drawing the Earth in one place then proceed in the most likely places till you come to the Marle And the most proper places to make this Essay is in the lowest part of high Countries near Brooks and Lakes and in the high parts of Low Countries upon the Knowls of little Hills and in the Clefts of steep Banks or Breaches in Hills opening of themselves in some places it lies deep in some again shallow and commonly these barren sandy Grounds are verged with it lying very deep Having found it dig it up in great Lumps and bring it to your Land with what speed you can lay it on Heaps a yard Distance one from another and when iâ— is dried spread all the Heaps and mix the Marle with the Sand and observe if the Land ascend upon a Hill to lay twice as much on the upper part as on the lower because the Rain washing it will carry the strength downward so that it will fatten the Earth as it goes And where Marle is wanting Fullers Earth is an excellent Soil to supply the place of it beat these with a Beetle or Maul as small as you can and for this sort of barren Land though in Clay it is nought you may use Chalk or Lime-stones which much comfort it strengthen and knit the Ground together And having thus done when Seed-time comes plough it again deep that the new-broke-up Earth may mix with the old and lime it a little for the Nature of the Ground requires not so much of that as the Clay Ground This Ground will bear Wheat well but is most attributed to Rye which will grow on it in abundance If you sow Wheat steep it in Salt-Water and for the other mix a little Bay-Salt with it when you sow it The Weeds this kind of Ground is most subject to are Wild Harbottles Chessbeles gipsie-Gipsie-Flowers and the like which may be taken out by drawing up the Roots or cutting off the Stalks close by the Ground The Ground thus ordered will bear Wheat or Rye three Years and after that Barley with once ploughing the fifth Year Oats the sixth and seventh excellent Lupines and then it will be good Pasture three or four years after which you must dress it as before to recover its Heart and Strength CHAP. XII Of Ordering and Dressing Barren Sand over-run with Heath Fearn Braken and the Nature of the Soil c. THis sort of Ground is more dry loose and harsh than the former and to bring it to Fertility mow down the incumbring Weeds as close as may be and note if they be high it shews the Ground of some strength but if low weak and out of heart Lay them thin and turn the Weeds you mow down that they may dry and when they rustle that you may crumble them bring your Plough and turn up your Furrow that it may lie flat to the Ground one green Swarth against another then observe how broad your Furrow so turned up is or the Ground so covered and leave so much Space unploughed between Furrow and Furrow so that there may be a green Baulk and a Furrow And having gone over the Land in this manner take a Paring-Shovel and pare up the Furrows about two Inches thick in pieces of three Foot in length make them in little hollow Hills about a Yard and a half distance one from another ti l they are dried well in the Sun or Wind and placing the Earthy part upwards put dried Fern under them and set them on fire when that is done and the Earthy part sufficiently parched hack over the Furrows that are turned up then beat and spread the Ashes and burnt Clumpers over the Ground mixing it well with the Mould then Marle it plentifully which done plough it over again very well leaving nothing unturned up and then the fresh Ground mixing with the rest will augment to the strength of the Soil and this Ploughing should properly be about the latter end of June The Ground thus dressed Lime it a little and this liming will much abate the growth of Weeds or any other Incumbrance its acute quality deading the Roots and above all is a great Enemy to Thistles which Fern Ground naturally alters into After this it requires a third ploughing very deep and harrow it well but my Advice is not for sowing Wheat on this sort of Ground it not-being proper for it unless a little on the best part of it for the Supply of your Family because it has not much more Strength than the Manure allows it but it will bear excellent Rye the first three Years and the fourth Barley and three Years after tolerable good Oats the eighth Year you may sow Fetches or Lupins and for three Years after it will be tolerable good Grass with a little Manure of Dung or slimy fat Casting of Ditches or Ponds You must after sowing harrow it well and close it for though it is Sand the Marle and Lime will make it cling hard together The Weeds that after this are most likely to spring up with the Corn are Fern and Thistle where the Lime had not strength to settle and destroy them As soon as they appear pull them up and lay them on Heaps to rot and make Dung CHAP. XIII Of Ordering and Enriching Barren Lands subject to Wild Briars Twitches and Bushes c. THese Lands remaining in their Nature unprofitable Art and Industry are required to render them advantagious to the Owners and in the first place cut up these Shrubs or Under woods as close to the Ground as may be then stub up the Roots very clean and they will in a manner recompense the Labour in serving for Fewel or mending Hedges then with a pair of strong Harrows go over the Ground and laying Weights on them to press the harder on the Surface tare up the Twitch-Briars that have escaped your fight as also the rough Grass till the bare Earth appear unlading the Harrows as they are cloyed and laying the Refuse up in Heaps on the sides of the Ground to dry and then bring them on the Ground and burn them spread the Ashes and plough them in leaving no part of the Ashes untouched with your Plough hack it small and let it be run over by Children or others at a small rate to gather up all the remaining Fibres or Roots that appear above ground burn them also and scatter the Ashes on the Land To manure this sort of Ground The best Manure Experience approves of is Horse or Ox-dung Straw rotted in Stables or Cow-houses with the Scowring of the Yard where Sinks come and Cattel or Poultrey trample and likewise the scowring of muddy Ditches Ponds Brooks Lakes where there is fat Slime which is known by Willows growing and thriving about them mingle tâ—is with the first Manure then harrow it even and sow it after that harrow it again well and it will produce exceeding rich Maslin or Mixture of one part Wheat and two of Rye for then
laying an indifferent weight upon them to keep them close to the Ground that they may break the small Clumpers and smooth the Earth If it be sown with Hemp it need not be weeded at all because this will out strip and choak them but if with Flax or Line being a much tenderer Seed bringing forth many more tender leaves and branches then observe how the Weeds spring up and pluck them away till the Flax is well sprung and then it will conquer them and not be overgrown by them As for the worst sort of Ground you shall dress it as you do the clayey barren Ground I have mentioned Chap. beginning at the time of the Year there appointed or indeed if urgent occasions detain you from it you may plough it up about Michaelmas and so let it rest till March and that being the proper Seed-time plough it again and manure it as the clay-Clay-ground hack it and if the Earth be rough and stiff harrow it before you sow it that the Earth may be small and as level as possible breaking the Clots if any remain with your Clotting-beetle then after the first showers have well moistened it go over it with an even but very weighty Rowler treading the Ground as little as may be and the swifter it is drawn the better it will crumble the Ground under it As for Weeds here you need not much trouble yourself for the Earth purposely thus ordered is an enemy to them and will not put forth any nor shall you have any trouble in dressing it above once in eight or ten Years nor plough it after the first Year but at Seed-times If you can get with Drags or Engines the broad black-leaved Sea-weed called Ore-weed growing in great tusts abundantly about the Sea-shore cover the Land with them and so plough them in as they may be buried to rot in the Earth and they will be excellent Manure giving much strength and heart to the Ground CHAP. XXXVIII To order Hemp and Flax when Ripe in many respects to the best advantage HAving thus treated on Hemp and Flax as to the Sowing it to profit and advantage not to omit my former method I have thought fit to speak something briefly as to the ordering it when ripe and gathered as to the manner of rendering it useful Flax when grown up to ripeness is known by the yellowness and swelling of the Seeds on the top at which time gather it and bind it in little bundles setting it in the Sun to dry that the Seeds may fall out into a convenient place to gather up and keep them for use viz. Either for Sowing feeding Birds making of Medicines Oyl c. And if they fall not out spontaniously you must rake them out with an Iron Hatchel or by beating with a Pole Carding or the like When you have done this and the bundles are well dryed lay them in Water and keep them from floating by pressing them down with weights and when you perceive the wet has made the Rind very loose conclude them to be steeped enough then take them out unbind the bundles and dry them in the Sun again then peel of the Rind and hatchel it on an Iron Hatchel fastened to a Block with many long Iron Teeth and beat the Stalks till they become loose and plyant so that they may in dressing be drawn out into fine short threads and dress them as the Rind though upon finer Combs or Hatchels having for this purpose several degrees of them as to fineness anointing the Spikes or Teeth with Oyl that they may slip the glibber and so you may bring it fit for use in making Linnen-Cloth c. Of Hemp there are two sorts Male and Female the first bears no Flower but a Seed of divers Colours the latter bears a Flower the Stalk is full of knots out of which proceed many branches sharp jagged or indented the Roots of this descends into the Ground a very considerable depth and therefore it requires deeper ploughing than the former it growing very fast and a prodigious height in some Countries twenty or thirty Foot and by reason of the dryness of its nature requires Water at the Roots or to be Sowed in somewhat a moist Ground prospering the better the thicker it is sown and may be ordered and dressed in all respects like Flax being very serviceable to the Nation CHAP. XXXIX How to plant and order Saffron for the improvement of Land c. SAffron is not the least to be considered for the improvement of Ground and is of excellent use in Medicines for comforting the Heart and expelling all ill Vapours that have Death for their attendants if not timely removed and therefore if for no other reason it ought to be planted cherished and improved but there are others for it brings great profit to the industrious Husband-man greatly recompencing his labour if care be taken about it as those in Suffolk Essex and Cambridge-shire where it grows in abundance experimentally find It will grow upon indifferent Ground with little manuring if it be not stiff Clay too cold or wet but rather a compound mostly inclining to red Sand and somewhat Stony though a fine mellow Mould produces it better plough this well and make the Mould small with the going over of Harrows and beating the Clumpers lay the Lands high as for Wheat with convenient ridges then with an Iron Instrument like a Hoe with a twelve or fourteen Inch'd broad Bit draw the Furrows long ways pretty deep place your Roots or Sets in them for from the Seeds no advantage arises unless they are transplanted let them be placed about two Inches one from other and set about three Inches deep then draw another Furrow so near that the Mould turned out of it may cover the former Roots and so one after another till the whole be effected to your desire but the last into which you must draw what Mould comes next The proper time of setting them is the latter end of June or beginning of July leaving ranges or spaces between the Furrows that a small Hoe may pass to take away the Weeds All Winter they will appear green like Sives but in the Summer soon after the Flower decays it appears to dry or wither In September the Flowers being blew and lovely to behold come up without any green leaves or spires and in the middle of each Flower you will find two three or four blades of Saffron standing upright and at the same time the Flower spreads itself and when you perceive them thus to put out draw them forth between your Finger and Thumb and put them into a thick clean Linnen-bag the better to preserve the scent do this every morning or otherways it will return into the Flower or Earth and you cannot with any conveniency come at it till the next morning and this you may do for a Month together the Flowers continually increasing and therefore the number of your Saffron-pickers must
mixed with other Sand or fine fat Earth well sifted from Stones and Rubbish Then Manure it with such Dung as you have that may be proper to it to give it a fertilizing Heat as that of the Horse Ox or Kine rotten Straw Mud out of Ditches or Ponds that is fat and slimy the Sweeping of the House Flowers Mills Barns Yards where Cattle trample much and if you be near the Sea there is an excellent Weed called Hemp-weed bearing broad Leaves black with great Heads and twisted like Peas-straw growing in great abundance among the Sea-Sedge on many Coasts with this when gotten you may strew over your Ground already ploughed and plough it in with the rest of the Manure and by rotting there it will add heat and strength to the Land Let this Ploughing be deeper than the first with larger Furrows that the new quick Earth so raised up may mingle with the Manures Hack and Harrow it again then take Pidgeons and Land-Poultries Dung for that of Water-Fowl is naught and sprinkle over it allowing if you have it two or three Bushels to an Acree scattering it in as equal a proportion as you can then sowe your Wheat or other Corn and for this sort of Ground at first Wheat is the most thriving though it will bear other sorts of Grain and with care of a very barren and useless Ground become useful and very advantagious to the Owner it must likewise be clotted and slated and if you want Salt-Sand or Salt steep your Wheat in Brine of any Salt and it will produce a good Crop You must take care to Weed it and gather the Stones before that will obstruct the Corn from rising and carry them into the Roads or dry Ditches or some Pit proper for them for these Grounds are generally great Producers of Stones If Weeds which commonly breed in wet barren Grounds grow up to the hindrance of Seeding it or that you would be at the Labour and Cost to bring it to fruitful Arable Ground pluck them all up with your Hands or Nippers of Wood with Saw-teeth shooting one into another to hold them the faster lay them on heaps dry them and burn them then scatter the Ashes on the Land as before directed Plough the Ground but not so deep as the first yet turn up the Furrows as deep as possible you can and if it lie subject to Overflowings make cross Furrows and Drains into Ditches or Rivers or low places that the Water may descend and be carried off as much as may be if there be no Current make a Pond at