ENGLAND'S Improvement BY SEA and LAND TO Out-do the Dutch without Fighting TO Pay Debts without Moneys To set at Work all the POOR of England with the Growth of our own Lands To prevent unnecessary SUITS in Law With the Benefit of a Voluntary REGISTER Directions where vast quantities of Timber are to be had for the Building of SHIPS With the Advantage of making the Great RIVERS of England Navigable RULES to prevent FIRES in London and other Great CITIES With Directions how the several Companies of Handicraftsmen in London may always have cheap Bread and Drink BY ANDREW YARRANTON Gent. LONDON Printed by R. Everingham for the Author and are to be sold by T. Parkhurst at the Bible and three Crowns in Cheap-side and N. Simmons at the Princes Arms in S. Paul's Church-yard MDCLXXVII LICENSED Octob. 4. 1676. Roger L'estrange TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE ARTHUR Earl of Anglesey Lord Privy-Seal And to the RIGHT WORSHIPFUL Sir THOMAS PLAYER Knight Chamberlain of the City of London Right Honourable and Right Worshipful THat I here not only present you with these my weak Endeavours for the vigorous Improvements of those unparallel'd Advantages which the situation of our Climate the Nature of our Soil and the Constitution of both our People and Government affords us in order to the making us every way great beyond any Nation in the World but have also at their peeping abroad into the severe light taken the boldness to seek their shelter under the secure umbrage of your joint Protections your own real worth which has deservedly purchased each of you such great Honour and Esteem in the Breasts of all the Nation is the only Argument that I shall plead for this presumption it being sufficient security for my Pardon I could not imagine which way what I lay down in my Book as matter of Fact should in this unsteady Age ever come to be put into Practice without the favour and encouragement of those who might not only obtain for it a free Access to his Majesty but such also whose very smilings on its Design might be a sufficient Shield to guard it against all the Arrows of Obloquy and Envy that are usually shot at the Projector be the Undertaking never so Noble My humble Address therefore to both your Honours is That as one may be an Advocate for it to the Prince whose increase of Wealth Strength and Honour are the chief things aimed at in this Undertaking so the other may procure for it a favourable Reception amongst those honourable Gentlemen of the City whose Wealth and Grandeur are the chief support of Trade and consequently of England the Improvement of which hath been my whole study for many years and which I now make publick meerly out of a real love to my Country whose future flourishing is the only Reward I ever hope to see of all my Labours Might I once but see our Titles to Lands and Houses secured our Rivers made communicable the Poor provided for by Bank Granaries the Manufactures of the Land incouraged and as the result of all our Trade upon the Increase I should not doubt then in few years to see this Kingdom enricht above Ten Millions per An. which is but a moderate Account of what Profit must inevitably arise from a due Execution of these Reasonable Proposals I have chalkt out the Way and given a fair Prospect of the whole and I hope clearly Evidenced that it is all feasible and matter of Fact That God may therefore give his blessing on your Pious Endeavours for the promotion of so Glorious a Work as it is the unanimous Prayer of the Nation in General it is also and always shall be the humble Petition of Your most obedient Servant A. Y. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THOMAS Lord WINDSOR My Lord FRom the great Incouragement your Lordship hath been pleased to afford me in those indefatigable Pains you have taken in the Survey of several Rivers and contriving with me effectually which way these might be rendred so far Navigable that the Publick might thereby receive a general Advantage I am emboldened to make my humble return of Thanks in this small Dedication in which should I as the usual Custom is enumerate your Lordships Favours wherewith you have been pleased to honour me beyond my Desert although in so doing I should only discharge my Duty yet the captious Reader would be apt to mis-interpret my grateful Acknowledgments for crafty Insinuations as if design'd only to court your Noble Protection And by declaring to the World how far your Lordship hath dived into these Mysteries of Navigation and what a fair Prospect you have given your Country of the great Profit necessarily arising from those Vndertakings I should give my Adversaries occasion to suspect that I make use of so unquestionable a Testimony for one part of my Book meerly in design to wheedle them into an easier credence of the whole But I hope Your Lordship is assured that I have a greater veneration for your Honour than to make a