CHAP. 1.

IF you look upon Fruit-Trees in the latter end of Autumn, when they are dis∣poiled of the Ornaments of there Fruits and Leaves, and when there appears no sign of Life in them, as also upon such as are newly Planted, you wou'd take them for dead Trunks, or Poles, rather than Live Trees; both of them seem to have so perfectly lost the Principle of Vegetation, that there appears not the least hopes they should ever Recover themselves.

But then if you look upon them again in the beginning of the Spring, when both the Old and the Young ones begin on all sides, either to Blossom or Bud, or put forth Cions, you wou'd think they were either performing a kind of Resurrection, or that they were not really the same we lately saw in so deplorable a Condition; and wherein we shall first consider them.

These as well as many other things, wou'd doubtless be very Surprizing to us, if they were not common in the ordinary Course of Nature, and if those continual Miracles were not become so familiar to us; though when a Man seriously considers them, he cannot but be much Abash'd at his own Ignorance, and very desirous by all means possible to find out the Causes, and the Manner of such Alterations.

And this Particular affords us Matter for two Nice and Weighty Enquiries: The one is, Whence this Cessation of Action proceeds, which makes the Trees all on a sudden appear Dead when really they are not? And the other is, How that Wonderful Change is Effected, which, a few Months after, puts them into the same Course of Acting as before; so that the Old Trees becoming, in a very little space, as Gay as ever, and the Young ones, as it were after their Example, Shooting out Roots at the one end, and Branches at the other, plainly shew, that, quite contrary to what they ap∣peared, they still continued Live Trees? As also how they should be always lia∣ble to the same vicissitudes of Nature: That as Autumn and Spring make their An∣nual Returns, so they make our Gardens their Theatre, and as often present us with new Scenes? For these Trees upon the first Nipping Frost, Return to the ve∣ry same Desolate Condition from which we lately saw them Recover themselves, but as soon as ever the Severity of the Weather is over, they, as it were, Conquer and Triumph over their Enemy which had brought them so very low, and present us with the same Beauty and Agreeable Verdure wherewith they had formerly Charmed our Senses.

Now the better to Represent to others the Conceptions I have of these Diffe∣rent Appearances of Trees, I shall Illustrate them by Plain, Vulgar and Sensible Comparisons.

First then, I imagine an Artificial Tree, of as solid a Matter as you please, of Iron, suppose, or Copper, and that it stands upright, exactly resembling a real Tree, and having Tubes or Passages in all parts of it, the greater for the Use of the Trunk, and the lesser for the Branches and Roots.

I imagine further, those Tubs or Passages filled either up to the top, or a good way, with Milk.

Things thus prepared, I suppose this Liquor at Rest, and in its Natural Con∣sistencies, taking up no more space than its ordinary Quantity requires, nor any more at one time than another; but this only so long as no External Heat comes near the Tubes. For as soon as ever the Heat of the Fire comes near either the ends, or the middle of the Tree, I perceive the Liquor begin to move, to Rarifie, as the Philosophers speak, or, as we commonly say, to Boil up, and to fill a larger space than it did before; so that if any part of the Tubes was empty, the Liquor swel∣ling as the Heat encreases, fills them up; or if they were full at first, the Liquor discharges it self at the ends of the Tree. And this it does with such force, that if it could find none, it would burst the Tubes, and make it self a Passage out of a place that was not large enough to contain it.

Green Wood put in the Fire, and sending out a kind of Froth at the end as soon as ever it begins to Burn, seems to me an Ocular Demonstration of all this.

Page  37 Now 'tis certain, that if the Ejected Milky Substance thus Rarified be capable of becoming solid, it will produce, or rather turn into a kind of New Body, which will not give over growing so long as more of the same Liquor shall succeed in the room of that, which after it has been thus Heated, becomes solid; but a succession of such Operations will produce a Continuation of such Effects.

Now by these Tubes I would Represent the Bark of the Trees, and by the Unmo∣ved Liquor in them, the Condition of the Sap in Winter, when the Extremity of Cold, which fixes the Motion of the Liquids, and hinders the Natural Effects of Heat, Thickens the Sap, and renders it so Unactive, that for want of the Ordina∣ry Influence of the Suns Heat upon it, it remains Immoveable; that is, without any Appearance of Action.

The Fire warming the Tubes, and, through them, the Liquor inclosed in them, Represents the Air and the Earth, which, being in themselves warmed, do also in the very same manner warm the real Trees.

And this I look upon as the Manner and Order of this Wonderful Operation which we see performed every Spring. The Air is first Heated by the Rays of the Sun, and from it, both the Bark, and the Earth that lyes about the Roots of the Trees receive their Heat, which they immediately Communicate to every part of the Plant which they respectively Inclose.

