these particular profits following First plenty of Corne and Pulse because all grounds being made able and apt for Tillage the Kingdome may afford to sowe for one Bushell that is now hereafter fiue hundred so mightie great are the vnfruitfull and vntilled wastes of Heathes Downes Mores and such like which at this day lye vntilled and vnoccupied and to this abundance of Corne will redound an equall or greater abundance of Grasse and Pasture for besides that those men and Masters of many grounds may conuert all their best and most fruitfull Earth to Pasture and Medow and only keepe the Barren for tillage yet also this barren earth after it hath done bearing of Corne which will be in fiue or sixe yeares shall for as many yeares more beare as good Medow or Pasture either for breeding or feeding as can any way be reasonably required and then being newly made againe shall newly begin and flourish in his first Profit as shall be at large shewed and set forth hereafter as I haue seene with mine owne eies to my no small pleasure and amazement not in one butin diuers and sundry most vntruitfull and hard Countries Secondly whereas through the most parts of this Kingdome there is euery yeare a third or fourth part of all Corne grounds lost in the fallow or tylthe fields one field of three or one of foure continually lying at rest now by the vse of the Husbandry following you shall neuer keepe any fallow field at all but haue all your ground to beare you continually either Corne or Grasse in good aboundance Lastly whereas in all the generall best parts of this Nation you cannot haue any Graine of price as Wheat Barley Rye and such like vnder two three foure fiue and some sixe times plowing now you shall not plow aboue twice at the most for the tenderest and richest graine that is to be reaped whereby there shall be much paines eased in the Husbandman great trauell saued from the Cattell and a much larger limitation of time giuen for other neceâ—…ary houshold and forraine businesses Now some may heere aske me what true and vpright right testimonie I can giue of this my assertion or what inducements to draw men to a beliefe of my relation though I could referre such disputers to practise and the experience which shall arise from such practise yet to giue them better satisfaction if they please to ride or walke into the North parts of Deuonshire into the Barren or Mountainous parts of South Wales or North Wales or into that wildernesse of Bogges and Barrennesse I meane that colde vast Country of Exmore where is nothing but vnseasonablenesse and they shall euen there finde where the ground is industriously made and refined as good plenty of Corne and Grasse as in the fruitfullest vales in our In-land and warmer Countries Truly for mine owne part I dare boldly auow that which mine eies haue beheld for I haue seene on oneside of the hedge nothing but mosse for grasse furres goâ—…sse whynnes and all other tokens of Sterrill barrainnesse and on the other side as good Corne and Grasse and in as great plenty as in any fruitfull Country whatsoeuer and all this brought forth but with a little cost and some labour To proceede then to the full effect of my purpose without more preambulation or satisfaction to the curious for to the honestly vertuous are all mine indeuours directed you shall vnderstand that it is meete that euety Husbandman be skilfull in that true knowledge of the natures of Grounds as which is fruitfull which not of which in my first Bookes I haue written sufficiently nor doe I in this Booke intend to write any tittle that is in them contained for as I loue not Totologie so I deadly hate to wrong my friend Grounds then as I haue formerly written in my first Bookes being simple or compounded as simple Clayes or simple Sands or compounded of Clayes Sands or Grauels together may be all good and all fit to bring forth increase or all euill and barren and vnfit for profit for euery Earth whether it be simple or compounded whether of it selfe or of double mixture doth participate wholly with the Clime wherein it lyeth and as that is more hot or more cold more moist or more drye so is the Earth euer more or lesse fruitfull yet for the better vnderstanding of the plaine Country-man you shall know that both the fruitfull and vnfruitfull Ground hauetheir seuerall faces and charracters whereby they be as well knowne as by the Clime or situation of the Continent for that ground which though it beare not any extraordinary abundance of grasse yet will loade it selfe with strong and lusty weedes as Hemblocke Docks Mallowes Nettles Ketlocks and such like is vndoubtedly a most rich and fruitfull ground for any graine whatsoeuer also that ground which beareth Reede Rushes Clouer Daysie and such like is eâ—…er fruitfull in Grasse and Herbadge so that smal cost and lesse labour in such grounds will euer make good the profit of the Husbandman But with these rich grounds at this time I haue nothing to doe To come downe then to the barren vnwholesome Grounds you shall vnderstand that they are to be known three seuerall waies first by the Clyme and Continent wherein they lye next by their constitution and condition and lastly by outward faces and charracters By the Clyme and Continent as when the ground lies farre remote from the Sunne or when it lyes Mountainous and high stony and rocky or so neere vnto the skirts and borders of the Sea that the continuall Fogges Stormes Myfts and ill vapours arising from thence doe poyson and starue the Earth all which are most apparent â—…ignes of Barrennesse By the Constitution and Condition as when the ground is either too extreamely cold and moist or else to violently hot and dry either of which produceth much hardnesse to bring forth and sheweth the Earth so lying to be good for little or no profit By the outward Faces and Charracters as when you see insted of Grasse which should be greene flowrie and thicke growing a pale thinne mossie substance couer the Earth as most commonly is vpon all high Planes Heathes Downes and such like or when you see the ground couered with Heath Lynge Broome Braken Gorsse or such like they be most apparent signes of infinite great Barrennesse as may be seene in many Mores Forrests and other wilde and wooddy places And of these vnfertill places you shall vnderstand that it is the Clay ground which for the most part brings forth the Mosse the Broome the Gorsse and such like the Sand which bringeth forth Brakes Lynge Heath and the mixâ—… Earth which vtters Whynnes Bryars and a world of such like vnnaturall and bastardly issues Thus hauing a true knowledge of the Nature and Condition of your ground you shall then proceede to the ordering eareing and dressing of the same whereby it may not only be
you are to sowe into that brine and let it steepe therein till the next day then draine it as cleane as may be from the brine and so sowe it harrow it clot it and weede it as was before declared and no doubt but you shall finde a meruellous great increase thereby for this I can assure you both from a most certaine knowledge and a most worthy relation that a Gentleman buying some store of seede Wheate and inforst to bring it home by Sea by some casual means some of the sack at the vnlading fell into the Sea and were much drencht in the salt water whereat the Gentleman being grieued as doubting some hurt to come to the Seede yet inforst of necessitie to make vse thereof caused all the Wheate which was so wet to be sowen by it selfe in a parucular place and vpon the worst ground which he had as much dispairing in the increase thereof and it is most infallibly true that of that wet Seede he receiued at least fiue-fold more profit then of any other and from thence it came that this experiment of Bryne and the sowing of salt hath taken place from which the painfull husband-man hath found such infinite increase to arise that the vse thereof will neuer be layed downe in this Kingdome neither is the thing in it selfe without good and strong probabilitie of much increase and strength for the bettering of all manner of earable grounds for there is nothing which killeth weedes quicks and other offences of the ground so much as saltnesse for what makes your Pigeons dung and your Pullens dung to be better for earable grounds then any other dung or meanure whatsoeuer but by reason of the saltnesse thereof by which saltnesse also you may iudge the strength and heate thereof insomuch that the propper taste of fier or any hot thing is euer salt also we say in Phylosiphie that blood which carryeth the vitall heate and warmth of the body is in taste salt and so a nourisher maintainer and increaser of all the strength and vigor of the inward faculties whereas Fleame Chollar and Melancholly which are the hurts and confounders of the vitall spirits the first is in taste sweete the second bitter and the last of an earthy and dry taste full of much loathsomenesse Now againe you shall vnderstand that as you thus wet or steep your Wheate seede so you may also steepe any other seede as Barley Oates Beanes Pease Lupins Fetches and such like of which your Beanes Pease and Lupins you may steepe more then any of the rest and your Oates the least As touching Rye it shall be good not to steepe it at all for it is a great enemy to all manner of wet and moistnre insomuch that the curious Husband-man will forbeare to sowe it in any great shower of raine bearing in his minde this ancient addage or saying that Rye will drownd in the Hopper as on the contrary part Wheate would be sowen so moist that it might ftick to the Hopper yet notwithstanding when you doe sowe Rye in any of these In-land and cold barren Country where sand is not to be gotten you shall not by any meanes omit the sowing of your salt before for it is nothing neere so moyst as it is warme and comfortable And thus much touching the ordering plowing and sowing of all barren cold and moyst Clayes