the same Autumn, in my Garden, some of those plants, by Measure, as
big about as my Middle) and made me order the having it taken Up;
Which about the Middle of _October_ was carefully Done by the same
Gardiner, who a while after sent me this account of it; _I have
Weighed the Pompion with the Stalk and Leaves, all which Weighed three
pound wanting a quarter; Then I took the Earth, baked it as formerly,
and found it just as much as I did at First, which made me think I had
not dry'd it Sufficiently: then I put it into the Oven twice More,
after the Bread was Drawn, and Weighed it the Second time, but found
it Shrink little or nothing._
But to deal Candidly with You, _Eleutherius_, I must not conceal from
You the Event of another Experiment of this Kind made this present
Summer, wherein the Earth seems to have been much more Wasted; as may
appear by the following account, Lately sent me by the same Gardiner,
in these Words. _To give You an Account of your Cucumbers, I have
Gain'd two Indifferent Fair Ones, the Weight of them is ten Pound and
a Halfe, the Branches with the Roots Weighed four Pounds wanting two
Ounces; and when I had weighed them I took the Earth, and bak'd it in
several small Earthen Dishes in an Oven; and when I had so done, I
found the Earth wanted a Pound and a halfe of what it was formerly;
yet I was not satisfi'd, doubting the Earth was not dry: I put it into
an Oven the Second Time, (after the Bread was drawn) and after I had
taken it out and weighed it, I found it to be the Same Weight: So I
Suppose there was no Moisture left in the Earth. Neither do I think
that the Pound and Halfe that was wanting was Drawn away by the
Cucumber but a great Part of it in the Ordering was in Dust (and the
like) wasted: (the Cucumbers are kept by themselves, lest You should
send for them.)_ But yet in this Tryal, _Eleutherius_, it appears that
though some of the Earth, or rather the dissoluble Salt harbour'd in
it, were wasted, the main Body of the Plant consisted of Transmuted
Water. And I might add, that a year after I caus'd the formerly
mentioned Experiment, touching large Pompions, to be reiterated, with
so good success, that if my memory does not much mis-inform me, it did
not only much surpass any that I made before, but seem'd strangely to
conclude what I am pleading for; though (by reason I have unhappily
lost the particular Account my Gardiner writ me up of the
Circumstances) I dare not insist upon them. The like Experiment may be
as conveniently try'd with the seeds of any Plant, whose growth is
hasty, and its size Bulky. If Tobacco will in These Cold Climates Grow
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