THE COMPLEAT Husband-man OR A discourse of the whole Art OF HUSBANDRY BOTH Forraign and Domestick Wherein many rare and most hidden secrets and experiments are laid open to the view of all for the enriching of these NATIONS Unto which is added A Particular discourse of the Naturall History and Hubandry of IRELAND By SAMUEL HARTLIB Esq LONDON Printed and are to be sold by Edward Brewster at the Crane in Paul's Church-yard 1659. TO THE READER Courteaus Reader THe Discourse which I did formerly publish concerning the Brabant-Husbandry was somwhat imperfect nor was the Author thereof then known unto me but since I have learned who the Author was I have also lighted upon a more perfect Copie which I intend to offer to the Publique in a Second Edition that such as have entertained that first offer with liking and acceptance may finde the benefit of a clearer and fuller satisfaction in that which shall further be imparted unto them And to the end that Ingenuity and Industry may want no encouragement in the mean time accept of these Enlargements upon the same Subject wherein you wil finde diverse other wayes and no lesse if not more profitable then that which was left by Sir RICHARD WESTON the Author of the Brabant-Husbandry as a Legacie to his Sons whose Introduction to that Discourse I have here premised to this to bespeak thee in his words to his Sons and to gain thy affections more fully to these ways of advantaging both thy selfe and the Publique And I could wish that God would put it in the heart of those Worthies that manage the Publique Trust that by their Influence and Authority these and such like Meanes of Industry may not be left wholly to the uncertain disorderly lazy undertakings of private men so as not to have an eye over them and over that which in their proceedings doth so mainly appeare to be a Publique Concernment Therefore let us all joine to intreat and petition them that in order to the Publique and Generall Welfare of this Common-wealth these two things at least may bee thought upon and setled 1 In respect of the known untowardnes of the major part of the people who being wonderfully wedded to old customes are not easily wonne to any new course though never so much to their own profit that two or more fit persons of approved skill and integrity may be made Publique Stewards or Surveyors one of the Husbandry the othet of the Woods of this Common-wealth and impowered to oversee and take care of the preservation of what is and by all good improvement to procure and provide for what is wanting to the present age and except some such Expedients be used it is more then likely will be wanting to succeeding ages 2 That according to the usual custome of Flaunders a Law may be made of letting and hiring Leases upon improvement where the manner is That the Farmer covenanteth on his part to improve the land to such or such a greater Rent by an orderly and excellent management of Husbandry as well as building The Landlord on the other side covenanteth on his part at the expiration of the said Lease to give so many years purchase of the Improvement according to the agreement which is 3 or 4 years or somtimes more or to give out of it such a parcell or moity of Ground As if land formerly going for 6. s an Acre be upon improvement worth 10. s or 13. s 4. d an Acre The Landlord is to give 4. or 5. s upon every Acre more or lesse according to the agreement If it please God to blesse these Motions and that accordingly the Nationall Husbandry of this Common-wealth be improved we may hope through Gods blessing to see better dayes and to be able to beare necessary and Publique burdens with more ease to our selves and benefit to Humane Society then hitherto we could attain unto Which more and more to advance in reference to a Publique and Universal Interest as subordinate to Higher things and which though lesse visible and sensible are more permanent and to truly Rationall and Spirituall Husbandmen as perceptible shall be the uncessant prayers and endeavours of Thy faithfull Servant Samuel Hartlib Sir RICHARD WESTON late of Sutton in the County of Surrey his Legacie to his Sons c. Anno Dom. 1645. My Sonnes I Have left this short ensuing Treatise to you as a Legacy if I shall not live my self to shew you what therein is written by examples which I know instruct far more then precepts yet precepts from a dying Father instructing of his Children what he hath seen and known and received information of from witnesses free from all exceptions should make such an impression on them as at least to believe their Father writ what he thought was true And therfore suppose those things worthy to be put in practise by them which he himselfe would have done if it had pleased God to have granted him life and liberty especially seeing the matter it self which is required by him to be done is in shew so profitable and so easie to be effected with so little charge considering the great gain that is proposed by it that not any thing can restrain a rational man from triall thereof but not giving credit to the Relator The whole Discourse shews you how to improve barren heathy land how to raise more then ordinary profit thereof by such wayes and means as are not practised in England but as commonly in some parts of Brabant Flaunders as the Husbandry of Wheat Rie is here By that means you may nobly augment your estates and will receive so much the more profit praise by how with more industry diligence you govern your affairs and wil not only be imitated but also honoured by your Neighbours when they shal see your labours prosper so far as to convert barren heathy ground left un-husbanded for many ages into as commodious arable land with Pastures and Meadows as any be in this Kingdome And certainly that man is worthy of praise and honour who being possessed of a large barren Demeasne constrains it by his labour and industry to produce extraordinary fruits which redounds not only to his own particular profit but also to the Publique benefit Cato saith It is a great shame to a man not to leave his Inheritance greater to his Successors then he received it from his Predecessors and that he despiseth the liberality of God who by slothfulnesse loseth that which his land may bring forth as not seeming willing to reap the fruits which God hath offered him Nay he threatens the crime of high treason to those that do not augment their Patrimony so much as the Increase surmounts the Principall It is a thing much celebrated by Antiquity thought the noblest way to gather Wealth for to employ ones Wit Money upon his Land and by that means to augment his estate If you observe the cōmon
peculiar propriety to every kinde of earth to produce some peculiar kinds of Plants which it wil observe even to the worlds end unlesse by Dung Marle Chalke you alter even the very nature of the earth In Gallitia in Spaine where such barren lands do very much abound they do thus first they grub them up as clean as they can of the greater Roots and branches they make fire-wood the smaller sticks are either imployed in fencing or else are burnt on the ground afterwards the land being ploughed twice at least they sowe Wheate and usually the crop is great which the Landlord and Tenant divide according to a compact then the ground resteth and in 3 or 4 yeares the Furze or broom wil recover their former growth which the painful Husband-man grubbeth and doeth with it as formerly I set this down that you may see how laborious the Spaniard is in some places the poverty of the countrey compelling him to it 7 There are other Inconveniencies in land besides weeds and trumpery viz. Ill tenures as coppy-hold Knight-service c. so that the Possessor cannot cut any Timber downe without consent of the Lord and when he dyes must pay one or two yeares rent But these are not in the power of the poor Husbandman to remedy I therefore passe them by yet hope that in little time we shal see these Inconveniencies remedied because they much discourage Improvements and are as I suppose badges of our Norman slavery To conclude it seemeth to me very reasonable and it wil be a great encouragement to laborious men to improve their barren lands if that they should have recompence for what they have done according as indifferent men should judge when they leave it as is the custome in Flaunders I have likewise observed some Deficiencies in Woods which I shall briefly declare with the best way to Remedy the same 1 It 's a great fault that generally through the Island the Woods are destroyed so that we are in many places very much necessitated both for fuel also for timber for building and other uses so that if we had not Coales from New-castle and Boards from Norwey Plough-staves and Pipe-staves from Prussia we should be brought to great extremity and many Mechanickes would be necessitated to leave their callings 2 Deficiency is that our Woods are not ordered as they should be but though Woods are especially preserved for timber for building and Shipping yet at this time it 's very rare to see a good Timber-tree in a Wood. 3 That many of our Woods are very thinne and not replenished with such sorts of Wood as are convenient for the place 4 That we sell continually and never plant or take care for posterity These Deficiencies may be thus Remedyed 1 To put in execution the Statutes against grubbing of Woods which are sufficiently severe It s well known we have good lawes but it 's better knowne they are not executed In the Wilde of Kent and Sussex which lies far from the Rivers and Sea and formerly have been nothing but Woods liberty is granted for men to grub what they please for they cannot want firing for themselves and they are so seated that neither firewood nor timber can be transported elsewhere I know a Gentleman who proffered their good Oak-timber at 6 s 8 d per tun and the land in those parts in general is very good About Tunbridge there is land which formerly was Wood is now let for 30 s per Are so that to keep such lands for Wood would be both losse to the owner and to the Island But in other parts of the Island it is othervvise and men are much to be blamed for destroying both timber and fuel I have seen at Shooters-hill near London some Woods stubbed up vvhich vvere good ground for Wood but novv are nothing but furze vvhich is a great losse both to the owner and to the Countrey For the land is made vvorse then it vvas formerly I conceive there are Lands vvhich are as naturally ordained for Woods viz. Mountainous Craggy uneven land as small hils for the Vines and Olives plain lands for Corne and low moist lands for Pasture vvhich lands if they be stubbed do much prejudice the Common-wealth 2 That all Woods should