extended over Western Europe; but so gradual was their progress, after the dark ages, that, till the reign of Henry VIII., scarcely any kitchen vegetables were cultivated in England, and the small quantity consumed was imported from Holland. Fuller observes, that "gardening was first brought into England, for profit, about the commencement of the 17th century.

Peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, pears, cherries, strawberries, melons, and grapes, were luxuries but little enjoyed before the time of Charles II., who introduced French gardening at Hampton court, Carlton and Marlborough, and built the first hot and ice houses. At this period Evelyn translated the "Complete Gardener," and a treatise on orange trees, by Quintinyne; and, having devoted the remainder of his life to the cultivation of his rural seat at Sayes court, near Deptford, and the publication of his Sylva, Terra, Pomona, and Acetaria, he "first taught gardening to speak proper English." In the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Italy, a formal and very imperfect system of gardening was practised with considerable success; but it was generally in a languishing condition, throughout the world, until the commencement of the 18th century, when it attracted the attention of some of the first characters of Great Britain; but the establishment of the present improved style of horticulture is of very recent date. "Bacon was the prophet, Milton the herald, and Addison, Pope and Kent the champions of true taste." The principles which were developed in their writings, and those of Shenstone, the Masons, and Wheatley, were successfully applied by Bridgeman, Wright, Brown, and Eames; the system soon became popular, and gradually extended over Europe, and ultimately reached the United States. But the labours of the London Horticultural Society have mainly contributed to the perfection and present high estimation of gardening.

That noble institution has given an impetus to cultivation, which is felt in the remotest countries. Its example has been followed in the most flourishing kingdoms of the eastern continent, and many similar institutions have been founded in the United States. The effect of these is to diffuse through every country the knowledge and products of all. The history, literature and science of gardening, open a wide field for study and inquiry. The pleasure which gardens afforded men, even in the earliest times, appears from the scriptural account of the garden of Eden. The garden of Gethsemane, and that of the good and just Arimathean, are memorable in the sacred history of the Messiah. The Elysian fields were the heaven of classic mythology, and the devout Mussulman hopes to renew his existence in a celestial paradise. The bards, scholars and philosophers of the classic ages, have transmitted descriptions of the gardens of the ancients, from those in which Homer places the palace of Alcinous and the cottage of Laertes, to the splendid villas of Pliny and Lucullus. Among the ancient Greek writers, Hesiod, Theophrastus, Xen-ophon and AElian treated of gardens to a certain extent; and the works of those who wrote after the seat of government was removed to Constantinople were collected under the title of Geoponica, and have been translated by Owen. Among the Latins, Varro was the first author, to whom succeeded Cato, Pliny the Elder, Columella and Palladius. Passages are to be found, relative to the subject, in Martial, Virgil and Horace; but Pliny's Natural History, and Columella's book on gardens, contain the most correct information on Roman horticulture.

Literature and the arts having revived in Italy, that country was the first to produce books on agriculture and gardening, and that of Crescenzia became celebrated. The field and garden cultures of Italy are so nearly allied, and horticulture and agriculture have been so blended by the writers, that it is difficult to ascertain under which department to include their works. The best for general information on the tillage of that delightful region is the Annali dell' Agricultura. The Germans, as in all the branches of letters, science, and arts, have an immense number of books in the department of gardening, especially on the subject of planting and forest trees. Those which furnish the best idea of the state of culture in that country, are Dietrich's Worterbuch, with the supplement of 1820, and Sickler's Deutsche Handwirtshaft. The Dutch excel more in the practice than the literature of gardening. They have no work of very recent date; that of Comelin, which was published about the middle of the 17th century, is among the earliest; and those of La Court and Van Osten are said to be among the best that have appeared.

The Journal of a Horticultural Tour in Holland and Flanders, by a deputation of the Caledonian Horticultural Society, gives the most satisfactory account of gardening in that part of the continent, in 1817. The TransactionsoftheStockholm and Upsal academies furnish the chief information which is to be obtained, in relation to the rural economy of Sweden. The first author was Rudbeck, who was a cotemporary of Commelin. Russia and Poland have produced but very few original books on horticulture. The Agricultural Transactions occasionally published by a society in Warsaw, with those of the Economical Society of St. Petersburg, may be considered as affording the most accurate intelligence as to the culture of those countries. In the latter city is an extensive imperial botanical garden, which being under the direction of able professors, emulates those of the more favoured portions of southern Europe. The only recorded source for obtaining any knowledge of Spanish tillage, are the Transactions of the Royal Agricultural Society of Madrid. The horticultural literature of France is of an early date, and the authors are not only numerous, but many of them in the highest repute.

