commodious to either CHAP. XXVI Of the Goat-heard SVndrie countries in Europe and particularly some places of France are to be found where they haue not the commoditie and benefit of any greater cattell than the Goat and of this they can make milke meats much Butter and more wholesome than that of the sheepe as other things also accompanying thesame the wooll and skin onely excepted of which notwithstanding they make Chamlet in Turkie and as for their young ones they are sold in their season and make as good meat as any that can be found And this time is when as birds doe couple and match together and other beasts goe to rut for the young ones of this kind being indeed verie young are apt to be compared vvith the Lambes of the same age Witnesse to the Cookes and Vittailers vvhich craftily set the tayle of a Kid vpon the quarter of a lambe which is found to haue but a skinnie and vnsauorie flesh without any daintinesse or tast at all saue of the milke The Goat is fed as it were with nothing he brouseth and feedeth of all manner of grasse of pricking things be they neuer so sharpe vpon the hedges bushes brambles yea vpon venimous and infectious things he loueth to brouse the wood of fruit trees he delighteth to licke the moist walls and rockes tasting of Saltpetur in such sort as that you shall neuer see a Goat dye of hunger he feedeth for the most part of a more solide meat than the Weather and climeth into higher places and where the Sunne hath greater power besides he is of greater stirring and more giuen to exercise and therewithall framed of a more strong and lustie bodie These haue beene the causes why men in times past haue esteemed them as they doe yet also in hillie countries and we for the few that we haue doe prouide Heards and Houses for them amongst the Sheepe and wee seperate the male Goats in such sort as vve doe the Rammes Their house must bee paued vvith stone eyther by workemen or naturally for these cattell are not allowed any kind of litter at all and that because they like it better to lye vpon the bare and hard ground than to lie vpon litter yea and oftentimes they will lie asleepe vpon the âârie points of rockes or vpon the steepe corners of high hills toward the heat oâ ãâã Sunne rather than vnder any shadow or else vpon the fresh and soft grasse but ãâã be of variable complexions and therefore it is no shame for a man to call anothââ goatie if he be found mutable and full of changes in his manners and carriage Anâ for as much as we are farre off from Languedoc Auuergne and the hillie places ãâã Sauoy in which this kind of prouision being a speciall commoditie of those couâtries is had in great estimation we will make a shorter description and discourse both of the maner of ordring them than we do in the like case of such as beare woall as also for that these two sorts of cattell are placed together vnder one roofe and ãâã one cratch feeding vpon the like fodder and are as it were handled after the ãâã manner and kept in the same flocke The painefull Goat-heard shall make cleane their house euerie day and shall not suffer any dung or moisture therein or that with trampling they make any dirt for all these are verie contrarie vnto goats He himselfe must be of the nature of goaâ that is to say nimble couragious rough hard diligent patient cheerefull and bold and aduenturing to goe amongst the rockes through deserts and bushes noâ that he should follow his flocke into euerie place as other heards doe their cattell bââ that he be euerie day before them He must not be charged with moe than fiftie because this cattell is foolish and dissolute easie to stray abroad hither and thither contrarie vnto sheepe which keepe together and trouble not their heard with gathering of them together He shall beware and not suffer them to feed in cold places far cold is more hurtfull vnto them than any other thing He shall draw them forth to the fields by breake of day so long as the dew falleth that so hauing filled themselues of the grasse thus bedewed they may returne home about nine of the clocke their vdders of milke and then againe about three they are to be sent to the fields that they may feed and continue there vntill the euening In Winter time he may lead them to fields from nine a clocke vntill night without any hurt done vnto them either by the open aire or cold be it neuer so sharpe they are of so strong ãâã It is true that if the weather be tedious or Rainie or full of Snow as in Winter he shall keepe them in their cote and giue them to eat the tender sprouts and stalkes of herbes gathered in September and dried in the Sunne and afterward kept in the hay loft or some such other place out of the raine He shall vse the meanes to cause them to ingender in Autumne before the moneth of December as he doth the sheep to the end that in the Spring when the trees bud and the woods begin to put forth new leaues they may bring forth their young ones When he would haue his goats to haue good store of milke he shall giue them to eat ynough fiue-leaued grasse or shall tie about their bellies the hearbe Dittanie or else carrie them to feed in some place where there groweth great store of it The goodnesse of a goat must be esteemed and gathered by these signes If she be one yeare old and not past fiue if she haue a great bodie firme and swift thicke haire great and grosse teats large beneath the taile and about her thighs rather of a reddish or blacke colour than of a white for although that some say that the white doe yeeld more milke yet the reddish coloured and blacke are more pleasant frolicke and merrily disposed without hornes rather than horned for those which haue no hornes doe not cast their young so soone and they doe keepe more conueniently amongst sheepe than those which haue hornes The male goat is much to be esteemed if he be not aboue fiue yeare old for in respect of his heat which is exceeding great he doth easily grow old which hath a great bodie grosse legges a thicke and short necke hanging and great eares a small head blacke haire thicke neat and long without hornes for such as haue hornes by reason of their pushing and eagernesse are dangerous which hath likewise vnder his chaps two bearded knobs or kernels The profit that the farmer may make of his goats is their dung whether it be by folding them vpon their fallowes in the Summer time or that it be such as is made ãâã gathered in their coats the Kids the flesh whereof is held so daintie the Goat-âword whereof gloues are
faithfull or that she her selfe be present with them Let her compell her sonnes to be formost at worke and let her shew them the example of their father that this may be as a double spurre vnto the men seruants Let her not endure them to vtter or speake any vnchast word oath or blasphemie in her house and let her cause Tale-bearers to be silent and not to trouble themselues with other folkes matters Let her keepe close vp her Stubble and lopping of Trees for fuell for the Ouen Let her not suffer the stalkes of her Beanes Peason Fetches Thistles Danewort the refuse of pressed things and other vnprofitable hearbes to be lost for in winter they being burnt into ashes will affoord prouision to lay Bucks withall or else be sold by little and little vnto the Towne Let her giue good account vnto the Mistresse or Lord of the Egges and young ones as well of Birds as of other Beasts Let her be skilfull in naturall Physicke for the benefite of her owne folke and others when they shall fall out to be ill and so in like manner in things good for Kine Swine and Fowles for to haue a Physition alwayes when there is not verie vrgent occasion and great necessitie is not for the profit of the house Let her keepe all them of her house in friendly good will one toward another not suffering them to beare malice one against another Let her gouerne her Bread so well as that no one be suffered to vse it otherwise than in temperate sort and in the time of Dearth let her cause to be ground amongst her Corne Beanes Pease Fetches or Sarrasins Corne in some small quantitie for this mingling of these flowers raiseth the paste maketh the Bread light and to be of a greater bulke At the same time she shall reserue the drosse of the Grapes shee presseth affoording them some little corner for the imploying of them in the deâraying of some part of charge for the seruants Drinke that so the Wine may serue for her husband and extraordinarie commers But the naturall remedies which shee shall acquaint her selfe withall for the succour of her folke in their sicknesses may be those or such as those are which I shall set downe by writing in manner of a Countrie Dispensatorie leauing the other more exquisite Remedies to bee vsed by the professed Physitions of the great Townes and Cities CHAP. XII The Remedies which a good Huswife must be acquainted withall for to helpe her people when they be sicke FIrst for the Plague shee shall make a distilled water of the hearbe called Regina prati after that shee hath caused the same to be steept in white Wine or else shee shall cause to lye to steepe in the iuice of Citrons a peece of Gold or the powder or leaues thereof for the space of 24 houres and afterward mixe that iuice with white Wine and the powder or decoction of the root of Angelica and so giue it to drinke to the infected Or else let her take two old Walnuts one Figge tenne leaues of Rue one graine of Salt powne and temper them altogether and rost them vnder the ashes and afterward being sprinkled with Wine let her giue them to be eaten Or else let her take one head of Garlicke twentie leaues of Rue as many of Clarey and powne them altogether with white Wine and a little Aqua vitae afterward let her straine them out and giue the partie to drinke thereof a good draught The water of Naphe drunke to the quantitie of six ounces causeth the malignitie of the Plague to breake forth by Sweats the iuice of Marigolds Scabious and of the flowers of Betonie doe the like Apply vpon the swelling a loafe very hot or a Henne âut through the middest or a white Onion made hollow on the root side and filled vp againe with good strong Treacle or Mithridate softened with the iuice of Citrons it hauing all this within it and being well stopped must be rosted vnder the ashes till it be rotten after that powne it well in a Mortar and apply it or else if it be strained the iuice drunke and the drossie part applyed to the place you shall perceiue the like effect For a continuall Feauer which is otherwise called the hot Disease shee shall apply vpon either wrest of both the armes the iuice of the stinging Nettle mixed with the oyntment of Poplar buds or two springs of new-layed Egges Soot taken off from the Hub of the Chimney and well beaten togethââ and mixt with salt and strong vineger let her bind the whole vnto the parties wrests with a Linnen Cloth or else in place of this shee shall take away the heart of an Onion and fill it with Mithridate and apply it fast bound vpon the wrest of the right arme or else shee shall take the heart of a water-Frog and apply it vpon the heart or backe bone of the sicke partie or else she shall apply vpon the region of the Liuer or vnto the soles of the seet quicke Tenches Many for this cause doe stampe the small Sorrell and make a drinke for the great heat thereof as also make a Cataplasme thereof to apply to the wrests of the sicke partie Others doe the like with the water which they straine out of a great Citrull Others cause to steepe in water the whole seed of Flea-wort for the space of a night and minister of this water with a little Sugar to the sicke partie to drinke For a Quartane Ague take of small Sage or for want of it the other Hysope Wormewood Parsley Mints Mugwort white spotted Trefoile stampe them all together with the spring of an Egge and the grossest Soot that you shall find cleaâing to the Chimney and of the strongest vineger that may be found infuse them altogether and make thereof Cataplaâmes fit to be applyed to the wrests of the hands To the same purpose steepe the crummes of two white Loaues as they come from the Ouen in a quart of Vineger afterward distill the same by a Lââbecke and giue thereof a small draught to the sicke partie to drinke about some two houres before the fit come Some hold it also for a singular remedie to take the iuice of the female white Mulleine before it put forth his stalke pressed or drawne forth with white Wine and drunke a small space before the fit The like effect hath the iuice of Folefoot the decoction of the leaues and rootes of Veruaine boyled in white Wine the decoction of Calaminâ Peniryall Organie Burrage Buglosse Languede-boeuf the rind of the root of Tamariske Ash-tree Betonâe Tyme Agrimonie and the roots of Sperage all boyled in white Wine the iuice of Wormewood and Rue powred from their feelings and drunke before the fit the iuice of Plantaine drunke with honied water Some doe make great account of the powder of the root of Asarum otherwise called Cabaret dryed in the Sunne or in
that they will happen about tenne moneths after which is the iust time of their going with Calfe to calue and that being at such time as new grasse doth draw on it will be an occasion of greatly encreasing their milke and vpon this occasion also their Calues shall be a great deale the better fed To the end they may hold bulling the better you must see that at such time they be kept bare and leane for so they will hold a great dealâ better On the contrarie a good Bull for breed must be fat well set together and well meated hauing for two moneths space before beene fed with Barley and Fââches He must also be chosen more long than high of a red haire large betwixt the shoulders strong legged round trussed and bodied broad breasted short ãâã broad browed fierce countenanced terrible to fight blacke eyes short hornes long tayle and full of haire But in England and other places they neuer vse to feed their horned Cattell with Corne for they find it of small or no profit Grasse or Hay being euer sufficient and though in France the red colour be euer most preferred yet as Serres also affirmeth the blacke is fully as excellent for the red exceedeth but ãâã prouing an extraordinarie vertue in the milke but the blacke is euer the hardest best flesht best âallowed and hath the strongest hyde And if it happen that the Cow refuse the Bull or the Bull her they must be brought to haue a desire the one to the other by holding neere their nosthrils the tayle of a Hart burned or else vsing somâ other composition whereof we will speake in the Treatise of Horses During the time of their going with Calfe they must be kept from leaping of Ditches as ãâã from leaping of Hedges or Bushes and a little before the time that they doe calue to feed them in the house or yard adioyning to the house and that with good Prouââder or Blossomes not milking them at all for the milke that they haue then cannot be but naught and becomâneth hard as a stone When they haue calued they may not be milked to make any Butter or Cheese vntill two moneths be past after which timâ you shall send them againe to their pasture not suffering their Calues to sucke them any longer except it be at night when they returne from Pasture so long as they feed vpon fresh Prouander which you shall haue in readinesse for them and in the morâing before you send them to Pasture In what state soeuer they be you shall not let them drinke aboue twice a day in Summer and once in Winter and that not of Riuer or Floud water but of some water which is waâme as Raine water Fenne or Well water hauing beene drawne a long time before for Well water by reason of the coldnesse might somewhat hurt them It is true that the Cow will not refuse any water that is without fault so that it be cleare for she loueth cleare water especially as the Horse on the contrarie that which is puddly and troubled being a signe of his goodnesse if so he âumble the water with his foot before he drinke And as for â Calues newly calued you must leaue them with good litter of fresh straw vntill such â time as she haue licked cleansed and wiped them and for some fiue or six daies after â for the being of the Cow with the Calfe doth heat and settle the Calfe After such â time you shall put it by it selfe in some Shed prouiding it good Litter and renewing â the same oftentimes and thence you shall bring them forth when you would haue them sucke and carrie them thither backe againe so soone as they haue sucked And if you see eyther that they will not sucke or that being willing to sucke they can doe nothing but offer to take the paps without sucking any thing you shall looke vnder the tongue if they haue not the Barbes which is a whitâsh fleshinesse growing vnder the tongue almost after the manner of the Pip which and if it be so you shall take away gently without slaying the tongue with little nipping Pincers washing the place afterward either with red Wine of it selfe or with the infusion of Salt and Garlicke stamped together for this disease will cause them to languish vnto death by keeping them from sucking Let the huswife also be diligent in taking away the Lice that may breed vpon Calues and make them languish and thrine nothing at all as doth also the Scab when they haue it and this is to be knowne by their skins if they become hard and stiffe after the manner of little ridges and that stroaking your hand along you feele the skin hackt and rough like a File and the haire staring and standing vpright For the healing of such scabs she shall rub them with Butter or with Oyle of the setlings of the Lampe all ouer the bodie where the scab is seized But as it is a great deale better to preuent diseases than to cure them the huswife shall cut off all entrance from these two annoyances if she cause to be rubd with the wispes of straw vnbound her Calues twice a day if she suffer not their pisse to stand in puddles vnder them if she see that they be kept with fresh Litter and drie causing their dung to be carefully cast out from among their Litter But to returne to the keeping and ordering of Kine the huswife shall appoint times for the milking of them as that they be milkt euening and morning at a conuenient houre and when they be at red That the Milke be strained so soone as it is taken and that Butteâ be chernd with leysure but not any losse that the Cheese be well crasht prest and freed from their Whey and especially that her Pots kneading Troughs Strainers Slices and Cheâse presses and other implements seruing for the Dairie be kept neat and cleane and that none of her maids haue any thing to doe with either the Butter or Cheese when they haue their termes In the morning before going to field she shall cause the Calues to be gelded and that before they be two yeares old and not after for Calues grow the more when they are gelded in the time of their growth because thereby their bodies are made the more moist When they are gelded in respect of their paine and griefe there shal be giuen them Hay small shredded and mingled with Branne vntill they be come againe to their former stomackes and appetites They must not be gelded either when it is verie hot or cold or in the old of the Moone Being more than three yeares old they shall be put to the Neat-heard to begin to prepare them for the Draught and likewise she shall deliuer him her Kiâe with Calfe and those which after nine yeares doe not bring forth any more Calues for yet they may serue to draw in the
that so you may take their egges to put vnder some Henne to sit them thereby to make them tame for the fowle that is thus or dered will be better than that of the yard and which stirreth not out of the Court or from about the sides of the streets to tread To take such wild Ducks as are about your Ponds to make them tame you must cast the lees of wine or red wine in that verie place of the Pond side where you ãâã accustomed to cast them meat of wine and corne with leauen and flower tempered together and you shall take them when you see them drunke or else to take of the root and seed of Henbane a good quantitie and lay it to steepe in a basen full of water a whole day and a night afterward put thereinto Wheat and boyle all together vntill the said Corne be well steept and swelled afterward you shall put of the same Corne in the said place for the wild Duckes will runne vnto it and as soone as they shall haue eaten it they will fall downe all astonished and giddie This kind of fowle is made fat in such manner as the young Geese that is to say with the same food onely it remaineth that you should giue vnto them besides that the small of the fish and so you need not to cowpe them vp and as for your common ones the more you suffer them to runne the better it is for them You may make your profit of this bird in as much as the flesh thereof is very pleasant to eat especially about the necke and breasts the feathers thereof are âmaller better and more wholesome to sleepe vpon than those of Geese She layeth egges is great quantitie but not so good or delicate as those of the Hennes but yet of vse ãâã make Cakes fried Meats and other daintie Deuises adde hereunto that you may set them vnder Hennes When this bird trimmeth her feathers with her bill it betokeneth Wind. Also some hold the bloud thereof hardned and drunke with wine is good against all manner of poyson The Drake applyed aliue vnto the bellie is a soueraigne remedie for the ãâã of the Guts and Collicke insomuch that some say that this disease thus cured returneth vnto the Drake and that in such sort as that hee dyeth of it Teales young Ducks water-Hennes and small Ducks of the Pond will neuer be made tame but otherwise you may more easily take them than you can the wild Geeâe We may say as much of the Woodcocke and Curlew and other birds hâââting the Water and Riuers and liue notwithstanding vpon the Land for which cause they were called by men of old time birds of a two-fold or double kind of liuing and feeding Swannes haunt and loue to resort to some particular places onely as in watrie wandring and solitarie places There are great store to be seene in such places towards Toââs Angoulesme Coignac the Riuer of Sharant which is reported to be floored with Swannes and paued with Trouts Sameure in Fraunce as also in Flanders and towards Valentia which some say to haue beene in that respect called the Valley of Swannes and may be made tame and may be put either in Ponds or iâ Fennes but indeed they destroy and spoyle verie much fish Sometimes they feed vpon the greene Corne as the Gosling or wild Goose and doe make great spoilâ and wast therein It is sufficient for two paire to take their pleasure in your Pooles or foure if they be verie great and one paire onely is ynough in your Fish-pond and they must haue a house apart in the Orchard or Garden couered ouer a little and free from disturbance often made cleane and refreshed for they defile verie much If they haue not ynough whereon to feed in the place of their abode you must cast them some softened bread or some of the smallest fishes This is a great eating fowle and chargeable to be kept he maketh his Neast himselfe and hatcheth but once a yeare and three egges at the most at a time but he is a verie beautifull and pleasant bird There is a certaine kind of Swanne which hath his right foot diuided into fingers and fashioned with nailes and clawes or tallons as birds of the prey haue whereupon in striking into the water he catcheth and footeth his prey but his left foot is fashioned after the common manner of others and with it he roweth vpon the water Such a one was seene and killed at the Abbey of Iuilly neere Dampmartin in the yeare 1554. This kind of Swanne feedeth no where but in the water and vpon his prey and is altogether wild and cannot handsomely be tamed but the common Swanne is not such a one Socrates in Plato saith that this bird is dedicated to Apollo because of the gift of diuination which he hath by which he foreseeth his death and singeth verie sweetly and melodiously when he perceiueth the same at hand as seeming thereby to foresee what good Death doth bring with it I haue obserued that he doth not onely foresee his owne death but also the death of men especially when he appeareth in such places as he was not wont to haunt Witnesse hereof is S. Bartholomew his day in the yeare 1572 two or three dayes before which were seene manie Swannes flying swimming and diuing in the Riuer of Seyne betwixt S. Clou and the Port of Nully Cranes are not much vnlike to Swannes and are not birds of continuall haunt but yearely remouing from the Countries that are more hot vnto those Countries that are more cold Their departure is about September and their returne shortly after the Spring seed time and although they doe addict themselues vnto watrie places yet they feed for the most part of that which the drie land yeeldeth and not of things affoorded by the water for they liue and feed vpon Corne as doe the wild Geese There is no cause why you should make any great account of the Crane for although hee stay a certaine time with you yet hee layeth not anie moe than two egges all the yeare long Wherefore if you be willing to keepe of them you may doe it rather to please your sight withall than for anie hope of encrease for they neither lay nor sit anie moe than two egges And further their flesh is of a verie hard digestion especially if it be new killed but if you will eat it stay some time after the taking of them and hang them vpon the arme of some Figge-tree that they may grow tenderer Also eate them rather a long time after they haue beene dressed than whiles they are yet warme When you see them flye aloft in the Ayre without making anie noyse then looke for faire weather but and if you see them rest themselues vpon the ground be ye assured that it will be raine If your Farme be neere vnto marishes and
any thing chewing the cud This disease may be cured at the beginning but hauing once taken deepe root refuseth all maner of cure Whereunto take of Squilla or Sea-Onion small shred three ounces the rootâ of Melons beaten as much mixe all together with three handfull of grosse Salt and steepe them all in a pine and a halfe of strong vvine and euerie day you shall giue of this vnto the beast the quantitie of a quarter of a pint Vnto the flux of the bellie vvhich sometimes continueth till bloud come and vveakeneth the beast much there must be giuen to drinke in red Wine the stones of Raisons or Galles and Myrtle-berries vvith old Cheese delaied vvith grosse and thicke Wine or the leaues of the vvild Oliue-tree or of the vvild Rose-tree keeping the beast therewithall from eating or drinking any thing for the space of foure or fiue daies And for the last refuge or extreamest remedie it is vsed to burne him is the forehead with a hot burning yrox For to loosen the bellie of an Oxe you must cause him to drinke in vvarme vvaâââ two ounces of Oliues made into poulder Admit that you would feed and fat him for labour then you must vvash his mouth euerie eighth day vvith his owne vrine and thus you shall draw from him much âlegme vvhich taketh from him his appetite and doth injurie him in his meat And if this âlegme haue caused him to haue the rheume vvhich you shall know vvhen you see him to haue a vveeping eye and therewithall also vvithout any appetite and hanging downe of his âare then vvash his mouth vvith Thyme stamped in vvhiââ Wine or else rubbe it vvith Garleeke and small Salt and after vvash it vvith Wine Some cleanse away this flegme vvith Bay-leaues stamped vvith the rindes of Pomâgranets others inject into his nosthrils Wine and Myrtle-berries The Oxe pisseth bloud either by being ouer-heated or too much cooled by hauing eaten âuill hearbes in the Summer time and especially at such time as the dew lieth vpon the grasse the remedie is not to suffer him to drinke any vvater or other thing to cause him to take downe a drinke made of three ounces of Mustard-feed three ounces of Sea milleâ both stamped together an ounce of âreacle all boyled iâ two pints of white Wine afterward dissolue therin two ounces of Saffron and makeâ the beast to drinke it Against the rheume and eyes that are swolne and puffed vp it is vsuall to let the âeast bloud vnder the tongue or to make him take the juice of Leekes Rue Smalâage and Sauine well purified For the spots in the eyes there is commonly made an eye-salue of Sal-armoniacke âoistened and soked in Honie some againe vse to annoint the eye all round about âvith pitch well rempered vvith Oyle because there is danger in the Honie as which âight draw Bees and Wasps about the beasts continually If he haue the Barbes which is a fleshie substance growing vnder the tongue âhey must be cut and afterward rubbed with Salt and bruised Garleeke together âfter this his mouth must be washed with wine and with a paire of pincers you must âinch away the Wormes which breed vnder the same tongue To cleanse the inward parts of the sicke beast thoroughly there is nothing more âoueraigne than to take the drosse of Oliues after the Oyle is pressed out and to vse it âoft about the beast Vnto an ague which may befall him by ouer-great trauell in hot vveather with âheauinesse in the head swolne eyes and extraordinarie heat which is felt by touchâing the skin the remedie vsed is to let him bloud vpon the veine of the forehead or of the âare veine giuing him therewithall cooling meat as Lettuces and others ând vvashing his bodie vvith vvhite Wine and then giuing him cold vvater to drinke If the pallate of the beasts mouth beeing heaued and swolne doe cause him to âforsake his meat and often times to grone it vvill be good to let him bloud vpon the veine of the sayd his pallate and then after his bleeding you shall giue him nothing to eat but Garleeke vvell soked bruised and âusked with the leaues of the same or other greene thing or verie soft Hay vntill such time as he find himselfe well The disease of the Lungs is so desperate and vnrecouerable both in Oxen and Kine as that there is no other remedie but to vvash the stall wherein they haue stood vvith vvarme vvater and sweet smelling Hearbes before you fasten any other therein which also in the meane time whiles this is in doing must be bestowed in some other house This disease happeneth vnto them by reason of euill hearbes or naughtie Hay which they eat or of the ouer-great aboundance of bloud but most of all through horse pisse and yet more especially by keeping the beasts houses too close and ouer much shut And this is the cause why Mares not Horses yet verie vvell Asses can or ought to be left in Oxe-houses because that the breath of Asses doth preserue cattell from this disease For the Cough there is ordinarily giuen to drinke the decoction of Hyssope and to eat the roots of Leâkes stamped with pure Wheat others giue to be drunken seuen daies together the decoction of Mugwort If in drinking he swallow a Horse-leach and that the same doe fasten her selfe by the vvay in his throat then he must be cast downe vpon his backe and warme Oyle poured into his mouth but and if she be got into his stomach there must Vinegar be poured in If he happen to to haue his horne broken or shiuered take sixe ounces of Turpentine and one of Gum Arabecke boyle it all together and with that oyntment rubbe the horne all about euerie day for the space of ten or twelue daies which being expired beat Bole-armoniacke with eight whites of Egges spread this composition vpon plegets which you shal lay vpon the horne leauing them there three whole daies afterward when these plegets shall begin to be drie take them away and in place thereof spread round about the sayd horne Sage made into poulder the horne will heale To fasten a horne which is verie loose and readie to fall off first you shall seâ close and fast the horne in his place afterward you shall annoint all the vppermost part of the head for the space of fiue or six daies with an oyntment prepared of bruised Cummin-seed Turpentine Honie and Bole-armoniacke all of it being boyled and incorporated together afterward you shall foment the horne vvith a decoction of Wine vvherein haue beene boyled the leaues of Sage and Lauander in sufficient quantitie If the necke be swolne that it causeth some suspition of an Abscesse or Apostume then you must open the Apostume with a hot yron and put in the hole where it was opened the root of Sow-bread or of Nettle and this you shall renew often
grease melted with new Pitch or else to grease it there with Spech-grease for fiue or sixe daies for this will stay the cleauing of the horne and make it close and fast where it was shiuered or anie way sundered If an Oxe doe put forth new and young clawes his hoofe being fallen off then make an ointment with an ounce of Turpentine an ounce of Honey and as much of new Waxe and therewith you shall annoint the claw for the space of fifteene daies after that wash it with warme wine boyled with honey or else applie thereto a Cataplasme made of Aloes honey of Roses and halfe an ounce of Allome made in powder Buffles or wild Oxen called Buffes are better for drawing of a Load than in the turning of the Ground for they are neuer so free not yet so ãâã standing to their worke cleane contrarie to the Oxen of France which are fitter for the tilling of the Ground than for the Cart as being more strong more nimble and fitter to toyle so great diuersitie of Grounds as we haue in France whether they be Mountaines tops of Hils Valleyes void Fields or Plaines to be briefe where Ground is soft rough light hard white black and of diuers natures In Italie about Pisa and along the Marenne as it is there called their Buffles of which they haue great store are imployed in Draught being fastened by couples one after another to the number of twentie or thirtie together in one Teame The Cheese which is made of the milke of the females and turned round is of an vnsauorie âast but when it is cut in slices and fried in a pan it is sauorie Wild Oxen which are called in Prouence Languedoc Brans or Branes are not fit for anie thing by reason of their great furiousnesse wildnesse except only for the shambles Such Oxen are brought vp in the fennie places of Lamargues and vpon the Sea-coast farre from the haunt of other beasts or walke of man As also the Bull which is brought vp in the Pastures of Villages and keeping among the heards of other beasts and acquainted with men is not good or profitable for the plough for that he is too sturdie wil not match himselfe with gelded Oxen. Neither yet is there anie great good reaped of the labour of a gelded Cow but you must keepe and fat the Bull by himselfe for the Kine which shall be put to take him about the moneths of May Iune and Iuly and one Bull is ynough for threescore Kine The Oxen intended to be kept to be fatted and sold shall not draw but somâ once or twice a weeke and that when it is faire weather and a good season and that the earth is easie and gentle and they shall meddle but with little burthens onely to exercise them and they shall eat nothing but Barly Hay and Sheanes and sometimes the young buds of Vines and others such as they loue and that Oxe which hath wrought in the morning shall rest at afternoone The ancient Romanes did fasten some small quantitie of Hay to the hornes of such Oxen as would strike with the horne to the end that all that met him should take heed And hence riseth the French Prouerbe He weareth Hay on his horne pointing out a hot and wrathfull man in as much as Oxen Horse Asses and Men themselues become fierce and outragious by being ouer-fed and eating their full according to their hearts desire When as once the Farmer doth perceiue that his Draught Oxe is vnfit for labor he shall feed him sometime not letting him doe anie thing after which he shall kill him and salt him in pieces for the yearely nourishment of his familie and by the same meanes shall reserue the marrow and the gall of the Oxe for his seruice and vse when he shall haue need for the marrow of the Oxe doth verie much good in resoluing and softning hard tumors The gall of the Oxe is yet better than that of the Bull it doth throughly heale the vlcers of the fundament mixed with the iuice of Leekes being dropt into the eare it doth take away the buzzing of the eare being rubbed about childrens nauels it killeth the wormes being mixt with honey it is good for the inflamation of the throat mixt with the iuice of Beets and drawne into the nose it putteth away the fit of the falling sicknesse it is more profitable than anie other thing to giue a yellow die and colour vnto Skins and Brasle being scattered sprinkled vpon seeds it maketh that the reaped corne will not be deuoured or eaten with Mice There is sometimes sound in an Oxes gall a stone of the bignesse of an egge and of a yellow colour which giuen in drinke is verie good against the Stone and Iaundise applyed vnto the nosthrils it maketh the sight more cleare and hindereth the falling downe of rheume vpon the eyes In like manner Husbandmen may doe themselues much good by the vse of Neats dung for it cureth the stingings of Bees resolueth swellings and all manner of tumors mitigateth the paine of the Sciatica and maketh a great deale lesse the swelling called the Kings euill mixt with vineger it wasteth tumors comming of a Dropsie being fried in a panne with the flowers of Camomill Melilot and Brambles and applyed vnto the swolne Testicles it restoreth them vnto their naturall proportion and bignesse CHAP. XXIIII Of the Hogheard AMongst all Cattell seruing for food the most rauenous the most filthie and the most harmefull that is to say the Swine is had in great estimation and much commended amongst vs for the sweetnesse of the flesh whiles yet it sucketh and is young both for the Sowce and salted parts thereof as also for the Lard the Skinne and the Bristles thereof The rauenousnesse and greedie feeding of this Beast is witnessed by the Sow which the French King killed in hunting within whose bellie were found six pailes full of Grapes Their filthinesse and stench their wallowing of themselues their eating of stinking and filthie things as also the harme that they doe may be answered and proued by their rooting vp and vndermining of Walls by the foot and bottome the trampling which they keepe about Trees Medowes and vnsowne places For this cause in a Farme of great reuenues such a one as wee describe in this place there needeth a speciall man onely for that purpose to gouerne and guide them in the fields ãâã such a one as knoweth to dresse and order his Heard in good time and in cleanâ and cleanely sort to put the Pigges that are wained in one place wiâh the Bores and Hogges and the Sowes with their young ones into a second place by themselues and yet further the sicke and diseased into a third particular place by themselues Fresh straw oftentimes giuing them and renewed doth fat them as much as their meat And you must take care that their
Kidneyes Trembling or shaking shewes a Feuer or the ââundring in the bodie Hollownesse of the backe shewes the drie Maladie or the âropsie staling with paine shewes the Stone leanenesse and gauntnesse shewes âide-bound Wormes or a Consumption loosenesse of bodie shewes an unflamed ââuer and costiuenesse the Yellowes and sicknesse of the Spleene A Horses dung âuch stinking shewes a hot Liuer not smelling a cold Liuer hardly disgâsted then Consumption or the drie Maladie A desire to lye downe on the right side shewes âat in the Liuer on the left disease in the Spleene to be oft vp and downe Bots or âormes If he spread himselfe when he lyes down shewes the Dropsie if he groane âhen he is downe shewes a sicke Spleene and not able to rise when he is downe âewes Feeblenesse Foundring in the bodie or legges or else Death To be troubled âith Wind shewes the Collicke desire to eat and not to be thirstie shewes a cold âiuer desire to drinke and not to âat a Feuer or ouer-trauelling and greedie eating ând drinking shewes rotten Lungs A further Discourse and more ample Treatise of âhe diseases and curing of Horses is to be looked for in the Workes of P. Vegetius âoncerning the curing of the diseases of Horses and which I haue translated or raâher paraphrastically runned ouer in French out of Latine Looke also into the Chapter of the Oxe-keeper aboue handled CHAP. XXIX Of the Asse NOtwithstanding that the Asse is but a base and contemptible thing yet he is verie necessarie in euerie Countrey House because he trauelleth and doth his necessarie worke better than if he were greater and more corpulent as to turne the Mill to grind the Corne to beare the Corne to the Mill and diuers other implements and commodities as Butter Cheese ând Creame to be sold at the Market and to bring the same or anie other thing backe âgaine home vpon his backe to toile the earth that is light and not strong and stiffe âo draw Carts that are not too heauie laden besides the commoditie of the milke of âhe shee Asse which is a soueraigne remedie as well for them that be in a consumption that be weake impoisoned rheumatike and such other like diseases as also for to make neaâ to white make tender and smooth the faces of women as wee read that Poppea the wife of Nero did vsing bathes to keepe her hew and colour most faire ând her flesh most smooth and white To let pasâe and to say nothing of the flesh of the Asse which whiles it is young is verie delicate and full of pleasant taât and sauour ãâã eating and for that cause hath sometimes beene of great request in Rome as also ân our time in great estimation by a great noble and worthie man in France who caused a flocke of Asses to be kept and most carefully looked vnto and in like manner to say nothing of the Hide whereof there are made verie good sieues to riddle the corne as also tabers to daunce by and drums for the warres Wherefore the good housholder must appoint him also one to order and gouerne him vvho notwithstanding shall not be much busied in taking charge of anâ looking to him seeing he ãâã verie easie and light to keepe he is contented vvith a little meat and that of any sort euen such as one vvill giue him for some feed him only with leaues thornes and thistles some doe fat him with chaffe and straw which are commonly found almost in all countries it is true that he must not be let feed vpon or haue giuen to eate any Hemlocke for it casteth him into such a sound sleepe as that he seemeth to be not so much like a blocke but rather starke dead If you giue him now and then some ãâã bread or millet it pleaseth him as vvell as a great banket he looketh not worse vvhen he is ill handled and curried of him vvho hath the charge of him he doth easily endure strokes and hunger and is not easily tainted of any disease notwithstanding the Asse-keeper shall haue care that the She-asse may be couered in ãâã time that is to say from mid March vntill Iune to the end that foaling about the end of the yeare it may happen to be in the spring of new Grasse and the age of the Asse to be couered must be from three yeares to ten at which time you must giue leaue to the She-asse to run in regard of the good store of fruit she hath brought forth but on the contrarie not to suffer the male to continue out of labour seeâng that much respeit vvill bring him to an habite of slothfulnesse He shall suffer the young Asse to sucke it damme vntill it be two yeares old or else you shall let it suchâ a Mare because it is somewhat better he shall not set the young Asse to labour before it be three yeares old vvhich is the time vvherein you must accustome it to beare burthens to draw in the plough and to serue to ride vpon The Asse that is not aboue ten yeres old nor younger than three vvhich is great vvell squared in his parts hauing sufficient grosse eyes vvide nosthrills long necke broad breast high shoulders great backe a large chyne or crest great cods a flat crupper a short taile hiâ haire drawing toward the colour of blacke sleeke and listed hauing a blacke marke in the forehead or all along the bodie shall be well accounted of But on the contrarie there is no account to be made of such as haue an ashie coloured haire or somewhat gray as the most in this countrie are and least of all of such as are of a small ââature To be short he shall be carefull to heale them when they be sicke although as hath beene said this beast is not verie subiect to diseases and that by vsing such remedies as he doth vnto horses The housholder being a good husband shall keepe the hide of his Asse to âan and dresse to make shooes as vvell for himselfe as for his familie for as much as shooââ made of an Asses skin and vpon the backe part whereon the Asse doth carrie ãâã buthens are so durable as that one shall scarce see any end of them though you vveare them amongst stones grauell thornes or other such like places notwithstanding vvith their lasting they grow so hard as that they cannot be worne any more The hoofe of an Asse burnt and made in powder doth heale the Falling-sicknesse and that of the vvild Asse hanged about the necke or set in a ring in such sort as thââ it may touch the flesh is singular good against the said disease as also against the swimming of the head which commeth through a weakenesse of the braine Some thinke that the vvild Asse is that vvhich is called Ellend and much seene in Polonia Lituânâa and Suâcia and that because that the Ellend hath âares like vnto an Asses the French men which
from the other the smell of which Elder is so odious ãâ¦ã beasts that they haue no desire to come neere it either vnder or aboue the ãâã so long as it is greene and therefore when these first stickes shall be drie you ãâã renew them Othersome put Thornes that are verie sharpe and pricking or ãâ¦ã of Chesnuts vnder the earth round about the plants of the Artichokes ãâ¦ã one neere vnto another to the end that the Rats comming neere vnto the ãâã may presently be driuen backe againe Others cause Beanes to be boyled ãâ¦ã poysoned water and doe put them in the holes of this wicked cattell for they ãâã ãâã sent thereof they run thither presently As concerning Moules we will speake of ãâã manner of killing them hereafter The root of Artichoke sodden in Wine and drunke is soueraigne against the difââcultie of making water for the stinking and strong smell of the arme-pits and of ãâã vrine also for the hot and scalding fretting of ones vrine whether it come of the ãâã or of some other cause and so also for the dropsie the pulpe boyled in flesh ãâã and eaten with Salt Pepper and Galanga made in powder helpeth the weakâsse of the generatiue parts The Italians eat them in the morning raw with bread ãâã salt whiles they be yet young and tender CHAP. XV. Of Sorrell and Burnet SOrrel and Burnet notwithstanding that they grow vntild in great aboundance yet they may be sowen in fine ground and well manured in the Spring time especially the Sorrell for as for Burnet it groweth likewise and as well in drie grounds nothing tilled or stirred both of them ãâã planted in gardens must from the beginning be well watered and he that deâreth to gather the seed must take them vp and plant them againe suffering them to ârow to their perfection and then to drie and wither They feare not cold or frost âeither yet aboundance of water but they looke especially the Sorrell that they ãâã become the fairer to be cut three or foure times a yeare All the sorts of Sorrell as well those of the field as those of the garden haue this âertue that being boyled with flesh how old and hard soeuer it be yet they make it ânder and loose the bodie The leaues of Sorrell rosted in hot ashes haue a singular force to resolue or to cause ãâã Apostumate the swellings of the eyes or as some Surgeons vse if you take the ãâã of Sorrell and lap them vp close in a Burre-docke leafe then lay it in the hot ãâã and rost it as you would rost a Warde then open it and applie it as hot ãâã the patient is able to endure it to any impostumation or byle whatsoeuer about ãâã part of a mans bodie it will not onely in short space ripen and breake it but also âraw and heale it verie sufficiently it is also being boyled in Posset-ale a verie ââod cooler of the bloud and a great comferter against inflamations which come by ââurning Feauers A Cataplasme made of the leaues of Sorrell with twice as much ãâã Swines-grease all beaten and mingled together and afterward put in the leafe of ãâã Colewort vnder the hot ashes is soueraigne against cold Apostumes The seed of âorrel powdred and drunke with water or wine doth asswage the paine of the blouâie flux Sorrell steept in vinegar and eaten in the morning fasting is a preseruatiue âgainst the plague as also the Syrope or Iuleb made with the juice thereof The âaues of Sorrell well stamped and applied vnto the wrest doth tame the fiercenesse ãâã the ague Burnet of the garden being an herbe that some vse to put in their salades whereof ãâã haue here spoken and which is also the same which the Latinists call Sanguisorââ taken in drinke is good to restraine the monethly termes of women and all other ãâã of the belly but especially such as are of bloud it is good also to dry vp wounds ând vlâers if it be applied vnto them in forme of a Cataplasme Some doe much âteeme it in the Plague time and some say that the often vse of Burnet especially ãâã juice thereof is a verie soueraigne preseruatiue against dangerous diseases beââuse it hath a propertie verie much strengthening the Liuer the Heart and the Spiâââts The leaues of Burnet put into the wine make it more pleasant more strong and âomewhat Aromaticall and of the taste of Millions they are verie good to be put in sallades made with Oyle Salt and Vinegar according as we see them vsed ãâã day CHAP. XVI Of Harts-horne Trickmadame and Pearcestone AS for Harts-horne and Trickmadame they haue no need of any ãâ¦ã or planting for both of them will come in any ground that ãâã would haue them whether it be husbanded or not True it is that if ãâã would haue Harts-horne flourish and faire liking you must cut it oft ãâã it along vpon some roller or cause it to go vpon foot by it selfe for it delighteth to ãâã so intreated and vtterly refusing to grow otherwise than against the ground ãâã madame doth nothing feare the cold and doth grow principally vpon the old ãâã of vines in a stonie and grauelly earth These are put in Summer-sallades ãâã neither of theââ haue either tast or smell fit for the same The Harts-horne is goodâ stay the flux of the bellie Trickmadame stamped with Lettuce and applied vnto the pulses doth delay ãâã heat of an ague The distilled water thereof being often times drunken doth ãâã roughly heale burning and tertian agues Pearcestone is sowen in a drie and sandie soile and craueth to be much ãâã euen from the beginning he that desireth the seed must let the hearbe grow to ãâã perfection and afterward to drie the seed as corne is dried It may be preserued in salt and vinegar after the manner of purcelane and then ãâã soueraigne for the difficultie of vrine for the jaundise and to breake the stone to proââuoke vvomens termes and to stirre vp ones appetite if it be vsed in the beginning ãâã meat For want of such as is pickled in vinegar you may make the decoction of ãâã leaues roots and seeds in Wine for to vse in the same disease CHAP. XVII Of Marigolds MArigolds haue not need of any great ordering for they grow in ãâã fields and in any ground that a man will neither doe they ãâã to ãâã sowen euerie yeare for being once sowen they afterward grow of theâ selues and beare flowers in the Calends of euery moneth of the yere ãâã in Sommer as in Winter for which cause the Italians call them the flower of all ãâã moneths To be short the place where they haue once beene sowen can hardly ãâã of them If they be neuer to little husbanded and cut many times they will beare ãâã faire âlowers and verie great but yet euer more in Autumne than in the Spring The juice of the