the lower end of it which may receive the Water but this will do but little if it be much subject to Water-flowings or Marish Springs and therefore if you would use it for Corn-Land you must find a way to carry off the Water or it will not avail your Labour and Cost in Manuring Directions for which I shall have occasion to Treat of hereafter at large As for the Manuring it must be as the former and so all the Particulars in Management only you must at the Second Ploughing do it very deep to hollow the Ground that the Water may the better soak away and lay the Lands in Ridges as high as you can and the Furrows as deep CHAP. IX To Improve Barren Clay Simple or Compound over-run with Whinnes with the particular Ordering of it THere is another barren Clay no matter which either Simple or Compound that is pestered and over-run with Whinnes a short bushy knotty prickly thing not growing above a handful from the Ground yet entangling in one another and spreading so fast that they choak the Grass and obstruct the Cattel from feeding and the Grass kept thus down will mostly die and a mossy Scurf cover the Surface of the Earth yet for this dangerous Incumberance there is a Remedy and this Ground I shall instruct the honest Farmer how to bring to bear a good Crop To begin this Work worthy your Cost and Labour take a fine thin Paring-shovel made of good tough Iron and well steeled and hardned round about the Edge and with it pare up the upper Swarth of the Ground about an Inch and a half or two Inches deep turn up every Paring about three Foot in length and as broad as the Shovel will conveniently do it turn the Whinne or Grassy side downward and let it lie in the Sun two or three days to dry May for this Undertaking is the proper Month and being well dried on the Earthy side turn it and let that well dry then gather it into heaps and twist it as it were into Bands or Cords and lay it up round and hollow that fire being put under the hollowness may easily come at it to consume it thrusting in to the great Cavity which must be like an Oven but much less combustible dry Matter for that purpose When these heaps are burnt break them as Bail with Shovels and Beetles so that the Earth may mix with the Ashes then spread them on the Ground to an equal thickness whilst they are hot and glowing which will heat the Earth and destroy the Fibres of the Roots that remain either of the Whinnes or Weeds This being done plough up the Ground in good long Furrows hack it small with Hacking-Hoes Manure it and further order in all Particulars as in the foregoing Directions for Goss Furs c. Let the last Ploughing be very deep especially your Furrows and let your Harrows have Weights on them to press the harder on the Ground and turn up the remaining Roots of the Whinnes which being dragged off dry and burnt as the former scattering the Ashes on the Land and if the Harrow will not carry them to the Lands end have some Boys or Girls to follow the Motion of it and pick them up as they scatter laying them on heaps in the Furrows and when dry bring them on the Ridges of the Land and burn them then sowe your Corn mixed with Salt and Wood-ashes and this Ground thus prepared will bear good Wheat in abundance in the space of two or three Years then sowe Barley and Pease and Beans a Year after the Oats and lastly it will be very good Meadow-Ground or Pasture for the space of three or four Years after and then you must manure it again with a sufficient quantity of Soyl and it will continue good Ground CHAP. X. To Dress and Manure all Barren Clays Simple or Compound Incumbred or Overgrown with Heath or Ling. TO bring this sort of Ground to bear tolerable Corn or Grass far exceeding the Charge and what it would other ways do without it you must with Scitches or sharp Hooks but old Scythes are the best cut down all the Heath or Ling as close as you can about the beginning of May and let it lie on the Ground to dry then spread it over the Ground and scatter dry Straw on it and by setting it on Fire at the several Corners of
the Earth not being free from it but a Curse of Barrenness cast upon it also yet Adam was sent forth to Till the Earth and Improved it in the Sweat of his Face he must eat Bread until he return to the Earth again and so down to Abel the one Husbanding the Earth for Tillage and the other the Sheep in Pasturing and Grazing and so down to Noah the first Planter of the Vine he began to be an Husbandman and to Abraham and to Jacob and to Esau and so along from the Patriarchs till they came to the Government of Kings where Vzziah's Commendation was That he loved Husbandry 2 Chron. 26.11 And many excellent Things as if Husbandry were most excellent as indeed it is here on Earth where Solomon the Wisest Man was the Second Husbandman or Improver of the World whom you shall find out of the Depth of his Experience to cry up Diligence and Activity in good Husbandry and therefore he sendeth us to the Pismire declaiming against the Sluggard and Slothful On whom saith he cometh poverty as an armed man He extols the Diligent as fittest to Converse with Kings when the Idle shall be under Tribute For the Usefulness of it it is no less than the Maintenance of our Lives Estates the Common-wealth and an Advancement and Improvement of the Fruits and Profits of the Earth by Ingenuity is little less than an Addition of a New World for what is gained hereby either above the Natural Fruitfulness of the Earth or else by Reducement of that which is Destroyed or Impoverished from its Natural Fruitfulness to a greater Fertility is a clear Argumentation and Addition to the Honour and Profit of our English Nation All other Callings but proceeding hence the Earth being the very Womb that bears all and the Mother that must nourish and maintain all The Merchant is a gallant Servant to the Common-wealth he fetches his Riches from far and he is a worthy Contributer to the Wealth and Prosperity of the Kingdom but he produceth it from others who could themselves make great Profit of it and though he gaineth a great Estate yet he raiseth it not out of nothing but parts with Gold and Silver and with Commodities for it But this Merchant of Husbandry he raiseth it out of the Earth which otherwise would yield little unless his Ingenuity digged and sethed it out otherwise possibly it had never been so discovered as to have been there And what parts he with for it What Rates purchaseth he it at Even only by his ingenuous Industry and with the Wages of the Labouring Man whom he is bound both by the Laws of God and Nature to allow a Competent Maintenance Oh the Excellency Integrity and Use of Husbandry Prov. 11.26 A blessing is on the head of him that tilleth corn and the thoughts of the diligent bring abundance To conclude with few words As for the Terms of Husbandry I resolved to deliver my self in our own Native Country's ordinary and home-spun Language not slighting those ancient Terms which are used in several Countries the better to acquaint my Country-men with them all which I shall do as briefly as possibly I may to render my self acceptable to my Reader 's clearest Apprehension CHAP. I. How to know the Goodness of the Ground MAny count that to be the best Ground that lieth at the foot of a Hill being level and towards the Sun in Cold and Northerly Countries it is good to have the Land to be East and South least these two Quarters being hard off by an Hill the Land be frozen with Cold but in hot Countries it is better to have the Ground lie North both for Pleasure and Health You may sooner know the Conditions of every Ground than of Men themselves for the Ground being well Tilled can hardly deceive you To know the Nature therefore of every Ground you must mark well the Plants and the Yield of the Country except you will lose your Labour look whether there be in the Land either Stone Marble Sand Gravel Raddel Chalk Clay Prebile or Carbuncle that is Ground over-heated and parched with the Sun which will burn the Roots of whatsoever cometh in it Also if it be wet or weeping Ground or subject to such other Inconveniences and such Ground also according to the Natures of the Soyl is good or evil In some Countries Stone Ground is altogether barren especially for Corn and Fruit in other Places again they use Stones in the Manuring and Bettering of their Ground In some places in stony and hilly Ground Oats do prosper well In like manner also in all Countries you must regard the Layre of the Country and the Nature of the Seed that we sow for Gravel in some places is cast upon the Ground instead of Dung and some Things prosper best in Gravelly Ground It is also something to the purpose whether the Gravel be White Red or Yellow besides pure Ground doth deceive both with Colour and Quality In some Countries the black Mould is only esteemed in others the fat red Mould is thought best In other places the chalky Ground beareth good Corn and Pastures very well In some places the thick and clammy Ground is most fruitful in all these it is to be learned what is best for the hilly Ground what for the Valley what for the Tilled what for the Lay Ground what the most Sedgy Ground requires and what the Dry and Barren Also in Planting what Ground is best for Vines what for other Trees what delights in dry Ground and what in moist Ground Virgil commendeth a Ground that is fat for such Ground is Tilled with smallest Charge and Labour the next that which is fat and stiff which greatly recompenseth the Husbandman's Travail and Charges the worst is that which is dry lean and stiff for it is not only Tilled with great pains but also it doth not answer the Husbandman's Expectation in his Crop neither at any time serveth it for good Meadow or Pasture and therefore such Ground is not to be medled withal Also the Goodness of the Ground may be easily perceived by these Signâ— and following Tokens For a cold Clod sprinkled with a little Water if in working with the Hand it be clammy and cleaving and sticketh to the Fingers like Pitch when it is handled and breaketh not in falling to the Ground this sheweth a Natural Fatness and Richness to be in it besides you may know the Mould that is good for Câ—â—â— if it bear Bull rushes Thistles Three-leaved Grass Dunwort Brambles Black Thorn and such like as never grow but for the most part in good Ground as on the other side the loathsome and ill-favoured Weeds declare a lean and a bitter Ground Fern and withered Plants a cold Ground sad and heavy coloured a moist and a wet Ground a raddel and a stony Ground is discerned by the Eye a stiff and a tough Clay by the Labour and Toil of the Oxen. It is also a
Sign of a good Ground where the Crows and Pies in great Numbers follow the Plough scraping in the Steps of the Plough-man The Goodness is likewise known if at the Sun-setting after a Rainbow and in a Shower of Rain following a Drought it yieldeth a pleasant succour Also in Taste it will appear if Tasting of a Clod that hath been Watered in an Earthen Vessel you find it sweet it is a sign of a rich Ground if bitter a great Token of barren Ground if it be saltish it is to be shunned and not to be used You must take Notice that Ground will also change and of fruitful become barren which hath been seen in several places of our Country Besides one kind of Ground though it be never so fertile will not bear all things Moreover the Disposition of the Heavens is a great matter all Countries have not the Weather and Air alike wherefore it is the part of a good Husbandman to know the Nature and Properties of his Ground and to mark the Disposition of it for every Season of the Year he must also consider what Crop is best for every Layer Some Ground serveth for Corn some for Meadow some for Pasture neither may all things be well sown in rich Ground nor nothing in barren Ground Such things as need not much moisture are best sown in light Ground as the great Claver Spery Chich and the other Pulses that are pulled and not cut Those that require much Sustenance are sowe in richer Ground as Pot-herbs Wheat Rye Barley Linseed some of them do good in the Year following as Lupines that are used to be sown for the bettering of the Ground There is Difference also to be put betwixt Fruits for Pleasure and such as are for Profit as Fruit-Trees and Flowers and such Things as yield both Pleasure and Sustenance and are also profitable to the Ground You must choose for Willows Ofieâ—s and Reeds a wet and marshy Ground and contrary where you will have Corn and Pulse that delights in dry Ground Sperage and such-like must be sown in shady places and other Ground for Quicksets Timber Mast and Fewel yea such Ground as is very gravelly and barren hath its use where you may plant Birch and such-like and watry Grounds where you may set Alders Broom Bull-rushes c. CHAP. II. Of the Dunging of Ground SInce in all places the Ground is not of a like goodness if we chance upon a lean and a barren Ground as heathy brushy and gravelly Ground we must endeavour to make these fruitful and to mend them by Art for there is no Country that our most Gracious GOD hath left without sufficient Yield if we use but our Industry which may be happily employed divers ways principally by Dunging and diligent Labour To which purpose it will be necessary for us to know what Dung doth most enrich the Earth The most Expert of the Ancient Husbandmen appoint three sorts of Dungs the first of Poultry the next of Men the third of Cattel Of the first sort the best is had out of Dove-Houses the next is of Pulline and other Fowl except Geese and Ducks which is hurtful The Ancients had such store of Poultry and Fowl as the Dung of them is said to have sufficed for the Manuring of their Ground The next to this is Man's Ordure if it be mixt with other Rubbish of the House for of itself it is too hot and burns the Ground Man's Urine being kept six Months and poured upon the Roots of Apple-trees and Vines causeth them to be very fruitful and giveth a pleasant Taste to the Fruit. In the third place is the Dung of Cattel whereof the best is the Dung of Asses because this Beast doth chew with the most leisure whereby his Meat being well digested is made the profitabler Dung Next to this is the Dung of Sheep next of Goats then of Oxen and Horses The worst of Swine very hurtful to the Corn but used in some Places for Gardens for want of other Dung it is a great Breeder of noysom Weeds The Dung of Horses likewise where they are fed with Barley doth breed Weeds The Lupine before he bear his God is most commended being turned up with the Plough or Mattock and laid in Bundles about the Roots of Trees or Vines Where they have no store of Cattel they use to mend their Ground with Straw and Fern and with the Stalks of Lupines and the Branches laid together in some Ditch hereunto you may cast Ashes the Filth of Sinks and Privies Straw and other things raked together but in the midst you must lay some sound Substance against the Breeding of Adders and Snakes also Hemlocks Walwort and the Weeds growing about Willow-Trees and Fern with other such rotten Weeds you may gather and lay under your Sheep They that dwell in gravelly and heathy Grounds do take the Turns of the Earth and Heath and laying them in Heaps poudred with a little Dung suffer them to lie and rot and after lay it on barren Ground but more especially when they keep great store of Sheep they cast into their Folds such Turns pared from the Ground Columella counts them but bad Husbands that have of every one of the lesser kind of Cattel less than a Cartload of Dung in Three hundred Days and each of the greater sort ten Load besides the Filth and Dirt of the Yard This is also to be taken Notice of that the Dung that hath lain a Year is best for the Corn for it both is of sufficient strength and breedeth less Weeds but upon Meadow and Pasture you must lay the newest because it brings most Grass and this must be done in February the Moon encreasing for this is the best time to cause increase of Grass In the Manuring of your Ground look that you lay most Dung upon the top of the Hill for the Rain will drive it into the lower parts fast enough He that intends to have his Ground to bear much Corn if he mean to Sowe in the end of the Summer must turn in his Dung in September if in the Spring he may lay it on in any time of the Winter What time soever he doth it he must look that the Wind he Westerly and the Moon in the Wayne Besides he must be sure that the Dung be dry when he lays it on the Ground for laying it on while it is moist it doth more harm to the Ground than good as daily Experience teacheth Now as the Land will wax cold if it be not Dunged so will it be dried or burnt if it be Manured yearly or too much The watry Ground requireth more store of Dung and the dry Ground the less In some places the Scouring of Ponds and Ditches is used to the great enriching of the Ground in mountainous and barren Lands they make their Land fruitful with laying on of Chalk but long use of it makes the Ground stark nought from whence it is grown
