which had not been taken notice off before Those little Cares challenge as much esteem and kindness towards a Gard'ner as any other Testimony he can render it shews his being well Intention'd that he has some Qualifications that are but seldom acquir'd unless they be Natural viz. Affection Curiosity Neatness and a docible Spirit and indeed a Garden is generally in a very good Case under the management of such a Man It generally is the first in producing Novelties it is clean and free from Weeds the Walks are neat and well level'd and the whole commonly furnish'd with all that can be expected in every Season of the year happy are those who can meet with such and have no cause to complain as so many other Gentlemen daily do of their ill Fortune upon that Subject The scarcity of good Workmen of that kind is not to be wonder'd at while the number of Ingenious Men of most kinds is pretty considerable the source of the Ignorance of most Gard'ners proceeding from their knowing nothing for the most part but what they have seen practis'd by those under whom they first began to work Those kind of Masters had never learn'd elsewhere nor imagin'd of themselves the reason of every part of their Work so that not knowing it and continuing to work for the most part by chance or rather by rote they have been no more capable of teaching it than their Prentices of enquiring it so that perhaps excepting some Skill in grassing and couching the Branches of Wall-Trees in Tilling the Ground ordering of a Bed sowing and watering some Seeds clipping of Box and Pallisados which are all very easie to do and learn and may be learn'd by Boys seeing others do it I say excepting such kind of Works which are none of the most material it may be affirm'd that they hardly know any thing especially as to the main part of Gard'ning which is the Conduct of all sorts of Trees the beauty and singular goodness of every Fruit their Maturity well understood and an uninterrupted succession of the Novelties of every Month in the Year c. Indeed they have attain'd the boldness and dexterity of using the Saw and Pruning-knife but never had any Rules or Principles to do it Judiciously they venture to cut at random what they think good and so a Tree if I may use the Expression not being able to oppose its Enemies is mangled and maim'd discovering its Grievances by falling into decay by its ill favour'd Figure and especially by the small quantity of ill Fruit it produces This is in reality the common Prenticeship of Gard'ners or rather the Epidemical Disease of all Gardens I am not ignorant that there are some well meaning Gard'ners who without doubt would grow skilful were they well Instructed those deserve Pity and Assistance and therefore I never fail to assist them in all I can I am also sensible that there are some who either of themselves or having been brought up under a good Master have both Worth and Capacity and afterwards are careful of making good Prentices therefore it is good to have some brought up by such hands and approv'd by their Masters However though these Precautions might seem sufficient I am still of Opinion that before we ingage any farther especially only wanting a Gard'ner for an ordinary Garden it will not be amiss to find out some occasion to make the Gard'ner you have some Inclination to choose set his hands to some laborious piece of Work to see how he goes about it as to Till some spot of Ground to carry some Watering-Pots c. by which Tryals it will be easie to judge whether he has those necessary Qualifications of Body whether he acts naturally or forces himself if he be handy and laborious or clumsey and effeminate A man that is soon out of breath does more than his strength can permit and consequently cannot make a good Workman I mean a lasting one such a man is not fit for our turn unless we barely want one to order and manage which is not usual unless in great Gardens where such a one is absolutely necessary Supposing we are hitherto satisfy'd with the Answers and Work of the Gard'ner who offers himself there are still other very material Qualifications to be wish'd for as we have already mention'd First That he may be able to write a Letter for though writing be not absolutely necessary in a Gard'ner yet it must be granted that it is a very considerable advantage to the end that being absent from his Master he may be able to receive his Orders himself give him an account of his Garden keep a Register of all he does in it c. Secondly If marry'd it is sit that his Wife besides the Care of her Family may love and be capable of working about her Husband's Trade it is an inestimable Treasure for the Perfection of Gard'ning as well as for the good Fortune of the Gard'ner Such a Wife cleanses scrapes and weeds while the Master and his Men labour about harder more in haste and more material Works and when her Husband is absent or sick she calls upon every body to do their duty she gathers the Legumes and Fruit of which often a considerable part perishes for want of being gather'd in due time In sine she is to prevent a great many disorders which we observe where a Gard'ner's Wife does not love to work in the Garden I am of Opinion that it will be proper to see her to judge whether such important helps may be expected from her and see whether she be cleanly and has nothing disgusting in her To this I might add that in many Countrey Houses the Gard'ner is made House-keeper when his Wife is ingenious and cleanly which is always of great Use Thirdly It is necessary to enquire the Names of the Masters under whom this Gard'ner has learn'd his Trade when he cites for a good Master a Man of known Ignorance and values himself upon it it is a sign of Incapacity though in other things the Prentice may chance to know more than his Master There are yet some other Marks by which it may be easie to judge of the Merit of Gard'ners for instance I do not like a great Babler who talks of nothing but his Skill or affects hard Words which he thinks are fine though they really are not so Neither do I like him who without being able to give a good reason for it values himself upon equally despising what he has not seen as well as what he has seen who has so great an Opinion of his Ability as to think that he can learn nothing new who thinks he should wrong himself in inquiring after or hearkening to Men of Reputation as if this Wretch thereby fear'd to bring his Knowledge in question There are but too many who upon the Questions that are made to them answer with a disdainful Smile It would be a fine thing
The Api or Ladies-apple from December till April ibid. The Violet-apple from the end of October till Christmas ibid. The Rambour August p. 126. The Cousinot from the end of October till February ibid. The Orgeran ibid. The Star-apple ibid. The Jerusalem apple ibid The thick English Pear-main ibid. The Ice-apple ibid. The Francatu ib. The Haute Bonte or High good otherwise called Blandilalie ibid. The Rouvezeau ibid. The Chesnut-apple or Martrange ibid. The Blossomless or Fig-apple ib. The Petit-bon or Little-good ib. The Rose-apple ibid. FINIS OF FRUIT-GARDENS AND Kitchen-Gardens VOL. II. PART IV. Of Pruning of Fruit-Trees The INTRODUCTION GEnerally speaking Pruning of Trees is Cutting off some of their Branches and so we commonly say that a Tree is prun'd when many marks appear of Branches being cut off We likewise say that a Gard'ner prunes when he is cutting some Branches from his Trees with his Pruning-Knife This Pruning has been look'd upon in all Times among the Curious in Fruit-Trees as the Master-piece of Gard'ning And indeed the Practice of it began not in our Days for it was held as a Maxim many Ages since as it appears by the Testimony of the Ancients so that to speak the Truth we only follow now or perhaps improve what was practis'd by our Fore-fathers This Custom of Pruning does not commonly extend to all sorts of Fruit-Trees only to such as are known in Gardens by the Names of Espaliers or Wall-Fruit-Trees Counter-Espaliers or Pole-Hedges and Dwarfs As for those that are called Tall-standards they are seldom prun'd unless it be once or twice in their first Years either to give them the first Turn of a Round Figure and Overture which is requisite at the time they first begin to form an Head or to take away some irregular Branches which in process of Time might intangle or disfigure that Head which Pruning is absolutely necessary A kind of Pruning is likewise practis'd upon very old Tall-standards by cutting off the dead or languishing Branches both large and small but that is rather called Cleansing or Dis-incumbring than Pruning Although the first Idea People have of Pruning is commonly in relation to the Heads of Trees that is their Branches which frequently want some Correction to be put in a way of doing well according to the Mind of their Master yet notwithstanding there is still another Trimming which is very material and that is the Trimming of Roots which is perform'd upon two Occasions of which the one that is the most common is generally practis'd upon all Trees before they are planted which I have sufficiently mention'd in the Treatise of Plantations The other which is extraordinary is only made use of upon some on the Place according as one designs to make some more and others less vigorous than they are This I will speak of at the End of this Treatise This Maxim or Necessity of Pruning the Heads of all Trees not being Tall-standards being well establish'd tho there are some Erroneous Opinions in it in relation to very vigorous Dwarfs which I shall easily destroy I think my self indispensibly oblig'd to examine here as much as in me lies whatever relates to so renown'd a Practice in the Management of Fruit-Trees therefore I protest at first that I will make no particular Reserve to my self but on the contrary that I will use my utmost Endeavour not to omit any thing whatever of what I have been able to apprehend in it hitherto and of what I have so long practis'd with Success I am persuaded that Pruning is not only a very useful but also a very curious thing and capable of affording Pleasure to those that understand it But at the same time it must be acknowledg'd that it is likewise perpicious or dangerous when perform'd by unskilful Hands For to speak properly Pruning in the Sense we take it is not barely Cutting every body cuts but few prune nothing is more easie than to cut And it may even sometimes happen by chance that what has been cut without discretion may succeed well enough tho for the most part the Consequences prove very bad whereas there being a great deal of Judgment and Rule in Pruning skilfully the Success is generally certain at least as to what may depend on the Gard'ner for all does not depend on him It is well known that he is neither Master of Times or Seasons which must of necessity and chiefly concurr to the perfecting His Work And therefore when People have not that Abundance of Fruit they desire and did hope for the Fault ought not always to be imputed to the Gard'ner He is only blameable when his Trees are not-well shap'd when they do not blossom abundantly and when the Fruit is not universally and equally beautiful so as to see upon one and the same Tree Fruit of very different sizes for he is partly Master of that CHAP. I. Definition of the Pruning of Trees To let you understand what this Pruning is I say that it is an Operation of Gardning for three Things which are to be done yearly to Trees betwixt the beginning of the Month of November and the End of March The First is To take away all those Branches that are naught or might be prejudicial either to the Abundance or Goodness of the Fruit as also to the Beauty of the Tree The Second To preserve all those that may be of good use to those Trees And the Third Prudently to clip those that are found too long and not to cut any thing off those that have not too much length And all this in order to make a Tree lasting to beautifie it and at the same time dispose it soon to bear a great deal of fine and good Fruit. By Branches that are naught I mean those that are of false Wood those that are decay'd by having yielded much Fruit and those that are too small or have no disposition to produce either Wood or Fruit. By Branches that may be prejudicial either to the Beauty of the Tree Abundance or Goodness of the Fruit I mean such as might cause a Confusion or shadow the Fruit as well as those that take part of the Sap of the Tree when it is over-charg'd with Wood compar'd to its Vigour By Branches that may be of good Use I mean all those that are so well condition'd as to be fit to contribute to the beautiful Figure of the Tree and Infallibly to produce Fruit. By Branches that are too long I mean such as exceed nine or ten Inches in length and so consequently want to be shorten'd such are all the thick Branches which we call Branches for Wood and some of the small ones which we call Branches for Fruit. In fine By Branches that have not too much length I mean certain little Branches which being of a moderate Thickness have Buds at the Ends of them or are in a Disposition of having some the following Year and yet are strong enough to