Stale of either your Name Favour or Authority or that I should presume to abuse them on any occasion as young Swimmers do their Bladders with which they too too often boldly adventure beyond their depth I know indeed some speculative Gentlemen have of late plunged themselves so far into the deep that they have not only sunk in their Vndertakings to their everlasting reproach but their Ignorance buoyed up with Pride being the only thing that hath been able to keep above water they have given the World sufficient Tests of the vast difference betwixt Speculative Notions and Practical Experiments But what I here Present Your Lordship hath been for the most part already experienced in Neighbour Nations and the rest sufficiently proved by such undeniable Demonstrations that I doubt not in some few Years to see England in spight of my Opposers a flourishing Kingdom Which together with Your Lordships pardon for this rude Address and the continuance of your Favour to protect me in this bold Vndertaking is all that is aimed at or desired by My Lord Your Honours faithful and most humble Servant Andrew Yarranton To Sir Walter Kirtham Blount Baronet Sir Samuel Baldwin Sir Timothy Baldwin Knights Thomas Foley Philip Foley Esquires Thomas Smith Esquire Joseph Newbrook Samuel Whyle Nicholas Baker John Finch and Nicholas Harrison Gent. My Noble Patriots THat I have not return'd you an earlier Account of those Travels in which out of a pure love to your Country you were pleased some years since to employ me I had rather in few words submit to your just Reprehension than by making a tedious Apology tell my Readers a long story that little or nothing concerns them It is I hope sufficient that I acquaint them that if from the Remarks I have made on the Ballance of Europe or my studious prying into the curious intreagues of Trade and the thriving Politicks of our Neighbour Nations any Advantage shall arise unto us in
London I have said in my former Discourse wherever there is cheapness of Victuals good Laws and a Navigable River there Trade may be most advanced For Herefordshire part of that County is already well improved First it hath a Navigable River unto the City made by Art but imperfect at present and ought to be mended Secondly all Vrchinfield is now under a great improvement by Clover which improvement I sent into them parts by sending the seed with Books fully directing the Husbandry and all persons at first had liberty to receive Seed from Mr. Belamy of Ross and Books of Directions If the Husbandry did take and the profit made as in the Book was prescribed then they were to pay Seven-pence a pound for the Seed if not nothing By this way the Seed was put into the Husbandmans hand and no venture to him and there was no other way to force that Husbandry upon the People all former people failing in that design for want of good directions And at present certainly Vrchinfield is doubled in the value of their Lands by the Clover Husbandry The second improvement Herefordshire is under is sending their Sider to London ready Bottled which Husbandry or Art I and my Partner several years since put there on foot and caused vast quantities to be Bottled up and sent to Glocester from thence to Lechload and so to London by Water we had not been in that method above two years but others did begin to tread the same steps and now it is a great Trade and a great number of persons are now driving great Trades with Bottle-Sider and it hath been the occasion of erecting Five or Six Glass-Houses in them parts And in VVorcestershire I having been succesful in putting that County under Two improvements I shall in its place venture at a Third I know it is very capable to receive it there is one publick spirited Man lately come into that Countrey who hath several times desired me to acquaint him which way the Countrey might be improved and Manufacture setled and declared that he would lay out Moneys and his pains for the good of the Publick At present there is no settled Trade at Hereford but the Poor of that Town and the Countrey round have little imploy notwithstanding they have there very great conveniences and a Navigable River to the very City with much Corn and that excellent good and in all such times as this is Corn is there very cheap and plentiful and when cheap they have no Market to go unto thereby to vend their Corn Formerly VVales took away their Corn when plentiful but since the VVelsh took to break up their Mountains and sow them with Corn they have Corn sufficient for themselves and much to spare so that County shall be always under a plenty unless some setled Manufacture be there fixt thereby to bring People and imploy the Poor which are there already But it is impossible ever to fix any New Manufacture with success unless all things that are required for the doing thereof be well ordered as to cheapness of Victuals and all other conveniences Therefore at