Section 21

A Gourd of a greater or larger growth, if we take the feed out of the middle of a Gonrd , and fet it with the top down- ward. This courfe Columella prefcribes, in his Hortulm : Look, faith he, where the Gourd fwells moft, and is of the largeft compafs , thence, even out of the middle
there-
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thereof, youmuft take your feed,and that will yeeld you the largcft fruit. And this is experienced not in Gourds onely, but alfo in all other fruits : tor the feeds which grow in the bowels or belly, as it were, of any fruit, are commonly moft pa* fec>,snd yeeld molt perfect fruitjwheras the feeds that grow in the outward parts,croducefor the moft pan weak & unperfeS fruit. Likewife the grains that are in the middle of the ear, yeeld the beftcorn ; whereas both the higheft and the loweft are not fo per- feci: : but becaufe Gourds yeeld great incrcafe , therefore the experience hereof is more evidently in them then in any other. Cucumbers will be of a great growth, as the Quintiles fay, if the feeds be fet with their heads downward ; or elfe if you fct a vcflel full of water under them in the ground,that fo the roots may be drench- ed therein : for we have known them grow both fweeter and greater by this De- vice.
Chap. XII. How to produce fruit that jhall not have any flene or kernel in it.
JT is a received thing in Philofophy, efpecially amongft thofe that have fet forth unto us the choice!* and niceft points of Husbandry , that if you takeQuickiets, or any branches that you would plant, and get out the pith of them with fome ear- picker, or any like inftrument made of bone,they will yeeld fruit without any ftone, and wi'hout any kernel : for it is the pith that both breedeth and nourifheth the fubtfaflce of the kernel. But the Arcadians are of a quite contrary opinion : for, fay they, every tree that hath any pith in it at all, will live ; but if all the pith be taken out of it, it will be fo far fromyeelding any ftonelefs fruit, that it cannot chufe but die, and be quite dried up. The reafon is, becaufe the pith is the moifteft and moft lively part of any tree or plant : for the nourifhment which the ground fends up into any plant , is conveyed efpecially by the pith into all the other parts : for Nature hath 'o ordained it, that all the parts draw their nourifhment, as it were their foul and their breath , thorow the marrow or pith of the ftock,as it were tho- row a Squirt or Conduit-pipe, Which may appear by experience, feeing any bough or ftalk, fo foon as the marrow is gone, returns and crooks backward, till it be quite dried up, as the Ancients have (hewed. But I for my part muft needs hold both againft Theophraftns, and againft others alfo that have written of Husbandry , both that trees may live after their marrow is taken from them , and alfo that they will bring forth fruit having ftones or kernels in them , though there be no pith in the trees themfelves, as I hive fhewed more at large in my books of Husbandry. Not- withstanding, left I fhould omit any thing belonging to this argument,I have thought good here to fet down the examples which thofe Ancients have delivered in writing, that every man that lifts may make trial hereof ; and haply fome amongft the reft u!ing greater diligence in the proof hereof then I did,tnay findc better fuccefs here- in then I have found. There be many means , whereby Plants may be depri- ved of kernels ; as namely, by engrafting , by taking out their pith, by foiling with dung, or by watering, and by other Devices. We will firft begin, as our wonted manner is, with engrafting ; and will fhew how to produce
*A "T exch- apple without a ftone. TalUditts faith he learned this new kinde of engrafting of a certain Spaniard , which he faith alfo he had experienced in a Peach-tree. Take a Willow- bough about the thicknefs of a mans arm ; but it muft be very found, and two yards long at the leaft : bote it thorow the middle,and carry it where a young Peach-tree grows : then ftrip off all rhe Peach-tree-fprigs all bur the very top , and draw it thorow the hole of the Willow-bou h : then ftick both ends of the Willow into the ground, that ic may ftand bending like a bowe ; and fill up the hole that you bored, with dirt and mofr, & bind them in with thongs. About a year after, when the Peach-tree and the Willow are incorporated into each other , cut the plant beneath the joyning place, and remove it, and cover both the Willow- bough and the top of the plant alfo with
earth ;
Of thtTroduBion of new Tlanis. 87
earth ; and by this means you (hall procure Peaches without ftonej. But this mud be doneinmgift and water iflb places ; and befides, the Willow mutt be relieved withcocnBU.il watering, that fo the nature of the wood may be cherittied , ( as it delights in moiiture) and it may alio minifter abundant j'uyce to the plant that is engrafted in it. By the like experiment we may procure, as Avieenna (hews, that
A Citranjballgrow without any feed, in it : for, faith he, if we engraff it into a Quince-tree, it will yeeld fuch a fruic. Alberm pcomifeth to produce , b3
^4 Medlar without any ftonesy by engrafting it inro an Apple-tree, or a Service- tree. But experience proves this to be falfe ; yet furely, if it be fo engrafted , it will have a fofter kernel a gre at deal. The reafon which brought the Ancients to think and write thus, was this : They faw that fuch fruits as have in them the hardeft Hones , do grow upon fuch trees as have in them the hardeft pith ; as the Dog-tree, the Olive-tree, the Damofin-trec, the Myrtle-tree, and the like : tbey &w alio, that fuch trees as have a loft and a fpungie kind of pith in them, as the Fig-tree, the Alder-tree, and fuch-like, bring forth fruic without any ftones in them at all : and from hence they gathered and concluded, that it is the pith which nouriflhes the kerne). Which thing howfoever it hath fomc little fhadow of truth in it, yet they ftiould not have extended it generally to all plants , feeing experience proves it to fail very often. Now let us come to the fe- cond means whereby fruic may be prevented of their kernels ; and this is by taking forth the pith or marrow. As for example : if you would procure the growing of
t.a* Mot loot mm tyfjU ' -aLOvirlb .
