Book III, chapters 17–18: Husbandry and the production of new plants

CHAP. XVII.

How to procure fruits to be sweeter and pleasanter for taste.

THere are some trees, which cannot away with any scar, but if you cut their stock never so little, or make any other scar in them, presently the Air and the extrinsecal heat get in, and so the Trees perish; for the corruption will fall downward to the root, and so make the Trees presently to wither and fade away. Now there are other Trees, which will abide not only a scar, but also to have their stock cleft, and to be bored into; yea, and by this means too, they will bear fruit more plentifully; as doth the Pomegranate-tree, the Almond-tree, and the Apple-tree; of all which there is very great use. The reason hereof is this: Their nature and kinde is, to receive so much nourishment as is sufficient for them, and to void away hurtful and superfluous humours: for as those living creatures which sweat most, or have some other issue in their bodies, are most healthful and wont to live longest; so when these Trees have a cut or a scar in them whereby they sweat out, as it were, their hurtful and superfluous moisture, they do more easily digest that moisture which is left behind within them; and the better that the moisture is digested, the sweeter and pleasanter is their juice. And besides, they will live, if the parts have any continuation at all, though it be never so little, only if they may but hang together: and therefore they will easily defend themselves from any harm that may happen unto them by the cutting or mangling of any of their parts. We will shew how to procure fruits that shall be sweter in taste then ordinarily their kind is wont to afford, first by engraffing, secondly by boring or cutting, and last of all by other means. And first, by engraffing we may procure

Cherries that shall have in them the relish of Bayes,

For as we have shewed before, engraffing may amend those defects that are in plants and endue them with better qualities: so that if you have any fruit that is loathsome, because it is too sweet, do but engraffe it into a bitter Tree, and there will be such a medley, that your fruit shall have a very savoury relish. Pliny saith, that if you engraffe a Cherry upon a Bay-tree, you shall have Cherries thence growing, that will have the smatch of the Bay. Palladius saith the same, engraffe a Cherry upon a Bay-tree, and the fruit that grows thence, will have the relish of the Bay. In my time, there have been seen certain Cherries in Naples, which they called Bay-cherries, somewhat bitter, but yet pleasant withal; a most excellent kinde of fruit, far better then any other cherries, of a very large assize, full of juice, of a very sanguine colour, that have a bitter-sweet taste, so that they are neither loathsome for their overmuch sweetnesse, nor yet to be refused for their overmuch bitterness. So likewise may be procured

Sweeter Apples by engraffing them into a Quince

For if you do engraffe an Apple into a Quince, the Apple will have a relish like honey: which kinde of fruit the Athenians do therefore call Melimela, because they taste like honey, as Diophanes sheweth. Now we will shew also, how by husbandry and skilful dressing, fruits may be made sweeter in taste; namely, by piercing or boring the stock, or scarrifying it round about, or by some other chastisements, as the Husband-men are wont to call them; for by these means, the trees may purge themselves of their superfluous moisture, and so they will bear the sweeter fruit. As for example: If you would learn,

How to procure the Almond-tree to yield fruit without any bitterness.

Aristotle hath taught you the way. You must knock a great nail into the body of the Almond-tree, that the gum of the Tree, which causeth the bitternesse of the fruit, may drop out by that passage. And this is such a sleight that hereby you may tame, as it were, wilde Trees, and alter their nature into a milder kind. Theophrastus saith, that if you dig round about the stock of the Almond-tree, and bore thorough it about nine inches above the ground, the gum will thereby drop out, and so the fruit will become the sweeter by that chastisement. If you cut off a bough, or an arm of it, so that the gum may have egresse that way, and if you wipe away the gum still as it cometh forth, and observe this for two or three years together, you may by this means alter a bitter Almond-tree into a sweet one. For the bitternesse proceeds from no other cause, but onely from the superfluity of nourishment and moisture, which is abated by boring into the stock: and when once that which is superfluous is evacuated, then that which is left, is more easily concocted, and so the tree becomes fertile in bringing forth a sweeter and a better fruit. Africanus likewise affirmeth, that if you dig about the stock of a bitter Almond-tree, and make a hole into it some four inches above the root, whereby it may sweat out the hurtful moisture, it will become sweet. Pliny saith the same; If you dig round about the stock, saith he, and bore thorough the lower part of it, and wipe away the humour which there issueth forth, a bitter Almond-tree will become sweet. Some there are, who after they have made that hole, do presently put honey into it, that it may not be quite empty; for they are of opinion, that the relish of the honey is conveyed up into the fruit, through the pith, as thorough a Conduit-pipe. As for example sake; If we would procure

