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The Complete Gard'ner, or, Directions for Cultivating and Right Ordering of Fruit-Gardens and Kitchen Gardens.
Now compendiously abridg'd, and made of more use, with very considerable improvements by George London, and Henry Wise. The fourth edition corrected. London: Printed for Andrew Bell, 1704. Based on John Evelyn's translation of the author's Instuction Pour Les Jardins Fruitiers et Potagers. Cf. Henrey, B. Brit. botanical lit. I, p. 190. Evelyn's translation published in 1693; London and Wise's abridgement first published in 1699. An advertisement of J. Evelyn, Esq; to the folio edition of Monsieur La Quintiney: p. [1]-[4] after p. xiv. Illustrations and plates are engraved. Page [1] at front and p. [xxxvi] are blank. References: ESTC t146282. "La Quintinie spent 40 years with Louis XIV. Did Kitchen Garden at Versailles."
George London and Henry Wise have abridged and edited La Quintinie's work in order to help gentlemen who have planted fruit trees, but have been disappointed in both the fruit and the trees, because they have neglected the proper techniques. The editors announce in their advertisement for this work that "out of a true regard to the publick, in respect of Gard'ning, we communicate to the World these our Observations, which tho' few, we hope may be of use. In the first place we think fit to remark that we have gone through the Works of our learned Author with all the exactness we possibly could, abstracting out of each Title, or general Head, all that is useful; and have reduc'd into a proper method, that in which the Original is so prolix and interwoven, that the Reader was rather tir'd than inform'd." London and Wise go on to note that they have even added some information when La Quintinie had neglected a particular fruit. This work describes fruit and vegetable gardening, showing pruning techniques on nine folded leaves of plates. Various varieties of each fruit and their relative merits are fully discussed. The work also contains a complete listing of the contents of each chapter.
Subjects: Fruit culture; Vegetable gardening.
PAT-60