Section 25

Goodlier Figs then ordtnarjy
ColnmtUa (hews, how you make them to grow more plentifully, and to be a foun- der
i©^ Natural Magick. Soo^.
dec fruit. When the tops of the Fig-tree begin to be green with leaves, you muft cue off the tops of the boughs with an iron tool ; and ftill as the leaves begin to bud forth, you mull take red chaik, and blend it with Lees of oyle and mans dung, and therewithal cover the root? of the Tree : and by this means, the Tree will bear more (tore of fruic, and befides the fruit will be a fuller and better fruir. T li- ny and PallaJiw record the fame experiment out of the fame Author. When the Fig-tree begins to fhcvv her leaves; if you would have ityeeld you more and bet- ter fruit, you mult cut off the very tops of them when the bud begins to fhew ic felf; or, itnotfo, yetyoumuft before at the leaft to cutoff that top which grow- eth oat of the midrt of the Tree. Talladius writes, that fome have reported, that the
Mulberry tree will bear more and better fruit,
if you bore thorough the flock of the Tree in divers place?, and into every hole beat in a wedge ; into fome of the holes, wedges made of the Turpentine-tree-, and into fome of chem , wedges made of the Maftick-tree. Did/wtu lakh that
The Talm, or Date-tree , and the Vawofn tree will grow to be of a larger and good- lier affile,
if you take the Lees of old Wine, and afcer you have ftrained them, water the roots therewith. And he faith, that it will take the better effect, if you calf up- on it a little laic ever now and then. So
T'he Myrtle-tree will have a goodlier leaf, and alfo yield a better fruit, if you plant it among Rofes : for the Myrtle-tree de- liiihceth to be contorted with the Rofe, and thereby becomes more fruitful, as £>/- djmtu rcporteth. So
%Me will grow tenderer, and more flourishing,
if ic be engraffed into a Fig-tree: you muft only fet it into the bark fomewhtt neer the root, that you may cover it with the earth, and ib you (hall have excellent good Rue. PImark, in his Symponakes, commends no Rue but that only which grow* very neer the Fig-tree. Anftotle in his Problems, demanding the caufe of this, at length concludes, thac there is fuch a fympathy and agreement betwixt the Fig-tree and the herb Rue, that Rue never grows fo faft, nor flourifhes lo well, as when it grows under the Fig-tree. If you would have
Artichocks grow without jharp prickles, Varro faith, that you muft take the Artichock-feed, and rub it upon a flonc, till you have worn it blunt at the top. You may caufe alfo
Lettice to grow tenderer and more fpreaiing, as Palladia fnews, and Columella. Palladium faith, that if ycUr Lettice be fomewbat hard, by reafon of fome fault either in the feed, or place, or leafon, you muli pluck it out of the earth and let it again, and thereby it will wax, more tender. Columella fhews, how you may mike it fpread broader. Take a litt'e tile-fheard , and Jay ic upon the middle of the Lettice when it is a little grown up ; and the burden or weight of the tile- fhcard will make it fpread very broad. Pliny faith, that it is meet alfo to befmear the roots with dung when they fet them, and as they grow up, to rid away their own earth from them, and rofillupthe place with muck. Fkrentwmfahhy when you have a Lettice growing that hath been tranfplanted, you muff rid away the earth from the root after it is grown to be a handful longhand then befmear it with fome frefh Oxe-dung, and then having calf in earth upon it a- gain, water it ; and Hill as the budorlcafc appears out of the earth, emit off till ic gro* up ltronger, and then lay upon it a tile-fheard that hath never been feafon- ed with any pitch, and fo ycu fhall have your purpofe. By the like device you miy procure
Of the Troduction of nexp Tlants.
