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.

Here follow certaine instructions how the trees must be kept, and how you must labour them.

SOme trees will have a fat ground, as Figge trees and Mulberrie trees, and some leane ground, but

all trees be in that point equall, that they will have in the top dry ground, and in the bottome moist earth.

2. In Harvest you must uncover the roots of the trees so deep, that they may partly be seen, and lay dung upon them, which dung must be dissolved of raine in the ground, that it may come to the roots, which mucking giveth good increase to the roots.

3. If the ground wherein the trees stand bee too sandy, then mix among it faire and new lome; and if it bee too lomy, then mix amongst it sand in place of mucke, the which you must not only doe hard by the tree, but also four or five foot off from it round about the tree, according as the tree is in bignesse, or that the roots are large and great.

Such diligence, giveth to the trees great help, for their nourishment and strength is thereby renewed. Hereafter you shall understand, whereby to know the fruitfull soile.

4. In the fat ground, the stumps whereupon you wil graff, must be left long, but in lean ground short.

5. The plants of trees from their youth, till three years must not be cut nor shred, but they may bee transported, and if they be too weak you may pricke sticks next unto them.

6. Diligent regard must be taken, that no sprouts spring out of the stump, which might take the nou∣rishment from the tree sprouts, and those boughes which spring from the root of the tree at the first planting.

7. When thou perceivest the young trees to wax weake, then uncover the roots and put other fresh ground to them.

8. If the ground be neither too soft nor too hard, then may you chuse all kind of stumps in February for to plant, when the green juice is dispersed in the bark; but when the ground is too hard, then the swet holes or pores of the root doe remaine closed and stopped, so that they cannot draw to them their nou∣rishment, such hardness of the ground or earth hin∣dereth the aire and moistnesse which commeth from beneath upward, for it cannot be pierced of the soft sprouts, with the small heat which is beneath, there∣fore you must come to help them with a spade, for with a plough you will never come to an end, because of the root.

9. There is great diligence to be taken for pre∣serving of the trees, when they begin to grow great, to scrape from the barke all rudenesse which is done, when you take from them all superfluity and sprouts which come out of the tree. You may cut them in February.

10. It is good for the trees to muck them often, and moderatively to water their roots.

Also to cleave the roots, and lay stones into them, to the end they may revive againe of the dri∣nesse which they have suffered, or of the barrennesse of the ground, or when the young planted trees for the great heat will perish. Also when immoderate heat is, then you must help them with turning of the ground, and with watering, but the water wherewith you should water them, must not be altogether fresh nor cold, or newly drawne out of the spring, but out of a ditch, pond, or well, or any other foule ditch wa∣ter, or with spring water, which hath stood long in the Sunne, or put a little dun•• in the water, and stir

it once or twice well about, and the water will be fat wherwith water your trees. You may also keep them with shadowes and straw from the heat: or else put (in great heat) fat green herbs at the stump, tempred with loame: some anoint the stumpe (toward the South or Mid-day) with chalke, some with oile, or with any other ointment that cooleth.

11. When you would transpose a plant, or have wilde stumps digged out to plant again, then marke the part which standeth towards the South of Mid-day, and put it so againe when you graffe it.