B LI 
- flower is paft, the germen becomes a heart-fhaped, 
or rather a mitre-fhaped feed-veffel, covered on the 
• outfide with briftles, opening with two valves, and 
filled with angular feeds, covered with a red pulp 
or pafte, which colours the hands of thofe who 
touch it, and is collected for the ufe of dyers and 
painters. 
This plant is propagated by feeds, which are annually 
brought from the Weft-Indies in plenty. Thefe 
fhould be fown in a fmall pot, filled with light rich 
. earth, and plunged into a hot-bed of tanners bark ; 
where, if the bed is of a proper temperature of heat, 
the plants will appear in about a month after : when 
thefe are about an inch high, they fhould be fhaken 
out of the pot and carefully feparated, fo as not to 
tear off their tender roots, and each planted in a fmall 
pot filled with fome rich light earth, and plunged into 
a frefh hot-bed of tanners bark, obferving to fhade 
them every day until they have taken new root ; after 
which they muft be treated as other tender plants 
from the fame country, by admitting frefn air to them 
,fl in proportion to the warmth of the feafon ; and when 
~ the heat of the tan declines, it fhould be turned up 
to the bottom, and, if neceffary, fome frefh. tan added 
; to renew the heat. The plants muft be refrefhed three 
times a week with water in fummer, but they muft 
not have it in great quantities, for their roots often 
rot with much wet. If the plants are raifed early in 
the fpring, and properly managed, they will be a foot 
and a half high by the autumn, when they fhould be 
removed into the bark-ftove, and plunged into the 
tan-becf. During the winter, they muft have but little 
water, and while the plants are young, they muft 
have a good fhare of warmth, otherwife they are very 
fubjeft to caft their leaves,, and frequently lofe their 
tops, which renders them unfightly. They muft be 
, conftantly kept in the bark-ftove, for thofe plants 
. which have been placed in a dry ftove, have never 
made much progrefs. I have had many of thefe plants 
feven or eight feet high, with ftrong ftems and large 
heads, but have only had one produce flowers •, nor 
have I heard of its flowering in any of the gardens in 
, Europe, for in the Dutch gardens they have no plants 
of any fize. 
The pafte which fur rounds the feeds is taken off, by 
fteeping the feeds in hot water, and with the hands 
wafhed until the feeds are clean ; then after pouring 
away the water, they leave the fediment to harden, 
and make it up in balls, which, are fent to Europe, 
where they are ufed in dying and painting. It is alfo 
ufed by the Americans to dye their chocolate, and 
the natives ufed to paint their bodies with it when 
they went to the wars. 
B LADDE R-N U T. See Staphy-lea* 
BLATT ARIA. See Y erb ascum. 
-BLIGHTS. 
There is nothing fo deftruftive to a fruit garden as 
blights ; nor is there any thing in the buflnefs of gar- 
dening which requires more of our ferious attention, 
than the endeavouring to prevent or guard againft 
this great enemy of gardens. 
In order therefore to remedy this evil, it will be ne- 
ceft'ary firft to underftand the true caufes of blights 
, for, although many curious perfons have attempted 
to explain the caufes of them, yet very few of them 
have come near the truth, except the Rev. and learned 
Dr. Hales, who hath, in his curious book, intitled 
- Vegetable Statics, given us fome accurate experi- 
ments upon the growth and perfpiration of plants, 
together with the various effefts the air hath upon 
vegetables ; that by carefully attending thereto, to- 
gether with diligent obfervations, we need feldom to 
be at a lofs how to account for the caufes of blights 
whenever they may happen. 
But here I cannot help taking notice of the feveral 
' . caufes of blights, as they have been laid down by 
, fome of our modern writers on gardening, together 
. . with their. various methods- prefcrifced to prevent their 
.h...deftruftion of fruits, . &c., * 
? »< : SQn^e, h^ye foppofed, .that blights are. ufual.ly pro- 
-'fo V* 
BH 
duced by an eafterly wind, which brings vmft quail" 
tities of infefts eggs along with it from fome difhuft 
place ; which, being lodged upon the furface of the 
leaves and flowers of fruit-trees, caufe them to flirive! . 
up and perifh. To cure this diftemper, they aclvife 
the burning; of wet litter on the windward fide of the 
trees, that the fmoke thereof may be carried to them 
by the wind, which they fuppofe will ftifie and deftroy 
thofe infefts, and thereby cure the diftemper. 
