of greater grown Timber than these Woods will afford at so few years But we shall have occasion to speak of them hereafter and therefore forbear further mentioning of them in this place There remaineth to be felled or cut down besides or more then those used about hoops 32621613 Shoots or young Trees Out of them may be chosen from each Stock 12 single Billets or so many as contain 12 notches for according to the Statute every Billet should be 3 foot long and 7 inches and a half in compass and if the stick be great to bear 2 notches the compass must be 10 inches and if 3 notches then the compass must be 14 inches and so increasing as the Billets are in greatness The number of Billets chosen is 30758412 there goeth to one Load of these 500 notches or single Billets then there will be 61516 Load three quarters and 37 single Billets worth in the Wood or place of felling ten shilling the Load which amounts to 30758 pound 8 shillings and 1 penny 3 farthings There may also be made from each Stock 6 Ostra Fagots which would be 3 foot long and in compass 24 inches they ought to be round and not flat for so they are much less though all one compass Of these Fagots there will be 15379206 and counting five score to the hundred they arise to 153792 hundred and 6 Fagots worth in the place where they are made 5 shillings the hundred in the whole 38448 pound 3 pence half penny From the remainder of Shoots and the offal of the Hoops and Billets may be made 2000000 of shread Fagots 4 foot long worth 8 shillings the hundred there being 20000 hundred amounts to 8000 pound from the Offal of the shread Fagots and the other Brush stuff may be made 225400 Bavins or Brush Fagots worth 6 shillings the hundred and there being 2254 hundred of them their summ amounts to 676 pound 4 shillings The total Improvement at this fifth season of felling amounts to 126992 pound 10 shillings 2 pence farthing At all the after Fellings the growth of this Wood will be every time greater and the Shoots more in number than the last for these Stocks will grow and thrive above an hundred years Now at the next or seventh season of felling the Product of this Wood being converted to the best advantage may return or be worth 200000 pound Let no man think this to be strange for when Seed or Plants are planted at such a distance as the roots may have room and liberty to spread and enlarge themselves and that the Shoots or young growth have Air and Sun also all incumbrances removed and taken away such Underwoods or Woodland shall be of more worth by the Acre than 12 Acres of ordinary Copices Groves or Vnder-woods therefore I have not set too high a rate on the Stuff or worth of Wood prized as aforesaid neither counted the utmost Production or Increase of growth We have many examples in Fruits and Herbs that are planted in Orchards and Gardens how far they exceed others of the same kind both in laregness and goodness as well as in tast smell colour c. that grow wild so called because they proceed from the earth without the help of Man Now although Nature is before and to be laid as a foundation to Arts yet Nature is the better perfected by Art because Art doth nothing but by the strength of Nature and to confirm your faith we shall give an account what this Land amounts to by the year for each or every Acre You are to take notice the Wood is allotted to grow 14 years the profit then made when those years are expired amounts to 200000 pound which is 14 pound 5 shillings 8 pence half penny yearly profit for eve-Acre of the thousand Acres In Holland there is Land hath been sowed with Flax seed and the Crop thereof hath been worth fifty pound the Acre but we shall come nearer home There is Land in England sowed with Wheat that has yielded at Harvest 2 Load upon an Acre which is 80 Bushels Now this Wheat if sold at the price Markets have given for 3 or 4 years past which was 8 shillings the Bushell then the profit of the Acre by the year comes to 32 pound which is above double the profit of the Woodland Suppose this Corn-Land yield but the one half of the former Increase which is 40 Bushels of Wheat upon one Acre then it comes to 16 pound Again if the Land should yield the first Increase and Wheat sold for 4 shillings the bushel for commonly great Crops or a plentiful Harvest cause low Markets yet then this Acre of Land is worth 16 pound yearly This may be sufficient to satisfie any reasonable man We shall return to our Work Now because it is a general Custome in England at the felling of under-Woods to reserve young Eats or Standils to grow for Timber-Trees therefore in such Woods you are not to leave them at a nearer distance than 4 Pearch which is 72 foot for if you leave them nearer the said Trees will destroy and much hinder the growth and thriving of the under-Woods as hath been formerly declared Thus much may serve to have here spoken for the first second and third Distance of ground between Plants also planting under-woods IV. Dist. The next or fourth Distance is one Pearch or 18 foot At this distance there may be digged or delved a Plot of ground either square or round the quantity to contain 4 foot square or 16 foot of ground At each point or corner or in the middle of the square sides must a Seed or Plant be planted either of Chesnut Ash Beech or Elme and if you plant of all these kinds an equal number there will then be 160801 square Plots and 160801 Plants of each kind which amount in the whole ground to 643204 plants these may all grow 30 or 40 years more or less time as there may be use for them or so long as every Man may please who shall be the Owner At so near a distance the Trees will not grow great in body as when they have more room but streight slender and tall also they will have very few and small boughs grow on the insides that are opposite each to other To make these Trees grow in bulk or greatness when they are grown to that heighth which is best for your occasions then nip or cut off their heads or tops Now about 30 years after planting the three fourth parts of these Trees would be grubbed or cut down that the remainder reserved for greater Timber may have the more room air and sun on all parts And in felling the former distance must be observed between them that are left standing those Trees that are felled may be converted to their several uses as followeth The Butt or lower end of the streightest Ash and Chesnuts that are best to slit must be made choice of for white hoops the size
