grow were it not deuoured and eaten vp by these Snailes and such like vermine as so one as it begins to peepe vp or as it were but to open the earth whereby it is driuen backe and forced to dye in the earth for these creatures sucking vpon the tender sweetnesse deprine it both of life and nourishment The cure and preuention for this euillis to take the soot of a Chimney and after your Corne hath been sowne a weeke or ten dayes or within two or three dayes after the first shower of raine which shall fall after the Corne is sowne you shall sow this soot of the Chimney thinIy ouer the land and not a Snayle will indure to come thereon Others vse especially in France and those more fertill Countres to take common Oyle lees and after the Corne hath beene sowne and is ready to appeare aboue ground to sprinkle it all ouer the Lands by which meanes no Snaile or such like creature will indure to come neere the same The next great destroyer of Corne is accounted the Grashopper and he also destroyeth it after it is sprouted appeareth aboue the ground as the Snaile doth but somewhat more greedily for he not onely feedeth on the tender white strings bâ—…t vpon the first greene leaues that appeare also by which meanes the Corne is not able to spring or bring foorth a steme or stalke to beare the eare vpon or ifit doe put forth any yet it it is so small weake and wretched that the eare growing on the same is withered and leane and the graine dry and blasted and no better then chaffe nor is there any Corne that scapeth the destruction of the Grashoper for he generally seedeth on all first on Wheate and Rye because they are the earliest then on Barley and Oates and lastly on Pulse vppon whose leafe and blossom he feedeth whilst the first is sweet and pleasant or the other greene Now the cure or preuention for these Creatures is according to the opinion of some Husband-men to take Wormewood and boyle it well in water 'till the strength of the Wormwood be gone thereinto and then with that water in the month of May to sprinckell all your Corne ouer when the Sunne is rising or setting and not any Grashopper will come neare or anoy the same Others vse in steed of wormwood to boyle Century and to vse the water thereof in the same manner as afore said and findean equall and like proffit in the same but it is most certaine that any bitter decoction whatsoeuer vsed and applyed as aforesaid will not leaue one Grashopper about your fieldes for any bitternesse is such an enemie vnto them that they cannot liue where they feele any taste thereof The last offence of liuing Creatures belonging to Corne or Graine are Moales which not onely feed vpon it after it is sprouted and spindled by eating vp the roots thereof and so consequently by killing the whole Corne but also by their digging and vndermining of the earth doe not root vp the Corne and destroy it in most wonderfull manner for where they make their haunts or are suffered to digge there they will destroy almost halfe an acre in a day neither make they choice either of ground or Grain for all grounds and all Graines are alike if the ground be not too wet or subiect to inundation or ouerflowes as for the most part Corne grounds are not for aboue all things moales cannot indure wet ground or earth of too moyst quality Now the best cure or preuention against these creatures is to find out their trenches and passages which are most plaine and casie to be knowne by the turning vp of the new earth and digging crosse holes in the same to watch either the going forth or the comming backe of the Moale and when you see her cast to strike her with an yron forke made of many graines as eight or fixe at the least and so to kill and destroy them which still is so generally knowne amongst Husbandmen that it is become a trade and occupation amongst them so that it needs no further description the rather in as much as for iii. d. or iiii d. a score you may haue any ground cleansed of Moales whatsoeuer Now there be some others which haue not this art of killing or catching of Moales which onely doe take brimstone and wet stinking straw or any thing els that will make a stinking smoake and putting fire thereto smoake all the places of their haunts and by that meanes driue them all cleane away from the Corne lands many otherpractices they haue but none so good certaine and probable as these already declared Thus far I haue spoken of those offences which proceed from liuing creatures I will now intreat of these which come and grow from the influence of the heauens being malignant vapours which striking into the erathdo alter the sweet pleasant nourishment therof and change in into bitternesse and rottennesse whereby the Corne is either ssaine outright withered and made leane and vnkindly or else the kernell turned to a filthy blacknesse being bitter dry and dusty like vnto smoake which the Husbandman calleth smuttines or mildewing and yet this smuttinesse or mildewing commeth another way as namely by ouerrankenesse or to much fatnesse of the earth and this hapneth most commonly only to wheat for if blacknes happen to any other graine it commeth of blastings or other malice of the starres for ranknesse of the ground in Barley Rye or Oates onely makes them lye flat to the ground the stalke not being able to support the multiplicity of the eares and so by that means the grain wanting his true nourishment growes light withered and of no validity now that this is most easie to be found out the ranknes of the growing corne rising as it were in close bundles together and the deepe blacknesse of the greene blades will with small trauell shew you This to cure and preuent it shall be good before you sow your Graine to sow your land lightly ouer with fine chalke for that will abate his ouer-ranknesse To proceed then to the other imperfections which doe happen from the skies I hold haile in the formost ranke which with his violence beateth downe the Corne flat to the ground and bruiseth the reede so in pieces that the Corne not able to rise vp againe there lyes and rotteth or else withereth to nothing The cure and preuention of this euill according to the opinion of the French Husbandmen is to take the white Vine and to plant it in diuers parts of your Corne-fields and it will deffend the Graine from this annoyance of haile or if your soyle be such as the white vine will not grow therein if then you take but branches therof and strike them in diuers parts of your lands it is thought that no haile will at any time do offence to your corne Others vse to take
these particular profits following First plenty of Corne and Pulse because all grounds being made able and apt for Tillage the Kingdome may afford to sowe for one Bushell that is now hereafter fiue hundred so mightie great are the vnfruitfull and vntilled wastes of Heathes Downes Mores and such like which at this day lye vntilled and vnoccupied and to this abundance of Corne will redound an equall or greater abundance of Grasse and Pasture for besides that those men and Masters of many grounds may conuert all their best and most fruitfull Earth to Pasture and Medow and only keepe the Barren for tillage yet also this barren earth after it hath done bearing of Corne which will be in fiue or sixe yeares shall for as many yeares more beare as good Medow or Pasture either for breeding or feeding as can any way be reasonably required and then being newly made againe shall newly begin and flourish in his first Profit as shall be at large shewed and set forth hereafter as I haue seene with mine owne eies to my no small pleasure and amazement not in one butin diuers and sundry most vntruitfull and hard Countries Secondly whereas through the most parts of this Kingdome there is euery yeare a third or fourth part of all Corne grounds lost in the fallow or tylthe fields one field of three or one of foure continually lying at rest now by the vse of the Husbandry following you shall neuer keepe any fallow field at all but haue all your ground to beare you continually either Corne or Grasse in good aboundance Lastly whereas in all the generall best parts of this Nation you cannot haue any Graine of price as Wheat Barley Rye and such like vnder two three foure fiue and some sixe times plowing now you shall not plow aboue twice at the most for the tenderest and richest graine that is to be reaped whereby there shall be much paines eased in the Husbandman great trauell saued from the Cattell and a much larger limitation of time giuen for other neceâ—…ary houshold and forraine businesses Now some may heere aske me what true and vpright right testimonie I can giue of this my assertion or what inducements to draw men to a beliefe of my relation though I could referre such disputers to practise and the experience which shall arise from such practise yet to giue them better satisfaction if they please to ride or walke into the North parts of Deuonshire into the Barren or Mountainous parts of South Wales or North Wales or into that wildernesse of Bogges and Barrennesse I meane that colde vast Country of Exmore where is nothing but vnseasonablenesse and they shall euen there finde where the ground is industriously made and refined as good plenty of Corne and Grasse as in the fruitfullest vales in our In-land and warmer Countries Truly for mine owne part I dare boldly auow that which mine eies haue beheld for I haue seene on oneside of the hedge nothing but mosse for grasse furres goâ—…sse whynnes and all other tokens of Sterrill barrainnesse and on the other side as good Corne and Grasse and in as great plenty as in any fruitfull Country whatsoeuer and all this brought forth but with a little cost and some labour To proceede then to the full effect of my purpose without more preambulation or satisfaction to the curious for to the honestly vertuous are all mine indeuours directed you shall vnderstand that it is meete that euety Husbandman be skilfull in that true knowledge of the natures of Grounds as which is fruitfull which not of which in my first Bookes I haue written sufficiently nor doe I in this Booke intend to write any tittle that is in them contained for as I loue not Totologie so I deadly hate to wrong my friend Grounds then as I haue formerly written in my first Bookes being simple or compounded as simple Clayes or simple Sands or compounded of Clayes Sands or Grauels together may be all good and all fit to bring forth increase or all euill and barren and vnfit for profit for euery Earth whether it be simple or compounded whether of it selfe or of double mixture doth participate wholly with the Clime wherein it lyeth and as that is more hot or more cold more moist or more drye so is the Earth euer more or lesse fruitfull yet for the better vnderstanding of the plaine Country-man you shall know that both the fruitfull and vnfruitfull Ground hauetheir seuerall faces and charracters whereby they be as well knowne as by the Clime or situation of the Continent for that ground which though it beare not any extraordinary abundance of grasse yet will loade it selfe with strong and lusty weedes as Hemblocke Docks Mallowes Nettles Ketlocks and such like is vndoubtedly a most rich and fruitfull ground for any graine whatsoeuer also that ground which beareth Reede Rushes Clouer Daysie and such like is eâ—…er fruitfull in Grasse and Herbadge so that smal cost and lesse labour in such grounds will euer make good the profit of the Husbandman But with these rich grounds at this time I haue nothing to doe To come downe then to the barren vnwholesome Grounds you shall vnderstand that they are to be known three seuerall waies first by the Clyme and Continent wherein they lye next by their constitution and condition and lastly by outward faces and charracters By the Clyme and Continent as when the ground lies farre remote from the Sunne or when it lyes Mountainous and high stony and rocky or so neere vnto the skirts and borders of the Sea that the continuall Fogges Stormes Myfts and ill vapours arising from thence doe poyson and starue the Earth all which are most apparent â—…ignes of Barrennesse By the Constitution and Condition as when the ground is either too extreamely cold and moist or else to violently hot and dry either of which produceth much hardnesse to bring forth and sheweth the Earth so lying to be good for little or no profit By the outward Faces and Charracters as when you see insted of Grasse which should be greene flowrie and thicke growing a pale thinne mossie substance couer the Earth as most commonly is vpon all high Planes Heathes Downes and such like or when you see the ground couered with Heath Lynge Broome Braken Gorsse or such like they be most apparent signes of infinite great Barrennesse as may be seene in many Mores Forrests and other wilde and wooddy places And of these vnfertill places you shall vnderstand that it is the Clay ground which for the most part brings forth the Mosse the Broome the Gorsse and such like the Sand which bringeth forth Brakes Lynge Heath and the mixâ—… Earth which vtters Whynnes Bryars and a world of such like vnnaturall and bastardly issues Thus hauing a true knowledge of the Nature and Condition of your ground you shall then proceede to the ordering eareing and dressing of the same whereby it may not only be
purged and clensed from those falts which hindred the increase thereof but also so much bettered and refined that the best ground may not boast of more ample increase nor your more fruitfull placed Neighbours exceede you in any thing more then in a little ease CHAP. II. Of the Ordering Tylling and Dressing of all sorts of plaine Barren Clayes whether they be simple or compounded THou whom it hath pleased God to place vpon a barren and hard soyle whose bread must euermore be grounded with sweat and labour that mayest nobly and victoriously boast the conquest of the Earth hauing conquered Nature by altering Nature and yet made Nature better then shee was before thou I say that takest this honest delight in goodnesse hearken vnto these following Precepts Assoone as thou haft well pondered and considethe nature of thy ground and dost finde that it is altogether barren and vnfruitfull the Clyme and condition not suffering it to bring forth any thing of worth or profit and that thou haft well weighed what manner of Earth it is as that namely it is either a simple Clay or a Clay so mixt with other earths that yet notwithstanding the Clay is still most predominant thou shalt then select or chuse out of this earth so much as to thy selfe shall seeme conuenient it being answerable to the strength of thy Teame and the abilitie of thy purse and labour to compasse and this Earth so chosen out thou shalt about the beginning of May in a faire season breake vp with a strong Plow such as is generally vsed in all strong Clay grounds the Share being rather long then broad and the Colture rather somewhat bending them straight and euen according as the nature of the ground shall requier which euery simple plowman will soone finde out in turning vp two or three furrowes for according to the cutting of the earth so must the Husband man fashion the temper of his Plow Now for the maner of plowing this bad and barren earth if the ground lye free from water which commonly all euill barren earths doe you shall then throw down your furrowes flat and betwixt euery furrow you shall leaue a balke of earth halfe as broad as the furrow and so goe ouer and plow your whole earth vp without making any difference or distinction of lands but if you feare any annoyance of water then you shall lay your furro was more high neere and close together diuiding the ground into feuerall lands and proportioning euery land to lye the highest in the midst so that the water may haue a descent or passage on either side Now so soone as you haue thus plowed vp your land and turned all the swarth inward vnto the earth you shall then take hacks of yron well steeled and reasonable sharpe such a competent number as or your purse of power can compasse or the greatnesse your ground requireth for you shall vnderstand that one good hacker being a lusty labourer will at good ease hacke and cut more then halfe an Aker of ground in a day and with these hacks you shall hew and cut to pieces all the earth formerly plowed vp furrow by furrow and not the furrowes onely but also each seuerall balke that was left betweene and any other greene swarth whatsoeuer the Plow bad escaped and it shall be cut into as small pieces as conueniently you can for thereby is your mould made much more mellow and plentifull and your seede at such time as it is to be cast into the earth a great deale the better and safer couered and much more sooner made to sprout and bring forth increase Now for the shape and fashion of these Hacks you shall behold it in this figure When you haue thus hackt all your ground and broke in peices all hard crust and toughnesse of the swarth you shail then immediatly with all the conuenient speed you can because time is very pretious in these labours if you be neere vnto any part of the Sea-Coast or to any other Creeke or Riuer where the salt water â—…th a continuali recourse and thence fetch either on Horse backe or in Cart or other Tumbrell such as the nature of the Countrie or your owne ease can afford great store of the salt Sand and with it couer your ground which hath beene formerly plowed and hackt allowing to euery Aâ—… of ground three score or fourescore full bushels of Sand which is a very good and competent proportion and this Sand thus layed shall be very well spread and mixed amongst the other hackt and broken earth And heerein is to be noted that not any other sand but the salt â—…and is good or auaileable for this purpose because it is the brine and saltnesse of the same which breedeth this fertillitie and fruitfulnesse in the earth choaking the growth of all weedes and bad things which would sprout from the Earth and giuing strength vigour and comfort to all kinde of Graine or Pulse or any fruit of better nature When you haue thus sanded your earth you shall then if you haue any Limestone about your Grounds as barren earths are seldome without or if you haue any quarries of stone which are seldome vnaccompanied with Lymestone gather such Lymestone together and make a Kylne in the most conuenientest place you haue as well for the carriage of the Lime as for the gathering together of the Stone and bauing burnt your Lyme the manner whereof is so generally well knowne through the whole Kingdome that in this place it needeth little or no repetition you shall then on euery aker so formerly plowed hackt and sanded bestow at least forty or else fiftie bushels of Lyme spreading and mixing it exceedingly well with the other sand and earth and heerein is to be noted that the stronger and sharper the Lime is the better the earth will be made thereby and the greater increase and profit will issue from the same neither shall you neede to respect the colour and complexion of the Lime as whether it be purely white as that which is made from chalke or gray as that which is made from the smal Lymestone or else blackish browne as that which is made from the great stone and maine Quarrie since it is the strength and goodnesse of the Lyme not the beautie and colour which brings forth the profits Now when you haue thus lymed your ground you shall then take off the best meanure you haue as Oxe Cow or Horse dung straw rotted either by the lyttering of Beasts or by casting vpon the High-waies the mud of Lakes Ponds or Ditches the soyle of yong Cattell made in the Winter time by feeding at stand Heakes or any such like kinde of Ordure and this meanure or compasse you shall carry forth either on Horsebacke or in Carts or Tumbrels according as the Countrie will afford and you shall lay it and spread it vpon your ground so formerly plowed hackt sanded and
