So doth your Walnut Chesnut Horse-Chesnut Peaches Almonds Apricocks Plumbs c. and the onely difference from Beans and Pease is that these Stone-fruits put forth at the small ends and the other alwayes at the sides In like manner there be several sorts of Trees and most sorts of Plants that be small which put forth Root at the small end and as soon as that Root hath laid hold of the ground they then send out two false Leaves nothing like those that grow on the Tree or Plant which two false Leaves are the seed which divides into two parts and so stand some small time on the top of the ground and then between these two false Leaves comes forth a Shoot which produceth leaves like those of the Tree or Plant from whence it came Of this way of growth there be an infinite number both of Trees and Plants as the Elm Ash Sycamore Maple Pear Apple Quince and the most sorts of the seeds of Trees which are not environed by Stones or Shells of seeds the Melon Parsnip Carrot Carduus Angelica and indeed most sorts of seeds CHAP. V. Of the several wayes to raise Forrest-trees or others and how to perform the same by Laying THose sorts of Trees which will grow of Cuttings are the easiest to raise by Layings some of which sorts you may see in the next Chapter Now touching the best time for laying your Layers of Trees observe that if they be Trees that hold their Leaf all Winter as Firres Pines Holly Yew Box Bayes Lawrels Elix c. Let such be laid about the latter end of August But if they be such as shed their Leaf in Winter as Oak Elm Line Sycamore Apple Pear Mulberry c. let such be laid about the middle of October I do grant that you may lay at any time of the Year but these times I take to be the best for then they have the whole VVinter and Summer to prepare and draw Root in at that time of the year the Sun having so much power on the sap of the Tree as to feed the Leaf and Bud but not to make a shoot and if that little sap that rises be hindred as it is by some of the following wayes of laying the Leaves and Buds yet gently craving of the Layer makes the Layer prepare for Root or put forth root a little to maintain it self being it finds it cannot have it from the Mother-plant and being it wants but little Nourishment at that time of the Year I think it is better to lay Layers of Trees and to set Cuttings than at other times In Summer when the sap is much abounding or in VVinter when the sap stirres little or in the Spring when the sap begins to rise for then it comes too suddenly to draw sap from the Layer before it hath drawn or prepared for root for Nature must be courted gently though I know in small Plants the Spring or Summer doth very well for they being short-lived are therefore the quicker in drawing root and besides that Trees are many times laid as they are not As for those Trees that are apt to grow of Cuttings take but some of the boughs and lay them into the Ground covering them about half a foot with fresh fine Mould leaving them with the end of your Layer about one foot or a foot and a half out of the ground keeping them moist in Summer and in Twelve Months time you may remove them if rooted if not let them lie longer Another way is take a Bough you intend to lay and cut it half way through right cross the wood then slit it up towards the end half a foot or according as your Layer is in bigness lay the slitted place into the ground and you shall find that slitted place take root if laid as the former and so ordered This way you may encrease many fine Flowers and small Plants but they being out of my Element at this time I shall not speak of the ordering them for fear I seem tedious to some Another way to lay a Layer of a Tree is take a piece of VVyer and tie it hard round the bark of the place you intend to lay into the ground twisting the ends of the VVier that it may not untie prick the place above the VVier thorough the bark with an Aul in several places then lay it into the ground as the first A fourth way of Laying of trees is Cut a place round about one Inch or two where you find it most convenient to lay into the ground and so proceed as is shewed in the first way of Laying A Fifth way to lay some sorts of Trees is to twist the place you intend to lay into the ground as you do a withe and lay it as is shewed in the first way of Laying by this way and the first you may furnish your Woods and Hedges For they being easie any ordinary man will perform the same Thus you may from one Stub as a Sallow or the like between one Fall and another of your VVood for a Rod square of Ground and more if that one Stub produce but strong shoots fill it well with Wood For when the Stub hath got two or three years shoot then lay round it as before at large is shewed there letting them remain to produce new Stubs But if you would increase by laying some young Trees from an high Standard whence you cannot bend the boughs down to the ground then you must prepare either Box Basket or Pot and fill them full of fine sifted Mould putting a little rotten VVillow-dust with this Earth for that keeps Moysture to help the Layer to draw root then set the Pot or Box thus fill'd with Earth upon some Tressel or Post as your Ingenuity will direct you then lay your Bough by the second third or fourth way of Laying leaving not too much head out because the wind will offend it if you doe and by its own motion be likely to rub off the tender young Root and thus lay your Hops this way These things observed you may raise many choyse Trees as Mulberry Hors-Chesnut c. These Rules may instruct you sufficiently concerning the propagation of Trees by Laying but let me tell you it is hard to raise a fine straight Tree by a Layer or Cutting I have hinted at the Reasons before Note the smaller your Boughs be Set them the less out of the ground and keep them clean from VVeeds that they spoyl not your Layers Alsonote that the harder the VVood is then the young VVood will take root best laid in the ground but if a soft VVood then older boughs will take Root best Now you that be Lovers of wood make use of these sure Directions and if you repent then blame me CHAP. VI. Of those sorts of Trees that will grow of Cuttings and how to perform the same IF your Ground be moist you may Set with success any sort of Willow Sallow or Osier
