Page:Paradisi in sole paradisus terrestris (1904 reprint).djvu/22

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The ordering of the Garden of Pleafure.

garden ſhould be, let me likewiſe aduiſe you where it ſhould not be, at leaſt that it is the worſt place wherein it may be, if it be either on the Weſt or Eaſt ſide of your houſe, or that it ſtand in a mooriſh ground, or other vnwholsome ayre (for many, both fruits, herbes, and flowers that are tender, participate with the ayre, taking in a manner their chiefeſt thriuing from thence) or neare any common Lay-ſtalles, or common Sewers, or elſe neare any great Brew-houſe, Dye-houſe, or any other place where there is much ſmoake, whether it be of ſtraw, wood, or eſpecially of ſea-coales, which of all other is the worſt, as our Citie of London can giue proofe ſufficient, wherein neither herbe nor tree will long proſper, nor hath done euer ſince the vſe of ſea-coales beganne to bee frequent therein. And likewiſe that it is much the worſe, if it bee neare vnto any Barnes or Stackes of corne or hey, becauſe that from thence will continually with the winde bee brought into the garden the ſtrawe and chaffe of the corne, the duſt and ſeede of the hey to choake or peſter it. Next vnto the place or ſituation, let mee ſhew you the grounds or ſoyles for it, eyther naturall or artificiall. No man will deny, but the natural blacke mould is not only the fatteſt and richeſt, but farre exceedeth any other either naturall or artificiall, as well in goodneſſe as durability. And next thereunto, I hold the ſandy loame (which is light and yet firme, but not looſe as ſand, nor ſtiffe like vnto clay) to be little inferiour for this our Garden of pleaſure; for that it doth cauſe all bulbous and tuberous rooted plants to thriue ſufficiently therein, as likewiſe all other flower-plants, Roſes, Trees, &c. which if it ſhall decay by much turning and working out the heart of it, may ſoone be helped with old ſtable manure of horſes, being well turned in, when it is old and almoſt conuerted to mould. Other grounds, as chalke, ſand, grauell, or clay, are euery of them one more or leſſe fertill or barren than other; and therefore doe require ſuch helpes as is moſt fit for them. And thoſe grounds that are ouer dry, looſe, and duſtie, the manure of ſtall fedde beaſts and cattell being buried or trenched into the earth, and when it is thorough rotten (which will require twice the time that the ſtable ſoyle of horſes will) well turned and mixed with the earth, is the beſt ſoyle to temper both the heate and drineſſe of them. So contrariwiſe the ſtable dung of horſes is the beſt for cold grounds, to giue them heate and life. But of all other ſorts of grounds, the ſtiffe clay is the very worſt for this purpose; for that although you should digge out the whole compaſſe of your Garden, carry it away, and bring other good mould in the ſtead thereof, and fill vp the place, yet the nature of that clay is ſo predominant, that in a ſmall time it will eate out the heart of the good mould, and conuert it to its owne nature, or very neare vnto it: ſo that to bring it to any good, there muſt bee continuall labour beſtowed thereon, by bringing into it good ſtore of chalke, lime, or ſand, or elſe aſhes eyther of wood or of ſea-coales (which is the beſt for this ground) well mixed and turned in with it. And as this ſtiffe clay is the worſt, ſo what ground ſoeuer commeth neareſt vnto the nature thereof, is neareſt vnto it in badneſſe, the ſignes whereof are the ouermuch moyſture thereof in Winter, and the much cleauing and chapping thereof in Summer, when the heate of the yeare hath conſumed the moyfture, which tyed and bound it fafſt together, as alſo the ſtiffe and hard working therein: but if the nature of the clay bee not too ſtiffe, but as it were tempered and mixed with ſand or other earths, your old ſtable ſoyle of horſes will helpe well the ſmall rifting or chapping thereof, to be plentifully beſtowed therin in a fit ſeaſon. Some alſo do commend the caſting of ponds and ditches, to helpe to manure theſe ſtiffe chapping grounds. Other grounds, that are ouermoiſt by ſprings, that lye too neare the vpper face of the earth, beſides that the beds thereof had need to be laid vp higher, and the allies, as trenches and furrowes, to lye lower, the ground it ſelfe had neede to haue ſome good ſtore of chalke-ſtones beſtowed thereon, ſome certaine yeares, if it may be, before it be laid into a Garden, that the Winter froſts may breake the chalke ſmall, and the Raine diſſolue it into mould, that ſo they may bee well mixed together; than which, there is not any better manure to ſoyle ſuch a moiſt ground, to helpe to dry vp the moyſture, and to giue heate and life to the coldneſſe thereof, which doth alwayes accompany theſe moiſt grounds, and alſo to cauſe it abide longer in heart than any other. For the ſandy and grauelly grounds, although I know the well mollified manure of beaſts and cattell to be excellent good, yet I know alſo, that ſome commend a white Marle, and ſome a clay to be well ſpread thereon, and after turned thereinto: and for the chalkie ground, è conuerfo, I commend fatte clay to helpe it. You muſt vnderſtand, that the leſſe rich or more barren that your ground is, there nee--

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