which was made clean the Michaelmas before I set these two pots thus filled in the open Air but in the shade and put into one of them a good handfull of Mints the Runners which I put in the first of March 1664. where I let them continue till the first of April next and then put in a fresh handfull and let that continue for one Moneth more and so I did both May and June I poured out this Water about the beginning of September to observe which of those Pots had the most of this slime whereupon I found that pot that had no Mints put into it had twice as much and being forced too to fill up that pot that had the Mints with the same water often and that pot that had no Herbs in it the slime of it was green the other pots settlement that was in it was black and of an Earthy colour I did intend to have prosecuted this further as to have filled two pots of fresh Earth and not too rich and to have sown in them several Seeds and to have kept them from all water but this and then to have noted well the success with more like Fancies which I thought on but I was prohibited by one of the Drones of this Age and did not know whether I should stay or not A Stone lying in water gets a kind of slime about it and if you put into water seeds that be quick of growth as most of your Annuals are keep it but temperately hot and they will in a little time spear out and then if you put them into fine Mould temperately moyst and warm you may if you pull up one of them and observe see the Roots feeding upon a white substance which I have often observed for in water is the seed of all things Likewise put seed into Earth and if it be very dry then though it be kept never so temperately hot it will rather keep the seeds from growing than hasten them But water dissolves then Life followeth the dissolution for water opens the parts of the Seed and makes them swell then they draw the Spirit of the water to them for the World is full of Spirit so the Seeds they have been so long in water till the body of them cracks which is as soon as it hath filled it self with enough to make a Root then that seed if once dryed and a stop put to its proceedings the Art of Man cannot make it grow again I have heard some affirm that Malt will grow but 't is false unless they mean some Barley-corns which never speared Therefore if you have once watered Seed keep them with watering if the Earth require and if your Earth be poor and your seeds great growers then water with rich dunged water and often but let it not touch the Leaves and if you think your ground be too Rich for the Nature of your seed then water your seed with water not very Rich but if your seeds be slow growers for such keep your ground only moyst and no more for though it be Earth that stores up the Spirit that seeds Plants yet it is water that sets it on motion and water is full of Spirit also but without Heat both these lie still for Heat draws out first the crude water and sends it into the Aire Therefore unless it be for Aquatick Plants or Plants that grow much and the weather be warm and drying do not water too much keep your Earth just moyst for when ground is full of water the Coelestial Fire heats first the superficies of the Earth and puts that into a fume but the Roots which are deeper in the ground being covered with water there is no fume riseth there till most of the water be drawn up by the Sun or settled into the Earth Therefore if your Ground be subject to be wet keep it loose and open by deep trenching and Earth to drein away water for it is oft seen that good Land that lies low in a wet Spring hath no great burden because it is over pressed with wet and dunged Land in a wet year bears the worst Corn especially if it be low stiffe Land for Dung then holdeth the Moysture and the ground being wet withall commonly doth produce great weeds which can digest the spirit of the Earth and Water better than Corn because they grow much quicker and so they spoyl the Corn For the greatest good that Dung doth to Land is to hold the water in the ground and to keep the ground hollow for the Roots to fetch their Nourishment For 't is the nature of Dung to draw water to it to fill it self like a Sponge and when dry weather comes then it spends it self in fume and so it wastes it self and feeds Plants by its decay Thus you may see and admire the Order of the great God of Nature that the Destruction of one should be the Preservation of another This you may observe in rotten Wood Malt-dust Wool woollen Rags Horn-shavings c. how full they will be with every little Dew and keep that longer than a Clod of Earth twice as big thus will they doe till they be turn'd to a very little Earth By this you may inform your self what sort of Dung will last longest Some sorts of Dung there be that if they be not over-pressed with Water will waste themselves by their own heat Witness your Hot-beds c. yet notwithstanding this heat is very Natural to Annual Plants Dung steeped in Water or water strained thorow Dung doth take a great part of the substance and strength of the Dung with it and that water when dryed up in the ground and evaporated when Rain or Dew falls on that place it there leaveth such an Oily or slimy substance as catcheth the Water or Dew and hindereth it from running deep into the Earth and then the Over-plus which the Plants receive not is rarified into Air till it hath spent it self as it were to nothing After dry weather in Summer if there comes a good shower and a warm day after you may see this Fume hang in the Aire sometimes low close to the ground as if it were loth to part with the Earth and toward the latter end of Summer if great Rain and warm VVeather happen then this Fume being great and the Nights something cold it will spend it self in Mushromes Puffes c. as old Trees and rotten VVood will doe where there is a great decay and nothing to feed on Therefore if you fear dry VVeather do not deferre too long before you water your Trees and Seeds but water while your ground is yet moyst for believe me I would not have you stay too long before you water if you be minded to water at all And also when you do water do it well Consider the depth of your Roots and those that root deepest water most and also when you begin to water continue it as long as you find occasion water Trees
is broken Bricks and Stones and Lime is very good for the Roots of Trees in a stiffe cold Ground the Reason is told you Chalk broken small into pieces is a very good Compost for stiffe cold grounds There is much difference in Chalk but that which is soft fat Chalk is good for such Ground as aforesaid and for ground that is not very stiffe Let your Reason instruct you further Lime is a very rare Compost for cold Grounds and stiffe Clayes for its heat causeth a fume and its tenderness makes way for the Roots to fetch home their Nourishment and its heat is great at first therefore lay not on too much on no ground and let that be slacked If your dry ground be it your Tree delight to grow in and you are forced to set them on wet then adde some of this Lime among your Earth Clay especially that sort which is a light brick-Brick-Earth is very good for such Land that is a light shovey Gravel or hath too much sand in it Such grounds as these they do not retain the spirit of Plants for when Nature hath by the two Lovers star-Star-Fire and VVater generated their Babe such ground as this doth drink down too fast and again doth drye too hastily so that the water cannot have time to leave nor to prepare its slime which is the Mercury that makes that fume which feeds all Plants and their seeds But this Clay must not be digged too deep for then it wanteth of that which feedeth Plants c. I have taken the green Slime that is common in standing waters I do not mean the Frogs Spawn which is cast many times into this and have dryed it and beat it into fine dust and then have mixed it with good fresh Earth and have found very good success in raising several sorts of Flower-seeds and others Though I have Notes of them yet it is out of my Road to speak of them now being I am Writing of the stately Forrest-trees However I may its possible write somewhat of them if the Lord permits and according as I find these few Lines Accepted of by some of the Royal Oaks of this our Age. For I do suppose that there is not one thing in Gardening yet well known For as a Learned Author hath it he that knows a thing well must know what it was is and shall be Therefore all humane Knowledge is but a shadow of superficial Learning reflecting upon mans Imagination but not the least thing comprehended substantially But to the business in hand take Clay or Loom and lay it on your Ground not too thick the beginning of Winter and there let it be till the Frost hath made it fall into Mould then in some dry open time harrow it all over and if it be Ground you plow then plow it in a drye time but if it be Ground you trench for Forrest or Fruit-trees observe to order it so for by thus doing the Clay will mix with the Sand or Gravel much the better The better that any man cheweth his Meat it is certainly the easier to digest and the dryer you put it into your ground provided it hath but time to water it self well before your trees be set 't is the better for then it draws the Mercury and stores it up till the Roots have occasion for it for 't is quickly exhaled out of sand but the Clay holds his store till a time of Necessity and then contributes to the Roots that is in drye weather and the smaller you make it to mix with your ground the likelier the small Roots as well as the great are to meet with it Note further that the smaller your Plants be the finer must your Earth be made by skreening fifting beating turning c. I know by good success this to be true for the Right Honourable my Lord and the more to be honoured because a great Planter and as great a Lover thereof gave me order to make three Walks of Line-trees from the New Garden to the New Bowling-green and withall to make them descend towards the House as neer as we could which to doe I was forced to cut through one Hill thirty Rod most of the Hill two foot-deep into a sharp Gravel and the greatest part of all the length of the Walks was the same they being Trees that I raised of Seeds most of them and