88 A DISCOURSE

Book I.moulded over, will produce good Grass, without any Detriment to theGround; but this is a Secret not yet well understood, and would me-rit an express ‘Paragraph , were it here seasonable.

- & jam nos inter op ac as

Mufa vocat Salices .. .— -

CHAP. XIX.

Of the Withy, Sallow, Ozier and Willow .

Withy, j, QAlix: Since Cato has attributed the third Place to the Salitfum,preferring it even next to the very Ortyard ; and (what onewould wonder at) before even the Olive , Meadow or Corn-field itself (for SaliBum tertio loco, nemque post vine am, &c.) and that wefind it so easily rais’d of so great, and universal D/e, I have thoughtgood to be the more particular in my Discourse upon it; especially, sinceso much of that which I lhall publilh concerning them, is derived fromthe long Experience of a most Learned and Ingenious Person , fromwhom I acknowledge to have received many of these Hints. Not toperplex the Reader with the various Names, Greeks Gallic, Sab in, A-merine > Vitex, &c. better distinguished by their Growth and Bark ;and by Latin Authors all comprehended under that of Salices : OurEnglish Books reckon them promiscuously thus ; The common whiteWMow, the black , and the hard Black , the Rose of Cambridge , theblack Withy , the round-long Sallow ; the longest Sallow , the crack -Willow , the round-ear'd Jhining Willow, the lesser broad-leav dWillow, silver sallow upright broad Willow , repent broad-leav'd,the Redstone, the lesser Willow, the strait-Dwarf the yellow-Dwarfithe long-leav'd yellow Sallow , the Creeper , the black-low Willow ,the Wtllow-bay , and the Ozier , I begin with the Withy.

2.. The Withy is a reasonable large Tree (for some have been foundten Foot about) is fit to be planted on high Banks, and Ditch -{\deswithin reach of Water, and the weeping sides of Hills ; because theyextend their Roots deeper than either Sallows or Willows, for thisReason you lhall plant them at ten or twenty Foot Distance; and thoughthey grow the slowest of all the twiggy Trees, yet do they recompenceit with the larger Crop ; the Wood being tough, and the Twigs fit tobind strongly; the very Peelings of the Branches being useful to bindArbor-yoXmg, and in Topiary-v/otks, Vineyards, Espalier-Fruit, andthe like: And we are told of some that grow twisted into Ropes of anhundred and twenty Paces, serving instead of Cables. There are twoprincipal Sorts of these Withies, the hoary, and the red-Withy (whichis the Greek) toughest, and fittest to bind, whilst the Twigs are flexibleand tender.

3. Sallows grow much faster, if they are planted within reach ofWater , or in a very moorish Ground, or flat Plain; and where the Soil is(by reason of extraordinary Moisture) unfit for Arable or Meadow ;

u m D^ e ^ses, it is an extraordinary Improvement ; in a Word,where Birch and Alder will thrive. Before you plant them, it isfound best to turn the Ground with a Spade , especially if you designthem for a Flat. We have three Sorts of Sallows amongst us (which