PL XV. 
Fig, 3. 
BODY - 
7 COMMON ARBUT US. 
Few Gardens are without this beautiful ‘Shrub 
‘which all the Year fhews its moft elegant Leaves ; 
and at this dead Seafon is neactagall in a State of 
continu’d Beauty ; retaining, if rightly manae’d, 
its fingular Fruit and Flowers againft the sate 
fierce Attack’ of Winter. 
_All know the Shrub; and moft have eatat of it 
| under the fame Name, Arbutus ; to which Linn aus 
however abfolutely declares. 
Plants which bear a near Infpection ; and whofe 2 
Beauties are loft at more Diftance. | 
adds, as the Diftinction of the Species, caule erefio 
folius glabris ferratis, baccis poly[permis : Arbutus, 
with an upright Stem, with fmooth {ferrated 
‘Leaves, and with a F ruit containing many Seeds. 
Our common People call it the Strawberry, | 
from the Refemblance its Fruit bears to the com- 
mon Strawberry : and it is a fingular Perfection in 
the Shrub, that, like the ipa Trees in 
warmer Climates, this in thlebleak North, and in. 
the fevereft Seafon is thus ccs 2d profufely both 
with Fruit and Flowers. — | 
So flow is the Growth of this fmall Fruit, that 
from the Winter of the laft Year it has been, till 
3 ; and the 
Shrub bears at the fame Time, that hangs upon 
the prefent, arriving at its Perfection 
it in its ripe State, thofe frefh Flowers which are 
to give Birth to that of the fucceeding Winter. 
~All. the Year-it retains its Verdure; and we — 
have no Tree of thofe hich endure the open 
Air, that fo much brings the Summer to our 
“Minds i in Winter. 
It is naturally a fe age fpreading Shrub, 
but may, at the Pleafure of the Gardener, be 
rais’d into a middling Tree : againft this Reafon 
Tis. one of thofe 
Thofe which have larger and more fpecious 
‘Leaves and Flowers, fhould be train’d up to 
Height; this fhould be kept to fuch a Stature, 
that every Eye may fee for what it is refpected. ~ 
- The Root fpreads far, and fends its Fibres 
deep beyond that fuperficial Mould on which 
Froft operates, and this is one Reafon of its per- 
fe&ting its Fruit at fo dead a Seafon, and retain- 
ing its Leaves thro? Winter. ‘The natural Thick- 
nefs of its Juices helps alfo to that Purpofe ; 
and to their flugeifh Courfe, the Confequence of 
that thick Subftance, is owing the vaft Length 
of Time requir’d to ripen the Fruit. 
‘The Bark of the Trunk is of a deep brown; 
~ that of the Branches paler, and the young Pik 
are often purplith. 
The Leaves are oblong, and of a Form ap- | 
proaching fomewhat to oval. 
Their Colour is a deep but not unpleafant 
green; and their Edges are, in a moft regular — 
and elegant Manner, ferrated: Art never attain’d 
a comparable E:xactnefs or Proportion. 
The Subftance of them is firm and hard; and, | 
as they decay, frequently they acquire a fearlet 
Colour, which is very pleafing. 
* ‘The Flowers are more confiderable for their - 
¥orm, than Size or Colour: they are fmall, and 
of a greenith Hue, «naturally diverfify’d a little 
with white, and fometimes tine’d with purplith. 
They are hollow, and, as it were, blown up; and 
at their Rim are dented. 
The Fruit which follows thefe fo flowly, is, 
_when ripe, of the Bignefs and Form of the com- 
mon Strawberry ; but its Seeds are within. Its 
Tatte, to Engh ifo Palates, is auftere and raw; but 
in Ireland, where the Shrub is native, it attains a 
better Maturity, and is fometimes eaten. _ 
To know the Clafs in the finn a aN Syftem, 
let the Student take off a fingle Flower. The 
firft Obfervation will fhew him that it is plac’d 
in a Cup, form’d of one Piece, and divided at the 
Edge into five Seoments. 
The Body of the Flower is form’d of a fingle 
Petal; and it is hollow and of a fomewhat tec 
Shape: its Verge is -divided into five fmall ob- 
tufe Segments, ait naturally turn back. 
re DAE op lower being torn open, there appear ten 
Filaments; they are fhort, fmall, and fomewhat 
fwell’d: the Flower is flatted at its’ Bafé, and 
thefe rife from the Verge of this’ flat Part. 
They are not more than half fo long as 
the Body of the Flower. The Style, which 
rifes fingly in the Centre of thefe, is longer 
than they are, and has its Rife from the Rudiment 
of the Fruit. 
This fhews the Clafs to Bi the Tenth of Lin- 
naus, the Decandria, and that its Place is in the 
| firft Section of that Clafs, the Monogynia. 
Culture f the ARBUTUS, 
No great Art is requir d to bring into the a 
den, or maintain in it, a Shrub. a is a Native 
of our own Kingdom; and bears the bleak Cold 
of our Noch Mountains unhurt, and in its 
full Vigour. 
The common Way of propagating it, is by 
Layers; but it is far better to raife.it. from Seeds. 
Thefe fhould be taken carefully from the Fruit 
when fully ripe, and laid to its upon a paper’d 
Shell. 
Let the Gardener fee that he chufe the ripeft 
Fruits for-his Seed, arid let him take it from. fuch 
only as grow upon a flourifhing ‘Trec. 
When he has harden’d it. upon’ the Shelf, let 
him dry and fift fome common FHoufe- Sand, for 
the preferving it during: Winter.» 
Let a fmall Box bé prepar’d, ' re Afeeverche 
Bottom of it two Inches Thicknefs of this dry 
Sand: then throw on the Seeds, and fift -over 
them two Inches more of the fame Sand: fet by 
the Box, and Jet it {tand by the Winter. 
In the Beginning of March fift away the 
Sand, and the ceeds will be in a perfect good 
Condition for Growth. . 
Fill a Couple of Garden-Pots with fine frefh 
Mould, from under the Turf in a good Patture, 
and upon the Surface of this {catter the Seeds, 
covering 