Sweet Citrons;

(for that kind of fruit was not wont to be eaten in Theophrastus time, nor in Athenaeus time, as himself reports, nor yet in Plinies time:) Palladius hath shewed, how to alter the bitter pith of a Citron-tree into sweet. His words are these. It is reported that the bitter pithes of Citrons may be made sweet, if you take the Citron-seeds, and steep them in honey-water, or else in Ewes milk, (for this is better) for the space of three dayes before you set them. Some do bore a hole sloaping into the body of a Tree, but not quite thorough it; by which passage the bitter humour drops away: This hole they make in it the about February, and leave it so, till the fruit is fashioned; but after the fruit is fashioned, then they fill up the hole with morter; and by this device the pith is made sweet. This hath Pontanu[…] set down in his book called, The Gardens of Hesperides. What is it, saith he, that Art will not search into? Cut a thick Vine, and make it hollow on the the top, about thy hand breadth; but so, that the brims of the hole be brought round and something close together, so that the sides be about an inch thick and no more. Pour into it and fill it up with liquefied honey, and cover it with a broad stone that the Sun may not come at it. And when the Vine hath drunk in all that, then fill it up again with the like: and when that is soaked in too, then open the concavity wider, and let the Vine grow: but you must continually water the tender roots thereof with mans water: and you must be sure that you leave no buds or leaves upon the stock, that so there may be no other moisture let into it, but the whole Vine may grow up as it were in a spring of honey. Palladius shews also

How to make sweet Almonds of bitter ones,

even by boring a hole in the middle of the stock, and putting into it a woodden wedge besmeared over with honey.

Sweet Cucumbers

may be procured, by steeping Cucumber seeds in sweet waters, till they have drunk them up: for they being planted, will produce sweet Cucumbers. Theophrastus shews how to make sweet Cucumbers, even by the same sleight; by steeping their seed in milk, or else in water and honey sodden together, and so planting them. Columella saith, that a Cucumber will eat very tender and sweet, if you steep the seed thereof in milk before you set it. Others, because they would have the Cucumber to be the sweeter, do steep the seed thereof in honey-water. Pliny and Palladius do write the same things of the same fruit, out of the same Authors. Cassianus hath declared out of Varro, how to procure

Sweet Artichocks growing.

You must take the Artichock-seeds, and steep them in milk and honey, and after you have dryed them again, then set them, and the fruit will relish of honey. So you may procure

Sweet Fennel growing,

For if you steep Fennel-seeds in sweet wine and milk, then will the fruit that grows of those seeds, be much sweeter. Or else if you put the seeds thereof in dry figs, and so plant them, the like effect will follow. So you may procure

Sweet Melons,

as Palladius shews; even by steeping the seeds thereof in milk and sweet wine for three dayes together: for then if you dry them, and set them being so dryed, there will grow up a very sweet fruit. Likewise you may procure

Sweet Lettice;

for if you water them in the evening with new sweet wine, and let them drink for three evenings together as much of that liquor as they will soak up, it will cause sweet Lettice, as Aristoxenus the Cyrenian hath taught out of Athenaeus. So

A sweet Radish may be procured,

by steeping the Radish-seeds for a day and a night in honey, or in sodden wine, as both Palladius and Florentinus have recorded. So you may procure the same, by steeping the seeds in new sweet wine, or else in the juice of Raisons. There is also another device, whereby to make sharp or bitter fruits to become sweet; and this is by art and cunning in dressing them; as, by pouring hot water, or the Lees of oile, or casting soil and such like about their roots. As for example: when we would make