whatsoever were desireable for the Furniture of such a Ground with the most excellent and Warantable Fruit I say Warantable because it is peculiarly due to their honnest Industry and so rarely to be met with elsewhere and other Accessories to Gardens of all Denominations as in that Vast and ample Collection which I have lately seen and well consider'd at Brompton Park near Kensington The very sight of which alone gives an Idea of something that is greater than I can well express without an endumeration of Particulars and of the exceeding Industry Method and Address of those who have undertaken and Cultivated it for publick Use I mean Mr. George London chief Gardner to their Majesties and his Associate Mr. Henry Wise For I have long observ'd from the daily practice and effects of the laudable Industry of these two Partners that they have not made Gain the only mark of their Pains But with Extraordinary and rare Industry endeavour'd to improve themselves in the Mysteries of their Profession from the great Advantages and now long Experience they have had in being Employ'd in most of the celebrated Gardens and Plantations which this Nation abounds in besides what they have learn'd Abroad and where Horticulture is in highest Reputation I find they not only understand the Nature and Genius of the several Soils but their usual Infirmities proper Remedies Composts and Applications to Reinvigorate exhausted Mould sweeten the foul and tainted and reduce the Sower Harsh Stuborn and Dry or over moist and diluted Earth to its genuine Temper and Constitution and what Aspects and Situations are proper for the several sorts of Mural Standard Dwarf and other Fruite-trees They have made Observations and given me a Specimen of that long but hitherto wanting particular of Discriminating the several kinds of Fruits by their Characteristical Notes from a long and Critical observation of the Leafe Tast Colour and other distinguishing Qualities So as one shall not be impos'd upon with Fruits of Several Names when as in truth there is but one due to them For instance in Peares alone a Gentleman in the Country sends to the Nuseries for the Liver Blanch Piguigny de chouille Rattau blane c. the English St. Gilbert Cranbourn Pears and several other names when all this while they are no other than the well known Cadillac The same also hap'ning in Peaches Apples Plums Cherris and other Fruit for want of an accurate examination by comparing of their Taste and those other Indications I have mentioned For which Gentlemen complain and not without cause that the Nursery-Men abuse them when 't is their Ignorance or the Exotic Name of which they are so fond I find they have likewise apply'd themselves to attain a sufficient Mastery in Lines and Figures for general design and expeditious Methods for casting and leveling of Grounds and to bring them into the most apt Form they are capable off which requires a particular Address and to determine the best Proportions of Walks and Avenues Starrs Centers c. suitable to the lengths and how and with what materials whether Gravel Carpet c. to be layed They have a numerous Collection of the best Designs and I perceive are able of themselves to Draw and contrive other applicable to the places when busie Works and Parterrs of Imbroidery for the Coronary and Flower Gardens are proper or desired And where Fountaines Statues Vasas Dials and other decorations of Magnificence are to be plac'd with most advantage To this add a plentiful and choice Collection of Orange-trees Lemon Mertil Baies Jassmines and all other Rarities and Exotics requiring the Conservatory after they have embellish't their proper stations abroad during the Summer and for continuing a no less ornament in the Green-House during Winter They have a very brave and noble Assembly of the Flowery and other Trees Perennial and variegated Ever-Greens and shrubs hardy and fittest for our Climate and understand what best to plant the humble Boscage Wilderness or taller Groves with where and how to dispose and govern them according as Ground and situation of the place requires both for shelter and ornament For which purpose and for Walks and Avenues they have store of Elms Limes Platans Constantinople-Chesnuts Black-Cherry-trees c. Nor are they I perceive less knowing in that most useful though less pompous part of Horticulture the Potagere Meloniere Culinarie Gardent Where they should most properly be plac'd for the use of the Family how to be planted furnish'd and Cultivated so as to afford great pleasure to the Eye as well as profit to the Master And they have also Seeds Bulbs Roots Slips for the Flowery Garden and shew how they ought to be order'd and maintain'd Lastly I might super-add the great number of Grounds and Gardens of Noble-men and Persons of Quality which they have made and planted ab Origine and are still under their Care and inspection though at Considerable Distances and how exceedingly they prosper to justifie what I have freely said in their behalf And as for the Nursery part in Voucher and to make good what I have said on that particular one needs no more than take a Walk to Brompton Park upon a fair Morning to behold and admire what a Magazine these Industrious Men have provided fit for age and Choice in their several Classes and all within one Inclosure Such an Assembly I believe as is no where else to be met with in this Kingdom nor in any other that I know of I cannot therefore forbear to Publish after all the Encomiums of this great Work of Mounsâ— de la Quintinye which I confess are very just what we can and are able to perform in this part of Agriculture and have some Amaenities and advantages peculiar to our own which neither France nor any other Couutry can attain to and is much due to the Industry of Mr. London and Mr. Wise and to such as shall Imitate their Laudable Undertankings Be this then for their Encouragement and to gratifie such as may need or require their Assistance J. EVELYN CAbala sive Scrinia Sacra Mysteries of State and Government in Letters of Illustrious Persons and Great Ministers of State as well Foreign as Domestick in the Reigns of King Henry the Eighth Queen Elizabeth King James and King Charles Wherein such Secrets of Empire and Publick Affairs as were then in Agitation are clearly Represented and many remarkable Passages faithfully Collected To which is added in this Third Edition A Second Part consisting of a Choice Collection of Original Letters and Negotiations never before published With two Exact Tables to each Part the one of the Letters and the other of the most Remarkable Occurrences Essays of Michael Seigneur de Montaigne In Three Books With Marginal Notes and Quotations of the cited Authors And an Account of the Authour's LIFE To which is added a short Character of the Authour and Translator by way of Letters Writen by a Person of Honour New rendred
if at my Age I did not know my Trade and thereupon would not for any thing acknowledge their Faults or be better inform'd There are some who always affect to ruin whatever is Ancient in their Garden and to make perpetual Novelties and those study to amuse their Masters with some hopes of the future both to hinder him in the mean time from perceiving their Ignorance for the time past or present as well as to make their Profit by the Expence incident to new Works On the contrary there are some others whose Stupidity is so great that they never imagine any thing and had rather leave the Gardens they undertake in the same Condition they find them though never so much out of Order than alter the least thing about them who having a great number of ugly Trees quite decay'd or squares of Strawberrys Artichokes and Sparagus c. no longer producing any thing fine or good instead of endeavouring to remedy it which is very easie will cry that it is enough for them to preserve things as they find them These two sorts of Gard'ners are equally to be avoided those who are continually braging of their Skill in Graffing thereby likewise give an infallible proof of their Incapacity as to what relates to the main part of Gard'ning I am not ignorant that 't is necessary to graff well but at the same time I know that a Woman or a Child of eight or ten years of Age may do it as well as the best Gard'ners nothing has produc'd so many Block-heads in point of Gard'ning as that Skill in Graffing It is the Nusseries that produce so many pittiful Gard'ners who have as it were corrupted and infected all that belongs to Gard'ning looking upon themselves as being the greatest Masters in that Art as soon as they can Graff well and in that belief undertake the Management of any Garden what ever There are yet another kind of Blockheads who cannot speak Three Words of their own Trade without intermixing the Full and Wainal-Moon Pretending and yet knowing no Reason for it that it is an Observation altogether necessary for the Success of all that belongs to Gard'ning They really Fancy they can perswade us by such Words that they are acquainted with all the Mysteries of that Art so that having said with a Presumptuous Haughtiness in their Jargon that every Friday bears a Decrease and that Good-Friday is Infallible for Sowing and Graffing for Planting and Pruning c. They really think 't is the greatest Happiness in the World for any Body to have them for their Gard'ners I fully examine in my Treatise of Reflection what relates to those Visions which in point of Gard'ning I really look upon to be as Ridiculous as Old therefore I always suspect those talkers of Decrease who are Dumb upon the least difficulty propos'd to them upon such Maxims their sole Answer being that in this they follow an Opinion in Vogue all the World over I think I have been pretty Exact in the Observation of the Good and Ill Qualifications that are commonly met with among Gard'ners now in my Opinion it will not be amiss especially in Relation to those who know but little to enjoin them to study Carefully in order to improve themselves As to those who have Skill and