Directions for bringing over seeds and plants, from the East Indies and other distant countries, in a state of vegetation: together with a catalogue of such foreign plants as are worthy of being encouraged in our American colonies, for the purposes of medicine, agriculture, and commerce. To which is added, the figure and botanical description of a new sensitive plant, called Dionoea muscipula: or, Venus's fly-trap
Ellis, John, 1710?-1776
A / : . r- ■ • f I ^ r \ -r>v V'„ fc.'r V ; ■ '- ■■■ s'--'' •. . .. . ,. V--, .-i- V ."N- '. - .vK- J- ^ - ■ , ■ . -A '.■. _. <' C"’ 'r.'- ■ ■■ ... 'r ; = - -v." ; .^v. '■■■■■ -.4.- ■• >-ri K “ 'it I •;*ir ■ ■;5' -;' : / i- V. V- if? r.-:- f s ■Sf'f ■v - / Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Wellcome Library https ://arch i ve . org/detai Is/b3041 4088 / V J J / N ) '( 1 / \ \ /. V. /- V / / .1 / \ \. 's \ / / \ 1 r > '■< ■i .' ~ \ , t \ V • r X \ / I \ V. I \ Vv \ s V.. ( >W / Xj. 1 # c \ V ,N / \ . X •. X \ /■ - ‘n* 1 ' ' / / -J / / \ I D I E C T I T FOR BRINGING OVER SEEDS AND PLANTS, FROM THE EAST. INDIES AND OTHER DISTANT COUNTRIES, I N A STATE OF VEGETATION* TOGETHER WITH A Catalogue of fuch Foreign Plants as are worthy of being encouraged in our American Colonies, for the Furpofes of Medicine, Agricul- TURE, and Commerce, TO WHICH IS ADDED, The Figure and Botanical Defcription of a new Sensitive Plant, called DiONiEA MUSCIPULA: O R, VENUS’S F L Y « T R A R BY J O H N E L L I S, F. R. S. LONDON, Printed; and fold by L. DAVIS, Printer to the Royal Society, oppofite Gray’s-Inn, Holborn* M D C C L XX, ‘O y / 8 - r ' rr I i V I, « , f ? V ( V \ , ■r :•#- ■ \ sr i t ( 2 ) - wo|P».— ii.iipi^'f !■■ . > I. IP.— ■■— Direftions for Captains of Ships, Sea Surgeons, and other curious Perfons, who colled. Seeds and Plants in diftant Countries, in what Manner to preferve them fit for Vegetation. IT might be reafonably fuppofed, from the great quantity and variety of feeds vs^hich we yearly receive from China, that we Ihould foon be in pofl'effion of the moft valuable plants of that vafl empire; yet it is certain, that fcarce one in fifty ever comes to any thing, except a few varieties of annual plants, which have been common in our gardens for many years. The intention of thofe who purchafe or colleft thefe feeds is, without doubt, to oblige the curious in thefe kingdoms, by procuring what they flippofe may prove both ornamental and ufeful: but how contrary to their intentions do their friends find it, who, being under great obligations for this expenfive prefent, have the mortification to be totally difappointed in their expeftations ! Thefe remarks are therefore intended to prevent, if poflible, the like difappointments for the future. The crafty Chinefe traders, perceiving that many of the Euro¬ peans who buy thefe feeds are very little acquainted with the nature B of ( 2 ) of them, take the advantage of their want of knowledge; and, In order the better to deceive them, put up a great variety efforts In a very neat manner: when the feeds arrive here, and come to be examined by perfons of judgement, they foon find that moft of them have been colleded many years ; confequently are decayed, and of no value. To prevent this fraud for the future, it would be proper to examine the ftate they are in before they are purchafed. And though it is very difficult to judge how long they may have been gathered, yet we may form a tolerable judgement of them by cutting fome of the larger ones acrofs, and brulfing the fmaller ones : By the help then of a magnifying glafs of two inches focus, we may difcover, whether their internal part, v/hich contains the feminal leaves, appears plump, white, and moift. If fo, thefe are good figns of their being in a vegetating ftate ; but if they are ftiriveled, inclining to brown or black, and are rancid, they cat> not in the leaft be depended upon. The refident faflors in China are the propereft perfons to col- lecl the choiceft kinds; they will follow any ufefiil hints with chearfulnefs. Many valuable trees, unknown in Europe, grow in the northern provinces of China; the feeds of thefe may be ob¬ tained by means of the miflionaries at Pekin: that climate, though in 40 degrees of North latitude, is liable to more fevere cold than ours in winter. So that trees from thence would thrive well with us in the open air, but much better In the fame latitude of North- America, on account of the great heat of the American fummers. The Secretary of the Royal Society of London correlponds with the Miffionaries; and there is no doubt but, upon a proper applica¬ tion, they would with pleafiire oblige the Society, as they have done formerly, in fending many curious feeds. But