before Woodseer in the Wane of the Moon for fear of seeding and he shall always have them fresh and young but after Woodseer he may sow them at any time of the Moon Skerrots must be set in the Wane about the latter end of September or beginning of October For the most part all Roots should be sown in the Wane of the Moon Lettice sown in August will live all Winter but if they are sown in March they will be so bitter that they cannot be eaten Parsley should be sown after the beginning of August and it will be fresh in the spring all the year it loveth the shade The seeds of Parsley and Marjoram will lye six weeks in the ground before they come up Hop may be sown in seeds in April but they will not last The Roots that are young are good to set but the slips are best Marigolds may be sown in August for the Spring he may remove the Plants about two inches long and they will grow the bigger Alexander is sown in March or April he may remove the Roots and they will grow the next year Borrage and Bugloss are sowed in the Spring and dye that year Succory or Endive are sown in March or April remove them before the spindle and they will be the better Pennyroyal the Roots parted or the branches set in the ground will grow Mints either the Roots set or the branches being cut in divers places and set in the Earth being wet will thrive Savory sowed in the Spring commonly dyeth but being removed it will live in Winter Time is sown or set in the Spring both the seeds slips and roots of it will grow keep it from seeding and it will last three or four years Tansie may be sowed in March or April the Roots being removed will prosper Bloodwort may be sowed in the Spring its Roots being new-set will last long Dandelyon may be sowed in March or April and may be ordered as the former Carduus Benedictus must be sowed in the Spring for it will dye in the Winter Wormwood is best to be set in the slips it will last three or four years Clary is sown in the Spring it seeds the second year and then dyes Fennel may be known in the Spring and Fall he may set the Roots and it will continue many years Sweet Marjoram may be sown in April but it will dye in the Winter but if it be set the slips will prosper Artichokes proceed of young Plants taken from the old stock The best time to plant them is in March or April two days before the Full of the Moon yet some plant them in August let him set no Plants if he may have choice but those that have the bottom-knobs whole neither let him pluck any plant from the stock till it be strong and if the bottom-knobs are pulled off and broken it will hardly grow And when that he would take the plants from the stock let him dig the Earth half a foot deep round about the stock then let him thrust his Thumbes betwixt the stock and the plant keeping the bottom whole and unbroken c. Pease and Beans for the Garden must have the seed changed every year if not the increase will be very small and grow less and less for in three years the great Rounseval and great Bean will be no bigger then the wild ones let him do what he can to his Ground if he set or sow them which grew there before and so likewise it is with Corn if the seed be not changed If his Pease be in February let him set them an inch and an half deep but if he sow them in March or April let him set them but an inch deep but let him be sure that he set them in the Wane of the Moon some six or seven days before the Change or else he will have a great God and but small Pease and let him set them down eight inches asunder and he shall have Pease long and have them often Let him set them in several plots some in February some in March and others in April A Quart of Pease will serve to set a good plot of Ground Pease and Beans will prosper well being set under Trees and being sown in temperate wet weather it will be a month or longer before they will appear We shall now proceed to give other expert and certain Rules for sowing planting and setting of the most delectable Flowers and Herbs in use for the adorning of a Summer-Garden or a Garden of pleasure and delight Roses are of several sorts and colours as White Red Damask Province Musk and sweet Bryar c. Of all the Flowers in the Garden this is the chief for beauty and sweetness Rose-trees are commonly planted in a plot by themselves if the Gardine shave room enough leaving a pretty space between them for gathering Now for him to get and set his plants he must do thus In the latter end of January February or the beginning of March at the Increase of the Moon go to some old Rose-trees but not too old and the Gardiner shall find long young suckers or branches which sprang up from the Root of the Tree the last year let him dig the hole deep that he may cut off those suckers close to the Root but let him take heed of wounding the Tree then let him fill up the hole again with Earth very close and hard these suckers must be young plants for young Trees If the suckers have too many branches let him cut them away also the tops of them they will take Root the better Then where he intends to set them let him dig holes in good ground at the least a foot deep and set them a good depth treading in the Earth hard about them having a little Trench near them for watering till they have taken Root The Provost Roses will bear Root the same year that they are set in he may if he please plant Strawberries Primroses and Violets amongst his Rose-trees and they will prosper very well Gilliflowers Carnations or July-flowerâ— so called because in July they are in their prime and glory these for beauty and scent are next to the Rose they are of several curious colours and smell like to Cloves and therefore of some are termed clove-july-Clove-July-flowers These are to be set of young slips without shanks taken from the old Body or Root and when that the Gardiner sets them let him leave one joynt next to the leaf at the top of the Ground so that the Ground be above the top of the middle joynt for if he set any part of the Leaves within the Ground the Gilliflowers heads will never prove Earthen pots are good which have holes in or near the bottom in which pots let him plant his Gilliflowers and in dry weather twice a week in the Summer-time set them in a Tub of water for three hours or more But let no water come to the top of the pot but
