them also a sunder with a sharpe hooke You may make the Forke and Hooke which cutteth a sunder the Hoppes that grow togither here is instrument to serue both these turnes as as is here after shewed Then you may with the forked ende thrust vp or shooue off all such stalkes as remayne vpon eche Hoppe Poale and carie them to the floore prepared for that purpose For the better dooing hereof it is very necessarie that your Poales be streyght without scrags or knobbes In any wise cut no more stalks than you shall cary away within one houre or twoo at the most for if in the meane time the Sunne shyne hote or if it happen to rayne the Hoppes remayning cut in that sorte will be much impayred thereby Let all such as helpe you stande rounde about the floore and suffer them not to pyngle in picking one by one but let them speedily strype them into Baskets prepared ready therefore It is not hurtfull greatly though the smaller leaues be mingled with the Hoppes Remember alwayes to cleere your floore twice or thryce euery day and sweepe it cleane at euery such time before you go to woorke againe If the wether be vnlyke to be fayre you may carie these Hoppes into your house in Blankets or Baskets c. and there accomplish this work Vse no lynnen hereabouts for the Hoppes will stayne it so as it can neuer be washed out If your Poales be scraggye so as you cannot stryppe the stalkes from them in this order you must pull them vppe with mayne force and this is paynefull to your selfe hurtfull to your Hoppes and a delaye to your worke Then must you lay these Poales vpon a couple of forked stakes driuen into the grounde being twoo or three yardes distant one from another as Spittes vpon Raunges and so dispatch this businesse if the wether be fayre if it be lyke to be fowle you must be fayne to carie the Hops togither with the Poales into your Barne or house In any wise let not the Hoppes be wet when you cut them from the hylles neyther make any delay of gathering after the same tyme of cutting for in standing abroade they will shed their seede wherein consisteth the chiefe vertue of the Hoppe and hereof I cannot warne you to often nor to earnestly Nowe by order I shoulde declare vnto you the manner of drying your Hoppes but bicause I must therwithall descrybe the places meete for that purpose with manye circumstances appertayning therevnto I will be bolde first to finish the worke within your Hoppe garden and then to leade you out of the same into the place where you must drye your Hoppes c. When your Hoppes are gathered assoone as you haue leysure take vp your Poales and pyle them that remaine good as I haue shewed you in the tytle of Poales Then carie out your broken Poales and the Hoppe strawe to the fyre Nowe may you depart out of your Garden tyll the Marche following except in the meane time you will bring in dunge or good earth to the maintenance therof towards the heigthening of your hylles or else will plowe it c. What there is to be done in Winter herein TO be curious in laying dunge vpon the hylles in Winter as to comfort or warme the rootes as some doe it shall be needelesse rather plucke downe the hylles and let the rootes lye bare all the Winter season and this is vsually done where Hoppes are best ordered especially to restrayne them from to rathe sprynging If the grounde be great that you keepe you shall be driuen so to doe otherwise you shall not be able to ouercome your worke in due time In any case you must auoyde new horsedung as a very noysome and pernicious thing for your Hoppes Stall dung is the best that can be wyshed for to serue this turne so it be throughly rotten Rather vse no dunge than vnrotten dunge about the dressing of your Hoppes but omit not to bring into your Garden dung that maye there be preserued till it be good or needefull to be vsed ¶ The order for reforming your grounde IN March you shall returne to your Garden and finde it replenished with weedes except by tillage c. you haue preuented that matter already It must as well therefore as bicause the earth maye be the more fyne and easie to be deliuered vnto the hylles be digged ouer or plowed ¶ The order of cutting Hoppe Rootes In the dooing hereof be carefull that you spoyle not the olde settes as for the other rootes which are to be cut awaye you shall not neede to spare them to the delay of your worke Take heede that you vncouer not anye more than the toppes of the olde settes in the first yere of cutting At what time so euer you pull downe your hylles cut not your rootes before the ende of March or in the beginning of Aprill and then remember the wynde In the first yeare I meane at the fyrst time of cutting and dressing of your rootes you must with a sharpe knyfe cut awaye all such rootes or springes as grewe the ye are before out of your settes within one ynch of the same There groweth oute of the olde settes certayne Rootes ryght downewardes not ioynted at all which serue onely for the nourishing and comfort of those sets or principall rootes there be other lyke vnto them growing outwarde at the sides of the settes If they be not met withall and cut a sunder they will encumber your whole Garden Bicause it maye seeme harde to discerne the olde settes from the newe springes I thought good to aduertise you howe easye a thing it is to see the difference therof for fyrst you shall be sure to fynde your settes where you did set them nothing encreased in length but somewhat in bignesse enlarged and in few yeares all your settes will be growen into one so as by the quantitie that thing shall plainely appeare and lastlye the difference is seene by the colour the olde