3 



florets as the otiicr forts. 



J 



rarely produces ripe feeds in this country, fo is pro- 

 pagated by flips as the fifth fort ; and as the plants 

 which are expofed to the open air in winter are fre- 

 quently dcftroyed, . it will be proper to place one or 

 two of them under a common frame to preferve the 



The nineteenth fort grows naturally in Portugal : the 

 ftalks of this are perennial -, the leaves continue in 

 verdure through the year, for which it is chiefly va- 



t 



beauty 



common Knapweed. 



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fcierlce of botany, or who m?y have no inclinai;idn rd 

 £tudy it, and yet may want information how to cul- 

 tivate the plants which arc ufeful in the kitchen, I 

 have chofen to treat of thefe under their former ap- 

 pellation, Mr. Ray and Tournefort admit of the 

 fiftular leaves and fwelling ftalks, as characters to 

 diftinguilh the plants of this genus from Porrumand 

 Allium. 



The Varieties of the common Onion are. 

 The Strafburgh. Cepa oblong. C. B. P. 71. 

 The Spanilh Onion. Cepa vulgaris, floribus & tuni- 

 cis purpurafcentibus. C. B. P. 71. 



The white Egyptian Onion. Cepa floribus &: tunicis 

 candidis. C. B. P, 71. 



All thefe vary from feeds, fo that there are feveral 

 intermediate differences which are not v/orth enume- 

 rating. 



Thefe three varieties are propagated by feeds, which 



fliould be fown at tlie latter end of February or the 

 beginning of March, on good, rich, light ground, 

 which fhould be well dug and levelled, and cleared 

 from the roots of all bad weeds -, then the feeds 

 ftiould be fown in a dry time, when the furface of the 

 ground is not moift ^ and where they are intended for 

 a winter crop, they muft not be fown too thick. Tlie 

 commdn allowance of feed is fix pounds to an acre 



- 1 



lucd, for - X J T 



It flowers in June and July, 



kn'd in warm feafons the feeds ripen in September. It 



is propagated by feeds, which, if fown in April in a 



bed of light earth, the plants will rife eafily. Thefe 



plants, inadry foil and a flickered fituation, will live 



in the open air in mild winters > but as they are fre- 

 quently killed when the frofl:s are fevere, it will be 



proper to fhelter a plant or two under a common frame 



in winter to preferve the fpecies. ^ ^ ' 



The twentieth fort grows naturally in Spain, and 



upon the Helvetian mountains. This rarely conti- 

 nues longer than two or three years : the lower leaves 



are doubly wing-pointed, thofe on the ftalks are 

 ^ fpear-lhaped, winged, and indented ;- the ftalks rife 

 ' three feet high, and are terminated by flowers like 



tliofe of the common Knapweed, having filvery em- I of land j but the generality of gardeners fow more. 



L 1 



,v. 



palements. 



July 



becaufe many of thehn allow for a crop to draw out. 



September. If thefe are fown in April on a bed of 1 ■: which they call, cullings ; thefe are all fuch as want 



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light earth, the plants will come up, and will live 



j through the winter in the open air. 



The twenty-firft fort grows naturally in the .Campania 



; of Rome. This is a biennial plant in England ; thofe 

 plants which arife from feeds in the fpring fcldom 

 flower till the following year, and when they perfeft 



■ their feeds they die. The ftalks of this fort rife three 

 feet high •, the lower leaves are wing-pointed, without 



. fpines; thofe on the ftalks run along the ftalks like 

 wings i the flowers are large, red, and their empale- 



.- ments are ftrongly armed with fpines. This flowers 



' in July, and the feeds ripen in September. It may 

 be propagated by feeds as the former. ^ 



; The fecond fort grows naturally in Spain and Mauri- 

 tania. This is jin annual plant, which rarely ripens 



' I its feeds in England ; the leaves of this are fpear- 



, ;lhaped, indented, and woolly, the ftalk rifes two 



feet high, dividing upward into three or fourbranches, 



. which are terminated by pretty large heads of flow- 



, * ers, whofe empalements are woolly, and ftrongly 



^'/. armed witli fpines. " This flowers in July, and in 

 warm feafons the feeds ripen in September. It is pro- 

 pagated by feeds as the two former forts. 



