seared the place where it bleedeth with an hot iron which in many haue done but a little good others haue bound the barke close with packe-thred to stay it and some haue tied ouer the place being first dried as well as may bee a plaister made with waxe rossen and turpentine while it is warme Now for the propagating of them You must take the fairest and goalest shot branches of one yeares growth and cut them off with a peece of the old wood vnto it and these being put into the ground before the end of Ianuarie at the furthest will shoote forth and take roote and so become Vines of the same kinde from whence you tooke them This is the most speedy way to haue increase for the laying downe of branches to take roote doth not yeelde such store so plentifully nor doe suckers rise from the rootes so aboundantly yet both these waies doe yeelde Vines that being taken from the old stockes will become young plants fit to bee disposed of as any shall thinke meete CHAP. XI The way to order and preserue grapes fit to be eaten almost all the Winter long and sometimes vnto the Spring ALthough it bee common and vsuall in the parts beyond the Sea to dry their grapes in the Sunne thereby to preserue them all the year as the Raisins of the Sunne are which cannot bee done in our Countrie for the want of sufficient heate thereof at that time or otherwise to scald them in hot water as I heare and afterwards to dry them and so keepe them all the yeare as our Malaga Raisins are prepared that are packed vp into Frayles yet I doe intend to shew you some other waies to preserue the grapes of our Countrie fresh that they may be eaten in the winter both before and after Christmas with as much delight and pleasure almost as when they were new gathered One way is when you haue gathered your grapes you intend to keepe which must be in a dry time and that all the shrunke dried or euill grapes in euery bunch be picked away and hauing prouided a vessell to hold them be it of wood or stone which you will and a sufficient quantitie of faire and cleane drie sand make stratum super stratum of your grapes and the sand that is a lay of sand in the bottome first and a lay of grapes vpon them and a lay or strowing againe of sand vpon those grapes so that the sand may couer euery lay of grapes a fingers breadth in thicknesse which being done one vpon another vntill the vessell be full and a lay of sand vppermost let the vessell be stopped close and set by vntill you please to spend them being kept in some drie place and in no sellar let them bee washed cleane in faire water to take away the sand from so many you will spend at a time Another way is which Camerarius setteth downe he was informed the Turkes vse to keepe grapes all the winter vnto the next summer to take so much meale of Mustard seede as will serue to strow vpon grapes vntill they haue filled their vessels whereon afterwards they poure new wine before it hath boiled to fill vp their vessels therwith and being stopped vp close they keepe them a certaine time and selling them with their liquour to them that will vse them they doe wash the seedes or meale from them when they vse them Another way is that hauing gathered the fairest ripe grapes they are to be cast vpon threds or strings that are fastened at both ends to the side walks of a chamber neere vnto the seeling thereof that no one bunch touch another which will bee so kept a great while yet the chamber must be well defended from the frosts and cold windes that pierce in at the windowes lest they perish the sooner and some will dippe the ends of the branches they hang vp first in molten pitch thinking by searing vp the ends to keepe the bunches the better but I doe not see any great likelihood therein Your chamber or closet you appoint out for this purpose must also bee kept somewhat warme but especially in the more cold and frostie time of the yeare lest it spoile all your cost and paines and frustrate you of all your hopes but although the frosts should pierce and spoile some of the grapes on a bunch yet if you be carefull to keepe the place warme the fewer will be spoiled And thus haue I shewed you the best directions to order this Orchard rightly and all the waies I know are vsed in our Countrie to keep grapes good anie long time after the gathering in regard wee haue not that comfort of a hotter Sun to preserue them by its heate The fruits themselues shall follow euerie one in their order the lower shrubbes or bushes first and the greater afterwards THE THIRD PART CALLED THE ORCHARD COntaining all sorts of trees bearing fruit for mans vse to eate proper and fit for to plant an Orchard in our climate and countrie I bound it with this limitation because both Dates Oliues and oother fruits are planted in the Orchards of Spaine Italy and other hot countries which will not abide in ours Yet herein I will declare whatsoeuer Art striuing with Nature can cause to prosper with vs that whosoeuer will may see what can bee effected in our countrie And first to begin with the lower shrubbes or bushes and after ascend to the higher trees CHAP. I. Rubus Idaeus Raspis THe Raspis berrie is of two sorts white and red not differing in the forme either of bush leafe or berry but onely in the colour and taste of the fruit The Raspis bush hath tender whitish stemmes with reddish small prickes like haires set round about them especially at the first when they are young but when they grow old they become more wooddy and firme without any shew of thornes or prickles vpon them and hath onely a little hairinesse that couereth them the leaues are somewhat rough or rugged and wrinkled standing three or fiue vpon a stalke somewhat like vnto Roses but greater and of a