105
Endive to be tenderer and broader. When it is grown up to a pretty bignefle, then lay a (hull tile-fheard on the mid- dle of it,and the weight of that will cauie the Endive to fpread broader. So alio you procure
Colervorts to be more tender, if you bedc w them with fait water, as Theophraftm writes. The j£gyptians,to make their Colcworts tender, do water them with Nitre and Water mixt together. So
Cucumbers will be tenderer, if you fteep the feeds in milk before you fee them, as Columella reporteth. if you would have
Leekj to grow Cloven,
theAntients have taught you, that firft you muft fow them very thick, and fo let them alone for a while ; but afterward when they are grown, then cut them, and they will grow cloven. Or elfe, you muft cut it about fome two moneths after it was fet, and never remove it from the own bed, but help it Hill with water and mack, and you fhail have your purpofe, as faUadius faith. Now we will fpeak of fome monrtrous generations ; as of the generation of the herb Dragon, and of a cloven Onion. And hilt
How to produce the herb Dragon,
Jt is a received opinion amongft Gardener*, that if you take Hemp-feed or Line-feed, and engnffc ic into an ordinary Onion, or elfe into a Sea-onion as it grows neer the Sea, or elfe into the Radiflvroot, thence will grow the herb Dragon, which is t no- table and famous SaUet-herb. But furely, howfoevcr they boaft of it that this hath been oftentimes done, yet I have made fundry trials hereof, and ftill failed of my purpofe. By the like felting of feeds, they (hew
How to produce cloven Oniont, \ by making a hole into an Onion, and putting into ic a clove of Garlick, and fo plan- ting it ; for that will grow to be an Afcalonian, or a cloven Onion. Now let us fee, how to make
ParfUj to growfrix,led or curled, Theophraflm writes that Patfley will grow friz led, if you pave the ground where you have fowed it, and ram it in with a roller ; for then the ground will keep it in fo hard, that it it muft needs grow double. Columella faith; If you would have Parflcy to bear curled leaves, you muft put your Parfley-feed into a morter, and pown it with a Willow peftle,and when you have fo bruifed it, wrap ic up in linen clouts, and fo plant ic. You may effect the fame alfo without any fuch labour; even by rolling a cylinder or roller over it after it is a little grown up, wherefoever or howfoevcr it is fowed. TjlUdiut md Pliny record the fame experiment out of the fame Au- thor, I have often-times feen
Bijtl growing with a kind of brufh li\e hairs upon it. The feed of withy-winde being planted neer to Bafil, as foon as it fhoots up, will prefently winde it felf round about the ftalks of the Bafil, and by often winding a- bout them, will wrap them all into one. The like will be eff e&ed alfo, if the wi- thy-winde grow elfewhere , and a twig of it be brought and planted neer to Bafil : for by either of thefe mean?, the Bafil will grow fo bufhy and fo thick of hair, and that in a very fhort time, that it will be moft plcafant to be' look upon. So you may make the
Ivy to bear very Jightly berries,
if you burn three fheli-fifli, efpecially of that kind which is called Mures, and when you have powned them together, caft the-afhes thereof upon the Tvy-
R berries;
\o6 Natural Magick. 2?w^ 3.
berries % or elfe, if you calf upon them beaten Alome, as Cajfianm reacheth. Theo- fhrajlui mentions an experiment that is very Itrange, whereby to make
Cumn grow flour tfhingly^ and that is by curling and banning of the feeds when you fow them ; and Tliny reporccth the fame out of Theophraftus : and he rcportcih it hkewiie of Baji/e, that it wiU grow more plentifully and better, if it be lowed with curfing and banning. If you defue to produce long
Cucttmbtfs, and fttch a* are not waterijh9 you may effeS it by this means. If you take a morter or any other like veflcl filled with water, and place it ncer the Cucumbers, about five orfix inches dillant from them, the Cucumbers will reach the veflcl within a day or two, and extend them- felves to that length i The reafon is, becaufe Cucumbers have fucha great delight inmoilture: fo that, it there be no water in the veflcl, the Cucumbers will grow backward and crooked. To make them that they (hall not be waterifh; when you have digged a ditch to plant them in, you mult fill it up half full with chafFe, or the twigs of a Vine, and then cover them, and fill up the pit with earth ; but you muft take heed you do not water them when they are planted. By all thele things which have been fpoken, we may learn to procuie