England's IMPROVEMENT REVIV'D Digested into SIX BOOKS BY Captain JOHN SMITH In the SAVOY Printed by Tho. Newcomb for the Author An. Dom. 1670. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM L rd VISCOVNT BROVNKER President of the ROYAL SOCIETY My Lord HAving at length finish'd that Discourse of Planting which about six Months since in the first rude Draught I presented to Your Lordship I now take the Confidence from the Incouragement I then had from Your Hand and that unexpected Approbation thereof given me afterward by a worthy and learned Member of Your Society to whom by Your Lordships Order it was Referr'd to make it more Publick under the Patronage of so great a Name I question not but I shall have many Readers who respecting more the Manner then true end of Writing Treatises of this Nature will Cavil at the barrenness of my Expression and Faulting a thing I pretend not to Condemn my Book before they have scarce Examin'd its Contents But as that was very little discouragement to me in the Writing when I sought only to please some few Friends and my Self so will it be less now when I can Retort on those who Carp at Me. This Dedication I beseech Your Lordship therefore to accept of these my Endeavours which I hope being pursu'd will conduce very much to the Publick Advantage and that Profession which therewith I make of being My Lord Your L ps Most Humble Obedient Servant John Smith The Report of Iohn Evelyn Esquire by Order of the Royal Society concerning the Following Discourse Mr. Smith I Have Perus'd your Accurate Treatise Intituled Englands Improvement Reviv'd and find it so Industriously perform'd and in so useful a Method that I cannot but chearfully give it my Approbation I have my self been engaged on the same Argument by Commands from the Royal Society which has now been sometime at the Printers towards a Second Edition and I shall therein not fail to Publish a due Encomium of your Work before it come abroad For though in some particulars we may happen to Treat of the same Subject yet it is without the least prejudice to each other and I am glad to find my own Concepâ—ions Fortified by a Person of so great a Talent and Experience beyond me Cedat ergo in bonum publicum Sayes-Court Feb. 10. 68 J. EVELYN A LETTER from one of the Royal Society to his Friend the Author Worthy Kinsman UPon a second Perusal of your Papers I am very glad to find the Opinion your Friends long since had of their worth and your great Abilities confirm'd by the Approbation of so Learned and Honourable a Person as Mr. Evelyn I knew they could be no longer alone in the Sentence they past than till your self would make your Experience in that main Piece of Husbandry whereof your Book Treates more Publick 'T is a design truely generous and an Improvement every way so advantagious if throughly pursu'd both to the Nation in general and all Gentlemen who have a desire to make their Estates more considerable that you would have done Posterity that I may not say this Age alone an Injury in suppressing your thoughts The next thing I wish to see is your Proposals put into Practice and then the many New Plantations which in every Shire of this Kingdom shall be propagated will be so many standing Monuments of your great Love you bore your Country I am Sir Yours Sam. Woodford Bensted Octob. 23 1669. TO THE READER ABout 5 years since being informed by several Gentlemen Commissioners of the Navy and others that His Majesty having taken into consideration the great Wasts and decay of all Woods and Timber in England especially in His own Forrests was resolved not only to Preserve those young Trees which were left standing but to Plant others for a future supply and being desired by some of the foresaid Gentlemen my Acquaintance to give them an Account what I might Judge would be the Charges to Plant a Thousand Acres of Land with Seed and Sets of Oak Ash Beech and Elme at 5 distances as from one Foot to 4 Perches together with the Manner and Way of Planting I should most approve of in obedience to their Commands I set about the following Work my intent at the first writing was not to have exceeded half a score sheets of Paper and when I had communicated my Thoughts to the Persons who Imploy'd me to have laid them by for my own or the use of any of my Friends who should undertake such a Design but I know not how one sheet produc'd another and at length my Book has sweld to the Bulk you find it for besides that it is such a Piece of Husbandry that I have much delighted in and endevoured to know above 30 years and to effect the same have made many Experiments throughout this Kingdom and in other parts particularly in Ireland where I formerly kept three Ploughs of my own till the Rebellion about 26 years since forc't me thence When I was once enter'd beyond my Commission I took into Consideration all those sorts of Under-Woods that are most proper and most in use as to present advantage and I did it the rather because I had Experienc't they might conveniently be planted among the Timber-Trees till they grow to some considerable bigness what other Improvements thou shalt find take it as thrown into the Bargain I might have spoken here concerning the Firr-Tree useful for Masts Yards of Ships c. but I fear the Clime partly and partly the Soyle in England will not agree with it For although those kind of Trees will live where the Crust or good Earth is but shallow and of reasonable depth as the Beech does yet if they find a deeper Crust they will thrive much better Onely this in the General concerning the Firr if they like the Earth where they shall be Planted and grow as in the more Northern parts an acre planted with them at about 30 years end or growth may be worth 140 pounds but it was neither my business nor much in my mind to Treat of this kind of Timber and therefore as I omitted it in my Book I forbear any further mention of it in this place In the Fifth Book I have taken occasion to Treat of Planting 200 Acres of Land as well for pleasure as profit and though part of that Discourse may cause Merryment in some yet with the Pleasure I have intermingled many good Rules and Observations and I am so well satisfied with the Method I have Propounded in that and the other Books that if any Person of Honour should so imploy me being unable by reason of the great Losses I have sustained to put my own Rules in Practice for my self I doubt not but I should answer his utmost Expectation If it be Objected That this is a Subject which has been handled by several and that so it is impossible but I must if I do well tread in their Steps I can