Capacity I conjure them with all my Heart to continue to perfect themselves thereby more and more to deserve the Favour of their Masters if good ones if not to deserve better I find my self very much inclin'd to oblige all those who are desirous to learn either in assisting them with some Instructions in those parts of Gard'ning they are not sufficiently acquainted with or in Procuring them good Places in considerable Houses As on the other Hand to Despise and render no manner of good Offices to such as have 〈…〉 one of those good and altogether necessary Qualifications Lastly in order to ease the Mind of a Master who wants a Gard'ner if he himself be not Ignorant of the good Maxims of Gard'ning in my Opinion he cannot do better than to Examin the Gard'ner who comes to offer his Service upon all the principal Points of Culture being perswaded that commonly those who are work-Men can speak Indifferently well as to their Trade and consequently that it is a very ill Sign when they cannot speak three Words to the purpose about it Not but that there are some People who can work better than Talk and some who naturally have more Facility to express themselves than others but in this Case we look first for Gard'ners not Orators and in the second Place expect no Eloquence only some marks of a Necessary Capacity both to be satisfied that a Garden will always be in a good Case it being in the Hands of a good Gard'ner and to hope for the Satisfaction of having sometimes the Pleasure of discoursing about Gard'ning and to propose Questions upon the Matter occurring A Judicious Man can never want Capacity to Judge and Distinguish in such a Case what may be good or indifferent for his Use and of being satisfied with what Reason and his Occasions may require of a Gard'ner without looking farther The End of the First Part. OF FRUIT-GARDENS AND Kitchen-Gardens VOL. I. PART II. I Am particularly to treat here of Four Things The first relating to the Advantages to be wish'd for in order to make Gardens The second relating to Earth in respect to those Gardens The third to what is proper to Correct the Defects we meet with in Gardens already made The fourth to the manner of Cultivating Gardens together with such Qualifications of Soil as are proper for every particular Kind of Fruit. I will speak of what relates to the first Article after having first declar'd that I am only to treat here of Fruit and Kitchen-Gardens whether they be City Gardens which commonly are but of a Moderate Compass The Ground of considerable Cities being too precious to employ much of it in Gard'ning or Country Gardens which for the generality are pretty large at least much larger than those of Cities and that in proportion to the Abilities of the Master and Stateliness of every House I am sensible that for the generality both City and Country Gardens are made for the Conveniency of the Houses and therefore should be pretty close to them yet considering that those of the Country require a pretty large Extent in order to yield considerably being necessary for Sustenance as well as Pleasure In my Opinion it were to be wish'd that the Houses were built for the Gardens and not the Gardens made for the Houses I mean that one of the Chief Considerations in the Choice of the Situation of Houses should be particularly to pitch upon a proper Place to make fine and good Gardens with Ease which however is but seldom minded There are other more prevailing Considerations most People fix upon For Instance a fine Prospect the Neighbourhood of a Wood or River
it were less it would be attended by many much more offensive faults of another kind Besides if the length of this Treatise disgusts any Persons from Reading it in all likely-hood 't will be such as are wholly taken up with greater businesses than this at which I am very well satisfied it being only intended for People not otherwise employed and for hours of Recreation At least they who will please to take the pains to examine my conduct will see for my Iustification that as I have already said I have not pretended any thing else but only to declare my opinion upon the subject I treat of in that Third part And if any Gentlemen be content to follow my Judgment without entring into any discussion of the Reasons which I make use of to enforce it they may let alone not only my Preliminary Discourse and my particular Considerations but likewise the descriptions I have made of the several sorts of Fruits and so may go strait to the places where I conclude what I really think is to be done in order to plant wisely and happily which is noted all along in the margent and more especially in the Abridgment I have added at the end of the Treatise for there 't is they will immediately find all the assistance they suppose they need and for which they are willing to be obliged to me That which moves me to undertake a thing in my opinion so useful and Commodious is because when I see many Gardens of all sorts of Sizes as it has often hapned and daily happens to me I see indeed some Fruit there but withal at the same time I see there the three greatest inconveniences to be feared in that respect The first is that hardly any sorts of Fruits that are well known which is no very hopeful sign of their Goodness are to be seen there and which is most of all to be found fault with the Good ones are more scarce there than the Bad ones As for Example to instance in Pears which of all Fruits is that of which men plant most we shall commonly find in Gardens more trees of Catillacs Orange Pears Besideri's White Butter Pears Jargonells Summer Boncretiens c. Than of Bergamots Virgoulees Leschasseries Ambrets Thorn Pears Russelets c. The second Incommodity is that if two or three kinds happen to be there that are truly Good they will be there almost all alone and that pretty often under different Names For instance we shall find a Garden planted almost all with Winter Boncretiens Butter Pears Messire Johns c. or else almost all only with Virgoulees Russelets Verte Longues or Long Green Pears c. without a happy mixture of the one with the other Lastly the third and most considerable Inconvenience is that we seldom see in any Gardens a succession of Fruits so judiciously contrived that without any discontinuation we may expect a perpetual supply of them in Summer Autumn and Winter which yet with due regard had to the Quality of their Ground might easily be effected they may perhaps boast they have a sufficiency or perhaps too much either in one of the three Seasons or during some part of each of them as for Instance that they have some Blanquets or Russelets for Summer some Butter Pears and Bergamots for Autumn and some Boncretiens and Virgoulees for Winter c. But perhaps they have sew other Fruits or perhaps none at all to furnish successively every Season so long as it lasts and much less to furnish all the whole three Seasons one after another without intermission These are doubtless all very unpleasing Irregularities and which proceed from the want of due skill in contrivance whilst a Garden is planting for at that time Gentlemen commonly begin first with telling their design to some friends either to demand their advice which is good if they be persons Skill'd in Gardening or else chiefly to excite their Liberality if they have any trees to give away which usually produces as one may say rather an Hospital or confused Chaos of Fruit-Trees than a Regular Garden And if they have not skilful acquaintance to consult they send or perhaps go themselves to the Nursery Gardens which are ordinarily very ill contrived they name some few sorts of Fruits they intend to plant and for all the rest only signifie in general what number of trees they would have without being able to name precisely the particular sorts they have occasion for and much less to specifie what numbers they want of each And indeed 't is because they are perswaded there is no better way to be taken considering that if I may have leave to use those new Terms there are almost no able Frugis Consults or Fruit Sages nor any good Books of this Frugis prudence or Science of Fruit Culture from which they may furnish themselves with the necessary instructions for the contriving of a well modelled Plantation and therefore they leave all to the Discretion of some Plant-Merchant who perhaps on one side is not very knowing nor over well stockt though at first he endeavours to perswade his Customers that he has all sorts of good Fruit-Trees as he would prove by the Testimony of some old confused Catalogue he fails not to shew them and on the other side is above all things desirous to take advantage of the occasion presented him to put off his ware because he is assured it will not keep long good So that our new Curious adventurer is forced to plant such Trees as either his Friends have given him or as the Plant-Merchant has sold him whether they be Good or Bad and so provided the number he desired be compleated he rests satisfied and contented and quietly lets pass the first four or five or six years in expectation till every Tree may shew what it is able to perform And he finds here and there one perhaps that bears Fruit to amuse the Master's hopes for some while but at last time shews him a true but too late a sight of the errours into which he was unhappily fallen But because the Trees are now grown tall how ill satisfied soever a man may be at the Fruit they produce he can hardly find in his heart to resolve upon new grafting them and much less upon beginning a new Plantation so much afraid are people of engaging in any attempt to correct their first mistakes that is attended with the hazard of making new ones equally pernicious and by that means they find themselves plunged in the mire and are so dispirited as to remain in it vexing in the mean while to see themselves deceived of the hopes they had conceived of their beloved project which produces that Disgust which we observe so commonly to sieze some men and make them though at first they appeared passionately inamoured with their Gardens seek in a few years after to get rid of them at any rate There are likewise two other faults that are very common
