2. things which are thought great Paradoxes viz. that it were no losse to this Island if that we should not plough at all if so be that we could certainly have Corne at a reasonable rate and likewise vent for all our Manufactures of Wooll 1. Because that the Commodities from Cattel are far more stable than Corne for Cloth Stuffes Stockins Butter Cheese Hides Shoes Tallow are certain even every where Corne scarcely in any place constantly in none 2. Pasture imployeth more hands which is the second Paradox and therefore Pasture doth not depopulate as it is commonly said for Normandy and Picardy in France where there are Pastures in a good measure are as populous as any part of France and I am certaine that Holland Frizeland Zealand Flaunders and Lombardy which rely altogether on Pastures are the most populous places in Europe But some will object and say that a shepherd and a dog formerly hath destroyed divers villages To this I answer that we well know what a shepherd and a dog can do viz. looke to two or 300. sheepe at the most and that 2. or 300. Acres will maintaine them or the land is extreamly barren and that these 2. or 300. Acres being barren will scarcely maintaine a plough which is but one man and 2. boyes with the horses and that the mowing reaping and threshing of this Corne and other worke about will scarcely maintaine 3. more with worke through the whole yeare But how many people may be imployed by the Wooll of 2. or 300. Sheepe in Picking Sorting Carding Spinning Weaving Dying Fulling Knitting I leave to others to calculate And further if the Pastures be rich Meadowes and go on dairing I suppose all know that 100. Acres of such land imployeth more hands than 100. Acres of the best Corne-Land in England and produceth likewise better exportable Commodities And further if I should grant that formerly the shepherd and his dog did depopulate yet I will deny that it doth so now for formerly we were so unwise as to send over our Wooll to Antwerpe and other places where they were Manufactured by which meanes 1. pound oft brought 10. unwrought to them but we set now our own poore to work and so save the depopulation Yet I say it 's convenient to encourage the plough because that we cannot have a certainty of Corne and carriage is dear both by sea and land especially into the Inland-Countreyes and our Commodities by Wooll do cloy the Merchants 5. Rushy lands Blith telleth us good Remedies for these Inconveniencies viz. making deep-trenches oft mowings Chalking Liming Dunging Ploughing I know where hungry guests Horses soone make an end of them 6. Furze broome heath these can hardly be so destroyed but at length they will up againe for God hath given a peculiar propriety to every kinde of earth to produce some peculiar kinds of Plants which it will observe even to the worlds end unles by Dung Marle Chalke you alter even the very Nature of the earth In Gallitia in Spine where such barren lands do very much abound they do thus first they grub them up as cleane as they can of the greater Rootes and branches they make fire-wood the smaller stickes are either imployed in fencing or else are burnt on the ground afterwards the land being ploughed twice at least they sowe Wheat and usually the crop is great which the Landlord and Tenant devide according to a compact then the ground resteth and in 3. or 4. years the Furze or broome will recover their former growth which the paineful Husband-man grubbeth and doeth with it as formerly I set this downe that you may see how laborious the Spaniard is in some places the poverty of the countrey compelling him to it 7. There are other Inconveniencies in land besides weeds and trumpery viz. Ill tenures as coppy-hold Knight-service c. so that the Possessor cannot cut any Timber downe without consent of the Lord when he dyes must pay one or 2. years rent But these are not in the power of the poor Husband-man to remedy I therefore passe them by yet hope that in little time we shall see these Inconveniencies remedied because they much discourage Improvements and are as I suppose badges of our Norman slavery To conclude it seemeth to me very reasonable and it will be a great encouragement to laborious men to improve their barren lands if that they should have recompence for what they have done according as indifferent men should judge when they leave it as is the custome in Flaunders I have likewise observed some Deficiencies in Woods which I shall briefly declare with the best 12. Deficiency in Woods way to Remedy the same 1. It 's a great fault that generally through the Island the Woods are destroyed so that we are in many places very much necessitated both for fuel also for timber for building and other uses so that if we had not Coales from New-castle and Boards from Norwey Plough-staves pipe-staves from Prussia we should be brought to great extreamity and many Mechanickes would be necessitated to leave their callings 2. Deficiency is that our Woods are not ordered as they should be but though Woods are especially preserved for timber for building and Shipping yet at this time it 's very rare to see a good Timber-tree in a Wood. 3. That many of our Woods are very thinne and not replenished with such sorts of Wood as are convenient for the place 4. That we fell continually and never plant or take care for posterity These Deficiencies may be thus Remedyed 1. To put in execution the Statutes against grubbing of Woods which are sufficiently severe It 's well knowne we have good lawes but it 's better knowne they are not executed In the Wilde of Kent and Sussex which lies far from the Rivers and Sea and formerly have been nothing but Woods liberty is granted for men to grub what they please for they cannot want firing for themselves and they are so seated that neither firewood nor timber can be transported elsewhere I know a Gentleman who proffered there good Oake-timber at 6. s. 8. d. per tun and the land in those parts in general is very good About Tunbridge there is land which formerly was Wood is now let for 30. s. per Acre so that to keepe such lands for Wood would be both losse to the owner and to the Island But in other parts of the Island it is otherwise and men are much to be blamed for destroying both timber and fuel I have seen at Shooters-hill near London some Woods stubbed up which were good ground for Wood but now are nothing but furze which is a great losse both to the owner and to the Countrey For the land is made worse then it was formerly I conceive there are lands which are as naturally ordained for Woods viz. Mountainous Craggy uneven land as small hills for the Vines and Olives plaine lands for Corne and low moist
time I shall most readily and cheerfully perform any service that shall lie in my power for you or any of your Friends for your sake And I were very unreasonable to think troublesome any thing that you require of me when as continually I put you to so much trouble my selfe The last Answer concerning Lucerne THe information about the Lucerne that I have got from my Friend being a very particular one and containing a very full Answer to all the Questions propounded by your Friend is such as followeth It requireth a rich ground but somewhat loose and light so as a stiffe Clay and such other tough grounds are no waies fit for it The ground must not be over-dry nor over-moist but in a mean yet somewhat more inclining to moisture then to the contrary It must be ploughed three times the first time in October and the second and third towards the Spring Naturally it doth not love Dung and cometh much better in a ground that is sufficiently rich of it self then that which hath been inriched by Dunging and where Dung is made use of it must be very stale and well rotten and long before the sowing-time It cannot endure the cold and therefore must not be sowen till the cold weather and all the danger of it be quite past viz. about the beginning or midst of Aprill The Quantity of the Seed is the Sixth part of Corne that the same ground would require so as only one Bushell of Lucerne is to be sowen on that space of ground which would require six Bushells of Corne. It must be carefully weeded especially in the beginning And to the end that it may take the more firm root some Oates must be mixed with it but in a very small proportion It is to be cut as soon as it beginneth to flower which in the hot Countries Provence Languedock and Spaine it doth five or six times and some years seven and eight times in a Summer but in this Climate it useth to be cut but twice a year about the end of June and about the end of September Being cut it must be turned very oft that it may dry the sooner and be carried off the ground the soonest that may be and it must be kept in close barnes being too tender for to be kept in reeks open to the aire as other Hay It is good for all kind of Cattel Kine Sheep Goats and as well for the young ones Calves Lambs Kids as for the others but above all it agreeth best with Horses It is much more feeding then any other Hay insomuch as any lean beasts