of the chief workemen employed for their felling Nor may any man think strange that there should be such spoyles made in those Days the Officers appoynted to take care of the said timber being rather Farmers then Keepers or good Woodmen Also there hath been but one swaynmote this 40 yeares nor a Wood Court to any effect and consequently no Presentment these 4 or 5 last yeares which only then can be made But to proceed in my proposals Lastly Whereas his Majesties Forrests have formerly flourished and abounded with the best timber Trees in England Nay I may safely say for the Building of Ships the World doth not afford better especially the Oake which are now utterly wasted and decayed My humble Proposal is that part of the said Forrests Especially of such as lie within 20 Miles of any Navigable River and are not so usefull for the Breeding his Majestys Deer and that have but few Deer be Planted as aforesaid I dare not undertake to Proportion the quantity of Ground to be Planted in each Forrest not knowing his Majesties Pleasure also some Forrests are larger and of greater extent than others and doe more abound with timber trees neither can I speak Experimentally of all Forrests but that which is best known unto me and wherein I have dayly walked as a Forrest Officer I will at present discourse a little That Forrest then the care whereof hath been my employment doth not containe above 3 Thousand Acres of Ground in the whole yet it hath so abounded with timber Trees and that of such excellent goodness that it might be compared to any one Forrest in England but it is now much wasted and doth more and more dayly decay for besides the Wastes that have been committed within this 20 years by reason of the unhappy Wars and Rebellion there was also felled and cut down Anno 1663 above eleven hundred Trees and but 600 of them employed for the use of his Majesties Navy and since the time before the trees then felled were removed off the ground There was in the yeare 1664 a Warrant delivered unto the Regarders of the said forrest to view and mark all the Decaying Trees which are some of them accordingly Marked and by vertue of the said Warrant most of the Trees in the forrest may be cut down for they are generally Wasted and decaying but may live and be serviceable an hundred yeares yet to come and if his Majesties forrest be Stocked with Dear then the worst of these Decaying Oakes will beare great store of Masts or Acorns which is good for a Winter Dear and of my owne knowledge and Experience there are many very hollow Oakes that bear greater store or more Acorns to the Number and greatness of Boughes then the soundest tree in the Forrest In the yeare 1665 the Commissioners of the Navy procured another Warrant from his Majesty for the cutting down 2000 Trees more in the said Forrest to Build and repair his Majesties Shipps and to effect the same they sent down a Purveyor to mark and fell the said Trees which was accordingly performed But by severall Reportes of Workemen Imployed about Cutting down the said Trees there was not above 15 or 16 hundred of them converted to the uses appointed by his Majesties Warrant for severall Gentlemen in the County and not farr dwellers from the Forrest Bought the Offall of 2000 trees for 750 Pounds or thereabouts by which said Offall is to be understood if rightly taken the Bark and Boughes and all that part of the tree only which is not used for Shipping but making an agreement with them that had power to sell under the name of Offall were taken in whole trees marked and cutt downe which were not usefull for Building his Majesties Ships though they might have been easily perceived to have been unserviceable for that end by the surveyour that chose them or any Man of very indifferent Iudgement and so left as they ought standing but these had the ill fortune to be cut downe to make advantage by their fall some hundreds of them whilest many other sufficient Timber trees and most fit for the use aforesaid were left standing and are yet Growing Neither is this all for I have been informed that there were many Trees which were cut to pieces as Offall which had Ship timber in them and not unlikely whilest the workmen who were chiefly Imployed about the Offall were known Enemies to his Majesties Woods and timber and have lived on the spoyle above 20 years and to my owne Knowledge have been presented some of them for the same But because there hath been no swainmot Court kept within that time they have scaped the Lash these men were also imployed about Cutting down his Majesties trees and the chief Hewer appoynted by the Perveyor was as honest as the rest and being so they had fit opportunities to commit such villanies as are reported and whereas the Officers as Regarders and Keepers are sworne to endeavour to prevent all Wastes Committed the Keepers have been so much imployed about cutting down trees for their own profit that they have not had time to look to the preventing the spoyles of others and therefore care not or dare not accuse others being themselves Guilty and some of the Regarders also doe more mind to buy Wood and timber for their owne use and Profit then they doe for his Majesties interest and good of the Kingdome in preventing Wastes committed and this is not all the Evil done to his Majesties Woods for the Borderers dwelling about the Forrest taking notice of the Wastes committed by Officers take boldness to make likewise great spoiles and many of the said Borderers have and do to this Day inclose his Majesties Land some one or 2 Acres some more some less In which Inclosures or encroachments are and have been sometimes 2 3 or 4 Oaks Growing the said Land so inclosed is fenced with a dead Hedge the first year and the Bushes within the Plot Grubbed up and one of the Trees Also the said Land Delved and sowed with Corn the next year if no disturbance happen a Ditch is made about the inclosure and the Land sowed again with Corn and another tree stocked up and so the work goeth on till all the trees are cut down and in some encroachments fruit trees have been Planted and other Trees in hedge rowes as also Houses built of his Majesties Timber as if it were the Occupiers Inheritance though but small Plots of Land now in comparison of what hath been formerly are taken in by way of Inchroachment ENGLAND'S IMPROVEMENT REVIVED THE SECOND BOOK The Argument In this Book is treated the Planting Forest Lands and other wast Lands with Plants for Timber-trees also of all kinds of Earth Simple or Compound Rich or Barren and the manner and way of improving the same either by planting Seed or Sets for Timber-trees or Vnder-woods Likewise by draining or watering such Lands that require the same and