have such a Number of Timber-trees per Acre according to the Statute There is a good lavv for that purpose but men delude both themselves and the lavv that they every felling cut dovvn the standers vvhich they left the folling before least perchance they should grovv to be Timber and leave 12 small standers that they might seem to fulfil in some measure the Statute but it 's a meer fallacie and causeth the Statute to fail of it's principal end vvhich is to preserve Timber 3 The best Remedy against thinnesse of woods is to plash them and spread them abroad and cover them partly in the ground as every Countreyman can direct by this meanes the wood vvil soone grovv rough and thick It 's good Husbandry likevvise to fil your woods vvith swift growers as Ashes Sallow Willow Aspe which are also good for Hop-poles Hoopes Sycamore is also a swift grower In Flaunders they have a kinde of Salix called by them Abell-tree which speedliy groweth to be timber 4 That some law be made that they which fel should also plant or sowe In Biscay there is a law if that any cut down a Timber-tree he must plant three for it which law is put into execution with severity otherwise they would soon be undone for the Countrey is very mountainous and barren and dependeth wholly on Iron Mines and on Shipping their Woods are not copsed there but onely Pollards which they lop when occasion serveth I know one who was bound by his Land-Lord to plant so many trees yearly which according he did but alwayes in such places that they might not grow In France near to the borders of Spaine they sowe Ashkey which when they grow to such a greatnesse that they may be slit into four quarters and big enough to make Pikes then they cut them down and I have seen divers Acres together thus planted hence come the excellent Pikss called Spanish-Pikes Some Gentlemen have sowen Acornes and it 's a good way to encrease Woods Though the time is long I doubt not but every one knoweth that it 's excellent to plant Willowes along the waters side and Ashes nigh their houses for firing for they are good pieces of Husbandry and it 's pitty that it 's not more put in practise There is a Gentleman in Essex who hath planted so many Willowes that he may lop 2000 every year if others were as Ingenious we should not want fire-wood Osiers planted in low morish grounds do advance land from 5 s per Acre to 40 s 50 s 3 l and upward it 's much used Westward of London these Osiers are of great use to Basket-makers There is a sort of small Osier or Willow at Saint Omars in
fire-stones because that they will endure strong fires and therefore fit for Iron furnaces and this propriety these soft stones have that when they are white hot a steel instrument will scarce touch them to hurt them Alabaster is found at Burton on the Trent and in Staffordshire and a Titbury-Castle excellent Marble at Snothil in Hereford-shire a course Marble near Oxford in Kent also at Purbrick in Dorsetshire Milstones in Anglesey in Flintshire Darbyshire Lime-stones Chalk in very many places for divers uses Allum-stone is found in Anglesey but especially at Gisborrow in Yorkeshire where the Allum works are which serve this Island Lapis Claminaris is lately found in Somersetshire by the which Copper is made brasse Manganese for those that make white glasse lately found in the North the best Emery for pollishing Iron in Jersey Plaister at Knaresborough Black lead in Cumberland and no where else in Europe There is a stone in Durham out of which they make salt Diamonds are found about Bristol and Cornwall very large but soft There is a stone near Beaver Castle like a Star In Yorkshire another like a Serpent petrefied and also other stones round like bullets which being broken have as it were a Serpent in them without an head c. 6. Of all Minerals and Metals Iron-stone is found almost in every County and is profitable where Wood is plentiful the best is found in Lancashire one load and a half making a Tun of Iron it hath been transported into Ireland to mix with poor Mine In Richard the 2. time a Copper-Mine was found in Wenlock in Shrop-shire but exhausted in Queen Elizabeths dayes one was found at Keswick in Cumberland and lately in Stafford shire York-shire and near Barstable in Devon-shire on which some Gentlemen intend speedily to work Lead is found in Durham-wall and Devonshire Brimstone in Yorkshire and Wales Antymony in Staffordshire a silver Mine in Cardiganshire a gold Mine was discovered in Scotland in King James his time and many rich Mines might be discovered in England if that the Kings prerogative which was to take all Royal Mines to himself viz. Silver Gold and Copper were so certainly abolished that they which should find these Metals in their own Lands might safely digg them But some will object and say that many things are of little worth and profit To these I answer that God hath made nothing in vain every thing hath his peculiar use and though some things seem to be of little worth and contemptible as Sand Loame Chalke yet it hath pleased the wise Creator to make these things very necessary for mans comfortable subsistance which they that want these things can testifie As for example in New-England where there is no Chalk nor Lime-stone they are compelled to burn Oyster-shells Cockles to make Lime or else they could hardly build any houses The like I may say of Sand and Loam in divers places where they are wanting 2. I say that most of those things I have spoken of are very profitable in one place or other To instance in some of the meaner sort at London Brick-men give 50 l per Acre only for Loam to make Bricks and pay 3 l per Acre of yearly Rent and are to leave the Land worth the same yearly Rent likewise I know a Chalk cliffe in Kent not two Acres of ground valued at many 100 l and that one Colum of Chalk which is 10. foot square is valued at 40 or 50 l at 8 d per load The Oker Mines of Oxford and Gloucestershire are of great value and so would others of that kind if they could be found so is the Black-lead Mine Also the pits of Clay Marle Coale Turffe c. And therefore I desire all Countrey-men to endeavour to know all sorts of Stones Clayes Earths Oares and to teach their Children the use of them that they may know that this sand is for building this Loam for Bricks this Clay for Pots this Marle for Corn-land and if that they shall find any Stones Earths which they know not that they would lay them up till that they meet with some ingenious man that can inform them The richest Mines of the world have been found out by these meanes if we will believe Histories And this I am sure of that by this means they may much advance their knowledge and be more profitable to the publique their Neighbours and also to themselves 17. Deficiency is the ignorance of the Vegetables of this Island and their Vertues and Vses And the first Deficiency that I take notice of is the ignorance of the ordinary seeds which are commonly sowen amongst us for usually the Countrey-man contenteth himself with one or two sorts and knoweth no more when as there are very great varieties some of which agree with one sort of ground some with another as for example there are very many sorts of Wheates some called White Wheat some Red Wheat some Bearded which as I have said before is not so subject to Mildews as others others not some sorts with 2. rowes others with 4. and 6. some with one eare on a stalk others with double eares or 2. on the same stalk red stalk Wheat of Buckinghamshire Winter Wheat Summer Wheat which is sowen abundantly in New-England in April and May and reaped ordinarlly in 3. moneths and many sorts more Not to trouble my discourse with Spelt Zea Tiphine-Wheat or Olew Far Siligo Alica which were used amongst the Auntients but now unknown not only to the Countreyman but even to the learnedest Botanicks so I may say that the ordinary Yeoman is ignorant of the diversities of Barley's for there is not only the ordinary Barly but also big sprat-Barly which hath lately been sowen in Kent with good profit also Winter-Barly sowen in Winter Barly with 4.6 rowes naked Barly which require divers dispositions in Land some delighting in finer others in stiffer grounds So there is also Winter and Summer-Rie and 20. sorts of Pease the ordinary Schew the Raith or Early-ripe Pease the Roncivals Hastivers Hotarses Gray-Pease Green-Pease Pease without skins Sugar Pease whose shels are sweeter then the Pease it self and have been within these 10. years plentifully sowen in Lincoln-shire with profit also Fulham Sandwich-Pease c. which require divers sorts of land and seasons so also there are divers sorts of Oats white black naked which in New England serveth well for Oatmeal without grinding being beaten as they come out of the barn Scotch Poland c. Also Buck-wheat Lentiles divers sorts of Tares of Hemp and Flax altogether unknown to most Countrey-men but I hope that hereafter rhey wil be more inquisitive after them for divers of them may be of good use on their lands 2. Defficiency in this kind is that they are ignorant of the Plants and Grasses which naturally grow among us and their Uses which likewise were made for to be food for Cattel and also for the service of man This ignorance causeth them to
