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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
work_n	bear_v	good_a	tree_n	8,220	5	10.2554	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B04333	The mystery of husbandry, or, Arable, pasture and wood-land improved Containing the whole art and mystery of agriculture or husbandry, in bettering and improving all degrees of land ... : directions for marling, dunging, mudding, sanding ... : proper times for sowing, chusing good seed, and ploughing ... : how to keep corn and other pulse from being destroyed by birds, vermin, lightening, mildew ... : To which is added The countryman's alamack. / by Lenard Meager.	Meager, Leonard, 1624?-1704?	1697 (1697)	Wing M1573A; ESTC R32066	115,886	186

Expedition To make this take a piece of tough VVillow Timber about the bigness of a Spades Stale somewhat streight only at the nether end it must look a little up with a Neck like a Foot to run on the Ground and just above the Neck must be placed a little Coulter to shear or cut the Ground first on one side the Trench and then on the other and where this Coulter is wedged in the Stale must be plated with Iron to hold it the firmer and having cast your Trench by Line then use this to cut out the sides of the Trench which it will do almost as fast as a Man can follow it cutting it out to the end by running along the Line and when one side is done place it to the other and do it in the same manner and this is called the plain Trenching-Plough But if you would have this done with more exactness then place in the Foot of the Staff and in the middle of the Foot a little Brazen Wheel about 4 Inches high that the Foot bearing itself lightly on the Wheel may bear itself with more ease but this Wheel must be well planted in the Foot upon Plates and a little Iron Axle-tree and these you may use to cut Turf overthwart and Trenches 18 or 20 Inches broad or such a proportion as is required to carry off the Water And this Turf and Earth taken up by a trenching-Spade will be of good use to Swarth bare Ground or fill up low Places The turning-Spade must be made with a Bitt looking up twice so much as is requisite for an ordinary Spade with a fine thin Shooing also looking up the Bitt of it very well Steeled and more broad at the Point or nether-end of the Bitt than at the over-end by half an Inch so that by this means it will take up Turf all of one thickness just ar a Natural height as a Man stands when he usually Shovels and one of the same Form a little less may be used with Advantage in cleansing the bottom of Trenches and are very useful in Banking and Levelling high Ant-hills The trenching Spade is another Instrument very useful in this great Work which ought to be between 4 or 5 Inches broad The Tree must be made more of Compass and looking up by far than your ordinary Spades so that it may carry a Trench level in a direct Line move by the strength of Arm and guided by the bottom of the Belly The Spade Shooe must be made with two Sides or L●ngets up from the end of the Bitt as if two broad Knive blades were placed on a common Spade to look u●ward with their Points from the end of your Spade Bitt but they must be made a little stronger yet not above 2 inches broad at the very Bitt as thin as the Work will bear and narrower and narrower upwards till it come to half an Inch and 5 Inches long made very true and exact sharp and smooth or it will not work for●h its Co●r and Furrow clearly and easily but exceed the strength of a Man to manage it in making good Work This Tool cuts out its Furrow and Coar so well that within a Week if your turn be served you may lay it down again in the same evenness and it will be no ways prejudicial to the Grass and when it is a little setled it will become of its former evenness with the other Ground The paring-Spade is another Tool useful in this Work The Bitt of this may be made all of Iron being a strong Iron Plate having a convenient Socket to put a straight Helve or Stale into that it may be fastened not easie to come forth again but when you please The Bitt must be made 20 Inches long the nether-end and two sides well Steeled the nether-part of the Bitt a little bellied or squared and the sides a little compassed or hollowed and the sides and end as sharp as they can be made for the proper use of it is now and then to cut a Trench in Valleys and low Places where the trenching-Plough either Wheel'd or Plain cannot conveniently come at it yet principally to pare off Trenches after the first Year whose Edges will grow so thick with Grass that the Water as to its Currency in passing will be obstructed and to dig it will break the Trench and cut it too thick but with this as with a cutting-Knife you may take it off all along the Trench Line The trenching-Gauge is another Instrument made like a long Shovel with a sharp Shooe semicirled at the end the Stale a little bending upward and this is to be used as the trenching-Spade in a round bottomed