and Improvements imparted by Gabriel Plats to Mr. Hartlib FOur hundred graines of chosen Wheat doe weigh three quarters of an ounce which is three ounces for a perch and so a hundred and sixty perches must have four hundred and eighty ounces which is in weight thirty pound and in measure half a bushel and two pints If this half bushel being set upon an Acre shall enrease but an hundred for one which is the least encrease of set Corn that ever was known then there will be about 11 quarters upon that Acre And that several sorts of Wheat doe differ at least 11. pound in a bushel in weight and also in the number of grains so that it is impossible to make this accompt absolutely and exactly perfect But yet it appeareth clear that there is above forescore pounds in the two hundred pounds saved in the seed Corn in setting more than by sowing the common way and also that there is above forescore pounds in the hundred pound saved in workmens wages by this new device of setting and also it shall appear that there is above forescore pounds in the hundred pound saved in the Compost by dispersing it by my new Invention in such manner that it shall all lye within the attractive virtue of the seed Corn. Also it shall appear that the Corn upon every Acre being set by my direction shall yeeld a full third part increase more than if it were sown the common way which said third part shall bear all the charges whatsoever both rent and other expences so that by this new way of Husbandry there will be as much Corn gained clear upon every Acre of ground in England as formerly the said land did yeeld one year with another The seed wheat for the setting of an acre is worth half a crown at five shillings a bushel the workmens wages for seting is six shillings the compost costeth little more than the ordinary charges of spreading the dung by the ordinary way of ploughing c. Also it appeareth clear that the gains of one Acre will do a great deal more than to pay for the several Engins which notwithstanding being well trimmed will endure and be serviceable for the space of an hundred years And if any man doubt of it let him cast up the charges of my work more punctually and also the charges of the common way and he shall finde that there is more cleare gains by my way by ten Acres then by thirty done the common way in which accompt I will not be my own carver but will refer my self to the accompt in a little book which I met withall lately though it was printed Anno Dom. 1601. when setting of Wheat was in great practise but afterwards when the price of Wheat grew cheap and Labourers wages grew dear the practise ceased for want of an expeditious way A comparison between Ploughing and Sowing of three Acrees of Land after the old fashion and Ploughing and Setting of one Acre after the manner declared in the book printed Anno Dom. 1601. by Mr. Maxey Gentleman a great practizer in those daies in the art of setting of Corn. And first for the charge The Rent of three Acrees in most places is worth some five shillings an acre the land according to the use of the Common fields doth lye fumer fallow the first year and beareth Corn the other so the Farmer payeth the yeares rent before he hath his crop which rent cometh to thirty shillings The ploughing of these if it be well done and as most grounds require every Acre four times which is twelve plowings at two shillings every time cometh to four and twenty shillings the dunging of these three acres with some twelve or fourteen loads upon every Acre and is for three acres some forty loads at six pence a load spread upon the land amounteth to twenty shillings The seed that will sow it is usually two bushels and an half of Wheat or Rye for every acre which is a eleven bushels and an half at four shillings the bushel cometh to thirty shillings The Weeding and Reaping and other charges in two years though uncertain yet for example ten shillings thus two yeares rent and charges cometh to five pound fourteen shillings The usual encrease in the common fields barren lands have so little help with dung is but two quarters upon an acre but allow twenty bushels to stop a wranglers mouth which is for three acres seven quarters and a half rated at four shillings a bushel thirty two shillings the quarter cometh to twelve pound out of which if you take the charge aforesaid there remaineth to the Farmer for his stock six pound six shillings and so for every one of those acres allowing so good encrease and so good a price the profit two and forty shillings And you shall understand that notwithstanding their accompts and mine own of seven or eight quarters upon an Acre and also of Sir Hugh Plats accompt of fifteen twenty five and twenty or thirty quarters upon an acre yet all these accompts may be true for you may learn by my book so to fertilize your land that it may bring thirty quarters upon an acre in such years when the Months of May June and July prove exceeding hot and dry which I would advise