Book III, chapters 11–12: Husbandry and the production of new plants

CHAP. XI.

How we may cause fruit to grow bigger then their ordinary kinde.

IT remaineth now that we set down certain rules and wayes whereby fruit may be made greater, and far exceed the ordinary bigness of their own kind: and this may be effected divers wayes; for it may be done either by engraffing only (for indeed this is the chief priviledge that engraffing hath, to procure bigger fruit); or else by planting upon those Trees which bring forth greater fruit of their own kind; or else by gathering of the fruit here and there some, if the Tree be overladen, that so the juice may more plentifully bestow it self upon the fruit that is left behind; or else by dressing and trimming them; or by other devices, as hereafter shall be shewed. We will first begin with engraffing, and shew how we may procure thereby

That Apples or other like fruit shall grow bigger then they are wont.

A tree that is planted with a graffe of her own kinde, will alwayes bring forth greater fruit, then if it were not so planted. We brought an example hereof out of Pliny, that Corellius took a Scion of a Chestnut-tree, and engraffed the same into the tree again, and thereby produced a greater and a better Chestnut. And for my own part; I have oft-times made the like proof in many other fruits, and by experience have found that all fruits may be made greater by engraffing, and caref[…] looking unto, but especially Citrons. Secondly, we may procure fruits to be greater then ordinary, by graffing upon another Tree, whose kind is to bear bigger fruit. As for example, if we would produce

Pears that should be greater then ordinary,

especially the least sort of Pears called Myrapia, or Musk-pears, we may effect it by engraffing them into a Quince-tree; because the Quince tree, of all other, bears the greatest fruit: and thereby the least Pears that are may be so augmented, that they will become a very goodly fruit; experience whereof, we have in many places in our Country. So we may cause

The Medlar-tree to bear huge Medlars,

greater then any man would imagine, if we engraff it into the Quince-tree: the proof whereof both I have made my self, and seen it tried by many others; and the oftener we so engraff it, the greater Medlars we shall procure. Likewise

The small Apricock may be made greater,

whereas they are the smallest kinde of Peaches that are. I have oftentimes engraffed it upon that kind of Damosin-tree which bears a Plum like a Goats stone both in shape and greatness, (it may be it is our Scag-tree) and by this means I procured great Apricocks: but if you ingraff it into any other Damosin-tree, it will yeeld but a bastard fruit: for the Apricock doth not endure kindly, to be engraffed into any other trees besides. In our Naples and Surrentine orchards, there is excellent fruit of this kinde; and I never saw any elsewhere. We may also

augment the fruit of the Myrtle-tree.

The Pomegranate-tree and the Myrtle-tree are each delighted with others company, as Didy[…]us writeth in his Georgicks; where he saith plainly, that the Pomegranate-tree being engraffed into the Myrtle-tree, and likewise the Myrtle-tree into the Pomegranate-tree, do each of them bring forth a greater fruit. But I am perswaded that the Myrtle-tree brings forth greater fruit in proportion to her body when it is engraffed upon the Pomegranate-tree, because the kinde of this is greater then the kinde of that, then the Pomegranate-tree doth when it is engraffed upon the Myrtle-tree. By such a kinde of means we may also procure

Mulberries greater then ordinary,

if we engraff a Mulberry into a Fig-tree: for so Palladius hath written, That if the Mulberry be engraffed into a Fig-tree, the Fig-tree will cause it to change his colour, and will fill up the fruit thereof with a fat juyce, so that they shall be greater Mulberries then ordinarily their kinde is wont to yeeld. A third means whereby Apples or such-like fruit may be augmented, is, by plucking off some of the fruit here and there, and leaving some few upon the trees: for so shall the juyce of the tree bestow it self more liberally upon the fruit that is left, and make it greater: as a mother doth more bountifully feed one childe with her milk, then she can feed twain. Wherefore if we would procure

Citrons greater then their kinde,

Florentinus counselleth us, that when the fruit beginneth to weigh down the boughs, we should pluck off here and there some, and leave but a few behinde; so shall they that are left be thicker and bigger every way. P[…]ntanus also saith the same. If, saith he, you would have great Citrons, big enough to fill your hand, you must shake off a great many from all the boughs, onely leaving some few, (but you must leave both the greatest, and those also that grow in the chiefest and likeliest parts of the tree[…]) for, saith he, the heir which is left, will make himself merry and fat with his brothers milk, and thrive much the better. Palladius shews