that they be not sowne in a ãâã ground for the shade is altogether contrarie vnto them though the earth be good and fertile They are gathered in Nouember kept in Winter vpon sand ãâ¦ã vnder the earth for to eat in Winter and Lent time I report my selfe vnto them of Meason and Vau-Girard neere vnto Paris which gather great store of thâm ãâã yeâre to sell at Paris This fruit is windie and begetteth wormes in young children by their ãâã but they must be eaten with Mustard It is true that their seed doth resist ãâã and there it is put into Treacle it likewise killeth the Wormes being mingled ãâã the iuice of Oranges or Limons and it driueth forth the small Pocks and ãâã with the decoction of Maidân-haire or of Lentils It prouoketh vrine mixt in eqââll quantitie with Linseed and giuen to drinke in wine it bringeth vp the crudities of the stomacke by vomit being taken with honied vineger and warme water The Aegyptians make a verie good Oyle of it CHAP. XXXIII Of Turneps TVrneps called in Latine Raepa are of two sorts the round and the long and they differ not much from Napes and Nauets saue onely in greâânesse and tast For Turneps are a great deale bigger and of a ãâã pleasant taste than the Napes for the truth whereof I report my selfe to the inhabitants of Limosin in Aquitaine and the people of Sauoy who hâuing no store of Corne haue no more excellent a meat than Turneps and for the same cause they are so industrious in sowing and dressing of them as being that commoditie and encrease of the earth vnto them which is as well yea better beloued and more necessarie than anie Corne or Graine for they feed themselues and their Cattell with the leaues great and small stalkes tops and roots of Turneps insomuch as that they complaine of a Famine when in their Countrey their Turneps are frozen in the ground or haue receiued some ouerthrow by the iniurie of the heauens The manner of ordering and dressing of them to make them grow is as it were like vnto that of the Napes It is true that they would be sowne verie thicke and not thinne for else they will proue but verie small and little and it would be rââher in September than at ãâã other time in a moist ground well manured and diligently corrected of such faults as it may haue because they reioyce and ãâã great deale the fairer and of a better tast in cold snowie and foggie weather ãâã they doe in faire which is the onely cause that in the Countrey of Sauoy and ãâã they doe grow more sweet tender faire and great because of the Fogs Snoweâ and cold Seasons that they suffer much in those places If they be sowne in the Spring time there must care be had that their leaues be not âaten with wormes and such other vermine and the better to free them from this plâgue it will be good to mingle of the dust that is to be found vpon floores with the seed ãâã they before it be sowen or else of the foot of the furnace or ãâã or else to steepe it in the juice of houslââke and afterward to sprinkle it oâer well with water ãâã it may receiue some moisture and then to âow it the day after it hath beene so steeped It is one of the wonders of nature that of so small a âeed there should grow so greaâ a fruit as should sometime weigh thirtie or fortie pounâ There must spâciall carâ be had that the seed be not aboue three yeares old for if it be it will bring forth colâworts in steed of turneps To haue them faire and great after they become ãâã great as a finger they must be remoued a good distance one from another afterward they must be couered with earth and troden downe veriâ hard for by this ãâã the juice which should haue beene spent in putting forth of leaues and stalke will turne to the making of the root great They must be gathered in Nouember and for to keepe them all the Winter they must be buried in holes or couered with leaues or seed of Mustard The vse of turneps is not verie good for health notwithstanding their decoctioâ is verie excellent good for to wash the feet of such as haue the gout withall The Cutlers and Armorers doe constantly affirme that kniues daggers and swords quenched three or foure times when they are in forging in the juice of turneps mixt with equall quantitie of the water or juice pressed out of earth wormes bruised doth make their edge so hard as that therewith you may cut yron as easily as any Lead CHAP. XXXIIII Of Radishes RAdishes are properly the same which is called in Latine Raphanus in Italie Raâanels and at Paris Raues they are vsed in manner of a saladâ with meat for to stirre vp the appetite They grow better when they are planted than when they are sowen and there are two seasons to set or sow them in âhat is to say in Februarie in the waine of the Moone if we intend to haue the benefit of them in the Spring and in August or September if we would vse them sooner and this season without doubt iâ the better because the Radish in a cold and moist time groweth in the root and is more tender but in a hot and drie time it groweth in stalkes and leaues So soone as they are sowne they take root the leaues whereof you must tread and trample downe that so the root may grow the greater which otherwise would runne vp all into leaues likewise they must be gatherâd within two or three moneths otherwise they will quickly go to seed and put them in the ground vnder sand or grauell after you haue cut off their leaues The manner of ordring of them is to set them good and deepe in earth which is well husbanded stirred vp even from the bottome and dunged and after they be pretty great ones to coâer them againe with earth and to take off their leaues from them for so they will become more sweet and pleasant You must not plant or sow them aboââ vines or arbours for they are great enemies vnto vines as making them to run out their juice when they are neighbours to it by reason of their acrimonie and ãâã Some likewise say that radishes doe keepe away drunkennesse because they greatly weaken the force of Wine To haue sweet radishes their seed must be watered oftentimes with salt water to haue them the more tender and not so sharpe for the salt water doth greatly diminish their bitternesse likewise we ordinarily ãâã that they are eaten with salt and vinegar Their goodnesse is knowne by their leaues which by how much they are the gentler in handling by so much is the root the tenderer and more pleasant to eat The rinde doth likewise shew the saâe for the thinner it is so much the more delightsome are the
his old root but will be sowen euerie yeare in September in hot and drie countries and in other placââ from Ianuarie vntill March and it is sowen commonly with coleworâs It prospâetâ best when it is sowen in places where the crops of vines haue beene burned I haââ seene at Vandeuer a small village in Burgundie young children and other folke to eat the seed of white poppie for lickorishnes without being any thing moued to heauinesse of sleepe but made more stirring and liuely which hath made me to ãâã that the seed of Poppie is not so much to be feared as some would beare in hand CHAP. XXXVII Of Cucumbers CVcumbers are sowen vpon a bed in the moneth of March and for feare of srost they are couered with straw vntill mid-May which is the time when they would be remoued vnto such ground as is well manured and thicke layed with dung fat and soft to the end they may be suffered to creepe and ripen vpon the ground or else vpon beds filled with fat and well ãâã earth being a foot high For to sow them there must be planted foure or five seeds the one from the other some two foot they must not be weeded at all because they thriue the better when they be ouer-growne with weeds Notwithstanding ãâã Spaine they vse to weed them as carefully as they can as also lighten and raise theââ earth and there grow verie faire Cucumbers thereupon It is good to water theââ oft vntill they put forth their buds and bring forth fruit yea and after also if the time fall out somewhat drie for the Cucumber of his owne nature doth loue moisture insomuch as if there be set a vessell full of water vnder a Cucumber it will be found the next day to be shrunke three fingers and it must be prouided that the water goe directly downe vnto the root of the Cucumber without touching the fruit because otherwise it would make it worse It is true that when it beginneth to ripen the raine and âuerie other manner of watering is enemie vnto it for thereby it becommeth but more withered without any tast and altogether discontenting It feareth the thunder and lightning and for that cause you must not plaââ them in any such time neither yet hope for any great increase thereof in such yeares as wherein such stormes and tempests fall out for thereupon they wither and fall quite away to nothing If a man desire to haue them faire ones he must gather them in the full of the Moone for at this time they grow bigge and at other times they fade and grow lesse Furthermore there may not come neere vnto their bed any vessell full of oyle because the cucumber of all other things hateth oile and cannot thriue if he which doth till them haue handled oyle The vse of Cucumbers is altogether hurtfull because the nourishment and juice comming of them is easily corrupted in the veines whereupon there grow in ãâã bodies Burning-Agues and such as are verie hard to câre wherefore it is better to appoint them for meat for Mules and Asses to which kind of beasts this fruit is verie pleasant and profitable than to ordaine them for mens food and sustenance It is verie true that their seed boyled with Barley-water doth prouoke vrine asswage the heat of the reines and also diminish the heat and thirst that is in Agues A decoction made with the seed of Cucumbers Winter-Cherries Mallowes and the seeds of vvhite Poppie adding thereto the juice of Licorice a little Mummia Gum-arabecke and Tragacanth is a singular remedie for them which are in consumptions which cough continually and haue their vrine burning them Soââ likewise say that a Cucumber placed long-wise neere vnto a child which hath an Ague being of the same greatnesse that the child is doth deliuer it altogether from the Ague CHAP. XXXVIII Of Gourdes GOurdes doe craue the like earth and ordering or tillage that Cucumbers doe foreseene that they haue the Sunne at commaund it is true that they must be sowne with greater distances and in such sort as they may climbe stakes heapes of stone and arbours thereby to giue some pleasure in the beholding of the fruit hanging rather than the lying vpon beds for they delight not so much in creeping vpon the earth as the Cucumber doth but rather to climbe on high Before you set them you must steepe their seeds one night in water that so you may learne to make the better choice of them and to know which are good And in that respect it will be good to take those which sinke downe to the bottome and let alone those which shall swim vpon the top of the water as being vnprofitable and worth nothing to sow The seeds shall be put into the earth two together the sharpe end vpward in holes wide and deepe to the quantitie of two foot and three or foure foot euerie one from another filled with old dung that is verie small or else to make them spring out of the earth the sooner with horse dung as it commeth all hot from the stable for other matters they craue no great attendance prouided that they be serued with water to their contentment and yet those which are least waâered will haue the most pleasant sauour and tast wherefore if they be sowne in a drie ground you must set hard by them pots of water with lists of cloth or straw hanging at them which will be continually dropping of water vpon them which thing will be great aduantage to them during the great heat It is certaine that the goodnesse and fairenesse of Gourds doth consist altogether in the good choice and well setting of the seed for the seeds which are next to the necke of the gourd doe bring forth long ones those which are in the middest round ones and those which are by the sides short and thicke ones in which consideration if you would haue grosse and thicke gourds which may serue to make vessells and bottles of when they shall be drie you must take the seed that is in the middest of the gourd and set it with the head downward but when you desire to haue them to sell and to eat you must take of the seed next vnto the necke and set them after the right and common manner for so the fruit will grow long and more tender and of a greater price The gourds intended to gather seed of for to sow must not be gathered before Winter and when they are gathered they must be put in the Sun to drie or else hung vp in the smoake or else hung as the manner is in France vnder some chamber-floore or else set them in rows voon boards for otherwise the seeds would rot or else to put them in heaps of corne which will not onely keepe them from rotting but will also ripen them if they be gathered being yet vnripe but those which are intended to be eaten must be gathered at their
and March in cold countries and in temperate countries in which of the two seasons you vvill But such as would haue it to grow of the nut in Nouember and all December must obserue and see that the nut which they would burie in the earth for this purpose be but a yeare old of a fairâ shell sound and drie and if it be in the moneth of Februarie or any part of March the nut must be steeped as some are of opinion for foure or fiue daies aforehand in some childs vrine or else as I gesse in cows milke for the tree that shall grow therof will beare his nuts as little displeasing either in eating or in the oyle thereof as if it were the fruit or oyle of sweet almonds If you would haue this tree to grow faire and full of nuts of a good tast you must remoue it but let it be possessed of the earth where it grew either of a graft or otherwise and in remouing of it some find it not good that the small rootes should be cut away as it is vsed in other Trees both because the Maister-rootes doe gather footing and strength thereby as also for that being as it vvere relieued by such shootes vvould become more strong and more able to pierce the earth and to sucke and suppe vp greater quantitie of the moisture of the same I could be of mind that when it is remoued which must not be but when it is two or three yeares old there should be taken from it at that time whatsoeuer surplusage and surcharge of roots euen so manie as may be tearmed bastard or by-roots and not of the master or maine ones for as for the cutting off of the ends of the great roots that is done but for the opening of their mouth that so they may the better sucke in the moisture and iuice of the earth if one may so speake of the new nurse which you haue appointed and assigned it In respect of his pits and holes whereinto you remoue it they must be digged of a great depth and widenesse and be well stirred round about and set distant thirtie or fortie foot one from another that so it may the better spread forth his branches which are wont to couer and occupie a great deale of roome round about it and if they should be anie neerer one vnto another their boughes would grow one into another whereas they craue to haue their sides free and open And this is the reason why they should be planted vpon the borders of grounds lying vpon high wayes for by this meanes the great compasse which their branches take doe not hurt seed grounds or not aboue halfe and by this meanes the looking-glasse wherein the husbandman may behold such hinderance and disaduantage as might come by scarcitie that yeare shall not be farre off from him or his hinds vvho hold it for certaine that great store of Walnuts doth prefage great spoyle of corne To set a Tree of some other kind amongst them is no more profitable than to lay the inheritance of some base and meane fellow betwixt the demaines of two great noble men for the Walnut-trees which are naturally great spreaders in the earth vvith their great roots vvill robbe it and eat it out of food and sustenance euen home to his owne doores and couering it aboue vvill take from it both the Sunne and the libertie of the ayre But in as much as the things of this vvorld are so framed as that there is nothing vvhich hath not his enemie you must beware of placing the Walnut-tree either vpon seed or plant neere to the oake as also not to set it in the place where any oake hath stood at any time before because that these two Trees haue a naturall hatred one vnto another and cannot couple or sure together The Walnut-tree is grafted in Februarie vpon it selfe and vpon the Plum-tree in a clouen hole howbeit the Walnut-tree doth not profit much or thriue when it is grafted vpon anie other tree than vpon it selfe because it abhorreth the companie of all other trees It must be digged about that so it may not grow hollow by reason of the grasse It must be remoued in hot and drie places in October when the leaues are fallen and yet better in Nouember but in cold places in February and in March and at either time in temperate places This is a maruellous thing of this tree that the more it is beaten yearely the more fruit it beareth the yeare after following although the boughes be brused and broken for which cause good farmers are carefull to geld and weed out some of the boughes of such a Tree and withall doe make great and diâers incisions with some edge-toole in the stocke of the tree If you cast and spread ashes sundrie times and oft at the root and vpon the stocke of the tree the nut will haue a more tender shell and a more brittle kernell It vvill grow fairer and beare fruit sooner if you strike a copper naile into it euen to the middest or else a wedge of vvood It will not let drop any vnripe fruit if you hang at some of the branches or tie vpon his roots white mullem or some rent and ãâã fustian taken out of a dunghill Walnuts will grow without shells if you breake the shell vvithout brusing the kernell and afterward wrap the sayd kernell in vvooll or in the fresh leaues of the vine and so put it into the earth If the Walnut-tree displease you in respect of the harme it may doe vnto his neighbour trees you may cause it to die and presently drie away if you strike into the root thereof a verie hot naile or a wedge of Myrtle-tree-wood or if you put beanes to his roots or a cloth dipped in the ãâã of women Walnuts must be gathered when they begin to cast their rind and when they are gathered they may not by and by be layed vp but first dried in the Sunne The profits that the Walnut-tree yeeldeth vnto his maister are infinite for of it he may gather to make excellent preserues taking his nuts about Midsommer it yeeldeth wood for the kitchin by being lopt of dead boughes wherewith it is oftentimes troubled but in cutting off this dead vvood care must be had not to cut it off round because it would be a meanes for to make way for the raine to enter in and the vvet of the night would settle therein and in tract of time rot it to the heart but it must be cut biace and with a ridge that so neither raine nor the vvet of the night may get in or rest vpon it It giueth a rind which is good for the things spoken of hereafter it affordeth shells which make good ashes it affordeth a kernell to be serued at the table seruiceable in the kitchin and in lampes and furthermore of the drosse of the kernell some
vnto it neither need you feare that it should be salt for though you should put much salt into it yet the oyle would take no taste of it To keepe oyle from becomming ranke melt vvaxe with oyle in equall quantitie and therein mingle fried salt then put it all in a vessell of oyle and this same composition serueth also to mend it if it be alreadie ranke Anise cast into the vessell performeth the same If the oyle be troubled purifie it at the Sunne or fire or else cast into the vessell boyling water prouided the vessell be not weake and in hazard of bursting If the oyle be full of filthinesse frie salt and cast it hot into the vessell the pine not burned or the lees of oyle dried and parched and cast into the vessell of oyle doth the like If oyle haue got any stench or other euill smell poune greene oliues and cast them into the oile without their stones or else cast in the crums of barley bread mingled with grained salt or else inâuse in the oyle the flowers of melilot If the oyle be corrupt and putrified hang in the vessell a handfull of the hearbe coriander and cast in besides of the same diuers times if you perceiue that the putrifaction is not taken away or which is better change the oyle his vessell you shal likewise amend this fault if you take grapes and after you haue taken out the kernels stampe them and make them into lumpes to put into the vessell and ten daies after change the oyle his vessell Oyle will be verie cleare if you stampe the barke and leaues of an oliue-tree with salt put in all in a little knot or nodule and hang the same in the vessell To make sweet smelling oyle take Virgines oyle which is that which first runneth downe from the presse without the weight of the presse forcing it into it cast of the fine powder of bay-tree-leaues the rootes of aller and cypres the roots of coânâlag or some other sweet smelling things such as you are disposed all being dried and made into fine powder stirring the vessell well afterward put in salt finely powdred and set out the vessell in the Sunne for the space of fifteene daies or else set a vessell well couered for feare that the oyle should spend it selfe in a caldroâ of boyling water let it stay therein the space of three houres to boyle at a little sire after take it out and let it rest some time vntill you perceiue all to be incorporated together then straine the oyle and reserue it in some vessell well stopped for your vse Furthermore you must know that as the bottome in honie and the middest of Wine so the vppermost part of the oyle is alwaies the best the reason shall be deliuered in the treatise of Wine in the sixth Booke As concerning the properties of oyle it hath a singular vertue applied outwardly as is to be knowne by the answere of Democritus vvho being asked of the meanes to liue long and to preserue ones bodie in good estate and plight said If you arme your selfe without your bodie with oyle and within with home And this is the cause vvhy Hanniball gaue in charge vnto his souldiers passing the mountaines that they should arme their bodies vvith oyle to keepe them from the injuries of the cold in like manner the men of auncient time to make their bodies the more nimble and readie to all actions and motions caused all their bodie ouer to be annointed with oyle before they were to goe into the bathe in like sort also their vvrastlers and champions before they entred the combate did annoint all their bodie oâer with oyle not onely that they might not be so easily taken hold of in wrastling but also to haue their whole bodie the more nimble and obedient and their members the more lustiâ and strong As concerning within the bodie oyle hath no lesse vertue than vvithout for that if it be taken inwardly it softeneth the bellie subdueth the malignitie of venimes and causeth vomiting speedily furthermore if any venime or burning haue pitcht and setled it selfe vpon the skin and begin there to exulcerate or worke his further mischiefe for the staying of the fiercenesse and malignitie thereof there is nothing better than to lay a little liniment of new oyle thereupon Oyle powred vpon vvine or any other liquor keepeth it from spending it selfe In like manner the Vinteners wise ynough to keepe white Wine from waxing red are vvont to cast vpon it a pint of Oyle-oliue Oyle is altogether enemie to plants especially gourds and cucumbers which dye presently if a man place neere vnto them any vessell of oyle or if that he which dresseth them be oylie as vve haue said in the second Booke The lees or grounds of oyle are good to make a mortar with to lay the floores of corne garners because such a morter chaseth away Mise lees also are good to keepe instruments and yron tooles from rusting oxen are helped to a good appetite by hauing their fodder besprinkled with oyle lees oyle lees are good to annoint the bottomes of chests wherein clothes are to be laid for they driue away mothes they are good also to giue light vnto the familie with some wood to keepe sheepe from being scabbed if they be annointed with the lees of oyle as also to heale such as are alreadie scabbed to cause vvood to burne and slame without smoake CHAP. LII How the Oyles of other Fruits and Seedes are made by expression THere are many other seeds and fruits which doe yeeld an oylie liquor by expression and that after the manner of the Oliue that is to say royall Walnuts Filberds Nutmegs Almonds both sweet and bitter the Indian nut Anacardies Peach kernells the kernells of pine Apples Abricots Cherries Plums Pistaces Linseed Rapeseed Mustard-seed Hempe-seed the seed of Poppie Heâbane Burnet Citrons Oranges Apples Peares Cucumbers Gourds Melons Citrulls and other such like whereof vve will speake particularly to the end that we may giue to know what course is to be taken and what maner and order is to be kept in euerie particular The oyle of sweet Almonds is thus prepared Pill the Almonds after that they haue sleept some time in warme water pound them in a morter of stone or marble with a woodden pestle and make them vp in lumpes or little loaues which you shall knead and vvorke with your hands at the vapour of vvarme vvater a long time if you like it not better to warme them vpon hot ashes or hot sand for the space of an houre or in the Sunne the space of fiue houres or else put them in a glasse vessell vvhich shall be vvarmed at the vapour of boyling vvater in a caldron after put them in a haire cloth or hempen bagge for to presse in a presse that hath his planke hollow and bending downeward or betwixt presses whose plankes you
of Barley a sort of meale vvhich vvas called Polenta that is to say of Barley newly dried then fried and afterward ground and this vvas vsed to make pappe-meate of or else to put in meate brothes to thicken them Some doe the like vvith mundified Barley The Meale of Rie is likewise full of branne but that of Oates is yet more full notvvithstanding that Oatmeale vvhich is made of Oates husked is a vvelcome dish to the tables of great Lords The Meale of Rice is vvhiter than any of the rest As for the Meale of Pulse it is oftner made by being braied in the mortar than by grinding howsoeuer it may more commodiously and a great deale better bee made vvith the Mill. Leauen LEauen called in Latine Fermentum because it puffeth vp and swelleth in continuance of time is a lump of paste left of the last masse of dough couered and hidden in the meale vvhich is kneaded to take away the clamminesse and cleauing propertie vvhich is in the meale that is purposed to bee made into bread This Leauen becommeth sowre by continuance of time and thereby maketh the bread more delightsome and of a more pleasant taste Againe vve see that bread by how much the more Leauen it hath by so much the more vvholsome and vvell relishing it is ouer and aboue that vvhich hath lesse store of Leauen in it It is indifferently hote and a little cold hot by reason of the putrifaction vvhich it is cast into and cold by the nature of the meale This Leauen is made diuers sorts of vvayes according to the manners and fashions of countries wee make it of Wheat paste to make Wheat bread and of Rie paste to make Rie bread some put vnto it Salt some Vineger and many Verjuice made of Crabbes The workers in Pastrie do vse the rising of Beere to make their Wigges vvithal as vve shal haue further occasion to speak of it in laying open the vvay to make Beere People of old and auncient times did make it diuers vvayes as Plinie reporteth The Flemings do mightily boile their Wheate and take off the scumme that riseth thereof in boiling which they let grow thick and vse the same in stead of Leauen and that is the cause vvhy their bread is a great deale lighter than ours Howsoeuer it is the Leauen vvhich men-bakers and vvomen-bakers doe vse to make their bread vvithall may bee kept fifteene daies and not any more because after such time it corrupteth and decayeth But to be sure it is not good to keepe it so long for to keepe it you must vvorke it vp into a round paste couer and hide it ouer in meale and besides in vvinter it must be couered ouer withgood store of clothes in the kneading trough When the good vvife of the house is purposed to bake her paste she must two or three dayes before or vvhich is better ouer night kneade in her said Leauens vvith hote vvater or else with cold according to the time and diuersitie of the corne vvhereof she meaneth to make her bread as we will speake further of by and by The vvorkers in paste-meates doe vse but verie little Leauen in their crusts or none at all either because it vvould make so small a quantitie of paste as they vse to make their crusts of too sowre or else because the Leauen vvould draw vnto it all the Butter or such other fat as they should mingle amongst their paste for as much as Leauen hath the power to draw moisture vnto it as vvee may easily proue by Apostumes vvhich vvhen we vvould haue to ripen and swell vp higher vvee vse to applie a paister of Leauen to them Furthermoâe if it should happen that the Baker or good vvife of the house should finde her Leauen too sowre and that she cannot come by any other the remedie must be to knead her Leauen with hotter water than she would if it vvere in its proper nature and kinde that so by the heate of the vvater the Leauen may recouer some strength and somewhat renew its naturall force hauing lost its naturall heat vvhereas on the contrarie vvhen the Leauen is in its kind and as it should be there is not any thing but cold water to be vsed about it The making of bread according to the diuersitie of corne whereof it is made THe house-wife must bee ruled and aduised in the making of her bread by the natuâe and condition of the meale whereof she maketh it wherefore if shee dwell in Beauce or dwelling out of Beauce do make her bread of the corne growing in Beauce the meale of which corne for certaintie holdeth the chiefe and principall place of account amongst all the sorts of meale of France she shall be carefull in any case to make her leuens at certaine and well appointed houres In Sommer she shall refresh her leuen vvith cold vvater at noone day and renew it againe at fiue a clocke and lastly at nine without failing of keeping these houres in very precise manner This water thus vsed in Sommer must be drawne fresh out of the Well or from the fountaine and riuer because that Well vvater as it is more heauy than the other so it maketh the bread more heauy and on the contrarie spring vvater or vvater from the riuer as it is lighter so it maketh lighter bread In Winter she must renew her leuen with fresh vvater vvarmed or made hot and with this water both Winter and Sommer she shall vvet her armes and knead her paste throughly turning it ouer and ouer hither and thither on euerie side for a long space and many times that so all the parts thereof may shew that she hath been there and that all the clamminesse and cleauing qualitie of the same may be throughly broken and dried vp that so the bread may be the more short and finer in chawing and not eating like paste in the teeth mouth and stomach After such handling of it she shall take the pains to turne her paste oftentimes that so it become not leuen for otherwise it would not eate so well It is true that when the leuen is faultie the meale of the corne of Beauce hath such a band and list as that she might easily couer and hide such fault prouided that the baker whether man or woman at the kneading therof would but help it a little with some fresh vvater If the farmers wife do dwell in France or make bread of the corne growing sometime in France she shall not vse so much leuen thereunto as she did vnto the meale made of the corn growne in Beauce both because the corne commeth short in yeelding like quantitie of paste for like quantitie of corne as also because the meale hath not so good a band neither yet is it altogether so clammie and therefore you must vse a meane and reasonable measure in your leuen and withall let your water be lesse hot than in the kneading of Beauce
by the sequell Oaten bread is not commended both because the imploying of oats that way were to rob cattell of their due food and prouander a great argument of famine as also because such bread is of an vnpleasant taste It is better to vse oatmeale made of oats freed from their huske as we haue said before in the treatise of pottage vsed either in flesh time or in the time of Lent Bread made of millet and panicke is very common in Bearne and Gascoigne not only amongst the vulgar sort but also in the houses of great Lords but these do vse it rather for daintinesse sake or for want of a good stomach than otherwise it is verie drie light and easily crumbling and so fit for to drie vp a stomach and bodie that is very moist It is pleasant in tast when it is new and well baked especially when it is eaten comming hot out of the ouen for then it tasteth and eateth with a maruellous pleasant sweetnesse Likewise in countries where such bread is made account of the bakers carry it presently after it is drawne into the towne and cry hot millet bread hot but after it is become hard it looseth all his grace Bread made of pure and cleane meslin is very good to be eaten according to the mediocritie of the substance thereof in such sort as that many compare it with the bread made of Similago which was in old times the best and most excellent wheat that was There is no regard to be made of the bread made of the bran which commeth of the meale that hath its flower taken from it and is commonly called meale bran it is better to leaue it for the hounds or sheepherds dogs or such as serue for the keeping and watch of the house In England and other places they make a great and profitabe vse of this meale as namely a certaine bread which they call horse-bread and is so generall among them that you shall not find an Inne Ale-house or common Harbour which doth want the ââme how excellent good and wholesome it is for horses I will not boast because the bran is naturally hot and burning of it selfe and breeds many inflammations and hot diseases amongst horses yet certaine it is it will feed much and for trauelling horses it is a good food and well allowable during their labour or time of trauelling but in their time of rest not so good nor wholesome especially that which is of the common or worse sort for you must vnderstand that there be two kinds of this common horse-bread the first kind of it is that which is made of Branne or Chyssell onely and knoden with cold water without any mixture of other meale with it more than that which they mould it in which seemeth onely to bind the chissell together which otherwise would fall in sunder the other kind of bread is when they take two bushells of Branne or Chissell and adde vnto it one bushell of beane or pease meale and âo kneade it vp in water scalding hot and after the ãâã are moulded to roule them in spelted beanes crusht and brused in a mill and so bake it well This bread is not altogether so vnwholesome as the former and may very wel serue to feed horses with all the yere for it is both hartie and strong only a little too heauie which maketh it hard of disgestion and so more hurtfull to horses of tender stomaches or such as want exercise which is the onely meanes of speedy âââcuation Soft bread otherwise called of the French Painmâllet or Pain de ãâã is to be made for none but great Lords Bisket bread made of the flower of white meale is for such as take the dyet Bisket made of rie and such other graine of the inferiour sort is for mariners and such as are besieged in townes The spiced bread is for such as are sweet âoothed and liâourishly giuen The most excellent and best bread of all other if you haue need at any time to make choice is that which is made of good and pure wheat that is new not old not corrupted or any way spoyled moist or long kept hauing beene well ground well sifted well wrought into paste with good store of leuen and sufficient quantitie of riuer or spring water rather than that which is taken out of Wells but neuer out of âennes pooles or fiâh ponds nor yet out of troubled dyrtie muddie vncleane or salt water being well raised and throughly kneaded and turned on euery side and let rest certaine houres being wel couered and somewhat salted of a reasonable masse of paste not too exceeding great that so it may take the heat of the fire equally on euerie side as well aboue as below which is baked in the ouen with a reasonable fire and such a one as did burne cleare feeding vpon wood rather than vpon straw stubble reed rotten or medicinable wood which is indifferently baked so as that by ouer much and long baking the crust is not scorched not the sweet iuyce of paste which is as it were the life and substance of the meale is not spent and consumed or so as by too slight and slender baking the inner part of the bread remaine raw and so become a heauie and burthensome bread vnto the stomach very hardly to bee digested and ingendring great store of windinesse and spettle drawne out of the ouen in time and place and set vp where there is a good aire and not in any filthie or stinking aire that there it may euaporate the superfluous moisture that is in it Such bread hauing beene thus prepared and ordered must not bee eaten too hastily as when it is new baked nor yet the same day but the day following in Sommer or the third day after in Winter for new bread especially that which is hot doth reâaine a great part of the moisture clamminesse and ãâã which ãâã had in the kneading and to being eaten new would procure the inflamation and puffing vp of the stomach prouoke thirst be hardly digested subuert and ouerthrow the stomach and cause obstructions in the liuer and inward parts It is true that physitians do greatly commend in faintings and swounings the smelling of the ãâã part of the loafe comming new out of the ouen and sprinkled with wine Old baked bread especially that which is three or foure daies old looseth all its best grace and sauour and in steed thereof falleth into drienesse and hardnesse and so becommeth hard of digestion passeth slowly downe into the bowells causeth costiuenesse and begetteth a melanchollie iuyce and nourishment The crust of bread notwithstanding it be of better taste and relish than the crums and that the commoâ people do thinke that it maketh a stronger bodie yet it ingendreth a cholericke adust and melancholie iuice and that is the cause why in houses of great personages they vse to chip their bread What quantitie of bread must be eaten
the rinde of the Ash-tree taken is singular good to open the obstructions of the Spleene and to draw out great store of water from such as haue the Dropsie as also to make fat folks leane Also the keyes of the Ash or that which is the seed thereof is of most singular vse amongst Painters and being ground maketh him diuers pretie and most vsefull colours The Ash is onely an enemie vnto corne and will not suffer any to grow by any meanes within the compasse of the shadow thereof and therefore it should as seldome as might be be planted in corne-fields except you leaue such large space of greeneswarth betwixt it and the corne-lands that no part of the shadow may extend to the same CHAP. XVII Of Chesnut-trees THe Chesnut-tree is a strong and mightie tree much like vnto the Oake It is a fast wood and good to build withall as also to vnderprop Vines and make other workes which are made of Oake It groweth of the seed of the Chesnut which is sowne after the manner of the Acorne and so it groweth and putteth forth his shoots both sooner and more effectually and taketh commonly in all grounds yea euen in the sandie or grauellie grounds but yet it shunneth the grounds that lie open to the pearching heat of the Sun affecting altogether the little hils and mountaines that are cold and lie vpon the North. The seed or fruit thereof called the Chesnut is sometimes spoyled and that after the same manner that the Acorne is as by too much drinesse vvhich maketh it that it cannot bud or blossome or by too great store of vvater putrifying both the Chesnut and Acorne before it can spring out of the earth or else by cattell moules field-mice and such sorts of vermine which eat or wound the Chesnut Acorne within the ground The nature of the young plants of Chesnut-trees and Oakes are much alike and the manner of dressing them also and if you would haue them to put forth store of boughes you must cut them after they haue beene planted three or foure yeares and not before and that in the beginning of the Spring time for so you shall make them put forth twice as much and yet it is not without danger to vse any edge-toole in cutting them for thereby they oftentimes die So then if there put forth any branches or sprigs along the stem in the first second or third yeare you may at the beginning of such their putting forth crop them off and breake them away with your hand whiles they are young and tender and not to take any knife vnto them and then you shall doe best CHAP. XVIII Of the Oake and the differences thereof Hornebeame Beech Linden tree and others YOu shall vnderstand that the oake is a tree bearing most fruit and affoording the most commoditie of any tree in France And for this cause it hath been accustomed to preserue and keepe store of these kinds of trees in old woods and forests as being most necessarie and profitable Some do make three sorts of this kind of tree and of euery sort a male and a female for notwithstanding that the common people call them all by the common name of oke yet the Latins attribute to euery sort his seueral and proper name calling one sort thereof Robur another Quercus and the third Ilex The first of these sorts is a kind of oake which is very thicke and strong hauing a bodie that is very thicke below and full of knots and very mightie hauing great roots and spreading far and wide in the ground and at the top of the bodie or bole which is but short it beareth many and great quantitie of boughes that are also thick spread abroad and long taking great roome and for that cause are planted the one from the other a great distance that so they may haue roome for their boughs to spread The wood growing vpon this sort of okes is fitter to make fire wood of than timber to build withal because it hath but a short bole and riseth not vp to any great height and squarenesse hauing his boughes therewithall crooked and writhen There are many forrests to be seene wherein this kind of oakes doth grow as namely those whose oakes are thicke and short standing far a sunder and yet spreading on a great breadth aboue The other sort of oakes hath both a reasonable thicke and long bodie as namely of the height of foure or fiue good fadomes as also foure or fiue reasonable tail and straight boughes growing thereupon but nor spread forth into any great breadth as neither the bodie is so well couered and shadowed therewith as the former And this sort of oakes is good for beames of houses and great peeces of timber to be put in buildings as also for to saw and cleaâe because it is not knottie and hard as the former And of thâs sort there are to be seene many forrests planted in France and they are more thicke and closer growne with timber than the others which I am about to speake of because the boughes of these doe rise more straight vp and take not vp so much roome The third sort of oakes hath a small bodie but very straight and growing to the height of seuen or eight fadomes without any boughes and at the top of their said bodies bearing but sâal store of boughes and wood in such sort as that all the wood is in the bole seeming to bee onely a nosegay at the top And this kind of wood standeth very neere the foot one of another rising vp equally and alike vnto a great height and greatnesse and the forrests furnished with this kind are very profitable to make all sorts of buildings wheâher it be to make the ioyces thereof or any of the other sorts of long and middle timber as those required for for walls or roofes And of this kind of wood there are many forrests in this countrie All these three sorts of wood do beare a great leafe and that euery one like vnto another saue that they are some of them large and great some but indifferent and the third sort small and little Againe they beare some of them acornes that are more long and thicke othersome acornes that are more thicke and short and againe other some of them acornes that are smaller and longer Furthermore there is not any of these three sorts which consisteth not of male and female The female is commonly called that as Theophrastus saith which beareth the most and strongest fruit whereupon it followeth that if those are to bee called the females which do beare most store of fruit wee must needs call those males which beare least fruit When they beare fruit or when they beare none the barren are called the males and the fruitfull the females Theophrastus putteth another difference betwixt those which are fruitlesse but I meane not to write any thing thereof at this present purposing to be
