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"By the Conncii of the ROYAL SOCI- ETY 0/ London for Improving of Natural Knowledge.

OKderedy That the Book^ written by John E'velyn Efq^ Fellow of this Society^ Entituled STLVA-i Or a Vifconrfe of ForeJi'Trees, and the Propagation of Timber in His Majefties Dominions : To which is annexed JP 0 MO N/^ , Or an Appendix concern- ing Fruit-Trees in relation to Cider, the Making and fe- veral ways of Ordering it, be printed by John Martyn and James AUeJiry, Printers to the faid Society.

I 6 d i.

SYLVA

3

Or A DISCOURSE Of

FOREST-TREES,

AN9 THE

Propagation of Timber

In His MAJESTIES Dominions.

]^7. E, Efqi ~

As it was Delivered in the KOYAL SOCIETY the xv''^ of oSebeTy CIOIDCLXII. upon Occafion of certain g>u£ries

Propounjlcd to that JUujlr'tms Afftmbly^ by the Honorable the Principal O^cerSy and Commiffioneri of the Navy,

To which is annexed

P 0 JUO HA OfjAn Affenclix concerning Fruit-Trees in relation to CIDER ^

The Mating and (evcral ways of Ordering it,

Tublijhed by exfrefs Order of the RQYAL SOCIETY.

ALSO

KALEfJDARlVM HORTENSE-j Ox, Card'mrs Almanac -^ DireSing vcbat he is to do Momtbly throughout the Tear.

• ■ Tibi res antu]H£ laudit & arm

Ingredior^ tantoi aufus recludert fonteis. Virg.

LONDON, Printed by Jo. Martyn, and Ja.AUeiirj/y Printers to the Rojal

I be fold at their Shop at tne BcU in S. TauPs Church-yard,

Soeittj^ and are to 1

MDCLXIV.

\

L ' » 4 it

V

/

/ •

/

TO THE

KI^QJ Moft Sacred <JMJf8STr

Charles the Second.

•lv:j^,.

0%jro whom. Sir, mth equal right ought I to Trefent this Tuhli^ Fruitof ^ourKor A L So ciRTY^ thentottsKoy3XFOV:JXpS%] and this Difcourfe of Trees, then to your Sacred }A^]^diY^ tanquam NEMORUMc^'^'deRfi. VINDICI ? As of old they payd their Devoti- 3L/.W onsHERCULI(3cSYLVANO,./«c^.^3'S. You are our etu i^uit, Nemorenfis Rex , as ha^ NeLjiifJ' ving once your Temple, andComi too under that ^j'^ ^j""- Holy^Oak vphich you Conjecrated with your Pre'iib.4. fence, and We celebrate with jufl Acknowledg- ment to God for your Prefervation.

'I'ut your Majefty has yet another Title to this Work, and to all it pretends to * as having (Jil^e another Cyrus^ hy your od^/j'Z^o^^/ Example, fx- ceeded all your PredecelTors in the Plantations which ycu have already made, and now defign, be- yond (^l dare affrm i(') all the Monarchs ofthts Nation fmce the Conqueft of it' Jnd indeed, what is there more Auguft, more worthy of your Majcrfty, or more becoming our Imitation /* then whiljlyou are thm folicitom for o«r In ftrudtion, we furfue your Majefties great Example with that Veneration which is due to it ? and by culti-

A 3 vaiing

V-^A

X

The Epiftle Dedicatory.

vating our decaying Woods;, contribute to jour

Povver,^j to ourgreatejl Wealth and S^kty -fince^

vphi/es jour Majefty is furni(h'd to fend forth

mtfamou? ^^^A ^%^^t ^^^ Trojan Horfcs, about this your

Ihevflonf ^fl^"<^) ^^^ ^^^ ^^ f^^^ nothing from mthout it • and

ojiOak, tvhilejl We remain obedient to jour Commands

and great Example, nothing from mthin it : For,

as no Jewel in jour Majejiies refplendent Crown

can render j6u fo much Luftre and Glory as jour

regards to Navigation ^ fo, nor can any thing im^

peach jour Navigation, and the Reputation of

That, yiphiles jou continue thus. careful of jour

Woods and Forefts. I /hall add no more Sir to

This, then to f up flic ate jour Maj efties graciout

Acceptance of mj Obedience fo A Commands

of your SOCIE TY, vpho imposed this Province

on,

sfK,

Your Majeflies ever Loyal,

%^y%\ "^°^ 0^^^/>«f, and Faithful

' ^ ^ 3- SubjeB, and Sernjant

f. EVSLY3^

r^.

TO THE

READER.

iFter what the Frontijpecc and Porch of this Wooden Ed/ fee prefents you, I (hall need no farther to repeat the Occafion of this following Vifcomfe : I am only to acquaint you , 7 hat as it was deliver'd to the ROYALSOCIETY by an unworthy Member there- of, in obedience to thtir Commands^ by the fame it is now publifh'd without any further Profpc^. And the Reader is to know. That if thele dry fiic]{s afford him any Sap, it is one of the leaji and mcaneji of thofe fteces which are every day produc'd by that lUujirious Ajjembly^ and which enrich their CoUeSiions^ as fo many Monmnents of their accurate Experiments^ and Publique Endeavours, in order to the produftion of real and ufeful Theories^ the Propagation of "Natural Science^ and the honour of their Infiitution. If to this there be any thing fubjoyn'd herc^ which may a while bcfpcak the patience of the Reader, it is only for the Encouragement of an Induflry, and worthy Labour, too much in our days negle£ied, as haply eftecm'd a confidcration of too fordid and vulgar a na- ture'for Noble Perfons and Gentlemen to bufie themfelvcs withal, and who oftner find ways to fell down and de- ftroy their Trees and Plantations, then cither to repair or improve them.

But what fhall I then fay of our late prodigious Spoilers, whofe furious devaftation of fo many goodly Woods^zv\di Forejis have left an Infamy on their Names and Memories not quickly to be forgotten ! I mean our un- happy 'Vfurpers, and injurious Se<juejlrators *, Not here to mention the deplorable neceflities of a Gallant and Loyal Gentry, who for their Compofiiions were (many of them) compell'd to add yet to this Wafle, by an inhu- mane and unparallel'd Tyranny over them, to prcfervc the poor remainder of their Fortunes^ and to find them Bread. Nor

Yb the "Racier.

Nor was it here they defiftcd, when, after the fate of that beautiful Grove under Green-wich Caflk, the Royal yyalk^ of Elms in S' James's Fark^,

Mr. WMtfs ^ jfj^f living Gallery of aged Trees.,

St. James's

P^'^' (as our excellent Toet calls it) was once propofing to the

late Council of State to be cut down and fold, that with the reft of His Majefties Houfes already demolifh'd^ and mark'd out for defl:ru£tion, His Trees might likewife undergo the fame define, and no footfteps of Monarchy remain unviolated. This is a Truth ■■, which coming by chance to hear of, I fo conjur'd a powerful Member of it (and one who was to ftrike a principal firoal{e in this barbarous Execution) that if my Authority did not rcfcue thofc Trees from the Ax., fure I am, my Arguments did abate the Edge of it ^ nor do I ever pafs under that Ma- jeftical Jhade but methinks I hear it falute me as once the Hamadryad did the good Kinaldo,

7ajJo,Cant. Ben caro ginngi in quejie cjjiofire amene.

Ouejia felva^ che diatt'X.i era fi negrdj Vediche tutto al tuo venir / allegre-^ E'n pik leggiadre forme e revejiita.

It is from hence you may calculate what were the Dcfigns of thofe excellent Reformers, and the care thefc great States-men took for the prefervation of their Coun- trey, when being Parties in the Boo/)/ themfelves, they gave way to fo diflionourable and impolitic a ivajie of that Material , which being left intire , or husbanded with difcretion, had prov'd the beft fupporc and defence of it. But this (fay they) was the effeft of War, ;and in ig^ the heighth of our Contentions^. No, it was a late and

cold deliberation , and long after all had been fubdu'd to them i nor could the moft implacable of Enemies have exprefs'd a more barbarous Refolution.

We read of the great Xerxes .^that pafling Conquerour through Achaia, he would not fuft'er his Army to^ violate fo much as a Tree of his Adverfaries ^ it being obferv'd

by

»#'

Uus

To the %eader,

by the Ancients^ that the Gnds did never permit him to

efcape unpunilh'd who was injurious to Groves, tanquam

facros ex vetujiate : What became of Agamemnons Hoft

after his fpoil of the Woods at Aulis ? Hijiories tell us

Cleomenes died mad ; the Tamajfaean Genim became fro- lemejfe.

<verbial '■, and the Mighty C^far himfelf carried (^'iisGrnimade-'

thought^ the malediction of the incenfcd Gauh to his "'*

Fnaeral Pile^ for the havock he committed at Majftlia^

when he fejrd dovyn thofe goodly Oah^ before the face '

of the fuppliant Priejisj and the cnrfing People :

Quis enim Ltfos impune putaret ^^^^ ^^

Ejfe Deos f

But left this be charg'd with Superftition^ bccaufe the Inflames are heathen •■, It was a more noble and remark- able, as well as recent Examphy when at the Siege of Breda, the late famous General Spinola commanded his Army, not to violate a Tree of a Wood belonging to the Prince of Orange there, though a reputed Traytor, and in open defiance with his Majier. To be fliort, we read. That when Mithridates but deliberated about the cutting down of fome ftately Trees which grew neer Patara^ a City of Lycia, though neceflitated to it for the building of Warlike Engines with them, being terrified in a Vifion , he defifted from his purpofe. It were to be vviflied Thefe, or the like Examples^ might have wrought fome EffeSis upon the facrilegious Purchafers, and difloyal In<vaderSy in this Iron-age amongil: us, who have lately made fo pro- digious a fpiol of thofe goodly Forejisj Woods, zndTrees (to fatisfie an impious and unworthy A^varice) which be- ing once the Treafure and Ornament of t\\\s'Nation, were doubtlefs rcfcrv'd by our more prudent Ancejiors for the repairs of our floating Cajiles, the fafeguard and boaft of this renouned Ifland, when Neceffity, or fome imminent Peril fliould threaten it, or call for their Affiftance i and not to be devour'd by thefc Improvident Wretches, who, to their eternal Reproach, did (with the Royal Patriifiony) fwallow likewife Godsois^n Inheritance j but whofe Sons '^"^^

and Nepherps we have liv'd to fee as haftily difgorge

B them

To the ^Header,

^xtibi fa- them again •, and with it all the reft of their Purchafes^ aorum Fxnas ^j^^^|j othcrwife they might fecurely have enjoy'd : But w/jre tHo. jj^jg^^^^^^^^^^^ (^nly, and for caution to Fofierity ; whil« Vatkinor:^- j jgavc the Guilty to their proper Scorpions^ and to their ndtMet.u. Erifichthonian fatc^, or that of the inexorable Far^bim^

JpfVm. 1.2.

rgonattt. frofiemit Qnercum funeftam quam fibi Nympha fionorihUsque fufs fecit ~

the vengeance of the Dryads^ and to their tutelar better

Genius^ if any yet remain, who love the folid Honour and

Ornament of their Country. For what could I fay lefs,

* At Wot- 'tm-^^j, and * Wood-born as I am, in behalf of thofe facred

ton in Sur- Shades^ which both grace our Vvpellings^ and proteft oar

"^' -Nation?

But to turn this juft Indignation into frayers^SLndi addrcfs

my fclf to our bctter-natur'd Country-men: May fuch Woods

as do yet remain iimre be carefully Frefer'v'd^ and fuch as

are deftroy'd, feduloufly Repair d. It is what every Pcrfon

who is Owner of Land may contribute tcand with infinite

delight, who arc touch'd with that laudable Ambition o(

imitating their moil: illuftrious JncefiorSj whofe Names we

find mingl'd amongft Kings and Philofophcrs^ Patriots and

V'l.Vttranh.^ooA Commonwealths-Men: For fuch were of old Solo-

de Kerned. ^^^^^ Cyrtfs^ and Nnwa i Licinim fir-named 5"/^/^, Cato^ and

fnrturr^^ li.i. CtncinnatHS , the Pifoes^ Fabii^ Cicero^ Flinies^ and a thou-

dia). 57. i^jj^^ more whom I could ennunierate, that difdain'd not

to excrcife themfelves in thefe Rii/J/V/Viej*, as eftecming it

the greateft acceilion of Honour to dignifie their lafting

Names with fuch Rural marks as have confecrated their

Memories^ and tranfmitted them to us through fo many

Ages and Vici^tudes of the World.

Let none thert fore repute this Indujiry beneath him,or as the leaft indignity to the reft of his Qualities^ which Co great Perfons have honour'd and cultivated with that af- MhIu tmm fe^^ion and ingen uity .

i^arHm Af. The famous Anjrver which Cyrm gave to Lyfander will mTnu iZI f 'ft^cicntly jiiftifie that which I have faid, and what I far- p/<f: Cyrus ther recommend to iuch Gentlemen asrefolve to be Flan- Ocn^txke. '^''^' '^'^' ^^^^^ ^^^^y do not cafily commit themfelves to

noph. the

To the %eader*

fole Pi5/4/ejof their ignorant H/Wj- and Ser'vants^ who yug^cur- are (generally fpeaking) more fit to Learn then to In- tiHm,\.y.&c. ftruft. Male agitur cum Domino quern VilUcU'S docet, was was an Obfervation of old Cato's ; and 'twas Ifchomachtts who told Socrates (^difcourfing one day upon a like fiib- ^eft) Tihat it was far eafier to Make then to Find a good Husband-man : I have often prov'd it fo in Gard'ners j and I believe it will hold in moft of our Country Employ- ments : We are to exa£l Labour ^ not ConduSl and Keafon, from the greateft part of them '-, and the bufinefs of Tlantin^ is an Art or Science (for fo Varro has folemnly 'DeK.Ki defin'd it^ and That exceedingly wide of Truth, which (it feems) many in his time accounted of it ; faciUimam' ejfe^ nee idlim acuminis Kuflicationem^ an cafie and infipid ^

Study. It was the fimple Culture only, with fo much difficulty retriv'd from the late confufion of an inteftinc *^

and bloody War\\\^c Ours^ and now put mKeputation again, which made the noble Poet write

Verbis ea ifincere magnum Gcorg.t;

Quam fit^ d^ angujiis hunc addere rebus honorem.

erant enato-

Seeing, as the Orator does himfelf cxprefs it. Nihil eft ^"''^^f

. => ' , , _,, . 1.1 1 • *««<^ Senate

homino libera dignms \ There is nothing more becoming ra. cic. de and worthy of a Gentleman. Seneft.

And thus you have in part what I had to produce in extenuation of this my Ad'venture^ that Animated with a Command^ and Aflifted by divers Worthy Perfons (whofe Names I am prone to celebrate with all juft KefpeSis) I have prefumed to caft in my Symbol •■, and which, with the reft that are to follow, may (I hopej be in fome degree ferviceable to /?«/;/ (who e' re the happy Per/ow be) which fhall oblige the World with that com^kzt Syjieme oi Agri- culture^ which as yet feems a defiderate, and wanting to its perfection. It is (I allure you) what is one of the Principal D.^fe/zx of the ROYAL SOClE^Ty not in this Particular only, but through all the Liberal and more ufeful Arts i and for which (in the eftimation of all equal Judges) it will merit the grcateft of Encourage- ments y that fo at laft wl at the Learned Columella has

B 2 witu\Y

To the %eader:

wittily reproach'd,and complain'd of, as a dcfe£i: in that Age of hfSj concerning AgriiHlture in general, and is appli- cable /jcre, may attain its dcfired Kemeciy and Confnmmation

Fa adP ^" ^^^^^ °^ OurS.

Sjiv'tum ; ' Sola enim Res Rujika^ qux fine dnhitatione proxima, ^ which I car- ^j/^y? confangHtnea Sapienti^ eft , tarn difcentibus egeaty commcTid to qnam mttgiftris : Adhuc in Scholis Khetornm, C^ Gegmetra- thefeiious ruffi^Muficorumque '-, Vel quod mack mirandum eft ^ contemn ou™G£«°r». ptijpf^fomm <vitiomm o^cinits^ gulofths condiendi ctbos^ C^ Et mihi ad luxurtofius fercnld ftruendi^ capitumqne ^ capiUorum con- u^T ^ime ^^""'^f^^^^ ^^^ folnm ejfe aHdifi^ fed d^ ipfe i^idi j Agri- vUtturacce- colationjs neque DoSlores qui fe profiterentur^ neque Dtfci- dere. Cic.de p^los cooito'vi. But thisi Icavc forour Gallants to Inter- pret , and fliould now apply my felf to the DireSii've Part, which I am all this while befpeaking, if after what I have faid in the feveral Paragraphs of the enfuing Dif- courfe upon the Argument of IVood, it might not feem fu- perfluous to have ^r^w//e<^ any thing here for the Encou- ragement of fo becoming an Induftry : Let me be per- mitted to fay, There is fufficient for InftruBion^ and more then is extant in any ColhSiion whaifoever (abftt -verba in- i>id/a) upon this fubjeSl ', abftraf^ing things FraSiicabhy of foiid ufe, and material, from the O^entati'm and im- pertinences of Writers ; who receiving ail that came to hand on truft, to fwell their monftrous Volumes, have hitherto impos'd upon the credulous JVorld^ without con- fcience or honefty. I willnot exafperate the Adorers of our ancient and late Naturalifts, hy repeating of what our Veru- lam has juftly pronounc'd concerning their Khapfodies(bc- caufe I likewifc honor their painful Endea-vours-Sii^d am ob- liged to them for much of that I know)nor will [(w^'' fome) reproach Pliny, Porta,Cardan,Mi'i.aldm,Curfrm, and many others of great "Names (whofe Writings I have diligently confulted) for the Knowledg they have imparted to me on this Occalion \ but I muft deplore the time which is ^for the moflpart^ fo mifcrably loft in purfuitof their Specu- lations, where they treat upon this Argument : But the ^<?rWisnowadvis'd, and (blc/Ted be 6^f/) infinitely re- d -em'd from that bale and fcrvile fubmitlion of our nobleft Faculties to their blind Traditions. This, you

will

To the Reader,

will be apt to fay^ is a haughty Period •■, but whiles I af- firm it of the f^?/?, it juftifies and does honor to the Fre- fent Indu/lry of our Age^ and of which there cannot be a greater and more emulous Injiance, then the Paffion of His Majejiy to encourage His SithjeSis in all that is lauda- ble and truly emolumental of this nature.

It is not therefore that I here prefume to infiruft Him in the management of that great and auguft Enterprife of refolving to Plant and repair His ample F(?re^j-, and other Magazines of Timber^ for the benefit of His KoyalNa'vy, and the glory of His Kingdoms ; but to prefent to His Sacred Perfon^ and to the Worlds what Ad'vifes I have received Irom others, obferved my felf^ and mojft Indu- ftrioufly ColleSied from a ftudious propcnfity to ferve as one of the leaft Intelligences in the ampler Orb of our Illu- firious Society, and in a fVor1{^ Co Important and Necef* faiy.

f.E.

SYLVA:

/

Amico charifsimo fohanni Evetyno Armfgero^

e Societate Regali Londini. J. BeaIe,»S'. P. P.

In Sylvam.

FAre age quid cauf^ eft quod tu Sylveftria fangii^ Inter Sylvanos, capripedefque Dcos ? Inter Hamadryadas Utfis^ Dryadafque pudicas,

Cum tna Cyrrhseis fit Chelys apt a modk ! Scilicet hoc cecinit MHmerofus Horatius olim,

Scfiptorum Sylvam quod C horns Omnis amat. Eft locus ille Sacer Mufis^ ^ Apollinc dignuSy

Prima dedit Snmmo Tcmpla Sacranda Jovi. Hinc qnoque nunc Fontem Pontus non rejpuit ingenf,

Stringitur Occ3Lnus^ corripitHrqneSalum. Hinc no<VHS Hcfperiis emerfit mundhs in oris^ Gm.i.c.i".

Effudttque auri flnmina larga probi. Hinc exnnda'vit diflento Copia cornu,

Qualem ^ Amalthaeac non habuere fmus, Sylva tibi curde eji^ grata (^ Pomona refundit

Auriferum^ rofennt^ purpHrcHmque nemus. lUa famcmqne fitimquc abigens expirat odores^

Qudles nee Medus, nee tibi mittit Arabs. Ambrofiam pr^bent modb coSla Cydonia, Tantnm

Comprime, NeSiareo poma liquore fluunt. Progredere^ O ScEcli Cukor memorande futuri,

Ftf/ix Horticolam fie imitereGenm.

A TABLE Of the C H A P T E R S.

S Y L V A.

CHAP. Pag.

Introdu&ion. I

i' of the Seed. 4

2 Of the Seminary. i 6

3 Of the Oak, .r; ^

4 (y/^e £/z». 16

5 Of^Ae 5eef^. 20

6 OftheAp. 22

7 Of the chef -mt. 24

8 Of the Wall-nnt. 25 ^9 Of the Service. 28 -10 OftheAIaple. 28

II of the Sycamore. 29

■12 of the Horn-beam. 29

13 of the Lime-tree. ' 30

14 of the ^ick-heam. 31 150/ the Birch. 32 160/ //le H^Je/. 34

17 0//Ae Ptfjp/<«r. 36

18 Of the Alder. 38 190/ ^^e W^V^/^j Sallovp^ 0%ier^

and Willovp. 3 9

20 Of Fences, ^ickrfets^Scc. /^$ '21 Of the Fir, Pine, FinaUer, Pitch-tree,Si.c. 5 r

22 Of the Larch, plat anus, Lo- tus,^c. 57 "2^ of the Cypref-tree, and Ce- dar. 58 240/ the Cork^, Mater nuf, Phi l- lyrea, Granad, Myrtil, Jaf- mine,Si.c. 62 250/ the Acacia ^Arbutus, Bays, Box^ Eugh, Holly, Juniper, and Laurel-trees. 64

26 of the Infirmities of trees. 6%

27 of Copfes. 71

28 of Pruning. 73

29 Of the Age, Stature, and Fel- ling of Trees. 78

^O Of Timber, the Seajoning and vjes ^ and of Fuel. 93

3 1 Aphorifms5<?r certain general Praecepts, ofufe to the forego- 7»g Chapters. 105

3 2 Of the Laws d«c? Statutes/<?r the Prefervation and Im- provement o/Woodsj&c.io/

CHAP. Pag-

jAe Paranejis andConcluftou,

P O M O N A.

CHAP. Pag.

The Preface. \

1 of the Seminary, 5

2 Of Stocks^ . -7 ^ Of Graffs and Inpions. 8

4 Of Variety and Jmpr0vementt,

10

5 Of *^e P/rff e <?»«/ Or^er. 1 5

6 OfTran^lanting and Difiance,

7 Of Fencing. 18

8 0/ Pruning , rf»«/ //"e »/e ^

Fruit-Trees. 19

CIDER.

Aphorifms concerning Cider ^ j^. Beale. 21

sir Paul Niele'j Difcourjl of Ci- der. 30

Obfervations concerning the Ma- king and Prefer ving of Cider, by John Newburgh, EJ^', 41

Concerning Cider, by D^ Smith.

46

Of Cider, by Capt. Taylor. 47

KALENDARIUM HORTENSE. Introdu&ion. 55

'January. 58,59

February. 60, 6 1

March. 67,6^

April. 64365

May. 66, 6 J

June. 68, 6^

July. 70,71

AuguB. 72,73

September. 74, 75

ottober. 76, 77

November. 78, 79

December. 80, 8 1

tAc Catalogue <?/ Plants,c^£'. ifo /»e7^^ into the Conferve, or othermje defended in Winter.

82

SYLVA:

DISCOURSE

O F

Foreft-Trees,

AND

The Propagation of Timber in His MAJESTIES

Dominions, c^c.

Tuque ades^ incepiumque una decurre laborettt., 0 decits^ b fam<£ merito pars maxima nojir^e C AKOLI D E^ pelagoq'^ <volans da 'velapetenti : Dafacilem curfnm^ at que audacibHS annuc coeptis : Ig navofque 'V ict mecum miferatm a^rejies' Ingredere^ ^ 'votis jam nunc ajfuefce 'vocari.

The Introduction.

Ince there is nothing which feems more fatally j^roJH&ion, to threaten a WeaEning, if not a Diflblution of the ftrength of this famous and flourilhing Nation^ then the fenfible and notorious de- cay of her fVooden-Tvalls, when either through timCy negligence, or other accident, t\\c prefent N^z^ftiall be worn out and impair'd ^ it has been a very worthy and fcafonable Advertifement in the Honour- able the principal officers and Commijjioners, what they have late- ly fuggefted to this Illujiriottf Society, for the timely prevention and redrefs of this intollcrablc defedt. For it has not been the late increafe ofshipping alone, the multiplication of Glaf?-vpork.fi Iron- Furnaces, and the like, from whence this im-politick diminution of our Timber has proceeded j but from the difproportionatc

B fpreading

A Difcourfe of Forefl-Trecs.

fpreading o^THUge, caufed through that prodigious havock made by fuch as lately profeffing themfclves againfc Root and Braaeh Ceith^r to be rc-imbaurs'a of their holy purchafes, or £ot Ibme other fordid refpeft ) were tempted , not only to fell and cut down, but utterly to grub up, demolifh, and raze, as it were, all thofe many goodly iVoeds^ and Forejis^ which our morepru- ^ent Aftcejiorslek ftanding, for the Ornament, and ferviceof thdr Country. And this devaftation is now become fo Epidemical, that unlefs fome favourable expedicMt offer it felf, and a way be fe- rioufly, and fpeedily r^fol/d upon,for the future repair of this im- portant ^/c/«5?, one of the mort glorious, and confiderabic Bml- tparks oi this Nation, will, within aihorttime be totally wanting

to it.