Etienne and Belon were the pioneers, while Du Hamel, Girardin, D'Argen-ville, Rossier, Tessier,Calvel, Noisette, Du Petit Thours, Jean and Gabriel Thouin, Bose and Vicomte Haricart de Thury, may be considered as among the most able of their followers, in the various branches of rural economy. For a general knowledge of French culture, the Nouveau Cours d'Agriculture, in thirteen volumes, published in 1810, should be consulted; but the most valuable publications on the existing mode of gardening, are the monthly Annates de la Societe d'Horticulture, the Annates de VInstitut Royal Horti-cole de Framont, and the Bon Jardinier, an annual publication compiled by professor Poiteau and Vilmorin. The first English treatise on rural economy was Fitzherbert's Book of Husbandry, which was published in 1634. The works of Tusser, George and Platt soon after appeared, and, early in the 18th century, the celebrated treatise of Jethro Tull excited much attention; and several new works of considerable merit were announced before 1764, when the valuable publications of Arthur Young, Marshal, and numerous other authors, spread a knowledge of cultivation, and cherished a taste for rural improvements, throughout Great Britain. The literature of horticulture rapidly advanced; but as many of the most eminent writers have been named, in treating of the science and art of gardening, it is unnecessary to mention them in this place.

The citizens of the United States have been chiefly dependent on England for books relating to agriculture and gardening. Still several have appeared by native writers, which are highly creditable to the authors and the country; especially those which relate to the botanical department. Muhlen-burg, Bigelow, Eliot, Torry, Colden, Bartram, Barton, Hosack, Mitchel, Darlington, Ives, Dewey and Hitchcock, are entitled to great praise for their successful attempts to illustrate the American flora. One of the earliest writers on husbandry was Belgrove, who published a treatise on husbandry, in Boston, in 1755; and in 1790 Deane'sNew England Farmer appeared; but McMahon, Cox, Thacher, Adlam, Prince, Buntly, Butler, Nicholson and Fessenden, since the commencement of the present century, have produced works on the various cultures of the United States, which are generally circulated, and held in great estimation. The scientific relations of horticulture are numerous, and require an extensive acquaintance with the various branches of natural history and physics. Botany, mineralogy, chemistry, hydraulics, architecture and mechanics must furnish their several contributions, which it is the province of the artist to apply.

After the illustrious Linnaeus published his system of Nature, botany became a popular science, and a variety of interesting elementary works awakened attention to the beauties of nature, and a passion for experimental and orna-mental planting was induced, which has been productive of great results. Mineralogy enables us to obtain ac-curate knowledge of terrestrial substances, and the mode of distinguishing the divers kinds of earths, which constitute a cultivable soil; and chemistry instructs us as to the nature and properties of these various earths, having for its objects, when applied to horticulture, all those changes in the arrangements of matter, which are connected with the growth and nourishment of plants, the comparative value of their produce as food, the constitution of soils, the manner in which lands are enriched by manure, or rendered fertile by the different processes of cultivation. Inquiries of such a nature cannot but be interesting and important, both to the theoretical horticulturist and the practical gardener. To the first they are necessary in applying most of the fundamental principles on which the theory of the art depends.

To the second they are useful in affording simple and easy experiments for directing his labours, and for enabling him to pursue a certain and systematic plan of improvement. To hydraulics belong, not only the conducting and raising of water with the construction of pumps and other engines for those purposes, but the laws which explain the nature of springs and fountains. By the principles of that science, artificial lakes, canals and aqueducts are formed, irrigations projected, and water rendered subservient to the useful purposes of life, as well as to the embellishments of pleasure-grounds by jets d'eau, cascades and streams. Architecture, as a branch of horticulture, is of the first importance. Without its aid, it would be impossible to give that propriety and elegance to the scenery, and to produce that pleasing effect, which is the chief object of landscape gardening. Mechanics, in all its branches, is required for the purposes of horticulture. Great improvements have been effected in gardening within the last half century. During the age of Cicero, a formal kind of gardening prevailed, characterized by clipped hedges and long avenues of trees.