How to make Apples greater then ordinary,

and it is by this same means. For when they hang thick upon the bough[…], you must gather away the worst, that so the nourishing juyce may be converted to the best, and the fairest may thereby be the better augmented. There is yet another means whereby we may cause fruit to be the greater; and this by dressing and trimming, when we dig about them, and water them, and lay muck about them. And first, by this means

Citrons may be made greater:

for, as Palladius saith, they are much holpen and delighted with continual digging about them. And

Quince-pears may be augmented,

as the same Author sheweth, by watering them continually. And

Peaches may be augmented much,

if we plant them in moist places, and supply them with continual watering. But if you would have the Peach-trees

Bring forth very great ones,

you must watch the time when they blossom, and suckle them three days together with three pintes of Goats milk, as Palladius sheweth. We have practised to cause

The Pomegranate-tree to bear a mighty fruit;

and that by this means. We took a good portion of fat muck, whereunto we put an equal portion of Swines dung, and the lees of Wine and Barley-bran; and we kept all this in a dry place for a year together, every month manging them again one with another; and at last we put Vineger to it, and made it like an Ointment. Afterward in October and November, we digged away the earth from about some parts of the Pomegranate-tree-roots, and there wrapt in this Ointment round about them, and at length covered them again with earth; and by this Device I had greater Pomegranates then ever the tree bare before. But now if you would go forward, and practise the same upon it the two next years following, questionless you might produce very huge Pomegranates, wonderful to be seen, as big as Gourds. Likewise we have caused

Beans to bring forth great cods,

by anointing them with this same ointment, and afterward sowing them in the earth: whereby we had great increase, both for the bigness of the Bean, and also of the cod. Also

Leeks and roots of Radish may be made greater;

if we translate them out of one place, and set them in another, as Theophrastus sheweth. If you would have

A Rape grow bigger and rounder,

you must sow it assoon as ever it is ready to be taken out of the husk: for by the advantage and benefit of the season wherein it is sowed, it will be the more augmented; because the root will thereby be the better filled, and the larger grown. Likewise Florentinus sheweth, how to make

Pease of a bigger growth.

If, saith he, you take Pease, and steep them in warm water the day before you sow them, they will grow the greater. Some men take more pains then needeth; who, because they would have a greater Pease growing, they steep them shells and all, and put Nitre into the water wherein they are steeped, and sow them in their shells.

Vitches may be made bigger,

if they be set with a little pole, to grow up thereby: for this will cause them to thicken, as Theophrastus saith. So also

Onions may be thickned,

as Sotion sheweth. About some twenty days before you translate them from the place where they first grew, you must dig away the earth about them, and let them lie a drying, that all moisture may be kept from them; and then plant them again, and they will grow much bigger. But if withal you pill of the top-skin, and so plant them, they will be far greater. Likewise we may cause

Artichocks to bear a fuller fruit,

as Varro sheweth. If you plant them in a well-soiled place, and cover them with old dung, and water them often in the summer-time, you shall by this means have a fuller and a more tender Artichock. We may also practise another Device whereby to make greater fruit, which Theophrastus hath set down; and he brings an Example, how to make

Pomegranates to grow greater then ordinary:

for Art may cause the greatness of Fruit. When the first buds be formed upon the boughs, they must be put into an earthen vessel that is made with a hole quite thorow; and the bough whereon they grow, must be swayed downward without hurting it: then cover the pot with earth, and so you shall have exceeding great Pomegranates. The reason whereof is this: The pot preserves the fruit from the vapours that would otherwise annoy it: and besides, the earth ministreth some moisture unto it; so that the bigness thereof is increased by the store of nourishment. It receives no more help from the tree, then if it were out of the earth; and therefore the kernels are no greater then ordinary; but the pill is much thicker: the proper juice of it is somewhat wasted and consumed; for which cause the taste of this fruit so handled, is waterish and worse then others: but the rine receives outward nourishment, and spends none; for which cause that is much thicker. The like practise Palladius and Martial use, thereby to procure

A great Citron.

