M - 



^cU together, and frequently tunied over before it 

 it ufed, that rlie parts may be incorporated, and the 

 compoft fv/eetened by being expofed to the air. If 

 this mixture is prepared a year before it is wanted, it 

 will be the better, that it may have the benefit of the 

 winter's froft ^nd the fummer's heat to mellow it ; and 

 the oftener it is turned over, and the fmaller the 

 heaps are in which it is laid, tne air will penetrate it 

 better, and render it more fit for ufe. 

 Thefe forts are eafily propagated by cuttings, which 



J 



When 



thefe cuttings are taken off, the milky juice of the 



old plants will flow out in plenty; therefore there 



ihould be fome dry earth or fand applied upon the 



wounded part, which will harden and flop the fap -, 



and the wounded part of the cuttings fhould alfo be 



rubbed in fand, or dry earth, for the fame purpofe ^ 



then the cuttings ibould be laid in a dry part of the 



ftove, for ten days or a fortnight ; and fome of thofe 



whofe branches are large and very fucculent, may lie 



three weeks or more before they are planted, that 



their wounds may be healed and hardened, otherwife 



they will rot. When the cuttings are planted, they 



fliould be each put into a fmall halfpenny pot, laying 



ftones or rubbilh in the bottom, and filling the pots 



with the mixture before directed ; then plunge the 



pots into a moderate hot-bed, and if the weather is 



very hot, the glaffes of the hot-bed fhould be fhaded 



in the middle of the day, and the cuttings fhould be 



gently watered once or twice a week, according as the 



- earth may dry : in about fix weeks or two months the 



cuttings will have put out roots, fo if the bed is not very 



warm, the plants may continue there, provided they 



have free air admitted to them every day, otherwife 



. it will be better to remove them into the flove, where 



:^they may be hardened before the winter; for if they 



'•* are too much drawn in fummer, they are very apt to 



; xlecay in winter, unlefs they are very carefully ma- 



. ; jiaged. During the fummer kdihn^ thefe plants fhould 



ibe gently watered two or three times a week, 



ac- 



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r 



\ 



m — » _j 



cording to the warmth of the fcafonj but in winter 



they mufl not be watered oftener than once a week, 



and it fhould be given more fparingly at that feafon, 



.. efpecially if the ftove is not warm : the firfl fort will 



' require more warmth in the winter than any of the 



other, as alfo lefs water at that feafon. This, if well 



■ managed, will grow feven or eight feet high -, but the 



plants muft conftantly remain in the ftove, giving 



■ ■ them a large fhare of air in warm weather, and in 



"winter the ftove fhovild be kept in a temperate degree 



of warmth. .....' 



The fixth fort is at prefent the moft rare in England : 



the plants oi this fort, which have been prpcured 



from Holland, have been moft of them deftroyed by 



.placing them in ftovcs, where, by the heat, they have 



£-' iri one day turned black, and rotted immediately 



V' after. This fort will thrive well if placed in a dry 



'- airy glafs-cafe with Ficoides, and oth6r fucculent 



/'plants in the winter, where they may have free air 



V; in mild weather, and be proteded from froft; in 



'^t fummer the plants of this fort may be expofed in the 



■/open air, in a warm fituation, but fhoujd be fcreened 



'j-irom much wet: with this treatment, the plants will 



thrive much better than when they are' more tenderly 



•■inurfed. -' ■ — -• ■ .' . . -■■:-■ x: f .:/;! * ; 



■ 



:- The feventh, eighth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and 

 thirteenth forts, are alfo pretty hardy, fo will live in 



' "« good glafs-cafe in winter without fire, provided the 

 ■froft is kept entirely out, and in fummer they may' 

 be placed abroad in a warm fituation : 33 thefe are 

 very fucculent plants, they fhould not have too much 

 ^^'eti therefore, if the fummer fhould prove very 

 moilc, it will be very proper to place thefe plants 

 under fome ilielter, where they may enjoy the free air, 

 and be fcreened from the rain, otherwife by receiv- ' 

 ing too much wet in ft>mmerthey will rot in winter. ' 

 The feventh fort will require to be fupported, other- 

 wile the weight of the branches will draw them upon \ 



^ tlic pots ; and, by training of the ftems up to ftalces^ 



1 * 



u 



they will grow four or five feet hi^h, i^vA x irrea: 

 number of fide branches will be produced ; theie, 

 being very fucculent and heavy, are very apt to draw- 

 down the ftem it it hath not fupporc. 

