Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	flower_n	root_n	stalk_n	1,862	5	10.9023	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B04333	The mystery of husbandry, or, Arable, pasture and wood-land improved Containing the whole art and mystery of agriculture or husbandry, in bettering and improving all degrees of land ... : directions for marling, dunging, mudding, sanding ... : proper times for sowing, chusing good seed, and ploughing ... : how to keep corn and other pulse from being destroyed by birds, vermin, lightening, mildew ... : To which is added The countryman's alamack. / by Lenard Meager.	Meager, Leonard, 1624?-1704?	1697 (1697)	Wing M1573A; ESTC R32066	115,886	186

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 Ofie●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

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 i● 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 t●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-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