44

A Thilofophical Discourse

my Pearls, yet with such difference of more or less benign, (as Vapour*haply, which the Earth fends up, may be sometimes qualified,) thatnothing is more uncertain. And this we easily observe from the Labour*of the industrious Bee, and her precious Elixir, when for some wholeMonths she gathers little, and at other times Jlives her waxen City withthe harvest of a few propitious days. But I am gone too far, and there-fore now shall set down only a few Directions concerning watering-, andso dismiss the Subject and your Patience.

i. It is not good to water new-fown Seeds immediately, as frequentlywe do, and which commonly bursts them; but to let them remain eightand forty Hours in their Beds, till they be a little glutted with the natU'ral Juice of the Earth'. But then neither must you so neglect th®tBeds, as to become totally dry; for if once the Seeds crack throughHeat, their little Souls exhale; therefore till they peep, you mustkeep them in a just temper for moisture, and be sure to purge them 0predaticious Weeds betimes: In a word, these Irrigations are to ° cconducted according to the quality of the Seeds , thole of hard Integ^'ments requiring more plentiful refrelhings. ,

a. Never give much Water at one time; for the Surface of the ^ ar ,will often seem very dry, when 5 tis wet enough beneath; and then thFibres rot about Autumn , especially in Tots and Cafes , winter'd 'hth tGreen-houfe. To be the more secure, we have already cautionGar diners to keep their bottoms hollow, that nothing stagnate and »too long, which should be but transitory. If such CuriositiesRoot by September, the Leaves desert them certainly at Spring • *■ ^

reason is want of Airy not Moisture. Therefore in all Interval* 0severer Frosts , and rigorous Winter-weather, be sparing of Refrcstj 1 ^ ’and unless you perceive their Leaves to crumple up and fall, (whichthe language for Drink ) give them as sparingly as you can. I°“ ee ^during the Summer, and when they are expos’d, they ‘require aimperpetual Irrigation, and that the Liquor be well impregnated ^ ^proper Compost. It is ever adviseable to water whilst the Ground 1little moist , and not totally dry, especially during the growingfor it stunts the Flans, and intercepts its progress. But in hardor foggy Seasons, watering your housed Plants endangers them >Mustinefs, and a certain Mill~dtw which they contract. On the ot

hand, they

Applications too dry create an intemperate Thirstiness, and thendrink unmealiirably, and fall into Dropsies, Jaundies, Fevers, * >

languish and rot; and if the Liquor prove too crude, ( as com ® 011does, if taken from running and hungry Fountains) it extinguim cS ^natural Heat, and obstructs the Pores; and therefore whenever J oXX g0constraint to make use of such Drink, expose it first to the warm gfor better concoction, infusing Sheep, Figeons, oxNeats-dung,J-fy r ^

it body: But though Spring-water be lo bad, flow running

11

often very good, and Fond-water excellent, so it be sweet; but £stinking Pools, Mineral and Bituminous Waters, are not for our m ’and often good Air is as needful as good Water; Worms, MouU*W \Cankers , Consumptions and other Diseases , being the usual and tat

conlequencs of these Vices. Je

If you be to plant in freih and new broken-up Earth, and that t*oealonor Mould be too dry, ’tis to be water'd', but then give it a c0petent lprinkling, or sifting of dry and fine Mould upon what y oU

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