The ordering of the Orchard. 553 



bles and Gentlemen, haue in thefe later times endeauoured to plant and make Vine- 

 yards, and to that purpofe haue caufed French men, being skilful! in keeping and dref- 

 iing of Vines, to be brought ouer to performe it, yet either their skill tailed them, or 

 their Vines were not good, or (the molt likely) the foile was not fitting, tor they could 

 neuer make anie wine that was worth the drinking, being fo fmall and heartleffe, that 

 they foone gaue ouer their practice. And indeede the foile is a maine matter to bee 

 chiefly conlidered to feate a Vineyard vpon : for euen in France and other hot coun- 

 tries, according to the nature of the foile, fo is the rellifh, ftrength, and durabilitie of 

 the wine. Now although I think it a fruitleffe labour for any man to rtriue in thefe dales 

 to make a good Vineyard in England, in regard not only ot the want of knowledge, to 

 make choife of the fitted ground tor fuch Vines as you would plant thereupon but alfo 

 of the true maner of ordering them in our country ; but moft chiefly & aboue all others, 

 that our years in thefe times do not fal out to be fo kindly and hot, to ripen the grapes, 

 to make anie good wine as formerly they haue done ; yet I thinke it not amiffe, to giue 

 you inftrudtions how to order fuch Vines as you may nourfe vp for the pleafure of the 

 fruit, to eate the grapes being ripe, or to preferue and keepe them to bee eaten almoft 

 all the winter following : And this may be done without any great or extraordinarie 

 paines. Some doe make a lowe wall, and plant their Vines againft it, and keepe them 

 much about the height thereof, not fuffering them to rife much higher : but if the 

 high bricke or ftone wals of your Garden or Orchard haue buttreffes thereat, or if 

 you caufe fuch to bee made, that they bee fomewhat broade forwards, you may the 

 more conueniently plant Vines of diuers forts at them, and by (ticking down a couple 

 of good Hakes at euery buttreffe, of eight or ten foot high aboue ground, tacking a few 

 lathes acroffe vpon thofe (takes, you may thereunto tye your Vines, & carry them ther- 

 on at your pleafure : but you muft be carefull to cut them euery year, but not too late, 

 and fo keepe them downe, and from farre fpreading, that they neuer runne much be- 

 yond the frame which you fet at the buttreffes : as alfo in your cutting you neuer leaue 

 too many ioynts, nor yet too few, but at the third or fourth ioint at the moft cut them 

 off. I doe aduife you to thefe frames made with ftakes and lathes, for the better ripe- 

 ning of your grapes : for in the blooming time, if the branches of your vines bee too 

 neare the wall, the reflection of the Sunne in the day time, and the colde in the night, 

 doe oftentimes fpoile a great deale of fruit, by piercing and withering the tender foot- 

 ftalkes of the grapes, befcye they are formed, whereas when the bloffomes are part, and 

 the fruit growing of fome bigneffe, then all the heate and reflection you can giue them 

 is fit, and therefore cut away fome of the branches with the leaues, to admit the more 

 Sunne to ripen the fruit. For the diuers forts of grapes I haue fet them downe in the 

 Booke following, with briefe notes vpon euerie of them, whether white or blacke, 

 fmall or great, early or late ripe ; fo that I neede not here make the fame relation again. 

 There doth happen fome difeafes to Vines fometimes, which that you may helpe, I 

 thinke it conuenient to informe you what they are, and how to remedy them when 

 you (hall be troubled with any fuch. The firft is a luxurious fpreading of branches and 

 but little or no fruit: for remedie whereof, cut the branches fomewhat more neere 

 then vfuall, and bare the roote, but take heed of wounding or hurting it, and in the 

 hole put either fome good old rotten ftable dung of Horfes, or elfe fome Oxe blood 

 new taken from the beafts, and that in the middle of lanuarie or beginning of Febru- 

 arie, which being well tempered and turned in with the earth, let it fo abide, which 

 no doubt, when the comfort of the blood or dung is well foaked to the bottome by the 

 raines that fall thereon, will caufe your Vine to frudlifie againe. Another fault is, when 

 a Vine doth not bring the fruit to ripeneffe, but either it withereth before it be growne 

 of any bigneffe, or prefently after the blooming : the place or the earth where fuch 

 a Vine (tandeth, affuredly is too cold, and therefore if the fault bee not in the place, 

 which cannot bee helped without remouing to a better, digge out a good quantity of 

 that earth, and put into the place thereof fome good frdh ground well heartned with 

 dung, and fome ("and mixed therewith (but not fait or fait water, as fome doe aduife, 

 nor yet vrinc as others would haue) and this will hearten and (trengthen your Vine to 

 beare out the fruit vnto maturitie. When the leaues of a Vine in the end of Summer 

 or in Autumne, vntimely doe turne either yellow or red, it is a great (igne the earth is 



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