course of things you will find that Husbandry is the End which Men of all estates in the world do point at For to what purpose do Souldiers Scholars Lawyers Merchants and men of all Occupations and Trades toyl and labour with great affection but to get Money and with that money when they have gotten it but to purchase Land and to what end doe they buy that land but to receive the fruits of it to live and how shall one receive the fruits of it but by his own Husbandry or a Farmers so that it appears by degrees that what course soever a man taketh in this world at last he commeth to Husbandry which is the most common Occupation amongst men the most naturall and Holy being commanded by the mouth of God to our First Fathers There is care diligence requisite in Husbandry as there is in all the Actions of the World and therefore as a Captain hath a Lieutenant to command his Souldiers in his absence or for his ease So must you provide some able honest man to whom you will commit the execution of such things as you your selves cannot do without too much labour whereof you must often take an account and confer with him as occasion shall require about your businesse that nothing may be left undone for want of providence To such a man you must give good wages with intent to advance your own gain and take the more ease by reason of his honesty and knowledge You will finde this Husbandry after you have once had experience of it to be very pleasing to you and so exceeding profitable that it will make you diligent For no man of any Art or Science except an Alchymist ever preteÌ„ded so much gain any other way as you shall see demonstrated in this ensuing Treatise The Usurer doubles but his principall with Interest upon Interest in 7 years but by this little Treatise you shall learn now to doe more then treble your principle in one years compass And you shall see how an Industrious man in Brabant Flaunders would bring 500 acres of barren heathy land that was not worth at the most above 5. l a year to be worth 700. l a year in lesse time then 7 years I know no reason why the like may not be done in England for we are under as good a Climate as they are Our heathy Land that is neither Sand nor Loam is as good a soile as their barren ground is We have not only Dung to enrich our Land but also Lime and Marle of which they know not the use where they sowe their gainfullest Commodities mentioned in this ensuing Treatise nor of any other Manure but only Dung. In fine I am certain there is none of their Commodities but grow in England as they doe in Brabant and Flaunders but ours are not of the same kinde as theirs nor put to the same use What cannot be vented at home may as well be vented from hence into Holland as the like commodities are from Flaunders thither I will say no more of this Subject in the Preface only it remains to tell you that you must not expect either Eloquence or Method in this ensuing Treatise but a true Story plainly set forth in the Last Will Testament of your Father which he would have you execute but before all things to be sure you lay the Foundation of your Husbandry upon the Blessing of Almighty God continually imploring his divine aid assistance in all your labours for it is God that gives the increase and believing this as the Quintessence and soul of Husbandry Primum quaerite Regnum Dei postea haec omnia adjicientur vobis These things being briefly promised I will leave the rest to this short ensuing Treatise and commit you all with a Fathers Blessing to the Protection and Providence of Almighty God Thus far Sir RICHARD VVESTONS Introduction to the discouâ—se of BRABANT HUSBANDRY which is shortly to be published in a Sâ—cond Edition corrected and enlarged A large Letter concerning the Defects and Remedies of English Husbandry written to Mr. Samuel Hartlib SIR ACcording to your desires I have sent you what I have observed in France about the sowing of a seed called commonly Saint-Foine which in English is as much to say as Holy-Hay by reason as I suppose of the excellency of it It 's called by Parkinson in his Herball where you may see a perfect description of it Onobrychis Vulgaris or Cocks head because of it's flower or Medick Fetchling By some it is called Polygala because it causeth cattel to give abundance of milke The plant most like unto it and commonly known being frequently sowne in gardens is that which is called French Honey-suckle and is a kind of it though not the same France although it be supposed to want the fewest things of any Province in Europe yet it hath no small want of Hay especially about Paris which hath necessitated them to sowe their dry and barren lands with this seed Their manner of sowing it is done most commonly thus When they intend to let their Corn-lands ly because they be out of heart and not situate in a place convenient for manuring then they sowe that land with Oats and these seeds together about equall parts the first year they onely mowe off their Oates leaving the Saint Foine to take root and strength that year Yet they may if they please when the year is seasonable mowe it the same year it is sowne but it 's not the best way to do so the year following they mowe it and so do seven years together the ordinary burthen is about a load or a load a halfe in good years upon an Arpent which is an 100 square Poles or Rods every Pole or Rod being 20 foot which quantity of ground being nigh a 4th part lesse than an English Acre within a league of Paris is usually Rented at 6 or 7 s After the land hath rested 7 years then they usually break it up and sowe it with corn till it be out of heart and then sowe it with Saint Foine as formerly for it doth not impoverish land as Annual Plants do but after seven years the roots of this plant being great and sweet as the roots of Licorish do rot being turned up by the Plough and enrich the land I have seen it sown in divers places here in England especially in Cobham-Park in Kent about 4 miles from Gravesend where it hath thriven extraordinary well upon dry Chalky banks where nothing else would grow and indeed such dry barren land is most proper for it as moist rich land for the great Trefoile or great Glover-Grasse although it will grow indifferently well on all lands and when the other grasses and plants are destroyed by the parching heat of the Sun because their roots are small and shallow this flourisheth very much having very great root and deep in the ground and therefore not easily to be exsiccated
most necessary yet contemned Instrument and for every part thereof for without question there are as exact Rules to be laid down for this as for Shipping and other things And yet in Shipping how have vve vvithin these 6 yeers out-stripped our selves and gone beyond all Nations for vvhich Art some deserve eternal honour And vvhy may vve not in this I knovv a Gentleman vvho novv is beyond seas vvhere he excels even the Hollanders in their ovvn businesse of draining vvho promiseth much in this kinde and I think he is able to performe it I could vvish he vvere called on to make good his promise In China it is ordinary to have vvaggons to passe up and dovvn vvithout horses or oxen vvith sails as ships do and lately in Holland a vvaggon vvas framed vvhich vvith ordinary sails carryed 30 people 60 English miles in 4 houres I knovv some excellent Scholars vvho promise much by the means of Horizontall sails viz. to have 3 or 4 Ploughs to go together vvhich shal likevvise both sovve and harrovv I dare not being ignorant in these high speculations engage my self to do much thereby but wish these gentlemen whom I know to be extreamly ingenious would attempt something both for the satisfying of themselves and others There is an ingenious Yeoman of Kent who hath 2 ploughs fastened together very finely by the which he plougheth 2 furrowes at once one under another and so stirreth up the land 12 or 14 inches deep which in deep land is good Neer Greenwich there liveth an Honourable Gentleman who hath excellent Corn on barren land and yet plougheth his land with one horse when as usually through Kent they use 4 and 6. These things shevv that much may be done in this kinde and I hope some in these active times vvil undertake and accomplish this vvork of so great importance There is a Book long since Printed made by Sir Hugh Plattes the most curious man of his time called Adams Art revived vvherein is shevved the great benefit vvhich vvould accrue to this Nation if all land vvhich vvere fit to be digg'd vvere so ordered and their corn set Mr. Gab. Plattes likevvise hath vvritten much of this kinde and promiseth that men shal reap 100 for one all charges born vvhich are very great That this may be true he bringeth some probable Reasons supposing that lesse then a peck of Wheat vvil set an Acre I dare not promise so much as these Gentlemen do neither can I commend Mr. Gab. Plattes setting Instrument For I knovv their are many difficulties in it vvhich he himselfe could never vvade through but concerning digging and setting and hovving in of Corne these things I dare maintain 1 That it is a deficiency in Husbandry that it is used no more 2 That one good digging because it goeth deeper than the Plough and buryeth all vveeds killeth the grasses is as good as three Ploughings and if the Land be mellovv not much more chargeable 3 That it vvould imploy many 1000 of people that a third part of the seed might be saved As I have found by experience that all the vveeds and grasses might be more easily destroyed thereby and the ground better accommodated for other crops and to conclude the crop considerably greater Yet thus much I must further say concerning setting of Graine That great Beans are even of necessity to be set and that small Beans in Surrey and other places are likewise set with profit for the reasons above mentioned that to set Pease unlesse Hastevers Oates Barley is a thing even ridiculous that Wheat although in divers grounds it may be set with profit yet to howe it in as the Gardiners speak as they do Pease though not at the same distance but about a foot the ranges one from another is better then setting for these Reasons 1 Because to set Corn is an infinite trouble and charge and if it be not very exactly done which children neither can nor wil do and these must be the chief setters wil be very prejudicious 2 If worms frost ill weather or fowles destroy any part of your seed which they wil do your crop is much impared 3 The ground cannot be so well weeded and the mould raised about the roots by the howe Which 3 inconveniencies are remedied by the other way Further I dare affirme that after the ground is digged or ploughed and harrowed even it 's better to howe Wheat in then to sowe it after the common way because that the weeds may be easily destroyed by running the howe through it in the Spring and the mould raised about the roots of the Corne as the Gardiners do with Pease it would save much Corne in dear years and for other Reasons before mentioned Yea it is not more chargeable for a Gardiner wil howe in an Acre for 5 s and after in the spring for lesse money runne it over with a howe and cut up all the weeds and raise the mould vvhich charges are not great and you shal save above a bushel of seed vvhich in dear years is more vvorth then all your charges Further 1 s 6 d an Acre for the sovving and harrowing of an Acre in Kent is accounted a reasonable price but if any fear charges let him use a Drill-Plough I therefore cannot but commend the howing in of wheat as an excellent piece of good Husbandry whether the ground be digged or ploughed not onely because it saveth much Corne imployeth much people and it is not chargeable but it also destroyeth all weeds fitteth grounds for after-crops and causeth a greater increase and in my apprehension is a good Remedy against Smut and Mildew There is an Ingenious Italian who wondereth how it cometh to passe that if one setteth a Grain of Corne as Wheat Barley c. it usually produceth 300 or 400 as I have tryed yet if you sowe Wheat after the ordinary way 6. or 8. for one is accounted a good crop what beccometh of all the Corne that is sown when as the 50th part if it do grow would be sufficient For answer to this 1 I say much Corne is sown which nature hath destinated for the Hens and Chickens being without any considerable vegetative faculty 2 Womes Frosts Floods Crowes and Larkes which every one doth not consider to devour not a little 3 Weeds as Poppie May-weed and the grasses growing with the Corne do destroy much Lastly when Corne is so sowne after the ordinary manner much is buried in the furrowes especially if the ground be grazy much is thrown on heaps in holes and consequently starve and choak one another Most of these Inconveniencies are to be remedyed by this vvay of setting and hovving in of Corn. Gardening though it be a vvonderfull improver of lands as it plainly appears by this that they give extraordinary rates for land viz. from 40 s per Acre to 9 pound and dig and hovve and dung their land vvhich costeth very much Yet I knovv divers vvhich by