A bitter Almond to become sweet,

we cast some sharp piercing matter upon the root, that by vertue of their heat, the Tree may the more easily concoct her moisture, and so yield a sweeter fruit. Theophrastus saith, that if we apply hot and strong soil, as Swines-dung, or such like, to the root of the bitter Almond-tree, it will become sweet: but it will be three years before the Tree be so changed, and for all that time you must use the same husbanding of it. Africanus saith; If you uncover the roots, and apply them still with Urine, or with Swines dung, then will the fruit be the sweeter. The Quintils report of Aristotle, that, by covering the Almond-tree root with Swines-dung, in March, of a bitter one it becometh sweet. And Palladius useth the very same practise. By the same device

Sharp and sowre Pomgranate-trees may be made to bring forth a sweet Pomegranate:

for these also may be changed from sharp and sowre into sweet. Aristotle shews in his book of plants, that Pomegranate-trees, if their roots be applyed with Swins-dung, and watered with soom cool sweet liquor, the fruit will be the better and the sweeter. Theophrastus saith, that the roots of a Pomegranate-tree must be applyed with Urine, or with the offals and refuse of hides, yet not in too great a quantity: for the roots of this kind of Tree have need of some sharp matter to knaw upon them, and most of all, every third year, as we said before of the Almond-tree; but indeed the Pomegranate-roots are more durable. The reason is, because of a kind of softnesse in the roots, which is peculiar unto them alone. Now Swines-dung, saith he, or somewhat that is of the like operation, being cast upon the roots, doth sweeten the juice of the Tree: as also if you pour on good store of cold water, it will work some kind of change thereof. Paxamus prescribes this course, to dig round about the root of the Tree, and to lay Swins-dung upon it, and then when you have cast earth upon that, water it with mans Urine. Columella saith; If you have a Pomegranate-tree that bears a sharp and a sowre fruit, this is your way to amend it: You must cover the roots with Swins-dung and mans ordure, and water them with mans Urine that hath stood long in some vessel; and so it will yield you for the first years a fruit that tastes somewhat like wine, and afterward a sweet and pleasant Pomegranate. Pliny reporteth the very same thing out of the very same Authors. Anatolius shews

How to make an Apple-tree become sweeter;

and that is, by watering it continually with Urine, which is a thing very comfortable to an Apple-tree. Some do use Goats-dung and the Lees or dregs of old wine, applying them to the roots of the Apple-tree, and thereby cause it to bear a sweeter fruit. Theophrastus saith; If you water an Apple-tree with warm water in the Spring time, i[…] will become better. The like applications being used to Herbs, will make them sweeter also. As for example sake; we may procure

Sweet Endive.

There be many things, which being watered with salt liquors, do forsake their bitternesse, and become sweet. Of which sort Endive is one: and therefore if we would have sweet Endive, Theophrastus willeth us, to water it with some salt liquor, or else to set it in some salt places. The like practise will procure

Sweet Coleworts.

And therefore the Aegyptians do mix water and Nitre together, and sprinkle it upon Coleworts, that they may be sweet: And hence it is that the best Coleworts are they which are planted in salt grounds: for the saltnesse, either of the ground where it is set, or of the liquor wherewith it is watered, doth abate and take away the tartnesse and natural saltnesse of the Coleworts. In like manner, if you would procure

Sweet Betony,

Theoph[…]astus counselleth you to water them with salt liquor, and so they will be better. Which very same things Pliny reporteth out of the same Author. Likewise you may procure

Sweet Rochet,

such as will yeeld leaves that shall be more toothsome, if you water it with salt liquor. There is another sleight in husbanding of Pot-herbs, whereby they may be produced fitter to be eaten; and this is by cropping the stalks of them,

Basil will grow the sweeter,

if you crop the stalk of it: for at the second springing, the stalk will be sweeter and pleasanter; a most evident reason whereof is assigned by Theophrastus. So

