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This ftands in the lift- of medicinal plants, but is very 

 faroly ufcd in England, though it is recommended by 

 feme good writers as a purger of ferous and choleric 

 huniours. . ' ■ ' ■ [^ 



The fecond fort grows naturally in North America, 

 from whence I received the feeds. This grows natu- 

 rally in moift places, where it rifes more than a foot 

 high, but in England I have not fecn. it m.ore than 

 eight inches -, the leaves are blunt, and indented at 

 their extremities \ the flowers are white, and come 

 cut from the fide of the ftalks, like thofe of the other, 

 but are not fucceeded by feeds here. It may be pro- 

 pagated in the fame manner as the firft fort, and re- 



quires the fame treatment. 



■ The feeds of the third fort were fent me from Car- 

 thagena, where it" was found grov/ing naturally in 

 places where there had been. Handing waters, which 

 v/cre then dried up ; this plant grew about nine inches 

 high, with a weak ftalk, and the leaves placed oppo- 



, fuc ; they were about fhree quarters of an inch long, 



- and half' an inch broad, fawed on their edges ; the 



flowers came out Angle on each fide the fl:alk ; they 



were white, and much fmaller than thofe of the firit 



fort, but were not fuccecdcd by feeds, fo the plant 



was loft here. 

 - G R A V E L and Grafs are naturally ornaments to a 

 country-feat, and the glory of the Englifh gardens, 

 and things in which we excel all other nations, as 



t Prance,, Holland, Flanders, &c. ... 



^ There' are different forts of Gravel, buffor thofe who 

 can conveniently have it, I approve of that Qravel on 



t • Bkckheath, as preferable to moft that we have in 

 England ; it confuting of fmooth even pebbles, which, 

 when mixed with a due quantity of loam, will bind 

 exceeding clofe, and look very beautiful, and conti- 

 nue handfome looeer than any other fort of Gravel 

 which I have y 



n. 





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5 If 



...Some recommena a fort of iron-mould Gravel, or 

 . Qravel with a little binding loam amongft it, than 

 , :.. .A^hich nothing, they Jay, binds, better when it is dry ; 

 ..*'but in wet v/eather it is apt to ftick to the heels of 

 , 'one's flioes, and will never appear handfome. .■. .. * 

 . ■Sometimes 'loann is mixed with Gravel that is over 

 V Jandy or Iharp, which muft be very well blended to- 

 " sether, and let lie in. heaps, after which it will bind 



■^plike a rock. 



^:There are many kinds of Gravel which do not bind, 

 :.^nd thereby caufe a continual trouble of rolling, tolit- 



--_ tie or no purpofe •, as for fuch,, ! .. - .^ 



If the Gravel be loofe or fandy, you fhould take one 

 load of ftrong loam, to two or three of Gravel, and fo 

 call them well together, and turn this mixtureover three 



r or four times, that they may be well blended toge- 



^ th'er ; if this is done in proper porportion, it will bind 

 well, and not ftick to the feet in wet weather.. . 

 There are many different opinions about the choice 



. of Gravel y fome are for havmg the Gravel as'white as 



. poffible, and in order to 



the walks more fo, they 



roll them well with ftone rollers, which are often hewn 

 ,, by the mafons, that they may add a whitenefs to the 

 ' walks J but this renders it very'troublefome to. the 

 .,. eyes, by rcflefting the rays of light fo ftrorigly, there- 

 fore this fhould ever be avoided i and fuch Gravel as 

 '.will lie fmooth, and refleft the leaft, fhould be pre- 



^ I L r rC U . , \ ; r. . r- i- ^ i-r i 



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,\ 



iSome fcreen the Gravel too fine, which is an error ; 



. for if it be caft into a round heap, and the great ftones 



- only raked off, it will be the better.^ : _. ' , - 



; Some are apt to lay Gravel-walks too round, but this 



•. is likewife an error, becaufe they are not lb good to 



..walk upon, and befides, it makes them look nar- 



,' * row 1 one inch rife is enough in a crown for a walk 



-- pf five feet i and it will be fufficient, if a ^yalk oe ten 



feet wide, that it lies two inches high'er in tHe middle 



.. than it does on each fide ; if fifteen feet, three inches •, 



•twenty feet, four ; and foin proportion. 



