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than those which are brought from thence, as the inhabitants of 

 those islands are not very curious in cultivating them ; their usual 

 method, according to Miller, being to plant them at a great distance 

 in beds of common earth, where they let them remain for many 

 years; in the course of which they produce such a number of offsets 

 that one single cluster has frequently contained above a hundred 

 roots; by which means those which grow on the inside are so much 

 compressed by the outer roots, that they are perfectly flattened : and 

 from the number of roots growing in each cluster, they are all ren- 

 dered weak, and unfit to produce such large steins of flowers as those 

 which have grown singly and are of a spherical form. As when a per- 

 son is possessed of a great number of these roots, it will be troublesome 

 to preserve them in pots, a bed should be prepared in the following 

 manner, in some well sheltered part of the garden. In doing this, 

 a third part of fresh virgin earth, from a pasture ground, which is 

 light, should be provided, with an equal portion of sea-sand, to 

 which should be added rotten dung and sifted lime rubbish, of each 

 an equal quantity. With this earth, when well mixed and incorpo- 

 rated, a bed should be made about two feet thick, raising it about 

 four or five inches above the surface of the ground, where the situa- 

 tion is dry; but where the ground is wet, it should be raised eight 

 or nine inches higher. In this bed, about the beginning of July, as 

 before directed, plant the roots about six or eight inches asunder 

 each way; and in the winter, when the frost begins, cover the bed 

 with a frame, or arch it over, and cover it with mats and straw, to 

 prevent their leaves from being pinched by cold. In the spring, the 

 covering should be entirely removed, and the bed kept constantly 

 clean from weeds during the summer, stirring the surface of the 

 earth now and then; and annually, when the leaves are decayed, sift 

 a little fresh earth over them, to encourage the growth of the roots. 



The roots may remain in these beds until they are of sufficient 

 strength to produce flowers, at which time they may be taken up 

 and planted in pots, as before directed, or be suffered to remain in 

 the same beds to flower. These plants do not flower again the suc- 

 ceeding year, as in many other sorts of bulbous-rooted plants; but 



