Plinies Natural! Hittorie, ay 
_ <A feedwhenit beginneth once to waxeblacke,before it fall to wither, | 
©. Seeing nowthat I amentred thus far into a difcourfe of Onions, thall not do amiffe to treat 
of Leekes alfo,in regard of the neare affinitie betweene them :and the rather, for that itis not 
long fince,that the Portetkind which is often kept downe with clipping and cutting, came into 
greatname and credite,by occafion ofthe Emperour Neve;who uled tor certaine daies in every 
moneth fortofcoure his:throat,and cleare hisvoice, and to take it with oile 3 on which dates bee 
did eat nothing elfe,norfomuch as bread. ‘Wee ufeto fowthem of feed, after the Aquinox in 
September’: and if we meaneto make cut Leekes thereof, the {eed would be fowed the thicker. 
Thefe Leekes are kept downe with clipping and (hearing ftill tntill the root faile,withourremo- 
® vingthem ont of the fame bed where they were fown : and alwaies they muft be plied with dung. 
B_ Butbefore they be cut,nourifhed they ought to be,untillthey have gotten a good head. When: 
_ theyare well grown, they areto be tranflated intoanother bed or quarter,& there replanted: ha- 
ving their uppermoft leaves lightly fhrigged off, withoutcomming tothe heart or marowwhich 
istheir bodienextto the roots: and their heads {et deeper downeward:yea,and their urmott pel- 
liclesand skins {lived fromthem.In old time they ufedtopucunder their roota broad flint fione, 
orelfeatile, which did dilate their heads within the ground, and make them fptead the better. 
Thisthey practifed alfo in other bulbous plants,asOnions,&c.there by to have she fairer heads, 
But nowin thefe daies the maneris, lightly to barbe &pluck off with afarcling hooke,the beards 
or firings of the root ;that being thus nipped and lipped:(as itwere) they might nourifh the bo- 
die of the plant,and notdiftraét and fucke away the humor,which is the nutriment ofthe whole, 
C This isnotable and wonderfull in the Porret, that joying and liking as it dooth in mucke and fat 
gtound, yetit cannot abide waterie places. Howbeit,tn thefe we mutt be ruledby the propertic of 
the ground which is all in all: The principall Leekes bein AEgypt : theinext ate thofe of Ortiaand 
Aricia. Of the cut Portet orunfer Leekes be twokinds, The one runnezh mightily intoa greene 
blade, and the leafethereofhath veryconfpicuous andevidentcuts; and thisis thatthe Apo- | 
thecariestafe fo much : the other hath ainore pleafantand yellowith leafe,and the fame rounder | 
the gafhes or cuts whereof are {miallersand norfo apparenttothe eie. The voice poeth,and ge. | 
nerallyitisreported, That Me/s aknight or gentleman of Rome byhis place, atid Procuratour | 
under TiLerivs the Emperour,being forfome mifgovernementin that office, broughtinto ques 
{tionand accufed, and thereupon {ent for peremptorily to make his perfonall apparance,defpai- 
D riogutterly cf life, tookethe weight of three Romane filver deniers in the juice of Leekes, and 
dranke ico: whereupon hee died incontinently without any paine or torment at all . [riscom- 
monly faid, That if aman take agreaver dofe or receirthiereot,it will doe no harme,nor any dan- 
gerwillen{ue thereupon | rhs Sika zhaid: Loire gs" yb 
As touching Garlicke,it is held for certain, Thatit is a foveraigne medicine for many greefs 
and maladies ; {pecially fuch as are incidentto the countrey peatanis and rufticall people, who 
hold it to be as good asa Treacle. The Garlicke head is covered and clad al] over with certain ve- 
ry fine and thin pellicles or membranes,which may be parted and divided one from another; un- 
der which you fhall {ee it compact and joined (as it were) together of many cloves inmannetof 
kernils, and thofe alfo enclofed each one apart within'their feverall skins.Of a fharpe and biting 
E taft itis. The more Reenc and eager alfo you fhall find it,as it hath more of thofe clovesaforefaid 
in one head. The aire that commeth from it,is as offenfive as that of the Onion and maketh their 
breath as {trong who eatit : howbeir, fodden if it bee, iz is every way harme'efle. The difference 
and diverfitie of Garlicke arifeth firft,from the circumftance of the time; whereby you thallice 
akind of haftic-Gatlicke, that in threefcore daies will beeripe and conie to perfection:then, in 
quantitie : for fome grow bigger in the head than other. And of this fort is that which wee call in 
Latin Vipicum :and the Grecks,fome,the Cyprian Garlick; others,*Aphrofcorodon: fomuch *or Antifco-. 
commended in Affricke, thatitis heldforthe moft principall difh of meatthat a Husbandman "**””* 
of the countrey caneat: and bigger it is than our common Garlicke. Being brufed aud braied 
ina morter together with ojle and vineger,it is wonderfull to fee whata fome and froth willarife 
E  thereof,and to what an height it will {well thereby.Some Gardeners there are,who forbid to fet 
either this Vlpicum,or the common Garlicke in any even, flat,and levell bed; burto putthem in 
Jitele hillockes|in manner of hop hils|raifed in forme of caftles or turrets, three foot diftant one 
from another. Now, wherefoever thele cloves bee fet in hill or plaine,they ought to lie foure fin~ 
gers breadth afunder, And this would not bee forgotten, That{o foone as they fhewthreeleaves . 
: ollce, 
