The country-mans recreation, or the art of planting, graffing, and gardening in three bookes. The first declaring divers wayes of planting, and graffing ... also how to cleanse your grafts and cions, how to helpe barren and sicke trees, how to kill wormes and vermin and to preserve and keepe fruit, how to plant and proyne your vines, and to gather and presse your grape ... how to make your cider and perry ... The second treateth of the hop-garden, with necessary instructions for the making and the maintenance thereof ... Whereunto is added, the expert gardener, containing divers necessary and rare secrets belonging to that art ...

Every Plant will have foure things:

First moistnesse, so that the seeds or stumpe bee moist or green.

Secondly a convenient place, which hath such earth as will lightly be rubbed to ponder, and that Sun may come to it: for where there is filthy lome, a lean ground, or sandy, dry, burnt, or salt ground, there is nothing good to be planted, to have any continuance: neverthelesse where the ground is lean, there you must give more dung; in a fat ground not so much. Take heed the ground be not too moist nor too dry: and muck the trees with hogs dung.

Thirdly, a mediate water or nourishing moyst∣nesse, therefore be those Orchards best which are scituated between two waters, for those that are pla∣ced by a water side remaine still yong and fruitfull, and have commonly the bark smoother and thinner than the others. And those trees are more fruitfull than others which are planted in a valley, or in the lower part of a deepe hill: for from those hills may come to them nourishment and moistnesse, and the ground which is so scituated is very fruitfull. But he that cannot get for his trees such a ground, must with all diligence seeke to bring to his trees a little spring or pond, of which the trees may sometimes finde some reviving, and if you may not have any of those, and have a garden who by it self is naught, the trees will grow with thicke roots, which hindereth the growing of them, and drieth them at length.

Fourthly, The aire is required, which must be a∣greeable to them, and of complexion to beare; for there be some trees that doe prosper in all aires, to wit, apple and peare, cherry and plum-trees. Some will have a cold aire, to wit Chessenut trees; & some a very warme aire, as the palme and pepper trees: therefore they be rare with us. That plant which hath these foure things shall prosper: and if they want one or more of these foure things, they wil de∣cay, and their prospering perish.