will soon grow fat with it and to Milch-beasts it procureth abundance of milke but it must never be given alone especially to beasts that have not been long used to it but must ever be mixed with Straw or with some other Hay for otherwise it over-heateth them and filleth them too much with bloud and that so suddenly as it greatly indangereth their health and their life too which it doth principally to Kine to whom it is more dangerous if too plentifully given then to any other Cattel After the last cutting you may let your Cattell graze on your Lucerne-fields and that all Winter long untill the beginning or middle of March. Of once sowing you will have your Meadow continue good for 10. or 12. years and until 15. and afterwards too it will still continue to bear but the hearb will then notably decay in goodnesse Wherefore it is best to turn in then to some other use Kine must never eate of this hearb green but onely dryed and that moderately too as hath been said But Horses eating their fill of it green in the Spring are purged thereby and grow fat by it in 8. or 10. daies time If one desire to have of the Grain one may let such a proportion of the Meadow as one will grow up to seed after the second cutting any year except the first only and when the seed is ripe the tops of the hearb with the coddes wherein the seed is inclosed must be cut in a dewie morning and put into sheets for fear of loosing the seed and must be beate out with Flails upon the same when that it is well dryed and afterwards the remaining part of the hearb must be mowen close to the ground after which it continueth to sprout out again after the usual manner The Hay on 't will keep good two or three years and one Acre is sufficient to keep three Horses all the year long A Post-script to the last Answer concerning the Lucerne SIR THe Gentleman who had given me the Note about the Lucerne hath told me since two particulars more which he had forgot to put into it The one that not onely to other Cattel but even to Horses with whom that Hay agreeth best of all other beasts it is not to be given but in Winter because that in the Summer it would too much heate their bloud And the other That this Hay must be perfectly well dri'd before it be carried off the ground and to that end turned very often because that being put up with any the least moisture it will quite spoile much more then any other Hay Now these and all the other particulars which I have had from that Gentleman have been confirmed to me by many others And yet within these 2. or 3. days I met with a Physitian of Rochell who assuring me that the Lucerne was very common in his Countrey made me a relation of it agreeing with the former only in these three points viz. That of once sowing it will continue 10 or 12. years That it is cut twice a year serving afterwards for Pasture all Winter And that it wonderfully fatteneth all kind of Cattel but very much different from it in all the others and in some of them point-blank contrary to it For he saith that it is to be sowen in the beginning of March that it desireth a temperate ground but rather dry then wet and no waies fat nor clayish but stony and gravily that it need not be mixed with any other Hay but may be given alone and all the year long in Summer aswell as in Winter not only to Horses but to Cowes and other Cattel He added that the proportion of the seed is the charge of a Porter for four Arpents or French Acres Which particulars I thought good to impart unto you that your Friend comparing them with the other's might make his best profit of them and this Rochellois or Rocheller who hath lived 3. or 4. years in England thinks that the Lucerne will come admirably well in that Countrey NOTE THe meaning of these Words The quantity of the Seed is the sixth part of Corne that the same ground would require is this That whatever quantity of Wheat or Barly an Acre of ground would require of the seed of Lucerne you must take but the sixth part of that quantity of seed of Lucerne so as that
briefly as may be and likewise how ingenious men may finde Remedies for these deficiencies First he would do the honest and painful Husband-man 1. deficiency concerning ploughs and carriages a very great pleasure and bring great profit to this Nation who could facilitate the going of the Plough and lighten our ordinary Carriages I wonder that so many excellent Mechanicks who have beaten their braines about the perpetual Motion and other curiosities that they might find the best wayes to ease all Motions should never so much as to honour the Plough which is the most necessary Instrument in the world by their labour and studies I suppose all know that it would be an extraordinary benefit to this Countrey if that 1. or 2. horses could plough and draw as much as 4. or 6. and further also that there is no small difference in ploughs and waggons when there is scarce any sure rule for the making them and every Countrey yea almost every County differs not onely in the ploughs but even in every part Some with wheels others without some turning the Rest as they call it as in Kent Picardy and Normandy others not some having Coulters of one fashion others of another others as the Dutch having an Iron wheele or circle for that purpose some having their sheares broad at point some not some being round as in Kent others flat sometying their horses by the taile as in Ireland So likewise Waggons and Carts differ some using 4. wheels others two onely some carrying timber on 2. wheeles in a Cart others with 4. wheeles and a long pole onely between which is the best way some plough with 2. horses onely as in Norfolke and beyond seas in France Italy where I never saw above three horses in a Plough and one onely to hold and drive but in Kent I have seen 4. 6. yea 12. horses and oxen which variety sheweth that the Husband-man who is ordinarily ignorant in Mechanicks is even at his wits end in this Instrument which he must necessarily use continually Surely he should deserve very well of this Nation and be much honoured by all that would set down exact Rules for the making of this most necessary yet contemned Instrument and for every part thereof for without question there are as exact Rules to be laid down for this as for Shipping other things And yet in Shipping how have we within these 6. years out-stripped our selves gone beyond all Nations for which Art some deserve eternal honour And why may we not in this I know a Gentleman who now is beyond seas where he excels even the Hollanders in their own businesse of draining who promised much in this kind and I think he is able to performe it I could wish he were called on to make good his promise In China it is ordinary to have waggons to passe up and down without horses or Oxen with sailes as ships do lately in Holland a waggon was framed which with ordinary sailes carryed 30. people 60. English miles in 4. houres I know some excellent schollars who promise much by the meanes of Horizontal sailes viz. to have 3. or 4. Ploughs to go together which shall likewise both sowe and harrow I dare not being ignorant in these high speculations engage my selfe to do much thereby but wish these Gentlemen whom I know to be extreamly ingenious would attempt something both for the satisfying of themselves and others There is an ingenious Yeoman of Kent who hath 2. ploughs fastened together very finely by the which he plougheth 2. furrowes at once one under another and so stirreth up the land 12. or 14. inches deep which in deep land is good Neare Greenwich there liveth an Honourable Gentleman who hath excellent Col. Blunt Corne on barren land and yet plougheth his land with one horse when as usually through Kent they use 4. and 6. These things shew that much may be done in this kinde and I hope some in these active times wil undertake and accomplish this work of so great importance There is a Book long since Printed made by Sir 2. Deficiency about digging of land Setting and howing in of Corne. Hugh Plattes the most curious man of his time called Adams Art revived wherein is shewed the great benefit which would accrew to this Nation if all land which were fit to be digg'd were so ordered and their corne set Mr. Gab. Plattes likewise hath written much of this kind and promiseth that men shall reape 100. for one all charges borne which are very great That this may be true he bringeth some probable Reasons supposing that lesse then a peck of Wheat will set an Acre I dare not promise so much as these Gentlemen do neither can I commend M. Gab. Plattes setting Instrument For I know there are many difficulties in it which he himselfe could never wade through but concerning digging and setting and howing in of Corne these things I dare maintaine 1. That it is a deficiency in Husbandry that it is used no more 2. That one good digging because it goeth deeper than the Plough and buryeth all weeds killeth the grasses is as good as three ploughings and if the Land be mellow not much more chargeable 3. That it would imploy many 1000. of people that a third