the rest of Layers at Hadham-Hail they being with my Lord ever since their Minority and he many times their Barber engaged him to have the more particular Kindness for them therefore he ordered me to doe what I thought good in preparing the ground for them which I did as followeth First I levelled the Hill and when I had brought the Ground neer to the Level concluded on I staked out my ground where every Tree should stand and then ordered my holes to be made for my Trees each hole three foot-deep and four foot-wide being the ground was so bad This I did neer a Year before I set my Trees and having the convenience of Brick-Earth near I got near a Load to every hole and mixed this with the Earth digged out of the Holes turning it over twice and in dry weather throwing out the greatest Stones but the Turf I did throw into each Hole the grass-side downward as soon as they were made but the Hill of Gravel I trenched that with Loom Cow-dung and the Litter under the Cow-racks two Spade deep and five foot on each side every row of Trees Thus having prepared my ground and the season of the year come about the beginning of November 1672. I had the Trees taken up with good help as carefully as I could and carried to Cashiobury the place of their now Abode and then having good store of help and good Mould prepared of the smallest and finest I set the Trees with the upper part of the Roots of each Tree level with the top of the Ground making a round hill half a foot high about every tree and the Compass of the Hole Having prun'd the heads of each Tree and cut off the bruised Roots and the Ends of such roots as were broken I sorted the Trees and observed this Method in placing them namely I set the highest next the Bowling-green and so shorter and shorter till the lowest were next to the Garden which I did for these Reasons Next the Green was the worst Ground and the Trees more in danger of being spoyled by reason of a Market-path that goeth cross that end of the VValks to Watford Thus having set my Trees streight in their Rows and trod the Earth close to their Roots and made my Hills I then laid round every Tree upon those Hills wet Litter taken off from the Dung-hill a good Barrow-full to every Tree and covered that with a little Mould leaving them to take their rest for a time but early in the Spring I found them to begin their Progress and that Summer they had such Heads
and for Trees or Plants that shoot much in a year for it yields a great Fume and such Plants can well dispose of it Cow-dung is a good Soyl for most Trees or Plants of hot Ground and better for durable Plants than it is for Annuals It is Excellent for many sorts of rare Flowers if first it be thorow-rotten and then dryed and beaten to dust and some fresh fine Earth then mixed well with it Deers-dung is much of the Nature of Cows or Bullocks but 't is more proper for tender and smaller Plants Sheeps-dung is also of the same Nature but more agreeable to tender and small Seeds and Plants By this our Yeomen and Farmers find good profit by Folding their Sheep every Night on their own Lands for there they find a far certain benefit on their Ground by the Dung and Urine which the Sheep make in one Night though it is not long lasting yet 't is a sure help for the first Crop and a good Addition to the second This may teach you that a thin sprinkling of dung is more sure most years for your Corn-Land than greater Quantities and also that to break your dung small is best for the smaller the better especially if you have laid it on your Ground not long before you sow especially for your Summer-crops from this I do Advise my Ingenuous Country-men of these few Rules which are spoken before To well Observe the Nature of your Land and by so doing to enrich it with such Soyl and Dung as is most Natural to the Ground and to the Seeds you intend to sow on it and to lay it on your Ground at the most convenient times First as to the Ground I have hinted at many useful Composts and also that several of them are far more proper for some Grounds than they are for others though there be many more sorts that may be and are made use of to very good Effect yet I shall not trouble my self nor you with the naming any more knowing that he that Understands to Number to 20 in Arithmetick may soon count to a 100. Now as to the Seed you intend to sow whether it be of Trees Plants or any sort of Grain the smaller your Seed is make the ground the finer the quicker your Seeds be of growth and the more they run into stalks or leaves your dung may then be the newer and stronger and the more in Quantity according to the Digestion of your Plants But if for Trees or Plants of long lasting then let the dung be the more rotten and the more they be apt to shoot great shoots the more you may allow them but let them be sure of some such Ground as they Naturally delight to grow in and also to allow them room that is large enough for High and Lofty Spirits do not love to be Confined to little and small Cottages And as for laying it on your Ground if the time be the Spring that is most proper to sow your Seed then lay such dung as is hot and dry early on your Ground and rather erre in too little than too much such dungs as be your Pigeons Hens Sea-coal-ashes c. But if they be hot and moist such as Horse-dung Horse-litter or Green grass Hay c. these be most proper for Annuals and it is not good to be too sparing toward these tender Plants rather erre in keeping your dung too dry than too wet for in so doing you shall keep its heat the longer and have the more Command to keep it so But if you have occasion to lay dung on Ground to help such Trees or Plants as are not Annual but more slow in their progress then mix such dung thin and not too near the Roots but if it be the Autumn Season that you have occasion to lay it on your Land then lay it something thicker for the Winter will qualifie the strength and heat of it To conclude if you are to lay dung on Land that you are to sow with Seed that doth not run much into stalks and is but slow in growing then do as our Farmers do let it be rotten and mixed well with Mould before you lay it on your Land and then your Grain or Seed will the better agree with it or else you may find on your Land strong great Weeds such as the Ground is most inclined to for strong Land will produce the stronger Weeds and the other contrary Therefore if your Dung be too rank and new for the Seed you intend to Sow your Ground with then mix it with some other Compost as is most proper for your Land and most convenient to be had and if your Land be stiff then mix it with Chalk Light Sandy Ground or somewhat of the like Nature laying a good quantity of Earth first then your Dung and then Earth to cover your Dung all over by so doing you will save that Oyly water which will soak from the Dung by showers of Rain into the Earth under the dung and by covering your dung with Earth it will keep the Sun from drying out that moisture and whatever Fumes arise the Earth on the top will receive be sure you let it not grow with Weeds on the top but when you find them to appear take them off and suffer none to grow on your Compost or turn it over and mix it with your Earth below however let it be mixed together before you lay it on your Land Thus do with New Horse-dung and Litter but if it be any other dung lay it on your Land as soon as Opportunity serveth for the longer you let it lie the more it loseth of its strength therefore lay it on rather too thin and in dry weather and early To assist Nature do thou not neglect Vse her not Roughly lest there be defect Thus much may serve for Trees but if it be for Flowers or other fine and tender Plants you then must be more Curious and mix your Earth better but they be out of my Road at this time The main business is to prepare your Ground so that there may be room for the roots to run in to fetch their Nourishment As for Trees and Plants that root deep trench your Ground accordingly c. Now for to please the Tree or Plant with such Earth as it delights to be in add such a quantity of dung as may be sutable to the growth of your Tree or Plant thereby to make a fume to feed it for let this fume be made of what it will for-my part I shall not contend whether it be Salt Sulphur or Mercury or as some affirm that 't is Salt Sulphur Mercury and Spirit All or any one of these that feeds the Plants of this Terrestrial Globe or if it be Fire Earth Water or Air as was formerly the Opinion of the Learned for Sulphur or Brimstone may answer to Fire Salt to the Earth Mercury to Water Spirit to Air. For 't is certain that
Plants have Salt Sulphur Mercury and Spirit in them some more than others according to their Heat or Coldness but that they feed on these is not certain to me But it is as I conceive the Fume Steam or more properly the Spirit of the Earth that they feed on for the Earth is full of Spirit which is the cause of the vast many productions of Plants and Insects which are produced every year and from no seed or sperm but according to the fit Matrix of the Earth and the star-Star-fire and Virgin Mercury their Dame Nature is then busie to make some Plant or Insect according as she hath provided a Breast to suckle and feed them The Earth is then but onely a Lodging-place and simple Water is onely its Garment for simple crude Water feeds nothing but is rather Destructive as is seen by Water that runs forth on a Gravel and the stream quick there is feldome good Meadows by such Rivers unless there be some Town that washeth it self into the River or good Rich Land or Lanes or the like Your Spring-water unless it have some assistance is the like but of Water see more in the next Chapter And now I shall give you an Example of Earth by which you may well perceive that Plants do not feed on simple Earth nor crude Water My Lord was the Author that told me this and as soon as the Season of the year did permit me I then did try the Experiment which was thus performed I took out of a Hill of good Rich fresh Earth which I had prepared for other things some of the dryest somewhat above a good large Flower-pot full this I carried into a little Room which I had at Hadham-Hall it joyned upon the Bake-house there I spread this Earth thin upon the shelves now