Trench CHAP. XXIII The best way to Improve Drained Fen-Lands to great Advantage c. HAving already given Directions for Draining and how to procure Materials in order to perfect so necessary a Work it will be proper now for me to speak something of the Advantages accruing thereby As for that which is mostly dry Fen-land and sometimes but partly under Water and that not always I consider it according to the quality of the Soil to be the best capable of raising present Profit and if you have enough other Ground for Grazing and Meadow you may Plough it up and it will prove excellent Hemp and Oad-land produce great Crops of Cole and Rape-seed which will indeed grow on worse Land so that by a little Marling Liming Ashing and Dunging you may Improve it to bear excellent Wheat Barley or Rye ordering it as has been directed for Barren-land upon the Account of those sorts of Grain There is a Second sort subject only to be drowned by up-Land Floods and great Rains and dry when they are gone or in a dry Season this I count worse than the former and is proper to be Ploughed up raising it as high as your Drains will carry off the Water in the Lands 3 Yards over that will bear two Casts of Seed changing your Furrows in Ploughing to stir up the Mould the better that the Water may soak out of it into the drain-Furrows and be careful not to make your last Furrow always in one place As for the Manuring it let it be with Lime Chalk Ashes hot Dungs as Horse-dung Cow-dung or the like so in the usual Plowing it will bear excellent Wheat Oats Pease and hold good so for three Years but over Ploughing this kind of Land takes the Heart out of it therefore I conclude it the most convenient after three Years Sowing to lay it down for Meadow or Pasture or a fourth Year you may Sow it with Clover though it will bear Corn much longer but not a considerable Crop till it has rested two or three Years to recover its Spirits and when you lay it down scatter it lightly over with good Hay-seeds The Third sort of this kind of Land is that which lyeth very low and deep and has been long under Water before recovered that it was

mixed with other Sand or fine fat Earth well sifted from Stones and Rubbish Then Manure it with such Dung as you have that may be proper to it to give it a fertilizing Heat as that of the Horse Ox or Kine rotten Straw Mud out of Ditches or Ponds that is fat and slimy the Sweeping of the House Flowers Mills Barns Yards where Cattle trample much and if you be near the Sea there is an excellent Weed called Hemp-weed bearing broad Leaves black with great Heads and twisted like Peas-straw growing in great abundance among the Sea-Sedge on many Coasts with this when gotten you may strew over your Ground already ploughed and plough it in with the rest of the Manure and by rotting there it will add heat and strength to the Land Let this Ploughing be deeper than the first with larger Furrows that the new quick Earth so raised up may mingle with the Manures Hack and Harrow it again then take Pidgeons and Land-Poultries Dung for that of Water-Fowl is naught and sprinkle over it allowing if you have it two or three Bushels to an Acree scattering it in as equal a proportion as you can then sowe your Wheat or other Corn and for this sort of Ground at first Wheat is the most thriving though it will bear other sorts of Grain and with care of a very barren and useless Ground become useful and very advantagious to the Owner it must likewise be clotted and slated and if you want Salt-Sand or Salt steep your Wheat in Brine of any Salt and it will produce a good Crop You must take care to Weed it and gather the Stones before that will obstruct the Corn from rising and carry them into the Roads or dry Ditches or some Pit proper for them for these Grounds are generally great Producers of Stones If Weeds which commonly breed in wet barren Grounds grow up to the hindrance of Seeding it or that you would be at the Labour and Cost to bring it to fruitful Arable Ground pluck them all up with your Hands or Nippers of Wood with Saw-teeth shooting one into another to hold them the faster lay them on heaps dry them and burn them then scatter the Ashes on the Land as before directed Plough the Ground but not so deep as the first yet turn up the Furrows as deep as possible you can and if it lie subject to Overflowings make cross Furrows and Drains into Ditches or Rivers or low places that the Water may descend and be carried off as much as may be if there be no Current make a Pond at the lower end of it which may receive the Water but this will do but little if it be much subject to Water-flowings or Marish Springs and therefore if you would use it for Corn-Land you must find a way to carry off the Water or it will not avail your Labour and Cost in Manuring Directions for which I shall have occasion to Treat of hereafter at large As for the Manuring it must be as the former and so all the Particulars in Management only you must at the Second Ploughing do it very