roote being redde the other whyte but if the hylles be not yearely pulled downe and the rootes yearely cut then in deede the olde settes shall not bee perceyued from the other rootes If your settes be small and placed in good grounde the hyll well mayntained the newe rootes will be greater than the olde If there growe in any hyll a wylde Hoppe or whensoeuer the stalke waxeth redde or when the Hoppe in any wise decayeth pull vp euerye roote in that hill and set newe in their places at the vsuall time of cutting and setting Of diuers mens follyes MAny men seeing the springs so forward as they will be by this time are loth to lose the aduauntage thereof and more vnwilling to cut awaye so many goodlye rootes but they that are daungerous in this behalfe take pitie vpon their owne profyte and are lyke vnto them that refrayne to laye dung vpon their corne lande bicause they woulde not beraye it with so vncleanlye a thing And
downe your Sacke at that hoale and with a Scuppet or Shoouell to shooue down your Hoppes thereinto and to receyue them as is aforesayde when the Sacke is almost full vndoe the Roapes and wynde those pynnes about for the harder shutting of the Sacke and fasten them therein If you lyst you may sowe ouer the mouth of this Sacke another peece of Sackcloth wherof you must leaue a lyttle vnsowed vntill you haue thrust as many Hoppes as you can betweene the Sacke and the same but in beholding the Hop-sackes sent from Poppering you shall better vnderstande and learne the dooings hereof For your owne prouision you maye preserue them in Driefattes Barrelles or such lyke vessels for want of roume to leaue them in or sacks to packe them in There is according to the Prouerbe much falshoode in packing I am vnskilfull in that Art if I were otherwise I woulde be loth to teache such doctrine But to auoyde such deceyte and to make the more perfect and better choyce it is vsuall and lawfull in most places where Hoppes are solde to cut the Sacke that you meane to buye in seauen or eyght places and to search at eche place whether the Hoppes be of lyke goodnesse Such places as you shall feele with your hand to be softer than the reast you shoulde speciallye cutte where perhaps you shall fynde Hoppes of another kynde elder or woorse than the rest ¶ The reformation of a Garden of wylde Hoppes TO reforme a Garden where the Hoppes be wylde the worke is tedious and none other way remayneth but to digge ouer the same with a Spade so deepe as you maye search out and throw out euery roote and peece of roote that may be founde in or neare therevnto and then to plant according to the order before declared ¶ The reformation of a disordered Garden TO repayre a ruynous Garden whiche through ignorauce was disorderlye sette and through sloth suffered to ouerrunne and decay where neuerthelesse the Hoppes remayne of a good kynde though somewhat empayred as needes they must be by this meanes the verye best waye were to doe as to the wylde Hoppe The seconde way is to forget that it is disordered at all ymagining that all were well and to set your Poales in such order and so farre a sunder as is prescribed in that tytle alwayes directing them right with a lyne so as a straunger beholding them may suppose that your Garden is kept after the best maner then leade vnto eche Poale two or three stalkes which you shall fynde nearest therevnto and there erecte a hyll which you maye euer after cut and dresse according to the rules before declared and so by continuall digging paring and diligence you shall at leysure bring it to some reasonable perfection If your Garden be verye much matted with rootes so as it be to tedious to dygge set your Poales as you are alredy taught and bring into your Garden and laye neare to euerye such place where you meane to make a hyll one Coorte loade of good earth with the which after your Hoppes are tyed to your Poales begin to make your hylle and proceede as in the tytle of Hylles alwayes cutting downe such Hoppes or weedes as growe betweene the sayde hylles If your rootes be set orderly and your hilles made accordinglye and yet left vndressed by the space of twoo or three yeares it will be very hard I say to discerne the settes from the other later rootes neuerthelesse if your ground be good you maye yet reforme the inconuenience thereof namely by pulling downe the hill and cutting awaye all the rootes contayned therein euen with the face or vpper part of the earth searching also eche syde and digging yet lower and rounde about the roote which remayneth and to take awaye from the same all such rootes as appeare out thereof ¶ Needelesse curiosities vsed by the vnskilfull TO water your Garden as to make the rootes growe the better it were more tedious than needefull for the hylling therof serueth for that purpose and there is time of growing sufficient for them betwixt midde Aprill and August and yet it neuer hurteth but rather doth good if it be before the hyll be made To plucke of the leaues to the ende that the Hoppes may prosper the better is also needelesse and to no purpose and rather hindereth than helpeth the growth of the Hoppes for they are hereby depriued of that garment which Nature hath necessarilye prouided for them and clothed them with To flawe the Poales thereby to prolonge their continuaunce is more than needeth to be done in this behalfe for it is too tedious to your selfe and hurtfull to your Hoppe and little auayleth to the purpose aforesayde To burne the nether parte or great ende of your Poales as some doe to the ende they shoulde last or endure the longer is also an vnnecessarie trouble onelye Willowe Poales you