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 〈◊〉 broad betwixt the browes a blacke eye and geat hornes not turning in one 〈◊〉 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 〈◊〉 and sniuelly little and black lips her haire glistering and thick set her legges 〈◊〉 her thighes grosse and thicke and her necke long and grosse her backe large and broad her tayle long euen to the heele her hooâ—es 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 〈◊〉 leaues or in the leaues of Colewort and applyed in forme of a Cataplasme 〈◊〉 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 swâ—lling of the Cods applyed very hot vpon the plâ—ces troubled with the Dropsie it cureth them throughly and applyed vnto any place stung by Bees Waspes and Horneâ—s 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 fiâ—st milke to giue it 〈◊〉 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 turâ—â— 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 â—unneth 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 thickâ—â— 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 â—hat the milke is drawne from the Cow and cooled a little and with this Creame to â—ake Creame-cheeâ—e ordinarily accustomed to be sold in Summer to be vsed at 〈◊〉 of smaller account or in the end of dinner and supper The Italians with â—uch Creame-cheese or Paâ—misan 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 â—haue 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 Flâ—nders 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
the other for hastâ—e Pease Beanes and such like being right necessarie 〈◊〉 your household vse yet notwithstanding you may sow anie of those seeds abroad 〈◊〉 your Fields or manie other remote Croft or Close well tilled for the purpose 〈◊〉 fully as much profit conueniencie especially your Hempe and Flax for you 〈◊〉 vnderstand that there be some Soyles so rich and fat that after you haue 〈◊〉 Wheat Barly and Pease successiuely yeare after yeare that then in stead of fallowing and giuing your land rest you may that yeare sow a full crop of Hempe whicâ— â—estroying the weeds and superfluous growths which spring from the fertilenesse of â—â—e Soyles makes your land apt and readie to receiue either Wheat or Barly againe â—nd so you neuer loose anie Crop at all bue haue euerie yeare something to reape â—â—om your ground whereas should you let it rest and bestow meaâ—ure vpon it as 〈◊〉 case of more barren earth you would so much ouer-rich it that it would either â—â—ildewe and spoyle your Graine or else choake and slay it with the aboundance of Weeds which the earth would vtter forth of it owne accord Againe if your land â—e with your neighbours in common amongst the generall Fields here a land and â—ere a land or here two and three and there two and three as it is a generall custome 〈◊〉 diuers places and that such lands doe butt vpon greene Swarthe or Grasse-â—rounds which are likewise common and on which both your selfe and your neighâ—ours must necessarily teather your Cattell which Cattell if at anie time they breake â—ose or by the negligence of their Keepers be stalld too neere the Corne may doe â—ou much hurt on your Graine in this case and to preâ—ient this euill you shall sow â—â—e ends of all such lands as butt on the grasse tenne or twelue foot in length as your and may conueniently spare with Hempe for vpon it no Cattell will bite so that â—n either of these cases aforesaid you shall not need much to respect the preseruation â—f your Hempe or Flax Garden The Inclosures of the Gardens must be such as the commoditie and necessitie of the place doth require that is to say of Walls if the reuenues of the House will beare it or of a strong and thicke Quick-set Hedge if there want either Pit-â—tone or reuenues to build the wall withall Notwithstanding it is least cost to speake the truth and more profit to inclose and compasse them in with a Quick-set Hedge than with a Wall for the Quick-set Hedge doth endure a longer time and asketh not so great charges neither to trimme it nor to repaire it as the Wall doth Such a one is that which is made of Brambles and Thornes as white Thorne or with the plants of Elder tree or other plants with tufted flowers mingled and set amongst the Brambles the same being cut by the taile and made plaine and euen when the time of the yeare serueth as wee see here in manie places of France Some there be that compasse and inclose their Gardens with Ditches and Banks but small to their profit seeing the moisture of their Gardens which should serue them is thereby conueyed away and taken from them and this holdeth in all other cases but where the ground is of the nature of Marishes The common inclosing vsed by Countrey men is of Thornes Osiers and Reedes but such Hedges doe require almost euerie yeare new repaire reliefe and making in putting new stakes therein whereas if it had an abiding and liuing root it would free the Gardeners of a great deale of trouble cost and trauell The ground of the Gardens must bee good of his owne nature free from Stones Durt and hurtfull Hearbes well broken and dunged a yeare before it be digged to be sowne and after it hath beene digged and dunged againe or marâ—ed you must let it rest and drinke in his dung and marle And as concerning the nature and goodnesse of it the Clayie Stiffe or Sandie ground is nothing worth but it must be fat in handling blacke in colour and which crumbleth easily in the breaking or stirring of it with your fingers or which hath his greene Turfes or Clods breaking easily vnder the Pick-axe and becommeth small with labouring as the small Sand and generally all grounds that are good for Wheat are good for Gardens It is requisite also to the end it may bring forth greene Hearbes in aboundance that it be a reasonable moist ground for neyther the ground that is much drie nor that which is much subiect to water is good for Gardens Notwithstanding if the Grounds belonging vnto the Farme happen not to haue this commoditie of idle and vnimployed ground to make Gardens you must remedie that soare as well as possibly you may The Clayie Stiffe and Sandie places must bee amended by Dung and Marle and would bee cast three foot deepe The Watrie place shall be made better if there bee mixt with it some Sandie or Grauellie Ground and therewith cast it round about with ditches thereby to draine and draw out the water annoying the Gardâ—â— And thus the good Husband shall doe his endeuour to amend and make in soâ—â— sort his ground more fruitfull Lee the dung which he layeth vpon it be either 〈◊〉 Sheepe or of Swine or of Horse or Pigeons or Asses according as the nature of 〈◊〉 ground shall require or of Oxe or Cow for albeit some Gardners thinke it of 〈◊〉 coole a nature and not so nourishing vnto tender hearbs as the other which are 〈◊〉 hot yet they are greatly mistaken therein for it melloweth the earth and enricheâ—â— it more than anie of the other and maketh it more apt to sprout and put forth 〈◊〉 encrease besides it doth naturally affect no weeds if it haue better seed to workâ— vpon Whence it commeth that the Garden so manured keepeth his hearbes 〈◊〉 the cleanest fullest and largest Also Ashes are a verie good meanure for Gardenâ— especially if the ground be apt to chap or breake into great rifts as diuers Claâ— grounds are neither if the soyle be answerable thereunto shall you omit Marâ—â— Sand Chalke Lyme or such like And the elder it is the better also in as much 〈◊〉 in time it looseth his filthie stinke and whatsoeuer other euill qualitie and getteth 〈◊〉 new kind of rottennesse which is more soft and more easie to be conuerted into the substance of the earth whereby good earth is made better and the naughtie amended This is the cause why such as haue written of Husbandrie in Latine haue called dung Lâ—tamen and Frenchmen Litiere because it maketh the ground meâ—â—â—e supposed when it is once mingled and incorporated with the same For dung that 〈◊〉 pure and of it selfe must not be laid vnto the roots of trees but first where thereâ—â— need of the shortest earth and afterward of dung The Hedge of Quick-set parting the Kitchin Garden and that other for delight would be
vlcer grown in her brests which was turned to a Noli me tangere for which neuer â—nie bodie could find anie remedie and likewise that the Countesse of Ruffe had sought for all the famous Physitians of the Realme to cure her of a Ringwoâ—â—â— which she had in her face and that they could not all heale it he resolued with himselfe to send of it into France and thereupon accordingly sent it vnto king 〈◊〉 the second and vnto Queene mother and many other Lords of the Court together with the manner to order it and applie it to the abouenamed diseases as he himselfâ— had â—â—und by experience as also vnto the Lord of Iarnac gouernour of Rocheâ—â— with whom the said Embassadour had intercourse of letters by reason of the king his affaires which Lord Iarnac also told him one day sitting at table with the Queenâ— mother that he had caused of the said Nicotiana to be distilled and had caused 〈◊〉 water thereof to be drunke being mixt with the water of eye-bright by one that 〈◊〉 stuffeâ— in his lungs and that he was cured thereby This hearbe resembleth in figure fashion and qualities the great Comfrey in such sort as that a man would deeme it to be a kind of great Comfrey rather than a yellow Henbane as some haue thought It hath an vpright stalke not bending anie way thicke bearded or hairie and slimie The leaues are broad and long greene drawing somewhat toward a yellow not bearded or hoarie but smooth and slimie hauing as it were tallons but not either notched or cut in the edges a great deale bigger downeward toward the root than aboue as you see the smooth Docke leafe is which beareth small red seedes and not burres and the finer and clearer that such leaues are the better the Tabacco is esteemed Whiles it is young it is leaued and as it were lying vpon the ground but rising to a stalke and growing further it ceaseth to haue such a number of leaues below and putteth forth branches from halfe foot to halfe and storeth it selfe by that meanes with leaues and still riseth higher from the height of foure or fiue foot vnto three or foure or fiue cubits according as it is sowne in a hot and fat ground and carefully tilled The boughes and branches thereof put out at ioints and diuide the stalke by distances of halfe a foot the highest of which branches are bigger than an arme At the tops and ends of his branches and boughs it putteth forth flowers almost like vnto those of Nigella of a whitish and incarnate colour hauing the fashion of a little bell comming out of a swad or huske being of the fashion of a small goblet which hâ—ske becommeth round hauing the fashion of a little apple or swords pummell assoone as the flower is gone and vanished away it is filled with verie small seeds like vnto those of yellow Henbane and they are blacke when they be ripe or greene whiles they are not yet ripe In a hot countrie it beareth leaues flowers and seeds at the same time in the ninth 〈◊〉 tenth moneth of the yere it putteth forth young sciences at the root and reneweth it selfe by this store and number of sciences and great quantitie of sprouts and yet not withstanding the roots are little small fine threddie strings or if otherwise they grow a little thicke yet remaine they still verie short in respect of the height of the plant The roots and leaues do yeeld a glewish and rosinish kind of juice somewhat yellow of a rosinlike smel not vnpleasant and of a sharpe eager and biting tast which sheweth that it is by nature hot more than in the second degree and drie in the first wherupon we must gather that it is no kind of yellow Henbane as some haue thought Nicotiana câ—aueth a fat ground well stirred and well manured also in this cold countrie that is to say an earth wherein the manure is so well mingled and incâ—rporated as that it becommeth earthie that is to say all turned into earth and not making any shew any more of dung which is likewise moist and shadowie wide and roomie for in a narrow and strait place it would not grow high streight great and well branched It desireth the South Sunne before it and a wall behind it which may stand â—â—stead of a broad paire of shoulders to keepe away the Northerne wind and to beat backe againe the heat of the Sunne it would also be defended from the tossing and force of the wind by reason of his weakenesse and height it is true that it will be out of the daunger of the wind if the root be deepâ—ly taken in the ground It groweth the better if it be oft watered and maketh it selfe spoâ—t and jolly good cheere with water when the time becommeth a little drie It hateth the cold and therfore to keepe it from dying in Winter it must either be kept in cellars when it may haue free benefit of aire or else in some caue made of purpose within thesame garden or else to couer it as with a cloake verie well with a double mat making a penthouse of wicker worke from the wall to couer the head thereof with straw layed thereupon and when the Southerne Sunne shineth to open the doore of the couâ—â— made for the said hearbe right vpon the said Soutâ—â—Sunne For to sow it you must make a hole in the earth with your finger and that as deepe as your finger is long then you must cast into the same hole ten or twelue seeds of the sayd Nicotiana together and fill vp the hole againe for it is so small 〈◊〉 that if you should put in but foure or fiue seeds the earth would choake it and 〈◊〉 the time be drie you must water the place easily some fiue daies after it may be sowen also after the manner of Lettuses and such other hearbes mingling the mould verie well with the seed and afterward couering it most carefully Some mixe with the said earth verie cleane ashes being well siâ—ted and made small but in a 〈◊〉 quantitie It is a long time in springing and putting forth and after that it is 〈◊〉 forth you must keepe it both from the cold and frost couering it in the night time euen whiles it is young and small and so it will be preserued and kept continually greene and beautifull And when the hearbe is growen out of the earth in as much as euerie seed will haue put vp his sprout and stalke and that the small threddiâ— roots and intangled the one within the other you must with a great knife make 〈◊〉 great circle or compasse within the earth in the places about this plot where they grow and take vp the earth and all together and cast them into a bucketfull of water to the end that the earth may be seperated and the small and tender impes
