Tk PREFACE

Rations, Adulterations, Bastardizings, Brewings, Trickings, mt tofay, even Arsenical Compasfings of thesophisticated God they adore ;and that they had as true an Inspection into those Arcana Lucifera,which the Priests of his Temples {our Vintners in their Taverns) doP'attife• and then let them drink freely that will-, Azy&v hS^p:Give me good Cider. ,

It is noted in our Aphorisms hove much this Beverage was esteem db his late Majesty, and Court, and there referr'd to all the Gentry°f the environing Country, (no strangers to the befl Wines) when forseveral Summers in the City of Hereford (so encompass d with Jioreof it, and brought thither without Charge, or extraordinary Subdu-ctions) it was fold for Six-pence the Wine-quart , not for the Scarcity,hut the Excellency of it: rind for the Red-strakc, that it has beenseen there hundreds of times (with vehement and engaged competition )compar'd with the Cider of other the mof celebrated Fruit, when af-ter a while of Vapour, no Man inffiedfor any other Liquor in com-parison.

But it is from these Instances, (may some fay) when the Worldshall have multiplied Cider-Trees, that it will be time enough togive Instructions for the right Pressing aud Preserving of theLiquor. The ObjeBion is fair: But there are already more Personsbetter furnish'd with Fruit, than with Directions how to use it as theyJhould ; when in plentiful Tears so much Cider is impair'd by the igno-rant handling, and becomes dead and fowre, that many even surfeitWith the Blessing; it being rarely seen in mof Countries, that anyremains good, to supply the defeBs of another Tear ; and the RoyalSociety would prevent all this hazard by this free Anticipation *And yet when all this is said, we undertake not to divine what excel-lent Cider other Soils may bear ; nor do wepositively extol the Red-strakc farther than the bounds and confines of Herefordshire, for theExperiments we have produe'd-, but because there are doubtless manysuch Soils fparfedly throughout this Nation; why should it not incite°ur Industry to its utmofl effort, and the commendable emulation of en-deavouring to raise a yet kindlier Cider-fruit if it be possible, andwhich may prove in its self as good, and as agreeable to the Soil whereWe plant it? And certainly, much of this may fairly be expected,from the Tryals, Culture, and ^Propagation of Kernel-fruits of innu-merable forts, aud from hopeful Wildings, and the peculiarity of• Grounds-. I find that even in the West-Indies, at our Plantations ofNew-England, one Gentleman in Connecticut Colony, made 500 Hog-sheads of Cider in one Tear out of his own Orchard; and that thoughit be in great plenty among them, yet it is fold for ten Shillings theHogshead.

It now remains, that I jhould make some Apology for my self toextenuate the tumultuary Method of the ensuing Periods. Indeed itWas not intended for a queint or elaborate piece of Art; nor is it thedesign of the Royal Society to accumulate Repetitions when they canbe avoided ; and therefore in an Argument so much beaten as is that ofdressing the Seminary, Planting, and modes of Grafting, it has beenWith Industry aiJoided ; such rude, and imperfect Draughts being farbetter i n their esteem (and according to my Lord Bacon's) than Jiichas are adorn'd with more Pomp, and ostentous Circumstances, for a

f Q pretence

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