improve and acquire the Perfections they ought to have by the Vertue of Water viz. largeness thickness sweetness and delicacy therefore I say that Legumes are in danger of being always small bitter hard and insipid without the help and assistance of considerable long Rains which commonly are very uncertain or else that of great and frequent Waterings which we ought to be Masters of and to have at command Besides whatever Rain may fall which indeed may be favourable to small Plants as Strawberries Greens Pease Beans Sallad Onions c. There are still other Plants in our Gardens which require something more for Example Artichoks of a year or two's growth which must be water'd regularly two or three times a week a Pitcher at a time to every Foot for if we think that a little Rain is sufficient to satisfie our Artichokes we shall soon perceive that we are grosly deceiv'd Gnats will annoy them the head will remain small hard and dry and finally the Suckers will only produce Leaves the Experience of what is seen among substantial sale Gard'ners sufficiently justifies the Necessity and Importance of Waterings they seldom fail watering of their Gardens whatever Rains may fall during the Summer and indeed their Ware is much finer than that of others who water less During seven or eight Months of the Year there is generally a necessity of Watering all that grows in Kitchen Gardens Asparagus only excepted which only performing their Duty at the Entrance of the Spring are satisfied with the moistures of the Winter and want none after the Months of April and May But whereas those two Months are the times of Blasting and Drought there is often a Necessity of Watering even the new Planted Trees nay sometimes it is good to Water those which having brought forth a great Quantity of Green Fruit appear moderately Vigorous and require some help in order to a good Reaping which they are preparing for us especially if the Earth be naturally dry and light those Waterings must not be neglected at the Time of the Summer Solstice and they must be renew'd in the Month of August when the Fruits begin to form their Pulp the Season being very dry otherwise they remain small stony and not pallatable From whence it naturally follows that Water is absolutely Necessary in Gardens and that plentifully too in order to perform the Necessary Waterings they require in due time for indeed what can be made of any Ground without Water it will remain altogether useless for Productions and disagreeable to sight therefore the best way is to pitch upon Situations that have the Convenience of Water and whoever does not make that one of his first Considerations deserves blame or pity The most common and at the same time the most wretch'd recourse for Waterings is that of Wells It is true that they are necessary when no better can be had but at least they should be chosen shallow for certainly it is to be fear'd that the Waterings will be very Inconsiderable and consequently of little use when the Water is difficult to be drawn up the advantage of Pumps though often deceitful may be look'd upon as something in that Case but the disburthening of some Springs or Conduits a Neighbouring Canal or a small Pond well stor'd and well kept with Pipes and Tubs distributed into several Squares are as it were the Soul of Vegetation without it all is dead or languishes in Gardens though the Gard'ner be not faulty but with it the whole Garden must needs be Vigorous and abounding in every Season of the Year which will redound to the Honour of him who has the Management of it whereas it will utterly Disgrace such as have nothing to plead for an Excuse CHAP. VIII Of the Fourth Condition which requires the Garden to be partly upon a level in all the Surface of it IT is very difficult nay very rare to meet with Situations that are so equal in all their Extent as not to have any Rise or Fall on any side but yet it is not impossible I do not think it very necessary to look for any to be as smooth as Water but yet it is a happiness when such are met with great Inequalities are certainly troublesom for Gardens The Inundations or Overflowings which happen after long Rains cause cruel Disorders in them and cut out a World of Work to repair them moderate Inequalities do no great harm but rather good especially in a dry Earth when inclining to a Wall expos'd to the East that part as we have already said being seldom soak'd by the Waters that fall from the Skies they light most upon the Exposure of the West and thus a fall guiding the Waters towards that East part is very favourable Therefore in my Opinion as much as is possible a situation that has but a little Inequality is to be preferr'd before another that has much and if any be tolerable 't is only that I have been speaking of insomuch that in Gardens that are too much inclinable to Drought or lie somewhat high and are of a perfect Level it will be proper to allow them a little inequality For Example such a one as may be Imperceptible and yet perpetual in all the Walks that lie Southerly to the end that the Water which is of no Use in those Walks may fall into the Feet of the Trees of those two Expositions Such an Artificial Descent produces two good Effects the first in that it is to be wish'd that those parts may never want a little moisture in order to Correct their Drought whether proceeding from the Nature of the Earth and Situation or from the Heat of the Sun by those Waters The second is to hinder those Waters by that means from running into some other parts of the Garden where they might prove prejudicial But when there is an indispensable Necessity of making Use of a Situation that is very unequal for a Garden I explain hereafter in the Thirteenth Chapter what I think proper to be done in order to Correct the Defects of it as far as Industry can reach CHAP. IX Of the Fifth Condition which requires a pleasant Figure for a Garden together with a well plac'd Entrance IT will not be difficult for me to prove That the Figure of our Gardens ought to be agreeable it is necessary the Eyes should meet at first wherewith to be satisfy'd without any thing Fantastical to offend them The finest Figure that can be desir'd for a Fruit or Kitchen-Garden and even the most convenient for Culture is without doubt that which forms a Beautiful Square especially when it is so perfect and so well proportion'd in all its Extent that not only the Corners may form streight Angles but especially that the Length may be above once and a half or twice as long again as it is broad For Instance Twenty Fathom to Ten or Twelve Fourty to Eighteen or Twenty or Fourscore to Forty Fifty or
this Matter but in general Terms in which as we have already said they make use of the Sparkish Term of Kindness to perswade the more agreeably Neither do I believe that if they were pressed to declare their Opinion they would say that they mean the most Vigorous since great Vigour appearing inconsistent with the abundance of Fruit it would be an ill Expedient in order to get Fruit to have recourse to a thing they should believe proper to maintain that Vigour and perhaps to augment it moreover Dung being only look'd upon as a Remedy and Remedies being only us'd for the Diseas'd it follows from thence that that Dung is not to be us'd for those Trees which far from being any wise Infirm have all the Signs imaginable of perfect Health throughout their whole Extent supposing then that Dung were capable of Improving Trees still I do verily believe that it would sooner harm these than procure them the least Advantage Therefore we may conclude that their Opinion is that Infirm Trees stand in need of the Assistance of Dungs Now in order if possible to disabuse the World of such an Error I affirm sincerely that by a study'd Experience of a long Series of Years I do know with certainty that all the Dung in the World can operate nothing in Favour of any Tree whatever I had liv'd long in that Common Error my Curiosity having begun by that as well as by the Rote of the Declinings of the Moon c. but am now happily undeceiv'd and all those who will take the Pains to inform themselves of the Truth thereof without prejudice will certainly conclude with me that at best it is but a useless Labour and Expence besides I declare that it is a great Happiness when it does not prove prejudicial those Dungs as I have hinted elsewhere being apt to Ingender Worms which kill the Trees and at most all the Vertue that is in them extends no farther than to produce small Roots which Roots though really good for small Plants can no wise contribute towards the forming of those fine Shoots by which we judge of the Vigour we desire in Trees But in order to enter a little farther into the convincing Proof of this Truth which I establish I should be glad to be inform'd exactly what an Infirm Tree is it is a matter I have enlarg'd upon sufficiently in the Treatise of the Distempers of Trees c. therefore I shall now only say that for Example an infirm Pear-Tree is not always to be concluded so by reason of its producing Yellow Shoots since there are some that are very vigorous and yet produce Leaves of that Colour they are only such upon which some thick old Branches die or such of which the Extremity of the new Shoots wither or such as produce none at all and remain scabby full of Cankers and Moss and yet blossom exceedingly yet little of the Fruit knits and that which does knit remains small stony and bad And when the Tree happens to produce large Yellow Shoots which happens frequently to some Pear-Trees Graffed upon Quince-Stocks which being planted in a dry lean Ground are naturally in a good Case this defect of Yellow Leaves proceeds from that some of the principal Roots lying level with the Ground are parch'd by the great Heats of the Summer Now the Dung which is imploy'd for Amendments and is consequently put pretty deep into the Ground can no wise prevent this On the other hand if any of the Branches of that Infirm Tree chance to die that Defect may proceed from that either the Tree may be overburthen'd with Branches compar'd to the small Vigour of it so as not to be able to Nourish them all or else from its being planted too high or too low or lastly from that the Earth which is to Nourish it is either bad or worn out and especially when the Foot of the Tree has many dead Roots As to the first Case Dung cannot discharge that Tree from its Burthen In the Second it cannot make it to be better Planted And in the Third it cannot revive the dead Roots And Lastly can produce no thick new ones for Dungs have never been able to Effect that neither great Dungs though never so Rotten nor the small ones we call Soil Thus as long as it produces no thick new Roots we must expect no fine new Shoots and while none of those kind of new Shoots are produc'd the Trees will always remain ill-favour'd and the Fruit will never be well-condition'd in its kind nor give us Satisfaction by the Abundance of it To this I add that if Dung had the Faculty of rend'ring a weak Tree Vigorous in the first place I should have Experienc'd it at one time or another after having try'd it so often which being I should be much to blame to dissent from an Opinion so well Establish'd and to endeavour at the same time to introduce a new Doctrine in the Room of it which instead of doing me any Kindness would only serve to turn me into Ridicule In the Second place if Dungs could afford Vigour especially to old Infirm Trees that Advantage would certainly be attended by a very great Inconvenience which is that it would occasion the Shooting of abundance of False Wood or Suckers and destroy the Disposition of that Tree towards the producing of Fruit since contrary to the Masters Intention it would cause those Buds which were grown round for Fruit to shoot out for Wood which Wood must of necessity be remov'd as being Ill-condition'd and ill plac'd I explain more particularly in another Place what is most proper to be done in such a Case and that is at the End of the Fifth Book where I propose Remedies for the Infirmities of old Trees But supposing it were good to Dung Trees which I do not allow what true Rule can be had for the more or less quantity of Dung each Tree may require Will a moderate quantity produce the same Effect as a great one or will not a great quantity perform more than a small or moderate one Moreover in what place shall that Dung be plac'd shall it be near the Stem or Foot or at a distance from it It will be useless near the Stem since the Extremities of the Roots where all the Action is perform'd being distant from it can receive no Benefit by it and yet it is commonly laid particularly in that place therefore those Amendments should be plac'd near those Extremities but how shall one be certain in what part they lay especially since those Extremities stretching out Yearly consequently Yearly change their place c. I conclude by this Vulgar Observation That Infirm Trees are met with in good Grounds as well as in ill ones will the same Remedy be proper for both There appears to me a great deal of difficulty to answer those three last Questions justly so that those certainly engage themselves in a great Confusion who will