whether they be mixt or vnmixt which are plaine and vnfruitfull as bearing no other burthen then short mossie grasse without any other hard and boystrous substances CHAP. III. Of the Ordering Tylling and Dressing of all rough Barren Clayes whether simple or compound being laden and ouerrunne with Gorse Broome and such like NExtvnto these plaine barren earths which by reason of their heights and eleuations are subiect in the Winter time to all manner of cold frosts ftormes tempests blasts and windes which are the perfit binderers of all increase and growth and in the Somer time to all hot scorchings scaldings and fierie reflections of the Sunne which on the contrary part burneth and withereth away that little seeming increase which appeareth aboue the earth I will place that barren Clay whether it be mixt oâ—…vnmixt which lying not so high and subiect vnto those hurts and offences seemeth to be a little more fruitfull yet either by the extreme cold moisture thereof or the stony hardnesse and other malignant qualities is no lesse barren then that of which I haue formerly written which indeâ—…de is that barren and vilde soile which will neither beare Corne nor Grasse but is only ouer-runne and quite couered ouer with great thicke and tall bushes of Gorse or Furres which is a most sharpe woody and grosse weede so full of pricks that neither Horse Beast Sheepe nor Goates dare thrust their noses to the ground to gather vp that little poore grasse which groweth thereon Andal-be these Gorse or Furres are one way a little commodity to the needfull Husband-man in being a reasonable good fewell either for Baking Brewing or diuers other sudden and necessary vses yet in as much as the profit being compared with the great quantitie of earth which they couer and destroy and which with good husbandry might be brought to great fruitfulnesse is indeede no profit at all it shall not be amisse for euery good Husband-man that is pestered and ouer-laden with such ground to seeke by way of good husbandry how to reduce and bring it to that perfection and excellencie which may bec best for his one particular commoditie and the generall good of the kingdome wherein he liueth Then is there another kinde of soyle which is nothing at all differing from this but is euery way as barren and sterryll which is that ground which is ouer runne with Broome which is as noysome a weede as the former and though it haue not such sharpe prickles as the other whereby to hinder the grazing of Cattell yet doth it grow so close and thick together and is naturally so poysonous and offensiue to grasse that you shall seldome see any grow where this Broome prospereth besides the bittrrnesse thereof is so vnpleasant and distastefull to all kinde of Cattell that not any will euer crop or bite vpon the same only it is of some necessary vse for the poore Husbandman in respect that it serueth him both for fuell for thatching and the couering of his houses being for that purpose of all the longest lasting and also for the making of Beesomes for clensing of the house and Barnes or else for sale and commodity in the Market all which profits as before I said being compared with the losse of the ground and the goodnesse that might be reaped from the same are indeede truly no profits but hinderances Therefore I would wish euery man that is Master of such grounds whether they be ouerrunne with Gorse Furres Broome or any such kinde of grose woody or substantiall weede first to cut vp the iweede of what sort so
lymed in very plentifull manner so farre forth as your prouision will extend for it is to be vnderstood that barren and hard earths can neuer be ouerladen with good meanure or compasse since it is only the want of warmth and fatnesse which meanure breedeth that causeth all manner of vnfruitfulnesse After you haue thus meanured all your ground it is to be supposed that the season of the yeare will be well shot on for the labour of sanding will take little lesse then two Months your ground being of any indifferent great quantitie except you haue the assistance and helpe of many of your friends which is a curtesie that euery Husbandman may imbrace but not trust vnto for I would not wish any man that hath not Tenants to command to presume on other friends lest they fayle him and so his worke lye halfe done halfe vndone which is a great Charracter of negligence and improuidence but let euery one proportion their labours according to their owne strengths and the number of their ordinary families The lyming of your ground will take at least halfe so much time as the sanding and the meanuring rather more then lesse then the lyming so that by any reasonable computatiō of time beginning to Plow your ground at the beginning of May ere it be hackt sanded lymed and meanured Michaelmas will be come which is the last of September for I allow the Month of May to plowing and backing Iune and Iuly for sanding August for lyming and September for meanuring So then to proceede on with your Labour at Michalmas or from that time to the end of October you shall begin to Plow ouer that ground againc which formerly you had plowed hackt sanded lymed and manured and at this later plowing you shall plow the ground somewhat deeper then you did before and taking a good stitch as they call it in Husbandry you shall be sure to raise vp the quick earth which had not beene stirred vp with the Plow before making your furrowes greater and deeper then formerly they were and laying them closer and rounder together then they were before and in this ardor or later earing you shall be carefull to Plow your ground as cleane as you can without balkes or other escapes in Husbandrie and as you thus plow your ground you shall haue certaine Hackers with their hacks to follow the Plow and to cut the Earth and furrowes into very small pieces as was formerly shewed in the hacking and cutting of the first Ardor then so soone as your ground is thus plowed hackt `you shal take a paire or two of very strong good yron Harrows and with them you shail goe ouer your ground tearing that which was formerly plowed and hackt into more smaller pieces then before and raising vp the mould in much greater abundance then was formerly seene which work once finished you shall then take your Seed which would be the finest cleanest and best Wheate you can prouide and after the manner of good Husbandry you shall sowe it on the ground very plentifully not staruing the ground for want or Seede which were a tyranous penury nor yet choking it with too much which were as lauish a foolery but giuing it the falt due leaue it to the earth and Gods blessing Now so soone as you haue thus sowen your Seede forth with you shall take all the Harrowes againe harrowing the Seede into the earth and couering it close and well with all care and diligence and in this latter harrowing you shall haue great respect to breake euery clot as much as you can and so stir vp and make as much mould as you can and the finer such mould is made the better it is so it couerdecpe and close for you shall vnderstand that all these kinde of barren Clayes are naturally tough cold and binding whereby they stifle and choke any thing that growes within them for the naturall toughnesse of the earth will not giue any thing leaue to sprout or if it doe sprout the binding nature thereof so fetters and locks it within the mould that it cannot issue our or if it doe with extreame strugling rise through the pores of the same yet doth the colde presently starue the roote and make the stemme vtterly vnable to bring forth fruit or any profit at all so that except the toughnes be conuerted to a gentle loosenesse and easie diuiding of it selfe the coldnesse vnto warmth and the hard binding vnto a soft libertie there can be small hope of commoditie which this manner of dressing the earth bring◅ to passe◅ for the mixture of the sand takes away the toughnesse the Lime brings heate and the meanure comfort and libettie as for the hacking and cutting the earth that is to make all the rost simbolize and mixe together for as if any Physitian Apothecarie or Dispensatory if he make a medicine and cast his ingredians confusedly one vpon another without care of mixture melting or dissolution shall finde but a corrupt disorderly and ill compounded receit ' so he that dresseth and meanureth his ground and doth not by hacking plowing or some other husbandly course mixe the earth and the compasse perfectly well together shall seldome finde profit from his seede or finde any man of wit desirous to become his imitator Now I must confesse that some easie grounds of light and temperate nature will mixe very well and sufficiently by the helpe of the Plough onley but this barren hard earth of which I now write must only be broken by this violent and extreme labour or else there will neither be mould earth nor any other couerture for the seede but only foule great and disorderly clots and lumps through which the graine can neuer passe and that which lyeth vncouered will be made a prey to foule and other vermine which will howerly destroy it After you haue sowen and harrowed the ground you shall then see if there remaine any clots or hard lumps of earth vnbroken which the teeth of the Harrowes are not able to teare in pieces as it is very likely you shall perceiue many for these hard barren earthes which are ploughed vp in their greene swarthes are nothing neere so easily broken and brought to mould as are the mellow soft earths which haue beene formerly ploughed many times before because the hard and intricate rootes of the Grasse Mosse and other quick substances growing vpon the same doth binde and hold the mould so close and fast together besides the naturall strength and hardnesse of the earth that without much industrious and painefull labour it is impossible to bring it to that finenesse of mould which Art and good Husbandry requireth therefore as soone as you behold those clots and lumps to lye vndisseuered and vnbroken you shall forthwith take good strong clotting beetles or mauls made of hard and very sound wood according to this proportion of figure And with these maules or
