The new gardener's dictionary; or whole art of gardening, fully and accurately displayed. Containing the most approved methods of cultivating all kings of trees, plants, and flowers ... / Arranged under the English proper name of each article. By John Dicks ... assisted by many eminent in the profession.

  • Dicks, John, active 1769-1771.
Date:
1771
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The new gardener's dictionary; or whole art of gardening, fully and accurately displayed. Containing the most approved methods of cultivating all kings of trees, plants, and flowers ... / Arranged under the English proper name of each article. By John Dicks ... assisted by many eminent in the profession. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    by a thorny point, and they have all along each edge a row of pale and pointed, but not very firm fpines. The ftalk rifes in the center of thefe, and is round, thick, finooth, of a purplifh brown, and two feet in height, decorated towards the top with a few leaves. The flowers attradl the eye, and they demand its full attention. They are extremely numerous, cluttered into a thick, long fpike, and of a moft elegant purple : not a deep, dufky tindl, but pale and lively. The leaves of this plant being cut, drop out a yellow, bitter juice, not {linking, as the common Aloe, but fweet, and fomewhat aromatic. The flowers ftand naked on foot-ftalks, without any cup, and are fucceeded by an oblong feed-vefl'el, formed of three valves, and containing, in fo many cells, numerous angulated feeds. Within each flower ftand fix flender filaments : thefe are of equal length with the body of the flower : and upon them are placed little oblong buttons, which fhew themfelves beyond its verge. The ftyle is Angle, and of the fame length with the filaments. Culture of the Purple Socotrine Aloe. The elegance of this plant, and its full beauty in flow¬ ering, depend entirely upon a proper method of manage¬ ment ; and its flowers are fo great an ornament to what¬ ever place they decorate, that it is very well worth all the pains necelfary in the cultivation. The firft principle on which the fuccefs in the flow¬ ering of it depends, is this: that though it will live in a lefs degree of heat, yet it always flowers more fuccefsfully in a greater ; this has been proved in the Dutch gardens, and mutt be a lelfon to all who raife it in ours. The propagation of it is eafy. In its native ftate it throws off abundance of healthy fuckers, and with tole¬ rable care, will do the fame here; thefe feldom fail to grow up into handfome plants. The beft are thole obtained from Africa, its native foil, and they are very eafily brought over ; but it will rife to a great deal of beauty, from thofe taken from plants in our own pots. A great article, is the foil in which they are planted, and there is nothing in which the common practice errs fo widely. In Africa this Aloe covers the fide of fandy hills, and is fometimes found near the fea. Thofe who have examined the foil in thefe places, have found it full of land, and of a loofe, white earth, like mortar ; but after proper enquiries, it has been found that this fubftance, which has been compared to lime rubbifh, is nothing more than marie. We have this in England in great abundance, and the farmers ufe it, though the gardeners are not enough ac¬ quainted with its property. This is lodged in a brittle fandy earth in thefe native beds of Aloes; and this is the foil we fhould imitate, and may fully equal. The firft ftep, therefore, in the culture of this and other African Aloes, delighting in the fame kind of foil, is to form a mixture of five bufhels of light fandy earth, from a barren upland pafture; one bufliel and a half of marie, and one bufhel of river mud; let this be piled in aheap together, and turned once a fortnight; and when it has lain a month, let there be fprinkled over this quantity two ounces of fea-falt. This compoftwill mel¬ low into a light and crumbly foil, though, till touched, it holds firmly enough together. It will therefore cling fufficiently about the root of the plants, and yet not load them or opprefs their tendereft fibres. This being prepared in fpring, will be fit for ufe about the beginning of Auguft, which is the moft fuccefsful time for propagating thefe plants. At this feafon, fill as many fmall pots with this com¬ port as you can obtain fuckers; firft, laying a piece of tile at the bottom of the pot, to keep open the hole, for if that be ftopt, the water given for the fupport of the plant, being detained, will be its certain deftruclion. The pots being ready, take off the fuckers carefully from the mother plants. Lay them in the open aif$ but out of the reach of the fun and wind, that they may harden a little, for otherwife they will rot at the bafe, and come to no perfection, whatever care be taken of them. When they have lain three days in the air, plant one in each pot, taking care that the earth falls every way clofe about the bottoms; when they are all planted, fet them under the fhelter of a hedge, and fhade them with mats, but not fo clofe as to deny them air. In this place let them ftand ten days, and then remove them into a bark-bed, which has but a very gentle heat. Set the pots in this up to their rim, and fhade the beds with mats, but raife the glafles to admit air. When they have in this bed rooted pretty well, they mull, by degrees, be inured to more and more air, and when they bear this without hurt, it will be time to take them from the bed. About two months from their firft planting, they may be taken out of the bed; but as the feafon will be now advanced, and cold nights come on, they muft not be fet out into the open air, but taken from the bark-bed to the green-houfe. They muft be there placed forwards, and have a great deal of air by day, but they muft be defended by {hutting the glafles in an evening. All this time they muft have frequent gentle waterings, and let the gardener take care that the paflage at the bottom of the pot be free, and no wet lodged in it. In October they muft be removed into the ftove, and from this time they muft have frequent waterings, the water having flood four and twenty hours in the ftove, that it may be of the fame temperature with the air. With this management they will grow very confider- ably during the winter, and when the fpring comes on, they muft be admitted to a more free air by very flow degrees, becaufe the winter’s growth has made them tender. Towards the middle of the fummer they muft be a- gain removed into the green-houfe out of the ftove, and gently watered at times. In the very heat of fummer it will do them good to fet them out for a few weeks among the green-houfe plants, expofed at that feafon, but they muft not be ex- pofed to the leaft danger of cold nights. This care is to be repeated and continued according to the feafons, and thus the oft-fets will be brought to flower about the third year. The beginning of Auguft will be afterwards the beft time of removing them from their old earth, and giving them new of the fame kind; this greatly {Lengthens then- growth, and promotes their flowering. To this purpofe they muft carefully be taken out of the pot, and all the earth wiped from about the roots. Let the feveral parts be then examined, to fee whether any be decayed, and if there be let fuch be cut off. Then put fome pebbles into the bottoms of the pots j fill to a proper height with the comport, and carefully put in the plant. Diftribute its roots regularly, pour in a little of the foil very dry between them, and fhake the pot that it may fettle among the roots; Then cover them with more, and fix them fecurely and fteadily in the pot; put them again Jnto the green-houfe, and give them a gentle wa¬ tering. This muft be occafionally repeated, and under this advantage of fhade and fhelter, moifture and warmth, they will prefently accommodate themfelves to their new earth, and grow with vigour. This is the whole care required in. nurfing up thefe Aloes to a due degree of ftrength for flowering; but when the time for that approaches, a particular attention muft be {hewn to them. They will flower as they ftand in the green-houfe, but the flowers will not there have half their natural beauty. More heat is given by nature for this purpofe in their own country, and more muft be allowed them here. Towards the time of their natural flowering, the fe- cond i