in them Midae Lomentum is the Meale which the people in olde tyme dyd vse for the smoothing of their skinnes Fresa Faba was the Beane that was but finally broken and hulledâ—in the Myll Refrina was that whiche they vsed to offer in sacrifyce for good lucke with their Corne. It is good to steepe your Beanes in the water of Saltpeeter a day before you sowe them you shall keepe them from Wyuels as Palladius sayth yf you geather them in the wane of the Moone and cherishe them and lay them vp before the encrease Beanes and all other Pulse doo mend the ground that they are sowen in The next to Beanes in woorthynesse and sowyng is Pease called in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian Pise and Piselle in Spanishe Aruera in Frenche Pese in Dutch Errettem a Pulse that groweth with hollowe stalkes and full of branches lying vpon the grounde many leaues and long the Coddes rounde conteyning in them round seedes and white though Plinie wryte that they be cornerd as Chych of which sort we haue some at this day blewishe with flowres in shape like the Butterâ—lye purple coloured toward the middest There are two sortes of Pease the one sort coueteth to climbe aloft and runneth vp vppon stickes to whiche with little wynders he bindeth hym selfe and is for the most part onely sowen in Gardens the other sort groweth lowe and creepeth vpon the grounde both kindes are very good to be eaten specially when they be young and tender they must be sowen in warme groundes for they can in no wyse away with colde they are sowed eyther vppon fallowes or rather in riche and yeerely bearing ground once plowed and as all other Pulse in a gentle and a mellowe moulde the season being warme and moyst Columella sayth that ground is made very riche with them if they be presently plowed and the Culter turne in and couer that whiche the Hooke hath newely left They are sowed among Sommer Corne commonly with the fyrst Fyrst Beanes Pease and Lentiles then Tares and Oates as is sayde before Pease and Tares must be sowen in March and April and in the wane of the Moone leâ—t they growe to ranke and flowre out of order where as the best sowing for all other Pulse and grayne is in the encrease of the Moone There are that count Pease to be the Pulse that the Greekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Latines Eruum the Italians Eruo the Spaniardes Yeruo the Dutchmen Eruen of which there are two kindes the one white the other red The later is wylde and groweth in Hedges and Corne feeldes it is a small plant hauyng his leaues narrowe and sâ—lender his flowre eyther white or medled with purple growyng neere togeather like Pease there is no great businesse about it it delighteth in a leane barren ground not moyst for it wyll be spilt with too muche rancknesse it must be sowed before Marche with which moneth it agreeth not because it is then hurtfull vnto cattell Eruilia is a Pulse like smal Beanes some white some blacke and others speckled it hath a stalke like Pease and climeth lyke a Hoppe the Coddes are smoothe like Pescoddes The leaues longer then the leaues of Beanes the flowre is a pleasant foode to Bees In Fraunce and Lumbardie it is called Dora or Dorella Phaseolus in Latine in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 garden Smalax some call it Fasiolum and Dolichium among the Italians some call it Fagiuoli some Smilace de gli Horti others Fagiuolo Turcheses others Lasanie the Spaniardes call it Frisoles the Frenchemen Fasioles and Fales Pinceos the Dutchmen Fasâ—len or wyld Bonen It is a kynde of Pulse whereof there are white redde and yellowe and some specked with blacke spottes the leaues are lyke Iuie leaues but something tenderer the stalke is sâ—lender wyndyng with claspes about such-plantes as are next hym runnyng vp so hie as you may make Herbers vnder hym the coddes are longer then Fennigrecke the Graynes within diuers coloured and fashioned lyke Kydneys it prospereth in a fatte and a yeerely bearyng ground in Gardens or where you wyll and because it climeth aloft there must be set by them poales or staues from the whiche runnyng to the toppes it climeth vppon Trees seruyng well for the shadowyng of Herbers and Summer houses It is sowen of diuers from the Ides of October to the Ralendes of Nouember in some places and with vs in Marche It flowreth in Sommer the meate of them is but indifferent the iuyce not very good the Coddes and the Graynes are eaten togeather or lyke Sperage The Iewes sell them at Rome preserued to be eaten rawe Lens and Lenticula in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian Lendi iae bon maenastre in Spanishe Lenteza in Frenche Lentilla in Duch Linsen is a Pulse very thicke and busshy with leaues lyke the Tare with three or foure very small Graynes in euery Codde of all Pulses the least they are soft and flatte The white ones for theyr pleasauntnesse are the best and such as are aptest to seethe and consume most water in their boylyng It is sowen with vs in Germanie in March and in April the Moone encreasyng in mellowe ground being riche and drye yet Plinie would rather haue the ground leane then riche and the season drye it flowreth in Iuly at whiche tyme by ouer muche rancknesse and moysture it soone corrupteth Therefore to cause it quickely to spring and wel to prosper it must be mingled with drye doung before it be sowen and when it hath lyen so mingled foure or fyue dayes it must be cast into the grounde It groweth hyâ— as they say when it is wette in warme water and Saltpeter before it be sowen wyl neuer corrupt being sprinckled with Bengwin and Uineger Varro wylleth that you sowe it from the fiue and twentieth day of the Moone to the thirtieth so shall it be safe from Snayles And Columella affyrmeth that yf it be mingled with Asshes it wâ—ll be safe from all annoyance Cicer in Latine in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian Ceci Cicere Rosso and Cicere bâ—ance in Spanishe Ganrangos in Frenche Chiche and in Dutch Cicererbs is a busshy kynde of Pulse hauyng a rounde Codde and therein a couple of three cornered seedes whereof there are that make three kindes whyte read and blacke differinâ— onely in the colour of theyr flowre the best kinde hath a stiâ—â—e stalke crooked little leaues indented a whyte a purple or a blacke flowre And wheras other Pulse haue their coddes long and brode according to their seede this beareth them rounde it delighteth in a blacke and a riche moulde is a great spoyler of land and therefore not good for newe broken vp ground it may be sowen at any time in March in rayny weather and in very riche ground the seede must be steeped in water a day before it be sowen to the end it
may spring the sooner it flowreth in Iune and Iuly and then falleth to seede it flowreth a very long while and is geathered the fourth day being rype in a very short tyme when it is in flowre of all other Pulse it receyueth harme by rayne when it is rype it must be geathered out of hande for it scattereth very soone and lyeth hid when it is fallen In the chych there neuer breedeth any worme contrary to all Pulse else and because it dryueth away Caterpillers it is counted good to be set in Gardens Cicercula in Latine in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian Cicerse in Spanish Cizerche it differeth from the Chych only in that it is somewhat blacker which Plinie accounteth to haue vneauen corners as Pease hath and in many places about vs they vse them in steede of Pease esteeming them farre aboue Peason for they both yeeld more flowre then Pease is lighter of digestion and not so subiect to wormes Columella countes it rather in the â—umber of Fodder for cattell then of Passe for man in which number are these that followe And â—irâ—t Viciâ— in Latine in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Dutch VVycken in Frenche Vessae so called as Varro thinkes of wynding because it hath 〈◊〉 or claspes as the Uine hath wherby it clymeth vpon such stâ—lkes as growe next it it groweth halfe a yâ—rde hie leâ—â—â—ed like Tyutare sâ—uâ—ng that they be something narrower the 〈◊〉 like the â—lowre of Pease hauing little blâ—cke seedes in 〈◊〉 nor altogether ounde but broâ—e like the Lâ—ntell it reâ—uired above ground though it wâ—l also grow wel yenough in shadowye places or â—any ground with small labour being not trouâ—le come to the 〈…〉 it requireth but once plowing and sâ—â—keth for 〈…〉 â—or doungâ—ng but â—nricheth the lande of it seâ—â—e specially if â—he grounde be plowed when the crop is of so that the Stalkes may be turned in for otherwise the Rootes and Stalkes remayning doo sucke out the goodnesse of the ground yet Cato would haue it sowen in grassie ground not watrishe and in newe broken vp ground after the dâ—awe be gone the moysture dryed vp with the Sunne and the Winde You must beware that you sowe no more then you mâ—y wel couer the same day for the â—east deawe in the world dooth spoyle it Neither must you sowe them before the Moone be 24. dayes olde otherwise the Snayle will deuoure it his tyme of sowing is as Plinie writeth at the setting of the Starre called the Berward that it may serue to feede in December the secoâ—d sowing is in Ianuarie the last in March. In Germanie they vse to sowe them in March or Aprill chiefly for fodder for theâ—r cattell To sowe Tares and as Plinie sayth Beanes in not broken vp grounde without lâ—sse is a great peece of husbandry they flowre in Iune at which tyme they are very good of skowre horses it is good to â—aye them vp in the codde and to keepe them to serue Cattell withall Tares Oates make a good meslyne sowed together Lupinus in Latin in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian and French almost as in Latin in Spanish Altramuz in Dutch Roomsche Boouen is a Pulse hauing one onely stalke the leafe tagged in fiue diuisions like a starre the flowre white the coddes tagged indented about hauing within them â—iue or sixe seedes hard brode red the leaues thereof doo fal This pulse requireth least trouble and is of smal pâ—ice and yet most helpeth the grounde of any thing that is sowen for there can be no better manuring for barrayne Uineyardes and Corne â—eeldes then this which eyther vpon barrayne ground prospereth or kept in the Garner endureth a wonderfull wâ—yle being sodden and layd in water it feedeth Oxen in Winter very well and in tyme of dearth as Columella sayth serueth men to asswage their hunger it prospereth in sandy and grauelly groâ—ndes in the worst land that may be neyther loueth iâ— to haue any labour bestowed vpon it nor weyeth the goodnesse of the ground So fruitfull it is as if it be cast among Bushes and Brâ—er yet will it roote and prosper it refuseth both Harrowing and Raking is not anoyed with Weedes but killeth the weedes about it If doung be wantyng to mende the ground withall this serues the turne aboue all other for being sowed and turned in with the Plowe it serueth the turne in steede of dounging it is sowed timeliest of all other and reaped last it is sowed before all other Pulse a little after Haruest couer it how sclenderly you wyll it careth not an excellent good seede for an euyll husbande yet desyreth it the warmth of Autâ—me that it may be well rooted before Winter come for otherwyse the colde is hurtfull vnto it It flowreth thryse fyrst in May then agayne in Iune and last in Iuly after euery flowryng it beareth his codde Before it flowreth they vâ—e to put in Cattel for where as they wyll feede vpon all other grasse or weedes onely this for the bitternesse thereof whyle it is greene they leaue vntouched Being dryed it serueth for sustenaunce both of man and beast to cattel it is geuen medled with Chaffe and for bread for mans vse it is mingled with Wheate flowre or Barley flowre it is good to keepe it in a smokie loaft for yf it lye moyst it is eaten of lâ—ttle woormes and spoyled The leafe keepeth course and turneth with the Sunne whereby it sheweth to the husbande euen in cloudie weather what time of the day it is Fenú grecum in Latine in Greeke with Theophrastus and others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Dioscorides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Frenche Fenegres and Fenigrent in Italian Faenigraeco in Spanishe Alâ—oluas in Dutche sometime by the Latine name and commonly Roherne and Lockshorne commeth vp with a small stalke the leefe lyke a Threeleaued grasse it is sowed well in a sclender barrayne ground you must take heede you plowe it thicke and not very deepe for yf the seede be couered aboue foure fyngers thicke it wyll very hardly growe Therefore the grounde must be tyld with small Plowes and the seede presently couered with Rakes There are two sortes of it the one called of the common people Siliqua or code whiche they sowe for fodder in Sepâ—ember the other in Ianuarie or the beginnyng of Februarie when they sowe it for seede it flowreth in Iune and Iuly when also it beareth his codde but the seede is not ripe tâ—ll August it is dressed to be eaten after the order of Lupines with vineger water and salt some put to a little oyle it is vsed both for fodder and diuers other vses Furthermore of Pulse called of Gelliuâ— Leâ—amentâ— we haue these generall rules that they al beare coddes and haue single rootes euery one except the Beane the Chich growyng deepest The stalke of the Beanâ—
call the common Borage the lesser Buglose and the greater Buglose is thought to be that whiche Dioscorides calleth Circium the true Buglose the flowres of both sortes are vsed in sallettes and in wine because it maketh the hart meery and therefore is called in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say gladnesse the leaues are also vsed in dressyng of meates it is sowen about March and once sowen it wyl neuer away there is also a wilde kinde of it THRA I pray you goe forward and tell vs some thyng of Straberries which here grow with great plentie and beautie helped as it seemeth with good orderyng MARIVS They are so for we vse to bring rootes out of the wooddes whiche beyng set and planted in the Garden prosper exceedyngly two or three yeeres togeather and after we eyther remooue them agayne because they waxe wylde or set the wylde in theyr places and so haue we them to yeelde theyr fruite twyse in the yeere in the spring and in the ende of sommer And although it groweth of it selfe in shadowy woods in great plentie as yf it delighted in shadowe of Trees yet beyng brought into the Garden it delighteth in sonny places and good orderyng yeelding a great deale more and better fruite it creepeth vpon the ground without a stalke with small stringes comming from the roote with a white flowre and a leafe lyke a Trefoyle indented about The berries whiche is the fruite are redde and taste very pleasauntly the Dutchmen call them Erdbern the Frenchemen Freses There is an other fruite that groweth somethyng hygher whose berrie is also like the Straberie Dioscorides seemeth to call it Rubus Idaeus the Bryer of Ida because it groweth in great abundance vppon the mountayne Ida. It is not ful of prickles as the other brambles are but soft and tender full of branches whytish leaues it beareth redde berries somethyng paler then the Straberie and very pleasaunt in taste The Grecians call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Dutchmen Imberen the Frenchmen Framâ—osas THRA What is that groweth yonder a yard in height MARIVS It is commonly called Liquerise in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Dulcis Radix in Italian Regolitia in Spanishe Regaliza in Frenche Reclisse in Dutche Clarits or Sussholts THRA I dyd not thinke to haue founde it here I heare it groweth very plentifully about the Meyne I woulde be glad to heare howe you doo order it for it hath a roote for the sweetenesse thereof whence it taketh his name very commendable MARIVS It is set of young springes of the roote as the Hoppe is in drye light ground and sonny THRA What say you to small Reazyns called in Latine Ribes doo you thinke the olde wryters knewe this bushe MARIVS That whiche we call at this day Ribis and the Dutchmen Saint Iohns pearle because about Midsommer it is garnished with redde riche berries hauyng a tarte taste quenchyng thyrst cheefely the ragyng and extreame thryst of feuers and coolyng the stomacke whiche the Appothecaries in Suger or Honie keepe all the yeere is thought was vnknowen to the olde wryters but nowe a comâ—on bushe vsed for enclosyng of Gardens and makyng of Borders and Herbers it wyll easyly growe but that it is somethyng troublesome by reason of his sharpe prickles to be bent about sommer houses THRA You spake euen nowe of Hoppes doo you set in these your princely paradises that plant that is so common with the Countrey man for about vs they make great gayne of it MARIVS Tell you therefore I pray you howe they doo vse it THRA It is set of the young shootes as you tolde a little before of Liquerise and that in the ende of sommer or yf they feare a hard winter in Mâ—rch The seâ—tes or shootes are cutte from the olde rootes and are set in grounde well couered with doung and good mould and afterward hilled and so suffered to remayne all Winter In the spring the earth is stirred with Rakes and not with Spades and the hilles raysed and the grounde ridde of all hurtfull weedes About May certayne powles are set vp vppon whiche the Hoppe clymeth all the spraye that springeth aboue the flowre is commonly cutte of About September or in the ende of August the flowres or bels are geathered and kept to make Beere with when the Hoppes are geathered the remaynes are cut downe close to the ground and the hilles being agayne raysed are couered with doung The toppes and the young buddes that come fyrst out in April are vsed to be geathered for sallettes and keepeth them from growyng to ranke But nowe I pray you goe on and returne to the description of your Garden O what excellent Mellons Pompens Cowcumbers and Gourdes haue you here I pray you tell in what sort you order them MARIVS Melons whiche some because they are fashioned like Apples call Pomes are of the kinde of Coucumbers and so are the Pepones which the Frenchemen cal Pompeons The Coucombers in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Cucumer in Italian Cucumero or Cedruolo in French Dutch Cocumbre They change to Pompeons and Muskemillions from whiche they onely differ in shape and greatnesse when they exceede in greatnesse they become Pompeons and when they growe rounde they are Mellonpompeons al these kindes are called of some wryters Melons The Grecians call all the sortes as well Coucumbers as Mellonpompeons by the name of Pompeons and Mellons though there are some that make a difference betweene Pompeons and Mellons neither doo the learned yet throughly agree vpon these meanes nor can it be certaynely saide what kinde the olde wryters ment by Pompeons and Melonpompeons Pompeons doo creepe along vppon the ground with ruffe leaues and a yellowe flowre and are pleasaunt to be heaten when they be ripe The sweetest sort of them they call Succrino or Muskmillions The Mellonpompeons are supposed to spring first in Campania being fashioned lyke a Quince This kinde hangeth not but groweth rounde lying vpon the grounde and being ripe doo leaue the stalke Some Coucombers are called Citrini of their yellownesse when they be ripe and also Citruli or Citreoli they growe all in length and are spotted as the Citrons are some be called Maâ—in and be called in Italian Cucussae Marinae the seede whereof is to be eaten before they be ripe they are cut in peeces and porredge made of them not much vnlike in fashion to the Mellon There is also an other kinde of Coucumber of a houge compasse almost as bigge as a busshel the Mowers and Haruest folkes in Italie vse to carrie great peeces of them to the Feelde with them to quenche their thyrst You must set al these kindes in March the seedes must be set thinne two foote one from an other in watrie ground well dounged and digged specially sandy grounde you must lay them in milke or water and honie three dayes and after drye