They take a Citron when it is young, and shut it up fast in an earthen vessel: for the Citron will increase continually, till it come to be of the bigness and fashion of the vessel wherein it is put: but there must be a hole made thorow the vessel, whereby the air may get in unto it. By the like device, Theophrastus assays to produce

Cucumbers and Gourds greater then ordinary,

by hiding them while they are young, both from Sun and from Winde, that nothing may come at them to hinder their growth. Like to this Device, is the setting of them in Fennel-stalks, or in earthen Pipes; whereby the natural Juyce and Nourishment is kept in, to the increasing of their growth. We will also shew, out of Theophrastus, a like Device, whereby the Herb

Alisander or Parsley may be made greater.

You must dig the Alisander round about the root, and cover it with Cachryl, and then heap earth upon it. For the roots spend all the moisture themselves, and suffer no nourishment to ascend into the buds. This Cachryl is hot and thick: and as by the thickness it draws nourishment to it, so by vertue of the heat it doth concoct and digest that which it hath attracted: and therefore seeing this doth both draw more nourishment to the Alisander, and also concoct it, there must needs be a greater augmentation of that herb. This practice he borrowed of Aristotle. This herb may also be made bigger by another means, namely, if when you plant it, you make a hole for it in the ground with a great stake: for the root will at length fill up the hole. So there is a means to make

A Radish-root grow bigger,

if it be planted in a cold ground, as Pliny sheweth. For Radishes are much cherished and delighted with cold; as in some cold places of Germany there be Radishes growing as big as a little childe. Some have reported, that if you drive a stake into the ground six inches deep, and put chaff into the pit which the stake hath made, and then put in the Radish-seed, covering it over with earth and muck, the Radish will grow up to the bigness of the pit. By a Device not much unlike to this, Florentinus sheweth how to

Make great Lettise.

You must remove them, and water them well; and when they are grown half a handful high, you must dig round about them, that the roots may be seen: then wrap them in Ox-dung, and cover them over again, and water them still; and when they are waxen bigger, cut the leaves cross with a sharp knife, and lay upon them a little barrel or tub that never was pitc[…]ed, (for Pitch will hurt the herb) that so it may grow not in height, but onely spread forth in breadth. So the herb

Beet may be made greater,

as Sotion sheweth. To make Beet grow in bigness, saith he, thou must cover the roots over with some fresh Ox-dung, and divide the leaves or buds, and lay a broad stone or a tyle upon it, to cause it to spread forth in bredth. You may also make

Leeks greater,

by removing them, and laying a great stone or a broad tyle upon them: but in no case must they be watered. By the very same Device, Anatolius sheweth how to make

Garlick greater,

by laying tyles upon the roots thereof, as upon Leeks. Theophrastus sheweth another kinde of Device, whereby to make

Radishes greater;

and he saith that the Gardeners of his time were wont to practise it. They took away the leaves in the Winter-time, when they flourish most, and cast the Radishes into the ground, covering them over with earth; and so they lasted and grew till Summer came again, never shooting forth either into buds or leaves, except it were where the earth was gone, that they lay uncovered. The like Experiment doth Palladius teach, concerning the Rape-root, whereby to make

Rape-roots greater.

Assoon as you have plucked them up, you must strip off all the leaves, and cut off the stalk about half an inch above the root: then make certain furrows for them in the ground, for every one of them a several furrow; and there bury them asunder, about eight inches deep: and when you have cast earth upon them, tread it in; and by that means you shall have great Rape-roots. By the like means, Theophrastus thinks, we may procure

The herb Wake-robbin to grow greater.

When it is most full of leaves, and when the leaves be at the broadest, we must bow them downward, winding them round about the root within the earth, that so the herb may not bud forth, but all the nourishment may be converted to the head of the herb. So may we make

Onions to grow bigger,

as Theophrastus supposeth, if we take away all the stalk, that the whole force of the nourishment may descend downwards; lest if it should be diffused, the chief vertue thereof should spend it self upon the seeding. Sotion saith, that if a man plant Onions, he must cut off both the tops and the tails thereof, that so they may grow to a greater bigness then ordinary. Palladius saith, that if we desire to have great-headed Onions, we must cut off all the blade, that so the juyce may be forced down to the lower parts. In like manner, if we would have

Garlick-heads greater then common,

we must take all the greenish substance thereof, before it be bladed, and turn it downward, that so it may grow into the earth. There is yet another Device, whereby to make herbs and roots grow bigger then ordinary; but yet I like not so well of it, howsoever many ancient Writers have set it down: and first,

How to make Leeks grow greater.