For the depth of Gravel-walks, fix or eight inches may 



do well enough, but a foot thicknefs will be fufficient 



j'or a>iy ; but then there fhould always be a depth of 



rubbilli laid under *the Gravel, ,cfpecially if the 



G R A 



ground is wet ; in v/hich cafe there c.innot be too 

 much care to fill the bottom of the walks witii br-^e 

 ftones, flints, brick rubbifli, chalk, or any other mate- 

 rials which can be beft procured, which v/i!l drain off 

 the moifture from the Gravel, and prevent its beintr 

 poachy in wet weather ; but as it may be difficult \r{ 

 fome places to procure a fufficient quaiitity of th!:fitr 

 materials to lay in the bottom of the v/alks, fo there 

 may be a bed of Heath, or Furze, which ever can b- 

 procured at the leaft expence, laid under the Gravel to 

 keep it dry : and if either of thefe are ufed green, ihfy 

 will lie a long time, as they will be covered from air 

 and thefe will prevent the Gravel from gettino; down 

 into the clay, and will always keep the Gravel dry • 

 .and where there is not this precaution in the firft by! 

 ing of the Gravel upon clay, the water being" detained 

 by the clay, will caufe the Gravel to be poachy whcn- 

 . ever there is much rain. 

 In making of Gravel- walks, there m.uft be great re- 

 gard had to the level of the ground, fo as to lay the 

 walks with eafy defcents toward the iov/ parts of the 

 ground, that the wet may be drained off eafily ; for 

 when this is omitted, the v/ater v/iUlie upon the walks 

 a confiderable time after hard rains, which will ren- 

 der them unfit for ufe, efpcciaily when the ground U 

 naturally wet or ftrong ■, but where the ground is level 

 and there are no declivities to carry off the wet, kwill 

 be proper to have fink-ftones laid by the fides of the 

 walks, at convenient diftances, to let off the wet ^ and 

 where the ground is naturally dry, that the water will 

 foon foak away, the drains of the fink-ftones may be 

 contrived fo as to convey the water in feffpools, 

 from which the water will ibak away in a fi^ort time ; 

 i .but in wet land there Ihould be under-o-round drains. 

 ,;v^tQ convey the v^t off, either into ponds, ditches, or 

 \^ the oeareft place to receive it > for where this is not 

 •^-Avell provided for, the walks will never be fo hand- 

 . fome or fo ufefuL ~->-:rit . 



1 * "■ 



ill -'*■'' 



-y The month of March is the propereft time for laying 

 Gravel ; it is not prudent to. do it fooner, or to lay 

 walks in any of the winter months before that time. 

 Some indeed turn tip Gravel- walks in ridges in De- 

 cemiber, in order to kill the weeds j but this is very 



wrong. 



for. befides that it deprives them of the be- 

 nefit of them all the winter, it does not anfwer the end 

 for which it is done, "but rather the contrary; for 

 though it does kill the \yceds fox the prefect, yet -it 

 adds a fertility to them, as to the great future in- 

 creafe of both them and Grafs. . 



J 1?' ^ 



k I 'if r k 





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. If conftant rolling them after the rains and froft will 

 not effeftually kill the weeds and mofs, you fliould 

 . turn the walks in Marchj. ar^cj lay them do)VA atjhe ' 

 . fame time. . . . .. 



^-> ^ 



In order to deftroy worms that fpoil the beauty of 

 Gravel, or Grafs-walks, fome recommended the water- 

 ing them well with water, in which Walnut-tree 

 leaves have been fteeped, and made very bitter, efpe- 

 cially thofe places moft annoyed mth them j and this 

 they fay, as foon as it reaches them, will make them 

 come out haftily, fo that they may be gathered ; but 

 if, in the firft laying of the walks, there is a good bed 

 of lime rubbifli laid in the bottom, it is the moft ef- 

 fectual method to keep out the worms, for they do 

 not care to harbour near lime; 



* ' 





V 



'f. 



GREEN-HOUSE, or Confervatory; . ,,. _ . 

 As of late years there have been gre^t quantities of 

 curious exotic plants introduced into the Engliffi gar- 



. dens, fo the number of Green-houfes, or Confervato- 

 ries, have iricreafed; and not only a greater flail in the 

 management and ordering pf thefe plants has increafed 

 therewith. But alfo a greater knov/ledge of the ftruc- 

 ture and contrivance of thefe places, fo as to render 

 them both ufcful and ornamental, hath been acqtiired-, 



.. and fince there are many particulars to be obferved in. 

 the conftruftion of thefe houfes, whereby they will be 

 greatly improved, I thought it neceffaiy not only to 

 give the beft inftruftions for this I was capable of, but 

 alfo to give a defign of one in the manner I would 

 chufe to ered it, upon the annexed copper-plate. . 



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"As 



