Belly when it shews it self more puffed up than ordinary full of reddish veins and his Breast very lean and sharp and seeing him spill and cast his Seeds about the Cage not caring to eat at all This Disease comes to the Linnet many times for want of Water and having your Charlack-Seeds mingled amongst your Rape-Seeds and for want of giving him a little green meat at the Spring of the Year when you perceive the Bird to begin to be troubled with this Disease first to cut the end of his Rump and to give him some white Sugar-candy in his Water with two or three slices of Liquorish for want of Sugar-candy let him put in fine Sugar And for his Meat you shall give him Beets Lettice to feed upon or some of the Herb called Mercurie which is a very good Herb for this Distemper for any Seed-Bird you may likewise give her Mellon-Seeds chopped small and at the bottom of the Cage put some fine Gravel with a little Powder-Sugar and a little ground Oat-Meal you may put also some Loom that the Country-People do daub their Walls withal instead of Morter and Sand every one almost knows bruise this small and it will bring him to a Stomach if he be not too far gone and past cure The Linnet is also subject unto the Streins or Convulsions of the Breast wherefore being oppressed with this Disease you shall feed him with Lettice-Seeds Beet-Seeds and Mellon-Seeds bruised and in his Water you shall dissiolve some Sugar-candy and some of the Nightingal's Paste with a little Liquorish so much that the Water may have a taste of it and so continue it for the space of four or five days now and then taking of it away and giving her Plantain-Water be sure to give her a Beet-Leaf or Lettice-Leaf upon the day that you give her Plantain-Water The Linnet is also subject unto a Hoarsness in his Voice which many times comes through straining her Voice in singing and many times she gets a Husk in her Throat which is seldom helped to come so clear off at first many times also if it be a strong-metled Bird he will break something within him that he will never come to sing again for the hoarsness which is very often taken in his Mouth which is thus to keep him very hot and upon a sudden to open his Cage to the Air which immediately strikes a cold to his Breast and Throat and oftentimes kills him for if you have a Bird in the Moult you must not carry him to the Air but keep him at a stay till he is moulted off and then open him by degrees that so he may not take cold and give him after his Moult something to clean se him your Beet-leaves and some Liquorish in his Water There is no better Remedy in the World for a hoarsness than to put into his Water some Liquorish and a few Annise-Seeds and then set him in a warm place The Linnet is also subject to a great Scouring I gave you an account of several sorts of them in the foregoing Chapter where I treated of the Canary-Bird Concerning the Gold-Finch THe next to the Linnet of Seed-Birds is the Golden-Finch which is a very rare and curious-coloured Bird and were they not so plenty they would be of very great esteem amongst us here but plenty of any thing makes it slighted and not regarded This Bird is taken in great plenty about Michaelmass time and will very soon become tame the Beautifulness with the pretty melodious Song that this Bird hath causes very many to keep them They were formerly carried beyond Sea to several places for a very great Rarity These Gold-Finches differ very much in their Tunes for some of them sing after one fashion and some after another which needed not further be proved but by them that have kept them for it is in this Bird as in all others variety one Bird surpassing another both in goodness variety and lavishness of Song They breed commonly in your Apple-Trees and Plum-Trees and to my knowledg I never saw a Nest in a quickset-Hedge They make their Nest of Moss that grows upon Apple-Trees and Wool and Quilt the inside with all sorts of Hair they find upon the Ground they breed three times in a year You must take young ones with the Nest about ten days old and they must be fed thus Take some of your best Hemp-seed and beat it in a Morter very fine then sift it through a Sieve and put as much white-Bread as Hemp-Seed and put also a little flower of Canary-Seeds to it so with a small stick or quill take up as much as the bignes of a white Pea and give them three or four bits at a time you must make it fresh every day it is soon done when the Hemp-Seeds are bruised and sifted if it be sower it will immediately spoil their Stomachs and cause them to cast up their Meat and then it is ten to one if they live You must be sure to keep these Birds very warm till they can feed themselves for they are very tender Birds you may almost bring them up to any thing being a very tame Bird be sure that in feeding of this Bird you make clean his Bill and Mouth and if any of the Meat fall upon his Feathers take it off otherwise they will not thrive This Bird that eats Hemp-Seeds shall take for a Purge the Seeds of Mellons Succory and Mercurie which is a principal Herb for the Linnet but this Bird you may give Lettice and Plantain which are excellent Herbs for this Bird to purge him and when they have no need of purging you must give them two or three times a week a little Sugar or some Loom in their Meat or at the bottom of their Cage to this end they may eat some to scour their Stomachs which for want thereof is the great destruction of our Birds that feed upon Seeds For nothing can be more wholesome for them than Wall or Loom-Earth and some fine Sand and a lump or knob or two of Sugar always in their Cage for all Seeds have a great oiliness in them and if they have not something to dry up that Oiliness in the Stomach in length of time it fouls their Stomachs and puts them into a Flux and nothing is worse than unsound and damaged Seeds which in a short time destroyes them Concerning the Chaff-Finch THis Bird is a very plentiful Bird and of some is much admired for his Song but I have no great fancy for him by reason he seldom varies in his Song like unto other Birds and hath no pleasingness nor sweetness in his Song like unto the aforementioned Birds At flight-time this Bird is very plentifully caught but their Nests are very scanty found as of the Gold-Finch also This Bird breeds in hedges Trees of all sorts and makes his Nest of Moss and Wool or any thing almost that he can gather up where she breeds They
likewise incident unto very many Birds whereof without diligent care observation theyare seldom or never cured for I could never find any other Remedy for it but this To keep the Birds which you bring up and especially Bull-Finches from the heat of the Sun all the Summer long and at the fall of the Leafe cut all the Nails of his Feet to the very quick and pull 5 or 6 of his Tail-Feathers and when he mouts besprinkle him with a little White-Wine and Water and set him not in the Sun but let him dry himself all times in the Shade and give once in a Week something to purge him The 7th Disease that Birds are subject to is the Pip which may be known by the hardness of the end of their Tongue and also by the sides of their Bills Your small-Birds that feed upon Seeds are very seldom subject to this Disease but most commonly your Throstles Black-Birds and Staires which feed upon soft Meat I have also known your Nightingales to be troubled with it that have been fed too much with Eggs boild hard For the Remedy of this for the Bird will never eat his Meat kindly nor sing with any Stomach so long as he hath it take the Bird in your Hand and having opened his Bill with a Needle take that hardness off from the top of his Tongue and the sides of his Bill also then give him the Seeds of Mellons being bruised and steeped in pure Water let him drink thereof three or four days then when you perceive him to grow better and to take delight to prune and peck himself give him a little fine loaf-Loaf-Sugar and put into his Water also To keep your