Download the Full Version of textbook for Fast Typing at textbookfull.

com

Practical SQL A Beginner s Guide to Storytelling

with Data 1st Edition Anthony Debarros

https://textbookfull.com/product/practical-sql-a-beginner-s-
guide-to-storytelling-with-data-1st-edition-anthony-
debarros/

OR CLICK BUTTON

DOWNLOAD NOW

Download More textbook Instantly Today - Get Yours Now at textbookfull.com

 Recommended digital products (PDF, EPUB, MOBI) that
you can download immediately if you are interested.

Practical SQL A Beginner s Guide to Storytelling with Data

1st Edition Anthony Debarros

https://textbookfull.com/product/practical-sql-a-beginner-s-guide-to-
storytelling-with-data-1st-edition-anthony-debarros-2/

textboxfull.com

Practical SQL 1st Edition Anthony Debarros

https://textbookfull.com/product/practical-sql-1st-edition-anthony-
debarros/

textboxfull.com

SQL QuickStart Guide The Simplified Beginner s Guide to

Managing Analyzing and Manipulating Data With SQL 1st
Edition Shields
https://textbookfull.com/product/sql-quickstart-guide-the-simplified-
beginner-s-guide-to-managing-analyzing-and-manipulating-data-with-
sql-1st-edition-shields/
textboxfull.com

A Beginner s Guide to Working with Astronomical Data 1st

Edition Markus Pössel

https://textbookfull.com/product/a-beginner-s-guide-to-working-with-
astronomical-data-1st-edition-markus-possel/

textboxfull.com
Practical guide to Oracle SQL, T-SQL and MySQL 1st Edition
Preston Zhang

https://textbookfull.com/product/practical-guide-to-oracle-sql-t-sql-
and-mysql-1st-edition-preston-zhang/

textboxfull.com

Beginner s Guide to Create Models With 3ds Max Ravi Conor

https://textbookfull.com/product/beginner-s-guide-to-create-models-
with-3ds-max-ravi-conor/

textboxfull.com

Practical Hive A Guide to Hadoop s Data Warehouse System

1st Edition Scott Shaw

https://textbookfull.com/product/practical-hive-a-guide-to-hadoop-s-
data-warehouse-system-1st-edition-scott-shaw/

textboxfull.com

A Beginner s Guide to Circuits Nine Simple Projects with

Lights Sounds and More Dahl

https://textbookfull.com/product/a-beginner-s-guide-to-circuits-nine-
simple-projects-with-lights-sounds-and-more-dahl/

textboxfull.com

A Beginner s Further Guide to Mathematical Logic 1st

Edition Raymond M. Smullyan

https://textbookfull.com/product/a-beginner-s-further-guide-to-
mathematical-logic-1st-edition-raymond-m-smullyan/

textboxfull.com
 PRACTICAL SQL
A Beginner’s Guide to Storytelling with Data

by Anthony DeBarros

San Francisco
PRACTICAL SQL. Copyright © 2018 by Anthony DeBarros.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of
the copyright owner and the publisher.

ISBN-10: 1-59327-827-6
ISBN-13: 978-1-59327-827-4

Publisher: William Pollock

Production Editor: Janelle Ludowise
Cover Illustration: Josh Ellingson
Interior Design: Octopod Studios
Developmental Editors: Liz Chadwick and Annie Choi
Technical Reviewer: Josh Berkus
Copyeditor: Anne Marie Walker
Compositor: Janelle Ludowise
Proofreader: James Fraleigh

For information on distribution, translations, or bulk sales, please contact No Starch

Press, Inc. directly:
No Starch Press, Inc.
245 8th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
phone: 1.415.863.9900; info@nostarch.com
www.nostarch.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: DeBarros, Anthony, author.
Title: Practical SQL : a beginner's guide to storytelling with data /
Anthony
DeBarros.
Description: San Francisco : No Starch Press, 2018. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018000030 (print) | LCCN 2017043947 (ebook) | ISBN
9781593278458 (epub) | ISBN 1593278454 (epub) | ISBN 9781593278274
(paperback) | ISBN 1593278276 (paperback) | ISBN 9781593278458 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: SQL (Computer program language) | Database design. |
BISAC:
COMPUTERS / Programming Languages / SQL. | COMPUTERS / Database
Management
/ General. | COMPUTERS / Database Management / Data Mining.
Classification: LCC QA76.73.S67 (print) | LCC QA76.73.S67 D44 2018
(ebook) |
DDC 005.75/6--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018000030

No Starch Press and the No Starch Press logo are registered trademarks of No Starch
Press, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every
occurrence of a trademarked name, we are using the names only in an editorial fashion
and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the
trademark.

The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty.
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the
author nor No Starch Press, Inc. shall have any liability to any person or entity with
respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by
the information contained in it.
About the Author
Anthony DeBarros is an award-winning journalist who has combined
avid interests in data analysis, coding, and storytelling for much of his
career. He spent more than 25 years with the Gannett company,
including the Poughkeepsie Journal, USA TODAY, and Gannett Digital.
He is currently senior vice president for content and product
development for a publishing and events firm and lives and works in the
Washington, D.C., area.
About the Technical Reviewer
Josh Berkus is a “hacker emeritus” for the PostgreSQL Project, where
he served on the Core Team for 13 years. He was also a database
consultant for 15 years, working with PostgreSQL, MySQL, CitusDB,
Redis, CouchDB, Hadoop, and Microsoft SQL Server. Josh currently
works as a Kubernetes community manager at Red Hat, Inc.
 BRIEF CONTENTS
Foreword by Sarah Frostenson
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Creating Your First Database and Table
Chapter 2: Beginning Data Exploration with SELECT
Chapter 3: Understanding Data Types
Chapter 4: Importing and Exporting Data
Chapter 5: Basic Math and Stats with SQL
Chapter 6: Joining Tables in a Relational Database
Chapter 7: Table Design That Works for You
Chapter 8: Extracting Information by Grouping and Summarizing
Chapter 9: Inspecting and Modifying Data
Chapter 10: Statistical Functions in SQL
Chapter 11: Working with Dates and Times
Chapter 12: Advanced Query Techniques
Chapter 13: Mining Text to Find Meaningful Data
Chapter 14: Analyzing Spatial Data with PostGIS
Chapter 15: Saving Time with Views, Functions, and Triggers
Chapter 16: Using PostgreSQL from the Command Line
Chapter 17: Maintaining Your Database
Chapter 18: Identifying and Telling the Story Behind Your Data
Appendix: Additional PostgreSQL Resources
Index
 CONTENTS IN DETAIL
FOREWORD by Sarah Frostenson

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION
What Is SQL?
Why Use SQL?
About This Book
Using the Book’s Code Examples
Using PostgreSQL
Installing PostgreSQL
Working with pgAdmin
Alternatives to pgAdmin
Wrapping Up

1
CREATING YOUR FIRST DATABASE AND TABLE
Creating a Database
Executing SQL in pgAdmin
Connecting to the Analysis Database
Creating a Table
The CREATE TABLE Statement
Making the teachers Table
Inserting Rows into a Table
The INSERT Statement
Viewing the Data
When Code Goes Bad
Formatting SQL for Readability
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

2
BEGINNING DATA EXPLORATION WITH SELECT
Basic SELECT Syntax
Querying a Subset of Columns
Using DISTINCT to Find Unique Values
Sorting Data with ORDER BY
Filtering Rows with WHERE
Using LIKE and ILIKE with WHERE
Combining Operators with AND and OR
Putting It All Together
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

3
UNDERSTANDING DATA TYPES
Characters
Numbers
Integers
Auto-Incrementing Integers
Decimal Numbers
Choosing Your Number Data Type
Dates and Times
Using the interval Data Type in Calculations
Miscellaneous Types
Transforming Values from One Type to Another with CAST
CAST Shortcut Notation
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

4
IMPORTING AND EXPORTING DATA
Working with Delimited Text Files
Quoting Columns that Contain Delimiters
Handling Header Rows
Using COPY to Import Data
Importing Census Data Describing Counties
Creating the us_counties_2010 Table
Census Columns and Data Types
Performing the Census Import with COPY
Importing a Subset of Columns with COPY
Adding a Default Value to a Column During Import
Using COPY to Export Data
Exporting All Data
Exporting Particular Columns
Exporting Query Results
Importing and Exporting Through pgAdmin
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

5
BASIC MATH AND STATS WITH SQL
Math Operators
Math and Data Types
Adding, Subtracting, and Multiplying
Division and Modulo
Exponents, Roots, and Factorials
Minding the Order of Operations
Doing Math Across Census Table Columns
Adding and Subtracting Columns
Finding Percentages of the Whole
Tracking Percent Change
Aggregate Functions for Averages and Sums
Finding the Median
 Finding the Median with Percentile Functions
Median and Percentiles with Census Data
Finding Other Quantiles with Percentile Functions
Creating a median() Function
Finding the Mode
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

6
JOINING TABLES IN A RELATIONAL DATABASE
Linking Tables Using JOIN
Relating Tables with Key Columns
Querying Multiple Tables Using JOIN
JOIN Types
JOIN
LEFT JOIN and RIGHT JOIN
FULL OUTER JOIN
CROSS JOIN
Using NULL to Find Rows with Missing Values
Three Types of Table Relationships
One-to-One Relationship
One-to-Many Relationship
Many-to-Many Relationship
Selecting Specific Columns in a Join
Simplifying JOIN Syntax with Table Aliases
Joining Multiple Tables
Performing Math on Joined Table Columns
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

7
TABLE DESIGN THAT WORKS FOR YOU
Naming Tables, Columns, and Other Identifiers
Using Quotes Around Identifiers to Enable Mixed Case
Pitfalls with Quoting Identifiers
Guidelines for Naming Identifiers
Controlling Column Values with Constraints
Primary Keys: Natural vs. Surrogate
Foreign Keys
Automatically Deleting Related Records with CASCADE
The CHECK Constraint
The UNIQUE Constraint
The NOT NULL Constraint
Removing Constraints or Adding Them Later
Speeding Up Queries with Indexes
B-Tree: PostgreSQL’s Default Index
Considerations When Using Indexes
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