the Lesser Classis such as Strawberries Raspberries or Gooseberries nor of Muk-Melons neither though they be certainly Fruits most Excellent in their kind they being Articles I reserve to speak of in our Kitchen-Garden of which they are to constitute a Part but I shall only Treat here of such as grow on Trees and which when they Excel in their kind and are planted in a proper Seat and well qualified make the True Ornaments of Gardens for unless they be indeed of such sorts there are many kinds of Fruits that instead of doing Honour do rather a Disgrace to the Master that Cultivates them And after I have discoursed of the good Fruits of all kinds of Trees I shall also speak of those sorts of Grapes which are so much Esteemed by all Persons of Quality I cannot proceed any further without taking Notice to you how much I am surprised at the Contemplation of all the Fruit I see as well in general as particular For as to particular kinds I am very much having made very exact Descriptions of them as well of their Inside as Outside and that both of Kernel-Fruits and those with Stones or Shells as also of Figs and Grapes as will be afterward seen insomuch that of Pears only I can affirm with Truth that I have Seen Tasted and Described above three hundred several sorts all different one from another without finding all this while above thirty Kinds that were Excellent enough to my Taste to merit the Character of having regularly more good Qualities than bad ones I expect to find some curious Persons whom my Opinion in matter of Choice will not please in all things But let them permit me if they please to make a most humble Request which is that before they censure the Esteem or Dislike I express for certain Fruits they would first Examin very particularly my Intention which chiefly tends to the Establishing a continual Succession of choice good Fruits and after that they would Remember that Peoples particular Palates are not to be disputed that being an incontestable Point and in the next place that great allowances are to be made to the fickleness of Seasons of which we are not the Masters as also of the diversity of Soils and Climates which is almost infinite and to the Nature of the Stock of the Tree which is sometimes Good and sometimes Bad and lastly to the Manner or Figure in which the several Trees grow and produce They are all points that require a great deal of Consideration and very much serve to Ballance the Opinions of those that would judge of them There are sometimes ill Pears to be found among the Virgoulees the Lechasserees the Ambrets and the Thorn Pears c. And but Scurvy Peaches among the Minions the Maudlins the Violets the Admirables c. And in Fine there are some bad Plumbs among the Perdrigons some bad Grapes among the Muscats and some bad Figgs among those that are most Esteemed c. And is not that enough to astonish any Curious Person that has applied himself so much as I have done to search into their Nature and should I be excusable if I were so disingenuous as to suppress the great Observations and useful Reflections I have made thereupon from which I have at last drawn this Conclusion That although in a certain sort of good Fruits there may be some defective yet it follows not from thence that the whole kind should therefore be rejected nor that on the other side we should put any great value upon another kind because though known by competent Judges in matter of Fruits to be of a bad sort it may by some lucky hit have yielded some tolerable good ones which some less delicate Palates may be Enamoured with For in the first place all the World is agreed That of Fruits considered according to their Nature there are three Classes that is to say there are some very good and some very bad ones and lastly That there are some again that cannot well be comprehended under neither of those but can only be lookt upon as Fruits simply tolerable and but indifferently qualified And it is only those of this last Rank that finding here and there some Friends and Patrons give occasion to all Disputes arising about the Choice of Fruits for seldom it happens but that all are unanimous in Praising the First and Rejecting the Second Sort for we see that a good Russet or Virgoulee Pear is generally Esteemed and a Parmain Pear or Pear of Fontarabie as much decried every where But 't is not so with a Doyenuee or Dean Pear or a St. Lezin c. It is likewise granted that for Example such a Fruit may prove ill one year or in such certain Expositions or Placings which may have appeared good several years before or in other Expositions and again on the other side that such or such a Fruit may prove good this year which was not to be endured some preceding years And in Fine it is also agreed on all hands That in one sort of Soli Climate and Figure of a Tree such Fruit proves good that always regularly proves bad in a different Climate in another sort of Ground and another kind of Figured Tree For Example That which perhaps produces good Fruit in a full and open Air will not produce nothing nigh so good in the Form of a Dwarf Tree c. Nor every Plant that prospers against a Wall have the same Destiny in a full Air c. Nor every Fruit that proves good in a Sandy Soil arrive to the same perfection in a moister Ground c. And therefore I shall make as exact a Discussion of this matter as 't is possible that I may be the better able to come to a decision in the point of Choice and of the order of Preference which is the scope of my present discourse And besides as it is probable I have not yet attained the knowledge of all the several Sorts of good Fruit in Europe and much less in the rest of the Universe there may perhaps be some which might thrive in our Country and whose Excellence were it once known to me might induce me to make some alteration in the disposition I am going to Establish I grant that such a thing may be but yet I am perswaded there are no new sorts produced so I do not say but that from time to time some sorts may be discovered that after having remained a long time hid in the Obscurity of certain remote Regions may come at last to be known and admired by the great ones of the World nay we have several sorts amongst those that are now reckoned most exquisite among us of which I dare affirm that no mention was made in the first years of my Application to Curiosities of this nature And therefore I shall not fail to make the best Advantage of all such Novelties as fast as they shall come to our hands and I heartily exhort
the choice and proportion of Fruits there is one Article in speaking to which I shall make great Difference between those curious Gentlemen that aim at the pleasing of their own Palats only in Planting them and such as do it only with design to sell their Fruit. The first whom I aim chiefly to gratifie in this Treatise ought above all things to seek for as one may term it the true intrinsick Merit of each sort of Fruit as discernible by their own Taste or by that of their Friends for whose Entertainment they design them As for the other they need to regard little else in them but the Beauty the Largeness and the ordinary Fruitfulness and Abundance of them and to see they be of those ancient Kinds that are most commonly Sold and go off best such as the Orange-pear the Two-headed Pear the dry Martin c. which in those Qualities carry it by many Degrees above the Thorn-pear the Leschasserie the Petit-oin the Crasane c. But as to their Cultivation I make no great Distinction between one and the other though I would not have this Maxim too rigorously understood they ought to know That commonly it is not the great number of Trees which in proportion to the great Expences they have cost their Masters bring forth the greatest Quantity of Fruits it is rather a moderate Number well contriv'd and dispos'd and well cultivated that gives the most compleat Satisfaction in all respects The Care that is necessary and sufficient enough for the Cultivation of the Trees in ordinary Gardens or of the Plants in Kitchen-Gardens will go but a little way in producing any happy Effects in greater Undertakings and we must reduce our selves to midling ones if we pretend to any very certain success by that kind of Culture but with this precaution however that that which is little in respect of such a certain Man may be great in respect of another and that on the contrary that which might be reckon'd too great an Undertaking for such or such a Curious Person that wants those Conveniences some have may be too small a one to another better furnish'd with Means to carry on the Cultivation of his Grounds But in sine there is hardly any sort of Work which needs more Prudence in undertaking it than I wish to every one in this considering the malignant Disposition there appears in all things that fall under the subject of Gard'ning to decline rather from evil to worse as one may say than to improve from good to better so that we may say with the Ancients That in this Art we have to do with a formidable Enemy who is always laying Ambushes against us or with a merciless Creditor that gives us no respite for the paying him his Debts or with a furious Adversary that infallibly crushes us to pieces if we be not strong enough to throw him at the first Shock Or lastly with a rapid River against whose Stream we must be continually tugging up our Boat with all the force we can of Sails and Oars And since 't is not enough to have rendred you an Account of the Method I think my self obliged to observe in this Treatise I think it further expedient clearly to explain to you what my Taste and Judgment is in all sorts of Fruits and first in Pears that after I have declared what pleases or displeases me as well in those that are eaten Raw as in those which are not good without Baking or Preserving No Body may be surprized at the Praises I shall bestow on the one and the small Account I make of some others being in that guided only by the Dictates of my own Palate though I be confidently perswaded that they will not be found much differing from those of Persons of Quality Therefore I say That as for raw Pears I love them in the first place that have a kind of Butter-like and smooth Pulp or at least tender and delicate with a sweet sugred and well relish'd Juice and especially when these Perfections are set off with something of a Perfume such as are the Bergamot-pears the Verte-longues or Green-longs the Beurrees or Butter-pears Leschasseries Ambrets Russelets Virgoulees Marquises or Marchionesses Petit-oins Winter Thorn pears or Espines de Hyver St. Germains Salviatis Lansacs Crasanes little Muscats or Musk-pears Cuisse-Madames or Lady-Thighs c. In the second place for want of the foregoing sorts I love those that have a Pulp that breaks short in the mouth with a sweet and surged Juice and that sometimes with a little smack of Perfume such as the Winter-Boncretien gathered out of a good place the Robine the Cassolet the Summer Musk Boncretien the dry Martin and sometimes even the Portal the Messire-John the Orange-green-pear c. In the third place I truly esteem those that are pretty much perfum'd and well scented though I do not care this Perfection should be inclosed in a Pulp that is extream hard stony and full of dreggy Matter as the Amadote the Thick-tail or Grosse-queuë the Citronpear and the great Winter Musk pear c. For that hardness and stoniness do so much disgust me in all sorts of Pears that though I passionately love a little Smack of Perfume in any Fruit yet those two great Faults do in a great Measure ruine the esteem I should have otherwise for those kind of Musked-pears that I have last mentioned After having thus expressed what pleases me in raw Pears it is no very hard matter to guess what may particularly displease me in them for that doubtless is first a Pulp which instead of being of a Butter-like smooth and tender substance or pleasingly short in the mouth is doughy as that of the Bellissime the Musked Beurree the White Beurree or Gravel-pear or that of the Musked Valley-pear the most part of the Doynnees or Dean-pears c. Or which is sharp or sour as that of the ordinary Valley-pear c. Or that is hard and tough as that of the Bernardiere of the Mountain Foundling c. Or full of stony and dreggy Earthy Matter as that of the Musked Pernan of the Milet c. Or that is of a wildish Taste as the Gilogile the Dutch-pears or Fosse-pears and a numerous Train of others of which I will make a particular Catalogue As for Pears to Stew or Bake I prefer those that are large that Colour well in the doing whose Pulp is sweet and somewhat firm and especially such as keep the longest in Winter such as are the Frank-reals the Double-flowers and the Donvilles The Boneretien particularly is admirably good prepared any of those ways only its preparation yields not so pleasing a Colour and in truth when there is any Pear among them that is defective either in Shape or Colour it ought to be served up only Baked Stewed or otherwise Prepared the Boncretien-pear that has none of those Defects requiring and well deserving to appear in its natural Beauty