may so vse to keepe them from growing To weede the Hylles with the hande whereas the same Weedes shall be buryed by the raysing of the hyll The Epilogue THus haue I accordyng to my small skyll and experience according to my friendes desire and according to the truth vttered these fewe notes concerning the making and mayntenance of an Hoppe garden that which remayneth more to be sayde thereof resteth in the skill of skilfuller persons and is at this tyme eyther without the compasse of my knowledge or beyonde the reache of my memorie I doubt not but I haue herein taken vppon me to teach some that which they know better than I and also prouoked some that néede not and some that care not to be imployed in these matters howbeit I vrge nothing but that which maye bée done without great difficultie charge labour or soyle the matter thereof being in déede to homely and base for the prowde and disdainfull the exercyse too tedious and busie for the slothfull and ydle but the charge too costlye for none but Niggards the cunning too curious for none but fooles and yet among these estates I trowe there will some smell out the profitable sauour of this Herbe some wyll gather the fruite thereof some will make a Sallet therewith which is good in one respect for the bellye and in another for the Purse and when the grace and swéetenesse hereof is conceyued some will dippe their fingers therein vp to the knuckles and some will be glad to licke the Dishe and they that disdayne to be partakers hereof commonly prooue to be such as haue Mountaynes in fantasie and beggery in possession I meane that they which haue a Hoppe hyll in derision will scant fall out to leaue a Moulehyll in reuersion Besides that their securitie in this behalfe makes roume for straungers to depryue vs of our commodities who mayntaine ignoraunce in our bosomes and beggerie in our Purses whyle we nourish disdayne in our hearts and sloth in our handes and hereby we set our shame vppon a stage for all the worlde to gaze
other and finallye will assist the vnderstanding of you the Reader but chieflye of him that cannot reade at all for whose sake hee deuised and procured these Figures to bee made and howsoeuer the Paynter hath performed his office or I my seruice herein I am perswaded that the Author hath perfitelye accomplished his dutie and plainely deliuered vnto you the effect of that which he hath taken in hande Farewell ¶ The Table A Perfite Platforme of a Hoppe garden fol. 1. Of vnapt and apt grounde for Hoppes fol. 1 Of the Scituation fol. 3 Of the quantitie fol. 4 A proportion of the charge and benefite of a Hoppe garden fol. 4 Of the preparation of a Hoppe garden fol. 6 The time to cut and set Hoppe Rootes fol. 7 Rules for the choyce and preparation of Rootes fol. 7 Of the good Hoppe fol. 8 Of the vnkindly Hoppe fol. 8 Of the wylde Hoppe fol. 9 Of setting of Hoppe rootes fol. 9 Abuses and disorders in setting fol. 13 Prouision agaynst annoyaunce and spoyle of your Garden fol. 14 ¶ Of Poales fol. 14 Of the erection of Poales fol. 18 Of Ramming of Poales fol. 19 Of Reparation of Poales fol. 19 Of the preseruation of Poales fol. 20 ¶ Of tying of Hoppes to the Poales fol. 22 ¶ Of hylling and hylles fol. 23 Abuses in hylling fol. 27 ¶ Of the gathering of Hoppes fol. 29 ¶ What there is to be done in vvinter herein fol. 32 ¶ The order for reforming your grounde fol. 33 ¶ The order of cutting Hoppe rootes fol. 33 Of diuers mennes follyes fol. 36 Of disorders and maintayners thereof fol. 37 ¶ Of an Oste fol. 38 Of the seuerall Roumes for an Oste fol. 38 Of the Furnace or Keele fol. 39 Of the bedde or vpper floore of the Oste vvhereon the Hoppes must be dryed fol. 40 The orderly drying of Hoppes fol. 42 Other maners of dryings not so good fol. 45 The very woorst way of drying Hoppes fol. 46 Of not drying fol. 47 ¶ Of the packing of Hoppes fol. 47 ¶ The reformation of a Garden of vvylde Hops fol. 49 ¶ The reformation of a disordered Garden fol. 50 ¶ Needelesse curiosities vsed by the vnskilfull fol. 51 The Epilogue fol. 53 Faultes escaped In the .xix. Page and the .xxij. lyne that is to saye in the first lyne of the tytle of Reparation of Poales for If anye of your Poales reade If any of the Poales and in the next lyne saue one for the broken Poale reade the same broken Poale In the .xxj. Page and in the .xxiij. lyne for ouerthwart reade crosse or thwart In the .xxiiij. Page and in the seconde lyne and the first word for sythe reade snythe and in the .xxj. lyne of the same Page for appeare reade declare In the .xxvj. Page lyne .xxij. for long reade great In the same Page and in the next lyne for longer reade greater In the .xxix. Page lyne xxviij for here is instrument reade one instrument â—â—d for as as reade as In the .xxxiij. Page lyne .xxiij. for you must of necessitie reade you must nowe of necessitie In the .xxxvj. Page lyne j. for the hyll reade and the hyll In the .xxxix. Page lyne .xxix. for and not reade and of ¶ A perfite Platforme of a Hoppe garden AT what time necessitie or anye other good consideration shall mooue you to deuyse for a Hoppe garden you are to consider of these three thynges First whether you haue or can procure vnto your selfe any grounde good for that purpose Secondly of the conuenient standing therof Thirdly of the quantitie And this I saye by the waye if the grounde that you deale withall be not your owne enheritaunce procure vnto your selfe some certayne terme therein least another man reape the fruite of your traueyle and charge Of apt and vnapt grounde for Hoppes SOme holde at this daye and Auncient wryters wytnesse the same that earth being salt and