The English Husbandman Part 5

As touching the mixture of these two seuerall soyles, that is to say, the blacke clay with white sand, and the white clay with red sand, they differ not in the nature of plowing, sowing, or in Manuring, from the soyle which is mixt of a blacke clay and red sand, of which I haue sufficiently intreated before: onely thus much you shall vnderstand, that the blacke clay mixt with white sand is so much better and richer then the white clay mixt with red sand, by as much as the blacke clay is better then the white clay: and although some Husbandmen in our Land, hould them to be both of one temper and goodnesse, reasoning thus, that by how much the blacke clay is better then the white, by so much the red sand is better then the white sand, so that what the mixture of the one addeth, the mixture of the other taketh away, and so maketh them all one in fruitfulnesse and goodnesse: but in our common experience it doth not so fall out, for wee finde that the blacke clay mixt with white sand, if it be ordered in the forme of good Husbandry, that is to say, be plowed ouer at least foure times, before it come to be sowne, and that it be Manured and compa.s.sed in Husbandly fas.h.i.+on, which is to allow at least eight waine-load to an Aker, that if then vpon such Land you shall sow either Organe Wheat (in the south parts called red Wheat) or flaxen, or white Pollard Wheat, that such Wheat will often mildew, and turne as blacke as soote, which onely showeth too much richnesse and fatnesse in the earth, which the white clay mixt with red sand hath neuer beene seene to doe, especially so long as it is vsed in any Husbandly fas.h.i.+on, neither will the white clay mixt with red sand indure to be deuided into foure fields, that is to say, to beare three seuerall crops, one after another, as namely, Barly, Pease, and Wheat, without rest, which the blacke clay mixt with white sand many times doth, and thereby againe showeth his better fruitfulnesse: neuerthelesse, in generalitie I would not wish any good Husbandman, and especially such as haue much tillage, to deuide either of these soyles into any more then three fields, both because hee shall ease himselfe and his Cattell of much toyle, shall not at any time loose the best seasons for his best workes, and make his commodities, and fruit of his hands labours, by many degrees more certaine.

You shall also vnderstand, that both these soyles are very much binding, especially the white clay with red sand, both because the clay, proceeding from a chaukie and limie substance, and not hauing in it much fatnesse or fertillitie (which occasioneth seperation) being mixt with the red sand, which is of a much more hardnesse and aptnesse to knit together, with such tough matter, it must necessarilie binde and cleaue together, and so likewise the blacke clay, from whence most naturally proceedeth your best limestone, being mixt with white sand, doth also binde together and stifle the seede, if it be not preuented by good Husbandry.

You shall therefore in the plowing and earring of these two soyles, obserue two especiall notes; the first, that by no meanes you plow it in the wet, that is, in any great glut of raine: for if you either lay it vp, or cast it downe, when it is more like morter then earth, if then any suns.h.i.+ne, or faire weather, doe immediately follow vpon it, it will so drie and bake it, that if it be sowne, neither will the seede haue strength to sprout thorrow it, nor being in any of your other summer ardors, shall you by any meanes make your plough enter into it againe, when the season falleth for other plowing. The second, that you haue great care you lay your Land high and round, that the furrowes, as it were standing vpright one by another, or lying light and hollow, one vpon another, you may with more ease, at any time, enter in your plough, and turne your moulde which way you please, either in the heate of Sommer, or any other time of the yeere whatsoeuer.

Now as touching the plough, which is most best and proper for these soyles, it would be the same in sise which is formerly directed for the red sand, onely the Irons must be altered, for the Coulter would be more long, sharpe, and bending, and the share so narrow, sharpe, and small as can conueniently be made, according as is formerly expressed, that not hauing power to take vp any broad furrow, the furrowes by reason of there slendernesse may lye many, and those many both hollow, light and at any time easily to be broken.

As for the Teame which is best to worke in this soyle, they may be either Horses or Oxen, or Oxen and Horse mixt together, according to the Husbandmans abillitie, but if hee be a Lord of his owne pleasure and may commaund, and haue euery thing which is most apt and proper, then in these two soyles, I preferre the Teame of Horses single, rather then Oxen, especially in any winter or moist ardor, because they doe not tread and foyle the ground making it mirie and durtie as the Oxe doth, but going all in one furrow, doe keepe the Land in his constant firmenesse.

As touching the clotting, sleighting, weeding, and dressing of these two soyles, they differ in nothing from the former mixt earths, but desire all one manner of dilligence: and thus much for these two soyles the blacke clay mixt with white sand, and the white clay with white red sand.

CHAP. III.