Hereford in the first place there must be Granaries built to hold Corn and there stow'd in the time of plenty and this Corn must be apropriated wholly for the use of these People that work in the Manufacture and thereby they never will eat dear Bread or drink dear Drink and the Granaries must be made as I have directed And the best Trade that I know which will most fit that place because it can never miss of a plenty as to Bread and Drink will be fine-spun Threds and Tape and my Reasons why that will be most fittest for that place are these First Hereford is at the head of a Navigable River Secondly It is on the Borders of VVales and if they want hands and the Trade should enlarge it self from VVales there would pour down People upon them when they see there is Moneys to be gained Thirdly By the advantage of the Navigable River all things will be carried to and from them to supply the Trade with ease and cheapness Fourthly At present there is no setled Manufacture Fifthly That place will answer well to furnish with their Commodities all VVales up Seavern Bristol and Ireland And where that Trade is setled in foreign parts the Places are very Rich witness Friburgh in Germany and Dort in Holland These Two Towns are the great Masters of these Trades Friburgh for Tape and Dort in Holland for Threds And certainly at Hereford these Commodities may be made as cheap as in any part of Germany or Holland But still regard is to be had to these things cheap Bread and Drink and always certain Moneys at low interest with Spinning-Schools as I have directed in this Discourse with Four shillings in the pound advance of Customs to be laid upon all Threds and Tapes brought from beyond the Seas I know there are some Gentlemen of the Country I now treat of will be very inquisitive and desirous to know how this Trade shall be fixt at first and when fixt how to govern it that it may not miscarry as did the Linnen Manufacture at Clerkenwell and many other Publick Linnen Manufactures formerly set up in England I will give them my thoughts at present which is the best and convenientest way for the ordering of the Thred and Tape-Trade at Hereford 1. Build your Granary and Stock it with Corn and Malt for Three years sufficient for so many People as are to be imployed then build a Brew-house and a Bake-house both together close by your Granaries for your Manufacturing People and to be delivered to them as they spend it for it is a great Error with us in England that Publick Bake houses and Brew-houses are not fixt for the supply of the several Handicraft Trades thereby to save all the time now spent in providing Bread and Drink for the family which time might be better imployed in their several Trades and having the Bread and Drink at all times provided to their hands will prevent the laying out of Moneys for such uses and Houses of less Rent will serve their turns and then all the People in the Family will be in the constant imploy of the Trade 2. Send for one Man from Friburgh to put you in the true way and Method of making of the Tape and to bring over two Engines one to Weave Narrow Tape and the other to weave Broad Tape with Wheels to Spin. 3. Send for one Man from Dort in Holland to put you in the true way of ordering the fine Threds 4. Send for a Spinning Mistriss out of Germany to order and govern the little Maids and instruct them in the Art of Spinning 5. Send for a Man from Harlem in Holland to Whiten your Tapes and Threds This being done with all things before specified That Trade cannot miss taking great root at Hereford and in process of time will be the
Thicken our fine Clothes and make them feel fine and soft will do our business for indeed they are the Dutch that out-do us that way and you say it is so done at Harlem and I hear at Blackwell Hall that the fine Clothes were made at Harlem Good Sir how are these Mills made and in what manner and what do they do when the Wind ceases blowing the Cloth being in the middle of its thickning and what do they do for Water to come into the Cloth when it is Thickning and Scouring Coun. Sir I will acquaint you with all particulars and then I will give you afterward the description of the Mill in the Barge and the Mill that goeth by Wind. At Harlem in Holland they have Windmills to thicken and scour their fine and super-fine clothes built close by the City-side the Mill is are made in all points as the Saw-Windmill on the Bank-side in Southwark over-against the Savoy and it turns round that is the whole Fabrick turns whereby it catches the Wind at all points And there are Six or Eight Fallers or Feet which are taken and lifted up by the Axle-tree which the Fanns are fastned in and so fall down-right into a Box or Chest wherein the Cloth lyeth and the Chest is so made and ordered and the Fallers so fitted that the Cloth turns round in the Chest and the Square or hole the Faller drops into is so curiously and close