better filled and the larger grown Likewise Florentinus sheweth how to make Pease of a bigger growth If saith he you take Pease and steep them in warm water the day before you sow them they will grow the greater Some men take more pains then needeth who because they would have a greater Pease growing they steep them shells and all and put Nitre into the water wherein they are steeped and sow them in their shells Vitches may be made bigger if they be set with a little pole to grow up thereby for this will cause them to thicken as Theophrastus saith So also Onions may be thickned as Sotion sheweth About some twenty days before you translate them from the place where they first grew you must dig away the earth about them and let them lie a drying that all moisture may be kept from them and then plant them again and they will grow much bigger But if withal you pill of the top-skin and so plant them they will be far greater Likewise we may cause Artichocks to bear a fuller fruit as Varro sheweth If you plant them in a well-soiled place and cover them with old dung and water them often in the summer-time you shall by this means have a fuller and a more tender Artichock We may also practise another Device whereby to make greater fruit which Theophrastus hath set down and he brings an Example how to make Pomegranates to grow greater then ordinary for Art may cause the greatness of Fruit. When the first buds be formed upon the boughs they must be put into an earthen vessel that is made with a hole quite thorow and the bough whereon they grow must be swayed downward without hurting it then cover the pot with earth and so you shall have exceeding great Pomegranates The reason whereof is this The pot preserves the fruit from the vapours that would otherwise annoy it and besides the earth ministreth some moisture unto it so that the bigness thereof is increased by the store of nourishment It receives no more help from the tree then if it were out of the earth and therefore the kernels are no greater then ordinary but the pill is much thicker the proper juice of it is somewhat wasted and consumed for which cause the taste of this fruit so handled is waterish and worse then others but the rine receives outward nourishment and spends none for which cause that is much thicker The like practise Palladius and Martial use thereby to procure A great Citron They take a Citron when it is young and shut it up fast in an earthen vessel for the Citron will increase continually till it come to be of the bigness and fashion of the vessel wherein it is put but there must be a hole made thorow the vessel whereby the air may get in unto it By the like device Theophrastus assays to produce Cucumbers and Gourds greater then ordinary by hiding them while they are young both from Sun and from Winde that nothing may come at them to hinder their growth Like to this Device is the setting of them in Fennel-stalks or in earthen Pipes whereby the natural Juyce and Nourishment is kept in to the increasing of their growth We will also shew out of Theophrastus a like Device whereby the Herb Alisander or Parsley may be made greater You must dig the Alisander round about the root and cover it with Cachryl and then heap earth upon it For the roots spend all the moisture themselves and suffer no nourishment to ascend into the buds This Cachryl is hot and thick and as by the thickness it draws nourishment to it so by vertue of the heat it doth concoct and digest that which it hath attracted and therefore seeing this doth both draw more nourishment to the Alisander and also concoct it there must needs be a greater augmentation of that herb This practice he borrowed of Aristotle This herb may also be made bigger by another means namely if when you plant it you make a hole for it in the ground with a great stake for the root will at length fill up the hole So there is a means to make A Radish-root grow bigger if it be planted in a cold ground as Pliny sheweth For Radishes are much cherished and delighted with cold as in some cold places of Germany there be Radishes growing as big as a little childe Some have reported that if you drive a stake into the ground six inches deep and put chaff into the pit which the stake hath made and then put in the Radish-seed covering it over with earth and muck the Radish will grow up to the bigness of the pit By a Device not much unlike to this Florentinus sheweth how to Make great Lettise You must remove them and water them well and when they are grown half a handful high you must dig round about them that the roots may be seen then wrap them in Ox-dung and cover them over again and water them still and when they are waxen bigger cut the leaves cross with a sharp knife and lay upon them a little barrel or tub that never was pitcâ—ed for Pitch will hurt the herb that so it may grow not in height but onely spread forth in breadth So the herb Beet may be made greater as Sotion sheweth To make Beet grow in bigness saith he thou must cover the roots over with some fresh Ox-dung and divide the leaves or buds and lay a broad stone or a tyle upon it to cause it to spread forth in bredth You may also make Leeks greater by removing them and laying a great stone or a broad tyle upon them but in no case must they be watered By the very same Device Anatolius sheweth how to make Garlick greater by laying tyles upon the roots thereof as upon Leeks Theophrastus sheweth another kinde of Device whereby to make Radishes greater and he saith that the Gardeners of his time were wont to practise it They took away the leaves in the Winter-time when they flourish most and cast the Radishes into the ground covering them over with earth and so they lasted and grew till Summer came again never shooting forth either into buds or leaves except it were where the earth was gone that they lay uncovered The like Experiment doth Palladius teach concerning the Rape-root whereby to make Rape-roots greater Assoon as you have plucked them up you must strip off all the leaves and cut off the stalk about half an inch above the root then make certain furrows for them in the ground for every one of them a several furrow and there bury them asunder about eight inches deep and when you have cast earth upon them tread it in and by that means you shall have great Rape-roots By the like means Theophrastus thinks we may procure The herb Wake-robbin to grow greater When it is most full of leaves and when the leaves be at the broadest we must bow them downward winding them round about the root