lymed in very plentifull manner so farre forth as your prouision will extend for it is to be vnderstood that barren and hard earths can neuer be ouerladen with good meanure or compasse since it is only the want of warmth and fatnesse which meanure breedeth that causeth all manner of vnfruitfulnesse After you haue thus meanured all your ground it is to be supposed that the season of the yeare will be well shot on for the labour of sanding will take little lesse then two Months your ground being of any indifferent great quantitie except you haue the assistance and helpe of many of your friends which is a curtesie that euery Husbandman may imbrace but not trust vnto for I would not wish any man that hath not Tenants to command to presume on other friends lest they fayle him and so his worke lye halfe done halfe vndone which is a great Charracter of negligence and improuidence but let euery one proportion their labours according to their owne strengths and the number of their ordinary families The lyming of your ground will take at least halfe so much time as the sanding and the meanuring rather more then lesse then the lyming so that by any reasonable computatiō of time beginning to Plow your ground at the beginning of May ere it be hackt sanded lymed and meanured Michaelmas will be come which is the last of September for I allow the Month of May to plowing and backing Iune and Iuly for sanding August for lyming and September for meanuring So then to proceede on with your Labour at Michalmas or from that time to the end of October you shall begin to Plow ouer that ground againc which formerly you had plowed hackt sanded lymed and manured and at this later plowing you shall plow the ground somewhat deeper then you did before and taking a good stitch as they call it in Husbandry you shall be sure to raise vp the quick earth which had not beene stirred vp with the Plow before making your furrowes greater and deeper then formerly they were and laying them closer and rounder together then they were before and in this ardor or later earing you shall be carefull to Plow your ground as cleane as you can without balkes or other escapes in Husbandrie and as you thus plow your ground you shall haue certaine Hackers with their hacks to follow the Plow and to cut the Earth and furrowes into very small pieces as was formerly shewed in the hacking and cutting of the first Ardor then so soone as your ground is thus plowed hackt `you shal take a paire or two of very strong good yron Harrows and with them you shail goe ouer your ground tearing that which was formerly plowed and hackt into more smaller pieces then before and raising vp the mould in much greater abundance then was formerly seene which work once finished you shall then take your Seed which would be the finest cleanest and best Wheate you can prouide and after the manner of good Husbandry you shall sowe it on the ground very plentifully not staruing the ground for want or Seede which were a tyranous penury nor yet choking it with too much which were as lauish a foolery but giuing it the falt due leaue it to the earth and Gods blessing Now so soone as you haue thus sowen your Seede forth with you shall take all the Harrowes againe harrowing the Seede into the earth and couering it close and well with all care and diligence and in this latter harrowing you shall haue great respect to breake euery clot as much as you can and so stir vp and make as much mould as you can and the finer such mould is made the better it is so it couerdecpe and close for you shall vnderstand that all these kinde of barren Clayes are naturally tough cold and binding whereby they stifle and choke any thing that growes within them for the naturall toughnesse of the earth will not giue any thing leaue to sprout or if it doe sprout the binding nature thereof so fetters and locks it within the mould that it cannot issue our or if it doe with extreame strugling rise through the pores of the same yet doth the colde presently starue the roote and make the stemme vtterly vnable to bring forth fruit or any profit at all so that except the toughnes be conuerted to a gentle loosenesse and easie diuiding of it selfe the coldnesse vnto warmth and the hard binding vnto a soft libertie there can be small hope of commoditie which this manner of dressing the earth bring◅ to passe◅ for the mixture of the sand takes away the toughnesse the Lime brings heate and the meanure comfort and libettie as for the hacking and cutting the earth that is to make all the rost simbolize and mixe together for as if any Physitian Apothecarie or Dispensatory if he make a medicine and cast his ingredians confusedly one vpon another without care of mixture melting or dissolution shall finde but a corrupt disorderly and ill compounded receit ' so he that dresseth and meanureth his ground and doth not by hacking plowing or some other husbandly course mixe the earth and the compasse perfectly well together shall seldome finde profit from his seede or finde any man of wit desirous to become his imitator Now I must confesse that some easie grounds of light and temperate nature will mixe very well and sufficiently by the helpe of the Plough onley but this barren hard earth of which I now write must only be broken by this violent and extreme labour or else there will neither be mould earth nor any other couerture for the seede but only foule great and disorderly clots and lumps through which the graine can neuer passe and that which lyeth vncouered will be made a prey to foule and other vermine which will howerly destroy it After you haue sowen and harrowed the ground you shall then see if there remaine any clots or hard lumps of earth vnbroken which the teeth of the Harrowes are not able to teare in pieces as it is very likely you shall perceiue many for these hard barren earthes which are ploughed vp in their greene swarthes are nothing neere so easily broken and brought to mould as are the mellow soft earths which haue beene formerly ploughed many times before because the hard and intricate rootes of the Grasse Mosse and other quick substances growing vpon the same doth binde and hold the mould so close and fast together besides the naturall strength and hardnesse of the earth that without much industrious and painefull labour it is impossible to bring it to that finenesse of mould which Art and good Husbandry requireth therefore as soone as you behold those clots and lumps to lye vndisseuered and vnbroken you shall forthwith take good strong clotting beetles or mauls made of hard and very sound wood according to this proportion of figure And with these maules or
you are to sowe into that brine and let it steepe therein till the next day then draine it as cleane as may be from the brine and so sowe it harrow it clot it and weede it as was before declared and no doubt but you shall finde a meruellous great increase thereby for this I can assure you both from a most certaine knowledge and a most worthy relation that a Gentleman buying some store of seede Wheate and inforst to bring it home by Sea by some casual means some of the sack at the vnlading fell into the Sea and were much drencht in the salt water whereat the Gentleman being grieued as doubting some hurt to come to the Seede yet inforst of necessitie to make vse thereof caused all the Wheate which was so wet to be sowen by it selfe in a parucular place and vpon the worst ground which he had as much dispairing in the increase thereof and it is most infallibly true that of that wet Seede he receiued at least fiue-fold more profit then of any other and from thence it came that this experiment of Bryne and the sowing of salt hath taken place from which the painfull husband-man hath found such infinite increase to arise that the vse thereof will neuer be layed downe in this Kingdome neither is the thing in it selfe without good and strong probabilitie of much increase and strength for the bettering of all manner of earable grounds for there is nothing which killeth weedes quicks and other offences of the ground so much as saltnesse for what makes your Pigeons dung and your Pullens dung to be better for earable grounds then any other dung or meanure whatsoeuer but by reason of the saltnesse thereof by which saltnesse also you may iudge the strength and heate thereof insomuch that the propper taste of fier or any hot thing is euer salt also we say in Phylosiphie that blood which carryeth the vitall heate and warmth of the body is in taste salt and so a nourisher maintainer and increaser of all the strength and vigor of the inward faculties whereas Fleame Chollar and Melancholly which are the hurts and confounders of the vitall spirits the first is in taste sweete the second bitter and the last of an earthy and dry taste full of much loathsomenesse Now againe you shall vnderstand that as you thus wet or steep your Wheate seede so you may also steepe any other seede as Barley Oates Beanes Pease Lupins Fetches and such like of which your Beanes Pease and Lupins you may steepe more then any of the rest and your Oates the least As touching Rye it shall be good not to steepe it at all for it is a great enemy to all manner of wet and moistnre insomuch that the curious Husband-man will forbeare to sowe it in any great shower of raine bearing in his minde this ancient addage or saying that Rye will drownd in the Hopper as on the contrary part Wheate would be sowen so moist that it might ftick to the Hopper yet notwithstanding when you doe sowe Rye in any of these In-land and cold barren Country where sand is not to be gotten you shall not by any meanes omit the sowing of your salt before for it is nothing neere so moyst as it is warme and comfortable And thus much touching the ordering plowing and sowing of all barren cold and moyst Clayes whether they be mixt or vnmixt which are plaine and vnfruitfull as bearing no other burthen then short mossie grasse without any other hard and boystrous substances CHAP. III. Of the Ordering Tylling and Dressing of all rough Barren Clayes whether simple or compound being laden and ouerrunne with Gorse Broome and such like NExtvnto these plaine barren earths which by reason of their heights and eleuations are subiect in the Winter time to all manner of cold frosts ftormes tempests blasts and windes which are the perfit binderers of all increase and growth and in the Somer time to all hot scorchings scaldings and fierie reflections of the Sunne which on the contrary part burneth and withereth away that little seeming increase which appeareth aboue the earth I will place that barren Clay whether it be mixt oâ—…vnmixt which lying not so high and subiect vnto those hurts and offences seemeth to be a little more fruitfull yet either by the extreme cold moisture thereof or the stony hardnesse and other malignant qualities is no lesse barren then that of which I haue formerly written which indeâ—…de is that barren and vilde soile which will neither beare Corne nor Grasse but is only ouer-runne and quite couered ouer with great thicke and tall bushes of Gorse or Furres which is a most sharpe woody and grosse weede so full of pricks that neither Horse Beast Sheepe nor Goates dare thrust their noses to the ground to gather vp that little poore grasse which groweth thereon Andal-be these Gorse or Furres are one way a little commodity to the needfull Husband-man in being a reasonable good fewell either for Baking Brewing or diuers other sudden and necessary vses yet in as much as the profit being compared with the great quantitie of earth which they couer and destroy and which with good husbandry might be brought to great fruitfulnesse is indeede no profit at all it shall not be amisse for euery good Husband-man that is pestered and ouer-laden with such ground to seeke by way of good husbandry how to reduce and bring it to that perfection and excellencie which may bec best for his one particular commoditie and the generall good of the kingdome wherein he liueth Then is there another kinde of soyle which is nothing at all differing from this but is euery way as barren and sterryll which is that ground which is ouer runne with Broome which is as noysome a weede as the former and though it haue not such sharpe prickles as the other whereby to hinder the grazing of Cattell yet doth it grow so close and thick together and is naturally so poysonous and offensiue to grasse that you shall seldome see any grow where this Broome prospereth besides the bittrrnesse thereof is so vnpleasant and distastefull to all kinde of Cattell that not any will euer crop or bite vpon the same only it is of some necessary vse for the poore Husbandman in respect that it serueth him both for fuell for thatching and the couering of his houses being for that purpose of all the longest lasting and also for the making of Beesomes for clensing of the house and Barnes or else for sale and commodity in the Market all which profits as before I said being compared with the losse of the ground and the goodnesse that might be reaped from the same are indeede truly no profits but hinderances Therefore I would wish euery man that is Master of such grounds whether they be ouerrunne with Gorse Furres Broome or any such kinde of grose woody or substantiall weede first to cut vp the iweede of what sort so
euer it be whether Gorse Furres or Broome as close and neere vnto the ground as you can possibly and then making them vp into sheafes or bigge Faggots carry them home and stack them vp very dry so as no raine may enter or peirce into them for the smallest wet will rot and consume them to dirt and filthinesse which done you shall make Labourers with hacks picks and such like tooles to stub vp ail the rootes which you left in the ground euen to the very bottome of the same and these rootes you shall be very carefull to haue stubbed vp exceeding cleane by no meanes leauing so neere as you'can any part or parcell of the rootes behinde you then these rootes thus stubbed vp you shall diligently gather together into little heaps as bigge as moale-hils and place them vpon the ground a pretie distance one from another and so let them lye till the Sunne and Winde haue dryed them for it is to be intended that this labour must begin about the latter end of Aprill and beginning of May. Then so soone as you finde these rootes are thorowly dryed you shall pile them handsomely together laying them a little hollow one from another and then with a hack cut vp some of the same earth and therewithall couer all the rootes quite ouer only leauing a venthole at the top and on one side and so let the hils rest two or three daies till the earth be a little partcht and dried then take fier and some other light drie fuell which is apteft to blaze and with the same kindle euery hill not leauing them till you see them perfectly on fier which done let them burne both day and night till the substance being wholly consumed the fier goe out of it one selfe and this in some Countries is called the Burning of Baite Now assoone as the fier hath beene extinguished for two or three daies you shall then come and with shouels and beetles to breake the hard burnt earth in pieces you shall spread al the ashes clean ouer the ground which done you shall with a very strong Plow teare vp the earth into great and deepe furrowes and deuide into Lands as you shall thinke meete and conuenient laying them higher or flatter as you shall haue occasion and as the ground lyeth more or lesse within the danger of water whether it be the ouerflowing of some neere neighbouring Brooks or Riuers or else other standing water occasioned by raine and extraordinary showers which must be carefully lookt vnto because all ouerflowes and inundation of water is a mightie destroyer and consumer of graine but these barren grounds of which I now write are very seldome opprest with water for most commonly they lye so high that the continuall drienesse thereof is a strong occasion of the much vnfruitfulnesse After you haue thus burnt your baite and plowed vp your ground you shall then with your hacks hack it into small pieces in such manner as was declared in the former Chapter then you shall if the Sea be any thing neere you sand it with salt sand as beforesaid then lime it and after meanure it either with Oxe dung Horse dung rotten Straw mudde of Ponds and Ditches the spyteling of House-floores or sweepings of Channels and Streeres or such like or for want of all these in case you dwell neere vnto the Sea-coast where meanâ—… for the most part is in greatest scarcitie and the hardest to be come by you shall gather from the bottome of the Rocks where the seydge of the Sea continually beateth a certaine blacke weede whica they call Hemp weede hauing great broad leaues and growing in great abundance in thick tufts and hanging together like Pease-straw and with these weeds you shal couer your Lands all ouer of a prety good thicknesse and then forth with you shall plow it againe somewhat deeper and with somewhat greater furrowes then before raising vp the new quick earth to intermingle and mixe with those meanures and helpes which you had formerly prepared and laid vpon the ground then shall you againe hack it and harrow it then shall you take Pigeons dung or Pullens dung that is any kind of land foule whatsoeuer but by no meanes any water foule or Pigeons dung and Pullens dung mixt together and allowing to euery aker two or three bushels thereof which is the true quantitie of seede proportioned for the same and this dung being broken and masht into small peices you shall put into your Sydlop or Hopper and in the same manner as you sowe your Corne you shall sowe this dung vpon the ground and then immediatly after it you shall sowe your Wheate either steept in brine or salt Sea-water or vnsteept as you shall thinke good but in case you can neither get salt sand nor Sea-Rocke weedes then you shall by no meanes omit the steeping of your Seede neither shall you faile before you sowe your seede to mixe with your Pigeons and Pullens dung a full equall part of Bay salt well dryed and broken and so sowen with the dung vpon the land and then the seede after it which done you shall Harrow it againe clotit sleight it and smoth it in such sort as was formerly declared in the former Chapter for these labours haue no alterations but must in all points be done as was before set downe Now touching the weeding of this earth after the Corne beginneth to grow aboue the ground there is no feare to be had either of Thistles Tares Cockles Darnell Docks and such like strong weedes which indeed are the issues of good groundsill ordered and handled But the weeds which you shall most feare in this place is yong Gorse or Furs or else yong Broome which are very apt to grow from the leaft part or parcell of roots that shall be left behind nay the very nature of those barren earths is such that of the one accord it will bring forth those weedes the cold sharpnesse of the ayre mixing with the fterrility and roughnesse of the earth being the cause that it will giue life to no other better plants therefore so soone as you shall behold any of them to appeare aboue the earth though they be not halfe a singer high you shall presently with all diligence pull them vp by the rootes and cast them away or lay them in heapes that they may be afterwards burnt and the ashes sprinkled vpon the ground and heerein is to be obserued that the yonger and the sooner that you doe pull vp these weedes the better it is and the easilier they will come from the earth and the sooner be destroyed for all those mixtures where with already you haue beene taught to mixe your earth are in themselues such naturall enemies to all these kinde of barren weedes that should you omit the manuall labour of destroying them which no good husband willingly will do yet in time the earth of it selfe and
