462 
M YRTU'S. 
to a regular figure ; and, if they are inclinable to make 
crooked ftems, you fhould thruft down a /lender ftraight 
flick clofe by them, to which their flems fhould be faf- 
tened, fo as to bring them upright. If care be taken to 
train them thus while they are young, the ftems afterwards, 
when they have acquired ftrength, will continue ftraight 
without any fupport; and their branches may be pruned, 
fo as to form either balls or pyramids, which for fuch 
plants as are preferved in the green-houfe, and require to 
be kept in fmall compafs, is the beft method to have them 
handfome; but then thefe fheered plants will not produce 
any flowers, for which reafon that fort with double flowers 
fhould not be clipped, becaufe the chief beauty of that 
conlifts in its flowers ; but it will be neceflary to fufter a 
plant or two of each kind to grow rude, for the ufe of 
their branches in nofegays, &c. as it will greatly deface 
tiiofe which have been conftantly fheered to cut oft' their 
branches. 
As thefe plants advance in ftature, they fhould annually 
be removed into larger pots, according to the fize of their 
roots ; but you muft be careful not to put them into pots 
too large, which wall caufe them to {hoot weak, and many 
times prove the deftrudtion of them ; therefore, when 
they are taken out of the former pots, the earth about 
their roots fhould be pared oft', and that within-fide the 
ball muft be gently loofened, that the roots may not be 
too clol'ely confined’; and then place them in the fame 
pots again, provided they are not too fmall, filling up the 
fides and bottom of them with frefh rich earth, and giving 
them plenty of water to fettle the earth to their roots; 
which fhould be frequently repeated, for they require to 
be often watered both in winter and fummer, but in hot 
weather they muft have it in plenty. The beft feafon for 
fhifting thefe plants is either in April or in Auguft ; for, 
if it be done much fooner in the fpring, the plants are 
then in a flow growing ftate, and fo not capable to ftrike 
out frefh roots again very loon ; and, if later in autumn, 
the cold weather coming on will prevent their taking 
root; nor is it advifable to do it in the great heat of fum¬ 
mer, becaufe they will require to be very often watered, 
and alfo to be placed in the fhade, otherwife they will be 
liable to droop for a conliderable time; and, that being 
the feafon when thefe plants fhould be placed amongft 
other exotics, to adorn the feveral parts of the garden, 
thefe plants, being then removed, fhould not be expoled 
until they have taken root again, which, at that time (if 
the feafon be hot and dry) will be three weeks or a month. 
The common broad-leaved, broad-leaved Dutch, and 
Portugal, myrtles, may be planted abroad in warm fitua- 
tions, and tipon a dry foil, where they endure the cold 
of our winter very well, only being covered in very hard 
frofts with mats, and the furface of the ground* about 
their roots covered with a little mulch to prevent the froft 
from entering the ground; but in Cornwall and Devon- 
fhire, where the winters are more favourable than in moll 
other parts of England, there are large hedges of myrtle 
which have been planted feveral years, and are very thriv¬ 
ing and vigorous, fome of which are upwards of lix feet 
high; and, if the double-flowering kind were plapted 
abroad,-it w'ould endure the cold as well as any of the 
other forts, it being a native of the fouthern parts of 
France. This and the orange-leaved are the moll difficult 
to take root from cuttings ; but if they are planted to¬ 
wards the latter end of June, making choice of only fuch 
fhoots as are tender, and the pots are plunged into an old 
bed of tanner’s bark which has loft molt of its heat, and 
the glafies ffiaded every day, they will take root extremely 
well. The orange-leaved, and thofe with variegated 
leaves, are fomewhat tenderer than the ordinary forts, 
and fhould be houfed a little fooner in autumn, and placed 
farther from the window's of the green-houfe. 