not out of the low and hollow parts but out of the highest And there are four seeds required because so many will easily and fitly close together A matter which if it were true it might be a very ready means which would produce exceeding many and wonderful experiments By such a means Berries that are party-coloured may be produced If you take a great many berries white and black and red one amongst another and sow them in the earth together and when they are shot up bind all their stalks into one they will grow together and yeeld party coloured berries Pliny writes that this way was devised from the birds Nature saith he hath taught how to graffe with a seed for hungry birds have devoured seeds and having moistened and warmed them in their bellies a little after have dunged in the forky twistes of Trees and together with their dung excluded the seed whole which erst they had swallowed and sometimes it brings forth there where they dung it and sometimes the wind carries it away into some chinks of the barks of Trees and there it brings forth This is the reason why many times we see a Cherry-tree growing in a Wilow a Plane-tree in a Bay-tree and a Bay in a Cherry-tree and withal that the berries of them have been party-coloured They write also that the Jack-daw hiding certain seeds in some secret chinks or holes did give occasion of this Invention By this self-same means we may produce A Fig that is partly white and partly red Leontius attempts the doing of this by taking the kernels or stones that are in a Fig somewhat inclinable to this variety and wrapping them up together in a linnen cloth and then sowing them and when need requires removing them into another place If we would have An Orenge or Citron-tree bear divers Apples of divers relishes Pontanus our Country-man in his work of Gardening hath elegantly taught us how to do it We must take sundry seeds of them and put them into a pitcher and there let them grow up and when they come forth bind the sprigs together and by this means they will grow up into one stock and shrowd themselves all under one bark but you must take heed that the wind come not at them to blow them asunder but cover them over with some wax that they may stick fast together and let them be well plaistered with morter about the bark and so shall you gather from them in time very strange Apples of sundry relishes Likewise we may procure A Damosin and an Orenge or Limon to be mixt together In our books of Husbandry we shewed at large by many reasons alledged to and fro that sundry seeds could not possibly grow into one but all that is written in favour of this practice is utterly false and altogether unpossible But this experiment we our selves have proved whereby divers kinds of Damosins are mixt together While the Damosin-trees were very tender and dainty we fastened two of them together which were planted neer to each other as Sailers plat and tie their Cables but first we pared off the bark to the inmost skin in that place where they should touch together that so one living thing might the more easily grow to the other then we bound them up gently with thin lists made of the inner bark of Elm or such like stuff that is soft and pliable for such a purpose lest they should be parted and grow asunder and if any part of them were so limber that it would not stick fast we wedged it in with splents yet not too hard for fear of spoiling it Then we rid away the earth from the upper roots and covered them with muck and watered them often that by this cherishing and tilling on they might grow up the better and thus after a few years that they were grown together into one tree we cut off the tops of them about that place where they most seemed to be knit together and about those tops there sprung up many buds whereof those which we perceived had grown out of both Trees we suffered to grow still and the rest we cut away and by this means we produced such kind of fruit as we speak of very goodly and much commended And concerning Limons I have seen some in the Noble-mens Gardens of Naples which partly by continual watering at seasonable times and partly by reason of the tendernesse and the ranknesse of the boughs did so cling and grow together that they became one tree and this one Tree brought forth fruit compounded of either kind We may also effect this featly by earthen vessels for the plants that are set therein we may very conveniently cherish up with continual watering and perform other services towards them which are necessary for their growth And as it may be done by Limons so we have seen the same experiment practised upon Mulberry-trees which growing in moist and shadowed places as soon as their boughs closed one with another presently they grew into one and brought forth berries of sundry colours If we would procure that A Lettice should grow having