Branches when they grow too thick or of its unless suckers and Cions Cleft to Graff in the Cleft See it in the fifth part of the Book Clod as a Clod of Earth is called in French Motte To Close a Tree that is Graffed is said to Close when the Bark grows over the cut where it was Graffed so that it appears smooth without a Scar or when the Bark grows over and covers any other cut or wound in Pruning A Close cut See cut Cloves is a term used to signify the Off-sets of Garlick and some other like Roots See Oss-sets Clusters or Bunch To Coffin themselves is said of Flowers that shrivel up and dry away in their Buds without flowing or spreading Compartiments See knots Compost Is rich made Mold compounded with choice Mold rotten Dung and other enriching ingredients A Conservatory is a close place where Orange-Trees and other tender Plants are placed till warm weather come in See Green house A Coronary Garden is a Garden planted with Flowers and other materials that compose Nosegays and Garlands To Couch is to bend a Wall-Tree for palisading or to lay down layers to take Root Counter Espaliers are Pole Hedges or Trees growing in Pole Hedges fronting the Wall-Trees and spread palisadoed and Trellissed like them They are now almost out of use in France but only for some sorts of Garden Vines Cotty or squatted is said of bruised in falling without cutting their skin Courtilliere is a sort of insect or Palmer Word bred in Horse Dung and consequently in Hot Beds about two Inches long at full growth pretty thick and yellowish with many legs It crawls very nimbly and gnaws the Roots of Melons Succory c. growing on Hot Beds See Insects and Palmer Crop is a known word to signifie the whole increase we gather from any thing as a crop of Corn c. To Crop also is to plant sow or furnish a Ground that is empty c. To Crop is to break or pinch of useless Branches without cutting To Cross is said of Branches in Wall Trees that grow cross one another Crown is used for the head or upper hollow extreamity of Kernel Fruit. to Graff in the Crown See Graff in the fifth part of the Book Crumpling or Guerkins are small Cucumbers to pickle called in French Cornichons They are also small crumpled Apples A Cubical Toise or Fathom See Toise and Fathom Cuckows are Straw-berry Plants that blow without bearing Cucurbit Glasses filled with honied Beer or water are hung upon Wall-Trees to catch and destroy wasps and flies Culture is the Tillage of Ground or the whole care and labour that is taken for the Tillage of Ground dressing of Gardens or rearing raising and improving of any particular Plant or Fruit. A Curtain To Cut and the several ways of it see in the Treatise of Pruning A close Cut is a Branch of a Vine shortned to the length of 3 or 4 Eyes or young Buds Cuttings are ends of Branches cut off from some certain Trees shrubs and Plants which being set or planted will take Root and grow Cutworks are Flower Plots or Grass plot consisting of several pieces cut into various pleasing figures answering one another like cut work made by Women D. DEclivity is the sloping of the side of a Hill Bank Ridge or any Ground not Level considered as Falling or Descending and is contrary to Acclivity which see Deaf Beds See Beds Dented is spoken of any Leaves of Trees or Plants that are dented Devils Gold Ring in French Lisette a sort of a Worm or Cater-pillar infesting the young shoots of Vines Diagonal Allies or Lines are Allies or Lines drawn cross one another through the Center of each and cross any square in a Garden from corner to corner thereby to give them that walk in them the fuller view of the square Diet. See Milk Diet. Feed Refresh To DIG or delve are terms known to all Doughie Is said of the Pulp of fruit as a Doughie Pear a Doughie Peach c. See Pulp Drains are Dykes or Gutters made in Grounds to carry off the water See Dykes Gutters Water-courses To Dress Is said of the Tillage or Tighting up of a Garden or any part of it It is likewise said of the pruning and trimming of Trees Thence we say a Vine dresser or to dress a Vine c. Dung is a known Term and is long and new or short and old Long and new fresh Dung is Litter that has served Horses or Mules but one or two Nights at most and has all its straw entire in it and has not yet fermented and much less rotted old and short Dung is Dung that has fermented and lost its heat and whose Straw is rotted and formed into a kind of Mold with the Dung. Dwarf Trees are Low Standards or Trees so dressed and pruned in Planting as to have but low Trunks and moderately spreading Branches and Tops Musty Mouldy or Hoary Dung is used for a Mushroom Bed See Beds Mouldy and Mushrooms Dikes See Drains Gutters Water-courses E. EMbroidery is a term used in Flower Gardens signifying Flower Plots that are wrought in fine shapes like patterns of Embroidery Ear-Wigs are an Insect well known Earth in Gardning is taken for the Soil or Ground in which Trees Legumes or Edible and useful Plants or their Seeds are to be sown or planted and is of several sorts as for example It is call'd Sower Bitter and Stinking when in smelling to it or taking the water in which it has soaked we perceive it Sowr bitter or stinking It is called White Clay when it is of a White stiff and slimy substance and is fat heavy gross and Cold and cuts like Butter and is very apt to chop with the Summers heat and some call it dead Earth because of its unfruitfulness It is stiled good when we can make any thing grow in we have a mind to And bad when neither Trees Plants nor Seeds thrive in it It is called hot and burning when it is so light and dry that upon the least heat all the Plants in it dry away and wither It is called Gravelled when 't is mixed with much sand and many little stones tempered with a little light Red Clay It is called Tough heavy and by some stubborn and because of its unfruitfulness Chast and in England Red Loamy stiff Clay when it cuts smooth and stiff and is very hard to Till or dress because the great rains beat it all into a marsh like mortar and the heat on the other side ehops it and makes it hard as a stone It is called strong free or rank Earth when without being stiff and Clayie it is like the bottom or mould under the turf of good medow Ground and in handling sticks to the fingers like a paste and receives any shape or impression from them whether long round c. It is termed Cold moist and backward when upon the advance of the Spring it is long before it conceives
to receive Grafts of what kind soever as to the Grafting them in such a manner as may be most agreeable both to each sort of Fruit to be Grafted and to each Stock to be Grafted on I shall therefore also give my advice about the different ways of Trellissing and Nailing up Wall-Trees Lastly in the sixth part I intend to treat of Kitchin-Gardens which is a subject of no less vast extent than profit when it falls into the hands of Persons that understand and manage it aright I shall therefore Treat of it somewhat Largely with design to shew First what may profitably enter into all sorts of Kitchin-Gardens so compleatly to stock them that it may be said there 's nothing wanting in them to which I shall add a Description of all seeds and other things by which each particular sort of plant is produced and multiplyed Secondly I shall specifie what products and provisions a Kitchin-Garden should furnish us with every Month of the Tear and what should be the work of Gard'ners in every one of those Months and shew how to do them well and lastly what should be found in every Kitchin-Garden at all seasons to convince us it is in a good Condition Thirdly what sort of Ground is most proper for every particular sort of Plant to bring it to its due perfection and more especially which is the best way to make all sorts of Legumes turn to account and answer expectation whether they be such as are sown not to be removed or such as must necessarily be transplanted or lastly such as are propagated without sowing Fourthly how long each of them occupies its place as well before it arrives to its due perfection as whilst it continues bearing I will also specifie at the same time what plants must be housed up in the Conservatory for our Winter Provisions and what by the help of Art and Industry may be produced inspite of the srost In the fifth place I shall Teach how to raise all sort of seeds for the more easie maintainance of our Kitchin-Garden in full stock and shall declare how long time each sort will keep good they having not all the same destiny in that respect And a Gard'ner that could but understand what I have just now proposed in the abovesaid would in all likewise be as fit as could be desired for an ordinary Garden But however in my opinion it would be further needful for him to have some little understanding in the Culture of Orange-Trees which as we have above remarked are indeed properly Fruit-Trees though very often they are not so much considered for their Fruit as for the Flowers expected from them neither is that Culture any thing nigh so difficult as has been hitherto imagined And likewise without any design to encroach too much upon so many skilful Artists whose peculiar province it is to deal in all those Beauteous plants that Compose the rich enamellings of Parterres and Flower Plots I may venture to put in a word or two concerning the Culture of Jessimins and most of the ordinary Flowers which may be had every Month in the Tear which I shall do whilst I am treating of the products and provisions of each Month in the same Sixth part And it is certain we may have some few Flowers in most Gardens of any reasonable bigness and have them betimes too witness that famous Gard'ner of Oebalia and therefore because every Curious Gentleman either not being in a condition or not willing to keep several Gard'ners many of them are often obliged to content themselves with but one to serve their Curiosity this induced me to think it necessary enough that the Gard'ner I instruct for the Service of an ingenious Gentleman should find something here a little beyond the bare Knowledge of the Culture of a Fruit-Garden or Kitchin Garden Perhaps in this Sixth part an Ordinary Gard'ner will find light enough to enable him to content a Master that has but a moderate passion for Flowers and that 's all I proposed to my self by the instructions I have inserted relating to them Upon which occasion I cannot forbear Exclaiming that happy are they who in matter of Gard'ning know how to follow the wise advises of the Prince of Poets and the Example of that Gard'ner whom he has rendred so famous by his Verses for that Illustrious Author likes well we should admire the Beauty of Spacious Gardens and praise them too if we please but yet he advises us to content our selves with small ones to Cultivate For it is indeed the interest of every one of what Quality soever he may be timely to resolve not only to choose that sort of Garden he fansies best but especially to be Cautious how he undertakes to plant a Larger one than his conveniences will permit that he may not be obliged to charge himself with more Gard'ners than he can easily maintain and than are absolutely necessary for a Gentleman of his Estate and Circumstances They which act otherwise in affairs of this Nature do but prepare assured matter of great vexation to themselves out of that very subject which otherwisewould have yielded them all the pleasures they expected from it For Gard'ning ought to bring in profit that was the first motive of its Institution But Profit alas seldom attends the endeavours of those Rash Projecters that undertake things beyond their Abilities no that is a Prize only attainable by those that content themselves with feasible and moderate attempts Agriculture in general may be look'd upon as a Science of a vast extent and proper to afford Philosophical Wits an infinite deal of Exercise no part of Natural Philosophy yielding more excellent matter for contemplation or being more fertile in useful and delightful experiments than that which treats of Vegetation For I know there are abundance of fine and curious Questions proposed in it as for Example Whether the Sap circulates in plants as the bloud does in Animals Whether the Roots do actively attract or only passively without any action on their side receive the juice which serves for the nourishment of every Plant from whence that infinite difference of Saps proceeds which produces so great a diversity and variety of Tasts and Figures as we observe in Plants and how the growth of Plants in both length and thickness is effected in their Trunks Branches Leaves and Fruits c. And there is an infinite number of other Curiosities of that nature the knowledge of which would doubtless give a great deal of pleasure to Learned Men but yet perhaps would not add any thing considerable to the skill or capacity of our Work-man which is as I have said my principal aim in this Treatise I shall however examine some of those ingenious and nice Questions only to give my opinion upon them at the end of this Treatise which shall be done under the title of Reflections upon Agriculture But in the mean while I do not think it very