safely answer for my self and the main of my Discourse that it is wholly New and such as never before appeared in Print both as to the Manner Charges and Advantage of Planting either one or a thousand Acres in the way and at the Distances propounded I confess I am but a bad Writer and have been all my time more experienc'd in the Practice then the Theory of this kind of Husbandry yet having more consulted the Publick then my self I hope the Learned will indulge me and so I deliver things as they ought pardon the Rudeness of my words and expression A farther Advertisement to the Reader THough this Book came out tâ—us late yet it was finished at least the first and biggest part about three years since but I was not able to publish it by reason of my own great want and former Losses till I had obtained the Subscriptions of several Gentlemen in the Countrey who Reading it and approving both my Design and Method freely contributed to the Charges of this Publication ERRATA PAge 2 l. 25 r. within these few years p. 7 l. 4 for which in r. within ib. l. 29 r. dy-square p. 19 l. 32 after but 1. of p. 20 l. 9 r. that time ib. l. 18 for Masts 1. Mast. p. 22 l. 14 15 r. Incroachment p. 26 l. 12 for chalk r. shank p. 32 l. 33 so every r. very p. 33 l. 32 r. they will l. 34 r. of Trees p. 39 l. 14 for their r. the. p. 41 l. 22 after whole r. ground p. 49 l. 23 for parted r. planted p. 51. l. 5 for that r. after p. 63 l. 1. for de r. side p. 65 l. 20 after preserved r. in every Acre p. 66 l. 33 after small r. houses after p. 160 as far as 1691. for 141 142 c. 161 162 c. p. 161 l 32 dele the breadth cf. p. 177 l. 33 for whereby r. where p. 181 l. 13 for as r. when p. 182 l. 8 Anniseed r. Anniseseed p. 236 l. 19. for as in r. alike in p. 251. l. 17. for Rona r. Rova p. 253 l. 23 for Stars r. Scars Other Faultâ—less considerable and onely literal the Readers judgment will easily supply THE CONTENTS The First Book IN this Book is set down the great benefit that does apise from Trading which is the Strength and Riches of a People as also that the Kings of England are the Soveraign Lords of the British Seas and that the said Seas have by force of Arms been kept and protected from the Power of all other Nations or Kings in memory by undoubted Records ever since Edgar Etheldred Canutus the Dane Edward the Confessor William the Conqueror and all the Kings of England successively to this day You have in it also a Collection of certain Breviats of several Records now in the Tower of London proving the Soveraignty of the British Seas wholly to belong to the Kings of England demonstratedly the Examples of several other Kings and Princes how they keep by force of Arms all Seas within their Territories You have also here in passage shown the great use of Ships how they are the strength of a Kingdom or People and the chief Instruments of Trade And this part lastly is concluded with a short Declaration of the woful Wasts and Decay of all Woods and Timber in England especially in His Majesties Forests not only during the Troubles but to this very day together with some short Proposals for ppeserving these Trees that are now standing and growing planting wast Lands for a future supply and several wayes of improving Barren Lands The Second Book IS treated the Planting Forrest-Lands and other wast-Lands with Plants for Timber-trees also of all kinds of Earth Simple or Compound Rich or Barren and the manner and way of improving the same either by planting Seed or sets for Timber trees or Vnderwoods Likewise by draining or watering such Lands that require the same and Devonshiring or Burning thâ—se Lands grown over with Bushes Heath Furres Goss or such like Also the way of Improving all the said several sorts of Earths by Lime Marl Dung and many other such like Improvements likewise by Plowing Delving Trenching or Plow-trenching the said Land and sowing seed for Corn or Grass and of several Observations and Directions therein The Third Book YOu have set down the manner and way of planting one Acre of Land Statute-measure that is 16 foot and a half to the Pearch with seed or sets for Timber trees and Vnderwoods at several distances as from 1 foot to 4 Pearch Also the converting the said Woods to several uses with the Charges and Profit of performing the same and several Observations in planting the said Woods Also a Conjecture at the growth and Age of Timber-trees as Oaks that are now standing and grow which said Trees may be probably concluded to be the Production of the Earth at the Creation of the World together with Preparatory Directions by plowing and sowing with choice of Seed and Plants in order to the planting a thousand Acres The Fourth Book YOu have Directions to plant a thousand Acres of Land Woodland-measure 18 foot to the Pearch with Seed and Sets for Timber trees and Vnderwoods at the several distances before mentioned and that is from one foot to four Pearch Also here is set down the particular and total accounts of the Charges and Profit of planting of the said Land by Plowing or delving and sowing or setting the same with seed or sets As also converting the said Woods to several uses The Fifth Book IN this Book are Directions set down how to plant 200 Acres of Land as well for Pleasure as for Profit wherein there shall be pleasant Walks with Timber-trees and Groves of Vnderwoods and several Orchards and Gardens with Fruit Flowers and Herbs both for food and Physick variety of Fowl Bees Silk-worms Bucks Does Hares and other Creatures of several kinds And a short account of the Charges and Profit of keeping a thousand Doe-Cenies in Hutches the Profit amounting to 4500 l. per Annum Also Fish-ponds and Streams of Water stored with many kind of Fish and stocked with Decoy Ducks And the use and vertues of all the Plants growing in this Garden of Pleasure The Sixth Book YOu have a Description of the Islands of Orkney and Shotland with the manner and way of the Hollanders Fishing and Trading in those Seas and Islands Also a Diurnal or short account of Coasting from London to those Islands with a discovery of several Rocks and Harbours on that Coast Here is likewise set down that the Original of the Hollanders Trade which is now much increased and spread through a great part of the World was and is from the Fish they every year take on the Coast of England and Scotland And in this Book lastly is set down the great benefit that does arise from Trade with a short discourse that the Traffick of Europe hath been engrossed into the hands and carried
