fruits 〈◊〉 from out of this Garden are much better by remouing in doing whereof they are also not onely more freely bestowed but become of a better tast and verdure CHAP. VI. Of the time of sowing the Kitchin Garden ALl seede which are for the store of the Kitchin Garden must be Sowne 〈◊〉 remoued in the encrease of the Moone as namely from the first day 〈◊〉 the sixt for those that are sowne in the decrease they either come 〈◊〉 slowly or else they be nothing worth Besides that although you sow 〈◊〉 the encrease of the Moone it sometime falleth out that notwithstanding your 〈◊〉 be fat full make a white flower and be nothing corrupted or hurt yet some 〈◊〉 constellation which the Gardiners doe call the course of the Heauens doe 〈◊〉 them that they profit not nor yet thriue anie thing at all Although that 〈◊〉 the Husbandman say That the Earth which hath the fauour and benefit of a 〈◊〉 and mild ayre and is watered with some running streame is in all points and râ—spects free and not tyed or bound to anie lawes of sowing but hee cannot 〈◊〉 that whatsoeuer groweth whether it be Plant or Seed hath two ends that is to 〈◊〉 the Root which hath altogether to doe with the Earth and the Branches or vppermost part thereof which hath altogether to doe with the Ayre and the Heauenâ— and that the obseruations drawne from superior bodies as from the proceeding and disposition of the Moone doe shew and proue the ouerthwarts and 〈◊〉 incumbrances wrought against the creatures of the earth both in their 〈◊〉 forth of the earth and drawing to stalke as also in the gouernment of them aâ—terward In moist places and such as are serued with some small currant of water it is 〈◊〉 to sow in the Spring for then the mildnesse and gentlenesse of the yeare followinâ— doth entertaine in verie good sort the growing seeds and the drinesse of the 〈◊〉 cannot hurt them because of the water prest and at hand But when as the 〈◊〉 of the place hath no naturall supply of running water or else such as is verie 〈◊〉 come by in respect of the bringing thither there is no other refuge but the 〈◊〉 of the Winter raine wherefore in such places it is more sure to sow in Aâ—tumne and yet one may well sow there in the Spring so that you cast your 〈◊〉 three foot deepe If a man be disposed to sow Seeds in Summer it must be in the encrease of the Moone of Iuly and August and in Autumne in the encrease of the Moone of September and October as also for the Spring in Februarie and in March In 〈◊〉 naturally cold or which receiue no great heat from the Sunne beames the sowing 〈◊〉 the Spring time must be toward the later end thereof and that in Autumne must 〈◊〉 hastened and early performed On the contrarie the sowing of Seeds in the Sprinâ— time in a hot place must be early performed and the Sowing or Seed-time of Aâ—tumne must be somewhat deferred Seeds doe grow the better when they be 〈◊〉 vpon warme daies or daies that are neither hot nor cold than and if they be 〈◊〉 vpon hot cold or drie daies The Seed that is to be sowne must not be aboue 〈◊〉 yeare old otherwise if they be verie old drie wrinkled leane soft false or 〈◊〉 gathered they will neuer grow nor thriue Wherefore by how much the 〈◊〉 the seeds of Cucumers Melons Leekes and Gourds be so much the sooner they grow On the contrarie by how much the elder the seeds of Parsely Beets 〈◊〉 Cresâ—es and Coriander be so much the more hastily doe they put out of the earth supposed alwaies that age hath not corrupted them Coleworts and 〈◊〉 of all sorts white Succorie Garlicke Leekes and Onions are sowne in Autumne and liue all Winter Coleworts Rocket Cresses Coriander Cheruill Nauets Turneps Radishes Parsneps Carrets Parsely Fennell and other hearbes whose roots are good in pottage are sowne in Autumne and in the Spring notwithstanding they grow better being sowne in Iuly in hot Countries and in August in Countries indifferent hot and in September in cold Countries Lettuce Sorrell Purcelane Cucumbers Gourds Sauorie Harts-horne Trick-madame Beets and other tender hearbes as also Artichokes are sowne in the Spring and for the most part also those of March and Aprill grow more early than those of Februarie according to the diuersitie of the time Aboue all the Seeds which are to be sowne must be well-conditioned full heauie corpulent grosse hauing a good colour yeelding a white flower when they be broken not dustie for dust falling from them when they be broken sheweth that they are corrupted and nothing worth CHAP. VII Within what space Seeds are wâ—nt to grow after they be sowne NOtwithstanding that the nature of the Ground the mildnesse of the Aire fauourable furtherance of the Heauens and the age of the Seed doe cause Seeds to hasten the more or to be the flower in springing out of the bosome of their mother and nurse the earth for as much as that which is sowne in faire weather and an open aire in a hot place and open vpon the Sunne and of new Seed doth shew it selfe sooner than that which is sowne in a contrarie time and place yet euerie Seed hath a certaine time to manifest in selfe in whereto we must haue due regard to the end that there may be prefixed times to sow and looke for the growth of euerie Seed Spinach Basill Nauets and Rocket grow within three daies after they be sowne Lettuce the fourth day Cucumbers and Citruls the fifth Purcelane a little later Annise the fourth Cresses and Mustard-seed the fifth Beets in Summer on the sixt and in Winter on the tenth Arach the eight Coleworts the tenth Leekes the nineteenth or ofter the twentieth Coriander about the fiue and twentieth or else more late if the Seed be new Organie and Sauorie after the thirtieth Parsely in the fortieth for the most part and oftentimes in the fiftieth It is true that in this place the age of the Seed and state of the Aire when the Gardiner doth sow them is of great moment for as I haue said the Leeke Cucumber and Citrull grow sooner if the Seed be new And on the contrarie Parsely Spinach Organie Sauorie Coriander and Cresses when their Seed is sold likewise the Seed of Cucumbers steept in milke or in warme water putteth the sooner out of the earth after the same sort you may make reckoning of Artichokes and manie other hearbes as you shall know hereafter in their particular Treatises CHAP. VIII Of watering weeding sweeping and cutting of Pothearbes SO soone as the ground is full of Seeds in all places you must be carefull to water it if by hap the place be drie of his owne nature that so the Seed may not be hindered of his sprouting by the too much drinesse or that the hearbe alreadie sprung may not die The
the seed of Gromell to the quantitie of two drammes Ceterach halfe a dramme and Amber two scruples all being powdred with the iuice of Plantaine or Purcelane or Lettuce In like manner two drammes of the seed of Gromell with womens milke doth much comfort and strengthen a woman in her child-birth Hyporicum loueth the like entreatie that Gromell loueth and yet withall it doth refuse a fat and well tilled soyle The iuice of the leaues and flowers healeth cuts and wounds The seed drunke with white wine taketh away the tertian Ague The flowers and crops are principally in vse to make Balmes of for the curing of wounds such like as this is Take of the fruit of the Elme tree the flowers of Hypericum and the buds of Roses put them all together in a Glasse-bottle and set them in the Sunne so long as vntill you see them all so altered and changed as that they may seem to be rotted then straine them all through a linnen cloth and reserue it for your vse See further in the third Booke of the oyle of Hypericum Ground-pine loueth a drie sandie and stonie soyle and groweth better planted than sowne The whole hearbe boyled in honied water doth heale the laundise prouoke the termes in Women prouoke Vrine and is soueraigne against the Sciatica either taken in drinke or applyed vpon the hippe in forme of a Cataplasme for the whole hearbe with the flowers and roots made into powder and taken at the mouth fortie daies with halfe an ounce of Turpentine doth throughly heale the Sciatica The conserue made of the flowers is good for such as are subiect vnto the Palsie The whole hearbe boyled in vineger and taken at the mouth doth minister insinit helpe to a trauailing women when the child is dead in her bodie Agrimonie would be planted in a stonie and drie place and further craueth no great helpe of hand or husbandrie The decoction openeth the obstructions of the Liuer and strengtheneth it and it being boyled and drunke doth helpe against the bitings of venimous beasts The iuice of Agrimonie mixt with vineger and salt in a Liniment doth cure the Itch. Agrimonie is good against the cough of Sheepe and for broken-winded Horses The liquor of the decoction of Agrimonie with fumitorie made like Whay doth prouoke Vrine expell the Termes heale the Itch and Scab of the whole bodie whereupon it is singular in the beginning of the Leprosie The seed mixt with the iuice of Agrimonie and taken in manner of pilles doth kill the Wormes The Stagge being shot and wounded is healed so soone as he hath eaten of this hearbe If you gather good store of this hearbe and steepe it in faire Spring water in a large earthen pot till the water putrifie and then euerie morning wash the face therein it will take away all manner of Morphew Sunne-burning Farn-freckles and other spots or dunnesse of the skinne whatsoeuer making the same also cleare and smooth and filling vp euerie manner of wrinekle Some likewise vse in this case to vse with Agrimonie the like quantitie of Goose-grasse and sure it is not amisse for they haue both one manner of force and working White Mullein groweth euerie where but best in a stonie and sandie ground The white Mullein both leaues flowers rootes and seed is singular good against all manner of venime as also to containe in his place the falling Fundament Good wiues in like manner for this consideration doe make a fume of the seed and flowers of Mullein the flowers of Camomill and Masticke all made into 〈◊〉 The iuice pressed from the root before it put forth his stalke and drunke foureâ—â—â—â— in the quantitie of an ounce with Hippocras or Malmesey in the beginning of a 〈◊〉 of a quartane Feauer doth driue it quite away The iuice pressed out of the floweâ—â— or leaues applyed to Warts doth take them cleane away Likewise Gentlewomâ—n find no better remedie than the iuice of white Mullein flowers to take away the wrinckles and other blemishes in their face The leaues bruised betwixt two stoneâ— and applyed in forme of a Cataplasme vpon the foot of a Horse that hath beene cloyed doth affoord him a singular and present reliefe The water distilled of the flowers quencheth the firinesse of the face if there be a little Camphire added thereâ— unto It doth in like manner with the tumor called Erisipelas the itch burnings 〈◊〉 other diseases of the skin The flowers of white Mullein with the yolke of an eggâ— crummes of bread and the leaues of Leeks applyed vnto the Hemorrhoids doe 〈◊〉 them altogether There groweth about the leaues of white Mullein a whitish 〈◊〉 which is good to make match or tinder to take fire Mercurie craueth one and the same ground with the Vine there to be sowne and grow in great aboundance without anie great care of husbanding and yet thâ—â—â— must care and regard be had not to sow it among Vines because the wine which 〈◊〉 Vines should yeeld amongst whom Mercurie hath beene sowne would retaine the tast of Mercurie and become verie vnpleasant to drinke The iuice of Mercurie being drunke helpeth conception prouoketh womeâ—â— termes and deliuereth them of their after-birth The decoction of Mercurie doâ—â— loose the bellie being drunke or taken in a Clyster Some make a honey of the 〈◊〉 of Mercurie with a halfe quantitie of honey and this is good for laxatiue Clysteâ—â— The iuice of Mercurie taketh away Warts the seed of Mercurie in a decoction with Wormewood doth cure the Iaundise and the iuice thereof with vineger doth ripâ— vp the scab and scurffe Yarrow doth grow in a ground that is indifferent fat and moist The decoctioâ— thereof doth stay all manner of fluxes and especially the red termes of women 〈◊〉 also that which commeth of a wound especially the leaues dried made in powder and drunke with the iuice or water of Comfrey or Plantaine The leafe put into the nose stayeth the bleeding and put into a Clyster it stayeth the bloudie flux Milfoile bearing a white flower being powned with his flower and drunke with 〈◊〉 distilled from the same and Goats milke doth cure the burning of the vrine in 〈◊〉 and the whites in women Danewort groweth better plunted than sowne and craueth a fat ground well â—â—nured and somewhat moist The iuice pressed from the roots of Danewort being drunke for a certaine time preserueth a man from the Gout The seed of Danewort being well washed and drunke in powder to the quantitie of a dramme hauing beene first steeped a whole night in Wine doth helpe the Dropsie because it procureth stooles downward and vomit vpward to the voiding of great store of water Being drunke also with the dâ—coction of ground Pine it asâ—uageth the paine of the Gout and Pocks There is also made a soueraigne Oyntment of the same for the appeasing of the said paines Taâ—â— the iuice of the roots of Danewort the flowers of Rye and
〈…〉 also that it may grow the fairer and fuller leafe it will be good to water the 〈◊〉 â—oft with water wherein hath been steeped for the space of one whole day drie thyme somewhat bruised If you be disposed to gather the seed you must gather also the flowers wherein it is contained seeing they cannot be sundred A Cataplasme made of thyme boyled in Wine appeaâ—eth the paine of the Sciatiâ—â—ca and the windinesse of the bodie and matrin The smelling of thyme is soueraigne to raise them that haue the Falling-sicknesse out of their fit and also to keepe them from their fit by decking their bed about with the leaues thereof The oft vsing of thyme with wine or whay is good for melancholicke persons Winter Sauourie craueth no fat manured or well tilled ground but rather an â—pen stonie and light ground lying so as the Sunne may shine full vpon it Both Thyme and Winter Sauourie are good for the nourishing of bees and for the preserâ—ing and seasoning of meats they are also called fine sebtill or small and slender hearbes Organie otherwise called bastard Margerome loueth a rough stonie peble weake and yet well fuâ—nisht ground and vvithall craueth a manured ground as also to be watered vntill it be growne vp to his full bignesse notwithstanding it be seene â—o grow in many places without watering or dunging It may be remoued of little â—prouts or sciences and the lower end set vpward to the end that it may put forth new â—prings and shoots and be sown of his seed the which the elder it is so much the sooâ—er it will put forth of the earth although that organie do not ordinarily shew it selfe before the 30 or 40 day after the sowing of it in many places it is sowne neere vnto â— because they willingly load themselues from thence and make singular honie Organie boyled in Wine and layed vpon the region of the raines doth take away and vndoe the difficultie of making vvater being boyled in wine and drunke it is good against venimous beasts or the stingings of Scorpions and Spiders A Cataplasme made of Organie and Barly meale boyled together resolueth the tumours vnder the eares The decoction thereof is good to comfort the sinews and the relaxed and weake parts the seed thereof drunke vvith Wine doth prepare and dispose a vvoman to conceiue the flowers and leaues of the sayd Organie dried at the fire in an earthen test or melting pot and being wrapped vp verie hot in a cloth and applied vnto the head and kept fast tied thereunto doth cure the rheume comming of cold Hyssope affecteth a place free from shadow and lying open vpon the Sunne it â—ay be set or sowne about the twelfth of March It must be cut in the moneth of August and dried to put in pottage in Winter Amongst other principall vertues that it hath it is of great vse for the affects of â—he lungs and to prouoke vvomens termes of there be a broth made thereof to sup â—asting in the morning Some say that the syrope of Hyssope taken oftentimes with â—owerfold so much of the vvater of Pellitorie of the wall causeth the stone and much grauell to auoyd from the reines Hyssope with figs rue and honie boyled together â—n water and drunke is good for those that are short breathed and for old and hard â—oughs stampt with salt cummine and honie and applied healeth the stingings of Scorpions stampt with oyle and rubbed it killeth lice pills made of hyssope â—orehound and pionie roots doe heale the falling-sicknesse Sommer sauourie doth delight in an open Sunne shining place and therefore must be set or sowne in such a one not in a fat or manured ground for it is often seen grow of it selfe in leane grounds and neere vnto the Sea It groweth more delightâ—ully and of a better tast if it be sowne amongst onions It is verie good for sauce to â—eat The leaues and flowres applied vnto the head in forme of a cap or garland doth away the drowsily inclined A Cataplasme made of sauorie and wheat meale â—oth cure distillations The Sciatiâ—â—â— Coriander â—orteth well with any kind of ground notwithstanding in a fat and â—ew ground it groweth a great deale more aboundantly and it seeketh for an hot â—ire againe that which groweth in a sunnie place doth ouerthriue that vvhich groweth in a shadowed place when you goe about to sow it chuse the eldest seed you can get for by how much it is the elder by so much it is the better so that it 〈◊〉 not mouldie and foughtie Sow it also in a fat and moist ground and yet 〈…〉 a leane ground and to cause it to spring vp the sooner you must steepe the 〈…〉 water two daies before you sow it If you must dung the ground where it is to be sowne it must be with Sheepe or Goats dung rather than anie other The excessiue heat thereof bringeth Head-ach and the trembling of the 〈◊〉 being eaten after meat it comforteth digestion and dispelleth windinesse so that 〈◊〉 be prepared The way to prepare it is as followeth You must hauing dried it 〈◊〉 cast vpon it verie good wine and vineger mixt together and leaue it thus sprinklâ—â— and wet the space of foure and twentie houres then drie it vp and keepe it for Physicke vse being stamped in vineger and cast vpon flesh it keepeth it from 〈◊〉 it prouoketh womens termes and some say that looke how manie seeds a woman drinketh with white wine so manie daies shall her termes continue 〈…〉 drunke with the iuice of Pomegranats killeth the Wormes in children The 〈◊〉 thereof with Ceruse Litharge of Siluer Vineger and Oyle of Roses 〈…〉 Wild fire and all Rednesse The seed stamped in Vineger doth keepe the 〈◊〉 from corrupting in Summer Also to drinke the iuice thereof with Honey 〈◊〉 Wine killeth Wormes and adding the seedes bruised thereto it helpeth a 〈◊〉 Feuer Sage as well the little as the great it planted of branches wrythen at the foot 〈◊〉 also of roots in the Spring and Autumne It is sowne also at the same time The 〈◊〉 delighteth to be laid about with Lee ashes It must be set neere vnto Rue to 〈◊〉 from Adders and Lizards which vse to take vp their lodging neere vnto Sage 〈◊〉 may be knowne by the leaues which haue their tops oftentimes withered and dried the same comming of hauing beene touched by Serpents Sage refuseth neither 〈◊〉 nor cold ayre how beit naturally it groweth in a barren stoâ—â—e and ill 〈◊〉 ground and that in such sort as that in some places of Spaine the mountaine◠〈…〉 ouer-growne therewith and the Countrey inhabitants burne no other wood Noâ—withstanding to grow faire it would be well digged about and kept clean◠〈◊〉 leaues and stalkes that are dead It hath a singular vertue to comfort the â—inewes that are hurt by being 〈…〉 or otherwise become weake
And for this cause some make Sage Wine for 〈◊〉 drinke and a fomentation with the decoction of Sage for the trembling of the 〈◊〉 and other parts It comforteth the mother being taken in a fume at the secret 〈◊〉 by such fume it also stayeth the whites Such as cannot beare their conception 〈◊〉 their time but miscarrie vpon slight causes must oftentimes in the morningeat 〈◊〉 Sage leaues for they strengthen the retentiue facultie keepe aliue and strengthen 〈◊〉 child and make women verie fruitfull And this is the cause why the Egyptian◠〈◊〉 a great mortalitie constrained their wiues to drinke the iuice of Sage with a little 〈◊〉 keeping themselues foure daies from hauing to doe with their husbands and then 〈◊〉 to lye with them that so they might conceiue and bring forth manie children To stirre vp appetite and cleanse the stomacke full of ill humours Sage 〈◊〉 be vsed oftentimes in pottage and otherwise it assuageth the paine of the head 〈◊〉 cleanseth the teeth and gummes it maketh a sweet breath being boyled in wine 〈◊〉 distilled water thereof doth cleare the sight the conserue of the flowers of Sage 〈◊〉 the like vertues Oake of Ierusalem called of the Latines Botrys craueth a drie and sandi◠〈◊〉 or else a watrie ground but such a one as is sandie or grauellie We behold it also 〈◊〉 and then to grow in swift running Brookes Being once sowne it needeth not 〈…〉 sowne againe afterward for it groweth againe euerie yeare and that as it were in 〈◊〉 of a shrub It hath vertues much like vnto Thyme that is to say it is goodâ—â—gainst the suppression of the termes and vrine Being dried and laid in 〈◊〉 it giueth a verie good smell vnto the garments and keepeth them from 〈…〉 decoction thereof with Licorice is wonderfull good for such as haue a short 〈◊〉 and are â—â—uffed in their lungs if you put thereto a little Sugar or syrrup of 〈◊〉 â—ea and furthermore to such as spit matter vpon no other penaltie but that it be vâ—ed a long time The hearbe parched vpon a hot tyle and besprinkled with Malmeâ—ey and applyed vnto the bsllie asswageth the pains of the matrix yea and more too â—f you adde thereunto the leaues of Mugwort and the flowers of Cammomile all friâ—â—d with oyle of Lillies and the yolke of an egge Horehound called in Latine Marrubium or Prassium as well the blacke 〈◊〉 the white groweth in euerie ground but rather in an vntilled than in a tilled ground you may also see it grow neere vnto walls hedges wayes and borders of fields 〈◊〉 is â—rue that the wild deâ—ireth wattie places as ditches little riuers moist and low plaâ—es It is verie good in decoction for the cough and difficultie of breath because it cleanseth the lungs and causeth spitting it prouoketh womens termes and bringâ—th â—orth the after-birth Sea Romane and common Wormewood is not so much sowne or set because of his smell as for the profit that it bringeth vnto the health The Romane groweth in a sandie ground the Sea-Wormewood groweth in a salt and ashiâ— ground â—he common in hillie stonie drie and vntilled grounds for to set them you must writhe the roots Wormwood amongst other his vertues almost infinite and admirable doth especially comfort the stomach laden with cholericke humours but not the stomach oppressed with flegmaticke humors and for that cause there is a Wine made of Wormwood and called by the same name The decoction of dogs-grasse his roots and the crops of Wormewood doe heale the Iaundise The conserue of the crops made of a pound thereof and three pounds of Sugar doth cure the old inâ—eterate and desperate dropsie if it be oftentimes vsed after purging it doth preserue likewise from drunkennesse It is an antidote in case a man haue â—aten venimous Mushromes or taken downe any other venime especially the Hemlocke as also in bitings and stingings of Spideâ—s and other venimous beasts The juice mingled with the kernells of Peaches doth kill the Wormes The leaues made into ashes and mingled with oile of Roses doth make the haire blacke The leaues layed in Wardrobes doe keepe the garments and doe driue away Flies and Gnats Southernewood groweth best being planted of roots or shoots for it doth not so well being sowne of seed It cannot abide much cold nor much heat and therefore it must be planted in some such place of the garden as is temperate The seed the weight of a French Crowne stampt with some of the leaues in white Wine adding thereto an old Nut and a little Bole-Armoniacke all being stâ—ayned and drunke is a singular drinke against the Plague and all manner of poyson The crops of the tops of the leaues and the flowers being beaten and stampt in oyle and made into the forme of a liniment doe serue to shift off the shiuerings of agues if so be that the soles of the feet and verebres of the backe oâ— him that hath the ague be rubbed therewith Southernwood taken inward or applied outward doth kill wormes in young children It is true that Galen for biddeth the taking of it at the mouth because it is an enemie to the stomach Rosemarie loueth chiefly a reasonable sat ground it groweth in any ayre but best by the Sea sides and thereupon it beaâ—eth his name It must be planted in the Spring and Autumne of roots on braunches writhen and see fast in the earth and that in a warme place or at the least lying open vpon the Sunne and not such a place as is verie moist or subject vnto the Northernâ— vvind because this plane can hardly endure the cold and therefore it must be planted vpon the South vader some wall and the good time of planting or it is when it will pricke and then you must take off the small young sprigs and set them three inches vvithin the earth making the earth fast and close vnto them aboue or else of some part of the most leauie branches therof which being afterward helped by making the ground light doth spread and continue fresh hauing no need to be watered except at the verie time of setting of it if the ground be 〈◊〉 and yet notwithstanding if it be watered it will prosper the better and flourish the more So long as it is young it would be diligently weeded and picked it requireth no dung but onely a good mould and to be compassed 〈◊〉 the root with good earth The lees of Wine and the scraps broken off from 〈◊〉 layd at the foot thereof doe cause it to grow maruellously There are two 〈◊〉 Rosemarie the one bearing seed and the other not Some plant it for food 〈◊〉 vnto Hiues because it flowreth betimes and for that the Bees doe greatly delighâ—◠〈◊〉 it and by it doe better continue in health as also make better honey than thâ—se which feed not vpon it at all The flowers of
sweet of smell and such as will neuer faile but alwaies hold and bring forth in their season besides that a man may fit the root and branchâ—â— thereof to make a shadow Such Roses are not good to make conserues or distilled water nor for anie vse in Physicke onely they are good to drie and put amongst Linnen and other Apparrell because of their good smell It is true that some say that they loosen the bellie Looke further in the third Booke in the Chapter of the speciall properties of Grafting and Planting To haue Roses that shall smell verie sweet you must plant your Rose-tree in a place that is verie drie or else to set it round about with Garlicke The Roses will come early if you make a little trench of some two hands wide round about the Rose-tree and therein powre warme water morning and euening and yet this must not be attempted before it begin to put forth his buds You shall doe the like if you place your Rose-tree in baskets or pots of earth and order them after the manner of timely Gourds and Cucumbers as hath beene taught before You may keepe new Roses in their liuelinesse if you put them in the lees of Oyle so as that the lees may swimme aboue them Others pull vp greene Barly roots and all wherein they wrap Roses as yet not blowne and so put them together in a 〈◊〉 that is not pitched The way to haue greene Roses is if you graft the Rose-tree vpon an old Colewort stalke or vpon the bodie of an Oake but then the Roses will 〈◊〉 no smell You may make the Carnation Rose white if you perfume it with Brimstone 〈◊〉 such time as it beginneth to spread You may haue Roses of a yellow colour if after you haue planted the Rose-tree vvith his naturall earth neere vnto the broome you bore through the broome stalke vvith a vvimble and plant in the same hole diuers roots or shoots of the Rose-tree scraped round about so farre as they are to lye in the hole and after tie and make theâ— fast vnto the broome plant with mortar and whenas you see the hole bored in the stalke to be growne vp againe you shall cut off the broome stalke aboue the plaâ—â— vvhere you bored the hole and shall let the Rose-tree to put forth his shoots and 〈◊〉 by this meanes you shall haue yellow Roses The vertues of the Roses are sufficiently knowne vnto euerie one Some distill the vvhite and Prouence rose vvhich if you vvill haue it to retaine the full qualitie and vertue of the Rose together with the smell and fauour of the same you must distill in a glasse vessell and not in lead as is ordinarily accustomed Some make 〈◊〉 and syropes of carnation Roses which haue force to loosen the bellie and to purge the humours offending in serious and cholericke matter as also good for 〈…〉 the jaundise the obstructions of the liuer and beating of the heart The yellow growing within the Rose which is a flower accompanied as it vvere vvith smal haires doth stay the vvhite flowers of vvomen the white end of the leaues of Roses are good in a decoction to stay all manner of fluxes the cup hath the same force and vertues the seed and vvooll contained within the button of the Rose as also the whole button dried and made into powder is singular good to stay womenâ— whites and termes for the scalding of the vvater for the disease called Gonorrhaea taken the weight of a dram with sowre red wine Box-tree is planted of shoots or boughs after the twelfth day of Nouember It delighteth in hillie places and mountaines and groweth verie well in cold drie and vvindie places It must not be planted neere the place where bees are kept for the flower killeth them sodainly Some affirme that it corrupteth the ayre by the stinking smell it hath and for this cause it would be as sparingly planted in the garden as possibly may be Box-tree is better to make combes and other durable instruments of than for to vse in medicine if it were not that Physitians doe hold that the scrapings or râ—â—ped powder of Box and the leaues thereof boyled in Lee doe cause the haire to looke â—ed Some likewise doe thinke that it hath the like properties that Guaiacum hath in decoctions for the French disease but herein I referre my selfe rather to experiâ—nce than to reason Broome as well the small as the great is planted of shoots and boughs in the inâ—rease of the Moone about the Calends of March It may likewise be sowne and it requireth a drie and sandie ground The flowers as also the seed doe prouoke vrine and breake the stone as well of the reines as of the bladder the flowers prouoke vomit taken in a drinke the leaues and crops boyled in wine or water are good for the dropsie and obstructions of the liuer spleene and kidneyes some vse the stalkes of broome to tie their vines as also to make ropes and sackes of and that by ripening it in water as they doe hempe Spanish broome groweth also in drie places it must be remoued after the first yeare that it is sowne it is sowne in Februarie and remoued in March the next yere after the flowers in decoctions procure vomite after the manner of white hellebor the seed alone doth loosen the bellie and forceth downeward great store of water Furze grow in vntilled and sandie grounds the leaues boyled in water or wine do stay all manner of â—luxes The Cedar-tree is verie rare in these countries so that if you will haue it in your garden you must assigne it a well husbanded ground and lying open vpon the Sun notwithstanding the places where it is found most growing be cold and moist mountaines and full of snow if you doe well you must sow in pots of earth and cases or impaled places the small and exceeding little seed that commeth thereof The liquor thereof put into the hollow parts of the teeth doth stay their ach being anuointed it killeth the wormes and preserueth bodies from rotting The wood is verie pleasant to looke vpon and to smell vnto whereupon some vse it in steed of perfumes Saâ—in is planted as box and groweth much better if it be watered with Wine Lees or sprinkled with the dust of tile stones The leaues as well in decoction as in perâ—umes prouoke the termes and expell the after-birth and dead child they also cause to fall off the warts growing vpon a mans yard As concerning Iunipâ—r it affecteth the tops of mountaines and stonie ground for to grow well in and by how much it is the more â—ost of the winds and pinched with cold so much the fairer it groweth The fruit thereof is good for the stomach for weake and broken people and against all sorts of venime whether it be drunke or taken in a perfume as also against an
in some place by itselfe because it is subject vnto fleas or lice and other 〈◊〉 vermine which causeth the small â—oot that should hold vp the head to fall dowâ—â— others doe put ten or twelue of them in little faggots together and so hang 〈◊〉 standing one a prettie deale from the other in the shade or wind and not in the 〈◊〉 or in any moist place Some drie them in the South Sunne turning them twice or thrice and after hanging them by paires in order vpon poles The Tasell is to be commended in this point for that in the middest of the head thereof after it is well dried there is found a little Worme which being hung about the necke or applied vnto the wrests doth heale the feauer quartaine it assuageth likewise the great ach of impostumes which grow about the nailes being applied â—â—hereunto CHAP. LVIII Of Saffron AS for Saffron the best Farmers and such as are most cunning in the ordering of plants doe make verie much and highly esteeme of that which is called Bastard Saffron and of the common people tearmed Parrot-seed being the same that old writers call Carthamus the plant is of no vse the 〈◊〉 excepted which purgeth flegmaticke humours or else feeds Parrots which are daintie and fine mouthed This plant when it is growne vp being well husbanded 〈◊〉 ordered beareth certaine little thicke heads like the heads of Garleeke and in 〈◊〉 middest of it a flower which one would say were Saffron This good it doth 〈◊〉 that it enricheth and maketh fat the ground where it groweth likewise it â—â—â—ueth no great food or maintenance neither leaueth it any root in the earth after it 〈◊〉 gathered that may put forth or take any acknowledgement of or doe any harme â—â—to the soile wherein it grew There is euerie way as much profit in tilling of this â—earbe as there is in Anise or Fennell when all is said a good Farmer will make profit of euerie thing and there is not as we say so much as the Garleeke and Oniâ—on which he will not raise gaine of by selling them at faires most fitting for their â—â—me and season and so helpe himselfe thereof and fill his purse with money The ordinarie Saffron seruing for sauces painting and making of colours is a â—â—hing of toyle and of profit as may be learned and easily vnderstood by the inhabiâ—â—nts of Tourain Prouence and Portugal where the same growes exceeding aboundantly It is planted like cammomile in the Spring vpon heads foure fingers off one from another but it must be in a free and well battilled ground not verie far nor verie leane but open to the Sunne it must be well troden downe with the feet when it shall let fall his flower but when it buddeth and putteth forth it must be left â—lone to natures worke At the time of the gathering of it you must haue linnen â—loaths to draw it out of his bell euening and morning and after drie it well in the â—hadow of the Sunne and â—ouer it with cleane linnens make it cleane and taking away his white purge it that so it may be free from all filth and fit to be kept in a drie place well couered or in some vessell close stopt and leauing in the earth the Oniâ—â—ns or heads of the Saffron with a good quantitie of Grapes or of the drosse thereof 〈◊〉 it commeth from the presse put vnto them you shall take them vp in the moneth of March when they haue brought forth fruit three yeares and drie them in the Sun â—eeping them after in some place that is not moist that so you may plant them againe 〈◊〉 some other place and ground that is well tilled as hath already beene deliuered at â—â—arge in the fiue and thirtieth Chapter Some are of judgement that it is naught for a 〈◊〉 to vse Saffron much and that it is a speciall venime vnto the heart but howsoeâ—â—er this be true the profit of it is great and therefore commodious and requisite for 〈◊〉 Farmer which would not that his ground should be vnprofitable vnto him See â—ore about in the place aforâ—named concerning Saffron CHAP. LIX A brieâ—e and short reniew concerning Pulse I Will say nothing of the Nauâ—t nor of the two kinds of 〈◊〉 of which the great and round one is for them that dwell in Lymosin 〈◊〉 and Prouence and the long one which they call 〈◊〉 for Fraunce and other places as in like manner I will make no mention of Mustard-seed Millet Pannicke and Cummine neither yet of great wild 〈◊〉 Lupines Lentils and Fenugreeke vvhich notwithstanding are all pulse and â—eed of profit and commoditie for the houshold as hauing reserued them for the 〈◊〉 garden planted at the end of the kitchin-garden I will content my selfe in this place 〈◊〉 admonish the good Farmer that for the bringing of the ground into some kind of occupation during the time of his rest and after that it hath been imployed in bringing forth better corne it will not be amisse to sow therein either 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 foresâ—â—ne that the â—eed after the pulling vp of the plants be so well and thoroughly gathered and carried away as that the ground may be quite rid and 〈◊〉 of the same for otherwise in time there would be nothing to be found amongst this seed but wild Coleworts Dâ—newort and other noysome weeds and in deed pulse 〈◊〉 make as much for good husbandrie as the corne that is good for to make 〈…〉 pottage is in continuall request for the houshold in what house soeuer it be 〈◊〉 make a 〈◊〉 of making bread of Millet as is to be seene in some places of 〈◊〉 but it is not but when great necessitie driueth them to it But howsoâ—â—er 〈◊〉 be 〈◊〉 peason fiches and fetches are not of lesse request or inferiour in tast unto great 〈…〉 lupines cummine fenugreeke and lentills and for the proofe hereof I will 〈◊〉 to witnesse the people of Aruernia Lymosin Sauoy and Dauphine for the 〈◊〉 whereof not to speake further in this place of any other thing whatsoeuer that may be as it were superfluous we will referre you to learne the whole 〈◊〉 in the 〈◊〉 of tilling of seeds and pulse in arable grounds CHAP. LX. Of remedying of strange accidents that may happen vnto Hearbes THe Hearbes either sowne or planted in the gardens before spoken of 〈◊〉 not hurt onely by haile lightning thunder frosts fogges blashâ—â—â— and other harmes hapning by the courses of seasons but also they 〈◊〉 annoyed by reason of wast and destruction brought vpon them 〈◊〉 little beasts as Grashoppers Weazles Caterpillers house and field Rats 〈◊〉 Moules Pismires Flies Gnats Bats Wall-lice Fleas Greone-flies Horse 〈◊〉 Frogges Snailes Adders and such like which mischiefes you must be 〈◊〉 full to meet withall that so you may not loose your labour about your garden 〈◊〉 frustrated both of the profit and pleasure that might rise and come thereby And to speake generally of the preuenting of these
it will vvither or not grow at all or else mil-dew turne blacke and become altogether vselesse Amel-corne THere is yet another kind of Corne vvhich the Grecians and Latines call Olyra of a middle size betwixt Wheat and Barlie vnlike altogether vnto Winter-vvheat vvhereof we last spake but of a sort and facultie like vnto spelt whereof vve vvill speake next in order Of this graine Dioscorides maketh mention and Matthiolus calleth it in French Seigle-blanche the tilling and ordering of it is like vnto that of spelt There is verie vvhite bread made thereof there is but small store thereof in France Spelt-corne SPelt-corne is that vvhich the Latines call Zea and hereof the auncient â—â—mans did make great account and gaue it to name Semen by the way of excellencie as the Italians in such places as vvhere the said Spelt groweth in great aboundance doe call it Biada The Graine is lesse and blacker than Wheat It is found sometime single sometime double in an eare set with a long beard It must be sowne in a verie strong and hard ground for otherwise it will not thriue neither is there any sort of Wheat which so troubleth and weakeneth a ground as this but the bread that is made thereof is excellent and of it likewise the Italians vse to make a singular kind of Furmentie Course Wheat-flowre or fine Wheat-meale COurse Wheat-flowre is that which of the Latines is called Similage and is made of Wheat that is excellent good hauing the greatest Bran onely sifted from it but being ground of the best Mill thâ—â— may be gotten howsoeuer the French name Semole vvhich seemeth to be deriued from these Latine ones Sine mola may 〈◊〉 to argue the contrarie We haue not any of the Corne in this Countrie vvhereof the Semole is made but in Prouence it is sowne in great quantitie as also in Champanie and in the Countrie of Naples and from thence there is great store of this 〈◊〉 meale brought vvhich Physitiâ—ns doe prescribe to their sicke patients to make Panade or pap-meat of vvith the broth of a Capon notwithstanding that 〈◊〉 and the greatest part of Physicions doe affirme that the fine meale called of the French Semole is of a grosâ—e and slimie iuice and not digested without difficultie and thereupon injurious to such as haue need of a fine and attenuating nourishment It is certaine that it is of great nourishment as is also the bread that is made thereof In steed of Semole vve vse Maslin and as concerning the Wheat vvhereof the course flowre Semole is made it craueth such ground and manner of husbanding as Maslin doth Furmentie FVrmentie is that vvhich the Latines call Alica or Chondrus and it is a kind of Wheat whereof after that it hath been steeped for some time in vvater and afterward brayed and husked and then in the end dried againe in the Sunne and ground somewhat grosly is made a kind of grosse meale reâ—embling 〈◊〉 verie much vvhereof sometimes is vvoont to be made pap-meat sometimes it is mixt in meat-broth and sometimes panade vvithall all which meats to say the truth doe nourish a great deale more than they profit the health of the bodie in as much as they ingender a thicke clammie and grosâ—e juice verie hurtfull for them that are subject vnto obstructions or vnto the stone and grauell Turkie-Wheat TVrkie-wheat so called or rather Indian wheat because it came first from the West-Indies into Turkie and from thence into France not that it is sowed there any otherwise than for pleasure or for to cause some admiration at the strange things which Frenchmen themselues doe admire and make much account of 〈◊〉 be sowne verie carefully after this manner the field must be diligently tilled according to all the sorts of earings vvhich are woont to be bestowed vpon any 〈◊〉 ground afterward toward the end of March at such time as the Sunne beginneth to affoord his hot and comfortable beames in franker and freer sort the said wheat must be steeped in water two whole daies and when this is done to keepe it till the earth receiue some prettie showres vvhich happening then presently to open the earth vvith some sharpe stake and that all along as streight as a line but with equall and sufficient distances and to cast into euerie one of these holes foure or fiue graines of this vvheat and by and by to close in the earth againe vvith your foot and so in this sort to fill and set a vvhole field with this Corne. If the earth be fat and the seed full and well â—ed it will not faile to sprout within seuen daies and to be ready to mow within fortie daies two moneths three moneths or at the furthest foure moneths sooner or later according to the goodnesse of the ground and power of the Sunne that is to say earlier in a hot place and good ground that lyeth open vpon the Sunne but more late in a cold ground and a leane place It hath the like temperature that our vvheat hath but somewhat more hot as may easily be gathered by the sweetnesse of the bread that is made thereof the meale thereof is vvhiter than that which is made of our wheat but the bread made thereof is more grosse thicke or close and of a more â—lymie substance in such sort as that the nourishment made thereof is likewise more grosse and apter to ingender obstructions vvherâ—â—ore if the dearth of vvheat and famine doe force and compel you to sow of this Turkish-wheat to make bread thereof it will doe better if you mingle it with the flower of our vvheat than and if you should vse it by it selfe all alone The meale of this vvheat in as much as it is thicke and clammie will be good to make cataplasmes of to ripen impostumes withall for being apt to stop the pores of the skin by his clamminesse it cannot chuse but worke such effect Sarasins-wheat SArasins-wheat is a graine verie ordinarie and common throughout all France and more abounding vvithout comparison than the foresaid Turkie-wheat it must be sowne in all manner of grounds because it refuseth not to grow in any vvhether it be grauelly or of any other qualities vvhatsoeuer and that especially in Aprill in hot places or somewhat later in those that are cold and it is so forward and hastie at that it will ripen twice and yeeld you two crops in a yeare in one and the same ground being in a hot ground as is to be seene in Italie It may be mowne at the end of three moneths after it is sown in this countrie it is most vsed in the fatting of hogs pigeons and other fowles and in the time of dearth and famine to make bread which will be a great deale better if with this corne be mingled the corne of our countrie vvheat It may be made into grosse meale euen as the grain called furmentie but better without comparison than that of millet to be imployed in
a good way from the place vvhere the Crane is at such time as it beginneth to be day and though he take him nor the first day it is all one for it will be as good in the daies following and especially from after mid Iuly vntill towards the end of October And yet after the mue hee vvill bee better than before but it is not good in the time of Winter Yet to speake truth of the Lanier he taketh more delight to prey vpon the Partridge than vpon any other fowle whatsoeuer because the flight doth not mount much to vvhich he hath no affection He is of so strong and good a constitution that his grease seldome or neuer melteth to his hurt or preiudice neither is he so foolishly ouer-free of courage that he will hurt himselfe with too much violence or paines-taking Whence it comes that his owner can seldome ouer-flye him no though he flye him sixe or seuen â—lights in a morning and for this cause hee is called the Schollers Hawke as being an excellent encourager of young Faulconers and a bird on vvhich vvithout danger they may trie all needefull experiments Thus much of the manner of luring and reclaiming of Hawkes as well in generall as in particular and yet it remaineth that wee speake a word or two concerning the same matter You must vnderstand that all birds of the prey doe serue to flie either vpon riuers or else â—n the fields of which some flie from the fist and that without any spare of this sort is the Goshawke the Sparrow-hawke the Gerfaulcon and the Merlin The others flie on high as namely the Faulcon the Lanier the Sacre and the Hobbie the one of them is called from the flight by holding out the fist vnto them and the other by casting out vnto them the lure that is to say an instrument made after the fashion of two fowles wings coupled together hung at a leash and at the end thereof a tennise-ball or crooke of horne for by these lures the Hawkes are allured thinking them to be liue Hennes This is the destinction of our French Faulconers yet generally it is not so receiued for of other Faulconers hawkes are deuided into these two kinds long-winged hawkes and short-winged hawkes the long-winged hawkes doe properly belong vnto the lure and â—lie a â—oft soaring in the aire and from thence â—â—ooping downe and taking their pray they are vpon their wings long before they either see or are seene of their pray looking when either the spannyells shall spring the partridge from the ground or the Faulconer with his poale beate the foule from the riuer and of this â—orâ— is the Eagle the Gripe the Gerfaulcon the Faulcon the Lanyer the Hobie and the Merline some will intrude the Castrell which in deed is a long-winged hawke as touching his shape but looking into the cowardlinesse of his nature he is far vnworthie to ranke in their societie The short-winged hawkes do properlie belong to the fist for from thence euer they flie and thither also backe they are euer recalled They neuer take their wing till they see their pray on wing before them and then they make a maine after it and flie it to the marke where presently they take a tree hillocke or some other stand as neere the place as possibly they can and there sit till the spannyells come into the retriue but the long-winged hawke neuer taketh stand at all but flying about and about grathereth vp againe to her first pitch and there expecteth the retriue Now the short-winged hawkes are the Goshawke the Terssell of the Goshawke the Sparrow-hawke and the Musâ—â—eâ— some intrude the bauld Buzzard and the Ring-tayle but they as the Castrell are not worthie of the ranke being naturally cowards and of faint spirits not daring to contend where there is any shew of resistance Some of them begin not the game but follow it being begun by the Hawkers as we haue said of the Eagle To be briefe hawks seeme not to differ saue that all of them do not flie at all kind of birds and foule alike for in deed euery one of them buckleth himselfe vnto the bird to the flying whereof hee is giuen and addicted and not to others And concerning all sorts of flying and hawking you may find a more ample treatise in the particular description of the nature and properties of euery bird of pray which we haue made CHAP. XLV The taking of melodious singing Birds WE haue spoken of the sport that is made with birds of the pray called hawking and now wee will enter into some speech of taking of birds which sing melodiously with sweet and pleasant songs wherewith the master of the farme may take his recreation and pleasure by hearing them sing in his closes parke low-woods and high-woods or in his chamber window or else shut vp in some cages or roomes made for the purpose to containe the subâ—ect of such pleasure and delightsome melodie And that we may not omit any thing before we set downe any manner or way of the particular taking of such birds we will take a briefe view of the nature feeding and diseases of the same For it were but lost labour to take the birds if to the end that we may haue their sweet and melodious songs a long time wee knowe not what meat is good for them what diseases they are subiect vnto and what meanes and remedies are necessarie for their distemperatures In the meane time I mind not here to bring in the fabulous histories touching the originall and breeding of the most part of them which fantasticall Poets haue inuented I meane to rest my selfe in this only persuasion namely that all birdes were miraculously created of God by his almightie power that is to say of his own meere will and word whereby likewise he did create all other creatures in the beginning of the creation of the world CHAP. XLVI Of the Nightingale WE will make our choice of the Nightingale in the first place which according to the iudgement and common consent of euery one singeth the most sweetly and melodiously of all the rest she is a bird sufficiently knowne especially in the countrie of Italy and is called of the Latins Lusciniâ— or Philomelâ— she maketh heâ— nest in the Spring at such time as the earth in the moneth of May is all ouer couered beset and hanged with flowers and pleasant greene and that in groues and thicke bushes vpon which the Sunne in the morning doth cast his coole and temperate beames from noone till Sun-set she 〈◊〉 the coole places fountaines brookes thicke hedges and well shadowed places True it is that some of them do make their nests vpon the ground vnder hedges or amongst the waste grounds and other some of them make it in a place somewhat raised as vpon some greene and thicke grasse growne clod of earth or butte The number of their egges is vncertaine for some of them lay foure and
leache of 425 Dâ—inke of all sorts made after the English manner 588 589 Dung for Gardens 156 E ELme and the goodnesse 650 English practise added to the French 2 F FIgge-treeâ— growing in cold soyles to beare fruitfully 194 Fish in ponds how to feede with the best foode 509 Fish-ponds how to make 505 506 Flaxe â—54 Flower of the night 241 Flowers for Bees 316 Foxes by what meanes they get their eâ—â—ths 70â— G GRound Iuie the vertues 207 Goose grasse the vertues 207 Garden of pleasure how to proportion 234. alleies how trim 235. quarters to adorne 235. inward and outward beautie 277. hedges for borders 278 Grounds wet how to draine 335 Geese enemies to grasse 493 Grasse when best to cut how to make into hay the windrowes the hay cockes 499 Grasse sower and harâ—h choice and vse of hay of moist hay of drie hay 500 curiositie in hay making the grazing is good for hay ground 501 Garners how to make and their vse 547 548 Greyhound 673 diuersitie of Greyhounds choice of Greyhounds the breeding of Greyhounds 674. Greyhounds how to place for Teasers Goshâ—wkes more worth than Sparrowâ— hawkes 707. The differences betweene the Ramage or Brauncherhawkes and the Iâ—as hawkes 708. how to enter your Sparrow hawke all the diseases of the Sparrow hawk 709. phisicke for hawkes the seuerall impediments of hawkes 710 Gerâ—aulcons and their kinds 712. how to keepe the Gerâ—aulcon of Gerâ—aulcons the white is the best 713 H HOrsemans instruments 123 Horses food 124 Horse nose-slit naught 126 Horse to gueld 126 Horse keepers office 126 Horse exercise after water 128 Horse to make trot 132 Horse to make amble 133 Helpeâ— for stumbling 133 Horse to make racke 134 Horse to make gallop 134 Horse with best maâ—kes or signes 135 136 Horses age 136 Hempe 154 Hearbs that will hardly grow and how to preserue to make grow soone â—59 to remoue 163 Hearbs of the East 229 Hearbs of the West 230 Hearbs of the North. 230 231 Hearbs of the South 231 232 233. Heâ—â—â—opian 241 Hiues dead how to order 316 Hâ—ues made of straw 318. where to place them 318 Horses and oxen of France 539 Hempe what ground is best and the ordering 566 Of Hounds 673. Hounds being young how they are to be taught and trained 682 Hunting of Deere at force with Hounds only 686 Hores what places are best to find them in 695 Hobby a Hawke and the vse 712 Hawkes which bee called Longâ— winged Hawkes which short 715 Husbandrie the maner entreated of 1 I INamâ— how to prepare to sow corne vpon 556 L LIllies and their vertues 239 Line or Flax how to order after the English manner 567 568. to make white thred to make oyle of Line seede 568 M MAâ—â—iues and their collars 121 Marâ—â—gon of Constantinople 241 Muâ—â—ard how to make 281 Marmalade how to make of Oranges Lymons Cytrons 420 Meadowâ—s and their differences in England 491 Marshes salt and their profit 492 Maâ—â—in how to crop and gather 550 Malt and how to make it after the English manner 556 557 Maple and the vse 663 Meâ—â—ins and their seuerall kinds 712 N NFâ—s of diuers sorts to take fish with 507 508 Nut trees or Haâ—ell trees 373 O ORchards how to inclose 135 Oyle of Oats 425 Oats a great breeder of grasse 493 Of the Oxe harrow 544 Oats and the profit 558. Oatmeale how to make 558 Oake the goodnesse necessâ—â—ie and vse 619 P PEstilence 147 Pursâ—an to preserue 177 Pyoaâ—â— 242 Pipâ—ins how to sow 336 337 To Preserue Barbeâ—ies 422 To Preserue Filbeâ—â—â—or small nuts 423 Pasts how to make and the diuersities of colours 424 Ploughâ— of diuers fashions 532 Plowing with English Oxen. 340 Pasterie in the right kind and the vse thereof 585 586 Parkâ— what ground they should consist of 668 669. the water for Parks the proâ—it and a strange example therof 669 Q QViâ—keâ—â—â— how to plant 153 Quince cakes how to make 423 R THe best Runnet 65 Rams that are best 110 Rot how to cure 114 â—hewme in the eye 147 â—ye how to sowe and order after the English manner 549 S 〈◊〉 Stâ—â—â—e how to â—eed soone 103 Sheepe and the diuersities 216 Staggers 147 〈◊〉 â—traines 148 〈◊〉 â—pautâ— 148 〈◊〉 â—ignes of outward diseases 148 〈◊〉 â—ignes of inward diseases 148 〈…〉 breakes imposâ—umations 171 〈◊〉 â—pinage sallad 174 〈…〉 pouch vertues 209 〈◊〉 â—â—uces how to make to dâ—ayne medowes 494 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â—â—age a great friend to meadowes 496 〈◊〉 â—â—edes to be sowne in meadowes as sweepings of hay-barne floures 496. fodderings of cattell and sheepe and the speciall commoditie thereof 497 498 〈◊〉 â—awne of 〈◊〉 how to preserue 506 〈◊〉 oyle or mudde of ditches good dungâ— 537 〈◊〉 â—eed wheat of diuers sorts 543 〈…〉 how to make them hunt well 681 〈◊〉 Of Spanyâ—â— and their vse and ordering 679 〈◊〉 Setting dogges and their vse 680 〈◊〉 Sythes and Syckles 545 T TAbacco vertues 219 220 Translator to the English Reader 2 Tâ—â—pan 241 V VArietie of Countries causeth a dâ—uers manner of labouring of the earth 1 Violets to preserue 236 W WAlking horses nor good 131 Warts 148 Water-Spanyels their vse and ordering 682 Weeding why not to vse â—59 Weeds how to destroy 334 Winnowing of corne 548 Woad-ground 309. the making of Woad 309. the vertues 320 Y Yâ—llowes 14â— FINIS ⧠A Table of the Diseases and Remedies described in the seuen Bookes of the Farme-House A AFter-birth of women newly brought in bed 54 183 206 207 210 214 247 249 251 287 360 How the Age of a man may be a great while prolonged 428 An euill Aire and 〈◊〉 meanes to driue it away 199 449 Anthrax or Carbuncle 58 Apostemes 120 214. of all sorts and the healing of them 56 57 122. to ripen them 155. cold Apostemes 120. Apostemes of the breast 109 Apostemes in Oxen. 102 Apoplexie 42 239 251 456 To keepe Apparrell 247 Appetite lost 182. how to recouer it againe 291 〈…〉 in horses 139 B BAcke and ache of the backe 434 Barbes a horses disease â—40 Barrennesse in women the remedies 52 82 245 246 249 251 288 To bring women to Bed without paine 243. to bee brought in bed before ones time 54. difficultie to bee brought in bed 54 To keepe Bees from flying away and to driue them 252 Belcking 249. at the mouth 48 Beâ—â—ie and the fluxe thereof 69. the coâ—â—iuenesse of the bellie 71. ache in the bellie 434. coâ—â—iuenesâ—e 206 â— 209 428. to loosen it mightily 287 Bellie-ache fluxe of the bellie and the bellie bound in Oxen 96. paines of the bellie in horses 129 Vntimely Birth 204 Bitings of Dogges that are mad 61 189 199 244 387 391 395 678 of venimous Beasts 205 of the Viper 75 of Serpents 61 102 250 362 677 690 of the Wolfe 7â— of Shrowes 102 147 171 of Scorpions 102 of Flies vpon horses 143 Bitings or wounds made by the wild Bore are dangerous 690 The Bladder 457 Bâ—â—sters 213 Blâ—â—d cluttered 201. fluxe of
that it may take the Easterne Equinoctiall and not lose the rising of the Sunne in March and October or rather in September If there be euer a Hill build vpon the edge thereof making choise to haue your lights towards the East but if you be in a cold Countrey open your lights also on the South side and little or nothing towards the North if it be not in your Barnes where you put your Corne or such other things as are subiect to the Weasell and other vermine Ouer-against the North you shall procure some row or tuft of Trees for to be a marke vnto you of your place and defence also for the same against the Northerne windes in the Winter time But if you be in a hote countrey you must set your said tuft of Trees on the South side against such windes and heat of Sunne as come from thence and boldly open your lights especially in the said Barnes which lie on the North side Make good choice of the best parts of your Grounds to be most fit for Fruits Corne and Medowes and plant your Vineyard to haue the South open vpon it You shall make also certaine crosse Barnes with their counter-windowes in the place towards the South to open them in the time of a Northerne wind Such places are found in Countries full of Mountaines which doe greatly desire the East and yet notwithstanding would therewithall take part of the South which is so needfull for them In this and such like places Wells are in greater request and much more necessarie than in valleyes and plaine grounds and that wee may find out the place where it is best to make them wee must chuse the Easterne side at the beginning of the descent somewhat therewithall bending towards the North but wee may not haue any thing to doe with the Westerne side and yet somewhat better toward the South where hauing ouer night digged the earth in diuers places the quantitie of three feet ouer and fiue in depth and after returning in the morning at the Sunne-rise you must make triall how it soundeth being strucken with the end of a Holly staffe armed at the said end with some round peece of Iron or Latten after the manner of the end of a Shepheards staffe without the Crooke and there by the iudgement of the eare to obserue and marke how it soundeth vnderneath as whether it sound like a Mortar or like fat Earth Potters clay or some other that is very hard or like a Glasse halfe broken or else like a very deepe Pit that toucheth the Quarrie or Veine lying vnderneath and this is the best way to iudge and make triall Or otherwise in the moneth of August or September at such time as the Earth is verie drie a little before the Sunne rise you must lye downe flat vpon the ground hauing your face toward the East and chuse out that place where you shall espie a vapour to rise vp out of the Earth after the manner of little Clouds for this is a token of a proud or plentifull store of water Or else to make a shorter triall to make deepe trenches of foure foot within the ground and therein to put sponges or fleeces of Wooll verie drie and cleane couering them with boughs of Trees or leaues of Hearbes then after some time to take them out of the Earth and they being wet and moist doe argue abundance of water according to the qualitie of moisture which they haue within them whereas if on the contrarie they be drie when they be taken vp it argueth that there is no water to be come by Diuers there be that gather figures of the springing vp of water in place where by their seeing of small clouds and vapours rising from thence into the ayre in drie faire and calme seasons But howsoever it is not conuenient to content ones selfe with the bare viewing of the hearbes which grow thereupon without hauing first made some triall for vnder Crowfoot Folefoot Plantaine Dogtooth Cinquefoile Milfoile and three-leaued Grasse Water is not farre to seeke but it is naught worth if one digge not verie deepe as is to be seene at Bagnolet Belle-Ville vpon the Sand and other places of Liury Vnder Veruaine is oftentimes found good Water and deepe according to the nature of the ground and withall if the head doe spring from grounds apt to boyle as red Sand or gray Rocke and not from those sides which by and by are dried vp Aboue all to the end we may have Wells containing water of a good rellish and such as will neuer drie vp we must make choice of a sâ—â—die blacke grauelly or clayish ground or such a one as is full of pebbles and especially that which is mixed of pebbles and sand together but neuer of that water which floweth from Fullers clay mire mudde or springeth from the grounds where Sallowes Roses Reeds and other such Plants which are engendred of a watrie humour doe grow for although that such places doe yeeld great store of water notwithstanding that water is naught worth and will easily be dried vp Wherefore as much as lyeth in you procure that your Wells be farre off from such ditches as wherein they lay the dung of Stables Cattell or Swine-coats to rot or any other place which may annoy in regard of the pissing of beasts if they be not well digged and made verie deepe True it is that Wells will be a great dealâ— the better if they consist of a high rising water and not such a one as lyeth deepe in the earth For howsoeuer that such Wells be lesse hot in Winter and in Summer lesse cold yet notwithstanding it shall be infinitely better because it hath more helpe of the Sunne and Aire which are the two things which doe greatly amend and make better the water and if necessitie force the water to lye so deepe and low wee must seeke to helpe the inconuenience by drawing but a little and oft for the iumbling and stirring of the water will rectifie it and amongst other things you must haue speciall care not to keepe it couered Fountaines in like manner rising from such places of Mountaines are had in request as well for the profit of the water which is a great deale better and more pleasant than that drawne out of Wells as also for the beautifying of the Country Farme And for to find their Head or Spring wee must vse the like meanes as wee haue layd downe for the finding of Wells excepted that wee must make chiefe choice of such as breake forth vpon the North at the bottome of high and great Mountains hauing hollow places and compassed about with plaines for in such plaine grounds the water gathereth it selfe together and distilleth through the earth Now this kind of prouision of water is when you desire it in great aboundance but if you stand vpon and desire the best and most excellent water you must make choice of
〈◊〉 time they haue no such force of greatnesse of bodie notwithstanding if they 〈◊〉 sowne or transplanted in the wane of the Moone and towards the later end they 〈◊〉 a great deale more strong sharpe and biting than if it were in the growth or fullâ— the Moone Furthermore he shall cut downe his Medowes for the feeding of his Cattell when the Moone is new hee shall dung his grounds and make them fat in the encrease of the same in as much as the Moone giueth no lesse power vnto the dung to soften the Earth than it doth to Trees and Seeds to bud grow and multiplie euerie one in his place he shall water his Meadowes in the decrease of the Moone And he shall not be content to know what force and efficacie euerie quarter of the Moone hath vpon Beasts Trees Plâ—nts Hearbes Fruits and other things contained in this inferior World but shall also be carefull to obserue what power euerie day of the Moone hath not onely vpon Beasts and Plants but also in the disposition and gouerning of Man to make his vse thereof in the time of necessitie and in time and place as occasion offereth following such infallible Obseruations as hâ—uâ— beene long continued and which our Fathers neuer attayned vnto and they be such In the first day of the Moone Adam was created if any man fall sickâ— vpon this day the sicknesâ—e will be long but he partie shall recouer the dreames which he dreameth in the night shall be found ioyfull the child that is borne this day shall liue long In the second day Eue was created it is good to take any Voyage vpon this day either by Sea or Land and the Traueller shall haue happie successe in all the places where he shall lodge and soâ—ourne This day is good for the encrease of posteritie It is likewise happie and fauourable to such as shall haue any Suits vnto Princes or other great Personages Likewise it will be good to build and set vp vpon as also to make Gardens Orchards and Parkes to till the Earth and sow it A Thâ—ft or Robberiâ— committed this day will not long be vnfound out for it cannot be concealed If any onâ— fall sicke he will be quickly healed If he dreame in the night time he must not respect it for it shall come to no effect The child borne vpon this day thriueth and groweth iollily In the third day Cain was borne Vpon this day no man is to enterprise any worke either in Gardening or Planting except that which he purposeth to lose who so falleth sicke shall vndergoe and beare it with great paine and griefe vnto the end but by little and little keeping good order of diet he shall recouer his health Any dreame dreamed this day or night shall come to naught likewise the child then borne shall be of long life In the fourth day Abel was borne This is a good day to begin a worke in to make Mills in and to goe vpon the Water A Fugitiue or Run-away as also a lost or strayed Beast shall be quickly found The partie falling sicke vpon his bed shall hardly escape it if the dreame he good it shall come to passe if on the contrarie it be euill it shall not come to passe the child borne this day shall proâ—e a Traytor In the fifth day Lamech was borne If vpon this day any partie haue committed any thing by hap or accident and â—lye for the same he doth but lose his labour by such flight for he shall by and by be punished aliue or dead Robberie committed this day shall not be found out who so shall fall sicke vpon this day shall neuer rise againe the dreameâ—dreamed shall be doubtfull the child borne shall die veriâ— quickly In the sixt day Ebron was borne It is good vpon this day to send children to Schoole and to goe a Hunting Theft or Robberie committed this day shall bâ— quickly found out likewise the sicknesses which shall be taken shall be soone healed the dreames which a man shall dreame on that day are not to be disclosed thâ— child that shall be borne shall be of long life In the seuenth day Abel was slaine by Cain It is good on this day to let bloud foreseene that the Moone be in a fit signe into what Coast or Quarter soeuer that â— Malefactor or Theefe doth flye both he and the theft committed shall be quickly found out the sick soone healed thâ— dreames certaine and true good to buy Swine and to make food of all manuer of Beasts the child borne shall be of long life The eight day Methusalem was borne It is good for Trauellers the Patient taken with a disease shall languish a long time the dreames therefore shall proue true the child shall not shew any good â—ignes in the iudgemenâ— of Physiognomie In the ninth day Nabuchodonosor was borne This said day is indifferent thâ— dreames of the night come to passe incontinently the partie that shall fall sicke will escape if he die not within eight dayes and therefore shall not languish or beare it mournefully the child borne vpon this day shall be of a long life The tenth day Noe was borne All good things done this day shall prosper the dreames shall be of no effect who so vpon it shall fall into tribulation and aduersiâ—ie shall not need to feare for it shall not long endure likewise he that falleth sicke shall die within tenne dayes if he be not well succoured the child borne vpon this day shall trauaile many farre Coasts and Countries The eleuenth day Samuel was borne It is good to change ones house in a good and ioyfull dreame shall fall out to be true and come to passe within a few dayes the partie lying downe sicke vpon his bed shall there continue a long time and yet notwithstanding hâ— shall escape the child borne vpon this day shall be of a good spirit apt and forward to all good sciences and of a long life The twelfth day is very dangerous and therefore we must not doe any thing in it for vpon this day was Canaan borne who so shall fall sicke therein shall be in great danger to die within twelue dayes the dreames thereof shall be true according to their signification the child borne this day shall be altogether hypocritically enclined In the thirteenth day it will be euill to begin any worke who so falleth sicke vpon that day shall continue long languishing the dreames thereof shall be accomplished within nine dayes the child borne that day shall liue long In the fourâ—teenth day God blessed Noe and his workes he that falleth sicke that day shall amend againe quickly the dreames thereof will be doubtfull the child borne that day will be perfect in all things The fifteenth day shall be indifferent that is to say neither good nor bad the sicke shall not die vpon his sicknesse whereinto he fell that day the dreames thereof will be certaine and accomplished within
places where Snakes Lizards Adders and other such like Beasts abound you may set vp some small Spire or Turret about your house or plant vpon some piece of high mounted ground some well-spread Tree of a great height for the alluring of Storkes to the same that they may helpe to free your house of those said venimous beasts for they will kill them to feed their young ones therewith But yet perswade not your selfe that you can easily draw and allure them nor yet retaine and keepe them Summer being once passed for vpon Winters returne they will be packing into another Countrey Notwithstanding there are some which not hauing beene disturbed in the time of their ayring and bringing vp of their young ones doe euerie yeare repayre to their wonted ayres and that by a long â—light out of a farre Countrey and doe ayre and neast themselues willingly also in the tops of high Towers not frequented as iudging the place to be such as will not suffer any man to doe them annoyance And in the meane time you need not take any care of their Neast laying sitting or feeding for they be birds carefull ynough of themselues and not needing the helpâ— of any other and which doe come and goe in such sort as one cannot perceiue them in such sort as that we may rather see them when they be commen than foresee their comming for as much as their comming and going is in the night Some doe thinke that they haue no tongue make no account of them for to eat them seeing they are of a verie euill iuice and venimous feeding and yet this good is in them that hee which shall haue eaten of a Storke shall not haue his eyes bleared or running all that yeare It is obserued in this bird that the young doe feed the old that breed them when they cannot flye any more nor get their prey CHAP. XVIII Of Feasants IT is a point of great curiositie to keepe Feasants which Columella calleth Hennes of Numidia but he that can do it hath both pleasure and profit and he must be such a one as almost doth nothing else for this bird is chargeable to maintaine she will haue her house by her selfe raised high and leaning to the inclosure or wall of the Court and long also that her troughes may be in the ayre and where the Sunne giueth And euerie seuerall bird must haue her owne roome and yet there must be but one dore vnto their Henne-house for the cleansing thereof and giuing of them meat The rest of their house shall be all open vpon the fore-part and yet in such sort as that it shall be sure and fast by being thick latted and of clouen boords about the height of a fadome below and verie well couered aboue Feasant Cocks and Hennes are hard to tame if they be not so hatched or else taken within the yeare for the elder sort grow sullen and malecontented and doe accord and buckle themselues either to lay or sit And as for the young they must be gently handled vntill they be well trained and can easily be content with and apply themselues to the enduring of a constrained ayre and that such a one as is not like to that where they were taken There must be one Cocke to euerie two Hennes The Henne hath but one season wherein she vseth to lay and that is March at which time she beginneth and so continueth vntill she haue orderly layd twentie and after she fitteth them all together or else fifteene of her owne and some others of another kind if you put them vnder her and she sitteth thirtie dayes and in the time of her sitting you must vse her with the like diligence that you doe the Henne but this must be all within her owne house The young ones being hatched shall be fed with flower of Barly boyled and cooled and afterward with the flower of Wheat and sometimes you shall mix herewith or else giue them by themselues some Gras-hoppers and egges of Ants and you must oftentimes giue them fresh water and cleane for they are subiect to the same diseases that the Henne is Men of old time were wont to fat their Feasant Cockes and Hennes for Feastiuall dayes or Banquets and Feasts onely and not for brood and gaue vnto them the first day honied water and strong wine to cause them to forget their naturall place after that of the flower of Barly tempered with water of ground Beanes and of cleane Barly of whole Millet of Turnep seed and Linseed boyled and dryed mixt with the flower of Barly and for to heat and cleanse their stomackes they gaue them Mustard seed for fiue dayes and so fatted them vp in their Cowpes for threescore dayes This is the thing that diuers Cookes of Paris with certaine other rich Victuallers doe know verie well to doe and they must as saith Columella giue them their â—eat to eat to the end they may be fat when they are vsed in Banquets for but few of these wild Feasant Hennes doe giue themselues to lay and beare the yoake of serâ—itude both together CHAP. XIX Of Peacockes THe Peacocke is a bird of more beautifull feathers than any other that is he is quickly angrie but he is as farre off from taking good hold with his feet he is goodly to behold verie good to eat and serueth as a watch in the inner court for that hee spying strangers to come into the lodging he fayleth not to crie out and to aduertise them of the house It is true that he is not kept with a little cost and meat being a great eater and quickly digesting his meat noysome to the house for that he spoyleth the Gardens if there be not some little Medow ground for him to frequent hee breaketh the roofe and high place of the house And the Cocke being ouer-ranke by nature doth breake the Hennes egges thereby to keepe her from sitting that so he may the more freely enioy and vse her The Cocke liueth a long time as from twentie to fiue and twentie yeares but the Henne somewhat lesse both the one and the other somewhat troublesome to reare and bring vp whiles they be young but they need not to haue any great care taken of them after they haue once left the dam except it be in keeping them from hurting the Corne. They loue a hot and temperate ayre and that is the cause that they are not brought vp in manie Countries of France but with much adoe The place where they most abound in all the Countrey is toward Lisieux in Normandie for from thence there come great numbers to Paris for great and sumptuous Banquets and Marriages There they make them fat with the drosse of Cyder and Perrie People of old and auncient time did cast Islets on the backside of their Gardens onely for Peacocks and there set vp some little shed for them at their pleasure to repaire vnto and another for the
cause him to be couered if therewith he haue the cough and if in trauaile he haue taken cold by raine or tedious vveather to giue him then to eat some Fenugreeke or Anise-seed amongst his prouender to change him vvhen he is past age and also to take acknowledgement of the loue that one Horse beareth towards another and accordingly to set them one by another in the Stable appointed for them which he must euerie morning may cleane in Sommer carrying out the dung and filth and letting none remaine and at night giue them fresh Litter He must also cast an eye about and see whether his horses doe grow leane or no and then to fat them with Fetches boyled in water and mixed amongst their Oats as also with millet pannicke rice sodden and mingled with meale of Beanes and a little Salt or where these are missing to take good sweet Barley chaffe or Pease pulse well mixt with some drie Beanes and to giue him thereof good store after euerie watering or vvhen he newly commeth from his labour as for sodden Barley or other boyled corne they are onely good to loosen the skinne but the fat which they gather is neuer of any indurance He must be content to take vp his lodging in the stable for feare of their falling sicke intangling themselues in their halters and growing of his beasts and let him be carefull and wise in ordering and placing his light in such sort as that it may be out of daunger and to locke vp and keepe his harnesse well and made readie ouer night 〈◊〉 morning that so when he is to returne to his labour into the field he be 〈…〉 of any thing If he haue any Mules or young Colts he must put them by 〈…〉 and reserue them for some other labour and if any of his Horses fall sicke if it be not of wearinesse dulnesse or chafing he must put him out from among the rest If he haue any Horse that hath ill propertie or fault he shall be carefull how to amend it as if he be fearefull or timerous or if he will not abide while one getteth vpon his backe or if he will not goe by or into any place he shall hang within his 〈◊〉 some prettie little stone and if this doe him no good he shall hoodwinke him or 〈◊〉 behind him at his taile some flame of fire or some sharpe pricking thing if he wâ—â—nie much he shall tie to his head a stone with a hole through it if when a man is vpon his backe he rise and come aloft he shall hit him with his rod vpon the forelegges if he lye downe he must be raised vp againe with rough words and strokes if he goe backward you shall tye a cord to his codds vvhich shall be so long as thâ—â— reaching betwixt his forelegges he which rideth him may hold it in his hand and when as the Horse shall goe backward he shall pull it hard with his hand to make him goe forward for so vvithout all doubt he will goe forthright and amend his fault if the Horse be gelded he must beat his thighs vvith a long staffe taken out of the fire verie hot and burnt at the end or he shall giue him feele of his whisking rodd betwixt his eares if the Horse be hard to shooe and troublesome to handle and dresse in the stable he shall put in one or both of his eares a little round pebble and there make it sure with one or both his hands and keepe them in his eares and thus he shall make him as gentle and meeke as a Lambe It is also the Carters part to gouerne his heard of Mares and Colts carefully thâ—â— no inconuenience may befall them he shall put them to feed and shall send theâ— to grasse when it shall be due time and that in large and marish grounds Notwithstanding marish ground doth soften their hoofe verie much and maketh them tender sighted and begetteth water in their feet and for this cause I could like the high and hillie grounds better being such as from time to time haue raine or 〈◊〉 dropping downe vpon them and not drie at any time and such as are rather voiâ— and free than incombred with vvood or other bodies of trees or legges and yet further hauing a soft and sweet grasse rather than a high great and strong grasse And notwithstanding that Mares be not so frolicke nor couragious as Horses be yet they goe beyond them farre in the race and stand it out a great deale longer and againe they are not so chargeable to keepe as Horses are for they are not fed with the best hay they content themselues to run in pastures all the yeare long true it is that in Winter and when the ground is all couered with snow as also in the time of continuall raine they must be put in some one house or other and giue them such Hay as is good to eat and in Sommer to keepe them in some good coole shadowâ—â— place and well growne with good Grasse and serueth vvith cleare vvaters but nâ—uer vpon the rough and ragged mountaines as vvell for that they doe hardly feed there as also because that such as are with foale can hardly clime without great paine not come downe without endangering themselues to cast their Colts You shall not suffer the Mare to take Horse ofter than euerie two yeare according to the opinioâ— of the curious Horsemen but yet the better experienced allow the conueying of Marâ—s euerie yeare for it keepeth the wombe open and giueth the Foale a large bed to lye in to keepe and breed of the best kind and race and not to bring in a base and degenerate kind againe to see that it be dâ—ne about mid March to the end that at the same time that the Mares were couered and horsed they may easily feed their Colts hauing tender and soft grasse after Haruest for about the end of the eleuenth or twelfth moneth they foale and so their milke is the faster better conditioned begetteth also and nourisheth fairer Colts and such as thriue euen as we our selues would wish The Stalions also thus attended are the stronger and doe more abound with a well concocted and slimie nature and not with a thinne and waterie and withall they couer them with more courage and beget greater Colts and such as are more hardie and strong He shall know that the Mares are readie to take Horse when they yeeld a whitish humor at the place of generation and that their priuie parts are more swolne than they were wont to be as also more hot than ordinarie and eat not so much as they were wont He shall let her take Horse twice a day euening and morning before he let her drinke and this shall be continued but tenne daies which past if she refuse him he shall put her aside as with foale and shall take away the Horse least with his furious rage he make her
notwithstanding the flowers of Roses and Capers must be gathered to be kept while they be 〈◊〉 likewise the leaues and whole hearbes are gathered when they are growne to the full fruits as Melons Cucumbers Citruls and Gourds when they turne yellow and are growne to their perfection If they be purposed to be made serue for seed then they must be let alone longer and afterward kept in conuenient place 〈◊〉 be time to sow them and they must be gathered in a bright weather and in the â—â—crease of the Moone Seeds are gathered when the hearbe is all layd and drie 〈◊〉 it must generally be obserued in all manner of gathering as well of hearbes 〈◊〉 roots as of fruits and seeds that it be done in a faire and cleare weather and in the â—â—crase of the Moone Such hearbes as are to be kept must first be made verie cleane and dried 〈◊〉 shadow which is the best meanes to keepe them the strongest in their vertues 〈◊〉 qualities or else in the Sunne and after to put them vp in bagges of Leather vvollen stuffe nor in vvoodden boxes that so they may not loose their 〈…〉 see it put in practise by sine hearbes which are kept to be vsed in Winter 〈◊〉 me thinkes that the Apothecaries faile much in their doings which hang their phâ—sicke hearbes in the roofe of their house for by this meanes they doe not onely 〈◊〉 their force but become laden with dust cobwebs the dung of flies and a thousand â—â—ther filthie things Flowers must not be dried in the Sunne not in the shadow that is made by 〈◊〉 South-Sunne nor yet in any high roome because of their tendernesse and 〈◊〉 which would cause their force to vanish away either in the burning heat of 〈◊〉 Sunne or in the more moderne heat of the verie ayre If it be not the Prouenâ—e 〈◊〉 which that it may be kept long requireth to be dried in an high place open to 〈◊〉 South-Sunne where the beames of the Sunne doe enter but touch not the 〈◊〉 The best way to drie flowers will be in a temperate place and to turne them 〈…〉 the end that they may not corrupt hauing also this continuall care that they 〈◊〉 neither loose their colour nor their smell And when they are dried they must 〈◊〉 put into an earthen vessell Seeds must be kept in bagges or vessells of earth which haue narrow moutheâ— or in boxes or else in bottles of the rindes of gouâ—ds well stopt and set in 〈◊〉 drie places and where there is no water shed for seeds doe mightily spoyle 〈◊〉 moisture The seeds of Chibols Onions and Leekes as also of Poppie are kept 〈◊〉 their rindes or heads For to keepe Roots you must obserue two waies for either they are to be 〈◊〉 new and as they are yet greene as Nauets Turneps Carets and such like or 〈◊〉 they are to be kept drie For to keepe them new you must lay them vpon sand 〈◊〉 grauell verie thin in some place vnder the earth and a little couered or else to 〈◊〉 them vnder the earth in the garden as we see it done in Turneps and Nauets to 〈◊〉 them the greatest part of Winter To keepe roots drie after they be gathered 〈◊〉 must wash them diligently with cleare water and after take from them all the 〈◊〉 â—ibres or hairie threeds that hang about them and then to drie them either in 〈◊〉 shadow of the Sunne-rising if they be but small and thin as are the roots of 〈◊〉 Succorie Parsley Sperage and such like or in the South-Sunne if they be 〈◊〉 and thicke at those of Daffodils Gentian Sowbread Water-lilly Brionie and such like After that they are dried and thus prepared you must hang them in some 〈◊〉 and vpper roome open vpon the Sun when it is in the South or else vpon the 〈◊〉 quarter and in which notwithstanding neither the smoake nor dust nor 〈◊〉 beames may any thing hurt them notwithstanding that the counsell of 〈◊〉 the prince of Physitians is that hearbes flowers and roots as well greene as 〈◊〉 should not be put to keepe in any place where the wind should come but rather 〈◊〉 vp in vessells or some other such like meanes of keeping of them to the end that they should not loose their force which indeed they might most easily loose being 〈◊〉 open and subiect to the wind CHAP. XI Pâ—t-hearbes and particularly of Coleworts FIrst of all we are to speake of Coleworts both because they are most common and also most aboundant of all other sorts of hearbs all kinds of Coleworts doe loue a cleane ground fat and well tilled not consisting of clay or sand And although they grow indifferently in any ayre but â—pecially in a temperate yet they become greater and more massie sound and safe 〈◊〉 vermine in cold places as are those in Germanie than in hot places and for 〈◊〉 cause they delight a great deale more in the tops of hills than in plaine grounds 〈◊〉 yet in those plaine grounds more in the raised parts of borders than in the flat 〈◊〉 middle parts thereof and they be more pleasant more wholesome for the 〈◊〉 and better in Autumne Spring-time and during great frosts than they be in â—ommer They craue much dung and that especially which is of Asses as being the 〈◊〉 of all for other men and to be raked in couered ouer with good earth not to 〈◊〉 watered in any case notwithstanding that water doth make them looke faire and â—â—ourishing but then not so sweet to the tast nor so wholesome for the stomach When they haue got sixe leaues vpon their stalkes you must remoue them but let it 〈◊〉 in a mild and calme time whether Winter or Sommer And to speake particuâ—arly the common Coleworts called long or greene Coleworts must be sowen in 〈◊〉 August or September if you desire to haue the leaues in Lent and in Winter Some plant them in October and remoue them in December to haue the leaues in Winter and the seed in Iune and Iulie and that to make them the more tuffed â—hough there may be as much accomplished that way at other times of the yeare â—ut not so commodiously And looke well to it that your seed be not too old for if it be three yeares old it will bring forth Radishes And that is the cause why some say Sow Coleworts and â—here will grow vp Radishes or Nauets notwithstanding it continueth sixe yeares 〈◊〉 his nature if it be well kept Cabage-colewort which are called white or apple Coleworts are sowen vpon 〈◊〉 and remoued to stand a foot one from another well couered at the root with a 〈◊〉 and enriched earth when they begin to rise vp into a great stemme and loue â—â—e cold ayre for in a hot aire they cannot liue and you must couer them with straw 〈◊〉 make them cabage the better and become the whiter The curled and Romane Coleworts being more tender