in it Parsley and Rotchet and Basil-gentle or any such like commixtion we must take the dung of a Sheep or a Goat and though it be but a small substance yet you must make a shift to bore the Truttle through the middle and as well as you can get out the inmost pith and in stead thereof put into it those seeds which you desire to have mingled together packing them in as hard as the Truttle will bear it and when you have so done lay it in the ground about two handful deep with dung and hollow geer both under it and round about it then cover it with a little thin earth and water it a little and a little and when the seeds also are sprung forth you must still apply them with water and dung and after they are grown up into a stalk you must be more diligent about them and by this means at length there will arise a Lettice mixed and compounded with all those seeds Palladius prescribes the same more precisely If you take saith he a Truttle of Goats dung and bore it through and make it hollow cunningly with a bodkin and then fill it up with the seed of Lettice Cresses Basil Rotchet and Radish and when you have so done lap them up in more of the same dung and bury them in a little trench of such ground as is fruitful and well manured for such a purpose the Radish will grow downward into a Root the other seeds will grow upward into a stalk and the Lettice will contain them all yeelding the several relish of every one of them Others effect this experiment on this manner They pluck off the Lettice leaves that grow next to the root and make holes in the thickest substance and veins thereof one hole being a reasonable distance from the other wherein they put the forenamed seeds all but
the Radish seed and cover them about with dung and then lay them under the ground whereby the Lettice grows up garded with the stalks of so many herbs as there were seeds put into the leaves If you would procure Party-coloured flowers to grow you may effect it by the same ground and principle You must take the seeds of divers kinds of flowers and when you have bound them up in a Linen cloth set them in the ground and by the commixtion of those seeds together you shall have flowers that are party-coloured By this means it is thought that Daisies of divers kinds were first brought forth such as are to be seen with golden leaves reddish about the edge nay some of them are so meddled with divers colours that they resemble little shreds of silk patcht together CHAP. VI. How a double fruit may be made whereof the one is contained within the other THere is also another way of Composition whereby fruits may be so meddled together not as we shewed before that one part of it should be of one fruit and the other part of another kinde nor yet that one and the same bough shall at once bear two or three several kinds of fruits but that one and the same fruit shall be double containing in it self two several kinds as if they were but one whereof I my self have first made trial But let us see how the Ancients have effected this and first How to make an Olive-grape Diophanes sheweth that the Olive being engraffed into the Vine brings forth a fruit called Elaeo-staphylon that is to say an Olive-grape But Florentinus in the eleventh book of his Georgicks hath shewed the manner how to engraffe the Olive into a Vine that so it shall bring forth not only bunches or clusters of grapes but an Olive fruit also We must bore a hole through the Vine neer to the ground and put into it the branch of an Olive-tree that so it may draw and receive both from the Vine sweetnesse and also from the ground natural juice and moisture whereby it may be nourished for so will the fruit taste pleasantly And moreover if while the Vine hath not yet born fruit you take the fruitful sprigs thereof and plant them elsewhere these sprigs will retain the mixture and composition of the Vine and the Olive-tree together and bring forth one fruit that shall have in it both kinds which therefore is called by a name compounded of both their names Eleo-staphylus an Olive-grape He reports that he saw such a tree in the Orchard of Marius Maximus and tasting the fruit thereof he thought with himself that he felt the relish of an Olive-berrie and a grape kernel both together He writes also that such plants grow in Africa and are there called by a proper name in their Country language Ubolima But we must set props under them to bear up the weight and burden of the boughs though if we engraffe them any other way but this we shall need no polls at all I suppose also that by this self-same means it may be effected That a Grape should have Myrtle in it Tarentinus writes that the Vine may be engraffed into the Myrtle-tree and the Vine-branches thereon engraffed will bring forth grapes that have Myrtle-berries growing underneath them But the manner of this engraffing he hath not set down If you engraffe the Vine-branches in the higher boughs or arms of the Mrytle then they will bring forth grapes after their ordinary manner not having any Myrtle in them but if you engraffe them as she shewed before neer to the ground as the Olive-tree must be into the Vine then you may produce Myrtle-grapes though not without some difficulty We may likewise produce Damosins that shall be of the colour of Nuts for such kind of fruit were produced by the Ancients and called Nucipruna that is Nut-Damosins as Pliny reporteth It is a peculiar property of these fruits that are engraffed into Nut-trees that they are in colour like to their own kinde but in taste like unto Nuts being therefore called by a mixt name Nuci-pruna So there may be produced as the same Pliny writes Damosins that have sweet Almonds within them There