A Grape without any fione in it>
Democrittu counfelleth you to take a branch or twig of a Vine , and cleave it juft in the middle, and either with a ftone, or fome inftrumcnt made of bone, fetch out all the pith, in that part which you will plant within the earth, or at kali as far as you can hollow it without fpoil : then prefently bind up the parts together again with pa- per ftiffly and tightly wrapped about them,*nd make a trench for them in fome moift and very fertile foil , where you muft plant them in one > and fatten ic to fome fure prop, that it may not be wreathed nor bowed ; fo will they foon grow up together into one, as they were before : but ic would be much better, if you would put the clove or head of a Sea-onion into that part which you have robbed of the pith: for this is as good as glue to fatten them together ; and the moifture hereof will keep them fupple,as alfo the heat hereof will cherifh them much. Theophrafim faith,thac you may procure Grapes without any ftones in them, if you rob the Vine-branch of the pith that is in it , whereof the ftones are wont to be gendred. And Columella faith, that if you would have Grapes without ftones, you muft cleave the Vine- branch, and take out all the pith ; but fo, that the buds be not hurt thereby : then joyn it together, and binde it up again, fo that you crufli not the buds ; and fo plane kin a well-foiled ground, and there water it often : and when it beginneth toftiooc up into flips, you mutt dig deep about it oftentimes; and when it cometh to bear, it will yeeld you Grapes with our any ftones. Palladium faitb,there is a goodly kinde of Grape which harh no kernels in it, fo that it may be fwallowed down eafily, and that with no fmall pleafantnefs, as if it were many Grapes ftoned and fupped up to- gether. The manner of the procuring it is,as the Greeks record,by Art aflifted with Nature, on this wife : The fet which we would plant, muft be cleft in themidft, fo far as we mean to fet it within the ground • and when We have picked and clean fcraped out all the pith of thole parts,we muft clofe them together again ; and when we have bound them hard up, fet them in the earth : but the bond wherewith they ace tied up, muft be made of Paper or Parchment ; and the ground where they are (Jet, muft be a moift place. Some go to work more precifely , and put the plant fo cleft and made up again, into a Sea-onion, fo far as the plant was cloven : for by the help thereof, all plants do foonet and eafier take root. Pliny likewife faith, there is t new-invented kinde of Grapes , when the Vine-branch that k to he planted, is
cloven
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cloven in the middle, and til the pith fcraped out , and the pieces knit up together again, with a fpecial care that the buds receive no harm any way : then they fee rhe Vine-branch in a well-foiled ground ; and when it beginneth to fhoot forth, they prune it, and dig orten about it : the Grapes which it afterwards bears, will have no hard kernels in them, as Columella writes ; howbeit, it is great marvel that there can be in them any kernels at all, though never fo fofc , feeing all the pith, which is the mother of the kernel, is quite taken away. But furely I for my part marvel ac thofc who think it ftrange that a tree fhould live when this pith is gone, & arc per* fwaded :hat a Vine-branch can bear fruit without kernels when the pith is taken out of it ; leeingmany men in the Country are eye-witnefles that there do many plants live without any pith in them ; and feeing alfo it is impoffible almoft that any tree fhould bear fruit without kernels , becaufe the kernel carries it felf the very feed whereby one fruit may be generated of another. Likewife you may procure, as Democrat* alfo fhewetb,
'Pomegranates and Cherries without any ftones;
if in like manner you pick out the pith of the young plants that you fct. And Afri- canus faith, If you deal with thefe as with Vine-branches, plucking out the pith af- ter you have cleft them, and then plant them-, and after a while cut off the upper parts of the plants when they have budded forth, then the Pomegranate fet, will yield fruit without any kernels. Palladim borrows this fame experiment of Africa' nm, and lets it down word by word as he doth. Likewife that