will briefly tell what I have seen In Italy through all Lombardy which is for the most part plain and Champian their Vines grow in their hedges on Walnut-trees for the most part in which fields they speak of three harvests yearly viz. 1 Winter-Corn which is reaped in June c. 2 Vines and Walnuts which are gathered in September 3 Their summer-graines as Millet Panicle Chiches Vetches c. Buck-wheat Frumentone or that which we call Virginia-Wheat Turneps which they sowe in July when their Winter-corne is cut and reaped they reape in October In France their Vines grow thâ—â—e manner of wayes in Provence they cut the Vine about two foot high and make it strong and stubbed like as we do our Osiers which stock beareth up the branches without a prop. 2 About Orleans and where they are more curious they make frames for them to run along 3 About Paris they tye them to short poles as we do hops In France they usually make trenches or small ditches about three or four foot from one another and therein plant their Vines about one and a half deep which is a good way and very much to be commended but if we here in England plant Vines as we do Hops it will do very well but let them not be packt together too thick as they do in France in many places least they too much shade the ground and one another In Italy when they tread their grapes with their feet in a cart they poure the juice into a great vessel or Fat and put to it all their husks and stones which they call graspe and let them ferment or as vve say worke together 12 or 14 dayes and usually they put one third of water to it this maketh a wine lesse furious Garbo or rough and therefore a good stomack wine but it spoileth the colour and taketh avvay the pleasant brisk taste In France so soon as they have pressed out their liquor vvith their feet they put it in hogsheads and after in their presse squeese out vvhat they can out of the graspe which serveth to fill up their hogsheads while they worke which is usually three or four dayes and then stop them close this is also the way used in Germany and is the best for it maketh a fine gentile wine with a curious colour In Germany when their grapes are green they make fire in their sellars in Stoves by the which means their wines worke extraordinarily and do digest themselves the better This course we must also take here in England some years for it helpeth the rawnesse of all liquours very much There is an Ingenious Dutchman who hath a secret which as yet he wil not reveal how to help maturation by a compost applyed to the roots The compost which I have spoken of before made of brimstone Pigeons-dung is very excellent for that purpose as also lees of wine bloud lime used with moderation He also knovveth how to make soure grapes produce good wine I suppose his vvay to be this all juice of grapes nevvly expressed is svveet and vvhich may by it selfe alone be made into a sweet syrupe vvhich the French call Racineè further in the Evaporation of liquors vvhich have not fermented or vvrought the watery part goeth away first 3 Fermentation giveth a vinous taste and maketh a liquor full of spirits You may then easily guesse at the way and perhaps he may adde also some sugar and spices as the Vintners do when they make Hippocras I know a Gentleman who hath made excellent wine of raisins well boil'd in water and afterward fermented by it selfe or with barme it s called usually Medea I likewise know that all sweet and fatty Juices will make fine vinous Liquors as Damsins if they be wrought or fermented ingeniously but whosoever goeth about such experiments let him not think that any thing is good enough for these purposes but let him use the best he can get for of naughty corrupt things who can expect that which is excellent and delicate The Deficiency of us in this kind is so obvious that all the world takes notice of it and it is next the neglect of fishing the greatest shame to this Narion for all know that we have as good land for these seeds as any can be found in Europe and that the sowing of them requireth neither more labour cost or skill than other seeds And further that the materials made from these are extreamly necessary for how miserable should wee be without Linnen Canvases Cordage Nets how can we put our Ships to Sea which are the bulwarks of this Isle And yet we are necessitated to have these Commodities from those who would destroy I will not say the Nation but I may boldly say our Shipping and Trade I hope that this wil more seriously be considered by those at the Helme of our State I will freely and plainly relate how this Deficiency may easily be Remedied according to my judgment 1 To compel by a law that all Farmers who plough and sowe 50 or 100 Acres of land should sowe halfe an Acre or an Acre of Hempe or Flax or to pay 5 s or 10 s to the poor of the Parish where they live or some law to this purpose for there is no man but hath land fit for one of these Hempe desiring a stiffe land Flax that which is light For there is so much irrationality in some professions that they must be forced even like bruts to understand their own good In King Edward the 6 days somthing was enacted to this purpose as I am informed In Henry the eighth days there was a law enacted that every man should sow his lands and that no man should enclose his lands least he should turne it to Pasture for we have had great dearth in England through the neglect of Tillage which lawes even as yet stand in force yet there is nor needeth there be any force to compel men to til and sowe their lands for they have at length found the sweetnesse and willingly go about it for their own profits sake and now we suppose and not vvithout cause that Enclosing is an Improvement and so concerning Hempe and Flax I say if they vvere once accustomed to sovve them they vvould never leave it as I see Farmers do in East-Kent scarce a man but he will have a considerable plot of ground for Hempe and about London farre greater quantities of Flax is sown then formerly 2 It were convenient that every Parish through the Nation should have a stock to set their poor to work that the young children and women might not run up and down idle and begging or stealing as they do in the Countrey of Apples Pease Wood Hedges and so by little and little are trained up for the Gallowes 3 That a severe law should be enacted against those who run up and down and will not worke for if all know that they may have work at home and earne more
within doores honestly then by running rogueing up and down why should they not compell them to it and though some may think the Parishes will lose much by this way because that the stock wrought will not be put off but with losse as perhaps 10 l will be brought to 8 l yet let them consider how much they shall save at their doors how many inconveniencies they are freed from their hedges in the Countrey shall not be pulled their fruits stolne nor their Corne purloined and further that the poor will be trained up to worke and therefore fit for any service yea and in their youth learn a calling by the which they may get an honest livelyhood and I dare say their Assessements for the poor would not be so frequent nor the poor so numerous and the benefit which redounds to the Nation would be very great 4 The charitable deeds of our forefathers ought to be enquired after that they be not misplaced as usually they are but be really bestowed for the good of the poor that are laborious as in London is begun and if there be any that will not work take Saint Pauls rule who best knew what was best for them I dare not advise to take in part of Commons Fens c. and to improve them for this use least I should too much provoke the rude mercilesse multitude But to return to my discourse I say that sowing Hempe and Flax will be very beneficiall 1 To the Owners of land for men usually give in divers places 3 l per Acre to sowe Hempe and Flax as I have seen at Maidstone in Kent which is the onely place I knovv in England where thread is made and though nigh a thousand hands are imployed about it yet they make not enough for this Nation and yet get good profit How advantageous will this be to those who have drained the Fens where questionlesse Hempe will flourish and exsiccate the ground for Hempe desireth stiffe moist land as Flax light and dry and likewise to those in the North of England where land is very cheape I hope in a little time Ireland will furnish us with these commodities if we be idle for there land is very cheap and those seeds need no inclosure for cattle will not touch them neither doth it fear the plunderer either in the field or barn 2 It 's profitable to the sower I know that they usually value an Acre at 10 or 12 l which costeth them usually but half the money Whether there be Flax that will yield 30 or 40 l per Acre as some report I know not 3 To the place where it is sown because it sets many poor to work I wish it were encouraged more in the North than it is because there is many poor who could willingly take pains and though spinning of linnen be but a poor work yet it is light and may be called Womens recreation and in France and Spain the best Citizens wives think it no disgrace to go about spinning with their Rocks and though in some part the poor think it nothing to earn 4 or 6 d er day and will as soon stand with their hands in their pockets as worke cheap yet in the North they account it well to earne 3 d or 4 d by spinning which they may do Lastly it would be very beneficiall to this Nation and save many thousand pounds I may say 100 thousands which are exported either in cash or good Commodities and we should not be beholding to Holland for fine linnen and Cordage nor to France for Poldavices Locrams Canvases nets nor to Flaunders for thread but might be