made that a Man cannot get his Knife into the Chest betwixt the Wood and the Faller and all other parts of the Trough and Chest where the Cloth lyeth is made close and tite and thereby the Wind and Air is kept from coming into the Chest when the Cloth is thickning and in case the Wind ceases blowing they do either take the Cloth out of the Chest and lay it on drift whereby it takes no harm or else keep it close in the Chest that no Air can come to it But the Mills are so ordered that they are made to scour more Clothes than they thicken and if the Wind ceases they let the Fallers that are to scour stand still And for Water it is pumpt up by force of the Wind to a good height and so conveyed into the Chest to the Cloths by little Spouts as there is occasion In Germany near Poland by reason of the dryness of the Countrey and smallness of the Rains in Summer-time most Rivers are much wanting in Water Therefore the Mills for grinding of Corn and thickning of Clothes are made and fixt in Barges upon the Elbe near some Bridg or in a quick stream And near the Bridg at Draisden in Saxony there they scour and thicken their Clothes in Barges the Mill is fixed in a Barge and in some Barges are Two Mills Observe the Pattern and I will save my labour of Writing for by it you will see how it is in every particular Cl. Sir Now I thank you a Thousand times for now we shall be all Made at Salisbury our River Made Navigable to fetch Mills from Holland and Germany and our City and the Lands Ten Miles round it put into a Register and one Fulling-Mill made at Harlem-Bridg in a Barge to scour our Clothes and a Windmill to thicken our Cloth set up by the City-side so that it may be as fine and soft as Dutch Cloth Well if I see you at Salisbury you shall be made Free of that Corporation and pay nothing and Dine with our Bishop too for he loves all those things we have so much discoursed of Dr. Friend Now we see we have met with a Traveller and one that hath given us good Discourse and he speaks as though he were practical in things when I saw him first I did not expect this from him And this last Discourse is convenient for all the Clothing-Towns in England to know as well as Salisbury for all Towns have need of these Fulling-Mills And I will get it Printed Cl. No no good Friend do not Print it for we will have all the benefit of these Mills to our selves at Salisbury for I have beat my Noddle a good while considering of the reasons why the Mills by Wind should make the Cloth look the more fine and feel more soft than if Fulled with our Mills by the open fleet or Fullers And I have it now and I will send some Queries to the Virtuosoes about it but I will tell you how the Trick is And if I had not been an old Clothier and a Fulling-Boy when I was young I could not have learnt it out And it is sure our Fulling-Mills that we now have our Fallers are taken up a great height and so fall down into the Stock upon the Cloth and in its quick motion down it contracts Wind and brings it down with it into the Stock where the Cloth is and so the Wind and the Air being forced upon the Cloth makes it hard and cools it and the Stock being open and the Cloth in it turning round in the Stock doth also by the Wind and the Air it attracts help to cool and harden the Cloth whereas the Mills that go by Wind the Fallers or Feet fall down perpendicular into the Stock through a square hole where the Cloth is and so attracts no Wind nor can any Air get into the Stock or Chest where the Cloth is and therefore the Cloth is always kept in a constant heat and temper which must of necessity bring it to good proof and make it look very fine and feel very soft I am resolved now I have got this knack I 'le pay the Reckoning Dr. Now Friend you are not a good Commonwealths-man if you do not give me leave to Print this for it will be a general good to the Clothing-Trade Cl. Sir Then print it all together all that we have discoursed of this Night and I will pay Five pounds towards the charge and send the Printed Papers all over Wilt-shire Dorset-shire and Summerset-shire except Taunton Dean For they ought to have no benefit of Mills because they have had such a benefit of a Register Dr. Good Old Friend it shall be done and I will get it put in and bound up in a Book which an acquaintance of mine is printing concerning Trade and there is something in the Book that will sute well with this discourse of ours at this time Cl. I 'le pay the reckoning and quit this honest Countrey-mans Charge this Night and to morrow too And when I come to London I 'le tell our Friends all our good Fortunes how we should rout those that carried our Trade to Ireland Holland and Germany and how we shall out-do the Dutch in fine Cloth by a Fulling-Mill to go by Wind and that we shall never want Moneys again and that Salisbury Clothiers shall have no more need of Lawyers A Voluntary Register a pretty Trick we now may be honest if we please I would I had met this Countrey-man Forty years ago
