THE CARNATION. 37 



any considerable flock of sheep has been grazing any 

 length of time, so as to leave behind a tolerable 

 dressing of dung, after their removal,, you will per- 

 ceive the grass to shoot up freely, and to assume a 

 rich verdure and healthy appearance ; not rank and 

 coarse, yet vigorous and elastic, such as the florist 

 would wish to see his Pinks and Carnations assume, 

 previous to their coming into bloom. This dung, 

 the principal component parts of which are nearly 

 all soluble in water, will not be fit for use till it has 

 been incorporated with the mould a twelvemonth. 



The ingenious florist has frequent recourse to those 

 strong manures, and uses them in various ways. 

 Some he incorporates with his compost, in which he 

 grows his plants some he uses separately and un- 

 mixed, for surface- dressing others he infuses in 

 water, and applies in a liquid state all this he does 

 from an almost universally received opinion, that 

 they will increase and heighten the colours of his 

 flowers, and give them a brilliancy, which he sup- 

 poses they never could attain without them. 



Plants that live all the year round in pots, parti- 