the often plowing of the same would leaue no such offence of weedes or other growths which might hinder the Corne. Now touching the best time when to pull away these weedes though generally it must be done assoone as they doe appeare aboue the ground yet it shall not bee amisse for you to deferre the worke till after a shower of raine and thenimmediatly after the ground is wet and so by that meanes more apt and willing to open and forsake the rootes fastened within it you shall with all diligence pull them out of the ground and destroy them neither shall you pull them out of the ground with your hands onely for the Gorse haue exceeding sharpe pricks so that with your naked hands you are not able to touch them and to arme your hands against them with ftrong thicke gloues would be too boistrous and combersome so that sometimes you might either misse the weedes and pull vp the Corne or else pull vp the Corne and weeds both together therefore to preuent all these casualties or hinderances you shall take a paire of long small woodden Nyppers made after the forme of this figure And with these you shall pull the weedes out of the ground and cast them into the furrowes by the sides of the Lands till your daies worke be finished and then with a rake you shall rake them together and so lay them in heapes to dry and wither in more conuenient places that when time shall serue you may burne thâ—…m and vse them as was before declared Laftly you shall haue great respect that if this ground be very much troubled with loose stones as Flynt pible and such like that then you very carefully get them gathered from the ground both before and after you haue plowed it and to lay them on heapes in other vacant places where they may serue for pauings and such like purposes when time requireth but if the ground be ouerrunne with great or else small limestones as for the most part these barren grounds are then shall you with all care gather them vp and lay them in great heapes in some corner of your field where you may make a conuenient lime-Kilne and so there burne these stone thus gathered which will be both an infinite profit and an infinite case to the rest of your labours And thus much touching the Ordering plowing and sowing of all manner of rough barren Clayes whether simple or compound being laden and ouerrunne with Gorsse Broome and such like CHAP. IIII. Of the Ordering Tylling and Dressing of all rough barren Clayes whether simple or compound that are ouerrunne with Whinnes and such like NExtvnto this barren Clay which is ouerrunnewith Furres Broome and such like I will place that barren and vnfertill carth being also a Clay wether simple or compound which is ouerrunne onely with Whinnes as indeede bearing little or no other burthen or if it doe beare any other burthen as some little short moffie grasse yet is that grasse so couered ouer with these sharpe Whinnes that not any beast dare put his nose to the ground or bire vpon the same and indeed this kind of earth is not any whit at all lesse barren then those of which I haue already written but rather more in that the malignant qualities thereof are not so soone corrected nor yet the vertues so soone restored To speake then first what these Whinnes are you shall vnderstand that they be a certaine kinde of rough dry weedes which growe bushie and thick together very short and close vnto theground being of a darke browne collour and of crooked growth thick and confused and full of knots and those knots armed with hard long sharpe pricks like thornes or bryars they haue little browne leaues which shadow the pricks and doe winde their branch so one into another that they can hardly be seperated yet is their growth at any time little more then a handfull aboue the earth only they spread exceedingly and will runne and couer ouer a whole field choaking vp all sorts of good plants whatsoeuer and turning the best grasse that is to mosse and filthinesse wherefore if at any time you be Master of any such naughtie and barren ground and would haue it reduced vnto goodnesse and fertillitie you shall first take a fine thinne paring-shouell made of the best yron and well steeled and hardned round about the edges according to the forme of this figure following And with this paring-shouell you shall first pare vp all the vpper swarth of the ground about two inches or an inch and a halfe thick at the least and euery paring would be some three foote in length at the least and so broad as the shouell will conueniently giue it leaue and this swarth thus pared vp you shall first turne the whinny or grasse side downeward and the earth side vpward and so let it lye two or three daies in the Sunne to dry for this worke is intended to begin in the month of May and when that side is well dryed you shall turne the other side and dry it also then when all the swarth is dryed you shall gather fixe or seuen pieces together and turning the whinny or grasse side inward and the earth side outward you shall make round hollow little hils thereof much what according to the fashion of this figure following And the inward hollownes like vnto the hollownes of an Ouen butmuch lesse in compasse which done you shall fill the hollownesse with dry chips or else small sticks or Furres and straw mixed together which you shall put in at the vent-hole which shall be left on one side of the hill and then kindling it with fier you shall burne all that swarth in such sort as you burnt the roots of your Furres and Broome before for this is also called a burning of Baite as well as the former for it is a most principall nurrisher of the earth and a very sudden destroyer of all malignant weedes whatsoeuer After the burning of your hils as soon as the fier is vtterly quenched and gone out and no heate at all left in the hils you shall then with clotting beetles beate them all downeto dust and then with shouels you shall spread the ashes quite ouer all the ground as was before declared in the former Chapter and heerein is to be noted that you must place these hils as thick and close together as by any meanes possibly you can making your hils so much the lesse and lower that they may stand thicker and neerer together and so couer more ground and thereby the heate and strength of the fier to disperse it selfe ouer all that peice of ground for the fier burning vpon the ground doth as much good for the inriching of the earth and destroying of the weedes as the ashes doth which are spread vpon the same Now after your Baite is in this manner burned and spread you shall then as was before shewed
plow vp your ground in good large furrowes then hack it very small sand it limeit and meanure it and of all meanures there is not any better for this ground then Oxe dung and ashes well mixt together of which ashes those of Beane-straw Pease-straw or any other straw are best those of Wood or Ferne next those of Charcoale next those of Seacoale or pitcoale are the worst of all Swines dung is not much amisse for this ground for though it be a great breeder of weedes and thystles in good or fertile grounds yet in this cold hard and barren earth it worketh no such effect but is a great comforter and warme moistner of the same After you haue thus made your ground as soone as wheate seede-time cometh which is the latter end of September and beginning of October you shall then with great care plow ouer your ground againe and take great respect that you turne vp your furrowes much deeper then before and that for two especiall causes the first that the new earth may the better mixe with the old earth and those helpes which are added thereunto and secondly that yow may be surer to teare vp the rootes of all the Whinnes from the very bottome of the earth not suffring any part of them to remaine behinde and for this purpose it shall not be amisse to haue an idle Boy or two to follow your Plow and to gather away all the rootes that shall be torne vp or any way else left bare aboue ground which rootes shall be layd on heapes in conuenient places and then after burnt and the ashes thereofspread vpon the ground which will be a very great comfort vnto the seede being a speedy helpe vnto the sprouting thereof and a very warme comforter of the roote after the stemme is spindled aboue ground for in these cold barren earthes nothing doth so much spoile and flay the Corne as the dead coldnesse which lyeth at the roote thereof for in many of these vnfertill places you shall see Corne at the first sowing whilest there is a little strength in the ground sprout in great abundance promising much hope of the profit but when it should spindle and come to much better perfection that poore strength being spent and consumed and the cold and drinesse of the soile hauing as it were ourcome all matter of comfort then presently you shall sec the blade of the Corne turne yellow the stemme or stalke to wither and either put forth no eare at all or else a very poore little empty one being laden with nothing but a most dry chaffie huske without substance But to come againe to our purpose after you haue thus plowed vp your ground the second time you shall then hack it againe and harrow it as was declared in the other former Chapters then you shall take your seede-wheate which hath beene steept either in brine or Sea water and to enery bushell of that seede you shall adde a bushell of Bay salt and mixe them very well together in your Hopper or Sydlop and so sowe them together vpon the ground obseruing to double your casts so ost that you may not faile to cast that true quantitie of seede into the earth which otherwise you would haue done if so be there had beene no mixture at all for to doe otherwise were to deceiue the ground and a handfull of seede so saued would be the losse of a peck in the time of Haruest therefore haue great respect that your ground haue his due for it is no more cost though it be a little labour When your seede is sowen you shall harrow it againe the second time clot it smooth it and sleight it as was before declared in the former Chapters As touching the weeding of this ground it is the leaft labour of all other for the earth being so corrected as is before shewed it will naturally of it selfe put forth no weedes especially if you remember to plow it deepe and be sure to teare vp and gather away all the quick rootes otherwise if that labour be any thing neglected then will it put forth both Whinnes and great store of other rough weedes which as soone as you shall perceiue to appeare you shall presently with your woodden Nyppers pull them vp by the rootes as was at large declared in the fore-going Chapter Now for the generall profit of this ground thus made and prepared it is the same that the two former are that is to say it will beare you good and sufficient Wheate in plentifull abundance for the space of two or three years then Barley a yeare after then Oates three yeares together after the Barley and Pease or Beanes a yeare after the Oates then lastly very good Meadow or Pasture for the space of three or foure yeares after and then you shall begin and dresse it againe as was formerly declared and thus much touching the ordering plowing and sowing of all rough barren Clayes whether simple or compound being laden and ouer-rune with Whinnes and such like CHAP. V. Of the Ordering Tylling and Dressing of all barren Clayes whether simple or else compound which are ouer-runne with Lynge or Heath There followeth now successiuely another sort of barren Earth which indeede is much more sterryll and barren then any of the other formerly written vpon because they out of their owne natures doe beare a certaine kinde of grasse or foode which will relieue ordinary hard store-Cattel whether it be sheepe goats or yong beasts But this earth of which I am now to intreate beareth no grasse at all but only a vilde filthie black-browne weede which we call Lynge or Heath the tender tops whereof Cattell and wilde Deere will sometimes crop yet it is to them but little reliefe and only maintaineth life and no more Now al-be some may obiect vnto me that this kinde of soyle is euer a sandy soile and no Clay as may be seene in most Chasses Forrests and Downes yet I answere that al-be it hold so in generall yet there are diuers Clayes especially in mountainous Countries that are pestered with these kinde of weedes as may be seene in the North and North-West parts of Deuonshire in some parts of Cornewall and in many parts both of North and South Wales and these Clay grounds which are thus offended with these weedes of Lyng or Heath are much more barren and vnfruitfull then the sands because of their much more coldnesse yet those Clayes which are mixed with either blacke sand dun sande or yellow sand and ouerrunne thus with Heath or Lynge are the most barren of all to make any further discription of this Heath or Lyng being a thing so notoriously knowne ouer all this Kingdome I hold it meerely needlesse only to say it is a rough browne weedo shooting out abundance of stalkes from one roote with little darke leaues and flowers on the toppe of a pale reddish colour much inclyning vnto Peach colour at the first
but being full blowne they are then a little more whitish You therefore that haue any such ground and desier to bring it to fruitfulnesse and the bearing of good Corne and grasse in a reasonable abundance you shall first with sythes or sharpe hookes but old sythes are the better cut downe all the Heath or Lynge which groweth vpon the earth you intend to conuert to goodnesse so neere the ground as possibly you can then when it is cut downe which would euer be at the beginning of the Month of May you shall let it lye vpon the ground daily tossing and turning it till it become very dry then spreading it all ouer the ground and mixing or couering it with dry straw of any kinde whatsoeuer you shall presently set it on fier in so many seuerall corners of the field that all the seuerall fiers in the end may meete in one point and not leaue any part of the mowen Heath or Lyng vnburnt or any part of the ground vnscortched after this is done and the ground cooled you shall with your flat clotting beetles beate the ashes hard into the ground then you shall take a strong plow with a broad-winged share and an euen colture and you shall plow vp all this ground thus burnt in very large and deepe furrowes by no meanes picking out any of the quicke rootes which shall remaine in the furrowes so turned vp but letting them rest in the earth still then with your hacks and the help of your yron paring-shouell you shall cut vp the furrowes formerly turned vp into short pieces of three foote or three foote and a halfe long and some lesse as occasion shall serue then with these pieces you shall build little hollow hils such as in the former Chapter you made of the vpper swarth of the ground only and then filling the hollownesse with dry heath and dry straw mixt together you shall set euery hill on fier and so burne the very substance of the earth into ashes which will soone be done by reason of the infinite number of rootes and small strings which lie mixt in the earth and the drynesse thereof occasioned by the former burning And this is another kind of burning of Baite much different from all the former and yet to as great end and profit as any whatsoeuer and these hils must as the former be placed one as neere another as is possible so as they may spread and couer ouer the greatest part of the ground and leauiug no more then a good reasonable path to passe betweene hill and hill Now as soone as you haue thus burned all your Baite and that your hils are cold you shall then as was before shewed in the former Chapters with Betels and Shouels breake downe the hils and spread the earth and ashes ouer all the ground which done you shall sand it if the situation of the ground be answerable thereunto and lime it in such sort as was shewed in the second Chapter then when it is lymed and the lime equally spread not more in one place then in another you shall then meanure it with the best meanure you can prouide of which there is none better or more propper for this ground then mans ordure and the rubbish sweepings parings and spytlings of houses mixt together or for want of this because it may not be in so great plenty as other meanures you may take either old Oxe dung or Horse dung or for want of them the old rotten and mouldy staddels or bottomes of Corne-stacks or reedes especially Peasestacks or Beane-stacks prouided that it be thorowly rotten for the lesse rotten it is the worse it is Also the scowrings of common Sewers and especially those through which much of mans vrine doth passe is a most wonderfull and beneficiail meanure for these grounds so are also the scowâ—…ings of sinkes and channels which come from Kitchins and Wash-houses where great store of Brine and salt broth is shed and other greasy fat and putrified substances as also abundance of sope suddes and buck-ashes and other sope and lye washings then which there is no better meanure that can be vsed for these kinde of grounds After your ground is thus perfectly made and meanured and that Wheat-seede time doth draw on which as before was shewed is euer at the latter end of September you shall then plow vp your ground againe in that manner as was shewed for the former earths to wit much deeper then before for you are to vnderstand that this ground being drest as is before declared there will remaine nothing of the furrowes which were first plowed vp but the asâ—…s which being couered with sand lime and meanure the earth will lye plaine and leuell so that of necessitie you must raise vp new furrowes of new earth which being done you shall then with your hacks cut all the new earth into very small pieces mixing them well with the other mould made of sand lyme meanure and ashes then as was before said you shall harrow it to make the mixture so much the better and the mould so much the finer and then if it haue beene sanded you may sowe your Seede-Wheate simply of it selfe without any doubt of the plentifull increase thereof but if it haue not beene sanded then as in the fore going Chapter you shall not only steepe your Seede in Brine as before shewed but also you shall mixe your Seede with Bay-salt and so sowe it into the ground or if at the time of sowing after it is plowed hackt and harrowed youbestow or Pigeons dung or Pullens dung or sheepes dung vpon the Land it will be much better and the Corne will giue a much greater increase Now as soone as your Land is sowen you shall then forthwith harrow it againe and couer the Seede very close then you shall clot it smooth it and sleight it as was before shewed As touching the weeding and cleansing of this earth after the Corne is sprung vp you shall vnderstand that there is great care to be had thereunto for this ground is much subiect vnto weedes and those of the worst kinde fot although for the most part it will be free from all manner of soft and tender weedes as thy stels cockell darnell ketlocks docks rape and such like herball stuffe yet is it much subiect to twitch Bryars which grow at both ends lyng wilde time `and such like any of which as soone as you shall see appeare or peepe aboue the earth you shall presently with your Nippers pull them vp by the rootes and not suffer them in any wise to looke a handfull aboue the ground for if you doe their hardnesse is so great and their rootes so large and fast fixt in the mould that you can by no meanes pull them away without great losse and hurt to the graine pulling vp with them all such rootes of Corne as shall be fixed neere about them for any other weake and superfluous things
