which is the only Tree that endures it best We must take nought from these three first Trees but the dead Wood unless we will form them at first for Bush-trees or Espaliers Because the Corand-tree has much Pith and that it comes easily of a slip its nature does not endure it to be Lopt in the middle of its Branches no more than the Peach-tree above all we must take good care of cutting it when we set it We ought in an old Corand-tree to cut near the Root a Branch past bearing in order to renew it and to cut also from the lower part some young shoots of the year to hinder it from being too much confus'd The young shoots which we preserve serve to renew it when we cut it in its old Wood. Nevertheless tho' it does not delight in being Lopt we make Bushes of it and form it in an Espalier which is beautiful to behold at the time that it is laden with Fruit. I say the same of the Mulberry-tree and of the Fig-tree which cannot endure the knife by reason of the abundance of their Pith the last especially is visibly damnified by it unless we Lop from them great useless Branches for rendring them regular and neither of them can be made to grow low they love too much the free and open Air. Medlar-trees and Service-trees naturally grow high the former endure the knife much more than the latter The Portugal Quince-trees and the Pomegranate-trees of Spain will not be Lopt because they bear their Fruit at the end of their Branches Nevertheless we may take from them entire Branches which cause a confusion and which are old and cut near the Trunk the useless Prodigals which are usual enough in these sorts of Trees As for the other Prodigals which embellish the Tree and which in four or five years will yield Fruit we ought not to Lop them Care must be taken to cover the great Wounds of Trees with a Plaister made of a pound of Drogue a flambeau four Ounces of Rosine and two Ounces of Sheeps Sewet When we walk in our Garden in a fine day of the Month of April we must have in our hand a Magdaleon of the Plaister ev'n now mentioned we must cut a little of it with a knife and after having wrought it betwixt the moistn'd Fingers for rendring it a little soft we must apply it on the great Wounds which we had forgot to seal in the Month of March. And to the end that this Plaister may keep the longer on the Wounds we must put on it a bit of paper as a binder which we must press on softly with the Finger to the end that the heat of the Summer making the Plaister melt the paper may press it stay it and glew it more to the Wood it is what we ought to do in the two other Loppings following CHAP. II. The Lopping of Fruit-trees at the beginning of the Month of May. PRoperly speaking it is not a Lopping that is done to Trees at this time they are as yet in the motion of their Sap. We cut but Scions which tho' Fertile of themselves bring in the mean time a great prejudice to the Fruit at the beginning of May we must therefore take a particular care to cut away the useless Branches which grow by the Buds for Fruit and especially in Pear-trees that is to say to cut away at the second knot a little Scion which comes among the clusters of Pears to delay this is not good the Sap which ought to Communicate it self to the Fruit is carried into the shoot which draws a part of the humour of the Fruit-bud where the Pears are fastn'd which causes either that their Stem drys for want of Sap or that they come very small You may see what I mean in the following Figure Fig. 7 A. A shoot which comes on the Fruit-bud through the abundance of the Sap. B. The place where you must cut it CHAP. III. The Lopping of Fruit-trees at the beginning of June IN the Decrease of the Moon of May which happens often in June you must Lop Trees for the second time but with more moderation than in February for we ought never in June to cut great Branches and properly speaking it is but a relopping of Trees We must wait above all till the Sap be ended according to the Maxim which we have alleag'd before and it will be good to repeat it here Lop in Fair weather in the Decrease of the Moon at the end of the Saps or rather when Trees are at rest The rest of a Tree is known by a bud Garnish't ordinarily with two Leaves which forms it self at the end of the Branches and we observe chiefly this bud at the end of May or at the beginning of June that is to say after the first Sap or shooting The second Sap or shooting of Trees begins ordinarily in the middle of June and ends a Month after towards Magdalen-tide so that betwixt the end of the first Sap and the beginning of the second there is about a Month and it s at this time that we must cut Trees again The effect of this re-cutting is to make the Buds of the first Sap to fill up to force Trees to make Fertile Branches or to form Flower-buds for the following year whereas the Lop of February furnishes but Wood