as the diftance is great, and the manner of preferving the feeds properly, fo as to keep them in a ftate of vegetation, is an afikir of confecpence, the following I ( 3 ) following hints may be of ufe in bringing them over to anfwer the end propofed. In the firft place it ought to be carefully attended to, that the feeds flioiild be perfedly ripe when they are gathered; and they fhould be gathered, if poflible, in dry weather; afterwards they fhould be fpread thin on paper or matts, in a dry airy room, but not in funihine. The time neceffary for this operation will vary according to the heat of the climate, or feafou of the year, from a fortnight to a month, or perhaps two may be neceffary; the hotter the feafon, the lefs time will fuffice. This is to carry off their fuperfluous moifture, which if confined would immediately turn to mouldinefs, and end in rottennefs. As there are two methods that have fucceeded, and put us in poffeffion of feveral young plants of the true tea -tree of China, I Ihall mention them both, in order to affift the colleblor in bring¬ ing home the feeds of many valuable plants. The firfi: is by covering them with bees-wax in the manner explained in the Phil. Tranfabt. vol. lviii. p. 75. and which is hereafter deferibed ; where the acorns vegetated freely after they had been kept a whole feafon inclofed in wax * Here we mufl obferve, that, in the experiment made on the oak acorns inclofed in wax, they were not put into it till the latter-end of February, though they had been ripe and fallen from the tree four months before, which was the latter-end of October preceding ; not but that they might have been fafely inclofed much fooner. However, by this time, that property, which all living fubllances, as well animal as vege¬ table, of imbibing and perfpiring, was very much abated; for the feeds of vegetables, like animals in their torpid llate, do imbibe and perfpire to a certain degree ; yet this degree greatly diminiflies in proportion to the time they are kept (under certain circumftance.s of the manner in which they are kept) till at lall they lofe their vegetating power. So that we fee how neceffary it is, that the larger feeds, that are intended to be inclofed in wax, fhould be in fuch a ftate, as not to fend forth too great a quantity of aqueous moifture, and yet that there fhould be fufficient to fupport them in this confined ftate. Many of the tea-feeds lately fent over in wax have periftied for want of this caution. Skilful perfons, by cutting fome of them open and obferving the ftate of the kernels, will be able, after different experiments, to hit on the critical time for this operation. B 2 It ( 4 ) It principally confifts in chooling only fuch feeds as are per¬ fectly found and ripe. To prove this, we muft cut open fome of them to judge what fituation the reft may be in, taking care to lay afide any that are outwardly defective, or marked with the wounds of infefts. When a proper choice of them is made, they ftiould be wiped extremely clean, to prevent any dirt or moifture being inclofed ; each feed then ftiould be rolled up carefully in a coat of foft bees -wax half an inch thick: the deep yellow Englifti bees -wax is the beft. When you have covered the number you intend to inclofe, pour fome of this bees-wax melted into a chip-box of fix or feven inches long, four broad, and three deep, till it is above half full; and juft before it begins to harden, while it is yet fluid, put in the feeds you have rolled up in rows till the box is near full; then pour over them fome more wax while it is juft fluid, taking care when it is cold to ftop all the cracks or chinks that may have proceeded from the ftirink- ing of the wax, with fome very foft wax; then put on the cover of the box, and keep it in as cool and airy a place as you can. The method of inclofing tea-feeds flngly in wax, and bringing them over in thatftate, has beeen pra6lifed for fome time; but few have fucceeded, owing to the thinnefs of the coat of wax, or putting paper firft round them, or inclofing them too moift. The ftones of mangoes have been covered in the fame manner,, but moft of them have been pierced by infefts through the wax, and of many of them that were not pierced, their kernels were black and hard ; a plain proof they had been too dry before they were inclofed, and that thefe large ftones require as ftrong a: covering of wax as the oak acorns, to prevent the air or infefts coming to them. It appears from experiments made by curious perfons in the Eaft-Indies, that mangoes will vegetate fooner by fowing only the ( 5 ) the kernels: if then fome of the ripeft kernels were taken out of theftones caiitioully, without bruifing