with a Vital Faculty to bring forth its like it contains potentially the whole Plant in it therefore it may and is the more to be observed Or as a learned Physitian hath it speaking of Man and the World The Chaos or first Matter was made a World and of this World was made Man so a Tree groweth from the Seed the Seed is the beginning of the Tree and in every grain or seed of a Tree there lies hid another three See Philosophy Reformed page 58. The Industrious Farmer or Yeoman will take care that the Grain which he soweth be of the best Kind for Largeness and Goodness in every particular and hath oft found by Experience to his loss that the Corn which is taken to sowe from that which was your smooted or mill dew'd doth oft produce smooted or black Corn again he knowing also that this black Corn which is like dust within will not grow Then what should be the Reason that that which growes in the same Ear will oft-times produce black smooted Corn that hath nothing but a little black dust in it or a black flinty Kernel of little or no use but harmfull to the rest though that which you sowe seem sound and a very likely berryed Corn When I have found by Experience that Wheat which hath not been so likely to the Eye as that which was freer from smooted Corn hath brought or produced clearer Corn by much than the others Now I have discoursed with some which would not spare to say positively that your smooted or black Wheat would grow and so produce black Wheat again which is a great Mistake But this I know that your Wheat which is like black dust within will not grow at all nor some of your black flinty Wheat but some of it will produce blades some stalks with ears but no sound grain some with good and bad in one ear and so the nearer it is to perfect sound grain the nearer it produceth its like Yet though this may and will produce some good and some bad as I say yet no black smooted grain unless meeting with some accidental Cause if the Grain be perfect sound but according to its defect so may be the success of your Crop Now this which I call the Accidental Cause is the Mildew which may well be so called because of its Malignity especially to Wheat and Hops because in them most perfected though many other Plants suffer as much This Maldew or Mildew is a Dew which is drawn from the Earth and Herbs in a drye and calm time and when Herbs are in their prime by the Sun and wanting wind to fan off their grosness and also being drawn from Herbs which make it thick and sweet and not so active to aspire 't is most in your inclosed Grounds and Valleys and to those grounds which lie tending to the Oriental part of the Heavens as all Blasting winds are Now I suppose these may be the Reasons your Valleyes do afford more moysture than your Hills as is oft seen by your Mists which are more frequent in them than on Hills this being drawn up by the Sun in the Day-time and wanting wind to assist its Motion as I said before doth hang in the lower Region and when the Sun sets it falls upon your Plants with its thick clammy substance and in those whose bark is tender and young and pores open with the heat of the season hinders the sap of the Plant or Tree to ascend to nourish his flowers or shoot 'T is observed that when your Wheat doth shoot up to Ear and flower it doth it suddenly and likewise your Hops and then this Clammy or Mildew coming upon it before the Air hath hardned it to resist it For the Air being warm Nature doth not so much as dream of this unkind Enemy And if it falls on Wheat when the Ear is new formed then there is the black smooty Wheat but if the Ear hath blown even when or before it comes or that the whole stalk be not surrounded with it then you shall have some of your grains good and some bad according as they were in setting or find Nourishment I have oft observed in your black Heart white Heart and other great-leaved Cherries this Dew to fall upon them at the top just at the beginning of Midsommer shoot and hath so stopped the shoot that it hath shot forth in other places below and on the top of the shoots you may see many little Flies feeding on this Dew and on the Leaves of Oak and Maple 't is plainly to be seen and tasted and though destructive to Corn c. yet it is mighty Relief to the industrious Bees The Reason why those grounds which hang from the Horizon to the East are most subject to this Dew and to Blasting as it is termed may be as I judge the Suns drawing these vapours towards it just as a great Fire draweth the Air in a Room to it so the Sun having set these in Motion yet not having strength enough to draw them into the middle Region to form them into a Cloud doth yet draw them till he is below our Horizon then