is saith he in this kind of fruit an Almond-kernel neither can there be any prettier double fruit devised The same Pliny reports also that there is a kind of Damosin that hath in it the substance of an Apple which of late was called by the Spaniards Malina which cometh of a Damosin engraffed into an Apple-tree There is also a kind of fruit called by the Apothecaries Sebesten or Mixa which hath in it a sweet Almond This same Mixa is a kind of Damosin which differs from all others for whereas others have a bitter Almond or kernel within their stone this only hath a sweet kernel It is a plant peculiar to Syria and Egypt though in Plinies time it was common in Italy and was engraffed in the Service-tree whereby the kernel was the pleasanter They engraffed it into the Service-tree likely for this cause that whereas the fruit of it self would make a man laxative the sharp taste of the Service being mixed with it might cause it to be more binding But now we will shew How to produce an Almond peach which outwardly is a Peach but within hath an Almond-kernel The former means producing double fruits which the Ancients have recorded are but vain fables not only false matters but indeed impossible to be so done for we shewed in the book of Husbandry if you engraffe the Vine into the Myrtle there will be no such fruit brought forth after that manner Besides it is impossible to engraffe the Olive-tree into the Vine or if it were engraffed yet would it not bring forth any such grapes Pliny speaks of Apple-damosins and Nut-damosins but he sheweth not the manner how they may be produced happily because it was never seen nor known But we will demonstrate the manner of it to the whole world by this example this fruit is called an Almond-Peach by the late Writers because it bears in it self the nature both of the Almond and the Peach compounded together And it is a new kind of Adultery or commixtion wrought by skill and diligence used in graffing such a fruit as was never heard of in former ages partaking both of the shape and also of the qualities of either parent outwardly it resembles the Peach both in shape and colour but inwardly it hath a sweet Almond within the kernel that both looks and tastes like an Almond and so is the Tree also a middle betwixt the Almond-tree and the Peach-tree outwardly like the Peach-tree and inwardly like the Almond-tree The manner of engraffing is by clapping the bud of one upon the bud of another either upon one of the trees that bare one of the buds or else setting them both into a third tree as we have done when the Trees have been old We may also go farther and upon that
Tree round about the roots Likewise we may colour fruit by colouring the seeds of them for look what colour we procure in the seed either by steeping it in some coloured liquor or by any other means the fruit will grow to be of the same colour which the seed is when it is set or sown As for example we may colour Peaches with Sanguinary or Vermillion If we bury a Peach-stone in the ground and take it up again seven dayes after for in that time the stone will open of it self and then put into it some Vermillion and bury it in the earth again and afterward look carefully unto it we shall thereby procure Vermillion-peaches And Dsmocritus is perswaded that if we should put into it any other colour after the same manner the Peach would be of that other colour It is a thing commonly reported among us and it is not unlike to be true that Peaches may be of a sanguine-colour by another means You must take a Peach-stone and put it into a Carrot that is then growing and the stalk which grows of that stone in the Carrot if it be carefully nourished and preserved will bring forth Peaches of a sanguine colour In like manner If you would have White kernels growing in a Pomegranate Palladius sheweth how to do it by the authority of Martial If you take chalk and white clay and with them mingle a quarter so much plastering and apply the Pomegranate-tree roots with this kind of soilage or dunging for the space of three whole years together you shall obtain your purpose Likewise if you desire Mellons of a Sanguine colour you must take Mellon-seeds and steep them in sanguine liquor for three or four daies together before you set them you may easily have your desire Or else if you open a little the skin of the seed and put within it the juice of red Roses Clove-gilliflowers and Black-berries that grow upon Brambles or of any other like thing so that it be not hurtful to the seed you may effect your purpose And I suppose that the sanguine-coloured Mellons which are seen in these Countries are thus used that they may be of this colour Consequent upon these devices is that sleight whereby A Peach may grow with any writing upon it The Greeks affirm that a Peach may be made to grow with a writing upon it if you take out the stone and bury it in the earth for seven dayes and then when it begins to open pluck out the kernel and write in it what you will with Vermillion-juice then binde up the kernel into the stone again and set it so into the ground and you shall have growing a written fruit Now as the Sun doth colour the herbs that it may well come at as we have shewed so by keeping the force of the Sun away from them we may whiten them for so A Lettice may be made white as Florentinus sheweth If you would saith he procure goodly white Lettice then must you bind together the tops of the leaves two dayes before they be gathered for so they will be fair and white Likewise you may whiten them by casting sand upon them And with us Artichocks are made white by the very same means which we speak of And if you would cause Beets to become whiter then