On the Portraits of English Authors on Gardening,: with Biographical Notices of Them, 2nd edition, with considerable additionsFelton, Samuel
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On the Portraits of English Authors on Gardening,: with Biographical Notices of Them, 2nd edition, with considerable additions
Felton, Samuel
Gardening -- Bibliography; Horticulturists -- England
"What can your eyes desire to see, your ears to hear, your mouth to
tast, or your nose to smell, that is not to be had in an Orchard, with
abundance and variety? What more delightsome than an infinite variety of
sweet smelling flowers? decking with sundry colours, the greene mantle
of the earth, vniuersall mother of vs all, so by them bespotted, so
dyed, that all the world cannot sample them, and wherein it is more fit
to admire the Dyer, than imitate his workemanship. Colouring not onely
the earth, but decking the ayre, and sweetning euery breath and spirit.
"The rose red, damaske, veluet, and double double prouince rose, the
sweet muske rose, double and single, the double and single white rose.
The faire and sweet senting Woodbinde, double and single, and double
double. Purple cowslips, and double cowslips, and double double
cowslips. Primerose double and single. The violet nothing behinde the
best, for smelling sweetly. A thousand more will prouoke your content.
"And all these, by the skill of your gardner, so comely, and orderly
placed in your borders and squares, and so intermingled, that none
looking thereon, cannot but wonder, to see, what Nature corrected by Art
can doe.
"When you behold in diuers corners of your Orchard Mounts of stone, or
wood curiously wrought within and without, or of earth couered with
fruit-trees: Kentish cherry, damsons, plummes, &c. with staires of
precious workmanship. And in some corner (or moe) a true dyall or
Clocke, and some anticke workes, and especially siluer-sounding musique,
mixt instruments and voices, gracing all the rest: How will you be rapt
with delight?
"Large walkes, broad and long, close and open, like the Tempe groves in
Thessalie, raised with grauell and sand, hauing seats and bankes of
cammomile, all this delights the minde, and brings health to the body.
"View now with delight the workes of your owne hands, your fruit-trees
of all sorts, loaden with sweet blossomes, and fruit of all tasts,
operations, and colours: your trees standing in comely order which way
soeuer you looke.
"Your borders on euery side hanging and drooping with feberries,
raspberries, barberries, currens, and the rootes of your trees powdred
with strawberries, red, white, and greene, what a pleasure is this? Your
gardner can frame your lesser wood to the shape of men armed in the
field, ready to giue battell: or swift running greyhounds: or of well
sented and true running hounds, to chase the deere, or hunt the hare.
This kind of hunting shall not waste your corne, nor much your coyne.
"Mazes well framed a mans height, may perhaps make your friends wander
in gathering of berries, till he cannot recouer himselfe without your
helpe.
"To haue occasion to exercise within your Orchard: it shall be a
pleasure to haue a bowling alley, or rather (which is more manly, and
more healthfull) a paire of buts, to stretch your armes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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