bitter of taste is neyther good nor apt to be made good It is also often written and generally receyued that such earth as you shall see whyte and bare that is to saye wholy chalke or all sande lacking a mixture of perfyte earth or if it bee clayie or so drie as thereby it shall gape or coane in the summer is naught c. It is further sayde that if you shall feele a clod being dissolued with water to be very clammy or cleauing like Waxe to your fyngers in kneading it the same to be profytable lande c. I for my part relye not vpon other mens opinions neyther meane to dispute with anye man herein I lyke not to make my mouth an arbitrer in this matter mine eye maye be deceyued and my feeling may erre in the precyse distinction of good or bad lande but mine experience hath neuer fayled in this thing that is to saye that a barren a moorie or wette soyle though it perhaps doe content a wylde Hoppe shall neuer please nor maintayne a good Hoppe I will not say with Varro that a good ground yeeldeth Walwoortes nor with Columella that where Crabbes or Sloes growe there the grounde is riche I can saye nothing of Florentines experience in digging a hole and fylling it vppe agayne and by the swelling to iudge the strength or by the gaping to defyne the weakenesse thereof but I can say againe by sure experience that a drie grounde if it be riche meoloe and gentle is the soyle that serueth best for this purpose and such a moulde must either be sought out or else by cost and labour be prouoked If it be a verye shallowe rocke except you rayse it with greete or good earth you shall not set your Poales deepe steddye and fast ynough to withstande the force of the winde To redresse the inconuenience herof you shall be taught in the tytle of Poales A lyght moulde though it be very rich is not very apt for this purpose for it is a receyued and a prooued rule that the heauyest grounde wyll beare the most weyght of Hoppes I saye so as it be a grounde apt for this purpose Of the Scituation IT were good to place your Garden so as the Sunne maye haue free recourse into it eyther the whole daye or the greatest and warmest part thereof so also as if maye bee armed against the violence and contagion of the Easternlye and Northernlye wynde but this I woulde wishe to be considered rather in the situation of the place naturallye defended with a Northernly or Easternlye hill than artificiallye be set and garded with trees Howbeit if you be driuen herevnto prouide so if you can that your trees may stande aloofe euen that the shadowe of them reache not into your Garden but in any wise that they droppe not vpon the hylles It shoulde also be placed neare to your house except you be able to warrant the fruite thereof from such fyngers as put no difference betweene their owne and other mens goodes Also your Garden being thus placed there may be
made thervnto the more speedie and continuall recourse besides that that the Maisters eye shall manye times withstande and preuent the seruants negligence Finally by this meanes it may be with most ease and least charge holpen with dunge Of the quantitie THe quantitie of your Garden must eyther bee measured by the proportion of your yerely expences of Hoppes in your house or by the cost you meane to bestowe in the preparation and keeping thereof or by the paynes and businesse that you are disposed or able to employe vppon it or else according to the profite and gaynes that you meane to leuie and winne by it which later consideration pleaseth and flattereth much a couetous mannes conceyt whose vaine or humor or rather vaine humor is so resisted in the rules appertayning herevnto as many times the greedinesse of his desire is the ouerthrowe of his purpose as shall hereafter appeare A proportion of the charge and benefite of a Hoppe garden BVt to be resolued in all these poyntes that conscerne the quantitie of your Garden you must make your account in this voyse One man may well keepe twoo thousand hils and yet reserue his wynters labor for anye other purpose Vppon euery Acre you maye erect seauen eyght or nyne hundreth hylles as hereafter shall be declared Vpon euery hyll well ordered you shall haue three poundes of Hoppes at the least Three poundes of these Hoppes will largely serue for the bruing of one quarter of Mault One hundreth poundes of these Hoppes are commonly woorth .xxvj. s. viij d. So as one acre of grounde and the thirde part of one mans labor with small cost besides shall yeelde vnto him that ordereth the same well fortye markes yearely and that for euer And here is to be noted that grounde orderly vsed doth not only yeelde the more the greater the harder and the weyghtyer Hoppes but also they shall goe further they shall endure longer they shall be holesommer for the body and pleasaunter of verdure or taste than such as be disorderly handled These things considered you may proceede to the making of your Gardeyn wherein you are yet to haue counsell for the laying out thereof for the due season and the right trade to cut and set Hoppe rootes what choyse you shall make of them what charge you shall be at for them you are yet also to learne the tyme when and the way how to prepare your grounde and to make it able to entertaine and nourishe them to frame your hilles to maintayne them and to pull them downe to cutte to fashion to erect and to preserue serue your Poales to gather to drye and to packe your Hoppes with manye other circumstances necessarily appertaining hervnto Finallye you must be taught the reformation of many enormities and abuses whyche are receyued in most places for good rules the which God willing I will set