The capacity of Americans to mould circumstances to themselves rather than adapt themselves to circumstances, to remove obstacles, to accomplish by the aid of machinery much that other peoples reach through toil alone, has passed into a proverb:  hence it need hardly cause surprise, if unexampled success attend efforts at market-gardening, bringing to the very doors of the comparatively poor vegetables and fruits which in Europe are enjoyed only by the higher classes.  As an illustration,—­where but in America are peaches planted by a single individual by tens of thousands, and carried to market on steamboats chartered for the special purpose, in quantities of one or two thousand bushels at a trip?

The earlier American nurseries were few in number, and, compared with some now existing, of quite limited extent,—­though equal, perhaps, in proportion to population.  The first of which there is any record, and probably the earliest established, was that of John Bartram, near Philadelphia, about the year 1730.  Here were congregated many of the prominent native plants and trees, preparatory to exportation to Europe,—­also the fruits and plants of the other hemisphere, obtained in exchange for American productions.  The specimen trees planted by the elder Bartram and his descendants still adorn the grounds, classic to the botanist and the lover of Nature:  long may they stand, living memorials of generations passed away, our earliest evidence of a taste for horticulture!

The next nursery in the order of date is that of Prince, in Flushing, New York, established, we believe, prior to the Revolution, and continued by the family to the present day.  Flushing has become a centre in the nursery-trade, and many acres thereabout are covered with young trees intended for transplantation.  A stroll round the village would lead one to suppose the chief interest of the inhabitants was bound up in the nursery-business, as is that of Lynn in shoes, and of Lowell in cotton goods.  Prominent among the Flushing nurseries are those of Parsons, which, though of comparatively recent origin, abound in rich treasures.

The nurseries of the brothers David and Cuthbert Landreth appear to have been the third in the order of succession.  They were established at Philadelphia shortly after the Revolution, and within the limits of the city.  The increase of population and their expanding trade caused a removal to another and more ample field of culture, which, for nearly half a century, was the resort of most people of taste who visited Philadelphia.

Nurseries are now found everywhere.  The Far West has some which count the young trees by millions, and fruit-trees of single kinds by the hundred thousand.  The Hoveys, of Boston, have long been prominent, not only as nurserymen, but as writers on horticulture.  Elwanger and Barry, of Rochester, New York, have a large breadth of land, we forbear to state our impression of the number of acres, covered by nursery-stock.  Professional florists also have multiplied to an unlimited extent, exhibiting the growth of refining taste.  Plants suited to window-culture, and bouquets of choice flowers, are sold on street-corners, and carried from door to door.  Cameilias, of which we recollect single flowers having been sold at a dollar, can now be purchased at fifty cents the plant.