euer it be whether Gorse Furres or Broome as close and neere vnto the ground as you can possibly and then making them vp into sheafes or bigge Faggots carry them home and stack them vp very dry so as no raine may enter or peirce into them for the smallest wet will rot and consume them to dirt and filthinesse which done you shall make Labourers with hacks picks and such like tooles to stub vp ail the rootes which you left in the ground euen to the very bottome of the same and these rootes you shall be very carefull to haue stubbed vp exceeding cleane by no meanes leauing so neere as you'can any part or parcell of the rootes behinde you then these rootes thus stubbed vp you shall diligently gather together into little heaps as bigge as moale-hils and place them vpon the ground a pretie distance one from another and so let them lye till the Sunne and Winde haue dryed them for it is to be intended that this labour must begin about the latter end of Aprill and beginning of May. Then so soone as you finde these rootes are thorowly dryed you shall pile them handsomely together laying them a little hollow one from another and then with a hack cut vp some of the same earth and therewithall couer all the rootes quite ouer only leauing a venthole at the top and on one side and so let the hils rest two or three daies till the earth be a little partcht and dried then take fier and some other light drie fuell which is apteft to blaze and with the same kindle euery hill not leauing them till you see them perfectly on fier which done let them burne both day and night till the substance being wholly consumed the fier goe out of it one selfe and this in some Countries is called the Burning of Baite Now assoone as the fier hath beene extinguished for two or three daies you shall then come and with shouels and beetles to breake the hard burnt earth in pieces you shall spread al the ashes clean ouer the ground which done you shall with a very strong Plow teare vp the earth into great and deepe furrowes and deuide into Lands as you shall thinke meete and conuenient laying them higher or flatter as you shall haue occasion and as the ground lyeth more or lesse within the danger of water whether it be the ouerflowing of some neere neighbouring Brooks or Riuers or else other standing water occasioned by raine and extraordinary showers which must be carefully lookt vnto because all ouerflowes and inundation of water is a mightie destroyer and consumer of graine but these barren grounds of which I now write are very seldome opprest with water for most commonly they lye so high that the continuall drienesse thereof is a strong occasion of the much vnfruitfulnesse After you haue thus burnt your baite and plowed vp your ground you shall then with your hacks hack it into small pieces in such manner as was declared in the former Chapter then you shall if the Sea be any thing neere you sand it with salt sand as beforesaid then lime it and after meanure it either with Oxe dung Horse dung rotten Straw mudde of Ponds and Ditches the spyteling of House-floores or sweepings of Channels and Streeres or such like or for want of all these in case you dwell neere vnto the Sea-coast where meanâ—… for the most part is in greatest scarcitie and the hardest to be come by you shall gather from the bottome of the Rocks where the seydge of the Sea continually beateth a certaine blacke weede whica they call Hemp weede hauing great broad leaues and growing in great abundance in thick tufts and hanging together like Pease-straw and with these weeds you shal couer your Lands all ouer of a prety good thicknesse and then forth with you shall plow it againe somewhat deeper and with somewhat greater furrowes then before raising vp the new quick earth to intermingle and mixe with those meanures and helpes which you had formerly prepared and laid vpon the ground then shall you againe hack it and harrow it then shall you take Pigeons dung or Pullens dung that is any kind of land foule whatsoeuer but by no meanes any water foule or Pigeons dung and Pullens dung mixt together and allowing to euery aker two or three bushels thereof which is the true quantitie of seede proportioned for the same and this dung being broken and masht into small peices you shall put into your Sydlop or Hopper and in the same manner as you sowe your Corne you shall sowe this dung vpon the ground and then immediatly after it you shall sowe your Wheate either steept in brine or salt Sea-water or vnsteept as you shall thinke good but in case you can neither get salt sand nor Sea-Rocke weedes then you shall by no meanes omit the steeping of your Seede neither shall you faile before you sowe your seede to mixe with your Pigeons and Pullens dung a full equall part of Bay salt well dryed and broken and so sowen with the dung vpon the land and then the seede after it which done you shall Harrow it againe clotit sleight it and smoth it in such sort as was formerly declared in the former Chapter for these labours haue no alterations but must in all points be done as was before set downe Now touching the weeding of this earth after the Corne beginneth to grow aboue the ground there is no feare to be had either of Thistles Tares Cockles Darnell Docks and such like strong weedes which indeed are the issues of good groundsill ordered and handled But the weeds which you shall most feare in this place is yong Gorse or Furs or else yong Broome which are very apt to grow from the leaft part or parcell of roots that shall be left behind nay the very nature of those barren earths is such that of the one accord it will bring forth those weedes the cold sharpnesse of the ayre mixing with the fterrility and roughnesse of the earth being the cause that it will giue life to no other better plants therefore so soone as you shall behold any of them to appeare aboue the earth though they be not halfe a singer high you shall presently with all diligence pull them vp by the rootes and cast them away or lay them in heapes that they may be afterwards burnt and the ashes sprinkled vpon the ground and heerein is to be obserued that the yonger and the sooner that you doe pull vp these weedes the better it is and the easilier they will come from the earth and the sooner be destroyed for all those mixtures where with already you haue beene taught to mixe your earth are in themselues such naturall enemies to all these kinde of barren weedes that should you omit the manuall labour of destroying them which no good husband willingly will do yet in time the earth of it selfe and
plow vp your ground in good large furrowes then hack it very small sand it limeit and meanure it and of all meanures there is not any better for this ground then Oxe dung and ashes well mixt together of which ashes those of Beane-straw Pease-straw or any other straw are best those of Wood or Ferne next those of Charcoale next those of Seacoale or pitcoale are the worst of all Swines dung is not much amisse for this ground for though it be a great breeder of weedes and thystles in good or fertile grounds yet in this cold hard and barren earth it worketh no such effect but is a great comforter and warme moistner of the same After you haue thus made your ground as soone as wheate seede-time cometh which is the latter end of September and beginning of October you shall then with great care plow ouer your ground againe and take great respect that you turne vp your furrowes much deeper then before and that for two especiall causes the first that the new earth may the better mixe with the old earth and those helpes which are added thereunto and secondly that yow may be surer to teare vp the rootes of all the Whinnes from the very bottome of the earth not suffring any part of them to remaine behinde and for this purpose it shall not be amisse to haue an idle Boy or two to follow your Plow and to gather away all the rootes that shall be torne vp or any way else left bare aboue ground which rootes shall be layd on heapes in conuenient places and then after burnt and the ashes thereofspread vpon the ground which will be a very great comfort vnto the seede being a speedy helpe vnto the sprouting thereof and a very warme comforter of the roote after the stemme is spindled aboue ground for in these cold barren earthes nothing doth so much spoile and flay the Corne as the dead coldnesse which lyeth at the roote thereof for in many of these vnfertill places you shall see Corne at the first sowing whilest there is a little strength in the ground sprout in great abundance promising much hope of the profit but when it should spindle and come to much better perfection that poore strength being spent and consumed and the cold and drinesse of the soile hauing as it were ourcome all matter of comfort then presently you shall sec the blade of the Corne turne yellow the stemme or stalke to wither and either put forth no eare at all or else a very poore little empty one being laden with nothing but a most dry chaffie huske without substance But to come againe to our purpose after you haue thus plowed vp your ground the second time you shall then hack it againe and harrow it as was declared in the other former Chapters then you shall take your seede-wheate which hath beene steept either in brine or Sea water and to enery bushell of that seede you shall adde a bushell of Bay salt and mixe them very well together in your Hopper or Sydlop and so sowe them together vpon the ground obseruing to double your casts so ost that you may not faile to cast that true quantitie of seede into the earth which otherwise you would haue done if so be there had beene no mixture at all for to doe otherwise were to deceiue