and then turning it till it was as dry as dust and as I thought as dry as it well could be provided it were not burned having thus prepared my Earth I filled a Flower-pot with it which pot and Earth thus filled weighed as exactly as I could weigh it just eighteen pounds and a half March approaching in the year 1666 I put this pot into a hot bed to secure the seeds and withall to help forward my design to preserve them the seeds were Purslain which I sowed in it the quantity was very small I kept this pot in hot Beds till the beginning of May and then I set it under a South Wall where it stood till that Moneth was out and then I set it in the shade from the Meridian Sun there it stood till the latter end of August and then finding my Plants full of seed and at a stand I then cut up the Purslain close to the ground at Noon-time when it was very dry and weighed the Purslain as exactly as I could and it weighed just six pound two ounces Then I took the pot of Earth and set it in a South Window in a Banqueting House to dry turning the Earth to the Sun to dry out some of the moisture for the Earth was wet for I had kept this pot with watering all the Summer as occasion served then I took this pot of Earth and carried it into the little Room to dry the Earth as I did before and putting some of the Earth into a Box and the rest in the pot I made it as dry as it well could be or at least as dry as it was when I sowed my seeds in it and then putting all my Earth into the pot again I weighed it as exactly as I had done before and then the pot and the Earth weighted just eighteen pound and seven ounces there was I confess the roots of the Purslain but when they were dryed I do believe they did not weigh one ounce and this one ounce that it lost of weight might be Earth dashed over with Rains Now these Plants weighing so much and the Earth wasted or decreased in its weight so little doth plainly shew that Plants do not feed onely on Earth for I do believe this that the earth that was wasted was dashed out of the pot by hasty watering and by sudden showers of Rain or perchance some might go out of the holes of the pot with the Water Now though Plants do not feed on earth yet Earth is the Nurse and receptacle of most things and the Earth is spongy and porous fit to receive the several Influences of the Heavens of Heat Rains and Dews and stores them up for the Conservation of her products and when the seed or plant desire it is put into Motion by the Coelestial heat the earth freely gives out of her store according as the Plant can dispose of it And if there be no Plants to feed on this Spirit of the Earth then many times Nature makes some which do for the earth will produce several Plants of its self without seed or root but they be Plants of no long lasting and when they die they then turn to Air and Spirit as all things do for there is nothing that is at a certain stay for all things have their time of increasing and their time of decaying till they be turned to that of which they were made No man can see Trees grow yet all men know that they doe It is plain to see when a Trees is decaying yet to know how long it will be before it is of its own decaying turned to Earth or Dust is hard to know Though it is Reported that an Oak is a hundred years a growing a hundred years stands at a stay and a hundred years decaying yet this is very erroneous for on shallow Grounds an Oak will not grow so long and on deep ground much longer and neither it nor any thing else stands at a stay but when it doth begin to decay it keeps on according as it meets with Accidents till it comes to dust Thus have I ghess'd but whether right or no The Criticks lash I 'm sure to undergoe I to th'ingen'ous Practiser direct These lines which hope with him to gain Respect For Learned men oft-times mistaken are When Fools as oft ghesse right though unaware CHAP. IX Of Water for Trees and Seeds and watering them I Have oft observed your Cisterns and other places that are onely filled with Rain-water that that water will in a Summers time produce several sorts of Insects and some sort of Water-plants and also that it will leave a green slime not much unlike to Plants which substance or slime as I tearm it would certainly be spent into Plants were there but some quantity of Aquatick Plants put into this water such as Mints of any sort yellow Water-flagge Flower-de-luce Crabs-claws or water Sen-green Brook-lime Ducks-meat c. I once made an Experiment to trye this which I have here inserted and thus it was I took two water-pots and filled them full of water out of a Fountain which had been filled by Snow and Rain the Winter before and
well and Seeds and small Plants often use not VVell-water especially for tender Plants for it is so strained thorow the Earth that it hath little spirit to mak Nourishment in it for Plants Rivers that run quick and long on sharp gravel are little better therefore if you must use such let them stand some time in the Sun in Tubs c. mixed with Dung Let the Quantity and Quality of your Dung be according to the Nature of your Plants as if your Plants be great growers and require heat then put Horse-dung c. in the water If your Plants be fine and tender then put Sheeps Dung or Cows-dung c. into the water remembring that if you think your ground be bad you must adde the more Dung If your VVater be bad as is aforesaid and that you put Dung into it to help it let it then stand in the Sun and open Aire uncovered Take care you water no Plants with standing stinking Ditch water nor no water that stinketh for sweet water not too clear and fresh Mould not musty or tainted by stinking weeds c. is as proper for tender Plants as sweet and good Food and warm and clean Lodging is to a tender fine-bred man Rain-water I take to be very good if not too long kept yet if your Vessel be large the oftner you stirre it the longer it will keep sweet Large and Navigable Rivers such as our Thames that receive much Soyl by the washing of Streets and the many Sinks that run into it and which by its own motion doth cleanse it self from that which is noxious both to Man and Plants is a most excellent Water for all sorts of Plants The larger that Ponds be the better their water is for Plants and if they have the shoot of some Stable-yard into them it addes much to their goodness the opener they be to the Sun the better and the more of motion they have as by Horses washing in them or Geese or Ducks swimming in them 't is so much the better for the swimming of Ducks in Summer in your small Ponds will keep the Water from smelling Now having shewed you several wayes of raising Forrest-trees with some other hints of their Seed c. and of Compost for them and of VVater and VVatering them I now shall shew you the manner how to raise them of Seed which is to be preferred before all others though some of the aforesaid wayes for some Trees are much easier and quicker Good Aire for Plants as well as Men is much assisting to their Health and Life for without this nothing can live and that which is most healthfull for tender Men is also the best for tender Plants Aire takes up the earthy Exhalations of all sorts and there mingles them together and being touched with Coelestial Fire it reduceth them into general Principles for great uses I shall say no more of Aire for it is an Hermaphrodite and is inclosed in Water therefore near a-kin to it CHAP. X. Of the Oaks Raising and Improving I Shall not trouble you with the several kinds there be though the Learned J. Evelyn Esq Reduceth them to four in his Discourse of Forest-Trees but if they were distinguished by several Names as we do our Pears you might find as many varieties onely according to the shape and taste of the Acorn for as we know by Experience that several of our Pear-Trees grow Pyramid-like as the Oakman-berry and Bordon-Musk-Pears c. And some likewise grow much spreading as the Winter-Bonchristian the back Pear of Worcester c. Even so do some of your Oaks therefore if you desire aspiring Trees take care to gather your Acorns off from such Trees or rather gather them from under some such Trees when fallen and in a dry time if you can When you have so done lay your Acorns thin in some open Room to dry and when they be dry keep them in some dry place till the latter end of January and having prepared some good fresh Loomy Ground by digging and keeping it clean before-hand sow them and let them be covered about an Inch and a half or two Inches deep by sowing them at this time you shall save a great many which otherwise would have been spoyled by Mice or other Vermin but if it happen to be a wet time when they fall then will they begin to spear out in a short time after And then so soon as you see them shoot forth a little bud at the small ends commit them to their Spouse as soon as may be for when they be come to the time that the Almighty hath alotted them and be sed and made lusty by the dews and showers of the Heavens then the star-Star-fire impregnats the Moysture in the seed and then the seed throws off or endeavours to do it and then takes his Lodging in the Earth where he prepares a room for his Off-spring that is as soon as the seed hath imbibed himself in the Water and received heat for without both these no seeds can produce its kinds the Body of the Acorn cracks and the spear shoots into the Earth and as soon as it hath got Entertainment there and the Season of the year agreeable the Body of the seed either turns into leaves or spends it self into leaves and that little small part of the seed the spear that shoots forth Root and then shot and leaves so that if the Acorn hath had a convenient quantity of heat and moisture but if too much of either of these that is deadly to all seeds then the seed spears forth and if it be not committed to the Ground before it be dryed and the spear withered then for certain that Seed Acorn Nut or Stone will never grow For Nature if once set on Motion will rather cease to be than alter its course for Nature hates violence neither can the seed receive this precious sperm without these two Father and Mother and these two must have a sutable Agreement between them for though one Vessel be sufficient to perfect the Infant in the Womb yet Nature hath not been wanting to provide several Breasts to Nourish it Therefore if your Acorns have taken wet and the heat hath made them spear you must sow them as soon as you can and venture them a whole Winter in the Ground remembring to keep some Traps set to catch the Mice In the Spring following they will come up keep them clean from Weeds and let them stand two or three years on their first bed then having prepared a piece of good fresh Ground by adding some rotten dung to it if poor or good fresh Rich Ground which is better than dung cut the tap-root and the side-boughs and set them as you do other Trees in your Nurseries keep your Ground with digging and the Trees with pruning up every year thus Order them till you find them fit to Remove and you will then find no such hazard in the Removing them as if
such up you spoyl their spearing by breaking it off or by letting in the drye Aire and so kill it therefore keep your Beds clean from weeds and about the middle or latter end of August they will be come up About the midst of September sift a little richer Mould all over the Bed but not so much as to cover them thus doe the next Summer and take off the side â— boughs though young and when they have stood two years on that Bed then plant them on beds in your Nursery keeping them with digging and pruning up yearly till you have got them to the stature you think convenient to plant abroad In setting this or any sort of Tree forget not to top the ends of the tap-root or other long ones and also not to leave a bruised End uncut off You may set them in streight lines in your Nursery about a yard one Row from another and about a foot and a half one Tree from another in the Rowes mind the Natural depth it first did grow at and set it so when you remove it have a care of setting any Tree too deep and also keep not this Tree nor a Walnut long out of the ground for their spongy Roots will in a little time grow Mouldy and be spoyled Therefore if you cannot set them let them be covered with Earth and then you shall find this Tree as patient in removing and as certain to grow as any Tree I know The ground they like best is a light Brick-earth or Loom as I said before that they dislike most is a rocky ground or a stiffe clay but if one have a mixture of Brick-earth c. and the other of small Gravel Drift-sand Sand c. then there they will do pretty well They naturally increase very much of themselves and the more where they meet with natural ground if you fell a thriving Tree and fence in the place you then may have a store to furnish your Woods and Hedge-rows with the worst and the straightest to nurse up in your Nurseries for to make VValks Avenues Glades c. with for there is no tree more proper for the certainty of its growing especially if you make good large and deep holes and where the ground is not natural there help it by some that is and then you may hope for a stately high growing Tree if you take care in pruning it up as is before shewed of the Oak You need not much fear its growing top-heavy for it having such a thick bark the sap is subject to lodge in it and break out many side-boughs and the Roots apt to break out with suckers the more when pruned therefore prune it up high and often but let the season be February for then its fine dark green-coloured Leaf and long hanging on it is the more ornamental and fit for walks As for the way to increase it from the Roots of another Tree I doe referre you to the seventh Chapter which will shew you fully how to perform the same observing but them Rules you may raise many fine young Trees from the Roots of another much better than naturally they will be produced from the Roots I advise you where you find your ground Natural in your Hedge-rowes there to plant some of this most usefull wood for it will run in the Banks and thicken your Hedges with wood and is very courteous to other sorts of wood growing by it Do not let ignorant Tradition possess you that it will grow of the Chips or of Truncheons set like Sallowes though the Author of the Commons Complaint saith it will for I assure you it neither doth nor will In Lopping of this be carefull to cut your boughs close and smooth off minding to keep them perpendicular to the Horizon the better to shoot off the wet It will grow well of Laying as is before noted and also directed in the Chapt. of Laying in which if you take but a little labour more than ordinary from one Tree you may have in a few years many in your Hedge-rowes or elsewhere therefore deferre not but put this in practice especially the great Kind My Lord Bacon adviseth to bud it to make the Leaves the larger but that is needless Part of these Rules I wrote some years agoe at the request and for the use of the truely ingenious Planter and Lover thereof Sir Henry Capell and I shall give you the same Conclusion now that I did then to him which take as followeth Since Gard'ning was the first and best Vocation And Adam whose all are by Procreation Was the first Gard'ner of the World and ye Are the green shoots of Him th' Original Tree Encourage then this innocent old Trade Ye Noble Souls that were from Adam made So shall the Gard'ners labour better bring To his Countrey Profit Pleasure to his King CHAP. XII Of Raising and Ordering the Ash AND as for Raising the Ash I shall give you the same Rules as I did to the aforesaid Honourable Person the same time before the Discourse of Forrest-trees was written Let your Keyes be thorow ripe which will be about the middle or end of October or November When you have gathered them lay them thin to dry but gather them off from a young straight thriving Tree My Reason to gather them off a young thriving tree is because there will the Keyes or seeds in the Keyes be the larger and solider therefore by consequence they are the abler to shoot the stronger and to maintain themselves the better and longer Though I know by experience that the seeds of some old Plants will come up sooner so the seed be perfect than the seed of young Plants and also that old seed so it will but grow will come up sooner than new Seed My aforesaid Reasons do in part demonstrate this Or thus Nature finding her self weak doth like a provident Mother seek the sooner to provide for her weak Children for Nature is one in divers things and yet various in one thing Now if you gather them off from a straight tree 't is the likelier they will run more up and grow straighter than those which be gathered off a Pollard or crooked tree for it is well known and might be proved by many Instances that Nature doth delight in Imitation and the Defects of Nature may be helped by Art for the great Alterations which many times we find visible in many Vegetables of the same species they all proceed either from the Earth the Water or the Heavenly Influences but the last is the greatest Author of Alteration both in Sensibles Vegetables and Animals However Like still produceth its Like and since there is such plenty of Forrest-trees that bear seed you may as well gather all sorts of Keyes and Seeds off or under such Trees as not As for the time of sowing them let it be any time between the latter end of October and the last of January for they will lie till Spring
good for it will burn up your seeds or plants this dung is too hot and quick for the seeds of Trees for 't is the nature of Pidgeons to eat Salt and to go to the sea-side early in the Mornings and there to pick up Salt which the heat of the Sun makes by drying up the salt water and then leaving the salt upon the sand Now this Fowl feeding so much upon salt the dung of it is hotter and salter than any Fowl I know Now the Reasons why it is good for cold Lands and withall to sow it Early are these Every one knowes that 't is the Nature of salt that the dryer and hotter 't is kept the more it keeps its own Body and doth not turn to water And when it stands in a cold and moyst place it then dissolves in a little time to water and when 't is turned into this Element of VVater then is it fit for the nourishing and feeding of seeds especially Annuals For they be alwayes prepared to set forward in their Journey provided they meet but with suitable Entertainment But the seeds of most Forrest-trees they will stay the time that their and our great God hath allotted them But then why Salt should be a feeder of Plants or Seeds I take the Reason to be this namely salt-Salt-water yet I do not mean of Salt in a great quantity and in meet places that will turn it into water I have oft observed that Salt if fallen upon a Board or other place it will be long a drying and if Heat have made it drye then Dews or Rain make it moyst again then it steams forth and that it is which nourisheth all Plants VVhen if on a hot and dry ground and late in the Spring if dry weather come then it doth not nor cannot yield its steam or fume as Paracelsus in his Philosophy to the Athenians lib. 3. p. 57. saith Every Body or tangible substance is nothing but a curdled fume whence saith he we may conclude that there is a manifold Coagulation one of VVood another of Stones a third of Mettals but the Body is nothing but Fume smoaking out of the Matter or Matrix in which it is So that which groweth out of the Earth is a fume rising out of the Moysture of Mercury which is various and sendeth forth several fumes for Hearbs Trees c. I do remember when I was a Boy about fourteen years of Age the Sea brake a bank into a Marsh of my Fathers in Lincoln-shire and did over-flow that Marsh and some others with salt Sea-water the next Summer proving dry all our Grass was clearly burnt up so that I was very much concerned for some particular Reasons thinking that all our Grass had been quite killed and indeed so it appeared The next Summer proved wet so that towards the latter end we had some Grass again and the third Summer we had Grass enough but the fourth and many after in abundance So that it appears the ground was stupified with too much Kindness at first but after the Rain had allayed the too much strength of the Salt water then the Grass could well digest the gentle Fume I would have those that lay Salt on their Gravel-walks to kill their weeds observe if in a few years more they do not produce more weeds than some other that had not Salt laid on them at all Sea-sand is a very