Eden to Till the ground We see likewise the Scripture calls it Husbandry Noah is called an Husbandman when he Planted a Vineyard Gen. 9.20 God blessed for ever is called an Husbandman for that he Pruneth Purgeth and ordereth his Mystical Vine-tree the Church Joh. 15.1 So that I shall keep the phrase throughout the Work I have seen I suppose the best Works both of antient and late Writers upon this Subject and have learned from them what I could for the accomplishing of this Art and have observed the practise and experiments of many from time to time concerning it and have improved them to my own advantage And likewise I have set my self to the Practise of this work about Thirty and seven years endeavouring to find out things of use and profit by Practice and Experience that I might speak upon better and surer grounds than some others who have written upon this Subject for Experience guides and informs Reason in many things in which without Experience it would often erre Some who have taught this Art of Planting Fruit-trees have been in it only Contemplative men having little or no Experience in it so that in many things they have erred and that grosly as shall appear in due place See pag. 165 166 c. A Learned Author sayes The writings of speculative men upon active matter for the most part seems to men of Experience to be but as dreams and dotage Study and Practise by degrees frame new Arts and add to the old Per varies usus Meditando extunderet Artes paulatim Experience is called the Perfecter of Arts and the most sure and best teacher in any Art Contemplation and Action are the two legs whereon Arts run steedily and strongly and the one without the other can but hop or go â—amely They are the two Eyes wherewith men see Natures secrets clearly but the one alone discerns but dimly And hence it follows that some who were only Contemplators of nature without experience and would needs adventure to write and give instructions touching the Practique part of Planting Fruit-trees have in many things as the aforesaid Author sayes presented us with smoak instead of the lucide flames of light They have indeed shewed us a comly and beautiful body Painted according to Art but yet lifeless and without a spirit and have offered us shells and husks instead of kernels But now speculation and action are as Soul and Body united which labouring together work out both Profit and Pleasure many advantages to our selves and others Experience as a Philosopher says is the Root of Art and it may well be so called from which springs a numerous multitude of new Experiments for from one Root or single Experiment though perhaps a poor and mean one in it self if throughly weighed with reason and judgment may arise many rich and rare inventions And it s most true which the Lord Bacon sayes to this purpose As through a small hole or cranny a man may see great Objects so through small and contemptible instances men may see great Axioms singular secrets of nature Men will labour hard and a long time in some labours full of hazard and danger and perhaps unjust too and all for a little profit but here in this employment men may with a little labour in a short time without hazard or danger and that justly obtain great and many profits and those with pleasures superadded Works and labours which have in them but a vain and unprofitable pleasure are approved but onely of some sensual persons and such labours as have but onely Profit and do not ease the Pains with some pleasantness in them are yet harsh and disliked of many but such as yield both Profit and Pleasure are universally liked and allowed of all according to the Poet Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci. Either of these is the better because of the other joyned with it when they run along hand in hand the Profit is the more because of the Pleasure and the Pleasure is more because of the Profit Now therefore That men may obtain yearly a plentiful Harvest of Profits and Pleasures I have endeavoured to remove whatsoever might hinder and have laid down some Arguments of Encouragement to set upon and prosecute the means to obtain them discovering the best way I can find out how they may be gotten with most speed and kept with most security If any man think the Divine and Humane Arguments preceeding the work to be needless because generally men know that Planting Fruit-trees is a very profitable work none doubt it I Answer Some know it by Experience many others do not And although men are convinced of the profitableness of the work yet there is need of some quickning Motives to it as to some persons And I know none more prevalent than those taken from Profits and Pleasures considered in so great and so many respects Accept of what is made ready at present which as it may be profitable to some in respect of Encouragements and Directions in the practise of the Work so also I desire it may be a means to stir up others to do something in the like kind for Publique profit There are many good Wits exercised about Toys and Trifles some men bestow excessive Time Cost and Labour about meer shadows empty speculations and well deserve Martials Motto Turpe est difficiles habere nugas Et stultus labor est ineptiarum While they might in the mean time by the Study and Practise of this Art in searching out many hidden secrets of nature and experiments much advantage themselves and many others both in respect of Temporals and Spirituals An Antient Authour sayes Not he that knoweth many things but he that knoweth things Fruitful is Wise. This Art is a full Store house out of which may be brought both Meat Drink and Money It is a Rich Mine without bounds or bottome out of which we may dig profits and pleasures great and many and worthy the study and labour of the most Wise and Learned and may be called the Philosophers-stone virtually and effectually though not properly for it turns by the help of nature though not Metals yet Trees and Fruits yea Earth and Water into Gold and Silver in a short time The good of this Imployment both in the Theorique and Practique part spreads it self over all places in the world to all persons in the world from the Cradle to the Grave from the beginning of the world to the end of it so that no work can be more universally good than this Now therefore seeing there is so much profit and advantage to be received from this imployment of Planting Fruit-trees both in Temporal and Spiritual respects Let us set about it and labour in it either with body or mind or both That thereby the Glory of God and publique profit together with our own advantages may be promoted The blessing of God go along with us and give the increase in all