one of Iron Tinn and Copper another of Linnen and spun Threds of all sorts the third of Sawed Timbers of all sorts He hath convenienced them thus As to his Iron Tinn and Copper he hath fixt these works in the Valley running from Segar-hutton clear a-long by the Cities of Anaburgh Sneburgh and Mareauburgh and down as far as Awe and in the Hills and Mountains are his Minerals In the Valleys are the Rivers whereon are set the Works The Hills and Mountains and at least Ten Miles round are full of Woods to supply his Works not one Acre of common-Land lyes waste At the descent of the Hills are infinite of Saw-Mills that go by Water which Saw all manner of Firr and Oak and in the Summer-time it is dragged to the River Elb and so sent down to Hamborough And things being thus fixt with all advantages that Trade can desire that Place is strangely populous and vastly Rich and yields to the Duke a great Revenue And it lies as Wales and as the Forest of Dean doth to England Next to these Wood-land Countries lies the delightful Plain Countrey wherein is the famous City of Lepsick very Rich in Corn and Flax and so it holds to Dresden upon the Left-hand of Myson with some Vineyards And in these delightful Countries there is no waste Lands but all under improvement In all the great Towns there are great Granaries for Corn and in the Time of Plenty they lay up for a Rainy-day And so there is sufficient for the Poor at easie rates at all times whereby the Manufacture is always cheaply done and thereby hath the advantage of sending it to foreign Markets and under-sell others The next Country joyning to Saxony is the Prince of Hainaults the Prince of Parmburghs with the Bishoprick of Hall wherein stands the Cities of Salts Wadell Shenibank and that brave old City of Magdenburgh destroyed by Fire and Sword by Count Tilly These Countreys for Corn as to Rye and Wheat are so plentiful that no part of Europe can go before them there being much Corn to spare In the Two Cities of Shenibank and Magdenburgh are many Granaries they lying upon the side of the Elbe And in the City of Magdenburgh I was credibly informed being Twice in that City that there were Three hundred Granaries of all sorts wherein Corn is kept sweet and safe from vermin to admiration The manner of the Granaries built with the way of ordering of the Corn and the benefit which is received thereby you shall have when I speak of Granaries setting up in England From hence the Brunswick People fetch their Wheat they make there Mum of and down the Elb to Hamborough is sent infinite of Corn out of the Granaries and from thence to all parts that stand in need thereof In these Countreys there is very little Manufacture only some course Linnen and Linnen-yarn These Granaries preserve the Corn Six Eight or Ten years as good and sweet as when it was first put in There are great Merchants for Corn and the Farmers lay up their Corn at easie Rates and so have the benefit of their Straw yearly and not Rick it up as we do in England to be devoured by Rats and Mice There Men and Maid-servants and all other persons that have Monies buy Corn when it is cheap and lay it up till it be dear And in these publick Granaries the Corn is kept safe sweet and well a whole year for a Half-peny a Bushel and the Granary-Man gets by it The like may be done in England and that which now feeds Rats and Mice and otherways consumed will supply the greatest part of the poor People of England with Bread being preserved in Granaries Now I am for saving the Corn in England and keeping it safe and sweet in Granaries which is consumed at present by Rats and Mice until there shall be want and necessity for it to be delivered to the Poor In the Four Counties I name for the Linnen Manufacture Oxford Warwick Leicester and Northamptonshire there ought to be Granaries to lay up Corn these Counties being great Corn-Counties And at the head of the Navigable Rivers are the places fit for such Granaries and first Wellinborough in Northamptonshire or thereabouts Secondly some Town in Leicestershire within Four Miles of Kings-Mills unto which Place Trent is Navigable Thirdly Banbury if the River Sharwell be made Navigable to Banbury or else about Bleckington the Earl of Angleses Land near Anslo-Bridg And fifthly Stratford upon Avon in Warwickshire If Granaries were built in those Places to hold Corn there it would be brought in with ease and when want and scarcity of Corn comes it is then ready to be sent down the Navigable Rivers or to be disperst for the benefit of the Poor in the Countrey Leicestershire is abounding in Corn and when plenty there it is very cheap having no Navigable River near to carry it away the like is Northamptonshire But if Granaries were well setled in these Places near Trent and St. Ives River then it is ready for a Market when it offers it self Lechload at the