these Dews tend to the Earth from whence they were taken and in motion to the West do as it were fall upon that Ground which hangs Eastward at right Angles therefore offensive to them most But since I am speaking of this usefull Grain Wheat I shall take notice of that which I know is used with good success They take their Seed-wheat and steep it twenty or twenty four hours in water and Salt which is found by experience to do good to the Wheat against the blackness and helps it in its growth the Reasons I conceive are these The steeping it prepares it for its spearing and makes it take root the sooner therefore if late in sowing steep the longer if early not so long And if there be any Grain that is not perfect sound this will either kill or cure it And I suppose that Brine to Wheat is as Sack to a young Child a little doth a great deal of good but have a care you do not let it lie too long in a strong Brine lest you stupifie it or kill it with too much Kindness I do advise my Countrey-men if late in sowing any of their Grains to steep especially Barley as well as Wheat if your Grain be spear'd it is never the worse provided you sow it before the spear be chill'd or dryed therefore commit it to the Ground and cover it as you can Your Wheat Oats and Barley differ much in their growth from other seeds for they put forth their roots at the great end and then one blade or long leaf at the small end which comes between the skin and the body of the seed Your Beans and Pease put forth their Root at the side and then the same sort of Leaf at the same place where the Root came out that grows on the stalks
from it till the next Year or rather longer then take it up at a fit Season and you will find it will at those ends where the Roots were cut off have drawn many tender young Roots apt to take and sufficient for the Tree wheresoever you shall transplant him further to facilitate the Removal of such great Trees or small ones that are ticklish to Remove for the Adornment of some particular place or the rarity of the Plant there is this Expedient A little before the hard Frosts surprise you make a Trench about your Tree at such distance from the stemme as you judge sufficient for the Roots dig this so deep till you come lower than the side-roots if your Ground be a dry Ground water the Hill of Earth the Frosts will lay hold on it the more but commonly in Winter before Frosts we have showers saves you that Labour then lay some Litter in the bottom of your Trench which will keep that part from freezing in case you have Occasion to undermine it more to loosen it when you take it up as is very likely you will Thus let it stand till some hard Frost do bind the Earth firmly to the Roots and then convey it to the Pit or Hole prepared for its new station having before covered the Earth by with some Horse-Litter to keep that Earth from freezing which Mould will then be ready to cover that clod round the Root of the Tree and the ends of the Roots and so secure it the better and that Litter will do well to lay round the Tree on the top of the Ground But in case the Tree be very great and the Mould about the Roots be so ponderous as not to be removed by an ordinary force you must then have a Gin or Crane such a one as they have to Load Timber with and by that you may weigh it out of its place and place the whole upon a Trundle or Sledge to convey it to the place you desire and by the afore-said Engine you may take it off from the Trundle and set it in its hole at your pleasure By this Address you may transplant trees of a great stature without the least Disorder and by taking off the less of their Heads which is of great Importance where this is practised to supply a Defect or remove a Curiosity I do suppose that one of these small Cranes or Gins would be very useful to those that have a great many pretty big trees to take up in their Nurseries especially such as have strong and tough Roots for if the Ground were but well loosened round the Roots and a Rope well fastened a little above the Ground to the stemme of the tree I dare engage that this way one Man with a Lever shall draw up more than ten Men And besides this will draw upright which is better than drawing on one side as many are forced to do You must have on the lower end of the three Legs pieces of Plank to keep it from sinking too far into the loose Ground I have now one a making and hereafter I shall be able to give you a better Account of it than now the onely Inconvenience I think of at present is in fastening the Rope about the Tree so that it may not slide or gall the tree but a piece of good Leather about four or five Inches broad with three or four Straps to come through so many holes when it is fastened to the Rope they may all be strained alike this I suppose will do your work The afore-said Learned Author Adviseth you before you take up trees to mark them all on one side the better to place that side to point to the same Aspect it did before For Oaks growing on the North side of an Hill are more Mossie than those that grow on the South-side this I grant because that side is Colder and Wetter for it is Cold and Wet Ground that breeds Moss most and that gets from the Ground upon the Trees Also he says that Apple-trees standing in a Hedge-row after the Hedge was taken away the Apple-trees did not thrive so well as they did before for want of the shelter of the Hedge I say that if the Hedge-row had drawn up the Apple-trees so as to make them top-heavy they