The feventeentii Booke of 



ownc tree, or clfe about the next unto it ; if it {land fingle and have no Vine]oincd unto it. A% G 

 much of this branch or Vine thus couched as is above the ground^muft be kept with fcraping 5 

 that is to favjthe buds ought ever and anone to be knapt off, that itfpring not forth. VVithmihe 

 earth there fhould bee no fcwet than fourc joints or budding knots buned and enterred for to 

 take root^ in the head without,two onely ateleftfor to^row. [Where^note by the way^tliat the 

 Vine which gro^cth to the foot of a treCjinuft be trenched in a ditch fourefoot long in alljthi ee 

 inbrcadthjtwoandan halfe in deapth.] Now^wheii the (ion thuscouched,hath lien one yeare^ 

 the order is to cut it toward the flock to the very pith or marrowjthatfo by iiitle and little it may 

 be inured tofbrtifie it (clfe upon the owne rootSj and not to bang and cling alwaies to the mo'* 

 ther; as for the other end or head thereof, it would bee cut offalfofoneare the ground,3s that 

 there be but two onely buds left .By the third yeare it muft bee quite cutin two,(whcre before it ^ 

 wasbutgucldcdtothepith) and that which remainethof it, laid deeper into the gcoundj for 

 fearcitfliould fprout foorth and beare leaves toward that fide where it was cutintwaine. This 

 doncjnofooncr is Vintage paft, but this new quicke-fet^root and all, muft bee taken up and re- 

 planted. 



Of late daics devifed wasthc manner of couching or planting by a trees fide a Vine Dragon 

 (forlbweufetocalltheoldbraunchof aVinepaftallfervice, which bath done bearing many a 

 yeare,andisnowgtownctobehard.) Andvcrilyjthey ufeto makcchoile of thebiggcft they can 

 find, which when they have cut from the ftocke^ they fcrapc and pill the barke three foure parts 

 in lengthjibfarrc forth as it is to lie within the gtound[whereupon they name jt in Latine Rafi- 

 lis:] when it is thus couched low within a furrow, the refl that is above the earth they reare up j 

 againft the tree. And it is thoughtjthat there is not fo good nor fo rcadie a mean to make a Vine 

 grow and beare than this.If it fall out fo, that either the Vine be fmall and weake,or the ground 

 Jt felfe but leane and hungtie, it is an ufuall and ordinaric pradife to cut and prune it as near the 

 ground as poflibly may bee,uniillfuch time asit bee well itrengthened in the root : as alfojgreat 

 regard is had, that itbeehotplanted when the deawftandcth upon it, ne yet when the wind fits 

 full in the Nortli.The old Vine ftocke it felfe ought to look into theNortheaftj provided alwaies 

 that the young braunches turne Southward-Moreoycr^new and tender Vines would not be proi- 

 ned and cut in haft ; but better it is to expert and tarieuntillfuch time as they beftrongynough 

 and able to beare the cutting bill : meane while, to gather the young braunches together round 

 in manner of an houpe or circle. [Where note by the way, That Vines which are crededupon 

 trees/or the moft part beare later by one yeste than fliofc m Vineyards that bee perched or run 

 on framesJSome would not have them to be cut at al],before they haveraught up to the top of 

 the free. At the firft time when you come with the pruning hooke jthe head muft be cut off at fix 

 foot f rom the ground,leaving underneath one little top twig, which muft bee forced to beare by 

 bending it dov^neward in the head: and in the fame, when it is thus pruned, there muft bee kit* , 

 behind three buds and no more. The braunches v«hich burgen out from thence,ought the next 

 ycare to bee brought up to the lowcft armes of the tree, and there featcd : and fo from yeare to 

 ycare,let them climbe up higher to the upper boughsjleaving alwaies upon every loft or fcaffold 

 as it were where they reftcdjone braunch of the old hard wood,and another young imp or twig, 

 for to grow up and climbe as high as it will . Furthermore, as often as a Vine is pruine.d after- 

 wardsjthofe braunches or boughcs thereof in any wife muff be cut away, which were bearers the 

 yeare before: and in ftead of them, the new after they be firft cleanfed from all the hairie & cur- 

 led tendrils on every fide ftired off. The ordinarie manner of pruning and dreifing of vines here 

 about Rome, is to let the tender braunches and fprigsenterlace the boughcs, infbmuch,as the 

 whole tree is overfpread and clad thercwith,like as the very fa mc tendrils be alfb covered all over 

 with grapes. But the French fafhionisto draw them in atrailealong from bough to bough : 

 whereas in Lumbardie and along the caufey^Emylia [fromPlaifanceto Rimino] they ufeto 

 tiaine them upon forkes and poles : for albeit the Aiinian Elmes bee planted round about, yet 

 the vine commeth not neare their greene boughs.Some there bcjwhpfor want of skill and good 

 knowledge about vines,hang them by a ftrongbondundcrthcboughs:butthisistowrongjyea ^ 

 to ftiflc and^f ranglc them outright : whereas indeed a vinc,as it ought to be kept downe with oi- * 

 fier twigs,fo it muft not be tied over ftreight. For which caufe,even they alfb who oiherwifc hav c 

 ftorc and plentie ynough even to fpare, of Willowcs and Oificrs, yet chufe rather to bind vines 

 with fbme more (bft'and gentle matter,to wit,wi£h a certaine hearbe, which the Sicilians in their 

 ■ . language^ 