Columella hath prescribed this course: you must take a great many Leek-seeds, and binde them together in thin linen clouts, and so cast them into the ground, and they will yeeld large and great leeks. Which thing Palladius also confirms by his authority, in the very same words. But both of them had it out of Theophrastus, who putteth it for a general Rule, That if a man sowe many seeds bound up together in a linen cloth, it will cause both the root to be larger, and the buds to be larger also; and therefore in his time they were wont to sow Leeks, Parsly, and other herbs after the same manner: for they are of more force when there be many seeds together, all of them concurring into one nature. Moreover, it makes not a little to the enlarging of fruits, to take the seeds which we would sow, out of some certain part of the former fruit. As for example: we shall procure

A Gourd of a greater or larger growth,

if we take the seed out of the middle of a Gourd, and set it with the top downward. This course Columella prescribes, in his Hortulus: Look, saith he, where the Gourd swells most, and is of the largest compass, thence, even out of the middle thereof, you must take your seed, and that will yeeld you the largest fruit. And this is experienced not in Gourds onely, but also in all other fruits: for the seeds which grow in the bowels or belly, as it were, of any fruit, are commonly most perfect, and yeeld most perfect fruit; wheras the seeds that grow in the outward parts, produce for the most part weak & unperfect fruit. Likewise the grains that are in the middle of the ear, yeeld the best corn; whereas both the highest and the lowest are not so perfect: but because Gourds yeeld great increase, therefore the experience hereof is more evidently in them then in any other. Cucumbers will be of a great growth, as the Quintiles say, if the seeds be set with their heads downward; or else if you set a vessel full of water under them in the ground, that so the roots may be drenched therein: for we have known them grow both sweeter and greater by this Device.

CHAP. XII.

How to produce fruit that shall not have any stone or kernel in it.

IT is a received thing in Philosophy, especially amongst those that have set forth unto us the choicest and nicest points of Husbandry, that if you take Quicksets, or any branches that you would plant, and get out the pith of them with some earpicker, or any like instrument made of bone, they will yeeld fruit without any stone, and without any kernel: for it is the pith that both breedeth and nourisheth the substance of the kernel. But the Arcadians are of a quite contrary opinion: for, say they, every tree that hath any pith in it at all, will live; but if all the pith be taken out of it, it will be so far from yeelding any stoneless fruit, that it cannot chuse but die, and be quite dried up. The reason is, because the pith is the moistest and most lively part of any tree or plant: for the nourishment which the ground sends up into any plant, is conveyed especially by the pith into all the other parts: for Nature hath so ordained it, that all the parts draw their nourishment, as it were their soul and their breath, thorow the marrow or pith of the stock, as it were thorow a Squirt or Conduit-pipe. Which may appear by experience, seeing any bough or stalk, so soon as the marrow is gone, returns and crooks backward, till it be quite dried up, as the Ancients have shewed. But I for my part must needs hold both against Theophrastus, and against others also that have written of Husbandry, both that trees may live after their marrow is taken from them, and also that they will bring forth fruit having stones or kernels in them, though there be no pith in the trees themselves, as I have shewed more at large in my books of Husbandry. Notwithstanding, lest I should omit any thing belonging to this argument, I have thought good here to set down the examples which those Ancients have delivered in writing, that every man that lists may make trial hereof; and haply some amongst the rest using greater diligence in the proof hereof then I did, may finde better success herein then I have found. There be many means, whereby Plants may be deprived of kernels; as namely, by engraffing, by taking out their pith, by soiling with dung, or by watering, and by other Devices. We will first begin, as our wonted manner is, with engraffing; and will shew how to produce

A Peach-apple without a stone.