Pliny the Younger has given an account of his villa at Laurentum, and from the description, it was rather distinguished for its numerous superb edifices, extensive prospects, and the systematical arrangement of the pleasure grounds, than for the improvements and decorations of the surrounding scenery, in accordance with those principles which are derived from a close observance of the pleasing effects of nature. The rural residences of the Romans appear to have been mere places of temporary retreat, and were planted with odoriferous flowers and shrubs and ornamented rather by the civil architect than the horticultural artist. From the establishment of the papal government to the commencement of the 13th century, the monks were the only class of persons who attended to ornamental gardening. After that period, the style prevalent throughout Europe consisted in tall hedges, square parterres fantastically planted, straight walks, and rows of trees uniformly placed and pruned. In fact, but little improvement was made from the time of the emperors Vespasian and Titus until the reign of George III. of England. It is true, Hampton Court had been laid out by Cardinal Wolsey; Le Notre had planted Greenwich and St. James's Park during the reign of Charles II.; and, in that of George II., Queen Caroline had enlarged Kensington Gardens, and formed the Serpentine river; but Lord Ba-thurst was the first who deviated from straight lines, as applied to ornamental pieces of water, by following the natural courses of a valley.

Still, what has been emphatically called the Dutch system universally prevailed, and the shearing of yew, box and holly into formal figures of various kinds, and the shaving of river banks into regular slopes, went on until their absurdity became contemptible, and a better and more natural taste was induced. Verdant sculpture, regular precision in the distribution of compartments and rectangular boundary walls, yielded to more chaste designs. Bridgeman succeeded to Loudon (not the distinguished author) and Wise, and became a distinguished artist; he rejected many of the absurd notions of his predecessors, and enlarged the bounds of horticulture. Other innovators departed from the rigid rules of symmetry; but it was reserved for Kent to realize the beautiful descriptions of the poets, and carry the ideas of Milton, Pope, Addison and Mason more extensively into execution. According to Lord Walpole, he was painter enough to taste the charms of landscape, sufficiently hold and opinionative to dare and to dictate, and horn with a genius to strike out a great system from the twilight of imperfect essays. He leaped the fence, and saw that all nature was a garden. The great principles on which he worked were perspective, light and shade.

Groups of trees broke a too extensive lawn; evergreens and wood were opposed to the glare of the champaign, and, by selecting favourite objects, and veiling deformities, he realized the compositions of the great masters in painting. Where objects were wanting to animate his horizon, his taste as an architect could immedi-; ately produce them. His buildings,; his temples, his seats, were more the work of his pencil than of his science as a constructor. He bade adieu to all the stiff modes of canals, circular basins, and cascades tumbling over marble steps. Dealing in none but the true colours of nature, and seizing upon its most interesting features, a new creation was gradually presented. The living landscape was chastened or polished, not transformed. The elegant works of Repton, the unrivalled essays of Price on the picturesque, and the valuable publications of Gilpin,Madock, Panty, Sang and Loudon, with those of many other writers on landscape and ornamental gardening, have had an extensive influence in promoting correct ideas of natural scenery.

The improved style of horticulture, every where apparent in Great Britain, attracted the attention of the other nations of Europe, and English gardening became the designation fur all that was beautiful in that pleasing art - the synonyme of perfection in rural culture. At the period when this new system of laying out ground was gaining converts, and began to be practically adopted, Viscount Girardin, a French military officer of high rank, travelled through England, and, on his return, he not only improved his seat at Ermenonville in conformity to that style, but published a work of great celebrity on the Composition des Paysages sur le Terrain, ou des Moyens d'embcllir la Nature pres des Habitations. The French style of laying out gardens had been settled by Le Notre, during the reign of Louis XIV., and continued in repute for upwards of a century; (or it appears to have been in vogue as late as 1770. The court and nation wished to be dazzled by novelty and singularity, and his long, clipped alleys, triumphal arches, richly decorated parterres, his fountains and cascades, with their grotesque and strange ornaments, his groves full of architecture and gilt trellises, and his profusion of statues, enchanted every class of observers.

His principal works were the gardens of Versailles, Meudon, St. Cloud, Sceaux, Chantilly, and the terrace of St. Germain. Gray, the poet, was struck with their splendor when filled with company, and when the water-works were in full action; but Lord Kaimes says, they would tempt one to believe, that nature was below the notice of a great monarch. Le Notre was succeeded by Dufresny, who, differing considerably in taste from that great artist, determined on inventing a more picturesque style; but his efforts were rarely carried into full execution. He, however, constructed in a manner superior to his predecessor, the gardens of Abbe Pajot and those of Moulin and Chemin creux. After the peace of 1762, the English system began to pass into France, and portions of ancient gardens were destroyed, to make way for young plantations a l'Anglaise. Laugier was the first author who espoused the English style, and the next in order was Prevot. It was at this time that Viscount Girardin commenced his improvements at Ermenonville, and the change of the horticultural taste in France, may be referred to the last quarter of the 18th century. The English style has gradually found its way into most civilized countries.

