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and covering the Bed in cold Wea- 

 ther with Mats or Straw ; and in 

 Summer they mud have plenty of 

 Water in dry Weather : in this Bed 

 theRoots may remain till the Leaves 

 decay in Autumn ; but if there 

 mould happen any Froft before that 

 time, the Bed mould be covered to 

 guard the Roots from the Froft, be- 

 caufe it will deftroy them if the Froft 

 enters fo low as to reach the Roots : 

 and where there is due Care taken to 

 fcreen them from Froft, and too 

 much Wet, it will be the beft Way 

 to let the Roots remain in the Bed 

 till the End of November, or the Be- 

 ginning of December, provided hard 

 Frofts do not fet in fooner ; for the 

 lefs time the Roots are out of the 

 Ground, the ftronger they will be, 

 and the fooner they will flower : 

 when the Roots are taken up, they 

 mould "be cleaned from the Earth, 

 and laid up in dry Sand, where they 

 may be fafe from Froft and Wet ; 

 where they fhould remain until the 

 Seafon for planting them again : this 

 fame Method mould be pra&ifed by 

 thofe who are defirous to cultivate 

 the fingle Sort. 



I (hall next give Direftions for 

 the Management of thofe Roots, 

 which are annually brought from 

 Italy : and firft, in the Choice of the 

 Roots, thofe which are the largeft 

 and plumpeft, if they are perfectly 

 firm and found, are the belt ; and 

 the fewer Off-fets they have, the 

 ftronger they will flower : but the 

 Under-part of the Roots mould be 

 particularly examined, becaufe it is 

 there that they firft decay: after the 

 Roots are chofen, before they are 

 planted, the OfF-fets mould be taken 

 off ; for if thefe are left upon the 

 Roots, they will draw away part of 

 the Nourilhment from the old Root, 

 whereby the Flower-ftems will be 

 greatly weakened. 



p o 



As thefe Roots commonly arrive 

 in England in the Month of Februa- 

 ry, thofe who are defirous to have 

 thefe early in Flower, fhould make 

 a moderate Hot-bed the Beginning 

 of March, which fhould have good, 

 rich Earth laid upon the Dung,about 

 eight or nine Inches deep ; this Bed 

 fhould be covered with a Frame ; and: 

 when the Bed is in a proper Tempe- 

 rature for Warmth, the Roots mould 

 be planted at about fix Inches Di- 

 ftance from each other every Way. 

 The upper-Part of the Root fhould 

 not be buried more than one Inch 

 in the Ground : when the Roots are 

 planted, there fhould be but little 

 Water given them, until they fhoot 

 above-ground ; for too much Wee 

 will rot them, when they are in an 

 unaclive State : but afterward they 

 will require plenty of Water, efpe- 

 cially when the Seafon is warm : 

 when the Flower-ftems begin to ap- 

 pear, the Bed fhould have a large 

 Share of Air given to it ; otherwife 

 the Stalks will draw up weak, and 

 produce but few Flowers : for the 

 more Air thefe Plants enjoy in good 

 Weather, the llronger they will grovr, 

 and produce a greater Number of 

 Flowers : therefore, toward the Be- 

 ginning of May, the Frame may be 

 quite taken off the Bed, and Hoops 

 faftened over ir, to fupport a Cover- 

 ing of Mats, which need not be laid 

 over, but in the Night, or in very 

 cold Weather ; fo that by enjoying 

 the free open Air, their Stems will 

 be large : and if they are well water- 

 ed in dry Weather, their Flowers 

 will be large, and a great Number 

 on each Stem. 



This firft Planting will require 

 more Care than thofe which are dc- 

 fign'd to come after them ; for in 

 order to have aSucceffionof thefe 

 Flowers, the Roots mould be plant- 

 ed at three different times ; vhs, the 



firft 