the Rain the pot will suck up a sufficient moisture at the bottom-holes The Gardiner shall never need to take in his pots but in frosty weather Wall-July-flowers usually growing on Walls for they delight to grow in Lime and Mortar they will sometimes seem dead in the Summer and be green and bear flowers in the Winter they bear store of seed which he may sow and set the slips If he will have them grow upon a Wall let him dig little holes betwixt the Bricks and Stones with an old Knife and put in the seed Tulips are very beautiful Flowers but have no scent they adorn a Garden well or a House their Roots are all like Onions which the Gardiner must set in January if there be no Frost and after they have done bearing about Michaelmas let him take up the Roots out of the Ground which will be double and keep them dry in a Box against the next year Primroses so called as they are the first Flowers in the Spring they are very sweet growing both single and double when the Roots grow too great part them in two or three quarters and set them again though they be flowered they will grow Cowslips are dainty sweet Flowers they also grow both single and double and if the Roots grow broad you may sever them as you did the Primrose Harts-ease or Pansies they are in shape almost like a Violet they shed their seeds and dye but come thick up the next Spring Lavender is wondrous sweet both Leaf and Flower good for shew their Roots will grow double like a Tulip which being parted must be new set Marigolds shew pleasant and are of a reasonable scent you may sow them of seeds or set young plants Daisies are white red or mingled colours they make a pretty shew in a Garden in the Spring their Roots growing too thick and too broad are to be parted and new set Flower-de-luces also make a great shew in a Garden the Roots are to be severed and new set which being dryed smell sweet Lillies that are red make a pleasant shew but have no scent their Roots grow like Garlick double but bigger which being parted and new set will grow again White Lillies their Roots are not like the red their Roots also are to be parted and set as the red Lilly Crocasses must be used and set as the Tulip if the Gardiner set them in his Borders they will make a pretty shew in the Spring Lupines proceed from a seed sown in April and March they bear a delicate flower and the green leaves are of a strange shape they bear Cods like small Beans in which are seed Holy-hocks are white and red he may sow them of seeds or plant the Root Piony must have the Roots parted and set the green leaves spread very broad it beareth a great beautiful red flower The seed of it must be sown in the Spring French Mallows make a handsom shew they are also to be sowed in the Spring Saffron flowereth about Michaelmas when the flowers fade it is to be set of Roots which ought to be removed every third year about Midsummer Poppy hath a very fair flower and of a pretty colour the seed of it must be sowed in the Spring Batchelers buttons are sowed in the Spring-time or the Roots may be planted Sweet Sisely hath a pleasant scent he may sow the seeds or part the Roots and set them Rose-Campions may likewise be sowed of seed or the Roots planted Flower of the Sun groweth very high and beareth a great yellow flower as big as the crown of a Hat is openeth and shutteth with the Sun like the Marigold the seeds must be set in February or March about a finger deep Strawberries are white red and green but the best Strawberries are gathered out of the Woods which have Roots well bearded Let him set them in January February or in August three inches one from the other in the beginning of the last Quarter of the Moon I shall next follow the order of the growing and setting of green sweet Herbs for the Summer-Garden Angelica groweth big and broad and lasteth long you may sow it of seeds in the Spring and the Roots may be removed after the first year Lonage groweth much like to Angelica and it is to be ordered in the like manner Anniseeds are produced of seeds sowed they dye the first year and so doth Coriander Coast-Mary may be sowed of seeds or the Roots parted and set in March are best Featherfew is to be sowed in March or April Oculus Christi is best to be sowed of seeds or upon any remove of the young plants and new set them Herb of Grace or Rue the best way to set it is of slips it is green most part of the year and thrives best in the shade Southernwood is to be ordered like Rue Dutch-box grows green most part of the year it is very handsom for Works and Borders he may part the Roots and set them Rosemary is a tender Herb the best setting of it is in April or in the end of March the Gardiner must set such as have no Blossoms and as he takes it from the branch but by no means let him slive it or tear the slips but cut them off a little from the body leaving some few leaves behind on the piece and then it will grow again otherwise the body being hurt it will never grow Bay-roots will proceed from the Bay-berry being set in the Spring or he may plant the young suckers which spring from the Root Hony suckles or Wood-bine the Gardiner must get them in Woods or Hedges in the Fields but let him dig enough to have their Roots prune them and plant them against the side of a House or a Wall or Pole and they will yield a most pleasant shade or a comfortable scent They must be taken up in January February or the beginning of the Spring Hedges or Quick-sets in his Gardens may be made either with suckers of Goosberry-trees Currants Privet or Hauthanethorn planted in January and February at the Increase of the Moon Eglantine or Sweet-Bryar is to be set on suckers also and in those months also as the former they will grow from the red Hips which they bear but it will be long before they come to any bigness In August four days after the Change or three days before the full Moon let the Gardiner cut all his Winter-herbs within an handful of the ground then will they get head against the Winter and it will preserve them the better from hard weather and in the end of September let him sift the Earth or a good mould upon them to cover the Roots well otherwise the Frost and Rain will bear the Earth from the Roots that the Herbs will be in danger of being killed And such Herbs as the Gardiner intends to keep against Winter let him cut them often to keep them from seeding for seeding doth kill most Herbs by this means