to yield Fruit three years after if we except the Orange the Bergamot the Double-flower the Summer Bon-Chretien and some others You ought here to call to mind that we have distinguisht the Branches of Trees Into Prodigals Indifferent and Fertile There are few Trees Grafted on cultivated Trees and on Trees come of Kernels which do not yield some Prodigal in the first Sap and which do not continue even to yield of them in the others Care must be taken therefore to cut them at the second Leaf-bud and thus to correct the shoot which transports it self and which draw a great part of the Sap of the Tree Oâ— this matter you may see the fourth Figure As for Trees Grafted on the great Quince trees they have not often of these sorts oâ— Prodigal shoots and some Gardiners are ev'n of the mind that they ought not to be Lopt at this time and that the tops of them ought only to be pincht off with the Nails We must not deal with the Indifferent Branches as with the Prodigal for we ought to keep the best without touching them and observe exactly those which we permitted to run on in the Month of February If these have good marks for proving Fertile we must cut nothing there but if they have not they must be cut short enough to make them yield some that is to say they must be cut at the fifth or sixth knot for Leaves As for the other Indifferents we ought to cut them at half a foot or ev'n a foots length for rendring them Fertile the year following The Indifferents which we must not cut have particular marks
in a more Earthy matter ev'n in this respect they do not penetrate so much as the Sharp They restring however the Stomach and the Bowels and withstand a Loosness and a Dissentery and being apply'd outwardly they hinder Vomiting retard growing Inflammations and easily cicatrize the Skin which has been open'd by a considerable Wound After all a Fruit which has been brought to perfection by the heat of the Sun and which has not been shadowed by the Leaves of its Tree will be always of better taste than another A red Apple or Pear and a yellow Raisin will always be better than others because their Juice will be better digested and their useless moisture will be easily evaporated by the heat of the Sun You must observe in the second place that I give not here precepts concerning the use of Fruits for sound and robust Persons on whom Fruits make no Impression Let such eat of them at all times and as much as they please without distinguishing their Nature and Temperament they will not find any inconvenience but because these sorts of Persons are very rare and that in the Age we Live there are more Valetudinarians than others I may be allow'd to Write only for those who have their Entrals tender and who are often incommoded by eating Fruits The greatest part of men at present are of a hot and dry Complexion we have all of us the inward parts very hot through the excess of a burnt Choler and through the redundancy of a troubled Melancholy With difficulty are we able during the Summer to support the heat of the Season without being exhausted of our strength We have the Stomach so weak and so tender through our natural distemperature that we have need of much precaution for the good use of Fruits In the third place we must remember that in walking in a Garden full of excellent Fruit which are perfectly Ripe we must not eat one which has not first been washt with fresh Water and especially if the heat of the Sun or of the day be excessive It is not of to day that experience has taught me that Fruit newly gather'd and eaten without precaution cause the Feveâ—s which we call putrid which always begin with shiverings and tremblings because all the Juices of Fruits being then through the heat of the day and of the Season in a considerable motion they cause in our Stomach so great a disorder at the time that the fermentation is there made that the Chyle becoming crude and undigested often gives Birth to great Diseases whereas the motion of the Juice of Fruits being calm'd by the cold of the Water of the Night or of the season the Fruits make no disorder in our Stomach which then digests them better and which performs its Office much better when it is not interrupted by unusual causes After all we ought to know that our sood being in some sort like our substance changes it self easily within our parts imperceptibly to us It s thus that Bread Flesh an Egg have no Predominant quality when we put them into our Mouth and we do not sensibly feel the Vertues when we have them in the Stomach We must not say so of Aliments which we call medicamental they nourish little and on the other side they have sensible qualities which affect our Tongue and our Palate We may perceive that a Vertelongue or a Pear Portail will cool and moisten our heated Stomach that it will qualifie the Gall of our Liver and the heat of our Reins and