A Trec> which of it feif may jield yon the fruit of aH Trees, A thing which I have feen, and in merriment have oft-times called it, the Tree of Garden-dainties. It was a goodly height and thicknefs, being planted within a vef- fel fit for luch a purpofe, the mould which was about it, being very fat, and moi:^ and fruitful, that fo every way, as well by the liveliness and flrength of the plant itfelf, as alio Wy the moiltnefs and thriftinefs of die ground, all things that were engraffed into it, received convenient nourifhmcct. It was three-forked ; up#Q one bougn or arm, it bare a goodly grape, without any kernels in it, party-colou- red, very medicinable ; for Tome of the grapes were good to procure fleep, and o- ther fome would make the belly loofe. The fecond bough or arm, carries a Peach, a middle kind of fruit differing both from the ordinary Peach, and the Peach-nut, without any ftone in it ; and the (mailer branches thereof bearing here a Peach, and there a Pcach-nur. If at any time there were any ftone in the fruit, kwas com- monly as fweet as an Almond ; and it did refemble fometimes the face of a man, ibmetimes cf other living creatures , and fundry other (napes. The third arm carries Cherries, without any (tone, (harp, and yet fweet withal, andOrenge? alfb of the fame relifh. The bark of this Tree was everywhere befet with flowers and Rofes : and the other fruits,all of them greater then ordinary ,and fweet er both in tafle and in fmell, flourifhing chiefly in the Spring-time i and they hung upon the Tree, growing even after their own natural fejfon waspaft: but there was a con- tinual fucceflion of one fruit after another, even all the year long, by certain de- grees, fo that when one was ripe, there was another budding forth, the branches being never empty, but If ill clogged with fome fruits or other • and the temperate- nefs of the air ferved every turn fo well, that I never beheld a more plealani and de- lightful fight.
Chap. XX.
How divers kinds offruitSy and Ukewife Wines may be made medkiiahle,
•J He Ancients have been very careful and painful in fecking out, how to mix Wine with divers kinds of Antidotes or preservatives againft poifon, and how to ufe it bell in fuch receipts, if need Should be. A thing that might very well be pra&ifedi for indeed there is nothing more convenient for that pur- pofe. And therefore they have tried and fct down more curioufly then need re- quif coVnany things concerning this argument , ft rang to be reported.de yet eafie to be

Of the Troduaion of newTlants. idf
effected ; which Itheophraftu* hath copioufly fet down. ^ About Hjraclia in A ready, there is a kind of wine, which makes the men that drink of ic to become mad,and thewomento become barren. And the like Athen&ttt recordeth of that wine which they have in Troas , a place in Greece. And in Thraius there is a kind of .wine which if it be drunk, will procure fleep j and there is another kind of wine made in that l'ort,that it will caul'e a man to be watchful : and there are divers con- fections of wines which you may read of in the mod exaft Writers of Phyfick, and of matters of Husbandry, which arc eafie both to be learned, and alfo pracWed by thole that are well acquainted with the operations of Simples; and they are fuch as a mans own conjecture may well lead him unto; and indeed they are nothing elfealmoft, but fuch qualities operative as the property of the place where their Simples grow, doth endue them withal. Andiurely I would counfel that thefe kinds of confedions fhould be miniftred to thofe that are timorous and queazie in the ta- king of any medicinal receipts, that fo they may be fwallowed down plcafantly, before they mould feem-loathfom. And fir ft,
How a Vine may be made to bring forth graces that {hall be medicinal againfi the biting of ventmoHs beafts,
FlorentinusWids you inthe firft and fecond book of his Georgicks, to fet a Vine- branch, and to cleave it in the lower part about the root, that the cleft maybe lome four inches long ; there you mull pluck out the pith, andinftead of the pith put Hel lebore into ir, and binde it fall about with fome pliant twig, and fo covet it with earth; and by this means it will yeeld you grapes that being eaten, will make your body foluble. Or, if you would have the grapes to be more operative in this kind, you muft fupple the Vine-branches in fome Antidote or count er-poy- fon, and then fet them inthe head of a Sea-onion, andfo cover them with earth ; but you muft ftillpourc upon it the juice of that counter-poyfon, that the fets may drink their fill of it, and fo the ftrength and vertue of the grape will laft a great deal longer. If you would have a Vine to yield the grapes whereof the confections called Proporaaca are made, Palladiusfaews you. You muft take the Vine-bran- ches and put them in a velTel that is half full of Hippocras, or elfe of Conferves of Rotes, or Violets, or WOfm-wood ; and the earth that grows about the root, you muft refolve into a kind of Lye as it were made of Afhes ; then when the branch that grows up out of the bud beginneth to bear a leaf, you muft take it away,8e fet ic as you fet other Vines, in any other place, and the fruit will be fuch a grape as you defire. ?Uny faith , that if you plant Hellebore about the roots of the Vine, it will yield a grape fit for fuch a purpofe. Cato faith , that the herb Scam- mony hath a wonderful quality in drawing into it felf the juice of the Vine, Pliny fhews
How to make that k*»d of wine which u called"Phthoriumi and kills children in their mo* thers wombes.
