A DISCOURSE

Bo okII. forty Years since) when one Side of the Tree was scorched also ; yetit has not only recovered that Scar, but thrives exceedingly, and iswithin eight or nine Foot as tall as the other, and would probablyhave been the better of the two, had not that Impediment happened, itgrowing so taper, and erect, as nothing can be more beautiful : This Ithink (if we had no other) is a pregnant Instance, as of the speedygrowing of that material, so of all the Encouragement I have al-ready given for the more frequent cultivating this ornamental, useful,and profitable Tree, abounding doubtless formerly in this Countryof ours, if what a grave and authentick Author writes to be true,Athenaus relating, that the stupendious Vessel, built so many Agessince by Hiero, had its Mast out of Britain. Take notice that noneof these mountainous Trees should be planted deep, but as shallow asmay be, for their competent Support.

Picba. The Ticea (already described) grows on the Alps among the Tine,but neither so tall, nor so upright, but bends its Branches a little, whichhave the Leaf quite about them, short and thick, not so flat as theFir: The Cones grow at the Point of the Branches , and are muchlonger than most other Cones , containing a small darkish Seed. ThisTree produces a Gum almost as white and firm as Frankincense: But itis the Larix (another Sort of Tine) that yields the true VenetianTurpentine ; of which hereafter.

10. There is also the Ticeafler , already mentioned, a wilder Sort,(the Leaves stiff and narrow pointed, and not so close) out of whichthe greatest store of Titch is boiled. The Tada likewise, which is(as some think) another Sort abounding in Tdalmatia , more unctuous,and more patient of the warmer Situations, and so inflammable, that itwill flit into Candles and therefore some will by no means admit it tobe of a different Species , but a Metamorphosis of ovcr-grown Fatti-ness, to which the most judicious incline. But of these, the grandCanaries (and all about the Mountains near Tenarijs ) are full, where'the Inhabitants do usually build their Houses with the Timber of theTitch-tree : They cut it also into Wainscot , in which it succeeds mar-vellously well; abating, that it is so obnoxious to firing, that whenevera House is attacked, they make all imaginable haste out of the Confla-gration, and almost despair of extinguishing it: They there also use itfor Candle-wood, and to travel in the Night by the Light of it, as wedo by Links and Torches : Nor do they make these Teas (as theSpaniards call them) of the Wood of Tine alone, but of other Trees,as of Oak and Hasel, which they cleave and hack, and then dry in theOven or Chimney, but have certainly some unctuous and inflammableMatter, in which they afterwards dip it; but thus they do in Biscay ,as I am credibly informed.

11. The Bodies of these being cut, or burnt down to the Ground,will emit frequent Suckers from the Roots ; but so will neither theTine nor Fir , nor indeed care to be topped: But the Fir may bepropagated of Layers and Cuttings, which I divulge as a considerableSecret that has been essayed with Success.

.That all these, especially the Fir and Tine, will prosper wellwith us, is more than probable, because it is a Kind of Hemonfiratiotuthat they did heretofore grow plentifully in Cumberland , Cheshire-)Stafford and Lancashire, if the Multitudes of these Trees to this Dayfound entire, and buried under the Earth , though supposed to havei been

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