forth truly according to the notes of experience although not learnedlye after the rules of Rhetoricke Of the preparation of a Hoppe Garden YOu must lay forth the grounde which you determine to imploye this waye in as leuell square and vniforme wyse as you maye If your grounde be grassye roughe or styffe it should be first sowen with Hempe or Beanes which naturally maketh the grounde moolowe destroyeth weedes and neuerthelesse leaueth the same in good season for this purpose But in what plight or state soeuer youre grounde be tyll it in the beginning of Winter with the Plough if it be great or with the spade if it be small and this doe not only the yeare before you plant it but also euery yeare after euen so long as you meane to receyue the vttermost commoditie of your Garden assuring your selfe that the more paynes you take and the more cost you bestowe rightly herevpon the more you doe double your profite and the nearer you resemble the trade of the Flemming The tyme to cut and set Hoppe Rootes IN the ende of Marche or in the beginning of Aprill repayre to some good Garden orderly kept as wherein the Hoppes are all of a good kynde all yerely cut and wherin all the hylles are raysed very high for there the rootes will be greatest then compounde with the owner or keeper thereof for choyce rootes which in some places will cost sixe pence an hundreth but commonly they shall be giuen vnto you so as you cut them your selfe and leaue euery hyll orderly and fully dressed but what order you shall vse herein I will hereafter shewe Rules for the choyce and preparation of Rootes ANd now you must choose the biggest rootes you can finde that is to say such as are in bignesse three or foure inches about And let euery roote which you shall prouide to set be nine or ten ynches long Let there be contayned in euerye such roote three ioyntes Let all your rootes be but the springes of the yeare last past You must haue great regarde that you cumber not your Garden with wylde Hoppes Wylde Hoppes are not to be discerned from the good by the rootes but eyther by the fruite or by the stalke Of the good Hoppe THe good and the kindely Hoppe beareth a great and a greene stalke a large and a harde bell Of the vnkindly Hoppe THe Hoppe that lykes not his entertaynement namely his seate his grounde his keeper his dunge or the maner of his setting c. appeareth at the first out of the grounde greene and small in stalke thicke and roughe in leaues verye like vnto a Nettle which will be commonly deuoured or much bytten with a little black flie who also will doe harme vnto good Hoppes where the Garden standeth bleake or the Hoppe springeth rath but be not discomforted herewith for the heate of the Sommer will reforme this matter and the later Springs will be little annoyed with this Flie who though she leaue the lease as full of holes as a nette yet she seldome proceedeth to the vtter destruction of the Hoppe Of the wylde Hoppe OF the wylde Hoppe the fruite is eyther altogither seede or else loose and light belles the stalke is redde howbeit herein the difference betweene the good and the badde Hoppe is not to be discerned vntill the stalke be twoo or three yardes high for at their first comming vp the one as well as the other appeareth redde and the best Hoppe is then the reddest Prouide your rootes therfore where you are before hande assured of their goodnesse Of setting of Hoppe rootes HAuing made your prouision of rootes in this wise returne therewith to your Garden speedilye and eyther set them immediately or lay them in some Puddle neare therevnto or burie them in the grounde vntill conueniencie of winde weather and leysure the want whereof may sometimes preuent good expedicion shall serue Prouided alwayes that you leaue them not in water or Puddle aboue .xxiiij. houres but in the earth you may leaue them as long as the time of setting endureth Your Garden being dressed as before I aduised
labor in raysing vp your hilles and also except your hilles stande to neare togither if these three things meete in one Garden the best way of reformation is to set the fewer Poales to an hyll or to let them remaine the longer Otherwise the Hoppes will growe from one poale to another and so ouershadow your Garden the fault therof being onely to be imputed to the neerenesse of the hilles But hereof shall be sayde more in the tytle of Reformacions The Hoppe neuer stocketh kindely vntill it reache higher than the Poale and returne from it a yarde or two for whylest it tendeth clyming vpwarde the braunches which growe out of the principall stalke wherein consisteth the abundance of encrease growe little or nothing Let the quantitie of your Poales be great that is to say nine or tenne ynches about at the lower ende so shall they endure the longer and withstande the winde the better To descrybe the pryce of Poales or what it will cost you to furnishe a Garden conteyning one acre of grounde it were a harde matter bicause the place altereth the pryce of woode But in a Wayne you maye carye a hundreth and fyftie Poales and I see small cause why a loade of these shoulde be dearer than a loade of any other woode After the first yeare Poales will be nothing chargeable vnto you for you maye eyther picke them out of your owne prouision of Fuell or buye them of your neyghbours that haue no occasion to applye them this way For the yearely supply of twoo loades of Poales will maintayne one acre continually Your rotten and broken Poales will doe you good seruice for the kindling of your fiers in the Oste wherevpon you should drie your Hoppes and they should be preserued chiefly for that purpose