THE GARDENER.

Agriculture is the first and noblest of all arts. It is this which manifests the preeminence of man, and which most distinguishes him from all other animals. In hunting and fishing, man has innumerable rivals. Many quadrupeds and birds excel in these two arts, but man alone cultivates the earth, and sows to gather the harvest.

This art is scarcely known to savage nations : for, till man becomes settled into fixed communities, it is neither his interest nor his
inclination, to derive advantages from the culture of the soil : he would, of course, learn from the inferior animals to gather some
of nature's produce, but his more ready means of support, would be the chase ; which is at this day the method adopted, for the most part, by the savages of America, to supply their wants.

Gardening must hare been, of course, for a long time, in a very rude and imperfect state. Even in England, many of the conveniences and luxuries supplied by the modern garden, is, comparatively, of recent introduction ; ingenuity and research are continually adding to the stock. Rewards from agricultural arid other societies, are now constantly held out to stimulate us to overcome the deficiences yet abounding in the produce of the earth, which operate to the perfection of this invaluable art, and to the advantage and support of mankind.

The Romans are said to have first brought cherries to this country, which was afterwards lost, and are supposed to have been brought in again from Flanders, by Richard Harris, fruiterer to Henry the Eighth.

The Perdrigon Plum was introduced by Lord Cromwell, in the reign of Henry the Seventh. Apricots were brought from Italy,
by Wolf, the King's Gardener, in 1524. The pale gooseberry came from Flanders about the same time, when figs were also introduced. The first mulberry -trees are said to be those which still remain at Sion-house.

Melons, cucumbers, and some other of the more expensive productions of the kitchen-garden, are said to have been very common in the time of Edward the Third. Oranges do not seem to have been grown in England before the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

It was in 1590, that the first two lime-trees were brought to England. The pine-apple was introduced about the time of Charles the
Second. The tea-tree was brought over from China, about sixty years ago. Artichokes were first grown in the time of Henry the
Eighth. Sir Anthony Ashley, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, first planted cabbages in England, which were brought from Holland :
and potatoes were introduced from America, by Sir Walter Raleigh, about 1580. Of Flowers, those which are not of our own indigenous growth improved by culture, the tube-rose was brought to Europe from the East Indies, about 1594, where it grows wild in Java and Ceylon. The Auricula which grows Wild among the long moss eovered with snow on the confines of Switzerland and Steyermark, was first cultivated with care by the Flemings.

The Crown Imperial was brought from Persia to Constantinople in the sixteenth century, and thence to Vienna; whence it was dispersed all over Europe.

The Persian Lily was brought from Susa to Constantinople. African and French Margolds, with the bella-donna lily, were brought
from South America. The first account we have of rue, in England, is in 1562. Lavender appears to have been cultivated in Europe but a short period before 1568. The Christmas-rose and the Iris, both natives of Italy, were unknown to the gardens of this country, till 1596. The Guernsey Lily was first cultivated in Europe, in the beginning of the seventeenth century.

The Gardener, who may be called a refined agriculturist, is one who is engaged in the management and cultivation of fruit-trees,
shrubs, flowers, plants, and vegetables of all kinds.

Gardens are distinguished into Flower, Fruit, and Kitchen-gardens. The first are for pleasure and ornament, and are therefore
placed in the most conspicuous situation ; the two latter are for service, and are made in more obscure and retired places. They were formerly distinct, but tbey are now generally united, because, they both require a good sou and exposure, and are generally placed out of view of the bouse.

The principal operations of the Gardener, are planting, and transplanting, engrafting, inoculating, pruning, sowing, &c. most of these are so well understood, that we shall only speak on the subject of engrafting, which is the art of inserting a shoot of one tree into
the stock of another, in order to obtain fruit of a specific character and known quality.

The implements necessary for this business, are a grafting-knife, a quantity of strings for bandages (Russia matting is very commonly used for this purpose,) to tie the stocks and grafts firmly together ; and some well-wrought clay to put over the tying, to secure them from the air and the wet.

