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A DISCOURSE

in Brittany , in places cold and very sharp in winter ; and arc observed nowhere to prosper so well as by the sea-coasts, the air of which is morepropitious to them, as well as to oranges and lemons, than the inlandair. I know of one near eighty years old, which has been continuallyexposed, unlefs it be that, in some exceedingly sharp seasons, a little drystraw has been thrown upon it; and where they are smitten, being cutdown near the ground, they put forth and recover again ; which manytimes they do not in pots and cases, where the roots are very obnoxiousto perish with mouldinefs. The shelter of a few mats and straw securedvery great trees, both leaf and colour in perfection, this last winter also,which were planted abroad, whilst those that were carried into the Con- 'serve were most of them lost. Myrtles, which are of six or eight sorts,may be raised of seeds; but with great caution, and after all; seldomprove worth the pains, being so abundantly multiplied of suckers, slips,and layers. The double-flower, which is the most beautiful, was firstdiscovered by the incomparable Fabr. Peyresc; a mule having cropt itfrom a wild shrub. Note, That you cannot give those plants too muchcompost or refreshing, nor clip them too often, even to the stem, whichwill grow tall, and prosper in any shape ; so as arbours have been madeof single trees of the hardy kind, protected in the winter with sheds ofstraw and reeds. Both leaves and berries refrigerate, and are veryastringent and drying, and therefore seldom used within, except in fluxes:

The common kind is called Myrtus floribus solitariis: involucro dipbyllo, Sp. PI. 673.The broad-leaved myrtle.

It is of the clafs and order Icosatuiria Monogynia.

The common broad-leaved Myrtle is the hardieft of all the kinds. The leaves are aninch and a half long and one inch broad, of a lucid green, and stand upon short foot-ftalks.The flowers are larger than the other sorts, and come out from the sides of the branches,en pretty long foot-stalks: These are succeeded by oval berries of a dark purple colour,inclosing three or four hard kidney-shaped seeds. It flowers in July and August, and theberries ripen in winter. This, by some, is called the Flowering Myrtle. Of this Speciesthere are many varieties, all of which require the shelter of a green-house in winter. Bysowing the seeds of the common Myrtle, new kinds may be obtained. Myrtles are easilypropagated by slips, cuttings, and layers. The practice is well known.

Amongst the antients every tree had its Protector. The Myrtle was favoured by Venus;but whether from the delicacy and elegance of its form, or its love to the sea-shore,“ amantes littora Myrtos,” or from any other cause, I shall not take upon me to decide.

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