_A comparison of all the former soyles together, and most especiall notes for giuing the ignorant Husbandman perfect vnderstanding, of what is written before._

The reason why I haue thus at large discoursed of euery seuerall soyle, both simple and compounded, is to show vnto the industrious Husbandman, the perfect and true reason of the generall alteration of our workes in Husbandry, through this our Realme of England: for if all our Land, as it is one kingdome, were likewise of one composition, mixture, and goodnesse, it were then exceeding preposterous to see those diuersities, alterations, I, and euen contrary manners of proceedings in Husbandry, which are daily and hourely vsed: but euery man in his owne worke knowes the alteration of clymates. Yet for so much as this labour of Husbandry, consisteth not for the most part in the knowing and vnderstanding breast, but in the rude, simple, and ignorant Clowne, who onely knoweth how to doe his labour, but cannot giue a reason why he doth such labour, more then the instruction of his parents, or the custome of the Countrie, where it comes to pa.s.se (and I haue many times seene the same to mine admiration) that the skillfullest Clowne which is bred in the clay soyles, when hee hath beene brought to the sandy ground, hee could neither hould the plough, temper the plough, nor tell which way in good order to driue the Cattell, the heauinesse of the one labour being so contrary to the lightnesse of the other, that not hauing a temperance, or vnderstanding in his hands, hee hath beene put euen vnto his wittes ends; therefore I thinke it conuenient, in this place, by a slight comparison of soyles together, to giue the simplest Husbandman such direct & plaine rules that he shall with out the study of his braines, attaine to absolute knowledge of euery seuerall mixture of earth: and albeit hee shall not be able distinctly to say at the first that it is compounded of such and such earths, yet hee shall be very able to deliuer the true reason and manner how such ground (of what nature soeuer) shall be Husbanded and tilled.

Therefore to begin the Husbandman, is to vnderstand, that generally there are but two soyles for him to regard, for in them consisteth the whole Arte of Husbandry: as namely, the open and loose earth, and the close and fast binding earth, and these two soyles being meare opposites and contraries, most necessarily require in the Husbandman a double vnderstanding, for there is no soyle, of what simplicitie or mixture soeuer it be, but it is either loose or fast.

Now to giue you my meaning of these two words, _loose_ and _fast_, it is, that euery soyle which vpon parching and dry weather, euen when the Sunne beames scorcheth, and as it were baketh the earth, if then the ground vpon such exceeding drought doe moulder and fall to dust, so that whereas before when it did retaine moisture it was heauie, tough, and not to be seperated, now hauing lost that glewinesse it is light, loose, and euen with a mans foote to be spurnd to ashes, all such grounds are tearmed loose and open grounds, because at no time they doe binde in or imprison the seede (the frost time onely excepted, which is by accidence, and not from the nature of the soyle:) and all such grounds as in their moisture or after the fall of any sodaine raine are soft, plyable, light, and easie to be wrought, but after when they come to loose that moistnesse and that the powerfulnesse of the Sunne hath as it were drid vp their veynes, if then such earths become hard, firme, and not to be seperated, then are those soyles tearmed fast and binding soyles, for if there ardors be not taken in their due times, and their seede cast into them in perfect and due seasons, neither is it possible for the Plowman to plow them, nor for the seede to sprout through, the earth being so fastned and as it were stone-like fixt together. Now sithence that all soyles are drawne into these two heads, fastnes, and loosenesse, and to them is annexed the diuersitie of all tillage, I will now show the simple Husbandman which earths be loose, and which fast, and how without curiositie to know and to distinguish them.

Breifely, all soyles that are simple and of themselues vncompounded, as namely, all claies, as blacke, white, gray, or blew, and all sands, as either red, white, or blacke, are open and loose soyles: the claies because the body and substance of them being held together by moistnes, that moisture being dryed vp, their strength and stifnesse decayeth, and sands by reason of their naturall lightnesse, which wanting a more moist and fixt body to be ioyned with them doe loose all strength of binding or holding together. Now all mixt or compound earths (except the compositions of one and the same kinds, as clay with clay, or sand with sand) are euer fast and binding earths: for betwixt sand and clay, or clay & grauell, is such an affinitie, that when they be mixt together the sand doth giue to the clay such hardnesse and drynesse, and the clay to the sand such moisture and coldnesse, that being fixt together they make one hard body, which through the warmth of the Sunne bindeth and cleaueth together. But if it be so that the ignorance of the Husbandman cannot either through the subtiltie of his eye sight, or the obseruations gathered from his experience, distinguish of these soyles, and the rather, sith many soyles are so indifferently mixt, and the colour so very perfect, that euen skill it selfe may be deceiued: as first to speake of what mixture some soyles consist, yet for as much as it is sufficient for the Husbandman to know which is loose and which is binding, hee shall onely when he is perplext with these differences, vse this experiment, hee shall take a good lumpe of that earth whose temperature hee would know, and working it with water and his wet hands, like a peece of past, he shall then as it were make a cake thereof, and laying it before an hot fire, there let it lye, till all the moisture be dried & backt out of it, then taking it into your hands and breaking it in peeces, if betweene your fingers it moulder and fall into a small dust, then be a.s.sured it is a loose, simple, and vncompounded earth, but if it breake hard and firme, like a stone, and when you crumble it betweene your fingers it be rough, greetie, and s.h.i.+ning, then be a.s.sured it is a compounded fast-binding earth, and is compounded of clay and sand, and if in the baking it doe turne red or redish, it is compounded of a gray clay and red sand, but if it be browne or blewish, then it is a blacke clay & white sand, but if when you breake it you finde therein many small pibles, then the mixture is clay and grauell. Now there be some mixt soyles, after they are thus bak't, although they be hard and binding, yet they will not be so exceeding hard and stone-like as other soyles will be, and that is where the mixture is vnequall, as where the clay is more then the sand, or the sand more then the clay.