on all along by the Venetians Genoese Portugals Easterlings Hollanders and English and that the falure and decay of the one was the original rise to another Also a Composition which the Hollanders made with King Charles the First to pay unto his Majesty one hundred thousand pounds yearly and a hundred thousand pounds ready down The TABLE PAge 1 2 Discourse of Trade Page 3 4 5 6 Several records to prove that the Soveraignty of the British Seas do wholly belong to the Kings of England P. 7 8 Several proposals for the preserving timber-trees P. 9 10 Hammers and Furnaces for Iron great wasters of woods From p. 11 to p. 17 Several wayes of Improving Land From p. 18 to 22 Great Wasts committed by Keepers others Page 23 to 29 Observations and Directions to make a good serviceable and profitable Fence Page 30 31 The Charges of making the said Fence Page 32 The Original of Ground and Plants Page 33 to 40 Several kind of grounds not good to plant trees in Page 41 to 44 The choice of Seed and Plants P. 45 to 51 Directions to plant one acre of Land several wayes and at several distances Page 52 The Number of Seed and Plants given to Plant a thousand acres of Land at several distances Page 53 54 The best season of the yeat and the manner and way of plowing Ground in which to sow or set Seed or Plants P. 55 All kind of seed plants will not thrive in one kind of earth P. 56 to 59 Several observations in plowing sowing and setting seed and plants for Trees Page 60 to 63 Several observations in transplanting Trees P. 64 to 66 Several observations in planting for Under-Woods P. 67 to 71 Transplanting Trees of great bulk or growth P. 72 to 75 Observations in dressing or proyning Trees P. 76 to 80 The growth and age of Timber-Trees P. 81 Two several Chains to plant seed or sets by P. 82 to P. 103 is set down the profit of Planting a thousand acres of Land with seed or sets for Timber-trees and under-Woods Page 104 An account given of 29548000 acres of Land in England besides that which is allowed for the High-wayes P. 105 Loss of ground by reason of the Fence P. 106 to p. 125 you have an account of the charges by plowing and planting seed and sets for Timber-trees and under-Woods P. 126 to p. 159 you have an account of the Charges by delving the Land and planting seed and sets for Timber-trees and under-Woods P. 160 to 163 Planting pleasant walks with Timber-trees and Groves P. 164 to 169 The Charges and Profit keeping 1000 tame Conies P. 170 171 Several observations about sheep P. 172 175 Several directions to make an Aviary also a Fish-pond and several observations about Pigeons P. 176 The choice of Cows for a Dairy P. 177 to p. 183 A particular view of every part of the pleasant Land P. 183 184 An Alphabet of all Herbs growing in the Kitchin and Physick Gardens P. 185 186 187 Several Observations about planting Herbs P. 188 189 Directions to Plant Hops P. 190 191 192 A View of the Pleasant-Land P. 193 to p. 243 The Vertues and use of Trees and Herbs P. 244 to p. 248 Several Physical Directions P. 249 to p. 270 A Discourse of the Fishing-Trade of Great-Britain ENGLAND'S IMPROVEMENT REVIVED THE FIRST BOOK The Argument In this Book is set down the great benefit that doâ— arise from Trading which is the Strength and Riches of a People as also that the Kings of England are the Soveraign Lords of the British Seas and that the said Seas have by force of Armes been kept and protected from the Power of all Nations and Kings in memory by undoubted Records ever since Edgar Etheldred Canutus the Dane Edward the Confessor William the Conqueror and all the Kings of England to this day You have in it also a Collection of certain Breviats of several Records now in the Tower of London proving the Soveraignty of the British Seas wholly to belong to the Kings of England demonstrated by the Examples of several other Kings and Princes how they keep by force of Armes all Seas within their Territories You have also here in Passage shewn the great use of Ships how they are the Strength of a Kingdom or People and the chief Instruments of Trade And this part lastly is concluded with a short Declaration of the wofull wasts and decay of all Woods and Timber in England especially in his Majesties Forrests not only during the Troubles but to this very day Together with some short Proposals for preserving those Trees that are now standing and growing planting wast Lands for a future supply and several ways of improving Barren Lands HAving not long since in obedience unto his Majesties Gracious Declaration for the Fishing-Trade of Great Britain discoursed something of Trade in general and how it hath flourished together with its Decay throughout Europe as well as here in England and particularly of the Fishing-Trade and the great advantage that might accrue to this Nation thereby I think it needless to repeat here what I have other where more largely set down It is well known that Trade is the Life of all the habitable World and that by the extent thereof the Venetians and Genoese did engross the greatest part of the Wealth of Europe and by their Shipping which continually supplyed them with Men became a Terror unto all about them But when their Trading decayed their Strength and Glory did with it fall as if those two Twins who were happily born together were unwilling to survive each other After the Venetians and Genoese the Easterlings or Haunse Towns being Masters of the Trade were very powerfull at Sea and Land and in their own Bottoms transported our Staple Commodities all over Europe when we for want of Ships could only look on and see them grow rich by our encrease I need not tell how also by their Shipping the Saxons Danes and Normans invaded England being the more powerfull because Masters of a great Trade but when that began to fail their Strength and Shipping sensibly decayed After the Easterlings the Portugals discovering the way to the Indies by the Cape of good hope quickly became Ingrossers of the whole Trade thither and at once undermined the Venetians and all the Haunse Towns and encreasing with the strength of Spain became as formidable at home by Land as they were abroad at Sea But now in these years those great Trades are fallen betwixt Us and the Hollander only the Hollander by art and industry hath better improved his Interest and made himself rich by our Staple Commodities For the Original of all their Trade and Merchandise together with the great support of it was and is from the Fish they take in the Seas belonging unto England and Scotlandm with the Product whereof they are grown to that greatness that now they are and may be as ill Neighbours to England as the