and labour to be taken with the vine is the gathering of the fruit which may not be attempted by the vine-dresâ—er vntill the grapes be ripe which is manifestly perceiued by their growing blacke as also by hauing their kernels blacke and all bare as being altogether seperated from the flesh or pulpe of the grape if so be that there be any pressing of the graps Or else if after taking away a kernell or two out of a grape you find that the roome whereout they were taken doth not lessen but abideth as large as it was not being filled vp by the other kernells comming in place You must gather them in faire and calme weather not in rainie weather nor when the grapes are full of dew but when it is wasted and gone and the aire is become somewhat hot rather than cold for so the wine will be the better and endure good a longer time yea if it be possible in the waine of the Moone and when it is vnder the earth at the least after that the Moone is eighteene or twentie daies old for so the wines will bee stronger and last better than if the grapes should be gathered in the new of the Moone It is true that before the gathering of them you must haue all the furniture necessarie thereto in readines as baskets and vessels toâ—gather them into great hedge-bills and small oncs verie sharpe caske well hooped and made very cleane by washing cleanefats and euery way well fitted tubbes great and small stands well pitched and fitted for the purpose and presses aired scoured washt and furnished with their necessarie implements The grape-gatherers shall doe their indeauour to put asunder the leaues greene sowre withered and rotteâ— grapes from those that are ripe and whole to the end that the wine may not be iâ—dammaged and made worse than it would bee And for the making of perfect good and daintie wine to chuse ouâ— the finest of the grapes from amongst the common and grosse ones as also the white from the blacke not mingling the two best sorts together of any kind as if there should bee a mingling of the well tasted grape with those which are sweet or of the white which is strong with another which is weake and of a sad colour The gathered grapes must be left in the ground at the least for a day or two and that vncouered prouided that it raine not for so they will become better in as much as both the Sunne the dew and the earth doe refine and purifie them as taking from them whatsoeuer bad and vnprofitable moisture that is in them then after that to leaue them in the fat but not aboue two daies after which time the next morning they must be troden out equally and in such sort as that there may not any of the grapes of the clusters remaine whole It is true that the treaders must not goe into the fat before their feet be well washed and their whole bodies be made very cleane and couered with a shirt to the end that their sweat may not hurt the Wine they must likewise abstaine from eating therin The grapes being troden the wine or liquor must be let boile and worke together for the space of foure and twentie houres more or lesse according as it is purposed that the wine should be for the longer it worketh together the grosser deeper coloured and mightier it will be as the lesse it worketh together the finer more thinne subtile and delicate it will be Likewise if you would haue a strong mightie wine you must in this time of the working couer your Fat with som couer that so the vapor thereof may not breathe out or his force and strength spend The drosse and grosse parts of the grapes that are trodden which shall haue some iuice and liquor yet left and remaining in them shall bee carried to the presse for to bee pressed out and there it shall abide three or foure strokes It is true that this which is thus pressed out will make the other lesâ—e pleasant and therefore it will bee best to put that which floweth and runneth out of its own accord by treading by it selfe and the other which is pressed out by it selfe But howsoeuer you bestow them the caske into vvhich you shall put them must not be quite filled vp but haue some space left emptie for the boiling vp of the new Wine and the casting forth of such scumme and forth as shall rise out of it with ease It is true that you must be filling vp of it euerie day so long as till it appeare that the Wine hath ridde it selfe from all its scumme and fâ—oth And yet as then it may not be bunged vp but rather some stone or wispe of Hay laied vpon the bung-hole and after vvhen it shall manifestly appeare that the vvine is throughly setled and pacified then you may bung the caske The caske must be all this while either in the open aire or else in some barne that is vvell aired for it is not to be layed into any Cellar vnder ground before such time as the new vvine haue vtterly ceased and cast off his rage And withall you must beware not to fill vp the wine alreadie cooled and turned vp with wine vvhich is yet hote and boiling for be it either white or claret it will make it fat After that the vvine is throughly setled and ceaseth to boile and work any more it may be carried downe into some Cellar which must stand vpon the North paued vvith grauell or drie earth and free and farre off from all ill smels horse-stables sinks bathes and marishie places not hauing any thing shut vp and kept in it vvhich is of euill smell as Cheese Garlike Onyons Oiles or Hides for there is nothing more subiect to be infected than wine especially that which is new Your vessels must be so ranked in order as that they touch not one another hauing some distance left betwixt them that so they may the more easily be looked vnto all they yeare The vessels to auoide the venting which commonly hapneth vnto vvine must haue the bunghole very well stopt with grauell and not stirred or touched at anie time vntill the time to drinke the vvine become If vpon some hap the good housholder presently or a little after the time of Vintage be not minded to sell some part of his Wine according as opportunitie may serue for his profite notwithstanding I find that men in times past to the end they might haue a purer neater and more subtile wine after that the vvine hath purged and cast forth his scumme ceasing to boile did vse to put it into new vessels that is to say did change it out of one vessell into another hauing this opinion that vvine separated from its lees doth make a more subtile kinde of mother in Winter and becommeth more delicate and durable and refineth it selfe
encrease great masses of melancholike humors especially those which are sweet they must not be vsed but of them which liue in toile and trauaile Those which are of a thinne and subtle substance whether they be white claret or of a light yellow for as much as they haue a very pleasant tast and are easily concocted and quickly distributed they are desired and much required at the Tables of great men Lâ—t vs conclude then that amongst all the vvines vvhich we vse at Paris as concerning the red the best are those of Cousâ—y Seuâ—e Vanues and Meudon and as concerning the white those of Argenteâ—ell and then those of Ay Isancy Beaune in Bourgongnie being wel ripened next those of Orleance As concerning white the wines of Longiumeau Palesiau Massy Pont d' Anthony then those of Barâ—urabe Aniou and others which are brought vs from Arbois Gascoigny Languedoc The wines of the grounds neere vnto Paris as of Villeiuiâ—ue Vitry and Iury which are white of Fontenay and Montreuill which are reddish are not to be much set by because they are greenish and of an vnpleasant tast The vvines of Gascoignie are vvithout comparison more hot and drie than the vvines of Orleance and yet they be not so vaporous neither yet assaile the head so mightily as I haue proued that the vvines of Orleance doe The vvines vvhich Greece Languedoc and Spaine doe send vs or rather vvhich the delicacie and voluptuousnesse of our French throats cause to be feâ—ched from beyond the Sea such as are Sacks Muscadels of Frontignan Malmesies Bastards which seeme to me to be so called because they are oftentimes adulterated and falsified with honey as we see vvine Hydromell to be prepared and Corsick vvines so much vsed of the Romanes are very pernicious vnto vs if we vse them as our common drinke Notwithstanding we proue them very singular good in cold diseases caused of cold humours without the hot distâ—mperature of the liuer or of any other noble part but chiefely and principally Malmeâ—ey vvhich we daily note and obserue to be very soueraigne in the crudities of the stomacke and collickes by reason of the singular force and vertue it hath in concocting of crude and raw matter and in dissoluing of vvinde and flatuousnesse But howsoeuer â—orraine vvines vvhich are fetched from farre Countries may seeme pleasant vnto our taste yet indeede the truth is that we are not to vse them except it be with as great aduise and iudgement as may be because that besides their manifest outward qualities they haue also close and hidden ones vvhich indeed may become familiar and well agreeing through some sympathie vvith the inhabitants of those Countries vvhere the said vvines grow but vnto vs they are enemies by an antipathie or contrarieâ—ie vvhich is betwixt them and vs which are of a soyle and countrey farre vnlike Which point if we regard not we cannot but for the most part offend against the rules of art and commit infinite faults in prescribing and laying downe such diet and order of gouernment as shall be for the direction of other mens liues Some do make and compound spiced wines which somewhat resemble the foresaid forraine wines and that not so much for the necessitie of life or health as for pleasure and the deligthing of the swallow of which sort are the claret the preparing whereof we haue set downe before and hipocras so called not that Hipocrates did euer inuent it or vse it but of the mixture and temperature according whereunto the said wine is compounded and made it is so called of the Greeke verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to temper Men ought seldome to temper these wines because that by their vnwoonted heate and great vaporousnesse they procure many troublesome diseases as the squinancie strangurie apoplexie pallie and other such like notwithstanding such as feele a certaine coldenesse and weakenes in their stomake may vse them not as their common drinke but sometimes only as remedie or medicine And thus in briefe you haue what I thought good to deliuer concerning the qualities and vertues aswell of such wines as grow in France as also of them which are brought vs from strange countries By the reading of this slight discourse the Reader which is carefull of his health may learne to make choice of such wine as is fittest for his owne drinking as he shall perceiue to be agreeable and profitable not onely for his nature and disposition but also for his health As for example he that hath a very hot and drie liuer his lungs subiect to inflammation and readie to receiue sharp distillations from the braine and his braine very moist shall not vse hot and drie wines such as are those of Languedoc Gascoignie and Orleance but he shall content himselfe with some small French wine somewhat greenish and which beareth but small store of water He likewise which hath a cold stomake and is subiect to cold and windie diseases shall vse the wine that is good and haue nothing to doe with the small and greene wines and for this purpose shall make his aduantage of this our discourse which will instruct and teach him the diuersitie and qualities of wines The end of the sixth Booke THE SEVENTH BOOKE OF THE COVNTRIE FARME The Warren CHAP. I. Of the situation of the Warren HItherto we haue as briefely as possibly we could run through whatsoeuer thing belonging to the tilling and dressing of the earth as gardens meadowes arable grounds and vines now it is requisite that following the order before propounded we speake of the Warren of wood timber trees parks for wild beasts breeding of herons and of hunting We will begin therefore to describe the Warren the profit whereof is not inferiour to that of the pullaine pigeons and other small cattell which are bred and fed about our countrie farme but chiefely in respect of the selling of conies which the good housholder may doe yearely and that some yeares betwixt foure score a hundred dosen beside all those which the Lord of the farme shall stand in neede dayly to vse either for eating in his house or for to giue away and gratifie his friends withall Againe the indeauour care and paine about a Warren is nothing so great as that which is required in the ordering of other small cattell for conies stand not in to haue a speciall and set gouernour to take care continually of house handle make cleane heale them when they are sicke or to dresse them their meate because that of of themselues they build earthes and little holes to hide and repose themselues in and feeding they looke not for any thing but that which the earth of its own accord without any tilling doth beare and bring forth for them Wherefore for the most profit of your countrie farme you must prouide and prepare a Warren in such a place as hath before beene spoken of that is to say betwixt your corne fields vineyards and grounds bearing
or else perfume them in the night with Brimstone for this will keepe them sound also if you giue vnto them young Nettles chopped and boyled with Branne they will lay great store of egges They leaue laying about the third of Nouember which is at such time as the cold beginneth but if vpon curiositie you would keepe by themselues some of the fairest to lay egges all Winter long you must feed them with tosted bread steept from euening to morning and giue them to their breakfast and for their meat in the day time and at night to cast them some little quantitie of Oates Barley or Wheas which doth warme them or some Mustard seed which aboue all other things causeth Hennes to lay egges good store that is to say in the sharpe cold times of Winter which thing you shall proue verie true by experience if you make triall of it or else to seed them with Earth-wormes which will also cause them to lay egges in great number You must not let them sit presently after their first yeare of laying and when they are past three yeares old you must eat them You must also dispatch and make away with those that are barren and lay not at all and as for those that doe lay very much you must change their Neasts often and marke their egges to set them in time if it be possible When they are casting off their feathers otherwise called of the common people moulting you must not suffer them to goe out of the place whereinto you haue shut them except it be to refresh them when it is verie faire and then to keepe them that the Eagle and Kite doe not fall vpon them It is vsuall to set Hennes the second yeare of their laying and so the third and fourth and so let any set many Hennes at one time and vnder their straw some pieces of yron for feare it shou'd thunder or else some Bay leaues or the heads of Garlicke or else some greene grasse for some say that this is good against the Pip and the monstrous fruit They are put there in the growth of the Moone after the twelfth day of the new Moone vntill the foureteenth saith Florentine and Columella saith from the tenth vnto the fifteenth to the end that the Hennes may hatch in the next new Moone for to that end they stand not in need of any moe daies than one and twentie And the Neasts of these Hennes must be made in the bottome of a Tunne or Pipe to the end that when they come off they cause not any thing to fall