and tumours that are hard and not easily softned The hunting of the wild Bore CHAP. XXVII The best time to hunt the wild Bore and the markes of a good wild Bore IT is certaine that the hunting of the wild Bore is a great deale more difficult and daungerous than that of the Hart in asmuch as the wild Bore doth not feare the dogs but tarrieth and stayeth their comming and which is more doth sometimes set vpon them so far as till he be amongst them and all to the end hee may teare and rent them with his teeth whose wounds especially those that are giuen into the chest of the bodie are as it were incurable Wherefore the good hunts-man that maketh any account of his dogs for to hunt the Hart the Roe-bucke and Hare must neuer giue chase to the wild Bore with his coursing dogs but rather with some companie of mastiues whose proper pray the wild Bore is or else which is better to find the meanes to take him in toiles or to kill him with a wile and a speare as we shall further declare But howsoeuer the matter go yet this is to be knowne that all Bores are not fit to be hunted but such onely as are not past foure yeares old howsoeuer they may bee otherwise both faire great and fat for after foure yeares the wild Bore groweth lââne through oldnesse of age and forthwith looseth all his goodnesse Againe all times are not fit to hunt them in but onely when they are in season and in the best plieght as namely from mid September to December at which time they begin to go to rut and yet in Aprill and May they are more easie to be taken in toiles than at any other time because they sleepe more in this season than at any other time and the cause is for that they feed vpon strong herbes which stirreth the bloud and sendeth vapours vp vnto their braine whereby sleepe is brought vpon them againe the Spring time doth then restore and renew their bloud whereby they are brought to take great ease and rest The hunts-man therefore shall know the fairenesse of the Bore and that hee is worth the hunting by these markes that is to say by his traces rooting foile and dung The prints of his traces great and large the taking of the trace before round and grose the cutting of the sides of the traces vsed but not shewing themselues cutting the heele large his gards grosse and open wherewith he must tread vpon the ground in the hard wheresoeuer hee goeth all these things declare him to bee a faire and great bore In like manner the traces behind being larger than those before doe shew the thicknesse of his haunches the wreathes and wrinkles which are betwixt his gards and the heele if they make their prints vpon the ground do shew that his steps are great and long The markes of his traces deepe and wide do shew also his heauienes and corpulencie The rootings of the bore being deepe and large do note the thicknesse and length of his head The soile of the wild bore being long large and great doth note and argue the bore to be great or else in going from the soile his greatnesse may be known by the entrances of the thickets by the leaues and herbes which the soile hath touched because that at such time as hee commeth out of it he beareâh dârt and mire vpon him and therewith the leaues are bemired as he goeth amongst them and hence is gathered his height and breadth or else it falleth out oftentimes that the wild bore after he hath bin at soile goeth to rub himselfe against some one tree or other and there hee leaueth the marke of his height The dung of the wild bore being thicke and long doth shew the greatnesse of the wild bore howbeit the hunts-man is not to present it vnto the companie but onely giue them the view of it in place as it lieth CHAP. XXVIII Of the wild Bore tame Swine wild Bore and wild Sow and of their haunt THe difference betwixt wild Bores and tame Swine is this The wild Bore in his gate doth alwaies set his hinder feet in the stepts of his forefeete or very neere and doth pitch his steps rather vpon the forepart of the foot than vpon the heele resting notwithstanding his gardes vpon the ground spreading the same abroad thereupon vnto the vtter sides the âame Swine in their gate do open the cleft of their hoofe before pitching rather vpon the heele than vpon the forepart of their foot and their hinder foot doth not ouer-reach their fore-foot the sole of their foot is full of flesh so that the prints of their steps cannot bee but vneuen contrarie to that of the wild Bore In like manner the wild Bore maketh deeper rootings because he hath a longer head and when he commeth inâields that are sowne he willingly followeth one furrow nuâling all along the ridge vntill he come to the end of it which the âame hog vseth not to doe for hee neither turneth vp the earth in so deepe manner nor yet followeth on along with it as the wild Bore is accustomed to do but hee casteth vp one peece of ground in on place and another in another further off crossing the ridges the one of them not reaching vnto the other Furthermore when the wild Bores goe vnto the corne they bearâ down the same all in a round but so do not âame Swine The wild Bore also hath this particular propertie namely that he is neuer meazelled as the âame Swine wil be The difference betwixt the wild Bore and the Sow is this The Bore goeth wider with his hinder legs than the Sow and commonly setteth his hinder steps vpon the edges of his foresteps on the out-side because of the thicknesse of his hanches and stones which cause them to go wider dehind which the Sowes do not for they are emptie betwixt the hanches for which cause they tread narrower The Sow maketh not so good a heele as the bore and hath her hoofe longer and sharper before and more open her steps and soles of her feet behind more narrow than the Bores The bore with much adoe and hardly will be brought to crie when he is killed but the Sow will not let to make you heare her aloud The wild Bore hath no certain abode and as some say he is but a traueller because he doth nothing but runne from one forest and wood to another and yet hee taketh great delight to remaine in the countrie and place where hee was bred in so much as that if he be hunted by dogs from any bush or forest he is still readie to run without any stay vntill he come in the countrie from whence he first came and where hee was bred for there hee setteth vp the rest of his safegard and maketh it the onely refuge of all his force and strength he is also
is a good singing bird She is knowne from others by this because she continueth and heaueth the passages of her throate in singing more than any other birds doe besides she is of a lesse bodie and hath a longer taile in so much as the lesser they bee the perfecter they be On the contrarie the great ones which sometimes turne their heads behind them after the manner of fooles and for that cause are called fooles are the worst and come from the Isles of Palmâ virte Wherfore the nature of the Canariâ-bird is not to bee fat or to maintaine and keepe her flesh well She is verie subiect vnto Impostumes which happen vpon her head and those of a yellow colour and they must bee annointed with butter or hennes grease about three times then leauing off to doe any more vnto them for the space of three daies you shall then take them in hand againe and open them gently whereupon you shall see comming out of them thicke matter like vnto an egs yelk Which done you shall annoint the said Impostumes very well with the foresaid grease and thus you shall doe as often as they shall returne This bird is likewise troubled with melancholie sometimes and then the end of her rumpe would be cut and wrung out very well giuing her of these herbes lettuses beets and such like But and if for all these things you see that the Canarie-bird doth not amend the better you shall coole her with a little of the seed of melons giuing it her to eate and you shall put into her water-pot a little Sugar-candie twice or thereabout and that so much as may endure and lâst one whole weeke which may be done likewise when shee is in health twice a moneth When the Canariâ-bird mouteth giue her of the seeds of melons and sprinkle her with a little good wine in such sort as hath beene said in speaking of other birds and that twise or thrice a weeke setting her afterward in the Sunne and by this meanes you shall make her mout more properly This course you shall likewise practise if she haue lice to kill the vermine that would wast and consume her that so she may be preserued CHAP. LVIII Of the Linnet and of her diseases THe Linnet is a good and melodious bird euen that which is taken in her nest Sometimes she wil be melancholicke she hunteth the mountaines amongst the Mâttle bushes Boxe-trees Iuniper-trees and Bay-trees she maketh her nest of very small roots and other matter like vnto feathers This bird bringeth forth young ones thrice a yeare She is subiect vnto the disease called the pthisicke which may be perceiued by the seeing of her melancholike and her feathers standing in staring wise and by her bellie which then will shew it selfe somewhat more puffed vp than ordinarie full of red veines and her breast leane and by seeing her spill and pecke mustard-seed This disease commeth to her by feeding vpon mustard-seed which is very hot wherefore it were better to giue her pannicke or else continuing to giue her mustard-seed to vse withall this remedie which is when you see her troubled with this disease to cut the end of her âumpe and to giue her Sugar-candie or some other sine sugar to drinke and for her meate you shall giue her beets lettuses and other such like herbes to eate as namely sometimes some mercurie If you haue vsed to feed her before with mustard-seed you must giue her pannicke to eate to coole her withall or else the seed of melons well husked and to continue the same meat the space of three daies Her ordinarie meare must be of the said berbes Bâsides this you shall put into her câge a little earth and that in such sort as shall seeme good vnto you howbeit it would be best to put theirin some beaten mortar or some clay to the end that feeding vpon it shee may bee healed The Linnet is likewise subiect vnto the straitnesse or conuulsion of the brest wherefore being oppressed with this disease you shall feed her with the seeds of melons and in her water you shal steep some Sugar-candie or else small morâels of past You shall put therein furthermore a little peece of licoras to the end the water may somewhat âaste of it and so you must continue it for the space of fiue daies one day alwaies betwixt that is to say one day and not the other Seeing to it that you giue her a beet leafe or some other vpon the day that you shall giue her pure water to drinke The same remedie will serue to helpe her to her voice againe iâ the bird were hoarse for thereby shee shall âind her selfe well notwithstanding that there are but few that escape of the Phthisicke You shall vse the like remedies for the benefit of other birds which are found to bee grieued with such diseases as those are whereof we will now speake CHAP. LIX Of diuers infirmities hapning to little cage birds together with their remedies AMongst other diseases of birds they are subiect easily to loose their sight and become blind if it bee not speedily looked to and especially the Spinkes Wherefore for their better recourârie before they be quite blind you shall take beets draw the iuice out of them mingling it with a little sugar with this licour you shall make her drinke for the space of three daies to be taken euery sâcond day after the maner that we haue spoken of in the behalfe of the linnet And you shall lay in her cage a sticke of the wood of the fig-tree in such sort as that the bird may vse it for a pearch and rub her eies against it for the curing of them which remedie will then be expedient when you perceiue their eies to begin to shed teares and their feathers begin to stare and stand vp When they shall bee troubled with impostumes you shall vse the same remedies which we haue spoken of in the chapâer of the Canarie bird But in as much as it often falleth out that birds do breake their legs I haue thought it good to teach you the way to heale them â you shall giue them their meat in the first place in the bottome of the cage secondly you shall take away their rods and pearches that so they may not thereby take occasion to be hopping to looke for their meate and so thereby to labour and stirre their legge because by stirring thereof they perish and are spoiled And this course will likewise serue when any bird hath her thigh broken And I would aduertise you not to bind or swaddle it after the manner of the world for so you should cause some impostume to grow in the place where you did bind and tie it You shall doe that which hath beene said very easily if you lay her meate in the bottome and lowest part of the cage all manner of pearching being cut off by the taking away
the Hills shall not threaten much lâsse doe harme vnto the foundation of his dwelling place as also he shall not be too much subiect to the Winds and Raines of the whole yeare hee shall procâre hâs principaâl Lights to stand vpon the Sunne-rising in the moneths of March and September for the Winds blowing ãâã those quarters are drie more hot than cold but verie wholeâome as well for the bodie as for the spirit of Man and the Sunne which commeth to enter betimes in the morning into the House doth diminish and wast the darknesse and grosâenesâe of the Aire adde further that looke by how âuch his Houâe shall be set more vpon the said Easterne point by so much the more easily it will be able to receiue that Wind in Summer and be lesâe beaten in Winter with Frosts The Barnes shall be open towards the Sunne-set in respect of their greatest lights and withâll shall haue one light seruing toward the North for the cause aboue named but all Houses for Beasts shall haue their Windowes towards the South and borrowing somewhat of the East for that the Winds blowing from thence will keepe thâm sound at all seasons and times It is true that as for Stâbâes for Horses it is necesâarie to make them a light seruing towards the North to open ân the hot time of Summer during the vehement heat thereof and that at the houre of their ease and rest which is Noone-tide for at this time and houre if you giue them not some breath of aire to coole them withall the heat of the Noone Sunne which would strike in and their owne which is alwaies in the Stable as also their breathing and presse of the whole companie of Horses being there together would set them in such a sweat faintnesse of bodie and loathing of their meaâ as that the verie Stable would wearie weare and spend them as much as the Plough it selfe And as for the rest of the Buildings or the base Courts it maketh no great matter vpon what Coasts or Quarters you dispose them howbeit if you so contriue them as that they may marke vpon the North they cannot but be to good purpose These instructions for Lights and Windowes are not so strictly enioyned as that the differing qualities and conditions of Countries where such building must be made may not moue you to dispose them otherwise for seeing there are found in some Countries such Winds as are almost ordinarie and may be said to haue gotten as it were â habit and those blowing from such Quarters as lye vpon the Sea or Marishes or such other and therefore bring with them some noysome qualitie or at least little profitable it must needs be permitted in such places to alter and change the former directions And to speake the truth seeing that by the meanes of Windowes and counter-Windowes you may cut off the entrance both of Sunne and whatsoeuer Winds it shall be left in your free choice to make such Lights as may seeme most necessarie in your owne iudgements being euermore directed against such annoyance as the Ayre might bring from that place whatsoeuer from whence it commeth And although that euerie one build after his owne humor yet the cause should so stand as that reason should rule euermore and surely such a man should be esteeâed but of a slender iudgement which hauing a place and commodities belonging âhereto did not fit things in such sort as that on the one side of his chamber he haue â light open vpon the Court and forepart of his Farme by which they must enter that âome to it and another open vpon his Gardens and principall Grounds Wherefore that he may know the more easily to prepare his Buildings as it were anew or else repaire it after his owne fansie it will be meet and conuenient for him to doe in manner as followeth Draw a great Court and wide and that verie square euerie way in the middest thereof cause to be cast two Fish-ponds at the least one for Geese Ducks and other Cattell the other to water steepe or soften Lupines Osiers Roddes and such other things as also for the rotting of your dung and somewhat more to the further side a Well with two or three troughs of hewen stone to water your Cattell and Poultrie ât if you haue not the benefit of a running Water or some neere Riuer either great or small Make also two Dunghils the one to conâaine and rot all your new dung ând to keepe it till the yeare following the other that from it you may take the old and rotten dung and carrie it out into the fields These two Dunghils must bee farre from them and on a ground falling from the fore-named Fish-ponds and Well if so be that the place will affoord it or else at the least cast deepe within the Earth and paued in the bottome before hand least that the Earth should drinke vp the moisture for Dunghils must of necessitie be kept in continuall moisture to the end that if peraduenture amongst the Straw Litter Stubble or Chaffe which is brought thitheâ there be the seeds of any Hearbes or Thornes mixt among they may rot and not bad or bring forth any Weeds when the dung shall be spread vpon the ground And therefore expert and skilfull seruants doe couer with Clay the dung which they cast out of the Stables to the end the Wind may not drie it vp or that the Sunne or Wind should cause it to spend all the moisture and turne it into dust This Court containing two acres square shall be compassed in with a Wall of âighteene ynches thicke and tenne foot high from the ground for the resting of yâur Buildings vpon that are within and to meet with the danger threatned by Theeues and ruinâs procured by Raine it shall be strengthened with chaynes on those sides which lye next vnto Wayes as also with good Rafters according to the greatnesse of the commoditie of your placâ and other stuffe In the middest of the Wall and in the fore-part which is the part lying vpon thâ Sunne-set you shall make your Gates and their Porch and in like manner a couer ouer head to keepe the said Gates from the Sunne and Raine which otherwise would beat full vpon them and ouerthrow them as also for the speciall vse of your selfe and your familie as to giue them place and shelter in the time of Raine or when they please And the Gates must be so high and wide as that a Cart laden with Hay or Corne may goe in with ease You shall raise it halfe a foot aboue the ground and defend it on the outside or vpper ground with a threshold well and fitly layd and in such sort as that vpon the running downe of water it may not rot which they would doe if they should come close to the ground and that theeues may not cast them off their hookes with Leaâers or Crowes of yron
Bodies doth worke her effect in like manner vpon vs as concerning our bodies as well as vpon the rest of earthly things it is most certaine that in lesâe than in one moneth it runneth all that course and way which the Sunne is in running all the yeare long and that it hath no light of it selfe but that it taketh and receiueth it all from the Sunne giuing his reuerberations and reflections vnto the Earth with more vehemencie when it is further off from the Sunne as on the contrarie looke how much it commeth the neerer vnto her coniunction with it so much the lesse light and force doth it impart vnto the Earth Hereupon it commeth that we say that the Moone encreaseth or decreaseth not that indeed it doth encrease or decrease saue then when it is in his eclipse being continually enlightned by the Sunne but this his brightnesse onely which it casteth and spreadeth vpon the whole face of the Earth doth only encrease and decrease And this shining brightnesâe according as it is longer or lesser time hath likewise more or lesse force to moâe the humors of naturall things to worke their effects For by how much the more that this light encreaseth by so much the more doth the moisture thereof spread and communicate it selfe aboundantly throughout the outward parts as on the contrarie by how much it waneth and groweth lesse by so much the naturall humiditie and moisture doth withdraw and betaketh it selfe vnto the inward parts This is thâ cause why men call the Moone the Mother Nurse Regent and Gouernesse of all such humidities as are in earthly bodies Wherefore to speake first of Field-beasts the well-aduised Farmer shall not kill at any time whatsoeuer his Porkes Muttons Beeues Kine or other Beasts of the flesh whereof he would make his household prouision for the sustenance of his Familie in the wane of the Moone For such flesh as is killed in the decrease of the Moone falleth away and impaireth euerie day and also craueth much fire and time to make it readie withall neither ought any man to maruaile or staâd astonished at this if hee consider well that a Sawsage or other such like kind of meat doth grow lesse by a quarter when they are boyled Neither shall he make account of or buy any Horse-flesh or other which was foled or brought forth in the decrease and old age of the Moone for that they are more weake and faint than the rest moreouer they come to no growth neither is their flesh of sufficient weight when they be killed He shall neuer ââsh his Pooles Fish-ponds Ditches or Waters with salt Fish in the decay of the Moone for both Fish and other Beasts of the Water especially they which arâ ãâã with shells or thiâke sâales as Crayfishes Crabs Oysters Muscles and such ãâã are found veriâ much impaired in their substance and leane in the old age and ãâã of the Moone and contrariwise grosse fat and full when she is in her force ãâã full The Faulkoneâ shall chuse rather the full Moone to fâye in than the wane ãâã that Hawkes and all Birds of the prey are a great deale more nimble sharpe and ãâã aboât the full Moone than in any other time The Horse and Beast subiect ãâã maladie of the eyes is better at âase in the decrease than in the encrease or full ãâã the Moone He shall make prouision of Faâs or of the marrowes of the bones of âutton Harâ Beefe and others if he haue need in the full of the Moone not in the ãâã He shall geld his Bore-Pigs Rammes Bull-Calues or Bulkins and ãâã when the Moone decreaseth He shall set Egges vnder Hennes or other Fowlâââhe new of the Moone and principally in the first quarter As for Trees and other Plants the wise and discreet Farmer will plant his Fruit-ââees and others in the new of the Moone and yet not before the first quarter At ãâã same time he will haue regard to cut downe and lop Wood for his fuell but ãâã such as he minds to keepe for to build wiâhall when the Moone decreaââ being sure that all matter be it to build House Presses Bridges and other ãâã being cut downe in the decrease of the Moone lasteth a long time and is ând maruailoâs good and yet better when it is cut downe rather at euening than in ãâã morning which thing may also be applyed to hewen stone and milstones when ãâã be cut out of their Quarries and ãâã He shall plant his Vine in the encrease of ãâã Moone when it is foure or fiue daies old He shall cut the leane Vines and such ãâã planted in â bad soyle in the encrease likewise of the Moone but those which âore fat in the going away of the Moone seeing that thus they will bring forth ãâã Grapes than if they were cut in the encrease in as much as then the Moone ãâã vpon them to soften them and make them fat cannot chuse but cause abounââce of Clusters and Leaues but cutting them the Moone being old the Wood âommeth bound and applyeth it selfe onely to bring forth great store of fruit He ãâã cleanse prune cut at the foot Fruit-trees toward the later end of the Moone ãâã they will become better laden with fruit He shall make his Nurseries of ãâã the Moone being ouer the Earth As for Fruits he shall gather Apples Peares and other Fruits as also his Grapes âhe decrease of the Moone because thereby the Wines will be the better and ãâã kepâ which otherwise would be in danger to sowre and rot in âhe moneth of ãâã following being the time that men are wont to cut their Vines And which ãâã he shall gather and carrie into his house whatsoeuer he would haue to endure ãâã last long at such time as the Moone shall decrease Hee shall sow his Corne as ãâã and other Graine he shall weed fanne searce and gather together his Corne ãâã a locke he shall grind his Corne the better to keepe it in flowre in the end ãâã old of the Moone It is verie true that the bread encreaseth profiteth more ãâã be ground the Moone encreasing and being new He shall mow and cut downe ãâã Corne with Sythe the Moone wasting He shall pull Line and Pulse at the same ãâã and yet indeed all Pulse gathered or reaped in the growth of the Moone are of ãâã digestion ãâã concerning Hearbes he shall sow them the Moone being new and gather them ãâã the Moone encreaseth in her light as being then of farre greater force than in ãâã wast and wane At the same time he shall gather Cucumbers Gourds Melons ãâã Pompions and all Roots which grow in the head whether they be Leekes ãâã Radishes Turneps Lillies Saffron or such like except Onions which ãâã be dealt withall cleane contrarie for they become a great deale more grosse ãâã better fed in the declining than in the augmenting or full of the Moone during
yoake Furthermore shee shall make much account euermore of the Cow which is of a meane stature of a long bodie a large flanke foure or fiue yeares old of a party blacke colour or spotted with white and blacke her bagge great and side a great ãâã broad betwixt the browes a blacke eye and geat hornes not turning in one ãâã another nor yet short or small but bright blacke and of a wide and well-spread shape her eare verie hairie a narrow iaw a thick and grosse muzzle wide ãâã and sniuelly little and black lips her haire glistering and thick set her legges ãâã her thighes grosse and thicke and her necke long and grosse her backe large and broad her tayle long euen to the heele her hooâes short and euen a broad breast a great and grosse brisket and her dugges great and long As concerning the diseases of Calues and Kine they shall be handled as shall be said hereafter in the Chapter of the Neat-heard The dung of a Cow made hot in the embers being wrapped in certaine ãâã leaues or in the leaues of Colewort and applyed in forme of a Cataplasme ãâã appease the paine called Sciatica being fried with vineger doth ripen the Fings euill being fried in a Frying-panne with the flowers of Camomile Melilote and Brambles it diminisheth the swâlling of the Cods applyed very hot vpon the plâces troubled with the Dropsie it cureth them throughly and applyed vnto any place stung by Bees Waspes and Horneâs it taketh away all the paine CHAP. XIIII The way to make greene Cheese Butter and other sorts of Cheese SHe shall be carefull as well for the feeding of her people as also for the gayning of the penny diligently to set on worke her daughters and maid seruants about the good ordering of the Milke of her Kine in the making of the Butter and Cheese thereof And first as concerning Milke shee must not make any account of that which commeth from the Cow after shee hath new calued to preserue and keepe it for besides that it is naught both to make Butter and Cheese it is also very dangerous for to vse Like as we see that mothers which nurse their children make no account of their fiâst milke to giue it ãâã them the reasons whereof you may learne in our Booke of the diseases of Women After the Milke is milked you shall set it in a place where it may be warme to the end it may be kept the longer and become the thicker in short time in as much as Heat doth safegard and thicken the Milke as Cold doth soure it and make it to turââ by and by and therefore to auoid this danger it is good to boyle it and thereupoâ to stirre it much before you let it rest if peraduenture you be not disposed to keepe it three dayes or somewhat more She shall know good Milke by his whitenesse pleasant smell sweet tast and reasonable thicknesse in substance in such sort as that being dropped vpon ones nayle it âunneth not off presently but stayeth there and abideth round a good while She shall not let her Milke be kept long as aboue a day in Summer especially in Autumne and the Spring in which seasons Milke because of the heat and temperature of the time would be spoyled and presently turned but as soone as she can she shal gather her Creame greene Cheese Butter pressed Cheese Whay and other commodities which a good huswife is wont to rayse according to the time although in Winter the Kine yeelding small store of Milke as being then with Calfe she may gather three or foure meales together which will not so soone be spoiled by reason of the coldnesse of the Winter which maketh the Milke to thickââ presently Likewise at this time shee shall gather but small store of Butter but shall turne all her Milke into Cheese It is true that seeing Cheese is not of so great price in Winter neither yet so good and daintie as in Summer Spring time and Autumne by reason of the grasse that therefore it shall be no great danger to gather the Butter cleaner from the Cheese in Winter than at any other time She shall gather her Creame from the vppermost part of her milke presently after âhat the milke is drawne from the Cow and cooled a little and with this Creame to âake Creame-cheeâe ordinarily accustomed to be sold in Summer to be vsed at ãâã of smaller account or in the end of dinner and supper The Italians with âuch Creame-cheese or Paâmisan doe mixe fine Sugar well powdred together with Rose water The milke curded and thickned without Runnet will make little Cheeses which the Parisiens doe call Ionches The Normans doe boyle milke with Garlicke and Onions and keepe it in vessels for their vse calling it Sowre milke or Serate The Whay may serue for the feeding of the Hogs and Dogs as also in the time of Dearth for sustenance for the Familie if she boyle it but a little For to make Butter shee shall reserue the newest and fattest milke that shee shall âhaue whereof she shall gather no creame and she shall make account of ten pounds of milke to make two pounds and a halfe of Butter To make this Butter shee shall beat or cherne it a great while in Vessels made for the purpose especially whiles the times of greatest heat endure seeing such heat is the cause that Butter commeth not and is not made so soone as at other times If she will make account to sell it she shall salt it and put it in pots of earth such as wee see brought to Paris from Britaine Normandie and Flânders The Butter of a yellow colour is the best and that of a white colour is the worst but that which is gathered in May is better than either of the other As concerning the making of Cheese shee shall chuse the most grosse and fat milke being pure and newly drawne to make Cheese that shall keepe a long time and of such milke she shall gather neither Butter nor Creame but such as it commeth from the Cow such shall be put in Vessels for to coagulate and turne to curds The way to curdle it is to mingle therewith of the Runnet of a Lambe Kid or Hare or the flowers of wild Thistle or the seed of blessed Thistle or the iuice of the Fig-tree which commeth out of the Tree when one cutteth the greene barke thereof or the leaues and hoarinesse which groweth at the small end of the Artichokes or Ginger or the inner skin of a house-Hennes stomack or the spawne egges of a Pike and with these it is vsuall to make Cheese to be eaten in Lent or the blacke mutable Thistle therefore called Chameleon niger Let her beware of casting in any the least quantitie of vineger for one onely drop of vineger is sufficient to hinder the turning of the milke into curds But aboue all the best and most principallest
and clifts in the lips as also for those which happen in the hands by reason of Winter cold The gall of a Henne or Capon dropt into the eye doth take away the spots of the eyes if you mixe it with the water of Eye-bright The dung of a Henne dried and finely powdred and applyed to the eyes which haue lost their haire causeth the same to come againe if you mixe it with honey or oyle of Linseed If it be tempered with oyle of Roses and applyed it is good against burnings being brayed with vinegar and honey it cureth within an houre such as are neere strangled by eating of Mushromes for it maketh them to vomite a thicke and flegmatike humor A Physition in Galens time did cure all manner of old Collickes giuing the sicke to drinke of this dung with Hypocras made of honey and wine A hard rosted egge eaten with vineger stayeth the flux of the belly if you mixe with it the powder of Harts horne A Cataplasme made of the yolke and white of an egge well beaten with the iuice or water of Plantaine and Nightshade applyed vnto burnings doth quench and extinguish them The white of an egge beaten and with the powder of Frankincense Mastick and Galls applyed vnto the browes doth stay the bleeding at the nose The yolke of an egge swallowed alone stayeth the Cough and such other distillations as fall downe vpon the lungs and other parts of the breast The yolke of an egge which is layd in the full of the Moone doth cleanse and take away all manner of spots appearing in the face The thin membrane or skin which is on the inside of the egge-shell dried finely poudred and mixt with the white of the egge doth heale the clifts of the lips The egge-shell made into ashes and drunke with wine doth stay the spetting of bloud and is good to whiten and cleanse the teeth to comfort and incarnate the gummes The egge-shels out of which there haue come Chickens being poudred and mixed with white wine doe breake as well the stone of the reines as of the bladder The white of the egge mixed with vnquencht Lime the shell of an egge burnt to ashes old Tyle well poudred and Bitumen maketh a Cement verie excellent to glue and ioyne together againe the broken parts and pieces of Glasses An egge spread vpon wood or any kind of garment doth keepe the same from the burning of the fire CHAP. XVI Of Geese THe Countrey Farme being for the most part vnprouided of the beneââts and easements of water especially running streames is not so fit to breed and nourish Geese except for priuate commodities sake it fall out that the Farmer doe make him some Fish-ponds or standing Lakes of his owne and at his owne proper costs and charges For the Goose as well as the Ducke doth loue to swim and to coole plunge and tumble her selfe euerie day neither doe they tread almost any where else but in the water There is great profit and there is great losse also thereof profit because the charge of keeping or feeding them is not so costly as their watch and ward is good and gainefull being indeed better than that of the dogge as hath beene shewed long agoe by the Geese of the Capitoll in Rome who awaking the souldiors and standing Watch were the cause that the enemie was repulsed and driuen backe Againe she declareth when Winter draweth nigh by her continuall squeaking and crying shee layeth egges hatcheth Goslings affoordeth feathers twice a yeare for the Bed for Writing and for Shafts which are gathered at the Spring and Autumne The losse or discommoditie is because they craue a keeper for otherwise they will bruse and knap off the young siences of Trees the hearbes of the Garden and the shoots of Vines as also iniure and hurt the Corne when it is shooting and putting forth his stalke as well by breaking it as by dunging vpon it in such sort as that in the Countries where wild Geese which are fowles keeping together in flocks as well as Cranes doe make their greatest and principall haunt as in Holland Heynault Artoys and other where there is found sometimes a great piece of Corne all wasted and destroyed in lesse than halfe a day And the house or tame Geese doe no lesse harme if they be let alone and suffered to do it for they pull vp the corne by the root besides that where as they dung there will nothing grow for a long time after The best Goose and Gander is of colour either white or gray and she that is of a mixt or two colours is also of an indifferent goodnesse notwithstanding the white doth abound more in laying of egges than the others and hath also a better flesh and it is good to make choice of such a one as hath the knee ioints and space betweene the legges great and large The Goose goeth ouer her laying time thrice a yeare if she be kept from sitting and hatching but indeed it is a great deale better when she is set vpon egges because the young ones thereby brought forth doe nourish better than the egges as also doe encrease the flocke And at euerie laying time some lay twelue egges and moe sometimes others but fiue at the first foure at the second and three at the last and these three seuerall times come betwixt the first of March and the last of Iune And they do neuer forget the place which you shall haue brought them to at the first to lay in so that looke where they lay their first egges they will lay all the rest and in the same place also set them if you will Likewise you must not let them lay out of their walke or fold and for that cause you must keepe them shut in at such time as when you thinke they will begin to lay and if you take not vp their egges they will begin to sit so soone as they haue their full number but and if you take them away as they be layd they will not cease laying till they come to an hundred yea two hundred egges yea so long and so many as some say as vntill their fundament stand gaping and open they not being able to shut it because of the effect wrought by their much laying Geese loue not almost to sit any but their owne egges and at the least you must seâ that the greater part that you set her on be her owne And she is not commonly to be set vpon fewer than seuen or nine at the least nor vpon moe than thirteene or fifteene at the most and you must looke she be set vpon an odde number And who so putteth vnder the straw whereupon she sitteth some Nettle roots doth preuent that the Goslings when they be hatched are not so soone hurt Some Geese in a good and fauourable weather do hatch in fiue and twentie dayes at the most And neere vnto the place
partie that should feed them And in Italie vnto this day they vse in places neere vnto the Sea shore to bring vp Peacocks in Islets somewhat neere vnto the Sea that so they may preuent such harme as the Foxe might otherwise doe them which was also the drift why our auncient predecessors tooke the same course but wee which make not so great account of them are content to keepe them in some roome ouer the Hennes euen in the highest part of the Henne-house for they loue to rowst on high and in an open ayre sitting verie often for that cause vpon trees but wee prouide them some place below whither to repaire in the day time This place must be kept verie cleane and looked diligently vnto euen as the Henne-house for this bird is subiect vnto the same inconueniences and diseases that Hennes be and must haue the same remedies administred vnto them The place of their abode and haunt must be strewed with Straw or greene Grasse for the Hennes doe lay but seldome sitting downe low as is manifest in that her egges are found oftentimes dropt downe from her vnder the Pearch and this happeneth by their falling from her as shee is asleepe These birds bring foorth verie well after they be three yeares old but before nothing or verie little The Pea-henne hath three seuerall times or seasons of laying in the yeare but she that is set hath but one and passeth ouer her other times in hatching and leading of her young ones She beginneth her first laying time at mid Februarie and layeth fiue egges one after another at the second she layeth foure or three and at the third three or two If the Cock and the Henne tread not you must bring them to it by such food and meat as wil set them in heat as with Beans rosted in hot ashes And to know when the Cocke is in the pride or heat you need no other signe than his viewing of himselfe and couering of his whole bodie with the feathers of his tayle and then we say he wheeleth When the Pea-henne sitteth she withdraweth and hideth herselfe from the Cock in the most secret place she possibly can for he ceaseth not to seeke her by reason of his excessiue rankenesse and lustinesse of nature and if he find her he beateth her to cause her to rise from off her egges and then breaketh them If while shee âitteth shee be couered with a white Linnen cloth shee will bring forth Chickens all white and not of the colour of the Vine bud And to that end you may shut her vp in Cowpes or Houses ouer-layd or garnished with some white Cloth or Paintrie to the end that whatsoeuer shee looketh vpon while shee sitteth may be of a white colour At the end of thirtie dayes when the young ones are hatched and the Henne diligently fed in the place where shee did sit them as wee haue said of the Henne she must be put vnder a Cowpe in some place where the Cocke cannot come for hee hateth and hurteth his young ones vntill they be growne to haue a coppell vpon their heads and at such time as this is growing out of them they must be kept verie warme for then they be verie sicke and for the most part die You must feed the young ones the first day with Barly meale tempered with wine in manner of thicke pottage and for the thickening of it some put thereto soft Cheese well kneaded pressed and purged from Whay for Whay will hurt them greatly Sometimes they must haue Grashoppers giuen them their feet pluckt away Weesels Spiders and Flies for their Physicke for they driue away vermine naârally so that there is scarce any found where they haunt After six moneths they eat boyled Barly as the dam doth and are suffered to runne abroad but euen then they must be kept from cold and raine for they chirpe and hang the wing by and by especially in this Countrey where they are hard to bring vp if they be not hatched by mid Iune for when Autumne doth find them verie young they doe neuer hold out Winter They which will haue the Pea-hennes to hold their three seuerall times of laying must set their first egges vnder Hennes that are great well gouerned and old and that in the beginning of the growth of the Moone that so the Pea-hennes may hold on their seuerall courses of laying And as wee haue alreadie said in the feeding of Hennes there must be put vnder the Hennes some fiue of the Pea-hennes and nine of her owne after the tenth day the nine Henne egges shall be taken away and other nine put in their place by this meanes you shall find by the end of thirtie daies that all will be hatched together And thus you shall vse manie Hennes at one and the same time And seeing the Pea-hennes egge for the greatnesse of it cannot be well turned by the Henne you shall turne it your selfe verie softly at such time as the Henne is a feeding and marke with ynke the place you leaue vppermost that so you may know thereby whether the Henne doe turne them or no for else you might possibly lose your time and labour and when all are hatched giue all the Chickens to one onely Henne and the young Pea-chickens to a Pea-henne and see that the Henne leading her brood do not haunt where the Pea-henne and her Chickens do come for so she would leaue her owne for the disdaine and iealousie she conceiueth in seeing the fairenesse and greatnesse of the others Peacocks are verie sicke when they moult and then they must be heartened with Honey Wheat Oates and Horse-beanes They are verie hot in the Dog-dayes so that then you must not let them want fresh and coole water and euerie Cock would haue fiue or six Hennes for change for he is grieued at them that are readie to lay and faileth not if he can to breake their egges The flesh of Peacocks is melancholike and of hard digestion but to make it tender you must kill your Peacocke in Summer a day before you eat him and in Winter foure daies and hang some heauie thing to his legges or else tye him vpon some figge-tree staffe because the wood of the figge-tree hath vertue to make flesh tender that is tough and hard The rosted flesh of a Peacock is well kept a whole moneth and looseth nothing either of his smell or good rellish The dung of Peacockes is verie soueraigne against the diseases of the eyes if it may be found but the Peacock so much enuieth the good of man that he eateth his owne dung for feare that any man should find it CHAP. XX. Of Indian Hennes WHosoeuer he was that brought vs these birds from the Island of India lately discouered by the Spaniards and Portugalls whether wee call them Cockes or Peacockes of India hath more fitted and prouided for the tooth than for any profit For they may
from the place of their late inlargement neither will or can they possibly but returne vnto the Doue-house if it were but to hide their heads that night In doing whereof they will learne to marke the place of their receit and not forsake or leaue the same hauing neuer had the âast of anie former choice in anie farre remoued place to returne thither againe Further if you lay vpon the window made for them to light vpon at the comming to the Cote a loafe made of red earth Cummin seed well bruised Honey and Brine all being well boyled together and dried in the Ouen for hauing picked vpon this lumpe they will neuer fayle to returne thither againe they are so much giuen to the pleasing of their taste And further by the verie sent and smell of this remayning about their billes they will bee the meanes to allure others along with them euen to their Cote which for the foresaid commoditie sake they will learne neuer to leaue or forgoe You shall also keepe them from flying away if you giue them Lentils steeped in honied water or boyled in some cuted wine or else drie Figges mixed with the meale of Malt and Honey Some say also that Pigeons will neuer goe away if there be set vpon the Turret of the Doue-house the head of a Bat or the branch of a wild Vine or if the dores and windowes of the Cote be rubbed or annoynted with the oyle of Balme as also that Pigeons when they flye into the fields will bring home others with them if you rub their wings with the said oyle of Balme or if you giue them before their going thither Fetches besprinkled with wine or shall haue steept in such liquor for them the seed of Agnus castus for other Pigeons after they haue smelt the sauour of your Pigeons mouthes will not fayle to come with them to their Pigeon-house Perfume oftentimes your Doue-house with Iuniper Rosemarie and sometimes with a little fine Frankincense for that doth mightily retaine and keepe them and causeth them to loue their owne house more than anie other When you shall perceiue that they begin to lay giue them thân what libertie you can and you shall see that by casting of them morning and evening a little cleane Corne vnder the Barne wall and farre from the dung and in causing the Water-pot wherein they bath and refresh themselues to be oftentimes made cleane that they will draw diuers others from other places insomuch as that your twentie paire in fortie dayes will haue stored your house with twice yea thrice so manie for they bring forth young thrice and those which are good foure times a yeare and you shall not need to care for anie thing but to keepe the Doue-house cleane And for this cause it behooueth him that hath the charge of the Doue-house to goe into it once a weeke at the least and that in the morning or at the times of reliefe when as the Pigeons are in seeking their meat and abroad in the Countrey thereabout for seeing that they doe ordinarily keepe their noone-tide in the Doue-house if he should enter in at that houre he should make wild and estrange the young ones yea the old ones themselues In going in he shall whistlâ âhem and cast them something to eat to the end they may be accustomed with him ând acknowledge him Hee shall emptie and fill vp againe their Water-pot with âleare water he shall pare the floore he shall cast out such as he shall find dead he âhall make cleane the holes to the end that they may not gather anie Fleas Lice Punies or Mothes especially in Summer he shall not put vp againe into their holes âuch as may be fallen out he shall cull out the barren that he may put them in some âlace by themselues that so he may fat them and afterward either eat or sell them And if he perceiue the traine of anie Snake or Adder he shall set a long earthen pot vpon the tayle or bottome and shall put within it a Pigeon and plaeing it right in âhe trade and walke of the Adder he shall set by it some kind of little foot-pace or âuch other thing whereby shee may creepe vp vnto the top of the pot and cast her âelfe in afterward for the Adder cannot come forth againe and so you shall cleanse ând rid the Doue-house It is true that Pigeons doe require some cost in Winter âhen either through Frost or Snow or when the Corne is shot they cannot find anie âhing in the field but this paine is not passing two moneths continuance or thereâbout that you need to feed them with Corne with the drosse of the Wine-presse or the stones of Grapes of which things there may be store and prouision ynough âathered during the Vintage time vpon a great heape in the house Court Likewise ãâã this time they affoord you a flight which is called the March flight and they are âhe most fat tender and daintie of all the yeare You shall keepe well the dung which you take from the Pigeons not mixing it with that which the Kine make or the Calues or Sheepe for it is verie hot and serââeth to fat and amend the fennie and wet places of your part of Corne ground or of your Medowes or the young Plants and tender Hearbes and to refresh and relieue all Trees subiect to coldnesse and moisture You may also make your vse thereof for âhe Sciatica in making a Cataplasme thereof with the seed of Cresses and Mustard and putting thereto a little of the Philosophers oyle as also against Head-ach if wrought in a Mortar with the oyle of the kernels of Peachstones you apply it to the place that paineth you CHAP. XXII Of the Neat-heard NOtwithstanding that wee haue yeelded and giuen the ordering of the Kine vnto the Huswife and that Oxen are to be kept and ordered in their meat after the same manner notwithstanding in Countries and about such Farmes as where they are kept for the Plough and sale there âs prouided a man which hath no other charge but to thinke vpon and order them obserued and noted that he hath almost as much pains and labour to take about these as about a Horse It is true that a Cow is not of so great charge to maintaine and keepe neither in respect of her meat neither yet of her handling and managing neither yet in furniture but the force and strength whereby the Oxe doth cleaue the ground and draw the Cart requireth one that should doe nothing but attend them notwithstanding that he must feed two for one and that three of the best Oxen in Bourbon or in the Forest do not so much as one good Horse of France or of Beaux In like manner it is out of doubt that the labour of Oxen is not admitted of but where meere necessitie forceth because there is no conuenient and commodious keeping of Heards of Horse or where Horse is
