Note 550 — Chapter V · GARDENING

In the very full bibliography (covering the years 1516–1836) given by Miss Amherst in “A History of Gardening in England” more than sixty books or articles are listed between 1700 and 1725. Most of these seem from the titles to be of purely horticultural interest and have to do with the kitchen garden or the fruit garden rather than with ornamental grounds. One popular sort of title in which the word “Recreation” is the keynote would seem to indicate something more than a collection of practical precepts, but on investigation “The Ladies’ Recreation” (1707), “The Clergyman’s Recreation” (1714), “The Gentleman’s Recreation” (1717), “The Lady’s Recreation” (1718), and the rest, prove to be severely technical, treating only of the planting and nurture of gardens.