moâ—e into the shoots and make them larger tâ—en if it bore fruits and the issue as to â—earing more or better fruits would be nothing worth There is no doubt but that Grafting for the most part doth meliorate fruit The cause is manifest for that the nourishment is better prepared in the stock then in the crudâ— earth Grafting doth not at all meliorate the fruit simply in its self for a Tree will not be the better for grafting unless the grafts be taken from a good Tree If the Tree from which grafts are cut be no better then the Tree which is grafted then grafting will not a jot mend the fruit which it would if grafting were any thing towards the bettering of the fruit The cause why grafted Trees bear better fruits then wild ungrafted trees is not because they are grafted but because the grafts are good the tree from which the grafts are cut is of a good kind and nature and every twig graft and bud hath the nature of the Tree in it perfectly the pâ—operties of the Tree are in all and every part as the Soul in the body which iâ— tota in toto tota in qualibet parte â—â—d the grafts retain the nature and pâ—operties being grafted upon wild stocks and bring forth â—uits accordingly â—nd that 's the cause that grafting doth meâ—orate the fruit and not because the nourishment is better prepared in the stock then â—n the crude earth for the branches of an ingrafted Tree do no more receive nourishment from the crude earth then the branches of a grafted Tree but the sap and nourishment passeth up a body or stock to the branches in the one as well as in the other And as it is true that the Peach and Molocotone as the Author says do bear good fruits coming up of stones which is not alwayes so neither onely here and there one so it is true also that they bear as good fruits of the bud being Inoculated It hath been received that a smaller Pear grafted upon a stock that beareth a greater Pear will become great c. It is true as the Author thinks that this will not succeed because the Grafts do govern they always bring forth fruit answerabâ—e to their own natures and kinds else it were to little purpose to get grafts from such or such a good Tree to have more of the kind Yet it is true also that the stock hath some influence upon the graft so as to make the fruit better or worse according to the nature of the stock in some small degree As if we graft upon a stock that naturally bears a sower harsh fruit the fruit of the graft will not be altogether so pleasant as if it were grafted upon a stock that bears naturally a sweet and pleasant fruit and hence it is that Pears grafted upon Quince-stocks will be more delicate then upon Pear-stocks The Quince-stock gives an excellent taste to it but these Trees upon Quinces will never attain to any great bigness for all Quince-trees are but small in comparison of Pear-trees and where the stock can be but small the graft cannot be great yet as I have seen it somewhat bigger then the stock As for a Pear upon a Thorne which this Author speaks of it cannot be good it makes it a harsh hard Pear at the core if it thrive and bear but most commonly they die in two or three years we know its natural fruit Hawes have stones in them But for the Apple upon the Crab that 's natural the Crab being a wild apple and very proper to graft all sorts of Apples upon in regard of the soundness of the stock its long lasting and aptness to take with grafts and also to grow when set in the ground although it 's true it makes the fruit somewhat more tart then the same fruit upon sweet Apple-stocks It is true that the seeds of some Apples and Pears brings forth very good fruit the cause of this I suppose is for that the stocks whereon these fruits were grafted or Inoculated were good kinds of themselves kinds that came good of seed formerly and if so no marvel though the seeds bring forth good fruits without Grafting or Inoculating and upon the Experience Peach-stones have brought forth a paltry naughty fruit many of them though some good As concerning the Grafting of an Apple Cions upon a Sallow Poplar Alder Elme or Horse-plum it is in vain to try for tryal hath been made upon stocks nearer in kind then these and it would not come to perfection they will grow a year or two it may be and then decay and die Flowers removed wax greater because the nourishment is more easily come by in the loose earth It may be that often regrafting of the same Cions may likewise make fruit greater To remove Flowers small young Roots into good fresh earth will improve them in growth and bigness especially if withal some of the side-slips and also of the buds which the Root shoots up for flowers be cut off and some half a dozen or half a score of the buds or shoots be left to grow upon the Roots the Root then will be able to give plentiful nourishment to them whereby they will become much larger then if all the spindle buds were suffered to grow But as for often regrafting the same graft in order to make a large fruit this will not do it for we see it is constantly done from year to year for what else is the cutting of Grafts from young Trees it may be of two or three or but of one years growth and grafting them again upon stocks and repeating this for many years together and yet we know the grafts hold their own natural properties from one year to another And though there be as hath been said some small alteration according to the kind of the stock while it grows upon it yet that alteration is lost and falls off when the Graft is engrafted upon another stock and the Graft retains its own natural properties only with some small addition of the nature of the stock on which it at present grows It maketh Figs better if a Fig-tree when it beginneth to put forth leaves have his top cut off If the Fig-tree be very old cutting off the top may be profitable for that such cutting as in all other Trees maketh the Sap shoot forth into branches more vigorously then otherwise it would by which lively rising of Sap the whole Tree and the Fruit upon it fares the better but if the tops of young Trees be cut off Fig-trees or other there will shoot forth in the room thereof such huge strong shoots that the main stream of Sap will run that way which great shoots will be for a year or two it may be unfruitful It is reported that Mulberries will be fairer and the Trees more fruitful if you bore the Trunk of the Tree thorow in several places
strongly And the buds and blossomes breathing forth pretious and pleasant Odours rejoyce and delight the inward and outward senses promising a plentifull Harvest of fruits in Autume and all the Sommer long joy is cherished with cool fresh ayres singing of Birds sight of abundance of Fruits burd'ning all the the Trees delighting the Eye with their beautifull formes and colours and in Autumne joy is renewed againe with a rich and plentifull Harvest of Fruits and all the Winter long joy is nourished and fed with a free use of all the Fruits and Wines and Delicates made of them So here 's a succession of joys one following on the neck of another whereby the spirits are still kept in a cheerfull temper and condition and work powerfully on the grosser parts of the body conducing to Long-life Concerning the lawfulness of rejoycing in earthly blessings with a Caution See afterwards Another Affection of the Mind which in this imployment works powerfully upon the spirits for Long life is Admiration The Lord Bacon saies Admiration and light Contemplation are very powerfull to the Prolongation of lefe This affection ascends a step higher then the other two for as joy rises higher then Hope so Admiration higher then Ioy. It is our duty to Admire God in his works which is a step higher then simply to praise him When we look upon the works of a skilfull Artificer and commend it it is for his credit but when we admire and wonder at it this is a higher commendation The Holy Prophet would have us search out and wonder at the the works of