of the old varieties, which had been turned out of 
the gardens of the florifts many years ago, to make 
room for the large flowers, which Were then in fafhion, 
have been received again ; and large prices have been 
paid of late for fuch flowers as fome years ago were 
fold for one {hilling a dozen, or Id's, which is a 
ftrong proof of the variablenefs of the fancies of the 
florifts. 
But I {hall now proceed to give fome directions for 
propagating thefe flowers by layers, and the necef- 
fary care to be taken in order to blow them fair and 
large. 
The belt feafon for laying thefe flowers is in June, 
as foon as the {hoots are ftrong enough for that pur- 
pofe, which is performed in the following manner : 
after having ftripped off the leaves from the lower 
part of the {hoot intended to be laid, make choice of 
a -ftrong joint about the middle part of the ihoot (not 
too near the heart of the {hoot, nor in the hard part 
next the old plant) ; then with your penknife make a 
flit in the middle of the ihoot from the joint upwards 
half way to the other joint, or more, according to 
their diftance ; then with your knife cut the tops of 
the leaves, and alfo cut off the fwelling part of the 
joint where the flit is made, fo that the part flit may 
be lhaped like a tongue ; for if that outward {kin 
is left on, it would prevent their puffing out 
roots ; then having loofened the earth round the plant, 
and, if need be, raffed it with freff mould, that it 
may be level with the ffoot intended to be laid down, 
left by the ground being too low, by forcing down 
the ffoot you fplit it off ; then with your finger make 
a hollow place in the earth, juft where the {hoot is to 
come, and with your thumb and finger bend the ffoot 
gently into the earth, obferving to keep the top as 
upright as poftible, that the flit may be open ; and 
being provided with forked flicks for that purpofe, 
thruft one of them into the ground, fo that the fork- 
ed part may take hold of the layer, in order to keep 
it down in its proper place ; then gently cover the 
lhank of the layer with the fame fort of earth, giv- 
ing it a gentle watering to fettle the earth about it, 
obferving to repeat the fame as often as is neceffary, 
in order to promote their rooting. In about five 
or fix weeks after this, the layers will have taken 
root fufficient to be tranfplanted ; againft which 
time you fhould be provided with proper earth for 
them, which may be compofed after the following 
manner : 
Make choice of fome good up-land pafture, or a 
common that is of a hazel earth, or light fandy 
loam ; dig from the furface of this your earth about 
eight inches deep, taking all the turf with it ; let this 
be laid in a heap to rot and mellow for one year, turn- 
ing it once a month, that it may fweeten ; then mix 
about a third part of rotten neats dung, or for want 
of that, fome rotten dung from a Cucumber or Me- 
lon-bed ; let this be well mixed together, and if you 
can get it time enough before-hand, let them lie 
mixed fix or eight months before it is ufed, turning it 
feveral times, the better to incorporate their parts. 
Obferve, that although I have mentioned this mix- 
ture as the beft for thefe flowers, yet you rnuft not ex- 
pe& to blow your flowers every year equally large in 
the lame compofition ; therefore fome people who are 
extremely fond of having their flowers fucceed well, 
alter their compofitions every year in this manner, 
viz. one year they mix the freff earth with neats 
dung, which is cold ; the next year with rotten horfe 
dung, which is of a warmer nature, adding thereto 
fome white fea fand to make the earth lighter. 
