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Of the ‘Production of new Plants..

How to make sweet Almonds of bitter ones ,

even by boring a.hole in the middle of the stock, and putting into it a wooddenwedge besmeared over with honey. *

Sweet Cucumbers

may be procured, by steeping Cucumber feeds in sweet waters,till they have drunkthem up: for they being planted, will produce sweet Cucumbers, Theophrastusshews how to mike sweet Cucumbers, even by the same sleight; by sleeping theirseed in milk, or else in water and honey sodden together, and so planting them.Columellaiikh, that a Cucumber will eat very tender and sweet , if you steep theseed thereof in milk before you set it. Others, because they would have the Cucum-ber to be the sweeter, do steep the seed thereof in honey-water. c Plinj and Palla-dium do write the same things of the fame fruit, out of the fame Authors. Cafsianuthath declared out of Farro, how to procure

Sweet Artichockj growing.

You must take the Artichock-seeds, and steep them in milk and honey, and after youhave dryed them again, then set them, and the fruit will relish of honey. So youmay procure

Sweet Fennel growing)

For if yen steep Fennel-seeds in sweet wine and milk, then will the fruitthat grows of those seeds, be much sweeter. Or else if you put the seeds thereof indry hgs, and so plant them, the like effect will follow. So you may procure

S weet Melons ,

as Palladius (hews ; even by steeping the seeds thereof in milk and sweet wine forthree dayes together: for then if you dry them, and set them being so dryed, therewill grow up a very sweet fruit. Likewise you may procure

Sweet Lettice;

for if you water them in the evening with new sweet wine, and let them drink forthree evenings together as much of that liquor as they will soak up, it will causesweet Letcice, as Aristoxenu* the Cyrenian hath taught out of Athcnaus, So

A sweet P^adijh may be procured ,

by steeping the Radish-seeds for a day and a night in honey, or in sodden wine, asboth Palladisu and Florenttnus have recorded. So you may procure the fame, bysteeping the seeds in new sweet wine, or else in the juice of Raisons. There is alsoanother device, whereby to make sharp or bitter fruits to become sweet; and thisis by art and cunning in dressing them; as,by pouring hot water, or the Lees of oile,or casting foil and such like about their roots. As for example: when we wouldmake

A bitter Almond to become sweets

we cast some sharp piercing matter upon the root, that by vertue of their heat, theTree may the more easily concoct her moisture, and so yield a sweeter fruit. 7 'heo-pbrastm faith, that if we apply hot and strong soil, as Swines-dung, or such like, tothe root of the bitter Almond-tree, it will become sweet: but it will be threeyears before the Tree be so changed, and for all that time you must use the famehusbanding of it. ^Africanus faith; If you uncover the roots, and apply them stillwith Urine, or with Swines dung, then will the fruit be the sweeter. The Quintijsreport of Aristotle) that, by covering the Almond-tree root with Swines-dung, inMarch, of a bitter one it becomcth sweet. And Palladius useth the very same pra-wise. By the same device

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