| Title: | Translated Treatise & Observations On Vines [Peter Smith?], With Letter, Beale To Hartlib. |
|---|---|
| Dating: | Undated [After December 1656] |
| Ref: | 52/154A-159B |
| Notes: | Almost all punctuation in Smith's work has been added by Beale. |
[52/154A]
<Hartlib: No.22>
[Peter Smith?:]
A short discourse of the Artificiall propagation of the rooted settes of vines of all sorts <Beale: by> which <Beale: art they will> beare fruit more abundantly, & are lesse subject to frost, then those planted in the common way.
Neither he that planteth, nor he that watereth
is any thing, but God that giveth the increase.
1 Cor.3 v.2.
[Beale:]
Sir
The piece that is here translated, is the same which you bestowd upon mee Dec.6. 1656. the Title was thus
Brevis relatio
De Artificiosa radicatorum palmitum propagatione in
omni vitis et uvarum genere;
Qui radicati palmites cum initio largiter
fructu exuberant, nec tam cito ac comunes propagati
palmites rigore algent.
You may please to consider Whether this bee not the [several words deleted] <same designe though not the same> argument which is soe highly admird by Walchius, & by him reputed amongst the Wonderfull productions of late ages Of which hee thus sayth dec Fab 9. pag 264
Sed et hoc rebus novis sibi hactenus ignoratis, ac propterea inusitatis vinitores adnumerent, artemque edoceantur; &c Hee speakes there indeed of graffing the most noble & generous Vines upon any vulgar stockes; which is an art as necessary for the improvment
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of vineyards, as for any other sort of fruite; But there hee doth allso make mention of a treatise that newely came abroade, giving such directions as conduce to preserve Vineyards from the blasts & frosts.
Whether you please to mention the author of this Latine discourse, or not; I conceive it, for brevity & pertinency, worthy to bee recomended into the hands of some of your eminent friends, that are willing to affoord a Countenance to this elegant kind of Husbandry; And when you shall thinke fit to make it more publique, Wee shall offer some more observations to bee added to it.
This I have only inserted, because the pages had otherwise beene blanke;
Your humble servant I.B.
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[Peter Smith?:]
The Manner how to proceed in Ordering the plants of
rooted vines
1 First in the spring when vines are pruned, the best cions of the last yeres growth, about a foot [letter deleted] & a halfe long, are to be chosen, & being trimmed with a good knife of their old buds, set them in earth, leaving onely the smaller ends aboue ground, which without question, by reason of the moysture of the season, will be fresh, and liuely at May
2 Secondly, May approaching, let the settes be taken out of the earth, & being one by one cut off[altered from of] at their botte ends so evenly, that no ragges be left after the knife, Binde the settes by the hundred, or more, in a bundle, lifting up <Beale?: them> between your hands, let them fall upon their bottes on a plaine table, that the ends of all the settes in the bundle may lie even, & the sides close to each other.
3 Thirdly, having made a round hole in firme land, not exceeding a foot & halfe deep, let the bundles of settes closely bound together be placed therein, with the wrong ende upwards, so that the bottes may ly uppermost next the skie. Take care that no loose earth get among the settes in the bundles, & seing the botte endes of the bundles lying uppermost reach no higher then the surface of the earth, it is convenient to fill all hollow places underneath with earth, & to gard the settes two inches high round about
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the hole, that it fill not with water in rayny weather.
4 Fowerthly, the bundles thus placed in the earth, are to be covered two inches thicke, with good dung, upon which let cleane earth be sifted equally three inches high, & so let them remaine fiue, six, seaven or eight weekes.
5 Fiftly, these bundles of settes, thus placed in earth with their wrong ends upwards, for fiue or six weekes, The severall settes in their botte ends under the dung will beginne to be covered with rinde, & gather a blister like skinne, as you may behold with delight and admiration. But that covering with skinne happens within fiue or six weekes sooner, or later, as the season either favours, or hinders them, & therefore, the fifth weeke approaching, you may open a hole on the top, to see whether it is time to drawe foorth the bundles or not.