Land which usually yields a far better profit then grasing and sometimes a double profit and sometimes more near a treble profit and then to clover it again will afford a wondrous strange advance And if you consider one Acre with the Clover and Husbandry thereof may stand you the first year in twenty Shillings the Land being worth no more which may produce you yearly if it thrive well easily five six or eight pounds per Acre nay some will affirm ten or twelve pounds or more Of the Plantation of Hops and how Land is improved thereby HOps is grown a National Commodity But it was not many years since the famous City of London petitioned the Parliament of England against two Anusancies or offensive Commodities were likely to come into great use and esteem that was Newcastle Coal in regard of their stench c. and Hops in regard that they would spoil the taste of Drink and endanger the peoples healths and for some other reasons I do not well remember but petition they did to suppress them and had the Parliament been no wiser then they we had been in a measure pined and in a greater measure starved This Hop-plantation will require a large Discourse but I shall contract my self to the briefest discovery thereof I can possibly 1. Chuse the Land that is best for them and best Sets to plant withal 2. The best manner of planting them and husbanding of them until they are fit for sale 3. The profit and advantage that will accrue thereby I shall afterwards as plainly as I can express 4. Describe the manner of its growth thus it comes up with several sprouts like Asparagus runs up and climbs upon any thing it meets withal bears a long stalk hairy and rugged Leaves broad like the Vine the flowers hang down by clusters set as it were with scales yellowish called in High Dutch Lupullus in Low Dutch Hopssem and in English Hop It is offensive upon this account hot in the first degree stuffs the head with the smell therefore use it not too much yet the Leaves open and cleanse The best Land is your richest Land it must be a deep Mould that which lyeth near the Rock the Poles cannot be set deep enough to stand firm it should be a mixt Earth that is compounded of Sand and a little Clay but much solid Earth a strongish Land laid dry and warm will bear the weightiest Hops A barren Moorish wet Soil is not natural to Hops but if this be laid very dry and made very rich with Dung and Soil it may do reasonable well The Hop-Garden should stand warm that it may be preserved from North and East winds rather by Hills then Trees as near your House as may be and that Land you determine for your Hop-Garden lay as level and as square as you can and if it be rough and stiff it will do well to be sowed with Hemp Beans or Turneps before but in what state soever it be till in the beginning of Winter make use of the Plough or Spade and this not only the year before but every year as long as you use it and the more pains and cost you bestow the more profit and is the nearer to you resemble the Flemming in his Hopping And for your Sets and good Roots to procure them you must go to a Garden orderly kept where the Hops are of a good kind all yearly cut and where the Hills are raised very high for the Roots will be greatest be sure to buy choice Sets they may cost six a hundred in some places and sometimes you may have them for the taking up leave your Husbandry orderly their Hills well drest You must chuse the biggest Roots you can find such as are three or four inches about and the Set nine or ten inches long and have three joynts in a Root Take heed of wild Hops they are only discerned by the Root and stalk The unkindly Hop that likes not his ground soil or keeping comes up green and small in the stalk thick and rough in the leaves like Nettles much bitten with a black Fly but it destroys not the Hop but somewhat injures it The manner of planting as soon as your Roots are got is either to set them speedily or lay them in some Puddle or bury them in Earth but leave them not in Water above twenty four hours Then begin to direct your Hills with a Line tyed with knors and threads thereto the due distance had need to be eight foot betwixt because then you make the fewer and bigger Hills the Sun comes about them Let the Poles reach not one another that so it may be plowed yearly the more easily otherwise it must be digged some say seven foot and others say six foot as one lately accustomed manner is And I am confident there is most advantage by thin planting but that I leave to each mans Experience Your hole under the knot of your Line had need be a foot square and deep then if you can have the wind South or West it is best if not go on having made many holes but be sure to take the month of April for the work and take two or three of your Roots as a great old Gardiner affirmed to me by which they will yield green Sciens or white Buds and will have small beards growing out Joyn your Sets together even in the tops and set them altogether bolt upright and there hold them in their place till you have filled the hole with good Mould and set low but just as the tops may be level with the ground and then after they must be covered thick with fine Mould be careful you set not that end downwards which before grew upwards which you may know by the bad growing upwards and let no part of the dead stalk remain upon the uppermost joynt thereof then press down the Earth hard to the Roots Some will set them every one at a corner of the foot of the Line which I rather incline to because they have room and stand round But if you plant late and have green springs upon them then be careful of not covering the spring but to set more Plants lest some should fail and in a bigger hole round about the same set eight some say ten or more which is thought tedious Now at this time you need make no Hills at all there as aforesaid Poultry must be kept from thence for scratching the Goose more especially or any things that are mischievous Now for poling if your distance be three yards or eight foot then four Poles are required else three will serve but I incline to six or seven foot distance and four Poles and as many this year as any Elder Poles are very good taper and rough and suitable to the Hops desire The time of cutting your Poles is in December or in November and then dress them and pile them up dry if you leave some Twigs it will not do amiss
