Orange-Tree be it one brought from hot Countries or that has only been newly chang'd into another Box may now and then remain two or three years without pushing either Roots or Branches whatever pains one takes about it which is very irksome But even in this case one is not presently to despair of the Tree or cast it away seeing so long as the Stem and Branches continue fresh you may be sure it is alive and may for all this Emerge Nor will I advise you to change its Case but to continue your wonted care of him as he stands and you 'll after a while find him to Recover and answer all your Pains and Patience it familiarly happening that this Lethargie and Benumb'ness from I know not what unknown and secret Cause is at last vanquish'd and overcome But where an Orange-Tree that for instance has been In-Cas'd and diligently Dress'd for three or four years ceafes for a whole Twelve-month to Spring at all you may as already we have noted conclude that he is beginning to be Sick and speedily Re-Case him the next year following To perform this well you shall first of all pare off two Thirds of the Old Mould or Clod which indeed looks very frightful at first to those who are yet unacquainted with the Government of Cased Trees Though it be indispensably necessary at every Re-Casing especially if the Tree have been in the same Box four or five years or perhaps a a longer time for 't is sometimes expedient to diminish and take away a full half of its Clod as when through the negligence or imprudence of former Gard'ners you find a Tree become excessively Gross and Over-grown for want of being duly Prun'd and Trimm'd on its precedent Re-Casings The second thing to be done in Re-Casing well is before you begin this Important Work In the first place to consider the Mould and Earth of the Clod In the next to see what condition the Case and Box is in As for the Mould if you find it over light and that you conceive the Root has but a small Clod about it you must then Water it plentifully the day before you stir any thing that so the Moisture may cause it to adhere to the Roots least otherwise the Earth fall wholly away from them leaving them quite Naked when you come to take the Tree out of its Case but if you perceive the Earth to be solid and material so as in likelihood the Root has a sufficient Clod about it you may altogether omit the previous Watering and proceed to Un-Case The Earth will hold well enough to the Roots and you may Work without any danger As for the Box you were before to consider whether it be fit to serve any more and if so to Reserve it If not to dispose of it accordingly Now for the saving of the Case be it with a Wicket or as ordinarily without any you should with some fitting Instrument Howe or Trowel scrape and take away from about the Roots Clod and all the four sides of the Case as much old Earth as until you can conveniently arrive at the Clod and then also pare off as much of the ancient Roots as you can without disordering of the Clod of which you should leave three parts This is a necessary Operation for the cleansing of it quite round which otherwise you would not be able to reach and come at This done lift the Tree out of the Case with either strength of Arm if it be not too heavy or by the help of a Crane Pully and Ropes if it be of too great a bulk and so without demolishing any part of the Old Case you may keep or make use of it again either to Re-Case the same Tree in or some other whilst the former with some small Reparations may last perhaps four or five years longer But if you find it not worth the mending let it be broken up for the Fire and so you shall come to the intire Clod and as before abating about two Thirds or more of the Mould as you see cause since in either respect Retrenchments are to be made as well on every of the four sides as underneath scraping away so much of the old Exhausted Earth as till you discover and lay bare about two Inches of the ends of the Roots that had been Cut to be Revested and turnish'd in Re-Casing with new and fresh Mould as shall hereafter be shown that so they may at their Extremities put forth new and lusty Roots sufficiently to Re-establish the Tree By the way I Advertise that in Pruning the Roots which you will find twisted and intangled one within the other you be careful to take clean away all that you Cut off without leaving so much as a Fragment or Chip remaining thereby preventing the Rotting and Infecting of their Neighbours which were very dangerous In a word after these Retrenchments made of Earth and Roots if the Weight and Bulk of Earth permit I Counsel you to dip it in some Tub or Vessel full of Water or Fountain Basin deep enough to cover the intire Clod and there to let it remain as long as the Water Works and Boils about it for so it will soaking in by degrees where the ordinary Waterings could not penetrate and consequently the Earth excessively dry'd and Water taking place will force out and expel the latent and prejudicial Air which causes the Ebullition and Disorder So soon as the Boiling ceases take the drenched Tree out of the Water and placing it on some Block or Case laid side-long or any thing that stands a little higher than the Ground there let it rest until all the Water be drain'd from it and it have almost quite done dropping For this Reason That whilst the Clod is thus streaming should one put it into a new Earth'd Case it would make it all into a Mortar which were very pernicious to the Tree for being necessarily oblig'd to press and close the Mould to the sides of the Clod and crowd as much into the Case as is possible as well about the Naked Roots as where ever one finds a void it could not be but the Earth thus moisten'd beaten and press'd would turn all to pap and Mortar which would at last grow hard and petrifie like Stone by all means to be prevented Now in case the Clod be too big to be thus plung'd in Water When the Re-Casing is finish'd with a good big pointed Stake made of some hard Wood or an Iron Crow or Pin made for the purpose endeavour to pierce the Clod in several places of it and pour Water in the holes gently from time to time as long almost as it will imbibe any and that you judge the whole Mass of Earth may sufficiently be soak'd with it Let us next proceed to fit our new Case be it of the smaller middle or largest size The Custom is and 't is a very good one both for the benefit of the
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
preserving our Height Therefore the same Operation must be perform'd in removing all that is bad under good Earth when the Surface being too high compar'd to the level of the House there is a necessity of sinking it in order to be one step higher than the level of the Garden upon which all People may easily regulate themselves to do it more or less according to the Exigencies of their Ground and its wants but still keeping to the quantity of good Earth propos'd as well as to the distance that must be from the Surface of the Garden to the Door which serves for an Entrance into it The Earth being according to our Wishes both as to quantity and goodness and yet too low in the Surface we must likewise examin how much too low it lyes in order to raise it conformably to our Wants and Wishes it might chance to lay so low that there would be a necessity to raise it considerably above three Foot in which case all the good Earth must be dug up and laid aside and the bottom rais'd sufficiently with what ever could be got good or bad after which the good Earth must be laid over it again with the management and mixture heretofore explain'd I could wish I had better Expedients to propose to avoid the Charges of Transportation but truly I know none There now remains to Examine what is to be done in the fifth Case to correct the over great Moistures some Gardens are subject to which rot every thing and make the Production not only backward but also insipid and bad none but hot and dry Earths are forward those that are moist are always cold and consequently have no disposition for Novelties This cold which is inseparable from Moisture is of all defects the most difficult to be cur'd The Ancients knew it as well as we do and have given it the Name of Deceiver But still since Earth has been submitted to the Industry of Man and that there are but few things labour cannot overcome let us declare what a long Experience has taught us in this Case Moistures are either natural and perpetual in Earth or only accidental and passing in the first case we have two Expedients The first is to turn aside at a distance if possible by Conduits or Gutters the Waters that annoy us and give them a discharge to remove them from us which being done the Ground will not fail becoming dry and when the first is impracticable The second is To raise the whole Plats or only the great Beds upon Ridges and to that end make deep Furrows to serve for kind of Paths The Earth that is taken from thence will serve to raise the Plats or Beds But if those Moistures are only Transitory and for Instance only occasion'd by great Rains and the nature of the Ground not proper to soak them in recourse must be had to the same Expedient of raising of the Earth to drain them and to the making of Conduits or Gutters to carry those Waters out of the Garden Finally The Moisture not being extraordinary the contrary of what we have prescrib'd for very dry Grounds must be done that is the Earth must be rais'd a little higher than the Walks to the end that those Walks may serve as a drain to those elevated Beds just as in the other Case the haughing of the Borders serves as a drain to receive and improve by the Waters of the adjacent Walks In order to raise Grounds nothing can be better than what we have said to raise the Surface and in case Conveniences be wanting for the Transportation of Earth having abundance of great Dung at hand it may be us'd instead of it as I have said about the Kitchen-Garden of Versailles mixing it abundantly at the bottom of the Ground or underneath the Earth in order to raise it as much as is necessary but still great Conduits are of great use I conclude what relates to the Preparation of such Grounds as are defective either in their quality or too small quantity carefully exhorting those who dig the Ground along some Walls to take care first not to approach too near the Foundations and to leave always some solid Banck undug lest the Wall might tumble down by its own weight or by some unexpected showers I exhort in the second place to fill up such Trenches immediately after their being empty'd or rather at the very same time one part after another for want of which and for the same Reasons the danger of tumbling is yet greater After having examin'd what relates to the Conditions that are necessary for the Fruit and Kitchen-Gardens that are to be made viz. The quality and quantity of good Earth the happy Situation and favourable Exposure the convenience of Waterings the level of the Ground the Figure Entrance and Closure of the Garden together with the Proximity of the Place having also propos'd the means to correct the defects of Drought and Moisture there still remains to speak upon the Subject of the Acclivities and Declivities when they are too sleep for the Gardens we are absolutely compell'd to choose CHAP. XIII Concerning the Acclivities and Declivities of every Garden WE have already said what is to be wish'd for certain Inequalities that may be favourable in Gardens and Insinuated what is to be fear'd from the Inconveniences of the great ones let us now speak of what may be proper to remedy such as may be corrected In order to which as soon as the Place of the Garden is resolv'd on upon the Considerations heretofore establish'd the Figure being either very square so that the Sides and Angles may be altogether or at least partly Equal and Parallel which is most to be wish'd for or else Irregular the Angles or Sides being unequal or having perhaps more or less than four Sides or Angles both the one and the other differing in themselves either in length or overture c. are Defects fit to be avoided if possible or at least endeavours must be us'd to rectifie them The Place of the Garden being I say resolv'd upon either Voluntarily or out of Necessity the Enclosure must not be begun until after having taken the Level of all the Ground to know all the Acclivities and Declivities in order to take Measures accordingly otherwise one might fall into many great Inconveniences either as to the Walls that are to be made or in respect to the Allies and Squares It is most certain that every piece of Ground may chance to have different Risings and Falls viz. One Two or Three for as many sides and One for every Diagonal And 't is almost impossible to know the true Level of a Garden without having first taken and afterwards regulated all the Inequalities The Diagonals to speak more Intelligibly in Favour of some Gard'ners are as it were the two Arms of a St. Andrew's Cross which may and ought to be figur'd by Trenches carried from Corner to Corner a cross
for Example Horse and Mules Dung never putting too much nor too little but a moderate quantity excess being dangerous in these Cases on the other hand putting none at all in the Earth in question is a defect that would soon be perceiv'd as likewise putting but too small a quantity is a help which not being sufficient must be look'd upon as useless especially in lean Earths from which more is requir'd than it is able to produce that is abundance of thick well fed Legumes The most reasonable measure for imploying of that Dung is to lay a Basket full and that of a moderate size upon the length of every Fathom of slope when it is about the thickness of a foot of Earth and thus the length of twenty Fathom to the breadth of six foot and the depth of three will consume sixscore Baskets full of that moderate size that is about such a size as a Woman may partly be able to carry And when there is not Dung enough to make the mixture I have explain'd here the small quantity there may be of it must only be spread upon the Surface spreading it with an even hand after which Tilling it sufficiently about nine or ten Inches in depth it must be buried so that it may no longer appear on the out-side and yet not so deep as to be out of the reach of the Roots of Plants The Excrements of Sheep and Goats are very fit for that kind of Dung and it will suffice to spread about two Inches thick of it that small quantity will contribute to amend the Earth as much as a greater of Horse or Cow-dung And in truth I look upon Sheeps-dung as the best of Dungs and that which has most disposition to fertilize all manner of Earths the Treatise of the Culture of Orange-Trees will show more particularly how much I value it above all others La Poudrette and the Dung of Pidgeons and of Poultrey may also make some amendments but yet I seldom use them the one is too stinking and pretty scarce the others are full of little Fleas which sticking to the Plants are very prejudicial to them As for the Excrements of Aquatick Animals or such as commonly live in Water it is stark nought as well as that which comes from Cunny Warrens witness the Sterility that appears about the Clappers the rotten Leaves of Plants occasion blackness and cold which far from amending rots the new Plants and therefore it must not be us'd at all The Leaves of Trees gather'd up and rotten in some moist Ground become rather a kind of Soil than Dung and are fitter to be spread to secure the Earth from parching than to fume the inside of it Terreau or Soil is the last Service we receive from Dung the Dung having serv'd to make Couches consumes it self to that degree that it becomes a kind of Mould which then is no longer employ'd like Dung to fatten but like Earth which produces small Plants and so seven or eight Inches of it is laid upon new Beds for Sallads Raddishes and Legumes that are to be transplanted or to remain as Melons Comcumbers hard Lettuce c. and about two Inches thick of it is likewise laid over Earths new sown at the Spring and in the Summer when they are too dry of themselves or inclin'd to harden and split easily by heat the Seeds would dry up in the first and could not penetrate the Surface of the other Therefore this Soil is us'd which preserving its Moisture occasion'd by Tillage or Waterings makes the Seeds rise easily and shoot with Success besides it has another property which is to hinder the Birds from picking off the new Seeds Ashes of all kinds would be of great use to amend the Earth if there was enough of it but whereas we have but little of it it is only us'd about the Feet of some Fig-Trees or some other Trees where they are not useless Some People have a particular Value for Turf to make Amendments but I look upon it in a different Manner that is as being fit to produce of it self and not to Fertilize other Earth and I have a great Value yet for the Earth that lies under that Turf which we call new Earth the which having never been wrought is consequently full of all the Fertility that can be expected from New Earth and therefore happy are those who can make whole Gardens of such But when People have not a sufficient quantity to compass this and yet have a reasonable Stock of it I would have them employ it either wholly for Fruit-Trees or at least in the same manner as I have caus'd Dungs to be Employ'd for deep Amendments CHAP. XXIV To know whether it be proper to Dung Trees I Cannot approve the Sentiments of those who being Infected with the Vulgar Error in relation to Dungs use it indifferently every where even so far that to make a grand Maxim of it they say in a pretty popular manner that especially in relation to Trees it is impossible to afford them too much Kindness which is the soft and sparkish Expression they use in speaking of what we vulgarly call Dung But in order to examin whether their Opinion is any wise reasonable I desire them to answer five Queries I propose upon that Subject First Whether they mean all manner of Trees Secondly Whether only Fruit-Trees Thirdly Whether if those Fruit-Trees they mean all of them in General to preserve such as are Vigorous and re-establish those that are Infirm Fourthly Whether they have a certain Rule for the quantity of Dung that is to be allow'd to each and for the place where it is to be laid And Fifthly Whether they should be Dung'd in all manner of Earths whether good or bad I dare not believe that their Opinion in relation to Dungs extends to all Trees in General since every body knows that the Trees of Forests those in the open Fields and those that serve for Avenues to Houses thrive commonly very well without ever having been Dung'd In case those Gentlemen allow this to be true as to Trees that bear no Fruit they condemn themselves unawares as to Fruit-Trees since both the one and the other receive their Nourishment in one and the same manner that is by their Roots and indeed those Roots working in a natural Ground when it is passably good never fail of finding enough of what is necessary for them to live But however in all probability those Gentlemen only apply the Maxim in question to Fruit-Trees and yet really I cannot believe that they dare own that they mean all those Trees in General since it would be ridiculous to say that one and the same thing can be equally good for so many Trees of such different Constitutions some more or less Vigorous and others more or less Infirm some Kernel and some Stone Fruit c. and yet they have never Explain'd themselves upon that difficulty and have never spoken upon
