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Tlie thirceenth Bookcof 



ftringtandyet there be other pellicles that cleave faftand fticketothefubftanceof theDate G 

 within.The Date is ayeere in ripening. Howbeit in certaine places^ as namely in Cyprus, the 

 meat or flefhiepulpc thereof is fweet and pleafant in taft, although it bee not come to the full 

 ripencflc : [where aifo the leafe of the tree is broader, and the fruit'rounder than the reft i] mary 

 then you muft take heed norto eat and fwallow downe the very bodily fubflance of it, but fpit 1 1 

 forth after you have well chewed and fucked outihe juice thereof. Alfo they fay , that in Arabia 

 the Dates have but a faint & weakefwcctncs with them : and yet Kjuha maketh greateft account 

 of thofe which the region of the Scenites in Arabia doth'yeeld, wherethey be called Dabula: 

 and he commendeth them for their delicate and pleafant taft, before all .others . Moreover^ it is 

 Gonftantly affirmed. That the females be naturalLybarrein, and will not bcare fruit without the 

 cornpanic of the males among them to make them forxo conceive ; yet grow they will never- f j 

 thelcffe and come up of thcmfelves, yea and become tall woods : and verily 2 man fhall fee ma- 

 uy of the femals ftand about one male, bending and leaning in the head full kindly toward him, 

 if^eelding their braunches that way as if they ci3urted him for to win hislovc. But contrariwile,he 

 a^rim fir and a coy,carrieth hi&head aloft,beareth his briftled^& rough arms upright on high: 

 and yet what with his very lookes, whatwithhis breathingand exhalations upon them, oreUe 

 Witha certain duft that pafleth from him,hedoth thepartofanhusbandjiiifomuch as all thefe- 

 males about him, conceive and are fruitfull with his onely prefcnce. Itisfaid moreover, Thatif 

 this male treebe cut downe, his wives will afterwards become barrein and beare no more Dares, 

 as if they were widdowes . Finally, fo evident is the copulation of thefe lexcs in the Date trees 

 and' knowne to be fo etfe<fl:uali, that men have devifed alfo to make the femals fruitfull,by cafting } 

 upon thcmthe bloomes and downe that the male beareth, yea and otherwhiles by iiiewingthe 

 powder which he yeeldeth, upon them. Befides the manner abovefaid of fecting Date Ibnes for 

 cncreafe, the trees may bee replanted of rhevery truncheons of two cubits long, (lived and di- 

 vided from the very braine (as it were) of the greene tree in the top,and fo couched and interred, 

 leaving onely the head without the ground; Moreover, Date trees will take againe and live, ifei- 

 ther their flips be plucked from theroot,or their tendrils and final! braunches befct in the earth. 

 As for the Afliyrians, they makcno more ado^jbut ifit be a moid roile,plafh the very ireeit felfe 

 whole as it ftandeth, and draw it along andfo trench it within the ground, and thus it will take 

 rbot and propagate : but fuch will never prove faire trees,but skrubs onely , And therefore they 

 devile certaine Seminaries or Nource- gardens of them, and no fooner bee they of one yeares 

 growth, but they tran{plant them 5 and fo againe a fecond time when they be two years old : for 

 thefe trees love alone to beremoovedfro;-n oneplace toanother.But whereas in other countries 

 thistranfplantationispradifedinthe lpring,the AfTyrians attend the very mids and heat of 

 Summer,andin the beginning of theDog-daiesufe to replant them. Moreover,in thatcoun* 

 try they neither cut off the heads,neyet{hred the braunches of theycng plants with their hooks 

 and bills; but rather bind up their boughes, that they may llioot up in height the better. How 

 beit when they are ftrong, they cut their braunches,for to make the bodies bumilli and waxe 

 thicker , but yet in the lopping they leave flumps of boughs halfe a foot long, to the very tree : 

 whichifthey werecutoffjinotherplaces,wouldbethedc'aihof the mother ftocke . Andforaf- 

 much as Date trees delight in a fait atid nitrous foilc, [according as hath been before faid] (he r 

 Aflyrians therefore when they meet not with a ground of that nature, drew fait, not clofe about 

 the roots, but fomewhatfardier off. InSyriaand /Egypt, there' be fome Date trees that divide 

 themfeives and arc forked in twaine,rifing up in two trunksior bodiesJn Crete,they have three, 

 and fome alfo five, The nature of the Palme or Date tree, is to beare ordinarily when they be 

 three yeares old : howbeit in Cyprus, Syria, and i^gypt, it is foure yeares firft ere fome bring • 

 fruit yea and five yeares before others begin ; and Tueh never exceed a mans heigih, neither 

 have they any flonc or woodie kernell within the Date fo long as they be young and tender : du- 

 ring which time they have a prctie name for them,and call them Gelded Dates .-and many kinds 

 there be of thefe trees. As for thofe that be barrein and friiitleflejall Aflyria and Perfia through- 

 out, ufe them for timber to make quarters and pamcls for feeling, wainefcot, and their fine joy- 

 ned workes.There be alfo of Date trees coppey woods, which they ufe to fell and cut at certaine 

 times: and evermore they put forth a young fpringfrom the old root and ftocke . Thefe have in 

 the very head and top,a certaine pleafant and fweet marow, which they tearme,The braine j and 

 therefore thofe that love to eatit^ will cut and take it awayjand yet the tree will live neverihelefie : 



a thing 1 



