554 



FAG 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



FEN 



the autumn following; and thus if a seed-bed be husbanded 

 carefully, it will afford a three years' draught of young plants, 

 which should be planted in a nursery ; and if designed for 

 timber-trees, at three feet distance row from row, and eighteen 

 inches asunder in the rows; but if designed for hedges, two 

 feet row from row, and one foot in the rows, will be sufficient. 

 In this nursery they may remain two or three years, observ- 

 ing to clear them from weeds, and to dig up the ground be- 

 tween the rows at least once a year ; but be careful not to cut 

 or bruise the roots, and never to dig the ground in summer, 

 when it is hot and dry. The Beech will prosper on stony barren 

 soils, but then the nursery for the young plants ought to be upon 

 the same soil, for if they be raised in a good soil and a warm 

 exposure, and afterwards are transplanted into a bleak barren 

 situation, they will seldom thrive. See Nursery. For hedges, 

 the Beech may be kept in a regular figure, if sheared twice a 

 year, at least when it shoots strong; in which case, if the 

 hedges be neglected but a season or two, it will be difficult 

 to reduce them again. The varieties with striped leaves may 

 be continued by budding or grafting upon the common Beech, 

 observing not to plant them in too good a soil, which will fre- 

 quently cause the leaves to become plain. The above direc- 

 tions being in some respects imperfect, we subjoin the follow- 

 ing from Mr. Boutcher : Being provided with mast from the 

 straightest and freshest trees in September, as soon as the 

 husks are quite dry, mix them with sand, and lay them 

 under an old frame or other covering, to protect them from 

 frost and wet. The beginning of March, sow them in beds 

 four feet wide, in shallow drills eighteen inches asunder, cover- 

 ing them one inch deep; if the season be dr>y, give them 

 frequent but moderate waterings, from the time of their 

 appearance above ground, until the middle of August. In 

 March, next season, with a spade made very sharp, under- 

 mine the roots, and cut them over between four and five 

 inches under ground. In the following autumn or spring, 

 either raise the whole, or give them another cutting under 

 ground ; when gently raising such as are too thick, leave the 

 remainder at proper distances to stand another season : plant 

 such as you have raised, after smoothing the bruised and 

 broken roots, and cutting away some of the small hairy fibres, 

 in lines two feet asunder, and nine or ten inches in the line; 

 here they may remain two, or, if the land be poor, three years. 

 Next autumn or spring treat the rest in like manner; trim off' 

 only cross ill-placed branches, and those sparingly. From 

 this nursery they must be removed to another, and planted 

 in rows three feet and a half asunder, and eighteen inches in 

 the rows ; here they may remain three years, in poor land 

 four, observing always to prune moderately at removal, and 

 to leave abundance of small branches. These plants will now 

 be fit for common and extensive plantations ; but such as are 

 designed for removal when large trees, must again be trans- 

 planted in rows five feet asunder, and two feet distance in the 

 rows, to remain in good ground three, in poor ground four 

 years. From this remove them again into rows eight feet 

 asunder, and six feet in the row, to remain four years ; if re- 

 quired of a still larger size, plant them ten feet asunder every 

 way. Mr. Young informs us, in his Irish Tour, that Mr. 

 Mahon made a plantation of all sorts of forest trees in his 

 park, in order to see how far the deer would let them escape ; 

 they devoured every tree except the Beech, not one of which 

 they touched, either in leaf, branch, or bark; many of these 

 Beeches, of not more than thirty years' growth, were three or 

 four feet in girth, and from thirty to forty feet high. 



4. Fagus Ferruginea; American Beech Tree. Leaves 

 ovate-oblong, remotely and acutely serrate, acuminate, to- 

 mentose underneath. The leaves of this are much more 



distinctly serrated, and broader, than in the foregoing spe- 

 cies; and the fruit smaller, of a tawny colour. Native of 

 North America. 



5. Fagus Cochin-chinensis. Leaves ovate, crowded ; cap- 

 sules three-celled, three-valved. This is a small tree, about 

 five feet high, with branches ascending a little ; leaves ob- 

 scurely serrate, smooth, petioled ; male flowers in terminat- 

 ing aments, with a five-cleft calix and corolla, and twelve 

 stamina ; female flowers below on the same branch, with a 

 five-cleft calix, and no corolla ; capsule muricated, three- 

 celled, three-valved, one-seeded. The seeds are of the same 

 form and colour with the common sort, but very small. The 

 corolla of the male flowers being very thin and membrana- 

 ceous, may be considered as a nectary. There appears to be 

 some doubt whether this be a distinct species from the com- 

 mon Beech. Native of Cochin-china. 



Falkia; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Digynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one-leafed, some- 

 what inflated, five-cornered, shorter by half than the corolla, 

 five-parted ; angles widened in the middle, compressed, stand- 

 ing out; divisions ovate, acute. Corolla: one-petalled, bell- 

 shaped, crenate, ten-parted; border spreading. Stamina: 

 filamenta five, filiform, inserted into the tube of the corolla, 

 erect, unequal, shorter than the corolla; antheree ovate, com- 

 pressed. Pistil: germina four, superior, smooth; styles two, 

 capillary, divaricate, the length of the corolla ; stigmas capi- 

 tate, obtuse, simple, orbiculate, peltate. Pericarp; none. 

 Seeds : four, globular, arilled at the bottom of the calix. 

 Observe. This genus is allied to Convolvulus, having the 

 herb and flower of the same structure, but differing in the 

 seed. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: bell-shaped, five- 

 cleft. Corolla: bell-shaped ; stigmas orbicular, peltate. Seeds: 

 four, arilled. The only discovered species is, 



1. Falkia Repens; Creeping Falkia. A perennial plant, 

 flowering from May to August; and a native of the Cape of 

 Good Hope. It is generally increased by parting the roots, 

 planting in loamy earth, and watering freely in summer. 



Fan, Palm. See Chamcerops. 



Feather, Prince's. See Amaranthus. 



Feathered Columbine. See Thalictrum. 



Feather Grass. See Slipa. 



Felwort. See Gentiana. 



Fences. In hotter climates than England, where walls are 

 not wanted to ripen fruit, the gardens lie open, where they 

 can have water, fence, or prospects, or else they bound 

 their gardens with groves, in which are fountains, walks, &c. 

 which are much more pleasing to the sight than a dead wall; 

 but in colder countries, and in England, we are obliged to 

 have walls to shelter and ripen our fruit, although they 

 deprive us of the pleasant prospect of the garden. Since, 

 therefore, we are under the necessity of having walls to 

 secure our gardens from the injury of winds, as well as for 

 the conveniency of partitions or enclosures, and also to ripen 

 our fruit, brick walls are accounted the wannest and best for 

 this purpose; and these walls being built in the shape of 1 

 pannels, with pillars at equal distances, will save a great deal 

 of expense, because they may be built thinner than when 

 built plain without these pannels ; for then it would be ne- 

 cessary to build them thicker every where ; and it must be 

 allowed that the panels are an ornament to the wall. Stone 

 walls are preferred by some persons, and especially those of 

 square hewn stone ; but where they are designed for fruit, 

 they should be faced with brick. Those that are made of 

 rough stones, though they are very dry and warm, yet, by 

 reason of their unevenness, are inconvenient to nail up trees 

 to, except pieces of timber be laid in them here and there, 