ordinary you must cover the roots over with Cow-dung and as we spoke before concerning Leeks so here you must cleave the bud and lay a broad stone or a tile upon it as Sotion sheweth So Columella teacheth how to make Endive to grow white when the leaves are shot forth you must tie them about the tops with a small string and cover them over with an earthen vessel set fast into the ground and the herb will be white Others are at less charges and cover them over with some earth our Gardeners lay them in sand and so make them very white If you would procure White Sperage you must put the slips as soon as ever they appear out of the earth into a broken reed and there let them grow for a while and afterward when you take away the cane or reed the Sperage will be whiter then ordinary CHAP. XV. How the colour of Flowers may also be changed IN transforming and meddling the colours of flowers together we may procure such strange medleys as nothing can be more delightful to be seen Those which are of a â—eep purple colour may be meddled with azure blue those which are as white as milk may be meddled either with a duskish hew or with a green or crimson or some other compound colours in the beholding whereof the minde cannot chuse but be affected with great delight and be ravished with admiration and as it were quite overcome with the excellent beauty of them Wherefore we will set down certain Rules whereby we may be able to alter the colour of flowers as we prescribed certain rules before whereby we shewed how to alter the colour of fruits And first we will shew how by engraffing Gilliflowers that are of themselves purple or else white may become azure blue You must cut off somewhat neer the root a stalk of Endive or Blue-bottle or Bugloss but the old wilde Endive is best for this purpose and let it be grown to an inch in thickness then cleave that in the middle which is left growing in the ground and plant into it a Gilliflower new pluckt up out of the earth root and all then bind up the stalks or slips with some slâ—ght bond and lay good store of earth and dung round about it so shall it yield you a flower that is somewhat bluish of a most delightful colour to behold This many of my friends will needs perswade me though for my own part I have often made trial of it and yet never could see it effected But this I have seen that a white Gilliflower slip being engraffed into a red Carrot made hollow for the same purpose and so buried in the earth hath yeelded a Sea-coloured flower Likewise you may procure the white Gilliflower to be of a skarlet-colour if after the same manner you engraffe it into the root of Orchanet by which means also you may turn a purple Gilliflower into a skarlet If you would have A Rose as also the flower Jasmine to be of a yellow-colour you may procure it by engraffing either of them into a broom-stalk for of all other the broom-flower is most yellow and though we cannot do it so well by clapping the leaf or the bud of the one upon the leaf or bud of the other yet it may be effected by boring into the stalk after this manner You must set a Rose or a Jasmine neer to the broom and when they are somewhat grown take them up together with the earth that is about them for they will prove better when they are set again with their own earth which is about them being as it were their mother then with any other earth that
but especially take heed to the cleft and the place where you pilled off the bark that you plaister it up well with morter Thus if you do the graffe will very kindly prosper and the bud grow forth into a fruit that is compounded of both kinds and it shall carry the hue both of the Peach-apple and the Nut-peach by equal proportion such as was never seen before By this means also we may procure the bringing forth Of a Figge halfe white and half black for if we take the buds of each of them paring them off together with the bark round about them and then cut them in the middle and put the half of one and the half of the other together and so emplaister them into the Tree as we spake before the fruit thereof will be a Figge half white and half black So also Pomegranates may be brought forth which will be sweet on the one side and sowre on the other If you take either the shoots or the buds of each of them and after you have divided them in the midst put the half of each together as before was spoken But this may be done best upon the shoots or sprigs for the bud can hardly be pared off nor well divided because the bark is so weak and so thin and slender that it will not endure to be much or long handled Likewise Orenges compounded of divers kinds and such as are half Limons as also Limons half sweet and half sowre may be produced if we mix them after the same manner as we spake before for these are very fit to be graffed by emplastering and these kinds of compound Orenges and Limons are very commonly to be seen in many Orchards in Naples In like manner we may mingle and compound A Peach of the white and the red Peach if we put those two kinds together by such emplastering for there are of this compound fruit to be sold in Naples at this day Likewise we may procure A grape that hath a kernel or stone half black and diversly coloured We must deal by the shoots of Vines as we shewed before was to be done by the buds of other Trees cleave them in the middle and binde two shoots or more of divers sorts of Vines handsomely together that they may grow up in one and graff them into a fruitful Vine of some other kind And the same which we have shewed concerning fruits may be as well practised also upon flowers As for example If we would produce Roses that are half white and half red we must take