grayer greene colour the flowers are small made of fine whitish round leaues with a dash as it were of blush cast ouer them many standing together yet euery one vpon his owne stalke at the tops of the branches after which come vp small berries somewhat bigger then Strawberries and longer either red or white made of many graines more eminent then in the Strawberry with a kinde of douninesse cast ouer them of a pleasant taste yet somewhat sowre and nothing so pleasant as the Strawberrie The white Raspis is a little more pleasant then the red wherein there is small seede inclosed the rootes creepe vnder ground verie farre and shoote vp againe in many places much encreasing thereby There is another whose stemme and branches are wholly without prickles the fruit is red and somewhat longer and a little more sharpe The Vse of Raspis The leaues of Raspis
by good experience a better way is found and may be learned and therefore if some can doe a thing better than others I thinke it is no shame to learne it of them You shall not then to take the surest course take any long spindled branches nor those branches that haue any young shootes from the ioynts on them nor yet sliue or teare any slippe or branch from the roote for all these waies are vsuall and common with most which causeth so many good rootes to rot and perish and also so many slippes to be lost when as for the most part not the one halfe or with some not a third part doth grow and thriue of those slippes they set And although many that haue store of plants doe not so much care what hauocke they make to gaine some yet to saue both labour and plants I doe wish them to obserue these orders Take from those rootes from whence you intend to make your encrease those shootes onely that are reasonable strong but yet young and not either too small and slender or hauing any shootes from th◠〈◊〉 vpon them cut these slippes or shootes off from the stemme or roote with a knife as conueniently as the shoote or branch will permit that is either close vnto the maine branch if it be short or leauing a ioynt or two behinde you if it be long enough at which it may shoote anew When you haue cut off your slippes you may either set them by and by or else as the best Gardiners vse to doe cast them into a tubbe or pot with water for a day or two and then hauing prepared a place conuenient to set them in which had neede to bee of the finest richest and best mould you can prouide that they may thriue therein the better cut off your slippe close at the ioynt and hauing cut away the lowest leaues close to the stalke and the vppermost euen at the top with a little sticke make a little hole in the earth and put your slippe therein so deep as that the vpper leaues may be wholly aboue the ground some vse to cleane the stalke in the middle and put a little earth or clay within the cleft but many good and skilfull Gardiners doe not vse it put the earth a little close to the slippe with your finger and thumbe and there let it rest and in this manner doe with as many slippes as you haue setting them somewhat close together and not too farre in sunder both to saue ground and cost thereon in that a small compasse will serue for the first planting and also the better to giue them shadow For you must remember in any case that these slippes new set haue no sight of the Sunne vntill they be well taken in the ground and shot aboue ground and also that they want not water both vpon the new planting and after When these slippes are well growne vp they must be transplanted into such other places as you thinke meete that is either into the ground in beds or otherwise or into pots which that you may the more safely doe after you haue well watered the ground for halfe a day before you intend to transplant them you shall separate them seuerally by putting down a broad pointed knife on each side of the slippe so cutting it out take euery one by it selfe with the earth cleauing close vnto the root which by reason of the moisture it had formerly and that which you gaue presently before will be sufficient with any care had to cause it to hold fast vnto the roote for the transplanting of it for if the earth were dry and that it should fall away from the roote in the transplanting it would hazzard and endanger the roote very much i◠it did thriue at all You must remember also that vpon the remouing of these slips you shadow them from the heate of the Sunne for a while with some straw or other thing vntill they haue taken hold in their new place Thus although it bee a little more labour and care than the ordinary way is yet it is surer and will giue you plants that will be so strongly growne before Winter that with the care hereafter specified you shall haue them beare flowers the next yeare after and yeeld you encrease of slippes also To giue you any set time wherein these slippes will take roote and begin to shoote aboue ground is very hard to doe for that euery slip or yet euery kinde of Gilloflower is not alike apt to grow nor is euery earth in like manner fit to produce and bring forward the slippes that are set therein but if both the slippe be apt to grow and the earth of the best fit to produce I thinke within a fortnight or three weekes you shall see them begin to put forth young leaues in the middle or else it may be a moneth and more before you shall see any springing The best time likewise when to plant is a speciall thing to be knowne and of as great consequence as any thing else For if you slippe and set in September as many vse to doe or yet in August as some may thinke will doe well yet vnlesse they be the most ordinary sorts which are likely to grow at any time and in any place the most of them if not all