8
EXTRACTING INFORMATION BY GROUPING AND
SUMMARIZING
Creating the Library Survey Tables
Creating the 2014 Library Data Table
Creating the 2009 Library Data Table
Exploring the Library Data Using Aggregate Functions
Counting Rows and Values Using count()
Finding Maximum and Minimum Values Using max() and
min()
Aggregating Data Using GROUP BY
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself
9
INSPECTING AND MODIFYING DATA
Importing Data on Meat, Poultry, and Egg Producers
Interviewing the Data Set
Checking for Missing Values
Checking for Inconsistent Data Values
Checking for Malformed Values Using length()
Modifying Tables, Columns, and Data
Modifying Tables with ALTER TABLE
Modifying Values with UPDATE
Creating Backup Tables
Restoring Missing Column Values
Updating Values for Consistency
Repairing ZIP Codes Using Concatenation
Updating Values Across Tables
Deleting Unnecessary Data
Deleting Rows from a Table
Deleting a Column from a Table
Deleting a Table from a Database
Using Transaction Blocks to Save or Revert Changes
Improving Performance When Updating Large Tables
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

10
STATISTICAL FUNCTIONS IN SQL
Creating a Census Stats Table
Measuring Correlation with corr(Y, X)
Checking Additional Correlations
Predicting Values with Regression Analysis
Finding the Effect of an Independent Variable with r-squared
Creating Rankings with SQL
 Ranking with rank() and dense_rank()
Ranking Within Subgroups with PARTITION BY
Calculating Rates for Meaningful Comparisons
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

11
WORKING WITH DATES AND TIMES
Data Types and Functions for Dates and Times
Manipulating Dates and Times
Extracting the Components of a timestamp Value
Creating Datetime Values from timestamp Components
Retrieving the Current Date and Time
Working with Time Zones
Finding Your Time Zone Setting
Setting the Time Zone
Calculations with Dates and Times
Finding Patterns in New York City Taxi Data
Finding Patterns in Amtrak Data
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

12
ADVANCED QUERY TECHNIQUES
Using Subqueries
Filtering with Subqueries in a WHERE Clause
Creating Derived Tables with Subqueries
Joining Derived Tables
Generating Columns with Subqueries
Subquery Expressions
Common Table Expressions
Cross Tabulations
 Installing the crosstab() Function
Tabulating Survey Results
Tabulating City Temperature Readings
Reclassifying Values with CASE
Using CASE in a Common Table Expression
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

13
MINING TEXT TO FIND MEANINGFUL DATA
Formatting Text Using String Functions
Case Formatting
Character Information
Removing Characters
Extracting and Replacing Characters
Matching Text Patterns with Regular Expressions
Regular Expression Notation
Turning Text to Data with Regular Expression Functions
Using Regular Expressions with WHERE
Additional Regular Expression Functions
Full Text Search in PostgreSQL
Text Search Data Types
Creating a Table for Full Text Search
Searching Speech Text
Ranking Query Matches by Relevance
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

14
ANALYZING SPATIAL DATA WITH POSTGIS
Installing PostGIS and Creating a Spatial Database
The Building Blocks of Spatial Data
Two-Dimensional Geometries
Well-Known Text Formats
A Note on Coordinate Systems
Spatial Reference System Identifier
PostGIS Data Types
Creating Spatial Objects with PostGIS Functions
Creating a Geometry Type from Well-Known Text
Creating a Geography Type from Well-Known Text
Point Functions
LineString Functions
Polygon Functions
Analyzing Farmers’ Markets Data
Creating and Filling a Geography Column
Adding a GiST Index
Finding Geographies Within a Given Distance
Finding the Distance Between Geographies
Working with Census Shapefiles
Contents of a Shapefile
Loading Shapefiles via the GUI Tool
Exploring the Census 2010 Counties Shapefile
Performing Spatial Joins
Exploring Roads and Waterways Data
Joining the Census Roads and Water Tables
Finding the Location Where Objects Intersect
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

15
SAVING TIME WITH VIEWS, FUNCTIONS, AND TRIGGERS
Using Views to Simplify Queries
Creating and Querying Views
Inserting, Updating, and Deleting Data Using a View
Programming Your Own Functions
Creating the percent_change() Function
Using the percent_change() Function
Updating Data with a Function
Using the Python Language in a Function
Automating Database Actions with Triggers
Logging Grade Updates to a Table
Automatically Classifying Temperatures
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

16
USING POSTGRESQL FROM THE COMMAND LINE
Setting Up the Command Line for psql
Windows psql Setup
macOS psql Setup
Linux psql Setup
Working with psql
Launching psql and Connecting to a Database
Getting Help
Changing the User and Database Connection
Running SQL Queries on psql
Navigating and Formatting Results
Meta-Commands for Database Information
Importing, Exporting, and Using Files
Additional Command Line Utilities to Expedite Tasks
Adding a Database with createdb
Loading Shapefiles with shp2pgsql
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself
17
MAINTAINING YOUR DATABASE
Recovering Unused Space with VACUUM
Tracking Table Size
Monitoring the autovacuum Process
Running VACUUM Manually
Reducing Table Size with VACUUM FULL
Changing Server Settings
Locating and Editing postgresql.conf
Reloading Settings with pg_ctl
Backing Up and Restoring Your Database
Using pg_dump to Back Up a Database or Table
Restoring a Database Backup with pg_restore
Additional Backup and Restore Options
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself

18
IDENTIFYING AND TELLING THE STORY BEHIND YOUR
DATA
Start with a Question
Document Your Process
Gather Your Data
No Data? Build Your Own Database
Assess the Data’s Origins
Interview the Data with Queries
Consult the Data’s Owner
Identify Key Indicators and Trends over Time
Ask Why
Communicate Your Findings
Wrapping Up
Try It Yourself
APPENDIX
ADDITIONAL POSTGRESQL RESOURCES
PostgreSQL Development Environments
PostgreSQL Utilities, Tools, and Extensions
PostgreSQL News
Documentation

INDEX
 FOREWORD

When people ask which programming language I learned first, I often

absent-mindedly reply, “Python,” forgetting that it was actually with
SQL that I first learned to write code. This is probably because learning
SQL felt so intuitive after spending years running formulas in Excel
spreadsheets. I didn’t have a technical background, but I found SQL’s
syntax, unlike that of many other programming languages,
straightforward and easy to implement. For example, you run SELECT *
on a SQL table to make every row and column appear. You simply use
the JOIN keyword to return rows of data from different related tables,
which you can then further group, sort, and analyze.
I’m a graphics editor, and I’ve worked as a developer and journalist at
a number of publications, including POLITICO, Vox, and USA TODAY.
My daily responsibilities involve analyzing data and creating
visualizations from what I find. I first used SQL when I worked at The
Chronicle of Higher Education and its sister publication, The Chronicle of
Philanthropy. Our team analyzed data ranging from nonprofit financials
to faculty salaries at colleges and universities. Many of our projects
included as much as 20 years’ worth of data, and one of my main tasks
was to import all that data into a SQL database and analyze it. I had to
calculate the percent change in fund­raising dollars at a nonprofit or find
the median endowment size at a university to measure an institution’s
performance.
I discovered SQL to be a powerful language, one that fundamentally
shaped my understanding of what you can—and can’t—do with data.
SQL excels at bringing order to messy, large data sets and helps you
discover how different data sets are related. Plus, its queries and
functions are easy to reuse within the same project or even in a different
database.
This leads me to Practical SQL. Looking back, I wish I’d read
Chapter 4 on “Importing and Exporting Data” so I could have
understood the power of bulk imports instead of writing long,
cumbersome INSERT statements when filling a table. The statistical
capabilities of PostgreSQL, covered in Chapters 5 and 10 in this book,
are also something I wish I had grasped earlier, as my data analysis often
involves calculating the percent change or finding the average or
median values. I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t know how
percentile_cont(), covered in Chapter 5, could be used to easily calculate
a median in PostgresSQL—with the added bonus that it also finds your
data’s natural breaks or quantiles.
But at that stage in my career, I was only scratching the surface of
SQL’s capabilities. It wasn’t until 2014, when I became a data developer
at Gannett Digital on a team led by Anthony DeBarros, that I learned to
use PostgreSQL. I began to understand just how enormously powerful
SQL was for creating a reproducible and sustainable workflow.
When I met Anthony, he had been working at USA TODAY and
other Gannett properties for more than 20 years, where he had led
teams that built databases and published award-winning investigations.
Anthony was able to show me the ins and outs of our team’s databases in
addition to teaching me how to properly build and maintain my own. It
was through working with Anthony that I truly learned how to code.
One of the first projects Anthony and I collaborated on was the 2014
U.S. midterm elections. We helped build an election forecast data
visualization to show USA TODAY readers the latest polling averages,
campaign finance data, and biographical information for more than
1,300 candidates in more than 500 congressional and gubernatorial
races. Building our data infrastructure was a complex, multistep process
powered by a PostgreSQL database at its heart.
Anthony taught me how to write code that funneled all the data from
our sources into a half-dozen tables in PostgreSQL. From there, we
could query the data into a format that would power the maps, charts,
and front-end presentation of our election forecast.
Around this time, I also learned one of my favorite things about
PostgreSQL—its powerful suite of geographic functions (Chapter 14 in
this book). By adding the PostGIS extension to the database, you can
create spatial data that you can then export as GeoJSON or as a
shapefile, a format that is easy to map. You can also perform complex
spatial analysis, like calculating the distance between two points or
finding the density of schools or, as Anthony shows in the chapter, all
the farmers’ markets in a given radius.
It’s a skill I’ve used repeatedly in my career. For example, I used it to
build a data set of lead exposure risk at the census-tract level while at
Vox, which I consider one of my crowning PostGIS achievements. Using
this database, I was able to create a data set of every U.S. Census tract
and its corresponding lead exposure risk in a spatial format that could
be easily mapped at the national level.
With so many different programming languages available—more
than 200, if you can believe it—it’s truly overwhelming to know where
to begin. One of the best pieces of advice I received when first starting
to code was to find an inefficiency in my workflow that could be
improved by coding. In my case, it was building a database to easily
query a project’s data. Maybe you’re in a similar boat or maybe you just
want to know how to analyze large data sets.
Regardless, you’re probably looking for a no-nonsense guide that
skips the programming jargon and delves into SQL in an easy-to-
understand manner that is both practical and, more importantly,
applicable. And that’s exactly what Practical SQL does. It gets away from
programming theory and focuses on teaching SQL by example, using
real data sets you’ll likely encounter. It also doesn’t shy away from
showing you how to deal with annoying messy data pitfalls: misspelled
names, missing values, and columns with unsuitable data types. This is
important because, as you’ll quickly learn, there’s no such thing as clean
data.
 Over the years, my role as a data journalist has evolved. I build fewer
databases now and build more maps. I also report more. But the core
requirement of my job, and what I learned when first learning SQL,
remains the same: know thy data and to thine own data be true. In other
words, the most important aspect of working with data is being able to
understand what’s in it.
You can’t expect to ask the right questions of your data or tell a
compelling story if you don’t understand how to best analyze it.
Fortunately, that’s where Practical SQL comes in. It’ll teach you the
fundamentals of working with data so that you can discover your own
stories and insights.

