continuance thereof For if your Ale may endure a fortnight your Beere through the benefit of the Hop shall continue a Moneth and what grace it yeeldeth to the tast all men may judge that have sence in their mouthes and if the controversie be betwixt Beere and Ale which of them two shall have the place of preheminence it sufficeth for the glory and commendation of the Beere that here in our owne country Ale giveth place unto it and that most part of our Countrymen doe abhorre and abandon Ale as a lothsome drinke whereas in other Nations Beere is of great estimation and of strangers entertained as their moist choice and delicate drinke Finally that Ale which is most delicate and of best account boroweth the Hoppe as without the which it wanteth his chiefe grace and best verdure These things considered you may proceed to the making of your Garden wherein you are yet to have counsell for the laying out thereof for the due season and the right trade to cut and set Hoppe rootes what choice ye shall make of them what charge you shall be at for them you are yet also to learn the time when and the way how to prepare your ground and to make it able to entertaine and nourish them to frame your hills to maintaine them and to pull them downe to cut to fashion to erect to pull up and to preserve your Poales to gather to dry and to pack your Hops with many other circumstances necessarily appertaining hereunto Finally ye must be taught the reformation of many enormities and abuses which are received in most places for good rules the which God willing I will set forth truly according to the notes of experience although not learnedly after the Rules of Rhetoricke Of the preparation of a Hoppe Garden YOu must lay forth the ground which you determine to imploy this way in as levell square and uniforme wise as you may If your ground be grassie rough or stiffe it should be first â—owne with Hempe or Beanes which naturally maketh the ground mellow destroyeth weeds and neverthelesse leaveth the same in good season for this purpose But in what plight or state soever your ground be tyll it in the beginning of Winter with the Plough if it be great or with the Spade if it be small and this doe not onely the yeare before you plant it but also every yeare after even so long as you meane to receive the uttermost commodity of your Garden assuring your selfe that the more paines you take and the more cost you bestow hereupon the more you do double your profite and the nearer you resemble the trade of the Flemming Howbeit in some cases these paines may be spared that is to say where the mould is not deepe and the hill made both good and great in this case I say the hills being pulled downe the earth contained in them will cover the whole Garden and all the weeds growing therein and the same shall with helpe of dung maintaine your hills for ever The time to cut and set Hoppe Rootes IN the end of March or in the beginning of Aprill repaire to some good Garden orderly kept as wherein the Hops are all of a good kind all yearely cut and wherein all the Hills are raised very high for there the rootes will be greatest then compound with the owner or keeper thereof for choice rootes which in some places will cost sixe pence an hundreth but commonly they shall be given unto you so as you cut them your selfe and leave every hill orderly and fully dressed but what order you shall use herein I will hereafter shew Rules for the choyce and preparation of Rootes ANd now you must choose the biggest roots you can find that is to say such as are in bignesse three or foure inches about And let every roote which you shall provide to set be nine or tenne inches long Let there be contained in every such Roote three joynts Let all your rootes be but the Springs of the yeare last past You must have great regard that you cumber not your Garden with wild Hops the which are not to be discerned from the good by the rootes but either by the fruit or by the stalke Of the good Hoppe THe good and the kindly Hoppe beareth a great and a greene stalke a large a hard and a greene bell it appeareth out of the ground naked without leaves untill it be halfe a foote long Of the unkindly Hoppe THe Hoppe that likes not his entertainment namely his seate his ground his keeper his dung or the manner of his setting c. commeth up greene and small in stalke thicke and rough in leaves very like unto a Nettle which will be commonly devoured or much bitten with a little blacke flye who also will doe harme unto good Hops where the Garden standeth bleake or the Hop springeth rath but be not discomforted herewith for the heate of the Summer will reforme this matter and the latter springs will be little annoyed with this Flye who though she leave the leafe as full of holes as a Net yet she seldome proceedeth to the utter destruction of the Hoppe Of the wilde Hoppe OF the wild Hop the fruit is either altogether seed or else loose and red light bells the stalke is red howbeit herein the difference betweene the good and the bad Hop is not to be discerned untill the stalke be two or three yards high for at their first comming up the one as well as the other appeareth red and the best Hoppe is then the reddest Provide your rootes therefore where you are before-hand assured of their goodnesse Of setting of Hoppe Rootes HAving made your provision of rootes in this wise returne therewith to your Garden speedily and either set them immediately or lay them in some Puddle neare thereunto or bury them in the ground untill conveniency of winde weather and leisure the want whereof may sometimes prevent good expedition shall serve Provided alwayes that you leave them not in water or puddle above xxiiii houres but in the earth you may leave them as long as the time of setting endureth that is to say till the middest of Aprill Your Garden being dressed as before I advise you it shall be easie for you to direct your hills aright and that in equall distance with a Poale or rather with a line that will not stretch tying thereupon short threds or placing in it pinnes according to the proportion of space which you meane to leave betweene your hills whereof if one be placed out of order it shall blemish and hurt a great part of your Garden The distance of the Hills IF your Garden be one Acre in bignesse and lye square leave betweene every hole three yards or eight foot at the least in space as well that the hills may be made the greater and that the Hops of one Pole reach not to another as also that the Sunne may the more freely and universally
Otherwise the Hops will grow from one Pole to another and so over-shadow your Garden the fault thereof being especially to be imputed to the nearenesse of the hills Therefore chiefly you must measure your Poles by the goodnesse of your ground The Hoppe never stocketh kindly untill it reach higher then the Pole and returne from it a yard or two for whilest it tendeth clyming upward the branches which grow out of the principall stalke wherein consisteth the abundance of encrease grow little or nothing Let the quantity of your Poles be great that is to say nine or tenne inches about the lower end so shall they endure the longer and withstand the wind the better To describe the price of Poles or what it will cost you to furnish a Garden containing oâ—e Acre of ground it were a hard matter because the place altereth the price of Wood. But in a Wayne you may carry a hundreth and fifty Poles and 〈◊〉 small cause why a load of these should be much dearer then 〈◊〉 of any other Wood. After the first yeare Poles will be nothing chargeable unto you for you may either picke them out of your owne provision of Fuell or buy them of your Neighbours that have no occasion to apply them this way For the yearely supply of two loades of Poles will maintaine one Acre continually Your rotten and broken Poles will doe you good service for the kindling of your fiers in the Oste whereupon you should dry your Hops and they should be preserved chiefly for that purpose At Poppering where both scarcity and experience hath taught them to make carefull provision hereof they doe commonly at the East and North side of their Gardens set and preserve Alders wherewith they continually maintaine them Before you set up your Poles lay them all alongst your Garden betweene every row of hills by three or foure together I meane beside every Hill so many Poles as you determine to set thereon so shall you make the more speed in your worke Of the erection of Poles You must set every Pole a foot and a halfe deepe and within two or three inches at the most of the principall roote If your ground be rockie and shallow tarry the longer before you set up your Poles so as your Hops may be growne two or three foote high that you may adventure to make a hill or banke at every pole to stay and uphold the same without burying any of the younger Springs which may afterward be covered with lesse danger and annoyance of the principall roote Let the Poles of every hill leane a little outward one from another Of Ramming of Poles THen with a peece of wood as big below as the great end of one of your Poles ramme the earth that lyeth at the outside of the Pole thereunto but meddle not within the compasse of your Poles as they are placed lost you spoile the Springs Of Reparation of Poles IF any of the Poles chance to breake in many peeces when the Hop is growne up undoe and pull away the same broken Pole and tye the top of those Hops to the top of a new pole then winding it a turne or two about according to the course of the Sunne set it in the hole or besides the hole where the broken Pole stood but some being loth to take so much paines turne it about the other Poles that stand upon the same hill and so leave it But if it be not broken above the middest the best way is to set a new Pole or stalke beside the broken pole to the same which may uphold the said broken pole and preserve the Hop If the pole be onely broken at the nether end you may shove the said pole againe into the hill and so leave it Of pulling up Poles ANd because when the hills are made great and raised high you can neither easily pull up any nor possible pull up all your poles except you breake them c. especially if the wether or the ground be dry or else the Poles old or small J thought good to shew you an Instrument wherewith you shall pull them up without disease to your selfe destruction to your poles or expence of your money the charge being only foureteene or fifteen pound of Iron wherewith the Smith shall make you a paire of tongs or rather you may call them a paire of pinsers of the fashion here set downe the which may also be made with wood if you thiake good The way to make the Instrument wherewith to pull up the Hoppe Poles THey must be one yard in length whereof sixe or seaven inches may be allowed for the mouth or lower end of them which serveth to claspe or catch hold on the Pole the same nether end should be the strongest part thereof and the mouth somewhat hollow in the middest and there also bending downeward whereby the extreame point may rise a little upward Vpon the upper edges of the inside thereof the Smith should hacke or raise a few small teeth whereby your