flowers of Marigolds drunke fasting haue great force to 〈◊〉 the termes of vvomen the fume or smoake of them taken through a 〈◊〉 into the secret parts doth the like and causeth the after-birth to come forth and 〈◊〉 young maides out of the Greene-sicknesse The conserue of the same 〈◊〉 haue the same vertue The women of Italie as well to prouoke the 〈◊〉 as to 〈◊〉 them doe frie the juice and tender crops of this hearbe with the yolkes of 〈◊〉 and doe eat them The verie same juice mingled with a little Wine or warme 〈◊〉 is a soueraigne remedie to asswage the extreame paines of the head and teeth 〈◊〉 one vse â—t in manner of a lotion This juice drunke to the quantitie of an ounce 〈◊〉 the weight of a French-crowne of the powder of Earth-wormes rightly prepared 〈◊〉 helpe greatly against the jaundise Some say that to eat oft of Marigold leaues 〈◊〉 make a good countenance the distilled vvater of Marigold leaues being dropt 〈◊〉 his eyes or linnen clothes wet therein and applied vnto them doth heale the 〈◊〉 of the eyes The powder of the leaues thereof dried and put in the hollow 〈◊〉 the tooth doth cure the aking of the same The juice of the flowers of Marigolds 〈◊〉 to the quantitie of two ounces in the beginning of a pestilentiall ague doth 〈◊〉 the plague so that the sicke after he hath drunke this juice doe presently lye 〈◊〉 and be made sweat being throughly couered in his bed it doth cure also the â—ndise and beating of the heart The conserue of the flowers of Marigolds doth 〈◊〉 like To drinke halfe an houre before the comming of the fit of a quartaine aguâ—â—â—out three ounces of vvhite vvine vvherein haue beene sleept seuen seeds of Mariâ—â—ds and to go ouer this drinke for diuers mornings together is a soueraigne mediâ—â—â— against a quartaine ague CHAP. XVIII Of Beets and Blites white and red BEets as well the vvhite as the blacke and red vvhich is called Bâ—tte and lotte of the inhabitants of Tourraine or Romane of the Picardes are 〈◊〉 not onely in Leâ—t but at all times especially after December vntill March and in August to the end that there may alwaies be in a reaâ—nesse both old and young and for to gather feed which may endure good thrâ—â—â—â—ares And for this cause you must take them vp and plant them againe when they 〈◊〉 put forth fiue leaues and put vnto the roots a little new dung and afterward 〈◊〉 and raise their earth and free them quite from vveeds they are apt and easie â—â—ough to grow and though they be cut yet they will spring againe if they be planâ—â—d in a fat and well manured ground They haue this speciall and as it were admiâ—â—ble qualitie in them namely that they neuer come to their full perfection vntil the 〈◊〉 yeare after they be sowen in respect whereof I could aduise the gardiner not 〈◊〉 gather any seeds of the beets to sow but such as the beet shall bring forth the third 〈◊〉 for of such seed there grow verie faire and goodly beets If you would make choyce of faire beets chuse rather the white than either the â—lacke or red as being the fairest and tenderest but to haue such as shall be verie â—reat and vvhite you must couer the root with the new dung of Oxen and cleaue in â—nder their sprout as is done with Leekes and to lay vpon them a large and broad â—one or a bricke If you would haue your beets red water them with the Lees of 〈◊〉 Wine or else plant them in such a place as wherein they may haue great heat 〈◊〉 the Sunne Beets â—aten in pottage doe loose the bellie the juice of beets drawne vp into the â—â—ose doth purge the braine the same juice â—ubbed vpon the head causeth Lice and 〈◊〉 to die The roots of beets roasted in the ashes and eaten do take away the ill 〈◊〉 that commeth of eating Garleeke The root of beets stamped and cast in wine â—oth turne the same within three houres after into vinegar Blites are sowne in March and are not long in comming out of the earth If they 〈◊〉 sowen in a well tilled ground they will also grow the next yeare following withâ—ut any new sowing in such manner as that the ground will hardly be rid of them 〈…〉 craue no weeding or sweeping Blites doe loose the bellie their decoction wherein hath boyled the roots and â—â—aues killeth licâ— and nits their leaues roasted amongst ashes or boyled doe healâ—â—â—rnings the first boyling of Blites with the gall of an Oxe and the Oyle of 〈◊〉 â—oth take away all spots out of garments without doing any harme 〈◊〉 presently 〈◊〉 you must wash the place with warme water CHAP. XIX Of Arrach and Spinage THe hearbe Arrach in Latine called Atriplex aswell the white and 〈◊〉 as the greene doe naturally grow in grounds manured with 〈◊〉 and in such place as where there hath beets growne at other time 〈◊〉 become red in the same sort that beets doe in a fat and well 〈◊〉 ground But they are sowne in Februarie March and Aprill and they would 〈◊〉 sowne thin and not thicke and oftentimes watered Some sow them in 〈◊〉 to gather them in Winter They will not be remoued but rather wed 〈◊〉 dunged with good dung often cut and pruned and that with an yron toole 〈◊〉 they may not spend themselues in turning all their substance into leaues But 〈◊〉 after the time that the seed is scattered vpon the earth it must presently be 〈◊〉 with earth and they must be sowne as cleare as may be that so they may 〈◊〉 and come faire and goodly ones In lesse than fiâ—teene daies they be readie to 〈◊〉 The Italians vse to make a kind of Tart of Arraches They chop small the 〈◊〉 and stampe them with cheese fresh butter and the yolkes of Egges afterward 〈◊〉 put them in paste and bake them in the ouen Spinage so called because his seed is prickly is of two sorts the male and 〈…〉 the female beareth no seed Both of them are â—owen in August Septemâ—â— and October for to be vsed in Lent time and in December Ianuarie and 〈◊〉 for Sommer they beare out the roughnesse of all seasons verie well and 〈◊〉 whether it be frost cold or snow they grow also in any ground so that 〈…〉 well dressed and somewhat moist they require to the end they may prosper 〈◊〉 and spring quickly to be watered euery euening and to be couered either 〈…〉 or stubble they stand not in need to be wed but if they be cut oft they grow the 〈◊〉 And he that would haue them to continue long and flourish must at 〈…〉 cut off the one halfe of the stalke and at another time the other halfe Likewise 〈◊〉 that would haue them to continue sometime without being sowne euerie year 〈◊〉 at the first when he soweth them see that the seed be a good full and
through a Limbecke in Maries-bath doth maruailously heale the Agues caused of the obstructions of any noble part and which is more it killeth the wormes and wipeth away all the spots of the face it they be often washed therewith It is exceeding good against the inflammation of the eyes It is verie soueraigne against any infection or mortall sicknesse if it be drunke with Water and Honie it abateth the swelling of the bodie and easeth the colicke whether it be in the stomach or in the bowels it also cureth the biting or stinging of venimous beasts and it causeth a woman to be deliuered of her dead birth The root is a present remedie against the Plague not onely in men but also in all â—orts of cattell it is a speciall preseruatiue against all poyson and a meanes to withstand all putrefaction in regard whereof the Switzers mingle it amongst their owne meat and the sodder or prouender of their cattell that so they may continue in good health Arsmart so called because the leaues applied to the fundament for to wipe it doe cause great paine and of the Latines Hydropiper doth require a marshie ground full of water or at the least verie moist or often watered and it groweth rather being planted of a root then sowne of seed It is verie singular in ointments for old vlcers and fistulaes as also in clysters for bloudie fluxes the leaues thereof washed in cold water and applied vnto wounds and vlcers either of man or beast doe take away by and by the paine thereof and doth throughly heale them as the swellings or gaules vnder the saddles of horses that 〈◊〉 hurt if they be renewed euerie day and the horse needs not to be forborne for all that Or else take the hearbe new steepe it in water and wash it then rub therewith the swolne or gauled place then put the hearbe in some place where it may quickly rot or else burie it in some fat ground and coâ—er it with a great stone so soone as the â—hearbe is rotted so soone will the fore be healed If you spread it all greene in the bed it killeth fleas you shall keep powdred proke from wormes if you wrap it in the leaues of this hearbe thâ— juice thereof dropped into wormie eares doth kill the wormes that is in them Eye-bright delighteth in a leane ground and shadowed place and yet where moiâ—ture is not altogether wanting such as are the meadows and little mountaines is groweth of roots not of seed It is singular good against the dimnesse waterishnesse â—ataract rheume and weaknesse of the eyes being either applied and layd thereto or â—aken inwardly by the mouth there is a powder made of â—he dried leaues which beâ—ng oft taken by the mouth with the yolke of an egge or alone or mixt with aloes â—nd swallowed downe with Fennell-water or with water of veruaiâ—e doth comfort â—nd strengthen mightily the weake and diseased eyes some vse much to take Winâ— wherein eye-bright hath beene infused and steept a long time for the same purpose or the powder vsed with wine but the powder alone or the decoction without wine 〈◊〉 a remedie far more certaine than the wine of eye-bright as I my selfe haue proued â—y experience in as much as the Wine by his vapours doth fill the braine and proâ—ureth rheumes and therefore if you would auoid these inconuenienees you must â—elay your Wine vvith the vvater of Fennell or mixe Sugar therewith 〈◊〉 de â—illa-noâ—a aâ—â—irmeth that by the continuall vse of this heâ—healed an old man which â—â—ad alreadie wholly lost his sight by the often vse of the leaues of this hearbe as well 〈◊〉 as drie as well in his drinke as in his meat Veruaine as well the male as the female must be planted of roots in a moist soile â—nd that it may grow the fairer it requireth to be remoued and that into a place of â—he like nature and qualitie Besides the helpes that this hearbe affordeth vnto vveake eyes it is also good aâ—ainst the paine of the head teeth and vlcers of the mouth and principally in the â—â—fections of the skinne as the itch the tetter the flying-fire the ring-worme the â—prosie the Gangrena and Shbaâ—lus if it bâ— vsed in manner of a bath 〈◊〉 in manner of a foâ—entation made with Fâ—mitorie in Water and Vinegar Elicampane must not be sowne of seed because the seed hath no power to 〈◊〉 but it must rather be planted of the young sprouts pulled gently from the 〈…〉 that in a verie well tilled ground and which hath beene manured not verie 〈…〉 yet ouershadowed It is good to plant it in the beginning of Februarie leauing 〈◊〉 foot distance betwixt plant and plant for it hath great leaues and the roots do 〈◊〉 verie much as doe the young sprouts or roots of Reed The Wine wherein the root of Elicampane hath steept for the space of four◠〈◊〉 twentie houres is singular good against the colicke as we haue alreadâ—e said in 〈◊〉 first booke the juice of the root is singular good to continue and keepe the 〈◊〉 and beautifull hew of women The decoction of the root is likewise good 〈◊〉 â—â—joyce the heart and to prouoke vrine and the termes of women as also to 〈…〉 to spit out but then it must be vsed inwardly and whiles it is new and greene 〈◊〉 when it is old and drie it is fit to be vsed outwardly and not to be taken into 〈◊〉 bodie Dittander which hath the tast of pepper and mustard for which cause it is 〈◊〉 of the Latines Piperitis must be planted before the first of March cut as the 〈◊〉 but not so oft for feare it should die with cold It will continue two 〈◊〉 prouided that it be carefully weeded and dunged it continueth in many 〈◊〉 whole ten years and it cannot easily be destroyed The root of Dittander stamped with Hogs-gâ—ease or with the root of 〈◊〉 and applied in forme of a cataplaâ—me vnto the Sciatica doth cure it throughly It taketh away the great spots freckles and scales or pilling of the face by 〈…〉 the thin skin wherein these are fixed and as for the rawnesse left after the away of this skin it is healed easily with ointment of Roses Great Celandine groweth in euerie ground so that there be any shadow 〈…〉 and it would be sowne in Februarie and may so continue ten yeares so that â—waies after it hath cast his seed the stalkes thereof be cut downe within 〈…〉 of the root The juice of the flowers mixt with honie or womans milke or some othe◠〈◊〉 asswage the sharpenesse of it doth take away the spots in the eyes 〈…〉 scartes and vicers healeth the ring-wormes and itch of the head and the 〈…〉 the haire of little children The Alchymistes doe make great account of it 〈◊〉 their extractions of mettalls Some say that the old Swallows doe recouer the 〈◊〉 of their young ones being pore-blind by applying vnto their
in white wine is verie good for such 〈◊〉 haue a hard Spleene and are subiect to a quartane Ague Bâ—â—onie delighteth to be sowne in a moist and cold ground and neere vnto some wall by which it may be shadowed for it is not 〈◊〉 in loue with the Sun-beames The root hath contrarie properties to the leaues and flowers for the root 〈◊〉 the stomacke and is verie vnsauourie vnto the mouth his leaues and flowers and of 〈◊〉 verâ—e good smell and a tast correspondent and answerable The decoction of Betonie made in white wine assuageth the paines of the 〈◊〉 breaketh the stone and healeth the Iaundise The leaues stamped and applyed 〈◊〉 forme of a Cataplasme doe quickly ioyne together the wounds of the head A Cataplasme made of the leaues with Porkes grease doth ripen the tumors called Câ—â—haires and all other sorts of Impostumes The leaues stamped with a little salt doe heale hollow and cancrous vlcâ—rs To be briefe this hearb hath so manie and so greâ—â— vertues as that the Italian when he would highly commend a man for his giâ—â— will say that he hath moe vertues than Betonie Bugle would be planted in a stonie drie and hillie ground in respect whereof the Latines call it Casolida petrosa It craueth no great paines to be taken with 〈◊〉 The leaues thereof are good to conglutinate and soulder together both outward and inward wounds it is likewise put in drinkes for wounds and that is the cause why some doe commonly say That he that hath Bugle and Sanicle will scarce vouchsâ—â—â— the Chirurgion a Bugle Lions-paw groweth in a clayish ground being withall fat red and somewhat moist commonly in medowes situated in some high place It hath like properties with Bugle and Sanicle but moreouer it taketh away all the paine and heat of inflammations and vlcers The same hearb stamped and applyed vnto the teats of women and young maids maketh them hard and firme Great Comfrey groweth in moist places and hath the same propertie that Bugle hath that is to say to soulder wounds and this is â—o great in both of them as 〈◊〉 that you put Bugle or Comfrey into a pot wherein flesh is boyling the pieces of flesh will become no more manie but one The root of great Comfrey whiles it is yet greene and newly pluckt out of the earth being spread vpon Leather or vpon Linnen and applyed in forme of a Cataplasme vpon goutie or rheumatike places doth presently appease the paine of the gout being a thing often proued and tried The same root dried and made into powder is good to put in childrenâ— pappe which haue their rimme broken as also to stay the flux of the bellie A Cataplasme made of the root of great Comfrey with Beane flower and applyed vnto the place where the childs guts fall downe is a soueraigne remedie to cuâ—â— the same Self-heale craueth a fat ground and where the Sunne beateth not much it groweth of seâ—des and not of rootes and hath like properties that Bugle and Coâ—frey haue especially to stay the spitting of bloud the bloudie flux and to conglutinate wounds within the bodie where no man can come to apply tent or oyntment if there be made a drinke of the iuice of the rootes and leaues thereof which being chafed in your fingers or put vnder your tongue doth smell and tast like Myrrhe Water Germander called of the Latines Scordium groweth verie easily and without great paine or toile so that it be planted by little slippes taken from the old stalke and set in a moist ground for it specially requireth to grow well to be plâ—â—ted in a moist ground and to be often watered It hath the like qualities that Angelica hath against Poyson and the Plague and furthermore the decoction thereof taken as a drinke for certaine daies doth heale the tertian Agues and putteth away 〈◊〉 obstructions of the Spleene and prouoketh vrine Fole-foot must be planted in a verie moist place and craueth to be often watered for so it appeareth when as it is seene to flourish and like best in marish grounds and about currents of waters There groweth a whirish mossâ— about the root of it which if you gather and picke verie cleane and afterward wrap it in a Linnen Cloth with a little Sal nitrum and so boyle it a little in Lee and afterward lay it to drie in the Sunne you shall haue an excellent match to take fire at a flint and fire-steele for it taketh fire so easily that it will light at the first stroke of the 〈◊〉 Amongst other vertues it is singular good to comfort the lungs and parts aboue the breast whether you take it in a decoction or in a syrrup or in manner of a fume at the mouth or otherwise especially if you mingle some slippes of Hysope and some figges or syrrup with the said decoction The great Colts-foot especially the root thereof dried powdred and taken in the weight of two drammes with wine is singular against the Plague if so the partie sweat presently after It is good also to giue vnto Horses which haue the bots or are short-winded The great and small Carline so called as though it were Caroline because this Thistle was in a diuine manner made knowne vnto Charlemaigne by an Angell for the deliuering of his hoast from the Plague which did miserably annoy them doth require to be sowne and planted in a drie ground and stonie and where the Moone and Sunne doth shine pleasantly The root of the great Carline made into powder and taken the weight of a French crowne is singular good against the Plague the feeblenesse and faintnesse of the Heart for the keeping of the Vrine the breaking of the Stone the paines of the Sides and Conuulsions applyed outwardly after it hath beene steept in vineger it helpeth the Sciatica Eringium groweth in an vntilled rough and drie ground The wine wherein the rootes of Eringium haue been boyled prouoketh the Termes and restrained Vrine breaketh the Stone and casteth out it and Grauell It is good for such as haue the falling Sicknesse Dropsie or Iaundise The decoction of the root is singular good to resist Drunkennesse The distilled water of the young buds of the leaues being drunke euerie day and that so oft as one can is maruellous good for them which haue their bodies troubled with vlcers caused of the French Pocks in as much as it comforteth the Liuer The same water is verie profitable for the quartane and quotidian Agues The root thereof taken either in powder or in a decoction with the broth of those Frogges which are vsed to be eaten or for lacke of Frogges in the decoction of a Goslin or green Goose is a preseruatiue against the poyson of the Toad Hedgefrogge and other venimous hearbes It doth good also in the diseases of the heart being drunke with the decoction of Buglosse or Balme Beares-breech
called of the Latines Acanthus groweth in stonie and moist places although it loue to be diligently tended or otherwise not to yeeld anie profit The root and leaues are verie mollifying taken in drinke they prouoke vrine and applyed in forme of a Cataplasme they are good against conâ—ulsions wrenches and contractions of the ligaments They are to good effect vsed in the Clysters of them which haue the Dropsie Diuels-bit so called because it sheweth as though the middle or the heart of the root were gnawed or bitten by some Diuell so soone as it is planted or hath put vp in anie place as though the Diuell did enuie the good which it bringeth vnto men by the incredible vertues that are therein craueth no great husbandrie neither yet anie fat earth or verie moist for as we see it groweth vpon mountaines in bushes and places altogether barren It is true that it groweth also in medowes but yet such as are not verie moist It is found in great aboundance in the medowes of Verriere a borough neere vnto Paris The root and greene leaues being stamped together and applyed vnto Carbuncles and pestilent Buboes doe heale them The Wine wherein they haue boyled is drunke with good successe against the Plague and against the griefes and suffocation of the Mother The powder of the root thereof is verie good against Wormes Cinquefoile so called because of the fiue leaues which it beareth craueth a low waterish and shadowed ground it groweth also in drie and grauellie places The decoction of the root vsed for a Gargle doth assuage the tooth-ach and heale the vlcers of the mouth in a Clyster it slayeth all manner of flux of the bellie as well the bloudie flux as others taken as a drinke it is singular against the Iaundise the stopping of the Liuer and against a pestilent ayre and poyson Tormentill like in stalke vnto Cinquefoile but vnlike in number of leaues 〈◊〉 much as it hath seuen delighteth in the same ground that Cinquefoile doth 〈…〉 not altogether so waterish and called Tormentill because the powder or 〈◊〉 of the root doth appease the rage and torment of the teeth is ouer and aboue 〈◊〉 â—ther remedies most singular against the Plague and against the furie of all 〈◊〉 and Venimes it stayeth likewise all fluxes of bloud whether it be spitting 〈…〉 struous or of the bellie all vomiting and vntimely birth whether it be taken 〈◊〉 by the mouth or applyed outwardly or whether it be taken in substance 〈◊〉 the distilled water onely Perwincle delighteth in a shadowed and moist place we see it grow likewise 〈◊〉 Willow grounds Hedge-rowes and out-sides of Woods The leaues as well in decoction as otherwise doe stay all manner of flux of the bellie or spitting of bloud or otherwise as the monethly termes and whites 〈◊〉 purging hauing gone before and bleeding at the nose if you bruiâ—e the 〈◊〉 and put them in the nose or if you make a collar thereof to put about your 〈…〉 a garland for your head or if you put them vnder and about the tongue After the same manner you shall stay the monethly termes as also preuent vntimely birth 〈◊〉 you apply them vpon the groines Bistort as well the great as the small doth delight in a moist waterish and shâ—dowie place it groweth also in high Mountaines The root thereof doth stay all manner of fluxes as the termes and vnwilling 〈◊〉 away of the vrine if it be drunke with the iuice or distilled water of 〈◊〉 it stayeth the flux of bloud comming of a wound if the powder of it be cast 〈◊〉 the bleeding wound it suppresseth cholericke vomits if is befried with the 〈◊〉 of egges vpon a red hot tyle and be eaten by and by It is singular good as well 〈◊〉 the decoction and substance as in the distilled water against all Venime as also against the Plague against Wormes in little children against the Measels Purpleâ— and small Pocks in young children against the bloudie flux and all manner of falls against the paine and rheumes of the teeth if you put it into the hollow tooth 〈◊〉 little Allome and Pellitorie of Spaine Pionie as well the male as the female craueth to be planted or set in drie ground where the Sunne hath his full force The seed or root gathered in the wane of the Moone and hanged about the neck or applyed vnto the wrists alone or with the Missâ—ltoe of the Oake is a verie singâ—lar preseruatiue against the Falling sicknesse Whereunto notwithstanding I would not haue thee so much to trust as that thou shouldest not looke after some other â—â—medie assure thy selfe rather that it is singular in bitings and stingings that are â—â—nimous as well taken inward as applyed outward Thirtie seeds of Pionie 〈◊〉 and brayed and the verie kernell made into powder and drunke with wine doth fetch againe the speech when it is lost Paules Betonie both male and female would be either sowne or planted in thâ— verie same ground with Pionie This hearbe especially the female is verie much commended for his vertues 〈◊〉 the iuice that is pressed out of his leaues and the water that is distilled thereof 〈◊〉 heale all sorts of wounds as well new as old all sorts of vlcers whether maligne 〈◊〉 cancrous swellings and hot tumors itch and all the diseases of the skin and which is more the often vse as well of the iuice as of the distilled water of Paules 〈◊〉 doth perfectly cure the Leprosie whereof we haue a notable and famous testimoâ—â—â— of a French King who thereby was throughly cured thereof And this is the 〈◊〉 why this hearbe is called the Leapers hearbe Some doe make a balme thereof 〈◊〉 we will further speake in the Chapter of Balmes in the third Booke which is singâ—lar aboue all others for all sorts of wounds and maligne vlcers as also for the Leprosie and that it is so good is proued for that a certaine person well knowne vnto 〈◊〉 hauing a virulent vlcer in manner of a Polypus in his nosthrils of the cure 〈◊〉 manie as well Physitioâ—s as Surgions being excellent men and dwelling in 〈◊〉 Towne did altogether despaire was notwithstanding wonderfully cured by the application of this Balme and often vse of potions made of the decoction of the leaues of the female Paules Betonie This hearbe is singular also in Clysters for bloudie Fluxes and in drinkes for pestilent Feauers vlcers of the Lungs and obstructions of the Liuer and Spleene Gromell is the same which we call in Latine Milium solis and it groweth better being sowne than pianted it delighteth in a drie and vntilled ground being withall stonie and hauing a good ayre The iuice of the leaues and powder of the seed being drunke with Wine hath a singular vertue against the Grauell and Stone and procuring of the Vrine to passe away There is nothing more singular for the burning of the Vrine than to drinke manie mornings
especially the root being applyed vnto anie part is as causticke as Pigeons dung or the Causticke stone or anie othâ—â— the most violent cauterie that may be found for though you put betwixt the 〈◊〉 and the hearbe a Linnen cloth fiue or sixe double yet it will not leaue to 〈◊〉 and pierce deepe euen vnto the flesh This is the hearbe which being steept in Dâ—â—gons bloud the cursed rogues and wicked rouers vp and downe doe rub their 〈◊〉 legges and thighes withall thereby to exulcerate them that so they may moue thâ— people with remorse and so get the larger almes This is the hearbe which siâ—iâ— calleth Crowfoot and which is so much esteemed for the Plague and Plague 〈◊〉 called a Carbuncle Take saith he Crowfoot hauing a root like vnto a small 〈◊〉 Onion this root either alone if it be bigge ynough or two or three of them stâ—â—ped and laid vnto the thombe of the hand that is on that side in the arme whereof the Plague is broken out or vnto the great toe of that foot that is on the same side thâ—â— the groine is that hath the Plague-sore and there leaue it foure and twentie houreâ— and it will make blisters which breaking of themselues doe let runne out the 〈◊〉 of the Plague drawne thither by a veine common vnto both parts but because that this root is verie strong you must put betwixt it and the thombe foure or fiue doâ—bles of new and strong cloth or six or seuen of thinne and worne cloth and so 〈◊〉 it and bind it vp and afterward you shall heale the vlcer of the thombe with the yolkes of egges and fresh butter beat together with a little of the middle Conâ—fâ—â—â— stamped with them or a little washt Aloes and if you cannot haue it new the dries also good for the same purpose but then you need not so manie doubles of cloth betwixt them This operation and worke is quickly done and certainely withoâ—â— bloud-letting or other euacuation Pettie whin groweth in euerie ground whether it be medow plowed land drie scorched moist tilled or not tilled The Husbandman doth greatly abhorre 〈◊〉 hearbe whereof he cannot by anie meanes rid his grounds The root is singular 〈◊〉 well in powder as in a decoction or in the water distilled from it so that before it be distilled the root be steeped in Malmesey twice so much as it weigheth for 〈◊〉 prouoke Vrine Womens termes and to procure the opening of the obstructions of the Spleene and Liuer but aboue all to breake into powder and driâ—â— forth the Stone as also to wast such â—arnosities as may be begotten in the bladder and conduit of the yard The powder must be taken with white Wine Theâ—â— is also made a kind of Wine of this root during the Vintage time with new Wine and white Grapes put into a Vessell adding thereto a certaine quantitie of Winter Cherries The Dittanie of this Countrey groweth in a drie ground being also stonie and open vpon the Sunne The root is much commended against Poisons and Veniâ—â—â— Wormes in children and cold diseases of the Matrix Being taken inwardly by dâ—coction or in powder with Wine the weight of two drammes or applyed or ministred in a fume it moueth the termes in women it bringeth forth the after-birth and dead child it also driueth out the stone from the reines but principally it is good for the Pocks taking it euerie morning a long time the weight of a dramme with 〈◊〉 decoction of Guaiacum It is profitable also against the Plague euerie way that 〈◊〉 can vse it Germander called of the Latines Chamâ—drys that is to say a small Oake because the leaues are like to those of the Oake requireth no other ground or manner of ordering than Dittanie This hearbe is called the Fâ—auers scourge because the decoction thereof being drunke in the morning for a certaine space doth driue away and make an end of the tertian agues the leaues eaten in a sallade in the morning fasting it preserueth from the ayre and pestilent contagion no lesse effectually than water Germander of which we haue spoken before The decoction thereof is singular good against the jaundiâ—e and being vsed a long time for the Falling sicknesse head-ach and other diseases of the braine and for the wormes Rupture-wort groweth in a grauelly or sandie ground which is drie and vnhusbanded there is likewise great store of it found in the wood of Boâ—â—on neere vnto Paris This hearbe made in powder and drunke with wine prouoketh vrine that hath beene long detained and breaketh the stone of the reines and of the bladder if for some long time the partie take the weight of a dramme Fallopius â— great and famous Chirurgion in Italie affirmeth That he had cured an infinite number of persons of the rupture therewith giuing it them in drinke for a verie long time together Mouse-â—are will grow in the same ground that Rupture-wort doth it hath a verie strong astringent qualitie and that is the cause why Shepheards haue no great affection to dâ—aw their sheepe into such fields as haue store of Mouse-eare in them because it bindeth them in their bodies which for the most part worketh in them vnto death likewise Physitians are wont to make their benefit of this hearbe in the bloudie flâ—x and aboundance of termes as also to heale vp both inward and outward wounds the spitting of bloud and falling downe of the fundament Dogges-grasse without setting or sowing groweth more than one would wish both in gardens and also in corne grounds that are fat It serueth in physicke to coole and drie indifferently and withall notwithstanding this to open and take away obstructions and to expell and breake the stone it is true that the seed drieth more but it bindeth somewhat Water-Betonie groweth in moist waterie and marshie places Of the râ—ot thereof gathered in Autumne and made verie cleane and stamped with fresh Butter all being closed vp in an earthen vessell well leaded and stopt and the same vessell set in some moâ—st place and let stay there some fifteene or twentie daies after let the butter be melted vpon a soft fire and in the end strained is made an oyntment that is singular good to annoint the Kings-euill withall and the Hemorrhoides this root is set about with many small knots hauing the resemblance of Hemorrhoids or the swelling of the Kings euill It groweth without any great paine in gardens and being sowne groweth more aboundantly than one would haue it The seed purgeth those that haue the dropsie verie much if they be giuen in Whay it is true that they may be vsed without annoyance done to the stomack if it be parched and dried as also mixt with Annise and Fennell-seed furthermore it is verie good to set in gardens to kill and driue away Moules This hearbe is of two sorts male and female both of them will grow in all manner of earth but
aboâ—â—dantly The best season either to sow or plant it is in the Spring time and it endureâ—h manie yeares without aid or replanting all parts of it is verie medicinall both the root stalke leaues and flowers The water distilled of this hearbe is good againâ—â— all Venimes or Poyson taken into the stomacke and also against all inward infection Itch Byles or Vlcers Then is Agrimonie of which we haue spoken 〈◊〉 Then Serpentar which is so called through the likelyhood it beareth of a 〈◊〉 and of it there are two kinds one great the other small It desireth a verie good earth and somewhat moist and may be sowne or planted in the Spring time The roots of this hearbe is excellent for all malignant Vlcers a decoction of the 〈◊〉 thereof is good for Womens termes and the leaues thereof keepeth Cheese long from rotting Then Onos which will grow in anie earth and rather in a barren 〈◊〉 a fertile and is best to be set of the root either in the Spring time or in 〈◊〉 It is soueraigne against the Stone and prouoketh Vrine speedily and a decoctioâ— of the roots thereof taketh away the paine in the teeth Then Cinquefoile which groweth almost in euerie place and may be planted in anie season the decoction 〈◊〉 it being gargled or held long in the mouth taketh away the paine of the teeth and heales anie Vlcer in the mouth it is also good against anie Infection or pestilâ—â— Ayre Then Sellodnie of which wee haue spoken before Then Staphiâ—â—â—â— which desireth a good ground yet euer to be planted in the shadow and that prâ—â—cipally about the Spring time It is good against paine in the Teeth 〈◊〉 and other Obstructions which grow from cold causes Then Goats leafe which will grow euerie where if it be not annoyed with wind and may be sowne or planted either in the Spring or in Autumne and is exceeding good for the stone Then ground Iuie of which we haue spoken before Then Tussilago or Colts foot which groweth best in watrie of moist places and would euer be planted in the Spring time or 〈◊〉 Autumne it is verie good against infection and against all straitnesse of breath 〈◊〉 the smoake or fume thereof being taken through a small tunnell in at the mouth 〈◊〉 cureth all infirmities of the lungs Then Salicaria or Lifimachus which receiued the name from the King Lisimachus who first made vse of that hearbe it loueth to be planted neere vnto Riuers either in the Spring time or in Winter it is good against the Dissenteria or to staunch bloud either being vsed in the leafe or in powder Lastly Vlmaria which loueth to be planted in low and shadowie valleyes a great 〈◊〉 more moist than drie and would be planted chiefely in Autumne The decoction 〈◊〉 it purgeth and cleanseth the bodie of all flegme whether it be sharpe or grosse it helpeth the Falling sicknesse the powder either of the roots or the leaues stayeth 〈◊〉 flux of the bellie or the issue of bloud and the distilled water easeth all paines both inward and outward Those hearbes which affect the North and delight to endure the blasts and â—â—â—pings of those colder ayres are first Gentiana of which we haue spoken before Thâ—â— Cabaret or Asarum which neuer groweth so well from the seed as from the plant 〈◊〉 asketh little cost in tillage and beareth flowers twice a yeare that is to say both 〈◊〉 the Spring and in Autumne it cureth the paine in the head and assuâ—geth the inflammation and anguish of sore eies it is good against Fistulaes the Gout and Sciâ—â—ticaes The powder of the root prouoketh Vrine and stayeth the menstruall Flux 〈◊〉 helpeth the Dropsie and putteth away both the Feauer tertian and quartane Then the Golden rod which onely groweth from the seed and would be planted in a good soyle in the Spring time it is good against the Stone or Strangurie it bindeth vp Vlcers and healeth Fistulaes Then the hearbe which is called Deuils-bit it desireth but an indifferent earth rather moist than drie and where the Seed often sayâ—eth there the Plant neuer doth if it be set in the Spring time It is good against bitâ—er griefes as those which proceed from choler and against pestilent tumors against â—ice in childrens heads and such like Then Betonie of which we haue spoken beâ—ore Then Harts-tongue which onely groweth best from the root it is to be planâ—ed in the moneths of March and Aprill in a fat earth yet the moister the better it helpeth all oppilations and cureth those which are troubled with a quartane Feauer Then the hearbe Dogges-tongue which desireth a light blacke mould yet but reaâ—onably tilled it may be sowne or planted in the Spring time it is good to cure the Hemorrhoids and easeth all Ach in the limbes Then Serpents-tongue which must â—uer be placed in a rich earth coole and moist for it can by no means endure the heat of the Summer it is best to be planted from the root in the first beginning of the Spring there is in it much vertue for the resoluing of Tumors and helping of Scalâ—ings or Burnings or other malignant Vlcers or anie inflammations in the Eyes Then water Germander which delighteth most in cold grounds enclining more to â—oisture than drinesse and rather fat than leane it flourisheth most in the moneths of Iune and Iuly yet in such sort that the flowers continue not aboue a day at most â—or as one falls away another rises it is best to be planted from the root or slippe 〈◊〉 the moneths of Februarie or March it is soueraigne against all manner of Poyâ—ons as Pestilence or the Dissenteria it prouoketh Vrine and the termes of Women it cleanseth Vlcers and reuiueth all benummed members Then Tormenâ—ill or Septifolium which loueth a darke waterish and shadowed earth yet that which is verie fat and â—ertile it is alwaies to be sowne from the seed either in the Spring time or in Autumne it is soueraigne against the Stone but chiefely it cuâ—eth Fistulaes and old Vlcers it withstandeth Poyson and easeth the paine of the Teeth Then Enula Campane of which we haue spoken before Then Persicaria which is oftest planted from the root in the Spring time in grounds which are rather moist than drie The decoction of this hearbe cureth all manner of bruises in Beasts where the bone is not broken onely by bathing them therein Also the flesh of Mutâ—ons Beeues Veales and such like is kept fresh manie daies by the vertue of this herbe â—nely being wrapped about the same Then Lyons foot which will not liue but in 〈◊〉 good earth fat and fertile yet somewhat moist and is best to be sowne in the â—oneths of March or Aprill it hath an excellent vertue for the healing of ruptures 〈◊〉 young children Then Eringo which craueth a good and well tilled ground and â—ay be sowne or planted either in the Spring or in Autumne it is good against the Collicke against Grauell or the
and places to make a speech out of that many standing about and below may heare in like sort shall the Garden of Pleasure be set about and compassed in with arbours made of Iesamin Rosemarie Box Iuniper Cypres trees Sauin Cedars Rose-trees and other dainties first planted and pruned according as the nature of euerie one doth require but after brought into some forme and order with Willow or Iuniper poles such as may serue for the making of arbours The waies and alleys must be couered and â—owen with fine sand well bet or with the powder of the sawing of Marble or with the fine dust of slate-stone and other hewen stone or else paued handsomely with good pit-stone and tyles that are well burnt or with faire peeces of stones such as staires be made of the whole laying of them being leuelled and made euen with a beater or mall made for the purpose or where these are not to be gotten you shall take of fine yellow grauell well mixt with pyble or other such like binding earth and with it trim your alleys others vse to take coale dust or the ashes of Sea-coale well beaten and siâ—ted and with it strow the alleys and although it be not fully so sightfull yet it is profitable in this respect that it keepes them from grasse and weeds and other greenes because nothing will sprout through the same albeit be not troden or walked vpon of a long space This Garden by meanes of a large path of the bredth of six foot shall be diuided into two equall parts the one shall containe the hearbes and flowers vsed to make nosegaies and garlands of as March Violets Prouence Gillo-flowres Purple Gillo-flowres Indian Gillo-flowres small Paunces Daisies yellow and white Gillo-flowres Marigolds Lilly-conually Daffodils Canterburie-bells Purple Veluet flowre Anemones Corne-flag Mugwort Lillies and other such like as may be called the Nosegay Garden Also in it you shall plant all sorts of strange flowers as is the Crowne imperiall the Dulippos of sundrie kinds Narcyssus Hyacynthes Emeryes Hellitropians and a world of other of like nature whose colours being glorious and different make such a braue checkerd mixture that it is both wondrous pleasant and delactable to behold The other part shall haue all other sweet smelling hearbes whether they be such as beare no flowers or if they beare any yet they are not put in Nosegaies alone but the whole hearbe with them as Soothernwood Wormewood Pellitorie Rosemarie Iesamin Marierom Balme Mints Penniroyall Costmarie Hyssope Lauander Basill Sage Sauorie Rue Tansey Thyâ—â—e Cammomile Mugwort bastard Marierom Nept sweet Balme All-good Anis Horehound and others such like and this may be called the Garden for hearbs of a good smell These sweet hearbes and flowres for Nosegaies shall be set in order vpon beds and quarters of such like length and bredth as those of the Kitchin Garden and some of them vpon seats and others in mazes made for the pleasing and recreating of the sight other some are set in proportions made of beds interlaâ—ed and drawne one within another or broken off with borders or without borders the greatest part of which sweet hearbes as also for Nose-gay flowers though they grow â—â—â—rally and of their owne accord without anie labour or trauell of the Gardener especially hearbes for Nose-gaies yet such of them as stand in need of dressing and ordering shall be sowne planted remoued gathered and kept no otherwise than the pot-hearbes but yet notwithstanding regard must be had of the nature of euerie particular one as shall be declared hereafter in the particular description of 〈◊〉 of them CHAP. XLVIII Of hearbes for Flowers or Nose-gaies MArch Violets as well the single as the double must be set of whole 〈◊〉 in a well manured ground and digged the depth of a foot before the â—â—lends of March if you will â—ow them you may doe it in Autumne and the Spring But especially you must beware not to set Violets euerie 〈◊〉 in one and the same place for otherwise it will beare a yellow flower and haue verie little or no smell in it You may make that one and the same Violet shall beare 〈◊〉 the colours that others doe that is to say white pale yellow and red of you mix together the seeds of all and tying them in a Linnen cloth put them in that sort 〈◊〉 a well manured earth The Violet must be gathered in the morning before the 〈◊〉 rise and when it raineth not if so be that you will haue it to keepe his vertues and sweet smell The flowers of March Violets applied vnto the browes doe assuage the headaâ—â— which commeth of too much drinking and procure sleepe He that shall haue takeâ— a blow vpon the head so that it hath astonished him shall not haue anie greater 〈◊〉 if presently after such a blow he drinke Violet flowers stampt and continue the 〈◊〉 drinke for a certaine time There is made of the flowers of Violets Syrrups and Conserues good for the inflammation of the Lungs the Pleurisie Cough 〈◊〉 Agues It is also most excellent to preserue these Violets for Salads to serue all the 〈◊〉 as thus When you haue gathered your Violets and pickt them cleane both 〈◊〉 their stalkes and anie other corruption that may hang ouer their leaues you 〈◊〉 wash them cleane and strike the water through a drie cloth so cleare from them 〈◊〉 may be then take a Glasse-pot of the fashion of a Gally-pot so large as you 〈◊〉 put in your hand and being cleane washt also first in the bottome thereof lay a layre of your Violets of halfe a fingers thicknesse then take of the finest refined Sugar beaten verie small and therewith couer the Violets all ouer then lay another layre of the Violets and couer them with Sugar as you did before and so lay Violets vpon Sugar and Sugar vpon Violets till you haue filled the pot to the 〈…〉 take of the strongest Wine-vineger that can be gotten and poure it into the pot till the vineger swimme aloft then let it rest an houre or two to settle and if you 〈◊〉 that the vineger be shrunke below the flowers you shall fill it vp againe not 〈◊〉 thus to doe till the vineger will shrinke no more then couer the pot vp verie 〈◊〉 with Parchment and Sheepes leather and set it so as it may receiue some 〈◊〉 ayre of the fire and after one moneth vse them as occasion shall serue for they will last all the yeare both Winter and Summer without loosing either their â—â—lour strength sweetnesse or pleasantnesse neither their growth nor fulnesse And in this sort you may preserue all sorts of flowers whatsoeuer as Roses Marigoldâ— Gilliflowers of all kinds Cowslips Primroses Broome flowers Paunfie◠〈◊〉 leaues or anie other sweet and wholesome flower whatsoeuer Wherein is to 〈◊〉 noted that if the flower which you preserue be of a pure white colour and that yoâ— feare the vineger may somewhat abate the brightnesse
to the quantitie of two drams purgeth hot and châ—lericke humours Dame Violets haue great leaues somewhat blacke notcht round about and broad the flowers are white and incarnate and in shape like vnto the Auens they grow sometimes so high as that they degenerate into a tree Goats-bread that it may haue faire double and full flowers doth craue a fat and moist ground The leaues thereof open at the Sunne rise and they close at noone the root boyled in mudde doth appease the paines and pricking of the side taken in forme of a lohoch with syrope of Violets it helpeth obstructed lungs and the pleâ—risie boyled in vvater and preserued with Sugar it is a singular preseruatiue against the Plague Poysons Venime and deadly Stinging the juice or distilled vvater of this hearbe doth heale greene vvounds if you dip linnen clothes therein and applie them to the wounds some vse the root of this hearbe in sallades where daintie and fine fare is the same boyled in a pot vvith Veale and Mutton and afterward prepared and made readie betwixt two dishes with butter and vinegar Marie or Marians Violets for the beautifulnesse of the flowers deserue to bâ— sowne in a fat and well laboured ground the flowers are good to make gargariâ—â—â—â— for the inflammations and vlcers of the mouth Lillie-conually called of the Latines Lillium conuallium notwithstanding thâ—t it groweth in shadowed Woodgrounds yet it deserueth to be tilled in gardens as 〈◊〉 in regard of the faire little flowers white as snow which it beareth being also of a most amiable smell somewhat like vnto the Lillies as also in respect of his vertues because the distilled vvater of the flowers being taken vvith strong and noble vvine doth restore the speech vnto them which haue lost it vpon an apoplexie it is good likewise for the palsey distillations and fainting of the heart yet these nor any other Lillies whatsoeuer can I commend for any vse of nosegaies because the smell of them â—s lussious grosse and vnwholesome apt to make the head ake and as some hold of â—pinion apt to in ingender infection by reason of a certaine putrefaction which it â—tirreth vp in the braine vvhereby all the inward parts are distempered therefore whosoeuer planteth them shall preserâ—â— them more for shew than smell and make â—se of their medicinall qualitie not oâ— their order and touching their medicinall qualtitie there is none better than this that if the root be taken and cleane washt and boyled in milke and so applyed to any hard tumour swelling byle or impoâ—tumation it will either dissolue it or else ripen breake and heale it so that it be applied pultus wise verie hot Water lillie as well the white as the yellow desireth a waterish and marshie place vve see it grow likewise in pooles and fish-ponds The root of vvhite vvater lillie â—oyled with grosse red wine and drunke stayeth womens whites the flowers roots â—nd seeds as well in decoctioâ—s as in conserues are verie singular or procure sâ—eepe â—nd to preserue chastitie Hyacinth groweth verie vvell in a sandie ground The root and seed boyled in vvine and drunke doth stay the flux of the bellie Narcyssus so called of a Greeke word because the smell of it comming vnto the 〈◊〉 doth cause an inclination vnto sleepinesse and heauinesse would be sowne in a â—at ground that is hot and moist it groweth also aboundantly in Languedoe and Iâ—alie and but a little in this countrie The root thereof boyled or roasted and taken with meat of drinke doth greatly procure vomit also the same brayed with a little Honie and applyed doth heale burnings taketh away the freckles and spots of the face being mixt with the seed of nettles Corneflag called in Latine Gladiolus as well the blew as the white would be planted of new plants in March and Aprill or else of slips but such as haue roots for they are neuer sowne neither doe they require any great tilling Their flowres differ from the flowres of marigolds in this in that the flowres of the marigold doe open at the Sunne-shine but the flowres of Corneflag doe shut and close vp themselues then not opening againe but when it is cold and moist weather The roots must be pulled out of the earth in the beginning of the Spring that thereby they may haue a pleasant smell and a delectable kind of sauour and afterward they must be died in the shadow of the Sunne Some people to take away the superfluous moisture thereof which putteth them in danger to be consumed with Wormes doe vvet them with Lee of ashes as well whiles they are in the earth as when they are out and so drie them and keepe them for to procure the linnens and woollen garments to smell well The juice of the roots put in a clyster doth appease the paine of the Sciatica the root dried and made in powder doth cleanse and consolidate hollow and filthie vlcers being held in the mouth it causeth a good breath layed amongst clothes it preserueth them from all vermine and maketh them smell pleasantly The juice of the root taken at the mouth sundrie times purgeth water in such as haue the dropsie especially if it be taken mixt with the yolke of an egge halfe boyled The root mingled with the root of ellebor and twice so much Honie doth wipe away freckles red pimples and all spots of the face if it be annointed thereupon The decoction of the root taketh away the obstructâ—ons caused of a grosse humour prouoketh vrine killeth vvormes and casteth out the stone The Italians make a preserue of this root whiles it is new with Sugar to Honie and vse it in all the cases aforesaid some make an oyle of the flowers infused in oyle which hath power to resolue soften and appease the griefe of cold rheumes or distillations Lillies must be planted in the moneth of March and Aprill in these 〈◊〉 and in hot countries in the moneths of October and Nouember as well the 〈…〉 the orange colour in a fat and well digged ground you shall make their flowe◠〈◊〉 what colour you will if before you set them you steepe their roots in such 〈◊〉 substance as shall best like you and afterward likewise to water the roots when they are set and planted in their trench with the same liquor and that after this 〈◊〉 Some say that the flowers of Lillies become red and purple if their roots before 〈◊〉 be planted be steept in the Lees of red Wine or in dissolued Cinnabrium and 〈◊〉 watered with the same in the little pit or trench wherein it is set Or else when 〈◊〉 are in flower in the moneth of Iune you must take ten or twelue plants and 〈◊〉 them together to hang them in the smoake for so they will put forth small roots 〈◊〉 vnto vvild Garleeke and when the time of setting is come which is in the 〈◊〉 of March and
well â—earce it wash it in cold water and after leaue it a whole night in the water then take it out and when you haue wrung it or pressed it as neere as you can drie with your hand then put it in a new or verie cleane Mortar and bray it with a pestle with strong vineger and then after that straine it But the most ordinarie way for the making of your Mustard is onely to wash the seed verie cleane then put it into your Mustard Quernes and grind it either with strong vineger which is the best or with good Beere or Ale or with Butter-milke onely the Beere will make it eat a little bitter whilest it is new and the Butter-milke will die soone Some make a verie pleasant Mustard in this manner Take two ounces of the seed of Seâ—uie halfe an ounce of Cinnamon powne them verie small and with honey and vineger make a paste and of the paste little loaues which you shall drie in the Sunne or Ouen and when you would vse it dissolue one or some of one of your loaues in Veriuice or Vineger or some other liquor Some to take away the great sharpnesse that is in it doe steepe the â—eed in new Wine during Vintage time and then make it as we haue said alreadie after they put it in little Barrels such as Mustard of Anion is wont to be put in The people of Dijon make it in small loaues and when they will vse it they dissolue it in vineger The Mustard of Dijon hath woon the praise from all other either because of the seed growing there which is better than that of other Countries or by reason of the making thereof which the inhabitants there doe performe more carefully than in other places To preserue Cucumbers you must put them in Lees of white Wine which are not sowre and in a pitched Vesâ—ell and stop it well Otherwise you must put them in salt Brine or else hang them in some Vessell wherein is a little Vineger but so also the Vessell must be verie well stopped Some preserue them in an earthen Vessell with Salt Vineger and Mariâ—rome Others cast them into sandie Pâ—â—s and couer them with the seed of Senuie bruised with Vineger and after that put vpon them drie hay and earth To preserue Gourds take them when they are tender and cut them then powre vpon them warme water and let them coole in the open ayre for a nights space after that sowce them in strong salt Brine and so you shall preserue them a long time or else drie them in the Sunne and after hang them vp in some smoakie place In France they are preserued all Winter being hanged vp vnder some chamber floore or set in rowes vpon planks especially the Citruls To keepe Onions you must drie them in the Sunne and afterward put them in some drie place and well ayred Some preserue them after this manner First they drie them in the Sunne and lay Thyme and Sauorie below in the bottome of a pot and lay the Onions aboue putting thereunto pickle which shall be made of three parts of vineger and one of salt brine and aboue this againe a bunch or small bundle of Sauorie to the end that by the weight of it the Onions may be sunke downâ— into the pickle and when they are so drencht as that they haue receiued of the pickle into their owne iuice then they fill vp the pot with the same pickle Some doe steepe them onely in water and afterward preserue them the whole yeare in vineger But there is no better way to preserue or keepe Onions long than after they are first gathered to spread them thinne vpon a boorded floore where they may receiue both Sunne and Wind and then after they are sufficiently dried to bind them vp in long Ropes or Bundles and so hang them neere the ayre of the fire as ouer your Kitâ—hin chimney or such like CHAP. LII A briefe discourse of small and great trees as well strange as growing in the Countrey planted or remoued in the Garden and first of such as Arbours are made of THe Garden of Pleasure hauing beene deuised and ordained for the onely recreation of the chiefe Lord of the Farme as hath alreadie beene said and seeing that this his recreation cannot be altogether so great and so sufficient in the onely smell of flowers and sweet hearbes as and if there be withall presented vnto the sight the view of strange and Countrey-borne trees both great and small which doe not onely yeeld a more pleasant smell without comparison than the hearbes but doe also the greatest part of them bring forth fruits of great wonder and admiration as Pomegranate-trees Câ—per-trees Citron-trees Orange-trees Limon-trees Citron-trees of Assyria Date-trees Figge-trees Oliue-trees bastard Sene-trees and others such like Therefore to the end we may leaue nothing out of our Garden whereof the Master of the 〈◊〉 may reape anie solace we will speake briefely of handling and husbanding of great and small Trees which must be planted in it of which some are imployed as necessarie about Arbours and the Garden is to be set about with them they are the Cypresse-tree Iuniper-tree Sauin-tree Cedar-tree Rose-tree Box-tree and others othersome are sowne or set and remoued vnto Beds only proper vnto them or into Vessels and Cases as the Bay-tree Mulberrie-tree Date-tree Pine-tree Citon-tree Orange-tree Limon-tree Figge-tree Oliue-tree and such like which shall be spoken of hereafter The Cypresse-tree as well the male as the female notwithstanding that in the 〈◊〉 of Crete it doth grow in great Tufts and Forests without anie sowing or planting of his owne accord yet in this Countrey it cannot be got to thriue without the great paines of the Gardiner and notable goodnesse of the ground for naturally 〈◊〉 delighteth not but in hot Countries where it groweth as one would wish it It groweth either set or sowne in a drie ground farre from Flouds Riuers Marishes dyrtie and moist places and on the tops and sides of Hills where the Sunne shineth better than in valleyes It abhorreth all manured ground especially and most of all be it neuer so little yea if one doe but fill a trench with dung round about where 〈◊〉 is planted it will die in a short time notwithstanding it is requisite some certaine time before you plant it to put some good mould into the pit where you intend to plant it or to sâ—w it This is as it were a wonder of Nature in the seed of this tree which though it be so small as that one can scarce see it yet it bringeth 〈…〉 goodly and so tall a tree When you sow it you must sow it in furrowes from after the twentieth of October vntill Winter and neere vnto it some Barly for there is such great familiaritie betwixt these two seeds that they grow as it were in spight one of another whereupon it will come to passe that when it is
that the Sunne may come but sparingly to it to wit euen when the shadow 〈…〉 be hard at the foot if it notwithstanding it delighteth much in places neere 〈◊〉 the Sea in leane and thin grounds where the ayre is warme and temperate of it â—elfe It must be planted in Autumne and in the Spring time of sets of whole plants 〈◊〉 of branches and in March it is planted verie fitly and seasonably when as the â—ap â—putteth vp and commeth to the barbe It may likewise be fowne after the foure 〈◊〉 day of March in a ground that is well manured one foot within the ground 〈◊〉 foure berries together and at the yeares end to remoue it to some other place The Bay-tree feareth the cold aboue all other things and for this cause it must be planted in this countrie in a firme and solide ground as hath beene said to the end that during the times of snow frost and freesing vpon raine the roots may be defended from cold which although the boughes and braunches should be dead by the cold of Winter it would yet continue to bring forth new boughes in the Spring time for the fastnesse and closenesse of the ground will haue let and stayed the ayre from hauing pierced vnto the roots And in caâ—e the ground where you haue planted your Bay-tree should be sandie drie and barren then it will be your part during the time of Winter to spread and cast ashes and straw about the roots of the Bay-tree to preserue the heat of the earth and to withhold the cold from piercing vnto the roots Then for to procure a flourishing and faire Bay-tree two things are necessarie the heat of the ayre and the fastnesse of the ground of which if the one be wanting the Bay-tree will not grow any thing at all or if it grow yet it will be buâ— a small and starued thing as we may easily make triall and proofe in this â—countrie The Bay-tree may be grafted vpon it selfe as also vpon the Dogg-tree the Ash-tree and the Cherrie-tree as we will declare more largely in the third Booke The Myrâ—â—e tree is of two sorts the one is a darke greene the other is a light greene the one beareth a yellow flowre and the other a white but of these the later is the better but euerie sort of Myrâ—le craueth a hot Countrie a light sandie leaâ—â—â— and brittle kind of ground and yet notwithstanding this it groweth well vpon the Sea bankes as also vpon the sides of pooles lakes and fennes It is planted either of young boughs borowed and cut downe for the excessiâ—e ranknesse of them after 〈…〉 foure or fiue yeares old or from the shoots putting forth at the root thereof â—epeâ—â—ting them from the maine root so soone as they be put vp and from after a yeare of their first planting to remoue them or else of seed rubbed and chaâ—ed betwixt your hands and after thrust into an old band or small cord the same buried all along according to that length that it is of in a furrow cast a foot deepe or thereabout and well manured with rotten dung and watering the place The myrtle-tree would be planted in the highest part of the Garden for by his smell it maketh the place most delightsome it may be â—owne also after the manner of the Bay-tree but then it will not grow vp till after a long tâ—me It will grow both high and faire if you make it cleane and scoâ—re it often round about and it will bâ—ing forth much and great fruit if you plant Rose-trees neere vnto it or else plant it neere vnto Oliue-trees in the countrie where they grow for the Myrtle and Oliue trees doe helpe one another greatly It loueth and craueth to be watred with mans vrine but especially with sheepes or when you can get neither of these with warme water wherein it delighteth exceedingly as sometimes appeared by a Myrtle planted neere vnto a bath which to euerie mans sight grew verie pleasantly and beautifully though there were no reckoning or account made thereof Myrtle-berries put in a vessell which is not pitched but well couered doth keepe a long time greene and fresh Some hold it better to put them in hanging vpon their boughs The Myrtle 〈◊〉 nothing so much as cold and taketh delight to be neere vnto pooles brookes and maritime places If you water it oft with warme water it will beare fruit 〈…〉 any kernell The fruit is called Myrtle-berries It must be gathered when it is 〈…〉 great while after the Rose is fallen and shaken It may be grafted vpon another of his owne kind and the white vpon the blacke and the blacke vpon the Apple-treâ— Medlar-tree and Pomegranet-tree After vintage time in the countrie of Prouence where there is a great number of Myrtle-trees the birds feed of the fruit of the Myrtle-tree and thereby become so fat and their flesh so pleasant to eat as that men eat birds so fatted all whole withâ—â—â— pulling out of the garbage insomuch as it is growne into a common prouerbe 〈◊〉 the excrement is better than the flesh The leaues bayes or berries of myrtle-tree by their astringent force and 〈◊〉 doe stay all manner of fluxes whether it be of the bellie or of the termes or principally of the whites the juice and distilled water of Myrtle-tree are singular good to drinke to keepe vp the falling fundament The decoction of the seed of Myrtle-tree doth blacke the haire and keepeth it from falling The berries of the Myrtle-tree may serue in steed of pepper the sauce made therewith worketh the like effect and is singular good to comfort a languishing stomach myrtle berries euen do comfort the heart and cure the beating of the same the ashes of the drie leaues of myrtle-tree burned within a pot of raw earth so throughly as that they become white being afterward washed haue one and the same vertue that Spodium or Pompholâ—â— hath If you cannot make the myrtle-tree to grow in your garden you must content your selfe with the Myrt-tree which craueth the same ground and manner of ordeâ—â—â— that the Myrtle-tree as being a kind of wild Myrtle-tree and which may be 〈…〉 the steed of Myrtle-tree vvhen it cannot be come by as hauing the same or 〈…〉 vertues Butchers-broome is also a kind of wild myrtle which groweth commonly in Forests and Vnderwoods from whence it is better to translate it into your garden 〈◊〉 either to sow or plant it He that is desirous to plant Tamariske in his garden must make choyce of the moist and wettest ground and for want of a sufficient moist ground to water 〈…〉 It is likewise seene that Tamariske doth grow faire and tall by ponds 〈◊〉 and other standing waters It is planted either of roots or sprouts and that from the 〈◊〉 of October till the foure and twentieth of December yea vntill the beginning of Februarie but yet it thriueth best being set of roots there is
root as that it may seeme and shew as though one had cut them away with a hooke and after that to lay them in order in the shadow that so the Sunne may not harme or injure them The manner of making Woad Vnder your Mill which would not be as some vse a Mâ—ll-stone for that crusheth out the sap and juice of the Woad too much but a Mill made of strong timbers the compasse of a large Mill-stone being hollow or dâ—â—uided onâ— out-side from the other and running circular or round and these out-sides shall be bound together both in the middest by the drawing axell-tree and also at the outmost Verdges by strong places of yron made broad and flat with reasonable rebated edges and these plates shall be at least three foot in lengâ—h answering to the full bredth of the trough in which the Mill shall run and this Mill must be 〈◊〉 about by a horse Now the leaues as aforesaid being â—â—rewed in the trough vnder the Mill you shall grind them as small as may be till they come to be as it were all one substance which may easily be done by oft turning the Woad ouer and ouer as the Mill runnes which one must continually doe with a shouell then the Woad being thus sufficiently well ground you shall stay the horse and takâ— all the ground Woad out of the trough and then fill the Mill with fresh Woad againe and thus do till you haue ground all you woad which being finished you shall forthwith mould it vp into great round balls as bigge as a culuerine bullet or twice so bigge as a mans fists and these balls you shall place vpon fleakes or hurdles made of small wands pent-housed housed or couered ouer to keepe them from the raine but all the sides open in such wise that the Sunne or Wind may haue full power to passe through the same and these hurdles shall be mounâ—ed one aboue another in many heights and degrees and your Woad balls shall lye thereupon without touching one another till they be throughly well dried then at the later end of the yeare which is towards Nouember you shall breake those balls againâ— and put them vnder the Mill and grind them as before and then taking it from the Mill you shall lay it in great heapes in some coole vault kept for that purpose onely and when vpon this laying together vpon heapes it shall begin to take heat it must be turned and in turning watered vntill it be sufficiently moistned for as too much water drowneth it so too much heat in the heapes doth burne it thereupon you most pile it vpon heapes not high but long ones and stirre it euerie second day so long as till it become cold and yet after this to put it abroad euerie fouâ—th or sixth day while it be throughly cooled indeed And this worke must be verie carefully performed for otherwise the woad would roast it selfe and proue not any thing worth which being so â—â—immed and ordered as it should it is left in some cold and paued place vntill the time of the selling of it and looke how much the longer it lyeth in heapes in this â—ase by so much it becommeth the better and finer The counâ—rie men of Tholouse in whose countrie there groweth great store of Woad doe not grind their Woad-balls into 〈◊〉 but gather it together by great vessells full and put vnder the Mill-stone to 〈◊〉 out the waterish parts of it and then they make vp the remaining substance 〈…〉 like loâ—ues which they drie and rot afterward by laying them in the 〈◊〉 heat of the Sunne in Sommer time and then they cast these lumpes into their 〈◊〉 where they put their Wooll to be died a blew blacke or other colour as it best pleaseth the Dyers The leaues thereof made into a plaister doe 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â—stumes and heale wounds new made they stay fluxes of bloud heale the wild 〈◊〉 and the vlcers which runne ouer the whole bodie Also the leaues of Woad thus ground are excellent to kill any itch 〈◊〉 or other râ—islike either in men or children also it is most excellent for the diâ—â—â—â— is 〈◊〉 called the Farcie and cureth it verie sodainely CHAP. LVII Of the Tasell THe Tasell called also Venus her bathing tubbe because it keepeth 〈◊〉 drops of water being by nature as all the other Thistles are hot and drie in the lower part of the leaues close by the stalkes to refresh and water it selfe withall serueth greatly in respect of his head for the vse of Clothworkers both to lay the Wooll of their new clothes so muchâ—â— is 〈◊〉 as also to draw forth so much as lyeth loose out of order amongst the rest and it is 〈◊〉 seruiceable or more vnto Cap-makers after that the Cap is spun wouen 〈◊〉 and scoured with sope Walkers-earth or other scouring earth Now he that will 〈◊〉 profit by this hearbe must make choyce of a good fat ground well 〈…〉 tilled with two three or foure arders and well harrowed and then after 〈◊〉 it with the best seed that possibly may be â—â—und and that verie thicke and when 〈◊〉 hath shot one of the earth as in the beginning of May then to make it cleane 〈◊〉 weed it with the hand and in Iune and Iulie to digge it if need be in the end of September you must gather the heads that haue flowred the first yeare leâ—â—â—â—â— the rest to grow for to be gathered the yeare following at such time as they shall be 〈◊〉 flowre The heads cut off the plants must be planted anew in a well tilled ground putting all the root into holes from one to another which is all one with the 〈◊〉 ring of the Radish and trampling the ground vpon them verie orderly and 〈◊〉 and furthermore to digge them when they begin to pricke and put forth branchesâ—â— in March Aprill and May and to cut them which are cankered or 〈◊〉 and so vnprofitable that so the juice of the earth may be fed vpon by those onely which are good and seruiceable And whereas at the time of their flowring they begin 〈◊〉 flowre on high on the head and so downeward till the whole head be 〈…〉 flowre being once fallen you must cut off the head either euening or morning 〈◊〉 halfe a foot of stalke thereunto Furthermore you must not forget that they must be set or sowne in furrowes that so water may haue an orderly course to fall to the 〈◊〉 of them and giue them a continuall refreshment and not to sow them in anie 〈◊〉 place but such as is reasonably watrie for too much moisture maketh the 〈◊〉 the head thereof which is the thing of most importance more low and short and of lesse commodiousnesse You must not gather or bind them vp in bundells 〈◊〉 a drie season towards the moneth of October at the furthest and not any 〈◊〉 earlier than the later end of September Some gathering it doe leaue it at the 〈◊〉 to drie
commoditie haue we as the vvaxe which we enjoy by 〈◊〉 Bees yea what say you to honie it selfe that their admirable worke and no 〈◊〉 profitable and pleasant for the vse of man Let it not then seeme strange vnto you if we aduise the housholder to giue care and be carefull to keepe Bees about his 〈◊〉 and therewithall teach him in a few words what should be the ordering and goâ—â—â—ning of them and their hiues and withall at what time and houre it is good â—â—â—â—ther honie and vvaxe The housholder therefore shall first make choyce for the keeping of Beâ—â— of some fit and secret place in his Garden of Pleasure in the bottome of some 〈…〉 it be possible to the end they may the more easily rise on high to flie abroad to 〈◊〉 their food as also for that when they be laden they dâ—â—cend the more easily dowâ—ward with their load But let vs see to it especially that the place be open to 〈◊〉 South Sunne and yet notwithstanding neither exceeding in heat not in cold 〈◊〉 temperate and that the same by hill wall or some other rampart be defended 〈◊〉 winds and tempests and so also at that they may flie their sundrie and 〈…〉 for to get diuerâ—â—â—ie of pastures and so againe may returne to their little cottages laden with their composition of honie and againe in such a place as wherein 〈…〉 great quantitie of Thyme Organie Sauorie Iuie Winter Sauorie vvild 〈◊〉 Rosemarie Sage Corneflag or Gladdon Gilloflowres Violets white 〈◊〉 â—â—ses flowre-gentill Basill Saffron Beanes Poppie Melilot Milfoile and 〈◊〉 sweet hearbes and flowers wherein there is no bitternesse and in like 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â—cient good â—â—ore of trees of good smell as Cypresse trees Cedar-trees 〈…〉 Pine-trees Turpentine-trees Iuie-trees Masticke-trees and also fruit-trees as â—â—mond-trees Peach-trees Peare-trees Apple-trees Cherrie-trees and other 〈◊〉 besides all this maruellous great store of hearbes and those of the rarest and 〈◊〉 knowne and withall such as grow in well tilled grounds and pastures for these 〈◊〉 them to grow rich in good vvaxe as the wild Radish the wild Bell flowre 〈◊〉 Succorie and blacke Pionie and besides these wild Parseneps and garden â—â—â—â—neps and Carots Broome and the Strawberrie-tree are not altogether good 〈…〉 make honie the Elme-tree causeth them to haue the flux of the bellie as also the 〈◊〉 males or spurges Box maketh honie of a bad smell and which troubleth their 〈◊〉 that eat it and yet notwithstanding profitable for them which haue the Falling 〈◊〉 But if at any time you shall chaunce to haue any of your stockes to 〈◊〉 or to dye by what chaunce soeuer it shall be you shall then by no meanes 〈…〉 combeâ— more than cleansing them from all manner of filth and take of the 〈…〉 honie you can get damaâ—ke Rose-water and the juice of Fenell and 〈◊〉 veâ—e well together then with a bunch of Fennell dipt in the same first 〈…〉 combes verie well and also rubbe the hiue within therewith lastly rubbe the 〈◊〉 whereon the standeth with the same that you did the hiue and you shall be 〈…〉 â—ured that the first swarme that riseth either in your own or in any other mans 〈◊〉 if it be not aboue a mile or two from you will knit without any other 〈◊〉 king in that stocke The place must be closed in with a verie strong hedge or else with good 〈◊〉 for feare both of beasts and theeues for kine and sheepe doe eat vp their flowres and â—eat the dew off from the flowres whereof the Bees should load them and which is so well beloued of the little prettie birds yea and that also which falleth downe at the breake of the day in faire weather and is purified on the leaues and flowers of the plants hearbes and wild trees but of all tame beasts there is none that doth so damnifie these little pretties vvretches as Swine and Goats for the Goats wast their food and jumpe against their houses yea and oftentimes beat them downe the Swine besides the wasting and eating vp of their food rubbing themselues against the hiues doe ouerturne them and the seats whereon they be set sheepe in like manâ—er loosing some of their lockes of Wooll vpon the hedges are cause that the â—illie poore Bees now and then become intangled therein when they labour to get their â—â—od and so leaue their carcases for a pledge hennes likewise haue a gluttonous apâ—â—â—tite towards them Serpents also doe sometimes take vp their Innes in their hiues 〈◊〉 to take away this casualtie at once and for euer you must plant Rue round about 〈◊〉 in good quantitie in as much as venimous beasts cannot by any meanes abide â—â—his hearbe Callamint also is verie good to be planted for the same purposes neere vnto the â—â—ues so is also the heaâ— be â— Angelica or Gentiana but aboue all things you must be â—â—â—â—full to make your hiues exceeding warme that is to say of what stuffe soeuer â—â—â—ey be made you shall on the out-side daube them better than two fingers thicke with 〈◊〉 and Cows dung mixt together and ouer them a vvarme coat of long Ryeâ—â—aw couering the hiue from the top to the bottome and hanging some what below 〈◊〉 stone Their place also must be farre off from the dunghill common draughts or issues 〈◊〉 marshes fennes dropping dirtie and myrie places which might hurt them 〈◊〉 ill smells and for that thâ—â—e prettie beasts are deadly enemies to all filthinesse â—â—d vncleannesse but rather let their place of abode be neere some â—â—all brooke of â—â—ter naturall and of it selfe continually running or by art in some chanell that will 〈◊〉 along the water drawne out of some vvell or fountaine and this rundle must 〈◊〉 by the edges stones or boughes of trees for the bees to light vpon But whatsoeuer the place is whether in the garden of Pleasure or elsewhere alâ—â—it we haue assigned this to be one of the fruits of pleasure to be gâ—thered in the garâ—â—n of Pleasure it must not be hemmed in with high walls on euerie side and yet if 〈◊〉 feare of theeues you were disposed to raise them the higher then you must pearse 〈◊〉 wall some three feet from the ground and worke it with small holes for the bees 〈◊〉 through at and some twentie or thirtie paces off to build some little house if 〈◊〉 be so disposed for him to dwell in who hath the charge of looking to them and 〈◊〉 also to put his tooles CHAP. LXII Of the fashion of the Hiues and the manner of setting them for Bees A Place and standing for Bees being thus appointed the next thing is according to that fashion which may be most conuenient for the Countrie to make hiues Some thinke the best are those which are made of quarters of sawne boards vvide ynough but not verie long others you must haue 〈◊〉 long and narrow that so you may haue two sorts of hiues that is to say great 〈◊〉 small ones the great ones for such as
spoken of in the second Booke As much may be said of Pomegranat kernels and Bay-berries as you may vnderstand by the second Booke Pistaces doe require greater diligence and delight to be sowne as well the male as the female in a verie fat ground and vvell â—ared the backe turned to the East and this abouâ— the first day of Aprill and at the same time of the yeare you may graâ—â— them vpon themselues notwithstanding that some doe graft them vpon the almond-tree The peach stone would be set presently after that the fruit is eaten there remayning still some small quantitie of the â—lesh of the peach about the stone and for the longer lasting and keeping of it it loueth to be grafted vpon the Almond-tree CHAP. IIII. Of the nurcerie for stockes IF you vvould haue a beautifull and pleasant fruit of your trees it is not ynough that you should onely sow or set your seeds or stones in a good soyle but it standeth you as much vpon to remoue them after one yeare into another place for this translating of them doth so delight them and reuiue their vigour and spirits as that they yeeld more pleasant leaues and a 〈◊〉 â—ed and liking fruit For and if you will bestow this fauour vpon vvild 〈◊〉 you shall find them to become of a gentler nature and farre more excâ—â—ling 〈◊〉 Wherefore when the Trees which shall haue sprung vp of seeds or stones 〈◊〉 or sowne shall haue come by some little nourishment and grow in the seed 〈◊〉 take them vp vpon a new Moone at night with as many roots as possibly may be and if it happen that any of them be spoyled or broken cut it looke vnto it alâ—â— that you doe not pull it vp when the Northerne wind bloweth for this wind is an enemie vnto new set plants and set them againe presently least the roots should spend themselues it must not be in a hot or cold vveather nor in an excessiue vvind nor in raine but at such time when it is calme and verie faire chusing rather a cloudie day than when the Sunne breaketh out hot and the Moone being in her 〈◊〉 but and if you should not haue the leisure to remoue them so soone or and if you would send or carrie them somewhat farre bind them vp in their owne earth mingled vvith dung and make it fast thereto with vvoollen cloth or leaues When as you take them vp marke what part standeth vpon this or that quarter to the end that you may set them downe againe vpon the same quarter and coast of the heauens for and if in remouing them you set them in a contrarie â—oyle and situation in respect of the heauens they will not thriue so vvell and that is the cause why those that buy new plants most diligently inquire in what manner of ground they stood and what aspect of the Sunne they were most open vnto that so they may set them downe againe in such like ground and in the same aspect True it is that this obserâ—â—tion seemeth too ceremoniall vnto me and exceeding hard continually to be kâ—pt seeing vve buy trees at Paris sometimes to plant whose first situation we doe not know neither can vve learne and yet notwithstanding being planted they cease not to thriue and prosper And againe what cause is there of any such ceremonie seeing the Sunne vvhich is the nursing father of all plants doth visit euerie day all the sides of the Tree and that the ground wherein it is planted is no lesse nouâ—â—shing vpon the one side than vpon the other These things weighed about the third of December you must lay flat another plot and make a furrowed quarter where you shall lodge according to the order of a hundred the small wildings which you shall haue taken vp out of the â—eed nurcerie cutting off the end and beards of all their roots and which may be in any place about their slender little stockes and that in a good ground yea much better if it be possible than that is of the seed nurcerie It is true that the furrowes must be made according to the goodnesse of the ground the nature of the tree for in a clayie or hard ground you must make your furrows the depth of three cubites in a watrie and marshie place of three feet 〈◊〉 Some plants as the Ash and Oliue tree grow better in the vpper face and top of the earth than in the depth and lower parts of the same Set in order your young â—â—â—dings in the said furrows halfe a foot one from another and there couer them and leaue the space of a foot betwixt one furrow and another that there you may make paths to goâ— about vveeding with â—ase and passe betwixt euerie two furrows When thus your wildings are set you must cut off their stockes close by the earth and fil vp the paths with dung without euer going about to hide or couer the plaâ—â—â— in the earth and so soone as they grow they must be well wed round about and 〈◊〉 from vveeds and vnderdigged or lightly digged sometimes in Sâ—mmer round about not comming ouer neere the rooâ—s in any â—ase and they must be vvaâ—â—â—d also on euenings when it hath beene a verie hot day and when they haue put forth â—â—â—ces for one or two yeares then going ouer them all leaue not moe than one 〈◊〉 to euerie plant and let it be the â—â—eekest best liking tallest and comâ—liest of all the rest cutting the other off close by the stocke As these â—â—â—nces shall grow on so 〈◊〉 picke off cleane from them the small superfluous wood growing vpon them vpward and euen close also vnto the stocke and this must be done in March or Aprill and then must some small prop or stay be prickt downe at the foot of euerie wilding for to â—â—rect and guide it by tying them both together with wreaths of graâ—â—e but 〈◊〉 moâ—â—e or some soft thing betwixt them that so the hardnesse of the prop may not gal it when it shall be growne thicke And thus you shall order and husband then til the time come when you must remoue them if rather you make not choice to grâ—â—â— them vpon the place as they stand When through forgetfulnesse you shall haue 〈◊〉 your wildings or planes growne vp of feeds for two or three yeares vntaken vp 〈◊〉 must furrow them as hath already bin said but with deeper digged furrows and thâ—â— you shall not breake the roots so much and it will be â—it and conuenient to cut off their branches vpward as occasion shall require There are found kernels of peares or garden apples that haue beene gathered 〈◊〉 trees that vvere sometimes wild ones or growne vpon trees which haue alreadie 〈◊〉 oftentimes grafted vvhich bring forth verie streight trees and also of comely wood as if they had beene grafts from the beginning not hauing any prickes or 〈◊〉 to argue them â—uer to haue beene wild Such young trees if
the later end of the Moone and then they will beare their fruits as others doe Notwithstanding this limiting and bounding of the time of the Moone is not of such warrantiâ—e but that the tree may be as profitable at all other times of the Moone as well as either then or else in the encrease and new of the Moone Some plant in Ianuarie the plants that haue the shanke or foot of their shoots â—ut by as as also the plant that is set of stones and in a well tempered place but in a warme place men are wont to plant in the moneths of October Nouember and December Trees that haue a grosse thicke root are planted in October Nouember and December but the shoots or little branches are planted in March when they are in sappe Trees that haue a great pith as Figge-trees naturalized Mulberrie-trees Hazell and such like are planted without anie root from after mid September vnto the beginning of Nouember but other trees which you would plant with roots must be planted about the beginning of December or verie shortly after Grosse trees are transplanted from one place into another in the moneth of Nouember and they must be freed from Snailes and lopt and cropt before they be transplanted for so they take the better and put forth their siences verie powerfully and if in taking of them vp or transporting of them it happen that the barke of their roots be broken you must draw the pilled and vncouered place ouer with good dung or earth before that you put it into the ground againe and stirre vp the earth verie well round about where you intend to let them downe againe to the end that their roots may spread and seat themselues to their good contentment without being pinched or straitâ—ned Some doe remoue from after the beginning of Nouember vntill March when the trees begin to enter into their sappe for the sappe once drawing vp aloft doth forbid all remouing of the tree and therefore in such case the sooner the better that is so say if presently after the leaues be fallen which is in the beginning of Winter you goe about it but in waterie places it is good to stay till Ianuarie and Februarie but nothing must be done this way when it raineth or when the earth is wet for it would so harden vpon the drying as that the roots would be oppressed and choaked The young grafts which you haue grafted in the stocke-Nurcerie or elsewhere must be remoued as soone as the grafts shall haue closed vp the cleft of the plant as some are of opinion but yet this is hazarded ware the graft hauing not as yet taken almost anie disposition or good liking of the sappe of the plant which being thus againe remoued it halfe aâ—tonished and put out of the high way of his well-pleasing nourishment and so beginneth to wither when it commeth to take a cast of his new dishes and prouision but and if you stay till the graft haue put forth a faire branch before you remoue the graft you shall shunne the danger that might otherwise ensue You must plant your trees againe as soone as you haue taken them vp if no other weightie matter let you but if you be put off from doing it either because it is brought you from farre or vpon some other occasion you must so soone as they be taken vp couer their roots with the earth from whence they were taken new leaues and slraw that so the raine may not wash them and make them afterward to 〈◊〉 when they become drie againe and to the end also that the ayre and breath 〈◊〉 of the wind or of the Sunne or yet of the Moone may not drie them and 〈◊〉 the moisture which keepeth their roots in good hearr and fit to grow 〈…〉 things being verie hurtfull but the raine the worâ—e of the two Sowre Cherrie-trees cannot abide to be remoued for being transplanted they will hardly put forth anie siences especially if they haue their chiefe and principall root maimed Before you remoue great trees you must loppe off their boughes verie diligeraly at hath beene said but as for little ones you need not crop them to take off 〈◊〉 of their heads neither yet to take anie of their boughes from them if they haue 〈◊〉 too bushie a head If you desire to know a reason wherefore it is thus If you 〈◊〉 the head and toppes vpon trees when they are growne somewhat great and thicke they will still be lending of their sappe vpward not looking to the feeding of the roots for that the ayre attracteth the nourishment of plants as may easily be proued by example when there groweth anie small tree vnder one that is verie great for there the small tree will not thriue so well as if it were abroad in the ayre and 〈◊〉 vnder the shadow and so that which hath his head cut off will take root sooner than and if it were whole and vntouched But if the tree which you remoue exceed not the thicknesse of a great ynch you shall let it remaine whole because young plants take root more easily than those which are old and the reason is openly knowne If the rootes of the trees which you would remoue be much longer than is needfull you may take off the ends thereof in setting them downâ— againe and that so much as may fit best for the hole wherein you meane to set them for so by this meane they will not be stopped vp of the sides of the hole but will amast and draw moisture out of the earth for the nourishment of the tree a great deale more aboundantly When you remoue anie tree you must lay his rootes round about with 〈◊〉 earth and take heed that the weedie earth which you haue digged or cut away 〈…〉 pit whither you meane to remoue it doe not fall in amongst the roots for it would put them in danger to be ouer-heated or else that they growing vp againe might diminish the nourishment of the tree If it happen that the earth which you 〈◊〉 taken out of the pit be full of wormes which might hurt the rootes then 〈◊〉 therewith some lee and ashes When the rootes haue taken foot trample downe the ground as hard as may be or else beat it with a Pauiers beetle watering it afterward if it be drie or else not CHAP. XX. Of the place and soile for Trees in generall THe principall point in growing of Trees is to prouide them of 〈◊〉 ayre and earth because that these doe cheere and season theâ— and are the proper subiect of their nourishment And as concerning the earth that is recommended into vs as to be had in regard and looked vnto more than anie thing else as that it be such as is verie murlie temperate in cold and heat and of a meane and middle sort of moisture and fatnesse for such ground as exceedeth in anie one of these things is not so fit for anie Fruit-tree This
is a rule to stand generall in and for all Fruit-trees but as for particular kinds of Trees it is verie well knowne that euerie particular Tree craueth his seuerall 〈◊〉 particular soyle whence it may gather fit and agreeable nourishment for it 〈◊〉 as Theophrastus testifieth In like manner one desireth a diuers kind of placing and situation from the other Wherefore the trees which craue the refreshment of hauing their stockes taken vp doe commonly thriue better in valleyes than in high places as well for that their seat must not be altogether so drained of moisture as the higher places be as also for that the moisture which is in higher grounds conueyeth it selfe and distilleth into the lower and hollow whether it be raine or anie spring rising from thence In watrie places you must not make your pit verie deepe wherein you mean to plant your tree but in drie grounds you must set them somewhat more deepe neiâ—her yet must you heape too much earth in vpon those pits when you fill them vp againe that so the raine may the better stay about them and water them That which is commonly receiued as that in good ground there grow good fruits must be vnderstood with respect had to the naturall goodnesse that the fruit hath in 〈◊〉 selfe if both the industrie and skill of man to husband and keepe it neat and deliâ—â—er it when anie inconuenience presseth vpon it to drie and to season it so as that it may yeeld his fruit in due time be not wanting for these failing the fruit will likewise greatly faile of his goodnesse tast and durablenesse and so will falsifie the generall rule aboue named Set downe with your selfe to remoue your trees into so good a ground or rather better than that from whence you tooke them vp hauing respect to other especiall obseruations besides to be obserued according as will be required of the particular natures of euerie one And if it is be possible remoue them into the like situation for the receiuing of the Sunne-shine vnto they which they were first set and planted in and that you may not faile hereof marke their barke vpon such or such a quarter and set 〈◊〉 vpon the same againe in remouing of it But this obseruation as I must confesse is not alwaies kept for the reasons aboue named Also plant those of a forward Spring in a late soyle and a late soyle in a hot â—round The greatest part of trees doe delight in the South Sunne and to be seated vpon â—ome Sunnie banke from the Westerne wind as being verie contrarie vnto them â—specially to Almond-trees Abricot-trees Mulberrie-trees Figge-trees and Pomeâ—ranate-trees but principally from the North-east wind because it is sharpe swithâ—â—ing verie hurtfull for all sorts of plants euen to all fruits of what qualitie soeuer that â—hey be but chiefely when they are in blossome and that because it bloweth from off â—he Sea as also for that it is halfe North which is verie sharpe but not so dangerous 〈◊〉 the North-east and some say that this wind bloweth once a yeare as in the Spring â—nd that it spoyleth buds especially those of the Vine Vnde versus Vae tibi Galerna â—re quam fit clausa Taberna On the contrarie Chesnut-trees Cherrie-trees that beare 〈◊〉 sowre fruit Quince-trees and Plum-trees doe not much affect or sport and delight â—hemselues either with cold or much heat In watrie places trees commonly grow great and beare much fruit and leaues but â—hey are not of anie commendable rellish colour or durablenesse yea they beare â—ruit commonly the yeare they are set if they be accustomed to beare Trees must be â—et the thicker in a fruitfull soyle If you meane to plant trees in a cold place and that yet the tree should not be hurt of the cold you must plant them on the Sunnie side of the banke from the North â—ut towards the South CHAP. XXI Of the place and time wherein euerie Fruit-tree delighteth to be sowne planted and grafted in particular and first of the Almond-tree THe Almond-tree delighteth in hot places looking towards the South or East or where the ayre at the least is moderate as vpon the tops of hills or places neere vnto hills that are somewhat stonie and grauâ—lie stonie or marlie in which places it doth not onely flourish well being planted and blossome aboundantly but beareth therewithall great quantitie of drie Almonds as also hard and well-rellisht ones But contrariwise if it be planted in a moist and watrie ground and cold place it neither groweth well not beareth fruit well neither yet continueth long The fit time for the setting of it is about the Winter Solsâ—ice which is the eleuenth day of December euen vnto the end of the same moneth or somewhat after for the plant of this tree being forward and early in putting forth buds if it were planted in the Spring time it might let slip and loosen the time of the yeare which might be the fittest for the maintaining and comforting of his blossome If you would haue it to grow of the stone vnbroken and if I may so say of his seed you must let it be in Ianuarie and all Februarie in such places as are temperate or in October and all the moneth of Nouember in places that are hat And thus to cause it to grow of his fruit you must take new Almonds thicke ones hauing white shells verie porous and spongie and lay them in steepe for the space of twelue houres in honied water and after this digge them in the earth foure finger deepe the sharpe end downeward and after to water them three of foure times a moneth It groweth also of shoots and siences but the sience must be taken from the top of the tree full of pith sound of barke and cut vnder the knot And as concerning the grafting of it you must take the time of Autumne for as hath beene said this tree is a quick-spur and fore-rider but and if you stay till the Spring time you shall breake it off when the sience is fully put forth And for the chusing of grafâ—s that will take well you must take them vp on high and on the top of the tree and not from the middest much lesse from below and these grafts you may graft either in the bud or in the cleft and vpon a tree of his owne kind or vpon the peach or Plum-tree indeed the Almond-tree that is grafted is not of such growth or so â—â—â—â—full as that which is planted The good Farmer must plant and make grow great store of Almond-trees seeing they are not chargeable to maintaine neither yet their fruit to keepe but rather of greater profit and lesser losse than anie other seeing that euen vnder them Come will grow iolly and faire the Almond-tree hauing but a few leaues and those little ones The barren Almond-tree will become fruitfull and beare if you lay open the roots in Winter or else if you pierce