cause him to be couered if therewith he haue the cough and if in trauaile he haue taken cold by raine or tedious vveather to giue him then to eat some Fenugreeke or Anise-seed amongst his prouender to change him vvhen he is past age and also to take acknowledgement of the loue that one Horse beareth towards another and accordingly to set them one by another in the Stable appointed for them which he must euerie morning may cleane in Sommer carrying out the dung and filth and letting none remaine and at night giue them fresh Litter He must also cast an eye about and see whether his horses doe grow leane or no and then to fat them with Fetches boyled in water and mixed amongst their Oats as also with millet pannicke rice sodden and mingled with meale of Beanes and a little Salt or where these are missing to take good sweet Barley chaffe or Pease pulse well mixt with some drie Beanes and to giue him thereof good store after euerie watering or vvhen he newly commeth from his labour as for sodden Barley or other boyled corne they are onely good to loosen the skinne but the fat which they gather is neuer of any indurance He must be content to take vp his lodging in the stable for feare of their falling sicke intangling themselues in their halters and growing of his beasts and let him be carefull and wise in ordering and placing his light in such sort as that it may be out of daunger and to locke vp and keepe his harnesse well and made readie ouer night ãâã morning that so when he is to returne to his labour into the field he be ãâ¦ã of any thing If he haue any Mules or young Colts he must put them by ãâ¦ã and reserue them for some other labour and if any of his Horses fall sicke if it be not of wearinesse dulnesse or chafing he must put him out from among the rest If he haue any Horse that hath ill propertie or fault he shall be carefull how to amend it as if he be fearefull or timerous or if he will not abide while one getteth vpon his backe or if he will not goe by or into any place he shall hang within his ãâã some prettie little stone and if this doe him no good he shall hoodwinke him or ãâã behind him at his taile some flame of fire or some sharpe pricking thing if he wâânie much he shall tie to his head a stone with a hole through it if when a man is vpon his backe he rise and come aloft he shall hit him with his rod vpon the forelegges if he lye downe he must be raised vp againe with rough words and strokes if he goe backward you shall tye a cord to his codds vvhich shall be so long as thââ reaching betwixt his forelegges he which rideth him may hold it in his hand and when as the Horse shall goe backward he shall pull it hard with his hand to make him goe forward for so vvithout all doubt he will goe forthright and amend his fault if the Horse be gelded he must beat his thighs vvith a long staffe taken out of the fire verie hot and burnt at the end or he shall giue him feele of his whisking rodd betwixt his eares if the Horse be hard to shooe and troublesome to handle and dresse in the stable he shall put in one or both of his eares a little round pebble and there make it sure with one or both his hands and keepe them in his eares and thus he shall make him as gentle and meeke as a Lambe It is also the Carters part to gouerne his heard of Mares and Colts carefully thââ no inconuenience may befall them he shall put them to feed and shall send theâ to grasse when it shall be due time and that in large and marish grounds Notwithstanding marish ground doth soften their hoofe verie much and maketh them tender sighted and begetteth water in their feet and for this cause I could like the high and hillie grounds better being such as from time to time haue raine or ãâã dropping downe vpon them and not drie at any time and such as are rather voiâ and free than incombred with vvood or other bodies of trees or legges and yet further hauing a soft and sweet grasse rather than a high great and strong grasse And notwithstanding that Mares be not so frolicke nor couragious as Horses be yet they goe beyond them farre in the race and stand it out a great deale longer and againe they are not so chargeable to keepe as Horses are for they are not fed with the best hay they content themselues to run in pastures all the yeare long true it is that in Winter and when the ground is all couered with snow as also in the time of continuall raine they must be put in some one house or other and giue them such Hay as is good to eat and in Sommer to keepe them in some good coole shadowââ place and well growne with good Grasse and serueth vvith cleare vvaters but nâuer vpon the rough and ragged mountaines as vvell for that they doe hardly feed there as also because that such as are with foale can hardly clime without great paine not come downe without endangering themselues to cast their Colts You shall not suffer the Mare to take Horse ofter than euerie two yeare according to the opinioâ of the curious Horsemen but yet the better experienced allow the conueying of Marâs euerie yeare for it keepeth the wombe open and giueth the Foale a large bed to lye in to keepe and breed of the best kind and race and not to bring in a base and degenerate kind againe to see that it be dâne about mid March to the end that at the same time that the Mares were couered and horsed they may easily feed their Colts hauing tender and soft grasse after Haruest for about the end of the eleuenth or twelfth moneth they foale and so their milke is the faster better conditioned begetteth also and nourisheth fairer Colts and such as thriue euen as we our selues would wish The Stalions also thus attended are the stronger and doe more abound with a well concocted and slimie nature and not with a thinne and waterie and withall they couer them with more courage and beget greater Colts and such as are more hardie and strong He shall know that the Mares are readie to take Horse when they yeeld a whitish humor at the place of generation and that their priuie parts are more swolne than they were wont to be as also more hot than ordinarie and eat not so much as they were wont He shall let her take Horse twice a day euening and morning before he let her drinke and this shall be continued but tenne daies which past if she refuse him he shall put her aside as with foale and shall take away the Horse least with his furious rage he make her
Lâpines ãâã good Honie and of the whole strayned make him take a Pine eight ãâã ââgether If he be costiuene he may be helped by drinke or clyster the drinke shall be ãâã giue him ordinarily of the powder of vvild Rue with the seed thereof ãâ¦ã good red wine or else take the root of yellow Flower-de-luce with Annisseedâ ãâã Opopaâax and of all these beaten together verie small you shall make ãâ¦ã or draughts vvith three ounces of good Red vvine and as much Oyle oliue and those on three seuerall dayes In the clyster you shall put the juice of pale coloured Flower-de-luce in three pound of the decoction of Mallows and Perrie and into the vvhole you shall put of Sall-nitrum and the dung of Pigeons of each an ounce of Oyle-de-bayes and Rue of each three ounces After the clyster giuen he must be vvalked a great vvhile and verie softly Some Farriers or Horse-leaches haue in this disease made triall of Hares dung with nine spoonefulls of Honie and fiue grains of Pepper to make a drinke to take with the broth of Cich Pease or Red Coleworts The Horse oftentimes hauing eaten too much Barley or other prouender that is hurtfull is troubled vvith the swelling of his flankes and the rest of his bodie to take the same away you must make a decoction of Mallowes Pellitorie Beares ãâã Mercurie and other soluble hearbes putting thereto Bran Salt Honie and Oyle and hauing vvarmed this decoction he shall haue a clyster giuen him with a clysterpipe hauing the shanke thereof proportionably great and long this being well accomplished annoint his bellie with Oyle and after cause it to be rubbed vvith a round staffe by two men beginning before and so going backward stopping vp his fundament after this get vpon him and vvalke him verie softly and a long time vntill that he haue voided not onely this clyster but vvithall some part of the dung which he had in his bodie and he will be well by and by after For bursting or rupture some are of opinion that there is nothing so soueraigne as to take seuen ounces of the ashes of the vvood of vine braunches or of Elme with three ounces of Oyle oliue Scallions brayed seuen in number Honie three ounces fresh Butter and Goats Seweâ of each an ounce the juice of Plantaine three ounces vvith old white vvine or the broth of Cych Pease this will serue for thrice to be taken three seuerall daies together To keepe your great Horses that they may not be molested and troubled in great heat vvith the stinging of Flies you must rub their haire vvith the juice of leaues of gourdes For the farcie of the legges you must shauââ the place and after annoint it with the Oyle of Iuniper for the space of foure daies euening and morning and let not the horse goe forth to water all the whiles that his haire is not growne againe or else let him haue a strake vvith an yron long-waies and ouerthwhart otherwise for the farcie of a horse how hard to cure so euer it be you must take the roots of common cotton thistle which is the broad and white leaued thistle and make him eat them in shiues with his oats it will heale him without all faile in lesse than fifteene daies or three weekes if it be continually giuen him to eat and the remedie is verie easie seeing the horse will willingly eat it For clefts which happen betwixt the joynt of the legge and the hoofe shaue away the haire wash the place with vvine annoint it vvith an ointment made of Soot Vââdegrease and Honie pouned and boyled together mingling therewith in the end some Lime if the chaps be verie deepe in ââare them For the scabbe you must let him bloud in conuenient places according to that place vvhere the disease is for a conuenient purge it vvill be good to vse of the powder of the root of vvild Cucumber mingled vvith Sal-nitrum and giuen in a âoâne vvith vvhite vvine the medicine oftentimes giuen doth purge him of euill humours for an ourward remedie take quicke Brimstone fat Pitch Clay of Iudea called Asphaltuâ mingle all together and dissolue it in new Butter salted and with this oyntment you shall rub him all ouer his bodie in the greatest heat of the Sunne and by many persons and a long time If you loue not rather to take of vinegar a quarter of a pinâe of Perrosin foure ounces Pitch or Gum of the Cedar-tree foure ounces and mixe them all vvell together in an oynâment vvith mans vrine and vvarme vvater putting thereto of sweet Seame and old Oyle of each three ounâââ make a liniment or cerote if it like you not better to vvash him all ouer ãâã else to foment him vvith vrine and warme vvater and after to applâe your linâment vpon the places so washed The hearbe called Rose-baie or Oleander boyled in Oyle I meane the leaues onely is an exquisite remedie for this disease ãâã thereto fat pitch vinegar and waxe and remember alwaies in rubbing and annointings to rubbe the beast against the haire It is also a soueraigne remedie to ãâã him first in the sâabbed place vntill it bleed and after to wash it with Lee made with one part of Lyme two of Beane-meale and three of the ashes of Ash-tree all these not boyled but steeped onely in the Lee. After the washing you must annoint the place with an oyntment made of quick-siluer hellebor brimstone alum colts-foot ãâã Swines-grease When the horse complaineth himselfe and his flankes be swolne as also the reââ of his bodie by hauing eaten some bad Hay or Prouender you shall make him this drinke take the thin skinnes that are in the stomach of three Hens and drie theâ vvell in an ouen afterward powder them vvith halfe an ounce of pepper and fouââ spoonefulls of Honie and an ounce of the powder of fine Frankencense make him take this medicine vvith a pint of vvarme vvine and to the end that it may loosen his bellie giue him at the fundament by a clyster sufficient great and long a clyster of the decoction of Mallowes Mercurie Pellitorie and other loosening hearbes putting thereto Bran Salt Honie and Oyle Against the colicke take Asarum bacchar the leaues and roots of Parsley and Fennell of each one ounce blacke Pepper two ounces Horehound an ounce Soothernwood halfe an ounce fine Honie a pottle boile it well and scum it altogether and thereof make trochiskes of the bignesse of Filberts and with a quarter of a pint of good wine you shall make the horse to take it in manner of a drinke and the day that the colicke doth paine him you shall bruise three or foure spoonefulls of Fennel-seed and cause him to drinke it downe roundly with wine and then count him well to cause him to sweat For the swelling of the cods or stones make as it were a pap of strong vinegar fullers day and salt to
best water to water the pot-hearbs withall is raine water if it fall in the night or in such a time as that it may not heat the hearbes for it washeth and cleanseth them from the dust and ãâã that eateth them especially if the Raine come driuing with a Northerne wind for want of this the Riuer or Brooke water is best next being a little warme in place of this Well water drawne in the morning and put in a barrell or in some other thing of receit that so it may take the heat of the Sunne beames may serue for cold and salt water is enemie to all sorts of hearbes although that Theophrastus say that salt water is more conuenient than anie other to water certaine plants Besideâ you shall vnderstand that for the speedie growing of hearbes or for comforting them after they are once sprouted and risen aboue the earth there is nothing ãâã the world better or more comfortable than Sope âuds after they haue beene ãâã in and are verie well cooled The dregges of Ale or lees of Wine are ãâã good to water Rosemarie with or anie other tender Hearbe Flower or Plaââ whatsoeuer The time to water them is the euening and morning not the mid-day for feare that the water heated by the heat of the Sunne might burne thââ at the root After that the hearbes haue begun to put forth you must weed the bad from the good whose nourishment they would consume and ouer-shadow them withall this must be done with a forked trowell whiles they be verie small and with the hand which Gardiners call by the name of making cleane when the pot-hearbes are growne strong and great Some doe also weed them thus as well for the weight of the earth and heauie falling of the water vpon them as also because of the ãâã of folkes feet whereby the earth becommeth hard Wherefore if the ãâã be soft you need not to âake it but verie slightly And you must know that weeding is necessarie for Gardens at all times except in the height of Winter that is to say from Nouember till March in all which time it is not good to weed because those weeds which doe then grow doe not offend or choake the hearbeâ but rather keepe them warme and comfort them whereas should they be taken away you would leaue the stemme and roots of your hearbes so naked to all the bitternesse of Winter that euerie small Rinde or Frost would endanger the vtter killing and destroying of them as you may find by proofe if you please not to giue credit to our relation Cutting of hearbes is also profitable for them at what time as they be somewhaâ growne thereby to make them to keepe their greenenesse the longer and to ãâã them the more beautifull and tufted to keepe them from seeding as also to ãâã them somewhat a more pleasant smell than they had in their first stalke By this meanes Lettuces and Coleworts are made better and of a more pleasant taste ãâã their first leaues bee pluckt from them In like manner Turneps and ãâã grow more beautifull and tufted if their leaues be cut But all hearbes must not be cut at all times for such as haue a hollow stalke as Onions and others if they be cut when it rayneth the blade or stalke of the Onion is filled full of water and rotteth And this is the cause why hearbes of such nature are not ãâã be cut but in a faire and drie time Or if not cut at all it is better except it be to keepe them from seeding or to make the head a little the fairer which fresh moulding will better doe and with lesse labour As for your Scallions Chyues or Leekes to cut them it is not amisse because they are hearbes continually to be vsed for the Pot and in that respect the oftener cut so much the better CHAP. IX Of setting and remouing of Pothearbes TO giue the greater scope and libertie to hearbes and to make them greater men vse to remoue them and this is done either by remouing of them from one bed to another or from one floore to another vvhen they haue foure or fiue leaues out of the ground and this may be done at ây time but specially see that the season be inclining to moistnesse and raine and ãâã must be set in ground that is vvell furnished vvith fat vvithout any amending of with dung If the time fall not out rainie you must vvater them after they be new ãâã in good and due time not staying too long and from some of them you must cut ãâã the ends of their roots and set them thinne that so they may be vvet and haue ãâã earth lightened vvhen need requireth and that thereby they may grow better ãâã fairer And of these hearbes vvhich are thus to be remoued none is more necesâârie than the Lettuce because being very swift of growth and naturally apt to mount ãâã it be not corrected and stayed by remouing it will presently runne to seed and ãâã that vertue for which it is principally preserued Therefore the sooner you reâoue your Lettuce prouided that you haue a shower to doe it in the better it is and ãâã sooner it will Cabbage and gather in his leaues growing hard firme and thick Also if after their remouing you lay some heauie Tyle or Slate stones vpon them which may a little presse downe their leaues it will be so much the better and they will Cabbage so much the sooner Generally what hearbes soeuer you would keepe from seed that you may thereby take the profit of the leafe and keepe the full strength of the hearbe in the same you shall as soone as you perceiue some leaues to âe sprung aboue the ground forthwith remoue them into some other new-digged Beds of good and perfect Mould well broken and manured for the purpose and in âhis remouing of your hearbes you shall obserue to set them rather deeper than âhallower than they were before and to fixe the earth close and fast about them ând not to forget to water them as aforesaid till you see they haue taken fast root ând begin to shoot vp Slips for the Garden of sweet and fragrant hearbes are gathered at all times and âhey would be of young sprigges of a yeare old taking part of the old wood and âvrything that to put it into the earth or else cleauing it below and putting in the âleft an Oat and round about it some other graines of Oates rather than dung for âearbes that are remoued doe not require dung at their roots but rather they haue âeed that the lowest parts of their roots should be a little steeped in water as I will shew hereaââer CHAP. X. Of gathering and keeping the seeds roots and flowers of Pothearbâs ROotes for the most part are gathered when the leaues are fallen off and in like sort are the flowers gathered as Borage Buglosse All-good and Marigolds when they are throughly open
Toâd-stooles and to preserue from drunkennesse or else to driâe ãâã away being alreadie possessed If you boyle Leekes with Earth-wormes in Oyle vnto the consumption of the third part and afterward straine out this Oyle it will be singular good for the vlcers and noise in the eares Small Leekes must be sowne in the Spring at such time as other hearbs are sowneâ they make a faire shew because of their thinne and little leaues and because also they keepe greene all the yeare long they may seeme to be the same with Chibols and Cyues which are wont to be vsed in Salads to helpe to temper the coolenesse of other hearbes vsed in Salads because the Chibols and Cyues haue no head but onely a long stalke like vnto Leekes CHAP. XXII Of Purcelane PVrcelane loueth to be sowne in Februarie March Aprill May and Iune but not at anie other time for it cannot abide the cold It commeth in great aboundance vpon Beds mixt well with old dung or in a ground that is verie fat of it selfe especially if it be sowne amongst Colewoââ Onions and Leekes and after it hath once taken with the ground it will not faile anie yeare afterward though you take no paines with the sowing of it notwithstanding it craueth to be oft watered that it rise not vpright like the stocke of a tree It must be placed in the shadowes of trees and amongst clods full of hearbes but not thicke for then it could not well spread it selfe abroad Purcelane eaten doth cure the roughnesse and astonishment of the teeth stayeth spitting of bloud and quencheth the heat of the reines notwithstanding that this hearbe is hard to digest and nourisheth but a little being applyed vnto the browes is appeaseth the head-ach and being layd vpon the nauell it killeth the wormes ãâã children The decoction of the leaues thereof or the seed or the water distilled is â soueraigne remedie against the Bloudie flux and the Wormes in children A leaâe of Purcelane put vpon the tongue assuageth thirst A Cataplasme made of Purcelane and Barly mâale applyed vnto the liuer and âlanke worketh a maruellous effect against burning Agues A Liniment made with Honey and the powder of the root of Purcelane dried healeth the chaps of the lips and hands This Purcelane is an excellent Salad and by a cooling operation which it hath keepeth the bloud in a most excellent temper You preserue it all the yeare by boyling it first in faire water then drayning the water from it spread it vpon a faire table and cast good store of salt amongst it then when it is throughly cold pot it vp in cleane sweet pots of Earth and poure vpon it either a good strong Brine or Vineger and Salt mixt together till the Purcelane be cleane couered or if you feare the ouer-saltnesse of it then you need but onely make a well-tasted pickle such as you put to Oliues and with it couer the Purcelane then close the pot vp close till you haue cause to vse it And if at anie time you find the pickle or brine to ãâã away from the hearbes and leaue them drie you must immediately renew it and couer it all ouer againe for it is apt to putrifie and nothing bringeth it more sooner thereunto than the want of moisture Therefore you must haue care euer once in three of foure dayes to open your pots and to mend what you shall find amisse in them and if you find anie hoârinesse cleauing vnto the pots sides you must cleanse that away also CHAP. XXIII Of Onions Chibols and Chyâes FOr the most part Onions so called of the French because they haue but onely one white root like to a pearle which the Latines call Vnio whether they be white red or round would be sowne in Ianuarie Februarie and March in a fat ground well dunged blacke well turned as also well cleansed from stones and enriched or else in a red earth which is short and murlie for in it they grow excellently They would be remoued in Aprill all along well weeded and often laboured to cause them to grow great and thicke and they must be kept from cold and freezing winds In them we must obserue a nature contrarie vnto that of other Hearbes and Plants being of greatââ force and vertue in the encrease of the Moone than in the decrease quite conrarie to that of Onions which in the wane of the Moone is more effectuall and in the growth of the Moone more drie and weake Such as are intended to be kept for seed when they begin to put forth their stalke and to rise aloft must haue small sâickes or poles to set by them and keepe them vpright that the wind doe not bow or breake them downe They must be gathered in the old of the Moone in faire and drie weather when the leaues begin to drie and the seed to grow blacke ãâã then you must pull vp the whole stalkes and drie them in the Sunne And it is said that if they be sowne and planted when the Moone is vnder the earth they tast the stronger but are smaller and lesse Furthermore they must be ordered as Leekes But iâ must be obserued that they loue and delight in a red earth and to be sowne in faire weather in the decrease of the Moone to be taken vp againe and by and by watered and for to make them grow great they must haue their top taken away when they are planted and their heads vncouered and their earth must be digged twentie daies before they be remoued againe that so it may drie and not haue anie moisture in it And to keepe Onions from rotting you must cast them into warme water and drie them in the Sunne and after that they are drie to lay them vpon Barly straw so as they may not touch one another Who so would make choice of Onions must know that the round and white ones are a great deale better than those of a rusâetish or reddish colour and not to be so hot and sharpe as the other The best in France are those which grow at Fertlonion a small village neere vnââ Estamps for it hath his name vpon that occasion The Onion though it be the Countrey mans meat is better to vse than to ãâã for he that eateth euerie day tender Onions with Honey to his breakfast shall liue the more healthfull so that they be not too new for the drie are more healthfull ãâã the greene the boyled than the raws the preserued than the drie wherefore the drie must be chosen to vse in Salads fried Meats Gallymawfries baked Meats Sawces Beane pottage and other vses The iuice of Onions causeth haire to grow againe cleanseth filthie âares and such as runne with mattar taketh away white spots as well out of the face as from the rest of the bodie It cureth the Dropsie with the iuice of Fennell if it be but beginning it purgeth the braine through
through a Limbecke in Maries-bath doth maruailously heale the Agues caused of the obstructions of any noble part and which is more it killeth the wormes and wipeth away all the spots of the face it they be often washed therewith It is exceeding good against the inflammation of the eyes It is verie soueraigne against any infection or mortall sicknesse if it be drunke with Water and Honie it abateth the swelling of the bodie and easeth the colicke whether it be in the stomach or in the bowels it also cureth the biting or stinging of venimous beasts and it causeth a woman to be deliuered of her dead birth The root is a present remedie against the Plague not onely in men but also in all âorts of cattell it is a speciall preseruatiue against all poyson and a meanes to withstand all putrefaction in regard whereof the Switzers mingle it amongst their owne meat and the sodder or prouender of their cattell that so they may continue in good health Arsmart so called because the leaues applied to the fundament for to wipe it doe cause great paine and of the Latines Hydropiper doth require a marshie ground full of water or at the least verie moist or often watered and it groweth rather being planted of a root then sowne of seed It is verie singular in ointments for old vlcers and fistulaes as also in clysters for bloudie fluxes the leaues thereof washed in cold water and applied vnto wounds and vlcers either of man or beast doe take away by and by the paine thereof and doth throughly heale them as the swellings or gaules vnder the saddles of horses that ãâã hurt if they be renewed euerie day and the horse needs not to be forborne for all that Or else take the hearbe new steepe it in water and wash it then rub therewith the swolne or gauled place then put the hearbe in some place where it may quickly rot or else burie it in some fat ground and coâer it with a great stone so soone as the âhearbe is rotted so soone will the fore be healed If you spread it all greene in the bed it killeth fleas you shall keep powdred proke from wormes if you wrap it in the leaues of this hearbe thâ juice thereof dropped into wormie eares doth kill the wormes that is in them Eye-bright delighteth in a leane ground and shadowed place and yet where moiâture is not altogether wanting such as are the meadows and little mountaines is groweth of roots not of seed It is singular good against the dimnesse waterishnesse âataract rheume and weaknesse of the eyes being either applied and layd thereto or âaken inwardly by the mouth there is a powder made of âhe dried leaues which beâng oft taken by the mouth with the yolke of an egge or alone or mixt with aloes ând swallowed downe with Fennell-water or with water of veruaiâe doth comfort ând strengthen mightily the weake and diseased eyes some vse much to take Winâ wherein eye-bright hath beene infused and steept a long time for the same purpose or the powder vsed with wine but the powder alone or the decoction without wine ãâã a remedie far more certaine than the wine of eye-bright as I my selfe haue proued ây experience in as much as the Wine by his vapours doth fill the braine and proâureth rheumes and therefore if you would auoid these inconuenienees you must âelay your Wine vvith the vvater of Fennell or mixe Sugar therewith ãâã de âilla-noâa aââirmeth that by the continuall vse of this heâhealed an old man which ââad alreadie wholly lost his sight by the often vse of the leaues of this hearbe as well ãâã as drie as well in his drinke as in his meat Veruaine as well the male as the female must be planted of roots in a moist soile ând that it may grow the fairer it requireth to be remoued and that into a place of âhe like nature and qualitie Besides the helpes that this hearbe affordeth vnto vveake eyes it is also good aâainst the paine of the head teeth and vlcers of the mouth and principally in the ââfections of the skinne as the itch the tetter the flying-fire the ring-worme the âprosie the Gangrena and Shbaâlus if it bâ vsed in manner of a bath ãâã in manner of a foâentation made with Fâmitorie in Water and Vinegar Elicampane must not be sowne of seed because the seed hath no power to ãâã but it must rather be planted of the young sprouts pulled gently from the ãâ¦ã that in a verie well tilled ground and which hath beene manured not verie ãâ¦ã yet ouershadowed It is good to plant it in the beginning of Februarie leauing ãâã foot distance betwixt plant and plant for it hath great leaues and the roots do ãâã verie much as doe the young sprouts or roots of Reed The Wine wherein the root of Elicampane hath steept for the space of fourâ ãâã twentie houres is singular good against the colicke as we haue alreadâe said in ãâã first booke the juice of the root is singular good to continue and keepe the ãâã and beautifull hew of women The decoction of the root is likewise good ãâã ââjoyce the heart and to prouoke vrine and the termes of women as also to ãâ¦ã to spit out but then it must be vsed inwardly and whiles it is new and greene ãâã when it is old and drie it is fit to be vsed outwardly and not to be taken into ãâã bodie Dittander which hath the tast of pepper and mustard for which cause it is ãâã of the Latines Piperitis must be planted before the first of March cut as the ãâã but not so oft for feare it should die with cold It will continue two ãâã prouided that it be carefully weeded and dunged it continueth in many ãâã whole ten years and it cannot easily be destroyed The root of Dittander stamped with Hogs-gâease or with the root of ãâã and applied in forme of a cataplaâme vnto the Sciatica doth cure it throughly It taketh away the great spots freckles and scales or pilling of the face by ãâ¦ã the thin skin wherein these are fixed and as for the rawnesse left after the away of this skin it is healed easily with ointment of Roses Great Celandine groweth in euerie ground so that there be any shadow ãâ¦ã and it would be sowne in Februarie and may so continue ten yeares so that âwaies after it hath cast his seed the stalkes thereof be cut downe within ãâ¦ã of the root The juice of the flowers mixt with honie or womans milke or some otheâ ãâã asswage the sharpenesse of it doth take away the spots in the eyes ãâ¦ã scartes and vicers healeth the ring-wormes and itch of the head and the ãâ¦ã the haire of little children The Alchymistes doe make great account of it ãâã their extractions of mettalls Some say that the old Swallows doe recouer the ãâã of their young ones being pore-blind by applying vnto their
and maruailous good to stay the spreading of the canker in the breasts and the creeping Polypus howsoeuer some hold them as incurâble The same applyed to the brows taketh away the hear and asswageth the paine of the head In an injection it mundifieth first and afterward conglutinateth wounds and drieth vp fistulaes verie readily and maligne vlcers which are easily prouoked and become worse by other remedies being dropt into weeping eyes it healeth them and stayeth such rheumes as fall downe vpon them and cause inflammation and dazeling of the same being applied with a linnen cloth vpon itchings wheales scabbes poukes the wild fire S. Anthonies fire or shingles it cureth and healeth them in a verie small time as also all other burning inflammations Being drunke for certaine dayes it stayeth all rheumes vomitings and fluxes of the bellie it drieth vp the water in those that haue the dropsie appeaseth the paines of the colicke it cureth tertiân and quartan agues and I am verily of mind that it may be giuen to good and profitable purpose to other agues the temperature thereof considered and his infinite other secret qualities which euerie day are more and more manifested being drunke and applied a certaine time it reâuniteth the rupture and falling downe of the bowels the falling downe of the mother and the excessiue courses of women by suppressing them and whatsoeuer other âluxes of bloud Taken in a gargarisme with a little Wine it driueth the vlcers of the mouth and being vsed for a gargarisme it selfe alone it is singular against the distillations causing the swelling of the vâula or the inflammation of the throat called the squinancie likewise taken in the same mannâr it is good against the blacknesse and roughnesse of the tongue caused of a continuall ague The juice and decoction of the leaues worke the verie same effects if they be taken whiles as yet the herbe is not too much dried by the heat of the Sunne Of this Buckwheat there is made a compound water to make the face faire and beautifull and vndoubtedly to take away the freckles and it is thus made Take of the leaues thereof bruised in a mortar two good handfulls of the roots of Salomons seale made cleane with a linnen cloth and after brayed a quarter of a pound mingle all together and infuse them for the space of twelue houres in wine this being done put all into a limbecke adding thereto the juice of three Lymons or Oranges then distill and draw out the water in Maries-bath which you shall keepe verie carefully for your vse but it is requisite that before this you haue made prouision of the liquor of the Brionie root which must be gathered about the end of Aprill or in the beginning of May whiles the dews continue and that in this manner The head of ãâã root must be cut a little vncouering the top and not pulling it vp by the root ãâã it is thus pared at the top you must cut a hollow hole in it some two or three fingâââ deepe and then couer it againe with the cap you haue cut off from the head and some few of the leaues thereof and so to leaue it to the next morning before Sunââ rise not taking off this cap or couering then there will be found in this hole a liquor which must be gathered with a spoone and put vp and kept in a violl glasse after which the couering must be put on againe as it was the day before and this to be continued euerie day vntill mid-May and longer if so be that one be disposed Now when you would vse it take an ounce of this liquor and mixe it in a violl with two ounces of the abouenamed compounded water and at night when you goe to bed you must wet a linnen cloth in this mixture and spread it all ouer the face then letting it rest a good part of the night but in the morning you must auoid the bââning heat of the Sunne and this course shall be continued for certaine nights together But although the hearbe alone applied his juice water and decoction hauing great and excellent qualities as it is easie to judge by that which hath beene said before yet forasmuch as that one simple or one drugge or many joyned together and to good purpose and effect in that thing for which it was compounded and made is of much more efficacie by the helpe and assistance afforded vnto it I am willing for that cause to impart vnto you a maruailous oyntment made of the same Backe-wheat and the description of it it in manner as followeth Take of the juice of the leaues of Buck-wheat layed in steepe in a little white wine the space of foure and twentie houres one pound of the juice of Vernaine which is as yet but a little ãâã vp into branches in like manner steeped as before and that by it selfe a quarter of a pound of the juice of the leaues of yellow Henbane commonly called small Nicotian or the Queenes-herbe halfe a pound Oyle-Oliue a pound mix all these together in a skellet and boyle them vpon a small âire stirring it often with a spatule of wood vntill the juices be almost consumed then adde thereto of new waxe brokân into peeces and of Perrosine of each a quarter of a pound and melt the whole by little and little still stirring it with a spatule and keeping a low fire without increasing of it which being done take the skellet from the fire and put into it at thââ present instant of Venice Turpentine a quarter of a pound by little threeds ãâ¦ã were and stirring it continually with a spatule then when the oyntment shall begin to wax cold put in Masticke and Frankincense mixt together in powder of each the weight two French Crownes and cease not to stirre it as before vntill it ãâã all well incorporated The marke to know when the oyntment is well made and fully finished is if a drop thereof being put vpon your naile doe congeale and ãâã together or that it cleaueth vnto the spatuâe stirring it Then put you vp this composition or mixture in Gallipots for to serue you as shall be declared hereafter This oyntment aboue all other remedies is singular good in the curing of the ãâã as well of the dugs as of other parts in the curing also of the Polypus Nâli ãâã tangere the Kings-euill bruised or squat âââles wounds old and new fistulaes and maligne vlcers be they neuer so rebellious It quencheth all sharpe inflammationâ the shingles and burnings either of water or fire It rooteth out all sorts ofringwormes scabs itches pastules the wild scab and the wild fire It is good for ãâã of sinews iâ there be added to it pouned wormes It cureth the moth or falling of the haire if before you annoint the head the haire be pulled and taken away ãâ¦ã away the swelling and paines of the Hemorrhoides Being applied with ãâã greaâe and a little oyle of
of the colour in this case you shall distill your vinegar either in a Limbecke or other ordinarie Still and with the water which commeth from it which will be of a most pure and chrystaline colour and is indeed the spirit and sharpest part of the vinegar you shall preserue your flowers and then without doubt they will not abate any part at all of their owne brightnesse and colour White yellow and red Gillo-flowres do craue the like ordering that the March Violet doth and grow better vpon walls house tops and old ruines of stone than planted or tilled in gardens especially the yellow which come neerer to the resemblance of a shrub than of an hearbe hauing hard and wooddy stalkes and set full of branches commonly called of Apothecaries Keyây The seed of Gillo-flowres stampt and drunke with white wine is soueraigne to prouoke womens termes and to further deliuerance in them that trauell Daisies must not be sowen but planted after the manner of violets this is the least kind of the ãâã which is likewise found in the fields without being tilled it flourisheth all the yeare long if it be well ordered Daisies stampt with Mugwort resolueth the King-euill A Cataplaâme made of Daisies is good for the palsie and all manner distillations For wounds in the brest whereinto tents may be put it is good to dâinke by and by a drinke made of stamped Daisies they heale the pastules of the tongue if they be chewed as also of the mouth being braied they asswage the inflammation of the priuie members eaten in sallades or broth of flesh they loosen the bellie Purple Veluet flower called in Latine Aramanthus doth recreate more with his colour than with any smell that it hath for it smelleth nothing at all notwithstanding who so will haue it in their gardens must plant it in a drie and sandie place The flower supt in pottage doth stay the flux of the bellie the termes and white flowers of vvomen the spitting of bloud especially if there be any veine broken or bruised in the lungs of brest The flower hereof infused in vvater or white vvine the space of an houre maketh the colour of the wine red and thus one may helpe himselfe the more easily to beguile any that are sicke of some ague and cannot abstaine from Wine Canterburie-bells as well the simple as the double require a fat ground and well inriched The Latines call it Viola Calathiana Their âlowers mingled with Wheat flower make a good Cataplasme against scuruinesse and other sorts of scabbes likewise their roots boyled in white Wine to the consumption of the halfe and a linnen cloth dipped therein and applyed to scabbes and scuruinesse doth heale them the roots boyled in Wine and taken in a potion doe heale all the ruptures of the inward parts of the bodies doe cleanse the exulcerated lungs and spitting of bloud brayed and ground in manner of meale and drunke in Wine the weight of a French Crowne with two or three graines of Saffron are singular good against the jaundise if the partie sweat thereupon presently the like vertue is in the distilled water of the flowers the juice drawne out of their root and flowers applyed vnto wounds doth heale them presently a pessarie drencht in this juice prouoketh womens termes and draweth out the child dead in the mothers vvombe being dropt into the eare whereinto there hath some Flea or such other vermine crept it killeth them Gillo-flowres of all sorts are seldome sowne but oftentimes planted of roots or braunches pluckt from the plants the root shall be planted in the beginning of Autumne in a fat mould and so put in pots of earth thât it may be remoued and set vnder some couert in Winter for feare of the frosts Sommer being come before the great plant haue cast forth his sprouts you may breake off so many small branches from about the root as will almost serue to set and plant a whole bed withall and so you may breed new plants of them You may make Gillo-flowers smell like Cloues if you lay bruised Cloues round about their roots In like manner you may make them haue faire flowers large pleasant and sweet smelling if you plucke away their leaues often and take paines to digge and water their earth furthermore such Gillo-flowers are commonly called Gillo-flowers of Prouence of the place where Gillo-flowers so ordered doe grow large tufted and ample those which haue not their flowers so large nor so sweet neither yet are so carefully looked vnto and dressed are properly called Purple Gillo-flowers The flowers of Gillo-flowers of Prouence as also their root are soueraigne against the Plague And for this cause such as are well aduised in the time of the Plague ãâã make conserues or vinegar of the flowers of Gillo-flowers to keepe themselues ãâã the euill ayre Indian Gillo-flowers called of the Latines Flos petillius and Ocellus ãâã although it refuse no ground notwithstanding if you plant it of the whole plant or of the branches thereof or else sow it in a fat and wel manured ground especially in the beginning of Iuly it will grow vnto such a height as that it will seeme to be a thing degenerated into the bignesse of a tree and will put forth of his stalke many boughâ after the manner of a tree or shrub and by the same meanes there will put ãâã flowers induring vntill Winter Who will be counted carefull of preseruing his health must not smell vnto the flower of the Gillo-flowers of India for the smell thereof doth procure head-ach and giddinesse and is a meanes to breed the Falling-sicknesse further also which is more dangerous some haue found it by experience that it ingendreth an infectious aire likewise Physitians giue speciall prohibition to smell vnto the Indian Gillo-flower in the Plague time because the flower thereof is venimous and of temperate much like to the Hemlocke which may easily be perceiued by the vnpleasant smell it yeeldeth being both most strong and stinking That it is so namely that ãâã is venimous I haue giuen thereof sometimes vnto a Cat the flower the Gillo-flowres of India beaten and mixt with cheese to eat and she hath thereupon become verie much swelled and within a short time after dead I saw likewise a little young child who after hauing put these flowers in his mouth his mouth and lips did swell and within a day or two after became verie scabbed Wild Gillo-flowers as well white as red although they grow in the edges of fieldâ and along the waies may notwithstanding be planted and set in gardens where ãâã they be oft remoued they will grow to haue a double flowre Their seed flower and whole hearbe is good against the stinging of Scorpions and indeed haue so greââ vertue this way that the hearbe onely cast among Scorpions taketh from them all power to hurt their seed taken
that the Sunne may come but sparingly to it to wit euen when the shadow ãâ¦ã be hard at the foot if it notwithstanding it delighteth much in places neere ãâã the Sea in leane and thin grounds where the ayre is warme and temperate of it âelfe It must be planted in Autumne and in the Spring time of sets of whole plants ãâã of branches and in March it is planted verie fitly and seasonably when as the âap âputteth vp and commeth to the barbe It may likewise be fowne after the foure ãâã day of March in a ground that is well manured one foot within the ground ãâã foure berries together and at the yeares end to remoue it to some other place The Bay-tree feareth the cold aboue all other things and for this cause it must be planted in this countrie in a firme and solide ground as hath beene said to the end that during the times of snow frost and freesing vpon raine the roots may be defended from cold which although the boughes and braunches should be dead by the cold of Winter it would yet continue to bring forth new boughes in the Spring time for the fastnesse and closenesse of the ground will haue let and stayed the ayre from hauing pierced vnto the roots And in caâe the ground where you haue planted your Bay-tree should be sandie drie and barren then it will be your part during the time of Winter to spread and cast ashes and straw about the roots of the Bay-tree to preserue the heat of the earth and to withhold the cold from piercing vnto the roots Then for to procure a flourishing and faire Bay-tree two things are necessarie the heat of the ayre and the fastnesse of the ground of which if the one be wanting the Bay-tree will not grow any thing at all or if it grow yet it will be buâ a small and starued thing as we may easily make triall and proofe in this âcountrie The Bay-tree may be grafted vpon it selfe as also vpon the Dogg-tree the Ash-tree and the Cherrie-tree as we will declare more largely in the third Booke The Myrââe tree is of two sorts the one is a darke greene the other is a light greene the one beareth a yellow flowre and the other a white but of these the later is the better but euerie sort of Myrâle craueth a hot Countrie a light sandie leaâââ and brittle kind of ground and yet notwithstanding this it groweth well vpon the Sea bankes as also vpon the sides of pooles lakes and fennes It is planted either of young boughs borowed and cut downe for the excessiâe ranknesse of them after ãâ¦ã foure or fiue yeares old or from the shoots putting forth at the root thereof âepeââting them from the maine root so soone as they be put vp and from after a yeare of their first planting to remoue them or else of seed rubbed and chaâed betwixt your hands and after thrust into an old band or small cord the same buried all along according to that length that it is of in a furrow cast a foot deepe or thereabout and well manured with rotten dung and watering the place The myrtle-tree would be planted in the highest part of the Garden for by his smell it maketh the place most delightsome it may be âowne also after the manner of the Bay-tree but then it will not grow vp till after a long tâme It will grow both high and faire if you make it cleane and scoâre it often round about and it will bâing forth much and great fruit if you plant Rose-trees neere vnto it or else plant it neere vnto Oliue-trees in the countrie where they grow for the Myrtle and Oliue trees doe helpe one another greatly It loueth and craueth to be watred with mans vrine but especially with sheepes or when you can get neither of these with warme water wherein it delighteth exceedingly as sometimes appeared by a Myrtle planted neere vnto a bath which to euerie mans sight grew verie pleasantly and beautifully though there were no reckoning or account made thereof Myrtle-berries put in a vessell which is not pitched but well couered doth keepe a long time greene and fresh Some hold it better to put them in hanging vpon their boughs The Myrtle ãâã nothing so much as cold and taketh delight to be neere vnto pooles brookes and maritime places If you water it oft with warme water it will beare fruit ãâ¦ã any kernell The fruit is called Myrtle-berries It must be gathered when it is ãâ¦ã great while after the Rose is fallen and shaken It may be grafted vpon another of his owne kind and the white vpon the blacke and the blacke vpon the Apple-treâ Medlar-tree and Pomegranet-tree After vintage time in the countrie of Prouence where there is a great number of Myrtle-trees the birds feed of the fruit of the Myrtle-tree and thereby become so fat and their flesh so pleasant to eat as that men eat birds so fatted all whole withâââ pulling out of the garbage insomuch as it is growne into a common prouerbe ãâã the excrement is better than the flesh The leaues bayes or berries of myrtle-tree by their astringent force and ãâã doe stay all manner of fluxes whether it be of the bellie or of the termes or principally of the whites the juice and distilled water of Myrtle-tree are singular good to drinke to keepe vp the falling fundament The decoction of the seed of Myrtle-tree doth blacke the haire and keepeth it from falling The berries of the Myrtle-tree may serue in steed of pepper the sauce made therewith worketh the like effect and is singular good to comfort a languishing stomach myrtle berries euen do comfort the heart and cure the beating of the same the ashes of the drie leaues of myrtle-tree burned within a pot of raw earth so throughly as that they become white being afterward washed haue one and the same vertue that Spodium or Pompholââ hath If you cannot make the myrtle-tree to grow in your garden you must content your selfe with the Myrt-tree which craueth the same ground and manner of ordeâââ that the Myrtle-tree as being a kind of wild Myrtle-tree and which may be ãâ¦ã the steed of Myrtle-tree vvhen it cannot be come by as hauing the same or ãâ¦ã vertues Butchers-broome is also a kind of wild myrtle which groweth commonly in Forests and Vnderwoods from whence it is better to translate it into your garden ãâã either to sow or plant it He that is desirous to plant Tamariske in his garden must make choyce of the moist and wettest ground and for want of a sufficient moist ground to water ãâ¦ã It is likewise seene that Tamariske doth grow faire and tall by ponds ãâã and other standing waters It is planted either of roots or sprouts and that from the ãâã of October till the foure and twentieth of December yea vntill the beginning of Februarie but yet it thriueth best being set of roots there is