243 Dayes 8 howrs Each day containing 24 hours or day and Night and because all Hammers and furnaces spend not a like quantity of Coale we shall therefore take or compute the least or smallest Number for all which is 3 loade of Coale in 24 houres for each furnace and Hammer Then there is spent in the 243 Dayes 8 houres 1460 Load by one furnace and Hammer which amounts unto for the 130 Hammers and furnaces 94900 Load in one yeare Now if there were so many loade spent in one County it is an unknown quantity that hath been spent throughout England and besides this great Consumption of Wood in making Iron there have been many Glasse-houses which were likewise great spenders so that if there be not a restraint layd on all Hammers and furnaces to provide other fireing and not Wood or Charcole England will soone find a wofull want of that Commoditie and be sensible of that great Evill wilfull Waste without any care taken either to preserve or Maintain a stock of Wood by new Planting for there are too too many that except against Planting Objecting that it will prejudice the poor by Diminishing Corne and Cattle to which is answered that the greatest part of Woodland now in England is overgrowne with Dwarfe trees shrubs Bushes and such like Incombrances which are of small benefit either to the Poore or Rich Corne or Cattle of which Woods if there were but a third part cleansed or cleared by grubbing or stocking up those incumbrances and good Plants planted for Timber Trees and Woods for fireing one Acre of the said Wood-Land would produce more Timber to the worth of it and Wood for fireing then 10 Acres of the said Land doth at present and then if the other 2 thirds be likewise Cleared the Land will breed and feed 5 times as many Cattle as now it doth How then are the Poore hindred or Impoverished but Secondly if the one half of all Meadow Pasture and Arable Lands now in use and Tillage throughout England were Improved by good Husbandry Watering Draining Dunging Marling Liming Sanding Devonshiring and such like helpes Also by considering the Constitution of the Ground Whether best for Meadow Pasture or Plow and what Corne or Graine will best Thrive in such and such grounds for that there is a naturall affinity or Enmity between graines and ground Experience doth teach where there is a Mutuall agreement between Seed and ground the Increase hath been an hundred for one and on the contrary scarcely the seed again that was sowed although the Land may be in strength Also considering the Clime wherein the Land lyeth thereby to order your Husbandry Early or late in the year This performed the one half of the Land in England as was said before will produce double the quantity of Corne that the whole which is now in Tillage doth as also Breed and feed many more Cattle And Consequently England will maintain above Double the Number of People in a better Condition by the encrease of Trading which will encrease his Majesties Revenues and be more strength and safety to the Kingdome for it is the greedy Covetousness of most men Especially Farmers to have much Land in their Occupation when they cannot well manure the fourth part but wear out the strength and Heart thereof with the Sythe and Plow for Meadow Land will require soyling or Dunging as well as Arable Now if Land that have been improved as Arable Meadow and Pasture may be yet improv'd higher much more may those Lands that were never improved admit of it which are many waste Lands in Common throughout England We shall instance in one County for all which is that of Surrey wherein there are many Thousand Acres of Land overgrown with Shrubs Bushes Heath â—â—urs Goss Whinnes and such like All which if they were stâ—ckt up the Land Hackt and burnt in the place and the ashes well spread all over the ground every Acre of Land thus husbanded would be worth 10. Acres as it now is But because there are severall hundred families of Poor People that have a livelyhood therefrom it is my great Designe That they should have the chief benefit by this Improvement We shall speak more particularly to the several parts as followeth The Land being thus Cleansed by Devonshiring as is before explained In the second place all those Lands that lye wet by reason of Inundation of Water or Land Springs c. would be layed dry by Drayning Thirdly the said Lands that were Drayn'd and also other Lands except Arable would be watered or overflowed again at pleasure as the Land may require considering the season of the year either with water springing or running from or out of Rocks or Hills of Chalk Marle Allom or such like Mines or from hills of arable land for great Rains will wash down the Dung or soyl therefrom and much enrich those grounds it runs into Let no man spare charges according to his abilities in improving his Land for I have known many men undone by building stately Houses and others by neglecting their Lands but did never know or hear of any that was undone by improving his Lands Fourthly this performed we will suppose the fourth part of the whole Land to be one inclosure and the same plowed and sowed with Corn and that every poor Borderer that hath right of Common have 4 or 5 Acres more or less as the said Common doth extend in largeness and the number of the Poor belonging thereunto and those Acres to be set out by Mears or Bound-stones Fifthly another fourth part to be planted with Seed or Plants for Under-woods only allowing 7 or 8 Plants in each or every Acre of Land to grow for Timber-trees or one Acre out of every ten Acres to be planted only with Timber-trees allowing 40 Trees in each Acre for the Poor must have Houses to dwell in as well as Bread and Firing Sixthly the other two fourth parts or the one half of the whole Land to be reserved for Meadow and Pasture and be in Common as the other Lands This said half being well ordered will breed and keep twice as many Cattel as the whole Land did before it was improved And wherein now is the Poor wronged by planting Woods if Lands were thus improved for those that have right of Common will have much more Pasture and provision is made for more Wood. And that there may be a greater improvement of all and every part of the said Lands my advice is first that the Arable Land after 2 or 3 years Crops of Corn at the most be well manured with Dung Lime Marle Chalk or such like helps and then plowed and sowed again Secondly that the Pasture Land be either Marled or soyled with good Dung and plowed and sowed with Clover Treafoil Centfoil or some other seed for Grass and this to be performed presently after the burning of the Earth for Pasture Land being once in heart will encrease