God Ps. 111 2. The works of the Lord are great sought out of all them that have pleasure therein Vers. 3. His work is honourable and glorious and he calls us to this duty of Admiration O come hither and behold the works of God how wonderful he is in his doings Ps. 111.4 He hath so done his Marveilous works that they ought to be had in remembrance Now in this Imployment of planting Fruit-trees are many things to be seen and understood to cause admiration which works effectually upon the spirits for long-life Baptist Port speaking of the wonderful effects of Grafting says it is an ádmirable Art and the chiefest part of the husbandman work Artem insitionis admirabilem esse ac totius Agriculturae nobilissimam partem volupâ—tuosam utilem c. When he considers thaâ— strange effects of Grafting he falls a wondering O mira insitionis potestas c. And Mizaldus speaking of grafting says Insitionis ope artificiosâ multa ad stuporem usquâ— miranda fiâ—ri many things may be done even to admiration Austin wonders at these things Qui majus mirabiliusque spectaculum est quà m cuâ— positis seminibus plantatis surculis c 〈◊〉 exiguo grano mirabilior praestantior que viâ— est c. What more strange things are to 〈◊〉 seen in Nature then to be sowing seeds setting and grafting young plants and suâ— like works In a small seed there is a woâ—â—derful and admirable power and vertue Many strange things may be found in this imployment Will it not cause Admiration to consider that a huge and mighty body the biggest of all bodies whatsoever that have life doth arise of a small kernel or seed that that seed should contain in it vertually or potentially a great Tree with all the properties of it and retain its nature exactly in every particular Will it not cause Admiration to see goodly wholesome and beautiful fruits come forth of rough and crooked Trees especially to observe the manner of their coming forth the care that Nature takes to secure and preserve the seed of the Fruit by covering it with the Buds Blossomes Skin and Substance of the Fruits with the Core Stones or Shells and also with the leaves of the Trees Will it not cause Admiration to consider that the nature and properties of a great Tree are inclosed and lye in every small twig yea in every bud of the Tree even in the least Bud yea in the Root of that least Bud in some no bigger then a pins point which Bud being set on a small plant according to Art will grow to a Tree in all respects like to that whence it was taken Will it not cause Admiration to consider how many severall substances are made of one simple substance for of the Sap of Trees is made the Bark Wood Pith Leaves Buds Blossomes Stalks Fruit and Seed Will it not cause Admiration to consider that Grafts and Buds set upon Wild stocks such as naturally bring forth sower harsh and noughty fruits that though the Grafts and Buds be nourished by that harsh and different sap and receive all their substance and growth from it that yet these Grafts and Buds should retaine their own natures and not be altered into the nature of the Stock whereon they grow but have power to digest change and assimilate this harsh and sower sap into their own sweet and pleasant natures and bring forth fruits accordingly Will it not cause Admiration to see little small Plants of but two years old and some but of one year if grafted to hang full of fruits and to be able to beare them forth to their naturall bignesse and goodnesse and notwithstanding to make a large and sufficient growth the same yeare Will it not cause Admiration to see the busie and industrious bees to gather Hâ—ny evenfrom the flowers or blossomes of bitter Almond-trees and other flowerâ— and Plants that to our sense are bitter and unpleasant Will it not cause Admiration to see very many and very great fruits hang upon onely one small and slender twig A great Author notes it for a strange thing that all the nourishment which produceth somtime such great fruits should be forced to pass through so narrow necks as the stalk of the Fruit. But may it not be accounted a more strange thing to see five or six or more fair and large fruits to hang upon a slender twig little bigger then the stalke of each particular fruit growing on it Will it not cause Admiration to see one Tree hang full of different and several kinds of fruits as an Apple-tree with all or maâ—y kinds of Apples or a Cherry-tree with â—ll or many kinds of Cherries So of other kinds of trees to see one tree hang full of fruits different in their Forms Colours Leaves and â—lossomes which may be done by Grafting or Inoculating so many several kinds of Buds or Grafts upon one tree Will it not cause Admiration to stand upon a Mount in the midst of a fair large Orchard in the spring time and to behold round about a multitude of several sorts of Fruit-trees full of beautiful Blossomes different in their shapes and colours ravishing the sense with their sweet Odours and within a while turned into faire and goodly fruits of divers Colours and Kinds the Fruit-trees gorgeously arrayed with green leaves and various colour'd fruits as with so many
is the most wholesome drink for melancholick persons and excels all other Liquors in goodness And the Cider of Pippins and Pearmains is most commended by some as containing in them more of the Balsamum of nature then other Apples Et humidum radicale oleosum spiritus vitalis vigore impregnatum preserving the radical moisture and vital spirits of the body which does singularly preserve health Ad extremum usque senium to very old Age. Secondly As Learned Physitians do approve of it for the most wholesome drink so also experience speaks and proves the same not only of many persons but even of many Generations in Hereford shire Worcester-shire and other Fruit Countries where it hath been and is of continual use Thirdly And besides the Opinion and Iudgment of Physitians herein and continual experience in the use of it for many years this also is a convincing Argument thereof God hath been pleased in his Wisdom Bounty and Goodness to mankind to create and give such Commodities in every Country and Nation as are most useful and best for the Inhabitants of each particular Clymate for instance in Spain Italy and those hot Countries they have Oringes Lemmons and Pome-Citrons which have in them the most cool refreshing juice and liquor of any Fruits which are most necessary for the cooling and refreshing the Blood Spirits and Bodies of the Inhabibitants And in the Northerne cold Countries God hath given them great store of Coles and Wood for Fuel which is not in so great plenty in hotter Countries So also for Fruit-trees some parts of Worcester-shire Gloucester-shire c. The ground does naturally bring forth Fruit-trees besides the labour and diligence of men in Planting the soyle is naturally fit to receive cherish increase all sorts of Apple-trees Pear-trees c. which bring forth abundance of Fruits whereof to make this wholsome and best drink Cider and Perry And England affords the greatest store of Apples and the best of any other Country which is an Argument I say of the profitableness and healthfulness of this Liquor for the Inhabitants of these Climates So then if health and long life be in esteem with men they must needs also value this means thereof the seasonable and moderate use