That Hellebore which grows in Thaffus , as alfo the wilde Cucumber, as alfo Scam- mony, are good to make Phthorian wine, which caufeth abortives. But the Scam - mony or black Hellebore muft be engrafted into the Vine. You muft pierce the Vine with a wimble, and put in certain withie-boughes, whereby you may binde up unto the Vine the other piants that are cngraffed into it : fo fhall you havt a grape full of /undry venues. So you may procure
Figs that [hall be purgative , if you pown Hellebore and Sea-Lettice together, and caftthem upon the Fig-tree roots: or elfe if you engraffe them into the fame roots, for foyou fhall have Fig1; chat will make the belly loofe. Florentiniu faith, that you may make a Fig to grow which fhall be good againft the biting of vencmoUs beafts, if y ou fet it after it hath been laid in triade. So we may procure
Turgativc Cucumbers,
R % Ycu
io8 Natural Magic k. 2>oo^ 3.
You mult take the roots of the wilde Cucumber, and pown them, and ffeep them in fair water two or three dayes ; and then waceryour Cucumbers with that liquor for five dayes together ; and do all this five leveral times. Again, you may m ke them purgative, it, after they are blcflomed, you dig round about their roots, and cart tome Hellebore upon them and their branches, and cover litem over with earth again. So you may procure
Turgative Gottrds9 '
if you deep the feeds of them in Scammony-water nine dayes before you fet them, as the Quintiies report. Now if you would procure a man to be loofe bellied and fl:epy withal, you may cauie
Purgative Vamojtns that be good alfo to cattfe fleep*
You muft bore thorough a bough, or through the whole ftock of a Damofin-tree, and fill it up with Scammony or the juice of black Poppy wrapt up handfomeiy in paper, or tome fuch covering : and when the fruit is ripe, it will be'operative both for fleep and purgation. Cato fhews alio, how you may caufe
A V tie to be purgative. After the Vintage, at fuch time as the earth isuledto be rid away from the roots of Vines, you mull uncover the roots of fo many Vines as in your opinion Ytitl make wine enough to ferve your turD: mark them, and lop them round abt.ui^jjd prune them well. Then pown fome Hellebore roots in a raorter, and cait about your Vines, and put unto them fome old rotten dung and old afhes, and twice to much earth amongft them, and then cover the Vine-roots with mould, » and gather the g.apes by themfclves. If you would keep the juice of the grape long that it may la(t you a great while for that purpole, you muff take heed, that the juice of no other grapes do come neer it. When yon would nfe it, take a cup full of it, and blend it with water, and drink it beforefupper, and it will work with y ou very mildely without any danger at all.Late Writers have taken, another courfes they rid andcleanfe the Vine-roots, and then poure upon the juice of fome purga- tive medicine to water them withaj ; and this they d&taf many dayes together, buc efpecially at fuch time as the bud beginneth to fill out"? when they have fo done^ they caft earth upon the roots again, and they take fpecial regard, that the roots? never lie naked and open when the Northern winde blowetb ; for that would draw forth and confume the juice of the medicine that is poured upon the roots, f his if you diligently perform, you (hall have grapes growing upon your Vines, that arc very operative for looting of the belly. Ihaveeffc&ed