Black-Bird and Throstle from this Distemper give them once in a week a little painted fine-Coloured Snaile and lay him a Stone in his Cage and he will break him to peeces and eat him and this will preserve those two Birds from having a Fit The 8th is the Disease of the Rump which is hard to be known and no other way that I could ever find to be a better sign than the Bird growing Melancholy as by surceasing and abstaining from singing And the best Remedy is to cut off that sharp part which lyes upon the top of the Rump and give him some cleansing thing in his Meat and refreshing thing in his Water and he shall find great good by it This is a grief which all Birds are subject to which are kept in Cages for if they have their liberty and are abroad every Bird hath his certain Medicine for every Distemper he is subject to for I have observed it many times when Linnets feed most upon Chick-weed and plantain-Seeds that they have come as duely to a Chalk-pit every morning as they have gone to bed at night and picked Chalk to bind them The last Disease Birds are subject to is the Flux of the Belly which is known by their making of their Dung thinner and more liquid than ordinary and by often shaking and beating of their Tail and keeping of it close together The Remedy is to cut the Feathers of his Tail and also those which are about the Fundament anointing it with a little Capons-grease and instead of Hemp-seeds or Rape-Seeds give him Mellon-Seeds and Red Beets-Seeds bruised for the space of three or four days till you perceive his Dung altered And you must do this at first otherwise it will not help when the bird is wasted and poor But for those Birds which eat not Seeds but Sheeps-heart or paste give them a very hard roasted Egg in such sort as you have been before directed The several Diseases which happen to every particular sort of Bird. FIrst The Old Nightingales that are kept long in a Cage are very subject if not kept very clean to the Gout and if their Meat be not chopped very well to the Convulsion of the Breast with the Falling-Sickness and Giddiness in their Heads The Wood-Lark is very subject to be Lousie and to be Melancholy and troubled with the straitness of the Breast which causes them to pine away in a short time if not helped and then a Flux of the Belly which if not immediately helped it consumes them to nothing The Skie-Lark is also subject to all the same Infirmities of the Wood-lark except it be Lousiness The Robin is subject to the Cramp to a great Giddiness in his Head and to have the ends of his Nails perish if he be not kept clean in his Cage and will be very subject to the Falling-Sickness if it be not prevented Almost all your Birds that feed upon Flesh have almost all the same Distempers except the Black-Bird and Throstle which seldom almost die without it be for want of Meat or Water The Canary-Bird hath many Diseases that he is subject to as to the Giddiness in his Head Falling-Sickness Convulsion and Oppression of Stomach and Breast by reason of her excessive heat and also very subject to a Flux in the Belly which if not timely prevented causes present death The Linnet and all other Seed-Birds are subject almost to the foregoing Distempers but none so apt to the Falling-Sickness as the Bull-Finch I think these Rules and Descriptions for Diseases are sufficient for any ordinary understanding To know how long Birds shall live IF any Man be desirous to know how long these Singing-Birds may live let him understand that amongst Nightingales some live but one year some three some five others unto eight and till twelve and sing very well rather better and better for the first eighth years but after that they do a little decline by degrees and from that time forward are not in such a hight of perfection but decline by little and little They must have very good Masters and Keepers that do prolong their Lives three or four years and where one is kept in a Cage till that Age a hundred die so it 's the carefulness of the Keeper preserves the Life of Birds It hath been known that Nightingales have been kept and lived till fifteen years old and have continued singing little or much for the most part of all the years so that you may plainly perceive their Life depends much according to the good or ill management or else according to the good Complexion of the Bird. The Wood-Lark seldom lives in a Cage above five years by reason he is a tender Bird and subject to many Casualties and we are ignorant of what they eat abroad to preserve themselves The Robin seldom lives above seven years by reason he is so subject to the Falling-sickness and Cramp and oppression of the Stomach The Skie-Lark is a very long-lived Bird and hardy also and there is not much fear of his Death if you provide him a Turf once in a Week and give him Meat and Water plentifully All sorts of Seed-Birds live longer than any soft-beaked Birds especially the Canary and Linnet some having been Master of a Canary
middle of the Room they will set a board edge-ways to darken the light of each side for no Bird almost doth naturally love to have much light come to his Nest They plant a Tree or two if the House be big enough one at each end with many perches also along each side of the House and all along where they make their Nests and in the place that is the Air it is also full of perches they hang their stuff for building all up and down the House that the rain cannot come at it and strew some in the ground also they make places very convenient every one according to his fancy and for their Water also some having fine Fountains in those places that are the out-lets for the Birds to go at pleasure into the Air in which the Birds take very much delight to wash and prune themselves and it makes the Seeds to grow up that are thrown in upon the Sand. How to order them when they have young ones THey seldom take their Nests away to bring them up by hand as we do here but they let the old Birds always bring them up and when they are pretty stout and can crack hard Seeds they have small places for the young to come to feed and they give them of all sorts of Green-Seeds to feed upon and have a kind of clap-door to take them they say if they do not soak Seeds for the Young ones that very few will live by reason the Hen is apt to forsake them and the Seeds being very hard they pine away and die and go to Nest again This Man also did truly affirm they never came to any perfection till they came to have Birds of their own breeding in their own Countrey and then being seasoned to the Countrey they breed in abundance furnishing all Poland Germany and France and of late years England where they vent as many as any place in the World How to breed the Young ones that are taken out of the Nest THese Birds must not be left too long in the Nest for if you do they are very apt to grow sullen and will not feed kindly therefore take them out about 9 or 10 days old and put them in a little Basket and cover them over with a Net else they will be very subject to jump out upon the first opening of the Basket and if they fall to the ground they will be bruised and in a short time consequently die You must keep them very warm for the first week for they will be very tender subject to the Cramp and not digest their Meat if they take cold When you take them from the Old Canaries take them in the Evening and if you can possibly let the old Birds be out of sight otherwise they will be very apt to take distast when they sit again and have young ones and will be apt at every fright to forsake both their Young and Eggs. When you have taken them out and put them in a Basket covered at top Make their Meat after this manner Take some of your largest Rape-Seeds and soak them in water 24 hours or less if the Water be a little warm I think 12 hours will serve drain the Water from the Seeds and put a third part of white Bread to the Seeds and a little Canary-Seed in flower and so mix them all together