196 A DISCOURSE 



BOOK I. and Olive, I have seen incomparable pieces ,• but the great art was in 

 -^y^^ the seasoning and politure : for which last, the rubbing with a man's 

 hand, who came warm out of the bath, was accounted better than any 

 cloth, as Pliny reports. Some there be who contend, this Citron was 

 a part near the root of the Cedar, which, as they describe it, 

 is oriental and very odoriferous ; but most of the learned favour the 

 Citron, and that it grew not far from our Tangier, about the foot of 

 Mount Atlas, whence haply some industrious person might procure 

 of it from the INIoors : and I did not forget to put his then Excellency 

 my Lord H. Howard (since, his Grace the Duke of Norfolk) in mind 

 of it ; who, I hoped, might have opportunities of satisfying our curiosity ; 

 that by comparing it with those elegant woods, which both our own 

 countries and the Indies furnish, we might pronounce something in the 

 controversy : But his not going so far into the country, and the disorder 

 which happened at his being there, quite frustrated this expectation. 

 Here I think good to add, what honest Palissy philosophises, after his 



weather, when they will only require being kept clean from weeds, and watered in dry 

 seasons. The succeeding spring the strongest may be set out in the nursery-way, like the 

 former seedlings. 



By layers also all the species of this genus may be propagated ; though that method 

 is never practised for the Common Maple and the Sycamore. The young shoots may be 

 laid down in the autumn, winter, or early in the spring. By the autumn following they 

 will have struck root, and become good plants ; when the strongest should be set out 

 in the places where they are to remain ; whilst the weakest may be planted in the nursery, 

 like the seedlings, for a year or two, to gain strength. 



Maples raised from seed will grow faster, and arrive at greater height, than those 

 raised from layers ; but they will not produce such quantities of flowers ; which makes the 

 latter method more eligible for those who want these plants for a low shrubbery. 



By cuttings also these trees may be propagated : But this method is chiefly practised 

 on the Ash-leaved and Norway Maples, which more readily take root this way. The 

 cuttings should be the bottom part of the last year's shoot : They should be taken off early 

 in October, and planted in rows in a moist shady place. The spring and summer 

 following, they must be duly watered, as often as dry weather makes it necessary, and 

 be kept clean from weeds. By the autumn they will be fit to remove into the nursery ; 

 though if the cuttings are not planted too close, they may remain in their . situation for 

 a year or two longer, and then be set out for good, without the trouble of previously 

 planting them in the nursery. 



Maples may likewise be propagated by budding, grafting, and inarching: But the other 

 methods being more eligible, these are never practised, except for the variegated sorts. — 