good Compost for Ground especially for stiffe Ground for there it doth the too main parts to plants or any seed or tree that is it makes way for the tree or seed to root in stiffe ground and makes a Fume to feed it but this is too nimble for the seeds of trees unless a very little observe the Reasons before Mault-dust is a most excellent Compost in a small quantity for many sorts of Annual seeds as I have oft tried with good success but the Reasons are still the same for this being a small part of the roots of the Barley and being very dry drinks in the Element of water which is the principal and first matter of all things as a learned Author hath it in the Genealogy of Minerals p. 44 So wonderfully hath God created VVater the first Matter of Nature which though it be so tender and feeble a substance yet from thence is created the most solid and durable Fruit that is from the fume of an Oyly Earthy water is the Life of all Plants The parts of the dust being thus filled upon the Suns attracting that and the Plant the Root embraces this Fume This little root it having not life to grow turns to Earth and its Grave is a room to lead the root of another Plant in it will give good entertainment to its own Kind Thus you see the Destruction of one is the increase of another A little of this is good for some seed of Forrest-trees but sow it not too thick for any thing lest it mold or turn Musty Note that the place which is best for the root to be in when the Tree or Plant is growing is the place that bringeth it soonest to Destruction when dead and contrary for a Tree cannot live in water or alwayes dry and those preserve the Timber longest when the Tree is dead This may be further improved by ingenuity Note also that the place which is best to keep the Fruit of a Tree in is the very worst for a Tree or Plant to grow in and contrary Old Rags of Woollen Cloth as is found by Experience by the industrious Farmer cut into small pieces are a good Compost for their Ground they draw the Dew and Rain to them and keep it till Sol's presence makes it fit for the Roots of the Plant I judge them to be best for a pure dry soyl because they hold their Moysture long and I suppose 't is a soyl that is lasting for Wooll will not rot with wet suddenly A little of this for the Trees or Seed on a dry Ground will do good to them as appears by the aforesaid Reasons For Annuals better Conny-clippings are of the same nature but I do suppose they will not last so long and are better for a stiffe ground Saw-dust if well rotten and of soft woods is very gratefull to the tender Roots or Seeds of any sort 't is good for dry ground for it holds water and makes way for the Roots of Trees very well and is as good as most Preparers are Rotten-dust out of hollow Trees especially those of soft wood is a rich Leader of tender young Roots the Reason is shewed before Soot is good to kill Moss for its heat kills the Roots for they lye on the top of the Earth and good also to keep worms from doing harm to your Seeds Sea-coal Ashes are very good in cold stiffe ground either for Trees or any other Plant to make that ground work well and to keep it hollow for the Roots to run in c. Rubbish of Buildings that
shot forth that I was forced to cut off some of their Heads that is the side-boughs to keep the Wind from breaking them There is in these four rows of Trees 296. and of these I lost not one Tree the first Year but they did grow and shoot so well that there were several Noble Men that saw them did think as they said that they were not removed the Year before but the year after we had three spoyled by some base Men or Boys Of the very same parcel of Trees my Lord gave Sir William Temple thirty of the best of them which he himself saw chosen out they were Set at Sir William's House at Sheen a much better Natur'd Ground than ours yet they lost all but six of them the first Year I saw a walk of Line-trees but I think they were the Bastard-kind which we have growing in many of our Woods in England set at Debden-hall the Right Worshipful Sir Richard Brown's House the Natural ground was not bad for them but how they were Ordered I do not know for they had the first year not above one in ten that did grow any thing considerably I saw the like or worse spoyl of the same Trees at my Lord Chief Baron Turnor's near Startford where the ground might easily have been made very good for them I onely write this to perswade Noble Men and others that are Lovers of Planting to remember the old saying viz. A thing once well done is twice done And those that are resolved to Plant that they make their Ground fit for those Trees before they set them and not bury them in a hole like a dead dog as too too many do Let me then beg that they may have good and fresh Lodgings sutable to their Quality and good attendance also to preserve them from their Enemies till they be able to encounter with them they that will not do this let them never resolve to Plant Trees for why should they spoil the least of those stately Monuments and in so doing throw away their Monies For let such note that Nature bestows not her gifts but where she finds sutable Convenience therefore order your Ground well and then you may see a good success as my Lord hath had in several of his Plantations though as bad ground as most is to Plant on One Night me thoughts walking up one of my Lords Line-walks I heard the grateful Trees thus Paying the Tribute of their thanks to his Lordship Like Pyramids our Stately Tops wee 'l Raise To Sing our Noble Benefactor 's Praise Freshly we will to After-ages show What Noble Essex did on us bestow For we our very Being owe to him Or else we had long since intombed been In Crop of Bird or in Beasts Belly found Or met our Death neglected on the ground By him we cherish'd were with Dung and Spade For which wee 'l Recompence him with our Shade And since his kindness saw us prun'd so well We will Requite him with our Fragrant smell In Winter as in Gratitude is meet Wee 'l strew our humble Leaves beneath his Feet Nay in each Tree Root Trunck Branch all will be Proud to Serve him and his Posterity Thus having shewed you by Example the good Effects of a light Brick-Earth upon Gravel I could also tell the same of a Fat Sand drift-sand small Gravel upon your Clay or stiff Ground but I hope that I have informed your Judgment so much that you will Reasonably conclude with me that the preparing of Ground for Trees is onely to mix Ground so together that there may be convenient room for the Roots to search for their Nourishment and to humour the Tree so that there may be a good part of the Natural Ground which each Tree delights to grow in I know that if your Ground be a stiff Clay then to trench and mix it with fat Sand drift-sand Lime Rubbish or Chalk and Lime are great helps to such Ground either for Trees or Corn or Grass and more lasting than Dung and for Forrest-Trees full as good as Dung For it doth not onely give leave and make way for the roots to run in the Earth but takes away that over-moistness in the cold stiff Ground which hinders Conception by letting the water down into the Earth and by keeping it from Cracking and so Nourisheth the Spirit of the Earth and also keeps it from spending it too hastily Horse-dung is the best to make your hot beds with for such Plants as are commonly raised of them be Annual Plants but it is too hasty for the Seeds of Trees unless it be rotten and well mixed with Natural Mould It is best for your stiff cold Lands and if you lay it upon Plowed Ground which 't is best for then Plow it in as soon as you can for if it lies there to dry there will a great part of the Oily substance which makes the fume for nourishment of Plants be exhaled out by the Sun Let no sort of dung lie long on the top of your Ground unplowedin but plow or dig it in as soon as you can for by lying so it doth not onely lose a great part of its goodness by the Sun especially if it lies thin but where your Dung-hill lies every shower will wash the strength of the dung into the Ground so that if you take the dung off from that place as clean as you can yet you shall have that place bear Ranker Corn than where you thought the dung had lain much thicker if it lies long in a place The Observation of this taught me many good Uses as first to lay dung about the Roots of Trees is much better than stones as my Lord Bacon Advises in his Natural History for this keeps moist the Ground better than they and Rain washes the strength to the Roots as is aforesaid and if you dig in this when the strength is gone and your Trees strong it then prepares way for the Roots and there is a great benefit to your Trees Or if it is not digged-in but lies on the top and there turns to Earth it then feeds the Roots on the top and leads them upward And seeing where Dung lies the Ground is so much improved by the washing-in of the strength of the Dung it may well inform you that Dung steeped in Water is very good especially if you use Dung in Quantity according to the Nature of your Plants and strength of your Ground the weaker your Ground make your Water the stronger There is in some places in Farmers Yards a Water that washeth from their Dung-hills a Load of which is not inferiour to a Load of Dung yet by them totally Neglected but of Waters I shall speak more in the next Chapter Thus having hinted of these two Useful and Common Dungs Cow and Horse in the Example of these Line-trees onely Observe this and then I shall proceed Horse-dung is best for Plants that are quick of Digestion and Growth
