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«/EARTH, &e>

Wise too rich Soils impair the most delicious Fruits, rather than im-prove them; and Grapes and other Fruits are sooner ripened whichstand near the Highways, much beaten by Passengers, than by all thatyou can lay to the Roots, or spread on the Ground for that Purpose,the Dust investing both the Tree and Fruit with a kind of resin’dSoil, mellow’d with the Dews and gentle Showers which fall fromHeaven.

To give some Instances; Roots, as we have ssew’d, .desire deepGround; Fruit-trees not so, which should never go deeper than theusual Penetrations of the Sun; for no farther is the Mould benign:Besides, that they but too propenfely sink of themselves, especiallyBulbs of Flowers , whose Fibres easily draw them down, and thenthey change their artificial and accidental Beauty, and ( as we call it)degenerate; but Trees will grow and thrive, if planted on the verySurid.cc, with little covering of the Mould, lo it be oft refrefh’d andestablifh’d against the Wind. Besides we find, that even the goodliestFruit ( as well as some Timber-Trees) have many times the hardestFootings with reasonable depth of Earth: So little does it import tohave it profound ; and therefore in soft and deeper Sands , they thrivenothing so well, as on Chalk and Gravel , ib long as the Root can bekept from descending ; in which Case you should ( as we have fhew’d )bait the Ground towards the Surface, and keep the Roots from gad-ding too far from the Stem; for the lower Roots are frequently ftarv’dby the upper, which devour the Nourishment before it arrive at them:Thus Gardeners should sometimes humour their ‘Plants , cook anddress their Foods to their Appetite, and as they can well digest it: Butby no means suffer the Roots of Fruit-trees, Standards or Mural , tobe planted in dunged Earth , which is not exceedingly well digested,and little different from the natural Soil.

To give some other profitable Instances of this Nature; in tran-splanting Trees ( beginning early, and when the Earth is most tracta-ble ) endeavour to make your Mould as connatural to that of the Placeor Nursery from whence you' remove them, as you can. ’Tis nottherefore material it should be lo much richer; but where Imp-Gar -dens are poor, the tender Plant ( like a Child starved at Nurse ) doesseldom thrive wherever you set them ; and therefore you should havefair and spreading Roots, and be well fed, whatever some pretend.For other rarer Shrubs and Plants, the Orange ( Flerrera* tells us)thrives well with the Ajhes of burnt Gourds and Leaves, and needsnot Change of Mould, even in the Cafe , above twice a Year, and thattowards the Surface; but Amomum Plinii is a strange waster of Earth ,and should continually be cnrich’d and planted as it were all in ‘Dung ;so the Myrtil and Pomegranat ; whilst the Red Rose , Capers , Sam*pier , and other Shrubs and Plants thrive better in Gravel and Rub-bish ; Sage with Ashes; and so Porfelan with Dust and Sweepings:Rue affects the dry Mould, Lettice the moister; Flowers for the mostPart detest the Ttunghil, but if' any, that of Sheep or Neat mix’dwith Loam and light Earth: Tultps delight in Change, and rather inPoor than rich Mould; yea, sharp and hungry, to preserve their Va-riegations : But because stis sometimes troublesome to transplant themyearly, p i acc a Layer of short Stable Litter a Foot beneath yourMould, and you will find they may remain unremov’d for some Yearswithout Prejudice, The Iris loyes the dry Beds, Crocus , a mix’d,