then having a small stick take up a little at the end and give every Bird some 2 or 3 times over give them but a little at first and often for if you over-charge their Stomachs at the first they seldom thrive after it and also they will cast up their Meat which is a sure sign they will not live long after it Therefore take a great care at first to feed them by degrees that so their Stomachs may be able to digest it for you must understand that the Old ones give them a little at a time and the Meat they receive from them is warmed in the Stomach before they give it them and then all the Rape is huld which lies not so hard at the Stomach as those Seeds which have the skins on Therefore much care must be used at the first to preserve their Stomachs and keep them in health You must not make the Meat too dry for then they will be apt to be vent-burnt by reason all the Seeds are hot for I have observed that the Old-Birds do constantly drink after they have eaten Seeds and a little before they feed their Young ones and they commonly after feeding of them sit a quarter of an Hour or more to keep them warm that the Meat may better nourish them therefore when you have fed them cover them up very warm that their Meat may the better digest with them Diseases of the Canary-Bird THE Nature of the Canary-Bird is never to be fat nor to maintain or keep her Flesh well by reason of her great heat and lavishness in singing She 's subject to several Distempers as Impostumes which happen upon her Head and these are of a yellow colour and cause a great heaviness in the Head and many times the Birds drop from their Perch and die within a short time if it be not cured at the first appearance The best approved thing that I know of is to make an Ointment of Fresh Butter and Capons-Grease melted together and anoint the Top of the Birds Head for 2 or 3 days and 't will dissolve it and cure him but if you let him alone too long then after you have anointed him 3 or 4 times see whether it be soft upon his Head if it be open it gently and let out the Matter which will be like unto the Yolk of an Egg then anoint the Place with some of the Ointment and it will immediatly cure him without any further trouble if you do perceive the Impostume at any time to return do as you are before directed you must give him Figgs and in his Water let him have a slice or two of Liquorish and some Sugar-candy The Old Birds above three years old are called Runts and those about two years old are called Eriffes and those of the first year that the old ones bring up are Branches When they can crack hard Seeds and they call them that are new-flown and cannot feed themselves Pushers and those that are bred up by hand Nestlings which I do approve far better than any of the first by reason of his tameness and familiarity with his Keeper which is the chief pleasure of a Bird For if a Bird be extraordinary and not tame but wild or buckish there is no pleasure in feeding or hearing of him sing being apt upon all occasions to bruise himself and to forsake his Singing when most desired Concerning the Linnet THey make their Nests in black Thorns and white-Thorns Bushes and in furs-Bushes upon Heaths more than any-where else They build their Nests with very small Roots and other sort of stuff like
NEW ADDITIONS to the Epitome of the Art of Husbandry Sold by BBillingsley at the Printing Press in CornHill NEW ADDITIONS TO THE Art of Husbandry Comprizing A new way of Enriching Meadows Destroying of Moles making Tulips of any Colour With an approved way for ordering of Fish and Fish-Ponds and destroying the Hern and to take Carp or Tench in any muddy Pond How to take all manner of Birds Small and Great with Birdlime To make Cabbidges and Garden-Beans grow large in any Barren Ground A new way to destroy all manner of Field Mice How to make Arbors become as Shady in one year as in seven To water an Orchard after a new Fashion To make old decayed Fruit-Trees become great Bearers and watrish Fruit to become firm and sweet Also how to Order Melons Cucumbers and Pompions With a brief way to Set and Sow all manner of Physical Herbs that they may thrive and prosper And the true way for drying of Herbs in plain and easie Directions and all to be performed with very little Charge With directions for Breeding and Ordéring all sorts of Singing-Birds With Remedies for their several Maladies not before publickly made known LONDON Printed for Benjamin Billingsley at the Sign of the Printing-Press in Cornhil 1675. NEW ADDITIONS TO THE Art of Husbandry How to enrich and make Barren Mossy Spiry Medows become Rich and bear Knot-grass that so one Acre shall be worth three WHen you intend to undertake this profitable Labour and Improvement consider the Meadow how it lies low or high upon a level or descending and whether any River or Ditch lie convenient to water it or not and if it be by a River if you can convey the Water out again having once turned it over the Meadow then be mindful of the burden it bears whether Spiry or Rushy or Clean being only over-topped with abundance of Moss if the Medow lie descending you have a great deal the advantage of a flat Medow by reason the Water having over-flowed the Meadow some certain time leaves a great soyl after a sudden Rain and upon the fall of the Water sinks from the Meadow and so the Meadow becomes dry with little or no trouble and so the Water not lying long upon the Meadow without it runs makes the Meadow become very fruitful which if it lay some certain time without draining would so chill the Ground that it would not be one farthing advantage for the watering Now the flat Meadow that lies lower than the River must be ordered thus You must make one large Drain through the middle of the Meadow and several leading Drains to it then the River lying higher the Meadow will over-flow with little trouble But then the chief Work and Labour will be how to drain this Meadow dry that so the Water may not lie sugging upon the Ground it not only makes the Ground breed Mossy and Spiry Grass but also it will prove so rotten that it will not bear a Cart to carry off its Burden therfore order it thus Having made your Trenches and a large one in the lowest part of the Meadow if any be then having a large Trench made to carry about a foot Water if you can make it out of a whole piece of Wood or Timber for it is much better than Planks and will last far longer when you have hewed your piece of Timber made it with what Current you can then clap a good Plank together at top with Pitch and Tow then nail him while it is warm and it will lie many years before it decay having thus fitted your Current to convey the Water from your flat Meadow lay him cross that River two foot lower than the bottom of the Meadow and then the Water will drain under the River into the next Ground where you must make a large Drain or small Ditch to convey it further where you may have more conveniency to dispose of your Water these low Meadows which are commonly the worst by reason the Water lies on till the heat of the Sun dries it off which if the Water could be conveyed off quickly would be extraordinary rich which I never could see a better way in all my Travels than this to perform with speed and cheapness they throw out the Water of flat Meadows in Poland and Sprusia over the Banks with certain Wind-mills which is a great deal of trouble and charge Having now finished this Work to lay your Meadow dry when your pleasure is without it be extraordinary Rainy Weather the next thing is to destroy your Moss Rushes and Spiery Grass which most Meadows that lie low are subject to Towards the latter end of February scour all your Drains both great and small and lay it as dry as possibly may be mending the Banks of the River if any be wanting against March which very seldom proves otherwise than a very dry windy month when you have layed it dry for some certain time and you shall then begin to perceive the Moss and Rowel