Only 25 years have elapsed since the London Horticultural Society was established, and there are now more than 50 similar institutions in Great Britain, which still maintains the first rank in the art; but France is making great efforts to rival her. A horticultural society was established in Paris in 1S26, and has already more than two thousand members, and the number is rapidly increasing. It has been patronised by the court, and most of the nobles and men of distinction in France have eagerly united with the proprietors of estates and practical cultivators to collect and disseminate intelligence throughout that flourishing empire. In the various provinces where horticultural societies have not been founded, those of agriculture, or of the sciences and arts, have established departments expressly devoted to that interesting pursuit; and during the year 1827, a practical and theoretical institution was founded at Fromont, by the enlightened and mu-nificient Chevalier Soulange Bodin, for educating gardeners, and introducing improvements in every department of horticulture. The garden contains about 130 acres, and is divided into compartments for every variety of culture.

Extensive green - houses, stoves and orangeries have been erected, and all the other appendages furnished, which are requisite for rendering the establishment effectual for instruction and experiment. The nursery of the Luxembourg long supplied a great part of Europe with fruit trees. The Jardin desPlantes, in Paris, includes compartments, which may be considered as schools for horticulture, planting, agriculture, medical botany and general economy, and is unquestionably the most scientific and best managed establishment in Europe. The flower garden of Malmaison, the botanical garden of Trianon, and numerous nursery, herb, medicinal, experimental and botanical gardens, in various parts of the kingdom, are pre-eminent for the variety, number and excellence of their products. Holland has been distinguished, since the period of the crusades, for her flower gardens, culinary vegetables, and plantations of fruit trees. The north of Europe and the United States are still dependent upon her florists for the most splendid varieties of bulbous-rooted plants; and her celebrated nurseries, which have long replenished those of Europe, have been recently fortunate in the acquisition of Van Mons and Duquesne. Some of the finest fruits of our gardens were produced by these indefatigable experimentalists, and, with the excellent varieties created by Knight, promise to replace those which have either become extinct, or are so deteriorated in quality's to discourage their cultivation.

From St. Petersburg to the shores of the Mediterranean, horticulture has made a rapid progress, and each nation is emulous to perfect its culture, in accordance with the most improved principles of science, art and taste. In the United States, a like spirit has been more recently developed. Horticultural societies have been instituted in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Albany, Geneva, and South Carolina, and a zealous disposition evinced to compete with the nations of the eastern continent. The environs of many of the cities are in a high state of cultivation, and the markets are beginning to be well stocked with numerous varieties of fruits and vegetables. It is now the duty of American cultivators to reciprocate the benefits which they have so long received from their transatlantic brethren, and to develope the resources of a country, which offers such an extensive range of research to the naturalist. Many of the most useful and magnificent acquisitions of the groves, fields, gardens and conservatories of Europe are natives of the western hemisphere. The indigenous forest trees, ornamental shrubs, flowers, fruits, and edible vegetables of North America, are remarkable for their variety, size, splendour or value.

Extending from the pole to the tropics, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, North America embraces every clime, and every variety of soil, teeming with innumerable specimens of the vegetable kingdom. With such advantages, most of which are included within the United States, it is to be expected that the citizens will be as distinguished for their advancement in rural economy as in civil and religious freedom. The natural divisions of horticulture are the esculent or kitchen garden, seminary, nursery, fruit trees, and vines, flower garden, green-houses, arboretum of ornamental trees and shrubs, the botanical and medical garden, and landscape or picturesque gardening. Each of these departments requires to be separately studied before it can be managed so as to combine utility and comfort with ornament and recreation. To accomplish this on a large scale, artists, scientific professors, and intelligent and experienced practical superintendents, are employed in Europe, but they have not as yet been much required in the United States. The owners of the soil have generally designed and executed such improvements as have been made in the conveniences and embellishments of country residences. The kitchen garden is an indispensable appendage to every rural establishment.