will either assuredly perish or neuer prosper well for the more excellent and dainty the Gilloflower is the more tender for the most part and hard to nurse vp will the slippes be The best time therefore is that you cut off such slippes as are likely and such as your rootes may spare from the beginning of May vntill the middle of Iune at the furthest and order them as I haue shewed you before that so you may haue faire plants plenty of flowers and encrease sufficient for new supply without offence or losse of your store For the enriching likewise of your earth wherein you shall plant your slippes that they may the better thriue and prosper diuers haue vsed diuers sorts of manure as stable soyle of horse beasts or kine of sheepe and pigeons all which are very good when they are thoroughly turned to mould to mixe with your other earth or being steeped in water may serue to water the earth at times and turned in with it And some haue likewise proued Tanners earth that is their barke which after they haue vsed doth lye on heapes and rot in their yards or the like mould from wood-stackes or yards but especially and beyond all other is commended the Willow earth that is that mould which is found in the hollow of old Willow trees to be the most principall to mixe with other good earth for this purpose And as I haue now giuen you directions for the first way to encrease them by slipping so before I come to the other way let mee giue you a caueat or two for the preseruing of them when they are beginning to runne vtterly to decay
number of small long and narrow greene leaues very like vnto the leaues of Pinkes but greener set very thicke together and without order about the stalke vp almost vnto the toppe and lesser by degrees vpwards where stand many flowers according to the age of the plant and thriuing in the place where it groweth in those that are young but a few and more sparsedly and in others that are old many more and thicker set for I haue reckoned threescore flowers and more growing thicke together on one plant with mee and an hundred flowers on another these flowers are of a pale or yellowish red colour and not so deep red as the red Martagon of Constantinople hereafter set down nor fully so large yet of the same fashion that is euery flower hanging downe and turning vp his leaues againe It is not so plentifull in bearing of seede as the other Lillies but when it doth it differeth not but in being lesse 2. Martagon angusti folium magis serotinum There is another whose greene leaues are not so thicke set on the stalke but else differeth not but in flowring a fortnight later There is another also of this kind so like vnto the former in root stalk flower maner of growing 3. Martagon Pomponeum latifolium praecox that the difference is hardly discerned but consisteth chiefly in these two points First that the leaues of this are a little broader and shorter then the former and secondly that it beareth his flowers a fortnight earlier than the first In the colour or forme of the flower there can no difference bee discerned nor as I said in any other thing All these Lillies doe spring very late out of the ground euen as the yellow Martagons doe but are sooner in flower then any others 4. Martagon flore phaeniceo A fourth kinde hereof hath of late been knowne to vs whose leaues are broader and shorter then the last and the flowers of a paler red tending to yellow of some called a golden red colour but flowreth not so early as they 2. Lilium rubrum Byzantinum siue Martagon Constantinopolitanum The red Martagon of Constantinople 1. The red Martagon of Constantinople is become so common euery where and so well knowne to all louers of these delights that I shall seeme vnto them to lose time to bestow many lines vpon it yet because it is so faire a flower and was at the first so highly esteemed it deserueth his place and commendations howsoeuer encreasing the plenty hath not made it dainty It riseth out of the ground early in the spring before many other Lillies from a great thicke yellow scaly root bearing a round brownish stalke beset with many faire greene leaues confusedly thereon but not so broad as the common white Lilly vpon the toppe whereof stand one two or three or more flowers vpon long footestalkes which hang downe their heads and turne vp their leaues againe of an excellent red crimson colour and sometimes paler hauing a long pointell in the middle compassed with sixe whitish chiues tipt with loose yellow pendents of a reasonable good sent but somewhat faint It likewise beareth seede in heads like vnto the other but greater Martagon Constantinopolitanum maculatum The red spotted Martagon of Constantinople We haue another of this kinde that groweth somewhat greater and higher with a larger flower and of a deeper colour spotted with diuers blacke spots or strakes and lines as is to be seene in the Mountaine Lillies and in some other hereafter to be described but is not so in the former of this kinde which hath no shew of spots at all The whole plant as it is rare so it is of much more beauty then the former 2. Martagon Pannonicum siue Exoticum flore spadiceo The bright red Martagon of Hungarie Although this Martagon or Lilly bee of another Countrey yet by reason of the neerenesse both in leafe and flower vnto the former may more fitly be placed next vnto them then in any other place It hath his roote very like the other but the leaues are somewhat larger and more sparsedly set vpon the stalke else not much vnlike the flowers bend downe and turne vp their leaues againe but somewhat larger and of a bright red tending to an Orenge colour that is somewhat yellowish and not crimson like the other 3. Martagon Luteum punctatum