part of the seed might be saved As I have found by experience that all the weeds and grasses might be more easily destroyed thereby and the ground better accommodated for other crops and to conclude the croppe considerably greater Yet thus much I must further say concerning setting of Graine That great Beanes are even of necessity to be set and that small Beanes in Surrey and other places are likewise set with Profit for the reasons above mentioned that to set Pease unlesse Hastevers Oates Barley is a thing even ridiculous that Wheate although in divers grounds it may be set with Profit yet to Howe it in as the Gardiners speak as they do Pease though not at the same distance but about a foot the ranges one from another is better then setting for these Reasons 1. Because to set Corne is an infinite trouble and charge and if it be not very exactly done which children neither can nor will do and these must be the chiefe setters will be very prejudicious 2. If wormes frost ill weather or fowles destroy any part of your seed which they will do your croppe is much impaired 3. The ground cannot be so well weeded and the mould raised about the roots by the howe Which 3. inconveniencies are remedied by the other way Further I dare affirme that after the ground is digged or ploughed and harrowed even it 's better to howe Wheate in then to sowe it after the common way because that the weeds may be easily destroyed by running the howe through it in the Spring and the mould raised about the roots of the Corne as the Gardiners do with Pease it would save much Corne in deare yeares and
totally destroy the honest and patient Husband-man's labours neither are we troubled with extreame colds which in New-England and other cold Countreyes do oft destroy the Corne. But to returne to our purpose And first briefly to shew you my opinion concerning the Causes of Smuttynesse I desire not to fetch Causes a farre off and to tell you of the sad Conjunctions of Mars and Saturn for I think Quae supraenos belong not to us when as we have enough at home This is certain ethat there are many evident Causes of this corruption of Corn. 1. A moist season about Kerning-time which moisture either corrupteth the roots of the Plant or the nourishment of it or the seed in its Embrio or perhaps in some measure all these 2. Low moist foggy ground for the reasons above mentioned 3. Dung'd land In Vineyards it 's observed that dung causeth more increase in quantity but lesse in goodnesse so that the ill taste of the dung may easily be discerned because wine hath an high taste without question the same happeneth to other Plants although it be not so easily discerned for the ferment or ill odour of the dung cannot be over-mastered by the Plants as wee see also in Animals that corrupt diet causeth unfavory tastes in the flesh so hogs in New found-land were they are nourished by fish may by their tastes be called rather Sea-porpusses then Land-swine 4. The sowing of Smutty Corne oft produceth Smuttynesse the Son like unto the father I account Smutty Corne an imperfect or sick Graine and suppose that by a Microscope the imperfection may be discerned Lastly the sowing of the same seed oft on the same field causeth Smuttynesse because that nitrous juice which is convenient for the nourishment of the Graine hath been exhausted in the precedent years and therefore it is excellent Husbandry every year to change the species of Graine and also to buy your Seed-Corne from places farre distant I am informed of a Gentleman who did sowe some Wheate which came from Spaine where the Graine is usually very hard and flinty and as it were transparent and farre weightier then ours as it appeareth by a measure at Amsterdam which holdeth about 3. bushels and if our Wheat in the Northerne parts weigheth 160. the Southerne Corne weigheth sometimes 180. 200. 220 and had a crop beyond expectation The usuall Cures of Smuttynesse besides those mentioned before are these 1. To lime your ground which warmeth and dryeth the land 2. To lime your Corne which is done thus First slack your lime and then moisten your Corne or lime and stirre them together till your Graine be as big as a small Pease This liming preserveth Corne likewise from birds and wormes and is found a very good Remedy against this disease others make a strong ly with common salt and steepe their Corne in it all night and then draw away their ly for further use which seldome faileth of its desired effect Whether this strong ly doth by its corrosivenes mortify the weake and imperfect Corne so that it will not grow Or whether it be a Remedy to cure the imperfections thereof is worth the enquiry I suppose that this ly doth exsiccate the superfluous humidity which is the cause of this corruption If Corne be brought into the barne very Smutty in Kent they usually thrash it on dry floores planked with boards by which meanes the Smuttynesse is beaten away and sticketh not to the Graine onely a little blacknes appeareth about the eye but if it be thrashed on a moist floore the blacknesse sticketh to the graine which therefore appeareth darke and is sold at a lower rate to the Bakers Mildew is without question an unctuous dew which descendeth from above about Midsommer it aboundeth in dry years as Smuttynesse in moist I cannot thinke that there is ordinarily any Malignity in this dew but it produceth its effect by manifest causes viz. from an oily viscous quality which stoppeth the pores of the husk wherein the Wheate lyeth and depriveth it from the Aire and consequently from nourishment for the Aire is the life of all things I have heard and do beleeve that if you streake any eare of Wheat with oile it will produce the same effect I am sorry that I never tryed that I might better understand the nature of this sad calamity which often undoeth the Industrious Husband-man and causeth great scarcity in this Isle It is to be observed further that Wheat only suffereth considerable damage by Mildew because it lyeth in a chaffy husk which other Graines do not The Grounds most subject to Mildew are these 1. Those that are inclosed with trees and high hedges And truly this is the onely great Inconveniency I find by enclosures 2. Lowe velleyes I have seen very oft in the same field the bankes fine bright Corne and all the lower parts though greater in straw yet little worth by reason of the Mildew 3. Dung made of straw I have observed to dispose much to Mildew and Sheeps-dung to be a kind of Antidote against it as also Pigeons-dung because as I conceive these 2. last sorts abound much in Niter which produceth a firme hard bright Corne not easily to be putrefyed but the other being more oily and Sulphureous causeth a darke Spungy Corn soon corruptible And 2. Because straw is a part of the same kind corrupted which is alwayes in some measure hurtfull to the same species both in Ammals and all Vegetables and therefore rotten sticks or the earth proceeding from them is found hurtful to the roots of trees and trees will hardly grow where the Roots of other trees have formerly been corrupted The Remedyes for this Accident briefly are these Not to speak of Bees who questionlesse make most of their Honey from these Honies or Mildews for they gather very little in comparison of that which falleth 1. The best way is to cut down the trees about your ground and your hedges low that the wind may ventilate your Corne. 2. To sowe early that your Corne may be full Kerned before these Mildewes fall I am informed Sir Jo. Culp that an Ingenious Kt. in Kent did for curiosity sowe Wheate in all moneths of the year and that the Corne sowen in July did produce such an increase that it is almost incredible and truly I think it a great fault in many places that they sowe late for many reasons I am sure in France they usually sowe before Michaelmas 3. Some use and with good profit to draw a line over their Corne and to strike off the Mildew before it be inspissated by the Sun This ought especially to be done before sun-rising 2. men in an hour will easily run over an Acre the Mildewes usually fall like a thick fog or a Misty raine if you go to your Bees you will soon perceive it by their extraordinary labour very early in the morning 4. The use of a kind of bearded Wheate is an excellent Remedy for the beard
