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they were carried from Guinea, where they grow na- 

 turally : thefc plants are alfo cultivated in Egypt, and 

 in nioft other hot countries, where they grow to per- 

 feftion in about ten months, from their firft planting, 

 to the ripening of their fruit; when their ftalks 

 are cut down, fcveral fuckers come up from the 

 root i they will alfo produce fruit in ten months 

 after, fo that by cutting down the ftalks at different 

 times, there is a conftant fuccefiion of fruit all the 



ear. 

 Jn Europe there are fome of thefe plants preferved in 



the gardens of curious perfons, who have hot-houfes 



capacious enough for their reception, in many of 



which they have ripened their fruit very well j but as 



' ^^^Y grow very tall and their leaves are large, they 



require more room in the ftove than moft people care 



• ' to allow them : they are propagated by fuckers, 



which come from the roots of thofe plants which have 

 ; fruited ; and many times the younger plants, when 

 they are ftinted in growth, will put out fuckers •, thefe 

 Ihould be carefully taken off, preferving fome fibres 

 to their roots, and planted in pots filled with Hght 

 rich earth, and plunged into the tan-bed in the ftove : 

 thefe may be taken off any tirhe in fummer, and it is 

 beft to take them off when young, becaufe if their 

 roots are grown large, they do not put out new fibres 

 fo foon, and when the thick part of the root is cut in 



• taking off, the plants often rot. ' . •. * ; 



During the fummer feafon thefe plants muft be plen- 

 tifully watered, for the furface of their leaves being 

 large, there is a great confumption of moifture, by 

 pcrfpiration in hot' weather, but in the winter they 

 muft be watered more KparTrtgly; though at that feafon 

 '■ they muft be often refrclhed, but it muft not be given 



' them in fuch quantities. '' "^"^ ' 



^■ The pots in which thefe plants are placed, ftiould be 



large in proportion to the fizeof the plants, for their 



5:^roots'generally extend pretty far, and the earth fhould 



^"^^be rich and light. The degree of heat with which 



, thefe plants thrive beft, is much the fame with the 



Anana, or Pine Apple, in which I have had many of 



■ thefe plants produce their fruit in perfeftion, and they 

 - were near twenty feet high. 



■ The moft lure method to have thefe plants fruit in 

 \ England is, after they have grown for fome time in 

 ; . pots, fo' as to have made gooc 

 •out of the pots with the ball of earth to their roots, 

 '. and plant them into the tan-bed in the ftovp, obferv- 



' ing to lay a little old tan near their roots for their 

 fibres' to ftrike into, and in a few months the roots of 



roots 



ttK 



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r- 



thefe plants will extend themfelves rhany feet each 

 way in the bark ;' and thefe plants will thrive a great 

 ^eal fafter than thofe which are confined In pots, or 

 jbs.' When the bark-bed wants to be" renewed' with 

 *fre(h tan, there fhould be gfeat cafe " tak^h '^of the 

 roots of thefe plants,' not to cut or break them, as al- 

 fo to leave a large quantity of the old tan about them, 

 becaufe if the new tan is laid too neair them, it will 

 fcorch their roots,' arid injure them :* thefe plants 

 ' muli be plentifully fupplied with water, otherwife 

 they will not thrive ; in winter they fhould be water- 

 ed twice a week, giving at leaft two quarts to each 

 plant, but in fummer they muft be watered every 

 Other day', and double the quantity given to them 

 each time. If the plants pufh out their flo'wer-ftems 

 in the fpring, there will be hopes of their perfefting 

 their fruit •, but when they come out late in the year, 

 the plants will fometimes decay before tTie fruit is 



" " plants are placed 



height, otherwife 



_, _ leaves to expand J 



for when the plants are in vigour, the leaves are of- 



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fuch bent leaves force through tlie glafs, and by tfrc 

 next morning advanced two or three inches above 

 the glafs. 



I have fecn fome bunches of fruit of the firft fort, 

 which v/ere upwards of forty pounds weight, and per- 

 fectly ripe in England •, but this is notfo good a fruit, 

 as to tempt any perfon to be at the expence of raifing 

 them in England. The fecond fort is preferred to the 

 firft, for the flavour of its fruit, in all thofe hot coun- 

 tries where thefe plants abound : the bunches of thefe 

 are not near fo large as thofe of the firft fort, nor are 

 the fingle fruit near fo long ; thefe change to a deeper 

 .yellow colour as they ripen, but their tafte is fome- 

 what like that of meally Figs. Some perfons who have 

 refided in the Weft-Indies, having eaten fome of 

 thefe fruit which v/ere produced in England, and 

 thought them little inferior to thofe which grew in 

 America -, and I imagine, that the inhabitants of 

 thofe countries would notefteem thefe fruits fo much, 

 had they variety of other forts •, but, for want of 

 better, they eat many kinds of fruit, which would 



not be valued in Europe, could they be obtained in 

 perfedlion. ' 



MUSC ARI. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 347. tab. 180. 

