_Of the Vine, and of his ordering._
For as much as the nature, temperature, and clymate, of our soyle is not
so truely proper and agreeing with the Vine as that of Fraunce, Italy,
Spaine, and such like, and sith wee haue it more for delight, pleasure,
and prospect, then for any peculyar profit, I will not vndertake
_Monsiuer Lybaults_ painefull labour, in discribing euery curious
perfection or defect that belongs thereunto, as if it were the onely
iewell and commoditie of our kingdome, but onely write so much as is
fitting for our knowledge touching the maintaynance, increase, and
preseruation thereof, in our Orchards, Gardens, and other places of
recreation.
{SN: Of planting or setting the Vine.}
First then to speake of the planting or setting of the Vine, your
greatest diligence must be to seeke out the best plants, and if that
which is most strange, rare, great and pleasant be the best, then is
that grape which is called the Muskadine, or Sacke grape, the best, and
haue their beginning either from Spaine, the Canary Ilands, or such like
places: next to them is the French grape, of which there be many kindes,
the best whereof is the grape of Orleance, the next the grape of
Gascoynie, the next of Burdeaux, and the worst of Rochell, and not any
of these but by industry will prosper in our English gardens: when
therefore you chuse your plants, you shall chuse such of the young cyons
as springing from the olde woode, you may in the cutting cut at least a
ioynt or two of olde woode with the young: for the olde will take
soonest, and this olde woode must be at least seauen or eight inches
long, and the young cyon almost a yard, and the thicker and closer the
ioynts of the young cyon are, so much the better they are: and the fit
time for cutting and gathering these sets are in midde-Ianuary, then
hauing prepared, digged, and dunged your earth the winter before, you
shall at the latter end of Ianuary take two of these sets, or plants,
placing them according to this figure:
{Illustration}
And lay them in the earth slope-wise, at least a foote deepe, leauing
out of the earth, vncouered, not aboue foure or fiue ioynts, at the
most, and then couer them with good earth firmely, closely, and
strongly, hauing regard to raise those cyons which are without the earth
directly vpward, obseruing after they be set, once in a month to weede
them, and keepe them as cleane as is possible: for nothing is more
noysome vnto them then the suffocating of weeds: also you shall not
suffer the mould to grow hard or bind about the rootes, but with a small
spade once in a fortnight to loosen and breake the earth, because there
rootes are so tender that the least straytning doth strangle and
confound them. If the season doe grow dry, you may vse to water them,
but not in such sort as you water other plants, which is to sprinckle
water round about the earth of the rootes, but you shall with a round
Iron made for the purpose somewhat bigger then a mans fingar, make
certaine holes into the earth, close vpon the roote of the Vine, and
powre therein either water, the dregges of strong-Ale, or the lees of
Wine, or if you will you may mixe with the lees of Wine either
Goats-milke, or Cowes-milke, and power it into the holes and it will
nourish the Vine exceedingly, and not the Vine onely, but all sorts of
dainty grafted Plumbes, especially Peaches.
{SN: Of proyning the Vine.}
Now for proyning the Vine, you shall vnderstand that it is euer to be
done after the fall of the leafe, when the sappe is desended downeward,
for if you shall proyne, or cut him, either in the spring, or when the
sappe is aloft, it will bleede so exceedingly, that with great
difficulty you shall saue the body of the tree from dying: and, in
proyning of the Vine you shall obserue two things, the first, that you
cut away all superfluous cyons and branches, both aboue and below, which
either grow disorderly aboue, or fruitlessely below, and in cutting them
you shall obserue, neither to cut the olde woode with the young cyon,
nor to leaue aboue one head or leader vpon one branch: secondly, you
shall in proyning, plash and spread the VINE thinnely against the wall,
giuing euery seuerall branch and cyon his place, and passage, and not
suffer it to grow loosely, rudely, or like a wilde thorne, out of all
decency and proportion: for you must vnderstand that your Grapes doe
grow euer vpon the youngest cyons, and if of them you shall preserue too
many, questionlesse for want of nourishment they will lose their vertue,
and you your profit. Now if your Vine be a very olde Vine, and that his
fruit doth decay, either in quantitie or proportion; if then you finde
he haue any young cyons which spring from his roote, then when you
proyne him you shall cut away all the olde stocke, within lesse then an
handfull of the young cyons, and make them the leaders, who will prosper
and continue in perfection a long time after, especially if you trimme
the rootes with fresh earth, and fresh dunge. Againe, if you be carefull
to looke vnto your Vine, you shall perceiue close by euery bunch of
grapes certaine small thridde-like cyons, which resemble twound wyars,
curling and turning in many rings, these also take from the grapes very
much nutriment, so that it shall be a labour very well imployd to cut
them away as you perceiue them.
{SN: Experiments of the Vine.}
Now from the Vine there is gathered sundry experiments, as to haue it
tast more pleasant then the true nature of the grape, and to smell in
the mouth odoriferously, or as if it were perfumed, which may be done in
this sort: Take damaske-Rose-water and boyle therein the powder of
Cloaues, Cynamon, three graines of Amber, and one of Muske, and when it
is come to be somewhat thicke, take a round goudge and make a hole in
the maine stocke of the Vine, full as deepe as the hart thereof, and
then put therein this medicine, then stopping the hole with Cypresse, or
Iuniper, lay greene-waxe thereupon, and binde a linnen cloath about it,
and the next grapes which shall spring from that Vine will tast as if
they were preserued or perfumed.
If you will haue grapes without stones, you shall take your plants and
plant the small ends downeward and be assured your desire is attained.
The Vine naturally of himselfe doth not bring forth fruit till it haue
beene three yeeres planted: but if euening and morning for the first
month you will bath his roote with Goats-milke or Cowes-milke, it will
beare fruit the first yeere of his planting. Lastly, you may if you
please graft one Vine vpon another, as the sweet vpon the sower, as the
Muskadine grape, or greeke, vpon the Rochell or Burdeaux, the Spanish,
or Iland grape, on the Gascoyne, and the Orleance vpon any at all: and
these compositions are the best, and bring forth both the greatest and
pleasantest grapes: therefore whensoeuer you will graft one grape vpon
another, you shall doe it in the beginning of Ianuary, in this sort:
first, after you haue chosen and trimmed your grafts, which in all sorts
must be like the grafts of other fruits, then with a sharpe knife, you
shall cleaue the head of the Vine, as you doe other stockes and then put
in your graft, or cyon, being made as thinne as may be and see that the
barkes and sappes ioyne euen and close together, then clay it, mosse it,
and couer it, as hath beene before declared.
{SN: The medicining of the Vine.}
If your Vine grow too ranke and thicke of leaues, so that the sappe doth
wast it selfe in them, and you thereby lose the profit of the fruit, you
shall then bare all the rootes of the Vine, and cast away the earth,
filling vp the place againe with sand & ashes mingled together: but if
the Vine be naturally of it selfe barraine, then with a goudge you shall
make a hole halfe way through the maine body of the Vine, and driue into
the hole a round pible stone, which although it goe straitly in, yet it
may not fill vp the hole, but that the sicke humour of the Vine may
passe thorrow thereat: then couer the roote with rich earth, and Oxe
dunge mixt together, and once a day for a month water it with olde
pisse, or vrine of a man, and it will make the tree fruitfull: if the
Vine be troubled with Wormes, Snailes, Ants, Earewigges, or such like,
you shall morning and euening sprinckle it ouer with cowes-pisse and
vinegar mixt together & it will helpe it: & thus much for ordering the
Vine.