

The ordering of the Orchard. 547 



CHAP. VI. 



Certain,- rules and oA/iruatUHU in ami after grafting, not 

 rctncmhred in the farmer Chapter. 



THe time of foine manners of grafting being not mentioned before, muft here 

 IK- fpuken of. For the grafting of all forts of trees in the ftocke, the molt vfuall 

 time is from the middle of February vntill the middle of March, as the yeare 

 and the countrie is more forward or backward, with vs about London wee neuer palTe 

 middc March : but becaufe the May Cherrie is firft ripe, and therefore of a very for- 

 ward nature, it doth require to be grafted fomewhat fooner then others. The time of 

 gathering likcwiiV, or cutting your grafts for grafting in the ftocke, is to be obferued, 

 that they bee not long gathered before they bee grafted, for feare of being too dry, 

 which I commend, howfoeuer diuers fay, if they be long kept they are not the worfe ; 

 and therefore it you be forced to haue your grafts from rarre, or by fome other chance 

 to keepe them long, be cart-Hill to keepe them moift, by keeping their ends ftucke in 

 moilt clay ; but it neare hand, neglect no time I fay alter the cutting of them for their 

 grafting, but either the fame, or the next day, or verie fpeedily after, in the meane time 

 being put into the ground to keepe them frefh. The grafts taken from old trees, be- 

 cauie they are ftronger, and (hoote forth fooner, are to bee fooner grafted then thofe 

 that are taken from younger trees : of a good branch may bee made two, and fome- 

 times three grafts lufficient for anie reaionable ftocke. For whipping, the time is 

 fomt-what later then' grafting in the ftocke, becaufe it is performed on younger trees, 

 which (as I laid betore) doe not to early bud or (hoote forth as the elder. Inarching 

 likewife is performed much about the later end of the grafting time in the ftocke ; for 

 being both kindes thereof they require the fame time of the yeare. The times of the 

 other manners of graftings are before exprefled, to bee when they haue (hot forth 

 young branches, from whence your buds murt be taken ; and therefore need not here 

 againe to be repeated. If a graft in the ftocke doth happen not to (hoote forth when o- 

 thers do (fo as it holdeth green) it may perchance (hoot out a moneth or two after, & do 

 well, or elfe after Midfummer, when a fecond time of (hooting, or the after Spring ap- 

 peareth : but haue an elpeciall care, that you take not fuch a graft that (hal haue nothing 

 but buds for flowers vpon it, and not an eye or bud for leaues (which you muft be care- 

 tull to diftinguilh) for fuch a graft after it hath (hot out the flowers muft of neccflitie 

 dye, not hauing wherewith to maintaine it felfe. Alfo if your good graft doe mifle, and 

 not take, it doth hazzard your ftocke at the firft time, yet manie ftockes doe recouer to 

 be grafted the fecond time ; but twice to faile is deadly, which is not fo in the inocu- 

 lating of buds in the greene tree : for if you faile there in three, or three times three, yet 

 euerie wound being fmall, and the tree ftill growing greene, will quickly recouer it, 

 and not be afterwards feen. Some vfe to graft in the ftocke the fame yeare they remoue 

 the ftocke, to faue time, & a fecond checke by grafting ; but I like better both in grafting 

 in the ftocke, and in the bud alfo, that your trees might be planted in the places where 

 you would haue them growe, for a yeare or two at the leaft before you graft them, that 

 after grafting there fhould be no remouall, I neede not be tedious, nor yet I hope ve- 

 rie follicitous to remember many other triuiall, or at the leaft common knowne things 

 in this matter. Firft, for the time to remoue trees, young or old, grafted or vngrafted, 

 to be from a fortnight after Michaelmas vntill Candlemas, or if neede be, fomewhat 

 alter, yet the fooner your remoue is, the better your trees will thriue, except it be in a 

 very moilt ground. For the manner or way to fet them : viz. in the high and dry 

 grounds fet them deeper, both to haue the more moifture, and to be the better defen- 

 ded from windes ; and in the lower and moifter grounds (hallower, and that the earth 

 be mellow, well turned vp, and that the finer earth bee put among the fmall rootes, 

 wherein they may fpread, and afterwards gently troden downe, that no hollownefle 

 remaine among the rootes : as alfo that after fetting (if the time be not ouermoift) there 

 may be fome water powred to the rootes, to moiften and faften them the better; ami 

 in the dry time ut Summer, after the fetting, let them not want moifture, if you will 



haue 