so constantly binde fetter and hold the mold together that it is inpossible for any harrow to breake it in pieces or to gather from it so much mould as may serue to couer the Corne and giue it roote when it is sowen into the same and therefore then this worke of hacking there can be none more necessary or to the Husband-man can bring more ease or profit When therefore you haue thus hackt your Land and distributed the mold into many small pieces you shall then with all expedition marle it which forasmuch as it is no generall or common practise in euery part of this Kingdome I will first tell you what Marle is and then how to finde it digge it and vse it for your best behoofe Marle you shall then vnderstand is a certaine rich stiffe tough Clay of a blewish colour and full of many red veines like Porphery or Marble it is of a tough glewie substance apt to worke and hold together like waxe and chiefly when it is any thing moist but being dryed it mouldereth and breaketh as small as cynders and by these three Carracters colour toughnesse and loosenesse being dryed you shall neuer faile certainely to know it Some are of opinion that this Marle was first found out in Germanie and there put in practise and found of most notable vse calling it by the name of Pytch or a certaine Clay like pitch others that we found it out first heere in England as indeed is most probable because we haue the greatest store and make the greatest vse thereof others that the first knowledge came out of France but that is least credible for neither is it there in much vse nor much mentioned in any of the French Authors especially the antientest or any that writ out of present memory howsoeuer most certaine it is that not any meanure that is in vse with the Husband-man is of more vertue or perfection especially for these loose sandy barrē earths neither of so much goodnesse and continuance for it is hard for any one single and simple meanure to continue aboue three or foure years yet this Marle is knowne to haue continued the ground good for the space of a dozen yeares at the least This Marle is commonly found in the lowest parts of high Countries neere Lakes and small Brookes and in the high parts of lowe Countries vpon the knols of small hils or within the Cly◅ts of high Mountainous banks which bound greater Riuers in◅to conclude you shal seldom finde any of these barren sands but they are either verdged about with Marle grounds or if you will bestowe the labour to digge beyond the depth of the sand you shall not faile to find or Marle or quarrie of stone or both for in some places Marle lyeth very deepe in other some places within a spades grast of the vpper swarth of the earth Therefore it shall be good for you to make proofe of all the most likely parts of your ground to finde out this Marle and as soone as you haue found it out you shall with Mattocks and Spades digge it vp and carry it to your land there laying it in bigge round heapes and setting them within a yard or two one of another thus when you haue filled ouer all your ground which would be done with as great speede as might be for the ancient custome of this Kingdome was when any man went about to Marle his ground all his Tenants Neighbours and friends would come and helpe him to haften on the Worke you shall then spread all those heapes and mixing the Clay well with the Sand you shall lay all smooth and leuell together and heerein is to be obserued that if the land you thus marle shall lye against the side of any great Hill or Mountaine whereby there will be much desent in the ground then you shall by all meanes lay double as much marle sand or other compasse on the toppe of the Hill as on the bottome because the raine and showers which shall fall will euer wash the fatnesse of the earth downe to the lowest parts thereof when your ground is thus marled if you be neere to the Sea-side you shall then also sand it with salt Sea-sand in such sort as was formerly declared only you may forbeare to lay altogether so much vpon this sand ground as you did on the Clay ground because an halfe part is fully sufficient If you cannot come by this salt-Sand then in stead thereof you shall take chalke if any be to be had neere you and that you may lay in more plentifull manner then the sand and albe it is said that chalke is a wearer out of the ground and maketh a rich father yet a poore sonne in this stile it doth not so hold for as it fretteth and wasteth away the goodnesse that is in Clay grounds so it comforteth much strengtheneth these sand earths and this chalke you shall lay in the same manner as you did your marle and in the same manner spread it and leuell it which done you shall then lime it as was before shewed in the Clay grounds yet not so abundantly because also a halfe part will be sufficient after your lyming you shall then meanure it with the best meanure that you haue whether it be dung of Cattell Horse Sheepe Goates straw or other rubbish and that being done and Seede-time drawing on you shall then plow vp your ground againe mixing the new quick earth and the former soyles so well together that there may be little distinguishment betweene them then you shall hack it againe then harrow it and lastly sowe it with good sound and perfit seed and of seedes though Wheate will very well grow vpon this earth yet Rye is the more naturall and certaine in the increase yet according to the strength of the ground you may vse your discretion obseruing that if you sowe Wheate then to steepe it before in brine or salt-Sea-water as was before described but if you sowe Rye then you shall sowe it simply without any helpe except it be Pigeons dung or Bay-salt simple of it selfe in such manner as hath beene before declared either sowing the salt with the Corne or before the Corne as shall seeme best in your owne discretion After your seede is sowen you shall then harrow it againe clot it smooth it and steight it as before shewed in the second Chapter which done after the Corne is shot aboue the earth you shall then looke to the weeding of it being somewhat a little too much subiect to certaine particular weedes as are Hare-bottels wilde Chesse-bolles Gypsy flowers and such like any of which when you see them spring vp you shall immediatly cut them away close by the rootes as for tearing their rootes out of the ground with your Nyppers it is not much materiall for the cutting of them is sufficient and they will hardly euer againe grow or doe you hinderance many other weedes
there may grow amongst these which are also to be cut away but these are the principall and of most note wherefore as soone as you haue clensed your lands of these and the reft you shall then referre the further increase of your profit vnto Gods prouidence thankfully accepting whatsoeuer he shall send you Lastly you shall vnderstand that this ground being thus plowed dreft and ordered will without any more dressing but once plowing and sowing euery yeare beare you good Wheate or good Rye three yeares together then good Barley the fourth yeare good Oates the fift sixt and seuenth yeare excellent good Lupins the eight yeare and very good Meadow or Pasture three or foure yeares after and then it shall be necessary to dresse it againe in such manner as was before described And thus much touching the plowing ordering and inriching of all these plaine barren sands CHAP. VII Of the plowing Tylling Ordering and Inriching of all barren Sands which are laden and ouer-runne with Braken Ferne or Heath NExt vnto this plaine cold barren Sand which beareth no other burthen but a short mossie grasse I will place that Sand which is laden and ouer runne with Braken Ferne or Heath as being by many degrees more barren then the former both in respect that it is more loose and lesse substantiall as also in that it is more dry and harsh and altogether without nutriment more then an extroame sterryll coldnesse as appeareth by the burthen it bringeth forth which is Braken or Ferne a hard rough tough weede good for nothing but to burne or else to lytter store-beasts with for the breeding of meanure or if you strow it in the High-waies where many Trauellers passe it will also thereturne to good reasonable compasse Of this kinde of ground if you be Master and would reduce it vnto fertilitie and goodnesse you shall first whether the Braken be tall and high as I haue seene some as high as a Man on Horse-back or short and low as indeed most commonly these barren earths are for tall Ferne or Braken â—…hewes some strength in the ground you shall with Sythes first mowe it downe in the Month of May then wither and dryeit vpon the ground and after spread it as thinne as you can ouer all the earth you intend to plow which done you shall bring your plow and begin to plow the ground after this order first you shall turne vp your furrow and lay it flat to the ground greene-swarth against greene-swarth then looke how broad your furrow is so turned vp or the ground it couereth and â—…st so much ground you shall leaue vnplowed betweene furrow and furrow so that your land may lye a furrow and a greene balke a furrow and a greene balke till you haue gone ouer all the ground then shal you take a paring-shouell of yron and pare vp the green-swarth of all the balkes between the furrowes at least two inches thick and into pieces of two or three foote long and with these pieces of earth and the drye Ferne which is pared vp with them you shall make little round hollow Baite hils as in the third and fourth Chapter and these hils shall be set thick and close ouer all the ground and so set on fier and burnt then when the fier is extinct and the hils cold you shall first with your hacks cut in pieces all the furrowes that were formerly turned vp and then breake downe the burnt hils and mixe the ashes and earth with the other mould very well together which done you shall then with all speede marle this earth as sufficiently as possible may be not scanting it or sparing it of Marle but bestowing it very plentifully vpon the same which done you shall then plow it ouer againe and plowing it excedingly well not leauing any ground whatsoeuer vntorne vp with the Plow for you shall vnderstand that the reason of leauing the former balkes was that at this second plowing after the Marle was spread vpon the ground the new quick and vnstirred fresh earth might as well be stirred vp to mixe with the Marle as the other dead earth and ashes formerly receaued whereby a fresh comfort should be brought to the ground and an equall mixture without too much drynesse and this second Ardor or plowing would begin about the latter ende of Iune After your ground hath beene thus marled and the second time plowed you shall then sand it with salt Sea-sand lime it and meanure it as was declared in the foregoing Chapter and of all meanures for this soile there is not any so exceeding good as sheepes meanure which although of the Husbandman it be esteemed a meanure but of one yeare yet by experience in this ground it hapneth otherwise and is as durable and as long lasting a compasse as any that can be vsed and besides it is a great destroyer of thystles to which this ground is very much subiect because vpon the alteration of the ground the Ferne is also naturally apt to alter vnto Thystell as we daily see When your ground is thus amply drest and well ordered and that Seede-time commeth on you shall then plow it againe in such manner as you did the second time that is to say very deepe cleane and after the manner of good Husbandry without any rest balkes or other disorders then shall you hack it very well then harrow it and then sowe it but by mine aduice in any case I would not haue you to bestow any Wheate vpon this soyle except it be two or three bushels on the best part thereof for experience sake or prouision for your houshold for it is a great enemy vnto Wheate and more then the marle hath no nourishment in it for the same because all that commeth from the salt sand lime and meanure it little enough to take away the naturall sterrilitie of the earth it selfe and giue it strength to beare Rye which it will doe very plentifully and therefore I would wish you for the three first yeares only to sowe the best Rye you can get into this ground the fourth yeare to sowe Barley the sift sixt and seuenth Oates and of Oates the bigge blacke Oate is the best for this ground maketh the best and kindlyest Oat-malt and feedeth Horse or Cattell the soundest as also it is of the hardest constitution and endureth either cold or drynesse much better then either the white Oate the cut Oate or any Oate whatsoeuer the eight yeare you shall only sowe Lupyns or Fetches and three yeares after you shall let it lye for grasse and then dresse it againe as before said for it is to be vnderstood that in all the following yeares after the first yeare you shall bestow no labour vpon this ground more then plowing sowing hacking and harrowing at Seede-time only But to proccede to the orderly labour of this ground after you haue sowen your Rye you shall then harrow it againe clot it
and assoone as you see them appeare both your selfe and your people with your hands shall pull them vp by the roots and so weed your land as you would weed a garden or Woad ground Now if at this first weeding which will be at the latter Spring commonly called Michaelmas or the Winter Spring you happen to omit let some weeds passe your hands vnpulled vp which very well may chance in so great a work you â—…hal then the Sommer Spring next following seeing them as hie or peraduenture hier then the Corne with your wooden nippers pull them vp by the roots from the ground and so cast them away As touching the cutting them vp close by the ground with ordinary weedhookes I doe in no sort allow it for these kinde of weeds are so apt to grow and also so swift in growth that if you cut them neuer so close in the Spring yet they will againe ouermount the Corne before haruest and by reason of their greatnesse roughnesse and much hardnesse choake and slay much Corne that shall grow about them and therefore by all meanes you shall pull these weeds vp by the roots whilst they are tender if possibly you can or otherwise in their stronger growth sith their sufferance breedeth great losse and distruction And thus much touching the plowing ordering dressing and inriching of all barraine sands that are laden and ouer-runne with Twitch wilde Bryar or woody vndergrowth CHAP. IX Of the Plowing Tilling Ordering and Inriching of all barren Sands which are ouer-runne with mores or morish stinking long Grasse VNto these fore-going barren Sands of which I haue already written I will lastly ioyne this last barren Sand being of all earthes whether Clay or Sand the most barrenest and that is that filthy blacke morish Sand which beareth nothing but a stinking putrified Grasse or Mosse or Mosse and Grasse mixed together to which not any Beast or Cattell how course or hardly bred soeuer will at any time lay their mouthes and this kinde of ground also is very much subiect to marrishes and quagmires of which that which is couered with Mosse or Grasse is the worst and that which is tufted aboue with rushes the best and soonest reduced vnto goodnesse in briefe all these kinds of grounds generally are extremely moyste and colde the â—…uperabundance whereof is the occasion of the infinite sterrillity and barrennesse of the same And therefore hee that is master of such vnprofitable Earth and would haue it brought to some profit or goodnesse shall first consider the situation of the ground as whether it lye high or low for some of these marrish groundes lie low in the Valles some on the sides of Hilles and some on the tops of Mountaines then whether the much moystnesse thereof bee fedde by Riuer Lake or Spring whose veines not hauing currant passage through or vpon the earth spreads soakingly ouer all the face thereof and so rotting the mould with too much wette makes it not onely vnpassable but also vtterly vnprofitable for any good burthen Now if you finde that this marrish Earth lie in the bottome of low vales as it were girdled about with Hilles or higher grounds so that besides the feeding of certaine Springs Lakes or Riuers euery shower of raine or falling of water from higher grounds bringeth to these an extraordinary moysture to maintaine the rottennesse in this case this ground is past cure for grasse or Corne and would onely bee conuerted and made into a fish-pond for the breeding and feeding of Fish being a thing no lesse profitable to the Husband-man for keeping his house and furnishing the market then the best corne-land hee hath and therefore when hee maketh any such pond hee shall first rayse vp the head thereof in the narrowest part of the ground and this head by driuing in of stackes and piles of tough and hard wood as Elme Oake and such like and by ramming in of the Earth hard betweene them and sodding the same so fast that the mould can by no meanes be worne downe or vndermined with the water hee shall bring to as firme Earth as is possible and in the midst of this head he shall place a sluce or Flood-gate made of sound and cleane Oake Timber and plankes through which at any time to draine the Pond when occasion shall serue and this done you shall digge the Ponde of such depth as the Earth conueniently will beare and casting the Earth vpon either side you shall make the bankes as large and strong as the grounde requireth then if any Spring which did before feed the Earth bee left out of the compasse of the Pond because it lieth too high to be brought in then shall you by drawing gutters or draynes from the Spring downe to the Pond bring all the water of the Springs into the Pond and so continually feed it with fresh and sweet water Then storing it with Fish of best esteeme as Carpe Tench Breame Pearch and such like and keeping it from weeds â—…he and Vermine there is no doubt of the daily proffit But if this marrish and low Ground though it lie low and haue many Springs falling vpon it yet it lyeth not so extreame lowe but that there is some Riuer or dry Ditches bordering vppon it which lie in a little lower diffent so that except in case of inundation the Riuer and Ditches are free from the moysture of this Ground but where there is any ouer-slowing of waters there this marrish Grounde must needes be drowned in this case this ground can hardly be made for corne because euery ouerflow putteth the Graine in danger yet may it be well conuerted to excellent pasture or medow by finding out the heads of the Springs and by opening and cleansing them and then drawing from those cleansed heads narrow draines or furrows through which the waters may passe to the neighbour ditches and so be conueied downe to the lower Riuers leauing all the rest of the ground dry and suffering no moistures to passe but what goeth through these small deepe channels then as soone as Sommer commeth and the ground begins to harden ifyou see any of the water stand in any part of the ground you shall forth with mend the draine and helpe the water to passe away which done as the ground hardeneth you shall with hacks and spades lay the swarth smooth and plaine and as early in the yeere as you can conueniently you shall sow vpon the ground good store of hay seeds and if also you doe meanure it with the rotten staddels or bottomes of haystacks it will be much the better and this staddell you shall not spread very thicke but rather of a reasonable thinnesse that it may the sooner rot and consume vpon the same But if this marrish and filthy ground doe not lie so low as these low valleyes but rather against the tops of hils you shall then first open the heads of all the Springs you can find and by