The Yellow spotted Martagon 1. This Yellow Martagon hath a great scaly or cloued roote and yellow like vnto all these sorts of turning Lillies from whence springeth vp a round greene strong stalke three foote high at the least confusedly set with narrow long greene leaues white on the edges vp to the very toppe thereof almost hauing diuers flowers on the head turning vp againe as the former doe of a faint yellowish or greenish yellow colour with many blacke spots or strakes about the middle of the leafe of euery flower and a forked pointell with sixe chiues about it tipt with reddish pendents of a heauie strong smell not very pleasant to many It beareth seede very plentifully in great heads like vnto the other former Lillies but a little paler 2. Martagon Luteum non maculatum The Yellow Martagon without spots The other yellow Martagon differeth in no other thing from the former but onely that it hath no spots at all vpon any of the leaues of the flowers agreeing with the former in colour forme height and all things else 3. Martagon Luteum serotinum The late flowring Yellow Martagon There is yet another yellow Martagon that hath no other difference then the time of his flowring which is not vntill Iuly vnlesse in this that the flower is of a deeper yellow colour The Place The knowledge of the first kindes of these early Martagons hath come from Italy from whence they haue bin sent into the Low-Countries and to vs and as it seemeth by the name whereby they haue bin sent by some into these parts his originall should be from the mountaines in Macedonia The second sort is sufficiently knowne by his name being first brought from Constantinople his naturall place being not farre from thence as it is likely But the next sort of this second kinde doth plainly tell vs his place of birth to be the mountaines of Pannonia or Hungarie The third kindes grow on the Pyrenaean mountaines where they haue been searched out and found by diuers louers of plants as also in the Kingdome of Naples The Time The first early Martagons flower in the end of May or beginning of Iune and that is a moneth at the least before those that come from Constantinople which is the second kinde The two first yellow Martagons flower somewhat more early then the early red Martagons and sometimes at the same time with them But the third yellow Martagon as is said flowreth a moneth later or more and is in flower when the red Martagon of Constantinople flowreth And although the early red and yellow Martagons spring later
rich is little enough and therefore you must raise it with meere stable soyle thorough rotten well turned vp that it may be at the least three foote deepe thereof which you must cast also into high beds or balkes with deepe trenches or furrowes betweene so as the ridges may be at the least a foot and a halfe higher then the furrowes for otherwise it is not possible to haue good Melons growe ripe The choise of your seede also is another thing of especiall regard and the best is held to be Spanish and not French which hauing once gained be sure to haue still of the same while they last good that you may haue the seede of your owne ripe Melons from them that haue eaten them or saue some of the best your selfe for the purpose I say while they last good for many are of opinion that no seede of Muske Melons gathered in England will endure good to sowe againe here aboue the third yeare but still they must be renewed from whence you had your choisest before Then hauing prepared a hot bed of dung in Aprill set your seedes therein to raise them vp and couer them and order them with as great care or greater then Cowcumbers c. are vsed that when they are ready they may be transplanted vpon the beds or balkes of that ground you had before prepared for them and set them at the least two yards in sunder euery one as it were in a hole with a circle of dung about them which vpon the setting being watered with water that hath stood in the Sunne a day or two and so as often as neede is to water couer them with strawe some vse great hollow glasses like vnto bell heads or some such other things to defend them both from the cold euenings or dayes and the heate of the Sunne while they are young and new planted There are some that take vpon them great skill that mislike of the raising vp of Melons as they doe also of Cowcumbers on a hot bed of horse dung but will put two or three seedes in a place in the very ground where they shall stand and growe and thinke without that former manner of forcing them forwards that this their manner of planting will bring them on fast and sure enough in that they will plucke away some of the worst and weakest if too many rise vp together in a place but let them know for certaine that howsoeuer for Cowcumbers their purpose and order may doe reasonable well where the ground is rich and good and where they striue not to haue them so early as they that vse the other way for Muske Melons which are a more tender fruit requiring greater care and trouble in the noursing and greater and stronger heate for the ripening they must in our cold climate haue all the art vsed vnto them that may be to bring them on the more early and haue the more comfort of the Sunne to ripen them kindly or else they will not bee worth the labour and ground After you haue planted them as aforesaid some of good skill doe aduise that you be carefull in any dry season to giue them water twice or thrice euery weeke while they are young but more afterward when they are more growne and that in the morning especially yea and when the fruit is growne somewhat great to water the fruit it selfe with a watering pot in the heate of the day is of so good effect that it ripeneth