tte feeds. In the fpring following. If thefe tubs or 

 boxes are placed on a moderate hot-bed, it will bring 

 up the plants very foon, and greatly forward their 

 growth; but as the fpring advances, they ftiould be 

 inured to bear the open air by degrees ; and in May 

 they muft be taken out of the hot-bed, and placed in 

 aflielteredfituation, where they may enjoy the morn- 

 ■ ing fun, being careful to keep them clear fromwecds, 

 as alfoto water them- duly in dry weather. The fol- 

 lowing winter it will be proper to remove the tubs 

 near a fouth wall or pale, for the plants being very 

 young, are fometimes tenderer than they will be after- 

 ward. Toward the latter end of March, or the be- 

 ginning of April, juft before the plants begin to fhoot, 

 they Ihould be carefully taken up out of the boxes ; 

 and having prepared a bed or two (according to the 

 quantity of plants raifed) of frelh earth in a fheltered 

 fituation, the plants fhould be planted therein in rows 

 about eighteen inches afunder, and about a foot dif- 

 tance plant from plant in the rows. This work fhould 

 be done in cloudy v/cather, when there is rain ; for 

 in dry weather, when eafterly winds commonly blow 

 at this feafon, it will be very dangerous to tranfplant 

 thefe plants ; fo that it had better be deferred a fort- 

 night longer, till there is an alteration of the weather, 

 than hazard the plants. When the plants are planted, 

 they fliould be watered to fettle the earth to their 

 roots; and then the furface of the ground fhould be 

 ' covered with mulcli, to prevent the fun and wind 

 from penetrating to the roots of the plants-, for nothing 

 is more injurious to thefe plants, than to have their 

 fibres dried when they are tranfplanted v therefore 

 the plants fhould not be takeri out of the tubs till 

 you are ready to place them in the ground, for they 

 will not bear to lie out of the ground any time with- 

 out great danger. : '' :;.;..; 

 The branches of this tree are gamifhed with flat ever- 

 green leaves^ refembling thole of the Arbor Vitje ; 

 and the cones are no larger than the berries of the 

 Juiiiper, from which they are not eafily diftinguifhed 

 kt a little diftance ; but upon clofely viewing, they 

 arc perfefb cones» having many cells like thofe of the 

 u* common Cyprefs. If thefe trees are planted in a 

 t ; moift ftrong foil, they make very great progrefs, and 

 : inay, in fuch fituations, become profitable for tim- 

 ber ; but however this tree may fucceed for timber, 

 yet it will be a great ornament to large plantations of 

 evergreen trees^ efpecially in fuch places where there 

 is naturally a proper foil for them -, becaufe, in fuch 

 fituations, there are not many forts of Evergreen 

 Trees which thrive well, efpecially in cold places, and 

 by increafing the number of forts of thefe Ever- 

 greens, we add to the beauty of our gardens and 

 plantations. 



The third fort fends forth its branches almofl hori- 

 zontally, fo that they extend to a great diflance every 

 way, and the trees are generally furnifhed with 

 branches from the ground upward ; but as thefe grow 

 withovit much order, the trees have a very different 

 appearance from all the other forts. This grows to be 

 : a large timber tree in Portugal, but thelargeft tree 

 which I have feen in England, has not been above fif- 

 teen feet high, and the fide branches of this were 

 extended more than eight feet on every fide from the 

 Hem. This fort may be propagated from feeds in 

 the fame manner as the common Cyprefs, and the 

 plants fhould be treated in the fame manner as hath 

 been direfted for them, with this difference'only, that 

 It will be proper to cover thefe plants during the two 

 firfl winters after they are come up, efpecially if the 

 froft fhould be fevere, which might deflroy them, if 

 they are expofed to it while they are young. This 

 fort may alfo be propagated by cuttings, which, if 

 planted in autumn, and fcreened in winter, they will 

 take root ; but it is generally two years before they 

 will be rooted enough to tranfplant, nor will the plants 

 fo raifed thrive fo fafl as the feedlings -, therefore, 

 when the feeds can be obtained, that is the befl me- 

 thod to propagate this tree. The American decidu- 



ous Cyprefs may alfo be propagated by cuttings, as 



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c u 



I have feveral times tried; fo that wlien feeds caur.f^t" 

 be had, this method maybe praAiled luccefsfully. [ 

 fuppofe the common fort will aUb take from cuttino-S' 

 but this I have not experienced, fo cannot recoTn- 

 mend it to pra6lice. 



