Land which usually yields a far better profit then grasing and sometimes a double profit and sometimes more near a treble profit and then to clover it again will afford a wondrous strange advance And if you consider one Acre with the Clover and Husbandry thereof may stand you the first year in twenty Shillings the Land being worth no more which may produce you yearly if it thrive well easily five six or eight pounds per Acre nay some will affirm ten or twelve pounds or more Of the Plantation of Hops and how Land is improved thereby HOps is grown a National Commodity But it was not many years since the famous City of London petitioned the Parliament of England against two Anusancies or offensive Commodities were likely to come into great use and esteem that was Newcastle Coal in regard of their stench c. and Hops in regard that they would spoil the taste of Drink and endanger the peoples healths and for some other reasons I do not well remember but petition they did to suppress them and had the Parliament been no wiser then they we had been in a measure pined and in a greater measure starved This Hop-plantation will require a large Discourse but I shall contract my self to the briefest discovery thereof I can possibly 1. Chuse the Land that is best for them and best Sets to plant withal 2. The best manner of planting them and husbanding of them until they are fit for sale 3. The profit and advantage that will accrue thereby I shall afterwards as plainly as I can express 4. Describe the manner of its growth thus it comes up with several sprouts like Asparagus runs up and climbs upon any thing it meets withal bears a long stalk hairy and rugged Leaves broad like the Vine the flowers hang down by clusters set as it were with scales yellowish called in High Dutch Lupullus in Low Dutch Hopssem and in English Hop It is offensive upon this account hot in the first degree stuffs the head with the smell therefore use it not too much yet the Leaves open and cleanse The best Land is your richest Land it must be a deep Mould that which lyeth near the Rock the Poles cannot be set deep enough to stand firm it should be a mixt Earth that is compounded of Sand and a little Clay but much solid Earth a strongish Land laid dry and warm will bear the weightiest Hops A barren Moorish wet Soil is not natural to Hops but if this be laid very dry and made very rich with Dung and Soil it may do reasonable well The Hop-Garden should stand warm that it may be preserved from North and East winds rather by Hills then Trees as near your House as may be and that Land you determine for your Hop-Garden lay as level and as square as you can and if it be rough and stiff it will do well to be sowed with Hemp Beans or Turneps before but in what state soever it be till in the beginning of Winter make use of the Plough or Spade and this not only the year before but every year as long as you use it and the more pains and cost you bestow the more profit and is the nearer to you resemble the Flemming in his Hopping And for your Sets and good Roots to procure them you must go to a Garden orderly kept where the Hops are of a good kind all yearly cut and where the Hills are raised very high for the Roots will be greatest be sure to buy choice Sets they may cost six a hundred in some places and sometimes you may have them for the taking up leave your Husbandry orderly their Hills well drest You must chuse the biggest Roots you can find such as are three or four inches about and the Set nine or ten inches long and have three joynts in a Root Take heed of wild Hops they are only discerned by the Root and stalk The unkindly Hop that likes not his ground soil or keeping comes up green and small in the stalk thick and rough in the leaves like Nettles much bitten with a black Fly but it destroys not the Hop but somewhat injures it The manner of planting as soon as your Roots are got is either to set them speedily or lay them in some Puddle or bury them in Earth but leave them not in Water above twenty four hours Then begin to direct your Hills with a Line tyed with knors and threads thereto the due distance had need to be eight foot betwixt because then you make the fewer and bigger Hills the Sun comes about them Let the Poles reach not one another that so it may be plowed yearly the more easily otherwise it must be digged some say seven foot and others say six foot as one lately accustomed manner is And I am confident there is most advantage by thin planting but that I leave to each mans Experience Your hole under the knot of your Line had need be a foot square and deep then if you can have the wind South or West it is best if not go on having made many holes but be sure to take the month of April for the work and take two or three of your Roots as a great old Gardiner affirmed to me by which they will yield green Sciens or white Buds and will have small beards growing out Joyn your Sets together even in the tops and set them altogether bolt upright and there hold them in their place till you have filled the hole with good Mould and set low but just as the tops may be level with the ground and then after they must be covered thick with fine Mould be careful you set not that end downwards which before grew upwards which you may know by the bad growing upwards and let no part of the dead stalk remain upon the uppermost joynt thereof then press down the Earth hard to the Roots Some will set them every one at a corner of the foot of the Line which I rather incline