them much faster and will giue them the better taste and smell as they say To take likewise the fruit and gather it at the full time of his ripenesse is no small art for if it be gathered before his due time to be presently eaten it will be hard and greene and not eate kindly and likewise if it be suffered too long the whole goodnesse will be lost You shall therefore know that it is full time to gather them to spend presently when they begin to looke a little yellowish on the outside and doe smell full and strong but if you be to send them farre off or keepe them long vpon any occasion you shall then gather them so much the earlier that according to the time of the carriage and spending they may ripen in the lying being kept dry and couered with woollen clothes When you cut one to eate you shall know it to be ripe and good if the seede and pulpe about them in the middle be very waterish and will easily be separated from the meate and likewise if the meate looke yellow and be mellow and not hard or greene and taste full and pleasant and not waterish The vsuall manner to eate them is with pepper and salt being pared and sliced and to drowne them in wine for feare of doing more harme Cowcumbers and Pompions after they are noursed vp in the bed of hot dung are to be seuerally transplanted each of them on a large plot of ground a good distance in sunder but the Pompions more because their branches take vp a great deale more ground besides will require a great deale more watering because the fruit is greater And thus haue you the ordering of those fruits which are of much esteeme especially the two former with all the better sort of persons and the third kinde is not wholly refused of any although it serueth most vually for the meaner and poorer sort of people after the first early ripe are spent CHAP. V. The ordering of diuers sorts of herbes for the pot for meate and for the table TYme Sauory and Hyssope are vsually sowne in the Spring on beds by themselues euerie one a part but they that make a gaine by selling to others the young rootes to set the knots or borders of Gardens doe for the most part sowe them in Iuly and August that so being sprung vp before Winter they will be the fitter to be taken vp in the Spring following to serue any mans vse that would haue them Sage Lauender and Rosemary are altogether set in the Spring by slipping the old stalkes and taking the youngest and likeliest of them thrusting them either twined or otherwise halfe a foote deepe into the ground and well watered vpon the setting if any seasonable weather doe follow there is no doubt of their well thriuing the hot Sunne and piercing drying Windes are the greatest hinderances to them and therefore I doe aduise none to set too soone in the Spring nor yet in Autumne as many doe practise for I could neuer see such come to good for the extremity of the Winter comming vpon them so soone after their setting will not suffer their young shootes to abide not hauing taken sufficient strength in the ground to maintain themselues against such violence which doth often pierce the strongest plants Marierome and Bassill are sowne in the Spring yet not too early for they are tender plants and doe not spring vntill the weather bee somewhat warme but Bassill would bee sowne
on You must remember that after two or three yeares you take vp these stockes and when you haue pruned both toppe and roote to set them againe in a thinner and fitter order to be afterwards grafted in the bud while they are young as I shall shew you by and by or in the stocke if you will suffer them to growe greater Now likewise to know which are the fittest stockes of all sorts to choose thereon to graft euery of these sorts of fruits is a point of some skill indeede and therefore obserue them as I doe here set them downe for bee you assured that they are certaine rules and knowne experiences whereunto you may trust without being deceiued Your blacke Cherrie stockes as I said before are the fittest and best for all sorts of Cherries long to abide and prosper and euen May or early Cherry will abide or liue longer being grafted thereon either in the budde or in the stocke then on the ordinary red Cherry stocke but the red Cherry stocke is in a manner the onely tree that most Nursery men doe take to graft May Cherries on in the stocke for it is but a late experience of many to graft May Cherries in the bud many also doe graft May Cherries on Gascoigne Cherry stockes which doe not onely thrine well but endure longer then vpon any ordinay Cherry stocke For indeede the May Cherries that are grafted vpon ordinary red Cherrie stockes will hardly hold aboue a dozen yeares bearing well although they come forwarder at the first that is doe beare sooner then those that are grafted on Gascoigne or blacke Cherry stockes but as they are earlier in bearing so they are sooner spent and the Gascoigne and blacke Cherry stockes that are longer in comming forward will last twice or thrice their time but many more grafts will misse in grafting of these then of those red Cherry stockes and besides the natures of the Gascoigne and blacke Cherry stockes are to rise higher and make a goodlier tree then the ordinary red stocke will which for the most part spreadeth wide but riseth not very high The English red Cherry stocke will serue very well to graft any other sort of Cherry vpon and is vsed in most places of this Land and I know no other greater inconuenience in it then that it shooteth out many suckers from the roote which yet by looking vnto may soone bee remoued from doing any harme and that it will not last so long as the Gascoigne or blacke Cherry stocke will May Cherries thus grafted lowe doe most