or roule Some perfume the straw that they are to sit vpon before they lay the egges therein with Brimstone to keepe the Henne for hatching before her time And you shall set vnder her the egges that you haue marked and of those the fairest and newest and if it be possible those of her owne And looke that they haue beene layd since the seuenth of Februarie and before the two and twentieth of September for such as are layd at any other time are nothing worth no more than those which were first layd or yet those which were layd by the Henne without the help of the Cock and there must alwaieâ—s care be had that they be odde that is to say in Ianuary fifteene in March nineteene and after Aprill one and twentie The greatest part of the inhabitants of Lyons doe admit of no other number than three and twentie After the second of October they set not any more neyther indeed ought they if it be not in Ouens according to the vse of the inhabitants of Maliha and some of those of Beauceron But Hennes are too much punished and put to paine to breed and bring vp Chickens in Winter As also there is a common opinion receiued That after mid-Iune Hennes are small worth and cannot encreaâ—e so rightly and well to the purpose If curiositie draw you to set egges vnder Hennes which be not their owne as those of the Goose Peacocke or Indian Henne or else of Ducks then let them be put vnder the Henne some seuen or nine dayes before and after adde thereto of her owne some such odde number as hath beene spoken of before But and if they be Fesants egges you need not to set the Henne any sooner vpon them then and if they were her owne for they require no more time to be hatcht in And if you would haue them all Henne-birds then set such egges as are more round and blunt for the long and sharpe-pointed ones are commonly Cock-birds Some are carefull not to put one after another into the Neast but set them in rowes in a Woodden Platter and thence let themslide downe into the Neast verie softly And care must be had that neither Cockes nor any other Hennes may goe in to sit vpon them and to that end twice euery day to set meat and drinke so neere vnto the Henne as that shee need not rise for to feed her selfe for if but for her meat shee once cast off her care of them it will be much adoe to get her to returne vnto them againe if she be not a free and verie kind Henne If the Henne haue small care to returne vnto her egges to sit vpon them equally it will be good sometimes to turne them ouer softly when she shall be from her Neast There are some women that cannot stay to the end of the Hatching but about the fourth day after the setting of the Henne they will be heauing euerie one of them vp one after one to looke vpon in the cleere Sunne-shine and if they see not bloudie streames or threads within them they cast them out and put vnder others in their places And in like manner at the one and twentith day if they find that she stayeth from hatching they take off the Henne But good sitting Hennes will not returne any more to their Neasts after that the egges haue been touched Likewise the good Huswife sayth That as for the egges which are vnder the Henne they ought not to be touched till they be hatched Likewise they must be well chosen and viewed in the Sunne betwixt both her hands before that they be put vnder the Henne Such as doe any thing doubt that the egges are not all good and that the Chickens cannot come forth by reason of the hardnesse of the shell must not faile to bath them about the eighteenth day in a hollow dish and warme water and to take away such as swim aboue the water putting the rest vnder the Henne againe But you must not force the Henne to rise off the Neast in your thus doing You shall greatly pleasure the Henne if when the Chickens begin to chirpe and there be found some which will not let the Chicken come forth by reason of the hardnesse of the shell that then you helpe her to breake the same howsoeuer indeed this is the part of a good conditioned Henne
annoint the cods withall twice or thrice a day For a Fistula make the hole wider seare it cast into it a salue made of vnquenche Lime so long as till the core or dead flesh within doe fall out For the canker wash it with strong vinegar afterward sprinkle vpon it the 〈◊〉 powder of the root Daffodils Rats-bane and Vnquencht-lime put together into â— pot and burnt to ashes For the Iauar in the houghs or hams seare the places along and ouerthwart with a hot yron afterward applie thereto a cataplasme made of verie new Oxe dung 〈◊〉 vpon the fire vvith Oyle If the horse be cloyed you must take out the naile and pare him to the quicke and till bloud come then making verie cleane the pared place to drop into it 〈◊〉 Brimstone or to fill it vp with an oyntment made of Turpentine Waxe Oyle Hâ—nie and Salt all being made verie hot and a little Cotton also dipped in the same oyntment Or else which is an approued thing to put vpon the hurt place on thâ— inside of the hoose of the horse the leaues of white female Mullein bruised betwâ—â—â— two stones And in case the maladie be a day or two old then you must hold the horse focâ— in warme water well salted and lay and bind aloft vpon the foot a 〈◊〉 of Bran Swines-grease and Salt-water or with small Salt and strong Vinegar or the powder of gals or mittles or of the masticke tree and then to seare him aboue 〈◊〉 to fill vp all the hollow of the foot with Porkes-grease and hauing thus dressed it so much and so oft as it shall be needfull let it be made vp filling notwithstanding the hoofe on the inside with pitch and annointing it oftentimes with swines-grease as iâ— abouesaid And to preserue the hoofe in his soundnesse and strength apply vnto 〈…〉 lost a cataplasme made of boyled mallows stampt and mixt with hony and bran put in the hollow of the hoofe the sewet of a sheepe and aboue the hoofe his owne dung 〈◊〉 For the horse which halteth because of some stroake giuen him by some other horse vpon his sinews take of the sewet of a Male-goat a pound Molibdenâ— halfes pound Resin a pound and Copperas halfe a pound make an oyntment The 〈◊〉 â—â—roken or wounded or hauing receiued any other kind of wrench in the Knee or â—oynt by the horse his setting of his foot in some bad and inconuenient place is heaâ—ed by taking an ounce of Fenugreeke as much of Linseed foure ounces of Swines-grease all this being boyled together so long as till it be thicke and much dimiâ—shed If the horse interfering doe wound himselfe vpon his hinder feet you must cut away the haire verie short and bare from the place that is hurt and rub it with common salt tying vpon it some prettie plate of thin Lead afterward taking that away â—o wash it with Wine For the spauin in the hammes you must raising the thigh vp on high tie the veine called Fontanella and giue it a wound with a flemme to let it bleed and after to applie the actuall cauterie or hot yron vpon the spauin and to burne it long wise and ouerthwart and to heale vp the seared place as in the Iauar The chaps are healed if you burne them at either end with a round hot yron for his burne will keepe the chaps from going further and then afterward rubbe them with washed Lard in diuers waters or with oyle of Bayes mixt with Masticke Franâ—incense Vinegar and the yolke of an Egge The grapes would when the haire is once taken away be washed with the decoction of Mallows of Brimstone and Mutton-sewet afterward applying the drossie parts vnto the places which being taken away there shall an oyntment be made of new Wax Turpentine and Gum-arabecke equally mingled For the hornie swelling in the circle of the houghs or hams you must shaue the disease and put vpon it the drossie parts of the decoction of hollihocke roots stamped and after that a plaister of Mustard-seed the roots of Mallows and Oxe dung all boyled together with Vinegar Cut the head and the taile from a snake and deuide the rest of the bodie into gobbets roast them on a spit gather the fat which droppeth and applie it to the sore or wound The disease of the hoofe or the corne stampe Coleworts that are greene with old Swines-grease lay it vnto the disease and get vpon the horse and ride him indifferently to the end that the medicine may pearce into it For the garrot plucke away the flesh that is dead with a sharpe instrument and wash the place with warme Wine afterward applie plegets thereto moistened in the white of an Egge The disease of the necke pearce the flesh in fiue places on both sides the necke with an yron sharpe like a Naule put a Seton through eâ—erie hole and let them abide there fifteene daies For the palamie take away the flesh from the palate of his mouth with a very fine instrument and that in such quantitie as that the humour may easily come forth afterward cleanse and rub his palaâ—e with honie of Roses juice of Chibolâ—s Scallions and burned Wheat The courbe cut the skin alongst the haire acording to the bignesse of the courbe applie thereto a linnen cloth wet in warme Wine straw vpon it the powder of Verdegrease and thus continue vnto the end of the cure For the Knee swollen take a pinte of strong vinegar wherein you shall temper a little Salt of burnt Copper halfe a pound and of Sinople so much as shall be needfull and necessarie For the Knees that are broken and chapt take common Oyle Linseed ashes of Rie-straw and all being put together make an oyntment thereof to annoint the sore place euening and morning vntill it be whâ—le For the chafings which most commonly happen vnto the necke or backe of a horse carrying Saddle-packs or Saddle lay vpon the place the leaues of wild blacke â—ine In old and hard tumours make this cerote Galbanum two ounces Rosin and Waxe of each a pound Gum-ammoniacke and blacke Pitch of each halfe a pound and of oyle so much as shall be needfull to incorporate and make vp all the rest 〈◊〉 good forme But if the tumor be broake and hollow and hath beene an old 〈…〉 verie long continuance then you shall dissolue a quarter of a pound of Allome 〈…〉 pinte of running water and with it first wash the sore verie vvell and the take Vâ—guentum Aegyptiacum and lay it vpon the sore vvith flax hurds doe thus once 〈◊〉 twice a day and the cure will soone be made perfect Against the bots or vvormes make him drinke vvater vvherein Rye hath boyled or mingle amongst his bran some Brimstone or make ashes of the wood of 〈◊〉 Oliue-tree or powder of dried Wormewood together with the cornes of raw â—â—pines
notwithstanding the flowers of Roses and Capers must be gathered to be kept while they be 〈◊〉 likewise the leaues and whole hearbes are gathered when they are growne to the full fruits as Melons Cucumbers Citruls and Gourds when they turne yellow and are growne to their perfection If they be purposed to be made serue for seed then they must be let alone longer and afterward kept in conuenient place 〈◊〉 be time to sow them and they must be gathered in a bright weather and in the â—â—crease of the Moone Seeds are gathered when the hearbe is all layd and drie 〈◊〉 it must generally be obserued in all manner of gathering as well of hearbes 〈◊〉 roots as of fruits and seeds that it be done in a faire and cleare weather and in the â—â—crase of the Moone Such hearbes as are to be kept must first be made verie cleane and dried 〈◊〉 shadow which is the best meanes to keepe them the strongest in their vertues 〈◊〉 qualities or else in the Sunne and after to put them vp in bagges of Leather vvollen stuffe nor in vvoodden boxes that so they may not loose their 〈…〉 see it put in practise by sine hearbes which are kept to be vsed in Winter 〈◊〉 me thinkes that the Apothecaries faile much in their doings which hang their phâ—sicke hearbes in the roofe of their house for by this meanes they doe not onely 〈◊〉 their force but become laden with dust cobwebs the dung of flies and a thousand â—â—ther filthie things Flowers must not be dried in the Sunne not in the shadow that is made by 〈◊〉 South-Sunne nor yet in any high roome because of their tendernesse and 〈◊〉 which would cause their force to vanish away either in the burning heat of 〈◊〉 Sunne or in the more moderne heat of the verie ayre If it be not the Prouenâ—e 〈◊〉 which that it may be kept long requireth to be dried in an high place open to 〈◊〉 South-Sunne where the beames of the Sunne doe enter but touch not the 〈◊〉 The best way to drie flowers will be in a temperate place and to turne them 〈…〉 the end that they may not corrupt hauing also this continuall care that they 〈◊〉 neither loose their colour nor their smell And when they are dried they must 〈◊〉 put into an earthen vessell Seeds must be kept in bagges or vessells of earth which haue narrow moutheâ— or in boxes or else in bottles of the rindes of gouâ—ds well stopt and set in 〈◊〉 drie places and where there is no water shed for seeds doe mightily spoyle 〈◊〉 moisture The seeds of Chibols Onions and Leekes as also of Poppie are kept 〈◊〉 their rindes or heads For to keepe Roots you must obserue two waies for either they are to be 〈◊〉 new and as they are yet greene as Nauets Turneps Carets and such like or 〈◊〉 they are to be kept drie For to keepe them new you must lay them vpon sand 〈◊〉 grauell verie thin in some place vnder the earth and a little couered or else to 〈◊〉 them vnder the earth in the garden as we see it done in Turneps and Nauets to 〈◊〉 them the greatest part of Winter To keepe roots drie after they be gathered 〈◊〉 must wash them diligently with cleare water and after take from them all the 〈◊〉 â—ibres or hairie threeds that hang about them and then to drie them either in 〈◊〉 shadow of the Sunne-rising if they be but small and thin as are the roots of 〈◊〉 Succorie Parsley Sperage and such like or in the South-Sunne if they be 〈◊〉 and thicke at those of Daffodils Gentian Sowbread Water-lilly Brionie and such like After that they are dried and thus prepared you must hang them in some 〈◊〉 and vpper roome open vpon the Sun when it is in the South or else vpon the 〈◊〉 quarter and in which notwithstanding neither the smoake nor dust nor 〈◊〉 beames may any thing hurt them notwithstanding that the counsell of 〈◊〉 the prince of Physitians is that hearbes flowers and roots as well greene as 〈◊〉 should not be put to keepe in any place where the wind should come but rather 〈◊〉 vp in vessells or some other such like meanes of keeping of them to the end that they should not loose their force which indeed they might most easily loose being 〈◊〉 open and subiect to the wind CHAP. XI Pâ—t-hearbes and particularly of Coleworts FIrst of all we are to speake of Coleworts both because they are most common and also most aboundant of all other sorts of hearbs all kinds of Coleworts doe loue a cleane ground fat and well tilled not consisting of clay or sand And although they grow indifferently in any ayre but â—pecially in a temperate yet they become greater and more massie sound and safe 〈◊〉 vermine in cold places as are those in Germanie than in hot places and for 〈◊〉 cause they delight a great deale more in the tops of hills than in plaine grounds 〈◊〉 yet in those plaine grounds more in the raised parts of borders than in the flat 〈◊〉 middle parts thereof and they be more pleasant more wholesome for the 〈◊〉 and better in Autumne Spring-time and during great frosts than they be in â—ommer They craue much dung and that especially which is of Asses as being the 〈◊〉 of all for other men and to be raked in couered ouer with good earth not to 〈◊〉 watered in any case notwithstanding that water doth make them looke faire and â—â—ourishing but then not so sweet to the tast nor so wholesome for the stomach When they haue got sixe leaues vpon their stalkes you must remoue them but let it 〈◊〉 in a mild and calme time whether Winter or Sommer And to speake particuâ—arly the common Coleworts called long or greene Coleworts must be sowen in 〈◊〉 August or September if you desire to haue the leaues in Lent and in Winter Some plant them in October and remoue them in December to haue the leaues in Winter and the seed in Iune and Iulie and that to make them the more tuffed â—hough there may be as much accomplished that way at other times of the yeare â—ut not so commodiously And looke well to it that your seed be not too old for if it be three yeares old it will bring forth Radishes And that is the cause why some say Sow Coleworts and â—here will grow vp Radishes or Nauets notwithstanding it continueth sixe yeares 〈◊〉 his nature if it be well kept Cabage-colewort which are called white or apple Coleworts are sowen vpon 〈◊〉 and remoued to stand a foot one from another well couered at the root with a 〈◊〉 and enriched earth when they begin to rise vp into a great stemme and loue â—â—e cold ayre for in a hot aire they cannot liue and you must couer them with straw 〈◊〉 make them cabage the better and become the whiter The curled and Romane Coleworts being more tender
