260 NATURAL HISTORY. 



557. This experiment of misseltoe may give 

 light to other practices. Therefore trial would be 

 made by ripping of the bough of a crab-tree in the 

 bark, and watering of the wound every day with 

 warm water dunged, to see if it would bring forth 

 misseltoe, or any such like thing. But it were yet 

 more likely to try it with some other watering or 

 anointing, that were not so natural to the tree as 

 water is ; as oil, or barm of drink, &c. so they be 

 such things as kill not the bough. 



558. It were good to try, what plants would put 

 forth, if they be forbidden to put forth their natural 

 boughs ; poll therefore a tree, and cover it some 

 thickness with clay on the top, and see what it will 

 put forth. I suppose it will put forth roots ; for so 

 will a cion, being turned down into clay : there 

 fore, in this experiment also, the tree would be 

 closed with somewhat that is not so natural to 

 the plant as clay is. Try it with leather, or cloth, 

 or painting, so it be not hurtful to the tree. And 

 it is certain, that a brake hath been known to grow 

 out of a pollard. 



559. A man may count the prickles of trees to 

 be a kind of excrescence ; for they will never be 

 boughs, nor bear leaves. The plants that have 

 prickles are thorns, black and white ; brier, rose, 

 lemon-trees, crab-trees, gooseberry, berberry ; these 

 have it in the bough : the plants that have prickles 

 in the leaf are, holly, juniper, whin-bush, thistle; 

 nettles also have a small venomous prickle, so hath 

 borage, but harmless. The cause must be hasty 