them, and preferved in the fame manner as the oak acorns, it would be an experiment worth trying, in order to obtain this moft valuable tree, elpecially if fome of thefe kernels fo preferved were taken out of the wax at St. Helena, and ibwn in boxes of frefh earth. The fame miP'ht be praflifed with fuccefs on the tea-feeds, as fome of my friends, who have taken this hint, have experienced very lately. The fecond method that has been tried with fuccefs is, by pro¬ curing the tea-feeds in their pods or capfules, when they are brought down frefh from the tea-country at the latter-end of the year, to Canton, at the time that ourEaft-India fhips are preparing to depart for Europe. The feeds then in their pods are to be put into pound or half-pound canifters made of tin and tutenague%, wdth a double rim to the top: the infide of the canifter fhould be firft lined with filk paper, or the paper commonly ufed in China,, and the feeds preffed dowm clofe, but not fo as to be bruifed. When the canifter is near full to the neck, fome more of the fame paper muft be ftuffedin very clofe, till it is full to the top, and then the double-rimmed cover flioukl be put on very tight. Care muft be taken that the feeds are not too moift when they are put into the canifter, and that they are found and in good order. The canifter then is to be kept in an airy cool place. If the fliip arrives early in England, I mean in June or the beginning of July, they may be fown with fuccefs; the fooner it is done,', the better chance we fhall have of * Whether there is any particular antifeptic quality or power of refifting putrefanion in the metallic parts of thefe kind of canifters, i will not pretend to determine; but it is moft certain, that there are fulphureous mineral fleams, very perceivable to perfons of a nice fenfe of fmelling, that are continually flowing from almoft all metallic fubftances, efpecially in hot weather; which fleams being confined, may probably refifl putrefadlion, and deflroy infers in vegetable bodies ; and perhaps thefe may rather promote than impair their vegetative powers, as I fhall fhew hereafter in an inllance of the ufe of common fulphur applied for this purpofe ; for moft of the tea-feeds had pufhed forth roots in the canifter, tiaeir 0 ( 6 ) their growing. Thofe feeds which I have feen brought home in. this manner, had fliot out roots, ovvinit to the heat of the climates they had paffed through, and the confined moifture; and though not above twenty out of two hundred in the canifter fucceeded, yet thefc are thought a great acquiftion. Perhaps there would be lefs danger of fomany of them putrefying, if each cap fule wdth its feeds was wrapped up tight in a feparate piece of paper, and afterwards clofely packed in the canifter as before-mentioned. We fee how long oranges, lemons, and other fruit wrapped up ftngly in papers, and put into clofe packages, will continue found by the papers ab- forbing the moifture that muft exfude from them, and w^hich pre¬ vents their heating and putrefying. Tea-feeds, put up in this manner, require lefs trouble than thofe that are rolled up ftngly, and afterwards immerfed in melted wax., Experience will determine which is the heft method. When the fliip arrives at St. Helena, they may be eaftly examined to fee in what flate they are, by cutting fome of them open ; and if they are found, fome of them Ihould be fown immediately in cafes or tubs of frefti earth, well fecured from rats, and the vacancy made in the canifter immediately ftlled up, and fluffed very clofe with the fame fort of paper, to prevent the air getting to the reft, ^ which would foon fpoil them. Thefe that are thus put into earth fliould have but little water given to them till they pafs the tropic of Can¬ cer ; otherwife they will Ipire up very weak, from the great heat, and want of a free circulation of good air. It might be proper, after the fhip has palled the tropic of Can¬ cer, near the latitude of 30 degrees North, to fow fome more feeds in the fame boxes, by which experiment we may judge the better of the propereft place to fow the feeds at fea. It has been prac- tifed by many, to fow the feeds immediately on leaving China ; but this is rarely attended with fuccefs, particularly on account of the bad weather too often met with in coming round the Cape of Good ( 7 ) <» Good Hope ; befide, the young plants are apt to grow too freely and (lender in their confinement, and therefore lefs able to bear the cold air when they arrive in this latitude. If by chance the tops of fuch plants as come up fliould be broken off by any accident, the earth and feeds (hoiild not be thrown away, for the remaining part of the ftem next to