70 



A DISCOURSE 



Another proper mixture, mucli in esteem with our gardeners, is willow- 

 earth, a fourth part, sifted from the grosser sticks, with almost an equal 

 portion of sheep-dung, (Laurembergius says, that goats' is better,) natural 

 mould making up the other two parts ; and indeed, this is excellent to 

 raise any seedlings of flowers ; but for the more minute and delicate, 

 such as cypress, mulberry, the samera of elm, and the like, prepare a 

 mould as flue as powder, and let it be gently refreshed with a dewy 

 sperge or brush, not with the watering-pot, which plainly gluts it. 



Auriculas, anemonies, &c. should be raised in the willow-mould 

 described above, but planted forth where the dung of oxen and loam is 

 sifted among the pasture-earth. 



The pine and bigger kernels make (as some affirm) great advance by 

 being coated with dung, but, being grown to great trees, they abhor it. 

 Touching change of crop, something has been said already : peas dege- 

 nerate betimes, at least in two or three years, be the land never so good ; 

 so it is observed, that most plants long standing in the same bed, impair 

 both the ground and themselves, especially sorrel. 



To conclude : for a general good garden soil, take the natural under- 

 turf, if it be not too stiff ; add to it a quarter part of oxen or sheep-dung 

 perfectly consumed ; one bushel of slacked lime to each load of mould, 

 Avith some sweet, though rotten wood-pile or willow-earth ; mix these 

 well together, and you have a choice composition for all your rare 

 exotics, oranges, and caSe-shrubs, remembering to place the spray of 

 rotten bavins, hampers, or baskets, to keep the mould loose, with lime- 

 stone, brickbats, shells, and other rubbish at the bottom, that the water 

 may pass freely, and not rot the fibres. And, therefore, be careful never 

 to make your cases close below, but rather so barred as to be able to keep 

 the coarse materials from dropping through, whilst auger-holes, though 

 never so thick bored, are apt to be stopped up, and then your roots do 

 certainly rot, and your trees grow sick. The same is to be observed in 

 pots, and that you place them about an inch from the ground, that they 

 may freely drain, and as freely receive refreshing. But I must not quit 

 these curiosities, to speak of the cooler composts, till I have described 

 the best hot-bed that I know of. 