Peaches yet I do not therefore say there are thirty two sorts of good ones so good as I would desire them in my Garden or counsel my Friends to plant them in theirs no in that number there are some which we may truly pronounce not to be good and accordingly I shall banish them as much as possible from our Plantations But likewise though of any one kind some should sometimes prove bad we ought not presently to conclude that the whole kind is therefore bad Let us now consider exactly in what consists the excellency of some and the meanness or badness of some others of them that we may be so much the better able to judge upon solid Grounds which are to be received and multiplyed and which proscribed and entirely debarr'd of all claims to the choice places in our Wall Plantations CHAP. X. Of the excellency of Peaches and wherein it consists THe excellency of Peaches consists in the good qualities they ought naturally to have Of which the first is to have their pulp a little firm so as it may be just perceivable and no more and very fine withall which ought to appear when their skin is taken off which should be fine shining and yellow without any thing of green and easy to strip off which if it do's not the Peach is not ripe This Excellence further appears when we cut a Peach with the Knife which is in my Opinion the first thing to be done to them at Table by any one that would eat them delightfully and with a true relish and then we may see all along where the Knife has past as 't were an infinite number of little Springs which are methinks the prettiest things in the World to look upon They that open a Peach otherwise oftentimes losing half that delicious Juice that makes them to be so highly esteemed by all the World The second good quality of a Peach is that its Pulp melts as soon as 't is in the Mouth for indeed the pulp of Peaches is properly nothing but a congealed water which dissolves into a liquid form when 't is never so little press'd by the Teeth or any thing else In the third place that water or juice in melting ought to be sweet and sugred and of a rich high and vinous taste and in some kinds of them a little musked I would have also their Stone little and that those Peaches which are not smooth be only covered with a reasonable proportion of soft Down much hairiness being a certain mark of the want of competent goodness in a Peach that hair usually falling almost quite off in good Peaches and particularly in those which grow in the open Air. In fine I should count it one of the principal qualities of a good Peach to be large if we had not some little ones that are marvellously excellent as for Example the Troy-Peaches the Red Alberges and the Violet-Peaches However it is at least so far true that if the Peaches which should be large come short of the bigness they should have or much exceed it they prove always bad and perhaps it has been pertinently enough said by some that these last were Dropsical and the others Hectical or Consumptive The Hectical ones have much more Stone and less Pulp than they should have and the Dropsical ones have their Stone open and gaping and a hollow between their Stone and Pulp which Pulp is also course and gross and tough and its juice sharp or bitter And in reality as I have said there is none but the Peaches that grow in the open Air which have all these good qualities in a Sovereign Degree with something of I know not what exalted taste which 't is impossible to describe The Peaches indeed that grow on Wall-trees have some Proportion of them but not to that degree in which we just now observed those growing in the open Air so much excell unless it be those that grow upon Branches which I order to be drawn from the Wall in the manner I have above explained CHAP. XI Of Qualities indifferent in Peaches I Have shewn you what good qualities Peaches may have besides which they have some that are indifferent which I place only in their Flower or Blossom for some have great ones as the Avant-Peach or Fore-Peach the Troy-Peach the two Maudlins the Minions the Persick the backward Nipple-Peach the Rossanes the white Pavies the Narbon-Peach c. Some again have small ones as the Chevreuse the Admirable the Purple-Peach the Nivette the Peach-Royal the Bourdin Bellegarde Red Pavie Red Alberge and the Red Pavie Alberge Some have both great ones and little ones but not upon one and the same Tree as the two Violet-Peaches both hasting and backward the two Violet-Brugnons or Nectarins the Pau-Peaches the yellow Alberges c. There is but one sort that has a double Flower which derives its Name from thence CHAP. XII Of the bad qualities of Peaches LET us now take a view of the bad qualities of Peaches The bad qualities of Peaches consist First In having a Pulp too soft and almost like Pap to which Fault the white Andilly-Peaches are very subject Secondly in having it like Dough or Paste and dry as it is in most yellow Peaches and in most other Peaches that are suffered to grow too ripe upon the Tree Thirdly In having it gross and course as in the Druselles the Beet-Root-Peaches and the ordinary Pau-Peaches Fourthly In having a faint and insipid juice with a green and bitter tang as is ordinarily found in those same Pau-Peaches growing upon Wall-trees and in the Narbens Double-Flower'd-Peaches and common Peaches otherwise called Corbeil or Vine-Peaches In the fifth place 't is a fault to have a hard skin as the Nipple-Peaches and sixthly 't is another fault to be sometimes so Vinous as to contract from thence a Vinegarish sharp taste And now it can be no hard matter to judge of good Peaches and amongst the good ones to judge which are the best no more than to judge which are bad and among those bad ones to judge which are the worst It is certain that all the Peaches of one certain kind do not always prove so perfect as they naturally ought no nor all the Peaches of the same Tree neither are not of an equal goodness We have already told you that 't is a great fault in them to be too big or too little it is likewise one to be either over or not full ripe Peaches to be just as ripe as they should be and no more should stick but slightly to their Stalks for those that stick too fast to them and cannot well be pulled without bringing the Stalk with them are not ripe enough and those that stick too gingerly on them or not at all but are perhaps already separated from them of themselves and fallen upon the Ground or upon the wooden Props
above my Reach and in which I have no Insight it may be necessary to observe the Motions of the Moon but as to the Pruning of Trees and whatever has any relation to Gard'ning I will take upon me to shew hereafter in a Treatise of some Reflections I have made upon Husbandry that those Observations are not only vain but even Chimerical And whereas I was formerly infected with that Opinion my self and am now fully disabus'd of it I do not despair of ridding Gard'ners of that kind of Notion or Ignorance and at the same time cure the Disquiets of several ingenious Men upon that Subject 'T is true that it is very good to prune at the End of February and at the Beginning of March which are commonly Times of Decrease but it is likewise as true that without minding the Moon one may begin to prune as soon as the Leaves of the Trees are faln that is at the End of October or at least about the Middle of November which may be continu'd afterwards for the whole Winter until all be done And because that having commonly three sorts of Trees to prune the one too weak the other too vigorous and the others that are in as good a Case as can be desir'd I am of Opinion that it may be both prudent and useful not to prune them all at the same time and that it is proper to prune some sooner and others later For Example I am sufficiently persuaded that the weaker and more languishing a Tree is the sooner it ought to be prun'd to take from it betimes those Branches which as noisom and useless must be taken from it at another time that is towards the End of the Winter And this is the Reason why the Pruning in November December and January is very good and wholesom in relation to these and even better than that of February and March. And by the Rule of Contraries the stronger and more vigorous a Tree is the longer the Pruning of it may be deferr'd I mean as to such an one that the Pruning of it may not only safely but also very usefully be deferr'd until the End of April I advance in this two Principles which appear pretty new Those that are desirous to see the certain Proof of it may continue to read what follows As for those who are willing to rely upon my Word and Experience and are only desirous to see the Sequel of my manner of Practising they may skip over the Remainder of this Chapter to proceed to that wherein I explain the Reasons why Pruning is necessary To establish the two Principles I have heretofore advanc'd I make use of two Comparisons whereof the first which relates to the Pruning of weak Trees is drawn from the Conduct of certain frugal Millers who with a small quantity of Water find the Means to manage a Mill that requires a great deal The Second which relates to the Pruning of very vigorous Trees is taken from other Millers who knowing how dangerous great Streams of Rising Waters are to their Mills for a Time suffer the Abundance of Water which might annoy them to flow gently by and the Violence of it being over they shut their Sluce or Water-gate and afterwards employ the Remainder of their Water according as may be expedient for the Number of Wheels they are to ply For the Understanding of these two Comparisons I say that the Sap in every Tree appears to me to be partly the same as Water is in every River I will say in another place what Water is in the Pipes of spouting Fountains Whether Rivers be large or small it is still certain that they are beautiful provided that the Channel of each whatever it may be be commonly furnish'd with a quantity of Water proportionable to it without which they are miserable and of no Consideration So is a Tree likewise esteem'd beautiful whatever Size it be of there being both Great and Small provided that Tree yearly produces sufficient fine shoots from all its Parts and in quantity proportionable to its present heighth and thickness or bulk without which a Tree is certainly both ugly and miserable It is certain that while a Tree is in a good Ground and well the Weather not being so cold as to freeze the Ground as far as the Roots for such a Cold stops all manner of vegetation in such a case the extremities of the old Roots still produce other new ones and consequently still produce a new Sap as I prove in my Reflections and so there perpetually rises a Sap both into the Stem of the Tree and in all the Branches which compose the head or top of it and this more or less in the whole extent of each according as the Sap is in it self more or less abounding just as it is in a River while the Source is good and no ways obstructed the Water flows continually not only in the Bed or Channel which Art and Nature have provided for it but also generally into all the Branches into which it may divide it self that is to say into all the Brooks or Rivulets which may form themselves along its course and that more or less according as that Water is in it self more or less abounding When we find that a Tree has but little vigour and produces no fine Shoots or that having been vigorous the preceeding Years it ceases to be so so as to produce no more Shoots or at least none but very small and inconsiderable ones we may say that it is an Infallible mark either that the Source of the Sap is Naturally weak and small or that it is become so so that being no longer capable of performing any effect in long Branches nor in many and yet it being necessary it should produce some for our Profit and Satisfaction we must betimes ease that Tree of its burthen which is too great considering its want of Strength and Vigour and so consequently betimes wholly cut off a great part of its Branches to the end that we may as soon as possibly can be stop many of those overtures through which part of the Sap of that Tree did enter and so that which for Example being divided into forty boughs seem'd to produce but little effect in each the same being afterwards contracted and distributed into half the quantity will be found sufficient to perform much greater Productions upon that Tree tho' indeed less numerous It was like a River whose Source or Spring was either Naturally weak or considerably diminish'd and which notwithstanding that being yet divided into too many Branches could not perform any thing considerable in any of them but the same being industriously contracted or reduc'd and kept within narrow bounds so that for the future no part of it may be lost as it us'd to be is thereby enabl'd at least to turn some Wheel A Dam or Sluce made betimes have perform'd in this what the good Fortune of a more abounding
when there are enough for it which is that I call and ought to be call'd a Figuerie or Fig-Garden As soon as these Cases are thus dispos'd of they must be allow'd another good Watering the same to be continu'd once a Week until the end of May after which they must be Water'd at least twice a Week and lastly towards the middle of June they must receive great and frequent Waterings almost once a Day But before I come to this in order to gain Time and to get with ease a great many Fig-Trees for the Establishment and Maintenance of my Fig-Garden I begin by making towards the middle of March an ordinary Bed or Colich of good Dung of about three Foot high in proportion to four or five Foot in Breadth and as much in Length as my Occasion requires I let the great Heat of it pass which commonly lasts five or six Days after which having provided Earthen Pots about five or six Inches Diameter or small Cases about seven or eight I fill those Pots or Cases with the Mould of the Garden mix'd as I have said with an equal quantity of Soil or small old consummated Dung or with nothing else that Soil being very good for the first Multiplication of Roots but would not be so good for the other Casings Care must be taken to press that Earth very close into the bottom of the Pot as well as in the bottom of the Case it will suffice to have two or three Inches loose on the top After this I take small Fig-Trees altogether Rooted and after having extreamly shorten'd all their Roots I put them about three or four Inehes deep into the said Pots or Cases allowing each but about four or five Inches Stem Fig-Trees in Cases cannot be too short body'd Afterwards I put the said Pots or Cases up to the Middle in the aforesaid Bed A considerable part of those Fig-Trees so Planted commonly take and produce that very Year some pretty fine Shoots and in a pretty good number provided as is absolutely necessary they be well Water'd during the Summer and that the Bed has been heated twice or thrice on the sides to keep it always reasonably hot When I make use of Pots I take out of the Pots that very Summer or at least in Autumn or the following Spring those little Fig-Trees that have shot well in those Pots to put them together with the Mote into Cases of about seven or eight Inches fill'd up with the prepar'd Earth which above all as I have already said must have been press'd close into the bottom to hinder that Mote and the new Roots that shall grow from descending too soon and too easily into that Bottom and to do it yet more effectually in Casing of them I observe the same Method as in Casing of Orange-Trees excepting only Rubbish and pieces of old and dry Plaister which are no wise necessary here that is I Plant these Fig-Trees in such a manner that the Superficies of the Mote may exceed the Edge of the Case about two or three Inches and with Douves put on the sides I keep in the Earth and the Water of the Waterings so that none of it can be wasted the weight of the Cases and especially the frequent Waterings together with the moving or transporting of the Fig-Trees so Cased sinking the Surface but too soon Great Care being taken to Water those young Fig-Trees in those little Cases they begin pretty often to produce Fruit in them the very Year of their being Cas'd at least they are in a Condition to produce some the following Years They must be kept two Years in those kind of little Cases in order to be put next into larger of about thirteen