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of being able to furnifh them with leaves 

 enough for the time they will be wanted, 

 even clrdng the greateil and the longed 

 droughts in ihort, to the very time in 

 which they may begin to eat the roots. I 

 have endeavoured to reduce the leaves of the 

 Root of Scarcity to dry forage, and I have 

 fucceeded; but I would not advife any per- 

 fon to repeat the experiments that I have 

 made for this purpofe. The trouble of col- 

 lecting and preparing them for dry forage, 

 and the little advantage that they were pro- 

 ductive of in this way, caufed me to re- 

 nounce the defign of making this ufe of them. 

 Thefe foft and tender leaves are withered by 

 the heat of the fun ; it requires much time to 

 dry them out of it ; the lean: rain, even the 

 dew itfelf, rots and reduces them to nothing; 

 they difappear, as if they had been in an 

 oven. The only method of fucceeding then 

 is, to pafs a thread through the middle of 

 every leaf, and to hang them to dry in the 

 air; but a cow would eat as many of thefe 

 dried leaves in one day, as would nourifh it 

 for eight when they were green. This ope- 

 ration is alfo too long, too troublefome, and 



too 



