they fhould grow, but they fhould be wall weeded i 
both before they come up and afterwards. 
French Furz will alfo do well upon dry land y banks, 
where few other plants will grow; but they muft be 
kept very clean at the bottom, and cut thin, and 
never buffered to grow too high : nor fhould they be 
cut in dry weather, or late in autumn, nor early in 
the fpring ; the doing either of which is fubjed: to 
make it die in patches., which is irrecoverable ; nor 
will it ever break out again from old wood, if cut 
clofe in, after it has been buffered long to grow out. 
Fences may likewife be made of Elder: if the foil 
be any thing good, you may put flicks of Elder,, or 
truncheons ten or twelve feet long, flopeways in your 
banks, fo as to make a chequer- work ; and they will 
make a fence for a garden the quickefl of any thing, 
and be a good fhelter. But thefe fences are improper 
for a fine garden, becaufe they fhocrt very irregular, 
an d are ungovernahle ; as likewife the roots of thefe 
trees fpread very far, and draw away all the heart of 
the ground, fo as to flarve whatever plants grow near 
them : and add to this the feathering of the berries, 
which will fill the ground near them with young 
plants ; which, if not timely weeded out, will get the 
better of whatever grows near them ; therefore this 
fort of fence is feldom planted, where a hedge of 
■White Thorn can be had. 
Elder planted on a, bank, the fide of which is wafhed 
with a river or flream, will make an extraordinary 
fence, and will preferve the bank from being under- 
mined by the water, becaufe it is continually fending 
fuckers from the roots and lower branches, which is of 
great ad vantage where the ftream wafhes away the bank. 
For middle fences in a garden, the Yew is the moft 
tonfile, governable, and durable plant. 
For furrounding wildemefs quarters, Elm, Lime, 
Hornbeam and Beech, are very proper. 
FEN N E L. See Foeniculum. 
FENNEL-FLOWER. See Nigella. 
FERRUM E QU I N U M. See JTippocr.ep.is. 
FERULA. Lin. Gen. Plant. 305. Tourn. Inft. R. 
H. 321. tab. 170. [takes its name of Ferendo, Lat. 
becaufe the ftalks of this plant are made ufe of in 
fupporting the branches of trees ; or of Feriendo, be- 
caufe in old time flicks were made of them, with 
which fchool-mafters ufed to cor red then* fcholars.] 
Fennel Giant ; in French, Ferule. 
The Characters are. 
It hath an umbellate! flower ; the -principal umbel is glo- 
bular, and is compofed of feveral fmallcr called rays , of 
tlse fame form-, the involucrum is compofed of feveral nar- 
row leaves which fall off ; the principal umbel is uniform. 
The flowers have five oblong erect petals which are equal , 
and five fiamina of the fame length , terminated by Jingle 
fummits ; under the flower is fituated a turbinated ger- 
men , fupporting two reflexed fiyles, crowned by obtufe 
jtigmas. ‘The germen afterward becomes an elliptical, com- 
preffed., plain fruit, dividing in two parts , each having a 
large elliptical plain feed, marked with three lines on each 
fide . 
This genus of plants is ranged in the fecond fedion 
of Linnaeus’s fil th clafs, intitled Pentandria Digynia, 
which contains thofe plants whofe flowers have five 
fiamina and two fiyles. 
The Species are, 
1. Ferula ( Communis ) foliolis linearibus longiffimis fim- 
plicibus. Hort. Cliff. 9 5. Ferula with the fmallcr leaves , 
very narrow , long , and Jingle. Ferula major, feu fae- 
mina Plinii. M. Umb. Pliny's Female Fennel Giant. 
2. Ferula ( Galbanifera ) foliolis multipartitis, laciniis li- 
nearibus planis. Hort. Cliff. 95. Ferula whofe fmallcr 
leaves are divided into many narrow parts which are plain. 
Ferula galbanifera. Lob. Obf. G alb anum-b earing Fennel 
Giant. 
3. Ferula ( Fingitana ) foliolis laciniatis, lacinulis trk 
dentatis inaequalibus. Hort. Cliff. 95. Ferula whofe 
fmaller leaves are cut, and fegments ending in three un- 
equal parts. Ferula Tingitana, folio latiffimo lucido. 
H. Edin. Broad-leaved fhining Fennel Giant from 
Fanner. 