that by cooling this last part it will hinder Stones from being form'd there Finally it s a grand secret for our good Health to keep what we eat from corrupting in the Stomach The things of a different Nature which we put into it daily cause disorders whereof our selves are too often Witnesses if experience did not convince us of this truth there would doubtless be a great deal of pleasure in eating many things one after the other but it shews us that eating before or after Meals Fruits of a different Nature that is to say such as are easily corrupted as Peaches c. and such as have a more firm substance as Pears c. The Coction which is made in the Stomach is not laudable and that it is thence that often proceeds the little Health of those who over loosly indulge themselves to the pleasure of the taste If therefore we eat at the end of Meals Peaches and Pears as it often happens the Peaches being of a substance to be soon digested and to pass off quickly and the Pears of a pretty firm matter requiring more time to Concoct two great inconveniencies follow the first that the Peaches trouble the Belly and make the Food taken at the Meal to descend without being fully digested the second that they hastily drag along with them the Pears which require a longer time for digestion and thus there comes of it but crudities and afterward obstructions which are the cause of some troublesome Disease It is not the same when we eat before Meals Mulberries and Peaches or after Meals Pears and Quinces the two first Fruits and the two last have a matter and qualities near alike the former pass quickly through the Belly by reason of their great humidity and the later digest themselves afterward at leasure by constringing after the Meal the superior Orifice of the Stomach which by this means acquits it self much better of its office CHAP. I. Of Fruits which ought to be eaten before Meals I Say in the first place that good Fruit which are Ripe never do hurt unless we misuse them or commit faults in eating them there are none but ill and unripe Fruit which cause Crudities Indigestions Colicks and Fevers I say much more experience daily teaches us that by the moderate use of them we prevent an infinite number of Diseases and that we Cure as many Our Gardens fail not of Remedies to relieve us and I wonder we go so far into Forrein Countrys to seek for Drogues which are musty or rotten when they are brought to us since we have so excellent at home Our Fruits have many more Vertues and Charms than all those Diogues and there are seen few Persons who refuse Peaches Mulberrys or Pears to appease the burning of the Bowels Whereas we daily see Persons have in horror Tamarinds Cassia Rhubarb and the other Drogues which are brought us from so far Because I am oblig'd to follow the Order which I have prescribed to my self I shall treat in this Chapter of the good use of those Fruits which ought to be eaten at Break-fast or before Meals and I shall begin with Figgs which among all Fruits have always been the most esteem'd ART I. Of Figgs A Mong all the Food wherewith Men nourish'd themselves at the beginning of the World there is not one which deserves a greater praise than Figgs The Ancients have made Encomiums on them in many of their Books
that these Fruits serve for an assured remedy against the inveterate Bloody-flux if they are given dry to the weight of a Crown in Gold in Red-Wine Since the chief Vertue of Mulberryes is to cool and to keep the Mass of Blood from fermenting by qualifying the parts which serve for sanguification there may be cause to believe that they may be a Remedy appropriated to the Gout as well as all other Fruits For the pain which Gouty Persons feel in the ligaments of their Joints is caus'd but by a Blood and a serosity too sharp which sharpness is blunted by the great humidity of Mulberries they insensibly evacuating it by Urine We need not seek for other proofs than daily experience and that which Hegesander has left us in Writing He relates that the Mulberry-trees did not bear Fruit for Twenty years together and that during all that time Men Women and Children were so troubled with the Gour that other causes could not be then discover'd than the scarcity of these Fruit. ART V. Of sharp Cherries SHarp Fruits in general are enemies to Old and Melancholick Persons when they do not find within themselves an excessive heat they are not edulcorated in their Stomach if I may so call it and are distributed into their Veins without being Concocted and blunted Which is not done without causing in the Mouth little sharp belchings and in the Stomach troublesome prickings and in the whole Body an insupportable heavyness It does not happen so to young People that are Sanguine and Cholerick who have the Entrals heated but if casually the sharpness of Cherries with short Stems eaten fasting causes sometimes