Lettice will be the sweeter

at the second springing. Theophrastus saith, that the sweetest Lettice springs up after the cropping of the first tops; for the first tops of their first springing, are full of a milky kind of juice, which is not so pleasant, because that it is not throughly concocted; but they which grow at the second springing, if you take them when they are young and tender, will be far sweeter. He shews also, how

Leeks may be made sweeter;

by cropping them once or twice, and afterward let them grow: the cause whereof he hath assigned in his book of causes, namely, that their first shooting up is the weakest and the most unperfect. The like is to be thought and practised in other Pot-herbs: for the cropping or cutting off, doth make the second sprouts to be the sweeter, almost in all herbs. There are also divers other sleights in husbanding and dressing of such Pot-herbs, whereby they may be made sweeter to be eaten. As for example,

Garlick may be made sweeter,

for Sotion is perswaded, that, if you break the Cloves of Garlick before you set them, or else supple them with the Lees of oyle, when you do set them, they will gather and yield a far sweeter relish. By another sleight far differing from this,

Onions may be made sweeter;

for we must consider, that divers things do exercise a mutual discord or agreement & concord of natures toward each other; whereby they either help one another, if their natures agree; or, if their natures dissent, they hurt and destroy one another. Nuts and Onions have a sympathy or agreement of nature; and therefore if you lay up Nuts amongst Onions, the Onions will cause the Nuts to last the longer: in liew of which kindness, Nuts do gratifie Onions with another good turn, for they ease the Onions of their sharpnesse, as Palladius hath observed.

CHAP. XVIII.

How fruits that are in their growing, may be made to receive and resemble all figures and impressions whatsoever.

MAny things do fall out by chance, and hap-hazard, as they say, which an ingenious man lighting upon, doth by his great industry, and often experiments that he makes of them, turn and apply to very good use. Whence it is that the Poet saith, manifold experience, and much labour and practice, sets a broach to the world many new arts and rare devices. And because the most part are not acquainted with the cause of such things, thence it is, that they are esteemed to be miraculous, and to come to passe besides Natures rule. We have oftentimes seen in Citrons, divers kinds of stamps and impressions, which were made there by chance; as by the hitting of some carved matter, or any stick, or such like, which hath caused the same impressions: whence, the wit of man hath devised to cause divers kinds of fruits, to grow up with divers kinds of figures on them. If you take an earthen vessel, and put-into it an apple that is very young, as it hangs upon the Tree growing, the Apple will grow to fill up his earthen case, and will be of any form whatsoever you would desire, if you make the case accordingly. Also if you pown any colours and bray them together, and dispose of them in places convenient on the fruit, on the inside of the case, the fruits will wear and expresse the same colours, as if they were natural unto them. Whence it cometh to passe, that oftentimes the yellow Quince is made to grow like a mans head, having in it the lively resemblance of white teeth, purple cheeks, black eyes, and in all points expressing the form and colour of a mans head, without any greenesse at all, which is the natural colour of that fruit whiles it is in growing. And this is the sleight that Africanus prescribes, whereby

A Citron may be made to grow in the likenesse of a mans head, or the head of an horse, or any other living Creature.

You must take some Potters clay, or soft morter, and fashion it to the bignesse of a Citron that is at his full growth: but you must cleave it round about with a sharp instrument, so that the fruit may be taken out of it handsomly; and yet in the mean space the sides of the case must be so closely and firmly joyned together, that the fruit growing on, may not break it open. If the counterfeit or case which you make, be of wood, then you must first make it hollow within; if it be of clay, you may clap it on, as it is, so that it be somewhat dry. But then when the fruit comes to be of a greater and stronger growth, you must prepare earthen vessels made for the purpose, with a hole in them at the lower end, that the stalk of the fruit may there be let in: Into these earthen vessels you must enclose the fruit, and binde them about with a strong band, for otherwise the growth of the fruit will break them open: And when you have procured the fruit to grow up into his counterfeit, or sheath as it were, that it is come to the just bignesse of a fruit of that kinde, it will bear the same shape and figure which you would have in it. The like we have shewed before out of Florentinus. Pontanus also speaks of the same device. If, saith he, you would have a Citron to grow in divers shapes, you must cover it being young, with some counterfeit of clay, or wood, or earth, wherein it may be swadled; as a tender infant in his Nurses bosom: and that counterfeit will fashion the fruit into any form; and when it is taken out, it will resemble any image that you have carved within the counterfeit. So also you may deal by

