465 
ground they must have a large share of air admitted to them, otherwise they will draw up weak; 
and as soon as the w^eather is warm, they must be exposed to the open air, and in summer they must 
be constantly kept clean from weeds ; if the season proves dry, they will require water two or three 
times a week. In autumn it will be proper to remove the pots, and place them under a hot-bed 
frame, to shelter them in winter from severe frost; or where there is not that inconveniency, the 
pots should be plunged into the ground near a wall or hedge; and as the plants, when young, are 
full of sap, and tender, the early frosts in autumn frequently kill the upper part of the shoots ; there¬ 
fore the plants should be either covered with mats, or a little straw or Pease-haulm laid over them to 
protect them. 
In the following spring the plants should be taken out of the seed-pots, and planted in the full 
ground: this should be done about the middle or latter end of March, when the danger of the frost is 
over: therefore a bed or two should be prepared (according to the number of plants raised) in a 
sheltered situation, and, if possible, in a yielding loamy soil. The ground must be well trenched, and 
cleared from the roots of bad weeds, and when levelled, should be marked out in lines at one foot 
distance; then the plants should be carefully turned out of the pots and separated, so as not to tear 
their roots, and planted in the lines at six inches asunder, pressing the earth down close to the roots. 
If the ground is very dry when they are planted, and there is no appearance of rain soon, it will be 
proper to water the beds, to settle the ground to the roots of the plants; and after this, if the surface 
of the ground is cohered with some old tan or rotten dung, it will keep it moist, and prevent the 
drying winds from penetrating to the roots of the plants. 
The following summer, the necessary care must be to keep them constantly clean from weeds; 
but after the plants are pretty well established in the ground, they will not require any water, 
especially toward the latter end of summer, for that will occasion their late growth, whereby they 
will be in great danger of suffering by the autumn frosts; for the more any of these young trees are 
stopped in their growth by drought towards autumn, the firmer will be their texture, and hence better 
able to bear the cold. 
The plants may remain in these nursery-beds two years, by which time they will have obtained 
sufficient strength to be transplanted where they are designed to remain for good, because these plants 
extend their roots wide every way; so that if they stand long in the nursery, their roots will be cut 
in removing, which will be a great prejudice to their future growth. 
These sorts are hardy enough to thrive in the open air in England, as soon as they are become 
strong; but for the two first winters after they come up from seeds, they require a little protection, 
especially the third sort, which is tenderer than either of the former. The young plants of this sort 
frequently have variegated leaves, and those are more impatient of cold than the plain leaved. 
Genus 10 . Cercis. Judas Tree . Class X. Decandria. 
Order I. Monogynia. 
Species 1. Common Judas Tree . (Cercis Siliquastrum.) 
This tree is called by the Spaniards and Portuguese the Tree of Love: this rises with an upright 
trunk to the height of twenty feet, covered wdth a dark brown bark, dividing upwards into many 
irregular branches, with leaves placed irregularly on-the branches, on long foot-stalks; they are of a 
pale green on their upper, and of a greyish colour on their under side, and fall off in autumn. The 
flowers come out on every side the branches, and many times from the stem of the tree in large clus¬ 
ters, arising from the same point, on short peduncles; they are of a very bright purple colour, and 
6 B 