toole may take the surer hold upon the Pole He must also fasten upon every side of this Instrument a ryding hooke the which may claspe and stay both sides together when they have caught hold on the pole The manner of pulling up the Hoppe Poles YOu shall lay a little square block upon the top of the hill and the better to remove the same from hill to hill you may thrust therein a pinne Upon the same blocke you may rest your pinsers when they have clasped the very lowest part of your Pole and then holding the upper part of each side in your hands the hooke being clasped and pulled up hard towards youâ— you shall easily weigh up your Poles Of the preservation of Poles ANd although we are not yet come to the laying up of Poles I am bold herein as I began too late so to make an end too quickly because J would touch the whole matter of Poles together laying them by themselves I meane comprehending under one title the businesse appertaining unto them For the preservation and better continuance of Poles some make houses of purpose and lay them up therein Some set them upright to a Tree and over them make a penthouse of boughes or boords Some lay a great heape of Hopstalkes upon the ground and upon them a great heape of Poles and upon the Poles againe lay another heape of stalkes c. These men doe hereby expresse no great experience although by their diligence they signifie a good desire You shall need to doe no more but thus At the ends or sides of your Garden take three Poles standing upon three hills placed directly one by another and three like Poles upon three other hills of the next row right over against them constraine them to meet together by two and two in the tops and so hold them till one with a forked wand may put three Withes like unto three Broome bands which may be made of the
than unrotten dung about the dressing of your Hops but omit not to bring into your Garden dung that may there be preserved till it be good or needfull to be used When and where to lay Dung ABout the end of Aprill if your ground be not rich enough you must helpe every hill with a handfull or two of good earth not when you cut your rootes for then it will rather doe harme then good but when the Hop is wound about the Pole then should you doe it The order for reforming your Ground IM March you shall returne to your Garden and find it replenished with weedes except by tillage c. you have prevented that matter already It must as well therefore as because the earth may be more fine rich and easie to be delivered unto the hills be digged over or plowed except in the case mentioned The order of cutting Hoppe-rootes VVHen you pull downe your hills which if you have not already done you must now of necessity goe about to doe you should with your Garden toole undermine them round about till you come neere to the principall roots and then take the upper or younger rootes in your hand and shake of the earth which eâ—rth being againe removed away with your said toole you shall discerne where the new rootes grow out of the old Sets In the doing hereof be carefull that you spoyle not the old Sets as for the other roots which are to be cut awâ—y you shall not need to spare them to the delay of your work except such as you meane to set Take heed that you uncover not any more then the tops of the old sets in the first yeare of cutting At what time soever you pull downe your hills cut not your rootes before the end of March or in the begyâ—ning of Aprill and then remember the wind In the first yeare I meane at the first time of cutting and dressing of your rootes you must with a â—â—â—rpe knife cut away all such rootes or springs as grew the yeare before out of your sets within one inch of the same Every yeare after you must cut them as close as you can to the old rootes even as you see an Oâ—â—eâ—s head cut There groweth out of the old sets certaine Rootes right downwards not joynted at all which serve onely for the nourishing and comfort of those sets or principall rootes which are not to be cut off There be other like unto them growing outward at the sides of the sets If these be not met withall and cut asunder they will encumber your whole Garden Because it may seeme hard to discerne the old sets from the new Springs I thought good to advertise you how easie a thing it is to see the difference thereof for first you shall be sure to find your Sets where you did set them nothing increased in length but somewhat in bignesse inlarged and in few yeares all your Sets will be growne into one so as by the quantity that thing shall plainely appeare and lastly the difference is seene by the colour the old roote being red the other white but if the hills be not yearely pulled downe and the rootes yearely cut then indeed the old sets shall not be perceived from the other rootes If your Sets be small and placed in good ground and the hill well maintained the new rootes will be greater then the old If there grow in any hill a wild Hop or whensoever the stalke waxeth red or when the Hop in any wise decayeth pull up every roote in that hill and set new in their places at the usuall time of cutting and setting or if you list you may doe it when you gather Hops with the rootes which you cut away when you make your picking place Of divers mens follies MAny men seeing the springs so forward as they will be by this time are loth to loose the advantage thereof and more unwilling to cut away so many goodly Rootes but they that are timerous in this behalfe take pitty upon their own profit and are like unto them that refraine to lay dung upon their Corne land because they would not betray it with so uncleanly a thing And some that take upon them great skill herein thinke that for the first yeare they may be left unhilled and uncut c. deceiving themselves with this conceit that then the Sets prosper best within the ground when they send least of their nature and state out of the ground In this respect also they pull away or suppresse all such Springs as soone as they appeare which grow more and besides them which they meane to assigne to each Pole as though when a mans fingers were cut off his hand would grow the greater Indeed if there be no hill maintained then the more Springs are suffered to grow from out of the principall roote the more burden and punishment it will be to the same But when the Springs are maintained with a hill so much as remaineth within the same is converted into rootes which rather adde then take away any state from the principall roote in consideration hereof the suppressing of the Springs may not be too rath for whatsoever opinion be hereof received the many Springs never hurt the principall roote if the hills be well maintained but it is the cumbring and shadowing of one to another that worketh the annoyance When you have cut your Hops you must cover them as you were taught in the title of Setting and proceeding according to the order already set downe Of Disorders and Maintainers thereof SOme there be that despise good order being deceived with a shew of increase which sometime appeareth in a disordered ground to them I say and say it truely that the same is a bad and a small increase in respect of the other I say also that although disorderly doings at the first may have a countenance of good successe yet in few yeares the same and all hope thereof will certainely decay Some other there be that despise good order satisfying themselves with this that they have sufficiently to serve their owne turne without all these troubles and surely it were pitty that these should be troubled with any great abundance that in contempt of their owne profite and of the Common-wealth neglect such a benefit proferred unto them Of an Oste NOw have I shewed unto you the perfect Platforme of a Hop-Garden out of the which J led you for a time and brought you in againe when time required and there would I leave you about your businesse were it not to shew you by description such an Oste as they dry their Hops upon at Poppering with the order thereof c. Which for the small charges and trouble in drying for the speedy and well drying and for the handsome and easie doing thereof may be a profitable patterne and a necessary instruction for as many as have or shall have to doe herein Of the severall Roomes for an Oste FIrst a
brusing of your fruit then dry them with a cloth and keepe them all the winters vntill St. Andrewes tide then a little after sow them in good earth as thin as ye doe Peason and then rake them over as the other How one ought to use his earth to sowe Pepins without dunging BVt in this manner of doing in the Spring it is not so great need for to raise or digge the earth so deep as that which is dunged in winter but to devide your quarters in covering your Pepins not so much with earth as those which be sowne with good dung but when ye haue sowne them a little rake all them over How ye ought to take heed of Poultrey for scraping of your beddes or quarters AS soone after as your Pepins be sowne vpon your beds or quarters let this be done one way or other that is take good heed that your Hennes doe not scrape your beds or quarters therefore sticke them all over light and thin with boughes or thornes and take good heed also to Swine and other Cattell How to weed or cleanse your Beds and quarters AND when the winter is past and gone and that yee see your Pepins rise and grow so let them increase the space of one yeere but see to cleanse weeds or other things which may hurt them as you shall see cause And in the Summer when it shall waxe dry water them well in the evenings How one ought to pluck vp the wild Cions AND when these wild Cions shall be great as of the growth of one yeere ye must then plucke them vp all in Winter following before they doe begin to spring againe Then shall yee set them and make of them a wild Orchard as followeth CHAP. II. Treateth how one shall set againe the small wild trees which come of Pepins when they be first pluckt up FOr the Bastard or little wilde Trees incontinent assoone as they be pluckt up ye must haue of other good earth wel trimmed and dunged and to be well in the Sunne and well prepared and drest as it is sayd in the other part before of the Pepins How to dung your Bastard or wild young Trees which come of Pepins ABout Advent before Christmas ye must digge and dung well the place whereas ye will set them and make your square of earth even plaine so large as ye shall think good then set your wild trees so farre one from another as yee thinke meet to be graft so that they may be set in even rankes and in good order that when need shall require ye may remoue or renue any of them or any part thereof How ye ought in replanting or setting to cut off in the middest the principall great rootes IN what part soever ye doe set any Trees ye must cut off the great maister roote within a foote of the stocke and all other bigge rootes so that ye leaue a foote long thereof and so let them be set and make your rankes crosse-wise one from another halfe a foote or thereabouts and ye must also see that there be of good dung more deepe and lower then ye doe set your Trees to comfort the sayd rootes withall How you ought to set your Trees in ranke