in these prickings in the Stomach they need then but to mix Powder Sugar with them to blunt the point of it The most refined Sugar and the whitest which we call Royal is the least proper for the use of Man it heats and drys us too much and through the abundance of its Sulphur and Salt it is entirely opposite to the principles of our Life The finer Sugar is the less sweet it is and the less also it quenches thirst Lime which is a capital Enemy of Man if it be taken inwardly or outwardly apply'd is the chief matter which Refiners make use of for rendring Sugar whiter and more solid and tho' Powder Sugar be made by many repeated Lixivium's nevertheless it ought always to be preferr'd before Loaf Sugar and if we will choose the best of all we must always take that which is the whitest among the browns It is that which is extremely sweet which quenches thirst which moistens and which lenifies the Breast I thought it proper to make this digression for Persons who lovesweet things because Sugar is often set at our Tables for rendring our Fruits more agreeable to the taste Sharp Cherryes exhilerate the Stomach they excite there the Appetite and appease the drought They dissipate the thick humours and by their sharp quality they cut them as I may say and divide them either that they may serve afterward for Food or be evacuated with more ease By all these Vertues they are very proper as well as Mulberries to oppose the cause and the progress of the Gout and experience shews us that Gouty Persons receive a sensible relief by the use of Fruits which qualify the Liver and which correct the Acrimony of the Blood Moreover they powerfully loosen the Belly if they are freely eaten fasting while the Dew is yet on the Fruit and experience teaches us every year that they carry off by a Loosness long Diseases which all the other Remedies of Physick have not been able to Cure The most proper time to eat them is in the Morning fasting either with or without Bread They have moisture enough to oblige us not to drink any Liquor after them As for the lateward Cherries which we call at Rochelle des Guignes with long Stems tho' they may be eaten before Meals nevertheless I allow them to be eaten after Meals they have an agreeable Astriction which contributes to Concoction and which closes the superiour Orifice of the Stomach that it performs its Office afterward much better The sweet Cherries especially those which we call in this Town Guindoux and Guigneaux are much better than the sharp for old Persons and for these who have a nice Stomach they do not prick so much the inward parts and they nourish more Haply there is not any Remedy more agreeable and more excellent for qualifying the Reins and for clearing thence the Gravel Slime and little Stones than the Wine of sharp Cherries We must take off them therefore in the Months of June or July twelve or fifteen Pounds we must cleanse them of their Stems and Stones and cast them and their Stones broken through the Bung-hole of a Barrel a Vessel containing somewhat more than our Barrel of good White-wine After that they have been there for a Month and have Communicated to the Wine their cooling and opening quality you may pierce the Vessel and drink the Wine with pleasure The colour will be agreeable to the Eye the taste delicious and the effects admirable CHAP. II. Of Fruits which ought to be eaten after Meals THo' the Fruits which ought to be eaten after Meals are of a matter more firm which nourishes more and which does not corrupt so easily as that of the others nevertheless we must remember to use them with the same precautions which we gave in the Preface to this Tract these precautions ought to be stood too as Religiously in using these Fruits as in eating the others The faults which are committed in their use are very considerable and that Person whom I Cur'd not long since of Vertigo's which threatn'd her with some severe Distemper has been thankful to me since for having forbidden her the use of Apples which she are irregularly after Meals ART I. Of Pears NEver has the Industry of our Gardiners appear'd more admirable than in the divers kinds of Pears which we have in France They have taken a particular care to Sow Seeds and to preserve such Trees as in their Wood and Leaves gave them marks of a good hope For as by Sowing a great many Flower Seeds there come of all kinds and ev'n some that are beautiful and double so by Sowing a great store of Pear Kernels it seems that Nature pleases her self in giving us a grand variety of Pear-trees which produce all new Fruits and some of them delicious to the taste haply it is because the Pear is the most excellent Fruit of all that she delights in multiplying its kinds ev'n to an infinite number It is thus that the Messire Jean the Dame Houdote or the Amadote the Gabriel Egand the Micet the Martin-sire and a great many other excellent Pears are come of Kernels and that they have had the honour to bear the Names of those who rais'd them But not to stop at this Discourse which seems to contribute nothing to my