In its simplest form, it is the nucleus of all others. Containing small compartments for the culture of esculent vegetables, fruits and ornamental plants, these may be gradually extended, until the whole estate assumes the imposing aspect of picturesque or landscape scenery. The details of the several grand divisions of horticulture are to be learned from the numerous authors who have devoted their especial attention to each, and those which have been named, with many others, should be consulted by every gentleman who wishes to participate in the comforts and luxuries of a garden. The most valuable and interesting branches of gardening to the citizens of the United States, generally, are of course those which include the culture of esculent vegetables, fruits and ornamental plants. These may be enjoyed, in various degrees, by all the proprietors of the soil. It is only necessary that information should be disseminated, and examples presented by the more intelligent and opulent, to remove the too common prejudice, that gardens are costly and useless appendages, requiring great expenditure and labour, without any adequate profit or satisfaction.

So far from this, there is not a farmer, not an owner of an acre of land, who will not be enriched or gratified by devoting a portion of his industry to the tillage of a garden: they may find many hours which can be thus profitably and pleasantly employed. Personal attention, with judicious arrangements, and a proper division of labour, will accomplish much. Many of the most valuable products of agriculture were first introduced, and their qualities tested, in the garden. "If, therefore," says the learned and eloquent Poiteau, "we would ascend to the origin of Agriculture, it is in the garden that her cradle will be found. There, like the young Hercules, she first tried her powers, and prepared, like him, to overrun the world, which she speedily cleared of monsters, and bestowed upon man the laws of civilization." Although commendable efforts have been made, in several parts of the country, to introduce and multiply all kinds of esculent vegetables, most of the choice varieties of fruits, and many of the ornamental trees and plants, still there is a general and lamentable negligence of this delightful culture.

In England, the eye is continually struck with cottages embowered amidst fruit trees, shrubs and flowers, while a neat compartment of esculent vegetables supplies much of the food for the support of the inmates. In Germany, Holland, and a portion of Italy, it is the general attention which all ranks bestow upon the grounds surrounding their habitations, that gives such a pleasing aspect to those countries. But little attention has been paid in the United States to the planting of forest trees, ornamental shrubs and flowers, although the native varieties are numerous, highly valued in other countries, and constitute the most interesting exhibitions in those celebrated establishments, which are enriched by collections from all quarters of the globe. Arboriculture claims attention, not merely for the purposes of rural embellishment, but to replace the valuable timber trees, which are fast disappearing throughout the Atlantic states. The forest trees of North America exceed 140, while in Europe there are only 37. There are 53 species of the oak, 17 of the pine, 15 of the walnut, and 8 of the maple.

Of those magnificent trees which compose the genus of the magnolia, but 15 are known, 9 of which belong to the United States. In all ages and countries, flowers have been universally cherished. "Who," asks Boursault, "does not love flowers? They embellish our gardens; they give a more brilliant lustre to our festivals; they are the interpreters of ouraffections; they are the testimonials of our gratitude; we present them to those to whom we are under obligations; they are often necessary to the pomp of our religious ceremonies, and they seem to associate and mingle their perfumes, with the purity of our prayers, and the homage which we address to the Almighty. Happy are those who love and cultivate them."The ancients paid particular attention to flowers. They were in great request at the entertainments of the wealthy; they were scattered before the triumphal chariots of conquerors; they formed the distinguishing insignia of many divinities; they glitter as gems in the diadem of the seasons, and constitute the mystical language of poetry. We are told that Descartes prosecuted, with equal ardour, astronomy and the culture of flowers.

The great Conde devoted his leisure hours to that delightful pursuit, and the vase of flowers was daily renewed upon the table of Lord Bacon, while composing the volumes of his sublime philosophy. In the cities of Europe, flower-markets, for the sale of bouquets and ornamental plants, are as common as those for fruits. In this new world, these delicate daughters of the sun have' not received that attention which indicates the highest state of civilization: but a taste for floriculture is increasing throughout the Union, and ornamental plants embellish the country seats of the opulent and the dwellings of honest industry. Botanical gardens have been established in several of the states, and the large cities can now boast of their marts and exhibitions of flowers. One of the greatest impediments to the progress of horticulture in the United States has been the deficiency of nurseries, both as to number and extent. They are not only requisite for furnishing the various kinds of trees and plants which are demanded for utility and embellishment, but to give publicity to the most valuable and interesting species, as well as to excite a taste for their cultivation.

These establishments, however, have been much increased and improved within a few years, and there are several in the vicinity of Boston, New York, Albany, Philadelphia, and in the district of Columbia, which are highly creditable to the proprietors and to the country." - Encyc. Am.