to because they have room and stand round But if you plant late and have green springs upon them then be careful of not covering the spring but to set more Plants lest some should fail and in a bigger hole round about the same set eight some say ten or more which is thought tedious Now at this time you need make no Hills at all there as aforesaid Poultry must be kept from thence for scratching the Goose more especially or any things that are mischievous Now for poling if your distance be three yards or eight foot then four Poles are required else three will serve but I incline to six or seven foot distance and four Poles and as many this year as any Elder Poles are very good taper and rough and suitable to the Hops desire The time of cutting your Poles is in December or in November and then dress them and pile them up dry if you leave some Twigs it will not do amiss
before Woodseer in the Wane of the Moon for fear of seeding and he shall always have them fresh and young but after Woodseer he may sow them at any time of the Moon Skerrots must be set in the Wane about the latter end of September or beginning of October For the most part all Roots should be sown in the Wane of the Moon Lettice sown in August will live all Winter but if they are sown in March they will be so bitter that they cannot be eaten Parsley should be sown after the beginning of August and it will be fresh in the spring all the year it loveth the shade The seeds of Parsley and Marjoram will lye six weeks in the ground before they come up Hop may be sown in seeds in April but they will not last The Roots that are young are good to set but the slips are best Marigolds may be sown in August for the Spring he may remove the Plants about two inches long and they will grow the bigger Alexander is sown in March or April he may remove the Roots and they will grow the next year Borrage and Bugloss are sowed in the Spring and dye that year Succory or Endive are sown in March or April remove them before the spindle and they will be the better Pennyroyal the Roots parted or the branches set in the ground will grow Mints either the Roots set or the branches being cut in divers places and set in the Earth being wet will thrive Savory sowed in the Spring commonly dyeth but being removed it will live in Winter Time is sown or set in the Spring both the seeds slips and roots of it will grow keep it from seeding and it will last three or four years Tansie may be sowed in March or April the Roots being removed will prosper Bloodwort may be sowed in the Spring its Roots being new-set will last long Dandelyon may be sowed in March or April and may be ordered as the former Carduus Benedictus must be sowed in the Spring for it will dye in the Winter Wormwood is best to be set in the slips it will last three or four years Clary is sown in the Spring it seeds the second year and then dyes Fennel may be known in the Spring and Fall he may set the Roots and it will continue many years Sweet Marjoram may be sown in April but it will dye in the Winter but if it be set the slips will prosper Artichokes proceed of young Plants taken from the old stock The best time to plant them is in March or April two days before the Full of the Moon yet some plant them in August let him set no Plants if he may have choice but those that have the bottom-knobs whole neither let him pluck any plant from the stock till it be strong and if the bottom-knobs are pulled off and broken it will hardly grow And when that he would take the plants from the stock let him dig the Earth half a foot deep round about the stock then let him thrust his Thumbes betwixt the stock and the plant keeping the bottom whole and unbroken c. Pease and Beans for the Garden must have the seed changed every year if not the increase will be very small and grow less and less for in three years the great Rounseval and great Bean will be no bigger then the wild ones let him do what he can to his Ground if he set or sow them which grew there before and so likewise it is with Corn if the seed be not changed If his Pease be in February let him set them an inch and an half deep but if he sow them in March or April let him set them but an inch deep but let him be sure that he set them in the Wane of the Moon some six or seven days before the Change or else he will have a great God and but small Pease and let him set them down eight inches asunder and he shall have Pease long and have them often Let him set them in several plots some in February some in March and others in April A Quart of Pease will serve to set a good plot of Ground Pease and Beans will prosper well being set under Trees and being sown in temperate wet weather it will be a month or longer before they will appear We shall now proceed to give other expert and certain Rules for sowing planting and setting of the most delectable Flowers and Herbs in use for the adorning of a Summer-Garden or a Garden of pleasure and delight Roses are of several sorts and colours as White Red Damask Province Musk and sweet Bryar c. Of all the Flowers in the Garden this is the chief for beauty and sweetness Rose-trees are commonly planted in a plot by themselves if the Gardine shave room enough leaving a pretty space between them for gathering Now for him to get and set his plants he must do thus In the latter end of January February or the beginning of March at the Increase of the Moon go to some old Rose-trees but not too old and the Gardiner shall find long young suckers