Originally published in 1838, Nouveau Jardinier de la Louisiane, by
Jacques-Felix Lelievre, was the first of only two books on
Louisiana gardening to be written in the nineteenth century. The
book drew upon the confident spirit of eighteenth-century
Enlightenment France, forming a bridge from the writings of French
horticulturalists to an American audience. Optimistic, ambitious,
and progressive, the guide urged gardeners to manage nature by
acclimating new species and constantly improving native ones
through the application of innovative scientific techniques. Now
available in English for the first time as Jacques-Felix Lelievre's
"New Louisiana Gardener", this charming period piece and
pathbreaking work can be enjoyed once again by gardening
enthusiasts and historians alike.
At the heart of the book -- which closely mirrors the mind-set
of nineteenth-century French horticultural science -- is a
fundamental belief that the well-informed Louisiana gardener can
overcome the problems of heat, humidity, weeds, insects, occasional
cold, and primitive species by employing scientific methods of
providing shade, water, and drainage; by technical pruning,
manuring, and plowing; and through grafting, budding, and layering
of better species onto native stock -- with the timing all
regulated by the study of astronomy and an understanding of the
movement of sap. More European than Old South, Lelievre's
techniques were perhaps better suited to France than Louisiana, but
modern horticulturalists can still learn from the upbeat spirit of
overcoming obstacles that pervades Lelievre's guide.
An introduction by Sally Kittredge Reeves gives historical
context to the translation that follows, detailingthe author's
reasons for coming to America and his struggles to make a new life,
his employment at and eventual ownership of a bookstore in New
Orleans, and his reasons for compiling the Nouveau Jardinier and
publishing it in Francophile New Orleans. Reeves's discussion of
the New Orleans publishing world offers telling details about book
production and bookselling at the time.
Written over 150 years ago, Jacques-Felix Lelievre's "New
Louisiana Gardener" offers today's gardener a refreshing connection
with other gardening enthusiasts across time. Here, in this
delightful historical gem, modern cultivators can escape their
fertilizers and tillers and rediscover for a moment the joy of
facing Mother Nature with little more than a well-educated pruning
knife and a hoe.
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