the first year and should be thus ordered viz. stretch a line from one end to the other where the Hedg is to be made and set the Trees straight at the distance aforesaid Afterwards knock down a Stake betwixt each Tree then having straight long Rods or Poles of Ash or the like tye a row of them from one end to the other about a foot from the ground fast to the Stakes with Osiers or such like or else nail them which is better and another row of Rods a foot above them and so a third if need be according to the height of the young Plants Having thus done spread and tye the Branches of the Twigs of the Trees in order to the Poles but not too hard and draw and fasten some of them down close to the ground that so there may be Blossoms and Fruit from the bottom to the top which will be a beautiful sight in the Spring and Summer Then after a few years the Stakes and Poles may be taken away and the Branches platted and woven one within another from year to year and the superfluous ones cut off Reasons for a large distance in setting Trees § 4. For many respects Trees ought to be planted at a large distance especially for the following reasons 1. The Plantation will be little Annoyance to the Land if either you set Goos-berries Currens Ras-berries Straw-berries or Garden stuff in it sow Corn on it while the Trees are young or graze it when they are grown up 2. Whereas some say the more Trees the more Fruit that 's absolutely false for when they are set so close that the Sun cannot have a good influence on them by refreshing the Roots Body Branches Blossoms and Fruits they bear poorly and ripen worse and close-set Trees in a few years when they should bear Fruits croud fret and gall one another and by rubbing often cause the Canker 3. They cannot grow to be Trees of that size as they would if the Land be good being set at a good distance and some kind of Trees being of stronger and swifter growth than others will so domineer over their neighbors that they will make them almost good for nothing and one Tree that is set at a fair distance will bear oftner and more Fruit than three or four Trees set close as is dayly seen by some Apple-trees that grow single or in a Hedge 4. You may Plant betwixt every Tree a Cherry-tree Plum-tree or Codling-tree which may grow up and bear with the other Trees many years and never reach or Prejudice them but will decay before the others are at full growth Or you may set a young Apple-tree or Pear-tree betwixt every two of your Standards that you set in the Orchard and nurse it up with necessary dressing and Pruning seven or eight years or less time to transplant into Fields or Pasture-land where Cattle feed whereby with little help it will not be in such danger of hurt from Cattel as small ones would and bear Fruit soon after it 's set and you cannot let them grow so long in your Nursery without galling fretting or hurting one another unless when you remove Trees out of your Nursery you take care to leave every other Tree whereby they may have liberty to grow big and so more fit for your Fields As for Standard Cherry-trees Plum-trees and the like six yards distance is the most convenient unless the ground be exceeding rich and then a greater distance as seven or eight yards asunder CHAP. VII Choice of Ground for an Orchard and the ordering it SO far as it lyeth in ones power to choose a plot of Ground for an Orchard let it be done with respect to the following advantages § 1. It should lye conveniently near him declining and lying open towards the South South-east or South-west and defended from the North North-east and Northwest Winds by buildings Woods or higher Grounds the Land should rather incline to dryness than moisture without Springs the Soyl deep and a fat Earth not a stiff cold Clay or binding Gravel nor a light sandy esky or hollow Earth yet with good Husbandry if it run not into the extreams of any of these Fruit-trees may prosper reasonably well in it § 2. The natural Soil for an Orchard is more to be respected than a Garden for the Garden Fruit-trees and what els groweth there rooteth little deeper than it may be easily manured but Pear-trees and Apple-trees in Orchards should grow to be large Trees and therefore send forth Roots broad and deep so that it transcends all cost and pains to enrich the Ground for them as far as the Roots every way reach § 3. But they that are seated or fixed in any place and cannot conveniently change their habitation must be content with their own and if any defect or disadvantage be in it it may be it hath some advantage that another wants if it lye to the North the Trees Bud and Blossom the later and many times the Fruit