is worthy of the Husbandmans charge and labour It resteth now that I speake some thing of the bettering and inriching of all forts of barven Grasse-grounds inasmuch as they are for the maintenance of stocke without which no Corne or other commodity is to be had in as great vse and necessity as any Corne ground is and the rather in as much as there be some barren earths which partly through their cuill situations partly through much distance of place and other naturall defects can hardly or very inconueniently be brought to beare Corne therefore you shall reduce them vnto good medow or pasture by these helpes and good husbandries following CHAP. X. How to inrich and make the most barrennest soile to bears excell◅nt good pasture or medam MAny will thinke that in the head of this Chapter I haue taken to large a scope and haue made so vnbounded a promise that I cannot chufe but either loose my selfe or leade my Readers infinitely astray in this large wildernesse Indeed for mine owne part I could haue wisht to haue gathered it much neerer within the compasse of common mens common vnderstandings But since I saw the fruitfull grounds and gardens growing about Chatsworth in the Peake in Darbye-shire and since I saw the medowes vpon Exmore and the rich pastures on the toppes of mountaines in North Deuon-shire and all made by industry not nature I thought my promise scant enough and that any painefull man might with his cost and labour easily walke about my meaning To speake then of the bettering and inriching of these barren earths and reducing them to good pasture or medow it is to be vnderstood that there are but two certaine wayes to compasse and effect the same namely water or meanure You are then when you go about this profitable labor First to consider the situation of the earth you would conuert to pasture and to sellect for this purpose the best of this worst earth you can finde and that which lies lowest or els that which is so discending as that the bottome there of may stretch to the lowest part of the continent for the lower that such grounds lie the sooner they are made good and brought vnto profit Next you shall consider what Burthen or grasse it beares and whether the grasse be cleane and entyre of it selfe which is the best and likliest soyle to be made fruitfull or else mixt with other worser growthes as Thystles Heath Brome or such like and if it be burthened with any of these naughty weeds you shall first destroy them by stubbing them vp by the roots and by burning the vpper swarth of the earth with dry straw mixt with the weeds which you shall cut from the same then it shall be good for certaine nights both before the first and latter Spring to fold your sheepe vpon this ground and that not in a scant manner but very plentifully so as the dung of them may couer ouer all the earth and their feet trampling vpon the ground may not onely beat in the dung but also beat of all the fwarth from the earth that where the folde gōeth there little or no grasse may be perceiued then whilest the ground is soft and thus trampled you shall sow it all ouer with Hay seeds and then with your flat board beetles beat the ground smooth and plaine which done you shall then strow or thinly couer ouer the ground with the rotten staddels of Haystacks and the moist bottomes of Hay-barnes and ouer that you shall spread other strong meanure of which horse-dung or Horse-dung and mans ordure mixt together is the best or for want of such either the meanure of Oxen Kine or other Beasts and this meanure also you shall spread very thinne vpon the ground and so let it lye till the grasse come vp through the same which grasse you shall by no meanes graze or feed with your cattell but being come to the perfitnesse of growth you shall mowe it downe and although it will be the first yeare but short and very course yet it skilleth not for the ensuing yeares shall in the profit and bring forth both so good grasse and such plenty thereof as reasonably you can require for this is but the first making of your ground and alteration of the nature thereof neither shall you thus dresse your ground euery yeare but once in twenty or forty yeares hauing plenty of water to relieue it When therfore you haue thus the first onely prepared your ground by destroying the barren growth thereof and by meanuring sowing and dressing it you shall then carefully search about highest parts of the ground and the highest parts of all other grounds any way neighbouting round about it and somewhat aboue the leuell thereof to see it you can find any Springs in the same as doubtlesse you cannot chuse to doe except the ground be of more then strange nature and the heads of all such Springs as you shall find you shall by gutters and channels draw into those ditches which shall compasse your medow ground about obseruing euer to bring the water into that part of the medow-ditch which euer lyeth hyest and so to let it haue a current passage through the ditches downe to the lower part thereof and so into some Lake Brooke or other Channell and in this fort you may bring your water amyle or two Nay I haue seene water brought for this purpose three or foure miles and the gaine thereof hath quit the charge in very plentifull manner But if you cannot find any Springs at all nor can haue the helpe of any Lake Brooke Riuer or other Channell of mouing water which is a doubt to curious as being cast beyond the moone you shall then not onely cast ditches about this your medow ground but also about all other grounds which shall lye aboue it and that in such sort that they all may haue no passage but into the vpper part of the medow ditch so that what raine soeuer shall fall from the skie vpon those earthes it shall be receiued into those ditches and by them conueied into the medow ditch and to augment the stor◅ of this water you shall also in sundry parts of those vpper grounds which are aboue the medow in places most conuenient dig large Ponds or Pits which both of themselues may breed and also receiue all such water as shall fall neare about them and these Ponds or Pits being filde as in the Winter time necessarily they must needs be at euery glut of raine you shall presently by small draynes made for that purpose let the water out from them into the ditches and so into the medow ditch and so stopping all the draynes againe make the Ponds or Pits capable to receiue more water When you haue thus made your ground rich with water and that you see it flow as in the Winter time necessarily it must in plentifull manner through all your ditches you shall then
twice or thrice in the yeere or oftner as you shall thinke meete in the most conuenientest places of the medow ditch stoppe the same and make the water to rise aboue his bounds and to ouerflow and couer your medow ground all ouer and if it be a flat leuel ground if you let the water thus couering it to lie vpon the same the space of 4. or 5. daies or a week it shall not be amisse then you may water it the seldomer But if it lie against the side of a hill so that the water cannot rest vpon the same then you shall wash it all ouer leauing no part vnmoystned this you shal do the ofner according as the weather shalfal out your water grow more or lesse plentiful Now for the best season or time of the yeere for this watering of medowes you shall vnderstand that from Alhallontide which is the beginning of Nouember and at which time all after-growth of meddowes are fully eaten and cattel for the most part are taken vp into the house vntill the end of April at which time grasse beginneth to spring and arise from the ground you may water all your medowes at your pleasure without danger if you haue water enough at your pleasure and may spend or spare at your will yet to doe it in the best perfection and whereby your ground may receiue the greatest benefit you shall vnderstand that the onely time for watering of your medowes is immediately after any great Fluxe of raine falling in the Winter any time before May when the water is most muddy foule and troubled for then it carryeth with it a soyle or compasse which being left vpon the ground wonderfully inricheth it and makes it fruitfull beyond expectation as daily is seen in those hard countreys where almost no grasse growes but by this industry And here you must obserue that as you thus water one ground so you may water many hauing euer respect to begin with the highest and so to let the water passe out of one ground into another vntil it come vnto the lowest which commonly is euer the most flat and leuell and there you may let the water remaine so long as you thinke good as was before shewed and then let it out into other waste ditches or riuers And here you shall know that this lowest ground will euer be the most fruitfull as well because it lyeth the warmest moystest and safest from stormes and tempests as also because what soyle or other goodnesse this ouerflow of water or the raine washeth from other grounds it leaueth vpon this and so daily increaseth the fertility from whence you shall gather that at the first making of these medow grounds you may bestow lesse cost of meanure and other charges vpon this lowest flat leuell ground then on the higher and so by that rule also obserue to bestow on the highest ground and the highest part of the highest ground euer the greatest abundance of meanure and so as you shall descend lower lower to lay your meanure thinner and thinner yet not any part vtterly vnfurnished voyd of compasse yet as before I said you are to remember that these medow grounds need not this much vse of meanure hauing this benefit of water and the first yeares dressing as was shewed in the beginning of this Chapter aboue once in twenty yeares nay it may be not aboue once in a mans life time And here also is to be considered that the water which commeth from clay or marle grounds being thicke muddy and pudly is much better and richer then that which commeth from sand grauell or pibble and so runneth cleare and smooth for that rather doth washe away and consume the goodnesse of the ground then any way adde strength thereunto And thus much touching the dressing and inriching of all sorts of barraine medow or pasture grounds CHAP. XI Of the inriching and dressing of barraine grounds for the use of Hempe or Flaxe HAuing shewed you thus how to better and inrich all sorts of barren grounds of what temper soeuer they be as whether they be claies or sands or whether mixed or vnmixed and that as well for Corne as for Grasse It resteth now that I shew you how to inrich and make any soyle whatsoeuer fit to beare abundance either of Hempe or Flaxe a thing of no meane or small vse in this our Kingdome as witnesseth the abundance of all manner of cordage daily vsed for ships and other purposes the infinit store both of course and fine linnen cloth and a world of other things without which families cannot be sustained You shall then first vnderstand that there are two sorts of grounds which out of their owne natures vtterly refuse to beare Hempe or Flaxe that is the rich stiffe blacke clay of tough solyd and fast mould whose extreamefertility and fatnesse giueth such a surcharge to the increase of the seed that either with the rankenesse it runneth all into Bunne and no Rinde or else the seed being tender and the mould sad and heauy it burieth it so deepe therein that it can by no meanes get out of the same but lies choaked and consumed without profit the other is the most vilde and extream barren ground which by reason of the climat wherein it lyes is so exceeding sterrile and vnfruitfull that it wil neither beare these seeds nor any other good seed and of these two soyles onely I purpose in this place to intreate for with such soiles as will naturally and commodiously beare these seeds I haue nothing to doe in that I haue sufficiently written of them in mine English Husbandman and English Huswife which are books onely for good grounds but this for all such grounds as are vtterly held without cure To begin then with the stiffe blacke clay which albeit be very rich for Corne is most poore for these seeds when you would reduce and bring it to beare Hempe or Flaxe which neare vnto the sea-coaste is of greater price and commodity then Corne any way can be especially adioyning vnto any place of fishing in respect of Nettes and other Engines which is to be made of the same and which being daily washed and consumed must likewise be daily replenished You must first with astrong plow fit for the nature of such land plow vppe so much ground as you intend to sow Hempe or Flaxe vpon about the middest of May if the weather be seasonable and the ground not o hard if otherwise you must stay till a shower doe fall and that the earth be moystened then shall you hacke it and breake the clottes in small pieces then with the salt Sea sand you shall sand it very plentifully but if that be not to be gotten and that you be very well assured of the naturall richaesse of the earth you shall then sand it with the best red sand you can get or find neare vnto you and vpon euery aker of ground you thus sand
with fresh sand you shall sow three bushels of Bay-salt and then plow vp againe the earth sand and salt together which would be done about thelatter end of the yeare as after Michaelmas and so let the ground rest till seed time at which time you shall first before you plow it goe downe to the low rockes on which the sea beats and from thence with dragges and other Engines gather those broad leaued blacke weeds which are called Orewood and grow in great tufcs and abundance about the shoare and these weeds you shall bring to your Hemp-land and couer it all ouer with the same and then you shall plow it againe burying the weeds within the earth And herein is to be obserued that in any wise you must lay these weeds as wet vpon the land as when you bring them out of the Sea prouided still that you adde no other wet vnto them but the salt water for so they are of all soiles or meanures whatsoeuer the only best and most fruitfullest and most especially for these seeds and breed an increase beyond expectation When you haue thus plowed ouer the ground you shall then back it againe then sow it with either Hemp or Flaxe seed which you please and after it is so sown you shall then harrow it and not before and you shall be carefull to harrow it into as fine mould as you can and this mould is likely to runne fine enough as well by reason of the fertility as also of the mixture yet what clottes you cannot breake with your Harrowes those you shall breake with your clotting beetles and such like Tooles then after the first great shower which shall fall after your sowing you shall runne ouer your Land thus sowne with your backe harrowes that is with a paire of large Harrowes the wrong side turned vpward to wit the teeth turned from the earth and the backe towards the earth and if need be you shall lay vpon the harrowes some indifferent heauy piece of wood which may keepe the backe of the harrowes closer to the ground and so goe ouer all the earth and lay it as smooth and light as is possible without leauing the smallest clot that may be vnbroken Now if the ground be sowne with Hempe you shall not thinke of weeding it at all because Hempe is so swift a grower and such a poyson vnto all weeds that it ouer-runneth choaketh and destroyeth them but if it be sowne with Flaxe or Lyne which is a much tenderer seed and bringeth forth more tender leaues and branches then you shall watch what weeds you see Spring vp and in their first growth pluck them vp and cast them away till you behold your Flaxe or Line to be growne aboue the weeds and then you may let it alone also for after it hath once gotten height it will not be ouergrowne with weeds Now touching the other soile which through the extreame barrennesse thereof refuseth to bring forth any good fruit at all you shall in all points dresse it as you drest your plaine clayes discribed in the second Chapter of this booke beginning at the same time of the yeare that is then appointed or if more necessary occasions hold you if you begin latter it shall not be amisse and then at Michaelmas you shall plow it ouer the second time and meanure it with the sea weeds and so let it lye at rest vntill March which is seed-time and then