Sarah Frostenson
Graphics Editor at POLITICO
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Practical SQL is the work of many hands. My thanks, first, go to the team
at No Starch Press. Thanks to Bill Pollock and Tyler Ortman for
capturing the vision and sharpening the initial concept; to
developmental editors Annie Choi and Liz Chadwick for refining each
chapter; to copyeditor Anne Marie Walker for polishing the final drafts
with an eagle eye; and to production editor Janelle Ludowise for laying
out the book and keeping the process well organized.
Josh Berkus, Kubernetes community manager for Red Hat, Inc.,
served as our technical reviewer. To work with Josh was to receive a
master class in SQL and PostgreSQL. Thank you, Josh, for your
patience and high standards.
Thank you to Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and its
members and staff past and present for training journalists to find great
stories in data. IRE is where I got my start with SQL and data
journalism.
During my years at USA TODAY, many colleagues either taught me
SQL or imparted memorable lessons on data analysis. Special thanks to
Paul Overberg for sharing his vast knowledge of demographics and the
U.S. Census, to Lou Schilling for many technical lessons, to
Christopher Schnaars for his SQL expertise, and to Sarah Frostenson
for graciously agreeing to write the book’s foreword.
My deepest appreciation goes to my dear wife, Elizabeth, and our
sons. Thank you for making every day brighter and warmer, for your
love, and for bearing with me as I completed this book.
 INTRODUCTION

Shortly after joining the staff of USA TODAY I received a data set I
would analyze almost every week for the next decade. It was the weekly
Best-Selling Books list, which ranked the nation’s top-selling books
based on confidential sales data. The list not only produced an endless
stream of story ideas to pitch, but it also captured the zeitgeist of
America in a singular way.
For example, did you know that cookbooks sell a bit more during the
week of Mother’s Day, or that Oprah Winfrey turned many obscure
writers into number one best-selling authors just by having them on her
show? Week after week, the book list editor and I pored over the sales
figures and book genres, ranking the data in search of the next headline.
Rarely did we come up empty: we chronicled everything from the
rocket-rise of the blockbuster Harry Potter series to the fact that Oh, the
Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss has become a perennial gift for new
graduates.
My technical companion during this time was the database
programming language SQL (for Structured Query Language). Early on, I
convinced USA TODAY’s IT department to grant me access to the
SQL-based database system that powered our book list application.
Using SQL, I was able to unlock the stories hidden in the database,
which contained titles, authors, genres, and various codes that defined
the publishing world. Analyzing data with SQL to discover interesting
stories is exactly what you’ll learn to do using this book.

What Is SQL?
SQL is a widely used programming language that allows you to define
and query databases. Whether you’re a marketing analyst, a journalist,
or a researcher mapping neurons in the brain of a fruit fly, you’ll benefit
from using SQL to manage database objects as well as create, modify,
explore, and summarize data.
Because SQL is a mature language that has been around for decades,
it’s deeply ingrained in many modern systems. A pair of IBM researchers
first outlined the syntax for SQL (then called SEQUEL) in a 1974
paper, building on the theoretical work of the British computer scientist
Edgar F. Codd. In 1979, a precursor to the database company Oracle
(then called Relational Software) became the first to use the language in
a commercial product. Today, it continues to rank as one of the most-
used computer languages in the world, and that’s unlikely to change
soon.
SQL comes in several variants, which are generally tied to specific
database systems. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
and International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which set
standards for products and technologies, provide standards for the
language and shepherd revisions to it. The good news is that the
variants don’t stray far from the standard, so once you learn the SQL
conventions for one database, you can transfer that knowledge to other
systems.

Why Use SQL?

So why should you use SQL? After all, SQL is not usually the first tool
people choose when they’re learning to analyze data. In fact, many
people start with Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and their assortment of
analytic functions. After working with Excel, they might graduate to
Access, the database system built into Microsoft Office, which has a
graphical query interface that makes it easy to get work done, making
SQL skills optional.
But as you might know, Excel and Access have their limits. Excel
currently allows 1,048,576 rows maximum per worksheet, and Access
limits database size to two gigabytes and limits columns to 255 per
table. It’s not uncommon for data sets to surpass those limits,
particularly when you’re working with data dumped from government
systems. The last obstacle you want to discover while facing a deadline
is that your database system doesn’t have the capacity to get the job
done.
Using a robust SQL database system allows you to work with
terabytes of data, multiple related tables, and thousands of columns. It
gives you improved programmatic control over the structure of your
data, leading to efficiency, speed, and—most important—accuracy.
SQL is also an excellent adjunct to programming languages used in
the data sciences, such as R and Python. If you use either language, you
can connect to SQL databases and, in some cases, even incorporate
SQL syntax directly into the language. For people with no background
in programming languages, SQL often serves as an easy-to-understand
introduction into concepts related to data structures and programming
logic.
Additionally, knowing SQL can help you beyond data analysis. If you
delve into building online applications, you’ll find that databases provide
the backend power for many common web frameworks, interactive
maps, and content management systems. When you need to dig beneath
the surface of these applications, SQL’s capability to manipulate data
and databases will come in very handy.

About This Book

Practical SQL is for peoplewho encounter data in their everyday lives
and want to learn how to analyze and transform it. To this end, I discuss
real-world data and scenarios, such as U.S. Census demographics, crime
statistics, and data about taxi rides in New York City. Along with
information about databases and code, you’ll also learn tips on how to
analyze and acquire data as well as other valuable insights I’ve
accumulated throughout my career. I won’t focus on setting up servers
or other tasks typically handled by a database administrator, but the
SQL and PostgreSQL fundamentals you learn in this book will serve
you well if you intend to go that route.
I’ve designed the exercises for beginner SQL coders but will assume
that you know your way around your computer, including how to install
programs, navigate your hard drive, and download files from the
internet. Although many chapters in this book can stand alone, you
should work through the book sequentially to build on the
fundamentals. Some data sets used in early chapters reappear later in the
book, so following the book in order will help you stay on track.
Practical SQL starts with the basics of databases, queries, tables, and
data that are common to SQL across many database systems. Chapters
13 to 17 cover topics more specific to PostgreSQL, such as full text
search and GIS. The following table of contents provides more detail
about the topics discussed in each chapter:

Chapter 1: Creating Your First Database and Table introduces

PostgreSQL, the pgAdmin user interface, and the code for loading a
simple data set about teachers into a new database.
Chapter 2: Beginning Data Exploration with SELECT explores
basic SQL query syntax, including how to sort and filter data.
Chapter 3: Understanding Data Types explains the definitions for
setting columns in a table to hold specific types of data, from text to
dates to various forms of numbers.
Chapter 4: Importing and Exporting Data explains how to use
SQL commands to load data from external files and then export it.
You’ll load a table of U.S. Census population data that you’ll use
throughout the book.
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
to be understood. The other is also consentaneous to Truth, which is
written about the most profitable use of Grain, which none need
doubt; for as yet more may be done in that than I have here spoken
of, for without much labour and cost, by that water, every good and
kernelly substance, as I may so speak, of Grain, is extracted, which
Extract may be kept for many years, as a Treasure of great moment,
of which afterwards, at any time or place, (by the addition of Water
of Hops) good Beer may be made, and Vinegar, and burning Spirit; it
is also of such a very Nutritive substance, that in case of necessity it
may be used instead of Bread, one pound of which will afford more
nourishment than two or three pound of Bread made after the
common manner. It may also be kept in Garrisons with great
commodity: Also it may be used at Sea, by those who sail to the
Indies, and trade about in Ships, when they want Bread; of which by
the addition of warm water of Hops, may be made very good Beer,
at any time of the year, for it is easily and wholly dissolved in warm
water. For this reason also it may be most commodiously carried
from place to place by Armies in time of War, which in the Field, at
any time, Winter or Summer, with the water of Hops, it may be
boiled into Beer, and there is no need to carry the water far, because
it is to be found in all places; neither are Hops of any great burden;
therefore in one only Tun there may be carried of this Extract as
much as sufficeth for the brewing of six or eight Tun of Beer; and
which is more, by this means, wholesome Beer may be made in the
Dog-daies, as well in Camps, as in Cities and Ships, without any fear
of impediment or future sowrness; at which time good Beer is not
otherwise made, because then it is wont presently to grow sowre;
and many other Commodities are procured by this means, all which
to declare, would be superfluous. Let what hath been said suffice.