straw and so depart your Garden till March unless it be to bring in Dung. Lay on some in the Winter to comfort and warm the Roots your old Dung is best rather none then not rotten And in April help every hill with a handful or two of good Earth when the Hop is wond upon the Pole but in March you will find unless it hath been tilled all Weeds But if you have pulled down your hills and laid your Ground as it were level it will serve to maintain your hills for a long time but if you have not pulled down your hills your shall with your Ho as it were undermine them round till that you come near to the principal and take the upper or younger Roots in your hand discerning where the new Roots grow out of the old Sets but cut no Roots before the beginning of March or end of April The first year of dressing your Roots you must cut away all such as grew the year before within an inch of the same and every year after cut them as close to the old Roots Those that grow downward are not to be cut they are those that grow outward which will incumber your Garden The difference betwixt old and new easily appears You will find your old Sets not increased in length but a little in bigness and in few years all your Sets will be grown into one and by the colour also the main Root being red the other white But if this be not yearly done then they will not be perceived and if your Sets be small and placed in good Ground and the hill well maintained the new Roots will be greater then the old if they grow to wild Hops the stalk will wax red pull them down and plant new in their places As for the annual charge of the Hop-Garden after it is planted the dressing the Hills the Allies the hoing them the poling them and tying to the Poles and ordering the Hops is usually done for forty shillings an Acre together with pulling drying and bagging by the day And so I proceed to the drying of them which may be upon any ordinary Kilne with any Wood that is dry but not too old or else good sweet Rye-straw will do well but Charcoal best of all They must be laid about nine or ten inches thick and dryed a good while on that side and then turned upside down and dryed as much on the other side about twelve hours will dry a Kilne full which must be followed night and day then laid up in a close Room upon a heap together for a month if your Markets will give you way to frume and forgive again when the stalk begins to be brittle and the leaf also begins to rub then the Hop is dryed sufficiently but tread them not while they are hot it will tread them to dust and then either against Sturbridge-Fair or what other Markets you provide for you may bag them up close and hard either to 200 a Quarter And so I come to my next Particular to shew you the profit of them One Acre of good Hops may possibly be worth at a good Market forty fifty sixty pounds an Acre may bear eleven or twelve hundred weight possibly some have done more many ten but grant but eight hundred they may sometimes be worth not above one pound four shillings the hundred and some other times they have been worth twelve or fourteen pound a hundred and usually once in three years they bring money enough It is usually a very good Commodity and many times extraordinary and our Nation may ascribe unto it self to raise the best Hops of any other Nation There 's an old Saying Heresie and Bear Hopt into England in one year Of the Mystery of Saffron and the way of planting of it THere is another very rich Commodity wherein our Nation hath the Glory and yet it is a very Mystery to many Parts of it they know not whether such a thing grows in England and yet none such so good grows in the World beside that I have ever heard or read of and that is Saffron It is a most soveraign and wholesom thing and if it take right it is very advantagious and costly for price It hath its ebbings and its flowings as all other things have I shall briefly give you the story of it Good Land that is of the value of 20 l. an Acre being well husbanded tilled and fitted or worser Land being well manured and brought to perfect Tillage will serve the turn but the better the better for the work The season is about Midsummer when it is to be set that being the season when they usually take up or draw their Sets or Roots and old store when they may be had and no time else The Land being brought into perfect Tillage the best way is to make a Tool like a Ho in operation but as broad as six of them and with that they draw their Land into ranges open as it were a Furrow about two or three inches deep and there place their Sets or Roots of Saffron about two or three inches asunder which Roots are to be bought by the Strike sometimes dearer and sometimes cheaper and are very like to Onions an Onion about an inch and a half over and as soon as they have made one Furrow all along their Land from one end to another then they after that it is set begin in another and draw that which they raise next to cover this and so they make their Trench and cover the other they keep one depth as near as may be which Ranges or Furrows are not above three or four inches distance that so a Ho of two or three inches distance may go betwixt them to draw up the Weed which being set and covered it may come up that Summer but it dies again yet it lives all Winter and grows green like Chives or small Leeks And in the beginning of Summer it dyeth wholly as by the blade of it is as to appearance let one come and take a Ho and draw all over it and cleanse it very well and then will come up the Flower without the Leaf In September the Flower of it appears like Crocus that is blew and in the middle of it come up two or three Chives which grow upright together and the rest of the Flower spreads broad which Chives is the very Saffron which you may take betwixt your fingers and hold it and cast away all the rest of the Flower and reserve that only and so they pick it and they must pick it every morning early or else it returns back into the body of it to the Earth again until the next morning and so from one to another for a months space it will bear Saffron You must get as many Pickers as may overcome it before it strike in at the very nick in the morning It will grow to bear a Crop and then it must be taken up and planted new