Others direft the ufe of Tobacco-duft, or to wafh the 
trees v/ith water wherein Tobacco-Balks have been 
infufed for twelve hours, which, they fay, will deftroy 
thefe in lefts, and recover the trees •, and Pepper-duft, 
fcattered upon the blofibms of fruit-trees, has been 
recommended as very ufefui in this cafe : and there 
are fome that advife the pulling off the leaves of the 
tree, as the beft remedy when they are ftirivelled up 
and wither ; and to cut off the fmaller branches when 
they produce crooked and unnatural fhoots, and to 
fprinkle the tree with a watering-pot, or a hand- 
engine. 
Thefe conjectures concerning blights, how fpeaqus 
foever they may appear at firft fight, yet, when duly 
confidered, will be found far ftiort of the true caufe, 
as will hereafter be fhewn. 
But let us now examine the true caufes of blights, fo 
far as we have been enabled to j udge from repeated 
obfervations and experiments. 
i. Blights then are often caufed by a continued dry 
eafterly wind for feveral days together, without the 
intervention of fhowers, or any morning dew, by 
which the perfpiration in the tender blofibms is 
flopped, fo that in a ftiort time their colour is changed, 
and they wither and decay ; and if it fo happen, that 
there is a long continuance of the fame weather, it 
equally affefts the tender leaves •, for their perfpiring 
matter is hereby thickened and rendered glutinous, 
clofely adhering to the furface of the leaves, and be- 
comes a proper nutriment to thofe fmall infefts, which 
are always found preying upon the leaves and tender 
branches of fruit-trees, whenever this blight happens y 
but it is not thefe infefts which are the firft caufe. of 
blights, as hath been imagined by fome •, though it 
muft be allowed, that whenever thefe infefts meet 
with fuch a proper food, they multiply exceedingly, 
and are inftrumental in promoting the diftemper ; 
fo that many times, when the feafon proves fa» 
vourable to them, and no proper care hath been 
taken to prevent their mifchief, it is furprifihg to 
think how whole walls of trees have fuffered by this 
infeftion. 
The beft remedy for this diftemper, . that I have yet 
known fucceed, is, gently to wafh and iprigkle over 
the trees, from time to time, with common water 
(that is, fuch as hath not had any thing fteeped in 
it 5) and the fooner this is performed (whenever we 
apprehend danger,) the better ; and if the young and 
tender fhoots feem to be much infefted, wafh. them 
with a woollen cloth, fo as to clear them, if poffibie, 
from all this glutinous matter, that their refpi ration 
and perfpiration may not be obftrufted ; and if we 
place fome broad flat pans or tubs of water near the 
trees, that the vapours exhaled from the water may 
be received by the trees, it will keep their tender 
parts in a duftile ftate, and greatly help them but 
whenever this operation of waffling the trees is per- 
formed, it fhould be early in the day, that the moifture 
may be' exhaled before the cold of the night comes 
on 5 efpecialiy if the nights are frofty : nor ftiould it 
be done when the fun fflines very hot upon the wall, 
which would be fubjeft to fcorch up the tender 
bloffoms. . 
Another caufe of blights in the fpring is, fharp hoary 
frofts, which are often fucceeded by ■ hot funftifne in 
the day. time •„ which is the moil Bidden and certain 
deftrover of fruits that is known ^ for the cold of the 
*• ■ 
night ftarves the tender parts, of the bioiToms, and 
the fun rifing hot. upon the walls before the moifture 
is dried from the bloffoms (which, being; in fmall. 
globules, collefts the rays of the fun,) a fcalding heat 