Point XXXIX.

I have yet one thing to add among my Wine-Arts, concerning Grain,

and the Fruits of Trees and Shrubs, which is to be received with
Thankfulness, as a great Gift of God to Mankind, viz. It is found by
industry and manifold experience, that from Rie, Wheat, Oats,
 Rice, Millet; also from Apples, Pears, Peaches, Cherries, Plumbs,
Sloes, Damscens, Quinces, Figgs; as also from Goose-berries,
Mulberries, Barberries, Black-berries, Elder-berries, and other like
Fruits of Trees and Shrubs; from all these, I say, may be prepared
with little labour and cost, a Drink very like to Wine, both in taste,
smell, and strength, being grateful, wholesome, and durable, &c.

I n this point mention is made, That of the Fruit of Trees and other
Bushes and Shrubs, a clear Drink may be made, which is also
grateful and durable, being like to Wine in taste, colour, and virtue;
which thing, although it may seem strange to those who are
ignorant of the matter, nevertheless it is most true; so that those
things which are contained in this point, may be boldly credited. For
what should it profit me to write those things which I am not able to
prove, it would only turn to my disgrace and detriment. For this
reason I have determined to have such a Laboratory prepared, in
which not only the owners of Metallick Mines (if they desire it of me)
may learn the manner by me newly invented, for the compendious
melting of Minerals, so that they shall yield more Metal, than by the
known and common manner; but will also shew other Secrets, that
the Magnalia and wonders of God may be made manifest, and We
stirred up to give Thanks to the Giver of all Good: Which Elaboratory
shall continue open for one whole year, which being past, it shall
again be shut up and cease; for I purpose not to render the whole
course of my Life obnoxious to those great Labours, but at length to
enjoy a quiet tranquility; which thing I am willing that all men should
know, that they may spare me with their Letters, which it is
impossible for me to answer, much less that I should see the
Persons, seeing that the burden of journying is to me altogether
insupportable; but whatsoever I may perform at home, I will not
refuse. [See for this point Apology against Farnner.]
Here thou hast, benevolent Reader, a fundamental Explication of
my Miraculum Mundi, (as for those last points, to wit, 36, 37, 38,
and 39, they might indeed have been very commodiously explained
here, but because this is done at large, in a peculiar Treatise,
entituled, The Prosperity of Germany; there is no need to explain
them in this place; therefore what the benevolent Reader finds
wanting here, there he shall find it at large, to which I remit him)
whereby it will appear to all men, unless to those who are wilfully
blind, that I have not ascribed too much to the Salt of the Earth, as
a universal subject, but that I have proved to the whole World, that
every thing which I have attributed to it, is possible, and plainly
agreeable to Truth. But that these Secrets which I have proved, may
be performed by the benefit of the Salt of the Earth, may not be
done by other waies, and perhaps nearer, I go not about to deny,
but do necessarily affirm, that the mentioned Metallicks, as well as
the Mechanicks, may be performed after other manners. Only here it
is verified, That the Salt of the Earth is deservedly esteemed a
universal subject, which no man will deny, nor will be able to refute
by Arguments, supported by truth, how wise soever he may seem to
himself. Therefore let its vileness offend no man, for the best of
things is oftentimes hidden in things of small price. Wherefore all
men erre, who attribute good to outward splendor, in which yet it is
not, but is only to be sought, found, and obtained in things vile, and
of low esteem. Note this, believe this, otherwise thou wilt never
attain to any Good.
But here some Man may object in this manner: If Nitre be a
Universal Menstruum according to my praises of it, it will thence
necessarily follow, that the stone of Philosophers should be made by
it, of which nevertheless I have here made no mention. To obviate
this Objection, I do indeed readily confess, that I have not
proceeded in this subject, any further than those things which I have
now proved; but without doubt it containeth in it self greater things,
than are manifested to me and others. I have made a beginning, I
have strowed the way, let others follow me, and prosecute the thing
further, if God shall grant it to them; as for me I am content with
small things, and do not anxiously, or sollicitously aspire after the
highest. Yet in the mean time, this I freely confess, if I were not so
old as I am, I should not leave this Matter unessay’d. It is not to be
doubted, but many men have sought the Universal stone in Nitre,
but what they have found, that themselves know; and of this I am
the more assured, because there Matter in the end of the Work
taking fire, hath vanished like a Clap of Thunder; hence the ancient
Philosophers have performed their work in Winter, lest they should
be hurt by Corruscations; it is most true, and void of all errour, that
a most noble essence of this sort, obtaining a power of expelling all
the Natural Diseases of Mortals, and of transmuting all the imperfect
Metals into Gold cannot be prepared from an impure Metal, or
Mineral, nor also of Gold it self. Much less of viler and more unlikely
things in which Fools are miserably Occupied, prodigally, and
unprofitably wasting their Goods; but in my judgment, it should be
no other thing than a Concentrated Astral fire, exalted by Art, into
the form of a stone, without any other Adventitious matter. For in
the nature of things, no purer Essence can be found, than fire,
exercising a very great power in all things, especially in Metals: For if
we had not fire (I pray consider it) all Arts, and Mechanicks would
grow cold, and be involved in the dark silence of Cessation. Arts
were invented, and draw their Original from the fire, otherwise how
should Metals be got out of their Minerals, and prepared for use?
truly they would be of no use at all. Therefore the fire containeth
more than can be believed. He that doth not know fire to be a most
powerful Element, knoweth nothing, nor without this, can he find
out any thing, neither by any just right can he assume the Name of
a Philosopher. The fire alone, without the addition of other things, is
sufficient to make Metals of stones, and particularly, the best Metals
out of the vilest stones, provided we know how to use it; but
universally, being concentrated into a stony matter; which last
although I have not experienced, nevertheless I have observed, if
(by the favour of the Almighty) a man could exalt the fire into a
Corporeal fixed substance, he would certainly have a Tincture for
men, and the imperfect Metals. But some man may object, by what
way is this Crown to be obtained? Truly by no other than by Divine
Revelation. For the Secrets of God of this sort, are not so easily to
be found out, nor will they be manifested to Impious men, although
the whole World is infected with a foolish madness, who doatingly
think by force to extort Gold from things in which it is not, and one
that hath understanding of the fire and Metals, cannot sufficiently
admire those foolish and doltish Labours, which they who are
Captivated by the hunger of Gold, undertake for the making the
stone of Philosophers; many being willing to ascend the Ladder, are
presently sollicitous about the uppermost Round, when
notwithstanding they are as yet far from the lowermost step: But
this is a matter of a higher and more diligent search. In the fire, I
say, are contained Secrets of great moment, yea, insomuch that
some Philosophers (among whom Plato is the chief) write that God
is most clearly discerned and apprehended in Fire and Salt. Fire, and
the Immortal God alone can make light of darkness, which is
granted to no Mortal to do; without fire is darkness and death:
Without fire nothing can live, nothing groweth or encreaseth.
In sum, Fire is the most Noble, and most Potent Work of God in
the whole Universe, he that knoweth how to use it rightly, will have
need of no Art. Let the Benevolent Reader also take with him my
small judgment concerning the great stone of the wise; let every
man believe what he will, and is able to comprehend. Such a work is
purely the gift of God, and cannot be learned by the most acute
powers of an humane mind, if it be not assisted by the benign help
of a Divine Inspiration. And of this I assure my self, that in those last
times, God will raise up some, to whom he will open the Cabinet of
Natures Secrets, that they shall be able to do wonderful things in the
World, to his glory, the which I indeed heartily wish to Posterity, that
they may enjoy, and use to the Praise and Honour of God, Amen.

The E P I L O G U E.

I doubt not but many Men considering the great good that may be
effected by the benefit of Nitre, will be desirous of knowing how
they may attain it in great quantity, that so they may not be forced
to buy it at a dear rate; which certainly would be a great help not to
a few who labour in the fire, and I could wish from my Soul, that all
honest and pious Chymists might be able to recover some
compensation for the Coals they have consumed without fruit. But
seeing that I have made mention of the production or preparation of
Nitre, in a peculiar Treatise entituled, The Prosperity of Germany; it
is needless here to repeat it. But this I will say by way of prediction,
that Nitre, being thoroughly known by my Writings, true Alchymy, or
the Transmutation of the imperfect Metals into better, will in a short
time be as common, as it was in Egypt long since in the time of the
Emperour Dioclesian, who could not overcome or subdue the
Egyptians, until he had by many Cruelties extorted their Books from
them, which he burnt, and so brought them under the yoke of
servitude. NB. That it is no wonder that the Transmutation of Metals
should have been so common with the Egyptians only, seeing that
Nitre is found in all places of the Land of Egypt, and the famous
River Nile is impregnated with Nitre, which only by its overflowing
(which it doth twice in a year) so fateneth the whole Country, that it
is made very rich and fruitful in all things without dung; for the Nile
aboundeth with Nitre, as the Sea doth with common Salt. For at
certain times of the overflowing, viz. in the beginning, the
inhabitants are wont to dig deep Pits, that they may remain full of
the water, which being afterwards dried up by the Sun, Nitre is very
Copiously prepared, as common Salt is made in Spain, and other hot
Regions. This therefore I was willing to discover for the information
of the Reader; if he be wise, and God be propitious to him, he will
believe that I have said enough; but if not, an Explication ten times
clearer will not help him. Therefore let it suffice, that what is here
desired, shall be had in those Treatises which are entituled, The
Prosperity of Germany, whereby a man filled with the Love of God,
will be greatly delighted.
 THE

C O N T I N UA T I ON
OF

Miraculum Mundi.
In which Nature is clearly laid open to the Eyes of the whole
World; demonstrating, that the chief Medicine of Vegetables,
Animals, and Minerals, may be prepared of Salt-petre, and that
Salt-petre truly merits the Name of an Universal Menstruum.

The P R E F A C E, to the R E A D E R.