or branches which sprang up from the Root of the Tree the last year let him dig the hole deep that he may cut off those suckers close to the Root but let him take heed of wounding the Tree then let him fill up the hole again with Earth very close and hard these suckers must be young plants for young Trees If the suckers have too many branches let him cut them away also the tops of them they will take Root the better Then where he intends to set them let him dig holes in good ground at the least a foot deep and set them a good depth treading in the Earth hard about them having a little Trench near them for watering till they have taken Root The Provost Roses will bear Root the same year that they are set in he may if he please plant Strawberries Primroses and Violets amongst his Rose-trees and they will prosper very well Gilliflowers Carnations or July-flowerâ— so called because in July they are in their prime and glory these for beauty and scent are next to the Rose they are of several curious colours and smell like to Cloves and therefore of some are termed Clove-July-flowers These are to be set of young slips without shanks taken from the old Body or Root and when that the Gardiner sets them let him leave one joynt next to the leaf at the top of the Ground so that the Ground be above the top of the middle joynt for if he set any part of the Leaves within the Ground the Gilliflowers heads will never prove Earthen pots are good which have holes in or near the bottom in which pots let him plant his Gilliflowers and in dry weather twice a week in the Summer-time set them in a Tub of water for three hours or more But let no water come to the top of the pot but
straw and so depart your Garden till March unless it be to bring in Dung. Lay on some in the Winter to comfort and warm the Roots your old Dung is best rather none then not rotten And in April help every hill with a handful or two of good Earth when the Hop is wond upon the Pole but in March you will find unless it hath been tilled all Weeds But if you have pulled down your hills and laid your Ground as it were level it will serve to maintain your hills for a long time but if you have not pulled down your hills your shall with your Ho as it were undermine them round till that you come near to the principal and take the upper or younger Roots in your hand discerning where the new Roots grow out of the old Sets but cut no Roots before the beginning of March or end of April The first year of dressing your Roots you must cut away all such as grew the year before within an inch of the same and every year after cut them as close to the old Roots Those that grow downward are not to be cut they are those that grow outward which will incumber your Garden The difference betwixt old and new easily appears You will find your old Sets not increased in length but a little in bigness and in few years all your Sets will be grown into one and by the colour also the main Root being red the other white But if this be not yearly done then they will not be perceived and if your Sets be small and placed in good Ground and the hill well maintained the new Roots will be greater then the old if they grow to wild Hops the stalk will wax red pull them down and plant new in their places As for the annual charge of the Hop-Garden after it is planted the dressing the Hills the Allies the hoing them the poling them and tying to the Poles and ordering the Hops is usually done for forty shillings an Acre together with pulling drying and bagging by the day And so I proceed to the drying of them which may be upon any ordinary Kilne with any Wood that is dry but not too old or else good sweet Rye-straw will do well but Charcoal best of all They must be laid about nine or ten inches thick and dryed a good while on that side and then turned upside down and dryed as much on the other side about twelve hours will dry a Kilne full which must be followed night and day then laid up in a close Room upon a heap together for a month if your Markets will give you way to frume and forgive again when the stalk begins to be brittle and the leaf also begins to rub then the Hop is dryed sufficiently but tread them not while they are hot it will tread them to dust and then either against Sturbridge-Fair or what other Markets you provide for you may bag them up close and hard either to 200 a Quarter And so I come to my next Particular to shew you the profit of them One Acre of good Hops may possibly be worth at a good Market forty fifty sixty pounds an Acre may bear eleven or twelve hundred weight possibly some have done more many ten but grant but eight hundred they may sometimes be worth not above one pound four shillings the hundred and some other times they have been worth twelve or fourteen pound a hundred and usually once in three years they bring money enough It is usually a very good Commodity and many times extraordinary and our Nation may ascribe unto it self to raise the best Hops of any other Nation There 's an old Saying Heresie and Bear Hopt into England in one year Of the Mystery of Saffron and the way of planting of it THere is another very rich Commodity wherein our Nation hath the Glory and yet it is a very Mystery to many Parts of it they know not whether such a thing grows in England and yet none such so good grows in the World beside that I have ever heard or read of and that is Saffron It is a most soveraign and wholesom thing and if it take right it is very advantagious and costly for