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ths fi'uk is ferve.1 up to the tabic in tlicir defcrts, but ' 

 jn England they have not been much cftcerhcd, which 

 lias occafioned their being ib little cultivated he^re. 

 There are feveral varieties of this fruit, \vhich difrer 

 from each other in fize and (hape, as Apples and Pears 

 do -, fome of thefe are Hiaped like Catherine Pears, 

 and are nearly as large ; others are deprefled at both 

 ends, and fhaped like Apples, but both thefe forts 

 will arife from feeds of the iame tree, fo that thole 

 who are defirous of having the largeft and beft kinds, 

 lliould propagate them by grafting or budding from 

 thofe trees whofe fruit are the faireft and beft fiavour- 

 ed, as is praftifed for other fruits -, thefe may be graft 

 ed upon Pear-ftocks, which agree better with this tree 

 than any other except il^eir own, for they will not 

 take upon Apple-ftock«, nor do they thrive upon the 

 Hawthorn or Medlar near fo well- though the fruit 

 of this tree approaches nearer to thofe than any other, 

 and are not fit for the table till they are in a ilate of 



decay. 



The'feveral varieties of this tree differ in the number 



of their feeds, in the fame manner as Pears, Ap- 

 ples, Quinces, and Medlars, fome of them having 

 but three feeds in each fruit, and others have four 

 or "five \ fo that although one of the characlers of 

 this genus is, that the fruit has but three feeds, yet 

 that muft be underftood to be of the wild fort, in 

 wliich there are feldom more, but thofe of the 

 cultivated kind are as uncertain as the fruit of Apples 



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and Pears; 



In Italy thefe trees are very common, where they 

 have a great variety of forts which have been ob- 

 tained from feeds, but I have not obferved in the 

 Encdilh gardens more than three forts, and thofe are 

 yet^ery fcarce, for there are at prefent but few large 

 trees of the true Service in England, one of which 

 was lately growing in the gardens formerly belong- 

 \^r. tr^ John Tradefcant at South Lambeth, near 



11 in Surry, who was a very curious collef^or 



of rare plants in King Charles the Second's time, 

 which tree was near forty feet high,^ and produced a 

 great quantity of fruit annually .which were fiiaped 

 like Pears V and there are indeed fome trees of mid- 

 dling growth in the gardens of Henry Marlh, Efq; 

 at Hammerfmith, which produce fruit of the Apple 

 Siape (from whence feveral young plants have. been 

 raifed of late in the nurferies near London but 

 thefe are fmall, compared to that in John Tradef- 



cant's garden. ^ ^ 



There are great numbers of large trees of this Service 



growing wild about Aubigny in France, from whence 



his Grace the late Duke of Richmond brought a great 



quantity of the fruit, and from the feeds raifed a great 



number of young plants in his garden at Goodwood 



in Suffex. ^ . . . 



The leaves 6rthis tree diflfer from thofe of the firft, 

 in their lobes Being broader, and not fo much fawed; 

 they' are alfo' much more downy on their under fide, 

 and the young fhoots of the' tree in the fpring are 

 covered with a white down.' The flowers are produ- 

 ced in larger and more . diffufrd bunches, and are a 

 little larger, but there are feldom more than two^or 

 three fruit produced upon each tunch. The ftamina 

 of the flowers are alfo longer 'than 'thofe of the wild 



, J 



fort which are tlae only diff'cfences I can bbferve be- 



twcen them. _ , 



Both thefe forts "may be propagated 'by fowing their 

 feeds in pots foon after the fruit is ripe, ftieltering 

 them under a common frame in winter, and plunging 

 the pots'into a moderate hot-bed in the fpring, which 

 will foon bring up^ the plants ; and when they are 

 come up, they fhould be carefully kept clear from 

 'weeds, and in dry weather watered ; but they fliould 

 be expofed to the open air, for the only reafon of put- 

 ting, them in a hot-bed is to forward the growth of 

 the feeds ; but if, when" the plants are come up, the 

 bed is ke:pt covered, it will draw the plants and fpoil 

 them. "In this bed the plants fliould remain until the 



middle prOdober, at which time ^their leaves will 



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decay* when there fiiould be a warm light fpot of 

 ground prepared to receive them, inro which they 

 fhould be planted in rows two feet afunder, and a foot 

 diilant in the rows, obferving to take them up care- 

 fully, and to plant them as foon as pofiible, that their 

 roots may not dry. 