although for Mans sins the Earth was cursed to bring briers and thorns yet we do not read that the lives of Vegetives were therefore shortned but that every Plant according to the spirit of the species by the good will and providence of God lives to the time first appointed at the Creation If Man had not sinned he had not been subject to mortality it is therefore resolved upon good reason that Trees may live during the world or untill the dissolution of all things here below not coming under Mans transgression for if Man whose body is nothing in a manner but tender rottenness hath lived above 900 years much more may the Oak live many thousand But secondly in all ancient History we read that the greatest part of England was much over-grown with Woods and it is well known that these Woods have been cut down and destroyed in all Ages and are wasting to this day But we do not read of planting any except in these latter dayes by Gentlemen for their private occasions His Majesties Forrests which are the ancient Woods and Woodland in England have not been planted nor ever were by Man neither do we find that the oldest trees die and young grow up in their room nor that decayed trees are cut down except some few for Firing but the best and soundest trees as hath been said before or that such old like decayed trees are the oldest trees and are so decayed by reason of age but chiefly by being often lopped shredded chipt and cut either boughs or roots or by other accidents as being overwhelmed and oppressed by bushes or other trees growing too near them or otherlike which may shorten the life of the soundest trees besides other incumbrances under ground as Land-springs Water-courses Rocks of Stone or Slate which they meet with in their subterranous passage Thirdly there are trees which are and have been ancient Boundary trees or Land-marks many hundred years which now are and have been by the memory of the oldest men living growing like trees Fourthly it hath been my observation in travelling abroad that great Woods or Woods of great Timber-trees have been so environed with Bogs or moorish ground that not any Engin Cart or Wagon could pass neither hath it been known that any of those great trees have been felled or cut down Other Woods I have seen containing many miles very rocky and they so high and rugged that not any Cart or Wagon could pass in many places and yet both these grounds abounding with trees of great bulk also other parts of the Country have been generally full of Wood and Timber-trees and not much peopled nor ever was Neither is there any Cart Wagon or other Engin thereabout in use to convey away Timber And the Wood and Timber generally used is young trees with which they build their Cabbins Booths or Houses being but of one story framed in the Woods and drawn to the places where they make use of them being made fast on both sides of a horse or else carried on mens backs I have travelled through a great part of these Woods and as I well remember the greatest part or quantity of the dead trees I then saw were such as the wind blew down many of them lying rotting on the ground for want of use the Country being full and others that were standing but dead I found were for the most part young trees which did either grow out of the roots of greater trees or from seed falling in long grass and so growing altogether hindred the growth of each other and shortned their lives I do not know any History that mentions either the planting felling or cutting any of these Woods nor the oldest man then living in those parts could inform me Fifthly of my own knowledge in Lancashire Shropshire and other parts there are many Firre-trees taken out of the ground some of them 2 or 3 yards within the ground and by all probability they have lien there ever since the Flood for no History nor any Lease Conveyance or Deed in writing doth mention any such trees growing in those parts also they are found near the sea in moorish places which is not a proper place for the Firr to grow in there have been many years since and of late several discoveries of the said trees being found whole Bodies and Roots and the Timber very sound Now if such trees have dured found so long after death much longer might they have lived if they had had the benefit of the earths moisture in their Roots only There may be several reasons for that which hath been said of the Firre-trees I shall but mention one At the Deluge the Waters continuing many Moneths on the earth did much soften and mellow the ground and at the time appointed by the Command of God the waters were returned into their Channels by a strong wind as in Gen. 8. verse 1. which said wind after the waters were something asswaged did blow down several trees The Firre being tall and the Roots running shallow within the earth were the sooner blown down and left floting on the water by reason of their porousness and lightness Now when the Waters were totally asswaged where the last winds left them there those trees sunk into the Mud and every Tyde from the Sea casting up earth or sand did cover them and the Sea in after time falling off or leaving those shores that earth became dry and produced grass moss weeds and such like which did grow over and hide those trees untill such time that this Kingdom became more peopled and then these trees were discovered as aforesaid Many more proofs there are which much strengthens my belief in that which hath been said concerning the age of an Oak But thus have we in a plain way and experimental given helps and directions for the planting Timber trees many more observations might have been added in the choice of seed and plants the several wayes of planting plowing delving sowing and setting the different wayes of dressing and proyning also the several sorts of Timber trees besides those before mentioned all sort of Underwoods with their names and characters But they being out of my Road at this time I shall keep to my business and in the next place give an account of the charges and profit in planting a thousand Acres of Land Now the best Figure for this Plot of Land for profit and pleasure is a Quadrat or four square of equal angle because it encloseth a greater quantity of Land with less charges then you can do in any other Figure also the Plants may be planted uniformly and in order To perform this there must be provided two Chains made of Wyer each of them containing 22 yards which is 4 pearch the breadth of an acre of Land as it is usually measured for 40 pearch long and 4 broad is an Acre but if Woodland measure then the Chains must be 24 yards in length one of the said Chains must