 -Mufk, or Grape Hyacinth, vulgo. 



-f-'* The Characters are, 



'^'■^The flower has no empakment. It hath one oval fit cher - 



'^Jhaped petal, which is reflexci at the Irim, It hath three 



'^'nWariuins 'on the fcp bf the germen^ and Jix awl-Jhaped 



■ ftamind which are Jhorter than the petal, whofe fummits 



join together, ' and in the center is Jituated a roundijh 



'three-cornered germen, Jupporting a Jingle ftyle, crowned 



^ 'ty an ohtife ftigma. The germen afterward turhs to a 



roundijh three-cornered capjule, having three cells, filled 

 with roundijh feeds. ' * ^ - :--, -;i-if? t .k ..^ri" 



Dr. Linnasus has joined this genus to the Hyacinth, 

 which is placed in the firft feftion of his fixth clafs, 

 which contains the plants whofe flowers have fix fta- 

 mina and one ftyle. 

 The Species are, 



1. MuscARi {Botryoide) corollis globofis tiniformibus, 

 foliis canaliculato-cylindricis ftridlis, Mufcari with uni- 

 form globular petals, and cylindrical gutter-fhaped leaves. 

 Mufcari arvenfe, juncifolium, cseruleum, minus. 



■ Tourn. Inft. 348^. Smaller blue Field Mufcary, with 



■ Kufh leaves, commonly called Grape Hyacinth. 



2, MuscARi (Comofus) corollis angulato-cylindricis, fum- 

 \ mis fterilibus longiils pedicellatis. Mufcari with angu^ 

 ' -far cylindrical petals, which on the top of the Jpike are 

 - barren, and have longer fooi-ftalks.''^ Mufcari arvenfe, 



latifolium, purpurafcens. Tourn. In&ir^^y. Broad- 

 '''leaved, purple. Field Mufcari. commonly called Fair-haired 



3^ MuscARi {Racemofus) Corollis ovztis, fummis feffili- 

 bus foliis laxis. Mufcari with oval petals, Mufcari 

 obfoletiore flore. Cluf^ Hift. i. p. 178. Mufcari with 



"' an obfolete flower, commonly silled Mujk Hyacinth, 



4. MuscARi {Monfirofus) corollis fubovatis."^iM«/?^r/ 



with almoji oval corolla,' Hyacinthils pdnicUla C£eru- 



lea. C. B. P. 4i; Blue paniculated Hyacinth, called Fea- 



^ ^ 



v 



thered Hyacinth. '■-'■■- •-'■-• 



5. MuscARi {Orchioide) corollis fexpartitis, petalis tri- 

 • bus extcrloribus brevioribus. Mufcari with petals which 

 are cut into fix parts, Hyacinthus orchioides Africa- 

 nus rnajor bifolius maculatus, flore fulphureo, obfo- 

 ' leto majore. Breyn. Prod. 3. 2^. Greater African Hy- 

 acinth, refemUing Orchis, with two Jpotted leaves, and 

 * " a larger, obfolete, fulphur-coloured flower ,- " • ■ ' 

 ''The firft fort grows naturally in the vineyards and 

 arable fields in France, Italy, and Germany, and 

 where it is once planted in a garden, it is not eafily 

 rooted out, for the roots multiply greatly, and if 

 they are permitted to fcatter their feeds, the grOund 

 will be filled with the roots. There are three varieties 

 of this, one with blue, another with white, and a third 

 with Afh-coloured flowers : the firft fort hath a fmall, 

 round, bulbous root, from which come out many 

 leaves about fix inches long, which are narrow, and 

 ^ * their edges are incurved, fo as to be fhaped like a 

 vigorouflyi for J have had in one night the ftems ol^ I gutter: between thefe arife the flower-ftalk^ which 



^ipe. The ftoves in which thefe 

 fhould be at leaft twenty feet in 

 there will not be room for their 



ten eight feet in length, and two feet broad: fo that 

 if the ftems grow to be fourteen feet to the divi- 

 fion of the leaves, and the houfe is not twenty 

 feet high, the leaves will be cramped, which will 

 retard the growth of the plants -, befides, when the 

 leaves are bent againft the glafs, there will be dan- 

 ger of their breaking them, when they are growing 



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