price It hath its ebbings and its flowings as all other things have I shall briefly give you the story of it Good Land that is of the value of 20 l. an Acre being well husbanded tilled and fitted or worser Land being well manured and brought to perfect Tillage will serve the turn but the better the better for the work The season is about Midsummer when it is to be set that being the season when they usually take up or draw their Sets or Roots and old store when they may be had and no time else The Land being brought into perfect Tillage the best way is to make a Tool like a Ho in operation but as broad as six of them and with that they draw their Land into ranges open as it were a Furrow about two or three inches deep and there place their Sets or Roots of Saffron about two or three inches asunder which Roots are to be bought by the Strike sometimes dearer and sometimes cheaper and are very like to Onions an Onion about an inch and a half over and as soon as they have made one Furrow all along their Land from one end to another then they after that it is set begin in another and draw that which they raise next to cover this and so they make their Trench and cover the other they keep one depth as near as may be which Ranges or Furrows are not above three or four inches distance that so a Ho of two or three inches distance may go betwixt them to draw up the Weed which being set and covered it may come up that Summer but it dies again yet it lives all Winter and grows green like Chives or small Leeks And in the beginning of Summer it dyeth wholly as by the blade of it is as to appearance let one come and take a Ho and draw all over it and cleanse it very well and then will come up the Flower without the Leaf In September the Flower of it appears like Crocus that is blew and in the middle of it come up two or three Chives which grow upright together and the rest of the Flower spreads broad which Chives is the very Saffron which you may take betwixt your fingers and hold it and cast away all the rest of the Flower and reserve that only and so they pick it and they must pick it every morning early or else it returns back into the body of it to the Earth again until the next morning and so from one to another for a months space it will bear Saffron You must get as many Pickers as may overcome it before it strike in at the very nick in the morning It will grow to bear a Crop and then it must be taken up and planted new
in it To sow Oats IN March is the time to sow Oats and especially upon light Ground and dry howsoever they will grow on wetter ground then any Corn else for wet ground is good for no manner of Corn. Three London bushels will sow an Acre There are three sorts of Oats that is to say red Oats black Oats and rough Oats Red Oats are the best when they are threshed they will be yellow in the bushel they are very good to make Oatmeal of Black Oats are as great as they are but they have not so much flour in them for they have a thicker Husk nor do they make so good Oatmeal The rough Oats are the worst Oats and it quitteth not the cost to sow them They are very light and have long tayls whereby they will hang each on the other These several kinds of Oats wear the ground very much and maketh it as it were quick A young Husbandman had need to be careful how thick he soweth all manner of Corn for two or three years and to observe how it cometh up whether it be thick enough or not and if it be too thin let him sow thicker the next year but if it prove well let him hold his hands for three or four years but if it be thin let him recollect with himself whether it proceeds from the unseasonableness of the Weather or through his thin sowing How to sever Pease Beans and Fitches WHen the Husbandman hath threshed his Pease and Beans after they be winnowed if he sow them or set them let them be well reed with Sieves and let him sever in three parts the great from the small by which means he shall get in every Quarter a London bushel or thereabouts For the small Corn lyeth in the hollow and void places of the great Beans and yet shall the great Beans be sold as dear And therefore he that buyeth by whole sale and retaileth must needs be a great gainer and he must needs be a loser that sets his Pease Beans and Fitches together for then he loseth his whole sale but sever into three parts there is the more gain How all manner of Corn should be covered THe Corns being shorn and bound and the Tythes cast out it will be time to cover them stock them or half throve them but covering is the best way of all manner of white Corn And that is to set four sheaves on one side and four sheaves on the other side and two sheaves above of the greatest bound hard nigh to the nether end the which must be set upwards and the top downwards spread abroad for to cover all the other sheaves They will stand best in wind and save themselves best in rain they should be set on the ridge of the Land and the side-sheaves to lean together in the tops and wide at the bottom that the wind may go thorow to dry them Pease and Beans should be set on the ridge of the Land four sheaves together the tops upwards and writhen together and wide beneath that they may the better wither To load Corn and mow it WHen all the several Corns are dry and withered enough then let the Husbandman load them into the Barn and lay every several sort of Corn by it self And if it be a wet Harvest let him make many Mows and if he have not housing enough then it is better for him to