When the grafts or shoots, which are generally to be preferred of the last year's growth are quite ready, fix upon a smooth part, of the stock, and then pare off the rind with a little bit of the wood in a sloping direction about an inch in length ; then, having the shoots cut into lengths with four or five eyes on each, prepare one to fit the stock exactfy, then cut a slit or tongue, about half an inch in length upwards in the shoot, and another the same length downwards in the stock to receive it ; and in that manuer, fix the graft in the stock, taking care that the sap and rind of both may join as exactly as possible in every part. Having thus fixed the graft, let it be immediately tied with a string of some material, bringing it several times round the graft and stock, taking care to preserve the graft in its proper position ; and let the bandage be neatly tied, and the place be covered with some grafting clay, in such a manner, that neither the air, the rays of the sun, nor the wet can enter. This is called whip-grafting, and is only one of several ways, in which ingrafting is preformed by Europeans.

The Chinese in place of raising fruit-trees from seeds or from grafts, as is the custom in Europe, have adopted the following method of increasing them.

They select a tree of that species which they wish to propagate, and fix upon such a branch as will least hurt or disfigure the tree
by its removal.

Round this branch, and as near as they can conveniently to its junction with the trunk, they wind a rope made of straw, besmeared
with cow dung, until a ball is formed, five or six times the diameter of the branch. This is intended as a bed into which the young roots tnaysboot. Having performed this part of the operation, they immediately, under the ball, divide the bark down to the wood, for nearly two-thirds of the circumference of the branch. A cocoa-nut shell, or small pot, is then hung over the ball with a hole in its bottom, so small, that water put therein will only fall in drops; by this, the rope is constantly kept moist, a circumstnace necessary to the easy admission of the young roots, and to the supply of nourishment of the branch from this new channel.

During three succeeding weeks, nothing farther is required, except supplying the vessels with water. At the expiration of that period, one-third of the remaining bark is cut, and the former incision is carried conciderably deeper into the wood, as by this time it is expected that some new roots have struck into the rope, and are giving their assistance in support of the branch.

After a similar period the same operation is repeated, and in about two months from the commencement of the process, the roots may generally be seen intersecting each other on the surface of the ball, which is a sign that they are sufficiently advanced to admit the separation of the branch from the tree. This is best done by sawing it off at the incision, care being taken. that the rope, which by this time is nearly rotten, is not shaken off by the motion. The branch is then planted as a young tree.

To succeed in Europe, in this operation, as vegetation is slower, a longer period would probably be necessary ; one month additional, will be however sufficient. The advantages arising from this method, are, that the trees so produced, will arrive much sooner to bearing fruit, than by the common method. The cultivation of flowers is a very pleasing employment; by a proper attention many flowers are brought from a mean and simple appearance, to a large, brilliant, and beautiful one. There are many florists' gardens in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, which, in the summer, afford a high gratification to those persons who have any relish for the smells and colours which nature, aided by art, so profusely scatters abroad. .

There are several kind of Gardeners ; some gain a living by looking after other peoples gardens ; for which they receive a certain sum per annum, according to the size of the garden, Otbers, live in gentlemen's houses, and, like domestics in general, receive wages for their labour, from twenty, to a hundred pounds per annum, according to their merit, or to what may be expected of them. Some Gardeners go out to day-work, whose wages are from three to five shillings a day.

Besides these, we have Market-Gardeners, that is, persons .who raise vegetables and fruit, which they expose to sale in markets
and other places. Gardens, for the raising of vegetables for sale, were first cultivated about Sandwich in Kent. The example was soon followed near the metropolis; and, perhaps, there is not a finer sight any where than Covent-Garden market, about six or seven o'clock in a morning of a Saturday, during the early part of the summer.

Within a few miles of the metropolis, there are supposed to be about five thousand acres of land constantly cultivated for the supply of the London markets with garden vegetables, exclusive of about eight hundred acres cropped with fruit of various kinds, and about seventeen hundred acres cultivated for potatoes.

In the parish of Fulham, the cultivation of gardens for the market is carried on to a greater extent than in any other part of the
kingdom. Tfae parishes of St. Paul's Deptford, Chiswick, Battersea and Mortlake, are celebrated fr their asparagus. Deptford is
also famous for the culture of onions for seed, of which, on an average, there are about twenty acres annually.