YE shall leaue betweene your ranckes from one rancke to another one foote or thereabouts so that yee may set them with good fat earth all over the rootes How to make the space from one ranke to another YE shall leave betweene your rankes from one rancke to another one foote or thereabouts so that ye may passe betweene every ranke for to clense them if need require and also for to graffe any part or parcell thereof when time shall be meet But ye must note in making thus your rankes ye shall make as many allies as rankes And if ye thinke it not good to make as many allies then devide those into quarters of five foot broad or thereabouts and make and set foure rankes in each quarter of the same one foot from another as ye use to set great Cabbage and assoone after as ye have set them in rankes and in good order as is aforesaid then shall ye cut off all the setts even by the ground But in this doing see that ye doe not plucke up or loose the earth what is about them or if you will ye may cut them before ye doe set them in rankes If ye doe so see that ye set them in such good order and even with the earth as is aforesaid And it shall suffice also to make your rankes as ye shall see cause And looke that ye furnish the earth all over with good dung without mingling of it in the earth nor yet to cover the said Plants withall but strowed betwixt and yee must also looke well to the cleansing of weedes grasse or other such things which will be a hurt to the growth of the Plants How to water Plants when they waxe dry IT shall be good to water them when the time is dry in the first Yeare Then when they have put forth of new Cions leave no more growing but that Cion which is the principall and fairest upon every stocke one all the other cut off hard by the stocke and ever as they doe grow small twigges about the stocke ye shall in the Moneth of March and Aprill cut them all of hard by the stocke And if ye then sticke by every Plant a pretty wand and so bind them with Willow barke Bryer or Osiers it shall profit them much in their groweth Then after five or sixe yeares groweth when they be so bigge as your finger or there abouts ye may then remove any of them whereas ye will haue them grow and remaine How one ought to remove Trees and to plant them againe THe manner how ye ought to remoue trees is shewed in the sixt Chapter following then about two or three yeares after their removing ye shall graffe them for then they will be the better rooted As for the others which ye leaue still in rankes ye may also graffe them where as they stand as ye shall see cause good When ye haue plucked vp the fairest to plant in either places as is aforesayd also the manner how to Graffe them is shewd in the fift Chapter following But after they shall be so graft in what place soever it be ye shall not remoue or set them in of her places againe vnâ—ill the Graffes be well closed vpon the head of the wild stocke When the best time is to replant or remoue VVHen the head of the stocke shall be all over closed about the graffes then ye mâ—y when ye will transplant and remoue them at a due time where they shall continue For with often removing ye shall doe them great hurt in their rootes and be in danger to make them dye Of negligence and forgetfulnesse IF peradventure ye forget through negligence and haue let small Cions two or three yeares grow about the rootes of your
thereof their fruit shall not hâ—ve so good savour although it be all of one fruit and likewise so it is with all other fruit and Trees for the goodnesse of the earth and the faire Sunne doth preserve them much For to set the Pine-trees FOr to set the Pine-tree ye must see or plant them of Nuts in March or about the shoote of the sappe not lightly after ye must also set them where they may not be removed after in holes well digged and well Dunged not to be transplanted or removed againe for very hardly they will shoote forth Cions being removed specially if ye hurt the maister roote thereof For to set Cherry-trees FOr to set sowre Cherries which doe grow commonly in gardens ye shall understand they may well grow of stones but better it shall be to take off the small Cions which doe come from the great rootes then plant them and sooner shall they grow then the stones and those Cions must be set when they are small young and tender as of two or three yeares groweth for when they are great they profit not so well and when ye set them ye must see to cut off all the boughes Trees of bastard and wild Nuts THere be other sorts of Nuttes although they be well set in good ground and also in the Sunne yet will they not bring halfe so good fruit as the other nor commonly like unto those Nuttes they came of but to be a bastard wild sowre fruit which is the Filberd small Nuts of Plums of Cherries and he great Apricocks therefore if ye will have them good fruit ye must set them in manner and forme following How to set Filberds or Hasell-trees FOr to set Filbirds or Hasels and to have them good take the small wands that grow out from the roote of the Filbird or Hasell-tree with short hary twigs and set them and they shall bring as good fruit as the Tree they came of â—t shall not be needfull to proin or cut off the branches thereof when ye set them if they be not great but those that ye doe set let them be but of two or three yeares growth and if ye shall see those Cions which ye have planted not to be faire and good or doe grow and prosper not well then in the Spring time cut them off hard by the roote that other small Cions may grow thereof To set Damsons or Plum-trees IN setting Damsons or Plum-trees which fruit ye would have like to the Trees they came of if the said Trees be not grafted before ye shall take onely the Cions that grow from the roote of the old stocke which groweth with small twigs and plant or set them and their fruit shall be like unto the Trees they were taken of To take Plum Graffes and graffe them on other Plum-trees ANd if your Plum-trees be grafted already and have the like fruit that you desire ye may take your graffes thereof and Graffe them on your Plum-trees and the fruit that shall come thereof shall be as good as the fruit of the Cion which is taken from the roote because they are much of like effect To set all sorts of Cherries TO set all sorts of great Cherries and others ye must have the Graffes of the same Trees and graffe them on other Cherrie trees although they be of sowre fruit and when they are so graffed they will be as good as the fruit of the Tree whereof the graffe was taken for the stones are good but to set to make wild Cions or Plants to graffe on The manner how one may order both Plum-trees and Cherrie-trees FOr so much as these are two kind of Trees that is to understand the Cherry and the Plum-tree for when they be so grafted their Rootes be not so good nor so free as the Branches above wherefore the Cions that doe come from the rootes shall not make so good and franke trees of It is therefore to be vnderstood how this manner and sort is to make franke trees that may put forth good Cions in time to come which is when they be great and good then if ye will take those Cions or young springs from the rootes ye may make good trees thereof and then it shall not need to graffe them any more after but to augment one by the other as ye doe the Cions from the roote of the Nut as is aforesaid and ye shall doe as followeth How to graft Plum-trees and Cherry-trees YE may well graffe Plum-trees and great Cherry-trees in such good order as ye list to haue them and as hereafter shall be declared in the fifth Chapter following for these would be graffed while they are yong and small and also graft in the ground for thereby one may dresse and trim them the better and put but one graffe in each stock of the same Cleave not the heart but a little on the one side nor yet deep or long open How you must proine or cut your Trees FOr when your graffes be well taken on the stock and that the graffes doe put forth faire and long about one yeares growth ye must proine or cut the branch off commonly in Winter when they proine their Vines a foote lower to make them spred the better then shall ye mingle all through with good fat earth the which will draw the better to the place which ye have so proined or cut The convenientest way to cleanse and proine or dresse the rootes of Trees ANd for the better cleansing and proining Trees beneath is thus ye shall take away all the weeds and graft about the Rootes then shall ye digge them so round about as ye would seeme to plucke them up and shall make them halfe bare then shall ye enlarge the earth about the Rootes and whereas ye shall see them grow faire and long place or couch them in the said hole and earth againe then shall ye put the cut end of the Tree where it is graft somewhat more lower then his roots were whereby his Cions so grafted shall spring so much the better When the Stockes is greater then the Graffes VVHen as the tree waxeth and swelleth greater beneath the Graffing then above then shall ye cleave the roots beneath and wreath them round and so cover them againe But see ye breake no root thereof so will he come to perfection But most mâ—n doe use this way if the Stocke waxe greater then the Graffes they doe slit downe the barke of the Graffes above in two or three parts or as they shall see cause thereof and so likewise if the Graffes waxe greater above then the stocke ye shall slit downe the stock accordingly with the edge of a sharpe knife This may well be done at any time in March Aprill and May in the increase of the Moon and not lightly after The Remedy when any Bough or Member of a Tree is broken IF ye shall chance to have Boughes or Members of Trees broken the best remedy shall be to
