122 Account of an umproved Method 
of the rock exceedingly steep and abrupt ; the depth of water at 
a few vards distance, from nine feet to twenty-five ; and a little 
further off to about nine fathom, which is the greatest depth of 
water between the rock.and the shore; the rock itself appears to 
be of a sharp and hard kind, much indented, and full of crevices, 
as small anchors or grapplings which have been made use of by 
boats to anchor on it, as well as the leads used in sounding the 
depth, have in general been extricated therefrom with much diffi- 
culty; and from the circumstance of the rock not appearing to 
increase in magnitude, it is most probably not of the description 
of coral rock so frequent in the Indian sea. 
Although alluded to and taken notice of in some old Dutch 
manuscript charts and surveys, this rock appears to be but very 
little known in general, and few, if any, of the English charts 
take notice of it at all. One of the latest editions of that valu- 
able work of Captain Horsburg, Hydrographer to the Honourable 
East India Company, mentions it; but as the same is contained 
in an appendix to the second volume of the work, the circum- 
stance there is no doubt often escapes observations. A transport 
with troops making the roads of Colombo in the year 1819, 
passed within a short distance of it, not aware of the danger ; 
and some years since a large and valuable East Indiaman stood 
close in shore and tacked several times close to it, and passed 
between it and the shore without being aware that such a rock 
existed. 
Colombo, Aug. 8, 1821. 
XXXIII.. Account of an improved Method of planting Vines 
for Forcing. By Mr. Daniex Jupp, F.H.S.* 
Herewrrn I send an account of my management of the vines 
in the garden of Charles Campbell, Esq. of Edmonton, of which 
I have the charge. . 
My compost was formed as follows: In the winter of 1817, I 
procured a quantity of the top-spit of soil from a common in the 
neighbourhood, which consisted of a rich loam, rather inclining 
to be gritty, which property I prefer, because it gives a porous- 
ness to the compost, thereby allowing the water to pass freely 
through it. At the same time I collected some lime rubbish, 
well broken to pieces and'sifted, some old tan, some leaf mould, ~ 
and a quantity of the richest old dung I could select from the 
forcing-beds and elsewhere. 
These materials having been kept separate, and frequently 
turned over in the summer, were mixed together in the autumn 
* From the Transactions of the London Horticultural Society. 
of 