excellent good against melancholie and the wormes if you make syrrups thereof of seuen or eight infusions to be taken fasting The gumme of the Peach-tree is taken with good successe in the spetting of bloud with the water of Plantaine or Purcelane for the cough and difficultie of breathing with Hydromel or the decoction of Folefoot for the grauell and stone with the 〈◊〉 of Radishes Citrons or white Wine the weight of two drammes The leaues stamped and applyed vnto the belly doe kill wormes the iuice thereof dropt into the 〈◊〉 doth the like the kernels eaten take away the wringings of the belly eaten to the number of six or seuen in the beginning of meat they preuent drunkennesse 〈◊〉 and boyled in vineger to the forme of a broth and after rubbed in place conâ—enient they hinder the falling of the haire stamped and made in forme of milke with the water of Veruaine and â—ubd about the browes and temples they cease the head-ach the oyle made by expression ceaseth the paines of the eares and 〈◊〉 the Collicke and Sciatica He that hath regard of his health must not vse these fruits but as sparingly as he can possibly and fasting rather than otherwise because they corrupt easily in the stomacke but aboue all things they may not be eaten dipped or steeped in wine because wine correcteth them not as some thinke but rather causeth that their 〈◊〉 pierceth the more suddainely and easily into the veines The Peaches of Corbeilâ—â—â— counted for the best hauing a drie and solide pulpe and somewhat red not sticking or cleauing anie thing vnto the kernell The Romanes made great accounâ— of the Peaches which they called Persica Duracina as doe also the Brittons The least dangerous least subiect to be corrupted and most pleasant are the Abricots which also some haue left out of the number of the kinds of Peaches and placed amongst the Plums as well because of their pleasant smell as for their harmelesnesse and 〈◊〉 both within and without they doe rather resemble the Plum than the Peach The oyle pressed out of their kernell is maruellous good against the Hemâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 and swelling of vlcers and is also vsed as a remedie against the impediments of the speech and paine of the eares CHAP. XXIII Of the small Nut-tree or Hasel-tree THe Hasel-tree which is called the small Nut-tree of the small fruit which it beareth or the Filberd-tree of the great fruit that it beareth groweth in anie aire or ground but it best delighteth in a leane ground that is sandie and moist neere vnto waters or in places that men vse to water because this helpeth them as well in the bringing forth of their fruit in great store as for to make them endure long adde hereto that they put forth and spring in such sort at the root as that thereof one may set as manie as he will in other places When they are sowne they must be put two fingers vnder ground but indeed they grow better of a plant that hath root or of a shoot cut by as and hauing old and new wood as we haue alreadie declared in the sixt chapter They are planted in October and Nouember in a warme and temperate place or in Februarie and March and it is better to leaue vpon them some boughes when they are set than to set them of one single rod for so they beare the more fruit They must yearely be digged anew at the Spring neere vnto the foot and round about and their shoots all cut away without leaking anie standing saue three or foure for to plant and make thick bushie shadow and the same verie neat and cleane for height not leauing anie branch or bough after three or foure fadome from the top Wherefore if they be oft lopped picked and pruned they will grow the more streight compact and high and will beare better and fairer fruit but otherwise if a man neglect them they runne out all their nourishment into wood and leaues without fruit Their fruit is called the small Nut or Filberd The Filberd of hot Countries where such trees are called Filberd-trees is more round and fleshie than the French small Nut and it is a fruit verie easily dried and made yellow But and if you would keepe it fresh and white almost all the yeare long shut it vp close in an earthen pot and set them in the earth and when it is thus kept it bringeth not so much annoyance with it as otherwise it would for it naturally procureth drowsie headach and inflammation of the stomacke I know not by what obseruation of our ancestors this speech hath growne common amongst the people That the yeare which yeeldeth plentie of Nuts doth also yeeld manie mariages Both the little Nut-tree as also his fruit haue a certaine contrarie vertue against venimous beasts for if you hang a cluster of small Nuts in anie part of the house no Scorpion or venimous beast will enter thereinto but slie away presently The Countrey people haue likewise marked in all ages that the Serpent Lizard or other venimous beast dieth presently hauing beene stricken with a branch staffe or rod of the Hasel-tree And it is no maruell seeing Nut kernels eaten with Figges and Rue doe resist venime and the biting of venimous beasts The best small Nuts and Filberds and those which haue red shells and which are hardly broken The raw shell finely powdred and drunke with water of Carduus Benedictus doth heale the pleurisie in the beginning thereof being drunke to the quantitie of two drammes with red wine it stayeth the flux of the belly and the whites It is true that for the flux of the belly and whites â—he red part of the kernell which sticketh vnto the shell within is a great deale better and more forcible The Filberd nourisheth a great deale better than the Nut as being â— closer but not so fat a substance CHAP. XXIIII Of the Cherrie-tree sweet Cherrie-tree bitter Cherrie-tree and the hart Cherrie-tree IT is apparant that common Cherrie-trees sweet Cherrie-trees bitter Cherrie-trees and hart Cherrie-trees are sorts of trees agreeing in manie things for they all delight to grow in a cold and moist ground or else altogether indifferent betwixt hot and cold for a hot ayre they 〈◊〉 hardly endure and so likewise they refuse to haue anie dung because it ouer-heatech them and is contrarie vnto them and for this cause they must neuer be planted in a manured ground Notwithstanding if you so temper the dung as that it may not be ouer-hot for them it cannot â—urt them to be dunged no more than as wee will shew by and by to haue vnquench◠〈◊〉 laid to their feet to hasâ—en their fruit but this is true that if you dung them yearely that then you shall not haue them of anie loâ—g continuance They delight rather to haue their roots compassed with small branches and the broken parts of their owne siences or small lumpes and gobbets cut from their owne
small branches for in these they greatly reioyce and profit mightily â—â—uing them in stead of dung You may either digge the kernell into the ground and burie it or else plant of the siences neere the tops of hills and mountaines whether 〈◊〉 be in a high or low place in October Nouember December and Ianuarie You may graft them in Nouember or according to Palladius from the twelfth day of December vnto the first of Februarie The best is to graft them in Februarie and in March albeit that it be the best cutting of all trees that yeeld gumme when the gumme is not yet rising or after it is quite gone downe and returned from whence it rise Lastly Cherrie-trees neuer thriue so well being nothing done vnto but planted as when they are graâ—â—ed they delight to haue their dried branches often weeded out from themselues and the siences growing at their foot they delight also to be set in holeâ— and pits that are digged and cast and to be often digged about And if you would hasteâ— and cause them to bring forth their fruit sooner you must lay Quicke lime to the foot of them or else water their roots often with warme water but then such fruit is 〈◊〉 altered and made worse retaining but little of his naturally goodnesse euen as 〈◊〉 will proue and find by the hastie Cherries which the inhabitants of Poictiou send 〈◊〉 vpon horsebacke They may be grafted vpon the Plum-tree and Corneile-tree but best vpon one of their owne kind in such sort as that sweet Cherrie-trees being grafted vpon 〈◊〉 Cherrie-trees doe beare a more soft Cherrie than those are which grow vpon sweet Cherrie-trees grafted into sweet Cherrie-trees Cherries grow fairest vpon small Cherrie-trees and more plentifully also than they doe vpon high and tall ones Wherefore who so shall graft the small Cherrie-tree vpon the great shall procure greater store of fruit and more thicke ones such as are the wild Cherries and also 〈◊〉 haue more store of great boughs than those trees haue which doe but as it were 〈◊〉 on the earth In like manner if when you graft them you set the bud and the 〈◊〉 of the graft below the boughes that grow forth thereupon will fall out after 〈◊〉 like manner The Coeurs and Agriots may be grafted vpon the common sweet Cherrie-tree but better vpon wild ones than vpon garden ones We must therefore acknowledge eight sorts of Cherries growing vpon Cherrie-trees that is to say those which are properly Cherries hauing a verie short stalke round apple being also red fleshiâ—â— full of iuice sharpe and hauing a sweet kernell wild Cherries which haue but a liâ—tle flesh on them but are red also on that side toward the Sunne and white on the other side the stone cleaâ—ing to the flesh blacke Cherries whose iuice is so blacke as that it coloureth the hands and lippes bitter Cherries which are somewhat of a bitter tast whereof they haue their name Guyens Cherries so called because their first originall was in Guyenne they are long ones and manie hanging together at one stalke they are also verie sweet Piugarres and these are grosse thicke ones white hauing a hard flesh but sweet and cleauing vnto the kernell Coeurs which are like vnto a mans heart as well without as within their kernall some doe call these Cherries Heaumes and the Cherry-tree Heaumier especially in the Countrey of Aniou Agriâ—ts which are ripe last of all are sharpe relished and endure carriage farre off and they are also the same which are wont to be preserued Of the speciall properties and vertues of the Cherry and Cherry-tree see the nineâ—â—enth chapter of this Booke wherein is declared how the Cherry may be made to grow without anie stone If the Cherry-tree be hurt of Pisâ—â—ires you must rubbe his stocke with the iuice of Purcelane if it be too full of sappe you must make a hole in the principall root Cherries how faire soeuer they be yet they are of small nourishment beget â—uill humours in the stomack and wormes in the bodie and such are those especially which â—re called Coeurs The sharpe sweet Cherries are verie delicate fit to preserue with Sugar as well for such as are found as for them which are sicke The bitter Cherries â—re good raw but better drie and in sawces pastes and tart stuffe The sweet Cherâ—ies are chiefely commended in that they make the bodie soluble as the sharpe or â—ager ones doe bind it coole it and temper the heat of choler The gumme of Cherry-tree drunke with white wine doth breake the stone as well of the reines as of the â—ladder The water of Cherries newly gathered being distilled with a gentle fire and taken at the mouth in the quantitie of halfe an ounce doth put off the fit of the â—alling sicknesse a thing verie happily and with good successe tryed in manie as Manardus assureth vs. CHAP. XXV Of the Quince-tree ALl Quince-trees as well that of the Garden as the wild one and of the Garden ones as well the male as the female desireth a cold ground and especially that which is moist withall notwithstanding that we haue seene them as well to grow in the places lying open to the Sunne as at Conâ—lans a place belonging to Monsieur de Ville-roy neere vnto Paris but yet indeed not farre off from a Riuer and this kind of tree doth so much craue to haue the companie of moisture as that if the time fall out drie the necessitie thereof must be â—upplyed by watering of it and if for want of moist and waterish ground it be set 〈◊〉 a drie ground or in a stonie or clayie ground it must then also be often refreshed with water and must also be vnder-digged and laboured about the foot that so the â—â—â—et of the night may pierce and sinke downe vnto the roots that so it may bring â—orth good fruit and good store thereof When it is planted of rootes it growâ—â—th so well as that the second yeare it beareth fruit but it beareth not so soone when it is planted of branches It would be planted during the encrease of the Moone in the moneths of Februarie or Nouember This tree is verie commonly vsed to graft other trees vpon because they being grafted thereupon doe continue and endure longer and beare a more delicate fruit than if they were grafted vpon trees of their owne kind The best time for the gathering of this fruit is in the moneth of October when that blasting comes and it groweth to be of a golden colour for this is a signe that it is ripe and this must bee in cleare and faire weather and in the decrease of the Moone and then you must cleanse it from the mossie hoarinesse that is vpon it and lay them out orderly in the Sunne vpon hurdles If the Quince-tree make anie shew of being sicke you must water it with the â—â—â—lings of oyle mingled with equall quantitie of water or else with Quicke lime
make candles in such countries as where the oyle is much in request as in Mirebalois and thereabout it affordeth a gristle betwixt the two halfes of the kernell which being dried in the shadow after that the kernell is once perfected and afterward made into powder and drunke with a 〈◊〉 draught of red vvine doth by and by assuage the paine of the colicke as also the fruit comming of it when it is worth nothing but to make refuse and outcastings of as the nut growne old and all hoarie ceasâ—th not notwithstanding to doe good seruice for and if you burne it lightly or squeese it out easily with a hot yrâ—â— the oyle that then wil come forth of it is singular good to take away blewnesse of strokes whether about the eyes or elsewhere in the face or other part of the bodie the old 〈◊〉 serueth also for other vses as shall be said by and by The wood of the walnut tree is good and handsome to put in worke when you would make any faire and 〈◊〉 worke because it is listed and smooth of his owne nature The small buds of the walnut-tree called of he Latins Iuli appearing in March being dried and after powdred and drunke with white vvine the weight of a French crowne are exceedingly good in the suffocation of the matrix The oyle of the nut drunke to the quantitie of fiue or sixe ounces doth cure the colicke if you mixe a little quicke lime amongst the oyle of nuts it will make a singular liniment for the swellings and shortnesse of the sinews The old oyle of walnuts cureth the falling of the haire called Tinea If you pill off the greene pillings of the walnuts and cast them into water and after cast this vvater vpon the ground there will grow from thence great store of wormes good for fishers if you boyle the pillings in a câ—ldron after they be fallâ—â— from the Tree as opening of themselues and rubbe any kind of white wood whatsoeuer with this water it will turne to the colour of the Walnut-tree but more faire and beautifull Some steepe the barke of the roots of Walnut-trees in vinegar and after lay it vpon the wrests of such as haue the ague This draweth out all the heat of the ague but it swelleth the skin of the wrest Some make a soueraigne mithridate against the plague as we haue said in the chapter of rue with two old walnuts three figges twentie leaues of rue and one graine of salt The walnut closed vp in a hen or capon set to the fire to roast causeth the said hen or capon to be the sooner roasted The distilled vvater of vnripe Walnuts gathered about Midsommer is singular good to driue away tertian agues if one take about some foure or fiue ounces of it The Walnut either new or drie but yet the drie somewhat lesse is of hard digestion causeth head-ach and hurteth the cough and short breath and therefore it must be vsed sparingly steepe whole walnuts pillings and shells and all in a sufficient quantitie of water vntill such time as that their shell be sufficiently softned and moistened and that the kernell may be pilled easily from the thin filme that couereth it ouer as it falleth out in greene walnuts this done take the kernells so pilled and let them steepe in a pot vvell couered in verie good Aqua-vitae giue two daies after two or three of these kernells whole to a woman that cannot haue her termes for the space of eight or nine daies before her accustomed time of hauing her termes and that in the morning and after that she hath purged This medicine hath neuer a match in prouoking of the termes that are stayed and it is a thing well proued And as for the manner of keeping and preseruing of them we will speake in his fit place If the same day that you haue beene bitten of a dogge which you doubt to haue beene madde you put vpon the biting an old nut well brayed and after take it away and cast it to a hungrie cock or hen if the same eating it die not it is a signe that the dogge which did bite you was not madde but and if it die then it is a signe that he was madde and therefore the sore must be looked vnto as is meet within three daies CHAP. XXXIIII Of the Oliue-tree NOw we come to speak of the Oliue-tree which is for the most part small thicke of leaues and round for there are some sorts also that haue great branches dispersed here and there out of order both the one and the other sort are contented with a shallow ground for in many places they grow vpon the thin green swarth or turfe that couereth the rocks vpon the ground hanging vpon the sides of some great steeres thus you may see how the oliue-tree disposeth of it selfe euerie where how vnfitting and vnlikely soeuer that the ground be prouided that it haue a warme ayre and Easterly or Southerly wind at command He that would carefully appoint it out such a plot as the vine would require might erre in many places for the oliue-tree is not so much to be regarded in respect of his soyle and seat at the vine for it contenteth it selfe with a great deale lesse than the vine vvill If you giue it ground that is good and fat earth and the Sunne and Winds which it delighteth in in other places doubt not but it will doe as the Spaniard who pleaseth himselfe with as good as nothing when he knoweth not how to amend himselfe or do better and performeth his seruice therewithall but if he come where he may but haue the smell of it he is stuffed as full as the greatest 〈◊〉 in all Lymosin so the Oliue-tree being once seised in his tallance of a good piece of ground contenteth it selfe and beareth fruit handsomely As concerning the planting of it vpon the North in hot Countries and there searing it vpon the toppes of mountaines or lesser hills or vpon the South in cold Countries these are but troubles and paines without anie great foundation for as concerning cold Countries there is no talke to be had of growing of Oliue-trees in them and as concerning hot Coâ—â—tries there is neither taking nor leauing of quarters or coasts in respect of this tree The Oliue-tree doth encrease it selfe by shoots which it putteth forth at the sootâ— for being pulled vp vnhurt and planted elsewhere they grow vp verie speedily And to prepare them a faire place to grow in you must digge them pits where you mind to set them a yeare before hand of foure foot depth and if you cannot haue holes made readie for them so long before but must be constrained to set them downe in new digged ones then you must season and purifie the said holes by burning of the leaues and some small branches of the Oliue-tree therein or else some straw at the least for the fire
propagate the Winter following in the said â—oneth of March at which time the sappe draweth vp vnto the barke if so be that you desire to haue great store It taketh also of a branch foreseene that it be set in a fat and blacke earth which is moist The time to set it of root plant or branch is either in Autumne or in the Spring It is sowne in the same seasons a foot vnder ground and foure berries together and when one yeare is past you must plant it where you will haue it abide In anie case you may not sow it or plant it neere vnto anie of the Lattice-worke or climbing and running frames made for the Vine much lesse neere vnto the plant it selfe because that the Bay-tree is altogether enemie vnto the Vine as well in respect of his shadow as of his heat which draweth away all meanes of growth from the Vine Looke in the second Booke The leaues of the Bay-tree doe preserue keepe vncorrupt and make faster the Fish that is fryed especially that which is fryed in oyle laying them by beds one vpon another They performe in like manner the same good vnto dried Figges Damaske or Frayle Raisins if you strew of them amongst the said Raisins in the Frayle You must obserue as well in the leaues of the Bay-tree as in those of the Iuniper and Elme-tree that they being cast into the fire doe presently crackle and that the cause of this is for that they take fire before their superfluous and raw moisture be consumed and spent The leaues of the Bay-tree dried and rubbed one against another if there be put betwixt them a little powder of Brimstone doe cast out sparkles of fire as doth the steele and the stone in like manner doe Iuie leaâ—es The boughs of Bay-tree stucke downe in arable ground doe keepe the Corne from mildew and blasting Some arâ— of opinion that tempests and lightning will turne away from those houses and places where there are hanging anie Bay-tree boughs wherher it be at the chamber floores or else at the doores or windowes The tender crops of the Bay-tree boyled with flowers of Lauander in wine doe heale hardnesse of hearing and noyses in the eares if the vapour be taken thereat with a funnell The Vuula being fallen is againe restored to his place if you lay the â—ayes of the Laurell-tree verie hot vnto the top of the crowne of the head with equall weight of Cummin Hyssope Organie and Euforbium mixt together with honey The bayes of Laurell powned with Wheat-bran Iuniper-berries and Garâ—icke heated in a hot frying-panne sprinkled with wine and laid to the flankes doe prouoke the retained vrine If women with child and neere their accompts doe eat euerie night going to bed seuen Laurell bayes or Bay-berries they shall haue a more easie traâ—aile and deliuerie CHAP. XLIIII What space must be left betwixt Fruit-trees when they are remoued THat you may fitly appoint the standings of trees and their distances one from another in respect of the trees themselues compared one with another you must first consider the height fulnesse of the leaues and boughes and spreading of the same according as euerie sort of tree doth ordinarily grow and attaine vnto and besides the ordinarie how by place affoording aboundance of nourishment the tree may exceed and surpasse it selfe in height and breadth for that fruit-trees would not be encombred aboue head or ouer his top but would haue the breathing and blowing of certaine winds at libertie and with sufficient space fauourably to light vpon them and withall the fruition and benefit of the Sunne in all which points the vnequall proportion of one tree vnto another in height or breadth doth offer let and hinderance And yet further if they would haue their waggings and plyings to and fro to be free that so they may play 〈◊〉 libertie when the wind tosseth them how greatly should the exceeding greatnesse of the neighbour trees disturbe and trouble one another if care and aduise be not takeâ— in the first planting of them And therefore you must haue regard and cast an eye about you for this cause that so you may well and profitably appoint out your distances and spaces betwixt one and another for in good and fat grounds where trees may grow much you must allow more space than elsewhere And further you must note that one tree planted well at libertie whatsoeuer the place be of it selfe doth fructifie and beare a great deale more If you mind to plant thicke and grosse trees all on a row and vpon high waies and against the hedges of fields then you must leaue them some fiue and thiâ—â—e foot distant one from another but and if you intend to plant manie rowes in one and the same place then you must be sure to leaue fiue and fortie foot space betwixt euerie two and as much betwixt one ranke and another that so the boughes of each tree may the more freely spread themselues every way vpon their emptie and vacant sides As for Peare-trees Apple-trees and others of that bignesse if you plant onely one row by the sides of your field-hedges or elsewhere it will be ynough to allow twentie feet betwixt one and another but and if you set two rowes vpon the hedge of your Garden allies then you must allow them some fiue and twentie feet betwixt one and another euerie way square in such sort as that as well the alley as the spacâ— betwixt euerie two trees on either side may make a perfect square of fiue and twentie feet in euerie line and if the distance allowed them be of lesse quantitie then it must be somewhat answered and helped by not planting of them euerie one right ouer one against another but as if you should wrap and lay them vp one within another to let the full and planted place of the one side stand ouer-against the void and emptie of the other Some would that there should some small trees bâ— planted amongst those great trees which you thus set about the alleyes for the times whiles they are in growth but this would not doe well if either they should be suffered to continue there alwaies because it would breake the rule and precept deliuered before couching such course neither yet if they should be taken vp afterwards and the reason thereof is because they draw away and eat vp the iuice and nourishment of the earth vvhich should wholly bee imployed in growing and furthering of those which are intended for the inclosing and defending of the alleyes If you should goe about to plant a whole Field or quarter of your Garden with great fruit-trees such as before named you must then set them checkerwise and allow them betwixt twentie and thirtie foot of distance the one from the other euerie way that is to say from tree to tree and from row to row Plum-trees and other trees bearing stone-fruit and being of the like size of bignesâ—e will not
called quicke and Virgins Brimstone and not artificiall Brimstone vvhen you intend to make your Oyle of Briâ—stone to dâ—still you shall take a sheeâ—e of yron of foure fingers thicknesse and fire red this you shall cast into the small pot vvith Brimstone to make the said Brimstone burne and flame the smoake comming forth of the Godeâ— vvill ascend vp to the vessell hanging aboue vvherein after a short time it vvill be turned into Oyle vvhich Oyle will thence distill into the vesâ—ell below Gather this Oyle and reserue it in a vessell well stopt for to vse for the curing of Gangrenes Fistulaâ—s vâ—cers of the mouth and Ring-wormes if you doe but touch them vvith this Oyle vpon the end of a feather It is singular good against rebellious vlcers comming of the pockes some giue it to drinke with balme water in the morning vnto such as are but scarce cured and recouered of the pockes to the end it may driue out the disâ—ase The oyle of Brimstone may be made otherwise boyle Brimstone in Aqua-vitae vntill there begin an oylie substance to swim aloft gather this liquor with a woollen or linnen cloth or with a little espoone you must sometime renew your Aqua 〈◊〉 vntill you haue gathered oyle ynough if presently after bathing your selfe you annoinâ— with this oyle your bodie infected with Quick-siluerâ— you shall expell and draw forth the said Quick-siluer But concerning all these Oyles see more in our Booke of secret remedies and medicines CHAP. LVII A description of certaine artificiall balmes BVt it is vvell and sufficiently knowne how that now the true and naturall balme is no vvhere to be found and that in place thereof the industrie and skill of man hath inuented Oyles which approach and draw neere in vertues and faculties vnto the true balme now therefore be it in like manner knowne that these Oyles are made either by distillation or impression and that vve will speake onely of some certaine ones which are made by impression ceasing to speake of those which are distilled for them which meddle in drawing out the quintessences of things as you shall further perceiue by our Booke of secret remedies Balme of the maruellous apples Take the maruellous apples either with or without kernells but verie ripe put them in a vessell full of common oyle either old or new or of the oyle of sweet Almonds or Linseed and infuse them a long time in the Sunne or in Maries-bath or in horse-dung that is verie hot or in the earth in a vessell that is well couered ouer with sand and let it remaine there one whole yeare or else two vvhich is the better you may likewise make this oyle of the leaues and little cods without the fruit some with the apples put together with the oile of sweet almonds or linseed oyle doe joyne of liquid varnish one ounce for euerie pound of oyle such an oyle is a singular balme for all wounds inflammations of the breasts and for the appeasing of outward paines and ache for the bursting of young children the vlcers of the matrix and to procure conception if after that the woman is come out of the bath made for the same purpose the annoint her secret parts therewith and drinke of the powder of the leaues with vvhite Wine it is also singular good for the paine of the hemorrhoides being mingled with linseed oyle or the oile of sweet almonds We haue spoken of the maruellous apples in the second Booke where we haue declared how that the hearbe whereupon they grow is called Balsaâ—ina because it hath the vertue of balme The oyles of the flowers of Rosemarie white mullein Paules betonie Nicotian and ground Iuie being thus prepared as we haue spoken of before haue like vertues with balme Another balme Take the fruit of the elme the flowers of Hypericum and the buds of Roses put all together in a glasse bottle with oyle of Oliues stop vp the bottle close and leaue it in the Sunne vntill you see the same all of it in such manner consumed as though it were rotten afterward strayne it and keepe the oyle for your vse Another Take Gumme elemie foure ounces oyle of vvormes oyle of Roses and Hypericon of each two ounces of Venice Turpentine two ounces mix altogether and incorporate them vpon a coale fire afterward keepe it in little bottles Another balme Take the flowers and seeds of Hypericon foure handfulls bruise them throughly and set them in the Sunne the space of ten daies in a glasse bottle with foure pound of old Oyle of Oliues afterward presse them out carefully and put againe as many moe flowers and seeds of Hypericon into the bottle set it in the Sun againe tenne vvhole dayes after presse it out all againe and put thereunto as followeth of oyle of dill and of Venice Turpentine of each a pound and a halfe of Aqua-vitae halfe a pound of Mummia vvood of Aloâ—s masticke myrrhe and Iuieguâ— of each an ounce and a halfe of the rosen of the pine-tree three ounces saffron halfe an ounce cloues nuâ—megs cinnamom of each three drams mix all together and boile them three houres in Maries-bath in a glasse bottle close stopped that nothing may breath out Then set the bottle in the Sunne the space of ten daies reseruing the oyle afterward for pains of the eares wounds fistulaes cankers Noli me tangere c to annoint the backe bone a little before the fit of the ague come vvhich beginneth of cold Another balme take the fruit of the elme vvithin which you shall find a liquor like vnto oyle put it whole into a strong viole which viole you shall stop verie close and burie for the space of fiâ—teene daies in horse dung that is verie hot by reason of his being verâ—e rotten then set it in the Sunne for a certaine time and after gather the cleare part that shall swimme aboue and this vvill be vnto you a singular balme Otherwise gather all the liquor that you find in the fruit of elmes put it in a strong viole adding of the flowers of Hypericon and common oyle stop vp the viole verie close and burie it in horse dung that is well rotted leaue it therein a sufficient time and afterward taking it out you shall haue a singular balme See further in our Booke of secret medicines concerning balmes A briefe discourse of the distilling of Waters CHAP. LVIII Of the profit and commoditie of distillation NOtwithstanding that distillation be the vvorke rather of a Philosopher or Alchymist otherwise called an extracter of quintessences than of a farmer or maister of a Countrie Farme notwithstanding the profit thereof is so great and the vse so laudible and necessarie as that we take not the chiefe Lord of our countrie house to be furnished vvith all such singular commodities as vve desire if he lacke the knowledge and practise of distillation not that I vvould have him to make it
sweet and got in a good season that vvhich is not verie long of growth but verie pleasant and cleane grasse without weeds hard stumpes pricks or such like is best for milch-kine or stall-fed-oxen onely that which you preserue for your Kine would be got verie drie and haue all the sweetnesse and pleasantnesse that may be but that you keepe for your feeding-cattell would not be altogether throughly vvithered but got a little greenish so as it may take such a heat in the mowe as may onely discolour it and turne it red but no more for that will bring a thirst vnto the cattell and make them drinke vvell and the Grasier is of this opinion that cattell neuer feed well till they drinke well and that haye which is the finest and shortest growing vpon high and drie grounds full of flowers and sweet 〈◊〉 is best for your sheepe or young calues and this must be got verie drie and as neere as you can vtterly without any raine for when it is so drie that it will hardly lye vpon the Waine then is it the best of all for when the husbandman saith that moist haye is profitable for the increase of milke he doth not meane that you shall get in your haye greene or any part vnwithered for that brings it to a rottennesse or ouer-drinesse which is verie ill for milke but you shall get it into the barne as drie as you can without scorching scalding or such vnnaturall extremities and this hay taking his kindly sweat in the mowe is that which is called the Moist-hay and that which taketh a little too much heat in the mowe and altereth colour is the Drie-hay and keepeth your fat cattell from gripings and other painefull griefes in their bellies to which they are euermore verie much subject It is an vse with some husbandmen as well in our France as in other countries after they haue brought their haye into drie cocke to put it into great stoukes or pettie stackes without doores and so to let â—t remaine a fortnight or more that it may take the full sweat before it be brought to the barne or hay-loft but it is a needlesse and a double labour and may verie well be spared if the orders be obserued before prescribed for this much curiositie did but spring from a fearefulnesse of ouer-heating or mow-burning which to preuent the Ancients spared not any labour Nay they were so curious in the first times that they would not suffer their haye by any meanes to lye neere to the sinke or smell of the beast-house or vvhere any other noysome sauours were supposing that the haye would naturally of it owne inclination draw all such corruptions vnto it but it was a feare might haue verie vvell beene spared Now touching the later crop of haye which is euer to be mâ—â—ne in the moneth of September you shall in all respects vse it like the hay of these barren grounds last written of for the yere time being so much shot on it can haue no other kindly withering neither is it to be vsed for the feeding of fat cattell or for milch Kine but onely for drie beasts or such as onely labor as the oxe horse mule or asse If by the gathering of your hay you perceiue your meadowes to become barren vvhether it happen by your negligence in not hauing beene carefull ynough in husbanding of them or by reason of age seeing the earth will sometime rest it selfe as being vvearie for the recouering of the strength againe as it is onely seene in barren soyles and no other for that which is truely fertile and good ground will neuer be wearie of bearing especially if it lie low and be gentlie washt with waters but that which lies high or violently against the heat of the Sun will many times decay in his aboundance which when you shall at any time perceiue it shall be good to forbeare the cutting of it the next yeare and onely graze it with cattell especially sheepe which vvill be as good as a manuring vnto it and make it beare grasse in as good plentie as euer it did afore for often cutting occasioneth barrennesse and often feeding breedes increase But if it be through the naturall fertilitie and hardnesse of the ground that it waxeth barren then you shall vse the like meanes that you vvould in making of new meadows set downe before in the second chapter of this booke or else if you see that you loose your labour in renewing of your barren meadows set downe with your selfe to reduce them into arable ground especially those which are drie parched bringing forth verie small store of grasse growne ouer with a hard â—â—st and fraught rather with naughtie weeds than good and profitable grasse For the doing whereof you must cut the vpper face and crust of the earth in Aprill with a shallow delfe in turfes some fadome and a halfe long and halfe as broad and to the thicknesse of two fingers drie these turfes in the Sunne and being concocted by the heat of the Sunne fit them one to another and lay one vpon another in manner of a furnace afterward set fire to them with good store of straw when they are burned let them coole sixe or seuen daies after spead the ashes thereof equally all ouer the field then looke for a good raine in May to incorporate this ashie earth and when it is accordingly performed then plow it vp in Iune and presently after sow it vvith millet afterward with rie and in the end with mastling and wheat CHAP. VII Of the Ozier-plot REmember this that three things carefully kept and increased by the diligence of the vvorkeman doe make rich vvithout any great trauell that is to say the meadow-meadow-grounds the Ozier-plot and the Willow-plot vvhich by the meanes of vvater lightly slyding through the veines of the earth in the fat and vvell liking places that are vpon the sides of hills and by the vvatering of manifold streames round about doe naturally grow euâ—rie yeare and yeeld great profit vnto their maister for the feeding of hiâ— cattell the making of hoopes for vessell and binding of them as also for fewell the benefit of poles woodden vessells arbours stakes for hedges and supporters for vines We will therefore speake first of the ordering and husbanding of the Ozier-plot and after it of the Willow-plot vvhich vve do not dreame to haue any other assigned place than about the meadows and far remoued from the arable ground in as much as their shadow is so hurtfull to wheat line pulse and other graine as that they neuer grow vvell where they are ouershadowed by these but on the contrarie meadow grounds receiue great profit thereby as well because that grasse doth grow the fairer and more pleasantly in the shadow than vvhere it is not shadowed as also for that the leaues of Ozier Willow Aller and such other Trees falling vpon the meadowes and there rotting maketh them the more fat
fortie poles nor yet be lesse than thirtie or fiue and twentie and if the inconuenientnesse of the place vvill not suffer you to cast them into squares then make them somewhat more long but yet not exceeding the foresaid fortie poles in length for besides infinite other commodities and pleasures accompanying short fields and such as are not of large reach this is one verie speciall profit namely that oxen and horses doe labour there vvith lesse trauell and vvearisomnesse in as much as they do not onely cheere vp themselues and take their breath being at the end of the furrow but also for that the plow-man cleanseth and freeth his plow of the earth vvherewith it is woont to be laden as then also carrying them about to enter vpon a new furrow cause your ground if possibly it may be to lie leuell and euen for besides the pleasure of seeing from the one end to the other they vvill also be the more easie to be plowed dunged and sowne let them be ditched round about or at the least on the sides as well to draine away raine-vvater or other if any should stand there as for to cut off the trade-waies of passengers Plant not within not about your Corne-grounds any trees for feare of the shadow knowing assuredly that the more that corne is shadowed the further off it is from being comforted and rejoyced by the Sunne as also from hauing the dust which is vvoont to lye much vpon it blowne off by the vvinds and likewise from being deliuered from snow fogges and tempests oâ—tentimes a heauie burthen vpon the backe thereof And yet put case that for your pleasure you vvould plant some trees thereabout then let them be no other but Willowes or such like that may beare no great head to make shadow and therefore let neuer come nie thereto either the poplar or aspe or aller vvhose shadow is not onely daungerous and huâ—tfull vnto the corne ground but vvhich is more vvith their great thicke and great store of roots they draw vnto them the best juice they sucke vp the fat of the earth and so steale away the best from the seed that is sowne And no lesse than these the Ashe is most poysonous vnto Corne-grounds for how farre soeuer his shadow extendeth so farre you shall see the ground euer forbeare to prosper and yet it is not vtterly vnnecessarie to haue trees grow about your Corne-fields for if you plant Fruit trees about them as the Apple Peare Ceruise and such like you shall find the profit many times double the injuries that are reaped from them neither is it forcibly necessarie that your fields should be cast into these small square grounds seeing you may haue them as large as you please according to the quantitie of your Farme or the nature thereof vvhich may as well lye publique and in common amongst your neighbours as priuate and seuerall to your selfe in either of vvhich you may make your lands of what length or bredth you please vvhether acres halfe acres or roods and herein is specially to be noted that you must cast your lands according to the natures of your ground not the prospect of your eye for if your ground be a gentle earth either mixt or vnmixt and lye drie and free all Winter from vvater neither by any meanes is subiect from it owne nature or casualtie to any superfluitie of moisture this ground you may lay leuell smooth and plaine and make it appeare as an entire garden or one land but if it be within any daunger of vvater or subject to a spewing and moist qualitie then you shall lay your lands high raising vp ridges in the middest and â—urrowes of one side and according as the moisture is more or lesse so you shall make the ridges high or low and the descent greater or lesse but if your ground besides the moisture oâ— by meanes of the too much moisture be subject to much binding then you shall make the lands a great deale lesse laying euerie foure or fiue furrowes round like a land and making a hollownesse betweene them so that the earth may be light and drie and this you must doe either vpon leuells or vpon descending and hanging grounds and to conclude the larger your fields are and the drier they are kept the better they will be and the better your corne vvill prosper vpon them CHAP. V. How often your corn-Corne-ground must be â—ared or plowed ouer THat I may therefore briefly declare vnto you the tilling of grounds for graine and pulse vnderstand in generall that the earings of arable grounds are diuers according to the places and situations of the said grounds as vve haue alreadie alledged But howsoeuer the case stand in that poynt and in vvhat plat or peece of ground soeuer you can name them to be it behooueth that at the first earing vvhich is giuen them after they haue rested and laine fallow that you cleanse them vvell from stones all ouer with â—akes and that at the paines or trauell of some young boyes and girles that can doe little or nothing else or otherwise by others for the earth of it owne nature lying vntilled begettâ—h nothing but stones and strong and vnprofitable vveeds as those which are the reliques of the dung now throughly digested and chaunged by a heat exalted vnto the fiâ—th degree And we need not make any doubt of it but that euen good and kind ground when it should not bring forth any thing but mustard-seed couch-grasse pimpernell mercurie thistles of all sorts danewort vvild-fetch red poppie vvild oats veruaine blew bottles ax-fetch or such other like vnprofitable vveeds without forgetting of cockle and darnell and that which is called rest-harrow or at the least some fumitorie and henbane yet it will be doing of some thing more as namely those which grow out of it of themselues as stinking mathweed kexes rupture-wort these be reclaimed grounds and the herbe called Chamepytis as I haue sometimes seene in those countries which properly and truely containe France For the distinguishing of these herbes the thistles shew the heat of the ground as their aromaticall and odoriferous roots may testifie the hemlocke vvild smallage and fumitorie grow of putrefaction the bind-weed both great and small do proceed partly of drinesse partly of the alteration of the humour night-shade the great and small doe spring vp of the cold part of the earth vvhich they draw from the humour thereof mercurie of both sorts eye-bright also of two or three differing flowers the small sorrell red vnderneath and the three sorts of plantaine do hold of cold or temperate ground but the garden and vvater cresses rockets wild mustard-seed as also the two sorts of vvater-parsley haue differing natures and are more hot according to the humoâ—r vvhich chey confesse to participate in respect of their propertie To be short these are certaine dalliances and sports of nature vvhich though she should neuer be
be it neuer so good doth become worse and degenerate easily when it is sowne in a bad plot And for as much as I speake onely of Wheat in this place being the graine of most vse in Fraunce you shall vnderstand that there be diuers kinds thereof as shall be shewed hereafter which sith their names are not familiar in other Countries I will here repeat those which are most in vse amongst our neighbours especially in England of which the first is called whole-straw Wheat because the straw is whole and entire not hauing anie hollownesse within it and this is of all Wheat the largest and goodliest and yeeldeth the greatest store of flowre yet not of the most pure and most white colour it prospereth onely on the rich stiffe clay-clay-grounds and must necessarily haue three earings before it be sowne Next vnto it is the great Pollard Wheat which hath no aues vpon the eares it is a large Wheat also and prospereth likewise vpon stiffe clay-grounds yet will aske but one earing because it loues to be sowne vpon Pease-ground from whence Pease was reaped the same yeare The next is small Pollard which loues an indifferent earth as that which is grauelly or of barren mixture and it must haue euer full three earings Then Ograue Wheat which loueth anie well-mixt soyle and will grow either after three earings or but one so it besowne where Pease is reaped Then â—laxen Wheat which will ioy in anie soyle except the stiffe clay or burning sand prouided that it haue fully three earings and be well manured And lastly Chylter Wheat which is like vnto flaxen Wheat It will be good before you sowe your seed to lay it in steepe in water some certaine houres and afterward to spread and lay it abroad somewhere in the shadow to drie that so it may be readie to rowle or runne at such time as it is to be cast into the earth by this meanes you shall chuse the fairest cornes that shall stay behind in the boâ—tome of the water to sowe them which will grow within three or foure daies but as for those which swimme aloft aboue the water they shall be taken away because they are not worth any thing to sow for the best vse for such is either to seed Hennes or else to grind that so you may get out euen that sâ—all quantitie of meale and flowre that is within them Some before the sowing of their corne doe sprinkle it ouer a little with water wherein haue beene infused Houseleeke or the stamped seedes and roots of wild Cucumbers to the end that the corne may not be eaten of Moules field-Mice or other such like vermine Yet howsoeuer this may be a practise in France it is not receiued generally amongst Husbandmen to steepe the corne in water before they sowe it because so much moisture cooleth and drowneth the kernell of it too much Nay they are so farre from the practise thereof that a well-reputed Husbandman will not suffer his corne to be so much as washed before it be sowne The quantitie of corne which must be sowne shall be measured and rated according to the peece of ground for an arpent of fat ground will for the most part take foure bushels of Wheat a reasonable fat ground will take fiue and a leane will take more It is true that there must respect be had vnto the Countrey and place where it is sowne for in cold Countries and places that are waterie being also alwaies subiect to Snowes it is needfull to sowe a great deale more than in hot Countries or in temperate and drie places in as much as the cold and Snow doe corrupt the greatâ—st part of the seed Besides the time is well to be obserued and the disposition of the ayre for in Autumne you must sowe lesse thicke and in Winter or the times approaching and comming neere to Winter a great deale more againe in rainie weather you must sowe thicker than in drie weather Yet in England and other Countries which are much colder than France two bushels of Wheat or Pease will fully sowe an acre and foure bushels of Barly or Oates and three bushels of Beanes which proportion no man need to alter vpon anie occasion whatsoeuer CHAP. XIII Of harrowing and weeding of Corne. PResently after that the seed is bestowed in the ground you must for your last worke harrow it along and crosse ouerthwart and after that â—ake it from furrow to furrow but ouerthwart onely This would be done with Harrowes hauing yron teeth rather than woodden ones because they make the corne settle deeper into the earth which they doe breake and make fmall a great deale better and so by that meanes doe couer the corne with earth as it requireth at the least the thicknesse of foure fingers that so it may be the faster rooted and the safer from birds and thus it must be let alone the whole Winter vpon the Spring True it is that during Winter you must not neglect to make draynes and draughts thereby to carrie away the water that falleth in too great aboundance by raine Now this manner of harrowing is but for such entire grounds as lye together leuell plaine and vndistinguished by lands for were they cast vp with ridges as the lands of many Countries are then could they by no means be harrowed ouerthwart Therefore wheresoeuer your ground lyes in lands or in common mixt amongst your neighbours there you shall euer harrow your lands directly vp and downe the full length of the lands beginning at the furrowes first and so ascending vp to the ridges As for the Harrowes as before I said the woodden Harrow is best for the loose moulds and the yron Harrowes for the tough and binding moulds As for the Oxe-harrow which is as bigge as two Horse-harrowes and hath euer yron teeth it is best for the roughest earths especially new broken vp swarths the Horse-harrowes going before and the Oxe-harrow following after When the Spring time is come and the Wheat hath taken good root you must weed your ground of such store of weedes as Winter raine and the ranknesse of the earth it selfe haue caused to abound and ouer-grow the corne newly put vp as Feâ—ches tame and wild Poppie Cockle and such like and after once hauing weeded it it will be good to doe it the second time as when the eare beginneth to shoot for iâ— so doing the corne will proue faire and cleane But in the meane time you must so weed it at the first as that the rootes be not hurt but that they may remaine couered and laden with the earth that so they may stand faster in the earth and grow the more vpward At the second time of weeding you must not bare it much for and if the Wheat should not shoot vp still more and more it would rot vpon the earth and bring forth nothing Againe at the second weeding you shall stirre and make euen the ground a
at such time as it is sowne onely neither is it euer sowne vpon the fallowes but vpon the Pease-earth being euer vvell and carefully harrowed if you find the sayle whereon you sow it to be weake or out of heart the best meanes to giue it strength is to fold it with sheepe immediately before you sow it so that as soone as you take your fold from the land you may put your plow into the land by which meanes the seed and the manure as it were meeting together the manure keepeth the seed so warme and giues it such comfort that forthwith it takes root and brings sorth the increase most aboundantly Now for the cropping or gathering of this Maslin or blend corne you shall euer doe it so soone as you see the Rie begins to open or turne his eare downeward towards the earth albeit the Wheat seeme a little greenish at the root and be nothing neere ripe the corne being soft and milkie for the Wheat will ripen and grow hard in the sheafe which no other corne will doe and the Rie being suffered but to grow a day beyond his full time will shed his graine vpon the earth and you shall loose more than one halfe of your profit againe you shall not lead your blend-corne so soone as you doe your cleane Wheat or your cleane Rie but making it into good bigge safe stouckes vvhich will shed the raine from the eares and containing some sixteene or twentie sheaues in a stoucke you shall suffer is so to stand in the field to ripen as well for the hardning of the Wheat as for withering of the greene weeds vvhich growing amongst the Corne will be shorne vp therewith and bound in the sheaues altogether Secourgion SEcourgion is a kind of Corne that is verie leane vvrinckled and starued somewhat like vnto Barley and it is not vsed to be sowne in France except in the time of famine and dearth and then also but in some countries as are barren and verie leane and that to stay the vrgent necessitie of hunger rather than to feed and nourish It hath his name from the Latine vvords Succursus gentium The greatest part of Perigord and Lymosin doe vse this sort of Corne it may seeme to be a degenerate kind of Corne and may be called bad or wild corne It must be sowne in the thickest and fattest ground that may be chosen howsoeuer some say otherwise as that it delighteth in a light ground in as much as it sprouteth out of the earth the seuenth day after that it is sowne the thicker end running into rootes and the smaller putting forth the greene grassie blade vvhich flourisheth and groweth out of the earth The fittest time for the sowing of it is about the moneth of March in cold places or about the eight or tenth of Ianuarie if it be a mild Winter and not sharpe and pinching This is that kind of graine of three moneths growth whereof Theophrastus speaketh in his Booke of Plants howsoeuer Columella doe not acknowledge any kind of graine of that age Theophrastus in like manner maketh mention of a kind of graine of threescore dayes or two moneths growth and of another of fortie daies growth I heare say that in the West-Indies about Florida there grow sorts of corne some of two some of three moneths and some of fortie daies vve see it verie ordinarie in France to haue corne in three moneths namely in the countries of Beauce Touraine Lyonnoise Sauoy Auuergne Forest Prouence Chartrain and others in which the corne being sowne in March is ripe and readie to be cut downe in the third moneth The occasion of sowing it so late is either the vvaters or excessiue cold or snow or some such other hard vveather vvhich kept and hirdered it from being sowne any sooner Such graines and sorts of corne as are of three or two moneths or of fortie daies and amongst them especially the Secourgeon doe yeeld a verie vvhite and light flowre because it hath but verie little bran and the graine hauing drawne verie small store of substance for his nourishment but such as is of the lightest part of the earth and therefore small store of Bran by reason of the small space of time that it stayed in the earth The bread made of this Corne is verie white but withall verie light and of small substance more fit for Countrie-people and seruants in Families than for Maisters and vvealthie persons Againe in countries vvhere it is of account they vse to mixe Wheat vvith it to make houshold-bread Blanche BLanche is a kind of Wheat which the Latines call Far clusinum and old Writers Far adoreum as a Corne or Graine worthie to be highly thought and made of for his excellencie and goodnesse sake it is verie hard and thicke and requireth a strong and tough ground though it be not all of the best husbanded It groweth also verie wel in places and Countries that are verie cold as not fearing any cold be it neuer so outragious Neither doth it mislike and refuse drie and parched grounds and such as lye open to the excessiue heat of Sommer the Corne cannot be driuen from his huske except it be fried or parched againe for to grind and make bread of it they vse to frie or parch it but vvhen they vse to sow it they let it alone vvith the huske and in it they keepe it for seed It is verie massie and vveightie but not altogether so much as Wheat but yet more cleane and pure than Wheat and also yeeldeth more flowre and branne than any one sort of Wheat besides This kind of Wheat is verie rare in France but verie common in Italie vvhere it is called Sacidate Fine Wheat or Winter-wheat THere is a kind of small Corne that is verie vvhite vvhich the Latines call Siligâ— vvhereof is made White-bread called therefore of the Latines Siliginitis The French cannot as yet sit it with a name It must be sowne in verie open places and such as are hot and throughly warmed by the Sunne although it doe not vtterly refuse an earth that is thicke moist slymie and of the nature of Walkers-earth seeing that good husbandmen doe likewise report of it that there needeth no such great care to be taken about the making of this graine to grow and vvithall that if a man vse to sow Wheat in a moist and muddie ground that after the third sowing it will degenerate into this kind of Wheat It is that kind of Wheat which amongst the English is called Flaxen-wheat being as vvhite or vvhiter than the finest Flax it is of all sorts of Wheat the hardest and vvill indure a more barren and hard ground than any other Wheat vvill as the grauellie the flintie stonie and rough hils against which by the reflection of the Sunne onely vvhose beames it loueth exceedingly it will grow verie aboundantly neither will it prosper vpon and rich soyle but being as it were ouercome vvith the strength thereof
the cakes which liquorish women vse to make of the meale It must not be sowne but in the midst of Summer whiles the times continue drie and that there is no raine looked for of a long time for the raine doth hurt it after it is sowne cleane contrarie to other plants which all of them reioice in raine after they are sowne The oyle which is pressed out of the seed of Sesame doth neuer freeze and is the lightest of all other Oyles and yet being mixt with Wine or Aqua-vitae sinketh to the bottome There is no account to be made of this graine for nourishment because it is giuen to ouercome the stomacke and is hardly digested as is all oylie matter Lentils LEntils must be sowne at two times in Autumne and most commonly especially in France and cold Countries in the Spring time whiles the Moone encreaseth vnto the twelfth thereof and either in a small or little mould or in a fat and fertile ground for when they be in flower they destroy and spoyle themselues through too much moisture or by putting too farre out of the earth And to the end they may grow the more speedily and the greater they must be mixt with drie dung before they be sowne and foure or fiue daies after that they haue beene so laid to rest in this dung to sowe them They will keepe long and continue if they be mingled with ashes or if they be put in pots wherein oyle and preserues haue beene kept or and if they be sprinkled with vineger mixt with Beniouin Lentils howsoeuer auncient Philosophers had them in estimation are of hard digestion hurtfull to the stomacke filling the guts full of wind darkening the sight and causing fearefull dreames and withall are nothing good if they be not boyled with flesh or fried with oyle Fasels FAsels grow in stubbly grounds or rather a great deale better in fat grounds which are tilled and sowne euerie yeare and they are to be sowne betwixt the tenth of October and the first of Nouember or else in March as other pulâ—e after that the ground hath beene eared about the eleuenth of Nouember They must be sowne after that they haue beene steept in water for to make them grow the mose easily and that at large when they are sowne and alwaies as they ripen to gather them They make far grounds where they be sowne they are accustomed to beare much fruit they keepe a long time they swell and grow greater in boyling and are of a good pleasant tast vnto all mâ—ns mouthes It is true that they are windie and hard to digest but yet notwithstanding they are apt to prouoke vnto venerie if after they be boyled they be powdred ouer with Pepper Galanga and Sugar and yet more specially if they be boyled in fat milke vntill they burst If you mind to take away their windinesse eat them with Mustard or Caraway seed If you haue beene bitten of a Horse take Fasels chew them and apply them so chewed vnto the greene wound Young gentlewomen that striue to be beautifull may distill a water of Fasels that is singular good for the same end and purpose Lupines LVpines craue no great husbandrie are good cheape and doe more good to the ground than anie other seed for when as Vineyards and arable grounds are become leane they stand in stead of verie good manure vnto them Likewise for want of dung they may be sowne in grounds that stand in need to be dunged if after they haue put forth their flowers the second time they be plowed vnder the ground they grow well in a leane ground and such as is tyred and worne out with sowing and they may be sowne in anie ground especially in stubbly grounds such as are not tilled for in what sort soeuer they be sowne they will abide the roughnesse of the ground and negligence of the husbandman neither doe they craue anie weeding as well in respect of their root which is single as also for that if it were hurt they would die presently and because also that it should bee but labour lost for they are so farre off from being infected and wronged with weeds that they euen kill them and cause them to die And this is the cause why manie sowe them in the middest of Vineyards to the end they may draw vnto them all the bitternesse of the Vineyard as being the qualitie most familiar vnto them and with which they best agree Notwithstanding they may not be sowne deepe for when they flower they are made no account of Of all other kinds of Pulse they only stand not in need to be laid vp in Garners but rather vpon some floore where the smoake may comâ— vnto them for if moisture take them they will grow full of wormes which eate vp that which should make them sprout and that which is remaining can doe no good they must be gathered after raine for if it should be drie weather they would fall out of their cods and be lost Lupines are good to feed Oxen in Winter but they must be steept in salted and riuer water and afterward boyled they serue also for to feed men to make bread thereof when it is a time of dearth of other corne Some doe note this speciall propertie in them which is that they turne about euerie day with the Sunne insomuch as that by them workmen are taught the time of the day though it be not cleare and Sunne-shine Lupines stampt and laid vpon the nauell doâ— kill wormes in little children the decoction thereof doth prouoke the termes of women and taketh away the obstructions of the sight by reason whereof manie doe wish them to be taken of young maidens and women which haue pale colours Their meale is singular good in caâ—aplasmes to resolue the swelling of the Kings euill and other hard tumours as well boyled in honey and vineger as in honey and water and likewise for the Sciaâ—ica Beanes BEanes must be sowne in a fat soile or else a ground that is well manured and eared with two earings and although it be in stubbly grounds and seated in low bottomes vvhither all the fat and substance of the higher parts doth descend notwithstanding the earth must be â—liâ—ed and cut small and the clods broken before they be sowne for albeit that amongst all the other sorts of pulse there be not any that doe so little vvaste and the strength and juice of the earth notwithstanding they desire to be vvell and deepe couered vvithin the earth they must be diligently vveeded at such time as they peepe out of the earth for so the fruit vvill be much more and their coddes farre the tenderer They may be sowne at two times of the yeare in Autumne vvhere it is a strong ground and the beanes be great and in the Spring especially in this Countrie in a vveake and light ground the beanes being but small and of the common size those vvhich are sowne in Autumne are
they delight most in SEeing it hath beene deliuered and laid downe here aboue what time and manner is to be obserued in the planting of all wild trees and in giuing them such tillage as may easily and in short time procure their growth it hath seemed good vnto me to write some little thing of the nature and sorts of trees which are planted and found ordinarily in the vvoods and forrests of France and to declare briefely what manner of ground they delight in and in what soile they proue greatest and most profitable to the end that the planters of them be not frustrated of their paines and purpose and that that which requireth a drie and hot soyle be not planted in a moist and low soyle as also that the trees vvhich delight in a moist and low countrey be not planted in mountaines and drie countries for this falleth out oftentimes to be the cause that such as bestow their cost in planting doe misse of their intent and that the plant being in a ground cleane contrarie vnto it doth not come to any profit For which cause I will here in a word expresse my mind concerning that point not with any purpose to describe or comprise all the natures vertues and properties of trees neither yet to speake of all kinds of trees but onely to describe and declare the places and grounds wherein they prosper and grow most as also to make knowne the diuersitie that is amongst trees of one and the same sort and of one and the same name as which are most fit to be planted and best for to make shadowes to walke or sit in I know that there are diuers sorts of trees that grow both in the Easterne Northerne and Southerne parts of the vvorld vvhereof we are almost altogether ignorant and which in respect of the diuersitie of the regions doe not grow at all in this climate and of these I mind not to speake at all because my purpose is only in briefe to lay downe that which is necessarie to be knowne about the planting of common trees such as are ordinarily to be found in our owne forrests and not of strange and forraine ones the trouble about which would be more than the pleasure And as for such as are desirous to attaine the perfect knowledge of all manner of trees growing in any part of the world and their vertues properties natures and seeds they may see the same at large in Theophrastus in his fourth booke of the historie of Plants and in the third booke vvhere hee particularly entreateth of the kinds of wild and sauage trees for he particularly runneth through the nature force vertue seed and manner of planting of euery wild tree as well those of the East North and South as those of the West but it shall be sufficient for vs at this time to declare the nature of fiue or six sorts of trees which commonly grow in the countries hereby and of their kinds and what ground euery one delighteth in Now therefore to begin there are two sorts of trees in generall the one is called vvater-trees or trees delighting to grow in or neere vnto the brinkes of vvaters in medowes and in low and watrie places the other land trees or trees delighting to grow vpon the firme and solid land and vvhere the waters by inundations or ouerflowings vse not to come But first we will speake of the trees liuing in or about vvater CHAP. XV. Of the Aller Poplar Birch Willow and other trees haunting the water YOu shall vnderstand that there are foure or fiue sorts of trees vvhich of their owne nature grow neere vnto vvaters and which except they haue great store of moisture doe hardly prosper or grow at all of vvhich amongst the rest the Aller is one that most coueteth the vvater for the Aller is of that nature as that it would be halfe couered in vvater and at the least the most part of the rootes must of necessitie be within and stand lower than the vvater for otherwise they would not take insomuch as that trees of such nature ought to be planted in moist medowes and neere vnto the brookes running along by the said medowes or in marshes for in such grounds they take and grow exceeding vvell This tree is apt to take in moist places because it is a vvhite vvood containing much pith and putting forth great store of boughes in a short time by reason of the moistnesse of the vvaters vvherewith it is nourished and fed The said Aller trees may be planted two manner of wayes as namely either of branches gathered from great Allers or of liue roots digged vp in most places together with the earth and set againe in the like ground and that in such sort as that the halfe of the said roots be lower than the water and the vpper part couered with earth the depth of one finger and in the meane time before they be planted they must haue all their branches cut off too within a fingers length of the root and it will put forth againe many young shoots after the manner of Hasel trees You may read more of the Aller tree in the fourth booke There is another sort of vvater-wood which hereabout is commonly called white wood of this kind are the Poplar Birch and other sorts of wood which grow close by the water side and vpon the banks of ditches springs and little brookes and it is a common practise in Italie to lay their conueyances and pipes to carrie their vvater from riuers throughout their grounds of those woods And these kinds of trees may be easily planted of young roots along by the vvater and riuer side both most conueniently and profitably especially the white Poplar otherwise called the Aspe tree whose leaues are apt to shake with euerie small winde Where rootes cannot be got there may in their stead be taken faire and strong plants such as are vsed in the planting of Willowes The Birch doth somewhat resemble the white Poplar in his barke and the Beech tree in his leafe but it craueth a colder and moister soile than the Poplar And this is the cause why it groweth so plentifully in cold countries The other sort of vvater-wood is the Willow vvhich as wee finde by proofe groweth nothing well except it be in a moist and warrie countrie and neere ioyning to vvaters The manner of planting of Willowes is commonly by setting of Willow plants and those such as are of a good thicknesse and strength as namely as great as one may gripe for looke how much the stronger and thicker they be so much the moe shoots will they put forth and so much the stronger This tree differeth much from the Aller for the Aller will haue his rootes all within water but the Willow would stand higher and spread his roots along into the ground that is wet and moist and neere vnto water vvithout hauing his roots altogether in the water according whereunto it is
mistaken and thought to forget that woman was made for a helper hee hath called her to her taske and that neither little nor consisting of a few or base things hauing committed vnto her besides many other matters the cure and charge of families health But leauing to speake any more of her charge in particular I could wish all such of that sexe as are religious to looke before they leape and to bee wise according to sobrietie and grauitie Sobrietie not medling aboue their place and reach in matters of Physicke and Grauitie as not hauing any thing to doe in the matter of Fukes either for vsing or preparing of them seeing they argue if not plainely proue a light a loose and very sinfull life And finally seeing that the whole earth was once a Tempe an Eden that is a place of all pleasures and delights and the assigned possession and naturall inheritance of man and woman to labour and liue in with exceeding great ioy and felicitie and that through their sinne it was cursed and they were cast out of the most pleasant commodious and beneficiall part thereof I could wish them iointly to record such their former felicitie and the losse thereof to the end that they may applie their hearts vnto wisedome and learne that although they doe continually labour yet if they wallow in sinnes they doe but throw downe twice as much as they build vp destroy and marre mare they make driue farre away the creatures of meate and maintenance which they labour so greedily to scrape and pull vnto them and euen bereaue the earth if it were possible of all manner of fruits and increase that so it might not any more either feede or cloth them For knowledge skill toyle paine rising early lying downe late with euery other helpe doth loose his vertue and come short of his end if delight of sinne bee ioyned as a companion therewithall it being the heauie load and burthen vnder which all creatures doe grone the burning ague that drieth all sappe and moisture and that cursed seede which causeth them as a vaporous brood not onely to fret out their mothers bowels and bring a curse vpon her bodie but thereby also to curse and crosse themselues in all that wherein they would most gladly thriue and prosper You must sowe in March the Moone being New Garlicke Borage Buglosse Cheruile Coriander Gourds Marierome White Poppie Purslane Radish Sorrell Double Marigolds Tyme Violets Full Musked Annise Blites Skirwoorts Succorie Fennell Apples of loue Maruellous Apples Old Artichokes Basill Thistles Blessed Thistle Cole Cabbage White Cole Greene Cole Citrons Cucumbers Harts-home Sampier Dyers graine Spinage Gilliflowers Hyssope Cabbage-Lettuce Melons Muguets Onions Flower Gentile Burnet Leekes Sauorie You must sowe in Aprill the Moone being New Marâ—erome Flower gentle Thyme Violets Full Apples of loue Maruellous Apples Old Artichokes Thistles Cabbage Cole Citrons Harts-horne Sampire Gilliflowers Muguets Parsneps In May in the old of the Moone Blessed thistle In Iune the Moone being New Gourds Radishes Old Cucumbers Melons Parsneps In Iuly the Moone being Full White Succorie Old Cabbage-Lettuce In August the Moone being Full White Succorie Hearbes growing of â—eedes that are sowne may bee transplanted at all times except Cheruile Arrage Spinage and Parsley which are nothing worth when they are transplanted euer obserued That such transplantation bee in a moist or rainie weather for otherwise you must looke to them to water them Vnderstand and know that the choice and age of seedes is double for after you haue chosen them ripe full heauie corpulent grosse of a good colour and that they fall not into powder eyther through rottennesse or bruisednesse Some doe grow better of new seeds as Leekes and Cucumbers Othersome doe grow better of old seedes as Coriander Parsley Sauorie Beets Origanum Crosses Spinach Poppie Know further that you must preserue from the cold Lettuces Artichokes Basill Thistles Cabage Cole Dyers graine Melons fifteene dayes after they put foorth of the earth Know that seedes doe thriue and prosper a great deale better when they are sowne vpon such daies as are but warme and not verie hot or cold than in hot cold or drie daies Note that seedes must be Gathered in Faire weather The wane of the Moone Kept Some in Boxes of wood Bags of Leather Vessels of earth And after to be well cleansed and dried in the Sun or shadow Othersome as Onions Chibbols Leekes in their huskes Note that it doth well to Plant in the last Gather grifts in the last but one Grift two daies after the change of the Moone Note that they which are growne vp to the knowledge of the Planets and Signes may exactly obserue the aspects of the Moone vnto the rest of the Planets how long it abideth in anie of them for shee aspecting â™ by a â–³ or âš¹ in the signe ♉ ♋ ♠♎ ♑ â™’ it is good to Plant Vines Sow all things generally Sow the fields generally Sow Gardens Sow euery where and all things generally Plant Trees and Vines ♂ or ♃ by a â–³ or â–¡ in the signe â™’ maketh it good to plant and set Trâ—es and Vines being in the 7 1 28 7 15 28 11 24 7 28 11 7 degree 15 57 40 15 49 40 31 3 14 40 2 15 minuts of ♈ ♉ ♉ ♋ ♌ ♌ ♠♠♎ ♠♠♑ Astrologians commaund vs to sowe and plant because of a well tempered state and condition in them THE FIRST BOOKE OF THE COVNTRIE FARME CHAP. I. What manner of Husbandrie is entreated of in the Discourse following EVen as the manner of building vsed at this day for the couering and rest of men is nor like vnto that of old time so we see the manner of the labouring of the earth for the nourishment and sustenance of the same to differ greatly according to the Countries Soyle Grounds and Situation of the Places wherein they are seated yea there is not so much as their language apparrell or household-stuffe and working tooles but they change after the fashions of Countries which notwithstanding doe not hinder but that in euerie thing wee may be as well fitted as they which went before vs. By this we may see our late kinde of Husbandrie to attaine and bring with it the like issue and effects which that of the Auncients did which is nothing else but to liue of the encrease of the Earth well husbanded and tilled by vs. Wherefore I haue thought it impertinent and vnseemely to tie my self to the seuerall sorts of labour vsed of men in times past and that because that Countries inhabited by diuers sorts of people haue according to the seuerall varietie of them euerie one affoorded many particular and seuerall sorts of liuing as also for that it hath alwaies beene the custome of men to the end they might the more easily fit and apply themselues to the good liking of others to compose and frame themselues according to the manners of the Countrey without affecting either by the
reading of old Writers or their owne ouer-reaching curiositie the ruine and ouerthrow of all good wits so many new inuented fashions of Building Tilling Speaking or Writing seeing that by such meanes in seeming to reforme things without the perfect knowledge of them men haue beene brought oftentimes vtterly to spill spoyle and marre the same And therefore I would not haue you to maruell if the Frame and Toile vsed about our French Countrey-Farme be not altogether like to that of former and auncient daies for it is my purpose following the Prouerbe which sayth That we must learne the manners of our auncient predecessours and practise according to the present Age to lay out vnto you the waies so to dwell vpon order and maintaine a Farme Meese or Inheritance in the Fields name it as you please as that it may keepe and maintaine with the profit and encrease thereof a painefull and skilfull Husbandman and all his Familie whereupon it commeth to passe that the countrey inhabitants doe call it at this day the onely or principall and greatest gaine that is because no other thing bringeth more gaine vnto the master thereof than the earth if it be well husbanded and reasonably maintained Now for as much as with good reason my countreymen of England may obiect against this Worke that albeit it may sort well with any soyle that is in any degree how much collaterall soeuer allyed to this temper clyme mixture of the French yet to vs that are so much remote in nature and qualitie and whoâ—e Earth giueth vnto vs for our most generall profit things and fruits either little or very stranger-wise acquainted with them and in as much as there may be found that difference in our labours which may equall the difference of our tasts they being as farre from our Barley as wee from their Vine and wee as farre from their Fruits as they from our Woolls I will after the faithfull translation of their noble experiences adde the difference of our customes and to their labors adde the experience and knowledge of our best Husbandmen hoping thereby to giue a publike content to ouâ— Nation who seeing the true difference of both Kingdomes may out of an easie iudgement both compare and collect that which shall be fittest for his vse and commoditie CHAP. II. A briefe shew of that which shall more largely â—e described in that which followeth THe better to helpe the memorie and as it were by the way of pointing out of our French Husbandrie I will propound and set before you a champion place seated in such a coast or corner as you may find not as you could chuse and there wee will prepare without extraordinarie costs or charges a House with all such appurtenances or verie neere such as are fit and requisite for our time as good Cato hath drawne and described for his in that Treatise of Husbandrie set downe by him for the Commonwealth of the Romans And in the same place we will entreat of the state and dutie of the Farmer his Wife his People Cattell flying Fowles and such other things At the one side of this House euen iust in the place whereupon the Sunne riseth and in one part thereof wee will place the household garden which neere vnto the borders of his quicke-set hedge shall containe a frame of Railes in forme of an Arbor for Vines to runne vpon for the furnishing of our household store with Veriuice and other necessarie hearbes for the house and we shall not altogether neglect or forget to prouide and plant in the same place hearbes sit for medicine And yet furthermore in this garden also you shall plant things to make your profit vpon as Saffron Teazill Woad red Madder Hempe and Flaxe if it seeme not better to reserue this part of Husbandrie for fields that are full of Fennes or waterish Places In the other part wee shall make a garden for flowers and sweet smels with his ornaments and quarters garnished with many strange Trees About the Hedge we shall set for to make pottage withall Pease Beanes and other sorts of Pulse as also Melons Citrons Cucumbers Artichokes and such like in which place wee shall entreat of Bees Next to our gardens were must dresse some well-defenced piece of ground or greene plot for fruits and there place our nurcerie for kernels and feeds and there plant such stocks as whereon we intend to graft After or next hereto our square of old growne trees and such as haue beene transplanted taken vp and remoued and together with these things we will write of Silkewormes and prescribe the waies to distill Waters and Oyles as also to make Cyders Next in order to our foresaid Greene plot lying neere some one or other little Brooke we are to lay our Medow Grounds or Pastures for feeding compassed about with Osier Elme Aller-tree and Withie and by the borders of such Hedge we will prouide some Poole of standing water or running Spring and next in order to these the great and large Medowes for the prouision and reuenues of the Lord. Betwixt the South and the North we will appoint and set downe corne-Corne-grounds and teach how to measure them and describe their fashion and manner of â—illing in which place wee will speake of making and baking of Bread and ouer and aboue the moitie or halfe part of a hanging thing and the moitie of a Butt or little Hill In the place which is neerest vnto the South we will plant the Vine and withall declare the ordering of the same Wee will speake of Vintage and the making of common and medicinable Wines And thereto wee will adde the diuers sorts of Wines which grow in our Countrey of France Betwixt the North and the East we will place our Warren either vpon some Hill or in some other place fit to hunt in and in the higher grounds wee will plant small Wood and great Timber-trees not forgetting in the meane time any thing which may appertaine to the ordering and gouerning of Wood or concerning Carpentrie We will also make mention of Parkes for wild Beasts of the hunting of them but that in a few words for there is no need that a good Householder should trouble his braine with much hunting and of the breeding of Herons Finally we will briefely describe the order and manner of taking of Birds So that after all these things there shall not much remaine further to be added hereunto either concerning the pleasure or profâ—t of a Countrey Farme especially such a one as a man ought to desire which would liue carefully and within the compasse of reason vpon the labouring of his Land CHAP. III. What things are requisite before we goe in hand with building of this Countrey Farme AS concerning the proprietie of Inheritance whereof manie Authors both Greeke and Latine haue entreated so exactly and curiously I doe not at all intend to incomber my selfe therewith
supposing that this Countrey Farme and the Land belonging vnto it is either descended by succession and that there is an intent to make it in such case as may serue most commodiously to the ease and good liking of the owner or that if you haue purchased and bought it with your money you haue câ—eered it from all incombrances and claimes before you goe about the building and sitting of it in euerie point as you would haue it For like as some say that the first foundation of a good House must be the Kitchin that is to say the Reuenues and Grounds thereto belonging for the maintenance of the same euen so the first point and principall care of an Householder before he build or trim vp his House is to bethinke himselfe how he may make the state entire and absolutely vnto himselfe and so to haue nothing to doe with such as are vnder age Creditors Rentors or others in superiour place which may interrupt and commaund him from his intended purposes and necessarie affaires He must also see that all such Charges Rites and Customes as Law doth require be fully answered and by name that it be cleere of all former Sales Bargaines and Statutes which is the safest manner of purchasing in these daies for there are found a farre greater number of foolish buyers than of foolish sellers Let there be past a yeare and a day before he make any exchange raising and mouing of new debts for the cleering of his Inheritance and let him not lay out to the value of a penny before he haue fully ended all things measured and bounded his grounds from his neighbors and assured his peace euen against the most wayward and troublesome To be short let him be free from all manner of Courts and Sutes and if it cannot be otherwise but that one or other controuersie doe still hang vpon him seeing as some men say that Lands doe vnauoidably inferre and bring with them strife in the Law yet let it be of such nature as that he may be plaintife rather than defendant I meane in respect of duties to be performed to the chiefe Lord and other impositions by the Prince in discharging whereof euen to the vttermost Penny Capon or whatsoever else it be he ought to be no lesse carefull and diligent than in mending one tyle in the roofe of his house which in course of time being left vnrepaired and vnput in againe causeth others also to fall and so causeth great annoyance to the lodgings vnderneath CHAP. IIII. The seating and situating of the Countrie Farme with other his appurtenances ALthough euerie man in all things enquireth after his owne commoditie and straineth himselfe to come as neere to perfection and excellencie as possible he can notwithstanding the well-instructed and modest House holder contenteth himselfe with that whatsoeuer it be that commeth of the hand and grace of God and accounteth for great bountifulnesse and liberalitie such Pittance Grounds and Seat as falleth vnto him assuring himselfe that choice and perpetuall fruition belong no more to him than Empiâ—es and Kingdomes vnto Princes Wherefore if the place wherein he was borne which he enioyeth by right of Succession or Purchase be not naturally so sit and conuenient as that he may thereby be drawne and allured with the loue of it then he must endeuour so to fit it by his skill and endeuour by his labour so carefully to amend and correct it that it may be sufficient for the maintaining of him those that belong vnto him and the erecting and setting vp of an House For he should not learne to lust after or desire anie more if the Prouerbe be true than a Wheele-barrow for the first hundred yeares and a Banner for the second hundred yeares If I should here goe about but once to imagine such a situation of a Countrie House as should be so perfect and exquisite at that nothing should be wanting therein I might iustly seeme to my selfe to be void of all reason It is verie true that if anie such place could be found where the Aire Water and Earth did all affoord their best and most desired fauours and qualities it would much auaile and make for the purpose but so it is that neither Emperours nor Kings could euer attaine the skill to content themselues otherwise than with the situation of their owne Countries some of them sometimes being too hot too cold verie subiect to corruption and putrifaction othersome lesse profitable for the bringing forth and some againe of a meane and indifferent condition and contrariwise Notwithstanding although the place be not so fertile as a man could wish neither yet so commodious as that great Husbandman Cato doth desire it yet it must be prouided and foreseene aboue all other things that it haue the benefit of a good Aire for suppose that the grounds were verie fruitfull and endued with all the best properties and qualities that a man couâ—d possibly wish to be in a champian ground yet notwithstanding if the Aire be pestilentiall and infectious or not found it should argue nothing but great foolishnesse in a man thereto imploy his cost and paines For where a man is in continuall danger of sicknesse or of death not onely the gathering of Fruits but also the life of the Workman is continually hazarded or rather which is more truely said death â—s there more certaine than any profit Wherefore if it be possible you must make choice of a place farre from marishes farre from the Sea shore and where as neither the Southerne nor Northerne winds doe ordinarily blow and which lyeth not altogether open to the South Sunne nor yet vnto the North but principally see that it be placed neere vnto some one or other good and honest neighbour seeing it is an insupportable thing to be daily haunted of a brawling and wicked neighbour let it not be placed neere to Holds or Townes of Garrison thereby to auoid the outrages of Tyrannie and inrodes of Souldiors let it in like manner be farre from Riuers and Brookes which are subiect to ouerflow and that in respect of the vnauoidable charges for the repayring of such ruines and spoyle as such ouerflowings doe cause And yet I could willingly wish and greatly desire that it might not be farre off from some smooth and gentle streame able to beare a ship to the end that victuals may with the lesse cost be transported thence to other places for your better commoditie sake as also neere some great good Towne that so the things of readiest sale may be sold for the best aduancement and making of the most of the reuenues of the same Although to wish to haue a Farme in euerie point so perfect and well seated as that nothing should be wanting vnto it were as hath beene said an vnreasonable thing as it is also to expect or looke for grounds and fields so well conditioned as a