to grow Russet and Dry then observing your time to be dry and windy carry down a bundle of Straw or Fern strew it upon one side that so having set it on fire the Wind may drive it quite through the Meadow and where you perceive the Moss any thing damp or wet strew some Straw or Fern upon it and set it on Fire and you will find in a short time your Meadows to be burnt as smooth as a Bowling-Green Having thus devoured by fire your Moss and course Grass then with a Harrow harrow your Meadow over once or twice then take some Hay-Seeds and sow up and down the Meadow then with the Mold that comes out of the cleansing of the Ditches spread all over the Meadow that so the Hay-Seeds may be covered and when you find the Hay-Seeds sprung up and settled if the weather be very dry you may turn the Water over for a night and turn it out again and be sure you leave no standing Water for that will presently kill the young Grass Observing these Rules the next year you will find that Improvement that one Acre will be worth two and a double burthen with much better Grass for the Moss being burnt away with the heat of the fire which will so purifie the Mold and also Hay-Seeds being sown will spring up with the tender Grass which before the Moss would never suffer to spring up This truly managed hath proved beyond what several have expected How to destroy Moles being the quickest and best way at present discovered IN the first place you must have a Paddle which must be put upon a Stick five or six foot long I need not describe which way to make a Paddle for there be but few which do not know how to give directions to have them made according to their minds for there be several fashions but they tend all to one thing which is the discovery of the Moles haunts Taking your Paddle go out
a hundred of these Traps You will find this Trap the greatest destroyer of these Mice that ever was made you may make twenty of them in an hour and set them in an hour more do but experience what I have writ if you be troubled with them and you shall find every tittle thereof true your six inch stick must be very thin otherwise it will cause the Tiles to lie hollow and then the Mouse will make his escape but if thin and the Tiles fall close you shall find him as flat as a Flounder A new way to make Arbours to become Green and Shady in one Year FIrst Set out the proportion of your Arbour for Length or Breadth and Height then imploy some of your Servants or Country-men to gather the streightest and smoothest white-Weathy Rods without knots three or four inches about then make holes with a Crow of Iron and place your Rods about a foot and a half distance more or less according to the fancy that best pleases the Planter and at least two foot into the Ground when you have so done let your cross Rods which makes the square be of the durablest Wood you can get and at every cross Joint bind them fast with your weathy Bark and not with Wire because those that stand in the Ground should grow and not be cut into with the Wire let your Rods which stand in the Ground be taper at one end and then your Arbour will come over with an Arch at the top I would advise you to let your Rods which stand in the Ground be of your white sort of Weathy and then they will not decay in a short time for they will grow and be some addition of shade but for your cross Rods the durablest wood is the best If your Arbour should be made of Rods which will not grow in three years time or less all your Labour is lost which hath been too much the indiscretion of Gardiners for many years if the cross Rods fail in two or three years you may quickly supply them without any prejudice to the Arbour After your Arbour is thus made then imploy some of your Servants or Labouring-Men to go into the Fields and take up ten or twelve of your wild Vines or Brionies every Country-man almost knows them they usually grow by Hedg-sides or in Ditches they bear a Leaf like a Vine and the Roots are commonly as big as a Man's Thigh they that take them up must do it with a deal of care for the Roots are very brickly and will break off if they be not careful Now having gotten ten or twelve Roots cut them smooth at all the little ends and set them about two foot distance or less according as you will have the Arbour shadowed and if it be a very dry time water them three or four times the first year but very well when you set them and in three months time you will have an Arbour so thick and so pleasant for the shadow and sweetness of the Flowers it bears that People will hardly believe their own eyes but think it an Apparition which the other sort of Arbours made all of dead Rods in two or three years will decay and all come to nothing but this way will continue many years being every way beneficial How to Water an Orchard after a new fashion HEre I shall shew you how to water several Orchards for very little cost but no Body is so ignorant to imagine that every one can be so except they lie convenient If your Orchard lies upon the side of a Hill near any High-way and the High-way lie somewhat higher than the Orchard then provide against any good shower of Rain which in April we commonly have enough make one great Trench through the Hedg and from that Trench make several small ones which may lead to every Tree to conduct the Water from one Tree to another throughout the Orchard one such watering shall enliven your Trees more than ten showers of Rain When you go to turn the Water into the Orchard you must make a Dam cross the High-way otherwise your Trees may be parched for want of Water If your Orchard lies drooping upon the side of a Hill and the next adjoining Ground higher though no High-way lie near it yet taking your opportunity may do thus View round your Orchard and consider which end lies most convenient to carry your Water throughout your whole Orchard for you must begin with the highest part first when you have thus taken the level of your Orchard see where the greatest Current of Water may fall and from that place begin your main Trench and let it go through your Orchard and from this large Drain cause another less to water the first row of Trees and so to the second if you find your Water prove scanty and you cannot water all your Orchard at once order it for twice thus Make a side Trench that may carry the Water to the third or fourth row and never spend any upon the first row at all Now if you have no High-way nor convenient Lane nor Ditch that carries any course of Water that may prove any way beneficial to the watering of your Orchard yet if your Orchard lean any way with Trenches made to the Trees upon any sudden shower a great deal of Water may be conveyed to them that falls in the Ground where they stand so let any Orchard stand almost how it will with skill care and diligence and small charge you will be able to cause your Orchard to return treble profit for the first years expence But suppose your Orchard lies upon an exact Flat yet if the Country-Man bestowed a small Tub of Water to every Tree especially if old and big Trees he would find the profit of it at the years end for you must observe when any Trees grows and spreads it keeps the Rain from the Roots I shall now faithfully relate what was the event of this kind of watering There was a Farmer that took a small Farm in Oxfordshire about twenty pound a year not far from Reading he took a Lease of five years and lived two years in it and received no benefit worth mentioning of his Orchard I riding that way with a Friend which was his acquaintance he called in to see the Farmer and having a little refreshed our selves we walked out in see his Ground which was very poor and at last going into his Orchard the poor Farmer fetched a great sigh O says he would all these Trees were chopped up by the Roots for this Orchard is special good Ground but I have no benefit of it for if I sow it the shade of the Trees and Birds devour all my Corn and I have not had twenty Bushels of Apples this two years off from it and I took it for the benefit of the Orchard which was between three and four Acres of Ground Country-Man says I you know not what Riches you have near
