180 FLORA HISTOR1CA. 



earth. Hogg, in his treatise on this plant, advises 

 fresh loam, with a considerable portion of rotten 

 horse or cowdung. The Rev. W. Williamson, 

 whose remarks on this subject are published in the 

 London Horticultural Transactions, uses a stiff 

 clayey loam, with a fourth part of rotten dung. 

 An earth that cakes on the surface is the worst that 

 can be used to cover the tubers ; and where the soil 

 is of that nature, we should recommend a mixture 

 of sand, more particularly as the fibres of the tubers 

 do not depend on the surface- soil for nourishment, 

 but run deep into the earth. On this account, in the 

 beds or spots where the clumps of Ranunculuses are 

 to be planted, the earth should be dug out nearly two 

 feet deep, and at the bottom should be placed a stra- 

 tum of six inches of well-rotted dung, such as has 

 been taken from an old cucumber-bed; the hole 

 of the clump or bed should then be filled up level 

 with the surface, with well-pulverized earth that is 

 quite free from dung : on this the tubers should be 

 placed about four inches from each other, with their 

 claws downwards ; and where the earth is of a cold 

 or wet nature, a little sand should be placed beneath 

 each plant, and the whole covered with a fine light 

 soil, as nearly as possible one inch and a half in 

 depth, which may be so much higher than the level 

 of the border where they are planted in clumps. 

 When the season is either too wet or cold to 