no frost almost ãâ¦ã hurt it especially the root for when it is once taken it putteth forth continually ãâã and boughs along the plant The wood is principally commended for that it assuageth and diminisheth ãâã spleene in such as haue it stopt too full of melancholicke humours and hence ãâ¦ã that many troubled with that disease doe eat and drinke in vessells made of ãâã wood thereof And some likewise doe counsell to giue swine that are troubled ãâã too much fulnesse of the spleene water to drinke in their ââoughâ hauing first âââched therein coales made of the wood of Tamariske The decoction of the ãâ¦ã damaske raisons in good for leprous persons and such as haue their spleene ãâã as also for the pockes Bastard Sene called of the Latines ãâã delighteth in a fat ground and well battilled with Sheepes dung It groweth not planted but vpon seed and it is meet that the seed be steeped first a long time in water euen vntill it begin to sprout The time to sow it is about the beginning of the moneth of Iune It must not haue any of the branches cut off nor be pruned or touched before the fourth yeare The fruit serueth to good vse for the fatting of Sheepe and maketh them to haue much milke it is good also to fat chickens bees goats and kyne Some take it to be Sene but they doe greatly deceiue and beguile themselues The Caper-tree in many countries groweth without any tilling ân âarable ground but where it wanteth if it must be sowne it must be in a hot countrie and a drie stonie and sandie place which shall before hand be inclosed with a little ditch which shall be filled with stone and lyme or else with fat earth for to be a fortresse and defence vnto it that so the roots of the Caper-tree and thereby all shoots that might grow vp from them may be kept from breaking forth and spreading further than this ditch for if they should be stayed and kept backe from spreading by some such meanes it would come to passe that within a small time they would ouer-runne the whole Garden and plant themselues in euerie corner of the same Notwithstanding the Caper-tree is not so noysome in that respect because it may be pulled vp as it is by inueniming I know not by what venimous humour or juice the whole ground and making of it barren It hath no need except a verâe little to be any way tilled or fashioned for it groweth well ynough without any thing done vnto it in âields and desart grounds It may be sowne in the Spring and Autumne The fruit of the Caper-tree as well the great as the small is good in a fallade to prouoke appetite cleanse the flegmaticke stomach and to take away the obstructions of the liuer but principally of the spleene the rind of the root and leaues haue the like vertue but more effectually Capers both the great and the small whiles they are yet greene and not salted doe nourish a great deale more both of them are in request not so much for that they are fruit as for their manner of preseruing which is performed either with vinegar or else with salt brine for Capers not pickled are of a verie sharpe and vnpleasant tast but the vinegar wherein they are preserued doth make them verie acceptable vnto the stomach but the great ones because they haue both more juice and more pulpe are a great deale better than the little ones though the little ones are more delightsome to the tast than the great ones because they are fuller of vinegar than the great ones Agnus Castuâ seeing it commeth verie neere to the nature and condition of the Willow and of the same colour with the leaues disagreeing onely in smell craueth to be planted in a watrie place where there is much shadow or at the least to be oft watered The leaues seed and flowers are singular good for them which would liue chastly taken inwardly or applyed outwardly for some say that the leaues ãâã or âlowres put into little bâgges and applied vnto the reines in bed do helpe to keepe the chastitie of the bodie which is the cause that in many countries it is seene planted almost in all the Monkeries The decoction of the leaues is good against the sealding and burning Vrine as well in drinking as in fomenting it as also against the obstructions of the liuer spleene and matrix If you carrie a branch of Agnus Castus about you you shall not grow wearie no not after much trauell The fume thereof taken in at the secret parts of women doth quench the vnsatiable lust and burning desire vnto venerie and carnall copulation Beane-tree or S. Iohns-bread bearing a long flat and broad fruit like vnto that of Caââia would be planted of new shoots in Februarie and Nouember in a drie ground lying open vpon the Sun and where as there are verie deepe ditches made It may also be grafted in a Plum-tree or Almond-tree in any case you must neuer thinke vpon the sowing of it because so it would neuer beare any fruit but would die verie quickly it must be oft watered The Codâ are good either to fat children or âwinâ but not so fit to feed men withall It is true that the fruit doth loosen the bellie gently as it were after the manner of Cassia There ãâ¦ã sorts of the Date-tree some beare fruit and some ãâ¦ã and of the fruitfull some beare a reddish fruit and some a white and ãâ¦ã gray Furthermore some are males and some females some are high and ãâ¦ã some are stooping downe and but low and therefore called the little or ãâ¦ã tree and some of a middle size betwixt both but howsoeuer they differ yet ãâã they agree that they all desire a hot ayre a great deale more than temperate for in a hot Countrey it bringeth forth verie faire and ripe fruit and of it selfe is ãâã kept and preserued without anie fârther paine or âare except it be about the ãâã of it where in a temperate Region it either ripeneth not his fruit or ãâ¦ã none at all It craueth a ãâ¦ã and nitrous ground foreseene that it be ãâ¦ã moist and this is the cause why it âroâpereth well vpon the Sea coast and if the ground where it be planted be not such it must be watered with salt water ãâ¦ã brine It is planted of small Plants with roots in Aprill and May the Plant being well layd about with fat earth Some also sow the new stones of Dates and they bring forth their trees in October two cubits deepe in the ground and that mingled with ashes and well enriched with Goats dung and the sharpe side of it must be vpward it must be watered euerie day and euerie yeare there must be âalt shed ãâã it or else which is better that it be oftentimes watered with water that is ãâã salt Againe that it may grow high and faire it
vpon the Citron or the Citron vpon the Orange tree They may be grafted likewise vpon themselues as the Citron-tree vpon the Citron tree and sometimes vpon the Pomegranate Peare Apple and Mâlberrie tree but seldome betwixt the barke and the wood but vpon the head of the trunke or bodie of the tree cut off neere vnto the root In the grafting of them you must make choice of the fairest grafts which may be found as âo graft a good Citron tree vpon a better The Limon grafted vpon the Citron doth beare fairet fruit than the Citron grafted vpon the Limon because the Citron tree is a great deale more âappie and full of iuice for to make nourishmenâ of than the Limon tree Citrons and Liââons grafted vpon an Orange tree doe beare more fruit than vpon their owne ââumpe and bodie and are not so subiect vnto the cold because they enioy and parââcipate so largely of the Orange tree his properties and qualities which consisting of a hard wood without sappe doth resist the cold a great deale the more ãâ¦ã way to graft them is by cleauing the stocke and then it must be done in Aprill or in March or by way of crowning and that must be done in May or by cutting a âound hole in the barke of the tree and this must be done in Iuly When they be grafted into the barke of the tree you must cut away whatsoeuer is superfluous or more than needeth of buds or sprouts which are not grafted and withall take away all the shoots which grow thereupon afterward When they are planted you shall âot suffer anie weeds to grow there about them except it be the Gourd whereof they are refreshed if it grow neere vnto them as being much succoured by them and protected from the cold as also for that the ashes thereof sowne and cast about âhe roots of Citrons doe make them more faire and fruitfull And seâing that the Citron tree is verie fruitfull and bearâth a heauie fruit after such time as it hath brought forth his fruit you must gather the greater part and leaue but a few remaining and so the remainder will proue verie faire ones and a great deale the better The Orange tree will neuer freese nor die with a cold wind nor yet with the frost if it be grafted vpon Holly being an approued thing but then indeed the fruit will not be so naturall as that of the others Citrons Oranges Limons and Syrian Citrons must be gathered in the night with their leaues in the change of the Moone not before they be ripe but when the Orange is of a golden colour all ouer if you purpose to keepe them long and you must not tarrie till they be become pale before you gather them You may keepe them fresh and vncorrupt all the yeare if you hide them in heapes of Barly or Millet or else if you annoint them ouer with plaister well tempâred or if you close them vp in vessels euerie one by it selfe You must not in anie case lay Citrons neere vnto hot bread for it would make them not To haue Oranges of a mixt nature and as it were halfe Oranges halfe Citrons you must about the beginning of March cut a sience or branch of the Citron tree whiles it is yet young of the thicknesse of three fingers and plant the same in a conuenient time giuing it all his orders and best helpes of husbanding at the end of two yeares or thereabout when it is well taken and betwixt March and Aprill you shall sow it of a finger within the earth and closing the cut fast you shall graft by way of cleft a graft of a young Orange tree thereupon as of some two yeares old proportionable and sutable vnto the Citron tree in thicknesses afterward you shall rub and annoint the said cut and chaâe or cleft for the receit of the graft with the root of the hearbe called Aron and you shall couer it well with a good cappe after the manner of other grafts putting therewithall vnto the foot thereof well rotted dung or the ashes of Gourds after that you shall lay it about with good earth a reasonable height and vnderprop it till such time as it shall grow great and strong but know that the graft must be taken of the side of the Orange tree which standeth towards the East and it must be done in the encrease of the Moone and day for so it will prosper more effectually The Citron will be red and sweet if it be grafted vpon a Mulberrie tree and will grow in such forme after such manner as a man will haue it if before it be growne to his bignesse any way it be closed vp in a frame or mould cut after the shape you would haue it ãâ¦ã may grow ãâ¦ã quantitie therein By the ãâ¦ã it be put into a vessell of earth or glasse ãâã it be fully growne it will ãâ¦ã fashion of the vessell and become as great as the vessell but in the ãâ¦ã is haue ayre you must make some small holes in the vessell The fruits of these Trees are alike differing both in colour disposition ãâ¦ã for Oranges haue a more yellow and golden rind a sowre or ãâ¦ã sowre and sweet together being round as an Apple and fitter for the Kitchin ãâã for Medicine The Limon hath a longer shape a paler rind a sowre-tast and is good for the Kitchin and in Physicke to coole cut and penetrate The Citron is long ãâã the fashion of an egge the rind thicke yellow without sowre good for ãâã and preseruatiue medicines Syrian Citrons are twice so great as ãâ¦ã fashioned like Cucumbers and the rind an ãâã thicke The leaues of the Citron tree doe cause a good smell amongst clothes and ãâã them from the freâting of Moathes The rind iuice and seed of Citrons are all of them verie soueraigne against all manner of Poyson and danger of the Plagues ãâ¦ã also that of the Limon And for this cause there may a whole Citron and ãâ¦ã boyled in Rose water and Sugar vntill such time as all be consumed away to ãâã iuice and after to vse euerie morning to the quantitie of one or two ãâ¦ã this decoction in the time of the Plague The rind and iuice of Citrons doe procure a sweet breath the rind preserued heatâth the stomacke and helpeth digââââ The iuice pressed from the rind of an Orange is quickly set on fire it ãâ¦ã by his great subtlenesse through the glasse euen into the Wine that is ãâã therein The iuice of Limons killeth Sâabs Itch and Freâkles and taketh away the spots of Inke out of Cloth The same distilled through a Limbeck maketh ãâã countenances smooth and beautifull and taketh away all filthinesse from all the ãâã of the bodie being giuen to children to drinke it killeth the Wormes which are in their bodies If one bring the Limon neere vnto the fire the thinne iuice that will come forth doth
ãâã the start by which the Pomegranaâe hangeth or else lay Pomegranates in ãâã clay tempered with water and after drie them in the Sunne It is good likewise ãâã lay them in dust or scrapings or sawings of the Poplar tree the Holme tree or the Oake in a new earthen pot and within it to set them in order in manner of ãâã and then afterward to couer the pot and lute it verie well But whatsoeuer way ãâã take the principall end must be to keepe Oranges in a cold and drie plaâe and ãâã they be gathered with their stalkes as also with their little branches if possibly it may be done without hurting the tree for this helpeth much to keepe them long They must likewise be gathered in the old of the Moone so that they be then ãâã verie drie and not being wet from aboue and then after that to keepe them â day ãâã two in the Sunne their flowers lying downeward then after that to cloââ them ãâã in a pot verie well stopt and well pitcht or âeared that the ayre may not get in ãâã doe couer them and worke them ouer verie thicke with Potters earth verie well beaten and tempered and when it is drie then they hang them in a cold place and whââ they will eat them they steepe them in water and take away the earth Others doe wrap euerie one of them alone by it selfe in hay or in straw within cases The ãâã of Pomegranate trees doe driue away venâmous beasts and this was the cause why men in auncient time were wont to put the boughs of Pomegranate trees both vâdeâ and aboue them in their beds The Plane tree is more commended for the beautie of his leaues and shadow than for his fruit it groweth of shoots and siences drawne and taken from the tree and planted in a verie moist ground and such as is neere vnto some Fountaine or Riuââ and yet besides this it delighteth to be waâred oftentimes with neat Wine and sometimes with mens Vrine to helpe it to shoot vp and grow high and to put forth largâ and ample branches and long leaues for to make the better shade In this Counââey we cannot see manie faire ones I remember that I haue seene one at Basil in ãâã Peters place betwixt the height of fifteene or sixteene cubits vnder the shield and shadow whereof the people betooke themselues for their refreshment during the time of great and scorching heat Some make dishes of Plane tree wood to ãâã paine and wringings in the bellie being applyed thereunto You must beware of the dust which hangeth vpon the leaues for being taken into the bodie by drawing in of your breath it hurteth the rough arterie and voice and in like manner the âight and hearing if it fall into the eyes or eares The Nettle tree is well ynough knowne in Languedoc and Prouânâe especially in a borough neere vnto Mompelier called Bontonnet it groweth in a fat ground well manâred and toyled open to the South or East Sunne The wood is good to make Flutes Cornets and other Instruments of Musicke it is good also to make handles for Kniues and Swords The fruit is verie much desired at the Tables of great States of his great sweetnesse and most pleasant and delightsome smell which they find in it that doe eat or smell to it Likewise some doe presse a Wine out of this fruit being stamped and beaten which is verie sweet and seemeth like vnto other new pressed sweet Wines but it lesteth not aboue tenne or twelue daies The Masticke tree delighteth in moist places and is planted after the first day of Februarie it beareth fruit thrice a yeare The leaues barke and wood in decoctions haue power to restraine strengthen and comfort And this is the cause why it is vsed to make Tooth-pickes thereof The Turpentine tree delighteth in a low and moist ground and withall in a ãâã and warme ayre open vpon the Sunne The leaues barke and wood haue the ãâã vertue that the Masticke tree The Iuiube tree and others as well foraine as growing in our owne ãâ¦ã further to be seene and read of in the third Booke CHAP. LV. Of the two particular Gardens scituate or lying at the end of the Kitchin Garden and of the Garden of Pleasure THe Kitchin Garden and the other of Pleasure being of the largenesse aboue declared may haue referued out of them two or three acres for the profit of the Lord of the farme as for Madder Woâd Tasel Line and Hempe And we may also adde vnto these Saffron albeit that all these things euen as well as pulse if it be a free and kind ground doe well deserue ãâã haue euerie one his seueral field by it selfe and to be tilled and husbanded after the âanner of corne and pulse For Madder therefore it is meet that there should be appointed out foure or fiue âeres of ground in a place by it selfe which must not lye farre from the water but in ãâã free and not in a strong mould and yet not too light which hath had his three or foure arders with the plough or as indeed is best digged and siâted notwithstanding that the sifting of it be a longer peece of worke and of greater cost it being vâed to be cast and tilled with thicker raisings of the earth and smaller clouds than is âont to be in the casting or digging of a new vineyard For this plant hath his proper and particular seasons to be dressed and planted in as well as the vine but in this they differ verie manifestly that the one is an hearbe and the other a shrubbe and as it were a knot to many trees the one dieth yearely and there is nothing of it ãâã request but roots for to make good colours of but the other lasteth and contiââeth at the least twelue yeares in good liking and liuelihood of which the first sixe is for growth and a little for bringing forth of fruit and the later sixe for whole ââmple and intire profit the daunger of haile washing away of the grapes when the âines be flowre by much raine and frost being excepted vnto which in like maââer Madder in subject and oftentimes more than the vine because of his tendernesse This prehemencie it hath that the vine being frozen cannot be recouered but Madder may be either set or âowne againe as also Woad the speciall husbandrie of such as dwell in Prouence and the wealth and commoditie of Dyers of Cloth or Wooll with what colour soeuer it be It may be sowne or planted but indeed being sowne it yeeldeth scarce at any time any great store of increase but if you will sow it then bestow the like quantitie of the seed thereof vpon an acre as you are wont to doe of Hempe and that in the moneth of March vpon the tops of hills well battilled and âmanured thus the seed being cast into the ground and the same well incorporated with harrows of rakes
colour pleasant smell pure neat and shining in euerie part sweet and verie pleasant to the tast and yet notwithstanding this hauing a certaine kind of acrimonie or sharpenesâe of an indifferent consistence betwixt thicke and thinne hanging together in it selfe in such sort as that being lifted vp with the fingers end it keepeth together in âaner of a direct line without any breaking asunder for it should argue it selfe to be either too thick or too thinne if it should not hang together but breake or else to haue some other vnequall mixture It must not be long in boyling and yeelding but small store of scum when it doth boyle aboue all it may not exceedingly smell of Thyme though some as I my selfe doe know doe greatly esteeme of such And that which is gathered in the Spring or Summer is much better than that which is gathered in Winter White Honey is not of lesse goodnesse than that which is of a golden yellow so that there accompanie it the other marks of goodnes such as that is which the Spaniards and men about Narbona doâ send vnto vs being verie white and ãâã firme and hard and therefore better without all comparison than anie other ãâã of Honey Honey the newer it is the better it is cleane contrarie to Wine which is more commended when it is old than when it is new This also is to be marked in Honey ãâã as Wine is best at the mid-Caske and Oyle in the âop so Honey is best towards the bottome for by how much Honey is more firme and heauie so much it is the ãâã as being the sweeter The vse of Honey serueth for manie things it prolongeth life in old folkâs and in them which are of cold complexion that it is so we see that the Bee which is ãâã little creature âeeble and weake liueth nine or tenne yeares by herâeeding vpon Honey The nature of Honey is to resist corruption and puââifaction and this is the cause why Gargarismes to cleanse and mundifie the vlcers of the mouth are ãâã therewith Some make a distilled water of Honey which causeth the ãâã is fallen away to grow againe in what part of the bodie soeuer it be CHAP. LXX The manner of preparing diuers sorts and diuers compositions of Honey THere is such excellent vertue in Honey as that is preserueth and defendeth things from puââifaction and corruption which is the cause that when anie are disposed to keepe Rootes Fruits Hearbes and especially Iuices it is ordinarily accustomed to conserue them is Honey whereupon it commeth that wee vse these names Honey of ãâã Roses Rosemarie-slowers Damaske-Raiââââ Myrtles Anacardââ Buglosse and such like which are made with iuice and Honey of which onely we will ãâã in this place The Honey of Violets Roses Buglosse Mercurie and Rosemariââflowers ãâã all prepared after one sort Take of the iuice of new Roses a pound of pure ãâã Honey first boyled and ãâã tenne pounds boyle them all together in a Caldron vpon a cleere fire when these boyle adde vnto them of new Roses yet ãâã cut in sunder with Scizars of Sheares foure pound boyle them all vntill the iuice be wasted stirring them often with a sticke this being done straine them and put ãâã in an earthen vessell for to be kept for it is better and better after some time Otherwise and better and ofter vsed Stampe in a Mortar new Roses adde like ãâã of Honey and set them in the Sunne the space of three moneths afterward straine them and boyle the liquor strained out to the thicknesse of Honey Otherwise ãâã equall parts of Honey and of the manifold infusion of new Roses boyle them all ãâã the consistence of a Syrrup looke how manie times the more double the inâusion of the Roses is by so much the Honey of Roses will be the better and this same is ãâã most fit to be taken at the mouth as the first and second are for Clysters Or ãâã take new raw Honey before it euer boyle or hauing but lightly boyled and ãâã thereto some quantitiâ of sweet water red Roses that are new and newly ãâã in the shadow their white taken away and a third part of Honey put them all together in a glasse-vessell or earthen one well glassed which being close stopped shall be set in the Sunne and stirred euerie third day and thus you may fitly prepare Honey of Roses and Rosemarie-flowers a great deale better than after anie of the ãâã waies Honey of Myrtles is made with a pound of the iuice of Myrtle-tree and ãâã pound of Honey all boyled together vpon a small fire The honie of damaskes raisons is thus made Take damaske raisons cleansed from their stones steepe them foure and twentie houres in warme water and after boyle them to perfection when they haue thus boyled straine them through a strainer verie strongly and after that boyle them againe to the thicknesse of ãâã Mel Anacardinum is thus made Stampe a certaine number of the fruit Anacardia and after let them lye to steepe for the space of seuen daies in vinegar but on the eight boile them to the consumption of the one halfe afterward straine them through a linnen cloth the juice that is strained out must be boyled with like quantitie of honie The manner of making honied water Take one part of honie and sixe parts of raine water put all together in a little barrell well pitcht and sâopt aboue that ãâã no ãâã at all may enter in at it afterward set it out in the hottest weather that is as in Iulie but out of all raine and leaue it so about ãâã daies but with such prouââo as that you turne the barrell euerie eight daies to the end that the Sunne may worke on all sides of it To make it more effectuall and of greater vertue it will be good in quincetime to mixe therewith the juice of quinces in such quantitie as that there may be for eâerie pound of honie a quarter of a pound of juice of quinces Some before they put the honie and water together into the barrell boyle them together vpon a cleare fire or vpon coales without smoake they scum the honâe and boyle it to perfection which they gather by casting an egge into it which if it swim aboue then the honie is sufficiently boyled but and if it sinke then it is not boyled ynough The Polonians Muscoââes and Englishmen doe make a drinke hauing the ãâã of a honied water which is farre more pleasant and more wholesome than many mightie wines and it is called Mede They take one part of honie and six parts of raine riuer or fountaine water they boyle them together and in boyling them take off the seum very diligently and continue the boyling till the halfe of the whole be consumed being cooled they put it vp in a wine vessell and after adde vnto it âix ounces of the barme of ale or beere to
Almond and vvith a brasse pen or otherwise vvrite vpon the rinde of the Almond vvhat you please but doe it not too deepe afterward put the Almond againe into his stone vvrapping the said stone about vvith paper or parchment and so plant it and the fruit growing thereupon vvill be vvritten and ingrauen To make Peaches redd seuen dayes after you haue set the Peach stone take it out of the earth againe and vvithin the opening of the shell put some Vermillion or Cinnabrium and then set it again It will fall out likewise after the same manner if you graft the great Peach vpon the red Rose-tree or vpon the Almond-tree ãâã vpon the red damaske Plum-tree you may also make the Peach of such other colour as you will if according to the manner aforesaid you put such colour as you would haue it of within the shell of the kernell To preuene that Peaches doe not become withered and rotten you must take away the barke of the stocke of the Peach-tree that so there may issue out from ãâã some small quantitie of moisture after you must draw the place ouer with mâtter mixt with straw Pearce the bodie of the Peach-tree below and take away the pith and fasten within it a stopple of Willow or Corneile-tree and then you shall haue Peaches without any stone Pomegranat-trees will proue verie fruitfull if you annoint the stocke of the Tree with purcelaine and spurge stamped together Of an Almond-tree that is hard and bitter you shall make a soft and sweet if you bare the stocke euen vnto the roots which lie shallowest in the ground and water them oft during certaine daies with warme water before that it bloslome and thus the Almonds that before were bitter will become sweet To make good Muscadell Take an yron wyre and put it in the plant of a stocke which is cut with three eyes vsing the meanes to haue all the pith forth after which fill vp the said stocke with Nurmegs stopping it so therewithall that the water may not get in and the rootes that these three eyes shall beare will bee Muscadell rootes That nut will haue a ve ie tender shell and a verie thicke kernell in whose foote stocke and rootes there are put ashes To cause a Nut-tree that beareth no leaues before Midsommer vpon Midsommers euen to put forth both leaues and fruit together and withall to haue his fruit ripe and readie to care as soone as any other fill a pot with greene Nuts gathered the said Midsommer euen and make a hole in the bottome of the pot that the water may runne out putting it after that vpon the said Midsommers euen into the earth Plant the shootes that come of these and you shall find the thing before spoken of The grafting which is performed to a graft vpon a tree correspondent and ãâã to the nature of the graft proueth of most beautifull growth and most fruitfull and his fruit most durable which falleth not out when this correspondencie synpadne and fellowship is wanting and this is the cause why the Peach-tree though better being grafted in the plum-tree than elsewhere and the Peare-plum-tree in the Almond-tree and there continue a longer time If the eyelet of the Peare-plum-tree and of the Almond-tree be grafted together the kernell of the fruit which commeth thereof will be an Almond The Plum-tree grafted vpon the Almond-tree beareth a fruit like vnto the Almond and if it be grafted in the Nut-tree the rind or huske will be like vnto the nut huske or rind but within it will be a plum Againe if it be grafted vpon a quince-tree it will bring forth a fruit of a diuers fashion according to the nature thereof Graft a Plum-tree graft or any other fruit trees graft vpon the figge-tree and you shall haue your fruit to grow without blossoming Graft the grafts of an apple-tree vpon a âowre peare and vpon the Richardine apple-tree and you shall haue apples of a yelâââ or straw colour and of the chesur-tree to haue such as will last vnto Nouember you must graft them vpon a quincâ-tree and other late trees and so they will be for to keepe two yeares Take two grafts of apple-trees the one sowre and the other sweet and joyne them close together when you shall graft them the apple will raste both of the one and other fauour as we haue said before If any tree bring forth his fruit late or if it be altogether barren and without fruit and yet full of both leafe and vvood set in the middest of his maine roots ãâã else in the middest of his stocke about Winter a wedge of greene-wood ãâ¦ã yere following it will beare fruit The reason is because by the meanes of ãâ¦ã the sap and substance which wandred abroad and imployed it selfe about the bearing of leaues and increase of wood will draw in it selfe and goe a closer and neerer way to worke conuerting his seruice to the making of fruit You shall haue Cherries on many Trees which will be good to eat vnto Nouember if you graft the Cherrie-tree vpon a reclaymed Mulberrie-tree and vpon a wild one If you desire that the fruit of your grafts should increase in goodnesse and furpasse the tast of the common grafts as they are when they are grafted you must first before you graft them steepe them in honie tempered with Rose-water so long as till they be throughly moistened and then grafting them draw them oâer afterward in steed of morter with Virgins-wax and other things fit to lute withall if after this manner you graft Medlar-trees on Goose-berrie-bushes and vpon naturalized mulberrie-trees and withall in the grafting wet your graft in honie you shall haue a hastier or earlier and better fruit Graft Chesnur and Calioâ-peare-trees vpon a Goose-berrie-bush if you would haue them to beare their fruit earely and vpon the white thorne for to beare it late or else vpon the sowre peare-tree To make apples red you must water the tree with vrine or else plant Rose-trees neere vnto the Apple-trees Peares will haue no stones if at the first you picke away the stones and all other grauell from vnder them verie carefully making the ground where the Tree shall stand free thereof and withall lay vpon it at the roots being planted good store of âiâted earth watering it afterward verie diligently but and if the peare-tree be alreadie growne vp and become a perfect Tree you must lay it open to the lowest roots taking away all the stones and grauell that is vnderneath and about it and casting in the earth againe which you cast forth abroad but after that it hath beene âiâted and some dung put vnto it seeing that it be watered after you haue so cast in your earth The pomegranat will become verie red if you water the pomegranat-tree with water and lee mingled together The
about it and to wax old which it casteth forth or else by reason of the mosâe which it gathereth and for that cause it would haue his gumme taken away at the beginning of cold weather and the mosâe rubbed off with a rough Linnen cloth or a mosâe rubber of Horse-haire and this at all times There happeneth likewise vnto it an vindisposedesse through the fault of the Gardiner not casting the ground about the foot or cutting off the rotten and corrupt wood whereupon it turneth in and rowleth it selfe vp into small balls sometimes in one place sometimes in moe and this is a disease which being neglected doth spread it selfe in the end all ouer the tree from one end to another and bringeth it wholly to distruction and therefore so soone as you shall see the sicke tree in this sort to crumple and runne vpon heapes you must cut off verie cleane all the boughes thus diseased whereof it would be murdered and killed euen to the sound and whole branches and withall to order husband it in all good sort about the foot to the taking away of this euili humor which in this maner crooketh and causeth to turne round his wood There happeneth also sometimes by reason of some secret cause that it so languisheth as that it giueth ouer to beare fruit for the putting of it in heart againe you must lay open his roots and cast vpon them the lees of oyle mingled with water or else the stale of oxen or mans vâine or cast vpon the roots the ashes of Vine branches throughly boyled All Plums in generall are cold and moist more or lesse the sweet ones lesse the sowre and sharpe ones more The sweet Plums haue vertue to loosen the belly and yet they will purge more strongly if at such time as when the Plum-tree is young there be taken from it some part of the pith of the stocke or else one of his boughes and the place filled vp againe with Scammonie They will in like manner procure sleepe if you put into the said emptied places the iuice of Mandrakes or Opium Sharpe and tart Plums are giuen to stay the belly There is great account made in Prouence of the Plums of Brignoles by reason of their pleasant tast In France throughout and euerie where else there is a speciall account made of Damaske Plums which are of three sorts the black red and violet colour all of them prouing verie excellent in the Countrey of Tourraine for from thence are sent throughout all France of them dried which are vsed at all times The Plums of Pardigoine are likewise greatly esteemed by reason of their plumpenesse and pleasant tast Furthermore Dates are verie rare and scarce in this Country namely those which come neere to the Dates of other strange Countries which are more pleasant relished than anie other Some likewise make account of Rhemish Plums dried by reason of the pleasant tartnesse and sharpnesse which they haue CHAP. XXXIX Of the Pomegranate-tree COncerning the Pomegranate-tree it requireth little husbanding ãâã yeeldeth small delight to the sight by reason of his ill-fauored branches and boughs saue so long as it is bearing his fruit before it come to perfect ripenesse and yet put out quartered and as it were laid open to thâ shew out of his coat and couering this tree is the most delightsome to behold of all others the frame and fashion of whose flower and fruit being well considered iââ worke of Nature right admirable there is not that raine that scorching heat of thâ Sunne nor yet almost that fading and decaying old age which can cause it to forgoe his goodly shew of Rubies and yet notwithstanding how famous a thing soeâer it be it groweth without anie daintie or delicate handling and looking to and that sometimes at the foot of a wall sometimes in the midst of a heape of stones and sometimes amongst the hedges by high waies sides It is true that it craueth a hot Countrey and where it may not be debarred of the Sunne and if it happen to be set at any time in a fat ground it maketh his best aduantage of it being in this respect like vnto the Oliue-tree whereof we haue spoken before And if it be in such a Countrey as iâ fit for it you need not to thinke either of the digging or vnder-digging of it for it reckoneth not of seeing it selfe set in a great heape of stones as neither to breake crosse-wise through a ruinous wall neither ceaseth ât for anie such thing from bringing forth his good and pleasant fruit but in cold Countries where it hardly groweth it would be digged and husbanded about the foot twice a yeare that is to say in Autumne and in the Spring It will grow either vpon roots or of grafting in the cleft and that vpon it selfe about March or Aprill but and if you will plant it vpon somâ branch that hath roots you must chuse such a one as is a handfull thicke and make it a delightsome and fine moulded pit Some would haue it thrust into the earth with a stake by it as is vsuall in setting Willow plants but I cannot find that this way of thrusting it downe thus into the earth doth proue to anie good The Pomegranate-tree will not loose his flower if when as it is flowred you compasse the flocke about with a ring or hoope of Lead or with the old slough of an Adder The wine of Pomegranats is made of this sort You must take the ripe kernels cleane and free from their skins and put them in the presse where they must be pressed by and by Some straine them through bagges made for the purpose some ãâã them to be put into vessels vntill it be well fined in the end they powre oyle vpoâ them that they may not corrupt or grow sowre The Pomegranate Apple put in a pot of new earth well couered and ãâã with clay set in an Ouen and in the end so well parched as that it may be made into powder then such powder taken the weight of halfe a crowne with red wine doth helpe thâ partie maruellously that hath the bloudie flux The innermost flowers of thâ Pomegranate made vp in conserue with Sugar haue an incredible force to stay ãâã manner of fluxes of the Matrix whether white or red taken in the quantitie of ãâã an ounce with the iuice of sowre Pomegranates or red wine or water wherein ãâã hath beene quenched as also to stay the bloudie flux the shedding of nature thâ flux of the guts or of the stomacke The kernels of sowre Pomegranates dâied made into powder and after mingled the weight of an ounce with a ãâã of fine powdred Frankincense and two drammes of this powder taken euerie morning doe stay the whites CHAP. XL. Of the Ceruise-tree THe Ceruise-tree as well the male as the female delighteth in a cold moist and mountainous place but in a hot and plaine
vessels and not fined or that which had water mixt with it when it was made or that which is made of the Peare called the Wood-Peare being stampt and put into vessels with a sufficient quantitie of water To be short whatsoeuer we haue âaid of Cider it may be applyed vnto Perrie for the most part and yet notwithstanding all this we are not to confesse the Perrie to be anie whit inferior vnto Cider for although in some Countries as in Britaine and Normandie they make speciall account of Cider and doe more esteeme of it both for the tast lasting aboundance and profit thereof than they doe of Perrie notwithstanding if necessitie should driue a man to conferre the one iuice with the other comparing the sweet Ciders with the sweet Perries the sowre with the sowre the sharpe with the sharpe and the mixt tasts with the mixt tasts it would be âasie to iudge that the Perrie is more wholesome and profitable for the stomacke and whole bodie than the Cider for besides the astringent binding strengthening and corroboratiue vertue that it hath to benefit the stomacke withall and that comming from his terrestrious and earthie temperature which all sorts of Peares doe most consist of whether they be sweet or sowre rough or otherwise rellished there is yet further in the Perrie a certaine secret and vnspeakeable vertue for the ouer-comming of poyson and principally the venime engendred in the stomacke by eating of Mushromeâ which indeed is the Perries naturall qualitie as left it of the Peares from which it is pressed Againe wee see by experience that the vse of the Peares is euerie where more commended than the vse of the Apples and that for this cause there is more carefull heed and charge enioyned for the keeping of the Peares than of the Apples as those which for that cause are wont to be preserued in sugar or honey They are also dried in the Sunne dried in the Ouen and made vp in composition to serue in time and place It is true that Cider moisteneth more than Perrie but in recompence of thaâ the Perrie doth relieue and refresh a man more and in cooling of him ãâã withall saue that it stirreth vp more oât the paine of the bellie and the collicke ãâã Cider doth especially the sowre or harsh Perrie in such as are subiect vnto the collicke and the cause is for that it passeth not away so speedily by vrine through the bellie but stayeth longer time in the stomacke and about the principall parts than Cider doth as wee haue declared in the Treatise of the Peare For which cause it is better to drinke of it at the end of meat than at the beginning so that the partie haue not anie vomiting or flux of the bellie following the coussaile of Dioscorides who sayth That Peares eaten fasting bring harme and iconuenience Loe here in my opinion what wee are to iudge of the qualities of Cider and Perrie as well in particular as in comparing of the one with the other It remaineth that we examine what kind of drinke the Perrie and Cider are and whether there be anie such excellent qualitie in them as may match them and make them equall with Wine that so famous and highly esteemed drinkâ seeing that a Physitian of our time could not content himselfe with matching of them together but went further and preferred them before Wine in euerie thing but this might happen possibly by his being more affected towards his Country or by being carried away with a paradoxicall iudgement than vpon any sincâre mind to find out the truth of things But for the deciding of this controuersie we haue thought good to set downe our iudgement thereof in our Booke written in Latine and entituled De Salubri Diââa that so wee may not in this place passe the limits of our Farââ and Countrey house The making of Ceruise drinke CEruises must be gathered when they are halfe ripe euen so soone as you espiâ anie of them to fall from the tree Suffer them not to mellow and ripen except it be a verie little for when they be throughly ripe they are not worth a farthing to presse out to make drinke of You must breake them lightly in the trough of the Presser let the iuice worke together in the fat after it is prest and when it hath wrought tunne it vp and lay it in some cellar or caue and keepe it long for the Ceruise drinke the longer it is kept the better it is You shall know his goodnesse by his hauing lost his sharpenesse and vnpleasantnesse and turned the same into the tast of Wine which is of a white colour Or if you will not stay the full ripenesse thereof then dilay it with sufficient quantitie of Fountaine water when you will drinke it This drinke though it be the first of that kind that was put in practise as the patterne after which all other sorts of Fruit-drinkes haue beene made and of which ând not of anie moe Virgil maketh mention in his Georgickes notwithstanding ãâã is so cold a friend vnto the health as that it is not to be much set by It is veriâârue that for want of other remedies in case of necessitie the Countrey-man may âerue himselfe with this Wine when hee findeth himselfe heauily oppressed with âhe flux of the bellie whether it be that which is called the bloudie flux or aniâ other kind thereof Drinke made of Sloes THe good Householders of the low Countries of Normandie being such aâ will not loose anie thing and thereupon being more carefull to gât goods âhan to keepe their health so soone as Autumne is come cause to be gathered by âheir people great quantitie of Sloes whether they be ripe or not which done âhey powre them into certaine Vessels with sufficient quantitie of water and stop âp the Vessels without touching of them Before a moneth be at an end this waâer thus infused doth represent the colour and tast of a sharpe vnpleasant and âild Wine which notwithstanding serueth the thirstie Labourers and Hindes of âhat Countrey to quench their thirst withall in the great heat of burning Agues This drinke is called Piquette CHAP. L. Of prâseruing of Fruits FOr to make Marmalade prouide your Quinces verie ripe and yellow make them cleane and the seedes taken out boile them in fresh water in some Skillet so long as till they begin to open and burst if you thinke it not better to cut them in quarters afterward force them through some Sâarce or Strainer that is verie close and cleane and so long as till nothing remaine but the grosse parts to eight pound of pulpe thus passed and forced through put three pound of fine powdred Sugar boiling them together at a little coale fire mixe them well by stirring them diligently with a broad spatule of wood and let that your boiling continue till they be sufficiently boiled which is when you see that it leaueth altogether to cleaue vnto