man could desire in a ground of speciall and principall praise and commendation It is true that besides that Necessitie doth beget skill and prouoke and stirre vp men to take all possible paine industrie and care it doth also procure that there should not that discommoditie be found to offer it selfe which shall not be recompenced and counteruailed either by one or other commoditie as for example in hot places there are growne good Wines and Fruits of long continuance in cold places great store of sweet waters and sometimes sea-water which greatly encreaseth their profit in others for the most part when the Earth is barren in the vpper part it containeth some good things vnderneath as it falleth in Stone-pits Mynes and such other things which make the change for the better So then wee are to hold our selues content with such estate and condition as the place shall affoord where we must dwell and settle our habitation and if it be not such as some curious man in his desire or one that is hard to please might require and looke for then wee shall straine our selues to mend it by the meanes see downe hereafter There are verie few Farmes to be found so seated as that there is not something to be supplyed as want of Water in high and ascending places such as are the Countries of Beaux and Campaigne notwithstanding that their grounds there be strong as it happeneth in rising and mountainous places too great store of water in falling grounds and long valleyes such as are to be found in some places of Sauoy Daulphine Auuergne and Gascoigne in which places there is more pasture than tillage other quarters are giuen by nature to be sandie as towards the Towne of Estamps Saint Marturin de l'Archaut in Solongue and in the Countrey of Lands which notwithstanding cease not to be moist and waterish other quarters are chalkie and clayie as towards Rheims Troy and Chalons in Campaigne othersome are stonie as towards Saint Lou de Sâ—rans Tonnerre Vezelay in Daulphine and in the Pyrene Mountaines where is to be found great store of excellent Marble and some are rockie which are most fit for the Countries abounding with Vines Howsoeuer the case stand the building cannot happen in so inconuenient and strange a place but that a man may make choice to take the best quarter for the Sunne-shine as that which is most for the health and wholesomenesse of the inhabitants and apply it euerie way for his vse and ease If therefore a high and flat place as Beaux or high France doe want Water you must for a supply make Pooles right ouer against your Courts and Cesternes in your Gardens and as for your grounds you must draw furrowes therein in such sort as that the earth cast vp by the way may retaine moisture a long time and if the ground proue it selfe strong you shall not need to manure and dung it so oft neither yet to let it lye fallow more than euerie fourth yeare If you cast Pits you must digge them of a conuenient widenesse and length that is to say fouresquare but somewhat more long than wide after the fashion of the Pits Aranques which are in vse in the gardens of Prouence and Languedoc with their trough laid to the brinkes of the Pits to receiue such water as is drawne but if the water be so low in the ground that such kind of Pits cannot be made then there must Pits be made to go with a wheele and those so large as that at euerie draught you may draw vp halfe a pipe of water at the least which you shall emptie into particular troughes and keepe them for the vse of your People and Cattell but aboue all other things you must haue a speciall care to gather and keepe well all Raine water either in Câ—sterne or otherwise The Cesterne shall be set in such a place as that it may receiue all that commeth from such spouts as are belonging to roofes or lower lofts of the house It must be firmely and closely paued with clay and mortar and after drawne ouer and floored with the same mortar to the end that the water be not made muddie or â—ast of the earth and if there happen any clift or chinke you must stop it with Cement made of cleane Haire Tallow vnquencht Lime and yolkes of Egges well beat and made into powder and then all of them well mixed together The throat or passage for the water out of it shall be such as that appointed for the Pits or Wells Some cast into their Cesternes Eâ—les and other fresh water fish for to be fed and kept there to the end that the water may become the lighter by reason of their mouing and stirring of it and that so it may the more resemble the nature of running water but indeed such water is nothing wholesome for men as neither yet for beasts it were farre better to straw with greene hearbes all the bottome of the said Cesterne and cast in little pebbles of the Riuer vpon them for by this meanes rather the water would be made better Moreouer for the discommoditie of Wood you shall make leane the earth in certaine places neere vnto your lodging with grosse Sand Fullers earth and ashes from off the Earth after that you shall either sow or set there such Trees as you shall thinke that may serue you although indeed it were good to proue what kind of Trees would best prosper there before you wholly sow or set it If your place extend and reach vnto some running streame your medowes shall not be so farre off from it as your house which to be too neere a neighbour vnto Riuers would be a cause of procuring Rheumes and the falling down of some Roomes and yet it is not good to haue it too farre off as well in respect of watering of the Cattell as for the washing of Buckes Skinnes Line and Hâ—mpe for the whiting of Webs of Cloth if so be that you intend or purpose any such thing for the grinding of your Corne as also if onely the Riuer neere vnto you be nauigable to send that which you reape from your Fields vnto the Towne but you must chuse the highest peece of ground to build your dwelling house vpon I leaue out the pleasures of Princes and great noble Personages who for their delight sake doe dwell in Summer in wattie places excellently trimmed and beautified with waters and furnished with all delights for our householder may not in any case charge himselfe with further costs than this his state may well beare for Princes haue wherewith they may be at their change and varietie of lodgings according to the changes and alterations of the seasons of the yeare and to turne at their pleasure the square into the round and contrariwise In a drie place as Beaux and Champaigne and the mountainous Countries learnâ— to set your building so well as
and also by the Stones lying vpon the vpper part thereof which otherwise might haue fallen and beene cast there in manner as sometimes it falleth out that men find vpon vntilled grounds the liuely shapes of Fruits and Corne gathered together and growne vnto the Stone which is to bee seene neere to Mommirall in Brie where Wood is growne vnto the Stone besides that the Hearth will make quicke and speedie triall hereof This will doe you seruice in the enclosing either of your Parke or of your Vineyards and other such like commodities besides the profit you may make of it by the selling of Milstones and Stones to build withall But looke well to your selfe and take good heed of Quarries and casting of Stone-pits and of their deceits which oftentimes rewards vs with our paines for our labour And as for the Earth taken and vnderstood generally it beareth all manner of Corne Fruits Hearbes Timber-trees Mettals Stones and other things and this hath beene giuen vnto it euen since it was first made and hereupon old Writers haue iustly giuen vnto it the due name of Mother But although in respect of the cold and drie substance and nature whereof it consisteth it may be called all of one temperature yet it purchaseth and getteth contrarie qualities according to the seuerall situations it hath in diuers places as also vpon occasion of affinitie intercourse and participation it hath with things of repugnant qualitie and hence doe rise the diuers sorts of the same and so diuers as that euerie ground will not beare euerie thing but one or two at the most For this cause to auoid both cost and labour see aboue all things that you proue either by your owne triall and experience or else by such enquirie as you can make of your neighbors what kind of Fruits what kind of Corne and what sorts of Trees doe prosper best thereon Some places in Trance and the free Countrey of Beaux beareth no other graine than Rye which is contrarie to the nature of the ground new broken vp another loueth nothing but Wheat Solonge loueth March corne and sometime Mesling Touraine worthily called the Garden of France is found most plentifull in Gardens and Fruit-trees as that part called Brie or Braye because it is situate betwixt the Riuers of Marne and Seine doth bring forth Fruits and Corne for sustenance and that quarter which lyeth betwixt Marne and the Riuer of Aube bringeth forth an infinite deale of Hay Notwithstanding the diligence of the Farmer may by his industrie ouercome the weaknesse of a ground euen as well as all sorts of wild Beasts may be tamed by the painefulnesse of man In watrie and marish places it will stand vs vpon to make our profit of the water which you shall oftentimes by sluces turne from his naturall courses into your pasture grounds and ponds of running and standing water for the profiting and helping of the same About the brinkes and edges of the most commodious ones you shall set rankes of such Trees and profitable Plants as you know to like and prosper in the water And you must especially obserue and marke the diuersitie of the bottome and vndermost part of the ground which in watrie places is often found to differ much and to be somewhat strange and according to the nature thereof to set such Trees as may best agree therewith Your House being â—eated in such places will be most strong and pleasant in Summer but of greatest maintenance preseruation and safetie if you enuiron it round about with water after the manner of an Islet as it is practised in manie places of Flanders who make the vse thereof familiar among them to reape thereby the benefit of Fish in his season the flesh of wild Fowle Trees as well for Fruit as for Fire and Building besides the helpes of their excellent pasture grounds but indeed your owne health as also the health of those of your familie is impaired hereby especially in Winter Wherefore it will be better to build vpon high ground as the auncient Romans did and to leaue the waters below for the comforting of your â—ight if so be you haue not the meanes of closing in all the same round about for your breed of young Colts and other Cattell all which will like verie well vpon such grounds except it be your Cattell seruing to furnish you with Wooll If your Farme doe for the most part consist of wild Grounds and Desarts you shall make them arable by labour and paines and recouer them deluing them diligently and raking them often for the Bull-rush Bâ—akes and such other hearbes will soone be killed when the earth is often turned But and if you desire with more hast and certainetie to destroy them you shall burne the ground 〈◊〉 two first yeares and sow therein Lupines or Beanes to the end that together with the curing of the disease of your fields you may reape some profit and comâ—oditie Stonie grounds are mended by taking away the stones and if the quantitie be â—reat it will be best to cast them together in manner of some small hillock in certaine places of the ground and so by that meanes the rest will be cleansed and freed or â—â—ther when the daies of handie-workes shall be got good cheape it will be best to digge the earth verie deepe and there burying the stones before-hand afterward to â—uer them with the earth If the Farme consist most of Forrests and Woods you shall make thereof arable ground by plucking vp the Trees altogether as also their rootes but and if there be but small store it will be ynough to cut them downe and burne them and then to till the ground And such grounds are wont the first yeare to bring forth much because that the moisture and substance which before was spent in the bringing forth and nourishing of Trees Bushes and Heaâ—bes doth prepare it selfe wholly for the good of the Corne that is sowne vpon it or for that it hauing beene fatted and growne better by the leaues and hearbes of manie yeares which of it owne accord it brought forth before it was tilled becommeth afterward sufficient to nourish and bring forth great abundance of fruits and so it commeth to passe also that being robbed of her former nourishment in time it groweth leane loosing the freshnesse and moisture which was maintained by the couert and therefore continueth not so fruitfull as it was at the beginning Sandie places may be made better by Dung and Marle which yet notwithstanding euen without such Husbanding by meanes of some currant of water running vâ—der the Earth in some Countries ceaseth not to yeeld good profit to their owners but these craue rest which is the principall remedie to helpe their weake and feeble estate and also to be sowne with varietie of graine as after Rye some kind of pulse The way to know such grounds is common when the
great Sand is fast and yellowish it is then found to be good for Corne and when it is white and drie it is good for Wood and wild fruits But it behoueth the Farmer to apply himselfe vnto the nature and temper of his field and according vnto it to sow and plant in euery place such things as are best agreeing with them as Pulse Millet Panicke Ryce Lentils Fetches and other things which doe not require great store of fatnesse But in our English Soyles we find that our sandie and hard grounds doe beare best Barley at their first breaking or when they are fattest after Rye Oats Fetches or Tare The strong heartie and fat Soyle is good for Vineyards and is apt to beare great store of Wheat-Corne foreseene that the yeare be drie especially in the moneth of May but small store of any other encrease yea and if the times be much giuen to raine they will beare but a little Corne and great store of chaffe Yet if the Seeds-man haue a carefull hand in the bestowing of his seed and doe not as it were cloy or choake his ground therewith these fat Soyles will beare very well and sufficiently the first yeare either whole Straw-Wheat Pollard-Wheat or Barley and the second yeare Beanes Pease or both mixed together and the third yeare Wheat or Rye or both mixed together which is called Maslyne or blend Corne. A raw rough and tough Soyle is hard to till and will neither bring forth Corne nor any other thing without great labour howsoeuer the seasons be temperate in moisture and drinesse To helpe the same you must labour it most exquisitely harrow it and manure it verie oft with great store of dung so you shall make it better and lesse subiect to the iniuries of the Sunne Winds and Frost but especially desire that they may not be watered with raine for water is as good as a poyson to them The Clay and strong ground as that in Bresse and other plaâ—es of Partois craueth great and deepe furrowes when it is eared and euerie where else as euen in the verie places where stones lye deepe and ouer-couered againe with good earth and this to the end that the water may the better be conueyed away which is naturally mixt therewith and cannot so easily depart by reason of the clammâ—e sliminesse of the earth This plot is not so fit either for Trees or Vines except it be for some fruit Trees and those well husbanded and nourished If you build there then doe it vpon some high ground and neere ynough vnto the Riuer and cause the Easterne and Northerne quarter because such places are subiect verie much to putrifaction and verie vnwholesome The territories of Croye and Ardose are more sound and wholesome though they be more barren but it must be made better and much mended and employed onely to that which it delighteth in for the Baylife of the Husbandrie ought to know the nature of the ground and not to force it to beare that which is contrarie vnto it notwithstanding whatsoeuer you doe vnto it for the bettering of it for of forced grounds there comes as much profit as there doth of beasts by violence vsed towards them For suppose you may compell them yet it shall be to your great cost and charges by reason of their hurts maladies and otherwise for such cattell commonly stand not in good plight and state The old Prouerbe also saith That a Householder should giue greater heed vnto his profit and the holding out or continuing of that which he hath vnder his hand than to his pleasure and rare commoditie Euerie Countrie fit for good Vineyards is stonie and grauellie or full of pebbles and is found to be better on the South quarters or on the descent of the Hill lying on the side toward the Riuer This place is not so good for Corne in the plaine or â—lat places thereof you must make it better and dung it Make your buildings there on the sloping side which looketh into the Southeast where you may not remoue your selfe farre from the Riuer for the reason afore giuen The best Soyle is that which is blacke crumbling and easily turned ouer that is to say which easily falleth into small pieces in ones hand and feeleth light sweet and fat in handling like to that which is found in the countrey of Tourraine Maine and Anjou which are fertile in all manner of fruitfulnesse and aboundance of goods rich in Hills Vallies pasture-Pasture-grounds vale-Vale-grounds Vineyards and all sorts of fruits but vpon good cause they giue place to Prouence part of Languedoc and Guienne and the better places of Aquitaine all which by reason of the heat of the South Sunne bring forth not onely in greater aboundance but their fruits of all sorts of better qualities and more forcible This is the land of Promise in our France and hath no discommoditie saue that of the Southerne wind which they call Austrault which except it be tempered by the Northerne winds doth almost euerie yeare engender vnhappie calamities both in men and beasts Wherefore in this Countrie the dwelling places and buildings must be set vpon a Hill and the South wind shut out and denâ—ed all entrance by lights except when it shall be needfull in the depth of Winter But to speake generally the Soyle may be knowne to be good and to beare great store of fruits by these means as if it be somewhat blacke or somewhat yellow if it 〈◊〉 not when it is ill tilled if it become not myrie when great store and abundance of raine shall fall vpon it but drinketh vp all the water that shall fall and therewithall keepe this moisture and refreshment a long time if in Winter time it become not hard in the vpper part thereof if without being husbanded or mended by great labour or fatnesse of dung it bring forth flourishing hearbes timber-trees straight thicke hauing great aâ—â—es and abounding with store of their seuerall fruits and those good and well-rellished in their kinds and if it yeeld great fruitfulnesse of Corne if by being watered or rained vpon it become blowne vp and as it were stretched out and blacke and not hard bound or turned white if the water springing forth of it be sweet or if the greene soddes thereof being broken in pieces and steept two or three houres in water that is sweet and of a good tast doe not marre or make worse the tast of such water which must be tried by tasting of it after that it hath beene strained and clarified For naturally water issuing out from a spring or wrung from something that hath beene steept in it retaineth and carrieth with it the tast of the Earth and on the other side if the Earth steept in Water the same Water doe after such steeping yeeld a sweet and pleasant rellish if cast vp and two or three dayes after throwne into the said ditch againe it
gather on a heape and rise higher than the said ditch for in doing this it shewes it selfe to be a fat Earth and whereas one shall doe nothing but pare the said ditch without doing anie more it will be but indifferent but and if he come not to touch the edges of the said ditch it will be light earth furthermore if it be watred with raine it yeeldeth a pleasant smell On the contrarie the Earth must be iudged of no value if it haue not all these signes of goodnesse and principally that which is cleauing like Glue like Potters Clay Chalkie Whitish which shaketh and trembleth which is too hard rough and strong which is watrie and marish which hath a salt or bitter tast which bringeth forth Trees and Hearbes that are bitter cold and thornie as Brambles Ferne Bryers Wormewood Iuniper Lauander Broome Butchers Broome and other such like as on the contrarie side Rushes Roses small Grasse three-leaued Grasses Thornes Dane-woort wild Plum-trees and such other things doe shew the goodnesse and fruitfulnesse of the Soyle for the things aboue named are not found or nourished anie where almost but in the sweet veines of the Earth Yet according to the opinion of Serres all Clayes which are blacke gray or marlie albeit a little tough and gluie yet if after their drying they become not hard but crumble and as it were fall to cynders or if they be not much subiect to a kind of vomiting or casting vp of water or to an extraordinarie excesse of coldnesse they are to be reputed the fattest and best Soyles for Corne though not for the Vine and though they are lesse apt to breed or put forth Wood yet the Wood growing vpon such Soyles is euer the best and the longest lasting CHAP. V. The building and inclosing of our Countrie Farme PEace being purchased then build thine House saith the wise and prudent Householder and the Author of the Latine Georgickes doth highly prize and value those great Farmes and Houses whose appurtenances and expences are great but he counsaileth men to vndertake and deale with so little as he knoweth well to doe For as great Cages make the Birds neuer a whit the better euen so it is not so safe and sure a course to haue a costly and large Building vpon the ground neither yet to haue so faire and large Fields neither yet so great quantitie of Grounds as that they must be either all ill husbanded or else if for the carefull tilling of one part of them all the rest be left and let goe vntilled as neither to couet greedily or aspire to possesse other great and stately Farmes when he is not able to husband and till that which he hath alreadie in possession if so be perhaps that a man long not to bring himselfe wilfully into the danger of the Lords of such Farmes rather than to aduance or further their owne profit like to those bad Carters which will not see or suffer either Horse or Man to stand still vntill by continuall toyle and vncessant labouring of them about the grounds of his Farme he bring to passe that both Lands Horse and Men be not able to hold out but become little worth which is the cause that a Lord letting his Place and Demeanes to Farme must make account that the earnest desire and watchfull regard he hath to vphold and maintaine his grounds in good plight will not be accomplished or manifested by deed of Indenture or posting ouer of the charge to another but rather it standeth him vpon in his owne person to see such as are to labour therein to be set to their worke ouer-looking euer anon the companie and ordering vsed by the baylife of his Husbandrie in the handling of his businesse that so he may preuent the mischiefes aboue named It is also said of some men That the eye of the Master doth fat the Horse and that matters are neuer so well cared for or looked to as by himselfe For there are but few either Hindes day-Labourers or Lâ—bourers by great which doe not loue their Masters profit a great deale lesâ—e than their owne and euery day are behind hand in one dutie or piece of worke or other which ought to haue beene done Better therefore is a small House of good stuffe not sumptuous well seated and well fitted but let it haue of euerie thing a little than so costly a place and of such large roomes as that either they become enuied of their Superiours for it or else at length causeth the Master to sell it againe For the good Roman Husbandman saith That a Householder must so diminish the charges of euerie thing by his labour as that he may euermore haue moe things and more to sell than to buy and that he euerie day become more strong and powerfull than his Field For seeing that the Lord and it must needs combate wrastle and encounter the one with the other if the Field be too strong then the Lord is wronged Euerie place in the Fields is also oftentimes to bâ— looked vnto and if need be speedily repayred because the decay of anie part of it or of anie thing which is to be vsed in it being let alone and neglected onely one yeare draweth on another losâ—e as great as it selfe and costeth thrice as much to make it vp againe as and if it had beene looked vnto within a moneth or fiâ—teene dâ—yes after the decay did fall and happen And their words in this case are of no valâ—e whâ—ch â—ay That Groundâ— troden vpon and trampled with manie fect are halfe 〈◊〉 and spent or that Ground lying farre off doth breed nothing but flâ—gons and bottels For I wouâ—d hauâ— the Master to be more commonly there than at home at his House and that he should so dispose of his estate as that there may be both for all necesâ—â—â—iâ—s of food and so â—oâ—th and somewhat to spare otherwise his House and 〈◊〉 should minister more vnto his seruants than to himselfe and his charges should exceed the encrease and reuenues and that as well in tarrying at home as also when he goeth abroad he make it his chiefe delight to vnderstand and see the gouerning of whatsoeuer belongeth vnto him not troubling his mind with Hunting Banquetting much Companie keeping Drunkennesse and welcomming in of euerie commer and so to giue himselfe excessiuely to his delights and recreation of his spirit The placing of such Building as is made is most fit to be on the edges of some great Hill vpon some small 〈◊〉 or the top of the Hill if the Countrie be tempestuous and full of Mountaines for by 〈◊〉 meanes he shall reape the libertie of the Aire and a goodly Prospect he shall be safe from the annoyances of foggie Mists he shaâ—l not be opprest with cold in Winter by reason of Ice nor ouer hot in Summer and the Watâ—râ— and Floudâ— which runne downe from the top of
the Hills shall not threaten much lâ—sse doe harme vnto the foundation of his dwelling place as also he shall not be too much subiect to the Winds and Raines of the whole yeare hee shall procâ—re hâ—s principaâ—l Lights to stand vpon the Sunne-rising in the moneths of March and September for the Winds blowing 〈◊〉 those quarters are drie more hot than cold but verie wholeâ—ome as well for the bodie as for the spirit of Man and the Sunne which commeth to enter betimes in the morning into the House doth diminish and wast the darknesse and grosâ—enesâ—e of the Aire adde further that looke by how â—uch his Houâ—e shall be set more vpon the said Easterne point by so much the more easily it will be able to receiue that Wind in Summer and be lesâ—e beaten in Winter with Frosts The Barnes shall be open towards the Sunne-set in respect of their greatest lights and withâ—ll shall haue one light seruing toward the North for the cause aboue named but all Houses for Beasts shall haue their Windowes towards the South and borrowing somewhat of the East for that the Winds blowing from thence will keepe thâ—m sound at all seasons and times It is true that as for Stâ—bâ—es for Horses it is necesâ—arie to make them a light seruing towards the North to open â—n the hot time of Summer during the vehement heat thereof and that at the houre of their ease and rest which is Noone-tide for at this time and houre if you giue them not some breath of aire to coole them withall the heat of the Noone Sunne which would strike in and their owne which is alwaies in the Stable as also their breathing and presse of the whole companie of Horses being there together would set them in such a sweat faintnesse of bodie and loathing of their meaâ— as that the verie Stable would wearie weare and spend them as much as the Plough it selfe And as for the rest of the Buildings or the base Courts it maketh no great matter vpon what Coasts or Quarters you dispose them howbeit if you so contriue them as that they may marke vpon the North they cannot but be to good purpose These instructions for Lights and Windowes are not so strictly enioyned as that the differing qualities and conditions of Countries where such building must be made may not moue you to dispose them otherwise for seeing there are found in some Countries such Winds as are almost ordinarie and may be said to haue gotten as it were â— habit and those blowing from such Quarters as lye vpon the Sea or Marishes or such other and therefore bring with them some noysome qualitie or at least little profitable it must needs be permitted in such places to alter and change the former directions And to speake the truth seeing that by the meanes of Windowes and counter-Windowes you may cut off the entrance both of Sunne and whatsoeuer Winds it shall be left in your free choice to make such Lights as may seeme most necessarie in your owne iudgements being euermore directed against such annoyance as the Ayre might bring from that place whatsoeuer from whence it commeth And although that euerie one build after his owne humor yet the cause should so stand as that reason should rule euermore and surely such a man should be esteeâ—ed but of a slender iudgement which hauing a place and commodities belonging â—hereto did not fit things in such sort as that on the one side of his chamber he haue â— light open vpon the Court and forepart of his Farme by which they must enter that â—ome to it and another open vpon his Gardens and principall Grounds Wherefore that he may know the more easily to prepare his Buildings as it were anew or else repaire it after his owne fansie it will be meet and conuenient for him to doe in manner as followeth Draw a great Court and wide and that verie square euerie way in the middest thereof cause to be cast two Fish-ponds at the least one for Geese Ducks and other Cattell the other to water steepe or soften Lupines Osiers Roddes and such other things as also for the rotting of your dung and somewhat more to the further side a Well with two or three troughs of hewen stone to water your Cattell and Poultrie â—t if you haue not the benefit of a running Water or some neere Riuer either great or small Make also two Dunghils the one to conâ—aine and rot all your new dung â—nd to keepe it till the yeare following the other that from it you may take the old and rotten dung and carrie it out into the fields These two Dunghils must bee farre from them and on a ground falling from the fore-named Fish-ponds and Well if so be that the place will affoord it or else at the least cast deepe within the Earth and paued in the bottome before hand least that the Earth should drinke vp the moisture for Dunghils must of necessitie be kept in continuall moisture to the end that if peraduenture amongst the Straw Litter Stubble or Chaffe which is brought thitheâ— there be the seeds of any Hearbes or Thornes mixt among they may rot and not bad or bring forth any Weeds when the dung shall be spread vpon the ground And therefore expert and skilfull seruants doe couer with Clay the dung which they cast out of the Stables to the end the Wind may not drie it vp or that the Sunne or Wind should cause it to spend all the moisture and turne it into dust This Court containing two acres square shall be compassed in with a Wall of â—ighteene ynches thicke and tenne foot high from the ground for the resting of yâ—ur Buildings vpon that are within and to meet with the danger threatned by Theeues and ruinâ—s procured by Raine it shall be strengthened with chaynes on those sides which lye next vnto Wayes as also with good Rafters according to the greatnesse of the commoditie of your placâ— and other stuffe In the middest of the Wall and in the fore-part which is the part lying vpon thâ— Sunne-set you shall make your Gates and their Porch and in like manner a couer ouer head to keepe the said Gates from the Sunne and Raine which otherwise would beat full vpon them and ouerthrow them as also for the speciall vse of your selfe and your familie as to giue them place and shelter in the time of Raine or when they please And the Gates must be so high and wide as that a Cart laden with Hay or Corne may goe in with ease You shall raise it halfe a foot aboue the ground and defend it on the outside or vpper ground with a threshold well and fitly layd and in such sort as that vpon the running downe of water it may not rot which they would doe if they should come close to the ground and that theeues may not cast them off their hookes with Leaâ—ers or Crowes of yron
necessâ—rie vse of euerie of the two said bodies of the house Whatsoeuer roome shall be ouer head or aboue your Alleyes Hall Chamber Wardrobe Chamber for strangers shall be for Garners that so you may lay apart and by it selfe your Rye Wheat Pulse and Fruits and cast aside your foule Linnen and they shall all of them haue pretie windowes vpon the North side for that quarter is most coole and least moist which two things are of great force long to preserue and keepe Graine At the end of your Roomes for the treading and pressing of your Grapes you shall set vp your Henne-house and roomes for other Fowles fashioned foure-square like a tower but yet more long than wide or broad in such sort as that the lowest roome shall serue for Water-Fowles as for Geese and Duckes by themselues and the vpper for those of the yard together with their Pearches and Baskets to lay in and you must make vnder the Henne-loâ—t some separated roome for Turkie Chickins and Turkie Cockes and vpon high vnder the floore that is ouer them you shall contriue a close roome after the fashion of a Lettuce therein to keepe your Feasants As for your Peacockes you shall giue them libertie to roust euerie where Neere vnto the same place you shall make your ground Doue-house if the Law will permit you such a one in fashion like a round Turret in the middest of your Court. Set your Sheepe-cotes and Swine-sties vpon the South in such manner as they may haue no open plâ—ce but vpon your Court and vnto the principall Sheepe-cote you shall make a parâ—â—â—ion of verie high Hurdles to draw the Lambes from the Ewes aâ— also the Rammeâ— in like manner and close vnto these shall you make your Swinestie raising two inâ—losures of Wals well dawbed on both sides the one for the Soweâ— and the other for the â—ogges In like sort you shall deale with Goats making seuerall Cotes 〈◊〉 them and the vpper parts of all these shall serue for Garners to lay their meat and whâ—tsoeuer food necessarie for such Cattell Right 〈◊〉 against these Sheepe-cotes you shall make your Barne with his great dâ—re of the widenesâ—e of the middle Bay and that to giue light to the Threshers 〈…〉 oâ— thesaid Barne if the Law will not permit you to build a 〈◊〉 on the ground you shall make you a place to keepe Birds in of the same 〈◊〉 with the porch and as high as you will the lowest part of it shall serue for Birds to keepe themselues sâ—fe in when either the Raine or too much heat of the Sumne shall 〈◊〉 them One of the sides of your Barne all along for the space of three â—ayes shall serue to put your Rie and Wheat in and the other side for as much length shall containe your Pulse or March Corne the middle part is that which iâ— of the breadth of the porch with his roofe aboue And betwixt the Sheepe-cotes and Swineâ—sties right ouer against the porch of the Baâ—ne you shall make a place of a competent height in manner of an Appentice to sâ—t your Ploughes great Carts Drayes Tumbrels Waines and other Instruments and Furniture for Husbandrie if you please not rather to make the ground-worke of your place to keepe and nourish Birds in to serue for these purposes when as your aâ—thoritiâ— will not beare you out to build a Doue-houâ—â— on the ground because you hâ—ld not in see Faâ—me or Copyhold Vnder or vpon the side of your turne-stayers according to the breadth of the bodie of your House your Farmer shall haue a way into the Gardens but you your selfe shall haue your way in by another winding stayrâ— which you shall make to descend â—â—om aboue from your alley that is ouer them the one of which Gardens as that on the right hand shall be for Pot-hearbes and the other for Quarters and â—â—lse together with a place for Bee-hyues At the end of a great Alley which you shall make from your winding-stayre to the wall of your Orchard running betwixt the two Gardens without any manner of parâ—â—â—ion except two Hedges of Quick-set shall be your Orchard seperated from your other Gardens by a wall continuing all along the two sides of the inclosure of your plaâ—e And in the middest of the said great Alley there shall be Wells to water by Pipes and Spouts so much as is needfull in the Gardens if it like you not better to conâ—ey some Fountaine that way or else to seeke for the Heads of some Springs or else to make a Cesterne well mortered to receiue and keepe Raine water Thâ— Oâ—chard sâ—all make the fence on the side toward your House and by it you shall make your way into your Feeding or Pasture grounds lying along by the sides of some greeue and â—lourishing Water-bankes along the sides of which Brooke as aâ—so about your Ponds of salt and fresh-water Fish you shall plant Willowes Where you enter into your Orchard out of your Garden you shall on the one side make a Nurcerie for Seeds and Kernels and on the other side for Stocks and Plants aâ—d in the middest the rankes of remoued and grafted Trees and at the end below yâ—u shall plant by ridges your Osiers which may for their better prospering take the benefâ—â— of the coolenesse and moisture of some small Brooke The 〈◊〉 Gate otherwise called the Backe or field-Gate on that side toward your Medow made for your owne going in and out alone shall be set out and garnished with two Châ—â—rons set vpon one maine Timber and no moe and foure or fiue Batâ—â—â—ments aboue and shut with a strong dore for that way you shall goe into your House priuily and in like sort goe forth againe when it seemeth good vnto you without your seruants their priuitie and for your auoiding of the noysomenesse of the Beasts Houses and of your great Court. And to this end you shall haue a speciall passage from your Stable or Garden not farre from your house wherein you tread your Grapes to driue your Cattell by continually Notwithstanding all which yet my meaning is that your cost and course in building should be according to the reuenues of the grounds or value of the profits and that as saith Cato the dwelling House be not set after seeking of Grounds nor Grounds caused to goe seeke Houses and Roomes for great Plots of Building and Inclosures of Pleasure cost much to build and maintaine and Buildings which are lesse than were requisite for the profits of the grounds are a great cause of much losse in the Fruits of the same CHAP. VI. The dutie of a Father of a Familie or Householder AFter I haue thus disposed of Roomes and Building I wish and desire that the Lord of the Farme may be a man of great knowledge well acquainted and giuen to matters of Husbandrie for who so is ignorant of them hauing
Bodies doth worke her effect in like manner vpon vs as concerning our bodies as well as vpon the rest of earthly things it is most certaine that in lesâ—e than in one moneth it runneth all that course and way which the Sunne is in running all the yeare long and that it hath no light of it selfe but that it taketh and receiueth it all from the Sunne giuing his reuerberations and reflections vnto the Earth with more vehemencie when it is further off from the Sunne as on the contrarie looke how much it commeth the neerer vnto her coniunction with it so much the lesse light and force doth it impart vnto the Earth Hereupon it commeth that we say that the Moone encreaseth or decreaseth not that indeed it doth encrease or decrease saue then when it is in his eclipse being continually enlightned by the Sunne but this his brightnesse onely which it casteth and spreadeth vpon the whole face of the Earth doth only encrease and decrease And this shining brightnesâ—e according as it is longer or lesser time hath likewise more or lesse force to moâ—e the humors of naturall things to worke their effects For by how much the more that this light encreaseth by so much the more doth the moisture thereof spread and communicate it selfe aboundantly throughout the outward parts as on the contrarie by how much it waneth and groweth lesse by so much the naturall humiditie and moisture doth withdraw and betaketh it selfe vnto the inward parts This is thâ— cause why men call the Moone the Mother Nurse Regent and Gouernesse of all such humidities as are in earthly bodies Wherefore to speake first of Field-beasts the well-aduised Farmer shall not kill at any time whatsoeuer his Porkes Muttons Beeues Kine or other Beasts of the flesh whereof he would make his household prouision for the sustenance of his Familie in the wane of the Moone For such flesh as is killed in the decrease of the Moone falleth away and impaireth euerie day and also craueth much fire and time to make it readie withall neither ought any man to maruaile or staâ—d astonished at this if hee consider well that a Sawsage or other such like kind of meat doth grow lesse by a quarter when they are boyled Neither shall he make account of or buy any Horse-flesh or other which was foled or brought forth in the decrease and old age of the Moone for that they are more weake and faint than the rest moreouer they come to no growth neither is their flesh of sufficient weight when they be killed He shall neuer â—â—sh his Pooles Fish-ponds Ditches or Waters with salt Fish in the decay of the Moone for both Fish and other Beasts of the Water especially they which ar◠〈◊〉 with shells or thiâ—ke sâ—ales as Crayfishes Crabs Oysters Muscles and such 〈◊〉 are found veriâ— much impaired in their substance and leane in the old age and 〈◊〉 of the Moone and contrariwise grosse fat and full when she is in her force 〈◊〉 full The Faulkoneâ— shall chuse rather the full Moone to fâ—ye in than the wane 〈◊〉 that Hawkes and all Birds of the prey are a great deale more nimble sharpe and 〈◊〉 aboâ—t the full Moone than in any other time The Horse and Beast subiect 〈◊〉 maladie of the eyes is better at â—ase in the decrease than in the encrease or full 〈◊〉 the Moone He shall make prouision of Faâ—s or of the marrowes of the bones of â—utton Harâ— Beefe and others if he haue need in the full of the Moone not in the 〈◊〉 He shall geld his Bore-Pigs Rammes Bull-Calues or Bulkins and 〈◊〉 when the Moone decreaseth He shall set Egges vnder Hennes or other Fowlâ—â—â—he new of the Moone and principally in the first quarter As for Trees and other Plants the wise and discreet Farmer will plant his Fruit-â—â—ees and others in the new of the Moone and yet not before the first quarter At 〈◊〉 same time he will haue regard to cut downe and lop Wood for his fuell but 〈◊〉 such as he minds to keepe for to build wiâ—hall when the Moone decreaâ—â— being sure that all matter be it to build House Presses Bridges and other 〈◊〉 being cut downe in the decrease of the Moone lasteth a long time and is â—nd maruailoâ—s good and yet better when it is cut downe rather at euening than in 〈◊〉 morning which thing may also be applyed to hewen stone and milstones when 〈◊〉 be cut out of their Quarries and 〈◊〉 He shall plant his Vine in the encrease of 〈◊〉 Moone when it is foure or fiue daies old He shall cut the leane Vines and such 〈◊〉 planted in â— bad soyle in the encrease likewise of the Moone but those which â—ore fat in the going away of the Moone seeing that thus they will bring forth 〈◊〉 Grapes than if they were cut in the encrease in as much as then the Moone 〈◊〉 vpon them to soften them and make them fat cannot chuse but cause abounâ—â—ce of Clusters and Leaues but cutting them the Moone being old the Wood â—ommeth bound and applyeth it selfe onely to bring forth great store of fruit He 〈◊〉 cleanse prune cut at the foot Fruit-trees toward the later end of the Moone 〈◊〉 they will become better laden with fruit He shall make his Nurseries of 〈◊〉 the Moone being ouer the Earth As for Fruits he shall gather Apples Peares and other Fruits as also his Grapes â—he decrease of the Moone because thereby the Wines will be the better and 〈◊〉 kepâ— which otherwise would be in danger to sowre and rot in â—he moneth of 〈◊〉 following being the time that men are wont to cut their Vines And which 〈◊〉 he shall gather and carrie into his house whatsoeuer he would haue to endure 〈◊〉 last long at such time as the Moone shall decrease Hee shall sow his Corne as 〈◊〉 and other Graine he shall weed fanne searce and gather together his Corne 〈◊〉 a locke he shall grind his Corne the better to keepe it in flowre in the end 〈◊〉 old of the Moone It is verie true that the bread encreaseth profiteth more 〈◊〉 be ground the Moone encreasing and being new He shall mow and cut downe 〈◊〉 Corne with Sythe the Moone wasting He shall pull Line and Pulse at the same 〈◊〉 and yet indeed all Pulse gathered or reaped in the growth of the Moone are of 〈◊〉 digestion 〈◊〉 concerning Hearbes he shall sow them the Moone being new and gather them 〈◊〉 the Moone encreaseth in her light as being then of farre greater force than in 〈◊〉 wast and wane At the same time he shall gather Cucumbers Gourds Melons 〈◊〉 Pompions and all Roots which grow in the head whether they be Leekes 〈◊〉 Radishes Turneps Lillies Saffron or such like except Onions which 〈◊〉 be dealt withall cleane contrarie for they become a great deale more grosse 〈◊〉 better fed in the declining than in the augmenting or full of the Moone during
where the sitteth you shall place steeped Barly in such quantitie as that she may take it out of much water for shee loueth not to leaue her young ones for sometimes she will rather die for hunger and to the end also that she may not stand in need to stirre or rayse her selfe except a verie little for to feed seeing that thus her egges might take cold And furthermore call againe to mind that which hath beene said of the Henne you may also set Hennes vpon Geese egges and that with better suâ—cesse than if they had beene set vnder the Goose her selfe but then not aboue seuen or eight The young Goslings must abide tenne daies shut vp with the Goose and be fed within with Barly meale tempered with Honey Bran and Water and now and then with Letâ—â—ces and tender and new Sow-thistles after that with Millet and Wheat steeped and softened and at the terme of these daies to acquaint and accustome thâ—â— to the Medowes with their dame but let them be fed before they goe thither for this bird is so rauenously giuen as that through sharpenesse in their hunger they pull the grasâ—e and young sprouts of Trees with such force and violence as that sometimes therewith they breake their owne necks They must be kept from Nettles Pricks from the Bay tree and Mugguet for they be bane vnto them in the house from Wolues and Foxes Cats and Weasels Goslings intended to be fatted must be chosen when they be foure moneths old and then the fairest and greatest must be chosen They must be put in a Cowpe in some Cellar vnder ground or in some darke and warme place where the younger sort is to be kept thirtie daies and the elder sort two moneths They must haue giuen them thrice a day Barly and Wheat meale tempered with Water and Honey for the Barly maketh the flesh white and the Wheat maketh them fat and maketh a great liuer Some doe make them meat with new or drie figges and leauen and giue them drinke aboundantly vsing to rowle their meat all ouer in Brâ—n Others pull the feathers of their head and belly and also the fat feathers of their wings and doe also put out their eyes for to fat them Aboue all things you must not pinch them in their meat and drinke because they are great eaters and giuen much to drinke Thus you shall haue them fat at the most within two moneths The common meat of Geese is all manner of Pulse tempered with Bran and warme water Manie doe giue them nothing but Bran somewhat grossely boulted and Lettuces Succorie and Garden Cresâ—es for to get them an appetite and they set them this meat morning euening and at noone and for the rest of the day they send them to the Medowes and to the Water-Pooles vnder the custodie of some little small Iacke who may keepe them from going or flying into anie forbidden places as also out of the Nettles and Briers as also from feeding of Henbane which some call the Goose-bane and from Hemlockes which set them on such a deepe sleepe as that they die therewithall Ancient Writers haue not permitted moe than three Geese to one Gander but we doe freely allow sixe and cause to be taken from them the Downe or soft feathers on the inside of their thighes and the great feathers of their wings to write withall in March and September for the quils of the dead Goose are not so sit for all vses no more than is the wooll of slaughtered sheepe or those which die of themselues And seldome doe we see much fewer than thirtie Goslings in one roome howsoeuer our predecessors would not put anie moe than twentie together for the greater doe beat the lesâ—er and hurt them and for this cause they must be put into the Goose-house and kept asunder with hurdles in such sort as sheepe are kept asunder and they must haue new straw oftentimes and that such as is cleane and verie small for their house must be alwaies drie and oftentimes made cleane for feare of vermine And moreouer they are subiect vnto the same diseases and casualties that Hennes be and therefore they must be tendred after the same manner Which that I may not repeat I would haue you to search it out in the places concerning the same The Gosling though she be of hard digestion in as much as she is a water-fowle and also abounding with superfluities yet indeed the Goslings which exceed not two moneths old are verie much commended in the Spring time by reason of their daintinesse as the old are in Winter stuffed with great Câ—â—â—nuts her liuer also is of verie pleasant tast and eating The grease of Geese is profitable in this point if it be mixt with the iuice of an Onion and dropt into the eare it assuageth paine and draweth out water The Goose tongue dried and made into powder is good against the retention of ones vrine The stones of Geese eaten by an incontinent woman after her naturall courses doe not onely prouoke carnall copulation but also make apt to conceiue The dung of Geese dried powdred and taken in a morning the weight of one dramme with white Wine doth throughly cure the Iaundise if it be continually vsed for the space of nine dayes CHAP. XVII Of Ducks Drakes Teales brant Ducks water-Hennes small Ducks of the Lakes Swans Cranes Storks and other water-fowles THe Ditch or Fish-poole which we haue appointed to be in the midst of our Court and Straw roome may serue for the Duckes and other birds liuing in the water And neere vnto the said Pond there must be prouided for them a low roofe lightly couered for them to sit vnder in the night as also in the day as they please for as for any great diligence industrie to be vsed about these fowle indeed there in no such need except it be for the keeping of them from Cats and Weasels Kites Eagles Vultures and Serpents which are veâ—e noysome vnto them In the place of their haunt they must haue some Corne cast Pulse and the drosse of the Riddle or Sâ—arce must be cast about the edges of the Pond and also within the same to cause them to be pudling in the myre you 〈◊〉 also let them haue the libertie of such Ponds as you put your fish into which you meane to salt as also of the next Riuer as you doe your Geese notwithstanding it were good that some should see that they haunt or frequent not your Ponds with fish because indeed they will eat vp the small therein But in other points they need not so much attendance seeing for the most part they are nothing in loue with Gardens And as for their Neasts to lay in and to sit they make themselues and there is no care greater than this namely to know their haunt especially that of the wild ones in or about what place of the Ponds they vse
she conceiueth at the onely voice or â—light or breathing of the Cocke The meat that they most delight in is Millet â—nd Pannicke The egges of Partridges often eaten doe bring fruitfulnesse vnto barren women â—nd great store of milke vnto Nurces The gall of a Partridge doth cleare the sight â—nd mixt in equall quantitie with honey doth heale the bruises of the eyes the bloud â—f Partridges hath the like vertue Quailes being birds liuing altogether vpon the earth rather than in the aire doe â—ot make or build themselues anie Neasts anie more than all other birds which are â—eauie and cannot so well flie They be verie fierce and in that respect they are not â—ccustomed to haue either so much scope or light as other birds Likewise wee see â—hat they are wont to haue their Coupe couered with nets or skins least in flying vp â—n high and rising with some boisterousnesse they should beat themselues to death Some prouide them Meat-pots and Water-pots apart that is to euerie bird his owne â—rouision and diet They loue greene Corne and Wheat and Mustard seed is their â—hiefe and principall feeding They eat in those Countries whereinto they go being â—lsewhere than in this our Countrey great quantitie of Hellebore And this is the â—cause why Didimus saith that their flesh is laxatiue and that it doth procure the turning sicknesse and headach that it causeth the falling sicknesse conuulsion and distension of the Muscles and for that cause that they ought to be stuffed with Millet or boyled therein or else if anie should find themselues ill after them for to drinke the decoction of Millet or of Mittle tree berries and it will be good also to giue the same to Quailes to eat The Cockes are nothing lesse hot than the Partridge The Henne so soone as she hath layd her egges sitteth them and by and by after the hath hatched her young ones she draweth them into some other place to the end that such as goe about to take them may not find their place They be birds vsing to flocke together and they goe away at Spring time and returne in Winter and in the beginning of Autumne Thrushes are not naturally breeding in this Countrey as being an excessiue cold place and hardly at anie time doe they endure this aire and therefore it were but foolishnesse to goe about to fat them here This bird is addicted to hot Countries as also to such places as where there are great store of Oliue trees for they doe greatly delight in Oliues and grow fat at such season as they grow ripe It is a bird also giuen to make great hauocke and spoyle for the Thrushes doe poure downe themselues vpon the Oliue trees in great flights and hauing eaten their full they also carrie away at their departure one in their bill and one in their clawes after the manner of men of Warre They are found also and made fat in the mountaine and hillie Countries but it is in Winter time for they gather fat and fill themselues in cold weather if it be anie whit moderate The men of old and ancient time did much esteeme them and sold them in the time of the Romanes for tenne Sous a peece Thus also to this day doe the Italians and Spaniards and in this our owne Countrey those of Lyons Prouence and Auuergnac but they are not so great on this side the mountaines as they are beyond This bird is more sullen than anie of the afore named and dieth shortly after she is taken if she be carried out of her ordinarie ayre or if she be not put presently amongst other old tame ones They must haue their meat cast them vpon a verie cleane floore and farre from their Perches and some cast them dried figges stamped with the flower of meale and that so much as that there may something remaine more than they can eat And sometimes for change of diet they may haue cast them the fruit of Masticke or Mulberrie tree or the berries of Iuie and wild Oliue trees and yet notwithstanding their meat-pots must alwaies be full of Millet for this is their chiefe meat Againe you must see them prouided of cleare water as well as other birdâ— afore named CHAP. XXII Of the Doue-house THe profit that commeth of the keeping of a Doue-house is nothing lesse than that of the keeping of a Hen-house especially in respect of the selling of young ones and others which euerie yeare increase inâ—â—merably for there are some Farmers which sell at euerie flight two hundred and three hundred paire vnto the Victuallers The care to be had aboâ—â— them is not so great as that about other birds neither the cost so great in as much as they get their owne liuings the most part of the yeare and in that they lay sixe or seuen times a yeare two egges a peece yea and oftener and greater if you change the young House-doues Pigeons with those of the Cote after that they be once eight daies old to the end they may accompanie the Cocke Pigeons which goe by themselues without anie Matches but this must be done so cunningly as that the dams doe not perceiue it It is true that this bird is of great charges and wâ—steth much in respect of grounds and for this cause there is no ground Pigeon-house allowed but to such as be Lords in see simple neither yet verie oft anie Dofeu-houses in vpper roomes except it be to such as haue a competent quantitie of arable ground Let vs then prepare to our good liking and for the ease of the Huswife a ground Doue-house out of the noise of folkes the dashing of Trees one against another and the roaring of Waters and let it be set in a place somewhat raised or else let vs build it right in the middest of the base Court which is the place of our Countrey house before in this Booke appointed and that after the fashion of a stone Tower made for a Wind-mill or somewhat neerely resembling it but let it be distant flight or two from anie water to the end that the old Pigeon may warme that which shee bringeth for to giue to her young ones For it is certaine that as the Pies and Sparrowes the male and the female doe sit by courses and as while the one of them is seeking her food abroad the other is sitting vpon the egges so doe these for the safetie of their young ones vntill such time as they be out of their holes abroad And I would not haue you to vnderstand that the Doue-house should onely lie open vnâ—â— the East quarter in this Countrey but that it take part also of the South because this bird doth greatly delight in the Sunne beating and casting his beames vpon their house and entring in at their windowes and loope-holes or higher lights especially in the Winter time and further that vpon the South there be prouided a shâ—â—ting and opening window
for your Sowes of the rest makâ— prouision for the house Let not your Gylt goe to bore till she be past a yeare old and let the Boore bâ— betwixt three and foure for after he be past fiue he must be gelded to be faâ—â—ed The time to put your Sow to the Bore whether it be to breed or to put vp to feed is best in the â—iâ—st quarter of the Moone and vnto the full for before it is not good no more than it is in the old of the Moone and it shall be from the beginning of Februarie vnto mid March or a little after to the end that in Iune Iulie and August your Pigges may grow to haue some strength and may be vvell growne and thickâ— of 〈◊〉 by September for Winter Pigges are hard to reare and not so kind as the other because this kind of cattell is more chill than the others which is the cause that in many places they haue their cote and stie prouided and dressed with liâ—â—e and straw although they haue sufficient store of stone lime sand and plaster you must also beware that the Boore keepe not companie with the Sows that are with Pigge for he would but bite them and cause them to cast their Pigges This beast is a great eater and cannot endure hunger especially the Sows which in this necessitie haue beene seene sometimes to eat their owne Piggs and those of others as also children in their cradles which is no small inconuenience and therefore you must haue care that their troughs be neuer emptie For to make Hogges verie fat you must geld them It is best to geld them in the old of the Moone in the new or in the wane and in the Spring or September the time being temperate If you geld them young the flesh will be the better but then they grow not so much If you geld them growne somewhat bigge they grow a deale more but then the flesh is not so good And therefore it will be good to doe it when they are betwixt foure and sixe moneths old and at the most not to goe aboue a yeare They are subiect vnto manie diseases And the Hogge is knowne to be ficke when hee hangeth the eare verie much and doth become more slow and heauie than hee hath beene accustomed or that he is found to be without appetite For your better certaintie when there doe not appeare anie of these signes pull from him against the haire a handfull of the bristles of his backe if they be cleane and white at the root hee is â—ound and healthfull but and if that they be bloudie or otherwise spotted he is sicke But he is subiect especially to be meazled because of his much and filthie feeding and this is the cause why some doe search the roots of his tongue and others behind the eares when he is carried to the Markets to be sold in Faires or in good Townes And I thinke that this was the cause why our fore-fathers made it not an ordinarie thing to eat and that the Iewes doe abhorre to eat it at all This disease is not cured but with great difficultie notwithstanding it will in some sort be cured if his Stie be euerie day made cleane if he be suffered to walke and goe into the fields in the fresh aire if he be caused to bath or wallow himselfe oftentimes in Sea water or salt water if he haue Bay-berries beaten and mingled amongst his meat if there be giuen him the drosse of the Wine-presse mingled with Branne and Leauen Now there are three infallible signes to know the Swine to be meazled as if there be found vnder his tongue blackish pustules if he cannot carrie himselfe vpright of his hinder legges and thirdly if his bristles puld off his backe shew bloudie at the roots Likewise for that the Hogge by reason of his filthinesse for the most part hath one fault or other betwixt his skinne and flesh how sound soeuer he be it is good after he be killed to haue his haire swinged off with straw rather than to scald them off with hot water for the fire doth draw out a great deale more easily than warme water that whatsoeuer it is that may be betwixt the skinne and the flesh Yet the scalding of Hogges keepeth the flesh whitest plumpest and fullest neither is the Bacon so apt to reast as the other besides it will make it somewhat apter to take salt howsoeuer if it be for Porke then you must necessarily scald them because the fire will else harden the skinne too much and make the flesh vnkindly besides the swindging of Hogges leaueth the roots of the haires in the skinne and the scalding bringeth them forth which makes the flesh the better He is also subiect vnto the paine and swelling of the Spleene and to the Murraine which in contagious times doth a great deale the more easily seize vpon foule and filthie bodies and such as are of a bad feeding Against his want of stomacke to his meat it is vsed to cause him to fast a day and a night close shut vp in some darke place that so he may wast his superfluous humors and fall to eat his meat againe For the Ague he is to be let bloud in the taile and for the Rheume and swelling of the kernels of the necke or yet when he is but suspected to be meazled he is to be let bloud vnder the tongue For paine and swelling happening vnto him in the time of Fruits when there is great store and that he feedeth his full vpon the rotten he must be caused to eat old Capers well scoured from salt through branne and water as also much Coleworts as well red as others and some doe make him a speciall meat of Tamariske For the scabs and kernels of the necke some vse to rub him with beaten salt with the flower of pure wheat If he haue eaten of Henbane which ancient men haue called the Hogges beâ—ne or else of Hemlocke he must be made to drinke the decoction of wild Cucume well warmed for to cause him to vomit He must aboue all other things be well kept with drinke in the time of the Dog daies and other such hot times and to suffer him to moile and tumble in the dyâ—â— at his pleasure for thirst causeth him to become poore and leane and in weake estate The Egyptians doe greatly honour the Swine and giue him manifold thanks foâ— hauing first shewed them the manner of tilling the ground by cleaâ—ing and cutting of it with the fore-part of his snout and as one that by little and little hath taughâ— them to make the Ploughs culter In like manner they which dwell in low and soâ—â— places along by the Riuer Nilus haue no encrease of the earth but what they toyle and labour out of the same with the Plough but the Peasants doe nothing 〈◊〉 put their Swine
ouer-past The Shepheard shall order and gouerne them with great gentlenesse as it is most requisite for all Heards of whatsoeuer Cattell that it be who must rather be and shew themselues leaders and guides of their beasts than lords Guiding them to the field he must alwaies goe before them to hinder and keepe them backe from running into fields where they might feed vpon euill and hurtfull grasse and especially such grounds as wherein the water vseth to stand or where the ground hath beene ouer-washt with some Floud and breaking forth of some Riuer because thâ— by pasturing in such places they could not chuse but in lesse thanâ— fortie daies be teinted and die except they were relieued and succoured by some good meanes He shall rather keepe a white dogge than one of anie other colour to follow his Sheepe and he himselfe also must be apparelled in white because that Sheepe re naturally so inclined to feare as that and if they see but a beast of anie other coâ—our they doubt presently that it is the Wolfe which commeth to deuoure them This dogge must haue a collar of yron about his neck beset with good sharpe points â—f nailes to the end that he may the more cheerefully fight with the Wolfe perceiâ—â—ing himselfe thereby to haue the aduantage as also that the Wolfe may not take ocâ—asion to hang him in his owne collar If it happen that his Sheepe be scattered to â—all them in and bring them together againe whether it be for keeping them out of â—arme or to cause them to know his call he must whoope and whistleâ—after them â—hreatning them with his Sheepe-crooke or else setting his dogge after them which â—he shall haue trained to doe them that seruice but he may not cast anie thing at them â—either may he goe farre from them neither yet take himselfe leaue to lye or sit â—owne he must accustome them to two sorts of cries the one pleasant and shrill to â—ake them goe forward but to call them backe to another and diuers crie to the â—nd that the Sheepe hearing these two different cries may learne and apply themâ—â—â—ues to doe that which is thereby commanded them If he walke not yet he must â—tand to the end he may be as a vigilant watch vnto his Cattell and he must not sufâ—er the Slower or those which are with Lambe to straggle from the rest or come farre â—ehind them by hanging backe when the light-footed and such as haue alreadie Lambed doe runne before least by that meanes some thâ—efe or deuouring beast deâ—eiue them and come vpon them busie at their meat He must sometime make them â—errie cheering them vp with songs or else by his whistle and Pipe for the Sheepe â—t the hearing thereof will feed the more hungerly they will not straggle so farre abroad but they will loue him the better He shall not draw them into anie grounds but such as are tilled and turned or to the grassie tops of Hills to the high Woods or else such Medow grounds as are not moist wet but neuer into Marish grounds nor into Forests or other places whereas there are Thornes Burres and Thistles for such doth nothing but make them itchie and scuruie and to lose their Wooll Also it is not so good fodder nor so good feeding which for long time hath been in continuall vse for so the Cattell will grow wearie of it and offended therewith except the prudent Shepheard vse some remedie against it by mingling some salt amongst it or sprinkle it with brine or dregs of oyle vpon some floure and so with their meat he should giue them both sawce and appetite In the high time of Summer the Shepheard shall come with his flocke to their lodging and shall fold them amongst the fallowes and there make his fold with hurdles after the manner of the Sheepe-cote the couering excepted And at the foure corners of his fold he shall tie his dogge for a sentinell and standing watch lodging himselfe in the said fold within his Cabin of Wood which he shall driue vpon wheeles to and fro as he shall haue occasion to change his field and fold He shall cleanse his Sheepe-cote but once a yeare and that shall be presently after August or else in Iuly being the time when his Heard is folded but neuer in Autumne nor in Winter for then their dung will serue to keepe them warme And then forthwith the Farmer shall cause the same dung to be carried vnto the leanest parts of his land and shall leaue it there on hillocks to drie in the heat of the Summer vntill October and then to cause it to be spread vpon the ground or else to mingle it with Marle to dung and manure the earth howbeit Marle must not be reiterated so oft as dung for which cause he must vse such discretion as that he must not lay anie Marle but from fiue yeares to fiue yeares in anie place It will be good after that the Sheepe-cote is made cleane to perfume it with Womens haire or Harts horne or the hornes of Goats clawes thereby to driue away Adders and Snakes and other beasts which oftentimes annoy this kind of Cattell He shall procure his Sheepe to be shorne the first hot season falling out in the Spring if it be in a hot and Southerly Countrey but in the Countrey that is cold and not so warme about the end of Iuly but neuer in Summer or in Winter and but from eight a clock in the morning vntill noone and that in faire weather without wind and the Moone growing old Afterward you shall strake the shorne Sheepe all ouer their skins with your drie hand moistened in oyle and wine mingled together to comfort them withall and if there be anie snips in their skins you shall apply vnto them melted Wax or Tarre with sweet Seame for this doth heale them and keepe them from the scab and causeth also a finer and longer Wooll to grow vp anâ— come in place To keepe your Sheepe in good plight you shall giue them Bay berries drie with salt beginning presently after they haue Lambed and continuing vntill they goe againe to Ramme by this meanes they will be fat sound full of milke After they be once with Lambe you must giue ouer that course least you cause then to cast their Lambes they must not at anie time drinke soone after this meat Sheepe are subiect to the Scab Cough and Bloud which is an extreame pains 〈◊〉 the head and to the Murraine The three last diseases are incurable also infecting for one of them hauing anie one of these diseases killeth the other of the same And at such times you must change their Aire and Cote and withall looke to them theâ—â— and refresh them with straw giuing them that which is long small and perfuming their Cote with Tyme Rosemarie Iuniper Pennyryall Marierome Balme 〈◊〉 Basill and other sweet hearbes manie daies together and
the other for hastâ—e Pease Beanes and such like being right necessarie 〈◊〉 your household vse yet notwithstanding you may sow anie of those seeds abroad 〈◊〉 your Fields or manie other remote Croft or Close well tilled for the purpose 〈◊〉 fully as much profit conueniencie especially your Hempe and Flax for you 〈◊〉 vnderstand that there be some Soyles so rich and fat that after you haue 〈◊〉 Wheat Barly and Pease successiuely yeare after yeare that then in stead of fallowing and giuing your land rest you may that yeare sow a full crop of Hempe whicâ— â—estroying the weeds and superfluous growths which spring from the fertilenesse of â—â—e Soyles makes your land apt and readie to receiue either Wheat or Barly againe â—nd so you neuer loose anie Crop at all bue haue euerie yeare something to reape â—â—om your ground whereas should you let it rest and bestow meaâ—ure vpon it as 〈◊〉 case of more barren earth you would so much ouer-rich it that it would either â—â—ildewe and spoyle your Graine or else choake and slay it with the aboundance of Weeds which the earth would vtter forth of it owne accord Againe if your land â—e with your neighbours in common amongst the generall Fields here a land and â—ere a land or here two and three and there two and three as it is a generall custome 〈◊〉 diuers places and that such lands doe butt vpon greene Swarthe or Grasse-â—rounds which are likewise common and on which both your selfe and your neighâ—ours must necessarily teather your Cattell which Cattell if at anie time they breake â—ose or by the negligence of their Keepers be stalld too neere the Corne may doe â—ou much hurt on your Graine in this case and to preâ—ient this euill you shall sow â—â—e ends of all such lands as butt on the grasse tenne or twelue foot in length as your and may conueniently spare with Hempe for vpon it no Cattell will bite so that â—n either of these cases aforesaid you shall not need much to respect the preseruation â—f your Hempe or Flax Garden The Inclosures of the Gardens must be such as the commoditie and necessitie of the place doth require that is to say of Walls if the reuenues of the House will beare it or of a strong and thicke Quick-set Hedge if there want either Pit-â—tone or reuenues to build the wall withall Notwithstanding it is least cost to speake the truth and more profit to inclose and compasse them in with a Quick-set Hedge than with a Wall for the Quick-set Hedge doth endure a longer time and asketh not so great charges neither to trimme it nor to repaire it as the Wall doth Such a one is that which is made of Brambles and Thornes as white Thorne or with the plants of Elder tree or other plants with tufted flowers mingled and set amongst the Brambles the same being cut by the taile and made plaine and euen when the time of the yeare serueth as wee see here in manie places of France Some there be that compasse and inclose their Gardens with Ditches and Banks but small to their profit seeing the moisture of their Gardens which should serue them is thereby conueyed away and taken from them and this holdeth in all other cases but where the ground is of the nature of Marishes The common inclosing vsed by Countrey men is of Thornes Osiers and Reedes but such Hedges doe require almost euerie yeare new repaire reliefe and making in putting new stakes therein whereas if it had an abiding and liuing root it would free the Gardeners of a great deale of trouble cost and trauell The ground of the Gardens must bee good of his owne nature free from Stones Durt and hurtfull Hearbes well broken and dunged a yeare before it be digged to be sowne and after it hath beene digged and dunged againe or marâ—ed you must let it rest and drinke in his dung and marle And as concerning the nature and goodnesse of it the Clayie Stiffe or Sandie ground is nothing worth but it must be fat in handling blacke in colour and which crumbleth easily in the breaking or stirring of it with your fingers or which hath his greene Turfes or Clods breaking easily vnder the Pick-axe and becommeth small with labouring as the small Sand and generally all grounds that are good for Wheat are good for Gardens It is requisite also to the end it may bring forth greene Hearbes in aboundance that it be a reasonable moist ground for neyther the ground that is much drie nor that which is much subiect to water is good for Gardens Notwithstanding if the Grounds belonging vnto the Farme happen not to haue this commoditie of idle and vnimployed ground to make Gardens you must remedie that soare as well as possibly you may The Clayie Stiffe and Sandie places must bee amended by Dung and Marle and would bee cast three foot deepe The Watrie place shall be made better if there bee mixt with it some Sandie or Grauellie Ground and therewith cast it round about with ditches thereby to draine and draw out the water annoying the Gardâ—â— And thus the good Husband shall doe his endeuour to amend and make in soâ—â— sort his ground more fruitfull Lee the dung which he layeth vpon it be either 〈◊〉 Sheepe or of Swine or of Horse or Pigeons or Asses according as the nature of 〈◊〉 ground shall require or of Oxe or Cow for albeit some Gardners thinke it of 〈◊〉 coole a nature and not so nourishing vnto tender hearbs as the other which are 〈◊〉 hot yet they are greatly mistaken therein for it melloweth the earth and enricheâ—â— it more than anie of the other and maketh it more apt to sprout and put forth 〈◊〉 encrease besides it doth naturally affect no weeds if it haue better seed to workâ— vpon Whence it commeth that the Garden so manured keepeth his hearbes 〈◊〉 the cleanest fullest and largest Also Ashes are a verie good meanure for Gardenâ— especially if the ground be apt to chap or breake into great rifts as diuers Claâ— grounds are neither if the soyle be answerable thereunto shall you omit Marâ—â— Sand Chalke Lyme or such like And the elder it is the better also in as much 〈◊〉 in time it looseth his filthie stinke and whatsoeuer other euill qualitie and getteth 〈◊〉 new kind of rottennesse which is more soft and more easie to be conuerted into the substance of the earth whereby good earth is made better and the naughtie amended This is the cause why such as haue written of Husbandrie in Latine haue called dung Lâ—tamen and Frenchmen Litiere because it maketh the ground meâ—â—â—e supposed when it is once mingled and incorporated with the same For dung that 〈◊〉 pure and of it selfe must not be laid vnto the roots of trees but first where thereâ—â— need of the shortest earth and afterward of dung The Hedge of Quick-set parting the Kitchin Garden and that other for delight would be
by nature are sowen in March and are planted farre â—ithin the yeare and couet to be oft watered When you see the leaues of Coleworts waxe bleake and pale or yellow it is a â—igne that it needeth water and you must oftentimes take from them their yellow â—â—aues as also those which are eaten thorough or rotten or dried for this would make them die If you would haue Coleworts of a good tast and pleasant take away their first â—eaues for those which come after will haue a better tast and more pleasant sauour than the first Red Coleworts grow naturally of the aboundance of dung or for that they are watered with the Lees of Wine or by being planted in a place where they are heaâ—ed continually with the heat and burning of the Sunne Doe not at any time gather or at the least vse the tops and edges of the curled Romane Colewort neither yet of any other but the rest of the leafe downe toward the stalke All sorts of Coleworts may be planted at any times prouided it be not too hot or too cold and when you plant them breake their root for feare it be not doubled againe or turned vpside-downe in the earth and that you put it not so farre in as 〈◊〉 there be nothing of the top left aboue Some men vse to water Coleworts with Salt-water to make them the more 〈◊〉 and some doe cast and sow Salt-peter amongst them vpon the vpper face of the earth or else small ashes sifted to keepe them from Locusts Palmar-vvoâ—mes 〈◊〉 and other vermine Aboue all things the Colewort may not be 〈◊〉 neere vnto the Vâ—ne nor the Vine neere vnto the Colewort for there is such 〈…〉 betwixt these two plants that being both of them planted in one ground 〈◊〉 they become to some growth they turne and grow one from another 〈…〉 will they prosper and beare fruit so well And admit it to be true which is 〈◊〉 namely that if a man doe mingle vvine be it neuer so little in the pot where Coleworts are boyling that then the Coleworts will leaue boyling by and by and 〈◊〉 boyle any more but loose their colour Likewise such as are disposed to drink 〈◊〉 wine and not to be drunke with it must eat some raw Coleworts aforehand as 〈◊〉 Almaâ—gnes are wont to doe when they meane to quaffe you off a whole pot 〈◊〉 and to ouercome â—uch as with whom they striue in drinking The 〈◊〉 also may not be planted neere vnto Organy Rue and Sow-bread for being 〈…〉 sowen neere vnto these hearbes it thriueth not at all and againe it infecteth his neighbours with some of his ill qualities The carefull Gardener must neuer abide to haue in his Garden so much as 〈◊〉 rotten cole not yet water his hearbes with the water wherein Coleworts haue 〈◊〉 steept or boyled for both the one and the other doth cause his neighbour hearbs 〈◊〉 haue an ill tast and sauour A good huswife will haue Coleworts in her garden at all times for the reliefe 〈◊〉 her familie for besides food she may comfort her people with them in the time 〈◊〉 sicknesse As thus the first decoction especially of red Coleworts with Butter of Oyle without Salt doth loosen the bellie ripen the cough and maketh the voice beâ—â—ter and if vnto this broath you put some Sugar it will be singular for such as arâ— short winded the juice also of Coleworts is good for these diseases if you put Sugaâ— to it the seed of Coleworts in broath or in powder is good against the Woâ—men 〈◊〉 liâ—â—le children Coleworts boyled in two or three waters doe stay the laske Coleworts boyled and sprinkled with Long-pepper and eaten with the broth 〈◊〉 great store of milke in nurses the juice of Coleworts drunke doth expell and kill 〈◊〉 poyson of Toad-stooles the pith of the Colewort boyled with fat and 〈◊〉 honie is singular for such as are short breathed to vse in manner of a lotion To 〈…〉 the Colewort is good for all things whereof the Romans when time was 〈◊〉 such account as that hauing expelled all other physicke out of Româ— for the space 〈◊〉 an hundred and fiftie yeares they vsed no other physicke but Coleworts in all manner of diseases The Lee made with the ashes of Coleworts is good to wash the head The breasts fomented with the decoction of Coleworts increaseth the milke of nâ—â—ses The ashes of Coleworts mixt with the white of an egge doth heale burningâ— Cataplasines made of boyled Coleworts and mingled with the lees of vinegar 〈◊〉 yolkes of raw egges and a little cleere vinegar of Roses all well beaten and 〈◊〉 together is a singular medicine presently to take away the paines comming 〈◊〉 rheume There is nothing better to make cleane a pot all ouergrowne with 〈◊〉 wherein â—lesh hath been accustomed to be boyled and water to be heated as 〈◊〉 pot brasse pot or such like and which cannot by any other meanes be 〈◊〉 scoured than to boyle Coleworts in it CHAP. XII Of Lettuce SOw your Lettuce as thicke as the Colewort in a moist ground well dunged â—at light and easie to turne ouer it must be specially in March for it cannot well endure much heat or much cold Notwithstanding if you will sow it in September yea at all times make choyce of sunâ—e 〈◊〉 warme places and such as are well stored of dung well rotted notwithstanding 〈◊〉 it will wax hard with Winter and may continue some time being planted again 〈◊〉 must be watered once in euerie two or three daies if the weather be not dropping 〈◊〉 moist And in the sowing of it you must water it for feare that the heat of the 〈◊〉 should cast out the seed it putteth forth of the earth the fiftieth day after it is 〈◊〉 Being growne aboue the bed the height of foure or fiue leaues you must 〈◊〉 it with your hand but neuer with any rake and set it againe in a fat ground and â—â—ood distance one from another and couer the roots and shankes with cows goats 〈◊〉 sheepes dung for so they will be of a better tast and water them at the foot but it 〈◊〉 not be when it is either verie hot or verie cold Some doe nourish foure sorts of Lettuces here vvith vs in France not differing 〈◊〉 from another in vertue but in tast somewhat more or lesse pleasant that is to say 〈◊〉 curled the headed cabbaged or vvhite the common and the little and small 〈◊〉 Men vse not to plant the small or common lettuce but the great one which 〈◊〉 be curled and that which will cabbage otherwise called the Romane Lettuce â—hich hath a vvhite seed and a greater than the other and is of a sweeter relish espeâ—â—ally if his first stalke be cut away which it putteth forth after it hath beene planted 〈◊〉 second time for the first stalke hauing in it verie much milke doth easily become 〈◊〉 by the heat of the
due time when as they be ripe The vse of Gourds is not so dangerous as those of Cucumbers so that their waterishnesâ—e be tempered with things meet and sit for the same as with saffron pepper and other such aromaticall powders and for the dish those which are long and white are better and to be preferred before either of the other two sorts Physitians are of opinion that there is nothing better to asswage the heat of hot burning agues to take away the thirst and to loosen the bellie then to vse oftentimes the strayned juice of Gourds stewed without liquor in a new earthen pot set in an ouen There is nothing better for the drinesse of the tongue for sharpe and burning humours and for leaâ—e agueish persons than the vse of the pulpe of Gourds or the Syrope made of their juice CHAP. XXXIX Of Melons and Pompions MElons and Pompions doe not so easily grow in this Countrey because they delight in a Countrey and Ayre that is hot but by force of labour and cunning skill they are drawne vnto it by ordering their beds and remouing of them where they may be shielded from the Cold and receâ—â—e the benefit of the South Sunne and reflexe of the heat of the same from some wall And againe it is a speciall furtherance and helping of them forward to fore-cast that they may grow in such seasons as are verie hot for now and then Summer falleth out 〈◊〉 variable and mixt with cold or drought or moisture as that thereupon they be 〈◊〉 ripe till Autumne and towards the time of Vintage Wherefore it standeth you vpon to hasten them and helpe them forward with dung and with the heat of their beds though this course in the meane time stand not so well with the health of the parties that shall eat them or with the goodnesse and pleasant smell of the Pempions and thereupon it commeth that there are moe grounds planted with Cresses than with Melons amongst vs. Wherefore it were better to reserue for such vse quarter of ground or thereabouts in some place of your Garden where the South Sunne lyeth and is beaten backe by some wall the same also keeping away the North wind hauing no shadow either of Trees or of anie other thing to keepâ— backe the Sunne from it but being withall a good fat and substantiall ground well weeded well tilled and the greene swarth well broken and withall made verie leâ—ell and euen And this your quarter would be againe diuided into foure small quarters and to set your Melon seeds which you intend to plant that yeare but in one of thâ— said little quarters letting the other three râ—st and so succâ—ssiuely in succeeding yeares to low the said little quarters one after another for then the Melons wiâ— grow in their naturall goodnesse and perfection it being their nature to craue a new rested and well manured ground And if it be requisite to helpe such ground wiâ—â— some sweetnesse you must burne vpon it in Winter some Straw or drie Dung 〈◊〉 some Elder tree amongst other wood and mixe the ashes with the earth to the end that during the time of Winter it may grow in season And if the said ground 〈◊〉 need of more helpe it must be dunged with Sheepes dung or else with Goats dung well rotted and this to be done a long time before you intend to sow your Meloâ— seed for as for Horse or Cow dung it must not be vsed except it be when no other thing can be gotten and when it is vsed it must be spread and mixt with the earth long before Seed-time as hath beene said whereby wee may iudge how vnfâ—â— the beds now adaâ—es vsed are for to yeeld good Melons and they that would haâ—e them grow vpon beds as lesle damnifying must make their beds in the said place of the Garden compassed about and hemmed in with a Mat and vpon the bed must be cast a layer of the best and fattest earth that you can find or of earth the thicknesse of three fingers and in this earth to set your seeds for the Melon will not be so much spotted with the dung when there is a mixture of the one and the other You must take the seed of the Melon which hath a thicke and hard huske and looking verie greene within which is of the first growne and of those which grow neerest vnto the root which you shall haue reserued in your Melon plot vntill the full â—ipenesse thereof that so you might haue others grow of it for the seed is better when it is now taken out of the Melon hauing beene all that while from the gathering time kept in the bodie and substance thereof And if you would haue it to grow verie quickly sleepe it in warme water sixe or seuen houres afterward aboâ—â— the tenth day of March make your pits vpon your beds some three or foure foot one from another and two foot in depth and widenesse and if you may make yoâ—â— choice of dung then fill them vp with Sheepe or Goats dung that is old well rotted and crumbly and with verie fine blacke earth together and herewith to fill them vp within two â—ingers Some put therein the dung of horses comming hot from the stable to make thâ—m put forth the sooner but the sauour and goodnesse of the Melon is greatly hindered thereby and thereupon pricke six or ten seeds of your pompions the sharpe end downeward although some put not in aboue foure or fiue and couer them againe gently without much beating or treading of the earth downe vpon them Afterward for to auoid daunger of frosts couer them with straw or mats borne vp with stickes prickt vp one way or if you haue the benefit of great boards or tables of boards borne vp with stones or rubbish by the way that so they may not presle vpon them and that so you may take them vp when the Sunne shineth hot and lay them downe againe when the cold wind bloweth and when frosts come And as soone as the Melons shall haue put forth leaues bigge ynough you must water them with a shred of cloth hanging continually in a pot of water without wetting of the Melon any whit at all and this watering must be continued in a verie drie ground though you haue remoued your Melons till the fruit become of the bignesse of Oranges and if you vse beds you shall remoue them after mid-May in this countrie out of the danger of frosts about fiue or sixe foot one from another vpon a border well tilled and manured And from that time forward you shall weed out diligenetly all the weeds from about them and shall lighten their earth at the trunk of the root without doing any hurt to it and when the flower shall peepe out you must cut off the ends of the armes of the heaâ— be to the end that the flower and the fruit may come forth in greater store aboundance And for
of the Sunne but hath the shadowes of some Trees the top of a Mountaine 〈…〉 other such like thing It hath a verie astringent power as also it is verie 〈◊〉 by which after the manner of Comfrey it healeth wounds vlcers and fistulaes 〈◊〉 well inward as outward it stayeth rheumes and bloudie fluxes healeth the 〈…〉 the mouth and the inflamation thereof Which is more it is verie singular to prouoke vrine and to breake the stone Saxifrage as well the great as the small delighteth in a drie ground chalâ—â—â— clayie sandie stonie and altogether barren And it is sowne of small seedes which are found hanging to the rootes thereof It prouoketh vrine and so driueth foorth the grauell of the reines and bladder If you boyle the root and 〈◊〉 thereof in Wine it procureth Women also their termes and bringeth ou◠〈◊〉 after-birth The great and small Burre otherwise called Bardana and of the Greeke◠〈…〉 hath not need of anie great tilling for it will grow either of seed or 〈◊〉 in a leane ground that is drie and vntilled as wee may well see in ditches 〈◊〉 it groweth without anie labour at all and in the high wayes and by-pâ—â—h ◠〈◊〉 the fields The rootes seedes and iuice of the great and small Burre are verie 〈…〉 prouoke vrine to breake the stone of the reines and bladder and to stay the 〈◊〉 flux The iuice is drunke with white Wine or alone and the seed in like manner which is sometimes for the more pleasantnesse sake confected or couered with Sâ—gar The leaues stampt with a little salt and applyed vnto the bitings or 〈…〉 Adders mad Dogges or other venimous Beasts are verie soueraigne The rootes 〈◊〉 seedes of small Burre stampt and layd on cold swellings and rebellious 〈…〉 verie profitable and good Star-thistle so called because it hath little heads at the tops of his stakes 〈…〉 Thistles haue set round about with sharpe prickes after the manner of 〈…〉 groweth in vnhusbanded grounds as well of his root as of his seed Some doe 〈◊〉 esteeme of the seed made into powder and drunke in wine for to prouoke 〈◊〉 and to auoid grauell and herein it is of so great vertue as that the much vse of it 〈◊〉 cause one to pisse bloud sometimes The decoction of the root with honey after 〈◊〉 manner of a honied water doth the like but more gently and without 〈…〉 partie for to pisse bloud Maries Thistle otherwise called Spina alba or white and siluer Thistle or 〈◊〉 Artichoke or Asse-Thistle because that Asses delight much to eat it doth 〈◊〉 fat and well tilled ground and other ordering like to that of Beets and it 〈…〉 that it letteth not to grow in vntilled and vnhusbanded grounds The seed and 〈◊〉 haue as it were the like power to take away obstructions to prouoke vrine and it breake the stone that Star-thistle hath The Italians vse the roots thereof in Salads after the manner of Artichokes and good wines to gather the milke of it for to eat Some make a Ptisane with the root of this Thistle made in powder the seed of Fennell and a little long Pepper to giue to Nurses to vse which haue small store of milke The distilled water of the leaues is good against paine in the sides being drunke with halfe a dramme of the seed of the same hearbe Siluer-grasse so called because the leaues doe resemble siluer on the backe-side doth delight in a moist and grassie ground howsoeuer vnhusbanded it be It hath one excellent propertie aboue all other hearbes for to breake the stone to heale vlcers and malignant wounds within the bodie to stay the bloudie flux and to dissoluâ— cluttered bloud being taken in drinke Some say that if you put it in halfe a basin full of cold water and couer that basin with another basin or vessell or other couering that there will gather great store of vapours in the hollow of the thing couering it and will turne into the forme of distilled water and that this water thus gathered is verie good to take away the spots freckles staines and dye of the Suâ—ne out of the face Patience doth willingly grow in coole and moist grounds and we see it ordinarily to grow neere vnto Riuers and little Brookes The root by reason of the great bitternesse and desiccatiue power hath singular commendation against the Plague for being dried and powdred and afterward drunke with wine it driueth away all venime from the heart by the aboundance of sweat which it procureth Some foâ— this purpose take away the rinde and core of this root stamping it in vineger and after making a drinke of the vineger the iuice of Rue and Treacle for to take in pestilent Agues The powder of this root drunke with wine is excellent for the suffocations of the Matrix and the wringing throwes of the bellie This powder also killeth the Wormes healeth maligne Vlcers the falling of the haire called Tinea and the Kibes the Farcie in Horses whether it be taken inwardly or applyed outwardly either in iuice or in the decoction thereof Scabious groweth in the same ground that Patience doth that is to say in woods vntilled places and especially in sandie places It is verie proper and appropriate vnto the Cough and diseases of the Lungs foâ— the same purpose also the iuice is sometime extracted sometime the hearbe it selfe made into powder and sometime the decoction of it is made to endure for a long time Likewise there is sometime conserue made of the flowers His leaues or rootes applyed to itchie places and the places bare of haire or mixed with oyles and ointments doe great good vnto the same as also vnto plaguie carbuncles for they being rubbed with the iuice of Scabious will be found to vanish away within three houres The iuice of Scabious drunke in the quantitie of foure ounces with a dramme of Treacle not yet one day old is a singular remedie against the Plague so that afterward the partie sweat in his bed and withall continue the drinke for manie times The same remedie serueth for the bitings of venimous beasts if besides the drinke you apply outwardly vnto the soare the leaues of the same hearbe bruised A Liniment made of the iuice of Scabious the powder of Borace and a little Camphire is singular against tettars itch freckles and other infections or desilements of the skin Aboue all other things the decoction of Scabious being drunke the space of fortie daies doth heale the tettar throughly yea though it came of the Pocks as I my selfe haue oftentimes proâ—ed by experience Scolopendrium or rough Spleene-wort called also Harts-tongue would be planted in a stonie and grauellie ground which is moistened with some running Brooke and for want of this it must be often watered The rootes thereof must neuer be pulled vp but onely the leaues cut for it cannot be sowne seeing it bringeth forth no seed The decoction thereof made