lay the Pease and the Beans without upon a Reke rather then other Corn and it will be better upon a Scaffold then on the ground but then it must be well hedged for Swine and other Cattel Besides the ground will rot the bottom whereas the Scaffold saveth both hedging and rotting but they must both be well covered And the Husbandman may set Sheep or Cattel under the same Scaffold for it will serve him instead of a house if it be well and strongly made How to know divers manner of Weeds IN the latter end of May and the beginning of June is the time for the Husbandman to weed his Corn. There are divers manner of Weeds as Thistles Kedlocks Docks Cockle Drake Darnel Guâ—des Hadods Dog-fennel Mathes Tare and divers other small Weeds but these already named are those that are most troublesom The Thistle is an ill weed rough and sharp to handle which fretteth away the Corns nigh it and causeth the Shears not to shear clean Kedlocks have a leaf like Rapes it beareth a yellow flower and is an ill weed it groweth in all manner of Corn and hath small cods and groweth like Mustard-seed Docks have a broad leaf and divers high spires and very small seed in the top Cockle hath a long small leaf and it will bear five or six flowers purple colour as broad as a Groat the seed is round and black and may well be suffered in bread-corn but not in seed for therein is much flour Drake is like Rye till it begin to seed it hath many seeds like to Fennel-seeds and hangeth downwards and it may well be suffered in bread for there is much flour in the seed and it is an opinion that it proceedeth from Rye Darnel groweth up straight like to a high grass it hath long seeds on either side there is much flour in the seed it groweth much amongst Barley and it is said to come from small Barley Guldes or Goldes hath a short jagged leaf that groweth half a yard high it hath a yellow flower as broad as a Groat it is an ill weed that groweth most commonly amongst Barley and Pease Hauâ—od hath a blew flower and a few little leaves it hath five or six branches flowered in the top it groweth commonly in the Rye upon lean ground it doth little hurt Dog-fennel and Mathes are both one and in the coming up is like Fennel it beareth many white flowers with a yellow seed and it is the worst weed that is except Tare it riseth most commonly when great wet falleth shortly after the Corn is sown Tare is the worst weed and it doth never appear till the month of June after a great wet or a little before it groweth most in Rye It is somewhat like Fitches but that it is much smaller it will grow as high as the Corn and with the weight thereof pull it down flat to the Earth fretting the Ears of it away Wherefore I have seen Husbandmen mow down the Corn and it together and also with sharp hooks to reap it as they do Pease and make it dry and then it will be good Fodder There are many other Weeds which do much harm which here for brevity sake I shall omit to mention How to weed Corn. THe chief instrument to weed Corn is a pair of Tongs made of wood the further end of them being nicked to hold the weed the faster After a shower of Rain it is best weeding for then they may be pulled up by the roots so as never for to grow again If it be dry Weather then must the
a handful of Pease And when he hath taken up his right foot then let him cast the Pease from him all abroad and when his left foot riseth let him take another handful and when his right foot then cast them from him and so at every two paces he shall sow a handful of Pease let his foot and his hand agree and then he shall be sure for to sow even In his casting he must open as well his fingers as his hand And the higher and the further that he cast his Corn the better shall it spread except it be a great wind And if the Land be very good and will break small in the ploughing it is better to sow and after the Plough then to delay and lose time To make a Ditch IF the Husbandman will make his Ditch four foot broad then it should be two foot and a half deep And if it be five foot broad then it must be three foot deep and so accordingly and if it be but five foot broad then it must be double set and the rather it should be fenced and the lower Hedge will serve To get Sets and set them IF the Husbandman have pastures he cannot want for quick-setting ditching or plashing When it is green and cometh to be of age let him get his quick-sets out of some woody parts and let them be of white Thorn and Crab-tree for they are best Holly and Hasel are good If he dwells in the plain Country then he may get both Ash Oak and Elm for those will increase much wood in a short space Let him set Oak-sets and Ash ten or twelve foot asunder and cut them as he doth his other Sets and cover them over a little with Thorns that Sheep and other Cattel eat them not And also weed them clean in the Midsummer Moon or soon after for the weeds if they over-grow will kill the Sets But get no black Thorn for this use for it will grow outward into the pasture and do much hurt to the Grass besides the tearing of the Wooll off the sheep It is a good time to set Quick-sets from the time the leaves are fallen until our Lady-day in Lent The Husbandmans sandy or gravelly ground should be first set for it will soon dry and then the Quick-set will take no root except it meet with great wet for the Moulds will tye it if it be ditched in February or March and likewise clayie ground c. Let the Husbandman make his Sets long enough that may be set deep enough in the