But, for my part, I fhould rather ad vile the plant- 
ing two or three layers of each of the beft kinds in 
a bed of freff earth not over dunged, which plants 
Ihould only be fuffered to ffew their flowers, that you 
may be fure they are right in their kind and colours ; 
and when you are fatisfied in that particular, cut off the 
flower-ftems, and do not fuffer them to fpend the roots 
in blowing, by which means you will ftrengthen your 
layers. And it is from thefe beds I would make 
choice of fome of the beft plants for the next years 
blowing, always obferving to have a fucceffion of 
them yearly, by which means you may have tfvery 
year fine flowers, provided the feafon proves favoura- 
ble : for it is not reafonable to fuppofe, that the lay- 
ers taken from fuch roots as have been exhaufted in 
producing large flowers, and have been forced by arc 
to the utmoft of their natural ftrength, fhould be able 
to produce flowers equally as large as their mother 
root did the year before, or as fuch layers as are frefii 
from a poorer foil, and in greater health can doj 
But this being premifed, let us proceed to the plant- 
ing of thefe layers, which (as I faid before) fhould be 
done in Augu.fr, or the beginning of September. 
The common method ufed by moft florifts is, fo 
plant their layers at this feafon, two in each pot (the 
flze of which pots are about nine inches over in the 
clear at the top) in thefe pots they are to remain for 
bloom •, and therefore, in the fpring of the year, 
they take off as much of the earth from the furface 
of the pots as they can, without difturbing their 
roots, filling the pots up again with the fame good 
freff earth as the pots were before filled with. But 
there is fome difficulty in ffelteririg a great quantity 
of thefe flowers in winter, when they are planted in 
fuch large pots, which in moft winters they will re- 
quire, more or lefs ; my method therefore is, to put 
them finely into halfpenny pots in autumn, and in the 
middle or latter end of October, to fet thefe pots into 
a bed of old tanners bark, which has loft its heat, and 
cover them with a common frame (fuch as is ufed 
for raiflng Cucumbers and Melons) •, and in two of 
thefe frames, which contain fix lights, may be fet a 
hundred and fifty of thefe pots : in thefe frames you 
may give them as much free air as you pleafe, by tak- 
ing off the lights every day when the weather is mild, 
and putting them on only in bad weather and e;reat 
rains ; and if the winter ffiould prove fevere, it is 
only the covering the glaffes with mats, ftraw, or 
Peafe-haulm, fo as to keep out the froft, which will 
effectually preferve your plants in the utmoft vigour. 
In the middle or latter end of February, if the feafon 
is good, you muft tranfplant thefe layers into pots 
for their bloom (the flze of which fhould be about 
eight inches over at the top in the clear) ; in the do- 
ing of which, obferve to put fome potfferds or oyfter- 
Ihells over the holes in the bottoms of the pots, to 
keep the earth from flopping them, which would de- 
tain the water in the pots to the great prejudice of 
the flowers : then fill thefe pots about half way with 
the fame good compoft as was before dire&ed, and 
ffake the plants out of the fmall pots with all the 
earth about the roots •, then with your hands take off 
fome of the earth round the outfide of the ball, and 
from the furface taking off the fibres of the roots on 
the outfide of the ball of earth ; then put one good 
plant exaftly in the middle of each pot, fo that it may 
ftand well as to the height, i. e. not fo low as to bury 
the leaves of the plant with earth, nor fo high, that 
the ffiank may be above the rim of the pot ; then fill 
the pot up with the earth before-mentioned, clofing 
it gently to the plant with your hands, giving it a 
little water, if the weather is dry, to fettle the earth 
about it •, then place thefe pots in a fltuation where 
they may be defended from the north wind, obferv- 
ing to give them gentle waterings, as the feafon may 
require. 
In this place they may remain till the middle or latter 
end of April, when you ihould prepare a ftage of 
boards to fet the pots upon, which fhould be fo or- 
dered as to have little citterns of water round each 
poll, to prevent the infeCts from getting to your flow- 
ers in their bloom, which, if they are fuffered to do, 
will mar all your labour, by deftroying all your flow- 
ers in a ffiort time ; the chief and moft mifchievous 
infeCt in this cafe is, the earwig, which will gnaw off 
all the lower parts of the petals of the flowers (which 
are very fweet) and thereby caufe the whole flower to 
fall to pieces but fince the making one of thefe ftages 
is fome what expen five, and not very eafy to be mi- 
ff Z derftood 