supplyed abundantly with these necessary commodities even at our own doors There is no small Deficiency in dunging and manuring lands both because that all manner of manuring and amending lands is not known to every one and also that they do not imploy all they know to the best use I will therefore set down most of the wayes I have seen here in England and beyond Seas by which land is improved and the best wayes to use the same 1 To begin with Chalke which is as old a way as Julius Caesars time as he himself reporteth in his Commentaries Chalke is of 2 sorts 1 A hard strong dry Chalke with which in Kent they make walls burn lime c. 2 Kind is a small unctuous Chalke this is the Chalke for land the other helpeth little onely it maketh the Plough go easier in stiffe lands broomy land is accounted the best land for Chalke and Lime but it helpeth other lands also especially if you Chalke your ground and let it lye a year or two which is the way used in Kent that it may be matured and shattered by the sunne and raine otherwise if it be turned in presently it is apt to lye in great clods as I have seene it twenty years after Chalke also sweetneth pasture but doth not much increase it and killeth rushes and broom 2 Lime which is made of divers sorts of stones is an excellent thing for most Lands and produceth a most pure grain 160 bushels is usually laid on an Acre but I suppose that if men did lay but half the dung on the ground as they usually do as also lime and Chalk and dung and lime it oftener it would be better Husbandry for much dung causeth much weeds and causeth Corn to lodge and too much Chalke doth too much force the land so that after some good crops it lyeth barren many years It 's good Husbandry likewise to lay down lands before they be too much out of heart for they will soon recover otherwise not 3 Ordinary Dung which every one knoweth but let it not be exposed to the Sun too much nor let it lye in an high place for the rain wil waste away it's fatnesse It 's observable that earth the more it is exposed to the Sun it 's the better as we see that land is much bettered by oft ploughings for the Sun and dew engender a nitrous fatnesse which is the cause of fertility but dung is exhausted by the Sun as it appeareth by the folding of Sheep which profit little if it be not presently turned in therefore a Shepherd if his time would permit should turne up the ground with an howe for to sowe Turneps as Gardiners do I have seen Ordinary Dung on dry lands in dry years to do hurt and it oft causeth vveeds and trumpery to grovv 4 Marle It 's of divers kinds some stony some soft some vvhite some yellovvish but most commonly blew It 's in most places in England but not known by all the best markes to know it is to expose it to the Aire and to see if the Sun or Rain cause it to shatter and if it be unctuous or rather to take a load or two and lay it on the midst of your fields and to try how it mendeth your lands It 's excellent for Corne and Pasture especially on dry lands
In Essex the scourings of their ditches they call Marle because it looketh blew like it it helpeth their lands vvel 5 Snaggreet vvhich is a kind of earth taken out of the Rivers ful of small shels It helpeth the barren lands in divers parts of Surrey I beleeve it 's found in all Rivers It vvere vvell if in other parts of England they did take notice of it 6 Owse out of marsh ditches hath been found very good for vvhite Chalky land as also Sea-mud and Sea-Owse is used in divers parts of Kent and Sussex 7 Sea-weeds 8 Mr. Carew in his Survey of Cornwall relateth that they use a fat Sea-sand vvhich they carry up many miles in sacks and by this they have very much improved their barren lands It vvere vvorth the vvhile to try all manner of Sea-sands for I suppose that in other places they have a like fertilizing fatnesse 9 Folding of Sheep especially after the Flaunders manner viz. under a covert in vvhich earth is strevved about 6 inches thick on vvhich they set divers nights then more earth must be brought and strevved 6 inches thick and the Sheep folded on it and thus they do continually Winter and Summer I suppose a shepheard vvith one horse vvil do it at his spare houres and indeed sooner then remove his fold and this folding is to be continued especially in Winter and doth the Sheep good because they lye vvarme and dry and truly if I am not mistaken by this means vve may make our Sheep to enrich all the barren dry lands of England 10 Ashes of any kind Seacoale-ashes vvith horsedung the Gardiners of London much commend for divers uses It 's great pitty that so many thousand loads are throvvn into vvast places and do no good 11 Soote is also very good being sprinkled on ground but it 's too dear if it be of wood for it 's vvorth 16 d or 2 s a bushel 12 Pigeons or Hens-dung is incomparable one load is vvorth 10 loads of other dung and therefore it 's usually sovvne on Wheate that lyeth afarre off and not easie to be helped it 's extraordinary likevvise on a Hop-garden 13 Male-dust is exceedingly good in corn-Corn-land blood for trees also shavings of hornes 14 Some commend very much the sweeping of a ship of salt or drossey salt and brine it 's very probable because it killeth the vvormes and all fertility proceedeth from salt 15 I have seen in France poore men cut up Heath and the Turffe of the ground and lay them on an heape to make mould for their barren lands Brakes laid in a moist place and rotted are used much for Hop-grounds and generally all things that vvill rot if they vvere stones vvould make dung 16 In New-England they fish their ground vvhich is done thus In the spring about April there cometh up a fish to the fresh Rivers called an Alewife because of it's great belly and is a kind of shade full of bones these are caught in vviers and sold very cheap to the planters vvho usually put one or tvvo cut in pieces into the hill vvhere their Corne is planted called Virginia-Wheate for they plant it in hils 5 graines in an hill almost as we plant Hops in May or June for it wil not endure frosts and at that distance it causeth fertility extraordinary for two years especially the first for they have had 50 or 60 bushels on an Acre and yet plough not their land and in the same hils do plant the same Corne for many years together and have good crops besides abundance of Pompions and French or Kidney beanes In the North parts of New England where the fisher-men live they usually fish their ground with Cods-heads which if they were in England would be better imployed I suppose that when sprats be cheap men might mend their Hop-grounds with them and it would quit cost but the dogs will be apt to scrape them up as they do in New-England unlesse one of their legs be tyed up 17 Vrine In Holland they as carefully preserve the Cowes urine as the dung to enrich their land old urine is excellent for the Roots of trees Columella in his book of Husbandry saith that he is an ill husband that doth not make 10 loads of dung for every great beast in his yard and as much for every one in the house and one load for small beasts as hogs This is strange husbandry to us and I believe there are many ill husbands by this account I know a vvoman who liveth 5 miles South of Canterbury who saveth in a pail all the droppings of the houses I meane the urine and when the pail is full sprinkleth it on her Meadow which causeth the grasse at first to look yellovv but after a little time it grovves vvonderfully that many of her neighbours vvondered at it and vvere like to accuse her of vvitch-craft 18 Woollen raggs vvhich Hartford-shire-men use much and Oxford-shire and many other places they do very vvell in thinne Chalky land in Kent for tvvo or three years It 's a fault in many places that they neglect these as also Linnen raggs or Ropes-ends of the vvhich vvhite and brovvn paper is made for it 's strange that vve have not Linnen-raggs enough for paper as other Nations have but must have it from Italy France and Holland 19 Denshyring so called in Kent where I onely have seen it used though by the vvord it should come from Denbigh-shire is the cutting up of all the turffe of a Meadow vvith an instrument sharpe on both sides vvhich a man vvith violence thrusts before him and then lay the turffe on heapes and vvhen it is dry they burn it and spread it on the ground The charge is usually four Nobles vvhich the goodnesse of a crop or tvvo repayeth 20 Mixture of lands Columella an old vvriter saith that his Grandfather used to carry sand on clay and on the contrary to bring clay on sandy grounds and vvith good successe the Lord Bacon thinking much good may be done thereby for if Chalke be good for loamy land vvhy should not loame be good for Chalky banks 21 I may adde Enclosure as an Improvement of land not onely because that men vvhen their grounds are enclosed may imploy them as they please but because it giveth vvarmth and consequently fertiliey There is one in London vvho promised to mend lands much by vvarmth onely and vve see that if some fevv stickes lye together and give a place vvarmth hovv speedily that grasse vvil grovv 22 Steeping of Graines The Ancients used to steep Beanes in salt-water and in Kent it 's usual to steep Barly when they sow late that it may grovv the faster and also to take away the soile for vvild Oates Cockle and all save Drake vvil svvimme as also much of the light Corne vvhich to take avvay is very good If you put Pigeons-dung into the vvater and let it steep all night it may be as it vvere halfe a