vsually serue to be planted against a wall to bring on the fruit the earlier yet some graft them high vpon standards although not many and it is I thinke rather curiosity if they that doe it haue any wals then anie other matter that causeth them thus to doe for the fruit is naturally small though early and the standard Cherries are alwaies later then the wall Cherries so that if they can spare any roome for them at their wals they will not plant many in standards Now concerning Plummes as I said before for the sowing or setting of the stones so I say here for their choise in grafting of them either in the budde or stocke The white Peare Plumme stocke and the other there mentioned but especially the white Peare Plumme is the goodliest freest and fittest of all the rest as well to graft all sort of Plummes vpon as also to graft Apricockes which can be handsomely and to any good purpose grafted vpon no other Plum stocke to rise to bee worth the labour and paine All sorts of Plums may be grafted in the stocke and so may they also in the bud for I know none of them that will refuse to be grafted in the bud if a cunning hand performe it well that is to take off your bud cleanely and well when you haue made choice of a fit cyon for as I shal shew you anon it is no small peece of cunning to chuse your cyon that it may yeeld fit buds to graft withall for euery plum is not of a like aptnes to yeeld them But Apricocks cannot be grafted in the stock for any thing that euer I could heare or learne but only in the bud and therefore let your Plum stocke bee of a reasonable size for Apricockes especially and not too small that the graft ouergrow not the stocke and that the stocke bee large enough to nourish the graft As your Plum stockes serue to graft both Apricockes and Plummes so doe they serue also very well to graft Peaches of all sorts and although Peach stockes will serue to be grafted with Peaches againe yet the Peach stocke as I said before will not endure so long as the Plumme stocke and therefore serueth but for necessity if Plum stocks be not ready or at hand or for the present time or that they afterwards may graft that sort of Peach on a Plumme stocke for many might lose a good fruit if when they meete with it and haue not Plumme stockes ready to graft it on they could not be assured that it would take vpon another Peach stocke or branch or on the branch of an Apricocke eyther Plumme stockes will serue likewise very well for some sorts of Nectorins I say for some sorts and not for all the greene and the yellow Nectorin will best thriue to be grafted immediately on a Plumme stocke but the other two sorts of red Nectorins must not be immediately grafted on the Plumme stocke but vpon a branch of an Apricocke that hath beene formerly grafted on a Plumme stocke the nature of these Nectorins being found by experience to be so contrary to the Plum stocke that it will sterue it and both dye within a yeare two or three at the most Diuers haue tryed to graft these red Nectorins vpon Peach stockes and they haue endured well a while but seeing the Peach stocke will not last long it selfe being ouer-weake how can it hold so strong a nature as these red Nectorins which will as I said before sterue a Plum stocke that is sufficient durable for any other Plumme Apricocke stockes from the stones are hardly nursed vp and worse to be remoued and if a red Nectorin should be grafted on an Apricock raysed from the stone and not remoued I doubt it might happen with it as it doth with many other trees raised from stones or kernels and not remoued that they would hardly beare fruit for the nature of most trees raised from stones or kernels and not remoued is to send great downe-right rootes and not to spread many forwards so that if they be not cut away that others may spreade abroad I haue seldome seene or known any of them to beare in any reasonable time and therefore in remouing these great downe-right rootes are alwayes shred away and thereby made fit to shoote others forwards Hereby you may perceiue that these red Nectorins will not abide to bee grafted vpon any other stocke well
peeces of soft leather or other such like soft thing compassing the armes or branches fastened with small or great nailes as neede requireth to the wals onely those buds or branches are to be nipped or cut off that shoot forward and will not so handsomely be brought into conformity as is fitting yet if the branches growe too thicke to hinder the good of the rest or too high for the wall they may nay they must be cut away or lopped off and if anie dead branches also happen to be on the trees they must be cut away that the rest may haue the more libertie to thriue Diuers also by carefully nipping away the waste and superfluous buds doe keepe their trees in conformity without much cutting The time to pruine or plash or tye vp wall trees is vsually from the fall of the leafe to the beginning of the yeare when they begin to blossome and most especially a little before or after Christmas but in any case not too late for feare of rubbing off their buds Some I know doe plash and tye vp their wall trees after bearing time while the leaues are greene and their reason is the buds are not so easie or apt to bee rubbed from the branches at that time as at Christmas when they are more growne but the leaues must needes be very cumbersome to hinder much both the orderly placing and close fastening of them to the wall This labour you must performe euery yeare in its due time for if you shall neglect and ouerslip it you shall haue much more trouble to bring them into a fit order againe then at the first The standard trees in an Orchard must be kept in another order for whereas the