of Cider and consequently Fruit-trees and the works and labours about them as conducing to those great and desirable ends Before you gather Apples to keep let them be ripe which may be known by the colour and by the seed cut some of them and if the seed be turned brown or somewhat black such may be gathered gather them in a dry day pull them one by one and put them into Baskets lined with Woollen cloath that they brâ—ise not Carry them into a loft or upper Chamber and lay them on Mats or Boards not on Plaister or Clay floors they will be moist Lay them thin not on heaps as some do let the windows and holes be open especially upon the North-side in dry dayes that the Aire and Winds may dry up their superfluous moysture Lay every kind by themselves and pick out all the leaves and such as rot from time to time Turne them sometimes and in Frost cover them with Mats Straw or the like If Apples offend any through wind eat with them Ginger or other hot Spices or Carroway-seeds Fennel-seeds or the like So Dodonaeus Quorum malignitas vel aromatis vel aliis corrigi potest Apples are prepared for the Table all the year long many wayes I shall not need to speak of particulars and are pleasant and healthful to the body Dulcia poma minus frigida sunt ac humida alimentum conferunt amplius quam caetera poma He sayes pleasant Apples are less cold and moist and afford more nourishment then others Concerning their Physical Vse Galen ascribes heat to some kind of Apples he speaks of their Physical propertie in relaxing the belly and sayes the acid acrid perform this but with some difference Haec cum calefactione Illa autem cum refrigeratione The Acrid do it with heat the other with cold Sweet Apples relax the belly more then other kinds A good Author says every sweet thing detergeth and relaxeth and therefore Pears which are generally more sweet then Apples loosen the body more then Apples Apples also help Concoction So Galen Post cibum statim dare ipsa c. taken after meat Nonnunquam autem cum pane ad ventriculum stomachum roborandum eaten with bread they strengthen the stomack So Avicen confortant debilitatem stomachi Galen says pleasant Apples are profitable in hot diseases Saepe in morbis afferunt praesidium So Matth Pomum coctivum non solum sanis competit sed etiam agris He says they are Cordial to persons in hot diseases Calidis cordis affectibus succurrunt Being rosted and eaten with â—osewater and Sugar and that the pleasanter kinds are helpful against Melancholy and are good against the Plurisie if roasted and eaten Glycyrrhizae succo saccharo â—irifice juvant With juice of Liquorice and Sugar morning and evening two hours before meat they wonderfully help Observe one special Physical propertie more of Apples set down by a Learned and Experienced Author These be his words The pulp of rosted Apples four or five if Pomewaters mixed in a wine quart of faire water laboured together and drunk at night last within an hour doth in one night cure those that piss by drops with great anguish and dolour the Strangury and all other diseases proceeding of the difficulty of making water but in twice taking it never faileth in any also the running of the Reines which I have often proved and gained thereby both Crownes and Credit So the Author Concerning Pears Gallen sayes they have like properties with Apples and what is said of Apples if we attribute the same to Pears there needs nothing anew to be said of them Quae de Maliâ— diximus si ad Pira transtuleris nihil erit quod nos de ipsis novum dicere oportet Avicen says Sedant Choleram they mitigate Choler Dodonaeus commends them above Apples for their nourishing propertie Alimenta Pira omnia amplius copiosius quam Mala conferunt So Avicen Humor eorum plurimus laudabilior est humore pomorum Pears make an excellent Wine being well ordered A late Author sayes we might have Wine of Pears and other of our Fruits not inferior to French Wines And another tells us that a famous Physitian of his time was not content to equal them with Wine of Grapes but preferred them before it in every thing Crabs or Wildings mixt with Pears make an excellent Liquor better then Pears alone I need not tell Herefordshire and Worcestershire men the good properties of Perry and Cider they know by experience it is both Alimental and Physical that it is not only for health but also for long-life and that Wines made of the best kind of
To this purpose Open the shell of an Almond and write upon the kernel what you will and wrap it in paper and set it in Clay mingled with Swines dung A late Author sayes Steep the stones of Peaches two or three dayes and then open them and with a brass Pen write on the rinde of the kernels after put them again into the stones and wrap them about with paper or parchment and plant them and the fruit will be written and engraven Is not this an odd conceit that writing upon the kernel should produce fruits written or engraven A man no doubt with as good success may ingrave or write upon the shell or huske of an Almond or other fruit as upon the kernel or if he will upon the paper or parchment in which it is inwrapt for the Rind of the Kernel contributes nothing to the Tree or Fruit but opens as the Husk or shell to let out the inner part of the kernel the vegetative vertue or internal form But if a man desires to have fruits with Inscriptions and Engravings he must take another course prescribed by a Learned Author upon better grounds which is by writing upon the fruits with a needle or bodkin when the fruits are young and as they grow bigger so the Letters will grow more large and graphical Concerning the second sort of Errors thus much It were easie to mention many more as idle as these but I shall not trouble my self nor the Reader with them at present onely I say in the general let men take â—eed of such things asserted by Authours â—â— have neither Reason nor Experience to uphold them lest they spend their money labour and time about them and instead of profits and pleasures find discouragements and trouble The third sort of Errors are Assigning wrong causes to effects One of these Errors is this some have conceived that Grafting is the cause of early bearing of fruits and doth much better all fruit Albert. Mag. says it 's better Propter digestionem Succi in nodo factam because of the digestion of the sap in the knot So also Cressentius and addes Et iste nodus facit diversitatem omnem quae est in Malis Pyris caeteris fructibus The knot which is between the Graft and the Stock makes all the difference which is found in Pears Apples and other fruits Bapt. Port. likewiâ—e ascribes all to grafting He says Trees coming of seed Longa est expectatio ad fructuum productionem Insitio vero in aliquibus eodem Anno producit Trees coming of seed are long ere they bear fruit but being Grafted some kind bear in a year or two So also Columell Lib. de Arbor pag. 490. Lo. Bac. wanted some experience in this point who sayes There is no doubt but that Grafting for the most part doth meliorate fruit and again Grafting doth generally advance and meliorate fruits above that which they would be if they were set of kernels or stones The cause saith he is manifest for that the nourishment is better prepared in the stock then in the crude earth I say herein these Authors assign a wrong Cause