defend the parts of the bodie from all cold and staruing how great soeuer it might proue to be if so be that you rub the ridge of the backe the soles of the feet and the wrists of the hands therewith Likewise the iuice of this Neule mixt with a little Populeon and applyed vnto the wrists appeaseth the great heat of Agues The leaues beaten and mixed with oyle of Violets and Poppies and applyed vnto the wrists doe alike The vapour of the decoction of Nettle seed doth take away the stuffing of the nosthrils Such as haue the Cough with a great ratling in the throat cannot meet with a better medicine to make them spit out lustily than to take with some pâ—ctorall syrrop or decoction the weight of halfe a French crowne of Nettle seed finely powdred You must furthermore obserue this vertue in Nettles as that if it be put into a pot wherein is flesh boyling it will cause the flesh to be the sooner boyled Stauesacre must be sowne in a place reasonably drie and shadowed The seed chewed and held in the mouth draweth vnto it by his heat great quantitie of moisture stamped and mingled with oyle it driueth vermine out of the head and other parts of the bodie it cureth scuruinesle and itch sleeped in vineger and held in the mouth it assuageth the tooth-ach There is not anie need of great care to be taken in sowing the great small or middle Plantaine for they grow euerie where and yet they must be esteemed by reason of their vertues The iuice of Plantaine leaues or rootes pressed out and 〈◊〉 two houres before the fit to the quantitie of two ounces doth assuage the 〈◊〉 Feauer The leaues of Plantaine stamped with the whites of egges doe 〈◊〉 burnings An emplaister made of the iuice of Plantaine the white of an egge and Bole-Armoniacke and applyed vnto the brewes doth stay the bleeding of the nose Horse-taile as well the great as the small requireth a verie moist ground as neere to some poole or shadowed place The decoction thereof in wine or water doth stanch bleeding and all other fluxes whether it be the bloudie or anie other such The iuice put into the nosthrils doth stay the bleeding of them and with a Pessarie put vp into the necke of the Matrix it stayeth the flux thereof Pellitorie craueth no great care or tillage for it groweth naturally neere vnto walls A Cataplasme made of Pellitorie and the grease of a male or female Goat is a singular remedie for the gowt and slidings or falls The leaues of Pellitorie fried with fresh Butter or Capons grease and laid in forme of a Cataplasme vnto the bellie doth assuage the paine of the Colicke The iuice mingled in like quantitie with white Wine and oyle of sweet Almonds newly drawne doth assuage the paine and torment of the stone A Cataplasme made of greene Pellitorie stamped with crums of Bread and oyle of Lillies Roses or Camomile doth resolue Apostemes happening in the breasts It is good also for mollifying Clysters and Bathes that are deterging Shepheards Powch groweth in all ground but principally vpon the ruines of old walls and neere vnto walls The decoction of this hearbe in raine water with Plantaine and Bole Armoniacke being drunke certaine mornings or taken in Clysters doth stay the bloudie flux and the spitting of bloud A bath prepared with the decoction of the leaues stayeth the excessiue flux of the termes But if you take it and boyle it in red wine with a little Cinnamon and Tanners barke and so giue it the patient to drinke it will stay the most dangerous bloudie flux that can be possible It is verie good also for the same disease if it be giuen in milke The iuice doth heale greene wounds and being dropped into the eares doth drie vp the vlcers of the same The leaues stamped and applyed in forme of a Cataplasme doth kill inflammations and the wild fire The leaues eaten doe stay all sorts of bleeding being put into the nosthrils as also holden in the hand they stay the nose from bleeding Sow-bread desireth a shadowed ground as vnder some tree or bush which must notwithstanding be fat and well tilled to feed the root thereof which is full grosse solide and as it were like vnto the Turnep The Forest of Orleance is well stored and replâ—nished with this hearbe This is a thing to be maruelled at that the iuice of the root of Sow-bread snuffed vp into the nose purgeth the head and the distilled water thereof snuffed vp also into the nosthrils doth presently stay their bleeding The same water drunke to the quantitie of six ounces with an ounce of Sugar doth presently stay the bloud running downe from the breast stomacke or liuer and knitteth together the vessels therein if anie be broken which I my selfe haue proued and tried Two drammes of the iuice drunke with honied water doe loosen the bellie and free the liuer from obstructions as also the spleene in respect whereof it is singular good for the Dropsie and Iaundise but you must mixe with it a little Mallicke or Nutmeg or Rhubarbe for to correct the vehemencie thereof It is incredible what ease the iuice thereof worketh in the Colicke and other such like griping pangs if it be put into Clysters how greatly also it profiteth in Oyntments Liniments and Cataplasmes appointed for the hardnesse and swellings of the spleene and liuer If you infuse the roots chopped small in the oyle of Roses or Camomill or sweet Almonds and afterward boyle them together putting thereto a little wine in the end you shall presse them out This oyle dropped by two or three droppes into the eares doth driue away the noyse and deafenesse of the eares especially if vpon the eares you apply the drosse of these rootes at night at the parties going to bed or else chop small the rootes stampe them with Peaches and bitter Almonds steepe them all in Aqua vitae afterward straine them and drop certaine drops of that which shall be pressed out into the eares this is verie soueraigne for deafenesse and the noyse of the eares Crowfoot although there be six kinds of it yet they all loue a moist and marish ground and whereas the frogges delight to liue which also take pleasure in and 〈◊〉 themselues about this hearbe It is true that some of the sorts doe loue these 〈◊〉 places more than other some for the Crowfoot that hath a double flower not 〈◊〉 yellow but somewhat red and which appeareth onely in Autumne cannot grow in a verie moist place so as it doth in the drie medowes and in places a little 〈◊〉 contrariwise that which beareth a single flower of a yellow and golden colour cannot grow but in some watrie medow-plot and neere vnto standing water The other which beareth a double flower not verie yellow hath a bulbous and whitish root of a sharpe tast This same as well the leaues but
principally in that which is moist Neither the one nor yet the other doth beare any seed as Writers record notwithstanding it hath beene tried that the male beareth seed and that it cleaueth to the hindermost part of the leaues but yet so little that hardly can a man see it and which cannot be acknowledged or gathered but in the end of Iulie which is the time when it is ripe for to gather it you must cut the leafe neere vnto the root and then hang them vp in your house spreading a linnen cloth vnder them or else some faire cleane white paper I know well that the common sort doe verily thinke and auerre that this seed cannot be gathered but on the night of the wakes of S. Iohn in Sommer and that more is not without great ceremonies and mumbling and muttering of many words betweene the teeth which haue power to driue away Deuills which haue the custodie of the same seed but all this is nothing but fables The decoction thereof is good to prouoke womens termes to cast out the dead child to kill wormes and some doe vse it to heale the frettings or hurts that may be in the fundament fallen downe but especially the female Hearbe Two-pence so called because the leaues resemble small peeces of siluer requireth no great peece of husbandrie about it saue onely that it would haue a moist ground The whole hearbe either in decoction or powder but especially the water thereof distilled in a limbecke is verie singular good for the falling downe of the fundament Fleawort being called of the Latines Psyllium craueth a verie fat well manured and batled ground for else there will no good come of it The seed prepared in forme of a Mucilage and applied in vinegar doth kill the wild fire and teâ—â—er applied vnto the head or brows it taketh away the paine thereof it taketh away also the rednesse of the eyes being applyed thereunto The distilled water is of infinite goodnesse seruing in the paynes of the eyes two or three drops thereof onely being dropt into them This hearbe requireth a verie fat place well manured and tilled likewise we see it grow aboundantly in vineyards and grounds for Wheat and Barlie The leaues are verie singular good for the opening of the liuer and cleansing away of adust humours and this also is the cause why physitians prescribe it with whay in scuruie scabbie and itchie cases and where the leprosie is The juice thereof is good to cleere bleared eyes Ground-swell groweth in euerie ground and without any great care we see if grow likewise neere vnto walls and vpon the townes walls it is greene all the yere and flourisheth as it were in euerie moneth and this is the cause why the Italians call it euerie moneths flower Some thinke that Ground-swell distilled is verie singular good for the Whites in women but beleeue it not before you find it true by proofe for I haue obserued by often vse that this hearbe whether in decoction or otherwise prouoketh the termes that are stayed Birt-wort as well the long as the round must be planted in a fat and fertile soyle such as that where Wheat is sowne and Oliue trees planted Their roots amongst other alâ—â—ost inâ—inite vertues cause womens courses purge the lungs cause spitting cure the cough and prouoke vrine which more is if either of them be taken in drinke especially the round one made in powder with Pepper and Myrrhe it driueth forth the after-birth the dead conception and all other superfluities gathered in the Matrix it doth the like being applied in forme of a Mother suppositorie It purgeth all obstructions of the liuer and easeth all manner of colicke or other griefes which proceed from windie causes it is soueraigne against all manner of poyson or any other infection it cleanseth the bloud and by rubbing the gummes therewith it preserueth the teeth from rotting Centaurie or the gall of the earth aswel the great as the smal desireth a fat ground that is fruitfull and well tilled and yet in such a ground they thriue not well without the great care and industrie of the Gardener Their root in decoction juice or powder moueth womens termes and prouoketh vrine expelleth the dead child purgeth â—legmaticke humors which cause the sciatica openeth the obstructions of the liuer and spleene killeth the wormes profiteth and helpeth palsies convulsions and diseases of the sinews it cleareth the sight and taketh away all mistinesse from them especially the juice dropt into the eyes doth heale their fresh and new wounds and siccatriceth old and maligne vlcers Woodbind craueth no great tilling or husbanding for it groweth euerie where and in what place soeuer it listeth It is true that it desireth greatly to be neere broome hedges and also the borders of fields The fruit of Woodbind drunke with Wine the space of fortie daies taketh away the obstructions of a hard and indurat spleene it purgeth out vrine with such force as that the tenth day the vrine becommeth all bloudie it helpeth women in their child-birth the leaues in decoction or distilled doe heale wounds and filthie vlcers wipe away the spots and scarres of the bodie and of the face Pimpernel hath red and blew flowers and craueth a moist and shadowed ground so likewise we see it grow in the shadows of hedges and bushes Pimpernell with the red flowers stampe and applied vnto the eyes or the juice thereof dropt within them taketh away the inflammations dimnesâ—e and vlcers of the eyes and healâ—th the inflammations of the secret parts Pimpernell with the blew flower boyled with salt and water is a verie good and proper medicine to cure the itch or scurfe and the lice or wormes in the hands if you wash them oâ—t therewith Buckwheat is a verie common hearbe and yet but little knowne by his name it is verie ordinarie in corne and tilled grounds about haruest time The Peasants of Champaigne doe commonly call it Veluote because in my judgement the leaues are hairie which name I mind not to change but rather to keepe for the easier knowing of the hearbe They make vse of it by applying it if at any time in shearing they happen to cut themselues with their sickles For to know it better therefore than onely by the name it putteth forth from the root fiue sixe seuen or eight small branches for the most part layed along vpon the earth of the length of a hand and sometime of a foot bearing leaues somewhat like vnto the little bindweed but indeed they be lesse and more round verie hairie and a little fattie The flower is small and of diuers colours drawing verie neere vnto a pale yellow but in greatnesse it commeth neâ—re vnto the flower of eyeâ— bright but in shape and fashion vnto the nettle slower The water of the leaues and branches distilled whiles it is in force in a Limbeck in Maries-bath is singular
of the colour in this case you shall distill your vinegar either in a Limbecke or other ordinarie Still and with the water which commeth from it which will be of a most pure and chrystaline colour and is indeed the spirit and sharpest part of the vinegar you shall preserue your flowers and then without doubt they will not abate any part at all of their owne brightnesse and colour White yellow and red Gillo-flowres do craue the like ordering that the March Violet doth and grow better vpon walls house tops and old ruines of stone than planted or tilled in gardens especially the yellow which come neerer to the resemblance of a shrub than of an hearbe hauing hard and wooddy stalkes and set full of branches commonly called of Apothecaries Keyâ—y The seed of Gillo-flowres stampt and drunke with white wine is soueraigne to prouoke womens termes and to further deliuerance in them that trauell Daisies must not be sowen but planted after the manner of violets this is the least kind of the 〈◊〉 which is likewise found in the fields without being tilled it flourisheth all the yeare long if it be well ordered Daisies stampt with Mugwort resolueth the King-euill A Cataplaâ—me made of Daisies is good for the palsie and all manner distillations For wounds in the brest whereinto tents may be put it is good to dâ—inke by and by a drinke made of stamped Daisies they heale the pastules of the tongue if they be chewed as also of the mouth being braied they asswage the inflammation of the priuie members eaten in sallades or broth of flesh they loosen the bellie Purple Veluet flower called in Latine Aramanthus doth recreate more with his colour than with any smell that it hath for it smelleth nothing at all notwithstanding who so will haue it in their gardens must plant it in a drie and sandie place The flower supt in pottage doth stay the flux of the bellie the termes and white flowers of vvomen the spitting of bloud especially if there be any veine broken or bruised in the lungs of brest The flower hereof infused in vvater or white vvine the space of an houre maketh the colour of the wine red and thus one may helpe himselfe the more easily to beguile any that are sicke of some ague and cannot abstaine from Wine Canterburie-bells as well the simple as the double require a fat ground and well inriched The Latines call it Viola Calathiana Their â—lowers mingled with Wheat flower make a good Cataplasme against scuruinesse and other sorts of scabbes likewise their roots boyled in white Wine to the consumption of the halfe and a linnen cloth dipped therein and applyed to scabbes and scuruinesse doth heale them the roots boyled in Wine and taken in a potion doe heale all the ruptures of the inward parts of the bodies doe cleanse the exulcerated lungs and spitting of bloud brayed and ground in manner of meale and drunke in Wine the weight of a French Crowne with two or three graines of Saffron are singular good against the jaundise if the partie sweat thereupon presently the like vertue is in the distilled water of the flowers the juice drawne out of their root and flowers applyed vnto wounds doth heale them presently a pessarie drencht in this juice prouoketh womens termes and draweth out the child dead in the mothers vvombe being dropt into the eare whereinto there hath some Flea or such other vermine crept it killeth them Gillo-flowres of all sorts are seldome sowne but oftentimes planted of roots or braunches pluckt from the plants the root shall be planted in the beginning of Autumne in a fat mould and so put in pots of earth thâ—t it may be remoued and set vnder some couert in Winter for feare of the frosts Sommer being come before the great plant haue cast forth his sprouts you may breake off so many small branches from about the root as will almost serue to set and plant a whole bed withall and so you may breed new plants of them You may make Gillo-flowers smell like Cloues if you lay bruised Cloues round about their roots In like manner you may make them haue faire flowers large pleasant and sweet smelling if you plucke away their leaues often and take paines to digge and water their earth furthermore such Gillo-flowers are commonly called Gillo-flowers of Prouence of the place where Gillo-flowers so ordered doe grow large tufted and ample those which haue not their flowers so large nor so sweet neither yet are so carefully looked vnto and dressed are properly called Purple Gillo-flowers The flowers of Gillo-flowers of Prouence as also their root are soueraigne against the Plague And for this cause such as are well aduised in the time of the Plague 〈◊〉 make conserues or vinegar of the flowers of Gillo-flowers to keepe themselues 〈◊〉 the euill ayre Indian Gillo-flowers called of the Latines Flos petillius and Ocellus 〈◊〉 although it refuse no ground notwithstanding if you plant it of the whole plant or of the branches thereof or else sow it in a fat and wel manured ground especially in the beginning of Iuly it will grow vnto such a height as that it will seeme to be a thing degenerated into the bignesse of a tree and will put forth of his stalke many boughâ— after the manner of a tree or shrub and by the same meanes there will put 〈◊〉 flowers induring vntill Winter Who will be counted carefull of preseruing his health must not smell vnto the flower of the Gillo-flowers of India for the smell thereof doth procure head-ach and giddinesse and is a meanes to breed the Falling-sicknesse further also which is more dangerous some haue found it by experience that it ingendreth an infectious aire likewise Physitians giue speciall prohibition to smell vnto the Indian Gillo-flower in the Plague time because the flower thereof is venimous and of temperate much like to the Hemlocke which may easily be perceiued by the vnpleasant smell it yeeldeth being both most strong and stinking That it is so namely that 〈◊〉 is venimous I haue giuen thereof sometimes vnto a Cat the flower the Gillo-flowres of India beaten and mixt with cheese to eat and she hath thereupon become verie much swelled and within a short time after dead I saw likewise a little young child who after hauing put these flowers in his mouth his mouth and lips did swell and within a day or two after became verie scabbed Wild Gillo-flowers as well white as red although they grow in the edges of fieldâ— and along the waies may notwithstanding be planted and set in gardens where 〈◊〉 they be oft remoued they will grow to haue a double flowre Their seed flower and whole hearbe is good against the stinging of Scorpions and indeed haue so greâ—â— vertue this way that the hearbe onely cast among Scorpions taketh from them all power to hurt their seed taken
Aprill steepe the same plants in the lees of red Wine vntill they 〈◊〉 prettily well coloured as being become red when you take them out afterward 〈◊〉 them in prettie pits contriued in good order and water them sufficiently with 〈◊〉 said lees for by this meanes the flowers that will come of them will be purple â—â—loured You shall likewise haue young and fresh Lillies all the yeare long if 〈◊〉 they be open you gather them and after close them vp in some bottell or well 〈◊〉 vessell that so they may come by no ayre Or else close them vp in some oaken vessel well pitched so that there can no vvater get in and after sinke the vessell in 〈◊〉 Well Cesterne or running vvater for so they will keepe young and fresh 〈…〉 yeare And if at any time during the whole yeare you would vse them set them in the Sunne that so by the heat thereof they may open And to the end that Lillies 〈◊〉 flower at many times when you set their roots you shall set some of twelue 〈◊〉 within the ground others eight and some foure for thus you shall still haue 〈◊〉 Lillies for a long time A Cataplasme made with the Onion of the roots of Lillies Hogs-grease and 〈◊〉 oyle of Cammomile doth maturate and ripen Buboes An oyntment made of 〈◊〉 said roots oyle of bitter Almonds and white Wax hath singular vertue to 〈◊〉 and smoth the face and to take away the vvrincles of vvomens faces The vvater 〈◊〉 Lillies distilled out of an Alembecke doth take away the vvrincles of vvomen 〈◊〉 and make them looke verie faire and white The root boyled or roasted in â—â—embers and stampt vvith oyle Oliue is a singular remedie against all sorts of burning as well of fire as vvater Being boyled vvith Garleeke and stampt in the 〈◊〉 of red Wine cleareth vvomens faces and countenances vvhich haue but ill coloâ—â—â— after their lying in bed if they besmeare their faces therewith at nights and in the morning wash them with Barlie vvater This root roasted and stamped with 〈◊〉 Swines-grease and applied to the cornes of the feet doth wholly spend them 〈◊〉 they be kept thereto but three whole daies together the distilled vvater of the flowers with a little Saffron and sweet Zylocaâ—sia helpeth vvomen in child-birth and deliuereth them also of their after-birth the oyle that is made of the flowers by infusion is good to soften all manner of hardnesse in swellings or otherwise if 〈◊〉 chafe the priuie parts with oyle of Linseed and applie Wooll vvet in these 〈◊〉 vpon the bellie Women which are in trauell of child-birth will find great ease 〈◊〉 the same Small Paâ—â—ces otherwise called Autumne Violets desire a drie and 〈◊〉 place they are to be planted in the Spring time and beare flowers continuing 〈◊〉 Autumne yea to Winter if so be they be oft watered and carefully handled The leaues or juice of small Paunces taken at the mouth or applied outwardly are 〈◊〉 good to conglutinate wounds the leaues of small Paunces boyled and 〈◊〉 doe stay the Falling-sicknesse in children when they froth and some the same flowers boyled with their hearbes and drunke doe cleanse the lungs and breast and 〈◊〉 good for inward inflammations The leaues dried and made in powder and 〈◊〉 with red Wine to the quantitie of halfe a spoonefull haue great force to stay the 〈◊〉 downe of the fundament The Helitropian is a certaine flower which hath such a loue and sympathie with 〈◊〉 Sunne that as his beames rise and spread open in the morning like a Curtaine 〈◊〉 the hearbe also openeth her leaues and glories and as it were attending vpon 〈◊〉 beames her flower riseth as he riseth and when the Sunne is in his Meridian or â—oone point then the flower standeth and looketh straight vpright and as the â—unne declineth so it likewise declineth and in the euening as hee shutteth in his â—eames so it also closeth vp her flowers and remaineth as it were hid and lockt vp 〈◊〉 the next morning This Helitropian neuer beareth on one stalke aboue one flowâ—â—â— but it is exceeding large and great being euer at least halfe a foot in the diameter 〈◊〉 is round and â—lat fashioned and enuironed with yellow leaues of a bright golden 〈◊〉 it groweth also vpon a great thicke stalke straight vpright and high from 〈◊〉 ground it beareth also verie manie seeds which as soone as they are ripe are like Marigold seeds white rough and semiciâ—cled The best time to sow it is in the â—pring time at the wane of the Moone and it is verie quicke and speedie in growâ—â—g The greatest glorie it hath is the beautie thereof yet it hath all those vertues â—hich the Marigold hath and cureth the same inâ—irmities Contrarie to this is the flower of the Night which is verie memorable for the 〈◊〉 faire flowers which it beareth It is therefore called the flower of the Night 〈◊〉 at the Sunnes rising it shuts vp her flowers and at his setting spreads them open 〈◊〉 and so flourisheth with great beautie all the night long his flowers are of 〈◊〉 colours some white some red some carnation and some yellow some interâ—ixt and some entire insomuch that to behold it either in the morning or in the 〈◊〉 it lookes like a most fine piece of Arras or Tapistrie to the great wonder of 〈◊〉 beholders when they shall see so manie seuerall colours proceeding from one 〈◊〉 without anie artificiall labour or other sophistication It is to be planted or 〈◊〉 in the moneth of March when the Moone is encreasing the ground being 〈◊〉 and rich and well tilled and ordered before hand Tulipan is a Plant which growes about two or three foot from the ground and 〈◊〉 a verie faire flower yet commonly not before it be three yeares old it deâ—ighteth to grow neere vnto the Flower-de-luce and would be planted soone after Winter in the new of the Moone The first yeare it putteth forth but one leafe verie â—arge and of a greene colour the second yeare it putteth forth two leaues and the â—hird yeare three leaues together with the knob or button which beareth the flower â—nd all long before the approaching of Winter as soone as the three leaues are â—prung vp which are euer neere vnto the earth the stemme shooteth vpward a good â—eight without leaues as smooth as a cudgell till it be come to his full growth Now of these Tulipans there are diuers kinds and are distinguished onely by the different â—olours of their flowers for some are white some red some blew some yellow some Orange some of a Violet colour and indeed generally of anie colour whatsoeuer â—xcept greene yet it is to be noted that these Tulipans which are thus of one enâ—â—re colour are but common and ordinarie for those which are most rare and preciâ—â—â— are of diuers colours mixt together and in semblance like the flower of the Night before spoken of Againe there
is another note of admiration in this flower which is that it changeth it colour euerie yeare of it owne nature for the which no Gardiner is able to giue anie account Also there be some Tulipans which will not â—â—ourish aboue foure or fiue daies in the yeare and then after it carrieth no flower 〈◊〉 all The Martagon is a plant which putteth forth verie rare and excellent flowers â—uch what is shape like the Flower-de-luce and are infinitely desired for their exâ—ellencies it is most commonly either of an Orange or red colour and may be eiâ—her sowne or planted in a good ground in the Spring time when the Moone encreaseth It groweth in height seldome aboue three foot neither hath it anie branâ—hes it garnisheth the earth with manie greene leaues both long and sharpe â—ending their points downeward At the toppe of the stemme the flowers put â—orth vpon seuen or eight round buttons or cuppes which after a few daies doe open and out of euerie button springs forth a flower which will continue 〈◊〉 upon at least three or foure daies and then they will fall away and the bowle is perceiued in which the seed is retained which is not verie great but of a little and 〈◊〉 compasse Pâ—onie are flowers of diuers kinds some being single and some double and are 〈◊〉 esteemed for the beautie of their flowers they may be sowne or planted on any 〈◊〉 earth immediatly after Winter the stalke of it is greene and being risâ—n 〈◊〉 foot from the earth it putteth forth diuers large branches vpon the tops whereof 〈◊〉 many great buttons out of which breaketh forth the flowers being round 〈◊〉 and large so that some haue beene measured from the circumference to be the 〈◊〉 part of a foot in the diameter these flowers are euer of one colour as being all 〈◊〉 all white or all purple and not mixt or stripped as other flowers are Amongst all the flowers which beauitfie gardens none may compare with this other for odour glorie or generall delicacie whence it commeth that it is 〈◊〉 the Crowne Emperiall it may be sowne from the seed in any well drest 〈…〉 the Spring of the yeare and the new of the Moone yet it is much better if it be 〈◊〉 from the root which root is bigge and round like vnto a great S. 〈◊〉 Onion about which in the planting you shall â—ould a little fine mould 〈◊〉 with cows dung and then set it a good depth into the earth the stemme of this 〈◊〉 will spring out of the ground three or foure foot garnished all along with fine 〈◊〉 yet without any braunches at the top of all it putteth forth eight or nine 〈◊〉 borne vpon seuerall little branches distinguished from the stalke euerie one of 〈◊〉 being of equall height and length the flowers thereof for the most part shew 〈◊〉 because like the Helitropian they continually follow the Sunne and 〈◊〉 stand streight vpright but at hie noone onely the colour of them most 〈◊〉 is a pale red and they haue within the inward part of them a round liquid 〈◊〉 like vnto an Orient pearle which whilest the flower is in strength being for the 〈◊〉 part fifteene or twentie dayes you can by no meanes shake off nor will it be 〈◊〉 way with showers or tempests but if with your hand you wipe it away a new 〈◊〉 will arise againe presently in the same place this pearle if you tast vpon your 〈◊〉 is sweet and pleasant as Honie or Sugar This flower must be carefully 〈◊〉 from the frost and the slips of it would be seldome or neâ—er set because they are 〈◊〉 they bring forth flowers as three or foure yeares at the soonest CHAP. XLIX Of sweet smelling Hearbes BAsill as well the great as the small is sowne in Aprill and May in a 〈◊〉 ground and commeth vp quickly if so be that by and by after it is 〈◊〉 it be watered with water somewhat heated It may be sowne 〈◊〉 in Autumne and the seed would be watered with vinegar for so 〈◊〉 it but a verie little it will grow forth into branches If you sow it in a drie ground 〈◊〉 open vpon the Sun it will by and by turne and become either mountaine 〈◊〉 or cresses When you haue sowne it you must draw vpon the ground some 〈◊〉 fasten and set it close together for if it should lye light and hollow the seed would 〈◊〉 corrupt It must be watered at noone-tide cleane contrarie to other hearbs 〈◊〉 would be watered at morning or euening To cause it to grow great it is 〈◊〉 crop it oft with your fingers and not with any yron thing Some report a 〈◊〉 strange thing of Basill as namely that it groweth fairer and higher if it 〈◊〉 sowne with curses and injuries offered vnto it and further that there is a deadly 〈◊〉 betwixt ambeâ— basill for whereas amber or blacke jet it giuen to draw 〈◊〉 â—nto it vpon the touching of them it driueth and putteth farre from it the leaues and 〈◊〉 of Basill Such as are subject vnto head-ach or feare to be troubled therewith must shun the 〈◊〉 of Basill altogether for the smell thereof begetteth paine and heauinesse of the 〈◊〉 yeâ— sometimes it ingendreth in the head little small wormes like vnto Scorpiâ—â—s as we read to haue happened to a certaine Italian in our time as Monsieur â—â—oulier D. in physicke doth testifie in the beginning of his Practica in whose â—â—aine the oft smelling of Basill did beget a scorpion which caused him to endure â—â—treame paine and brought him to his death in the end The greatest vertue that 〈◊〉 hearbe can haue is that if a woman doe hold the roots of Basill in her hand toâ—ether with a Swallows feather when she is in trauell she shall be deliuered by and 〈◊〉 without any paine Rue as well that of the garden as the other which is wild doth not loue eyther a â—oist or cold ground neither yet a ground made verie fat with dung but rather a 〈◊〉 and drie ground free from vvind and where the Sunne shineth much in respect â—hereof it must be couered with ashes during the Winter time for the naturall heat 〈◊〉 the ashes doth cause it to resist the cold It may be sowne in March August and â—â—ptember although in deed it grow better set of roots or braunches than sowne â—hen it groweth old it degenerateth into a wooddie substance and therefore you â—ust cut the stalkes twice euerie yeare euen to the root to recouer his youth againe 〈◊〉 must not be suffered if possibly it may be let to flowre for if it be suffered to put 〈◊〉 any flowres it groweth so much the more drie Some report that this hearbe 〈◊〉 a maruailous propertie as that if it be toucht or come neere vnto be it neuer so 〈◊〉 by a woman that hath abused her bodie or that hath her termes that it dyeth 〈◊〉 and by To cause that it
may grow faire and haue a more pleasant smell it must be planted â—nder the shadow of a Figge-tree or grafted in the rind of a Figge-tree for the 〈◊〉 and sweetnesse of the Figge-tree doth temper the sharpenesse and acrimoâ—ie of the Rue Some say likewise that Rue will grow fairer if the branches thereof 〈◊〉 set in a Beane or Onion and so put into the ground It is likewise reported that it â—â—oweth fairer if one curse and hurt it when they set and plant it But looke how â—â—iendly and kind it is to the Figge-tree so much it is enemie vnto and hateth the â—â—emlocke likewise Gardiners when they would pull vp Rue for feare of hurting â—â—eir hands rub them with the juice of Hemlocke Wild Rue is of greater force than the garden Rue and of a more vnpleasant â—â—ell and also a more dangerous smell furthermore of so sharpe a vapour as that if 〈◊〉 come neere vnto the face neuer so little it will breed the wild fire in it The feed 〈◊〉 of the one and the other by the hot and drie temperature it hath drieth vp the 〈◊〉 of man and maketh him barren the same seed in decoction is good for distilâ—â—tions and the moisture of the matrix Rue hath a singular vertue and force against all manner of venime Likewise we 〈◊〉 that the king Mithridates was accustomed to vse an opiate made of twentie â—â—ues of Rue two drie Figges two old Walnuts and a little Salt to preserue his state â—gainst all manner of poyson For this cause you must plant in your gardens and 〈◊〉 your sheepecoats houses for your fowle and other cattell great quantitie of â—ue for Adders Lizards and other venimous beasts will not come neere vnto 〈◊〉 by the length of the shadow of it Some also hold it as a tried thing that to 〈◊〉 away Cats and Fulmers from hen-houses and doue-houses there is nothing â—etter than to set Rue at the doores thereof or round about them And that to free a â—ome of fleas and gâ—ats it is good to water that same with water sprinkled about with branch of rue In the plague time it is not good to put rue neere vnto your nose â—ontrarie to that which we see many men practise because by the sharpenesse of the 〈◊〉 there is caused a heat and excoriation of the part which it toucheth notwithâ—â—anding to draw out the venime that is in a bubo or pestilent carbuncle there is noâ—â—ing better than to applie thereto a cataplasme made of the leaues of rue stampt with leauen hogs-grease onions figges vnquencht lime sope cantharides and a 〈◊〉 treacle If a man haue eaten of hemlocke ceruse mandrakes blacke poppie 〈…〉 other hearbes which through their great coldnesse haue caused them to be 〈◊〉 and blockish they may profitably vse the juice of rue to drinke it for the 〈◊〉 of them from such danger or else the wine wherein it hath beene boyled Thâ— distilled water of rue powred into vvine and rose-water of each as much is good 〈◊〉 the weakenesse of the sight It is verie soueraigne for the headach and being 〈◊〉 in wine with fennell and so drunke it easeth all obstructions of the spleene or 〈◊〉 and taketh away the pain of the strangurie and also stoppeth any flux being 〈◊〉 with Cummin-seed it easeth all maner of aches and being stampt with home 〈◊〉 flower and the yolke of an egge it cureth any impostumation whatsoeuer All sorts of mints whether garden or wild doe nothing desire the ground 〈◊〉 dunged fat or lying open vpon the Sunne but rather a moist ground neere 〈◊〉 water for want thereof they must be continually watred for else they die it is 〈◊〉 sowne than set but if it be set then it may be either of roots or branches in 〈◊〉 or in the Spring time especially about the twelfth of March or September 〈◊〉 wanteth the seed to sow it may insteed thereof sow the seed of field mints 〈◊〉 the sharpe point downeward thereby to tame and reclaime the wildnesse of it 〈◊〉 it is growne it must not be toucht with any edge toole because thereupon it 〈◊〉 die Neither need you take care to sow it euerie yeare for it will grow of itselfe 〈◊〉 being sowne of set in great aboundance Mints stampt and applyed to breasts too hard and full of milke doe seften 〈◊〉 and hindreth the curding of the milke stampt with salt it is good against the 〈◊〉 of a mad dog stampt and put into a cataplasme it comforteth a weak 〈◊〉 and strengtheneth digestion two or three sprigs of mints taken with the juice of â—â—pomegranat stayeth the hicket vomiting and surfets It is good to help them 〈◊〉 haue lost their smelling by putting it oft to the nose Then leaues dried made in 〈◊〉 and drunke with white wine doth kill the wormes in yong children Such as 〈◊〉 milke aâ—ter they haue eaten it must by and by chaw of the leaues of mints 〈…〉 the quaâ—ling of the milke in their stomachs for mints haue the speciall 〈…〉 keeping milk from curding as also to keepe cheeâ—e from corruption and 〈◊〉 if it be sprinkled with the juice or decoction of mints being â—pplied vnto the 〈◊〉 it asswageth head-ach commming of cold The water of the whole hearbe distilled 〈◊〉 Maries bath in a glasse Alembecke and taken the quantitie of foure ounces 〈◊〉 stay bleeding at the nose which is very strange thing they that would liue 〈◊〉 must not smell vnto not eat any mints and therefore in auncient time it was 〈◊〉 captaines in warre to eat any mints Calamint otherwise called Mentastrum delighteth in the same ground 〈◊〉 mints we see it likewise grow in vntilled grounds neere vnto high waies and hedgâ— It prouoketh the termes in women whether it be taken at the mouth or in 〈◊〉 and that with such violence as that women may not in any case meddle with 〈◊〉 if they take themselues to be with child it is singular good vsed in formentation 〈◊〉 the paines of the stomach for the colicke and distillations the juice thereof 〈◊〉 the mouth killeth wormes in the bellie and being dropt into the eare it killeth 〈◊〉 there also Of this Calamint there are three kinds as the stone Calamint the 〈◊〉 Calamint and the water Calamint the water Calamint is excellent to make 〈…〉 the earth Calamint is verie good against leprosie helpeth paine in the 〈◊〉 and comforteth the stomach lastly the stone Calamint is soueraigne against 〈◊〉 and strengtheneth the heart if it be bruised and made into a plaiâ—ter with 〈…〉 sewet it healeth any venimous wounds and to drinke it three or foure daies 〈◊〉 either in ale or wine it cureth the jaundise Thyme as well of Candie as the common doth grow better planted than 〈◊〉 and craueth a place open vpon the Sunne neere vnto the sea and leane and it 〈◊〉 be planted at mid-March in a well â—illed ground that so it may the sooner
the said tooth-ach It is good also for them which haue the swimming of the head as also for them which are troubled with Melancholie or with the Stone Caâ—s-mint or Nept is a kind of Calamint whereof wee haue spoken before so called because that Cats doe exceedingly delight in the smell thereof and doe tumble themselues round vpon the leaues and stalkes it groweth without anie great husbanding in marshie and waterish places as may easily be seene and tryed It is reported to haue a singular vertue in helping women to conceiue In like manner Physitians are wont to prescribe Bathes and Fomentations made of this hearbe for women that cannot conceiue and haue children Also it is verie delicately purgatiue and openeth the bodie verie gently without offence or danger aftercoâ—â—iâ—enesse French Lauander being and hearbe of a verie good smell and verie vsuall in Languâ—doâ— and Prouence doth craue to be diligently tilled in a fat ground and lying open to the Sunne The decoction syrrup or distilled water doth comfort the braine and memorie taketh away the obstructions of the Liuer Spleene Lungs and Matrix but such as are cholericke must not vse it because it disquieteth them mightily in causing them to vomit and altering them much by bringing a heat vpon all the bodie The drie stonie and Sunne-shining place is verie fit for Lauander whether male or female Before it flower it must be cut and picked verie carefully It is of a sweet smell and good when it is dryed to put amongst Linnens and Woollen Clothes â—mparting of his sweetnesse vnto them and keeping of them from vermine It is verie excellent to comfort weake and wearied sinewes or otherwise ill affected through some cold cause and by reason hereof Baths and Fomentations made of Lauander for Palsies Conuulsions Apoplexies and other such like affects are verie soueraigne The flowers with Cinnamon Nutmeg and Cloues doe heale the beating of the heart The distilled water of the flowers taken in the quantitie of two spoonefuls restoreth the lost speech and healeth the swownings and disease of the heart The consâ—rue and distilled water thereof doe the like The Oyle thereof dryeth vp Rheumes also and beeing annoynted vpon the nape of the necke it is singular good against conuulsions and benummednesse of sinewes All-good otherwise called in French Orualle because it is as much worth as gold groweth in anie ground without seed and with seed it delighteth notwithstanding to be often watered The leaues stamped and applyed doe draw forth thornes and prickes that are fastened and runne into anie part of the bodie whatsoeuer It doth in like manner bring the child out of the mothers bodie being in trauell The wine wherein it hath been steeped in small quantitie doth make men pleasant and cheerefull and apt to carnall copulation The seed thereof put into the eye and turned manie times round about the eye doth cleanse and cleare it in wiping away the â—â—egmaticke humour wherewith you shall well perceiue the seed to be laden and aâ— it were wrapt in small filmes after that it is taken out of the eyes The flowerâ— and seed put in a vessell full of sweet Wine whiles it yet purgeth giueth it the tast of Malmesey It is true that such Wine will quickly make one drunke and cause the head-ach as we see that Beere doth wherein Brewers boyle Clarie in stead of Hoppes Nigella of the Garden must be sowne in a ground that is fat and well tilled The fume of the seed taken doth stay the rheume drie the braine and causeth the smelling that is lost to come againe boyled with water and vineger and holden in the mouth it assuageth tooth-ach Sweet Balme groweth rather in Woods and Forests than in Gardens notwithstanding he that will haue it in his Garden must sow it in a fat and well battild ground where the heat of the Sunne commeth not verie strongly It serueth to reioyce the heart and deliuereth the spirit from melancholike imaginations and fansies it is good not onely against bitings and stingings of venimonâ— beasts but also against the Plague in whatsoeuer manner it be vsed And further if anie man doubt himselfe to haue eaten anie venimous or poysoned meat as it falleth out often in them which haue eaten Mushromes and such like things then this serueth for a singular remedie against the same Such as esteeme it a fine thing to keepe Bees to the end he may preuent their flying away and forsaking of their Hiues as also to cause them to come againe if they be gone away doe rub the Hiues with the flowers of sweet Balme as on the contrarie to driue them and to cause them to forsake them they rub them with the flowers of Fetherfew Camomile as well the white as the yellow hath no need of great tilling it is sufficient to plant it in a drie leane and stonie ground Camomile is singular good to mollifie resolue raâ—ifie and loosen and in this respect there is no remedie better for laâ—â—itudes or wearisomenesse without iust outward causes than bathes made with the leaues and flowers thereof The leaues of Camomile stamped with white wine make a verie good drinke to cure all sorts of Agues but especially Tertians for which reason the Priests of Egypt did consecrate it vnto the Sunne Also the water of Camomile drunke warme in the beginning of the fit doth throughly heale the Tertian by vomit The leaues of Camomile yet greene being dryed vpon a Tyle or hot Fire-panne doe by and by appease the head-ach Being also fried with sweet Sewet and vnset Leekes in a Frying-paâ—â—e and put hot into a Linnen bagge and so applyed to the nauell it killeth Wormes either in old middle age or young infants and taketh away all manner of paine in the bellie Melilot refuseth no ground be it fat or be it drie and yet it loueth to be watered Melilot doth mollifie resolue and rarifie as doth Camomile and yeeldeth a verie good smell especially when it is new or when it raineth in Summer it also assuageth the ach of anie part or member whatsoeuer it be Also the â—uice thereof mixed with Turpentine Waxe and Oyle ripeneth breaketh and healeth anie Impostume whatsoeuer it taketh away all hard swelling and cleanseth wounds Manie men being verie desirous to adorne and set forth their Garden with all sorts of Plants doe amongst the rest prouide to furnish it with Apples of Loue which the Latines call Mala insana by reason of the beautie of their fruit which which is as thicke as a Cucumber drawing towards a red colour They must be sowne in the Spring in a fat and well battild soyle and where the Sun hath great power because they cannot abide any cold they craue the like ordering and husbandrie that the Cucumber doth Many licorish mouthes let not to be eating of these no more than of mushroomes they take
away their pilling they cut them in slices boyle them in water and after frie them in the flower of meale and butter or oyle and then cast vpon them pepper and salt this kind of meat is good for such men as are inclined to dallie with common dames and short-heeld huswiues because it is windie and withall ingendreth cholericke humours inâ—inite obstructions and head-ach sadnesse melancholicke dreames and in the end long continuing agues and therefore it were better to forbeare them Mandrakes as well the male as the female is more acceptable and to be commended for the beautie of his leaues fruit and whole plant than for the smell it hath it must be sowne or planted in some shadowed place a fat and well battild ground and be kept from the cold which it altogether detesteth and cannot abide The Apples of Mandrakes procure sleepe if you put but one of them vnder your eare when you are layed in bed it is all but fables which is spoken of the root which is not so cooling as the apple and hath vertue on the contrarie to drie soften and resolue all the hardnesse of the liuer spleene kings euill and such other tumours how hard and rebellious soeuer that they be Which is more Dioscorides reporteth that if one boyle the rootes of Mandrakes vvith Iuorie for the space of sixe houres it maketh the Iuorie so tractable and softeneth it in such sort as that you may set what impression vpon Iuorie that you please peraduenture such as bring vs vnicornes horne from thence doe vse such deceitfull and wily dealing with vs seeing by such their cunning skill they are able in such sort to soften Iuorie or the Harts-horne and thereby likewise able to worke it to the same forme which we receiue the vnicornes-horne in at this day Within this small time there hath beene seene a plant somewhat like vnto apples of loue bearing a round fruit like an apple diuided vpon the outside as the melon is with furrowes in the beginning it is greene but afterward when it commeth to ripenesse it becommeth somewhat golden and sometimes reddish This plant is more pleasant to the sight than either to the taste or smell because the fruit being eaten it prouoketh loathing and vomiting CHAP. L. Of the forme of setting Hearbes in order by proportion of diuers fashions WEe haue alreadie deliuered the forme of setting Hearbes in order as well such as are of a sweet smell as those which are for nosegaies and that either vpon particular beds or quarters now we will speake of the manner of bestowing of them in proportions of diuers fashions and in labyrinthes or mazes But in this course I cannot set thee downe an vniuersall and as it were inuiolable prescript and ordinance seeing the fashions of proportions doe depend partly vpon the spirit and inuention of the Gardener and partly vpon the pleasure of the maister and Lord vnto whom the ground and garden appertaineth the one whereof is lead by the hops and skips turnings and windings of his braine the other by the pleasing of his eye according to his best fantasie Notwithstanding that there may not any thing be here omitted which might worke your better contentment and greater pleasure by looking vpon the beautie and comelinesse of this your garden-plot I intend to set before you diuers figures of proportions and the manner of drawing of them cunningly to the end you may haue the meanes to chuse those which shall most delight you and best agree with your good liking In which I desire you to giue great thankes and acknowledge your selfe greatly beholden and bound vnto Monsieur Porcher Prior of Crecie in Brie the most excellent man in this art not onely in France but also in all Europe and not vnto me who shall be but his mouth in deliuering what he hath said written and communicated vnto me in precepts yet extant and to be seene with the eye And touching these proportions you shall vnderstand that they are of two kinds inward and outward the inward are those beauties and proportions which are bestowed vpon the inward parts or quarters of your garden as are knots mazes armes braunches or any other curious figures whatsoeuer and these are diuided by slender rowes or lines of hearbes flowers turfes or such like the outward beauties or proportions are those which are bestowed in the outward and generall parts of the whole or entire modell of the garden drawne into what figure knot or deuise your fancie can create or the ground retaine and are diuided by alleyes hedges deepe borders and such like as shall be at large shewed vnto you hereafter To come therefore vnto the matter all the sweet smelling hearbes and others for â—osegaies which we haue mentioned before are not fit and good to make proportions of The most fit and meet are penniroyall lauander hysâ—ope wild thyme rosemarie thyme â—age marierom cammomile violets daisies basil and other such hearbs as well those that are of sweet smell as those which are for nosegayes as for example lauander and rosemarie of a yeare old to make borders about the proportions or knots and as for boxe in as much as it is of a naughtie smell it is to be left off and not dealt withall All the rest of the hearbes as penniroyall hyssope wild thyme thyme sage maâ—ierom and such like are â—ittest to be vsed about the quarters or else in some such preâ—tie little deuises as are made in the middest of borders or whereof proportions of quarters without borders as wel whole as broken are made Germander also is an excellent hearbe for the setting forth of any inward proportion for it growes euen and comely thicke and vpright so is also mother of thyme winter-â—auorie and pinkes prouided that with your sheares you keepe them from too much spreading The hearbes whereof borders shall bee made must bee more high and thickeâ— set of leaues than those whereof proportions of quarters either whole or broken are made or yet the other which are in the middest of the borders that so the beautie and good proportion of the knot or quarter may bee seene and discerned more easily I call in these places that the border which compasseth the proportion or quarter about as also the alleys of the garden I call broken quarters those many small parcels which are sundred and seperate one from another The proportions either without borders or borders are either equally square in widenesse and length or else vnequally squared that is to say longer than they are wide or wider than they are long Or else of the forme and shape of an egge or of a forme and fashion that is mixt of a round and a square or of some such other forme as shall please the gardener as for example the fashion of a flower-deluce of a true loues knot of a lion rampant and other such like portraitures That which shall be in the midst of the proportions with borders
proportion or squares you must haue two small rods of the thickenesse of a thombe of willow of some other straight wood the one eight foot long and the other betwixt three and foure the long one to serue for the largest works and the short for the smaller vpon which rods you must marke out your proportions wherof you meane to make your squares or any other â—orme that it shall please you to make For round workes you must haue an instrument commonly called the Gardners Bilboquet the patterne whereof you shall see hereafter but giue it what name it pleaseth you but this is the manner of making of it You shall take a prop or standard somewhat thicker than your thombe you shall put thereto a line of the same thicknesse that your gardening lines are of three or foure foot long or according to the length and greatnesse that you would haue your rounds of Vpon this line shall you make knots according to the bignes or outside of the worke and then another knot for the second or inward circle of the round which shall be eight or nine inches or lesse if you will but I tell you before hand that if you make them any lesse the border will be ouershadowed and will not last and continue so long and yet I still refer it to your owne discretion To euery knot of the said line for to make your rounds withall you shall make fast right ouer against the knot on the backside thereof a little sticke some foure fingers long more or lesse as you shall most fancie and of thicknesse of your little finger By the meanes of these knots shorter or longer you shall make your rounds so many and so big or so little as shall seeme good vnto you If it may not rather stand with your liking to make two Bilboquets one for your smal rounds and another for your greater This figure following doth shew the forme and fashion that must be followed in vsing your lines for the making of your quarters with borders These draughts will serue also to make a border to broken quarters with some small whole and vnbroken proportions in the midst euen as you see a square in the midst and shall further hereafter see it in other portraitures which shall be set out for your vse To work the more surely you shall let all your lines be stretched out in length and our standards props or dibbles fast in the ground vntill such time as you haue throughly finished the border that is to say your crosse lines in the middest as also those which passe from corner to corner and thirdly those which make the sides of the borders All which said lines are noted with the letter B. The others which are marked with the letter A. are the running or flying lines which are carried from one place to another to make middle partitions to the treading of the rounds and to the squaring of the said border when as one side is downe they are then to be taken vp to be pitched down else where And although that here be foure yet two is sufficient at the discretion of the gardener who according as his number of workefolkes is more or lesse shall stretch and draw more or fewer lines The manner of vsing and platforme shewing the practise of handling the lines for the laying out of a simple quarter without any border And how the lines must bee continued and kept stretcht till the whole proportion be drawne out and finished The vse and manner of practising by the stretched lines The vse and manner of practising by the stretched lines A simple proportion or draught of a Knot A simple proportion or draught of a Knot A simple proportion or draught of a Knot A simple proportion or draught of a Knot A simple proportion or draught of a Knot A simple proportion or draught of a Knot A simple proportion or draught of a Knot A simple proportion or draught of a Knot A simple proportion or draught of a Knot The way and maner to stretch the lines to make a quarter with borders and to make a border with squares broken and crossed thorow the middest The manner of stretching your lines vpon a border with a seuered knot in the middest A border with his seuerall proportion in the midst A border of broken squares with a middle consisting of fiue proportions The manner to stretch the lines to make a quarter of broken squares Let rest and abide in their places the lines til you haue finished the proportions Take the measure of the standards of a crosse and corner line whether it be a square or a round and let there be so many of them and as great as the ground will beare And if perhaps you would plant any thing in the middest of the quarter helpe your selfe with the running lines and their standards to plant there what you would without putting downe any other standards or stretching any other lines than are alreadie and those you must not flacke according as hath beene said before The manner of stretching the lines vpon a quarter of broken squares A border of broken squares with the middle The forme and shape of Bilboquet which is an instrument to take the measure of rounds as we haue declared before The forme of a Labyrinth When the hearbes as well of the Borders as of the Quarters are growne vp if they become too thicke set of leaues and by their large spreading doe ouer-shadow the one the other couer the small alleyes of the proportions and therewithall spoyle and huâ—â— the comelinesse of the whole Quarter they must be cut The season to cut them is at all such times as need shall require It is true that there must especiall care be had not to cut them the time of August being once past by reason of the great losâ—e that ensueth in hearbes which thereby will fall to wither and pine away and become as things burned with the Sunne To cut them which stand in a right and straight line you shall stretch a line verie stiffe being of the length of the proportion by the direction whereof you shall cut verie neere first the two sides and then the vpper face thereof As concerning Rounds you must cut them for the â—ight of the Countrey as round as euer you can To cut the Border whether it be of Lauander Rosemarie or Boxe you must vse the ordinarie sheeres which haue handles of wood To cut other smaller and lesse hearbes you must haue sheeres like those which Taylors vse Now you shall againe vnderstand that these inward Quarters wherein you place these Knots or other Deuises may be circumferenced or bound in as well with 〈◊〉 curious Hedges made battlement-wise in sundrie formes according to inuention or carrying the proportions of Pyllasters Flowers shapes of Beasts Birds Creeping things Shippes Trees and such like as with Borders especially if your ground be little or straitened because these Hedges take
wish amongst the Brambles and Bushes and therefore from hence it may be transplanted and remoued into your Garden for the benefit of your Arbours The root especially the iuice doth mightily loosen the bellie prouoke vrine purge the braine open the spleene and take away the hardnesse thereof applyed in forme of a Pessarie it bringeth downe the termes the after-birth and dead child stamped with salt and applyed it healeth vlcers it cleanseth the skinne and taketh away the red pimples of the face for which purpose also serueth the water thereof which you may gather in the moneth of May out of a pit which you shall make in the head of the root as it standeth in the ground according as we haue alreadie said in the Chapter of Violets going before In a Cataplasme it is singular against the Sciatica as also to take away the haire from some place being mixed and stamped with Bulls bloud it is of maruellous effects in hard and schirrous swellings and cankerouâ— tumours We haue spoken heretofore of cucumbers and gourds and therefore it is not needfull to make any new repetition The ordering of hops is like vnto that of the wild vine for one and the same ground and dressing vvill serue both The flowers crops and juice pressed out doe take away the obstructions of the liuer and spleene and the vse thereof is verie conâ—enient for such as haue the dropsie therewith beere is made as we shall further declare hereafter Maruailous apples are verie fit to ouerspread arbours as well in respect of their beautie as for that they are pliant and winding easily about the poles They would be sowne in the Spring time in a fat and well battilled ground they cannot endure the cold so soone as their fruit is ripe which is in Autumne they drie away by and by wherefore you must sow them where the Sunne hath full power vpon them and water them oft in the time of great heat gathering their fruit in September These apples resemble little lymons as being sharpe pointed at the end 〈◊〉 bellied in the middest rough as wild Cucumbers greene at the beginning but aâ—terward turning red the first that euer brought them into France was Reâ—e du Bellay Bishop of Mans. They haue also beene found in the gardens of the religious of S. Geâ—manes in the fields and in the Temple garden at Paris They are called of the Greekes Gratious apples because of their well pleasing beautie and of the Latines Viticella Momordica and Balsamita this last name was giuen to them by reason of the vertues of Balme which they haue and in French Maruailous apples because of the maruailous vertue that they haue to heale wounds Some take all the seeds 〈◊〉 of the apples putting the said apples into a viole of vnripe oyle oliue or insteed of oyle made of vnripe oliues which is not alwaies readie to be had at Paris some 〈◊〉 common oyle verie well in Rose-water or Common water or plantaine or Mulberie water and doe afterward set the said viole a long time in the Sunne when it 〈…〉 his heat or else they put it in a vessell of hot boyling vvater or else burie it in the earth or in horse dung and this oyle is singular good to assuage inflammations of wounds and of the breasts and hath no lesse vertue than Balme to consolidate 〈◊〉 heale wounds either new or old being a thing tried of many The fruit soaked 〈◊〉 oyle of sweet Almonds or Linseed adding thereto an ounce of liquid vernish 〈◊〉 euerie pound of oyle maketh the oyle verie soueraigne for the paines of the Hâ—â—â—â—rhoides Burnings prickings of the sinews and to take away the skarres of â—oundâ— The leaues dried and made into powder and drunke the quantitie of a spoonefull with the decoction of plantaine doe heale the gripes in the guts the paine of the colicke and the wounds of the guts The oyle wherein this fruit hath beene soaked doth keepe in his place the fundament wont to fall downe in little children if it be often rubbed therewith it maketh barren women fruitfull if after they haue bathed in a bath for the purpose and drunke of the powder of the leaues of this hearbe they annoint their secret parts with this oyle dwelling afterwards with their husbands The maruailous pease are verie rare in this countrie resembling somewhat Winter cherries as hauing their seed inclosed in a little filme or skinne like vnto a â—ich pease in the middest whereof there is the shape as it were of a heart They delight in a very fat moist and well sunned soyle and cannot abide to endure the cold Winter cherries which the Latines call Halicacaâ—um and the Arabians Aâ—â—kengi are delighted in vines wherefore they which would haue it planted in their garden must picke out for it such a soyle as would fit the vine The little 〈◊〉 which is inclosed in the bladder is singular good to prouoke the decayed vrine and to take away the sharpnesâ—e and scalding thereof for the juice thereof mixt with 〈◊〉 creame or milke of white poppie seed or with the decoction of the seed of meloâ—â— or gourds mallows or barly ptisane and drunke doth maruailously mitigate the scalding of the vrine if the root come neere vnto the aspe or lizard it casteth them into a dead sleepe and killeth them the vse of the cherrie is soueraigne against the stone and grauell Likewise for this disease some make a Wine which is called Winter-cherrie wine which is made with the new pressed liquor of good white wine when in hath beene infused a certaine quantitie of these cherries or with a certaine quaâ—titie of these cherries cast with an equall quantitie of white wine grapes all whole into a new vesâ—ell the same vesâ—ell afterward being filled vp with white wine new froâ— the presse being afterward scummed and vsed after the manner of other wines or else this wine may be thus made these cherries are troden amongst ripe grapes and being suffered to worke together certaine daies they are afterward â—unned vp 〈◊〉 vessells and ordered as other wines this wine taken the quantitie of foure 〈…〉 the morning three or foure daies together in the decrease of the Moone cleanseth the reines and purgeth out great quantitie of grauell CHAP. LIIII Of Trees both great and small as well outlandish as of the same Countrie being planted or sowne either vpon beds or in vessells in the Garden THe Bay-tree will grow in all places but it is not as easily preserued and kept in euerie place for it delighteth especially and naturally in a hot or temperate countrie for in a cold it groweth not but by constraine but and if you be disposed to haue it to grow in this cold countrie you 〈◊〉 plant it so vpon the Sunne as that it may thereby shâ—ke off and better passe 〈◊〉 the extremitie of the cold and on the contrarie in a hot countrie you must plant 〈◊〉 so as
no frost almost 〈…〉 hurt it especially the root for when it is once taken it putteth forth continually 〈◊〉 and boughs along the plant The wood is principally commended for that it assuageth and diminisheth 〈◊〉 spleene in such as haue it stopt too full of melancholicke humours and hence 〈…〉 that many troubled with that disease doe eat and drinke in vessells made of 〈◊〉 wood thereof And some likewise doe counsell to giue swine that are troubled 〈◊〉 too much fulnesse of the spleene water to drinke in their â—â—oughâ— hauing first â—â—â—ched therein coales made of the wood of Tamariske The decoction of the 〈…〉 damaske raisons in good for leprous persons and such as haue their spleene 〈◊〉 as also for the pockes Bastard Sene called of the Latines 〈◊〉 delighteth in a fat ground and well battilled with Sheepes dung It groweth not planted but vpon seed and it is meet that the seed be steeped first a long time in water euen vntill it begin to sprout The time to sow it is about the beginning of the moneth of Iune It must not haue any of the branches cut off nor be pruned or touched before the fourth yeare The fruit serueth to good vse for the fatting of Sheepe and maketh them to haue much milke it is good also to fat chickens bees goats and kyne Some take it to be Sene but they doe greatly deceiue and beguile themselues The Caper-tree in many countries groweth without any tilling â—n â—arable ground but where it wanteth if it must be sowne it must be in a hot countrie and a drie stonie and sandie place which shall before hand be inclosed with a little ditch which shall be filled with stone and lyme or else with fat earth for to be a fortresse and defence vnto it that so the roots of the Caper-tree and thereby all shoots that might grow vp from them may be kept from breaking forth and spreading further than this ditch for if they should be stayed and kept backe from spreading by some such meanes it would come to passe that within a small time they would ouer-runne the whole Garden and plant themselues in euerie corner of the same Notwithstanding the Caper-tree is not so noysome in that respect because it may be pulled vp as it is by inueniming I know not by what venimous humour or juice the whole ground and making of it barren It hath no need except a verâ—e little to be any way tilled or fashioned for it groweth well ynough without any thing done vnto it in â—ields and desart grounds It may be sowne in the Spring and Autumne The fruit of the Caper-tree as well the great as the small is good in a fallade to prouoke appetite cleanse the flegmaticke stomach and to take away the obstructions of the liuer but principally of the spleene the rind of the root and leaues haue the like vertue but more effectually Capers both the great and the small whiles they are yet greene and not salted doe nourish a great deale more both of them are in request not so much for that they are fruit as for their manner of preseruing which is performed either with vinegar or else with salt brine for Capers not pickled are of a verie sharpe and vnpleasant tast but the vinegar wherein they are preserued doth make them verie acceptable vnto the stomach but the great ones because they haue both more juice and more pulpe are a great deale better than the little ones though the little ones are more delightsome to the tast than the great ones because they are fuller of vinegar than the great ones Agnus Castuâ— seeing it commeth verie neere to the nature and condition of the Willow and of the same colour with the leaues disagreeing onely in smell craueth to be planted in a watrie place where there is much shadow or at the least to be oft watered The leaues seed and flowers are singular good for them which would liue chastly taken inwardly or applyed outwardly for some say that the leaues 〈◊〉 or â—lowres put into little bâ—gges and applied vnto the reines in bed do helpe to keepe the chastitie of the bodie which is the cause that in many countries it is seene planted almost in all the Monkeries The decoction of the leaues is good against the sealding and burning Vrine as well in drinking as in fomenting it as also against the obstructions of the liuer spleene and matrix If you carrie a branch of Agnus Castus about you you shall not grow wearie no not after much trauell The fume thereof taken in at the secret parts of women doth quench the vnsatiable lust and burning desire vnto venerie and carnall copulation Beane-tree or S. Iohns-bread bearing a long flat and broad fruit like vnto that of Caâ—â—ia would be planted of new shoots in Februarie and Nouember in a drie ground lying open vpon the Sun and where as there are verie deepe ditches made It may also be grafted in a Plum-tree or Almond-tree in any case you must neuer thinke vpon the sowing of it because so it would neuer beare any fruit but would die verie quickly it must be oft watered The Codâ— are good either to fat children or â—winâ— but not so fit to feed men withall It is true that the fruit doth loosen the bellie gently as it were after the manner of Cassia There 〈…〉 sorts of the Date-tree some beare fruit and some 〈…〉 and of the fruitfull some beare a reddish fruit and some a white and 〈…〉 gray Furthermore some are males and some females some are high and 〈…〉 some are stooping downe and but low and therefore called the little or 〈…〉 tree and some of a middle size betwixt both but howsoeuer they differ yet 〈◊〉 they agree that they all desire a hot ayre a great deale more than temperate for in a hot Countrey it bringeth forth verie faire and ripe fruit and of it selfe is 〈◊〉 kept and preserued without anie fâ—rther paine or â—are except it be about the 〈◊〉 of it where in a temperate Region it either ripeneth not his fruit or 〈…〉 none at all It craueth a 〈…〉 and nitrous ground foreseene that it be 〈…〉 moist and this is the cause why it â—roâ—pereth well vpon the Sea coast and if the ground where it be planted be not such it must be watered with salt water 〈…〉 brine It is planted of small Plants with roots in Aprill and May the Plant being well layd about with fat earth Some also sow the new stones of Dates and they bring forth their trees in October two cubits deepe in the ground and that mingled with ashes and well enriched with Goats dung and the sharpe side of it must be vpward it must be watered euerie day and euerie yeare there must be â—alt shed 〈◊〉 it or else which is better that it be oftentimes watered with water that is 〈◊〉 salt Againe that it may grow high and faire it
Oliues a long time must change his 〈…〉 euerâ—e quarter of a yeare As concerning Oliues to make Oyle of they must be gathered when they are somewhat more ripe than those which are to be preserued and when as there are manie of them become alreadie blacke but yet not so manie as are white in other respects they must be gathered in such manner as wee haue said that the others should be gathered that is to say with the hand and when it is faire weather except it be those Oliues which by tempests and winds haue beene blowne to the earth and such as must needs be gathered as well because of wild as â—ame and house beasts There must no moe be gathered at one time than may be made into Oyle that night and the day following for all the fruit that is gathered in a day must presently be put vpon the Milles and so into the Presses But before that they be put into the Presse they must first be spread vpon hurdles and picked and culled as likewise that their 〈◊〉 and waterish liquor may runne out a little and spend it selfe for it is a great enemie vnto the Oyle insomuch as that if it remaine abide and stand with the Oyle it spoyleth the tast and sauour of it And therefore in this respect when sometimes the quantitie of Oliues is so great as that there want Presses and workmen to dispatch them you must haue a high and well-raysed floore where you must prouide partitions to keepe asunder euerie daies gatherings and these partitions in the botâ—â—me must be paued with Stone or with Tyles or Squares made somewhat sloping that so the moistnesse of the Oliues may conuey it selfe along the channels which shall be there prouided And thus much concerning the preparing of Oliues to make Oyle of it remaineth now to speake of the making of Oyle but wee will reserue that for the end of the third Booke where we will make a large discourse of the making of Oyles Finally there is a verie astringent and binding facultie in the Oliue tree for the decoction of the leaues in a Clyster doth stay the flux of the bellie the iuice pressed from the leaues with white Wine and Raine water doth stay all manner of fluxes of bloud the liquor which droppeth from the greene wood of the Oliue tree when it is burning doth heale the Itch Ringwormes and Scabs Oliues yet greene and vnâ—ipe doe stirre vp and prouoke an appetite being eaten and cause a good stomacke but they make the bodie costiue and are hard of digestion Ripe Oliues doe ouerturne the stomacke and make boylings therein they cause also headach and hurt the eyes As concerning the vertues of Oyle wee will speake of them in his place See more of the Oliue-tree in the third Booke Pistates require as great toyle and diligence about them as the Oliue-tree and would be sowne about the first day of Aprill as well the male as the female both â—oyntly together or at the least one verie neere vnto the other the male hauing the backe turned to the West for being thus ioyned or neere neighbours one vnto the other they beare better and greater store of fruit especially if they be sowne in a faâ— ground and well ayred and there you may graft them at the same time vpon themselues or vpon the Turpentine tree notwithstanding that some doe graft them on the Almond tree They may in like manner be set of Plants and the manner of planting them is thus You must make Pits sufficient deepe in some place where the Sunne shiâ—eth verie hot and chuse new shoots of the tree which are in verie good liking and â—hese bound together put into the Pits the second day of the moneth of Aprill afterward bind them together from the earth vp to the boughes and couer the roots with good dung watering them continually for the space of eight daies And after the â—odie of the Tree is three yeares old you must lay open the Pit neere vnto the rootâ— â—nd set the bodie somewhat deeper in and then couer it againe with good dung to the end that when the Tree shall be growne great it may not be ouer-blowne with â—â—eat winds This Tree was rare and hard to be come by in this Countrey before the most reueâ—end Lords Cardinall du Bellay and Reue du Bellay Bishop of Mants brethren and 〈◊〉 worthie of eternall memorie for their incomparable knowledge alone and 〈◊〉 all other Frenchmen had brought into this Countrey the knowledge not onely of 〈◊〉 which were altogether vnknowne vnto vs but also the ordering and figureâ— of strange Hearbes and Trees the fruits whereof we are greatly in loue withall and doe highly commend notwithstanding that as yet we doe scarce know themselueâ— But surely herein this whole Nation is bound to acknowledge an euerlasting 〈◊〉 vnto them for the same The fruit of Pistates as Aâ—icenne saith verie well not sticking at the scruple and doubt which Galen casteth in the way doe comfort the stomack and nourish 〈…〉 and this is the cause why they are prescribed them which are leane and worne away with sicknesse and which desire to be strong and mightie in performing the act of Venerie Citron-trees Orange-trees Limon-trees and Citron-trees of Assyria require 〈◊〉 like manner of ordering by reason of their like nature whereunto in respect of 〈◊〉 great tendernesse and incredible daintinesse it is needfull to giue great heed 〈◊〉 otherwise there is no hope of reaping any profit or pleasure of them And for as 〈◊〉 as they are best dealt withall and found to prosper most when they are gotten 〈◊〉 growne great from some other place it being so difficult a thing and exceeding toyle to make them breake the earth and grow vpon the seeds in this Countrey I will make a briefe discourse concerning whatsoeuer is requisite for the 〈◊〉 planting remouing and gouerning of them in our Countrey and Grounds And therefore to speake in the first place of the manner of transporting of them 〈◊〉 must thinke that these Trees get no good by changing their place but that they would doe a great deale better in their naturall and natiue soyle and ground when they were first planted sowne or grafted than to be remoued else whither Notwithstanding if it please the Lord of the Farme to procure them from 〈…〉 must doe it in the Spring time rather than in Autumne because euen as in 〈◊〉 the wood thereof groweth hard and solide being ripe and for that the â—appe 〈◊〉 to comfort it with his warme moisture by reason of his approaching cold so iâ— the Spring time on the contrarie they begin to bud by and by after that they are 〈◊〉 and planted and bring forth leaues yea and flowers if the Plants be great and strong ynough The way to transport them is in such sort to â—it the rootes with â—lothes or 〈…〉 that you may bind therein vnto
〈◊〉 the start by which the Pomegranaâ—e hangeth or else lay Pomegranates in 〈◊〉 clay tempered with water and after drie them in the Sunne It is good likewise 〈◊〉 lay them in dust or scrapings or sawings of the Poplar tree the Holme tree or the Oake in a new earthen pot and within it to set them in order in manner of 〈◊〉 and then afterward to couer the pot and lute it verie well But whatsoeuer way 〈◊〉 take the principall end must be to keepe Oranges in a cold and drie plaâ—e and 〈◊〉 they be gathered with their stalkes as also with their little branches if possibly it may be done without hurting the tree for this helpeth much to keepe them long They must likewise be gathered in the old of the Moone so that they be then 〈◊〉 verie drie and not being wet from aboue and then after that to keepe them â— day 〈◊〉 two in the Sunne their flowers lying downeward then after that to cloâ—â— them 〈◊〉 in a pot verie well stopt and well pitcht or â—eared that the ayre may not get in 〈◊〉 doe couer them and worke them ouer verie thicke with Potters earth verie well beaten and tempered and when it is drie then they hang them in a cold place and whâ—â— they will eat them they steepe them in water and take away the earth Others doe wrap euerie one of them alone by it selfe in hay or in straw within cases The 〈◊〉 of Pomegranate trees doe driue away venâ—mous beasts and this was the cause why men in auncient time were wont to put the boughs of Pomegranate trees both vâ—deâ— and aboue them in their beds The Plane tree is more commended for the beautie of his leaues and shadow than for his fruit it groweth of shoots and siences drawne and taken from the tree and planted in a verie moist ground and such as is neere vnto some Fountaine or Riuâ—â— and yet besides this it delighteth to be waâ—red oftentimes with neat Wine and sometimes with mens Vrine to helpe it to shoot vp and grow high and to put forth largâ— and ample branches and long leaues for to make the better shade In this Counâ—â—ey we cannot see manie faire ones I remember that I haue seene one at Basil in 〈◊〉 Peters place betwixt the height of fifteene or sixteene cubits vnder the shield and shadow whereof the people betooke themselues for their refreshment during the time of great and scorching heat Some make dishes of Plane tree wood to 〈◊〉 paine and wringings in the bellie being applyed thereunto You must beware of the dust which hangeth vpon the leaues for being taken into the bodie by drawing in of your breath it hurteth the rough arterie and voice and in like manner the â—ight and hearing if it fall into the eyes or eares The Nettle tree is well ynough knowne in Languedoc and Prouâ—nâ—e especially in a borough neere vnto Mompelier called Bontonnet it groweth in a fat ground well manâ—red and toyled open to the South or East Sunne The wood is good to make Flutes Cornets and other Instruments of Musicke it is good also to make handles for Kniues and Swords The fruit is verie much desired at the Tables of great States of his great sweetnesse and most pleasant and delightsome smell which they find in it that doe eat or smell to it Likewise some doe presse a Wine out of this fruit being stamped and beaten which is verie sweet and seemeth like vnto other new pressed sweet Wines but it lesteth not aboue tenne or twelue daies The Masticke tree delighteth in moist places and is planted after the first day of Februarie it beareth fruit thrice a yeare The leaues barke and wood in decoctions haue power to restraine strengthen and comfort And this is the cause why it is vsed to make Tooth-pickes thereof The Turpentine tree delighteth in a low and moist ground and withall in a 〈◊〉 and warme ayre open vpon the Sunne The leaues barke and wood haue the 〈◊〉 vertue that the Masticke tree The Iuiube tree and others as well foraine as growing in our owne 〈…〉 further to be seene and read of in the third Booke CHAP. LV. Of the two particular Gardens scituate or lying at the end of the Kitchin Garden and of the Garden of Pleasure THe Kitchin Garden and the other of Pleasure being of the largenesse aboue declared may haue referued out of them two or three acres for the profit of the Lord of the farme as for Madder Woâ—d Tasel Line and Hempe And we may also adde vnto these Saffron albeit that all these things euen as well as pulse if it be a free and kind ground doe well deserue 〈◊〉 haue euerie one his seueral field by it selfe and to be tilled and husbanded after the â—anner of corne and pulse For Madder therefore it is meet that there should be appointed out foure or fiue â—eres of ground in a place by it selfe which must not lye farre from the water but in 〈◊〉 free and not in a strong mould and yet not too light which hath had his three or foure arders with the plough or as indeed is best digged and siâ—ted notwithstanding that the sifting of it be a longer peece of worke and of greater cost it being vâ—ed to be cast and tilled with thicker raisings of the earth and smaller clouds than is â—ont to be in the casting or digging of a new vineyard For this plant hath his proper and particular seasons to be dressed and planted in as well as the vine but in this they differ verie manifestly that the one is an hearbe and the other a shrubbe and as it were a knot to many trees the one dieth yearely and there is nothing of it 〈◊〉 request but roots for to make good colours of but the other lasteth and contiâ—â—eth at the least twelue yeares in good liking and liuelihood of which the first sixe is for growth and a little for bringing forth of fruit and the later sixe for whole â—â—mple and intire profit the daunger of haile washing away of the grapes when the â—ines be flowre by much raine and frost being excepted vnto which in like maâ—â—er Madder in subject and oftentimes more than the vine because of his tendernesse This prehemencie it hath that the vine being frozen cannot be recouered but Madder may be either set or â—owne againe as also Woad the speciall husbandrie of such as dwell in Prouence and the wealth and commoditie of Dyers of Cloth or Wooll with what colour soeuer it be It may be sowne or planted but indeed being sowne it yeeldeth scarce at any time any great store of increase but if you will sow it then bestow the like quantitie of the seed thereof vpon an acre as you are wont to doe of Hempe and that in the moneth of March vpon the tops of hills well battilled and â—manured thus the seed being cast into the ground and the same well incorporated with harrows of rakes
there is no need of any other labour but keeping of it cleane from hurtfull weeds vntill such time as the said Madder be readie to be gathered in September for to take the seed of it The choyce of the roots which you intend to set and plant must be out of the countrie of high Prouence being more Easterly and coole and as for the sight and tast of them they must be more yellow thicke and stringed comming neere vnto the colour of the true Prouence Orange-tree verie bitter in tast and in seething for the triall of it more red and full of juice that is to say not so drie and withered The time to plant is from March be ended vnto mid-May and as for the best and most profit to be expected from it it is not to be attained or come by till after the two first yeares after the first planting of it and withall you must make a sure defence about your ground against the comming in of cattell for there can no greater hurt happen vnto it In Italie they vse not to take vp the roots of Madder till after they haue continued ten yeares in the ground either set or sowne but they cut the boughes of it euerie yeare to haue the seed and after they couer the roots one after another laying two fingers depth of earth vpon euerie one the measure bâ—ing â—â—ken from his chiefe and principall to the end the frost may not hurt them and that so the roots may grow the thicker after the eight or tenth yeare they pull vp the roots drying them in the Sunne and afterward when they would grind or presse them they doe further drie them in a great Ouen made for the purpose and so presse them vnder a Mill-stone and this is called the fine Madder Thus they haue found by expâ—â—ence that looke how much the longer they delay the gathering of the root so much the more Madder haue they euerie yeare and that fine which is more than if they should take vp the roots euerie yeare You may both sow it and plant it in the samâ— place where you haue taken it vp or which is better sow that place for the nexâ— two or three yeares following with wheat because it will beare verie faire and great store thereof in as much as the field wherein Madder hath beene sowne is â—ade much fairer and better thereby as whereof it may be said this ground hath rested it selfe seeing the root hath done nothing but brought forth boughs for seed and that the leaues falling from them doe as much feed the ground as the ground doth the roots and boughes But Autumne being come and when you see that the hearbe beginneth to lookâ— yellow and to loose his naturall colour you shall draw it out or pull it vp with the spade or pickaxe and shall strip the roots from their leaues which you shall cast vpon small heapes to drie for the space of three or foure daies if the weather be such as it should or else sixe or eight daies in a rainie and moist weather then you shal cauâ—â— them to be taken vp dusted and scraped that so they may haue none of their haiâ—ie strings at them and when they are thus made cleane you shall keepe them whole or ground into powder either grosse and great or more fine and small either for your owne vse or for the sale Madder is in this one thing much to be maruelled at in that it colourâ—â—h his vrine that shall but hold it in his hands and which is more it maketh the bones and flesh of those cattell red which haue beene fed with it some certaine time some say that the powder of it is so penetratiue and so taketh vp the nosâ—hrills as that it inâ—â—nimeth and killeth many in a few yeares The decoction procureth vâ—ine and thâ— termes of women and coloureth egges red that shall be boyled with it The 〈◊〉 because they are rough and stiffe are good to scowre brasse vessell CHAP. LVI Of Woad AS concerning Woad it is tilled in a field and requireth much labour 〈◊〉 as the Nauets or Turneps though there be no part of it in request but the vppermost and that which is furthest off from flowers and stalkes it doth not feare frost raine or extraordinarie cold Indeed it doth not craue any long rested fat ground but a strong ground and such as may be said to be in good plight rather than an indifferent and light it groweth better also in groundâ— which haue layed fallow three or foure yeares before or which haue beene Medoâ—ground two yeares before than in grounds which haue beene well tilled which 〈◊〉 cleane contrarie vnto Madder which craueth as much helpe as the ground oppointed for wheat or vines yea and it craueth the rest of soyle and set from one yeare to one for otherwise the roots when they are set doe degenerate oftentimes and miâ—â—â—rie loosing their force and goodnesse And whereas Madder doth fat the groâ—â—d Woad doth make it leane and therefore it must not be sowne in a leane groâ—â—d where it euermore groweth but little and where it proueth almost nothing woâ—â—â— but rather in a ground that is well manured before it be sowne as also renewed wiâ—â— dung when it is to be sowne But the best approued ground of all other to sow woad in is that which hath laine long swarth and hath seldome beene broken vp 〈◊〉 wherein you are to obserue that in the ploughing vp of such grounds you must turne vp a great and a deepe furrow laying them broad and flat 〈…〉 that the seed may be throughly well couered and that the swatth rotting vnderneath and above the same may be as a warme and comfortable meanure to make it flourish and increase Being sowne of seed it must be diligently harrowed to the end it may be wel couered and incorporate with the earth and when the planes haue put forth their leaues the height of two fingers you must weed and digge it about mid-Aprill or somewhat later according as the time hath beene faire or rainie then shortly afterward you must gather the leaues and they being gathâ—red you must weed and diggâ— the feet of the said roots 〈◊〉 left voyd of their leaues and this must be continued â—uerie moneth that is to say Iune Iulie August and Sepâ—â—mber in such sort that 〈◊〉 as the leaues are gathered from foot to foot fiue times so they must be digged 〈◊〉 the earth cast as oft and that so soone as the gathering of the leaues is past and this labour of digging is ordinarily to be seuen â—â—mes gone ouer that is to say the fiâ—e times now spoken of and the two first which are before any gathering of the leaues doe fall The manner of gathering them is in this soâ—t When the leaues begin to be coloured about the edges and not in the middest you must take them from plant to plant in your hand and breake them off in such manner from the
