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FRI 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL: 



FRI 



to turn to the article Tulipa, where there are full directions 

 for performing it. The common method of propagating them 

 here, is by offsets sent out from the old roots, which will flower 

 strong the second year after they are taken from the roots ; 

 but in order to have plenty of these, the roots should not be 

 transplanted oftener than every third year, by which time 

 each root will have put out several offsets, some of which will 

 be large enough to flower the following' year, so may be 

 planted in the borders of the flower-garden, where they are 

 to remain, and the smaller roots may be placed in a nursery 

 bed, to grow a year or two, according to their size; therefore 

 they should be sorted, and the smallest roots planted in a bed 

 together, which should remain there two years, and the larger 

 by themselves to stand one year, by which time they will have 

 acquired strength enough to flower, so that they may then 

 be removed into the pleasure-garden. The time for taking 

 up these roots, is in the beginning of July, when their stalks 

 will be decayed, and they may be kept out of the ground 

 two months ; but they should be laid singly in a dry shady 

 room, but not in heaps or in a moist place, which wilt cause 

 them to moulder and rot. The offsets should be first plant- 

 ed, for as they are small, they will be apt to shrink when 

 kept long out of the ground. As the roots of these plants 

 are large, they must not be planted too neai other flowers ; 

 and when they are plauted in beds by themselves, they 

 should not be nearer than a foot and a half in the rows, and 

 two feet row from row ; they should be planted six inches 

 deep at least, especially the strong roots; they delight in a 

 light soil, not too wet, nor loaded with dung, for if any dung 

 be laid upon the borders where they are planted, it should 

 be buried pretty deep, so as to be two or three inches below 

 the roots. 



2. Fritillaria Persica ; Persian Fritillary, or Persian Lily. 

 Raceme almost naked ; leaves oblique. It has a large round 

 root ; stem three feet high, the lower part closely garnished 

 on every side with leaves, which are three inches long, and 

 half an inch broad, of a gray colour, and twisted obliquely ; 

 flowers in a loose spike at the top, forming a pyramid ; they 

 are shorter than the other sorts, spread wider at the brim, 

 and are not bent down ; they are of a dark purple colour, 

 and appear in May, but seldom ripen their seeds in England. 

 Bauhin says, the root is about the size of an orange, of a 

 taste extremely bitter, but without any remarkable smell. 

 There is a variety called the Small Persian Lily, which Mr. 

 Miller describes as a distinct species, has a much shorter 

 stem and smaller leaves ; the stem branches out at the top 

 into several small peduncles, each sustaining one dark-coloured 

 flower. The plants of this, and the second, third, fourth, 

 and fifth species, are propagated either by seeds or offsets 

 from the old roots. By the first method new varieties will 

 be obtained, together with a stock of roots, which will accu- 

 mulate more in three years, than those obtained by the latter 

 method would in twenty or thirty years ; we shall therefore 

 first treat of their propagation by seed : Having saved some 

 good *eed from the fairest flov/ers, procure some shallow 

 pans or boxes, which must have some holes in their bottoms 

 to let out the moisture; fill these with light fresh earth, lay- 

 ing a few potsherds over the holes, to prevent the earth from 

 stopping them ; then, having laid the earth very level in the 

 boxes, &c. sow the seeds pretty thick upon it, and cover them 

 with fine sifted earth about a quarter of an inch thick : the 

 time for this is the beginning of August, for if the seed be 

 kept much longer out of the ground, it will not grow ; then 

 place the boxes or pans where they may have the morning 

 sun until eleven o'clock, observing, if the season prove dry, 

 to water them gently, and to pull up all the weeds as soon 



as they appear, for if they be suffered to remain until they 

 have taken deep root in the earth, they would draw up the 

 seeds also out of the ground whenever they are pulled up. 

 Towards the latter end of September you should remove the 

 boxes, &c. into a warmer situation, placing them close to a 

 hedge or wall exposed to the south ; if they are sown in pots, 

 these should be plunged into the ground, but they are best 

 in tubs; these should be covered in severe frost. In this 

 situation they may remain until the middle of March, by 

 which time the plants will come up an inch high ; you must 

 therefore remove the boxes as the weather becomes hot, into 

 a more shady situation, for while the plants are young, they 

 are liable to suffer by being too much exposed to the sun, 

 and in this shady situation they may remain during the heat of 

 summer, observing to keep them clear from weeds, and to 

 refresh them now and then with a little moisture, but be 

 careful not to give them much water after their leaves are 

 decayed, which rots their roots. About the beginning of 

 August, if the roots be very thick in the boxes, you should 

 prepare a bed of good light fresh eaith, which must be 

 levelled very even, upon which you should spread the earth 

 in the boxes in which the small roots are contained, equally 

 covering it about one-fourth of an inch thick with the same 

 fresh earth ; this bed should be situated in a warm position 

 but not too close to hedges, walls, or pales, which would 

 cause their leaves to be long and slender, and make the roots 

 weaker than if placed in a more open exposure. In this bed 

 they may remain until they flower, which is generally the 

 third year from sowing, at which time you should put down 

 a mark to the roots of all such as produce fair flowers, that 

 at the time of taking them out of the ground, which ought to 

 be soon after their green leaves are decayed, they may be 

 placed in a bed amongst the old roots of this flower, which 

 for their beauty are preserved in the best gardens : but the 

 other less valuable flowers may be planted in the borders of 

 the parterre-garden for their variety, where, being intermixed 

 with other flowers of different seasons, they will make a good 

 appearance. The fine sorts of these flowers should remain 

 undisturbed three years, by which time they will have pro- 

 duced many offsets, and should be taken up when their 

 leaves are decayed, and planted into a fresh bed, taking 

 such of their offsets as are large enough to produce flowers, 

 to plant in the flower-garden ; but the smaller roots may be 

 planted into a nursery bed until they have obtained strength 

 enough to flower; but you must never suffer these roots to 

 lie out of the ground when you remove them, but plant them 

 again immediately, otherwse they will perish. During these 

 three years which the roots are to remain in the beds, the 

 surface of the earth should be stirred every autumn with a 

 trowel, observing not to go so deep as to bruise the root, 

 and at the same time lay a thin cover of very rotten dung or 

 tanners' bark upon the surface of the beds, which being 

 washed into the ground, will cause the flowers to be larger, 

 as also the roots to make a greater increase : observe also to 

 keep them constantly clear from weeds, and those roots 

 which you preserve with care, should not be suffered to seed. 

 When a stock of good flowers are obtained, they may be 

 preserved and increased in the same manner as other bul- 

 bous-rooted flowers, which is by offsets sent out from their 

 roots, which should be taken off every other year from th< 

 finest sorts; but the ordinary flowers may remain three year! 

 undisturbed, in which time they will have multiplied sf 

 much, as that each root will have formed a cluster, so tha 1 

 if they be left longer together, the roots will be small, and the 

 flowers very weak ; therefore, if these are taken up everj 

 other year, the roots will be the stronger. These roots may 