a common Saying That Ground enriched with Chalk makes a rich Father and a beggarly Son The River-Land by overflowing and fast Ground with muddy mingled with Sand and Gravel will do very well CHAP. III. The Nature Vse and Benefit of Marl. THE Germans besides other sorts of Enriching their Grounds do in some places instead of Dung cast upon it a kind of a Pitch and Fatness of the Earth Pliny would have it to be first devised in England and France called Marga as it were the Fat of the Earth it is gotten in deep Pits but not alike in all Soyls Questionless Marle is a very useful thing the Nature of it cold which is the Reason that it saddens the Land exceedingly and very heavy it is and will go downward Some Countries yield Marle of several Colours as 't is affirmed of Kent where 't is found both Yellow Grey Blew and Red the Blew and Grey are counted the best for to Marle together I hold not propâ—r but when you resolve to lay down your Land to Graze be sure at the last Crop you intend to take which may be two or three more after Marling then Manure your Land with Dung which will open lighten and loosen the Land for the less binding and the more light loose and open the more fruitful it is so that it will produce a gallant Clovery The first Year after you have laid it down upon the Wheat or mixed Corn-stubble you should run it over again with Dung and it will pay treble The Lands upon which Marle is most natural for increase is upon the higher sandy Land mixed of Gravel or any sound Land whatsoever though never so barren to which it is natural and nourishing as Bread to Man's Life CHAP. IV. Of Ploughing the Parts of the Plough and the best Season for Ploughing IN Ploughing and Ordering and right Preparing the Ground for Seed consists the chiefest Point of Husbandry The most Experienced affirm That the first Point of Husbandry is to Prepare the Ground the second to Plough it well and the third to Dung it well The Fashions are divers according to the Nature of every Soyl and Country All great Fields are Tilled with the Plough and Share the lesser with the Spade The Ploughs some are single some double of sundry Fashions according to the diversity of the Countries some are with Wheels some without The Parts of the Plough are the Tail the Shelf the Beam the Foot the Coulter the Share the Wheels and the Staff The Share is that which first cuts the way for the Coulter that afterwards turns up the Furrow where the Ground is light they use only a small Share In Liffland they have for their Plough nothing but a Fork In Syria where they cannot go very deep they use as Theophrastus saith very little Ploughs Pliny writes that Wheels for Ploughs were devised by the Frenchmen and called Plugrat a German Name which is corruptly printed Planarati In divers places where the Ground is stiff they have a little Wing on the right side of the Coulter which Wing is to be removed to which side you list with the Rod or Staff well pointed the Plough-man maketh clean his Coulter when he works The Oxen must be yoaked even together that they may draw the more handsomely with their Heads at liberty that their Necks may not be hurt This kind of Yoaking is better liked of many than to be yoaked by the Horns for the Cattel shall be able to draw better with the Neck and the Breast than they shall be with their Heads and this way they put too the force of their whole Bodies whereas the other way being restrained by the Yoak and their Heads they are so vexed and hindred as that they can scarcely race the upper part of the Earth Where Horses may be used they are more commodious for the Plough and the fewer of them the better for many Horses draw too hastily and make too large Furrows which is not good whereas we see the Ground to be excellently well ploughed in Gelderland and about Cologne where they plough only with two Horses going very softly In France and other places where they plough with Oxen they make their Furrows rather deep than broad Where the Ground is stiff the Coulter must be the greater and the stronger that it may go the deeper for if the Crust of the Earth be turned up very broad it remaineth still whole whereby neither the Weeds are killed nor the Ground can be well harrowed The Furrow ought not to exceed One hundred and twenty foot in length for if it do as some hold it is hurtful to the Beasts because it will be too wearisome to them but this Rule is not observed as in the Countries where the Fields are great their Furrows are drawn very long You must not plough in wet Ground nor when after a long Drought a little Rain falling hath but wet the upper part and not gone deep If it be too wet when it is ploughed it will do little good that Year you must therefore observe that the Season be neither too dry nor too wet for too much driness causeth it that it will never work well for either the hardness of the Earth will resist the Plough or if it does enter it breaks it not small enough but only turneth up great Flakes hurtful to the next Ploughing For though the Land be never so rich yet if you go any depth it will prove barren which is turned up with great Clods from whence it proceeds that the bad Mould mixt with the good yieldeth the worser Corn. Where you have ploughed in a dry Season it will be convenient for you to have some moisture in your second stirring which moistning the Ground shall make your Labour the easier When the Ground is rich and hath long born Water it is to be stirred when the Weather is warmer and when the Weeds are full grown and have their Seeds in their top which being ploughed so thick as you can scarce see where the Coulter hath gone utterly killeth and destroyeth the Weeds besides through many stirrings your Fallow is brought to so fine a Mould as that it shall need little or no Harrowing when you Sowe it for the old Romans as Calumella affirms would say That the Ground was ill husbanded that after Sowing had need of the Harrow Moreover the good Husbandman must try whether it be well ploughed or not and not only to trust to his Eyes but to Experience with his hand otherwise the Balkes being covered with Mould he may easily be deceived so that he must be upon certain proof to which purpose let him thrust down a Rod into the Furrow which if it pierce alike in every place it sheweth that the Ground is well ploughed If it be shallow in one place and deep in another place it signifies that the Ground was not well ploughed If you are to plough upon a Hill you must plough overthwart
and not up and down for thereby the inconveniency of the steepness is met withal and the Labour both of the Men and Cattel is eased but herein you must be careful that you plough not always one way but sometimes higher sometimes lower working aslope as you shall see cause Touching the Season of Ploughing it must be chiefly in the Spring for in Summer the Ground is too hard and in Winter too foul and dirty but in the Spring the Ground being mellow is easily to be wrought and the Weeds are then but turned in which both does good for the Inrichment of the Ground and plucked up by the Roots before they have seeded will spring again and therefore for the most part we begin to plough about the midst of March but sandy and light Grounds they use to be ploughed in the midst of Winter if the Season will suffer Pliny is of my Opinion that stiff Ground then should be stirred A slender and level Ground subject to Water should be first ploughed in the end of August and stirred again in September and prepared for Sowing about the twelfth of March. The light hilly Ground is not to be broken up in Summer but about the middle of September for if it be broken up before being barren and without Juyce it may be burnt up with the Sun and have no goodness remain in it Wet Ground some would have to be broken up after the Ides or beginning of April which being ploughed that time should be stirred about the tenth of June and after again But those that are skilful in Husbandry agree that in the tenth of June without great store of Rain you shall not plough for if the Year be wet I know nothing to the contrary but that you may plough in July In the mean time be very careful that you meddle not with Ground that is over-wet CHAP. V. Of Liming Sanding and Hacking Land to make it fruitful THere are other Considerations relating to the well Ordering of Ground than what I have already touch'd on to clear and prepare them for Corn Grass Pulse or other Things useful and exceeding profitable If the Ground be barren cold or produces Weeds or Rushes to help it and bring it to a moderate Temper of Improvement for Fruitfulness Lime is exceeding good The Lime-stones may be got among Quarries of Stones and in divers other places you may burn them in a Kiln in the most convenient place you have to save Charges of Carriage and when you have before sanded your Ground and hacked it make your Lime small and on every Acre bestow between thirty and forty Bushels of Lime spreading and mixing it exceeding well with the Sand and Earth and the stronger and sharper the Lime is the better the Earth will be and the Improvement will answer your Cost and Labour It matters not of what Colour your Lime-stones are whether of a pure White or of a Grey so they be sharp and strong in quality to give a good Tincture to the Earth it being the Strength and Goodness of the Lime not the Beauty that in this kind brings forth the Profit and indeed it is a great Helper to Cold Grounds especially Clay or Wet Grounds and this is a great Preparer to laying Dung on these Lands or any Soyl that is fatning either of Cattel or such as is cast out of Ponds Lakes or muddy Ditches for barren and hard Earth can never be overlaid with good Manure or Compost seeing the want of Warmth and Fatness which these produce was before the occasion of the Unfruitfulness As for the Hacking and Sanding mentioned the first is after the Ground has been turned up with the Plough to go over it with a long Hoe or Hack and cut in pieces the Grass that you see turned up in the Ridges or Furrows or any uneven Clumpers that it may be dragged away burnt or carried together with the Weeds not to grow up again to incumber the Corn or Pulse and Sanding is to bring Loads of Sand lay them in convenient places as Heaps of Dung and spread them lightly or thick as you see occasion over the Ground that the Lime mixing with it may the better Embody with the Mould and Rain falling be soaked in a good depth to the heartning the Ground and producing a good Crop to encourage the industrious Farmer CHAP. VI. Of the First and Second Ploughing and of Harrowing AS to the first manner of Ploughing of Ground that is barren for the Improvement of it if it lie free from Water as commonly all even barren Earths do then throw down the Furrows flat and between every of them leave a little Baulk about half the breadth of the Furrow and so go thorough and plough up the whole without any regard to Difference or Distinction of Lands but if there be danger of Annoyance of Water lay the Furrows more near and high dividing the Ground into several Lands proportioning each of them to lie highest in the middle that the Water descending may have free passage on either side and when you have Hacked Sanded and Limed it as before directed come to your Second Ploughing In the Second Ploughing penetrate the Ground deeper than at first taking as the Husbandmen call it a good Stitch to raise up Earth at the Quick which before was not stirred make your Furrows deeper and greater laying them closer and rounder together and in this Order or Latter Earing be sedulous to plough it as clean as may be leaving no Baulks or any Escapes and as you plough have those that shall follow to run it over with a Second Hacking that is with a heavy Share Hoe or Hack to clear or kill the Grass and Weeds as also to lay it level This done take a Pair of strong Iron-teethed Harrows and go over the Ground to open and tare that which was ploughed and hacked into smaller Particles and raise the Mould lightly in greater abundance Then take the best sort of that Grain you think fit to Sowe in it and scatter it according to the Art of good Husbandry suffering your Sprinkling to be a Medium not too much nor too little The Seed being sprinkled on the Ground make your Second Harrowing to cover it close and well being careful to break all the Clots as near as possible raising the Mould as fine and high as may be that it may cover the Seed the deeper and prevent the Rain washing it up or the Birds and other Vermine from destroying it for certain it is that these cold clayey or barren Grounds if not lightly raised keep in and clog the Seed which by reason of its roughness cannot easily break through or if it does the Cold at the Roots starve the Spires and they mostly wither away if not helped by Proper Means and Artful Labour As for Clotting the Earth it is very proper in many Cases for when you have Sowed and Harrowed the Ground if notwithstanding some hard Clumpers
