224 ON MYRTLES. 



Mr. Mortimer distinguishes them into the Broad-leaved Myrtle, 

 and the Narrow- leaved Myrtle, which are hoth very odoriferous 

 shrubs; hut he esteems that which affords plenty of double white 

 blossoms in Autumn, as the best : And also a sort of Myrtle with a 

 large leaf, called the Spanish Myrtle, which will endure all weathers 

 without Shelter : And another sort of Myrtle that comes from Caro- 

 lina and Virginia, which is the hardest of them all ; the berries of 

 which being boiled, yield a substance of a green colour, sweet or 

 pinguid, which they there scum off, and make candles with, which 

 do not only give a clear light, but a very agreeable scent. These 

 will all endure hard winters with a very slender defence. 



Mr. BracHey distinguishes Myrtles as follows : the Large-leaved 

 Myrtles, which are, the Nutmeg Myrtle, the Nutmeg Myrtle with 

 variegated leaves, and that with the double blossom, the Orange- 

 leaved Myrtle, the Portugal Myrtle, and the Spanish broad-leaved 

 Myrtle. 



The Smaller- leaved Myrtles, he distinguishes into the Bird's-nest 

 Myrtle, the Box-leaved Myrtle, the Rosemary-leaved Myrtle, the 

 Silver-leaved Myrtle, the Thyme-leaved Myrtle, and the Upright 

 Myrtle. 



All these, he says, are with ease propagated by cuttings, except 

 the Orange-leaved Myrtle, and that with the double blossom, which 

 are much hetter increased from layers. 



The best time for laying Myrtles, he says, is in May, (but Mons. 

 Liger says in March, which layers should be only the youngest 

 shoots; (Mons. Liger says, the straitest branches, and those whose 

 rind is smoothest) which, after the earth has been well stirred, must 

 be bent into the earth, and often watered, and they will strike root, 

 and be fit to take off from the mother plant the spring following : 

 But Mons. Liger says, the September following. 



Mr. Bradley says, if you lay down shoots of a year old, they will 

 never take root, with all the art that can be used. 



As for multiplying them by cuttings, he advises also, that they be 

 young and tender, taken from the Myrtles in July : That the leaves 

 must be stripped off two inches from each cutting, and set in pots of 

 fine light earth, two inches deep, and an inch one from another, and 

 frequently watered till they have taken root, which will be about the 

 latter end of August. Thus they ought to remain till the second 

 March before they are transplanted into single pots. 



Mons. Liger says, that in order to multiply them by slips cut from 

 the roots, you must lay open the root of the Myrtle from whence you 

 design to take a branch ; cut it off as close as you can, that there 



