37

of EARTH, &c.

riosities, to speak os the cooler Composts, till I have describ’d the bestHot-bed that I know os.

Dig a Pit or Foffe, hot-bed Depth, ( four Foot is sufficient) and ofwhat Figure and Dimension you think will best entertain your Fur-niture for it* if it be twenty foot in Length, and ten foot broad, Ithink it competent: Line the Sides with a Wall of Brick and halfthick; fill this Pit with fresh Soil from the Stable, trodden as otherHot-beds are, but without any Mould on the Surface. In this placehalf-incfi Wooden-cafes , made like Coffins, ( but not contracted at theExtremes, nor lidded ) of what Length and Breadth you think best,hut not above a Foot in Depth; let these be dovetails, with woodenHandles at each End, to lift in and out} and lastly, bord full ofAugrcholes at the bottoms. Your Cafes thus fitted, fill them withproper Mould, such as you would sow Melon-feeds in, or any otherr are Seed, and thus place them in your Bed of Dung. The Heat willpals kindly through the Perforations, and continue a cherishing Warmthfive times as long as by the common way of Hot-bed, and preventyou the Trouble of making new and fresh for the whole process of theMelon , or what other of choicer Plants require more than one Remo-val. The Heat of this Bed continues eight or ten Weeks without needof repaiiing ; and if it should, ’tis but casting in some freffi-made Soiland Litter beneath and about your Cafes , of which, some you mayglaze Cheveron-wife at the top, and with Spiracles or Casements , torefresh and give them Air and Sun at pleasure. And these Beds twhere you cannot conveniently sink them for want of Depth, becauseof Water, you may build above-ground as well; and you may, ormay not, extend a Tent over it, to protect it from Rain, Wind andSun, according as you find Occasion. But thus have you a neat andtileful Hot-bed, as I have been taught to make it by the Right Ho-nourable the late Lord Viscount Mordant , at ‘Parsons-Green , whoseIndustry and Knowledge in all hortulan Elegancies requires honoura-ble Mention. Note , That ordinary fresh Mould, so it be not poor,and very lean, or apt to clog, is a better Surface for the Hot-bed , andto entertain and cherish the most curious Seeds , than what GardinersUniversally make Use of, sticky and over-loofe,, at least let a due Pro-portion of natural Earth be sifted amongst it.

And now at last I am come to set down the several ways of prepa-ring Composts of Dungs , and those other Ingredients we have men-tion’d, and begin with the rudest, as that which best accommodates tothe grosser Part of Husbandry, ( which yet requires a special Matura-tion) and so descend to the more refin’d: And these I distinguish intothe moist, the dry, and the liquid for Irrigation. But- first, here bythe way, greatly to be reproved is the heaping of a deal of indigestedSoil, and other Trash, expos’d ( as commonly we find it) to the heatof the Sun, continual Rains, and drying Winds, as it lies in rhe wideField, without the least Coverture or Shade ; by which Means all theVirtue is drawn forth and carried away, leaving little more than adry and insipid Congestion of Caput Mortuum, and perhaps a floridgreen Circle or Fairy Dance at the bottom, which the impregnatedFains have enriclsd with what it has walh’d from the Heap; - where-fore to prevent this and make one Load of our prepared Soil worthten of it, '

5C

Cut

I