549. In the reign of the first Edward (1272 to 1307), the cultivation of the garden was extended even to the more curious and delicate productions; but it was neglected afterwards during the contention of the houses of York and Lancaster (which began in 1448 and lasted till 1486), when horticulture as well as the other arts of peace and polished life, gave way to the havoc and devastation of civil war; nor did they recover in any considerable degree till the time of Elizabeth (1558 to 1603). This we learn from the description of England prefixed to Holinshed's Chronicle, published in 1587.