E 



\iw\n^ months h.ul not near the qu.inticv of water j iVars, 1\^k1iC5, Nc6la»-ines, and Grapes, and the pre 

 ' ^ ■ - . .- cluetioii or warmer countries, have been fewer, ?n.,! 



tliofe i^iot io thoroughly ripened, and brought toper 

 feftion as they are in more benign feafons. 



;-) 



lent up into them, or fu great an additional increale 

 by much as thole that were fet in June, July, or the 



hotter months. i -kt • ■ i 'i i i • i - 



Ic is plain the water has no power of moving itfeU, Nor is it that heat only which promotes \ egctation, 



or riiine to the vail height it doth, in the more tall but any other indifferently, according to its power and 



degree, as we find from our (loves, hor-beds, &c. 

 And by the rightly adapting of thefe artificial heats, 

 the Engliih gardeners have of late years fo much im- 

 proved their art, as in a great meafure to fupply the 

 want of natural heat, and to vie v/ith the people', who 

 inhabit countries feveral degrees fouth of Enoland in 

 the early produfts of efculent plants, and the accele- 

 rating and ripening the fruits of the warmed climates. 

 And as the knowledge of Vegetation is improved, 

 and the praftitioners of the art are better acquainted 

 with the theory, it may be hoped the art may be far- 

 ther extended and improved -, therefore it is high!/ 

 ncceffary, that the theory of Vegetation fl-sould be'^llu- 

 died by every perfon who propofes to make any pro- 

 ficiency in gardening and agriculture. 

 VELLA. Lin. Gen, Plant.^714. Spanifli Crefs. 



and lofty plants ^ fo farfrtjm it, th.at it doth not ap- 

 pear by any difcovcry yet made, that even its own 

 fluidity confills in the inteiline motion of Its parts, 

 whatever the Cartefians tliink. 



Indeed we want notliing more to folve all the phx^no- 

 mena of fluidity, than fuch a figure and difpoiition of 

 parts as water has : fpherical corpufcles muil Hand lo 

 ticklifh upon each other, as to be fufceptible ot every 

 impreffion, and though not perpetually in motion, 

 muft be always ready and liable to be put into it by 

 any the flighteft force imaginable. It is true, the 

 parts of fire or heat are not capable of moving them- 

 felves any more than thofe of water, but they are 

 more fubtile, light, and aftive than thofe are, and fo 

 the more eafily put in motion. 



That the concourfe of heat is really neceflary in this 

 work, appears not only from the experiments before 

 us, but from all nature, from the fields and forefts, 



We fee in autumn, as the 

 iun's power is gradually lefs and lefs, lb its effetft on 

 plants is remitted, and Vegetation flackens by little 



and little. 



Its failure is firfl: difcernible in trees, which, being 

 raifed highell above the earth, require a more intenfe 

 heat to elevate the water charged with nourifhment to 

 their tops, fo that, for want of frefh fupport and nu- 

 triment, they fhed their leaves, unlefs fupported by a 

 very firm and hard conftitution, as our evergreens are. 

 Next, the fhrubs part with theirs ; then the herbs and 

 lower tribes, the heat at length not being fufficient to 

 fupply even to thefe, though fo near the earth, the 



fund of their noujifliment. 



As the heat returns the fucceeding fpring, they all 

 recruit again, and are furnifhed with frefh fupplies 

 and verdure ; but firft, thofe which are loweft, and 

 neareft the earth, and that require a lefs degree of heat 



o-ardens and orchards. 



t:> 



The Characters are, 



T'he empakmeut of the fl. 

 of four linear ohtufe km 



#■ 



The fozvcr 

 has four petals in form of a crofs^ vobofe tails are the 



length of the empalement^ and fts flamina of the fame 



lengthy two of which are a little floorter^ terminated ly 



fingle fummits^ and an oval germefi^ fupporting a conical 



ftyle^ crowned by a Jingle Jlign 



ipfule 



ifterward 



intermediate partition twice as large as thepod^ and is oval 



f retching beyond the capftde 

 feed. 



cell con- 



This genus of plants is ranged in the firft feftion of 

 Linn^eus's fifteenth clafs, which includes thofe plants 

 whofe flowers have two lonQ;and two fccrttr (lamina^ 

 and the feeds are included in Ihort pods. 