in it To sow Oats IN March is the time to sow Oats and especially upon light Ground and dry howsoever they will grow on wetter ground then any Corn else for wet ground is good for no manner of Corn. Three London bushels will sow an Acre There are three sorts of Oats that is to say red Oats black Oats and rough Oats Red Oats are the best when they are threshed they will be yellow in the bushel they are very good to make Oatmeal of Black Oats are as great as they are but they have not so much flour in them for they have a thicker Husk nor do they make so good Oatmeal The rough Oats are the worst Oats and it quitteth not the cost to sow them They are very light and have long tayls whereby they will hang each on the other These several kinds of Oats wear the ground very much and maketh it as it were quick A young Husbandman had need to be careful how thick he soweth all manner of Corn for two or three years and to observe how it cometh up whether it be thick enough or not and if it be too thin let him sow thicker the next year but if it prove well let him hold his hands for three or four years but if it be thin let him recollect with himself whether it proceeds from the unseasonableness of the Weather or through his thin sowing How to sever Pease Beans and Fitches WHen the Husbandman hath threshed his Pease and Beans after they be winnowed if he sow them or set them let them be well reed with Sieves and let him sever in three parts the great from the small by which means he shall get in every Quarter a London bushel or thereabouts For the small Corn lyeth in the hollow and void places of the great Beans and yet shall the great Beans be sold as dear And therefore he that buyeth by whole sale and retaileth must needs be a great gainer and he must needs be a loser that sets his Pease Beans and Fitches together for then he loseth his whole sale but sever into three parts there is the more gain How all manner of Corn should be covered THe Corns being shorn and bound and the Tythes cast out it will be time to cover them stock them or half throve them but covering is the best way of all manner of white Corn And that is to set four sheaves on one side and four sheaves on the other side and two sheaves above of the greatest bound hard nigh to the nether end the which must be set upwards and the top downwards spread abroad for to cover all the other sheaves They will stand best in wind and save themselves best in rain they should be set on the ridge of the Land and the side-sheaves to lean together in the tops and wide at the bottom that the wind may go thorow to dry them Pease and Beans should be set on the ridge of the Land four sheaves together the tops upwards and writhen together and wide beneath that they may the better wither To load Corn and mow it WHen all the several Corns are dry and withered enough then let the Husbandman load them into the Barn and lay every several sort of Corn by it self And if it be a wet Harvest let him make many Mows and if he have not housing enough then it is better for him to lay the Pease and the Beans without upon a Reke rather then other Corn and it will be better upon a Scaffold then on the ground but then it must be well hedged for Swine and other Cattel Besides the ground will rot the bottom whereas the Scaffold saveth both hedging and rotting but they must both be well covered And the Husbandman may set Sheep or Cattel under the same Scaffold for it will serve him instead of a house if it be well and strongly made How to know divers manner of Weeds IN the latter end of May and the beginning of June is the time for the Husbandman to weed his Corn. There are divers manner of Weeds as Thistles Kedlocks Docks Cockle Drake Darnel Guâ—des Hadods Dog-fennel Mathes Tare and divers other small Weeds but these already named are those that are most troublesom The Thistle is an ill weed rough and sharp to handle which fretteth away the Corns nigh it and causeth the Shears not to shear clean Kedlocks have a leaf like Rapes it beareth a yellow flower and is an ill weed it groweth in all manner of Corn and hath small cods and groweth like Mustard-seed Docks have a broad leaf and divers high spires and very small seed in the top Cockle hath a long small leaf and it will bear five or six flowers purple colour as broad as a Groat the seed is round and black and may well be suffered in bread-corn but not in seed for therein is much flour Drake is like Rye till it begin to seed it hath many seeds like to Fennel-seeds and hangeth downwards and it may well be suffered in bread for there is much flour in the seed and it is an opinion that it proceedeth from Rye Darnel groweth up straight like to a high grass it hath long seeds on either side there is much flour in the seed it groweth much amongst Barley and it is said to come from small Barley Guldes or Goldes hath a short jagged leaf that groweth half a yard high it hath a yellow flower as broad as a Groat it is an ill weed that groweth most commonly amongst Barley and Pease Hauâ—od hath a blew flower and a few little leaves it hath five or six branches flowered in the top it groweth commonly in the Rye upon lean ground it doth little hurt Dog-fennel and Mathes are both one and in the coming up is like Fennel it beareth many white flowers with a yellow seed and it is the worst weed that is except Tare it riseth most commonly when great wet falleth shortly after the Corn is sown Tare is the worst weed and it doth never appear till the month of June after a great wet or a little before it groweth most in Rye It is somewhat like Fitches but that it is much smaller it will grow as high as the Corn and with the weight thereof pull it down flat to the Earth fretting the Ears of it away Wherefore I have seen Husbandmen mow down the Corn and it together and also with sharp hooks to reap it as they do Pease and make it dry and then it will be good Fodder There are many other Weeds which do much harm which here for brevity sake I shall omit to mention How to weed Corn. THe chief instrument to weed Corn is a pair of Tongs made of wood the further end of them being nicked to hold the weed the faster After a shower of Rain it is best weeding for then they may be pulled up by the roots so as never for to grow again If it be dry Weather then must the