to an effest for simply grafting contributes nothing at all to the early bearing of Fruit nor to its goodness But the Cause is in the Nature of the Grafts if they be Grafts cut from bearing Trees and of good kinds they bear good fruits in a year or two but if they be Grafts from young unbearing Trees coming of seed such Grafts will not bear the sooner for Grafting it is not simply Grafting I say nor the knot as the Authors speak of that makes Trees bear one year one day the sooner for if so then grafts from young unbearing trees coming of seed grafted in the same manner and upon as good stocks as other grafts from old bearing Trees they would bear Fruits the one sort as soon as the other but it is otherwise so that the Cause lies not simply in Grafting but in the Nature of the Grafts Neither doth Grafting make Fruits at â—ll the better otherwise then as you chose grafts of a good kind for we know Grafts rule and keep their own Natures onely with some small advantage from the stock â—f special stocks or prejudice if a very bad stock And the Cause is not well assign'd by the Author who says It is for that the nourishment is better prepared in the stock then in the crude earth for we know the branches of an ungrafted tree receive sap not immediately from the crude Earth but from a stock or body as well as the branches of the Grafted-tree the stock of the Grafted-tree is a wild stock and of the same Nature as is the stock or body of the ungrafted-tree they are both alike and the concoction and nourishment in both is alike and the Cause being a like why is not the effect alike It 's plaine this is not the Cause but the Cause is in the Graft not in the stock though the nourishment be never so well concocted in the stock and the Fruit is not made better or worse simply by Grafting The Authour asserts this Truth plainely elsewhere The Graft saith he over-ruleth the Stock and again the graft will govern that is they keep the Nature and properties of the Trees from which they were gotten Another of the third sort of Errors is this A late Author sayes the Cause why Trees bear not fruit in a few years after Grafting is because they were grafted in the old of the Moon for saith he so many dayes as the Moou is old when you Graft so many years will the graft be ere it bear fruit The Cause is here mistaken for the Moon hath no such influence upon fruit-trees as to withhold their fruits in this manner Men we see by experience graft in all seasons of the Moon and find no such difference in the bearing of the Trees The chief Causes of unfruitfulness of Trees are when they are not fit for the Country where they are planted Secondly When the Grafts are chosen from young wild unbearing Trees or such as naturally bear little or seldome Thirdly Repletion or overmuch nourishment Fourthly Coldness or overmoistness of the ground Fifthly Frosts or cold winds in the spring Thirdly Another of the third sort of Errors is this Many conceive that Sap in Trees doth descend from the Branches to the Roots which causeth several effects as falling of the leaves goodness of the Roots of divers Plants for use c. but the Cause of these Effects is mistaken for Sap in Trees never descends but always ascends And leaves of Trees fall in Autumne not because Sap descends from them but because Sap ascends not to them sufficient to nourish or feed them any longer And if Roots are best in Autumne that is not Caused by descent of Sap but for that the Body and Branches of a Tree in Autumne draw but a small quantity of Sap from
the Roots and the Roots even then draw sap from the Earth and increase upon it and are well stored with sap after the branches have done increasing and there the sap rests chiefly at that season Some who hold descending of Sap may perhaps confirme their Opinion from small springs of the Roots of Plants when they are removed in Autumne It 's true The Roots of Plants set in the beginning of September or about that time do spring forth a little at the cut ends of the Roots before Winter not because Sap descendâ— from the Branches to them for though all the Branches are cut off before setting as sometimes they are yet the Roots will spring then because some degree of heat proportionable to that purpose is at that season in the top of the earth by reason of the immediate foregoing Sommer so that Plants set while this heat lasteth they will germinate spring forth in their roots before Winter the husbandman knows in this season it is best to sow his Wheat and Rye And also because the Sun as yet hath an influence sufficient to make seeds and Plants to spring forth which towards December it hath not being then too remote from us so that it is not descending of Sap that causeth these effects The learned Lord Bacon did not well consider this point who supposed a descention of Sap in Autumne speaking concerning setting a Bough in the ground prepared by disbarking for that purpose sayes The Cause why it will soon after be a faire Tree may be this the baring of the Barke keepeth the Sap from descending towards Winter here 's a wrong Cause assigned to an effect for it is not the supposed keeping up of the Sap by that means he speaks of that Causeth such a Bough to grow the better but the cause is for that such a bough by disbarking hath got some small Roots or strings or at least some roughness or knobs capable of Roots in the passage up of the Sap whereby being set it will become a Tree in certaine years This Opinion of descention of Sap in Trees is an old Error of many years standing and is radicated in the minds of most men yea many using it as a similitude to illustrate some spiritual matter as if it were a real and undoubted truth whereas it is but a weak and groundless conceit and contrary both to reason and experience taken up by men from hand to hand without consideration or weighing of it with reason and judgment I will therefore lay it open more plainly and demonstrate and prove the Truth concerning the motion of Sap in Trees The first Argument against descention of Sap. Sap in Trees always moves upwards and it is contrary to the Law and course of Nature for sap to descend Natura nil agit frustra Nature does nothing in vain Now it were a vain work in Nature to cause sap to ascend up in the branches to descend again to the Roots the Roots send Sap to the Branches and not the Branches to the Roots When it once comes into the Branches it is converted into Wood Bark Leaves Fruits c. Whence is all that great Bulk and Body which we see a Tree arise to in a few years if Sap should descend one while as it ascends another it would follow that as a Tree increaseth by ascension of Sap so it would descrease by its descension This may be more clear if we consider the cause why Sap in trees stirs and ascends and also why it riseth not after such a time to make any growth When the Sun in the Spring of the year by degrees drawes nearer to us then Sap in Trees begins by its heat and influence to move to swell and open the Buds and to cause the branches to shoot forth which increase by it all the Summer and as the Sun by degrees draws nearer and grows hotter so the Sap by degrees increaseth and riseth more plentifully and when the Sun is nearest then Trees are fullest of Sap. Now observe as by the vicinity and nearness of the Sun which is by