layed in a well 〈◊〉 soyle the leaues downeward into the ground and the root vpward toward the 〈◊〉 of the earth and aboue it there must be made something to couer it in manner of 〈◊〉 vnder vvhich there must straw be cast to keepe it from frost and bad winds 〈◊〉 like is done with Endiue and it is found white when it is pulled vp againe and 〈◊〉 verie delicate in eating Some for the same end vvhen Succorie hath put forth 〈◊〉 leaues tye them all together with a verie small threed and after couer them with 〈◊〉 of earth to the end that it may continually draw by his root nourishment out 〈◊〉 the earth and by this meanes it becommeth white and tender and looseth a great 〈◊〉 of his bitternesse Euerie man knoweth that the decoction of Succorie drunke in manner of an 〈◊〉 is good for them which haue the jaundise or heat of the liuer The juice of 〈◊〉 drunke euerie second day fasting stayeth the spitting of bloud Succorie 〈◊〉 and put vnder the lest dugge doth heale the heart-ache Some say that the 〈◊〉 of vvild Succorie often drunke maketh the visages and countenances of 〈◊〉 more cleare and pleasant CHAP. XIIII Of Artichokes THe Artichoke plant is a diuers thing from Endâ—ue and Succorie for 〈◊〉 for Artichokes to plant them in Autumnâ— which is about the moneth of October they are so fruitfull and forward to thriue as that you need not to take any more but the great leaues with their branches of 〈◊〉 as bring forth the fairest and greatest fruit and in like manner of the thicke 〈◊〉 in the middest seruing for no manner of vse after that the heads of them be 〈◊〉 and to plant them againe Also some haue otherwise vsed to cast downe 〈◊〉 said stalkes and burie them a foot deepe in good manured ground the leaues at 〈◊〉 top bound at the end with a little straw and the stalke layed downe and well 〈◊〉 and they keepe them thus watering them now and then if the time be not 〈◊〉 ynough of it selfe for to make shootes and young sets of in Winter or at other 〈◊〉 and some there be that pricke the heads in a well manured earth and being 〈◊〉 planted doe couer them in Winter with the chaffe or dust of Line or Hempe 〈◊〉 keepe them from the frost and that in the yeare following they may bring forth 〈◊〉 fruit Moreouer the Artichoke is sowen in the increase of the Moone of March 〈◊〉 beds well dunged and fatted but you must not looke to haue any whole and 〈◊〉 fruit of them vntill the next yeare after And if you would haue the seed to 〈◊〉 make little small pits vpon your bed a good foot one from another and halfe 〈◊〉 foot deepe and as much broad and these fill with old dung that is verie small and â—lacke earth that is verie fine mixt together and aboue the same placâ— prick or thrust in the seed of your Artichoke two inches within the earth the small end 〈◊〉 and putting fiue or sixe seeds in one pit together and making many pits neere 〈◊〉 in a round compasse that so they may make a faire knot and plant and 〈◊〉 you may couer it againe easily without much stamping or treading for it And 〈◊〉 soone as the Artichoke hath leaues bigge ynough it must be watered and 〈…〉 continued in such places as are verie drie that so it may bring forth a 〈◊〉 and great fruit Aboue all things care must be had that the small end be not 〈◊〉 contrarie put downeward for then it would bring forth writhen weake small 〈◊〉 hard Artichokes You must also make choice of the fairest and greatest â—eed 〈◊〉 may be found and that the small pits be made a good fathome the one from the 〈◊〉 that so one plant may not hinder another It is true that it is better to 〈…〉 slips and branches than the seed because there commeth fruit the sooner of the 〈◊〉 than of the other and because that in so planting of them you may be occupied 〈◊〉 well imployed euerie moneth and so reape your fruit in diuers seasons of the 〈◊〉 according as the earth is fat or leane hot or cold moist or drie or as the 〈◊〉 hardly agreeing with and vnfit for this plant And in anie case plant of those 〈◊〉 beare the fairest fruit according as there are diuers sorts in respect of their 〈◊〉 length roundnesse diuers colours and tast some also being prickly and 〈◊〉 without pricks For of Artichokes there be diuers kinds as the round and the 〈◊〉 the red and the greene the round which is greene is a good Artichoke so 〈…〉 red although it be long yet the soale is but thinne neither is the leafe verie 〈◊〉 onely it is exceeding pleasant in tast the greene which is long is of 〈◊〉 sorts the worst for it neither beareth good soale nor good leafe but is a loose 〈◊〉 leaued Artichoke euer wallowish and vnpleasant but the round large 〈◊〉 whose tops of leaues are red being hard firme and as it were all of one piece is of 〈◊〉 other the best Artichoke hath the deepest soale the thickest leafe and is the 〈◊〉 to grow in anie soyle whatsoeuer And therefore I would with euerie man as 〈◊〉 as he can to make choice of these before anie other kind If you would that the Artichoke should grow without prickes you must 〈◊〉 against a stone and breake the end of the seed which is sharpe or else put the 〈◊〉 after the manner of a graft in the â—oot of a Lettuce which hath no rinde and 〈…〉 small pieces in such sort as that euerie piece may be grafted with a seed and so 〈◊〉 You shall haue Artichokes of good tast if you let the seed steepe three 〈◊〉 before you plant it in the iuice of Roses or Lillies or oyle of Bay or of 〈◊〉 or some other sweet and fragrant iuice and then afterward drie it â—nd so plant 〈◊〉 it Although that as concerning the former oyles there be some which are of a 〈◊〉 opinion and doe thinke that the oyle doth spoyle the seed You shall 〈◊〉 Artichoke of the smell of the Bay tree if you cleaâ—e or make a hole in a Bay 〈◊〉 and putting therein the seed of an Artichoke doe set it so Artichokes will be 〈◊〉 in tast if before you set the seed you steepe them in milke which must be 〈◊〉 and changed twice or thrice before that it sowre or in honey and then 〈◊〉 drie and set them Two sorts of beasts doe annoy the roots of Artichokes Mice and Moâ—les 〈◊〉 dung of Swine or the ashes of the Fig-tree spread about the roots of the 〈◊〉 doe chase away Mice and the like will fall out if you wrap their roots aboâ—◠〈◊〉 wooll Some to driue away Rats that destroy the roots of Artichokes vnder the 〈◊〉 pricke downe halfe a foot deepe in the earth certaine stickes of Elder tree 〈◊〉 some foure ynches
from the other the smell of which Elder is so odious 〈…〉 beasts that they haue no desire to come neere it either vnder or aboue the 〈◊〉 so long as it is greene and therefore when these first stickes shall be drie you 〈◊〉 renew them Othersome put Thornes that are verie sharpe and pricking or 〈…〉 of Chesnuts vnder the earth round about the plants of the Artichokes 〈…〉 one neere vnto another to the end that the Rats comming neere vnto the 〈◊〉 may presently be driuen backe againe Others cause Beanes to be boyled 〈…〉 poysoned water and doe put them in the holes of this wicked cattell for they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sent thereof they run thither presently As concerning Moules we will speake of 〈◊〉 manner of killing them hereafter The root of Artichoke sodden in Wine and drunke is soueraigne against the difâ—â—cultie of making water for the stinking and strong smell of the arme-pits and of 〈◊〉 vrine also for the hot and scalding fretting of ones vrine whether it come of the 〈◊〉 or of some other cause and so also for the dropsie the pulpe boyled in flesh 〈◊〉 and eaten with Salt Pepper and Galanga made in powder helpeth the weakâ—sse of the generatiue parts The Italians eat them in the morning raw with bread 〈◊〉 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 〈◊〉 planted in gardens must from the beginning be well watered and he that deâ—reth to gather the seed must take them vp and plant them againe suffering them to â—row to their perfection and then to drie and wither They feare not cold or frost â—either yet aboundance of water but they looke especially the Sorrell that they 〈◊〉 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 â—ertue that being boyled with flesh how old and hard soeuer it be yet they make it â—nder and loose the bodie The leaues of Sorrell rosted in hot ashes haue a singular force to resolue or to cause 〈◊〉 Apostumate the swellings of the eyes or as some Surgeons vse if you take the 〈◊〉 of Sorrell and lap them vp close in a Burre-docke leafe then lay it in the hot 〈◊〉 and rost it as you would rost a Warde then open it and applie it as hot 〈◊〉 the patient is able to endure it to any impostumation or byle whatsoeuer about 〈◊〉 part of a mans bodie it will not onely in short space ripen and breake it but also â—raw and heale it verie sufficiently it is also being boyled in Posset-ale a verie â—â—od cooler of the bloud and a great comferter against inflamations which come by â—â—urning Feauers A Cataplasme made of the leaues of Sorrell with twice as much 〈◊〉 Swines-grease all beaten and mingled together and afterward put in the leafe of 〈◊〉 Colewort vnder the hot ashes is soueraigne against cold Apostumes The seed of â—orrel powdred and drunke with water or wine doth asswage the paine of the blouâ—ie flux Sorrell steept in vinegar and eaten in the morning fasting is a preseruatiue â—gainst the plague as also the Syrope or Iuleb made with the juice thereof The â—aues of Sorrell well stamped and applied vnto the wrest doth tame the fiercenesse 〈◊〉 the ague Burnet of the garden being an herbe that some vse to put in their salades whereof 〈◊〉 haue here spoken and which is also the same which the Latinists call Sanguisorâ—â— taken in drinke is good to restraine the monethly termes of women and all other 〈◊〉 of the belly but especially such as are of bloud it is good also to dry vp wounds â—nd vlâ—ers if it be applied vnto them in forme of a Cataplasme Some doe much â—teeme it in the Plague time and some say that the often vse of Burnet especially 〈◊〉 juice thereof is a verie soueraigne preseruatiue against dangerous diseases beâ—â—use it hath a propertie verie much strengthening the Liuer the Heart and the Spiâ—â—â—ts The leaues of Burnet put into the wine make it more pleasant more strong and â—omewhat 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 〈◊〉 day CHAP. XVI Of Harts-horne Trickmadame and Pearcestone AS for Harts-horne and Trickmadame they haue no need of any 〈…〉 or planting for both of them will come in any ground that 〈◊〉 would haue them whether it be husbanded or not True it is that if 〈◊〉 would haue Harts-horne flourish and faire liking you must cut it oft 〈◊〉 it along vpon some roller or cause it to go vpon foot by it selfe for it delighteth to 〈◊〉 so intreated and vtterly refusing to grow otherwise than against the ground 〈◊〉 madame doth nothing feare the cold and doth grow principally vpon the old 〈◊〉 of vines in a stonie and grauelly earth These are put in Summer-sallades 〈◊〉 neither of theâ—â— 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 〈◊〉 heat of an ague The distilled water thereof being often times drunken doth 〈◊〉 roughly heale burning and tertian agues Pearcestone is sowen in a drie and sandie soile and craueth to be much 〈◊〉 euen from the beginning he that desireth the seed must let the hearbe grow to 〈◊〉 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 〈◊〉 soueraigne for the difficultie of vrine for the jaundise and to breake the stone to proâ—â—uoke vvomens termes and to stirre vp ones appetite if it be vsed in the beginning 〈◊〉 meat For want of such as is pickled in vinegar you may make the decoction of 〈◊〉 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 〈◊〉 fields and in any ground that a man will neither doe they 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 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 〈◊〉 in Sommer as in Winter for which cause the Italians call them the flower of all 〈◊〉 moneths To be short the place where they haue once beene sowen can hardly 〈◊〉 of them If they be neuer to little husbanded and cut many times they will beare 〈◊〉 faire â—lowers and verie great but yet euer more in Autumne than in the Spring The juice of the