sooner then the other All Trees abovesaid doe take very well being grafted one with the other And I have not knowne or found of any others howbeit saith he I have curiously sought and proved because they say one may graft on Coleworts or on Elmes the which I thinke are but Iests Of the great Apricocke THe great Apricocke they graft in Summer in the Scutchion or Shield in the sappe or bark of the lesser Apricock and be grafted on Peach-trees Fig-trees and principally on Damson or Plum trees for there they will prosper the better Of the Service-trees OF the Service tree they say and write that they may hardly be grafted on other Service-trees either on Apple-trees Peare or Quince-trees and I beleeve this to bee very hard to doe for I have tryed saith he and they would not prove The Setting of Service-trees THerefore it is much better to set them of Curnels as it is aforesaid as also in the second Chapter of planting of Cions or other great Trees which must be cut in Winter as such as shall be most meete for that purpose Trees which be very hard to be grafted in the Shield or Scutchion ALL other manner of Trees aforesaid doe take very well to be graffed with Cions and also in the Shield except Apricocks on Peaches Almonds Percigniers the Peach-tree doe take hardly to be graffed but in the shield in Summer as shall be more largely hereafter declared As for the Almond Percigniers and Peaches ye may better set them of Curnels and Nuts whereby they shall the sooner come to perfection to be graffed How a man ought to consider those Trees which be commonly charged with fruit YE shall understand that in the beginning of graffing ye must consider what sorts of Trees doe most charge the stocke with branch and fruit or that doe love the Country or Ground whereas you intend to plant or graffe them for better it were to have abundance of fruit then to have very few or none Of Trees whereon to choose your Graffes OF such Trees as ye will gather your Graffes to graffe with ye must take them at the ends of the principall Branches which be also faire and greatest of Sappe having two or three fingers length of the old wood with the new and those Cions which eyes somewhat nigh together are the best for those which be long are farre one from another and not so good to bring fruit The Cions towards the East are best YE shall understand that those Cions which doe grow on the East or Orient part of the Tree are best ye must not lightly gather of the evill and slender graffes which grow in the middest of the Trees nor any graffes which doe grow within on the branches or that doe spring from the stocke of the Tree nor yet graftes which be on very old Trees for thereby ye shall not lightly profit to any purpose To chuse your Tree for Graffes ANd when the Trees whereas you intend to gather your graftes be small and yong as of five or sixe years growth doe not take of the highest grafts thereof nor the greatest except it be of a small Tree of two or three yeares the which commonly hath too much of toppe or wood otherwise not for you shall but marre your graffing How to keepe Graffes a long time YE may keepe graftes a long time good as from Alhallontide so that the leaves be fallen unto the time of graffing if that they be well covered in the earth halfe a foot deep therin and so that none of them doe appeare without the earth How to keepe Graffes before they are budded ALso doe not gather them except ye have great need untill Christmas or there-abouts and put them not in the ground nigh any walles for feare of Moles Mice and water marring the place and graftes It shall be good to keepe graftes in the earth before they begin to bud when that ye will graft betwixt the barke and the Tree and when the Trees begin to enter into their sappe How one ought to begin to Graffe ALso ye must begin to graft in cleaving the stocke at Christmas or before according to the coldnesse of the time and principally the Healme or great Cherry Peares Wardens or forward fruit of Apples and for Medlars it is good to tarry untill the end of Ianuary and February untill March or untill such time as ye shall see Trees begin to bud or spring When it is good Graffing the wild Stockes IN the Spring time it is good Graffing of wild Stockes which be great betwixt the barke and the tree such stocks as are to be of later Spring and kept in the earth before The Damson or Plum tarrieth longest to be grafted for they doe not shew or put forth sappe as soone as the other Marke if the Tree be forward or not ALso consider you alwayes whether the Tree be forward or not or to be grafted soone or lateward and to give him also a graffe of the like hast or slownesse even so ye must marke the time whether it be slow or forward When one will graffe what necessaries he ought to be furnished withall VVHensoever ye goe to graffing see ye be first furnished with grafts clay and mosse clothes or barkes of sallow to bind likewise withall Also ye must have a small Saw and a sharpe knife to cleave and cut Graffes withall But it were much better if ye should cut your grafts with a great Penknife or some other like sharpe knife having also a small wedge of hard wood or of Iron with a hooked knife and also a small Mallet And your wild stockes must be well rooted before ye do graffe them and be not so quick to deceive your selves as those which doe graffe and plant all at one time yet they shall not profit so well for where the wild stock hath not substance in himselfe much lesse to give unto the other grafts for when a man thinkes sometimes to forward himselfe he doth hinder himselfe Of Graffes not prospering the first yeare YE shall understand that very hardly your Graffes shall prosper after if they doe not profit or prosper well in the first yeare for whensoever in the first yeare they profit well it were better to graft them somewhat lower then to let them so remaine and grow For to graffe well and sound ANd for the best understanding of Graffing in the cleft ye shall first cut away all the small Cions about the body of the stocke beneath and before ye begin to cleave your stocke dresse and cut your graffes somewhat thick and ready then cleave your stocke and as the cleft is small or great if need be part it smooth within then cut your incision of your grafts accordingly and set them in the clefts as even and as close as ye can possible How to trim your Graffes ALso ye may graft your Graffes full as long as two or three trunchions or cut Grafts which ye may
before they be set againe for they shall prosper thereby much the better the other sorts of Trees may well passe unbranched if they have not too great or large branches and therefore it shall be good to transplant or set as soone after as the graffes are closed on the head of the wild Stocke as for small Trees which have but one Cion or twig it needs not to cut them above when they be replanted or removed All wild Stockes must be disbranched when they are replanted or set ALL wild ttees or stockes which ye thinke for to graffe on ye must first cut off all their Branches before ye set them againe also it shall he good alwayes to take heed in replanting your Trees that ye doe set them again in as good or better Earth then they were in before and so every Tree according as his nature doth require What Trees love the faire Sunne what Trees the cold Ayre COmmonly the most part of Trees doe love the Sunne at Noone and yet the South Wind or vent d'aval is very contrary against their nature and specially the Almond-tree the Apricocke the Mulberry-tree the Fig-tree and the Pomgranade-tree Certaine other Trees there be which love cold Ayre as these the Chesnut-tree the wild and eager Cherry-tree the Quince-tree and the Damson or Plum-tree the Walnut loveth cold Ayre and a stony white ground Peare-trees love not greatly plaine places they prosper well enough in places closed with walles or high Hedges and specially the Peare called bon Christien Of many sorts and manner of Trees following their nature THe Damson or Plum-tree doth love a cold fat earth and clay withall the Healme great Cherry doth love to be set or planted upon Clay The Pine-tree loveth light earth stony and sandy The Medlar commeth well enough in all kind of grounds and doth not hinder his fruit to be in the shadow and moist places Hasell-nut-trees love the place to be cold leane moist and sandy Ye shall understand that every kind of fruitfull Tree doth love and is more fruitfull in one place then another as according unto their nature Neverthelesse yet we ought to nourish them all that we may in the place where we set them in in taking them from the place and ground they were in And ye must also consider when one doth plant them of the great and largest kind of Trees that every kind of Tree may prosper and grow and it is to be considered also if the Trees have commonly grown afore so large in the ground or not for in good earth the Trees may well prosper and grow having a good space one from another more then if the ground were leane and naught How to place or set Trees at large IN this thing ye shall consider ye must give a competent space from one Tree to another when as ye make the holes to set them in not nigh nor the one tree touch another For a good Tree planted or set well at large it profiteth oftentimes more of fruit then three or foure Trees set too nigh together The most greatest and largest Trees commonly are Walnuts and Chesnuts if ye plant them severally in ranke as they doe commonly grow upon high wayes besides hedges and Fields they must be set xxxv foote asunder one from another or there-abouts but if ye will plant many rankes in one place together ye must set them the space of xiv foot one from another or thereabouts and so farre ye must set your rankes one from another For the Peare-trees and Apple-trees and of other sorts of Trees which may be set of this largenesse one from the other if ye doe plant onely in rankes by hedges in the Fields or otherwise it shall be sufficient of xx foote from another But if ye will set two rankes upon the sides of your great Allies in Gardens which be of tenne or twelve foote broad it shall be then best to give them more space the one from the other in each ranke as about xxv foote also ye must not set your Trees right one against the other but entermedling or betweene every space as they may best grow at large that if need be ye may plant of other smaller Trees betweene but see that ye set them not too thicke If ye list to set or plant all your Trees of one bignesse as of young Trees like rods being Peare-trees or Apple-trees they must be set a good space one from another as of twenty or thirty foote in square as to say from one ranke to another For to plant or set of smaller trees as Plum-trees and Apple-trees of the like bignesse it shall be sufficient for them foureteene or fifteene foote space in quarters But if ye will plant or set two tankes in your Allies in Gardens ye must devise for to proportion it after the largenesse of your said Allies For to plant or set eager or sower Cherry-trees this space shall be sufficient enough the one from the other that is of x. or xii foote and therefore if you make of great or large Allies in your Garden as of x. foote wide or thereabouts they shall come well to passe and shall be sufficient to plant your trees of ix or x. foot space and for the other lesser sorts of trees as of Quince-trees Fig-trees Nut-trees and such like which be not commonly planted but in one ranke together Ordering your Trees VVHen that ye plant or set rankes or every kind of trees together ye shall set or plant the most smallest towards the Sun and the greatest in the shade that they may not annoy or hurt the small nor the small the great Also whensoever ye will plant or set of Peare-trees and Plumtrees in any place the one with another better it were to set the Plum-trees next the Sunne for the Peares will dure better in the shade Also ye must understand when ye set or plant any rankes of trees together ye must have more space betwixt your rankes and trees then when ye set but one ranke that they may have roome sufficient on every side Ye shall also scarcely set or plant Peare-trees or Apple-trees or other great Trees upon dead or mossie Barren ground unstirred for they increase thereon to no purpose But other lesser Trees very well may grow as Plum trees and such like now when all the said things above be considered ye shall make your holes according to the space that shall be required of every Tree that ye shall plant or set and also the place meete for the same so much as ye may convenient ye shall make your holes large enough for ye must suppose the tree ye doe set hath not the halfe of his rootes he shall have hereafter therefore ye must helpe him and give him of good fat earth or dung all about the roots when as ye plant him And if any of the same rootes be too long and brused or hurt ye shall cut them cleane off a slope-wise so that