no man to trust to in regard that these three Moneths scarce prove so once in a eleven years in these Insulary Countries which are subject greatly to the change of weather and if these Months prove moyst and rainy then all ground that is so mightily enriched will be spoyled with rankness and therefore the safest way is to order your Compost so that an Acre may bear 11. quarters one year with another And though I have known that an Acre of Barley hath â—orr by accident thirty quarters and that the same thirty quarters were worth the same year threescore pounds yet the adventure was so dangerous that I would advise no man to attempt the like And thus a friend of mine proceeded viz. he ploughed up at Michaelmass twenty Acres of very fertile and rank green sword ground and afterward cross ploughed it and harrowed it three or four times to kill the grass and also to mingle the fat earth with the lean then he sowed it about the begining of March with Barley before the vehement drought came had cover'd the ground so full that it was as if it were even turfed with the Corn so that afterwards the violent heat and drought which spoyled the thin and barren Corn in the Common fields did cause this Corn to have but a short straw yet the rich earth put forth a large ear and very exceeding thick and also the corn was plump and round which had the weather happened to be moyst and rainy then there would have been almost nothing but straw but so it came to pass that he had thirty quarters upon every Acre which was upon the twenty Acres six hundred quarters and by reason
every year if others were as Ingenious we should not want fire-wood Osiers planted in low Morish grounds do advance land from 5 s. per Acre to 40 s. 50 s. 3 l. and upward it 's much used Westward of London these Osiers are of great use to Basket-makers There is a sort of small Osier or Willow at Saint Omars in Flaunders which groweth on Islands which float up and downe it 's far lesse than that which the Western men call Eights with this they make their curious fine Baskets this plant is worth the procuring being so nigh John Tredeseat hath some plants of it There is a Flant likewise in England called the sweet Willows it 's not onely good for shade and firing but as I am informed the leaves do not soure the grasse but that the Cattel will eat them sooner then Hay if this be so it may be of singular use for Meadows 5. That those things which mightily destroy Woods may be restrained as Iron-works are therefore the State hath very well done to pull down divers Iron-works in the Forrest of Deâ—n that the Timber might be preserved for Shipping which is accounted the toughest in England and when it is dry as hard as Iron the Common-people did use to say that in Queen Elizabeth's dayes the Spaniard sent an Ambassadour purposely to get this wood destroyed how true this is I know not but without question it 's admirable Wood for Shipping and generally our English Oake is the best in the World for Shipping because it 's of a great Graine and therefore strong but the Oaks of other Countreys have a finer grain and more fit for Wainscot and in this kind our Forefathers have been very provident for we have an Act of long standing prohibiting Iron-works within twenty miles of London and within three miles of the River of Thames thou you may find Iron-stone in divers places as in the great gravel-pit at Woolwhich There are some Ingenious men who lately have got a Patent for making Iron with Sea-cealâ—e I hope they will accomplish their desires for it would wonderfully advance this Island and save Wood. There are two faults in Sea-coal in respect of melting Iron-oare 1. That it is apt to bake together or cake 2. It hath a sulphureous fume in it which is an enemy to Metal and consumeth it as we see by our Iron-Bars in Windows at London so that the Metallaine Nature of the Iron-stone is much wasted by it and that which remaineth is very brittle and will be Could-shire I know tâ—at by the mixture of Coal beaten with loam and throughly dryed one if not both of these Inconveniâ—nces may be taken away In the Duke of Cleveland's Countrey they use halfe Turffe half Charcoal There is a way by making a kind of Barter with Loam Vrine c. which will cause Charcoal to last very long as I am informed but these discourses belong to another place It 's a great Deficiency here in England without question that we have no more Bees considering that they are neither chargeable requiring only a few straws for an house nor troublesome and this Island may maintain ten times as many for though a place may be overstocked with these Animals as with the greater yet I know no part of this Land that is so and I know divers places which would maintaine many hundred Hives yet scarce one to be seen 2. Our Honey is the best in the World and Wax a stable Commodity Further we know that cold Countreys not comparable to ours as Muscovia have far greater quantity then we have so that it 's