good while if care has been taken to gather them before the Frosts and to keep them carefully in the Fruit-lofts For being so ordered they have as great a Privilege as any to appear at Noble Tables though they be a little shriveled it being not to be denied but that they are always very good so long as they continue untainted with any speck of Rottenness The long Muscat Grape is that whereof I most particularly speak here it having the Gift to please the greatest King in the World And I that have the Honour to be the Director and chief Manager of his Fruit and Kitchen-Gardens what ought I not to do and indeed what do I leave unattempted for the finding out all means imaginable to furnish him with that darling Fruit for several Months together Besides these the Chasselas-Grapes both white and black want not Patrons that highly praise them for they have the advantage both to ripen and to keep much more easily than the Muscats And because in Truth they can hardly have the confidence to appear at the same Table with the Muscats they wait till they are passed to triumph in their turn and so these two Sorts of Grapes both do honour to the Month of November that is to say the Muscats in the beginning and the Chasselats at the end these latter lasting the most part of the Advent-Season I add That this Month is still Opulent and well stored with Miraculous Pears For the Fruit-loft if well stock'd supplies it with a good part of those that were so much in Fame at the end of October it being accommodated with considerable remains of Bergamots Crasannes Marquises or Marchionesses Lansacs Petit-oins c. And besides this Month is the Master and Dispenser of very many other good Pears for there are some that begin to mellow in its time and that is in Favour of those whose Gardens are in a hot and dry Soil or that have Wall-trees and Standards the same Pears otherwise staying longer to contribute to the good Fortune of December and January for their Commodity whose Gardens are in a little more fattish and coldish Soil And these kinds of Pears are the Espine or Thorn-pear the Leschasserees Ambrets St. Germains Pastourells St. Augustins Virgoulees c. And for those Persons too that love Pears that break short in the Mouth and such as are musk'd this Month of November presents them with Spanish Boncretiens Amadots dry Martins Winter Russelets which are all tolerably good Pears though not so Excellent as those which are tender or as 't were Buttered I shall tell you in another place what sorts of Pears grow stark naught when they are too long a Ripening and of what Kinds the biggest Pears are commonly the worst And on the contrary again of what other Sorts the little ones are regularly and ordinarily good for nothing Nay and the very Apples come to do Homage to this Month of November and advantageously to display the Proofs of their Merit The Red Calvils signalize themselves above all the rest and as they pretend to reign alone in this Month they leave to their Companions the Apis the White and Grey Pepins the Courpendus the Fenouillets or Fennel-apples the White Calvils c. They leave to these I say the Field free for the Months of December January February and March It seems not necessary to specific any thing more particularly of the Fruits of December because being a Month confining upon November and January and coming between both it is in possession of an ample share of the greatest part of the Riches of both Months and consequently it may truly be said That its condition is none of the worst especially in Years that are a little backward nay and as I have already told you elsewhere we have very often reason to complain that the principal Fruits of the Season mellow too fast towards the end of this Month it making a very great many of them grow soft and rotten as if in effect their Destiny would not permit them to pass any further The Order of Nature will not permit that which in few Months time mounted to its highest degree of Perfection to subsist long in that Condition and therefore our Republick of Fruits that shewed it self in so much Lustre and Glory since the Month of June must submit in the following Months to appear with a great change of Dress upon the Theatre and with a great Diminution of Fortune notwithstanding which disadvantages the Month of January is none of them that have the most reason to complain because there remains for it some of those same Pears that so well plaid their parts in the two preceeding Months We have already remarked to you by the by what is the effect of Backward Years and of Grounds that are a little fatter and stronger than ordinary and told you That the Fruits produced by them are something longer time a losing what they brought with them from the Tree that is their Hardness Sowrness and insipidity which are Defects of which two or three Months keeping perfectly cures them and thereby consequently gives them what they wanted to make them good so that sometimes we may have in this Month excellent Virgoulee pears some Ambrets some Leschasseries and perhaps some Espines or Thorn pears and some St. Germains and above all a great quantity of Colm 〈…〉 and St. Augustin-pears which probably may not have begun to appear before and together with them there are to be had some Musked-pears and such as break short in the mouth as namely the great Winter Musk pears the Lemon-pears c. Nay there are no Pears so mean though to the degree of a Portal a sort of Pear much renowned in Poiton but think themselves good enough to contribute something to the Riches of January And indeed one cannot but allow That all these sorts of Pears have something wherewithal to render the Month of January none of the least esteemable because we are now fain to accommodate our selves the best we can with what we have without standing too much upon Niceties since we know the happy time of Choice and Abundance to be really past with the last Months of the late expired Year One may in some sort say That in the Month of February and still more in the Month of March the low Ebb of the Empire of Fruits begins in Earnest it being now fallen into a terrible abject State for besides dry and liquid Sweet-meats and Lemons and Apples and what we call baking or stewing Pears namely the Double flowers Donvills and Angoberts c. which both in this Month and all along after till the coming of May-Strawberries make up almost all the Furniture of the Desarts what have we else left but some St. Lezins which are but little worth and some Bugy-pears which yet are not so much to be slighted since the Lent-Season makes up with them a part of its best days But
be kept upon them as well quickly to finish the Figure if the Matter be fit for it as to imploy for a certain time the overplus of Sap we judge fit for our Designs and that Plurality of Branches may comprehend those Stumps and temporary Branches as well as kind of Hooks that are on the outside which I have spoken of heretofore In the third place the same regards must be observ'd and with more severity as well for the Overture as for the length of the first Prunings if the Graffed Tree has been capable of receiving upon its head to the number of three or four Graffs which happens when you Graff Crown-wise So much the rather if the Tree having several thick Branches all pretty near the one to the other and all capable of receiving several Graffs on the Head it comes to be Graffed upon every one of them Such a Tree is apparently a little Old and yet vigorous enough so that all the Sap which was prepar'd by the great number of its Roots and was sufficient for the Nourishment and Maintenance of a great quantity of long and strong Branches finding it self pent up in the little compass of those Graffs produces generally there Branches of an extraordinary thickness and length to that degree that pretty often one Eye produces two or three Branches most of them strong In such Cases all the Prudence of a Skilful Gard'ner is requir'd to make a good use of that great Vigour thus reduc'd to the end that by means of a wise Conduct in a short time a Tree may be brought to a fine Figure and to bear a great deal Nothing is more common than to see such Graffs ill order'd and if I may say so Cobbled and Massacred and Consequently woe to that Tree which for the first time falls under the hands of an ignorant Gard'ner The great Overture of the Tree the reasonable length of certain Branches that are essentially necessary for the Figure the Plurality of such as are not so and that as well by the means of short and long Stumps c. as by means of those that are not imploy'd and may be remov'd at pleasure without harming the Tree both by the way of such Prunings as are perform'd within the thickness of a Crown Piece and by the great length of the weakest Branches for Fruit c. All these together are Soveraign Remedies and pretty easie against the disorders that might arise from such an abundance of Sap so reduc'd within a small compass but yet how many ill-favour'd Trees are daily seen for want of the Gard'ners having good Principles or for not having Practis'd them from the beginning In the fourth place the second third and fourth years and even longer if it falls out so you must labour in the manner aforesaid until the Tree begins to yield Fruit and then you must not only return to the Pruning of six or seven Inches upon each Branch but likewise take them lower from year to year here and there in order to have the lower part of your Tree always well fill'd which you cannot arrive to by any other means What I have now said in general upon Old Trees Graffed a-new in Place may be indifferently apply'd as well to Dwarf-standards as to Wall-Fruit-Trees which being granted we must ever propose to our selves the fine Ideas both of the one and the other which we have recommended at the beginning of this Treatise knowing for certain that confusion and thinness are of a dangerous Consequence