thereby succeeds the better and is free from the injurious South-winds in the Autumnal season § 4. If it lye to the East it hath not only the advantage of being later Budded and blown because of the cold Easterly Winds in the Spring but the Fruit ripens the better the morning Sun in the Summer being by much the best and the Fruits freed from the Western Winds which with the South are the worst § 5. If your Land be on a dry or rising Ground you may Plant them the thicker which will cover and shade the Ground the sooner and make them bear the better the Fruit will also yield a more vinous Liquor § 6. If your Ground lye in a cold moist Vale the sooner may you raise a natural Fence about it to defend your Trees from cold Winds and stiff Gusts which diversly anoy your Trees and Fruits and I once knew a person that had a cold moist flat springey plot of Ground who caused double Ditches to be made therein at ten yards distance each from other and about an Ell high upon these Ditches he planted Apple-trees each ten yards distant from another which Trees did grow prosper and bear exceeding well § 7. But if you have liberty to choose what Land you will for Planting of Fruit-trees observe the directions given in the first Section of this Chap. and choose a warm light Rye-land or either a black or brown mold if with a mixture of Sand so much the better but the heavy cold and moist Wheat-land is not so good § 8. If the Ground be very light and rich of it felf or so made by improvement several sorts of Apple-trees especially the Pippin will be so apt to canker that they will scarce ever be large Trees therefore a firm and strong Land is best for Winter or long lasting Fruit but for Summer-fruit Land cannot be too light the more it inclines to redness the better How to qualify the Ground § 9. If
fast heavy Earth out of the Ditch upon the ends of them treading it down the better to fix them and lay the Earth shelving down from the Turf towards the Tree that if Rain fall it may soke towards the Roots if you have any small Thorns Bryars Furs or Gorse lay it one the top of the work finished round the Tree and repair all yearly as you see cause which may be done with small trouble The following observations will demonstrate the great convenience of setting Fruit-trees this way First if your Land be over moist this Ditch will drain all wet from the Roots of the Tree but if the Land be Clay or such that the Water will stand in then when you perceive it which is very rarely cut some little Notch or Trench to let it out Secondly This way of setting is commended in dry Land because the Earth of the Mound will secure the Roots from the heat of the Sun and every shower of Rain will much refresh it by soaking towards the Tree Thirdly You need not bind your Tree to a stake which doth often gall and Hurt the Tree for so much Earth about it will keep it steady Fourthly If your Land be stiff or strong old Land the Mound made of it will mellow and improve about the Roots and also by that time the Roots spread as far as the Ditch it will be fill'd up with Mold fallen from the Tump and with sticks Leaves c. which will be rotten loose and good for Trees to Root in and by that time they will need little or no defence if any at all A few Thorns tyed about the bodies of the Trees to keep Cattle from rubbing against them will be enough Fifthly The Chief benefit of setting Trees thus is that where the Soil is somewhat too moist or shallow the Tree being set on the top of the Land will put forth it's Roots plentifully into the Earth cast up and thence shoot into the upper Turf and best Land that hath been Plowed and manured before Another way of Fencing is by erecting at a Foot and a half distance one from another about every Tree three small Posts if they be sawed they need be but three Inches square or you may use Poles or straight Boughs either whole or if big enough cloven in two three or four parts about five Foot above the Ground in height being driven into the Ground nail a cross Bar of Wood from each to other within a Hand 's breadth of the tops of the Posts to which Bar nail a Pale or two betwixt each two Posts stuck into the Ground or nail'd to the like Cross Bat within a Foot of the bottom of the Posts the way of it may be seen now in diverse places and learn't in a Minute though what 's said here makes it plain enough This way is more chargable than Tumping where Timber is scarce but much more dureable than it and absolutely necessary where Deer or Rabbets or any thing that peels the Bark off come into the Land Planted Planting near Hedges in the Fields § 5. Another way of Planting in Fields which hath been successfully Practised is thus When you scour a Ditch and cut down or plaish an old Quickset-Hedg then set a row of Trees within a yard of the Hedg on that side that is not Ditch't and Fence them with half-Round