Bradley
was one of the most voluminous writers upon
agriculture and gardening. Johnson, author of
History of Gardening (1829), states that
Bradley was "one of the first to treat gardening and
agriculture as sciences."
His name was attached to more than 20 publications
between 1716 and 1730. His works show a well-informed
and comprehensive mind. He was a Fellow of the Royal
Society and in 1724 was elected Professor of Botany at
Cambridge. However, he was considered unfitted for the
office due to his ignorance of foreign languages and
other reasons. His work ran through many editions and
although the contents were culled from earlier
writers, they indicated the trends of the times in
agriculture and horticulture.
Among his best known books were: A Treatise on
Succulent Plants (1710), New Improvements of
Planting and Gardening both Philosophical and
Practical (1717). These went through several
editions up to 1731. It is interesting as his works
show the ideas of an intelligent man just previous to
the advances of Linnaeus who in 1739 was only 32. He
also wrote: The History of Succulent Plants
(1717), A General Treatise on Husbandry and
Gardening (1723), A survey of Ancient Husbandry
and Gardening Collected from the Greeks and Romans
(1725), The Riches of a Hop Garden Explained
(1729), A Dictionary of Plants, Their
Description and Use (1747).
