Book III, chapters 19–21: Husbandry and the production of new plants

CHAP. XIX.

How fruits may be made to be more tender, and beautiful, and goodly to the eye.

NOw at length, that nothing may passe us, we will set down divers kinds of of sleights in husbanding and trimming of herbs and fruits, whereby they may be made not onely tenderer, sweeter, larger, and better relished, but also fresher coloured, and more sightly to the eye. And first

How an Apple-tree and a Myrtle-tree may be bettered,

we may learn out of Theophrastus, who counselleth to water their roots with warm water, and promiseth the bettering of the fruit by that means; nay it will cause the Myrtle fruit to be without any kernel at all. And this, saith he, was found out by chance, in certain of these Trees growing neer unto a hot Bath. If you would procure

Goodlier Figs then ordinary,

Columella shews, how you make them to grow more plentifully, and to be a sounder fruit. When the tops of the Fig-tree begin to be green with leaves, you mu[…] cut off the tops of the boughs with an iron tool; and still as the leaves begin to bu[…] forth, you must take red chalk, and blend it with Lees of oyle and mans dung[…] and therewithal cover the roots of the Tree: and by this means, the Tree wil[…] bear more store of fruit, and besides the fruit will be a fuller and better fruit. Pliny and Palladius record the same experiment out of the same Author. When the Fig-tree begins to shew her leaves; if you would have it yeeld you more and better fruit, you must cut off the very tops of them when the bud begins to shew it self; or, if not so, yet you must besure at the least to cutoff that top which groweth out of the midst of the Tree. Palladius writes, that some have reported, that the

Mulberry-tree will bear more and better fruit,

if you bore thorough the stock of the Tree in divers places, and into every hole beat in a wedge; into some of the holes, wedges made of the Turpentine-tree, and into some of them, wedges made of the Mastick-tree. Didymus saith that

The Palm, or Date-tree, and the Damosin tree will grow to be of a larger and good-lier assize,

if you take the Lees of old Wine, and after you have strained them, water the roots therewith. And he saith, that it will take the better effect, if you cast upon it a little salt ever now and then. So

The Myrtle-tree will have a goodlier leaf,

and also yield a better fruit, if you plant it among Roses: for the Myrtle-tree delighteth to be consorted with the Rose, and thereby becomes more fruitful, as Didymus reporteth. So

Rue will grow tenderer, and more flourishing,

if it be engraffed into a Fig-tree: you must only set it into the bark somewhat neer the root, that you may cover it with the earth, and so you shall have excellent good Rue. Plutark in his Sympo[…]iakes, commends no Rue but that only which grows very neer the Fig-tree. Aristotle in his Problems, demanding the cause of this, at length concludes, that there is such a sympathy and agreement betwixt the Fig-tree and the herb Rue, that Rue never grows so fast, nor flourishes so well, as when it grows under the Fig-tree. If you would have

Artichocks grow without sharp prickles,

Varro saith, that you must take the Artichock-seed, and rub it upon a stone, till you have worn it blunt at the top. You may cause also

Lettice to grow tenderer and more spreading,

as Palladius shews, and Columella. Palladius saith, that if your Lettice be somewhat hard, by reason of some fault either in the seed, or place, or season, you must pluck it out of the earth and set it again, and thereby it will wax more tender. Columella shews, how you may make it spread broader. Take a little tile-sheard, and lay it upon the middle of the Lettice when it is a little grown up; and the burden or weight of the tile-sheard will make it spread very broad. Pliny saith, that it is meet also to besmear the roots with dung when they set them, and as they grow up, to rid away their earth from them, and to fill up the place with muck. Florentinus saith, when you have a Lettice growing that hath been transplanted, you must rid away the earth from the root after it is grown to be a handful long, and then besmear it with some fresh Oxe-dung, and then having cast in earth upon it again, water it; and still as the bud or leafe appears out of the earth, cut it off till it grow up stronger, and then lay upon it a tile-sheard that hath never been seasoned with any pitch, and so you shall have your purpose. By the like device you may procure

Endive to be tenderer and broader.