degrees the sap is increased by degrees so likewise by the Sunnes remoteness and absence which is also by degrees in his going back again the Sap is also diminished by degrees that is ascending less and less in quantity until the Sun be gone so far from us and the heat and influence of it be so weak that it works not to cause sap to rise up whereby the branches may increase any longer and then the Branches and Buds of Trees are all at a stand and grow no more until the next Spring And at that time the leaves loose their beauty and fall off because Sap riseth not up sufficient to feed them any longer but onely so much as to preserve life in the Tree The second Argument There is no cause to produce such an effect I would fain know of those who hold descention of Sap what should cause it to descend for Nullus effectus datur sine causa there can be no effect without a cause they cannot say that as heat causeth it to ascend so cold causeth it to descend Cold never causeth sap to stir but to stand or move slowly Cold is of a condensing nature and does constipate and fix rare fluid bodies if cold should cause sap to descend then as the cold increaseth sap would descend more more in quantity as on the contrary as heat increaseth in the Spring and Sommer the sap in Trees also increaseth in quantity and if so what would become of the Trees But if sap of its own nature would descend yet there is none in the Branches at that season of the year that they can spare but all that has ascended in the Sommer is converted into the substance of the Tree its Leaves and Fruits Concerning that Objection that is made against this and brought as an Argument that sap descends viz. That if we disbarke a bough or branch when sap is up an inch round about and lay and keep up mould about the disbarked place there will be small Roots in the upper part of the place so disbarked which say they are caused by the descension of Sap out of the bough to that part To this I Answer That such Roots are not made by any descension of Sap but by the ascension of Sap for sap ascends up into such a bough notwithstanding the disbarked part through the pith and pores of the wood though in smaller quantity then it would do if the bark were on This is plain because such a bough does grow and shoot forth and bear fruit after disbarking which could not be but by the rising up of Sap. Now I say sap in its rising up some part of it is pendulous about that place and does somewhat hang or rest at the upper part of the disbarked place in the very edge of the bark having recourse to this wounded part in greater quantity then
to any other part and so by reason of the Earth and moisture about it breaks forth into some small Roots in some kinds of Trees or into some roughness and small knubs like Roots but this cannot be caused by descension of Sap if any were for such as hold descension of Sap pretend not to it until Autuâ—â—e or about the end of September Now these Roots are made long before that time in Sommer by the rising up of Sap as was said especially if the bough be disbarked in May. Can the effect be before the Cause can Roots be made in Sommer by Sap that descends in Autumne if any such thing were so that this Argument for descension of Sap is of no weight but is weak and childish The third Argument against descension and also Circulation of Sap It is contrary to its Nature As concerning Circulation of sap in Sommer which some also hold I apprehend no more ground for that then for descension in Autumne For as there is no cause to work such an effect so neither is it natural to sap to have such a motion of it self For Plantsâ—n â—n some sort like a thin airy vapour from some moist substance partly caused by the heat of the Sun the Sun is the efficient cause of the rising up of Sap though also and principally the vegetative spirit excited by thâ—â—un carries it up and disperseth it to all the parts for nourishment and growth Now we know there is no descending of Vapors in the same manner as they ascended Vapors come not down again to the Earth until they be condensed and thickned into Rain Snow Hail c. When they are become a ponderous and weighty substance then they naturally tend downwards not whil'st they are a leight airy substance so is it concerning Sap in Trees it ascends partly by attraction of the Sun and partly by the Native spirit as a thin airy substance subtile light spirituous as well through the pores of the wood as between the bark and the wood where it rises more plentifully and is more condensed Now while it is thus light and vaporous it can neither descend nor Circulate for every leight body as flame aire smoak vapors c. ascends upwards omne leve sursum and cannot descend or fall downwards no more then an heavy thing as such can rise or ascend upwards by its own natural motion Indeed when sap is turned into wood leaves buds blossomes and fruits these things have some ponderosity or weâ—ght in them and so naturally discend Omne grave deorsum As aire and vapors being condensed and become water in the Clouds do naturally fall downwards but whatsoever is a thin aerious light body ascends upwards and cannot as such neither descend nor circulate and such a substance is Sap in Trees Fourthly The Appetite of the Spirit in all Vegetables is upwards There is an innate spirit in Trees and all Vegetables which some call the Soul of Plants yea in all bodies animate and inanimate this Sir Fran. Bacon hath abundantly set forth This Spirit as he shews is as it were a compound of flame and aire is of a flammeous and aerious Nature Now this being the Vehicle or means of conveyance of the Sap unto all the parts of the Tree every Twig and bud of it its appetite is upwards because it is a light body and all light things naturally ascend upwards as was said and not downwards unless it be to observe a Law in Nature in avoiding a Vacuum at any time The greater quantity of Spirit there is in any creature the leighter it is either animate or inanimate especially if it be the lively spirit If it be said this spirit in Trees exerts it self downwards in the Roots as well as upwards it is true so much and so farre as is necessary to make a foundation to support the body and branches and to draw nourishment for feeding increase thereof which it doth but only in a subserviency to the body and branches and though the Roots spread wide yet depth is but little to the height of a Tree the Roots spread and run as near the superficies and top of the Earth as may be as having still an appetite upwards as near the Sun as may be and all the sap and moisture which this spirit carries upwards which is by far the greatest part it never carries down again being against its nature to descend as it is a leight body The Fifth Argument And further as another Argument from Experience and that which is obvious to our very sence we see and know that when we bend down a bough of a Tree upon a wall towards the ground to cause it to grow and spread as near the bottome of the wall as may be we find I say how poorly such boughs do grow shooting forth but a very little and sometimes a part dies and sometimes all and this shews its against the Nature of Sap to descend or circulate for otherwise why are not such boughs so bended downwards as plentifully fed with sap as those that grow