in point of Espaliers as well as Dwarfs tho' we must grant that the conveniency of tacking the Branches of Wall-Fruit-Trees and by that means of constraining them to lye as we would have them renders the management of them much easier more secure and quicker for success than it can be for Dwarf-standards CHAP. XXVIII Of what is to be done in Cases not foreseen and yet pretty common to all manner of Trees even to those that have been manag'd according to all the Rules of Art I Think I may suppose that whoever has with a sufficient application read over what I have establish'd here for the Pruning of Trees has acquir'd a sufficient Knowledge either to understand it well or to put it in Practice with Pleasure and Advantage To tell the Truth I should be infinitely deceiv'd if it were not so having made it my study with all the Care imaginable to render my self intelligible as well to the Ignorant and the Novice as to the Man of Understanding whether Gard'ner or not who shall be desirous to know my Sentiments upon this Matter But I must add to this that yet to arrive to a greater perfection of Knowledge it will be necessary for two or three years to endeavour the putting in Practice upon young Trees both the Principles and Manner I use Experience far exceeding Theory or Speculation in this Case as well as in all other practicable Arts and Sciences I dare affirm that hardly any difficulty would ever be found in the Application of these Principles if as I may say Nature was always wise in the Production of Branches and Fruits or if she could be govern'd as the Carver governs his Marble and the Painter his Colours but it is certain that whatever care we take for the Conduct of our Trees yet we cannot always Labour about them with so much success as to oblige Nature which we are not altogether masters of on all Occasions to answer our Intentions and Labour Nature is a particular Agent but yet a necessary one which in her Actions depends upon an infinite number of Circumstances either as to Times and Seasons or Grounds of which some are Good and others Bad some Hot some Cold some Dry some Moist or Lastly in relation to the different temper of Trees of which some are apter to bear Fruit than others some to produce more Branches others less some for Stone Fruit others for Kernel and some others are even of a particular kind as Figgs Grapes c. I do not know whether I might not say that pretty often the Rules for Pruning are in some respects the same in relation to Trees as the Rules of Christian Morality are in respect to the Conduct of Men our Trees to me seem impatient under the Constraint we impose upon them to keep them low and sometimes tack'd against a Wall they seem to aim constantly at their escape and to surprize the Gard'ner to shoot where he would not have them and produce Branches where he would have none just as the Corrupt Nature of Man often Rebels against the Divine Laws and Reason and affects most of those things which Morality forbids It is likewise true that in our Trees there sometimes happen certain Inconveniencies which we could neither foresee nor hinder but at least when they are come to pass we must apply our selves to avoid the ill Consequences that might attend them and moreover if it be possible as I have pretty
always actually to find init all the advantages we are beholding to Gardens for We know indeed that it should bring forth a provision for the whole Year but we know very well too that it does not bring forth all days in the Year for example in the Winter Months we hardly see in it any of its Productions the most part of them being then carried out of it and laid up in Store-houses and Conservatories And besides among the Plants that are to be seen in it at other times how many is there which have not then attain'd to their perfection which yet ought to make a Figure in this Garden though they require perhaps two or three and sometimes five or six Months time to arrive to it Thus it is in the beginning of the Spring with all Legumes or Edible Plants and green things and thus it is too in the Summer with the principal Fruits of the other Seasons upon which Consideration I thought it not impertinent nor unuseful to shew yet a little more particularly wherein consists the excellency and accomplishment of a Kitchen-Garden judging of it acccording to the proportion of what we ought to find in it every time we go into it and to give you the more exact and perfect an Idea of it I will as near as I can draw you the picture of our Kings which is in its kind the greatest that ever was beheld as its Master is the greatest Prince that ever yet appeared not that I exhibit this Picture to engage any Person to copy it but only to direct them how by the Rules of a just Comparison and proportion of great things to little they may take such Measures as they shall think most accommodated to their own particular conveniences I will begin this Chapter with the Month of January as I have done the two next preceeding ones and shall tell you first That in the Month of January we ought to be very well satisfied with the Garden in Question if we find in it a reasonable quantity of Winter Lettuces planted in Borders by Walls and covered with long Straw or Straw Screens And Secondly if we find in it some Squares of Artichokes and Beet-Chards well covered with long Dung with the like provision of Cellery Endive Common Parsly and Macedonian Parsly or Alisanders c. and ordered after the same manner And in the third place some Winter Cabbages Ciboules Sorrel and Sallet Furnitures and if these two last be sheltred with some sort of Covering And if in the fourth place there be some squares of Asparagus without any other Artifice than what is used to warm and force them in their Cold Beds as I do and have begun to do in November and December All other Kitchen-plants must be housed and laid up as Roots Onions Cardons Artichokes Collyflowers c. In the fifth place we may be content if we find the Fig-Trees well covered all places where Trees should be well filled up with Trees or at least with holes digged and Trenches prepared ready for planting them or the Roots of those bared and laid open that begin to languish in order to their Cure Sixthly if we see Men busie in clearing the Fruit-Trees of Moss and other filth that Spoils them and if over and above that we find there any Hot Beds for the Novelties of the Spring time such as are Strawberries Radishes Little Sallets Peas Beans Cabbage Lettuces Parsly Cucumbers and Musk-melon Plantations c. If we likewise see some Fig-Trees and some other Trees forced and advanced by artificial Warmth what then ought we not to say in praise of the Gard'ner especially if we find the Walks and Alleys kept neat and clean and no Garden Tools or Utensils any where neglected Having told you what should compose the Beauty of a Kitchen-Garden in the Month of January I think it needless to add any Description of what makes it imperfect and disagreeable as well in that Month as in all the rest of which I shall afterwards treat because any Body may easily discern of himself that 't is just the contrary and reverse of what I have just now specified that is to say a want of any thing that should be in it Negligence Slovinglyness c. which we are to look upon as the Monsters of Kitchen Gardens In the Month of February we must certainly expect to see the beginning of a great Bustling and Activity in Garden works we should now find the most part of those things flourishing and grown pretty forward that we told you were to be raised on Hot Beds in the preceeding Month and if about the latter end of the Month the Weather appear pretty temperate and there happen so considerable a Thaw as to promise an end of the great cold our Gard'ners should then begin to dig and manure the Squares and the Counter Borders prepare the Cold Beds sow those sorts of Seeds that are long coming up as Parsly Onions Ciboules Leeks c. They must likewise now earnestly mind the pruning of Trees as well Dwarfs as Wall-Trees and palisade or nail up these last for the first time and particularly they must take care to make Hot Beds for the replanting of Musk-melons and Cucumbers and for little Sallets Radishes Cabbage-Lettuces c. In March when the Sun begins to pleasure us with both indifferent fair and pretty long days and nature begins visibly to grow warm and active our Gard'ners also should with new and fresh vigour and Application bestir themselves in all parts of their Garden and be seen indefatigably to pursue all the works I have mentioned in the particular Treatise I made on that subject and which therefore 't is not necessary to repeat here again so that if the extent of our Ground be great and the number of Labourers proportionable we should have the pleasure with one cast of an Eye to see them diging making up sowing planting howing weeding graffing pruning c. for in fine before the Month be out the most part of the Ground should be taken up either with Seeds or plants which are to serve for provision for the whole year All that was before covered with Dung ought to be discharged of its coverings which are now grown hidious assoon as they cease to be necessary and every thing ought to breath the free Air which begins now to cheer both Animals and Plants we should at this time have at least something to begin to gather either of Sallets or Radishes of the new Season if the Hot Beds of the foregoing Months have not as yet obliged us with that pleasure But neatness and politeness ought particularly to glitter every where and serve for a varnish to all the Alleys and the dressed Grounds that together with the first dawning of the rising Green that is now springing out of the Womb of the teeming Earth and the perfumed breath of those Plants which Heavens richer influences have made odoriferous and the
supposing always that they be reasonably well cultivated And there are some that besides that have the faculty to produce them more early some than others and they are such Grounds as they commonly call Black Sands in which is found an equal temper between dry and moist accompanied with a good exposition and with an inexhaustible Salt of fertility rendring them easie to be entred by the spade and to be penetrated by the rain waters But on the other hand it is no less certain that it is rare enough to find any of these perfect sorts of Earth and that on the contrary it is very usual to meet with those that offend either in being too dry light and parching or over moist heavy and cold or else by being unfortunately situated as being some of them too high some too sloping and some again too low and too much in a bottom Happy are those Gard'ners that meet with those first sorts of Ground that are so admirably well disposed for Cultivation in which they have hardly ever any bad success to fear but commonly all manner of good Fortune to expect on the other side unhappy or at least much to be pitied are those whose Lot it is to have always some of the great Enemies of Vegetation to combat with I mean either great drought or more especially excessive moisture because this last besides that it is always attended with a chilling cold that retards its productions is likewise apt to rot the greatest part of the Plants and consequently it is very difficult to correct and almost impossible entirely to surmount so great a defect but it is not altogether so difficult to qualifie a dry temper for provided it be not extream great and that we have the convenience of Water to water it and of Dung to amend and inrich it we are Masters of two Soveraign and Infallible