plow it againe and meanure it with the sea weeds againe and after the plowing you shall hacke it and if in the hacking you find the earth stiffe and tough then you shall harrow it before you sow it then fow it and harrow it againe breaking the earth so small and laying it so smooth as possible you can vsing the help both of the clotting beetles and all other tooles which may be auaileable for the breaking of the earth and making the mould as fine as any ashes then after the first great shower of raine perceiuing the ground to be well moystned you shall insteed of the backe harrowes which vpon this earth may be to light take the great rouler which is discribed in the booke of the English Husbandman being a great round peece of Timber of many squares drawne either by Horse or Oxen but a single Horse is the best both in respect of much treading the ground as also for the swift going away or drawing of the same for the swifter it is drawne the better it breaketh the ground and the lighter it leaueth the mould and with this Rouler you shall run ouer and smooth your ground very well leauing no clot vnbroken and so let it rest As for the weeding of this ground you shall not respect it at all for naturally it will put vp no weed the very ground of it selfe being a very great enemy therunto nor shall you need to dresse this ground in the forme beforesaid aboue once in eight or ten yeeres onely euery seed-time when you plow it as you shall not need to plow it at any time but seed-time onely you shall before the plowing couer or meanure the land with the sea weed before spoken of which will giue strength enough to the ground without any other assistance And thus much touching the inriching plowing and dressing of all manuer of barren earths of what nature or quality soeuer whereon you would sow Hempe or Flaxe CHAP. XII The manner of Stacking of all kinde of Graine or Pulse with greatest safety and least losse IN these barren and hard countreyes of which I haue formerly written all sorts of buildings are exceeding costly and scarse both in respect of the clime which is commonly most extreame cold mountainous and much subiâ—…ct to storme and tempest as also through the great want of Wood and Timber which in those hard soyles doth hardly or neuer prosper and therefore in such places building must be both small and deare so that it will be very hard for the Hnsbandman to haue houseroome for all his Corne but that of necessity he must be inforced to Stacke much or the most part of his Corne without the dorcs which albeit it be a thing very vsuall in this Kingdome yet is it in many places so insufficiently done that the losse which redounds thereby partly by the moisture of the ground which commonly doth rot and spoyle at least a yard thicknesse of the bottome of the Stacke next the ground and partly through myce Rats and other vermine which breeding in the Stacke doe eate and deuoure a great part thereof as also through many such like negligent causes is greater then a good Husband may with his credit be guilty of or a profitable Husband will by any meanes suffer to be losâ—… so negligently To shew then the manneâ—… how to Stacke or Moow your Corne without the dores in such sort as neither the ground shall rot it nor these vermines destroy it nor any other losse come to
are Winter seeds and so longer in sprouting will aske a full moneth for all other seeds which are sowne in the Spring or Sommer a fortnight is full sufficient and this field-keeper shall not faile to be in the field an houre before Sunne in the morning and so continue till halfe an howre after Sun-set in the euening for at the rising and setting of the Sunne is euer done the greatest mischiefe for then are all creatures most eager hungry and though the indurance may promise much paine and trouble yet questionles the labour to any free spirit is both easie and pleasant and not without much necessary vse in as much as it makes him expert and cunning in the vse of his Bowe which howsoeuer musket shot in these dayes seemes to disgrace yet sure the very nature and quality of our Kingdome being so muchplaine champion and vnfenced and our best strengths in our men not townes will challenge it as a matter of great worth and consequence The next great destroyers of Corne vnto these are your Pygeons which the wisdome of our nation hath so well found out that they haue prouided many wholesome Lawes for the restraint of the great multiplicity thereof for they are not onely great destroyers of Graine when it is going into the ground but also when it is gathered and Stackt tearing the thatche and other couerings and digging such hoales into Stackes and Reeks of Corne that the losse is most plaine and apparant Now the Graine to which these Pygeons are most offensiue albeit they are generally hurtfull to all kind of Corne yet they are especially most mischieuous vnto all sorts of Pulse as Beanes Pease Fetches Lentiles Lupyns Tare and such like The cure or preuention against these kind of fowle when the Corne is going into the ground is the same formerly shewed for Crowes or Chouges without altering any circumstance onely if instead of the bow and arrow you doe vse a musket harquebush or fowling peece the report or noise where of is more terrible and fearfull you shall find the profit thereof a great deale more and that a shot or two of Powder wil saue more Corne then a whole weekes hooping and showting onely you must obserue by all meanes that your field-keeper shoot neither bullet nor haileshot for so he may turne scaring vnto killing and that may breed vnkindnesse from and iniury to your neighbours Now touching the destruction that they make of Corne after it is stackt vp by tearing of the thatche and digging hoales and pits therein you shall obserue that as your Thatcher thatcheth the same that forthwith he throw great store of ashes of any kinde as either of wood or coale vpon the thatch orinstead of ashes to sprinkle all the thatch ouer with Lyme that as the foule whether it be Pygeon Crow or any other teareth vp the straw the lyme or ashes may sparkle into their eyes and-nares and by the noisomnesse thereof make them forbeare their wicked labours as for those parts of the Stacke which cannot be thatcht as the sides and ends thereof vpon them you shall pricke diuers scar-crowes as dead crowes or dead Pygeons or the proportion or shape of a man made either of thumb-ropes of hay or straw or else some old cast-away apparell stopt with straw and so with stakes fastened to fundry parts of the stack there be others which to remedy these euils make little clap mils of broken trenchers which blowne and turned about with the winde doe make such a continuall noyse that not any birde whatsoeuer dare come neare it Now to conclude for the generall offence of these birds or any other whatsoeuer if you want ability to maintaine a field-keeper or thinke his labour might be better imploid in other seruices then the onely way to rid you of the losse and annoyance which come by these dcuouring birds is to take long lynes of packthred and in them to knit diuers feathers especially white ones and with little stakes so to fasten them ouer the Corne you would saue that with euery breath of winde the feathers may dance turne and moue about and the nearer that these blinks or strawes come to the ground when the Corne is new sowne so much the better it is least the foule finding away to creepe vnderthem begin not to respect them so that a hand or two from the ground is sufficient prouided that the feathers and scarres haue liberty to play But if it be to saue Corne in the ripening that is to say a little before it be reapt when the eare begins to harden or when it lyeth in single sheafe vpon the land for then fowle and birds doe as great mischiefe as at any other season it shall then be fit that you raise these lines or scarres vpon higher stakes so as they may play as much aboue the toppes of the eares of corne as before they did aboue the earth and amongst these scars thus made vpon lines in sundry parts of the field you shall vpon other stakes place many other bigger scars as dead crowes pies gleades pigeons or such like as also the proportions of man formerly shewed you or any rags of cloth being black foule vgly like bakers malkins than this there is no saffer way for the defence of grain or corne from these birds such like The next great deuowrers or consumers of graine are Pismiers or Ants which although it be but a little creature yet it is so laborsome that the graine which they carry away or destroy by eating amounteth to a great quantitie and the mischiefe which these little vermins do is after the corn is couered in the ground and before it sprout for they creeping in at the little chinks of the earth finding the corne either drag it out or eat it so that it cannot grow the grain which they most hurt is all manner of white corne especially your finest and smallest wheat for the skin or hull is thinnest and the kirnell whitest sweetest also to barley they do much hurt especially that which is fullest best and likewise to rie hemp seed lin seed and rape seed as for oats because it is double hulld also your great hole straw wheat polard wheat which is thick huld their hurt is not so much to them vnto pulse nothing at all because they are too heauy too thicke skind and too bitter in taste The best cure or preuention for these pismires is to search your corn fields wel especially vnder hedges old trees and on the tops of moale-hilles and if you find any beds or hils of Ants or Pismyres presently after Sun-setting with hot scolding water to drownd the beds or hils or with wet straw and fire to make such a smoake vpon them as may smoother them to death also if you meanure your Corne lands with ashes lime or salt sand you shall be well assured it will neuer
breed Pismires Next vnto these your Dores or great black Clocks are vehement destroyers of all kind of Corne both white corne and Pulse whilst it lyeth dry in the earth and before it sprout for after it beginneth to rot they doe no more touch it and these Dores destroy it in the same manner as the Pysmyres doc by creeping in at the small crauies of the earth and finding the graine doe as long as it is dry feed thereon and though they are no hoarders or gatherers together of the graine keeping it in heapes in dry places as the Pismyres and other vermine doc yet they are great feeders thereon and that continually besides they will euer chuse out the fullest and best Corne and leaue the leaner wherby they doe the Husbandman a double inâ—…ury as first to deuoure and then to deuoure but the best onely The care or preuention for these Dores or blacke Clocks is in seed-time to make great smoakes in your corne-fields which will presently chase them from thence for they are the greatest enemies that may be to all manner of smoake but if that be not sufficient then immediately before you sow your Corne you shall very lightly sow your land with sharpe lime and whensoeuer the Dore shall find the smell or taste therof presently he wil depart or if he eat of the grain that toucheth the lyme it is as present poyson vnto him and he there dyeth After these your field Rats and Myce are very vehement destroyers of all manner of Graine or seeds before they sprout especially all sorts of wheate and all sorts of pulse because for the most part those kinde of graines in many soyles are sowne vnder furrow and not harrowed so that the furrowes at first lying a little hollow these vermines getting in betweene the earth and them will not onely deuoure and eat a great part of the graine but also gather together great heapes thereof into their nests as is often seene when at any time their nests are found some hauing more some lesse according to their labours And albeit in other soyles where the graine is sowne aboue furrow and so harrowed in and laide much more closse and safe they cannot doe so much hurt as in the former yet euen in these they will with their feet digge out the corne in great abundance and though in lesse measure yet doe hurt that is vnsufferable so that to conclude neither Rye Barley Oates nor any other smaller and more tender seeds are free from their annoyance and destruction Now the cure and preuention for these fielde Rats and Mice are diuers according to the opinions of diuers authors and diuers of our best experienst Husbandmen for some vse in the Dogge dayes or Canicular dayes when the fieldes are commonly bare to search out the holes and nests of these Rats and Mice which are easily knowne being little round holes in the earth made so round and artificially as if they were made with an Auger no bigger then the body of the Creature that was to lye in it and into these holes they vse to put a few Hemblock seeds of which when the beast tasts it is present death vnto them Others vse to sprinkle vpon the land Hellebere or neesing pouder mixt with Barley meale of which the myce and Rats will greedily feed and it is deadly bane and present death vnto them Lastly and which is the best medicine if you take a good quantity of ordinary greene glasse beaten to pouder and as much copporas or vitriall beaten also to pound and mixe them with course honey till it come to a paste and then lay it in the holes and most fuspicious places and it will neither leaue Rat nor Mouse about all your fields but fodainely destroy them The next great destroyers of Corne and Graine are wormes and they destroy it in the sprouting then when the ground hath rotted it and the white or milky substance breaking open the vpper huske shooteth forth in little white threds at both ends vpon which whilest it is so moyst and tender the worme feedeth extreamly so deuouring vp the substance or sperm is the cause that the Corne cannot grow or get out of the ground and these wormes being as it were the maine citizâ—…ns within the earth are so innumerable that the losse which is bred by them is infinite Now the cure or preuention for these wormes is diuersly taken for some husbandmen vse but onely to strike into the plow rest and vnder the lowest edge of the shelbord certaine crooked spikes of yron or great nailes halfe driuen in and turned backe againe with which as the plow runs tearing in the ground turnes vp the furrow those pices of yron kil and teare in pieces all such wormes as are either within or vnder the furrowes that the plow castsvp and this is sure a very good husbandly practise but not sufficient for the destroying of such a secret hurtfull vermine which is so innumerable and lies so much concealed therefore more curious husbands vse besides this helpe of the plow to take oxe dung and mixe it with straw then to burne it vpon the land making a great smoke ouer all the land immediately before you plow it for seed and it is thought that this will kil all the worms which lie so hie in the earth as to hurt the Corne Others vse before they make either the mixture or the smoak to wet the straw in strong lie and then adding it to the dung the smoake will be so much the stronger and the worms killed the sooner or if you Sprinkle strong lie vp on your seed before you sow it there is not any worm that will touch the graine after Also if you take hemp and boyle it in water with that water sprinkle your seed before you sow it not any worme will come near to touch it Yet it is to be obserued in this rule of wetting your seed Corne that by no means you must wet your seed Rye for it is a graine so warme and tender that it will neither endure cold wet nor stiffe ground insomuch that the plowman hath a prouerbe that Rie wil drownd in the hopper that is to say it must neither be sown on wet ground nor in a wet day since present shewers are apt to destroy it lastly it is thoght that oft plowing of your ground in the wane of the mooneis a very good meanes to destroy wormes touching that practise which many vse to gather the wormes from their lands at Sun-rise sun-set in bright dewy mornings when the worms coople aboue the earth I hold it more fit for small gardens then large Corne-fields The next great destroyers of Corne are Snailes and they destroy it after it is sprouted seeding vpon therender white threds and rions which start from the seed woldrise aboue the earth being the stem or stalk on which the eares should