T
his Treatise, to which I have given the Title of the Continuation
of Miraculum Mundi, containeth four excellent Arcanums,
which I doubt not, but will prove very profitable to the
publick. The first of these I offer to Country-men, as Husbandmen,
Vine-dressers, Gardiners, and all such who are occupied in Tilling
and manuring the Earth, that they may learn a new Method of
fattening and enriching their Fields and Gardens, without the usual
and customary way of dunging, and thence yearly acquire a greater
profit.
The Second, I give to all Citizens, Merchants and others who have
time and leasure, and abounding in riches, know not by what means
to augment or improve their Gold and Silver. Which way I will shew
them, and how to effect it after a much better and honester manner
than putting it to Usury, or incommoding or oppressing their
Neighbours.
The Third, I present to all Conscientious Physicians that they may
learn to prepare Salutiferous and Efficacious Medicines with small
charge, little labour, and in a short time; that (as becomes
Christians) they may help and succour the Miseries of the sick, and
acquire to themselves an honest livelihood.
The Fourth, I dedicate to all persons of great Name and Authority,
by the benefit of which, they may preserve their Health entire, and
recover it when lost.
The Omnipotent God give us his Divine Grace, that we may make
such use of his fatherly bounty, as may tend to the promoting of his
Honour, and the Love of our Neighbour. Amen.

Arcanum I.
Being a Gift given to Husbandmen, keepers of Vineyards, Gardeners,
&c.

A lthough I had determined with my self to reserve the Press,

mentioned in the first part of The Prosperity of Germany, (by
which the juice might be pressed out of great Trees, the searching
after which hath wearied many Mens Brains) for the third part of the
same work; nevertheless, it seems good to me to describe it in this
Treatise for the good of the publick. And that chiefly for this reason,
because the Omnipotent God hath now revealed to me other
manners of extracting Salt-petre, in plenty, out of all Wood, and that
without a Press; and not only from Wood, but also from all
Vegetables, Animals, and Minerals, so that by an easie business, and
in a short time, without a Press and putrefaction, Wood, and Salt
may be converted into Salt-petre: Yea, in the space of three or four
hours, every Vegetable, or Animal, as also Salts of every kind, may
be so transmuted, as that they pass into a Fatt, fervid and
sulphureous Salt, which afterwards by the benefit of the Air is
animated, and converted into Salt-petre. Such a Salt, although it
doth not presently conceive flame, and burn like Salt-petre, yet it is
now brought to that pass, that in the manuring or dunging of poor
and barren ground, it doth the same thing as the dung of any Cattel
is wont to effect. Hence by the same Salt every pure Sand destitute
of all fatness, is quickly so fatted, that it is rendered fit for the
sowing and bringing forth Corn. Few will believe what Salt can
perform, when spoiled of its Corrosive force. Therefore Christ saith
not in vain to his Disciples, Ye are the Salt of the Earth. That Earth
which wanteth Salt is dead; nor can it bring forth Fruit: For this
inverted Salt serveth not only for sandy and plainly barren Fields, but
also for those which are fruitful, that they may be sowed every year,
and bring forth Fruit. Truly it is a great Gift of G O D, of which this
ungrateful World is not worthy. It often happens, that a
Husbandman, through want of Dung, is forced to let his Fields lie
unsown, till he can have an opportunity to sow them; but what a
loss is this to those who in the mean time must pay the Magistrates,
Taxes, or Duties, for them, and yet make no benefit of them. Were it
not better for such to possess only the Third or Fourth part of what
they have of such Land as would yield him every year an encrease.
Certainly by this means, that Land which otherwise is scarce able to
maintain one Country-man, would be sufficient for the keeping of
ten, if it were fatened after this manner by an inverted wood or salt.
In like manner also Vineyards [and Hopyards] might be so fattened,
that the Labour bestowed upon them might not be in vain, but they
might abound in Fruits.
So also Fruit-trees, and Meadows, and Pastures, which bear but
little Grass, may by the same Salt be so amended, as to bring forth
Vid. Prosp.
better Fruit and richer Crops of Grass. But let this
Germ. p. 3. suffice, concerning those things in this place, more shall
follow (God willing) in the Third Part of The Prosperity
of Germany. In the mean time the Plenty of Corn and Wine will be in
part consumed. But I doubt not but that this excellent Gift of God
will be sought into by good Masters of Families, be had in esteem,
and even from this time to the World’s end, be put to use for the
promoting of the Divine Honour, and the well being of many
Thousands of men.
But the manner of expressing of Wood by its proper Fire, and
again of coagulating this acid juice, by the benefit of the fixed Salt
remaining in the burnt Coals or Ashes, into a Salt fattening of barren
ground, or of reducing it into Salt-Petre by the benefit of the Air, is
indeed an excellent and singular Artifice, which rendereth all
unprofitable Wood highly profitable and beneficial; yea, these are
Inventions so profitable, as the like hath been yet published by no
man. And this Invention is much better than that of reducing Wood
into Pot-ashes, in which all the acid juice passing away in smoak,
wholly perisheth, and is lost, and from a great quantity of Wood a
very few ashes remain, and out of them there is found but a little
Salt (scarcely the Tenth Part) fit for the fattening of ground, or to be
turned into Salt-Petre. For it is not the ashes, but the salt contained
in them, that serves to both those purposes. Therefore this my
method of extracting the juice of wood, and converting it into a good
salt, is far to be preferred to the making of Pot-ashes of Wood. Nor
doth this press serve only for the pressing out the juice of Wood,
where Wood is plenty, but it may be also used with great profit in
Moorish places where Wood is wanting, and which abound with Turf,
which may be used instead of Wood. For the juice of Turf is equally
fit with the juice of Wood for enriching of Land; so that no Country
hath cause to complain that the Creator of all things hath not
plentifully provided it with some part of that mundane Treasure.
Countries that lie high abound with Wood, and the low afford
abundance of Turf. Therefore, as in Regions of an higher scituation,
an unspeakable quantity of Wood perisheth by putrefaction, and
growing, and again rotting, serveth for no use or benefit; so also it is
in places lower scituated, with Turf, in which very often vast Tracts
yield not the least profit to any man, although in their inward
Penetrals are hidden great Treasures. Seeing that it is so in Moorish
and Marshy places, if they are overgrown with Grass, and Beasts
should be sent to feed upon that Grass, what profit will thence
accrue to men? But if they shall be invironed with too much wet or
plashiness, (too boggy) so that they are impassible by men, they are
of no utility at all.
There are Marshy tracts which are covered over (or swerded only
with Moss) which neither afford Turf, or nourishment for Cattel,
inasmuch as the growth of Grass, and Turf fit for burning, is hindred,
either by too much Sand, or large Moss. And yet those very tracts
being pressed by Fire, yield a fertile juice, by which the neighbouring
Fields (especially the Sandy) may be rendered fruitful. For those
Moors or Marshes contain nothing but that fatness which the Rain-
water hath collected from the neighbouring, high, and sandy
grounds, and washed down with it self into the Valleys, where it
concreteth into Moss; whence of right it should be restored to those
barren sandy grounds, to fatten them. And by this means it may be
brought to pass, that great fruitfulness may be conferred on much
desert and waste Land, which brings no profit at all to Mankind.
What I say, is agreeable to the Truth it self, and perhaps in Process
of time, will be found most true, and come into use in very many
places. But at this time, these things seem to Country-men, meer
Dreams, and far exceed the Capacity of their maulted Brains. But as
every fat Marsh is able to fatten the adjacent, barren, high, sandy
grounds; so the Ocean is the Universal Medicine, and nutriment of
all high and barren Regions, through which it passeth, and by the
salt contained in it, bestows upon them fruitfulness. [Vid. Nat.
Salium.] Whence the incredible Providence of the Divine Goodness
manifestly appeareth, for which uncessant Thanks are to be given to
the Almighty by all men, for His Fatherly Care, and great benefits
never to be forgotten. But how the Sea-salt fatteneth, and maketh
fruitful sandy-ground, which is destitute of all fatness, shall
afterwards be exactly demonstrated. Here, by the way, in the
Description of my Press, for the pressing of wood, I was willing to
mention this thing. How much better therefore is this my Art and
Invention of preserving the juice, and almost the whole pondus or
weight of the wood (the unprofitable Phlegm only excepted) in that
transmutation, than the invention of reducing it to Pot-ashes? For
any man of Understanding may easily see, That in that open burning
of the wood the noble Sulphur is consumed by the Fire, and can be
of no benefit. But if the business may be so ordered, that the wood
shall burn, and not consume it self in burning, but be converted into
a sulphureous Salt, it will be a thing of great moment. He that
knoweth how to perform this, hath indeed attained the scope, and
arrived to the desired end. Although a Coal be deprived of its juice,
nevertheless it retains almost the same quantity that the wood had,
whereof it was made. One pound of such Coals being burnt, scarce
yields an ounce and an half of ashes, which ashes afford but a third
or fourth part of Salt, fit to be changed into Salt-Petre, or to fatten
the Earth. Therefore it is no small Art to preserve the Sulphur of the
Coals (whose Virtues are great) and to convert it into so noble a
Salt.
For the acid juice of wood being pressed out, and reduced to
sweetness, will effect far more in the manuring and fattening of
Fields, than any one can easily believe. Hereafter, if I shall see it
necessary, I shall publish yet more and greater things; but I shall yet
for some time suspend the publication of the Third Part of The
Prosperity of Germany, till I see how things will prove; being assured
that my Writings for time to come will be more grateful, than to this
present Age. I will now enter upon the description and use of the
Press so often mentioned, for the expressing and again coagulating
the juice of Wood.
Of the Figure, Use, and Utility of the Press, by whose help the
Juice is plentifully pressed out of Wood, without great labour, fit for
the making of Salt-Petre.

The Form or Figure.