When it is grown up to a pretty bignesse, then lay a small tile-sheard on the middle of it, and the weight of that will cause the Endive to spread broader. So also you procure

Coleworts to be more tender,

if you bedew them with salt water, as Theophrastus writes. The Aegyptians, to make their Coleworts tender, do water them with Nitre and Water mixt together. So

Cucumbers will be tenderer,

if you steep the seeds in milk before you set them, as Columella reporteth. If you would have

Leeks to grow Cloven,

the Antients have taught you, that first you must sow them very thick, and so let them alone for a while; but afterward when they are grown, then cut them, and they will grow cloven. Or else, you must cut it about some two moneths after it was set, and never remove it from the own bed, but help it still with water and muck, and you shall have your purpose, as Palladius saith. Now we will speak of some monstrous generations; as of the generation of the herb Dragon, and of a cloven Onion. And first

How to produce the herb Dragon.

It is a received opinion amongst Gardeners, that if you take Hemp-seed or Line-seed, and engraffe it into an ordinary Onion, or else into a Sea-onion as it grows neer the Sea, or else into the Radish root, thence will grow the herb Dragon, which is a notable and famous Sallet-herb. But surely, howsoever they boast of it that this hath been of entimes done, yet I have made sundry trials hereof, and still failed of my purpose. By the like setting of seeds, they shew

How to produce cloven Onions,

by making a hole into an Onion, and putting into it a clove of Garlick, and so planting it; for that will grow to be an Ascalonian, or a cloven Onion. Now let us see, how to make

Parsley to grow frizled or curled.

Theophrastus writes that Parsley will grow frizled, if you pave the ground where you have sowed it, and ram it in with a roller; for then the ground will keep it in so hard, that it it must needs grow double. Columella saith; If you would have Parsley to bear curled leaves, you must put your Parsley-seed into a morter, and pown it with a Willow pestle, and when you have so bruised it, wrap it up in linen clouts, and so plant it. You may effect the same also without any such labour; even by rolling a cylinder or roller over it after it is a little grown up, wheresoever or howsoever it is sowed. Palladius and Pliny record the same experiment out of the same Author. I have often-times seen

Basil growing with a kind of brush like hairs upon it.

The seed of withy-winde being planted neer to Basil, as soon as it shoots up, will presently winde it self round about the stalks of the Basil, and by often winding about them, will wrap them all into one. The like will be effected also, if the withy-winde grow elsewhere, and a twig of it be brought and planted neer to Basil: for by either of these means, the Basil will grow so bushy and so thick of hair, and that in a very short time, that it will be most pleasant to be lookt upon. So you may make the

Ivy to bear very sightly berries,

if you burn three shell-fish, especially of that kind which is called Murex, and when you have powned them together, cast the ashes thereof upon the Ivy-berries; or else, if you cast upon them beaten Alome, as Cassianus teacheth. Theophrastus mentions an experiment that is very strange, whereby to make

Cumin grow flourishingly,

and that is by cursing and banning of the seeds when you sow them; and Pliny reporteth the same out of Theophrastus: and he reporteth it likewise of Basile, that it will grow more plentifully and better, if it be […]owed with cursing and banning. If you desire to produce long

Cucumbers, and such as are not waterish,

you may effect it by this means. If you take a morter or any other like vessel filled with water, and place it neer the Cucumbers, about five or six inches distant from them, the Cucumbers will reach the vessel within a day or two, and extend themselves to that length; The reason is, because Cucumbers have such a great delight in moisture: so that, if there be no water in the vessel, the Cucumbers will grow backward and crooked. To make them that they shall not be waterish; when you have digged a ditch to plant them in, you must fill it up half full with chaffe, or the twigs of a Vine, and then cover them, and fill up the pit with earth; but you must take heed you do not water them when they are planted. By all these things which have been spoken, we may learn to procure

A Tree, which of it self may yield you the fruit of all Trees.