or fourteen Inches in the in-side in order to which two thirds of the Mote must of necessity be taken away Planting them especially as I have already said a little high and pressing the Ground as close as can be into the Bottom Which things must all be done of necessity at every Removal out of the Cases They are to remain in these until there be a necessity of changing them a-new which must be done as soon as the Fig-Trees are observ'd to shoot no more thick Wood which commonly happens at the end of the third or fourth Year after their being Cas'd At which time they must be taken out of those Chests and after having perform'd the Operations heretofore explain'd put again either into the same Cases if after having serv'd three or four Years they are still good enough which happens but seldom the great Waterings rotting many of them or into other new Cases of the same Size Those Fig-Trees must be left three or four Years longer in those kind of Cases being about thirteen or fourteen Inches in the in-side and afterwards as soon as it is observable by the Marks above explain'd that there is a necessity of changing them the same Method as before must be us'd to put them into other Cases of seventeen or eighteen Inches in which they must likewise be preserv'd for the space of three or four Years at the end of which they must be remov'd again for the fourth time in the manner aforesaid either into the same Cases or into others of the same Size The difficulty of Transportation commonly hinders me after the wearing out of these second Cases of eighteen Inches from venturing to put them into larger which notwithstanding would be very proper for them being about twenty one or twenty two Inches which however should be the last I would remove them into unless I had very great Conveniencies both for the Transporting of them and for the Laying of them up And whereas at length those Cased Fig-Trees would grow to such a degree of largeness and weight as would require too many Machines to move them and even too great a quantity of Water to give them due Waterings I abandon them after having Cultivated them for the space of fifteen or twenty Years and take no farther Care of them than to Plant them either into our own Gardens or in some of our Friends for which they are yet good enough provided Care be taken to cut off a considerable part of their Wood and especially the main part of their Roots or else with a great deal of Regret I resolve to burn them But in the mean time in order to have my Conservatory and my Fig-Garden always equally fill'd I yearly rear up new ones in the manner aforesaid which serve to fill up the room of the old ones I have been oblig'd to part with The best of it is that the Breeding of them is easie First Because the Feet of the Fig-Trees that are Planted in the main Ground shoot abundance of Rooted Suckers Secondly Because it is very easie to lay Branches into the Ground round about every old Foot in order to their taking Root And Finally because some may be bred by means of bended Layers plac'd a little in the
Branches as they have Eyes or Buds those Branches growing thick would in course occasion a great Confusion for even when the Branches are not shortned they notwithstanding shoot during the Summer abundance of those Buds which must be carefully pull'd off as being very Useless Happy are those who are in such Situations where Muscadine yearly ripens well I cannot forbear envying their good Fortune a little Happy likewise are those who having Muscadine in an indifferent Climate and pretty ill Ground are favour'd with such a Summer as we had in the Year 1676 for it is most certain that we have Reason to be contented with that Years Muscadine But it is not sufficient for our Vines to have abundance of fine Bunches and those not over stock'd with Grapes nor for the Season to be favourable to make them Ripen well we have besides other considerable Enemies to dread for those Grapes as well as for Fig-Trees which are besides some Frosts which make the Leaves fall and long Cold Rains which Rot the Grapes Birds and Flies of several kinds as to the first the first the best way to prevent their Mischief is to hang Nets before those Grapes which will hinder the Birds from coming near it but that remedy is not very easie when there is abundance of Muscadine to be preserv'd As to the Flies we have the Remedy of Viols that must be half filled with Water mix'd with a little Hony or Sugar which Expedient is sufficiently known by every Body those Viols must be hung up in divers Places about the Vines with some Pack-Thread and those Infects seldom fail of getting into them being attracted by the Sweetness of the Honey and Sugar and there certainly perish as soon as they are got in not being able to find the way out again at least abundance of them are destroy'd that way tho' it is almost impossible to destroy them all Care must be taken besides to empty those Viols when any Considerable number of those Flies are taken otherwise no more of them would be taken the Corruption and Stink they are Subject to hinder the others from coming there Then the said Viols must be fill'd up again as before and plac'd a-new in proper Places Paper bags and Linnen Cloths are likewise us'd to cover every Bunch but besides that it is a kind of Slavery if on the one side it serves to preserve the Grapes so inclos'd from the Birds and Flies on the other side it hinders the Sun from affording them that same Yellow Colour which is so agreeable to sight and Contributes to make them better as well as to show their perfect Maturity For to imagine that it preserves the Grapes the longer ripe is an Error I have experienc'd The Reason is that Fruit begins to Rot as soon as it is throughly Ripe and even sometimes before and as soon as one Grape is tainted it spoils the next 〈◊〉 next another and so ad infinitum which is a very considerable Inconveniency not so easily discover'd when the Grapes are enclos'd as when they are bare as soon as a Grape looks tainted it must be pick'd to hinder it from infecting the rest I must not omit adding that in such years as produce an infinite quantity of Bunches as the year 1677. it will be fit to take away part of them in those places where they are too thick as also too thin those Bunches that appear too close or too full as well as to shorten on the lower Extremity such as seem too long that Extremity never ripening so well as the Top which always ripens the best of any other part I should likewise add that no Grapes must be gather'd especially Muscadine until it be perfectly ripe since perfect Maturity is absolutely necessary to afford it that sweetness and flavour without which nothing can be less agreeable than Muscadin But this Advice shall be compos'd in one of the Chapters of the following Part wherein I shall examine whatever relates to the maturity of every particular Fruit. The End of the Fourth Part. OF FRUIT-GARDENS AND Kitchen-Gardens VOL. II. PART V. CHAP. I. Concerning the Care that is Requir'd to Pick Fruits when they are too abounding WHereas the Intention of our Culture is not only to promote fair Fruit but especially to have it fine and large hoping thereby and with Reason that it will be the better for it goodness seldom failing to attend Beauty and Largeness of Size And whereas neither Pruning nor the Trimming of the Buds and useless Branches the Tillages or Improvements of the Ground are always sufficient to afford us this Beauty and Size it follows from thence that there is something else to be done which is that I am to Treat of here It is certain that when we neither meet with Frosts or North-East Winds at the time that the Trees Blossom and the Fruit knits that is in the Months of March April and May I say it is certain that pretty often in some parts of the Tree there remains too much Fruit for it to be very Beautiful for in the first place in Relation to Kernel-Fruits whether Pears or Apples it is most certain that every Bud commonly produces many Blossoms and consequently may produce many Fruits that is to the number of Seven Eight Nine and Ten c. In the second place as to stone Fruits altho' every Bud excepting only plain Cherries Morello's white and black Hearts and Bigarreaux produce but one single Fruit for indeed one Peach-Bud and one Plum-Bud only produce one Peach and one Plum yet as every one of their Fruit-bearing Branches is commonly burthened with a great number of Buds all close to one another it follows that upon every one of those Branches there may remain an excessive quantity of Fruits and therefore the same Argument we use for the Buds of Kernel-Fruits may stand good for this which is that the more Fruit there knits upon one Bud the smaller the Portion must be which at the shooting out of the Stalk out of that Bud distributes it self to every individual Fruit insomuch that if the quantity were less 't is most certain that the Portion of every one of the remaining would be the larger and consequently the Fruit being the better fed would be larger and commonly better So likewise the more Fruit there is upon a Branch of Stone-Fruit Peach Plum or Apricock-Trees c. the smaller is the portion of Nourishment which distributes it self to every Peach and every Apricock on such Branches so that had there been less upon every Branch the Fruit would certainly have been better fed and consequently larger and commonly better since indeed it is almost impossible to have at once Largeness Beauty and Goodness when there is too much Fruit either upon one and the same Bud or upon one and the same Branch It follows from thence that a Skillful Gard'ner who takes care to make his Trees Blossom which is in some measure in his Power to
to thicken extreamly which we call taking Pulp and when at the same time their green whitens considerably and their down begins to fall but unfortunately for those poor Fruits or rather for Nice Pallats and such as have Skill those first appearances of maturity are commonly mistaken for perfect maturity and so they are gather'd while they are still as hard as Stones instead of staying until they are grown Mellow as they should be and therefore excepting a few of the first which are serv'd pretty unseasonably most of them pass through the fire before they appear at Table I must not omit saying in this place that the Peaches which do not attain the size their kind requires commonly drop before their being ripe and when they seem to ripen their Rind remains downy their Pulp green their Water bitter and the Stone Larger than those which have taken more Pulp Neither must I forget to say that as a little after the knitting of the Fruit generally a considerable part of it drops so it often happens that at the time the maturity approaches a great number of the Fruits fall and that about a Fortnight or Three Weeks before that maturity as if the Tree was sensible of its being over-burthen'd and would thereby give us notice that the good time is approaching and indeed it is commonly observ'd at that time that a good number of Large Fruits drop whereby those that remain grow the finer and the better and as we have already said it had been much the better for them had the Gard'ner taken Care to perform what time has now done People are overjoy'd to see those early Peaches ripe at the end of June and to enjoy them long which is not difficult provided we have several Trees of them in different Exposures they are incomparable when they are well-Condition'd both as to size and maturity but then we are commonly expos'd to the vexation of tarrying until towards the end of July for the Peaches that succeed these first and those we call Troy-Peaches which Peaches provided they be throughly ripe charm every body by the fineness of their Pulp the perfume of their Water and the deliciousness of their Tast their maturity is known as in other Fruits First by the size Secondly by a fine red Colour on that side which is expos'd to the Sun and a light Transparent Yellow in the other parts Thirdly by a thin soft mellow Rind somewhat like Satin any of these marks being wanting the Fruit cannot be ripe and therefore should not be gather'd Those Troy-Peaches are often abus'd as well as the early Peaches and all other Peaches at the entrance of their maturity that is they are gather'd upon the least Symptoms without staying until they have attain'd that degree of goodness they never obtain 'till they are throughly ripe and this defect proceeds either from the ignorance or liquorishness of the Person who gathers them out of desire to eat or else out of a silly avidity of gain which reigns in the Heart and Eyes of those who are uneasie until they expose them to sale in the Market The Month of July affords us many other Fruits besides Troy-Peaches but the Month of August surpasses it in point of abundance for it affords us not only an infinity of Plums but also a vast quantity of Kernel Fruits among which are the Cuisse-Madame or Lady-Thigh the Gros-Blanquet the Sans-Peau or without Rind The Espargne or Sparing the Orange-Pears the Summer-Bon-Chreitien the Cassolets the Robins the Russettings c. the maturity of which is known either by their dropping or not resisting when they are gather'd or else by a certain yellow colour which appears in the Rind especially near the Stalk Among Plums we reckon the Perdrigons the Mirabelles Imperials St. Catherine Roche-Courbon Queen Claude Apricock-Plums c. To those Plums are joyn'd about the middle of August some fine Peaches Viz. First the two Magdalens the white and red the Mignonne the Bourdin the Rossane c. all which are large In the second place the Alberges both red and yellow the Cherry-Peach the one with white Pulp the other with yellow c. those Peaches as well as those that are to succeed them have no other particular marks to discover their maturity than those I have already mention'd for early and Troy-Peaches which are a reasonable size a red and yellowish colour without any mixture of Green and especially their coming off with ease at the least pull or motion of a Skilful hand all these Fruits are fit to eat as soon as gather'd and require no Store-House at least to ripen Peaches never ripening off the Tree so that it is in vain to gather them before they are perfectly ripe but as I have said elsewhere a day or two's repose in the Store-House far from injuring of them affords them a certain coolness which is very proper for them and which they cannot acquire while they remain upon the Tree The Month of September is famous for a world of the Principal Peaches the Chevreuse Hasty Violet Persique Admirable Pourpree or Purple-Peach Bellegarde White d'Andilly besides Brugnons and white Pavies c. There are also some Summer Calville Apples and some good Pears which keep these Peaches Company and may be eaten off the Tree Viz. The Melting-Pear of Brest brown Orange-Pears c. At least they will not keep long the Pears grow too mellow and the Apples grow downy but yet at this time Kernel Fruit will begin to require a little rest in the Store-House or Conservatory and the best way to judge of their maturity is to squeeze them gently with the Thumb about the Stalk to try whether they yield or no. The Month of October is likewise to be valued for the last Admirable Peaches it produces in the open Air or in the West Viz. The Nivet and latter Violets besides the Large Red as well as Yellow Pavies without omitting the fine latter yellow Peaches all growing in good Expositions The Butter-Pear Verte Longue or Long Green Doycnneé or Deanery Lansac Green Sugar-Pear Burgamot Vine-Pears Messire John c. begin to Signalize themselves at this time but then they must be kept some time in the Store-House we will speak more particularly of this in the Treatise of Store-Houses in the mean time it will not be improper to speak about the means of preserving and transporting the tender Fruits we have mention'd sound and unbruis'd CHAP. VII Of the Situation that is proper for the Fruits that are gather'd in order to Preserve them some time IN Order to end what I have begun I am now only to speak of the means of Preserving as much as can be good Fruits after their being gather'd and of the means of transporting them when it is necessary As to the preservation I mean such in particular as are not gather'd until they have attain'd a full maturity and such as being extream tender and puny make an end of acquiring