shoveth off the dew that it doth not so easily insinuate it selfe into the eare and likewise causeth the eare to shake by the least wind There is a kind of Wheate in Buckingham-Shire called Red-straw-Wheate which is much commended it 's a strong-stalked Wheate and doth not soon lodge and therefore excellent for Rank land where Corne is apt to lodge and consequently to Mildew but I question whether it hath any property against Mildew This I am very confident of that if this Wheate or any other were without the Chaffy huskes exposed bare to the Aire as Barly and Rie are Wheate would not be afflicted with Mildew Perhaps such Graine may be found by diligent enquiry I have casually picked out of a Wheate-field some stalkes which have had 2. eares on them and though Barly usually hath been 2. ranges yet I have seen some sorts with 4. 6. and there are many great varieties in graines not yet discovered Truly if any one knoweth better wayes then these how to cure this Malady of Mildew he is much to blame if he do not publish it for the good of his Countreymen I will not here set downe the divers manners of 5. Deficiency cocerning the planting of Apples Peares Cherties and Plums Graftings and Inoculations which neverthelesse is an art absolutely necessary in Planting for every book of Husbandry doth shew it and every Gardiner can teach it those who are desirous to learn it Neither will I set down all the sorts of Apples Peares Cherries Plums c. for it would be too tedious a discourse and Mr. Parkinson hath already very excellently done it in his Book called Paradisus Terrestris where at leasure you may read it I will onely point briefly at the Deficiencies which I find in this part of Husbandry and the best wayes to Remedy them 1. I say that it is a great Deficiency in England that we have not more Orchards planted It 's true that in Kent and about London and also in Gloucester-Shire Herford and Worcester there are many gallant Orchards but in other Countreys they are very rare and thinne but if there were as many more even in any Countrey they would be very profitable I know in Kent that some advance their ground even from 5. s. per Acre to 5. pound by this meanes and if I should relate what I have heard by divers concerning the profit of a Cherry-Orchard about Sittenburne in Kent you would hardly beleeve me yet I have heard it by so many that I beleeve it to be true Namely that an Orchard of 30. Acres of Cherryes produduced in one year above a 1000. pound but now the trees are almost all dead it was one of the first Orchards planted in Kent Mr. Cambden reporteth that the Earle of Leicester's Gardiner in Qu. Eliz. time first began to plant Flemish Cherryes in those parts which in his time did spread into 16. other Parishes and were at that time sold at rgeater rates then now yet I know that 10. or 15. pound an Acre hath been given for Cherryes more for Pears and Apples 2. There is a great Deficiency in the ordering of Orchards in that they are not well pruned but full of Mosse Misletoe and Suckers and oftentimes the ground is packed too thick of trees for they should stand at least 20. foot asunder neither will ill husbands bestow dunging digging or any other cost on Orchards which if they did might pay halfe their rents in some places One told me for a secret a Composition for to make Trees bear much and excellent fruit which was this First in an old tree to split his root then to apply a Compost made of Pigeons-dung lees of wine or stale Vrine and a little Brimstone to destroy the wormes it hath some probability of truth for experience I know that a bushel of Pigeons-dung hath caused a tree to grow and bear which for divers years before stood at a stand but concerning splitting the roots I know not what to say Some old Authors affirm this ought to be done because that the roots may as wel be hide-bound as other parts of the tree and not able to attract his nourishment and when the Roote is split it will speedily send forth divers small fibrous roots which are the principal Attractors It were good that some would give us an exact account of this Experiment But Some will object against Orchards that they spoile much ground and therefore ought to be planted onely in hedges To this I answer 1. That Plumtrees and Damsins may very well be planted in hedges being ordinarily thorny plants this is used very much in Surrey and Kent where the Plums usually pay no small part of their Rent yet I never saw in these Southerne parts of England any Apples or Peares thrive in an Hedge unlesse a Crab or a Wilden or some Sweeting of little worth How they thrive in Hereford-Shire and those places I know not 2. The Inconveniences of Orchards planted at 20. or 30. foot distance is not worth speaking of for this is the usuall course in Kent when they plant any ground they exactly place them in ranke and file and then plough their lands many years and sow them with Corn till the Orchard beginneth to beare fruite then they lay them down for pasture which Pasture is not considerably soure but hath this advantage above other Pastures 1. That it is sooner growne by 14. dayes in the spring than the Medowes and therefore very serviceable 2. In Parching Summers here is plenty when other places have Scarcity 3. They are great shelters for Cattel especially Sheepe who will in those places in great snowes scrape up meate which in other places they cannot do and if the pasture were soure yet the losse is not great for it will be a convenient place for the Hogs to run in who must have a place for that purpose where there are no Commons 4. I say that the Benefits are so many by Orchards that you ought not like an ungrateful man to thrust them up to the hedge for they afford curious walkes for pleasure food for Cattel both in the spring early and also in the parching Summer and nipping snowy Winter They affoard fuel for the fire and also shades from the heat physick for the sicke refreshment for the sound plenty of food for man and that not of the worst and drink also even of the best and all this without much labour care or cost who therefore can justly open his mouth against them 3. Deficiency is that we do not improve many excellent Fruits which grow amongst us very well and that we have as yet many fruits from beyond seas which will grow very well with us I passe by the generall and great ignorance that is amongst us of the variety of Apples of which there are many sorts which have some good and peculiar uses most men contenting themselves with the knowledge of half a score of the best thinking the
ground naturally produceth a small Trefoile which it seemeth is very sweet and pleasant it 's commonly called Trifolium luteum or Lupilinum that is yellow or Hop-Trefoile and I am perswaded if that the seed of this Trefoile were preserved and sowen with dates when they intend to lay it downe it would very much advance the Pasture of that place therefore I desire all Ingenious men seriously to consider the nature of the Trefoiles which are the sweetest of grasses and to observe on what grounds they naturally grow and also the nature of other grasses which as I have said before are no lesse then 90. sorts naturally growing in this Isle some on watry places some on dry some on clay others on sand Chalk c. some on fruitful places others in barren by the which meanes I suppose a solid foundation might be laid for the advancing the Pasture-lands of all sorts through this Island for I know some plants as the Orchis call'd Bee-flower c. which will thrive better on the Chalky barren bankes than in any garden though the mould be never so rich and delicate and the Gardiner very diligent in cherishing of it and why may not the same propriety be in grasses for we see diverse benty grasses to thrive especially on barren places where scarce any thing else will grow J must againe and againe desire all men to take notice of the wonderful grasse which groweth neare Salisbury and desire them to try it on their Rich Meadowes It 's a common saying that there are more waste lands in England in these particulars than in all 11. Deficiency concerning waste Lands Europe besides considering the quantity of land I dare not say this is true but hope if it be so that it will be mended For of late much hath been done for the advancement of these kinds of land yet there are as yet great Desiciencies In the times of Papistry all in this Island were either Souldiers or Scholars Scholars by reason of the great honours priviledges and profits the third part of the Kingdome belonging to them and Souldiers because of the many and great warres with France Scotland Ireland Wales And in those times Gentlemen thought it an honour to be carelesse and to have houses furniture diet exercises apparell c. yea all things at home and abroad Souldier-like Musick Pictures Perfumes Sauces unlesse good stomacks were counted perhaps unjustly too effeminate In Qu. Elizabeth's dayes Ingenuities Curiosities and Good Husbandry began to take place and then Salt Marshes began to be fenced from the Seas and yet many were neglected even to our dayes as Hollhaven in Essex Axtel-holme Isle in York-shire many 1000. of Acres have lately been gained from the Sea in Lincolne-shire and as yet more are to be taken in there and in other places Rumsey-marsh in Kent consisting of 45000. Acres and upwards as Cambden relateth is of some antiquity where the land is usually let for 30. s. per Acre and yet 1. d. per week constantly is pay'd through the whole levil for the maintenance of the wall and now and then 2. d. whereas ordinary salts are accounted dear at 5. s. or 6. s. per Acre so that the improvement is very considerable the same I may say of Fens especially that great Fen of Lincolne-shire Cambridge Hungtingdon consisting as I am Informed of 380000. Acres which is now almost