When you haue by this experiment found out the nature of your earth, and can tell whether it be simple or compounded, you shall then looke to the fruitfulnesse thereof, which generally you shall thus distinguish.

First, that clayes, simple and of themselues vncompounded, are of all the most fruitfull, of which, blacke is the best, that next to clayes, your mixt earths are most fertill, and the mixture of the blacke clay and red sand, called a hasell earth, is the best, and that your sands are of all soyles most barraine, of which the red sand for profit hath euer the preheminence.

Now for the generall tillage and vse of these grounds, you shall vnderstand that the simple and vncompounded grounds, being loose and open (if they lye free from the danger of water) the Lands may be layd the flattest and greatest, the furrowes turned vp the largest and closest, and the plough and plough-Irons, most large and ma.s.sie, onely those for the sandy grounds must be more slender then those for the clayes and much more nimble, as hath beene showed before. Now for the mixt earths, you shall lay your Lands high, round, and little, set your furrowes vpright, open, and so small as is possible, and make your plough and plow Irons most nimble and slender, according to the manner before specified: and thus I conclude, that hee which knoweth the loose earth and the binding earth, can either helpe or abate the strength of the earth, as is needfull, and knowes how to sorte his ploughes to each temper, knowes the ground and substance of all tillage.

CHAP. IIII.

_Of the planting or setting of Corne, and the profit thereof._

Not that I am conceited, or carried away with any nouelty or strange practise, vnusually practised in this kingdome, or that I will ascribe vnto my selfe to giue any iudiciall approbation or allowance to things mearely vnfrequented, doe I publish, within my booke, this relation of the setting of Corne, but onely because I would not haue our English Husbandman to be ignorant of any skill or obscure faculty which is either proper to his profession, or agreeable with the fertillitie and nature of our clymates, and the rather, since some few yeeres agoe, this (as it then appeared secret) being with much admiration bruted through the kingdome, in so much that according to our weake accustomed dispositions (which euer loues strange things best) it was held so worthy, both for generall profit and perticular ease, that very fein (except the discreet) but did not alone put it in practise, but did euen ground strong beleifes to raise to themselues great common-wealthes by the profits thereof; some not onely holding insufficient arguments, in great places, of the invtilitie of the plough, but euen vtterly contemning the poore cart Iade, as a creature of no necessitie, so that Poulters and Carriers, were in good hope to buy Horse-flesh as they bought egges, at least fiue for a penie; but it hath proued otherwise, and the Husbandman as yet cannot loose the Horses seruice. But to proceede to the manner of setting or planting of Corne, it is in this manner.

{SN: Of setting Wheate.} Hauing chosen out an aker of good Corne ground, you shall at the beginning of March, appoint at least sixe diggers or laborers with spades to digge vp the earth gardenwise, at least a foote and three inches deepe (which is a large spades graft) and being so digged vp, to rest till Iune, and then to digge it ouer againe, and in the digging to trench it and Manure it, as for a garden mould, bestowing at least sixteene Waine-load of Horse or Oxe Manure vpon the aker, and the Manure to be well couered within the earth, then so to let it rest vntill the beginning of October, which being the time for the setting, you shall then digge it vp the third time, and with rakes and beetells breake the moulde somewhat small, then shall you take a board of sixe foot square, which shalbe bored full of large wimble holes, each hole standing in good order, iust sixe inches one from another, then laying the board vpon the new digged ground, you shall with a stick, made for the purpose, through euery hole in the board, make a hole into the ground, at least fore inches deepe, and then into euery such hole you shall drop a Corne of Wheate, and so remouing the board from place to place, goe all ouer the ground that you haue digged, and so set each seuerall Corne sixe inches one from another, and then with a rake you shall rake ouer and couer all the holes with earth, in such sort that they may not be discerned. And herein you are to obserue by the way that a quarte of Wheate will set your aker: which Wheate is not to be taken as it falles out by chance when you buy it in the market, but especially culd and pickt out of the eare, being neither the vppermost Cornes which grow in the toppes of the eares, nor the lowest, which grow at the setting on of the stalke, both which, most commonly are light and of small substance, but those which are in the midst, and are the greatest, fullest, and roundest.

{SN: Of setting Barly, or Pease.} Now in the selfe-same sort as you dresse your ground for your Wheate, in the selfe same manner you shall dresse your ground for Barly, onely the first time you digge it shalbe after the beginning of May, the second time and the Manuring about the midst of October, wherein you shall note that to your aker of Barly earth, you shall alow at least foure and twentie Waine-load of Manure, and the last time of your digging and setting shalbe at the beginning of Aprill.