shave down the nether part and pulleth away the bark from the body of the Tree the which for the future will cause the Tree to be hollow in that place to the hurt of it And therefore let the Husbandman begin at the neâ—hermost bough first with a light Ax for a hand to cut the bough or both sides a foot or two foot from the body of the Tree and especially to cut it more in the nether side then the upper side so that the bough fall not straight down but fall on the side and then shall it not slave nor break any bark and every bough will have a new head and bear much more wood and let the Husbandman except he must needs do it avoid to crop the Tree and that more especially when the wind standeth in the North or in the East and let him beware that he crop it not in sap-time for then it will dry within few days after though it were an Oak Particular Secrets and choice Rules for Setting Watering and Ordering of several choice Plants Roots delectable Flowers and Herbs for Gardens The ordering of the Summer-Garden for pleasure and delight as also for the more profitable increase of the Kitchin Garden Together with Directions how to sow and order for the Season whatsoever belongeth to the Summer or Kitchin-Gardens for Plants Herbs Roots Seeds c. As also for the aptest time to gather dry and preserve them THe Husbandman or Gardiner who would have Plants to grow to a greater bigness then ordinary ought to remove them after four or five Leaves are come up and to set them again as out of one bed bestowed into another and the like from one border into another prepared at a certain distance asunder when showers of rain have well moistned and softned the same being such Plants that before the setting require to have tops of the Leaves and ends of the Roots cut off whereby they may the freelier grow up broad or big in the Roots The young Sets in the Garden of pleasant delight and smell may the Owner of the Garden also bestow in Borders in all seasons although more commendably in the Spring time in breaking of the slips or branches of one years growth for the bodies of the old stock and in wreathing the ends about so to set them a good depth in the Earth the Moon at that time drawing near to the Change which will much further the Sets in their sooner taking of root The Marigold Daisie Columbines Primrose Cowslip Sweet John Gilliflowers Carnations Pinks and sundry other delectable Flowers if the Gardiner do change those into Beds they will increase the bigger fairer and doubler the Moon at this time being considered to be increased of light there must be a diligence to be bestowed in the often watering of them The Plants which are certain Leaves sprung up need not to be removed into other Beds are Spinnage Arach Dill Sperage Sorrel Chervil Parsley and divers others of the like sort The Gardiner having digged and prepared his Garden into Beds and Borders I will now shew him as briefly as I can the best order and manner for setting and sowing of the chiefest Plants Herbs Flowers that are now most in request When he sets any Herbs Flowers or Plants he must the next day a little moisten the ground in the morning and so keep it moist until they be well rooted by watering The best watering which is certain except his Ground be new made with half Dung is to make a hole with the Dibble a little for the Herb or Plant aslope to the Root and so to water the Root under the ground for water rotteth and killeth above ground and whatsoever he sows let him cover it with Earth but as thin as he can for if they be too deep set or sown most Seeds Kernels and such like will never come up When he sets any thing let him be sure to make the Earth very wet then let him overlay half a foot on dry Mould making it so close with beating it with the Spade as he can then let him set in his Herbs or Plants thrusting the Earth very hard to the Root Herbs for works may be watered but Plants must not be wet above ground for fear of rotting Let him never water but in the morning except in June or July and then he may water about four of the clock in the afternoon For setting sowing or planting it is best when the weather is warm nor the ground neither too wet nor too dry at the top but so moist as that it will not stick to his shoe as after a Frost And for the time of the Moon I hold the second day before the New Moon to be the best for most things but for Flowers and that a little after the Change or New Moon The Ground which is to sow at the Spring must be digged at Michaelmas with good Dung and then let him trench the digging The best time for sowing is February March April but for the setting of Herbs March and the beginning of April is best and those Herbs which spring out of the ground in February must be set in the month In the middle of April or in the beginning of May as the Moon shall happen to be in the Wane let him dig a Ditch about a yard deep and lay some three quarters of a Load of Horse-dung therein then let him cover the Dung over a foot thick with good Earth laying his Seeds along on the Earth dry and let him cover them an inch thick with light Earth and every night until May be past let him cover them with a wet Cloth or straw to keep away the Frost and uncover them in the day time And let him take notice that when the Cucumber hath three leaves he may then remove them to their other places The Pompion seeds should be set a finger deeper in the Earth and the Cabbages should be removed when they are a handful high Parsnep seeds may be sown in October in the Wane of the Moon but if they prove not let him sow more seeds in February following Carrots should be sown at the latter end of April or the beginning of May. Turneps grow best in sandy Earth and should be sown at that time that Carrots are but if they are required in Lent let him sow them in August at the Wane of the Moon Onions require a rank fat Ground half dung he must sow them in February He may also sow Onion and Lettice seeds and Radish seeds mingled together in one plot for Sallets at the same time in a hot Ground Let him set Onions for Scallions to seed in October Garlick requireth a temperate Ground not too rank and it is good setting of it in February and in October Leeks are for a rank Ground and should be sown in October Radishes require such a Ground as the Onion doth sow it in February and it will last all the Summer every month