6 Sixtly, All the settes being now covered with skinne, as if they were dawbed over with wax, draw them foorth loosing the bundles, & set the Botte ende downewards, which before you placed upwards, plant the settes by three & three together, after this manner:
Ioyne three settes with their tops closed together aboue ground suffering their bottes at equall distance (place them in this figure [DIAGRAM]) then plant the settes almost halfe a foot deep in the earth, not directly downewards, but aslope: For when the settes
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grow a foot high aboue ground, every three settes of six inches height, should allwaies joyne in the head to make a stocke. Let the settes be slopingly covered with earth, even unto the uppermost budd that one onely stemme may spring from each plant, the rest being buried in the earth.
7 Seaventhly, these settes thus planted for the space of two yeres are to be dressed as others; But obserue that in the second yere, about the season that vines are pruned, you must uncover these settes of the earth reserving onely one foot deep of mould. [brackets in left margin] Cutt the strings and small rootes they haue put foorth (but allwaies take care they be not wronged in those rootes they tooke at first in the earth, halfe a foot deep) Afterwards cover them with earth, as before. In this space of two yeres the settes will haue put foorth both in the first earth of halfe a foot deep <left margin, Beale: this is rather an explication then a translation.> & in the next adjoyning, many rootes & living strings which it will surely be a pleasure to behold.
8 Eightly, if you desire to plant new settes, or to renew an old stocke, take rooted cions of these, cutting off[altered from of] the strings & superfluous rootes, as was observed before, & set them in earth not much aboue halfe a foot deep, as I directed before.
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This kinde of planting rooted settes, is much more profitable then ours in the common Way, for two reasons. First these rooted settes being covered with mould in their lower parts, & encompassed with plenty of roots well united, doe better resist the cold, piercing the face of the ground, & are not so easily subject to the frost as others; Secondly, these rooted settes yeld a greater increase, then others; For, when these are pruned, eight or ten settes are to be preserved, all which for divers yeres together will abound with fruit, if the soyle be good: wheras, on the contrary, you may not leaue more then three, or fower cions, on the common vine. But if you obserue not, to leaue a full proportion of cions in these rooted settes, by reason of the superabundance of sap & fertility, they will fall their fruit, so that you may looke for your grapes under the vine. But be sure to affoord store of wood for props to your vine, that it may be fruitfull in every branch, especially if you plant on fresh land, or continue a vinyard planted on a rich soyle, whereby you may enjoy a double vintage; & otherwise, if you are not observant to nature, you may scarsely haue halfe so much, which may well be imputed to your selfe in neglecting the vertue & strength of nature, & being carelesse of what is under your hand, when in a blinde way you plant after the old fashion, without
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desire to learne, or trie more, whereas the propagation of rooted vines, spoken of before, requires not charge, but roome, with some little paines & trouble, which by the blessing of god they will abundantly recompence. For which we giue God due praise.
________
Some observations upon this discourse, & a few
enquiries, concerning the culture of vines
in England.
The chief designe of this discourse, is by the planting the vine settes aslope, & joyning three settes for every stocke, to make the vineyards more fruitful, & more hardy against frosts. I finde by experience many herbs, & plants set aslope, to prosper much better then those that are sett downewright, as having their rootes much nearer the sun and surface of the earth; And the meanes prescribed of covering vinestockes sometimes with mould, and at other seasons clearing them both of earth and the upper strings set foorth therein, I much applaud, finding the same very beneficiall in the culture of hoppes, & in a nursery of fruit trees, the paring of woods, & mould applied to the bottes, will much advantage their growth, & freshnes: But, whether the making of tumpes about the stockes will preserue the tender branches from the rigour of May frosts, I doubt it much, because
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the nipping frosts of that season blast onely the [deletion] young & tender branches, without piercing the earth or hurting the rootes: the remedy whereof for wallvines,is to cover them by night; But for the vineyard it is out of the power of man to defend it against the breath of heaven. These frosts are much feared in Germany, & France, because in the continent, the windes are more drie, & piercing, being cleared in their long passage over land. But with us in Ilands, the vapours of the sea doth condense, and temper the cold blasts, so that neither cold, nor heat are so intense & penetrating.