the feed will (hoot up afrefh, as I have experienced in the pot of oak acorns (that grew after they had been preferved a feafon in wax) ; fome of the tender young plants were by accident broke off fhort clofe to the earth ; but before the fummer was over they grew up again, fall as vigo- rouhy as thofe that were not hurt. The following is a defcription of a proper-fized box to fbw the feeds in, in the Eaft-Indies or on the voyage. It iliould be three feet long, fifteen inches wide, and eighteen or twenty inches deep, or more, as it may be found convenient, with a proper cover of wire to fecure the feeds or young plants from vermin, and a lid with hinges to ihut down over the wire, as there may be occafion, and a handle at each end, to move the box eafier to and fro. The ends of the box near the top muft be bored full of holes, to let the crude vapours pafs off that arife while the cover is obliged to be let down ; or a finall valv^e or wooden {Iiutter at each end to open outwards, of fix inches long and three broad; the openings to be defended with wire, to prevent the rats getting into the box. This hint is fufhcient to iliew that air is abfolutely neceffary, and an ingenious carpenter will eafily contrive fmall doors or openings all round for the health of the young plants. Or a cafic, perhaps, may be made equally as convenient for tbk purpofe, as the cooper on board a fhip has always fpare cafks more ready than boxes. The following is the proportion it fhould be of : two feet three inches high, two feet bung diameter, and one foot nine inches head diameter ; there fhould be a large opening at the top wired over, the wired part of which might be lifted up at pleafure, and a lid with hinges to cover it;, this may 2 be) ( 8 ) be either circular or fquare, as will be mofl: convenient, the larger the better ; and on the upper part of the fides there may be four or five little openings wired, with doors to each, for the fake of giv¬ ing air all round upon fome occafions. Care muft be taken not to expofe the young plants to ftrong funfliine : fometimes, when the lid and doors are open, it may be neceflary to throw a matt or thin cloth over them, but this muft depend on the judgement of the perfon who has the care of them; there fliould be handles fixed to the fides, to move it with more fafety. There flsould be a layer of wet mofs, of two or three inches -deep, at the bottom of the box or calk ; or, if that cannot be got, fome very rotten wood or decayed leaves, and then frefh loamy earth, about twelve inches deep, both of which will fink to a foot deep: the wet mofs is intended to retain moifture, and to keep the earth from drying too foon. The furface of the earth fhouldbe covered vvith mofs cut fmall, which now and then on the voyage fliould be wafhed in frefh water, and laid on the earth again to keep the flirface moift, and to wafli off mouldinefs or faline vapours which may have fettled on it. When the plants come up, it will be proper to fave what rain¬ water can be got, which will encourage their growth, and be of more fervice than the water drawn out of calks that have been long on board the fliip. Thefe kind of boxes or calks will be very proper to low many forts of fuch feeds in as are fb difficult to be brought from China, and other parts of the Eaft-Indies, to Europe in a vegetating ftate ; fuch as the lechee, mangoes, mangofteens, pepper, imarking nuts, various forts of peaches, rofes, oranges, citrons, lemons, &c. And nothing can be more convenient than thefe calks, for fend¬ ing olive plants, capers, young vines, &c. &c. to our diftant Ame¬ rican plantations. The lize may be varied as the plants to be lent may require. rj-\ 1 o ^ 9 ) To this I muft add a method that promifes fuccefs for bringing over plants from the Weft-Indies, and the fouthern parts of North- America, particularly Weft-Fiorida, the voyage from hence being longer than from the Weft-Indies, and more attention is required to keep the plants in health, than from any other parts of our North-American fettlements : but as there is a good deal of difference in the climates of thefe places, it will be neceflary to obferve, that plants from the Weft-Indies Ihould be put on board in the latter-end of Spring, fo as to arrive here in warm weather, otherwife they will be deftroyed by the cold of this lati¬ tude; and the ever-greens, which are the moft curious from. Weft- Florida, muft be fent in the winter months, while their juices are inactive, fo as to arrive here before the heats come on. If the plants fent from theft countries were planted in pots or boxes, and kept ther^ a year, they might be brought over with very little hazard ; or even if they were