the Field in a moderate breathing Air the Fires will encroach to one another and meet in the Center so scorching the Ground it will kill the Weeds and Roots in a great measure and the Ashes manure the Ground then with a strong Plough having broad Wings Share and an even Coulter laying the Lands large and the Furrows deep not as yet troubling your selves to pick out the quick Roots but let them lie in the Furrows yet hack the Ground over as has been often directed and in this case with your Hacks and Paring-shovels when the Ground is dried pare the Furrows and where you see many Fibres of Roots and lay the Parings to dry then place them in little heaps near each other in Rows that so being hollowed up and dried Heath put under them they may burn Earth and all which being full of Strings and Roots will do so even to Ashes and this being spread is exceeding profitable for the Ground and being ploughed in at the Second Ploughing it kills the remaining Roots both of the Heath or Ling and Weeds if the Ground produce any having Dunged Limed and Sanded it before When the Ground is thus Made and Manured and the Wheat-Seed-time draws on at the latter end of September or beginning of October plough very deep at the Second Ploughing even more than ever so that there may be nothing of the first Furrows remaining but the Ashes that are turned up which being covered with Sand Lime or Manure the Earth will lie very plain and level so that there is a necessity of raising up new Furrows and of new Hacking and Harrowing which rendring the Earth light and a well mixing of all together so that it may be capable of bearing very good Wheat especially if Sheep have been Folded on it before and Dunged well which together with the Dung of Poultry is an excellent Manure As for the Weeding and Cleansing the Ground when the Corn is sprung up you must take great diligence for though in this kind of Soyl Cockle Darnel and soft Thistle grow not yet hard and rough Weeds will spring up of the worst kind as Twitchberries growing at both ends Ling Wild-Time c. pull these up by the Roots with your Nippers as soon as they are pretty well peeped out of the Ground so as to be discerned and layed fast hold on for if they grow up to any height and bigness in pulling them up much of the Roots of the Grain that grows about them will also come with them As for other tender Weeds if there be any you may cut them off with your Hook and if fine soft Grass grow up you need not meddle with it for it will keep the Corn warm and nourish the Roots of it Now for the Profit of the Ground thus ordered It is proper to bear Wheat plentifully for the three first Years and the fourth good Barley with the help of Sheep being folded on it or a Manure of Poultrey or Pigeon's Dung and for three Years after very good Oats and small Pease the eight Year As for Beans this Soil will hardly bear them at all and to the eleventh Year it will prove good Meadow Land though the Grass will be somewhat coarse yet good wholsom feeding Grass as can be reasonably expected nay it will likewise fatten Cattel tho' in this latter a longer time is required than when they are put into finer Grass where the Ground is mellow and of a good natural Soil CHAP. XI Of Dressing Ordering Tilling and Manuring Barren Sandy Ground producing only short Mossie Grass HAving discoursed as I hope to the Reader 's Satisfaction concerning barren Clay-Grounds the next thing as I conceive to be treated of in a regular Method is the Improvement of barren sandy Ground a great deal of that kind as well as the others lying at this day wast in England Scotland and Ireland This kind of Ground is usually simple without mixture and though the Colours of the Sands may change they are mostly the same and very little to be distinguished in their Quality There is a naughty barren cold Sand lying on high rocky or stony places or upon bleak Plains exposed to the North and North-East Winds or bordering on the Sea bringing forth nothing but an unprofitable short mossie Grass made bitter by the Sun and when the cold Dews fall it is of an unsavoury taste Now to improve this Ground to much Advantage in the Advance of the Spring with a strong Plough answerable to the Soil yet somewhat less in the Iron-work and Timber than is necessary for Clay Ground Plough it up of an indifferent Depth yet not so deep as the Clay lay your Furrows flat and close to one another ploughing it very clean and leaving no Baulks but not so close but you may lay the green Swarth to the quick or new ploughed Earth or rather turn one Swarth against another so that the Furrows may lie and only but touch the Edges one of another When this is done hack it into several pieces and let it lie for many Days in the Furrows that the green Swarths heating one another may rot which you may perceive they are about to do when they grow black Though these sandy Grounds being easily crumbled require not the Labour of the former and therefore the main of the Hacking in this case is to cut the Swarth that it may rot and it is only required in barren Sands which have some toughness in them and not in those that are very loose and fruitful When you have thus ordered your Ground there is a way to be used contrary to the former which is to Marle it And now because this is a very hard Term to some and not every-where in use because not to be had I shall declare what Marle is before I proceed further This Marl is a certain rich stiff Clay an Enemy to all Weeds that spring up of themselves and gives generative Virtue to all Seeds that are sown in the Ground It is of a glewy Substance and not fat or oily as some suppose it It is in Quality cold and dry and was Earth before it came to be Marle and being made Marle it is no more but a Clay Ground As for this when it is a little hardned it is only dissolved by Frosts and this is the Reason it always worketh better Effects the second Year than the first As for the Colours of the Marle they are different as a White a Russet a Grey a Yellow and a Black and some other Colours yet all these may be reconciled for the Colours may alter according to the strength of the Sun and the Climate they are produced under This is so good a Manure that well layed on it will enrich the barrenest of the Grounds for Ten Years and some for Thirty To find it take an Auger-Wimble made to hold many Bitts one longer than another so wring them into the Ground till you have tryed by
the Crop will be more certain and thrive the better and this will hold for three Years then sow Barley after that Oats and so go on as in the precedent Chapter As for Weeding you must do it as soon as you perceive the Weeds sprout up pulling them up by the Roots or they will be subject to grow again CHAP. XIV Of Ordering Tilling and Enriching Barren Lands encumbred with Moors or Moorish Long Grass c. AS for this kind of Barren Sand it is the worst being moorish blackish wlth an ill Sent bearing stinking long Grass or Moss and Grass together which no Beast though hungry and hard fed will meddle withall and these kind of Grounds are commonly full of Moors and Boggy Wetness in some places growing Moss and Grass in others Rushes which last is the best kind of Ground to manure and are generally extreamly moist and cold and therefore when you enter upon manuring it it must be drained by making Gutters into Ditches Brooks or some Neighbouring River with Sluces to let out the Water that is in and keep out the Overflowings which I shall more amply speak of when I come to treat of Draining Fenns and Marshes Boggy Grounds c. The Land being brought to a considerable Dryness plough it up with a very strong Plough that may go very deep laying before the Plough Reeds of Fetches Pease-straw or that of Lupins turn the Furrows of Earth upon the Weeds that they may be bruised under the Mold and so order every Furrow or most of them and give the Earth time to rot the Straw and if Rain fall not to rot it stop the Sluce that the Springs may overflow it and then presently drain off again then hack the Ground into small pieces strow Lime upon it and other Manure and if you have any salt Sea-sand sprinkle it likewise over it then marle it and lay on a small quantity of Chalk and about the latter end of June make the second ploughing deeper than the first that if any of the Straw remains unrotted it may by the new acquirement of moist Earth the more speedily putrifie break the Clots and lay the Land even without Clumpers or Weeds or other Annoyance and let it so continue till October then plough it the third time hack it and sow it with the best Seed-Wheat and though in itself it is the worst of Ground yet by the help of the Soil and Compost with the Wetness that you may let in at pleasure it will produce good Wheat for three Years then sow it with Barley the next Year helping it a little by Folding Sheep on it and for two Years after it will bear Rye and till nine Years Oats and Pease then for three Years following it will be good Meadow and Pasture after which time it must be dressed and put in Heart as before As for the Incumbrance the Corn will be subject to it will be small Reed and Seag which you may weed out as soon as you see them well appear either pulling them up with your wooden Nippers or cutting them close with your Weed-hook and they will not grow again CHAP. XV. A Way in General to Enrich any poor Sand or Clay for Grain with less Trouble and Cost than before THere are divers things that some through Ignorance regard not that are very profitable for the manuring and enriching of Land as Woollen Rags and of these a Sack-full and a half is sufficient for dressing an Acre of arable-Arable-Ground being ground or chopped very small and spread an equal thickness over the Land before Fallowing-time and then coming to fallow let the Plough take them carefully into the Ground and cover them after this use Stirring Soiling Ridging according to the Rule of good Husbandry in their proper Seasons When you come to Sow the Land thus ordered to make the Seed prosper the better steep it in thick slimy Water that drains from Dunghils and if no such be to be had near-hand steep Cow-dung in Water and soak the Seed in it Wheat will be well soaked in 18 Hours Barley in 36 Pease in 12 Rye and Oats may be sowed dry for they receive more Hurt than Advantage by wet cover and order it as has been directed in other Cases and fear not an extraordinary Encrease The Shavings or Wasts of Horn or the Hoofs of Beasts are extraordinary good to dress Land withal scatter the Shaving to the like quantity as the Rags and plough them in after the same manner and these Manures will give a good Heart to the Ground for the space of five Years without any renewing The Hoofs of Cattle are approved for this and may be got of Trotter-men and Tripe-men c. and these must be sliced or cut small and strewed on the Land as the Rags Soap-ashes when the Lye has been drained from them is of excellent use to strengthen Land beside the Advantage it has of killing Weeds and Insects that breed in the Ground and eat up the Corn being dried beaten and lightly scattered over The Hair of Beasts enriches Land being strewed and ploughed in and there let lie to rot Also Mault-dust is much available or the Excrements of Mault allowing three Quarters of it to an Acre and to enrich your Dung on the Lay-stall is to throw often Beef-broth and other wast Broths upon it as also Soap-suds and in so doing one Load will be worth three of the same kind that is not so used If you continue it long the Blood and Garbage of Creatures much fattens Dung and makes it of excellent use and so does the Dregs of Oil or the Pressings or Graves of the Whale or any other Sea-fish So that by what I have directed much greater Improvement might be made than is at present If you would enrich Barren Woody Land newly stubbed for Encrease of Corn take the Underwoods or Sprays place them in a great hollow Heap and cover them with the Turfs or Swarths you pare up Ear h and all then put Fire to the Wood till all be well burnt break the Earth and spread it over the Ground mingled with the Ashes of the Wood spread it a second time with the Ashes of Fern Stubble Straw or the like and letting it rest a while plough it and soil it at the beginning of October and plouging it a second time sow it with Rye the first Crop and it will bear it very plentifully the next may be Wheat the third Barley the fourth Lupins or any other Pulse and then proceed to sow it with Wheat again and this Land will last in good Heart for eight or nine Years and longer where there is any natural Fertility in the Soil as has to good advantage been experienced in many woody parts of England CHAP. XVI To reduce Grounds to Fertility that have been spoiled by Salt-Water or Overflowing of Sea-Breaches THis is a very difficult Point for though Salt-water or Salt-sand moderately used on Ground gives it
dispersed on it The Water being raised to the height you desire cut your main Carriage allowing it a convenient Descent that it may have a good Current all along and let the Mouth of it be of Breadth rather than Depth capable to receive the whole Stream you desire and when you are to use a part of the Water let the main Carriage narrow by degrees that at the end it may press the more forcibly into the lesser Carriages that issue all along from it and at every rising Ground and other proper Distance you ought to cut small tapering Carriages proportionable to the Distance and Quantity of the Land or Water you design to fructifie which must be very shallow and many in number for the Water running shallow and swiftly over the Grass greatly revives it In the next place observe that in drawing or watering of Lands you may make Drains to carry off all the Water the Carriages being on and therefore they must bear some Proportion to it though not so large and as the Water is conducted by the lesser Carriages to every part of the Land so the lesser Drains must be made in the lowest places to lead the Water off and as the Carriages lessen so must they widen as they run to drain the Water well off as soon as the Land is well soaked into other Grounds for if Water be left in low places it proves very injurious to the Grass in the Winter it kills it and in the Spring and Summer much hinders its growth breeding Rushes and Weeds though when drained produces good Pasture Is you water droughty Land in the Heat of Summer do it in the Night or a very cloudy temperate Day taking it off again before the Sun-beams shine hot upon it left that conspiring with the Heat that comes out of the Earth deaden or sicken the Roots of the Grass so as it wither and flag rather than grow to any great Advantage In some places for the more ease of Watering you may have the opportunity to command a small Stream or Spring and to bring it down by Carriages upon the Lands and proportion them small or great according to the quantity of Water you can give and if it be little from drilling Springs make Stops in the Carriages that it may water one Land first and then by the Drains convey it to that which lyeth lower and so by degrees to all as Conveniency will admit and the small Springs in constantly working will bring much Improvement As for Springs that produce a hard harsh Water proceeding from Alomy Vitrioline and Coal Mines or Minerals it is not to be brought on Lands unless for the destroying of Rushes and Weeds and afterward the Acrimony taken off by mollifying Waters or well dunging with fat and nourishing Soil to amend the Barrenness and produce store of Grass CHAP. XX. The proper way effectually to Drain Land and reduce it to Fertility either Arable or Pasture WHen Land is much incumbred by Water and thereby rendred as it were useless especially where there is a Superfluity of venomous corrupting Water lying in the Earth much occasioning Bogginess you may nevertheless consider that this Land with some Labour and Cost may be brought to be very good and in order to the procuring of it to be so I shall lay down plain Rules and Directions Take special Care in draining such Grounds