Earth for then they will grow the better Let them stand half a foot and more above the Earth that they may spring out of many branches and then let him take a Line and set it where he will have his Hedge and let him make a Trench after his Line and pare away the grass there let the Quick-sets be set and let him cast it by Line where the Earth of the Ditch shall lye and dig up the Moulds and spade graff deep and put in the Sets and dig up more Mould and lay upon that Set and so to go through with it till he have set up his Sets and let them lean towards the Ditch and a foot from that let him make his Ditch for if he make it too nigh his Sets the water may happen to cause the Sets to fall down To make a Hedge THe Husbandman must get his stakes of heart of Oak for those are best Crab-tree black Thorn and Elder are good Red Wethy is best in moorish ground Ash Maple Hasel and white Thorn will do well for a time Let him set his stakes within two foot and a half together except that he have very good hedging and lodge to bind with And if it be double endered it is much the better and of greater strength to the Hedge and it will last much the longer let him lay his small Trouse or Thorns that he hedgeth withal over the Quick-sets that sheep do not eat his Spring or Buds of the Sets let his stakes be well driven that the point take the hard Earth and when that he hath made his Hedge and endered it well then let him take his Mall again and drive down the endering and also his stakes immediately For with the winding of eddrings he shall lose his stakes and therefore they must needs be driven new and hardned and that stake shall be driven the better when it is well bound To plash or pletâ—e a Hedge IF the Hedge be ten or twelve years growing since it was first set then let the Husbandman take a sharp Hatchet or Hand-bill and cut the Sets in a plain place close unto the Earth the more half asunder and bend it downwards towards the Earth and wrap and winde them together but always let him be sure that the top lye higher then the root a good quantity for else the sap will not run into the top kindly but in process of time the top will dye and then let him set a little Hedge on the back-side and it shall need no more mending for many years after and if the Hedge be of 20. 24. 30. years of age since it was first set then let him winde it at the nethermost boughs and winde them together and then cut the Sets in a plain place a little from the Earth the more half asunder and let him suffer it to hang downwards rather then upwards and that for divers causes then let him winde the boughs and branches thereof into the Hedge and at every two foot or three foot to leave one Set growing not plethed Let the tops be growing of five foot high or thereabouts to stand as a stake if there be any such or else to set another and to winde another that is plethed about them And if the boughs will not lye plain in the Hedge then cut it the more then half asunder and bind it unto the Hedge then shall not the Husbandman need for to mend that Hedge but in few places twenty years after or more and if the Hedge be old and be great Stubs or Trees and they in the bottom that beasts may go under or between the Trees let him take a sharp Ax and cut the trees or stubs that grow a foot from the Earth or thereabouts in a plain place within an inch or two inches of the side And let him again shave downwards and let the top of one Tree lye over the root of another Tree to plethe down the boughs of the same Tree to stop the hollow places And if all the hollow and void places will not be filled and stopped then let him scour the old Ditch and cast it up new and fill with earth all the void places and if so be these Trees will not reach in every place to make a further defence then let him double quick-set it and ditch it new in every place that is needful and set a Hedge thereupon and let him over-lay the
oftentimes dye suddenly The signs of his death are that he will stand still and hang down his head and sometimes quake The Shepherds Remedy for this Disease is to take the sheep and rub him about the head and especially about his Ears and under his Eyes and with his Knife let him cut off his Ears in the midst and also let him bleed in a Vein under his Eyes if he bleed well he is like to live if he bleed not then kill him and save his flesh for if he dye by himself the flesh is lost and the skin will be far ruddier liker to blood then any other skin shall be Of the Pocks and the Remedy thereof THis Disease appears upon the skin in the likeness of red Purples as broad as a Farthing This distemper destroys many sheep To remedy this the Shepherd is to handle all his sheep and to survey and look on every part of their bodies and as many as he finds taken therewith let him put them into fresh new Grass an◠keep them from their fellows and let him often have an Eye over his Flock and draw 〈◊〉 he hath need And if it be in Summer-time that there be no Frost then let him wash them Of the Wood-Evil and the Remedy thereof THere is a sickness amongst Sheep that is called the Wood-Evil It taketh them in the Spring of the year and taketh them most commonly in their Legs or in their Neck and maketh them to halt and hold their Necks awry For the most part those that have this sickness dye within a day or two The best Remedy is to wash them a little and to change their ground to bring them to a low ground and fresh Grass for this sickness is most commonly in Hilly Ley and Ferny