the ground and a handfull of seede so saued would be the losse of a peck in the time of Haruest therefore haue great respect that your ground haue his due for it is no more cost though it be a little labour When your seede is sowen you shall harrow it againe the second time clot it smooth it and sleight it as was before declared in the former Chapters As touching the weeding of this ground it is the leaft labour of all other for the earth being so corrected as is before shewed it will naturally of it selfe put forth no weedes especially if you remember to plow it deepe and be sure to teare vp and gather away all the quick rootes otherwise if that labour be any thing neglected then will it put forth both Whinnes and great store of other rough weedes which as soone as you shall perceiue to appeare you shall presently with your woodden Nyppers pull them vp by the rootes as was at large declared in the fore-going Chapter Now for the generall profit of this ground thus made and prepared it is the same that the two former are that is to say it will beare you good and sufficient Wheate in plentifull abundance for the space of two or three years then Barley a yeare after then Oates three yeares together after the Barley and Pease or Beanes a yeare after the Oates then lastly very good Meadow or Pasture for the space of three or foure yeares after and then you shall begin and dresse it againe as was formerly declared and thus much touching the ordering plowing and sowing of all rough barren Clayes whether simple or compound being laden and ouer-rune with Whinnes and such like CHAP. V. Of the Ordering Tylling and Dressing of all barren Clayes whether simple or else compound which are ouer-runne with Lynge or Heath There followeth now successiuely another sort of barren Earth which indeede is much more sterryll and barren then any of the other formerly written vpon because they out of their owne natures doe beare a certaine kinde of grasse or foode which will relieue ordinary hard store-Cattel whether it be sheepe goats or yong beasts But this earth of which I am now to intreate beareth no grasse at all but only a vilde filthie black-browne weede which we call Lynge or Heath the tender tops whereof Cattell and wilde Deere will sometimes crop yet it is to them but little reliefe and only maintaineth life and no more Now al-be some may obiect vnto me that this kinde of soyle is euer a sandy soile and no Clay as may be seene in most Chasses Forrests and Downes yet I answere that al-be it hold so in generall yet there are diuers Clayes especially in mountainous Countries that are pestered with these kinde of weedes as may be seene in the North and North-West parts of Deuonshire in some parts of Cornewall and in many parts both of North and South Wales and these Clay grounds which are thus offended with these weedes of Lyng or Heath are much more barren and vnfruitfull then the sands because of their much more coldnesse yet those Clayes which are mixed with either blacke sand dun sande or yellow sand and ouerrunne thus with Heath or Lynge are the most barren of all to make any further discription of this Heath or Lyng being a thing so notoriously knowne ouer all this Kingdome I hold it meerely needlesse only to say it is a rough browne weedo shooting out abundance of stalkes from one roote with little darke leaues and flowers on the toppe of a pale reddish colour much inclyning vnto Peach colour at the first
but being full blowne they are then a little more whitish You therefore that haue any such ground and desier to bring it to fruitfulnesse and the bearing of good Corne and grasse in a reasonable abundance you shall first with sythes or sharpe hookes but old sythes are the better cut downe all the Heath or Lynge which groweth vpon the earth you intend to conuert to goodnesse so neere the ground as possibly you can then when it is cut downe which would euer be at the beginning of the Month of May you shall let it lye vpon the ground daily tossing and turning it till it become very dry then spreading it all ouer the ground and mixing or couering it with dry straw of any kinde whatsoeuer you shall presently set it on fier in so many seuerall corners of the field that all the seuerall fiers in the end may meete in one point and not leaue any part of the mowen Heath or Lyng vnburnt or any part of the ground vnscortched after this is done and the ground cooled you shall with your flat clotting beetles beate the ashes hard into the ground then you shall take a strong plow with a broad-winged share and an euen colture and you shall plow vp all this ground thus burnt in very large and deepe furrowes by no meanes picking out any of the quicke rootes which shall remaine in the furrowes so turned vp but letting them rest in the earth still then with your hacks and the help of your yron paring-shouell you shall cut vp the furrowes formerly turned vp into short pieces of three foote or three foote and a halfe long and some lesse as occasion shall serue then with these pieces you shall build little hollow hils such as in the former Chapter you made of the vpper swarth of the ground only and then filling the hollownesse with dry heath and dry straw mixt together you shall set euery hill on fier and so burne the very substance of the earth into ashes which will soone be done by reason of the infinite number of rootes and small strings which lie mixt in the earth and the drynesse thereof occasioned by the former burning And this is another kind of burning of Baite much different from all the former and yet to as great end and profit as any whatsoeuer and these hils must as the former be placed one as neere another as is possible so as they may spread and couer ouer the greatest part of the ground and leauiug no more then a good reasonable path to passe betweene hill and hill Now as soone as you haue thus burned all your Baite and that your hils are cold you shall then as was before shewed in the former Chapters with Betels and Shouels breake downe the hils and spread the earth and ashes ouer all the ground which done you shall sand it if the situation of the ground be answerable thereunto and lime it in such sort as was shewed in the second Chapter then when it is lymed and the lime equally spread not more in one place then in another you shall then meanure it with the best meanure you can prouide of which there is none better or more propper for this ground then mans ordure and the rubbish sweepings parings and spytlings of houses mixt together or for want of this because it may not be in so great plenty as other meanures you may take either old Oxe dung or Horse dung or for want of them the old rotten and mouldy staddels or bottomes of Corne-stacks or reedes especially Peasestacks or Beane-stacks prouided that it be thorowly rotten for the lesse rotten it is the worse it is Also the scowrings of common Sewers and especially those through which much of mans vrine doth passe is a most wonderfull and beneficiail meanure for these grounds so are also the scowâ—…ings of sinkes and channels which come from Kitchins and Wash-houses where great store of Brine and salt broth is shed and other greasy fat and putrified substances as also abundance of sope suddes and buck-ashes and other sope and lye washings then which there is no better meanure that can be vsed for these kinde of grounds After your ground is thus perfectly made and meanured and that Wheat-seede time doth draw on which as before was shewed is euer at the latter end of September you shall then plow vp your ground againe in that manner as was shewed for the former earths to wit much deeper then before for you are to vnderstand that this ground being drest as is before declared there will remaine nothing of the furrowes which were first plowed vp but the asâ—…s which being couered with sand lime and meanure the earth will lye plaine and leuell so that of necessitie you must raise vp new furrowes of new earth which being done you shall then with your hacks cut all the new earth into very small pieces mixing them well with the other mould made of sand lyme meanure and ashes then as was before said you shall harrow it to make the mixture so much the better and the mould so much the finer and then if it haue beene sanded you may sowe your Seede-Wheate simply of it selfe without any doubt of the plentifull increase thereof but if it haue not beene sanded then as in the fore going Chapter you shall not only steepe your Seede in Brine as before shewed but also you shall mixe your Seede with Bay-salt and so sowe it into the ground or if at the time of sowing after it is plowed hackt and harrowed youbestow or Pigeons dung or Pullens dung or sheepes dung vpon the Land it will be much better and the Corne will giue a much greater increase Now as soone as your Land is sowen you shall then forthwith harrow it againe and couer the Seede very close then you shall clot it smooth it and sleight it as was before shewed As touching the weeding and cleansing of this earth after the Corne is sprung vp you shall vnderstand that there is great care to be had thereunto for this ground is much subiect vnto weedes and those of the worst kinde fot although for the most part it will be free from all manner of soft and tender weedes as thy stels cockell darnell ketlocks docks rape and such like herball stuffe yet is it much subiect to twitch Bryars which grow at both ends lyng wilde time `and such like any of which as soone as you shall see appeare or peepe aboue the earth you shall presently with your Nippers pull them vp by the rootes and not suffer them in any wise to looke a handfull aboue the ground for if you doe their hardnesse is so great and their rootes so large and fast fixt in the mould that you can by no meanes pull them away without great losse and hurt to the graine pulling vp with them all such rootes of Corne as shall be fixed neere about them for any other weake and superfluous things
