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on the furface of the bed level, whereby the top of 
the roots will be covered with earth near two inches, 
which will be fufficient. This work fhould bedone 
in dry weather, becaufe the earth will then work bet- 
ter than if it 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 fubject to mould and decay ; therefore in fuch a 
cafe it will be proper to give a little water to the beds, 
if there fhould no rain happen in a fortnight’s time, 
which indeed is very rare at that feafon of the year, fo 
that they will feldorn be in danger of buffering that way. 
When the roots are thus planted, there will no more be 
required until toward the end of November, by which 
time they will begin to heave the ground, and the buds 
of their leaves appear •, when you fhould lay a little of 
the frefh earth, of which the beds were compofed, 
about half an inch thick over the beds, which will 
greatly defend the crown of the root from froft ; and 
when you perceive the buds to break through this fe- 
eond covering, if it fhould prove very hard froft, it will 
be very proper to arch the beds over with hoops, and 
cover them with mats, but efpecially in the fpring, 
when the flower-buds will begin to appear ; for if 
they are expofed to too much froft, or blighting winds 
at that feafon, their flowers feldorn open fairly, and 
many times their roots are deftroyed. 
In the beginning of March the fiower-ftems will be- 
gin to rife, at which time you fhould carefully clear 
the beds from weeds, and ftir the earth with your 
fingers between the roots, being very chreful not to 
injure them •, this will not only make the beds appear 
handfome, but alfo greatly ftrengthen their flowers in 
blowing •, and if the nights prove frofty, the beds fhould 
be covered with mats every evening, and fhaded from 
the fun in the heat of the day. When the flowers 
are paft and the leaves are withered, you fhould take 
up the roots, and carefully clear them from the earth ; 
then fpread them upon a mat to dry, in a fhady place ; 
after which they may be put up in bags or boxes in a 
dry room, until the October following, which is the 
feafon for planting them again. 
Thefe Perfian forts are not only propagated by offsets 
from the old roots, but are alfo multiplied by feeds, 
which the femi- double kinds produce in plenty ; 
therefore, whoever is defirous to have thefe in perfec- 
tion, fhould annually fow their feeds, from which new 
varieties will be every year produced ; but in order 
thereto, you fhould be careful in laving your feed, 
or in procuring it from fuch perfons as underftand 
how to fave it •, that is, who will be careful not to 
leave any flowers for feeds, but fuch as have five or 
fix rows of petals at leaft, and are well coloured •, 
for fince thefe flowers increafe plentifully, it is not 
worth the trouble to low any indifferent feeds, be- 
caufe there can be but little hopes of obtaining any 
good flowers from them. 
Being prepared with feeds, about the middle of Au- 
guft, which is the proper feafon for fowing them, you 
fhould get fome large pots, fiat feed-pans, or boxes. 
Thefe fhould be filled with light rich earth, levelling 
the furface very even •, then fow the feeds thereon 
pretty thick, and cover it about a quarter of an inch 
thick with the fame light earth ; after which, you 
fhould remove thefe pots, pans, or boxes, into a 
fhady fituation, where they may have the morning 
fun until ten of the clock ; and if the feafon prove 
dry, you muft often refrefh them gently' with water, 
being very careful in doing of this, not to wafh the 
feeds out of the ground. In this fituation the pots 
fhould remain until the beginning of Oftober, by 
which time the plants will fometimes begin to come 
up, (though often the feeds will remain in the earth 
until the end of November, before the plants ap- 
pear;) but then you fhould remove the pots into a 
more open exposure, where they may have the full 
fun, which at that time is neceffary to exhale the 
moifture of the earth ; but toward the middle of No- 
vember, when you are apprehenfive of froft, the pots | 
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fhould be removed under a common hot-bed frame* 
where they may be covered with the glaffes in the 
night time, and alfo in bad weather ; but in the day, 
when the weather is mild, they fhould be entirely 
opened, otherwife the plants will draw up too weak. 
The only danger they are in, is violent rains and 
frofts ; the firft often rotting the tender plants, and 
the froft will often turn them out of the ground,, 
therefore they fhould be carefully guarded againft 
both thefe. 
In the fpring, as the feafon grows warm, thefe pots 
fhould be expofed to the open air, placing them at 
firft near the flielter of a hedge, to prated them from 
the cold winds ; but toward the beginning or middle 
of April, they fhould be removed again into a more 
fhady fituation, according to the warmth of the feafon; 
and if it fhould prove dry, they muft be fometimes 
refrefhed with water ; but you fhould be careful not 
to give it them in great quantities, which is very apt 
to rot thefe tender roots ; and in the latter end of 
April or beginning of May, they fhould be placed 
where they may have only the morning fun ; in which 
place they may remain till their leaves decay, when 
they may be taken out of the earth, and the roots 
dried in a fhady place ; after which they may be put 
up in bags, and preferved in a dry place till the Oc- 
tober following, when they muft be planted in the 
manner before directed for the old roots 
The fpring following thefe roots will flower, at which 
time you fhould carefully mark fuch of them as are 
worthy to be preferved, and the Angle, or bad co- 
loured flowers may be pulled and thrown away, which 
is the fureft method of removing them from the good 
forts ; for if they are permitted to remain together 
until their leaves decay, there may be fome offsets of 
the bad forts mixed with the good flowers. You 
fhould not fuffer thofe flowers, which you intend to 
blow fine the fucceeding year, to bear feeds, if they 
are inclinable fo to do, but cut off the flowers when 
they begin to decay ; for thofe roots which have pro- 
duced feeds, feidom flower well afterwards ; nor 
will the principal old root, which has flowered 
ftrong one year, ever blow fo fair as will the offsets, 
which is what fhould be principally obfetved, when a 
perfon purchafes any of thefe roots ; for a great part 
of the complaints made by thofe who have bought 
thefe roots at a dear rate, is principally owing to this. 
For the perfons who fold them, being apprifed of this 
matter, have parted with their old roots to their pur- 
chafers, and referved the offsets for their own ufe j 
which old roots have fo much degenerated from 
what they were the preceding year, as to caufe a fuf- 
picion, whether the perfons they were purchafed from: 
had not changed the roots : and this degeneracy al- 
ways attends thefe flowers, after having flowered ex- 
tremely large and fair, or that they have been per- 
mitted to feed ; fo that it is abfolutely necefiary to 
fow feeds every year, in order to preferve a fucceffion 
of good flowers. 
The manner of preparing the beds, and the diftance 
and method of planting the roots, having been alrea- 
dy directed, I fhall not repeat it here, but only ob- 
ferve, that thefe flowers being tender, muft be pro- 
tected from hard frofts, and cutting fharp winds, ef- 
pecially after Chriftmas, when their flower-buds are 
forming ; for if they are neglected at that feafon, 
their flowers will rarely prove fair ; nor fhould you 
fuffer them to receive too much wet in winter or 
fpring, which is equally as injurious to them as froft. 
In planting thefe roots you ftiould obferve to place 
the femi-double kinds, from which you intend to fave 
feeds, in feparate beds by themfelves, and not inter- 
mix them with the double flowers, becaufe they will 
require to be treated in a different manner ; for when 
the flowers of the femi-double kinds begin to fade, 
you fhould carefully guard them from too much wet ; 
for if they are permitted to receive hard rains, or are 
watered at that feafon, the feeds rarely come to 
maturity, or they are fo weak, that fcarce one in 
fifty of them will grow. 
When 
