V. Gardening in South America
912. The gardening of South America, it may easily be conceived, is of a very inferior description, from the low state of civilisation, and the bounties of a fine climate. The latter supplies almost every thing in the shape of fruits and flowers, with little or no care; and the gourd, which forms a principal culinary vegetable, is proverbial for the little culture it requires, for its rapid growth, and for its ample produce. We have only been able to collect a few scattered fragments of the efforts of man in our art in this new and rising country; and these we shall consider, first, as relating to gardening, as an art of design and taste ; and, secondly, as an art of culture.