Nail To Arrest Melons or Cucumbers is to break off the top of their Vines to check and stop their Growth See Melons Azerolls are Garden-Haws being twice as big as the Wild ones and much more Pulpy and Pleasant but not so fruitful and consequently Azeroll-Trees â—r Garden-Haw-Trees which are usually planted against Walls B. BAcward Fruits or Legumes are such as ripen late in the year See Latter Bands of Long Rie Straw steeped in water to make it lithe and pliant and then twisted are made use of to tie up Lang Lettuce or other plants to cabbage or whiten Such Straw in French is called Pleion See Straw Plat-Bands See Borders See likewise under P. Sloped Banks raised against Walls well exposed for the sowing or planting of Hasting or Early Peas Beans Artichokes c. See Ados and Slopes To Bank is to tight up the sides of a Bed or Border and make it firm with the back of a Spade or other Instrument To Bare the Roots of Trees or to Ablaqueate is to dig away the Earth about them and expose them sometime to the Air to refresh them and make room for putting fresh Mold to them or in order to come at their Roots to prune them when either defective or too Rank or Luxuriant See Trees and Roots Bark is the outward rind of a Tree To Bark a Tree is to peal and strip it of its Bark Baskets made of Ozier wrought so loose that one may see through them are used for Circumposition that is to plant young Trees in to keep in reserve to be ready to take up again with Basket and all to replant in the places of such Trees as shall happen to die or otherwise miscarry in the Ranks where we had planted them that so there may be no Gaps nor other Deformity in any Rank of Trets The French term them Mannequine To Bear easily or quickly or easily or quickly to take to or to be brought to bearing is spoken of Trees that bear in few years or little time after they are planted To Bear hardly or to be hard to take or to be brought to bearing is spoken of Trees that are many years or a long time after planting before they bear Beaten spoken of tilled Ground when it is so beaten with great and violent Rains that 't is grown as firm as if it had been never tilled at all A Beater is an Instrument wherewith Gravel Walks Pall-malls c. are smoothed and made firm Beds are plots of dressed Ground which in digging are wrought into such a form by the Gard'ner as is most convenient to the temper and situation of the Earth in that place and to the nature of the Plants to be sown or planted in it They are of two sorts Cold and Hot. Cold Beds are made either of Natural Earth or mixed and improved Mold and are in moist Grounds raised higher than the Paths to keep them moderately dry and in rising and dry Grounds laid lower than the Paths that they may on the contrary retain moisture so much the better and profit so much the more by the Rain that falls Hot Beds are Beds composed of Long New Dung well packt together to such a height and breadth as is prescribed in the Body of the Book and then covered over to a certain thickness with a well tempered Mold in order to the planting or sowing such plants in them as are capable of being by Art forced to grow and arrive to maturity even in the midst of Winter or at least a considerable while before their natural Season How these Beds are differently made for Mushrooms and how for other Plants See in the work it self Deaf Beds are such Hot Beds as are made hollow in the Ground by taking away the natural Earth to such a certain depth and filling the place with Dung and then covering it with Mold till it rise just even with the Surface of the Ground They are used for Mushrooms Kernel Beds are Nursery Beds wherein the Seed or Kernels of Kernel Fruit are sown in order to raise Stocks to Graff upon Bells are large Glasses made in the form of Bells to clap over tender Plants or such as are to be forced to keep them from the Cold and to communicate the Sâ—n's heat to them sometimes with the more advantage when it is not strong enough without them Belles de Nuit or fair ones of the night are a sort of Flowers Bigarros are a sort of French Heart Cherries so called because they be partly Red and partly White Bigarrades are a sort of Sour Oranges deep coloured and in a manner crumpled and with a very uneven Rind used chiefly in Sauces and to medicinal purposes So called from their odd and uncouth shape Bigarrades are a sort of mothey coloured Pears called also the vilonous Pears of Anjou Biting is a taste in Fruits and Plants well known to any taster Le Blanc i. e. the Whites is a sort of disease in Melons and Cucumbers termed only in English Unhealthiness See Unhealthiness To Blanch See to Whiten Blast and Blasting are said of any young Buds or Flowers or Leaves of Plants that being nipt by the East or North East Winds sometimes reigning in the Spring wither and shrivel and fall off to give place to new ones The Authour's counsel is to ease the Plants by taking them speedily off To Bleed or Weep is said of Vines whose sap runs out to waste by indiscreet cutting or any other accident See weep Blighing is said of Flowers or Blossoms that shed or fall without knitting for Fruit by the effect of the same Winds To Bloom is said of any Plant that begins to Flower Blossomes are well known to be the Flowers of Fruit-Trees Blossoms that shed without knitting for Fruit are said in French Couler i. e. to slip or slink like an Abortive Birth To Blow is said of Flower Buds when they open and spread Borders are Flat Banks raised against Walls commonly garnish'd with Swâ—et Scented Herbs as Time Sage Lavender c. Bordures or Borders is a term likewise used for Herbs commonly planted in Borders Couter-borders or Plat Bands are such Borders as are made on the sides of Walks or Squares that front the Borders by Walls To Border an Alley is to Line or Edge it with Borders that may separate it from the Squares and Beds and other works contained in them between which they Traverse A Botannist is one that is a profinement in the general knowledge of Plants A Bottle or Truss of Hay is a known Term. Bough See Branches Boxes See Cases A Branch or Bough is a part of a Tree that shooting from the Trunk helps to form the Head Branches are of several sorts An Augusted Branch is a Branch of a Summers growth that is just hard'ned and has done growing A Bearing or Fruit-Branch is a young shoot that is grown of a midling length and thickness from the pruning of the foregoing year Collateral Branches are such
eats dry and mealy as in over ripe Dean-pears Cadet-pears c. It is called Doughy when it is fattish and disagreeably soft like Dough as in white Butter-pears Lansacs that grow in theshade It is called Tender in certain Pears that though they be neither melting nor short yet are tender and excellent without being soft fatty or otherwise distastful as in unknown Chaineaus Vine Pears Lastly some Pears have sower taste as the St. Germain Pears and some sharp and biting as the Crasauns A Punaise or Bug is a sort of a Tyke that preys upon Plants as the stinking Bugs of the same Name do Human Bodies Pure See Plain Q. QUince Stocks that are smooth strait vigorous and fit to graff upon the Author calls Coignassiers and those that are rough knotty and skrubbed and unfit he calls Coigniers But he believes them not Male and Female according to the vulgar Fancy Of these the Portugal are best R. RAke a Gard'ners Rake whether of Wood or Iron is well enough known and the action of using it Rame and Ramberge are terms used of Melons when instead of a pleasant they have a stinking and filthy taste contracted from the neighbourhood of some stinking Weeds or being too near the Dung the same happens to hasty Asparagus from the Hot Bed To Range is to place in good order or plant even in a Line Rank Earth See Earth Random Plants are such as having been smothered and deprived too much of Light and Air or oppressed with any weight grow white small Curl'd and crooked and slim like such we find under great Stones or Logs when we take them up See Estioler To Recreate is to turn up Ground and recruit it with some heartning and fatning Mold or Mixtures and convenient waterings c. Red Winds are the dry and blasting North East Winds that Reign in March and April To Refresh is said in two Senses viz First Trees are refreshed by Ablaqueation i. e. by laying their Roots bare and retrenching their decayed and superfluous Roots and recruiting them with good fresh Earth or well tempered Mould or by turning up side down and well dressing and stirring the old Earth Secondly To Refresh is likewise to water Trees or Plants as also to feed them and diet them with Water diluted with Milk or well tinged with Dung or other rich ingredients or with Bloud or other fatning and nourishing things when they are Sick To Release See Unbind Retrench Rye-Straw being long firm and steept in Water to make it pliable is used to make Bands to tie up Lettuce or Cellery c. to whiten or wads to wrap about them or covers to cover them or other Plants and some tender Trees in Winter See Stram A Ridge is a double Slope between two Furrows in any digged or plowed Land See Slope Roses or Arroses fine are gentle waterings Rossane is a Name for all Yellow Peaches Roots such Plants whose Roots are most in use are called often simply by that Name as Carrots Turneps c. Rub as to rub of superfluous Buds See it in the Treatise of Pruning Rust is the effect of Blasting or Mildew S. THE Salt of the Earth so called in Gard'ning Terms is a certain Spirit which renders its Fertile supposed to be communicated by the rays of the Sun tempered with the nitrous parts off the Air and Dew Sand and Sandy Earth See Earth Sap is the radical moisture or Juice that nourishes a Plant. Saped see Sobbed is any thing that is too much soaked in Water Scar is a gash which remains after the cutting or pruning of a Tree To Scrape as to scarpe off Moss Spawn or Eggs of Vermines c. needs no Explication Scions See Cions A Scoop to scoop out Water and the use of it are things well known Screens or Skreens are inventions made of Straw or other Matter to shelter Plants Scutcheon or Escutcheon a Term of Graffing See it explained in the Treatise of Graffing part Season a thing is said to be in Season while it continues fit to eat Seedlings are little young Plants sprung from Seeds or Kirnels in order to form Stocks fit to graff on Thus we say an Apple Seedling a Seedling Orange-Tree Seed-Leaves See Leaves Seminaries are Nursery Beds or Gardens See Nursery To Set is to plant with the Hand as distinguisht from sowing Well Set or Budded See Budded To Settle is the sinking of the Earth in order to grow firm after digging or plowing or otherwise tilling or of a Hot Bed after its great and first heat is past To Sever is to sever that end of any young Graff that is graffed by Inarching or a pqroach from the Stock on which it grew when the other end of it has taken good hold and footing in the Stock into which it was graffed 'T is said also of rooted Layers when slipt off from their old Stock To Shed Fruit Trees are said to shed their Flowers or Blossoms when blasted or nipt by Winds or Frosts they fall off without producing Fruit. To Shoot is the same as to spring or sprout out Shoots are such young Branches as shoot out every year To Shrivel or Fold is said of Leaves Blasted or dying Trees or Plants Shrubs are small kind of Trees of a midling sort between Trees and Herbs Slips are Suckers slipt off from any Trees or Plants to set again to propagate them To Smooth is to pare or cut even a large Bough with a pruning Knife after it is sawed off Smut is the Blacking or Smutting of Corn or other Plants that happens to them in some Years Snivel called Morve is a sort of rotting moisture hanging about some Plants Spicy is said of all hot scented and tasted Plants Spikes are separated Sticks fixed on the sides of Beds or in Rows where Trees are to be planted to guide the Eye to keep them in a direct Line Spindles are those stalks in stocks or Tusts of Carnations or Clove-gilliflowers that bear the Flowers Spit is the depth a Spade pierces into the Ground as one Spit deep two Spit deep c. Sprigs are small young Shoots Sprouts are young green Shoots A Stalk is said of that part that bears any Fruit immediately and tacks it to the Branch on which it grows It is also the stem of any Plant or Herb that is not a Tree or Shrub Standards are tall Bodied Trees growing in open Ground Stake Squatted See Cotty Stem is the Body of a Tree between the Foot and the Head Stick is said properly of a strait Stem that runs up high and upright all the way without any Branches till just at the top Sticky or Stringy is said of Roots when not kindly or running to Seed Stiff is said of some Earth See Earth To stir or stir up is gently to move the Earth without diging or plowing it though sometimes it be used for any sort of Tillage A stock is the stem or Body of a Tree upon which after due trimming and