recovered and a friend of mine told me very lately that he had proffered a marke per Acre for 900. Acres together to sowe Rape on which formerly was scarcely valued at 12. d. per Acre very great therefore is the improvement of draining of lands and our negligence very great that they have been waste so long and as yet so continue in divers places for the improving of a Kingdome is better than the conquering a new one 2. I see likewise no small faults in this land by having so many Chases and Forrests where brambles brakes furzes do grow when as these trumperies might be cut up and pot-ashes made of them and the ground imployed profitably for Corne or Pasture I know a Forrest by Brill in Buckingham-shire taken in and the land is usually let being now well enclosed for 4. or 5. Nobles per Acre 3. Sort of waste-land is dry heathy Commons I know that poore people will cry out against me because I call these waste-lands but it s no matter I desire Ingenious Gentlemen seriously to consider whether or no these lands might not be improved very much by the Husbandry of Flaunders viz. by sowing Flax Turneps great Clover-Grasse if that Manure be made by folding Sbeepe after the Flaunders way to keepe it in heart 2. Whether the Rottennesse and Scabbinesse of Sheepe Murrein of Cattel Diseases of horses and in general all diseases of Cattel do not especially proceed from Commons 3. If the rich men who are able to keepe great stockes are not great gainers by them 4. Whether Commons do not rather make poore by causing idlenesse than maintaine them and such poor who are trained up rather for the Gallowes or beggery than for the Common-wealths service 5. How it cometh to passe that there are fewest poore where there are fewest Commons as in Kent where there is scarce 6. Commons in the County of a considerable greatnesse 6. How many do they see enriched by the Commons if their Cattel be not usually swept away by the Rot or starved in some hard winters 7. If that poore men might not imploy 2. Acres enclosed to more advantage than twice as much in a Common And Lastly if that all Commons were enclosed and part given to the Inhabitants and part rented out for a stock to set all the poore on worke in every County I determine nothing in this kind but leave the determination for wiser heads 4. Parkes Although I cannot but reckon Parks amongst lands which are not Improved to the full but perceive considerable waste by them by brakes bushes brambles c. growing in divers places and therefore wish there were fewer in this Island yet I am not so great an enemy to them as most are for there are very great Uses of them as 1. For the bringing up of young cattel 2. For the maintaining of Timber so that if any have occasion to use a good peece of Timber either for a Mill-post or a Keele of a Ship or other special uses whither can they go but to a Parke 3. The skins of the Deere are very usefull and their flesh excellent Food Not to speak of the Medicinal Vses nor of Acornes for hogs c. But some will object that the plough never goeth there To the which I answer It s no matter for I cannot but Preemminence of English laws say as Fortescue Chancellor to Henry 6. doth That God hath given us such a fruitful land that without labour we have plenty whereas France must digge and delve for what they have And I suppose that I could maintaine
lands for Pasture which lands if they be stubbed do much prejudice the Common-wealth 2. That all Woods should have such a Number of Timber-trees per Acre according to the Statute There is a good law for that purpose but men delude both themselves and the law that they every felling cut downe the standers which they left the felling before least perchance they should grow to be Timber and leave 12. small standers that they might seeme to fulfill in some measure the Statute but it 's a meere fallacy and causeth the Statute to faile of it's principal end which is to preserve Timber 3. The best Remedy against thinnesse of woods is to plash them and spread them abroad and cover them partly in the ground as every Countreyman can direct by this meanes the wood will soone grow rough and thick It 's good Husbandry likewise to fill your woods with swift growers as Ashes Sallow Willow Aspe which are also good for Hop-poles Hoopes Sycamore is also a swift grower In Flaunders they have a kinde of Salix called by them Abell-tree which speedily groweth to be timber 4. That some law be made that they which fell should also plant or sowe In Biscay there is a law if that any cut downe a Timber-tree he must plant 3. for it which law is put into execution with severity otherwise they would soon be undone for the Countrey is very mountainous and barren and dependeth wholly on Iron Mines and on Sbipping their Woods are not copsed there but onely Pollards which they lop when occasion serveth I know one who was bound by his Land-Lord to plant so many trees yearly which according he did but alwayes in such places that they might not grow In France neare to the borders of Spaine they sowe Ashkey which when they grow to such a greatnesse that they may be slit into 4 quarters big enough to make Pikes then they cut them downe I have seen divers Acres together thus planted hence come the excellent Pikes called Spanish-Pikes Some Gentlemen have sowen Acornes it 's a good way to encrease Woods Though the time is long I doubt not but every one knoweth that it 's excellent to plant Willowes along the waters side and Ashe s nigh their houses for firing for they are good peeces of Husbandry and it 's pitty that it 's not more put in practice There is a Gentleman in Essex who hath planted so many Willowes that he may lop â—000 every year if others were as Ingenious we should not want fire-wood Osiers planted in low morish grounds do advance land from 5. s. per Acre to 40. s. 50. s. 3. l. and upward it 's much used Westward of London these Osiers are of great use to Basket-makers There is a sort of small Osier or willow at Saint Omars in Flaunders which groweth on Islands which floate up and downe it s farre lesse then that which the Westerne men call Eights with this they make their curious fine Baskets this plant is worth the procuring being so nigh John Tredescat hath some plants of it There is a plant likewise in England called the sweete Willowes it 's not onely good for shade and firing but as I am informed the leaves do not soure the grasse but that the cattel will eat them sooner than Hay if this be so it may be of singular use for Meadowes 5. That those things which mightily destroy Woods may be restrained as Iron-workes are therefore the State hath very well done to pull downe divers Iron-workes in the Forrest of Deane that the Timber might be preserved for Shipping which is accounted the toughest in England and when it is dry as hard as Iron the Common-people did use to say that in Q. Eliz. days the Spaniard sent an Ambassador purposely to get this Wood destroyed how true this is I know not but without question it 's admirable Wood for Shipping and generally our English Oake is the best in the world for Shipping because it 's of a great graine and therefore strong but the Oakes of other Countreyes have a finer grain and more fit for Wainscot and in this kinde our Forefathers have been very provident for we have an Act of long standing prohibiting Iron-workes within 20. miles of London and within 3. miles of the River of Thames though you may finde Iron-stone in divers places as in the great gravil-pit at Woolwhich There are some Ingenious men who lately have got a Patent for making Iron with Sea-coale I hope they will accomplish their desires for it would wonderfully advance this Island and save Wood. There are 2. faults in Sea-coale in respect of melting Iron-oare 1. That it is apt to bake together or cake 2. It hath a sulphurious fumein it which is an enemy to Metal and consumeth it as we see by our Iron-Bars in Windowes at London so that the Metalline nature of the Iron-stone is much wasted by it and that which remaineth is very brittle and will be Could-shire I know that by the mixture of Coale beaten with loame and throughly dryed one if not both of these Inconveniencies may be taken away In the Duke of Cleveland's Countrey they use halfe Turffe halfe Charcoale There is a way by making a kinde of Barter with Loame Vrine c. which will cause Charcoale to last very long as I am informed but these discourses belong to another place It 's a great Deficiency here in England without 13. Deficiency of Bees question that we have no more Bees considering that they are neither chargeable requiring onely a few strawes for an house nor troublesome and this Island may maintaine ten times as many for though a place may be over-stocked with these Animals as with the greater yet I know no part of this land that is so and I know divers places which would maintaine many 100 hives yet scarce one to be seen 2. Our Honey is the best in the world and Wax a staple Commodity Further we know that cold Countreyes not comparable to ours as Moscovia have farre greater quantity than we have so that it 's incredible what quantity is found in the Woods if the story of the man be true who fell up even to the eares in Honey and had there perished had not a Beare on which he caught hold pulled him out Now I have enquired how it cometh to passe that there is so great store of Honey in Moscovia considering the Winters are extreame cold and also very long and I am credibly informed that first the spring when it beginneth cometh extraordinary fast that the dayes are very long and the Summers farre dryer then ours here in England so that the Bees are not hindred by continual showers as they are some yeares here in this Isle and lastly that the Countrey aboundeth much with Firs and Pine-trees which the Inhabitants usually cut that the Gumme Rosinous or Turpentine substance may sweate forth to which places the Bees do come and presently fill