Grounds Some for this sickness let their sheep blood in a Vein under the Eye What are the things that chiefly rot Sheep IT is necessary that a Shepherd should know what things chiefly rot the sheep that he may the better preserve them There is a Grass called Spearwort it hath a long narrow Leaf like a Spears head it will grow a foot high and it beareth a yellow flower as broad as a Penny It groweth always in low places where the water useth to stand in Winter Another Grass is called Penny-grass it groweth low close to the Earth in Moorish Grounds it hath a Leaf as broad as Two-pence but never beareth flower All manner of Grass that the Land-flood runs over is bad for sheep because of the sand and the filth that sticketh upon it All Moorish Ground and Marsh-ground is bad for sheep The Grass that groweth upon Fallows is not good for sheep for there is much of it weedy and oftentimes it cometh up by the root and that bringeth earth with it and the sheep eat both Mildew-grass is very bad for sheep and that we may find out by the Leaves of the Trees in the morning and especially of Oaks take the Leaves and put thy tongue to them and thou shalt taste like Honey upon them Therefore the sheep should not be let out of the Fold till the Sun hath the power to dry up the Mildew Want of food will cause a great Rot amongst sheep for then they will have neither good flesh nor good skins White Sincles are very bad for sheep in Pastures and in Fallows There is another Rot that is called the Pellet which proceeds from great wet especially in woody Countries where they find a want of driness To know rotten Sheep divers manner of ways whereof some of them never fail LEt the Shepherd use both his hands and twirl upon the Sheeps Eye and if it be ruddy and have red strings in the White of the Eye then the sheep is sound but if the Eye be white like Tallow and the strings dark-colour'd then he is rotten Let him also take the sheep upon the Wool of the side and if his skin be ruddy-colour'd and dry then he is sound but if it be pale-colour'd and watry then he is rotten Also when the Shepherd hath opened the Wool of the side let him take a little of it betwixt his finger and his Thumb and pull it a little if it stick fast he is sound if it come lightly off he is rotten When a sheep is killed if his body be full of water he is rotten and also the fat of the flesh will be yellow if the Liver be cut wherein will be little quicknesses and live things like flocks and also the Liver will be full of knots and white Blisters if it be rotten it will also break and crumble in pieces but if the sheep be sound it will hold firm together BRIEF Experimental Directions FOR The Right Use of the ANGLE HE that addresseth the River for his pleasure must be well prepared as to the setting forth of his Tackle The first thing he must do is to observe the Sun the Wind the Moon the Stars and the Wanes of the Air he must observe the Times and Seasons to set forth his Tackles to go for his pleasure and for his profit As for Example the Sun proves cloudy then must he set forth his Ground-bait or his Tackles and of the brightest of his Flies If the Sun proves bright then must he put on some of the darkest of his Flies Thus must he go to work with his Flies light for darkness and darkness for light he must also observe that the wind be in the South for that wind blows the Fly in the Trouts mouth But if the weather be warm it is indifferent where the wind standeth either with Ground-bait or Menow so that he can cast his Bait into the River The very same observation is for night as for day for if the Moon prove clear or if the Stars glitter in the Sky there is as ill Angling that night as if it were high noon in the midst of Summer when the Sun shineth brightest there is little hopes of any pleasure For the petty Thames Recreation of catching of Bleaks Dace c. as they are so generally known of every young Beginner I am unwilling to trouble the Reader with such a trifling Discourse I shall begin though not without some seeming digression first with the taking of Eels When the Angler stays a night or two let him take four or five Lines such as I shall inform hereafter will serve for Pikes of fourteen or fifteen yards long and at every two yards make a Noose to hang a Hook armed either to double thred or silk twist for it is better then Wyre Let him bait his Hooks with Millers-thumbs Loaches Menows or Gudgins Let him tye to every Noose a Line baited These Lines must be laid cross the River in the deepest places either with stones or pegged so that the Line lye in the bottom of the River there will be no doubt of taking of a dish of Eels he must also have a small Needle with an Eye to bait his