the tender top of the young Cions as long as ones finger How ye ought to take the said Wormes FOr to take them well ye must take heed and watch in the heate of the day your young Trees and where ye shall see any put your hand softly underneath without shaking the tree for they will suddainly fal when one thinkes to take them therefore so soone as you can that they flye not away nor fall take them quickly on the Cion with your other hand To keepe Ants from young Trees FOr to keepe the yong Trees from Snails and Ants it shall be good to take Ashes and to mingle unsleckt Lime beaten in powder therewith then lay it all about the root of the tree and when it raineth they shall be beaten downe into the Ashes and dye but ye must renew your Ashes after every Raine from time to time also to keepe them moyst ye must put certaine small Vessels full of water at the foote of your said Trees and also the Lees of Wine to be spred on the ground there all abouts For the best destroying of the small Snailes on Trees ye must take good heed in the Spring time before the Trees be leaved then if ye shall see as it were small warts knobs or branches on the Trees the same will be Snailes Provide to take them away faire and softly before they be full closed and take heed that ye hurt not the wood or barke of the said Tree as little as ye can then burne those Branches on the Earth and all to tread them under your feet and then if any doe remaine or renew looke in the heate of the day and if ye can see any which will commonly be on the clefts or forkes of the Branches and also upon the branches lying like tostes or Troopes together then wrap your hands all over with old clothes and bind of leaves beneath them and above them and with your two hands rub them downe therein and straight way fire it if ye doe not quickly with diligence they will fall and if they fall on the Earth ye cannot lightly kill them but they will renew againe these kind of Wormes are noysome Flyes which be very strange therefore take heed that they doe not cast a certaine rednesse on your face and body for where as they be many of them they be dangerous it is strange to tell of these kind of Wormes if ye come under or among the Trees whereas be many they will cast your face and hands your covered body as your necke breast and armes full of small spots some red some blacke some blewish which will so tingle and trouble you like Nettles sometimes for a day or a day and a night after they be most on Plum-trees and Apple-trees nigh unto moist places and ill ayres yet neverthelesse by the grace of God there is no danger that I understand to be taken by them Ye shall understand that if it be in the evening or in the morning when it raineth they will remaine about the graffing place of the Tree therefore it will be hard to find them because they are so small Moreover if such branches doe remaine in the upper part of the boughes all under then with a wispe on a Poles end set fire on all and burne them A Note in Spring time of Fumigations HEre is to be understood and noted that in the Spring time onely when trees doe begin to put forth leaves and Blossomes ye must then alwayes take heed unto them for to defend them from the Frost if there come any with Fumigations or smokes made on the windy side of your Orchards or under your Trees with straw Hay dry Chaffe dry Oxe dung of Saw dust dryed in an Oven of Tanners Oxe dryed likewise of galbanum of old shooes thatch of Houses of haire and such like one of these to be blend with another all these be good against the Frost in the Spring time and specially good against the East wind which breedeth as some say the Caterpiller worme To defend the Caterpiller ANd some doe defend their Trees from the Caterpiller when the blossoming time is dryed if there be no Frost by casting of Water or salt Water every second or third day upon their Trees with Instruments for the same as with Squires of Wood or Brasse or such like for in keeping of them moist the Caterpiller cannot breed thereon this experience have J knowne proved of late to be good For to conclude he that will Set or Plant Trees must not passe for any paines but have a pleasure and delight therein in remembring the great profit that commeth thereby Against scarcenesse of Corne fruit is a good stay for the Poore and often it hath beene seene one Aker of Orchard ground worth foure Akers of Wheat Ground FJNJS HEERE FOLLOWETH A LITTLE TREAtise how one may Graffe Plant and Garden subtile or artificially and to make many things in Gardens very strange FOr to Graffe a subtill way take one oylet or eye of a Graffe slit it round above and beneath and then behind downe right then wreath him of and set him upon another Cion as great as he is then dresse him as is aforesaid and he shall grow and beare To graffe one Vine upon another BUt for to graffe one Vine upon another ye shall cleave him as ye doe other Trees and then put the Vine graffe in the cleft then stop him close and well with Waxe and so bind him and he shall grow YE shall uncover his roote and make a hole with a Piercer or small Auger in the greatest roote he hath without piercing through the roote then put in a pin in the said hole of dry Wood as Oke or Ash and so let it remaine in the said hole and stop it close againe with waxe and then cast earth and cover him againe and he shall beare the same yeare For to have Peaches two Moneths before other TAke your Cions of a Peach-tree that doth soone blossome in the Spring time and graft them upon a franke Mulberry-tree and he shall bring of Peaches two moneths before others To have Damsons or other Plums unto Alhallontide FOr to have Damsons all the Summer long unto Alhallontide and of many other kind of sorts likewise ye shall graft them upon the Gooseberry-tree upon the franke Mulberry-tree and upon the Cherry-tree and they shall indure on the Trees till Alhallontide To make Medlars Cherries and Peaches in eating to tast like spice TO make Medlars Cherries and Peares to tast in the eating pleasant like spice the which may also keepe untill the new come againe ye shall graffe them upon the frank Mulberry-tree as J have afore declared and in the graffing ye shal wet them in Hony and put a little of the Powder of some good spices as the Pouder of Cloves of Cinamon or Ginger To make a Muscadell tast TO make a Muscadell tast take a Gouge or Chezill of Iron and cut your Sap
drive away wormes and the fruit shall be the sweeter The setting of Stones and ordering thereof AS for Almond-trees Peach-trees Cherry-trees Plum-trees or others ye shal thus plant or set them Lay first the stones in water three dayes and foure nights untill they sinke therein then take them betwixt your finger and your thumbe with the small end upward and so set them two fingers deepe in good earth And when ye have so done ye shall rake them all over and so cover them and when they begin to grow or spring keepe them from weeds and they shall prosper the better specially in the first yeare And within two or three yeares after ye shall set or remove them where ye list then if ye doe remove them againe after that ye must proine of all his twigs as ye shall see cause nigh the stocke this ye may doe of all kind of Trees but specially those which have the great Sappe as the Mulberry or Fig-trees or such like To gather Gumme of any Tree IF ye list to have the Gumme of an Almond-tree ye shall sticke a great naile into the Tree a good way and so let him rest and the Gumme of the Tree shall issue thereat thus do men gather Gumme of all sorts of Trees yea the common Gumme that men doe use and occupy To set a whole Apple ALso some say that if ye set a whole Apple foure fingers in the earth all the Pepins or Curnels in the same Apple will grow up together in one whole stocke or Cion and all those Apples shall be much fairer and greater then others but ye must take heed how ye doe set those Apples which doe come in Leape-yeare for in a Leape-yeare as some doe so the Curnels or Pepins are turned contrary for if ye should so set as commonly a man doth ye shall set them contrary Of setting the Almond ALmonds doe come forth and grow commonly well if they be set without the shell or huske in good earth or in rotten Hogs dung Jf ye lay Almonds one day in Vineger then shall they as some say be very good to plant or lay him in milke and water untill he doe sinke it shall be the better to set or any other Nut. Of Pepins watered THe Pepins and Curnels of those Trees which have a thicke or rough barke if ye lay them three dayes in water or else untill they sinke therein they shall be the better then â—et them or sow them as is afore-mentioned and then remove them when they be wel rooted or three or foure years growth and they shall have a thinne barke To Plant or set Vines IF ye Plant or set Vines in the first or second yeare they will bring no fruit but in the third yeare they will beare if they be well kept ye shall cut them in Ianuary and set them soon after they be cut from the Vine and ye shall set two together the one with the old wood and the other without and so let them grow plucking away all weeds from about them and when ye shall remove them in the second and third yeare being well rooted ye shall set them well a foote deepe in good fat earth with good dung as of one foot deepe or thereabouts and keep them cleane from weeds for then they will prosper the better and in Summer when the Grape is knit then ye shall breake off his top or branch at one or two joynts after the Grape and so the Grape shall be the greater and in the Winter when ye cut them ye shall not leave past two or three leaders on each branch on some branch but one leader which must be cut betwixt two joynts and ye shall leave the young Vine to be the leader Also ye shall leave thereof three or foure joynts at all times if a young Cion doe come forth of the old branch or side thereof if ye doe cut him ye shall cut him hard by the old branch and if ye will have him to bring the Grape next yeare ye shall leave two or three joynts thereof for the young Cion alwayes bringeth the Grape ye may at all times so that the Grape be once taken and knit ever as the superfluous Cions doe grow ye may breake them of at a joynt or hard by the old branch and the Grapes will be the greater thus ye may order your Vine all the Summer long without any hurt To Set or Plant the Cherry CHerry-trees and all the trees of stonefruit would be planred or set of Cions in cold grounds and places of good earth and likewise in high or hilly places dry and well in the shade if ye doe remove ye ought to remove them in November and Ianuary if ye shall see your Cherry-tree waxe rotten then shall ye make a hole in the middest of the body two foot above the ground with a big Piercer that the humour may passe forth thereby then afore the Spring shut him up againe with a pinne of the same Tree thus ye may doe unto all other sorts