straight up or straight out and not so much bowed as the other so it is in plasht hedges if boughs be laid too low they die or grow poorly but we see the Sap presses upwards with vigor and violence the boughs and branches that grow upwards shoot forth strongly and are full fed but such as bow down low are almost starved so that its plain its as much against the nature of Sap to descend or to circulate as it is for water to ascend which yet we know by Art may be made to ascend in Pipes from below as high as the fountaine or spring but no higher for its natural motion is to descend so sap though its natural motion be upwards yet by Art being ascended up into a branch it may be somewhat forced downwards and yet very hardly slowly and weakly although to the nourishment keeping life in any of its parts or branches so bowed down which plainly shews how much against its nature this motion of descension or that of Circulation is The Sixth Argument against descention of Sap. And lastly to prove this more fully and clearly by a plain undeniable Argument If there be a continual ascension of Sap in Trees then there is no descention but there is a continual ascension therefore no descension To prove the Minor Proposition That there is a continual ascension of sap in Trees The Sun and Aire continually draw sap and moisture out of Trees and other Vegetables as the Lord Bacon and others conclude and as may be made appear by reason and experience We know if Branches and Twigs of Trees being cut off and laid aside in the Sun and Aire but a few dayes they will be contracted and wrinckled the aire draws out the Sap and moisture and such having no supply of sap from the Root they quickly wither Now know also that the sun and aire
have the same operation upon the liâ—ing Branches and Twigs drawing sap and moisture continually out of them likewise but they are not contracted and wrinkled as the other because there is a continual supply of Sap from the Root as well in Winter as in Sommer which keeps them in their full dimensions without wrinkling or contracting Further observe to prove this If we remove Plants in September or about that time the pretended season of descention of Sap and let them lie out of the earth a day or two we shall find that the Sun and Aire will in that short time have rockt and drawn out sap and moisture from the branches so that they will be apparently shrunk and contracted I have seen some branches so much wrinkled that I questioned whether they were dead or alive But after the Plants have been set certain days so much sap will be ascended â—u will again have filled up the wrinkled or contracted bark so that it is evident and apparent hereby that some small quantity of sap hath even then ascended into the branches since their setting and if so thâ—â— it 's clear there 's no decension of sap for câ—â— any thing move contrary ways at one lime And if we graft in November and December as I have done with good success the very dead time of Winter the grafts have some small supply of sap even then else the Sun and Aire would spoyle them by daily sucking out their moisture were there not supply of Sap from the Root sufficient tâ— keep them alive until the spring It 's manifest then from what hath been said that sâ—â— in Trees ascends as well in Autumn and Winter as in Sommer so much as to preserve life in Trees by supplying what is extractâ—â— by the Sun and Aire so that upon this also it may be concluded there is no descention of sap unless men will hold that a thinâ— may move several ways upwards and downwards at one and the same time which iâ— a contradiction and impossible in nature Thus much concerning the three sorts of Errors in the Theory of this Art First Instructions hurtful and dangerous Secondly Instructions for effecting somethings impossible to be effected by the mean prescribed and others impossible to be effected by any means Thirdly Assigning wrong Causes to effects will now discover some Errors that I find in the practise of this Art of Planting Fruit-trees that they may be avoided One Error in Practise is this Planting Trees too near together This is a great and general Error many think the more Trees they have the more fruit but a few having room enough to spread will bear more fruits then many crouded â—â—e upon another as the custome is and fruits will also be better when the Sunne may come round about the Trees I account 8 or 10 yards a competent distance for Apple-trees and Pear-trees upon ordinary soyle but if the ground be special good then give them the more room for standard Cherry trees Plum-trees and such like 5 or 6 yards is a convenient distance Another Error is this Many Plant Fruit trees unfit for the Country where they Plant them Their care is chiefly to chuse grafts of the best kinds and fair Plants to look upon not considering so much whether such kinds will prosper and bear fruits well in those Clymates and places where they plant them And hence it is often that many who have faire and goodly fruit-trees have very little fruit from them It is an excellent rule to chuse those kinds of fruits which we or others find by many years experience to be good bearing Trees in those parts nearest to usâ— although the fruits be not altogether so good as some others This is another Error Many men when they procure Fruit-trees to plant an Orchard they most commonly desire the greatest and fairest Plants hoping such will be Trees the soonest whereas great Trees many of them die and others live very poorly but small Plants removed live generally and thrive more in two or three years then great ones in six or seven for removing great Trees is a very great check to nature such as many times it s not able to recover Another Error in practise is this Men generally leave too many branches on the Trees they Plant and will by no means have Branches cut off whereas for want of disbranching Trees they loose branches body roots and all If they will Plant great Trees they must disbranch them small ones need not or very little Another is this For the most part men neglect to Plant their young Trees in as good or better soyle then that from which they are removed They fetch them from Nurseries about London which are generally of very fertil soyle and plant them it may be in ordinary or poor soyle and thence it is that many of them die or grow weakly Whereas they ought to lay special soyle the best they can get next to the Roots which having taken hold and being well rooted in the ground they will by degrees thrust their roots and grow well in that which is worse Another is this Some in Grafting take care to set the Graft and Stock even and smooth on the outside not considering that the bark of the stocks are for the most part thicker then the bark of the grafts Whereas they ought to take special care to set the inner-sides of the Barks together which is the chiefest Rule in Grafting because there is the chief current of the Sap. Another Error is this Grafting long or forked Grafts commonly the longer grafts are the less they grow and the shorter they are cut the longer they grow in a year As for forked Grafts either they take not or else grow but poorly Another is this Many let their Fruit-trees grow straight up very high before they spread into boughs and they are rather like Timber-trees for building then Fruit-trees for bearing Fruits Whereas they ought to cut off the Top while the Plant is young about an Ell or a yard and half from the ground that so the Plant may spread and enlarge it self and one Tree well ordered in this respect for spreading will have as many small boughs and consequently will bear as much fruit as three or four it may be of such Trees as runne spiring up a great height without spreading Another Error is this Some give too much nourishment to some Fruit-trees Letting some fat water it may be run to the Roots or lie too near them or else by powring or laying some fertil substance to their Roots when there is sometimes more need to deprive them of their too fat feeding which causeth them to luxuriate and spend their strength in great and large shoots and broad leaves and blossomes and leave off bearing fruits Nourishment to Fruit-trees ought to be moderate as to other creatures Another Error in practise is this Many in pruning Aprecot-trees and