Upon this, the Sap which is Diffused throghout the whole Tree but is especially Lodged between the Bark and the Wood, where it chiefly operates, and where it Re∣mained, as it were Dead all the Winter, having then no motion at all. This Sap, I say, as soon as ever it comes to feel the Heat of the Sun in the Spring, begins first to move in its Place, and then to Swell and Rarisy, and to require more room than it took up before; and the Hotter the Air and the Earth grows, by the Encreasing Heat of the Sun, the more it Rarifies and Exerts it self towards all the Branches and Roots of the Tree, that it may get out of that Place where it finds it self too closely confin'd. And thus it begins to enter upon a state of Action.

But this first Motion or Action, begins to appear at the upper End of the Tree first, those Parts Heating first, as being most Expos'd to the Heated Air, which does nor till some considerable time after, reach those Parts that are fixed in the Earth and consequently those Parts being at Greatest Distance from the Air, are the Last that are sensible of its Heat.

But how far soever this Agitated Sap Reaches, it immediately shews what it can do, having this wonderful Quality, that it hardens, and grows solid wheresoever it makes its Passage out.

And indeed this is that which of all others is the most Difficult both to Understand, and to Explain, whether we take notice of the New Growths, simply Considered in themselves, or their Conjunction with and Adhesion to those of the Former Year; or especially the Exactness of the Order, and Proportion of those new Pro∣ductions we see in the Extreme Parts of each Branch, where we find Leaves break∣ing out at the same distance one from another. Those of some Plants are diame∣trically opposite to each other, and of others, at certain distances one above ano∣ther; And again, some Branches are at certain distances so perfectly divided by Knots, that they seem to be Contiguous Bodies, rather than Continued Parts of the same Body, as we see in the Vine, the Fig-Tree, the Elder, &c. And in general, the Origine of Flowers and Fruits, the Difference of their Colour, Tast, Shape, and Smell, and the variety of Leaves and Barks afford us matter of the greatest Wonder and Admiration.

Now to give the best account we can of all this, let us pursue the working of this Heated Sap as far as we are able. We have already said, that its first Effects in the Spring, do usually discover themselves in the upper Parts of the Tree, as be∣ing most Exposed to the Air. Now those Upper Parts are the Bole and the Branches, whereof the Former is more Massive, and the Latter Small and Tender; Upon each of which I conceive the Sap Operates after this manner.

The latter being Smaller and more Limber, and having a Finer and more De∣licate Bark, are more easily pierced by the Air, than those that are Harder and Larger. And this is the Reason why those smaller Parts, and especially the Fruit-Buds they send forth, are as it were the Fore-runners of the approaching Spring. And this appears especially in such Trees as bear Stone-Fruit, the Buds whereof are then Perfected, having begun to be Formed at the Latter end of the Fall of the Sap the foregoing Year.

Page  38 And thus the first Action of the Sap concludes in Raising the Buds, which it opens soon after, and at last, if the rigour of the Season does not hinder, makes the Fruit to Knot in the Center of the Bud, which after it has been the Subject of the Gard'ner's Hopes and Care, is to recompense all his Cost and Pains.

As for the ordinary Eyes which appear upon the smaller Branches, particularly those of Core-Fruit, the Sap enlarges some of them, those especially that are nearer the End, where its Force is the greatest; and entering with less Impetuosity into those that grow along the Branches, it at the same time sends forth Leaves, and lays a Foundation for Fruit-Buds against the next Year; and those of the last years Formation which it finds in any good forwardness, it goes on to Perfect the follow∣ing Spring.

But as for the Bole and the largest Boughs, the first Action of the Sap, when the lenites is over, and it begins to grow Warm, goes no further than to enlarge such Eyes as it finds already Formed, and to begin the Formation of New Branches, as sometimes also of New Fruit-Buds, tho' it has not yet received any new supply from the Roots. And this is the reason, that most of the Branches, and Trees that are newly Planted, sprout out in the Spring, and shew some signs of Life, tho' •it cannot thence be certainly concluded that they are really Alive: For these small Sprouts are no sure Proof that the Trees are Recovered, especially at the Lower End, where the great Difficulty lies in producing a good Set of New Roots: There lies the great Press of the Work of Nature in Recovering the Tree, whereto are required much greater Efforts of the moving Sap, than in those Parts of the Tree, that are Exposed to the Air.

Let us now see what passes in the other Element, as soon as the Warmth of the Spring has Allay'd its Natural Cold, and the Heated Air has Imparted its Warmth to the Old Roots.

We are therefore to Imagine that, as the Sap being moved in the Bole and Bran∣ches, requires more space than it took up before, so, being in the very same manner moved in the Roots, neither can it be wholly Confined in them; and that as the Sap appeared first in the Smaller, and then in the Greater Branches: So it observes the very same Method in the Roots also. The swelling Sap breaks the Bark that con∣tains it, and gets out at every Passage it can possibly make; and then this, which as well as that above, was Liquid in the Tree, being got out, grows Hard, and assumes the Nature and Form of Roots in the Earth, just as that in the Branches becomes Leaves, Fruit, New Branches, &c.