F irst, Let a round Furnace be built with Bricks of the same form
with that in the first Figure, noted with the Letter A. It must be
like a Glassmaker’s Furnace, large at the bottom, and rising round by
degrees to a small point at the top; in the top must be a round hole,
opening about a foot broad, by which the Wood may be put into the
Furnace. To the hole is to be fitted a Cover or Stopper, made of the
same matter, with the Bricks, and burnt as they are, to shut up the
hole. On one side of the lower part of the Furnace, is to be a door,
by which the Coals may be taken out. On the other side is to be a
little hole, to which an earthen Channel or Pipe of about three or
four cubits long, is to be fitted, in which the smoak or fume of the
wood, forced out by the fire, may be condensed into an acid juice,
and may destil into a wooden Vessel or Barrel, which is to be fitted
to the Pipe, to receive the destilling acid juice. See the first Figure
noted with pag. 13. at the beginning of this Treatise.
A is the Furnace or Oven wherein the Wood is char’d.
B, The Cover of the Furnace.
C, The Door at which the Coals are taken out.
D, The Canes or Pipes wherein the sap or juice of the Wood is
condensed, and from thence runs into the Receiver.
E is the Vessel or Receiver into which the Vinegar of Wood runs.
All things being prepared in the manner aforesaid, let the Furnace
be filled with wood up to the top, and if the wood be not dry
enough, intermix with it, in the putting in from the bottom to the
top, some dry Shrubs or Bushes, or small Faggot-sticks, by whose
help the wood may be the more easily kindled. After the wood is
kindled, and burns well, the hole in the top of the Furnace is to be
close shut with its Stopper, that there may be no exit for the smoak,
but that it may be forced to descend and seek its passage through
the lower hole, by the Channel or Pipe. Therefore when the wood
begins to burn, and yet can emit no flame, the heat presseth out all
the juice, and forceth it into the pipe, in which, from the smoak, it is
changed into an acid Juice or Liquor, which destilleth by the Pipe into
the appointed receiving Barrel. All the wood being turned into Coals,
and emitting no more fume, the whole Furnace, wheresoever it may
admit the air; and also the hole to which the Pipe is fitted, is to be
smeared over with wet ashes, that the Coals in the Furnace being
suffocated or choaked, may remain entire. The Coals being taken
out, may be put to necessary uses, being equal in goodness to other
Charcoal which Colliers make in Woods. NB. I would have this
understood, of such wood as is of a pretty good thickness, and
suffers its self to be reduced into Coals; for if you cast into the
Furnace Bushes or small Brushy wood, to press out the juice, you
will obtain only a Powder of Coals, which after the juice is pressed
out, is to be left in the Furnace open (not smeared over, as we
taught above) till it pass into ashes, which is required for the
coagulating the expressed juice; as shall appear by and by, when we
come to speak of its coagulation. NB. When you have no occasion
for Coals, or cannot sell them, it is necessary, that letting the
Furnace be open, you suffer them to burn to ashes. If this operation
be instituted in a place where there are stones fit to make Lime of, it
would be worth the while to fill the Furnace with a layer of Wood,
and another of Stones, from the bottom to the top, which Chymists
call Stratum super Stratum, and after the juice is pressed out to
open the Furnace, that the wood may be turned into ashes, by doing
of which at the same time the stones will be calcined, and changed
into Lime, which being exposed to the air, (yet so that the Rain
cannot come to it) will fall to pieces into a fine powder. To this
Powder, being mixed with wood ashes, the acid juice is to be poured,
which was pressed out of the wood, that those two contrary natures
may mutually work upon each other, and well unite: in which
operation the sharp spirit of the wood loseth its Acrimony, and the
fixed Salt of the wood and stones is altered, so that from both there
proceedeth a contrary middle nature, and a sweeter salt; which
being long exposed to the air, draweth from thence a Life, and is
transmuted into the best Salt-Petre. NB. This mixture is so to be
exposed to the air, that lying under a Covering or Roof, and being
open on the sides, it may be defended from the Rain, and
nevertheless attract the air. If it shall be dried by the air, it must be
moistened again with the Urine of Men or Beasts, that it may never
be throughly dry. If these things be rightly performed, you shall have
plenty of the best Salt-petre, from this matter, in the space of a year
and an half, or two years at the most; which being extracted,
purified, and boiled up, shooteth into very pure Crystals. The rest of
the matter being again laid in its former place, under the covering or
shed, and being ordered in the same manner, as before, will in the
space of two years produce new Salt-Petre, which may be extracted
and boiled up as before; for that mixture still remaineth good,
provided it be moistened with Urine when dry, as was said. NB. He
that desireth to acquire Salt-petre sooner, after the conjunction of
the acid spirit with the ashes, and the precipitation and mortification
of both, from that conjoined matter, by the pouring on of water, he
may extract and boil up the Salt, and then dissolve the Salt in Urine,
and digest it by Circulatory Vessels; by which means he may obtain
the best Salt-petre in the space of one year. This labour of pressing
the juice out of Wood, and at the same time of making Stones into
Lime, may be used in all those Cities and Places where wood and
stones are plenty. But if this operation were to be instituted in a
Wood, there would be no need of a Furnace built with stone, seeing
that the Pile of Wood might be covered all over with green Turfs,
after the same manner which Colliers use in making their Charcoal,
only with this difference, that here must be a hole in the side, to
which the duct or pipe is to be adjoined. The juice being pressed
out, the pile or stack is to be every where well closed, that the Air
may have no passage, if you would preserve the Coals. All being
cooled, the Coals may be taken out and sold, or put to necessary
uses, so that the expressed juice, which being received in no Vessel,
would have vanished in smoke, plainly costs nothing; but if you do
not desire Coals, let them be burnt into ashes, that they may serve
for the coagulating the spirit into salt, and afterwards by the help of
the air, in a certain space of time transmute it into good Salt-Petre.
A. Ist der Ofen darin das holtz gebresset wirdt.
B. Der deckel darmit der Ofen geschlossen wirdt.
C. Die thur an dem Ofen dardurch man die kohlen aus
nimbt.
D. Seind die röhren darinnen sich der holtzsafft
Condensirt vnd heraus rinnt.
E. Ist ein fas darin der holt essig laufft.
A. Ist der Ofen.
B. Das distillier gefäs in dem Ofen.
C. Das loch mit einem faltz dardurch das swänge
eingetragen wird.
D. Die Zange mit deckel darmit das gefäs nach dem
eintragen geschlossë wirdt.
E. Ein Eisen löffel darmit der schwan eingetragen wirdt.
F. Die recipienten.
G. Die banck darauf die recipienten ligen.
H. der Laborant.
 A. Ist der Ofen wie er in der arbeit stehet.
B. Ist der Vnterste theil des Ofens wie er offen ohne die
vorder wand anzusehen.
C. Ist das obertheil des Ofens.
D. Der rost in dem Ofen.
E. der Herd.
F. der Müffel so auff den herd gehöret.
G. der Deckel dar mit der Ofen oben gedecket wird wann
kohlen darin sein vnd in voller arbeitstehet.
H. das rauch fanglein an dem Ofen.

