Chap. II
Of the Nurserie where you shall set all manner of Kernels, and Stones, for the furnishing of the Orchard.
Although great persons, out of their greatnesse and abilitie, doe buy their fruit trées ready grafted, and so in a moment may plant an Orchard of the greatest quantitie, yet sith the Husbandman must raise euery thing from his owne indeauours, and that I onely write for his profit, I therefore hould it most conuenient to beginne with the nursery or store-house of fruits, from whence the Orchard receiueth his beauty and riches.
This Nursery must be a piece of principall ground, either through Art or Nature, strongly fenced, warme, and full of good shelter: for in it is onely the first infancy and tendernesse of fruit-trées, because there they are first kernells, or stones, after sprigs, and lastly trées.
Now for the manner of chusing, sowing, and planting them in this nursery, I differ some thing from the french practise, who would chuse the kernells from the cider presse, sow them in large bedds of earth, and within a yeere after replant them in a wilde Orchard: now for mine owne part, though this course be not much faulty, yet I rather chuse this kinde of practise, first: to chuse your kernells either of Apples, Peares, or Wardens, from the best and most principallest fruit you can taste, for although the kernell doe bring forth no other trée but the plaine stocke vpon which the fruit was grafted, as thus, if the graft were put into a Crab-stocke the kernell brings forth onely a Crab-trée, yet when you taste a perfect and delicate Apple, be assured both the stocke and graft were of the best choise, and so such kernells of best reckoning. When you haue then a competent quantitie of such kernells, you shall take certaine large pots, in the fashion of milke-boules, all full of hoales in the bottome, through which the raine and superfluous moysture may auoyde, and either in the Months of March or Nouember (for those are the best seasons) fill the pots three parts full of the finest, blackest, and richest mould you can get, then lay your kernells vpon the earth, about foure fingars one from another, so many as the vessell can conueniently containe, and then with a siue sift vpon them other fine moulds almost thrée fingars thicke, and so let them rest, filling so many pots or vessells as shall serue to receiue your quantitie of kernells of all sorts. Now if any man desire to know my reason why I rather desire to set my kernells rather in vessells then in beds of earth, my answere is, that I haue often found it in mine experience, that the kernell of Apples, Peares, Quinces, and such like, are such a tender and dainty séede that it is great oddes but the wormes will deuoure and consume them before they sprout, who naturally delight in such séedes, which these vessels onely doe preuent: but to proceede.
After your kernells are sprouted vp and growne to be at least seauen or eight inches high, you shall then within your nursery digge vp a border about two foote and an halfe broad, more then a foote déepe, and of such conuenient length as may receiue all your young plants, and hauing made the mould fine and rich with Manure, you shall then with your whole hand gripe as much of the earth that is about the plant as you can conueniently hould, and so take both the plant and the mould out of the vessell, and replant it in the new drest border: and you shall thus doe plant after plant, till you haue set euery one, and made them firme and fast in the new mould: wherein you are to obserue these two principles, first that you place them at least fiue foote one from another, and secondly, that such kernells as you set in your vessels in March, that you replant them in borders of earth in Nouember following, and such as you set in Nouember to replant in March following, and being so replanted to suffer them to grow till they be able to beare grafts, during which time you shall diligently obserue, that if any of them chance to put forth any superfluous branches or cyons, which may hinder the growth of the body of the plant, that you carefully cut them away, that thereby it may be the sooner inabled to beare a graft: for it is euer to be intended that whatsoeuer procéedeth from kernells are onely to be preserued for stockes to graft on, and for no other purpose.
Now for the stones of Plumbes, & other stone fruit, you shall vnderstand that they be of two kindes, one simple and of themselues, as the Rye-plumbe, Wheate-plumbe, Damson, Prune-plumbe, Horse-clogge, Cherry, and such like, so that from the kernells of them issueth trées of like nature and goodnesse: the other compounded or grafted plumbes, as the Abricot, Pescod, Peach, Damaske, Verdochyo, Emperiall, and such like, from whose kernells issueth no other trées but such as the stockes were vpon which they were grafted. Now, for the manner of setting the first, which are simple and vncompounded, you shall digge vp a large bedde of rich and good earth a month or more before March or Nouember, and hauing made the mould as fine as is possible, you shall flat-wise thrust euery stone, a foote one from another, more then thrée fingars into the mould, and then with a little small rake, made for the purpose, rake the bedde ouer and close vp the holes, and so let them rest till they be of a yéeres groath, at which time you shall replant them into seuerall borders, as you did your Apple-trée plants and others.
Now for the kernells of your compounded or grafted Plumbes, you shall both set them in beddes and replant them into seuerall borders, in the same manner as you did the other kernells of Plumbes, onely you shall for the space of eight and forty houres before you set them stéepe them in new milke, forasmuch as the stones of them are more hard, and with greater difficulty open and sprout in the earth, then any other stone whatsoeuer: and thus hauing furnished your Nursery of all sorts of fruits and stockes, you shall when they come to full age and bignesse graft them in such order as shalbe hereafter declared.