though they be let alone two or three years after a first heating yet at most are able to endure but one more The Straw-berries which are forced on Hot Beds begin to put out their shoots in January and Flower in February and March and yield their Fruit in April and May. The best method of raising them is to pot them in September in a tolerable good and light Earth and afterwards to plant them in Hot Beds in December they may also be planted in Hot Beds without potting at all in the Month of March their runners and some of their leaves must be taken off if they have too many the Earth in their Pots must be kept always loose and a little moist and if there happen any excessive heats in some days of March and April they must have a little Air given them towards the North and they must be covered a Nights To have little Sallets of Lettuce to cut mixed with Chervil Cresses c. with the furnitures of Mint Taragon c. and to have Radishes c. we make such Hot Beds as I have directed and we steep in water about twenty four hours a little bagg of Lettuce Seed after which time we take it out and hang it in a chimny corner or in some other place where the Frost can't reach it and the Seed so wetted drains it self from the water and heats to such a measure that it sprouts and then after we have made upon our Hot Beds some little furrows of about two Inches deep and about as broad with a little stick that we draw hard over the mold we sow that sprouted Seed in those furrows so thick that it covers all the bottom of the furrows There must be a French Bushel to sow a Bed of fourteen Toises or Fathoms long and of four foot broad and when 't is sown we cover it with a little mold cast upon it lightly with the hand and each cast of the hand dextrously performed should cover a furrow as much as it needs which done we put some Bells or long Rice Straw over them to hinder the Birds from Eating them and the heat from evapourating or the Frost by chilling it from destroying the Seed we take away the Straw when at the end of five or six days the Seed begins to spring well and at length ten or twelve days after it is commonly high enough to be cut with a Knife and eaten in Sallets that is to be understood if the Ice and Snow and even the heat of the Bed be not too excessive We take the same course with Chervil and Cresses save only that they must be sown without steeping their Seeds As for Mint Taragon Cives and other Furnitures of Sallets they are planted on the Hot Bed in the same manner as on the Cold one As for Radishes we seldom steep them to make them sprout the skins of their Seeds being so tender that in less than a days time they would be melted all to a Pap. I have directed how to sow Roaishes in the Works of November where we treat of preparing the provisions we would have from our Gardens in January February and March It is convenient to sow in the beginning of this Month or even in November and December a Hot Bed of Parsley to supply us with fresh in the Spring time to serve us till that we should sow in the naked Earth at the end of February be grown to its perfection To lay the branches or slips of Vines Fig-Trees Goose-berry and Curran Bushes to take Root we need only Couch or lay down their branches into the Earth and cover them in the middle with Earth to the height of five or six Inches which are to remain in that condition till the month of November following when having taken Root we take them up that is separate them from the Tree and plant them where we have occasion for them To Circumpose Trees by planting them in Baskets Pots and Boxes or Cases we first fill half way with Earth those Baskets Pots or Boxes and then having pruned and trim'd the Trees as I have directed in the Treatise of Plantations we Plant them plunging the Baskets and Pots quite into the Earth but leaving the Boxes or Cases above Ground The way of potting the Bulbous Roots of Tubereuses Juncquills Narcissus's of Constantinople Jacynths c. is first to put them into Pots and then to plunge those Pots into Hot Beds covering the Beds carefully with Glass Frames Bells Straw Screens c. To warm or force Fig-Trees we must have some in Boxes or Cases and make for them in January a Deaf Hot Bed being a Hot Bed made in a hollow dug into the Earth and raised only even with its surface and place the Boxes upon it Then we must have some square Glass Frames about six or seven foot high which must be fitted purposely to be applied against a Wall exposed to a Southern Aspect And so the Dung in the Hot Bed fermenting into a heat warms the Earth in the Box and by consequence makes the Fig-Tree sprout That Bed is to be put into a new ferment when there is occasion and great care must be taken to cover those Glass Frames close that no Cold may get within them During the whole Month of January we continue to sow upon Hot Beds under Bells Lettuces to be Replanted again as I have directed in the Works of December as also to Replant them under Bells as well to serve for the Nursery as in the places they are designed for and as to the Seeds when sown we may let alone covering them with mold if we please it being enough to pat with the flat of our hands upon the Bed to press the mold close about them we use the same method with Purslain sown under Bells for we can hardly throw so little mold upon those Seeds to cover them but we shall through too much To have some fine little Lettuces for Salleting we must sow under Bells some of the Bright curled sort and sow it thin and stay till it has shot forth two leaves before we gather it The Seeds of these Lettuces must be sown thin that the Plants may grow tall and if we see them come up too thick we must thin them the choisest sorts of Lettuce for the Spring season are the Curled Fair or Bright Lettuce and after that the Royal Lettuce the Short Lnttuce and above all the Shell Lettuce c. We also sow under Bells to Replant again Borage Bugloss and Arach or Orage The right method of making Trenches and diging of molds is not as was heretofore practised first to throw out of those Trenches all the Earth and then to throw it in again for that was unprofitably to handle the same Earth twice and so to lose time and spend money to no purpose The best way to do it then is to make at first a Gage full as broad as the Trench and of the
length of a Toise or Fathom and to throw up upon the bordering Alley all the Earth that is taken out of that Gage which will be all the Earth we shall need handle twice because at the end of the Trench there will remain one Gage empty which must be filled up with the Earth that came out of the first when the first Gage is made we must fill it up with the Earth that is to be dug up to make the next throwing that part of it into the bottom which was at the Superficies and making a new Superficies of that which was at the bottom This kind of moving the Ground makes a natural Slope before the Workman and in case the Soil must be Dunged we must have Dung ready placed all along the side of the Trench and whilst two or three men are at Work in turning up the Earth and throwing it before them there must be one at the side of the Trench to scatter Dung upon that Slope by which means the mold is well mixed and not at all trampled on as it is by common Gard'ners that first lay a layer of Dung and then a layer of Earth and afterwards dig the whole over again continuing this way of laying of layers of Dung and mold and to turn up one over another till their Trench be quite filled up as 't is to remain Works to be done in February IN this Month we continue the same works we were doing in the last if we have had the foresight and convenience to begin them then or else at least we set upon beginning them now in earnest Therefore we set to manuring the Ground if the Frost permits us and about the end of the Month or rather to wards Mid-March or later that is towards Mid-April we sow in the naked Ground those things that are long a rearing as for Example all sorts of Roots viz. Carrots Parsnips Chervils or Skirrets Beet-Raves or Red-Beet-Roots Scorzoneres and above all Parsly-Roots We sow now also Onions Leeks Ciboules Sorrel Hasting Peas Garden or Marsh-Beans Wild Endive or Succory and Burnet If we have any Shell-Lettuces that were sown in Autumn last in some well sheltered place we now replant them on Hot Beds under Bells to make them Cabbage betimes And particularly we take care to replant on them some of the Curld Bright Lettuces which we sowed last Month because they turn to better account than the others We begin at the latter end of the Month to sow a little green Purslain under Bells the Red or Golden sort being too delicate and tender to be sown before March We replant Cowcumbers and Musk-melons if we have any big enough and that upon a Hot Bed in some place well sheltered either by Walls Straw or Reed Hedges or some other Invention to keep off the Wind. We also sow towards the end of the Month our Annual Flowers in order to replant them again at the latter end of April and the beginning of May. We also sow our first Cabbages if as we should we have not a provision of some in a Nursery under some good shelter which we should have sown at the beginning of August and replanted in October in the Nursery we replant these latter in the places they are designed for taking care not to replant any that begins to run to Seed We begin to Graft all sorts of Trees in the Cleft and we prune and plant them we plant also Vines and about Mid-February if the weather be any thing fair is the proper time to begin all sorts of Works We only make now the Hot Beds which we have occasion to make use of for Radishes little Sallets and to raise those things which we are to replant again in the Cold Beds We take care to maintain the necessary heat about our Asparagus and to gather those that are good As also to maintain the Heat in the hot Strawberry Beds We unnail our Wall-trees in order to prune them the more commodiously and then nail them up anew At what time soever Radishes are gathered they must be tied up in Bunches and put to steep in Water or else they will wither and retain too biting a taste We also continue to plant Trees when the Weather and the Soil will permit us Works to be done in March AT the beginning of this Month it appears who are the Gard'ners that have been idle by their not furnishing us with any thing which the diligent and skilful ones supply us with and by their having neglected to sow their Grounds which lie for the most part as yet unsown though the weather has been favourable for it There is now no more time to be lost in delaying the sowing of the first Seeds that are to be sown in the naked Earth and of which we have spoken in the Works to be done about the end of February Good Gard'ners ought to cover with Mold the Cold Beds which they have sown with their designed Seeds for fear the waterings and great Rains should beat down the Earth too much and render its Superficies too hard for the Seeds to pierce and shoot through they should also bank up their cold Beds tightly with a rake that so the Rain water or that of their waterings may keep in them and not run out of them into the Paths and in fine if they have never so little of the Spirit of Neatness in them they will not fail to take away all the Stones the Rake meets with in its way The way to cover well all these Seeds with Earth is to harrow or rake that is to move it extreamly to and fro which is commonly done with an Iron Rake About Mid-March at furthest we make the hot Beds in which we are to replant the earliest Musk melons We sow in the naked Earth in some well sheltered place all those things which we are to plant again in the like as for Example both our Spring Lettuce and that which we are to replant again at the latter end of April and at the beginning of May viz. the Curl'd Bright Lettuce and the Royal and Bellegarde Lettuce the Perpignan Lettuce which is greenish the Alfange the Chicons and the Green Red and Bright Genua Lettuces are near two Months on the Ground before they grow big enough to be replanted And we also sow Cabbages for the latter Season and Collyflowers to plant them in their proper places about the end of April and beginning of May and if they come up too thick we take out some and replant them in a Nursery to make them grow bigger c. We sow Radishes in the naked Earth among all the other Seeds we are sowing because they do no harm there but are fit to be gathered at the beginning of May before either the Sorrel Chervil Parsly Ciboule c. be grown big enough to suffer any incommodity by them We sow Arrach or Orage in the naked Earth About Mid-March we sow Citruls or Pompions upon
Planting Trees both in their fixed places and in Baskets We bestow the first manuring upon all sorts of Gardens as well to render them agreeable to the sight during the Easter Holy-Days as to dispose the Ground for all sorts of Plants and Seeds We set in the Ground Almonds that have sprouted breaking off the sprout before we plant them We sow in the Flower Plots or Parterres some Seeds of Poppy and of Larks Heels which will flower after them that were sown in September We plant Oculus Christi Towards the twentieth day of this Month we sow some Capucin Capers or Nasturces to Replant them again a Month after in some good Exposition or at the foot of some Tree Works to be done in April THere is no Month in the year wherein there is more work to be done in Gardens than in this for now the Earth begins to be very fit not only to be manured but to receive whatsoever we have a mind to plant or sow in it as Lettuce Leeks Cabbage Borage Bugloss Artichokes Tarragon Mint Violets c. Before the Month of April it is as yet too cold and after April it begins to be too dry We furnish those places where any new planted Trees give but little marks of their prospering whether it be by Gum in stone Fruit or by pitiful small shoots in all manner of Fruit-Trees But for this important Reparation we must have brought up ready to our hands some Trees in Baskets which an understanding curious Person will never fail to have made provision of who will have the pleasure to plant some of them near those that thrive not so well as they should do when he is not well assured they will absolutely die for when we are sure of that we pluck them up quite to make room for them we should substitute in their place for which purpose we make choice of close and rainy weather We perform now our second pruning of the Branches of Peach-Trees I mean only the Fruit Branches in order to cut them off short to that part just above where there is Fruit Knit and if any of those Peach-Trees have produced any very thick shoots upon high Branches as sometimes it happens after the full Moon of March we pinch them to make them multiply into Fruit Branches and to keep them low when there is occasion that they may not run up too high before their time Peas sown in a good Exposition at the very middle of October should begin towards the middle of April to put forth at least their first Blossoms and consequently must be pinch'd the Blossom springs out commonly in Peas from the middle of the fifth or sixth Leaf from which same place there springs an Arm or Branch that grows exceeding long and produces at each Leaf a couple of Blossoms like the first and therefore the more to fortify the first we cut off that new Arm or shoot just above the second flower We continue to trim Musk Melons and Cucumbers to new heat our Hot Beds and make new ones and to sow Cucumbers that we may have some to replant that may ripen about the end of Summer and beginning of Autumn We make some hot Mushroom Beds in new Ground the manner of doing which I have already described elsewhere 'T is the Moon of this Month that we vulgarly call the Ruddy Moon it being very subject to be windy cold and dry and to be fatal thereby to many new planted Trees unless great care be taken to water them about the Foot once a Week For which purpose we make a round hollow circle or small Trench round about their foot just over the part where the Extremities of their roots are and then pour into the said Trench or Circle a pitcher full of water if the Tree be little or two or three if it be bigger and when the water is soak'd in we fill up the Circle again if we think good with Earth or else we cover it with some dry Dung or Weeds newly pluck'd up that we may the better repeat our watering once a Week during the extream dry Weather We weed up all the ill weeds that grow among good Seed we take the same course with Straw-berries Peas and replanted Lettuce and we howe all about them the better to loosen the Earth and open a passage for the first rain that shall fall About the middle of April we begin to sow a little White Endive in plain Ground to whiten it in the same place and provided it be thin sown no Seed comes so easily up as this sort of Endive At the middle of April we also sow in their places the first Spanish Cardons and the second at the beginning of May the first are commonly a Month in coming up and the others about 15 days We also still sow in this Month some Sorrel if we be not sufficiently provided with it before and we sow it either in Cold Beds in little furrows which is handsomest or else scatteringly on the plain Ground which is most common or else upon the sides of Squares to serve for an edging we likewise replant in rows or furrows that which we remove from other places and is but about a year old and especially of that of the large sort whether our necessities have obliged us to break up some Bed of it and that we be not minded to lose it or whether we do it designedly We use the same method with Fennel and Anis and if the high winds and Cold hinder us not we begin to give a little Air to our Musk Melons under Bells and continue to give them a little more and more of it by degrees till the end of May when if we be in a good Climate we take off the Bells quite And we lift up each Bell with three little forks otherwise the plant hurt by its sides would dwindle and grow lank And if after we have given it a little Air the Cold continues still sharp enough to spoil the branches and Leaves of it that are sprouting we take care to cover them with a little dry Litter At the end of the Month we replant the Radishes we have removed from the Hot Beds where we first raised them to make a good provision of Seed choosing for that purpose those that have the Reddest roots and the fewest leaves and we need only make holes at a foot distance one from the other in one or more Cold Beds with a planting stick and thrust in the Radishes into those holes and then press down the Earth about them and afterwards water them if the rain do's not spare us that labour We choose apart of the fairest of the Cabbage-Lettuces as well the Winter ones which are the Shell and Jerusalem Lettuces as the Curles Bright Lettuce raised upon Hot Beds and under Bells to plant them all together in some Cold Beds at a foot distance one from another to let them run to Seed which we also perform with a