Now for the dressing of your earth for the setting of Pease, it is in all things answerable to that for Barly, onely you may saue the one halfe of your Manure, because a dosen Waine-load is sufficient, and the time for setting them, or any other pulse, is euer about the midst of February.

{SN: Of the profit of setting Corne.} Now for the profit which issueth from this practise of setting of Corne, I must needs confesse, if I shall speake simply of the thing, that is, how many foulds it doubleth and increaseth, surely it is both great and wonderfull: and whereas ingenerall it is reputed that an aker of set Corne yeeldeth as much profit as nine akers of sowne Corne, for mine owne part I haue seene a much greater increase, if euery Corne set in an aker should bring forth so much as I haue seene to proceede from some three or foure Cornes set in a garden, but I feare me the generalitie will neuer hould with the particular: how euer, it is most certaine that earth in this sort trimmed and inriched, and Corne in this sort set and preserued, yeeldeth at least twelue-fold more commoditie then that which by mans hand is confusedly throwne into the ground from the Hopper: whence it hath come to pa.s.se that those which by a few Cornes in their gardens thus set, seeing the innumerable increase, haue concluded a publique profit to arise thereby to the whole kingdome, not looking to the intricacie, trouble, and casualtie, which attends it, being such and so insupportable that almost no Husbandman is able to vndergoe it: to which we need no better testimony then the example of those which hauing out of meare couetousnesse and lucre of gaine, followed it with all greedinesse, seeing the mischiefes and inconueniences which hath incountred their workes, haue euen desisted, and forgotten that euer there was any such practise, and yet for mine owne part I will not so vtterly condemne it, that I will depriue it of all vse, but rather leaue it to the discretion of iudgement, and for my selfe, onely hould this opinion, that though it may very wel be spared from the generall vse of Wheat and Barly in this kingdome, yet for hastie-Pease, French Beanes, and such like pulse, it is of necessary imployment, both in rich and poore mens gardens. And thus much for the setting of Corne.

CHAP. V.

_Of the choice of seede-Corne, and which is best for which soyle._

Hauing thus showed vnto you the seuerall soyles and temperatures of our English land, together with the order of Manuring, dressing and tillage of the same, I thinke it meete (although I haue in generall writ something already touching the seede belonging to euery seuerall earth) now to proceede to a particular election and choice of seede-Corne, in which there is great care and diligence to be vsed: for as in Men, Beasts, Fowle, & euery mouing thing, there is great care taken for the choice of the breeders, because the creatures bred doe so much partic.i.p.ate of the parents that for the most part they are seene not onely to carry away their outward figures and semblances, but euen their naturall conditions and inclinations, good issuing from good, and euill from euill: so in the choise of seede-Corne, if their be any neglect or carelessenesse, the crop issuing of such corrupt seede must of force bring forth a more corrupt haruest, by as much as it exceedeth in the multiplication.

{SN: The choise of seede Wheate.} To proceede therefore to the choise of seede-Corne, I will begin with Wheate, of which there are diuers kindes, as your whole straw Wheate, the great browne Pollard, the white Pollard, the Organe or red Wheate, the flaxen Wheate, and the chilter Wheate. Your whole straw Wheate, and browne Pollard, are knowne, the first, by his straw, which is full of pith, and hath in it no hollownesse (whence it comes that Husbandmen esteeme it so much for their thacking, allowing it to be as good and durable as reede:) the latter is knowne by his eare, which is great, white, and smooth, without anes or beard vpon it: in the hand they are both much like one to another, being of all Wheates the biggest, roundest and fullest: they be somewhat of a high colour, and haue vpon them a very thicke huske, which making the meale somewhat browne causeth the Baker not all together to esteeme them for his purest manchet, yet the yeeld of flower which cometh from them is as great and greater then any other Wheate whatsoeuer. These two sortes of Wheate are to be sowne vpon the fallow field, as crauing the greatest strength and fatnesse of ground, whence it comes that they are most commonly seene to grow vpon the richest and stiffest blacke clayes, being a graine of that strength that they will seldome or neuer mildew or turne blacke, as the other sortes of Wheate will doe, if the strength of the ground be not abated before they be throwne into the earth. Now for the choise of these two Wheates, if you be compelled to buy them in the market, you must regard that you buy that which is the cleanest and fairest, being vtterly without any weedes, as darnell, c.o.c.kell, tares or any other foulnesse whatsoeuer: you shall looke that the Wheate, as neare as may be, hould all of one bignesse and all of one colour, for to beholde it contrary, that is to say, to see some great Cornes, some little, some high coloured, some pale, so that in their mixture they resemble changeable taffata, is an apparant signe that the Corne is not of one kinde but mixt or blended, as being partly whole-straw, partly Pollard, partly Organe, and partly Chelter. For the flaxen, it is naturally so white that it cannot be mixt but it may easily be discerned, and these mixt seedes are neuer good, either for the ground or the vse of man. Againe you shall carefully looke that neither this kinde of Wheate, nor any other that you buy for seede be blacke at the ends, for that is a signe that the graine comming from too rich a soyle was mildewed, and then it will neuer be fruitfull or proue good seede, as also you shall take care that it be not too white at the ends, showing the Corne to be as it were of two colours, for that is a signe that the Wheate was washt and dried againe, which vtterly confoundeth the strength of the Corne and takes from it all abilitie of bringing forth any great encrease. Now if it be so that you haue a crop of Wheate of your owne, so that you haue no need of the market, you shall then picke out of your choisest sheafes, and vpon a cleane floare gently bat them with a flaile, and not thresh them cleane, for that Corne which is greatest, fullest, and ripest, will first flie out of the eare, and when you haue so batted a competent quant.i.tie you shall then winnow it and dresse it cleane, both by the helpe of a strong winde and open siues, and so make it fit for your seede.