inconueniences it is good acâ—ording to the counsell of Columella to steepe the seeds for a certaine time in the juice of 〈◊〉 madame or to mingle with the said seed some â—oot or else to water them with 〈◊〉 wherein soot hath beene tempered but it is better to speake of these things pâ—â—ticularly Generally against all such beasts as doe hurt gardens it is good to 〈…〉 place of the Garden as where you thinke these beasts doe most abound and keepe the paunch of a Sheepe full of dung as it commeth out of the Sheepes belly and to couer it with a little earth and within two daies you shall find all these beasts gathered together into this place before you haue done thus twice or thrice you shall be prouided of the meanes to kill and root out all these 〈◊〉 know then in a word what be the necessarie remedies for the auoiding of such accidents Against Haile ancient men were wont to set the whole compasse of their ground about with white wild Vine or else to fasten vnto the top of a high post an Owle hauing her wings spread The Lightnings and Thundring will doe no harme if there be buried in the midst of the Garden a kind of Toad called a Hedge-toad closed vp in a pot of earth Others doe hang in the midst of the Garden or at the soure corners thereof the seathers of an Eagle or the skinne of a Seale Others plant manie Bay-trees round about the Garden It is true that to breake or dissolue the Thunder accompanied with a great thicke cloud threatening haile there is nothing better than to ring the belles as is vsed to be done in hot Countries and to send forth the roaring sounds of the Canons as is wont to be done at Sea or else to set on fire some heapes of Weeds or stinking and rotten Seeds There is nothing more hurtfull or dangerous for hearbes than Frost which commeth when Snow and Ice are thawing And for to preserue your hearbes from this inconuenience of cold you must spread all ouer the ground great store of straw and ashes withall about that for by this meanes the heat of the earth will be preserued and the frost hindred that it cannot enter If you conceiue that your hearbs are like to be hurt by mists or fogs you must get together in diuers places of your gardens diuers heapes of tender twigs and straw or of weeds and shrubs pulled vp in the same place and after to set them on fire for the smoake thereof doth correct and cleare the duskish and cloudie ayre Against blasting which is a corruption happening to hearbes and trees by some euill constellation there is nothing better than to burne with the dung the right horne of an oxe in such sort as that there may on euerie side be caused a verie great smoake for this smoake will driue away and resolue the euill qualitie of the ayre which is the carrier of this maligne influence or else it will be good to plant in diâ—erâ— places of the gardens diuers Bay-tree-boughes for the blasting will fall all vpon them To preserue seeds from being eaten of birds you must sâ—atter round about your gardens wheat or barly sod in wine mingled with hellebor or else water and sâ—eepe the seed in the decoction of â—ray fishes boyled in fresh water assuring your selfe that looke what groweth of such seeds will be free from all danger of these fowles or else water your seed with water and the lâ—â—s of wine or else â—caâ—er throughout the gardens some boyled leekes for so soone as they shall haue swallowed thew they wil be easily taken vp with your hand Some put ten cray fishes in a vessell full of vvater which they couer and set out in the Sunne for the space of ten daies afterward they 〈◊〉 the seeds they would sow with this water twice once before they be sowne and the other eight daies after that they are sowne By this meanes the seeds will not onely be kept safe from birds but also from all other manner of beasts To take away all harme which may come by little beasts it will be good to drie vpon the skinne of a Tortoise all such seeds as you intend to sow in your Gardens or else to plant in diuers places of your Gardens some Mints especially amongst your Coleworts or else to sow amongst your pot-hearbs some Cich-pease or Rocket or to fill the ground of your Kitchin Garden with Goose-dung tempered with salt â—rine or else to sow the seeds in the first quarter of the Moone New Oyle lees or the foot of the Chimney sowne all about in your Gardens is good against Snailes To keepe away Caterpillers you must water your hearbes with water wherein haue beene steeped the ashes of the young shoots of Vines or perfume your hearbes and trees with quicke brimstone Some steepâ— the seeds in the 〈◊〉 of fig tree 〈◊〉 and to kill the caterpillers doe cast vpon them the ashes themselues others like it better to plant a great onion called Squilla or else to burne â—oad-stooles that grow out of the nut-tree or else some great store of garleeke without any head to the 〈◊〉 that by the strong smell which shâ—ll 〈◊〉 thereof they may die Columella maketh mention of a certaine and approued remedie in this 〈◊〉 Caterpillers which is that when they will not be driuen away by other meaâ—â— to 〈◊〉 a woman baâ—e footed hauing her termes her bosome open and 〈◊〉 about her eares to walke three times about the quarters and alleys of the hedges or 〈◊〉 of the garden This done you shall see the Caterpillers fall vpon the earth from the hearbs and trees bearing fruit neither more nor lesle than and if by shaking you beat 〈◊〉 the raine or water from a tree but in the meane time there must be care bad that this be not done at 〈◊〉 rise because that then euerie thing in the garden would 〈◊〉 and pine away If you water the fleas or lice with strong vinegar mingled with the juice of â—enbane wherein the water of hemlocke shall haue boyled or with water 〈◊〉 Nigella hath bin steeped or with the decoction of mustard-sâ—eed they wil die shortly Gnats will be killed if you lay 〈◊〉 in sleepe and sprinkle the water about the garden or if you make a perfâ—me of Galbanâ—m or of Brimstone or of 〈◊〉 or of ox-dung If you would 〈◊〉 away flies make a perfume of Colo 〈◊〉 or water the place with water wherein it hath steeped To gather together all the Paâ—mar-wormes and other like beasts into one place to the end you may kill them you must spread in the place especially where they 〈◊〉 bound the gâ—ts and 〈◊〉 of some sheepe newly killed the same made 〈◊〉 cleane but still full of filth and dung then two daies after you shall find them all come together vnto the entrailes For to kill Weazles you
must steepe Sal-ammoniack and Wheat together 〈◊〉 sow them neere the place where the Weazles haunt for by this they will 〈…〉 killed or caused to run away if they eat it Some say that if you catch a 〈◊〉 cut off her taile and cods and let her goe againe aliue that afterward there will be 〈◊〉 moe 〈◊〉 in that place Ants will she away if you burne those which you take or if you annoint the 〈◊〉 of the tree which they vse with oxe-gall or with the deâ—â—ction of Lupines or 〈◊〉 if you burne in the garden wild cucumber or if one clay ouer with white or red 〈◊〉 the tree where they are or if there be put at the mouth of their hole some 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 stone together You shall kill wormes if you perfume their holes with the smoake of oxt 〈◊〉 if you water them with pure lee You shall make them come out of the ground if 〈◊〉 water the place with the decoction of the leaues and seed of hempe or if you 〈◊〉 in the ground where you see great store of wormes it is true also that you shall rid your ground of them if you â—are your ground during the time of great heat 〈◊〉 then you shall â—ind them in great numbers vpon the face and vppermost part of 〈◊〉 earth and so you may gather them into bowles to giue them to your 〈◊〉 which thereby will become fat and lay great store of egges You shall kill snailes if you sprinkle them with the new lâ—â—s of oyle or with the foot of the chimney Grashoppers will doe no great hurt vnto hearbes if they be vvatered with 〈◊〉 vvherein Worâ—ewood or Leâ—kes or Centaurie hath beene stamped 〈◊〉 kill them you must boyle bitter lupines or wild cucumbers in salt brine and 〈…〉 therewith or else burne a great sort of Grashoppers in the place from 〈◊〉 would driue them for the smell of the smoke doth kill them but and if you 〈…〉 them altogether out of your gardens you must hang vp some Bats vpon yoâ—â— highest trees You shall driue away field-Rats if you cast in the canicular or dogge 〈…〉 of hemlocke into their holes together with hellebor and barly meale or 〈◊〉 you shut the mouthes of their holes with Bay-tree-leaues to the end that when they would come forth they may be forced to take those leaues in their teeth and so by the onely touching of them they are killed Or if you mingle amongst their meat such as you know them to be delighted in quicke siluer tinne or burnt lead blacke hellebor or the 〈◊〉 of yron or if you make a perfume of the bodies of their kinds or if you boyle beanes in any poysoned water so lay the said beanes at the mouthes of their holes which vpon the smell thereof will quickly run vnto them You shall also kill Rats and Mice with paste made of honie coperas and stamped glasse mixt together and layed in places where they haunt most Moules will neuer cast in those gardens where the hearbe called Palma Christi doth grow either of it owne accord or purposely sowne likewise you shall either kill them or driue them away if you lay at their holes mouthes a Walnut filled with chaffe brimstone and perrosin and there set it on fire for by the smoake that will come of this nut the Moules will be killed or else run away or if you lay in diuers furrows about the garden a small ball of hemp-seed it will be a let to keepe that there come not any into those grounds out of other and withall will driue away those which are there alreadie There are three waies to take them the first is to stand as it were vpon your watch about Sunne rise neere vnto the place where they haue lately cast vp the earth for this is ordinarily the verie houre that they cast in according to their custome and thus may you throw them verie easily out of their holes with a picâ—axe or spade The second way is by causing water to run into the hole where they haue newly digged for when as they once feele the water they will not stay to 〈◊〉 forth and saue themselues vpon some greene turffe or other and there you may â—â—ther take them aliue or kill them The third way Take a liue one in March when they are a bucking and put the same into a verie deepe and hollow bason at night afâ—â—er Sunne set burie the said bason in the earth vp to the brims that so the Moules 〈◊〉 easily tumble into it when they heare the captiue crie in the night time for all such as shall heare her and this kind of cattell is of a verie light hearing comming â—â—eere to their food they will into the bason one after another and by how many moe goe in by so much will they make the greater noyse not being able to get out againe â—â—ecause the bason within is smooth â—leeke and slipperie Some lay garleeke about â—heir holes or onions or leekes and these make such a smell as that they either driue â—hem away or kill them All maner of Serpents are driuen away with the perfume of Galbanum or of hartsâ—â—rne or of the root of lillies or of the horne of a goats claw or of hyssope or brimâ—â—â—â— or pellitorie or an old shooe-sole It is good also to plant in some part of the â—ardens an Elder-tree or an Ash-tree for the flowres of the Elder-trees by their â—â—inking smell doe driue away Serpents and the shade of the ashe doth kill them 〈◊〉 like sort it fareth with the pomegranat-tree whose shade as we haue said before â—â—riueth away Serpents It is good likewise to plant some one or other bough of ferne 〈◊〉 the garden because the onely smell thereof doth driue them away You shall driue away scorpions if you burne some of them in the place whence 〈◊〉 would banish them or if you make a perfume of verjuice mixt with Galbanum 〈◊〉 the fat of a goat or if you plant in your garden some little Nut-tree The perfume of Iuie will cause the Reremouse to abstaine flying in your garden Frogges will hold their peace and not crie any more if you set a lanterne with a 〈◊〉 light vpon the side of the water or riuer which compasseth the garden If you 〈◊〉 in any corner of your garden the gall of a goat all the frogges will gather 〈◊〉 and so you may easily kill them CHAP. LXI Of the Honie-Bee the profit rising thereof and of chusing a place to set them in BVt if the greatest part of the profit of a farme depend and hang of 〈◊〉 keeping of cattell I dare be bold to affirme that the 〈◊〉 thing that can be kept about a Countrie-house is Bees Indeed 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 paâ—tâ—es and care to be taken in chusing gathering together holding 〈◊〉 watching and keeping of them cleane in their hiues but withall 〈…〉 great rare and singular a
the end that after they haue rested all night they may be the fitter to come forth peaceably in the morning although yet it were better not to alter or change anie thing about them for the space of three daies but to stop vp the mouth with some thinne cloth vntill the Sunne haue shone and in the euening after to open them There is no such carefull heed taken in the chusing of those which are giuen nor yet of those which haue beene taken or gathered in the Fields or Forests although I could aduise men to the contrarie seeing the charges and paines are as great about the bad as the good Notwithstanding when one gathereth them it is not possible to make such choice as he would and therefore he must be content with that which commeth next to hand and yet not to be negligent to purchase and get the best that may be come by and to take good heed not to mingle the good and the bad together for so the bad would dishonour the good and there would be a great deale lesse honey because of the bad and slouthfull ones which are mingled amongst them The gathering of them shall be after this fashion When you haue found anie place by which great numbers of Bees doe passe which is commonly in Woods and Forests where Hearbes doe abound and Trees of sweet smell neere vnto some small Riuer or Fountaine you shall vse all diligence to find out the place of their rest and abode which you may easily learne after their hauing beene at water whether it be neere or 〈…〉 by the place whither they torne then afterward in the beginning of the Spring you must take Balme and Thyme bruised with other such like hearbs which Bees loue and therewith annoint your Hiue so throughly as that the smell and iuice thereof may stay behind after that you shall make the Hiue cleane and sprinkle it with a little honey and hauing thus handled it you shall set it downe in the Woods or Forests neere vnto the Springs and when it is full of Bees you shall carrie it home And thus much of gathering swarmes of Bees CHAP. LXIIII. Of the manner of gouerning Garden Bees THe Lord of the Farme or Farmer hauing prouided Feeding Grounds Hiues and fit places for Bees as also hauing bought or gathered good store of Swarmes to replenish his Hiues shall be carefull to affoord them a more diligent and attentiue kind of gouernment and ordering than anie ouerâ—eer or gouernour of other Cattell doth allow vnto the said Caâ—â—ell vnder his charge the cause is for that the Bee is more discreet and industrious than any other kind of liuing creature yea seeing she hath a kind of wisdome comming neere vnto the vnderstanding of man therefore she looketh for a more carefull manner of vsage and carriage towards her from them that are her gouernours and therefore cannot abide them to be mockers â—â—uttish or negligent for they cannot abide to be â—â—ggardly or filthily entreated It must therefore be his condition that shall haue the charge of them to consider their manners and manner of liuing and accordingly to frame himselfe thereunto in the best sort that may be They haue a King whom they obey as their Soueraigne in all things accomplishing and fulfilling whatsoeuer hee shall giue them in charge whether it be to goe forth or to returne home or to stay within and they attend him alwaies in companies wheresoeuer he be they comfort him if at anie time he be sicke and doe keepe about him if he cannot flie not out of them is negligent and slouthfull but euerie one readie and quicke to anie kind of worke Some of them gather the Roses and bring home what they get of floâ—â—â— and sweet smelling leaues vnto those which stay within the Hiue making Honey others are busie in making Combes and building of little Cabbins some make honey and others attend other matters and vocations some lay to their hands to the softening of Waxe and temper it so well as that making thinne leaues thereof they therewith build vp and frame them Celles and Cloysters others with great 〈◊〉 doe sunder the grosse and drossie substance and make readie a place for 〈…〉 of Honey Some of them with their paine and diligence doe keepe cleane the 〈◊〉 which notwithstanding are neuer defiled by anie of their owne dung for 〈…〉 flying abroad they auoid their excrements in flying Some there are which ordiâ—â—rily doe nothing but keepe watch and ward to the end that to the vttermost of 〈◊〉 power they may withstand whatsoeuer thing may annoy and hurt them They 〈◊〉 out such as die within the Hiues but when their King is dead they stirre him not from his place but crowding one vpon anothers backe about him it seemeth that they lament and mourne as they make shew by their noise and humming and that 〈◊〉 vehemently as that if their keeper doe not looke vnto it and take him from vnder them they will suffer themselues rather to die for hunger than they will forsake him To be briefe euerie one of them is so diligent at his worke as that they cannot 〈◊〉 it that anie one should be in their companie that should not be occupied in 〈◊〉 something and this is the cause why they driue away the Drone which will 〈◊〉 worke neither is good to anie thing else but to wast the honey and 〈◊〉 it They hate aboue all things euill sents they neuer flie against the light nor vnto 〈…〉 or bloud or fat but content themselues with leaues and flowers onely which 〈◊〉 sweet smelling iuice They take delight in pleasant and goodly Songs whâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 commeth to passe that if they be scattered abroad they will be called together at this delightfull ringing of some Bason or small Bells or in hitting the hands in a soft and easie sort one against another To be briefe their fashion and manner of 〈…〉 it were wonderfull in nature but giuing ouer all further describing of them 〈◊〉 will content my selfe in deliuering the conditions and duties required about 〈◊〉 ordering and gouerning CHAP. LXV The order of gouerning Bees all the yeare long WHosoeuer he be therefore that hath the charge and ouersight of the Bees must be carefull first of their pastures whereof we haue made mention before then he shall diligently looke vnto their Hiues twice or thrice a moneth beginning at the Spring and continuing till Nouember 〈◊〉 there is not that time in the yeare wherein they stand not in need of something and if they be well ordered they will continue tenne yeares They must be opened about the moneth of March and the Honey-combes made cleane with a verie strong and solide feather when as they cannot be come by with the hand that so whaâ—â—â—â—â— filth is gathered there in the time of Winter may be cast out and the Spiders 〈◊〉 which spoyle all the Combes may be taken away afterward he shall smoake 〈◊〉 all with Oxe dung
burnt for this dung by a certaine affinitie is gratefull and well liked of Bees But in the meane time before he handle the Hiues he shall be well â—â—uised that the day before he haue not had to deale with his wife that he haue not beene drunken and that for the present he come not neere vnto them without being washed made cleane and well apparrelled in like manner hee must 〈◊〉 from all meats that are of a strong smell as are all salt meats and sowsed 〈◊〉 and all things being strong of sent as Garlicke or Onions or such like things and contrariwise let him carrie in his mouth something that hath a good smell for by this meanes they will loue him so well as that he may handle their Hiues at his pleasure and the little pretie birds will neuer hurt or annoy him At the same time in as much as then they begin to multiplie and encrease and to cast their swarmes which so soone as they can flye desire nothing more than to flye away and not to abide with the old ones and much lesse to become subiect vnto them it will be meet to keepe watch verie diligently and that from after the morning tide is past till two houres after noone that so they may not flye vnto some other place Wherefore if you can discerne and spie out their Kings it will be good to take their wings from them if they make shew of themselues oftentimes and seeme as though they would flye together with their companie as also to cast dust vpon them or else water for by these â—eanes they will be kept from going away so that then they will not goe out of their owne yard nor out of the limits of their owne kingdome neither will they suffer their troupe to goe farre from them or else it will be good after that they are come forth to astonish and occupie their minds with the sounding of Basons or of the â—â—ards of broken Pots ringing forth softly in as much as by how much you â—ound the stronglier by so much they mount the higher into the ayre and stray the further off but and if it be a gentle and low sound they in like manner doe stay and keepe themselues neere at hand and below And if they proceed to fasten themselues vpon the next branch of the tree as a 〈◊〉 of Grapes doe hang vpon their branch you must gather them with your hand or with a trowell into a basket annointed with 〈◊〉 of sweeâ— Balme or some drops of Honey and after set it on the row with the other baskets or else to make a shorter dispatch he may cut the bough or branch of 〈◊〉 tree and put it verie softly into all these Bees which are within the dressed Basâ—â—â— or Hiue the mouth of the same hauing beene first sprinkled with Wine Then â—â—ter this it must be set vpon a board vpon the ground all an end the vpper part beâ—â—ng kept to close as that the Bees may goe in no where but at the place which is open vnderneath But and if this swarme of Bees or little Birds be got into anie hole or 〈◊〉 of the bole and bodie of a tree then carrie thither a Hiue well annointed in eâ—â—â—rie place as also at the hole or mouth with verie sweet smelling hearbes and draw 〈◊〉 ouer this hole and entrance of hollownesse to the end you may inuite them to a 〈◊〉 with the delightsomenesse of this smell and with the better contentment to gâ—oe in to abide and dwell there If they rest themselues in a place where you cannot â—â—me to them with your hand and such a one as is withall somewhat vnâ—â—â—â—t to be â—ealt with then take a pole and tye to the end of it a Hiue sprinkled with good Wine and hold it neere vnto this clew of Bees and thus they will not faile to goe â—â—to it then carrie them neere vnto the Hiues for no doubt but they will goe vp and 〈◊〉 themselues in a short time Or else which is the best hee shall hold all reaâ—â—ie a new Hiue to receiue them when hee seeth that the young Kings shall be â—â—me forth with their young traine which within a day or two will all be come â—â—gether at the mouth of the old stocke and shew by sufficient signes and tokens â—â—at they are desirous of some place of their owne and peculiar vnto themselues 〈◊〉 then if he doe giue them one they will rest contented therewith and abide â—â—erein It is to be knowne when this young hoast will come abroad by the noise and humâ—ing which they will make in the Hiue three daies before that they purpose to come â—broad as if a campe of warlike men would rise vp and remoue and for to know â—hen they make this noise he must lay his â—are at euening to â—uerie Hiue that so he â—ay heare the noise and humming when they make any And yet indeed this noise and humming is sometimes a signe and token of some â—â—ght or strife raised betwixt them and some other swarme which must be well preâ—â—â—ted for otherwise by such ciuile warres and deadly fights all the whole troupe â—â—d companie will quickly be ouerthrowne and brought to nothing This intended â—â—ombat is taken vp with a bowle of cute or boyled wine 〈◊〉 vnto them or else some honied wine or other such liquor which by his sweetnesse is familiar to Bees 〈…〉 will appease their furiâ— But yet and if you perceiue that these skiâ—mishes are not 〈◊〉 ended you must make hast to kill the Kings of the Bees which are the cause of such seditions and tuâ—â—lts The manner to kill thâ—m is to obâ—erue when the whole 〈◊〉 commeth out of the Hiue and is alreadie â—â—â—led vpon some bough of some tree and then to marke if the whole swaâ—e of Bees doe hang after the manner of a 〈◊〉 of Grapes vpon the branch for and if they be â—o it is a signe that there is but one Kiâ—â—â— or and if that there be moe that yet they agree amongst theâ—â—selues and thereâ—â—â— you shall let them alone till they be in their Hiues But and if the whole troupe be diuided into manie clewes or round bunches you need not then doubt but 〈◊〉 there are manie Kings and that they doe not agree together And then where you shall â—ee them gathered most on a heape and in greatest troupes there you may search and looke for the King annointing your hand with the iuice of sweet Balme or with Honey that so they may not she away when you shall touch them and seeke thus amongst them vntill you haue â—ound the King which is the author of all this 〈◊〉 whom you must kill and cast out And thus you may diâ—â—â—ne and find out the Kings from the commons The Kings are somewhat greater and longer their legges 〈◊〉 straight and high their wings lesse but of a faire colour and neat smooth and polished without haire and stings
vve make readie and trim vp a greene plot for fruit trees containing in it as much ground as both the other gardens and that without any manner of other aâ—â—eys of 〈◊〉 beewixt it and the gardens or in the middest of it selfe than such distance and spare as must of necessitie be betwixt the trees and whereof we will speake more 〈◊〉 and without also whatsoeuer other husbandriâ— grasse or other things whereof you might hope to make some proâ—it vnderneath whether of hay or any such other thing which would grow there for the fruit tree would not haue his sustenance purâ—oyned or kept from it by the â—â—lling of other plants which might be â—eared about it neither doth it craue to be kept vvaâ—me in Winter time but onely tilled and ordered according to his seasons because that otherwise it would yeeld no profit vnto the owner thereof The situation of the orchard would be vpon some hill top or some little hill rather than in a plaine ground for besides that such seats haue better ayre more pleâ—sant and delightsome for contentment of contemplation and view and diuers other allâ—rements which will there offer themselues the tops of hills are yet more apt to containe greater number of fruit trees to be planted therein than the plaine groâ—â—â— possibly can for such as stand in plaines if they be planted any whitneere do annoy one another vvith their shade the other on the contrarie side according as it 〈◊〉 more and more from the foot causing euerie tree to ouer-looke his fellow taketh away the discommoditie or inconuenience of such ouershadowing one of another It must also be planted somewhat more vpon the North than vpon the South quarter that so it may minister matter of rejoycing to such as shall behold it out at the windowes in his beautie and jolitie Indeed if it be planted vpon the South it 〈◊〉 more open vpon the Sunne whose heat is verie requisite for fruit trees but then 〈◊〉 would not stand so faire for prospect besides that it vvould be offended and 〈◊〉 of the dust and filth of the threshing fâ—oore vvhen the corne is threshâ— if in case it should stand neere vnto it In any case let it not stand vpon the North-West quarter because it is a moâ—â— deadly enemie vnto all sorts of plants but principally of flowers which it singeth as if a fire had passed that vvay and the cause is for that it commeth from the 〈◊〉 side and taketh part with the North vvhich is verie rough and sharpe but yet not so dangerous as that North-West vvind vvhich bloweth once a yeare chiâ—â—ly 〈◊〉 the Spring and spoyleth the cherâ—â—e-tree-flowers and the vine more than any of the 〈◊〉 Whereupon there arose this Latine verse Vae tibi galerna per quâ—m sit clausa 〈◊〉 In any case let not the ground vvhereon you plant your orchard be marshie or 〈◊〉 terish for the fruits growing vpon such grounds are not vvell relished neither 〈◊〉 vvill they last long it must likewise be inriched one yeare before that it be cast and digged to make any nurceriâ— there either of seeds or steckes and after it hath 〈◊〉 the second time digged and dâ—â—ged or marled you must let it rest digest his dung and marle and in like manner pick out the stones that are in it most carefully And as concerning the naturall disposition and goodnesse thereof it must be â—at in handling blacke in colour and vvhich murleth easily in breaking and stirring it vvith your fingers not being hard clayie chalkie or sandie Yet if it be so that the situation of your Farme lyeth in such a soyle as is marshie and vvaterish for 〈◊〉 man cannot make choice of his abiding and it is a brauer reputation to the Husbandman to make a barren earth fruitfull than to make a fruitfull ground pleasant therefore as â— said if your ground lye low and be much subâ—ect to wet and rottenneâ—â—e you shall trench it diuers waies almost in the manner of a Labyrâ—th cutting one â—rench into another in such wiâ—e that the water may haue a descent of falling away into some Brooke Riuer or other Dike which as a Sewer may carrie away the wet and keepâ— the Orchard drâ—â— and also you shall bring from some other Grounds Lakes or Ponds great store of earth mudde and other compas wherewith you shall raise and heighten the bankes betweene the trenches in such â—ort that they may remaine and be farre from the danger of washing or ouerflowing of anie water and these bankes you shall stake well with strong Oaken stakes on euerie side and plant great store of Oziers also about them to maintain and hold vp the earth from falling Then as soone as you see these bankes firme and beginning to grow to haue a greene swarâ—h vpon them you shall plant your fruit-stocks of euerie seuerall kind vpon the same and without all doubt they wil prosper and grow there as well as in any ground whatsoeuer as may be seene in diuers places both of this and other Kingdomes The inclosure or defence vnto the Orchard shall be either a hedge of Quickset which is in truth the most pleasant and conuenient though yet the wall be more profitable as being more strong and built in lesse time which also being planted and handsomely dressed affoordeth not much lesse pleasure than the hedge or else if you like it better a ditch cast about it with a Quickset hedge set vpon the raised side thereof but in this according as the sufficiencie and reuenues of the Farme will beare it 〈◊〉 yet alwaies prouided that it be out of the way of the cattell and where no man 〈…〉 except he enter in at the gareâ—â— and graunted that the wall is the surest kind 〈◊〉 defence as also the strongest most profitable and perfected in least time Besides the wall of all other â—ences is most needfull for the Orchard as well for the strength indurâ—ance and safe keeping of the same as also for the great profit which commeth thereby to all maner of fruit which is planted and plashit vp against the same chiefly in those cold countries where the Sunne is not altogether so violent nor so readie to 〈◊〉 as in these our 〈◊〉 â—oyles of France for it is most certaine that by planting any daintie or render fruit close to a wall and spreading his braunches open against the same which with loopes of leather or felt together with small nailes may easily be done â—aâ—â—ning euerie principall braunch and materiall twig to the wall it will doubtlesse put â—orth as early flower knit and ripen being in a cold and hard â—oyle as if it were in the warâ—nest and fertillest earth which doth best of all agree with its nature as may be seene daily both in the cold and barren countries of Fraunce as also in other kingdomes much more Northerly and lesse beholden to the Suns warmenesse And herein you shall vnderstand that the principall fruit trees which delight
keepe them still so bare of braunches as that their sap may be imployed wholly in the making of one faire and lustie bodie and stocke and not many afterward pull them vp toward Winter before they haue begun to blossome to transplant and remoue into the nurcerie of stockes To cause them to shoot and put the sooner out of the earth you must steepe their kernells in vvater or milke for the space of two or three daies And you are here to vnderstand that the 〈◊〉 of the Mulberrie-tree doth not grow so haâ—â—ly or bring forth so good fruit as the seed of the Figge-tree For to sow the Elme you must gather his seed before the tree be couered with leaues which is in the beginning of March at such time as it beginneth to be yellow afterward they must be dried two daies in the shadow and after that sowne in a suffâ—cient firme ground an inch deepe and watered often if there fall no raine The Bay-tree must be sowne a foot deepe in the ground and foure seeds togegâ—ther transplanting and remouing it a yeare after into some other place and in like â—ase you are to deale with all such like seeds whether they be of Cypres trees Myâ—â—â—â— trees or others CHAP. III. Of plants comming of stones FOr your plants of stonie kernells as of Oliue-trees Cherrie-trees Plum-trees Almond-trees Peach-trees Chesnut-trees Pomegranat-trees if so be that Pomegranat-trees be rather to be reckoned amongst them which haue stone-kernells than amongst the other which haue the soft kernells Abricots and Date-trees you must drie the stones as they come fresh out of their fruits which you meane to set in the ground at such time as the Sunne is not vâ—â—ie sharpe and in the shadow thereof and see that it haue beene sâ—eeped in milke or vvater three or foure daies before and then thrust it into the earth But this must not be done but in the beginning of Winter that so they may first breake forth in the Spring for and if you put them into the earth before Winter they may also sprout and put forth before it come and so finding them young and tender when it commeth may preuaile against them to kill them they not being able to resist the rigour and roughâ—â—esse of the cold and frosts But and if for your auoyding of 〈◊〉 labour you will graâ—t them in their nurcerie that is to say in the place where you first 〈◊〉 them and where they haue put forth without remouing of them to any other place then seâ— in eueriâ— hole three foure or fiue stones and if all of them spring spring vp and take root yet you must let none but the fairest stand and 〈◊〉 to graâ—t vpon in the place and as for the rest they would be pulled vp and remoued into some other place In what season soeuer it be that you set your stones yet see to it that the ground be good and digged verie deepe but put much small dung amongst it either alone or mingled with dust gathered out of the high waies and see them three fingers within the earth and halfe a â—oot one from another watering them three times euery monâ—â—â— especially in Summer when it falleth out drie and weed them once a moneth Especially see they be set in a faire soile and open vpon the Sunne if so be you would 〈◊〉 a well-â—ed and pleasant-tasted fruit for otherwise if you set them in a shadowed place though it be of a good soyle indeed the fruit may be faire to looke to but 〈◊〉 ynough to eat When the stones are set and haue taken sooting and are become 〈◊〉 what preâ—ily fed pull them vp about Aduent which you mind to transplant and breake off the points of their roots and strip them of all their branches before you set them downe againe in their new appointed standing and know that a double remoue doth make the wild to become free conditioned and better bringing vnto them great aduantage And as concerning particular properties belonging into euerie stone and how it must be set it is to be knowne that grosse Nuts all manner of Peaches wild Figgeâ— Almonds Cheâ—nuts small Abricots but especially and most singularly well the branches becommeth free and reclaimed being set of a stone foreseene that they find as good and as faire a soyle as the trees enioy from whence the fruit of the said 〈◊〉 were taken The stone of the Peare-Plum-tree must be set in a cold place a foot deepe in the ground the point downeward euerie one a foot from another and this in Nouember in high places and in Ianuarie in low places The stone of the Iuâ—ube tree must be set after the manner and fashion of the stone of the Peare-plum-tree but it is long and slow in growing out of the earth The stone of the plum-tree must be set a fat ground a foot deepe and that in Nouember and Februarie and they are to be remoued the same time of the yeaâ—â— making their holes and pits neither too wide nor too deepe The stones or nuts of the Pine-tree must be set in cold places in Februarie and March or about the fall of the Pine-apple or shortly after in pits well digged and of a good mould the apple may not be broken by violence or with any 〈…〉 to get out the kernell but you must attend till it be opened and set vpon 〈◊〉 And the Pine-nuts must be steeped three daies before you set them and then you must set seuen together Some lay them in little baskets and cut them when they are sprung up They need no remoue but and if you do remoue them you must lookâ— in the taking of them vp that you hurt not the chiefe and principall roots Small nuts and plums of all sorts peaches the small and great and great abricâ—â—â— in whatsoeuer good ground and pleasant soyle their kernells be set yet they grow not altogether like vnto the fruit of their trees whereof they were gathered and therefore they delight rather to be grafted vpon their young stockes The stone of the Date which bringeth forth the Date-tree must be set the great 〈◊〉 downeward two cubiâ—â— deepe in the earth and in a place enriched with Goaâ—s 〈◊〉 and the sharpe side vpward it desireth to be watred daily and that there should 〈◊〉 yeare be salt sowne about it and withall it must be remoued The seeds of Limons Citrons Oranges Assyrian Citrons and such like as 〈◊〉 bin said in the second Booke must be prickt downe vpon beds well prepared 〈◊〉 about the moneth of March the sharpest end downward halfe a â—oot 〈◊〉 from another and a finger and a halfe deepe in the ground they loue to be much 〈◊〉 after when they are growne a foot high remoue them to the foot of some wall opâ—â— vpon the South and in Winter when the time is hoarie couer and fauour thâ—â— in such manner as wee haue
you will remouâ— them 〈◊〉 they are or plant them out of their nurserie without other manner of grafting them they vvill not faile to bring you good fruit for the taste and eating as also to 〈◊〉 Cyder of but the best fruit doth alwaies come by grafting for the fruit comming vpon grafting doth alwaies retaine a better forme and groweth more and more kind and withall much the greater but that which groweth of a kernell doth chaung◠〈◊〉 oft as the tree is changed which beareth it And besides you must note that 〈◊〉 all trees which haue a strong fruit grow better of kernels than of boughs yeâ— so it 〈◊〉 that a late â—eed doth bring forth but an ill-fauoured plant especially the said â—eed being put besides his familiar and well pleasing ground CHAP. V. Of Plants Siences and Shooâ—â— THe little siences of Cherrie-trees growne thicke with hairie 〈◊〉 and those also which grow vp from the roots of the great Cherrie-trees being remoued doe grow better and sooner than vpon stones but then they must be taken away and planted whiles they are young 〈◊〉 whiles they be but two or three yeares old for when they are growne thicke they thriue not so well againe if you stay till they be growne groâ—â—e in remouing of 〈◊〉 you must then â—op them and strip them cleane of their braunches setting their great end in the earth the depth of a foot and after treading downe the earth and pricking downe withall at the foot of euerie plant a little stake to hold them fast and to let the vvinds and vvhatsoeuer other thing from harming them But especially you must see that you cut not siâ—nces at any other time than in Winter for that moisture and coolenesse during the time of Winter especially is a meanes to conserue and keepe them and thereupon also they grow and bring forth their fruit the better afterward The Mulberrie tree groweth after the same manner of little â—iences although the best way of planting it be by taking a twigge thereof from the great branches which are cut from the old tree of the length of a foot and setting it good and deepe in the ground and that in such sort as that the ground may couer it three or foure fingers and this done you must see that in Sommer it be watered diligently Fâ—â—berts in like manner doe grow of smal shoots which grow forth of the roots of good Filbere-trees that are well rooted these â—iences must not haue their braunches cut off when they are remoued except they be growne great and ful of branches but three yeares after that they are remoued if they doe not prosper and grow faire you must cut them close by the ground and they will put forth a bush of streight siences verie smooth and neat and of these you may chuse whether you will suffer the fairest onely or all together to grow vp and continue The siences of the Oliue-tree which you intend to transplant must be long and faire ones and full of grosse and thicke moisture so as that they may be taken and grasped in the hand and the barke thereby nothing hurt They must be drawne ouer with dung mixt with ashes the head and the foot and after laid in the earth as they vvere vpon the Tree the lower end more downeward and into the earth and the higher end more vpward and looking into the aire for else they will not take at all and this must be a generall obseruation in transplanting of all manner of siences The siences of a vvell stringed root of a good plum-tree not grafted doe yeeld being transplanted a fruit no vvhit inferiour vnto that of the chiefe and principall plum-trees from which you haue â—aken them But and if the old plum-trees be grafted you must also take grafts and graft them in other plum trees or wild cherrie-trees or vpon â—oure Cherrie-Trees and not to vngraâ—t siences to transplant them Garden plummes and hartlike cherries doe not grow naturally being planted of siences but desire rather to be grafted of grafts CHAP. VI. Of pricking downe or fastening in the earth of small or great braunches SPrigs or plants taken from boughs or branches doe grow more speedily and come to better perfection than the â—eed of kernels or the setting of stones especially if it be put a little besides his owne ground and soylie and of this sort are â—ig-trees quince-trees and pomâ—granâ—t-trees When a man is disposed to pricke downe some small sprig of a Mulberrie Figge Quince Cornell Pomegranat and Plum-tree or many sprigs of all these kinds and their diuers sorts he must cut them off betwixt the first of Nouember and the later end of December or a little after and he must see that these his sprigs be faire and well fauoured ones hauing a sound barke full of little eyes and as thicke as a sticke or thicker He must chuse such as be streight and full of moysture consisting of one onely rodd and of young vvood as of some three or foure yeares old and that they haue also as much old vvood as they haue young and they must be sharpened like a stake for the value of the length of halfe a foot but the bare must be left on vpon one side that their end which you meane to put into the ground must be writhen and steept in vvater or else you must cleaue it a little in quarters and make it stand vvide open and gape vvith a beane in the cleft or else some 〈◊〉 little small stone put in the middest thereof and so pricke it downe in the earth a foot dâ—â—pe or else let it in a little-boxe of pease full of water and so put them all into the ground together The braunches must be gathered vpon a tree that is a good handfull thicke and hath borne fruit they must likewise be verie â—ound and they may be watered with a pipe which goeth downe vnto the root Obserue and marke 〈◊〉 the place nature of the soyle and aspect or scituation of the tree from whence you haue gathered the branch to pricke it downe on the same side the like soyle and the same scituation and lay vpon it some Elder-tree if so be that you would not haue it 〈◊〉 shoot vp into a tall tree but to continue alwaies low the braunches being such they will take the better and not breake in the gathering To plant the Figge-tree after the manner of the Genowais which shall beare fruit within three yeares after and it may be thus planted all Sommer time there must be taken a Figge-tree branch that hath borne fruit two or three yeares and that 〈◊〉 hauing leaues and fruit vpon it or not it must be sharpened and cut biace and pâ—icked thicke about that end which shall be set into the ground and afterward planted in a pit halfe a foot deepe in such sort as that the top of it may abide aboue the ground with
three or foure of the little eyes and be couâ—â—ed with straw for 〈◊〉 daies and watered euerie one of those sixe daies afterward let it be vncouered because by this time it will haue put forth and in the end of the yeare towards the moneth of Februarie you must cut off that which is put forth close by the earth and after that 〈◊〉 will shoot so mightily as that it will beare fruit the second yeare CHAP. VII Of the manner of making Siences for to plant FOr to make Siences of diuers sorts which you may plant and set â—â—â—â—ding as you shall haue need cut in the Winter some great tree if it begin to be yellow or vvaxe bleake and pale and whereof you 〈◊〉 haue increase saw off some stockes of the thickest braunches into â—â—â—choons about the length of a foot and make a furrow in some verie far ground and of that depth as that you may set your â—â—uncheons in them endwaies the earth cast vpon and courering them some three or foure fingers and prouiding that being thus 〈◊〉 in this furrow they may stand halfe a foot one from another couer them well and vvater them in Sommer if there be need and weed them verie well its space of time they will put forth â—iences which you may remoue when they haue taken rootâ—â—â— two or three yeares but and if they haue not as then any roots set them good and deepe into good earth that so you may cause their roots to grow And these â—iences will pâ—â— forth other which will likewise serue Marke it that all trees that put forth 〈◊〉 if you cut them in Winter they will shoot out aboundance of â—iences all which will be good to be planted The barberie redde corant and goose-berrie-trees are planted likewise in Winter vpon â—iences that come out of their roots and they must haue some hairy 〈◊〉 but and if they haue no roots there must some be procured to grow out of them CHAP. VIII Of planting of shoots of a yeares growth PRopagating or planting of Trees is fittest for such as haue beene planted of siences and such as doe put forth siences and small shoots from their roots for this causeth them to beare a more beautifull fruit and more aboundantly and more durable because they attract and draw a greater quantitie of iuice out of the earth For this cause Plum-trees Cherrie-trees Pomegranate-trees and all other Garden-trees that are wont to be grafted vpon wild ones would be propagated or planted for in as much as the wild one doth not draw such and so much iuice as the grafted tree doth require it is necessarie that it should be planted As and if a sweet Cherrie-tree should be grafted vpon a wild Cherrie-tree or one that beareth verie sowre Cherries such a Cherrie-tree would not continue and last long neither indeed will it beare anie sweet Cherries if it be not planted a yeare or two after that it is grafted and the reason hereof is because the wild Cherrie-tree draweth not iuice ynough to cause the tree to grow and withall the iuice which it doth draw is not so familiar or fit to bring forth and nourish sweet Cherries There are foure sorts of planting or propagating as in laying of shoots or little branches whiles they are yet tender in some pit made at their foot as shall be said hereafter or vpon a little ladder or in a basket of earth tied to the bottome of the branch or in boaring a Willow through and putting the branch of the tree into the hole as shall be fully declared in the Chapter of Grafting There are likewise diâ—ers seasons for to propagate in but the best is in the Spring and March when the trees are in flowers and begin to grow lustie The young planted siences or little grafts must be propagated in the beginning of Winter a foot deepe in the earth and good manure mingled amongst the earth which you shall cast forth of the pit wherein you meane to propagate it to tumble in vpon it againe In like manner the superfluous siences must be cut close by the earth when as they grow about some speciall impe which wee meane to propagate for they would doe nothing but rot For to propagate you must digge the earth round about the tree that so the roots may be in a manner halfe layd bare afterward draw into length the pit on that side where you meane to propagate and according as you perceiue that the roots will be best able to yeeld and be gouerned in the same pit so vse them and that with all gentlenesse and stop close your sience in such sort as that the wreath which is in the place where it was grafted may be a little lower than the sience of the new wood growing out of the earth euen so high as it possibly may be If the tree that you would propagate should be somewhat thicke and thereby the harder to plie and somewhat stiffe to lay in the pit then you may cut the stocke almost to the middest betwixt the root and the wrythen place and so with gentle handling of iâ— to bow â—owne into the pit the wood which the grafts haue put forth and that in as round a compasse as you can keeping you from breaking of it afterward lay ouer the cut with gummed wax or with grauell and sand If there be manie siences and impes in the plant which you would encrease multiplie and propagate and that all of them by hap or casualtie doe breake in propagating of them the remedie will be to set the tree straight vp and to couer the roots â—gaine with the earth that was about them before and which you had taken away and then to cut all the broken siences a little vnder where they are broken and to leaâ—e them so vntill another yeare when they shall haue put forth new shoots which the Winter following you may propagate but and if of all those siences there remaine some one not broken goe forward and propagate it cutting close by the ground some of the wrythen place and of those shoots which are not broken In propagating of them see that you lay good quantitie of the siences of your branches into the pit couch them there verie round couering them with the earth which you cast vp in making the pit after that you haue first mixt it with good fat â—ould and tread it downe by little and little aboue and looke that none of the said siences doe rise againe after you haue so troden them downe This being done 〈◊〉 right vp all the ends which shall come out of the earth and that so high as you can and to 〈◊〉 them rest for three or foure yeare before you furrow them euen vntill the 〈…〉 taken earth and be alreadie become full of hairie strings you must prickestickes about them for to handsome them taking heed that you breake them not Three or foure yeares after you must doe the earth
for thereby is hindered the growing of the graft vnto the parts which are vnder the barke I adde yet further that as men and women which are verie fat doe not beget or beare children because that spending the greatest part of their nourishment in the grosâ—enesse of their bodie they leaue no profitable superfluirie to make seed of in like sort trees which drop Pitch and Rosin spending all their substance and nourishment about the making of themselues great and thick they accordingly grow tall and thicke but they beare no fruit at all or else but a verie little and that late in the yeare before it come to his full ripenesse wherefore it is no 〈◊〉 for a stranger not to be able to liue there where the home-bred is scarce able to feed and maintaine himselfe Trees that haue a verie hard and solide wood as Box and such other or which haue a verie tender barke are not fit for grafting for the one by reason of their great tendernesse cannot hold the graft fast and close ynough 〈◊〉 the other through their great hardnesse doe wring and choake the same It is good to graft about the beginning of December or somewhat later 〈…〉 Ianuarie according as the weather is enclining vnto coldnesse or otherwise especially Hart-Cherrie-trees Peare-trees and such as beare early fruit As for Apple 〈◊〉 and Medlar-trees it is better to stay till from the end of Ianuarie vnto the beginning of March at such time as they begin to bud for they are not so forward as the other And at the same time also it will be good to graft the thicke-growne young 〈◊〉 betwixt the barke and the wood with late grafts or such as haue beene 〈◊〉 â—o the ground All moneths are good and â—it to graft in whether it be by graft 〈…〉 moneths of October and Nouember excepted but the graft is commonly 〈◊〉 in Winter as hath beene said at such time as the sappe riseth vp into the 〈…〉 they begin to bud for then the grafts doe grow and take a great deale 〈…〉 may graft likewise in Aprill and May if the graâ—â—s be full of little eyeleâ—s and that they haue beene kept buried and their tops out of the ground in cold and 〈◊〉 places It is true that the time of grafting must be measured and iudged of according to the countrey and qualitie of the Region for in a cold Countrey it must be later and earlier in a hot notwithstanding to speake generally of all 〈◊〉 the fittest time to graft is from the first day of Februarie vnto the first 〈…〉 May taking regard to the nature of the plants for such as haue most iuice 〈…〉 grafted and those later which are the drier the Pomegranate and 〈…〉 which alâ—hough they be drie will notwithstanding be grafted 〈…〉 in the yeare It is certaiâ—e that grafts must be gathered in the decrease of the Moone to be grafted at the same time of the old of the Moone or else in the new or when you shall thinke good alwaies foreseene that the grafts be gathered in the old of the Moone euen all the grafts that may be It is true that the graft and the bud doe take better in the new than in the old of the Moone for the Moone is the 〈◊〉 of sappes as of all other iuices marrowes and humours or moist things which sappes runne betwixt the plant and the graft and bind the one to the other being of more force and power in the new of the Moone than in the old by the like reason there is a precept to be obserued and kept in the matter of grafting forbidding to graft the wind blowing at South because such winds are sharpe and drying On the 〈◊〉 shoots must be cut in the end of the Moone if so be you will haue them to bring forth much more fruit for being cut at this time they haue their sappe drunk◠〈◊〉 with setled abode and by being notched onely they do not spend themselâ—â—â— so much as when they be cut off their sap then being in his full course and 〈◊〉 Notwithstanding we trie it daily by experience that the gathering and grafting of grafts may be done at any time of the Moone as we will declare hereafter Some hold them for the best daies to graft in which are the next three or fourâ— daies before and after the increase of the new Moone but their reason taken from the sap binding and ioyning together of the grafts with the plants and from the dominion and rule of the Moone ouer the said saps doth shut out the first part of that opinion it being certaine and true that the weaker the Moone is so much the 〈◊〉 also are those inferior bodies which she hath power and gouernment of To graft vpon the wild stocke hath more hold and is more durable than that which is 〈◊〉 vpon the reclaimed tree but the fruit of the reclaimed tree is of a better taste as likewise the fruit of the graft will be which is grafted vpon a tree which blossometh and flowreth at the same time and hath a liuing and moist barke and the reason thereof is verie apparant It is vsed to graft in the barke from mid-August vnto the beginning of Winter and also at such time as the Westerne wind beginneth to blow being from the seuenth day of Februarie vnto the eleuenth of Iune but there must care be had not 〈◊〉 graft in the barke in a rainie season because it would wash away the matter of ioyning together of the one to the other and so hinder it It is vsuall to graft in the bud in the Summer time from about the end of May vntill August as being the time when the trees are strong and lustie and full of sappe and leaues as in Iune and Iuly that is to say in a hot Countrey from the middest of Iune vnto the middest of Iuly but in cold Countries vnto the middest of August after some small showers of rane And if the Summer be so exceedingly drie as that some trees doe detaine and keepe backe their sappe then you must wait till that it be returned and then to graft thereupon so soone as the grafts are gathered without hauing anie regard either vnto the new Moone or to the old whether it be in grafting in the stocke or vnto the stocke It is true that is spoken that we can neuer haue hope of much fruit by grafting in the new of the Moone but in the old beginning the first day of the full of the Moone You may graft in the Cleft without hauing regard vnto raine when the time is good and coole as from mid August vnto the beginning of Nouember for the cap and warming stuffe which is laid vnto those grafts doe put away the wast and spoyle which the raine and blasting would otherwise bring vpon them It must likewise be considered whether the tree vse to beare timely fruit or not and so to fit it with a graft of
the like condition and qualitie Againe the time and season must be considered whether it be forward or backward for the seasons are not in all yeares gouerned and carried by an vnchangeable and vnvariable line and measure for either they are more forward or backward and participate oftentimes one of anothers qualitie And in all the sorts of grafting it is a singular thing and of great preseruation for the graft to keepe the plants with Cowes dung mingled with straw As concerning the particular time of grafting it is better to graft at the euening than in the morning and neerer vnto the roots than vnto the boughs because by how much lower the graft is set by so much the greater strength and force it receiueth from the moisture of the earth The furniture and tooles wherewith a grafter should be furnished when he is disposed to graft are a Basket to lay his grafts in Clay Grauell or Sand or some such Earth as is strong to draw ouer the Plant where it is cut or clouen and for the ioining of the Graft vnto it Mosse Woollen clothes or barkes of Willow for to ioyne and tye vpon the lute or earth before spoken of that so they may keepe both it and the graft fast and Oziers to tie againe vpon the barkes to keepe them firme and fast gummed Wax to dresse and couer the ends and â—oppes of the grafts newly cut that so the raine or cold may not hurt them neither yet the sappe rising from below be consâ—rained to returne againe vnto the shoots a Hand-saw or little Saw to saw off the stocke of the Plant a little Knife or Pen-knife to graft and to cut and sharpen the graâ—ts that so the barke may not pill or be broken which often commeth to passe when the graft is full of sappe you shall cut the graft so long as that it may fill vp the cleft of the Plant and therewithall it must be left thicker on the barke side that so it may fill vp both the cleft and other incisions if anie need to be made which must be alwayes well ground neat burnished and without all rust two Wedges the one broader for thickâ— trees the other narrower for the lesse and tender trees but both of them of Box or of some other hard and smooth Wood or of Steele or of verie hard Iron that so they may craue lesse labor in often making of them sharpe and they must serue to fet wider the cleft of the Plant a little Hand-bill to set the Plant at more libertie by cutting off some of his superfluous boughes hauing a handle or helme of Inorie or Box or Brasill or some other Wood which is verie hard Trouble not your selfe with maruelling at them who graft their trees so soone as they haue planted them or very shortly after for the yong plant which can attract draw but weakely and at hand any substance for it selfe will hardly bestirre it selfe in such strong manner as to feed both the graft and it selfe and therefore the graft cannot but drie vp and againe in very deed the poore plant hath iniurie ynough to be taken vp from out of his place and to be remoued to another without heaping vpon it this new or double charge and therefore it would not be till a yeare after that it hath been transplanted and then the next yeare it will beare fruit for it neuer thriues well of his grafting if it thriue not the first yeare and when as it hath sped thus ilfauouredly 〈◊〉 will be best to cut it off and gratâ— it againe but lower CHAP. X. How to chuse gather and cut Grafts to graft in the cleft â—tocke and rind YOu must chuse your Grafts of shoots that are a yeare old or two as the most especially if you would graft them vpon old trees which are verie new and so thicke as ones little finger full of sappe hauing grosle and â—hicke set eyelets one of them being neere vnto another for else they will not beare fruit so plentifully They must also take some part with the old wood that is to say part of that which was a sience the yeare before and part of the new that is to say of the present yeare so that it must be a piece consisting of two seuerall yeares and you must if it be possible gather them from on high euen from the top or at the least from the middest of the tree and not of the lowest and thickest of the boughes of Fruit-trees and they must be in their sappe and taken from that side of the tree which standeth vpon the South for the East is not so 〈◊〉 and conuenient for vs in this cold Countrey They must also be grafted in the same situation and goodnesse of soyle that they enioyed when they were gathered for 〈◊〉 you graft them in the contrarie to either of these it will fall out with them as with plants so vnaduisedly transplanted or translated out of a hot Countrey into a cold Notwithstanding we daily perceiue that such ceremonies are of small effest seeing that the Sunne which is the Nurse-father visiteth euerie day all the sides of your tree and that the Earth wherein it is planted is not lesse nourishing on the one side 〈◊〉 on the other You must not gather your Grafts to plant at such time as the trees begin to flower especially if the trees whence they be gathered be timely fruit as Cherry-trees Plum-trees Medlar-trees Almond-trees Peach-trees and such like but the time togâ—ther them is about the foure and twentieth of December and not sooner for then the trees are full and well slcred of a mild and sweet humour But and if you should be constrained to gather them sooner whether it be vpon occasion to carrie them from one Countrey to another or such like stay at the least till October at which 〈◊〉 the leaues will be fallen from the trees The men of auncient time obserâ—ed and made great ceremonies as some doe as yet in gathering of Grafts vpon the ending of the Moone and for the grafting of them presently after the change but we find by experience that vpon all manner of daies they may be gathered and grafted in what quarter soeuer the Moone is found in as well for Fruiâ—s of stone which are more difficult to graft as also for those of Seeds or Pippins which 〈◊〉 more easie If you purpose to keepe them after they be gathered especially such as you mind to graft in the barke for such Grafts may be gathered without eyeless about the moneth of October sticke them downe in the ground at the foot of a tree lay 〈◊〉 in a pit of halfe a foot depth couer them well with earth marking the place so 〈◊〉 that you may be sure to find them when the time of grafting commeth Some 〈◊〉 them in earthen pots well stopped and couered which afterward also they burie in the ground But and if you would carrie them farre you
and sience belonging thereto and so verie speedily graft it altogether vpon the braunches of another Tree cleauing the barke into three or foure and fastening it thereto verie close and strait and vnto the head of the stocke if so be that the morsell goe into the barke of the other without hurting of his owne barke it being thus grafted will take without any other thing or preparatiue notwithstanding it would doe no euill to put tough â—ome or earth tempered thicke vpon the said joynt and to tie it well with some little peece of Woollen cloth about the morsell not touching the eyelet in any case In Iune and Iuly you may graft in this manner on high vpon braunches without vsing of any band thereto and when this morsell hath well taken some doe vse to cut off that part of the branch that is aboue Some graft vpon poles after this manner vvith a French wimble they pearce a pole of Willow or other white wood in many places but with this caueat that the holes be halfe a foot one from another afterward they put in these holes thus pearced great store of shoots of such Trees as they are disposed to graft and thus they set them in the ground in such sort as that nothing but the end of the shoot is seene alter which if so be they take the pole is broken and they remoued into other places Some there are that make impes of Peare-trees and Apple-trees in a greene lath of vvitch-bazell where they put their grafts betwixt the barke and the wood and going afterward to chuse a moist place therein they burie the said greene lath halfe a foot deepe leauing the shoots a foot long of which they gather some impes which they cut away as also the band of the lath where they are grafted and transplant them 〈◊〉 other places where it liketh them best but this is not counted the surestand most infallible way In Normandie likewise they make plants of sprigs and new braunches growing vp from the â—eet of the Peare-trees and Apple-trees these they cleaue in foure quarâ—ers and in the middest of them they put the end of a Barly care or else a Beane and 〈◊〉 reported by that meanes to breed good and naturall trees without any other maâ—ner of grafting of them but I am of opinion that neither the Beanes not yet the Barly doe any good for the helping of them to take root because that commonly â—uch sâ—ockes as are planted doe not put forth root at the end of the foot but higher 〈◊〉 almost euen at the top of the earth there being the most nourishing part of the â—arth Some put young braunches and sprigs into the ground yea and the thin rindes of â—lum-trees which afterward take root and thereupon they plant abricots but this â—ommonly happencth in a moist good and fruitfull soyle Some doe ordinarily plant stockes of the Garden-quince-tree and graft Peare-â—rees thereon as also Apple-trees and great Peaches the fruits whereof tast as if they â—ere Peach-plums but they must be grafted halfe a foot within the ground because â—hey neuer haue any faire trunke and being grafted thus low the graft will put forth â—oots of it selfe which will make it endure and continue the longer time Some haue likewise found out a way to graft the vine which is a verie singular â—nd profitable thing for hauing a vine that is not of a good plant you may by grafâ—ing of it soonet come to haue fruit than by pulling of it vp and planting another 〈◊〉 the place Some graft vpon the foot of a plant which is a great fault because that at the most â—rom thence they cannot gather aboâ—e two or three impes putting things also in adâ—enture as well by reason they are not sure that they will take as also because that the â—ranch is not strong ynough to defend it selfe from the wind Notwithstanding seeâ—ng that the vine taketh root of it selfe you may make a triall what it will doe by grafâ—ing it vpon a branch after this manner Make a great pit like as if you would burie some Tree then make your choyce â—rom the foot or stocke of some vine which pleaseth you not of certaine braunches â—hich you shall find fit and meet to receiue grafts whâ—ther they be new wood or of two or three yeares growth cut them off and cleaue them some three or foure fingeâ— euen vp vnto some ioint then sharpen the other branch which you meane to graft and sticke it in the cleft of the other ioyning together the rind of the clouen one 〈◊〉 euerie side in such sort as that they may seeme to be but one wrapping round aboue some mosse and after binding it vp with some pack-thread or else with Ozieâ—◠〈◊〉 well Hauing thus done prepare a place where you will set it and lay donâ—â— your your graft after the manner and fashion that you vse in propagating then lay alide Horse dung not throughly rotten vpon the place where you haue joyned the 〈◊〉 branches By this meanes of one Vine-stocke you shall make manie turning in the earth vpon your grafts of the stocke of the Vine as is done when one layâ—â—h Vines in the ground Afterward acquaint your grafts with little stakes as is vsed in propagating and these impes doe thriue and grow as well as the propagated and 〈◊〉 fruit as soone You may likewise make the like kind of grafts vpon Pomegranat-trees Nut-trees Rose-trees and other such like low and little trees CHAP. XVIII Speciall obseruations of grafting planting and sowing of Trees for to haue exquisite fruits thereof IF you graft a graft that bringeth forth a late fruit vpon a tree that bringeth forth an early fruit the graft will bring forth an early fruit in his kind as and if you graft a Peach vpon a reclaimed Mulberrie-tree it will come two moneths sooner The same will come to passe if you graft vpon a Vine stocke or a blacke Vine vpon a Cherrie-tree or a Medlar-tree vponâ— Goose-berrie-tree or reclaimed Mulberrie-tree The cause of this hastened 〈◊〉 is the nature of the tree whereupon you haue grafted which being the onely 〈◊〉 to the graft and being of a timely fruit in respect of the nature of the graft doth 〈◊〉 and bring forward the fruit On the contrarie if the tree be of a late fruit and the graft of a timely the graft will afterward bring forth late fruit in his kind and staying after his due and wonted time as if it be an Apple-tree vpon a Quince-tree 〈◊〉 Apples will proue to hang on the tree till Nouember and will take so much after the nature of the Quince-tree as that they will keepe two yeares By how much the 〈◊〉 you graft vpon a tree of the same kind and condition that the graft or bud is Apple-tree vpon an 〈…〉 an Apple-tree a reclaimed one vpon a reclaimed one or a wild 〈◊〉 vpon a wild one by so much the fruit becommeth greater and is of a
some part of the stocke close by the earth and put through the hole a wedge of Oake watering it about with mans vrine You shall make bitter Almonds sweet if you lay round about the roots of the Almond-tree Swines dung and Vrine casting much earth vpon it afterward and this yearely or if you bore a hole in the stocke of the tree and put therein a wedge dipe in honey or if as Plinie and Theophrastus say you bore the stocke through and through below and let the sappe runne out Of sweet Almonds you may make sowre ones if you let the beasts browse and crop off the first and tender branches The Almond-tree will be free from all annoyance of fogges if so be there be smâ—ll grauell laid vnto the rootes before it blossome and when it shall begin to blossome then to take it away You may haue written Almonds if you breake the shell of an Almond veriâ— finely without doing anie harme to the kernell whereupon hauing written what you thinke good wrap vp the shell and kernell in paper and so set it well couered with dyrt and Swines dung Almonds are gathered when their huskes gape through the force of the Sunne and hauing beat them downe if you shell them altogether and wash them in salt brine they will become white and will keepe a long time prouided that before you lay them vp to keepe you drie them in the Sunne Their huskes will be easily taken off from them if you spread them vpon straw The place to keepe them well must be drie whether it be Coffer Presses or Garner and if the number be great that you would keepe you must see that the place haue good store of ayre and be lying open to the North wind The bitter Almonds haue power to resist drunkennesse as Plutarch witnesseth of a certaine Physition which did vse to drinke out all commers and not be drunken himselfe and that by eating fiue or six bitter Almonds before he did drinke but they kill Hennes and Chickens if they eat them The bitter Almond bruised and rubbed or layed to the browes and temples doe appease the head-ach and procure sâ—eepe especially if you put vnto it water of Veruaine The vse of sweet Almonds is good for them which are troubled with clammie fleame in their throat or which haue weake lungs and are subiect to the grauell in the reines or difficultie of vrine as also to restore natures force and to make men apt to venerie The gumme of the Almond-tree doth quickly stay the spetting of bloud yea the daily vse sufficiently sheweth how profitable this fruit is for it serueth all the yeare long for the making of Almond milke Potage Pennets Marchpanes and other such daintie deuises CHAP. XXII Of the Peach-tree Abricot-tree Spanish Peach-tree Peach-Plum-tree bastard Peach-tree and the small Peach-tree PEach-trees are planted of their stone setting it two fingers within the ground and the small end thereof vpward it delighteth in sandie places in drie places and where the Sunne hath his full force but in cold moist and windie places it dieth presently if it be not defended from â—he said inconueniences You must set the stone with the sharpe end turned into the â—round and when it is in the earth digge it battle and stirre vp the earth about it at â—he foot at the least thrice a yeare you must allow it dung a fat soyle and a small â—ould and that a little before Winter come and especially Swines dung which maâ—eth it to grow more thicke than anie other sort of dung or batling by this meanes â—ou shall haue good Peaches thicke ones and fleshie You must likewise weed them â—ft after when it is two yeares old you must remoue it and lay it along in his pit â—uen after the manner that they vse Vines letting one onely bough stand out of the â—arth which may grow to serue for the stocke and bodie and thus it will continue â—ong by reason of the great number of roots which it will haue both to stay it as a â—oundation and to feed it but you must cut off the longest branch and that which 〈◊〉 the straightest of all the other which is the thing that would be diligently practised â—pon all fruit trees because that it is the thing which keepeth them from bearing â—ore and aboundance of fruit It is not to be grafted out of it selfe if you will haue it â—xcellent howbeit to make it last the longer in as much as it soone waxeth old it is â—ood to graft it vpon a bitter Almond-tree damaske Prune-tree or Quince-tree but 〈◊〉 otherwise than scutcheon or fluâ—e-like It must be watered at euenings in hot weather with coole water and sometimes with water mingled with the lees of wine especially when it withereth and beginneth to fall away as also to remedie it when it is in danger of fainting and drying you must lop it and cut away all the boughes as is wont to be done with Willowes when they are headed for by that means they become lustie and frolike and to haue as manie boughes as they had before It must also be sâ—ayed vpon some Pole or Willow because his roots be verie tender small and not creeping farre into the earth likewise we see that the Peach-tree doth grow old and fall away incontinently It beareth a diuers fruit as well in colour and tast as in substance and this diuersitie commeth for the most part of the ground but principally of the husbanding of them And that it is thus the Peach-trees that are planted or grafted vpon Vines bring forth Peaches of a better tast and more solide substance the Peach-tree grafted vpon a Mulberrie-tree bringeth forth Peaches that haue red flesh the Peach-tree grafted vpon a Nut-tree doth beare Peaches with huskes like Nuts whose tree is but small and hath leaues like vnto the Almond-tree and a reddish flower It is true that such a tree may become such a one of it selfe as we see infinitely in France The Peach-tree grafted vpon an Almond-tree beareth Peaches which haue a kernell like vnto the Almond but the rind and the flesh like vnto the Peach There may as much be said of Abricots called of the Latines Praeocia or Armeniaca of Spanish Peaches Medlar-tree bastard Peach-tree and small Peaches which are kinds of trees agreeing much with the Peach all which are verie tender in frost especially the grafted Abricot-tree and it continueth not past halfe the time of the Peach-tree all of them are subiect to be spoyled of the cold snowes frosts and fogges which happen after that they are blossomed but to keepe them from these dangers it will be good to graft them vpon the Quince-tree or Almond-tree all of them will beare great fruit if when they blossome they be watered with Goats milke Concerning the particular vertues of the Peach-tree see more aboue in the nineteenâ—â— Chapter of this Booke The flowers of the Peach-tree are
it were better to beat them downe with poles whiles they be greene and not to tarrie till they fall to the ground for those will not keepe aboue fifteene daies if they be not presently dried in the smoake The manner of keeping Chesnuts is to couer them with common Nuts for the common Nut hath power to drie and inuade the excrementous moisture of all things whereunto it is applyed or else to gather them reasonably ripe in the decrease of the Moone and to put them in a coole place in sand or in some vessell but let in stand continually in the coole and so well stopt as that no ayre may get in for otherwise they will be spoyled and rotten in a short time The fairest best fed and most pleasant Chesnut of all others is that which groweth in the Countrey of Lyonnoise and are called great Chesnuts of Lyons or else I know not as yet from whence they haue taken their name But howsoeuer it is besides the profit of the nourishment and sustenance which the Chesnut yeeldeth the Chesnut-tree is of great vse to make Vessels of as Caske to put wine and other drinkes into to build Bridges withall as also Conduit-pipes Pillars and infinite other things about Buildings Engines props for Vines Pales and Railes for Parkes Gardens and other such places The leaues of the Chesnut-tree after they be fallen are gathered vp before anie raine come to touch them and serueth for litter for Cattell which being thus turned into dung serueth to manure withall Many vse them to fill featherbed-ticks withall and call them mockingly by the nick-name of Parliament-beds because the leaues make a noise when you lye downe vpon them when you rise vp from them or when you moue your selfe anie manner of way to or fro The ashes of the wood of Chesnut-tree is not good to make lee of because it spottâ—â—h and staineth the Linnen so mightily as that such staines will neuer be got out Chesnuts with vineger and barly flower applyed in manner of a Cataplasme vnto womens breasts which are hard doe make the same soft stamped with salt and honâ—y they are applyed vnto the bitings of mad dogges the rinds or skinnes thereof are put manie times in lees which are made to colour the haire yellow their red inward rind which lyeth next vnto the white kernell being drunke the weight of two drammes stayeth all manner of fluxes of the belly and of bloud as also the whites of women with equall quantitie of Iuorie Chesnuts in as much as they be wiâ—die they prouoke men to lust being eaten excessiuely they cause the head-ach they swell and harden the belly and are of hard digestion such as are roasted vnder ashes are lesse hurtfull than the raw or boyled ones especially if they be eaten with pepper per and salt or sugar CHAP. XXXVII Of the Pine-tree THe Pine-tree craueth a sandie light and stonie ground and therefore it groweth willingly in out-cast and contemned plots such as there are manie of by the coasts of the maine Sea It is planted in the moneth of October and Nouember and it is not to be translated till after that it hath beene three years planted and then it must be seated in a well digged place and in an earth well manured with Horse dung This tree hath a nature contrarie vnto the Walnut-tree because it causeth to thriue and prosper whatsoeuer is set vnder the shadow of it againe it is not so combersome as to keepe away the Sunne and the wind from the things that ioyne next vnto it or vnder it The Pine kernes for to be kept must be put in new pots full of earth together with their shells Such as haue weake lungs or are growne leane by some long sicknesse must goe a taking of ayre into the Forests where there are good store of Pines because such ayre is verie profitable for them Their kernels steeped in warme water to take away their oylie qualitie and sharpnesse being often eaten doe cure the ach of the 〈◊〉 the ach of the backe the palsie benummednesse trembling of the parts weaknesse of the lungs shortnesse of breath vlcers of the lungs vlcers of the reines and of the bladder the scalding of the vrine and make fat such as are leane and wasted 〈◊〉 vp lust in such as languish and are weake vnto the workâ— of venerie They cure the gnawings of thâ— stomacke taken with water of Plantaine or iuice of Purcelane The new Nuts of the Pine-tree distilled in a Limbecke make a singular water to take away the wrinckles of the face and to stay the excessiue great growth of womeâ—â— breasts if you apply a Linnen cloth steeped in this water vpto them Set in the second Booke CHAP. XXXVIII Of the Plum-tree AS for the Plum-tree it is a common and ordinarie tree agreeing with 〈◊〉 Countries of whatsoeuer conditions howbeit the Damaske Plum-tree is more cheerefull and pleaseth it selfe better in a drie Countrie and hot aire than it doth elsewhere The Plum-tree will grow easily and encreâ—se infinitely for and if it be once brought into a plot of ground in a short time it â—eiseth it selfe vpon the whole place and if it be planted on the one side of a wall it will leape within a short time after vpto the other side of it and so placeth the wall in the midst It desireth not to be dunged because the dung maketh the fruit to mould or rot and easily to fall downe but it would be oft digged at the foot round about as fâ—rre as the compasse of his roots stretcheth and watred in drie weather It growth vpon a stone buried a foot deepe in the earth that is fat and that in Nouember or Februarie hauing sleept the said stone for three daies space before you sow or set it in lee or longer in a composition of Cinnamon water if you would haue it to yeeld anie aromaticall smell or else of a meere plant hauing a root in a pit a little digged because it graspeth not much ground with his foot but yet it must be good and light and easie to be pierced round about for the affoording of an easie and plentifull seat vnto it It groweth also in prosperous sort if it be grafted after the Scuti hâ—on-like fashion either vpon it selfe or vpon the sweet Cherrie or else in the cleft and that besides the two former vpon the Apple-tree Almond-tree Peach-tree and Ceruise-tree of all which sorts of grafts that is the best which is vpon it selfe or vpon the sweet Cherrie-tree for all the rest are but meanes to cause the Plum to degenerate from his nature and to become bastardly as well in their shape as in their tast The fittest time to graft them is in Februarie or in March and then rather in the stocke than in the barke There is a certaine kind of scab which doth take hold of it and that either by letting the gumme to stand and hang
about it and to wax old which it casteth forth or else by reason of the mosâ—e which it gathereth and for that cause it would haue his gumme taken away at the beginning of cold weather and the mosâ—e rubbed off with a rough Linnen cloth or a mosâ—e rubber of Horse-haire and this at all times There happeneth likewise vnto it an vindisposedesse through the fault of the Gardiner not casting the ground about the foot or cutting off the rotten and corrupt wood whereupon it turneth in and rowleth it selfe vp into small balls sometimes in one place sometimes in moe and this is a disease which being neglected doth spread it selfe in the end all ouer the tree from one end to another and bringeth it wholly to distruction and therefore so soone as you shall see the sicke tree in this sort to crumple and runne vpon heapes you must cut off verie cleane all the boughes thus diseased whereof it would be murdered and killed euen to the sound and whole branches and withall to order husband it in all good sort about the foot to the taking away of this euili humor which in this maner crooketh and causeth to turne round his wood There happeneth also sometimes by reason of some secret cause that it so languisheth as that it giueth ouer to beare fruit for the putting of it in heart againe you must lay open his roots and cast vpon them the lees of oyle mingled with water or else the stale of oxen or mans vâ—ine or cast vpon the roots the ashes of Vine branches throughly boyled All Plums in generall are cold and moist more or lesse the sweet ones lesse the sowre and sharpe ones more The sweet Plums haue vertue to loosen the belly and yet they will purge more strongly if at such time as when the Plum-tree is young there be taken from it some part of the pith of the stocke or else one of his boughes and the place filled vp againe with Scammonie They will in like manner procure sleepe if you put into the said emptied places the iuice of Mandrakes or Opium Sharpe and tart Plums are giuen to stay the belly There is great account made in Prouence of the Plums of Brignoles by reason of their pleasant tast In France throughout and euerie where else there is a speciall account made of Damaske Plums which are of three sorts the black red and violet colour all of them prouing verie excellent in the Countrey of Tourraine for from thence are sent throughout all France of them dried which are vsed at all times The Plums of Pardigoine are likewise greatly esteemed by reason of their plumpenesse and pleasant tast Furthermore Dates are verie rare and scarce in this Country namely those which come neere to the Dates of other strange Countries which are more pleasant relished than anie other Some likewise make account of Rhemish Plums dried by reason of the pleasant tartnesse and sharpnesse which they haue CHAP. XXXIX Of the Pomegranate-tree COncerning the Pomegranate-tree it requireth little husbanding 〈◊〉 yeeldeth small delight to the sight by reason of his ill-fauored branches and boughs saue so long as it is bearing his fruit before it come to perfect ripenesse and yet put out quartered and as it were laid open to thâ— shew out of his coat and couering this tree is the most delightsome to behold of all others the frame and fashion of whose flower and fruit being well considered iâ—â— worke of Nature right admirable there is not that raine that scorching heat of thâ— Sunne nor yet almost that fading and decaying old age which can cause it to forgoe his goodly shew of Rubies and yet notwithstanding how famous a thing soeâ—er it be it groweth without anie daintie or delicate handling and looking to and that sometimes at the foot of a wall sometimes in the midst of a heape of stones and sometimes amongst the hedges by high waies sides It is true that it craueth a hot Countrey and where it may not be debarred of the Sunne and if it happen to be set at any time in a fat ground it maketh his best aduantage of it being in this respect like vnto the Oliue-tree whereof we haue spoken before And if it be in such a Countrey as iâ— fit for it you need not to thinke either of the digging or vnder-digging of it for it reckoneth not of seeing it selfe set in a great heape of stones as neither to breake crosse-wise through a ruinous wall neither ceaseth â—t for anie such thing from bringing forth his good and pleasant fruit but in cold Countries where it hardly groweth it would be digged and husbanded about the foot twice a yeare that is to say in Autumne and in the Spring It will grow either vpon roots or of grafting in the cleft and that vpon it selfe about March or Aprill but and if you will plant it vpon somâ— branch that hath roots you must chuse such a one as is a handfull thicke and make it a delightsome and fine moulded pit Some would haue it thrust into the earth with a stake by it as is vsuall in setting Willow plants but I cannot find that this way of thrusting it downe thus into the earth doth proue to anie good The Pomegranate-tree will not loose his flower if when as it is flowred you compasse the flocke about with a ring or hoope of Lead or with the old slough of an Adder The wine of Pomegranats is made of this sort You must take the ripe kernels cleane and free from their skins and put them in the presse where they must be pressed by and by Some straine them through bagges made for the purpose some 〈◊〉 them to be put into vessels vntill it be well fined in the end they powre oyle vpoâ— them that they may not corrupt or grow sowre The Pomegranate Apple put in a pot of new earth well couered and 〈◊〉 with clay set in an Ouen and in the end so well parched as that it may be made into powder then such powder taken the weight of halfe a crowne with red wine doth helpe thâ— partie maruellously that hath the bloudie flux The innermost flowers of thâ— Pomegranate made vp in conserue with Sugar haue an incredible force to stay 〈◊〉 manner of fluxes of the Matrix whether white or red taken in the quantitie of 〈◊〉 an ounce with the iuice of sowre Pomegranates or red wine or water wherein 〈◊〉 hath beene quenched as also to stay the bloudie flux the shedding of nature thâ— flux of the guts or of the stomacke The kernels of sowre Pomegranates dâ—ied made into powder and after mingled the weight of an ounce with a 〈◊〉 of fine powdred Frankincense and two drammes of this powder taken euerie morning doe stay the whites CHAP. XL. Of the Ceruise-tree THe Ceruise-tree as well the male as the female delighteth in a cold moist and mountainous place but in a hot and plaine
admit vnder foureteene or fiâ—teene feet distance one from another in euerie row but and if you will onely plant two rowes vpon the sides of your garden alleyes then they need not aboue six foot distance square but you must looke that this proportion or whatsoeuer other that you sâ—t downe to your selfe doe â—ustly answere the proportion of the length of the place intended to be planted Sweet Cherriâ—-trees and bitter Cherrie-trees doe looke to haue allowance of distance betwixt tenne and twelue foot but and if they be to be planted vpon the sides of the great alley of your garden then it will suffice to allow them betwixt nine and tenne The lesser trees as Cherrie-trees Quince-trees Figge-trees Hasel Nut-trees and such like are sufficiently allowed if they be set distant betwixt eight and nine foot in your greene Grasse-plot or Orchard and betwixt fiue and six in Alleyes and Garden rowes When you would plant two rowes eiâ—her of them of seuerall kinds of trees then set the lesser on that side that the Sunne falleth first vpon that so the shadow of the greater may not disaduantage them CHAP. XLV Other precepts about the planting of Fruit-trees IF you plant Peare-trees and Plum-trees one with another it will be better to set the Plum-trees towards the Sunne for Peare-trees doe better endure the want and with holding of the same When you shall take vp a tree to plant it elsewhere take a great circle â—ound about the foot and rayse together with the root as much of the earth cleauing â—hereunto as you can for besides that thus the roots doe not loose their bed they find themselues otherwise also infinitely better contented when they carrie with them the earth alreadâ—e reclaimed and familiar vnto them than and if they should be constraiâ—ed in their new lodging to stoupe and conforme themselues to the earth which they â—hould there find For as for watering of the roots in pulling of them vp to the rayâ—ing vp of the more earth therewithall it is as good as nothing but rather doth much â—urt because that this wet earth being within the new hole becommeth stiffe and â—ard which cannot but greatly offend the roots of the tree remoued for the verie â—emoue doth astonish and blur them so as that it maketh the points of their roots as 〈◊〉 were blunt and to haue their mouths stopt so as that they can neither draw vnto â—hem or else goe forward themselues so that if they find not the earth of their new â—odging so light and crumly as that they may pierce it without straining of themâ—elues and conâ—ey themselues anie way either the tree continueth long without taâ—ing or else it dieth right out For the auoiding of which discommoditie you must â—ot either wet the new hole neither yet the tree in remouing of it nor so much as reâ—oue it in a drisâ—ing time and it is ynough that the hole hath continued open before â—or the space of fifteene or twentie daies and hath drunke in of the dew and wet of â—he night Of one thing you must take good heed that you giue it his iust quarters â—f North South East and West as it had before and that if you take it vp from a â—laine ground that then you bestow it in a plaine ground againe and if you remoue 〈◊〉 from a hillie place into the like or otherwise into a plaine then you must look that â—he seat wherein you set it in be desended in like manner from the winds both below â—nd on high as it was in his first You must not plant the treeâ— that haue beene browsed by cattell or haue had their 〈◊〉 broken off for they grow not so well except you thinke it good to cut off the end of their tops and head to see if that thereupon they will take and grow againe You may plant trees also without roots if they haue great piths as the Figge-tree â—ame Mulberrie-tree Hasel-trees and other such like And as for the Pits wherein you meane to plane trees you must make them six foot deepe in clayie places but not so much in moist places you must likewise make them roomethie and wide ynough for though the tree that you shall plant should haue but small roots yet you must make it wide that so there may store of good eâ—rth be cast in round about the root And if the bottome of the earth where you make the pits be too soâ—t then helpe it by putting to it some drie earth or else stay till it hardeâ— and breath out his moisture On the contrarie if it be too drie or hard and hoâ—â—ie dung it and moisten it with water letting it drinke in of the same well and sufficieâ—â—ly not that you should make it like a poole but sprinkled or bedewed with water therewith to coole it Againe it is meet that if your tree be old gathered that they be watered and steeped at the foot two or three daies If any of the roots of your trees proue too long or to haue their barke hurt then you must cut them off byas and 〈◊〉 the side that is most vnfurnisht be vnder when the tree shal be planted for there will small roots come forth round about the cut It is a generall rule that before the remouing of anie manner of tree whatsoeuer and especially if it be a tree growne vp of kernels if it be growne thicke for to 〈◊〉 off the branches of it first and to leaue nothing on it except such sprigs as are not aboue a fingers length or somewhat more or lesse according as the tree doth require and this is it which some vtter in a prouerbe That he that will plant his father must cut off his head but as for small trees which haue but some one small wand or roâ— put out of them there is no need that such should be cut vp on high when they be remoued The stocks of the Nurserie which you intend to graft must be verie well 〈◊〉 forth into branches before they be remoued as we haue said before And when you shall set downe your trees in their pits you must free their roots from being intangled one with another as much as you can and make them all 〈◊〉 draw downeward not suffering anie one of them to turne their ends vpward and 〈◊〉 is not needfull that they should be set so deepe into the earth for it is ynough that the roots be laid in so deepe as that the earth may couer them halfe a foot or thereabaâ—â— if the place be not verie scorching and stonie and you must not fill vp your pit 〈◊〉 leaue a hollow round about the tree with some open passage or conduit that so the raine water staying there may be conueyed vnto the roots of the tree When your trees shall be spread in the pits and the roots thereof orderly layd 〈◊〉 large weigh downe vpon them easily with your