A thing which I have seen, and in merriment have oft-times called it, the Tree of Garden-dainties. It was a goodly height and thickness, being planted within a vessel fit for such a purpose, the mould which was about it, being very fa[…], and moist, and fruitful, that so every way, as well by the liveliness and strength of the plant it self, as also by the moistness and thriftiness of the ground, all things that were engraffed into it, received convenient nourishment. It was three-forked; upon one bough or arm, it bare a goodly grape, without any kernels in it, party coloured, very medicinable; for some of the grapes were good to procure sleep, and other some would make the belly loose. The second bough or arm, carries a Peach, a middle kind of fruit differing both from the ordinary Peach, and the Peach-nut, without any stone in it; and the smaller branches thereof bearing here a Peach, and there a Peach-nut. If at any time there were any stone in the fruit, it was commonly as sweet as an Almond; and it did resemble sometimes the face of a man, sometimes of other living creatures, and sundry other shapes. The third arm carries Cherries, without any stone, sharp, and yet sweet withal, and Orenges also of the same relish. The bark of this Tree was every where beset with flowers and Roses: and the other fruits, all of them greater then ordinary, and sweeter both in taste and in smell, flourishing chiefly in the Spring-time; and they hung upon the Tree, growing even after their own natural season was past: but there was a continual succession of one fruit after another, even all the year long, by certain degrees, so that when one was ripe, there was another budding forth, the branches being never empty, but still clogged with some fruits or other; and the temperateness of the air served every turn so well, that I never beheld a more pleasant and delightful fight.

CHAP. XX.

How divers kinds of fruits, and likewise Wines may be made medicinable.

THe Ancients have been very careful and painful in seeking out, how to mix Wine with divers kinds of Antidotes or preservatives against poison, and how to use it best in such receipts, if need should be. A thing that might very well be practised; for indeed there is nothing more convenient for that purpose. And therefore they have tried and set down more curiously then need required, many things concerning this argument, strang to be reported, & yet easie to be effected; which Theophrastus hath copiously set down. About Heraclia in Arcady, there is a kind of wine, which makes the men that drink of it to become mad, and the women to become barren. And the like Athenaeus recordeth of that wine which they have in Troas, a place in Greece. And in Thrasus there is a kind of wine which if it be drunk, will procure sleep; and there is another kind of wine made in that sort, that it will cause a man to be watchful: and there are divers confections of wines which you may read of in the most exact Writers of Physick, and of matters of Husbandry, which are easie both to be learned, and also practised by those that are well acquainted with the operations of Simples; and they are such as a mans own conjecture may well lead him unto; and indeed they are nothing else almost, but such qualities operative as the property of the place where their Simples grow, doth endue them withal. And surely I would counsel that these kinds of confections should be ministred to those that are timorous and queazie in the taking of any medicinal receipts, that so they may be swallowed down pleasantly, before they should seem loathsom. And first,

How a Vine may be made to bring forth grapes that shall be medicinal against the biting of venemous beasts.

Florentinus bids you in the first and second book of his Georgicks, to set a Vine-branch, and to cleave it in the lower part about the root, that the cleft may be some four inches long; there you must pluck out the pith, and istead of the pith put Hellebore into it, and binde it fast about with some pliant twig, and so cover it with earth; and by this means it will yeeld you grapes that being eaten, will make your body soluble. Or, if you would have the grapes to be more operative in this kind, you must supple the Vine-branches in some Antidote or counter-poyson, and then set them in the head of a Sea-onion, and so cover them with earth; but you must still poure upon it the juice of that counter-poyson, that the sets may drink their fill of it, and so the strength and vertue of the grape will last a great deal longer. If you would have a Vine to yield the grapes whereof the confections called Propomata are made, Palladius shews you. You must take the Vine-branches and put them in a vessel that is half full of Hippocras, or else of Conserves of Roses, or Violets, or worm-wood; and the earth that grows about the root, you must resolve into a kind of Lye as it were made of Ashes; then when the branch that grows up out of the bud beginneth to bear a leaf, you must take it away, & set it as you set other Vines, in any other place, and the fruit will be such a grape as you desire. Pliny saith, that if you plant Hellebore about the roots of the Vine, it will yield a grape fit for such a purpose. Cato saith, that the herb Scammony hath a wonderful quality in drawing into it self the juice of the Vine. Pliny shews

How to make that kind of wine which is called Phthorium, and kills children in their mothers wombes.