damaske or sweet water by such meanes you may giue them such tast and smell as you please if you steepe their seed before you sow it in any such liquor as in Honied-vvater in Rose-vvater or in some other kind of water sweetned with Sugar or Muske notwithstanding watering of them doth take from them a great deale of that smell as also of their sauour and taste To make Cucumbers or Pompions sugred you must steepe the seed in water that is well sweetned with Sugar or Honie and to make them sweet in Sheepes milke or Honied water and so sow them and when they be growne you must sprinkle them ouer with the dust of some drie earth and water them a little To make Pompions to keepe long and not to be spoyled or rotted you must sprinkle them with the juice of Housleeke A woman hauing her termes and walking by the borders of Pompions Gourds and Cucumbers causeth them to drie and die but and if any of the fruit eâ—cape it wil be bitter Cucumbers indure fresh a long time if they be put in the sweet lees of wine or else in brine or if they hang in a vessell wherein there is a little vinegar Pompions will haue the smell of Roses if their seed be mingled with drie Roses and afterward sowne together and then also they are excellent good to quench the thirst in burning agues CHAP. XLI Of Strawberries STrawberries haue no need of great toyle or tilling so that they be planted in some good ground not manured notwithstanding but well shaded howsoeuer because they delight greatly in the shadow of other hearbes so also they are found growing amongst great tall trees without any manner of husbanding or tillage It is true that they grow well in the open Sun so that they be watered once or twice a weeke especially when they begin to looke red they must be remoued euerie three yeares to make them beare faire berries and their earth raised about them once euerie yeare and that about Christ-tide and to weed them by hand when as weeds doe ouergrow them in the ground whither you remoue them you must first put horse-dung well rotted or cowes dung a scuttle full to euerie border that is three foot broad dresse this ground in a drie time and let it lye afterward and in a moist time but not rainie you shall set the Strawberries halfe a foot euerie way thrusting the earth close to the root with a dibble In these you may obserue a certaine kind of wonderfull harmelesnesse and innocencie which although they creepe vpon the earth and be continually troden vpon by Adders Lizards Snakes and other venimous beasts are notwithstanding neuer infected with them neither get they any venimous sauour which sheweth that they haue no â—ffinitie with venâ—me or poyson Amongst other pleasures or commodities that they afford the juice or wine that 〈◊〉 strained from strawberries is good to take away the red pimples itching knobs which grow in the face by the heat of the liuer as also to take away the rednesâ—e of the eyes and to wipe out the spots and knobs of the Leprosie Likewise the decoction of the roots and leaues of Strawberries made with wine is singular good for the 〈◊〉 if it be drunke for some time in the morning as also to prouoke the termes in women and this neuerthelesse doth stay the white termes and bloudie 〈…〉 vsed in forme of a Gargariâ—â—e it comforteth the gums and teeth and 〈…〉 rheumes Of Physicke Hearbes CHAP. XLII Of Mallowes WE haue heretofore dedicated and appointed certaine borders downeâ—â—low the Kitchin garden neere vnto the wall of the orchard for Physick hearbes whereof we desire and wish that the huswife may haue 〈◊〉 knowledge thereby to helpe the necâ—ssities of her people And in 〈◊〉 respect it shall not be â—hought strange if we touch in a word the dressing and 〈◊〉 of some few such as are most vsuall and familiar amongst women leauing 〈…〉 and exact description of thâ—m vnto such as make profession thereof for 〈◊〉 drift of my purpose is to instruct the Farmer and his wife or her that is the 〈◊〉 and Dairie-woman so much as is needfull for the maintenance of their house and fâ—milie But we will begin with Mallowes as those that are most in vse Mallowes notwithstanding that they grow euerie where yet if you be disposed 〈◊〉 sow them you may doe it most commodiously in Autumne rather than at any other time to the end their growth on height may be represâ—ed by the comming of Wiâ—ter for by how much the Mallow is the lesse by so much it is the better They loâ— a fat and moist earth and craue to be remoued after they haue put forth foure or 〈◊〉 leaues though indeed it would be much the better not to remoue them at all 〈◊〉 they will keepe a better rellish but to the end they should not grow vp into high and great stalkes alter that they be come forth of the earth you must put some 〈◊〉 bricke in the midâ—est of their leaues They would be oft wed and when they 〈…〉 if their leaues be tâ—ed together at the end they will bring forth a well 〈◊〉 and thicke set root The root of Mallowes steâ—pt in Wine a whole day and afterward wrapt in a 〈◊〉 and roasted vnder the ashes and dried is a fine medicine to rub the teeth withâ—â— and to cleanse and scowre off from them the filth gathered thicke about them 〈◊〉 juice drunke to the quantitie of halfe a pound oâ— the decoction of the 〈…〉 leaues comming to a certaine thick conâ—â—stence is exceeding good for wâ—men 〈◊〉 are in trauell of child birth It is singular also for many other things and therefore is called of some Omnimorbia Hollihocks craue the like husbanding and tillage that the Mallowes doe 〈◊〉 they are of the same kind and in both of them especially in the Mallowes we 〈◊〉 obserue as a miraculous thing that their leaues and flower doe open at the approâ—d and comming of the Sunne and shut vp themselues to goe to bed when it 〈…〉 doe the Marigolds Both these haue verie great power and vertue to mollifie they serue also to 〈◊〉 the bellie especially the young and tender crops of Mallowes haue vertue to 〈◊〉 swage the paine of the reines and doe cause a man to make water The juice 〈◊〉 with oyle doe healâ— the stinging of Waspes The juice mingled with 〈◊〉 doth helpe women trauailing of child birth Their leaâ—es stamped with the 〈◊〉 of willows doe stay inflammations A cataplasme made of their leanes doth 〈◊〉 way the hardnesâ—e of the mother and other parts especially if it be made of 〈◊〉 with oyle of Roses Gentian grows in high places open to the ayre being notwithstanding 〈◊〉 and somwhat ouershadowed This hearb through his bitternesse draweth downe the termes and the stayed vrine The water thereof especially of the root being distilled
swim aboue the water and so you shall sunder them one after another without breaking of them and thus hauing freed them one of another you shall plant them along thâ— sayd wall some three foot from it and foure foot euerie one from another and if thâ— earth neere vnto the wall be not so good as it ought you shall helpe it by such 〈◊〉 of batteling as hath beene spoken of and shall close vp all your care about thâ— plants so remoued with watering them oâ—t The time to sow them is about 〈◊〉 Aprill or in the beginning or else earlier if the Spring-time begin earlier the Indians and Spaniards sow it in Autumne As concerning his vertues seeing it is hot and drie in the second degree as his biting and sharpe kind of tast doth declare we cannot doubt but that it is good to cleanse and resolue as also good for the effecting of the things which â—t hath beene tried to haue wrought that is to say for the healing of the Noli me tangere all old wounds and inueterate and cancred vlcers hurts ringâ— wormes and exulcerated seabs what maligne qualitie soeuer is in them Kings euill clouds of the eyes conlusions impostumes stingings of liuing creatures rednesâ—e of the face and many other accidents which we will runne ouer hereafter particularly But in respect of the verâ—â—es thereof the best and most to be esteemed part are the leaues and for want of them the seed though it haue no such vertue as the leaues the leaues thereof are vsed either as they are greene at the time of their ripenesse or being kept drie in the time of Winter or in powder when they are dried and made in powder as for the way to keepe them we will speake thereof hereafter And to speake particularly of the effects of Nicotiana The cold and windie paine of the head armes and legges will be holpen if you lay vpon the griefe oftentimes the greene leaues of Petum somewhat dried ouer the fire the tooth-ach is stayed by rubbing the teeth with a linnen cloth that hath beene dipt in the juice of the said shearbe and by putting into the tooth a pill of the leaues of the same hearbe The wounds of the armes legges and other parts of the bodie how old soeuer they be will be throughly siccatrized if you wash them first with white wine or vrine and afterward wipe them verie cleane with a linnen cloth and by and by after put thereupon one or two greene leaues well stamped with the juice or the juice alone and vpon it some fine white Linâ— or white linnen cloth continuing the same daily vnto the end of the cure and if you haue no greene leaues take drie ones and powder them and put of this powder into the wounds after you haue washt them as hath beene said and wiped them with cleane linnen The Indians vse it to comfort the feeble not digesting stomach first rubbing it with oyle oliue and then applying thereupon one or two leaues somewhat dried and made pale ouer the fire it is in vse also among the Indian Canibals against poyson wherewith they vse to annoint their arrows when they go to shoot and this poyson will kill by and by if bloud be but drawne for when they go to warre they carrie in one Harts foot of that poyson and in another of the juice of Petuum to remedie the mischiefe and if they haue no greene they carrie drie with them and so soone as they haue applied it to the wound they account themselues out of all danger of death how great soeuer the wound be This remedie was tried by the Indian Câ—nibals by reason of a battell where they were hurt in a prouince called Sauinam and as their custome was to cure their poysoned wounds with sublimate so they not finding store thereof sufficient were made to applie vnto their wounds the juice drawne out of the leaues of this hearbe which shortly after tooke away the paine and venime thereof and so they became whole the proofe of this thing hath also beene made in Spaine sundrie times and amongst others by the Catholicke King himselfe who to make triall of this hearbe caused the wound of a dogge to be rubbed with sublimate and then presently after to be applied the juice of Petum together with the substance and all This same remedie may serue against the bitings of mad dogges so that it be vsed within a quarter of an houre after The decoction of the leaues boyled in water and made into a syrope with sugar or into a â—uleb or Apozeme and taking euerie morning the quantitie of two or three ounces remedieth the difficultie of breath old â—ough so that the partie before he vse this decoction haue beene vniuersally purged by some purgatiue medicine the â—uice and drosse of the said leaues stamped in a mortar doth open the obstructions of the spleene and softeen the hardnesse of the same applied vnto the region of the â—pleene in the morning for want of the leaues the powder may be applied being 〈◊〉 with some oyntment appropriat vnto such diseases The same remedie serueth â—or the paine of the stomach the paine of the bellie and the colicke as also such other griefes comming of coldnesse and windinesse being applied warme and vsed ofâ—entimes till at length the paines be asswaged It is not of the least seruice for the paynes of the matrix the said leaues applied vnto the nauell in manner aforesayd as also if the fume thereof be put into the nose of a woman grieued with the 〈◊〉 of the Mother This is the reason why the women that are subject vnto the disease of the Mother should haue the same alwaies readie Some hold it for a â—â—â—gular remedie against the gowt to chaw euerie morning fasting the leaues of 〈◊〉 because it voydeth great quantitie of flegme out at the mouth hindering the 〈◊〉 from falling vpon the joynts which is the verie cause of the gowt If you 〈◊〉 the leaues amongst hot embers for some space and alterward taking them forth 〈◊〉 them without shaking off the ashes from them vnto his bellie that hath 〈…〉 drunke much you shall asâ—wâ—ge his swelling fulnesâ—e and keepe him from 〈◊〉 The juice of the leaues of Nicotiana stamped clarified and mixt with 〈◊〉 sugar of the forme of a syrope being taken in the morning killeth and casteth 〈◊〉 wormes but therewithall you must lay vpon the parties nauâ—ll some of the 〈◊〉 bruised stamped in a mortar and wrapped in a linnen cloth and let it be presently after he hath taken a clyster of milke and sugar All aches of the joynes 〈…〉 a cold cause all swellings tumours and impostumes comming likewâ—â—e of cold and windie causes all kiâ—es on childrens heeles as also exceeding great itches are 〈◊〉 led by applying the leaues of Petum The juice of Petum layed vpon a 〈◊〉 carbuncleo how pestilent oâ— venimous
to plant the Oliue tree in your Garden chuse out a place standing vpon the South or East quarter raysed sufficient high and open to the Westerne wind and which hath also rested a good while consisting of Potters clay vnderneath and aboue mingled with Sand and Fullers clay being also a close moist and not leane ground and in this you shall plant it about mid March not of sprouâ—s putting forth at the foot of the Oliue tree but of sienes shoots and branches that are young faire and fertile pulled from the boughes of the tree as thicke as the wrist and a foot and a halfe long verie round hauing a sleeke and glistering barke without boughes and cut downe in the new of the Moone raysing the thicke barke about the length of a fathome and letting the greene barke alone which is more fine and thinne And you shall set them in the ground in such manner as they did grow vpon the tree as the lower end downward and the vpper end vpward towards Heauen as when they grew vpon the tree for if you set them the vpper end downeward they will hardly grow but and if they grow yet they will abide barren for euer You must lay the root as also the head all ouer with dung mixt with ashes and set them on such a depth in the earth as that there may be aboue them some foure fingers thicknesse of fine small mould and afterward tread all close downe together round about the new-set Plant and so cast still more earth vnto it as it sinketh with treading or else you may beat it downe with a rammer of wood It must not be transplanted till after fiue yeares but in the meane time you must digge it euerie moneth and dung it with Goats dung euerie yeare in Autumne You must water it with raine water rather than with Fountaine Riuer or Well water And sometimes you must prune and câ—t away the superfluous branches especially the drie and withered shoots and the branches putting forth vpon it if so be that the plant be not become old feeble and broken in such sort as that it standeth in need to be renewed and planted againe for then it will be requisite to leaue growing one or two of the fairest and not to cut them downe before they haue growne eight yeares and then at such time as the Moone is decreasing and the season drie and faire And sometimes euerie eight yeare you must moisten the root of the Oliue trees that are lustie and well liking with the lees or grounds of Oliues to keepe them from wormes and other vermine which are oftentimes noysome vnto this Plant. You must also defend them from Cattell especially from the browsing of Goats which would make them altogether barren You must not plant anie other Plants neere vnto the Oliue tree except the Figge-tree or the Vine whose companie and neighbourhood it reioyceth greatly in and hateth especially the Oake yea euen to be planted in the place where the Oake was standing and is pulled vp for there it dieth presently The Oliue tree may be grafted in the bud with that kind of grafting called the Scutcheon and that of the thickest and strongest grafts that may be pickt out of the Oliue tree as we will further shew hereafter but it were but a lost labour to sow it of his stones and kernels The Oliue tree is lesse subiect vnto vermine than anie other because of his strong â—auour insomuch that it is as good as a shield vnto all