During the fummer, tliC ground fliouId be kept con- 

 fl:antly clear from weed:i, and in winter there fliould 

 be a little mulch laid upon the furface of the ground 

 about their foots, to protect them from being injured 

 byfroil^ but in the fpring the ground between them 

 fliould be dug, burying the mulch therein, in doing 

 of which you mufl: be careful not to cut or injure the 

 foots of the plants. 



In this nurfery they may continue three or four years 

 according to their growth, when it will be proper to 

 tranfplant them out where they are to remain ; the 

 befl; feafoii for which is in October, or in the fpring, 

 jufl: before they begin to flioot. The foil fliould be 

 warm in which they are planted, and the fituation de- 

 fended from cold winds, in which place they will 

 thrive, and produce fruit in a few years. 

 Thofe who raife many of thefe trees from feeds, will 

 procure fome varieties of the fruit, from which the 

 beft may be felefted, and propagated for the table, and 

 the others may be planted for variety in wildernefl^s 

 or wood-walks, or may be ufed for fl;ocks to graft the 

 better kinds upon. " , , 



The wood of the wild Service-tree is much commend- 

 ed by the w^heelwright for being all heart, and it is of 

 great ufe for hufl^andmens tools, goads, &c. It is' 

 very white andfmooth, fowill polifli pretty well. 

 There is a fort of this with variegated leaves, which is' 

 preferved by fuch as are curious in coUeifling the fe- 

 veral forts of ft:riped plants, but there is no great beauty 

 in it ; it may be propagated by layers, or by being 

 budded on the plain fort, but they become plain on a- 

 very rich foil. 



The wild fort fliould have amoifl:fl:rong foil, tut will 

 ,' grow in 'the mbfl: expofed places, *teing^ extremely 

 hardy, which render's them wortHy of care, fince they 

 will thrive where few- other tree's will fucceed. 



sorrel; See Acetosa. ^ 



SOUTHER N \\^0 O D. See Abrotanum. 



S O W B R E A Dl^'Sie Cyclamen. 



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5PARTIUM.. Lin. Gen. Plant. 765. Genifta. 



- -Tourn. Infl:. R. H. 643. tab. 311. [fo called of fpa- 

 rum, a dart, becaufe the ruflies of this plant repre- 

 fent a dart ; or elfe of the Greek c-Trdflov^ of (rnii^ic 



Xi 



IF -'-t ' - « 



-*- ^ 



'to fow, becaufe it lows itfelf] Broom ; in 



French, Genet. 



The Characters are. 

 The einpalement of the flower is tuhdotis^ hearl-floapedy 

 with a very jhort margin at the top^ a^td has five fmali 

 indent ii7ys^ but below the flower the under fide is extend- 

 ed, ' The flower is of the butterfly kind ; the flandard is 

 almofl heart-fhaped^ large^ and wholly reflexedy the 

 " wings are oblongs ovaly fhorter than the flandard^ and 



- annexed to the ftamina j the keel is oblongs and longer 

 than the wings^ and the borders are hairy and connected 

 together^ to %vhich the ftamina are inferted. It has ten 



., unequal ft dinind which are joined together^ and are gradu- 

 ally longer y the upper being the fhorteft^ and the under ftands 

 apart y terminated by oblong fummitSy . ,^nd an oblong hairy 

 germeny fupporting a rifing awl-fhaped ftyhy to which is 



' faftened an oblongy hairy y inflexed ftigma. The germen 

 afterward becomes a longy cylindricaly obtufe pod of cne celly 

 opening with two valves^ including feveral globular kid- 



ney-floaped feeds. ' i ■' . . 



This genus of plants is ranged in the third feftion 



of Linn^eus's fevehteenth clafs, which ipcludes thofe 



plants whofe flowers have ten ftamina joined in two ^ 



bodies. 



The Species are, ■ , 



r. Spartium {Junceum) ramis oppoflds teretibus apice 



floriferis, foliis lanceolatis. Hort. Clifl". 95^' ^^.'^^'^^^ 

 with taper oppoftte branches whofe tops have flower Sy and 

 fpear-fljaped leaves. Genifl:a juncea. J. B. i. p. S^S- 



Rufhy Broom, commonly called ^anijh Broom. 



2. Spartium 



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