That Hellebore which grows in Thassus, as also the wilde Cucumber, as also Scammony, are good to make Phthorian wine, which causeth abortives. But the Scammony or black Hellebore must be engraffed into the Vine. You must pierce the Vine with a wimble, and put in certain withie-boughes, whereby you may binde up unto the Vine the other plants that are engraffed into it: so shall you have a grape full of sundry vertues. So you may procure

Figs that shall be purgative,

if you pown Hellebore and Sea-Lettice together, and cast them upon the Fig-tree roots: or else if you engraffe them into the same roots, for so you shall have Figs that will make the belly loose. Florentinus saith, that you may make a Fig to grow which shall be good against the biting of venemous beasts, if you set it after it hath been laid in triacle. So we may procure

Purgative Cucumbers.

You must take the roots of the wilde Cucumber, and pown them, and steep them in fair water two or three dayes; and then water your Cucumbers with that liquor for five dayes together; and do all this five several times. Again, you may make them purgative, if, after they are blossomed, you dig round about their roots, and cast some Hellebore upon them and their branches, and cover them over with earth again. So you may procure

Purgative Gourds,

if you steep the seeds of them in Scammony-water nine dayes before you set them, as the Quinti[…]es report. Now if you would procure a man to be loose bellied and sleepy withal, you may cause

Purgative Damosins that be good also to cause sleep.

You must bore thorough a bough, or through the whole stock of a Damosin-tree, and fill it up with Scammony or the juice of black Poppy wrapt up handsomely in paper, or some such covering: and when the fruit is ripe, it will be operative both for sleep and purgation. Cato shews also, how you may cause

A Vine to be purgative.

After the Vintage, at such time as the earth is used to be rid away from the roots of Vines, you must uncover the roots of so many Vines as in your opinion will make wine enough to serve your turn: mark them, and lop them round about, and prune them well. Then pown some Hellebore roots in a morter, and cast them about your Vines, and put unto them some old rotten dung and old ashes, and twice of much earth amongst them, and then cover the Vine-roots with mould, and gather the grapes by themselves. If you would keep the juice of the grape long that it may last you a great while for that purpose, you must take heed, that the juice of no other grapes do come neer it. When you would use it, take a cup full of it, and blend it with water, and drink it before supper, and it will work with you very mildely without any danger at all. Late Writers have taken another course: they rid and cleanse the Vine-roots, and then poure upon the juice of some purgative medicine to water them withal; and this they do for many dayes together, but especially at such time as the bud beginneth to fill out: when they have so done, they cast earth upon the roots again, and they take special regard, that the roots never lie naked and open when the Northern winde bloweth; for that would draw forth and consume the juice of the medicine that is poured upon the roots. This if you diligently perform, you shall have grapes growing upon your Vines, that are very operative for loosing of the belly. I have effected

The same by another means;

I pierced the Vine with a wimble, even unto the very marrow, and put into it certain ointments fit for such an effect; (it will suffice, if you put them within the rine;) and this I did in divers parts of the Vine, here and there about the whole body of the Vine, and that about graffing time by Inoculation; for then the Vine is full of moisture; whereby it cometh to pass, that the moisture it self ascending at that time into the superior parts, doth carry up with it the vertue of the ointments, and conveys it into the fruit, so that the fruit will be operative either for purgation or for childe-bearing, either to hurt or help, either to kill or preserve, according as the nature and quality of the ointment is, which was poured upon the roots of the Vine.

CHAP. XXI.

How to plant Fruits and Vines, that they may yield greatest encrease.