deep to hollow the Ground that the Water may the better soak away and lay the Lands in Ridges as high as you can and the Furrows as deep CHAP. IX To Improve Barren Clay Simple or Compound over-run with Whinnes with the particular Ordering of it THere is another barren Clay no matter which either Simple or Compound that is pestered and over-run with Whinnes a short bushy knotty prickly thing not growing above a handful from the Ground yet entangling in one another and spreading so fast that they choak the Grass and obstruct the Cattel from feeding and the Grass kept thus down will mostly die and a mossy Scurf cover the Surface of the Earth yet for this dangerous Incumberance there is a Remedy and this Ground I shall instruct the honest Farmer how to bring to bear a good Crop To begin this Work worthy your Cost and Labour take a fine thin Paring-shovel made of good tough Iron and well steeled and hardned round about the Edge and with it pare up the upper Swarth of the Ground about an Inch and a half or two Inches deep turn up every Paring about three Foot in length and as broad as the Shovel will conveniently do it turn the Whinne or Grassy side downward and let it lie in the Sun two or three days to dry May for this Undertaking is the proper Month and being well dried on the Earthy side turn it and let that well dry then gather it into heaps and twist it as it were into Bands or Cords and lay it up round and hollow that fire being put under the hollowness may easily come at it to consume it thrusting in to the great Cavity which must be like an Oven but much less combustible dry Matter for that purpose When these heaps are burnt break them as Bail with Shovels and Beetles so that the Earth may mix with the Ashes then spread them on the Ground to an equal thickness whilst they are hot and glowing which will heat the Earth and destroy the Fibres of the Roots that remain either of the Whinnes or Weeds This being done plough up the Ground in good long Furrows hack it small with Hacking-Hoes Manure it and further order in all Particulars as in the foregoing Directions for Goss Furs c. Let the last Ploughing be very deep especially your Furrows and let your Harrows have Weights on them to press the harder on the Ground and turn up the remaining Roots of the Whinnes which being dragged off dry and burnt as the former scattering the Ashes on the Land and if the Harrow will not carry them to the Lands end have some Boys or Girls to follow the Motion of it and pick them up as they scatter laying them on heaps in the Furrows and when dry bring them on the Ridges of the Land and burn them then sowe your Corn mixed with Salt and Wood-ashes and this Ground thus prepared will bear good Wheat in abundance in the space of two or three Years then sowe Barley and Pease and Beans a Year after the Oats and lastly it will be very good Meadow-Ground or Pasture for the space of three or four Years after and then you must manure it again with a sufficient quantity of Soyl and it will continue good Ground CHAP. X. To Dress and Manure all Barren Clays Simple or Compound Incumbred or Overgrown with Heath or Ling. TO bring this sort of Ground to bear tolerable Corn or Grass far exceeding the Charge and what it would other ways do without it you must with Scitches or sharp Hooks but old Scythes are the best cut down all the Heath or Ling as close as you can about the beginning of May and let it lie on the Ground to dry then spread it over the Ground and scatter dry Straw on it and by setting it on Fire at the several Corners of

is white and of singular use for Turners work and to make Tools for the Husband-man and besides its pleasant shade it yields abundance of Fuel The aspen-Aspen-tree delights in moist wet Ground though it will grow in Woods and Copices it differs not much from the Poplar and is propagated by young Suckers whose tops you must not cut off the first Year The Alder may with success be set in wet Lands and much improves it of these you may set Trunchions and they will grow very fast they will also grow of Seeds but the best are young Sets with roots being set as big as the small of a Man's Leg and in length about two Foot cut not the smaller Sets till they have stood three Years and so they will produce great store of Wood for Poles and other uses The Withe is a good improver of boggy Land as also the Osier which turns to a very great advantage being worth 9 or 10 l. an Acre where the Land before was of little or no value if they can be carried easily by Land or Water to the places where they make Baskets Chairs Scuttles and the like Ware they may be cut every two or three Years The common Willow affords much Fuel Poles and Binding-rods this will grow either by Roots Slips Trunchions or the like plant them in February if the Weather be open and so till they Bud. These watry Trees are of a clean white Wood and very great improvers increasing exceeding fast and the better when they are once grown up for being lopped and