OF FORES T-T RE ES* 117

spontaneousty ; but its Fruit seems not so tempting as it is storied it wasCH ap.ILto the Companions of Ulysses: The first who brought the Lotus outof Virginia , was the late industrious Tradefcant. Of this Wood are u s E s .made Vises, and Wind-instruments, and of its Root, Hafts for Knives,and other Tools } &c. The Offer of Crajsus to Domitius for half aDozen of these Trees, growing about an House of his in Rome , testi-fies in what Esteem they were had, for their incomparable Beauty andUse.

The Cornel Tree, though not mention’d by Rliny for its Timber, is Cornel,exceedingly commended for its Durablenefs and Use in Wheel-work,

Tins and Wedges, in which it lasts like the hardest Iron ; and it willgrow with us to good Bulk and Stature ; and the preferv’d and pickledBerries (or Cherries rather) are most refreshing, an excellent Condi-ment, and do also well in Tarts. But that is very odd, which Ma-thiolus affirms upon his own Experience, That one who has been bit-ten of a Mad-dog, if in a Year after he handle the Wood of this Tree,till it grow warm, relapses again into his former Distemper.

The fame reported of the Cornus fæmina, or wild Cornel ; whichis like the former for Compactednefs, and made use of for Cart-timbersi SES *and other rustick Instruments ; besides, for the best of ButchersSkewers, Tooth-pickers , and in some Countries abroad they decoct; theBerries, which prefs’d, yield an Oil for the Lamp.

Lastly, The Acacia , and that of Virginian , deserves a Place among Ac » clA -our Avenue Trees (could they be made to grow upright) adorningour Walks with their exotic Leaf and sweet Flowers ; very hardy a-gainst the pinching Winter , but not so Proof against its blustringWinds ’ though it be armed with Thorns : Nor do the Roots take suchhold of the Ground, insinuating, and running more like Liquorish , andapt to emaciate the Soil • I will not therefore commend it for Gardens,unless for the Variety • of which there are several, some without Thorns:

They love to be planted in moist Ground.

One Thing more there is, which (for the Use and Benefit which .these and the like Exotics afford us) I would take hold of, as uponall occasions I do in this Work: Namely, to encourage all imagi-nary Industry of such as travel foreign Countries, and especially Gen-tlemen who have Concerns in our American Riant at ions, to promotethe Culture of such Riants and Trees (especially Timber) as may yetadd to those we find already agreeable to our Climate in England . Whatwe have said of the Mulberry, and the vast Emolument rais’d by thevery Leaves, as well as Wood of that only Tree (beside those we nowhave mentioned, Strangers till of late, and believed incicurable here)were sufficient to excite and stir up our utmost Industry. History tellsus, the noble and fruitful Country of France was heretofore thoughtso steril and barren, that nothing almost prospering in it, the Inhabi-tants were quite deserting it, and with their Wives and Children go-ing to seek some other more propitious Abodes:, till some of them hap-pening to come into Italy, and tasting the Juice of the delicious Grape,the rest of their Countrymen took Arms, and invaded the Territorieswhere those Vines grew ; which they transplanted into Gallia, andhave so infinitely improved since, that France alone yields more of thatgenerous Liquor , than not only Italy and Greece, but all Europe andAsia beside: Who almost would believe that the austere Rhenish, a-bounding on the fertile Banks of the Rhine, should produce so soft and

G g charming

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