THat we may conclude this whole book, with a notable and much desired experiment, we will now shew in the last place, how we may receive a large encrease from the fruits, and pulse, and Vines which we have planted. A matter surely that must needs be exceeding profitable, for a man to receive an hundred bushels in usury as it were, for one bushel that he hath sowed. Which yet I would not have to be so understood, as if a man should still expect to receive an hundreth for one, precisely or exactly so much; for sometimes the year, or the air and weather, or else the ground, or else the plants may not perform their parts kindly; and in this case, the encrease cannot be so great; (but yet it shall never be so little, but that it shall be five times more then ordinary;) but if those things do perform their parts kindly together, you shall receive sometimes for one bushel, an hundred and fifty by encrease. This may seem a paradox to some, and they will think that we promise impossibilities; but surely if they would consider all things rightly, they should rather think it a paradox, why half a bushel well sown or planted, should not yield two hundred bushels encrease, seeing that one grain or kernel that is planted and takes kindly, doth oft-times spread his root, as we see, and fructifie into sundry and many stems, sometimes into fifteen, and in the ear of every one of those stalks, are contained sometimes threescore grains? I spare to mention here the ground that lies in Byzatium in Africa, whereof Pliny speaks, which, for one grain that was planted in it, did yield very neer four hundred stalks, and the Governour of that Country sent unto Nero three hundred and fourty stems growing out of one grain. But let us search out the cause whereby this comes to pass. Some think that the encrease commonly falls out to be so little, because the greater part of the fruit which is cast into the ground, is eaten up of worms, or birds, or moles, and of other creatures that live in the earth. But this appears to be false, because one bushel of Pulse being planted, never yields above fifteen. Now the Pulse or Lupines, is of it self so bitter, that none of those devouring creatures will taste of it, but let it lie safe and untouched: and when they are grown up, you shall commonly finde about an hundred grains in the cods of every stalk. Others referre the cause hereof unto the weather, as if the fruit were annoyed with over much cold, or heat, or rain, so that the fields are sometimes frozen with cold, and sometimes parched with heat, whereby they are sometimes more fruitful, and sometimes more barren. But this cannot be the true reason, because that though the weather be never so kindly, ye that cannot make one encrease into thirty. But not to wander or range any further about, we must know that all grains that grow within the ear or the husk, are not prolifical, that is, they are not all fit to yield encrease; for God hath appointed some of them for the food and sustenance of living creatures, and others for seed. There are some grains in an ear, which are as it were abortives, such as degenerate from their natural kind, and will not fructifie at all, but rot and waste away into putrefaction. There are other grains in an ear, such as are easier to be stript out of their husk, which are fitter for propagation, and are better enabled by nature thereunto. Besides that, sometimes it falls out, that seeds or grains are not planted in due season; or if they be, yet sometimes the Husbandman doth not bestow that due labour and industry in looking unto them, which the kind of the fruit requires. Wherefore if we can meet with all these impediments, we may procure encrease according to our hearts desire. For the seeds will be larger in the roots, and when they have spread their roots under the earth of a good length, then will they send up a greater number of stems, and bring forth good store of ears. Therefore you must make choice of your seeds or grains, not of the forwardest, nor yet of the backwardest, because they commonly are weakest, but of the middle sort: then wash them and cleanse them from all other seeds; and besmear them with fat ointments, and with the grease of old Goats; and let them be continually supplied with sufficient heat, and sufficient moisture; then lay them in soft and warm mould carefully manured; for the livelier that the heat of the mould is, the better will the seeds close with it, and become more eager to propagation, and emorace it more sweetly, as the male would do by this female. So shall your your seeds be more enlived, and bring forth a more legitimate and a larger encrease. Let them be planted in the full of the Moon or thereabout; for the larger the Moon is, the more bountiful encrease she will procure. Concerning the Vine, you must see that her leaves be not wanting, if you would have good store of Wine; for, if the leaves be away, the Vine hath little heart to bear; and besides, she should be without an issue for her superfluities, which commonly the leaves do receive into themselves: onely you must pare off those twisted curles that are wont to grow upon it; for so, her pride being taken away from her, the juice will be more delightful, and more pleasant.