sow no more Lettuces except Genuz Lettuces after the middle of May because all the rest but only this last sort are too apt to run to Seed We replant Musk Melons and Cucumbers in the naked Earth in little Holes or Trenches filled with mold we also plant Pumpions or Citruls in the like holes at the distance of three Toises or Fathoms they are such as have been raised on Hot Beds and therefore to make them take root again the sooner we cover them with something for five or six days unless it rain the great heat of the Sun otherwise being apt to make them wither and sometimes to kill them quite We continue to sow a few Peas which must be of the biggest sort and if we think good we pull off some of the Branches of the others that are over vigorous after they are well cleared of Weeds Peas that are disbranched bearing a more plentiful crop than others We bring out our Orange-Trees at the first quarter of this Months Moon if the weather begin to be secure from the assaults of the Frost and we put them into boxes that have need of it I referr you for their culture to the Treatise I have composed expresly about that subject It was our care during all the fair days in April to leave open the windows of their Conservatories to accustom them by degrees to the open Air. We trim our Jasmins when we bring them out cutting off all their Branches to the length of half an Inch. At the end of this Month we begin to clip for the first time our palisades or pole hedges of Box Filaria's Yew and Espicia's Above all things care must be taken to water all our plants largely or else they will all roast and scorch whereas by the help of seasonable waterings we may visibly perceive them thrive We also now water new planted Trees and for that purpose we make a hollow Circle of four or five Inches deep round about the extreamities of the roots and pour into it some pitchers of water and when 't is soak'd in we either throw back the Earth into the Circle or else we cover it with dry Dung or little in order to renew our waterings several other times till the Trees have taken fast root again after which we fill it up with Earth again We may begin to replant our Purslain for Seeding towards the end of the Month. We continue to trim Musk Melons but we replant no more of them after the middle of May. But we still continue to plant Cucumbers About the end of the Month we begin to plant Cellery and we use two ways of planting it viz. either in Cold Beds hollowed into the Ground as we do Asparagus planting three ranks of them in every Bed and placing both the ranks and the Cellery plants at about a foot distance one from another and that is the best way for them when they are a little bigger than ordinary that so we may be able to raise the earth about them afterwards with that which was taken out of the furrows and which was thrown upon the next Cold Beds or else we replant them on plain Ground at the same distance as before and at the end of Autumn binding them first with two or three bands these are raised in tufts that we may replant them as nigh as we can to one another that so they may be the more easily covered with long dry Dung and be the better whitened and defended from the Frost Towards the end of the Month we begin to tie our Vines to their props and to nail up such stocks of them as are planted by Walls after we have first clear'd them of all their feeble unprofitable and unfruitful Shoots and Sprigs We likewise plant single Anemonies which flower a Month after and we may have planted some every Month since the last preceeding August they blowing and flowering in the same manner if not hindered by an extream cold Season At the very beginning of the Month or at least as soon as ever we can we pick off and thin our Apricocks when there are too many of them never leaving two close together that so those we leave on may grow the bigger and at the end of the same Month we may pick off and thin our Teaches and Pears if they be big enough and there be two many of them About that time also or at the beginning of the ensuing Month the first bright Cabbages are to be sown for Autumn and Winter the biggest of them which are replanted in July being to be eaten in Autumn and the less vigorous which are replanted in September and October being to serve for our Winter Provision During all the Month of May the shoots of Wall-Trees are apt enough to slide themselves behind their trails or props as I have said in the Month of April and we shall hardly be able to draw them out again without breaking them unless we do it in time and be careful once every Week to take an exact view all along our Walls to remedy so mischievous an inconvenience against which too much caution cannot be used Many Branches grow crooked rugged parched and hooked at the ends and their Leaves also and therefore about the full Moon we must pull off those Leaves so crumpled and hooked and break off as low as we can the parched shoots that there may spring others instead of them that may be better and streighter Fig-Trees too must now be pruned and especially those in Boxes of the method of doing which I have composed a particular Treatise We continue to sow a few Radishes among other Seeds as we should have also done in the two last preceeding Months We also now take the advantage of some gentle Showers or of very cloudy weather to uncover what we have sheltred under Glass Bells or Frames as well for the watering of our Beds as for the inuring and hardening them to indure the open Air. If our Garden be situated in a Sandy and dry Ground we endeavour by the help of some little Dykes or Gutters to carry off all the water that falls sometimes in hastly Storms to those places that are manured that none of it may be unprofitably wasted in the Walks or Allies and if they be situated in Ground that is too strong fat and moist such as that of our new Kitchen-Garden at Versailles we drain it away from those Grounds that are incommoded by it by conveying it into the Walls or Allies to spend it self there or shooting it off into Stone gutters that carry it out of the Garden for which purpose we must raise our Ground into arch'd ridges During all this Month it is good to lay yellow stock Gilliflowers by planting cuttings of them where ever we have a mind or by laying their Branches that still grow to their Plants Those that are curious in Carnations and Clove-Gilliflowers in order to have double ones sow some good Seeds of them about
are gathered and Endive is sown for the provision of Autumn and Winter We also sow Royal Lettuce to have it good for use at the end of Autumn We also still continue to sow some Ciboules and white Beets for Autumn and some few Radishes in cool Places or such as are extreamly well watered to have them fit to eat at the beginning of August If the Season be very dry we begin at the latter end of the Month to graff by inoculation of a Dormant Bud upon Quince-trees and Plum-Trees We begin to replant White or Bright Cabbages for the end of Autumn and the beginning of Winter We sow more Lettuce Royal. We sow for the last time our Square Peas in the middle of July that we may have some to spend in October In this Month particularly Peach-Trees produce several shoots About the middle of July we begin to lay our Clove-gilliflowers and Carnations if their Branches be strong enough to bear it otherwise we must stay till August or the middle of September From the very middle of August we begin to sow Spinage to be ready about the middle of September and Mâches for Winter Sallets and Shell-Lettuces to have Provision of Cabbage-Lettuces at the end of Autumn and during the Winter Season We replant Strawberry Plants in their designed Places which we had raised in Tufts We gather Lettuce and Radish Seeds as soon as ever a part of their Pods appears dry and then we pull up their Plants and lay the whole a drying We also gather the Seeds of Chervil Leeks Ciboules Onions Shalots and Rocamboles or Spanish Garlick We sow Radishes in the naked Earth for Autumn At the latter end of the Month we sow some Cabbage in some good Exposition to remove into a Nursery in some other well sheltered place where they are to pass the Winter in order to be replanted in their designed places in the following Spring We also sow all the Month long some Shell-Lettuces in some good Exposition as well to replant at the end of September or beginning of October in the places where they are to remain under some good shelter as to have some ready hardned to the cold to replant again after Winter either in the naked Earth in the Month of March or upon hot Beds at the very beginning of February and if the Winter be very cold they must be covered with long Litter We may sow Onions to have good ones the next year at the very beginning of July which it is best to replant in the Month of March next following We now water liberally We replant a great deal of Endive at a large foot distance between Plant and Plant as also Royal and Perpignan Lettuces which are very good in Autumn and Winter We sow Mâches for Lent We still continue to replant Winter Cabbages We shear our Palisade's the second time We continue to nail up our Wall-Trees and by little and little to uncover those Fruits which we would have tinged with much Red as Peaches Api Apples c. We tye up our Endive with one two or with three bands if it be very high but the uppermost Band must be always looser than the rest otherwise the Lettuce will burst in the sides whilst it is whitening At the middle of August we begin to cover with compost the Sorrel that was cut very close to recruit its vigour a good Inch's thickness of Compost is enough to strew all over it because they would be apt to rot if we should use more to them We still continue sowing of Sorrel Chervil and Ciboules We pluck off the runners of Strawberry Plants to preserve their old Stocks in the greater vigour and when their Fruit is past which is about the end of July or the beginning of August we cut away all the old stems and old Leaves that they may produce new ones We also cut away all the old Stems of Artichokes when the Artichokes are taken off We still continue sowing of Spinage for the beginning of Winter We take our Onions out of the Ground as soon as their Stems begin to dry and we let them lie ten or twelve days a drying in the Air before we lay them up in our Granary or some other dry place or else we bind them up in Ropes because otherwise they would ferment and rot if they were laid up before they were dry We gather our Shalots at the very beginning of the Month and draw our Garlick out of the Ground At the end of August the Florists set into the Earth their Jacinths fair Anemonies and Ranunculus's or Crow-foots Junquills Totus Albus's and Imperials We destroy both ordinary Flies and Wasps which eat the Figs the Muscat Grapes and other Fruits and for that effect we tye some Bottles or Cucurbit-glasses full of water mixed with a little Honey to some of their Branches by which means those insects being allured by the sweetness of the Honey enter into the necks of those Glasses and so perish in that mixture but they must be emptied and shifted with new Water as often as they begin to fill with those little unlucky insects Though the first Bud of a Clove-gilliflower or Carnation is beautiful and Promising it do's not follow thence that all the rest will be so too The Beauties of a Carnation are to be high and tall well burnisht and garnisht well ranged of a lovely colour well plumed and displayed and of a perfectly Velvet-like softness to the Touch. At the beginning of this Month we tread down the stems of Onions and the Leaves of Beet-raves or Red Beet Roots Carots Parsnips c. or else we take off their Leaves quite to make their Roots grow the bigger in the Ground by hindering their Sap from spending it self above Ground It is still a good Season enough to lay Clove-gilliflowers and Carnations Works to be done in September THE Ground in Gardens in this Month should be universally covered all over so that there should be not so much as the least spot in it without some Kitchen and Esculent Plants whether sown or replanted which is not altogether so necessary in the preceeding Months both because we then reserve a good part of our Ground for Winter Plants such as are Lettuces Endive Peas c. and because some plants require a very considerable time to arrive to perfection in and would not have enough if they were allowed less than to the end of Autumn We still continue the works of the preceeding Month. We make hot Beds for Mushrooms We replant a great deal of Endive and that closer together now than in the foregoing Months that is we place them at half a foot 's distance one from the other because now their Tufts grow not so large as before They must be replanted in almost all the spare places from the very beginning of the Month till the fifteenth or twentieth day At the latter end of the Month we sow Spinage the third time which will
we ought then to be careful to finish what we could not do in the preceeding Month it is particularly necessary to repeat it at the beginning of this Month with respect to that which last expired Assoon as December is come it is no longer time to dally For now the Earth in Gardens is quite strip'd of all its usual ornaments and the Frost that seldom fails to signalize it self this Month without respecting the quality of their Masters spares no bodies Gardens but unmercifully destroys all it meets with of a nature too delicate to endure its rigour and therefore it concerns us now to make an end of housing and of covering what we could not house or cover in the Month of November viz. Endive Cardons Cellery Artichokes Roots Collyflowers Chard-Beets Leeks Fig-Trees c. And above all things we must be careful to preserve those Novelties which we may have begun to advance by Art as Peas Beans Cabbage Lettuce and little Sallets to avoid the displeasure of seeing perish in one bitter Night what we have been labouring two or three Months to advance We may likewise still at the beginning of the Month continue to sow some early Peas upon some banks made of Earth raised in double slopes along by some Wall placed in a good Exposition and especially that towards the South We transport our rotten Dung to those places we design to muck and spread them abroad there that the rain and Snow waters may the better penetrate them and carry their Salt a little below the Superficies of the Earth where our Seeds are to be sown We interr our Almonds in some Basket to Sprout They should have sprouted by the Month of March to be ready then to be planted in their allotted places It is convenient to prevent the great Frost from coming at them for which end the Baskets must be housed up in the Conservatory or else well covered with long Dung if left in the naked Earth The way to lay these Almonds to sprout is first to lay at the bottom of the Basket a layer of Sand Earth or mold or made Earth between two and three Inches thick and to lay a Layer of flat Almonds upon it with their sharp ends inwards till its first layer of Earth be quite covered with the layer of Almonds upon which we lay a second layer of Mold or Sand of two Inches thick and then upon that again a second layer of Almonds placed in the same manner as the first and so a third and fourth c. till the Basket will hold no more It is likewise not amiss to put one single layer of Almonds into the naked-Earth and to cover them with Earth to the thickness of about three Inches When they begin to come up at the latter end of April we take them in up Turfs that is with some Earth hanging to them and breaking off their sprouts we replant them in their designed places in rows distant one from another a foot and a half and in those rows the Almonds must be placed at the distance of half a foot from each other We are busie in making trails for Wall-Trees We may prune Trees as long as there is no Icicles or hoar upon the Branches and as the hard Frosts do not raign for they harden the Wood so that the pruning knife cannot easily pass Always observing that we must never prune Wall-Trees without unnailing them because it would be too troublesom to do it otherwise neither can we so well discern what Work we are to do One of the most principal Works of this Month is at the beginning of it to make a Hot Bed of long new Dung of the ordinary breadth of four foot and height of three and assoon as its great heat is spent we must sow upon it under Glass Bells some good bright Curled Lettuce and assoon as 't is grown a little big which usually happens in a Month's time we must take up the fairest and plant it in a Nursery upon another Hot Bed and under other Bells to the number of twenty or twenty five under every Bell and when they are grown reasonably big there too we must take up the biggest with a little Earth about them to replant them to the number of five or six under each Bell to remain there till they be quite Cabbaged which usually happens towards the latter end of March and we take care to fence them well from the Cold as well with coverings of Litter as by new heating their Beds We practise the same method in sowing these Lettuces in the Month of January and in replanting in February that we may have some ready betimes that is towards the end of March and to continue so doing till the Earth produces us some of her self without the help of Hot Dung. At this time they that employ themselves in rearing Novelties spend the most part of each day in covering them at night and uncovering them in the morning or else all comes to nothing When in the Winter time we are raising and forcing of Lettuce upon Hot Beds and under Bells we must be careful often to lift up the Bells to take away the dead Leaves there being a great many that rot and perish and one rotten Leaf rots others The inside of the Bells must also be cleansed from the filth and moisture that gathers there in abundance and when there comes a fair Sun shiny day we must not fail to lift up the Bells that the moisture may be dryed up that sticks about the Leaves But the chiefest thing to be observed above all is to keep the Beds moderately hot by recruiting and new heating and fermenting them from time to time Provisions and Products we may have from our Gardens in the Month of January BEsides the good Pears following viz. Leschasseries Ambrets Thorn Pears St. Germains Dry Martins Virgoulees and Winter Boncretiens c. and these good Apples viz. Calvils Pippins Apâ—'s Courpendu's or short stalkt Apples Fennellets or Fennel-Apples c. And lastly besides some sorts of Grapes as the ordinary Muscat the long Muscat the Chassela's c. every Person may have Artichokes c. All sorts of Roots as Beet-raves or Red Beet-Roots Scorzonera's Carrots Parsnips common Salsifies or Goat's Beard Turneps c. Spanish Cardons and Chards of Artichokes whitened Cellery whitened Macedonian Parsly or Alisanders whitened Fennel Anis and Endive as well that which is called the White as that which is called Wild or Succory Collyflowers c. All these things must have been brought into the Conservatory in the Months of November and December and ordered as I have directed in speaking of the Works to be done in those two Months Besides which we have also Pancaliers Milan and Bright or large sided Cabbages These sorts of Cabbages are not carried into the Conservatory on the contrary they must be Frost-bitten in the open Air to make them tender and delicate We may also have some Citruls or Pumpions