might not thrive so well but if they were not the shelter being taken away they would thrive the better unless by thriving he means growing in height See Lord Bacon's Natural History p. 113. For a tree pent up cannot spread But as for placing the South-side of a tree South again this is not to the purpose for the greatest time that Trees grow in is from the Suns entring into Aries to his entring into Libra and all that time that is half a Year the Tree hath the Sun on the North-side both Morning and Evening and the North side hath the benefit of warming it self later in the Evening and earlier in the Morning having two hours time earlier and two later in the height of Summer more than the South-side Again you shall have the Cold be as much on the South-side of a Wall or Tree in the Night as on the North if the Wind blow on the South-side therefore I do Judge that to place a Tree the South-side South again signifieth little though the same Author saith p. 88. and the Author of the Book Called Mathematical Recreations p. 75. saith That a Tree groweth more on the South-side than on the North I have oft Observed the Annual Circles and have found as many nay more to the contrary for thus I have always found on a Tree near the Ground the Annual Circles have been the greatest on that side from which most of the great Roots came As if a Tree grow on the South-side of a Bank you shall find the Circles on that Tree to be greatest on the North-side c. but higher on a Tree the Circles are ever greatest on that side the Tree where there is a great Bough breaks out for the Sap has great recourse thither many times by sudden cold some is stayed by the way and so increaseth that side of the Tree most For I take the Sap of a Tree if the Weather be open that is of those Trees that shed their Leaves to be still ascending into the Head though it be Mid-winter though there do not rise enough to keep the Leaves on nor to make it bud forth yet it is plain that it keeps the buds full and fresh and increaseth the growth of the Tree for that same pory substance of the Tree which is between every Annual Circle that is made by the Winter-sap and the milder the Winter is the greater you shall find this to be as is visible in Ash Oak Elm c. The other which is more hard and clear is increased by the Sap in Summer and the more feeding the Summer is by showers the more shall the Circles increase on dry Ground and according
the Roots begin to rot they then come up best then stock them all up the other Wood will grow the better and they will pay you well for your Charge they will cost you about 6 s. a Stack and here they will be worth 12 s. or more when stocked up When you fell your Woods or Coppices cut them smooth and close to the Stub and a little slanting upwards as I advised you about Lopping Pollards the oftner you fell your Woods Coppices or Hedges the thicker they will grow for every felling gives way to the young Seedlings to get up and makes the weak Plants shoot strong Those Woods which increase by running Roots as Elm Cherry Popler Maple Sarvice c. which thicken your wood much And Felling makes the Roots of a tree to swell as Lopping doth the Body and so it produceth the greater shoots and comes sooner to perfection Whereas great wood and old and ill taken off from the Stub many times kills all When you fell your Woods leave young Trees enough you may take down the worst that stand next fall especially neer a great tree that you judge may go down next fall for by its fall it may spoyl some The Statute saith you are to leave twelve score Oaks at every Fall on an Acre for want of them so many Elms Ashes Beeches c. But leave according to the thinness of your wood and where underwood sells well there let your Timber-trees stand the thinner and in such Countreys where Coals are cheap and Timber sells well there let your Timber-trees stand thick and then they will need but little pruning up Endeavour to plant in your Woods such sorts of Wood as the Ground is most proper for if wet then Alder Sallow Willow Withy c. if shallow and dry Ash Cherry Beech Popler c. if shallow and wet Hornbeam Sallow Sarvice c. but remember that the Oak and Elm be entertained in all places If your Woods or Coppices be in Parks where you lye open to Deer then at every Fall plant in them such woods whose Barks the Deer do not much love such are the Hornbeam Hasel Sycamore c. When Trees are at their full growth there be several Signs of their Decay which give you warning to fell it before it be quite decayed As in an Oak when the top-boughs begin to die then it begins to decay In an Elm or Ash if their head dies or if you see they take wet at any great Knot which you may know by the side of the Tree being discolour'd below that place before it grows hollow or if hollow you may know by knocking it with the head of an Axe of which you may be the surer satisfied by boring into the middle of it with a small Auger or if you see the Nighills make holes in it these be certain Signs the Tree begins to decay but before it decayes much down with it and hinder not your self CHAP. XXXVII How to take the heighth of a Tree several wayes the better to judge the worth of them c. HAving shewed you how you may judge of Timber whether it be sound or not in the last Chapter I will now shew you how to take the heighth that you may the better know the worth of it for where you have a Rule to go by you may then the better ghess There be several wayes to take the Altitude of a