you for I will direct you a way to make this Orchard pay all your Rent give me but a Hogshead of Sider But says he my Orchard must first find Apples I perswaded him to take a Lease of one and 〈◊〉 years for I told him he had the best penny-worth in Oxford-shire but his answer was I wish I was well rid of this Well if it be so observe my Directions and you need not fear but your Orchard will pay your Rent so having viewed his Orchard round within a little space distant from his Orchard went the High-way I told him the convenience of this High-way would pay his Rent How can that be when I sell neither Beer nor Ale I desired him immediately to get me two or three Labourers and I would direct them I brought the Water from the High-way by making of a Dam through the middle of the small Ground into the Orchard then from that Trench I caused them to cut out several other Trenches leading to every row of Trees and made them dig a yard round every Tree that the Water may have time to soak into the Ground having good compass round the Tree Notwithstanding all this he had not so much Faith to take a new Lease but first desired to see the event of this new Invention This was about the middle of February I directed him also to smoother his Orchard with Muck and Fern which way to order is treated of in another place and continue it so long as the Wind should hold any way Easterly or Northerly At the latter end of September Business calling me that way I called upon the Farmer to know how his Orchard thrived with a merry countenance he replyed I have Apples enough to pay my Rent and punctually performed his promise with an over-plus I advised him now to take a new Lease which then was too late for his Landlord had been there and seen the Improvement and would not let him a new Lease under 30 l. per Annum for he was of an opinion this way would not fail in causing the Orchard to bear the Lease being expired the Landlord keeps the Orchard and lets the Ground for 15 l. per Annum The Orchard is duly worth to him twenty pound a year more that year when the improvement was made he had about sixty quarters of Apples he fatted his Hogs with the worst and sold the best at a good rate All his charges amounted but to 18 s. and 9 d. How to order old decayed Trees to make them bear as well as ever ABout the end of October or beginning of November or later until the rising of the Sap cut such superfluous Branches as seem too thick in the middle of the Tree or those which through extraordinary high Winds have been bruised or broken then having a scraping-Knife scrape off the Moss that grows about the principal Limbs of the Tree which with a Knife made convenient for the purpose a Man will cleanse forty or fifty in a days time for this Moss is full as bad for the Apple-Trees as Ivy is for the Oak this being performed dig the Earth a yard round every Tree and a spit deep which let lie open all the Winter till the middle of March then give your Orchard a good watering and if you cannot conveniently then get a small Cart with a Barrel and bestow a Barrel of Water to a Tree and fill it up with Dung and lay the Mold upon the Dung then about the latter end of May give each Tree a Barrel full of Water and you shall find the Trees shall flourish and shoot out Cienes to admiration and shall bear again as well as if it was in its prime some may say The Remedy is worse than the Disease thinking it too great a charge To which I Answer I will hire a Man by the great shall at any time undertake the performance of all that belongs to dressing and ordering of them for fourpence a Tree and I question not but every Tree will afford ten times as much advantage in the first years bearing How to order an Orchard that it shall never miss Bearing I Have seen several Orchards that have been blown as white as a sheet but when the Blossoms have been gone there hath been no appearance of Fruit therefore follow these Directions and your Trees shall not fail to be extraordinary well hung for I can assure you of my own knowledg and several others Experience that when most Orchards have miscarried their Trees could not stand under their burden When you perceive there is an Easterly or North-easterly red Wind which was ever accounted a bliting Wind if you live near any Heathy Ground then in Summer dry three or four hundred of Turfs but if you are not near any Heathy Ground then take three or four good arms full of muckle Straw Hay or Fern not too wet nor too dry and observing which side of the Orchard the Wind blows on then laying a good arm-full of Muckle in three or four places according to the bigness of your Orchard get some dry Sticks and having kindled them put an arm-full of Muckle upon the Fire and it will smoak and smoother and the Wind will drive the Smoak through the whole Orchard continue it till the Wind turn out of the Easterly quarter and it will preserve the Trees and Fruit from Blites and all manner of Flies and Caterpillars which those sorts of bliting Winds usually bring when you find the Wind changed to West North-West South or South-West you may forbear making any smoother for those Winds never hurt observing this you shall find that not once in ten times you shall ever miscarry but on the contrary have your Trees so furnished with Fruits in the worst of years according to your hearts desire After the same manner you may preserve your Wall-Fruit from Frosts A true way to make Watrish Fruit become firm sound and sweet WHen you find that your Apples are watrish puffie or hollow and will not keep which if the Ground lie low or near a River all sorts of Apples will be subject to and then they eat very unpleasant and will not keep though it appear a fair handsom beautiful fruit to the eye Now to cause your Fruit to eat firm and pleasant observe these directions About the latter end of October or beginning of November dig round every Tree about a yard and a half from the Body and a full Spit deep or more then fill up the place with the best Chalk and let it lie open all Winter that the Frost may chasten it that so it may incorporate with the Earth and about the end of March throw the Earth upon the Chalk and water the Orchard if you can and you will find in one year so great a change and extraordinary benefit accrue to the Fruit of your Orchard that you shall hardly believe your own taste and the Apples will be wholsomer pleasanter and keep
that may a little heat and make square Holes and plant three in a Hole triangular in Mold and when you perceive them above-ground water them very well with Dung-water and they will thrive exceeding well when you see a Pompion kernel'd and grown to the bigness of a Goose Egg and the Runner shoot forward and produce another a yard beyond him lay the Runner half a foot or more in the Ground and it will shoot out Roots and nourish the other Pompion for that next the Root intercepts all the Sap from the other and in two or three days will pine to nothing observing this direction you may have nine or ten upon a Root otherwise very seldom above three I have seen nine very large ones upon a Root Now your Colly-flowers having six or seven Leaves are ready to be planted and order them thus Dig as many Holes about a foot square and deep and a yard apart and make a Hole between every four then put a shovelful or two of good rotten Dung into every Hole and mix it well together then taking up your Plants very carefully with the Mold set them in so deep that the tops of the Leaves may not be so high as the Ground and water them very well then lay a Cabbage-leaf over every hole to keep the hot Sun and cold Air from them if it be a very dry time water them often or else you will be deceived in the flowering of them How to order Goose-berries and Currans WHen you go about to