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at remote diTcances from the fci-nale, on thd fame 

 plant; which in the Melons, Cucumbers, Gourds, 

 and many other forts of plants, is conR:ant. There- 

 fore of late years, fince the doclrine of the generation 

 of plants has been better known amongft gardeners, 

 they have been curious enough to afTift nature in this 

 operation ; but they have had more regard to the pro- 

 dutStion of fruit, than to the obtaining of perfeft 

 Seeds *, though by procuring of the one, the other 

 inuft of courle receive the benefit. 



Thispradtice has 

 fetting of the fruit 

 of their Melons, an4 early Cucumbers. The 



been principally confined to th 





me- 



thod is this i when the fruit appears upon the plants, 

 and the flower at the top is juft fully expanded, they 

 take fome of the moft vigorous male flowers, and 

 with a pin move the apice which fuftain the farina foe- 

 cundans, gently up and down, over the bloflbm of 

 the female flov/ers, whereby the farina is fcattered 

 into them ; and alio lay one of the frefh blown male 

 flowers with the open fide over the mouth of the fe- 

 male flowers, that hereby the fruit fnay be fufficiently 

 impregnated; and where there are male flowers fo 

 fituated, as that they may be joined without pulling 

 them oiF the plant, it is always to be cholcn. By 

 this method, the gardeners have fucceeded in fetting 

 the firft fruits of this fort which have appeared on 

 the plants, wliich before this was praftifed, general- 

 ly dropped ofF, and never grew to any fize ; fo that 

 very often, v/hen the weather has proved fo unfa- 

 vourable as to render it unfafe to admit the external 

 air to the plants, the fruit have been produced fuc- 

 celTively for three weeks or a month, before any of 

 them have been fet to grow, but have fallen ofFfoon 

 after they appeared. Therefore this is a convincing 

 proof of the necefTity for the ovary of the fruit to be 

 impregnated, efpecially where good Seeds are to be 

 obtained •, and this will explain the caufe of new 

 Seeds often failing, as hath been already mentioned 

 under the article of Generation ; fo that many per- 

 fons have been deceived by fowing Seeds of their own 

 faving, without knowing how it has happened. I 

 have fevcral times been deceived in obtaining good 

 Seeds of tender exotic plants, which have flowered, 

 and produced (to all appearance) very good Seeds, 

 but many times they have all failed ; which I appre- 

 hend was owing to the keeping of the glaffes foclofe, 

 during the time the plants were in flower, as that the 

 external air was excluded ; which, if it had been ad- 

 mitted, might have afTifted the farina In the impreg- 

 nation of the Seed, and thereby have rendered it good ; 

 becaufefromthefameplants,inmorefavourablefeafons, 

 when the free air has been admitted, have produced 

 plenty of good Seeds. . , ; ,- - - ;- .*..::.: , 

 In the tables here fubjoined, I have given the com- 

 mon Englifh narhes of the' Seed, oppoflte to which 

 I have added the Latin names, that the reader may 

 with eale turn to the feveral articles in the Gardeners 

 Diftionary, where each fort is particularly treated of, 

 and direftions ar 



fs 



given for their management. 

 ■SEGMENTS OF LEAVES are the parts of 



■ 'fuch leaves of plants as are divided or cut into many 

 fiireds. ' / 



S E L A G O. Lin. Gen. Plant. 687, Camphorata. Com. 



■ Santolina. Boerh. - . 



The Characters are, , \ ■ 



- ^he flo'-jjer'has a fmall permanent empalement of one leaf 

 cut into four parts at the top, 'The flower is of one 



" petaly it has a very fmall tuhe^ a little perforated \ the 

 Irim is fpreading^ and cut into five parts^ the two upper 

 fegments are the kajt. ■ It hath four hair-like Jlaminathe 

 length of the petals to which they are inferted^ two of 

 ' which are longer than the other ^ terminated by fingle fum- 

 mits ; and a roundfto germen fupporting a ftngle Jlyle^ 



- crowned by an acute fiigma. The germen afterward be- 

 comes a ftngle feedy wrapped up in the petal of the flower. 

 This genus of plants is ranged in the fecond ledion 

 of Linn^us's fourteenth clafs, which includes thofe 

 plants whofe flowers have two long and two fliorter 

 ftamina, ar^d the feeds are included in acapfule. 