that this sand is for building this loame for brickes this clay for pots this Marle for Corn-land and if that they shall finde any Stones Earths which they know not that they would lay them up till that they meet with some ingenious man that can informe them The richest Mines of the world have been found out by these meanes if we will beleeve Histories And this I am sure of that by this meanes they may much advance their knowledge and be more profitable to the Publique their Neighbours and also to themselves 17. Deficiency is the Ignorance of the Vegetables of 17. Deficiency of the Vegetables of this Island their Vertues and Vses this Island and their Vertues and Vses And the first Deficiency that I take notice of is the Ignorance of the ordinary seeds which are commonly sowen amongst us for usually the Countrey-man contenteth himselfe with one or two sorts and knoweth no more when as there are very great varieties some of which agree with one sort of ground some with another as for example there are very many sorts of Wheates some called White Wheate some Red Wheate some Bearded which as I have said before is not so subject to Mildewes as others others not some sorts with 2. rowes others with 4. and 6. some with one eare on a stalke others with double eares or two on the same stalke Redstalke-wheate of Buckinghamshire Winter-Wheat Summer-Wheate which is sowen abundantly in New-England in Aprill and May and reaped ordinarily in 3. moneths and many sorts more Not to trouble my discourse with Spelt Zea Tiphine-Wheate or Olew Far Siligo Alica which were used amongst the Auntients but now unknowne not onely to the Countrey-man but even to the learned-est Botanicks so I may say that the ordinary Yeoman is ignorant of the diversities of Barleys for there is not onely the ordinary Barly but also Big Sprat-Barly which hath lately been sowen in Kent with good profit also Winter Barly sowen in winter Barly with 4. 6. rowes naked Barly which require divers dispositions of land some delighting in finer others in stiffer grounds So there is also Winter and Summer-Rie and 20. sorts of Pease the ordinary sâ—chew the raith or Early-ripe Pease the Roncivals Hastivers Hotarses Gray-Pease Green-Pease Pease without Skins Sugar-Pease whose shels are sweeter then the Pease it selfe and have beene within these 10. years plentifully sowen in Lincolne-shire with profit also Fulham Sandwich-Pease c. which require divers sorts of land and seasons so also there are divers sorts of Oates White black naked which in New-England serveth well for Oatemeal without grinding being beaten as they come out of the barne Scotch Poland c. Also Buckwheate Lentiles divers sorts of Tares of Hempe and Flax altogether unknowne to most Countrey-men but I hope that hereafter they will be more inquisitive after them for divers of them may be of good use on their lands 2. Deficiency in this kinde is that they are ignonorant of the Plants and Grasses which naturally grow amongst us and their Vses which likewise were made for to be food for Cattel and also for the service of man This ignorance causeth them to admire and to esteem even as miraculous ordinary and triviall things as for example how it cometh to passe that in one Meadow an Horse thriveth very much and speedily and yet a Bullocke will not in that place and contrariwise in a Meadow close by the former the Bullock will thrive and the Horse not so also how it cometh to passe that Conyes and Sheepe will thrive well where there is scarcely any Pasture and yet come to nothing on Commons where there is a greater quantity of Pasture which proceedeth from this cause that somekinde of Plants are more agreeing and sweeter to one sort of Cattel then to another and every beast almost hath some Plant or other which they love exceedingly I suppose that the observances of this kinde might be very useful in Husbandry These Deficiencies I will draw to 3. heads 1. I say that divers Plants not to speak of Fruits because we have already spoken of them that grow naturally in our Island may be very serviceable to the Husbandman both for his Pastures Corne-lands To instance in some few we see that divers sorts of wild Vetches Chiches Tares c. grow wild in divers places which though they beare not so great and large crops as some others already used yet who knoweth what they would do if they were manured as other graines and in land proper for them for we see that the transplanting of Plants into Gardens doth very much meliorate or better them and without doubt all those graines which are in use with us were at first picked out of the field and woods and by Ingenious men found useful for man or beast and of late divers have been found not knowne to our Forefathers as Saint Foine Lucerne and why may not we finde divers Grasses Vetches Medicaes Wild Pease c. which as yet are scarce taken notice of 2. There grow divers sorts of wilde Pease but to speak of 2. onely 1. Sort which groweth on the stony beaches of the Sea where there is little or no earth the rootes are many foot deepe in the ground In Queene Maries dayes in a dearth the poor people gathered divers sackes full of them and they were no small reliefe to them who hath tryed whether they would thrive better on better land 2. sort groweth on dry barren land and is commonly called the everlasting Pease which continually groweth out of the same roote In Gardens I have seene it grow 10. yeares together and larger at the 10. years end then at the first I have also seen it flourish on barren grounds where Oates were burnt away who knoweth but these and other Plants may be serviceable if not for man at least to beasts or Pigeons for in New-England the great flights of Pigeons are much maintained by these I am sure it were good to make experiments on these and divers others 2. Head is the Ignorance of the Mechanical Vses of Herbs and Trees for even for these Vses most Plants have some peculiar propriety To instance in a few We know that Elme is for Wheels and the best wood for to make Herrings red Oake is for the Shipwright Joyner Tanner Horne-beames Beech for the Millwright Line-tree for base ropes Old Elder without pith is very tough fit for Cogs of wheeles Tooth Pickers Pear-tree for Mathematicall Instruments and Engravers c. Osiers for Baskets Walnut for Gunstockes Aspe for Hoopes Box Ash for a 100. uses and much more might be spoken of this kind if time would permit So likewise divers Plants are for Painters as you may see in Batte's Experiments some for the Dyers but as yet we know but 4. viz. Woade Would Green-wood and Madder amongst 1200. plants and upward which grow wilde with us I could wish some Ingenious man would take the paines to search
but mean and rude and Mr. Wheeler's way much more Ingenious 5. I saw at Wicklesen the manner of your Holland Sluces The ruines also of a Cochlea for the emptying and dreining of water of which Vbaldus hath writ a whole Treatise Likewise a petty kinde of Pinnace with ordinance somewhat like a close Litter but Flat-bottom'd which rowed with wheeles instead of Oares imployed it seemes formerly with admirable successe for the taking in of Crowland and which gave me a proofe of what I for many years have thought possible and of very great use and service and still think it of unknowne value if it were skillfully indeed framed and applyed as it might be 6. The Lord F. W. assured me of a Gentleman in Norfolke that made above 10000. l. sterl of a peece of ground not 40. yards square and yet there was neither Mineral or Metall in it He after told me it was onely a sort of fine Clay for the making a choise sort of earthen ware which some that knew it seeing him dig up discovered the value of it and sending it into Holland received so much money for it it 's a story not to be despised 7. His Lordship told me the way of making of Spunke or Touch-wood 8. Mr. H. His Lordship's Bailiff shewed me a small plat of ground scarce an Acre and halfe wherein he assured me he had in one yeare 21. hundred of Hops and falling out then to be scarce in other places he made of that small parcel of ground 9. score l. 9. At Milton I saw a Spring that might have been made big enough to serve a large