an Owle and to fasten her legs into a post in the midst of your Corne field and her wings extended and spread forth to the vttermost and so abiding whilst the Corne groweth no hurt shall come to your Corne by haile The next mischiefe which commetâ—… to corne is by lightning which is a violent opening or flashing of the ayre being an erruption of swift fire which darâ—…eth out his beames so sharpely that sometimes it burneth or scorcheth the corne sometimes breaketh the reede in pieces and sometimes withereth and slayeth it outright The cure and preuention of this cuill according to the opinion of some husbandmen is to take a hedge Toad and to close it vp fast in an earthen pot and then digging a hole in the middest of your Corne field there bury the pot with the Toade and lightening will neuer â—…damage your corne there be others which vse to take the feathers of an Aegle and to hang them vp in the foure corners of your corne-field or for want of them to hang vp the skinne of a Seale and either of them will preuent the hurt of lightning lastly some vse to plant the Lawrell or Bay-tree in their corne-fields and hold it a certaine preuention from lightning or where the trees cannot conueniently be gotten if but some branches thereof be but stucke vp in sundry places it is thought to preuent all hurt that comes by lightening Next vnto lightning is the hurt which commeth to corne by Thunder being a sharpe and fiery exhalation or meteon closed within the body of cold moyst cloud euery way contrary both in nature and quality to the thing in which it is imprisoned whereby a most violent contention growing betwixt the fire and the water at last the fire getting the vpper hand breakes from his cold bed with such violence and noyse that many malignant qualities follows it and it doth much hurt both to graine and all other growing things whatsoeuer The cure and preuention for those euils which happen by Thunder is many times to ring loud and great Bels or now and then to shoot of a Cannon or Culuerin shot or any other great shot whereby the acquaintance with these great noyses may make the graine more apt and able to indure the violence and suddennesse of the Thunder whensoeuer it shall happen for it is the suddennesse of the cracke which breedeth all the imperfection there be others that in this case vse to gather vp all the stinking and filthy smelling weeds and seeds which can be got and mixing them with any other filthy matter that stinketh most to burne them in their corne-fields and it is a most safe preseruation from any hurt which shall happen by Thunder The next euill which happeneth to corne or graine is that which commeth by frosts and sharpe nipping colds which staruing the root and binding vp all nourishment marketh the corne dry wither and neuer prosper and then the violence of the frost there is nothing more bitter to plants and seeds for euer rasorlike it cutteth the veines and sinews in pieces and as sharpe needles pricketh the heart of euery growing thing for as the fire which is most hot when it rageth burneth and consumeth all things so the frost which is most cold when it continueth starueth and choaketh or stifeleth whatsoeuer it imbraceth Now the cure or preuention for those euils which doe happen to graine by these great frosts is as some husbandmen sappose to couer the land ouer when it is sowne with ashes others spread straw or rotten litter vpon their corne and not any of them but is sufficient to preâ—…ent the worst iniury that the frost can doe The most malignant quality which offendeth graine is myst and fog which being naughty vapours drawne from the infected parts of the earth and falling vpon the corne doe not onely make the graine leprous but also infecting the better earth alter the kindly nourishment there of and as it were distilling corruption into the vaines makes all that depend thereupon most leprous and vnwholesome and thereby altereth the quality quite turning sweetnesse into bittenesse fulnesse into emptinesse and goodnesse into badnesse to the great losse of the husbandman and the much disreputation of the ground Now the cure and preuention of this eiill according to the opinions of all the best husbandmen is to take weeds greene the twigs of brambles and other bruth wood wet straw or any such like stuffe and binding them in great bundles to pâ—…t fire there to making a great and violent smoake and then taking the aduantage of the winde to walke vp and downe the field and smoake it which is thought a certaine remedy to take away those inconueniences which happen by violence and poison of these mysts and fogs The last and not least hurt for indeed it happens oftest and is most dangerous which â—…als on corn-fields is that which proceedeth from blasting or as some call it planet strooke This blasting is diuersly distinguished as proceeding from diuers occasions as sometimes from the euill aspects of the Starres sometimes from the rotten corruptions of the ayre sometimes from the contagion and infection of the winds and sometimes from the cuill habits of dewes and other pestifferous serenes which fall vpon the earth of all or any of which if a man be desirous to read let him looke into Plinie in the first booke of his naturall history and he shall finde them set downe and decyphered at large with an abstract of all such Stars and Planets as are most propitious and helpfull to all manner of grain as it were guarding and defending it from the casuall malladies which doe come from the skie so that in this place to enter into the large field of so well written a discourse were much needlesse and a good mans worke much worse repeated Touching the cure and preuention of those euils which happen vnto corne by blasting they are sundry according to the sundry opinions of husbandmen yet the best and most approued are these two onely of which I meane to write in this place the first to take the right or farre horne of an oxe and mixing it with a good quantity of his dung adde fire vnto it so as the horne and dung may make a great smoke or smother this do in diuers parts of your corn-field the operation or vertue where of is that this smoake will purge and dissolue the euill qualities of the ayre and other influences and reduce them to their proper goodnesse and vertue The second is to take the boughes or branches of the Bay-tree and to plant them in sundry places of the Corne-field so as they may stand a pretty distance or space aboue the height of the standing corne for it is held a maxime amongst the best husbandmen that all blastings will fall vpon those boughes and branches and the corne wil remaine safe and vnstriken or blemished Now
other places Againe I haue for mine owne part seene in the Ilands of the Axores which lie lowest from Spain and it is a great practisealso in Spaine certaine very great and large caues or pits made vnder the earth of the fashion of a Spanish earthen Iarre that is to say great and spacious in the midst and narrow both at the top and bottome like a brasse pot or great glasse viall and made as smooth within as may be in these caues or pits they first lay chasse and then their thrasht wheat filling it vp full to the top or within a handfull thereof which they fill againe with chaffe and then closing the top with a broad stone they couer it ouer with earth so close and vnperceiueable that you may walke or trauell ouer it without any suspition and for mine owne part I haue my selfe digged vp many of these pits and found great store of wheate both in the high wayes and other most in suspicious places and surely it is thought and experience in those places makes it good that in these caues or pits you may keep wheat as long if you please as Plinie speaketh of which is an hundred or an hundred and twenty yeares without hurt or putrefaction either of heate moysture wormes weauels or any other vermine whatsoeuer which consumeth or deuoureth Corne yet how I may recommend this experiment to our nation I am vncertaine because the much moysture of our climat and the cold rawnesse thereof promisseth a contrary effect for the great enemies vnto graine are violent cold and moysture and with vs it is very difficult to make any cauerns vnder the earth but they must bee subiect vnto both therefore onely to those which liue in hot sandy countreys high and free from springs or waters or in dry and rocky grounds where these mines or hollow places may be hewed out as in a maine and firme quarry I recommend the tryall of this practise with this assurance that where the ground is fit for this purpose as in any of your sand grounds or grauelly earthes as in Norfolke Middlesexe Kent and many other sandy climats or in rocky situations as in Nottingham Bathe Bristol and such like you may keep your wheat good sound firme and free from all annoyances euen as long as you shall please to keep it both without putrifaction in it self or waste made by other deuoring worms vermin but if in a more moyst place as in a clay or other mixt earth which euer is vomiting wet and dewish humours you are forced to approue this experiment then you must necessarily lime all your caue or hallow mine within at least halfe a foot thicke with tyle shred and plaster laid wall-like together and then the plaster dawbde at least three fingers thicke aboue all and so you may keepe your corne as safe and as sound as in any hot soile whatsoeuer but without it your corne will not indure a weeke without rottennesse faughtinesse mouldinesse and stinking To conclude hauing shewed you all the most approued best experiments for the keeping and preferuing of wheat there is not any better or so good as this last poore silly plaine one which I will heare deliuer that is first as neere as you can reape your wheat at the change of the Moone for wheat which is so reaped is sedome or neuer subiect to losse or putrifaction being gotten dry and in husbandly maner ordred handled because that celestial body hath such a power and influence in the growth of corne and seeds that as she groweth so they grow and as she waneth so they abate and wither and truely for mine owne part in my poore husbandry I haue made this obseruation that I haue reaped corne at the beginning of the wane to mine eye and iudgement great full and bold as the Plowman cals it and within few dayes after when it came to thrashing I haue found it most poore hungry and small Corne noâ—… could giue or find any other reason for the sam but that it was reaped in an ill and most vnseasonable time for on the contrary part I haue euer found tha Corne reaped vpon the change being ripe full and euery way fit for the barne and the weather faire and dry aboue head it hath neuer altered but kept his first and perfit goodnes so that I cannot chuse but in this case thinke the obseruation of the Moone to be a thing of great effect and validity appointed by God as a secondary meanes for our helpe and profit when therefore your Corne is thus seasonably and well got you shall thrash it window it and dresse it so cleane as you can then carry it vp into your chambers or lofts appointed for that purpose and whose floores by all meanes I would wish to be cast of the best plaster for boards are too hot and clay is to apt to breed vermine On this plaster floore you shall spread your wheat not aboue a foot dâ—…pe at the vttermost and so let it lie obseruing once in foure or fiue dayes at the most with a large wooden shouell to turne the wheat quite ouer and ouer and thus doing you shall be sure to keepe it as sweet found and good as when it came first into the barne for neither can the heat sweat nor coldnesse offend it the first being cooled and tempered by the opening and dipersing the second dryed vp by the ayre which hath free recourse into it and the last comforted by the labour and tossing of the shouell casting it vp and downe from one place to another and though some curious husbands may obiect that this maner of keeping Corn dryeth it somwhat too much and thereby disableth it for some particular purposes as for seed and such like yet in that they are much mistaken for this stirring and moouing of graine is not a drying of it but rather a great comforter and strengthener of it dispersing backe into the Corne those wholesome vapours which should doe it good by way of communication and fellowship with the Graine and expelling those ill humours which sweating out of it would otherwise confound and hurt it so that in conclusion for the true and long keeping of wheat sweet sound and perfit without losse or corruption there is no way more safe or easie then this last expressed being of all other the best although in shew it appeare sleight and triuiall as for the most part things of greatest moment in this nature doe but to the iudiciall Husbandman I referrc it whose ayme is at the worth and substance not at the words and curious glosse set foorth in strange ingredians Touching the keeping of Rye or Massine or as some call it Munck-corne or Blend-corne being part Rye and part Wheate mixed together that which preserueth Wheat will also preserue it for they are Graine of like nature onely the Rye is somewhat hotter and dryer and therefore will endure somewhat more moysture
and hee may plow and sow in stiffe ground two akers and a halfe each day and in light ground foure at least with one Teame and a wayes what he soweth that he may harrow the same day also A man may well mowe of good and deepe loggy medow or of rough vneuen medow euery day one aker mowing cleane and making a smooth board of well standing and good smooth medow an aker and a halfe each day and of very thinne and short grasse or vpland medowe two akers at the least euery â—…ay Also he may mow of Corne as Barley and Oares if it be thicke loggy and beaten downe to the earth making faire worke and not cutting of the heads of the eares and leauing the straw still growing one aker and a halfe in a day but if it be good thicke and faire standing Corne then he may two akers or two akers and a halfe in a day but if the Corne be short and thinne then he may mowe three and sometimes foure akers in a day and not be ouer laboured Also of Beanes he may mowe as much and of Pease mixt with Beanes hauing a hooke to follow him no lesse for they are workes in this nature most easie and least troublesome One man with a binder may well reape an aker of Wheat or Rye in a day if it be principal good and wel standing but if laid or beaten downe with weather then three roode is fully sufficient for a dayes labour but if it be thinne and vpright standing then he may reape and bind fiue roods in a day of small Pease Fetches and such like a man may wel reape two akers euery day Now for as much as it is a custome in diuers countreyes and truely is exceeding profitable and worthy imitation to sheafe and bind vp both Barly and Oats as well as Wheate or Rye and that it both saueth much Corne and also makes it take a great deale lesse roome and that this labour is to be done after the mowers as the other was after the reapers by gathering the Barley or Oats vp with a sickell or hook as it lyes in the swath and so binding it in sheaues you shall vnderstand that one man in a day will bind as much as one mower can mowe and if the men be any thing skilfull in the labor two binders will binde as much as three mowers can mowe For the gathering or inning of Graine no man can proportion the number of loads or quantity of ground shal daily be brought home sith the iourneyes are vncertaine some going a quarter of a mile some halfe a mile and some a mile therefore it is the husbandmans best way the first day to go with his Teame himselfe and both to obserue the labour and distance of place and by that to compute what may be done after without hurt to his cattell and where he failes of any hope there to take a strickt account of the errour for it is either ignorance or carelesnesse which brings forth mischances speaking of husbandry as ouerthrowing the Teame ouer loading the Teame breaking necessary instruments or not respecting the wayes and passage any of which may in a day hinder more then halfe the dayes labour Againe a man may in a day ditch and quick-set of a reasonable ditch foure foot broad and three foot deep a rod or poll a day allowing sixeteene foot to the rod and so of larger measure lesse ground and of lesse ground larger measure according to the sufficiency of the fence which you purpose to make A man also may hedge in a day if the hedge be good and substancial that is to say fiue foot high wel bound thicke stackt and closse layed two rod in a day and if the worke be lower or thinner then double so much according to the former proportion For the plashing of hedges or making a quicke fence if he do it workmanly and that the quicke growth be high and well growne and then he lay it thicke closse and strongly bound on the top turning the quicke downeward and inward to plash a rod a day is as much as any man can well do but if ye plash it after the West countrey fashion that is onely cutting it downe laying it a long closse to the ground seeking onely thicknesse and not much guard or comelinesse then he may well plash aâ—…od and a halfe in a day without trouble and sure in this worke is great care and art to be vsed as well for the preseruation of the quick as the goodnesse of the sence being a thing of worth and validity to euery husbandman Againe a man may delue or dig as for garden mould hempe-yard Flaxeyard or for the setting of Corne or leuelling of vneuen places one roode in a day and the ground so digged and delued he may rake dresse and leuell in the same day also but if he digge it deepe and trench it and meanure it as is meet either for garden orchard or cornsetting then to delue half a rood in a day is a very great proportion because ordinarily to delue as to receiue ordinary seeds requires but one spade grafâ—…in depth but extraordinarily to delue as for inriching and bettering of the ground and to cleanse it from stones weeds and other anoyances will require two spade graft at the least Lastly a man may thrash if the corne be good and cleane without some extrordinary abuse or pouerty in the graine inone day foure bushels of Wheat or Rye fiâ—…e bushels of Barly or Oats fiue bushels of Beanes or Pease but the Pulse must then be imagined to be exceeding otherwise a man shal thrash lesse of it then of any other kind of Graine for as when it is well loaden it yeeldeth plentifully so when it is poore and lightly loaden it yeeldeth little or nothing and yet hath not one stroke lesse of the slaile nor any labour saued more then belongs to the best Pulse whatsoeuer being euer at least three times turned and foure times beaten ouer Hauing thus generally runne ouer in a short computation the labours of the husbandman I will now as bricfly as I can goe ouer the particular dayes la bours of a Farmer or aPlowman shewing the particular expence of euery houre in the day from his first rising till his going to bed as thus for example we will suppose it to be after Christmas and about plow day which is the first letting out of the plow and at what time men either begin to fallow or to breake vp Pease earth which is to lye to baite according to the custom of the countrey at this time the Plowman shall rise before foure of the clock in the morning and after thanks giuen to God for his rest and the successe of his labors he shall goe into his stable or beast house and first he shall fodder his cattell then cleanse the house and make the boothes neate and cleane rubbe
