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good Part of my Roots therein ; but 

 the Seafon advancing, and having a 

 great deal of other Bufinefs upon my 

 Hands, I did not fcreen the Earth 

 of all my Beds, but planted fome of 

 them without doing any thing more 

 than raking them; and the Succefs 

 was, that the Roots, in thofe Beds 

 which were fcreen'd, did, great Part 

 of them, intirely rot ; and the re- 

 maining Part were fo weak, as not 

 to produce any good Flowers : 

 whereas thofe which were planted in 

 the Beds which were not fcreen'd, 

 did thrive and flower very well, and 

 fcarce any of the Roots fail'd, tho' 

 the Earth of all the Beds was the 

 fame, and were in the fame Situa- 

 tion, both with regard to Wind and 

 Sun ; fo that the Damage which 

 thofe Roots fuftain'd, was owing in- 

 tirely to the Finenefs of the Earth ; 

 and this I have feveral times iince 

 obierv'd in other Gardens. 



I am aware, that this Depth of 

 three Feet, which I have here di- 

 rected to make the Beds for thefe 

 Flowers, will be objected to by many 

 Perfons, on account of the Expence 

 and Trouble of preparing them ; as 

 alio fuppofmgit unneceiTary to mtke 

 the Beds fo deep, for Flowers whole 

 Roots are fmall ; but if they will 

 give themfelves theTroubleof make- 

 ing the Experiment, by preparing one 

 Bed in this manner, and another in 

 the common Way, and plant them 

 both with the fame Flowers, they will 

 foon be convinced of their Error, by 

 the Succefs of the Flowers. For in 

 the Beds which have been prepared 

 of this Depth, I have feen one Root 

 produce upward of fifty Flowers, 

 each of which grew near a Foot 

 high, and were extremely large and 

 fair ; whereas, in the common Me- 

 thod of Culture, they are thought to 

 do very well, when they produce 

 eight or ten Flowers on each Root, 



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and thofe grow fix Inches high : but 

 if a Perion will trace the Length of 

 the fmall Fibres of thefe Roots, he 

 will find them to extend three or four 

 Feet downward. And as it is ky 

 thefe diftant Fibres that the Nourifh- 

 ment is taken in, for the Increafe 

 and Strength of the Flowers ; fo, if 

 thefe meet with a poor barren Soil 

 below, they fhrink, and the Flow- 

 ers are ftarved for want of proper 

 Nourimment in the Spring, when it 

 is moil required. 



The Beds, being thus prepared, 

 mould lie a Fortnight to fettle, be- 

 fore the Roots are planted, that 

 the Earth may not fettle unequal- 

 ly, after they are planted ; which, 

 would prejudice the Roots, by have- 

 ing hollow Places in fome Parts of 

 the Bed, to which the Water would 

 run, and lodge, and fo rot the Roots 

 in fuch Places. Then having le- 

 vell'd the Earth, laying the Surface 

 a little rounding, you mould mark 

 out the Rows by a Line, at about 

 fix Inches Diftance each Way, fo 

 that the Roots may be planted everv 

 Way in ftrait Lines ; then you mould 

 open the Earth with your Finger?, 

 at each Crofs, where the Roots are 

 to be planted, about two Inches 

 deep ; placing the Roots exactly in 

 the Middle, with their Crowns up- 

 right ; then with the Head of a Rake 

 you fhould draw the Earth upon the 

 Surface of the Bed level, whereby 

 the Top of the Roots will be about 

 . an Inch cover'd with Earth, which 

 wil! befufficient at firft. This Work 

 mould be done in dry Weather, be- 

 caufe the Earth will then work bet- 

 ter than if i: were wet; but the 

 fooner after Planting there happens 

 to be Rain, the better it will be for 

 the Roots ; for if it fhould prove dry 

 Weather long after, and the Earth 

 of the Beds be very dry, the Roots 

 will be fubjecl to mould and decay ; 



there- 