Tree or Building that is perpendicular as by a two-foot Rule or two Sticks joyned in a right Angle that is square as the Figure A. B. C. having at A. a pin or hole to hang a Thred and Plummet on Suppose you were to take the height of X Y first then hold that end of your square marked with C. to your Eye then goe backward or forward till the Thred and Plummet hang just upon the middle of your Square perpendicular and your eye looking through two sights or two Pins at A. and C. or over the ends of the Square thus look to the very top of the Building at X. See Fig. 8 9. Which found with a Line and Plummet from your Eye at C let fall to the Ground at D measure the length of that Line and adde it to the height that Length to E then measure the distance from E. to the foot of the Altitude as at Y and that if your Ground be level is the height of of X. Y. Or take the Level from your Eye to the height and adde that which is below the Level to the Height c. as the Line C. F. sheweth To find the height of a Tree c. by a straight Staffe or by a Line and Plummet the Sun shining the Altitude perpendicular and the Ground Level if not you must make the end of both the shadows level to each foot which is soon done As if I should take the Level of B. at C. finding the very top of the shadow to End there I measure the Distance from C. to B. and find it 60 foot then at that very instant I set up a stick perpendicular as E. D. 12 foot long which I find to cast a shadow just 9 foot and then the Rule orders it self thus As 9 foot to 12 so 60 foot to 80 which you will find true if you work it by Logarithmes or by Rule and Compass thus Set one point on 9 extend the other to 12 that Extent will reach from 60 to 80 Or if you work it by Natural Arithmetick as 9 is to 12 so 60 to 80. See Fig. 10. The same may be done by Line and Plummet To take the Altitude or height by a Bole of Water or by a Lookingglass placed parallel to the Horizon Place on the Ground a Bole of Water or a Looking-glass at a convenient distance from the Building or Tree as far as you think the height is then go back till you espie in the middle of the Water or Glass the very top of the Altitude which done keep your standing and let a Plum-line fall from your Eye till it touch the Ground which gives the height of your Eye from the Ground 2. Measure the distance from your Plummet to the Middle of the water 3. The distance from the middle of the water to the foot of the Altitude Which Distances if you have measured exactly straight and level by Proportion you may find the Altitude required thus As the distance from the Plummet level to the Center of the Water or Glass Is to the height of your Eye from the Ground which is the Length of your Plum-line So is the distance from the Center of the Water to the Base or foot of the Altitude exact perpendicular to the very top of the height which gave the shadow to the Altitude for if your Object be not upright and you measure straight and level and just under the top that gave the shadow If you miss in any one of these you are quite out in taking the height
pleasant Prospect as too many doe by making the Walks too narrow If you make any Walk that leads to any pleasant Front of a House or other Object if it be but half a mile long let it be at least forty foot wide but if longer more as 50 or 60 foot wide or the breadth the length of your Front But if you be for walks of shade then make three Walks the middle one 40 the two out-side walks each 20 foot or 50 and 25 the out-side walks or divide your Front into two parts and let the middle be as broad as both the side-walks so that if you make three walks together let the middle one be as much as both the other so will the Trees range much the better whether you set them square or triangular but however keep to one of them though I think the square to be the best because then four Trees in the four Rows end all together fit to end in either Semicircle segment of a Circle Oval Triangle or Circle for all walks of any Length especially in Parks should end in some one of these Figures or lead into some other walk but where they doe fall into another walk there should be a Circle to receive them or else they seem much defective I shall now endeavour to shew you how to make a walk through a wood and then I will give you an Example of some of the Figures that Walks ought to end in Suppose you were to clear a Walk or Line through a Wood for to run the Mid-line true about three yards wide having the Centre given doe as before run your Mid-line as far as you can into the wood and at one yard distance on each side the Mid-line two other Lines Run these Lines also as far as you can into the wood keeping them just one yard distant and setting up stakes as you proceed into the wood with large whites all of a bigness as half a sheet of white Paper on every Stake spread abroad when any of these three Lines come to a Tree run on the other two till you are past the Tree and then set him off again in its place parallel to his fellowes and so proceed till you be through the Wood marking that wood which must goe down then when your under-wood is stocked up run out your Line again still when you come to a Tree set off Parallels and when past set off into your true Line again This way I cut a straight Line through the Wood-walk at Cashiobury from the North front over one wall and several Hedges neer a mile long and when I came to stake it out true there was at the very end not four foot difference