MAR 



places where thcfe can be eafily obtained, a great im- 

 provement may be made of them. 

 Sca-fand and fhells are in icveral pares of England 

 ufed to great advantage, elpecially in Devonfiiire, 

 v;here they are at the expence of fetching the fimd 

 and fhells on horfes backs, twelve or fourteen miles. 

 The land on which they lay this Manure, is a (Irong 

 loam incl ning to clay i fo that this feparates the parts, 

 and the falts which are contained in the dreffing are 

 a very great improvement of their land. Coral, and 

 fuch kinds of ftony plants which grow on the rocks, 

 are filled with falts which are ver>' beneficial to land ; 

 but as thefe bodies are hard, the improvement is not 

 the firft or fecond year after they are laid on the 

 ground, becaufe they require time to pulverize them 

 ■before their falts can mix v/ith the earth to impreg- 

 nate it.^ Therefore dreffings of this kind are feldom 

 ufed by tenants, who want to reap the fruit of their 

 labour as foon as poffible. But thefe Manures are 

 much better for cold ftrong land, than for that which 

 is light and fandy. 'In fome countries, at a great 

 diftance from the fea, have been difcovered great 

 quantities of foffil Ihells, which have been dug out 

 of the earth, and ufed as Manure, which have im- 

 proved the ground a little, efpeclally flrong land: as 

 thefe have little falts, when compared to thofe fhells 

 which are taken from the Ihore, therefore where the 

 latter can be obtained, they other are fcarce worth 



9^> fr ( J 



ufing. 



Where the land lies near the fea, fo that either fand, 

 ihells, corals, wrecks, or fca-weeds, can be obtained 

 at an eafy expence, they are by far the beft kinds of 

 Manure, becaufe they enrich the land for feveral 

 years •, for as their falts are clofely locked up, they 

 are communicated by degrees to the land, as the heat 

 and cold caufes the bodies to pulverize, and fall into 

 fmall parts ; fo that where fand and fmaller kinds of 

 fea-weeds are ufed, if they are laid on land in proper 

 quantities it will enrich it for fix or feven years ; but 

 ,: Ihells^ cbrals,^^rid other hard bodies, will continue 

 xj.mariy yelrs longer. \ /.j \ ~ . .;i-c : ',:,nt7 V 



In.dunging of land, I have frequently obferved in 



M A R 



+ 



The germen aflerv.ard turns to a roiwdijh three^cor^ 

 nered capfule with three valves, containing %ne l^Jf 

 '- rough Jeea, 



This genus of plants is ranged in the firft fe^tion of 

 Linnasus's firft clafs, intitled MonandriaMonocrynia 

 which includes thofe plants wlrofe flower:* have but 

 one ftamina and one ilyle. 



The Species are, . ' • 



1. Maranta {Arundinaced) culmo ramofo. Lin. Sp 7 

 Indian Arrow-root ^juith branching Jfalks, Maranta 

 Arundinacea cannacori folio. Plum. Nov. Gen. *i6 



. Maranta with a leaf of -the Indian ficwering Reed, ' 



2. Maranta {Galanga) culmo fimplici. Lin. Sp. 5 

 Indian Arrow-root with a fimple Jialk. Canna Indica' 

 radice alba alexipharmica. Sloan. Cat. Jam. 122. In- 



. dian Arrow-root. . . 



* J r '* 



■ ^ ■ - ^ r 



-The firft fort was difcovered by Father Plumie'r^in 

 fome of the French fettlements in America, Xvho'o-'avc 

 it this name, in honour of one Bartholomew Maraiita 

 an ancient botanift. The feeds of this kind were 

 fent to Europe by the late Dr. William Houftoun 

 who found the plant growing in plenty near La Vera 



^ i, ' 



t 



^ 



'>\. 



■^ ' i^^ 



'*.?. 



Cruz in New Spain. 



This hath a thick, flefhy, creeping root which is very 

 full of knots, from which arife many fmooth leaves 

 which are fix or feven inches long, arid three broad 

 toward their bafe, leffening toward each ehd, ^ermi- 

 : Dating in points. ..They are of the confiftence and co- 

 lour of thofe of the Reed, arid itand upon Reed- 



,.1 like foot-ftalks, which arife immeSiately from 'the 

 root ; between thefe come out the ftalks, which rife 

 near two feet high ; thefe divide upward into two or 

 three fmaller, and are garnifiied at each joint ^^Itk 



. . one leaf of the fame fhape with the lower, but are 

 ■ fmaller. The ends oTthe ftalks are terminatiedEy a 



l„loofe bjunch of fmall white flowers,«ftandiri^' upon 



Foot-ftalks which are near two inches long". The 



<i«sflower3 are cut into fix narrow fegments, which are 



indented on their edgesj, thefe fit upon tlie em'Sryo, 



f'iuwhich afterward hirfis to A.Jouhdifti three- corffered 



pi capfule, inclofing pnp hard, rgugh feed. It flowers 



■: here ip June and July. ,.^,J^^^ 



HvThe other fort was brought From 'fome of the SpHhilh 



:„ jettlements in America, into the'iftariSs of Barbadoes 



and laying^thd dung on the land about Midfummer, j p.\ and Jamaica^ 'B^ere It ^^^ in their ^fiiens 



r 





nr feveral parts of England, but elpecially in Cambridge- ; 

