It was visited by Miller and Justice, who speak of its proprietor as one of the greatest encouragers of gardening in his time; of having curious walls and hot-houses; and as being the first person who succeeded in cultivating the Pine Apple. It was from him, Miller observes, (_Dictionary_, Art. _Bromelia_,) that our gardens were first supplied, through Sir Matthew Decker, of Richmond, in the year 1719; though, as a botanic plant, it had been introduced so far back as 1690, by Mr. Bentick, afterwards Earl of Portsmouth. “When I say,” observes Mr. Cowel of Hoxton, in his Curious and Profitable Gardener, Lon. 1730, p. 27. “that the first Pine Apples that were cultivated in England, were in Sir Matthew Decker’s gardens at Richmond, I mean the first that were cultivated with success, were in those gardens; for long before we had plants of them brought to us, but had not before that time conveniences for bringing them to fruit, or even of keeping the plants alive.” “The Pine Apple,” he adds, in the same page, “is now (1730) found in almost every curious garden.” The fruit of the Ananas was sent to Europe, and especially to Holland, as a preserve, for many years before the Ananas plant was introduced. That it found its way even to England in this state, so early as the sixteenth century, is evident from what Lord Bacon says of it in his Essay on Colonies; and also from a picture in the possession of the Earl of Waldegrave, representing Charles II. in a garden, and Rose, the royal gardener, presenting his Majesty with a Pine Apple. This picture, Lord Walpole informs us, was bequeathed by Mr. London, who was Rose’s apprentice, to the Rev. Mr. Pennicott, of Thames Ditton, by whom it was presented to himself. It does not appear, however, that the Pine was cultivated either by Rose or London, otherwise it would certainly have been noticed in the publications, which, if not written by, at least passed under the name, and received the sanction of London and Wise; and also of Evelyn, Ray, Rea, and other gardening writers of these times. In short, it is evident from Ray’s letters, that the idea of heating green-houses by fire was quite new in 1684, and first adopted by Mr. Watts, gardener, to the apothecaries at Chelsea in that year; and Miller states, (_Dict._ Art. _Tan_,) that there were very few tan-beds used in England before the year 1719. The Pine Apple, therefore, could not be cultivated in the seventeenth century in England. Of late years the Pine Apple has been sent to England in abundance, attached to the entire plant, and a cargo has arrived from Providence Island, in the Bermudas, in six weeks. This facility of cultivation, and their more general culture, has greatly lessened their price, and rendered them common. They are sold in fruit-stands in the London streets, in one or two places, during the summer months; and moderate-sized fruit may be had from half-a-crown to a crown each; or at two shillings a pound. CHAP. II.