firft tranlplanted from the woods into a garden, till they had formed roots, they might be fent with much more fafety. The lize of the boxes that will be moft convenient for ftowing-^ thenupn board merchant-fliips, where there is very little room to, Ipare, Ihould be three feet long, fifteen inches broad, and from eighteen inches to two feet deep, according to the fize of the young trees; but the fmalleft will be moft likely to fucceed, pro-. vided they are well rooted. There muft be a narrow ledge nailed all round the infide of the box, within fix inches of the bottom, to faften laths or packthread to form a kind of lattice- work, by which the plants may be the better ftcured in their places. If the plants are packed up juft before the fhip fails, it will be lb much the better. When they are dug up, care muft be taken to preferve as much earth as can be about their roots ; and if it Ihould fall off, it muft C be ( ) be fupplied with more earth, fo as to form a ball about the roots of each plant, which mufl: be furrounded with wet mofs, and carefully tied about with packthread, to keep the earth about the roots moift: perhaps it may be neceflary to inclofe the mofs with fome paper or broad leaves (as the palmetto) that the packthread, may bind the mofs the clofer. Loamy earth will continue moift the longeft. There muft be three inches deep of wet mofs put into the bottom of the box, and the young trees placed in rows up-- right clofe to each other, fluffing wet mofs in the vacancies between them, and on the furface; over this palmetto leaves, if to be had, ffioiild be put to keep in the moifture, and over them the laths are to be faftened crofs and crofs to the ledges or pack- thread to be laced to and fro, to keep the whole fleady and tight,. The lid of the box fhould be either nailed down clofe, or may have hinges and a padlock to fecure it from being opened, as may" be found neceflary, with proper diredlions marked on it to keep the lid uppermoft. There muft be two handles fixed, one at each end, by which means there will be lefs danger of difturb- ing the plants. Near the upper part of the ends of the box, there muft be feveral holes bored to give air: or in making the box there may be a narrow vacancy left between the boards of one-third of an inch wide, near the top, to let out the foul air; and perhaps it may be neceftkry to nail along the upper edge of thefe openings lift, or flij)3 of fail-cloth, to hang over them, to fecure the plants from any Ipray of the fea; and at the fame time it will not prevent the air from paffing through. Boxes with plants packed in this manner, muft be placed where there is free air, that is^ out of the way of the foul air of the , Ihip’s hold. If the plants ftiould be taller than the depth of the box men¬ tioned here, they may be placed length-ways in the fame fized boxes: but then care muft be taken to fecure their roots in the mofs^ ( II ) / mofs at one end of the box, fo as not to be fliook out of their places, and laths Ihould be nailed acrofs the infide to fupport their branches, and keep them from preffing upon one another. The beft mofs that can be ufed on thefe occafions is the Sphagnum pa-- lujlre^ or fwamp mofs, which is very foft, whitifh, and Ipongy; it will retain water a long time, and not be liable to putrefy. The following method of preferving feeds from turning rancid from their long confinement, and the great heat of the climates which they mufl: neceflarily pafs through from China, was com¬ municated to me fome years ago by the celebrated Profeflbr Linnaeus, of Upfal, in Sweden. He advifes, that each fort of feed fhould be put up in feparate papers, with fine land among them, to abforb any moifture (dried, loamy, or foapy earth may be tried): thefe papers, he fays, Ihould be packed clofe in cylindri¬ cal glafs, or earthen veffels, and the mouths covered over with a bladder, or leather tied faft round the rims : he then directs that thefe veffels, with the feeds in them, fhould be put into other veffels, which fliould be fo large, that the inner veffel may be co¬ vered on all fides, for the fpace of two inches, with the following mixture of falts. Half common culinary fait ; the other half to confift of two parts of falt-petre, and' one part of fal-animoniac, both reduced to a powder, and all thoroughly mixed together, to be placed about the inner veffel, rather moift than dry. This he calls a refrigeratory; and fays it will keep the feeds cool, and hin¬ der putrefaftion.' Perhaps if fmall tight boxes, or cafks or bottles of feeds were inclofed in cafks full of falts, it might be of the fame ufe, provided the falts do not get" at the feeds ; and as fal-ammo- niac may not