which shall grow from the Land you may with ordinary weeding hooks cut them away as for long grasse whether it be soft or segy or any other such like stuffe you shall not stirre it but let it grow for it keepeth warme the roots of your Corne and giueth nourishment and increase thereunto Now for the profit of this soyle thus ordered and husbanded it is equall with any of the former and will beare Wheate very plentifully for the space of the three first yeares good Barley the fourth yeare with the helpe of the sheepe folde as was before said and good Oates the sift sixt and seuenth yeares and very good small Pease the eight yeare for Beanes this Soyle will very hardly beare at all and the ninth tenth and eleuenth yeare it will beare very good meadow though not altogether very fine pure grasse yet very good feeding and wholesome grasse or so good pasture as a man can reasonably require for any holding Cattell whatsoeuer nay it will also indifferently well feede and fat Cattell though peraduenture it requireth a little longer time then other finer grounds will And thus much touching the well Ordering Plowing and Sowing of all barren Clayes whether simple or compound which are ouer-runne with Lyng or Heath CHAP. VI. Of the Ordering Tylling and Dressing of all plaine simple barren Sands bearing nothing but a short mossie grasse HAuing thus in as large manner as I hope shall be needfull for any iudiciall or indifferent Reader written of the Natures Orderings Plowings and Dressings of all manner of barren and vnfruitfull Clayes whether they be simple of them selues or else compounded with other earthes as sands chalkes grauels and such like shewing by those naturall burthens which continually of their own accords they produce bring forth which indeed is the easiest and safest way of knowledge how to amend and better them and bring them to that perfection of fruitfulnesse that the best earth shall but in a very small degree exceede them nay hardly any thing at all except in the sauing of a little charge and some labour without which nothing is to be obtained by the Husbandman neither ought we indeed to expect any thing without our industry since the Highest hath said him selfe that we shall eate the sweat of our Labours neither is this charge or labour thus bestowed on these barren grounds to be grutcht at by any honest minde since the worst crop of tenne or eleuen will make good his charge and toile with a reasonable interest so that I make account nine or tenne yeares profits come into his Barnes without purchase for it is to be intended that all these earths formerly spoke of are not to be drest or to put the Husbandman to any charge more then the first yeare of tenne or eleuen for the second yeare he shall assoone as he hath gathered his Wheate off which will be in August and finisht other parts of his haruest he shall presently put his Plow into the same Wheate-ground againe and Plow it vp hack it harrow it sowe it herrow it againe clot it and weede it as in the former yeare and so consequently of all the yeares following whereby you perceiue that all labours and charges are saued more then once plowing and sowing This then considered it necessarily now followeth that I speake of the bettering and bringing into perfection of all manner of barren Sand-grounds being simple of themselues without any mixture of other earths except one and the same kind as sand with sand though peraduenture the colours of the sands may alter as red with white yellow with blacke c. which in as much as the whole substance is sand without any contrary mixture therefore it may well be called simple and not compound and of these sands I purpose to intreate as formerly I did of the Clayes that is to say by their outward faces and Charracters which are those burthens and increases which of their owne propper natures without any help or compulsion they produce and bring forth into the World And first of that naughtie cold and barren sand which lying vpon high stony mountainous Rocky places or else vpon lower cold bleak Plaines subiect to the North and North-East windes and tempests or bordering vpon the Seas doth not bring forth any thing but a short mossie grasse which the Sunne makes bitter and the cold dewes fulsome vnsauorie in taste If any man then be Master of such vnprofitable and vnfruitfull earth and desire to haue it brought to goodnesse and perfection he shall First at the beginning of the Spring as about midd Aprill or earlyer with a strong Plow answerable to the soyle yet somewhat lesse both in timbers and yrons then that wherewith you plow your Clay grounds you shall Plow so much of that earth vp as you may conueniently compasse to sowe and dresse exactly and perfectly for to vndertake more were to make all vnprofitable and to cast away much labour and charge without any profit this ground you shall plow of an indifferent depth though not so deepe as the Clayes and you shall lay the furrowes though flat yet close one one to another without leauing any balke betweene but plowing all very cleane yet not so very cleane and close together that you may lay the greene swarth to the new plowed or quick earth but rather turne one swarth against another so as the furrowes may lye and no more but touch the edges one of another This when you haue done you shall then with your hacks cut and breake all the earth so turned vp into very small peices and not only the earth so turned vp but also all other greene swarth which was left vnplowed prouided that before this labour of hacking you let the ground lye certaine daies in the furrowes that one swarth heating and scalding the other they may both equally rot and grow mellow together which once perceiued by the blacknesse thereof you may then at your pleasure hack it and cut it as is before declared Now some may in this place obiect vnto me that this labour of hacking should be needlesse in as much as all sand grounds whatsoeuer are out of their owne natures so light loose and willing to disseuer that this toile might very well and to good purpose be saued To this I answere that true it is most sands in their owne natures are loose and light and willing to disseuer into fine mold without any extremity especially rich and fruitfull sands whose predominant qualitie of warmth giueth nourishment and increase but these barren and cold sands in which is a certaine flegmatique toughnesse and most vnwholesome drynesse are of a cleane contrary nature and through the stony hardnesse thereof they are as vnapt to break and disseuer as any Clay whatsoeuer besides the swarth being of a tough mossie substance which euer carryeth a hard strong roote answerable with the cold in which it is ingendred doth
there may grow amongst these which are also to be cut away but these are the principall and of most note wherefore as soone as you haue clensed your lands of these and the reft you shall then referre the further increase of your profit vnto Gods prouidence thankfully accepting whatsoeuer he shall send you Lastly you shall vnderstand that this ground being thus plowed dreft and ordered will without any more dressing but once plowing and sowing euery yeare beare you good Wheate or good Rye three yeares together then good Barley the fourth yeare good Oates the fift sixt and seuenth yeare excellent good Lupins the eight yeare and very good Meadow or Pasture three or foure yeares after and then it shall be necessary to dresse it againe in such manner as was before described And thus much touching the plowing ordering and inriching of all these plaine barren sands CHAP. VII Of the plowing Tylling Ordering and Inriching of all barren Sands which are laden and ouer-runne with Braken Ferne or Heath NExt vnto this plaine cold barren Sand which beareth no other burthen but a short mossie grasse I will place that Sand which is laden and ouer runne with Braken Ferne or Heath as being by many degrees more barren then the former both in respect that it is more loose and lesse substantiall as also in that it is more dry and harsh and altogether without nutriment more then an extroame sterryll coldnesse as appeareth by the burthen it bringeth forth which is Braken or Ferne a hard rough tough weede good for nothing but to burne or else to lytter store-beasts with for the breeding of meanure or if you strow it in the High-waies where many Trauellers passe it will also thereturne to good reasonable compasse Of this kinde of ground if you be Master and would reduce it vnto fertilitie and goodnesse you shall first whether the Braken be tall and high as I haue seene some as high as a Man on Horse-back or short and low as indeed most commonly these barren earths are for tall Ferne or Braken â—…hewes some strength in the ground you shall with Sythes first mowe it downe in the Month of May then wither and dryeit vpon the ground and after spread it as thinne as you can ouer all the earth you intend to plow which done you shall bring your plow and begin to plow the ground after this order first you shall turne vp your furrow and lay it flat to the ground greene-swarth against greene-swarth then looke how broad your furrow is so turned vp or the ground it couereth and â—…st so much ground you shall leaue vnplowed betweene furrow and furrow so that your land may lye a furrow and a greene balke a furrow and a greene balke till you haue gone ouer all the ground then shal you take a paring-shouell of yron and pare vp the green-swarth of all the balkes between the furrowes at least two inches thick and into pieces of two or three foote long and with these pieces of earth and the drye Ferne which is pared vp with them you shall make little round hollow Baite hils as in the third and fourth Chapter and these hils shall be set thick and close ouer all the ground and so set on fier and burnt then when the fier is extinct and the hils cold