dunging take heed of steeping Pease too long for I have seen them sprout in three or four houres 23 Is the sowing of Course and cheap Graine and vvhen they are grovvne to plough them in For this purpose the Auncients did use LUPINES a plant vvel knovvne to our Gardiners and in Kent sometimes Tares are sovven vvhich vvhen the Cattel have eaten a little of the tops they turn them in vvith very good Improvement for their ground I wil not deny but that we have good Husbands who dung and Marle their Meadowes and pasture-Pasture-land and throw down all Mole and Ant-hils and with the their spud-staffe cut up all thistles and weeds and that they likewise straw ashes on their grounds to kil the Mosse and salt for the wormes and they do very well but yet there are many who are negligent in these particulars for the which they are blame-worthy but the Deficiencies of which I intend to speak of are these following Cato one of the wisest of the Romans saith that Pratum est quasi paratum alwayes ready and prepared and preferreth Meadowes before the Olive-Gardens although the Spaniards bequeath Olive-trees to their children as vve do cottages or Vines or Corn because Meadows bring in a certain profit without labour and paines but the other requireth much cost and paines and are subject to Frosts Mildew Haile Locusts to the which for the honour of Meadowes I may adde that the stock of Meadows is of greater value and the Commodities which arise from them are divers and of greater value than Corne as Butter Cheese Tallow Hides Beef Wool and therefore I may conclude that England abounding in Pastures more than other Countreys is therefore richer and I know what others think I care not that in France Acre for Acre is not comparable to it Fortescue Chancelor of England saith that we get more in England by standing still than the French by working but to speak of the Deficiencies amongst us 1 We are to blame that we have neglected the great Clover-grasse Saint Foine Lucerne 2 That we do not float our lands as they do in Lumbardy where they mowe their lands three or four times yearly which consist of the great Clover-grasse Here are the excellent Parmisane Cheeses made and indeed these Pastures farre exceed any other places in Italie yea in Europe We here in England have great opportunities by brooks and Rivers in all places to do so but we are negligent yet we might hereby double if not treble our profits kill all rushes c. But he that desireth to know the manner how to do this and that profit that wil arise thereby let him read Mr. Blithes Book of Husbandry lately printed 3 That when we lay down land for Meadow or Pasture we doe not sowe them with the seeds of fine sweet grasse Trefoiles and other excellent herbes Concerning this you may read a large Treatise of the Countrey-Farmer for if the land be rich it will put forth weeds and trumpery and perhaps a kind of soure grasse little worth if it be poor ye shal have thistles May-weed and little or no grasse for a year or two I know a Gentleman who at my entreaty sowed with his Oates the bottome of his Hay-mowe and though his land were worne out of heart and naturally poor yet he had that year not onely a crop of Oates but he might if it had pleased him have mowen his grasse also but he spared it which was wel done til the next year that it might make a turffe and grow stronger By this Husbandry lands might be wel improved especially if men did consider the diversity of grasses which are 90 sorts and 23 of Trefoile I know a place in Kent which is a white Chalky downe which ground is sometimes sowen with Corn a year or two and then it resteth as long or longer when it is laid down it maintaineth many great Sheep and very lusty so that they are even fit for the Butcher and yet there doth scarce appear any thing that they can eate which hath caused divers to wonder as if they had lived on Chalke-stones but I more seriously considering the matter throughly viewed the ground and perceived that the ground naturally produceth a small Trefoile which it seemeth is very sweet and pleasant it 's commonly called Trifolium luteum or Lupilinum that is yellow or Hop-Trefoile and I am perswaded if that the seed of this Trefoile were preserved and sowen with dates when they intend to lay it down it would very much advance the Pasture of that place therefore I desire all Ingenious men seriously to consider the nature of the Trefoiles which are the sweetest of grasses and to observe on vvhat grounds they naturally grovv and aso the nature of other grasses which as I have said before are no lesse than 90 sorts naturally growing in this Isle some on watry places some on dry some on clay others on sand chalk c some on fruitful places others in barren by the which meanes I suppose a solid foundation might be laid for the advancing the Paesture-lands of all sorts through this Island for I know some plants as the Orchis call'd Bee-flower c. which wil thrive better on the Chalky barren banks than in any garden though the mould be never so rich and delicate and the Gardiner very diligent in cherishing of it and why may not the same propriety be in grasses for we see diverse benty grasses to thrive especially on barren places where scarce any thing else wil grow I must againe and againe desire all men to take notice of the wonderful grasse which groweth near Salisbury and desire them to try it on their Rich Meadowes It 's a common saying that there are more waste lands in England in these particulars than in all Europe besides considering the quantity of land I dare not say this is true but hope if it be so that it it will be mended For of late much hath been done for the advancement of these kinds of land yet there are as yet great Deficiencies In the times of Papistry all in this Island were either Souldiers or Scholars Scholars by reason of the great honours privileges and profits the third part of the Kingdome belonging to them and Souldiers because of the many and great warres with France Scotland Ireland Wales And in those times Gentlemen thought it an honour to be carelesse and to have houses furniture diet exercises apparell c. yea all things at home and abroad Souldier-like Musick Pictures Perfumes Sawces unlesse good stomacks were counted perhaps unjustly too effeminate In Queen Elizabeth's dayes Ingenuities Curiosities and Good Husbandry began to take place and then Salt Marshes began to be fenced from the Seas and yet many were neglected even to our dayes as Hollhaven in Essex Axtel-holme Isle in York-shire many 1000 of Acres have lately been gained from the Sea in Lincolne-shire and as yet more are to be taken in there
grievance to the Subject viz. to comand every one to plant or sow so many Mulberry seeds which may easily be procured from beyond Seas c. But I leave States matters to States men I am none A Copy of King James's Letter to the Lords Lieutenants of the several Shires of England for the increasing of Mulberry-Trees and the breeding of Silk-Worms for the making of Silk in England JAMES REX Right Trusty and Wel-beloved we greet you well IT is a principal part of that Christian care which appertaineth to Soveraignity to endeavour by all means possible as well to beget as to encrease among their people the knowledge and practise of all Arts and Trades whereby they may be both weaned from idlenesse and the enormities thereof which are infinite and exercised in such industries and labours as are accompanied with evident hopes not onely of preserving people from the shame and grief of penury but also raising and increasing them in wealth and abundance the Scope which every free-born spirit aime that not in regard of himself onely and the ease which a plentifull estate bringeth to every one in his particular but also in regard of the honour of their Native Countrey whose commendations is no way more set forth then in the peoples Activenesse and Industry The consideration whereof having of late occupied our minde who alwayes esteeme our peoples good our necessary contemplations We have conceived as well by the discourse of our own reason as by information gathered from others that the making of Silk might as well be effected here as it is in the Kingdome of France where the same hath of late years been put in practice For neither is the climate of this Isle so far distinct or different in condition from that Countrey especially from the hither parts thereto but that it is to be hoped that those things which by industry prosper there may by like industry used here have like successe and many private persons who for their pleasure have bred of those worms have found no experience to the contrary but that they may be nourished and maintained here if provision were made for planting of Mulberry-trees whose leaves are the food of the worms And therefore we have thought good thereby to let you understand that although in suffering this invention to take place we do shew our selves somewhat an adversary to our profit which is the matter of our customes for silk brought from beyond the seas will receive some dimunition Neverthelesse when there is question of so great and publick utility to come to our Kingdome and Subjects in general and whereby besides multitudes of people of both sexes and all ages such as in regard of impotency are unfit for other labour may be set on work comforted and relieved we are content that our private benefit shall give way to the publick and therefore being perswaded that no well-affected subject will refuse to put his helping hand to such a work as can have no other private end in us but the desire of the welfare of our people we have thought good in this form onely to require you as a person of greatest authority in that County and from whom the generality may receive notice of our pleasure with more conveniency then otherwise to take occasion either at the Quarter-Sessions or at some other publick place of meeting to perswade and require such as are of a ability without descending to trouble the poor for whom we seek to provide to buy and distribute in that County the number of ten thousand Mul-berry plants which shall be delivered unto them at our City of c. at the rate of two farthings the plant or at 6 s the hundred containing five score plants And because the buying of the said plants at this rate may at the first seem chargeable to our said Subjects whom we would be loath to burthen we have taken order that in March or April next there shal be delivered at the said place a good quantity of Mulberry-seeds there to be sold to such as will buy them by means whereof the said plants will be delivered at a smaller rate then they can be afforded being carried from hence having resolved also in the mean time that there shal be published in print a plain instruction and direction both for the increasing of the said Mulberry-trees the breeding of the Silk-worms and all other things needfull to be understood fur the perfecting of a work every way so commendable and profitable as well to the planter as to those that shall use the trade Having now made known unto you the motives as they stand with the publick good wherein every man is interessed because we know how much the example of our own Deputy Lievtenants and Justices will further this cause if you and other your neighbours will be content to take some good quantities hereof to distribute upon your own lands we are content to acknowledge thus much more in this ditection of ours that all things of this nature tending to Plantation increase of science and works of industry are things so naturally pleasing to our own disposition as we shall take it for an argument of extra-ordinary affection towards our person besides the judgement we shall make of the good dispositions in all those that shall expresse in any kind their ready minds to further the same and shall esteem that in furthering the same they seek to further our honour and contentment having seen in few years space past that our brother the French King hath since his comming to that crown both begun and brought to perfection the making of silks in his Country where he hath won to himself honour and to his subjects a marvellous increase of wealth would account it no little happinesse to us if the same work which begun among our people with no lesse zeal to their good then any Prince can have to the good of theirs might in our time produce the fruits which there it hath done whereof we nothing doubt if ours will be found as tractable and apt to further their own good now the way is shewed them by us their Soveraign as those of France have been to conform themselves to the directions of their King Given under our Signet at our Pallace of Westminster the sixteenth of November in the sixth year of England France and Ireland and of Scotland the two and fortieth 15. Deficiency is the ignorance of the Husbandry of other places viz. what seeds what fruits what grasses they use what Ploughs Harrows Gardening-tools they have how still they manage and improve their lands what cattel they have how they feed and fatten them and how they improve their commodities c. For there is no Countrey where they are such ill Husband-men but in some particular or other they excel as we see even in the several Counties of this Island every County hath something or other wherein they out-strip their neighbours And that much