2. To attend now afpontaneousfupply of thefe decay'd M-itc r/4/j (which is the vulgar, and natural way) would coft(beiide$ the Inclofure) fome entire jiges repofe of the Ploiv : Therefore, the moft expeditious, and obvious Method, would (doubtlefs) be by one of thefe two ways. Sowing, or Planting. But, firft, it will be requifite to agree upon the Speciet i as what Trees are likely to be of greateft Vfe, and the fittcft to be cultivated j and then, to copfider of the Manner how it may beft be effefted. Truly, the Tvajie, and dejiruilian of our Woods, has been fo univerfal, that I conceive nothing left then an univerfal Plantation of all the forts o{ Trees will fupply, and well encounter the defed 5 and there- fore, I (hall Acre adventure tofpeak fomething in general of them all -J though I chiefly infift upon the propagation of fuch only as foemtobe the moft wanting, and ferviceable.

3. I diftribute them, therefore, into thefe two Clajfes, the Drj^ and the Aquatic-^ both of them applicable to the fame civil ufes of Building, Vtenftls, Ornament and Fuel 5 for to dip into their Medicinal vittues is none of my Province.

Among the drj/,l efleem the more principal, and folid, to be the Oak^, Elnte, Beech, Ajh, Chefs-nut, Wall-nut, &c. The lefs princi- pal, x!^e Service, Maple, Lime-tree, Horn-beam, ^ick:beam,Bircb^ Hafel,&c. together with all their jaA-tf/^^rWiir^e, and feveral kinds.

Sed neque qukm piultae^ecies, tiec nomina qtue {int Ejinumeritf, Geor.

Of the Aquatical, I reckon the Poplars, Ajp, Alder, Willow, Sal- low, Ofier, e^c. Then I (hall add a word or two, for the encou- ragement of the planting of Fruit-trees , together with fome lefs vulgar, but no lefs ufefulTrecs, which, as yet are not endenizon'd amongfV us, or (at leafV) not much taken notice of : And in purfu- ance hereof, I fhall obferve this order ; Firit, to fliew how they are to be Raifed,and then to be Cultivated : By Raiftng,\ underftand the Seed and the Soil ^ by Culture the Planting, Fencing, Waterings DrejfiMg, Pruning and Cutting -, of all which briefly.

And

A Dlfcourfe of Foreft-Trees. g

And firft for thdr Raijf»g, (bme there are

— — — tiullk hominttm cogentibus^ipfa

Sfonte fita vettiunt Specifying according to the various

difpofition of the Air^ and Soil.

Tars autem pqfito furgttnt defemine. As the Oak^^ Chef-tJUtj Ajb^&c.

Pullnlat ab rddice aim denfijjima Sylvd. As the i.lme^ AU Jer, &c. and there are others

Hilradicis egent Growing without any fuch Roots^

as Willovps 3 and all the Vimineous kinds , which are raifed of Sets only.

Hos tiatura modes primut^ dedit — ■ — For thus we fee there are more ways to the PFood then one 5 and Nature has furnifti'd us with Variety of expedients.

4. But it has been flifly controverted by fbme, whether were better to raife Trees for Timber^ and the like ufes, from their Seeds and firft Rudmentsj or to TranjplafJt fuch as we find have either rais'd themfelves from their Seeds^ or fpring from the Afo' tbcr-roots. Now, that to produce them immediately of the Seed is the better way, thefe 2fe<«/tf»j may feem to evince.

Firfi^ becaufe they take fooneft. Secondly^ bccaufc they make the ftraighteft, and moft uniform (hoot. Thirdly, becaufe they will neither xgc^xxwq fiaki»g, nor watering (which are two very confidcrable Articles') and lafily, for that all tranf^lantitig (though it much improve Fruit'trees)\xT\\e& they are taken up^he firft Year, or two, is a confidcrable impediment to the growth of Ftf- reji-trees. And, though it be true that divers of thofe which are found in Woods, efpecially Oaklings, young Beeches, Afh, and fbme others, fpring from the (elf-fown mafi and k^ys j yet, being for the moft part dropp'd, and difleminated amongft the half-rotteri fticks, mufty leaves, and perplexities of the mother-roots, they grow fcraggy ^ and being over-dripp'd become fqualid and moi- fie, which checks their growth, and Caufes them to dwindle :

Crefcentique adimttnt fetus ^ nrMtitqueferentem,

Nor can their roots expand, and fpread themfelves as they would, do if they were fown, or had been planted in a more open, free, and ingenuous Soil. And that this is fo, I do affirm upon Expe- rience, that an Acorn fown by hand in a Nurfery, or ground where it may be free from thefe encumbrances, ftiall in two or three Years out-ftrip a Plant of twice that age, which has either been fclf-fown in the Woods, or removed 5 unlefs it fortune, by fbme favourable accident, to have been fcatter'd into a more natural, penetrable, and better qualified place : But this difproportion is yet infinitely more remarkable in the Tine, and the Wall-nut-tree, where the Nut fet into the ground (hall certainly overtake a Tree of ten years growth which was planted at the fame inftant 5 and this is a Secret fo generally mif-reprefented by moft of thofe who have treated of thefc Ibrt of Trees, that I could not fuffer it to

C 3 pafs

Seed.

A Difconrfe ef Foreft-Trees.

pafi over without a particular re/ftarkh fo as the noble Poet (with pardon for receding from fo venerable Authority) was certainly miftaken, when he delivers this obfervation as nniverfal^ to the prejudice of Sowirtg, and raifing Woods from their Rudiments :

Ham qu£ feminibus ja£tk fe fufiulit arbos -

Tarda venit^ ferkfa&uranepotibm nmbram.

Geor. /. 2.

CHAP. I.

Of the Seed.

I. T^Utto commence with the Method ^xo^o^'di : Chufe your JTj S^^<^ of that which is perfeftly mature , ponderous and found -^ commonly that which is eafily (haken from the boughs, or gathered about November^ immediately upon its fpontaneous fall, is beft, and does (for the moft part) dired to the proper fea- fon oi interring^ &c. according to the Ivjiitution of Nature her felf :

Namjpecimenfationif, C^ infitionis origo tpfafuit rerumprimnm naturacreatrix : Arboribus quoniam bacc£^glandefque caducs Tempejiiva dabant puUorum examinafubter^ €^c.

Lucret./. 5. Yet this is to beconfider'd, that if the place you. few in be too cold for an Autumnal femination, your Acorns, Maji, and other Seeds may be prepared for the Vernal by being barrell'dj or pot- ted up in moift Sand or Earth firatum S. S. during the Winter ; at the expiration whereof you will find them Jr^w^c*^, and being committed to the Earth, as apt to tak^ as if they had been fown with the moft early : by this means, too, they have efcaped the Vermtne (which are prodigious devourers of Winter fowing) and will not be much concern'd with the increafing heat of the Sea- fon^ as fuch as being crude, and unfermented are newly fown in the beginning of the Spring 5 efpecially in hot and loofe Grounds ^ being already in fo fair a progrefs by this artificial pre- paration 5 and which (if the provifion to be made be very great) may be thus manag'd. Chufe a fit piece of Ground, and with boards (if it have not that portion of it felf) defign it three foot high j lay the firft foot in fine Earth, another of Seeds, Acorns, Maji, Keys , Huts , Haves , Holly-berries, ^c. promifcuoufly , or feparate, with (now, and then) a little Mould fprinkled amongft them ; The third foot wholly Earth : Of thefe preparatory Maga- 7.ines make as many, and as much larger-ones as will ferve your turn, continuing it from time to time as your Jiore is brought in. The fame may youalfo do by burying your Seeds in Sand, Barrel- ling

A Difcmrfe of Foreft-Tree«.

Uftg them (lis Ifaid)in Tuh, or laid in heaps in (bme deep Cel/ar where the rigour of the Winter may leaft prejudice them ; and I have fiU'd old Hampers ^ Bee-hives^ and Boxes with' them, and found the like advantage, which is to have them ready for your Seminary, as before hath been fliew'd, and exceedingly prevent the feafon.

2. But to purfuethis to fome farther Advantage , as to what concerns the eledion of your Seed , It is to be confider'd, that there is vaft difference in Trees even of the lame growth and bed^ which I judge to proceed from the variety and quality of the Seed : This, for injiance^ is evidently feen in the heart, procerity and ftature of T/w/'cr ^ and therefore chufenot your Seeds sXvjzys from the moft Fruitful-trees, which are commonly the moft y^ged^ and decayed 5 but from fuch as are found mo(tfolid and fair : Nor, for this reafon, covet the largeft Acorns, ^c. (butasH«J^ band-men do their Wheat) the moft weighty , clean and bright : This Obfervation we deduce from Fruit-trees, which we leldom find to bear lb kindly, and plentifully, fiom a found ([ock^ Jmooth Rind, znd firm Wood, as from a rough, lax, zndnntovpardTreQ^ which is rather prone to fpend it felf in Fruit, the ultimate effort, and final endeavour of its j'moft delicate Sap, then in Iblid and clokfuhjiance to encreafe the Timber. And this fhall fuflice, though fbme haply might here recommend to us a more accurate Microfcopical examen, to interpret their moft fecret Schematifmes^ which were an over nicity for thefe great Plantations.

9. As concerning the medicating, and infuccation of Seeds, or enforcing the Earth by rich and generous Compojis, d^c for Trees of thefe kinds, lam no great favourer of it; not only, becaufe the charge would much dilcouragethe Workj, but for that we find it unnecefTary , and for moft of our t'oreji-trees, noxious 5 fince even where the Ground is too fertile, they thrive not fb well 5 and if a Mould be not proper for one fort it may be fit for another t Yet I would not (by this) hinder any from the trial, what advance fuch Experiments will produce : In the mean time, for the fimple Imbibition o( (bme Seeds and Kernels, when they prove extraor- dinary dry, and as the Seafon may fall out, it might iiot be amifs to macerate them in Milk, , or Water only, a little impregnated with Covp-dung, d^c. during the fpace of twenty four hours, to give them ajpirit to fprout, and chet thefboner 5 efpecially, if you have been retarded in your forcing without our former preparation.

4. Being thus provided with Seeds of all kinds, I would ad- yife to raife Woods by fowing them apart, in feveral places deftin'd for their growth, where the yI/(7«/^ being prepar'd(as I fhall fbew hereafter) and lb qualified (if eleftion may be made) as beft to fuitwith the nature of the .y/jem/, they may be {own promijcuoufiy, ' which is the moduatural and Rural j or inftraight and even lines, for Hedge-rows, Avenues, and Walks, which is the more Ornamen- tal : But becaufe fome may chufe rather to draw them out of Nurjeries ; that the Culture is not much different , nor the hin- derance confiderable (provided they be early, and carefully Re- moved)

A Difcourfe of Forcft-Trees.

moved) I will finifh what I have to fay concerning thefc Trees in the Seminary , and (hew how they are there to be Raifed^ Tra»Jblaf/ted, and Govern d till they can (hift for themfelves.

CHAP. II.

Of the Seminary.

I, /^^ViVineam^ ml Arbtijiumcoitfiituere volet ^ Seviwariafriui Semtr-y. V.^/'*^^''^ delehit , was the precept of Columella, l.^.c^. fpeaking of Vineyards and Fruit-trees : and, doubtlefs, we cannot purfue a better Courfe for the propagation of Timber-trees : For though it fecm but a trivial defign that one ftiould make a Nurfery of Forejiers 5 yet is it hot to be imagin'd, without the experience of it, what prodigious Numbers a very CmaWjpot of Ground well Cultivated, and deftin'd for this purpofe would,be able to furnifh towards the fending forth of yearly Colonies into all the naked quarters of a Lordjhip, or Demeafnes ^ being with a pleafant In- dujiry liberally diftributed amongft the Tenants^ and difpos'd of about the Hedge-rovps,2itidiOt\itr tVajie^za^. uncultivated places, for Timber, Shelter, Fuel, and Ornament, to an incredible Advantage. This being a cheap, and laudable Work, of fo much pleafure in the execution, andfo ccvtamproft in the event 5 to be but once •well done (for, as I affirm'd, a very fmall Nurfery will in a few Years people a vaft extent of Ground) hath made me fometimeJ in admiration at the univerfal negligence.

^ 2 . Having therefore made choice of (bme fit place of Ground, vfcM Fenced, veUpcding the South-eaji, rather then the full .S^«M, and well protcded from the North and Weji , let it be Broken uf the Winter before you fow, to mellow it, efpecially if it be a Clay, and then the furrow would be made deeper 5 or fo, at leaft, a« you would prepare it for Wheat : Or you may Trench it with the Spade, by which means it will the eafier be cleanfed of whatfo- ever may obftruft the putting forth, and infinuating of the ten- der Roots : Then having given it a Cecondjiirring, immediately before you fow , caft, and difpofe it into Ril/s, or fmall narrow Irenches of four, or five inches deep, and in even lines, at two foot interval, for the more commodious Runcation, Harving, and dref- fing the Trees : Into thefe Furrows ( for a Confeminea Sylva ) throw your Oak_, Beech, Jp, Nuts, all the Glandiferous Seeds, Mafi, and Key-bearing kinds, fo as they lye not too thick, and then cover them very well with a Rak§, or fine-tooth'd Harrow, as they do for Feafe : Or, to be more accurate, you may fet them as they do Beans (efpecially, the Nuts and Acorns) and that every Species by themfelves, which is the better way : This is to be done at the latter end of October, for the Autumnal fowing , and in the lighter ground, about February for, the Vernal.

3. Your f/<i«^/ beginning now to peep Ihould be earthed up,

and

A Difcomfe of Forcft-Trees|?;^ .

and comforted a little ^ efpecially, after breaking of the greatet frofis^ and when the fweliing mould is apt to fpue them forth , but when they are about an inch above ground you may, in a moifi fesiioni draw them up where they are too thic^^ and fet them immediately in other lines, or Beds prepared for them j ot you may plant them in double fojjer, where they may abide for good and all , and to remain till they are of a competent ftature to be Iran^lanted ^ where they Ihould be fet at liich difiances as their feveral kjnds require ; but if you draw them only for the thinning of your Seminary^ prick them into fbme empty Beds at one foot mtvrval, leaving the reft at two or three.

4. When your -See^^/z/Tg/ have ftood thus till ^'"^e, beftowahalf digging upon them, andfcattera little /««»g^, half rotten L/^fer, Fearn^ Bean-hame, or old Leaves^ among them, to preferve the Roots from fcorching , and to entertain the moifture ^ and then in March following ( by which time it will be quite confum'd and very mellow J you (hall chop it all into the earthy and mingle it together: Continue i\\\sfroceji for two or three years fuccef- fively, and then for before, if the ftatute of your young Impes invitej you may plant them forth, carefully taking up their Roots^ and cutting the ^/e«/ within an inch o^ the ground ("if the 4?W, of which hereafter, fufFerthe J^w/e^ let them where they are to continue : Some repeat this, the fecond Tear, and after March Cthe Moon decreasing) re-cut them at half a foot from the jkrface 5 and then meddle with them no more ; but this (if the procef be not inore fevere then needs) muft be done With a very fharp Injirii^ ment, and with care, left you violate, and unfettle the Root 5 which is likewife to be praftis'd upon all thofe which you did not Tranjplant, unlefs you ftnd them very thriving Trees 5 and then it ftiall fuftice, toprxne off the Branches, and fpare the Tops ; for this does not only greatly eftablifti your Plants, by diverting the Sap to the Roots ^ but likewife frees them from the injury and eoncufiions of the Winds, and makes them to produce handlbme, ftraight j&fl<?*/, infinitely preferable to fuch as are abandoned to nature, and ^faV/ie«^, without this difcipline : By this means the Oak^ will become excellent Timber , Ihooting into ftraight and C\n- glcjients: The Chef-nut, Ajf), &c. multiply into Foles, which you may reduce tojtandards at pleafure.

5. The Author of the Natural Hiftory, Pliny, tells us it was a vulgar Trrf<j/z//(7«, in his time, that no Tree (hould be Removed un- der two years old, or above three : Cato would have none TranJ^ plantcdXtk then five fingers in diametreh but I have (hew'd why we are not to attend fo Iong,for fuch as we raife oi Seedlings: In thd interim, if thefe direftions appear too bufie, or operofe , or that the Plantation you intend be very ample, a more compendious' Method will be, the confufed fowing of Acorns, c^c. in Fnrroves^ two foot afunder, covered at three fingers depth, and fo for three^ years cleanled, and the firft Winter cover'd with fearn, without- any farther culture, unlefs you Tr4»||>/rf«^ them ; but, as I (hewed before, in Nurferies they would be cut an inch {rom the Ground,

and

S A Difconrfe of Foreft-Trces.

and then let ftand till Anarch the fecond year,when it (hall be fuffi- cient to disbranch them to one only (hoot ^ whether you fufFer them xofiand^ or remove them elfevvhere. But to make an Efjay what Seed is moft agreeable to the Soil^ you may by the thriving of a promifcuous Semination make a judgement of it , Tranf- planting thofe which you find leaft agreeing with the f lace 5 or elfe, by Coffwg the Jiarvling in the places where thej^ are new fown, caufrrtjem fometimes to overtake even their untouch'd contem- foraries. But I now proceed to particulars.

CHAP. III.

Of the Oak:

Oiki I. Y Have fometimes confider'd it very ferioufly, what fiiould

I move rliny to make a whole Chapter of one only Line^ which is lefs then the Argument of moft of the reft in his huge Volnmn : but the weightinefs of the Matter does worthily excufe him, who is not wont to fpare his Words^ or his Reader. Glandi- feri maxime generis omnes^ quibus honos apud Romanos perpetuus, ^^ Maji-bearing-trees were they principally which the Romans " held in chtefeji reputation^ \\. 6. cap. :^. And in the following where he treats oichaplets^ and the dignity of the Cives's Coronet^ it might be compos'd, of the' Leaves or Branches of any Oal^, pro- vided it were a beari»g^_^Tree, and had Acorns upon it. ft is for the efteem which thefe wifi^ and glorious people^ had of this Tree above all others, that I will ftrft begin with the Oak.

2. The 04)^ is of /<'«n4tlnds i two of which are moft common with us '■) the §^ercus urbana^ which grows more up-right, and be- ing clean, and lighter is fitteft for Timber : And the Rebur or ^er- cusSylvefiris^ which isofan hard, black grain, bearing a fmaller Acorn^ and afFcfting to fpread in branches^ and to put forth his Roots more above ground ^ and therefore in the planting, to be al- low'd a greater diftance 5 viz.. from twenty five^ to forty foot ^ whereas the other ftiooting up jmore ercdt will be contented yj'nh fifteen: This kjnd is farther to be diftinguifti'd by his fullnefs of leaves^ which tarnijl)^ and becoming yellow at the fall^ do com- monly clothe it all the Winter, the Roots growing very deep and ftragling. The Author oi Britannia Baconica fpeaks of an Oak , in Lanhadren Park in CornwalI,^fihK\\ bears conftantly leaves fpeckl'd with White j and of another call'd the r^/T^^c^s^-t?^)^, which I only mention here, that the variety may be compar'd by feme ingenious perfon thereabouts, as well as the truth of the £jita\ pr£-admonition of Oaks bearing ftrange leaves. It is in the mean time the propa- gation of this large fprcading, &c.

3. Oak., which is elpecially recommended for the excellency of the Timber J and that his Majejiies Forcfts were well and plenti- fully

A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trecs. ^

fully ftor'd with them; bccaufethey require room, andfpaceto amplifte and expand themfelves, and would therefore be planted at more remote diftances, and free from all encumbrances : And this upon confideration how Jlowly a full-grown Oak. mounts up- wards, zndhow jpeedil)/ they fpread, and dilate themfelves to all quarters, by dreffing and due culture 5 fo as above fertjj/ears ad- vance is to be gain'd by this only Induftry : And, if thus his Ma- jejiies Forefts, and chafes, were ftor'd ; vi%. with this ^reading tree at handfome Intervals, by which Gr<?!2i;»g might be improv'd for the feeding of Deer and Cattel under them, benignly vilited with the gleams of the Sun, and adorn'd with the diftant Land-- skjfs appearing through the glades, and frequent Vallies

Cternla dijlinguens inter plaga currere pojjit Per tumnlos, ^ convalles, campofqueproptfi .* 1}t nunc ejje vides vario diflinSa tepore Omnia, qu<e pomis interflta dulcibus ornant Arbufifque tenent felicibus ohfita circum.

As the Voet incomparably defcribes his Olive-groves,

' betwixt

Whole rows the azure shje is feen immix'd,

With Hillocks, Vales, and fields, as now you fee

Diftinguifti'd with a fweet variety ^

Such places which wild Apple-trees throughout

Adorn, and happy yZirw^j grow all about.

Lucret.XT^o. 5. (For fo we might alfo fprinkle Fruit-trees amongft them (of which hereafter) for Cider and many lingular ufes) we lliould find fuch goodly Plantations the boaft 6i our Rangers, and Forefls infinitely preferrable to any thing we have yet beheld, rude, and negleCied as they are : I fay, when his Majefy (hall proceed (as he hathde- fign'd) to animate this laudable pride into fafhion, Forefls and IVoods (as well as Fields and Inclofures) will prefent us with ano- ther face then now they do. And here I cannot but applaud the worthy Induftry of old Sir Harbotle Grimflone, who (I am told) from a very fmall Nurfery of Acorns which he fow'd in the negleft-. ed corners of his ground, did draw forth fuch numbers of Oaks of competent growth ^ as being planted about his Fields in even, and uniform rows, about one hundred foot from the Hedges j bufti'd, and well water'd till they had fufficiently fix'd themfelves, did wonderfully improve both the beauty, and the value of his De- meafnes. But I proceed.

4. Both thefe kjnds would be taken up very young, and Tranf- planted about oBober 5 and though they will grow tolerably in moft grounds ^ yet do they generally afteft thejound, black., deep zndfafl mould, rather warm then over wet and cold, and a little ri(ing ;, for this produces the firmeft Timber , and fo our former Naturaiift

D — iff

lo A Difconrfe of Foreft-Trees.

— — ^itt montemfHccederejylvas

Cogebant.

Lucret. though my L. Bacon prefer that which grows in the ntoifier grounds for Ship-timber, as the inoft tough, and lefs fabjeft to rift : but let us hear Fliny. This is a general Rule, faith he 5 " What Trees foever they be which grow tolerably cither on *' Hills, or rallies, arife to greater ftature, and fprcad more amply *' in the lower ground : But the Timber is far better, and of a finer ^^ grain, which grows upon the Mountains ^ excepting only Apple, *' and Tear-trees, And in the 39. cap. lib. 16. TheTifftber of thofe *' Trees which grow in moift and fiadj/ places is not fo good as " that which comes from a more expos'd fituationjnor is it fo clofe, " fubftantial and durable 5 upon which he much prefers the Tim- " ber growing in Tufcanj, before that towards the Venetian fide, *' and upper part of the Gulph : And that Timber fo growing was in greateft efteem long before Fliny, we have the ^ear of Aga- memnon

"-^ f;)^«^ *ce;ttoTft?Jf Sfx*^' '^>^ >'• from a Treefo ex- pos'd 5 and Dydimus gives the reafon. T* ya.^ I* ^'ri/x^ (fays he) irKuty yvfivdL^o/i'ijei •/'tr/gst, r»f«*, &c. For that being continually wea- ther-beaten they become hardier and tougher.

5. But to difcourage none. Oaks profper exceedingly even in gravel, and moift Clays, which moft other Trees abhor j yea, even the coldeft c/tf^ grounds that will hardly graze : I have read, that there grow 0<«;^x(fome of which have contain'd ten loads apiece) out of the very Walls of Silcefier in Hantfiire, which foem to ftrike root in the very Stones. It is indeed obforv'd, that Oakj which grow in rough, fiony grounds, and obftinat clays, are long before they come to any confiderable ftature^ for fuch places,* and all fort ofClay, is held but zjiep-mother toTrees ^ but in timfe they afford the moft excellent Timber, having ftood long, and got ^ good rooting : The fame may we affirm of the Yighted fands^ which produces a fmoother-grain'd Timber, of all other the moft ufeful for the Joyner. What improvement the fiirring of the ground about the roots of Oaki is to the Trees I have already hin- ted j and yet in Copjes where they ftand rearm, and fo thickn'd with the under-wood , as this culture cannot be praftis'd , they prove in time to be goodly Trees.