cold goe crosse the water are the oyles of anise and fennell-seed and that by reason of a certaine proportion which they haue with the weight of the vvater Therefore for the seperating of the oyle vvhich the water hath carried along vvith it it were good first that the receiuer should haue his bottome somewhat sharpe pointed and that in the said bottome therewithall there should be a small hole which hauing beene stopped during the time of the distillation with Waxe oâ cement should now after the distillation the water and oyle being growne cold by the operation of the ayre be vnstopped if so be that after attentiue beholding of the receiuer it appeare that the oyle is gathered into the bottome of it for so the cemeââ or vvaxe taken away the oyle vvill come out and the vvater stay behind in the vessell if by stopping the hole in time it be your mind to keepe it there If the oyle ãâã aloft vpon the vvater if you vnstop the foresaid hole in the bottome the vvater will run out below and the oyle vvill stay behind in the receiuer if by mishap it doe not fall downe into the bottome of the receiuer first before it come into the viole prepared for it but this you must take heed vnto but and if the oyle be mingled amongst the vvater in manner of a cloud strayne the water through a fine linnen cloth vvhich afterward vvill be easily gathered together vvith a knife in such sort at that you may put it vp in a viole wherein afterward if need be you may turne it into a thin liquor by a small heat set in the Sunne or vpon hot ashes if the oyle swim vpon the vpper face of the vvater you shall seperate it in a furnace of digestion vvith a siluer spoone you may also vse other meanes to seperate your oyle from his fellow vvater as for example by a funnell of glasse putting your finger toward the poynt of it and vnderneath and doing the like oftentimes vnto tâât vvhich hath been done by the receiuer that is to say by powring of liquor into the said funnell You may likewise doâ the same by the sucking of the vvater out of the receiuer for so you may sucke out all the water and leaââ the oile in the bottome vvhich sucking may be performed by pipes of plaâe made after the fashion of those vvhich you see pictured here vvhich vvill draw all the vvater in a short time out of the receiuer as you see them vsed in France to cause vvater to runne in manner of a fountaine out of any bucket or other vessell wherein water is conâayned CHAP. LXXX Of the faculties or properties continuance and vse of distilled Oyles SEeing that distilled oyles as vve haue before declared are the radicall humour of euerie matter and that such radicall humour is as it were the soule and forme which giueth being vnto all matter and vvhereupon depend the vertues powers faculties and actions of the said matter you need not doubt but that the vvhole and intire vertues of simples distilled is imparted vnto the Oyles drawne from them and that in a purer and most subtile manââr in as much as by such chymicall resolution the most subtile substances are seperated from the grosâer by being mingled vvherewith they vvere greatly weakeâed and hindered from doing their effects and so it also commeth to passe that âooke vvhat vertue vvas in a pound of the simple is contayned in a dram more or ãâã of the oyle besides this such oyles haue this propertie amongst others that by a meruailous subtilenesse of substance vvhich they haue gotten by the fire they doe ãâã pierce into the most profound and deepe parts and quickly vvorke their âffects As concerning their lasting and continuance they vvill keepe long especially ãâã after they haue beene rectified that is to say yet once more distilled vpon ashes vvith a sâall fire in a retort you stop them vp in bottles of double glasse and such ãâã are armed and close stopt vvith Cement or Masticke or Waxe and Masticke ãâã tegether without giuing them any ayre except at such times as you vvould âse them and whâch then you cannot doe vvithout damage done vnto them for âââing they be all ayrie and firie they cannot chuse but easily euaporate and spend ând that in such sort as that it may be euidently seene and discerned as amongst the ãâã will easily be found true in oyle of camphire As for the vse that is in drops if you take them simplie and alone by themselues ââhether it be into the bodie or vvithout as you shall vnderstand hereafter But to vse them to the most profit inwardly you must dissolue sugar in violet rose cinnaâome or other such like waters and into it cast one or two drops of the oyle which you would vse and so make vp lozenges thereof CHAP. LXXXI A particular description of certaine Oyles that are distilled according to the former methode BVt the oyles of Seeds as of Anise Fennell Elder-tree Cummine and others are distilled after this manner Take such quantitie of Seeds as you please as fiue or sixe pound at the least and for the better bruise them grosây seeing carefully to it that not so much as one seed conâinuââvhole put them into the vessell of copper poure in vpon them of cleare fountainâ vvater âiue and twentie or thirtie pound mingle them diligently together couer thâ vessell vvith his head and doe in manner as hath beene said before The oyle vvhich distilleth first is of greater efficaâiâ than any one for vvhich cause the receiuer may be twice or thrice changed This thing is vvorthie obseruation that oyle of anise-âeeds in the time of Soââer cannot well be distilled because that the spirits thereof are too subtile and much more subtile indeed than those of Fennell vvhereupon it followeth that at the ãâã of the fire they doe easily spend by euaporation though it be guided and kept verie low and soft But the fittest time to distill them âs Winter for how much the colder that Winter is so much the more it becommeth coagulate and resembling the cafphire vvhen it runneth downe into the receiuer After that you haue sârayned it through a cleane linnen cloth all the vvater passeth away and the oyle ãâã behind in the linnen cloth and vvhich you must dissolue shortly after in a great glasse by the heat of a âire-pan and so the âlegme is easily seperated This is a singular oile whether it be taken alone by drops with wine or broth or sugar Lozenges for to comfort the stomacke helpe digestion and discusse winds for the ãâã also and diseases of the lungs as also for the mother whereupon it commeth that it sâayââh the whites of women Fruits as of Iuniper berries c. by reason that they are somewhat more oylie than hearbes and seedes doe not require such quantitie of water as hearbes and seedes so that for a pound of fruits fiue or six
husbanded in the earth would notwithstanding yet neuer abide idle or without doing something It is true that the couch-grasse and that which is called rest-harrow make shew to be more standing tenants than veruaine or male knot-grasse for they will not away except the plow and culture their tyrannous commaunders doe come To conclude these later hearbes being cut and rooted out by oft and deepe plowing must afterward especially the thistles be thwacked and beaten small before the first raine that so there may nothing of them yea no more than of an Adder remaine aliue to breed or increase any thing againe for their nature is so soone as they receiue a little moisture to fasten and claspe themselues so close to the slime of the earth as that they vvill thereby againe so enter new possession that within a short time after they vvill become strong ynough to strangle their mother Let vs therefore conclude that the earings of the arable ground are to cleanse it from stones and vveeds to manure it to spread and cast abroad the dung or marle to plow it after the manner of the first earing to âurrow or ditch it to clod it vvith a roller or board to couer it then after some time vvhen the raine hath fallen vpon it to plow it for the second earing which of auncient men is called stirring of it and this cannot be done without laying it in furrowes and the third earing is to plow it for seed time to sow harrow and pull vp vveedes vvhich by aboundance of raine and too much rankenesse of the earth doe ouergrow and enter commons with the new âhot corne And lastly to mow and lay it bare and naked to sheare or cut it downe to sheaue it and to gather it in And albeit I here stand much vpon the cleansing of grounds from stones which is a verie good husbandrie and for which by a generall consent whole lordships and towneships will joyne together and make as they terme them in diuers countries common daies for common works yet you must vnderstand that all soyles are not to be cleansed from stones but only the clayes and sands which haue no generall mixture with stones but as one would say here a stone and there a stone scattered seuerally and not mixt vniuersally for where the earth and the stones are of one equall mixture not abounding more in the one than the other there to take away the stones were to impouerish the ground and make it bare and vndesensible both against the wind heat and cold as thus vvhere stones are mixed equally vvith light sands there they keepe the sand firme about the rootes of the Corne vvhich should they be taken away the vvind vvould blow the sand away from the corne and leaue it drie and bare by vvhich meanes it vvould neuer sprout or in those hillie countries where the reflection of the Sunne is verie hot and the earth light if the stones being generally mixt should be taken away that violent heat vvould so scortch and burne the corne that it vvould seldome or neuer sprout or neuer prosper and againe where the countrie is most cold and most subject to the bitternesse of frosts there this equall mixture of stones taking a heat from the Sunne giues such a warmth to the corne that it prospereth a great deale better and sooner than otherwise it would for vvhich cause stones are many times held amongst Husbandmen to be an excellent manure for arable land so that I conclude though in ãâã earthes they are most sit to be cleansed away yet in light soyle they may verie well be suffered as is to be seene in the Southerly parts of France and the Westerly parts of great Brittaine CHAP. V. The Plow mans instruments and tooles THe carefull and diligent plow-man long time before he be to begin to eare his ground shall take good heed and see that all his tooles and implements for to be vsed in plowing time be readie and vvell appointed that so he may haue them for his vse vvhen need shall be as namely a waggon or two according to the greatnesse of the farme and those of a reasonable good bigge size and handsome to handle vvell furnished vvith wheeles vvhich must be finely bound and nayled and of a good height but more behind than before one or two carres vvhich may be made longer or shorter according as the matter vvhich shall be layed vpon them shall require one light and swift cart the bodie layed vvith plankes and sufficient strong to beare corne vvine vvood stones and other matters that are of great vveight a plow furnished vvith a sharpe culture and other parts tumbrills to carrie his dung out into his grounds wheele-barrowes and dung-pots to lade and carrie out dung in strong and stout forkes to load and lay vpon heapes the corne-sheaues pick-axes to breake small the thicke clods the roller to breake the little clods rakes pick-axes and mattockes or other instruments to plucke vp vveeds that are strong and vnprofitable harrowes and rakes with yron or woodden teeth to couer the seed with earth sickles to sheare or cut downe haruest flailes to thresh the corne fannes and sieues to make cleane the good corne and to separate it from the chaffe dust and other filth And because the plow is of all instruments belonging to the arable field the principallest and varieth the oftest according to the variation of climats I vvill here giue you a little touch of the seuerall plows for euerie seuerall soyle and first to speake of the composition of plows it consisteth vpon the beame the skeath the head the hales the spindles the rest the shelboard the plow-foot the culture and the share then the slipe to keepe the plow from wearing and the arker-staffe to cleanse the plow when it shall be loaden vvith earth or other vild matter The plow vvhich is most proper for the stiffe blacke clay would be long large and broad vvith a deepe head and a square shelboard so as it may turne vp a great furrow the culture vvould be long and little or nothing bending and the share would haue a verie large wing as for the foot it vvould be long and broad so set as it may giue vvay to a-great furrow The plow for the vvhite blew or gray clay vvould not be so large as that for the blacke clay onely it vvould be somewhat broader in the britch it hath most commonly but one hale and that belonging to the left hand yet it may haue two at your pleasure the culture vvould be long and bending and the share narrow vvith a vving comming vp to arme and defend the shelboard from vvearing The plow for the red sand would be lesse than any before spoken of more light and more nimble the culture would be made circular or much bending like that for the white clay yet much thinner and the share vvould be made as it were with a halfe vving
it may become fruitfull BVt all grounds vvhich are appointed for seed or corne ground whether they be such as are new broken vp or such as haue oftentimes alreadie borne corne must be enriched and repaired by manure in the beginning of Winter about the eighteeenth of Nouember or the beginning of December vvith Sheepes dung that is three yeares old or else vvith Cow and Horse-dung mingled together for the helping of it to a temperate heat or vvith other manure such as the soyle affoords or the Farmers yard can breed and yet although I speake thus of Nouember and December being a time much vsed vvith vs in France where the vvaies are faire the journey little and the labour easie yet you shall know that you may leade your manure either in the Spring or in Sommer at all such vacant seasons vvhen you cannot follow more necessarie labour at when by vvet or other vveather you cannot lead your hay or corne then you may lead your manure for albeit husbandmen hold that the later you lead your manure the better yet it is not good to driue so long for feare of preuention but to take anie fit time or leisure that is offered you through the whole yeare The dung is to be laid on in hills little lumpes or heapes and that along as you meane to cast vp your furrowes in plowing and after to spread it in his season whether it be rotten dung or marle And it shall chiefely be done in Winter that so the raine and snow dropping and falling downe vpon it it may be ouârcome and caused to reâânt The vnskilfull and bad husbandman spreadeth it all hot but he lacketh not a faire forrest of weedes as reward of his hastie paines for dung being thus at the first sowne and spread though it be ouercome afterward notwithstanding see what weedes it hath receiued from the beasts houses as being there scattered it yeeldeth for his first fruits backe againe vpon the land and therewithall impaireth much the first crop of corne that shall follow after howsoeuer others following may proue more naturall and plentifull by it and further hindereth both the ground and hinds in âheir working And this is the cause why the inhabitants of Solongâe and Beaux the bâst husbandmen cause their Rosemarie to be rotted in Summer and made manure of in Autumne and yet manie times not hasting but deferring the vse for a longer time Furthermore they continue and hold it from father to sonne as a receiued veritie That nothing is more deare and precious than dung taken in his season for the enriching of ground Some take dung as it were hot and halfe rotten at the end of their field but that doth much harme because such dung not being ouercome of the snow raine and other helpes of the heauens but remaining crude or raw doth likewise ramaine vnprofitable especially the first yeare doing nothing it selfe and keeping the better fruit from profiting and comming on as it would though the second yeare it may helpe well and hinder nothing It is true that if you would enrich a poore field that it is better done by the dung newly gathered out of the beasts houses than with such as is old and it would bee spread in the new of the Moone a little before the seed be sowne prouided yet that it be then plowed and turned vnder the earth They seeme vnto me not to doe worst who hauing gathered their corne in August or September and cut it somewhat high doe burne the stubble and other weedes which are in the fields whereby they make a manner of dunging of it by the helpe of raine falling thereupon This standeth in stead of the first sort of enriching of their ground especially in barren and sandie grounds and such as stand vpon a cold moistish clay or such as haue a strong new broken vp ground True it is that they doe not this yearely because of their need to couer their houses and of hauing litter for their beasts And yet those may seeme vnto me to be lesse deceiued who hauing left their stubble long and high in the shearing and cutting of it downe doe presently thereupon bestow an earing vpon such ground and so vnderturne the said stubble and weedes there to let them rot with the Winter raine There is nothing so good as the first manuring and dunging of the ground which if it be neglected it will not recouer it for two yeares space againe so that for âuch space he shall gather nothing but Rye in stead of Wheat and Fetches for Oates and wild Fetâhes for kind and naturall ones It is true that the first is not sufficient of it selfe for to dung and enrich the earth sufficiently and to make fruitfull those that are barren and leane but there must be other meanes vsed for to effect such a worke and amongst them all that seemeth vnto me the principall which is the letting of the field to lye a yeare or two vnoccupied not ceasing the while to husband it both Winter and Summer as also the first time when you would haue it beare to sow it with Lupines or rather with Pease prouided that the ground be not ouer-cold for then it would profit those Pulse but a little And if all these meanes should fall out to be insufficient it will be good to spread Quicklime vpon the plowed ground in the end of Februarie for besides that it enricheth a ground greatly it cleanseth it also and killeth all bad and dangerous weedes whereupon it commeth to passe that the haruest after it is more plentifull than after anie other dung that a man can inuent to vse Furthermore if the ground be light it will be good to cause some water to ouerflow the corne for the space of ten daies or thereabout which will likewise stand in stead of a manuring or dunging The dung or marle is to be spred in the increase of the Moone about the eighteenth of Nouember after such time as the rested ground hath passed his time of recreation but if it bee in such grounds as wherein the chiefest kindes of corne are to bee sowne then they must be dunged presently after the end of Autumne that so the ground may haue leasure to receiue the raine therewithall which will serue to help the seedes the better to rot thereby prouiding an aid for the weakenes of the earth In like sort if this should be for Rie or for Messing the ground would be dunged in the heart of Winter or a little before notwithstanding that some doe stay for the moneth of March that it may presently after receiue the showers of Aprill which may do much good towards the later end of September at which time they sowe in fine dust and windie drowthes looking for the first raine and the puârifaction to be wrought by the same But howsoeuer the case standeth seeing it is better to manure the ground than not to manure it so
such like pulse doe swell vp the bellie and beget grosse and melancholike bloud CHAP. XXII Of Pastrie or baked meates WEe haue spoken of the making differences and profite of bread which may be made of any manner of graine corne or pulse now vve will say somewhat of the skill to make Cakes Cheese-cakes Flawnes ãâã and other baked meats the which we desire to be in our housewife that now and then she may take occasion at sometimes of the yeare to present her Master and Mistresse with one dish or other as also be able to serue and set before her family somwhat extraordinarie at feast times to cheere them vp withall Such baked meates are of diuers sorts according to the matter whereof they are made the manner of their baking their shape and fashion the time when they are to be in vse and the countrie wherein they are made The matter is as it were the ground-worke of all sorts of baked meates and that is the flower of Wheate meale forced through a Bolter or fine Searce whereunto many other things being added doe cause a varietie of baked meates That it is so some make Wafers of the flower of Wheate meale verie well soked in water and tempered a long time therwith vntill it come to a certaine thicknesse mixing therewith a little salt finely powdred and after causing the same to bee baked betwixt two irons made hote first with a reasonable gentle fire and ãâã annointed with the oile of Nuts these kindes of Wafers a man may see made in many places openly and abroad vpon festiuall and solemne feast dayes ãâã may bee made a tenderer and more delicate kinde of Wafers in soaking the ãâã of the Wheate meale in white wine and water mixt together and throughly laboured and wrought putting thereto afterward the yolkes of Egges a little Sugar and ãâ¦ã so baking all together betweene two irons hauing within them many raced chââkered draughts after the manner of small squares after that the said irons haue beene annointed with fresh Butter or Oile oliue This sort of Wafers is wont to bee set on Tables at the second courses in solemne banquets That which the Parisians do call Mestâer is made of the same flower of Wheat meale tempered vvith vvater and vvhite vvine putting thereto a little sugar and boiling it all betwixt two irons after the manner vvhich you vsed in making of Waâers but that it must not be altogether so thicke The kinde of Wafers called Oublies are made vvith Honey in stead of Sugar Singing breads are made after the manner of Oublies sane only that the meale whereof they are kneaden is not mingled vvith Honey Sugar or any manner of Leauen whatsoeuer Estriez and Bridaueaux and such other daintie baked things are made of the same stuffe and after the same manner that fine Wafers are before described Marchpanes are made of verie little flower but with addition of greater quantitie of Filberds Pine Nuts Pistaces Almonds and rosed Sugar and they are the most vvholsome delicate and pleasant tarts of all the rest The Poplins are made of the same flower kneaden with milke yolkes of egges fresh butter The leaued cakes take not so much flower and they are made vvithout milke Tarts are made after diuers fashions and according to the time some with fruits that is to say Apples Peares Cherries and Plumbs especially in Sommer others with Gooseberries kernels of Crabs and Straw-berries in the beginning of Sommer The Italians do make Tarts of hearbes as Scariole Lettuse Blites Sorrell Bâglosse and other hearbs chopt small and finely tempered together The greatest part doe make them with Cheese or Creame and many of all these things mixt together Iâ so be that the Tarts be of diuers matter and colour that is to say of Plums Cherries Gooseberries Cheese or Creame Some make with Butter Cheese and yolkes of Egges diuers sorts of Cakes Flammickes Cheese-cakes Talmouses and little Lenten loaues Wigges are made with paste of flower of meale and fresh butter Fritters and other such sweet conceits accustomed to be in request vpon great daies and before Lent are made of the flower of meale kneaden with the yolkes of Egges and Milke and fried in a Skillet with fresh Butter To conclude looke how many countries so many fashions of paste workes in all which notwithstanding this is for the most part common namely that they vse not any Leauen in any of them all but onely the rising of Beere and that because Leauen made of paste would make them too sowre or inâect them vvich some other taste too vnpleasant and vnbeseeming baked meate and hinder the whole and intire incorporating of things mingled amongst the meale whereof it is made Yet all this formerly spoken of doth not so truely belong to the Pastrie as to the Confectionarie or Closet of sweet meats tarts only excepted yet in as much as they are principall ornaments to the housewife they are not meet here to be omitted To come then to the true Pastrie which is the making of those pastes vvhich are meet for the lapping in or containing of all manner of baked meates whether it be flesh fish rootes hearbes fruits or other composition whatsoeuer you shall vnderstand that they are of foure kinds the first for the preseruation or long keeping of meats whose proper and true-natures are to be eaten colde as Venison of all kindes Kiddes Beefe Veale Mutton Lambe Turkeyes Gamons of Bakon or any great or daintie fowle the second for the containing of loose bodies at Dousets Custards Tarts Cheese-cakes and such like the third for the receiuing of fine daintie and tender bodies as Chuets Vmbles Chickens Calues feete or any other good thing which is to be eaten hote and the last is that vvhich is called puât paste being of all other the most daintâest and pleasantest in taste and may be imployed to any vse that any of the former vvill serue for according to the fancie and skill of the Cooke or the taste of him that is Master of the Familie To speake then first of that paste vvhich is for the preseruation of meaâs or to keepe them longest cold in good and vvholsome temper it is euer best to be made of Rie flower finely boulted and kneaden vvith hote vvater and barrelled butter yet in such sort that the paste may be somewhat stiffe and âough and thereby verie apt to rise vvithout cracking or breaking vvhich is the greatest danger belonging to this kind of past and the coffins raised hereof must be very thicke and substantiall for thereby they preserue their inmeats a great deale the better and they must also aboue all things be exceedingly well bakt because any doughinesse or rawnesse in the crust soone putrifyeth that which is baked within it these paââes may also for shew or feasts though worse in regard of continuance be made of wheat meale finely boulted and then it would haue much more butter than the rie paste and be
knodden as stiffe as is possible so it rise without cracks or breaking as for the lâking it asketh much lesse than the rie paste in as much as it is a drier graine and not so moist in the working The second paste which is for loose bodies or any thing that is liquid would be made of the finest wheat meale that can be gotten and of the finest boulting it must be knodden with hot water a little butter and many egges both to make it light and strong in the rising as also to make it hold from cracking least thereby the moisture runne forth and so you loose both cost and labour This paste is commonly halfe bakt before you put the moisture into it for thereby it is made to hold much the stronger and better The third past which is for all maner of daintie things which are to be eaten hot must be the tenderest shortest and pleasantest of all ordinarie past and therefore must be made of the finest wheat flower you can get and also most finely boulted and this flower if before you knead it you put it into a cleane earthen pot and bake it in an ouen and houre or two it will bee much better it must be knodden with two parts butter either fresh or salt or with sweet seame and but one part hot water together with an egge or two to make it hold rysing and this paste must be made reasonable stiffe because the weake paste euer falleth after the hand and either riseth not at all or else so little that it is not comely to looke on which euerie good cooke must shunne because that pie which is as much couer as crust is euer a signe of an vnskilfull workman Lastly for the puffe past you shall make it of fiâer flower if it be possible than any of the other and you shall to two parts of the flower adde a third part of sugar finely beaten and âearst and this you shall knead with cold butter and no water at all and euer as you fould turne and mould the paste about so shall you put cold sweete butter betweene the foulds and so worke it to a very stiffe and well tempered paste and so âoule it forth either for tart florentine pasây or any other thing that may lie flat in the baking for by reason of the much brittlenes and tendernesse of the past it will not abide my higher raising but will fall one leafe of the paste from another and so loose the ãâã or grauy which should be held in the same which to preuent and to make the crust a great deale the more delicate whensoeuer you intend to bake any pastie of fallow or red Deere or any other flesh to be eaten hot you shall first knead a sufficient quantitie of the second sort of paste which is for liquid bodies and hauing rouled it forth as thin as conueniently you can and of a sufficient largenesse to receiue that which you are to bake you shall then knead another quantitie of the puffe paste and ãâã it likewise forth yet much thicker and then lay it vpon your first tough paste and then put in your meate suet spice and other necessaries and so in both those pastes fould it vp close and so bake it and you shall find when it comes to eating that the inmost of those two crusts will giue that admirable content which any curious tast can desire and thus you may bake any other pie by making two coffins to passe one into another and closing them vp and baking them with a moderate heat for this paste of all other must by no meanes bee either burnt or ouer-dried but by all artificiall meanes be kept in the strength of his moisture and beleeue in all the art of cookerie there is not any knowledge except seasoning which is more excellent or more worthie to be imbraced of euery good huswife and yet all manner of baked ãâã are more for the pleasing of the taste than for the health of the bodie in as âuch as they are giuen to load the stomach very heauily and not to digest verie ãâã It is true that being eaten at the end of meales after other meates they may serue in steed of marmalade to send the former vitailes downe into the bottome of the stomach and to presse together the bellie CHAP. XXIII Of the brew-house THe vine cannot grow in many places of France to prosper but to recompence such a want there groweth all sorts of corne very fruitfull and in great aboundance as in Normandie Brittanie Picardie and other coasts lying vpon the North side of the land where the cold seaseth most strongly and where the rugged and sterne windes do ouerblow the earth with their coldnesse so that in those countries necessitie the mother of all skill and cunning inuention hath stirred vp the men to deuise some kind of drinke made of corne to serue them in steed of wine Of that sort is their drinke called beere ale small beere meade gootale beere and bread and many other drinkes which the Germans Flemmings Polonians English Scots and other nations towards the North doe vse in steed of wine This is the manner of making beere at Paris The fairest purest and cleanest barley and oates that may be gotten being prouided and thrice as much barley being taken as oates but of both such a quantitie as may bee proportionable to the intended quantitie of beere they put them to steepe together in a fat for the space of foure and twenty houres more or lesse according to the age of the corn in a sufficient quantitie of riuer water rather than either Spring or Wellwater and after this steeping time they take and carrie them vp into a garner to lay them on heapes to sprout being sprouted they spread them abroad round about the garâer for to rot and putrifie being rotten they cast them into rowes from out of the garner they carrie them to the kill for to drie being dried they carrie them againe into the garner or some chamber or into some other place for to fan them and cleanse them from all their dust and filth and from thence to the mill there to grind them and make them into meale Which done they put this meale into a fat powring vpon the same hot scalding and boiling water proportionably and according to the quantity of the meale that is to say foure barrells of water and a tun and a halfe of water to foure seame or quartets of meale leauing the same for the space of an houre to drinke in this water afterward they put the meale aside with their stirrers being thus cleered the one from the other they poure in as much boyling water as they did before then afterward they take two maunds made like vnto bee-hiues of ozier and these they sinke and thrust downe amongst the corne and cause to be so kept by two or three men to the end that in the meane time some other man may
leueâ to knead their crust withall the hardned froth of beere which because it is windy and flatuous doth make the bread light as it were full of eies The grounds of beere doth serue to polish and scoure brasen vessell if they beâ laid to steepe therein some certaine time The end of the fifth Booke THE SIXTH BOOKE OF THE COVNTRIE HOVSE The Vine CHAP. I. Of the profit rising of a well dressed Vine and Vineyard HItherto wee haue intreated of the husbanding tilling ordering and dressing of garden plots orchards and arable ground it now remaineth that we speake of the vine wherupon for certaintie dependeth the greatest part of the reuenues and riches of a house-holder howsoeuer many make small account of the vine and do more esteeme to haue possession of meadowes pasture woods and other grounds than to stand to the reuenues growing by vines in as much as for the most part they yeeld not the fruit which may recompence the charges laid out about them But for all this the vine is not to be discredited seeing this is not the fault of the ground but of the people that till it and either for couetousnesse or ignorance or negligence offend in the tilling thereof It is true that the husbanding and ordering of the vine is chargeable painefull and a matter of great care by reason of the tendernesse of the wood which being well considered may seeme to haue come to passe by a speciall prouidence of God directing the same and making it so weake tender and feeble to the end that this plant might not serue for any other thing than to bring forth the excellent and pretious liquor of wine which is so needfull for the sustentation and life of man for if it were fit for any thing else as the wood of other trees is it would be imployed and wine thereby would become a great deale more deere than it is The greatest part of vine dressers do not esteeme in what ground the vine be planted but do make choice of the worst quarter in all the country as if the worst ground and that which is good for nothing else were the best to plant vines in Others haue not the iudgement to know and chuse their plants and for that cause doe oftentimes plant their vineyards with such young vines as are nought Againe many hauing no respect of the time to come do in such sort order and dresse the vine as if they thought to liue but an houre burdening and loading it with so many branches and shootes for propagation and leauing vpon it so much wood as that it cannot prosper any long time Others although they know the way to order and dresse it well do yet continually omit certain courses and seasons as being more busily imployed about their own profit than their maisters wel-fare Likewise I would alwaies aduise the Lord of our countrie farme that hee would not altogether commit the care and charge of his vineyard vnto his farmer but that he himselfe would lay the chiefe burthen about it vpon himselfe for as the masters eie maketh the horse fat so the carefull industrie of the Lord or chiefe owner maketh the field fruitfull and to beare great store of increase and for that likewise the owner and Lord of the vine will not onely spare it better but also see that it bee not defrauded of any such toile and labour as it requireth contrarie for the most part to the practise of such as are but secondarily interesâed in such matters the vine being such a peece of inheritance as wherein euerie small fault committed doth draw after it great losse and such as oftentimes cannot bee remedied or repaired but by supplanting what is done and replanting it a new And that it is no otherwise but iust so marke and see if euer you heare the Guespines of Orleance or the Beaâuoies and those of the duchie of Burgundie which haue large grounds imployed in vineâyards to complaine themselues of their vines and that because themselues take the whole care and reserue the principall ouersight vnto themselues On the contrary the Parisians haue no other complaints or agreeuances to talke of but of their vines and that because they credit deceitfull and ignorant workemen to sway the worke whose couetousnesse ignorance and negligence is for the most part of the cause that they reape not the fruit of their vines in such plentifull manner as they should or at the least that the fruit which they doe reape is not so durable as it would And this you must thinke that vines will yeeld a larger reuenue a great deale than gardens or other areable grounds if they bee well and diligently husbanded for there are few arpents of vines to be found which yeeld not euery yeare one yeare helping another ten or twelue tuns of wine which is a great reuenue and yet remaineth vnreckoned a great benefit and auailes which may be made of small plants and impes which may be gathered to transport or transplant into any other place which will easily amount to more than will satisfie and aunswere all the costs and charges which are laid out any maner of way about the vines wherefore either the reuenue rising of such plants by sale or the hope of the vintage and gathering of wine must be the spur to pricke forward the master of this our countrie farme to looke to the ordering and dressing of the vines himselfe CHAP. II. What soile and aire the vine doth most delight in THe vine groweth not but in certaine places that are fit and naturall for it which is a thing to be accounted of by vs so much the more excellent because the speciall propertie of this plant is more commended by men than any other in respect of the good it ministreth which iâ that in such places as it groweth in the men are found to be more strong and mightie by the vse of it than other men are which for want of it are forced to vse other drinkes As concerning the soile to plant it in there must two things be considered the qualitie of the ground where it is to be planted and the disposition and inclination of the aire which ruleth in that place As concerning the qualitie of the ground you shall chuse such a one as is not very churlish and close neither yet very lighâ and open but yet of the two more inclining vnto a small mould and open ground neither leane nor very fat yet somewhat the rather inclining to the fat not champion nor a very plaine and flat and yet in such grounds there grow more wine neither very stiffe and straight but rather somewhat raised than otherwise that so it may bee the better aided and succoured by the fauourable beames of the Sunne neither driâ nor moist and watrish because that in such kind of ground the vine continueth not long neither doth it bring forth good wine but such as is quickely perished and yet
enough then twice so much in a pot holding fiftie four quarts boile them till the fourth part bee consumed or if the wine bee sweete it must be boiled to the spending of the third part but such wine may be of his owne distilling out of the grapes before they be trodden and very cleere otherwise put into a vessell thirtie pints of strong vineger wherein let steepe for the space of twelue daies the inward part of a white sea onion which hath beene in the Sunne thirtie daies after that take the vineger and let it settle and abide in some place where you wil to vse it afterward Dioscorides in his one and twentieth chapter of his fourth booke discribeth another manner of it It is to obserued and noted that all sorts of vineger are best helped to keepe their tartnesse by putting into their vessels at the bung hole a sticke of red withie CHAP. XXI Of the manner of making of Veriuice THe most common manner of making of Veriuice in this countrie is to gather the greene grapes from of the vine frames or the grapes which are not yet ripe and are left vpon the vines after vintage and hauing gathered them to tread and presse them afterward after the manner of ripe grapes putting the liquor or iuice thereof into vessells and salting the same by and by after that it hath purged out all its scum and filth by boiling as new wine doth In the Northern countries they do also make Veriuice of crabs mingling a little salt therewithall Some make a drie Veriuice after this manner they take the greenest that they can get pressing the iuice thereout which afterward they boile in a brasen vessell vntill it become thicke and as it were congealed then they drie it in the Sunne and keepe it for their vse othersome boile it not at all but drie it in the Sunne till it come to the thicknesse of honie To make your Veriuice looke more greene and to be better and to preuent that it may not turne and become mouldie or hoarie you must the day after it is turned vp into its vessell plucke a bunch or two of blacke grapes and cast them into the vessell at the bung-hole euen in whole clusters and then to salt it after that it hath beene boiled CHAP. XXII Containing certaine discourses by the way of inuention nature faculties differences and necessitie of Wine AS we haue in the former booke at large intreated of bread and of the differences thereof according to the vse wherein it is imployed namely the nourishment of mans bodie so now after the manner of ordering and husbanding of the vine and so of the fruit which commeth of such husbanding thereof which is Wine it shall not seeme vnreasonable if summarily wee discourse and stand vpon the necessitie nature faculties and differences of Wine whereof we make so great account ordinarily in our drinking thereof And to the end that we may now come to the matter Seeing not only the substance of mans bodie but of all other liuing creatures is subiect through vitall heate continually working in them vnto a perpetuall wast and expending of it selfe nature being prouident ouer her owne workes hath giuen vnto and put in all sorts of liuing creatures an incredible desire of eating and drinking to the end that this waste and losse of substance might bee repaired and restored by the well bounded increase comming of eating and drinking for otherwise naturall heate destitute of such her food and nourishment would quickly be choked and quenched Now the substance of euery liuing bodie is threefold the first is and consisteth of spirits the second of humours the third of solide parts all which three substances may possibly be repaired by a solide substance if so be that such solide nourishment could easily bee digested and distributed throughout the whole habite and vniuersall masse of the bodie But seeing that such is the solidnesse hardnesse and grosenesse therof as that it cannot it was needfull that it should be accompanied with some floting and fluide liquor which might stand in steed of a wagon or chariot to conueigh and carrie it vp and downe the bodie Ioine also thereunto that this fluent liquor hath without comparison a greater power than the solide nourishment to let and hinder the drying vp of the solide parts and to temper all such heat as otherwise vpon euerie light motion might at euerie moment offend and hurt them This losse and continuall expence of this threefold substance which in the end doth first bring old age and afterward death doth grow through that iarre and disagreement which is in the foure elements vvhereupon the whole bodie is compounded and framed vvhich elements also notwithstanding that they may seeme vnited and ioyned together in a certaine kind of harmonie consent amitie and inuiolable bond yet by reason of secret rancour and mutuall disagreement happening through their contrarie qualities they doe so warre one vpon another as that by little and little they do procure the ruine dissolution and vtter ouerthrow of that bodie which before they had consented to frame and compose Physitions ouer and besides this do acknowledge another cause of this expence of nature and bringing in of old age and lastly death vvhich is fore-slowed and kept off by eating and drinking and that is naturall heat vvhich feedeth vpon the radicall moisture seated in the substance of the solide parts vvhich moisture the sooner that it is dried vp wasted and consumed by the foresaid heat so much the shorter is the course of life But this radicall moisture and the continuall losse of spirits it repaired by the addition of eating and drinking and so the life drawne forth to a longer terme Wherefore Nature being carefull of the preseruation and long continuance of the bodies of liuing creatures vvhich otherwise for the occasions aboue named vvould grow old and perish in a few houres taketh not anie other course for the same but by eating and drinking vvhich are the two meanes to sustaine and preserue so much as is possible the liues of all liuing things And as for eating let vs leaue off to haue anie thing to doe with it as hauing spoken thereof in the former booke and let vs come to the second vvhich is drinking The common drinke of all liuing creatures is water OLd and ancient Histories doe sufficiently testifie that water was the first drinke which men vsed generally throughout the world and wherewith they contented themselues a long time to vse it onely for the quenching of their thirst but afterward vvhen voluptuousnesse seized vpon mens appetite they inuented and set before them diuers sorts of drinkes Wherefore hauing reiected water as a tastlesse and vnsauourie thing they haue in place thereof in all such Coasts and Countries as where the heat of the Sunne might bring forth and lead along the grape vnto his full ripenesse chosen Wine for the most excellent and delightsome drinke of all others
superfluities accidently it cooleth in such sort as that it bringeth to nothing and quite vndoeth the prouocations and acts of lust which of it selfe and by its owne nature it might otherwise maruellously prouoke And hereupon it is that Aristotle sayeth That the seed of drunkards becommeth dead and fruitlesle and their children blocke-headed groutndles Wherefore euen as wine when as by its feruent vapours it assaileth the head and âilleth the braine prouoketh drunkennesse and foolishnesse so when the said vapours are thickâed somewhat and congealed into a serous and waterish substance by the coldnesse of the head if they bee not discussed and spent by the power and force of nature the excrement which shall be thereby ingendred although that the drunken sit being passed ouer the partie come againe to the enioying of his former estate and seeme to bee well if it remaine long time in the braine and being fast setled therein grow further and gather more vnto it doth in the end stirre vp many diseases of the head as hardnesse of hearing deafenesse noyses in the eares blindnesse the falling sicknesse conuulsions palsiâs apoplexies and many other such like of all which it is not otherwise to be accounted the cause and originall than by way of accident as also of that sudden strangling disease which it causeth not but very seldome On the other side if this excrement gathered in the braine by the immoderate vse of wine happen to fall downe vpon the inferiour parts it will breed many distillations and catarrhes hoarsnes rheumes coughs gouts difficulty of breathing and many other symptomes very hard to be cured yea and by its vaporoushes how soberly and in how moderate quantitie soeuer it be drunke it becommeth noysome and hurtfull to such as haue a weake braine and their sinewes and ioinâs infirme and feeble for vnto such people it becommeth so egregious an aduersarie as that if one troubled with the gout should at the same time that this paine is vpon him tast but some few drops thereof washing his mouth onely therewithall he shall presently feele his paine increased and falling into a far greater rage Yea which is more such excrement ingendred in the head getteth there such a kind of enimitie and aduerse qualitie and that so at iarre and malitiously bent against the ioints as that it rusheth it selfe in its distillations rather vpon the ioints than vpon any other parts and so causeth gouts and ioint aches Finally this excrement being of a subtile and sharp substance falleth and penetratâh easily into the lungs as also corrupteth and exulcerateth them There are also other most daungerous annoyânces which wine of it selfe and by its very nature causeth For in as much as it is of a hot and drie temperature if it be not drunke moderately and well delaied by the long vse thereof in hot and drie bodies it is wo ot to ouer heat and drie their noble parts to ingender great of cholericke humours which standing without remooue and motion must needs breed many maladies and diseases From hence spring out agues both continuall and intermittent inflamations of the inward parts as the liuer spleene and lungs the plurifie passion of the reines and such other inflamations of many other parts which haue not as yet any proper name assigned them Hence likewise grow all itches tetters wild fires flying fires cankers and all sorts of vlcers Those therefore that are prone and apt to fall into such inconueniencies of diseases or which are alreadie through the ill ordering of their life fallen into the same must altogether abstaine the drinking of wine or at the least drinke but a very little yea though it should be very weake and well delaied with water The old writers and amongst others Cicero in his third booke of the nature of the gods thought it good that seeing wine doth seldome profit and hurt very often that it were better not to permit it at all to be vsed of those which are sick rather than vnder a conceited hope of some doubtfull health to expose and lay them open to manifest daunger by the vse thereof Notwithstanding we dayly find that the vse of wine is very commodious and profitable for cold and moist complexions being such as are troubled with cold and moist diseases Wherefore the wise and well aduised Physitian may tollerate the vse thereof when he knoweth that there is need for the concoction of some cold diseases yea and oftentimes also in cold diseases as in such whose conioyned and next cause he findeth to be nourished and maintained by some primitiue and antecedent cause that is hot That it is not good for such as are in health to vse pure and vnmixt wine THe learned of auncient time haue alwaies permitted the moderate vse of wine being delayed with water when it should be vsed of them which were whole but haue alwaies reiected and disallowed pure and vndelayed wine as also surfetting and that in their feasts and bankets For Hesiodus commaundeth that there should be three thirds of water mixed with one fourth part of wine and this not to be vsed commonly but at some solemne feasts and bankets Athenaeus writeth that the Grecians vsed to drinke two glasses of wine delaied with fiue glasses of water or one glasse of wine delaied with three glasses of water And in very truth our ancient predecessors did put and mingle wine amongst water and not water amongst wine for they put but a very little quantitie of wine into their water as Theophrastus reporteth Which custome and vse of sobrietie must be followed and immitated by the decrees and appointment of Phisitians And as for the quantitie of wine to be drunken the poet Ebâlus bringeth in Dionysius speaking to that end in this sort Tres tantum pater as quibus est mens sana propinâ Quarum quae fuerit prima salubris erit Proxima delicias factura est tertia somnnm Luxus erit positum transiliisse modum This decree and ordinance hath bin approued by them which haue forbidden by their laws that the Romane priests should not drinke any more than three glasses at a meale And as concerning age vvine is hurtfull vnto young children as also vnto them which are growne vp to greater yeares because that vvine by his very much drinesse destroyeth and ouerthroweth their hot and moist constitution vvhich Hippocrates commandeth to be maintained by things that are moist And that it is so we see that such children as vse to drinke vvine howsoeuer it be dilayed their liuer being dried and ouer-heated by the contiâall vse of the said vvine doe fall for the most part into a long and lasting flux of the belly and in the end into an irrecouerable hectick feuer vvhich the common people call a withering and pining away and out of which there is not one of a hundred that escapeth For this cause Galen was altogether against the giuing of children any tast of vvine as also any