of trees when they begin to rot and is also good for them which beare scant of fruit or none To keepe Cheries good a yeere FOr to keepe Cheries good a yeare ye shal cut off the stalks and then lay them in a well leaded pot fill the said pot therewith then put into them of good thin Honey and fill the said pot therwith then stop it with Clay that no ayre enter in then set them in some faire Seller and put of Sand under and all about it and cover the Pot well withall so let it stand or remaine thus ye may keepe them a yeare as fresh as though they came from the Tree and after this sort ye may keepe Peares or other fruit Against Pismires IF ye have Cherry-trees laded or troubled with Pismires or Ants ye shall rub the body of the Tree and all about the root with the juyce of Purslane mingled halfe with Vineger Some doe use to anoint the Tree beneath all about the body with taro and Birds lime with wooll oyle boyled together and anoint the tree beneath therewith and doe lay the Chalke stones all about the Tree roote some say it is good therefore The Setting of Chesnuts THe Chesnut-tree men doe use to plant like unto the Fig-tree They may be both planted and graffed well they waxe well in fresh and fat earth for in sand they like not If ye will set the Curnels ye shall lay them in water untill they doe sinke and those that doe sinke to the bottome of the water be best to set which ye shall set in the Moneth of November and December foure fingers deepe a foot one from another foâ— when they be in these two Moneths set or planted they shall endure long and beare also good fruit yet some there be that plant or set them first in dung like Beanes which will be sweeter then the other sort but those which be set in these two
Moneths aforesaid shall first beare their fruit men may prove which is bâ—st experience doth teach This is another way to prove aâ—d know which Chesnuts be best to plant or set that is ye shall take a quantity of nuts then lay them in Sand the space of thirty dayes then take and wash them in water faire and cleane and throw them into water againe and those which doe sinke to the bottome are good to plant or set and the other that swimme are naught thus may ye doe with all other Curnels or Nuts To have all stone fruit tast at ye shall thinke good IF ye will have all stone fruit tast as ye shall fansie or thinke good ye shall first lay your stones to soke in such licour or moisture as ye will have the fruit tast of and then set them as for the Date tree as some say he bringeth no fruit except he be a hundred yeare old and the Date-stone must soke one Moneth in the water before he be set then shall ye set him with the small end upward in good fat earth in hote Sandy ground foure fingers deepe and when the boughes doe begin to spring then shall ye every night sprinckle them with raine water or other if ye have none so long till they be come forth and growne Of Graffing the Medler and Misple FOr to graffe the Medler or Misple men doe use to Graffe them on the White Hathorne Tree they will prove well but yet small and sower fruit to graffe one Medlar upon another is the better some men doe graffe first the Wilding Cion upon the Medlar stocke and so when he is well taken and growne then they graffe thereon the Medlar againe the which doth make them more sweet very great and faire Of the Fig-tree THe Fig-tree in some Country beareth his fruit foure times a Yeare the Blacke Figges are the best being dryed in the Sunne and then layed in a Vessell in beddes one by another and then sprinckled or strawed all over every lay with fine Meale then stop it up and so it is sent out of that Land If the Fig-tree will not beare ye shall digge him all about and under the roots in February and take out then all his earth and put unto him the dung of a Privie for that he liketh best ye may mingle with it of other fat earth as Pigeons dung mingled with Oyle and Pepper stampt which shall forward him much to noint his rootes therewith ye shall not plant the Figge-tree in cold times he loveth hote stony or gravelly ground and to be planted in Autumne is best Of the Mulberry-tree IF ye will plant the Mulberry-tree the Fig-tree or others which bring no seed ye shall cut a twig or branch from the tree roote of a yeares growth with the old wood or barke about a cubit long which ye shall plant or set all in the earth save a shaftment long to it and so let it grow watering it as ye shall see need This must be done before the leaves begin to Spring but take heed that ye cut not the end or top above for then it shall wither and dry Of Trees that beare bitter fruit OF all such trees as beare bitter fruit to make them bring sweeter ye shall uncover all the rootes in Ianuary and take out all that earth then put unto them of Hogs dung great plenty and then after put unto them of other good earth and so cover them therewithall well againe and their fruit shall have a sweeter tast Thus men may doe with other trees which bring bitter fruit To helpe barren Trees HEre is another way to helpe barren Trees that they may bring fruit if you see your Tree not beare scantly in three or foure years good plenty ye shall bore an hole with an Auger or Piercer in the greatest place of the body within a yard of the ground but not through but unto or past the heart ye shall bore him a slope then take honey and water mingled together a night before then put the said Hony and water into the hole and fill it therewith then stop it close with a short pinne made of the same Tree not stricken in too farre for piercing the licour An other way IN the beginning of Winter ye shall dig those Trees round about the rootes and let them so rest a day and a night and then put unto them of good earth mingled well with good store of watred Otes or with watred Barley or Wheat laid next unto the rootes then fill it with other good earth and he shall beare fruit even as the boring of a hole in the maister roote and striking in a pinne and so fill him againe shall helpe him to beare as before is declared To keepe your Fruit. ALL fruit may be the better kept if ye lay them in dry places in dry straw or Hay but Hay ripeth too sore or in a Barley-mow not touching one the other or in Chaffe or in vessels of Iuniper or Cipers wood ye may so keepe them well in dry Salt or Hony and upon boardes whereas fire is nigh all the Winter also hanging nigh fire in the Winter in Nets of yarne The Mulberry-tree THe Mulberry-tree is planted or set by the Fig-tree his fruit is first sower and then sweet he liketh neither Dew nor Raine for they hurt him he is wel pleased with foule eâ—rth and dung His branches will waxe dry within every sixe yeares then must ye cut them off as for other Trees they ought to be proined every yeare as ye shall see cause and they will be the better and to plant them from the midst of February to the midst of March is best Of Mosse of the Tree OF the Mosse on your Trees ye must not let it too long be unclensed ye must rub it off with a grate of wood or a rough Haire or such like in Winter when they be moist To have the Peach without stones FOr to make the Peach grow without stones ye shall take a Peach-tree newly planted then set a Willow hard by which ye shall bore a hole through then put the Peach-tree through the said hole and so close him on both sides thereof Sappe to Sappe and let him so grow one yeare then the next yeare ye shall cut off the Peach stocke and let the Willow feed him and cut off the upper part of the Willow also three fingers high and the next Winter saw him off nigh the Peach so that the Willow shall feed but the Peach onely and this way ye may have Peaches without stones Another way for the same YE shall take the Graffes of Peaches and Graffe them upon the Willow stocke and so shall your Peaches be likewise without stones If Trees doe not prosper IF ye see that your Trees doe not waxe nor prosper take and open the rootes in the beginning of Ianuary or afore and in the biggest roote thereof make an hole with an Auger to the
set them in your Hills and plant them as the other before mentioned The Setting your Poles THe best time is in Aprill or when your rootes be sprung hâ—lâ—â— a yard long or more then by every Plant or Hop in your hills ye shall set up a Pole of xiii or xiiii foot long or thereabouts as cause shall require Some doe use to set but foure Poles in every Hill which is thought sufficient and when ye shall set them see that ye set them so fast that great Winds doe not cast them downe How to proyne the Hop-tree YE shall marke when the Hop doth blossome and knit in the top which shall be perceived to be the Hop then take and cut up all the rest growing thereabouts not having Hop thereon hatd by the earth that all those which carry the Hop might be the better nourished thus shall ye doe in Summer as ye shall see them encrease and grow untill the time of gathering To gather the Hoppe AT such time afore Michaelmasse as ye shall see your hop waxe browne or somewhat yellow then he is best to be gathered in a dry day in cutting your hop by the ground then pluck up your Pole therewith for shaking of your hop so cary them into some dry house and when ye have so pluckt them ye shall lay them on boarded lofts or on hurdels of cloathes that the wind may dry them and the ayre but not in the Sun for the same will take away the strength thereof nor with fire for that will doe likewise and ye shall daily tosse and turn them till they be dry to try them when they are dry hold them in your hand a space and if they cleave together when ye open your hand they are not then dry but if they shatter a sunder in opening your hand then ye may be sure they are dry enough It not let them remaine and use ye them as is before said Ye shall understand the drynesse of them is to preserve them and long to last but if need be ye may occupy them well undâ—yed with lesse portion to sow What Poles are best YE shall prepare your Poles of such Wood as is light and stiffe and which will not bow with every Wind the best and meetest time to get them is in Winter when the Sap is gone downe and as soone as ye have taken of your Hop lay your Poles in sundry places untill the next Spring whereby they may endure the longer How to order and dresse your Hills AFter the first yeare is past your Hop being increased to more plenty of rootes in your Hills ye shall after Michaelmasse every yeare open your Hills and cast downe the tops unto the roots uncovering them and cut away all the superfluous rootes some doth plucke away all the rootes that spreades abroad without the Hills then opens the Hills and puts of good new earth unto them and so covers them again which shall keepe them from the Frost and also make the ground fat so shall ye let them remaine unto the Spring of the yeare in February or March then againe if ye shall see any superfluous rootes ye may take them away and cut them up and your Hop shall be the better then againe cast up the earth about your Hills and cleansing them from all weeds and other rootes which will take away their strength if the hearbes remaine so let them rest till your Poles may be set therein Of ground best for your Hoppe THe Hop delighteth and loveth a good and