 ' fhire, a very wrong cuftom continued,- by carrying ' 



: r -'and fpread abroad perhaps a month or fix weeks bcr 

 fore the ground is ploughed •, in which time the fun 

 exhales all the goodnefs of the dung, fo that what re- 

 mains is of little fervice to the land. "TJierefore when 



rn 



■* r-' 



■1 - 



t * 



if 



a$ a medicinal plant, .it being a fovereigh remedy to 



cure the bite of wafps, and to extradt the poifon of 

 the Manchineel-tree, - The Indians apply the root to 

 expel the poifon of their arrows, which thefufc with 



dung or any other Manure is ufed, it fhould not be I ■ great fuccefs. .They, take up the roots,"^rid ^fter 



4f 



1 



■y 



laid on the ground until the laft time of ploughing, 

 when it fhould be buried as foon as pofTible, to pre- 

 vent the evaporation of the falts. Indeed, where 

 Ihells, corals, or any other hard fubftances, are ufed 



cleanfing them from dirt, they mafli .thegi^ and apply 

 it as a poultice to the wounded part, which draws out 

 the poifon and heals the wound. ; It will alfo ftdpa 

 gangrene, if it is applied before it is gdhe too far, fo 



• ■' 



for Manure, if thefe are fpread abroad fome months * that it is a very valuable plant.'_I ..rj?n'.n\;i;-;^,r 

 h^ before the ground is ploughed, the fun, rain, orfroft | ,^->This fort is very like the. firft, bufjias. a fingie ftalkj 

 ^' will caufe them to pulverize much fooner th^n when 

 ^ they are buried ana excluded from the air.-'*rsU- (1^ • 

 The dreffing of Grafs ground in fummer, fooh^after 



V- the crop of hay is taken off the ldnd,"is equally bad ; 

 for before Michaelmas the fun. will have dried and 



exhaled tpoft of the goodnefs, if the dreffing is of 

 'V/^unp:or any other foft Manure, To that tlie ground 



:>,»r^'.will receive fmall advantage from it ; and yet this 



'Ai'- method is too generally praftifed..? \%l f:^n;^^C\•;v£iU' * ^ 

 ..MAPLE. See Acer. :' 



the flowers are fmaller, and the fegments of the petals 



ire, in which their principal difference confifts ; 

 ^rs auo at the lame time. . -c-^^^^iw V-^'V^, 



ro- 



MAR ACOCK. 



See Passiflora. -i^v..- 



Mi 



•-r^- - "t 



i ^. 



>uir^-^ 





M AR ANTA. Plum. Nov. Gen. 16. tab. s^.Xin.. 



■.^-■^Gcn. Plant. /;. Indian Arrow-root/' M'i.^'-iv or: A 



\ r 



*• jf^ 



r^ ^ 



5 

 The Characters are. 



I ■ 



> . ' • V \ , '. V » V * 



f-'-^V** ■■'■i t 



\ It bath a fynall three-leaved empalement fitting upon the 

 \t.germn ; the flower hath one petals which is of the grin- 

 \'^^mng kindy having an cblcng ccmprejfed tuhe^ which is oh- 

 iiqim and turned inward \ the rim is cut into fix fmall f eg- 

 • •■■ mentis reprefenting a lip flower^ the two ftde fegments 

 ' heing the largeft. It has one memlranaceous ftardna^ ap- 

 pearing like a fegmtnt of the petaly with a linear fimmii 

 fafiened to the border r. It hath a rcundifh germen fitu- 

 cited umfer the^fldwery fupporting a fi*mple,flyk the 

 length of the petals crowned ly a three-cornered ftigma. 



\\)\ are^ entire 

 ;n^it flowers 



i'u Thefe plants being natives "of a warm 'cbuntry,_arc 



*ii. very tender, and therefore .\vill not live in this climate, 



. unlefs thcyarepreferyed inftoyes. They m ay be jp 



tii pagated by their creeping roots, which fhould He part* 



;^x ed in the middle of March, juft before they begin ta 



^'pufIl out new leaves;^' Theie rcots"'lhould be planted 



' in Tpots filled with light"rich earth, '^nd plunged into a 



•:<. moderate hot-bed of tanners bark, qbieping now and 



•- then tp refrefh them^with water ; but it muft not be 



'u given to them in large quantities, for too much 5:0:- 



:: fture will foon rot the "roots, when they are in an un- 



■ : aftive ftate.,:=.Whch the green leaves appear above 



ground, the plants will require more frequently to be 

 = watered, and they Ihould have free airadmitted to them 

 ' every day, in proportion to the warmth of the feaion, 



and the heat of the bed in which they arc placed. As 



the plants advance in ftrength, they ft'ould have a 

 ■. greater ftiafe of air, but they muft conf^antly reniaia 

 - - in the ftove plunged in the tan, otherwife they will not 



thrive -, for whe.n the pots are placed on flielvesin t e 



.. ftove, the moifture paflcs tooToonfrom the m^^y^ 



i ■ 



^1 



T * 



.■n 



L' 



:> 