fatter places And lastly he must keep his Walks and Path-ways higher than his dressed Grounds as well to draw into these latter the Rain waters that would be but unuseful and incommodious in the Walks as to render the artificial waterings he shall be obliged to use of the greater advantage to them by preventing them from running out any where aside which must be one of his principal Applications He must also chuse out in the same Grounds those Parts which come the nearest to the good temper between dry and moist for the raising of Asparagus Strawberries Cardons Cellery c. because these sorts of Plants languish with drowth in places too dry and perish with rottenness in parts over-moist He must place in the Borders under his Northern Walls his Alleluia's Latter Strawberries and Bourdelais or Verjuice Grapes and in the Counter-Borders of the same Northern Quarter he may make his Nursery Beds for Strawberries and sow Chervil all the Summer long the North side in all sorts of Grounds being most proper for those purposes And as this Gard'ner should be curious of Novelties he ought to look upon the Banks under the Walls towards the South and East to be a marvellous and favourable shelter for the raising them as for Example for the procuring of Strawberries and early Peas at the beginning of May Violets at the entrance of March and Cabbage-Lettuces at the beginning of April He should likewise plant in the dressed Banks next to the same Eastern and Western Walls his Nursery of Cabbages and sow there his Winter Lettuces that is Shell-Lettuces to remain there all Autumn and Winter till in the Spring it be time to transplant them into the places where they are to come to perfection He should likewise plant in the Borders of the same Walls his Passe-pierre or Sampire which he can hardly have by any other means which course is to be followed in all sorts of Gardens and in the Winter time he should likewise observe this particular caution to throw all the Snow off from the neighbouring places upon the dressed Borders of those Wall-trees and especially those of the Eastern Quarter both for the erecting of a Magazine as 't were of moisture in such places upon which the Rain but seldom falls as upon those in which the violent heat of Summer is like to be of pernicious influence The second thing that Results from what I before laid down is That the Gard'ner whose Garden is in a very fat and moist Ground must take a quite contrary method with all his Plants to that just now above mentioned always assuring himself that those parts of it which are very moist unless he can find means to drain and render them lighter will be of no other use to him than to produce noxious Weeds and consequently that those which partake the least of that intemperature whether by their own Nature and Situation or by the care and industry of the ingenious Gard'ner are always to be lookt upon as the best for all sorts of things He must place in the driest parts most of those Plants that keep in their places for several years together excepting Currans Goose-berries and Raspberry Bushes as for Example Asparagus Artichokes Strawberries Wild Endive or Succory c. In other places let him put those things which in Summer require the least time to come to perfection viz. Sallets Peas Beans Radishes nay and Cardons Cellery c. and because all things grow thick and tall in those fat and moist places therefore he must plant his Kitchen-plants there at greater distances one from the other than in drier places he must also keep his Beds and dressed Grounds raised higher than his Walks and Path-ways to help to drain out of his Grounds the Water that is so hurtful to his Plants and for that Reason his Beds of Asparagus especially as likewise his Strawberry and Cellery Beds c. no more than those of his Sallets must not be made Hollow as those must be that are made in drier Grounds I have had good Success in the new Kitchen-Garden at Versailles where the Ground is fat viscous and as 't were Clayie by raising in the midst of it certain large squares where the frequent Rain Waters in the Summer of the Year 1682. remained without penetrating above seven or eight Inches deep and by having given to the said squares by the means of that elevation a sloping descent on each side all along the bottom of which I made at the same time some little dikes or water-courses about a foot deep as well to separate the squares from the Counterborders as particularly to receive the mischievous waters which by staying on the squares otherwise would ruine all the Plants in them which waters afterwards discharged themselves into stone gutters which I had purposely ordered to be made to carry them off I afterwards raised most of the Counterborders in the same manner Arch-wise that what water might remain in them might shoot off into the sides of the walks all along which there were other little dikes almost unperceivable to receive those waters and convey them into the same stone gutters-newly above mentioned and I can truly affirm that before I used this precaution all that I had in those squares not only of Kitchen-Plants even to the most rustical and hardy sort of them as Artichokes Beet-Chards c. but to the very Fruit-Trees were visibly perceived to perish the Plants with the rot and the Trees with the Jaundice besides which mischiefs the winds easily threw up my Trees by the Roots because they could hardly take any fast hold in that kind of Ground that were grown liquid and soft like new made mortar or Pap. My forecast and diligence were a great help to me in that cas eand I sincerely advise all those that shall have to do with places of the like difficulty to use the same method if they can find out no better expedient The reasoning by which I was induced to this way of proceeding was this That though the excessive quantity of water did reduce that unhappy sort of Ground to a kind of Marsh and thereby disposed it afterwards by the operation of the great heat to grow as hard as a stone and consequently rendred it uncapable of culture in either of those two states wet or dry yet I say my reason suggested to me that if I could hinder the first inconvenience which was the rendring of this Ground too Liquid and Marshy it would be an infallible means to secure me against the second which was to see them grow hard and stony because I concluded that if my Grounds having been once made light and loose could be kept reasonably dry after that as they would be if the waters were hindred from lodging in them they would not be any more so closely glued together as to grow into any such kind of stony consistence but would become tractable like other Lands and accordingly I found
Seed Rocamboles See Shallots Rocket is one of our Sallet Furnitures which is sown in the Spring as most of the others are It s Leaf is pretty like that of Radishes and its Seed is very small and almost like Purslain Seed but it is of a Reddish or rather darkish Cinnamon Colour Rosemary is another sort of Odoriferous Plant which is principally used for the perfuming of Chambers and in decoctions for washing the Feet It is multiplied in the same manner as Rue and other border Plants and lasts five or six years in its place Rue is a Plant of very strong smell of which we plant some borders in our Gardens it is propagated both by Seed and Rooted slips and is hardly of any use but against the vapours of the Mother S. SAge is a border Plant whose culture has nothing of particular but is like that of the other border Herbs as Rosemary Lavender Worm-wood c. There is a sort that is parti-Coloured which to some people appears more agreeable than the common Sage which is of palish Green Colour Spanish Salsifie or Sassifie otherwise Scorzonere is one of our chiefest Roots which is multiplied by Seed as well as the others and is admirable good boiled both for the pleasure of the taste and the health of the Body It is propagated only by Seed which is sown in March We must be careful to sow it pretty thin whether it be in Beds or borders or else at least to thin it afterward that its Roots may grow the bigger Scorzonere runs up to Seed in the Months of June and July and is gathered assoon as 't is Ripe Common Salsifie is another sort of Root cultivated after the same manner as the preceeding one but is not altogether so very excellent They easily pass the Winter in the Ground It is good to water both sorts of them in very dry weather and to keep them well weeded and especially to put them into good Earth well prepared of at least two full foot deep Samphire called in French Pierce Pierre or Passe-Pierre is one of our Sallet Furnitures that is multiplied only by Seed and which being by nature very delicate requires to be planted by the sides of Walls exposed to the South or East the open Air and great Cold being pernicious to it We usually sow it in some Pot or Tub filled with mold or else on some side-Bank towards the South or East and that in the Months of March or April and afterwards transplant it in those places above-mentioned Savory is an annual Plant a little Odoriferous which grows only from Seed and whose Leaves are used to some Ragou's and particularly among Peas Beans it is sown in the Spring either in Beds or borders Scorzonere or Scorzonera See Spanish Salsifie Shallots otherwise Rocamboles or Spanish Garlick require no other culture than common Garlick and are particularly remarkable for that their Seeds are as good to eat as their Cloves taken out of the Earth Their Seed is large and serves to propagate them as well as the Cloves or Kernels that compose their Root Skirrets are a sort of Roots propagated by Seed and cultivated like other Roots as is directed in the Month of March Spinage is one of those Kitchen Plants that requires the best Ground or at least that which is most amended and improved They are multiplied only by Seed We sow them either in open Ground or else in furrows or strait rows upon well prepared Beds and this we do several times in the year beginning about the sixteenth of August and finishing a Month after the first are fit to cut towards the middle of October the second in Lent and the last in Rogation time Those which remain after Winter run up to Seed towards the end of May which we gather about the middle of June When they are once cut they spring up no more as Sorrel do's All their culture consists in keeping them very clear from Weeds and if the Autumn prove extraordinary dry it is not amiss to water them sometimes They are never transplanted no more than Chervil Cresses c. Sorrel in Kitchen-Garden terms is placed under the title of Verdures or Green Pot Herbs and accordingly is much used in the Pot. There are some sorts of it that produce a larger Leaf than others which are called Sorrel of the greater sort All the sorts may be sown in the Months of March April May June July and August and in the beginning of September too provided they be allowed sufficient time to grow big enough to resist the rigour of the Winter we sow Sorrel either in open Ground or else in strait rows or furrows in Beds or borders in all which cases it must be sown very thick because many of its Plants perish It requires a ground that is naturally good or else well improved with Muck. Its culture consists in being kept very clear of Weeds in being well watered and being covered with a little mold once or twice a year after 't is first cut down very close to the Ground That mold serves to give it new vigour and the Season most proper for applying it is in the hot Months of the year Sorrel is most commonly multiplied by Seed though sometimes we transplant some of it that thrives very well We gather its Seed in the Months of July and August There is a particular sort of Sorrel which is called Round Sorrel its Leaves being indeed Round whereas those of the other sorts are very sharp and pointed The tender Leaves of this sort are sometimes mixed with Sallet Furnitures But it is ordinarily used most in Bouillons or thin Broths It is multiplied by running Branches that take Root in the Earth as they run over it which being taken off and transplanted produce thick Tufts which also produce other runners and so in infinitum Sharp Dock or Dock-Sorrel See Dock Wood Sorrel or Alleluia See Alleluia Straw-berries as well the White as the Red multiply and perpetuate themselves by running Suckers that springing out of their old stocks take Root It is observed that a new plantation of them taken out of the Woods turns to better account when transplanted than one slipt of from the Garden Straw-berries We plant them either in Beds or borders both which must be well prepared amended and laboured or stirred up in one manner or other If it be in dry and sandy Ground both the Beds and borders must be sunk a little lower than the Allies or path-ways the better to retain both the rain that falls and the water we bestow on them a quite contrary course must be taken if we plant them in strong heavy and fat Earth and that is almost all pure Clay because excessive moisture rots the Plants We place them usually nine or ten Inches asunder putting two or three little Plants into each hole which we make with a planting stick The best time to plant them in is during the whole Month of
small straggling and unprofitable Branches from which there is no expectation of good Fruit whilst observing those that have well knit Melons on them at the ends of the Branches I constantly take away the rest of that Branch on this side the Fruit which-divaricating into other useless Wanderers would Rob and deprive the Fruit of the Nutriment derived from the Root nevertheless with this Caution that in Pruning I spare some other less Noxious Branches to shade the Fruit that it be not left quite Naked and expos'd to such a scorching Heat as would hinder its Growth and Maturity which within Forty days from its Nativity and knitting into Fruit arrives to full Perfection Great and Pumpion-like Melons are very seldom tollerably good as arriving to their bulk either from the Nature of the Seed and Kind or from superfluous Watering the smaller ones wherefore though as I said they cannot support the too excessive Heats the less Water you give your Plants provided you find them not to want it the better and that rather a little at a time than much Once a Week is for most part sufficient As to this therefore you must determine and regulate your Refreshments with great Circumspection and Judge by the Nourishment which you concieve Necessary to Produce and Maintain the Foot with its Branches and Leaves deriving from it without which no Kind and Genuine Fruit is to be expected When you would Gather a Ripe Melon you will have notice by its turning a little Yellow for from that time within a day as the Weather proves it does ordinarily Ripen and begin to cast a grateful Scent This Yellowness appearing in some part of it or other and not seldom with some Rift or little Casm's about the Stalk c. are most Infallible Indications of its being left rather too long than too hastily Gather'd The Gard'ner must therefore not fail of Visiting the Meloniere at the least three times a day Morning Noon and Evening for this Critical time of Ripening He will sometimes find Melons Ripen too fast but they are seldom or never Good as proceeding rather from a sickly or vicions Root than from the Nature of the Plant or Species of those I Cultivate After Twenty four Hours keeping or the next day after it has been Gather'd for so long contrary to Vulgar Opinion it should be preserv'd in some sweet dry place and not Eaten immediately as it comes from the Garden A perfect and transcendent Melon will be Full Juicy and without any Vacuity which you 'll easily discern by Rapping a little with your Knuckles upon the outside of the Fruit the Meat should also be dry or but a little Rorid meazing out of the Pulp but by no means Watrish and Flashy To this add a Vermillion Colour a grateful Flavor and an high and Racy Taste Lastly Reserve for Seed of that only which lies towards the Sunny side of the Melon which being immediately cleans'd from its Musilage with a dry Linnen Cloth Reserve in Boxes or Papers in some Temperate and Sweeter place AN Advertisement to the CURIOUS IT were to be wish'd that the Author whom I had the Honour to know had liv'd to put his last Hand to this whole Work and added to his Potagere the Culture of Melons in which he was the most Exquisite Master but has in a manner quite omitted it Not that what he has oblig'd the World withal is not the most Perfect and Consummate Piece that was ever I believe Publish'd on this agreeable Subject but because 't is said He did himself intend it and perhaps to have abbreviated some Periods and Repetitions which now and then occur to the Translator but which he cannot honestly pretermit to justifie the Version As to what imports this little Treatise in which I have been concern'd out of my Affection to this Sweet and Innocent Toil and to prevent Mistakes and needless Circumlocution had I over-nicely follow'd the Text let the Reader take