the sprigs of white Rose and of a red and pare off the buds of each of them and having cut them asunder in the middle put the halfs of each together as we spake before and engraffe them artificially into the bark and then have a diligent care still to cherish them the compound bud wil in due season bring forth Roses which will be white of the one side and red of the other But if you would make trial hereof in Clove-gilli-flowers and desire To produce some that are half red seeing they have no buds at all you must practise this experiment upon their root you must take two roots of them and cleave them in the middle and match them fitly together that they may grow each to other and binde them up well and then will they yeeld compound Clove-gilli-flowers of which kind we have great store and they are common amongst us everywhere and they do not onely bring forth party-coloured flowers but the very same bough and one and the same sprig will bear white ones and red ones and such as are wrought and as it were embroidred with divers goodly colours most pleasant to be seen CHAP. IV. Of a second means whereby fruits may be mingled and compounded together THere is also a second way of compounding divers kinds of fruits together namely by another manner of graffing As for example If we would produce Pomegranates compounded of divers kinds Theophrastus sheweth us how to do it We must take the young slips or branches of divers kinds and bruise them with a Beetle so that they may stick and hang together and then binde them up very hard each to other and set them in the ground and if they be well laid together all those slips will grow up jointly into one Tree but so that every one of them retains his own kind and receives his several nourishment by it self and severally digests it and the chief community which they have all together is their mutual embracing each of other The same Theophrastus teaches us in the same place How one and the same Vine-branch may bring forth a black and a white grape both together and how in the same grape may be found a white and black stone hanging together Take the branch of a white Vine and another of the black and the uppermost half of either of them must be bruised together then you must match them equally and binde them up together and plant them for by this means they will grow up both into one joint for every living thing may be matcht with another especially where one is of the same or the like kind with the other for then if they be dissolved as these are in some sort when they are bruised their natures will easily close together and be compact into one nature but yet either of these branches hath his several nourishment by it self without confusion of both together whereby it cometh to passe that the fruit arising from them is of a divers nature according as either of the sprigs requireth Neither ought this to seem strange that both of them concurring into one should yet retain each of them their severall kind seeing the like hereof may be found in certain Rivers which meet together by confluence into one and the same channel and yet either of them keeps his own several course and passage as do the Rivers Cephisus and Melas in Boeotia Columella teacheth us to do this thing on this manner There is saith he a kind of engraffing whereby such kind of grapes are produced as have stones of divers kinds and sundry colours which is to be done by this means Take four or five or more if you will Vine-branches of divers kinds and mingle them together by equal proportion and so binde them up Afterward put them into an earthen pipe or a horn fast together but so that there may be some parts of them seen standing out at both ends and those parts so standing forth must be dissolved or bruised and when you have so done put them into a trench in the ground covering them with muck and watering them till they begin to bud And when the buds are grown fast together after two or three years when they are all knit and closed into one then break the pipe and neer about the middle of the stalk beneath the sprouts there where they seem to have most grown together cut off
the Vine and heal that part where it is so cut and then lay it under the ground again about three fingers deep and when that stalk shall shoot up into sprigs take two of the best of them and cherish them and plant them in the ground casting away all the other branches and by this means you shall have such kinds of grapes as you desire This very same experiment doth Pliny set down borrowing it of Columella But Didymus prescribes it on this manner Take two Vine-branches of divers kinds and cleave them in the middle but with such heedful regard that the cleft go as far as the bud is and none of the pith or juice be lost then put them each to other and close them together so that the bud of either of them meet right one with the other and as much as possibly may be let them touch together whereby both those buds may become as one then binde up the branches with paper as hard together as you can and cover them over with the Sea-onion or else with some very stiff clammy earth and so plant them and water them after four or five daies so long till they shoot forth into a perfect bud If you would produce A Fig that is half white and half red Leontinus teacheth you to do it after this manner Take two shoots of divers kinds of Fig-trees but you must see that both the shoots be of the same age and the same growth as neer as you can then lay them in a trench and dung them and water them And after they begin to bud you must take the buds of each and binde them up together so that they may grow up into one stalk and about two years after take them