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HerJlodd by fuch as have never feefi tticm, I fliall 



dcfcribe a very fimpk one, vchich I have ufcd for ic- 

 Vcral years, v/hich anfwers the purpolc full as well as 

 the bell and moft cxpenfive one can do : firft, pre- 

 pare fome common fiat pans, about fourteen or fixteen 

 inches over, and three inches deep •, place thefe two 

 and tv/o oppofite to each other, at about two feet 

 diftance, and at every eight feet lengthways, two of 

 thefe pans-, in each of^thefc v/hdm a flower-pot, 

 which Pnould be about fix inches over at the top, 

 upfide-down, and lay a flat piece of timber, about 

 two feet and a half long, and three inches thick, 

 crcfs from pot to pot, till you have finiflicd the whole 



then lay your planks lengtli- 





length of your fl:ag 



ways upon thefe timbers, which will hold two rows 

 of planks for the fize pots which were ordered for the 

 Carnations ; and when you have fet your pots upon 



' the ftage, fill the fiat pans with water, always ob- 

 fcrving, as it decreafes in the fians, to replenifli it, 

 which'^will effectually guard your flov/ers againfl: in- 

 fers i for they do not care to fv/im over water, fo 

 that if by this, or any other contrivance, the paiTage 



■ from the ground to the ftage, on which the pots are 

 placed, is defended by a furface of water three or 

 four inches broad, and as much in depth, it will ef- 

 fcftually prevent thefe vermin from getting to the 

 flowers. ,■ . 



This fl:age fiiould be placed in a fituation open to the 

 fouth-eaft, but defended from the wefi: winds, to 



- which thefe ftages muft not be expofed, left the pots 

 fliould be blown down by the violence of that wind, 



^ which is often very troublefome at the feafon when 

 thefe flowers blow i indeed they Ihould be defended 

 by trees at fome diftance, from the ^wih35"'oT'^ every 

 point ; but thefe trees Ihould not be too near the 

 ilage, nor by any means place them^ near walls, or 

 tall buildings, for in fuch fituations the ftems.of the 



flowers will draw up too weak. About thfstlmeV viz. 

 the middle of April, your layers Will begin to ftioot 

 up for flower ; you truft therefore be provided with 

 fome fquare deal fl:icks, about four feet and a half 

 .long,''Vyhich ftiould be thicker toward the bottom, 

 and planed off taper at the top \ thefe fticks fliould 

 . te carefully ftuck into tlhe pots as near as poffible to 

 .the plant, without injuring It-, then with a flender 

 piece of bafs miat, faften the fpindle to the ftick to 

 prevent its being broken ; this you muft* often repeat, 

 as the fpindle advances in height, and alfo obferve 



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to pull off ail fide fpindles as they are produced, and 

 never let m.ore than two fpindles remain upon one 

 root, nor above one, if you intend to blow exceeding 

 large. Toward the beginning of June your flowers 

 .--will have attained their greateft height, and their pods 

 ' will begin to fwell, and fome of the earlieft begin to 

 .^pen on one fide i you muft therefore obferve to let 

 it open in tv/o other places at equal angles -, this muft 

 be done fo foon as you perceive the pod break, other- 

 wife your flower will run out on one fide, and be in 

 ■a ftiort time paft recovering, fo as to make a com- 

 plete flower, and in a few days after the flowers begin 

 to open, you muft cover them with glaffes which arc 

 made for that purpofe, in the following manner : 

 Upon the top of the glafs, exaftly in the center, is 

 a tin collar, or focket, about three fourths of an inch 

 fquare, for the flower-ftick to come through ; to this 

 tlbckct are foklered eight flips of lead at equal dif- 

 tances, which are about fix' inches and a half long, 

 ■^nd fpread open'a't the bottom about four inches 

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one end of the wire ro contain tiic pod, into whivii 