is white and simple It is a very choice seed to grow and thrive well it beareth a yellow Flower and requires very rich Land and very sound and warm so that very warm Earth either a little gravelly or else sandish will do exceeding well but the purer warmer solid Earth is best and exceeding rich Land and though it should be mixed with a little Clay it will do well but it must be very warm There is not much Land fit for this design in many Countries especially your hardest Wood-land parts you have in many of your great deep rich Pasture many Hills and Hills-sides good Woad-Land when the bottom-ground will do no service but your chiefest is your home Corse or lesser Ground lying near and bordering about the Towns Your best and naturallest Parts in England for Woad are some Parts of Worcester-shire Warwick-shire Southward Oxford-shire Glocester-shire Northampton-shire Leicester-shire some Parts of Rutland Redford-shire and Buckingham-shire and some other places here and there All these Parts have some admirable Woad-land in them The Land must be sound and at above twenty shillings an Acre to graze in at least or else it will not be worth the woading And to plow and sow Woad it may be worth as much more as to graze yea sometimes more if it be extraordinary rich Soil and Trading good And whereas some write that it undoeth the Land I answer as I judge in my own Breast that in regard it is so often cut and groweth so thick and is so often weeding that it must needs do so as I believe all Corn doth draw out some of the Spirit thereof but no more then other Grain if it could be so oft cut to grow again Thus much I can say of it that it prepares the Land exceedingly for Corn and doth abate of the strength and super-richness or rankness therof which Corn would not well endure for I am ready to maintain that the richest Land is not best for Corn For though the one may overburden and be so rank yet the other may bear as much to the Strike and for goodness your middle-land beareth the Bell away for Corn in my opinion To acquaint you with the use of Woad I must do these three things 1. Shew you how the Land must be prepared and sowed 2. Shew you how it must be ordered when that the leaf must be cut and how ordered after the cutting of it 3. And lastly how it must be tempered and seasoned to make the best Woad for use and profit But before I proceed I must inform you that this Commodity is not to be played withal as you may do with Liquorish and Saffron c. to make Experiments of a little parcel but a man must of necessity set forth and forward so much stock and land and seed as may keep one Mill or two at work to make it into perfect Woad It is the doing of a great quantity and carrying on a great stock that makes this work and will carry it on to profit and credit Some have as much under hand as will work six or eight Mills The charge of it is exceeding great in the management of it and as well it payeth for all charges as any Commodity I know of The Ground must be of old Land as aforesaid and a tender Turse and must be exceeding choicely plowed if very hilly they must be cast and well cast that you cast forth lye not high to raise the Furrow they usually plow outward or cast all their Lands at the first plowing and having broke the Ground with a Harrow then they sow it and sow about four Bushels or Strikes of an Acre which done then cover it and harrow it very well and fine and pick out the Clots Turfes and Stones and lay it on the hollow places of the Ridge in heaps as is the usual custom But now I should rather chuse to take a little Cart with one Horse and as the Boys and Children pick them up cast them into the Cart and carry them into some flank and hollow place and lay them down to rot or else mend some barren place because they lose a good considerable part of Land and so of Wood too which otherwise might be as good as the rest and is now by reason of the times not worth so much The Land that is lost is very considerable in regard it is so good of it self and the stock so good and rich that is sowed upon it that all even Ground had need be regained that possibly may be 2. I am to shew you how it is to be husbanded and when the Leaf must be cut and how used and how oft c. After the Land is sowed and that it begins to come up as soon as any Weed appears it must be weeded yea it may be twice weeded or more if it requires before it be ready to cut but if it be special good and come thick and cover the Ground well it will ask the less weeding to them that are exercised in this same Service and have their Work and Work-folks at command they will have it weeded for eight pence an Acre and sometimes less as soon as the Leaf is come to its full growth which will be sometimes sooner sometimes later as the year is dryer or moister more fruitful or less which when you perceive at the full ripeness set to cutting of it off As soon as ever it is cut your Mills being prepared and great broad Fleaks so many as may receive the Crop prepared and planted upon Galleries or Stories made with Poles Fir Alder or other Wood your Mill is usually known a large Wheel both in height and bredth and weight doth best it is a double Wheel and the Tooth or Ribs that cut the Wood are placed from one side of the Wheel to the other very thick wrought sharp and keen at the edge and as soon as the Woad is cut and comes out of the field it is to be put into the Mill and ground one Kilne full after another as fast as may be the juyce of the Leaf must be preserved in it and not lost by any means and when it is ground it is to be made in balls round about the bigness of a Ball without any composition at all and then presently laid one by one upon the Fleaks to dry and as soon as dried which will be sooner or later as the season is they are to be taken down and laid together â—and more put in their places But because all the circumstances will be too tedious to discourse and the work is no common work and very many not well versed therein I will rather advise you to get a Workman from the Woad-works which can carry it on artifically rather then to venture the experimenting of so great Work upon Words and Rules Good Woad may yield in a plentiful year five or possibly six Crops yea ordinarily four and yet sometimes but three but the