Towne which my Friend Wheeler had newly discovered and broke up every man opposing him in it and deriding his confidence till he made it appear and ashamed them Hereupon he gave me several marks of knowing and finding out Springs under ground 10 From Springs we converted our discourse to Pipes for the carrying along of water under ground to any House or Towne wherein he imparted some secrets to me both of the fittest Wood and Trees for Pipes and preserving them whole ages from corruption by wayes extreamly rational and not hitherto observed or found out by any 11. This drew on some Discourse of Woods their Differences and several Applications in which he told me many singular Observations 12. After this I saw at Milton an Excellent Modell of a Garden Orchard and Walkes and being further curious my Friend related a Witty Invention he once put in Practise to plant an Orchard in a Moorish place where never grew a Tree 13. I casually met with one Boughton a most singular rare man in carving or cutting out Figures in small or in great of Stone and for that reason servant in ordinary to the late King Who acquainted me of many excellent Ingenious men and promised to seek me at my lodging 14. Being in Camebridge-shire I examined more particularly the Husbandry planting ordering and curing of Saffron Some other things came in my way not without notice But these are the chief My own Improvements and comments upon all which I shall more at large give you when we meet together being alwayes SIR Your's Quere's sent into France about the Seed called La Lucerne WHen one N. N. was last in France being in discourse with Doctor D. concerning Saint Foine he was then told by Doctor D. that for the Improvement of barren grounds there was in those parts of France about Paris another seed that did farre excell that of Saint Foine and that the name of that more excellent seed was La Lucerne I am desired by a friend of mine to whome N. N. related this passage of Doctor D. that by your kindnesse he may be spoken to of this La Lucerne and his direction's desired where the said seed is to be had for what price how much is usually sowed upon an English Acre what time of yeare it is sowen whether it be sowen alone or with any other ordinary Corne and with what Corne and with what kinde of land it best agrees with and finally what other particulars he can direct more then is here set downe The Answer to the Quere's from Paris I Have been with Doctor D. about Lucerne who tells me that it groweth best in wettish grounds that the best time of sowing it in England will be in February at the same time that Oates are sowne with the which also it may be sowen but best alone that to the sowing of an Arpent which is much what the same with an English Acre there will go 12 or 15. l. of the Seed the which useth to be sold here at 8. or 9. sols the pound More Quere's concerning Lucerne I Desire further to know what kind of wet grounds are best for it whether Moorish or clay whether Poore or Rich whether it must be sowen yearly or whether it will continue over a year in the ground and if more then a year then how many years it will continue without being new sowen whether it be onely good for Meadowes or for Pasture and if for Pasture then whether the Sheepe or Cattel be suffered to go upon it or whether it be carried off greene as the Clover-grasse is in Flaunders Lastly for what Cattel it is most proper Another Answer from Paris I Thought to have sent you 9. l. of the seed of Lucerne for the sowing of three Acres Doctor D. having told me as heretofore I told you that 3. l. would sowe an Arpent or Acre But as I was going about it I met with a Gentleman an acquaintance of mine who some yeares since but unknowne to me hitherto hath had some Acres of Meadow of Lucerne upon his Ground to whom having casually spoke of my businesse and told him all that Doctor D. had told me about the Lucerne he answered me that Doctor D. was most grosly mistaken in the quantity of the Seed required for the sowing of an Acre and that it would not take up 3. l. but two whole sacks each sack containing the full loade of a strong Porter after which rate the quantity of Seed for the sowing of 3. Acres would fill a great dry-fat the sending whereof by land would come to excessive great charges and therefore necessarily to be sent by Sea in my opinion You will be pleased to impart these things to your Friend and to let me know his finall resolution upon them the which shall be faithfully accomplished by me and in the meane while I will get him a perfect and full Answer upon all his Quere's not from Doctor D. whom I dare trust no more in this businesse having found him guilty of such grosse mistakes about it but from that other Gentleman who told me he could himself resolve most of those Questions but that for to be the surer he thought it best to conferre first with his Farmer about it You make Apologies for putting me upon these Inquiries but I pray you to believe that at any
and that here in England howsoever let us alwaies remember to give all possible praise to God whose blessing onely makes rich SIR I am your faithful Friend and Servant Another Letter from Paris discovering the secret of the forenamed French Husbandry SIR J Do with much impatience desire the Treatise or Discourse published by you about the Braband-Husbandry and do very much admire the industry of that English Gentleman your Friend who hath found out the waies of making Corne multiply so prodigiously The Parisian Experimenter of Corn's multiplication I know not but a Friend of mine very well acquainted with him assureth me to have had the following Description of his Secret from himself and to have seen the experience of it very fully in the year 1649. not in any great quantity but in a Garden only for trials sake Pour into quick or unslak't Lime as much Water as sufficeth to make it swim four inches above the Water And unto ten pounds of the said Water poured off mix one pound of Aqua-vitae and in that liquor steep or soake Wheate or Corn twenty four houres which being dryed in the Sun or in the aire steepe again in the said liquor 24. houres more and do it likewise the third time Afterward sowe them at great distances the one from the other about the distance of a foot between each graine So one graine will produce 30. 36. 38. 42. 52. eares and those very fruitful with a tall stalk equalling the stature of a man in height Another Extract of a Letter from the Lowe-Countries SIR THese are to give you special thankes for communication of the Parisian Experimenter's Secret Water if he meanes Cold water poured into quick or unslak't Lime cannot work much in one hour upon the Lime but if it be boiled with it and that the water be poured alwaies afresh upon the Lime then it will come to be so strong at last that an egge may swimme in it as I learn'd by tradition from Doctor Hartmannus but could never make any tryal of it for want of unslackt Lime in the place where I live This perhaps may be yet better but Experience goes beyond Reason in these cases The often macerating or steeping and drying of graines I like very well I have only according to Mr. Gabriel Platt's directions steeped them 24. hours in turned or tained Raine-water and Cow-dung and afterwards sowen them thus wet which on Sandy grounds hath produced such goodly corne as if it had been very good Land Some here use Salt-Peter which also doth much good but is found likewise in Sheepes-dung as may appear by its fertility I have lost the Book of Husbandry of Mr. Plats which was called A Discovery of Infinite Treasure hidden since the world's beginning Whereunto all men of what degree soever are friendly invited to be sharers with the Discoverer For having lent the same to a Friend that it might be translated into High-Dutch I could never see it again I am told it is out of print But if you could help me to another you would do me a pleasure I have nothing to add for the present but that the Genius of this Age is very much bent to advance Husbandry that in all Countries I hear there are found Gentlemen that study professedly these Improvements more then in former times I rest alwaies SIR Your's Another Letter expressing the Reasons why the Experimenter of the Barly-Corne thinks it not fit or expedient to part with his secret as yet for a more common use SIR I Find dayly more and more that it is too true that most men love money that they even worship it in their hearts as the onely Summum Bonum I need not go farre for a proofe since they have brought one to my hand That having so faire and just offers made in order to the Corne-business as I have presented to them by your hands will by no meanes though so very much to their own profit and the Publique Good part with their monies and yet stick not to demand in effect the discovery from me of that talent of knowledge which God hath made mine by his free gift as the reward of my Industry and faithful love to my native Countrey An Estate if I mistake not better gotten then by any of the common meanes by which