I haue seene some Husbands (and truely I haue accounted them both good and carefull) that haue before Wheate seede time both themselues, wiues, children, and seruants at times of best leasure, out of a great Wheate mow or bay, to gleane or pull out of the sheafes, eare by eare, the most princ.i.p.all eares, and knitting them vp in small bundells to bat them and make their seede thereof, and questionlesse it is the best seede of all other: for you shall be sure that therein can be nothing but the cleanest and the best of the Corne, without any weedes or foulnesse, which can hardly be when a man thresheth the whole sheafe, and although some men may thinke that this labour is great and troblesome, especially such as sowe great quant.i.ties of Wheate, yet let them thus farre encourage themselues, that if they doe the first yeere but gleane a bush.e.l.l or two (which is nothing amongst a few persons) and sowe it vp on good Land, the encrease of it will the next yeere goe farre in the sowing the whole crop: for when I doe speake of this picking of Wheate, eare by eare, I doe not intend the picking of many quarters, but of so much as the increase thereof may amount to some quarter.

Now there is also another regarde to be had (as auailable as any of the former) in chusing of your seede Wheate, and that is to respect the soyle from whence you take your seede, and the soyle into which you put it, as thus.

If the ground whereon you meane to sowe your Wheat be a rich, blacke, clay, stiffe and full of fertillitie, you shall then (as neare as you can) chuse your seede from the barrainest mixt earth you can finde (so the Wheate be whole-straw or Pollard) as from a clay and grauell, or a clay and white sand, that your seede comming from a much more barraine earth then that wherein you put it, the strength may be as it were redoubled, and the encrease consequently amount to a higher quant.i.tie, as we finde it proueth in our daylie experience; but if these barraine soyles doe not afforde you seede to your contentment, it shall not then be amisse (you sowing your Wheate vpon fallow or tilth ground) if you take your seede-Wheate either from an earth of like nature to your owne, or from any mixt earth, so that such seede come from the niams, that is, that it hath beene sowne after Pease, as being the third crop of the Land, and not from the fallow or tilth ground, for it is a maxiome amongst the best Husbands (though somewhat proposterous to common sence) bring to your rich ground seede from the barraine, and to the barraine seede from the rich, their reason (taken from their experience) being this, that the seede (as before I said) which prospereth vpon a leane ground being put into a rich, doth out of that superfluitie of warmth, strength and fatnesse, double his increase; and the seede which commeth from the fat ground being put into the leane, hauing all the vigour, fulnesse and iuyce of fertilnes, doth not onely defend it selfe against the hungrinesse of the ground but brings forth increase contrary to expectation; whence proceedeth this generall custome of good Husbands in this Land, that those which dwell in the barraine woode Lands, heathes and high mountaine countries of this kingdome, euer (as neere as they can) seeke out their seede in the fruitfull low vales, and very gardens of the earth, & so likewise those in the vales take some helpes also from the mountaines.

Now for your other sortes of Wheate, that is to say, the white Pollard and the Organe, they are graines nothing so great, full, and large, as the whole straw, or browne Pollard, but small, bright, and very thinly huskt: your Organe is very red, your Pollard somewhat pale: these two sorts of Wheate are best to be sowne vpon the third or fourth field, that is to say, after your Pease, for they can by no meanes endure an ouer rich ground, as being tender and apt to sprout with small moisture, but to mildew and choake with too much fatnesse, the soyles most apt for them are mixt earths, especially the blacke clay and red sand, or white clay and red sand, for as touching other mixtures of grounds, they are for the most part so barraine, that they will but hardly bring forth Wheate vpon their fallow field, and then much worse vpon a fourth field.

Now for any other particular choise of these two seedes, they are the same which I shewed in the whole straw, and great Pollard. As for the flaxen Wheate, and chilter Wheate, the first, is a very white Wheate both inward and outward, the other a pale red or deepe yellow: they are the least of all sorts of Wheate, yet of much more hardnes and toughnesse in sprouting, then either the Organe or white Pollard, and therefore desire somewhat a more richer soyle, and to that end they are for the most part sowne vpon fallow fields, in mixt earths, of what natures or barrainenesse soeuer, as is to be seene most generally ouer all the South parts of this Realme: and although vncompounded sands out of their owne natures, doe hardly bring forth any Wheate, yet vpon some of the best sands and vpon the flintie grauels, I haue seene these two Wheates grow in good abundance, but being seldome it is not so much to be respected.