they will live the better in Winter but let him have a care that he do but seldom cut his Herbs in the Wane of the Moon To have Flowers great let him remove them once a year the second or third day before the full Moon and so plant them in August as in March the weather being warm and the ground wet they will grow To dry Herbs for Broths or for Chests he must make use of set Plats in the Sun in August in their Flowers as Winter-savory Time Marjoram Pennyroyal Mints Balm Rosemary tops Marigolds Lavender Rose-leaves c. Let him gather them as he dryes them when he sees the morning fair and hot and the Herbs dry The best and worthiest Roots of Herbs for the most part are to be gathered in apt and fit seasons and places when that the leaves are beginning to fall off and the fruits and seeds already shed so that the season be fair for done in a nainy day the Roots will be rendered the weaker when they are filled with unnecessary moisture The flowers in like manner are to be gathered as the Borrage Bugloss and all others of like sort when they are wholly opened and before they are feeble except the flowers of the Rose and Jesamine which ought to be gathered for the better and longer keeping before that they are much or rather but a little opened The Leaves and whole Herbs are to be gathered when that they are come to their growth and perfection The Fruits and Melons Cucumbers Citrons and Gourds when they appear yellow and are come to their perfect growth and perfection The seeds in like condition are to be gathered when they are well ripened and before they shed on the Earth but those that do remain on the Earth after the Herbs are throughly dryed ought to be rubbed forth with the hands and kept unto the time of sowing Let the Gardiner remember that seeds ought to be gathered in a clear season and in the Wane of the Moon And let the Gardiner take this for a general Rule to be observed That always all those things that are to be gathered as the Herbs Flowers Roots Fruits and Seeds that they are to be gathered in a fair and dry season and in the decrease of the Moon The Herbs which the Owner intends to keep are to be pickt and to be preserved by cleansing let them be dryed in the shade the place being open towards the South not moist and free from smoak and dust These are to be put in Leather-bags rather then Canvass the mouths at the hanging up fast tyed or into wooden Boxes of the Box-tree to the end that the Herbs may not lose their proper virtues The Flowers ought to be dryed no otherwise then by the Sun at Noon but more especially through the sharp heat of the same together with the heat of the Air unless it be our Rose of the Garden which is to be preserved for a longer time and it is to be longer dryed and more moderately in a high place standing open to the Sun at Noon or so that the Sun-beams enter into but yet touch not the Rose-leaves The best way for drying of Flowers is to lay them in a temperate place free from moisture dust and smoak and to stir them to and fro that they corrupt not in the drying so as to lose neither their colour nor their natural savour The finer seeds are to be preserved in Leather-bags or in earthen Vessels having very narrow mouths or else in Glass-bottles or Gally-glasses very well stopped But the seeds of Onions Chibols and Leeks as also of Poppy are to be preserved in husks and heads For the preserving of Roots the Gardiner ought to learn and exercise two means the one for keeping of them fresh and the other for the round Roots as the Navew Radish Carrot and other like sorts for to preserve them dry The way and means to preserve Roots fresh is to bury them in a Cellar in Gravel or Sand well turned upon them or in a Garden-ground reasonably deep digged even as he doth for the Radish and Navew in the earth that he may enjoy the commodity of them for the greater part of the Winter to preserve Roots dry the Gardiner after the plucking of the Roots out of the Earth ought to wash them very clean with Conduit or Spring-water afterwards to cut away all the small and hairy Roots which done to dry them in a shadowy place free from the beams of the Sun if so be that they are slender or thin Rind as the Roots of the Fennel Succory Parsley Endive Borrage Bugloss Sperage and sundry such like but if the Roots are thick of Rind of a gross Essence and big then must the Gardiner lay them dry in the Sun at Noon-day as the Roots of Gentian the Earth Apple Briony Rapontick Aristolocia or any others like them All the Field-plants Flowers and Roots are longer in Nature but in substance inferior to the Garden-plants c. Among wild Plants those growing on the Mountains do excel the others in property Amongst all Plants those are of a stronger Nature more especially those that are of a livelier colour better taste and savour The Herbs which one would use for the Kitchin ought rather to be gathered with a Knife somewhat above the Earth when they are shot up to their perfect growth as the Beets Succory Arach Borrage Marigold Colewort Endive Clary Rocket Basil Marjoram Mercury Lettice Parsley and many others Thus I have as briefly as I could discoursed of Fruits sundry Herbs and Flowers how they are properly to be gathered and according to their diversity to be preserved all which Instructions and rare Secrets I have in part borrowed out of the Treasures of the best and most experienced Professors of Husbandry together with what I have got through my earnest importunity from some of my most intimate Friends I beseech God to vouchsafe his Blessing to these my poor Endeavours Of Bees IN the keeping of Bees there is little charge but they require good attendance to the time that they shall cast the Swarm To which purpose it will be convenient that the Hive be set in a Garden or an Orchard where as they may be kept from the North-wind and the mouth of the Hive towards the Sun In June and July they do most commonly cast and they should have some low Trees nigh to them before the Hive that the Swarm may light upon and when the Swarm is knit take a Hive and splent it within with three or four splents that the Bees may knit their Combs unto it and anoint the splents and sides of the Hive with a little Honey and if he have no Honey let him take sweet Cream and then set a stool or a form nigh to the swarm and lay a clean washed sheet upon the stool and then let him hold the small end of the Hive downwards and shake the Bees into the Hive and then