be eafily met with, half- common fait, and the other half falt-petrei'or common fait alone, might anfwer the fame end. But it wOuld^ be very necefl'ary to try both methods, to know whe* ther the latter would anfwer the purpofe of the former, as it would be attended with much lefs trouble, and might prove a ufeful C % method ( ) method to our^ feedfmen, in. fending feeds from hence to thofe warm climates. The fmallefi feeds being very liable to lofe their vegetative -power by long voyages through warm climates, it may be worth while to try the following experiment upon llich kinds as we know for certain are found. Dip fome Iquare' pieces of cotton cloth in melted wax, and while it is foft and almoft cold, ftrew the furface of each piece over with each fort of fmall feed, then roll them up tight, and inclofe each roll in fome foft bees-wax, wrapping up each of them in a piece of paper, with the name of the feed on it; thefc may be either furrounded as before withfalts, or packed v/ithout the falts in a box, as is moil: convenient. There are many feeds, which we receive both from the Weft- Indies and the fouthern parts of our North -American colonies, as South-Carolina, Georgia, &c. which the gardeners find very difficult to raife here, unlefs the following method is purfued. Divide a box, according to your quantity and* forts of feeds, into feveral fquare partitions ; then mix the feeds with loamy earth and cut mofs, and put each fort into its feparate cell, filling it up to the top: the earth and mofs muft be rather inclining to dry than weti then nail the lid down very clofe on your box, keeping it in an airy fituation. If the voyage does not exceed two months, they will arrive in good order in the fpring; and, though many of them may begin to germinate, yet, if they are fown diredtly, they will fucceed much better than thofe that are brought over in papers, as^ is well known to our moft curious gardeners. Seeds of the nutmeg- tree from Tobago, the cinnamon-tree, the cacao or chocolate-nut, and Avocado pear, muft be brought in this manner. Seeds of all the forts of magnolias, ftew^ttias, chionanthus, and many others from South-Carolina, will fucceed better this way, than any other method we yet know s. There. ( 13 ) Tliereare many valuable feeds may be brought from the South of France, Italy and Turkey, particularly the rarer kinds of oaks, the Alkermesoak,the Velani oak, the gall-bearing oak, which ought to be preferved in bees- wax, as the voyage is often very long, and the Turkey fhips frequently detained on account of the quarantine. The feeds of many of the fmall fucculent fruits may be brought to England from very diftant parts, by preffing them together, fqueezing out their watery juices, and drying them in fmall cakes gradually, that they may become hard ; they may be then wrapt up in white writing paper, not fpongy, as this is apt to attrafl: and retain moifture : but I believe it will be found, that a covering of wax will be better than one of paper. The Alpine ftrawberry was firft fent to England in a letter from Turin to Henry Baker, Efq; F. R. S. by prefling the pulp with the feeds thin upon paper, and letting it dry before they w^ere inclofed. The paper mulberry from China was brought hither about the year 1754, much in the fame manner. Formerly, varieties of the Ar¬ butus, from the fouthern parts of France, were brought over in thin dried cakes ; and a few years ago the Arbutus Adrachne feeds were fent in the fame manner from Aleppo by the late Dr. AL Ruflel. Our mulberries, ftrawberries, and other fucculent fruits, may be conveyed to diftant parts by the fame method. The pulp, when dried, hardens like a varnifli, and keeps the feeds from the air (pro- videdthey are kept dry), as the larger kinds are by bees-wax. Thefe hints may prompt us to try the larger fucculent fruits ; for inftance, the mangoes, lechees, and others of this kind : if their flefhy part, when they are very ripe, was brought to the confiftence of raifins or dried figs, it would keep their kernels plump, and in this ftate they might be better preferved in wax, than by any other method yet known. The nutmegs in the fame manner muft not be divefted of their pericarpium before they are inclofed in wax. The marking nut, or anacardium orientale, fhould be brought over with ( H ) with its apple or receptacle dried, adhering to it before it Is in- clofed in wax. Of this valuable plant we are yet ignorant, even of its leaves and blolToms, though very Eaft-India fhip brings Ibme of the nuts, but none of them have yet been ralfed in England. This is the tree fo much commended by K^mpfer, in his Amoenl- tates Exoticae, p. 793. for yielding the Siam varnifli