For certaine all greenenesse in vvine is a fault in those vvines vvherein it is but yet that is the worst of all the rest which happeneth vnto vvines sometimes good and commendable either by being kept too long or else by hauing beene ill kept or otherwise by some other occasion lesse dispraiseable and hurtfull vvithout comparison is that which happeneth in our French wines which by the weakenesse of the heat of the Sunne comming short of their sufficient concoction become greene from their first originall and growth as they which are greene by reason of the greene and vnripe grapes from whence they are pressed For such greenenesse as happeneth vnto vvines once good and commendable is hurtfull vnto all men and cannot be redressed thereby making such vvines vnfit to be employed about any other vse than either for medicine or sawces vvhereas that which is borne and ingrafted into such greene vvines if it be not suppressed and digested by naturall heat becommeth onely hurtfull to cold and moist constitutions and old folkes but not vnto strong Iustie and hot natures neither vnto them which are accustomed to trauaile and to auoid idlenesse You shall find many harsh rough and sowre vvines vvhich are also greene and in like manner you shall find some that are greene and yet not rough and course Such as are rough and greene through their vehement astringencie doe close shut vp drie and dull the throat tongue and other parts of the mouth whereas such as are simply greene doe not the like but coole them onely The rough and harsh vvines in as much as they are raw and crude and cannot be concocted and digested of their naturall heat that is but weake yet they close and bind the stomack and by such occasion stay the âlux of the bellie Wines that are simply greene doe not the like if they be not harsh rough and astringent withall and they doe rather annoy the stomacke and all the membranous and neruous parts by reason of their cooling propertie and qualitie vvhich being situate in a thinne and subtile matter and therefore apt to pierce deepely into the parts and by their qualities prouoking and disquieting the substance of the said parts doth corrupt and dissolue the laudable temperature force and constitution of the said stomacke and of the said membranous and sinewie parts Whereupon it ensueth that such greene vvines doe for the most part cause crudities wringings and the flux of the belly manifold obstructions of the liuer and spleene besides the disease called the Hypochondriake melancholie Galen denieth that vvines which are hard and greene doe heat at all and that the sowre rough and harsh rellish doth actually consist in a meane matter participating both of the waterie and earthie elements but that the hard greene and sowre relish doth consist in an earthie and drie substance vvhich doth not manifestly participate of the water or any moisture Whereby it may manifestly appeare that neither the one nor the other relish hath any heat ruling in it but cold and that in the tart harsh and rough relish accompanied with moisture but in the sowre with drinesse But for as much as vvines are seldome consisting of one onely simple and pure relish and that all vvines of what tast or relish soeuer they be are in temperature hot and drie you must vnderstand that sowre and harsh vvines are accounted cold or else not hot not simply but by comparison because indeed they heat lesse than other vvines and that not quickly and so soone as they be drunk but in the end and aftersome continuance of time for otherwise the opinion of Galen were not to be receiued seeing that we obserue and see euerie day that all sorts of vvines of what tast or relish soeuer they be be they hard or harsh doe heat manifestly and make men drunke sooner or later if they be receiued into a hot and strong stomacke for their heat as a thing buried in crude and raw matter although it be a long time first and with great difficultie breaketh forth at the last manifesting it selfe in the end and bringing forth the fruits of his maturitie and this wee may finde in our French vvines which nourish maintaine recreate yea and make drunke the Husbandmen Vine-dressers and other persons of poore handicrafts vsing to drinke the same But let this suffice which hath beene said of the naturall tast and relish of vvines and now let vs search out the causes of the sowrenesse or tartnesse incident to good and commendable vvines Some thinke that vvines grow sowre through heat because that daintie weake and feeble vvines are changed and turne sowre in the Spring time and Summer and in Winter retaine their naturall qualities entire and sound This opinion is confirmed because that weake vvines being stirred and tumbled in forcible sort or carried farre or laid in cellars that are open vpon the South or Easterne quarter doe quickly become sowre And contrarily such as are not tossed to and fro or remoued but kept in cellars lying vpon the North doe not sowre at all as if it were by the cold that their vertues and good qualities were preserued and by the heat that they were changed and corrupted So as the like in all points doth befall vvines which are weake and waterish to that which happeneth vnto a burning candle and to small and weake sparkes of fire vvhich if you lay open in the hot Sunne or before any great and vehement flame you shall see them languish yea waxe darke and altogether to fade away and goe out It is then through heat that all the weakest vvines turne sowre and that by hauing their weake heat spent and ouercome by an outward and accidentall heat which is more strong causing the same to fade and for the most part vanish quite away For a weake nature cannot endure either any strong heat or vehement motion but fainting vnder them it becommeth wasted and spent and in fine perisheth But contrariwise wines which haue their heat strong and consist of such matter as is not easie or apt to be wasted and spent being remoued rolled transported or else laid open to the South Sunne or kept in any hot place doe not onely not sowre quickly and in a short time but rather become a great deale the more ripe and are made more readie and better to be drunke For that which befalleth through long continuance of time to strong mightie and noble vvines vvhich are shut vp and layd in cold caâes vnder the earth by the meanes power vertue and âfficacie of their owne and naturall heat which concocteth digesteth and ripeneth by little and little their crude and raw matter the same is effected and wrought in a short time in vvines which are heated by art that is to say by stirring and rowling and by the heat of the Sunne or of some fine subtill fire vvhich doth concoct and digest the most crude and raw matter that they can be found to
and waterish which the Grecians call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is to say not admitting the mixture of any quantitie of water of which we will speake more amply hereafter being as it were like vnto water in thinnesse and colour and hauing little or no sent in them neither yet any manifest heate They nourish but very little for there is is but a very little of their substance turned into bloud but they cause great store of vrine and agree better than any other wines with all sorts of natures if wee may beleeue Galân There are other weake waterish and greenish wines very ordinarie in this countrie which are hurtfull vnto old men and all other cold constitutions as hauing in them very small store of heate and yet sometime profitable vnto hot constitutions as in Sommer according to our former aduertisement There are others that are very good but hot and strong of an easie concoction and speedily distributed but nothing lesse vapourous than white wines whereupon they trouble the braine and make men drunken and so proue hurtfull to such as are rheumatike and subiect to distillations Such wines are brought hither out of Gascoigne very well pleasing princes and men of great estate all of them being of a yellow colour either deeper or lighter The wines of Ay as they are inferiour to them of Gascoigne in strength so they are better and without comparison more wholesome The grosse and thicke wines some of them are simply such and consist in mediocritiâ and othersome are very grosse and thicke We haue heretofore declared that grosse wines are of a more hard concoction and slow digestion than other wines are but being once concocted and digested they yeeld a more firme and solide nourishment vnto the bodie And of them more than the rest such as are very grosse and thicke which for certaine are hardest to be concocted and digested of all others These sorts of wine for that they ingender many rebellious and obstinate obstructions are not fit to be vsed but of dressers of vineyards and such other as leade a toilesome life as wee haue declared before Such wines as are indifferent thin and indifferent thicke are profitable for many purposes and the rather in that they charge not the head as the strong wines do and those which are of subtile substance neither yet ingender obstructions as those which are thicke and grosse doe The wine called of the Grecians Oligophorum is the holesomest of all others Wine smelleth well or else nothing at all The odoriferous wines are very apt and commodious for the begetting of good humours and to recreat and fetch againe the powers of the bodie but they assaile and charge the head especially if it be of a subtile substance and of a reddish or yellowish colour or of a deepe yellow they are also more hot than the other sorts of wines For that which is such doth help very much for the making of concoction easie and for the begetting of fine and subtile bloud but it filleth the head full of vapours and heate and greatly offendeth the sinewes and vnderstanding whereupon it proueth very apt to cause headach and a world of rheume The wine that hath small or no smell no not any more than water is called waterish Such vtter depriuation or want of smell in wine is a mightie note and most certaine marke that the same is but a weake and cold wine as the strong and mightie smell of the same is a very notable signe of his force and strength Such wine as is neither of an ill smell neither yet without smell but hath a certaine sâinging and vnpleasant sent which it hath gotten either of the soile or of the vessell or by some other occasion is not good for any bodie For as nothing as Columella testifieth draweth to it strange and vnnaturall sents more speedily than wise In like sort nothing impaireth or communicateth his hurtfull qualities sooner to the heart and noble parts than wine when it is drunke Amongst wines some are generous and noble wines and therefore said to be full of wine contrarie to those which are waterish and admitting the mixture of much water These heate much hurt the sinewes make a full braine stir vp frensies mightily increaseth the heate of agues and to be briefe they are not delayed with a great quantitie of water and doe good but to a few There are other which are weake and for this cause called Oligophora and waterie These wines are of two sorts some greenish which haue a sensible cooling facultie fitting cholericke stomaches and hot countries if so be that a strong stomacke can beare them and of these wee haue spoken before others which are waterie and of a thinne substance not retaining any smell but agreeing with all natures be the stomacke neuer so weake and especially with those which are often tormented with the megrim or long continued head-ach they comfort concoction prouoke vrine and sweat and offend the head nothing at all more harmelesse than any other sort of vvine they may be permitted to such as are sicke of agues for that they cannot be said to be of any manifest qualitie as other vvines may for they are neither sowre nor astringent neither yet sweet or sharpe nor yeelding any kind of smell Of these kinds of vvine some as Galen saith grow in euery countrey and coast but much more in this of France than in any other the greatest part whereof doe participate a certaine greenenesse especially vvhen the yeares fall out cold and moist Such vvines are called of the Grecians ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã They are not any way noysome or hurtfull to the head but very profitable because as Galen saith they asswage and take away head-ach rising of the cruditie of the stomacke that is to say when the stomacke being weakened and as it were relaxed by the eating of some hurtfull victuals or by the drinking of some such like water is made the receptacle of some offending humour âlowing thither from the whole bodie Which offensiue humour so contained in the stomacke becommeth corrupt and from that corruption sendeth vp burne and adust fumes vnto the braine which cause like paine in the head to that which commeth of fasting and from these annoyances the head is deliuered by the vse of this vvine vvhich by and by tempereth these putrified âumes especially if the vvine haue any astringencie in it whereby the stomacke may be fortified and strengthened For such vvines doe by and by driue downeward that which is hurtfull in the stomacke carrying it along with it selfe and casting it forth and therefore verie auaileable for such as liue a loitering and sitting life and apply themselues wholly vnto the reading and studying of good Authors The differences of Wines according to the properties of the Countries IT remaineth now that we briefely discourse of the wines which we vse in Paris and those such as are either growne there or
brought thither out of other Countries and Regions The French wines offer themselues in the first ranke which growing in the grounds borders neere about Paris and the whole Isle of Fraunce and other places adioyning thereunto are amongst all others and aboue all others best agreeing with students Citizens of Townes and to be briefe with all such as liue a quiet idle and restfull life especially those which are made in well seasoned yeares or such as shew forth their seuerall qualities euerie one in his proper and due season For such wines doe not heat burne and dry the inward parts of the bodie as the wines doe which are brought vs from Gascoignie Spaine and other countries more hot vvhich by reason of excessiue heat and too great drinesse do burne the liuer and spleene in such as drink them Such wines doe not make a replete heauie or offended head with multitude of vapours as other vvines of Orleance doe In like manner such wines doe not load the bodie with superfluousnesse of serous excrements as doe the crude greenish wines which grow in these grounds in cold and moist yeares or which are brought vs hither from other cold Regions and Countries Such wines likewise ingender no obstructions neither doe they gather any quantitie of melancholike humour as doe the thicke and red vvines vvhich are sent vs by sea from Burdeaux These vvines vvhen they be through ripe they are of a very pâeasant tast especially such as are yellow clarert and white which are of a hot dry temperature as other wines but not aboue the first degree or the beginning of the second on the contrarie the wines of Spaine Gascoigne and others such like are hot drie in the end of the third degree Wherfore these our French and natiue wines ought to be preferred before all strange forraine ones seeing they burne and heat the bowels inward parts ouer-much and that as wel for the vse of such as are in health as of those that being sicke are yet permitted their vvine Amongst these our French vvines some are white othersome are of a deepe yellow commonly called clarets or reddish vvines vvhich are the most wholesome of all so that they be not accompanied with any sowrenesse and harshnesse for rough harsh vvines and others which are greene if they become not ripe and mellow in time by the concocting of their cruditie greenenesse they stand for things not fit to be vsed of any but rude and rusticall fellowes vvhich liue by toyling their bodies vvith great labour and trauell The rest are all red more or lesse But of all other French vvines there is very small store of sad and light red coloured ones White claret vvines being bright cleare and through ripe or mellow in as much as they are of a subtle substance are easily concocted digested and distributed they prouoke vrine nourish the bodie but a little but they reioyce the spirit and are for the same cause taken longed after and desired of all Some of them are readie to be drunke the second or third moneth othersome not before the seuenth or eight moneth All of them begin to fade and loose their goodnesse in the beginning of the second yeare The red although they be bright and cleare are not of so subtile a substance as the former and therefore they nourish more and are more fit for such as liue hardly than for such as liue delicately and nicely and what although they cannot bee so easily concocted and digested nor so speedily distributed neither yet cause such aboundance of vrine as those which are yellow claret or white yet trauell often exercises and labour doth ouercome all these inconueniencies yea and whatsoeuer greater that such red wines may ingender and breed Amongst them those which participate and haue any sourenes or astriction become not mellow before the Sommer heat whereupon it followeth that the second yeare their crud and raw parts being concocted and digested they grow to bee more excellent than they were in the first The deepe red and vermillion coloured are for the most part harsh and rough and so the most vnpleasant and vnwholesome of all other for that they are woont to bee ill concocted and digested and slowly distributed as also to ingender many obstructions and beget a grosse and melancholicke bloud And for these causes are not conuenient but for such as labour and lead a very toilesome life in whose bodies they being once concocted and digested do nourish very much and make them more strong and lustie to go about and finish their worke and therewithall corroborate their stomacke Of white French wines those are most accounted of which are cleere and bright as rocke water of a subtile substance neither sweet nor greene such do nourish the bodie a great deale lesse than the yellow and claret wines but in recompence thereof they are more easily concocted digested distributed and carried more speedily and readily through all the veines True it is that they are accompanied with this inconuenience namely that they do more assault the head and therefore are to bee accounted greater enemies vnto gourie persons such as haue weake braines and are subiect to rheumes and diseases of the ionts and such likewise as haue weake ioinus than the red which are not yet come to their liuelyhood and maturitie which strengthen and corroborate the moâth of the stomacke by reason of some easie astringencie that is in them Such as in the first moneths become somewhat sweet if they bee kept any time in the end grow so concocted and ripâ that hauing leât their sweetnes they proue strong mightie and most excellent wines Greene wines whether they be white or red such as we oftentimes see in these countries especially in cold and moist yeares if they containe any strong heate as it were buried in their crud and raw parts if they be kept any time are woont to concoct themselues and attaine to such a degree of ripenesse as that they are âound good well contenting the taste and pleasant vpon the tongue such as those are which are not simply greene but together with their greenenesse doe taste somewhat rough and sower the other become spent faded decayed in the beginning of Sommer by reason of the said euaporating and wast of their weak feeble heaâe Wherefore you must drinke such vvines as are greenish and waterie not hauing any sharpenesse or sowrenesse in them in the beginning of Summer that so you may be sure that the great Summer heat shall not cause them to fade vtterly and quite fall away by the spending of their feeble heat caused through the vehemencie of the Summer heat but those which are greene rough and harsh hauing a strong heat couched and lying in grosse and thicke matter may be kept very securely vnto Autumne or Haruest time Such as are onely and simply greene are good and fit for seruants drinke and other such folke as liue hardly and
so soone as the Doe is emptie and deliuered of her young ones euen so soone she is full againe of young in such sort as that she bringeth forth young euery moneth in the yeare yea and being great with young she letteth not to take the Bucke and to continue a second burden which she bringeth forth afterward in due time So as that this fruitfulnesse in conies hath become so admirable vnto many as that some haue vpon too slender grounds thought and beleeued that the Bucke shoold conceiue aud become great with young aswell as the Doe which is very false and altogether contrarie to all naturall course in the action of generation seeing that by natures course it is ordained that the female only amongst beasts should conceiue and ingânder and not the male After that the young ones are growne somewhat great and become able to leaue their dams you shall carrie them into the Warren for to store it therewith and so let them grow wild otherwise if you keepe them shut vp and fast inclosed in the clapper with their dams they will become tame and alwaies continue as it were slumbring and heauie like vnto those which are continually shut vp in clappers made for the purpose and so will haue a grosser and more vnpleasant flesh And yet notwithstanding you must beware not to put abroad into your Warren the old clapper conies either males or females for seeing they haue not had their free swing to run abroad as those of the Warren and haue not learned to saue themselues from dangers and violences offred them by foxes and other such wild beasts they would bee by and by deuoured so that thereupon it seemes better to containe and continue them still in their accustomed clapper Conies in the clapper are to be sed with colâworts lettuses groundsell clarie succorie sowthistle âarragon thistles cich pease oats barely and bran mingled together and other such like things as we haue spoken of heretofore In some countries they feed them with mans bloud such as is to be come by when sicke persons are let bloud but such manner of feeding of them is starke naught and maketh their flesh vnsauorie in eating and very preiudiciall vnto health And surely to speake the truth there is no food that a man can bind a conie to ãâã which is wholesome for them because they are beasts which aboue all other desire freedome of feeding and to make choice of their owne meat Whence it comes that the tame conie is nothing so pleasant to eat as the wild but is of a much ranker taste and most easie to be discerned CHAP. III. How the Conies in a Warren ought to be handled and ordered ALthough the hauing of a clapper be very necessarie for the storing of a warren againe and againe as we haue said before notwithstanding for need one may leaue off all vse of the clapper and so without any further charge or expences content himselfe with putting a certaine number of conies both males and females into his warren of them to haue sufficient store by encrease of young ones True it is that they are not so fruitfull nor of such plentifull encrease and therefore the warren will not be so soone stored by them for they being accustomed to the warren become more sauage and strange but lesse giuen to engender and thereupon it commeth that the Does of the warren bring forth young ones onely thrice or foure times a yeare and those that are kept in house-clappers once euerie moneth But howsoeuer it be if you find it more for your profit to furnish your warren with store after this later manner it will be sufficient for six dozen of Does to put in nine Bucks hauing more regard and consideration still vnto the Does than to the Bucks to spare them if at any time you would take any Their feeding shall be no otherwise than hath alreadie beene mentioned and yet notwithstanding besides that manner of feeding if you would haue great store of conies in your vvarren and that they should be to sufficiently fed as that they should become fat it will be good to sowe an acre of ground or two with Barly or Oats not for to make any further haruest of them than that which they shall leaue vneaten You must haue a speciall care that they feed vpon good nourishment because their flesh in like manner as the flesh of Partridges doth retaine the smell and sauour of that whereupon they feed as for example of Iuniper if their vvaren be full of Iuniper and so semblably of other things If you see any conie-hole stopt with hay or straw or such other like thing doe not vnstop it but content your selfe onely to obserue it and to gesse that there are young ones vvithin vvhich the dam nourisheth for this is the manner of the Doe that from the time that she hath kindled vvhether it be in a house clapper or in a vvarren shee shutteth stoppeth vp her hole with hay straw or some other grasse such as shee can gather together and to no other end but that the Bucke may not find her yong ones or goe into her hole vvhere if hee should once come hee would eat vp all her young ones this thing being assuredly and vndoubtedly conceiued of the Doe whether she be in her hole or else goe forth to feed she stoppeth her earth and if so be that at her returne she find the mouth of her hole neuer so little vnstopt she her selfe will by and by kill her young ones hauing taken opinion that the Bucke is gone in thither And this is the cause why good hunters will neuer put their ferret into any earth vvhose mouth they see stopt for feare of disquieting the dam and causing of her to kill her young ones True it is that shee doth not keepe her hole euermore shut for at such time as shee knoweth her young ones to be growne great and become strong ynough to seeke their meat and to runne with others shee beginneth to make a little hole for them to issue and goe out at Furthermore you must not thinke that conies either males or females doe at any time forget their earth be it neuer so farre off for howsoeuer some say that comes haue no memorie notwithstanding they are alwaies mindfull of their hole be they strayed or wandered neuer so farre from the same And this is the reason likewise why some say that a good conie will neuer die out of her earth You must likewise coniecture that the conie is taught by nature to be afraid of the fox as the sheepe of the woolfe which is another case besides his wild and strange nature why when he goeth out of his hole his mind runneth vpon nothing but running thereby forgetting to thinke vpon other conies holes and so of the Does and of the eating of her young ones for although he bee mindfull of his owne earth yet hee taketh no care neither casteth any
walkes or about houses for shade bearing a large head like the Cicamore and fully as round and as much extended and the leafe naturally of it selfe being broad and growing so thicke that hardly neither the Sunne nor the raine can possibly passe through the same neither is it tender but very apt to grow and may be remoued at any time or age as long as it is portable and meete to be wiâlded by the strength of any one man It is very true that the elme groweth easily and plentifully after that it hath taken with the ground And who so would for varietie sake mingle diuers sorts of trees of diuers natures as maple beech aspe and such other kinds of wood may do it but the moe okes and chesnut trees a man groweth the better he doth CHAP. VI. Of the seating and disposing of a wood for growing of high and great timber trees WHo soeuer hath a faire plot of eight or ten acres of ground and would make it shew faire and beautifull the first yeare and that by bringing the wood into some shape and commendable forme with hope of further delight pleasure from the same in time to come must for the first yere wall it about or else ditch it so well and plant it with hedges of quickset as that no cattell may possibly be able to enter thereinto And if the said plot should come to be ditched then I am freely contented to vtter my opinion at some other time concerning the fashion that they are to bee made after as also how when they are made they must be planted or set with quickset But presuppose that the said square plot is inclosed with a wall and that the said square hath foure sides that is to say two of length and two of bredth mine aduise is that all the sides of the said wal should be couered and clothed with greenenesse and with foure sorts of trees and six foot thicke and large seeing that nature reioiceth in varietie that so both the walls may be kept from being seene and there may be a walk betwixt two greenes The said couerts shall bee made according to the good liking of the Lord as for example one of the sides if it should so seeme good vnto him euen the South side with hasell and white hawthorne because these are the first leaues that doe first put forth in the spring time as those also wherin the nightingale doth make her neast another of the sides with barberrie trees which are beautifull and serue for very many vses spreading themselues in comely sort when they meet with a good ground The third side being that whereupon the Sunne beateth at his rising with âame osiers which may serue in husbandrie and therewithall also make a faire shew and the fourth side with yong peare-tree plants with some white thorne plants amongst as at the end of euerie foure foote square which are more greene than any other sorts of trees and they will bee of vse for to graft many faire grafts vpon and good store of great medlars The alleyes about the said wood must be twelue foot broad and vpon the edges of all the said alleyes as well on those that are toward the wall as on the other there must be planted elmes euery one foure fadome from another hauing their heads cut off and their bodies remaining a seuen foote high or thereabout to giue some grace and comlinesse vnto the said alleyes because that if a man should walke in the fairest place in the world if there be no sweetnesse to be found in it it proueth tedious and irkesome For this cause if it please the Lord of the farme to plant along the said alleyes certaine fruit trees as also wallnut-trees and those such as may sute euery season of the yeare he may do it Further it may seeme that all the said trees should be set from foure feet to foure feet and that by the leuell of a line euery way aswell to please the sight of the eie as also for that sometimes men are desirous to make alleyes within the wood and then if the draughts be straight it is more easie for to make them CHAP. VII Of the manner of planting trees in woods of high and tall growth IF you purpose to plant these trees well you must presently make dithes in manner of furrowes as you are woont to doe in the planting of vines wherein they must be planted to the end the earth may feed it selfe in aire and that it may battle and grow fat with the raine and snow which shall fall during Winter vpon them vnto the end of December or vnto the beginning of Ianuarie These trenches are not to be made aboue two foot deepe but they must be well handled in the bottome and that by laying the good earth vpon one side of the furrow and that which is lesse worth vpon the other and not to cast it abroad to the end that if the bottome should proue bad ground or otherwise to bee ouer deepe then there might be cast into the said furrow or trench some of that good earth which shal be on the side to the end that the roots of the tree may not busie themselues in searching a bad bottome in steed of stretching forth themselues in largenesse and you must so leaue the trenches and furrowes all Winter long for the receiuing of the rain water when it commeth and they must be so wide as that one may turne a yard euery way round within The said trees must be planted in December if it be possible and that the times be fauorable as when it freezeth not for great frosts are great enemies to the good proceeding of this worke You should rather cast to plant trees that are alreadie growne vp than to deale with the sowing of acornes or chesnuts because it requireth great care and industrie to make the said seed to grow and as concerning the seed it selfe that of the chesnut groweth sooner than that of the acorne And whenas you go about to sow them it must be done with leauing a foot distance betwixt one and another with the largest and in the end of great frosts because that during the said frosts the mowles do eate the chesnuts in the ground As concerning the planting of trees alreadie growne they must be taken vp with as many roots as they can possibly and after they be taken vp if there by any of their roots broken to cut the same and those which are not broken to cut their ends for to refresh them the length of three or foure fingers more or lesse as the roots may beare it You must make choice of a young plant that hath a liuely and cleane barke not rough and ouergrowne with mosse a good and handsome root a straight shanke and long without scares or frets and before you plant it it will bee good to cast into the furrow some good earth taken from the side of
continually seene that Willowes planted vpon causeyes banks hauing some ditch of water ioyning thereunto that in such sort as that their roots may reach but to the brinks and edges of the water proue fairer taller and more plentifull than those which grow in waterish medows because that for the ââst part their roots stand moist in water You may read of the Holme tree in the fourth booke I say not that Willowes Allers Poplars such white wood will not grow in high places notwithstanding that it is their nature to grow neere to water and doe prosper best in such places and if they be planted in high places and farre from vvater they are hardly nourished and put forth very little in growth insomuch as that a hundred such trees as are planted in waterie countries vvill yeeld more vvood than a thousand planted in a drie countrey notwithstanding all the indeuor and husbandrie that can be vsed yea and they will perish and die a great deale sooner This I say because it is easie to make them grow and to husband them in a high or hillie place by watering and dressing of them in conuenient sort vvhich labours as they are not performed without great cost so if they happen to be neglected it proueth to be the losse and spoile of the trees vvhereas if they be planted in some place that is fit for them and neere vnto vvater according as their nature requireth they vvill prosper vvithout the toile or industrie of man vsed therein Notwithstanding for as much as the first yeares after they be planted they haue much to doe to shoot and nourish their roots and such branches as are alreadie put forth it wil be best to free them of all such twigs as they shall put forth the first yeare to the end they may more easily seed their roots as also that thereby the force of winds which would take such hold of offall may not shake and loosen those which are alreadie fast for vpon such causes trees doe many times die be they neuer so well planted I know that it is not alwaies required that such paines should be taken especially about those which are orderly and conueniently planted in planting or pâuning of them notwithstanding I say thus much for them vvhich goe about the making of close alleyes for walkes and shades that they may cause them to grow much in a short time for this they shall effect by planting of them in furrowes and not one of them perish and as for their paine and labour they shall haue the pleasure thereof in shorter time and larger manner Herewithall it must be noted that whensoeuer you set or plant any such trees you must so doe it as that it need not a second doing for if any of them should die it would be the harder to set others in their places so as that they would thriue because the shadow of the other which liue would cause the same to die seeing it is vsually seene that the elder and stronger ones doe oppresse the weaker keeping them vnder and causing them to miscarrie Wherefore the greater care is to be vsed in the first planting of them and the more paine to be taken with them seeing the sequele is a thinâ that is so hard to be redressed The time to plant Willowes Allers Poplars and other such vvoods is alwaies found best in the beginning of Februarie or at the later end of Ianuarie vvhen the great cold is past being otherwise apt to hurt such plants as are new set as hath alreadie beene said As concerning the properties of these trees thus delighting in watrie grounds the leaues and flowers of the white Poplar although they be a little hot doe notwithstanding make a very cooling ointment called Populeum good to take away the heat of inflamations as also the milke out of womens breasts that are newly deliuered Birch-tree yeeldeth twigs which serue to make rods for the punishing of theeues withall as also to make baskets little maunds beesomes and couerings for earthen bottles Of the stocke is made charcoale seruing for the melting of mettall And of the rinde are made links to giue light in the night season for to such end doe country people vse them The iuice of the leaues mixt amongst the runnet of a Calfe doth keepe cheese from wormes and rottennesse If you pierce the stock of the Birch-tree there will come forth a water which being drunke a long time is of power to breake the stone of the reines and bladder being taken in a gargarisme it drieth the vlcers of the mouth and being vsed in lotions it cleanseth and taketh away the filthinesse and infections of the skin CHAP. XVI Of Ashes Elmes and Maple-trees THe Ash doth naturally craue a low and waterish countrey and therefore doth grow more plentifully in such places than in high grounds and therefore for the most part they must be planted in such low and waterie grounds though not altogether so low and waterie as the Willow Poplar and Aller doe craue howbeit notwithstanding they may be planted in indifferent grounds and Elmes will grow well therein Their proper nature is to delight in moist valleyes for therein they prosper well and grow vp to a great height with straitnesse and beautifulnesse of Timber Notwithstanding this is a common vvood vvhich may be planted in all sorts of grounds howsoeuer that it like better in fat and moist grounds than in those which are but indifferent but they much dislike the drie rough stiffe and grauellie grounds if they be not mingled with moisture The auncient Woodwards vsed to plant them most in hedge-rowes and on the tops of great bankes or ditches where they might haue drie standing yet be continually fed at the root with a little moisture vvhich sure was a very good and husbandly manner of planting the Ash neither shall you at any time see it prosper better than when it is planted in such places It is naturally of it selfe â little more tender than other wild trees and desireth a more gentle and loose mould which maketh them prosper the best in mixt hasell grounds or in moist sandie ground yet if they doe take in clay grounds as doubtlesse with a verie little care they will doe one Ash so growing is better tougher and more seruiceable than any three which are taken from the sandie or mixed earths It is a timber of no lesse precious vse than any other whatsoeuer for of it are made all your best Pykes Byll-shafts Halberd-shafts and diuers other engines for the vvarres of it also is made all manner of Plow and Cart-timber vvhatsoeuer as Beames Heads Skeathes Hales Spyndles Shelboords Cart or Wayne bodies rings for Wheeles Naues Harrow-buls Harrow-teeth Axle-trees and any other instrument or engine vvhich desireth a firme gentle yet a verie tough vvood a timber that must bend before it breake and not by any meanes be too extreame portable or heauie in the carriage but both
light for the hand of him that shall vse it and also strong ynough to endure the stresse or labour it shall be put vnto also it must be gentle and soft to cut all which the Ash is more than any other tree whatsoeuer There are three sorts of Elmes The one is of those vvhich haue a small little leafe and a blacke stalke The second hath a large leafe and a reasonable vvhite stalke The third of them hath a verie large leafe and the stalke as it vvere all vvhite Those vvhich are to be chosen for planting are those two later for they are of greater growth and are vvoont to prosper better besides that they are fairer and put foorth moe boughes making thereby a greater shadow Of these three sorts there are both males and females vvee call those females vvhich beare most fruit and the thicker seede and the males vvee call those vvhich are lesser and beare their fruit of seede in the middest of the leaues and that in such sort as that they seeme to beare neyther fruit nor seede And for this cause there are manie that vvrite of Husbandrie affirming the said tree to beare no fruit or seede and that it groweth either of a plant or shoot And of this opinion vvas Tremâlius Notwithstanding it is certaine that euerie leafe beareth his fruit contained within the middest thereof and thereof vvill Elmes grow being sowne in due time And of this opinion is Columella and experience it selfe doth shew the same hee making two differing sorts of Elmes calling the one sort the fairest and tallest Elmes of Fraunce and the other sort Italian Elmes And as concerning those fairest Elmes if they be to be found they must be planted because they grow vp the sooner that way and put forth much larger boughes Theophrastus and some other vvriters doe make them lesse differing according to the countrey wherein they grow I haue beene the more willing to describe them according to their kind of leafe and vvood that you may the more easily know them I would haue you to looke backe into the fourth booke and there you shall find their natures and vertues more at large described The soiles in which they most of all delight is a verie stiffe clay and the principall vse of them ouer and aboue the making of Bow-staues formerly mentioned is the making of naues for vvaggons or cart-vvheeles for vvhich they are more excellent than any other vvood vvhatsoeuer and the more knottie and twound they are a great deale the âitter they are for that purpose so that as the cleane growne smooth and euen Elme serues for other purposes so the knottie vneuen and most crooked Elme will serue for this Amongst these sorts of trees wee may place the Maple-trees called of the Latines Acâres because in their nature they somewhat resemble the Elme They craue the like ground namely a fat and moist ground they grow as the Elmes doe in all arable grounds they put forth in a short time great branches and but little greenenesâe This tree hath a verie white bodie beareth small leaues like the leaues of three-leaued grasse and doth not breed or gather any great store of vermine It naturally groweth shortâ crooked rugged and beareth seldome any great length of timber yet where it groweth otherwise the timber is verie firme white close and durable It serueth for diners excellent and good purposes as namely it is the best of all other by reason of the wonderfull whitenesse thereof for all manner of inlaid works vvhich Ioyners vse also it is excellent for all manner of Turners vvare as for the making of trenchers dishes bowles sewing kniues and other implements for the Table prouided it be euermore of at least a yeare or more seasoning for if it be wrought greene it will warpe ryue and be indeed for no purpose Many vse to season it in a drie house but then it asketh a longer time and the sappe will be much longer in consuming but the best way is to let it lye abroad all the first Winter and take all wet which falls for that will driue the naturall wet of the sappe soonest out of it and then house it the Summer following and then after you may safely worke it at your pleasure The Ash is contrarily inclined for thereon breedeth oftentimes such aboundance of vermine as that thereby all their leaues are eaten and bored verie full of little holes Of this sort of Trees as well Elmes as Ashes and Maples the best are those vvhich grow the soonest and spread out the largest boughes in a short time As concerning the properties of these three kinds of Trees wee haue spoken in the third booke in the Chapter of Balmes how there is made a singular balme of the little fruit that is found inclosed in the leaues of one of the sorts of Elmes Furthermore the vvater vvhich is found inclosed in this little fruit maketh the face neat and shining if it be vvashed therewith againe double linnen clothes being vvet in this iuice or vvater and applyed vnto children vvhich are bursten becommeth a singular remedie for them The same iuice also put into a glasse-bottle and buried in the earth or dung for the space of fiue and twentie daies being well stopped and hauing the boâtome set vpon a heape of salt proueth singular good to cure greene vvounds if they be dressed vvith tents steeped in the said iuice The Maple-tree in this countrey amongst other things is had in request because of the boughes thereof there are made Bowes and that because they are stiffe and hard to bend The Ash-tree hath a singular vertue against the venime of Serpents for it is such an enemie and so contrarie vnto them as that they dare not draw neere or approach vnto the shadow thereof and againe as hath beene proued of many if you make as it were a circle of the leaues or boughes of the Ash-tree and put within the same a Serpent by the one side thereof and a burning fire on the other side the Adder will rather aduenture to passe through the fire than ouer the Ash-tree leaues For this cause Nature as one carefull of the good of mankind hath prouided that the Ash should flourish before that Adders and Vipers doe vse to come out of their holes in the Spring time as also that it should not fall his leaues in Autumne till they haue taken vp their Winter resting place Wherefore if it happen that any Horse Cow or other beasts of the Farmers should be bitten by some serpent or other venimous beasts there cannot be found a more soueraigne remedie than to stampe the tenderest leaues that are to be found vpon the Ash straining out the iuice to giue it the beast to drink and afterward to lay vpon the grieued part the drâsse of the stamped leaues this is likewise a good remedie for men that are bitten of any Adder or Viper The decoction of