Palladius saith he learned this new kinde of engraffing of a certain Spaniard, which he saith also he had experienced in a Peach-tree. Take a Willow-bough about the thickness of a mans arm; but it must be very sound, and two yards long at the least: bore it thorow the middle, and carry it where a young Peach-tree grows: then strip off all the Peach-tree-sprigs all but the very top, and draw it thorow the hole of the Willow-bough: then stick both ends of the Willow into the ground, that it may stand bending like a bowe; and fill up the hole that you bored, with dirt and moss, & bind them in with thongs. About a year after, when the Peach-tree and the Willow are incorporated into each other, cut the plant beneath the joyning place, and remove it, and cover both the Willow-bough and the top of the plant also with earth; and by this means you shall procure Peaches without stones. But this must be done in moist and waterish places; and besides, the Willow must be relieved with continual watering, that so the nature of the wood may be cherished, (as it delights in moisture) and it may also minister abundant juyce to the plant that is engraffed in it. By the like experiment we may procure, as Avicenna shews, that

A Citron shall grow without any seed in it:

for, saith he, if we engraff it into a Quince-tree, it will yeeld such a fruit. Albertus promiseth to produce

A Medlar without any stones,

by engraffing it into an Apple-tree, or a Service-tree. But experience proves this to be false; yet surely, if it be so engraffed, it will have a softer kernel a great deal. The reason which brought the Ancients to think and write thus, was this: They saw that such fruits as have in them the hardest stones, do grow upon such trees as have in them the hardest pith; as the Dog-tree, the Olive-tree, the Damosin-tree, the Myrtle-tree, and the like: they saw also, that such trees as have a soft and a spungie kind of pith in them, as the Fig-tree, the Alder-tree, and such-like, bring forth fruit without any stones in them at all: and from hence they gathered and concluded, that it is the pith which nourishes the kernel. Which thing howsoever it hath some little shadow of truth in it, yet they should not have extended it generally to all plants, seeing experience proves it to fail very often. Now let us come to the second means whereby fruit may be prevented of their kernels; and this is by taking forth the pith or marrow. As for example: if you would procure the growing of

A Grape without any stone in it,

Democritus counselleth you to take a branch or twig of a Vine, and cleave it just in the middle, and either with a stone, or some instrument made of bone, fetch out all the pith, in that part which you will plant within the earth, or at least as far as you can hollow it without spoil: then presently bind up the parts together again with paper stiffly and tightly wrapped about them, and make a trench for them in some moist and very fertile soil, where you must plant them in one, and fasten it to some sure prop, that it may not be wreathed nor bowed; so will they soon grow up together into one, as they were before: but it would be much better, if you would put the clove or head of a Sea-onion into that part which you have robbed of the pith: for this is as good as glue to fasten them together; and the moisture hereof will keep them supple, as also the heat hereof will cherish them much. Theophrastus saith, that you may procure Grapes without any stones in them, if you rob the Vine-branch of the pith that is in it, whereof the stones are wont to be gendred. And Columella saith, that if you would have Grapes without stones, you must cleave the Vine-branch, and take out all the pith; but so, that the buds be not hurt thereby: then joyn it together, and binde it up again, so that you crush not the buds; and so plant it in a well-soiled ground, and there water it often: and when it beginneth to shoot up into slips, you must dig deep about it oftentimes; and when it cometh to bear, it will yeeld you Grapes with our any stones. Palladius saith, there is a goodly kinde of Grape which hath no kernels in it, so that it may be swallowed down easily, and that with no small pleasantness, as if it were many Grapes stoned and supped up together. The manner of the procuring it is, as the Greeks record, by Art assisted with Nature, on this wise: The set which we would plant, must be cleft in the midst, so far as we mean to set it within the ground; and when we have picked and clean scraped out all the pith of those parts, we must close them togethe[…] again; and when we have bound them hard up, set them in the earth: but the bond wherewith they are tied up, must be made of Paper or Parchment; and the ground where they are set, must be a moist place. Some go to work more precisely, and put the plant so […] and made up again, into a Sea-onion, so far as the plant was cloven: for by the help thereof, all plants do sooner and easier take root. Pliny likewise saith, there is […] new[…]invented kinde of Grapes, when the Vine-branch that is to he planted, is cloven in the middle, and all the pith scraped out, and the pieces knit up together again, with a special care that the buds receive no harm any way: then they set the Vine-branch in a well-soiled ground; and when it beginneth to shoot forth, they pru[…]e it, and dig often about it: the Grapes which it afterwards bears, will have no hard kernels in them, as Columella writes; howbeit, it is great marvel that there can be in them any kernels at all, though never so soft, seeing all the pith, which is the mother of the kernel, is quite taken away. But surely I for my part marvel at those who think it strange that a tree should live when this pith is gone, & are perswaded that a Vine-branch can bear fruit without kernels when the pith is taken out of it; seeing many men in the Country are eye-witnesses that there do many plants live without any pith in them; and seeing also it is impossible almost that any tree should bear fruit without kernels, because the kernel carries it self the very seed whereby one fruit may be generated of another. Likewise you may procure, as Democritus also sheweth,