from Mounsier Paulmie Doctor of Physicke at Paris therein to read and learne the intire and perfect knowledge of this so pleasant and delightsome a drinke And to begin with our purposed matter I intend not here to stand about the finding out of the first inuentour and deuisour of this drinke onely I will say that as Noe carried away with the pleasant taste of the juice vvhich he pressed out of the grape of the wild vine planted by him was the first inuentor of making and drinking of vvine so a certaine Norman hauing his taste vvonderfully pleased vvith a delicate and daintie taste and rellish of the iuice of Apples and Peares inuented the making of Cider and Perrie I say a certaine Norman for this is in base Normandie called the Countrey of Neâ—z where this drinke had first his beginning The way then to make these kinds of drinkes generally is to gather the fruit not all out ripe and after to let them ripen some certaine time in the open ayre or to drie them in the Sunne for the spending and wasting of their waterie humour then to breake and crush them with Mil-stones or such other heauie instruments and lastly to presse them out but withall you must obserue this speciall qualitie in certaine Apples which the longer they are kept and the riper they be the better and greater store of iuice they yeeld though then indeed it be not so durable On the contrarie wild Peares doe yeeld more liquor and of a better tast and withall of longer continuance than doe the tame and garden ones When the iuice is pressed out from the fruit it must be put into caske for to boile therein a certaine time and to be ordered after the manner of the ordering of the iuice of Grapes as we intend to declare more particularly How Cider is made THe drinkes made of fruits that are most commonly vsed are Cider and Perrie vvhich as they are pressed out of diuers sorts of Apples and Peares so are they differing as well in taste as in goodnesse For to make your Cider you must see that your Apples be not wild ones but garden and tame ones growne and bred in orchards carefully and diligently dressed kept husbanded and ordered all the yeare long according to that care and diligence vvhich vve haue said to be needfull before in speaking of the Orchard and yet vvithout hauing any great regard vnto the place vvhere the Orchards are planted and doe grow as vvhether they be gardens greene-plots arable ground or other such like places alwaies prouided and foreseene that the ground be good and vvell seasoned And aboue all things such Apples must haue a firme solide and fast flesh accompanied with great store of juice of a pleasant smell and delightsome taste and of a beautifull colour such are these that follow the Heroet Ruddocke Maligar Rambur Fairewife Gastlet Clanget great Eye Greening Curtaine Grosegraft Rucke long sower and sweet Kennet Barbarian Rangelet and Adoâ—ill The Shortstart Honie-meale and Garden-globe notwithstanding that they be rare and singular apples and of a more pleasant smell and delightsome taste then any other sorts of Apples yet are they not fit to make any Cider of as well in respect of the tendernesse and delicacie of their flesh as for the little and insufficient store of juice which they yeeld not worthie the putting into the presâ—e to make any quantitie of Cider of And hereto you may put another reason namely that these Apples are not so plentifull neither grow they in such store as others doe and therefore it is better to keepe them to eate or to imploy them in broths or sirope of king Sabor and de succis pomorum than about the making of any common drinke The most common time to gather Apples is about mid-September after they haue beene partakers of Sommers heat and receiued some small raine and gentle vvinds from September some being verie ripe others yet not altogether ripe principally those which haue a faster and lesse delicate flesh the greatest part vvhereof being kept some time yeeldeth greater store of juice and better concocted and digested by the vvorke and operation of their owne naturall heat In the gathering of them there is necessarily to be vsed cudgels and poles except it be that wee lay our hands to them vvhich vvee haue a purpose to keepe there must in this businesse also be chosen such a day as is faire drie cleare beautifull and full of Sunne-shine for if they should be moist with any raine or dew they would rot in their garners Being gathered they must not all of the sodaine be taken in hand to be made into Cider but they must be suffered to take a heat in heapes as the Normans call it and be kept some three vveekes or a moneth more or lesse according to their consistence and kind seeing vnto it in the meane time at their owne perill that they rot not as also they may be layed on great heapes in Gardens or vnder some roofe open to the ayre vvhen it freezeth not or vvhen it freezeth to court them with straw newly threshed or else vvith some Mattresses or Featherbeds to keepe them from the frost Some during the time of the frost couer them vvith linnen Clothes steeped in water and vvrung out and these being frozen once themselues doe keepe that the ayre cannot passe vnto the Apples to freeze them the best of all it to prouide them warme garners the â—loores being layed neither with plaster nor tiles but with straw hauing the windowes verie close the doores firme and fast shut and all the creuises or chinkes perfectly stop to resist the entrance of the cold ayre And notwithstanding all this yet you must not tarrie and waite vntill they be throughly ripe and almost vpon the rotting especially but you must take your time somewhat before that they be come to this exact maturity and height of ripenesse for else your cider will not proue durable but withall will gather great quantitie of leeâ— and grow couered with much vvhite mother swimming aloft if they be frozen then trouble not your selfe with going about to make Cider for hauing lost their naturall and accustomed smell and colour they haue also lost all their force and vertue and so it is not possible to make any thing of them but a raw weake vnpleasant vvaterish vndurable and soone sowring licour When as therefore the apples shall be vvell prepared and come to a good scantling of ripenesse not such a oâ—e as is exact but rather of the first or second degree of ripenesse and that they shall yeeld and breath out a verie pleasant and sweet smell then it shall be high time for you to goe in hand vvith making of your Cider Which oportunitie if you foreslow and still stay longer for their further and exact ripening they vvill vvither and fall away and the Cider that you shal presse out of them wil become waterish weake
also must be separated from the single to the end that they may make the fairer silke and especially there must choice be made of such people as are the best workefolkes both â—or to know the silke as also to draw it out with such discretion as that there may â—come the most profit of it When the Wormes shall be out of their huskes then you must make choice of the best for encrease and breeding those which are the grossest and blackest are the strongest and affoord better egges than anie of the oâ—her You must likewise take more females than males and for the knowing of â—he one from the other the eyes of these creatures doe sufficiently testifie thereof â—or the females haue thinner eyes and not altogether so blacke as the males They must also be put asunder and white Linnen clothes spread or rather leaues of Paper vpon little Tables for to receiue their egges The Paper is more naturall â—nd commodious than the Linnen because it may be the better raked ouer with 〈◊〉 knife to draw together the egges thereupon without making of anie spoyle 〈◊〉 all As concerning the diseases whereunto these little creatures be subiect When they haue not beene so carefully looked vnto as they should to be kept cleane when the â—â—old Northerne wind or the hot Southerne Sunne hath molested them as also when â—hey haue eaten too much then they become sicke wherefore you must keepe â—hem cleanely stop the windowes and holes by which the cold windes doe enter and get in and carrie coales of fire that doe not smoake into their lodging setting thereupon Frankincense or Sawsages cut in slices for they so loue this smell as thaâ— it presently cureth them as also besprinkle them with a little Malmesey or Aqua-vitae If they haue beene troubled with too great heat of the South Sunne there must be sprinkled vpon them Rose-water If they haue ouer-eaten themselues the contrarie diet will cure them as the keeping of them three or foure daies without eating anie thing If there be anie of them that are spotted with anie duskish blewish or yellowish colour and that there appeare withall vpon their bellies a certainâ— humour that doth wet them they must be speedily taken from out of the companie of the rest and carried out and in the morning before the Sunne rise set the whole and sound in the ayre for some small time and afterward put them in their places againe and then it will be good to sprinkle them with good and strong vineger and to annoint them with Wormewood or Sothernewood and also to giue them ayre making them likewise to feele the force of the Sunne prouided that the beames thereof doe not â—ouch them and you must looke also that the windowes bee so placed as thaâ— the morning ayre may season and send his breath throughout the whole house The end of the third Booke THE FOVRTH BOOKE OF THE COVNTRIE HOVSE That there are two sorts of Medowes CHAP. I. Of Medowes and their difference IN our former Treatise wee haue runne through those things which belong vnto the husbanding and ordering of Gardens and Orchards and now it requireth that wee speake of Medow Grounds vvhereupon consisteth the greatest meanes of feeding and bringing vp of Cattell to the end wee may perfect and accomplish our fore-appointed purpose The thing therefore called in our French tongue Prâ— may seeme to be borrowed from the old word Prat and both of them to signifie and point out a thing that is readie and prest to doe the Master of the Farme and Farmer seruice without putting him to anie paines in respect of the labouring or husbanding of them but this must be vnderstood of Medowes hauing their prey and maintenance about them namely such as are those which are fed and watered with the Marne on the one side and the Riuer Aube on the other which is about some hundred and fiftie leagues of square Countrey as also those about the Riuer called Veselle which of all others doth most abound in Medowes It is in like manner in the free and reclaimed grounds from Barle-duâ— to Vitrye in Partois and from Louemont to Vassie in Thierache all along the little Blondelle as also along the great and small Morin in our Country of Beauuoisis Such medow grounds doe not â—eare stormes and tempests as Gardens and other arable grounds doe but with little cost and charges they yeeld their double reuenue and profit euerie yeare the one of Hay the other of Pasture Medowes are of two sorts the one drie the other â—oist The drie craueth not the helpe of anie water to be watered withall except the raine because it is in a fat place and where it hath full store of refreshing â—uice and in such places Hay doth grow of his owne accord and that a great deale better than where it is forced by casting of water vpon it The moist medowes haue also seldome anie need of watering because most commonly they lye alongst the bankes of some great or small Riuers which feedeth and nourisheth them as those which lye here in France by the Riuers of Marne Aube Blondile and Morin and in England by the Riuers of Thames Trent Seauerne Auon Teame Ouze Wye and such like and these medowes are for the most part plaine and leuell grounds because the inundations of these Riuers washing them ouer at least once or twice euerie Winter the Moalâ—s and other silthie vermine which hurt the earth are destroyed and these Medowes are euer more fruitfull and more aboundant in their encrease than the higher Medowes are but the grasse is nothing neere so sweet and so pleasant neither feedeth so soundly nor so suddenly Whence it commeth that the husbandman keepeth his high-land hay for his cattell which are to be sed and his low-low-ground hay for those which worke CHAP. II. What grounds are good for Medowes and how to make new Medowes THe ground that is fat and full of iuice although it be nothing at all helped either by small Riuer or Brooke is good to bring forth hay so that such place be not exceeding farre from some small Brooke standing water or little Riuer or at the least that it be moist at the bottome and such as wherein if that one make a reasonable deepe ditch he may find good store of water for moisture is one of the nurses of hay Where such â—at and iuiceground is not there may Medow ground be made of what manner of earth soeuer it be whether it be a strong slight or leane earth so that you haue close by it but this one commoditie of a little Brooke to water it and that the field lye somewhat sloping or descending not verie low nor verie flat as wherein the raine water or other of anie small Riuer taking sometimes ouer the same doe not vse to dwell and stand anie long time but passeth and runneth away faire and softly without anie â—arrying Wherefore I agree and must needs confesse
that some grounds are not so sit and profitable as othersome for the receiuing of Hay-seed as those which through the neerenesse of some great Flouds and Pooles Lakes and great large Waters are oftentimes ouerflowne and couered with aboundance of water which in Winter drowneth the grounds Whereupon it commeth to passe that the hay is nothing fine or delightsome vnto beasts but great and full of stumpie stalk a broad grasse also and nothing pleasing their taste But howsoeuer it is the hay of standing waters ill husbanded and corrupted as also the hay which naturally growâ—th thereabout and by the large borders of Lakes is not such as the fine mouthed beast can delight in as neither that which is gathered in grounds bordering vpon the Sea as with the salt and nitrous rellish whereof the appetites of Cattell are ouerthrowne not being accustomed thereunto besides that the verie grasse it selfe is more ranke and vnsauourie than the common sort of grasse is and in taste verie vnlike it Yet this holdeth not generally for these low Medowes and those which border on the Sea are oftentimes the best of all other and feed with greater expedition than any other hay whatsoeuer as witnesseth manie of those salt marishes which are the most chiefe nurceries and bringers forth of fat cattell that are knowne and especially Sheepe which neuer are knowne to rot vpon the same And of all cattell which â—eed vpon hay none is so daintie and choice in its taste as the Sheepe is for hee must haue it both sweet short and soft So that by that beast onely it may be seene that those low Medowes are not euer vnprofitable And indeed to conclude there is not any ground which will beare grasse but by industrie manure and much rest may be brought to beare reasonable good hay if not to feede yet to keepe cattell in good pâ—â—ght and make them goe through with their labours soundly which is as great a profit to the husbandman as the office of grazing and more properly belonging to his profession Wherefore if you would make new Medowes make choice of the best ground you can this ground you shall lay fallow and let lye idle a whole Summer then in Autumne after you shall turne vp and plow the same ground often sowing therein for the first yeare Turneps or Nauets Millet Beanes or Oats and the yeare following with Wheat then the third yeare you shall labour it diligently and sow it with Fetches mixt with Hay-seeds and after this you shall mow and order it as other old Medowes as we will declare by and by Yet for the sowing of these manie Graines so manie yeares one after another it is not altogether so necessarie for though it may be vsed in some barren Countries because Turneps Nauers and Fetches are enrichers and as it were manurings of the ground and the Oates a great breeder of grasse yet if you onely when you intend to lay a ground of grasse doe but the last yeare cast downe the furrowes and lay the lands as flat as you can and then onely sow cleane Oates vpon the same it will be as fully sufficient as all the former labour and altogether as fruitfull if the husbandman slacke not his labour herein but giue it such needfull seconds as the soyle shall require CHAP. III. What manner of Husbandrie is required about Medowes SVch as obstinately defend and maintaine that there is not anie paines or labour to be vsed about Medowes seeme vnto me vnder correction void of all sound iudgement for euerie where in processe of time the earth becommeth wearie and standeth in need to be refreshed in some parts of it yea to be sowne againe and fashioned if need be especially in feeding grounds and Medowes appointed for pasture for horned beasts for such cattell as beare Wooll doe not desire waâ—â—ie places as Medowes would be but being contented with Shepheards graze along by the wayes and vpon the plowed grounds And as for your heards of young Horses and Asses they feed naturally and commodiously with your other cattell Yea furthermore I haue seene in Campaine as it should be about Pont vpon Seine a Medow countrey the Geese and Turkies daily and ordinarily driuen to the pasture for the sauing of charges at home which thing would not agree well about the places of Monfort l'Amaurye where is kept some part of the Kings breed of Horses and Mares for the downe and other feathers of those fowles as also their dung would make these sorts of beasts sicke euen Horse Mare Mule or Asse Besides according to the opinion of all good husbandmen these fowles are of all creatures the most preiudiciall that may be not onely to Medow grounds but also to all manner of Pasâ—ure grounds whatsoeuer for besides the annoyance which their feathers and downe make their dung is so poysonous vnto the earth that it makes it barren and forceth it to bring forth nothing but Goose-grasse which is such a sowre and vnwholesome weed that no beast will touch it and which in short space will ouer-runne a great deale of ground and make it vtterly vselesse therefore euerie husband must be carefull to keepe these fowles both from his Medowes and his feeding Pastures But whatsoeuer others say or doe sure I am that a good Farmer must not neglect his Medow ground seeing the husbanding of them is a matter more of care than of paine and labour For the first care must be to keepe it that it grow not with 〈◊〉 and thornes or great high stalkes of other hearbes all which would be pulled vp by the roots in Autumne or before Winter as bushes brambles and rushes some other of them in the Spring as Succories Hemlocke and such other weeds which are vnprofitable for the feeding of the heards of Horses and Mares Likewise there must not be left in them anie stones nor yet anie other thing that may hinder the digging of them when the earth is to be stirred The ground being freed of stones shall be made euen and smooth verie handsomely in the Winter time and after that tilled and turned ouer verie diligently and â—inely with the plough and after harrowed especially that which is leane and lying with some descent but not watred otherwise than the raine vseth to water it It must be dunged also in Ianuaâ—ie and Februarie when the Moone is in the encrease that so it may be fatted and store of iuice brought into it for the growing of grasse The best manuring that can be bestowed vpon it is fine crumbling earth mixt with dung which will doe it more good than the best and purest dung that you can find in your Neat-house For the making hereof you must gather in Summer the dust that is by the high wayes most haunted and mingle the same with the dung of cattell the â—ilth and sweepings of the house the dyrt of the streets the parings of the house and
cattell from tearing or spoyling the same till such time as the Farmer himselfe shall thinke it meet to cut downe the same Then when the extremitie of Winter shall come as either when the grasse is cleane consumed or that by reason of long Frosts or Snowes your cattell cannot come by anie food then is the time to cut downe your Hay-reekes and to fodder your cattell therewith morning and euening cutting no more downe at a time than shall conueniently serue to fodder your cattell for spoyle herein is the vildest husbandrie that can be This hay thus cut downe you shall not lay in one place but in diuers places of your ground in little tufts or hillockes scattering an armefull thereof in manie places because if you should lay it in one place or in a verie small circuit neere together your cattell would disagree and offer to gore one another at least the stronger cattell would euer beat away the weaker and so rob them of their food whereas being scattered into diuers remote places those which are beaten away from one place will goe to another and so take their food without trouble in which you shall euer obserue to lay more tufts or heapes of hay than you haue cattell Neither yet doe I meane that this manner of foddering shall ouer-spread anie great piece of ground at one time but according to the number of your cattell be close packed together both for the ease of the fodderer and for the well husbanding of the hay which to be carried vp and downe too 〈◊〉 would make much wast by scattering so that to lay one foddering within two or three yards of another is sufficient And this I speake of great cattell as Oxen Kyne Steeres Horses or such like for if you fodder Sheepe then you must lay your hay in long rowes one row three or foure yards from another vpon the driest and cleanest ground you can find because the trampling and treading of the cattell will else 〈◊〉 much spoyle of the hay And herein is also to be noted that you must not by any meanes lay your fodder aboue twice in one place but change and alter your ground finding out still a drie and vntrodden place to fodder in as well for keeping the ground from two much foyling and tearing vp with the feet of cattell as also for the â—aâ—ing of the hay which would be halfe lost if it should be layd in wet and myrie places And thus you may in one Winter runne ouer a great piece of ground and not onely sow it plenteously with the Hay-seedes which will fall from the Hay in the carrying but also manure the ground excellently by this drawing together of your beasts into one place making their lâ—are and dunging most thereupon Now some will say that this manner of enriching of grounds carrieth with it a discommoditie which equalleth the goodnesse which is reaped from it and therefore not so much to be esteemed alledging that the trampling of the cattell teareth vp the greene-swarth and as it were ploweth vp the ground in such sort that it will hardly beare any good croppe of grasse a yeare or two after To which I answere that if it doe as happily it will teare vp or digge the ground so that you loose the next yeares croppe in some part yet after the first yeare is past the second will double and the third will treble anie encrease formerly receiued from the same ground neither will the goodnesse euer after be abated from the same besides if your ground be subiect to anie filthie soft mosse or fuzzie grasse which is both vnsauourie and vnwholesome for beasts and also choaketh and deuoureth vp all better herbage this treading of the cattels feet will vtterly kill it and make the ground fruitfull for euer after Nay if the ground haue beene much subiect to small whynnes or prick-grasse which is a most venimous weed in anie ground according to the opinion of the best husbands this course onely will destroy it To conclude â—he Medow well kept and maintained doth alwaies bring double commoditie to that which is ill gouerned and husbanded CHAP. V. Of the harrowing watering and keeping close and well defensed the Medow ground BEsides the seedes of good hearbes which is verie requisite for the Medowes yet there are other workes needfull for the goodnesse of Hay for the Medowes must be harrowed and raked presently after they be sowne to breake the clods into small earth or dust that so the mowers may not thereby hurt their Sythes If the ground of the Medow be withered and drie it will be a maruellous commoditie vnto it to draw into it all the winter long at the least some small Brooke for the watering and moistening of it seeing that moisture is the naturall nourishment of Hay and this would be done especially during the moneths of Nouember December Ianuarie and Februarie afterward when the earth hath drunke her fill then stop the way whereby the water of the Brooke runneth It is true that if the Medow-plot lye vpon the side of some hill or vpon some high ground there shall be no need to water it for the first raine that falleth will descend and water such Medowes verie sufficiently being ioyned with the iuice and goodnesse of the dung which you shall haue bestowed in the higher places Neither shall it be needfull to water the ground much where there is great quantitie of three-leaued grasse because then it would die by and by Againe you must not cause anie water to ouerflow anie old Medow grounds in the time of great and excessiue cold except it should be that they should continue a long time because that the water fayling the ground thus boyled againe and drenched would be verie much annoyed by the vehemence of the frost and yce Likewise if there be anie marish or dead water in anie part of your Medow you must cause the same to runne and drayne out by some Conduits or Trenches for without all peraduenture the super-aboundance of water doth as much harme as the want scarcitie or lacke of the same You must be sure also to keepe Swine out of your Medowes because they are alwaies turning it ouer with their snouts and â—aying great soddes of earth Neither must you admit anie great Cattell into them saue when they be verie drie because the hornie hoofe doth sinke into the earth and either breake off the grasse or cut in sunder the rootes whereupon they cannot spring or multiplie anie more CHAP. VI. To mowe your Meadowes againe and againe to gather the Hay and refresh your Meadowes and to bring your barren Meadowes into Tillage NOw for the mowing of your Meadowes it must be according to their growth or ripenesse for some ripen soone and some late and sure there cannot fall to the Husbandman greater losse than to cut his Meadow before it be ripe for then the sap or moisture not being come fully out of the roote
and that after Autumne vvhen as the earth beginneth to be moist vntill the beginning of the Spring as being the time when the roote may be drawne without leauing of the barke behind you may plant an elme at euerie fortie foots end and not touch them at all for two yeares after vvhich being passed you must dig the earth all about the bodie of the Tree pruning and picking it with a small handbill euerie two yeares We will not make any longer description of the elme but send you to the sixth booke where you shall find particularly and amply declared how this tree is to be planted and in what soyle it doth principally delight to grow CHAP. X. Of the Aller WE see that the Aller or Alder-tree is no lesse profitable for the Husbandman than the Elme in as much as the wood of Aller doth serue to make many implements working tooles as ladders â—ailes for the cart poles handles for tooles rackes for horse-meat and such other things to lay the foundations of buildings vpon which are laid in the riuers fens or other standing vvaters because it neuer rotteth in the vvater but lasteth as it vvere for euer and beareth vp maruailous strange and huge masses The Aller therefore shall be planted neere some little brooke in some moist and vvaterish meadowes for the Aller-tree naturally delighteth in vvater more than any other tree doth and it looketh that the most part of his roots should be in and lower than the vvater for else it will not come to any growth The aller is not sown because it beareth no seed fruit or flowers yet it may be planted two vvaies either of braunches taken from the great trees or else of liue rootes drawne out of moist places their earth vvith them and so set in another moist place and that in such sort as that at the least the one halfe of the roots may be lower than the vvater and couered aboue with earth a fingers thicknesse and vvithall before it be planted you must cut the small branches away till within a finger of the maine root vvhich afterward will shoot vp many small siences This tree is easie to take and grow againe in moist places because it hath much pith in it and putteth forth much wood in a short time You may 〈◊〉 your aller to grow high in any place without any great labour and to small profit because it would need continuall watering It is better then that your aller stand in waterie ground as we haue said that so it may both please and profit you See further of the aller-tree in the sixth booke The fresh leaues doe stay inflammations being put vnder the naked soles of the feet they greatly take away their wearisomenesse which by far walking haue wearied themselues full and all moist with the morning dew being spred in Sommer all ouer a chamber they kill fleas The barke serueth to make inke and to die leather blacke The Poole Fish-pond and Ditch for Fish CHAP. XI Of the manner of making Stewes and Pooles for keeping of Fishes THe chiefe and principall point of a good Countrey Farme is to want nothing either needfull for the prouision of the chiefe Lord or auaileable for the profit that may come thereof The good householder then shall not esteeme a little of Fish seeing that of them he may make both prouision for his table and great gaine vnto his purse but rather shall prouide some place neere vnto his house for to cast Pooles or Stewes in to the end that when need is he may find victuals therein both for himselfe and his familie and that as readie as if it were alreadie in the Kitchin besides what he may yearely sell of that his store to make money into his purse Therefore for the appointing out of ground for these his Pooles or Stewes to breed or feed his fish in he shall chuse it ioyning vnto his Medowes in some leane place and such as he could otherwise make no profit of and yet it must be in a firme ground that is grauellie or sandie for such places doe feed fishes excellent well notwithstanding that the muddie and dyrtie Poole be best for the Tench Burbet Cod Eâ—le and such other slipperie and slimie fishes but he that loueth his health must not furnish his Pooles or Stewes with such manner of fish The Poole shall be maruellously well seated if the commodiousnesse of the place will affoord it continuall refreshment from some flowing Fountaine or some Brooke or little Riuer falling into it whereby continually the first water may be remoued and new supplyed in place thereof not suffering the other to stand too long impounded and therefore if it be possible the Poole is to haue conuenient issue in one part or other for so by this meanes the water is renewed the more easily and the fish therein made the more chearefull and better thriâ—ing to euerie bodies â—ight whereas on the contrarie the standing and corrupted water affoordeth them nothing but bad nourishment making the slesh thereof of an ill tast and vnpleasant in eating In the meane time you must not â—orget to set grates of Brasse or yron close fastened and pierced but with small holes in the conduits that so by them the water may find one passage in and another out and yet to stay the fish for getting forth It will be good that the Poole be large and great to the end that the â—ish which is kept therein may find room◠〈◊〉 sport themselues without perceiuing of anie impediment or imprisonment that they sustaine It will be good also to make in these Pooles some corners or starting holes like little lodging roomes in the wall thereof to the end that thereby the fish may find place for to hide it selfe and to auoid the great heat of the Summer prouided notwithstanding that they be so made as that the water which is in them may easily get out againe These Fish-ponds also may be made in anie low Valley which the hills enuironing on euerie side send downe their waters into the same making it continually wet so that in truth without it be applyed to this purpose it will serue for no other good purpose In this place aboue all other you shall make your Fish-pond drayning it at the dryest time of the yeare and digging it of such depth as you shall thinke most conuenient for the receit of such water as shall fall into it then noting how the water descendeth you shall iust against that descent make the head of your Pond mounting it of such a height that no land-water whatsoeuer may ouerflow it and this head you shall make in this wise first so soone as you haue drained the ground and made the earth firme where the head must be you shall driue in foure or fiue rowes of piles made of Elme and some of Oake halfe burnâ— or scortcht and then the earth which you digge out of the pond together with fagots
Penyriall Sauorie Marierome Garlick and the lees of wine of ech alike of the greases of the same beasts so much as you shall see to be enough stampe euerie thing by it selfe after mixe them together and make pills thereof to cast into the place whither you would haue the fish to â—locke and that an houre before you cast in your net Otherwise take the bloud of a blacke Goat and Barly flower of each alike bray them both with the lungs of the Goat cut very small and make pillâ— thereof to vse after the manner aforesaid Otherwise take Garlicke halfe a pound burnt Sesamum as much Penyryall Organie Thyme Marierome Sauorie and wild 〈◊〉 of each foure ounces of Barly flower a pound of the dough thereof as much and of the barke of Frankincense-tree two ounces mingle all together with Bran and giue it vnto the fishes To catch Pearches The Pearch is not easily taken with Nets neither yet at the Weyres but rather with a proper bait and that in a puddlie and troubled water wherefore you must make a bait with the liuer of a Goat and bait your hooke therewith Or else take yellow Butterflies and Cheese of Goats milke of each halfe an ounce of Opopanax the weight of two French crownes of Swines bloud halâ—e an ounce and of Galbanum as much then powne them all verie well and â—â—â—gle them together powring vpon them near red Wine and make thereof such little loaues as you vse to make perfumes into and afterward drie them in the shadow For to take Salmons as well of the Riuer as of the Sea Take of the testicles or stones of a Cocke one ounce of Pine-apple kernels burned two ounces bray them both together till they come to the forme of a powder Otherwise Take wild Ruâ— seed and the fat of a Calâ—e of each an ounce of Sesamum two ounces stampe them all and make little loaâ—es which you shall vse The Trouts which are a kind of Salmon are taken with the hand hauing betaken themselues into their holes or with Nets or at Weyres and sometimes with the light of a candle The Gudgeon is taken with a hooke or the little Net called a Truble The Carpe is taken with the Net hooke or engines laid at Weyres but shee oftentimes deceiueth the Net shoouing her head downe into the mud or myre wherein shee delighteth The end of the fourth Booke THE FIFTH BOOKE OF THE COVNTRIE HOVSE Of Arable Grounds The measuring of Lands of what sort or forme soeuer they be CHAP. I. Of the common Measures whereby things are measured NOtwithstanding that the Art of measuring Grounds doth more properly belong vnto the Geometrician than vnto the Husbandman and euen as chiefe Masons and Master-builders who ought to haue the skill of Measuring doe not vouchsafe at anie time to measure the Workes and Buildings which they haue set vp and finished but leaue the same for such as make profession of Measuring So likewise it may seeme that this is no dutie of the Husbandmans to measure out his grounds but rather appertaining and therefore to be expected of them which practise such art and skill Notwithstanding being desirous that the Master of this our Countrey Farme should not be ignorant of anie thing which may serue for the enriching of his house and encrease of his wealth I haue thought it meete and reasonable before I passe anie further vnto my purposed discourse of the husbanding and tilling of Corne-ground familiarly to vnfold certaine rules of Measuring which are verie common with vs here in Francâ— and wherewith the Farmer in case of necessitie and for his commoditie may helpe himselfe To begin therefore with the matter all Grounds and Lands whether they be Medowes Vineyards Woods Isles of Water Courts Gardens corn-Corne-ground places fields and others whatsoeuer are measured in France by the foot fadome and pole The foot according to the Kings measure containeth throughout all France twelue ynches the ynch twelue-lines and â—uerie-line must be of equall length to the thicknesse of a barly corne that is full and well fedde A â—iâ—rce or third part of a foot is called a Dour and the fourth part is called a Quarter The fadome and the pole are measured by the foot but how manie â—oot the one and the other should containe there is not anie so sure and certaine a rule which holdeth through all France as there is for the foot by reason of the variâ—tie of Measures and those not in diuers Countries of France onely as in Britaine Normandie Gascoine Poictou and others but also euen in places situate within some one Isle of France and standing hard together as may easily be seene neere vnto Paris in such sort as that the fadome of some Countries containeth sixe foot and eight ynches and the pole twentie foot elsewhere the fadome containeth seuen foot and foure ynches and the pole two and twentie foot In manie places the fadome containeth sixe foot and the pole eighteene foot In others againe the fadome containeth sixe foot fiue ynches and halfe an ynch or there about and the pole nineteene foot and one dour which is foure ynches True it is that as the rule is certaine through all France that a foot containeth twelue ynches so it is as sure and inuâ—olable that a pole containeth three fadome Wherefore without standing much vpon the fadome which in truth is a measure more fit for Masons and Carpenters than for measurers of ground for the well measuring of all sorts of grounds you must content your selfe with two principall measures the foot and the pole not forgetting or omitting your yncheâ— quarters and thirds which are parts of a foot Which more is in as much as feet fadomes and poles are but small measures and such as whereof might rise as it were an infinite number or at the least a verie troublesome number and such a one as the reckoning whereof could hardly be kept especially when there is need of measuring a Wood Medowes Places Isles arable ground and other places of great compasse besides the foot fadome and pole there is vsed another measure which the Frenchmen call an Arpent but of the people of Burgundie and Chaâ—paigne and manie others it is called Iournax deriued from the Latine word Iâ—gerum which containeth as much ground as two Oxen or Horse coupled or yoaked together can tyll in one day The Normans call it an Acre taken from the Romane word Actus This measure ariseth of manie poles being put one vnto another or else multiplied together as the poles doe rise of manie feet multiplied It is verie true that euen as the pole doth not hold throughout all Fraunce one measure of feet so neither doth the Arpent consist infallibly of one number of poles but looke almost how manie Countries there are euen so manie differences of sorts of Arpents there are likewise And that it is so there are to be
Geometâ—ician shall vse for the setting downe in writing the lying buttings and contents of the said peece of ground which he hath measured He must also haue two men that is to say one his assistant to goe before him and to carrie the end of the chayne and to thrust downe into the earth the tenne or twelue shafts and the partie whose ground is measured or some one for him that can lay and point out vnto the Geometrician the bounds and limits of the said peece of ground whether it be arable wood medow or aniâ— other such like place How and in what manner the Measurer of these grounds is to accomplish and performe his worke THis Measurer of grounds being thus suted with all the foresaid instruments seruing for the measuring of ground and hauing likewise the directions and assistance of others as hath beene said to helpe him about his worke must diligenâ—ly enquire of the manner fashion and custome of measuring in that place and of what length his chayne must be how manie poles are contained in an arpent in that countrey and how manie foot are to goe to euerie pole seeing as wee haue said before almost euerie countrey hath his seuerall measure besides this hee being well instructed and taught in the boundings and limits of the peece of ground which hee would measure he must lay aside or else at the least trusse vp his cloake verie close and place himselfe at one of the ends of the plot of ground wood or medow hauing his shafts all of them vnder his girdle on the left side and his Squire hanging by a little crooke at his girdle on the right â—ide there pitch downe his Geometricall staffe making fit and fast his Squire vnto the end thereof and to assigne for his more ease the tenne shafts which hee had made fast vnto the left side at his girdle vnto that place whereas is fixed the little hindge afterward stouping with his head to take his sight and view by shutting the one eye ouerthwart and within the holes or lights of the said Squire the forme and first the length by one side of the Squire afterward the breadth by the other side of the said Squire without stirring or mouing of the Squire at all from out of his place from aboue the staffe of the peece of ground that hee would measure It is true that hee shall need neither staffe nor Squire if the peece of ground be square or of a small compasse because that without any such Squire he shall be able to discerne the forme of the ground and in such cases hee shall onely vse the helpe of his shafts which hee shall giue vnto his assistant and of the chayne the one end whereof he shall hold himselfe and giue the other vnto his assistant which shall goe before to sticke downe the shafâ—s at each end of the chayne both of them herein applying themselues to the same purpose alike The assistant shall goe before and first he shall hold in his left hand the tenne shafts altogether leauing the eleuenth with the Master-measurer to fasten downe in the place where he shall begin his measuring if so be that the measurer doe not chuse rather in stead thereof to vse his staffe the said assistant shall hold one of the ends of the chayne by the ring with the great finger of his right hand and that without aniâ— want of roome for his finger to goe in he shall fasten downe in the earth one of his shafts which his left hand shall haue reached him with his right hand at the end of the chayne as it is stretched forth at length the said Master-measurer shall fullow him and shall take vp the shaft which his assistant hath set downe into the earth then the assistant shall proceed and goe on alwaies carrying the chayne with him and fastening the end of the chayne which hee carrieth with one of his shafts thrust downe into the earth and this shaft the Master-measurer alwaies comming after shall take vp and both of them shall continue and hold on this course the one to put downe the shafts and the other to take them vp vntill such time as the chiefe measurer haue gathered to himselfe all the tenne or twelue shafts which will be so manie or so manie poles This done both of them shall goe vnto two other ends of the said peece of ground and shall doe in like manner as they did at the first where when as the measurer hath measured the length of one side he shall measure the one breadth leauing the length of the other side and the other breadth hauing found out by his Squire that the peece of ground is square if rather for his owne assurance and contentment of the owner he thinke it not meet to measure the two lengths by themselues and the two widenesses by themselues Whereupon it will come to passe that if the peece of ground or wood for an example contaâ—ne from the one end to the other on all sides tenne poles multiplying the one side by the other that is to say tenne by tenne they shall haue the totall summe of the poles of the Square which will be a hundred poles which is one aâ—pent and so hereupon the measurer shall conclude that the place doth containe an arpent Againe if in case that the place were of greater breadth and length than tenne poles square they shall hold on their measuring and passe from one end to the other accounting that which shall be more still reducing all that they measure into hundreds of poles and so into arpents See here the easie way for the measuring of Land Woods and other places of small compasse and square wherein there is no great need of anie Squire but and if the peâ—ce of Land Wood or other such place be of great compasse and contents and yet notwithstanding lying straight on euerie side as of fiue or sixe hundred arpents or more it will stand the measurer vpon to vse the helpe of his Squire wherefore hee shall pitch downe his Geometricall staffe at one of the ends of the said peece and shall set his Squire to the top of the end of his staffe and shall view the other end of the ground through the holes or lights of the said Squire if his sight and largenesse of the place will permit him which if it will not then onely so farre at that time as his sight may bee conâ—â—ied vnto which place directly whither the direct line of the squire doth looke hee shall send his assistant or some other man to pitch downe a diameter that is to say a stake or pole or some other certaine marke so farre off as that the said measurer may see it at that end of the peece where he is taking his sight or else many diameters in many places alwaies directly beholding the first diameter if in case the peece of ground should be of longer distance so as that one two or three
diameters alone would not be sufficient as those which the said measurer should not be able easily to see and discerne The diameters one or many being thus pight they will serue to helpe the measurer better and more easily to measure the peece being thereby as it were diuided into many equall portions If it be a peece of vnderwood that one would measure the measurer and two or three stoppers doe cut downe so much of the said vnderwood as may make a way of such widenes as that the measurer and his assistant may easily pasâ—e But if this be a wood of great timber trees and of a great compasse and reach the great trees shall sâ—rue for diameters Then the direct draught being taken and the diameters pight and the other end of the peece of ground attained the measurer shall giue his assistant tenne shafts and shall keepe still the eleuenth or in place thereof vse his Geometrical staffe as we haue said before and shall hold one of the ends of the chaine with the great finger of his right hand as his assistant shall hold the other end in his right hand and the ten shafts all together in the left to pitch downe one at the end of euerie chaines length as we haue said before In this figure you may perceiue how this measurer and his assistant doe performe the thing How to reduce all sorts of grounds into a square for the better measuring of it BVt as all grounds are not of one forme and fashion so is it not possible that one manner of measuring should serue to find out the quantitie of euerie peece and therefore to speake generally all places and grounds are either square or longer than they be broad and then they are called somewhat longer than broad but stretching right out or vnequall both in length and bredth and then they be called somewhat long and ending like a horne or in the forme of a vvedge that is to say alike long but of an vnequall bredth or of an equall triangle or of an vnequall triangle or round or halfe round or of the fashion of a bow or consisting of many corners or of many fashions mixt together or they are inclosed one within another for the 〈◊〉 measuring of all which places you must reduce them into a square vvhich is as Polyclâ—tus his rule for the vvell measuring of all grounds and places the measure of square is verie easie as vve haue said that is to say like number of poles on euerie side which consisteth of tenne poles to a French arpent which number being multiplied vvith it selfe which is ten by ten make the whole summe of poles whereof an arpent consisteth vvhich are a hundred poles and euerie pole consisting of eighteene foot If then the earth be found by the measuring of the Geometrician to be more long than broad and yet hauing each long side equall and each side of bredth likewise equall which is called Balongue droit for the bringing of this forme into a square you must remember or else hauing it set downe in writing tableâ— for the better remembrance what number of poles are in the length and how many likewise in the bredth and to multiplie the length by the bredth that is the poles of the lengâ—h by the poles of the bredth as for example if the measurer haue found in â—he â—quall length of a ground fiue and twenty poles and in the equal bredth of the same ground foure poles he shall multiplie fiue and twentie by foure and shall â—ay foure times fiue and twentie are a hundred this ground then by this multiplication is found to containe a hundred poles and so by consequent an arpent at a hundred poles to an arpent and eighteene foot to a pole and so in like manner as the length is more or lesse Likewise the bredth being lesse or greater that the number of the length and bredth be multiplied together whether it be lesse or amount to more than an arpent he shall make his accounts and reckoning to fall proportionably according to the greater or lesse number of poles as well of the length as of the bredth as for example if the measurer haue found in the length of a ground seuen and thirtie poles and a halfe and in bredth one pole he shall multiplie thirtie seuen poles and a halfe by one and shall say that this ground containeth thirtie seuen poles and a halfe which is a quarter and a halfe of an arpent at a hundred poles to an arpent and eighteene foot to euerie pole by the same meanes if the ground be seuenteene pole long and two pole and sixe foot broad in multiplying seuenteene pole by two pole and sixe foot he shal find a quarter and a halfe two pole three foot of an arpent after a hundred pole to an arpent and eighteene foot to a pole If the ground be found by measuring to be vnequall and vnlike as well in the length of the one side to the other as in the bredth of the one end to the other you must remember or for your better remembrance set downe in writing tables the vnequall numbers of the two sides as also those of the two ends and afterward to reduce the two vnequall lengths as also the bredths into an equalitie in the end multiplying the equall length by the bredth likewise made equall as for example if one of the broad ends of the said ground doe containe foure poles and the other two poles onely and the one of the sides of length containe sixteene poles and the other tenne poles to bring and reduce the thing into a square you must take of the two poles by vvhich one of the broad ends is broader than the other the halfe that is to say one pole and put it to the two poles of the other end and thus each end will contain his three poles a peece equally And of the sixe poles wherein the one of the sides doth exceed the other in length to take also the halfe which is three pole and to put them to the tenne so each of the sides vvill be thirteene pole a peecâ— then afterward to take the number of one bredth made equall vvith the other as vve haue said vvhich is three pole for to multiplie one length made equall likewise with the other as we haue said which is thirteene pole and to account that three times thirteene are thirtie nine so there will be thirtie nine pole which make a quarter and a halfe one pole and a halfe of an arpent according to a hundred pole to an arpent and eighteene foot to euerie pole so then you must follow this rule in euerie thing that is Balâ—ngue cornue that is fashioned after the manner of a horne that is that the side and end which are of greatest contents doe helpe and succour the other which are the lesser in yeelding of their owne so much vnto them as may make side equall with side and end
with end If the ground be fashioned like vnto a Wedge that is to say equally long on both sides but hauing one end broader than another as for example twentie pole long and seuen pole broad at the one end and but three at the other then you must gather the two breadths together which will make tenne pole to take the halfe of them will be fiue to multiplie the length withall in the doing whereof you must count fiue times twentie and the summe will rise in all to a hundred pole which make one arpent after the rate of a hundred pole to an arpent and eighteene foot to euerie pole This is your direct course to measure ground fashioned like vnto a vvedge But if the ground should be triangled hauing three sides equall then it is your best vvay to follow this course vvhich is first of all to learne out how manie poles there are in euerie side and then carefully to multiplie the number of the one side by the halfe of the number on the same or another side and that which ariâ—â—â—h of such multiplication vvill be the vvhole contents of the poles of that field as for instance suppose an equall triangled field hauing ten pole on each side I will multiplie the number of the one side by the halfe number of one of the other sides that is to say ten by fiue vvhich is fiftie pole and containe halfe an arpent at a hundred poles an arpent and â—ighteene foot to euerie pole and twelue inches euerie foot If the ground haue the fashion of an Oxe head that is to say be cast into two triangles equally joyned together and that euerie side for example sake containe twentie poles I will multiplie the number of the one side by the number of the other side that is to say twentie by twentie and I vvill say that twentie times twentie poles are foure hundred poles and that foure hundred poles are foure arpents at a hundred poles to an arpent eighteene foot to a pole and twentie inches to a foot If the ground should proue round like a circle you must diuide the same round into two diameters vvhich make foure equall quarters then you must know the number of the poles of euerie quarter afterward to multiplie them vvill be the summe of the whole round compasse of the ground for example euerie quarter of the round doth containe twentie poles vve will multiplie twentie by twentie and so we shall find foure hundred poles vvhich make foure arpents vvhich this round shall containe at a hundred pole to an arpent eighteene foot to a pole and twelue inches to a foot If the ground be of a mixt sort hauing many formes and shapes the best vvill be by the meanes of the squire to reduce them all into squares and then to find out the number of poles in them and to put the said numbers together And if in reducing and bringing of them into foure squared formes you borrow something you must restore the number vvhich you haue borrowed in the totall number vvhich you haue gathered and by this meanes you shall hauâ— the perfect number of yoâ—â— ground And last of all if so be that your ground be intangled vvithin some other peece of ground you must measure all together and afterward taking away the inclosed part and putting the one asunder from the other you must measure your owne by it selfe Thus haue we briefly set downe that vvhich is to be knowne of the Hâ—â—bandman concerning the skill of measuring of lands and whatsoeuer ground if hâ— happen vpon any peece of measuring vvorke which is of greater importance than this which I haue mentioned he must haue recourse vnto the professed skillfull in measuring CHAP. II. What manner of tilling of arable grounds shall be intreated of in this Booke AS it is ordinarily seene that the complexions of people dwelling in the seuerall Prouinces of one great region and countrie doe differ one from another according to the aire or aspect of the Sunne which is called the climat that they dwell in so in like manner one may see the nature and fertilnesse of arable grounds to ingender and bring forth diuers complexions and sorts of ordering of the same more in one place than in another according as the ground shall be moist and glib grauelly consisting of fullers clay brickie stonie or free and well natured vvhich thing did necessarily compell our predecessors inhabitants of this countrie to alter and change the manner of â—illing as also the fashion of the ploughs in France and the conâ—ines of the same as the high and base countrie of Beaun the countrie of Normandie and the confines thereof Sangterre Berrie and Picardie in like manner high and base Brie Champagne Burgoâ—gne Niuernois Bourbonnois Rotelois Forest Lyonois Bresâ—e Sauoye and againe in the countrie of Auuergne Languedoc Solongne where there groweth no corne but Riâ— Bordelais Rothelais Vaudomois Baâ—adois and generally throughout all the countrie of â—anguedoc euen vnto Gascoâ—gne Biscay and Bearne and not to leaue out Prouencâ— and Bretaigne vvhich some call Gallo and Tonnant To be short beyond the countrie of Mayne Touraine Poictou Le Perche and Conte d' Anjou which are as it were the lands of promise in our Countries of France And as it is thus with our Countrie of France so it is likewise with our neighbour countries as both in great Brittaine and the Neatherlands where according to the attration of the soyles so there is found an alteration in their tilling the East part much differing from the West and the North from the South nay euen in one and the selfe same countrie is found much alteration in tillage as shall be said hereafter Of all these sorts of tilling of arable ground vve haue purposed to intreat hereafter in short and easie manner and that in regard onely of the husbandrie of the true and naturall France vvhich vve vnderstand to containe all whatsoeuer is inclosed within the bounds and circuits of the riuers of Oyse Marne and Seyne and our purpose is notwithstanding this to make the husbandrie thereof as a patterno for all other fashions and sorts of tillage vsed in all other countries as well neere as those which are furthest off CHAP. III. Of the nature and conditions of the arable ground in France NOw as concerning the husbandrie of France which comprehendeth and containeth the confines called also French and reacheth vnto the countrie of Sangterre and to be briefe which compasseth all whatsoeuer Seyne doth ouerflow euen to the riuer Oyse both of the one side and of the other coasting along the riuers of Marne and Aube it is certaine that it is veâ—ie strong and toilesome as also the earth is found to be well natured easie to stir blacke deepe lying high when the fallowes come to be ploughed vp hauing few stones and by consequent bearing great store of fruit Againe it beaâ—eth pure Wheat that noble graine for
you shall take clodding-beetles made of purpose broad and flat and with them breake the clods so in peeces that the raine may soften them then with your back-harrowes runne ouer them againe and this is called sleighting as well as clodding Wherefore after that the clods are well broken and all made plaine for the second earing you shall cut vp your grounds againe about mid Iune if they be fat and moist or about the moneth of September if they be leane and drie for otherwise your leane ground would be quite dried vp and burnt with the Sunne neither would there remaine therein anie vertue or iuice Aboue all things you must obserue and keepe such order in plowing as that the ground may not be too drie nor too moist for great store of moisture maketh them dirt and mire and too much drinesse doth disaduantage the husbandman amaine either because the plough cannot enter the ground or if it enter yet it cannot breake it small ynough but turneth vp thicke and broad clods of earth in such sort as that afterward it will be hard to plow vp the field againe for certainely there cannot be that done which should and is requisite when the earth is too hard Wherefore the ground that hath beene plowed in drought must haue a rainie season found out to be plowed in afterward againe that so the same being watered and moistened may be the more easily tilled Yet of the most approuedst husbandmen for France is not rich in that profession it is held that the earth can neuer be plowed too drie so long as the plow is able to run through the same and one ardor so gotten is worth three in the moister weather besides the greater that the clods are which arise by plowing thus in drie weather 〈◊〉 greater store of mould you shall haue which is a good aduantage to the graine neither will it be anie thing more difficult to plow if you stay a good season and haue the earth throughly wet before the next plowing for these great clods doe neuer arise but in the clay grounds which are apt to breake with anie moisture Shortly after the second earing you shall giue it his third earing which must be more light and such as breaketh not in so deepe as the two former This earing being finished you must make the ground euen and smooth with a harrow presently after which shall be about the middest of October then you shall sow and bestow your seed vpon the ground in good proportion but not at anie other time than in the encrease of the Moone and neuer in the decrease and then likewise it will be the better if you take the opportunitie of a little raine following the Prouerbe which sayth You must sowe Wheat in myre and Barly in dust and the reason is because thaâ— Wheat being hard and comming neere to the nature of Wood doth bud and 〈◊〉 better and sooner when it is layd in steepe and mollified in dyrt or else for feare of Pismires which if the Wheat should be sowne in a drie ground would become lords of it by and by and carrie it away Notwithstanding if you see that the raine be somewhat long in comming seeing the times are not in mans power you shall not deferre to sow especially in dry grounds for the corne which is sowne in dry ground and well harrowed and couered doth enioy and keepe the same without corrupting as well as if it were in the Garner and if there follow anie raine the seed will be vp in a day I presuppose in the meane time that the Husbandman hath let rest and lye idle his grounds for some two yeares wherein he is intending to sow his Wheat to the end they may bring him a better crop Furthermore seedâ—time is expired and past about the eighteenth day of Nouember for then the earth by the coldnes of the aire becommeth close shut and as it were rugged staring and agast so that it will not be able so well to receiue the seed and to cause it to thriue It is true that in cold places seed must bee sowne earlier but in hote places later whereupon it commeth to passe that in Italie they sowe about the beginning of Nouember but with vs in France where it is temperate in October in cold places and Coast-countries in the kallends of September or rather sooner to the end that the roots of the come may be growne strong before that the Winter-raine doe molest it or the Yee and Frosts doe hurt it Notwithstanding at what time soeuer you sowe your seed you must maâ—e diuers conueiances ouerthwart the grounds and conduits to carrie away the water out of the Corne. Yet this Seed-time is spoken but as of Wheat only or Rie which are called Winter-cornes for Pease Beanes and Pulse would bee sowne in Februarie and the beginning of March and Oats and Barley at the end of March and beginning of Aprill Now sometime the husbandman shall haue occasion to reioice in hope of good successe and sometime to feare in doubt of the euill successe of his seed by reason of the variablenes of the time Hee shall haue good hope of his Seed if hee see the time inclined to sweet mild and not violent showers and vnto temperate not eâ—cessiue and often showers for the mild showers resemble the dew the excessiue ones doe moisten and coole too much If in like manner the snow doe fall in aboâ—ndance and become hard by some frost following thereupon for such snow letteth and stayeth the earth from spending it selfe by exhalation and vvasting of his fatnesse which otherwise by vapours would be consumed and if also the said snow in making doe wash and water by little and little the earth vvith his pure and sweet liquor and as it vvere scumme of raine for that serueth to make the earth fat prouided that presently vpon the melting of the snow there fall no showers of raine accompanied vvith haile if lastly the frosts come in their proper and due time for if they be too 〈◊〉 and forward they burne the young sprouts and if too late they hurt them verie much CHAP. XII Of the choice and quantitie of seed to be sowne FOr Wheat to make seed of the industrious Husbandman shall chuse such as is full thicke heauie firme and so hard and strong as that it cannot but with paine be broken betwixt the teeth of a red colour bright cleane not aboue a yeare old which maketh sauourie and well-tasted bread threshed out of choice and culled eares which after fanning and winnowing lyeth vppermost as that which is the thickest and most massie which was growne in a fat ground but contâ—arily seated to that wherein such Wheat is to be sowne as from hill to plaine and from moist to drie and yet so contrarie as that the seed of a bad place be rather sowne in a good place than the seed of a good place sowne in a bad for seed
little that so the corne may not be too close and fast couered 〈◊〉 the â—oot which would cause it to die also and rot away bringing forth nothing This worke and dutie is not of small weight and moment in as much as oftentimes the corne is choaked by weedes and bowed to the earth by their too much loftinesse taking their opportunitie of some beating wind or raine Moreouer you must not be abashed if the greater part of the eares proue emptie without hauing anie thing at all in them and the other not to come to perfection and ripenesse Againe when the good corne is accompanied with Fetches Darnell and other weedes the bread is not onely made more vnpleasant lesse sauourie wholesome and discoloured but also it commeth not to the one halfe of good corne which is not mingled with these filthie weedes insomuch as that three load of such corne after the winnowing of it doe not yeeld two of pure and cleane corne And which is worse the field where such seedes are scattered doe not bring forth halfe so much as those which are charged with nothing but well cleansed and winnowed corne CHAP. XIIII Of mowing or shearing THe last labour and toyle for the which all the other in the whole yeare going before was taken is mowing and cutting downe of the corne which must be attended after that it once becommeth ripe which will appeare by the turning of the colour into a light yellow throughout in all parts alike and before that the graine be altogether hardened and turned red that so it may grow thicker in the weathering and barne rather than standing in the fields For it is most certaine that if it be cut downe in good and due season it will grow bigger and encrease afterward whereas otherwise if you stay the mowing or shearing of it downe till it be throughly drie the greatest part of the corne will fall to the ground in shearing of it and will become a pray for the birds and other beasts If there happen anie violent storme or whirlewind it will lay it flat with the earth You must of all other times make choice of the wane of the Moone or betwixt Moone and Moone to cut downe your corne therein if that you would haue your corne to keepe well and the best houre is the breake of the day when it is full of deaw The manner of shearing is either to cut it in the middest of the straw to the end you may haue stubble to couer your countrey houses as also to heat the Ouen to bake bread in such countries as are vnprouided of wood as in Beauce or else to cut it within a foot of the ground for the greater prouision of straw which will serue afterward to make Mats for Beds or Litter for Horses and other Cattell and which is yet the greatest profit of all to imploy about the making of Mats for the vse and behoofe of the householder in his chambers That which remaineth shall either be cut downe with Sickles or Hedging-bills made fast to the end of a great staffe to make a fire withall for the Winter time or else it shall be burned in the fields themselues to make dung by the means of raine falling thereupon in grounds especially that are sandie or standing of a stiffe Potters clay or which haue a strong mould And although this be the French manner of shearing of Wheat or Rie for of these graines there are no difference yet in other countries they vse to sheare after the Sunne is risen and at such time as the corne is most drie holding as doubtlesse it is most probable that the binding of the corne together in sheaues whilest the wet deaw is vpon it doth either rot or make it mildew quickly As for the stubble it is much better to mowe it downe with Sythes than cut it vp with Sickles both because you may goe neerer to the ground and also saue much labour in doing your worke sooner and better The corne being cut shall be gathered together and made into sheaues and after led and carried into the barne by the Farmer which must be seated in a sufficient high place that so it may receiue the wind somewhat readily and yet not that I would haue the wind when it commeth to be able to goe against the houses or gardens for besides the annoyance which the small chaffe would worke in the eyes of the people and that before they should perceiue it it would furthermore hurt and much annoy the gardens because that by the same sticking to the leaues of the hearbes and trees as also to their fruits in Autumne it would drie them and make them apt and easie to be burnt by the heat of the Sunne CHAP. XV. Of threshing Corne. FOr the last labour of the Husbandman there remaineth nothing more but to thresh out the Corne for to sow it againe or for to store vp and lay aside in the Garner and this not sooner than till three months passed after the Haruest for although the Corne should be gathered of full ripenesse yet still it goeth forward to more perfection as it lyeth in the Barne The Gascoines notwithstanding fearing that Corne left long in the sheaues should not onely take a great heat but grow full of Butterflies Mothes and small Woâ—mes which are wont to spoile it cause the sheaues to be dried three whole daies in the Sunne and that in the field where they were mowen and afterward thresh it in the same place carrying lastly the Corne so threshed into Garners so that by that means they stand not in need of Barnes to carrie their sheaues into and there to keepe them This is also a custome vsed both in Ireland Spaine and the Islands neere vnto Spaine but I cannot commend the husbandrie for it is most certaine that except Corne may take a kindly sweat in the Mowe it is neuer wholesome nor will yeeld flower in that aboundance which otherwise it would do Besides Corne is euer more safely kept in the eare than in the Garner and take much lesse puâ—rifaction Whence it comes that your great Corn-masters and hoarders of Corn when they want roome to lay their Corne in will thresh vp their oldest store and then keepe it in the chaffe till they haue occasion to vse it being of this mind that whilest it lyes therein it will euer keepe sweet and it is a most certaine rule for nothing is a greater preseruer of Corne than the owne chaffe except it be the care it selfe in which Nature hauing at first placed it of necessitie it must euer be safest therein Wherefore I would haue all good husbands to bring their Corne home into the Barne first and there to let it rest three weekes or a moneth at least in which time it will haue taken the full sweat and then to thresh it as occasion shall serue And herein is also to be noted that if you
meat-broths in panades and pap-meats as also to make 〈◊〉 with cheese and butter This is a meat that is pleasant ynough and not much loading or charging the stomacke notwithstanding that it be windie for therein it is not so excessiue as the pease or beanes Goats wheat and Typh wheat THere are yet remaining two other sorts of Wheat which the Latines call Tragâ—â— Cerealis and Typha Cerealis whereof Dioscorides and Galen doe make mention Typh wheat is verie like to our Rie and doth make a verie blacke bread and verie vnpleasant also when it is old though it be otherwise verie pleasant when it is new baked after the manner of Rie The Goats wheat is not verie much vnlike vnto thâ— graine called Furmentie saue onely that his meale yeeldeth more bran without comparison and so maketh a fitter bread to loosen the bellie than to feed or nourish it These wheats are not so much as to be seene in France and therefore I meane not to make any longer discourse thereof Of all manner of March-Corne CHAP. XVIII Barley AFter that vve haue thus largely spoken of Wheat and other Corne it remaineth that vve should consequently speake of all manner of pulse the ordering and husbanding vvhereof to speake in generall is like vnto that of the other graine going before as namely in the gathering of stones from off them in manuring and giuing them their first second and third eaâ—ing as also in clodding sowing harrowing and mowing but differing notwithstanding in some things as namely in their nature and therefore it will be best to make a particular description thereof especially of Barley which howsoeuer it is of sleight vse in France because of the great profit of the vine and the plentie of Wheat in which the kingdome aboundeth yet in other Countries it is of best respect especially in England vvhere the greatest sort doth grow and where they make Beere thereof so good and excellent that not any French Wine is more pleasant or more wholesome Therefore to speake first of Barley â—â—cording to the opinion of the French husbandman vvhich is not to be held most authenticall Barley must be sowne in a leane drie and small ground or else in a ground that is verie fat throughout because it doth bring downe and diminish the fatnesse of a ground mightily and for that cause it is either cast into the ground that is verie far the force and goodnesse vvhereof it shall not be able to hurt or into a leaâ—e ground vvherein a man should not sow any thing else so well It must be sowne in a ground that hath had two earings in some countries in the moneth of October but in this countrie after the fifteenth day of Aprill according to the common prouerbe at S. Georges day you must sow your Barley and lay your Oats away if the ground be fat but and if it be in a leane ground it must be sowne sooner not â—laying for any raine in as much as that according to the prouerbe Wheat must be sowne in 〈◊〉 and Barley in dust for Barley cannot endure any great store of moisture being of it selfe drie open and cold againe Barley being sowne in moist places and much watered vvith raine-water doth easily canker and turne into darnell and oats the same manner of ordering is giuen to the barley called mundified barley and that because the chaffe thereof falleth presently and cleaueth not vnto the corne as it doth in common barley When you perceiue it somewhat ripe you must mow it sooner than any other corne for it hath a brittle stalke or straw which is verie apt to breake when it is verie drie and the corne being but weakely inclosed vvithin his huske doth easily and of it selfe fall vnto the earth and hence also it becommeth more easie to thresh and shake out than any other graine After the corne is mowne it will be good to let the earth lye ydle a yeare or else to manure it throughly and so to take away all the euill qualitie that is remayning and left behind In a deere yeare it is vsuall to make bread of barley as vve shall declare hereafter and that better for the poore people than for the rich and yet in one point to be praised in as much as it is good wholesome for them that haue the gout the assured truth vvhereof is found out rather by experience than reason Notwithstanding in as much as Barley as Galen 〈◊〉 vvhether it be in bread or in pap-meat in pâ—isanâ—s in mundified barley or otherwise imployed doth coole and yeeld a thinne kind of nourishment and somewhat cleanseth the bodie in that respect it may be profitable for them that haue the 〈◊〉 as those that are full of humours and subject to distillations falling downe vpon the mints There is made of Barlie a certaine kind of drinke vvhich is commonly called aptisane and a meat that is good for sicke persons called mundified barley which thâ— good vvife of the Farme may make in this sort Take barley well cleansed and husked boyle it till it burst and till it become like vnto a pap-meat after beat it in a morter and when you haue so done straine it through a verie fine strayner put vnto it sugar or the juice of sweet almonds or of poppie-seed melons or lettuses according as occasion shall be offered Or else Take of the best and newest barley put it in a mortar and cast vpon it warme vvater as it vvere to wet it but not to make it swim afterward beat it gently with a vvoodden pestell in such sort as that the huske that couereth it may be forced off then chafe it betwixt your hands that so you may free it quite from huskes then afterward drie it in the Sunne vvhen you haue this done take a handfull of the said barly and put it in a pot vvhich it may fill to the halfe and filling vp the other halfe with vvater let it boyle by little and little vntill such time as it be burst and become like pap-meat let it run through a linnen cloth and so straine out the juice Thus much for the French opinion of Barley but to come to the true knowledge thereof from the opinions of those that are better experienced in the same you shall vnderstand that Barley ought to be sowne vpon the best richest and best husbanded ground you haue and although it will grow in any soyle whatsoeuer that is vvell husbanded not being too extreame cold and moist yet the better the earth is into which you sow it the better and the larger the corne is vvhen it groweth and much more seruiceable for any vse you shall please to imploy it That Barley which groweth on the stiffe clayes is the best being large white and full like a Buntings beake That which growes on the mixt soyle is the second best and that which groweth on the sands is the vvorst Barley asketh the greatest tillage of all graines
it cowes-milke goats-milke or the juice of sweet almonds with sugar The Flemmings vse to make pap-meat thereof which they loue exceeding vvell The Muscouites distill the water of oats and vse it for want of wine and such water heateth and maketh drunke no lesse than Wine Thus much of the French opinion of Oats vvho are indeed but halfe knowing or not so much in the excellencie of the graine but to come to their knowledge who haue the full proofe and triall thereof you shall vnderstand that it is a graine of no lesse worth and estimation than any of the other and questionlesse may much lesse be banished a Common-wealth than of the other in as much as where none of the other will grow there this will you shall then know that Oats will grow in any soyle whatsoeuer as either in fertile or barren hot or cold drie or moist nor doth it aske much labour for in fertile soiles it wil grow with one earing as namely at seed-time which is euer about the end of March or beginning of Aprill it will grow also after any other graine as after wheate rye barley or pulse but it is best sowing it after barley or pulse because to sow it after Wheat or Rie would pill the ground too much and make it barren too soone In barren grounds it will grow with two arders or three at the most as one at Midsommer another at Michaelmas and the third at seed-time or else at Michaelmas and at seed-time onely it must be sowne vnder furrow like barley in loose moulds and after two or three arders but aboue furrow in fast earths and where it hath but one arder onely it must be well harrowed according to the strength of the mould that is to say with wooden-teeth in loose moulds and vvith yron teeth in fast moulds they must be cropt as soone as they turne colour and appeare a little yellow for else they vvill shed their graine as being the loosest corne of all other These Oats are of diuers most excellent vses both for men and also for cattell as first for Oatmeale which is made in this sort as soone as your Oats haue beene thresht and vvynowed you shall lay them on your kilne and vvith a soft fire drie them verie vvell and then carrie them to the milne either the Wind-mill the Water-mill or the Horse-mill and there let the Miller cut them and hull them but by no meanes crush them to fine meale but onely driue the cleane kernell from the courser hull then vvith a fanne or a gentle vvind vvinnow the emptie hulls from the Corne and if so be that you find they be not all cleane hulled then passe them through the mill againe and then vvynow them againe and thus doe till the nulls be cleane taken off vvhich hulls are a verie good prouander for horses as for the Groats vvhich is vsually called common or course Oat-meale they are excellent to make porridge of all kinds and for puddings of all sorts or for any other pap-meat or panada whatsoeuer it is also an excellent food at Sea being boyled in Water or otherwise vsed after the manner of grauell This oat-meale being ground into â—ine meale like other corne maketh diuers kinds of verie good bread chiefely where other corne is not to be had If you mixe the fine meale of Oates with Wheat meale it maketh verie daintie Oat-cakes either thicke or thinne and is of great estimation where they are knowne These Oates being maulted as you mault Barley make a verie good mault and that mault both verie good Ale and Beere only a little more sharpe than that which is made of Barley Lastly those Oates are of all other foods the best that may be for the feeding of horse or fatting of cattell they are also good to seed all sorts of Pulleine especially Geese Swannes and all manner of water-fowle which take much pleasure therein Millet MIllet as those know verie well which dwell in the Countrey Bearne Bigorre and Armignac after that it hath beene steeped some certaine time in water would be sowne either morning or euening in the coole thereof in light and small moulded ground and it groweth not only in grauelly ground but also in sand when the country it wet and moist but in anie case it would not be sowne in drie grounds and such as consist of Fullers earth or are marly neither must it be sowne before the Spring for it requireth heat wherefore it may conueniently be sowne in the end of the moneth of March or else somewhat later that so it may enioy the benefit of the dew a long time It putteth not the husbandman to anie great charges for a little seed will sowe a great deale of ground So soone as it is sowne it must be pressed downe with a hurdle of Wickers well laden to keepe it from the heat of the Sunne in the springing vp thereof for otherwise the seed would grow vp and drie away through the vehâ—mencie and heat of the Sunne-beames Notwithstanding it would be oft and verie well weeded for the â—ooting vp of all manner of ill weedes especially the blacke Millet So soone as it may be spied peeping forth of the earth and before that by the operation of the Sunne the corne doe shew it must be pluckt vp by the hand and be laid in the Sunne afterward to drie and lastly shut vp in some place where it may be kept and being thus ordered it lasteth longer than anie other manner of corne Millet doth good vnto the fields wherein it is gathered in this respect namely that wormes will not hurt the corne that shall be sowne there presently after anie whit at all seeing they will leaue the graine that is sowne and cleaue to the straw of the Millet In the time of dearth they vse to make bread of Millet but vnpleasant ynough especially when it is setled and the inhabitants of Gascoâ—gne and Campaigne doe vse a pappe-meat made of Millet with milke and that not of the pleasantest taste as well the bread as the pappe-meat made of Millet is of small nourishment besides that they make obstructions and that because Millet is cold in the first degree and drie in the third Millet fried with salt and flowers of Camomill and put into a bag doth serue against the paines of the collick and wringings of the bellie To keepe Purgatiues as Rubarb Agarick yea and flesh also from rottennesse and corruption it is good to burie them in Millet Sesame SEsame would be sowne in a blacke ground that is somewhat rotten and moist It groweth also in sandie and fat grauellie grounds or in mingled grounds and it is verie fruitfull euen no lesâ—e than Millet or Pannicke It is true that the good householder needeth not trouble his braine much with the sowing of it seeing it is apt to make the ground altogether barren and yet is good for nothing except the oyle that is pressed out of it and
more worth than the other so that the hindes let not to say That they had rather eat the huskes or stalkes of beanes sowne in due time than the beanes themselues of three moneths old because they yeeld more fruit and haue a greater and better stored graine But at what time soeuer you sowe them you must haue speciall regard to sowe them all about the fifteenth day after the change of the Moone because that in so doing thâ—y will be the beâ—ter loaden and because they will not be so much assailed of little vermine as and if the Moone were new The day before they be sowne you must steepe them in the lees of Oliues or in water of Nitre to the end that they may beare the more fruit be more easie to boyle and not to be subiect to be eaten of Weeuils or Larkes They must likewise reape and pull them vp in the new of the Moone before day and after leaue them in the ayre to drie and thresh them out before the full Moone and afterward carrie them into the Garner for being thus ordered vermine will not breed in them Againe they proue more profitable being planted than sowne in a good ground that is well dressed tilled fatted and manured vvhich said ground if it be sowne the yeare following with Wheat will yeeld a more copious and plentifull haruest in as much as Beanes doe fatten a ground more than anie other kind of Pulse If you would keep them long you must sprinkle them with salt water but if you meane to boile them you must bee sure to keep the salt from them because salt-water doth harden them they must not be left in the cold aire for the cold also doth make them the harder to boile To keepe them from being euen of wormes they must bee annointed or rubd ouer with oile-oliue one after another vntill such time as they be well liquored with this oile The flowers of Beanes notwithstanding that they be of a pleasant and delightsome smell doe hurt a weake braine and such a one as is easily carried away and ouercome And hereupon it commeth to passe that there are a great number of fooles when Beanes are in flower Thus much for the French experience of Beanes which doth indeed more concerne the Garden-Beane than those which are continually in vse amongst Husbandmen Therefore to come to the profit and true knowledge of the husbanding of Beanes you shall vnderstand that they are onely to be sowne in a rich stiffe ground that is verie fertile as namely the black or blew clay for in other earths they â—oy but a little and they will grow with one eaâ—ing onely which would be done at the beginning of Ianuarie vpon such earth as hath borne Barly before or else vpon greene-swarth which hath not been plowed long before it must be plowed deep and haue a great furrow turned vp then you shall let it lye till it haue taken frost and raine then vpon the next faire season being about or soone after S. Valentines day you shall sowe it and harrow it As for the weeding of Beanes it is to no purpose for they are of themselues so swift of growth that they will out-grow all weedes And if they haue anie Pease mixt amongst them which should euer be for it is the surest seed they will smother vp and destroy all sorts of weedes They are because of their vpright growing better to be mowne with sythes than cut to reapt with hookes they aske little withering for so soone as the cod turnes blacke the stalke dryes The vse of them is principally for prouander for Horses or to mixe with Barley Wheat or Rie to make bread for hind-seruants or for hunting or running Horses but then commonly they are vsed simply of themselues or else mixt with Wheat onely for the mixture of Barley or Rie is not good for Horses of that nature except for some cause physicall as to keepe them soluble in their bodies and so forth The Garden-Beane is good for men to eat being boyled and mixt with butter vineger and pepper or for want of butter with oyle-Oliue The cods also are a verie good food being boyled whilest they are greene and tender Lastly the water which is distilled from the flowers of Beanes is good to take away the morphew or spots in men or womens faces Small Peason SMall Pease are no lesse profitable for the fatting of ground that is leane than Lupines It is true that if you looke to haue good store of them and well-codded you must sowe them in fat and warme grounds and in a temperate and moist time as in Februarie or March and sometime in September in the increase of the Moone and yet it is hard for them to endure and hold out the Winters cold for they alwaies desire the full fruition of the Sunne and doe grow a great deale the fairer when they doe enioy it accordingly and when also they are borne vp to that end on stickes rather than let fall flat to the ground to creepe vpon it they must be sowne thinne because their stalkes doe spread themselues further than anie one other kind of pulse They are verie subiect to be eaten within of Wormes and yet those which are so eaten of Wormes are better to sowe than the other which are whole and sound For this cause if you will preuent the Wormes that they may not hurt and hinder your corne sowe Peason first in the place It is true that for the better growth and prospering of them the thicke and grosse seed is most conuenient to be sowne especially if it be laid in water to steepe therein a night because thereby they grow the more easily and lose some part of their saltnesse in being steept by which meanes they recouer their naturall verdure againe They must be gathered in the decrease of the Moone presently vpon their being ripe for else they drie vp and fall out of their swads The earth wherein they are sowne standeth in need but of one earing Cich Peason CIch Peason doe likewise grow in fat and moist places they must be sowne in a rainie time they doe greatly load and burthen the earth and for that cause are neglected of the wiser sort of husbandmen Notwithstanding if you will sowe them you must steepe them in warme water a day before that so they may grow and put forth of the earth the sooner and greater Some to haue them grow the fairer doe steepe them and their cods in nitrous water To keepe them that passengers and other folke may not gather them to eate when they are ripe you must water them fiue mornings together before the Sunne rise with water wherein haue beene steeped the seedes of wild Cucumber and Wormewood and the dew within fiue daies after will haue taken away all the bitternesse thereof Such practises are likewise good for to be vsed about small Peason and Beanes The vse of them is good for such as are