S E L 



V/e have but one Species of this genus at prcfent^ 

 in the Englilh gardens, viz. ' 



Selago [Corymhofa) corymbo multiplici. Lin. So. Plant. 

 629. Selago with a multiplied corymhus, Camphorata 

 Africana, umbellata, frutefcens. Hort. Amit. 2. p, 

 79. Shrubby •, African^ umbellated Camphorata, 

 This plant grows naturally at the Cape of Good Hope ; 

 it has flender ligneous fl:alks which rife feven or eight 

 feet high, but are foweak as to require fupport ; they 

 fend out many flender branches, which are sarniflied 

 withfhort, linear, hairy leaves, that come out i'n ckilters 

 from the fame point. The flowers are produced in 

 umbels at the top of the fl:alks, the general umbel 

 being compofed of a multiplicity of fmall umbels ; 

 they are very fmall, and of a pure white ; they ap- 

 pear in July and Auguft, but are not fucceeded by 

 feeds here. 



This plant is preferved in gardens more for the 

 fake of variety than for its beauty, for the branches 



- grow very irregular, and hang downward, and the 

 leaves being fmall make little appearance, and the 

 flowers are (o fmall as not to be diftinguiflied at any 

 diftance. .-. 



It is propagated by cuttings, which puts out roots 

 freely if they are planted in any oT the fummer 



■ months ^ if thefe are planted in a bed of frefli "earth, 

 and covered clofe down with a bell or hand-glafs, 

 fl^ading them from the fun, and refrefliing them now 



■ and then with water, they will foon put out roots ; 

 then they mufl be gradually hardened, and afterward 

 tranfplanted into fmall pots, placing them in the fiiade 

 till they have taken root ; then they may be placed with 

 other hardy green-houfe plants, where they may re- 

 main till the end of Odtober, when they muft be re- 

 moved into fhelter, for thefe plants will not live in 

 the open air in England ; but as they only require 

 protection from hard froft, fo they fhould be treated 

 in the fame way as other of the hardiefl: kinds of green- 

 houfe plants. ' 



SELINUM. Lim Gen. Plant. 300. Thyfl'elinum. 

 Tourn* Inft. R. H. 3 19. Milky Parfley. 

 The Characters are, . 



It has an umbellated flower ; the general umbel is plain 

 and fpreadingy and the particular umbels are the fame ; the 

 involucrum is compofed of many linear fpear-foaped haves 

 which fpread open \ the umbel is uniform \ the flowers have 

 five infiexed heart-fljaped petals which are unequal -, they 

 _, have 'five hair-like ftamina terminated by roundifh fum- 

 \- ■ mits,-' The germen is fituated under the flower^ fupport- 

 ' Jfig two reflexed ftyleSy crpwfied by ftngle ftigmas ; it af- 

 terward becomes a plain ccmpreffed fruit channelled on 

 loth fides -i parting in two^ containing two oblong elliptical 

 plain feeds^ channelled in the middle^ and have membranes 

 on their fides, - - .';.- . • - 

 This genus of plants is ranged in the fecond feftion 

 of Linn^us's fifth clafs, which includes thofe plants 

 whofe flowers have five fl:amina and two flyles. 

 The Species are, .■ - 



1. Selinum {Sylveflre) radice fufi-formi multiplici. 

 Hort. Cliff. ^^, Milky Parfley with fpindle-fljaped roots, 

 Thyflilinum Plinii. Lob. Icon. 711, PUttji's wild Milky 

 Parfley, . • - 



2. Selinum {Paluftre) fublaftefcens radice unica. Haller. 

 Helv. 443. Selinum which is almoft milky ^ and having a 

 fingle root, Thyfl^elinum paluftre. Tourn. Inft. 319. 

 Marflo^ wild,, Milky P arfiey . , 



: The firft fort grows by the fides of lakes and ftand- 

 . ing waters in feveral parts of Germany ; this hath 

 many fpindle-fliaped roots, hanging by fibres which 

 fpread and multiply in the ground. The ftalks rife 

 five or fix feet high •, they are ftreaked, and of a pur- 

 ple colour at bottom, fending out feveral branches 

 toward the top j the leaves are finely divided like 

 thofe of the Carrot, and when broken there ifllies out 

 a milky juice -, the ftalks are terminated by umbels of 

 whitifli flowers which come out in June, and are fuc- 

 ceeded by compreflfed bordered feeds which ripen in 

 Auguft. ' 



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