incredible what quantity is found in the Woods if the story of tho man be true who fell up even to the ears in Honey and had there perished had not a Bear on which he caught hold pulled him out Now I have enquired how it cometh to passe that there is so great store of Honey in Muscovia considering the Winters are extream cold and also very long and I am credibly informed that first the Spring when it beginneth cometh extraordinary fast that the dayes are very long and the Summers far dryer then ours here in England so that the Bees are not hindered by continual showers as they are some years here in this Isle And lastly that the Countrey aboundeth much with Firs and Pine-trees which the Inhabitants usually cut that the Gum Rosinous or Turpentine substance may sweat forth to which places the Bees do come and presently fill themselves and return laden and perhaps for these very reasons Bees thrive very much in New-England 2. We are Deficient in the ordering of them Not to speak of the negligence of particular men which is very frequent nor to write a general story of the ordering of them because it requireth much paper and Mr. Leveret and Butler especially the latter hath written so exactly and upon his own experience that little can be added to it onely in a point or two I differ from him of the which I will speak briefly 1. That we must take and destroy all the Bees for their Honey and not drive them as they do in Italy once or twice yearly 2. That if a Swarme be poor with little Honey that that Swarme ought to be taken because it is poor so that the rich stocks are destroyed because they be rich and the poor Swarmes because they be poor so that be they rich or be they poor they must be destroyed An Italian reporteth that in the City of Askaly there was a Law made that none should destroy a Swarme of Bees unlesse he had a just cause accounting it a part of extream injustice and cruelty to take away without cause both the goods and lives of such good and faithfull servants I am credibly informed that an English Gentleman beyond the Seas getteth many an hundred pound yearly by keeping Bees after a new and Ingenious Manner which is thus He hath a room made very warm and close yet with Glasse-windows which he can open at his pleasure to let the Bees fly abroad when he pleaseth where he keepeth his Bees and feedeth them all Winter with a sweet Composition made of Molossoes Flowers sweet Wine Milk Raisins c. for with such things as these they usually feed Bees in Italy and often times in Summer when the weather is rainy windy or so disposed that the Bees cannot conveniently go abroad he feedeth them at home with divers sweet things and gathereth divers flowers and layeth them amongst them and sticketh up many fresh boughs in divers places of his Rooms that in swarming-time they may settle on them by these means he preserveth all his Swarms and gathereth an incredible quantity of Honey and wax and truly this way seemeth to be very profitable for 1. We know the Bees even as we say of the Aunts will work continually even night and day Winter and Summer if that they were not hindered by darknesse cold and moisture 2. That Bees
Land is not worth above fifteen years purchase But if the use of money went at no more than at other places then five pound bestowed upon an Acre of ground would stand a man in but five or six shillings a year and the acre of land so amended would be worth as hath been shewed six and twenty or thirty yeares purchase Whereby it appeareth that as the rate of Use now goeth no man but where the land lyeth extraordinarily happy for it can amend his Land but to his own losse whereas if money were let as it is in other Countries he might bestow more than double as much as now he may and yet be a great gainer thereby and consequently as was before remembred should to his own benefit purchase land to the Common-wealth Neither would such purchase of Land to the Common-wealth be the benefit to the landed men onely the benefit would be as much to the poor Labourers of the Land For now when Corn and other fruits of the land which grow by labour are cheap the Plough and Mattock are cast into the hedge there is little work for poor men and that at a low rate whereas if the mendment of their own lands were the cheapest purchase to the owner if there were many more people than there are they should be readily set a work at better rates than now they are and none that had their health and limbs could be poor but by their extreamest lazinesse A Bank of Lands or an Improvement of Lands never thought on in former Ages Begun to be presented upon most rationable and demonstrable grounds by Mr. William Potter a Gentleman of great deserts and of a most Publique Spirit which being more fully cleared in all its Particulars and established by publique Authority may become a standing and setled Meanes to enrich the whole Nation and also to remove Taxes and other publique Burdens THrough the long continuance