6. That the Tranfplanting of young 0^4r gains them fe» years Advance fome happy perfons have affirmed : from this belief,! have dcfir'd to be cxcufed, and produc'd my Reafons for it : Nor Icfs are they mijiaken, who advife us to plant Oaks of a great bigneji, which hardly make any confiderable progref in an Age : Yet if any be defirous to make /r/W of it, let their Stems be of the fmootheft, and tendereft Bark.-^ for that is ever an indication o^ youth, as well as the paucity of their Circles, which in difbranching, and cutting the head off, ztftve ovfix foot height (a thing, by the way, which the French ufually fpare when they Tranjplant this Tree)

may

A DifcoHffe of t'oreft-Trees, it

may ( before you ftir their Roots ) ferve for the tnore certain Guide ; and then plant them immediately, with as much Earth as will adhere to them, in the place deftin'd for their Jiation 5 abating only the tap-roots, which is that doWn-right, and ftubby part of the Roots (which all Trees rais'd of Seed^ do univerfally produce) and quickning fome of the reft with a iharp k»ife (but fparing the Fibrous, which are the main Suckers and Mouths of all Trees) (pread them in thefof, or pit which hath been prepar'd to receive them. I fay in the/<?/, unlefs you will rather tre»ch the whole Field, which is incomparably the beft , and infinitely to be prc- fcrr'd before narrow pits and holes (as the manner is) in cafe you plant any number confiderable , the Earth being hereby made loofi, eajier and penetrable for the Roots j about which you are to caft that Mould which (in opening of the Trench) you took from the Surface, and purpofely laid apart ; becaufc it is fweet, mel- low, and better impregnated : But in this IVbrk^, be circumfpeft never to inter your Stent deeper then you found it ftanding 5 for profound burnings very frequently deftroys a Tree j though an Er- rour feldom obferved : If therefore the Roots be fufficiently co- vered to keep the Body fteady and erreft, it is enough ^ and the not minding of this trifling Circumjtance does very much deceive our ordinary Wood-men : For moft Roots covet the Air (though' that of the §>uercus urbana leaft of any ;

■quod quantum vertice ad auras

^thereof, tantum radice ad tartar a tendit)

And the perfeftion of that does almoft as much concern the profperity of a Tree, as o? Man himfelf, fince Homo is but Arbor imierfa -^ which prompts me to this curious, but important Ad- vertijement 5 That the Poftion be likewife feduloufly obferved.

7. For, the Southern parts being more dilated, and the pores ex- pos'd (as evidently appears in their Horizontal Se6fions)hy the ConOant Excentricity of their Hyperbolical Circles j being now on the j«<^<^e»5and at fuch a feafon converted to the North, doesjierve, and deftroy more Trees (how careful foever men have be;en in or- dering the Roots, and preparing the Ground) then any other Acci- dent whatfoever (negled: oijiaking, and defending from Cattle ex- cepted) the importance whereof caufed the beft oiFoets, and moft experienc'd in this Argument, giving advice concerning this Article, to add

^inetiam Cceli regionem in corticeftgnani, Vtquo qu^eque modojieterit, qua parte calores Aujtrinostulerit, quaterga obverterit axi Rejiituant : Adeo in teneris confuefcere multum eji.

Gt0r.li.i4 Vi/hich Monition, though F//>y, and fome others think good to negleft, ot edeetn Indifferent j lean confirm from frequent loffes of my own, and by particular trials j having fometimes Tranf-

D a planted

13

4 V'tfconrfe of. Foreft-Trees.

plant edgx^sx trees at Mid-fomer with fuccefs (the Earth adhering to the Roots) and mifcarried in others where this Circutftjiance only was omitted.

To obferve therefore the €oalf^ and fide of the ftock, efpeci- ally of ermi-trces )■ is not fucli a trifle as by Ibme pretended : For if the Air be as much the Mother or l^urfe, as Water and Earth, (as more then probable it is) fuch bloflbming Plants as court the motion of tht Meridian Sun ^ do as 'twere evidently point out the advantage they receive by their pojltion : And the frequent mojji- fiefof moft Trees on the oppofite fide does fufficiently note the unkindnefs of that Jjpe&^ ; and which- is moft: evident in the W^ of Oaks white and fmooth i The Trees growing more kindly on the South fide of an Hil/, then thofe which are expos'd to the Norths with an hard, dark, rougher, and more moflie Integument. I have feen (writes a worthy Friend to me on this occafion) whole Hedge-rows of Apples and Fears that quite perifli'd after that {bel- ter was remov'd : The good Husbands expefted the contrary, and that the Fruit (hould improve, as freed from the predations of the Hedge ; but ufe and cuft:om made that (belter necefiary 5 and therefore (faith he) ajiock^ for a time is the weaker,' taken out o£ a Thicl{ety if it be not well protected from all fudden and fierce invafions either of crude Air or Winds : Nor let any be deterr'd, if being to remove many Tresx, he fhall eft;eemittoo confumptive of time , for with a Erufh dipped in any white co- lour, or Oaker, a thoufand may be marked as they ftand, in a mo- ment 5 and that once done, the difficulty is over. I have been the larger uponthefe two Remarks , becaufe I find them fo mate- rial, and yet fo much neglefted.

8. There are other jR»/ej- concerning the///«<!i^/<>« of Treej 5 the former Author commending the JSIorth-ea^f-windhoth for theflou- rilhing of the Tree, and advantage of the Timber t, but to my ob- lervation, in our Climates^ where thofe ftiarp winds do rather/<j«- k§r then blow fully oppofite upon our riantations, they thrive beft 5 and there are as well other Circumstances to be confidered.as they refpeft Elvers and Marpes obnoxious to unwholfom and poy- IbnousF^^i-^ Hi//s, and -S"e<«y, which expofe them to the weather ; and thok jjlvifiagi venti, our cruel, and tedious Western winds 5 all which I leave to obfervation , becaufe thefe accidents do fo uni- verfally govern, that it is not eafie to determine farther then that thcTimheris commonly better qualified which hath endur'd the colder Afpedts without thefe prejudices : And hence it is, that Seneca obferves Woods moft: expos'd to the Winds to be the moft: Jirfing^indfolid, 2ind that therefore C/»/>tf» made Achilles's Spear of a Mountain-tree ^ and of thofe the beif which grow thin , not much (helter'd from the North. Again, Thcophraffus feems to have Ipecial regard to places ; exemplifying in many o£Gre$ce,wh\ch ex- ceeded others for good Timber , as doubtlefs do our Oaks in the Ftfrei? of Deana\[ others of England: and much certainly there may reafonably be attributed to thefe advantages for the growth of limber, and of almoft: all other Irees, as we daily fee by their

general

A Difcourfe of Fo reft- Trees. 12

general improfperity where the ground is a hot gravely and a loofe earth : An Oal^or Elme in fuch a place (hall not in an hiwdred years overtake one oi fifty planted in its frofer foil ; though next to this, and (haply) before it, I prefer the good Air : But thus have they fuch vaft Juniper t in Spain j and the Ajhes in fome parts of the Levant (as of old neer Troy) fo excellent, as it was after miftaken for Cedar ^ fo great was the difference ^ as now the Can- tahrian or Spanish exceeds any we have elfe in all Europe.

9. But before we take leave of this r^rrf^r^ipA, concerning the Tranjplanting of great Trees, and to (hew what is poffible to be effeded\nt\\\s kind, with coft, and induftry. Count Maurice (the late Governour of Brazil for the Hollanders) planted a Grove neer his delicious Paradife of Frihurge , containing fix hundred Coco- trees of eighty years growth , and fifty foot high to the neereft bough : thefe he wafted upon Floats^ and Engines, four long miles, and planted them fo luckily, that they bare abundantly the very firfl: year 5 as Gajpar Bar Ideas hath related in his elegant Defcription of that Princes expedition : Nor hath this only Suc- ceeded in the indies alone 5 Monjieur de Fiat (one of the Marfials of France) hath with huge Oaks done the like at de Fiat : fhall I yet bring you neerer home ? My Lord Hopton planted Oaks as big as twelve Oxen could draw, to fupply fome dcfed in an Avenue to one of his houfes in Devon/Jnrei as the Right Honourable Sir Charles Barclay, Treafurer of His Majejiies Houpold, affur'd me 5 who had himfelf likewife praftis'd the Removing of great Oaks by a particular addrefi extreamly ingenious, and worthy the commu- nication.

10. Chuie a Tree as big as your thigh, remove. the earth from about him ^ cut through all the col/ateral Koots, till with a com- petent ftrength you can enforce him down upon one fide, fo as to come with your Axe at the Tap-root j cut that off, redreft your Tree, and ib let it fi:and cover'd about with the mould you loofen'd from it, till the next year, or longer if you think good 5 then take it up at a fit feafon; it will likely have drawn new tender Roots apt to take, and fufficicnt for the Tree, whereloever you (hall tranfplant him : rZ/Vy notes it as a common thing, to re-erta- bliih huge Trees which have been blown down , part of their Roots torn up, and the body profi:ratei and^inp rticular, of a F7>, that when it was to be tranjplanted had a tap-root which went no lefs then eight cubits perpendicular ^ and to thefe I could fu- peradd , but I proceed. To facilitate the Removal of fuch mon- ftrous Treej-, for the Adornment of Ibme particularp/^^fe, or the ra- rity of the Plant, theic is this expedient. A little before the hard- eft: Fr^j- furprize you, makeafquare Trench about your Tree, at fuch dift:ance from the Stem as you judge lufficient for the Root , dig this of competent depth, fo as almoft: quite to undermine it 3 by placing blocks, and quarters of wood, to fuftain the Earth x, this done, caft in as much Water as may fill the Trench, or at leaft fufE- ciently wet it, unlefs the ground were very moift before. Thus let it ft:and, till fome very hard Fro^ do bind it firmly to the

Roots,

H

A Difcourfe of Forcft-Trees.

Hoctf, and then convey it to the pit prepar'd for its new ftation ^ but in cafe the mould about it be fo ponderous as not to be re- mov'd by an ordinary force j you may then raife it with a Cram or p*Z/y hanging between a Triangle, which is made of three ftrong and tall Limhs united at the top, where a Pul/ji is faftned^as the Ca- hies are to be under the quarters which bear the earth about the Roots : For by this means you may weigh up , and place the wliole weighty Clod upon a trundle to be convey'd, and Replant- ed where you pleafe, being let down perpendicularly into the place by the help of the forefaid Engine. And by this addrefyoM may TranjplantTTeeso(zwondet(\ilJiature, without the leaftdif- order , and many times without topping, or diminution of the kead, which is of great importance where this is praftis'd to fup- ply a DefeB, or remove a Cnriofity.

11. Someadvife, that in planting of O^^fs ^(- fi»f> ox five be fuffer'd to ftand very neer to one another, and then to leave the moft profperous, when they find the reft to difturb his growth 5 but I conceive it were better to plant them at fuch dijiances, as they may leaft incommode one another : For Timber-trees^ would have none neerer xhtr\ forty foot where they ftand clofeji 5 Speci- ally of the fpreading kind.

12. Laftly, Trees of ordinary ftSit.meTranj^lanted(hc\n^ firft well ir/e/er'^Jmuft befufEcientlyJ?<«)^ei/, and Bup'd about with thorns, or with fome thing better, to proteft them from the con- cuflions of the Winds, and from the cafual rubbing, and poyfo- nous brutting of Cattle and sheep, the oylinefof whofe WooU\s al- fo very noxious to them; till being well grovpn^ and/xe<i (which hyfeven years will be to fome competent degree) they ftiall be able to withftand all accidental invaftons, but the Axe ; for I am now come to their Pr»»/»5 and C»^^/«5, in which work the <ye<»/^»x are of main importance.

13. Therefore, if you would propagate Trees for Timber, cut not off their heads at all, nor be too bufie with lopping : but if you defire Shade, and Fuel, or bearing of Maji alone, lop off their Tops, fear, and unthriving Branches only , If you intend an out-right/e^z»5, expeft till November , for this premature cutting down of Trees before the Sap is perfeftly at reU will be to your exceeding prejudice, by reafon of the Worm, which will certain- ly breed in the Timber which is felled before that period : But in cafe you cut only for the Chimney, you need not be fb pundualas to the time ; yet for the benefit of what you let fiand obferve the Moons increafe. The Reafon of thefe differences is 5 becaule thk is the beft feafon for the groxoth of the Tree which you do not fell, the other for the durablenef of the Timber which you do : Now that which is to be burnt is not fo material for laliing, as thegroveth of the Tree is confiderable for the Timber.

« 14. The veiyjiumps of Oak, efpecially that part which is dry, and above ground being well ^rw^^W, is many times worth the pains and charge, for fundry rare, and hard works; and where Tmher is dear : but this is to be praftis'd only where you

delign

A Difconrfe of FovcHi-Trees. 15

defign a final extirpation 5 for fome have drawn fuehrers even from an o\d Jiuh-root 5 but they certainly perifh by the Adof which in- vades them, and are very fubjeft to grow rotten. P/z»^fpeaks of one Root which took up an entire jicre of Ground ; if fo, his ^r^«z«e»* may hold good, for their growth after the Tree is come to its period.

15. There is not in nature a. thing more obnoxious to deceit, then the buying of Treesjianding, upon the reputation of their Appearance to the ejie, unlefs the Chapman be extraordinarily judi- cious 5 fo various are their hidden, and conceal'd J^/S-^/i^/ex, till they he fell' d, zv\d fawn out : fo as if to anything applicable, cer- tainly there is nothing which does more perfeftly confirm it then the moft flourifhing out-fde of Trees, Fronti nulla fides. A Tim- ber-tree is a Merchant Adventurer, you (hall never know what he is worth, till he be dead.

16. Oaks are in fome places (where the foil is ^ecial/y qualified) ready to be cut for Cops in fourteen years and fooner j I compute from the drikjemination ; though it be told as an inftance of high encouragement (and as indeed it merits) that a Lady in Northam- ptonfiire fowed Acorns, and liv'dtocut the Tree j prod uc'd fi-om them, twice in two and twenty years 5 and both as well grown as moft are in |7x?ee« or e/_gA*ee«. This yet is certain, that Acorns fetin He^^^e-r^jvi' have in thirty years born ajiem of a foot diame- tre. Generally, Copps-wood fhould be cut cloje, and at fuch In- tervals as the growth requires; which being feldom conftant, de- pends much on the places, and the kinds, the mould and. the air, and for which there are extant particular Statutes to direft us, of all which more at large hereafter. Oak for Tan-barkjnay be fell'd from April to the laft of June, by a Statute in the i Jacobi.

17. To enumerate now the incomparable l^jofthis Wood, were needlefs ; But fo precious was the efteem of it, that of old there was an exprefs Law amongft the Twelve Tables concerning the very gathering of the Acorns though they fhould be found fallen into another mans Ground : The Land and the Sea do fufficiently fpeak for the improvement of this excellent material '-, Houfes, ana ships. Cities and Navies are built with it; and there is a kind of it fo tough, and extreamly compad, that our (harpeft Tools will hardly enter it, as fcarcely the very Fire it felf, in which it confumes but flowly, as feeming to partake of a ferruginous, and metallin fhining nature proper for fundry robuft Ufes. That which is twin'd, and a little wreathed (eafily to be difcern'd by the texture of the Bark.) is beft to fupport Burthens, for Tofis, Co' bimns. Summers, ^c. for all which our Englijh Oak^ is infinitely • preferrable to the French, which is nothing lb ufeful, nor compa- rably fojirong ; infomuch as I have frequently admir'd at the fud- den failing of moft goodly Timber to the Eye, which being im- ploy'd to thefe Vfis docs many times moft dangeroufly flie in fon- der, as wanting that native jj^ring, and toughnef, which out Englifl) Oak is indu'd withall. For Shingles, Pales , Lathes, Coopers ware. Clap-hoard, &c. the fmalleft and ftraighteft is beft ; difcover'd

like-

i6 A Difcourfe of Forcft-Trees.

likcwife by the upright ienor of the Bark-i as being the moft pro-

Eer for cleaving : The kfwttieji for IVater-workj.^ VJles and the like 5 ecaufe 'twill drive beft, and lafl: longeft. Were planting of thefe Woods more in ufe, we lliould baniOi our hoop of Hafel^ ^c, for thofe of good Oak^^ which being made of the yonngev poots, are exceeding tough and ftrong : One of them being of Ground Oa^ will out-lafty7x- of the beft Jp. The fmaller trunchions, and jf^>vy, make Billet^ Bavine and Coals ^ and the very Bark^k of price with the Tanner and Dier ^to whom the very Saw-duji is of ufe, as are the Jfies and lee to cure the roapipnej^ ot PVine.TheGround-OakjwhWe young is us'd for Foles^ Cudgels and Walkjng-flaff's^ not to forget the Galls ^ Mijjktoe, and many other ufeful Excrejcencies : Pliny af- firms that the Calls do break out altogether in one night about the beginning oijune, and arrive to their full growth in one daji :, this I recommend to the experience of fome extraordinary vigilant Wood-man. What benefit the Maft does univerfally yield for the fatting of Hogs and Deer I ftiall (hew upon another occafion, be- fore the conclufion of this Difcourfe; in the mean time, the very Acorns themfelves were heretofore the Food of Men (as well as other ProduCfions of the earth) till their luxurious Palats were debauched-^ and even in the Romans time, the cuftom was in Spain to make njecondfervice of Acorns and Maji^ (as the French now do o(Marrons, and Chef-nuts') which they likewife ufed to roft under the embers. Oaks bear alfo a kl^nr^ full of a Cottony matterjof which they Antiently made Wick^ for their Lamps and Candles v, and among the SeleBiora Remedia of "jo. Pravotius there is mention of an Oyl e quemaglande Chymically extraHed, which he affirmes to be or the longeft continuance, and leaft confumptive of any others whatfoever, for fuch lights, ita m uncia fingulis menjibus vix abfumatur tontinuo igne. To conclude, M. Blith makes Spars and fmall building Timber of Oakes of eleven years growth 5 this is indeed a prodigious Advance , but I fufped the figure.

CHAP. IV.

Of the Elm.

'S'lm '• C^ *^^ ^'^ there are four, or five forts , and from the

V_^ difference of the Soil and Air divers j^urious : Two of thefe kinds are moft worthy our culture, -viz,, the Mountain Elm, which is taken to be the Oriptelea of Theophrafius > being of a lefs, jagged and fmaller leaf; and the Vemacula or Trench Elm, whofe leaves are thicker, and more florid, delighting in the low- er, and moifter grounds, where they will fometimes rife to above an hundred toot in height, and a prodigious growth, in lefs then an Age 5 my lelf having feen one planted by the hand of a

Countef

A DifcoHrfe of Forcft-Trees.

Counted yet living, which is neer twelve foot in campaf^ and of an height proportionable •■, notwithftanding the numcvons progeny which grows under the (hade of it, fbme whereof are at Icaft a foot in Diameter^ that for want of being feafonably tranjplattfed muft needs have hindered the procerity of their ample and indul- gent Mother.

•2. Both thefey^r^j are rais'd oiAppendicei or Suckers (as anon we (hall defcribe) but this latter comes well from the Santera or Seeds, which being ripe about the beginning of March will produce them ^ as we fee abundantly in the Gardens of the Thnylkries, and that of Luxembourg^ at Taris^ where they ufually fow thetti- ftlves, and come up very thick ^ and fb do they in many places of our Country ^ihovi^ fo feldom taken notice ofjasthat it is efteem'd a Fable by the lefs obfervant and ignorant P'nlgar. To raife them therefore of their .5ce^/ (being well dry'd a day or two before) Iprinkleit in Be^/ prepared of good earths fiefting fomeofthe fineft mould thinly over them, and watering them when need re* quires. Being rifen an inch above ground (refrelh'd, and pre- ferv'd from the fcraping of Birds and Poultry) comfort the tender feedlings by a (econd fiefting of moje fine earthjto eftablifh them 5 thiis keep them clean weeded for the fir ft tvpo years 5 or till beifig of fitting ftature to Remove , you may thin, and Tran^Unt them in the fame manner as you were dircfted for young Oakj 5 only they fliall not need above one cutting where they grow left regular and hopeful. But becaufe this is an Experiment of fome curiosity, ob- noxious to many cafualties, and that the producing them from thtf .Mother-roots oi^xedAcx'Xvecs is very facile and expeditious (be- fides the numbers which are to be found in the Hedge-rows^ and Woods, of all plantable fizes) I rather advife our Forejier to fucnilh himfelf from rhofe places.

3. The Suckers which I fpeak of are produc*d in abundance from the Roots, whence being dextroufly feparated , after the Earth has been well loofen'd, and planted about the end ofo^tf- ber^ they will grow very well : Nay, thejiubs only, which are left in the ground after a FtUing (being fenced in as far as the /Joofj extend) willfurnilh you with plenty, which may be Trdnf- flanted from the firji year or two fucceflively, by flipping theiri from the Roots ^ which will continually fupply you for many years afterthat the body of the Mother Tree has been cut down : And from hence probably is fprung that (I fear) miftake of Salmafius and others, where they write of the growing of their Chips Q. fuppofe, having fome of the bark on) fcatter'd in hewing of their Timber > the Errour proceeding from this, that after an Elm-tree has been Fell'd, the numerous Suckers which {hoot from the re- mainders of the latent Roots fecm to be produced from this diC- perfion of the Chips : Let this yet be more accurately examin'd 3 for I pronounce nothing Magijterially.

4. But there is alfo another Artifice to produce them fooner, which is this ^ Bare fome of the Majier-roots of a vigorous Tree, within a/o(?f of the Trunks or thereabouts, and with your Axe

E make

i8 A Difcourfe of Forc/l-Trees.

makcfeveriil cAops, putting afmallj?«?«e into every cleft, to hinder their clofure, and give accefs to the ivet:, then cover them with three or four i»f A thick oi Earth : and thus they will fend forth Sitckgrs in abundance, which after two, or three lean, you may Separate, and plant in the Vlmarwm, or place defign'd for them ^ and which if it be mplu»/ps (as they call them) within ten or twelve y<i'<?^ of each other, or in Hedge-rows, it will be the better ; For the El»t is a Tree of Confort, Sociable, and fo affecting to grow in Company, that the very beft which I have ever fecn do o\tno^ touch one another : This alfo proteds them from the Winds^ andcaufcs them to (hoot of an extraordinary height ; fo as in lit- tle more th^n forty years they even arrive to a load of limber 5 provided they be fcdulouily and carefully cultivated, and the toil propitious. For an Elfit does not thrive fo well in the Forefi^ as where it may enjoy (cope for the Roots to dilate and fpread in the fides, as in He^^e-r<?B'/ and Avenues, where they have the -rf/r likewife free.

5. Of all the Trees which grow in our Woods, there is none which does better fufFcr the Tran^lantation then the Elm ^ for you may remove a Tree of twenty years growth with undoubted luc- cefe : It is SLuExperiment I have made in a Tree almoft as big more as my wafte 5 but then you muft totally dkhranch him , leaving only the Summit intire 5 and being careful to take him up with as much Earth as you can , refrefti him with abundance of water. This is an excellent and expeditious way for great Verfons to plant the Accejfes of their Houfes with ^ for being difpos'd at Jmc- teen, ot eighteen foot Interval, they will in a few years bearg«X)d* ly heads, and thrive to admiration. Some that are very cauti- ous entplafier the wounded head of fuch over-grown Elms with a mixture of c/rf;', and horfe-dung, bound about them with a wi^ of Hayot fine MoJ^, and I do not reprove it. But for more ordinary plantations, younger Trees, which have their hark, finooth and tender, about the fcantlingof your leg, and their heads trimm'd at five ox fix foot height, are to be preferr'd before all other. Cato would have none of thefe forts oi Trees to be removed till they are

^ve oxfix fingers in diameter ^ others think they cannot take them too young-^ but experience (the beft Mi [irifi) tells us, that you can hardly plant an Elm too big. There are who pare away the £/w^ within two fingers of thejiem, and quite cut off the tkad^ but I cannot commend this extream fcverity , no more then I do the ftrewing of Oats in the pit 5 which fermenting with the moi- fture, and (xequent tf>aterings, is believed muchtp accelerate the putting forth of the Roots , not confidering, that for want of air they corrupt, and grow mufiy, which more frequently fufibcates the R/)ots, and endangers the whole Tree.

6. The EUtt delights in z found, fvreet and fertile Land, fome- thing more inclin'd to moifture, and where good Pajture is pro- duced; though it will alfo profper in the gravelly, provided there be a competent depth of «?^«W,and be refrefti'd with fprings:in de- ft^ of which, being planted on the very furface of the ground (the

Jhcarth

A DifcoHrfe of Forefi-Trees. i^

fioarth par'd firft away, and the earth ftirred a foot deep or more) they will undoubtedly fucceed 5 but in this Tr/W, let the Roots be handfomly fpread, and covered Afoot, or more in height, and above all, ^vnAyjiak^d. This is pradicable alfo for other Trees, where the Soil is over moift, or unkind : For as the Elm does not thrivein too ^r^jySW^ or Atf? grounds, no more will it abide the cold and Jpuffgj/ :, but in places that are competently fertile, or a little elevated from theie annoyances 5 as we fee in the Mounds, and cartings up of ditches, upon whofe banks the Femal fort does more naturally delight.

7. The Elm is by reafbn of its afpiring, and tapering growth (unlels it be topp'd to enlarge the branches, and make them fpread low) the leafl: offenfive to Corn , and Pajiure-gronnds, to both which, and the Cattel, they afford a benign Jhade, defence, znd agreeable Ornament.

