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Show R A RA in Danger ofperifhing under-ground; fo that if you keep them out of the Ground any longer than the Beginning of N ber, it will be the better Way to defer t Planting of them “till the latter End of fanwary or the Beginning ofFeb > afl the great Frofts are patt. The Beds in which thefe Roots are planted, fhould be made with freth, light, fandy Earth, at leaft a Foot deep: The beft Soil for thefe Roots may be compos’din the following Manner, viz. Take a Quantity of frefh Earth from a rich up-land Pafture, about fix Inches deep, together with the Green-f 3 this fhould be laid in a Heapto rot for twelve Months beforeit is ufed, obferving to turn it over very often, to fweeten it, and break the Clods ; to this you fhould adda proportionable Quantity of Sea or Drift 4 > the Earth is lighter or {tiff it be light and inclining to a San d of Sand will be fufficient for four Loadsof rth 3 but if the Earth is ftrong and heavy, the Sand fhould be mix’d in equal Quantity therewith ; but you fhouldoften turn it over, in order to unite their Parts well t re it is put into the Beds. The Depth which this fhould be Jaidin the Beds (as was before faid) mu about a Foot, this fhould be below the rface, in Proportion to the Drynefs or ire of the Place where they are fituated ; which in dry Groundfhould be eight Inches belowthe Sur- face, and the Beds rais’d four Inches above; but ina moift Place, they fhould be fix Inches low, and fix above the Ground; and in this Cafe it will be very proper to lay fome Rubbifh and Stones in the Bot of each Bed, to drain off the Moitt his Earth I would by no means have fcreenec veryfine; but only in turning it over each T fhould be careful to break the throw out all Jarge Stones, wl cient, for if it is made very fine, when the great Rains in Wi come on, it will caufe the Earth to bind into one folid I whereby the Moifture will be detair the Roots not beingable to extend their ten- der Fibres, will rot: Of this I have feen many E les, but one partic ularly to my Coft; when I had procured a fine Parcel of thefe Roots from abroad, and being defirous of having themthrive very well, I took great Pains to fereen the Earth of my Beds very fine, which I laid near two Feet deep, and planted a good Part of my Roots therein ; but the Seafon advancing, d having a great deal of other Bufinefs upon my Hands, I did not fereen the Earth of all my Beds, but planted fome of them without doing any thing more than raking them; and the Succefs was, that the Roots in thofe s which were fcreened, did, great Part of them, entirely rot, and the remaini rt were fo weak, as hot to produce any good Flowers; whereas thofe which were planted in the Beds which Were not icreened, did thrive and flower very well, and fcarce any of the Roots fa I'd, tho? the Eatth ofall the Beds was the fame, and were fame Situat GPWinadtheara ; ion, aboth w}ith regard Wind and Sun, fo that the Dama ge which thofe Roots cots futt ft owin oWineg entiri the Finenefs of arth; and this I have feveral Times fince obferved in other Gar: dens. “he Beds ads ej Che being thus prepared, fhould lie a Fortnight to fettle, befor e the Roots are planted, that there may be no Danger of the Earth fettling unequally after they are planted, which would prejudice the Roots, by having hollow Places in fome Parts of the Bed, to which the Water would run and lodge, and fo rot the Roots in fuch Places, Then hay levelled the urth, laying the Surface a littie rounding, you fhoul d mark out Be by a a Line, . the Rows about four Inches Diftance each Way, fo that the Roots may be planted every Way in ftrait Lines; then youfhould open the E arth with your Fingers, at each Crofs, where the Roots are to be planted, about two Inches deep, placing the Roots exaétly in the Middle, with their erowos upright, then with the Head of a Rake you fhould draw the rth upon the Surface of the Bed level, wher by the Top of the Roots will be about an Inch covered with Earth, which will be fufficient at firlt: This Work fhould be done 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 Roo for if it fhould prove dry Weather long after, andthe Earth: of the Beds be very dry, will be fubjeét to mould and deca in fuch a Cafe it will be 1 opert Water to the Beds, if th ppen ina Fortnight’s ‘Ti: rare at that Seafon of the J will feldom be in Dancer Way. 7 which is the Seafon for Planting them again Thus having direéted how thefe Sorts are different from thofe already mentioned. Thefe Flowers are not only propagated by Off-fets from the old Roots, as the former, but are alfo multiplied by Seeds, which the femi-double Kinds do produce in Plenty. Therefore whoever is defirous to have thefe in Perfection, fhould annually fow their Seeds, planted in the Mannerbefore direéted for the old Roots. ig following, thefe Roots will flower ; The time you fhonld carefully mark fuch ich of them as are worthy to be preferv’d: and ereafe fo plentifully, it is not worth the Trouble to fow any indifferent Seeds, becaufe there can be but little Hopes of obtaining any good Flowers from fuch Seeds. fowing of them, you fhould get fome large Pots, flat Seed pans or Boxes, (of either as many as you have Seeds to fow) thefe fhould be filled with light, fandy, rich Earth, levelling the Surface very even, then fow the Seeds thereon pretty thick, and cover it about