former are suffered to spread at large these must be pruined both from superfluous branches that ouerload the trees make them lesse fruitfull as well as lesse sightly and the vnder or water boughes likewise that drawe much nourishment from the trees and yet themselues little the better for it I meane to giue fruit If therefore your Orchard consist of young trees with a little care and paines it may bee kept in that comely order and proportion it was first destined vnto but if it consist of old growne trees they will not without a great deale of care and paines be brought into such conformitie as is befitting good and comely trees for the marke of those boughes or branches that are cut off from young trees will quickly be healed againe the barke growing quickly ouer them whereby they are not worse for their cutting but an old tree if you cut off a bough you must cut it close and cleanly and lay a searcloth of tallow waxe and a little pitch melted together vpon the place to keepe off both the winde sunne and raine vntill the barke haue couered it ouer againe and in this manner you must deale withall such short stumps of branches as are either broken short off with the winde or by carelesnesse of want of skill or else such armes or branches as are broken off close or sliued from the body of the tree for the raine beating and falling into such a place will in short time rotte your tree or put it in danger besides the deformity Some vse to fill vp such an hole with well tempered clay and tacke a cloth or a peece of leather ouer it vntill it be recouered and this is also not amisse Your young trees if they stand in anie good ground will bee plentifull enough in shooting forth branches bee carefull therefore if they growe too thicke that you pruine away such as growe too close and will if they be suffered spoile one another as they may be best spared that so the sunne ayre and raine may haue free accesse to all your branches which will make them beare the more plentifully and ripen them the sooner and the more kindly If anie boughes growe at the toppe too high cut them also away that your trees may rather spread then growe too high And so likewise for the vnder boughes or anie other that by the weight of fruit fall or hang downe cut them off at the halfe and they will afterwards rise and shoote vpwards You shall obserue that at all those places where anie branches haue been cut away the sappe will euer bee readie to put forth if therefore you would haue no more branches rise from that place rubbe off or nippe off such buddes as are not to your minde when they are new shot and thus you may keep your trees in good order with a little paines after you haue thus pruined and dressed them One other thing I would aduertise you of and that is how to preserue a fainting or decaying tree which is readie to perish if it be not gone too farre or past cure take a good quantitie of oxe or horse bloud mixe therewith a reasonable quantitie of sheepe or pigeons dung which being laid to the roote will by the often raines and much watering recouer it selfe if there bee anie possibilitie but this must bee done in Ianuarie or Februarie at the furthest CHAP. VIII Diuers other obseruations to be remembred in the well keeping of an Orchard THere be diuers other things to be mentioned whereof care must be had either to doe or auoide which I thinke fit in this Chapter promiscuously to set down that there may be nothing wanting to furnish you with sufficient knowledge of the care paines and casualties that befall an Orchard for it hath many enemies and euery one laboureth as much as in them lye to spoile you of your pleasure or profit or both which must bee both speedily and carefully preuented and helped and they are these Mosse Caterpillars Ants Earwigs Snailes Moales and Birds If Mosse begin to ouergrowe your trees looke to it betimes lest it make your trees barren Some vse to hacke and crossehacke or cut the barke of the bodies of their trees to cause it fall away but I feare it may endanger your trees Others do either rubbe it off with a haire cloth or with a long peece of wood formed like a knife at the end of a long sticke or pole which if it bee vsed cautelously without hurting the buds I like better Caterpillars some smoake them with burning wet strawe or hay or such like stuffe vnder the trees but I doe not greatly like of that way others cut off the boughes whereon they breed and tread them vnder their feete but that will spoile too manie branches and some kill them with their hands but some doe vse a new deuised way that is a pompe made of lattin or tin spout-fashion which being set in a tubbe of water vnder or neare your trees they will cause the water to rise through it with such a force and through the branches that it will wash them off quickly To destroy Ants that eate your fruit before and when it is ripe some vse to annoint the bodies of their trees with tarre that