8. It would be planted as fljallow as might be ; for, as we no- ted, deep interring of Roots is amongft the Cd^^oZ/V^Miftakes 5 and oEthfs, the greatefi to which Trees are obnoxious. Let new planted Elms be kept moi^ by frequent refreihings upon fome half-rotten Fern, or Litter laid about the foot of the jiem ; the earth a little ftirred and deprefted for the better reception, and retention of the water.

9. Laftly, your Plantation muft above all things be carefully preferv'd from Crf^^e/, and the concuffionsof impetuous Winds^ till they are out of reach of the one, and fturdy enough to encoun- ter the other.

10. When you lop the £/» (which may be ahant January ijot the fire, and more frequently, if you defire to have them tall-^ or that you would form them into Hedges (for fo they may be kept flalhed, and thickned to the higheft twig; affording both a mag- nificent, and auguft Defence againft the Winds and Sun) I fay, when you thus trim them , be careful to indulge the Tops 5 for they proteft the body of your Trees from the wet, which always invades thofe parts firft, and will in time/»er//S themto the very heart ; fo as Elms beginning thus to decay, are not long pro- fperous. Sir Hugh Tlat relates (as from an expert Carpenter) that the boughs and branches of an Elm fliould be left afoot long next the trunk, when they are lop'di but this is to my certain obferva- tion a very great mijia^e either in the Relator, or Author : for I have noted many Elms fo diftjranch'd , that the remainingji^w^j grew immediately hollow, and were as Co many Conduits, or Pipes, to hold, and convey the Rain to the very body, and heart of the Tree.

1 1. There is a Cloyfler of the right French Elm in the little Gar- den neer to her MajefUes the ^Mothers Chappel at Somerfet'houfe^ which -were (I fuppofe) planted there by the induftry of the F F. Capuchines, that will perfeftly direft you to the incomparable ufe of this noble Tree fory&4f/e and £/e%Af 3 into whatever Figure you will accuftom them. I have alfo heard of graffing Elms to a great improvement of their heads, and it would be try d.

E 2 12. When

20

A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees.

124 When you would Fellltx. the Saf be perfedly in repofe ; as 'tis commonly about November or December^ after the fioji hath well nipp'd them : I have already alleadg'd my reafon for it ; and I am told. That both Oak^ ana Elm fo cut, the very Saplings (whereof Rafters^ Spars^^c. are made) will continue as long as the very heart of the Tree without decay. In this work, cut your kfrfg near to the ground ; but have a care that it fufFer not in the fal/, and be ruined with its own weight .' This depends upon your fVood-Mans judgment in dkbranchitig , and is a neceflary caution to the Felling of all other Timber-Trees. If any begin to doat, pick out fuch for the Ax, and rather truft to its Succejfor.

13. Elmlsa. 7V«/^crofmoft Angular Vje '^ efpecially where it may lie continually dry, or ivet in extreames ^ therefore proper for Water-works, Mills, Pipes, Tumps, ship-planks beneath the Water- line j and fome that has been found buried in Boggs, has ttirn'd like the moft polifti'd, and hardeft Ebony, only difcern'd by the grain : Alfo for Wheel-xorights , Kerbs of Coppers, Featheridg and Weather-boards, Drejjers and fundry other imployments. It makes alfo the fecond fort of Charcoal 5 and finally (which I muft not omit) the ufe of the very leaves of this Tree, efpecially of the fe- male, is not to be defpis'd j for being fuffered to dry in the Snn upon the Branches, and the ^ray ftirip'd off about the decreafe in Augufi (as alfo where the fuckers znafiolones are fuper-numerary, and hinder the thriving of their Nurfes') they will prove a great relief to Cattel in Winter, when hay and fodder is dear 3 they will eat them even before Oates , and thrive exceedingly well With them 'j remember only to lay your Boughs up in ibme dry, and fweet corner of your Barn : It was for this the Poet prais'd them, and the Epithete was advis'd,

mfecHnd<e fondibm Vlmi. Georg. 2 .

In fome parts of Hereford-pire they gather them in Sacks for their Swine, and other C^i^^e/ according to this husbandry.

CHAP. V.

Of the Beech.

j^y i.'T'^He Beech, {FagmyiVLVdhxeA amongft the glandiferous Trees,

X I r^"k here before the martial ^j, becaufe it commonly grows to a greater ftature. There are of thefe Fagi two, or three }{inds with us j the Mountain,-w);nch. is the whitcft,and moft fought after by the Turner ; and the Campefiral or wild, which is of a blacker colour, and more durable. They are both to be rais'd from the Mafl, and govern'd like the 0<«4, of which amply ; and that is abfolutely the beft way of furniftiing a Wood ; But they are

likewife

A Difcourfe of Forcft-Tf ees. 31

likcwife to be planted of young feedli/tgs to be drawn out of the places where the fruitful Trees abound. In Tranjplanting them cut offonly the boughs and bruifed parts, two Inches from the Jiem^ to within a jfardo£ the top 5 but be very fparing of the Root: This for fuch as are of ^vetty jiature. They make Ipreading Trees, and noble shades with their well furnifh'd and gliftering leaves, being fetat forty foot diftance; but they grow taller and more upright in the Forejis, where I have beheld them at eight and ten foot, fioot into very long poles j but neither fo apt for Timber, nor Fuel : In the Vallies (where they ftand warm, and in confort) they will grow to a Hcxx^endsoxasprocerity, though the foil be ftony and very barren : Alfo upon the declivities', fides and tops of high HiUs, and chalkje Monntains efpecially ; for they will ftrange- ly infinuate their Roots into the bowels of thofe feemingly impene- trable places, not much unlike the F/r it felf, which, with this lb common Tree, the great C^far denies to be found in Britahny, Materia cujufque generis , ut in GaUia,pr£ter Fagum ^ ahietem : but certainly from a grand miftake.

2. The 25eec/> ferves for various t^je/ of the Houje-mfej with it the Turner makes DiJIies, Trajs,Eowls, Ritnbs for Buckets, and other Utenfils, Trenchers, Drejfer-boards, d^c. likewife for the Wheeler, Jcyner, and VpholUer for Sellyes, Chairs, Stools, Bed-jieads, d^c. for the Bellovps-maker, and Husbandman his Shovel and Spade-graffs-^ for Fuel, Billet, Bavin and €oal though one of the leaft lafting : Not to omit even the very shavings for the fining of Wines. Of old they made their Fafa Vindimiatoria and Corhes MeJfori£ (as we our pots for Strarv-berries) with the Rind of this Beech > and that cu- rioufly wrought Cup which the shepherd in the Bucolickj wagers with all, was engraven by Alcimedon upon the Barks>i this Tree : You would not wonder to hear me deplore the fo frequent ule of this Wood, if you did confider that the induftry of France fur- niflies that Country for all domeftic Vtenjils with excellent Wall- nut 5 a material infinitely preferrable to the beft Beech 5 which is indeed good only (or Jhade and for Fire ^ as being brittle, and ex- ceedingly obnoxious to the fFbr»^.- But whil'fl: we thus condemn the Timber, we muft not omit to praife theMaff, which fats our Swine and Deer, and hath in fome Families even fupported men with bread : Chios indur'd a memorable Siege by the benefit of this Maji : and in Ibme parts of France they now grind the Buckjn Mills ; it affords a fweet Oyl which the poor people eat mofl: wil- lingly : But there is yet another benefit which this Tree prefents us i that its very leaves which make a natural, and moft agreeable Canopy all the Summer 5 being gather'd about the fall, and fome- what before they are nwxchfioji- bitten, afford the beft and eafieft Mattrejfes in the world to lay under our quilts inftead of Jiraw 5 becaulc, befides their tendernefs and loofe lying together, they continue fweet for feven or eight years long ; before which time^r^ip becomes muHy, and hardj They are thus ufed by di- vers perfons of ^ality in Dauphine, and in Switzerland I have

fom«-

22 A DifcoHrfe of Foreft-Trces.

fbmetimes lain on them to my great refrcftiment : fo as of this Tree it may properly be faid,

'-—.yhadoMUf^ cubiliafrondes. Juvenal.

Sn>me may be driven to Maff about the end oiAuguSf.

CHAP. VI.

Of the AJh.

AJh. I. /"^Rnus the Ajh is with us Male and Femak, the one afFedlii^

V_y the higher grounds :

' '■ ' Sterilesfaxojfs montibus ortii. Geor. 2.

The other the plainsj of a jpAiVer wood, and rifing many times to a prodigious nature i fo as in forty years froiTi the Key, an Afi hath been fold for thirty pounds sterling : and I have been credi- bly inform'dj that one perfoft hath planted fo much of this one fort of Timber in his life time as hath been valu'd worth fiftj/ thou- fafid founds to be bought. Thefe are pretty encouragements, for a fmall, and plealant induftry.

2. The Ke^i being gather'd when they begin to fall (which is about the end of O&ober , and the enfiiing Moneth) are to be fow'd 5 but not altogether fo deep as your former Maiis : Thus they do in Spain : A very narrow Seminary will be fufficient to ftore an whole Country : They will lye a full year in the ground before they appear 5 therefore you mufl: carefully fence them all that time and have patience : But if you would make a confidera- ble Wood of them at once. Dig or Vloro a parcel of ground, as you would prepare it for Corn^ and with the Corn (or what other Grain you think fitteft) fow alfo good ftore of Keys^ Ibme Crab- kernels, &c. amongft them : Take off your crop of Corn, or Seed in its Seafon, and the next year following it will be cover'd with young 4/&ej-, which will be fit either to ftand, or heJranJpUnted for divers years after ^ and thefe you will find to be far better then any you can gather out of the Woods ( efpecially Suekers which are worth nothing) being removed at one foot ftature (the fooner the better) provided you defend them well from Cattel : The reafon of this hafty tranfplanting, is to prevent their obfti-

nate,and deep rooting » tantm amor terr£ which makes them

hard to be taken up when they grow older, and that being re- rnovM, they take no great hold till the fecond year, after which they come away amain : Yet I have planted them of five and ^\yi inches diametre, which have thriven as well as the fmaller wands.

Cut

A Difcoiirfe of Forefi-Trec5. 2 a

Cut not his Head at all, nor (by any means) the fibrous part of the Roots^ only, that down-right, or Tap-root (which gives our Htif- handmen (0 much trouble in drawing ) is to be totally aba- ted : But this work ought to be in the increafeof O&ober, or No- vember^ and not in the Spring. We are (as I told you) willing to (pare his head ; becaufe, being yet young, it is but oi z j^ongy^nh- ftance ^ but being once well fixed, you may cut him as clofe to the earth as you pleafe ; it will caufe him to (hoot prodigioufly ^ fb as in a few years to be fit for Pike-Jiaves. In South Spain (where are the beft) after the firft drefling, they let them grow till they are fobig, as being cleft into four parts, each part is fufEcient to make a Pikejiaff: I am told there is a Flemijh Jp planted by the Dutch- men in Lincolnpnre^ which in fix years grows to be worth twentj Jbil/ings theTree--, but I am notafliir'd, whether it be the Ajl), or Meek , either of them were, upon this account, a worthy encou- ragement. From thefe low Cuttings come our Ground-aJIdes^ fb much fought after for Arbours^ Ejpaliers, and other Pole-Wovks : They will fpring in abundance, and may be reduced to one for a Standard-tree^ or for Timber^ if youdcfign it 5 for thus, HyJm like^ a Cronnd-cut-aJI}

Per damna^ per cades^ ab ipfo DncJt opes anirnkm^ ferro. Hor^

3. It is by no means convenient to plant Afh in Plovp-lands 5 for tKe Roots y/'iW be obnoxious to the Coulter 5 and the Jhade of the Tree is malignant to Com when the head and banches over-drip it 5 but in Hedge-rovps^ and Plumps^ they will thrive exceedingly, where they may be difpos'd at nine ot ten foot diftance, and Ibmetimes neerer : But in planting of a whole Wood of feVeral kinds of Trees for Timber^ every third^* at leaft would be an Ajk. The beft Afi delights in the beft Land (which it will foon impo- verifh) yet grows m any , fo it be not over-wet, and approaching to the Marpjy, unlefs it be firft well drain'd : By the banks of fweet and cryftal Rivers and Streams I have obferv'd them to thrive infinitely.

4. The ufe ofAp is (next to that of the Oak. it felf ) one of the moft univerfal : It ferves the Souldier — —C^ Fraxinus utilk bafiis. Ovid. The Carpenter^ Wheel-roright^ Cart-rvright, Cooper ^ Turner and Thatcher : Nothing like it for our Garden Palifdd- iedges , Hop-yards , Poles and Spars , Handles, Stocks for Tools^ Spade-trees, S^c. In fum , the Husband-man cannot be without the Ajl} for his Carts, Ladders, and other tackling : From the Pik^, Spear and Bow (for of Afl) were they formerly made) to the Plot» i, in Peace and War it is a wood in higheft requeft : Laftly, the white and rotten dottard part compbfes a ground for our Gallants Srveet-powder, and the Truncheons make the third fort of the moft durable Coal, and is (of all other) the fweeteft of our Foreji-fuel- ling, and the fitteft for Ladies Chambers : To conclude, the very dead-leaves afford (like thofe of the Elm) relief to our Cattel in

Winter ^

24

A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees.

muter- but the fhade of them is not to be endur'd, becaufe it produces a noxioxxs InJeS j and for difplaying themfelves fovcry Ute and falling very c^r/^, not to be planted {or VmLrage, otOr- namtnt j efpecially neer the Garden , fince (befides their preda- titious Rootf) the deciduous leaves defcending with fo long a Stalk, are drawn by clufters into the Worm-holes^ which foulthe Allies mth. their falling Keys^ and fuddenly inieft the ground.

CHAP. VII.

Of the Chefi-ttHt.

Cbefs-nut. I* 'T" He next is the Chef-mt^ [Cajianea'] of which Plhiy reckons J[ many kinds, efpecially that about Tarefitum and Naples 5 but we commend thofe oirortugal. They are rais'd beft hy fovcing ^ previous to which, let the Nnts be fitft Ipread tojiveat, then cover them'in fandj a Moneth being paft, plunge them in Water ^ rejeft the Sroimmers ; being dry'd for thirty days more , find them again, and then to the vcater-ordeal as before. Being thus treated till the beginning of Spring, fet them as you would do Beam .- r///y will tell you they come not up, unJefs four or five be pil'd to- gether in a hole i but that is falfe, if they be good, as you may prefume all thofe to be which pafs this examination 5 nor will any of them fail : But being come up they thrive beft unremov'd, ma- king a gxeatjiand for at leaft two years upon every Tran^lanting 5 yet if needs you muft alter their Station , let it be done about November, and that into a light friable ground, or moift Gravels, however, they will grow even in Clay , Hand^ and all mixed foils , upon expos'd and bleak places , as more patient of cold then heat.

2. If you defire to fet them in Winter, or Autumn, I counfel you to inter them within their hmks , which being every way arm'd are a good proteftion againft the Mouje, and a providen- tial integument : Some fow them confufedly in the Furrow like the Acorn, and govern them as the Oalt^-^ but then would the ground be broken up 'twixt Hovemher and February j and when they fpring be cleanfed at two foot afunder, after two years growth : Likewife may Copfes of Chef-nuts be wonderfully in- creaied and thickn'd by laying the tender and young branches y but fuch as fpring from the Nuts and Marrons are belt of all, and will thrive exceedingly, if being let ftand without removing, the ground be flirr'd and loofcn'd about their Roots for two or three of the firft years, and the luperfluous wood pruned away : Thus will you have a Copfe ready for zfelling within eight years, which (befides many other ul'es) will yield you incomparable poles for any work of the Garden, Vineyard, or Hop-yard, till the next cnt- ting: And if the Tree hke the ground, will in ten or twelve

years

A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees. 25

years grow to a kind of Timber, and bear plentiful fruit.

3. I have feen many Chef-tfut-trees tranfplanted as big as my arm, their heads cut off at five and fix foot height ^ but they came on at leifure ; In fuch Plantations, and all others for Avenues, you may fet them from thirty to ten foot diftance, though they will ^row much neerer, and (hoot into poles, if (being tender) you cultivate them like the Jf).

4. The chef-nut being grafted in the Wall-nut, Oak, or Beech, (I have been told) will come exceeding fair, and produce incom- parable Fruit > for the Wall-nut it is probable » but I have not as yet made a full attempt ; In the mean time, I wi(h we did more univerfally propagate the Horfe-chef-nut, which being eafily in- creas'd from layers grows into a goodly Standard, and bears a mofl: glorious flower, even in our cold Country : This Tree is now all the mode for the Avenues to their Countrey palaces in France, as appears by the late Superintendents Plantation at Vaux.

5. The ufe of the Chef -nut is (next the Oak^) one of the moft fought after h-'j t\\G Carpenter a.n^'joyner : It hath formerly built a good part of our ancient houies in the City of London, as does yet appear. I had once a very large Barn neer the City fram'd intirely of this Timber : And certainly they grew not far off ^ probably in fome Woods neer the Town : For in that defcription of London written by Fitz-Stephens, in the Reign of Hen. 2. he fpeaksof a very noble and large Foreji which grew on the Boreal part of it : Proxime (fays he)fatetforeJia ingens, faltus nemorofi ferarum, late- hr£ cervorum, damarum, aprorum, ^ taurorum Syhejirium, €^c. a very goodly thing it feems, and as well ftor'd with all forts of good Timber,as with Venifon and all kind of cA^.The Chef -nut af- fords the befl: Stakes and Poles for Palifades and Hops, as I faid be- fore j and being planted in Hedge-rows €^ circa agrorum itinera, or for Avenues to our Country-houfes, they are a magnificent and royal Ornament : But we give that fruit to our Smne in England, which is amongfl: the delicaces of Fr/»cex in other Countries ; and. being of the larger Nut, is a lufty, and mafculine food for Rujiics at all times. The beft Tables in France and Italy make them a.fer- vice, eating them with Salt, in Wine, being firft rofted on the Chapplet i and doubtlefs we might propagate their ufe, amongft owx common people, at left (as of old the B«tAa>'oip*>o/) being a. Food fo cheap, and folafting. Finally,

CHAP. VIII.

Of the Wall-nut .

T

He Wall-nut is to be elevated like the Chef-nut ,'hemgWail-mt. planted of the Nut , or fet at the diftance you would

F have

a5 A Difconrfe of Foreft-Trees.

have him ftand s, for which they may be prepared by bedding them (being dry) mfand^'or good earth, till March^ from the time they fell, or were beaten on the Tree : Or if before they be fet with A;Kf A.and all upon tliem , for the extream bitternefs thereof is moft exitial and deadly to worms : Some fupple them a little in warm Cows-milk^'-^ but being treated as before, you will find them zheady Jprouted^ and have need only to be planted where they are to abide ^ bccaufe (as we faid long fince) they are moft impatient of tranfplanting : But if there be an abfolute neceffity of removing, let your 7ree be about four years old, and then by no means touch the head with your k»ifc, nor cut away fo much as the very Tap-root , fince being of a pithy and hollow Tubftance, the leaft diminution, or bruife, will greatly endanger the killing.

2. The Wall-vut delights in a dry, found and rich land > cfpeci- ally, if it incline to a feeding cA<i/A., ox Mark ; and where it may be proteftedfrom the cold , as in great Pits, Vallies, and High- way fides •■) alfo in Stony-grounds, and on Hills efpecially Chalkje : likcwifc in Corn-fields : Thus Burgundy abounds with them, where they ftand in the middeft of goodly Wheat-lands 2it fixty and an hundred foot diftance ^ and it is fo far from hurting the crop^ that they look on them as a great preferver, by keeping the grounds warm; nor do the roots hinder the Plow. Whenever they fell a7r«e(which is only the old, and decay'd) they always plant a young one ncer him ; and in feveral places 'twixt Hanavp and Frandfort ivi Germany^ no young F^rw/er whatfoever is permitted to Marry a Wife^ till he bring proof that he hath planted, ,and is a Father of fuch a ftated number o(fVall-nut-trees, as the Law is in- violably obferved to this day for the extraordinary benefit which this Tree affords the Inhabitants : And in truth, were this limber in greater plenty amongft us, we (hould have far better Vtenfiles of all forts for our houfos, as Chairs^ Stools^ Bed-Heads^ Tables^ Wainfcot, Cabinets^ C^c. in ftead of the more vulgar Beech^ fubjeft toth&vporm^ weak and unfightly.

3. They render moft graceful Avenues to our Country dwel- lings, and do excellently m hedge-roxvs j but had need be planted at forty, or fifty foot interval 5 for they affedt to fpread both their roots and branches. The Bergjiras (which extends from Heidel- berg to Darmiiadt) is all planted with Wall-nuts-^ for fo by another ancient Lavp the Bordurers were oblig'd to nurfe up, and take care of them ; and that chiefly for their ornament and ftiade; fo as a man may ride for many miles about that Country, under a continu'd Arbour^ oxClofe-VPalk^'-^ The Traveller both refrefli'd with the Fruity and the shade : How would fuch publick Plantations improve the glory and wealth of a Nation! but where ftiall we find the fiirits amongft our Country-men ? Yes, I will adventure to inftance in thofe Plantations of Sir Richard Stidolph^ upon the Downs ncer Lether-head in Surrey ; and fo about Cajjauhon^ where many thoufands of thefe 'Irces do celebrate the indu^iry of the Owners ; and will certainly reward it with infinite improvement^ as I am afll^ur'd they do in part already, and that very confiderably;

befides

A Difcourfe of Foreft^Tfees. 47

befides the Ornament which they afford to thofe pleafent "tra^f, forfome miles in circumference. I remember Monjieur Sorbiere, in a Sceptical difcourfe tb A^onfeur di Martel , fpeaking of the readinels of the People in Holland to furnifti, and maintain what- Ibever may conduce to the publick. Ornament, as well as Cenveni" ence 5 tells us, that their Plantations of thefe, and the like :Trees even in their very Roads and common High-ways are better pre- ferv'd, and entertain'd (as I my felf have likewife been often an eye witnefs)then thofe about the How/ex and Gardens of fleafurt belonging to the loobies and Gentry of mofl: other Countries : And in effect it is a moft raviihing objedl: to behold their amenities in this particular : With us fays he (fpeaking oiFrance) they make a jcfi: at fuch political Ordinances , by ruining thefe publick and uleful Ornaments, if haply fome more prudent Magistrate do at any time introduce fhem. Thus in the Reign oiHenry the fourth, during the Superintendency of Monjieur de Sulli, there was a relb- lurion of adorning all the High-ways of Trance with Elms, C^f. but. the rude and mifchievous fay fans did fo hack, fteal, and defiroy what they had begun, that they were forc'd to defift from the through profecution of the defign ^ fo as there is nothing more expos'd, wild, and lefs pleafant then the common Roads oi France for want o^Jliade, and the decent limits which thefe fweet, and divertiflant Plantations would have afforded j not to omit that Political uCe (as my Lord Bacon hints it where he fpeaks of the Statues, and Monuments of brave men, and fuch as had^wcU de- ierv'd of the Publick., erefted by the Romans even in their High- vays,) (ince doubtlefs, fuch noble and agreeable objefts would exceedingly divertjcntertain and take off the Minds and Difcourfes o^ Melancholy people, and penfive Travellers, who having nothing but the dull and enclos'd ways to caft their eyes on, are but ill Cenvcrfation to themfelves, and others.

4. What univerfalufe the French make of' the Titnber oi t\i\s fole Tree for domeftic affairs may be feen in every room both of poor and rich : It is of fingular account with the Joyner, for the beft grain'd and colour'd Wain-fcot ^ with the Gun-fmith for Stocks X, the Drum-maker for rimbs : the Cabinet-maker for Inlay- ings, efpecially the firm and clofe Timber about the Roots, which is admirable {ox fleclCd and chambletted works , and the older it is , the more eftimable ^ but then it ftiould not be put in v>ork. till throughly feafon^d j becaufe it will (brink beyond ex- peftation : Befides thefe ufes of the Wood, the Fruit is (or preferv€s, for Oy I And Food j and the very hufks and leaves being macerated in warm water, and that liquor poured on the Carpet oi Walks and Bowling-greens, does infallibly kill the Worms without endangering the grafs ; not to mention the Dye which is made of this Lixive to colour Wool/, Woods, and Hair, as of old they us'd it. That which is produc'd of the thick.Jhel/ becomes beft Timber ^ that of the thinner, better Fruit. Columella has fundry excellent rules how to afcertain, and accelerate the growth of this Tree, and to improve its qualities, which I recommend to the farther Induftri- ouSj and pafs now to the lef principal. Fa CHAP,

a8 ^ Pifcourfe of Foreft-Trees.

CHAP. IX.

Of the Ser'vice.

Service. I. ^TpHe Service-tree is rais'd of the Sorhs, or Berries, which J_ being ripe (^thditis) rotten about September, may befown like Beech-maji : It is reported that the Soveer never fees the fruit of his labour; either for that it bears only being very old; or that Men are commonly^S before they think of planting Trees : But this is an egregious njiftake ; for thefe come very foon to be Tr'eei, and being planted young thrive exceedingly ; I have like- wile planted them as big as my arm fuccefifuUy : The beft way is therefore to propagate them of Suckers or 'Sets i they delight in reafonable good ground , rather inclining to cold then over hot 5 for in places which are too dry they never bear kindly.