A Cherry-tree may bring forth fruit without any {lone within; ^n/Wfhewethmore diftin£Uy. Cutcff a young plant about two foot long, and cleave it a it Hands in the ground, down to the root, and then fetch out the pith on both fides, and prefently tie them up again faft, andcovcrthe whole cleft both on the top, and on both fides, with muck ; fo fhall they grow fait together again in one year : then engriffe fome young fprigs of a Cherry-tree, fnch as never bare any fruit before into thidtock, and by this means you fhall procure Cherries with- out any floncs at all. Others, that they might accomplifh their purpose morefpee- di'Y» did not cleave fuch tender young Cherry-trees, but bored a great hole tho- rough Trees of good growth , fo that it might pierce the whole pith, and crofs it in the middle of the Tree j then they put a ftake or a wedge into it, which might flop thepaffageof the pith, that none might be miniftrcd into the upper parts. In like manner Africanm teacheth how to procure
A 'Peach without any ft one. You muff, faith he, bore a hole beneath through the body of the Tree, and having fo cut off the pith from paffmg upward, you muft fill up the hole with a ftake of Willow or Prick- wood j fo fhali you intercept the pith from afcending out of the root into the branches. Some Writers there are, which fhew how to procure ftone- lefs fruit by diligence in drefftng and trimming of plants. It is held for a rule in Husbandry, that foft, fat, and moift nourifhment doth alter all wilac and unkindly fruit into that which is milder and more natural : It is a kind of mildenefs in fruits, to have a little, foft and fwcet kernel ; as on the contrary, it is wildencfle to have a great and a hard kernel , for it cometh by reafon of a kind of harfh and dry nou- rishment that the earth fends up into them. Wherefore no doubt but we may pro- cute the kernel of a fruit to be fmaller and more tender, by diligence and skill in dreffrng chem. To begin with a Vine :
How aV ine may bring forth grapes without a harfh and ftony kernel.
At fuch rime as Vines arc pruned, you muft take a fruitful fprig,fomcwhat neer the top as you can, and there, as it grows, you muft pick out the pith at the higheft end, never cleaving ir, but hollowing it with fome fit infirument as well as yoi can, and there uphold it with a prop that it bow not down : then take fome Cyre- oian juice, as the Greeks call ir, and pour it into the place that is hollow ; but firft
you
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you muftfteep this juice in water, to the thickuefs of fbdden wine: and this you muft do for eight dayes together every day once, till the vine-branch fprout forth agan. Columella faith the very fame; that the vine- branch as it grows upon the Vine muftbecut, and the pith of it fetched ouc with fome fit inltrument, as well as you may, out of the top without the cleaving of the branch, but the branch be- ing whole, and ftill growing on the Vine, you muft put into it fome Benjamin or Cyrenian juice Heeped in water, as was (hewed before, and fet it upright with a prop, that the juice may not run forth ; and this is to be done for eight dayes to- gether. So if we would procure
A Myrtle without a kernel
Theophrafliu teacheth us how to do ir. If you water the Myrtle-tree with hot wa- ter, then, faith he, ihefruit will be the better, and without any kernel. Some affirm, that this experiment was found ouc by chance: for whereas there flood neenoaBath, a Myrtle-tree which no man regarded, the Commers by tookoff fome of the fruit by chance, and found them without any kernels ; then they car- ried fome home, and fet them, and fo this kind of fruit began firft in Athens. Di- dymut alfo faith, that if the Myrtle-tree be often watered with warm lienor, it will yeeld berries without any ftones or kernels within. Theefhraftus ftieweth yet another way whereby this may be effected ; take, faith he, the filth or {havings of skins, and put them in Urine, and fo lay them about the root of the Myrtle-trec atfuch time as the buds begin to (hew themfelves, and fo fhall you have berries that have cither none at all, or elfe very fmall kernels in thcm.Likewife the Pome- granate maybe produced without any kernels within it, if you lay good ftorc of Swines-dung about the root of thePomcgranate-trcc.
Chap. XIII.
Kowfruitm*) be produced without any outward rints or [hels.
THe very fame helps and devices which we prefcribed for the producing of fruits wirhout their inner kernel , we may likewife ufe in the practice of producing Nuts, & fuch like fruits as are wont to grow in fhells and rincs, that they may grow naked as it were without any fhelat all-And firft this may be effected by taking away the pith out of the plants that bear them fo.
A 'Hjtt without a {hell,
may be produced, as Damageron teacheth. If you bore a hole quite thorough the Nut-tree, and put into it a flake of Elm to fill it up, you fhall thereby flop the pith from afcending into the upper parts, and fo no fhells can grow becaufe it is the pith only that caufeth them. Talladim counfelleth you to bore the hole through the toot, and flop it up with a flake of box, or fome wedge made of iron, or of cop- per. But 7^^r*y?*«fheweth,how to procure