At Poppering where both scarcitie and experience hath taught them to make prouision hereof they doe commonlye at the East and North side of their Gardens set and preserue Alders wherewith they continually maintaine them Before you set vp your Poales laye them all alongst your Garden betweene euerye rowe of hilles by three or fower togither I meane beside euery hill so many Poales as you determine to set thereon so shall you make the more speede in your woorke Of the erection of Poales You must set euerye Poale a foote and a halfe deepe and within twoo or three ynches at the most of the principall roote If your grounde be rockie and shallowe tarie the longer before you set vp your Poales so as your Hoppes maye be growen two or three foote high that you may aduenture to make a hyll or banke at euery Poale to staye and vpholde the same wythoute burying anye of the yoonger springs which may afterwarde be couered with lesse danger and annoyance to the principal roote Let the Poales of euery hyll leane a little outwarde one from another as is hereafter shewed Of Ramming of Poales THen with a péece of woode as bygge belowe as the great ende of one of youre Poales ramme the earth that lyeth at the out side of the Poale therevnto but meddle not within the compasse of youre Poales as they are placed least you spoile the springes Of Reparation of Poales IF any of your Poales chaunce to breake when the Hoppe is growen vp some vse tenderly to vndooe and pull away the broken Poale and to tye the toppe of those Hoppes to the toppe of a newe Poale then wynding it a turne or two about according to the course of the Sunne to set it in the hole or besides the hole where the broken Poale stoode and some other being loth to take so much paynes turne it about some of the other Poales that stande vppon the same hille and so leaue it But the best waye is to set a newe Poale beside the broken Poale and to tye the broken Poale to the same whiche may vpholde the sayde broken Poale and preserue the Hoppe Of the preseruation of Poales ANd although we are not yet come to the laying vp of Poales I am bolde herein as I began to late so to make an ende to rathe bicause I woulde couch the whole matter of Poales togither laying them by themselues I meane comprehending vnder one tytle the businesse appertayning vnto them For the preseruation and better continuance of Poales some make houses of purpose and laye them vp therein Some set them vpright to a tree and ouer them make a penthouse of boowes or boordes Some lay a great heape of Hoppestalkes vppon the grounde and vppon them a great heape of Poales and vpon the Poales againe lay another heape of stalkes c. These men doe hereby expresse no great experience although by their diligence they signifye a good desire You shall neede to doe no more but thus At the endes or sydes of your Garden take three Poales standing vpon three hilles placed directlye one by another and three like Poales vppon three other hilles of the next rowe right ouer against them constrayne them to meete togither by two and two in the toppes and so holde them till one with a forked wande maye put three Withes like vnto three Broome bandes which must be made of the stalkes of Hoppes vppon eache couple of the sayde sixe Poales so shall the same sixe Poales being so bounde by two and two togither stande like the roofe or rafters of an house To keepe the Poales that shall lye nethermoste from rotting by the moystnesse of the grounde vse within the compasse of your sayde sixe hils vnderneath the Poales that you haue fastened togither in the tops to rayse three little bankes 〈◊〉 thwart from hyll to hyll as though you woulde make your sixe hylles to bee but three If you thinke that you haue not Poales ynowe to fylle the roume pull downe the Wyths or bandes lower your roume will be lesse ¶ Of tying of Hoppes to the Poales WHen your Hoppes are growne about one or twoo foote high bynde vp with a Rushe or a Grasse such as declyne from the Poales wynding them as often about the same Poales as you can and directing them alwayes according to the course of the Sunne but doe it not in the morning when the dewe remayneth vpon them if your leysure may serue to doe it at any other time of the day If you laye softe greene Rushes abroade in the dewe and the Sunne within twoo or three dayes they will be lythie tough and handsome for this purpose of tying which may not be foreslowed for it is most certaine that the Hoppe that lyeth long vpon the grounde before he be tyed to the Poale prospereth nothing so wel as it which sooner attayneth therevnto ¶ Of hylling and hylles NOwe you must begyn to make your hils and for the better dooing therof you must prepare a toole of Iron fashioned somewhat like to a Coopers Addes but not so much boowing and therfore lykest to the netherpart of a shoouell the powle whereof must be made with a round hole to