men grow rich dayly Surely the commodities cannot be lesse then equal The most wise and vertuous men that ever lived have preferred Art Industry and Ingenuity farre before money Money especially the Abuse of it is become the very Poyson of the world against which Art and Industry is an Antidote or Cordiall Money is counted and enjoyed by thousand thousands Art and Industry but by a few And things of excellent use are accounted Jewels especially when rare and scarce The Professors of Art and Industry preferre their private gaine too often before the being and well being of the whole world nay of their own sould These are ever ready to part with unvaluable treasures upon easie conditions Those will not upon any conditions whatsoever but such as please themselves or are full of oppression part with their monies no not to save a Brother's or hardly a Father's or a Child's life And finally if they judge it improvidence to part with a little of their estates onely for a time to returne againe to them shortly like Noah's Dove with an olive-Olive-branch a double branch of Peace and Prosperity I desire to be excus'd if I upon better grounds hold it prophane to sell a better right then a birth-right for lesse then a messe of pottage even for just nothing and for ever I can never forget the exceeding great Ingenuity to the world shewed given by Mr. Gabriel Platt'es as will more fully appeare when you shall have printed those writings of his which he left to your trust custody the world's base Ingratitude that let such a man fall downe dead in the street for want of food without a shirt to his back none but your selfe that want not an enlarged heart but a fuller hand to supply the world's defects being found with some few others to administer any reliefe to a man of so great merit In a word that God that hath forbid to muzle the Ox that treads out the fodder hath appointed every man to use his blessings next to his Glory for the providing for and preservation of his family which he that can do and doth not is worse then an Infidel I dare not give away this meanes of obteining outward blessings to my selfe and family till I have found a way to make it instrumental to that end and that end once effectually attained to I dare not deny God's mercy and bounty to me nor longer restrain the Publique Vse of this universal good I remaine SIR Your's A Secret practised with very good successe in England concerning sowing of Wheat to prevent it from being Smutty FIrst take your Wheate pour the same into a tub
yard and as much for every one in the house and one load for small beasts as hogs This is strange husbandry to us and I beleeve there are many ill husbands by this account I know a woman who liveth 5. miles South of Canterbury who saveth in a paile all the droppings of the houses I meane the urine and when the paile is full sprinckleth it on her Meadow which causeth the grasse at first to look yellow but after a little time it growes wonderfully that many of her neighbours wondered at it and were like to accuse her of witch-craft 18. Woollen raggs which Harford-shire-men use much and Oxford-shire and many other places they do very well in thinne Chalky land in Kent for 2. or 3. yeares It 's a fault in many places that they neglect these as also Linnen-raggs or Ropes-ends of the which white and browne paper is made for it 's strange that we have not Linnen-raggs enough for paper as other Nations have but must have it from Italy France and Holland 19. Denshyring so called in Kent where I onely have seen it used though by the word it should come from Denbigh-shire is the cutting up of all the Mr. Cambden turffe of a Meadow with an instrument sharpe on both sides which a man with violence thrusts before him and then they lay the turffe on heapes and when it 's dry they burne it and spread it on the ground The charge is usually 4. Nobles which the goodnesse of a crop or 2. repayeth 20. Mixture of lands Colum. an old writer saith that his Grand father used to carry sand on clay and on the contrary to bring clay on sandy grounds and with good successe the Lord Bacon thinking much Natur. Histor good may be done thereby for if Chalke be good for loamy land why should not loame be good for Chalky bankes 21. I may add Enclosure as an Improvement of land not onely because that men when their grounds are enclosed may imploy them as they please but because it giveth warmth and consequently fertility There is one in London who promised to mend lands much by warmth onely and we see that if some few stickes ly together give a place warmth how speedily that grasse will grow 22. Steeping of Graines The Auncients used to steep Beanes in salt-water and in Kent it 's usual to steep Barly when they sowe late that it may grow the faster and also to take away the soile for wild Oates Cockle and all save Drake will swimme as also much of the light Corne which to take away is very good If you put Pigeons-dung into the water and let it steep all night it may be as it were halfe a dunging take heed of steeping Pease too long for I have seen them sproute in three or four houres 23. Is the sowing of Course and cheape Graine and when they are growne to plough them in For this purpose the Auncients did use LVPINES a plant well knowne to our Gardiners and in Kent sometimes Tares are sowen which when the cattel have eaten a little of the tops they turne them in with very good Improvement for their ground I will not deny but that we have good Husbands 10. Deficiency concerning the not Improvement of our Meadowes who dung and Marle their Meadowes and Pasture-land and throw downe all Mole and Ant-hills and with their spud-staffe cut up all thistles and weeds and that they likewise straw ashes on their grounds to kill the Mosse and salt for the wormes and they do very well but yet there are many who are negligent in these particulars for the which they are blame-worthy but the Deficiencies of which I intend to speak of are these following Cato one of the wisest of the Romans saith that Pratum est quasi paratum alwayes ready and prepared and preferreth Meadowes before the Olive-Gardens although the Spaniards bequeath Olive-trees to their children as we do cotages or Vines or Corne because Meadowes bring in a certaine profit without labour and paines but the other requireth much cost and paines and are subject to Frosts Mildew Haile Locusts to the which for the honour of Meadowes I may add that the stock of Meadowes is of greater value and the Commodities which arise from them are divers and of greater value than Corne as Butter Cheese Tallow Hides Beef Wooll and therefore I may conclude that England abounding in Pastures more than other Countries is therefore richer and I know what others think I care not that in France Acre for Acre is not comperable to it Fartescue Chancelor of England saith that we get more in England by standing still then the French by working but to speak of the Deficiencies amongst us 1. We are to blame that we have neglected the great Clover-grasse Saint Foine Lucerne 2. That we do not float our lands as they do in Lombardy where they mowe their lands 3. or 4. times yearly which consist of the great Clover-grasse Here are the excellent Parmisane-cheeses made and indeed these Pastures far exceed any other places in Italy yea in Europe We here in England have great opportunities by brooks Rivers in all places to do so but we are negligent yet we might hereby double if not trebble our profits kill all rushes c. But he that desireth to know the manner how to do this and that profit that will arise thereby let him reade Mr. Blithes Booke of Husbandry lately printed 3. That when we lay down land for Meadow or Pasture we do not sowe them with the seeds of fine sweet grasse Trefoiles and other excellent herbes Concerning this you may reade a large Treatise of the Countrey-Farmer for if the land be rich it will put forth weeds and trumpery and perhaps a kind of soure grasse little worth if it be poore ye shall have thistles May-weed and little or no grasse for a yeare or 2. I know a Gentleman who at my entreaty sowed with his Oates the bottome of his Hay-mowe and though his land were worne out of heart and naturally poore yet he had that year not onely a crop of Oates but he might if it had pleased him have mowen his grasse also but he spared it which was well done till the next year that it might make a turffe and grow stronger By this Husbandry lands might be well improved especially if men did consider the diversity of grasses which are 90. sorts and 23. of Trefoile I know a place in Kent which is a white Chalky downe which ground is sometimes sowen with Corne a year or 2. and then it resteth as long or longer when it is laid down it maintaineth many great Sheepe and very lusty so that they are even fit for the Butcher and yet there doth scarce appeare any thing that they can eate which bath caused divers to wonder as if they had lived on Chalke-stones but I more seriously considering the matter throughly viewed the ground and perceived that the