plant your Goose-berry and Curran-Garden chuse out those Trees that are streight and without knots and plant them in Ground well dunged they thrive best in a sandy Mold after they have stood one year if there be any young Shoots cut them all off very close to the Body and suffer not a bushy head but let it be very thin kept and then the Sun shall ripen him and he will grow extraordinary large Order your Currans after the same manner and Rose also and your Garden shall look comely and handsome and bear far better than if they were three-times as big every two years you must refresh them with Dung if you intend to have them very large If you keep your Goose-berries and Currans to one Head the shadow of them will do no injury but you may plant any sort of Flowers or Herbs under them and they shall prosper and thrive as well as if there were no Trees standing How to Preserve and Increase all sorts of Carnations and Auriculasses SEveral People that love and delight in Flowers and those of the best sort as Carnations and Auriculasses yet through ignorance and want of care they very seldom live above two years so are almost tired and disheartned to renew their former delights and the reason is because they have not the true way of preserving and increasing them First How to preserve them It hath been an usual way to set them in several Pots and in hard Weather to remove them into the House which hath proved so troublesome and chargeable for they must have a little House on purpose that most are weary of it except them that make it their livelyhood Now observe this way and you shall have better Flowers and lose few When you have bought your Layers of the best Flowers set them in a Bed of pure Mold rooted from Horse-Dung and not Cow-Dung because it encreaseth Worms which will devour the Flowers when it draws near Winter take some short new Horse-Dung and lay it at least a foot thick all over the Bed between the Flowers and have some Earthen Pots about a foot deep with their bottoms out to stand over the Flowers to keep the Dung from them and when it is very hard cover the top of your Pot with a Tile and it will keep your Flowers from Frost and weat Weather which is the destruction of a thousand in a year when it is a fine day give them Air and Sun-shine and cover them again at Night this way shall save you a great deal of trouble to remove them into your House in hard Weather Now to increase them about July or August if you have Slips upon your Flowers take a sharp Knife and at a Knot cut it half in two let the Knot be an inch or more from the Stem then with a little hooked Stick peg it close to the Ground and cover it over with Earth like a little Mole-hill and when you perceive that the Layer hath taken Root cut it off with a sharp Knife and take it up Mold and all and plant it out and so you may encrease your Stock these great sort of Flowers will not grow with slipping as your Clove-Gilly-Flowers you must slip your Auriculasses and preserve them after the same manner as I directed for the Carnation An excellent way to recover any Horse or Cow that is stiff with Cold being Mired in a Ditch I Have seen several Beasts that have happened by some miscarriage to fall into a Ditch or Pond and having stayed some considerable time they have been so stiff as though they had been dead Now to recover these deadish stiff Limbs order him thus If he be so stiff that he is not in a capacity to go get a Cart and carry him home then give him half an ounce of Mithridate in a quart of strong Ale where a handful of Rue Angelica and Balm hath been boiled then put him into a hot Dunghil and chafe his Joints very well with the Oil of St. John's-Wort and Rue mixed together and by the next morning you shall find him recovered but keep anointing of his Legs for three or four days after and if occasion require put him another night in the Dung and give him the like quantity again How to order all Physical Herbs growing here to thrive and prosper VEry many People of all sorts have been making of your Physick-Gardens not for any great use they have made of them but most out of curiosity to see the variety of Plants which not knowing rightly to order have had the greatest part of them for want of some instructions been dead and decayed in two years time therefore I have here set down some certain approved Rules for their preservation First When you have made your Garden then consider how many sorts of Earth and the several shady places for Herbs that love it for you must consider the nature of the Herb what it delights in I shall give six or seven Examples which I hope will be sufficient for all as first For your Adder-tongue it grows in moist low Grounds and Meadows if this Herb be planted in a hot Ground it may flourish a little for the first year but you may look for it in the Meadows the next therefore plant him in some moist place of the Garden Angelica is an Herb hot and dry if you plant it in a cold moist Ground it pines away and comes not to any thing
built their Nests I never found any built in such places yet I cannot say but other Countries may make the Birds to differ in their Building though not in their Songs As for the number of their Eggs it 's uncertain some three or four and some five according to the strength of their Bodies Now the Nightingale which I would advise you to keep let him be of the earliest Birds that is brod in the Spring for the earlier the better by reason she will become more perfect in her Songs for the old one hath more time to sing over or continues longer in singing than those that are bred later and you may have better hope and assurance of long living and being brought up and kept with more ease and safety for having the Summer before them they throw off and mue and cast their Feathers much sooner and quicker than later in the year for if she cast her Feathers at the end of the year she is subject to be over run with certain Vermin which hinders the growth of Feathers which the cold coming and finding her bare of Feathers causeth her to die which happeneth to several that 〈◊〉 latter Birds at the end of Summer and commonly prove most to be Hens and if Cocks seldom worth keeping The young Nightingals must be taken out of their Nests when they are indifferent well feathered and not too little nor too much if too much they will be sullen and if too little if you keep them not very warm they will die with cold and then also they will be much longer a bringing up Their Meat may be made of Lean Beef Sheeps-Heart or Bullocks-Heart you shall first pull off the fat Skin that covereth the Heart and take out the Sinews as clean as you can then 〈◊〉 the quantity of White-Bread in Water and squeeze out some of the Water then chop it small as if it were for minced Meat so with a Stick take up the quantity of a Gray Pea and give every one three or four such Goblets in an hours time as long as they shall endure to abide in the Nests when they begin to grow strong and fly out of the Nest when you feed them then put them into a Cage with several Pearches for them to sit upon and line them with some Green Bays for they are very subject to the Cramp at first and at the bottom of the Cage put some fine Moss or Hay for them to sit on when they please always observing to keep them as clean as may be possible for if you bring them up nasty they will always be so and so in all other Birds it will be convenient to line their Cages against Winter or else to keep them in some warm place When you cage them up from the Nest put always some of their Meat by them with a few Ants in it to teach them to feed themselves You must keep them a little hungryer than ordinary when you cage them and then they will sooner take to their Meat to feed alone and when he doth feed be sure to give four or five times a day a Gobbet or two at a time for they will not feed enough at first to satisfie themselves you must make fresh Meat every day in the Summer otherwise if it stand