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fizi?, but thofe on the upper part of the ftalks ar 

 trifoliate. The flowers are produced at the end of 

 the ftalks ; they are fmall, yellow, and Ihaped like 

 thofe of the other forts, and are fucceeded by com- 

 prelfed moon-fhaped pods, which are acutely indented 

 on their borders, and contain three or four kidney- 

 fliaped feeds. This plant flowers and ripens its feeds 

 about the fame time as the other. 

 Thefe annual forts are preferved in the gardens of 

 thofe who are curious in botany ^ the feeds of thefe 

 Ihouid be fown upon an open bed of freih ground, in 

 the places where the plants are to remain, becaufe 

 they do not beartranfplanting v/ell, unlefs when they 

 are ver}' young. As the plants fpread their branches on 

 the ground, fo tiiey iliould not be fown nearer than 

 two feet and a half afunder; when the plants come 



up, they will require no other care but to keep them 

 clean from weeds. In June they will begin to flower, 

 and as the ftalks and branches extend, there will be 

 a fucceflion of flowers produced till the autumn •, but 

 the early flowers are fuch as will have good feeds fuc- 

 cecd them ; for thofe which come late in fummer, 

 have not time to ripen before the cold weather 

 comes on. 



The feventhfort grows naturally in the iflands of the 

 Archipelago, in Sicily, and the warm.eft pa; ts of Italy. 

 This rifes with a ihrubby ftalk to the height of eight 

 or ten feet, covered with a gray bark, and divides into 

 many branches, which, while young, are covered with 

 a hoary down ; thefe are garniftied at each joint with 

 trifoliate leaves, ftanding upon foot-ftalks about an 

 inch long; there arc two or three of thefe at each 



Joint, fo that the branches are clofely covered with 

 them ; the lobds are fmall, fpear-fhaped, and hoary 



^on their vinder fide ; thefe remain all the year. The 



^ flowers are produced on foot-ftalks which arife from 

 , the fide of the branches, they are of a bright yel- 

 low, each foot-ftalk fuftaining four or five flowers ; 



^ tRefe are fucceeded by comprelfed moon-fliapcd pods, 

 e^|i containing three orfourkidney-fliaped feeds. 

 It flowers great part of the year, and when the win- 

 'ters are favourable all the year ; or when the plants 



■ are fheltered in winter, they are feldom deftitute of 



. flowers/. 



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in due compafs ; but you Ihouid never prime thern 

 early m the fpring, nor late in autumn, for if froil 

 fhould happen foon afzcv they are pruned, it will de- 

 llroy the tender brandies, and many times the whole 

 plant is loft thereby. 



Thefe plants have been conftantly preferved in the 

 green-houfe, fuppofing them too tender to live ihro' 

 the winter in the open air ; but I have had large plants 

 of this kind, v/hich have remained in a warm fitua- 

 tion many years without any cover, and have been 

 much ftronger, and flov/ered better, than thofe which 

 were houfed ; though, indeed, it will be proper to 

 keep a plant or tv/o in ftielter, left by a very leverc 

 winter (which fometimes happens in England) the 

 plants abroad ftiould be deftroyed. 

 They may alfo be propagated by cuttings, which 

 ftiould be planted in April, upon a bed of light earthy 

 and v^atered and iliaded until they have taken root, af- 

 ter which they m.ay be expofed to the open air ; but 

 they fliould remain in the fime bed till July or Au- 

 guft following, before they are tranfplantcd, by which 

 time they will have made ftrong roots, and may be 



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but thofe in the open 



air begin to flower 



removed with iafety to the places where they are to 

 remain, obferving (as was before dire6led) to v/ater 

 and fliade them until they have taken root ^ after 

 which you may train them up with ftrait ttems, by 

 fattening them to fticks, otherwife they sire apt to 

 grow crooked and irregular ^ and when you have got 

 their ftems to the height you defign them, they may 

 then be reduced to regular heads, and with pruning 

 their irregular flioots^evcry year, they may be kept 

 ,in very good order. ' - '. ■ ; "^ .. 



This plant grows in great plenty in the kingdom of 

 Naples, where tlie goats 'feed upon *it, with wHofe 

 milk the inluibiiaius make great quantities of cheefe ; 

 it alfo grows in the inlands of the Archipelago, where 

 the Turks ufe the wood of thefe flirubs to make han- 

 dles for their fabres, and thcCalioe;ers of Patmos make 

 their beds of this wood. 



