Plinics Natural! Hiftone. 



A ficd, and others by tbcm all . And verily the moft part of this knowledge hath been taught by 

 Nature her felfe: for firft ofall^ we have learned by her for to fow feed, by occafion that we have 

 leen fometo fall from trees, which being received by the ground, have chitted, taken root, and » 

 lived. Andin very truth, fome trees there be thatgrow no otherwife, as Cheftnut^and Walnut- 

 trees, excepting only thofe that being cut downe, doe fpring new a gaine from the root. Of (eed 

 alfo(although the fame be farre unlike to others) thofe alfo will growjwhich are ufually planted 

 oiherwife, asfor example, Vines, Apple trees,and Pyrries ; for in thefe the ftone and pepin with- 

 in,(erveth in ftead of the feed 3 and not the fruit it felfe, as in thofe before rchearledjthc kernels 

 whercofp. the fruit] are fowne. Medlars likewile may c6meupof feed. But all the fortoithefc 

 that fpring after this manner,be late ere they come forward,and flow in growth : they turne alfo 



B to a degenerate and baftard naturc,& had need to be graifed anew ere they be reftored to their 

 owne kind: which is'the cafe of Cheftnutsalfo oiherwhiles. Howbeit there be othersfot theiii 

 againe, which (fow orfct them what way you will) never grow out of their owne kind, andfuch 

 be Cyprefles, Date trees, and Lawrels :for theLawrell commeth up by fowing, by fcttin.g, and 

 planting, after fundrie forts. The divers kinds whereof, we have defcribed alreadie. Of all which, 

 theLawrell Augufta with the broad leavcs,the common Bay tree alfo that beareth berries, 

 alfo the wild kind named Tinus,t^e ordered all three after one and the fame fort. The mannei: 

 whereof is this: The bayes or beries thereof, bcegathered dcieinthemonethoflanuariewhen 

 the Northeaft wind bloweth : they are laid abroad thin to withctjOne apart from another, & not 

 in he3ps,for feare they fnould catch a heat. This done^ fome put them afterwards in dung jand 



C being thus prepared and readie for to bee ibwne, they* fleepe them in wine. Others take and lay 

 them within a large basket or twiggen panier, trample them under their feet in a brooke of run- 

 ning water, untill they be pilled and rid of their outward skins : fov otherwife their skinne i s of fo 

 tough andmoiftafubftancejthatitwould hardly or not at all fuffer them to come up and grow. 

 Alter all this,in a plot of ground well and throughly digged once or twice over, a trench or fur- 

 row muft be made a handfiill deepe, and therein the berries ought to be buried by Iieaps^towit^ 

 twentie or thereabout togither in one place: and all this would be done in the month of March. 

 Lawrels alfo will grow, it their braunches or boughs be bended from the flocke and laid within 

 the ground: but theTriumphall Lawreil will come up no other way but by letting agraffe or 

 impe cut from it. As for theMyrtle,all the forrs therof within Campaine,come of bericsfuwne; 



P butweeatRoineufetointerre onelythe boughsoftheTarentine Myrtle, growing ftill toilie 

 bodie, and by that meanes come to have Myrtle trees. Demccritm llieweth another deviic alfo 

 to encreafe My cdes, namely5to take the fajreft and biggefi beries thereofjand lightly to bruift or 

 bray them in a mortar^ fo that the graines or kernels within be not broken 5 and then to befmere 

 with the batter or If amped fublf ance thereof, a courfe cord made of Spart or Spanifh broome, 

 or els hempen hurds, and lb lay it along withm the ground.Thus there will fpring therof, a mar- 

 veilous thick hay or wall(as it were)of yong Myrtles : out of which,the Ihiall twig^ you may draw 

 which way you will,yea and plant them ellewherc. After the like manner,folke ufe to fow thorns 

 or brambles for to make hedges and mounds, namely ,by anointing fuch another hempen rops 

 with bramble blacke-berries,and interring the fame. As for Bayes thus fowen, when they come 



E once to beare a darke and blackifh leafe : Myrtles alfo, when their leaves bee of a wine colour^to 

 wit,of a deepe red (which commonly happeneth when they be three yeers old) it will be time to 

 lemoovc and tranlplant. 



Among thofe plants and trees that are fowen of feeds, W<f^<? maketh much ado^and is foully 

 troubled about thofe trees that beare nuts, & fuch like fruit in fliels : For to begin with Almonds 

 firftjhe would have them to be fet in a ibft clay ground that lierh into the South : and yet he faith 

 againejthat Almond trees love a hot and hard foile^ for in a fat ormoiftground,thcy will either 

 die or els wax unfruitfull. But above all,he giveth a rule to chule Almonds for to fet or fow , that 

 be moft hooked,andelpecially luchas were gathered from a young trec:alfo he ordaineth, that 

 they fhould be well foked or infufed in foft beaff fheatne or thin dung,for three daies togither : or 



p atleaftwifein honyed watetjaday before they beput into the ground. //tfw?5Theyought(by his 

 faying) to be fet charily with the fharpe and pointed end pitched downward, and the edge of the 

 one fide to turne into the Northeaff. Alfo that they raufl ftand three and three togither in a tri- 

 angle,forfooth,lb as there be a handbreadth jufl between every one. Moreover,that every tenth 

 day they ought to be watered, untill they bee Ihot up to a good bigneffe . Now to come unto 



Xx ii; VValnutSj 



