Section 27

S , CHAP.
Natural Magic k. HgoI^ ^
Chap. II.
How Flowers may be preferved upon their own ftrtk>
By the like devices as thofe were, we may alfo prcferve flowers upon their own ftalk ; yet not fo eafily as fruits may be preferved upon their own Trees : Nei- ther yet can they be made to latt f© long as fruits, becaufe fruits are of an harder fubftance, but flowers are foft and tender. Firft therefore we will (hew
How Rofes may be preferved upon their own fialhs.
If you take a Reed or Cane, and cleave it when it is green as it grows by the Rofes, and put in the Rofe»bud as it is upon the flalk, within the Reed, and then bindc fome paper about the Reed fomewhat loofely, that it may have as it were » break- ing place ; your Rofes will thereby be well preferved upon their ftalk, as Vydimm reportcth. Palladia* faith - If yon (hutup your Rofe-buds as they grow upon their ftalk, into a growing Reed which you have cleft for that purpofe, and clofe up the Reed again, that the cleft do not gape, you ftiall have frefli Rofes when you will, if you open your Reed again. I have tried this device , and found it in feme fort to be true , and anfwerablc to my intendment: I took the Rofe-buds before they were blown, and fhut them up into a Reed (for the Rofes and the Reeds mult be piloted neer together) and the cleft which I had made in the Reed, being but deader, I bound it up again that it might not ftand gaping, (onely I left a fit paflage for the Rofc flalk to ftand in) and fo I preferved them a great while. The like device Iufed
'to preferve LiHies Upon their ftallyfor A long time*
I cleft the Cane betwixt the joints, and put the LiHies into it as they j^owopon their ftalk before they were blown, and fo the joint of the Cane clofusg upon them beneath, and the cleft above being flopt with wax, the Lilliss were thereby long preferved upon their ftalk. The very fame experiment I pra&ifed wpon Clove-gil- liflowers, and fo I had them growing upon their ftalk a great while : And wbenfoever I would ufe them, I brake up their cafes wherein they were preferved, and fo by the comfort and force of the Sun, they were blown and opened themfelvcs.
Chap. III.
Mow to make Fruit fafes^ or places wherein fruits may conveniently be preferved,
NOw we will (hew how you may preferve fruits when they are taken oS from the Trees whereon they grow. Wherein becaufe our chiefeft care and labour is, to keep them from putrefaction, therefore, that we may fo do, we muft firft know the caufes of their putrefaction. The Philofophers hold, that the temperature of the air being of it felf exceeding variable by reafon of the variety of celeftial in- fluences which work upon it, is alfo of that force, that it caufeth every thing which it cometh at, even whatfoever is contained under the cope of the Moon, to haften towards an end, and by little and little to decay continually. For the air which is apt to fearch every thing when it lights upon any f ruir, finds in it a certain natural heat fomewhat like to its own heat ; and prefently doles with it, and enti- ces as it were the heat of the fruit to come into the air: and the fruit it felf, ha- ving a natural col dnefs as well as heat, is very well content to entertain the heat of the circumftant air, which exhaufteth the own heat of the fruit, and de- voureth the raoifture of it, and fo the fruit fhrinks, and withereth, andconfumes away. But man is not of fuch a dull fenfe, and of fuch a blockifh wit, but that he can tell how to prevent thefe inconveniences, and to devife fun- dry kinds of means, whereby the foundneffe of Fruits may be maintained againft the harms and dangers both of cold, and of heac. And firft we will
Of increafing of Hou jl) old ~ fluff e. t\j
fpeak of Fruit-iafes, or artificial places, whereby the danger of heat may be avoi* oed. Then we will (hew that there i> eipecial choice to be made of times, whereiri heat (lull be of imali force. And then we will prelcribe the manner of gathering truits, led happily they mi^hr be brniled with handling or falling, which if they fnould, it would be cheir bane, and the beginning of their putrefaif ion. Andlalf of all, we will teach you how to lay them up in divers and lundry places, where- by you may prevent the heat and moilture of the air, fu m doing them any harm. Firft therefore, that we may prepare cold and dry places , wherein we may lay up inch fruits as we would have to lalt long, and lo to keep away the extrinlecal hear, and moidure, we mud underttand that there are places, lome general, and fomc particular. We will fpeak of fome peculiar places of the world, which are excel- lent good to preferve fruits in. Theophr.iftus faith, that iome truits will laft the lon- ger, becaule they are laid up in fomc certain places. Wherefore, in a certain place of Cappadocia, which is called Petra, fruits may be preferved fourty years, and yet they are all that time fertile, and very fit to be fown: nay, fail h he, if they be kept threelcore.years,orthreelcore and ten,thcy will IU11 be very good for meat to be eaten, though not fo good for feed to be fown. The place he reports to be a high place, and op nfor the winds, and to (tand lower towards the North then to the other three quarters of the world- It is reported likewife, that fruits are preferved in Media, and other high Countries, longer and better then in other places. But thele are the properties of fome peculiar places onely. But generally for all FruuMafes, it is the judgement and counfel of all the beft and leamedft Husband- men, that they muft befoiuuate, that they may have windows towards the North, which muft lye open in the Springtime, and every fair day, that tbe Northern windrmay blow into them. But in any cafe- there muft no windows be made to- wards the South, becaufc the Southern winde will make your fruit full of wrinkles,, Let us lee therefore
