FRUIT-T REES. 291 



Medlars ought not to be gathered till 

 the end of Odober; and then they have a 

 very auftere tafte ; yet v^dien they are be- 

 come rotten, are valued by many ; and to 

 caufe their decay, or to bring them to ufe 

 early, they may be laid in wheat bran, 

 made moiil with fair Vv^ater, to caufe a fer- 

 mentation. 



They ought to be laid in a box or tub, 

 with a covering of moift bran in the bot- 

 tom, after that a fmgle layer of fruit, but 

 not to touch each other, and upon them 

 lay a covering of bran an inch thick. 

 After that, five or fix layers of each may 

 be laid alternately, but there muft bQ a 

 covering of bran at the top, and as it be- 

 comes drier, there muft be more water 

 poured upon them 3 by this means they 

 will be in perfedlion in fourteen days time; 

 but if they be lay'd thin upon dry ftraw, 

 they will remain found for two months. 

 For to keep them the longer in eating, I 

 would advife to have three fourths remain 

 dry till others begin to be fit for ufe, .then 

 lay a part to ferment as before 3 and before 

 this laft parcel is confumed, thofe laid dry 

 will begin to decay naturally. 



U 2 Tho' 



