Next to these fruit-trées, you shall vnderstand that your bush-trées, as Barberryes, Gooseberryes, or Feberryes, Raspberryes, and such like, will also grow vpon cyons, without rootes, being cut from their maine rootes in Nouember, & so planted in a new fresh mould. And here by the way I am to giue you this note or caueat, that if at any time you finde any of these cyons which you haue planted not to grow and flourish according to your desire, but that you finde a certaine mislike or consumption in the plant, you shall then immediatly with a sharpe knife cut the plant off slope-wise vpward, about three fingars from the ground, and so let it rest till the next spring, at which time you shall beholde new cyons issue from the roote, which will be without sicknesse or imperfection; and from the vertue of this experiment I imagine the gardners of antient time found out the meanes to get young cyons from olde Mulberry-trées, which they doe in this manner: first, you must take some of the greatest armes of the Mulberry-trée about the midst of Nouember, and with a sharpe sawe to sawe them into bigge truncheons, about fiuetéene inches long, and then digging a trench in principall good earth, of such depth that you may couer the truncheons, being set vp on end, with Manure and fine mould, each truncheon being a foote one from another, and couerd more then foure fingars aboue the wood, not fayling to water them whensoeuer néede shall require, and to preserue them from wéeds and filthinesse, within lesse then a yéeres space you shall behold those truncheons to put forth young cyons, which as soone as they come to any groath and be twigged, then you may cut them from the stockes, and transplant them where you please, onely the truncheons you shall suffer to remaine still, and cherish them with fresh dunge, and they will put forth many moe cyons, both to furnish your selfe and your friends. And thus much for the planting and setting of cyons or branches.
Chap. IIII.
Of the ordinary and accustomed manner of Grafting all sorts of Fruit-trees.
As soone as your nursery is thus amply furnished of all sorts of stockes, procéeding from kernells and of all sorts of trées procéeding from cyons, branches or vndergrowings, and that through strength of yéeres they are growne to sufficient abilitie to receiue grafts, which is to be intended that they must be at the least sixe or eight inches in compasse, for although lesse many times both doth and may receiue grafts, yet they are full of debilitie and danger, and promise no assurance to the worke-mans labour, you shall then beginne to graft your stockes with such fruits as from art and experience are méete to be conioyned together, as thus: The mixing of Stockes and Grafts. you shall graft Apples vpon Apples, as the Pippin vpon the great Costard, the Peare-maine vpon the Ienetting, and the Apple-Iohn or blacke annet vpon the Pomewater or Crab-trée: to conclude, any Apple-stocke, Crab-tree, or wilding, is good to graft Apples vpon, but the best is best worthy. So for Peares, you shall graft them vpon Peare stockes, Quinces vpon Quinces or Crab-trées, and not according to the opinion of the frenchman, vpon white thorne or willow, the Medlar vpon the Seruice-trée, and the Seruice vpon the Medlar, also Cherryes vpon Cherryes, & Plumbes vpon Plumbes, as the greater Abricots vpon the lesser Abricots, the Peach, the Figge, or the Damson-trée, and to speake generally without wasting more paper, or making a long circumstance to slender purpose, the Damson-trée is the onely principall best stocke whereupon to graft any kinde of Plumbe or stone fruit whatsoeuer.
The choise of Grafts. After you haue both your stockes ready, and know which grafts to ioyne with which stockes, you shall then learne to cut and chuse your grafts in this manner: looke from what trée you desire to take your grafts, you shall goe vnto the very principall branches thereof, and looke vp to the vpper ends, and those which you finde to be fairest, smoothest, and fullest of sappe, hauing the little knots, budds, or eyes, standing close and thicke together, are the best and most perfect, especially if they grow vpon the East side of the trée, whereon the Sunne first looketh; these you shall cut from the trée in such sort that they may haue at least thrée fingars of the olde woode ioyning to the young branch, which you shall know both by the colour of the barke, as also by a little round seame which maketh as it were a distinction betwixt the seuerall growths. Now you shall euer, as néere as you can, chuse your grafts from a young trée, and not from an olde, and from the tops of the principall branches, and not from the midst of the trée, or any other superfluous arme or cyon; now if after you haue got your grafts you haue many dayes Iourneys to carry them, you shall fould them in a few fresh mouldes, and binde them about with hay, and hay ropes, and so carry them all day, and in the night bury them all ouer in the ground and they will containe their goodnesse for a long season.