{SN: The choise of seede Rye.} After your Wheate you shall make choise of your Rie, of which there is not diuers kindes although it carrie diuers complections, as some blackish, browne, great, full and long as that which for the most part growes vpon the red sand, or red clay, which is three parts red sand mixt with blacke clay, and is the best Rie: the other a pale gray Rie, short, small, and hungry, as that which growes vpon the white sand, or white clay and white sand, and is the worst Rie. Now you shall vnderstand that your sand grounds are your onely naturall grounds for Rie, as being indeede not princ.i.p.ally apt for any other graine, therefore when you chuse your Rie for seede, you shall chuse that which is brownest, full, bould, and longest, you shall haue great care that it be free from weedes or filth, sith your sand grounds, out of their owne naturall heat, doth put forth such store of naughtie weeds, that except a man be extraordinarily carefull, both in the choise and dressing of his Rie, he may easily be deceiued and poyson his ground with those weedes, which with great difficultie are after rooted out againe. Now for your seedes to each soyle, it is euer best to sow your best sand-Rie vpon your best clay ground, and your best clay-Rie vpon your best sand ground, obseruing euer this generall principle, not onely in Rie, but euen in Wheat, Barly, Pease and other graine of account, that is, euer once in three yeeres, to change all your seede, which you shall finde both to augment your encrease and to returne you double profit.

{SN: The choise of seede-Barly.} Now for the choise of your seede-Barly, you shall vnderstand, that for as much as it is a graine of the greatest vse, & most tendernesse, therefore there is the greatest diligence to be vsed in the election thereof. Know then that of Barly there be diuers sorts, as namely, that which wee call our common Barly, being long eares with two rankes of Corne, narrow, close, and vpright: another called spike or batteldore-Barly, being a large eare with two rankes of Corne, broad, flat, and in fas.h.i.+on of a batteldore: and the third called beane-Barly, or Barly big, being a large foure-square eare, like vnto an eare of Wheate.

Of these three Barlyes the first is most in vse, as being most apt and proper to euery soyle, whether it be fruitfull or barraine, in this our kingdome, but they haue all one shape, colour and forme, except the soyle alter them, onely the spike-Barly is most large and plentifull, the common Barly hardest and aptest to grow, and the beane-Barly least, palest, & tenderest, so that with vs it is more commonly seene in gardens then in fields, although in other Countries, as in Fraunce, Ireland, and such like, they sowe no other Barly at all, but with vs it is of no such generall estimation, and therefore I will neither giue it precedencie nor speake of it, otherwise then to referre it to the discreation of him who takes delight in many practises: but for the common Barly, or spike-Barly, which our experience findes to be excellent and of great vse, I will knit them in one, and write, my full opinion of them, for their choise in our seede. You shall know then that when you goe into the market to chuse Barly for your seede, you shall to your best power elect that which is whitest, fullest, and roundest, being as the ploughman calles it, a full bunting Corne, like the nebbe or beake of a Bunting, you shall obserue that it be all of one Corne, and not mingled, that is, clay Barly, and sand Barly together, which you shall distinguish by these differences: the clay Barly is of a palish, white, yellow colour; smoth, full, large, and round, and the sand Barly is of a deepe yellow, browne at the neather end, long, slender, and as it were, withered, and in generall no sand Barly is princ.i.p.all good for seede: but if the Barly be somewhat of a high colour, and browne at the neather end, yet notwithstanding is very full, bould, and bigge, then it is a signe that such Barly comes not from the sand, but rather from an ouer fat soyle, sith the fatnesse of the earth doth euer alter the complection of the Barly; for the whiter Barly euer the leaner soyle, and better seede: you shall also obserue, that there be not in it any light Corne, which is a kinde of hungry graine without substance, which although it filleth the seeds-mans hand, yet it deceiueth the ground, and this light Corne will commonly be amongst the best Barly: for where the ground is so rich that it bringeth forth the Barly too rankely, there the Corne, wanting power to stand vpon roote, falleth to the ground, and so robde of kindly ripening, bringeth forth much light and insufficient graine. Next this, you shall take care that in your seede-Barly there be not any Oates, for although they be in this case amongst Husbandmen accounted the best of weede, yet are they such a disgrace, that euery good Husband will most diligently eschew them, and for that cause onely will our most industrious Husbands bestow the tedious labour of gleaning their Barly, eare by eare, by which gleanings, in a yeere, or two, they will compa.s.se their whole seede, which must infallibly be without either Oates or any weede whatsoeuer: and although some grounds, especially your richest blacke clayes, will out of the abundance of their fruitfulnesse (as not induring to be Idle) bring forth naturally a certaine kinde of wilde Oates, which makes some ignorant Husbands lesse carefull of their seede, as supposing that those wilde ones are a poisoning to their graine, but they are infinetly deceiued: for such wilde Oates, wheresoeuer they be, doe shake and fall away long before the Barly be ready, so that the Husbandman doth carry of them nothing into the Barne, but the straw onely. Next Oates, you must be carefull that there be in your Barly no other foule weede: for whatsoeuer you sow, you must looke for the increase of the like nature, and therefore as before I said in the Wheate, so in the Barly, I would wish euery good Husband to imploy some time in gleaning out of his Mow the princ.i.p.all eares of Barly, which being batted, drest, and sowne, by it selfe, albeit no great quant.i.tie at the first, yet in time it may extend to make his whole seede perfect, and then hee shall finde his profit both in the market, where hee shall (for euery vse) sell with the deerest, and in his owne house where he shall finde his yeeld redoubled.