you shall first with your hacks cut in pieces all the furrowes that were formerly turned vp and then breake downe the burnt hils and mixe the ashes and earth with the other mould very well together which done you shall then with all speede marle this earth as sufficiently as possible may be not scanting it or sparing it of Marle but bestowing it very plentifully vpon the same which done you shall then plow it ouer againe and plowing it excedingly well not leauing any ground whatsoeuer vntorne vp with the Plow for you shall vnderstand that the reason of leauing the former balkes was that at this second plowing after the Marle was spread vpon the ground the new quick and vnstirred fresh earth might as well be stirred vp to mixe with the Marle as the other dead earth and ashes formerly receaued whereby a fresh comfort should be brought to the ground and an equall mixture without too much drynesse and this second Ardor or plowing would begin about the latter ende of Iune After your ground hath beene thus marled and the second time plowed you shall then sand it with salt Sea-sand lime it and meanure it as was declared in the foregoing Chapter and of all meanures for this soile there is not any so exceeding good as sheepes meanure which although of the Husbandman it be esteemed a meanure but of one yeare yet by experience in this ground it hapneth otherwise and is as durable and as long lasting a compasse as any that can be vsed and besides it is a great destroyer of thystles to which this ground is very much subiect because vpon the alteration of the ground the Ferne is also naturally apt to alter vnto Thystell as we daily see When your ground is thus amply drest and well ordered and that Seede-time commeth on you shall then plow it againe in such manner as you did the second time that is to say very deepe cleane and after the manner of good Husbandry without any rest balkes or other disorders then shall you hack it very well then harrow it and then sowe it but by mine aduice in any case I would not haue you to bestow any Wheate vpon this soyle except it be two or three bushels on the best part thereof for experience sake or prouision for your houshold for it is a great enemy vnto Wheate and more then the marle hath no nourishment in it for the same because all that commeth from the salt sand lime and meanure it little enough to take away the naturall sterrilitie of the earth it selfe and giue it strength to beare Rye which it will doe very plentifully and therefore I would wish you for the three first yeares only to sowe the best Rye you can get into this ground the fourth yeare to sowe Barley the sift sixt and seuenth Oates and of Oates the bigge blacke Oate is the best for this ground maketh the best and kindlyest Oat-malt and feedeth Horse or Cattell the soundest as also it is of the hardest constitution and endureth either cold or drynesse much better then either the white Oate the cut Oate or any Oate whatsoeuer the eight yeare you shall only sowe Lupyns or Fetches and three yeares after you shall let it lye for grasse and then dresse it againe as before said for it is to be vnderstood that in all the following yeares after the first yeare you shall bestow no labour vpon this ground more then plowing sowing hacking and harrowing at Seede-time only But to proccede to the orderly labour of this ground after you haue sowen your Rye you shall then harrow it againe clot it
smooth it and sleight it as was before shewed in the second Chapter of this Booke And although a man would imagine that the sandy loosenesse of this soyle would not neede much clotting or sleighting of the Earth yet by reason of the mixture thereof with the Marle and meanure it will so hold and cleaue together that it will aske good strong labour to loosen it and lay it so hollow and smooth as in right it should be Touching the Weedes which are most subiect to this Soyle they are Thystles and yong Brakes or Fernes which will grow vp within the Corne which before they rise so high as the Corne and euen as it were at the first appearing you must with your woodden Nyppers pull vp by the rootes and after rake vp and lay in some conuenient place where they may wither and rot and so turne to good meanure And thus much touching the ordering dressing plowing and inriching of all barren Sands which are ouer-runne with Braken Ferne or Heath CHAP. VIII Of the Plowing Tilling ordering and inriching of all barraine Sands which are laden and ouer-runne with Twitch or wilde Bryar HAuing written fufficiently of this hard barraine waste wilde sandy ground which is ouer-run with Braken Ferne Heath such like I wil now proceed and vnto it ioyne another sand which is much more barren and that is the sand that bringeth forth nothing but wilde Twitch Bryars Thorn-bush and such like vndergrowth of yong misliking wood which neuer would rise or come to profit the bitter cold drinesse of the earth wherein it groweth and the sharpe stormes to which the clime is continually subiect both day and night blasting it in such manner that nothing appeareth but a starued withered and vtterly vnprofitable burthens good for nothing but the fire and that in a very simple sort Such ground if you be master of and would reduce it to profit and fruitfulnesse you shall first with hookes or axes cut vp the vpper growth thereof that is the bushes yong trees and such like then you shall also stubbe vp the rootes not leauing any part of them behind in the earth carrying away both home to your house to be imploide either for fewel or the mending of the hedges or such like as you shall haue occasion this done you shall take a paire of strong Iron harrowes and with them you shall harrow ouer all the earth tearing vp all the Twitch Bryars and rough Grasse so by the rootes that not any part but the bare earth may be seenâ—… and when your barrowes are cloyed you shall vulade them in seuerall places of the ground laying all such rubbish of weedes and other stuffe which the harrowes shall gather vp in a little round hill closse vp together that they may sweat wither and dry then spreading them abroad and mixing them well with dry straw burne them all ouer the ground leauing no part of the weeds or Grasse vnconsumed then without beating in of the ashes you shall presently plow the ground all ouer very cleane as may be laying the furrowes as close as you can one to another and leauing no earth vntoucht or vntorne vp with the Plow which done you shall immediately hacke it into small peeces and as you hacke it you shall haue idle Boyes to goe by the Hackers to gather away all the roots which they shall loosen or breake from the mould and laying them on heapes in the worst part of the ground they shall there burne them and spread the ashes thereon after your ground is thus harrowed plowed and hackt you shall then mucke it as was formerly shewed in the sixt Chapter then shall you sand it lyme it and manure it as before said Now of meanures which are most proper for this soyle you shall vnderstand that either Oxe or Horse meanure rotten straw or the scouring of Yards is very good prouided that with any of these meanures or all these meanures you mix the broad-leaued weeds and other greene-weeds which grow in Ditches Brooks Ponds or Lakes vnder Willow tree which with an yron Rake Drag or such likeinstrument you may easily draw vpon the banke and so carry it to your land and there mingle it with the other meanures so let it rot in the ground this meanure thus mixed is of all other most excellent for this soile both by the experience of the Ancients who haue left it vnto memory as also by daily practise now vsed in sundry parts of this kingdome aswell because of the temperat coolenes thereof which in a kindly manner asswageth the lime and sand as also through the moysture which distilling through those warme Soiles doth quicken the colde starued earth and giueth a wonderfull increase to the seede that shall be throwne into the same After your ground is thus sufficiently drest with these soiles and meanures you shal then plow it againe the second time which would bee after Michaelmas after the plowing you shall then hack it againe and be sure to mixe the earth and the meanures very well together then you shall breake it in gentle manner with your Harrowes and then sowe it which done you shall harrow it againe but then you shall harrow it much more painefully and not leaue any clots or hard earth vnbroken that the Harrow can pull in pieces as touching the seede which is fittest for this earth it is the same that is spoken of in the next foregoing Chapter as namely the best Rye or the best Masline which is Rye and Wheate equally mixt together or if there bee two parts Rye and but one Wheate the seede will bee so much the more certaine and surer holding and this seede you may sowe on this ground three yeares together then Barley then Oates and so foorth as is formerly writ of the grounds forgoing After your ground is sowne and harrowed you shall then clotte it sleight it and smooth it as you did the other groundes before and then lastly with your backe Harrowes that is with a paire of harrowes the teeth turned vpward from the ground and the backe of the harrow next vnto the ground you shall runne ouer all the ground and gather from the same all the loose Grasse Twitch or other weeds that shall any wayes be raised vp and the same so gathered you shall lay at the lands end in heapes either to rot for meanure or else at the time of the yeere to be burnt for ashes and sprinkled on the earth the next seed time Lastly touching the weeding of this soyle you shall vnderstand the weeds which are most incident thereunto are all the same you first went about to destroy as namely Twich rough wilde Grasse and yong woody vndergrowth besides Thistles Hare bottles and Gipsie flowers therefore you shall haue a great care at the first appearance or springing vp of the Corne to see what weeds ariseth with it for these weeds are euerfully as hasty as the Corne
