Intro | Author | Subject | Volume | Volume/Title | NPS |
Volume II - No. 1 |
January, 1939 |
Most aspects of America's colonial development classify themselves naturally in accordance with a scheme which observes the performance of the immutable laws of environment and national ancestry. So it is with her historic gardens. From the New England Puritans in the north to the Spaniards in the far south there may be seen an inevitable diversity of expression evolved from opposed influences. From the severely enclosed Puritan gardens, through the neat trimness of the plots of the painstaking New York and Pennsylvania Thatch, to the spacious areas of the tobacco planters of Virginia, and ending in the south with the careless style of the Spaniards, the influences of environment and heritage are manifested. Unlike the New England Puritans who came to America to avoid persecution and to establish settlements where they might conduct their religious life without intervention, the Virginia settlers were tradesmen, farmers, skilled artisans, and, in many cases, persons of means who came in search of adventure. Contrary to a popular belief, all of them were not dandies and gallants whose only skill concerned the use of fighting implements, and, despite hardships to which they naturally were unaccustomed, within a short time of their arrival "a garden was laid off, and the seeds of fruits and vegetables not indigenous to the country" were planted. Unfortunately few records of the names of these fruits and vegetables were made. Tobacco was one of the first crops planted, and its cultivation is one of the primary influences in the development of the widely separated estates so typical even now of Virginia. Because these estates were established so far apart that communication with other sections was difficult, each naturally tended to become a tiny unit sufficient unto it self and responsible for raising and producing all the materials necessary for the well-being of its inhabitants. The plantations were enlarged continually in order to embrace the rich new soil necessary for the growth of tobacco, and the ultimate result was the formation of a series of tiny kingdoms, which, with the later importation of slaves, became increasingly self-sustaining. The planters provided also for their own herbs and "simples" which, in the absence of doctors, were so necessary in case of illness or injury. Other crops were raised, of course, and the logical route for distribution of these, after they were gathered, was by water -- the cheapest and most accessible artery of commerce. Instructions to Governor Berkeley in 1641 provided that every colonist holding 100 acres of land should establish a garden and orchard carefully protected by a fence, ditch or hedge. Governor Berkeley himself had 1,500 apple, peach, apricot, quince and other fruit trees which must have been so protected. This safeguard was undoubtedly, in the majority of cases, the "rail fence" so typical of Virginia, which could be taken down and moved. A description of one of these fences, as given by Thomas Anburey in 1689, is interesting.
Other forms of enclosures mentioned in early literature are the hedge-row and the paling, which was undoubtedly the forerunner of the picket fence. These pales were sharp-pointed stakes driven into the ground, set close enough together to bar even the smallest animal, and fastened top and bottom to a horizontal stay. It was this type of fence which surrounded the gardens and orchards in the vicinity of the house, with the idea, perhaps, that they were a refinement over the crudities of the rail fence, ditch or hedge-row. Colonel Fitzhugh, in letters written during the latter part of the seventeenth century, mentions his garden particularly as being "pailed in." Unquestionably no old garden was without its enclosure, and "so instinctive was the impulse to set apart, that inside the main defence which shut out the rest of the world, secondary divisions were again divided, and these in turn outlined. Thus from the palisade and rail fence down to the fragrant, stubby little edging of sheared thyme or lavender, there is a well defined line of descent." (1)
The first gardens of the settlers were undoubtedly crude affairs, serving the severely utilitarian purpose of supplying the master of the plantation with a variety of vegetables for his tables as well as medicines in the form of herbs for his use against disease. An act in 1624 was established requiring the settlers to plant gardens as a provision against famine. And now, what did some of the Colonial gardens contain? Parkinson's Paradise, published in England in 1629, which probably exerted an influence on our early gardens, gives us an indication of some of the more practical uses of plant materials, with instructions in garden planning:
Another early book on gardening, Randolph's Treatise on Gardening, recommends the following materials for the vegetable garden: Artichokes, asparagus, kidney beans, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, parsley, cucumber, currants (red and white), chamomile, celandine (annual), ground ivy, hedera turestris, horse radish, honeysuckles, hysop, lavender, lettuce, marjoram, althea-marsh mallow, mint, melon (canteloupe), mullein, parsnip, peas, raspberry, rosemary (rosmarinus), and strawberry (in beds with alleys two feet wide). In spite of Beverley's remark made as late as 1705, "They haven't many fine gardens in that country fit to bear the name of gardens," the influence of the Mother Country ultimately proved itself in the magnificent garden developments of the colonial capital at Williamsburg, which recently have been restored so ably as a living memorial to our pioneers.
(1) Tabor, Grace: Old-Fashioned Gardening, A History and a Reconstruction. Robert M. McBride & Co., 1925. pp. 183-184. This article was subsequently reprinted as NPS Popular Study Series #10. |
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