2. IheTimber isufeful for the Joiner, and being of a very de- licate Crain, for divers curiosities : Alfo it is taken to build with, yielding Beams of confiderable fubftance : The fhade is beau- tiful for Walks, and the Fruit not unpleafantj and in fome cafes Afedicinal.

CHAP. X.

Of the Maple.

Maple, t. ^Tp^He Maple [_yicer'] (pi viMich Authors reckon very many X kinds) was of old held in equal eftimation almoft with the CHton 5 efpecially the Erufcum, the French-Jldaple, and the Feacocks- tail-Jidaple,wh\ch is that fort fo elegantly undulatedjand crifped in- to variety of curies : They are all produced of the Kejis, like the j^ 5 and like to it, affeft a found and a dry mould 5 growing •^ both in fVoods and Hedge-roves, efpecially in the latter ; which if

rather hilly then low affords the faireft Timber. By fhreading up the boughs to a head I have caus'd it to fhoot to a wonderful height in a little time ; but if you would lop it for the Fire, let it 2^ be done in January. The Timber is far fuperiour to Beech for all ufes of the Turner, who feeks it for Dipes, Trays, Trenchers, ^c. isthe Joyner for Tables, Inlayings, and forthedelicatencfsof the grain when the kf»irs and nodofities are rarely diapred, which does much advance its price : Alfo for the lightnefs (under the name >*yerj imploy'd often by thoie who make Mujical-injiruments. But there is a larger fort, which we call the Sycamor.

CHAP.

A DifcoHrfe of Fore/l-Trees, jjp

CHAP. XI.

Of the Sycamor.

I, '"jr^^cSycantor is much more in reputation for itsjhade then ^J'c<"««'"»

X itdeferves^ for the Leaves which ^11 early (hke thofe of the yiP) turn to a Mucilage^ and putrifie with the firft moifture of the feafon > fo as they contaminate ^flj^mar our Wal^f, and are therefore (by my confent) to be banifh'd from all curious Gardem and Avenues : There is in Germany a better fort of Sycamor then 3. ours, wherewith they make Saddle-trees, and divers other things of ufe j our own is excellent for Cart and Plovp-timber, being lightj toughj and not much inferiour to Ap it (el£

CHAP. XII.

Of the Horn-Beam.

I,'' h'^UeHorn-heam, in Latifte the Carpiftuf, is planted of ^efj- 5 Eom-beiin^

X. though it may likewife be railed from the Seeds, which being mature mAugnft ftiould be fown in 05?(?/>er ; but the more expeditious way, is, by Sets of about an inch diametre, and cut within half a foot of the Earth : Thus it will advance to a confi- derable Tree. The places it chiefly defires . to grow in are in cold hills, and in the barren and moft expos'd parts of Woods.

2 . Amongft other ufes which it ferves for, as Mills (for which it excels either Tevp or Crab) Xoakztimher (whence of old 'twas call'd lyTitt ) heads of Beetles , Stock/ , and handles of Tools ( for all which purpofes its extream toughnefs commends it to the Huf handmau) being planted in fmall Fojfes, or Trenches, at half a foot interval , and in the fingle row it makes the nobleft and the ftatelieft Hedges for long Walks in Gardens, or Farks, of any Tree ^^

whatfoever whofe leaves are deciduous, and forfake their branches in Winter ; becaule it grows tall , and fo fturdy as not to be wronged by the Winds : Befides, it will furnifli to the very foot of the Jiem, and flourilhes with a gloffie and polifti'd verdure which is exceeding delightful,, of long continuance, and of all other the harder Woods the fpeedieft Grower^ maintaining a (lender, up- ri^tjiem, which does not come to be bare, and (Vicky in many years. That admirable Ejpalier-hedge in the long middle walk of Luxembourg Garden at Park (then which there is nothing more graceful) is planted of this Tree , and fo is that Cradle or Cloje- tvalk^, with that perplext Canopie, which covers the (eat in his Ma- jejiies Garden at Hampton-Court, Thefe Hedges are tonple j but where they are maintain'd to fifteen or twenty toot height(which is

fK, very

*'.

2-ir

-Q A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees.

very frequent in the places before mention'd)they are to be cut, and kept in order with a Sythtoi four foot long, and very little falcated i this is fixd on a long fneed or ftreight handle , and does wonderfully expedite the trimming of tbefe and the like Hedges.

CHAP. XIII.

" ** ■■ Of the Lime-Tree.

Limutrte, '• 'TPHe Lme-Tree^ {Tilia} is of two kinds ^ the Male^ which is JL harder, fuller of knotSjand of a redder colour ^ but pro- ducing neither Florver, nor Seed, as does the Female, whofe Blof foftte is very odoriferous perfuming the Air : The Wood is likewife thicker, of fmall pith, and not obnoxious to the Worm. We fend commonly for this Tree into Flanders and HoUand, toourexcef- five coft, whiles our own Woods do in (bme places (pontaneouily produce them, from whence I have received many of their Ber- ries 5 fb as it is a Ihameful negligence, that we are no better pro- vided of Nurferies of a Treeio choice and univerfally acceptable. For ft) they may berais'd either of the seeds in OSfober 5 or (with better fuccefs) by the Snckers, and Plants, after the fame Method, and in as great abundance as the Elme^ like to which it (hould be cultivated.

a.The Lime-tree afFefts a rich feeding Soil;In ftich Ground their growth will be almoft incredible for fpeed and fpreading. They may be planted as big as ones Leg 5 their Heads topp'd at about

iV'^'i'*^'^' fvaioot hole j thus it will become (of all other) the moft proper

and beautiful for Walks, as producing an upright Body, fmooth and

even Bark_, ample Leaf, fweet Blofom, and a goodly fiade at di-

ftance of eighteen or twenty foot. The Prince Kleitor did lately

'* remove very great Lime-Trees out of one of his Forejis, to a ftcep

rj^ i^Tvt hill exceedingly expos'd to the heat of the Sttn at fiidelhourg ^ and

that in the midft oi Summer : They grow behind that ftrong Tower on the South-weji, and moft torrid part of the eminence 5 being of a dry reddilh barren earth j yet do they profper rarely well : But the heads were cut off, and the pits into which they were tranfplantcd were(by the induftry and direftion of one Mon- fteur de Son, a Frenchman') fiU'd with a compofition of Earth and C<;»-^«/;^ which was exceedingly beaten, and fb /^//w^e^^ with wa- ter as it became almoft a liquid pap : It was in this that he plunged the Roots, covering the furface with the turf : A Angular example of removing fo great Trees at fuch zfeafon^ and there- fore by me taken notice of here exprefly.

4. The Timber of a well grown Lime is convenient for any ufe that the WiUoTv isibut much to be preferr'djas being both ftronger, and yet lighter > whence l^irgil alls them t/lias leves 5 and there- fore

A DifcoHrfe of ForcH'Trees. 31

fore turnd into Boxes for the Apothecaries ^ and Columella com- mends Arculas tiliaceas : with the Tveigs they made Baskets^ and Cradles j and of the finoother fide of the bark Tablets for Wri- ting ; for the antient Fhilyra is but our Tilta. The Gravers in wood dofometimesmake uleof this fine A/^^erz^/j and even of the courfeft membrane, or (livers of the Tree growing 'twixt tiie 724?,

WA, and the main body, they now twift into Baf-ropes ; Befides the Truncheons make a far better Coal for Gun-powder then that of ^/^er it felf : and the extraordinary candor and lightnejShSiS digni- fi'd it above all the Woods of our Forest in the hands of the Right Honourable the white-fiave Officers of his MajeSiies Imperial Court. Thofe royal Plantations of thefe Trees in the Parl{s of Hamfton-Court, and St. James's will fufficiently inftruft any man how thefe (and indeed all other Treej which ftand fingle) are to be govern'd, and defended from the injuries of 5e<«/?j-j and fome- times more unreafotiable Creatures, till they are able to proteft themlelves. Jn Hol/and (where the very high- ways are adorn'd with them) they frequently clap three or four Deal-boards (in manner of a clofe trunk) about them ; but it is not fo well ; be- caufe it keeps out the air which (hould have free accefs, and in- tercourfe to the bole, and by no means be excluded from flowing freely about them, or indeed any other Trees j provided they are (ecur'd from the violence of impetuous winds, &c. as his Ma- jejiies are without thofe clofe Coffins ^ in which the Dutch-men feem rather to bury them alive : In the mean time, is there a more ra- vilbing, or delightful objedt then to behold fome vatxxefireets^ and whole Towns planted with thefe Trees, in even lines before their doors, fo as they feem like Cities in a wood .<? this is extream* lyfrefh, and skreens the houfes both from Wr»<^j-, sunaadDuJi^ then which there can be nothing more defirable where fl:reets are much frequented.

CHAP. XIV.

Of the Qukh^Beam.

I. -np^He ^ickzbeam^Ornuf] or(as others term it)the Whitchen^ ^Uk-beam,

JL is dijpeciesoiWild'Afh. The Berries which it produces in oSober mzy thenbefown^ or rather the ^e^/ planted : Itrifesto a reafonable ftature , {hoots upright, and (lender ^ and confifts of a fine fmooth bark. It delights to be both in Mountains and Woods, and to fix it felf in good light ground. Befides the ufe of 2. it for the Hmbandmans Tools (as once by a Statute of Hen. 8. for Bows} and for fuel, I have not yet obferved any other , fave that theBloJJoms are of an agreeable fcent.

CHAP.

o 2 A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trecs.

CHAP. XV.

Of the Birch.

Bircb.

2.

I, 'nr^He Eirch [Betula] is altogether produc*d o£JMcl^rs(thovi^ _l it flieds a kind of S a»ier a ahoMt the Spring) which being planted at four or five foot interval, in fmall twigs, will fuddenly rife to Trees 5 provided they afFeft the ground , which cannot well be too barren 3 for it will thrive both in the dry, and the Avet , Sand and Stony, Marpet and Bogs 5 the water-galls^ and uliginous parts of Forejis that hardly bear any grafs, do many times (pontaneoufly produce it in abundance whether the place be high, or low, and nothing comes amifs to it.

Plant the fmall ttvigs^ otfuckgrs having rootj^ and after the firft year cut them within an inch of the furface 5 this will caufe them to fprout in ftrong, and lufty tufts^ fit for Copfe^ and Spring-woods 5 or, by reducing them to one Jiem, render them in a very few years fit for the Turner. For though Birch be of all other the worft of Timber , yet has it its various ufes, as for the Hffsband- mant Ox-yoakj -, alfo for Hoops, Taniers , Brooms, Wands, Bavin and fuel--) great and fmall-ceal, which laft is made by charkjng the flendereft bru^}, and fitmmities of the twigs , as of the tops and loppings M. Howards new Tanne : Laftly , of the whiteji part of the old wood, found commonly in doating Birches, is made the grounds of our Gallants Sweet-powder 5 to fay nothing here of the Magifterial Fafces, for which antiently the Cudgels were us'd by the Li&or ; as now the gentler Rods by our tyrannical P^dagognes.

g. I ftiould here add the ufes of the water too, had I not alrea- dy protcfted againft tampering with the Medicinal virtues of Tree/, in the entrance of this Treatije : But if the fovereign effeds of the juice of this defpicable Tree fupply its other defefts (which makes fome judge it unworthy to be brought into the Catalogue of Woods to be propagated) I may for once be permitted to play the Empiric, and to gratifie our laborious Wood-man with a draught of his own Liquor : And the rather , bccaufe thefe kind of Secrets are not yet fufficiently cultivated 5 and ingenious Planters would by all means be encourag'd to make more trials of this nature, as the Indians, and other Nations have done on their Palmes, and Trees of feveral kinds, to their great emolument. The Myftery is no more then this : About the beginning of March (when the buds begin to be proud and turgid) with a Chisel And a MalJet cut a (lit almoft as deep as the very pith, under fome bough, or branch of a well fpreading Birch:, cut it oblique and not long-wajs(^isa. good Chirurgion would make his orifice in a Vein) inferring a fmall jione or chip, to keep the lips of the wound a little open : Sir Hugh Plat, giving a general rule for the gathering oi jap, and tapping of 7rf e/jwould have it done within one foot of the groundjthe firft

rind

A Difconrfe of Foreft-Trees. 33

rind taken off, and then the white bark flit over-twhart, no far- ther then to the body of the Tree : Moreover, that this reottitd be made only in that part of the /'^D^which refpeds the Sonth- tpeli^ or between thofe quarters^ becaule (fays he) little, or no lap rifeth from the Northern.

In thisjlit, by the help of your kp^fi to open it, he direfts that a leaf of the tree be inferred, firft fitted to the dimenlions of the flit,from which the fap will diflill in manner o£filtration:takG away the leaf, and the bark^w'iW clofe again, a little earth being clapped to the flit : Thus the Knight for any Tree : But we have already Ihew'd how the Birch is to be treated ; Faften therefore a Bottle^ or fbme fuch convenient Vejfel appendant : this does the effeft bet- ter then perforation or tapping : Out of this aperture will extil a limpid and clear water, retaining an obfcure fmack both of the tajtg and odor of the Tree ^ and which (as I am credibly inform'd} will in the fpace of twelve or fourteen days preponderate, and out- weigh the whole Tree it felf, bodj/ and roots ^ which if it be con- ftant, andjtf happen likewife in other Trees, is not only ftupendi- ous , but an experiment worthy the confideration of our pro- foundeft Philofophers : an exfola aquafiunt Arbores .<? whether wa- ter only be the principle of Vegetables, and confequently of Trees : For evident it is, that we know of no Tree which does more co- pioufly attraft, be it that fo much celebrated Jf^/ri^ of the World (as they call it) inform of water (as fome) or a certain jpecifque li- quor richly impregnated with this Balftmical property : That there is fuch a Magnes in this fimple Tree as does manifeftly draw to it fclf Hotnm occult , and wonderful virtue , is notorious 5 nor is conceivable, indeed, the difference between the efficacy of that liquor which diftills from the bole or parts of the Tree neerer to the Root, ( where Sir Hugh would celebrate the Incifon ) and that which weeps out from the more fublime Branches : But I refer thefe difquifitions to the learned 5 efpecially, as mention'd by that incomparable Philojbpher, and my mofk noble Friend, the honoura- ble M'. Bojile, inh'is fecond part of the ufefulnefs of Natural Phi lo- fophy : Seh, 1 . Ejfay 3''. where he fpeaks of the Manna del Corpo, Or Trunk-manna , as well as of that Liquor from the bough fo of the Sura which the Coco-trees afford i and that Polonian fe- crct of the Liquor of the Wall-nut-tree root , with an encourage- ment of more frequent Experiments to educe Saccharine fub- ftances upon thefe occafions ; But the Bookhexng publifli'd fb long fince this Difconrfe was ready, I have only here the liberty to re- fer the Reader to one of the befl Entertainments in the world.

4. In the mean time, the liquor of th\s Tree is efteem'd moft powerful for the diflblving of the Stone in the bladder : Hel- mont fhews how to make a Beer of the water ; but the Wine is a moft rich Ctfr^/ii/, curing (as I am told) Confumptions, and fuch interiour difeafes as accompany the Stone in the Bladder or Reins : This Wine, exquifitely made, is fo ftrong, that the common fort of fione-hottles cannot prefer ve the jJ'/r/Yj, fo fubrile they are and z'*?- latile--)and yet it is gentle,and very harmlefs in operation within the

G Body,

54 A Difconrfe of Forefl-Trces.

Body, and exceedingly (harpens the Appetite^ being drank aMte pa- jium : I will prcltnt you a Receipt, as it was Ibnt me by a fair Lacfy.

To every gallon of Birch-voater put a quart of Hotiy well ftirr'd together •-, then boil it almofl: an hour with a few Cloves, and a little Limon-pecl, keeping it well fcumm'd : When it is fufficient- lyboil'd, and become cold, add to it three or four fpoonfuls of good Ale to make it work (which it will do like new Ale) and when the Teji begins to fettle, bottle it up as you do other veiny li- quors. It will in a competent time become a moft brifk and fpiri- tousDr;«4, which (befides the former virtues) is a very power- ful opener, and doing wonders for cure of the Fthifick.: This Wine may (if jwu pleafe) be made as fuccefsfully with Sugar in (lead of Hony, tfej. to each Gallon oi Water 5 or you may dulcifie it with Raiftns, and compote a Raifin-wine of it. I know not whether the quantity of the fweet Ingredients might not be fomewhat re- duc'd, and the operation improv'd : But I give it as receiv'd.

But befides thefe. Beech, Alder, Ap, Elder, &c. would beat- tempted for Liquors : Thus Crabs, and even our very Brambles may poffibly yield us «?c^/V<«/ and ufefulir/z?ej. The Poplar was heretofore efteem'd more phyfical then the Setula. The fap of the Oak, juice, ordecoftionof the inner bark cures the Fapions, or farcy, 3i virulent and dangerous infirmity in Horfes, and which (like Cancers) were reputed incurable by any other Topic, then fomc aftual, or potential cautery : But, what is more noble 5 a dear friend of mine aflur'd me, that a Country Neighbour of his (at lesifcfourfcore years of age)whohad lain fick of a bloody Strangury (which by cruel torments reduc'd him to the very article df death) was, under God, recover'd to perfeft, and almoft ntiraculout health, and ftrength (fo as to be able to fall ftoutly to his labour) by one fole draught of Beer, wherein was the decoHion of the in- ternal bark^oi the Oak-tree ^ And I have fecn a compofition of an admirable ^^^tfr/^'c, and diuretic for all afFeftions of the Liver ou^ of the lik§ of the Elm, which might yet be drank daily as our Cophee is, and with no lefs delight 5 but packing is not my trade : I fpeak only here as a plain Husband-man, and a fimple Forejter^ out of the limits whereof I hope I have not unpardonably tranl- grefs'd. Tan was a Phyfician, and he (you know) was Prejdent of the Woods. But I proceed.

CHAP. XVI.

Of the Hafell.

Haftl. I. ^npHe Hafell is bert rais'd from the Nuts, which you fhall

X fow like Maji in a pretty deep furroxp toward the end of

February : Light greund may immediately be fown imdharrorv'd

in very accurately ; but in cafe the mould be clay, plow it earlier,

* and

A DifcoHrfe of Foreft-Trees. 25

and kt it be fufficiently mellow'd with the)rtfii?x5 and then the third year cut your Trees near to the ground with a (harp Bil/, the Moon decreafing.

2. But if you would make a Grove for pleafure, plant them in Fofesat a. yard diftance, and cut them within half a foot of the earth, drefling them for three or four Springs, and Autumns, by only loofning the Mould a little about their roots. Others there are who fet the N«^x by hand at one foot diftance, to be tran^lant- ed the third year at a yard afunder : But this work is not to be ta- ken in hand lb foon as the Nuts fall, till Winter be well advanc'd ; becaufe they are exceedingly obnoxious to the fiofis 5 nor will they fprout till the Spring : Befides, Vertmne are great devourers of them : Preferve them therefore moiji, not mouldy, by laying them in their own dry leaves, or in Smd, till January.

Tlantk df dura Cory li nafcuntur- —

3. Hajels are likewife propagated o{ Sets, and Suckers '^ from whence they thrive very well, the Jfioots being of the fcantlings of fmall tvands, and Jivitches, or fbmewhat bigger, and fuch as have drawn divers hairy twigs, which are by no means to be dij^ branch' d, no more then their Roots, unlcfs by a very fparing and difcrcet hand. Thus your Coryletum or Copfe of Hafels being planted about Autumn,ma.y (as Ibme praftife it)be cut within three or four inches of the ground the Spring following, which the new Cion will fuddenly repair in cluftersand tufts offairpo/ex of twen- ty, and fometimes thirty foot long : But, I rather fhould (pare them till two, or three years after, when they (hall have taken ftrong hold , and may be cut clofe to the very earth ^ the impro- fperous , and feeble ones elpecially. Thus are likewile Fil- berts to be treated , both of them improv'd much by tranf- planting.

4. For theplace, they above all affeft cold, barren, dry and Jat/dy grounds ^ alfo Mountains, and even rockje foils produce them ; but more plentifully if fomewhat moift, dankilh, and moflie, as in the frelher Bottoms , and (ides of Hills , and in Hedge-rows. Such as are maintain'd for Copjes, may after twelve years befel/'d the firft time 5 the next at feven or eight, di^c. for by this period their Roots will be compleatly vigorous. You may plant them from oBoher to "January, provided you keep them carefully jveeded till they have taken faft hold.

5, The u(e of the Hafel is for Poles, Spars, Hoops, Hurdles, Forks, Angling-rods, Faggots, Coals -J alfoforW^z^/>*J and bands, up- on which I remember Pliny thinks it a pretty Speculation, that a wood (hould be ftronger to bind withall being bruis'd and divi- ded, r'^ien when jr/)tf/e and ew^zre^ laftly, for nding Switches Siwd. Dtvinatory Rods for the detecting and finding out of Minerals ; atle.'fl:, if that tradition be noimpofture.

There is a compendious expedient for the thickning of Copfes which are too tranjparent, by laying of a Sampler, or pole of an

G 2 hafel^

3^ A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trecs.

Hafel, yip, TopUr^&c. of twenty, or thirty foot in length (the head a little loppM) into the ground, giving it a chop neer the foot to make it fuccumb ; thh faftned to the earth with a heoksx two, and cover'd with fome frefti mould at a competent depth (as Gard'mrs lay their Carnations) will produce a world oifiukgrs^ thicken and furnifti a Copfe fpeedily. But I am now come to tte WaUr-Jtde •■, let us next confider the Aquatic.

CHAP. xvir.

Of the Poplar.

Poplar. I. T Begin this fecond C/^/? ( according to our former Diftri- X button) with the Ptf/'/dr, of which there are feveral kinds ^ white. Blacky, <&€. befides the Afpen : The rohite is the moft ordi- nary with us, to be raie'd in abundance by every^e^ ox flip : Fence the ground as far as any old Poplar roots extend, they will furnifti you v/\ihfl(ckert innumerable, to be flip'd from their mothers, and tran^lanted the very firft year. You (hall need no other Nurferji. When they are young their leaves are fomewhat broader , and rounder then when they grow aged. In moift, and hoggjf places they will flourifti wonderfully, fo the ground be not j^ewing j but cfpecially neer the Margins and banks oiRivers,

Fopulffs influvifs Virg.

Alfo*r««<:A/<7»Jof feven, or eight foot long, thrufttwo foot into the earth , when once rooted , may be cut at fix inches above ground , and thus placed at a yard diftant they will immediately turnilh a kind of Copfi. But in cafe you plant them of rooted- trees, or fmallcry?*/, fix them not iodeep'^ for though we bury the Trunchions thus profound ; yet is the root which they ftrike

2. Afpen, commonly but (hallow. The Jjpen only (which is that kind of Vfhitc Poplar bearing a fmaller, and more tremulous leaf) thrufts down a more fearching foot, and in this likewife differs, that j6e takes it ill to have his head cut off : Pliny would have (hort trun- chions couched two foot in the ground (but firft two days dry'd) at one foot and half diftance, and then moulded over.

a. Abele. 3" There is fbmething a finer fort of White Poplar which the

DutchcdWAbele, and we have much tranfported out oi Holland: Thefe are alio beft propagated oi flips from the Roots, the Icaft of which will tat^, and may in March, at three, or four years growth be tranfplanted.

4. In F/rfWer/ (not in France, as a late Author /'^e^eW/ J they have large Nurferies of them, which firft they plant at one foot diftance, the mould light, and moift j but, as I (aid, they muft be interrdpietty deep, and kept clean by pruning them to the mid- dle

A Difcmrfe of Foreft-Trees, 57

dlepoot for the firft two years, and fo till the third or fourth : When you Tratjj^lant^ place them at eight, ten or twelve foot In- terval : They will likewife grow oiLayen, and Q\Qnoi cuttings f In three years they will come to an incredible altitude 5 in tivelve, be as big as your middle •■, and in eighteen^ or tvpenty^ arrive to full perfection : A j^ecimen of this advance we have had of an Abele Tree atsion^ which being lopp'd in Febr. 165 1, did by the end o£o3eber 52. produce branches as big.as a mans ncr//?, zndfiveH- teen foot in length : As they thus increafe in bulk.^ their vabte and price advance likewife 5 fo as the Dutch look upon a Plantation of thefe Trees as an ample portion for a Davghter, and none of the leaftefFedsof their good Hufbandry , which truly may very well be allow'd, if that calculation hold, which the Knight has afler- ted, who began his Plantation not long fince about Richmond ; that 30 //. being laid out in thefe Plants, would render at thelcaft ten thoufandponnds in eighteen years : Every Tree affording thirty Plants, and every of them thirty more, after each feven years im- proving tveehe pence in growth, till they arriv'd to their acnte.

5. The Blacky Poplar grows rarely with us, it is a ftronger, and *«Zfer Tree then the White, the leaves more dark, and not fo am- ple. Divers ftately ones of thefe I remember about the banks of Pom Italy, which River he'mg the old EridanMs Co celebrated by

the Poets in which the temerarious Phaeton is (aid to have been pte- <

cipitated, doubtlefs gave argument to that/SFw» of his (ad Sifters Metamorphofis into thefe Trees ^ but for the Amber of their preci- ous tears I could hear of no fuch matter, whiles paffing down that River towards Ferrara I diverted my feif with this ftory of the ingenious Poet.

