The country-mans recreation, or The art of [brace] planting, graffing, and gardening, [brace] in three books. The first declaring divers waies of planting, and graffing, and the best times of the year, with divers commodities and secrets herein, how to set or plant with the root, and without the root; to sow or set pepins or curnels, with the ordering thereof, also to cleanse your grafts and cions, to help barren and sick trees, to kill worms and vermin, and to preserve and keep fruit; how to plant and proin your vines, and to gather and presse your grape; to cleanse and mosse your trees, to make your cider and perry, with many other secret practises which shall appear in the table following. The second treateth of the hop-garden, with necessary instructions for the making and maintenance thereof, ... with some directions for tabaco. Whereunto is added, The expert gardener, containing divers necessary and rare secrets belonging to that art, ... hereunto is likewise added the Art of angling.

Of Poles.

IT remaineth that I speak now of Poles, because Poling is the next work now to be done.

If your hils be distant three yards asunder, provide for e∣very hill four poles, if you will make your hils nearer toge∣ther, three poles shall suffice.

And note that in the first year you may occupy as many poles as in any year after, the reason whereof I will declare in the title of Hils.

Alder poles are best for this purpose, as whereunto the Hops seem most willingly and naturally to encline, because both the fashion of these poles being as a Taper, small above, and great below, and also the roughnesse of the Alder-ryne, stayeth the Hop stalk more firmly from sliding down, than ei∣ther Ash or Ok, which for continuance be somewhat better howbeit, these with the order that I shall prescribe, will en∣dure six or seven years.

These are also best cheap, and easiest to be gotten in most places, and soonest grown ready for this purpose.

There is in the Spring of these, least danger in growing, or in being destroyed, or bitten by cattell.

Finally, by the expence of these, there ensueth the least annoyance to the Co••mon-wealth, as well for the causes a∣foresaid, as also because they grow not in so great quantity, to so good timber, nor for so many purposes as either Oke or Ash.

The best time to cut your poles, is between Alhallontide and Christmas, but you must pile them up immediately after they are cut, sharped, reformed in length, and smoothed, lest they rot before you occupy them.

You may not leave any scrags upon them, the reason whereof you shall conceive in the Title of gathering Hops.

Your Poles may not be above xv. or xvi. foot long at the most, except your ground be very rich, or that you added thereunto great labour in raising up your hills, or else except your hills stand too near together: if any of these chance to be, or if all these three things meet in one Garden, the best way of reformation, is to set the fewer poles to a hill, or to let them remain the longer. Otherwise the Hops will grow from one pole to another, and so overshadow your Garden, the fault thereof being especially to be imputed to the near∣nesse of the hills. Therefore chiefly you must measure your poles by the goodnesse of your ground.

Your Hop never stocketh kindly, untill it reach higher than the Pole, and return from it a yard or two, for whilst it tendeth climbing upward, the branches, which grow out of the principal stalk (wherein consisteth the abundance of en∣crease) grow little or nothing.

Let the quantity of your Poles be great (that is to say) nine or ten inches about the lower end, so shall they endure the longer, and withstand wind the better.

To describe the price of poles, or what it will cost you to furnish a Garden containing an acre of ground, it were a hard matter, because the place altereth the price of Wood. But in a Wain you may carry an hundred and fifty poles, and I see small cause why a load of these should be much dearer than a load of any other Wood.

After the first year Poles will be nothing chargeable unto you, for you may either pick them out of your own provi∣sion of Fuell, or buy them of your Neighbours that have no occasion to apply them this way. For the yearly supply of two loads of Poles, will maintain one Acre continually.

Your rotten and broken Poles will do you good service, for the kindling of your fires in the Oste, whereupon you should dry your Hops, and they should be preserved chief∣ly for that purpose.

At Poppering (where both scarcity and experience hath taught them to make carefull provision hereof) they do com∣monly at the East and North-side of their Gardens, set and preserve Alders, wherewith they continually maintain them.

Before you set up your Poles, lay them all alongst your Garden between every row of hills by three or four toge∣ther, I mean beside every hill so many Poles as you deter∣mine to set thereon, so shall you make the more speed in your work.