top-heavy You may safely cut off small branches and prune small Trees at this Summer-season And for such Trees as have a great Pith as the Ash and Walnut I take it to be the best time for them And whereas some say to the contrary yet if the Reader will be Advised by me let him prune such in Summer But in the midst of Winter forbear to prune most Trees especially great Boughs or such Trees as have a great Pith or tender for then the wound lyeth exposed to the open Air and Wet and Frost coming upon the Wet and piercing so far into the wounded place as the wet hath gone kills the Wood and makes a hole in that place and that hole holding Water many times Kills many a good Tree especially where great Boughs are taken off for they be long a covering over and never will be covered if the Tree be Old Therefore if your Tree be Old forbear to cut off great Boughs but if for some Reasons you are forced to do it then cut off such Boughs two Foot or a Yard from the Body of your Timber-tree and let the place where you cut off such a Limb be perpendicular to the Horizon rather inclining to the Nadir than the Zenith by so doing the water will not lie on such a place and then the Tree will receive no harm But if your Tree be young and thriving then cut off the Boughs as close as you can keeping the wounded place perpendicular to the Horizon and be sure not to leave Elbows to receive the wet as too many of our Husband-men do for the closer you cut off a Bough to the Body the sooner the bark covereth that place therefore cut off the side-boughs of young Timber-trees close and smooth I wish I could perswade all Lovers of handsome Timber-trees at every Fall of their Woods to prune up all the Timber-trees but then the Wood must not stand too long before it be fell'd You may prune off boughs of ten years growth very well and so every ten years or oftner if it be in Hedg-rowes prune up your Trees till you have got them to such a height as you find most convenient viz. to fifty or sixty foot high For I have many times observed Trees of Oak Ash Elm and Beech to have leading shoots sixty foot high and more when they have had not above ten foot of good Timber for Boughs have broke out at that height and have so distributed the sap that they were little worth but for the Fire when if they had been pruned up as is before directed you might have had the same height of good Timber which how much more profitable it would be and also beautifull I leave to any mans Judgement The Ash and Beech cover the wounded place over soon and seldom break out many side-boughs The Elm very frequently breaks out side-boughs yet will arrive to a great height of good Timber the Oak is a little subject to break out side-boughs and though a slow grower yet by its own hardness of his Wood he preserves himself well till it hath over-grown the wounded place which it will in a few years doe if your Tree be young and thriving and the boughs not very great for if the boughs be great that place when they be cut off is such a Damm to the sap that it forceth it to break out with many small boughs there especially in such Trees as have a thick and rugged bark as the Elm and Oak have when old But if the Tree be young and thriving then is the Bark thin and loose and will more readily give way to the sap to ascend into the Head and not break out into side-boughs but if some few do break out often pruning them close off will prevent that But if you would be at a little more trouble note this which I have found to be true and your Timber shall pay you well for your pains At Midsommer after you have pruned up your Trees take off all the small shoots that are broke out on the side of your Trees close to the body of the Tree do thus two or three years together and you will find every year the side-boughs to be fewer and fewer till you have a clear body beautifull to behold and profitable for as good Timber thirty or forty foot or more which otherwise would not have been a quarter so high Thus may you make an Elm which is a Tree most subject to break out side-boughs as clear from boughs forty or fifty foot high as they be Your Oak that is young you may easily master and bring it to a clear body though it is some what troublesome in Woods yet in Hedg-Rowes it may be practised with ease or in Walks or on single Oaks But our Yeomen and Farmers are too much subject to spoyl such Trees as would make our best Oaks by heading them and making them Pollards I wish there were as strict a Law as could be made to punish those that do presume to head an Oak the King of Woods though it be on their own Land By this means we should have the Farmer that is scanted in Wood by often pruning off the side-boughs make many finer Trees than now there are for in such places there is great food to make him a great Tree and then in Coppices if you let a Tree stand to be very great it spoyls many a young one and also your under-wood But methinks I hear some opposing me saying that by so pruning up of Trees they do not prove so well for the Joyner Carpenter Wheeler c. for they say if the Tree doth over-grow the Knot when they come to cleave such a Tree that place proves faulty within and the Timber is not so good Secondly They say that cutting off the side-boughs makes Trees more knotty Thirdly they say that it makes a Tree decay sooner To these three Objections I shall answer and then hasten to conclude and so leave my beloved Oak I do grant that if the Knots be great though the Trees be young and thriving and have covered the place over well if you come to saw out such Trees for Plank Board or VVainscot that there may be some Defect there where great boughs were cut off but suppose there be you have still the same length clear Timber at the lower end as you would have had if these boughs had not been cut off and then by pruning up your Trees they grow straighter and your Tree carries a greater length of Timber usefull for Beams Summers Raising VVallplats Rafters Joyce c. and how much Timber these spend more than the other viz. Board and VVainscot c. I leave you to determine But my Advice is not to let your boughs be great but take them off from such Trees whilest young and then the boughs will be young and small and such Trees will cover such places in a little time and these small Knots will not
to the Nature of the Ground that the Tree Loves and the depth of the Soyl so doth the Tree increase in these Circles and growth in all parts Between these Annual Circles doth some Sap rise as is plain in a tree that is Barked round for that tree shall put forth Leaves and increase in Body but produce little or no shoot and the more porous the tree is between these Annual Circles the longer that tree will Live as accidentally I have had it Experimented on Walnut-trees Ashes c. And they have continued sometimes two years and sometimes near three before they have dyed when they have been barked quite round the stemme a Foot or more and by way of Experiment I cut off the Bark from a Holly-tree and a Box-tree about half a Foot clean quite round the stemme or body of each tree and the tops of both did die in less than one years time which informed my Reason as much as though I had Learned it out of the most Learned Author that the Sap of those trees that shed their Leaves doth in a small quantity ascend between the Annual Circles in that pory place for trees that hold their leaves their Wood is close and Compact between the Annual Circles and that is the Reason that they die soon being barked round Also their Sap being of a Turpentine and Clammy Substance is the Reason they hold their Leaves all Winter being as it were glued on by that Substance and the Sap of such Trees as hold their Leaves being once set by cold requires a pretty deal of heat to make it thin and set it on Motion As Comparatively a little Cold will set or make stiff Pitch or Turpentine but it must be Frost that sets or stays the Motion of Water Also those Trees which hold their Leaves will grow much better under the dropping of other great Trees than those that shed their Leaves for their Turpentine-sap shoots off the drops so that they have little or no harm by such a Scituation But in case you should have a Tree Barked round by Accident and would willingly preserve it your best way is to get a shoot below the wounded place and if your Tree be Young you shall then have several break out a little above the Root if you find they shoot strong preserve two of the strongest and see that the Barked place be near the Ground but if your Tree be Barked high from the Ground or that it shoot up slowly then leave but one shoot keeping all other that shoot out clean taken off as soon as ever you see them break out so Nourish up the two shoots or shoot till you have got them higher than the wounded place then cut a long slit in the Bark above the wound and joyn in that shoot exactly making it fit the slit the in-side of one bark right against the in-side of the other tie it close in and Loom it over with good and well tempered Loom to keep the Air and wet out or better with soft Wax The Spring is the best Season but if you fear your Tree to decay defer not but do it as soon as your shoots be shot long enough If you would be further satisfied concerning the Largeness and Usefulness of this Royal Tree see Esquire Evelyn's Discourse of Forest-trees who hath writ very well of this and others but before I bid adieu I must Plant these few unpruned Verses and so leave the most Useful Oak O Stately Tree Who right can speak thy Praise Doth well deserve the Lawrel or the Bays Ask but our Thames what Burdens thou hast bore Of Gold and Silver fine and in their ore Of Rubies Diamonds and Pearls most rare With others which past valuation are Of Silk and Sattins fine to Cloath the Back Of Wines Italian French and Spanish Sack Of Spices Fruits and many a Rich Dye To Satisfie and Feast the Curious Eye Of Mastick Myrrh and many a Rich Gum Alloes and Druggs which from the Indies come He who Loves this thy Burthen and not Thee He deserves never to be worth one Tree 'T was Faithful Oak preserv'd our King that we Might thence Learn Lessons of true Loyalty Kings Lords and Earls and Men of Low Degree Transported are by this our Royal Tree Oak-Walls our Seas and Island do inclose Our Best Defence against our Forreign Foes No thing on Earth but Oak can Time Redeem No Wood deserving of so high Esteem When in Salt Seas Sir Francis Drake did stear Sailing in Oak he sav'd one day i' th' Year His Oak which the Terrestrial Globe did Measure Through Dangers led him t' Honour Profit Pleasure No Wood like Oak that grows upon the Ground To make our House and Ships last long and sound No Oak like Ours By Love to Oaks let 's then Appear true Subjects and right English-men CHAP. XI Of raising and Ordering the Elm. THere are several sorts of Elm but the best sort because it produceth the greatest Trees and soonest comes to perfection is that which hath its Leaves not much less than Line or