Head of the River Isis Ten Miles above Oxford will be a very fit place for a Granary for in thither will come great quantities of Corn out of Oxford Glocester and Berkshire And there it will be ready upon all occasions when wanted either for the Poor or to be transported down the River to London and other parts Stratford upon Avon in Warwickshire will be a very good place to build Granaries to receive Corn and I will affirm if there were Three or Four large Granaries built in the Lands of Sir John Clapton near the Bridg at Stratford and well managed for the good of the Poor and Linnen Trade That on that side the River there would be in a very short time as great a Town built as Stratford now is and there have as great a Trade as any City in those parts of England Bristol only excepted And these are my Reasons First the River Avon being made Navigable to Stratford the Barges that come up with Coles and Merchants goods by them Corn will be taken back to Bristol and up the River Severn as far as the Welsh-Pool And Secondly the Country near Stratford as far as Banbury Ayno-Dedinton Bister and so to Brakley and round ot Daventry is very full and abounds with good Corn and the Carts that come to Stratford for Coles would never come empty down but bring Corn with them if there were Granaries sufficient to receive it So you see all things would be fitted for sore and back carriage And I will affirm No place in England can expect the benefit or advantage by any such Granaries as Stratford upon Avon may for that great and vast quantities of Corn is raised in those parts and when cheap they cannot tell what to do with it the ways being so dirty and deep But the advantage of the Navigation will send it to serve
Towns places to Bleach and Whiten thy fine Linnen being the Lands of the Earl of Middlesex equal to Harlem in Holland for all conveniences if not better Fifthly I call all those People to be Judges who have great quantities of Corn and are forced to keep it Two or Three years in Ricks whether it loseth not at least one fourth part of the Corn by Vermin Rats Mice and other accidents and if kept Four or Five years many times the one half is consumed besides the miseries before spoken of that attend the Landlord Tenant and Creditor Now this Publick Granary is the cause of preserving all this Corn that otherwise would have been consumed by Rats and Mice and as I said in my Book That we may beat the Dutch without fighting now I say and affirm That all the poor People of England will be fed with Bread sufficient without being chargeable to the Publick for any thing For they have the Corn to supply them for Bread which the Rats and Mice did destroy Now Reader I pray thee seriously consider whether the Seed of a Voluntary Register is not convenient to be with all speed sowed upon this surfeited English Field all People that know any thing know that Seed long sowed on the same Land over and over brings the Farmer at last to Beggery I question not but thou art convinc'd this Publick Granary well ordered with the Corn put into it will feed all the poor People of England taking nothing but what would be eat and destroyed by Rats Mice and other accidents All you that Read this consider what cheap Victuals and certain will do to most Manufactures and the cheapness will preserve it with us So here is good Corn and cheap and much Plenty here is excellent good Land to bear Flax and great quantities of it here a covenient place may be made to draw Water out of Avon River to supply the Bleaching and Whiting Here is at present no settled Trade or Manufacture nor any settled within Fifteen Miles of the place here you are in an excellent plentiful Countrey of Flesh and all other provisions but that which crowns the design you are at the Head of a Navigable River by which you will have with ease and cheapness all the Flax Cloth Thred Tape and other things sent down the River Avon into Severn and so for Sea Bristol Wales Shropshire and many other places and all things you stand in need of will be brought up the River Avon to New Brunswick And I say God and Nature with the River Avon being made Navigable hath so strangely accommodated New Brunswick and New Harlem and fitted it for this Linnen nay I say fine Linnen Trade that certainly no part in Europe can compare with it As to the Third That which is to be the Publick Granary to keep the Corn for all Gentlemen Merchants and Farmers that please to send it thither that so the destruction and damages occasioned by Rats and Mice may be prevented I say in this Granary Corn at all times shall be taken in from all persons that please to send it and the Corn so sent must be preserved sweet safe and in good order for one Peny the Bushel for a whole year and the owner at liberty to take it out at his own will and pleasure or to sell transfer or assign any part of the said Corn to any Person or Persons for the payment of his