especially where there are feeding Springs and observe in this case the Descent that you may the better by the Drain take away all the Water from the bottom or else it will be of little Value therefore observe the lowest Level of your Drain and so low that you may draw off your Water and not any lower can you carry it away by this means therefore be especially careful herein and then if you can get a lower Descent from this carry your Drain upon the Level till you find certainly you are got under the Moisture Miryness and Water that either feeds the Bogs or covers the Land and go a Spade's Graft or thereabouts deeper and so you need not tye your self to a dead Leavel but as the Moisture lieth higher or Ground rises so may you rise in the working your Drain keeping one Spades Graft under it Observe that in cold Rushy Lands this kind of Water that creates much Barrenness is found beneath the first and second Swarth of the Land and beneath that you most frequently find a little Gravel or Stonyness in which this Water is and sometimes below these in a hungry Gravel but it usually lies deeper in boggy Land than in Rushy and a Spades Graft you must go deeper than the bottom of these As for the Matter causing the Bog it is easie to be discover'd sometmes lying within two Foot of the Superficial part of the Ground and usually within three or four though some lie far deeper as six and eight or more and having found this Spring that would willingly break out were it not incumbred by the Load of Earth it is forced to wheeze through and break its way by much spreading dig a Foot beneath it give it a Current in the Drain and if it be swift it will suck all the other Springs to it and make the boggy Spunginess of the Ground to cease so that in a little time a Driness will insue Make your Drain from the bottom of the Bog trenching it in the sound Ground or else in some low Ditch so low as you conceive it under the Spring or Spewing-Water then carry up the Trench into the boggy Streight through the middle of it one Foot under that Spewing-Water or Spring upon the Level unless it rises higher for many times it rises as the Land rises and at other times riseth very level even to the Head of the Bog into which you must carry your Drain or within two or three Yards of the Head of it then at the Head strike another Trench overthwart both ways at the middle Trench as far as the Bog goeth all along the End of it continuing at least one Foot under it and this may work a strange Alteration in the Ground without any more Trenching Or to work it somewhat more certainly consider after you have brought a Trench to the bottom of the Bog then cut a substantial Trench about it according to the Dimension of the Bog whether round square or long or three or four Yards within the boggy Ground for so far it will drain well that which you leave without the Trench underneath the Spring-Water Round and when you have so done make one Work or two overthwart it upwards and downwards all under the matter of the Bog and in a Year at furthest your Desire will be answered CHAP. XXI To Drain Fenny and Marshy Lands with the least Charge and most effectually c. FEnny and Marshy Ground is another thing to be considered and great Advantages to be raised by well draining them so that they may be converted
to Pasture Meadow or Arable Ground for of this Land a vast deal in the Kingdom lies waste and turns to no Advantage unless to a very few and that inconsiderable but to do this it is not only taking away the Water from the Surface or over part of the Turf or Swarth for then might all Quagmires and Bogs be easily recovered nor is it taking off the Downfalls as the Fen-men call them for then that might be easily done and yet no perfect Draining for continuance no nor the Land-falls Land-floods nor great Waters from off the Ground nor doing all these in a way or usual customary manner that may deserve the right and proper Name of Effectual Draining You must then to do it go to the bottom of the Cause if you would perform the Cure and take away that which is the Source and feeds the Fen or Moor making it barren and useless by corrupt and unwholsom Waters and when that is done it may be properly said to be a Perfect Draining and not before yet the other is not to be discommended nor discouraged where they are already done or may be made hereafter but the Perfection is in reducing it to Soundness or Perfectness of Mould that the Wet may not follow the Plough or it only bearing course Grass in the Summer be overflowed in the Winter but this is well done whether the Earth is Sand Clay Gravel or mixed Earth when it returns to a perfect Swarth pure Turf producing the small Thistle Crowflower Clover and Honeysuckle then is the Quintessence of the Earth properly prepared and in feeding and corning they will naturally return to be the richest of all your Lands as appears by many already brought to this Perfection lying near Rivers and under the Level of the Sea and most of the Ground in Holland has been improved this way to a considerable enriching of those People by fat Pastures and good Arable Lands But waving some Objections that may be made to no purpose by such as are not desirous such publick Works should go forward because perhaps they have a Cow a Horse or a few Sheep to feed as Commoners which can graze sufficiently about the Edges of these overflowed Lands I shall come to the Point and give an Essay of this matter which well put in practice may turn to great Advantage Consider then that the greater the Overflowing is the heavier it lies on the Land and for the passing off these the Water-cuts and Works must be proportionable and the Labourers in it the more for this Work must be done speedily a little neglect setting it frequently a great way backwards if the Works be considerable and therefore going about this necessary Improvement raise such Banks on the outsides of the Fens as may keep out the Land-Floods coming from higher Grounds and Ditches to carry them away on the outside into some adjacent River or Water-course that carries them to the Sea or some convenient River by which means you may have nothing to do with any thing but the proper Water in the Fens then consider how to draw your middle Trench which is the main to the best Advantage that the Waters may pass from others into it Take notice of the Advantage of the Ground in all its Particulars as to its ascending and descending its Level and Hollow so that having truly cast every thing well in your Mind drain the Water off by Trenches or Engins that will cast it a pretty way in great abundance from the lower parts that lie beneath the Level also by the help of Men where they are to be had with Scoups and Buckets When a Driness appears on the Surface and it is visible yet there are some Springs search for them and when you have found them do in all respects as by the boggy Ground mentioned in the foregoing Chapter and as for the smaller Hollows if they dry not it matters not greatly if they have no Springs in them to cause an Overflowing in Winter for they will serve to Water and Bathe your Cattle in the Heat of Summer or produce a numerous Fry of Fish for storing other Ponds As likewise keep Game there to your Advantage by alluring the Wild-Ducks Geese and other Water-Fowl of which considerable Advantage may be made but be very careful after this that your outward Banks break not to let in the Land-Floods from the Hills or high Grounds If the Trenches are necessarily to be many endangering your Cattle falling into them you may fill the smaller that come from the Springs to the greater with Pebbles and Flint about two Foot laying them as light as you can and over them Flags Rushes and Turf and upon them Earth to the Level and the Water will find a Passage among the Stones as in a Vault CHAP. XXII Tools and Instruments proper and useful in the working part and order of Draining Land c. THE first thing necessary is a good Line about 32 Yards in length made of the best Water-wrought Hemp about double the thickness of Whipcord and a Hand-Reel to wind it on that you may draw your Works by it as near unto the Streightness of the Line as possible and by the Length you may measure your Work by the Rod or Pearch to know how it goes on You must also have an exact Water-level near or altogether 5 Foot in length which Instrument many have essayed and made some open with a Channel for the Water to run all along upon a three Inch Board with Sights true to the Water placed at each end each at a just Proportion from the VVater to direct the Level but it lies so open to the VVind and is so troublesom in removing that I approve not of it Then make one for the more easie Carriage and true Performance of this VVork to fold into another square Staff about 5 Foot or 5 and a half made of the best young seasoned Oak the Level or Barrel 4 Foot and a half which Barrel in the midst of it is to be planted into the top of the Staff and so much of the one part of the Staff and just half the length of the Barrel take away with a Rabuting-Plain or Moulding till both join together and with these Joints make one compleat streight Staff and formable only about a quarter of an Inch taper upwards from the bottom to the top that it may not be too heavy and the Sights are to be fixed into both ends of the Level-Barrel that so they may stand firm and hold VVater and yet become very little Annoyance either to Sight or Practice and in carrying it it is a streight Staff with a strong Pike in the bottom of it to stick into the Ground when they use it not and in Exercise being unfolded not much unlike a Surveyor's Cross-Staff The next useful thing in this VVork is a Trenching-Plough and Coulter whose particular Use is to cut the Trench on both sides with great
some general Rules First then It is to be considered whether he be able to judge and determine the truth of the Plough-wright's and Smith's workmanship and in case he finds therein an Error at first to mend it which is then easier done than when the Plough and Irons are wrought into it or a greater Error Secondly When he has his Plough and all other Accoutrements compleat let him be sure to make his first tryal upon workable and regular Lands and not upon hard rooty or twitchy Grounds because upon such a rule cannot be observed nor a true demonstration had of the goodness and truth of the Plough because such Lands will more easily writh and suddainly wrench a new Plough out of his work before it be wrought into it but when he has tryed and well scowered it in moderate Land he must bring it by degrees to others Thirdly Having got a perfect Furrow his Plough avoiding all Earth as it takes it on a breadth carrying a fair clean Furrow along with it turning it cleverly from it let him look upon it as a choice Plough and clout it with clouts or slips in all the wearing places smooth and even strengthening it with an Iron bolt at the Neck of it from the bottom of the Head through the Beam and there strongly drawn and clottered fast if he have none before that the Head may not draw the least for a Plough having been drawn in the Breast or Neck it probably may be wholly spoiled The next care must be to keep the Irons sharp clean wrought your Coulter edge thiâ— ground the Phin sharp with a very small point upon the Share well steeled and tempered and then if your Cattle be well matched or sized it will go with abundance of ease and celerety and the Ground be well ploughed to the Plough-man's credit and the Master's profit Lastly He must be able to judge of the Land and Seasons of ploughing and to sort his several Ploughs to each alteration or at some Seasons he will not be able to Plough especially all his Land therefore this business properly timed is a great Advantage and much facilitates the Labour CHAP. XXV A Description of the most necessary sorts of Ploughs used for Tillage in England AS for Ploughs there are several sorts used in England according to the Custom of the Countries or the liking of the People and particularly four sorts are much affected 1. The Single-wheel-plough and Foot-plough 2. The Wheel-plough called the Double-wheel-plough 3. The Simple-plain-plough without Wheels or Foot 4. The Dutch-bastard or plain Dutch-plough Many other sorts there are some of them alter in their Heads others in their Beams some again in their Stales and most in their Shares of all which it would be too tedious to discourse wherefore I shall properly handle the Four premised in this Chapter because I conceive them all very useful in some sort of Land or other But to my purpose Of the Single-wheel-plough The Single-wheeled-plough may be used on almost all sorts of Land and is of much lightness and nimbleness in working The main Plough-beam that this sort of Plow requires is very short viz. about five Foot and must be made of strong and lasting Wood as small and light as may be to which iâ— another false Beam aded below the Coulter-hole under the other and fixed to it by a Staple drove up into the true Beam with a caping upon the false Beam-end and some other way which false Beam is that by which the Plow is drawn giving an opportunity by a Standard put into the end of it bored full of holes and passing through the Master-beam to let the Plough up and down to any gage of depth or shallowness as shall be required and the Beam is proper to guide it The Sheath is pitched very forward from the Beam into the Mould of the Share whose Share as I may term it is made as long as the head should have been and of the same use of the Plough-head made of two small slips not so heavy as the head be and there being no head at all the Land-handle is put into the Share-mould with an Iron Pin as also is the Plough-sheath and fixed there fast with an Iron Pin and the Share forward made like another Share and before the Breast-plate is a hole made through the Share and there it is riveted or else with an Iron hook put into a long Iron slip which is to be made an Inch or an Inch and a half broad coming up to the Beam before the Nose of the Shield-board running through it and is clâ—ttered on the top of the Beam lying on the Shield-board and the Shield-board is compassed a little below in the Breast and so before the middle begins to wind and whelm toward the Furrow and so more and more winds to the very end and this Breast-board is placed close on the Share made with a long Point and narrow or broad Phin as the Land requires and sometimes any ordinary plain Share may be used and placed on the Head as other Ploughs are either with a narrow point for Stonyness or Gravel or with a broad plain and long-sharp Point for mixed Sandy Earth The Pitch of these Ploughs are about two foot in depth and 8 or 9 inches in wideness and always be careful to observe that the uprighter you pitch your Plough it goes the narrower and the more hanging it is the broader it goes As for the depth I cannot conceive it is much material because it is born up from the false Beam till it comes to a true working pitch and an Iron Axletree is planted in that false Beam an inch or a little more in circumference and about a foot long 9 or 10 inches before the end of the false Beam and put in square unto the Beam that so it may be very fast and at the other end of the Axletree runs a Wheel upon it about 18 or 20 inches and sometimes a little higher or lower as suits best the Dryness or Wetness of the Ground and this guides the Plough from the false Beam that it cannot sting or draw into the Ground and so either with Horses or Oxen is drawn at the end of the false Beam with a Cock or Clavies as occasion requires it That which is the Standard fastened to the lower Beam and runs through to over-gage the Plough ought to be near two foot high and in the over-end two holes are to be made to put the Horse-Reins through to come fâ—om the Horse-head to the Plough-handle so that he who holds the Plough may guide him and under those divers removing holes and in the Beam one or two equal to those in the Standard and an Iron Pin put through them both These Ploughs are very expeditious in a light Ground managed by one Man and may be drawn with one Horse to plough in Seed-Season an Acre a day The Double-wheel-plough is extraordinary in use in