6. The beft ufeof the Poplar, and Abele (which are all of them hojpitable Trees, for any thing thrives under their fljades) is for Walks, and Avenues about Grounds which are fituated low, and neer the water, till coming to be very old they are apt to grow knurry, and out of proportion : The Timber is incomparable for all forts of white WooddenVejjels, asTrays, Borvls and other 7»r- ners ware j likewife to make Carts, bccaufe it is exceeding light 5 for Vine, and Hop-props, and divers viminiom works. The lop- pings in "January are for the Fire '■, and of the tvpigs (with the leaves on) are made Brooms. The Brya or Catkins attraft the Bees, as do alfo the leaves more tenacious of the Mel-deves then moft other Foreji-trees, the Oak^ excepted.

Of the Ajpen our Woodmen make Hoops , Fire-wood and Coals, ^c.

CHAP.

28 A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees.

CHAP. XVIII.

Of the Alder,

Aldtr. I. /- |"^He Alder is of all other the moft faithful lover of wa-

X. *^^y fiod boggy places, and thofe moft delpis'd weeping parts 5 or vpater-gaUs of Forejit , — — crafjis^ paludihus Aim. They are propagated of Trunchions^ and will come of Seeds (for fo they raife them in Flanders^ and make wonderful profit of the rlantations) like the Toplar , or of Roots^ which I prefer, being (et as big as the fmall of one's leg^ and in length about two foot 5 whereof one would be plunged in the wud. This profound fix- ing of Aquatic-trees being to preferve them fieedjf, and from the concuffions of the rpinds, and violence of tvaters, in their liquid and flippery foundations. They may be placed at four, or five foot diftance > and when they have ftruck root, you may cut them, which will caufethem to fpring in clumps, and to fhoot out into many ufeful /»<?/e/. But if you plant fmallerye^j, cut them not till they are arriv'd to ibme competent bignefsj and that in a proper Jeafon 5 which is, for all the Aquatics, not till Winter be well ad- vanc'd, in regard of their pithy fubftance. Therefore fuch as you (hall have occafion to make ufe of before that period ought to be well grown, and felTd with the earlieji, and in the firft quar- ter of the increafing Moo» 5 that fo the fucce&vepoot receive no prejudice.

2. There area Hoxtoi Husbands who take excefEve pains in Jiubbing up their Alders where-ever they meet them in the boggy

places of their grounds, with the fame indignation as one would extirpate the moft pernicious of IVeeds 5 and when they have finifti'd, know not how to convert their beft Lands to more profit then this(feemingdefpicable)/»/<««^ might lead them to, were it rightly underftood : befides, thepadovp of this Iree does feed and nour iih the very graj? which grows under it.

3. You may cut ^^«<i^/f-*reej every third, or fourth year, and fome more frequently, as I ftiall (hew you hereafter. They (hould alfo be abated within half a foot of the principal head, to prevent the perifliing of the main Jiock^-^ and befidts, to accelerate their fprouting. Infettingthe Trunchions it were not amifb to prepare them a little after they are fitted to the fize, by laying them a while in water j this is alfo prafticable in Willows, &c.

4. Of old they made Boats of the greater parts of this Tree

tunc alnos primumfluviifensere cavatas.

Georg. I. Nee »on (^ torrentem undam levis inn at at alnus Mijfa Pado 2 .

And as then, fo now ^are over-grown Alders frequently fought after,

for

ADifiOUrfeof Forejft-Trees. 5P

for fuch Buildings us lye continually under water, where it will harden like a \cvyJione , whereas being kept in any miconftant temper it rots immediately : Vitruvius tells us, that the Moraffes about Ravenna in Italy wevepil'd with this Timber^ to fpfperjtru^ upon, and highly commends it.

5. The Poles oi Alder are as ufefulas thofe oi WiUoros 5 but the coals far exceed them ^ efpecially for Gun-port>der : The fVood is likewife ufeful for riles, rumps , Water-pipes , Troughs, Sluces^ Wooden-heels, and the fwelling bunches which are now and then found in the old Trees, afford the Inlayer pieces curioufly chamlet- /c<5^andvery hard,^^:. but \\\e.Fagots better for the^re then for the draining of Grounds, by placing them (as the guiie is) in the Trenches 5 • which old rubbilh of flints. Stones, and the like grofs materials, docs infinitely exceed , becaufe it is for ever, preferves the Draines hoUow, and being a little moulded over will pro- duce ^ood grap, without any detriment to the iiround > but this is zjecret, not yet well underftood, and would merit an exprefs Paragraph, were it here feafonable,

'^ jam nos inter opacas

Mufa vocat Salices-

CHAP. XIX.

Of the Withy ^ Sally^ Ox^ier, and Willow.

I. OInce Cato has attributed the third place to the Sali&um, pre- Withy,

^ ferring it even next to the very Ortyard-^ and (what one would wonder at) before even the Olive, Meadow, or Corn-field it felf (for Sali&uvi tertio loco, nempe poji vineam, C^c.) and that we find it fo eafily raised, of fo great and univerfal Vfe, I have thought good to be the more particular in my Difcourfe upon them i e^ecially, fince fo much of that which I (hall publifli con- cerning them, is deriv'd from the long experience of a moft learn- ed and ingenious perfon, from whom I acknowledge to have re- ceiv'd many of thefe hints.

Not to perplex the Reader with the various names,Greel{,Gallic, Sabinic, Amerine, Vitex, &c. better diftinguifh'd by their growth, and bark§ , and by Latine Authors all comprehended under that of Salices , I begin with the Withy. The Withy is a reafpna- ble large Tree, and fit to be planted on high banks ^ becaufe they extend their roots deeper then either Sallyes or WiUovps. For this reafon you {hall plant them at ten or twenty foot diftance^ a-nd though they grow the iloweft of all the twiggy Trees ; yet do they recompence it with the larger croph the wood being tough, and the twigs fit to bind ftrongly 5 the very peelings of the branches being ufeful to bind Arbour^^^oXmg, and in Topiary works, yineyards,EJpalier-p-uJt,and the like. 2. There

^o A Difconrfe of Foieft-Trecs.

2. There are two principal forts of thefe IVit hies, the koary, and the red Withy which is the Cree\'^ tougheft, and fitteft to bind whiles the twigs are flexible and tender.

Salhtf. '• ^^^y^^ grow much fafter, if they are planted within reach of

n>ater, or in a very moorijh ground, or fiat plain 5 and where the foil is, by reafon of extraordinary moifture, unfit for Arable, or Meadew ; for in thefe cafes it is an extraordinary improvement •• In a word, where Birch, and Alder will thrive.

3. Beforeyoup/tfw* them, it is found beft to turn the ground with a Spade j efpecially, ifyoudefign them for aflat.

3. We have three forts of Sai/ys amongft us : The vulgar, which proves beft in dryer banks, and the hopping Sallys which re- quire a moiflier foil, growing with incredible celerity : And a /Air (^ kind, of a different fflA?»r from the other two, having the twigs reddijb, the leaf not fo long, and of a more dufky green j more brittle whilfl: it is growing in troigs , and more tough when arriv'd to a competent fize : All of them ufeful for the Thatcher.

4. Of theje, the happing Sallys are in greatefl efteem, being of a clearer ter^e grain, and requiring a more Jucculent foil; beft planted a foot deep, and a foot and half above ground (though fome will allow but a foot) for then every branch will prove ex- cellent for future fetlings. After three years growth ( being cropp'd the lecond and third) the firji years increafe will be 'twixt eight and twelve foot long generally ; the fecond years growth ftrong enough to make Rakes and Pike-fiaves 5 and the third foj- M, Elithes's trenching Plow, and other like Vtenfils of the Huf- bandman.

5. If ye plant them at full height (as fome do, at four years growth, fetting them five, or fix foot length, to avoid the bi- ting of Cattel) they will be lefs ufeful foK {ira.\ghtjiaves, and for fetlings, and make lefs fpeed in their growth , yet this alfo is a confiderable improvement.

6. Thefe would require to be planted at leaft five foot diftance (fome fet them as much more) and in the ^incunx order : If theyaffe6tthe)2ii/, the leaf w'lW come large, half as broad as a mans hand , and of a more vivid green, always larger the firft year, then afterwards : fome plant them floping, and crofs-wifo like a hedge -^ but this impedes their wonderful growth 5 and (though PUny feems to commend it, teaching us how to excorti- cate {owe p]zceso( each fet, for the fooner produdion of (hoots) it is but a deceitful Fence, neither fit to keep out Swine, nor sheep j and being fet too neer, inclining to one another, they foon deftroy

• each other.

7. The worft Sallys may be planted fo neer yet, as to be in- ftead oijiakes in a hedge, and then their tops will fupply their dwarfiflinefs ; and to prevent Hedge-breakers many do thus plant them ; becaufe they cannot eafily be pull'd up, after once they have ftruck root.

8. If fome be permitted to wear their tops five or fix years,

their

A Difconrfe of Foreft-Trees.

their ralms will be very ample, and yield the firft, and moft plentiful relief to Bees^ even before our Abricots bloflbm.

The hopping Sallys open, and yield their Talms before other Sallys J and when they are hlown (which is about the exit of May^ or fometimes 7"*^) the Valms are four inches long, and full of a fine Cotton : A poor Body might in an hours (pace gather a pound or two of it , which refembling the fineft J//^, might doubtlefs be converted to fome profitable ufe by an ingenious HoHfe-wife.

9. Of thefe Hopptiig Sallys^ afi:er three years rooting, each plant will yield about a fcore of Jiaves of full eight foot in length , and (b following, for ufe, as we noted above : Compute then how many fair Tikfi-Jiaves^ Perches, and other ufeful Materials, that will amount to in an Acre, if planted at five foot interval : But a fat, and moift foil requires indeed more fpace then a lean or dryer ; namelyj7x or eight foot diftance.

10. You may ^lantfet lings of the very firft years growth 5 but thejecond year they are better, and the thirdyear better then the fecond^ and the fourth as good as the third; efpccially, if they approach the water. A bank at a foot diftance from the rvater is kinder for them then a Eog, or to be altogether immers'd in the water.

11. Tisgood to new-mould them about the Roots every fe- cond or third year > but Men feldom take the pains. It feems that Sallys are more hardy then even Willows and Oziers, of which Columella takes as much care as of Vines themCelves. But 'tis cheaper to fupply the vacuity of fuch accidental decays by a new plantation, then to be at the charge of digging about them three times a year, as that Author advifes ; feeing ibme of them will decay , whatever care be ufed.

12. Sallys may alfo be propagated like Fines, by courbing, and bowing them in Arches, and covering fome of their parts with mould, c^f.

i^. For fit lings, thofe are to be preferr'd which grow neereft to the Jiock^, and fo (confequently) thofe worft which moft ap- proach the top. They (hould be planted in the firft fair, and pleafant weather in February, before they begin to bud. They may be cut in spring for F«e/; but beft in Autumnfovufi , but in this work (as of Poplar) leave a tivig or two > which being twifted Arch-rrife will produce plentiful grouts , and fuddenly furnifti a head.

14. \£\noviX Copfes one in four were z Sally ^tt, amongftthc feft of varieties, the profit would recompence the care.

1 5. The fwift: growing Sally is not fo tough, and hardy for fome ufis as the /lower, which makesjiocks for Gard'ners Spades , but the other are proper (ov Rakes, Pikes, Mops, Si.c. Sally-coal is the fooneft confum'd ; but of all others the moft accommodate for Painters to defign their Work., zx\6firji draught or\ paper v/\th, C^c. as being fine, and apt to flit into Pencils.

16. To conclude, there is a way oi grajfing a Sally trunchion y

H take

4 2 4 Difconrfe of For eft-Trees.

take it of two foot and half long as big as your wrj/? 5 Graff at both ends a Figne, and Mulberry Cion of a foot long, and fo (with- out clayifjg) fet xhtfiock^io far into the ground as the plant may be three or four inches above the earth : This will thrive exceed- ingly thcfirji year, and in three be fit to tran^lant. The feafon for this curiofity is February. Q . I. Oz./er J are commonly diftinguifh'd from Sallyes^ as Sallejs

zxeixomlVithiesj being fo much fmaller then the Sallyes ^ and Ihorter liv'd^ and requiring more conftant moiflure^ and yielding more limber, and flexible tvpigs for Baskets^ Flaskets, Hawperty chairs. Hurdles, Stages, Bands, ^c. likewife for filh Wairs, and tofupportthe Banks of impetuous it/z^erx : In fine, for all Wick$r and Ttpjggy Works ;

VmJnibus Salices

2. But thefe fort of Oz^iers would be cut in the new JI)oot ^ for if they fVand longer they become more inflexible •-, cut them dole to the head (a root or fb above earth) about the beginning of O&ober j unlefs you will attend till the cold be pafl, which is better ; and in the decreafe , for the benefit of the Workman 5 though not altogether for that of the Jiock., and fucceedingy&oo* .* When they are cut, make them up into bundles, and give them fhelter , but fuch as are for White-rf>ork.(zs they call it) being thus faggotted, (hould be fet in water, the ends dipped ; but for blac\, and unpeel'd, preferv'd under covert only : The peelings of the former are for the ufe of the Gard'ner.

5. We have in England thefe three z^«i^(?r forts ^ one of little worth, being brittle, and very much refembling the fore-menti- on'd Sally, with reddifh twigs, and more greenifh, and rounder leaves : Another kind there is, call'd Perch, of limber and green twigs, having a very flender leaf^ the thirdCovt is totally like the Jecond, only the twigs are not altogether fo green, but yelbwijb, and neer the Popinjay : This is the very beii for Vje^ tough and hardy.

4. Thefe choicer forts of Oziers, which are ever the fmalleSi 5 alfothe^<>We»-^e//<?n'andn'/'i^e which is preferr'd for propagation and to breed of, ihould be planted oi Jlips of two, or three years growth, a foot deep, and half a yard length, in Moorijh ground, or Banks, or elfe in Furrows 5 fo as the roots may fre- quently reach the water 5 for Fluminibus Salices and at three,

or four foot diflance.

5. Thefiajbn (or planting is in mid-February -^ hut Cattel being exceffively licorifh of their leaves and tender buds, fome talk of ^graffing them out of reach upon Sallys, and by this to advance their fprouting 5 but as the i*'*?/*^, would conlume time , fb have I never feen it ^cceed.

6. Some do alfb plant Oziers in their Eights like ^ickrfits, thick, and (neer the water) keep them not more then half a foot above ground 3 but then they muft be diligently cleani*d from

A Difconrfe of Forcft-Trecs. 45

Mof^ slab and Ou%e^ and frequently prun'd (efpecially the fmallcr fpires) to form fingle (hoots ; at lead, that few, or none grow double : Thefe they kead every fecond year about September, the Autumnttl cuttings being beft for ufe : But generally

7. You may cut Withies, Sallys, and IVillows at any mild and gentle_/erf/<?» between leaf and leaf even in Winter 5 but the moft congruous time both to plant and to cut them is Crefcente Luni Vere, circa calendas Martias ^ that is, about the new Moon, and firft open weather of the early Spring,

8. It is in France, upon the Loire, where thefe Eights (as we call them) and Plantations of Oziers and Withies are perfeftly under- ftood -f as it feems in fome places alfo of our own Country, where I have heard twenty pounds has been given for one Acre. To omit n, nothing of the culture of this ufeful Ozier, Pliny would have the place to be prepar'd by trenching it a foot and half deep, and in

that to fix thefits or cuttings of the fame length at fix foot inter- val. Thefe ( if the (ets be large) will come immediately to be Trees ^ which after the firll: three years are to be abated within two foot of the ground. Then, in April, he advifcs to dig about them : Of thefe they formerly made Vine-props, and one Acre hath been known to yield props fufficient to ferve a Vineyard of twenty five Acres.

10. John Tradefcan brought a fmall Ozier from St. Omers in Flanders, which makes incomparable Net-tvorks, not much inferi- our to the Indian twig or Bent-works which we have feen j but if we had them in greater abundance, we ftiould haply want the Artificers who could imploy them.

I. Our common Willarv of the woodier Covt delights in Meads fV3jn>. and Ditch-fides, rather dry, then over wet (for fo they laft longeft) and would be planted offtakes as big as on's leg, cut at the length of five or fix foot, and fix'd a foot or more into the earth j the hole made with an Oaken-ftake and beetle,or with an Iron-cr0w(^Comc ufe a long Augur) fo as not to be forced in with too great vio- lence : But firft, the Trunchions ftiould be a little flop'd at both extreams, and the biggeft planted downwards : To this, if they aie JoalCd in water two or three days (after they have been fiz'd for length, and the twigs cut off ere you plant them) it will be the better. Let this be done in February. Arms of four years growth will yield fubftantialje?/ to be planted at eight or ten foot diftance 5 and for the firft three years well defended from the Cat- tel, who infinitely delight in their leaves, green or wither'd. Thus 2. a ^r?//<>w may continue twenty, or five aodtwenty years, with good profit to the induftrious Planter, being headed every four or five years, fome have been known to fijoot no lefs then twelve foot in cm yi^AT, after which the old, rotten Dotards may he felPd, and eafily fupplied. But if you have ground fit for whole Copjes of thii Wood, caft it into double <^/A?j-, making every /^/ neer three foot wide ; two and half in depth ; then leaving four foot at leaft of ground for the earth (becaufe in fuch Plantations the moifture ftiould be below the roots, that they may rather fee, then feel the

H 2 water)

A4 A Difcourfe of Foreft- Trees.

water) and two Tables of Sets on each fide, plant the Ridges of thefe Banks with but one fingle TabJe^ longer and bigger then the Cal/atcral,t'iZ" three, four, five or fix foot high, and diftant fi-om 2. each other about two yards. Thefe Batiks being carefully kept xoeeded for the firfl: two years, till the Plants have vanquilh'd the Gra^-^ every Jcreat eleven, or twelve years growth, may yield you neer an hundred load of wood : Cut them in the Spring for drefling 5 but in the Fall for Timber and Fuel : I have been in- form'd, that a Gentleman in Ejjex has lopp'd no lefs then 2000 yearly, all of his own planting.

4. There is a fort of WiUore of a flender and long leaf, refem- • blkig the fmaller 0%ier ; but rifing to a Tree as big as the Sally 5 full of kftots, and of a very brittle j^i^ay, only here rehears' d to acknowledge the variety .

5. There is likewife the Garden-n>illovp , which produces a fweet and beautiful flower, fit to be admitted into our Hortulan ornaments, and may be fet for partitions oifquares-^ but they have no affinity with other. There is alfo in shropfiire andther very odoriferous kind.

6. What moft of the former enumerated kinds differ from the Sal- lys,\s indeed not much confiderable,they being generally ufeful for the fame purpofes ; as Boxes, fuch as Apothecaries and Goldfmitbs ufe •-, for Cart-Saddle-trees, Harrows ,shooe-makfrs Lajis, Heels, Clogs for Fattens, Fearches, Hop-poles i, Ricing of kidny-beans, and for Supporters to Vines , when our Englip Vineyards come more in re- *queft : Alfo for Hurdles, Sieves, Lattices 5 for the Turner, Coals and Bavin. T\iewood being preferv'd dry will dure a very long time 3 but that which is found wholly p«^r/^'<^ , and reduc'd to a loamy earth in the hollow trunks o( fuperannuated Trees, is, of all other, thefittefttobe mingl'd with dne mould for the raifing our choicefl: Flowers, fuch as Anemonies, Ranunculus's, Auriculas, and the like j for

G^id majorafequar .<? Salices, humiles^ genijite Aut illipecorip'ondem, autpa^oribus umbram Suffciunt, Jepem^fatif, d^pabula melli.

Georg. 2. 7. Now by all thefe Plantations of the Aquatic Trees, it is evi- dent the Lords of Moorifti Commons , and unprofitable WaSies, may learn fome improvement, and the neighbour Bees begratifi'dj and many Tools of Husbandry become much cheaper. I conclude, with the learned Stephanus's note upon thefe kind of Trees, after he has enumerated the univerfal benefit of the Sali£tum : Nulli/^ enim tutior r edit us, minor ifve impendii, aut tempejiatts fecurior.

CHAP.

A Dijconrfe of Foreft-Trees. ±t»

CHAP. XX.

Of Fences J Qmck^fetSjlkc.

i./^^Ur main F/4»?(«?7<7« is now fiuifli'd, and our F<7re/? adorn'd F«»ceA

V^ with a juft variety : But what is yet all this labour,but lofs of time^ and irreparable expence, unlefs our youngs and (as yet) tender Tlants be fufficiently guarded from all external injuries ^ for, as old2«/7erj

3f( Cartel, 0? Conp map enter to crop, ^ouns C)ak ij3 in Danger of loGng Ot0 top*

But with fomething a more polifh'd/^/Ve, though to the fame pur- pofe, the beft of Toets^

Texend^fepes etiam^ ^ pecus omne tenendum ei? .•

Tr£cipue^ dumfrons tenera, imprudens^ laborum 5

Cui^fuper indignoi hyemes^folem^ potentem,

Syhejires Viri ajfidu}, capre<e^Jequaces

Illudunt : Pafcuntur Oves^ avid£^juvenc£,

f rigor a nee tantum cana concretapruina^

Aut gravis incttmbens fcopnlk arentibus <ejfas

^antumillinocueregreges, durijj venenunt

Dentjs^ d^ adfnorfajtgnata injiirpe cicatrix.

Ceorg. I. 2. For the reafon that (b many complain of the improfperous condition oi their fVood-lands, and Plantations oil thiskmd, pro- ceeds from this negle£f ^ though (s^eep excepted) there is no im- ployment whatfoever incident to the Farmer, which requires lefi expence to gratifie their expeftations ; One diligent, and skilful Man will govern^W hundred Acres : But if through any accident a IBea^ (hall break into his Afajiers field ; or the wicked Hunters make a gap for his dogs and horjes^ what a clamor is there made for the difturbance of a years Crop at moft in a little Corn .<=" whiles abandoning his young Woods all this time , and perhaps many years, to the venomous bitings and treading of Cattel, and other like injuries (for want of due care) the detriment is many times irreparable : Young Trees once cropp'd hardly ever recovering : It is the bane of all our moft hopeful Timber. But Ihall I provoke 3. you by an infiance ? A Kins-man of mine has a Wood of more then 60 years ftanding 5 it was , before he purchas'd it, expos'd and abandon'd to the Cattel for divers years : fbme of the outward (kirts were nothing fave fin-ubs and ir\\(txdh\efiarvlings } yet ftill the place had a difpofition to grow rvoody ^ but by this negled continually fupprefs'd. The induftrious Gentleman has Fenced in fome^trej-of this, and cut allclofe to the ground ; it is come in eight or nine years to be better worth then the v^ood o^ffxty j

and

* V

A Dffi(^ff^fc of Forcfi-Trecs.

and will (in time) prove mod incomparable Timber, whiles the other part fo many years advanc'd^ {hall never recovery and all thfs from no other caufi, then preferving kfenc'd : Judge then by tbff how our Woods come to be fo decried : Are five hundred sheep worthy the care of a Shepherd .<? and are not five thoufand Oaks worth the Fencing, and the infpedion of a Hayvpard^

Et dubitant homines ferere, at^ impendere cur am .<"

Let us therefore j&»^ up what we have thus laborioufly/^/^wf^^, with fome good ^ickrfet hedge. &!<ickJcts. !• The Whitc-thorne which is the befl: for Fencing, is either rais'd of Seeds or Tlants 5 but then it muft not be with dejpair, becaufe fometimes you do not fee them peep the firji year , for the Haw, and many othery?^^/, being inverted with a very hard Integument, will now and then fufFer imprifonment two whole years under the earth , and impatience of this does often fru- ftrate the expectation of the rejitrreition oi' divers feeds of this na- ture 5 fo as we frequently dig up, and difturb the beds where they have been forvn, in dej^air, before they have gone their full time 5 which is alfo the reafbn of a. very popular miftake in other

2. feeds : efpecially, that of the Hol/y, concerning which there goes a tradition, that they will not fprout till they be pafs'd through the MavD of a Thrujh ; whence the faying, Turdus exitium fuum cs- cat (alluding to the Vifcuf made thereof, not the MijUeto of Oak^y but this is an errour, as I am able to teftifie on experience 5 they come up very well of the Berries, and patience j for (as I afhrm'd) they wWl Jleep fometimes two entire years in their Graves ^ as will alio the feeds of Ten', Sloes, Phjilerea^anguJiifoUa, a.nd{ar\dry others^ whofe fi}clls are very hard about the fmall kernels 5 but which h wonderfully facilitated, by being (as we diredted) prepar'd in beds, and magazines of earth or find for a competent time, and then committed to the ground before the /«//in March, by which feajon they will be chitting, and fpeedily take root : Others bury them deep in the ground all Winter, and fow them in Februarji ; And thus I have been told of a Gentleman who has confiderably improv'd his Revenue, by fowing Harps only, and raifmp Nnrferiei of ^ickrfets, which he fells by the hundred far and neer : T}»:s is a commendable indujirj/ j any neglcftcd corners uf groand will

S' fit this Plantation : But Columella has another expedient tor the raifing of our jpinetum, by rubbing the now m?ture Hips and Harps into the crevices of baf -ropes, and then burying them in a trench : whether way you attempt it, they muft (fo foon as they peep, and as long as they require it) be feduloufly cleans'd of the TPeeds -J which, if in beds (or tranjplantation, had need be at the leaft three or (onr year j by which time, even your feedlings v/ill be o(Jiature tir to remove ; for I do by no means approve of the vxd^iXprtzntAture planting of /e^x, as is generally us'd throughout England , which is to take fuchonly as are the very fmalleji, and fo to crowd them into three or (our files, which are both egregi- ous mi slakes. * Where-

A Diftourfe of Forcft-Trees. 47

4. Whereas it is found by conftant experience , that plants as big as ones thumb , fet in the pofture , and at the diftance which we fpake of in the Horn-beam j that is, SiXmoi^i perpendicular, and fingle, or at mod: not exceeding a double row, do prolper in- finitely, and much out-ftrip the denfeft, and clofeft ranges of our trifling -Se^i-, which make but wezk poots, and whofe roots do but hinder each other, and for being couch'd in that pojiure on the (ides of Banks and Fences (efpecially where the earth is not very tenacious) are bared of the mould which fliould entertain them, by that time the Rains and Storms of one Winter have paiTed over them. In Holland, and Flanders (where they have the goodlieft Hedges of this kind about the Connter-fcarps of their invincible Fortifications, to the great fecurity of their Muskgtiers upon oc- cafion) they plant them according to my defcription, and rai(e Fences fo fpeedily, and fo impenetrable, that our be^ are not to enter into the comparifon.