 The following forts have been, by all the writers on 

 botany, placed under the title of l"it!iymalus ; but 

 the fourteenth and fifteenth 

 to tlicir own dillinftion, 



3 



- 1 



lorts Ihould, according 

 have been placed in ihc 

 genus of Euphorbium,' becaufe they are as deilitute 

 of leaves as molt oi the fpecies which they have there 

 placed. 



The fourteenth fort rifes with a taper fucculent ftalk 

 to the height of eighteen or twenty {^^Qt^ fending out 

 many branches of the fame form, which fubdivide 

 into many fmaller j thefe are jointed but at a great dif- 

 tance ; they are fmooth, and of a deep green colour, 

 having a few fmall leaves at their extremities, which 

 fooi/fall oft^. As the plants grow older, their ftalks 

 become ftronger and lefs fucculent, efpecially tov/ard 

 die bottom, where they turn to a brov/n colour, and 

 become a little woody. The branches grov/ diftiifed 

 and intermix with each other, fo form a fort of buHi 

 toward the top, but this doth not produce flower 

 here. 



r 



The fifteenth fort fends cut a great num.ber of flender 

 taper ftalks of a dark green colour, v/hich are 

 fmooth, and tv/ift about each other, or any neigh- 

 bouring fupport, whereby they will rife to the height 

 of ten or twelve feet, putting out fmaller branches 

 upward, which alfo twine and intermix with the other 

 ftalks J they are naked, having no leaves, nor do the 

 plants flower in England. Thefe grow in India, 

 The fixteenth fort fends out many taper fucculent 

 ftalks from the root, which rife about four feet hio-h ; 

 they are flender and weak, fo require fupport to pre- 

 vent their falling to the ground j thefe have a light 

 green bark, and their lower parts are naked, but their 

 upper parts are garnift^ed with oblong leaves, which 

 are fmooth, entire, and placed alternate on every fide 

 the ftalks : the flowers are produced in fmall clufters 

 at the end of the branches, they are of a yellowifh 

 green colour, and are fometimes fucceeded by fmooth 

 round fruit, but the feeds rarely ripen in England. 

 This fort grows naturally on the African fhcre in th 

 Mediterranean. . ^ 



The feventeenth fort grows naturally in fome of the 

 iflands of the Wf ft-Indies, and alio upon the con- 

 tinent there. ' I received foecimens of this fort from 



••^ 



the ifland of Tobago, ^and alfo from Carthae;ena, 



L 

 1 



I 



■ 



' - a. 



■ - t 



f ' t 



where the plants were growing in plenty ; the Dutch 

 gardens were furniflicd with it from CurafTaoV where 

 it alfo grows naturally^ ^his hath arf upright fialk,; 

 which xifes to the height of fix or feven feet, covered 

 with a light brown bark;^and divides upward into 

 many branches; tliefe are garpifhed with roundifh 

 leaves, which are indented at their ends,- and have 

 foot-ftalks : they are fmootii and of a beautiful green,* 

 hut fall away in winter, ib that in the fpnhg they are 

 a:lmoft naked ; the flowers comte out frorn die end of 

 the l^ranchcs^ they are yellow and fmall, foon falling 

 away without having any frtiit fucceed them herc^ 

 Thefe fo.rts are propagated by cuttings, in the fame 

 manner as the Euphorbiums, and the plants muft be 

 .treate4 in the fame wity, as hath been dire6led for 

 them. ^- 



- .. » * 



ri--^. 





rThef6utteenth,''fifteent'h, arid feventieerith forts, are 

 tender, fo require a ftove i thefe muft havfe the fame 

 treatm"-^nt as the tender kinds of Euphorbiums, but 

 the fixteenth fort will live in a common green-houfe 

 jn winter, and may be expofed abroad in the fummer. 

 The eighteenth fort ftands in the lift of medicinal 

 iplants, but is rarely ufed in England at prefent ; this^ 

 is a biennial plant, which perifhes after the feeds are 

 ripe. It grows naturally in Italy and the fouth oi 

 France, and where it is allowed to fcatter its feeds 

 .in a garden, becon;ie's a weed here. This rifes with 

 an upright fuccwlent ftalk from three to four feet 

 high, garnifhed with oblong fmooth leaves which are 

 placed oppofite, and fit clofe to the ftalks y the upper 

 pari jof -the ftalk diyides by pairs into fmaller forked 



V 



5 L 



_ - ~ 



branches. 



*-"'_" 



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r4 



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