for Ploughing a Man may in light sandy Ground turn up two or three Acres with one Team in a day when in stiff clayey Ground one and a half â—s a sufficient day's work and in very light Ground four at the least and what is sowed nay be harrowed the same day An able Man expert in mowing may well Mow in a good deep loggy Meadow or a rough and uneven Meadow about an Acre and a half in a day and of short thin upland Meadow at least two Acres each day As for moving Barley or Oats if they be loggy thick and beaten down to the Earth making fair work and not cutting off the heads of the Ears leaving the Srtaw still growing one Acre and a half a day but if it be thick and upright then two Acres or two and a half may be reasonably mowed If the Corn be short and thin then he may Mow three and somewhat more without over-labouring Of Beans he may Mow as much and of Pease and Beans having a Hook to follow him no less for this is a Work the least troublesome As for Reaping one Man with a Binder may compass an Acre of Wheat or Rye in a day if it be choice good and well standing but if flatted or beaten down then three Rood is very reasonable and five Rood if it be thin and upright Of small Pease Fetches and the like he may cut up two Acres a day As for the gathering and inning of Grain it cannot be well proportioned because ground bears more or less the inning may be at a nearer or farther distance and therefore I shall leave this to the Master's care or such as he shall appoint to see it hastened with as much convenient speed as may be In thrashing Corn care as well as haste must be observed and if the Corn be full and clean free from any abuse or poverty in the Grain a Man may Thrash and order four Bushels in a day of Wheat or Rye six of Oats or Barley eight of Pease or Beans especially if the Pease be full and in plenty otherwise he cannot Thrash so many of them as of any other Pulse for though they require as many strokes and as much turning yet they yield not and labour is bestowed of them when they answer it not As for the labour of Ditching a Man may in one day Ditch and Quickset of a reasonable Ditch three Foot deep and four broad a Rod or Pole allowing sixteen Feet to the Pole and so less Ground of large measure less proportionable to the sufficiency of the Fence undertaken As for Hedging If it be substantial and good viz. five foot high well bounded thick stocked and close layed two Pole or Rod in a day is sufficient but thinner and lower then double or equivolent to a proportion Plashing and making Quick-fence is another labour which to well order if the growth be high and well grown you must lay it thick and close strongly binding in the tops turning the quick downward and inward and of this a Rod a day is a good day's work but if he plash it down and only lay it along regarding more thickness than comeliness or order then he may do as much more with ease and indeed the care of fencing in inclosed Countries is one principal matter for a good Fence once made and setled saves a Man a great deal of labour and trouble As for Delving or Ditching which some Grounds require where Woods have been grubbed up and not well cleared of the spreading Fibres of the Roots then of very difficult Ground if it be to level he may dig a Rod in a day but if he dig very deep and trench it or manure it as is proper then three parts of a Rod is sufficient for as ordinary delving requires but one Spade's graft extraordinary to take up the heart of the Ground requires much more CHAP. XXVII The Variation of Soil in the several Counties requires different Measures to be taken in Agriculture c. IT is proper in this place to be considered that there is a variation in Husbandry according to the Country and therefore there may be difference in Rules to be observed in divers places according to Air and Earth and the greatness or smalness of the heat or as moisture and cold doth decrease or deminish And to these must the Husbandman tune his Seasons Labours and Instruments for in stiff Clays of which all the fruitful Valleys of thiâ— Kingdom are composed as also in Huntington-shire Cambridge shire Bedford-shire and many others all manner of Arable business must be begun early in the Year and the Ploughs and Instruments to be used made of the largest size the Timber strong and the Labour great and painful so also in Soils that are mixed and very good and fruitful as Hertford-shire Northampton-shire and most part of Berk shire Essex and Kent with other Countries of the like nature Arable Labour ought to begin in the latter Season and the Instruments and Ploughs made of a middle size and the Timber indifferent and less Labour will serve than in the former But the light Sandy Grounds having a natural fruitfulness in them as Surry Suffolk Norfolk and many parts of Lincoln-shire Hanpshire c. the Arable Toils may begin at the last Seasons and Ploughs with Instruments may be of the smalest and lightest size the Timber smaler than the former and the Labour less As for all barren unfruitful Earth as in Cornwal Devonshire many parts of Wales York-shire Cheshire Lancashire and Derby-shire and the like the ploughing and ordering is to be in a fit Season according to the temperateness of the weather which if it happen early you must begin your Labour at latter Seasons and there is no true proportion to be given here for the Plough and Instruments but they must be framed according as the Ground is stronger or weaker and therefore rather follow Reason in these things than Custom and then by experience you will find less labour and better thriving CHAP. XXVIII What is required in Husbandry in order to Oxen and Horses for Tilling of Lands variously Situate c. AS for the Office and Duty of a Husbandman it requires great care and diligence and therefore I shall speak something farther of it than yet I have done And first to lay his Lands to his own profit and the ease of the labouring Cattle let him observe if his Arable Land shall lye against the side of any steep Hill as mostly barren Lands do not then plough such Lands directly against the Hill beginning below and so ascending upwards if the assent be not very easie for this will so weary your Cattle and make them irksome that they never go through it if it be any thing considerable and the beating and toiling them will surfeit and spoil them but on the contray in such Grounds plough it sideways overthwart the Hill that your Beasts may tread on the level Ground and
it they will die Grashoppers in some measure do much Injury by feeding on the Leaf and Blossom of Corn and Pulse from the earliest to the latest These are hard to be destroyed without very great labour and that is by sprinkling the Corn with Water wherein Wormwood Rue or Centaury has been boilâ—d till the strength of them are quite taken out by the Water and if they bite where the Sprinklings happen they will die and the Scent of any bitter thing is so offensive to them that they are never sound where any such thing grows Moles are two ways destructive to Corn viz. in eating the Roots and rooting it up not making distinction of any sort but taking all alike There are divers ways of taking them but not so easily when the Corn is well grown for then they do their chiefest mischief when their Tracts or the Casting up of their Hills cannot be so easily discovered However you must do it as well as you can and when you see them casting up or moving in their Tracks strike them with an Iron of many Spears or dig Pits in their Tracts and set earthen glazed Pots which they will blindly fall into and cannot scramble out or fill a earthen Jugg with Pitch Rosin and Brimstone with some loose Tow or Rags and firing it clap the Neck to the mouth of the hole and the Air in the Earth drawing the Scent to a great distance will stifle them or mix the Juyce of Hellebore with Rye-meal scatter little bits in the Furrows and finding it in their way they will greedily eat it and die CHAP. XXXII To prevent Smuttiness in Corn preserve it against Blasts the Injury of Black Frosts Snow-water Mists and how it is to be ordered when reaped wet THere are other Mischiefs that befal Corn though not from living Creatures which I have laboured to find some suitable Remedies for in the trying many Experiments To prevent the Smuttiness and Mildew before you sow your Grain sprinkle the Ground over lightly with Chalk beaten very small Against Blasts the properest Remedy is held observing the Season when they usually happen to make Fires of Stubble or rotten Straw and burn in them the Snips of old Leather the Shavings of Horn and a little Brimstone so advantagiously on the sides of the Ground that a small Gale of Wind may carry the Smoâ—k and spread it among the Corn or Puâ—e This will likewise destroy Flies and other Black Frosts are very injurious to all Grain the piercing Cold chilling or killing the fertile Heat that propagates the Growth and either withers or stints it if it be extream and without Snow To bed it and keep off the bleak Winds there is no better Remedy against this than to strow Ashes over your Land either Wood or Sea coal and they add much Heat to it and keep off a great part of the Cold some throw rotten Straw over it but that proves a great Incumbrance the other nourishes the Ground and is good Manure for barren Earth As for Snows lying on the Ground it injures not the Corn but upon Thaws the Water being of a harsh Allomy nature much injures the Roots if it lie long upon it and the best way to prevent it is to lay your Lands high your Furrows deep and to have suitable Drains to the Lowness of your Ground to drain it away as fast as may be Mists and Fogs are very offensive where they are great or rise from ill-scented Grounds especially from Fens Salt-Marshes Standing-Pools Lakes c. The way of remedying this evil is to smoak the Land in the Evening with any sort of Fuel that casts a gross thick Smoak which will in some measure disperse and dry up the Vapour that would otherways by falling on it be poisonous and offensive to the Corn. Of Corn reaped wet there comes great damage for being so by Rain and not time given it to dry abroad or by the Unripeness or too Greerness of it when mowed if the Heat be great thereby contracted it often sets it on fire if less it moulders rots or moulds the Straw and Grain that it is of little or no value You may know when the Corn is ready to reap by the much bending of the Ear driness of the Stalk and hardness of the Grain then if you see any Weeds growing up among it that are but of a moderate height reap it as soon as you can to take in the less Weeds or the Seed of them to encumber or worsen it If Grass be grown high among it and you cannot avoid reaping it with the Corn take care to spread it thin before you sheave it and dry it well in the Sun till it wither and become as Hay very dry and then sheave it up and shock it in small Shocks then when it has sweat a little open it and give it the Sun and the Air that it may yet be more dry then lay it in greater Shocks and let it sweat again and so open it and when it is by this means well opened and dried Inn it but sometimes Rain or great Mists causes a Weakness if it be before the Reaping let it stand somewhat longer in Expectation of a favourable Season but if your Expectation be frustrated and by the abundance of falling Rains the Corn is likely to be beaten down grow again or rot you must make a Virtue of Necessity reap it carry it home and having aired and dryed a little under shelter you must have Kills to dry it often turning and shifting the Sheaves and when it is dry let it cool well and mow it up lightly that the Air may come plentifully amongst it leaving for that purpose a hollow in the middle of the Mow and underneath and so it will be kept good and sweet CHAP. XXXIII Proper Directions for Stacking of Corn in the true Method to keep it from Vermin Fowl Taking-Wet or Musting WHere there is not a Conveniency of Housing there is a necessity of Stacking Corn and care must be used for the well-ordering of it this way that it may be preserved with the least loss also from Wet and Moulding for a moist Ground if the Stack be unadvisedly placed on it without any other Remedies will spo l at least a yard of the Bottom and therefore you must make and raise your Ground on purpose with Gravel Sand and Pebles or other Stones not subject to breaking proportionable for a Stack either round or a square or triangular distant from Eves-dropping or the Driping of Trees and so that the violent Winds cannot blow the Rain or Melting-Snow off from them though they stand at some distance upon the Stick yet so that it may stand safe sheltered from high turbulent Wind that would arise or uncover it then upon the Earth so rais'd above the level of Water occasioning Overflowings by sudden Showers make four pieces of Stone or Timber like Blocks broad on the lower-end and narrower on the