6. Your Hedge being yet j/oung, fhould be con(ia.nt\y weeded, though fome admit not of this work after Michaelmas, for Rea-

fons that I approve not : It has been the practice o^ Herefordshire, in the plantation of g^ickrfet-hedges, to plant a Crab-Jiocl^ at every twenty foot diftance ^ and this they obferve fo Rcligioujly, as if they had been under fome rigorous Statute requiring it : But by this means they were provided in a ftiort time with all advantages for the graffing of Fruit amongft them, which does highly recom- penfe their induftry.

7. Whenyour He<5?^e isnowaboutof fix years (kutnte, ptajlj it about February or October 5 but this is the work of a very dex- trous and skilful Husbandman , and for which our honeft Coun- try-man M.Markam gives excellent direftions j only I approve not fo well of his deep cutting, if it be poffible to bend it, ha- ving fufFered in fome thing of that kind : It is almoft incredible to what perfection fome have laid thcfe Hedges, by the rural way of plajhing,better then by clipping-^ yet may both be ufed for ornament, as where they are planted about our Garden-fences, and fields neer the Manfion. In Scotland by tying the yonngfiwots with bands of hay, they make thejiems grow fo very cloie together, as that it en- clofeth Rabbets in Warrens inftead of pales.

8. And now fince I did mention it, and that moft I find do greatly afFedt the ordinary way of picking ( that this our Dif courfe be in nothing deficient) we will in brief give it you much after Geo. Markams defcription, becaufe it is the beft: and moft: accurate.

In a Ground which is more dry then met (for watry places it ab- hors) plant your g^uick^ thus : Let the firft row of Sets be placed matrench of about half a foot deep, even with the top of your ditch, in fomewhat a (loping, or inclining pofture : Then having rais'dyour/'^»4.n^er a foot upon them, plant another ron?, fo as their tops may juft peep out over the middle of the j^aces of your fir^ row ; Thcfe cover*d again to the height or thicknefs of the other , place a third rank, oppofite to the firii, and then finifti

your

a8 a Vifcottrfe of Foreft-Trees.

your bank to its intended height. The diftances of the ploKfs would not be above one foot -^ and the feafon to do the work in may be from the entry of February till the end of March ; or elfe in September^to the beginning of December.

When 'this is finifti'd, you muft guard both the top of your Ba»k^and ontmoft verge of your Ditch with a fufficient dry-bedpt^ interwoven from^«4« to Jiake into the earth (which commonly they do on the bank) to fecure your ^ick. from the fpoil of Cat- tle. And then being careful to repair fuch as decay, or do not fpring5by fuppling the dead, and trimming the reft ^ you (hall af- ter three ^e^rj- growth Iprinkle fome Tiatber-trees amongd them ^ fuch as 0^)^, Beech^Ajlj^ Maple, Fruity or the like 5 which being drawn young out of your Nurferies ^ may be very eafily in- ferred.

But that which we affirm'd to require the greateft dexterity in this work, is the artificial/'/^Jz«g of our Hedge when it b now ar- riv'd to aj/x or feven years head.

In February therefore, or O&ober, with a very fharp Biff cut away all fuperfluous fprays and Jiraglers which may hinder your progrefs, and are ufelefs. Then fearching out the principal_/r<;«?/, with a keen and light Hatchet cut them Jlant-vpjfe about three quarters through, and fb lay it from you Jlopwg as you go, fold- ing in the lefler branches which fpring from them ; and ever with- in a five, or fix foot diftance, where you find an upright Je* (cut- ting off only the top to the height of your intended hedge) let it fland as ajiake to fortifie your work, and to receive the twimngt of thofe branches about it. Laftly, at the top (which would be about five foot above ground) take the longeft, moft flenderand flexible twigs which you refer ved (and being cut as the former where need requires) bind in the extremities of all the reft, and thus your workxs finifh'd : This being done very clofe, and thick, makes an impregnable Hedge, in few years ; for it may be repeat- ed as you fee occafion , and what you fo cut away will help to make your dry-hedges for your young Plantations, or be profita- ble for the Oven, and make good Bavin.

9. The Pyracanth, Paliitrus, and like pretiofer forts of Ti?i^r«c might eafily be propagated into plenty fufficient to ftore even thefe vulgar Vjes were Men induftrious 5 and then how beautiful, ana fweet would the environs of our Fields be ? for there are none of the (pinouf fiorubs more hardy, nor fitter for our defence. Thus might Berberies now and then be alfb inferred among our hedges, which with the Hips, Hares, and Cornel-berries, do well in light lands, and would rather be planted to the South then North, or fVeif, as ufually we oblerve them.

10. Some mingle their very hedges with Oaklings, Ap,^r\d Fruit- trees fown, or planted, and 'tis a laudable improvement.

1 1. In Cornwall they fecure their Lands and Woods with high Mounds, and on them they plant Acorns whofe roots bind in the loo fer mould, and fo form a double, and moft durable Fc«cc, in- circling the Fields with a Coronet of Trees. They do likewife

(and

A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees. ^^

(and that with great commendation) make hedges of our GenWa Spitiofa, prickly Furzes^ of which they have a taller fort, fuch as Fwrzex. the French imploy for the fame purpofe in Britatgn^ where they are incomparable husbands.

15. It is to hejbrvn (which is beft) or planted of the roots in a furrow : If fown, weeded till it be ftrong : both Tonftle, and to be diligently clipd, which will render it very thick, an excellent and beautiful hedge : Otherwife permitted to grow at large, 'twill yield very good Fagot.

14. Thus, in fome places, they Jbw in barren grounds (y/hen they lay them down) the laft crop with thisjeed, and fo let them remain till they break them up again , and during that in- terim, reap confiderable advantage : Would you believe (writes a worthy CorreJ^ondent of mine) that in Hereford/hire (famous for plenty of jvood) their Thickets of Furzes (viz.. the vulgar) (hould yield them more prop, then a like quantity of the belt fFheat land of England .<? for fuch is theirs 5 and in Deponfljire (the Jeat of the beft Husbands in the World) they fow on their worft Land (yveWploiv'd) the feeds of the rankeft Furzes, which in four or five years becomes a rich Wood : No provender makes horfes fo har- dy, as the young tops of thefe Furzes 5 no other Wood fo thick, nor more excellent Fuel ^ and for fome purpofes alfo, yielding them a kind of Timber to their more humble buildings, ^viA a great refuge for FovpI and other Game : I am affur'd, in Britaign 'tis fometimes fown no lefs then twelve jards thick, for a fpeedy, pro- fitable, and impenetrable ^(?«»<5^.- If we imitated this A^sr^^Wr^ in the barren places of Surrey, and other parts of this Nation, we might exceedingly fpare our woods 5 and I have bought the beft fort of French fed at the ftiops in London.

15. This puts mem mind of the Broom 5 another improvement Broom, for Barren grounds, and faver of more fubftantial Fuel : It may be fown Englijh, or (what is more fweet, and beautiful) the Spanip, with equal fuccefs.

1 6. In the Weftern parts of France, and Cornwall, it grows with us, to an incredible height (however our Poet give it the epithete of humilk) and fo it feems they had it of old5as appears by Gra^ tius his Genifite Altinates, with which (as he affirms) they us'd to make Jiaves for their Spears, and hunting Darts.

17. Laftly, a confiderable Fe»ce may be made of the Elder, Elder. let of reafonable lufty trunchions 3 much like the Willow, and (as I have feen them maintain'd) laid with great curiofity, and far ex- celling thofe extravagant plantations of them about London,whev.e

the lops are permitted to grow without due and (kilful laying.

18. There is a fort of Elder which has hardly any Pith 5 this makes exceeding ftout Fences, and the Timber very ufeful for Cogs of Mills, and fuch tough employments.

1 9. The American Lucca is a harder plant then we take it to be 5 • for it will fuffer our fliarpeft Winter, s^s I havefeen by experience, without that trouble, and care of fetting it in Cafis in our Confer- vatories for hyemation ^ fuch as have beheld it in Flower (which is not indeed till it be of fome age)muft needs admire the beauty

I of

50 A Difconrfe of Forcft-Trees.

of it ^ and it being cafily multiplied, why ftiould it not make one of the beft and moft ornamental Fences in the world for our C<trdc»s^ wirhits nAtmal palifados, as well as the more tender, and impatient of moifture the j4loef does for their Vineyards in Langnedoc^ &c. but We believe nothing improvable^ fave what our Grand-fathers taught us.

And thus, having accomplifli'd what (by your Commands J I had to offer concerning the propagation of the more Solid^ Materi- al, and ufeful Trees, as well the Dry, as Aquatical 'j and to the beft of my talent fenced our Plantation in, I ihould here conclude^ andfet a Bound likewifeto my Difcourfe, by making an jipologie for the many errours and impertinencies of it ; did not the %eal^ and ambition of this lUuBrious Society to promote and improve all Attempts which may concern the Fublick^ ntility or Ornament^ perfwade ilfe,that what I am adding for the farther encouragement to the planting of fome other ufeful (though lefs Vulgar) Trees, will at leaft obtain your pardon, if it mifs of your Approbation. Fruit-Trees. !• To difcourfe in this Jiile of all fuch Fruit-trees as would prove of greateft emolument to the whole Nation, were to defign a juft Volume •■, and there are dire3ions already fo many, and fo accurately deliver'd and publifi'd (but which cannot beaffirm'dof any of the former Clajjes of Foreji-trees and other remarkes, at the leaft to my poor knowledge and refearch) that it would be need- left to Repeat.

2. I do only with fupon the profoeft , and meditation of the univerfal Benefit ) that every perfin whatfoever, worth tett pounds per annum, within his Majefiies Dominions, were by fome indifpenfable statute oblig'd to plant his Hedge-rows with the beft and moft ufeful kinds of them j efpecially, in fuch places of the Nation, as being the more in-land Counties, and remote from the Seas and Navigable Rivers, might the better be excus'd from the planting of Timber , to the proportion of thofe who are more happily and commodioufly fituated for the tranf^ortati- on of it.

3. Undoubtedly,ifthiscourfe were taken efreftually,a very f<>«- fiderable part both of the Meat and Dr/»4, which is fpent to our pre- judice might be faved by the Countrey-people,even out of the Hedges and Mounds, which would afford them not only the p/e^^re and /»r<?^> of their delicious Fruit, but fuch abundance of Cider and Ferry as fhould fuffice them to drinks of one of the moft wholefim and excellent Beverages in the World. Old Gerard did long fincc alled^ us an example worthy to be purfu'd ^ I havefeen({2i\th he, fyes.kin2o£ Apple-Trees, Itb.:^. cap. 101. ") inthePadmes and Hedg- rows about the Grounds of a Worjhipful Gentleman dwelling two miles from Hereford, called M^ Roger Bodnome, fo many Trees of al/ibns that the Servants drinks for the moft part no other drink^but that which is made of Apples .' The quantity is fitch, that by the re- port of the Gentleman himfelf the Parfon hath for Tythe many HoeJJjeads of Cider •• The Hogs are fed with the fa/lings of them^ which are fo many that they make choice of thofe Apples they do eat, who will not tajie of any but of the beji. An Example doubtlefs to he

followed

A Difconrfe of Fore/l-Trees. 1 1

foUowed of Gentlemen that have Land and Living ^ but Envy faith The Voox TPtU breaks dovpti our Hedges, and rvejljall have the leafi part of the Fruit > but forward in the Name of Cod^ Graff, Set Plant, and nourijl) uf Trees in every corner of your Ground i the labour // fmall^ the coft is nothings the commodity »• great ; your felves paU have plenty , the poor pall have fomevphat in time of want to relieve their neceffity^and God Jhall reroardyour good minds and diligence. Thus far honeft Gerard. And in truth with how fmall a charge and infinite pleafure this were to be effefted, every one that is Patron of a little Nurfery can eafily calculate : But by this Expedient, many thoulands o£ Acres, fow'd now yearly with Barley, might be cultivated for Wheat, or converted into Pajiure to the increafe of Corn, and Cattel: Befides theTimber which the Pear-tree affords, comparable (for divers curious Vfes") with any we have enumerated. But of this I am to render a more ample Accompt in the Appendix to this Dijcourje.

4. I would farther recommend the more frequent planting and propagation of Fir, Pine-trees and feme other beneficial Materials both for Ornament znA. profit 5 efpecially, fince we find by experi- ence, they thrive fo well, where they are cultivated for Curio- fity only.

CHAP. XXI.

Of the Fir, f*ine, Pinafter, Pitch-tree, C^c.

I. ' I "^Hey are all of them eafily rais'd of the Kernels, and Nuts^ p.

X which may be gotten out of their Cones and Clogs, by "'* cxpofing them a little before the^re till they begin to gape, and are ready to deliver themfelvesof their burthen.

2. There areof the Fir two principal Jl^e«ex 5 the ^-«le 'which is the bigger Tree, and of a harder wood ^ the Female, which is much the fofter, and whiter. They may be fown in beds, or cafes, at any time during March ^ and when they f ee/>,carefully de- fended with Furzes, or the like fence from the rapacious Birds, which are very apt to pull them up, by taking hold of that lit- tle infecund part of the yee^/ which they commonly bear upon their tops : The Beds wherein you fow them had need be uiel- ter*d from the Southern AJpeSs with fome screen of Reed, or thick hedge : Sow them in Ihallow rills, not above half-inch- deep, and cover them with fine light mould : Being rifen a finger in height , eftablifti their weak. Jialks , by fiefting fome more earth about them 5 efpecially the Pines, which being more top- heavy are more apt to fwag. When they are of two, or three years growth, you may tranj^lant them where you pleafe i and when they have gotten good root they will make prodigious ihoots 3 but not for the three or four firft years comparatively.

I 2 3. The

^2 A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trccs.

Fines. 2. The Titie is likcwife of both Sexes ^ whereof the Male

growing lower, hath its tpoocI more knotty and rude then the Female. They \<^ould be gather'd in jf»»e before they gape, and Ctrltivated like the Fir m moft refpefts 3 only, you may bury the Hulls a little deeper. By a friend of mine they were rolled in a fine compo^ made of Sheep t-dttng, and fcatter'd in Fehrnary, and this way nfever fail'd 5 ¥0' and Pine 5 they came to be above Inch high by ^rf;'-" this were an expeditious pr<?fe/? for great Plant at i^ iHs : unlefs you would rather fet the Pine as they do Peafe j but at wfder diftances, that whtn there is occafion of removal, they might be taken up with earth and all i becaufe they are (of all oihet Trees) the moft obnoxious to mifcarry without this caution 5 and therefore it were much better (where the Nuts might be com- modioufly fet, and defended") never to remove them at all, it gives this Tree lb confiderable a check.

4. I am affur'd (by a perfon moft worthy of credit) that in the t^ritory of Al%ey (a Country in Germany^ where they were mi- ftrably diftreffed for ^otff/, which they had fo deftroy'd as that they were reduced to make ufe of Stravp for their beft Fuel) a Verf large Trdii beihg newly plowed, but the Wars furprizing them, not fuffer'd to fow , there fprung up the next year a whole Foreft of Pine-trees^ of which Ibrt of IVood there was none at all within lefs then fonrfcore miles 5 fo as 'tis verily conjeftur'd by fome, they might be wafted thither from the Country of Wejira- fta^ which is the neereft part to that where they grow : If this

be true, we are no more to wonder, how, when our Oak^vpoadt are grubb'd up. Beech and Trees of other kinds have fre- quently fucceeded them : What fome impetuous Winds have done in this nature I could produce inftances almoft miraculous : ■ I ftiall fay nothing of the opinion of our Mafter Varro, and the learned Theophrafitii , who were both of a faith that the feeds of Plants drop'd out of the Air : Pliny in his 16. Book.^ Chap. 33* upon difcourfe of the Cretan Cypreji^ attributes much to the indoles and nature of the foil, virtue of the Climate, and Imprejjions of the Air : And ihdeed it is very ftrange what is affirmed of that Pitchy-rain, repdrted to have fallen about C^re«c, the year 430. U. C. after which, in a ftiort time fprung up a whole wood of the Trees of Lajerpitium, producing a precious Gum not much infe- riour to Ben%oih, if at leaft thejiory he warrantble .• But of thefe Aerial irradiations, yzt'ions conceptions znd equivocal ^iod\x^ions withouty^e^^, €^c. upon another occafion, if life and leifure per- mit me to finifh what has been long under the hand, and file to gratifie our Horticultores : This prefent Treatije being but an im- iperfecl limb of that more ample Wori{.

5. In tranfplanting of thefe i?e/M?^re<!>*!f, and C(>«//er(?*!f Trees, you muft never diminifh their heads, nor be at all bufie with tht'ir roots, which pierce deep, and is all their foundation, unleft you find any of them bruifed, or much broken : Neither may you dif branch them, bufwith great caution, as about March or before, orelle in September^ when I advifeyou to rub over their

wounds

A Difcourfe of Forefi-T^ecs. ^5

rvonnds with a mixture of Cow-dung 5 the negleft of tbis coft me dear, fo apt are they to fpend their Oum.

6. Some advife us to break, the (hells of Fines to faeilitate their ' delivery^ and I have effay*d it 5 but to my loft 5 Nature does ob'

jietricate^ and do that ofhceof her ielf when it is the beft feafon^ neither does this preparation at all prevent thole which are fb bu- ried, whiles their hard Integuments protect them both from rotting, and the Vermine.

7. The domeflic Fine grows very well with us 5 but the Fina- Finafitri Jier or wilder beft for Walks ^ becaufe it grows tall, and proud, maintaining their branches at the fides, which the Fine does lefi frequently.

8. The fir grows talleft being planted reafonable clofe toge- ther '^ but fuffers nothing to thrive under them. The Tim not fo inhabitable ^ for (by Flinies good leave) it may be fown with any Tree, all things growing well under its P)adei and excellent ki Woods, hence Claudian,

Et com it em quercum Finus arnica trahit*

9. They both affeft the cold, high and rockie grounds } yet will grow in better j but not in over rich, and pinguid. The worft land in Wales bears (as I am told) large Fine 5 and the Fir according to his afpiring nature , loves alfo the Mountain mDre then the Valley 5 though they will alio defcend, and fucceed very well in either 5 being delirous of plentiful waterings till ?they ar- rive to feme competent ^4t«re , and therefore they do not pro- fper fo well in an o\er fandy, and hungry foil, or gravel, as in the very entrails of the Rock/, which afford more drink.to the Roots, that penetrate into their meanders, and winding receffes. But though they require this rejhjhing at firft 5 yet do they perfeftly zhhov aWJiercorationj nor will they much endure to have the earth open'd about their roots for Ablaqneation, or be difturb'd. This is alfo to be underftood of Cypre^. A Fir for the firft half dozen years feems to ftand, or at leaft make no confiderable ad- vance; but it is when throughly rooted, that it comes away mi- raculoufly. That Honourable Knight Sir Norton Knatchbull (whofe ddiciousFlantationo^ Fines, and F/rx I beheld with great fatisfaftion) having aflur'd me that a Fir-tree of his raifing, did fhoot nolefs then 60 foot in height in little more then twenty years, is a pregnant inftance, as of the fpeedy growing of that material:, fo of all the encouragement I have already given for the more fre- quent cultivating this ornamental, ufeful and profitable Tree.

10. The Ficea is another Ibrt of Fine, and to be cultivated I'ttchi like it

'Fice£tantHm, taxi^ nocentes

' •--— '" 3 jf

Inter dum, ant eder£ pandnnt Ve^igia nigra.

Ceorg. 2. to (hew in what unprofitable foils they grow j And therefore i

am

t± A Difcourfe of Forcft-Trees.

am not fatisfied why it might not profper in fome tolerable degree in Efiglandi as well as in Germany^ Rujfiay the colder Tra&s^ and abundantly in France : It grows on the Alpes among the Pit/e ^ but neither fo tall nor fo upright.

11. Thereisalfo the P/ferfi?er, out of which the greateft ftorc of Pitch is boyl'd. The Teda likewife, which is a fort more un- duous, and more patient of the warmer fcituations.

12. The Bodies of thefe being cut, or burnt down to the ground, will emit frequent fuckers from the Roots 5 but fi will neither the Pine nor Fir.

13. That all thefe, efpecially the F/r, and Pine, will profper well with us is more then probable, becaufe it is a kind of Demon- jiration that they did heretofore grow plentifully in Cumberland^

Chejhire, Stafford, and Lanca^jire, where multitudes of them are to this day found intire, buried under the Earth, though fuppos'd to have been ©'rethrown and cover'd fo ever fince the univerfal Deluge : For we will not here trouble our Planter with M. Camb- den's §^£rie. Whether there be not (ubterraneous Trees growing under the ground^ though fomething to be touched anon might feem to excufe the prefumption of it 5 befides that divers Earths, as vfQMzslVaters, have evidently a quality oi petrifying wood bu- ried therein.

14. In Scotland there isamoft beautiful fort of Fir growing upon the Mountains ^ of which from that unhappy Perfon the late Marquefs of Argyle I had fent me fome feeds, which I have fown with tolerable fuccefi.

15. For the many and almoft univerfal ufe of thefe Trees both Sea, and Land mil plead.

■dant utile Lignum

Navigiff Pinos ~-

They make our befl: Afaji, Sheathing, &c. heretofore the whole Feffel. It is pretty (faith Pliny) to confider that thofe Irees which are fo much jought after for Shipping fhould moji delight in the high- eji of Mountains, as if it fied from the Sea on purpofe, and were afraid to dejcend into the Waters. With Fir we likewife make IVainfcot, Floors, Laths, Boxes, and wherever we ufe the Deal-^ nor does there any Wood (o well agree with the glew as it, or fo eafieto be wrought : It is alfb excellent for Beams, and other Timber-work. in Houjes, being both light, and exceedingly ftrong, where it may lie dry everlafiing, and an extraordinary faver of Oak_ where it may be had atreafbnab]efr/fe. I will not complain what an in- credible mafs of ready Money is yearly exported into the Northern Country s for this (ble commodity, which might all be faved were we indujirious at home. Likewilc from Fir we have the rnofl of our Pot-aflies.

The Pine, and PiceahnxxeA in the earth never decay : From the latter tr an jiudes a very bright and pellucid Gum-^ hence we have V\kemk Rofmi alfo ot the Pine zrexnzde Boxes, and Barrels for

A Difcourfe of Forcft-Trees. 55

dry Goods 5 yea, and it Is cloven into Jbwgles for the covering of houfes in feme places 5 not to forget the ksrnels^ of fuch admirable ufe in Emulp>ns : In fum, they are Tlantations which exceedingly improve the Air by their odoriferous and balfamical emifEons and for ornament create a perpetual fpring where they are propa- gated.

16. But now whiles I am reciting the t^^j of thcfe beneficial Trees, Mr. Winthorp prefents the Royal Society with the Vroceji of making the Tar and Titch in Nevp England , which we thus abbreviate.

Tar is made out of that fort of Pine-tree from which naturally Terpentine extilleth ^ and which at its firft flowing out is liquid and clear 3 but being hardned by the 4/>, either on the Tree, or where-ever it falls, is nor much Unlike the Burgundy Pitch j and "We call them Pitch-pines out of which this gummy fubftance tran- fudes : They grow upon the moft barren />/4/«j-, on rocl{s alfo and hills rifing amongfl: thofe plains^ where feveral are found blown down , that have lain lb many ages as that the whole bodies, branches and roots of the Trees being pcrilhed, fome certain knots only of the boughs have been left remaining intire (thele kitots are that part where the hough is joyn'd to the body of theTreeJ ly- ing at the fame diftance and pofture as they grew upon the Tree for its whole length. The bodies of fome of thefe Tree/ are not corrupted through age, but quite confum'd and reduc'd to afhes by the annual burnings of the Indians^ when they fet their grounds on fire ; which yet has, it feems, no power over thefe hard \nots beyond a black Icorching 5 although being laid on heaps they are apt enough to burn.