Remedies which we must apply for its cure And so by care and pains we may get the Conquest over those dry and stubborn Lands and force them to bring forth in abundance all things we shall regularly demand of them It follows thence that when we are so happy as to meet with those choice good sorts of Ground we may indifferently both sow and plant every where in them any sorts of Legumes or Plants whatsoever with an assured Confidence that they will prosper there The only Subjection we are obliged to in such Grounds is first to weed much because they produce abundance of Weeds among the good Herbs and secondly to be often removing our Legumes and changing their places which is an essential point of Practice in all sorts of Gardens it being not at all convenient to place for two or three times together the same Vegetables in the same piece of Ground because the Nature of the Earth requires these sorts of Changes as being as 't were assured in this Diversity to find wherewithall to recruit and perpetuate its first vigour And though in those good Grounds all things prosper admirably well yet is it a most undoubted truth that Southern and Eastern Expositions are here as well as every where else more proper than those of the West and North to forward and improve its productions witness Strawberries Hasting Peas Cherries and Muscat-Grapes c. To balance which these last Expositions have likewise some peculiar advantages that make them to be esteemed in their turn for Example during the excessive heats of Summer that often scorch up every thing and make our Legumes and other plants run up too hastily to Seed they are exempt from those violent impressions which the Sun makes upon those places that are fully exposed to his burning Rays and consequently our Plants will maintain themselves longer in good plight in those situations than in the others It also follows from hence that if any Person have Ground though tolerably good yet not of an equal goodness all over either caused by the difference of its natural temper or situation and sloping inclination upwards or downwards that then I say the skill and industry of the Gard'ner shews it self by knowing how to allot every plant the place in which it may best come to maturity in every Season as well in regard of forwardness and sometimes of Backwardness as of its outward Beauty and inward perfection Generally speaking those Grounds that are moderately dry light and sandy and such as though they be a little strong and heavy are situated on a gentle rising towards the South or West and are backed by great Mountains or fenced by high Walls against the Cold Winds are more disposed to produce the Novelties of the Spring than the strong heavy fat and moist Sands but likewise on the other Hand in Summers when there falls but little Rain these last produce thicker and better nourisht Legumes and require not such large and frequent Waterings so that we may find some sort of Consolation and Satisfaction in all sorts of Grounds However though absolutely speaking all things that may enter into a Kitchen-Garden may grow in all sorts of Grounds that are not altogether Barren yet it has been observed in all times that all sorts of Earth agree not equally with all sorts of Plants our able Market Gard'ners in the Neighbourhood of Paris justifie the truth of this by a most convincing Experience for we see that such of them whose Gardens are in Sandy Grounds seldom mind to plant in them any Artichokes Collyflowers Beet-Chards Onions Cardons Cellery Beet-raves or Red Beet-Roots and other Roots c. as those do that have theirs in stronger and more hearty Lands and on the contrary these last employ not their Ground in Sorrel Purslain Lettuce Endive and other small plants that are delicate and subject to perish with Mildew and the wet rot as do those whose Gardens are in lighter Lands From all that I have asserted there result two things the first is that an able Gard'ner which has a pretty dry or hilly Ground to cultivate with an Obligation to have of all sorts of things in his Garden should place in the moistest parts those plants that require a little moisture to bring them to perfection as Artichokes Red Beet-Roots Scorzonera's Salsisies Carrots Parsnips Skirrets Beet-Chards Collyflowers and Cabbages Spinage Common Peas Beans Currans Gooseberries Raspberries Onions Ciboules Leeks Parsly Sorrel Radishes Patience or Dock-Sorrel Sweet Herbs Borage Bugloss c. And supposing the Provisions above specified without which nothing will be sightly be already planted in its other parts he should fill up the drier parts of the same Garden with Lettuces of all Seasons Endive Succory Chervil Tarragon Basil Burnet Mint and other Sallet-Furnitures and Purslain Garlick Shalots Winter-Cabbages Hot Beds of all sorts of Plants and of little Sallets he may likewise plant in the same places what Grapes he has a mind to and he must place his Legumes there at moderate distances because they grow not of so large a Size and Stature there as in
the Creation And yet of all that is performed in the whole Course of Vegetation these Fruits cost Nature the least pains in making and the Philosopher the most in undertataking them And the more to puzzle and confound the Curious Enquirers in the Works of Nature it proceeds in the Formation and Nourishment of Trees in a way quite different from that wherein perfect Animals are Generated and Preserved As if it thereby designed to prevent the drawing of any manner of Consequences from the one whereby to understand or illustrate the other The Distribution of Nourishment in perfect Animals is made in equal Proportions to each of the Members which exactly answer one another so that the Right Arm or Thigh usually receives no more than the Left and so of the rest Whereas in Fruit-Trees the Sap is distributed in very unequal Measures few of the Branches being perfectly of the same bigness but some very large others very small and a third sort of a middle size between both and consequently requiring a proportionable Quantity of Sap. It also sometimes happens that some of the smaller Branches receiving more Sap than that particular use for which they seem'd to be designed did require grow in a short time to an extraordinary bigness and on the contrary others that at first seem'd large ones receiving a less Quantity of Sap than was necessary never grow much bigger than those of the smaller size And this may not unfitly be illustrated by those Alterations we frequently observe in some Rivers where the Main Stream does not always go in the very same place Sometimes you 'll see it bear strongly upon one Bank and within a few Months after quite removed to the opposite side or else settle in the midst between both Only 't is to be observed that whether side soever it takes to it commonly makes no very long continuance there For after the very same manner we frequently see strange Alterations in the Motion of the Sap in the Boughs which are properly its Channel and where it never constantly keeps the same course it first took One Year it flows in so great a quantity into one of the smaller Boughs which was just upon bearing that it quite alters its Disposition and puts it upon lengthening and enlarging it self that Matter which otherwise would have been Fruit assuming the Nature of and turning into Wood. The next Year it may happen that what formerly was employ'd in enlarging the Boughs now changes its Office and feeds them chiefly in order to the bearing of Fruit. Another Year you shall see a Branch which at first look'd as if it would have grown into a Massive Bough begin all on a suddain to bear the Channel through which the Sap passed before in a great quantity being some way altered and thereby the Branch hinder'd from growing any bigger than those of the lesser size And 't is further observable that Nature has for each kind of perfect Animals its own peculiar Mould wherein they are all as it were cast exactly into the very same shape and have such an Air as makes them very nearly resemble each other whereas in the Designing and Forming of Fruit-Trees it neither observes Proportion of Parts nor Equality in Bigness nor Resemblance in Shape In perfect Animals the Eyes and the Ears the Belly and the Feet c. are always orderly placed in the same Parts of the Body And none of these is ever suffered to grow in a wrong place but when some frightful Monster is to be produced Whereas the Care of Nature is no further concerned about Fruit-Trees but only that they send forth large Boughs and yield good Fruit whether it be on the top or below on one side or the other Nay it seems willing so far to comply with the Ingenious Gardiner as to observe his Orders and Conduct in the Management of Trees suffering them to receive what shape he shall appoint them and even to produce what Branches and Fruit he will and where he pleases Now since many Productions may be in a Tree at the same time and there is no one Exteriour part of it which is not capable of producing whereas this Work of Nature is only performed in one certain part of Animals How unreasonable is it to argue in all things concerning the Production of Trees from the Generation of Animals There is a certain Course of Action in the Sap which very few have the Curiosity nicely to observe and some are so wholly taken up with Studies of a higher and more delightful Nature or with Business of greater Importance that they cannot sufficiently apply themselves to such Observations And though it would be a very great Accomplishment in any Person that has attained to some considerable Perfefection in two or three Sciences if it were possible for him to make himself as much Master of all the rest Yet a Man may properly be said to be a Good Astronomer a Geometrician or Architect though he be not perfectly well Skill'd in all the other Arts and Sciences And it would be an unjust Censure to say That such a Man is no Good Architect because he is not also a Good Gardiner For though an Architects Skill in Building might justly be suspected who should make a House with Smoaking Chimneys or Rooms that would not hold a Bed Yet 't would be hard to Question the same Man's Abilities in Architecture because the Trees in his Orchard were not all well Ordered or did not bear abundance of Good and Fair Fruit. And speaking with Reference to a Gardiner there are a great many Parts of curious Knowledge which he has no Use of in his way and would not in the least contribute to the Advancement of his Skill or Art As for instance When one knows that the Marble of such a Mountain at Genoua or the Stone of Carriere de St. Leu are very good and fine either to Build with or to make Statues of whereas those of other Places are much Courser and less fit for such Uses Pray Why should a Man break his Brain to find out the Reasons of the Excellency of the one the Imperfections of the other since he can neither Correct the one nor make the other last for ever All that is necessary in this Case is To know where to find the best when he shall have occasion to make use of it and where the bad is that he may not meddle with it In Italy the Firrs that grow on the South-side of a Mountain are much better than those that grow on the North side of it This many of us know upon our own Experience But I believe a Man would find himself mightily mistaken if without any regard to the difference of the Earth he should thence conclude that the only Reason why the latter are Bad is because they grew up exposed to the North For all our Modern Mariners agree That the best Firrs for Masts come from the most Northern Parts