~ O€tob. 
ats full Attention. 
-clufter’d into a thick long Spike, and of a moft ele- 
gant purple; not a.deep dufky Tin&, but pale 
flowering of it.depends, .is this : 
AOSF) -GiA RUD HON Tare: 
The Leaves rife from it in a beautiful round 
Clufter : the central ones more upright, the others 
more and more obliquely. 
They are very beautiful in Form and Colour. 
Their Length is a Foot and half. They are of a 
lively green, and they are narrow, thick, and 
fiefhy: they are terminated by a thorny Point; 
and they have all along each Edge, a Row of pale 
and pointed, but not very firm Spines. _ 
_»» The Stalk rifes: in the Centre of thefe, and is 
round, thick, fmooth, of a purplifh brown, and 
two Foot. in Height, decorated: toward the Top 
with a few Leaves. 
The Flowers attract the Eye, and they demand 
They are extremely numerous, 
and lively. 
The Leaves of this. Plant being cut, drop out 
a 1 yellow bitter Juice, not ftinking, as the com- 
mon Aloe, but fweet, and fomewhat aromatic. 
_ The Flower ftands naked on its Footftalk, with- 
out any Cup, and is fucceeded by an oblong Seed- 
veflel, form’d of three Valves; and containing, 
in fo many Cells, ‘numerous angulated Seeds. 
oie Within each F lower ftand fix fender Filaments: 
thefe are of equal Length with. the Body of the 
Flower ; and upon them are plac’d little oblong 
Buttons, which fhew themfelves beyond its Verge. 
» The Style is fingle, and. of the fame Length | 
ice the Filaments. 
- We have fo far inform’d the Student in the 
‘Linnan Syftem, that he need not be told par- 
ticularly, this, which has a fingle Style among fix 
-regular Filaments, is one of the Hexandria Mono- 
gynia of that sani his fixth Clats and its firft 
eeu 
Culture of the purple SocoTRinE Aor. 
The Beauty of this Plant, and its ‘full Glory in 
flowering, depend entirely upon a proper Method 
of Management; and its Flowers are fo great an 
Ornament to whatever Place they decorate, that 
it is very well worth all the Pains that can be be- 
ftow’d upon it. | 
The firft Principle on which this Succefs in the 
that tho’ it will 
live in a lefs Degree of Heat, yet it always flowers 
more fuccefsfully in a greater. This has been 
prov’d in the Dutch Gardens, and muft be a Lef- . 
fon to all who raife it in ours. | 
The Propagation of it is eafy. In its native 
State it throws off Abundance of healthy Suckers; 
and, with tolerable Care, will do the fame here. 
Thefe feldom fail to grow up into handfome Plants. 
The. beft are thofe obtain’d from Africa, its 
native Soil, .and they are very eafily brought over ; 
-but it will rife to a great deal of Beauty, een 
_thofe taken.from Plants in our own Pots, 
A great Article is the Soil in which they are to 
be planted, and there is nothing in which the com- 
mon Prattice errs fo widely. 
In Africa this Aloe covers. the Sides of fandy 
Hills, and fometimes gets near the Sea. 
Thofe who have examined the Soil in thefe 
cs 
carefully from the Mother-Plants. 
or Wind, that they may harden a little ; 
_ very gentle Heat. 
Glaffes to admit Air, 
Places, 
a loofe white Earth like Mortar. 
Their Defcriptions, which they have given with 
more Truth than Art, have not been well under- 
{tood; and our People, aiming to imitate the Ap- 
pearance, when they could not make out the Re- 
ality, have, in general, mix’d up a Soil for it 
of Sand and Lime Rebbith mix’d with a dry 
light Earth. 
To this is owing the indifferent Succefs of our 
Aloes of thefe Kinds. ‘We are forry to particu- 
larife Mr. Mitter as one who has advis’d this 
injudicious Practice; but it is needful to caution 
the Gardener againft an Error, which under the 
Authority of that popular Name would elfe have 
{tood for Truth. 
Later Enquiries have Bikccieetick that the Sub- 
{tance which has been compar’d to Lime- -Rubbith, 
in thefe African Hills, is Marie. We have this 
in England in great Abundance, and the Farmers 
| ufe it, tho’ the Gardeners are not enough ac- 
quainted with it. 
This is lodg’d in a brittle fandy Earth in thefe 
native Beds of Aloes; and this is the Soil we 
fhould imitate, and may fully equal, 
Therefore, for the firft Step in the Culture of 
this and other African Aloes, delighting in the fame 
kind of Soil, let there be made a Mixture of five 
Bufhels of Jight fandy Earth, from a barren up- 
land Pafture ; one Bufhel and a half of Marle, 
and one Bufhel of River-Mud. Let this be pil’d 
in a Heap together, and turn’d once a F ortnight ; 
and when it has lain a Month, let there be {prink- 
led over this Quantity two Ounces of Sea-Salr, 
This Compoft will mellow into a light and crum- 
bly Soil; tho’, till touch’d, it holds firmly enough 
together. It will therefore cling fufficiently about 
99 
have found it full of Sand, and of a O&tob, 
the Roots of the Plants; and yet not load them 
or opprefs their tendereft Fibres. 
This being prepar’d in Spring, will be fit for 
Uke about the Beginning of Auguft, which I have 
found to be the moft fuccefsful Time for propa- 
eating the Plants. : 
At this Seafon, fill: as many {mall Pots with 
this Compoft as you can obtain Suckers; firft lay- 
ing a Piece of Tile at the Bottom of the Pot, to 
keep open the Hole; for if that be ftopt, the 
Water given for the Support of the Plant, being 
detain’d, will be its certain Deftruétion. 
The Pots being ready, take off the Suckers 
Lay them in 
the open Air, but out of the Reach of the Sun 
for other- 
wife they will rot at the Bafe, and come on poorly, 
whatever Care be taken of them. 
When they have lain three Days in the Air, 
plant one in each Pot, taking Care that the 
Earth fall every Way clofe about the Bottoms. 
When they are all planted, fet them under the. 
Shelter of a Hedge, and fhade them with Mats, 
but not fo clofe as to deny them Air. 
In this Place let them ftand ten Days; and then 
remove them into a Bark-Bed, which has but a 
Set the Pots in this up to their 
Rim, and fhade the Bed with Mats; but raife the 
Whey 