 The Species are, 

 I. Vella {Annua) foliis pinnatifidis, filiculis pendulis. 

 Lin. Sp. Plant. 641. Vella with wing-pointed leaves^ and 

 hanging pods. Nafturtium fylveftre Valentinum. Cluf. 



to raife the water with its earthy charge into them, Hift. 2. p. 130. Wild Crefs of Vakntia 



then the Ihrubs and higher vegetables in their turn, 

 and laftly the trees. 



. --.^, 



As the heat increafes,- it* grows "tb6 powerful, and 

 hurries the matter with too great rapidity tTirough the 



finer and more tender plants ; thefe therefore go off 

 and decay, and others that are more hardy and vigo- 



rous, and require a greater degree of heat, fucceed in 



• their order. By which mechanifm, provident nature 

 furniflies us with a very various and diflferent entertain- 

 ment, and what is heft fuited to each feafon all the 



year round. 



. As the heat of the feveral feafons affords us a diffe- 

 yent face of things, the feveral diftant cHmates fhew 



^ the different fcenes of nature, and produ6tions of the 

 earth. 



The hotter countries ordinarily yield the largefl: and 

 talleft trees, and thofe too in a much greater variety 

 . than the colder ; even thofe plants common to both 

 attain to a much greater bulk in the fouthern, than in 

 the northern climates. 



Nay, there are fome regions fo cold, that they raife 

 no vegetables at all to a confiderable fize -, this we 

 learn from Greenland, Iceland, and other parts of like 

 cold fituation and condition : in thefe there are no 

 trees, and the Ihrubs are poor, little, and low. 

 Again, in the warmer climates, and fuch as furnrfli 

 trees and the large vegetables, if there happen a re- 

 miffion or diminution of the ufual heat, their produfti- 

 ons are impeded in proportion. Our own fummers 

 give us proof enough of this, for though at fuch times 

 there is heat fufficient to raif^ the vegetative matter 

 into the lower plants, as Wheat, Barley, Peas, and 

 the like, and we have plenty of Strawberries, Rafpber- 

 rics, Goofberries, Currants, and the fruits of fuch ve- 

 getables as are low, and near the earth, and a moderate 

 ftore of Cherries, Plums, &c. and fome others, that 

 grow at fomething of a greater height, yet our Apples, 



{Pfeudo Cytifi 



filiculis eredbis. Lin. Sp. Plant. 641. Vella with en tire ^ 

 oval-, ciliated leaves^ and ere^ pods. Pfeudo cytikis flore 



w 



iih a 



leucoii luteo. C. B. P. 230. Baft 

 flower like the yellow IVallfower. 

 The firll: fort grows naturally in Valentia j it is an 

 annual plant, which feldom riles more than one fooc 

 high. The ftalk divides toward the top into feveral 

 branches, each ending in a loofe fpike of flowers, 

 which are followed by round fwelling pods, having a 

 leafy border or creft on the top, which is hollowed 

 like a helmet. The pod opens with two valves, and 

 has two cells, which contain roundifli feeds like thofe 

 of Muftard. The leaves are jagged, and tndi in ma- 

 ny points. 



This plant is preferved in gardens for the fake of va- 

 riety, but as it is not very beautiful, nor of any ufe, 

 it is feldom cultivated unlefs in botanic gardens. If 

 the feeds of this plant are permitted to fcatter, the 

 plants will come up and thrive very well; or if they 

 are fown in autumn, they will fucceed much better 

 than thofe which are fown in the fpring ; for when the 

 feafon proves dry, thofe feeds which are fown in the 

 fpring, frequently lie in the ground till the following 

 autumn before the plants appea" ; whereas thofe 

 which are fown in autumn, always come up foon after, 

 or early in the fpring, fo will more ccrta'nly produce 

 ripe feeds. Thefe plants Ihould not be tranfplanted, 

 therefore the feeds Ihould be fown where ihe plants 

 are to remain, and if they are kept clean fr()m weed?, 

 and thinned where they are too clof::, they will rc\]u 



■ i 



- r^ 



no other culture. 



The 



fecond fort grows naturally in 



Spain 



The 



leaves of this arc entire, hairy, and fit clofe to the! 

 ftalk ; they are oval, and of a grayifii colour. The 

 ftalks become ligneous ; they rife about two feet 

 high, and are terminated by roundifli bunches of pale 



yellow 