which had not been taken notice off before Those little Cares challenge as much esteem and kindness towards a Gard'ner as any other Testimony he can render it shews his being well Intention'd that he has some Qualifications that are but seldom acquir'd unless they be Natural viz. Affection Curiosity Neatness and a docible Spirit and indeed a Garden is generally in a very good Case under the management of such a Man It generally is the first in producing Novelties it is clean and free from Weeds the Walks are neat and well level'd and the whole commonly furnish'd with all that can be expected in every Season of the year happy are those who can meet with such and have no cause to complain as so many other Gentlemen daily do of their ill Fortune upon that Subject The scarcity of good Workmen of that kind is not to be wonder'd at while the number of Ingenious Men of most kinds is pretty considerable the source of the Ignorance of most Gard'ners proceeding from their knowing nothing for the most part but what they have seen practis'd by those under whom they first began to work Those kind of Masters had never learn'd elsewhere nor imagin'd of themselves the reason of every part of their Work so that not knowing it and continuing to work for the most part by chance or rather by rote they have been no more capable of teaching it than their Prentices of enquiring it so that perhaps excepting some Skill in grassing and couching the Branches of Wall-Trees in Tilling the Ground ordering of a Bed sowing and watering some Seeds clipping of Box and Pallisados which are all very easie to do and learn and may be learn'd by Boys seeing others do it I say excepting such kind of Works which are none of the most material it may be affirm'd that they hardly know any thing especially as to the main part of Gard'ning which is the Conduct of all sorts of Trees the beauty and singular goodness of every Fruit their Maturity well understood and an uninterrupted succession of the Novelties of every Month in the Year c. Indeed they have attain'd the boldness and dexterity of using the Saw and Pruning-knife but never had any Rules or Principles to do it Judiciously they venture to cut at random what they think good and so a Tree if I may use the Expression not being able to oppose its Enemies is mangled and maim'd discovering its Grievances by falling into decay by its ill favour'd Figure and especially by the small quantity of ill Fruit it produces This is in reality the common Prenticeship of Gard'ners or rather the Epidemical Disease of all Gardens I am not ignorant that there are some well meaning Gard'ners who without doubt would grow skilful were they well Instructed those deserve Pity and Assistance and therefore I never fail to assist them in all I can I am also sensible that there are some who either of themselves or having been brought up under a good Master have both Worth and Capacity and afterwards are careful of making good Prentices therefore it is good to have some brought up by such hands and approv'd by their Masters However though these Precautions might seem sufficient I am still of Opinion that before we ingage any farther especially only wanting a Gard'ner for an ordinary Garden it will not be amiss to find out some occasion to make the Gard'ner you have some Inclination to choose set his hands to some laborious piece of Work to see how he goes about it as to Till some spot of Ground to carry some Watering-Pots c. by which Tryals it will be easie to judge whether he has those necessary Qualifications of Body whether he acts naturally or forces himself if he be handy and laborious or clumsey and effeminate A man that is soon out of breath does more than his strength can permit and consequently cannot make a good Workman I mean a lasting one such a man is not fit for our turn unless we barely want one to order and manage which is not usual unless in great Gardens where such a one is absolutely necessary Supposing we are hitherto satisfy'd with the Answers and Work of the Gard'ner who offers himself there are still other very material Qualifications to be wish'd for as we have already mention'd First That he may be able to write a Letter for though writing be not absolutely necessary in a Gard'ner yet it must be granted that it is a very considerable advantage to the end that being absent from his Master he may be able to receive his Orders himself give him an account of his Garden keep a Register of all he does in it c. Secondly If marry'd it is sit that his Wife besides the Care of her Family may love and be capable of working about her Husband's Trade it is an inestimable Treasure for the Perfection of Gard'ning as well as for the good Fortune of the Gard'ner Such a Wife cleanses scrapes and weeds while the Master and his Men labour about harder more in haste and more material Works and when her Husband is absent or sick she calls upon every body to do their duty she gathers the Legumes and Fruit of which often a considerable part perishes for want of being gather'd in due time In sine she is to prevent a great many disorders which we observe where a Gard'ner's Wife does not love to work in the Garden I am of Opinion that it will be proper to see her to judge whether such important helps may be expected from her and see whether she be cleanly and has nothing disgusting in her To this I might add that in many Countrey Houses the Gard'ner is made House-keeper when his Wife is ingenious and cleanly which is always of great Use Thirdly It is necessary to enquire the Names of the Masters under whom this Gard'ner has learn'd his Trade when he cites for a good Master a Man of known Ignorance and values himself upon it it is a sign of Incapacity though in other things the Prentice may chance to know more than his Master There are yet some other Marks by which it may be easie to judge of the Merit of Gard'ners for instance I do not like a great Babler who talks of nothing but his Skill or affects hard Words which he thinks are fine though they really are not so Neither do I like him who without being able to give a good reason for it values himself upon equally despising what he has not seen as well as what he has seen who has so great an Opinion of his Ability as to think that he can learn nothing new who thinks he should wrong himself in inquiring after or hearkening to Men of Reputation as if this Wretch thereby fear'd to bring his Knowledge in question There are but too many who upon the Questions that are made to them answer with a disdainful Smile It would be a fine thing
the Neighbourhood of Paris Besides the Inclosure of the Walls I am likewise for having good Locks to my Doors that my Gard'ner may be able to answer for all that is in the Garden I am sensible that there are some who are very discreet and careful but then I likewise know that there are others who desire nothing more than to have some Pretences CHAP. XI Of the last Condition which requires that both the Fruit and Kitchen-Garden should not be far distant from the House and that the coming to it should be easie and convenient I Am not ignorant that the Countrey affords large and moderate Houses of which the first may be accompany'd with several Gardens and the other satisfy'd with one only As to those which may have several Gardens it is proper that those that are design'd for Flowers and Shrubs I mean the Parterres should face the principal Aspect of the House since nothing can be more agreeable than to see at all times on that side the charming variety of a Succession of Flowers whatever they be they are so many different Scenes or Decorations upon a Stage of which the Figure never alters they afford perpetual matter to delight the Eye and charm us with their Sweets but whereas generally those Parterres are as publick and as open to every body as the very Court of the House it is not fit to put any thing into them the loss whereof might discompose us For these Reasons I allow that in such Houses the Fruit and Kitchen-Garden should not be Situated in the best Place besides the last being subject to have many things which though necessary are not always pleasing to the Eye or Smell as also producing many things design'd for the Pleasure and Satisfaction of the Master which might tempt some licourish indiscreet Persons and so occasion cause of Displeasure and Complaint I think it very necessary to place those Gardens out of the reach of the Publick Therefore as much as can be we content our selves with placing them in the best Ground we can meet with without prejudicing the place of the Parterre pretty near to the House being of a convenient easie Access the Ancients were of this Sentiment when they said that the Steps of the Master that is his frequent Visits were of wonderful use for the Neatness Abundance Goodness and Beauty of Gardens so that Gardens that are at a distance or of difficult Access are liable to Disorders Filth and Sterility c. I hope that whereas in the beginning of this Work I have presum'd to say that none ought to pretend to have one of our Gardens unless he were passably well skill'd in the Culture of it none will undertake to make one unless he may be able to afford himself the Pleasure of seeing it well Cultivated and consequently he will desire to see it often which cannot be done the Garden being at a distance or of a difficult Access As to the Houses that can no wise afford above one Garden I suppose it will hardly enter into any ones Thoughts to employ it wholly in Box or Bowling-Greens instead of Imploying it in Fruits and Legumes In such a Case whether in the Town or Country the space of the Garden being reasonably large it will be proper to take part of that which is nearest to make a small Parterre leaving the rest for things that are of use and necessary but if the Place be not large my Advice is to make no Parterre at least I would make none being persuaded that Flowers may be easily dispens'd with resolving then to employ ones Ground in Plants that are for use that part of the Kitchen-Garden which is most pleasing ought to be put most within sight of the House keeping such as might offend the Sight or Smell most at distance Fine Espaliers Dwarfs Greens Artichokes Sallads and the perpetual Action of the Gard'ners c. being sufficient to employ the Neighbourhood of some Windows even for pretty considerable Houses as well as for ordinary ones I am so sensible of the innocent Pleasure