& 
4. Ferula (. Femlago ) foliis pinnatifidis, pinnis .linearibus 
' planis trifidis. Hort. Cliff. 95. Ferula with wing-pointed 
leaves, whofe pinnis are narrow, plain, and trifid. Fe- 
rula latiore folio. Mor. Hilt. 3. p. 309. Fennel Giant 
with a broader leaf. 
5. Ferula {Ormpalis ,) foliorum pinnis bafi nudis, .fo- 
liolis fetaoeis. Hort. Cliff. 95. Ferula with the wings 
of the leaves naked at the bafe, and the fmaller leaves 
bniftly. Ferula Orientalis, Cachyros folio & facie. 
Tourn. Cor. 22. Faftern Fennel Giant with the leaf .and 
■appearance <cf Cu&hrys. 
6. Ferula ( Meoides ) foliorum pinnis utrinque bafiacu- 
tis, foliolis fetaceis. Hort. Cliff 95. Ferula with the 
wings of the leaves pointed at their bafe on every fide, 
Laierpitium Orientate mei folio, ftore luteo. Tourn. 
Cor. 23. Eafiern Lafsrwwt with a Spignel leaf and 
yellow flower. 
7. Ferula {Modifier a) foliolis appendiculatis, umbellis 
fubfeffilibus. Lin. Sp. Plant. 247. Ferula with ap- 
pendages to the fmaller leaves, and umbels fitting clofe to 
the ftalks. Libanotis feral® folio & femine. G. JB. P. 
t 5 8 . .Libanotis with a Fennel Giant leaf and feed. 
8. Ferula ( Glauca :} foliis fupradecompofitis, foliolis 
lanceolato-linearibus planis. Hort. Cliff 95. Fennel 
Giant with linear, fpear-Jhaped, decompounded haves. 
Ferula folio glauco, femine lato oblongo. J. B. 3. 
P- 45- 
The firft of thefe plants is pretty common in the 
Englifh gardens : this, if planted in a good foil, will 
grow to a great height, and divide into many branches : 
the lower leaves of this fort fpread more than two 
feet every way, and branch out into many divifions, 
which are again fubdivided into many fmaller, gar- 
nilhed with very long, narrow, fmall leaves that are 
fingle ; they are of a lucid green, and fpread near 
the ground. From the center of the plant comes out 
the flower-ftalk, which, when the plants are ilrong, 
will be near as large as a common broomftick, and 
will rife ten or twelve feet high, -having many joints ; 
if the ftalks are cut, there iffues from the veffels a 
foetid yellowifli liquor, which will concrete on the 
furface of the wound. The ftalks are terminated by 
large umbels of yellow flowers, which come out the 
latter end of June, or in the beginning of July; thefe 
are fucceeded by oval compreffed feeds, which have 
three lines running longitudinally on each fide. Thefe 
ripen in September, and the ftalks decay foon after. 
When the ftalks are dry, they are full of a light dry 
pith, which will foon take fire. 
Mr. Ray fays, that the people of Sicily ufe the pith 
of this plant for tinder to light their fires. And if 
this was pradlifed by the ancients, we may eafily guefs 
why the poets 'feigned, that Prometheus ftole fire 
from heaven, and carried it to the earth in a hollow 
Ferula. 
The leaves of thefe plants decay foon after the feeds 
are formed, fo that before they are ripe, there are 
feldom any leaves remaining, and the ftalks afterward 
dry and become very tough ; fo it is not unlikely 
thefe may have been ufed for correction in the fchools, 
as they are very light, and cannot do much injury. 
The roots of this fort will continue feveral years, ef- 
pecially on a dry foil, and will annually produce 
flowers and feeds. 
The fecond fort doth not grow quite fo large as the 
firft, but the ftalks of this will rife feven or eight feet 
high; the lower leaves are large, and greatly divided; 
the fmall leaves are flat, and not fo long as thofe of 
the former, and are of a lucid green colour; the um- 
bels of flowers are fmaller, and the feeds are lefs. 
This flowers and ripens its feeds about the fame time 
as the former fort. 
The third fort hath large fpreading leaves near the 
root, which are divided and fubdivided into many 
parts ; the final! leaves of this are much broader than 
in any of the other forts, and thefe are divided at 
their end into three unequal fegments ; the leaves- are 
of a very lucid green. The ftalks are ft rang, and 
rife to the height of eight or ten feet, and are ter- 
minated by large umbels of yellow flowers, which are 
5 N fucceeded 