Tumps only on the one side for the Hedg will secure them on the other and from the cut or plaish't Hedg you will commonly have Thorns and Bryars enough for the Mounds to Fence it as hath been before directed and at the same time or in Summer draw some of the Quickthorns Hips or Bryars from the Hedg in o the Fence about the Tump which will contribute to the strengthening and preserving the dead fence you had made about it before so that you may be free from trouble about it for ever after There are these advantages in this way of Planting viz. 1. The Ditch on the out-side the Hedg drains the Ground and makes it healthful and sound 2. The Ground near the Hedg is commonly very Rich as not having been impoverished by Tillage but improved sometimes by the often scouring of the Ditch and commonly with the Dung of Cattle that for shelter Shade or Fodder repair thither 3. It s not the least hindrance to Plowing or Grass for the Hedg when it s grown up usually beareth out as far as the Tree is set in the Field 4. And this is much better than Planting in the Hedg Row as many do for in a large top it s apter to weaken the Hedg under it but these being set a little distance from the Hedg and growing as they will with the greatest part of their Heads from it will not damage it 5. The Fruit may be gathered with much more ease than of those that are Planted in the Hedges 6. They will not be choak't or hurt by the Hedg when it s grown up but be good handsome fair Trees You may set these at eight yards distance or nearer being but one single Row and so if but half a Field as usually it falls out have the Ditch on the out-side you may set a considerable number and find advantage without damage and with inconsiderable charge especially if the Ditch stand on the North-side if you can therefore choose such Hedges This is not to be practised near Hedges that are full of great Wood or Trees but if there be but few Trees it s but leaving a vacancy near such Trees and setting your Fruit-trees against such places where there grow none in the Hedg How to Plant in Hedges is the Fields § 6. Another way of Planting in Fields is this if you would Plant without any charge of Fencing you may do it in your Hedges these Trees must be well grown and strong that the Hedg choak them not while they are young and when you plaish or cut down a Quick Hedg observe no certain distance but as it happens where you find it most free from Quick set a Tree and inclose the Body in the Hedg but bind not the Etherings too close about it lest they gall and fret it and as it groweth observe what Thorns annoy it and cut them off Planting by the Cuttings of Gennet-Moils c. § 7. If you have a mind to set any Cuttings of Codlings Gennet-Moils or other Apple-trees that grow of Cuttings they will prosper very well in or rather near a Hedg because generally there the Mold is loose and mellow for them to put forth Roots in and somewhat enrich't by the frequent cleansing of the Ditch if you Plant them near the Hedg you must a little Fence them on the one side as by the third foregoing direction but the Tumps you raise to set the Thorns in must not be above a Foot high for the Cuttings will shoot out their Roots almost to the top of the Earth about them and a high Mound
the addition of Yeast or Tosts therein dipt as is usually prescribed that being but an Acid excitation to Fermentation all things tending to Acidity being as much as may be in our operations to be avoided This way also is better than the tedious way of Percolation and racking from Vessel to Vessel which wasts not only the Spirits but substance of the Liquor it self and leaves you but a thin and flat drink hardly ballancing your trouble When your Cyder is very fine either draw it out of the Vessel as you drink it or which is far better Bottle it And take notice after it is fine the sooner you draw it off the better § 7. Altho your Cyder be well made yet if it be put into ill shaped corrupt Of Vessels for Cyder faulty and unsound Vessels it 's certainly spoil'd Altho the vulgar round Barrel be most useful and necessary for Transportation from one place to another yet is the upright Vessel whose Ribs are streight and the head about a fourth or fifth part broader than the bottom and the height equal to the Diameter of the upper part the best form to stand in a Cellar The Bung-hole of about two Inches Diameter is to be on the top with a Plug of Wood turn'd round exactly to fit into it near unto which there must be a small Vent-hole that after the Cyder is tumn'd up and stopt at the Bung or Tun-hole you may give it Vent at pleasure and that when you draw it forth you may there admit Air into the Vessel This is call'd in Lancashire a Stand Barrel because it 's made after the form of a Vessel which the meaner sort of People keep their drink in call'd a Stand. This form is preferred because