longer it will be very subject to stink and turn sower when they begin to Moult or cast their Feathers give them half an Egg and the other half Sheeps-Heart with a little Saffron mixed in the Water for you must make it not too stiff nor too limber let the Egg be boiled very hard and not too stale Give them no Duck-Eggs for I had 6 Nightingales killed one Night with a Duck-Egg For want of this Meat using them to it you may give them some Wood-Larks Meat which will be shewed the way of making when I come to treat of that Bird You may use your Nightingal to several sorts of Meats so that for three or four days if you can get no Flesh you may keep them alive I shall shew you hereafter to make a Paste which shall serve upon all occasions if you can get no Flesh I have fed them two or three days with your Red-Worms and Caterpillars and Hog-lice and a few Meal-Worms to give them now and then a Meal-Worm makes them familiar so you let them take it out of your hands but too many spoils them without they are very poor and drooping How to find the Nightingals Nest and to take Branchers NOw I have shewed where they Build and how to Feed and Order them I shall shew you the way of taking Young and Old For taking of Young Birds observe where the Cock sings and if you find him to sing long in a place then the Hen sits not far off but if he hath young ones he will ever now and then be missing and then the Hen when you come near her Nest will sweet and cur and if you have searched long and cannot find them stick a Meal-Worm or two upon a Thorn and observe which way he carried it and stand still or lie down and you will hear them when she feeds them they make a great noise for so small a Bird when you have found the Nest if they be not fledged enough touch them not for if you do they will never tarry in the Nest and then it will be lost labour to be deprived of it when you have found it Now for to take your Branches which is young ones that have been bred up by the old ones in the Field You must go to such places that are most likely for Food for the Old ones when they have pushed the Young ones out of the Nest which we call Pushers leads them from the place they were bred in to a place more plentiful of Food for they commonly destroy all the Food that is near in bringing them up so are forced to seek out further to preserve their young ones When you have found where they be which you shall know by their curring and sweeting for if you call true they will answer you immediately then making observation where they most delight as you shall perceive by their Dung and if they be disturbed from the place to make to it again Now having all your Tackle by you scrape in the Ditch or Bank-side about half a yard or more square the Earth that it may look fresh then take a Bird-Trap or a Net-Trap which is thus made Take a Net made of Green Thread or Silk about the compass of a yard made after the fashion of a Shove-Net to catch Fish or a Cabbage-Net then get some of your large sort of Wire bending of it round and joyn both ends which you must put into a short stick about an inch and a half long then you must have a piece of Iron with two Cheeks and a hole of each side which you must put some Cats-gut or fine Whip-cord three or four times double that so
will sing in a short time provided he be not an old Bird. If you take a Bird and do not hear him sing by this Mark you shall know whether he be a Cock or Hen if a Cock his Breast will be of a darker red a greater matter than the Hen and his red will go up farther upon the Head What Diseases are subject to the Robin Red-Breast and how to Cure them FIrst He is very subject to the Cramp and giddiness of the Head which makes him many times fall off the Pearch upon his Back and then is present death without some help be speedily used for him The best Remedy to prevent him from having the Cramp is To keep him warm and clean in his Cage that his Feet be not clogged which many times do eat the Joints off his Feet with the Dung being bound on so fast that it makes his Feet and Nails to rot off which takes off the Life and Spirit of the Bird if you find him droop and is sickish give him three or four Meal-Worms and Spiders and it will mightily refresh him but for the giddiness in the Head give him six or seven Ear-Wigs in a week and he shall never be troubled with it which is very subject to your Robins above all other Birds except the Bull-finch If you find he hath little appetite to eat give him now and then six or seven Hog-Lice which you may find in any piece of old rotten Wood be sure he never wants Water that is fresh two or three times a week And to make him chearful and long-winded give him once in a week in his Water a blade or two of Saffron and a slice of Licorish which will advantage his Song or Whistling very much Concerning the Jenny-Wren I Hold the little Creature to be a curious fine Song-Bird so not unworthy to be taken notice of amongst the little Birds of the Cage He is of a fine chearful Nature and singeth sweetly and delightsomly none exceeding him for the nature of the Song he sings he is a pretty speckled coloured Bird very pleasing to the sight and when he sings cocks up his Tayl and throws out his Notes with such pleasure and chearfulness that for his bigness none exceeds him This Bird breeds twice a year first About the latter end of April and makes her Nest with dry Moss and Leaves and doth it so artificially that it is a very hard matter to discover it being it is amongst Shrubs or Hedges where Ivy grows very thick they will build in old Hovels and Barns but them are those that are not used to the Hedges they close their Nest round leaving but one little Hole to go in and out at she lays abundance of Eggs I have had eighteen out of one Nest which would seem very strange if it were not a thing so generally common I have had sixteen young ones out of a Nest It 's to admiration how so small a little-bodied Bird can cover so great a company of Eggs I am perswaded the Cock and Hen sits both together but when they have hatched to feed so great a company and not to miss the Bird and in the dark also 't is a very curious thing to consider Their second time of breeding is in the middle of June for by that time the other Nest will be brought up and shift for themselves But if you intend to keep any of them take them out at twelve or fourteen days old from the Nest You shall give them Sheeps-Heart and Egg minced very small taking away the Fat and the Sinews or else of Calves or Heifers-Heart Observe in all Meat-Birds to cleanse the Meat or Heart of all the Fat and Sinews and if it be Beef let it be well beaten and shred very small because of digestion You shall feed them in their Nest very often in a day giving them one or two morsels at a time and no more lest they should cast it up again by receiving more than they can bear or digest and so die You must feed them with a little Stick and take up the Meat at the end about the bigness of a white Pea when you perceive them to pick it from the Stick themselves then put them into a Cage and having a Pan or two put some of the same Meat in it and about the sides of the Cage also to entice her to eat notwithstanding you must feed them five or six times in a day for better security lest they should neglect themselves and die when all your trouble is almost past After they have found the way to feed alone give them by degrees of your Paste now and then and if you perceive them to eat heartily and like it very well you may forbear giving them any more Heart when you find they are accustomed to eat the Paste with delight Furthermore You must once in two or three days give them a Spider or two If you have a desire he should learn to whistle Tunes take the pains to teach him and he will answer your expectation for it is a Bird that is easily taught If they be fed only with Paste they will live longer than if they have Sheeps-heart How to know the Cocks from the Hens WHen