' of EARTH, &c.

some on dry Banks, some in watry Buddies , and some as it werethe very Air, and fiery Soils; nay, lome which are found to de-tr°y the vegetable Virtue where they grow; for such are said tobe IVoad, Hemp , the Scythian Lamb , 8tc. and if it be true and con-ftant, that all our Imbibitions of Salts and Composts signify little toLarth pre-impregnatcd with a Salt or Virtue different from whatthzBlant does naturally delight in, some obscure Footsteps of whichevery Bloughman seems to discover, which makes him change the^op in iome Places yearly: For the first, second, or third Burden°* the lame Grain, especially Wheat , will exhaust that which is itsproper Aliment, and then leave the rest to more ignoble Grain, whichbe found to thrive well enough, till at last ieveral Successions°i different Seeds quite wear it out, and then it must repose, or beinanur'd with Composts for fresh Life and Vigor. And to this we^ la y a dd, how some Blants again require little Change, or help of-^rt; such as most of the perennial Greens , and amongst these, thetftost rejinous and oily, as the Bine, Firr, Cedar, &c. which thrive0n barren Hills, and grow in rocky Crannies, without any Earthalmost to cover dnd protect their Roots. Of this fort I have aCedar- Table, which was saw’d out of a Spur only of a monstrousTree growing in the Barbadoes, which held fix Foot long, five Footbroad, and three Inches thick, form’d and wrought as it stands uponthe Frame ; and his Royal Highness had another of a much larger Di-mension ; namely, eighteen Foot in Length, and nine in Breadth, cutout of the Stem, which was of prodigious Growth, to be fed and nou-rifh’d as it were between the barren Rocks. But to proceed; we findthat most esculent and culinary Roots do rather chuse a rich, naturaland light Mould, inclining to Sand, than what is fore’d, or over-muck’d; and how much they yield to Soil growing hard, short andfibrous, and contract the Smell and Relish of the Ferments , apply’dto accelerate their Growth ( for according to the Italian Proverb, Ogniplant a fierba della ska radice, every Plant has a smack of the Root)I have already mention’d; lo as to confide in Dungs , as our vulgarGar diners about this City do, is no Encouragement; and thereforesome, not without good Reason, prefer the Corn and Grain which isreap’d from Marl, Chalk, Lime, and other more natural Manure, be-fore what is produe’d from a Crop which grows on a Dung-hill inComparison; Experience also shewing, that the Cause of Smut tin essmany times proceeds from the Impurity and Ranknefis of the Dressing;and therefore we omit to enumerate amongst our Soils, Stercus huma-num, which howsoever preferr’d by some before all other, and men-tion’d by Columella, with that of Fowl and Cattle , does (unlessexceedingly ventilated and air’d ) perniciously contaminate the Odor°f Flowers , and is ib evident in the Vine, as nothing can recon-eile it.

To give some Instances of the Natute of particular and simple Com-posts, ( for so I take leave to use a Solecism , till they are blendedtogether with the rest, as we shall afterwards shew) whatever theybo, they are by no Means fit for the Earth , and Use of the Husband-Inan , unless, besides their Richness, they be perfectly well digested,made short, sweet, and almost redue’d to a crumbling Mould; so or-dcr ’d, as not only not to lose any of their Virtue, but to improve it,aud to excite, entertain, and communicate Heat and vegetative Spirits

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