Out of this Timber may also be made Lathes of all sorts and many other useful Implements of Husbandry Now considering all these Improvements from the Oak we shall value them to be worth one with the other 15 shillings the Tree which amounts to 59700 pound the rest or remainder of trees which are in number 81201 may be worth at 150 years growth five pound the Tree which amounts to 406005 pound The Land may be sowed with Wheat at or after the first planting three years together and every Acre will take up the trees being thus planted at this distance 2 Bushel and a half which amounts to for the thousand Acres 7500 Bushels the product or increase of the said Wheat according to our former account which is 10 bushels for one comes to for the 3 years Crops 75000 bushels and at 5 shillings the bushel amounts to 18750 pound The Straw and Hulls or Chaff which will arise from the said Wheat allowing for every Load or 40 Bushels of Wheat 2 Load of Straw worth 5 shilling the Load and 32 bushel of Hulls worth 3 pence the bushel heap and thrust they both come to 1875 pound The total summ for the first Fall of Timber and the 3 years Crop of Wheat Straw and Hulls amounts to 80325 pound The total summ of the whole Improvement besides the 147 years Profit of the Land by Corn Pasture or Hay amounts to 486330 pounds An Oak well planted drest or proyned and the Land well soyled with good fat Dung will be greater and of more value at one hundred years than those planted with or among Underwoods will amount to at 300 years V. Dist. A fifth or the next Distance in planting the Oak is 2 Pearch which is 36 foot there will now be in the thousand Acres of Land at this distance 40401 trees and you may make as much benefit of the ground either by Corn Meadow or Pasture within a small matter as if there were not a tree there growing But at 150 years growth this Distance will be too near for the distance of ground between trees must be so far as two trees doth overspread Now a tree that does thrive will spread about the time aforesaid 12 or 13 yards which being added to 12 allotted to the opposite tree makes 24 yards therefore about that time you must grub up the middle trees as before directed they may be worth 5 pound the tree there being 19800 of the said trees amounts to 99000 pound the rest or remainder of trees being in number 20601 at 220 years growth may be worth 8 pound the tree which come to 164808 pound Now at this distance there may be sowed between the Plants 3000 Bushels of seed Wheat and that is 3 bushels allowed for every Acre the increase of the said Wheat according to our former reckoning amounts to 30000 Bushels and the 3 years Crops after the same rate comes to 90000 Bushels which at 5 shillings the Bushel is worth 22500 pound The Chaff and Straw that will arise from the 3 years Crop of Wheat counting 2 Load of Straw and 32 Bushels of Chaff from every Load of Wheat and at five shillings the Load for the Straw and three pence a Bushel the Chaff comes to 2025 pound The total summ for Wheat Chaff and Straw amounts to 24525 pound The Total of this Improvement besides the 217 years profit arising from Corn and Cattel amounts to 288333 pound Now trees thus planted which have indured cold and droughth in the tenderness of their age must of necessity grow and thrive the best or better than those growing thick so that such Oaks may grow in a short time compared with the years those trees do live to be worth 20 pound the Oak valued one with the other Then the 20601 Oaks last valued or prized if they grow to this price amount to 412020 pound And the Total Improvement of the thousand Acres besides the profit arising from Corn and Cattel amounts to 675833 pound Also at this last Distance there will be more room for the Plow likewise the Pasture for Meadow and feeding will be sweeter and more wholesome for Cattel the shade and dropping of trees being an Enemy to Corn and Grass And thus shall you have healthful and long lasting trees whose tops will be great the boal or body smooth clean and free from boyles great and well coloured Timber being well drest may grow 30 foot high free and clear without knob or bough bearing 2 foot diameter at the top or heigth aforesaid within or about 150 years after planted such Oaks will grow to an incredible price or value Now if there were in England 20000 Acres of Land thus planted they would be worth according to the last account of the thousand Acres 13516660 pound This would be a good improvement for so many Acres of Land which may well be spared without any damage either to the Gentry or Commons And the poorer sort of People which depend on his Majesties Forrests as Commoners should have much help thereby as hath been sufficiently declared Now although this quantity of Land make a great sound and seemeth to be too great for such a use and may in the opinions of some be better imployed for Corn and Cattel yet if we had no Wood in England which every day sensibly decays with us Corn and Cattel could neither protect nor warm us Also this quantity of Land is but a small proportion to the many Woods that have been and now are in England but utterly wasted and decayed being over-grown with Shrubs Dwarf-trees Bushes and such rubbish which will not well serve for good Firing and is of little worth or profit either to Rich or Poor as hath been said Therefore those Lands would be cleansed of all Incumbrances and new planted But if Woodlands cannot be spared because of the scarcity of Firing there are other Lands that may for by the General Maps of England it is found to contain 29568000 Acres of Land besides that which is allowed for the High-waies Out of this summ deduct 20 thousand Acres their remain 29548000 Acres Now that which is substracted is so small a Proportion to so great a Quantity that it may with much safety be allowed And to answer all Objections which may be made against this Plantation there are very sufficient Gentlemen who will undertake to carry on and finish the Work without putting either his Majesty or the Nation to any charge We have formerly made mention of a Statute of the 35 Hen. 8. for the Preservation of Timber-trees wherein it was provided That 12 Storers or Standils should be left upon an Acre at every Fall whereby we may undestand that in those daies they were sensible of the decay of Timber Now if at that time there had been the same care taken and provision made for planting Timber-trees according to the manner and way which we have now declared or for preserving the young then growing there would