is danger in some grounds lest they harbor Ants or Pismires about the Tree Root under the stones which I have seen to the hurt and destruction of divers young Trees But it is a safer and better way to lay a good quantity of rotten dung or Litter straw c. round about the Roots of new set Trees upon the top of the mould this keeps them warm in Winter and cool aud moist in Sommer and stedy and the moisture and fatness of the mock sokes down to the Roots and refreshes the Tree very much or for want thereof lay a heap of weeds round about the new set Tree Roots and so all the next Sommer after these things are special advantages to new set Trees A Tree at first setting should not be shaken but after a years rooting then shaking is good When young Trees are first planted it 's very convenient to set a stake to each of them and tie them together with a hay-band or some soft band that winds shake them not and this not for a year onely but divers years until the young Tree be well rooted in the earth and also be grown strong that the winds bow not their bodies and cause them to grow crooked which fault I have seen in very many Trees Cutting away suckers and side boughes make Trees grow high All suckers must be cut away from the Roots of Trees and as for side branches those may be cut as men are minded to have their Trees to spread nearer or higher from the ground but cut not the side branches too soon before the body be grown strong enough to bear the head else it will be top heavy and grow crooked To have many new Roots of Fruit-trees lay the branches in the ground c. The branches of all kinds of Trees will not take Root thus This way of Propagation is only for some kinds as Mulberries Figs Vines Quadlings Nurs-gardens and some other kinds of Trees whose branches are soft and porous As for Aprecots Peaches and such like they will not take Root thus I have tried but not one Root could be got neither will they take with grafting I have tried many The way to propagate these kinds is by Inoculating buds upon young stocks full of sap From May to July you may take off thâ— bark of any bough c. and set it and it wilâ— grow to be a fair Tree in one year the cause may be for that the baring from the bark keepeth the Sap from descending towards Winter It is true that the Boughs of some kinds of Trees will take Root in this manner as is here exprest that is such kinds as will take root with laying down in the ground mentioned in the last experiment which being cut off and set may grow to be a fair Tree in certain years not in one year as is said for the Roots got in this manner are but small and very disproportionable to the bough so that it can come on but very poorly and slowly for divers years As for the baring from the bark which is supposed to keep Sap from descending towards Winter I say the Sap is as far from descending when the bark is on as when 't is off there 's no such thing in nature as descention of Sap in any Trees whatsoever This worthy Author took this upon trust according to the general opinion of men for had he but stayed a little to consider it he would have found it groundless and a meer conceit For all the Sap that ascends into the body and branches of Tree is changed into wood bark buds â—lossomes leaves and fruits it is turned inâ—o that body and substance which we see â—bove ground and none at all descends at â—ny time for there is no Cause and therefore no such effect sap is continually ascending all the year long more or less either for the growth of the Tree in Sommer or for the conservation of it in life and in all its dimensions in Winter for there is a continual extrastion of Sap out of the body boughs and branches by the Sun and Aire as this Author elsewhere asserts and which Experience proves Now if there were at any time a descention also what then would become of the Tree it would quickly wither be contracted and shrink apparently whosoever is unsatisfied with what is here said against descention of Sap in Trees may see hereof more largly many Arguments against it in my Treatise of Fruit-trees pag. 191 192 c. If Trees bear not bore a hole through the heart of the Tree and it will bear Perhaps this course may do some good in letting out some superflous sap if too much repletion be the cause But there are divers other causes of barrennesse of Fruit-trees As too deep setting the root running down into Gravel Clay Water c. which must have answerable remeâ—dies And sometimes it is in the nature of the Trees that all the culture in the world used to the Roots and body wilâ— not help without engrafting the brancheâ— with Grafts of some good bearing kinds which is the best way I know to have store of good fruits and speedily too from barren Trees To make Trees bear cleave the chief roots and put in a small pebble This may be profitable not onely for that the Root may be barkâ—bound as well as the body and branches which must be scored down and cut to the wood but also it will cause the Roots to shoot forth many small Roots at the place opened which will afford more vigour life and sap to the branches and so make the Tree stronger and more in heart and able to bring forth more and fairer fruits Trees against a South-wall have more of the heat of the Sunne then when they grow round Aprecots Peaches and such like â—old fruits will scarce ripen but against a 〈◊〉 they have need both of the 〈…〉 and reflex beams of the Sun 〈…〉 it were more practised to set some other choice kinds of fruits upon a South-wall as the great Burgamet Sommer Boncriten Green-fleld Pear and other special kinds this would advantage them greatly not only in bigness but also in their early ripning and goodness of tast thus one or a few would be worth many ordinary ones Some pull off the leaves from Wall trees that the Sunne may come the better upon the boughs and fruit This may hasten ripening but it hinders the bigness of the Fruits the Sun ripening them before they have attained their natural greatness in case it prove then very hot weather so that if leaves be pulled off it should not be till fruits are at bigest and then but where they overmuch shade the fruits some convenient shade by the leaves is as necessary for the Fruits in order to bigness and goodness as the Sun The lowness of the bough maketh the fruit greater and to ripen