as the ingenious Hugh May Esq can witness and several others This way of staking out a walk by three Lines is worth your practising in setting out of Walks that go through Hedges or Bushes be sure to carry on the Mid-line of the walk and the two Lines where the Trees must goe together now and then measuring to see if they keep their equal distances and that which is amiss you will soon find and may as soon rectifie it again There is another way of carrying a straight Line through a Wood which Reason taught me and by Experience I have found true the place where the middle of the walk should poynt to being given there hang up a large Candle and Lanthorn and having found the Mid-line some 20 30 or 40 yards from that there hang up another they must both hang pretty high but let that next the House or Center be the higher having thus placed your two Lights and in a clear calm night but not too light goe with your Man to the further side of the wood till you make both these Lights in one Line and then walk on keeping them so marking the Trees on each side of you quite through the Wood order them to be cut down at leisure so shall you have a straight Line cut through the Wood. But if you are to make a walk from Gate to Gate so that you are tied to such a Center at each End if your walk be so that you can see from End to End it is then but setting up two Stakes one at each end by the sight of which cause a third to be set up in the middle But if you cannot see to the far End for Hill Wood or the like then you must cause an high Pole with a white on the top to be set up at the End by that and your Centre-stake cause your Assistants to set up as many as you think convenient in the Mid-line but if that wood be so high that you cannot see a high Pole at the End then run it over as near as you can by ghess take notice of the Length and of your Error at End and ¼ and ½ and ¾ each at a Quarter of the Length of your walk set off a quarter of your Error c. And thus bring your Line till it ranges exactly from one point to another from Gate to Gate then set off the two Lines where the Trees must goe as is before shewed by the square and if for three walks then the four Rows of Trees if there be three Walks let the Middle-walk be just as broad as both the other which is the best Form or else all three of equal breadth so may you set your Trees not onely square but they will answer one another several wayes beside as square from A. to B. and other wayes as B. to C. and to D. so that every Tree must keep his Row Range Square and equal Distance c. See Fig. 14. The pricked Lines shew how the sight will take the Trees as square from A. to B. and Angle-wayes from C. to B. or C. to D. c. Thus have I shewed you how to stake out the Mid-line and the two side-lines of your walk I wish Sir E. T. Sir W. B. and Sir R. B. had seen these Directions before they had planted their walks I do judge they then would have done them better For Errors in planting make too many worthy Persons forbear Now as for the Figures which walks ought to end in I have named them before and if you observe most Plants especially Trees which make your Walks the most of them end in a Circular figure and therefore I will shew you some wayes how Walks ought to end in a Circle For a walk ending bluntly without any Figure or entring into another may be compared to a Tree with the Head off and what difference there is let those which well observe the Objects of Nature judge Let the Circle be three times the Breadth of your walk if conveniently you can or bigger if you have Room After you have found the Mid-line and resolved upon the Centre as at A. and of the Bigness of your Circle next consider of the Distance of your Trees round the Circle run that distance
such up you spoyl their spearing by breaking it off or by letting in the drye Aire and so kill it therefore keep your Beds clean from weeds and about the middle or latter end of August they will be come up About the midst of September sift a little richer Mould all over the Bed but not so much as to cover them thus doe the next Summer and take off the side â— boughs though young and when they have stood two years on that Bed then plant them on beds in your Nursery keeping them with digging and pruning up yearly till you have got them to the stature you think convenient to plant abroad In setting this or any sort of Tree forget not to top the ends of the tap-root or other long ones and also not to leave a bruised End uncut off You may set them in streight lines in your Nursery about a yard one Row from another and about a foot and a half one Tree from another in the Rowes mind the Natural depth it first did grow at and set it so when you remove it have a care of setting any Tree too deep and also keep not this Tree nor a Walnut long out of the ground for their spongy Roots will in a little time grow Mouldy and be spoyled Therefore if you cannot set them let them be covered with Earth and then you shall find this Tree as patient in removing and as certain to grow as any Tree I know The ground they like best is a light Brick-earth or Loom as I said before that they dislike most is a rocky ground or a stiffe clay but if one have a mixture of Brick-earth c. and the other of small Gravel Drift-sand Sand c. then there they will do pretty well They naturally increase very much of themselves and the more where they meet with natural ground if you fell a thriving Tree and fence in the place you then may have a