the sight of a fine Kitchen-Garden can afford that I am for making some fine Arbor in all large Gardens not only to serve for shelter in case of a sudden Storm which happens pretty often but also for the Satisfaction of conveniently seeing the Culture of a Ground that is well employ'd Notwithstanding all I have said I do not condemn those who having but a very small Garden affect Flowers their Inclination leading them to it preferably to any other Plants Having said what is to be wish'd for when People are at liberty to choose the Place of a Garden let us now consider what is to be done when within the Dependency of a House we find our selves reduc'd and necessitated to make use of any Place whatever it may be regular or irregular good indifferent or bad and let us follow the same Order we have observ'd in the pretended choice I have explain'd CHAP. XII Of what is to be done to correct a Defective Ground either as to the Quality of the Earth or the Lack of a sufficient Quantity WHereas the most material Article for Fruit and Kitchen-Gardens is to have a good Ground if notwithstanding the Ground where this Garden is to be situated should have some considerable Defect which might be corrected I think I should be blame-worthy to go on without explaining my self upon what I think proper to be done in such a Case in my Opinion those kind of Defects may be reduc'd particularly to Five The First is a very bad Earth The Second an indifferent Earth The Third a pretty good Earth but not enough of it The Fourth to have no Earth at all The Fifth and Last That though never so good the too great Moisture it may be subject to may render it incapable of Improvment by the Culture of a Skilful Gard'ner As to the first Case I cannot forbear pitying those who start so Ill as to make a Garden in a place where the Ground is absolutely defective especially if there were any possibility of placing it better First I pity them by reason of the great charge they expose themselves to which I dread of all things especially in Fruit and Kitchen-Gardens being perswaded that the property of those Gardens is to cost little and to yield much Secondly I pity them for the small Success that infallibly attends such an undertaking especially when those Works that are necessary there are only perform'd by halves I wish none of the Curious may be expos'd to such Hardships but yet supposing an unavoidable Necessity of falling into the first Case to make a Garden in a very bad Ground let us consider what remedy may be apply'd to it and finally endeavour to make this Garden with as few Defects and as small a Charge as can be possible First then if the Earth be absolutely defective either in stinking or being absolute Loam or Clay or such as
Conditions only presses and hardens it by the Trampling which cannot be avoided in Tilling Therefore as I have already said elsewhere I would have the Dung used for Earth in the same Manner as Ashes are us'd in Washing that is that whereas the Ashes are only laid upon the Surface of the Linen that is heaped up in the Tub in order to cleanse it so the Dung should only be laid on the Surface of the Earth that is to be Amended I say it again it is not the gross Substance of the Dung which Fertilises as it is not the gross Substance of the Ashes which cleanses it is that invisible Salt which is contain'd in those Matters Incorporating wetted with the Waters that wet it descends with them whereever their Weight inclines them and there produces what it is capable of performing But it is not sufficient to know the best Place where the Dung is to be laid we must likewise examine what quantity may be proper for it In order to explain this Article it is proper to know that as some Dungs have a far greater quantity of Salt to Communicate than others so there are Earths which require and want more Amendments than others I still mean the Earth for Kitchen-Plants and not that Earth in which Trees are to be Planted for I will have none for these supposing always that if they have the least Goodness they have enough to Nourish Trees from which we expect Pallatable Fruit. He who studies to make Excellent Wine soon perceives that the use of Dung is directly contrary to his Intention and that if those Amendments augment the quantity at the same time it diminishes the Value though perhaps that defect might have been corrected by Fermentation and Boiling Therefore have we not yet much more cause to fear for the Taste of Fruits which without the Advantages of Boiling are to be transmitted directly from the Tree to the Mouth And when the Earth is naught I can not as I have already said forbear blaming those who lose their Time in Planting there instead of getting better Earth brought there the quantity cannot be Considerable nor consequently the Charge considering that none will go about to Plant many Trees in ill Grounds But if contrary to my Sentiment in this particular Case of Planting of Trees People will be obstinate in dunging of Trenches where they intend to Plant I am willing to Explain the Manner I think most proper for it to save Charges and to have the Work better done and sooner I suppose for Instance that a Trench six Foot deep is to be prepar'd either along a Wall to plant against it or about a Square to plant Dwarfs First I would have the quantity of Dung one has Examin'd either Horse or Cow Dung which are the two sorts that are most Commonly us'd and which are most plentiful this Knowledge will teach us whether we may use a great deal or not After this I would have it laid in equal distances all along the Trench that is to be made and the overture of the Trench dug three Foot deep and about a Fathom upon the breadth propos'd so that before we go about to employ the Dung we may have an empty free Space before us I would likewise have three Men two with Spades to stir the Ground and one with a Pitch-fork for the Dung and lastly I would have two of them take that Earth that is to be dug and throw it at the farther End of the Empty Place so that the height of the Trench may be fill'd and that half a Foot higher than the adjacent Surface taking care to place the Earth that lay on the Surface at the Bottom to the end that the Earth which lay at the bottom may in its turn become the Surface of the new Trench this Earth so thrown in the manner I mean makes a natural Declivity at the bottom of which all the Stones will fall by the same means which must be remov'd immediately and while the two Men thus throw the Earth which forms this Declivity I would have the third who shall be remaining upon the edge of the Trench to take the Dung with the Pitch-fork and throw it without Intermission not into the bottom but only upon the top of the Declivity in question and there spread it that it may be so well dispers'd that no great quantity of it may lye together by this means supposing always the Work-men act briskly and understand each other two very material things are done at once and in a small time with little Charge the first is that the Dung is plac'd and mix'd in the Earth as it should be and the second that this Earth being stirr'd from top to bottom grows easie and light as it should be I must not forget minding those who dig along a Wall to take care not to come too near the Foundations for fear of indamaging it the Wall might be in danger of falling a small slope of hard Ground must always be left untouched against it When besides the Trench for Trees there are to be others round about all the Squares or Ground Plots destin'd for Kitchen-Plants in a Garden not having the good Qualifications that are to be wish'd for the same Method must of necessity be us'd multiplying only the number of those that are to Till proportioning the number of those that are to spread the Dung accordingly there must always be the same depth of Earth ever making the first overture of the Trenches about a Fathom broad it being for Example of the length of the whole Square to which end the Earth that shall be taken out of the Trench must be laid along the Square that is to be fill'd which shall serve to fill up the Gage that shall lay empty at the end of the said Square in the mean time the Dung must be brought either in Baskets hand-Barrows or otherwise into the Neighbourhood or near that empty Place and a sufficient number of People shall be imployed to spread it upon the top of the slopes by degrees as the others continually throw new Earth towards the empty Places I warrant that with such a concert of Workmen well skill'd in their Work the Ground may be dispos'd to produce very fine and very good Legumes care being taken finally to make an universal Tillage to render all the Surface even I would only have People observe that in case the Earth which wants to be amended or improv'd is naturally dry and sandy fat Dung must be imploy'd for Example Cow-dung or else Horse-dung which shall have been rotten in a Morish Place I seldom mention the Dung of Hogs because that besides its being scarce it has an ill savour which hinders People from desiring it it is capable of infecting the Ground and giving it an ill taste which would infect the Fruit sooner than better it When they are course strong moist Earths the largest and dryest Dung will be most proper
if their roots be much defective we must e'en reckon such Trees good for nothing To be able to pronunce a Tree then to be well qualified as to its roots in the first place they must be of a proportionable thickness to the bigness of the Tree that is it must have at least one root very near as big as the body of the Tree for when they are all small and Fibrous and like a head of Hair it is almost an infallible sign of the weakness of the Tree and of its approaching death or at least of its never being likely to produce any good effect neither is the over great quantity of such Fibres any very good sign In the second place we must see that the principal roots be neither rotten nor split nor very much peeled or unbarked nor grown very red or dry or hard for if they be rotten they show a great infirmity in the principle of life of the whole Tree the roots never rotting when the Tree is in good health If they be split in the place out of which they Spring it is a wound that may be termed incurable and the Gangreen and Rottenness will sieze upon it and so it will be left like a Work-man without either hands or tools And therefore they who pull up Trees should be very careful to do it dextrously and gently and for that effect to make good holes that they may not be obliged to strain any part of them too violently when they draw them up or else they will not fail to split or break some good Root or other If likewise they be too much grated or unbark't in those parts which should be most particularly preserved those are also dangerous wounds and especially in Stone Fruit-Trees the gum seldom failing to breed in them And in fine if the roots be dried up either by frost or by having been too long drawn out of the Ground and exposed to the air we are to Reject that Tree it being certain it will never take to grow again I most particularly value the young roots that are Newliest shot out they sprouting commonly out of that part of the main body nearest the surface of the Ground and care little for the old ones which are commonly knotty and in Pear-Trees Plum-Trees Wildings c. they are blackish whereas the young ones are reddish and pretty smooth and even In Almond-Trees they are Whitish in Mulberry-Trees yellowish and in Cherry-Trees Reddish CHAP. XIX How to prepare a Tree for Planting THis preparation is of so great a consequence for the making of Trees take new footing and grow again that very often they take and produce a good effect only because they were well prepared before they were replanted and no less often fail taking or producing a good head or top because they were ill prepared There are two things to be prepared in them viz. a less principal one which is the head or top and another which is most highly principal and important and that is the foot or roots As to the head there is but little mystery in ordering that either in Standard or Dwarf-Trees it being needful only