reasonable fat ground not very cold nor yet too moist for J have seene them prove well in Flanders in dry Sandy fields the Hop-hills being of good fat earth ye may as some say for great need make your Hop grow and beare on any kind of Rockie ground so that your Hills be great and fat earth but the lower ground commonly proveth best so that it stand well and hot in the Sunne A Note of the rest above-said YE shall marke and understand all this order above said is to have many Hops and good with a few rootes and Plants placed in a small plot of ground Ye shall understand that wild Hoppe that groweth in the hedges is as good to occupie as the other to set or plant in any other places but look that ye take not the barren Hoppe to plant some Hoppe will be barren for want of good earth and lacke of good dressing which ye shall perceive as I have told you in the Summer before that when they should beare they will be barren which is for want of good fat earth or an vâ—kind yeare or lacke of weeding and good ordering Therefore such as are minded to bestow labour on the ground may have as good Hoppe growing in this country as is in other countries but if ye will not goe to that cost to make Hoppe yards ye may with a light charge have hops grow in your hedge-rowes to serve as well as the other and shall be as good for the quantity as the other in all respects ye may for lacke of ground plant Hoppe rootes in Hedge-rowes when ye doe quicke set set up Poles by them when time shall require in the Spring and to bestow every winter after the gathering your Hoppe on every hill head a shovell full of dung to comfort the earth for then will they beare the more plenty of Hoppes the next yeare following To conclude you that have Grounds may well practise in all things afore-menâ—ioâ—ed and specially to have Hops in this ordering for your selves and others also ye shall give encouragement for others to follow hereafter J have heard by credible persons which have knowne a hundred Hills which is a small plot of Ground to beare three hundred pound of Hoppes so that the commodity is much and the gaines great and one pound of our Hops dryed and ordereâ— will goe as farre as two pound of the best Hops that commeth from beyond the Seas Thus much I thought meet and necessary to write of the ordering and planting of the Hoppe How to packe your Hoppes VVHen your Hops be well tossed and turned on borded flowres and well dryed as I afore have shewed ye shall put them into great Sackes according to the quantity of your Hoppes and let them be troden downe hard together which will keepe their strength longer and so ye may reserve them and take at your pleasure Some doe use which have but small store to tread them into dry Fattes and so serve them for their use which is counted the better way and the lesse portion doth serve and will longer keeâ—pe their vertue and strength Wishing long life and prosperous Health To all furtherers of this Common-wealth FJNJS A PERFECT PLATFORME OF A HOPPE-GARDEN And necessary Instructions for the making and maintenance thereof with Notes and Rules for reformation of all abuses commonly practised therein very necessary and expedient for all men to have which in any wise have
stalkes of Hops upon each couple of the said sixe Poles so shall the same sixe Poles being so bound by two and two together stand like the roofe or rafters of an house To keepe the Poles that shall lye nethermost from rotting by the moystnesse of the ground within the compasse of your said sixe hills underneath the Poles that you have fastened together in the tops raise three little bankes crosse or thwart from hill to hill as though you would make your sixe hills to be but three Vpon those bankes lay a few Hopstalkes and upon them your Poles observing that one stand at one end of the roome and another at the other end ordering the matter so as the tops of the Poles lye not all one way but may be equally and orderly devided otherwise one end of the roome would be full before the other whereas now they shall lye even and sharpe above like an Haystacke or the ridge of an house and sufficiently defend themselves from the weather If you thinke that you have not Poles enough to fill the roome pull downe the Wit hs or bands lower and your roome will be lesse and this doe before you lay in your Poles Of tying of Hoppes to the Poles VVHen your Hops are growne about one or two foote high bind up with a Rush or a Grasse such as decline from the Poles winding them as often about the same Poles as you can and directing them alwayes according to the course of the Sunne but if your leisure may serue to doe it at any other time of the day doe it not in the morning when the dew remaineth upon them If you lay soft greene Rushes abroad in the dew and the Sunne within two or three dayes they will be lythie tough and handsome for this purpose of tying which may not be fore-stowed for it is most certaine that the Hop that lyeth long upon the ground before he be tyed to the Pole prospereth nothing so well as it which sooner attaineth thereunto Of Hilling and Hills NOw you must begin to make your Hills and for the better doing thereof you must prepare a toole of Iron fashioned somewhat like to a Coopers Addes but not so much bowing neither so narrow at the head and therefore likest to the nether part of a shovell the powle whereof must be made with a round hole to receive a helve like to the helve of a Mattock and in the powle also a naile hole must be made to fasten it to the helve This helve should bow somewhat like to a Sithe or to the steale of a Sithe and it must be little more then a yard long Some thinke it impertinent and not necessary to make hills the first yeare partly because their distrust of this yeares profite quallifieth their diligence in this behalfe and partly for that they thinke that the principall roote prospereth best when there be no new rootes of them forced and maintained But experience confuteth both these conjectures for by industry the first yeares profit will be great and thereby also the principall sets much amended as their prosperity in the second yeare will plainely declare But in this worke you must be both painefull and curious as wherein consisteth the hope of your gaines and the successe of your worke For the greater in quantity you make your hills the more in number you shall have of your Hops and the fewer weeds you shall have on your ground the more Hops you shall have upon your Poles In consideration whereof I say your labour must be continuall from this time almost till the time of gathering in raising your hills and clearing ground from weeds In the first yeare that you plant your Hop garden suppresse not one science but suffer them all to clime up to the Poles for if you should bury or cover all the springs of any one of your three rootes which you did lately set the roote thereof perisheth and perhaps out of some one roote there will not proceed above one or two springs which being buried that roote I say dyeth and therefore the more poles are at this time requisite After the first yeare you must not suffer above two or three stalkes at the most to grow up to one Pole but put downe and bury all the rest Howbeit you may let them all grow till they be foure or five foot high at the least whereby you shall make the better choice of them which you meane to attaine whereby also the principall roote will be the better c. Some suffer their Hops to clime up to the tops of the Poles and then make the hills at one instant in such quantity as they meane to leave them which is neither the best nor the second way But if for expedition you be driven hereunto begin sooner that is to say when the Hops be foure or five foot long and afterwards if leisure shall serve refresh them againe with more earth But to make them well and as they ought to be made you must immediately after your poles are set make a little banke or circle round about the outside of them as a mention how wide your hill shall be and as a receptacle to retaine and keepe moisture whereof there cannot lightly come too much so it come from above Jf your Garden be great by that time that you have made an end of these circles or bankes it will be time to proceed further towards the building up of your hills Now therefore returne againe to the place where you began or else where you see the Hops highest and with your toole pare off the uppermost earth from the Allies or spaces betweene the hills and lay the same in your Hops upon and within the circle that you made before alwayes leaving the same highest of any part of the hill and so passe through your Garden againe and againe till you have raised your hills by little and little to so great a quantity as is before declared and looke how high your hill is so long are your new rootes and the greater your new rootes or springs be the more larger and better your Hops will be Great and overgrowne weeds should not be laid upon the hills as to raise them to their due quantity but when with diligence and expedition you passe through your Garden continually paring away each greene thing assoone as it appeareth you shall doe well with the same and the uppermost mould of your Garden together to maintaine and encrease the substance of your hills even till they be almost a yard high In the first yeare nake not your hill too rath least in the doing thereof you oppresse some of those springs which would otherwise have appeared out of the ground It shall not be amisse now and then to passe through your Garden having in each hand a forked wand directing aright such Hops as decline from the poles but some in stead of the said forked wands use to stand upon a stoole and