It is of thefe kpots they make their T^r in New England and the Country adjacent, whiles they are well impregnated with that Te- rebinthine , and Refinous matter, which like a Balfam preferves them folong i^wmputrifaifioa. The reft of the Tree doe indeed contain the like Terebinthinefap, as appears (upon any flight in- cifion of bark on the ftem, or boughs) by a fmall cryftaline pearl which will fweat out J hut thk, for being more watry, and undi- gefted by reafon of the porofity of the wood, which expofes it to the impreffions of the air and rvet^ render the Tree more obnoxi- ous 5 efpecially, if it lye proftrate with the barton, which is a receptacle for a certain intercut aneous worm that accelerates its decay. They are the k^ots then alone which the Tar-makers amafs in heaps^ carrying them in Carts to fome convenient place not far off, where finding clay ox loam fit for their turn, they lay an Hearth of fuch ordinary ftone as they have at hand : This they build to luch an height from the level of the ground, that a Vef- fcl may ftand a little lower then the Hearth to receive the Tar as it runs out : But firft, the Hearth is made wide according to the quantity of knots to be fet at once , and that with a very fmooth floore of clay J yet fbmewhat defending or dipping from the ex- tream parts to the middle, and thence towards one of thejides, where a gullet is left for the Tar to run out at. The Hearth thus

finifti'd

e6 A Difcottrfe of Foreft-Trees.

finifti'd, they pile the kpots one upon another, after the very lame manner as our Colliers do their rpood for Char-ioal ^ and of a height proportionable to the breadth of the Hearth ; and then cover them over with a coat of loam or clay (which is beft) or in defedt of thofc, with the beft, and moft tenacious earth the place will afford j leaving only a imzW j^iracle at the top whereat to put the /re in 5 and making fome little holes round about at feveral heights , for the admiiuon of fo much air as is requifite to keep it burning, and to regulate the /re by opening, and flopping them at pleafure. The procef is almoft the lame with that of ma- king char-coal, as will appear in due place -, for when it is well on fire, that middle ^<?/e is alfo ftopp'd, and the reft oftheiSe^i- ^erj- fo govern'd as the kpots may keep burning and not be fuifo- cated with too mnch fmoal^, whiles all being now through-heated, the Tar runs down to the Hearth together with fome of the more watry jrfp, which hafting from all p<ir?x towards the middle is convey a by the foremention'd gutter into the Barrel, or l^effel placed to receive it : Thus the whole Art of Tar-making is no other then a kind of rude diftillation per defcenfum, and might therefore be as well done in Furnaces of large capacity, were it worth the expence. When the Tlirisnow all melted out, and run , they ftop up all the vents very clofe 5 and afterwards find the k*iots made into excellent Char-coal preferr'd by the Smiths before any other whatfoever which is made of wood 5 and no- thing fo apt to burn out when their blaU ceafeth ; neither do they jparkle in the fire as many other forts of Co^i/ do; foas, in defed o£ Sea-coal, they niake choice of this as beft for their ufe, and give greater />r/Ve/ for it.

Of thefe k»ots likewife do the Planters fplit out fmall firvers about the thicknefs of ones finger, or fomewhat thinner, which ferve themto burnin fteadof C^»^/ej5 giving a very good light. This they call Candle-vpood, and it is in much ufe both in Nevo Eng- land, Virginia, and amongft the Dutch-planters in their Villages 5 but for that it is fomething offenfive by reafon of the much fuligi- nous Jmoak which comes from it, they commonly burn it in the chimney-corner upon a flat fione , or Iron ; except , occafionally, they carry a iin^e Jiickjn their hand, as there is need of light to go about the houfe.

It muft not be conceiv'd,by what we have mention'd in the for- mer defcription of the kfiots, that they are only to be feparated from the bodies of the trees by devouring time ; or that they are the only materials out of which Tar can be extrafted : For there are in thefe TraEts millions of Trees which abound with the fame fort of knots, and full of Terpentine fit to make Tar : But the la- bour oi felling thefe Trees, and of cutting out their k"<'ts, would far exceed the value of the Tar 5 efpecially in Countries where Workjften are fo very dear .* But thofe kpot^, above mention'd, are provided to hand, without any other labour then the gather- ing only.

There are fometimes found of thofe fort of Tine-trees the

loweft

A Difcourfe of Forcft-Trees. 57

loweft part of whofe ftems towards the root is as full of Terpen' tine as the kpots 5 and of thefe alfo may Tar be made : but luch Trees being rarely found, are commonly preferved to fplit into Candle-wood > becaufe they will be eafily riven out into any lengths, and fcantlings defir'd, much better then the k»ots.

There be who pretend an art of as fully impregnating the body of any living Pine-tree for fix or eight foot high : and fome have reported that fuch an art is pradtis'd in Norway : But upon leveral experiments hy girdling the Tree (as they call it) and cutting fome of the W)^ round, and a Wttlc into the wood oi the Tree, dyz. or eight foot diftant from the ground, it has yet never fucceeded ; whether the jn^feafon of the year were not obferv'd, or what elfe omitted, were worth the difqmjition , if at leaft there be any fuch Jecret amongft the Norwegians, Swedes, or any other Nation.

0(Tar, by boiling it to a fufficient height, h Fitch made : and in fome places where Rojin is plentiful, a fit proportion of that may be diffolved in the Tar whiles it is boiling, and this mixture is Ibonefl: converted to Pitch 5 but it is of fbmewhat a differing kjnd from that which is made of Tar only, without other com- pofition.

There is a way which fome ship-Carpenters in thofe Countries have us'd to bring their Tar into Pitch for any fiidden ufe 5 by ma- king the Tar fo very hot in an Iron-kettle, that it will eafily take fire, which when blazing and fet in an airy place, they let burn fo long, till, by taking out fome fmall quantity for trial, being cedd^ it appears of a fufficient confijience : Then by covering the Kettle dole , the fire is extinguijh'd , and the Pitch is made without more ceremony.

There is a procef of making RoJinzKo out of the fame kffots, by fplitting them out into thin pieces, and then boiling them in Toater, which will educe all the Refinous matter, and gather it into a body which (when cold) will harden into pure Ro^n.

CHAP. XXII.

Of the Larch, Platanus, Lotus, ^c.

I. ID^t why might we not hope as well of the Larch from 1,^^^},^ ^

XJ whence that ufeful drogue -^gdw is gather'd. Ireadeof Beams of nolefs then 120 foot in length made out of this good- ly Tree which is of fo fi:range a cotnpofition that 'twill hardly burn, as Ctefar found in a Cajile he befieg'd built of it : yet the Coals thereof were held far better then any other for the melting oilron. That which now grows fome where about Chelnsford in Effex, arriv'd to a flourilhing, and ample Tree, does fufficient- ly reproach our negligence and want of induffry as well as the in- comparahie and ihady Platanns , that fo beautiful and precir

K. ous

^S A Difcourfe ef Foreft-Trecs,

ous Tree which we reade the Romans brought out of the Le- vant, and cultivated with fo much induftry and coft, for its ftate- ly and proud head only , that they would irrigate them with IVitte in ftcad of IVater 5 and fo priz'd the vevypadoxv of it, that when afterwards they tranfplanted them into Fraute, they exafted a Tribute.oi any of the Natives who fhould prefume but to put his head under it-* Flitty tells us there is no Tree whatfoever which fi> well defends us from the heat of the Sun in Summer , nor that ad- mits it more kindly in Winter. TlatattH^' '• There was lately at Bafil m Sn>itz,erland an ancient goodly

Vlatanetum : and they may with us be rais'd of their feeds with care,in a moift foil, as here I have known them ; But the reafondT our little fuccefs is, that we very rarely have them fent us ripe ^ which (hould be gather'd late in Autumn , and brought us from fome more Levantine parts then Italy.

1. They come alfo of L^^cr/ abundantly 5 afFefting a frefli and feeding ground ; for fo they plant them about their Rivulets^ and Fountains.

Igf^ I. Thefameopinionhavel of the noble Lotus^ whidx'm Italj

yields both an admirable j?We, and Timber immortal.

2. The offer of Crajfus to Domitius for half a dozen of thefc Trees growing about an houfe of his in Rome^ teftifies in what cfteem they were had for their incomparable beauty and ufe.

CHAP. XXIII.

Of the Cyprcfs-tree and Cedar.

CypTtft. I. TF we (bould reafon only from our common experience, even J the Cypref-tree was, but within a few years paft, reputed fo tender, and nice a Plant, that it was cultivated with the greateft care, and to be found only amongft the Curious ^ whereas we foe it now, in every Garden, rifing to as goodly a bulk and ftature, as moft which you (hall find even in Italy it felf ; for fucfa I remem- ber to have once feen in his late Majefiies Gardens at Theobalds^ before that Trincelyiesx was demolith'd. I fay, if we did argue from this Topic : Methinks it (hould rather encourage our Country- men to add yet to their Plantations other Forreign and ufefulTrees, and not in the leaft deter them , becaufe many of them are not as yet become endenizon'd amongfi: us:

'4. We may read that the Peach was at firft accounted fo tender and delicate a Tree, as that it was believ'd to thrive only in Perjfa ; and even in thedaysofG^/e* it grew no nearer then Egypt, of all the Roman Provinces, but was not feen in the City till more then thirty years before Pliny's timei whereas there is now hardly a more common and univerfal in Europe : Thus likewife the Avel/a- na from Pontus in Afia ^ Thence into Greece, and fo Italy, to the City of Abellino in Campania. Vna

A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trecs. cc?

Vna. tantum liter a. immutata , Avellina dici^ qua prius Abellina. I might affirm the fame of our Damafco Plum, g^tiince^ Medlar^ Figue, and moft ordinary Pears^ as well as of feveral other Peregrme Trees, Fruit-bearers, and otherf. It was 680 years after the foun- dation of Rome ere Italy had tafted a Cherry of their own, which being then brought thither out of Fontus (as the above-mention'd Filberts were) did afterwards travel ad nlttmos Britannos.

3' Jofephus tells us, That the Cedar/// ]\xde3i was fir U planted there by Solomon , who doubtlefs try'd many rare Experiments of this nature -, and none more Kingly then that of Planting to Pojie- rity. I do not fpeak of thofe which grow on the Mountains of Libanus, in the colder and Northern tracts of Syria : But, as I am informed by a curious Traveller, there remaining now not above twenty four of thoie ftately Trees in all thofe goodly Forejis, where that mighty Prince fet fourfiore thoufand Hewers at work for the Materials of one only Temple and a Palace^txs a pregnant Example what Tzwe and NegleU \^\\\ bring to ruine, if due and continual care be not taken to propagate Timber.

4. Nor is it any wonder if we find the whole Species of fome Trees fo totally loft in a Countrey as if there had never been any fuch planted in it : Be this therefore applied to Fir, Pine, and ma- ny others with us,fince it was fo long ere Rome was acquainted with them, or indeed with any of the Pitch bearers.

5. We had our firft Myrtils out oi Greece, and Cyprefs from Creete, which was yet a meer ftranger in Italy, as Pliny reports, and moft difficult to be raifed ^ which made Cato to write more concerning the culture of it then of any other Tree : Notwith- ftanding we have in this Countrey of ours no lefs then three forts, which are all of them eafily propagated, and profper very well if they are rightly ordered 5 and therefore I ftiall not omit to dif- clofe one fecret, as well to confute a popular Errour, as for the Inftruftion of our Gardners.

6. The Tradition is. That the Cyprefs (being a Symbol of Mor-^ tality, they ftiould fay of the contrary^is never to be cut for fear of killing it. This makes them to impale and wind them about like fo many ^Egyptian Mummies 5 by which meaps the inward parts of the Tree being heatedjfor want oiAir and Refrelhment,it never arrives to any perfeftion , but is exceedingly troublefome, and chargeable to maintain ^ whereas indeed there is not a more ton*

Jile and governable Plant in nature .* For the Cyprefs may be cut to the very Roots, and yet fpring afrefli : And this we find was the husbandry in the Ijle of Mnaria, where they us'd to fell it for Copfi, : For the Cyprefs being rais'd from the Nurfery of Seeds fown in Sep- tember ("or rather March), and within two years after tranfplanted, fhould at two years ikanding more, have the majier ftem of the middle Ihaft cut off fome hand-breadth below the y»w«/;>, the

fides and imaller fprigsftiorn into a conique or pyramidal iorm, and fo kept clipp'd from Jpril to September, as oft as there is occafion ^ and by tins Regiment they will grow furniffd to the foot, and be-

K 2 come

^o A Difcowfe of Foreft-Trces.

come the mofl: beautiful Trees in the world, without hind'iKg or Stake '■) ftill reinembring to abate the middle ftem, and to bring up the collateral branches in its ftead to what altitude you pleafe : Thus likewife may you form them into Hedges and Topiary works, or by (owing the Seeds in a (hallow furrow^ and plucking up the fupernumeraries where they come too dole and thick : For in this work, it (hall fuffice to leave them within a foot of each other , and when they are ri(en about a yard in height (which may be to the half of your Palifado) cut o(F their tops^ as you are taught, and keep the (ides clipp'd, that they afcend but by degrees, and thicken at the bottome as they climbe. Thus they will prefent you in half a dozen or eight years with incomparable hedges^ preferable to all others what(bever, becaufe they are perpetually green, and able to re(i(t the Winds better then any which I know, the HoUj only excepted, which indeed has no peer.

7. When I (ay Winds, I mean their (ierceft gujis, not their cfildi For though it be (aid, Bruma^ ilUfa Cuprejfuf, and that indeed no fiofi impeaches them(for they grow even on the Jhowji tops oilda^ yet our cruel Eajiern winds do (bmetimes mortally invade them which have been late clipp'd, feldometheuntouch'd, or that were drejfed in the Spring only : The e(fedl:s of this laft March and yipril Winds,accompanied with cruel Frofts and cold blajis^^or the fpace of more then two moneths night and day, did not amongft neer a thoufand C)'/?re^/(growing in my Garden^ kill above three or /tf«r, which for being very late cut to the quicks, (that is, the latter end of O&ober") were raw of their wonnds^'took cold, and gangreen'd^ fome few others which were a little fmitten towards the tops^ might have efcaped all their blemilhes, had my Gard'ner capp'd them but with a wif^ of hay or iiraw^ as in my abfence I command- ed. As for the froH of the paft Winter (then which I believe there was never known a more cruel and deadly piercing (ince England had a name) it did not touch a C^pre/ of mine till it joyn'd forces with that deftruftive Wind : Therefore for caution, clip not your Cyprejfes late in Autumn, and cloath them againft thefe veinds 5 for the fiojis they only difcolour them, but feldome or never hurt them, as by long experiencel hove found.

8. If you afFeft to fee your Cyprefs in Standard, and grow wild (which may in time come to oe of a large fubftance, fit for the moft Jimmortal of Timber ) plant of the Male fort ; it is a Tree which will profper wonderfully ^ and where the ground is hot, and gravelly, though he be nothing fo beautiful.

9. There is Wkew'iCe the Tar entine Cypref,io much celebrated by Cato : I do not mean our Savme , (which (bme erroneoufly take for it) both that, and the Mile(ian,3iYe worthy our culture.

ic. I have already Ihew'd how this Tree is to be raisdfrom the

feed > but there was another Method amongfl: the Ancients, who

(as I told you) were wont to make great Tlantations of them for

their Timber : I have pradhs'd it my felf, and therefore de-

(cribc it.

II. If you receive your feed in the Nuts, expofe them to the

Su»

A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees. ^i

Suft rill they gape, or neer a gentle fire, by which vn^Ans the feedt will be eafily Ihaken out 5 for if you have them open beforCj they xio not yield you half their crop.

About the beginning of yipril (or befoi*e , if the weather be jhowerj/) prepare an even Bed, which being made of fine earthy clap down with your Spade , as Gard'ners do for Purfelain-feed : (of old they roU'd it with fome Stone or Cylinder) Upon this ftrew your feeds pretty thick ; then fieft over them fome more mould for almoft an inch in height : keep them duly rvatered after Sun-Jet^ unlefs the feafon do it for you 5 and after one j/ears growth (for they will be an inch high in little more then a Moneth) you may tranjplant them where you pleafo.

12. What the Vjes of this Timber are , for Cheffs and other Vtenfils ; as heretofore for fupporters of Finer, Poles, Rails, and Flanks, (refifting the Worm, Moth, and all putrefafliion to eter- nity) the Venetians fufficiently underftand 3 who do every twenty year, and oftner (the Romans every thirteen) make _^a confidera- ble Revenue of it out of Candy : And certainly a very gainful commodity it was, when the Fell of a Cyprefetum was heretofore re- puted a good Daughters P<>r^ztf», and the F/<t«*<i*w«it felf call'd DotemJih£.

13. The Timber of this wood was of infinite efteem with the Ancients : That lafting Bridge built over the Euphrates by Semi- ramjs was made of this wood , and it is reported, Plato chofe it to write his Laws in before Bra^ it felf, for the diuturnity of the matter: It is certain, that it never «y>x, or i'/e^t/e/, but with great violence '■> and the bitter nefo( its juice prefer ves it from all worms ^ and putrifaction. To this day thofe of Creet, and Malta make ufe of it for their buildings ; becaufe they have it in plenty, and there is nothing out-lafts it : Finally, (not to forget even the very chips of this precious wood, which gives that flavour to Mufca- dines and other rich Wines) I commend it for the improvement of the Air, as fending forth moft fweet, and aromatick^emiG\on$, when ever it is either clipp'd, or handled : But,

^id tibi odorato refer am Judantia ligfto, if I forget

The Cedar .<? which grows in all extr earns: In the moift Barbados^ ^^ the hot Bermudas, the cold New England 5 even where the Snow Cedar. lyes (as I am aiVur'd) almoft half the year .• Why then it fhould not thrive in Old England, I conceive is from our want of indn- Jiry : It grows in the Bogs o( America, and in the Mountains of Aiia : It leems there is no place affrights it 5 and I have frequent- ly rais'd it oi the feeds, which I fet like the Bay-berries ^ and we ^, might have of the very besi kind in the World from the Summer Ijlands, though now almoft utterly exhaufted there alfo, and fo the moft incomparable of that facred wood like to be quite de- Jiroy'd by our Negligence, which is by nature almoft eternal :

3. Thus I reade that in the Temple of Apollo at Vtica there was found Timber of neer two thoufand years old 5 and in Sagunti of Spain a beam in a certain Oratory confecrated to Diana, which bad

been

62 A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees.

been brought from Zant 200 years before the deftruftion oiTroy :

4. The Sjttim mention'din holy Writ isbeliev'd to have been a kind oi Cedar ^ of which the moft precious Vtenftls were form'd ; fo that when they faid a thing was ctdro digfta, the meaning was, vporthy of eternity.

CHAP. XXIV.

Of the Cork, Alaternus, Phillyrea, Granad, Myrtil, Jafmine, &-€.

Cork '• nr*'^^ Cork^[_SHber~\ grows in the coldelf parts of i5//c4/y(,and in

2^ X. the North ofNerv England : Why fhould we delpair ? That

the great Ilex thrives well enough, his Afajejiies Privy-gardens at IVhite-hall would once have ftiew'd, where ftood a goodly Tree, of more then fourfcore years old 5 though there be now but an Jwpe of it remaining. I wonder Carolm Stephanus^ and Benedi&ns CurfiHs ftiould write fo confidently there were no Corkctrees in Italy, where I my felf have travell'd through vaft Woods of them about Pifa , and Aquin , and in divers other places between Rome and the Kingdom of Naples : That there were none in France indeed Fliny is exprefs^ Nat. Hilf. 1. 16. c. 8.

3. I (hall not need rehearfe the Vfes of the Bark^ of this Tree, it is fo well known , the Timber is elfe inconfiderable. Alaumui. I. The Alaternus^ which we have lately received from the hot- teft parts of Languedoc (and that is equal with the heat of almofl: any Country in Europe) thrives with us in England, as if it were an Indigene and Natural.

7. I have had the honour to be the firft who brought it into Vje and reputation in this K/»§«/tf«» for the moft beautiful, and ufcful of He^afge/, and Verdure in the world (^the Jbiftnef o{ the growth confider'd) and propagated it from Cornwall even to Cum- berland : The feed grows ripe with us in Auguji ^ and the hony- breathing Blojfomes afford an early and marvellous relief to the Bees. Fhtlljrea. I. All the Phil/yrea's are yet more hardy '^ which makes me

wonder to find the AnguHifolia planted in Cafes, and fo charily fct into thcjioves, amongft the Oranges and Lemmons ^ when by long experience I have found it equal our Hol/y in fufFering the ex- treameft rigours of oui cruelleft Fronts , and Winds , which is doubtlcls (of all our Englip Trees) the moft infenfible and ftout.

2. They are ( both Alaternus and this ) raifed of the feeds (though thole of the Phillyrea will be long under ground) and be- ing tranfplanted for Ejpalier hedges, or standards, are to be go- vernM by the Jhears, as oft as there is occafion : The Alaternus will be up in one Moneth after it is fown : Plant it out at two years growth, and clip it after rain in the jpring, before it grows fticky,

and

A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees. ^3

and whiles the (hoots are tender 5 thus will it form an hedge (though planted but in fingle rows and at two foot diftance) of a yard in thicknefs, twenty foot high (if you defire it) and furnith'd to the bottom : But for an hedge of this altitude, it would re- quire the friendftiip of fome Wall^ or a Frame of lufty foles^ to fecure againft the Winds one of the mofl: delicious objefts in na- ture : But if we could have ftore of the Fhillyrea folio leviterfer- rato (o( which. I have rais'd fome very fine Plants from the feeds) we might fear no vpeather, and the verdure is incomparable.

I. The culture of the Granade does little differ from that Granade. of the Alaternus , of which we might raife confiderable hedges on all our Southern M^^dis : They have fupported thislaftmoft unmerciful Winter without any artifice 5 and if they yield us their fioTcers for our pains of weWfruning (for they muft diligently be purged of their wood) it is a glorious recompence : I plant them in my Hedge-rows even amongfl: the ^ick-

1. Tiie vulgar //4//d» wild il/yr/// (though not indeed the moft Mjrtil. jragrant) grows high, and Supports all weathers, I know of one neerfifty years old, which has been continually expos'd :, unlefs

it be, that in fome exceeding y^i^rp feafons a little /^r<?u' has been thrown upon it i and where they arejhtitten, being cut down neer the ground, they put forth and recover again ^ which many times they do not in Pots^ and Cajes, where the roots are very ob- noxious to perifti with mouldinef. The (helter of a few Mats^ and StratVy (ecur'd very great Trees (both leaf and colour in per- feftion) this laft Winter alfo, which were planted abroad , whiles thofe that were carried into the Conferve were mofl: of them lofl:. Myrtils may be rais'd o£ feeds, but with great caution J and they feldom prove hardy, nor is it worth the time being fo abundantly encreafed of Layers : But,

2. I produce not thefe particulars, and other antcenaviret a al- ready mention' 6, as fignifying any thing to Tirw^er, the main de- fign of this Treatife (though I reade of fome fo taU, as to make make Spear fiafts ) but to exemplifie in what may be farther added to Ornament and Pleafure by a cheap, and moft agreeable indufiry.

The common white and yellow Jafmine would flower plenti- Jifmlm, fully in our Woods, and is as hardy as any of the Periclimena-^ (how it is propagated hyfubmerjion^ov layers,every Gard'ner skills ^ and if it were as much imploy'd for Noje-gays, d^c. with us, as it is inFranceanA Italy, they might make /»<7»e;' enough of the F/<7n?- ers : One forty tree in Paris, where they abound, has been worth to a poor woman neer twenty (hillings in a year.

CHAP.

^4 A. Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees.

CHAP. XXV.

Of the Acacia, Arbutus, Bays, Box, Yew, Holly, Juniper, and Laurel-trees.

Acacia. I. ^~T^He French have la4:ely brought in the Virginian Acacia^ X which exceedingly adorns their Walkj : The Tree is har- dy againft all the invafions of our Iharpeft feafons, but our high mnas > which by reafon of its brittle nature it does not (b well re- fift.5 and the Roots (which infinuate and run like liquorice under ground) are apt to emaciate thejbil, and therefore haply not Co commendable in onv Gardens^ as they would be agreeable for va- 2. riety of Walks and (hade : They thrive well in his MajeBies new Plantation in St. James's Park. Arbutus. I. But why do we thus negled the Arbutus^ and mak^ that

fuch a rarity^ which grows fb common, and fo naturally in Ire- land^ It is indeed with fome difficulty rais'd from theyee«/j j but it may be propagated from the Layers, grows to a goodly Tree, and is patient of our fevereft weather. - tap. I. iS^yj are encreas'd both of their Suckers, znd Seeds, which

fhould be dropping-ripe ere gather 'd : Pliny has a particular /)ro- cef for the ordering of the feeds, and it is not to be rejected : Which is, the gathering the Berries dry, 'mJanHary,and fpreading them till their