for that effect to remember these two points The first is that as it appears we do a great prejudice to a Tree when we pluck it up because we always weaken it thereby and abate its vigour and its activity at least for some time we must therefore take off so much of its charge and burthen about its head as may be proportionable to what we take from it of that strength and activity as we certainly do by removing to a new place and retrenching it of some of its Roots That is a maxim that needs no proof The second point we are to be mindful of is that we must leave its body no higher than is convenient for the use the Tree is designed for Some being to produce their effect very low as the Dwarfs and Wall-Trees which therefore must be cut pretty short and others to produce theirs very high as the Standard-Trees which therefore must be left of a considerable height But I seldom cut either sort of them to the length they are to be of till I have first finish'd the whole operation that is to be performed about their roots And this is the Method I observe in doing it First I order all the Fibres to be cut off as near as can be to the place out of which it springs unless it be a Tree that I plant again assoon as ever 't is pluck'd up without leaving it a moment out of the Ground otherwise if it continue never so little while in the air all that would be good to preserve of its root which is a kind of tuft of White small hair like roots or Fibres turns presently black and consequently spoils being as it seems no more able to endure the air than some sorts of fish that die as soon as ever they are out of the Water But we can never have opportunity to save this White Fibrous part of the roots but when we pull up a Tree in one part of our Garden to plant it immediately in another place of the same Garden for then indeed we may save some part of those Fibres which is not broken and whose extremities or points appear still acting as 't were and that comes out of a good place otherwise if all those conditions be not found in it we are not to make any account of it and for the better preservation of it we may too at the same time take along with it some of its former mold that hangs next about it like a kind of Turf taking care in planting it to place and spread out well that hairy or Fibrous part To return now to order a Tree that has been longer pulled up I first of all then take away all that Fibrous or hairy part which many Gard'ners save with so much care and so little reason in such Trees as those And when I am about stocking any large Plantation Iorder my people immediately to fall to work to retrenching from the Trees what is to be cut from them before I plant them and that both in the day time in some bye place of the Garden and particularly in the night in some place within-doors by candle light to hinder the delaying of some other work no less in hast that cannot be done but without-doors and so by that means I take advantage of the night which comes upon us so soon and so unconveniently at the usual season of making our plantations The Fibres being thus taken away and by that means the greater roots laid open to my full view I am the better able to see the bad ones to take them quite off and to discern the good ones to save them and afterwards to regulate the cutting them to the exact length I would leave them of and very often when I find the roots of any Trees
help to preserve it from Death in expectation of a kind of vigorous Resurrection which the Spring Promises when it recovers out of its Lethargy as to the Twig from whence the Bud is taken it can never have too much Sap provided the Bark be sufficiently well nourish'd to strip with ease from the Wood it covers and take along with it the Internal Sprout which forms the principal part of that Scutcheon the Common Stocks which are Budded upon during those two Months are Plum-Stocks for Plums or Peaches young Almond-Stocks Planted in an ill Ground for Peaches Quince-Stocks for Pears White-Thorns for Apricocks Paradice-Stocks and Apple-Wildlings for good Apples c. The Month of September is proper for Inoculating Peach-Trees upon Vigorous Peach-Stocks or young Almond-Stocks of that years Groweth Planted in good Ground both the one and the other have the gift of preserving abundance of Sap very safe and they are only fit to Bud upon at the Time of the Declining of that Sap. We might Graff in the Cleft during the Months of November December and January but one is never the more forward on the Contrary it is much to be fear'd that the Graffs would Wither and absolutely Perrish by reason that during these Three Months they receive no assistance from the Root which at that time by reason of the Cold is as it were benum'd of all its Vegetative Functions All the Month of February and a considerable part of March are admirable for the Cleft and for Whip-Graffing but that is to be understood when by reason of the length of the Colds of the Winter the Season is not forward and Consequently the Trees not yet enter'd into Sap that is before the Bark quits the Wood for as soon as ever it loosens such Trees can no longer be Graffed in the Cleft that year Therefore it is necessary to provide betimes particularly against that time Graffs of Pears Apples Plums c. especially when they are to come from distant Countries The end of March in mild Springs I mean such which instead of being accompani'd with Snows and small Frosts as it is usual are Hot and Moist the first half of April particularly is very favourable for the Crown by reason that the Sap must of necessity be sufficiently risen into those shorten'd Trunks to be able to divide the Bark from the Wood with small wedges made of Box or Ebony in order to faclitate the Lodging of the Graff that has been prepar'd on purpose for it The Month of April is only proper to Graff all manner of Apple-Trees in the Cleft by reason that those kind of Trees are not so easily mov'd to produce Sap as other Fruit-Trees are and as I have declar'd already the only time to Graff in the Cleft is a little before the Trees begin to Blossom and Shoot the said Month of April is likewise Convenient to Graff Vines which can only be Graffed in the Cleft upon Trunks cover'd with Earth CHAP. XIV Of the manner of Performing all manner of Graffs HAving Explain'd the different sort of Graffs that are now in use and the different Months of the Year that are proper for each of them there still remains to explain the proper manner of performing them and therefore I shall begin with the Description of the Graffing-Knife The Blade of this Graffing-Knife must be about two Inches long with a small Handle a full Inch longer than the Blade or ordinary Knives the overplus of the Handle must be flatten'd on the Extremity and made round about the Edges of that Extremity in order to serve to loosen the Rind of the Wildlings with ease upon which the Scutcheon is to be apply'd the most Convenient Graffing-Knives are those which close within the Handle like Pruning-Knives or like the Common Pocket-Knives that are made to fold Now since in the order I have observ'd for Graffs I have begun with that which is perform'd first in the finest Season of the Year viz. Inarching I think it will be proper to begin this Chapter with the manner of doing it as it should be and therefore I say that in order to succeed in it in the first place the Twig that is designed to Graff with which you must hold in your hand before you begin in order to make the necessary Comparisons the better between the Twig and the Branch that it is to be Graffed upon either with Thred Rush Ribbon c. by reason that this Twig must be exactly of the same thickness with the Branch you are to Graff upon for it being thicker or smaller the Graff will not succeed Next you must chuse a fine Place upon the said Twig having two good Eyes or Buds looking regularly the one on one side the other on the other and with your Graffing-Knife or other sharp Instrument you must cut the Bark of the Piece you are to take off for the Graff Circularly to the very Wood both at the top and bottom you must take off all the Bark which covers the smallest part of the said Twig in order to make that Piece come out there which is to be taken off after having loosen'd it from its Wood by twisting it gently with the Thumb But before you take it quite out of its Place you must shorten the Branch that is to be Graffed upon four or five Inches and without wounding the Wood you must strip it intirely in a very sound and very smooth place unto the lower part where the Graff is to come that it may fit it so exactly that it may rather be thought it grew there Naturally than by Art and immediately in order not to permit a small Moisture which lyes round about the part so stript which is the Sap newly risen to Evaporate you must make an end of taking the piece that is design'd for the Graff out of its Place and Lodge it with all the Diligence and dexterity imaginable within the Branch so stript to the place where 't is to remain and finally to hinder the moisture of the Air from penetrating into the space between the Wood of the Branch that is Graffed and the Bark that is newly applied you must raise small Shavings out of the Wood of the Branch round about the Superiour Extremity of that Graff without putting them off and make them hang like a kind of Ruff on the Extremity of that Bark to cover and shelter it from the Injuries of the Air. Inocculating or Budding A la Pouce which I take to be with an open Bud and with the close Eye or shut Bud only differ as to the Time of performing them as we have already observ'd they are both perform'd in the same manner the first thing to be done in order to it is to take from the Tree you design to Graff with Cyons of that years Growth perfectly at a stand upon which you find good Eyes or Buds likewise at a stand and they are those which have been first form'd
the Earth easily enough take Root at certain Joynts or Knots about a foot distance one from the other which knots coming to take Root make new Plants that in two or three Months time are fit to be transplanted and they are placed three or four of them together to make what we call a Tuft Succory See Endive Suckers of Artichokes See Artichokes Sharp Trefoil See Alleluia T. TIme is multiplyed by Seed which is very small and sometimes we separate those Plants or Stems of it that produce several rooted Slips or Suckers to replant them in Borders for Time is seldom planted otherwise Tripe Madam is propagated both by Seed and Cuttings or Slips every Stem or Stock of it producing several Arms which being separated and replanted easily take Root again The Seed of it is Gray and Longish and almost of the shape of Parsly Seed there grows a great deal of it upon every Seed Stalk which runs up one above another like those of Seed Carrots Parsnips c. there are seven or eight of them in a sort of little open Cup where they grow ripe after the falling of a yellow Flower inclining to an Olive colour Turkey Wheat See Saracens Wheat Sharp Trefoil See Alleluia Turneps are multiplyed only by Seed which is almost like that of Cabbage V. VInes of what sort soever they be whether White Red or Black Muskat Chassela's Bourdelais Corinthian or Long Muscat called otherwise Passe-Musquée c. are multiplyed by Layers by hooked or bent Slips and especially Couched and lastly by Grafting Cleft-wise Violet Plants as well of the Double as Single sort and of what colour soever they be though they produce Seed in little reddish Shells or Husks yet are multiplyed only by the Slips they produce each Plant or Stock of them growing insensibly into a great Tuft which is divided into several little ones which being replanted grow in time big enough to be likewise divided into others W. Wheat See Saracens and Turkey Wheat Worm-wood is multiplyed by Seed which is of a pretty odd Figure being a little bent inward in its smallest part and a little open on the other end which is bigger and rounder and upon which there is a little black spot It s colour is yellowish at the bigger end and its sharper end inclines a little to black It s Seed is seldom used because it is very