seriously to be considered for altough we have plenty of Oaks yet what will it profit for Shipping without Masts and how difficult it is to get great Masts above 22. inches diameter is very well known Many things I might add of this kind but for brevities sake I refer you to Master Iohn Tredescan who hath taken great pains herein and daily raiseth new and curious things 3. Consider that these new Ingenuities may be profitable not onely to the Publick but also to Private men as we see by those who first planted Cherries Hops Liquorice Saffron and first sowed Rape-seeds Colliflowers Woad Would Early Pease Assparagus Melons Tulips Gilliflowers c. and why may we not find some things beneficial to us also 16. Deficiency is the ignorance of those things which are taken from the Earth and Waters of this Island Although it may seem to many that these things do little concern the Husbandman who usually is not a Naturalist but onely indeavoureth to know his own grounds and the seeds proper for it and seldome pierceth into the bowels of the earth yet if we consider that out of the earth he hath Marle Lime Stone Chalk for the inriching his lands and also Loam and Sand for his buildings oftentimes fuel for fire c. it will plainly appear that it is necessary for him to know all subterrany things and to be a Petty-Phylosopher and that the knowledge of these things will be very beneficial for him And here I cannot but take notice of a great deficiency amongst us viz. that we have not the natural history of all the Sands Earth Stones Mines Minerals Metals c. which are found in this Island it would not onely advance Husbandry but also many other Mechanick Arts and bring great profit to the publick I hope some ingenious man will at length undertake this task for the Lord hath blessed this Island with as great variety as any place that is known as shall in part appear anon and it may be proved by that great variety which is found near the Spaw-waters in Knaresborough as Dr. Dean relateth in his Book called the English Spaw Or the glory of Knaresbrough springing from several famous fountains there adjacent called the Vitriol sulphurous and dropping Wels and also other Mineral waters whose words are these Here is found not onely white and yellow Marle Plaister Oker Rudd Rubrick Freestone an hard Greet-stone a soft Reddish stone Iron stone Brimstone Vitriol Niter Allum Lead and Copper and without doubt divers mixtures of these but also many other Minerals might perhaps be found out by the diligent seach and industry of those who would take pains to labour a little herein Printed at York by Tho Broad being to be sold in his shop at the lower end of stone-gate near to Common-Hall-Gates 1649. This Letter will not permit me to make a compleat Natural History of the things of this Isle yet I shal relate divers things which may be as hints to set some others to work which I have found in Mr. Cambden and others and shall briefly instruct the Husbandman what he ought to take notice of for his own and others good And first if he live nigh the Sea let him take notice of those things the Sea casteth up for it hath even with us cast up Ambergreece which is worth so much Gold with the which not long since a Fisherman of Plymouth greased his boots not knowing what it was sometimes it casteth up Jet and Amber as at Whitbey oftentimes In former times we had Oysters which had very fair great Pearls in them of good worth and at this time some of them are found in Denbigh-shire Coperas-stone likewise is found along by the Sea-Coasts of Kent Essex Sussex Hampshire out of the which Copperas is made a thing very useful for Dâ—ers Curriers c. further Sea-weeds are not to be sleighted for in Iersey they have no other fuel amongst them and here in England it is burnt to make Kelpe for Glassemen and is also very good manure for divers Lands also Sea-owse is not only good to lay on Land but at Dover and other places the Inhabitants make Brick thereof called Flaunders-Bricks c. Sea-sands in Cornwall do very much enrich their Lands and in Cumber-land out of a certain kind of sand they extract Salt c. 2. Let him take notice of all sorts of Waters which issue forth of the earth differing from the ordinary in Colour Odour Taste for it is well known how advantagious these waters are oftentimes not only to particular men but also to the Countrey about yea to the whole Island as appeareth by the waters of Tunbridge in Kent and of Epsham in Surrey Knaresborough Spaw in York-shire and by the Allum-waters in Newenham in Warwick-shire like Milk in taste and colour and are excellent for the Stone and wounds and also it appeareth by the salt Fountains in Worcester-shire and Cheshire which furnish all those parts with an excellent fine white salt by the hot Bath's in Summer-setshire and the luke-warm waters by Bristol c. At Pitchford in Shropshire is a fountain which casteth forth liquid Bitumen which the people use for Pitch c. 3. Let him not despise the sorts of Sands which he findeth for some Sands are for buildings as the rough sorts others for scowring others for casting fine metals as Highgate sand others for the Glasse mex as a sand lately found in Sussex In Scotland there is a sand which containeth a considerable quantity of Gold and in divers Countries fine Gold aboundeth very much in sands and if we may believe an excellent Dutch Chymist there is scarce any sand without it 4. Let him take notice of the Earth Loames Clayes c. which have divers and necessary uses as first the stiffest Clayes as New-Castle and Nonsuch are for the Glassemens Pots for Crucibles melting pots the lesse stiffe for ordinary Earthen wares Brewers Tiles Bricks c. white Clay is for Tobacco-pipes Marle of divers colours and stiffness is excellent for Husband-men Fuller's-Earth is found in Kent Surrey and lately in divers other places for the great benefit of the Clothier Rub and Rubrick in York-shire as also divers other in Oxford and Glocester-shire excellent for Painters c. Turffe for firing may be found in most parts of this Isle if people were industrious necessity now and then compelleth them to be inquisitive as it did lately at Oxford and Kent where it is found in good quantity in Holland they have little fuel save what is taken out of their ditches and therefore it is truly said that their firing is as it were fish'd out of the water and its indifferent good fuel Coales are found in very many places yet divers places are in great want of them 5. Let him take notice of the several stones found in this Isle as of Freestones for building Cobbels and rough hard stones for paving Tomb-stones soft sandy stones commonly called
late Prince of Orange by the advice of his Councel durst not entertain any such Propositions the lands belonging to the Commonalty On the other hand the undertakers would not be contented with lesse for imparting of their Secret It appears unto me by all circumstances that it was the same design of Husbandry with yours the parties if I remember well being Englishmen From Paris I am advertized for certain of one who did last year 1649 ferment one grain of Wheat which this year hath produced him 114 Ears and within them 6000 Grains which is more then 80 Ears and 600 Grains of your English friends This year 1650. he hath a great many fermented and sowen An Answer to the foregoing extract of a Letter from Amsterdam SIR I Have received from you a Relation of a very great and wonderful production or increase which your Friend at Amsterdam relates to be done in France I am far from lessening the admirable greatness of that person's skill and success Only since I find my self taken notice of by the same party and the experiment I made the last year of Barly weighed in the scales with this and found too light I shall take leave to say that besides all difference that is or may be conceived to be betwixt the soyles that of France hath a manifest advantage in the elevation and powerful operation of the Sun That it is probable he did use all possible means both to the ground and seed to make them both fruitful which I did not at all but quite contrarily I chose the worst seed I could procure and my ground was as barren as any whatsoever in the parts adjacent I added nothing to either all I did was after the blade was sprung up And whereas your friend mentions 600. out of 80. eares those eares contained one with the other at the least 30 single Corns which is 2400. That besides that Wheat is no whit inferior to Barly but rather more inclined to its proper nature to branch and spread it is also allowed as long time again to grow and therefore may better spread to many eares then Barly That my ears of Barly rated at 30. one with the other which they were at least some having 38. a thing I suppose rarely if ever seen in England before are full as high as his Wheat ears rated at 52. And the seeming great difference between 2400 and 6000. when looked into will prove not to be in the number of eares which differ no more then as 14. to 10. but in the nature of the Grains there being universally as many more in an eare of wheat as in an eare of Barly That if as it is most like he in France did only try conclusions to what height nature might possibly be scrued by art and that what is here related was the effect of that trial that holds not comparison with mine which is generally practicable without any considerable expence of time or stock more then in the common-way Lastly I affirm in all possible humble reverence and submission to Gods good pleasure power and providence that when I shall make use of good feed rightly prepared good Land in right condition and all other helps which I know and can use I shall not doubt for smaller numbers of the same grain viz. Wheat to produce 200. or 300. eares and in them 10000. 