other hearbes that are about it as also by his bitternesse it killeth Coleworts Lettuces and other moist hearbes which are sowne in the same ground with it Some hold which is a maruelous thing that the Oliue tree groweth more fruitfull and aboundant in encrease if it be planted and looked vnto by such as are virgins and haue not vnlawfully abused their bodies and other mens beds or otherwise and that therefore in some Countries the plaâ—ing of it is committed vnto such youths as are certainely knowne to be chast as also 〈◊〉 ordering and gouerning of them and that there they grow faire and bring 〈◊〉 much fruit You must gather them with your hand when you are got vp into the tree by a ladder you must not hurt the branches for that might make the Oliue tree barren it must be done in Nouember when they begin to change their colour and are verie blacke this time must be faire and not rainie yea and if it haue rained sometime before your gathering you must see that it be dried vp againe verie throughly Somâ— gather their Oliues after another fashion They beat them downe with long slender Poles or Pearches of Reed not of Wood and are carefull not to strike against them for feare of beating downe some of the branches together with the fruit but such manner of gathering Oliues is not good because the Oliues beaten downe or strucken doe wither incontinently and doe not yeeld so much oyle put also vnto this discommoditie that other which is that the tree is bruised and manie of his branches broken which is a great hinderance in the yeares following Furthermore Oliues are gathered for two ends either to make Oyles or to sent as dishes at Banquets to the end that they may prouoke appetite notwithstanding wee must not thinke that all sorts of Oliues indifferently doe serue for these 〈◊〉 vses for the greatest for the most part are better for Banquets and the lesse to 〈◊〉 Oyle out of But those which are intended to be reserued for Banquets must be carefully preserued with salt Brine or salt Vineger or Oyle or the grounds of Oyle or with Cure or the drosse of Grapes or Honey or Veriuice in manner as followeth They must be gathered with the hand hauing got vp into the tree with a ladder in faire weather when they begin to be black and are not as yet throughly ripe than afterward to spread them vpon a hurdle of Oziers and there picke and cull theâ— out at your pleasure putting aside all such as are spotted corrupted or verie small and reseruing onely those which are grosse and great fashioned like an egge full fast hauing a long and slender stone a close pulpe or flesh and in good quantitie This done they must be clouen in foure places or without anie such cleauing be put whole into an earthen pot and salt Brine or Veriuice powred vpon them or else Honey with Vineger and Salt or Oyle with Salt beaten small or else with Wine new from the Presse or such other liquor as hath beene alreadie spoken 〈◊〉 Some put in the bottome of the earthen pot vnder the Oliues or into their 〈◊〉 the leaues or ribbes of Penyryall Minâ—s Annise Masticke tree Oyle tree 〈◊〉 Rue Parsley Fennell and Bay tree leaues and the seeds of Fennell 〈◊〉 and Rue Finally you must keepe the vessell well stopped and put it in some Câ—llar to keepe but he that would keepe
〈◊〉 the start by which the Pomegranaâ—e hangeth or else lay Pomegranates in 〈◊〉 clay tempered with water and after drie them in the Sunne It is good likewise 〈◊〉 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 〈◊〉 and then afterward to couer the pot and lute it verie well But whatsoeuer way 〈◊〉 take the principall end must be to keepe Oranges in a cold and drie plaâ—e and 〈◊〉 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 〈◊〉 verie drie and not being wet from aboue and then after that to keepe them â— day 〈◊〉 two in the Sunne their flowers lying downeward then after that to cloâ—â— them 〈◊〉 in a pot verie well stopt and well pitcht or â—eared that the ayre may not get in 〈◊〉 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 whâ—â— 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 〈◊〉 of Pomegranate trees doe driue away venâ—mous beasts and this was the cause why men in auncient time were wont to put the boughs of Pomegranate trees both vâ—deâ— 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 Riuâ—â— and yet besides this it delighteth to be waâ—red 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 Counâ—â—ey we cannot see manie faire ones I remember that I haue seene one at Basil in 〈◊〉 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 〈◊〉 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 â—ight and hearing if it fall into the eyes or eares The Nettle tree is well ynough knowne in Languedoc and Prouâ—nâ—e especially in a borough neere vnto Mompelier called Bontonnet it groweth in a fat ground well manâ—red 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 〈◊〉 and warme ayre open vpon the Sunne The leaues barke and wood haue the 〈◊〉 vertue that the Masticke tree The Iuiube tree and others as well foraine as growing in our owne 〈…〉 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 Woâ—d 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 〈◊〉 haue euerie one his seueral field by it selfe and to be tilled and husbanded after the â—anner of corne and pulse For Madder therefore it is meet that there should be appointed out foure or fiue â—eres of ground in a place by it selfe which must not lye farre from the water but in 〈◊〉 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 siâ—ted notwithstanding that the sifting of it be a longer peece of worke and of greater cost it being vâ—ed to be cast and tilled with thicker raisings of the earth and smaller clouds than is â—ont 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 〈◊〉 request but roots for to make good colours of but the other lasteth and contiâ—â—eth 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 â—â—mple and intire profit the daunger of haile washing away of the grapes when the â—ines be flowre by much raine and frost being excepted vnto which in like maâ—â—er 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 â—owne 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 â—manured thus the seed being cast into the ground and the same well incorporated with harrows of rakes
make it purge and boyle vp and withall they hang in the vessell a nodule or knot full of 〈◊〉 pepper ginger graines of paradise and cloues also they cast into the vessell a handfull of Elder-tree-flowres they set the vessell in the Sunne in Summer time for the space of fortie daies or in Winter they set it in some caue vnder the ground This kind of honied water is verie soâ—â—â—aigne against 〈◊〉 agues 〈◊〉 dispositions of the bodie diseases of the braine as the falling sicknesse apoplexie and palsie in which cases wine is forbidden The countrie men of Prouence and the Italians doâ— make marchpaines of honie and almonds after this manner Take white honie three pound and three whites of egges beat all together with a woodden pestill in a bason till it grow vnto the colour of milke afterward see the bason vpon a fire of coales stirring all together very carefully with the pestill till such time as it become somewhat thicke then put thereto sweet almonds stamped and fried such quantitie as shall be needfull for the making of it of some good consistence being yet hot powre it our vpon some marble or polished table make vp your marchpaine thereof and it will be singular good for them to eat which are in a consumption as also to procure spitting CHAP. LXXI Of the markes of good Waxe and the manner of preparing diuers sorts of Waxe GOod Waxe must be of a verie yellow colour smelling sweet far light pure 〈◊〉 close neat and purified from all filth It is the ground of other Waxes called artificiall as being by art made into diuers colours as blacke red greene and white Waxe Blacke Waxe is made with ashes of burnt paper greene by putting 〈◊〉 vnto it red by putting the root of Alkanet vnto common Wax or the powder of Cinnabrium but white Waxe is made many waies but for the most part after this sort and manner Melt Waxe in some vessell â—it for the purpose afterward 〈◊〉 it from all manner of superfluities through a strainer being thus strained 〈…〉 a soft coale fire in a great skellet or vessell of copper to keepe it liquid and in 〈◊〉 close thereby you shall haue one or two great barrells made after the manner of 〈◊〉 â—ubs full of water newly drawne out of the well in which you shall wet 〈…〉 that are round flat and halfe finger thicke fashioned like round coueâ— or 〈◊〉 of pots and in the middest they shall be made fast to a little sticke or woodden 〈◊〉 manner of a graspe by which one may handle them you shall dip the same 〈◊〉 well wet in water in the vessell where the Waxe shall be melted and pâ—eâ—â—â—ly after you shall pull them out full of Waxe and put them in the water â—ubs where the 〈◊〉 will abide that shall haue cleaued vnto them you shall gather this wax together and spread euerie peece by it selfe vpon hurdles couered with linnen cloth in the 〈◊〉 heat of the Sunne in the moneth of Iulie and vpon these you shall leaue it till it become white In the meane time while it shall thus lie in the Sunne if it happen 〈◊〉 the heat of the Sunne be so vehement that it melteâ—h the wax so spâ—ed vpon the hurdles you must water and sprinkle it often with coole water by the same meaâ—â— also defend it from the Bees which will flie thither from all corners to 〈◊〉 out the honie Otherwise boyle the wax in water so oâ—t as vntill that you see it 〈…〉 it this manner of whitening wax is not so sure nor of so easie charges as the 〈◊〉 for the often melting of the Wax doth wast it verie much but the drying of it in the Sunne bringeth no great losse as you shall best find after proofe and triall made To make â—earing candle Take two pound of new Wax a pound of good 〈◊〉 and a quarter of a pound of turpentine mixe them and make searing Wax The end of the second Booke THE THIRD BOOKE OF THE COVNTRIE FARME The Orchard or Greene plot CHAP. I. Of the differences of Orchards or Greene plots and the inclosing of the Fruit-Garden THere are three sorts of Orchards or Greene plots the one otherwise called an Arbour contriued with great bankes and this is pointed out and prouided in a field couered with green grasse and a fountaine in the middest of it and wrought-into dâ—uers plaine and euen plots and braunches consisting of loâ—ts which are sustained and borne vp with carpentrie or frames of timber vnder which a great number of people may sit couered ouer head Of this sort I haue seene at Basill and 〈◊〉 other places in Germanie and to â—it a place for this manner of greene plot it 〈◊〉 requisite that it be cleansed from all manner of stones and weeds not so much as 〈◊〉 roots left vndestroyed and for the better accomplishing hereof there must boyâ—â—ng water be powred vpon such ends of roots as sâ—aying behind in the ground canâ—â—ot be well pulled vp and afterward the floore must be beaten and troden downe 〈◊〉 â—ightily then after this there must be cast great quantity and store of turfes of earth 〈◊〉 of greene graâ—â—e the bare earthie part of them being turned and laied vpward 〈◊〉 afterward daunced vpon with the feet and the beater or pauing-beetle lightly 〈◊〉 ouer them in such sort as that within a short time after the graâ—â—e may begin 〈◊〉 peepe vp and put forth like small haires and finally it is made the sporting green 〈◊〉 for Ladies and Gentlewomen to recreate their spirits in or a place whereinto â—â—hey may withdraw themselues if they would be solitarie and out of â—ight The second sort of greene plots is that which our auncient Frenchmen who first â—â—rote our Romane discourses and histories haue taken and vsed for a place of 〈◊〉 for Princes and was called in aâ—ncient time after the manner of a sojouâ—â—ing 〈◊〉 abiding place but now by the name of a beautifull prospect Which beside the â—â—ately building singularly contriued in partitions diuersitie of workes and most â—â—aire windows compassed in with goodly water ditches â—ed from continuall runâ—â—ng Springs doth containe an â—â—ner and base Court with gardens for pleasure and fruits with vnderwoods warrens fishponds and whatsoeuer goodly and beautifull thing is wont to stand about princely palaces The third sort of greene plots is that which we intend to trim vp in this place and it may supplie the place of the fruit garden for a house respecting and looking to thrift and to keepe a houshold for husbandrie such a one as we haue here 〈◊〉 to furnish and set out euerie way well appointed and in which vve are 〈◊〉 to regard profit joyned with a meane and moderate beautie and coâ—â—â—nesse than any vnnecessarie â—umptuousnesse Therefore to goe on in our designed course and intended plot this place requireâ—h that next after the kitchin and flower gardens with their appurtenâ—â—â—â—