difficult to fan or sift being very light and therefore when we have need of propagating Worm-wood we make use rather of its Cuttings and Layers that are a little rooted Wood-Sorrel See Alleluia CHAP. III. Shews what a good Kitchen-Garden may yield us every Month in the Year and how a Gard'ner may and ought to employ himself there in every one of those Months THe Experience of hot Countries sufficiently convinces us that the Earth taken in general is capable at all Seasons to produce all manner of things without any extraordinary assistance of Art because in those parts there is no Season in the Year in which she is not teeming but by a contrary experience we find that our Climate is too cold to afford us any such fertility and yet because there are few days in which a Man has not occasion to make up a part of his nourishment and subsistance with something of the growth of his Garden It concerns the industrious Gard'ners so to manage it that it may not only produce enough amply to suffice for our daily use during the five or six Months in which the Earth acts at her Ease by the favour of the Sun's Neighbourhood but also furnish us at the same time a sufficient Provision for those five or six Months in which she is suspended from her ordinary functions Now among the Barren and less happy Months that commonly make the greatest opposition to our Culture are reckoned the last fifteen days of November all December and January and the first fifteen days of February the violence of the Frosts which in that Season use to harden and cool the Earth and the abundance of Snow with which it is then wont to be covered putting such a perfect stop to all Vegetative Operations that the most fertile Soil becomes at that time altogether like that which never was blessed with that accomplishment But notwithstanding all those hindrances there is still work enough to be done in Winter to keep us from being quite idle and a great deal of Assistance too to be drawn from our Gardens even in that Season that we may not labour under too great a scarcity of their Productions and therefore I have determined to give you a particular account of every one of those works and of every one of those Commodities which our Gardens will afford us during every one of the twelve Months of the Year and shall begin with that which because it passes for the first and opens and begins the Year seems to me best to deserve the preference Works which may be done in a Kitchen-Garden in the Month of January TO Prune all sorts of Trees whether Dwarfs or Wall-Trees to prepare some of them to plant as soon as ever the Ground shall be open after the hard Frosts and the melting of the Snow that covered it To make Trenches to plant Trees to dig Molds to amend them to dig round the Feet either of Trees over Luxuriant to cut off their thick Roots and by that means to make them fructifie or of such as are infirm to trim and redress them To make Hot Beds to sow forward Cowcumbers and Sallets in whether in Rows or little Furrows or under Bells To make Screens to cover those Seeds in case of need The first hot Beds for Cowcumbers as also for Musk-melons are usually made at the very beginning of the Month and at the same time we may make hot Beds for Mushrooms To heat or force Asparagus To heat Beds of Sorrel Patience Borage c. To raise on hot Beds Jacinths Narcissus's of Constantinople and some Tulips c. To make Trails Trellisces or Frames for Wall-trees To pull down the hot Beds of the last Year and to take the rotten Dung that composed them and lay it upon those Grounds we would amend or Meliorate To lay apart some Molds to have them at Hand to prepare for the hot Beds and we may also clear and cleanse the places of the Hot beds in order to the making of new ones To tie up with Bands of Straw the tops of the Leaves of Long Lettuce which have not Cabbaged to make them Cabbage or at least to whiten them when they are grown big enough for it To raise some Strawberries upon hot Beds to have some ripe in the Months of April and May. To dung Figg-trees in order to have early Figs. And in fine to advance the doing by little and little all that the Spring Season is wont to do with an extraordinary Expedition To plant Trees in Baskets to Pot and Case Figg-trees to lay Vine and Fig-tree
hot Beds to replant in the beginning of May. Commonly there is nothing fit to be replanted in Cold Beds at their coming out of the hot ones till the end of April or the beginning of May unless it be Lettuce and the Earth must be a little warmed before we remove any thing into it out of a Hot Bed in which the Plants were still cherished with some remaining heat or else they will all come to nothing there We make an end of pruning and planting during the course of this Month of all Garden-Trees and also of Gooseberry Curran and Raspberry shrubs c. It is very convenient to delay the pruning of vigorous Trees till they begin to sprout as well to let them spend their first Strength as to prevent the losing any of their Fruit Buds which we cannot till then discern and which come to their perfection in the Spring-Season We take up at the beginning of the Month with Mold and all the plantation of Strawberrys which we had in the Nursery to form Cold Beds and Squares of them to remain and to refurnish those where there want any We sow some seed of piercepier or Garden Sampire in some tub of Earth or in the naked Ground some sheltered place it requires commonly two Months to come up and when it is big enough we replant it in the Month of May and sometimes we let it grow till the next year in order to replant it at the foot of some Wall We sow a third time a few more Peas for we should be sure to sow some of them every Month of the Year and these now sown must be of the great square sort We now have some Mushrooms either upon some Hot Beds made purposely for them or in some other places well dunged At the very beginning of the Month we sow some little quantity of Endive very thin to have some of it whited about Mid-summer When we know that the Paths between hot Beds or Asparagus Banks have been stuffed with very long Dung so that there seems not to be heat enough in them and if it be very hot weather it is convenient to water them reasonably well that so the Straw in them being wetted may the more easily ferment into a heat Towards the end of the Month or at the beginning of April we sow a little Cellery in the naked Earth to have some late in the Months of August and September Cellery is commonly almost a Month a coming up and we sow a little of it at the same time on a Hot Bed in order to have some of it early We digg about the Roots of Fruit-Trees that we may have finisht that work before they blossom the Frost being more dangerous in Soils newly moved and turned up than in others We begin now to uncover a little our Artichokes but seldom begin to manure them till the full Moon of March be past which is generally very dangerous both to them and to the Figg-trees which last must not yet be quite uncover'd it being enough to do it half way at the same time we take off all their dead Wood and Branches whether killed by the Frost or by any other means About the middle of March or before if the weather be mild we begin to sow some Red or Golden Purslain upon hot beds under Bells and continue still to sow of the Green sort We replant in their sixt places common Cabbages and Milan Cabbages which we should take care to have ready in our Nursery from the beginning of November last past in some well sheltered place but we replant none of those that begin to mount that is to run up their stalks as if they were going to Seed We sow upon some end of a cold bed in plain Earth some Asparagus Seed for a Nursery to furnish us with a Provision of it which is sown like other Seed We plant the Asparagus Squares we have occasion for to which purpose we make choice of a fine Plantation of one years growth or else of one of two The way to plant Asparagus is to place two or three Plants of them together and neatly to spread out their Roots without cutting them but very little unless we please and then to cover them with a layer of Earth of two or three Inches thick to plant these Tufts Checquer-wise at a foot and a half 's distance one from the other This Cold Bed should generally be full four Foot broad that there may be room enough for three ranks of them But if we design to force any of them by heat in Winter we must make the Cold Beds but three Foot broad and we must observe if the Ground be dry to lay the Bed hollow within the Earth with a good Spade and by that means raise the Paths Arch-wise making use of the Soil that comes out of it to cover again by little and little and year by year the Plantation as it grows stronger and rises out of the Ground But if it be in a moist Ground and very cool it is better not to make the Bed so low nor hollow but on the contrary to keep it a little higher than the paths that the Winter waters may descend out of it into them and may not rot the Plants to which nothing is more dangerous than too much wet Asparagus both old and young must be carefully howed or cleared of Weeds and in this Month of March before they begin to appear above Ground we must afford them a little manuring by turning up the Earth to the depth of half a foot about them to give the young Asparagus the more Liberty to shoot up The Radishes that are sown on hot Beds with a cast of the Hand are generally not so fair nor so good as those sowed in holes and are more apt to grow hollow and stringy than they We still continue to make some Hot Beds for Radishes that we may be still supplied with them till the beginning of May when those sown in plain Ground come in All the other Months in the Year will produce us enough of them if we will take the pains to sow some from time to time and be careful liberally to water them At the beginning of the Month it will be time to replant what we have a mind should run to Seed viz. Leeks and Onions and especially the white sort Cloves of Garlick Cloves and Seeds of Shalots white Cabbage Pancaliers Cabbage c. Now likewise we are to tie up such Lettuces as should Cabbage and yet do not which tying makes them in a manner Cabbage by force We sow the Seed of Pannacht or striped Gilliflowers upon Hot Beds before the full Moon to replant them in May we also sow the Annual Flowers upon hot Beds to replant at the latter end of May viz. Passe velours or Velvet Flowers called also Flower gentles and Amaranthus Indian Ocellus or French Marygolds Indian Roses the Belles de Nuit We make an end of