some that take vppon them great skyll herein thynke that for the fyrste yeare they maye be left vnhilled and vncutte c. deceyuing themselues wyth this conceypte that then the settes prosper best wythin the grounde when they sende least of their nature and state out of the grounde In this respect also they pull awaye or suppresse all such springs as soone as they appeare which growe more and besides them which they meane to assigne to each Poale as though when a mans fingers were cutte off his hande woulde growe the greater In deede if there be no hyll maintayned then the moe springes are suffered to growe from out of the principall roote the more burden and punishment it wil be to the same But when the springs are maintayned with a hill so much as remayneth within the same is conuerted into rootes which rather adde than take awaye anye state from the principall roote in consideration hereof the suppressing of the springes maye not be too rathe for whatsoeuer opinion be hereof receyued the many springes neuer hurt the principall roote if the hylles be well mayntained but it is the cumbring and shadowing of one to another that woorketh the annoyance When you haue cut your Hoppes you must couer them as you were taught in the tytle of setting and proceede according to the order alredye set downe Of disorders and maintayners thereof SOme there be that despyse good order being deceyued with a shewe of increase which sometimes appeareth in a disordered grounde to them I say and say it truly that the same is a bad and a small increase in respect of the other I saye also that although disorderly dooings at the first may haue a countenance of good successe yet in fewe yeares the same and all hope thereof will certainly decay Some other there be that despise good order satisfying themselues with this that they haue sufficiently to serue their owne turne wythout all these troubles and surelye it were pittie that these shoulde be troubled with any great abundaunce that in contempt of their owne profite and of the common welth neglect such a benefite profered vnto them ¶ Of an Oste. NOwe haue I shewed vnto you the perfect platforme of a Hoppe garden out of the which I led you for a time brought you in againe when tyme required and there woulde I leaue you about your businesse were it not to shew you by description such an Oste as they drie their Hoppes vpon at Poppering with the order thereof c. Which for the small charges and trouble in drying for the speedie and well drying and for the handsome and easie dooing thereof may be a profytable patterne and a necessarie instruction for as many as haue or shall haue to doe herein Of the seuerall Roumes for an Oste FIrst a little house must be buylt of length xviij or .xix. foote of wydenesse eyght wherein must be comprehended three seuerall roumes The myddle and principall roume must be for your Oste eight foote square The forepart which is to containe your greene Hoppes and the hinder part which must receyue your dryed Hops will fall out to be fyue foote long and eyght foote wyde a peece The chiefe matters that are to be by mee descrybed herein are the Furnace belowe wherein the fyre is to be made and the bed aboue whereon the Hoppes must lye to be dryed this I haue chieflye to aduise you of that you buylde the whole house and euery part thereof as close as you can and to place it neare to your Garden for the better expedicion of your woorke and somewhat distant from your house to auoyde the danger of fyre Of the Furnace or Keele THe floore or nether part of your Furnace must be about thirteene ynches wyde The depth or heygth thereof must also be thirteene ynches The length of it must be about sixe or seauen foote that is to saye reaching from the forepart of the Oste almost to the further ende thereof so as there be left no more roume but as a manne may passe betweene the wall and the ende of it It must be made wyde belowe and narrowe aboue fashioned in outwarde shape somewhat like to the roofe of an house It must haue hoales at each side the length of one Bricke a sunder and not the bygnesse of halfe a Bricke placed checkerwise Of the bedde or vpper floore of the Oste whereon the Hoppes must be dryed THe bedde or vpper floore whereon the Hoppes shall lye to be dryed must be placed fyue foote aboue the nether floore whereon the furnace standeth The two walles at eche side of the house serue for the bedde to rest vpon two wayes Nowe must two other walles be buylt at ech ende of your Oste whereon the other two parts of the bedde must rest and by this meanes shall you haue a close square roume beneath betwixt the lower floore and the bedde so as the floore belowe shall be as wyde as the bedde aboue These two walles must also bee made fowre foote aboue the bed that is to say nine foote high At the one ende belowe besides the mouth of the furnace you must make a little doore into the roume beneath the bedde At the other ende aboue the bedde you must make a windowe to shooue off from the bed the dryed Hoppes downe into the roume belowe prepared for them The bedde should be made as the bedde of any other Oste sauing that the Rayles or Lathes which serue therefore must be sawen verye euen one ynche square and layde one quarter of an ynche asunder And nowe once agayne wishing you to make euery doore windowe and ioynte of this house close I will leaue buylding and proceede to the drying of Hoppes sauing that I maye not omit to tell you that you shoulde eyther buylde all the walles of this house with Bricke or else with Lyme and Haire pargit ouer all the walles postes and beames thereof or at the least that roume wherein the furnace standeth And although I haue delayed you from time to time and brought you from place to place and tediously led you in and out and to and fro in the demonstration herof yet must I be bold to bring you round about againe euen to the place where I left you picking from whence you must speedily conuey your pyckt Hoppes to the place built and prepared for them and with as much speede hasten the drying of them The orderly drying of Hoppes THe first businesse that is to be done herein is to go vp to the bedde of the Oste and there to receyue Baskets fylled with Hoppes at the handes of one that standeth belowe Then beginning at the further ende least you shoulde treade on them laye downe Basketfull by Basketfull till the floore or bedde be all couered alwayes stirring them euen and leuell with a Cudgell so as they may lye about a foote and a halfe thicke and note that vpon this Oste there is no Oste cloth to be