oftentimes dye suddenly The signs of his death are that he will stand still and hang down his head and sometimes quake The Shepherds Remedy for this Disease is to take the sheep and rub him about the head and especially about his Ears and under his Eyes and with his Knife let him cut off his Ears in the midst and also let him bleed in a Vein under his Eyes if he bleed well he is like to live if he bleed not then kill him and save his flesh for if he dye by himself the flesh is lost and the skin will be far ruddier liker to blood then any other skin shall be Of the Pocks and the Remedy thereof THis Disease appears upon the skin in the likeness of red Purples as broad as a Farthing This distemper destroys many sheep To remedy this the Shepherd is to handle all his sheep and to survey and look on every part of their bodies and as many as he finds taken therewith let him put them into fresh new Grass an◠keep them from their fellows and let him often have an Eye over his Flock and draw 〈◊〉 he hath need And if it be in Summer-time that there be no Frost then let him wash them Of the Wood-Evil and the Remedy thereof THere is a sickness amongst Sheep that is called the Wood-Evil It taketh them in the Spring of the year and taketh them most commonly in their Legs or in their Neck and maketh them to halt and hold their Necks awry For the most part those that have this sickness dye within a day or two The best Remedy is to wash them a little and to change their ground to bring them to a low ground and fresh Grass for this sickness is most commonly in Hilly Ley and Ferny Grounds Some for this sickness let their sheep blood in a Vein under the Eye What are the things that chiefly rot Sheep IT is necessary that a Shepherd should know what things chiefly rot the sheep that he may the better preserve them There is a Grass called Spearwort it hath a long narrow Leaf like a Spears head it will grow a foot high and it beareth a yellow flower as broad as a Penny It groweth always in low places where the water useth to stand in Winter Another Grass is called Penny-grass it groweth low close to the Earth in Moorish Grounds it hath a Leaf as broad as Two-pence but never beareth flower All manner of Grass that the Land-flood runs over is bad for sheep because of the sand and the filth that sticketh upon it All Moorish Ground and Marsh-ground is bad for sheep The Grass that groweth upon Fallows is not good for sheep for there is much of it weedy and oftentimes it cometh up by the root and that bringeth earth with it and the sheep eat both Mildew-grass is very bad for sheep and that we may find out by the Leaves of the Trees in the morning and especially of Oaks take the Leaves and put thy tongue to them and thou shalt taste like Honey upon them Therefore the sheep should not be let out of the Fold till the Sun hath the power to dry up the Mildew Want of food will cause a great Rot amongst sheep for then they will have neither good flesh nor good skins White Sincles are very bad for sheep in Pastures and in Fallows There is another Rot that is called the Pellet which proceeds from great wet especially in woody Countries where they find a want of driness To know rotten Sheep divers manner of ways whereof some of them never fail LEt the Shepherd use both his hands and twirl upon the Sheeps Eye and if it be ruddy and have red strings in the White of the Eye then the sheep is sound but if the Eye be white like Tallow and the strings dark-colour'd then he is rotten Let him also take the sheep upon the Wool of the side and if his skin be ruddy-colour'd and dry then he is sound but if it be pale-colour'd and watry then he is rotten Also when the Shepherd hath opened the Wool of the side let him take a little of it betwixt his finger and his Thumb and pull it a little if it stick fast he is sound if it come lightly off he is rotten When a sheep is killed if his body be full of water he is rotten and also the fat of the flesh will be yellow if the Liver be cut wherein will be little quicknesses and live things like flocks and also the Liver will be full of knots and white Blisters if it be rotten it will also break and crumble in pieces but if the sheep be sound it will hold firm together BRIEF Experimental Directions FOR The Right Use of the ANGLE HE that addresseth the River for his pleasure must be well prepared as to the setting forth of his Tackle The first thing he must do is to observe the Sun the Wind the Moon the Stars and the Wanes of the Air he must observe the Times and Seasons to set forth his Tackles to go for his pleasure and for his profit As for Example the Sun proves cloudy then must he set forth his Ground-bait or his Tackles and of the brightest of his Flies If the Sun proves bright then must he put on some of the darkest of his Flies Thus must he go to work with his Flies light for darkness and darkness for light he must also observe that the wind be in the South for that wind blows the Fly in the Trouts mouth But if the weather be warm it is indifferent where the wind standeth either with Ground-bait or Menow so that he can cast his Bait into the River The very same observation is for night as for day for if the Moon prove clear or if the Stars glitter in the Sky there is as ill Angling that night as if it were high noon in the midst of Summer when the Sun shineth brightest there is little hopes of any pleasure For the petty Thames Recreation of catching of Bleaks Dace c. as they are so generally known of every young Beginner I am unwilling to trouble the Reader with such a trifling Discourse I shall begin though not without some seeming digression first with the taking of Eels When the Angler stays a night or two let him take four or five Lines such as I shall inform hereafter will serve for Pikes of fourteen or fifteen yards long and at every two yards make a Noose to hang a Hook armed either to double thred or silk twist for it is better then Wyre Let him bait his Hooks with Millers-thumbs Loaches Menows or Gudgins Let him tye to every Noose a Line baited These Lines must be laid cross the River in the deepest places either with stones or pegged so that the Line lye in the bottom of the River there will be no doubt of taking of a dish of Eels he must also have a small Needle with an Eye to bait his