Debts or in Mortgage to pay his Landlord his Rent and the Granary-keepers to give good security that all things should be faithfully done and discharged Now the Corn being brought into the Publick Granary and there Registred in the Register Book to be kept for that purpose and the Person that hath put in the said Corn taking a Note under the Hand and Seal from the Granary-Register of the quantity of Corn brought into the Granary with the time it was delivered with the Matter and kind of the Corn Then these advantages will ensue First The Farmer will have all the advantages I spoke of before as preservation from Rats and Mice Straw to supply his Cattel the Chaff for his Horses and the light Corn to feed his Pigs and Poultry and the Muck-hill in a regular constant quantity his Husbandry Managed with rule and order to his advantage no forc't-hast but Thrashing and carrying the Corn to the Granary in times wherein his Servants have leasure so in Seeding-time and Harvest all People are freed for that and only that imploy The Corn being in the Granary prevents the misery of Law and the charge attending it the Landlord secured his Rent or part thereof by receiving a Ticket from the Granary-Register of a certain quantity of Corn there lodged the property being Transferred from the Tenant to the Landlord and entred in the Register this Corn in Granary gives the Tenant Credit to take up Moneys to furnish his occasions so as he may manage his affairs and Husband his Land to the best advantage and prevent the sad effects that commonly attends the want of present Moneys for his necessary occasions and for want of Credit many times the laborious honest Countrey Farmer is undone and forc't to come and live upon the Parish and the Land he was Tenant to must now help to maintain him whereas if prevention had been timely found out against the Rats with Two Legs that so charge of Law-Suits had been prevented the Corn kept safe in a Granary and preserved from the Rats and Mice with Four Legs then the Landlord had been paid his Rents the Tenant preserved the Userer paid the charge and trouble of Law avoided and all miseries now upon Landlord Tenant and Creditor not so much as heard of And for that all these sort of Miseries may for the future be prevented and sufficient means and remedies prescribed for the doing thereof I shall here give you the ways means rules orders methods directions and policies whereby they certainly will be with ease accomplished for they are exactly so done in Germany and have most strange advantages in these parts in the advance of Trade and procuring of Riches And it will be with us if once accomplished as if one were raised from the dead I propose and hope to see Three large Granaries built at New Brunswick one whereof to be appropriated to the Persons that set up Brewing of Mum one to be appropriated to and for the keeping of Corn for a stock for the poor of the Countrey and for to supply the People that work in the Linnen Manufacture and one to be a publick Granary for all Gentlemen and Farmers to send their Corn into when Thrashed to prevent the destruction which is made by Rats and Mice when it is in Ricks Barns Chambers and Lofts And of the advantage that these Granaries will be I will speak particluarly First The Granary built to take in Corn for the use of the Brewers of Mum will be the life of that Trade
staple Trade of that part of England and Wales and no place as to cheap Victuals of all sorts with multitude of hands unimployed exceeds those parts we treat of And the thing we now treat of will be no laborious business but may in time prove of great advantage for the younger Sons of Gentlemen to fall to and prevent the idle habit that many are now accustomed to And this Trade must be of great benefit to the Publick for at present they are Foreign Trades and the whole benefit does accrew to them and the consumption and loss to us This Tape and Thred-Trade to be fixt is of much more difficulty to be brought to perfection than if there were some small Trade in the place already but the comfort of that place may be if they once fix well in that Manufacture then they will deter all others setting up the same and so consequently be at last the great Masters of it as Manchester is of all things it Trades in I must acquaint the Gentlemen of Herefordshire that the River Wy must be mended and made more convenient than now it is that so Barges may pass and repass with ease and without hazard for Trade will not admit of such delays as of necessity there must be if the River be not timely mended and Herefordshire must never pretend to come under a great improvement if that River be not fully compleated and the River Lugg made Navigable as high as Hampton Court or one Mile or two further And if that were done then Hereford would be to great part of Radnor Brecknock Cardigan and Moumouthshire as Shrewsbury is to North Wales Shrewsbury