960. Climates highly favourable for the productions of gardening are often unfavourable to the progress of the art. In Persia and some parts of America, where the finest peaches are produced, the art of grafting is unknown or not practised ; and in general, in the hot countries, where melons, gourds, and other rapid-growing animals so readily produce their fruit, the culture of culinary leaves and legumes is neglected. In the West India islands and great part of America, the gourd serves the purposes of the cabbage, turnip, lettuce, and spinach; and constitutes, with garlic, onions, and yams, the principal culinary crops. Chardin, after enumerating the natural products of Persia, says, 'we are not to conclude from this that they have the finest gardens in the world : on the contrary, by a very general rule, there, where nature has been most abundant and liberal in her productions, art is proportionably rude and unknown; for nature has gardened so well, that scarcely anything is left for art.'