better to turn them in October for then the frost hurteth them not so much as at other times for learned men say that in dry townes and warm countries they plant in October or November and that in moist townes and cold vallies they plant in February or March in none other time may you plant or graffe When you will plant or set againe wild stumps if there be any thing broken at the root cut it off Euery plant must be set two foot one from another or at the least one foot especially when they should beare strong fruits likewise when thou wilt set strong seeds as nuts almonds and peaches When a man will plant two stumps so must they be of two yeare old except the uine These things you must understand of those plants or stumps which are planted with roots How the stumps and plants must be prepared and dressed which you will plant THe plant or sprout you must cut round about so that you leave the very end of it and put it then into an hole but if the stump be great cut it clean off and then put only the undermost part into a hole long or short as you will but if you find two stumps growne together you may cut the lesser away And above all things you must take heed that the sprout grow upright and if it will not you must constraine it and tie it to a sticke Here follow certaine instructions how the trees must be kept and how you must labour them SOme trees will have a fat ground as Figge trees and Mulberrie trees and some leane ground but all trees be in that point equall that they will have in the top dry ground and in the bottome moist earth 2 In harvest you must uncover the roots of the trees so deep that they may partly be seene and lay dung upon them which dung must be dissolved of raine in the ground that it may come to the roots which mucking giveth good increase to the roots 3 If the ground wherein the trees stand bee too sandy then mixe among it faire and new lome and if it be too lomy then mixe amongst it sand in place of mucke the which you must not only doe hard by the tree but also foure or fiue foot off from it round about the tree according as the tree is in bignes or that the roots are large and great Such diligence giueth to the trees great help for their nourishment and strength is thereby renewed Hereafter you shall understand whereby to know the fruitfull soile 4 In the fat ground the stumps whereupon you wil graf must be left long but in lean ground short 5 The plants of trees from their youth till three yeres must not be cut nor shred but they may bee transported and if they be too weak you may pricke sticks next unto them 6 Diligent regard must be taken that no sprouts spring out of the stump which might take the nourishment from the tree sprouts and those boughes which spring from the root of the tree at the first planting 7 When thou perceiuest the yong trees to waxe weake then uncover the roots and put other fresh ground to them 8 If the ground be neither too soft nor too hard then may you chuse all kind of stumps in February for to plant when the green juice is dispersed in the bark but when the ground is too hard then the swet holes or pores of the root doe remaine closed and stopped so that they cannot draw to them their nourishment such hardnes of the ground or earth hindereth the aire and moistnes which commeth from beneath upward for it cannot be pearsed of the sofr sprouts with the small heat which is beneath therfore you must come to help them with a spade for with a plough you will neuer come to an end because of the root 9 There is great diligence to bee taken for preseruing of the trees when they begin to grow great to scrape from the barke all rudenesse which is don when you take from them all superfluitie sprouts which come out of the tree You may cut them in February 10 It is good for the trees to mucke them often and moderatively to water their roots Also to cleaue the roots and lay stones into them to the end they may revive againe of the drinesse which they have suffered or of the barrennes of the ground or when the young planted trees for the great heat will perish Also when immoderate heat is then you must help them with turning of the ground and with watering but the water wherewith you should water them must not be altogether fresh nor cold or newly drawne out of the spring but out of a ditch pond or well or any other foule ditch water or with spring water which hath stood long in the sunne or put a little dung in the water and stirre it once or twice well about and the water wil be fat wherwith water your trees You may also keep them with shadowes and straw from the heat or else put in great heat fat green herbs at the stump tempred with loame some anoint the stumpe toward the South or Mid-day with chalke some with oile or with any other ointment that cooleth 11 When you would transpose a plant or have wilde stumps digged out to plant again then mark the part which standeth towards the South of mid-day and put it so againe when you graffe it How to keep plants stumps or trees from the wilde beasts that they hurt them not WHere the path of the beast is free and remedilesse there must be put poles and with thornes the same yong trees must be inclosed That the Deeres spoile them not TAke the pisse of a Deere and anoint the Tree therewith That the Hares do not hurt them SPet in thy hand and anoint the sprouts therewith and no Hare will hurt them Here follow some instructions of graffing FIrst you must know that imping graffing and setting is all one thing The imping sprous must be young and new with great bodies and many eies for where many and great buds be that is a token that is of a strong fruit 2 The imping sprouts must be broken off at the sun rising although that those of the other side broken off grow likewise yet those of the other side are most naturall and temperate of heat Some country clownes beleeve that if you in cutting the sprouts turn them upside downe that they will never grow right but be crooked 3 All graffing and imping is don by putting one into another by a fast binding that the little sprout may spread his boughs to the stump or tree wherein it is graffed that so it may become one tree 4 Ouer yong imps which are so weake that they will breake before they be put into the earth or into the stump are naught and therefore they may not be imped or set 5 When you impe upon a house or fruit tree the fruit will
are to bee graffed that they may come without stones WIll you make that Cherries grow without stones pare a little Cherry tree of one yere old at the stump and cleave it asunder from the top to the root which do in May and make an Iron fit to â—raw the heart or marow from both sides of the tree then tie it fast â—â—â—â—ther and anoint 〈…〉 H◠〈…〉 PLant a Vâ—â—e tree next unto a Ch◠〈…〉 when it groweth â—igh then pierce a◠〈…〉 Cherry tree right above it that the ho◠〈…〉 than the Vine is thick and pare the upâ—â—â— barâ— of the Vine branch till unto the greene 〈…〉 must go through the tree looke well to it tha◠〈◊〉 branch of the Vine bee not bruised and well anointed You must not suffer any sprouts to come out oâ— the vine from the ground up but unto the tree only that which commeth out of the other side let that same grow and bring fruit Then the next March following if the Vine prosper and grow fast into the tree then cut the Vine from the tree off and anoint the place with diligence and it will bring fruit How a grape of a Vine may be brought into a glasse WIll you make that a grape grow into a narrow glasse take the glasse before the grape cast her bloud or while she is little and put her into the glasse and she will ripen in the glasse To graffe Medlers on a Peare tree IF you graffe a branch of a Medler upon a Peare tree the Medlers will be sweet and durable so that you may keep them longer than otherwise How apples or other fruits may be made red IF you will graft upon a wild stump put the sprouts in Pikes bloud and then graft them and the fruit will be red Otherwise Take an apple branch and graft it upon an alder stump and the apples will be red Likewise if you graft them upon cherry trees Of the Quince tree THe Quince tree commeth not of any grafting but you must plucke him out by the roots and plant him againe into a good ground or earth Otherwise The Quince tree requireth a dry sweet ground and he prospereth therein How to make that Quinces become great TAke a branch of a Quince tree when it hath cast his bloud where a Quince groweth at and put it into a pot and set it into the ground and let the Quince grow in it and it will be very great And if you will shew some cunning therewith cause to bee made a pot which hath a mans face in the bottome of it or any other picture whatsoever and when the quinces have blossomed then bow the branch and put the quince into the pot and she wil grow very bigge in the shape of a man which may also be done in pompons mellons cucumbers and other earthly fruits The conclusion of graffing OVt of all the forewritten causes gentle reader is evidently shewne that although every planting or grafting be better from like to like and from kinde to kind yet neverthelesse it agreeth also with contrary kinds as now is said wherefore he that will exercise and use the same and try divers kindes he may see and make many wonders What â—oy and fruit commeth of trees The first THe first is that you plant divers many kinds for every housholder who hath care to his nourishment with all diligence causeth oftentimes such trees to be brought from forrein countries The second The second is when the trees bee planted and set orderly and pleasantly they give no small pleasure to a man therefore every one should cut his trees orderly and he that cannot should procure other men to do it which know how to do it The third is of well smelling and spited fruit Cleave a tree asunder or a branch of a fruitfull tree to the heart or pith and cut a piece out of it and put therein poudred spices or what spice soever you will or what colour you will desire and tie a barke hard about it and anoint it with lome and oxe dung and the fruit will get both the sauour and colour according to the spice you have put in it How sower fruits be made sweet WHich tree beareth sower fruits in the same pierce a hole a foot or somwhat lesse above the root and fill that with honey and stop the hole with a haw-thorne branch and the fruit will bee sweet How trees ought to be kept when they wax old WHen trees lose their strength and vertue for age the branches break off for the weight of the fruit or when they wax barren for lack of moisture that they beare not fruit every yeare but scant every other or third yeare you must cut some of his heavy branches which he can little nourish which is done to the end hee might keep some moistnesse to himselfe for his nourishment for else the moistnesse would go all into his branches Wheteby you may mark whether you must give them or take away from them branches according to their nourishment and as the earth where shee standeth can abide that is you must leave them so much as will nourish them and no more which if you doe not the trees will bring so little fruit that your labour will not be recompensed Which cutting of trees may be done from the beginning of November till to the end of March in warme countries But it is more naturall to be done from the time that the leaves fall till the time that they begin to grow greene againe except where the frost is very great and sharp How trees must be kept from divers sicknesses and first how to keep them from the Canker WHen the Canker commeth in any tree he becommeth barren and dry for it mounteth from the stumps into the top and when it taketh a peare or apple tree the bark will be black and barren thereabouts which must be cut off with a knife to the fresh wood and then the place must be anointed with Oxe dung and tied with barke so that neither wind nor rain may hurt it Against worms which must be driven out of the tree IT happeneth oftentimes that thâ— superfluities of moistnesse in the trees breaketh out like as sometimes to a man or beast betweene the flesh and skinâ— and when that beginneth to rot wormes grow out of it which takes his strength away wherfore mark When the barke of a tree at any time swels cut it presently open that the poison may runne out and if you find already wormes in it draw them out with a little yron hooke How the wormes are to be killed if they bee already growne into the tree IF you will kill the worms which grow in the tree take pepper lawrell and incense and mingle all well together with good wine and pierce a hole into the tree downeward to the pith or heart of the tree and poure this mixture into it and stop it with a hawthorne and the wormes will