a Quarter of an Inch thick with the fame light the Ground, and Beds, which will greatly defend the Crown ot the Root from Froft: A the Buds t ud: to break thre 1e cond Cover4 ing, if it fhould prove ag very h Broil, will be very proper to< 2B Hoops, and cover them in the Spring, when ti $'n to appear, for jf they a much Froit or blighting Wir their Flowers do feldom LY > an Ble times the Roots are deftroyed: But this hap pens more frequently to the which are tenderer, than to th are pretty hardy; for which often planted ‘in open Borders, with other Flowers, thot h in very hard /i ters thefe are apt to fuffer , Care taken to guard: off the Froft. fhady Place ; after which they may be put up in Bags, and preferv’d in a dry Place until the Offober following; when they muft be from which new Varieties will be every Year Earth ; after which you fhould remove thefe heave be plac’d where they may have only the Morning Sun: in which Place they may remaintill their Leaves decay : when they may be taken out of the Earth, and the Roots dry’d ina produced ; but in order hereto, you fhould be careful in faving the Seed, 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 Seeds, but fuch as have three or four Rows of Petals at leaft, and are well coloured ; for fince thefe Flowers do in- that ; In the Spring, as the Seafon grows warm, fo thefe Pots fhould be expos’d to the open the Middle orlatter Endof April, they fhould Offober following, their I fully guarded againft both of thefe. tion in what Particulars thefe are to be treated in a fhady Place, after which they may be put up in Bags or Boxes in a dry Room, until the when you fhould lay Earth, of which the 3eds Bec poled, about an Inch thi all over the | the to be cultivated, I fhall proceed to treat of the Perfian Kinds, in which I fhall only men- Earth, then {pread them upon a Mat to dry, that they uffering wife the Plants will draw up too weak: only Danger they are in, is ftom 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 care- Air, placing them at firft near the Shelter of a Hedge, to protect them from the cold Winds; but towards the latter End of March, or the Beginning of April, they fhould be remov’d again into a more fha dy Situation, according to the Warmth ofthe Seafon ; andifit fhould prove dry, they mutt be fometimes refre with Water; but you fhould be careful not to give it to ’emin great Quantities, whichis very apt to rot thefe tender Roots: and in Being prepared with Seeds, about the Middle of Augujt, which is the proper Seafon for fhoul: Whenthe Roots are ¢ anted, will no more requi toward the Middle of Noven 7 which Time they will In the Beginning of March the Flowerftems will begin 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 careful.not to injure them ; this will not only makethe Beds appear handfome, but alfo greatly {trengthen their Flowers. When the Flowers are paft, and the Leaves are withered, you fhould take up the Roots, and carefully clear °em from the RA Pots into 4 on, where they may ing Sun until ten ofthe Clock; on fhould prove dry, you muft em with Water, being very careful loing ofthis, fo as not to wath the S out of the Ground. In this Situation the Pots fhould remain until the Beginning of Ostober, by which Time the Plants will begin to come up, (though fometimes the Seedswill ren in the Earth until November, before : appear) when you fhould remove the Pots into a more open Expofure, where they mayhave full Sun, which at that Time 8 neceflary to exhale the Moifture of the Earth ; but coward the Middle of Novem fs When youare apprehenfive of Froft, the Pots tho ld be removed under a common Hot-bed ‘tame, where they may be covered with the Glaffes in the Night-time and in bad Wea- ther, but in the Day, when the Weatheris 1, they fhould -be entirely opened, other- the fingle or bad-colour’d Flowers may be pull’d up and thrown away, which is the fureft Method of removing them from the good Sorts ; forif they are permitted to remain together until their Leaves decay, there may be fome Off-fets of the bad Sorts mix’d with the good Flowers. You fhould not fuffer thofe Flowers which you intend to blow fine the fucceeding Year, to bear Seeds, but cut off the Flowers when they begin to decay; for thofe. Roots which have produc’d See wards, nor will the feldom flower well principal old Root, which has flower’d ftrong, everblowfofair as will the Off-fets, which is what fhould be principally obferv’d, when a Roots; and a Perfon purchafes any of thefe great Part of the Complaints made by thofe who have bought thefe Roots at a dear Rate, is principally owing to this; for tt who fold them being appriz’d of tl rf i have parted with their old Root and referv’d the Of-fets for their Purchafe own Ufe ; which old Roots have often fo much 1g the degenerated from what they Year, as to caufe a Sufpicion, whether the Perfons they were purchas’d from had not chang’d the Roots; and this Degeneracy always attends thefe Flowers, after having flower’d extremelylerge and fair, or that they have been permitted to feed: So that it is every Year, abfolutely neceffary to fow See in order to preferve a Succeffion of good Flowers. The Soil which thefe delight moft in, is a rich, light, fandy Earth; but whatever Dung is added to the Earth, fhould be very rotten, and ought to be mix’d with the Earth at leatt fix Months before it be us’d: During which Time |