and assoone as you see them appeare both your selfe and your people with your hands shall pull them vp by the roots and so weed your land as you would weed a garden or Woad ground Now if at this first weeding which will be at the latter Spring commonly called Michaelmas or the Winter Spring you happen to omit let some weeds passe your hands vnpulled vp which very well may chance in so great a work you â—…hal then the Sommer Spring next following seeing them as hie or peraduenture hier then the Corne with your wooden nippers pull them vp by the roots from the ground and so cast them away As touching the cutting them vp close by the ground with ordinary weedhookes I doe in no sort allow it for these kinde of weeds are so apt to grow and also so swift in growth that if you cut them neuer so close in the Spring yet they will againe ouermount the Corne before haruest and by reason of their greatnesse roughnesse and much hardnesse choake and slay much Corne that shall grow about them and therefore by all meanes you shall pull these weeds vp by the roots whilst they are tender if possibly you can or otherwise in their stronger growth sith their sufferance breedeth great losse and distruction And thus much touching the plowing ordering dressing and inriching of all barraine sands that are laden and ouer-runne with Twitch wilde Bryar or woody vndergrowth CHAP. IX Of the Plowing Tilling Ordering and Inriching of all barren Sands which are ouer-runne with mores or morish stinking long Grasse VNto these fore-going barren Sands of which I haue already written I will lastly ioyne this last barren Sand being of all earthes whether Clay or Sand the most barrenest and that is that filthy blacke morish Sand which beareth nothing but a stinking putrified Grasse or Mosse or Mosse and Grasse mixed together to which not any Beast or Cattell how course or hardly bred soeuer will at any time lay their mouthes and this kinde of ground also is very much subiect to marrishes and quagmires of which that which is couered with Mosse or Grasse is the worst and that which is tufted aboue with rushes the best and soonest reduced vnto goodnesse in briefe all these kinds of grounds generally are extremely moyste and colde the â—…uperabundance whereof is the occasion of the infinite sterrillity and barrennesse of the same And therefore hee that is master of such vnprofitable Earth and would haue it brought to some profit or goodnesse shall first consider the situation of the ground as whether it lye high or low for some of these marrish groundes lie low in the Valles some on the sides of Hilles and some on the tops of Mountaines then whether the much moystnesse thereof bee fedde by Riuer Lake or Spring whose veines not hauing currant passage through or vpon the earth spreads soakingly ouer all the face thereof and so rotting the mould with too much wette makes it not onely vnpassable but also vtterly vnprofitable for any good burthen Now if you finde that this marrish Earth lie in the bottome of low vales as it were girdled about with Hilles or higher grounds so that besides the feeding of certaine Springs Lakes or Riuers euery shower of raine or falling of water from higher grounds bringeth to these an extraordinary moysture to maintaine the rottennesse in this case this ground is past cure for grasse or Corne and would onely bee conuerted and made into a fish-pond for the breeding and feeding of Fish being a thing no lesse profitable to the Husband-man for keeping his house and furnishing the market then the best corne-land hee hath and therefore when hee maketh any such pond hee shall first rayse vp the head thereof in the narrowest part of the ground and this head by driuing in of stackes and piles of tough and hard wood as Elme Oake and such like and by ramming in of the Earth hard betweene them and sodding the same so fast that the mould can by no meanes be worne downe or vndermined with the water hee shall bring to as firme Earth as is possible and in the midst of this head he shall place a sluce or Flood-gate made of sound and cleane Oake Timber and plankes through which at any time to draine the Pond when occasion shall serue and this done you shall digge the Ponde of such depth as the Earth conueniently will beare and casting the Earth vpon either side you shall make the bankes as large and strong as the grounde requireth then if any Spring which did before feed the Earth bee left out of the compasse of the Pond because it lieth too high to be brought in then shall you by drawing gutters or draynes from the Spring downe to the Pond bring all the water of the Springs into the Pond and so continually feed it with fresh and sweet water Then storing it with Fish of best esteeme as Carpe Tench Breame Pearch and such like and keeping it from weeds â—…he and Vermine there is no doubt of the daily proffit But if this marrish and low Ground though it lie low and haue many Springs falling vpon it yet it lyeth not so extreame lowe but that there is some Riuer or dry Ditches bordering vppon it which lie in a little lower diffent so that except in case of inundation the Riuer and Ditches are free from the moysture of this Ground but where there is any ouer-slowing of waters there this marrish Grounde must needes be drowned in this case this ground can hardly be made for corne because euery ouerflow putteth the Graine in danger yet may it be well conuerted to excellent pasture or medow by finding out the heads of the Springs and by opening and cleansing them and then drawing from those cleansed heads narrow draines or furrows through which the waters may passe to the neighbour ditches and so be conueied downe to the lower Riuers leauing all the rest of the ground dry and suffering no moistures to passe but what goeth through these small deepe channels then as soone as Sommer commeth and the ground begins to harden ifyou see any of the water stand in any part of the ground you shall forth with mend the draine and helpe the water to passe away which done as the ground hardeneth you shall with hacks and spades lay the swarth smooth and plaine and as early in the yeere as you can conueniently you shall sow vpon the ground good store of hay seeds and if also you doe meanure it with the rotten staddels or bottomes of haystacks it will be much the better and this staddell you shall not spread very thicke but rather of a reasonable thinnesse that it may the sooner rot and consume vpon the same But if this marrish and filthy ground doe not lie so low as these low valleyes but rather against the tops of hils you shall then first open the heads of all the Springs you can find and by
grow were it not deuoured and eaten vp by these Snailes and such like vermine as so one as it begins to peepe vp or as it were but to open the earth whereby it is driuen backe and forced to dye in the earth for these creatures sucking vpon the tender sweetnesse deprine it both of life and nourishment The cure and preuention for this euillis to take the soot of a Chimney and after your Corne hath been sowne a weeke or ten dayes or within two or three dayes after the first shower of raine which shall fall after the Corne is sowne you shall sow this soot of the Chimney thinIy ouer the land and not a Snayle will indure to come thereon Others vse especially in France and those more fertill Countres to take common Oyle lees and after the Corne hath beene sowne and is ready to appeare aboue ground to sprinkle it all ouer the Lands by which meanes no Snaile or such like creature will indure to come neere the same The next great destroyer of Corne is accounted the Grashopper and he also destroyeth it after it is sprouted appeareth aboue the ground as the Snaile doth but somewhat more greedily for he not onely feedeth on the tender white strings bâ—…t vpon the first greene leaues that appeare also by which meanes the Corne is not able to spring or bring foorth a steme or stalke to beare the eare vpon or ifit doe put forth any yet it it is so small weake and wretched that the eare growing on the same is withered and leane and the graine dry and blasted and no better then chaffe nor is there any Corne that scapeth the destruction of the Grashoper for he generally seedeth on all first on Wheate and Rye because they are the earliest then on Barley and Oates and lastly on Pulse vppon whose leafe and blossom he feedeth whilst the first is sweet and pleasant or the other greene Now the cure or preuention for these Creatures is according to the opinion of some Husband-men to take Wormewood and boyle it well in water 'till the strength of the Wormwood be gone thereinto and then with that water in the month of May to sprinckell all your Corne ouer when the Sunne is rising or setting and not any Grashopper will come neare or anoy the same Others vse in steed of wormwood to boyle Century and to vse the water thereof in the same manner as afore said and findean equall and like proffit in the same but it is most certaine that any bitter decoction whatsoeuer vsed and applyed as aforesaid will not leaue one Grashopper about your fieldes for any bitternesse is such an enemie vnto them that they cannot liue where they feele any taste thereof The last offence of liuing Creatures belonging to Corne or Graine are Moales which not onely feed vpon it after it is sprouted and spindled by eating vp the roots thereof and so consequently by killing the whole Corne but also by their digging and vndermining of the earth doe not root vp the Corne and destroy it in most wonderfull manner for where they make their haunts or are suffered to digge there they will destroy almost halfe an acre in a day neither make they choice either of ground or Grain for all grounds and all Graines are alike if the ground be not too wet or subiect to inundation or ouerflowes as for the most