But, I conceiue it worth the enquiry, to see what the obstacles are, that we haue not wine of English growth? Those I beleeue may be reckoned in this order. <TRANS SWITCH="1"></TRANS> Remotenesse of the sun, <TRANS SWITCH="2"></TRANS> frequent showers, <3> Bad culture. For the first, it is remedied in good degree by planting vines against the East, South, and west walles, by planting allso the southerne sides of sandy hilles, which will (by reflection of the sun) countervaile the distance of two, or three degrees. The second obstacle, is a very great one; for much raine doth refrigerate the plants, & makes fruits watry, & insipid; And herein
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England, as it advanced on the one side by moysture for hay & pasture, so is it rendred much inferior then the continent for seeds & fruits. But notwithstanding this inconvenience, we finde by experience, that in drie yeres we haue great abundance of ripe grapes, & in the moystest season we faile not of store of sowre grapes fitt for vinegar which is a sufficient recompence for the greatest [deletion] charge bestowed on vines. And I suppose the great quantity of vinegar imported from France, shewes our defect at home, which although at present it be used chiefly for delicacy, yet the ancient course was to mix it with water, as a drinke for the common sort, which the Roman soldiers well knew, accounting vinegar as a provision for warre, being not allowed either wine or baked bread! But the chief remedies against immoderate raine, seem to be the planting on sandy ground, which will soone drie up the falling moysture: The thinne planting of stockes & frequent pruning of the leaues, & superfluous shoots, that the sun & winde may speedily aire the branches: And for wallvines, I haue seen large paving stones placed on the ground in August to convey <Beale: away> the falling raine with good successe. The last inconvenience
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is want of culture, without which, vines, even in France or Germany, beare not much better fruit then in England; Witnesse the high vines, covering Arbours at Paris; whose fruit serues onely for vinegar. And in the time of Cæsar, wine was not knowne in those countries, excepting what was imported by merchants. But at present, their skill & diligence is so great, that I know no commodity these countries yeld, equall to the fruit of their vines. The husbandry whereof, hath great affinity with the dressing of hopyards: The first matter of importance is the choyce of right kinds for the soyle, wherein we may obserue, that the Parsely vine & Paris vine with such others, that are most hardy, are proper for England. For the pruning in March I suppose two foot high is sufficient for stockes, to be left in the manner of Osiars. The application of compost, frequent turning of the soyle in summer, & supporting the branches fastened to forkes, & stakes, is the same with the culture of hopps. But the chief thing used in France, & generally neglected with us, is the pruning off[altered from of] leaues & shoots, continually, during the summer, leaving at first onely the most choyce buds & in Iune <left margin, Beale: superfluous>, when the vine flowreth, taking away the superfluous shoots, wires, & leaues in the moneths of Iune, Iuly, & August, whereby the sap is
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confined to the branches, that beare the clusters, & the grapes being delivered from the annoyance of so much shade, stand exposed to the benefit of the sun; which seldome failes to produce large, & ripe fruit. The last obstacle, is our ignorance in the skill of making wine, wherein the common course with us is to stampe the clusters in a trough, & afterwards squeeze the juyce by a cider presse or the like, which manner of proceeding would produce but pittiful wine even in France. There the manner is to place a great vessell in the vineyard wherein they doe gather the ripe grapes; Now the best & most generous wine, is that which runs first, without any other violence, then the weight of the grapes; it being certaine, that the ripest grapes breake first. The second wine, is forced by the weight of a man treading in the vessell, &
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that the successe would be confirmed by experience: which would much conduce to the Designe of plenty proposed by Mr Hartlib by a speedy returne of fruit from this neglected plant, which in fower or fiue yeres) attaines as great
PS.
[Beale:]
The Latine discourse beeing very harsh & imperfect, no wonder if it bee rather explicated then closely translated in some places. I doubt that in the seaventh paragraffe the English doth disagree from the Latine. The English is thus, Observe That in the 2d yeare, about the seasone that vines are pruned, you must uncover those sets of the earth, reserving only one foote deepe of mold, &c
The latine thus, Observa, anno iterum in se revertente, illo scilicet tempore, quando, palmites purificantur, terra obvolutos ad unum usque pedem, denuda istos palmites, et fibras &c Should it not bee thus Englished;-- You must uncover those sets, taking off the earth to a foote depth; cut away the strings & small rootes &c Let this bee compared, & examined by some one that does better understand the Latine, or style of the writer.