Now for fitting of seuerall seedes to seuerall soyles, you shall obserue, that the best seede-Barly for your clay field, is ninam Barly, sowne vpon the clay field, that is to say, Barly which is sowne where Barly last grew, or a second crop of Barly: for the ground hauing his pride abated in the first croppe, the second, though it be nothing neere so much in quant.i.tie, yet that Corne which it doth bring forth is most pure, most white, most full, and the best of all seedes whatsoeuer, and as in case of this soyle, so in all other like soyles which doe hould that strength or fruitfulnesse in them that they are either able of themselues, or with some helpe of Manure in the latter end of the yeere, to bring forth two croppes of Barly, one after the other: but if either your soyle deny you this strength, or the distance of place bereaue you of the commoditie thereof, then you shall vnderstand that Barly from a hasell ground is the best seede, for the clay ground, and Barly from the clay ground is the best seede, not onely for the hasell earth, but euen for all mixt earths whatsoeuer, and the Barly which proceedes from the mixt earths is the best seede for all simple and vncompounded sands or grauells, as wee finde, both by their increasings and dayly experience.

{SN: The choise of seede-Beanes, Pease, and Pulse.} Now for the choise of seede-Beanes, Pease, or other Pulse, the scruple is nothing neere so great as of other seedes, because euery one that knowes any graine, can distinguish them when hee sees them: besides they are of that ma.s.sie waight, and so well able to indure the strength of the winde, that they are easie to be seuered from any weede or filth whatsoeuer: it resteth therefore that I onely giue you instruction how to imploy them.

You shall vnderstand therefore, that if your soyle be a stiffe, blacke, rich, clay, that then your best seede is cleane Beanes, or at the least three partes Beanes, and but one part Pease: if it be a gray, or white clay, then Beanes and Pease equally mixt together: if the best mixt earths, as a blacke clay and red sand, blacke clay and white sand, or white clay and red sand, then your seede must be cleane Pease onely: if it be white clay and white sand, blacke clay and blacke sand, then your seede must be Pease and Fitches mixt together: but if it be grauell or sand simple, or grauell and sand compounded, then your seede must be either cleane Fitches, cleane Bucke, or cleane Tares, or else Fitches, Bucke and Tares mixt together.

{SN: The choise of seede-Oates.} Now to conclude with the choise of your Oates. You shall vnderstand that there be diuers kindes of them, as namely, the great long white Oate, the great long blacke Oate, the cut Oate, and the skegge: the two first of these are knowne by their greatnesse and colours, for they are long, full, bigge, and smooth, and are fittest to be sowne vpon the best of barraine grounds, for sith Oates are the worst of graine, I will giue them no other prioritie of place. The next of these, which is the cut Oate, it is of a pale yealow colour, short, smooth, and thicke, the increase of them is very great, and they are the fittest to be sowne vpon the worst of best grounds, for most commonly where you see them, you shall also see both good Wheate, good Barly, and good Beanes and Pease also. Now for the skegge Oate, it is a little, small, hungry, leane Oate, with a beard at the small end like a wilde Oate, and is good for small vse more then Pullen onely: it is a seede meete for the barrainest and worst earth, as fit to grow but there where nothing of better profit will grow. And thus much for those seedes which are apt and in vse in our English soyles: wherein if any man imagine me guiltie of errour, in that I haue omitted particularly to speake of the seede of blend-Corne, or Masline, which is Wheate and Rye mixt together, I answere him, that sith I haue shewed him how to chuse both the best Wheate and the best Rye, it is an easie matter to mixe them according to his owne discretion.

CHAP. VI.