Pomegranates and Cherries without any stones;

if in like manner you pick out the pith of the young plants that you set. And Africanus saith, If you deal with these as with Vine-branches, plucking out the pith after you have cleft them, and then plant them; and after a while cut off the upper parts of the plants when they have budded forth, then the Pomegranate set, will yield fruit without any kernels. Palladius borrows this same experiment of Africanus, and sets it down word by word as he doth. Likewise that

A Cherry-tree may bring forth fruit without any stone within;

Martial sheweth more distinctly. Cut off a young plant about two foot long, and cleave it as it stands in the ground, down to the root, and then fetch out the pith on both sides, and presently tie them up again fast, and cover the whole cleft both on the top, and on both sides, with muck; so shall they grow fast together again in one year: then engraffe some young sprigs of a Cherry-tree, such as never bare any fruit before into this stock, and by this means you shall procure Cherries without any stones at all. Others, that they might accomplish their purpose more speedily, did not cleave such tender young Cherry-trees, but bored a great hole thorough Trees of good growth, so that it might pierce the whole pith, and cross it in the middle of the Tree; then they put a stake or a wedge into it, which might stop the passage of the pith, that none might be ministred into the upper parts. In like manner Africanus teacheth how to procure

A Peach without any stone.

You must, saith he, bore a hole beneath through the body of the Tree, and having so cut off the pith from passing upward, you must fill up the hole with a stake of Willow or Prick-wood; so shall you intercept the pith from ascending out of the root into the branches. Some Writers there are, which shew how to procure stoneless fruit by diligence in dressing and trimming of plants. It is held for a rule in Husbandry, that soft, fat, and moist nourishment doth alter all wilde and unkindly fruit into that which is milder and more natural: It is a kind of mildeness in fruits, to have a little, soft and sweet kernel; as on the contrary, it is wildenesse to have a great and a hard kernel, for it cometh by reason of a kind of harsh and dry nourishment that the earth sends up into them. Wherefore no doubt but we may procure the kernel of a fruit to be smaller and more tender, by diligence and skill in dressing them. To begin with a Vine:

How a Vine may bring forth grapes without a harsh and stony kernel.

At such time as Vines are pruned, you must take a fruitful sprig, somewhat neer the top as you can, and there, as it grows, you must pick out the pith at the highest end, never cleaving it, but hollowing it with some fit instrument as well as you can, and there uphold it with a prop that it bow not down: then take some Cyrenian juice, as the Greeks call it, and pour it into the place that is hollow; but first you must steep this juice in water, to the thickness of sodden wine: and this you must do for eight dayes together every day once, till the vine-branch sprout forth again. Columella saith the very same; that the vine-branch as it grows upon the Vine must be cut, and the pith of it fetched out with some fit instrument, as well as you may, out of the top without the cleaving of the branch, but the branch being whole, and still growing on the Vine, you must put into it some Benjamin or Cyrenian juice steeped in water, as was shewed before, and set it upright with a prop, that the juice may not run forth; and this is to be done for eight dayes together. So if we would procure

A Myrtle without a kernel,

Theophrastus teacheth us how to do it. If you water the Myrtle-tree with hot water, then, saith he, the fruit will be the better, and without any kernel. Some affirm, that this experiment was found out by chance: for whereas there stood neer to a Bath, a Myrtle-tree which no man regarded, the Commers by took off some of the fruit by chance, and found them without any kernels; then they carried some home, and set them, and so this kind of fruit began first in Athens. Didymus also saith, that if the Myrtle-tree be often watered with warm liquor, it will yeeld berries without any stones or kernels within. Theophrastus sheweth yet another way whereby this may be effected; take, saith he, the filth or shavings of skins, and put them in Urine, and so lay them about the root of the Myrtle-tree at such time as the buds begin to shew themselves, and so shall you have berries that have either none at all, or else very small kernels in them. Likewise the Pomegranate may be produced without any kernels within it, if you lay good store of Swines-dung about the root of the Pomegranate-tree.