Lime-tree leaves and shoots with a shoot not much less than a Sallow when it is lopped it is called by some the Trench-Elm by others the Marsh-Elm Some other sorts there are that are not much inferiour to this for producing high and good Timber One sort there is that hath on the young shoots great pieces like Cork subject to spread in head much and grow crooked this is not very good to make high Trees but makes good Pollards Another sort there is which I see in Essex the sides are subject to have Wenns thick on them which makes the Body hard to cleave this is not very good to make a high Tree but good Pollards All sorts of Elms doe increase from the roots much of themselves and the more you take the more they will give provided you keep them from being taken from you that is from being spoyled by Cattel and though they be so kind of themselves yet there are several wayes to increase them but the way to have of the best Kinds and to make the finest Trees is by raising them of seeds Therefore about the beginning of March or about the tenth you shall find the broad things like Hops begin to fall which have the seed in them when you find these begin to fall in a dry day if conveniently you can gather what quantity you please to sow then lay them thin in some place where they may drye four or five dayes and then having prepared a Bed in bigness according to the quantity of your Seeds of fresh light Brick-earth sow the seeds and their Vessels all over then sift some of the same Mould all over the bed for they will not well rake in let them be covered about half an Inch thick if the Summer prove drye water them sometimes and keep them clean from Weeds let not weeds stand on your bed till they be great lest in pulling
big enough for Walks VVoods or what you please Thus much at this time of the Sycamore onely remember as I said before that it is a good wood to plant in Coppices and Woods CHAP. XXI Of Raising and Ordering the Hornbeam I Told you but now of the Sycamore being fit to be set in Parks because Deer do not often Bark them but of all Trees that I know for that purpose this is the best for a Deer will sterve before he will so much as taste the Bark of the Hornbeam they do not love much the very small tops This Tree may be raised of Seed or by Laying but by Seed is best though the young Seedlings be tender The Seeds may be sown at the time directed for the Ash for it lieth a year in the Ground before it comes up and then you must look to keep it well shaded or else it will sooner be gone than you think for It naturally loveth to grow on stiffe ground where it will grow and bring great Lops to the Owner when the Tree is but a very Shell as indeed most Old Trees are hollow within which I judge not to be the Nature of the Tree so to grow but the fault of those that look to them for they have too many Masters which be bad Husbands and no Friends to this Tree and many others as the Elm Ash c. who let the Lops be great before they lop them perswadeing themselves that they have more great wood which is most usefull never considering that great lops do endanger the Life of the Tree or at best wound it so much that many Trees decay more yearly in their Bodies than the yearly lops come to and so indeed they do provide themselves with more great wood though it be much to the Owners loss though this Tree will bear great Lops when there is nothing but a shell of a Tree standing yet the Ash if once come to take wet much at the Head it rarely bears more Lop after that the Body of the Tree decayes Therefore if once a Tree decayes much at the middle it will soon be little worth else but for the Fire But in case you find a Timber tree decay as is aforesaid down with it in time for fear you lose your Timber and also the Fire-wood be spoyled but of this I have spoken before and would also speak more could I with words but perswade men out of this great Error But our ordinary Husband-men will vindicate Their Countrey-Husbandry to be better than the next for indeed Countreys do differ much in the ordering of Trees and Hedges and they as much condemn ours for it is as hard to perswade them out of their self-conceited Opinion and Tradition as it is to make a Jew turn Christian This tree makes the very best Hedges of any Tree we have in England that sheds the leaves I mean for Ornament for you may keep it in what form you please and it will grow very thick to the very Ground Therefore to make a private Walk or to sence in Avenues at a convenient distance without the bound-Range of Trees or Walks or to hedge in Ridings Causewayes or to make close Walks or Arbours this Tree is much to be commended especially on such ground which it likes You may be better satisfied about this Tree at Hampton-Court in his Majesties Garden which is kept by the ingenious Artist and my good Friend Mr. Tobias Gatts It is good Fire-wood and yieldeth good Increase both from Stubs and Pollards It encreaseth much by sowing it self therefore you that love planting get a few into your Plantations and try whether they will thrive with you or not which doubtless it will on many Grounds where now it is not and so would many other Trees doe mighty well in VVoods and Coppices to thicken them and make them the more beautifull especially those that increase from the running Roots as the Noble Elm Cherry Sarvice Abel Popler c. and some others for to seed if you have them not as Ash Sycamore Line Hornbeam Maple Quickbeam c. and with those which you see thrive best you may at every Fall furnish your woods where they be thin and I do assure you it will pay you for your pains with Interest CHAP. XXII Of Raising the Quickbeam THE Quickbeam VVhitchen or VVild-ash though very scarce in the South parts of this Land is pretty plentifull in some parts of the North as in Nottingham-shire c. and would be there more plentifull were it suffered to grow great to bear the greater Quantity of Seed for I think it increaseth as the Ash doth onely from seed It produceth straight small and long shoots which in that Countrey they cut off while they are young to make Goads as they call them or Whips to drive their Oxen with for it is as tough a VVood as most is I do ghess the seeds lye a year in the Ground before they come up I am now about trying to raise some Let me desire some kind Planters to get some of this VVood into their bounds where it is not that it may be tryed whether it will grow in the South or not as no doubt but it will if you will but trye I shall say no more of this Tree because I cannot yet speak much on my own Knowledge CHAP. XXIII Of Raising the Birch THis Tree increaseth froom the Roots or Suckers and for ought I know it may be raised of Seeds for I do suppose there are Seeds in that which it sheds in the Spring though I have not yet tryed It delights to grow on your hungry Gravel as it doth about Cashicbury in several VVods Therefore you that have barren Ground where your VVoods be get some sets of this VVood to help to thicken your VVoods for though it be one of the worst of VVoods yet it is very usefull and the great God hath ordered it to be contented with the worst of Grounds and besides that it should not be despised by his Servants he hath endowed it with a Faculty of Attracting and preparing from the Earth a very Medicinal Liquor which is both pleasant and healthfull for man which to take from the Tree and also to prepare this Water and to demonstrate what Diseases it is good for I shall make bold to borrow out of Esquire Evelyns Discourse of Forrest-trees pag. 32 c. About the beginning of March with a Chizzel and a Mallet cut a slit almost as deep as the very Pith under some Bough or Branch of a well-spreading Birch Cut it oblique and not long-wayes inserting a small Stone or Chip to keep the Lips of the Wound a little open fasten thereto a Bottle or some other convenient Vessel appendant out of this Aperture will extill a limphid and clear water retaining an obscure smack both of the Taste and Odour of the Tree thus may you obtain this water I will present you a Receipt how to make it as
shew the best way for improving your Ground presuming that every man that fenceth in a ground would plant as many Trees as he can in it let such but mind what I have delivered and what I shall deliver in the next Chapter I hope it will be satisfactory to him if it be it will be the like to me But what Order soever you plant your Trees in make your holes good before Set not your Trees too deep and keep them staked the first year covering the ground over the Roots with some Litter or Dung and over that a little Mould to keep the Sun from burning the Dung and exhausting the strength In the Spring walk over the Ground you planted in Winter and set your Trees to right and tread the Mould to the Roots especially if the Spring be drye keep all the cracks filled with Mould after your Trees be set keep your ground with digging or plowing for three or four years at first but the longer the better your Trees will run and thrive in the loose Ground much but if you do not so much mind Order in Planting but would keep your Land for Corn and yet would gladly have Fruit-trees too which may very well be and you may have good store of Fruit and not much the less Corn then plant your Rowes about thirty foot asunder the longest wayes of your Ground and set the Trees in the Rows about 15 foot asunder and let the Trees in each Row stand exactly square so may you have a very fine Orchard and little or nothing the less Corn Many years may you have as much Fruit as is worth a good Crop of Corn off so much Land and not the less Corn which may well encourage you to planting if you dare believe me but if not be but so kind to your self and me as to trye whether I tell truth not Be sure to keep Cows out of your young Orchards Sheep will do no harm provided you wisp your Trees about with Thum-bands whilest young which is the best way to keep them from the destructive Hares and Coneys CHAP. XXXIV Of Pruning Trees some general Observations ALthough I have shewed you how to prune most sort of Trees in each Chapter where I shewed you how to raise them yet I shall say a little more and all will be too little for the Curate of Henonville tells you in his Book of the Manner of Ordering Fruit-trees That