 ring you flioukl fix the ftem of the flower-, then cut 

 ' off all tlie tyings of bafs, and thruft the ftem of the 

 fiov.-er fo far from the ftick, as may give convenient 

 room for the flower to expand without preffing againfl 

 the ftick-, to which diftance you nlay fix it, by\urn- 

 irg your v/ire fo as not to draw back throu;?h tl)e 

 holci then make another hole through the ftick, at 

 a convenient diftance above the flower, through v/hich 

 you fliould put a piece of wire, an inch and a half 

 long, which is to fupport the glaffes from flidino- 

 down upon the flowers -, and be fure to obferve, that 

 the glaffes are not placed fo high as to admit the fun 

 and rain under them to the flowers, nor fo low as to 

 fcorch their leaves with the heat. At this time alfo, 

 or a few days after, as you fliall judge neceffary, 

 you fliould cut fome ftiff paper, ^ cards, or fome fuch 

 thing, into collars about four inches over, and ex- 

 actly round, cutting a hole in the middle of it about 

 three fourths of an inch diam.eter, for the bottom of 

 the flov;er to be let through ; then place thefe collars 

 about them, to fupport the petals of the flower from 

 hanging down ; this collar fliould be placed with in- 

 fide the calyx of the flower, and fliould be fupported 

 thereby •, then obferve from day to day what progrefs 

 your flowers make ; and if one fide comes out fafter 

 than the other, you fliould turn the pot about, and 

 fliift the other fide towards the fun -, and alfo if the 

 weather proves very hot, you fliould fliade the glaffes 

 in the heat of the day with Cabbage leaves, &c. to 

 prevent their being fcorched, or forced out too foon j 

 and when the middle pod begins to rife, you fliould 

 .take out the calyx thereof with a pair of nippers 



for that purpofe ; but this fliould not be done 



■glafs. 



into thefe flips of lead are faftened flips of 

 cut according to the diftances of the lead, 



.which, when they are fixed in, are bordered round 

 the bottom with another flip of lead quite round, fo 

 that the glafs hath eight angles, with the focket in 

 the middle, and Ipread open at the bottom about 

 eleven inches wide. 



When your flowers are open enough to cover v/ith 

 thefe glaffes, you muft make a hole through your 

 flower-ftick, exaftly to the height of the under part 

 of the pod, through which you^fliould put a piece of 



fmall wire about fix inches long, 



making 



ring 



at 



too foon, left the middle part of the flower fliould 

 advance too high above the fides, which will gready 

 ^ diminifli tHe beauty of it :' and you fliould alfo ob- 

 . ferve whether there"are morfe leaves in the flower, 

 • than can properly be expanded for want of room ; in 

 which cafe you fliould put out fome of the lowermoft 

 or moft unlikely leaves to fpread, drawing out and 

 expanding the others at the fame time : and when 

 your flowers are fully blown, if you cut them off, 

 you fliould put on a frefli collar of ftiff paper, which 

 fliould be cut exaftly to the fize of the flower, . that 

 it may fupport the petals to their full width, but not 

 to be feen wider than the flower in any part : when 

 this is put on, you muft draw out the wideft leaves 

 to form the outfide of the flower, which although 

 they fliould be in the middle (as it often happens,) 

 yet by removing the other leaves they may be drawn 

 down, and fo the next longeft leaves upon them 

 again, that the whole flower may appear equally glo- 

 bular without any hollow parts. In the doing of this, 

 fome florifts are fo curious as to render ian indifferent 

 flower very handfome ; and on this depends, in a 

 great meafure, the flcill of the artift to produce large 

 fine flowers. - - :.: 



During the flowering feafon, particular care fliould 

 be taken not to let them fuffer for want of water, 

 which fliould by no means be raw fpring water; nor 

 do I approve of compound waters, fuch as are en- 

 riched with various forts of dung ; but the beft and 

 moft natural water is that of a fine foft river ^ next 

 to that is pond water, or ftanding water-, but if you 

 have no other than fpring water, it fliould be expoicd 

 to the fun and air two days before it is ufed, other- 

 wife it will give the flowers the canker and fpoil 

 them. 



The direftions here given are chiefly for the ma- 

 nagem.ent of thofe large Carnations, w^hich require the 

 greateft flvill of the florifts, to have them in perfec- 

 tion ; but as of late years thefe have not been fo much 

 in efteeni as formerly, and thofe flowers which do 

 not break their pods, and are termed whole Blowers, 

 have now the preference. Thefe are generally planted 

 in pots, and treated in the fame way as the large 

 flowers, but do not require fo much trouble to biow 

 theni : all that is neceffary to be done for thefe, i5 to 

 hilcn their ftems up to flower-fticks to prevent their 



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