Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. 
A Suchasberefived'to béar feed,ought notto be.curat all. They alfo are not without their grace 
and commendation, which never pafle thebignefle of-a greene and ordinarie plant, and {uch 
dinall Colesarecalled Halmyridia, forthat they grow-not elfewhere but upon the fea coafts: 
and becaijfethey will keepe greene, provifiomis made of fuch forto ferve inlong voyages at {ea: 
for fo foone as they bee cunup; beforetheytouch the ground,they be putup into barrels where 
lately oile:hath been, andtholenewly dried againft the time, and {topped up ’clofe that no. aire 
cavall may-ehter in, andtherein be they preferved. Somethete be, whoin remooving theyoung 
plants, lay under cheirroots, Rick and Sea-weeds, or cls bruifed:and powdred nitrejas much a6 a 
mah inay take up with three fingers; imagining therebysthattlicy will the fooner come to mas 
tnritie, Others againetaketBeleediof Trifolieand Nitre ftamped togither;which they ftrew ap= 
-ontheleayes for the fanic purpofe. [ Anda’ for Nitre, icisiofithisnature, to make therm looke 
ereenettill although they werefodden; }orelsthey ufe taboilethenafter uspicivs hisfathion, 
namely,to fteepe them well in oile.and {ale mingled togither,before they befet upon the fire for 
torbefodiisand® «icici ct brie bosgibiiow b: corg 10 92994 6 at Snlggh QoIsgoT 9n2 Dre 
Moreover, thereisaway to graffe hearbsalfo.as wellaserees;namely by cutting off the yong 
Gionsthat foring out of theftalke, and therein to inoculateas it were the feed of another plang, 
within the pith or marow thereof. This alfo may be praGtifed upon.wild! Cucumbers. Over and 
befides, there js a kind of wild Woorts growiag inthe fields called Lapfana, much namedand 
renowmed by-occafion of thefonets & carolschanted in thé folemnitie! of JnkwsCafarthe Em: 
-perourstriamp hand efpecially of the metric rimes and licentiousbroadjeaftstoficd by his fols 
diers,who atevery fecond verfecaft in his teeth, that-in Dyrrhachium they lived of nothing els 
butof thofe Woorts : noting indeed by way of cavill and reproach, his niggardife.in rewarding 
them: fo flightly for their good fervice s Now was this Lapfana akind of wild Colewort, which 
they dideacof in ftead of the fine and daintie tendrils and buds of the garden Coles. i. 0 
As touching Sperages, there isnot an hearb in the garden, whereof thereis{o greatregard 
andicaretaken, as of them. Concerning their firft criginall and beginning, Dhave. fpoken at 
jarge in the treatife, Of the manaer howto order the * wildof that kind, and toentertaine them 
dn our gardens :as alfo how Catowilled us tofowandplancthem: in plorsiofi Reeds and Canes, 
Now there is a middle fore of thefe Sperages nor fo civile and gentle asthe Afparagi of the gar. 
den, and yet more kind and mildthan the Corrndz of the field :thefe grawevery where abroad 
even upon the mountains;and the champion county of high. Almaine is over{pread and full 
of them: whereof there goes. pleafant{peech and mertie Conceit of Tyberis Cafan the Empe- 
rour, nainely, Thar there grew an hearb in Almainevery.liketo the Garden Sperage. Por as 
touching that which commeth up of itfelfein Nefis,an Ifland of Campaine,itisthought the 
beft fimply of all others, without comparifon. The Garden Sperages be planted from theknors 
bunching togither within the ground named Spongiz,whichealily may bereplanteds for fure- 
ly an hearb itisthat carrieth a mightiehead or clufter as ic were of roots, and the fame putteth 
foorth [purns every way from irof a great depth into the ground, They fend ourar frit cercaine 
greene {purts or buds peeping forth of the ground, which growing to a {tem in procefic of ime 
aife fharpein the top, and then are they chamfered and devided into cerrain-mutculous braun= 
ches that {pread abroad. This hearb may befown alfo of feed. Cats tookenot more pains about 
any other hearb, nor emploied greater diligence in the defcription thereof, thanhe did inic. Le 
isthe very laftshing that he treaceth of in his booke, wherby it may appearé;tlsat the mancame 
allupon afodainand newly to the knowledge of that hearb, and the ordering of it. Hee givedh 
27 
* Coryude. 
order, /mprims, That the plot wherein they are to be fowne,bemoilt,far,indwelldiggedirem, 
Thatthey be fer halfe a foot every way afunder onefrom another, &in no wiferthe place tréden 
dowhe with ones foot: moreover, that two or three feeds be puctogither ina hole, madebefore 
withadibble directly by a line: for in thofe daies they fet them onely of feed. /enmz, That this 
would be done about mid-March, whichis the proper feafontherefore. Jem, That they have 
their fill of dung; That they bekept cleane with often weeding: butin any cafe, That great heed 
b¢ taken in plucking up the weeds, thatthe tender buds or crops newkuitand appearing above 
ground, be not knapt off. For the firft yeere, hee would have them in winter tine tobe covered 
with firaw and luter, and{o defended againft the froft and cold weather: alfo during the Spring 
enfising,to be opened ar thc root, farcled and well weeded. In the third yeere, by histule, they 
cughtto be burned in the Springtime; and the fooner that the ground is thus burned, the better 
| D ij will 