Pomegranates, Pears, or any kind of Apples, making them to receive any kinde of form,

for the same Author writes, that if you bestow the same pains and diligent care upon any other sort of Apples, you may frame them to every fashion; for so it is in brief, saith he, that all Apple-fruits may be made to grow up to the shape of any living creature, if you first carve the same shape into a counterfeit of wood or earth, and let the fruit be shut up into that counterfeit, that it may grow up within it. So may you make

A Quince grow in the shape of living Creatures,

as Democritus affirmeth, by putting them into some counterfeit that is carved within to the same proportion, and so let the Quince grow in it. But it is easiest to make

Cucumbers grow to any form;

for if you take earthen vessels of any fashion, and therewith cloath the Cucumbers when they are very young, and binde them very fast about, they will receive any shape or impression very easily, If you take a Cane, and make it hollow all along, and bind it fast about, and then put into it a young Cucumber or a young Gourd, it will grow so pliable within it, that it will fill up the whole length of the Cane. Pliny saith, Cucumbers grow to any fashion that you would frame them unto; insomuch that you may, if you will, make a Cucumber grow in the shape of a Dragon, winding himself many wayes. Likewise, a Gourd will be made to grow picked and sharp by many means, especially if it be put into a case that is made of such pliant twigs as Vines are bound withal; so that this be done as soon as it hath cast the blossom. But if you lay a Gourd betwixt two platters, or dishes, it will grow to the same plainnesse and roundnesse; and of all other fruit, this is the easiest and fittest to be formed to any fashion. You may make them to grow like a Flagon, or like a Pear, great at the one end, and small at the other, if you tye it hard in that part which you would have to be the lesse: afterward when it is come to full growth, dry it, and take out all that is in it, and when you go abroad, carry it about you, it will serve for a cup to drink in. Hence we learn how it may be effected, that

An Almond should grow with an inscription in it.

Take an Almond, and steep it for two or three dayes; and then break the shell of it very charily, that the kernel receive no harm: then you must write in the kernel what you will, but write it as deep in as you safely may: then winde it up in some paper, or some linen cloth, and overlay it with morter, and soil it with dung; and by that device, when the fruit cometh to be of full growth, it will shew you your handy work, as Africanus recordeth. So may you make

A Peach to grow with an inscription in it,

as Democritus sheweth. After you have eaten the fruit, you must steep the stone of it for two or three dayes, and then open it charily, and when you have opened it, take the kernel that is within the stone, and write upon it what you will, with a brazen pen, but you must not print it too deep, then wrap it up in paper, and so plant it; and the fruit which that will afterward bear, will shew you what was written in the kernel. But

A Fig will grow with an inscription in it,

if you carve any shape upon the bud, the fig will expresse it when it is grown: or else if you carve it into the fig when it is first fashioned: but you must do it either with a wooden pen, or a bone pen, and so your labour shall be sure to take effect. I have printed certain characters upon the rine of a Pomegranate, and of a Quincepear, having first dipped my pensil in morter; and when the fruit came up to the just magnitude, I found in it the same impressions. Now it remains that we shew how we may

Fashion Mandrakes,

those counterfeit kind of Mandrakes, which couzeners and cony-chatchers carry about, and sell to many instead of true Mandrakes. You must get a great root of Brionie, or wilde Nep, and with a sharp instrument engrave in it a man or a woman, giving either of them their genitories: and then make holes with a puncheon into those places where the hairs are wont to grow, and put into those holes Millet, or some other such thing which may shoot out his roots like the hairs of ones head. And when you have digged a little pit for it in the ground, you must let it lie there, until such time as it shall be covered with a bark, and the roots also be shot forth.