of fo much confequence in China and Japan, for the firft layer of their varnilh, in all their curious lacquered ware. There is another fruit which I lhall recommend to be brought in wax from China; this is called by the Chinefe Unchee, or Um-Ky; it is defcribed by Dodtor Solander, in the Phllofophical Tranfadlions, vol. lii. p. 654. Feb. 20. where there is a very exadl figure of it, taken from fpe- cimens In the Britifh Mufeum, as they are preferved in feveral Hortus Siccus’s ; the volumes in which they are to be found are particularly enumerated by the Dodlor, with an account of their great ufe in dying fcarlet: this fhrub may be cultivated in our American iflands. The pulpy part among the feeds gives, when put into warm water, a very lively yellow colour, which is much wanted among the dyers. This plant is now cultivated in our curious botanical gardens from cuttings, and is known by the name of the fingle Gardenia, or the fingle Cape Jafmine of Miller: it was ralfed from feeds about ten years ago, brought from China by Thomas Fitzhugh, Efq; and is often found among the boxes of feeds fent from China, but not in a vegetating ftate. Mr. Fitzhugh followed the LInnaean manner of bringing over feeds furrounded with fait, which be thinks a very good method. Our feedfmen are much diftreffed for a proper method to keep their feeds found, and in a ftate of vegetation, through long voyages. Complaints , are made, that, when their feeds arrive in the Eaft-Indies, and often in the Weft -Indies, few of them grow ; but that moft of them are full of infedts, or, what they term weevilly. This feems to proceed from the damp and putrid heat ( 15 ) of the hold, or too long confinement in dole warm air, which brings theft animals to life, which foon begin to prey on the infide of the feeds, and thofe feeds that are oily turn rancid. This pu« trid penetrating ft earn, that ftrikes every one upon opening the hatches of a full loaded ftiip’s hold after a long voyage, it is this that does the mifchief to feeds. This vapour, as the excellent Doftor Hales obferves, without frequent ventilating, will become fatal to vegetable fubftances, as well as animals. When the cavalry of our army in Germany was under the ne- ceffity of being fupplied with hay from England, the difference was too manifeft between the hay that had been but a month on board, and frefh hay, that had never been confined in the hold of a fhip. Experiments have been made on the bed: hemp from Ruffia,, and hemp of Englifli growth, by perfons belonging to the navy, of great credit and honour, and the difference in the ftrength was amazing; the length of the voyage from Ruffia, with the very clofe package that is neceflary to flow that article on board of a ' ftiip, raifts fuch a heat, as to fliew evident figns of putrefaftioii begun, which muft weaken the ftrongeft vegetable fibres^. Toilluftrate this farther in an inftance of the different manner of packing and ftowing feeds for a long voyage, which has lately come to my knowledge and may be of ufe, as it not only points out the error, but in fome manner how to avoid it. A gentleman, going to Bencoulenin the ifland of Sumatra, had a mind to furnifti himftlf with an affortment of feeds for a kitchen ^ This hint may be worthy of the confideratlon of the linen as well as the hempen manu- faflurers, both in Great-Britain and Ireland, as it will Ihew them the necelGty of railing both hemp and flax, the flrfl: principles of thefe moft ufeful and necelTary manufaftures, at home ; by convincing them, from experiment, of the great difference they will find betweeii' ihe comparative ftrength of what we raife at home, and what we bring from beyond fea, 5 garden ; C ) garden ; thefe were accordingly packed up in boxes and calks, and llowed with other goods in the hold of the fhip. When he arrived at Bencoulen, he fowed his feeds; but foon found, to his great mortification, that they were all fpoiled, for none of them came up. Convinced, that it muft be owing to the heat of the fhip’s hold, and their long confinement in putrid air, and having foon occa- fion to return to England ; he determined in his next voyage thi¬ ther, to pack them up infuch a manner, and place them fo, as to .give them as much air as he could, without the danger of expofing them to the falt-water; and therefore put the fmaller kinds into feparate papers, and placed them among fome clean ftraw in a fmall clofe net, and hung it up in his cabbin ; and the larger ones he put into boxes, flowing them where the free air could come at them, and blow through them: the effedl was, that as foon as he arrived at Bencoulen he fowed them, and in a little time found, to his great