12000. or 15000. Corns and somewhat like that for whole fields together and that here in England howsoever let us alwayes remember to give all possible praise to God whose blessing only makes rich SIR I am your faithful Friend and Servant Another Letter from Paris discovering the secret of the forenamed French Husbandry SIR J Do with much impatience desire the Treatise or Discourse published by you about the Braband-Husbandry and do very much admire the industry of that English Gentleman your friend who hath found out the wayes of making Corn multiply so prodigiously The Parisian Experimenter of Corns multiplication I know not but a friend of mine very well acquainted with him assureth me to have had the following description of his secret from himself and to have seen the experience of it very fully in the year 1649. not in any great quantity but in a Garden only for trials sake Pour into quick or unslack't Lime as much water as sufficeth to make it swim four inches above the water And unto â—0 l of the said water powred off mix one pound of Aqua-vitae and in that liquor steep or soak Wheat or Corn 24. hour which being dryed in the Sun or in the Aire steep again in the said liquor 24. hours more and do it likewise the third time Afterward sowe them at great distances the one from the other about the distance of a foot between each grain So one grain will produce 30.36.38.42.52 eares and those very fruitful with a tall stalk equalling the statute of a man in height Another Extract of a Letter from the Lowe-Countries SIR THese are to give you special thanks for communication of the Parisian Experimentors Secret Water if he meanes cold water poured into quick or unslackt Lime cannot work much in one hour upon the Lime but if it be boiled with it and that the water be poured alwayes afresh upon the Lime then it will come to be strong at last that an Egg may swim in it as I learn'd by tradition from Dr. Hartmannus but could never make any tryal of it for want of unslack't Lime in the place where I live This perhaps may be yet better but experience goes beyond reason in these cases The often macerating or steeping and drying of grains I like very well I have only according to Mr. Gabr. Platt's directions steeped them 24. hours in turned or tainted Rain-water and Cow-dung and afterwards sowen them thus wet which on Sandy grounds hath produced such goodly Corn as if it had been very good Land Some here use Salt-Peter which also doth much good but is found likewise in Sheeps-Dung as may appear by its fertility I have lost the Book of Husbandry of Mr. Plats which was called A Discovery of infinite Treasure hidden since the Worlds beginning Whereunto all men of what degree soever are friendly invited to be sharers with the Discoverer For having lent the same to a friend that it might be translated into High-Dutch I could never see it again I am told it is out of print But if you could help me to another you would do me a pleasure I have nothing to add for the present but that the Genius of this Age is very much bent to advance Husbandry and that in all Countries I hear there are found Gentlemen that study professedly these improvements more then in former times I rest alwayes SIR Yours Another Letter expressing the reasons why the Experimenter of the Barley-Corn thinks it not fit or expedient to part with his secret as yet for a more common use SIR I Find dayly more and more that
sands before or vvithin them the shape of them Hawks What sorts of Havvks in Ireland where they breed vvhat store hovv and vvherin they differ from each other the manner of the slights of each of them and at vvhat games each of them best and hovv to be nurtured Heads Capes Description of all the principal heads of the Coast their height spaciousnesse vvhether of bare rock heathie grassie vvhether steep or vvith a strand before them hovv far distant from the next places of note Herbs What gardens stored vvith rare and choice herbs and vvith vvhat store Heaths Where any grear Heaths vvhat extent vvhether in Champion or Mountain vvhether altogether barren or some vvays improvable vvho hath reduced Heaths into profitable lands vvhat scopes vvith vvhat helps and to vvhat advantages Heath-cocks See Growses Hedge-hogs Where they breed in any great numbers vvhat they feed on vvhat harm they do vvhat vvays used to take them hovv they ingender and hovv numerously vvhether their flesh eaten by any vvhat use made of their skins Hedging Hempe Where any great quantities sovvn upon vvhat ground and hovv manured vvhat hurt or good it doth to the ground the vvhole manner of ordering hempe Hernshaws Hens Where any be what store when in season what paticulars have been observed about their nature breeding feeding c. Herrings On what places of the Coast taken what time a year what quantities how sold the mease the whole manner of salting and re-salting them what are the signes of their being out of season what windes and weather best for taking them Hides What quantities yearly used to be sent forth at what rates Hills What Countreys all hillie Hoary-frosts What hurt done by them to fruit corne grasse c. Hobbies What their peculiar quality size what store of the race left and where Hogs Hollie Where any great store groweth and to a perfect bignesse what use made of the wood of the rind Honey What quantities made in such or such a Countie what sorts what goodnesse Hops Where any hop gardens when and by whom planted what yearly profit they yield Of what goodnesse the Irish hops Horses What good races in Ireland where and whose where any great steeds kept by whom upon what grounds how long Mares are with foale vvhether ever they foale more then one at once at vvhat years they use to give over Diseases ordinarily incident to horses the causes prevention and cures of them Horseleeches Hounds I. Iackdaws What store of them in Ireland where most vvhat harm they do their nature and breeding Ice Islands Description of the Islands upon the coast and in the Loghs their number bignesse vvhat kind of soile and vvhat they bear vvhat trees on them vvhat hills brooks rocks in them Iron Iron-mines Where any Iron-mines are of vvhat sorts rock-mâ—ne vvhite-mine or bog-mine hovv found out and hovv digg'd especially the bog-mine and rock-mine vvhich mines the richest and hovv much oare vvill yield a tun of iron vvhat kind of iron each sort of Mine giveth Iron-works Where any are and vvhose vvhen and by whom made the charges of making one and of maintaining one vvhat yearly profit they yield hovv much iron they melt in tvventy foure houres what proportion of charchoale is laid to the oare in vvhat order they are put into the furnace hovv far the furnace is filled vvhat store of men imployed about one work and in what several offices The manner of melting and hammering the iron at the forges and with how much waste Juniper-trees Whether any grow in Ireland and where K. Kine See Cows What the best grounds and grasse for Kine to feed on what dâ—seases incident to Kine and the ways to prevent and cure them Kites What store in Ireland what places they breed what ways used to destroy them Knives Where any good ones made where they have the steel how they temper them what waters best for to harden them c. L. Lambs The manner of rearing them Lampreys Where any be what store how taken when in season how they breed and ingender Lands Leeks Larks Observations concerning their nature and properties when in season Leather Lettice Leeches See Horse-leeches Licoris Leeks Where any groweth what quantity what goodnesse Lice Lime Limestone What several sorts of kilnes used for lime and what sorts of fiering the whole manner of burning lime and the charges of it whether any differences of limestone in colour brittlenesse c. where they use lime for the inriching of the ground what quantity to an Acre what time a yeare Lightning Lind-trees Whether any grow in Ireland where and by whom planted Ling. Where any taken what quantity what time a year the manner of salting it the shape of the fish Lisards Observations of their nature and properties Loghs What Loghs in every Province and County of what depth length breadth compasse what Islands in them and what sorts of fish Lobsters In what places they are plentiful when in season what time of the year they cast their coat and how long it is before they get a new one M. Maccamboy Whether there be such a thing at all that this herb should purge the body meerly by external touch or whether it be a fable what particular observations have been taken for or against it the shape of the herb and in what place it groweth Macarels On what parts of the coasts they are taken in any great plenty when they come to be in season and how long Madder Whether any be planted in Ireland where what quantities how manured and ordered Maggot apies See Pies Maggots Maids A kind of scate or thorn-back In what parts to be had what quantity what time a year their nature and properties Mallards See Ducks Malt. Manuring The several ways of manuring the ground with all the particulars of each kind and where used Marble What sorts are found in what places in what ground champion mountain or hill vvhat soile over head how deep they dig for it the charges of digging it Marle Where any is found in what County and Baronie of each Province how long since it was found and by whom what ground over head and how deep the depth of the Marle it self the nature and colour on 't upon what grounds they use it what time a year how many loads to an Acre and at what charges what grains marled land wilt bear and how many years together how to be used afterwards and whether it may be used more then once upon the same piece of ground and with what effect Marshmallows Whether any grow of themselves where what store Mastiffs What store of them in Ireland their several natures and properties Match Where any made in Ireland of the whole manner of making it Measures What several measures usuall in Ireland for the measuring of Land Corne Beere Wine Fish c. Meaws sea-meaws Where any store what use made of them their nature and properties whether there be any different kinds of