60 GLEANINGS FROM OLD AUTHORS. 



ARTICLE VI.— Gleanings from Old Writers. No. II. 

 By Tulipa. 



I hate flattery, and so make my remarks as short as possible. 

 The Cabinet will, no doubt, meet the reward it merits, which is 

 very great. 



Extract from Cowell. 

 " The Fretilary or Chequered Daffodil, as some call it, is a 

 flower well known, but the varieties are very scarce and uncom- 

 mon. 



" The seed will shew itself ripe when the husks wherein 'tis 

 included, change of a yellowish colour, grow dry and crack, then 

 one may gather it about noon on a warm day, and keep it till 

 July, and then sow itj you will soon find a diversity of leaves of the 

 seedling plants, and when they come to flower, much more sur- 

 prising appearances. 



" The soil this root likes best is a light sandy ground, and 

 especially such as comes from heaths, mixt well with some fresh 

 earth from under the turf." 



On the Hepalica, from the same. 

 " There are divers sorts of Hepaticas, as the white, the blue^ 

 and the blush or pearl bloom colour ; of these there are the single 

 and the double, but 'tis the single that is only useful to raise 

 plants from by seed. As soon as the seeds are gathered they 

 should be sown, for they being a small seed, and therefore 'tis not 

 advisable to keep them lying out of the ground. 



" To make a seminary of them, have large pots, about ten inches 

 deep and a foot or fourteen inches over, fill these with a black sandy 

 soil, such as one gets from heaths, and well mixt with an equal 

 quantity of rich garden soil. 



" When the earth is gently pressed down, sow the seed, and 

 jpiiukle over the 6eed, as uiueh of the same earth, a3 when it i 