Notice that I use the Word Case indifferently for the Box Tube or other Vessel in which these Choice Trees are commonly Planted Oringist For the Gard'ner pretending to the Culture of Orange-Trees Casing or In-Casing For the Action or putting the Trees into the Case or Vessel Un-Casing For the taking them out of the Case or Vessel Re-Casing For the Planting them again into the same or some other Case or Vessel Green-House For the Plate or Conservatory where the Trees are Inclos'd and shâ—t up during the Winter Clod or Mot For that Earth Sod or whole Mass of Mould adhering to the Roots The rest are Obvious As to what the Author has mention'd in Chap. ix speaking to the prejudice of using Fire and supplying it with lighted Flambeaux and Lamps besides that he no where says hâ—w the Smoak is to be convey'd out of so very close a place nor any thing of the Number of Lights and Lamps if the House be large and ample which would be a considerable Charge if maintain'd with Wax or Oyl-Olive for such it ought to be to avoid the intolerable smell and fuligo's of gross and cheaper Materials it gives me an opportunity of adding something to the Justification and Melioration of what I lately Publish'd in the last Edition of my Hortensial Kalender It is certain that a Naked or Stov'd Fire pent up within the House without any Exit or succession of External Fresh and Unexhausted Vital Air must needs be extreamly Noxious and Pernicious to these Delicate and Tender Plants But that which answers all the Ends and Operations of Natural Air and the Objections against the Use of Fire any other way save by Lamps and Flambeaux I conceive is preferible to them I acknowledge to have seen by Experience that the Naked Fire made tâ—o near the Pipes is intolerable melting even Cast Iron it self But as I no where recommend that Metal but that the Pipes be made of Crucible Earth and propose the whole but as a laudable Experiment so I do not Question but if such Pipes were contriv'd to be plac'd at farther distance from the Fire or that there were a reasonable thick Fire-Stone laid flat or rather Arch-wise on which there might be strew'd a Bath or Bed of Sand between the Naked Fire and the Pipes to Intercept and moderate the Intenser Heat with due regard to Register and Govern the Blast but that a gentle and benign warmth would ensue and such as should only Recreate without the least Inconvenience to our nicest Exotics Add to this and for the more equal distribution of this Genuine Temper that the Noses of the Pipes might easily be Inserted into a larger Pipe of Laton which should be applied either to the blind Wall the whole length of the House within or in the middle which being pierced with frequent small holes would breathe it more equally through the Conservatory There might also be placed a Vessel or Kettle upon the Firestone-Diaphragma to be at any time fill'd and
Roots as for the preservation of the Cases bottom to cover them with a Bed of Rubbish old Brick-Bats c. that the frequent Waterings draining through those loose Materials may not Stagnate and Corrupt which would both Rot the Roots and bottoms of the Cases also I would have this Rubbish handsomly rang'd pretty gross and thick suitable to the bigness and capacity of the Case yet not to lye above three or four Inches thick the least siz'd Boxes two This done 't is sufficient to fill in as much prepar'd Earth as is requisite to set the Clod in so as the Superficies be plac'd level with the brim of the Case and then finish all gently filling the void places at the sides and give it all a plentiful Watering So have you the true ordinary way of In-Casing all sorts of Trees But for as much as I perceive that by this manner of putting in the Mould 't is apt to sink and settle too much after a little while and consequently cause the Roots quickly to touch the bottoms of the Cases which may extreamly prejudice the Beauty of Orange-Trees make them look Yellow put forth small Shoots and Flowers and soon despoil them of their Leaves and so oblige one to change the Cases every four or five Years I have consider'd the doing something more which has very well succeeded with them though I confess upon this account I have stirr'd up against me a great many among the Orangist-Gard'ners who upon this as well as my Composition and Mixture of Earth have looked on me as an Innovator and as one may say a Disturber of the Publick Peace and as if I had at the same time Dishonour'd both them and their Ancestors But let the Success of my Method decide the Process to the Confusion of the Envious See then how I Re-Case my Trees So soon as I have laid upon the Bed of Rubbish a Foot of the prepar'd Earth which I would have to be dry or very little moist I cause it to be exceedingly beaten with the Fist or with some Rammer or piece of Wood when it is for the lesser Cases or else make one to go into the bigger Cases and tread the Mould sufficiently so as it may subside and settle almost once for all whilst the weight of the Earth and agitation of its Transporting would in time by the common Method shake the Clod down to the very Rubbish and bottom of the Case to the great Damage of the Tree which I would by all means prevent as I have already shew'd And since my purpose is First That in Re-Casing the Superficies or upper part of the Clod should exceed the Brim of the Box three or four Inches as certainly knowing that notwithstanding all the Treading and Ramming the Clod will in less than three or four Years be so sunk down as to be no higher than the Edge of the Case as it happens at the first in the ordinary way above described though the bottom of the Clod be well enough plac'd And since also I would that the Clod should meet and touch three or four Inches of the well-loosen'd Mould into which the naked Roots may commodiously enter and insinuate themselves Upon these two Considerations I govern my self as well for the due Replenishing the Case with Earth to the place where it touches the bottom of the Clod as for the well Ramming and Treading of it as by degrees and Bed upon Bed I cast it in ' til the whole Case be full within three or four Inches of the top which should remain loose and not be Trodden at all After all these Precautions I so Plant my Clod as that its Stem be just in the Center of the Case and stand exactly upright To do which you shall draw Diagonal Lines from Corner to Corner by the Decussation of which you cannot fail of placing it Accurately in the middle Then for Replenishing the void places about the Clod to the height of its Superficies I use to cram and press in of the prepar'd Mould as much as is needful with the end of a little piece of Wood or Barrel Board which forces and crowds the Earth in so very hard as from that very day forward settles the Tree without loosing its Perpendicular and Establishes it against all ordinary Winds Motions or Transportings of the Cases whatsoever Now to keep the Earth which I Advise should considerably exceed the Margins of the Case from sliding down especially that when you refresh it the Water run not down unprofitably by the sides I order pieces of Boards of four or five Inches breadth be applied to all the four sides of the Cases sinking and pressing in one of the Edges of the Boards between the Earth and the side of the Case to keep up the Mould so heaped above the Level of the Cases brims Nor is this any great Eye-sore provided the Boards be handsomly plac'd which otherwise I confess it would be but however 't is necessary to be done the benefit and use easily reconciles one to the Custom as well as its being to continue but a few Years for so soon as the Clod is once descended as low as it should go they signifie nothing and you may take them away Lastly The Tree and side Boards plac'd in this Order I make a small Circle of three or four Fingers deep in the upper Earth 'twixt the Extremities of the Clod and this new loose Mould and then by degrees pouring Water into the Channel and Refreshing it plentifully the Mould by this time closed to the ends of the new cut Roots will soon dispose them to exercise their Function which is to produce new ones c. I shall in the next Chapter speak concerning what other Waterings and Refreshments are to be given after this first One thing I must not forget That instead of Cases they often make use of Vasas and Earthen-Pots and many now a-days would perswade us that certain Vasas of a peculiar Fabrick are incomparably better than Cases and Boxes In the mean time I am not of that Opinion since by long Experience we all find the many Conveniences of Cases and the great Inconvenience of Pots I confess Pots and Vasas may be proper enough for ordinary Trees and especially those of the new Make seeing besides that they are very Beautiful both for their Shape and fine Paintings they are also capable of Earth enough for some time at least for those less Curious sorts of Trees without needing so great and so frequent Waterings which I do not Approve of nor of such often Changes which I like as little But for great and well-grown Trees abounding in Roots and dispos'd to Increase them with new ones when they are well Planted I do not think Vasas which cannot be made of Capacity to furnish sufficient Matter and maintain them well any considerable time can be so proper and convenient as are our ordinary Cases Concerning the Inconvenience of the
Use of Pots and Vasas Trees that have ample and goodly Heads ought to be so steadily plac'd and at large as to be able to resist the Impetuosity of the Winds which Vasas do not afford them whose slight and narrow Feet commonly make them subject to be over-thrown and consequently spoil'd besides their fragility and brittleness such Trees are therefore in continual danger of unexpected Re-Casing upon all such Accidents To conclude without entring farther into this Controversie upon any Philosophical Account in favour of Pots and Vasas and especially upon the Consideration of a certain Antiperistasis which I do not at all Comprehend I am sufficiently convinc'd that generally speaking this Novel Mode is none of the best and that Cases are much to be preferr'd and a thousand times better for Service and more Commodious though there go about of late certain Manuscripts which endeavour to turn our Use of Cases to Ridicule CHAP. VIII Of Watering Its Use and Way of Applying it I Come now to the Use and Manner of ordinary Watering and Refreshing of Orange-Trees either during Winter in the Green-House or particularly in Summer-time whilst they stand Abroad And the Difficulty is in my Opinion greater than it appears at first for as if it were of little Importance most of our Gard'ners perswaded of the great Necessity of it but unwilling to take the pains of fetching the Water leave it for the most part to the most Ignorant of their Boys and Drudges and think it well so their Trees be often and soundly Drench'd that is to say Three or four times a Week and sometimes more frequently and that so profusely as that it Streams out at the bottom of the Cases in that abundance that the Neighbour places where they stand are commonly all in a Puddle and unaccessible I acknowledge that these Gard'ners have good Reason to Water well because of the lightness of the Mould they use for In-Casings That is having as I reckon committed an Error at first through Ignorance they think of mending it by a second which whatever be the Fault consider'd in it self hinders for a time the first from being as pernicious as it would have been without a second For my own particular I am extreamly scrupulous and sparing as to point of Waterings not that I totally forbid it it being of so Absolute Necessity especially during the great and extraordinary Drouths and Heats of May June and July whilst the Roots are as one may say more Animated than in the former Months Besides that they be then most Stirring and Active it being the Season of their Flowering and putting out new Shoots c. But I should not Counsel you to excessive reiterated or over frequent Waterings excepting it be during those Months above-mention'd as being the most Important and Considerable for Vegetation when yet it will be sufficient to bestow on them two good Weekly Waterings and no more I stint it to that number because I certainly know that in the fat and sluggish Earth I make use of there is no such great occasion for great and frequent Refreshings and that it would be extreamly prejudicial to the Trees that receive them and expect withal that we shall see considerable Change in the Common Use of great and often Waterings if one would apply them in the Ancient Composition of Moulds Certain it is that Earths which are light and which as they speak have little or no Body and Consistence coming to be Watred in any sort will hardly retain sufficient Moisture for any time as indeed they should On the contrary they quickly become dry by reason of the easie passage which the Water finds as well through the loose Mould as through the very Cases and so the Trees not finding their Roots sufficiently Refresh'd of which they have now most need to set them in motion are subject to pine away and wither unless they be plied with Water In such kind of Earth therefore 't is indispensably necessary to repeat it but as 't is only want of Moisture which makes them dwindle thus so those Earths which we have describ'd above being of Consistence naturally to retain their Moisture and continue Fresh how little soever you Water them will preserve the Trees from that Infirmity and enable them to exert their Genuine Activity in sending forth good Roots and consequently fair Shoots large and ample Leaves and beautiful Flowers c. In a word maintain themselves in perfect Health without needing such abundant and continual Waterings The Rules which I follow as to Waterings concern first of all that which is given immediately either after their being put into the Green-House or at their bringing out And secondly those Refreshings which are given during all the time that Orange-Trees stand abroad some of these Waterings I make to be great others moderate Those I call great when pouring Water on the Earth it drop out at the bottom of the Case but so as it be very little or nothing and such Waterings are profitable provided one use them not too often Those I call Moderate which I cast on to Refresh the Surface-Clod only and maintain the Moisture that has been consum'd as well by the Heat and Dryness of the Air as by the Attraction of the Roots As for those Refreshings which are given immediately after they are set into the Green-House I would bestow a plentiful one so soon as the Orange-Trees are placed where they must stand during all the time of their Confinement and that which Justifies it is The necessary Closing of the Mould about the Roots which in Transporting the shaking and agitation of the Stem may have separated both from it and the Roots letting the Air into the void places which would prove an invincible obstacle to their Action which as we have often noted never move or thrive in any Plant save when the Roots and the moist Earth immediately unite which is effected by a good Watering and prevents the disorder one is to apprehend when a Tree is Disabl'd from Acting according to its Nature Having finish'd this great Refreshment of our Cloister'd Orange-Trees I hardly give them any more unless it be very sparingly at the entrance and expiration of April when the Season growing mild the Inclos'd Trees themselves become sensible of it and then one should not fail of setting open the Doors and Windows of the Green-House often so as the Heat of the Sun augmenting by degrees its Beams or the newly warmed Air at least qualifying the Room the Earth about the Trees becomes a little more thirsty and being heated urges the Roots to begin to Shoot and Quicken apace I say Quicken and Augment their Motion for 't is certain as I have elsewhere shew'd Orange-Trees as well as all other Verdures are in perpetual Action and that in the very House else would both their Fruits and Leaves infallibly drop off as being only preserv'd and fastned to them by Vertue of the Sap which