Thefe tfees are fo very ornamental to gardens, that 

 no large garden can be compleat without many of 

 them ; and it is to thefe trees that the Italian villas 

 owe a great fhare of their beauty, for there is no tree 

 fo proper to place near buildings ; the pyramidal up- 

 right growth of their branches affords a pifturefque 

 appearance, and obflrucls not the view of the build- 

 ing, and the dark green of their leaves make a fine 

 contraft with the white of the building; fo tha^ 

 wherever there are temples or other buildings erefted 

 in gardens, there is no fort of tree fb proper to place 

 near them as thefe. In all the landfchapes of Italian 

 villas, we fee many Cyprefs-trees reprefented, which 

 have a very agreeable effed: in the pifture ; and the 

 trees, when rightly difpofcd in a garden, afford a no 

 lefs agreeable profpeft. 



The feeds of the fixth fort were fent me from the 

 Cape of Good Hope, where the trees grow naturally^ 

 and by the account which I received with the feeds, 

 the cones of the tree are black when ripe. The young 

 plants which I have raifed from thefe feeds have loofe 

 Spreading branches, which are clofely garniflied \^ith 

 narrow flrait leaves, which come out oppofite, and 

 are alternately croffingeach other ^ thefe are near one 



inch long, and of a hght 



ree 



n colour -, they continue 



in verdure all the year. Thefe plants being young, 



are too tender to thrive in the open air in England as 

 ; yet; but when they have obtained more flrength, it 



IS very probable they may do well in warm fituations. 

 - I had two of thefe plants growing in the full ground, 

 ^^which'were killed in the winter 1756. But thofe 



which were placed under a frame, where there were 

 -7 no covering of glafs; and only wooden fhutters, wer« 



not injured by the cold, though the earth of the pots 



was frequently hard frozen. »^ , . 



CURCUMA. Lin. Gen. Plant. 6. Cannacorus* 



Tourn. Inft. R. H. 3 67; -Turmeriek. 



The Characters are, L::;-:i 



' -It- 



-' 



^ 



^he flowers have each feveral fpatb^y which are flfigU . 

 and drop off\ the flower hath one fetal with anarrm ' 

 tube^ which is cut at the brim into three fegmehts \ it lath ■.; 

 an oval-pointed neSlarium of one leaf which is inferted in 

 theftnus of .the largeft fegment of the petal -^ it hathfve 

 flamina^ foiir of which are barren^ and one fruitful^ 

 which isfituated within the neSfarium^ and hath the ap- 

 pearance of a petals having a bifid pointy to which the 

 fummit adheres. It hath a roundifh germen fttuated un- 

 der the flower^ fupporting a ftyle the length of thejia- 

 mina^ crowned by a Jingle ftigma, The germen afterward 

 becomes a roundifh eapfuky having three cells, which are 

 filled with roundifh feeds. 



This genus of plants is ranged in the firfl: feftion of 

 Linnseus*s firfl: clafs, intitled Monandria Monogynia, 

 the flower having one ftamina and one flyle. 

 The Species are, 



1. Curcuma {Rotunda) foliis lanceolato-ovatis, iiervis 



laterahbus rariffimis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 2. Curcuma with 



fpear-floaped oval leaves^ hanging very few nerves on the 



fides. Curcuma radice rotunda. C. B. Turmerickivith 



a round root. 



2. Curcuma {Longa) foliis lanceolatis nervis lateralibus 

 numerofiffimis, Lin. Sp. Plant. 2. Curcuma with fpear- 



fhaped leaves^ having many lateral veins. Curcuma ra- 

 dice longa. H. L. 288. Turmerick with a long root. 

 The firft fort hath a flefhy jointed root fomewhat like 

 that of Ginger, but rounder, which fends up feveral 

 fpear-fhapcd oval leaves, that rife upwards of a 

 foot high ; thefe have one longitudinal midrib, and a 

 few tranfverfe nerves running from the midrib to the 

 fides ; they are of a fea-green colour; from between 

 thefe arife the flower-ftalk, fupporting a loofe fpikeof 

 flowers of a pale yellowilh colour, inclofed in leveral 

 different fpathse or fheaths, which dropoff. Thefe 

 flowers are never fucceeded by feeds in th© gardens 



here: 



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