are a good shade for Cattle in Summer and afford them good brouzing CHAP. LIII Farther Improvements for Ordering sundry sorts of Trees for the valuable Improvement of Land c THere remain yet other things not treated of in relation to the improvement of Land by Trees viz. As for such Trees as cast their Leaves in the Fall the best time to transplant them to other convenient places for Timber Under-wood Shade or Ornament you may do it the Weather being open in October November and upon necessity till they begin to bud in the Spring and those Trees that do not shed their Leaves but are green throughout the Year are best removed in the Spring when the cold is abated and the Sun opens the pores of the Earth that the Roots may spread and the Sap be continued by fresh moisture and it may be well done in August The pithy Trees as the Ash Lime-trees Sycamore Aspen c. need no cutting upon transplanting till they have well taken root one Year and then to hasten their growth in bigness you may cut the tops of the uppermost branches that too luxuriously expend the moisture that should feed the bole and under-branches As for Fir or any Rosiny-tree cut not the roots nor the branches but a very little because they will be apt to spread their Rosin or Turpentine too much to the decay of the Plant for that is it which keeps it alive and and makes it prosper This method may be used to transplant Suckers Scions Slips or Layers of Birch Elm Chesnut Oak Beech c. But where they have not good root it must be done in the Spring when the Sap is risen and they begin to put out their buds All Trees delighting in wet or watry Ground may well be transplanted in February or March before they are too forward if the Frost be well out of the Ground Remove Trees rather into a better than a worser Ground wherein they naturally grew or at least so much good Earth in the holes you make to set them in as may first give them a fixed rooting and so they may get a head and when they are once acquainted with the nature of the Land they will thrive amain let as much of the Earth in which they first grew as may be adhere to the root when you remove them that so they may be the better nourished and grow more kindly and let the spurns of the roots be as many as may be pretty long and large except the top and downright roots that so they may spread every way and that they may the better do it make the holes you set them in large and fill in the Mold loose upon them If you would have your Trees prosper well remove them not out of a warm shelter into a bleak cold Air and to keep them steady and upright that they may not decline nor much loosen by the blowing of Winds keep the Earth pretty high about them above the level of the Ground The Oak Pine Walnut and other Trees that bear spreading branches at the transplanting set at a good distance from each other at least forty Foot but the Beech Ash Yew Fir and Chesnut may stand much nearer viz. at a third of the distance The Hornbeam and Elm will grow the nearest of any Trees together and these you may plant in a regular or a promiscuous order As for the watring of Trees in dry Seasons care must be had of it whilst they are young especially as soon as they are transplanted for this settles the Earth about them and makes the Roots take firmer hold and if they have been far fetched set the Roots in Water some time before you plant them and if you find the Wind much shakes them set strong Stakes by them and fasten the Trees to those Stakes with wisps of Hay that they may the better be strengthned and so order it by putting Moss or Hay between the Plants that the rubbing may not fret or gaul them you may lay about the Roots of them Fern Stubble Hawme or any other such like things that in the first place it may keep them warm and in rooting dung them Stones laid about the Roots of Trees keep them moist in Summer and warm in Winter Coppices may be planted about Autumn with young Sets or Plants the best way in rows at ten or fifteen Foot distance for then you may very well reap the benefit of Intervals by ploughing digging and sowing and have a great deal the better conveniency for the grazing of Cattle and proper ways for Wains or Carts to fetch away the Timber or pass from one Ground to another besides it will yield you pleasant shady Walks and then if you would thicken your Coppice when well grown bend some of the Boughs that are nearest to the Ground give them little nicks on the back of the bending and put them a little way so bowed into the Earth covering them with Mold and keeping them from rising with hooked Stakes driven into the Ground and springing up they will produce a great many Suckers and in time grow up into Trees or at least considerable Under-woods CHAP. LIV. How to Order Trees for their better growing and more speedily turning to good Advantage TO preserve Trees in good plight and to make them grow apace there are other things required than what I have hitherto mentioned First Prune them when they are