store to furnish your Woods and Hedge-rows with the worst and the straightest to nurse up in your Nurseries for to make VValks Avenues Glades c. with for there is no tree more proper for the certainty of its growing especially if you make good large and deep holes and where the ground is not natural there help it by some that is and then you may hope for a stately high growing Tree if you take care in pruning it up as is before shewed of the Oak You need not much fear its growing top-heavy for it having such a thick bark the sap is subject to lodge in it and break out many side-boughs and the Roots apt to break out with suckers the more when pruned therefore prune it up high and often but let the season be February for then its fine dark green-coloured Leaf and long hanging on it is the more ornamental and fit for walks As for the way to increase it from the Roots of another Tree I doe referre you to the seventh Chapter which will shew you fully how to perform the same observing but them Rules you may raise many fine young Trees from the Roots of another much better than naturally they will be produced from the Roots I advise you where you find your ground Natural in your Hedge-rowes there to plant some of this most usefull wood for it will run in the Banks and thicken your Hedges with wood and is very courteous to other sorts of wood growing by it Do not let ignorant Tradition possess you that it will grow of the Chips or of Truncheons set like Sallowes though the Author of the Commons Complaint saith it will for I assure you it neither doth nor will In Lopping of this be carefull to cut your boughs close and smooth off minding to keep them perpendicular to the Horizon the better to shoot off the wet It will grow well of Laying as is before noted and also directed in the Chapt. of Laying in which if you take but a little labour more than ordinary from one Tree you may have in a few years many in your Hedge-rowes or elsewhere therefore deferre not but put this in practice especially the great Kind My Lord Bacon adviseth to bud it to make the Leaves the larger but that is needless Part of these Rules I wrote some years agoe at the request and for the use of the truely ingenious Planter and Lover thereof Sir Henry Capell and I shall give you the same Conclusion now that I did then to him which take as followeth Since Gard'ning was the first and best Vocation And Adam whose all are by Procreation Was the first Gard'ner of the World and ye Are the green shoots of Him th' Original Tree Encourage then this innocent old Trade Ye Noble Souls that were from Adam made So shall the Gard'ners labour better bring To his Countrey Profit Pleasure to his King CHAP. XII Of Raising and Ordering the Ash AND as for Raising the Ash I shall give you the same Rules as I did to the aforesaid Honourable Person the same time before the Discourse of Forrest-trees was written Let your Keyes be thorow ripe which will be about the middle or end of October or November When you have gathered them lay them thin to dry but gather them off from a young straight thriving Tree My Reason to gather them off a young thriving tree is because there will the Keyes or seeds in the Keyes be the larger and solider therefore by consequence they are the abler to shoot the stronger and to maintain themselves the better and longer Though I know by experience that the seeds of some old Plants will come up sooner so the seed be perfect than the seed of young Plants and also that old seed so it will but grow will come up sooner than new Seed My aforesaid Reasons do in part demonstrate this Or thus Nature finding her self weak doth like a provident Mother seek the sooner to provide for her weak Children for Nature is one in divers things and yet various in one thing Now if you gather them off from a straight tree 't is the likelier they will run more up and grow straighter than those which be gathered off a Pollard or crooked tree for it is well known and might be proved by many Instances that Nature doth delight in Imitation and the Defects of Nature may be helped by Art for the great Alterations which many times we find visible in many Vegetables of the same species they all proceed either from the Earth the Water or the Heavenly Influences but the last is the greatest Author of Alteration both in Sensibles Vegetables and Animals However Like still produceth its Like and since there is such plenty of Forrest-trees that bear seed you may as well gather all sorts of Keyes and Seeds off or under such Trees as not As for the time of sowing them let it be any time between the latter end of October and the last of January for they will lie till Spring