it is a Thing very rare among Gardners to Prune Trees well for the doing of it well depends more upon their Ingenuity than upon their Hand It is also very hard to give Instructions for it because it consists not in certain and general Maxims but varies according to the particular Circumstances of each Tree so that it depends absolutely upon the Gardners Prudence who ought of himself to judge what Branches must be left and which are fit to be cut away c. Indeed that erroneous Custome and Saying which is among most men of Timber-trees not to prune them at all or if you doe to cut off the boughs at distance from the Body hath made many a good Fruit-tree lose its life sooner by many years than it would have done and also hath yielded to the Owner much less and worse Fruit than it would have done Therefore whatsoever Bough you cut off from Fruit or Forrest-tree cut it close and smooth and the lowest side closest then will it not hold water and every year the Bark will surround and overgrow the wound by little and little till it hath quite healed the place But if you leave a Stump it 's likely that will hold water and make a hole into the very Body of your Tree and so in little time make it sick and kill it which before would bear you but little and poor Fruit Or if the Stump hang down so that it doth not hold wet then the Tree must be as big as that Stump is long on all sides before it can over-grow that place or if the Stump rots and breaks off then many times it leaves a hole in the Tree which if it tends much upward so that it takes water it certainly kills the Tree and if the Tree be not a very thriving Tree it will be very long before it overgrowes that hole though it do not take wet Therefore what boughs you cut off cut them off close unless the Tree be very old and the boughs great such I do not advise you to meddle with but if you doe cut them at a distance from the Body alwayes remembring to let the wound be smooth and to tend as much from the Horizon as may be All boughs that grow upright be they great or little cut them not right cross over but cut them sloping upward and let the slope aspect the South East or West if it may be and in those boughs that lean from the head cut the slope on the lower side the slope tending downward so will they cover over the better if the wound be great cover it over with some Clay well mixed with Horse-dung to keep it from the weather and it will cover over the sooner Many a good Tree is spoyled by grafting of it in bad places as I have seen in some hundreds of which I have not spared as oft as I could to tell the Owners but few would believe me for sometimes they cut off great boughs till they come to 6 Inches or thereabouts Diameter there they put in four or six Grafts in the Bark and sometimes two in the Clift and saw the bough right cross over though it grow upright in which if the Grafts do grow the head is so great and they growing Round as it were endeavouring to cover over the wound make such a hollow place like a Dish on the Head as holds water and kills the Tree which is many times dead before the Grafts can cover over the head or if the Tree doth not thrive very well they keep that place will covered with Loom or Clay mixed with Horse-dung and sometimes they head the Tree very low and thereby check it so much that it dyes in little time after Sometimes they cut off such great boughs and do it so ill that though the heads grow yet in little time these wounds kill the Tree Though I shall not here teach you how to graft yet let me advise you when you graft high great Trees not to cut them too low but to prune them up till they come to the thickness of your Arm or less and then graft them for then will the Grafts soon overgrow such places Leave a good many of these Heads on according to the bigness of your Tree that if some miss you may take them off the next Spring and yet have enough for the Head If you graft in the Bark you must remember to head your Grafts about Midsummer or else they will be subject to blow off put your Grafts in alway on the upper side
I take the mean Diameter to be 9 In. As 7 to 22 so 9 to 28 and 2 7 the Circumference of the hollow ¼ is 7 In. then as 12 to 7 so 12 foot to 4 and ¼ near which taken from 39 foot and ½ leaves 35 foot and ¼ for the sound Timber of that piece CHAP. XXXVIII Of making Walks Avenues or Lawns AS for making of Walks in Gardens I shall not speak of that in this place because I have resolved to keep my walk without the walls there are several Books of Gardening that have many Drafts and Knots in them but they be all done by ghess and none of them fitted to a scale to inform what Ground they be most proper for so that they be as fit for Butter-Prints as for Knots in a Garden Most Walks that are made abroad they either terminate or end or lead to the Front of a House or Door or Garden-gate or other Gate High-way or Wood c. Now if you would make a Walk from any one of these and have resolved upon the Center or Middle Line of the Walk as the Middle of a Door in the Front of a house or the like there pitch up a straight stake and then from the square of the Front c. raise a Perpendicular from this Stake and at a convenient distance in this perpendicular Line set up another stake let these two stakes be two little stakes at first but that at the Centre alwayes the highest these two stakes being thus fixed and you fully concluding them to be in the Mid-line then come to the Centre-stake and having in readiness a Quantity of Stakes according to the Length of your Walk bid one of your assistance go as far as you can well see back-sight and fore-sight and there by the motion of your hand or hat and his own back-sight let him fix upright one stake as exactly as may be in the Line then take up the two little stakes and at the Centre fix in a stake six foot high straight and upright with paper on the top and exactly in the place where the little stake stood Thus having got two stakes placed the Middle-stake and the Centre-stake you may if your Walk be level and the ground clear and the Walk not above one mile long set up one stake at the End in the Mid-line looking over the head of that stake and the other moving it till these three stakes be in a Right Line so may you have the middle line of your walk by these three stakes exacter than by more for the fewer stakes you use in your mid-line the better because that if you be but once a little amiss the more stakes are used you will be so much the further out of the right way And note it is better to take your sight over the head of your stakes than to look by their sides therefore you must have the Center stake highest the next a little shorter and so the next shorter than that c. but if your Ground be not level then order your stakes accordingly as thus And if your Ground be not level or be of such a length that you cannot well see from End to End then you must place down more stakes viz. between the Middle-stake and Centre-stake one and between the Middle and End-stake one if need require more I have oft made use of a sight-stake which I had only to find the place where my other stakes should stand this stake was made with a slit in the head half a foot deep which I looked through over the heads of the rest till I found the place where to set my stake right in the Mid-line It is of good use and Fig. 13. may somewhat represent it you may make it to slide up and down the better to come to the Level of the head of the stakes See Fig. 13. When you take sight to set any stake true in a Line with others stand at a little distance with your Eye from the head of the stake so shall you set it Exacter in the Line than when your Eye touches the head of the stake set your stake so that you may onely see three stakes in a Line let your Walk be of what length it will Having thus staked out your Mid-line strain a Line in this Mid-line and lay a square to that Line so set off the breadth of your Walk exactly square to your Middle-line then set up stakes as you did against every stake in the Middle of the Walk and when you have got the Lines true where your Trees must stand then drive down Oak-stakes in the Line to the head and then it is but putting down high stakes by these when you come to set your Trees Then having resolved on the distance to set your Trees at and provided good store of small stakes take your Chain and not a Line for that will retch and shrink and with your help set little stakes downright in this Line and square where you would have every Tree to stand these stakes are to make your holes by which I would have at least three foot wide and two foot deep and the holes made a Quarter of a Year before you set your Trees if it were a year 't were the better keeping the Mould turn'd over now and then and mixing it with Earth or Dung if need be then when the time of Planting is come begin betimes however on dry ground set up Stakes by every Oak-stake you left in the Row before having pruned the Roots and Heads to an equal height set them right one Tree against another square And if your Trees be not all of one Size set the greatest first right one against another and so lesser and lesser by degrees minding that both Rows go on square together and be sure you mind to let your Trees be at equal distance from End to End then if you have a point fixed at both Ends you must run over that distance you resolve to plant your Trees at before you set your Stakes and if you find it is over or short of equal distances then must you adde or substract this odde open to or from the rest to make them all of equal distance See Chap. 33. Now having your Trees and all things in Readiness set them by the Stakes standing in the Rows minding to set every Tree to range with the Stakes by back-sight and fore-sight Cover and part the Roots with fine Mould and when they be all covered lay on some Rotten Dung over that Mould and then cover that Dung with a little Mould this Dung will keep them from friezing in Winter and from drying too much in Summer and also well prepares the water for the Roots Thus having set them take care to fence them in at such places where need is so will you as well as I reap a great satisfaction if you let not the Dung touch the Roots Do not mask a fine Front nor vail a