NB. It is here also to be noted, that the expressed juice carries

along with it a sharp hot Oyl of a dark reddish colour, which is not to
be cast away, but is to be poured upon the Ashes together with the
acid Spirit, that putrefying with the Salts, it may with the rest put on
the nature of Salt-petre. But he that will may apply the same to
other uses; forasmuch as it is profitable for other things. Any Wood
exposed to the Rain, or standing in the Water, easily rotting, being
anointed with this Oyl, will be preserved, so that it will not so easily
rot, seeing that the water cannot adhere to the Wood, but is forced
to slide off, or is hindered from penetrating the Wood. Carters, or
Waggoners may use the same instead of Grease to their Wheels and
Axle-trees, especially when it is a little thickened with Suet or Rosin.
But the best use of it that I yet know (if you except Salt-petre) is to
dissolve and boil it with a sharp Lixivium made of Lime and Ashes,
by which it becometh a very hot and penetrant Soap, procuring
fertility; if a poor sandy ground be sprinkled with the same and
moistened: For it rendereth it very fruitful; which thing it doth not
only in Fields, but also in Trees and Vines, insomuch, that one Tun of
it avails more in the fatening of Fields, than ten Cart Loads of Horse-
dung or Cow-dung: And a Hogshead, or Tun of this Soap may be
carried into Fields and Vineyards, far remote, more easily than ten
Loads of Dung, which is carried to Vineyards situate in Rocky places
with great labour, and no small charge.
NB. If this Soap be used for the fattening of Vines, too much of it
is not to be used at a time, least the Vines grow too fat and
luxuriant; therefore its moderate use is required, which needs not
that exactness in the dunging of Arable Land: Although in that an
excess brings damage, and indeed it is the excess of good things
that doth harm. A Tree, or Vine being made too fat by dunging,
grows luxuriant, and putteth forth more fruit than it can bear and
bring to Maturity. The Wood it self becomes too fat and soft, so that
in the Winter it is easily injured by the cold. Whence in all things a
Mediocrity ought to be observed. This Black Soap made of the Oyl of
Wood, is truly a very great gift of God, in those places where Sand
renders the ground barren. Hence the admirable Wisdom of our
Creator appeareth, as it were thus speaking to us: Ye rude, and
unskilful men, wherefore do you leave this place uncultivated?
Because you cannot sow it with any kind of Grain, I will that it shall
produce wood, and afford you a matter, with which, if you will, you
may render it fat. For it is sufficiently known, that Animals, and
Vegetables rotting, dung the earth, and render it fat; which thing
even the Rusticks have now learned, that they do the same without
putrefying or rotting, when they cut down, and burn the Trees and
Bushes, which had grown up in the Fields, during the long time of
the War, and spread the Ashes on the ground, by which it is fatned.
But that they know not how to save, invert, and use with the Ashes
for dunging, the acid Spirit, and hot Oyl, which vanish in the
burning, ought to seem strange to none, seeing that no man hath
hitherto declared it to them. Nevertheless, I perswade my self that
this way of dunging of Land, will come into use, in process of time,
but I believe not quickly [here in Germany] by reason of that great
quantity of grain which every place affordeth in this time of Peace.
But if hereafter, a new War should happen (which God avert) and
the Fields should lie many years untilled, through the want of Men,
Horses, and other necessaries, then I believe, and not before, this
necessary Art will be sought after.
But what other things the said juice of Wood is able to effect, we
cannot here declare, by reason of our intended brevity: Yet this I will
add, that if this acid Spirit be rectified, it may be used in the
preparation of good Medicines, in Mechanick Arts, in the making of
many fair Colours, from the extraction of Metals, Minerals, and
Stones, and for all things for which common Vinegar is used; yea,
far more commodiously, because it much exceedeth the common
Wine, and Beer Vinegar in sharpness. And even it self alone is a
Medicine which cureth many incurable Diseases; being mixed with
warm water, and used in a Bath for washing the Body, is far more
efficacious than those Baths which issue out of the Earth; especially
in all Scabs, in Members relaxed by the French Palsie, Paralysis
Gallica [I suppose he means the Venereal Lues] in Fistulous and
stinking Ulcers in the Legs and other parts of the Body. Also in the
Gout, Stone, Cramp, Sciatica, Palsie, Diseases of the Womb, and all
sorts of sickness otherwise to be cured by the help of Baths, which
this Vinegar pressed out of Wood, far exceedeth in Salubrious
Vertues.
 The same also doth the hot Oyl which is expelled by expression
with the Spirit, which exerteth wonderful Virtues in curing those
Ulcers and external affects. For which certainly, as a great gift, and
to be easily found in all places, none of those who are burdened
with grievous Diseases, can render sufficient thanks to the Almighty:
But especially the Poor, who have not Money to buy Physick.
NB. Here also it ought to be observed, that those who use the
Bath tempered with the juice of Wood, should before they enter into
it drink some spoonfuls of this Vinegar. For this Vinegar by
penetrating the whole Body, casteth out all things superfluous and
noxious to nature by sweat, and openeth all Obstructions of the
Liver, Spleen, and Lungs: And especially when the Vinegar is elicited
from a Wood, or Herb, which is endowed with peculiar Virtues for
the eradicating of those Diseases. As for Example: The acid Spirit of
the Vine, Beech, Birch, and the like, taketh away the Obstructions of
the Internal Bowels. That of the Oak, and other hard Woods, cureth
the Corruption of the Blood, and all Diseases proceeding thence, as
the Pox, Leprosie, external Ulcers of all sorts, Scabs, Fistula, and all
open Sores. Also all Contractures or Cramps, Falling-sickness,
Apoplexy, and Palsie. So the Vinegar of Ash, Cherry-tree, Plumb-tree,
Sloe, or Bullace-tree, Medlar-tree, Arbute-tree, and the like Trees,
which bear Fruits having Stones or Kernels, cure the Gout, and the
Stone of the Reins and Bladder. That of Balsamick Herbs, as St.
John’s Wort, Sage, Paul’s Betony, or Fleuellin, Sanicle, Betony, Lung-
wort, Liver-wort, Saxifrage, and other like, taketh away the internal
Hurts of the Liver and Lungs, and all inward affects arising from
Blows, Falls, &c. So efficacious a Medicine is this juice of Wood, that
the most costly Galenical Compositions are forced to give it place. In
making the Bath one Pound of the acid Spirit is to be added to ten
pints of water, and this quantity to be augmented, or diminished,
according to the condition of the Patient and the Disease.
Before the use of the Bath, some drops of the Oyl may be
adjoined to the spoonfulls of Spirit, which so fortifieth the Spirit, that
it more readily penetrateth the body, more forcibly accosteth the
Disease, and the sooner expelleth it. In Gouty Pains, and in the
stone of the Kidneys, the same Oyl being rubbed upon the part with
the Spirit, gives a relief not to be contemned. In brief, this juice of
Woods and Herbs, if it be duly prepared and used, is able to shame
and confound all the Apothecaries Shops of Galenical Medicines,
notwithstanding their proud Furniture of Painted and Gilded Glasses
and Boxes.
And I do not doubt but in process of time, that Physicians out of a
good Conscience, will explode those unprofitable Coctions, and in
their room institute better preparations, that God may have his due
praise, and the miseries of the sick receive succour.
For although this acid water doth not contain the Virtues of the
whole Herb, nevertheless it is to be reputed and used as an
efficacious water of Herbs, in Medicine, seeing that that which is
used in the Shops hath very little virtue, as daily experience
witnesseth: It being nothing but the pure Phlegm of the Herb, the
chief Virtues and Essence of the Herb remaining in the supposed
fœces, although the water hath carried along with it something of
the Smell and Taste. Look upon any dry Herb, which the heat of the
Sun or Air hath deprived of all its Phlegm and Humidity, and see
whether it be also deprived of its Smell, Taste, and Efficacy. And
although in length of time it will lose all its Taste and Smell,
nevertheless its chief Virtues yet lie hid in it. Yea, although its
acetum be drawn from it by distillation, that an unskilful man would
think that there remained no virtue at all in the remaining black
Coals of Wood or Herbs, yet the most efficacious Virtues yet lie hid
in the best Sulphur and Salt. And that great Virtue doth yet remain
in the Coals, is not unknown to Rusticks, who in the Winter burn
them to warm themselves, and boil their food, which thing they
could never do by the Phlegm separated by distillation. Those black
and contemptible Coals are of so great vertue, that they emulate the
powers and properties of the most Noble Creature the Sun, for
which cause they merit the name of Terrestrial Suns. For whatsoever
the Astral and Sydereal Sun effecteth in the superiour Firmament,
the same doth the Terrestrial Suns, viz. Coals, which are its Vicars,
also effect. The superiour rendereth all things partakers of Life and
Growth, the same doth also the inferiour Suns. In the Winter time
when the Sun is far distant from us, all the Vegetables of the Earth
are as it were dead: In the Spring upon his return, all things revive,
grow, move, increase, and are nourished.
Insects themselves which have hid themselves in Holes and
Caverns of the Earth to fly from Cold, and have lain as dead, do
again come forth into the light. All which effects are produced by the
superiour Sun. The same things also the inferiour Sun can effect. For
when Flies, Spiders, and other like Insects in any Parlour or
Chamber, to shun the cold, betake themselves to Holes and Chinks,
and there lie as it were dead; the first heat they perceive by the
making of a fire in that room, recover their former life, and again
creep out of their hiding places, as upon the Suns approaching us in
the Spring. Yea, if in such a Room made hot, there had been before
reposited great Insects, as Frogs, Snakes, Lizards, and the like, as
also Herbs killed by the cold, they would revive, recover strength
and grow equally as if they had been illustrated by the Rays of the
great Elementary Sun. Therefore if this Contemptible Coal, which in
the judgment of the unskilful is deprived of all its Juice and Virtue,
can perform these things; what a Medicine think you may be
prepared by the help of Art of such a Coal?
But some Putatious Physician may here ask; who can prepare any
Medicine from so dry and insipid a Coal? It can neither be dissolved
by the strongest Corrosive Liquor, nor by the most intense fire, if no
air come to it: of which, if the least Portion shall touch it, it presently
conceiveth flame, and is consumed, so that nothing of it remains but
a few ashes mixt with a little Salt. And those Virtues which refresh
all things living, and revive the dead, all perish by Combustion, and
vanish in smoak, which could they be taken and preserved, might
doubtless afford a Medicine of great moment. To this I answer:
wherefore cannot so great an efficacy be preserved, and used for
the making of a good Medicine, before that it vanisheth by burning,
and flieth into the air? Whatsoever Philosopher is ignorant of the
manner of effecting this, truly he is a weak Philosopher, who ought
to blush in that he setteth himself before others, and contemneth
them who exceed himself in Learning and Science. He that knoweth
not how to use any palpable and coagulated matter, before it be
consumed by burning, and vanisheth away, by what means will he
elicit the same out of its Chaos, and concentrate it? But that the way
of freeing this Noble Sulphur from its Bonds and Keepers, is not
known to everyone, is no wonder. For it will not come at every call.
Of all the Philosophers, there is none who more clearly and openly
teacheth by what means it may be delivered from its Bonds, than
Sandivogius, who expresly saith, That this Sulphur lies hid and is
held Captive in an obscure or dark prison, and kept by very strong
keepers. But that Salt only in the conflict or fight, gave him a deadly
wound. No Man hath spoken more clearly than this worthy Author.
Therefore he that knoweth not how to extricate that Vital virtue from
its bonds, and how to use it in Medicine, let him read the above
