_FINIS._

The Contents of the Countrey _House-wifes Garden._

Chap. 1. _The Soyle._ _Pag. 77_

Chap. 2. _Site._ _p. 78_

Chap. 3. _Forme._ _p. 79_

Chap. 4. _Quant.i.ty._ _p. 85_

Chap. 5. _Fences._ _p. ibid._

Chap. 6. _Two Gardens._ _p. 86_

Chap. 7. _Diuision of herbs._ _p. 88_

Chap. 8. _The Husbandry of herbes._ _p. ibid._

Chap. 9. _Generall rules._ _p. 96_

Chap. 10. _The Husbandry of Bees._ _p. 98_ _Bee-house._ _p. 98._ _Hiues._ _p. 100._ _Hiuing of Bees._ _p. ibid._ _Spelkes._ _p. 101._ _Catching._ _p. 102._ _Cl.u.s.tering._ _p. 103._ _Droanes._ _p. 104._ _Annoyances._ _p. 105._ _Taking of Bees._ _p. 106._ _Straining honey._ _p. ibid._ _Vessels._ _p. ibid._

A MOST PROFITABLE NEWE TREATISE, From approued experience of the art _of propagating Plants: by_ Simon Harward.

CHAP. 1.

_The Art of propagating Plants._

{SN: 1.} There are foure sorts of Planting, or propagating, as in laying of shootes or little branches, whiles they are yet tender in some pit made at their foote, as shall be sayd hereafter, or vpon a little ladder or Basket of earth, tyed to the bottome of the branch, or in boaring a Willow thorow, and putting the branch of the tree into the hole, as shall be fully declared in the Chapter of Grafting.

{SN: 2.} There are likewise seasons to propagate in; but the best is in the Spring, and _March_, when the trees are in the Flower, and doe begin to grow l.u.s.ty. The young planted Siens or little Grafts must be propagated in the beginning of Winter, a foot deepe in the earth, and good manure mingled amongst the earth, which you shall cast forth of the pit, wherein you meane to propagate it, to tumble it in vpon it againe. In like manner your superfluous Siens, or little Plants must be cut close by the earth, when as they grow about some small Impe, which we meane to propagate, for they would doe nothing but rot. For to propagate, you must digge the earth round about the tree, that so your rootes may be laid in a manner halfe bare. Afterward draw into length the pit on that side where you meane to propagate, and according as you perceiue that the roots will be best able to yeeld, and be gouerned in the same pit, to vie them, and that with all gentlenesse, and stop close your Siens, in such sort, as that the wreath which is in the place where it is grafted, may be a little lower then the Siens of the new Wood, growing out of the earth, euen so high as it possible may be. If the trees that you would propagate be somewhat thicke, and thereby the harder to ply, and somewhat stiffe to lay in the pit: then you may wet the stocke almost to the midst, betwixt the roote and the wreathing place, and so with gentle handling of it, bow downe into the pit the wood which the grafts haue put forth, and that in as round a compa.s.se as you can, keeping you from breaking of it: afterward lay ouer the cut, with gummed Waxe, or with grauell and sand.

CHAP. 2.

_Grafting in the Barke._

Grafting in the Barke, is vsed from mid-_August_, to the beginning of Winter, and also when the Westerne winde beginneth to blow, being from the 7. of _February_, vnto 11. of _Iune_. But there must care be had, not to graffe in the barke in any rainy season, because it would wash away the matter of ioyning the one and the other together, and so hinder it.

{SN: 3.} Grafting in the budde, is vsed in the Summer time, from the end of _May_, vntill _August_, as being the time when the trees are strong and l.u.s.ty, and full of sap and leaues. To wit, in a hot Countrey, from the midst of _Iune_, vnto the midst of _Iuly_: but cold Countries, to the midst of _August_, after some small showres of Raine.

If the Summer be so exceeding dry, as that some trees doe withhold their sap, you must waite the time till it doe returne.

Graft from the full of the Moone, vntill the end of the old.

You may graft in a Cleft, without hauing regard to the Raine, for the sap will keepe it off.

You may graft from mid-_August_, to the beginning of _Nouember_: Cowes dung with straw doth mightily preserue the graft.

It is better to graft in the euening, then the morning.

The furniture and tooles of a Grafter, are a Basket to lay his Grafts in, Clay, Grauell, Sand, or strong Earth, to draw ouer the plants clouen: Mosse, Woollen clothes, barkes of Willow to ioyne to the late things and earth before spoken, and to keepe them fast: Oziers to tye againe vpon the barke, to keepe them firme and fast: gummed Wax, to dresse and couer the ends and tops of the grafts newly cut, that so the raine and cold may not hurt them, neither yet the sap rising from belowe, be constrained to returne againe vnto the shootes. A little Sawe or hand Sawe, to sawe off the stocke of the plants, a little Knife or Pen-knife to graffe, and to cut and sharpen the grafts, that so the barke may not pill nor be broken; which often commeth to pa.s.se when the graft is full of sap. You shall cut the graffe so long, as that it may fill the cliffe of the plant, and therewithall it must be left thicker on the barke-side, that so it may fill vp both the cliffe and other incisions, as any need is to be made, which must be alwaies well ground, well burnished without all rust. Two wedges, the one broad for thicke trees, the other narrow for lesse and tender trees, both of them of box, or some other hard and smooth wood, or steele, or of very hard iron, that so they may need lesse labour in making them sharpe.

A little hand-Bill to set the plants at more liberty, by cutting off superfluous boughs, helu'd of Iuory, Box, or Brazell.

CHAP. 3.

_Grafting in the cleft._

The manner of grafting in a cleft, to wit, the stocke being clou'd, is proper not onely to trees, which are as great as a mans legs or armes, but also to greater. It is true that in as much as the trees cannot easily be clouen in their stocke, that therefore it is expedient to make incision in some one of their branches, and not in the maine body, as we see to be practised in great Apple trees, and great Peare-trees, and as we haue already declared heretofore.

To graft in the cleft, you must make choise of a graft that is full of sap and iuyce, but it must not bee, but till from after _Ianuary_ vntill _March_: And you must not thus graft in any tree that is already budded, because a great part of the iuyce and sap would be already mounted vp on high, and risen to the top, and there dispersed and scattered hither and thither, into euery sprigge and twigge, and vse nothing welcome to the graft.

You must likewise be resolued not to gather your graft the day you graft in, but ten or twelue dayes before: for otherwise, if you graft it new gathered, it will not be able easily to incorporate itselfe with the body and stocke, where it shall be grafted; because that some part of it will dry, and by this meanes will be a hinderance in the stocke to the rising vp of the sap, which it should communerate vnto the graft, for the making of it to put forth, and whereas this dried part will fall a crumbling, and breaking thorow his rottennesse, it will cause to remaine a concauity, or hollow place in the stock, which will be an occasion of a like inconuenience to befall the graft. Moreouer, the graft being new and tender, might easily be hurt of the bands, which are of necessity to be tyed about the Stocke, to keepe the graft firme and fast. And you must further see, that your Plant was not of late remoued, but that it haue already fully taken root.

When you are minded to graft many grafts into one cleft, you must see that they be cut in the end all alike.

{SN: 7.} See that the grafts be of one length, or not much differing, and it is enough, that they haue three or foure eylets without the wrench when the Plant is once sawed, and lopped of all his small Siens and shootes round about, as also implyed of all his branches, if it haue many: then you must leaue but two at the most, before you come to the cleauing of it: then put to your little Saw, or your knife, or other edged toole that is very sharpe, cleaue it quite thorow the middest, in gentle and soft sort: First, tying the Stocke very sure, that so it may not cleaue further then is need: and then put to your Wedges into the cleft vntill such time as you haue set in your grafts, and in cleauing of it, hold the knife with the one hand, and the tree with the other, to helpe to keepe it from cleauing too farre. Afterwards put in your wedge of Boxe or Brazill, or bone at the small end, that so you may the better take it out againe, when you haue set in your grafts.

{SN: 8.} If the Stocke be clouen, or the Barke loosed too much from the wood: then cleaue it downe lower, and set your grafts in, and looke that their incision bee fit, and very iustly answerable to the cleft, and that the two saps, first, of the Plant and graft, be right and euen set one against the other, and so handsomely fitted, as that there may not be the least appearance of any cut or cleft. For if they doe not thus lumpe one with another, they will neuer take one with another, because they cannot worke their seeming matter, and as it were cartilaguous glue in conuenient sort or manner, to the gluing of their ioynts together. You must likewise beware, not to make your cleft ouerthwart the pitch, but somewhat aside.

The barke of your Plant being thicker then that of your Graft, you must set the graft so much the more outwardly in the cleft, that so the two saps may in any case be ioyned, and set right the one with the other but the rinde of the Plant must be somewhat more out, then that of the grafts on the clouen side.

{SN: 9.} {SN: 10.} To the end that you may not faile of this worke of imping, you must princ.i.p.ally take heed, not to ouer-cleaue the Stockes of your Trees. But before you widen the cleft of your wedges, binde, and goe about the Stocke with two or three turnes, and that with an Ozier, close drawne together, vnderneath the same place, where you would haue your cleft to end, that so your Stocke cleaue not too farre, which is a very vsuall cause of the miscarrying of grafts, in asmuch as hereby the cleft standeth so wide and open, as that it cannot be shut, and so not grow together againe; but in the meane time spendeth it selfe, and breatheth out all his life in that place, which is the cause that the Stocke and the Graft are both spilt. And this falleth out most often in Plum-trees, & branches of trees. You must be careful so to ioyne the rinds of your grafts, and Plants, that nothing may continue open, to the end that the wind, moisture of the clay or raine, running vpon the grafted place, do not get in: when the plant cloueth very straight, there is not any danger nor hardnesse in sloping downe the Graft. If you leaue it somewhat vneuen, or rough in some places, so that the saps both of the one and of the other may the better grow, and be glued together, when your grafts are once well ioyned to your Plants, draw out your wedges very softly, lest you displace them againe, you may leaue there within the cleft some small end of a wedge of greene wood, cutting it very close with the head of the Stocke: Some cast glue into the cleft, some Sugar, and some gummed Waxe.

{SN: 11.} If the Stocke of the Plant whereupon you intend to graft, be not so thicke as your graft, you shall graft it after the fashion of a Goates foot, make a cleft in the Stocke of the Plant, not direct, but byas, & that smooth and euen, not rough: then apply and make fast thereto, the graft withall his Barke on, and answering to the barke of the Plant.

This being done, couer the place with the fat earth and mosse of the Woods tyed together with a strong band: sticke a pole of Wood by it, to keepe it stedfast.