508 DOCTOR FOTHERGILL [1772. 



hope we did not lose the least particle of a root : for we save all 

 the earth, and even the moss, from America, throw it upon some 

 vacant border, and cover it with a little earth, that even if a few 

 casual seeds should be in it, we may save them. 



Our spring was late and unfriendly to plants, so that many were 

 but just showing themselves above ground when I came away 

 (about two months ago) ; but my gardener writes to me, that they 

 are in a very prosperous condition, and some never seen in Eng- 

 land before. Under a north wall, I have a good border, made up 

 of that kind of rich black turf-like soil, mixed with some sand, in 

 which I find most part of the American plants thrive best. It has 

 a few hours of the morning and evening sun, and is quite sheltered 

 from mid-day heats. They are well supplied with water during 

 summer ; and the little shrubs, and herbaceous plants, have a good 

 warm covering of dry fern, thrown over them when the frosts set 

 in. This is gradually removed, when the spring advances, so that, 

 by never being frozen in the ground while the plants are young 

 and tender, I never lose any that come to me with any degree of 

 life in them ; and it is acknowledged by the ablest botanists Ave 

 have, that there is not a richer bit of ground, in curious American 

 plants, in Great Britain : and for many of the most curious, I am 

 obliged to thy diligence and care. My garden is well sheltered ; 

 the soil is good, and I endeavour to mend it as occasion requires. 

 I have an Umbrella Tree, above twenty feet high, that flowers with 

 me abundantly, every snjing. The small Magnolia, likewise, 

 flowers with me finely. I have a little wilderness, which, when I 

 bought the premises, was full of old Yew trees, Laurels, and weeds. 

 I had it cleared, well dug, and took up many trees, but left others 

 standing for shelter. Among these I have planted Kalmias, Aza- 

 leas, all the Magnolias, and most other hardy American shrubs. 

 It is not quite eight years since I made a beginning ; so that my 

 plants must be considered but as young ones. They are, however, 

 extremely flourishing. The great Magnolia has not yet flowered 

 with me, but grows exceedingly fast. I shelter his top in the 

 winter ; he gains from half a yard to two feet in height, every 

 summer, and will ere long, I doubt not, repay my care with his 

 beauty and fragrance. 



Amongst the rest of the plants, which thou had sent me, was 

 the Qlaytonia, of which there is not, I believe, another plant in 

 England : a new species of Serapion ; and a most curious Adian- 