cited Sandivogius, who will clearly instruct him. If he cannot learn of
him, there is no reason why any one should labour to help him.
I will propose the matter by a similitude; a Man is compounded of
three things, viz. Body, Soul, and Spirit; The Body is visible,
immoveable, gross, earthy, and corruptible: The Spirit is invisible,
movable, living, and nevertheless mortal; But the Soul of Man, which
is his most noble part, is immortal.
In like manner, there is also a certain Anima or Vital Principle in
Vegetables and Minerals, although there are few who know how to
extract it. Therefore as in Man the Soul is the most noble part; to
which the Spirit is inferiour, and the Body the lowest or vilest; so it is
also with Vegetables and Minerals. To acquire the Anima or Vital
Principle of any Vegetable or Mineral, that fixed and constant Anima
is to be separated by the help of Art, from the gross, unprofitable,
and dead body. For as long as the gross body adhereth to this noble
Principle, so long it cannot move it self in a due manner, nor
demonstrate its nobility, but is held Captive by its gross body, till it
be set at liberty, by some body who knows how to dissolve its
bonds. Being freed from its bonds, and the gross body laid aside, it
can presently exert its power. Therefore let this be the principal care
of Physicians, that instead of a body dead, and destitute of Virtue,
they labour to attain the fixed and living Anima of Vegetables, that
using that in the cure of diseases they may perform far greater
things than now they do.
I have here inserted this discourse, only for this cause, that I
might shew that a whole or intire body is of very little moment, and
that that thing whereby any Good is to be effected in Medicine, is to
be found only in the most noble part, to wit, the Anima.
And even, as in Minerals, besides a fixed and incombustible
Sulphur, there is also found another, combustible and fugacious: so
also there is found a twofold Sulphur in Vegetables, in the destilling
of which, by a Retort, an Oil is expelled, together with the acid Spirit
and Phlegm, which indeed hath its virtues, but can in no wise
perform those things which that part remaining in the black Coals is
wont to effect. For by how much a Medicine shall be more fixed and
constant, by so much the more do they enter and encounter long
and fixed diseases; so on the contrary, fugacious medicines are
found less efficacious in eradicating the same.
What I have said concerning Vegetables, viz. That there is in them
a volatile and fugacious spirit, and a constant fixed Anima; the same
is also to be understood of Minerals, which besides a combustible
Sulphur, possess also a fixed and constant Anima.
But whosoever knoweth how to conjoin the Anima of Vegetables
with the Anima of Minerals, hath obtained a Medicine which is able,
after a wonderful manner, to corroborate the Vital Spirit in Man. For
the Animæ of Vegetables and Minerals, are the Rays of the Sun
coagulated, which necessarily contain a vivifying or enlivening
power, seeing that the sun maketh all things partakers of Life.
And a man, if he only beholds the sun, or its Vicar the fire, the
earthly sun, although he be in some very deep and cold place under
ground, where he cannot feel its warming and enlivening power; yet
he shall perceive his Heart to be recreated and strengthened by the
bare aspect of it: But how much greater a recreation and
corroboration would he perceive, if he should take the Anima of
Wine, or of some other Herb conjoined with the Anima of Gold, for
the curing of his body, with both which it hath a great familiarity; for
like rejoiceth in like, and desireth to be joined to it: And therefore it
ought to seem strange to no man, that I assert, the humidum
radicale of the humane body may be augmented by the Animæ of
Vegetables and of Gold: For the Anima of Vegetables is nothing else
but an essential universal salt, which is found in all things.
Seeing therefore that Philosophers confess, that the redness of
gold and whiteness of silver may be encreased by its own universal
salt, it is reasonable for us to acquiess in the same opinion, and to
maintain it against those that erre. A visible and palpable
demonstration is to be credited. Nevertheless I easily perswade my
self, that this discourse of mine will not be credited by many, which I
cannot help. It contenteth me, that I have written the Truth, and
lighted a Candle to my Neighbour.
After one and the same manner, of Wood of little or no worth, I
have shewed the making of Salt-petre, for Souldiers, Gardeners,
Vintners, and Husband-men, fit for the dunging of Orchards,
Vineyards, Fields, and Meadows; of commodious Baths, for the Sick;
of a good Vinegar for Chymists and Apothecaries, necessary for
many extractions. It now remains, that I also offer a Gift to the
Owners of Metallick Mines. If they shall humect or moisten the Calx
viva, or Lime made of stones, in the Press, as we have taught, with
the Acetum or Vinegar of Wood, they shall obtain a cheap Flux, by
which those hard and untractable stones digged out of metallick
Veins, may easily be melted; for the acid spirit of Wood is fixed by
the Lime, and converted into a salt, causing an easie Flux.
Nevertheless, this salt will be of greater profit to Husband-men, for
the dunging and fattening their Fields (for whose sake I also
describe it) than in the melting of Mineral bodies. Physicians may
use the noble and efficacious juice of Wood, for the happy cure of
many incurable diseases, and to their own honour and profit. This
Vinegar of Wood being exposed in Hogsheads to the cold in Winter,
that it may be frozen to Ice, the Phlegm only freezeth, but the sharp
spirit, with the Oil, is not turned into Ice, but remaineth in the
middle of the Hogshead so sharp, that it corrodeth metals like Aqua-
fortis. If Princes and Great men would be pleased to take care that
the Wood in their Dominions (otherwise rotting in the Woods) might
be turned into Salt-Petre, they would do well, and it would not
repent them of their labour, seeing there is a time at hand, in which
Salt-Petre will be much wanted.
There is yet another secret, which for the sake of Country-men I
ought to discover, which will yield them no small profit; which is this:
If Hop-poles be burnt at the ends which are to go into the Earth,
and those burnt ends dipt in the Oil of Wood, that they may imbibe
or suck in that fatness, and afterwards set into the earth, they admit
no humidity or moisture, which otherwise they are wont to do, being
every year diminished in that part which standeth in the earth. It
also cometh to pass, that they communicate their fatness to the
vines and stalks of the Hops to which they are joined, and render
them more fat and fruitful, by this means affording a twofold profit,
first in preserving the Hop-poles from rotting a longer time than they
are wont to last. The other is, That the Roots of the Vines and Hops,
drawing fatness and nourishment from the bottoms of the poles
grow the faster, and are more fruitful. Moreover, those ends of the
poles, in length of time growing rotten, yet there is no loss of the
Oil, but still the same profit remaineth, seeing that those rotten ends
of the poles being taken up and planted again in the earth with the
Roots of Hops, they will afford them nourishment for some years,
better than if they had been dunged with dung. In like manner, by
the help of this Oil of Wood, strong and durable quick-hedges may
be made for the fencing in of Vineyards, Orchards, Gardens, and
Hop-yards, by which Beasts and Thieves may be kept out. For this
purpose the sharp end of the stakes fit for the Hedges, are to be put
into the Fire till they grow black, and then whilst they are hot, be
dipped into the Oil, that they may well imbibe the same.
With these, being drove into the ground after the usual manner,
an Hedge may be made by planting a young shoot or set of Thorn,
Crab-tree, &c. all along between the Stakes. Those sets or sprigs,
which otherwise, growing but slowly, are many years before they
come to a requisite height and thickness, their roots now obtaining
fatness and nourishment from this Oil, arrive to maturity in less than
half the usual time, and become a thick and strong Quick-hedge
before the Stakes are rotten. Moreover, there is no danger of wild
Beasts coming into those places where the Hedge stakes are
imbrewed with this Oil, seeing that wild Beasts shun all strong
odours, and dare not approach them. If you shall imbibe Hempen-
Cords, or such as are made of the Bark of Trees twisted together
with Grass, with the said Oil, and then bind them about Fruit-trees, it
will hinder the creeping up of Spiders, Ants, or Pismires, Palmer or
Canker-Worms, and other the like Insects, which are wont to
damnifie Fruit; inasmuch as those Insects plainly abhor such hot
Oils. By this means also may Rats and Mice be hindered from
creeping up Hovel-posts, and devouring the Grain.
There is yet another manner of promoting the dunging of Fields,
and the happy growth of Seeds, and not only those Fields which are
lean and sandy, to which Cow-dung may be used, but also those
which are hard and craggy, in which neither sand nor any dust of
Earth is found.
But in making manifest this Artifice to the whole World, my
intention is not that the World should thereby be inriched with great
profit, as I have endeavoured by describing the manner of Dunging
poor Sandy Land, by the acid juice of Wood. My Scope or end is only
this, That every man may see and consider how many wonderful
things may be effected with wood and shrubs, which are every
where found in great quantity, and nevertheless are of no use or
profit.
Who would credit any man, affirming, that it might be effected,
that not only Grain, but all sorts of Trees, and excellent Vines should
grow in any hard and naked Rock, without the addition of any Earth
or Dung? Truly, I believe that there is no man in the World, to whom
this will seem likely. This will more amaze Farnner, with his whole
Crew, than my Miraculum Mundi did. Yet because the thing may be
done, I cannot forbear to divulge the Artifice, only to this end, that I
may subject the Divine Wonders to the eyes of the blinded World.
But yet it cannot be, but that it will be profitable in many places, in
those especially which lie near Rivers, and afford Wine; such are
those which lie upon the Mœne, Mosell, Necker, Rhine, Danube, and
other the like Rivers, where great and craggy Mountains frequently
occurr; in which having the heat of the Sun all the day, Vines might
be commodiously planted, if Earth and Dung could be carried thither.
Certainly Vines grow no where better than in Rocks and Craggs, into
whose clefts and cracks they insinuate their roots, that they may
thence attract to themselves nourishment, which few other Plants
are wont to do: And because for the most part much Wood grows
about such Rocks, it would be worth while to press out its juice, by
which the hard Rocks might be reduced into a soft Dust, fit for the
Reception of Vines, which might be performed by this operation;
which nevertheless would not be necessary to undertake, but for the
manifesting of the wonders of God to the unskilful, and shewing that
such things may be done. If any desireth to plant in a place of this
sort, in which Vines or Trees growing freely in rocky and stony
places, as Cherry-trees, Plumb-trees, Service-trees, and others,
bearing Fruits which have Stones; at the beginning, a little hole is to
be cut in the Rock by the help of Masons Tools, which is to be filled
with the Vinegar of Wood; which being done, the hole is to be
covered to keep off the Rain. After some daies, let him see whether
the Vinegar hath insinuated it self into the Rock, and again fill up the
hole with fresh Vinegar, and cover it with a Stone, as before. And
this Labour is to be repeated in the Summer time so often, till the
Rock hath drunk up much Vinegar, and be thereby so softned for the
space of an Ell in length, breadth, and depth, that it may be easily
dug up with a sharp Instrument, and become a great hole; the
matter digged out is again to be cast into the hole, and to be again
filled with the Vinegar of Wood, and covered with stones, and so left
till all the matter grows so soft, that it may be crumbled to pieces
with the fingers. And in the Autumn, when Trees have lost their
Leaves, or in the Spring, before the Leaves come forth, viz. in the
Month of March, Vines or Trees are to be planted in the matter
contained in the hole, and the matter to be trampled close down
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

textbookfull.com