planting stick We plant edgings of Time Sage Marjoram Hyssop Lavender Rue Worm-wood c. We replant Spring Lettuce to Cabbage which succeed one another in this order the Curled Bright Lettuce is the first and best as being the most tender and delicate but it requires a mild and light Soil or above all a Hot Bed to plant it on under Bells from the Month of February and during all the Month of March and the beginning of April A gross Soil agrees not with it for instead of growing bigger there it dwindles to nothing The Green Curled Lettuce the George Lettuce the Little Red Lettuce and those called the Royal the Bellegarde and the Perpignan follow next after The Royal Lettuce is a very fair and thick Lettuce which differs only from the Bellegarde in that it is a little less Curled The Capucin Short Aubervilliers and Austrian Lettuces succeed them and run not so easily to Seed as the preceeding ones The Alfanges Chicons and Imperials which are all Lettuces to tie up bring up the Rear and the Genua Lettuces both the Red Bright and Green are the last Summer Lettuces we must replant a good number of them at the very beginning of May to have them good about Mid-summer and all the rest of the Summer of all Lettuces this sort best endures the great heats and is least disposed to run to Seed for which reason to obtain Seed of it we must have sown it upon Hot Beds from the very Month of February that we may have some good plants of it to set again at the latter end of April The Royal Lettuce begins again to be fit to be replanted about the middle of September to supply us together with that of Genua all the rest of Autumn From the end of August we begin to sow the Shell or Winter Lettuce that we may have some fit to re-plant in the Months of October and November for our Winter provision It is hard to make any Descriptions of these sorts of Lettuces exact enough to distinguish them by the difference between them consisting chiefly in having Leaves a little more or less green or Curled It is enough for the curious to know their names to be enabled to ask for them of their Friends or buy them of the Herb Merchants we learning effectually to know them in the using The two Crisped or Curled Sorts are so called from the Curling of their Leaves and the Red ones from their Colour The Shell Lettuce has a very round Leaf which is very apt to shut up like a Shell There is an infinite Diversity of kinds of Lettuces the worst is that which we call Cats Tongue which is very sharp pointed and never Cabbages The Aubervilliers Lettuce grows so very hard that it is scarce fit for Sallets but is better for pottage but yet it is very subject to be bitter We must not fail every fifteen days to sow a little Genua Lettuce that we may always be provided with some fit to replant during all the whole Summer till the middle of September we must be careful and especially in rainy weather to destroy both the Black and Shell Snails that come out of the Walls where they breed Young ones because they do a great deal of mischief by gnawing the young Shoots of Trees and new planted Lettuces and Cabbages If the Ruddy or Dry Winds Reign as they generally do this Month we must carefully and plentifully water every thing in our Kitchen-Garden except it be the Asparagus We continue to Trim Musk Melons and Cucumbers and plant new ones upon new Hot Beds at the beginning of this Month and we also sow some in the naked Ground in little Dikes filled with mold or compost like to those I have already mentioned for Cardons We now likewise search the Woods for Young Straw-berry Plants to make Nurseries of in some part of our Garden we plant tufts of two or three plants of them together at four or five Inches distance one from another and if the Soil be dry in a hollow Bed of two or three Inches deep the better to retain and preserve the rain water and that of our waterings or else upon some Bed near some Northern Walls We also now dis-eye or separate the Off-Sets or Slips of our Artichokes as soon as they are big enough and we plant as many of them as we need two or three of them in each hole or Trench of about three or four Inches deep and two full Foot and a half distance one from the other each Bed should be four foot wide and contain two rows of Artichoke Plants along its sides and there must be a void space left in the middle of three foot wide for the planting of Leek Chaids or great whited Leeks or else of Collyflowers in imitation of the Market-Gard'ners who are good Husbands of their Ground The two Artichoke Plants which we set in each hole must be placed a full foot and half distance one from the other We still continue planting Asparagus and filling the places where there are any wanting if we can timely discover them and we take care to water the new Plants We likewise still bind up those Lettuces that Cabbage not as they should We keep open the Windows of the green Houses where our Orange Trees are in fair weather to reaccustom them by little and little to the wide Air towards the end of the Month we bring out our Jasmin and trim it we also begin to prune our Vines at the first coming in of the Month if we have neglected to do it about the middle of March last and we prune the Wall Vines sooner than those in the open Fields We have already in the month of March set into the Earth those Almonds which sprouted early and in this Month we set those which having not sprouted at the same time with the others had been put up back again into Mold Earth or Sand. In the beginning of this Month Gardens should be almost in their Perfection as well for their general neatness and pleasing Prospect as being all over covered either with the green Seedlings of all sorts which have been sown or with Plants which have been set excepting Endive Succory Celery Collyflowers c. which are not replanted till about the middle of May. In fine if we have neglected any thing that should have been done in March we must be sure to do it at the very beginning of this Month and particularly we must sow Parsly wild Endive or Succory and the first Harico's or French-Beans the second being to be sown about the middle and the third at the latter end of May that so we may have a crop of them about two Months after sowing About this time the Strawberries growing in the naked Earth shoot forth their stems when we must take exact care to pluck all the Cuckows among them that is those Straw-berry plants that blossom much without knitting nay I would have the
that grows in the Woods and consequently that loves the shade we therefore plant it along by the sides of our Northern Walls at the distance of about one foot between one plant and another the more we strip it of its Leaves which is one good quality it has the more fresh ones it shoots forth It is enough to set it two Inches into the Ground it lasts three or four years without being renewed and to renew it we need do no more than to separate or slip out the great Tufts of it into several little ones and replant them again immediately which is to be done in the Months of March and April a little watering in very Hot weather and especially in sandy Grounds is a very great and welcome help to them Anis and Fennel are commonly sown pretty thin either in surrows or borders their Leaves are used in Sallets among other Furnitures They run to Seed towards the Month of August and when their stalks are cut down they shoot out new Leaves the next year that are as good as the first but however it is best to renew them every two years Arrach Orrach or Orage is propagated only by Seed and is both one of the quickest both in coming up and in running to Seed which latter it does at the very beginning of June It is sown pretty thin and to have good Seed of it we must transplant some plants of it in some separate place The Leaf of this plant is very good both in pottage and in stuffings or farces we use it almost as soon as it peeps out of the Earth for it passes away very quickly and to have some the more early we sow a little quantity of it upon a Hot Bed It thrives well enough in all sorts of Grounds but yet it grows always fairer in good Grounds than in but indifferent ones Aromatick or sweet or spicy Herbs such as are planted in Edgings of Borders as Marjoram Time Sage Rosemary c. See their Culture under the several Titles of each of those particular Herbs Artichokes as we have already elsewhere told you are multiplied by their Eyes Suckers Slips or Off-Sets which every plant of them usually shoots out every year in the Spring round about its old Root and which must be taken off as soon as they are grown big enough leaving only at each place three of the best and furthest distant one from the other For the planting them we commonly make little Trenches or Pits about half a foot deep and three foot distant one from another and filled with Mold and we place two rows of them regulated by a line in each Bed which is to be full four foot broad and parted from the next Bed by a path-way of one full foot these Trenches of Pits are to be made at about half a foot 's distance from the edge of the Bed and Checquerwise one towards the other we place two Slips in a right Line in each space containing between Nine and Ten Inches in Length We must renew them once every three years at least cut off their Leaves at the beginning of Winter and cover them with long dry dung during all the very cold weather till the end of March when we must uncover them and slip them if their Slips be yet big enough or else stay three Weeks or a Month longer till they be then we must labour and move the Earth well about them and dung them with the rottenest part of that Dung that served them for a covering we water them moderately once or twice a Week till about the end of May their Fruit begins to appear and from that time we must water them plentifully that is two or three times a Week during the whole Summer allowing half a Pitcher full of Water to each plant and especially in Grounds naturally dry those planted in the Spring should bring their Fruit to perfection in Autumn following if well watered and they which do not ought to yield their first Fruit in the next Spring after in case they be strong enough to resist the sharpness of the Winter Artichokes have not only the hard weather and excess of wet to fear but they have the Field Mice likewise for their Enemies those mischievous little Animals gnawing their Roots in the Winter-time when they find nothing better in the Gardens and for that reason it 's good to plant one Rank of Beet-Chards between two Ranks of Artichokes that the Field-Mice finding the Roots of these last the tendrer of the two may fall upon them instead of the others as they never fail to do There are three sorts of Artichokes viz. the green or otherwise white ones which are the most early the violet ones whose Fruit is almost of a pyramidal Figure and the red ones which are round and flat like the white ones The two last sorts are the most delicious Artichoke Chards See Chards Asparagus are sown at the beginning of the Spring like other Seeds that is they are sown in some Bed well prepared they must be sown indifferent thin and raked with an Iron Rake to cover them with Earth About a year after if they be big enough as they will be if the Ground be good and well prepared or if not at least at two years end we must tranplant them which is to be done about the end of March and all the Month of April and for that effect we must have Beds between three and four foot broad and separated one from the other if it be in ordinary Ground we dig these Beds hollow with a good Spade throwing up the Earth we take out of them upon the Path-ways and as to strong heavy and moist Grounds I would have them ordered as I have done the Kitchen-Garden at Versailles that is to say I would not have the Beds in them at all laid hollow but on the contrary raised and kept higher than the Path-ways too much wet being mortal to these Plants Asparagus thus sown shoot out Tufts of Roots round about their Eye or Mother Root that is to say round the place from whence all their shoots are to Spring which Roots spread between two Earths and in order to transplant them either into a hollow Bed or a high raised Bed we bestow a good thorough Tillage on the bottom of the Trench and if the Ground be not very good we dung it a little and afterward we plant two or three stocks of these young Plants orderly in ranks upon the Superâ—icies of the Bed prepared for them without needing to trim the extremity of their Roots or at least but a very little and if our intention be to force these Asparagus by an artificial heat when they are grown big enough we place them at a foot distance one from the other and if they be to remain to grow after the usual manner we allow them at a foot and a half 's distance but in both Cases we place them Checquerwise and when they
are so placed we cover them up again with two or three Inches depth of Earth if any of them fail to Spring up we may reimplace them with new ones two or three Months after which is to be done in the same manner as we planted the others only taking care to water the new planted ones sometimes during the great heat and to keep them always well weeded and well dug about or else we mark out with little sticks the empty places and stay till the Spring before we fill them up again Every year we cover the Bed with a little Earth taken off from the Path-way because instead of sinking they always are rising by little and little we dung them moderately every two years and let them shoot up the first three or four years without gathering any till we see them begin to grow pretty thick and then we may force as many as we please of them or if not we continue to gather of them every year a crop for fifteen years before we need to renew them Every year about Martlemas we cut down all their stems every stock producing several stems and take the seed of the fairest of them for Seed if we would have them come to bear at the time above-mentioned To draw them out of their Nursery-Beds we use an Iron Fork the Spade being too dangerous for that work because it would cut and hurt those little Plants We must not fail every Year at the latter end of March or beginning of April that is before the Asparagus begin to sprout naturally to bestow a small dressing or stirring of the Ground about three or four Inches deep on every Bed taking care not to let the Spade go so deep as to hurt the Plants which small dressing serves both to kill the Weeds and to render the Superficies of the Earth loose and thereby not only the better to dispose it to drink up the Rain and the May-dew that nourishes the Stocks but likewise to facilitate the passage of the Asparagus in sprouting The particular and most dreadful Enemies of Asparagus are a sort of little Fleas that fasten upon their shoots make them miscarry and hinder them from thriving they are most troublesome in very hot and dry years not appearing at all in other years there has been no Remedy found yet against this mischief B. BAlm called in French Melisse is an Odoriferous Herb whose Leaf when tender makes a part of Sallet-Furnitures It is multiplyed both by Seed and by rooted Branches like Lavender Time Hyssop c. Basil is an annual Plant that is very delicate We seldom sow it but upon Hot Beds and not in open Ground as we do Purslain Lettuce c. We begin to sow some in that manner at the very beginning of February and we may continue so to do the whole year It s tender Leaves are mixed in a small quantity with the Furnitures of Sallets among which they make an agreeable perfume It is likewise used in Ragou's especially dry ones for which reason we take care to keep some for Winter We gather its Seed in the Month of August and usually to make it run to Seed we transplant it in the Month of May either in Pots or Beds There are several sorts of it but that which bears the biggest Leaves and especially if they incline to a Violet Colour and that which bears the least Leaves are the two most curious that which produces midling ones being the ordinary or Common sort The Common Bays or Bay-Tree is a shurb of no very great use in our Gardens and therefore it is enough to have some few Plants of it in some well sheltered place to gather some Leaves of them when occasion requires Beans as well those of the Common and Garden sort as those called Kidney-Beans and French-Beans and in French Aricôs are sown in open Ground and grow not otherwise The Aricô French or Kidney-Beans are sown about the latter end of April and all the Month of May and are very sensible of the Frost The Common Garden Beans are sown at the same time with Hasting-Peas both in November and in February Hot Beds See the Works in November Bete-raves or Red Beet-Roots are annual Plants propagated only by Seed and are seldom transplanted They are sown in the Month of March either in Beds or Borders They must be sown very thin or at least if they come up too thick they must be very much thinned or else they will not grow so fair and large as they should be They require a very good and well prepared Ground They are the best that have the Reddest substance and the Reddest Tops They are not good to spend till towards the end of Autumn and all the Winter Season To have Seed of them we transplant in March some of the last years Roots that we have preserved from the Frost their Seed is gathered in the Months of August and September White or Chard-Beets See Chards Borage and Bugloss grow and are to be ordered in the same manner as Arrach only they come not up so vigorously We sow of them several times in the same Summer because their Leaves in which consists all their excellence are good only whilst they are tender that is while they are young Their little Violet Colour'd Flowers serve to adorn Sallets Their Seed falls assoon as 't is ripe and therefore must be carefully watch'd The surest way is to cut down the stalks and lay them a drying in the Sun assoon as ever the Seeds begin to ripen and by that means we shall lose but very few Bourdelai's otherwise called Verjuice as well the White as Red sort is a kind of Vine which is pruned and slipt or layed and graffed and planted as other Vines are in the Months of January February and March Care must be taken to tie up its Branches either to props or some sort of trail about the middle of June at latest or else the wind destroys it quite We must also pick and pluck off the weak and unprofitable Branches of these Vines and when we prune them 't is enough to leave two three or four fair Branches at most upon each stock and to keep them not above three or four buds long every one of which usually shoots forth one bearing Branch with three or four fair Bunches of Grapes upon each Branch My practice is in all sorts of Vines but particularly in the Muscat or Musked sorts to keep the lower Branches shorter by two buds than the highest to keep the Plant always low when I would not have them mount up upon a Trail Buckshorn-Sallet See Hartshorn-Sallet Burnet called in French Pimprenelle or Pimpernelle is a very Common and ordinary Sallet furniture which is seldom sown but in the Spring and is sown thick either in Beds or Borders It often Springs afresh after cutting of which the youngest shoots must be chosen for Sallets the Leaves that are any thing old being too tough It does
the Course of Nature That in every Plant there is a certain Principle of Life which continuing the Rarefaction does also continue both the Being and the Action of the Roots in their Formation That 't is this Inward Principle which Co-operating with each of them in those Offices which Nature has Assigned them Assists them in performing what otherwise it were impossible for them to Effect and consequently that 't is this Principle alone that gives these Roots a Power either to Attract or Receive I shall hereafter give my Opinion in this Grand Question concerning the Action of the Roots at present I shall only say That there are but very few Roots that are able to Act of themselves and when they are once sever'd from the Trees with which they were formed I only say sever'd for of Roots first pluck'd up and then set again I know not whether any are able to Recover themselves and to Act again And though the principal Roots of Elms Rose-Trees Vines Fig-Trees Raspish-Bushes and some other very sprightly Shrubs may sometimes send forth at that end which was next to the Tree from which they were Cut off such Sprouts as may become Elms Rose-Trees Vines c. yet 't is certain that this is a Privilege peculiar to themselves so that we cannot draw any General Consequence from them that the Roots of other Trees and Plants may do the same and upon the whole we may conclude that there is in every Tree a certain Principle of Life which makes its Roots to Act and that too to the utmost of their Power and Capacity We must also allow that in respect of this Principle of Life as well as of the Soil there is a vast difference between Trees The Heat of the Sun being equal in it self does equally Heat a piece of Ground equally Good in it self and equally Expos'd to its Rays as it does also all the Trees that are Planted in it and yet though they seemed all in good Condition when they were Set some of them produce Roots in abundance and others none at all but Languish and Dye Which failure must ordinarily be Ascribed to the Trees themselves and not to the Ground which we supposed equally well Qualified nor to the Sun which also Acts equally upon both It and Them The Planted Trees therefore do chiefly Act by their Principle of Life since it is that which being Animated by the Heat makes the old Roots send forth Young ones to the Actings whereof the Trees are obliged for that constant Supply of Nourishment which preserves and makes them Grow Custom has fix'd the Name of Sap upon this Nourishment and therefore we shall commonly call it so as often as we shall have occasion to speak of it CHAP. III. Reflections upon the Nature of Sap. BEfore I proceed to a closer Disquisition about the Nature of Sap which is the same in Plants that Chile or Blood are in Animals the Water in the Bowels of the Earth being also the same to Plants that Food in the Stomach is to Animals it may be requisite to observe that as the Earth serves to produce and nourish Vegetables as having in it a Virtue or Principle of Fertility necessary for such performances so 't is also certain that of it self and unless it be duly moistened it cannot perform those Offices Just as Sené which being of a Purging Nature does not operate of it self but by means of a proportionate quantity of Water or some other Liquid wherein it is Infus'd and to which by that Infusion it Communicates its Vertue But as this Purging Quality becomes altogether Ineffectual if the proportion of Water be too great for the Quantity of the Sené so also the Earth becomes Unfruitful and Rots Fruit-Trees as well as most other Plants if it happens to be Drench'd or Cover'd with Water It requires some but not too much Moisture and too much Wet is altogether as Prejudicial as too much Drought Now wheresoever the Earth is too Dry it is necessarily Barren and therefore all the Ground we commonly call Good is attended with all sorts of Moisture which indeed is nothing else but real Water diffus'd through every part of the Ground And this Water comes for the most part either from Rain or Snow or Rivers or Springs and sometimes by Artificial Conveyances which Water having by its Weight sunk into and diffused it self through all parts of the Earth it becomes as Philosophers speak Impregnated with the Nitre or Fertile Salt of that Earth Or to use the Gard'ners Term it becomes so far Seasoned with the Quality of that Earth as to assume its Taste whatsoever it be which it Communicates to those Plants it Nourishes The Truth of which Observation is sufficiently Evinced from Experience in Wines and several sorts of Fruits which receive different Tastes from the different Soils they Grow in One part of this Impregnated Moisture whether its Tincture be perceiveable by Sense or not serves to make Minerals and Fountains And another part as we have just now said goes to the Production and Nourishment of a Thousand several sorts of Trees and Plants and Vegetables it being in every Earth of such a Substance as may serve for the use of all sorts of Trees and Plants and is in effect nothing else but that Water we are going to Treat of though it immediately appear very different both in Colour Taste and Consistency as soon as ever it has by the Action of the Roots enter'd into the several Plants and that it ceases to be pure and simple Water For whereas it was at first Liquid before it enter'd the Roots it becomes in time and by degrees in a manner perfectly Hard and as it were Metamorphosed into the Nature either of Fruits or Leaves of Wood or Bark or Pith and there makes a Body more or less Hard according as it happens to be dispos'd of into the several Fruits Trees or Plants And hence perhaps it comes that the Simple Dew which is sprinkled upon certain Flowers in Gardens and Meadows becomes changed part into Honey part into Wax and part into little thin Coats as soon as the Bees have with their usual Industry Collected and by the Instinct and Direction of Nature Wrought and Separated it Now this Hardening of the Sap is not to be Ascribed to any Quality peculiar to it self since 't is no more than what the Skin in Fruits and the Bark in Trees may be supposed to effect for both of them are in all likelihood made up of the grosser parts of the Sap and it is easie to imagine that they may have a Power of Communicating their own Density to the Sap when their inward parts come to be Bathed and Drench'd in it As for instance When the Sap passing between the Bark and the Tree not only Ascends by a kind of Filtration up to the top of the Plant but also if it be in a sufficient Quantity rises even above the top and