How to graft in the Cleft. Hauing thus prepared your grafts, you shall then beginne to graft, which worke you shall vnderstand may be done in euery month of the yéere, except Nouember and October, but the best is to beginne about Christmas for all earely and forward fruit, and for the other, to stay till March: now hauing all your implements and necessaryes about you, fit for the Grafting, you shall first take your grafts, of what sort soeuer they be, and hauing cut the neather ends of them round and smoth without raysing of the barke, you shall then with a sharp knife, made in the proportion of a great pen-knife slice downe each side of the grafts, from the seame or knot which parts the olde woode from the new, euen to the neather end, making it flat and thinne, cheifely in the lowest part, hauing onely a regardfull eye vnto the pith of the graft, which you may by no meanes cut or touch, and when you haue thus trimmed a couple of grafts, for moe I doe by no meanes alow vnto one stocke, although sundry other skilfull workmen in this Art alow to the least stocke two grafts, to the indifferent great thrée, and to the greatest of all foure, yet I affirme two are sufficiently inough for any stocke whatsoeuer, and albeit they are a little the longer in couering the head, yet after they haue couered it the trée prospereth more in one yéere then that which contayneth foure grafts shall doe in two, because they cannot haue sap inough to maintaine them, which is the reason that trées for want of prosperitie grow crooked and deformed: but to my purpose. When you haue made your grafts ready, you shall then take a fine thinne sawe, whose téeth shalbe filed sharpe and euen, and with it (if the stocke be excéeding small) cut the stocke round off within lesse then a foote of the ground, but if the stocke be as bigge as a mans arme, then you may cut it off two or thrée foote from the ground, and so consequently the bigger it is the higher you may cut it, and the lesser the nearer vnto the earth: as soone as you haue sawne off the vpper part of the stocke, you shall then take a fine sharpe chissell, somewhat broader then the stocke, and setting it euen vpon the midst of the head of the stocke somewhat wide of the pith, then with a mallet of woode you shall stricke it in and cleaue the stocke, at least foure inches déepe, then putting in a fine little wedge of Iron, which may kéepe open the cleft, you shall [take] one of your grafts and looke which side of it you intend to place inward, and that side you shall cut much thinner then the out side, with a most héedfull circumspection that by no meanes you loosen or rayse vp the barke of the graft, cheifly on the out side, then you shall take the graft, and wetting it in your mouth place it in one side of the cleft of the stocke, and regard that the very knot or seame which goes about the graft, parting the olde woode from the new, do rest directly vpon the head of the stocke, and that the out side of the graft doe agrée directly with the out side of the stocke, ioyning barke vnto barke, and sappe vnto sappe, so euen, so smooth, and so close, that no ioyners worke may be discerned to ioyne more arteficially: which done, vpon the other side of the stocke, in the other cleft, you shall place your other graft, with full as much care, diligence, and euery other obseruation: when both your grafts are thus orderly and arteficially placed, you shall then by setting the haft of your chissell against the stocke, with all lenitie and gentlenesse, draw forth your wedge, in such sort that you doe not displace or alter your grafts, and when your wedge is forth you shall then looke vpon your grafts, and if you perceiue that the stocke doe pinch or squize them, which you may discerne both by the straitnesse and bending of the outmost barke, you shall then make a little wedge of some gréene sappy woode, and driuing it into the cleft, ease your grafts, cutting that wedge close to the stocke. When you haue thus made both your grafts perfect, you shall then take the barke of either Apple-trée, Crab-trée or Willow-trée, and with that barke couer the head of the stocke so close that no wet or other annoyance may get betwixt it and the stocke, then you shall take a conuenient quantitie of clay, which indéede would be of a binding mingled earth, and tempering it well, either with mosse or hay, lay it vpon the barke, and daube all the head of the stocke, euen as low as the bottome of the grafts, more then an inch thicke, so firme, close, and smooth as may be, which done, couer all that clay ouer with soft mosse, and that mosse with some ragges of wollen cloath, which being gently bound about with the inward barkes of Willow, or Osyar, let the graft rest to the pleasure of the highest: and this is called grafting in the cleft.
Notes. Now there be certaine obseruations or caueats to be respected in grafting, which I may not neglect: as first, in trimming and preparing your grafts for the stocke: if the grafts be either of Cherry, or Plumbe, you shall not cut them so thinne as the grafts of Apples, Quinces, or Medlars, because they haue a much larger and rounder pith, which by no meanes must be toucht but fortefied and preserued, onely to the neather end you may cut them as thinne as is possible, the pith onely preserued.
Secondly, you shall into your greatest stockes put your greatest grafts, and into your least, the least, that there may be an equall strength and conformitie in their coniunction.
Thirdly, if at any time you be inforced to graft vpon an olde trée, that is great and large, then you shall not graft into the body of that trée, because it is impossible to kéepe it from putrifaction and rotting before the grafts can couer the head, but you shall chuse out some of the principall armes or branches, which are much more slender, and graft them, as is before shewed, omitting not dayly to cut away all cyons, armes, branches, or superfluous sprigs which shall grow vnder those branches which you haue newly grafted: but if there be no branch, small or tender inough to graft in, then you shall cut away all the maine branches from the stocke, and couering the head with clay and mosse, let it rest, and within thrée or foure yéeres it will put forth new cyons, which will be fit to graft vpon.
Fourthly, if when you either sawe off the top of your stocke, or else cleaue the head, you either raise vp the barke or cleaue the stocke too déepe, you shall then sawe the stocke againe, with a little more carefulnesse, so much lower as your first errour had committed a fault.
Fiftly, you shall from time to time looke to the binding of the heads of your stockes, in so much that if either the clay doe shrinke away or the other couerings doe losen, by which defects ayre, or wet, may get into the incission, you shall presently with all spéede amend and repaire it.