9 6 ^(aturall Hiftory^ 



443 



444 



445 



44 6 



447 



449 



450 



verthelefs hath been left off, becaufe of the trouble and paines ^ Yet fo 

 much is true , that there is much faved by the Setting , in comparifon of that 

 which is Sown Both by keeping it from being picked up by Birds And by 

 Avoiding the Shallow lying of it , whereby much that is fown taketh no 

 Root. 



It is pr efcribed by fome of the Ancients , that you take Small Trees, upon 

 which Figs or other Fruit grow , being yet unripe, and cover the Trees in the 

 Middle of Autumn with dung y untill the Spring And then take rhem up 

 in ar warm day , and replant them in good Ground ^ And by that meanes, 

 the former years Tree will be ripe , as by a new Birth • when other Trees 

 of the fame kind, do but bloflbm. But this feemeth to have no great 

 Probabilitie. 



It is reported , that if you take Nitre, and mingle it mxh Water , to the 

 thicknefs of Honey , and therewith anoint t\\zBud, after the Vine is cut, it 

 will fprout forth within eight dayes. The Cauje is like to be, (if the Experi- 

 ment be true, ) the Opening of the Bud, and of the Parts Contiguously the 

 Spirit of the Nitre For Nitre is ( as it were ) the Lire or Vegetables. 



Take Seedy or Kerneh of Apples, Peares, Orenges - 7 Or a Peach ,or a Plum- 

 Stone,^, c. And put them into a £^/7/,(which is like a great Onion, )and they 

 will come up much earlier than in the Earth it felf. This I conceive to be as 

 a Kind of Grafting in the Root •, For as the Stock of a Graft yeeldeth bet- 

 ter prepared Nourifhment to the Graft , than the Crude Earth So the 

 Squill doth the like to the Seed.-, And I fuppofe the fame would be done, 

 by Putting Kernells into a T urnip , or the like Save that the Squillis more 

 Vigorous,and Hot. It may be tried alfo , with putting Onion-Seed in- 

 to an onion-Head, which thereby (perhaps) will bring forth a larger, and ear- 

 lier Onion. 



The Pricking of a Fruit in fever all places , when it is almoft at his Bignefs, 

 and before it ripeneth , hath been pra&ifed with fuccefs , to ripen the Fruit 

 more fuddenly. We fee the Example of the Biting of Wajj>s,ov Wormes, up- 

 on Fruit, whereby it (manifeftly) ripeneth the fooner. 



It is reported , that Alga Marina (Sea-Weed) put under the Roots of Col- 

 worts, and (perhaps) of other Plants, will further their Growth. Thevertue 

 (no doubt) hath Relation to Salt, which is a great Help to Fertilitie. 

 g It hath been prattifed , to cut off the Stalks or Cucumbers , immedi 

 ately after their Bearing, clofe by the Earth ^ And then to caft a pretty Quan- 

 tity of Earth upon the Plant that remaineth, and they will bear the next year 

 Fruit , long before the ordinary time. The Cauje may be , for that the Sap 

 goeth down the fooner , and is not fpent in the Stalk or Leaf, which re- 

 maineth after the Fruit. Where note, that the Dying , in the winter , of the 

 Roots of Plants , that are Annuall, feemeth to be partly caufed by the Over- 

 Expence of the Sap into Stalk , and Leaves ^ which being prevented 3 they 

 will fuper-annuate , if they ftand warm 



The Pulling 0^ many of the Bloffoms from a Fruit-Tree , doth make the 

 Fruit fairer. The Cauje is manireft $ For that the Sap hath the lefs to nou- 

 rifli. And it is a Common Experience, that if you do not pull off fome 

 Blcfjoms,t\\t firft time a T ree bloometh,it will bloflbm it felf to death. 



It were good to trie , what would be theEffed, if all the Blofjoms were 

 pulled from a Fruit-T ree ,Or the Acornes^nd Chejnut-buds, &c. from a Wild 

 Tree , for two years together, I fuppofe that the Tree will either put forth, 

 the third year, bigger, and more plentifull Fruit Orelfe, the fame years, 

 larger Leaves, becaufe of the Sap ftored up. 



It 