at that instant in as much as therein hee shewed a vvillingnesse to haue done the contrarie vpon any occasion if mischance had not beene his hinderance Now for the food vvhich is best for spanyels it is that vvhich is before prescribed for greyhounds as chippings bones and broken crusts of bread scalded in vvater and milke or the heads plucks and entrailes of sheepe boyled with oatmeale yet the setting spanyell vvould for the most part be fedde from the trencher vvith scraps of meat bones bread and such like for by reason that he must be kept much fasting since he cannot hunt but vvhen he is exceeding emptie it is verie fit that he be kept vvith as good as nourishing meat as can be gotten Now to conclude this discourse of hunting dogges you shall vnderstand that there is one other sort of spanyels and they be called vvater-spanyels because they delight onely naturally in the vvater and are imployed for the hunting of Duckes Mallards and all sorts of vvater-fowle they are much larger and bigger bodied than the land-spanyels are and a great deale more strong and Lyon-like made their haire is also verie long rough and thicke curled vvhich sheweth their hard constitution and abilitie to endure the vvater albeit the vveather be neuer so fiercely and bitterly cold They receiue all their vertues from nature and not from instruction and therefore to make any large discourse of them vvere friâolous onely for as much as they are verie necessarie to attend the fowler for the fetching of his fowle out of the vvater vvhen they are either lymed or strucken vvith the piece it is meet that they be brought to great obedience that is to say to fetch carrie runne couch and creepe vvhensoeuer a man pleaseth least otherwise out of the franticknesse of their owne natures they scarre away the game vvhilest the fowler is the most busily imployed These dogges are lesse tender than any of the other and therefore any meat vvill serue them neither would they be vsed to any nicenesse because their most imployment is in the Winter season And thus much touching hunting dogges and their gouernments CHAP. XXIII How young hounds are to be trained vp and made fit for the game IT is not yâoâgh to haue a number of good and faire dogges vvell marked vvith markes declaring both the said qualities for they must ouer and aboue be taught and trained vp for the game Wherefore the huntsman must first bring them to vnderstand the sound of the horne to swim and haunt the vvater that so they may be the more readie and forward to pursue the beast if so be that he should seeke to saue himselfe by any running riuer or standing lake Hee must lead them also once a weeke into the fields but not before the age of sixteene or eighteene moneths for before such age they are not throughly growne and well knit in all their members But especially hee must well aduise to what kind of game he is purposed to vse them as vvhether to course the Hart or the Hinde the wild Bore or the Hare for looke vvhat beasts you first runne them at those will they best remember alwaies especially if there be care had to looke any thing well vnto them You must not course with them in the morning if possibly you can auoid it for hauing beene accustomed to the coolenesse of the morning and comming afterward to the height of the day and feeling therein the heat of the Sunne they will not runne any more You must not put on young dogges the first time within a toile because the beast running altogether round and therefore alwaies in the sight of the dogges so when afterwards they should be brought to runne out of the toile and by that meanes become cast any great distance behind the beast it would be the cause of their giuing ouer and forsaking of the game It shall be for the better to the end they may be the better trained and fitted to put all the young ones together with foure or fiue old ones at such time as you purpose to hunt with them Neither shall you compell your young hounds to make more hast than their owne natures leads them vnto but encouraging them to trust to their owne noses let them take what leysure they please and picke out the sent of themselues that comming truely to vnderstand what they hunt they may be moâe perfect and readie in the same vvhereas on the contrarie part being compelled to hunt vp close with the older and swifter hounds they hunt as it were by rote catching the sent here and there and goe away with it both vncertainely and ignorantly and so seldome or neuer prooue staââche or good hounds It is also verie meete to enter all young hounds at the Hare first because it is the sweetest and coolest of all sents vvhatsoeuer and the hound which will hunt it must necessarily hunt any other hoter sent vvith much more violence for it is a rule That vvhosoeuer can doe the hardest things must forcibly doe things easier with lesse difficultie Therefore first enter your hound as before is said at the Hare least finding a sweetnesse and easinesse of hunting in the hoter sents hee neuer after lay his nose to the cooler CHAP. XXIIII How that the Hart and the place where he haunteth and vseth to lie would be knowne before yee course or hunt him KIngs Princes and great Lords to whom and no others belongeth the coursing of the Hart haue not vsed to course the Hart before they haue learned of their hunts-man vvhat manner of Hart he is young or old and whether he be a faire and great one and such a one as deserueth to be coursed and then afterward where his haunt and lodging is The hunts-man shall know the age and fairenesse of the Hart in respect of others by iudgement of the forme of his foot the largenesse of his tines his dung gate beatings breakings and rubbings The sole of the foot being great and large the heele also being thicke and large the little cleft which is in the middest of the foot being large and open a large legge a thick bone being also short but nothing sharpe and the tippes of his clawes round and thicke are signes of an old Hart. The elder Harts in their gate doe neuer ouer-reach the former foot with the hinder for they tread short of it at the least foure âingers but it is not so in young Harts for they in their gate doe ouer-reach and set the hinder foot more forward than the fore-foot after the manner of the ambling Mule The Hinde hath commonly a long foot narrow and hollow with small cutting bones The excrement and dung of Harts is not alike at all times for some is printed othersome vvrythen round and othersome flat and broad and if it be large grosse and thicke it is a signe that they are Harts of tenne tynes that is to say such ãâã haue
shot tenne small hornes out of the stocke In Iune and Iuly they make their dung in thicke vvreaths that are verie soft and yet there are some of them that make it flat and broad vntill mid Iune And from mid Iuly vnto the end of August their dung is printed grosse long and knottie vvell hammered annoynted or gilded and these are the markes to know Harts of tenne tynes from the old ones The cariages of a Hart are said to be when a Hart passing through a thicke and twiggie vvood hitteth with his head against the boughes of trees for so it commeth to passe that if the Hart be tall and large the cariages will also be somewhat large Now the iudgement vvhich the hunts-man can gather of the carriages cannot be but from after Iuly vntill March for the other foure moneths that is to say March Aprill May and Iune the Harts cast their heads that is to say their hornes True it is that they begin to put forth new hornes by the moneth of Aprill and as the Sunne mounteth higher and grasse groweth higher also and harder so their homes grow and wax greater so that by the middest of Iune their heads will be fully see and garnished with all that which they are to beare all the yeare long prouided that they be in a good thriuing countrey and come not by any hurt or annoyance You may likewise iudge of their age by the tynes of their hornes for as for the first yeare they haue no hornes the second yeare they haue their first hornes which are called daggers the third yeare foure sixe or eight tynes the fourth yeare eight or tenne tynes the fifth yeare tenne or twelue the sixth twelue foureteene or sixteene and in the seuenth their hornes put forth the greatest number of tynes that euer they will beare for after it they put forth no moe but those grow greater which are put forth Yet notwithstanding the old Harts will alwaies be knowne by hauing the whole root of their hornes large and grosse the bodie or stock very bright and set with pearles and strait and large heads rather open than turned compasse-wise By the going of the Hart the hunts-man shal be able to iudge whether the Hart be great and long and so likewise if he will stand long in course before the dogges for the Harts which haue long paces hold out longer in coursing than those which haue short paces and they are also quicker swifter and longer breathed It is knowne if the Hart be tall and long-legged and likewise of what bulke or bignesse his bodie is by marking where he entreth into the thicke amongst brakes and small wood which he shall haue let passe betwixt his legges for looke at what height he hath beaten them downe with his belly so high must you iudge him to be on his legges The grossenesse of his bodie is perceiued by the two sides of the way which he hath touched with his bodie for he will haue broken off the drie boughes and branches on both sides so that thereby you may gather the grossenesse and greatnesse of his bodie As concerning the rubbings of the Hart by how much the elder they are by so much the rather are they giuen to rub and that vpon great trees vvherefore vvhen the huntsman shall perceiue the branches of the tree to be broken downe then hee shall be able to gather the height and largenesse of the Harts head howbeit this is but a darke and obscure marke Thus and by these meanes it may come to passe that the hunts-man may collect and gather the age and largenesse of the Hart and yet notwithstanding remaine as ignorant as euer he was of the place where he lyeth and from where he may find him in his secret haunt and priuie by-walkes And therefore to be assured throughly it behooueth him to haue some one or other verie good bloud-hound hauing a verie quicke and exquisite sent that so he may the more easily find out and follow the foot of the Hart besides which meanes it must be prouided that the hunts-man be not ignorant of the places in generall which the Hart is accustomed to resort vnto although they be diuers according to the moneths of the yeare for Harts doe change their vvalkes and feeding euerie moneth according as the Sunne mounteth and ascendeth for which cause in Nouember you must looke to find the Harts amongst furze briers or heath the crops and flowers whereof they loue to brouze and feede vpon thereby to restore nature after they haue beene at rut In December they haunt the ânner parts and hart of the forrest to purchase thereby the shield of the vvood against cold vvinds snow and the noysomenesse of frosts following raine In Ianuarie they draw neere the corners of the forrests and seeke reliefe amongst the greene corne-fields vpon Rye and such like In Februarie and March because they then cast their hornes they hide themselues amongst the bushes and so they continue likewise for all Aprill and May. In Iune and Iuly they applie the cut-woods and corne at which time they are in their prime and fullest fatted then also they seeke after water because of the great heat which doth alter and change them and drinke vp the dew and moistnesse of the wood which then beginneth to wax hard In September and October they forsake the bushes and go to rut and then they keeps no certaine place nor manner of feeding because they range after the Hindes and follow their waies and steps carrying their noses close by the ground to take the scent of them nothing regarding or carefull to find out by the wind if there bee any secretly ãâã to do them harme as thus also they passe and spend both day and night being so enraged and feruently caried away with the rut as that they thinke that there is not any thing that can hurt them then also they liue with a very small as namely of that which is within themselues alwaies following the steps and footings of the Hind and next principally the great red mushrums which helpeth to bring them to the pissing of their tallow for which causes they are very easily killed at such times if the venison were good Thus the hunts-man may haue a generall notion of the haunt of the Hart and so he shall not seeke in any other places then where hee ordinarily maketh his abode And now when by the meanes aforesaid he is sure of the place it remaineth onely that he learne his den or the place of his particular resort and forthe diligent finding out of the same he must go earely to the place which he knoweth to be the generall haunt of Harts for the present time and houre as is before declared and he shall lead with him his bloud-hound that is not giuen to open to foot him withall hauing first wet his nostrels with good vineger that so he may
strange vnto you to see your Nightingale continue some daies without eating For the cause why it so falleth out is because they are grieued for hauing lost their libertie and thereupon continue some time without eating or feeding of any thing some three daies others fiâe or sixe daies yea eight or ten daies whereat you must not maruel neither yet leaue off to feed them For there are some old ones which though they bee hard to feede become notwithstanding better singing birds than any of the young ones If peraduenture the bird will not take any other thing than wormes giue her a birds bill full foure times a day and three or foure morsells at a time and not any more because of digestion and when she shall haue accustomed to take the mixture of the heart with the wormes giue her twice a day onely that is to say morning and euening for to preserue and maintaine her And this is the order and course that yee shall take CHAP. XLIX To know if the Nightingale begin to eate of her selfe and whether she will proue good or no. AS soone as the Nightingale beginneth to sing it is a most certaine token that she eateth likewise alone There are some which make not any kind of noise or sound for the space of eight daies others of fifteene and othersome continue a whole moneth without singing If they exceed this time without singing it is to bee thought that either they are females or else that they will neuer be ought woâth They giue great hope of prouing perfect birds which begin to sing quickly and vse to cate quickly likewise by themselues CHAP. L. How to order a Nightingale which eateth alone and singeth WHen the Nightingale shall eate well by her selfe and shall sing you shall take away by little and little the paper wherwith the cage was compassed about euery day a little in such sort as that the bird may not perceiue it couering the place againe from whence you shall take the paper with some greene insomuch as that all the paper being taken away and the cage couered againe with greene leaues you shall by little and little accussome her to see the light For if that you doe otherwise you will bee the cause of making her to loose her singing either for disdaine or for feare which will not come to passe if you order her as hath beene said Notwithstanding that Elian in the thirteenth booke of his naturall historie âaith following the aduice of Aristotle That it is hard to bring that bird to singing which is not taken in her owne nest Which opinion is found to be most false by ordinarie experience for very often it is seene that old Nightingales bâcome more perfect and excellent than the other CHAP. LI. How the male Nightingales are knowne from the females MEns opinions and iudgements concerning Nightingales as namely to know of whether sexe they be are very diuers for some distinguish the coke from the hen by their grosenesse saying that the cocke is the grosser bird others are of mind that the cocke hath a greater eie some say that he hath a reddish taile all which opinions I haue found to be far wide for I haue had perfect good Nightingales and that a great number of them that haue beene very small and little â as also hens with all those markes which are assigned vnto the cockes Wherefore for a more sure and certaine signe you shall rest vpon and trust to that which followeth That is to say when you haue a Nightingale taken out of the nest which shall begin to eate alone without hauing of it cramd into her and shall record diuers melodious notes from day to day contenting herselfe therein some time with pleasing and beseeming noises you may thereby assure your selfe that the same is a male But vnto this you shall adde certaine other notes as namely her quiet and peaceable abiding in her cage her standing vpon one leg only and to hold on the warbling of her brest which continuance is not to be found in the hen more than that she goeth hopping and whistling vp and downe the cage with a noise and song that is very much interupted and short I will not denie notwithstanding but that sometimes the cocke may bee knowne from the hen by the markes which some haue set downe before but this is that which I affirme namely that some are mightily deceiued by those markes and that by their singing the Nightingales taken in August are most certainely and clearely knowne and discerned And as for those which are taken in March the knowledge of them resteth not onely in singing but also in the lower parts of the sexe which the cockes doe put forth but the hens doe not for then is the time that birds doâ couple together These therefore are the most certaine euident and infallible arguments whereunto you may trust and betake you selfe CHAP. LII Of the King of birds or the little King otherwise called Robin-Redbreast YOu shall vnderstand that the little king or king of birds is naturally very small of a daintie tractable complexion he singeth most sweetly and is not much inferior in this respect vnto the Nightingale He is oftentimes seene in Winter vpon the tops or roofes of houses or vpon old ruines on that side that the Sunne shineth and whereas the wind may least annoy him He is to be fed in this sort You must keepe him warme in his nest giuing him for his meate of a sheepes heart or of a calues heart minced in all points as wee haue alreadie said speaking of the Nightingale He must be fed with a little atonce and oft by reason of his digestion being carefull that hee take no cold and especially in the night For which cause you shall put him in a cage which hath some prettie prouision made like a little chamber trimmed with red cloth and made as it were a little hoâ-house wherinto he may go in the night season and shun the cold all the whole yere Now when he shall be vsed to be fed you shall feed him with some heart well beaten and small minced sometimes you shal giue him of the paste that is vsed to be giuen to Nightingales which will do him no small good And you shal giue him sometimes flies to pecke for her greater ioy and speedier taming and herein you shall vse great diligence CHAP. LIII Of the Finch AMongst the fairest and most beautifull birds yea or rather the most beautifull of all is the Finch being no lesse delightsome to the eie than pleasant vnto the eare and yet there is not that account made of her that should because of the great number of them that is to be found They neââle thrice a yeare that is to say in May Iune and August Some are of opinion that those which are bred in the moneth of August are the best and amongst them those which are of the third feather
be good regard giuen vnto the outward signes by them to know the mischiefe that lurketh vvithin and that no lesâe in the behalfe of birds than generally of all other creatures Wherefore I haue endeuoured my selfe briefely to collect and gather into this Chapter vvhatsoeuer hath beene deliuered scatteringly and diffusedly elsewhere in the touching of the infirmities and diseases that are incident vnto birds and of the knowledge thereof for the benefit and instruction of such as would know the diseases whereunto such birds as they delight in and loue to keepe are subâect Birds therefore are subiect amongst other diseases vnto impostumes vvhich doe happen vnto them and appeare in the head of a yellow colour as great as a Hemp-seed yea sometimes as bigge as a Pease a disease commonly haunting all birds especially those which are of a hot complexion Another kind of disease with which birds are troubled is called the subtle disease Pthisis for the bird that is troubled with this disease swelleâh in her bodie as hauing it euerie where beset with veines full of bloud the breast notwithstanding being thin and leane and furthermore the bird so diseased doth nothing but take âast away or ouer-turne her meat and Hempe-seed The gowâ is another sort of disease common vnto birds and vexing them âore for when as they are diseased thereof they can neither stirre nor stand because of the paine they doe endure This disease is knowne by the roughnesse of their legges and feet The difficultie of breathing or hard drawing of their breath troubleth them also and it is knowne by their hoarâenesâe so as that they cannot vtter their tânes or if they doe yet very hârshly and imperfectly or else by their not saying any thing at all You shall lay your hand vpon her breast and by that also you shall perceiue it for you shall feele an extraordinarie beating as shewing it selfe to come from some oppression and great difficultie by all which you may gather for certaine that she is infected with this disease Oftentimes it likewise commeth to passe that they crie and cast forth lamentable noises complaining themselues vvhich declareth euidently that they haue the disease called Asthma or shortnesse of breath Birds also oftentimes fall blind vvhich if it be not quickly helped they vvill neuer be cured and this disease is perceiued by the trickling of teares from their eyes and by certaine feathers about their eyes vvhich doe curle and crooke by turning in againe The falling sicknesse is likewise incident vnto birds vvhereof they are scarce euer cured for there is no other remedie for it but to keepe the bird vvhich you bring vp from the Sunne in Summer if she escape the first time you must cut the nailes of her feet and besprinkle her well with good wine purge her oft Some say That birds are subiect to the disease called the Pip vvhich is false for the disease which they call the Pip is not the Pip in effect but another disease which groweth in the bills of birds for which it is good to vse this remedie Take the seed of Melons and steeping them in pure water make them to drinke thereof three or foure daies and perceiuing the bird to grow better you shall giue her a little fine Sugar tempered likewise with sugred water It is hard to know when the bird hath the disease of the rumpe and for my part I cannot tell how to giue you a better signe thereof than her growing melancholike as by surceasing and abstaining to sing The remedie is to cut away halfe of the sharpe point which she hath there for you shall not deuise to do her so great good any other waies This is a griefe which all birds are troubled withall euen those that are kept in the cage Besides the diseases before named birds haue sometimes the flux of the bâlly which is known by their making of their dung more thinne and liquid than ordinarily they were wont by the beating of their taile and in that they keepe it close and neere together The remedie is to cut the feathers of their taile and those also which are about the fundament annointing it with a little oyle And in stead of Hempe-seed you shall giue her the seedes of Melons for the space of two daies But and if these be birds which vse not to eate any Hempe-seed but heart or paste deferre not to take it from her and in place thereof to giue her hard rosted egges in such sort as we haue said before CHAP. LXVII Of the diseases that happen particularly to euerie particular sort of birds AS concerning old Nightingales of the cage they are subiect vnto gowts and conuulsions in the breast vnto which diseases the solitarie Sparrow is also subiect besides the falling sicknesse or giddinesse of the head The Linnet is troubled with the subtile or close and secret disease more than any other bird as also with hot apostemes conuulsions and gowts The Finch is wont to haue impostumes and the subtile disease The Siskin on the contrarie is not to subiect vnto diseases both because she is of a better complexion as also of more strength And this is the cause likewise why she seldome times falleth blind The Spinke is more subiect to blindnesse than all the rest and when she is once ouer-runne of this disease she is no more worth any thing for she will euer and anon fall into it againe of set purpose Two only diseases doe voluntarily molest the Goldfinch that is the subtile disease caused through old age and impostumes proceeding of the eating of Hemp-seed The same two diseases we find to befall the Canarie bird of Spaine howbeit the subtile disease is seldome times found to trouble her she is also subiect to the conuulsion and oppression of the breast because of her excessiue naturall heat The Miskin is more subiect vnto the gowt than any bird that is The solitarie Sparrow is haunted with impostumes and melancholie which causeth her often to die The Corydale falleth blind sometimes and sometimes she is troubled with the subtile disease Aâ it also happeneth vnto the other kind of Lark which hath no crest vpon her head The Calander likewise is subiect vnto the subtile disease apostemes gowts and that which is worse namely to become quickly blind The bird called in Latine Thraupis is likewise very subiect vnto impostumes and oftentimes dieth of fat The strongest and stoutest bird that can be is the Blacke-bird wherein I cannot find any disease to kill her except old age which is the common maladie deuouring all mortall things Fat and impostumes doe sometimes hurt the Throstle as also the disease of the rumpe which is likewise common to all birds that are kept in the cage CHAP. LXVIII Birds are to be purged at what time and how oft in the yere NIghtingales and all other kind of
bloud 50. bleeding at the nose 45. to purifie the bloud 182 Bloud-suckers 61 Blondie fluxes 118 122 171 172 176 195 196 201 203 206 209 211 224 The Bodie to make it sound and well disposed 428 462 Bots in horses 14â Breath and difficultie of breathing 110 247. shortnesse of breath 114 115 178 and 5â 8. an âll breath â4â a stinking breath 199. to cause one to haue a good breath 239 246. shortnesse of breath in horses 202 The Breaââs 209 214. the breastâ ouer-haâd 244 39â to trusse into a round and âlose âathion the flagging withered and hanging breasts 47â ãâã also sut them when they are inââamed â8 for the canker in the breasts 60 144 219 437 to resolue and wast the tumoââs of the breasts 18â ãâã and blacke spots 59 207 ââ4 Buboes to cure 120 Burning 60 75 178 206 207 208 214 239 240 286 288 Burstings or ruptures 55 207. buârsting of the vessels of the bodie 207. rupture or bursting of some of the inward parts 237 C CAnkers of all sorts 60 144 198 200 205 207 214 387. Cankers growing in the mouth 387. Cankers growing in the âares of dogges ibid. A plague Carbuncle 201 210 220 Carnâââââ in the bladder 210 Cathars 10 69 95 203 207 262 Chastâtie and to make men chast 239 243 291 Cheese to keepe from being spoiled and rotten 244 The Child dead in the wombe and the maneâ of drawing it forth 205 207 210 21â 248 285 287. the child not borne out his full time 246 Chops 214 435. of the lippes 177 668. of the hands 177 Chops growing in the feet of horses 143 Chosicke and the cure thereof 49 144 152 180 183 184 16â 207 213 244 288 To Conceiue and to make to conceiue 245 246 248 The false Conception in the wombe â35 Conserue for the heart 47 For such as are in a Consumption 75 Contraction of ligaments 163 Coâââsion 263 212 248 251 The Coâââ a horses disease 145 An old Cough 119. a hard Cough 245 Coughâ of all sorts and the remedies for the same 75 178 212 247 in Oxen. 95 100 in Sheepe 114 115 of Mules 152 Counterpoysons 293 304 The Courbe a horses maladie 145 D âEasnesse 45 178 âTo make a faite Die or colour 249 Difficultie of Vrine in Horses 141 ââpe and comfort Digestion 244 246 249 ââses beginning in the encrease of the Moone are of long continuance 32 prognosticated 36 of Oxen. 93 102 of Horses in diuers sorts and the meanes to cure them 136 152 their vrine scalding them 137 of Sheepe 114 of Lambes 116 of Goats 119 of Asses 150 of Mules and Mulets 152 diuers of Swine 107 of Dogs and remedies for the same 12â 677 of seuerall Birds and their cures 748 of Fishes 181 ãâ¦ã of humors 200 207 ãâ¦ã falling downe vpon the eyes 207 213 ãâã Dog and the remedies against his bitings 61 ââ Draught-gut fallen downe 54 202 209 213 140 ãâã Oxe hiâ Draught-gut hurt 96 ãâã and Hydropicall persons 49 104 171 178 183 â89 207 209 211 213 230 239 247 250 280 285 286 287 ãâã sinesse and the remedies against it 41 244 245 ââ unkennesse and how to preuent it 166 371 203 E EAres the paine and diseases thereof 44. silthie and perulent 178. wormie 197. noise in them 188 20â 397. exulcerate 209 ãâã 211 ãâã 99 ââ wes with laââbe 116. hauing the sniuell 114. troubled with cornes 115 âââeake Eyes 120. their diseases and remedies 4â 44 84 1â7 213 243. the web in the Eye 74 198. spots of the Eye 199. the Eyes full of spots 696. bleared Eyes 192. weeping Eyes 452. fissulated Eyes 461. to clarifie the Eyes 252. Distillations and ãâã falling downe vpon the Eyes 207. rednesse of the eyes 195 ãâã and other griefes of the same 460 461 The Eyes of Oxen and their diseases 98 99. Oxen hauing weeping Eyes 101 ââlotses their bleaâed Eyes 138. and other their griefes 139 F FAintings 47 Falles 209 Falleâ from on high 57 Falling sicknesse 42 148 182 203 204 211 240 245 248 375 453 454 460 668 The Falling sicknesse is gotten by eating of Goats flesh 119 Farsââ in Horses 143 201 Feet and the stench of the feeâ 53 Feuers 200 387 Feuers of all sorts 252 Feuers continuall 39 quotidian 203 tertian 40 198 203 208 210 211 213 387 hot 177 188 191 298 208 quartane agues 40 173 199 200 202 203 210 ââ3 â57 long and lasting 253 comming of obstructions 197 pestilent 201 of the Oxe 100 of the Horse 128 of the Sheepe 115 of the Swine 107 the Goats ague called continuall because they neuer are without it 119 The Fig a disease in Horses 129 A Fire without smoake 419 Fistula 193 206 213 435 458 The Horse his Fistula 144 A Flea in the âare 237. to kill fleas 248 Flegme and flegmatike diseases 212 Flesh and to keepe it from putrifying in Summer 246 To driue away Flies and Gnats ibid. Flowers of women to stay them 52 204 206 213 237 246 690. to cause them 172 203 348 Fluxe of bloud 176 209 â9â 690 of bloud of all sorts 297 of bloud at the nose 45 75 178 204 206 208 of bloud by a wound 204 206 to stay them of all sorts 204 285 287 The Fluxe of the bellie 74 120 203 213 29â The Fluxe of the bellie and bloud 207 The Fluxe of the bellie in Oxen 94. in Horses 224. and in Hennes â9 Frââkles in the face 199 201 208 212 239 Frensies and franticke persons 42 116 Frets in little children 248 Fundament fallen 205 G GAlling of Horses their backs 141 145 197 Gangââne 434 Garlicke eaten and how to take away the stench and ill sauour thereof 179 Garments and how to keepe them from vermine 239 Garrot a Horses maladie 145 Giddinesse in mens heads 183 Goomes 19â to cleanse them 246 The Goomes of Horses exulcerated 140 Gowt 55 147 202 209 214 237 For all manner of Gowts and ioint-aches 56 Grauell 74 183 188 203 205 259 288 371 461 555 563. 648 668 693 Gâipings 249 288 389. in the bellie 201 â49 Womâns Gripings or throwes after child-birth 54 Guts falling downe and the rupture 54 202 211 213 240 288 207. the rupture in a horse 145 H HAire and to keepe it from falling 189. to colour that of the head and beard 456 457. to make it red 285. or black 247. the Haire fallen 75 The falling of the Haire called Tineâ 61 197 201 214 Haâting in a Horse â44 Hands wrinkled 46. shaking 246 Hand-wormes 213 Heart the paine and griefe thereof 169 203 251. faintnesse of the Heart 128 200 239. beating of the Heart 47 Heart-ache 169 The Heart-âore a disease that killeth horses suddenly 139 Head-ach paine of the head 40 85 176 178 193 211 199 221 244 246 248 252 286 Hemorrhoids and their cure 51 168 178 198 206 214 Hicket 48 244 249 Horse cloyed 206 I IAundise 49 78 104 143 169 172 173 195 202 205 237 326 457 Iaundise in trees 405
Such as haue the Iaundise are called ãâã 183 206 209 Iauar a disease in horses 142 143 Inflammations 196 204 208. of the mouth 200. of the eyes 214. of the secret parts 213 ãâã and the aâh of the ãâã 434 ãâã 201 204 205 208 213 295 297. in sheepe 114. in dogges 678 K KIngs euill and remedies for the same 42 104 198 211 2â4 253 Knots or nodes in whatsoeuer part of the body 59 L LEanenesse through long sicknesse 704. the Mulets leanenesse 152 Leâpers and leprosie 204 205 291 453 Liuer obstructed 55 203 205 212 251 284 287. hot 49 169. hard 252 253. weake 698. to comfort it 203 Lungs and such as haue their lungs inflamed 251 371 381 563 699. weake lungs 202. diseased lungs 201. Lungs replete with stegme 200. to cleanse the lungs 212. vlceâated lungs 203 236 Lyce ând Nits 173 180. to driue lyce out of the head 208. to kill lyce 61. Oxe lyce 103 M MAdnesse of dogges to preuent 120 122 1â8 180 199 200 244 387 391 678. madnes of Wolues 678. madnes of amorous Mares 147 The signes of a Mad dogge 678 The Matrix replete with humors 212 213. to cleanse it 249. ouer-cooled 210. vnâuly and out of order 287 250 out of place 211. hard 194. pained after child-birth 184 334. suffocating 53. fallen downe 53 210. inflamed 53. 197. hauing the collicke 197. troubled with the fluxe 373. exulâerated 212. to cast out the false conception therein 251 Measââd Hogges 107 Measeth in children 186 Megrim 178 Melancholie and melancholicke persons 245 248 251 372 380 Members or parts of the bodie ouer-cooled 456 Memorie and to strengthen it 251 To make men Merrie 252 Milke and to cause Nurses to haue good store 48 188 168 249 250. to take it away from them 47. to make that it crudle not 244 Tartarie Milke maketh drunken 457 Mithâidate soueraigne against the plague 387 To Molliâie parts that are ouer-hard 252 The Mother or secret parts of women 52 53 120 201 203 245 246 251 For the Mother vnâuly and out of order 250 251 To kill Mothes amongst clothes 434 A stinking Mouth 46. a fore Mouth 461 Mowâes on the heeles 99 178 201 295 N THe Naile or Cathaire 56. Nailes of all manner of sorts 116. the Naile in Oxen 102. Nailes and vlcers of the same 57. broken or bruised 214 Noââ me âangere 60 214 Stinking ãâã 45 O OBstructions 239. obstructions or stuffings of the nosthrils 208. to open obstructions 210 P THe Palâmie a horses disease 145 Palenesse of colour in women 632 Paâsie 189 204 237 239 247 293 Paâmon what disease it is in hoââes 145 Pestilence in sheepe with the remedie against it 114 115. in swine 207 Physicke inuented by shepheards 110 The Pin and web in a horses eye 137 Plague and the remedies thereof 39 173 197 199 201 203 204 210 247 250 304 386 452 Pleurisie and remedies for the same 46 207 380 690 French Pocks 201 436 Common Pocks 200 201 290 to take away the pits and prints that the Pocks leaue behind them 466. the Pocks in children 57 58 186 204 295 Polâpus exulâerated 208 214 Poyson 203 210 219 247 376 58â Poyson of all sorts 199 200. Poyson of a Toad 203. counter-poysons 304 Pthisicke 293 Pusâules 214 To keepe the bodie from Putrifaction 285 R REdnesse of the face 42 195 246 287 379 469 ãâã and the heat and burning in them 176 181 194 200 283 435 Rhewmes 213 Ringwormes 56 197 201 207 209 210 212 213 228 246 295 297 469 698 Rubiâs in the face 465 Lambes Runneâ good against all sorts of venime 116 S A Sawsie face 469 Scabs 60 697 698. in Horses 143. in Sheepe 114 429. in Calues 63. in Oxen 100 102. about the pasternes of Mulets 152 in Swine 107. in Dogs 678. about Horses heeles 142 145 Scaldings 240 Schirrous tumors 57 198 287 Sciaâiâa 54 55 120 189 198 199 203 205 207 212 219 239 245 249 434 Serpents and the remedies against their bitings 61 245. to kill them 248. Serpents gotten into the bodie 61 Shaking and trembling of the parts 55 246 Shingâââ 207. in Sheepe 115 Shiuerings of an Ague 247 weake and the remedies therefore 43 85 173 213 ãâã prognosâââating diseases 29 ãâã and the paine thereof 56 293 699. diseases of a sinewes 434. weake sinewes 189. to comfort the ãâ¦ã the sinâwes ouer-coââed 434. relaxed siââwes ãâã 454. oppressed or brâised sinewes 55 248 ãâã sinewes pâickt wounded or cut 55 214 ãâ¦ã to take away âkaââes 212 ãâã 312 ãâã âeepe and to cause to sleepe 41 42 168. to take away ãâã 244 245 ãâã lâst 244 252 ãâã ãâã gotten into the bodie 61 ãâã 189 ãâã ãâã and inchantments 199 25â ãâã âins in horses 145 ãâã ãâã and to recouer the speech lost 239 âing and to procure spetting 200 212 247. to get vp ânes spettle with paine and much adoe 207. Spetting ãâã bloud and how to stay it 47 169 176 204 209 211 237 371 ãâã Spleen the diseases and remedies thereof 49. the âââleene obstructed 202 205 209 219 286 287 290. ââardnesse of the spleene 119 182 202 212 253 ãâã in the face 201 206 208 212 2â9 â04 red 4â 188 ãâã â97 198. white 17â spots of the bodie 293 â35 ãâã 2â3 in horses 139. in dogges 122 ãâã th of the arme-pits 171 ãâã lerâ their stinging and the remedie 61 176 247 ãâã nach the griefes and remedies thereof 49 434 461. ãâã comfort it 184 186 a weak stomach 246. gâawing ââormes in the stomach 293 ãâã in the bladder or reines 51 120 172 180 188 194 ââ00 101 103 205 110 251 285 288 37â 382 457 461 563 648 667 693 698 ãâã angles in horses 139 ãâ¦ã in horses 52 137 171 205 206 291 ãâ¦ã of the mother 201 249 ãâ¦ã burning in the face 201 ãâ¦ã 220 ãâ¦ã the hornie swelling in horses 145 ãâã âating and to procure sweating 200 201 293 454 ãâ¦ã 220 248. of diuers sorts 56. In horses flankes 144. for swellings vnder the saddles of horses that are bruised a maruellous remedie 197. swellings in the cuds of horses 114. swelling in Swine 107 T Tâââ bad 189 âermes of women 52 204 20â 246 ãâã and the diseases thereof as the raging ache and others with their remedies 45 172 184 188 19â 299 204 208 246 2â0 252 285 293 467. loose black red and stinking teeth 45 46. the horse his tooth-ach 140 ãâã ãâã âwolen in an Oxe 101 ãâã 177 âornes and how to draw them out of the bodie 207 252 The Throwes or mother in women 54 Womens Trauaile to comfort help and ease them therein 176 181 188 196 199 205 212 237 240 285 397 Tumoââ 104 116 214 252. hot 204 hard 690 cold 198. pestilent tumors 204. old tumors in horses 145. to ripen tumors 249 Young blacke by reason of some ague 213 V VLcers that are old 197 207. hollow and filthy 202 207 239 457. malignant 201 207 213 214 to ãâã old and malignant
head The Horse ãâã with cold The naile in the eye Against the bloud ãâ¦ã pearlâ and spots in the ãâã The ãâ¦ã The bleared eye The skarre of the eyes Paine of the eye The âarâfore or swelling of the kernels of the hart The auiues The squinancie or inflamation of the throte The Strangles The Barbes The soupe or excrescencâ vnder the bellie To chase away files The paines of the gums and teeth The short winded horse The cough in a ãâã The horse ãâã Ague The faintnesse of the heart The broken backe The horse ouer-heated Paine in the belli Difficultie of vrine For the sniuell The Flying worme The Iauar The Figge The Wenne For a galled backe A horse swayed in the backe The backe ãâã The ãâã of the ãâã The iaundise Costiues The ãâ¦ã For a horse that is bursten The ââinging of Flies The farcie Clefts For the scabbe The Horse swelled The colicke in a Horse The swellings of the coddes For a Fistula For a Canker The Iauar or scab in the ãâã The Horse cloyed Alene Horse The enterfering of a horse The spauine Chaps Cliâts The grapes or scabber For the ãâã swelling For the disease called Paumon or ãâã galle The disease of the hoofe or the corne of the fâoat The garrot The disease of the necke The Palamie or bloudie chops in the palate The courbe or a long swelling beneath the elbow of the hough The swelling of the Knee Broken and chapt Knees Chafings Old tumours Wormes and bots The current Flux of bloud The restie horse Poyson eaten The stinging of Vipers The biting of the Shrew The biting of a mad dogge Hens dung swallowed by the horse The leane horse The raging loue of Mares Yellowes Stagger Pestilence Cords Rheume in the Eye A Warte A Straine Spauen To know diseases by their signes Signes of inward griefes The Horse-leacherie of P. Vegetius translated by the Author The milke of an Asse good for them in consumptions and for to make faire the countenances of women Rest maketh an Asse alwaies after vnfit for labour The markâs of a good Asse The diseases of the Asse The Asses-hide The Asses-âooâe The Aââe doth ãâ¦ã The Mules of Auernia The diuers maners of the engendring of male and female Mules The markes of a good Asse to câuer she Mules Signes of a good Horse-Mule Of a good Mare-Mule The diseases of the Horse and Mare-Mule Ague Difficultie of breath Scabs in the pasternes Leanenes Cough Collicke Wearinesse and âuer-heating The smoâke of the hoofe of a Mare-Muâe A Quick-set Hedge The Garden doore The paths in the Garden The Inclosure Grounds Hedges The fashion of an Arbor The binding of the Arbor The worke of the Arbor and of the Vine is alike All manââr of ground by being long ãâã doth grow leaât Little Turneps or Nauest Coleworts Great Turneps of both sorts Spinach Leekes and Cyues Onions Chiboles Carrets Sage and Hysope A Labyrinth Lettuce seed To chuse seeds Fine hearbs Seeds that will hardly grow Cucumbers and Citruls The power of the encrease of the Moone To ââw seeds in the Spring To sow seeds in Summer At what time seed must be sowne is cold and hot places The age of seeds Watring What water is good for Seeds What time is good to water Weeding and raking Clipping or cutting of hearbes Slips Gatheringâ The time to gather Seeds The way to keepe hearbes The way to keepe flowers To keepe Prouence Roses To keepe seeds To keepe roots Common Coleworts The seed too old Prouerbe Cabage-cole The curled cole Coleworts of a good tast Red Coleworts The planting of Coleworts The watering of Coleâââts The ãâã betwixt ãâã the vine and the Colewort Coleworts doe keepe one from beâng ãâã Coleworts enemâe vnto Organic and Rue Rotten Coleworts The vertues of Coleworts ãâ¦ã The curled and cabbaged Lettuce The Romane Lettuce White Lettuce Cabbaged lettuce White and fairâ Lettucââ To cause Lettuce to small well Salad hearbâ mixt together The vertues of the Lettuce ândiue ãâã Succoriâ The vertues of Succorie Spitting of blâud To sow Artichâkes vpon beds Choice of Arâichokes Artichokes of a good smell Artichokes smelling like Bayeâ Sweet Artichokes The vertues of the Artichoke The vertues of Sorrell The bloudie flux The plague The vertues of Burnet Harts-horne To cause harts-horne to thriue The vertues of harts-horne The vertues of Trickmadame Pearceââone or Sampier The preseruing of Sampier Iaundise Stone Marigolds Tuâied and wel thriuing Marigolds The vertues of Marigolds Beets A speâiall ãâã of the ãâã Red beets The vertues of the beets For âo make ãâã quickly The ãâã of ãâã Spinage The virtues of Spinage The vertue of Buglosse ãâã The vertues of Lââkes Poyson ãâã at the ãâã Difficultieâ of making water For ãâã in ãâã birth Spitting of bloud Small Leeks ãâ¦ã ãâ¦ã Dâought Burning agues Chaps in the lips To preserââ Purcelane To keepe ãâã from râtting To make choâce of ãâã The vertues of ãâã Dropsie Kibed heeles The biting of a âad dogge Red spots Garlicke Sweet Garliââ How to keepe Garlickâ The ãâã of Garlicke The ãâã of Garlicke The Plague The ãâã of a mad Doggâ Nits Liâe Colicke Cough ãâã ach Wormes Difficultie of ãâã Birds ãâã The vertues of ãâã Parsley The vertues of Parsley Deliuerie of women in their trauell A stinking breath To make water The Colicke Paine of the reines Rocket The force of Rocket ãâã and hardnesse of the spleene Tarragon Smallage Cheruile The vertues of Cherâile Costmarie and ãâã The way to haue good ââore of Asparagââ Asparagââ may grow of a Sheepes horne ãâ¦ã Garden Water-Cresseâ The vertues of Wateâ and Garden-Cresses Tââth-ach Palsie Coââcke Good Saffron The gâthering and keeping of Napes The vertues of Napes Tââneps Turneps are the ârdinarie âeat of them of ãâã and Sauoy Turnep seed is veriâ small Faire turneps The keeping of turneps The vertues of turneps Radishes Radishes ãâ¦ã Sweet radishes Good radishes Trââell of child bââth Nâise of the âares The ill ãâ¦ã wine Spots Grauell and ãâ¦ã ãâ¦ã Parsneps Mypes Carrets Skirworts The vertââs The goodnesse of Mustard The âertues of Mustard ãâ¦ã The vertues of the cucumber Gourdes The goodnesse of the seed The vertues of Gourdâs Melons and Pââpions The gathering of Melons The goodnesse of Melons ãâ¦ã The âertues of Melons Melons cause ãâã to ãâã Pompions Gourdâ and Cucumber without seed For the helping forward of their growth A Cucumber without water ãâ¦ã Sweet Pompions Suger-Melââs Lasting Poâpions A woman in her târmes maketh Pompions drie and diâ To keepe Cucumbers fresh a long time Pompions smeling like Roses Strawberries The âertues of Strawberries ãâ¦ã Mallowes ãâã The ãâ¦ã ãâã Arsmart Eye-bright ãâã ãâã The vertues of Elicampane Dittander The vertues of Dittander Celandine great and small The ãâã of ãâã Little Celandââe ãâ¦ã Valerian Angelica The virtues of Angelica Thâ Plague Against the biting of a âad dogge Blessed Thistle The vertues of Blessed thistle Mother-wort Golden-rod The vertues of Golden-rod Saxifrage The great and small Burre Star-thistle Lâdie-thistle Siluer-grasse
THe quantitie of bread that euerie man ought to eat euery day cannot ãâã and strictly bee set downe with regard had to the time for in Winter men eate more than in Sommer age disposition of the bodie euerie particular ãâã maner of liuing and the custome of the countrie or place without the omitting of ãâã other circumstances It is true that Courties Chanons Monkes and Schollers of Colledges do keepe and obserue some rule that way but not so constantly but that it may bee broken as occasions may be offered which may perswade either to vse more or lesse The diuers vses of bread BRead is diuersly vsed but the two most common waies are to eat it either alone or with other meates whereunto it serueth not onely as wee haue said before in steed of a sauce that is full pleasant and delightfull but also to correct their vices and faults if they haue any and to helpe and strengthen their properties and vertues in so much that all meate is wholesome and healthfull if it bee accompanied with bread Sometimes it is tosted being cut into diuers thin shiues for to eate after all other meate for the drying of the stomach that is too moist and to hinder especially in fat folkes that the meat which they haue taken be not so sodainely dispersed into all the seuerall parts of the bodie Some say likewise that tosted bread being often eaten doth make fat folkes leane and consumeth such flegme as may be gathered in the stomach and being eaten all drie in a morning fasting it likewise drieth vp and stayeth all manner of rhumes and humours falling or gathered into any part or member whatsoeuer This is the cause why Physitians appoint bisket bread for such as are troubled with rheumes and distillations Some vâe tosted bread steept in Wine vvith sugar and cynamome to procure an appetite vnto a dull stomache either in sickenes or in health Some do make sippeâs or small ââices as they call them of bread dried vpon the coales which they steepe an houre or more in Water and Wine and after force them through a strainer or temze adding thereto the powder of some small spice and so make very pleasant sauces therewithall Washed bread is a meate very profitable for the health in as much as it giueth a light kind of nourishment vnto the bodie without making of any obstructions and this because the washing of it doth wholly take away the heauines and clammines belonging vnto the earthie parts thereof and so maketh it light and altogether airie That this is true you shall find by experience because that if you cast it into the water it swimmeth a loft like a peece of corke and againe if you weigh it after that it is washed you will wonder at the lightnes of it for indeed you shall find it not to be so heauie by the halfe Old men of auncient time did cut it in slices and washing it in water made great account of it in sharpe agues and such other diseases because it is of smal and light nourishment according as is required in such sicknesses and in these dayes we make no lesse account of it saue that we vse not to wash it in water but in the broath of meate as of veale or capon possibly because of the daintines of this age or else for the parties feeblenes sake which it may bee falleth out to be greater than it was in the bodies of those which liued long a goe In steed of this washed bread we vse a sort of bread which we call Panade or a cooling bread which is thus prepared They take and crumble small the crummie part of a white loafe not new but old baked or they grate it very small after which they steepe it certaine houres in warme water or in cold water changing the same three or foure times and in the end boyling it at a small-coale fire in an earthen pot with buttered water or some other fat put thereto They that will make it after a finer fashion steepe it and boile it in some capon broth or the broth of a pullet or some other such like meate stirring it a long time and oft with a spoone this Panade is good for such as are troubled with long diseases as also for such as are in health but are troubled with crudities vpon their stomach of what cause soeuer they come as also for them that haue but bad digestion but chiefly good for such as by exquisite diet do go about to cure the pox This Panade doth not heat as bread doth of it selfe not being washed or prepared thus in Panade The meale of Amydon made in bread or pap-meat doth nourish in like manner that Panade doth Wee haue set downe before how Amydon is to be made Young children that sucke in like manner may be fedde with Panade and it is a great deale better meat for them than the ãâ¦ã accustomed to be made them with Cowes milk and Wheat flower because that such pap-meate causeth infinite obstructions feauers headach and wormes Some vse the meale of certaine sorts of corne and of many sorts of Pulse after the manner of pap-meate as we haue alreadie said vvhen vve spake of mundified Barley which is a thing so highly commended of auncient Physitions But besides such manner of preparing of it as vvee haue alreadie deliuered in the Chapter of mundified Barley these two following may seeme vnto me to be most excellent boile your Barley in a great deale of vvater as it were almost to the consumption of the water gather the creame that is vppermost and take it with a spoone and make therâof âââdified Barley Otherwise thus take the meale of Barley well sifted put it in a bag and boile it in a great quantity of water the space of fiue or ãâã houres afterward draw the bagge out of the pot and let it drop and straine it in a presse let it stand drie and being drie grate it as you would doe drie paste and make mundified Barley of it Some are of iudgement that Barley thus prepared is not so windie Some do now and then put vnto it bread crummes and bruised Almonds to make it more nourishing It moistneth nourisheth reasonably but cooleth much it procureth not any gripes in the body neither doth it puffe vp and swell the body or stomack but to be briefe it performeth all the hâlpes whereof Hippocrates speaketh Some likewise doe make pap-meate of Wheat meale and Rice which in truth doe nourish more than mundified Barley but they loade the stomacke heauily and cause great windinesse and that because for the most part they are boiled in Cowes milke The pap-meate made of Millet Pannicke Oates and especially of Lentils besides that they are very vnpleasant are of very hard digestion in so much as that the day after they be eaten they are to be found in the stomacke The pap-meates made of Cich Pease ãâã Beanes Fetches Lupines and other