come twelve Months before they appear if your ground be not very subject to great weeds you may sow them with Oats if you be minded to make a Wood of it and in your VVoods on the top of your Ground but if they be prepared before-hand they will be much more certain of growing therefore if you would be sure to raise good store of them for to make VValks or furnish your VVoods with c. having gathered your Keyes and ordered them as is aforesaid prepare some sifted Earth or Sand which is better by keeping an equal warmth and moysture to prepare them for spearing Having prepared your sand and a house to lay them in where the Air may freely come then in this House lay one Laying of Sand and a Laying of Keyes parting your Keyes well so doe till you have Laying after Laying covered all your Keyes in the Couch any time in VVinter as is before directed Let your Sand be pretty moyst and so keep it all that year and having prepared your Ground by often digging and a tender Soyl which the Ash loves then about the latter end of January sowe them on this Bed covering them about one Inch or an Inch and a half thick Do not let them lie too long uncovered when you take them out of their Couch for then they will be speared and if they lie too long in the Aire it will spoyl them Do not sowe them in frosty weather but if Frosts be stay till they be over Mind to keep them clean from weeds the first year for they will shoot but little the first year but the second they will shoot strongly the VVinter after you may transplant them upon Beds pruning the little side-shoots and topping the tap-root Keep them with digging and pruning every year on these Beds and in few years they will be fit for Walks Woods c. and one of these thus ordered shall be worth ten taken out of VVoods for they will be taper and fine trees VVhen you remove an Ash take not off his head if he be not too top-heavy that you can possibly help it for an Ash and a VValnut are two of the worst Trees I know to head they having such a great Pith but the side-boughs you may be bold to take off provided you take them off close and the Boughs not very great It is not very apt to break much into side-boughs and heals over the wound as well as any tree except the Beech then why will you have low Timber-trees of Ashes when you may as well have high ones Therefore prune up your young Ash-trees well and often And if you follow but these Rules you may raise them as easily as Barley and as thick As touching the several Kinds some Authors will have two sorts the Male and Female but there is no such thing as Male and Female among Plants though some Plants are so called for what Act of either do any two Plants communicate to each other The greatest difference that ever I observed in young Ashes among the many thousands that I have raised was in their Bark for I have had some that have had blackish Bark some reddish the Leaves alike but what difference there will be in the Keyes and Timber I yet know not The Ash is not fit to be set near fine Gardens for the Leaves turn to soyl suddenly and so spoyl your VValks also the Roots run so shallow that they will rob your Borders and spoyl your Fruit-trees They are as bad by your plow'd Ground for the Roots will so draw the strength of the Ground from the Corn that it will languish and pine away And this I have observed that the Summer after a Tree is lopped it shall rob the Corn more than another bigger standing by it as may be visible by the growth of the Corn I have wilfully experienc'd it and I conceive the Reason to be this the Sap riseth into the head of the Pollard as usually it did and so into the Boughs but finding the Boughs cut off it filleth the Head so full that it causeth it to swell in the Spring and this is the reason Pollard-heads are bigger than any other part of the body of the Tree the head being so full that it can contain the sap no longer it then breaketh out into abundance of young shoots and when they set once a growing they grow apace and so the Bark of them being thin and open for the Sap to run in they receive as much as the Roots can possibly provide for them and endeavour to enlarge the Head to that magnitude as it was at before But though the Ash doth harm to grow near or upon plowed Ground yet it is the usefullest wood that growes for the Plough and other uses belonging to the Plough-man It is a quick-growing wood and will grow pretty well on most sorts of Grounds provided they be not too wet or very shallow It grows best on such Grounds as have their surface of a loose Nature so that it be not too shallow It produceth excellent Timber for several uses and is such a quick-grower that from a Key in Forty years one Ash was sold for Thirty pounds sterling as witnesseth the ingenious Author of the Discourse of Forrest-trees pag. 22. And this I can tell which my Lord and I measured of the shoot of an Ash that stood between the Wood-yard at Hadham-Hall and a place where I used to raise Melon plants that the second years shoot was Eight foot within two Inches which had it shot but a few years at this rate it would soon have been a very great Tree and worth a like price Of all the VVood that I know there is none burns so well green as the Ash and that is one Reason that many a fine Pollard is spoyled For your bad Husbands as they are tearmed are as unkind to Trees as they are to themselves For their want of Wood early in the VVinter makes them flie to the Ash whence they hack off the Boughs and thus leave him all Winter in which time the wood being not very hard that drinks in the wet at these wounded places and before the Spring comes to heal it over decayes and so by that means every Winter receiveth the wet more and more till it hath destroyed Root Body and Branch On the other side there are some which will not lop their Trees till they bear very great Boughs and then lop off them smooth and well cut off though it be in the Spring yet in such great wounds before the Sap can cover the place the wet makes a hole in some or many of these places and so you lose both Body and Lops in a few years Besides the lopping of Trees young that is at ten or twelve years at the most by so doing you keep your Tree much the longer alive and you shall have shoots of Trees at first felling grow more into wood in one year than they do