_Of the time of Haruest and the gathering in of Corne._

{SN: The getting in of Masline.} {SN: The getting in of Wheate.} Next vnto plowing, it is necessary that I place Reaping, sith it is the end, hope, and perfection of the labour, and both the merit and incouragement which maketh the toyle both light and portable: then to proceede vnto the time of Haruest. You shall vnderstand that it is requisite for euery good Husband about the latter end of Iuly, if the soyle wherein he liueth be of any hot temper, or about the beginning of August, if it be of temperate warmth, with all dilligence constantly to beholde his Rye, which of all graines is the first that ripeneth, and if he shall perceiue that the hull of the eare beginneth to open, and that the blacke toppes of the Corne doth appeare, he may then be a.s.sured that the Corne is fully ripe, and ready for the Sickle, so that instantly he shall prouide his Reapers, according to the quant.i.tie of his graine: for if hee shall neglect his Rye but one day more then is fit, it is such a hasty graine, that it will shale forth of the huske to the ground, to the great losse of the Husbandman. When hee hath prouided his shearers, which he shall be carefull to haue very good, he shall then looke that neither out of their wantonnesse nor emulation, they striue which shall goe fastest, or ridd most ground, for from thence proceedeth many errors in their worke, as namely, scattering, and leauing the Corne vncut behind them, the cutting the heads of the Corne off so that they are not possible to be gathered, and many such like incommodities, but let them goe soberly and constantly, and sheare the Rye at least fourteene inches aboue the ground. Then he must looke that the gatherers which follow the Reapers doe also gather cleane, & the binders binde the Sheafes fast from breaking, then if you finde that the bottomes of the Sheafes be full of greenes, or weedes, it shall not be amisse to let the Sheafes lye one from another for a day, that those greenes may wither, but if you feare any Raine or foule weather, which is the onely thing which maketh Rye shale, then you shall set it vp in Shockes, each Shocke containing at least seauen Sheafes, in this manner: first, you shall place foure Sheafes vpright close together, and the eares vpwards, then you shall take other three Sheafes and opening them and turning the eares downeward couer the other foure Sheafes that stoode vpwards, and so let them stand, vntill you may with good conueniencie lead them home, which would be done without any protraction. Next after your cleane Rye, you shall in the selfe-same sort reape your blend-Corne, or Masline: and albeit your Wheate will not be fully so ripe as your Rye, yet you shall not stay your labour, being well a.s.sured that your Rye is ready, because Wheate will harden of it selfe after it is shorne, with lying onely.

After you haue got in your Rye and blend-Corne, you shall then looke vnto your cleane Wheate, and taking heare and there an eare thereof, rubbe them in your hand, and if you finde that the Corne hath all perfection saue a little hardning onely, you shall then forthwith set your Reapers vnto it, who shall sheare it in all things as they did sheare your Rye, onely they shall not put it in Shockes for a day or more, but let the Sheafes lye single, that the winde and Sunne may both wither the greenes, and harden the Corne: which done, you shall put the Sheafes into great Shockes, that is to say, at least twelue or foureteene Sheafes in a Shocke, the one halfe standing close together with the eares vpward, the other halfe lying crosse ouerthwart those eares, and their eares downeward, and in this sort you shall let your Wheate stand for at least two dayes before you lead it.

Now it is a custome in many Countries of this kingdome, not to sheare their Wheate, but to mow it, but in my conceit and in generall experience, it is not so good: for it both maketh the Wheate foule, and full of weede, and filleth vp a great place with little commoditie, as for the vse of thacking, which is the onely reason of such disorderly cutting, there is neither the straw that is shorne, nor the stubble which is left behinde, but are both of sufficiencie inough for such an imployment, if it pa.s.se through the hands of a workman, as we see in dayly experience.

{SN: The getting in of Barly.} Next to your Wheate, you shall haue regard to your Barly, for it sodainely ripeneth, and must be cut downe a.s.soone as you perceiue the straw is turned white, to the bottome, and the eares bended downe to the groundward. Your Barly you shall not sheare, although it is a fas.h.i.+on in some Country, both because it is painefull and profitlesse, but you shall Mowe it close to the ground, and although in generall it be the custome of our kingdome, after your Barly is mowen and hath lyne a day or two in swathe, then with rackes to racke it together, and make it into great c.o.c.kes, and so to leade it to the Barne, yet I am of this opinion that if your Barly be good and cleane without thistles or weedes, that if then to euery sitheman, or Mower you alot two followers, that is to say, a gatherer, who with a little short rake and a small hooke shall gather the Corne together, and a binder, who shall make bands and binde vp the Barly in smale Sheafes, that questionlesse you shall finde much more profit thereby: and although some thinke the labour troublesome and great, yet for mine owne part, I haue seene very great croppes inned in this manner, and haue seene two women, that with great ease, haue followed and bound after a most princ.i.p.all Mower, which made me vnderstand that the toyle was not so great as mine imagination; and the profit ten-fold greater then the labour: but if your Corne be ill Husbanded, and full of thistles, weedes, and all filthinesse, then this practise is to be spared, and the loose c.o.c.king vp of your Corne is much better. a.s.soone as you haue cleansed any Land of Barly, you shall then immediatly cause one with a great long rake, of at least thirtie teeth, being in a sling bound bauticke-wise crosse his body, to draw it from one end of the Land to the other, all ouer the Land, that he may thereby gather vp all the loose Corne which is scattered, and carry it where your other Corne standeth, obseruing euer, as your cheifest rule, that by no meanes you neither leade Barly, nor any other graine whatsoeuer, when it is wet, no although it be but moistned with the dew onely: for the least dankishnesse, more then the sweate which it naturally taketh, will soone cause it to putrifie.