,V , The twenty-third fort grows naturally in Portugal. 

 ^ . The ftalk of this rifes two feet high, garniftied with 



..^, woolly leaves; fome of which are entire, others are 



' ^ finuated on their borders'; the ftalks are terminated 

 ,;^ by woolly heads of flowers, ftrongly armed with dou- 



*K ble fpines on the empalement, which almoft inclofes 

 *. the florets. 



July 



the feeds ripen in September, 

 feeds as the former. 



It is propagated by 



't 



The twenty-fourth fort is the Carduus Benedidlus, or 

 / Blefled Thiftle, which is frequently ufed as an emi- 



tic. It grows naturally in Spain and the Levant; in 

 f: England it is propagated in gardens for medicinal 



ufe. It is- an annual plant, which periflies foon after 

 ■ ihe feeds are ripe. The fureft method of cultivating 



Jthis plant, is to fow the feeds in autumn; and when 

 ■ the plants come up, to hoe the ground, to cut up 



the weeds, and thin the plants; and in the following 



ipring to hoe it a fecond 



foot afander, which will 1 



and foon after decay. 



CENTAURIUM MI 



M/Ki 



pen 



See Gentiana. 



CEPA, the Onion. 

 The botanical chara6lers of this genus are the fame 

 with thofe of Allium, to which it is now joined by 

 tlie late fyftem ; but as this work is intended for the 



inllruflion of fuch as are not well acquainted with the 



to be removed from others, fo are thinned out when 

 young, and tied in bunches for the market ; but thofe 

 who have regard to their principal crop, never prac- 

 tife this ; therefore fow no more feeds than is fufncient, 

 which is the quantity before-mentioned, for when the 

 plants come up too clofe, they draw each other weak ; 

 and when this happens, their roots never grow fo 

 large as thofe which arc thin : befldes, there is a 

 greater trouble in hoeing them ; and when they are 

 thinned for the market, the ground is trodden over, 

 and the Onions which are to ftand have tlieir leaves 

 bruifed, whereby they are greatly injured; fo that 

 where young Onions are wanted, it is a much better 

 way to fow Ibme feparate beds for this purpofe, than 

 to injure the future crop. 



In about fix or feven weeks after fowing, the Onions 

 will be up forward enough to hoe ; at which time 

 (choofingdry weather) you fhould, with a fmall hoe 

 about two inches and a half broad, cut up lightly all 

 the weeds from amongft the Onions; and alfo cut 

 out the Onions where they grow too clofe in bunches, 

 leaving them at this firft hoeing at leaft two inches 

 apart. This, if well performed, and in a dry fcafon, 

 will preferve the ground clear of weeds at leaft a 

 month or five weeks ; when you muft hoe them over 

 a fecond time, cutting tip all the weeds as before, and 

 alfo cutout the Onions to a larger diftance, leaving 

 them this time three or four inches afunder. This 

 alfo, if well performed, will preferve the ground 

 clean a month or fix weeks longer, when you mufl: 

 hoe them over the third and laft time. 

 Now you muft carefully cut up all weeds, and fingle 

 oul the Onions to near fix inches fquare ; by v/hich 

 means they will grov/ much larger, than if left too 

 clofe. This time of hoeing, if the weather proves 



dry and it is well performed, will keep the ground 

 clean until the Onions are fit to pull up ; but if the 

 weather fnould prove moift, and any of the weeds 

 fliould take root again, you ftiould, about a fortnight 

 or three weeks after, go over tlie ground and draw 

 out all the large weeds v/ith your hands ; for tlie Oni- 

 ons ha fing now begun to bulb, they fliould not hi 



difturbed with a Iioe. 



Toward the middle of Auguft your Onions will have 



> 

 ^ 





arrived to ilicirfull growth, which may be knov/n by 

 their blades failing to the ground and fiirinking ; you 

 fliould therefore, before their necks or blades are wi- 

 thered off, draw them out of the p-round, croi^nin.c 





off xh6 extreme part of the blade, and lav thcio abroad 

 upon a dry fpot of ground to dry, obfcrving to turn 



them over every other day at Icait, to prevent -theh' 



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