vppon and make our folly so palpable that Strangers from beyonde the Seas which neither heare nor sée vs can grabbe it out for we can be content vppon our Alebench to entytle our Countrie to the name of fertilitie and yet depraue the same with our péeuishnesse and slaunder it with our sloth expounding and excusing our negligence by our ignoraunce and couering the one with the others wéedes the goodnesse of our grounde seruing vs to no other purpose but to manyfest our yll husbandrie but our abundaunce shall not excuse our vnthankefulnesse whylest wée abuse the blessinges of God to our owne destruction and oppose our sloth and ignorance agaynst hys bountie and goodnesse but God forbidde that the prouision of the good shoulde rest in the handes of the slothfull from whome let vs depart and leaue them folding their hands togither and so shall pouertie come vpon them For what felowship can there be betweene an holy man and a Dogge or betwéene an honest man and an vnthrift Mée thinkes I might aptlye compare such men as haue grounde fitte for this purpose and will not employ it accordingly to Alehouse Knightes partly for the small deuotion which both the one and the other haue vnto Hoppes but especially for that many of these Ale Knightes hauyng good drinke at home of their owne can be content to drinke woorse abroade at an Alehouse so they may sit close by it Let them expounde this comparison that buye their Hoppes at Poppering and may haue them at home with more ease and lesse charge I only say that they resemble agrée togither though not in good yet in that which is euil for I sée no difference betwixt them sauing that vnto the priuate vnthriftynesse of the Ale-knights these men adde a publicke despyte vnto the common wealth but howe can he that is naught himselfe be good vnto others I for my part know not howe to perswade such nor what they will learne that refuse to harken to their owne profite for no receyte serueth against despayre no Counsell preuayleth agaynst Contempt Their ground is taught to beare their Hoppes to grow their Poales to stande their hands to worke their senses to perceyue if they woulde but teach their willes to consent to their owne profite they shoulde haue the gaynes and I my desire If they will not doe so much for themselues I pray God that the diligence of the little Emmet which through their negligence doth much harme to their Hoppe rootes be not called forth at the last daye to witnesse against their sloth Now there remayneth no more to be sayde but a worde or twoo to Momus and his companions whose office reacheth to the reproofe of all things perfect and vnperfect and therefore my writings ministring much cause of reprehension must néedes be subiect to their scornes but I appeale from their mockes to wyser mens censures For I am perswaded that I deserue rebuke at wyser mens handes than they are but their correction will doe me no good for that it tendeth to the defamation and not to the reformation of me and my wrytings I take not vppon me to make a Philosophye but a Hoppe garden and yet I doubt that bicause I resemble not Aristotle this man and his Mates will counterfeyte Diogenes that is to saye bicause I render not a Perepateticall reason for euerye sillable I write they will tender a Stoicall frumpe for euery word they reade Some saye that Momus for his sawcynesse was torne in thrée péeces c. But that little preuayled to allaye the lewdenesse of Mockerie for of one péece were ingendred corrupt and hastye Iudges of another carpcious Controllers and of his hinder partes impudent Scoffers and thys shoulde appeare to be true For some will take vppon them to be Iudges that for their integritie are not méete to be impanelled in a true Iurie nor for their credite scant woorthy to be hangmen to false théeues their iudgementes being corrupt and alwayes tending to the condemnation of the vnguiltye their wysedome seruing them to no other ende but to quarrell with other mens simplicities the sharpenesse of their wyts to nothing but to the maintenaunce of contencion Some will be Controllers that neyther haue authoritie in their persons nor wyt in their headdes reproouing that which neyther they being fooles knowe nor other béeing wyse myslyke Finally some are so possessed with the spirite of Scurrillitie that they cannot gape but Tauntes appeare in their mouthes confounding ieast and sobrietie in suche sorte as though all thinges were but mockerie I saye therefore that from the hyest to the lowest from the Iudge to the Hangman from the top of the Gallowes to the nethermost steale of the Ladder and from Scoggin to Will Summer there remayneth not one of these scoffers more fauoured of himselfe than abhorred of others and therefore I woulde wishe them that when their grace and the Maiestie of their frumpes fayleth that is to saye when men leaue to laugh at their follyes eyther to suppresse their ignoraunce with such silence as such as are honest be not gréeued therewith or to expresse their knowledge in such wordes as such as they themselues are will not laughe to scorne FINIS Prouer. 27. Prou. 23. Prou. 28. Prouer. ◠Ibidem Ecclesi 4. Prou. 20. Prou. 12. Prou. 13. Prou. 10. Ecclesi 10. Ibidem Prou. 22. Prou. 6. Prou. 30. Virgilius Didymus Plinius Eccle. 11. This toole is here aboue better proportioned than that on the other side following Prouerb 24. Ecclesi 13. Ale to be cōmended but not the Ale Knight Eccles 14.