lying upon the Navigable River hath all things brought up to the Town and thereby invites North Wales by the way of Barter and otherwise to trade with them The like will be at Hereford to those Welsh Countreys I name if once Hereford were setled in a constant Trade and that may be with ease done when the River Wy is compleated for then it will have the advantage of joyning its communication with other Rivers As for Example it will have all its goods and Siders carried to London and Goods from London back by Water to Hereford and so the charge of Carriage will be much lessened and Trade much more improved for at the Head of Navigable Rivers there must and will be Trade provided the River carriage comes once to be made certain and cheap You may observe in the Map of Rivers in the Book there is a kindness intended to Hereford for it is taken into the association of the Rivers and why it should be so there are many Reasons may be given First Hereford will suck in all Trade of the Welsh Counties before named and there are vast quantities of Sider to come for London provided the way take of making the Rivers of England communicable as in the Book and Map directed Then Hereford will have a great benefit for the Barges at Hereford may be in a constant motion carrying and re-carrying Goods and all such commodities the Countrey sends out or hath occasion to want and at very easie Rates and I am sure it is a pity and next unto a shame that a Countrey that hath the best of Wool the best of Sider the best of Fruit the best of Wheat and the best of Rivers should until this time be unimproved But so it must for ever be unless these things be done A voluntary Register Publick Granaries your River Wy compleatly made Navigable Schools as in Germany for young Maids to Spin Bake-house and Brew-house to supply all People that are in the Manufacture for Trade will go where she is most courted and best provided for witness Holland Legorn Hambrough and Dantzick So much for Hereford I am now for demonstrating the benefit that may come unto the poor decayed Clothiers of Worcester and Kidderminster as also to the Cappers of Bewdley in their several Trades provided they had Granaries to hold Corn in time of plenty and that such Granaries were fitted and setled as in my Book is directed And I shall discover the great miseries each of these Trades now groan under for want of certain and cheap Victuals at all times as Bread and Drink with Moneys at low interest when they need it to drive their Trades And first as to the Trade of making Caps at Bewdley it is grown so low that great part of the Ancient Cap-makers in that Town are wholly decayed and the rest at this present are in a very low condition and the great poverty that is upon them renders them to be at the mercy of the London-Factors which deal for Caps that Trade being got into two or three Factors hands and thereby force the makers to accept of such Rates as they please to give whereby that Trade is much decay'd in that Town and like in few years to fall to the ground And at present there are but Two ways to relieve the People that make Caps in Bewdley The one is to get themselves Incorporated by Act of Parliament and therein get such a Law made as may be for the benefit of the Trade in all particulars and the Bill must be so drawn that the Traders and Makers of Caps may come under such a Regulation as may conduce to the benefit of the Trade in general If they prepare their Parliament-Man to be their Friend to carry in the Bill next sitting of Parliament it will do well The second way to do that Trade good is by their joining together and procuring part of a Granary at Stratford upon Avon to put in Corn and Malt when it is cheap and there to remain for food at all times when they have occasion to use it and at Stratford or thereabouts is always the best and cheapest Wheat and Malt in all them parts of England and from Stratford to Bewdley it will be carried for one Peny the Bushel they having free passage through the Locks and Sluces upon Avon without paying any Tax for the same the which shall be granted provided I can prevail with my Partners in that River to remit their shares And when there is Corn in Bank there is a Joseph in Egypt and Corn and Malt being taken into Granary when cheap as this year is then the Capper and his Family cannot possibly eat dear Bread nor drink dear Drink and thereby he will be able to drive his Trade with ease and Comfort But I must tell the poor Cap-makers not only the benefit of the Corn in Granaries laid up in cheap times but I must also tell him because he is my Neighbour That there is another piece of good Husbandry to be used after the Corn is fixt in the Bank and that is a material thing to Trades-men and to poor men that work in all sorts of Handicrafts at first you will look upon it as a slight thing but when you have well weighed and considered of the Reasons you will