What places arefitteft to lay up Quinces in, Marnu Varro faith, that they will be preserved well if they be laid up in fome' place that is cold and dry. Columella alfo layes them up in a cold floor or loft where there cometh no moifture. Pattadiw likewife would have'them laid up in fomc cold] aDd dry place, where there cometh no winde. So if you would
preferve apples well,
CV*wW/ ther fmoak, nor any noifome favour can come at them. ePaBad$us would have them laid up in fome dole and dark places , where the winde caonot come at them. And Plmy would have them laid very thin one by another, that fo the air may come e* qually at every fide of them. So
Pomegranates may be prefervedy
x%ColumelU reporteth out of Mago the Carthaginian, if firft ycu warm them in Sea- water, and then belmear them with fome chalk, and when they be dry, hang them up in fonv old place. And Palladium out of Columella, prefcribes the very lame courfe. In like manner you may
Preserve the fruit called Ztz.iphum> if you hang them up in a dry place, as the, fame Author is of opinion. If you would have
Pigs to lafi a great while,
ColumeUatctchtth you, that as loon a? they be thoroughly dry,you muft lay them up in a very dry room, and thereby you (hall preferve them for a long time. So
Damoftns may he long prefervedy '
nd Natural Magick. 2?0O^.
If you lay them upon hurdles or grates in ibmc dry place, where the Sun may come at them. TaHaditufazvis , that
Ckeft-nuts may belong preferved,
if they be raked up in the earth, where they may lie dry. And I my felf have fcen in Birryi
cAlmonds preferved found a great while^
three years or four years together, (bells and all, being laid up in a dry place. If you would have
Wheat long preferved ;
V*rro faith, that you muft lay it up in high Garners which have a thorough air on the Eait-iide and on the North-fide : But in any cafe there muft no moil) air come at them from any waterifh places thereabouts. Some have their Garners under the ground, as Caves , as it is in Cappadocia and Thracia. others have their Garners in pits and dicches, as it is in the neerer part of Spain : only they lay the chaffe under it, and take fpecial care that no moifture nor air may come at it, except it be when they take it ouc to ufe Come of it : for if the air be kept from it, the worm cannot breed in it to devour it. By this means they keep their wheat good and fwcet, fif- ty years ; and they prefcrve their Millet above an hundred years, %% Theophaftm re- cordeth. If you lay up your wheat with any duft in k, it will putrifie : for the ex- trinfecal heat of the duft, doth as it were lay fiege to the natural heat of the grain, and fo choaks it up, becaufe it hath not as it were a breathing place ; and by this means it is over-heated, and fo putrifies. Vlorentinm reporteth out of Varro, that Corn may be very well preferved above ground, if it be laid up in fuch places, as Have the Eaftern light (tuning into them : they muft alfo be fo fuutte tbat the Nor- thern and the Weftcrn winds may come at them moderately; but they muft be fife from all Southerly winds : and you muft make in them a great many of channels, whereby both the warm vapours may have iflue forth, and alfo the cooling air may have accefs in. The beft way whereby you may
Trtferve Beam,
is, to parch them reafonably well ; for fothere will befefs ftore of moifture in them, which will cauiethem to lift the longer. Iheophrafiut writes, tbat in Apollonia and Tarcntum, they preferve Beans long without auy parching at all. Pliny make t m tion of certain Beans that were laid up in a certain Cave in Ambracia, which la- fted from tbe time of King Pyrrhut, until the war which Pompey the great waged againft the Pirates. The fame Tbeopkrtftui writes alio, that
Peafe may be long preferved, •if you lay them up in high places where the wind hath his full force, a? in Media and the J ike Countries t but the Bean will be kept there much longer, So alio the
Pulfe called Lh pines, may be long preferved,
if you lay them up in a loft where the fmoak may come at them, as Columella mi- *eth: for if any moifture do fettle upon them, prefently the worm breeds in them ; and if once the worm have eaten out the navel as it were of the Pulfe, that which is in them like a little mouth, then cannot the other part which is left, be ever fit for feed; Palladim likewife faith, that this kind of Pulfe will laft very lon°, if it be laid up in dry Garners, where no moifture can come at it; especially if it may be continually perfumed as it were with fmoak. But now let us fhew how to do that which is the moft difficult thing of all in this kind, namely,
How to preferve flejb and fi\h,
Ihavefeenflcfeand 6£h preferved from pucrefaaion, for a whole moneth toge- ther
Of increajtng Houfhold^fluffe. WJ
ther in very cold place?, without toy other arc at all betides the coldnef? of the place. In rooms that are made under the ground, and very cold, where there com- eth neither heat nor any Southerly mode, buc that they are continually cold and dry, alaiort every thing may be prefcrved wjchout putrefaction. In a certain mo- naflery that is upon the Hill Parthcnius, neerunto Naples, I faw the carcafes of men kepi whole and found for many years t6gether. The Hill is covered over with £now almoft continually : and in the tops of the Mountains, where thefnowlie* in ditches and pits, conveyed thither of purpole to keep it, look what Pears, and Cervi.es, 2nd Apples, and wilde Cheff-nuts have been gathered up by chance toge- ther with the fnow , and put into the fame pits ; after the fpace of a year that the fnow was confuted away, we have there found the fame fruits, fo moift, and frefla, and goodly to the eye, as if they had been buc then pluckc off from their Trees. To conclude, there is nothing better and more available for the prefervatton of anything, then is the drynefs and the coldnefs of fuch places as they are laid up in, to be kept.