up and plant them into another stock and thereby you shall have Figs of two colours So then by this means All fruits may be made to be party-coloured and that not onely of two but of many colours accordingly as many kinds of fruits may be compounded together And surely these experiments are very true though they be somewhat hard to be done and require a long times practice as I my self have had experience The like experiment to these is recorded by Palladius and by other Greek Writers who shew the way How a Vine may bring forth clusters of grapes that are white but the stones of the grapes black If white and black Vines grow neer together you must shred the branches of each and presently clap them together so that the bud of either may meet right together and so become one then binde them up hard in paper and cover them with soft and moist earth and so let them lie three dayes or thereabouts after that see that they be well and fitly matcht together and then let them lie till a new bud come forth of a fresh head and by this means you shall procure in time divers kinds of grapes according to the divers branches you put together I my self have made choice of two shoots of two divers Vines growing one by another I have cleft or cut them off in that place where the buds were shooting forth leaving the third part of the bud upon the branch I fastened them together and bound them up into one very fast lest when the buds should wax greater one of them might flie off from the other I fitted them so well branch with branch and bud with bud that they made but one stalk and the very same year they brought forth grapes that had cloven kernels or stones This shoot so springing up I put to another and when that was so sprung up I put that also to another and by this continual fitting of divers sprigs one to another I produced clusters of divers-coloured and divers-natured grapes for one and the same grape was sweet and unsavoury and the stones were some long some round some crooked but all of them were of divers colours Pontanus hath elegantly shewed How Citron-trees may bear divers kinds namely by joining two sundry boughs together after the bark hath been pared a-away and fastning each to other with a kind of glue that they may grow up one as fast as the other and when they are engraffed into one stock they must be very carefully covered and looked unto and so one and the same branch will bring forth fruit of divers kinds So you may procure An Orenge-tree to bring forth an Apple half sweet and half sowre And this kind of commixtion was invented by chance for there were graffed two boughs of Orenge-trees one brought forth a sweet and the other a sharp fruit When occasion served to transplant and remove the Tree it was cut off in the middle according as Husband-men are wont to do when they plant such Trees after they are grown old and by great chance it was cut off there where the two boughs had been before engraffed and so when the stock budded afresh there arose one bud out of the sharp and sweet branches both together as they were left in the stock and this one bud brought forth Apples or fruit of both relishes Wherefore no question but such a thing may be effected by art as well as it was by chance if any man have a minde to produce such kind of fruits CHAP. V. Of a third way whereby divers kinds of fruits may be compounded together WE will also set down a third way whereby we may mingle and compound divers kinds of fruits together A way which hath been delivered unto us by the Ancients though for my own part I think it to be not onely a very hard but even an impossible matter Notwithstanding because grave Ancient Writers have set it down I cannot scorn here to rehearse it and though I have put it in practice but to no purpose for it hath not so fallen out as they write yet I will not discourage any man that hath a mind to make trial hereof for it may be that fortune will second their endeavours better then she did mine The way is this to gather many seeds of sundry Trees and fruits and wrapping them up together so to sow them and when they are grown up into stalks to bind all the stalks together that they may not flie asunder but rather grow up all into one Tree and this Tree will bring forth divers kinds of fruits yea and one and the same fruit will be mingled and compounded of many It should seem that the Authors of this experiment learned it first out of Theophrastus who writes that If you sow two divers seeds neer together within a hands breadth and then sow two other divers seeds a little above them the roots which will come of all these seeds will lovingly embrace and winde about each other and so grow up into one stalk or stock and be incorporated one into another But special care must be had how the seeds be placed for they must be set with the little end upward because the bud cometh