that most Liquors contract a skin or cream on the top which helps much their preservation and is in other forms broken by the sinking of the Liquor but in this is kept whole which occasions the freshness of the drink to the last The form hereof is thus The Forme of the Vessel ∽ a the Bung hole b a small Vent hole c the tap If the Vessel you put Cyder in be New scald it well with hot Water wherein some of the Must Murc or Pouz of the Apples have been boil'd If your Vessel be tainted take five or six Stones or more of some unslak'd Lime and put it in the Vessel with six or seven Gallons of Water and stopping it well Roll it about a while till the Lime be thoroughly slak'd Wine Cask if sweet are accounted proper to keep Cyder in but Vessels out of which strong Beer or Ale have been lately drawn are to be rejected unless throughly scalded and seasoned as before which then will serve indifferently well nothing agreeing worse with Cyder than Malt. Small Beer Vessels well scalded are not amiss White or Rhenish Wine Vessels may do well for present drinking or for luscious Cyder else they are apt to cause too great a Fermentation The using of Cyder Vessels between the Cyder seasons with Beer or Ale not only very much prejudiceth the Cyder but the using of them for Cyder injureth very much the next Brewing of Ale or Beer But if you are enforc'd to use such let them be well seasoned and scalded as before To Sent your Cask as Vintners do for their Wines do thus viz. Take of Brimstone four Ounces of burn'd Allum one Ounce and of Aqua Vitae two Ounces melt these together in an Earthen Pan over hot Coals then dip therein a piece of new Canvass and instantly sprinkle thereon the powders of Nutmegs Cloves Mace Ginger Cynnamon Coriander and Annise Seeds and by a wire let it down into the Vessel and set the Canvass on fire and let it burn and it will fill the Vessel full of smoak then take it out and immediatly Tun up your Liquor which gives it no ill tast nor savour and is an excellent preserver both of the Liquor and your health Some take Brimstone Orras Roots and Mastick of each a like quantity melted altogether and long narrow pieces of new Canvass drawn through it being lighted and put in at the Bunghole keeps the Cyder long clear and good and gives it a pleasant tast Cyder by time changes it's greenish colour for a bright Yellow inclining to Redness Vessells wherein Malaga Canary Sherry or Metheglin have been kept will much advance the Colour and tast of your Cyder especially if some of the Lees of Canary or Malaga be left therein viz. about two or three quarts If your Vessel be musty Boyl Pepper in Water after the proportion of an Ounce to an Hogshead fill your Vessel therewith scalding hot and so let it stand two or three days or instead thereof use Lime as aforesaid Wheat Bran cast into the Vessel after Fermentation thickens the Coat or Cream of Cyder and conduces very much to the preservation thereof Choice of Bottles as Corks for Cyder § 8. Thick double Glass Bottles containing about quarts apiece are preferr'd very much to Stone Bottles because that Stone Bottles are apt to Leak and more apt to taint than the other and are so rough in the mouth that they are not easily uncork'd neither are they transparent that you may discern when they are foul or clean it being otherwise with Glass Bottles whose defects are easily discern'd and are of a more compact metal or substance not wasting so many Corks If Glass Bottels happen to be musty they are easily cured by boyling them in a Vessel of Water putting them in whilst the Water is cold which prevents the danger of breaking if you be so cautious as not to set them down suddenly on a cold Floor but upon Straw Board or such like If your Glass Bottles be foul you may cleanse them with hard Sand or some Lead-Shot each about the bigness of an ordinary Pease roll'd and tumbled up and down with Water which will also in some degree take away the mustiness from them Great care is to be had in choosing good Corks much good Liquor being absolutely spoiled through the only defect of the Cork If the Corks are steeped in scalding Water a while before you use them they will comply better with the mouth of the Bottle than if forced in dry also the moisture of the Cork doth advantage it in detaining the Spirits §. 9 Drawing of Cyder into Bottles and keeping it in them well stopt for some time Bottling of Cyder is a great improver of Cyder This is done after it is throughly purified and at any time of the year if it be bottled early there needs no addition it having body and spirit enough to retrive in the Bottle what it lost in the Barrel But if it have been over-fermented and thereby become poor flat and eager then in the Bottling if you add a small quantity of Loaf Sugar more or less according as it may require it will give a new life to the Cyder and probably make