Chap. IV.
What facial time then mu$ be chef en for the gathering of fuch frnksy at J ftp infttre for a great -while after,
THe principal matter which I would have to be obferved in this cafe,'is the choo- fing of your time wherein to gather all fuch fruits as yo« would lay up in ftore, that they might lalt long. For if we defire to defeat that heat and moifture which will mar our fruit, and caufe it toputrifie, we cannot take any better courfe againft them, then by making choice of fuch a time to gather our fruits in , as when thole planets and ftars, which are the principal Authors of that heat 8: moiftore, are them- ielves become cold and dry , or at the leaft not hot and moift in any high degree. The Moon when fhe is in the waintng, is cold and dry : If there be any traits ga- thered when the Moon abound th with heat and moitture, the very fame qualities will alio the fruit abound withal, tndfo they will very foon beputrified, as every man of any wit will eafily judge : and therefore allthofe that have written of Hus- bandry, with one content do give k for a precept, that fruits are to be gathered in the decaying of the Moon. Moreover, 'the night and the day, the morning and the evening, d o beftow their moifture and their drynefs ttpon fruitsyaccordingly as they themtelves are either moifi or dry. The day, by reafon of the prefence of the Sun, is hot and dry. The night, by reafon of the abfence of the Sun, is cold and moift : The evening, by reafon that it hath a little of the Sun, is partly wirm ; and yet withal by reafon of the approaching nighr, is partly moift : The morning, is partly cold, by reafon of the tail of the night; and partly warr, by reafon of the Sun approaching: So then, let two or three hours of the day be (pent, and then the time will be fomewhat dry, becaufe it hath begun to be a little acquainted with the Son ; and withal fomewhat cold, becaufe it hath not yet quite forgotten and fluked effche night ; and this is in all mens judgement the beft and the fntefl time wherein to gather fruits. But leaft we fhculd make the matter too hard and difficult, by gi- ving fuch Aftrological precept?, we will frame our felves totheplainett, and yet a veryexai* rule; namely, that the fituation and afpe& of the Planets is to be regar- ded, whereby the air becometh colder and dryer then at other times, and fo con- fcquc-rtly the fruit may laft the longer. And, becaufe we will not be too tedious, Wc will fpare to alledge authorities and experiments which might be brought for the proof hereof, feeing all living creatures that are gendted in the full of the Moon, cr feme what before, do grow much more then they that are gendred when (Tie is in the waiaing. But let us come to examples. If you would know
The time, wherein Citrons arete be gather edy PalUdim mchc* you in his book of the prefervin? of Citrons. If ycu would fa- ther Citrons to kecp,lanh he, you muft pluck them with their boughs and leaves from
ihs
1 1 S N A t.ural Magic k* "BgoI^ q..
the Tree in die night time, when there is no Moon-light furring, Pontanmz Coun- try-man Qf 66r$ hath elegantly fee down this matter. If ycu d L.nron - long without any harmorloU of their vigor,you mult take this courle: Pluck hff the fruit together with the branches 3c leaves as they were upon the Tree,inthe higt.tVime'when the Moon fhioes not at all : Then hang them up upon fomc hook or tack in tome dark and clofe place ; fee that you touch them but very iofcly, and let i bi. any v\i ide loitis at them ; or elle lay them up amongft chaffe and dry ftraw* LofhiU you keep the fruit found and good, and the leaves alio green for a°reat while together. There is alio
An appointed time wherein Qnince^pears are to be gat fared* I have found no better or furer way to \ referve Quince- pears, faith Columella^ then by gathering them that were very ripe and found, and without any blemifh, at fuch time as the air was temperate, and the Moon in the waining. Likewifc the fame Author prefcribing unto us