part Corne grounds are not for aboue all things moales cannot indure wet ground or earth of too moyst quality Now the best cure or preuention against these creatures is to find out their trenches and passages which are most plaine and casie to be knowne by the turning vp of the new earth and digging crosse holes in the same to watch either the going forth or the comming backe of the Moale and when you see her cast to strike her with an yron forke made of many graines as eight or fixe at the least and so to kill and destroy them which still is so generally knowne amongst Husbandmen that it is become a trade and occupation amongst them so that it needs no further description the rather in as much as for iii. d. or iiii d. a score you may haue any ground cleansed of Moales whatsoeuer Now there be some others which haue not this art of killing or catching of Moales which onely doe take brimstone and wet stinking straw or any thing els that will make a stinking smoake and putting fire thereto smoake all the places of their haunts and by that meanes driue them all cleane away from the Corne lands many otherpractices they haue but none so good certaine and probable as these already declared Thus far I haue spoken of those offences which proceed from liuing creatures I will now intreat of these which come and grow from the influence of the heauens being malignant vapours which striking into the erathdo alter the sweet pleasant nourishment therof and change in into bitternesse and rottennesse whereby the Corne is either ssaine outright withered and made leane and vnkindly or else the kernell turned to a filthy blacknesse being bitter dry and dusty like vnto smoake which the Husbandman calleth smuttines or mildewing and yet this smuttinesse or mildewing commeth another way as namely by ouerrankenesse or to much fatnesse of the earth and this hapneth most commonly only to wheat for if blacknes happen to any other graine it commeth of blastings or other malice of the starres for ranknesse of the ground in Barley Rye or Oates onely makes them lye flat to the ground the stalke not being able to support the multiplicity of the eares and so by that means the grain wanting his true nourishment growes light withered and of no validity now that this is most easie to be found out the ranknes of the growing corne rising as it were in close bundles together and the deepe blacknesse of the greene blades will with small trauell shew you This to cure and preuent it shall be good before you sow your Graine to sow your land lightly ouer with fine chalke for that will abate his ouer-ranknesse To proceed then to the other imperfections which doe happen from the skies I hold haile in the formost ranke which with his violence beateth downe the Corne flat to the ground and bruiseth the reede so in pieces that the Corne not able to rise vp againe there lyes and rotteth or else withereth to nothing The cure and preuention of this euill according to the opinion of the French Husbandmen is to take the white Vine and to plant it in diuers parts of your Corne-fields and it will deffend the Graine from this annoyance of haile or if your soyle be such as the white vine will not grow therein if then you take but branches therof and strike them in diuers parts of your lands it is thought that no haile will at any time do offence to your corne Others vse to take
other places Againe I haue for mine owne part seene in the Ilands of the Axores which lie lowest from Spain and it is a great practisealso in Spaine certaine very great and large caues or pits made vnder the earth of the fashion of a Spanish earthen Iarre that is to say great and spacious in the midst and narrow both at the top and bottome like a brasse pot or great glasse viall and made as smooth within as may be in these caues or pits they first lay chasse and then their thrasht wheat filling it vp full to the top or within a handfull thereof which they fill againe with chaffe and then closing the top with a broad stone they couer it ouer with earth so close and vnperceiueable that you may walke or trauell ouer it without any suspition and for mine owne part I haue my selfe digged vp many of these pits and found great store of wheate both in the high wayes and other most in suspicious places and surely it is thought and experience in those places makes it good that in these caues or pits you may keep wheat as long if you please as Plinie speaketh of which is an hundred or an hundred and twenty yeares without hurt or putrefaction either of heate moysture wormes weauels or any other vermine whatsoeuer which consumeth or deuoureth Corne yet how I may recommend this experiment to our nation I am vncertaine because the much moysture of our climat and the cold rawnesse thereof promisseth a contrary effect for the great enemies vnto graine are violent cold and moysture and with vs it is very difficult to make any cauerns vnder the earth but they must bee subiect vnto both therefore onely to those which liue in hot sandy countreys high and free from springs or waters or in dry and rocky grounds where these mines or hollow places may be hewed out as in a maine and firme quarry I recommend the tryall of this practise with this assurance that where the ground is fit for this purpose as in any of your sand grounds or grauelly earthes as in Norfolke Middlesexe Kent and many other sandy climats or in rocky situations as in Nottingham Bathe Bristol and such like you may keep your wheat good sound firme and free from all annoyances euen as long as you shall please to keep it both without putrifaction in it self or waste made by other deuoring worms vermin but if in a more moyst place as in a clay or other mixt earth which euer is vomiting wet and dewish humours you are forced to approue this experiment then you must necessarily lime all your caue or hallow mine within at least halfe a foot thicke with tyle shred and plaster laid wall-like together and then the plaster dawbde at least three fingers thicke aboue all and so you may keepe your corne as safe and as sound as in any hot soile whatsoeuer but without it your corne will not indure a weeke without rottennesse faughtinesse mouldinesse and stinking To conclude hauing shewed you all the most approued best experiments for the keeping and preferuing of wheat there is not any better or so good as this last poore silly plaine one which I will heare deliuer that is first as neere as you can reape your wheat at the change of the Moone for wheat which is so reaped is sedome or neuer subiect to losse or putrifaction being gotten dry and in husbandly maner ordred handled because that celestial body hath such a power and influence in the growth of corne and seeds that as she groweth so they grow and as she waneth so they abate and wither and truely for mine owne part in my poore husbandry I haue made this obseruation that I haue reaped corne at the beginning of the wane to mine eye and iudgement great full and bold as the Plowman cals it and within few dayes after when it came to thrashing I haue found it most poore hungry and small Corne noâ—… could giue or find any other reason for the sam but that it was reaped in an ill and most vnseasonable time for on the contrary part I haue euer found tha Corne reaped vpon the change being ripe full and euery way fit for the barne and the weather faire and dry aboue head it hath neuer altered but kept his first and perfit goodnes so that I cannot chuse but in this case thinke the obseruation of the Moone to be a thing of great effect and validity appointed by God as a secondary meanes for our helpe and profit when therefore your Corne is thus seasonably and well got you shall thrash it window it and dresse it so cleane as you can then carry it vp into your chambers or lofts appointed for that purpose and whose floores by all meanes I would wish to be cast of the best plaster for boards are too hot and clay is to apt to breed vermine On this plaster floore you shall spread your wheat not aboue a foot dâ—…pe at the vttermost and so let it lie obseruing once in foure or fiue dayes at the most with a large wooden shouell to turne the wheat quite ouer and ouer and thus doing you shall be sure to keepe it as sweet found and good as when it came first into the barne for neither can the heat sweat nor coldnesse offend it the first being cooled and tempered by the opening and dipersing the second dryed vp by the ayre which hath free recourse into it and the last comforted by the labour and tossing of the shouell casting it vp and downe from one place to another and though some curious husbands may obiect that this maner of keeping Corn dryeth it somwhat too much and thereby disableth it for some particular purposes as for seed and such like yet in that they are much mistaken for this stirring and moouing of graine is not a drying of it but rather a great comforter and strengthener of it dispersing backe into the Corne those wholesome vapours which should doe it good by way of communication and fellowship with the Graine and expelling those ill humours which sweating out of it would otherwise confound and hurt it so that in conclusion for the true and long keeping of wheat sweet sound and perfit without losse or corruption there is no way more safe or easie then this last expressed being of all other the best although in shew it appeare sleight and triuiall as for the most part things of greatest moment in this nature doe but to the iudiciall Husbandman I referrc it whose ayme is at the worth and substance not at the words and curious glosse set foorth in strange ingredians Touching the keeping of Rye or Massine or as some call it Munck-corne or Blend-corne being part Rye and part Wheate mixed together that which preserueth Wheat will also preserue it for they are Graine of like nature onely the Rye is somewhat hotter and dryer and therefore will endure somewhat more moysture