top of equal height about two foot and a half and fix the lower-end a little in the ground that they may stand steady then lay on their tops square Boards two inches thick and three foot square every way strong and substantial well-seasoned and free from warping then take strong Over-lays of Wood and lay them from one Board to another four-square and on these place other smaller Poles close in a manner to each other and upon this Frame stack or mow your Corn Pease Beans c. as near for conveniency to the Thrashing-Flore as may be make the Stack neatly compacted and upright which Experience rather than Printed Directions must instruct you in and you will if you be a little careful in it save much Corn for the broad Boards at the Corners will send off the Mice by their hanging so much over the Stumps or Blocks and the height together with the Poles will prevent the Moisture from injuring it any ways from the Dampness of the Ground As for your laying your Corn into Stack observe to turn the Eary-part of the Sheaves inward and so the Pigeons Sparrows c. will be disappointed And of all Proportions of Stacks I commend the round for the best and when it is made after some days setling you must Thatch it well to keep out the Wet and when you stock your Wheat let the top be Oats or other coarse Grain and so it will lye in greater safety from Wet the top being ever in most danger to receive Damage Fence it about with small Poles that Cattel come not to damage it and if your Stack be very long you must have more Pillars to support it as six or eight CHAP. XXXIV To know washed Corn and how to lay up and keep it to the best advantage all useful sorts of Grain in Granaries c. THere is a sort of Corn though it may be good enough for Grinding is altogether nought for Seed and throws away the Husband-man's Labour and Charge in sowing it because it will not prosper if at all it sprout up and therefore I think fit to give a Caution in this case that knowing it it may be avoided and this is that which is called Washed Corn such as grows in the middle of the Ear when the rest is smutty and being thrashed out with the Smuttiness about it is blackned and so not fit for the Market till it is washed clean 1. To know this from other Corn take up a handful and if it look clear bright and shining without Change or Difference of one entire colour then it is good Corn and not washed 2. If at the ends it looks whiter than in the middle and the Whiteness be a darkish muddy colour and not shining there being a changeable colour in it then it is Washed Corn and not fit to be sown 3. If you put a few Grains of it in your Mouth and in chewing the Taste be sweet and pleasant also mellow and gentle between your Teeth in the chewing then it is not washed but on the contrary if it have a bitterish or flashy raw Taste gritting or grinding hard between your Teeth with a Roughness then it is Washed Corn also when Corn is more than ordinary dry or moist those are signs of Naughtiness for Seed though not so bad as the former shewing either imperfection in the Corn or in the keeping of it for good Corn ever holds an indifferent temper between Moisture and Driness And these things ought mainly to be considered because it is not only the loss of the Seed but the Expences and Disappointment There are other things very materially to be considered as first The well-keeping of Corn which is two-fold viz. in the Ear and out of the Ear As for the first of these I have described in the manner of Shocking Drying and Stacking and for the second it is the most material when it is thrashed out and well dressed by severing it from the Chaff Cockle or any offensive Seeds of Weeds growing up among it and in this case your Granaries or other places of keeping it must be considered to be made sundry ways according to the Custom or rather Nature of the Country Some are made with Clay some trodden with Straw and Hair the former chopped small and such like But these I like not for they soonest corrupt the Corn for notwithstanding their Warmth which is a Preserver they however produce such Dust as produce Mites Weavels and other Vermin Destroyers of Corn so that they make it easily rot Others of Stone and Lime are subject to Sweatings in wet Weather and by the Moistness corrupt the Corn. Some again are made of Lime and Brick and these indeed are very good to prevent the coming or breeding of the Weavels and other small Vermin but the Sharpness of the Lime is unwholesom for all sorts of Grain The best then that I can advise to for the keeping of all manner of Grain is that made of Plaister burnt and brought into a Mortar so that by the working of small Stones into the midst of it the insides and outsides may be smoothed with the Plaister the Stones being hidden at least two fingers thick on each side and all the bottom is proper to be plaistered it being the best of all Flores for the keeping of Corn of any sâ—rts Place these kind of Grainaries as near as you can to the Air of the Fire as may be convenient for the Plaister is very cold yet it is ever dry and so free from Moisture that no change of the Air alters it in that particular but it always keeps the Corn in one state of Driness and Goodness and the warm standing of it in Winter is such a Comfort and the natural Coldness of the Plaister in Summer that it temporizes so well that I can conceive nothing better for the preserving of Grain Where this Conveniency is not or at least you will use Hutches Bins or dry Fat 's and the like they must if fit for use be made of dry or well-seasoned Oak-boards very plainly smoothed closely joyned and glewed together with Leds and Covers made very close to prevent as much as may be the Coming in of the Air but the principle use of these are to keep Malt in after it is dried or Barley to be ground or feeding Cattel To preserve Wheat the best way that it may be fâ—ee from defects Reap it in seasonable Weather at the Change of the Moon Thrash Winnow and Dress it as clean as you can then lay it in the Plaister-Lofts or Granaries described spread it about a Foot thick at the uppermost and so let it lye and at the end of four or six days at the most turn it well with a large wooden Shovel and it will keep sweet sound and good-conditioned so that the heat sweat or coldness cannot offend it the first being cooled and tempered by the opening and the second dryed up by the Air that
and the Poles that support them only then if the conveniency of getting it admit take dryed Fern and spread it in the Alleys of a pretty thickness so that rotting in the Winter it will much comfort the Hill and be good Manure against the Spring which being then cast about them will very much strengthen them and make the Plants prosper The Hills being thus manured and cast up open them at the top with a Setting-staff crumble good Mould in to lye loose at the bottom and then put in the best Hop-Plants you can get in every Hill at the least four being well prepared puttiâ—g them deep in the Earth and covering them all over at least four fingers thick and if the Earth you cover them withal be mixed with Ox-blood and a little slacked Lime it will not only give much comfort to them but preserve the roots from Worms and other Virmin Your Hop-ground being thus fitted and planted in the Month October which I account the best Season let it rest till April and when the Vines of your Hops come out of the Ground to a pretty length then set up your Poles long and straight of any convenient wholsome Wood and in doing it observe that in putting them into the Ground and fastening them you do not hurt the roots of the Hops aâ—d when they are put into a depth that they may stand firm ram the Earth hard about them and in the next place observe they are planted at that distance that the Sun beams may easily come in between them and there be no overshadowing this by a little practice may be perfected and turn to great advantage As for the number of Poles to be placed on every Hill they must be answerable to the Vines that spring up and you must twine the tendrills about them so that growing up they may of themselves wind and take fast hold not leaving any to creep on the Ground for they turn to no advantage As for weeding Hop-grounds thus manured there is little occasion for it by reason the manure will destroy the Weeds but if in despight of this any sprout to annoy the tender scions you must cut them or pull them up by the roots as in other weedings and with this care barren Ground will yield a vast advantage However before I end this Subject it will be proper to tell you how to preserve them from Vermin as well when they are grown up also CHAP. XXXVI How to order Hop-Vines gather and dry the Hops after the best manner c. IF when the Vines rise on the Poles any of them happen to break loose you must twist them again towards the Sun-rising as much as may be and those that mount above the Poles are accounted for the best and if you perceive the Flies or any other Insects to bite and afflict them sprinkle the Vines with Water wherein Wormwood has been well boiled and it will preserve them In excessive hot weather water the Hills about Sun-set and continue it if no Rain fall till they Blow which will be about St. Margaret's day and at Lamas-tide they Bell. When you observe them to turn colour some sooner then the other pull them though they be not ripe lest they shed and come to nothing as having met with some blast or other defect but when they naturally do so and in a full Season are ready to pull make a plain place in your Hop-ground as near to the Hills as conveniency will permit then cut the Vines close to the bottom of the Poles bring them away Poles and all by cutting of the intanglements one with another with a hooked Knife at the end of a long Pole and lay them down in order for those that are to gather them to pick off the Bells which must be done with much celerity not suffering them to stay long unpulled either in Rain or Sun shine During the gathering prepare your Kiln heated with Straw or small dry Wood and spread them on it in such good or ler that they may easily dry which you may know by their bitterness or crumbling between your Hands however never permit them to continue on the Kiln more then twelve hours and keep hot your Kiln night and day till your whole gathering is dryed and taking them thence let them lye on a Floor a Day or two to give before they are sacked or bagged up or else they will shed their Seed wherein the greatest virtue lyes and also the Leaves be apt to crumble and break off The Vines being cut away bare and the Roots to the middle laid open shake a little Mould mixed with Horse-dung and let them continue so all the Winter and in so ordering an Acre in a Year that hits which is certainly every third will yield 1200 weight of Hops and treble the charge you are at CHAP. XXXVII Flax and Hemp good Improvers of Land How to Manure the Ground for them Sow and Order them THere is great Improvement to be made on barren Land by manuring it proper for the well-growing of Flax and Hemp Commodities so useful and very profitable to this Nation And for these you must however choose proper Grounds for there are two sorts that naturally refuse to bear these viz. The rich stiff black tough and sollid fast Mould whose extraordinary fertility gives such an overplus of surcharge to the Seeds increase that either through rankness it runneth all into Bun and has little or no Rind or else the Seed being tender the Sod and heaviness of the Mould buries it that it labours in vain to get out The other opposite to it is the most extream barren Ground which will not bear this nor any good Seed and of these I propose to treat for such as will naturally bear them I need not spend time upon As for the first of these then though it is very good for Corn yet for Hemp and Flax it must be reduced and to begin to do it plough it up with a strong Plough fit for such Ground and about the middle of May if the weather be seasonable and the Ground not too hard sow the Seed If it be hard you must wait for some gentle Showers so that the Earth being mollified then hack it after ploughing and break the Clods in small pieces then if you can get any salt Sea-sand sand it plentifully over but for want of that sand it with the best red Sand you can get and upon every Acre so sanded sow three Bushels of Bay-salt then plough it again to mix well the Sand and Salt together and this last ploughing is proper a little after Michaelmas and then let it rest till Seed-time and then ploughing and hacking over the Ground sow it either with Hemp or Flax as you think is most for your advantage harrow it well into a fine Mould and clot it with a Clotting-beetle then after the fall of the first great Shower run it over with the backs of your Harrows
then well harrowed about four Bushels will sufficiently sow an Acre which done you must cover it with a Harrow very fine and break all the Clots picking the Stones and Rubbish off the Ground that it may come easily up the proper time of sowing is in the middle or towards the end of March. After the Land is sowed and it begins to spring up as soon as any Weeds appear they must be taken out and be from time to time kept as free from them as may be and when the Leaf is come to full growth which will be some times sooner and at others later as the seasonableness of the Year produces dryer or moister you must cut it up and carry it to the Mills to be ground and when it is so make it up in little Balls and dry them well for use And good Woad in a seasonable Year may very probably yield five or six Crops and ordinarily four and three and the Winter Crop is excellent for Sheep keeping them from the Rot and many other Diseases it likewise contrary to the Opinion of some prepares the Ground very well for Corn and good Estates have been gotten by it The best Woad has been sold from twenty to thirty Pound a Tun. CHAP. XLVII Improvement of Land by sowing Madder and how to order it MAdder is a very good improver of Land and is much used in Dying there is but one kind of it which is manured and set for use but there are many things like it as Goose-grass soft Cliver Crosswort Ladies Bedstraw c which have all Leaves like Madder and are supposed to be a wild kind of it it has long Stalks and trailing Branches on the Ground rough and full of joynts and every joynt set with green rough Leaves in the manner of a Star the Flowers grow on the top of the Branch of a faint yellow Colour after which comes the Seed round and green the Root creeps far in the upper Crust of the Earth one Root entangling into another and when it is green and fresh the Root is of a reddish Colour small and tender and although it bears a Seed yet in this Country it comes not to perfection and therefore it must be planted from the Sets that are to be gotten from the Madder and the Season of getting or drawing them is March and April as soon as they are sprung out of the Ground about three Inches every Sucker having some spines of Roots growing from it being slipt from the main Root as soon as you have drawn them put them into a convenient Basket with some fine Mold and hasten them to the Ground where they are to be set for the sooner they are set the better they prosper The Ground they best thrive in must be very rich warm and a deep Soil digged two Spades grafts and two wovelings also and when it is raked and laied very even then draw very streight Lines or Furrows trod out in long Beds about four Foot broad from one end of your Work unto the other set them about one Foot asunder every way and if it be a dry Spring they must be kept watering till they recover their fading wan Complexion You may begin to dig your Ground in the beginning of Winter and so all along to the time of setting weed it and hoe it till it have got the mastery of the Weeds and then it will destroy them Set them by a Line for a good evenness with a Setting-stick crumbling in light Mold to fill up the vacancy and if any die you must fill up the vacancy for they come not to their natural perfection under three Years and the first and second Year keep them hoing and you may gather Sets from them almost as many as you have set for the Root will bear it by taking firmness in the Ground and well spreading so that these Sets will in the mean time supply other Grounds CHAP. XLVIII Wood-land and Inclosures Improved and the great Advantage made thereby INclosures and Wood-land are of great advantage to the Husbandman not only in supplying him with Timber for his own use in Building and Sale but with Underwood for Hedging Fuel and the like for himself and Neighbours to encrease Enclosures and pass away the bitter cold of the Winter with keeping good Fires besides Trees may be planted and will flourish in places where Corn or Grass or any other profitable thing will not kindly grow besides when the Lands are cleared of Woods they prove much better and