of the Wars Trade hath been interrupted great losses sustained at sea the people constrained to live upon the main stock mens credits ruined many debts otherwise good lost both friends and enemies plundered or sequestred and Taxes c. unavoydably continued whereby the Nation is now in a very low condition There is a great necessity that this Epidemical disease of ruin in mens estates should be cured for hereby 1. The Rich that should support others are diminished in number and weakned in means and the Poor that should be upheld are increased both in number and necessities 2. If the removing of Burdens be necessary the removing of Poverty without which the rest are in effect no burdens is more necessary 3. The Trade Manufacture Shipping Strength Repute and flourishing estate of the Nation depends as the meanes upon the Riches thereof 4. The servility of a low condition deprives men of much leisure and freedom in attending higher things This burden may be removed by encouraging such employments and undertakings as tend to increase the estates of some without impoverishing others for whatsoever takes from one mans estate as much as it adds to another doth not inrich the Nation The capacity of inriching this Nation is in a sort infinite 1. By making it the Scale of Trade to other people which consists in buying the commodities of other Countries working them here and selling them again in forraign parts Whereby if England were a City upon a Rock and held no land of their own they might be maintained comfortably Witnesse Holland 2. By Plantations throughout the world which tends to lessen our charge and increase our means by the returnes of commodities out of the industry of those that otherwise must be maintained for nothing 3. By the Fishing-trade wherein the Sea affords a vast Treasure without demanding any rent for it all which three last particulars would yeeld a kind of infinite of increase if there were no want of stock to employ therein 4. By improving our present Possessions For 1. Almost all the Land in England might be made to yeeld much more encrease if men had money to imploy in manuring the same 2. Divers Husbandmen want wherewith to stock their ground whereby perhaps the Nation suffers more than many times by much unseasonable weather 3. A great part of Ireland lyes at present waste which without great stock to plant is like so to continue 4. There are great quantities of oazie grounds about the Sea-coast and other Fens and waste grounds besides Forrests and Commons which drained and improved might equalize in value some two or three Counties in England 5. There are many Mines in England Ireland and Scotland which being wrought would much increase our Exportation and imployment for poor men To set all these Wheels a going two things are necessary viz. that the people may know where to be furnished with stock at low interest and that a sufficient quantity of currant money be disperced amongst them And indeed the great Remora is that the people are generally voyd of stock whereby it is impossible they should deal either in the Forraign Trade Fishing Plantations or Improving their own possessions by reason whereof both poor and rich are deprived of imployment and forced to live chiefly upon the Principal to the greater increase of their poverty and ruin Whereas if they knew where to obtain such stock at low Interest it would both enable them to prosecute the aforesaid ends and also make way for the more speedy vent of commodities in other Nations for greatnesse of stock at low Interest would enable the English Merchants to deal for much and thereby to buy cheap work cheap and sel for lesse profit in the pound and also to procure their commodities at the best hand viz. at the places of their growth in their proper season whereby out-trading and underselling other Nations they obtain the pre-emption of sale and so cannot fail of vent abroad Also great stock at low Interest would enable Merchants to raise the price of our own native commodities in Forraign parts by keeping them for a good Market which helps much towards the enriching of a Nation Again if there were great quantity of money disperced amongst the people of this land there would not wantvent of commodities amongst themselves For in this case every man to improve his stock would be laying out that mony in commodities those that receive it would be laying it out again upon others and those upon others and so on which would beget a constant return or quick vent for commodities proportionable to the quantity of money so perpetually revolving amongst them Now if through plenty of mony amongst the people there were as much vent for commodity as the earth could by industry be made to afford men would not spare either the Sea or the Land but the one by the Fishing Trade the other by Husbandry and all ingenious wayes of Improvement here in England by planting in Ireland and other new Plantations throughout the whole Globe would bestow