This is, as hath been before obferved, by many peo-' 

 pie, fuppofcdto be the Cynfus of Virgil, Columella, 

 and the old writers in hulbandry, which they men- 

 tion as an extraordinary plant, and w^crtl^y of culti- 

 vation for fodder, from whence feveral pcrlbns have 



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in April, and continue in fucceflion till December. I recommended it as worthy of our care in En^dand, 



Thofe flowers which appear early in fummer will have j ■ But however ufeful this plant may be in Crete, Sicily, 



their fe^ds ripe in Auguft, or the beginning of Sep- I Naples, or thofe warmer countries, yet I am per-. 

 ; tember, and the others will ripen in fucceflion till the j fuaded it will never thrive in England, fo as to be of 



cold ftops them. : 



This plant may be propagated by fowing the feeds 



upon a moderate hot-bed, or a warm border of light, 

 :^ earth, in the beginning of April ; and wTien the plants 



come up, they fhould be carefully cleared from weeds i 



■ but they fliould remain undifturbed, if fown in the 

 -..common ground, till September following ^ but if 



pn a hot-bed, they ftiould be "tranfplantcd about Mid- 

 ^: fummer into pots, placing them in the fliade until they 

 ' have taken root j after which they may be removed 



into a fituation where they may be fcreened from 



4 



ftrong winds, in which they may abide till the latter 

 .end of Oftobei*, when they muft be put into a com- 

 inon garden frame, to fhelter them from hard frofts\ 

 ^ for thofe plants which have been brought up tenderly, 

 ' will be liable to fuffer by hard weather, efpecially 

 ...while they are young. In April following thefe plants 

 may be ftiaken out of the pots, and placed in the. full 

 ground where they are dcfigned to remain," which 

 , fhould be in a light foil and a warqi fituation, in which 

 they will endure the cold of our ordinary winters ex- 

 tremely well, and continue to produce flowers moft 

 part of the year, and retaining their leaves all the 

 "Winter renders them the m.ore valuable. 

 Thofe alfo w^hich were fown in an open border may 

 be tranfplanted in Auguft following, in the fame man- 

 ner i but in doing of this you muft be careful to take 

 them up with a ball of earth to their roots, if pofTi- 

 ble, as alfo to water and fliade them until they 

 nave taken root j after which they will require litde 

 ^nore care than to keep the ni clean from weeds, and 

 to prune oflfthc luxuriant branches to keep them with- 



any real advantage for that purpofe ; Tor in fevere 



^froft it is very fubjeft to ht de|lroyed, or at leaft fd 



much damaged, as not to recwcf itrformer verdure 



' btfofe the middle br latter end of May ^ and the 



fhoots which are produced will not bear cutting above 



once in a fummer, ana then Will not be of any confide- 



rable length •, and the ftems gfowmg very woody, will 



render the cuttihg'of it very troublefome ; fo that^ 



upon the whole, it can never anfwer the trouble and 



expence in cultivating it, nor is it worth the trial, 



fince we have fo many other plants preFcHble to it ; 



, though in hot, dry, rocky countries, where few otKef 



plants will thrive, this may be cultivated to great ad- 



fince in fuch fituations this plant will live 



and thrive very v/ell, 





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vantage, 



many years, 

 ■ But however unfit this may be for fuch ufes in Eng- ^ 

 land, yet for the beauty of its hoary leaves, >/hiclt 

 will abide all the year, togethei* with its long conti- 

 . nuance in flower, it deferves a place in every good 

 . garden, where, being intermixed v/ith flirubs of jhe 

 fame growth, it makes a very agreeable variety. 

 As there are atprefent fo riiany perfons inquifitive to* 

 know which is the true Cynfus menrioned by the an- 

 ticnts, I have taken the pains of tranfcribing briefly 

 what they have faid as to. its defcription, by which 

 may be judged hov/ uncertain it is to determine in an 

 affair where there is fo little to be found in authors to 



afllft us. ... , . 



Theophraflus fays, Cytifus is fuch an enemy to other 



plants, that it will kill, them, by robbing them of 

 nourifhment, and that the medulla of it b fo hard and 

 thick, that it comes the neareft of anythingtaEbcapm. 



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