the thicker and the doubbler they growe otherwyse they wyll ware syngle and wylde it wyll also doo them good sometime to burne them being remooued it springeth very soone and well being sette of settes foure fyngers long or more after the setting of â— seuen starres and after remooued in a westerly winde and sette a foote a sunder and often dygged The olde Rosyars must haue the earth loosed about them in Februarie and the dead twigges cutte of and where they waxe thinne they must be repaâ—red with the young springes To haue Roses of fyue sundry colours vppon one roote make when they begin to burgen a fine hole beneath in the stocke vnder the ioynt and fyll it with redde colour made of Brasell sodde in water and thrust it in with a clâ—ute and in the like sort put into an other part of the stocke greene colour and in an other yellowe and what other colours you wil and couer the holes well with Oxe doung and Lome or very good earth If you wyl haue your Roses beare betimes make a little trenche two hande breadthes of rounde about it and powre in hotte water twyse aday and thus dooing as Democriâ—us promiseth you shall haue Roses in Ianuarie You may preserue Roses before they open yf makyng a slitte in a Reede you enclose the blossome and when you would haue freshe Roses take them out of the Reedes others put them in earthen pottes close couered and set them abrode the Roses continue alwayes freshe that are dipt in the dregges of Oyle If you wyll haue them at all tymes you must set them euery moneth and doung them and so as Didymus sayth you shall haue them continually To cause them or any other flowres to growe double put two or three of the seedes in a Wheate strawe and so lay them in the ground If you sette Garlicke by your Roses they wylbe the sweeter the dryer the grounde is where they growe the sweeter they wyll be as it appeareth by the season of the yeere for some yeeres they are sweeter then others the Rose wylbe white that is smokte in with brimstone when it beginneth to euen amongst all Roses those are most to be commended that they call Carnations and Prouincials The oyle of Roses was greatly had in estimation euen in Homer his time and at this day the vinegre of Roses is greatly vsed Next vnto the Rose in woorthynesse for his sauour and beautifull whitenesse is the Lillye called iu Greâ—ke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian Giglio in Spanishe Tirio in Frenche Fleur de Lis in Dutch Lilien The Greâ—kes holde opinion that it sprang fyrst of Iunos milke sprinckled vpon the ground In Februarie we beginne to sette Lillyes or yf they grewe before to loose the earth about them with a rake taking good heede that the young tender shootes about the roote be not hurt nor the little head which taken from the olde roote we sette for newe Lillyes As the Roses are so are the Lillyes the sweeter the dryer the ground is where they growe Lillyes and Roses being once sette continue both very long There are redde Lillyes made so by arte for they take the stalkes and rootes of the Lillye and hang them in the smoke till they wyther and when the knottes begyn to vncouer they are layde in Marche in the lees of redde wine tyl they be coloured and then sette in the grounde with the lees powred about them so wyll they come to be purple Uiolet in Greeke is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Viola Uiolet blacke and Uiolet purple 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian it is called Viola porporta in Spanishe Violetta in Frenche Violets de Marts Caresme in Dutche Fiolen these although they growe wylde about euery Hedge and Wall yet are they sette in Gardens with other flowres There are sundry sortes of Uiolettes both of kinde and colour but the orderyng of them is in a maner all one THRA I haue nowe heard yenough of Kitchin hearbes and flowres therefore nowe I pray you let me heare you saye something of the third sort that is Phisicke hearbes for mee seemeth I see a great sort of healyng hearbes here in your Garden MARIVS Nature hath appoynted remedyes in a redynesse for al diseases but the craft and subteltie of man for gaine hath deuised Apothecaries shoppes in which a mans lyfe is to be solde and bought where for a little byle they fetche their medicines from Hierusalem and out of Turkie whyle in the meane time euery poore man hath the ryght remedyes growing in his Garden for yf men would make theyr Gardens their Phisitions the Phisitions craft would soone decay You knowe what your olde freende Cato sayth and what a deale of Phisicke he fetcheth out of a poore Colwoort THRA I doo remember it and that he sayth he was wont both to helpe him selfe and his whole familie with the hearbes of his Garden But what hearbe is younder with the long stalke and the long blacke indented leaues on the toppe yf I be not deceiued it is Bearfoote with whose roote we vse to heale our cattel when they be sicke MARIVS It is so in deede and is called in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Veratrum there are two kindes of it the blacke and the white the white is that whiche the Dutchmen call Nyswurts wranckrauâ— the blacke they call Kristwurts because it flowreth about Christmas the Italians the Spaniards and the Frenchmen keepe the Greeke name The roote of this Bearfoote they thrust through the eare or into the brest of the beast that is eyther diseased in his loonges or hath the murren Columella seemeth to call it Consiligo it groweth not in Gardens except it be sowed it continueth long and loueth cold and woody ground There standes not farre from that an other very noble hearbe in Phisicke called Angelica it is supposed to be called in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and whether it be Myrrhis with the Latines or no. I leaue that to the Phisitians to discusse it is called with the Italians Spaniards Frenchmen and Germanes Angelica His roote because it is a soueraigne remedie agaynst the plague and hath diuers other good operations it is cherished in our Gardens and being once sowed it commeth vp euery yeere it groweth also wylde in the mountayne countrey and flowreth in Iuly and August Here is also Helicampane in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Enula in Italian Enela in Spanishe Enula campana in Frenche Aulne in Dutch Alanâ— this also is set in our Gardens for medicines sake we make muche of it for the roote it groweth wylde in hilly Countreys and drye shaddowy places In Sommer the roote is taken out of the ground and cutte in small peeces is dryed at this day it is called Enula campana it hath a yellowe flowre a leafe lyke Mullin but white and hoarie at the one
you doo it then the conditions of a man for being well tylled it wyll not deceaue you but deale iustly with you To knowe the nature of euery grounde Iscomachus in Xenophon dooth wyll you to marke wel the plantes and the yeeld of the Countrey except you wyll loose your labour or fyght with god Varro counsels you to looke whether there be in the land eyther Stone Marble Sande Grauell Raddell Chalke Claye Preble or Carbuncle that is ground ouer heated and parched with the Sunne whiche wyll burne the rootes of what so euer commeth in it Also yf it be wette or weepyng ground or subiect vnto other inconueniences and suche grounde also according to the nature of the soyle is good or euyl In some Countreys stonie grounde is altogeather barren specially for Corne and Fruite In other places agayne they vse stones in the manuring and bettring of their lande as in certayne places of Arden is to be seene Theophrascus wryteth that the Corynths dyd cast away all the stones out of the Feeldes of Sarragosa and thereby made the ground the woorse when the stones being away and the Countrey hot there was no succour left to defend the ground from the extreame heate of the Sunne In other places in stonie and hilly groundes Otes doo prosper well In lyke sort in all Countreys we must regarde the layre of the Countrey and the nature of the seede that we sowe for Grauell in some places is cast vppon the ground in steade of doung and some thinges prosper best in grauelie groundes In Barbarie as Columella dooth wâ—tnesse the very rotten sandes exceede any other grounde in fruitefulnesse It is also something to the purpose whether the grauell be white redde or yellowe besides some grounde dooth deceaue both with colour and qualitie In some Countreys the blacke mould is onely esteemed in others the fat redde mould is thought best In Englande the chalkie grounde beareth good corne and pastures very well In some places the thicke and the clammie ground is most fruitefull In al these it is to be learned what is best for the hill ground what for the valley what for the tylled what for the leye grounde what the moyst seggie grounde requires and what the drye and barraine Also in planting what ground is best for Uines what for other trees what delightes in drie ground what in moyst ground Virgil commendeth a mellowe ground that is fatte and wyll soone be resolued for such ground is tylled with smalest charge and labour the next is that whiche is faâ—â—e and stiffe which greatly recompenceth the husbande his trauaile and charges the woorst is that which is dry leane and stiffe for both it is tylled with great labour and beside neither answeareth in his croppe the husbandes trauayle neither serueth it for good meddowe or pasture any time after and therfore such ground is not to be medled withall Also the goodnesse of the ground is easely perceaued by perfect tokens for a clod sprinckled with a litle water if in working with the hand it be clammie and cleauing and sticketh to the fyngers like Pitche when it is handled as the Poete sayth and breaketh not in falling to the grounde this sheweth a naturall fatnesse and richenesse to be in it besides you may knowe the mould that is good for Corne yf it beare Bulrusshes Thistels Threeleaued grasse Danewoort Brambles Blackthorne and such like as neuer growe but in good grounde as on the other syde lothsome and illfauoured weedes declare a leane and a bitter ground Ferne and withered plantes a colde grounde sadde and heauy coloured a moyst and a wette ground a raddell and a stony ground is discerned by the eye a stiffe and tough clay by the labour and toyle of the Oxen A good token is it also of good ground where the Crowes and the Pyes folowe in great number the Plowe scraping in the steppes of the Plowman The goodnesse is likewyse knowen yf at the Sunne setting after a Raynebowe and in a shewre of rayne folowyng a great drouthe it yeeldeth a pleasaunt sauour also in taste it wyl appeare yf tasting a clodde that hath been watred in an earthen vessell you finde it sweete it is a signe of riche grounde yf bitter a great token of barren grounde yf it be saltishe it is to be shunned and not to be vsed vppon the dounghill You must remember also that ground wyll some times change and of fruitefull become barren whiche hath been seene as Plinie reporteth in the olde time in Thessali and in our time in sundry places of our Countrey Beside one kind of ground though it be neuer so fertill wyll not beare all thinges as the Poete wysely noteâ—h Ne serues one ground for euery Croppe Moreouer the disposition of the Heauens is a great matter all Countreys haue not the weather and ayre alike wherfore it is the part of a good husband to knowe the nature and propertie of his ground and to marke the disposition of it for euery part of the yeere he must also consider what Croppe is best for euery layer Some ground serueth for Corne some for Uines some for Oliues some for Meddowe some for Pasture neither may all thinges well be sowen in riche grounde nor nothing in barren ground Suche thinges as neede not muche moysture are best sowed in lyght ground as the great Elauer Sperie Chich and the other pulses that are pulled and not cut Those that require more sustenaunce are sowen in richer ground as Potte hearbes Wheate Rye Barley Linseede Some of them doo good to the grounde the yeere folowyng as Lupines that are vsed to be sowen for the beâ—tering of the grounde There is difference also to be put betwixt fruites for pleasure and such as be for profite as fruite trees and flowres and suche thinges as yeeld both pleasure and sustenancâ— and are also profitable to the grounde You must choose for Wyllowes Osyres and Reedes a wette and a marrish ground and contrary where you wyll haue Come Pulse that delightes in drye ground Sperage such like must be sowen in shaddowy places and other ground for Quicksets Tymber Mast Fewel yea such ground as is very grauely and barren hath his vse where you may plant Birche suche like and waterie groundes where you may set Alders Broome and Bullrusshes RIGO Surely the temperature of the ayre dooth very muche in the fruitefulnesse of the grounde for I haue oftentimes marked that one kinde of ground is more fruiteful in one Countrey then in an other CONO In Venefri the Grauell grounde beares Oliues best where as about Granado they require the richest ground that may be When in other places the Uine dooth not prosper very well in stonie groundes about the Rhine the very ragged rockes doo yeelde as fruitefull Uines as may be seene Plinie dooth witnesse that in some places the Uines do grow euen in the Fennes and Marshes suche a secrete force is there in
drye a delightfull foode to Swyne it may be mooued sundry times in the yeere to the great commoditie of the husband a little whereof dooth soone fatte vp cattell neither is there any other grasse that yeeldeth eyther more abundance or better mylke the most soueraine medicine for the sicknesâ—e oâ— cattell that may be bâ—side the Philosophers promise that Bees wyll neuer fayle that haue this grasse growyng neare them therefore it is necessarie to haue your grounde stored with it as the thing that best serueth foâ— Poultrie and Cattell the leaues and seedes are to be geuen to leane and drouping Pullen some call it Telinen some Trefoyle some great Melilot the Romanes call it Trifolu maius great Trasâ—e it is a plant al hearie and whytishe as Rhamnus is hauing branches halfe a yarde long and more wherevpon groweth leaues lyke vnto Fenygreeke or Clauer but something lesse hauyng a ryâ—yng crest in the middest of them This plant was fyrst founde in the Ilande Cythno and from thence spread throughout the Cyclads and so to Greece wherby the store of Cheese came to be great neyther is there any Countrey at this day where they may not haue great plentie as Columella sayth of this shrubbe In Italy it groweth about the enclâ—syars of Uineyardes it shrâ—nketh neyther for heate colde frost nor snowe it requireth good groude yf the weather be very drye it must be watred and when it fyrst springes well harrowed after three yeeres you may cut it downe and geue it your cattell Vaâ—ro woulde haue it sowen in well ordred ground as the seede of Colwoortes should be and after remooued and set a foote and a halfe a sunder or els to be set of the slippes The tyme of sowyng of Cytisus is eyther in Autume or in the spryng in ground well plowed and layde out in beâ—des yf you want the seede you may take the slippe so that you set them foure foote a sunder and a bancke cast about them with earth well dounged you may also set them before September when they wyll very well growe and abyde the colde in Winter it lasteth but three yeere Columella hath two kindes of Cytisus one wylde the other of the Garden The wylde dooth with his claspers feede very well it wyndeth about and killes his neighbours as the Iuie dooth it is founde in Cornefeeldes specially amongst Barley the flowre thereof is lyke the flowre of Pease the leafe yf it be bruysed smelleth like Rockeâ— and being champâ—d in the mouth it tasteth like Chyche or Pease There is an other kinde of fodder among the plantes vnknowen to the old wryters very good to feede both cattel Poultrye I know not whether it be knowen in other Countreys beside Germanie the common people call it Spury or Sperie it hâ—th a stalke a foote in height or more busshed foorth in mans branches it hath a whyte flowre without any leafe the flowre endeth in little knoppes as Flaxe hath conteynyng in them a very little seede like Rape seede They are much deceiued that take it for Cytisus when that as Dioscorides sayth hath leaues like Fenugreeke and this is altogeather without leaues neither is the seede any thing like though the vse be almost one The best Milke and Butter in Germanie commeth of this feeding wherefore it is esteemed almost as good as Barley or other grayne the strawe is better then any Heye the Chaffe feedeth as well as any Graynes the seede feedeth Pigeons and Poultrie in Winter passing well it is sowed in sandie and light groundes all the Sommer long and some sowe it in Spring time with Oates for the seede sake in Autume and Haruest time it is sowed to feede Cattell it is profitable for husbandes that dwell in sandy and grauelly Countreys wherefore they shoulde neuer be without good store of it for Hennes Bees Goates Sheepe Oxen and all kinde of Cattell delight very muche in it nowe remayneth the sowyng of Flaxe and Hempe RIGO I looke for it CONO These although they be not to be receiued in the number of Corne nor Pulse Fodder nor Hearbes yet is there great account to be made of them with the husbandmans thinges without whiche no house can be furnished nor man wel apparelled whiche being beaten to a sofâ—nesse serueth for webbes of Linnen and twysting of Cordes and more of tâ—is so little a seede dooth spring that which as Plinie sayth carrieth the whole worlde hether and thether that bryngeth Egypt to Italy and carryeth vs from Cales of Ostia in seuen dayes Linum in Latine in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian and Sâ—â—nishe Lino in French Dulin in Dutch almost like â—auing that they call the seede Lyn and the plant Flaxe is a very common hearbe wherewith women are set a woorke it hath a sclender stalke not muche vnlike to Sperie but that it groweth higher a litle bigger with narrow leaues long blewe flowres in the top which falling away leaueth behinde them little round knoppes as bigge as a Pease wherin are enclosed yellowe seedes it delighteth in rich ground and somewhat moyst some sowe it in barrayne grounde after once plowyng it is sowed in the Spring and geathered in sommer In Gelderland and Gulicke where there is great store of it they sowe it about the beginnyng of May there are agayne that obserue three seasons for the sowyng of it as the weather shall fall out for it requireth rayne and moysture the ripenesse of it is perceiued by the waxing yellowe and swelling of the knoppes that holde the seede being then plucked vp and made in little bundels it is dryed in the Sunne the rootes standyng vpwarde that the seede may fall out Some vse agayne to carde of the knoppes with an iron Combe and drying them in the Sunne to geather the seede The bundels afterwardes are layde in water heated with the Sunne with some wayght vppon them to keepe them downe the rynde waxing loose sheweth when they haue been steeped yenough Then the bundels vnloosed and dryed in the Sunne are beaten with beetelles when as the vtter rynde is pilled of and combed and hacked vpon an iron combe the more wrong it suffereth the better doth it prooue the Towe is seuered from the Flaxe and appoynted for his vse so are they seuerally spon vpon the Distaffe made vp in bottomes and sent to the Weauers whereof are wouen webbes to the great commoditie of al men Last of all the webbe is layde out in the hotte Sunne and sprinckled with water whereby it is brought to a passing whitenesse It may be remembred that not long since the women of Germanie knewe no costlyer attyre The best Flaxe that is at this day is brought from Moscouia Liuonia and those Countreys farre excelling ours in heyght and goodnesse Except there be great encrease of it price in the Countrey where you dwel Columella would not haue you meddle with the sowing of it for it is most hurtfull to the ground as Virgil
doung and the drye ground the lesse RIGO I remember I haue yer this seene Earth taken out of the Feeldes neere adioyning and layde vppon the lande I therefore gesse the earth may be mended with earth CONO The Germanes besydes sundry other sortes of enriching of their groundes doo in steade of doung cast vppon it a kinde of pith and fatnesse of the earth Plinie countes it to be fyrst deuised in Englande and Fraunce called Marga as it were the fatte of the Earth but I rather thinke it to be the inuention of the Germanes with whom yet both the name and the vse is retayned it is gotten in deepe pittes but not alike in all soyles That part of Fraunce that lyes vpon the Maase dooth shewe a sandy kinde of Marle differing from the fatte Marle of Germanie but of the same qualitie whiche caried vppon the Sea in vessels is sold as a great marchandize In some places the skowring of Pondes and Ditches is vsed to the great enriching of the grounde in the mountaynie and barren groundes In some Countreys they make their land very fruitefull with laying on of Chalke as Plinie testifyeth of the Burgundians and the Gaskoynes And in Germanie in our dayes this maner of mendyng of ground is common But long vse of it in the ende bringes the grounde to be starke nought whereby the common people haue a speache that ground enriched with Chalke makes a riche father and a beggerly sonne A litle lower not farre from the Maase in the Countrey of Lyege they mende their lande with a kinde of sâ—ate stone which cast vpon the ground dooth moulder away and makes the grounde fatter In Lombardie they lyke so well the vse of asshes as they esteeme it farre aboue any doung thinking doung not meete to be vsed for the vnholsomenesse therof Columella wryteth that his Uncle was woont to mende sandy and grauely groundes with Chalke and chalkie hard grounds with grauell and sande whereby he had alwayes goodly Corne. So doo I thinke that Riuer lande by ouerflowynges and fast ground with mudde mingled with sande and grauell wyll be made muche better RIGO You haue tâ—ught me sundry wayes of mendyng of ground I would gladly nowe learne the ryght way of plowyng and sowyng CONO In plowyng and orderly preparing grounde for seede consistes the cheefest poynt of husbandry Cato affyrmeth the fyrst point of husbandry to be to prepare the grounde well the seconde to plowe it well and the thirde to doung it well Of plowing and turnyng vp the grounde the fashion is diuers accordyng to the nature of euery soyle countrey All great feeldes are tylled with the Plowe and the Share the lesser with the Spade The Plowes are of sundry fashions accordyng to the diuersitie of Countreys some single some double some with wheeles some without The partes of the Plowe are the Tayle the Shelfe the Beame the Foote the Coulter the Share the Wheeles and the Staffe The Share is that which fyrst cuttes the way for the Coulter that afterwards turnes vp the Forowe Where the ground is light they vse only a small Share In Lifflande they haue for their Plowe nothing but a Forke In Syria where they can not goe very deepe they vse as Theophrastus writes very little Plowes Plinie wryteth that wheeles for Plowes were deuised by the Frenchemen and called Plugrat a Germaine name which corruptly is printed Planarati In diuers places where the grounde is stiffe they haue a litle wyng on the ryght syde of the Coulter whiche wyng is to be remooued to whiche syde you list with the Rodde or Staffe well poynted the plowman maketh cleane his Coulter When you woorke your Oxen must be yoked euen togeather that they may drawe more handsomely with heads at libertie and lesse hurt to their neckes This kinde of yoking is better liked of many then to be yoked by the hornes for the Cattell shal be able to drawe better with the necke and the brest then they shall with their heades and this way they put to the force of their whole bodyes whereas the other way being restrayned by the yoke on their heads they are so greeued as they scarsely race the vpper part of the earth Where Horses may be vsed their vse is more commodious for the Plowe and the fewer of them the better for many Horses drawe too hastyly and make too large Furrowes which is not good whereby we see the grounde to be excellently well plowed in Gelderland and about Coleyne where they plowe alwayes with two Horses going very softly In Fraunce and other places where they plowe with Oxen they make theyr Furrowes rather deepe then brode Where the ground is stiffe the Coulter must be the greater and the stronger that it may goe the deeper for yf the crust of the earth be turned vp very brode it remayneth still hole whereby neither the weedes are killed nor the ground can be well harrowed The Furrowe ought not to exceede one hundred and twentie foote in length for yf it doo as Columella sayth it is hurtfull to the beastes because they are to muche weeried withall but this rule where the feeldes are large is not in many places regarded as in the Countrey of Gulicke where the feeldes are great their Furrowes are drawen very long You must not plowe in wette weather nor wette ground nor when after a long drouthe a little rayne falling hath but wette the vtter part and not gone deepe If it be too wette when it is plowed it dooth no good that yeere You must therefore haue a regard to the temperature of your season that it be neither to drye nor to wette for too muche moysture maketh it to durtie and too great drynesse maketh that it wyll neuer woorke well for eyther the hardnesse of the Earth resisteth the Plowe or yf it doo enter it breakes it not small yenough but turneth vp great flakes hurtful to the next plowing For though the land be as riche as may be yet yf you goe any deapth you shall haue it barren which is turned vp in these great cloddes whereby it happeneth that the bad moulde mixed with the good yeeldeth the woorser Croppe Where you haue plowed in a drye season it is good to haue some moysture in your second stirring whiche moistning the grounde shall make your labour the lighter Where the grounde is riche and hath long borne water it is to be stirred againe when the weather waxeth warme and when the weedes are full growen and haue their seedes in their toppe whiche being plowed so thicke as you can scarse see where the Coulter hath gone vtterly killeth and destroyeth the weedes besides through many stirringes your Fallowe is brought to so fine a moulde as it shall neede very little or no harrowing at all when you sowe it for the old Romanâ—s as Columella wytnesseth would â—ay that the ground was yll husbanded that after sowing had neede of the
seuerally shewe you of euery seede by him selfe and so declare vnto you the order of their sowyng And fyrst amongest all the fruites and grayne that the Earth dooth yeeld for our sustenance the cheefest place is rightly geuen vnto Wheate called in Greke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian Grano in Spanishe Trigo in Dutch VVeyss in Frenche Fourment as a grayne most needefull for man and therefore most fruitefull because God hath ordayned it to nourishe man withall It is woonderfull what yeeld it hath been of in some Countreys Augustus his deputie sent hym from Bisaice in Africa of one grayne of Wheate foure hundred branches And Plinie witnesseth that in the same place one bushel hath yeelded a hundred and fyftie bushels RIGO There are that holde opinion that this which the common people call Wheate the Germanes VVeyss and the Hollanders Terue is not the true Wheate but a kinde of Rye and that the true Wheate whiche the Italians call Grano groweth onely in Italy and in Spayne CONO That whiche growes in Italy and Cicil at this day differeth not from ours in fashion colour nor flowre though the grayne there be somewhat great and the flowre more clammey whiche maketh it that it can not be long kept specially about Rome And whereas our Wheate is eyther bearded or pollarde theirs is altogeather pold we call it pold or pollard that hath no Aanes vpon the eares And that we call the Aane which groweth out of the eare like a long pricke or a darte whereby the eare is defended from the daunger of Birdes With Virgil the Aane is vsed for the Corne as the parke for the Wheate Gluma is the husks of the Corne whose top is the Aane Fâ—it is the small grayne lesser then the corne that growes in the top of the ripe eare To returne to the Wheate I graunt there are some that doubt of this Wheate of ours suche hath been the iniurie of the tyme as all thinges almost forgotten we scarsely knowe howe to name the foode that we daylâ— feede of For my part I wyl followe common vse as a maistresse in speache The olde writers haue written of sundry sortes of Wheate whereof they haue thought that most needefull to be sowen whiche they called Robus as the fayrest and wayghtiest The second called Siligo they vsed in their fynest Cheate The thirde they called Trimestre because it woulde be ripe in three monethes after the sowing Though Columella alowe no suche kinde yet was it most auncient with the Grekes and called Trimâ—non growyng onely in the colde countreys In Thâ—â—cia they haue a kinde that is ripe in two monethes and is couered with a number of huskes against the extreme colde of the Countrey In our Countreys also we haue Wheate and Rye that we sowe with our Sommer grayne as we likewyse doo Rape seede but to no great commodititie for the Winter seedes too farre exceede them and being nourished in the earth al Winter they prooue as Theophrastus sayth of more substance and profyte Amongest all these sortes Plinie recounteth the Wheate of Italy to be the best both for beautie and weyght We vse with vs only two sortes differing in this that the one hath smoothe eares without any beardes the other with long beardes or Aanes very ruffe and sharpe not much vnlike to Winter Bailey in al other properties they are both alike It is sowen in September the season being fayre the grounde thryse plowed and well raked or harrowed although you may sowe it very well after once plowing vpon grounde where Pease Tares or Buck hath been newly had of in a good soyle Plinie and Columella woulde haue you sowe of Wheate and Rye fyue busshels vpon an acre but as I haue saide before this meaâ—ure is to be measured by reason We at this day sowe not so much Wheate vpon an acre as Rye nor so much Rye as Barley It is best yf the Winter be like to be colde to sowe the sooner yf warme the later Wheate delighteth in a leuell riche warme and a drye ground a shaddowy weedy and a hilly ground it loueth not though Plinie say the hil yeeldeth harder Wheate but no great store After it is sowen it putteth out a great company of small rootes and appeareth at the fyrst wy or blade it hath sundry stalkes but suche as can not branche all the Winter as other Winter Corne is it is nourished in blade when the Spring draweth on it beginneth to spindle vppon the thirde or fourth ioynt thereof commeth out the eare which fyrst appeareth enclosed in the blade it flowreth the fourth or fyfth day after yf it growe to rancke at the fyrst it is eaten downe with cattel or in some place mowed it is after weeded it flowres about the tenth of Iune sooner or later as the yeere falles out euen at one time almost with the Uine two noble floures with comfortable sauour flourishing at once Varro affyrmeth that the Whâ—ate lyeth fyfteene dayes in the blade flourisheth fyfteene and ripeth fyfteene after it hath flowred it waxeth greater and as Theophrastus sayth is within fourtie dayes after ful ripe where with the latest they reape in the eyght moneth Other say in sixe and thirtie dayes reaped in the nienth moneth It neuer eares tyll al his ioyntes or knottes he growen There are foure iointes in Wheate as Plinie sayth and eyght in Barley but in our countrey and our dayes both Wheate Rye Barley and Oates haue but foure and that not alwayes Before the full number of the ioyntes there is no appearing of the eare whiche when it commeth beginneth to flowre within foure or fyue dayes and so many or little more it fadeth When the flowre is gone the grayne begins to swel and in foure or fyue dayes after to ripe The blade of the Wheate is something like a Sedge but narrower then the Barley the Spindel Stalke or Strawe thereof is smoother and gentler and not so brittle as of Barley It is closed in many coates The stalke that beareth the eare is higher then that of Barley the eare groweth more vpryghe and farther from the blade the chaffe is softer sweeter and more full of iuyce the eare of Wheate is out of order and vneuen as well of the Pollard as of the hearded where as Barley hath his eare of iust number and in perfect order In Bactâ—iâ— it is sayde a grayne of Wheate is equall in quantitie to an eare of our Wheate In Babylon the blades both of Wheate and Barley as Herodotus reporteth are foure inches brode Wheate as Columella wryteth after the third sowing chaungeth to Rye which hath been knowen in Germanie as I sayde before in many places Of Wheate is made Amyl the making whereof Cato and Dioscorides teacheth After Wheate we sowe with vs Rye There are that thinke it to be that whiche the Greekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though Homer take 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for a kinde of foode for Horses some others
take it for a kinde of Wheate Herodotus sayth Bread was made of it Of Laurentius it is called Far of Gasa Siligo Diuers learned men call it Secale and take it for Plinies farragoâ— the Frenchemen cal it Segle the Dutchemen Rock the Italians almost as the Latines Saegala the grayne is something blacke and maketh blackishe bread But to passe ouer all controuersies I folowe the Countrey speache and take Siligo for our common Rye whiche is sowed immediatly after Wheate about the ende of September or in the beginning of October in good ground in sandy and grauelly ground it is sowed in Februarie and called Sommer Wheate it requireth the best grounde warme and fast and refuseth not light grounde and grauelly so it be helped with doung it loueth wette grounde as ill as Wheate they both require to be sowen in a deepe moulde and a plaine soyle but Rye is sowed a litle after Wheate in the sowyng whereof you must occupie a thirde part more then of Wheate it prospereth lightly in any grounde and many times with the yeeld of a hundred for one It must be sowed after the third plowing as Wheate harrowed much after the same sort the stalke or steale thereof is smaller then the Wheate stalke taller and stronger his care hanging downewardes and therefore more subiect to blasting because it receiueth and keepeth the water that falles whyle it flowreth and suffereth the violence of mystes and frostes the strawe thereof is gentle and flaxible seruing for Uines and coueringes of houses Nowe foloweth Barâ—ley accounted in the olde generations among the woorthyest sort of grayne and not of small estimation at this day The Italians call it Beade or Beaue or Orze the Spaniards Ceuada the Dutch men Gerst the Frenchemen Orge the Grecians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and though it be vsed in Greece and Italie and suche warme and fruitefull Countreys for cattelles foode as Homer also witnesseth yet in the Northerne Countreyes it supplies the place both of Bread and Wine There are of it two sortes Hexâ—stichon and Polystichum whose eares are three foure sometimes sixe square and diuers eares springing from one grayne euery eare conteynyng aboue fourescore graynes so woonderfull are the gyftes and blessinges of god The other sort is called Distichon hauing in the eare but two rankes or orders only Agayne there is one kinde of it to be sowed in Winter an other for Sommer The Winter Barley is of better yeeld but it is soone hurt specially with much wette and frostes folowyng There is nothyng more hurtfull to Winter Corne specially Barley Rape seede and Rye then the wette of Winter nipped with often frostes and after a warme thawe to be presently frozen agayne both the sortes of Barley require grounde that is very riche Winter Barley after two or three plowinges is to be sowed in September Sommer Barley in March or April after twyse plowing and many times necessitie forcing after once plowing in the sowing you must occupie more seede by halfe then in sowyng of Wheate it requires a mellowe and a fatte ground and therfore is best sowed where the grounde is most manured The Winter seede flowreth in May and is ripe in Iune at the furthest This kinde was not woont to be sowed in these partes but great numbers nowe mooued by my example doo vse and receiue great gaynes by it The Sommer Barley in many Countreys is ripe and redy in three monethes afâ—er the sowyng In Aragon as Plinie wryteth it maketh double haruestes euery yeere The seuenth day after it is sowen it commeth vp and one end of the seede runneth downe in roote the other that â—ooner springeth commeth vp in blade the greater ende of the grayne maketh the roote and the slenderer the flowre In other grayne the roote and the blade spring both from one part the blades of both kindes are ruffe It must be geathered with more speede then other graynes for the strawe of it is very brittell Of Barley is made as Dioscorides wryteth both Beere and Ale. RIGO I lyke your Beere you haue excellently wel I pray you tell me in what sorâ— you make it CONO I wyll not hyde my cunnyng in this matter My Barley is fyrst steeped in a Sestorne of water a day or two yf it be Winter seede it is harder hulled and requireth the longer watering The Sommer grayne is thinner and requireth a lesser tyme When it is watred I drye it vpon a floore or a keel tyll it swel and breake putting out as it were litle beardes or threds yf it be layde thinne it wyll in Sommer specially in March drye and breake of it selfe without any fyre You must take good heede that in sprowting it open not to much and loose his flowre This being doone I grinde it and put the meale into a Mash Fatte wherevnto I put my licour sodden and after let it seethe three or foure times adding vnto it both for holsomenesse and taste the flowre of the Hoppe after this I put on Yeest and set it a woorkyng and then cleanse it The more it is cleansed the holsomer and cleerer it is that whiche commeth of the spurging is kept both for brewing and baking the drinke wyll be the better yf you put to it a fourth part or sixth part of Wheate the more Corne you laâ— on the pleasaunter and better coloured wyll your Beere be Your greatest care must be to see it well sodden well cleanseâ— and well hopped otherwyse Malt of it selfe wyll soone corrupt Obseruing this order your drinke shal be both holsome and pleasant that endureth best and longest that is brewed in march There is made of Barley Alica a reasonable good meate and Ptisan How they must be made you may reade in Plinie Next to Wheate and Barley foloweth Zea which the common people both in Italy Spaine and Flaunders call Spelta the Frenche call it Espeltra with Homer is greatly commended 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the feel des that beareth the Zeam being as Galen sayth the meane betwixt Wheate and Barley for he hath the qualities of eache of them is of two sortes the one in stalke ioynt and care like to Wheate and carieth in euery huske two seedes and therefore is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the other hauing both stalke and eare shorter and but one grayne in euery huske growing in two rankes and in the toppe resembling Barley with his sharpe Aaâ—es In Italy specially about Mirandula and Concordia it is vsed in prouender for Horses it is not in these Countreys in vse I woulde sowe it here syth the ground wyll well serue for it and that both bread and drinke might be made of it very well but that it is something troublesome to grinde because of the double huskes It desyreth a moyst ground riche and good it is sowed after the same maner that Wheate is sowed in September or October it flowreth in Iune and is ripe in Iuly very meete for
cold Countreys because it can abide frost and stormes RIGO There is as I remember a kinde of Wheate called Far the auncient people called it Adoreum that groweth in many Countreys CONO You say true for with the olde sort Far was a general name to all Corne as Wheate Far Barley Far and Rye Far and when Mylles were not yet deuised they did beate their Corne in Morters whereof came that the Meale was callâ—d Farina yet after was the name of Far onely geuen to Adoreum though Columella called it alwayes Far Adoreum making foure sundry sortes of it The Frenchemen call it Brance the Italians Sandala the Spaniardes Escandâ—a the common people of our Countrey call it Farro the Dutche Keskome whose grayne is very like Wheate but that it is shorter and thicker and where Wheate hath a clift there hath it a risyng it is heauier then Barley and lighter then Wheate it yeeldeth more Meale then any other Corne. The people of Rome as Plinie sayth liued with this Corne at the â—yrst three hundred yeeres it groweth in Egypt without Aane with a greater â—are and a waightier it hath in the stalke seuen ioyntes and can not be cleansed except it be parched Fraunce hath two sortes therof one of a reddishe colour which the people cal redde Wheate the other whiter whiche they call white Wheate the eare is threesquare not vnlike to spelt In Italy they make pottage of it for their labourers Far or Adoreum Virgil would haue sowen before the setting of the seuen starres after the Aequinoctiall of Autum but in wette and colde barren groundes it is best to sowe it about the Kalendes of October that it may take deepe roote before the sâ—eezing and colde in Winter It is sowed in lowe grounde watrishe and chalkie after it is sowed it must be harrawed raked and weeded the raking looseth in the Spring the heauie shaâ—tes of Winter In raking or harrawyng you must take heede as I haue said before that you hurte not the rootes weeding when it is knotted seuereth the Corne from all anoyances The Frencheman sowe it in hollowe Furrowes because it is very subiect to blasting thinking thereby to preserue it both from blast and mildewe To sowe it in hie ground is discommended though it prospereth tâ—eâ—e well yenough because cattell can not away with it for the sharpenesse and ruffenesse of the eares and because it requireth great labour in getting of the huskes which yf it be not cleared of is neither good for man nor beast the vncleane Chasfe dooth hurt with the Cough the Cattelles lunges Amongest the Winter seedes Rape seede dooth chalenge his place whiche I take to be the seede of the Rape which Plinie maketh for his third kinde and wylde whose roote lyke the Raddishe runneth in length the leaues being ruffe like the other kindes and the stalke busshy and full of branches the roote of it is good for nothing but is onely sowed for the seede whereof they make oyle seruing for poore mens kitchins fastes and lightes specially in Germanie where they want the oyle of Oliues whereby aryseth great gaynes to the husbandman In the hotte Countreyes where they haue other oyle yenough this seede is of no vse but in feeding of Byrdes it is sowed in the ende of August or the beginnyng of September howe be it sometime it is sowen in March among the Sommer seedes but to nothing so great a profite it is cast into very riche grounde or wel manured thryse plowed and well tylled it must be sowed very thinne for being a very small seede it must not be sowed with the full hande as Wheate is but onely with three fyngers it flowreth in March or there abouts as the yeere is forward and contineweth his flowring a long time the flowre is yellowe and very sweete wherein Bees doo muche delight as soone as it hath left flowring it is presently ripe it groweth two cubites in height bearing a plentifull seede in little small Coddes it rendreth for one bâ—sshell a hundred busshels of seede Hitherto haue I spoken of Winter seedes nowe must I tell you of suche as are sowen towardes Sommer RIGO Wyll you speake nothing of the Rape roote which is greatly occupied of the husbandman and not to be despised as a thing that groweth in great quantitie is meetely good meate boâ—h for man and beast CONO The Rape is named of the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian Rapo in Spanishe Nabo in Frenche Rauen. The ordering of which though I tooke it to belong to the garden wherein you are able to say more then I yet because you require it and that sometime the husbandmen doo plant them in their Feeldes I wyl tell you as much as I knowe therein There are two kindes of them the fyrst dooth roote all in length lyke the Radishe whiche in many places of Germanie is vsed for a dayntie meate the other eyther groweth in great roundnesse or els very flatte they are nourished with mystes frostes and cold three monethes togeather and growe to an exceedyng greatnesse Plinie wryteth that he hath seene Rootes of them that haue weyghed fourtie pound Some say they haue seene of them that haue weyghed an hundred pounde It is woonderfull that of so litle a seede shoulde come so great a roote The Greekes make two kindes of them the male and the female both comming of one seede the male when it is sowed thicke and the female when it is sowed thinne There are two seasons for the sowing of it eyther in Marche whiche wyll be ripe about the tenth of Iune or in Iuly or August after the first plowyng commonly vppon the ground where Rye and Winter Barley haue been newely had of It is thought they are the sweeter by lying in the ground all Winter when as the encrease is not in the leafe but in the roote They are also sowed as Plinie wryteth in hot moyst Countreys in the spring and wâ—ll the better encrease yf they be sowed with Chaffe who woulde also haue the sower naked and in castyng the seede to wyshe good lucke to hym selfe and to his neyghbours They are preserued from the Caterpiller which commonly consumeth the young leaues by mingling the seede with Soote or steepyng them all a nyght in the iuyce of Houseleeke Columella affyrmeth that he hym selfe hath seene it prooued RIGO Nowe proceede I pray you with your Sommer seedes CONO The Sommer seedes are almost all suche as are ripe within three monethes or foure at the vttermost after they are sowen and some of them sooner yf the grounde and the weather be good Among the sommer seedes we wyl fyrst talke of grayne and after of pulse Of the grayne Oates are the fyrst that are sowed though Virgil count them barren and Plinie counteth them rather weedes then Corne affyrmyng that Barley when it prospereth not wyll many tymes turne to Oates yet the Frenche men and the Germanes count it at this day the
best prouender for Horses and foode for Cattell Plinie also witnesseth that the Germanes vsed to make pottage of Oates And Dioscorides maketh mention of Oaten poâ—tage 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pottage or gruell is made of Oates it is called of the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian Vena in Spanishe Auena in Frenche Auoyne in Dutche Hauer whiche though it growe not commonly in Italy yet vpon monte Ficâ—lâ—o and in the kyngdome of Naples about Siponto it is founde We haue amongst vs two kyndes of them one full and weyghty seruing in deere yeeres to make bread and drynke of specially yf it be medled wiâ—h a little Barley and this kind prospereth in riche and newe broken vp ground exceedingly The other kinde is lyghter whiche the common people call Gwen and Brumhauer it is very lyght and yeeldeth but little flowre nor foode it groweth vpon sandy and barrayne groundes and serueth well for Cattell and for Horse both the kyndes haue busshy toppes from whence hangeth the seede in lykewyse resemblyng the Grassehopper the flowre of it is white and from one grayne there springeth diuers stalkes With Dioscorides Bromos is a kynd of Oates that resembleth Wheate in the stalke and the blade and groweth like wylde Wheate Theophrastus calleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Oate is not daungerous in the choyse of his grounde but groweth lyke a good fellowe in euery placeâ— where no seede els wyll growe Of the lyke disposition almost is Buck or Beechewheate vnknowen to our olde fathers It is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beechewheate or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Blackwheate though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth an other grayne I had rather call it Beechwheate because the grayne thereof is threecorned not vnlyke the Beechemast both in colour and fourme differing onely in the smalenesse The stalke is very great and straked like to the greater Fearne It hath many branches with a bushy toppe a great sort of white flowres in a knop lyke the flowres of Elder it flowreth long togeather and after appeareth the grayne fyrst white and greenishe in shape threecornerd after they be ripe the colour chaungeth to blacke or brownishe like a Chestnutte This grayne hath not long since ben brought from Russia the Northerne partes into Germanie nowe is it become common and vsed for fatting of Hogges and serueth the common people in deare seasons to make bread drâ—nke withal it may be sowed in any ground how â—adde so euer it be howebeit it dooth best in good grounde and is sowen in April and May and in Iune after the reaping of Rape seede You must sowe lesse of it vppon an acre by a fourth part then of Wheate or Rye it is much vsed to be sowed vpon the ground where Rapes growe wherby the ground dooth yeeld a double Croppe in one yeere When it is sowen it commeth vn yf it be moyst weather within foure or fiue dayes after hauyng two leaues at â— fyrst appearing not much vnlike to Purcelaine Amongst the Sommer seedes is also receiued Sommer Barley whiche from the Sonnes entring into the Aequinoctiall till the end of Marche and April is sowen and is reaped againe for the most part in three monethes or at the vttermost foure It requireth as Winter Barley dooth a riche and a mellowe grounde and to be sowed after twyse plowing though sometime for necessitie it is sowed after the fyrst plowyng And though it yeelde noâ— so good nor so perfect a grayne as the Winter Corne dooth whose grayne as Theophrastus wryteth is farre more perfect and of stronger substaunce bringing greater strawe and weightier Eares yet because it is harder husked and the Sommer seede more fyne and gentle is therefore of most men desired and counted to yeelde more flowre then the Winter grayne some agayne preferre the other Millet called in Latine Millium in Greke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian Milio or Miglio hauing as it were a thousand graynes in a Eare as Festus seemeth to auowe in Spanishe Mijo in Frenche Millet and in Dutche Hyers where they make pottage of it and bread The Russians and Moscouians are chiefely nourished with this kind of pottage which they make with the flowre mingled with milke and the blood that they let from their Horses The men of Ind as Plinie sayth knowe no other grayne buâ— Barley and Millet which grew in his time plentifullest in Campania it is the best leauen that may be made neither is there any grayne comparable to it for weyght that more increaseth in bakyng for of one busshell hath been drawen threescore pounde of bread and a busshell of sodden meate made of three quarters wet and vnsodde It is sowed at this day in euery place though very litâ—le in the lowe Countrey it groweth with a stalke full of ioyntes a cubite high a leafe like a Reede a round and a small seede hanging downe in long ruinnes with many toppes it groweth sometime seuen foote hie it delighteth in a watrishe moorie grounde and in grauel so it be nowe and then ouerflowen it hateth drye and chalkie groundes Some geue counsell to sowe it fyrst in a colde and a wette ground and then in a hotte ground before the Spring you must not sowe it for it delighteth muche in warmth A little seede of it is sufficient for a great deale of ground yf it be sowed thicke it comes to nought a great handfull wyll serue a whole acre wherefore in raking you must rake out what is more then needefull an acre beareth fourtie busshels yf it be wel sowed euery seede yeeldeth about a pottell It is forbidden to be sowen among Uines or fruite trees and must continually be weeded and raked When the eare is full growen it must be geathered with the hande and dryed in the Sunne least the whâ—t weather shatter the seedes This grayne may very long be preserued for being well layde vp where the winde can not come it wyll well laste an hundred yeere There is an other like grayne that they call Indian Millet with a great grayne and a blacke and bigge reedy stalke whiche was fyrst brought into Italy in the raigne of Nero which as Plinie sayth was called Loba wheâ—e as Lobae are rather the Coddes of all Pulse and Phobae the manes and â—oppes of Millet as it appeareth by Theophrastus Panicum is called of the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Dutch Psennich or Heidengreâ—ss of the Italiansâ— Pannacho the Spaniardes Panizo the Frenchemen Paniâ— so called of the little Pannicles wherein the seede lyeth It commeth vp like Millet with many leaues and slippes glittering with a reddishe busshy toppe full of seedes lyke Mustard seede some yellowe purple blacke and white it must be ordered in all thinges almost as Millet being sowed in Sommer it is ripe in fourtie dayes after in other places sowed in May in wette grounde it is to be geathered in September The haruest and the vse of
hath noted Flaxe vvhere he grovves dooth burne the feelde The lyke dooth Oates and Poppey yeelde And therefore but that women must haue something to occupie theyr handes withall it were more profite to sowe the grounde with corne and to bye linnen abrode especially yf you way the hart of your grounde and the charges of the makyng Hempe in Latine Canubis in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian Canabe in Spanishe Cannamo in Frenche Chamura and in Dutch Haueph is a plant of the Reedishe kinde hauing a very strong sauour it groweth with a single stalke and many times to suche a heyght that it matcheth with indifferent Trees it is of great necessitie for the vse of man and serueth both for makyng of Canuisse and framing of Ropes the stalke hath many knottes out of whiche proceedeth branches with narrowe leaues indented and sharpe Dioscorides describeth both the wylde Hempe and the Garden Hempe to haue leaues lyke the Ashe hollowe stalkes a stinkyng sauour and rounde seede There are two kindes of it the Male that is without floure and beareth a seede of sundry colours and the Female that to recompence her barrennesse dooth yeelde a white flowre it is sowed in Gardens Orchardes or other gooâ— grounde as Plinie would haue it after a Southwest wind with vs it is sowen in the ende of April for it can not away with cold some sowe it at the rysing of the starre called the Berward which is at the ende of Februarie or the beginning of March it loueth riâ—che grounde well dounged and watred and deepe plowed it is noughty sowing of it in raynie weather the thicker you sowe it the tenderer it wyll be and therefore many times it is sowen thryse though some there be that appoynt to euery foote square sixe seedes The Female or fyrble Hempe is fyrst pulled vp afterward the Male or the Carle when his seede is ripe is plucked vp and made vp in bundels layde in the Sunne for three or foure dayes and after is cast into the water with weyght layd vpon him for eyght or tenne dayes tyll he be sufficiently watred and as Flaxe tyll the Rynde waxe loose then taken out it is dryed with the Sunne and after broken in the Brake and then combed and hacked for Yarne and Ropes Of Hempe are made Cables Cordes Nettes and Sayles for Shippes garmentes for Labourers Shertes and Sheetes the Shales or Stalkes serue for the heating of Ouens or kyndeling of Fyres RIGO In the Countrey of Gulicke and some partes of Fraunce I remember I haue seene an hearbe planted of the common people with great diligence that serueth as they sayd for Dyars CONO You say true that hearbe Cesar in his Comentaries of the warres of Fraunce calleth Glastum in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian Gnado in Spanishe Pastel in Frenche with the common sort Guadum and Guesde in Dutch VVeyt the Dyars doo vse it and with them it is greatly esteemed and great gayne aryseth thereof vnto the people of Gelderland Iulyes and Turyn and diuers Countreys els the leaues as Plinie wryteth are lyke vnto Dock leaues Dioscorides wryteth of two kindes the wyld and the Garden Woade saying that the Garden Woade whiche Dyars vse hath leaues lyke Plantayne but something thicker and the wylde leaues lyke Lentyll with yellowe flowres with this hearbe Cesar sayth the people of Englande were woont to paynt theyr faces and bodyes to seeme more terrible to theyr enimies it requireth lyke sowyng and soyle as Wheate dooth but it is a great soker of the grounde and muche hurteth it it woulde haue a very riche and a fatte grounde and well dygged for the grounde were better to be turned vp with Spades then with Plowes for the sowyng of this Plant and it must be very well weeded It is sowed in Gelderland in April and after the common peoples rule in Easter wecke at the first fâ—llowing they marle the grounde after sowe it you must be very heedefull in the weedyng of it When it is growen a handfull hye and more they suffer it not to flowre but with an instrument for the purpose they cut it close by the roote washe it and carry it to the Myll and suffering it to growe agayne they cut it three or foure times and so leaue it to seede The greene hearbe they grinde in Milles like Apple Milles pressing it til they get out al the iuyce thereof then roule they it vp with their handes in rounde balles and so laye it vpon boorded floores to be dryed RIGO You haue greatly delighted me in describing vnto me the order of sowyng of seedes without whiche not onely the people of the Countrey but also the Courtiar and Citizen are not able to liue my desyre is nowe to vnderstande the order of Haruest the Countrey mans long looked for tyme and the reward of all his toyle CONO I wyl proceede in the accomplishing of your request When the Corne is ripe before it be scorched with the great heate of the Sunne whiche is most extreame at the rysyng of the lesser Dogge it is to be cut downe out of hande for delay herein is daungerous Fyrst because that birdes and other vermine wyll deuoure it and agayne both the Grayne and the Eare the toppe and the strawe being brittell and ouer drye wyl soone fall to the ground yf storme or tempest chaunce to aryse the greatest part thereof wyll to the grounde and therefore it must not be lingred but when it dooth looke yellowe in euery place and before that the Grayne be thorowe hard when they come to looke reddishe you must then haue it in that it may rather waxe in the Barne then in the Feelde Experience teacheth that yf it be cutte downe in due time the seede wyll growe in fulnesse as it lyeth in the Barne for the Moone encreasyng the Corne growes greater at the chaunge you must geather such seede as you woulde should be least fautie Varro sayth that the best tyme for Haruest is betwixt the Sunnestay and the Dogge dayes for the Corne they say dooth lye in the blade .xv. dayes flowreth .xv. dayes and ripeth in .xv. dayes Amongst Grayne Pulse the fyrst that is to be geathered is Rape seede And because the seede when the cod beginneth to waxe yellowe declareth ripenesse it must be geathered out of hand and sythe the seede wyll easyly skatter it must be layde eyther in playne smoothe places in the Feelde or vpon Canuasse and yf it be presently to be carryed the Wayne or Cart must be lyned with sheetes lest with iogging and tottring of the carryage the seede fall thorowe You must take good heede as well here as in all other Pulse that you preuent the rayne for the rayne falling the coddes doo open As soone as your Rape seede is of yf the grounde be plowed you may sowe Bucke or Branke as they call it so that of one peece of ground in one yeere you may make
poore people as not able to beare the charges were banished from the costlier eates and driuen to content them selues with the basest foode And hereof sprang at the fyrst the planting of Orchardes and making of Gardens wherewith the poorest creature that was might store his Kitchin and haue his victuals alwayes at hand the Orchard and Garden seruing for his Shambles with a great deale more commendable hurtlesse dyet Herein were the olde husbandes very careful and vsed alwayes to iudge that where they founde the Garden out of order the wyfe of the house for vnto her belonged the charge thereof was no good huswyfe for they shoulde be forced to haue their victuals from the Shambles or the Market not making so great account of Colwoortes then as they doo nowe condemning them for the charges that were about them As for fleshe it was rather lothed then vsed amongst them Only Orchardes and Gardens did chiefely please them because the fruites that they yeelde needed no fyre for the dressing of them but spared wood being alwayes of them selues redy dressed easie of digestion and nothing burdensome to the stomacke and some of them seruing also to pouder or preserue withal as good marchandize at home as Plinie sayth not driuing men to seeke Pepper as farre as Indie Of Lucrin I the Oysters not regarde as the Poet sayth And therefore to make them of more woorthynesse and that for their common profyte they shoulde not be the lesse regarded there were diuers noble men of the house of Valerius that tooke their surnames of Lettuse and were not ashamed to be named Lettismen The olde people had in great estimation the Gardens of the daughters of Altas and of the kinges Adonis and Alcinoi of whom Homer so muche speaketh as also the great vaulted Gardens eyther built by Semiramis or by Cyrus the king of Assyria Epicure is reported to be the fyrst that euer deuised Garden in Athens before his time it was not seene that the pleasures of the Countrey were had in the Citie Now when Thrasybulus trauayling in the affayres of his Prince chaunced to come to the house of Marius and carryed by him into a Garden that he had whiche was very beautifull being ledde about among the sweete smelling flowres and vnder the pleasaunt Hearbers what a goodly sight quoth Thrasybulus is here howe excellently haue you garnished this paradise of yours with all kinde of pleasures Your Parlers your banketting houses both within and without as all bedecked with pictures of beautifull Flowres and Trees that you may not onely feede your eyes with the behâ—lding of the true and liuely flowre but also delight your selfe with the counterfaite in the middest of Winter seeing in the one the painted flowre to contende in beautie with the very flowre in the other the woonderfull woorke of nature and in both the passing goodnesse of god Moreouer your pleasaunt Herbers to walke in whose shaddowes keepe of the heate of the Sunne and yf it fortune to rayne the Cloysters are hard by But specially this little Riuer with most cleare water encompassing the Garden dooth woonderfully set it foorth and here withall the greene and goodly quickset Hedges in chargeble kinde of enclosures differeth it both from Man and Beast I speake nothing of the well ordered quarters whereas the Hearbes and Trees are seuered euery sort in their due place the Pot hearbes by them selues the Flowres in an other place the Trees and the Impes in an other quarter all in iust square and proportion with Alleys and Walkes amongst them Among these goodly sightes I pray you remember according to your promise for so the time requireth to shewe me some part of your great knowledge in Garden matters syth you haue vppon this condition heard me heretofore garbring or rather weerying you with the declaiming of my poore skill in the tilling of the Feeld MARIVS Your memorie is herein a littel to quicke but what shal I doo promise must be kept and since you wyl needes force me you shall heare me babble as well as I can of my knowledge in gardning but not with the like pleasure that I heard you talking of your grasyng and your ground THRA Yes truely with as great pleasure and desire as may be MARIVS Come on then let vs here sitte downe in this Herber and we wyll nowe and then ryse and walke resting vs as oft as you wyl in the meane time IVLIA shal make redy our supper And fyrst euen as you began with the choosing of a place meete to set your house vpon so must I with the choise of a Plot meete for a Garden The ordring of Gardens is diuers for some are made by the Manour houses some in the Suburbes some in the Citie where so euer they be yf the place wyll suffer they must be made as neare to the house as may be but so as they be as farre from the Barnes as you can for the chaffe or dust blowing into them and eyther subiect to the Doung heape whereby it may be made riche or els in some very good grounde that hath some small Brooke runnyng by it or yf it haue none suche some Well or Condite whereby it may be watred An excellent plotte for the purpose is that which declineth a little and hath certaine gutters of water running through diuers partes therof for Gardens must alwayes be to be easily watred yf not with some runnyng streame some Pompe is to be made or Kettell Myll or suche like as may serue the turne of a naturall streame Columella would haue you make your searche for water when the Sunne is in the latter part of Virgo which is in September before his entrance into the Winter Aequinoctial for then may you best vnderstand the strength or goodnesse of the springes when after the great burnyng heate of the Sommer the grounde hath a long whyle continued without rayne If you can not thus haue water you must make some standing Pond at the vpper part of the ground that may receyue and conteyne such water as falles from aboue wherewith ye may water your Garden in the extreame heate of the Sommer but where neither the nature of the soyle nor conueiance by Conduite or Pompe or running streame is to be had you haue no other helpe but the rayne water of Winter which yf you also haue not then must you delue lay your Garden three or foure foote deepe which being so ordered wyll well be able to abide what so euer droughth doo happen This is also to be regarded that in Gardens that are destitute of water you so order them into seuerall partes that what part you wyll occupie in Winter may lye toward the South and that which shal serue you for Sommer may lye towardes the North. In a Garden as in the choyse of Corne grounde you must looke whether the goodnesse of the ground be not hindered by the vnskilfulnesse of hym that hath
before when they be growen to some greatnesse they cut the Thorne neare to the grounde and being halfe cut and broken a sunder they bowe it along the Hedge and plashe it From these cuttes spring vp newe plantes which still as they growe to any highnesse they cut them and plashe them againe so dooing continually tyll the Hedge be come to his full height This way the Hedge is made woonderfull strong that neither Hogge nor other Beast is able to breake through it but the other is a great deale more pleasant to the eye But yf I haue not settes yenowe to serue may I make an Impe Garden of their seede MARIVS Yea very wel Make your Thorne Garden or store plotte in this sort Take your Berries or Stones and mingle them with earth lay them vp for the fyrst yeere in some place meete for them the next yeere sowe them as thicke as you canne and ye shall within a little time haue a whole wood of Thornes THRA You haue nowe spoken of water and enclosure two principall poyntes in a Garden it nowe remayneth for you to speake of the ground meete for a Garden and of the order of dressyng of it MARIVS Of the sundry sortes of ground and of the discerning of them because you in your describing of Corne ground before haue sufficiently spoken I doo not thinke it needefull for me to repeate it Againe it is yenough to me to adde onely this that the ground ought not to be too riche nor too leane but fatte and mellowe which bringeth foorth a small kinde of Grasse lyke heares such ground requires least labour the stiffe and the riche ground asketh greater paines about it but dooth recompence it agayne with his fruitefulnesse The stiffe leane and cold ground is not to be medled with as Columella wryteth in appoynting good ground for Gardens The ground that geues the ripe and mellowed moulde And dooth in woorking croomble like the sandes That of his owne good nature yeeldeth manifolde Where Walwoort with his purple berrie standes For neither dooth the ground that still is drye Content my minde nor yet the watry soyle Whereas the Frogge continually dooth crye Whyle in the stincking Lakes he still dooth moyle I like the land that of it selfe dooth yeelde The mightie Elme that branches broade dooth beare And rounde about with trees bedeckes the feelde With trees that wylde beares Apple Plome and Peare But wyll no Berâ—oote breede nor stincking Gumme Nor Yewe nor Plantes whence deadly poysons come And this much of the Garden ground which as I sayde is watred or may be watred and is enclosed eyther with a Wall a Hedge or some other safe enclosure After this it is needefull it lye well to the Sunne and warme for in grounde that is very colde the warmth of the Sunne wyll not muche auayle it And contrary yf it be a hette burnyng Sand the benefite of the heauens can little helpe it You must yet looke that it lye not subiect to ill windes that are drye and â—â—â—â—ching and bring frostes and mystes But nowe to the ordeâ—ing of your Garden Fyrst you must be sure that the grounde whiche you meane to sowe in the Spring be well digged in the fall of the leafe about the kalendes of October and that whiche you garden in the fall of the leafe must be digged in May that eyther by the colde of Winter or the heate of Sommer both the clodde may be mellowed and the rootes of the weedes destroyed nor muche before this time must you doung it And when the time of sowing is at hand a fiue dayes before the weedes must be got out and the doung layde on and so often and diligently must it be digged as the ground may be throughly medled with the mould Therefore the partes of the Gardens must be so ordered as that which you meane to sowe in the ende of Sommer may be digged in the spring the part that you wyll sowe in the spring must be digged in the end of Sommer so shal both your fâ—llowes be seasoned by the benefite of the colde and the Sunne The beddes are to be made narrowe and long as twelue foote in length and sixe in breadth that they may be the easyer weeded they must lye in wette and watrye ground two foote hie in drye grounde a foote is sufficient If your beddes lye so drye as they wyll suffer no water to tarry vpon them you must make the spaces betwixt hyer that the water may be forced to lye and auoyde when you wil. Of the kindes and sortes of dounging being sufficiently entreated of by you I wyll say nothing onely adding this that the doung of Asses is the best because it breedeth fewest weedes the next is Cattels doung and Sheepes doung yf it haue lyen a yeere The grounde as I sayde whiche we meane to sowe in the Spring we must after the ende of Sommer let lye fallowe to be seasoned with the frost and the colde for as the heate of Sommer so dooth the colde of the Winter bake season the ground When Winter is doone then must we begyn to doung it and about the fourteenth or fifteenth of Ianuarie we must digge it agayne deuiding it into quarters and beddes Fyrst must the weedes be plucked vp and turffes of barrayne grounde must be layde in the Alleyes which being well beaten with Beetles and so trode vpon that the Grasse be worne away so that it scarse appeare it wyll after spring vp as fyne as littleheare and yeelde a pleasaunt sight to the eye which wyll be very beautiful When you haue seuered your flowres by them selues your Phisicke hearbes by them selues and your potte hearbes and sallettes in an other place the beddes and the borders must be so cast as the weeders handes may reache to the middest of them so shall they not neede in their labour to treade vppon the beddes nor to hurt the hearbes And this I thinke sufficient for the preparing of your ground before the sowing Nowe wyl I speake of sowing and what shal be sowed in euery season To speake of all sortes of hearbes and flowres were an endlesse labour onely of those that are most needeful I meane to entreate And first of hearbes some are for the potte some for the sight some for pleasure and sweete sauour and some for phisicke And agayne some are for Winter some for Sommer and some betwixt both The first time of sowing after Winter is the moneth of March April and May wherein we vse to sowe Colwoortes Radishe Rape and after Beetes Lettuse Sorel Mustardseede Corrâ—ander Dyll and Garden Cresses The second season for sowing is in the beginnyng of October wherein they set Beetes and sowe Smallage in Gellaci and Arreche The third season which they call the Sommer season in some places the Gardners begin in Ianuarie wherein they set Cucumbers Gourdes Spinnache Basyl Pursline and Sauery Many thinges may be sowed betwixt these
with olde doung or with the newest of any other kynde of manuryng the rootes beyng thus digged vp must be layde vp togeather and burned After must the ground be consydered whether it be mellowe and gentle it is thought to be good that is somethyng greety and grauelly and full of smal peebles so that it be mingled with fatte mould withall whiche yf it be not is vtterly disalowed Dame Ceres ioyes in heauy ground and Bacchus in the light You shall perceiue it to be massy and thicke yf beyng digged and cast into the hole agayne it ryseth ouer yf it scarsely fyll the hole it is a signe that it is lyght and thinne The Flynt by the generall consent of husbandmen is counted a freend to the Uine specially where it is well couered with good mould for beyng cold and a keeper of moysture it suffereth not the rootes to be skalded with the heate of Sommer so muche that Columella dooth wyll men to lay certayne stones about the sides of the Uinetrees so that they exceede not the weyght of fiue pound a peece which as Virgil hath noted keepes away the water in Winter and the heate in Sommer Hurle in the thyrstie stone or therein throwe the nasty shelles So doo wee see the bankes of the Rhine being full of these stones to yeelde an excellent good wine but the stones that lye aboue ground are to be cast away for in the Sommer beyng heated with the sunne they burne the Uine and in the Winter they hurt them with their coldnesse contrary to those that lye in the bottome But the best of all is the foote of an hill which receiueth the fallyng moulde from the toppe or the valley that with ouerflowyng of Ryuers hath been made riche Neyther is chalkie ground to be reâ—used though the chalke of it selfe that Potters vse is hurtfull to the Uine The hungry sandy ground the salt bitter and thyrstie grounde is not meete for the Uine yet the blacke and the reddishe sande medled with some moyst earth is of some alowed well yenough Moreouer neyther grounde too hotte or too colde too drye nor too moyst too sclender nor too stiffe that wyll not suffer the rayne to sincke is meete to be vsed for Uines for it wyll easily gape and open whereby the sunne comming in at the crayuesses dooth burne the rootes that agayne whiche is ouer thinne lettyng in as it were by ventes the rayne the sunne and the winde dooth drye vp the moysture of the rootes the thicke and stiffe grounde is hardly to be laboured the fatte grounde subiect to too muche rancknesse the leane grounde to barrennesse wherefore there must be an euen temperature amongst these extreamities as is required in our bodyes whose health is preserued by the equall medley of heate and colde dryth and moysture fulnesse and emptinesse or thicknesse and thinnesse neyther yet is this temperature in ground for Uines so iustly to be euened but that there is required a more enclining to the one part as that the earth be more hotte then colde more drye then moyst more sâ—â—htyll then grosse specially yf the state of the heauens agreeâ— agayne what quarter whereof the Uineyard ought to lye it is an olde controuersie some like best the rysing of the sunne some the West some the North Virgil misliketh the West others agayne thinke the best lying to be vpon the South But in generall it is thought best in colde countreys to haue it lye toward the South in warme countreys vpon the East in hotte burnyng Countreys as Egypt and Barbary vpon the North. Plinie would haue the Uine him selfe stand towards the North and his spring or shoutes towards the South A fytte grounde and wâ—ll lying being found out must be diligently digged dounged weeded all vnprofitable weedes must be pulled vp and throwen away lest they shoulde spring agayne and eyther corrupt the young plantes or hinder the labourer THRA Before you come to trenchyng I woulde gladly heare in what sort you plant your Uine and what season is fittest for it MARIVS I wyll fyrst speake of the season and afterwardes of the plantyng The Uine is planted accordyng to Virgils rule in the fall of the leafe but better in the spring yf the weather be rayny or colde or the ground be fatte champion or a watrishe valley and best in the fall of the leafe yf the weather be drye and warme the ground dry and lyght a barrayne or a rugged hill The time of plantyng in the spring as Columella sayth endureth fourtie dayes from the Ides of Februarie vntyll the Aequinoclial and in the fall of the leafe from the Ides of October to the Kalendes of December Cassian in Constantine being taught by experience wyls in watrye groundes you should rather plant in Autumne when the leaues are fallen and the plantes after the vintage deliuered of the burden of theyr clusters sound strong before they be nipped with the frostes for then they best agree with the ground nature applying her selfe wholly to the nourishing of the roote The time of graffing Columella sayth is of some extended from the fyrst of Nouember to the fyrst of Iune tyl which time the shoote or graffe may be preserued but it is not well liked of him who rather woulde haue it to be done in warmer weather when Winter is past when both budde and rynde is naturally mooued and safe from colde that myght annoy eyther the graffe or the stocke yet he graunteth when hast requireth it may be done in the fall of the leafe when as the temperature of the ayre is not much vnlyke to the spring for which purpose you must choose a warme day and no wind stirryng The graffe must be round and sound not full of pith but full of buddes and thicke of ioyntes the tenant whereof must not exceede three inches and smoothe and euen cut the stocke and the cleft must be well closed with clay and mosse Those that growe toward the South must be marked whiche Virgil obseruyng sayth But on the barke they also note the quarter of the skieâ— The order how it stoode and grew and where the South dyd lye The lyke is to be done with all other trees Of plantyng of Uines there is two wayes the one of the roote the other of the branche or spray the roote is counted a great deale better then the branche or set by reason of the forwardnesse and vauntage that it hath in that it hath alredy taken roote The roote is set in stiffe ground well digged and laboured in a trenche of three foote the set or spray in a gentle and mellowe ground in drye ground it is neyther good to set the roote nor the branche in a drye season it is best to plant in the fall of the leafe in a hotte season and in a colde and moyst in the spring in much wet you must set them thinner in great dryeth thicker in what sort you shall make a
riche and liuely dooth very well agree with this tree Chalkie ground is vtterly to be refused and watry and maryshe ground woorst of all The â—yke is a barrayne sand and a hungry sand but you may see it well in corne ground where eyther the Wylding or the â—asthelme hath growen but betwixt the Oke and it there â—â— great hatred for yf the Oke groweth neare it flyeth away and â—â—â—inâ—eth towardes the earth and though you cut downe the Oke yet the very rootes poysoneth and kylleth the poore Olyue The lyke some affyrme of the trees called Cerrus and Esculus for where they be pulled vp yf you set the Olyue he dyeth so dooth it as Plinie sayth yf it chaunce to be brused of the Goate On the other side betwixt the Olyue and the Uine there is great freendship and loue and it is sayde that yf you graffe the Olyue vpon the Uine it wyll beare a fruite that shal be halfe Grape and halfe Olyue called Vuolea in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Olyue grape There are sundry wayes of plantyng of Olyues some take the biggest branches from the trees and saweing of the youngest plantes of two â—ubites in length they set them orderly in the ground some set the whole tree togeather Some agayne cuttyng of the toppes and all the branches set the stocke about the rysing of the starre Arcturus Many make them Impe Gardens in good grounde and mellowe suche as is commonly the blacke mould herein they set the young branches the lowest and the fayrest two or three inches in thicknesse and very fertill whiche they geather noâ— from the body of the tree but from the newest and latest bowes These they cut into prety settes of a foote and a halfe in length takyng good heede that they hurt not the rynde and paring the endes very smoothe with a sharpe knife and markyng them with redde Oâ—re that they may knowe whiche way they stoode afore and so settyng the lowest part into the grounde and the hyghest towardes the Heauen they put them in the grounde and so they growe the faster and beare the better for yf you should set them with the lower end vpward they would eyther hardly growe and prooue vnfruitefull and therefore they haue a regard of the setting of them You must beside before you set them rubbe ouer both the toppe the foote with doung mingled with ashes and so set them deepe in the ground coueryng them foure fyngers thicke with rotten mould You may choose whether you wyll set them all vnder the grounde or sette some part within the grounde and suffer the rest to appeare aboue the grounde those that be set all within the ground neede not to be marked but suche as shall stand with one part aboue the ground Didymus would haue them so set as they may appeare foure fingers aboue the ground and then to make a little trench for the receauing of the water and this maner of planting with the bowes is of Didymus best liked Where you meane to plant you must purge the ground of all other plantes busshes and weedes and the trenches must so be made as with the winde the sunne and rayne it may be mellowed made crombling that the plantes may the sooner take roote If your businesse require haste you must a moneth or two before burne in the trenches eyther stickes or reede or suche thinges as wyll easily take fyre and this you must doo diuers dayes togeather Your trenches must be three cubites or there about in deapth fourtie cubites a sunder wherby the trees may haue ayre yenough the first yeere second the third the earth must be trimmed with ofteÌ„â—aking the first two yeres you must not meddle with proppingâ— the third yeere you must leaue vpon euery one a couple of branches and often rake your Impe Garden the fourth yeere you shall of the two branches cut away the weaker being thus ordered in the fyfth yeere they wyll be meete to be remooued the stocke that is as bigge as a mans arme is best to be remooued let it stand but a little aboue the grounde so shall it prosper the better Before you remoue it marke the part that stood South with a peece of Oker that you may set it in like maner againe You must fyrst digge the trenched grounde with Mattockes and after turne in stone plowed earth and sowe it with Barley yf there be any water standyng in them you must let it out and cast in a fewe small stones and so settyng your settes cast in a little doung After the tenth of Iune when the ground gapes with the heate of the Sunne you must take heede that the sunne pearce not through the cleftes to the roote From the entryng of the Sunne into Libra you must ridde the rootes of all superfluous springes and yf the tree growe vpon the edge of a hill you must with little gutters drawe away the muddy water The doung must be cast on at the fall of the leafe that being mingled in Winter with the mould it may keepe the rootes of the trees warme The mother of oyle must be powred vpon the great ones the mosse must be cut of with an iron instrument or els it wyll yeeld you no fruite Also after certayne yeeres you must cut and loppe your Olyue trees for it is an old prouerbe that who so ploweth his Olyue Garden craueth fruite who doungeth it moweth fruite who cutteth the trees forceth fruite In the Olyue tree you shall sometime haue one branche more gallant then his fellowes whiche yf you cut not away you discourage all the rest The Olyue is also graffed in the wyld Olyue specially betwixt the rynde and the wood and by emplastring others graffe it in the roote and when it hath taken they pull vp a parcell of the roote withall and remooue it as they doo other plantes Those Olyues that haue the thickest barkes are graffed in the barke The time of graffing them is from the entryng of the Sunne into Aries and with some from the .xxii. of May tyll the fyrst of Iune The tyme of geathering of Olyues is when the greater part of half the fruite waxeth blacke and in fayre weather the riper the Olyue is the fatter wyll be the oyle In geathering of Olyues there is more cunnyng in making oyle then in making wine the lesser Olyues serue for oyle the greater for meate There is sundry sortes of oyle made of an Olyue the fyrst of all is rawe and pleasantest in taste the fyrst streame that comes from the presse is best and so in order The best oyle is about Venafri in Italy and Licinia in Spaine The next in goodnesse is in Prouence except in the fruitfull partes of 〈◊〉 The Olyues that you may come by with your handes you must eyther vpon the ground or with ladders geather and not beate them downe for those that are beaten downe doo wyther and yeelâ—e not so much oyle as the other
come in here into this Arber MARIVS Come let vs goe Soli Deo laus gloria per Christum Iesum The ende of the second Booke ¶ The third Booke of feeding breeding and curing of Cattell Hippoconus Euphorbus Hedio Eumaeus THAT the breeding and feeding of Cattell is a part of husbandry and neare ioyned in kinrede to the tylture of the ground not onely appeareth by Virgil the prince of Poets who hath in his Georgicks throughly set foorth the order thereof but also by the witnesse of the more auncient Philosophers Xenophon Aristotle The like dooth our common experience at home dayly teache vs for albeit that trade of tyllage keeping of cattel is diuers and the maner of occupying many times contrary the one to the other as where the grasyer and breeder requireth a ground full of grasse and pasture the husbandman on the other side a ground without grasse and well tytled yet in these theyr diuers desyres there appeareth a certayne felowship and mutuall commoditie redounding in their occupying of one the other which Fundanius in Varro dooth seeme by an apt comparison to prooue as in a couple of Shalmes or Recorders sayth he the one differeth in sound from the other though the musicke and song be al one the one sounding the Treble the other the Base in like maner may we terme the grasyers trade the Treble and the tylâ—ers occupation the Base folowing Dicaearchus who reporteth that at the beginning men liued onely by breeding and feeding of cattell not hauing as yet the skil of plowing and tylling y ground nor planting of trees Afterwardes in a lower degree was found out the maner of tylling of the ground and therefore beareth the Base to the feeder in that it is lower as in a couple of Recorders the Base to the Treble So this vsing to keepe cattell for plowing caryage dounging of our ground and other commodities and on the oâ—her side to tyll the ground for feeding and mayntenance of our cattell it comes to passe that though the maner of occupying in tyllage and keeping of cattell be diuers yet one of them so serueth the turne of the other that as it seemeth they can not well be a sunder for without the seruice of Horse and Oxen we can neyther plow nor doung our ground and Chaffe Straw and other offal of Corne is meete to be spent vpon the ground then to be solde both for the Farmers behoofe and the lordes and better bestowed vpon the houshold cattell then vpon the forreyners Besides the doung of the cattel enricheth the ground and bringeth great encrease and whereas there is no place as Columella sayth but in the tyllage of their ground they haue as muche neede of cattell as men the cattell serue not onely for the tylling of the grounde but also to bring in Corne to beare burdens carry doung for the grounde and also for breede and encrease of the stocke whereby they haue their name iumenta of helping because they helpe and further vs eyther in our labours by plowing or bearing Neyther is it onely sufficient to nourishe and bring vp this kinde of great cattell called iumenta but also the other lesser sort of beastes as Sheepe Swyne Goates and of foules Geese Peacocks Duckes Pigeons Hennes Chickinnes and other poultry and thinges belonging to husbandry wherewith the good husband beside his owne sustenance maketh great gayne and yf the ground be for it and Pales fauourable there aryseth oftentimes as great profyte as in sowing of Corne and that with smaller charges For a proofe that feeding is gainefull the woordes pecunia money and peculium substance or richesse being both deriued from the Latine name of cattels may very well serue for in the olde time they vsed their cattell in steade of money and theyr common penalties fines taken in cattell the greatest was thyrtie Oxen two Sheepe euery Oxe valued at .v. s. vi d. and euery Sheepe at .vi. d. the smalest was a Sheepe the very like is yet obserued with the noblest and warlikest people whose substance lyeth altogeather in cattell Cato being once asked by what part of husbandry a man might soonest be made riche made aunswere by great grasing and being asked agayne whiche way he might geat sufficient liuelihood he aunswered by meane grasyng Moreouer that the woorthynesse and first originall of keeping of cattell is of greatest antiquitie and that the trade thereof hath alwayes from the time of the Patriarkes hitherto been counted most honest as well the scriptures as prophane histories doe witnes which kinde of life how acceptable it hath alwayes beene to God by those that liued in the first worlde doth plainly appere The scripture sheweth how graciously the Lorde accepted the sacrifice of Abel a keeper feeder of sheepe besides Seth Noe Abraham Loth Iacob Iob Amos. Holly and blessed men are commended for keeping and feeding of Cattell whereby atteyning to greate wealth they sustayned them selues their wiues their Children and their huge families The Sonnes of Iacob when as they were demaunded by the kynge of Egipt what maner of life they ledde made aunswere that they were feeders and keepers of Cattell from which trade Lot Morses Saule and Dauid were by the will of God aduaunced to the Crowne As amonge the Gentiles the most auncient and famous Princes were some of them brought vp by Sheaperds som sheaperds them selues Romulus Cyrus being mighty Emperours were brought vp amonge sheaperdes Besides Galerius Maximinus Constantine Probus Aurelianus came all from the Oxstall to the Imperiall Seate Homer commendeth â—lâ—sses his swinherd for his greate valiance and noblenes That the valyant and noblest people haue professed this trade the Italians Germanes and Swytzers can testifie whose Countryes being now growne to more delicaâ—ye then they were wont to be were wonted alwayes when their doinges were most famous to glory and vaunt them selues of this life as at this day the Goodlyest and wysest dooe And therefore the auncient writers as wel Greekes as Latyns doo count the chefest wealth to bee in the numbers of sheepe Cattell and Fruite for which estimacion the Cattell were supposed to bee cladde in Golden Coates whence sprange first the fable of the Golden fleese of Colchos which Iason and his companions attempted to fetch of the Golden apples kept by the daughters of Atlas Besides the signes of Heauen the seas Mountaines Countreyes doo beare their names of Beastes among the 〈…〉 the Bull the mountayne Taurus and the 〈…〉 tooke his name of Calues Moreouer the 〈…〉 the worthier in that it hath some resemblance of the 〈…〉 gouernour and therefore the Prophets in their Oracles and Poetes in their verses doo often times call kinges and princes by the names of shepheardes and feeders of the people Yea the LORD of the whole world dooth call him selfe a shephearde Since it appeareth by these examples of what worthynesse keeping of cattell is and how neare it is linked
Horses for the sight of the Ducke as Vegetius and Columella say is a present remedy to this beast For the Flix or the Laske which in some places they call the Ray take Sloes and dry them in powder and geue it them to drinke yf it be the blooddy Flixe the old fellowes were wont to cure it in this sort They suffred not the beast to drinke in three dayes and kept him fasting the first day and gaue him the stoanes of Reazins or Grapes dryed and made in powder two poundes with a quart of sharpe tarte Wine and suffered them to drinke no other drinke and made them eate the browsing of wyld Olyue trees and Mastyxe trees and yf they mended not with this they burnt them in the forehead to the very brayne pan and cut of theyr eares The woundes tyll they were whole they washed with Oxpisse but the cut partes were to be healed with Oyle and Pytch If your Calues haue the Ray or Laske take sweete Milke and put therein the Rennet of a Calfe make it no thicker but as the Calfe may well drinke it and geue it him luke warme If your Bullocke haue the Cough and yf it be but beginning geue him a pint of Barly-meal with the yolke of an Egge the Reazins boyled in sweete Wine and strained a pint mingle them togeather and geue it him fasting Also Graines beaten and mingled with Floure fryed Beanes and meale of Lentylls all stirred togeather and geuen him in a mash Columella would haue you geue them Grasse chopt and mingled with Beanes that are but a little broken in the Myll and Lentylls small ground and mingled with water The old Cough they cured with two pound of Hysope steeped in three pintes of water and mingled with Floure which they made him to swallowe and afterwardes powred into him the water wherein Hysope had been sodden also Peason with Barly water and sodden Hony when they had the Cough and Consumption of the Loonges To keepe them aliue they vsed to burne the roote of a Hasell and to thrust it through their â—ares geuing them to drinke a pint of the iuyce of Leekes with the like measure of Oyle and Wine For the Cough of the Loonges I vse to geue them long Pepper Graines Fenegreke Bays Anysseede Ortment balles Turmericke and Madder beating them all togeather and seething them in good Ale grounes If your Calues haue the Cough take Sentury and beate it to powder and geue it them If they haue the Feauer or Ague you shall perceaue it by the watring of theyr eyes the heauinesse of their head the driueling at the mouth beating of the vaines and heate of the whole body let them fast one day the next day let them blood a little betimes in the morning in the tayle after an houre geue them a thirtie little stalkes of Colwoortes sodde in Oyle Water and Salt which must be powred fasting into them fiue dayes togeather Beside you may geue them the toppes of Olyue trees Lentylls or any tender brutinges or branches of Uines and wype theyr mouthes with a Spunge geuing them cold water thrise a day The blood faling downe into the legges causeth them as Vegetius sayth to halt which as soone as you perceaue you must straightwayes looke vpon his hoofes the heate whereof wyll declare his greefe beside he wyl scarse suffer you to touch it But yf so be the blood be yet aboue the hoofe in the legges you shall dissolue it with good rubbing or yf not with that with Scarifâ—â—ng or Pouncing the skinne If it be in the foote open it a little with a knife betwene the two clawes and laye to the sore cloutes dipped in Uineger and Salt making him a shooe of Broome and be well ware he come not into any water but stand dry This blood yf it be not let out wyll breede to matter which wil be long eare it heale yf it be opened at the first with a knife and made cleane and after cloutes dipped in Water Salt and Oyle layd to it and at the last annoynted with olde Swynes grease and Goates suet boyled togeather it wyll quickly be whole This disease as I take it the countrey people call the Fowle or the Wyspe which they sometime cure with drawing a rope of strawe or heare through the Cleese tyll it bleede or by searing of it with a hotte iron If the blood be in the lower part of the Hoofe the vttermost part of the Clee is pared to the quicke and so the blood let out and after the foote wrapped with clowtes and shooed with Brome you must open the Hoofe in the middest except the matter be ripe If he halte by reason of the Crampe or payne of the sinowes you shal rub his knees thighes and legges with Salt and Oyle till he be whole If his knees or ioyntes be swolen they must be bathed with warme Uineger and Linseede or Mylet beaten and layd to it with water and Hony. Also Spunges wette in hotte water and dryed againe and annoynted with Hony are very good to be layd to the knees yf vnder the swelling there be any humor Leauen or Barly meale sodde in water and Hony or sweete Wine must be layd to it and when it is ripe it must be opened with a knife and healed as before All greefes generally yf they be not broken must be dissolued whylst they are new with bathes and fomentations and yf they be old they must be burned and the burning annoynted with Butter or Goates suet If he haue hurt his heele or his Hoofe stone Pitch Brimstone and greasie Wooll must be burnt vpon the sore with a hot iron The like must be done when he is hurt with a Stub a Thorne or a Nayle being first plucked out or yf it be very deepe it must be opened wyde with a knife and so handled for kiâ—ed heeles take and cast him and bind his legges fast togeather then take your knife and cut it out as nie as you can and let him bleede well then take a peniworth of Uerdegrease and the yolke of an Egge and temper them well togeather and bind them close to the place and he shall heale If the Udder of your Kine do swell you shall bathe them with Iuie sodden in stale Beere or Ale and smoke them with Hony Coames and Camomell If the Bullockes feete be neare worne and surbated washe them in Oxe pysse warmed and kindling a fewe twygges or spraps when the flame is doone cause him to stand vpon the hotte imbers and annoynt his hornes with Tarre and Oyle or Hogges grease They wyll neuer lightly halt yf after they haue ben laboured their feete be washed wel with cold water and afterwards their Pastorns and the places betwene the Clees be rubbed with old Swynes grease The skabs or manginesse is gotten away with rubbing them with stamped Garlicke which also cureth the biting of a madde Dogge besides Peniriall and Brimstone beaten and boyled
with Oyle Uineger and water and after whilst it is warme a little Alom made in powder and cast into it doth cure the skabbe being annoynted in the sunshine Other vse to annoynt them with Butter and Bullockes pisse and some againe take Rozen Tarre Wine and vse it as a Pultesse Hydebound is when the skin so stickes to his backe that you can not take it vp from the ribbes which happeneth by suffering him to take cold after his swette or yf after his labour he be wette with rayne or brought lowe with sicknesse which because it is very dangerous you must looke that when they come from their labour and are hot you sprinkle them with Wine and geue them some peeces of fatte or suet But yf they be alredy Hydebound it is good you seeth some Bay leaues and with the warme decoction thereof to bath his backe and to rubbe him all ouer with Wine and Oyle mingled togeather and to lyft and plucke vp the skinne round about and that abroade while the sunne shineth If his bleeding stench not after the cutting of the vaine the remedy is to lay his owne doung to the place A common medecine for all diseases as Vegetius reporteth is this the roote of a sea Onion the roote of the Popler and the common Salte of eache a sufficient quantitie lay them in water and geue it your cattell to drinke tyl they be whole which also being geuen in the beginning of the spring for the space of fourteene dayes preserueth them from all sicknesse Nowe that you haue heard in what sort the old husbands did remedy the diseases in their cattell I shall breefely declare vnto you the remedies that are obserued in sundry diseases at this day wherof I haue chopt in some amongst the medecines before First for the Murraine it beginneth at the first in the throte and swelleth in the head and rotleth with much noyse in the throte whereby it is perceaued take a quart of newe Milke half a peniworth of Butter a peniworth of Garlicke two peniworth of English Saffron two peniworth of Cinamon two peniworth of Turmericke a quantitie of Hearbegrace a quantitie of Bittony mingle them altogether geue it him warme then take an Alle and thrust the top of his nose vpwarde take but the very top to thrust through and not to the headwarde then let him blood in the necke almost a pottell yf he be able saue the blood and let it stand yf it change he may liue yf not he dieth An other for the same Where he swelleth about the iawes and vp to the eares open him vnder the iawes to the roote of the tongue get in your finger and open it a good wydenesse then take a good peece of ruâ—tie Bacon a handfull of Raggewort stampe them well togeather and fyll the hole full with it then let him blood at the nose and the tongue A drinke for the same Take Tansie Hearbegrace Longwort Hisope Time of eache a like quantitie halfe a handfull stampe them and take a quarte of good Alegroundes and seethe them a wallope or two take and straine it and put the licour into a vessell put therunto a peniworth of Graines a peniworth of long Pepper a peniworth of Ortment a peniworth of Fenegreke geue it the beast luke warme The sicknesse of the Loonges is perceiued yf the Dewlappe be hard closed togeather very farre vp also in hard feeling the Hyde vpon the backe it cracketh or snappeth much also a short husking and thrusting out the tongue withall yf it be much perished on the left side he is vncurable whiche you shall perceiue by the Hyde which wyll sticke fast on that side and likewyse the Dewlappe yf he be farre gone he wyll grone much The remedie for this disease is to take long Pepper a peniworth round Pepper asmuch of Graines two peniworth of Turmericke two peniworth of Fenegreke two peniworth of Mace asmuch Cloues a peniworth of Anisseedes a peniworth of Madder two peniworth of Tryacle of Geane the vtter rine of Wallnuts dryed and made in pouder Iuniper berries poudred Oxe Loongworth Fetherfewe Hearbgrace Tansie Horse Mintes Bay berries poudred a peniworth of Garlicke a quarte of Chamberly a pinte of Salte a quantitie of Butter Setter him before or immediatly after this medcine geuen The order of Settring a Bullocke is this take Setterwort otherwyse called Bearfoote and Garlicke like quantitie peele and stampe the Garlicke pare the Setterwort cleane and wrappe them wll in Butter then cut the Dewlappe two inches behinde the sticking place to the brestwarde and cut it alongstwyse about two or three inches and pull the Dewlappe with thy finger or with a sticke rounde about one side from the other as much as you can possible Then put the Setterwort Garlike and Butter as much as thou canst well put in and thus doo on both sides the Dewlappe then rowle him so that the string may goe through both holes on both sides the Dewlappe alwayes remembring to cut the Dewlappe a handbroade or aboue the bottome and in any wyse to rent him to the bottome before you put in the medecine The third day after the Settring looke to them open the wounde and let out the corrupcion yf it be come downe if not put in more of the medicine and turne the rowle and yf it be much swolen and hard and wyll not rotte take a hotte iron and take vp parte of the soare the skimâ—â— and the fleshe in such place as thou seest most conuenient so as it come not to the bone and thrust the iron through on the one side and on the other or once right vnder yf the swelling be right beneath and tarre him well yf the flyes be busie Which flyes yf they chaunce to get into the soare take a cloth or towell and lappe it about a sticke and put it into skalding hotte Tarre and so among the Maggottes searching euery corner wel After you haue pearsed him with the hot iron remember to take a little sticke and Towe and dipping it in Sallet Oyle or Wooll Oyle to rubbe the hole where the iron passed The sicknesse of the Gall is knowen by the running eyes yf he haue much yellowe earewaxe it is also discerned by the browne yellowes vnder the vpper lippe the cure is this Take Chamberly good Ale groundes or Beere groundes hard Soote in pouder Gallwort beastes Loongwort Planten leaues Hearbgrace Hempleede or Hemp toppes Garlicke stamped a peniworth of Aqua vite for a great Bullocke take almost a quarte of this medecine for a small Bullocke lesse when he hath drunke take Salt Lome of the wall and leauened bread and rubbe well his tongue and all the roofe of his mouth then washe his backe and chafe it wel with Chamber-lye lukewarme geather all these hearbes in Sommer and keepe them and make them in pouder This medecine serueth likewyse for the Loonges If a Bullocke be diseased in
that about Rome and other places are greatly esteemed Columella countes them to be strong meate and heauie of digestion Loe here is all that for my share I haue to say touching my cattell nowe HEDIO holde you the candell an other whyle HEDIO Next vnto the greater sort of cattell the cheefest place is to be assigned to Sheepe yea yf you consider the great commoditie and profite they are to be prefered before them for as Oxen serue for the tylling of ground necessary vse of men so is to this poore beast ascribed the safegard of the body for the Sheepe dooth both with his fleese apparayle vs with his milke holesome fleshe nourish vs as the Poet witnesseth Poore beast that for defence of man at fyrst created wast And in thy swelling vdder bearst the iuyce of deynty tast That with thy fleese kepst of the cold that should our limbs assaile And rather with thy life then with thy death dost vs auaile Of Sheepe there are sundry breedes The ritch the champion countrey breedeth a large and a great Sheepe the barraine and the clyffy a resonable stature the wylde and the mountaine grounde a small and a weerysh Sheepe The olde husbandes did greatly commend the breede of Milet Appulia and Calabria and most of all the breede of â—aranto next of Parma and Modena At this day for the finenesse of their fleese are most in price the Sheepe of England of Germanie about the Rhine and of France Varro councelleth all such as would bye Ewes to haue their cheefe consideration of their age that they be neyther to old nor to young the one of them not yet come to it the other already past proffite but better is that age wherof there is some hope then where there followeth nothing but a dead carcasse Your best is therfore to bye them at two yeeres olde and not to meddle with such as are past three their age is to be knowen by their teeth for the teeth of the olde ones are worne away next must you looke that your Ewe haue a large body deepe woolled and thicke ouer all the body specially about the necke and the head and good store vppon the belly for such as were bare necked and bellied the olde husbandes alwayes refused The necke must be long the belly large the legges short though the Sheepe of England be long legged the tayle in some countrey short in others very long for in Arabia some haue tayles a cubite long but woonderfull broade others as both Herodotus Aelianus affirme three cubites long so that the shepheardes are forced to tye them vp for being hurt with trayling vpon the ground In Egypt a Rammes tayle hath ben found to waye twentie pound more The Ramme must haue his hornes great wyneding inward and bending to the face though in some place they haue no hornes at all yet not better Rammes the hornes must rather crookle inward then growe straight vp In some countrys that are wet stormie Goates and Rammes are to be chosen that haue the greatest largest hornes whereby they may defend their heads from storme and tempest and therfore in colde stormie countreys the horned Rammes are best in milde gentle climets the pold Beside there is this inconuenience when he knowes him selfe to be armed he wil alwayes be fighting and vnruly among his Ewes and though he be not able to serue the turne him self yet wyll he suffer no other Ramme in the flocke tyll he be euen cloyed lamed with lechery The Pollarde on the otherside finding him selfe vnarmed is milder and quieter by much wherefore the Shepheards to restraine the rage of the vnruely do vse to hang before his hornes a little boorde with sharpe prickes inwarde which keepes him from his madnesse whyle he perceiueth him selfe to be hurt with his owne blood others say that yf you pearce his hornes with a Wymble next to the eares where they winde inwarde he wyll leaue his brauling In some places also the Ewes are horned but to the Ramme his eyes must be browne his eares great his brest shoulder buttockes broade his stones great his tayle broade and long you must looke beside that his tongue be not blacke nor pecled for comonly such wyll geat blacke pied Lambes as Virgil noteth And though the Ramme in sight be white as snowe If black within his lawes his tongue be wrought Refuse him quite least yf he leape thy Yowâ— He doo infect thy folde with colour nought Bye not your Sheepe but washed vnshorne that the colour may plainlier appeare the white colour as it is the beautifullest so is it the profitablest In March is your best bying of Sheepe for shepheardes lyke suche as haue well worne out the winter Whosoeuer wyl be a sheepemaister must regarde the abilitie of his ground for it is not yenough to haue pasture in sommer But they must be well prouided for in winter in any wyse you must haue store of pasture and better it is and more proffitable to the Master to keepe a fewe Sheepe well then a great number with scarsitie of pasture Florentinus is of that fancie that he woulde your number should rather be odde then euen thinking that number more fortunate for the healthynesse and long continuance of the cattell but these are superstitious toyes as are a great number of others imagined by the faithlesse Be sure euery yeere once to make your muster and supply the places of such as are dead or sicke with a newe and a sounde number so that the Master be not deceiued with an olde vnproffitable flocke The hardnesse and crueltie of the colde Winter dooth oftentimes beguile the shepheard and destroyeth many of his flocke whereof presuming of their strengh in the ende of the Sommer he had made no supply and therfore Columella is of oppinion that the age for breede ought not to be lesse then three yeere nor aboue eyght both because that neyther of the ages is meete to be kept and also that whatsoeuer commeth of an olde stocke hath lightly a smack of his olde parentes imperfection and proueth eyther to be barraine or weake The selfe same Columella woulde haue the Ewes to be put to the Ramme after they had passed two yeere olde the Ramme to be of fiue yeere olde and after seuen to decay In many places at this day they suffer both the kindes to breede from two yeere olde tyll niene but before two yeeres it is not good to put eyther the Ramme or the Ewe to breede although in most places they suffer the Ewes at a yeere old The Ramme is put by his purpose by the Wyckers or Bulryshes tyed to the Ewes tayle but more commodiously by going in seuerall pastures howbeit they are not commonly seuered but sufferd to goe togeather The Rammes that you would haue to serue your Ewes must afore the blossoming be kept in good pasture for two monethes whereby they
it vp with the rinde of Wyllowe or Elme after this keepe them vp in the house a day or two and geue them warme water with a good quantitie of Barly flowre If the Quynsey or Vnula to which desease this beast is wonderous subiect chaunce to take them Dydimus woulde haue you let them blood behinde aboue the shoulders others vnder the tougâ—e some agayne cure them with settering If the kernells swell in the throate you must let them blood vnder the tongue and when they haue bledde rubbe their mouthes within with salte finely beaten Wheate floure Democritus woulde haue you geue to euery Sowe three pound weyght of the beaten roote of Daffadyll If they vomite and lothe their meate it is good to geue them before they goe abroade the shauinges of Iuory with fryed salte and ground Beanes Swyne whyle they feede abroade by reason of their great deuouring for it is an vnsatiable beast do wounderously labour with the abundance of the Splen for remedy wherof you shall geue them water as oft as they thyrst in Troughes made of â—amaryce the iuyce of whiche wood is very holsome for them Democritus teacheth to geue vnto Hogges that haue the Splen the water wherein the Coles of Heath haue been quenched This beast hath somtime a sicknesse wherin he pines away and forsaketh his mâ—ate and yf you bring him to the feelde he suddenly fallâ—th downe and lyeth as it were in a bead sleepâ— which as 〈◊〉 as you pâ—rcâ—iue you shall shuâ—â—e vp the hâ—ly heard in soâ—e house and make them to fast one day both from water and meate the nâ—xt day the roote of the wyld Coucumber 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 with water is geuen them to drinke wâ—â—ch aâ— soone as they haue taken they fall a vomitting and so purge themselues When they haue thus expelled theyâ— câ—â—ller you shall geue them hard Beanes strained with brine An exâ—elleâ—t 〈…〉 against all pestilence of Swyne doth Hieroâ—â—mus â—raâ—us teach which is when you see them infectâ—d â—o geue them the rootes of Polipodi or Oke Ferne boyled in wine whereby they shall purge what so euer is euyll from them and most of all choller wherewith Swyne are most troubled tâ—â— same Hieâ—â—n as I remember teacheth for a Horseâ— though it be without my commission to meddle with them â— If he be sicke and suddenly fall downe of a disease that you know not to put vnder his tongue a peece of a Ferne roote wherevpon you shall see him immediatly voyde vpward and downeward what so euer is in his body and presently amende this he sayth and truely I dare beleeue him that he prooued with a Horse of his owne But to my Swyne whereas thyrst in sommer is hurtfull and daungerous to all kind of cattell to this beast it is most hurtfull and therefore you must not water them as you doo Sheepe Goates but twyse or thryse a day but yf you can you must keepe them by the water side that they may go thereto at pleasure for the Swyne is not content with drinking but he must often coole and plong his filthy panch in the water neither delighteth he in any thing so muche as to wallowe in the durt And yf you haue no suche places neare you must draw some water from the Well and geue it them in Troughes abundantly for except they drinke their fyll they wyll fall sicke of the Loonges which disease is cured as Columella wryteth by thrusting the roote of Setterwort through their eares Plinie affirmeth the Tode to be a present remedie for the sicknesse of Swyne Some say that yf a Sowe lose one of her eyes she dyeth soone after otherwyse she liueth fyfteene yeeres There is a kinde of disease amongst Swyne though otherwyse they be healthy and fatte wherin their fleshe is all infected with little graines as bigge as Peason the Greekes call them Chalazos and we at this day measled Swyne which you shal soone perceiue by the sight of the tongue and the horsenesse of their voyce this disease they say is naturall vnto them from which you shal preserue them yf you nayle certaine places of lead in the bottome of their Trough You shall also keepe them from this disease yf you geue them to drinke the roote of Briony the general and common remedy is Allome Brimstone and Bay berries of eache alike adde therevnto a handful of Soote beate them all togeather and put them in a bagge which bagge you shall cast into their water when they drinke and renue it twyse in the yeere EVPH. I pray you EVMEVS doo not dissemble but tell vs truely how you doo to haue your Hogges so fatte I beleeue you are in the Barne sometime when you should not be EVMEVS What meanes soeuer I vse in ordring my flocke is not to my mauters losse no more then is your diligence wherby you bring your cattell to be so fayre I told you before that he was an vnthrifty husband that had his Bacon from the shambles and not of his owne prouision and besides my maisters the Phisitions geue great commendations to Hogs flesh in that it hath such a nearenesse agreement with our bodyes neither is there as I sayde before a beast that makes more dishes And therfore it is greatly for profite to haue the husbandmans kytchen well stored with Bacon wherwith he may sustaine his houshold al the whole yeere You shal easely though woods be wanâ—ing â—ind Barnes Marshes Corne feeldes to feede them with They wyll be fatte as Plinie supposeth in threescore dayes specially yf they be kept from meate three dayes before you feede them they are fatted with Barley Otes or other Corne or Pulse eyther geuen whole or ground but of all others best wâ—th Mast and that flesh is better and of more substance that is fed with Acorns then that which is fatted with eyther Bâ—â—â—â— mast or Chestnutte This beast wyll in time be so fatte as he wyl be able neyther to goe nor stanâ— Yea Varro telles that there was seene in Arcadia a Sowe so fatte that she was not only vnable to ryse but suffered a Mouse to make her nest in her body and to lay her young there The same Varro reporteth that there was sent to Volumius a Senatour of Rome a peece of Porke of two ribs that wayed three twentie pound the thicknesse of which Sowe from the skinne to the ribbe was one foote and three ynches Your best is to put to fatting your Swyne of two or three yeeres olde for yf they be younger their growing wyll hynder their seedyng To keepe your Bacon any long time you must vse great diligence in the saltyng and drying of it whereby you shall haue it both holsomer and sweeter and besides to continue diuers yeeres to serue the turne yf scarsitte happen Your Hogge being in this sort fatted you must shut vp and not suffer him to drinke the day before you kyll him whereby the fleshe wyl be the dryer
and yeeldeth good aduantage hath with their broode and feathers for beside the profite of theyr Egges you may twyse in the yeere at the spring and the fall of the leafe pull them Moreouer they are a very good dishe for the â—able yea being more watchfull then the Dogges they geue warning when they sleepe And therfore they wâ—re with the Romanes had in great honor because they with their gagling bewrayed the enimie that otherwyse in the night time had taken the Towne Plinie wryteth of a Goose that would neuer be from the Philosopher Lacydes Your choyse must be of those that be of the fairest kinde Varro liketh best the white ones which colour was most esteemed in the olde time as appeareth by the presentes that were geuen the same Varro accounteth the gray for a wyld kind They are kept in Marshes Fennes Lakes Moorish commons for to Corne ground Medowes and Pastures it is a very hartful Foule she biteth whatsoeuer young spring she may reache what she once hath bitten doth neuer lightly prosper againe Besides she stencheth the ground with her vnprofitable or rather most hurtfull dounging wherefore as I sayde it is best to keepe them in Fennes Lakes and Marshes If you haue store of such ground you shall doo well to keepe them for you can not well keepe them without good store of water and pasture The Goose delighteth in such meate as is naturally moyst and colde and shunneth naturally such thinges as are hurtfull for her as the leafe of the Bay and as Alianus wryteth the Oleander the best and meetest time for them to breede in is from the Kalends of March to the tenth of Iune They tread most commonly in the water whyle they swymme in the Ryuers or Fishponds Columella would haue you keepe for euery Gander three Geese thinking by reason of theyr vnweldynesse this number to suffise within your courte you must make them for theyr better safety seuerall and secrete pennes in sundry partes thereof where they may sitte breede Some would haue the Goose roome framed in such order as euery Goose may haue her place to her selfe which yf any man thinke too troublesome he may make one sufficient wyde roome to serue them all The places where they shall lay must be dry and well strawed with strawe or such soft matter and well defended from vermine The Goose must not be suffered to lay out of her nest but when you shall perceaue they seeke it you must grâ—pe them and yf they be with Egge which you shâ—ll easely feele shut them vp in theyr nestes which you shall not neede to doo aboue once or twyse for where she hath once layde shee wyll alwayes of her selfe seâ—ke to be They wyl laye as some hold opinion thryse in the yeere yf they be not suffered to sitte as it is best you doo not for theyr Egges are bettâ—r to be hatched vnder a Henne then of them selues and wyll â—etter a great deale prosper The Egges of Geese Swans were vsed as Alianus witnesseth as a most daynty dyshe at â—â—nkettes among the Kinges and Princes of the Indies Aristotle affirmeth that the Goose alwayes vseth to sitte and neuer the Gander contrary to the order of many other Fouleâ— continuing alwayes tyll shee haue hatched After the last laying you shal suffer them to sitte and marke euery ones Egges with a seuerall marke that they may be sette vnder theyr owne Goose for it is thought they wyll neuer hatch a strangers Egges without she haue her owne vnder her Of Goose Egs as of Pehennes Egges you shall as I sayd before neuer sette vnder a Henne aboue fiue nor vnder three but vnder the Goose you shall set at the least seuen and at the most fifteene You must keepe to lay vnder your Egges the rootes of Nettles which they say preserueth them against the stinging of Nettels which otherwyse many times killeth the Gosling yf they sling them The Egges wyll not be hatched yf the weather be cold before the thyrtieth day yf it be warme in lesser time howbeit for the most part the Gosling is hatched the thirtieth day after the sitting Some doo vse to set by the nestes Barly steeped in water or Malte whereby the Goose shall not be forced to be any whyle absent from her Egges When your Goslinges are come foorth you shall for the fyrst tenne dayes feede them with the Goose in the nest Afterwardes when the weather is faire you may suffer them to goe abrode taking good heede that they be not stinged with Nettles nor that you let them goe a hungerd into the pastures but to geue them afore they goe abrode the leaues of Endiue or Lettuse chopt to asswage their hunger for yf you put them a hungerd into the feelde they straine and breake their owne neckes with pulling at the tough and stubburne weedes by reason of the sudden starting backe againe of the weede The Goslings of diuers broodes must not goe togeather nor be shutte vp togeather for hurting one another When they be foure monethes olde or somewhat before is the best time for fatting them the young ones are soonest easeliest fatted If you geue theÌ„ ground Malt wheate floure you neede to geue theÌ„ nothing so you let them haue drinke yenough and keepe them from going abrode The Grekes did vse to put to two partes of ground Malt foure partes of Bran tempring it with water letting them drinke thrise a day at midnight If you would haue theyr Lyuers soft and tender you shall mingle dry Figges well beaten with water and making pellets thereof cram them with it for the space of seuenteene or twentie dayes The Iewes at this day being the skilfullest feeders that be doo vse a strange order in the fatting of them wrapping the Goose in a linen Aporne they hang her vp in a darke place stopping her eares with Peason or some other thing that by neyther hearing nor seeing of any thing shee be not forced to stroggel or crye after they geue her pellets of ground Malt or Barly steeped in water thryse a day setting by them water and grauell by which maner of feeding they make them so fatte as the Lyuer many times commeth to be fiue pound in weyght Whylest I was at the councell of Wormes there was a Lyuer of a Goose brought me by a Iewe that wayed foure pound Plinie is also a witnesse of the greatnesse of the Lyuers of fatte Geese affirming that they wyll growe after they be out of the bodyes being sprinckled with milke The common order of fatting with our countrey people is to shutte them vp in a darke and a narrowe place and to set before them Barly or Beech wheate geuing them water with a little Sand or Grauel in theyr Troughes and with this order they haue them fatte in fourteene dayes After haruest they wylbe fatte with the Grotten or Stubble They are plucked as I sayd before twyse in the yeere in the spring
them and sowe them so shall you haue them very pleasant They wyll haue a very sweete sauour yf theyr seedes be kept many dayes among Rose leaues Your Coucumbers shal be long and tender yf you see vnder them water in a brode vessel two handfulles vnder them They delight in water so much as yf they be cut of they wil yet bend towarde it and yf they hang or haue any stay they wyll grow crooked as also yf you set oyle by them which they greatly abhorre The flowres being suffered to growe in Pipes doo growe to a woonderfull length They loue not the Winter no more then dooth the Gourde wherevnto they are almost like in nature for the flowres the leaues and the claspers are lyke of them both but the Gourde is more busie in climing so that with hastie growth it spreadeth quickly ouer the Herbers and sommer houses runnyng vp by the walles and mountyng vp to the very Tyles of the houses hauing a great fruite of a monstruous bignesse hangyng by a small stalke in fashion like a Peare and greene in collour although when it hath flowred it wyll growe in what fashion you wyll haue it they say there hath been some of them mene foote in length The rounde ones also growe to be vsed for great vesselles the rynde of the newe ones is soft and tender but of the olde ones hard whereof when the meate is out trauaylers make great bottles to carrie drinke in The Gourdes that are vsed to be eaten in sommer are sundry in shape for some are rounde some long some broade and though the fashion be diuers yet the nature is all one for it is made by arte to growe in what shape you wyll as in the forme of a creeping Dragon or what yelist they are called in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian Zuma in Spanishe Calabaz in Dutche Kuirbisch the French Vne courge The seedes that the Gourde â—eareth next to the stalke as Paladius sayth are longest they in the middest rounde and those that lye on the side short broade and flatte yf you set the sharpe ende of the seede downeward as Columella sayth you shall haue them both greater Gourdes and Coucumbers It delighteth in a moyst riche wel dounged and well watred ground That which groweth without water bringes the pleasanter fruite and that whiche hath water yenough needes the lesse looking to The flowres where they be set must be digged a foote and a halfe deepe the thirde part whereof must be filled with strawe and then with good ritche mould it mâ—st be filled to the middest then the seedes being set must be watred tyl they be sprong and after earth layd to them styll as they growe tyll the Furrowe be filled They must be set thinne two foote a sunder it commeth vp in sixe or seuen dayes after the setting Those that are set in drye grounde must be very well watred therefore they vse to set by them earthen pottes full of water with ragges or cloutes in them to water them When they be a little growen they must haue helpes set by them to climbe vpon the longer they be the better the meate is You must beware there come no women neare where you set them for their presence dooth greatly hurt them Those that you keepe for seede you must suffer to remayne vpon the stalke tyll Winter and then geathering them and drye them eyther in the sunne or in the smoke for otherwyse the seede wyll rotte and perishe They wyll long be preserued and continue freshe yf after they be geathered they be put into a close vessell with the leâ—ues of white wine or hanged in a vessell of vineger so that they touche not the vineger THRA What meaneth that great Thistell that springeth there MARIVS Dyd you neuer reade in your Columella of the Hartichoch specially in his verses that he wrote of Gardnyng where he sayth Goe set the brystled Hartichoch That well with wine agrees c. Athenaeus in his second booke Dipnosophus out of Sophoclus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Thistell is the Hartichoch that euery where dooth growe It is a kinde of Thistel by the diligence of the Gardner brought to be a good Garden hearbe and in great estimation at noble mens tables it is as you see framed with a round prickly head hauing a great sort of flakes set in order steeple wyse The Greekes call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Latines Strobilum because the fruite of it something resembleth the Pineapple The Frenchemen call it Alticocalum of the Arabick article Al and Cocalos a Pineapple whereof it is corruptly called Artichault in Italian and Spanishe Cardo in Dutche sometime by the Frenche name sometime Strobirn It is called of Columella Cinara because in his growing he cheefely delighteth in asshes The seede is best sowen in March and the settes in Nouember yf you wyll haue it yeelde fruite in the Spring you must bestowe much asshes vpon it it wyll hardly beare the first yeere that it is sowen Beware that you sette not the seede with the rong end vpward for so shall your Artichoch prooue very little and euil fauoured It loueth good grounde and well dounged and prospereth best in fatte ground Palladius woulde haue you moreouer to sette the seedes in well ordered beddes in the encrease of the Moone halfe a foote a sunder and not deepe but taking them in three of your fingers thrust them downe tyl the earth come to the first ioyntes of your fyngers then couer them tenderly and water them often specially toward Sommer so shall you haue the bigger fruite When they growe vp they must be continually weeded and dounged as I saide with asshes They say they wyll loose their prickles yf the toppes of the seede be made blunt vppon a stone before they be set and sweete they wyll be yf the seede be laide in Milke You must keepe them from Mowles Myse with Cattes or tame Weesels as Ruellius teacheth you Athenaeus calleth the stalke of the Artichoch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that lyeth vpon the grounde and that whiche standeth vpryght 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THRA Well what hearbe is yonder same that commeth vp as it were heares with a blewishe flowre and pale hauyng in the middest of the belles as it were fierie yellowe tongues MARIVS It is Saffron in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Crocus in Italian and Frenche so in Spanishe Aczafran THRA What neede we care any more for either Corycum Sicil or Cyren from whence we fetche it with so great charges MARIVS Yea there groweth great plentie of it in Germanie about Spirs and diuers other places whiche may compare in goodnesse with any other place It is set in Marche of the head that it hath rounde and in cloues as the Lyllie the Leeke and the Sea Onyon Constantine affyrmeth that it may be set of the roote as soone as the flowre is
of The rootes or the heads doo so encrease vnder the ground that of one of them some yeere springeth eyght or niene others In many places they are remooued euery seuenth or eyght yeere into better ground wherby they come againe to be as good as at the first In the Countreys lying vpon the Rhine they plucke them vp euery third yeere and lay them a drying in the sunne till August and then pulling of the outer skinne they set them agayne halfe a foote one from the other the best heades are those that are fattest and haue little heares the woorst looke rottenly and â—â—fauouredly and haue an ill sauour It delighteth to growe by hie wayes and neare springes and to be trodde and trampled on prospering as it were by oppression it groweth greene all the Winter it is geathered in Autumne when it is come to his colour by plucking out the little yellowe tongues from the bel whiche are afterwardes dryed three or foure dayes togeather and well picked and purged and so made vp in boxes some thinke it best to drye it in the shadowe It is craftely counterfeited by the Apothecaries braying it in sodde wine whiche they besmeare adding therto the skumme of siluer or lead to encrease the weyght the craft is perceiued by the dustinesse therof and by the sauour of the sodde wine The proofe of the good is yf it crackle betweene the handes as a brittle thing which the counterfeite dooth not or yf in putting it to your mouth it cause your eyes to water Wherefore the best is that which is newe and hath a pleasant smell in colour like to golde and dyeth the fyngers in touching it In Marche you must purge the grounde where it groweth and whether ye plucke it vp or not notwithstanding other hearbes may very well growe there vntill August Pursleyne Parsley or suche like hearbes doo best growe there And when the Saffron beginneth to flowre you must ridde away the other hearbes for in haruest time about September or October it flowreth THRA Here is great store of Rosemarie the cheefest beautie of Gardens and not to be wanted in the Kitchin. MARIVS Of the orderyng of Rosemarie sith you wyl haue me I wyll speake a little There are whiche suppose it to be the same whiche the Greekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it sauoureth like Frankencense in Latine it is called Rosmarinus and in al other tongues it keepeth the name it serueth both for pleasure and profite Theophrastus maketh two kindes of it a barrayne and a fruitefull and is set of small slippes in April it is sette by women for their pleasure to growe in sundry proportions as in the fashion of a Cart a Pecock or such like thing as they fancie It delighteth in stonie or rough ground and in the toppes is the seede inclosed in little huskes white and round It flowreth twyse a yeere in the spring and in the end of sommer it is geathered from May tyll September and it is good to plucke of the flowâ—e often that it may not flowre too muche In the higher partes of Fraunce it groweth wilde in such plentie that they vse almost no other fewell it is in colde Countreys in Winter set in Sellars and hotte houses is brought agayne in the spring into the Garden But here you must beware that when you fyrst bring it out you keepe it from the March sunne setting it in the shadowe acquaintyng it by little and little with the ayre some vse to house it with strawe and horse doung and so leaue it in the Garden Sauge in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Saluia and like in other languages is an hearbe common in euery Garden it is planted both of the seede and the slippe in March in any kind of ground it maketh no matter where the Gardners vse to lay bucking asshes about it whereby it prospereth the better Next to Sauge is Mynt in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Menta in Dutch Myntz in Italian and French after the Latine in Spanishe Yerua buena it is planted and ordered in all thing as Sauge is it prospereth both in drye and wette groundes and groweth well by waters If you lacke seedes you may take the seede of the wylde Mint and set them with the toppes downeward whereby they shall leaue their ranknesse and being once sowen or sette groweth euery yeere Pimpernell in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Pimpinella is vsed both in the Kitchin and in Phisicke and being once sowen groweth euery yeere both in sonny places and in shaddowy it groweth in most plaâ—es wylde Hysope in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Hyssopus and so called in moâ—â— tongues in Europe a common hearbe knowen to euery Gardner it desireth though no sonny ground yet good and ritche grounde it is planted both of the seede and the slippe when it hath once taken roote it careth not for the sharpnesse of Winter Sauery in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Satureia or as Columella sayth Cunila in Italian Coniella Sauoreggia Thymbre in Frenche Sauoreje in Dutche Kuuel Zwibel hisop groweth in barrayne places and is sette and sowed as the plantes before The next is that whiche commonly is called Basyl in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Ocymum in Frenche Italian and Dutche Basilica an hearbe that is vsed to be set in the middest of knottes and in windowes for the excellent sauoure that it hath it is also good for the potte it is sowed in March and April and delighteth in sonny ground you must put two seedes still togeather Basyl is best watred at noone whereas all other hearbes are to be watred in the mornyng and in the euenyng it may be remooued in May. Theophrastus sayth that it prospereth best when it is sowed with curses Marierum in Latine Amaracus and Maiorana is also in like sort vsed the Dutche and the Italians call it after the Latine the Spaniardes Amoredeux the Frenche Mariolaine and Thyn in Greeke of Dioscorides and Paulus Aegineta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this also for the pleasant sauour it hath is set in pottes and in Gardens it is sowed in Marche three or foure seedes togeather halfe a foote a sunder in May when it groweth to some heyght as Basyl it is remoued Time neare of kinrede to these in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Frenche Italian and Dutche like the Latine in Spanishe Tomillo delighteth in stony light and sonny ground it springeth both of the seede and of the slippe and also of the flowre as Theophrastus sayth These three tender and delicate hearbes are to be sowed with great heede eyther in earthen pottes or in garden beddes Hytherto haue I described vnto you suche hearbes as serue for the Kitchin and because the latter sortes are also esteemed for the sauours I wyll goe forward with the description of the rest that
these wylde sort in Sarmatia PVLLARIVS They say that in Liuonia Sarmatia from whence is brought hyther great store of Waxe and Hony the country people doo geather it in great abundance in hollowe trees and desart places MELISSEVS The greatest token of Bees and Hony neare is where they be in great numbers about the waters for yf you see the number but small it is a signe it is no good place for Bees and yf so be you see they come in great numbers you may soone learne where theyr stockes be in this sort as Columella and others haue taught You shall carry with you in a saucer or such like thing some redde colour or paynting and standing neare to the springes or waters there aboutes as fast as they come touche them vpon the backes whyle they are a drinking with some little strawe dipped in the colour and carry you there tyl such time as you see them returne If the Bees that you marked doo quickly returne it is a token theyr houses be not farre of yf it be long eare they come it shewes they dwel farther of wherfore you may iudge by the time If they be neare you may easely finde them yf they be farre of you shall come to finde them in this sort take a peece of a Reede or a Kex with his knottes and ioyntes and making a small hole in the syde powre into it eyther Hony or some sweete thing and lay it by the water and when you see the Bees haue found it and entered the hole for the sauour of the Hony stoppe you the hole with your thome and let but one goe out at once whose course you shall followe as farre as you can see him and this shall bring you part of the way When you can no longer see him let out an other and followe him and so an other one after an other til you come to the place Others vse to set some little vessells with Hony by the water which when some one Bee or other hath happened to tast she geueth straight knowledge to her felowes whereby by theyr flying in number they come to fynde out their dwellinges If you finde the swarme to be in some such hole as you can not come at them you shal driue them out wich smoake and when they be out bring them downe with the ringing of a lattin bason so as they may settle vpon some tree from whence you may shake them into your Hiue If the swarme be in some hole aboue in the branches you may sawe of the branche handsomely and couering it with a white cloth place it amongest your Hiues If they be in the body of the tree then may you softly sawe of the tree aboue the Bees and afterward close vnderneath them and being couered as before carry them home stopping well the chinkes and ryftes yf there be any He that seeketh the Bees must beginne in the morning that he may haue the hole day before him to marke theyr labouring Thus farre of the kindes of Bees and getting to them nowe wyll I shewe you of the placing of them ordring and keeping of them The place for your Bees and your Hiues must be so chosen as they may stand quietly and secrete standing specially in such place as they may haue the Sunne in winter and in the spring time alway at the rising and such as is neyther to hotte nor too cold for the excesse of eyther doth hurt them but rather temperate that both in sommer and winter they may haue moderate warmth and holsome ayre being farre remoued from the company of either man or beast Where neyther wind may come whose blastes forbyds Them bringing home theyr loades nor Sheepe nor wanton Kids To spring among the flowers nor wandring best Shake of the dew and trampling spoyle the rest For they most of all delight in quietnesse beware beside that there be no hurtfull creatures neare them as the Tode that with his breath doth both poyson the Bee and also draweth them to him the Woodpecker the Swallowe the Sparro the Storke Spydars Harnettes Butterflyes Serpents and Mothes Dryue from thy Hyues the hurtfull Lysart greene Keepe Throstells Hennes and other byrdes vntreweâ— And Progne on whose brest as yet is seene The blooddy marke of hands that I t ys slewe All these destroy thy Bees and to their nestes doo beare Such as they take in flight to make their young once cheare Of such thinges as hurt your Bees I wyll hereafter speake more where I shall shewe you of their diseases and harmes in the meane time I wyll goe forward with the placing of them The place where they should stand would rather be in the valley then very hie but so as the rebound of no Ecco doo hurt them whiche sound is very noysome vnto them so shall they flee with more case and speede to the higher places and come laden downe againe with lesse trauayle If the seate of the house wyll so suffer it is good to haue your Bees stand neare your house and to be enclosed with a hedge or a pale but on such side as they be not annoyed with the sent of sinke priuie or dounghill The best standing is within the sight of the maister by whose presence they are safest kept For their better safetie yf you feare them you may set them a yarde or more from the ground enclosing them with little grates left open against euery Hiue or so lettysed with stone as the Bee may easely come out and in and scape both birdes and water or yf you list you may make a little house by for the keeper wherein you may lay your Hiues for your swarmes and other necessaries meete for your Bees setting neare to the Hiues some shadowing trees for them to swarme vpon according to the Poets aduise And plant the Date tree neare or pleasant Olyue tree That with their floury branches sweete thy Hiues may shadowed be That when the captaines young leade out their lusty swarmes The pleasant shade may them allure to shun the greater harmes Not needing for their ease in places farre to roame When as they may more safely syt and better speede at home If it may be let them haue some fayre spring neare them or els some water conueyed in pipe for without water they can neyther make Hony Waxe nor breede vp their young and therefore sayth the Poete Haue sâ—unt aynes sweete at band or mossy waters greene Or pleasant brooke that passing through the Meades is sweetely seene And straightwayes after If eyther standyng poole be neither to them ny Or â—â—rning streame with hasly course their dwellings passeth by Cast â—owâ—â— of Wyllowe crosse and mighty stones withall That may preserue the faynting Bee that in the fludde doth fal Round about the Beeyard and neare to the Hiues set hearbes plantes and flowres both for their health and profite specially such as are of the sweetest and delicatest sauour as Cithysus
Thyme Cassia Rosemary Sauery Smallage Uiolettes Sage Lauender Myrrhe wylde Marierum wylde Thyme Balme sweete Marierum Saffron Beanes Mustardseede Poppey Mellilot and Roses And yf there lye ground neare it for the purpose sowe it with Rapeseede and Beechwheate for they woonderfull delight in the flowres hereof Plinie writeth that Bees delight greatly to haue Broome flowres neare them of trees they most delight in these The Pine the Wyllowe the Fyrre tree the Almond the Peache the Peare tree and the Apple and such as the flowres thereof be not bitter Of the wylde sortes the Terebinth the Lentise the Lyndtree the Cedar and the Mastholme The best Hony as Palladius saith is made of Tyme the next of wylde Tyme the third of Rosemary You must remooue from your trees Yew tree the Box and the Cornel Plinie would also haue the Olyue away Banishe also all the kindes of Sporge for with that as also with the flowres of the Cornel they fall into a Flixe and dye Besides you must suffer no Woormewood nor wylde Cocomber to growe neare them for they both destroy the Bees spoyle the Hony. And because the flowre or fruite of Elmes dooth specially hurt them therefore in such partes of Italy where plenty of Elmes growe the Bees doo not long continue Touching your Hiues they are made of diuers fashions according to the maner of the countrey Some are made rounde some square some three foote in height one in bredth made very narrowe toward the top least the Bees should ouerlabour them selues in filling of them Some make their Hiues of Lanterne horne or Glasse to the end as Plinie sayth that they may viewe the maner of their woorking Varro maketh mention of earthen Hiues well plaistred within and without with good Oxe doung so as the roffenesse and ruggednesse can not displease them but for all that the earthen Hiues be the woorst that may be because in Sommer they be too hotte and in Winter too colde The best Hiues are those that are made of Corke wicker or ryndes of trees because they keepe out both cold and heate the next are suche as are made of Strawe and Bentes matted togeather two foote in bredth and so much or more according to the number of your Bees in heigth In som places they make them of one peece of wood cutte and hollowed for the nonce or of ioyned boordes fiue or sixe foote in heigth and these neyther are to hotte in Sommer nor to cold in Winter Of these woodden Hiues the best are those that are made of Figge tree Pine Ashe and Walnutte of suche length as I tolde you and a cubitte in bredth Besides they would be couered with eyther Lyme or Oxe doung for so saith Florentine you shall keepe them long without rotting You must also boare them through slopewyse whereby the winde gently entring may dry vp all cobwebbes or such like noyances You must alwayes haue good store of Hiues lying by you that may be remoued and easely carryed where you list for the fixed or standing Hyues be discommodious as which you can neyther sell nor remoue though Celsus seeme to commend the standing Hiues because they are neyther subiect to stealing nor burning being made of Brycke or Loame Your Hiues as Columella out of Celsus dooth teache must stand vpon some table of stone a yarde from the ground and so much in bredth so smothed and playstered as neyther Toade Euette or Snake may creepe vp and in such order they must be placed as there may be betwyxt euery one a little wal or particion being open both before and behind If you haue no such particions then place them so as they be a pretty way distant one from the other that in dressing and looking to any one of them you shake not nor hurt the other for a little â—â—â—ling dooth soone marre all theyr houses and many times spoile the Bees It is yenough to haue three rankes of them one aboue the other for the keeper shall haue yenough to doo to ouer looke the vppermost The part where the Bee doth enter must stand a little lower then the hinder part so as the rayne can not run in and the water yf there be any may easely voyde And because colde dooth more annoy the Bee then heate you must arme your Hiues well behind agaynst the hurt and bitternesse of the North wind and let the sunne come bountifully to them in the Front. And therefore it is best for you to make the holes where they come in and out as small as you may that they suffice only for the bignesse of the Bee partly for auoyding of cold partely to keepe out Euets Beetels Butterflyes Battes Mothes and such other hurtfull vermine that would otherwyse destroy the Coames wherefore it is good you haue two or three such small holes togeather in euery Hyue for the commodity of the Bee and restraynt of the enimy PVLLARIVS Well I pray you let vs know when the Bee beginneth to labour and when he ceaseth MELISSEVS Because I haue declared vnto you before theyr toyle theyr diligence and order of theyr trauayle I wyll now likewyse shewe you what time they begin to labour In the winter time from the setting of the seuen starres tyll the beginning of the spring they keepe theyr houses and come not abroade by reason of the cold in the spring they come strayght abroade and from that time forward yf the weather let them not they neuer rest day First of all they frame theyr Coames and Wax that is they make theyr houses and chambers whereof they make so many as they thinke them selues able to fyll then fall they to breeding and last of all to making of Hony. Theyr Wax they make of the flowres of trees and plantes theyr Hony of the gummes and clamminesse of trees that are glewy as Wyllowe Elmes Reede Iuyce Gumme and Rozen Aristotle sayth they make theyr Coames of flowres theyr Wax of Gummes and theyr Hony of the dewe of the ayre that falleth cheefely at the rysing of the starres and that there is no Hony made before the rysing of the seuen starres and theyr Coames of flowres and that the Bees doo not of them selues make the Hony but only geather the honyed dewe that falleth because the keepers finde the celles to be filled in some one or two dayes and that the Hony being taken away in the ende of Sommer the Hyues are not found to be furnished agayne though there be flowres yenough at that time This and much more hereof sayth Aristotle whom Plinie following him affirâ—meth Hony to be made of the ayre most of all at the rysing of the starres cheefely the Dogge shining out early in the morning therefore you shal find in the morning betimes the leaues of the trees bedewed with Hony as you shall likewyse haue the Apparayle Heare and Beardes of such as haue been early abroade In the morning our common people call it