yield greater plenty of Corn with a little Manure than many that have been long tilled lying round about them they also yield pleasant and delightful prospects to the Eye serve as cool shades to retreat in in the Summer and in the Winter prove shelters to the Houses Barns and Lands lying near them from the cold nipping Winds and in Woods by their warmness Grass in the vacant places springs all the Year on which Sheep will feed well and grow fat being by that means preserved from the cold and rot likewise well grown Woods in most places produce Mast Holm Acrons Hazle-nuts Services Medlers and the like which either falling of themselves or being diligently beaten down feed a great number of Swine to a considerable fatness Lands of small value may be by planting of Trees brought to grow up to considerable Estates I find it confirmed by several that Land not computed to be worth ten Shillings an Acre per Annum has by this manner of improvement produced at eleven or twelve Years growth as much Wood as was fell'd from one Acre 60 l. And indeed Morish Boggy-lands that cannot be drained or other ways improved to any profit or advantage being planted with osiers Willows Alder Poplar or the like Trees that affect and covet moist Ground return in a little time to a great advantage for many uses growing very fast so that they turn to great advantage It has been known that a hundred Ashes at the growth of fifty Years have been sold for 500 l. and these growing too on a very small compass of Land which they but little incumbred and I find it set down that a person planted so much Wood that in his own life time was valued at 50000 l. These great incomes and encreases methinks should give many incouragement to imitate our Predecessors that as we find the advantage of their labours and industry so Ourselves and our Posterity may find the like of our own and for the better quicker and least chargeable improvement of these things I shall lay down plain and easie Rules CHAP. XLIX Of Oak Elm and Beech how to Order and Improve them for the best advantage AS for the English Oak among others for firmness and durableness it is counted the best Timber in the World for building Houses Shipping and other necessary uses and yet it will grow in any indifferent Land good or bad as Clay Gravel Sand mixed or unmixed Soils dry cold warm
it delights in good Land though almost in any other it will thrive as barren Mountains Land hardly fit for any other use but the much spreading of the roots where they stand near Arable Land hinders the Plough and the Water dropping from them much injures the Corn but Woods Coppices Wastes c. may be replenished with them they usually growing better where other Timber has been fell'd or decay'd by a long growth In White and Chalky Land they prosper very well as it appears by those of a very large stature growing on such Lands in Wiltshire Hampshire and other Counties in England the Lops and Timber turning to a very great advantage These Trees may be propagated of the Keys sown gathered in October or after when they are about falling off from the most thriving Trees These may be sowed in a Nursery and the Spring come twelve-month they will be fit to transplant to such places as you design for a continued growth but this as of all other Trees is a slow way and therefore I advise rather to get young Sets of a moderate size and cut not off the young tops because they are very sappy if it be of the Seed but if of the young Plants you may cut them near the Ground and if they take good root as they will soon do you need not fear but they will send up young Shoots and grow apace and if any of them be grown up and decay if you cut them near the Ground they will revive and sprout up with more speed and flourish exceedingly If you intend to have a Grove of Ash on a Hill or in open Ground set the Seeds in rows with a Setting-stick after the Ground has been lightly broke up let them be at some distance and many Seeds in a hole that some may infallibly hit and without transplanting they will in a few Years spring to a good heighth but if many Plants come up in one place remove the underlings that the main Plant may grow the freer by being disencumbred but beware that Cattle destroy them not when young You may plant them among other Trees that are grown pretty well to defend them from their brouzings and from the biting cold The use of this Wood is almost general is proper in Building where seasoned or well dried it stands the Plow-wright and Wheel-wright in great stead Coopers and Turners are much profited by them for Poles it is excellent either for the supporting Hops or any aspiring things that cannot without help support themselves and serves the Husbandman and Gardiner for many Tools and and Utensils it is used in many things about Shipping and in Maritime Utensils as for Fuel it burns sweet wet or dry leaving curious white Ashes behind them and little earthy parts The Leaves stamped and laid to the bite of any venomous Beast draws out the Poyson and with success the Juice of the Leaves are drank against any Poyson inwardly received The Season for setting the Ash for the best growth is from the end of October or beginning of November till January for if the Sap at setting be but a little in the Tree the Worm takes it and hinders the growth very much spoiling in the end the Timber I have been credibly informed that an Ash at forty Years growth from the Key or Seed has been sold standing for thirty Pounds and the Person who bought it got ten Pounds by it when cut out into Timber and Fuel As for the Walnut Chesnut and Service-Trees they are proper to the Woods yet bear Fruit very advantagious to the owner As for the Walnut it grows best on Hills where the Ground is tollerably good in a curious Sandy or Gravelly Soil and beside the Fruit that is delicious and nourishing making good Oyl for sundry uses the Wood is of great esteem for Gun-stocks Cabinets In-laying and many other things This Tree grows of Sets or Nuts to a prodigious bigness though it rises not so fast as the Ash and if you design their propogation by Nuts after you have laid them to sweat enter them in Sand and at a Month's end put them into Water and those that swim lay aside as useless but such as sink dry them and lay them in Sand a Month more and then in the beginning of the Spring set them and they thrive best unmoved therefore set them at a distance one from another and when they grow up fit for transplanting if occasion require it mark the quarters of the Winds as they stand on the Bark and place them when removed directly the same way slips may be taken from the Roots of the growing Walnut-Trees as they are well-springing up with some little of the Root and Bark with them and set in Sandy or a mixed Soil c. The Chesnut-Tree was formerly very flourishing in England as appears by many eminent ancient Buildings whose Timber mostly consists of that Wood being very firm and durable These may be raised from Nuts as the former viz. spread them when they are so ripe that they drop from the Tree and let them sweat a while then use them in all respects as the Walnut set them at a distance in a mixed Soil for they thrive best unmoved You may set them in Winter or Autumn in or without their husks or you may sow them with other Mast for the raising of Copices It is a very thriving Tree producing extraordinary good Poles for divers necessary uses and in ten or twelve Years time grow to a kind of Timber and bear plenty of Nuts This Timber for durance and service is next to Oak being planted in Hedge-rows or Avenues it yields a pleasant shade and ornament The Service-Trees are raised from the Berries as other Mast may be which being ripe may be sown as other Mast and they will grow apace or you may draw young Plants in Woods where they are overshaded by other more spreading Trees and cannot wâ—ll come to their growth they cause a beautiful shade and the Berries cause good digestion the Wood is useful for Joyners as being of a very delicate Grain fit for many uses it also yields Beams of a considerable bigness The Birch is another Tree very useful and profitable and will grow almost on any Land so that barren Land may be much improved by it It will thrive on hot burning Sand in cold moist Clay and in marshy Ground Boggy or Stony places this is properly produced by Suckers which may be planted at five or six Foot distance and they will grow a great pace rising as it were suddainly to Trees after the first Year they may be cut within an Inch of the Ground and they will shoot out very strongly This Tree yields excellent Sap in great quantity and being prepared with Honey or Sugar into a Wine is very medicable as well as a pleasant innocent Liquor called Birch-wine It may be extracted by cutting some small Branches when the Sap rises in the end of
February and beginning of March the Weather being open and especially when the Wind is at South or West hanging Bottles at the cut Branches to receive the cristaline Liquor or you may bore the Tree and tap it and by this means you may get great quantities it flowing forth very freely The small Branches of this Tree turn to great advantage in making Brooms Whisks Wickers and many other uses they are put to the Timber is likewise very good and the greater Brances make good Poles CHAP. LI. Of the Maple Horn-beam Quick-beam Hazle Box Juniper Holly and Fir-Trees how to Order aad Improve them THere are yet other Trees useful either for Fuel or shade that turn to the advantage of the industrious Husband-man The Maple This requires a dry and sound Mold growing in Hedge-rows very well as also in Woods and Groves it may be propagated by Sets or the Keys of the Ash The Timber is much esteemed for its whiteness and the Diaper-knots found in it serving for Trenchers Bowls and many other Utensils and much esteemed in Joyner's Work Horn-beam much affects the open parts of Woods and set in Walks or Avenues produces a pleasant shade It will grow indifferently on any Soil it must be set deep and the Sets may be about two Inches in compass in the middle it may likewise be raised of those Seeds that are ripe in Auguct if sown in October But since most Woods yield sufficient Plants I like the setting them best for the greater expedition The Timber is very hard and therefore useful for Wheel-wrights or making Tools for Rural uses Quick-beam prospers best in good light Ground though it delights in Mountains and Woods Plant the young Sets as the former or it will grow from the Berries that are found ripe about the middle of October it grows apace in Woods and Coppices yielding excellent Fuel and is good for divers other uses The Hazle though of great value for the Nuts yet is a Wood-tree affecting above others dry barren and cold sandy Ground likewise Rocky and Mountainous Soils produce them though they thrive much better in Hedge-rows where the Sun has power to invigorate them This Tree is properly raised from the Nut preserved moist but not moldy and to do it you may lay them in their own dry Leaves or in Sand These ought to be set about the latter end of February but as in the case of all other Trees young Sets or Suckers will soonest grow but cut not these the first Year but the Spring following within three or four Inches of the Ground that is if your Sets be small but greater Sets may the first Year be cut within six Inches of the Ground The Hazle though it seldom grows to substantial Timber is yet very profitable for the bearing of Nuts for the feeding of Swine and pleasant for the Food of Man out of which is likewise extracted a curious Oyl They produce curious Poles and Rodâ— make Fishing-tackle and divers other Instruments also the Under-stems and Sprays good Charcoal and Fuel and is a good shade and ornament to Walks When the Nut-trees flower much it is a sign of a plentiful Corn-harvest The Box-tree is of a great use though of slow growth it will grow on any indifferent Land and is encreased by slips it keeps green all the Year and gives a very pleasant prospect the Wood is of singular use and bears a great price being usually sold by weight So that a Grove of well-grown Box of six Acres has been sold for 3000 l. the least part of this sort of Timber being fit for one use or other and too precious to be committed to the Flames The Juniper-tree covets to grow on hilly and gravelly Ground the Wood Leaf and Berries are medicinable it may be sowed of the Berry or set of small Slips it lasts green all the Winter and in burning casts a curious scent It is proper to make fine Boxes Cabinets and other curious Works the Scent of it keeps away Worms and Moths its Gums or the sweating of it is good against pains in the Stomach or Heart and prevents infectious Air. Holly is a tough Wood keeps green all the Year and carries on it in Winter a curious red Berry it thrives in any indifferent Ground and may be set by Slips or Berries the Wood if large yields a good price The Lime-tree must be planted in an indifferent rich Soil for it will not thrive in hungry cold dry Land it is raised as Suckers from the Elm or from Seeds or Berries that drop in Autumn from the Trees and these are mostly used for ornament in Walks casting a lovely shade though in Woods they grow a good pace and yield Timber Pole and store of good Fuel The Yew-tree may be propagated in any barren Ground even on the blackest Hills or Mountains it being hot by nature producing a curious red Berry lushious and sweet as Honey though the Stone or Seed of it be very bitter and these Berries put into the Ground will grow nâ—d being set regular about eight or ten Foot distance produce in a little time a very curious Grove green all the Year the Wood of it is very sappy and tough bearing a good price for of it are made our best English Bows exceeding those of all other Nations these Trees as other may be planted of Suckers The Fir and Pine being naturally hot delight in cold Grounds high and rocky Hills and Mountains they will be raised by the Kernel taken out of the Clogs or Pine-apples soaked in Water and then exposed to a gentle warmth these you may sow in a Nursery or where you intend they shall grow up to a Grove or Wood especially the Pine which will hardly bear a remove unless very young though the Fir may be very easily removed and propagated on Slips and will grow small and streight to a prodigious heighth if it take good root even to sixty Foot high in twenty Years growth though in the six Years they seem not to grow very fast but afterward shoot up exceedingly CHAP. LII Of Trees delighting in wet Ground as the Poplar Aspen-tree Alder Willow c. their Ordering and the best way to Improve them THus Reader having declared what is necessary for the improvement of dry barren Lands by planting the most useful Trees for Timber and other services I think it fit in the same manner to instruct you to improve wet boggy and otherways useless Lands by planting of Trees to yield great stote of advantage by Fuel c. The Poplar a Tree well known grows exceeding well in moist Grounds near the brinks of Rivers but not in the Water as the Willow this Tree is propagated by streight Branches or Pitchers set in the Ground but beware you cut not off the tops till they are of two or three Years growth and head them at eight or ten Foot high and in a few Years their Branches will spread exceedingly The Timber