you have got a whole Nest observe which are brownest Birds and those which are largest and mark them And to be sure that they are what you expect them to be observe their Recording for such of them that shall record to themselves in the Nest before they can feed themselves and observe if their Throats grow big as they Record they are certainly Cocks this is the surest way to know them When they can feed themselves both Hens and Cocks will Record Concerning the Tit-Lark THis Bird is very much fancied amongst many Men for his whisking turring and chewing singing most like the Canary-Bird of any Bird whatsoever but I have not so great a fancy for him by reason he is so very short in his Song and hath no variety with it This Bird is a Companion of the Nightingal for he appears at that time of the year when the Nightingal comes which is the beginning of April and leaves us the third or fourth of September they are fed after the same manner is the Nightingal when they are first taken There is to taking of the old Ones but with a Net such as you take all other small Birds you must cram him as you did the Nightingal for he will not feed himself by reason he always feeds upon live Meat in the Field so he is not acquainted with the Meat that we offer him but when he will feed of himself he will eat your Wood-Larks Meat or almost any other Meat This Bird is much of the nature of the Nightingal for he grows exceeding fat even as the Nightingal doth a little before his going away and so continues for some time but they will not fast as the Nightingal doth but eats his Meat
unto Feathers those that build in the Heaths Those that build in the Hedges build with Moss the out-side of their Nest and line it within according as the Place will afford Some hot-metled Birds will have young ones four times in a year especially if they be taken from them before they fly out of their Nests The hotter the Bird is in mettle the sooner he breeds in the Spring You may take the Young ones out at four days old if you intend they shall learn to whistle or hear any other Birds Song for then they being so young have not the Old Birds Song and are more apt to take any thing than if you suffer them to be in the Nest till they are almost quite fledged You must be sure when you take them out so young to keep them very warm and to feed them but a little at a time Your Meat must be soaked Rape-Seeds and then bruise them and put full asmuch soaked white-Bread as the Seeds you must make fresh every day for if it be sower it immediately makes them scour and not long after die You must not give them their Meat too dry for if you do it will make them vent-burned and that 's as bad as if they scoured If you intend to whistle to them do it when you feed them For they will learn very much before they can crack hard Seeds so hang them under any Bird that you intend the Linnet shall learn his Song The Linnet is a very apt Bird for any Tune or Song if taken out of the Nest very young I have known several that have learnt to speak for there is nothing so hard but labour and diligence will overcome You may know the Cock Linnets from the Hens by these two Marks First by the Colour of the Back of the Birds if it be of your dark-coloured Linnets the Cocks are much browner than the Hens on the Back and Pinnion of the Wing and so of the White-thorn Linnet the Hens being much lighter-coloured than the Cocks But observe this that a Hen Linnet of the dark-Coloured Cock is darker than the Cock of the light-Coloured Linnet But the surest way of all is to know him by the White in his Wing This Bird is likewise troubled sometimes with Melancholy and then you will find the end of his Rump to be very much swelled which you must prick with a Needle and let out all the Corruption squeesing of it out very well with the Point of the Needle then anoint him with the Ointment made of fresh Butter and Capon-Grease and feed him with some of these Herbs for two or three days your Lettice and Beets-Seeds and the Leaves also and you may also give him the Seeds of Mellons chopped in pieces which he will eat very greedily and when you find him mend take the Mellon-Seeds away and give him of his old dyet again put into his Water two or three blades of Saffron and white Sugar-candy for a week or more till you perceive the Bird to be wholly recovered The next Disease that this Bird is most troubled with is a Scouring which some are not so dangerous as others The first sort of Scouring which I count not very hurtful is very thin and with a black or white Substance in the middle this is not very dangerous for I have known very many sing very strong and lavish when they have had this Scouring in a very violent manner and not been in the least hurtful The next sort of Scouring is between a black and a white but not so thin as the other but is very clammy and sticking which is never very good in a Bird this is recovered by giving your Bird at the first some Mellon-Seed shred and Lettice-Seeds and Beet-Seeds bruised and so give him in his Water some Liquorish and white Sugar-candy with a little flower of Oat-Meal in the Water You must be diligent at the first to observe him when he is sick that so he may have a stomach to eat for in two or three days his Stomach will be quite gone and then it will be hard recovering of him again The next and worst sort of Scouring of all the three is the white clamming Scouring which is very bad and mortal if it be not well looked after at the first This is occasioned by bad Seeds and many times for want of Water Seeds that have taken any dammage at Sea or have been over-heated or lain in the wet too long before they have been housed is a very great occasion of this Distemper If they be not taken at the first appearance it immediately takes away his Stomach and causeth him to droop fall from his Meat immediately Therefore observe this cure for him In the first place give him Flax-Seeds taking away all his other Seeds then give him of your Plantain-Seed if it be green otherwise it will do him no good if you cannot get Plantain-Seeds give him some of the Leaves shred very small and some Oat-Meal bruised with a few crums of Bread and in his Water give him some white Sugar-candy and Liquorish with a Blade or two of Saffron You must observe if you can possible the first beginning of this Distemper otherwise when his Stomach is lost all these Medicines signifie nothing How to know a Cock from a Hen. THis Bird is a very good and melodious Bird in his kind those which are bred out of the Nest proving much better than the Wild ones There be two sorts of Linnets your black-Thorn and white-Thorn Linnet or your black-Maled or white-Maled Bird one being of a brown Plume and the other of a light Grey most do account the blacked Male the hardier Bird and the hotter-metled Bird also But I am of opinion that they all take after the Old ones let the old ones be high-metled Birds let them be Brown or Grey the young Birds take after them which is thus Take your young Linnet when the Wing-Feathers are grown and stretch out his Wing holding of his Body fast with the other hand otherwise I have known them upon a sudden jerk to break their Wings and then observe the white upon the Feathers of the 4th 5th and 6th Feather if it cast a glistning white and the white goes close to the Quil this is a sure sign of a Cock Take a Hen and a Cock together and you shall perceive it better This is the certainest way not to be deceived to keep a Hen instead of a Cock for it is not so much the cost in keeping of the Bird but our disappointment in the expectation of having some pleasure after our trouble and care especially to them that take delight to whistle to him Tunes The several Diseases that the Linnet is Subject to FIrst She is subject unto the Disease called the Pthisick which may easily be perceived by seeing him pant and to heave his Belly fast and sit melancholy with his Feathers standing big and staring and by the