4. Hinderance cannot profit weake trees in setting. 5. They wast much labour. 6. Thus shall your tree be easie to dresse, and without danger, either to the tree or the dresser. 7. Thus may you safely and easily gather your fruite without falling, bruising or breaking of Cyons. This is the best forme of a fruit tree, which I haue here onely shadowed out for the better capacity of them that are led more with the eye, than the mind, crauing pardon for the deformity, because I am nothing skilfull either in painting or caruing. Imagine that the paper makes but one side of the tree to appeare, the whole round compasse will giue leaue for many more armes, boughes, branches, and Cyons. {Illustration: _The perfect forme of a Fruit-tree._} If any thinke a tree cannot well be brought to this forme: _Experto crede Roberto_, I can shew diuers of them vnder twenty yeeres of age. {SN: Time best for proining.} The fittest time of the Moone for proyning is as of grafting, when the sap is ready to stirre (not proudly stirring) and so to couer the wound, and of the yeere, a moneth before (or at least when) you graffe. Dresse Peares, Apricocks, Peaches, Cherries, and Bullys sooner. And old trees before young plants, you may dresse at any time betwixt Leafe and Leafe. And note, where you take any thing away, the sap the next Summer will be putting: be sure therefore when he puts a bud in any place where you would not haue him, rub it off with your finger. {SN: Dressing betime.} And here you must remember the common homely Prouerbe: _Soone crookes the Tree, That good Camrell must be._ {SN: Faults of euill drest trees, and the remedy.} Beginne betime with trees, and do what you list: but if you let them grow great and stubborne, you must do as the trees list. They will not bend but breake, nor bee wound without danger. A small branch will become a bough, and a bough an arme in bignesse. Then if you cut him, his wound will fester, and hardly, without good skill, recouer: therefore, _Obsta principys_. Of such wounds, and lesser, of any bough cut off a handfull or more from the body, comes hollownesse, and vntimely death. And therefore when you cut, strik close, and cleane, and vpward, and leaue no bunch. {SN: The forme altered.} This forme in some cases sometimes may be altered: If your tree, or trees, stand neere your Walkes, if it please your fancy more, let him not breake, till his boale be aboue you head: so may you walke vnder your trees at your pleasure. Or if you set your fruit-trees for your shades in your Groues, then I expect not the forme of the tree, but the comelinesse of the walke. {SN: Dressing of old trees.} All this hitherto spoken of dressing, must be vnderstood of young plants, to be formed: it is meete somewhat be sayd for the instruction of them that haue olde trees already formed, or rather deformed: for, _Malum non vitatur nisi cognitum_. The faults therefore of the disordered tree, I find to be fiue: