of EARTH, &c. k$

them; for though it be neither necessary nor convenient they should 'Penetrate deep, it is yet of high importance they should dilate andspread, which they will never do in obstinate and inhospitable Land(but revert back towards the milder, and better natured Mould,)which crumples the Roots, and perverts their posture, to their exceedingdamage. And to this Infirmity our rare Exotic Plants and Shrubsare most obnoxious, confined as they are to their Wooden Castes, andTestaceous Prisons, and therefore require to be frequently trimm’d, andfupply’d with fresh and succulent Mould to entertain the Fibres , whichelse you will find to mat in unexplicable Intanglements, and adhere tothe fides of the Vessel, where they dry or corrupt.

slaving said thus much of the Natural , I should now come to Ar-*tificial Helps, by application of Things, and Composts ; and indeed studemagnum sterquilinium habeas, was old and good advice; but forthat there be who affirm any Culture of the Earth preferrable to "Dung,even things so flight as the haume of Fe as and Lupines, or any otherTulse (for when I speak of Dungs, I mean those excrementitious andsordid Materials which we commonly heap up and lay upon our Grounds;)

I beg your Patience to suspend a while my stirring that less pleasanttnixture, and, till it be well aired and fit for use, proceed a little fartherOn our former Subject, and try what aid we may yet expect from morekind and benign means, before we come to the gross and violent. Forbesides that such Compost ( at least so prepared as it ought to be ) isnot every where, nor always to be had in quantities; to confide in Dungsand Ordure , is not so safe, and of that importance to our Husbandman,as some are made believe j since if we shall look back into the best Ex-perience of * elder days, we shall find, they had very little, or no use * Hesioi;at all of Stercoration. I know some there be, who attribute this neg-lect to the natural Fertility of the Country, that ’tis the busy Nurse ofy?rmin t and nauseous accidents; but waving these, ( without inten-ding to desert the aid of Soil in place and time,) I proceed with whatI call more natural helps; namely, as we have shewed, by opening,stirring, and ventilating the Earth, and sometimes its contrary, bycoverture, Jhade, rest, and forbearance for a season, as we daily lee itpractised in our worn-out and exhausted Lay-fields, which enjoy theirSabbaths. ’Tis certain, that for our Gardens of Pleasure, the fairestBeauties of the Parterre require rather a fine, quick, friable, andWell-wrought Mould, than a rank or richly dunged: And even all FruitTrees affect not to stand upon artificial and loose Composts, but in natu-rally rich, and sweet Mould, within the scent and neighbourhood ofWell consumed Soil for the next Layer under, and above; so as thevirtue thereof may be derived to it through a Colature of natural Earth;those forcing mixtures being more proper for Annuals , and Exotic Toys,

Vsoich having but little time to live, refuse no assistances, whilst Trees oflonger durance, care not much for accelerations.

1 shall here then begin with an Experiment I have been taught by alearned Person of this illustrious Body, from whom I have long fince p r . ^»i.received the choicest Documents upon this and many curious Subjects.

And first, That amongst the Mechanical Aids, ( wherein Stercorationhas no Hand) that of pulverizing the Earth by Contusion, andbreaking st with Plough or Spade, is of admirable Effect, to dispose itor the Reception of all the natural Impregnations we have been dis-coursing upon, as constant and undeniable, I think will be evinced.

For