all errable toyles would begin at latter seasons and the plowes and instruments would be of middle size and indifferent timbers and the labour somewhat lesse then the other but the light sandy grounds which haue also a certaine natural fruitfulnes in them as in Norfolke Suffolke most part of Lincolneshire Hampshire Surry and countries of that nature all errable toiles would begin at the latest seasons and the plowes and instruments would be of the smallest and lightest size and of the least timbers and the labour of all other is most easie Lastly for the barren and vnfruitfull carthes of which onely I haue written of in this booke as is Deuonshire Cornwall many parts of Wales Darbyshire Lancashire Cheshire Yorkeshire and many other like or worse then they the errable toiles would haue certaine set time or sit season of the yeare but onely according to the temperatnes of the yere which if it happen early then you must begin your labors early but if it fall lower in the yeere then you must begin your labours at later seasons and for your plow and instruments they must not keepe any certaine proportion but be framed euer according vnto the ground the stronger and stiffer ground hauing euer the strong and large plow with instruments of like kinde and the lighter and more easie earth a plow and instruments of more easie substance as for the labour it must be such and no other then that which hath been already declared in this booke And hence it comes that the office and duty of euery skilfull plowman or Carter is first to looke to the nature of the earth next to the seasons of the yere then to the customes and fashions of the place wherein hee liueth which customes although they be held as second natures amongst vs and that the best reasons of the best workemen commonly are that thus I doe because thus they doe yet would I wish no man to binde himselfe more strictly to custom then the discourse of reason shal be his warrant and as I would not haue him to preiudicat in his owne opinion so I would not haue him too great a slaue to other mens traditions but starding vpon the ground of reason made good by experience I would euer haue him profit in his owne iudgement Now of these matters I haue written sufficient both in this booke and in my former and also for the election ordering tempering and making of all sorts of plowes or plow yrons together with the Teames dranghts and other aduantages of which whosoeuer is ignotant let him looke into the English Husbandman and he may be satisfied Now the further office and duty of the Husbandman is with great care and diligence to respect in what sort or fashion to plow his ground for although I haue in the former Chapters shewed how he shall lay his furrowes what depth he shall plow them and how he shal be able to raise and gaine the greatest store of mould yet is there also another consideration to be had no lesse profitable to the husbandman then any of the former and that is how to lay your lands best for your own profit ease as also the ease of your cattel which shal draw within your draught as thus for instance if your erable land shall lie against the srde of any steepe or mountainous high hill as for the most part all barren earthes do if then you shall plow such land directly against the hill beginning below and so ascending straight vpright and so downe againe and vp againe this very labour and toyling against the hill wilbreed such a bitter wearisomnesse to the cattell and such a discouragement that you shal not be able to compasse one halfe part of your labour besides the danger of ouer-heating and surfetting of your beasts whence will spring many mortal diseases Therefore when you shal plow any such ground be sure euer to plow it side-wayes ouerthwart the hil where your beasts may euer tread on the leuel ground and neuer directly vp and downe so shal your cattel be better able to endure the draught and you with much case and comfort be able to compasse and finish your labors Besides the compasse and meanure which you shall lay vpon the ground shall not be so soone washt away from the top or vpper part of the ground because the furrowes not lying straight downe in an euen and direct discent but turned crosse-wise vpward against the hil it must necessarily hold the soyle within it and not let it wash away as it were through liberall channels as I haue oft seene in diuers places where the corne hath been as ranke as might be at the bottome and not any growing at the top only for want of well ordering of the Lands and knowledge how to prepare both for a mans owne ease and his cattels Againe it is the office duty of euery good Plowman to know what cattle are meetest for his draught as whether Oxen or Horse or both oxen and horse wherein is be vnderstood that although of all draughts whatsoeuer within this kingdome there is none so good to plow withall both in respect of the strength stabilitie indurance and fitnes for labour as the oxen are in whom there is seldome or neuer any losse because whensocuer his seruice faileth in the draught his flesh wil be of good price in the shambles yet not withstanding in this case a man must necessarily bind himselfe much to the custome of the Countrey and fashion of his neighbours for if you shall liue in a place where fuel is scarse and far to be fetcht as commouly it is in all barren Countries which for the most part are stony Champaines or cold Mountaines and your neighbours as wel for the speed of their Iourneis as for the length keepe Horse draughts in this case you must also doe the like or else you shall want their companies in your Iourney which is both discomfort and disprofit if any mischance or casualty shall happen or being inforst to driue your Oxen as fast as they doe their Horse you shal not onely ouerheate tire bruise and spoile them but also make them vtterly vnfit either for feeding or labour and therefore if your estate be mean that you haue no more but what necessitie requires then you shal sort your plow or Teeme according to the fashion of your Countrey and the vse of your neighbours but if God haue blest you with great blenty then it shal not be amisse for you to haue euer an Oxe draught or two to till your Land and a Horse draught to do all your forraine and abroad businesses so shall your worke at home euer goe constantly forward and your outward necessary prouisions neuer be wanting Now for the mixture of Oxen and Horse together it falleth out oftentimes that the plowman must of force be prouided with cattell of both kind as if he happen to liue in a mountanous and rocky
countrey where the steepenesse of the hills and narrownesse of the wayes will suffer neither Cart Weine nor Tumbrell to passe in this case you shall keepe Oxen for the plow to till the ground with and Horses to carry pots or hookes the first to carry foorth your meanure and the other to bring home your hay and Corne haruest your fuell and other prouisions which are needfull for your family as they doe both in Cornewall and all other mountainous countries where Carts and weines and such like draughts haue no possible passage Againe it is the office and duty of â—…uery good plowman to know his seuerall labours for euery seuerall moneth through the whole yeare whereby no day nor houre may bee misspent but euery time and season imployed according as his nature requireth as thus for example In the moneth of Ianuary the painefull plowman if he liue in fertile and good soyles as amongst rich stiffe simple cleys he shall first break vp or plow vp his pease earth because it must lye to take baite before it be sowne but if he liue in fruitful wel mixt soyles then in this moneth he shall begin to fallow the field he will lay to rest the yeare following but if he liue vpon hard barren earths of which chiefely I write then in this moneth he shall water his Meadowes and Pasture grounds and he shal draine and make dry his errable grounds especially where he intends to sow Pease Oates or Barley the feed-time following Also he shall stubbe and roote vp all such rough grounds as he intends to sow the yeare following in this Moneth you shall meanure and trime vp you garden moulds you shal comfort with meanure sand or lime or all three mixt together the rootes of all barren fruit trees and also you may cut downe all fuch timber as you would not haue chinke or riue but hold firme and close together onely there will bee losse in the barke for the time is something to earely for it to rise Lastly you may transplant all sorts of Fruit trees the weather being open and the ground cafie you may reare Calues remooue Bees and for your owne health keepe your body warme let good diet and wholesome be your Physition and rather with exercise then sauce increase your appetite In the Moneth of February either set or sowe all sorts of Beanes Pease and other Pulsle and the stiffer your ground is the sooner begin your worke prepare your Garden mould and make it cafie and tender prune and trime all sorts of Fruit trees from mosse cankers and all superfluous branches plasse your hedges and lay you quicksets closse and entire together plant Roses Gooseberies and any fruit that growes vpon small bushes grafâ—… at the latter ende of this moneth vpon yong and tenderstockes but by all meanes ouerlade not the stocks Inauguratâ—…in in this moneth or any other as soone as the barke will rise and also set any slips branches or young syens Lastly for your health take heed of cold forbeare meats that are slimy and flegmatique and if need require or purge bathe or bleed as art shall direct you In the moneth of March make an end of sowing of all sorts of smal pulse and begin to sow Oates Barley and Rye which is called March Rye graft all sorts of fruit trees and with young plants and syens replenish your nurcery couer the roots of all trees that are bared and with fat earth lay them close and warme if any tree grow barren boare holes in his roote and driue hard wedges or pins of oake wood therein and that wil bring fruitfulnesse transplant al sorts of Sommer flowers and giue new comfort of meanure and earth to al early outlandish flowers especially to the crowne Emperiall Tulippos Hyacynth and Narcissus of all shapes and colours cut downe vnderwood for fuel or fencing and looke wel to your cwes for then is the principall time of yeaning And lastly bathe often bleed but vpon extreamity purge not without good counsell and let your dyet be coole and temperate In the moneth of April finish vp all your barley seed and beginne to sowe your hempe and flaxe sow your garden seeds and plant all sorts of herbes finish grafing in the stock but begin your principal inauguration for then the rinde is most plyant and gentle open your hiues and giue the Bees free libertie leaue to succour them with foode and let them labour for their liuing Now cut downe all great Oake timber for now the barke will rise and be in season for the Tanner Now scowre your ditches and gather such meanure as you doe make in the streets and high waies into great heaps together lay your meadowes fleight your corne grounds gather away stones repaire your high waies fet Ozyers and Willowes and cast vp the bankes and munds of all decayed fences Lastly for your health either purge bathe or bleed as you shall haue occasion and vse all wholesomerecreation for them moderate exercise in this moneth there is no better Physicke In the moneth of May sow Barley vpon all light sands and burning grounds so likewise do your hempe and flaxe and also al sorts of tender garden seeds as are Cucumbers and Mellons and all kind of sweet smel ling hearbes and flowers â—…allow your stiffe clayes Sommer-stirre your mixt carthes and foyle al light and loose hot sands In this moneth begin to prepare all barren earths for Wheat and Rye Bourue baite Stubgorsse or Furres and root out Broome and Ferne begin to fould your sheepe lead forth meanure and bringhome fuel and fencing weed your winter corne follow your common workes and put al sorts of cattel to grasse either in pasture or teather put your mares to the horse let nothing be wanting to furnish the Dairy and now put off all your winter-fed fat cattel for now they are scarcest and dearest put young steares and dry kine now to feed at fresh grasse and away with all Pease fed sheepe for the sweetnesse of grasse mutton wil pul downe their prices Lastly for your health vse drinkes that wil coole and purge the blood and al other such Physical precepts as true Arte shall prescribe you But beware of Mountebankes and olde wiues tales the latter hath no ground and the other no truth but apparant cosenage In the moneth of Iune carry sand marle lime and meanure of what kinde soeuer to your land bring home your coales and other necessary fuel fetcht farre off sheare early fat sheepe sow all sorts of tender hearbes cut ranckelow medowes make the first returne of your fat cattel gather early Sommer fruites distil al sorts of plants and hearbs whatsoeuer And lastly for your health vse much exercise thinne dyet and chast thoughts In the moneth of Iuly apply your hay-haruest for a day slackt is many pounds lost chiefly when the weather is vn constant sheare all manner of field-sheepe Sommer-stir rich stiffe grounds foyle
all mixt earthes and latter soyle all loose hot sands let hearbes you would preserue now runne to seed cut of the stalkes of outlandish flowers and couer the rootes with new earth so well mixt with meanure as may be sel all such Lambes as you feed for the Butcher and still leade forth sand marle lime and other meanure fence vp your Copses gaze your elder vnderwoods and bring home all your field-timber And lastly for your health abstaine from all Physicke bleede not but vpon violent occasion and neither meddle with Wine Women nor other Wantonnesse In the moneth of August apply your Corne haruest sheare downe your Wheat aud Rye mowe your Barley and Oats and make the second returne of your fat Sheepe and Cattel gather all your Sommer greater fruit as Plumes Apples and Peares make your Sommer or sweet Perry and Cider fet slips and scyens of all sorts of Gilly-flowres and other flowres and transplant them that were set the spring before and at the ende of this moneth beginne to winterrigge all fruitfull soyles whatsoeuer gueld your Lambes carry meanure from your doue-coats and put your Swineto the early or first mast And lastly for your health shunne feasts and banquets let phisicke alone hate wine and onely take delight in drinkes that are coole and temperate In the moneth of September reape your Pease Beanes and all other Pulse making a finall end of your haruest now bestow vpon your Wheat land your principall meanure and now sow your Wheat and Rye both in rich and in barren climats now put your swine to mast of all hands gather your winter fruit and make sale of your wooll and other sommer commodities now put off those stocks of bees you meane to sell or take for your owne vse close thatche and dawbde warme all the suruiuing hyues and looke that no droanes mice nor other vermine be in or about them now thatche your stacks and reekes thrash your seed Rye and Wheat and make an end with your cart of all forraine iourneyes Lastly for your health in this moneth vse Phisicke but moderately forbeare fruits that are two pleasant or rotten and as death shunne ryot and surfet In the moneth of October finish vp your Wheat-seed scower ditches and ponds plash and lay hedges and quickset transplant remoue or set all manner of fruit trees of what nature or quality soeuer make your winter cider and perry spare your priuate pastures and eate vp the corne-fields and commons and now make an end of winter-ridging draw furrowes to draine and keep dry your new sowne Corne follow hard the making of your malt reare all such calues as shall fall and weane those foales from your draught mares which the Spring before were foaled now sell al such sheep as you wil not winter giue ouer folding and seperate Lambes from the Ewes which you purpose to keepe for your owne stocke Lastly for your health refuse not any needful physicke at the hands of the learned Physitian vse all moderate sports for any thing now is good which reuiueth the spirits In the moneth of Nouember you may sow either wheat or Rye in exceeding hot soyles you may then remoue all sorts of fruit trees and plant great trees either for shelter or shadow now cut down all sorts of timber for plowes carts axeltrees naues harrowes and other husbandly offices make now the last returne of your grasse fed cattel bring your swine from the maste and feed them for slaughter reare what calues soeuer fall and brake vp all such Hempe and Flaxe as you intend to spinne in the winter season Lastly for your health eatc wholesome and strong meats wel spiced and drest free from rawnesse drinke swect wines and for difiestion euer before cheese preferre good and moderate exercise In the moneth of December put your sheepe and swine to the Pease reeks and fat them for the slaughter and market now kill your small Porks and large Bacons lop hedges and trees saw out your timber for building and lay it to season and if your land be exceeding stiffe and rise vp in an extraordinary furrow then in this moneth begin to plow vp that ground whereon you meane to sow cleane Beanes onely now couer you dainty fruit trees al ouer with canuase and hide al your best flowers from frosts and stormes with rotten old horse litter now draine al your corn-fields and as occasion shal serue so water and keepe moyst your medows now become the Fowler with piece nets and al maner of engin for in this moneth no foule is out of season Now fish for the Carpe the Breame Pyke Tench Barbel Peale and Salmon And lastly for your health eate meates that are hot and nourishing drinke good wine that is neat sprighty and lusty keep thy body wel clad and thy house warme forsake what socuer is flegmatick and banish al care from thy heart for nothing is now more vnwholesome then a troubled spirit Many other obseruations belong vnto the office of our skilful Plowman or Farmar but since they may be imagined too curious too needlesse or too tedious I wil stay my pen with these already rehearsed and thinke to haue written sufficiently touching the application of grounds and office of the Plowman FINIS The Authors Preamble The profit of this Worke. A satisfaction for the truth and goodnesse of the Worke. Nature of Barren Grounds Knowledge of barren Grounds The first inriching of barren Grounds The manner of plowing Hacking of Ground Sanding of Ground Lyming of Ground Meanuring of ground Times for all labours Second plowing Second Hacking First Harrowing Of fowing the Seede The second Harrowing Falts in the earth Ofclotting grounds An other manner of clottting Seuerall seedes seuerall yeares Obiection Answere Ordering Earth where sands wanteth Sowing of Salt The excel lencie of salt Of â—…ping Seede in brine Destroying of weedes â—…urning of Bavte Breaking of the burnt earth Causes of of vnfruitfulnesse An excellent meanure Of Plowing Of diuers meanures Miâ—…ture of mâ—…nures Of weeding Time for weeding Gathering of stones What Whinnes are Paring of Grounds Making of Baites Breaking of Baites Plowing Harrowing Weeding Profits Destroying of heath Another Burning of Baite Of Weeding Plowing Obiection Answere OfMarling What Marle is Of Chalke and thevse The Profits Of destroying Braken. Of Marle Sanding and lyming Plowing and sowing Labours after sowing Weeding Destroying of Twitch and Bryar Meanures Harrowing and other labours Weeding Ground for Fish-ponds Draining of wet grounds Harrowing Weeding Two wayes to inrich earths Of watring grounds Helpes in the watring When and how to water The best season for watring Grounds ill for Hempe or Flaxe Blaoke clay for Hempe c 〈◊〉 Making of ill earth beare hempe c. Weeding Stacking of Graine Crowes and Birds The cure Pygeons The cure To saue Corne reaâ—… to reape Of Pismiers The cure Of Do es The Care Of field Rats and Myce. Of wormes The Cure Of Rye not to be wet Of Snailes The cure Of Grashop pers The cure Of Moales The cure Offences from the influence of the heauens Of smutinesse and mildew The Cure Of haile The cuee â—…ning The cure Ofthunder The Cure Of frosts The cure Mists and fogs The câ—…re Oâ—…sting The cure Corne reapt wet The cure Of wâ—…ht Corne. To know washt corne Obiection The needfull vse ofpreseruing corne Keeping of corne twofold Keeping corne in the eare or in chaffe Keeping of corne out of the eare or drest Of Garners Of hutches The vse of Garners and hutches for malt To preserue wheat To preserue Rye To preserue Beanes Preseruing of Pease or â—…tches Preseruing of Lentils or Lupins Preseruing of Oates Preseruing of oatmell Preseruing of any meal Preseruing of all small seeds Thevse of Graine Pulse at Sea Of Rice and the vsâ—… Wheate and the vse Of Oate-meale and the vse Of Barley and the vse Bucke or the vse Of Pulse and first of Beanes the vse The French Beane The Kydney Beane Common Field beanes thevse Of Pease and the vse Seueral sorts of garden Pease Totransport Graine Transporting graine for trade Transporting graine for victuall Plowing and sowing Mowing Reaping Binding of Barley and Oates Gathering in of graine Ditching Hedging Plashing Deluing Thrashing The particular expence of a day Particular labours of cattell The Carters office Of cattell for draught Ianuary February March April May. June Iuly August September October Nouember December