The feventeenth Booke of 



burden that itcaticd, they hold opinion, that icisnot good to wound it in many places : foi- by G 

 thismcancs(raythey)itwillbcnouri(hcdandcomc onverywcll. B ut by their leave, unlcfTc the 

 ground bepaffing rich and fatjVines thus overcharged with wood^ will for want of pruning dc- 

 generatcinto the baftard wild wines called Labrufca?. 



Buttoreturnc againe unto our plots planted with Trees and^Vines coupled together : fuch 

 grounds when they be ploughcd^requirc a good deepc fticch, although the corne therin fownc 

 need itnot.Alfoitisnotthemannerto disburg€n or dcffbile altogether fuch trees, and there- 

 by a great deale of toik and labour is faved •. but when the Vines ate a pruning , they would bee 

 disbraunched at once with themjwhere the boughes grow thickeft^ and to make a glade onely 

 through jihcfupcrfluous branches would bee cut awayjwhich othcrwife might conlume the nu- 

 triment of the grape. As for the cuts and wounds remaining after fijch pruning and disbraun- p| 

 chingjWC have alrcadic forbiddcn,that they fhould ftand cither againft the Norih or the South. 

 And I thinke moreover it were very well, that they did not regard the Weft where the Sun fct- 

 teth :for fuch wounds will fmart and be longfore^ycajand hardly heale againCjif cither extrcame 

 cold pinchjorcxceflfivc heat parch them. 



Furihennorc, a Vine hath not the fame libertic in a Vineyard that it hath upon atrec: for 

 better meancs there are, and cafierit is to hide the faid wounds from the weather flanked as 

 they be within thofe clofe fidesjthan to wryth and wreft them to a mans mind too and fro.In lop- 

 ping and fliredding of trees, when thccut ttandeth open jthere would be no hollow places made 

 like cups/or feare that water fhould ftand therein. Laft of all,if a Vine bee to climbe trees that 

 arc of any great hcightjtherc would bee ftaies and appuiesfet to it, whereupon it may take hold, 

 and fo by little and little arile and mount up aloft. I 



Chap, xxiiir. 



^ ThemAmer of keeping and^referving grapes. K^Ifothe mdadies whereto 



trees be fib\e^, 



IT is holdcn for a ruIc,That the beft Vine plants which run upon a frame of raiIcs,ought to be 

 pruned in .mid-March about the feaft of UHinerva^czXi^d. Quinquatrus : and if a man would 

 prefcrve and keepe their grapes, it would bee done in the wane of the Moone. Alfo, that fuch 

 Vines as be cut in the change of the Moone will not be fubjc(5l to the in jurie and h urt of any noi- 

 fome vermincAlthough in fome other refped,men are of opinionjthat they fliould bee cut in K 

 the night,at the full of the Moone, when the figne is in Leo, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Taurus : 

 and generally it is thought good to let them when the Moon is at the full,or at leaft wife when fhc 

 is ctoifantMoreover,this is to be noted,that in Italic there need not above ten men for to looke 

 unto a Vineyard of a hundred acres. 



And now that I have dilcourfed at large as touching the manner of planting, graffing, and 

 drcfling of trees,I purpofc not here to treat againe of Date-trees and Tretrifolie,whereof I have 

 alreadiefufficiently written in theTrcatifeof ftraungeand forraine trees : but for as much as 

 my meaning is to omit nothing,! will proceed forward to decipher thole matters which concern , 

 principally the nature of trees, and namely ,their maladies and imperfedions, whereto they alfo 

 as well as hearts and other living creatures,befubje<5i:. And to fay a truth, what creature is there 

 .under heaven freed therefrom ? And yet fome fay,that wild and favage trees are in no fuch daun- 

 ger : onely the haile may butt them in their budding and blouming time. True it is moreover, 

 that icorched they may be otherwhilcs with heat, and bitten with cold blacke winds, comming 

 late and out of fealbn : for cold weather furcly in due time is kindly and good for them, as hath 

 been faid beforc.But let me not forget my felfe.See wee not many times the cold froft to kill the 

 very Vines? Yes verily; but this is long of the foile and nothing elie: for never happencih this 

 accident butin a cold ground. So as this conclufion holdcth flilljThat in VVinter time wee al- 

 waies find froft and cold weather to doe much good: but wee never allow of a cold and vvealic 

 ground. Moreover,it is never feenCjthat the weakeft and fmalleft trees are endaungered by froft, M 

 but they arc the greateft and talleftthatfeele the fmart. Andthcreforcnomarvellifinfuch,the 

 tops being nipped thercwith,fecme firft to fade and wither^ by reafon that the nativcand radicall 

 moifturc being bitten and dulled bcforcjwas never able to reach up thither. 



Nowj concerning the dilcafcs that haunt trees : fome there bee that arc common unto all, 



others 