and therefore I vvill wade a little further in this art and shew you the maner of taking of all sorts of fish by the angle which is the most generous and best kind of all other and may truely be called the Emperor of all exercises To speake them first of this art of angling or taking of fish with the angle you shall vnderstand that it consisteth in three especiall things that is to say in the instrument which is the angle in the intisement vvhich is the bait and in the true vse of them both together vvhich is the seasons and times of the yeare fittest for the sport To speake then first of the angle-rod it must be generally of two peeces but particularly as for the pike or other greater fish it may be made of one entire peece the substance of the stock would be a vvel grown ground Wiâ—châ—n an elme or an Ewe or a hasel and the top would be of hasel or Whale-boneâ—some anglers vse to compound their rods of many peeces as those which are made of cane wherein one joynt is applied into another but they are more for pleasure than any generall profit To these rods doe belong lines made of the strongest and longest horse-haire which can be got nor are thâ—y to be gotten of leane poore and diseased jâ—des but such as are faire fat and in â—ul strength and if conueniently you can it is best euer to gather them from stoned horses and not from mares or geldings of haire the blacke is the vvorst the vvhite and gray best and other colours indifferent your smallest lines vvould consist of three haires and your bigger of seuen if amongst your haire you mixe a silke-threed or two the line vvill be the better and stronger you shall twist your haires neither too hard nor too soft but hold a mediocritie so as they may twine and couch close together and the ends you shall fasten together vvith a fishers-knot vvhich is your ordinarie fast knot foulded foure or fiue times abouâ— both vnder and aboue to make it from loosening in the vvater for the length of your lines they must answer to the places in which you angle some being foure fadome some sixe and some more according to the length of your rod or the depth of the vvater your lines though their naturall colours as being vvhite or gray is not amisse vvould yet sometimes be coloured of other colours according to the seasons of the yeare for so the shadow of them vvhich is most daungerous will least scarre the fish and soonest inâ—ice them to bite and of these colours the Water-greenâ— is the best yellow next then russet darke browne or tawnie To die your lines of a Water-greene you shall take a pottle of Allome-vvater and put thereinto a handfull of Marigolds and let them boyle vvell till a yellow 〈◊〉 rise on the top of the vvater then take the quantitie of halfe a pound of greene coperas and as much of Verdigreaâ—e beaten to fine powder and put it vvith the haire into the vvater and so let it boyle againe a little space and then set it in some 〈◊〉 to coole for the space of halfe a day then take â—ut your haire and lay it vvhere it may drie This colour of Water-greene is good to angle with in all clayie vvaters from the Spring till the beginning of Winter If you vvill haue your haires yellow you shall take Allome-water as beforesaid and Marigolds and boyle them therein adding thereto a handfull of turmerick or for want thereof so much of green Walnut-leaues and mixing it with the vvater steepe your haires therein a day and a night then take them from them and drie them these yellow coloured lines are good also to angle with in cleare water if they be full of weeds â—edge and other water flowers for it is not vnlike to the stalkes thereof and the time best from Michaelmas till Christmas To make your lines russet you shall take a quart of Allome water and as much strong lee then put thereunto a handfull of soot and as much Browne of Spaine then when it hath boyled well an houre or two set it by to coole and being cooled steepe the haires therein a full day and a night and then lay the haires to dry This colour is good to angle within deepe waters whether they be riuers or standing pooles and are best to be vsed from Christmas till after Easter But if you will haue them of a darke browne colour then you shall take a pound of Vmber and halfe so much soot and seeth it in a pottle of Ale a good space then being coole steepe your haires therein the space of foure and twentie houres and then hang them vp to drie and if the colour be not darke ynough you may adde a little more of the Vmber and it will darken it These lines are best to angle with in blacke and muddie waters whether they be standing pooles or running streames and will endure all seasons of the yeare Lastly to make your lines of a â—awnie colour you shall take lime and water and mixe it together and steepe your haires therein halfe a day then take them forth and steepe them double so long time in Tanners ouze and then hang them vp to dry These lines are best to angle with in 〈◊〉 and heathie waters which are of a reddish or browne colour and wil serue for that purpose all the seasons of the yeare Now if with this colour or the greene you mix a siluer thred it wil not be amisse and with anie of the other colours a gold thred they will be much better to angle withall Also you must remember to make at each end of your lines good bigge loopes the one to fasten to the top of your rod the other to the hooke-line which commonly is not â—boue a foot long at the most To these lines there doth also belong Corkes or Floats which you shall make in this manner Take of the best and thickest Corke you can get and with a fine rape â—â—â—ing pared it cleane cut it into the fashion of a Peare bigge and round at the one end and small and sharpe at the other euer obseruing according to the bignesse of your line to make the bignesse of your corke as for a line of three haires a corke of an ynch or little more long and to the bigger lines bigger corks through this corke you shall thrust a quill and through the quill the line The corke serueth onely to let you know when the fish biteth therefore the lesse it is the better it is for it onely giues the lesse shadow prouided that it be euer in your eye for though some Anglers will fish without corkes yet it is not so good nor so certaine In placing your corke vpon your line you must put the small end downeward and the bigge end to the topward Now there be some Anglers which make their corkes of the fashion of
the cakes which liquorish women vse to make of the meale It must not be sowne but in the midst of Summer whiles the times continue drie and that there is no raine looked for of a long time for the raine doth hurt it after it is sowne cleane contrarie to other plants which all of them reioice in raine after they are sowne The oyle which is pressed out of the seed of Sesame doth neuer freeze and is the lightest of all other Oyles and yet being mixt with Wine or Aqua-vitae sinketh to the bottome There is no account to be made of this graine for nourishment because it is giuen to ouercome the stomacke and is hardly digested as is all oylie matter Lentils LEntils must be sowne at two times in Autumne and most commonly especially in France and cold Countries in the Spring time whiles the Moone encreaseth vnto the twelfth thereof and either in a small or little mould or in a fat and fertile ground for when they be in flower they destroy and spoyle themselues through too much moisture or by putting too farre out of the earth And to the end they may grow the more speedily and the greater they must be mixt with drie dung before they be sowne and foure or fiue daies after that they haue beene so laid to rest in this dung to sowe them They will keepe long and continue if they be mingled with ashes or if they be put in pots wherein oyle and preserues haue beene kept or and if they be sprinkled with vineger mixt with Beniouin Lentils howsoeuer auncient Philosophers had them in estimation are of hard digestion hurtfull to the stomacke filling the guts full of wind darkening the sight and causing fearefull dreames and withall are nothing good if they be not boyled with flesh or fried with oyle Fasels FAsels grow in stubbly grounds or rather a great deale better in fat grounds which are tilled and sowne euerie yeare and they are to be sowne betwixt the tenth of October and the first of Nouember or else in March as other pulâ—e after that the ground hath beene eared about the eleuenth of Nouember They must be sowne after that they haue beene steept in water for to make them grow the mose easily and that at large when they are sowne and alwaies as they ripen to gather them They make far grounds where they be sowne they are accustomed to beare much fruit they keepe a long time they swell and grow greater in boyling and are of a good pleasant tast vnto all mâ—ns mouthes It is true that they are windie and hard to digest but yet notwithstanding they are apt to prouoke vnto venerie if after they be boyled they be powdred ouer with Pepper Galanga and Sugar and yet more specially if they be boyled in fat milke vntill they burst If you mind to take away their windinesse eat them with Mustard or Caraway seed If you haue beene bitten of a Horse take Fasels chew them and apply them so chewed vnto the greene wound Young gentlewomen that striue to be beautifull may distill a water of Fasels that is singular good for the same end and purpose Lupines LVpines craue no great husbandrie are good cheape and doe more good to the ground than anie other seed for when as Vineyards and arable grounds are become leane they stand in stead of verie good manure vnto them Likewise for want of dung they may be sowne in grounds that stand in need to be dunged if after they haue put forth their flowers the second time they be plowed vnder the ground they grow well in a leane ground and such as is tyred and worne out with sowing and they may be sowne in anie ground especially in stubbly grounds such as are not tilled for in what sort soeuer they be sowne they will abide the roughnesse of the ground and negligence of the husbandman neither doe they craue anie weeding as well in respect of their root which is single as also for that if it were hurt they would die presently and because also that it should bee but labour lost for they are so farre off from being infected and wronged with weeds that they euen kill them and cause them to die And this is the cause why manie sowe them in the middest of Vineyards to the end they may draw vnto them all the bitternesse of the Vineyard as being the qualitie most familiar vnto them and with which they best agree Notwithstanding they may not be sowne deepe for when they flower they are made no account of Of all other kinds of Pulse they only stand not in need to be laid vp in Garners but rather vpon some floore where the smoake may comâ— vnto them for if moisture take them they will grow full of wormes which eate vp that which should make them sprout and that which is remaining can doe no good they must be gathered after raine for if it should be drie weather they would fall out of their cods and be lost Lupines are good to feed Oxen in Winter but they must be steept in salted and riuer water and afterward boyled they serue also for to feed men to make bread thereof when it is a time of dearth of other corne Some doe note this speciall propertie in them which is that they turne about euerie day with the Sunne insomuch as that by them workmen are taught the time of the day though it be not cleare and Sunne-shine Lupines stampt and laid vpon the nauell doâ— kill wormes in little children the decoction thereof doth prouoke the termes of women and taketh away the obstructions of the sight by reason whereof manie doe wish them to be taken of young maidens and women which haue pale colours Their meale is singular good in caâ—aplasmes to resolue the swelling of the Kings euill and other hard tumours as well boyled in honey and vineger as in honey and water and likewise for the Sciaâ—ica Beanes BEanes must be sowne in a fat soile or else a ground that is well manured and eared with two earings and although it be in stubbly grounds and seated in low bottomes vvhither all the fat and substance of the higher parts doth descend notwithstanding the earth must be â—liâ—ed and cut small and the clods broken before they be sowne for albeit that amongst all the other sorts of pulse there be not any that doe so little vvaste and the strength and juice of the earth notwithstanding they desire to be vvell and deepe couered vvithin the earth they must be diligently vveeded at such time as they peepe out of the earth for so the fruit vvill be much more and their coddes farre the tenderer They may be sowne at two times of the yeare in Autumne vvhere it is a strong ground and the beanes be great and in the Spring especially in this Countrie in a vveake and light ground the beanes being but small and of the common size those vvhich are sowne in Autumne are
more worth than the other so that the hindes let not to say That they had rather eat the huskes or stalkes of beanes sowne in due time than the beanes themselues of three moneths old because they yeeld more fruit and haue a greater and better stored graine But at what time soeuer you sowe them you must haue speciall regard to sowe them all about the fifteenth day after the change of the Moone because that in so doing thâ—y will be the beâ—ter loaden and because they will not be so much assailed of little vermine as and if the Moone were new The day before they be sowne you must steepe them in the lees of Oliues or in water of Nitre to the end that they may beare the more fruit be more easie to boyle and not to be subiect to be eaten of Weeuils or Larkes They must likewise reape and pull them vp in the new of the Moone before day and after leaue them in the ayre to drie and thresh them out before the full Moone and afterward carrie them into the Garner for being thus ordered vermine will not breed in them Againe they proue more profitable being planted than sowne in a good ground that is well dressed tilled fatted and manured vvhich said ground if it be sowne the yeare following with Wheat will yeeld a more copious and plentifull haruest in as much as Beanes doe fatten a ground more than anie other kind of Pulse If you would keep them long you must sprinkle them with salt water but if you meane to boile them you must bee sure to keep the salt from them because salt-water doth harden them they must not be left in the cold aire for the cold also doth make them the harder to boile To keepe them from being euen of wormes they must bee annointed or rubd ouer with oile-oliue one after another vntill such time as they be well liquored with this oile The flowers of Beanes notwithstanding that they be of a pleasant and delightsome smell doe hurt a weake braine and such a one as is easily carried away and ouercome And hereupon it commeth to passe that there are a great number of fooles when Beanes are in flower Thus much for the French experience of Beanes which doth indeed more concerne the Garden-Beane than those which are continually in vse amongst Husbandmen Therefore to come to the profit and true knowledge of the husbanding of Beanes you shall vnderstand that they are onely to be sowne in a rich stiffe ground that is verie fertile as namely the black or blew clay for in other earths they â—oy but a little and they will grow with one eaâ—ing onely which would be done at the beginning of Ianuarie vpon such earth as hath borne Barly before or else vpon greene-swarth which hath not been plowed long before it must be plowed deep and haue a great furrow turned vp then you shall let it lye till it haue taken frost and raine then vpon the next faire season being about or soone after S. Valentines day you shall sowe it and harrow it As for the weeding of Beanes it is to no purpose for they are of themselues so swift of growth that they will out-grow all weedes And if they haue anie Pease mixt amongst them which should euer be for it is the surest seed they will smother vp and destroy all sorts of weedes They are because of their vpright growing better to be mowne with sythes than cut to reapt with hookes they aske little withering for so soone as the cod turnes blacke the stalke dryes The vse of them is principally for prouander for Horses or to mixe with Barley Wheat or Rie to make bread for hind-seruants or for hunting or running Horses but then commonly they are vsed simply of themselues or else mixt with Wheat onely for the mixture of Barley or Rie is not good for Horses of that nature except for some cause physicall as to keepe them soluble in their bodies and so forth The Garden-Beane is good for men to eat being boyled and mixt with butter vineger and pepper or for want of butter with oyle-Oliue The cods also are a verie good food being boyled whilest they are greene and tender Lastly the water which is distilled from the flowers of Beanes is good to take away the morphew or spots in men or womens faces Small Peason SMall Pease are no lesse profitable for the fatting of ground that is leane than Lupines It is true that if you looke to haue good store of them and well-codded you must sowe them in fat and warme grounds and in a temperate and moist time as in Februarie or March and sometime in September in the increase of the Moone and yet it is hard for them to endure and hold out the Winters cold for they alwaies desire the full fruition of the Sunne and doe grow a great deale the fairer when they doe enioy it accordingly and when also they are borne vp to that end on stickes rather than let fall flat to the ground to creepe vpon it they must be sowne thinne because their stalkes doe spread themselues further than anie one other kind of pulse They are verie subiect to be eaten within of Wormes and yet those which are so eaten of Wormes are better to sowe than the other which are whole and sound For this cause if you will preuent the Wormes that they may not hurt and hinder your corne sowe Peason first in the place It is true that for the better growth and prospering of them the thicke and grosse seed is most conuenient to be sowne especially if it be laid in water to steepe therein a night because thereby they grow the more easily and lose some part of their saltnesse in being steept by which meanes they recouer their naturall verdure againe They must be gathered in the decrease of the Moone presently vpon their being ripe for else they drie vp and fall out of their swads The earth wherein they are sowne standeth in need but of one earing Cich Peason CIch Peason doe likewise grow in fat and moist places they must be sowne in a rainie time they doe greatly load and burthen the earth and for that cause are neglected of the wiser sort of husbandmen Notwithstanding if you will sowe them you must steepe them in warme water a day before that so they may grow and put forth of the earth the sooner and greater Some to haue them grow the fairer doe steepe them and their cods in nitrous water To keepe them that passengers and other folke may not gather them to eate when they are ripe you must water them fiue mornings together before the Sunne rise with water wherein haue beene steeped the seedes of wild Cucumber and Wormewood and the dew within fiue daies after will haue taken away all the bitternesse thereof Such practises are likewise good for to be vsed about small Peason and Beanes The vse of them is good for such as are