wonderful quality in drawing into it self the juice of the Vine Pliny shews How to make that kind of wine which is called Phthorium and kills children in their mothers wombes That Hellebore which grows in Thassus as also the wilde Cucumber as also Scammony are good to make Phthorian wine which causeth abortives But the Scammony or black Hellebore must be engraffed into the Vine You must pierce the Vine with a wimble and put in certain withie-boughes whereby you may binde up unto the Vine the other plants that are engraffed into it so shall you have a grape full of sundry vertues So you may procure Figs that shall be purgative if you pown Hellebore and Sea-Lettice together and cast them upon the Fig-tree roots or else if you engraffe them into the same roots for so you shall have Figs that will make the belly loose Florentinus saith that you may make a Fig to grow which shall be good against the biting of venemous beasts if you set it after it hath been laid in triacle So we may procure Purgative Cucumbers You must take the roots of the wilde Cucumber and pown them and steep them in fair water two or three dayes and then water your Cucumbers with that liquor for five dayes together and do all this five several times Again you may make them purgative if after they are blossomed you dig round about their roots and cast some Hellebore upon them and their branches and cover them over with earth again So you may procure Purgative Gourds if you steep the seeds of them in Scammony-water nine dayes before you set them as the Quintiâ—es report Now if you would procure a man to be loose bellied and sleepy withal you may cause Purgative Damosins that be good also to cause sleep You must bore thorough a bough or through the whole stock of a Damosin-tree and fill it up with Scammony or the juice of black Poppy wrapt up handsomely in paper or some such covering and when the fruit is ripe it will be operative both for sleep and purgation Cato shews also how you may cause A Vine to be purgative After the Vintage at such time as the earth is used to be rid away from the roots of Vines you must uncover the roots of so many Vines as in your opinion will make wine enough to serve your turn mark them and lop them round about and prune them well Then pown some Hellebore roots in a morter and cast them about your Vines and put unto them some old rotten dung and old ashes and twice of much earth amongst them and then cover the Vine-roots with mould and gather the grapes by themselves If you would keep the juice of the grape long that it may last you a great while for that purpose you must take heed that the juice of no other grapes do come neer it When you would use it take a cup full of it and blend it with water and drink it before supper and it will work with you very mildely without any danger at all Late Writers have taken another course they rid and cleanse the Vine-roots and then poure upon the juice of some purgative medicine to water them withal and this they do for many dayes together but especially at such time as the bud beginneth to fill out when they have so done they cast earth upon the roots again and they take special regard that the roots never lie naked and open when the Northern winde bloweth for that would draw forth and consume the juice of the medicine that is poured upon the roots This if you diligently perform you shall have grapes growing upon your Vines that are very operative for loosing of the belly I have effected The same by another means I pierced the Vine with a wimble even unto the very marrow and put into it certain ointments fit for such an effect it will suffice if you put them within the rine and this I did in divers parts of the Vine here and there about the whole body of the Vine and that about graffing time by Inoculation for then the Vine is full of moisture whereby it cometh to pass that the moisture it self ascending at that time into the superior parts doth carry up with it the vertue of the ointments and conveys it into the fruit so that the fruit will be operative either for purgation or for childe-bearing either to hurt or help either to kill or preserve according as the nature and quality of the ointment is which was poured upon the roots of the Vine CHAP. XXI How to plant Fruits and Vines that they may yield greatest encrease THat we may conclude this whole book with a notable and much desired experiment we will now shew in the last place how we may receive a large encrease from the fruits and pulse and Vines which we have planted A matter surely that must needs be exceeding profitable for a man to receive an hundred bushels in usury as it were for one bushel that he hath sowed Which yet I would not have to be so understood as if a man should still expect to receive an hundreth for one precisely or exactly so much for sometimes the year or the air and weather or else the ground or else the plants may not perform their parts kindly and in this case the encrease cannot be so great but yet it shall never be so little but that it shall be five times more then ordinary but if those things do perform their parts kindly together you shall receive sometimes for one bushel an hundred and fifty by encrease This may seem a paradox to some and they will think that we promise impossibilities but surely if they would consider all things rightly they should rather think it a paradox why half a bushel well sown or planted should not yield two hundred bushels encrease seeing that one grain or kernel that is planted and takes kindly doth oft-times spread his root as we see and fructifie into sundry and many stems sometimes into fifteen and in the ear of every one of those stalks are contained sometimes threescore grains I spare to mention here the ground that lies in Byzatium in Africa whereof Pliny speaks which for one grain that was planted in it did yield very neer four hundred stalks and the Governour of that Country sent unto Nero three hundred and fourty stems growing out of one grain But let us search out the cause whereby this comes to pass Some think that the encrease commonly falls out to be so little because the greater part of the fruit which is cast into the ground is eaten up of worms or birds or moles and of other creatures that live in the earth But this appears to be false because one bushel of Pulse being planted never yields above fifteen Now the Pulse or Lupines is of it self so bitter that none of those devouring creatures will taste of it but let it lie safe and untouched and when they are