MYR 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



MYR 



157 



and bowels at the same time that it removes the complaint ; 

 the leaves, dried and powdered, he adds, are good against 

 the whites, and the berries are excellent in bloody fluxes, 



overflowing of the menses, and spitting of blood. All the 



varieties of the Common Myrtle may be propagated from 

 cuttings, the best season for which is the beginning of 

 July, when some of the straightest and most vigorous young 

 shoots should be chosen ; they ought to be about six or 

 eight inches long ; the leaves on the lower part must be 

 stripped off about two or three inches high, and the part 

 twisted which is to be placed in the ground ; then having 

 filled a parcel of pots, in proportion to the quantity of 

 cuttings designed, with light rich earth, plant the cuttings 

 therein at -about two inches' distance from each other, 

 observing to close the earth fast about them, and give 

 them some water to settle it to the cuttings ; then place the 

 pots under a common hot-bed frame, plunging them either 

 into some old dung or tanner's bark, which will prevent 

 the earth from drying too fast; but they must be carefully 

 shaded with mats in the heat of the day, and have air in 

 proportion to the warmth of the season, not forgetting to 

 water them every two or three days, as you shall find the 

 earth in the pots require it : with this management, in about 

 six weeks the cuttings will be rooted, and begin to shoot, 

 when they should be inured gradually to the open air, and 

 removed into it about the latter end of August, or be- 

 ginning of September, placing them in a situation where 

 they may be sheltered from cold winds, in which place they 

 may remain till the middle or latter end of October, when 

 the pots should be removed into the green-house, but 

 should be placed in the coolest part of it, that they may 

 have air given to them in mild weather, for they all, except 

 the Orange-leaved and the Striped Nutmeg Myrtles, which 

 are tender and should have a warm situation, require only 

 to be protected from severe cold. During the winter sea- 

 son, they must be frequently but gently watered ; and if 

 nny decayed leaves appear, they should be constantly 

 picked off, and the pots kept clear from weeds, which, if 

 permitted to grow, will soon overspread the young plants 

 and destroy them. If these pots are placed under a com- 

 mon hot-bed frame in winter, where they may be screened 

 from frost, and have the free air in mild weather, the 

 young plants will succeed better than in a green-house, 

 provided they do not receive too much wet, and are not 

 kept closely covered, which will occasion their growing 

 mouldy, and dropping their leaves. The spring following, 

 these plants should be taken out of the pots very carefully, 

 preserving a ball of earth to the roots of each of them, 

 and each one should be planted into a separate small pot, 

 rilled with rich light earth, observing to water them well 

 to settle the earth to their roots, and place them under a 

 frame till they have taken root; after which, they should 

 be inured to the open air, and in May should be placed 

 abroad for the summer, in a sheltered situation, where they 

 may be defended from strong winds : during the summer 

 they will require to be plentifully watered, especially being 

 in such small pots, which in that season soon dry ; they 

 must therefore be placed where they will receive only the 

 morning sun, for if exposed to the heat of the day, the 

 moisture will be so soon exhaled, that it will greatly retard 

 the plants in their growth. In August following, examine 

 the pots to see if the roots of the plants have not made 

 their way out through the hole in the bottom of the pots, 

 in which case they must be shifted into those of a size 

 larger, filling them up with the same kind of earth, and 

 observing to trkn the roots which were matted to the side 



of the pots, as also to loosen the earth from the outside of 

 the ball with your hands, some of which should be taken 

 off, that the roots may the more easily find passage into the 

 fresh earth; then you must water them well, and place the 

 pots in a situation where they may be defended from strong 

 winds, and the plants may also be trimmed to reduce them 

 to a regular figure, and if they are inclined to make crooked 

 stems, thrust down a slender straight stick close by them, 

 fastening their stems to it, so as to bring them upright. 

 If care be taken to train them thus while they are young, 

 when the stems have acquired strength, they will continue 

 straight without any support, and their branches may be 

 pruned so as to form balls or pyramids, which for such 

 plants as are preserved in the green-house, and require to 

 be kept in a small compass, is the best method to have them 

 handsome ; but then these sheered plants will not produce 

 any flowers, for which reason that sort with double flowers 

 should not be clipped, as its chief beauty is in the flowers ; 

 hence it will be necessary to suffer a plant or two of each 

 kind to grow rude for the use of their branches in nosegays, 

 &c. As these plants rise in height, they should be annually 

 removed into larger pots, according to the size of their roots ; 

 but you must be careful not to put them into over large 

 pots, which often causes them to shoot weak and die. 

 When they are taken out of the former pots, the earth about 

 their roots should be gently pared off, and that withinside 

 the ball gently loosened, that the roots may not be too 

 closely confined; and then place them into the same pots 

 again, provided they are not too small, filling up the sides 

 and bottom of them with fresh rich earth, with plenty of 

 water afterwards to settle it to their roots; this watering 

 should be frequently repeated, for they require it both 

 in winter and summer, but especially in hot weather. The 

 best season for shifting these plants is either in April or 

 August ; for if it be done much sooner in the spring, the 

 plants are then in a slow-growing state, and so not capable 

 to strike out fresh roots again very soon; and if it be done 

 later in autumn, the cold weather coming on will prevent 

 their taking root; nor is it advisable to do it in the great 

 heat of summer, because they will require to be very often 

 watered, and also to be placed in the shade, otherwise 

 they will be liable to droop for a considerable time ; 

 and that being the season when these plants should be 

 placed among other exotics to adorn the garden, after 

 their removal, they should not be exposed until they have 

 taken root again, which in hot and dry seasons will be in 

 three weeks or a month. In October, when the nights 

 begin to be frosty, they must be removed into the green- 

 house; but if the weather in autumn proves favourable, 

 they may remain abroad until the beginning of November ; 

 for if they are carried too soon into the green-house, and 

 the autumn should prove warm, they will make fresh shoots 

 at that season, which will be weak, and often grow mouldy 

 in winter, if the weather should afterwards prove so severe 

 as to require the windows to be kept closely shut, whereby 

 they will be greatly defaced; for which reason they should 

 always be kept as long abroad as the season will permit, 

 and removed out again in the spring before they shoot out ; 

 and, during the winter season that they are in the green- 

 house, they should have as much free air as possible when 

 the weather is mild. The common Broad-leaved Dutch and 

 Portugal Myrtles may be planted abroad in warm situations, 

 and upon a dry soil, where they endure the cold of our 

 winter very well, with only being covered in very hard frosts 

 with mats, and the surface of the ground about their roots 

 covered with a little mulch, to prevent the frost front 