whose mould is driest loosest blackest and quickliest ripe with little earing as namely with two ardors at the most which vvould be in October the first and the last in March which is the best and most conuenient time for sowing Hempe must bee exceedingly well harrowed and clotted and the mould must bee made as small as dust for the seed is verie tender at the first sprouting but being once gotten aboue the earth it ouâ—groweth all other weeds whatsoeuer and out of its owne nature it doth choake and destroy them whence it comes that hempe neuer needeth any weeding it must bee diligently and carefully kept and tended after the first 〈…〉 appeare aboue the earth from birds for the seede is so sweet and so much desired of all small birds that without great and diligent care they will not leaue you any in the earth Now for the best time of gathering your hempe it is acording to the common custome of house-wiues about Saint Margarets day being towards the latter end of Iuly But more particularly you shall vnderstand that it is best pulling your hempe for the pill as soone as it doth begin to turne yellowish and the leaues to hang downeward looking vnto the earth but if for seed then not before the seed looke blacke and bee readie to shed hempe must euer bee pulled vp by the rootes and first sprâ—ad thinne vpon the earth then afterwards bound vp in bundles which they do call bayts then it must bee câ—rryed to the water to ripen of which water the running streame is the best and the standing pond is the worst yet it must bee done with great heed for hempe is very poysonous and it doth not onely infect the waters but it doth also poyson much fish Hempe must lye three dayes and three nights couered in the water then it must bee cleane washt out of the water and afterwards brought home and dried either in the Sunne or vpon the kilne There bee some house-wiues which either for sloath or for want of a conuenient place to water in doe ripen their hempe vpon the ground by suffering it to lye at the least fifteene nights vpon the sâ—me taking the dewes which do fall Morning and Euening and other raine by which it ripeneth prouided that it bee turned euerie day once but this manner of ripening is not good for besides that it is vnkindly and doth oftentimes cause the hempe to bee rotten it also maketh the hempe to be very blacke and foule so that it doth neuer make white cloth After the ripening and drying of your hempe you shall brake it in brakes which are made of wood for the same purpose and this labour would euer as neere as you can bee done in the Sunne-shine after the braking of hempe you shall swingle it then beate it then heckle it and if you intend to haue verie fine cloth of it you shall after the first heckling beate it againe and then heckle it through a finer heckle then spinne it after warpe it and lastly weaue it Thus much for the hempe which is vsed for to make cloth withall but for such as shall bee preserued for cordage or the roper you shall onely after the ripening pill it and then either sell or imploy it Hempe seed is verie good to make hennes lay many egges and that in the depth of Winter and greatest coldnes of the same Many doe burne the thickest rootes of the male hempe and of the same so burnt and made into powder do make gunne-powder The iuice or decoction of the greene herbe being strongly strained and powred in some place where there are earthwormes doth cause them to come forth by and by likewise being dropt into the eares it causeth the worms or other beastes which shall bee gotten in thither to come out presently and this wee haue learned of fishermen which by this wile doe take wormes to serue them for their hookes Hempe seede must neither bee eaten nor drunke because it sendeth vp many fumes vnto the braine which will cause the same to ake and therefore women do greatly transgresse the rules of Physicke which giue this bruised seed in drinke to such as are troubled with the falling sicknes or head-ach This is a thing to be wondred at in hempe that seeing there are two sorts of it the male and the female yet the female beareth not the seed but the male Line LIne must not bee sowne in any ground but where there riseth great profit and this followeth and is caused by reason of the seede which impaireth all sorts of grounds verie much and for that cause it must bee sowne in a verie fat ground and such a one also as it reasonably moist In any case the ground where line-seed is sowne must bee curiously handled and clensed and with manifold earings plowed and turned ouer so oft and so long as that it become like dust and furthermore the good hus-wife must be carefull when the line is growne to free it from being 〈◊〉 with the weed vsing to wind about it and which of some is called 〈◊〉 and that not once but oft to the end that in gathering the seed in beating it with beetles heckling and spinning of it such filth may not remaine among the tow It must be gathered when it is ripe and when the colour of it groweth yellow and after layd vp in some drie place that so it may bee defended from the raine and dew which are vtter enemies vnto it when it is drie it must be thresht as soone as may be to the end that the mice eat it not with wooden mallets to get the seed out of it and presently after that it shal be caried to the water about the change of the Moone that it may lie therein three or foure daies in Iuly or August till it become soft and tender to the end that the pilling or barke thereof may the more easily be seperated from the stalkes for the making of cloth When it is drawne out of the water it must bee laied on a heape all round but two or three fadomes broad loading it aboue with boords and stones and after that spred in the Sunne to the end it may drie the better The finest line which is without seed notwithstanding it bee the least and lower of growth than the rest is the best being soft and fine after the manner as it were of silke whereas that which is long and thicke is also more rough and boysterous in spinning You shall make verie fine and white sowing threed of your sine flax in this sort Let it be watered in running water fiue or six daies in Iuly or August in the change of the Moone so soone as it is drawne out of the water spread it in the Sunne that it may drie neuer casting it into any heapes for that which is laid vpon heapes after the comming of it out of the water that it may take a heat and being pressed downe to
Runnet is the small Cheeslep bagge or stomacke of a young Calfe not aboue three weekes or a moneth old well washt salted cleansed and seasoned with Cloues Mace and a little Nutmeg and so kept in a close pot with Bryne and so vsed according as occasion serueth The pot in which the milke is must not be without some quantitie of heat for to keepe it warme and yet notwithstanding it must not come neere vnto the fire as it may not stand farre off And when it is curded and gathered together it must be put presently into slices tormes or fats for it is profitable that the Whay should run out and separate it selfe from the Curd But chiefely and aboue all other things it is required that the maidens which shall meddle with the making of Cheese should be cleanly fâ—t for the purpose their sleeues from about their hands and armes folded vp and aboue all farre from being troubled with their termes In like sort the people of the Countrey of Auergnac which make great reckoning of their Cheese doe chuse the young children that are but of foureteene yeares of age and those proper neat and handsomely trimâ—ed vp not hauing scabbed or scurâ—e hands neither yet of an vntemperate heat for they thinke and persuade themselues that such filthinesse of the hands doth hinder the full curding and ioyning together of the Cheese and so doth make them full of eies If she determine to drie harden and keepe them long she shall the more carefully looke to the strayning forth of the Whay and cleare Milke and after to set 〈◊〉 in rowes vpon 〈◊〉 Lattises or Cheese-heighâ—â— fit for the same and that withall it be in a cellar or in some darke and coole place or else to take them vp into some high place hauing store of aire prouided alwayes that the Sunne haue 〈◊〉 power ouer the Cheese She shall shift them euerie day vntill about the fourth or fifth day at which time they will begin to cast a slowre as though it were the flowre of meale and then shee shall cast a little small salt vpon them The next morning shee shall turne the other side and doe the like therewith after she shall turne them euery day and if need be make them cleane on both sides and about the edges with a rebated knife made of purpose such a one as will not cut After some time when 〈◊〉 knoweth that they are somewhat drie shee shall put them in another place as vpon boords layd as it were vpon ladders she shall cleanse and scrape them oft and keepe her boords cleane also and if by striuing to keepe them long they become hard and bitter she shall couer them ouer in Grauell or in Barly flower or in Cich-pease or else she shall couer them with the leaues of Dragons which likewise doe keepe them from being eaten of Mites and that they doe not become mouldie And in case that wormes doe eat them shee shall take away this vermine and annoint them with oyle of Linseed or the drossie parts of the same which will preserue them singularly 〈◊〉 or else shee shall put them in a great heape of Millet corne or Linseed which will keepe them fresh and coole in the hotest times and hot in the coldest times And seeing the deepest point of skill about Cheese is to bestow them so as that they may best mellow she shall bring them together in the end and put them in presses the clothes taken out and set neere the walls of cellars vnder the ground vpon small boordâ— hauing moistened them before with oyle Oliue or Linseed and vineger mixt together She shall iudge that for good Cheese which is fat and heauie the meat of it close and well compact of colour somewhat yellowish sweet to â—ast pleasant to smell and nothing mouldie neither yet full of mites or wormes and which is made of pure Cowes milke without mixing any sheepes milke therewith for it maketh the Cheesâ— lesse sauorie and more whitish It is true indeed that it may be made to looke yellow some Saffron mixt therewithall as is vsuall amongst the inhabitants of Poictou An old Cheese all mouldie brayed and mixed with the decoction of a salt gammon of Bacon and applyed in forme of a Cataplasme doth soften all the hard swellingâ— of the knees CHAP. XV. Of Hennes AS concerning the ordering of Pullen which is the chiefest thing that a good Huswife is to regard there must care be had that the Henne-house be euerie day made cleane euen so soone as the Pullen be out and the dung pâ—t aside for the fatting of the Medowes The Baskets for them to lay in oftentimes shaken vp and refresht with new straw and neasts and their Pearches and Ladders scraped euerie weeke The roofe or vpper part of the house shut in euerie night at Sunne-set for feare of Fulmers and opened euerie morning at Sunne-rise Their Water-pots to let them drinke at must be kept cleane and filled with cleaâ—â— water euerie day and that twice in Winter and thrice in Summer Let their water be cleare alwayes least otherwise it cause them to haue the Pip which thing happeneth as soone vnto them of the filthinesse of their water as of the want of it Let her 〈◊〉 to be cast out vpon the dunghill oftentimes fresh straw right ouer-against the Barâ—â— where the Pullen vse to scrabble and neere vnto the same place let her cause to be put sand dust or ashes to procure them the pleasure of dusting themselues in the Sunne and pruning of their feathers Let her cause to be remoued farre from them the residence of wine or drosse of the Presse of whatsoeuer fruits and from the place of their haunt for such things keepe them from laying And it further behoueth her to haue this care as to see that throughout all the Henne-house there be neither Lath broken nor any place of the walls hauing any Lome fallen either without or within or any sheeâ— of Lead lifted vp or raised thereby to preuent the danger of Caâ—s Foxes Weasels Polecaâ—s Fulmers and other beasts giuen to rauin abroad in the night as also the Kite Hen-harrow and Owle which sometimes will not let to swap into the very Brood-house to catch and carrie away the Chickens And to the end you may not lose any of them you must cut off the great feathers of one wing from such as vse oftentimes to flye ouer walls that so also by this meanes you may keepe them out of your Gardens for they would take it vp for a custome and it would keepe them from laying And for a surer preuention of the foresaid mischiefes ouer and aboue that which hath beene said for it is not good to clip the wings of Cocks or Capons you must fasten and set rowes of thorne faggots vpon the tops of the walls of the said Gardens and all other places elsewhere The Brood-house shall be