other trees be or else it is a great hazzard if they doe not perish and dye the cold and frosts in the winter being able to pierce them through if they should bee transplanted in winter before they haue taken roote You must obserue and take this therefore for a certaine rule that you alwaies remoue such trees or shrubbes as are euer greene in the spring of the yeare and at no time else if you will doe well that is from the end of March or beginning of Aprill vnto the middle or end of May especially your more dainty and tender plants shadowing them also for a while from the heate of the Sun and giuing them a little water vpon their planting or transplanting but such water as hath not presently been drawn from a Well or Pumpe for that will go neer to kill any plant but such water as hath stood in the open ayre for a day at the least if not two or three Yet for dwarfe Boxe I confesse it may endure one moneth to be earlier planted then the rest because it is both a more hardy and lowe plant and thereby not so much subiect to the extremitie of the colde but if you should plant it before winter the frosts would raise it out of the ground because it cannot so soone at that time of the yeare take roote and thereby put it in danger to be lost Moreouer all of them will not abide the extremitie of our winter frosts and therefore you must of necessity house some of them as the Rose Bay Mirtle and some others but the other sorts being set where they may bee somewhat defended from the cold windes frostes and snow in winter with some couering or shelter for the time will reasonably well endure and beare their fruit or the most of them If any be desirous to be furnished with store of these kinds of trees that will be noursed vp in our Country he may by sowing the seed of them in square or long woodden boxes or chests made for that purpose gaine plenty of them but hee must be carefull to couer them in winter with some straw or fearne or beane hame or such like thing layd vpon crosse sticks to beare it vp from the plants and after two or three yeares that they are growne somewhat great and strong they may bee transplanted into such places you meane they shall abide yet it is not amisse to defend them the first yeare after they are transplanted for their more securitie the seedes that are most vsually sowen with vs are the Cypresse tree the Pine tree the Baye the Pyracantha or prickly Corall tree and the Mirtle the Rose Bay I haue had also risen from the seede that was fresh and brought me from Spaine But as for Orenge trees because they are so hardly preserued in this our cold climate vnlesse it bee with some that doe bestow the housing of them besides a great deale more of care and respect vnto them from the bitternesse of our cold long winter weather although their kernels being put into the ground in the Spring or Summer and if care bee had of them and conuenient keeping will abide and by grafting the good fruite on the crab stocke they may bee in time nursed vp I doe not make any other especiall account of them nor giue you any further relation of their ordering Now for the ordering of these trees after they are eyther planted of young sets or transplanted from the seede it is thus First for Bay trees the most vsuall way is to let them grow vp high to bee trees and many plant them on the North or East side of their houses that they may not bee scorched with the Sunne but the bitter winters which we often haue doe pinch them shrewdly insomuch that it killeth euen well growne trees sometimes downe to the roote but some doe make a hedge of them being planted in order and keep them low by lopping of them continually which will make them bush and spread The Cypresse tree is neuer lopped but suffered to grow with all the branches from a foote aboue the ground if it may be straight vpright for that is his natiue grace and greatest beautie and therefore the more branches doe dye that they must bee cut away the more you deforme his propertie The Pine tree may be vsed in the same manner but yet it wil better endure to sustaine pruining then the Cypresse without any such deformitie The Laurocerasus or Cherry Bay may be diuersly formed that is it may be either made to grow into a tall tree by shredding still away the vnder branches or else by suffering all the branches to grow to be a low or hedge bush both by the suckers and by laying downe the lower branches into the earth you may soone haue much increase but this way will cause it to bee the longer before it beare anie fruit The Rose Baye will verie hardlie bee encreased either by suckers or by layers but must bee suffered to grow without lopping topping or cutting The Pyracantha or Prickly Corall tree may bee made to grow into a reasonable tall tree by shredding away the lower branches or it may be suffered to grow lowe into an hedge bush by suffering all the branches to grow continually you may also propagate it by the suckers or by laying downe the lower branches The Myrtle of all sorts abideth a low bush spreading his branches full of sweete leaues and flowers without anie great encrease of it selfe yet sometimes it giueth suckers or shootes from the rootes but for the more speedie propagating of them some doe put the cuttings of them into the earth and thereby increase them There are some other trees that are not of any great respect as the Yew tree and the Savine bush both which may be encreased by the cuttings and therefore I need not make any further relation or amplification of them and to say thus much of them all is I thinke sufficient for this Worke. CHAP. X. The ordering curing and propagating Vines of all sorts IN most places of this countrie there is small care or paines taken about the ordering of Vines it sufficeth for the most part with them that haue anie to make a frame for it to spread vpon aboue a mans height or to tacke it to a wall or window c. and so to let it hang downe with the branches and fruit vntill the weight thereof and the force of windes doe teare it downe oftentimes and spoile the grapes and this way doth somewhat resemble that course that the Vineyard keepers obserue in the hot countries of Syria Spaine and Italy and in the furthest parts of France as I hear likewise for in most of these hot countries they vse to plant an Oliue betweene two Vines and let them runne thereupon But manie of the other parts of France c. doe not suffer anie trees to growe among their Vines and therefore they plant them thicke and pruine