fatisfadlion, that they all grew extremely well. It is well known to our feedfmen, that, even here at home, feeds kept in clofe warehoufes, and laid up in heaps, frequently fpoil, unlefs they are often lifted, and expofed to the air. Seeds faved in moift cold fummers, as their juices are too watery, and the fubftance of their kernels not fiifficiently hardened to a due ripenefs, are by no means fit for exportation to warmer climates. Our acorns, unlefs ripened by a warm fummer; will not keep long in England: thofe acorns- that are brought from America, and arrive early in the year, generally come in good order, owing to their juices being better concodled by the heat of their fum¬ mers, and are not jfo apt to fhrivel wdien expofed to the air as ours are. , » Thefe ( 17 ) Thefe hints are given to fhew how neceffary it is to take care, that the feeds we fend abroad fliould he perfedly ripe and dry. One of the methods now pradifing in fending garden-feeds to the Eaft and.Weft-Indies, is to put a fmall piece of camphire into each parcel: as to this experiment, we are not yet certain of its fuccefs ; the hint is taken from the common method of preferv- ing butterflies, moths, beetles, and other infe£ts, from being de- ftroyed by very minute animalcules, which are apt to infeft them. Flowers of fulphur in water, in a certain proportion, will de- ftroy Infers that infeft plants, and will rather encourage than hurt their vegetation, as appears from a method praftifed here with fuccefs for many years, in the culture of the ananas, or pine¬ apple plant, by one of the moft eminent fruit and kitchen garden¬ ers in England *. The infide of boxes and cafks fhould be waffled with • In order to introduce the method of deliroying Infeds that infeft the ananas, or pine-apple plant, it may not be difagreeable to the reader, to know fome general rules (though foreign to our prefent fubjed), that are neceftary to be obferved in the culture of that curious and delicate fruit. “ The ftems of the heads and fuckers fhould not be ftripped up higher than to the place “ where they appear white under the leaves you pull off. “ The compofition to plant them in fhould be three parts of ftrong frefti loam, and the “ fourth part rotten dung; they fliould be mixed together, and often turned, for a year at leaft “ together before it is ufed. .The pots fhould be rather fmall than large, in proportion to the ** plants at all times. — The plants fhould be put into the ftove or ftore-pit, and kept with a “ brifk heat, fhading them from the violence of the fun, and fprinkled every day, or twice a “ day, if the weather is hot. — In a week they will have roots enough to fupport themfelves, and fhould be inured by degrees to the full fun, and the oftener they are fprinkled in warm weather, the fafter they will grow; but when they are fprinkled, they fhould be fhut up ** clofe, and fhaded for an hour or more; then give them air, and take away the fhadc. ** Thofe plants that are large, and that you defign fhould bear fruit the next year, fliould be “ put into larger pots the latter-end of Auguft, when fome new tan fliould be added, and “ mixed up with that^which they flood in till this time. — In November, the tan-bed fhould “ be turned over two- thirds of the way down, and a good quantity of new tan mixed with it, “ throwing away fome of the rotteneft, which may be feparated by fereening it: this will heat ** fufficiently to carry the plants on till January or February," when they will fliew.thcir fruit, “ if the fire heat is kept up as ufual. As foon as the plants begin to grow in the fpring, D “ they 4. ( *8 ) with water that has been impregnated with fulphur ; or, perhaps, the Hepar Sulphuris, or liver of fulphur, which is fulphur com¬ bined with an alkaline fait to make it foluble in water, would be more effeilual : a little of this folution laid over the infide of a box or calk, with a hog’s-briftle brulh, would raife fuch a penetrating flench in warm weather, when confined, as to deflroy all kind of in¬ fers. Or the calks and boxes might have brimftone burnt in them before the feeds are put in them: but the fuccefs muft depend on experiment. There is great probability, that the vegetative powers of the feeds will not be hurt^ by the fumes of the fulphur, if we may reafon from the ufe of it in deftroying the infefls in the pine-apple, and rather promoting than hurting their vegetation f. Befides they fliould be often fprinkled with water made a little warm only, by Handing in the Hove. But when the plants are in bloom, care muft be taken not to wet the bloflbm, “ which would prevent the fruit fwelling near fo large as it w'ould if they had been kept dry “ at that time. 