The Ceylon myrtle is with difficulty propagated, which 
occaflons its prefent fcarcity; for, as it does not produce 
ripe feeds in Europe, it can only be increafed by layers or 
cuttings. By the former method the layers are commonly 
two years before they take root, and the cuttings fre¬ 
quently fail; though the latter is preferred, when per¬ 
formed at a proper feafon and in a right method. The 
beft time to plant the cuttings is in May. In the choice 
of them, it fhould be the fhoots of the former year, with a 
fmall piece of the two-years’ wood at bottom. Thefe 
fhould be planted in fmall pots, filled with loft loamy 
earth, for fmall pots are to be preferred to large ones for 
this purpofe, and they fhould be plunged into a very mo¬ 
derate hot-bed of tanners’ bark; and, if the pots are each 
covered with fmall bell or hand glafies, fuch as have been 
ufed for blowing carnations, to exclude the air, it will be 
of great fervice to promote the cuttings putting out roots, 
though they are covered with the glafies of the hot-bed 
above them. The cuttings fhould be fhaded from the fun 
in the heat of the day, and gently refrefhed with water, 
as the earth in the pots is found to dry ; but they fhould 
by no means have too much w'et. Thofe cuttings which 
lucceed will have taken root by July, wffien they fhould be 
gradually inured to bear the open air, into which it will be 
proper to remove them about the middle of that month, 
that they may be ftrengthened before winter, but it will 
not be proper to transplant the cuttings till fpring : the 
pots muft be removed into a temperate Hove in autumn ; 
and during the winter the cuttings muft be gently re¬ 
frefhed with W'ater. In the fpring they fhould be care¬ 
fully taken up, and each planted in a fmall pot filled with 
light earth from a kitchen-garden, and plunged into a 
moderate hot-bed to forward their taking frefh root; then 
they fhould be gradually hardened, and in July placed in 
the open air in a fheltered fituation, where they may re¬ 
main till the end of September, and then be removed into 
the ftove. This plant will not live through the winter in 
England in a green-houfe; but, if it is placed in a mo¬ 
derate degree of warmth, it will flower well in winter; 
and in July, Auguft, and September, the plants fhould 
be placed abroad in a fheltered fituation. The other ten¬ 
der myrtles from the Eaft and Weft Indies may be treated 
in the fame manner. 
The pimento-tree is propagated by feeds, which in the 
natural place of its growth are conveyed, and fown by 
birds, to a great diftance; and, it is very probable, the 
feeds, paffing through them, are rendered fitter for vegeta¬ 
tion than thofe which are immediately gathered from the 
tree. The plants cannot be preferved in England, unlefs 
they are placed in a ftove during the winter-feafon ; but 
they will thrive in a moderate degree of warmth. They 
fhould be planted in a foft light foil, and in winter mull: 
have but little water. In the fummer they fhould have a 
large ffiare of air; and in July, if the feafon proves warm, 
they may be placed in the open air, in a warm fheltered 
fituation; but upon the approach of cold nights, they 
muft be removed into the ftove again. The expoiing of 
thefe plants to the open air for one month only, will be 
of great fervice to clean their leaves from infefts or filth, 
which they are fubjeft to contraft by remaining long in 
the ftove ; but, if the feafon fhould prove very wet or 
cold, it will not be fafe to trull the plants long abroad ; 
therefore their leaves fhould nowand then be wafned with 
a lponge to clean them, which will not only render them 
more lightly, but alfo promote their growth. 
This tree is difficult topropagate in England, where the 
feeds do not ripen : the only method in which this has 
been done, is by laying down the young branches, flitting 
them at a joint in the fame manner as is prattifed in mak¬ 
ing layers of carnations. If this be carefully performed, 
and the layers are regularly but gently watered, they will 
put out roots in one year; then they may be carefully fe- 
parated from the old plants, and each planted in a fmall 
pot filled with light earth, and plunged into the tan-bed, 
either in the ftove or under a frame, being careful to fhade 
them until they have taken new root, after which they 
may be treated as the older plants. This plant, being an 
evergreen, makes a fine appearance in the ftove at all fea- 
fons of the year; and the leaves having fuch an agreeable 
fragrancy 