continually maintains and gives them Nourishment c. 'T is true indeed these Plants do Act and Move less some time than in another that is more slowly in Winter than in Summer when the Sun which is the Parent of all things Living favours them with his benign Influence But excepting only this Month of April I totally cease from Watering all the Winter long and in this I say nothing New all discreet Gardners observe it and very rarely give I any Water at the beginning even of May because its approaching so near the time of freeing the Trees from their long Confinement I see no Necessity of making the Cases heavier by Watering which one shall find weighty enough already and sufficiently difficult to Tâ—ansport By the way I make no reckoning at all of certain Casts and Sproutings which some Orange-Trees now and then push out during Winter nor in truth are they good as appears by the withering of their Tops and falling of the Leaves so as instead of its perswading me those Trees should be Water'd that they may make better Shoots I rather pull them quite off as superfluous and good for nothing but unprofitably to avert the Sap from the other more substantial Parts Branches and Foliage which it should Augment and Fortifie The Work I would have bestow'd about Orange-Trees whilst they are inclos'd in order to their necessary Politeness is to finish the making them clean from the Filth and Ordure which the Punaises and Buggs have left behind and that has not yet been well taken away and that if any may here or there seem to wither a little Water be given to it but in very little quantity since it proceeds only from some of the Superficial Roots that suffer for the Water which was given upon their first Consinement has doubtless Conserv'd the Body of the Tree and bottom of the Clod sufficiently Moist Since having not yet undergon any such scorching heats of the Sun as was able to dry them up they can suffer no such excessive Thirst and therefore a very small Refreshing will soon revive the drooping Leaves As for those which stand sound and vigorous in the Green-House maintaining their Leaves fresh large upright and open they are only to be look'd on and admir'd What I have said concerning Watering Confined Orange-Trees is to be understood and that with greater rigour and exactness of the Watering of all Trees and Shrubs that are their Fellow-Prisoners such as Jessimines Granads c. the over-frequent Waterings spoiling their Roots and injuring the Trees and besides they Naturally are not so Active as Orange Lemon and Myrtle-Trees these latter sort giving Indications for most part by the saint and pallid Complexion of the Leaves when they stand in need of a little Refreshment I would moreover for all sorts of Cas'd-Trees whether in the House or Abroad that the upmost Earth should be always kept loose and appear as if newly stirr'd since besides this slight motion yields a marvellous Relief and Succour by facilitating the penetration of the Refreshments you give them and shews very handsomly to the Eye whilst the Chap'd Cloven and Crusty Surface is as unsightly I would therefore have it also a little sprinkled We come now lastly to Waterings abroad out of the Green-House as being in truth that which requires a great deal of Discretion and in which methinks they commonly most fail As soon therefore as you bring forth your Trees and have Rang'd them in the Stations where they are to continue bestow upon them as plentiful a Watering as you were Advis'd to do when first you Hous'd them I say let this be a thorough and bountiful Refreshment which to do effectually make several holes in the Earth with some Iron-Pin or Stake of hard Wood but withal so cautiously as not to gall any of the Roots By this expedient the Water will visit every part of the Clod as 't is necessary it should Besides this first plentiful Watering I allow them also two considerable ones more every Week so long as I see the Trees to Flower and Spring namely in the Months of May June July and consequently if the Season prove very hot and dry to Mid October when they are to be Hous'd and which some Trees will themselves Advertise you of by the crumpling half closing and hanging down of their flaccid Leaves giving notice that they want Refreshment as you 'll also find if you thrust your Hand a little down into the Earth by its being dry I would likewise every Ten days oâ— thereabouts order them a considerable Refreshing and sometimes a second moderate one especially in August when commonly Orange-Trees make new Shoots so as you do not repeat it in case the Mould be moist enough already for 't is not always the dryness of the Earth which causes the Leaves to wither they faint oftentimes before a following Tempest or that the Tree be not well Establish'd is loose in the Roots or too much expos'd to the Sun In such cases you are ever to Examine of what Temper the Earth is dry or moist and accordingly to Govern the Waterings Notwithstanding all this every body finds that some sort of Trees will always look faint and sickly whatever bountiful Waterings you bestow upon them 'T is very certain as to this particular I have often observ'd two things First That when some Gard'ners have Command of Water they are commonly apt to over Water their Orange-Trees either themselves or by their Servants And in the second place Some extreamly neglect to do it and give them not sufficient especially where it requires pains to fetch the Water Laziness or ill Custom carrying them to these Extreams 'T is I say most certain that as to the first of these two Cases I would not they should exceed very moderate Refreshments finding that they commonly give them too much And to the second quite the contrary namely To allow them a thorough Watering lest being to take pains to fetch the Water they afford them not enough I very well know that discreet Gard'ners need none of these Stepposite Documents however that I may Reconcile them both together I adhere to my former Opinion supposing the Earth to be mingled according to my Method That regularly Watering twice a Week at certain times namely during the hot Seasons the time of Flowring and pride of Shooting and ever observing a Mediocrity between two great ones and Refreshing them every eight or ten days only at other times you will find your Trees in excellent condition as to their Waterings To which add That Orange-Trees have this of Agreeable as to what concerns their Drink and in which they almost resemble Men that are Wise That as they seldom call for it but when they have Need and are Thirsty to urge them when they do not require it instead of doing them a kindness one does but incommode them In like manner Orange-Trees sometimes of themselves give notice when they
have need of being Refresh'd so as we certainly do them injury when we Water them out of Season whereas we do them good in Refreshing them when their Leaves becoming lank and wrap'd together call for help and give Symptoms that the Root is Languishing for want of Moisture But that which justifies the Comparison farther is That a Prudent and Skilful Gard'ner is never to wait for the Signal from his Orange-Tree when he should do his Duty but that when ever he perceives or suspects it if he be not mistaken he be sure to apply the proper Remedy according to our Prescription but as there are both good and wholsom Refreshments there are likewise very evil and pernicious ones too Concerning which I shall declare what I think with that Moderation I judge most convenient CHAP. IX Of the Inconveniences which happen to Orange-Trees as well from Over-Waterings as from the Fire which is made in Green-Houses 'T IS easily perceiv'd that when too much Water is given Cas'd Orange-Trees there usually ensue two great Disorders and as remarkable it is that one is not sensible of the Evil when it first begins but the consequence makes us feel it at last when 't is too late for Remedy The first Disorder consistsin this That those unreasonable and frequent Summer Watering Accustoming as one may say the Trees to a Course of Life which though Inconvenient would nevertheless enable them to subsist were it to be continued all the Winter long Their being so easily inur'd to all sorts of Nourishment would produce them this singular Advantage But since we find that such Waterings will become Mortal to them when the cold Weather comes we ought to be very sparing though to avoid one danger which in effect is of all other the greatest we are apt to fall into another which is not without its great Inconvenience namely That of an every Years loss of Leaves Now one cannot Reflect on an Accident so ungrateful without concluding it to proceed from the Roots not receiving that due Nourishment during the seven previous Months of their Confinement which they us'd to have the five former Months abroad which needs must check and put a stop to their Natural Activity This doubtless is the Cause that the Leaves finding themselves destitute of that perpetual supply of Sap which then they need are forc'd to forsake the Branches which Naturally and from their Birth produc'd them And so not well understanding from what source this Evil proceeds we make divers Erroneous Conjectures and have recourse to other things which peradventure have not at all Contributed to it always supposing that the Green-House be not in fault In the next place and which indeed is the most Important since the Nature and Quality of the Shoots intirely depend upon the Quality of the Roots and these particularly upon that of Nourishment 'T is certain That when this is peccant and feeble the New-born Roots must needs be weak and feeble also and consequently that the Sap which they prepare being of an ill Constitution the Shoots themselves which they produce must needs be short and weak also the Leaves sinall limber and often Yellow Hence it comes to pass that these Orange-Trees which for want of sufficient Nourishment during Summer are already fall'n Sick finish as I may say their Languishing and Misery so soon as the Cold which above all things they dread assaults them The main Principle of their Natural Strength and Vigour may possibly have enabled them to resist and struggle for some time against the Mischief to which their ill Culture has reduc'd them but when once this little Stock comes to be spent and exhausted as at length it will be they pine so miserably that for some years after one shall be hardly able to Recover them and perhaps at last without Success We have already said and may not improperly repeat here that it is not from the Material Substance of the Earth the Roots Elaborate and Compose the Sap administring Nourishment to all the parts of the Tree it is the Water only which percolating through the Ground is Impregnat with part of its Salt or some other qualities wherewith the Earth was endowed So as if this Earth whose Salt doubtless is not Inexhaustible and without end comes once to be over-diluted by great and frequent Washings it must needs at last be quite robb'd and depriv'd of all its Salure and within a short time after the Roots finding no more of it in the Water which moistens the Earth or but very little they can produce no more new Shoots worth any thing and consequently neither any good and laudable Sap Branch Leaves or Flowers c. as doubtless they would do in better Mould moderately moisten'd and refresh'd Whence I conclude and I think with Reason That to Water Trees to the purpose requires more Skill and Prudence than usually appears in the ordinary Conduct of most Gard'ners On the other side by the use of Fire which most of them affect to make in the Green-House Orange and Lemon-Trees fall into other very pernicious Inconveniences as by long Experience I have Learn'd The Reason is evident The Fire is either too great or too small If the latter the Heat can only affect those Plants which are very near it without any Influence on the farther distant For Example If you make it below and as commonly they practice it in several places of the Room neither the Heads of any height nor opposite sides of such as stand not near are sensible of it and in case you make it higher the under Branches receive no comfort by it Thus granting it may do some good which I don't believe 't is yet certain that the Fire being little it does but little good and in few places and consequently its Benefit is inconsiderable or rather none at all On the contrary If you make a great Fire as the Nature of such a Fire is to dry up that which is Moist as far as its Heat extends 't will doubtless parch and dry both the Bark and Branches of the Trees especially those parts on which the Leaves depend and consequently make them shrink stop and obstruct the Channels and Passages of the Sap which should always continue moist and open for its free and perpetual Intercourse whilst as above we said 't is indispensably requisite that the Sap do convey continual Supplies both to the Trunk Branches Fruit and Leaves this disorder else will be sure to happen upon the least Interception of this Supply Sap without question being to these sort of Trees what Water is to Fishes and the Air to all Terrestrial Animals and even what Foundations are to Buildings and the Hand is to the Ballance which holds it up and suspends it in the Air. In all Events this Fire as Philosophers speak Changes and Dries the Air and causes a notable Alteration and has the same effect upon it as it commonly has on Water which Experience
another Plant without an exact fitting of the Barks to each other nor indeed is a Vine-slip capable of being so justly Adapted 'T is true indeed all other Trees might be Graffed the same way as the Vine is if in them as in the Vine the Sap pass'd up the Bole in such a quantity as were sufficient to join and incorporate the Graff into the Tree which it does not Hence also it comes that as the Sap never passes out of such new Branches in any part of the sides of the Tree as are without Bark so neither will it ever pass out of the middle of the Bole when the upper part of the Tree is cut of or of the Branches that are crop'd or of any Stock when the Tree is cut down whereas ordinarily about the end of any such cut Tree or Branch having Bark that being the place whither all the Sap that was prepar'd in the Root chiefly directs its course it there forms a great number of Branches which break through the Bark and in their formation fasten upon that part of the Tree which is nearest the Breach they have made in the Bark though these Branches are not near so firmly united to the Tree as those are to an old Branch which the Sap produces at the end of it The second Argument to prove that a great part of the Sap passes up between the Wood and the Bark may be taken from the quantity of Water which goes out at the ends of a piece of Wood while it is in burning and especially if you burn it soon after it has been cut off from the Stock that nourished it for this Liquor issuing out like a whitish Froth and bubling out from between the Wood and Bark falls down and turns to perfect Water From whence I conclude that this is nothing else but the dissolving of the same Sap which having passed through the Roots was formerly the Nutriment of the Tree differing now from what it was then only in this that whereas the Moisture upon its entrance into the Roots was by the acting of the Roots render'd capable of assuming the Nature and Quality of such Sap as was proper for such or such Trees becomes of somewhat a thicker consistency when the Branch which it was to have fed and enlarg'd is sever'd from the Live Tree to which it belong'd or when the whole Tree is pluck'd up by the Roots In either of these cases it is so as it were laid to Sleep that it may be preserv'd whole Years without any Alteraration provided the Tree or Branch be kept in a place that is moderately warm and moist insomuch that such a Tree or Branch coming at the Years end to be set again in a good Earth or Graffed upon a good Stock and to have the benefit of a warm Sun flourishes as well as those that were never remov'd out of the places where they first grew All which is sufficiently confirmed by Experience in Trees and Graffs we receive safe and sound from Foreign Parts and in others which at certain Seasons of the Year we send thither But if instead of Replanting this Tree or making use of this Branch for a Graff you put them into the Fire you will see that part of the Sap which was not turn'd into the substance of the Tree but only a little thicken'd for want of Action as soon as it comes to be heated by the Fire first to grow thin and then to Rarifie it self to such a degree as to pass out at the ends of the Tree or Branch in a thousand little Sources and that Liquor which before its entrance into the Tree was really nothing but Water and which afterwards suffer'd so many Alterations both in Colour and Taste and Consistency and other Qualities recovers the Natural simplicity it had before it enter'd the Tree without any Remains of the Effects of those great Changes it had undergone except only a little sharpness in the Smoak which doubtless is only Accidental and to be ascrib'd to the Fire by which those pieces of Wood are consumed I know very well that 't is not only from between the Wood and the Bark that the Fire makes this Rarified Water to pass out but that it does the same also at the ends of all the inward parts of the Wood successively and circularly as it were one Lair after another which it does according as the Heat advancing reaches by degrees and in a circular manner the inner parts of the Wood. But yet this is so far from destroying my Hypothesis that the Sap passes up chiefly between the Wood and the Bark that it mightily confirms it For every one of the inward parts of the Tree having been in their turn next to the Bark and consequently each soaked in the Sap which passed by it and indeed being it self nothing else but Sap condensed it is no strange thing to see it in its Dissolution return to the same Matter of which it was at first made And for the further proof of this Opinion I have two Arguments to offer both which seem to me very strong and cogent The first is that as it is the Sap which being for a time grown thick and as it were cold so strongly glues and joins the Bark to the Wood that they are not easily pull'd asunder so upon its being heated either by the Sun in the Spring or Summer or by our common Fire they become easily separable And this is easily concieveable to every one that considers that almost the very same thing is every day done in the use of common Glue As to the second you need only take a view of the inside of the Bark and the outside of the Tree and you will percieve in both an infinite number of little Gutters or Chanels which are separated from each other by as many little Partitions which serve to fasten the Bark to the Tree and to be Passages for the Sap to ascend up to the very top both to be a continual Supply to all the several parts of the Tree and to add new Growths to such Parts as are capable of Enlargement Observing all those little Chanels which in every part of the Wood appear cross-wise from the Pith to the Bark like so many straight Lines drawn from the Center of a Circle to its Circumference or the Sun as Painters use to draw it and which are plainly seen in cutting a Turnip through the middle I know not whether instead of assigning the Saps passage up into the Body of the Tree through the Fibres of it I may not as reasonably conclude That these are the real Passages by which the Sap which as I have already proved is Lodged and performs most of its Actions between the Wood and the Bark is conveyed into the Body of the Tree to refresh and feed all the inward Parts of it since I cannot positively determine for what other Use Nature shou'd have intended those little Chanels which are