as that of the 〈◊〉 of Beauce but yet to make some manner of recompence more white and such as â—â—teth better than that of Beauce The corne of Brie is of a lesse graine than that of France and Beauce as also a loâ—e of this corne is of lesse quantitie than that of 〈◊〉 corne and of lesse whitenesse and pleasure in eating than that which is made of the corne of France because that Brie is a countrie of sweet cherries and yet notwithstanding it is found that the countrie properly and truely called Brie doth surpasse and goe beyond the two other in massinesse of corne and the cause making it so to be is the shortnesse and thickenes of the skin thereof which is euidently more apparant in it than in the rest which make it to weigh the more The corne of Picardie is of a lesse graine than any of the other three aforesaid and so the bread of this corne is not so good great white or profitable because that this corne is more hard stiffe stubborne and vneasie to grind than the others and therefore such as out of which the flower cannot be well drawne which causeth men commonly to call the corne of Picardie more vile and filthie than the rest seeing when it is ground the bran thereof detaineth and keepeth backe of the flowre within it Champaigne notwithstanding that it flow and abound with corne and make a verie faire and great shew yet it is inferiour vnto the other aforesaid countries because the corne thereof yeeldeth lesse bread than the others because naturally it is giuen to be choking and to run vpon wreathes betwixt the milstones and more redious to grind than others againe it is long thin and clouen in the middest which maketh that it carrieâ—h so much wast bulke Generally wheat the smaller it is and the thinner the huske is the better and whiter the meale is which commeth from it as is both seene in France and in other countries for in England the wheat which groweth on the rich stiffe soyles and is called whole straw wheat being a great large corne with a thicke huske is euer the coursest and blackest of all wheats yet good to the yeeld and rich in meale but the flaxen and chilter wheate which are much smaller and thinner huskt and grow vpon barrenner grounds as for the most part vpon the Iunams and such like doe euer yeeld the finest and whitest meale and therefore are most sought after for the making of fine maunchets sweet bisket Iumballs and such like 〈◊〉 pasts To grind corne THe husbandman hauing made good choice of his corne shall send it to the mill whether it go with water or with wind according as the countrie shall be 〈◊〉 fit and conuenient for or and if he haue choice and may send it to either then 〈◊〉 shall rather chuse to send it to a watermill carried about with a very swift 〈◊〉 for the more forcible turning about of the stone and which hath his 〈◊〉 of a very hard greet and all of one peece if it bee possible such as are in Bâ—ie and Champaigne especially at Ferte vnder Ioarre for the milstones that are tender and soft doe easily breake and quickely grow out of frame and withall do continually 〈◊〉 some grauell in turning about which being mixt with the meale taketh away all the pleasantnes and good sauour of the bread and becommeth oftentimes troublesomâ— vnto the teeth Many doe counsell and aduise to beat the corne in a 〈◊〉 before it be sent to the mill to be ground and in beating of it to sprinkle it ouer with 〈◊〉 and after to drie it in the Sunne and then in the end to send it to the mill Some 〈◊〉 not send it to the mill except it be very drie and when as it is not drie they set it in the Sunne to drie as holding this opinion that the drier it is the more 〈◊〉 it yeeldeth Others besprinkle it with salt water hoping by such watering of it 〈◊〉 the meale will become more white and that they shall haue greater quantite of 〈◊〉 Of old time as may be gathered out of Aristotles problems barley was woone to be pâ—rched before it was ground In France none of these waies of preparing their 〈◊〉 to the mill are vsed but as the corne is so they send it to the mill It is true that the miller is to lay his stones in such sort as that according to the owners will 〈…〉 make a greater or a smaller meale as also according as the corne it selfe shall be more grosse hard small or soft Yet the lesse the corne is bruised the finer the meale will be and the grosser your branne is the better and vvhiter will your paste be vvhence it comes that the skilful Baker wil euer chuse the great black Cullen stones to grinde his fine Wheat vpon which no more but bruising and as it were crushing the corne makes the meale as pure and as vvhite as Snow As for the drinesse or danknesse of corne it is certaine that no graine except Wheat can be too drie but that the skilfull Miller sayes should euer sticke to the Hopper vvhence it comes that he will vvhen he findes his Wheat too drie dash or sprinkle some vvater vpon it which makes it grinde a great deale the better and makes the meale much vvhiter Of Meale Mil-dust flower of Meale Branne fine Meale Wheate Starch and mundified Barley THe corne being ground is turned into Meale in such sort as that meale is no other thing but that vvhich commeth of the corne vvhen it is ground and so the meale falleth out to be such as the corne was that is to say very vvhite if so bee that the corne were pure and cleane thick and short such as the corne of France properly so called is blacke and full of bran if the corne were starued small wrinckled full of filth and dirt long and flat such is the meale of Rie But the husbandman before the grinding of his corne and turning of it into meale must thinke with himselfe vvhether he will keepe it long or no such as he vvill not keep there is no need vvhy he should care of what corne he causeth it to be ground as vvhether it be old or new threshed neither yet how and in what maner but such as he doth entend to keep for some time as in a store-house for to answer the times of necessitie hee must chuse the driest corne that he can meet vvithall because that if it be not verie drie it might verie quickly take heat in the meale and so it is meete that it should bee old threshed and not new and comming from the sheafe although the bread that is made of corne old threshed be not so good as that which is made of new threshed corne and that vvhich commeth fresh from the sheafe for the meale that commeth of corne olde threshed reserued a long time in the garner keepeth better than that
vvhich commeth of new threshed corne because that the corne being driuen and laide naked from his first and vtmost huske and coate taketh the aire as also his vndermost couering vvherewith it is couered and so groweth drier and harder not only in his coate but also in the meale and marrow inclosed therein Whereupon it commeth to passe that this meale being left naked and voide of any coate by the grinding of the Mill becommeth more apt to keepe in being the more drie On the contrarie the meale of new threshed corne is not of so good continuance but spoileth sooner because that the corne new threshed retaining yet his natiue moisture maketh the meale the more moist and heauie and that it can not be so drie vvhereupon it falleth out to be more inclinable and readie to corrupt For euen as drinesse doth preuent and hinder putrifaction so moisture doth hasten and help forward the same And that it is so vve see by experience that the painfull husbandmen for the good keeping of their corne do leaue it in the sheafe mowed vp in the Barne there to Winter and sweate causing it after such sweate to be threshed that so they may shift it out of its place into another that is more drie and laying vp higher in a more open ayre vvhere being laide and gathered together in heapes after a long and not high raised manner he diligently bestirreth himselfe to cause it to be remoued from place to place that so it may take the aire by little and little but especially to ayre that vvhich lieth vnderneath by laying it about vvherefore it is not to be doubted but that the meale vvhich is made of corne that hath beene thus ordered in the Garner is of much better continuance than that vvhich is of corne comming newly out of the sheafe Besides the husbandmâ—n must giue in charge if so be hee vvould haue his meale to keepe long to the Miller to grinde his corne somewhat grosse for if it be ground fine it is not possible for him to keepe it so long in good state and condition Notvvithstanding for the well keeping of all sorts of meale whether it bee of corne new or old threshed you must make choice of the highest roome of all your dwelling place whether it bee towre towne or towne-house and being placed there as in a store-house it shall bee let rest full fifteene daies to relieue and ease it selfe of the trauell which it hath had in the grinding after which time of rest for the better and longer keeping of it it will be needfull to change it oft from one place to another and by this meanes it will be kept a whole halfe yeare and being often remoued and changed from one place to another it will bee increased a fift or sixt part at the least oâ— which notwithstanding there cannot be made so good bread as of the meale that is newly ground And thus much for the farmers duetie about baking which consisteth in chusing the corne causing it to bee ground and laying vp of the meale in some garner either to bee kept or to be presently vsed about the making of bread The ordering of the meale and making of the bread belongeth vnto the house-wife according to the custome of the auncient Romans amongst whom the women of speciall note and account did worke and knead the meale and made bread with their owne hands as Plutarch reporteth in his Problemes The house-wife then being possessed of so much meale in the garner shall goe about to doe her indeauour to make bread but before she beginne to make it she shall seperate the finer part thereof from the grosser with some temze searce or bolter to the end that of these seuerall sorts of meale she may make seuerall sorts of bread the finest part of the meale is called the flower of meale and of the Latins Pollen whereof the pasterers or cookes for pastrie doe make wafers and such like daintie knackes the grossest part is the brane called of the Latins Furfur which commeth of the coat or huske cleauing next vnto the narrow and kernell of the corne Betwixt the flower of the meale and the bran there are yet other parts of the meale more or lesse fine or more or lesse grosse according to the widenesse or narrownesse of the temze or bolter through which they passe and according to the difference and diuersitie of these parts there are made different and diuers sorts of bread that is to say more or lesse white according to the taking forth of two three or foure parts of the bran by the helpe and meanes of the bolter besides these parts and seuerall sorts there is yet another sort of meale which is called mill-dust and this riseth vp from the corne as it is vpon the mill grinding vnder the mill-stone but hereof there is no vse for bread the millers vse to sell it onely for the vse of booke-binders and gold-smiths to make their pastewithall there is yet another kind of meale which the Italians call Semole which is fine meale or course flower called of the Latins Simila or Similago whereof wee haue spoken before Wee haue it not in this countrie it is brought vnto vs from Italy and Naples neither doe men vse to make bread with this but either thicken their meat-broths or else make pap-meat It is as fine as the flower of meale but not so white notwithstanding hauing a colour halfe like the straw colour It is of a very good iuice and noâ—rishment There is yet further another sort of very white meale that is very fine which is commonly called in French Amydon and of the Greeks and Latins Amylon as though it were made without mill-stones It hath heretofore beene made diuers waies but in this countrie they vse to make it in this sort They chuse the faireâ—â— and purest wheate that may bee got and cause it to bee ground verie finely which done they cast the ground meale into a vessell whch the other fill vp with water scumming off the bran that swimmeth aloft and after passing all the water through a cloth or strainer and then they put new water into the vessell which they likewise straine in such manner as they did the former leauing the white meale in the 〈◊〉 whither it is setled and this they drie in the heate of the Sunne about the dog daies and when it is dried it becommeth hard and is afterward broken into gobbâ—â—s and so made into fine meale You may make meale likewise of other corne than of wheate as of barley 〈◊〉 mesâ—â— secourgeon and many other sorts of graine whereof wee haue said before that bread is woont to bee made in the time of dearth and famine or else in poore countries that haue want of other or at least of better corne Barley meale is very full of branne and hence it commeth that the bread made thereof doth losen the belly Notwithstanding there vvas in old time made
the greatest of the branne is taken away then there is vsually made therâ—of citizens bread Againe when as the bran is cleane taken away they vse to make thereof small white loâ—â—es and when as the grossest part of the white flower is taken away and nothing left but the very fine they vse to make chapter bread wafers tarts cakes and other workes of pastrie Some also do make bread as it were of pure bran and therin likewise sometimes to be found straws and chaffe and that for to feed dogs withall The fittest place for the baking of bread is the ouen because it admittâ—th the heat of the fire equally and indifferently on all sides vpon the harth or gridyron the one part of the loafe baketh and the other remaineth raw and vnder the ashâ—â— it is not so well baked The fire that is for to heat the ouen must bee fagot wood or billeâ— or shiuerâ— of thicke wood that hath no stinking or vnsauoury smell or for want of wood straw or stubble as is vsed in Beauce or of thicke reeds according as the countrie will most conueniently afford The bread must be baken in the ouen in a good sort and meane and with a reasonable heate for ouer-great a heat would scorch the crust that is aboue and so 〈◊〉 it selfe of inward entrance to the causing of the said inward part to remaine raw and paste-like a lesser heat than is meet and conuenient would let it remaine all raw after it is baken enough it shall bee drawne forth out of the ouen and laid to rest and abide in a place that is neither stinking nor vnsauourie nor yet infected with any euil aire for the hote bread doth easily draw and sucke in any vehemous or corrupt qualitie of the aire In moist places bread doth soone become hoarie and sustie and in too drie a place it becommeth mouldy and ranke The good husband that is right carefull of his profit to the end that his bread may last the longer and that they may eate the lesse of it doth set it in some celler or place which is vnder the ground or in some other place which is moist and his rie bread in some place neere vnto the fire harth The bread made of other sorts of corne as also of certaine pulse BArley bread must bee made of the best barley that may be found or gotten and not of the meale whole and entire as it commeth from the mill but of that part of it which hath beene â—emâ—ed and cleansed from his grosse bran It is true that the bread will be very drie very apt to crumble and of a sower tast so that it would be better to mingle amongst this meale some meale of pure wheate or mesâ—in The maner of seasoning it with leuen as also of kneading and baking of it is no other than is vsed in wheate After the same manner is bread made of Secourgion but neither the one nor the other is fit for the eating either of the Lord of the fâ—rme or of his farmer but rather for the seruants and that especially in the time of dearth for their better contentation although there bee no great store of nourishment to bee looâ—ed foâ— from the same After this sort also they make bread of oates which is â—eldome or not at all eaten except it be in the time of extreame famine for indeed it 〈◊〉 very vnpleasantly Bread may bee made of millet as also of panicke but such as is verie drie and brittle and yet the Gascoines vse it very commonly and especially the Biarnoyes who for this cause are called millet mangers of their neighbours dwelling 〈◊〉 The Biarnoyes do make hastie pudding after this manner They take three or 〈◊〉 pounds of the meale of the millet for the morning and as much for the euening they set it vpon the fire in a Kettle whereinto there is powred fiue or sixe pints of water thus they let them boile together vntill such time as that it swell vp to the top of the kettle and then taking it from off the fire they stir it well about with a round sticke so long as vntill the paste be very throughly broken and made all one then afterward taking it out of the kettle they diuide it with a thred into many peeces and eate it in that sort with cheese or with thin salted milke Bread is likewise made of rie but such as eateth very clammie whereof wee haue spoken in the discourse of rie for the taking away of the clamminesse thereof it will be good to mingle barley flower with it or rather wheate flower or else to take the flower of the rie meale it will be of a wax colour if yet while it is hot you lay vpon it some heauie meale It is vsed likewise to make bread of rice beanes spelt corne and many other sorts of corne and pulse and that after the same sort that wheat corne bread is made In like manner the industrie and indeauour of the baker may be the cause of the making of many sorts of bread as that which is called the finest bread or Court bread which is the lightest of all the rest and which is very exactly kneaded full of leuen and of a well raised paste Bisket bread which is of three sorts one that is made of rie another that is made of maslin or barley or oates or of all the foresaid mixt together fit for Saylers to liue withall which vndertake long voyages by sea or for such as are besieged within some â—ort or holde because it will keepe a long time this kind of bread hath not much leuâ—n in it the second kind of bisket is made of pure wheat without any mixture fit for the poore that are infected with the pox to make their diet bread vpon the third sort is made of the flower of meale and it is vsuall to put to the paste thereof sugar cynamome pepper or ginger and sometimes annise seeds and it serueth to eate in the time of abstinence as Lent and such other At Reyns they vse to make spiced bread with honie and a little quantitie of pepper or cynamome The Bakers which belong vnto the Court make their bread with milke CHAP. XXI Of the Pantrie IT is most certaine that bread is the chiefest thing whereby man is fed and nourished and that it is so we see that other victuals how pleasant soeuer they be vnto the tast how vvel soeuer prepared and set out with good sauces do for the most part of them cause very oft a distast and loathing of themselues but onely bread holdeth out without dislike growing therupon whether it be in sicknes or in health it is the thing which appetite doth last of all refuse and first like of and receiue againe in time of sickenes in health it is the beginning and ending of our meat very pleasant and delightsome with all kind of meats In like manner of a certainty
leueâ— to knead their crust withall the hardned froth of beere which because it is windy and flatuous doth make the bread light as it were full of eies The grounds of beere doth serue to polish and scoure brasen vessell if they beâ— laid to steepe therein some certaine time The end of the fifth Booke THE SIXTH BOOKE OF THE COVNTRIE HOVSE The Vine CHAP. I. Of the profit rising of a well dressed Vine and Vineyard HItherto wee haue intreated of the husbanding tilling ordering and dressing of garden plots orchards and arable ground it now remaineth that we speake of the vine wherupon for certaintie dependeth the greatest part of the reuenues and riches of a house-holder howsoeuer many make small account of the vine and do more esteeme to haue possession of meadowes pasture woods and other grounds than to stand to the reuenues growing by vines in as much as for the most part they yeeld not the fruit which may recompence the charges laid out about them But for all this the vine is not to be discredited seeing this is not the fault of the ground but of the people that till it and either for couetousnesse or ignorance or negligence offend in the tilling thereof It is true that the husbanding and ordering of the vine is chargeable painefull and a matter of great care by reason of the tendernesse of the wood which being well considered may seeme to haue come to passe by a speciall prouidence of God directing the same and making it so weake tender and feeble to the end that this plant might not serue for any other thing than to bring forth the excellent and pretious liquor of wine which is so needfull for the sustentation and life of man for if it were fit for any thing else as the wood of other trees is it would be imployed and wine thereby would become a great deale more deere than it is The greatest part of vine dressers do not esteeme in what ground the vine be planted but do make choice of the worst quarter in all the country as if the worst ground and that which is good for nothing else were the best to plant vines in Others haue not the iudgement to know and chuse their plants and for that cause doe oftentimes plant their vineyards with such young vines as are nought Againe many hauing no respect of the time to come do in such sort order and dresse the vine as if they thought to liue but an houre burdening and loading it with so many branches and shootes for propagation and leauing vpon it so much wood as that it cannot prosper any long time Others although they know the way to order and dresse it well do yet continually omit certain courses and seasons as being more busily imployed about their own profit than their maisters wel-fare Likewise I would alwaies aduise the Lord of our countrie farme that hee would not altogether commit the care and charge of his vineyard vnto his farmer but that he himselfe would lay the chiefe burthen about it vpon himselfe for as the masters eie maketh the horse fat so the carefull industrie of the Lord or chiefe owner maketh the field fruitfull and to beare great store of increase and for that likewise the owner and Lord of the vine will not onely spare it better but also see that it bee not defrauded of any such toile and labour as it requireth contrarie for the most part to the practise of such as are but secondarily interesâ—ed in such matters the vine being such a peece of inheritance as wherein euerie small fault committed doth draw after it great losse and such as oftentimes cannot bee remedied or repaired but by supplanting what is done and replanting it a new And that it is no otherwise but iust so marke and see if euer you heare the Guespines of Orleance or the Beaâ—uoies and those of the duchie of Burgundie which haue large grounds imployed in vineâ—yards to complaine themselues of their vines and that because themselues take the whole care and reserue the principall ouersight vnto themselues On the contrary the Parisians haue no other complaints or agreeuances to talke of but of their vines and that because they credit deceitfull and ignorant workemen to sway the worke whose couetousnesse ignorance and negligence is for the most part of the cause that they reape not the fruit of their vines in such plentifull manner as they should or at the least that the fruit which they doe reape is not so durable as it would And this you must thinke that vines will yeeld a larger reuenue a great deale than gardens or other areable grounds if they bee well and diligently husbanded for there are few arpents of vines to be found which yeeld not euery yeare one yeare helping another ten or twelue tuns of wine which is a great reuenue and yet remaineth vnreckoned a great benefit and auailes which may be made of small plants and impes which may be gathered to transport or transplant into any other place which will easily amount to more than will satisfie and aunswere all the costs and charges which are laid out any maner of way about the vines wherefore either the reuenue rising of such plants by sale or the hope of the vintage and gathering of wine must be the spur to pricke forward the master of this our countrie farme to looke to the ordering and dressing of the vines himselfe CHAP. II. What soile and aire the vine doth most delight in THe vine groweth not but in certaine places that are fit and naturall for it which is a thing to be accounted of by vs so much the more excellent because the speciall propertie of this plant is more commended by men than any other in respect of the good it ministreth which iâ— that in such places as it groweth in the men are found to be more strong and mightie by the vse of it than other men are which for want of it are forced to vse other drinkes As concerning the soile to plant it in there must two things be considered the qualitie of the ground where it is to be planted and the disposition and inclination of the aire which ruleth in that place As concerning the qualitie of the ground you shall chuse such a one as is not very churlish and close neither yet very lighâ— and open but yet of the two more inclining vnto a small mould and open ground neither leane nor very fat yet somewhat the rather inclining to the fat not champion nor a very plaine and flat and yet in such grounds there grow more wine neither very stiffe and straight but rather somewhat raised than otherwise that so it may bee the better aided and succoured by the fauourable beames of the Sunne neither driâ— nor moist and watrish because that in such kind of ground the vine continueth not long neither doth it bring forth good wine but such as is quickely perished and yet
indifferently serued with vvater not such a one as hath any fresh springs or fountaines either breaking out euen with the vppermost face of the earth neither yet carried along within in the depth of the earth below but only in such sort as that neere vnto them there may be water to moisten their rootes withall and the same moisture must not be either bitter or salt to the end that the tast and â—auor of the wine may not be spoiled So that by this it appeareth that it is not meet to plant Vines in deepe and low valleyes albeit they might and would bring forth grapes in great abundance and that because they would not ripen in due time and so there would be made of them no better than a green vvine of small value adde hereunto that Vines seated in low valleyes are very much endangered by the Frosts of the Winter and Spring time and are also subiect to haue their grapes to burst and to runne out their iuice and to rot vvhich vvould cause a musâ—ie and foughtie taste in the vvine and therewithall vvhen the yeare is rainie the kernels cleaue and burst out through the abundance of moisture by reason vvhereof the grape being in this sort too much moistened and nothing at all dried the vvine becommeth vnsauorie and apt to grow sowre and fall into many other faults And if you happen to light on such a place then chuse to plant there such plants and yong shootes as may beare clusters not too thicke set but growing somewhat thin that so the Sunne may pierce through them much lesse may you plant those Vines vvhich haue their pith taken out and bring forth a firme and solid grape in cold and moist grounds as neither yet in a hote and drie ground such Vines as haue substance enough in them and beare a grape somevvhat soft But chiefly if your place be so well appointed by nature as that it consist of and containe grounds that are fit and meet vpon the tops of great hills together vvith some low and small hills then make choice of them to plant your Vines thereupon It is true that it vvill hardly grow there at the first but hauing once taken roote it vvill yeeld a verie pleasant and noble vvine such as the vvines of Ay Hadre Argentueil Meudon and Seurre be In generall if you vvould plant a Vine vvhich may profite you in bringing forth abundant store of good fruit you must see that the ground be gentle easie fine and indifferent light to be stirred not as though such a ground onely vvere good for Vines but for that it is most kind naturall and best agreeing for Vines to be planted in sandie stonie grauelly and flintie ground as also such as consisteth of a Potters clay in the bottome and couered ouer with earth is good prouided that they be intermingled with some fat earth and that they be often refreshed by being digged euen to the veine of stones or rocke In a sandie clayie and churlish stubborne ground the first digging and casting of it must be good deepe and such grounds also would be thrise digged or cast at the least Such grounds bring forth strong and delicate vvines but such grounds as haue of stones or flints great store vpon the vppermost face of the earth are not fit for Vines because in Summer they stand at a stay by reason of the great heat of the Sunne being beat back vpon them by the said stones and they doe no better in Winter because of the excessiue cold which in like manner then troubleth them True it is that if a Vine be planted in a grauelly rockie and stonie ground that then it will not be needfull to cast so deepe because the roote is not so farre downe into the earth as is the new planted Vineyard which is made in a sandie â—oile and it is contented with twise digging for the most part A soile standing vpon Walkers clay or marle as loegâ—y vpon Yonne is verie good for Vines but the ground standing vpon a Potters clay is not good In like sort the grauelly ground is not altogether fit for though it yeeld a daintie good wine yet it yeeldeth but a veâ—ie little and there also the new planted Vineyard is very subiect vnto the hauing of his grapes washed away The drie and burning earth doth yeeld leane Vines if it be not helped by the dunghill As concerning the power of the Sunne and disposition of the ayre the Vine delighteth not to be planted vpon the tops of mountains and much lesse in places lying open vnto the Northeast winde but it delighteth in an ayre that is rather hote than colde and faire rather than rainie it cannot abide tempests and stormes it reioiceeth in a small gentle and friendly winde and would bee turned toward the East or South It is true that generally in cold places vines must stand vpon the South and in hot places vpon the North or East prouided that they be sheltred at such time from the winds as well of the South as of the East if the place be subiect to Winds it will be better that it should be to the Northerne or Westerne Windes than otherwise in temperate places either vpon the East or West but the best is towards the East Furthermore in as much as it is a very difficult thing to find all these commodities and good properties of ground and aire in euery countrie the good workeman shall fit the plants of his vines vnto the nature of the places and countries wherefore in a fat and â—ertile ground he shall set the young plant of a small vine and such a one as beareth but little as the Morillion the Melier and the Aubeine and in a leane ground the plant that is very fruitfull as that of Samoureau Tresseau Lombard Ouch Muscadet Beauuois and Pulceau in a thicke and close ground the plant that is strong and putteth forth great store of wood and leaues as that of Morillion Morlou Tresseau and Pulceau in a small mould and reasonable fat ground the plant which putteth forth but a little wood as that of Samoureau Lombard and Beaulnois and by this meanes the defect and want or the excesse and superfluitie of any qualitie in the young plant of the vine shall be supplied or corrected by the nature of the ground and that in such sort and manner as that of two excesses shall spring one meane and well tempered thing which is a point to be wished and requisite in the growing of all sorts of plants Furthermore he may not plant in moist places the young plant which is giuen to beare tender and grosse grapes as that of Samoureau Gouet Mourlous Pulceau Cinquaine and Tresseau In places â—ossed with winds and stormes he must prouide to plant such a kind of vine as is woont to bring forth hard grapes and sticking fast and close vnto the stalke but on the contrarie that which shall haue accustomed to beare tender
grapes in places that are hot and giuen to be mild In drie countries he must plant those vines the fruit whereof is woont lightly either through raine or the dew to rot as those be of samoureau Gouet Pinot Blanke and Beaunoies and in a moist place those which are woont to spoile and perish through drinesse In countries which are troubled with haile such as are of a hard and large leafe for such are able the better to defend and couer the fruit CHAP. III. How that there is not planted any vine by the way of making a seed nurcerie except it be onely for pleasure I Am of that mind that a man cannot but hinder and iniurie himselfe in making nurcerices of vines for besides that the tree doth not grow sooner of kernels than it doth of the plant there is also this inconuenience namely that the vine growing of knernels doth not yeeld any thing of profit or good for vse This is indeed a worke for such as loue their pleasure and haue in their purses largely to defray the charges thereof being able thereby to sow seeds out of some strange countrie afterward to raise a nurcerie of stocks of the same when they are growne vp for to bee transplanted and remoued into a better ground and that they may graft thereon and afterward againe remoue the stockes so grafted into a better ground also that so about two yeares after they may reape the fruit thereof which is woont to be both great and daintie enough but yet this same new vineyard thus planted is the least durable of all others Againe in this countrie wee doe not trouble our selues in planting vines to runne vpon trees in such sort as any man may easily see that they doe in Lombardie and other places neither yet with such as are raised vpon single and double shadowing arbours neither yet with such as vse to creepe along and spread themselues vpon elmes or other trees for the wine neuer proueth so good as well because the root of the tree is corrupted after the maner as it falleth out with coleworts as also because this plant loueth not to be hoiâ—ed and mounted too high neither yet shadowed with any building of timber-worke higher than the stature of a perfect man CHAP. IIII. How that before you plant your vine you must learne out what wine the earth will beare where you are purposed to plant it WHosoeuer doth purpose to plant vines must not so much trust vnto the markes and signes of a good ground ceclared and set downe before as first to see that he haue made trial what wine the ground will best beare where he mindeth to plant his vine for it were but labour lost and money cast away to plant a vine for so small increase as can nothing like aunswere and content your expectation Thus then you may trie and proue your ground make a pit in the ground where you meane to plant it of two foot depth and of the earth cast out of the pit take a clod and put it in a glasse full of raine water that is verie deane mingle and beate together this earth and water then let it rest vntill such time as the earth haue made his perfect residence and setling in the bottome of the glasse which is easily perceiued by the cleerenesse of the glasse which will follow thereupon and after that the earth is throughly setled tast the water and looke what relish or tast it hath such would the wine be and therefore a vine yeelding such a relished wine fittest to be planted there therefore if you find therein a bitter tast a saltie or allum like or any other such vnpleasant tast auoid and cease to plant any vine in any such ground Which if it be true then to dung and manure vines is altogether to bee condemned because it is very hard that earth fed and nourished with dung should not taste and retaine the smatch of the dung and so by consequence communicate the same with the wine Wherefore the Parisians are fowly and foolishly ouerseene to load and lay vpon their vines yeare by yeare such great quantitie of dung and that is the cause for the most part why their wines haue an vnpleasant tast and doe easily and very quickely corrupt and yet further the dung doth cause the vines to grow old by and by and become barren because they put forth all their goodnesse the first yeare CHAP. V. Of the choice of young vine plants THe choice of young plants whether they bee crossets marquets or the tenais must not be put to the discretion of the seller who little careth to take the fit season for the gathering of the said young plants neither yet for the goodnesse of them but altogether to his diligent heedfull care which is the workemaster and for that cause it were best for men to take them of their owne vines or else at least to haue those which hee shall buy warranted to beeâ— good he must also haue regard to the quality of the aire and situation of the ground where he will set his plants that so he may fit them for the same For and if the ground lie vpon the South he shall chuse the young branches of vines which he will plant from the same part and quarter if he meane to plant them in a high place hee shall gather the plants vpon some high and tall vine and if low then out of some vineyard that is very low planting in a hot cold drie or moist ground hee shall chuse his plants for the renewing of any failing or decaied of the like situation by this meanes the plant will fasten the sooner in the ground and it will bring forth fruit sooner and a great deale better than if it should bee otherwise Likewise hee must not keepe the young plant any long time before hee plant it for no more than trees which are to bee remooued can the vine well and easily endure after it is cut to bee long vnplanted neither yet would it be carried far or remoued out of its owne soile into another because it feareth the change of earth and aire and thereupon it commeth that the young plants brought out of strange countries as of Beaune Rochel and Burdeaux cannot prosper so well in our soile as those which grew there first To make good choice therefore of crossets to plant new vines of you must see that the vine from which you gather such Crosâ—ets bee but sparingly furnished with pith because that such a one is not onely fruitfull and bearing aboundantly but because also it is not so subiect to the iniuriousnesse of time as Snow Fogges Frostes and the burning of the Sunne in the time of Sommer as those which haue much pith in them afterward when the vines beginne to bud you must diligently view about the beginning of September those that are most laden with grapes and which are most fruitfull and haue most
it for by it the earth is made the more supple and tractable In this peece of worke is contained the laying bare of the roots of the principall stocks and if the plant be grown high then this may be done in the calme and quiet time of March according to the difference and alteration of places for in this chill and cold place which is subiect vnto frosts and blastings as also in places seated in the vpper parts and tops of mountaines this first order and fashion of dressing them must be done in the after end of Winter which is called mid-May The second fashion of dressing and tilling the vine is to weed rake and cut the same as hath beene said before but before this worke come in hand the plants must bee fitted by being cut that so they may be able to continue in the place where they are planted and not to be tossed and carried to and fro with strong and blustering windes The third sort of labour to be performeed in dressing of vines is to propagate them but this worke fitteth them not for the second yeare no nor yet for the third yere except in some certaine places and in such vines as at that age are growne to very stronge wood The third yere besides the foresaid dressings if the plant be strong and seated in a good ground and that it hath put forth faire and goodly wood it is woont to be propagated betwixt mid-Aprill and for surenes sake vnto mid-May and then the propagated branches are buried in the places where the ridges are broken cast down and that alike on both sides by which meanes is made the checker whereof Columella speaketh In this same third yeare of the new plant according to the strength of the wood which it hath put forth notwithstanding for the cause aboue mentioned you haue with your naile nipped off such buds as were readie to blossome yet according to the store that it hath of strong wood after you haue cut it and amended the stocke some begin to prop vnderset and bind it for the bearing vp of the faire and iolly branches therof that they may not fall and lie flat vpon the ground which done you must go ouer it with the second fashion of dressing of it and yet before this be done it must be raised thrust vp and bound with his first band Vines are propagated in Aduent and Ianuarie after they haue beene cut howbeit in places that are more chill they be let alone till Februarie and March and for the doing hereof they make choice of the fairest branch that they can find growne out of the stocke cutting off the rest of the branches some two ioints from the stalke Sometimes if they were of a faire stocke some vse to take two of the fairest branches of the chiefest plant and then lay them verie gently one after another low vnder foot in a pit that shall haue beene made in the ridges afterward they must bee couered with earth some do lay the chiefe branch that is to be propagated very deepe to the end that the yeare after that it shall haue beene dresâ—ed and the branches handsomely laid downe in the earth without any offence or hurt done vnto them it may abide the manuring with dung for the chiefe and mother braunch is not woont to bee manured at any time but rather it is to be vncouered and layed opeâ— at the foot in Ianuarie in the beginning of December when the propagated braunch is manured to the end it may the better take in the snow and raine water which may make it to haue a thicke foot In Chablyes and throughout all Toâ—uerroies and Auuerroies they vse to propagate their vines in October and in the beginning of December when they fall calme in stonie and grauelly grounds And from mid-May vnto mid-Aprill they propagate their vines in the said conutries in their sandie grounds and such as stand on a potters clay and not sooner than that because the water that would stand in the pits would rot and kill the young braunches newly planted because of the frosts there continâ—ed both in Winter and in the Spring After August you must dresse your vine againe whether it be young or old binding it ouer againe by reason of his former young sprigs which might haue beene hurt by the first band and withered away and now at this time it must haue two bands bestowed vpon it though they vse not so to do in Anjou and Tourraine because their dressing of their vines is diuers and differing from that which wee vse Wee haue forgotten how that at mid-May before the raifing of the plant it must be stripped of his buds and in doing hereof to bee heedy and warie that the principall sprigs which shall be about the blossome be not hurt or touched except there be too many of them vpon one stocke For the third dressing of the vine which shall bee in August it is woont to bee trimmed and tied again after which in a gentle calm weather after some raine hath fallen the earth must be stird with the pick-axe very gently and softly and the weeds turned vnderneath and sometimes it is weeded if the yeare haue been rainie Besides which ordinarie dressings you must be further aduertised that indeed it is requisitâ— neuer to goe without a spade in your hand whiles you are amongst vines if so bee that you would haue them to prosper and that this businesse bee not posted ouer to rascally fellowes or maides especially the propagating of them and the stripping of them of their buds To conclude and shut vp the whole matter of the dressing of the vine set downe in his diuers sorts heere before it is to be vnderstood in generall that in the moneths of December and Ianuarie the new propagated plant must bee cut and the old one of the yeare past looked vnto in laying bare the foot of the old and dressing a new the propagated one and manuring of it if there be any need In March and Aprill it must bee cut and moe new plants made at the same time also some lay bare their vines and manure such as haue need within a shoâ—t time after they must be laid bare againe as also couered againe afterward before they blossome and flowre they must bee stripped of their buds with your hand especially whiles the branches shall appeare so tender as that they will scarce abide touching with ones finger for feare of spoiling and breaking off then shortly afterwards to prop them vp with railes and stayes to tie them with soft and nimble bands and of all this while not to forget to giue them their seuerall orders such as haue beenâ— mâ—ntioned and spoken of before CHAP. XI Of the manner of grafting the vine THe vine in this countrie is seldome grafted notwithstanding wee will speak a word or two of it hauing alreadie in the third booke handled this point more
in this order and to water them often so long as vntill the buds doe put forth To keepe grapes all winter long you must cut them downe after the full Moone in a faire and calme season about eight a clocke in the morning when the deaw is vanished and afterward dip them in the Sea water ouer head and eares or else in salt brine mixt with a little boyling wine laying them afterward vpon barley straw Som put them in a vessell full of new wine or else in a vessell close couered and luted Other some doe keepe them in honie others annoint them ouer with the juice of Purslaine others keepe them in Oate chaffe CHAP. XIII Of the diseases of the Vine and the remedies for the same SOmtimes the Vine is troubled with violence of windes or else by the vnwarines of the Vine dresser wounding the same with his pickaxe in these cases you must couer the bruised or hurt place with goâ—â—es dung or sheepes dung mingled amongst verie choice earth and cast the ground round about them oftentimes with the pickeaxe The Vines will not be spoiled with the frost if in diuers places amongst thâ—â— there be made heapes of drie dung or chaffe and when you perceiue that frosts are toward to set the same on fire for the smoake rising thereof will breake the force of the frost notwithstanding if it come to passe that the Vine bee alreadie spoiled and the fruit destroyed it must bee cut off verie short that so his strength may yet continue in the remainder for the yeare following it will bâ—are twice as much fruit The vine will not be blasted if when it is about to bud you cut it as late as it may for this late cutting of it will make it to be in blossome at such time as the Sunne is in his greatest and most feruent heat To breake off such mists and fogs as are alreadie gathered in the aire for feare they should fall vpon the vines you must make a smoake round about the vineyard with the dung of goats well kindled and set on fire Against such fogs as haue already hurt the vines you must stamp the roots or leaues of wild cucumbers or of coloquintida and lay them to steepe in water and with the same to water the vines after the mists Some say that if there bee many bay trees planted in the vineyard that then all the malitiousnesse of the mists wil fall vpon their boughs Some say that the barren vine will become fruitfull if the bodie thereof bee watered with man or womans water that hath beene made long before and dropt vpon the vine stocke by little and little and if therewithall presently after it be laid about with dung mixt with earth and this cure must be done in Autumne Vines are perceiued to want moisture when their leaues turne very red this disease must be holpen by watering them with sea water or man or womans vrine The vine sometimes poureth forth great store of teares whereupon it commeth to passe that it looseth his force altogether The remedie is to breake the barke of the vine vpon the bodie therof and to annoint the wound with oyle boiled to the halfe or else with the lees of oyle not salted and afterward to water it with the strongest vineger that may possibly be found The vine sometimes falleâ—h into such a scattering disease as that it letteth its grapes fall off the markes and signes thereof are when the leaues thereof become white and drie and the branch falleth broad lenow and soft this is to be remedied with ashes beaten and mixt with strong vineger and rubd about the foot of the vine and by watering all that is round about the stocke The vine shooting out into ouer many branches must bee cut off verie short and if for all this it giue not ouer it must bee barred at the rootes and riuer grauell laid round about the stocke together with a few ashes or else some stones for to coole the same If the grapes wither and drie away as they hang vpon the vine you must take away such as are alreadie withered and water the rest with vineger and ashes of vine branches or for the more certaintie water the foot of the vine with strong vrine which hath stood a long time There are some vines that do rot the fruit which they haue newly brought forth before such time as they become fully growne and ripe to cure this mischiefe you must put old ashes vnto their roots or grauell or else barley meale mixt with seed of purcelane about the stocke and bodie To preuent that the biting or breath of oxen and kine which are very hurtful vnto vines may not do them any hurt at all you must wateâ— the foot of euery vine stock with water wherein the hides of oxen or kine or some such other beasts haue beene steept and mollified for oxen and kine haue the stench of this water in such detestation as that they will not abide to come neere vnto the vine Caterpillers lice and such other like small vermine will not hurt â—he bud or the leafe of the vine if the hooke or hedgebill wherewith you prune and cut away the superfluous boughâ— of your vine be annointed ouer with the bloud of a male goat or the fat of an asse or of a beare or with the oile wherein caterpillers or brayed garlicke haue been boiled or if you annoint and rub them with the purse and sheath of a badgers stones after that it hath been ground To driue away little noisome beasts which are called locusts from the vines you must procure smoakes to be raised amongst the vines of the dung of oxen or Galbaâ—um or of some old shooe-soles or of harts-horn or of womans haire or for to plant amongst the said plants some pionie To preserue the vines from being annoied of the small beasts called shrewes you must cut them in the night when the Moone is in the signe Leo Scorpio Sagittarius or Taurus or else you must water your vines with water wherein haue beene steeped in the Sunne for the space of ten daies ten riuer or sea craie fishes Pismires fretting in sunder the wood of the vine euen vnto the marrow will not hurt the same at all if you annoint and rub the stocke with the dung of kine or greaâ—e of asses The bay-tree and coleworts doe likewise hurt vines very much if they be planted in the same ground but especially the coleworts which the vine hateth aboue all the rest there being a naturall and deadly contrarietie betwixt those two plants in so much as that coleworts are a preseruatiue from drunkennesse at wee shall further declare by and by wherefore the good vine-dresser shall neuer sow or planâ— any coleworts baie-trees or hasell in his garden of vines CHAP. XIIII Of the manner of gathering grapes or of vintage THe last paine
brought thither out of other Countries and Regions The French wines offer themselues in the first ranke which growing in the grounds borders neere about Paris and the whole Isle of Fraunce and other places adioyning thereunto are amongst all others and aboue all others best agreeing with students Citizens of Townes and to be briefe with all such as liue a quiet idle and restfull life especially those which are made in well seasoned yeares or such as shew forth their seuerall qualities euerie one in his proper and due season For such wines doe not heat burne and dry the inward parts of the bodie as the wines doe which are brought vs from Gascoignie Spaine and other countries more hot vvhich by reason of excessiue heat and too great drinesse do burne the liuer and spleene in such as drink them Such wines doe not make a replete heauie or offended head with multitude of vapours as other vvines of Orleance doe In like manner such wines doe not load the bodie with superfluousnesse of serous excrements as doe the crude greenish wines which grow in these grounds in cold and moist yeares or which are brought vs hither from other cold Regions and Countries Such wines likewise ingender no obstructions neither doe they gather any quantitie of melancholike humour as doe the thicke and red vvines vvhich are sent vs by sea from Burdeaux These vvines vvhen they be through ripe they are of a very pâ—easant tast especially such as are yellow clarert and white which are of a hot dry temperature as other wines but not aboue the first degree or the beginning of the second on the contrarie the wines of Spaine Gascoigne and others such like are hot drie in the end of the third degree Wherfore these our French and natiue wines ought to be preferred before all strange forraine ones seeing they burne and heat the bowels inward parts ouer-much and that as wel for the vse of such as are in health as of those that being sicke are yet permitted their vvine Amongst these our French vvines some are white othersome are of a deepe yellow commonly called clarets or reddish vvines vvhich are the most wholesome of all so that they be not accompanied with any sowrenesse and harshnesse for rough harsh vvines and others which are greene if they become not ripe and mellow in time by the concocting of their cruditie greenenesse they stand for things not fit to be vsed of any but rude and rusticall fellowes vvhich liue by toyling their bodies vvith great labour and trauell The rest are all red more or lesse But of all other French vvines there is very small store of sad and light red coloured ones White claret vvines being bright cleare and through ripe or mellow in as much as they are of a subtle substance are easily concocted digested and distributed they prouoke vrine nourish the bodie but a little but they reioyce the spirit and are for the same cause taken longed after and desired of all Some of them are readie to be drunke the second or third moneth othersome not before the seuenth or eight moneth All of them begin to fade and loose their goodnesse in the beginning of the second yeare The red although they be bright and cleare are not of so subtile a substance as the former and therefore they nourish more and are more fit for such as liue hardly than for such as liue delicately and nicely and what although they cannot bee so easily concocted and digested nor so speedily distributed neither yet cause such aboundance of vrine as those which are yellow claret or white yet trauell often exercises and labour doth ouercome all these inconueniencies yea and whatsoeuer greater that such red wines may ingender and breed Amongst them those which participate and haue any sourenes or astriction become not mellow before the Sommer heat whereupon it followeth that the second yeare their crud and raw parts being concocted and digested they grow to bee more excellent than they were in the first The deepe red and vermillion coloured are for the most part harsh and rough and so the most vnpleasant and vnwholesome of all other for that they are woont to bee ill concocted and digested and slowly distributed as also to ingender many obstructions and beget a grosse and melancholicke bloud And for these causes are not conuenient but for such as labour and lead a very toilesome life in whose bodies they being once concocted and digested do nourish very much and make them more strong and lustie to go about and finish their worke and therewithall corroborate their stomacke Of white French wines those are most accounted of which are cleere and bright as rocke water of a subtile substance neither sweet nor greene such do nourish the bodie a great deale lesse than the yellow and claret wines but in recompence thereof they are more easily concocted digested distributed and carried more speedily and readily through all the veines True it is that they are accompanied with this inconuenience namely that they do more assault the head and therefore are to bee accounted greater enemies vnto gourie persons such as haue weake braines and are subiect to rheumes and diseases of the ionts and such likewise as haue weake ioinus than the red which are not yet come to their liuelyhood and maturitie which strengthen and corroborate the moâ—th of the stomacke by reason of some easie astringencie that is in them Such as in the first moneths become somewhat sweet if they bee kept any time in the end grow so concocted and ripâ— that hauing leâ—t their sweetnes they proue strong mightie and most excellent wines Greene wines whether they be white or red such as we oftentimes see in these countries especially in cold and moist yeares if they containe any strong heate as it were buried in their crud and raw parts if they be kept any time are woont to concoct themselues and attaine to such a degree of ripenesse as that they are â—ound good well contenting the taste and pleasant vpon the tongue such as those are which are not simply greene but together with their greenenesse doe taste somewhat rough and sower the other become spent faded decayed in the beginning of Sommer by reason of the said euaporating and wast of their weak feeble heaâ—e Wherefore you must drinke such vvines as are greenish and waterie not hauing any sharpenesse or sowrenesse in them in the beginning of Summer that so you may be sure that the great Summer heat shall not cause them to fade vtterly and quite fall away by the spending of their feeble heat caused through the vehemencie of the Summer heat but those which are greene rough and harsh hauing a strong heat couched and lying in grosse and thicke matter may be kept very securely vnto Autumne or Haruest time Such as are onely and simply greene are good and fit for seruants drinke and other such folke as liue hardly and
timber trees if peraduenture you haue not the bâ—nefit of some vnder wood neere vnto your house where the conies may settle themselues and make their abode Notwithstanding in as much as the hunting and taking of conies which haue their couerâ—s and boroughs in such vnder woods is some what more hard and difficult than that of the Warren and because also that conies liuing in smal woods multiplie nothing so much as those in the Warren and that especially by reason of foxes woolues and other field beastes whereunto they are oftentimes made a pray by being deuoured of them it will bee better and for your further both ease and profit to make a Warren apart by it selfe You must then for the making thereof reserue some fiue or sixe acres of fine dustiâ— or sandie ground such as is not fat strong or close in a high place lying open vpon the Sunne and not in a â—arish or waterie ground for together with that the â—onie hateth aboue all things moisture and cold yet for the conueniencie of her making of here earthes it is requisite that she be in a place where she may dig with ease for the making of her bed and couert This peece of ground shall be compassed and be set about after the manner of a parke with reasonable high walls to keepe out foxâ—s woolues and other wild beasts that they may not iniurie or make war vpon this little beast Within this conigrie you must plant great store of brambles mulberriâ— trees and â—loe trees strawberrie plants wild pine trees hurtle berrie bushes goose berrie bushes mâ—rtle trees and great store of iuniper for the conie loueth the iuniper berrie aboue all other things And as concerning hearbes you must sow if so be the earth bring not forth someof itselfe great â—tore of sowthistle groundswell succorie coleworts lettuces clarie taragon thistles turneps cich â—ease and other such like for the feeding of these little beastes As for the drawing of some small brooke or bestowing of any water conduit vpon them you need not trouble your selfe seeing the coniâ— hath moisture more than any thing else Neither yet doe you trouble your selfe to prepare them any other lodging than the holes which they shall dig and worke out for themselues And those burroughs or clappers which shall be meet for them to worke in which borrough would if the nature of the ground doe not allow it bee cast vp somewhat high and sâ—â—ape wise so as the water may by all means dessend and passe from the same without soaking into it or drawing it vpon any fluxe of raine whatsoeuer vpon the tops of these burroughs or clappers for the better strengthning of them and holding the loose mould together you shall plant good store of alders and other rough bushes which are quicke of groweth whose roots once entring into the earth and twinding about the mould will keepe any from falling more than that which the conie of her owne selfe diggeth and although out of the precisenesse of choice we desire a speciall place for the conie Warren yet you shall vnderstand that the most barrenâ—est ground whatsoeuer so it lie drie will serue for the conie Warren as namely the most dryest heath or downes or those earths which are ouer runne with linge gorse whynnes braken broome ferne and such like for a conie feedeth as a sheepe doth close and neere to the ground and will gather vp the smallest chiâ—e of grasse that may be and also delighteth to crop vpon weeds or any other tender bud that groweth within the compasle of her feeding the snow is her greatest enemie â—et not so much for the want of food as for the ouer moistning of â—er food and so bringing rottennesse therefore it is meere to haue euery Winter in your Warren a little cob or stacke of hay wherewith in those extreame times you may fodder your conies pricking vp little 〈◊〉 thereof in clouen stickes close by the ground which they will eate with all greedinesse for it is a meat at those times which they loue exceedingly for proofe whereof doe but fodder sheepe neere vnto a connie Warren and you shall see how euening and morning the conies will swarme vnto the same eating vp whatsoeuer the sheepe shall leaue which is not too hard or rough for their eating CHAP. II. That there must a Clapper be made for the better storing and planting of your Warren ANd yet it is not inough to haue made and finished the things that are to bee done round about the Warren as to haue fenced it with whatsoeuer is necessarie for the preseruing and nourishing of conies but you must also store and plant it for no more than arable ground beareth fruit except there be seed cast into in nor the vine any grapes except it bee diligently planted and dressed so neither thinke you that your Warren be it neuer so neaâ—ly and necessarily appointed and trimmed vp can breed and feed conies except you first put them there Wherefore for your storing of your Warren it is requisite that you cast vp a clapper wherein you may put your males and females to kindle euery moneth for to buy so many as should be needfull would be too costly and chargeable for the farmer or housholder Seeing also that it commeth to passe oftentimes that after hee hath sold many vnto the vitailers or for that the foxes haue eaten vp some great number the Warren remaineth quite spoiled and destitute of conies in so much as that he must be compelled to store it againe It is better therefore in respect of the greater commoditie and lesse charges to make a clapper in some corner of your court kitching or garden which may be foure square narrow and fenced in with bords or plaistered walls indeed it were better to be prouided in the Warren for so the young ones might more commodiously out of the clapper passe into the Warren at some one side of the clapper which should bee crosse wrought with lattise worke and should haue the holes thereof left so wide as that the young ones might passe out and in vnto their dams Whether therefore the clapper be prouided in the Warren or elsewhere you must build certaine small lodgings paued with boords and these must haue holes in them like to those which the conies make themselues in the earth and euery one seuerall from another for the conies to betake themselues into and it will be enough for to allow in such places one male to eight or ten females and yet therewithall to keepe the bucke close shut vp in his lodging for feare he should hurt and wrong the young ones for the male conie contrarie to the nature of all other manner of buckes deuoureth the young ones It is very true that so soone as it is espied that the Doe hath kindled she must incontinently be put into some other hole with the male that so he may Bucke her for this is a most certain thing that
smother the bud and deuour the substance of the earth for all plants come of heate and moisture and if they be suffered to bee intangled with weeds they will be smothered and in danger to be lost CHAP. IX That wood diligently dressed and husbanded doth profit more than that which is not so dressed and husbanded I Know that there are many trees which are dayly seene to grow without such great paines taking and industrie freely receiuing their naturall nourishment without aide or assistance and that by reason of the fruitfulnesse either of the ground or of the countrie and yet if some one do so escape a hundred die for it and this I say for their sakes who hauing once planted would be loath to loose their paines and do conceaue that all or the greatest part doe thriue and prosper which conceat is notwithstanding like to deceiue them if they proceed not to dresse and husband them in conuenient sort after they haue beene well planted as is aboue declared Wherfore I haue applied my selfe to trie the issue of tilling of them according to art and knowledge as also of leauing them vntilled and I find that although the tree which groweth in the desert do grow vp sometimes vpon a perfect growth notwithstanding it groweth not in so short time and the greatest part of it dieth and that which is well tilled and planted doth grow twice so much and that not one of ten of them is lost but that all prosper of what sort of wild trees soeuer they by But some may replie that labour is chargeable and costeth much but in as much as it lasteth not alwaies being to continue not past foure or fiue yeares at the most much like vnto the young plant of a vine it will be found that the cost will not bee great seeing especially that after such cost it is freed from any more for euer For after that wood is once grown vp to such height as that weeds cannot ouer grow nor ouercrow it which will be in foure or fiue yeares if it be husbanded then it smothereth the weeds that grow vnder it and keepeth away from them both the Sunne and the aire with its shawdow in such sort as that they die and are not able to ouershadow or do any hurt vnto the wood CHAP. X. Of remouing lopping pruning and making cleane of wood THat your plant may grow the better it is likewise requisite â—o remoue trees from a high drie and bad soile into another ground that is more moist and fat if it may be by this meanes in finding a better soile the tree will take more easily and there is no doubt but the better the ground is and the better that the plant is ordered the sooner it will grow become bigger beare greater boughs and leaues rather than lesse as may be seene in old forrests which are situated in fertile and fat countries or in those which grow in sandie and bad grounds as in Solonge where woods continue very small and vntimely Woods planted and ordered as is abouesaid the first second and third yeare must not bee touched with any edge toole and yet notwithstanding towards the third and fourth yeares and those that follow if you perceiue your wood so thicke set and spred as that it riseth not neither groweth high as it ought you may cull out and cut away the small sprigs and little boughes as you shall find them seeing they are good for nothing and leaue behind you some three or foure of the principall braunches so stripped of their small twigs as your owne discretion will best direct you This pruning of them would bee towards the moneth of March after that the cold is passed and gone that so the frost may not hurt the boughes that are cut and newly lopped and you may continue thus to prune them vnto the middeh of April at what time they begin to bud and put forth but then it must be done gently holding the shanke of the tree fast and firme without mouing or shaking of the rootes And this pruning may be done euery yeare if you will and by this meanes you may cause a new spring of small woods to grow and to put forth eight or ten branches fit for to bee plants for high and tall trees by cutting away the side ones and leauing three or foure of the fairest branches growing from the foot of the said small wood so cut downe according as you shall think good so that you make choice of such as grow vp high and straight and if they be not altogether strong enough to hold vp themselues you may helpe them with some prettie small props and stickes the better to hold them vp CHAP. XI Of the manner of sowing acornes for the growing of oakes ALl sorts of wild trees grow of remoued plants hauing good rootes or of branches or of the seeds and fruits which they beare and whereby they renew themselues Of the remoued plant there hath alreadie enough beene said as that it is more profitable and of a more speedie and certaine growth and therefore the sooner able to bestow pastime vpon his master The second way to grow trees is to grow them of branches writhen and buried in the earth gathered in such sort as that they may put forth roots and take againe as Columella hath very well set downe at large notwithstanding this way is long in taking root and putting forth and not to be practised but where there are no plants to be come by Wherefore I will not meddle with it in this place because it is not done without difficultie and vncertaintie and for that the pleasure thereof is long be-before it is reaped as also for that in this our countrie of France there are many vnderwoods and strong hedges where are to be gathered very easily and that in great quantity plants of all sorts of wild trees The third way is to sowe them of seed as of acornes beech maste and of the seed that is in the leaues of elmes for they bring forth such trees as those whereupon they themselues did grow and such seeds may bee sowne in little furrowes made with a hacke or grubbing axe and those not aboue foure or fiue fingers deepe and therein to couer them againe very lightly with broken mould or else they may bee sowne with the plough as beanes and all other kinds of graine are or with a debbell by which name they call a little sticke of halfe a foot long and a finger or inch thicke And of the three waies the best is to plant or sow the acorne or other seed with the dibble euerie one halfe a foot from another or one foot euery one from another by a straight line or after the manner vsed in grounds broken vp with the hacke making a small open place in the earth and therein putting the acorne in the like distance of halfe a foot all along the furrowe notwithstanding it is
well vpon mountaines or rockes The wood thereof is good to make coffers foote-stooles bowes arrowes darts and other such like stately Ioyners works of because it hath diuers veines and is not subiect to be eaten of wormes Some there are which report that it is deadly either to eate or sleepe vnder the shadow of it and that if a man eate of the fruit thereof it casteth him into an ague and bloudie â—luxe And seeing I haue resolued to be briefe and not to passe beyond my bounds it shall be sufficient to haue made this short rehearsall commending such as are desirous to see further into this skill and knowledge to such bookes of husbandrie as throughly intreat of all the parts of the same seeing they are to be had euery where and seeing that in them such things are to be attained to the â—ull as I for breuitie sake haue omitted and left vntâ—ucht As concerning the vertues and properties of the foresaid trees the oake hath many things and those of great commendation The leaues his nuts which are called gals his messeltoe as being called the messeltoe of the oke The tender leaues therof which are but as yet budding and putting forth may be distilled and the water thereof is singular against the fluxes of the liuer to breake the stone and to stay the whites of women The greater sort of gals or apples haue this propertie in them namely to presage and foretell three things that is to say war dearth pestilence for if you open them which are whole you shall find therein either a little â—lie or a little spider or a little worme if the flie flie away it betokeneth that there will be warre if the little worme doe creepe it is a signe of dearth that yeare and if the spider doe run to and fro it prognosticateth an infinite number of pestilent diseases The oake apples dried and made into pouder do speedily stay all manner of flux in the bellie The misseltoe of the oake taken inwardly doth greatly asswage the torments of such as are taken with the falling sicknesse The beech-tree is much vsed to make baskets and maunds of for to gather grapes in And hereof likewise men in old time were woont to make vessels to sacrifice vnto their gods The leaues of the beech-tree chawed do heale the chaps of the lips and the frettings of the gums The fruit of the beech-tree which is called beech-mast dried and made into ashes being mixt with liniments is of great force and power against the stone and grauell Of the Parke for the keeping of wilde beastes CHAP. XIX Of the situation of the Parkes and of the manner of ordering the wild beasts therein TO the end we may not leaue any thing out of this description of a countrie farme whereof the Farmer or Lord of the soile may make any profit or else take any pleasure my aduice and counsell is that according as the places and grounds may conueniently affoord there bee parkes made neere vnto the farme therein to breed and keepe hares wild goates or fallow deere wild swine and such other like wild beastes to the end that the Lord and Master of the place may now and then recreate himselfe therewith and take his sport in seeing the said wild beastes hunted as also that if he bee disposed to make any great feast or banket he may therein be sure to find as in his kitching of larder house for to make readie meate of besides the benefit which the good husband may make yerely thereof by selling of them The parke would be seated if it be possible within a wood of high and tall timber trees in a place compassed about and well fenced with wals made of rough stone and lime or else of brickes and earth-lome or else with pales made of oake plankes You must foresee that there bee some little brooke of spring-water running along by the place or for want of spring-water and naturall streames you must prepare ditches and pooles walled and daubed in such sort as that they may receiue and keepe the raine-water Nor ought the parke to consist of one kind of ground only as all wood all grasse or all coppise but of diuers as part high wood part grasse or champion and part coppise or vnder-wood or thicke spring nor must these seuerall grounds lie open or as it were in common one with another but they must be separated one from the other by a strong rale through which deere or sheepe but no greater cattell may passe for they must haue the full libertie of euery place neither must the parke be situated vpon any one entire hill plaine or else valley but it must consist of diuers hills diuers plaines and diuers valleyes the hills which are commonly called the viewes or discoueries of parkes would bee all goodly high woods of tall timber as well for the beautie and gracefulnesse of the parke as also for the ecchoe and sound which will rebound from the same when in the times of hunting either the cries of the hounds the winding of hornes or the gibbetting of the huntsmen passeth through the same doubling the musicke and making it tenne times more delightfull the plaines which are called in parkes the launds would be very champion and fruitfull as well for the breeding of great store of grasse and hay for the feeding and nourishiâ—g of his deere or other wild beastes as also for the pleasure of coursing with grey-hounds when at any time the owner shall be disposed to hunt in that manner for when the hounds shall haue hunted the game from the thicks vnto the launds then the grey-hounds being placed thereupon may in the view of the beholders course vpon the same and beget a delight past equall The valleyes which are called the couerts or places of leare for wild beasts would be all verie thicke sprung or vnderwood as well for the concealing of them from potchers and purloyners as for giuing them rest and shadow in the day time who cannot indure to lie open to the view of passengers or vndefended by darkenesse and obscuritie also these thicke couerts are defences for the wild beastes to saue them from the cunning sents or noses of hounds when they pursue them making thâ—ir doubles and windings therein so intricate and cunningly that they scape many times their most mortallest mischiefe also in these thicke couerts the hunted deere finding an vnhunted deere where he lodgeth will forthwith beate him vp and lie downe himselfe in his place making the hounds vndertake the fresh deere and so escape his owne danger which in the open places he cannot doe and the parke is a place that must containe all things for the good and safetie of the game it keepeth Thus you see the parke must consist of view laund and couert and the situation of â—ill valley and plaine Now for the water of which formerly we spoake you shall know it is
the streame to bereaue the dogges by that meanes of comming by the sent of him The horsemen shall see to such his escapes and therefore if he haue taken his way into any champion ground they shall find out his traces by the sight of the eye and with the blast of the horne they shall cheere vp and encourage their dogges to a new course If the Hart haue taken the water whether it be for the cooling of himselfe or as the vttermost refuge he hath for the sauing of his life the hunter shall looke at what place the Hart shall haue taken the same and there cast in good store of boughes attending his passage and if they see that he commeth not out of the water they shall cause their dogges to take the water or else if they be afraid of causing them to take cold they shall send to seeke a boat or else if they can swimme they shall put off all their clothes and with a dagger in 〈◊〉 and swimme vnto him to kill him and yet they must looke that they see not vpon him but in some deepe place because that if the Hart find ground for his feet he would be able to hurt one of them with his horns whereas in a deepe place he hath no strength Furthermore there must great wisedome be vsed in the hunting of the Hart when he can no longer hold out but being out of all hope of his life standeth still and suffereth the dogges to barke at him for then he groweth dangerous as being giuen to strike with his hornes the first of the hunters that he can meeâ— withall And this is the cause why it is growne to a prouerbe A Beere for a Hart and a Barber for a vvilde Bore Wherefore it standeth euerie man vpon to looke vvell to himselfe in comming neere vnto the Hart when he endureth the bay and not to aduenture too farre and hazard himselfe too boldly When the Hart is taken he that shall haue giuen the blow shall â—orthwith thereupon sound the retrait to the end hee may call together his fellow hunters and the dogges and after he hath presented the right foot of the Hart vnto the King or vnto his Lord then to cut him vp as he shall know it meet to be done In the meane time he must not forget to take care of the dogges and to giue them some reliefe sustenance of the prey they haue gotten in hunting vnto the bloud-bound that is vnto the dog which by his sent hath led the way to the Hart his lodging he shall cast the head and the heart as his right and due vnto the rest he shall giue the necke and braine of the Hart or which is better he shall take bread and cut it into little lunches into to a panne with cheese and temper the same both together with the bloud of the Hart in his greatest heaâ— and afterward put all this prouision forthwith vpon the skin stretched forth vpon the grasse and in the meane space euery man shall put his horne vnto his mouth and therewithall comfort and cheere vp the dogges Some men vse now and then and yet after this first prouision to make a second with the entrailes of the Hart all whole which the master hunts-man doth cast vnto the dogges after they haue ended their feast holding them vp on high and whiles the dogges are eating these entrails they must be cheered vp with the noise of the hornes shoutings and hallowings CHAP. XXVI Of the profit that may be reaped by the killing of the Hart. NOtwithstanding that the hunting as vvell of the Hart as of other vvilde beasts be vndertaken and performed by great States rather for the exercise of the body and recreation of the spirits than for any other desire and hope yet the killing of the Hart is not without great profit and that in two respects the first being for the making of meat thereof and the second for the medicinable helps which may be made of his parts and members As concerning the meat made of the Hart his flesh is not very pleasant if it be not of that part of him which is commonly called the pizzle for to speake generally according to the truth Harts flesh is verie hard of an euill iuice melancholicke hard to digest in the stomacke and verie apt and easie to procure many great diseases It is true that many great Ladies hauing an opinion that the flesh of Harts being eaten often doth free and deliuer men from all danger of Agues because the beast himselfe is not subiect at all thereunto at their rising euerie morning haue accustomed to taste of Harts flesh notwithstanding vvho so is carefull of his health should not touch anie such flesh except it be of some tender Fawne or young Hiude vvhich are made seruices for the most part at the Tables of Princes and great Lords The medicinable helpes vvhich may be prepared and made of the Hart are infinite Some find a bone in the heart of the Hart howsoeuer there be some that thinke it to be false which is singular good against faintnes or swowning trembling and beating of the heart and other effects of the same as also against the venimes poysons and dangers of the plague and likewise against the hard â—rauell of vvomen The bloud of the Hart fried in a frying-panne and put in clysters doth heale the bloudie flux and stayeth the flux of the belly being drunke with vvine it is a soueraigne remedie against poysons The priuie member of the Hart washed diligently in water and the water wherein it hath beene so washed drunken appeaseth forthwith the paine of the collicke and retention of the vrine if it be steept in vineger the space of foure and twentie houres and afterward dried and made in pouder the weight of a French crowne of this pouder being drunke with water of plantine stayeth the flâ—xe of bloud and all manner of fluxe of the bellie Likewise dried and poudred it may be mingled with remedies which haue power to prouoke carnall copulation It may also bee made seruiceable and of good vse in the pleâ—risie and against the bitings of Serpents if it be taken either alone or mingled with things which are good for such diseases The horne of the hart burned made in pouder and drunke with honie killeth the wormes which is a signe that the harts horne hath great vertue against venome and that not much lesse than the horne of the vnicorne The tender hornes of a young hart 〈◊〉 in small gobbets and put in an earthen pot wel leaded and close stopped with clay and afterward put in a hot furnace vntil such time as they be dried they may also be beaten to pouder putting thereto pepper and myrrhe do yeeld a pouder which is singular good against the cholicke taken in excellent wine The marrow and sewet of the hart are good to make liniments and cataplasmes for cold gouâ—s
and tumours that are hard and not easily softned The hunting of the wild Bore CHAP. XXVII The best time to hunt the wild Bore and the markes of a good wild Bore IT is certaine that the hunting of the wild Bore is a great deale more difficult and daungerous than that of the Hart in asmuch as the wild Bore doth not feare the dogs but tarrieth and stayeth their comming and which is more doth sometimes set vpon them so far as till he be amongst them and all to the end hee may teare and rent them with his teeth whose wounds especially those that are giuen into the chest of the bodie are as it were incurable Wherefore the good hunts-man that maketh any account of his dogs for to hunt the Hart the Roe-bucke and Hare must neuer giue chase to the wild Bore with his coursing dogs but rather with some companie of mastiues whose proper pray the wild Bore is or else which is better to find the meanes to take him in toiles or to kill him with a wile and a speare as we shall further declare But howsoeuer the matter go yet this is to be knowne that all Bores are not fit to be hunted but such onely as are not past foure yeares old howsoeuer they may bee otherwise both faire great and fat for after foure yeares the wild Bore groweth lâ—â—ne through oldnesse of age and forthwith looseth all his goodnesse Againe all times are not fit to hunt them in but onely when they are in season and in the best plieght as namely from mid September to December at which time they begin to go to rut and yet in Aprill and May they are more easie to be taken in toiles than at any other time because they sleepe more in this season than at any other time and the cause is for that they feed vpon strong herbes which stirreth the bloud and sendeth vapours vp vnto their braine whereby sleepe is brought vpon them againe the Spring time doth then restore and renew their bloud whereby they are brought to take great ease and rest The hunts-man therefore shall know the fairenesse of the Bore and that hee is worth the hunting by these markes that is to say by his traces rooting foile and dung The prints of his traces great and large the taking of the trace before round and grose the cutting of the sides of the traces vsed but not shewing themselues cutting the heele large his gards grosse and open wherewith he must tread vpon the ground in the hard wheresoeuer hee goeth all these things declare him to bee a faire and great bore In like manner the traces behind being larger than those before doe shew the thicknesse of his haunches the wreathes and wrinkles which are betwixt his gards and the heele if they make their prints vpon the ground do shew that his steps are great and long The markes of his traces deepe and wide do shew also his heauienes and corpulencie The rootings of the bore being deepe and large do note the thicknesse and length of his head The soile of the wild bore being long large and great doth note and argue the bore to be great or else in going from the soile his greatnesse may be known by the entrances of the thickets by the leaues and herbes which the soile hath touched because that at such time as hee commeth out of it he beareâ—h dâ—rt and mire vpon him and therewith the leaues are bemired as he goeth amongst them and hence is gathered his height and breadth or else it falleth out oftentimes that the wild bore after he hath bin at soile goeth to rub himselfe against some one tree or other and there hee leaueth the marke of his height The dung of the wild bore being thicke and long doth shew the greatnesse of the wild bore howbeit the hunts-man is not to present it vnto the companie but onely giue them the view of it in place as it lieth CHAP. XXVIII Of the wild Bore tame Swine wild Bore and wild Sow and of their haunt THe difference betwixt wild Bores and tame Swine is this The wild Bore in his gate doth alwaies set his hinder feet in the stepts of his forefeete or very neere and doth pitch his steps rather vpon the forepart of the foot than vpon the heele resting notwithstanding his gardes vpon the ground spreading the same abroad thereupon vnto the vtter sides the â—ame Swine in their gate do open the cleft of their hoofe before pitching rather vpon the heele than vpon the forepart of their foot and their hinder foot doth not ouer-reach their fore-foot the sole of their foot is full of flesh so that the prints of their steps cannot bee but vneuen contrarie to that of the wild Bore In like manner the wild Bore maketh deeper rootings because he hath a longer head and when he commeth inâ—ields that are sowne he willingly followeth one furrow nuâ—ling all along the ridge vntill he come to the end of it which the â—ame hog vseth not to doe for hee neither turneth vp the earth in so deepe manner nor yet followeth on along with it as the wild Bore is accustomed to do but hee casteth vp one peece of ground in on place and another in another further off crossing the ridges the one of them not reaching vnto the other Furthermore when the wild Bores goe vnto the corne they bearâ— down the same all in a round but so do not â—ame Swine The wild Bore also hath this particular propertie namely that he is neuer meazelled as the â—ame Swine wil be The difference betwixt the wild Bore and the Sow is this The Bore goeth wider with his hinder legs than the Sow and commonly setteth his hinder steps vpon the edges of his foresteps on the out-side because of the thicknesse of his hanches and stones which cause them to go wider dehind which the Sowes do not for they are emptie betwixt the hanches for which cause they tread narrower The Sow maketh not so good a heele as the bore and hath her hoofe longer and sharper before and more open her steps and soles of her feet behind more narrow than the Bores The bore with much adoe and hardly will be brought to crie when he is killed but the Sow will not let to make you heare her aloud The wild Bore hath no certain abode and as some say he is but a traueller because he doth nothing but runne from one forest and wood to another and yet hee taketh great delight to remaine in the countrie and place where hee was bred in so much as that if he be hunted by dogs from any bush or forest he is still readie to run without any stay vntill he come in the countrie from whence he first came and where hee was bred for there hee setteth vp the rest of his safegard and maketh it the onely refuge of all his force and strength he is also
oftentimes found in the countries where small nuts and beech mast may bee come by for he more delighteth to feed of them than of acornes CHAP. XXIX Of the taking of the wild Bore AS concerning the hunting of the Bore it craueth rather many men than dogs for there is no greater cut-throat to dogs than the wild Bore and yet there may dogs be vsed but with such discretion as that the horse-men be alwaies mingled with them and pressing vpon the Bore as valiantly and forcibly as they can for when hee seeth himselfe set vpon with hors-men and dogs both at once euen vpon the first push they besetting him hard do astonish him and cause him to loose whatsoeuer his courage and in steed of wrecking his furious moode vpon the dogs hee is constrained to run away and flie the countrie Then also you must let slip some of your fresh dogs or dogs of easement but let them not be young nouices but rather old ones and such as haue beene well trained and taught that they may succour the first and force the Bore to a more speedie flight And you need not feare that he should betake himselfe to any turnings windings or other deceitfull trickes because he is heauie and that the dogs are able to follow him close and hard by But when after long chase the horsemen see that the wild Bore doth endure the abbaie which he will neuer do vntill he bee mightily vrged they must forthwith but as priuily as they can compasse him about and set forward all at once directly towards him hauing in their hands euery one his sword and not failing to kill him and yet notwithstanding they must not hold their hand low for so they should light vpon his head but they must rather beare their hands on high and strike at him with their swords to giue him deepe blowes but taking heed that they strike not the Bore on that side next their horse but rather on the fide further off for looke on what side he feeleth himselfe hurt that way he turneth his head presently and so he might either kill or wound the horse This is a most certaine trueth that if there be dog collers hung with bells put about the dogs necks which are called coursers when they hunt the Bore that he will not kil him so soone but run away before them neuer comming to the abbay CHAP. XXX The profit that commeth of the killing of the wild Bore THe profit comming of the killing of the wild Bore is twofold as is that of the Hart the one concerning food and the other concerning medicine for which it may be imployed and vsed As concerning nourishment the flesh of the Bore is better without all comparison than that of the Hart for the proofe whereof I refer me to the stately bankets of the auncient Romans who so greatly esteemed Bores flesh as that they did serue them all whole vpon the table The princes and great lords of this our age do prize it highly but especially and aboue the rest the head of the bore as being iudged a delicate and daintie fine morsell young and tender wild Bores are likewise very well accounted of in Winter feasts and bankets And to say the truth the flesh of the wild bore doth nourish very much and begetteth great quantitie of good blood which are the causes why Physitians make such reckoning thereof especially when the Bore is taken by hunting As for the Physicall helpes the vrine of the wild Bore hath many vertues you must take the bladder of the wild Bore wherein there is yet some quantitie of vrine and with this vrine mingle a little quantitie of oyle hanging vp the same bladder in the smoake of the chimney and let it abide there vntill the vrine therein become somewhat thicke and of the consistence of hony which done it must bee carefully kept in the bladder to vse to annoint the nauell temples and nostrels of young infants withall which are tormented and pained with wormes which thing I haue often experimented with good successe This vrine likewise thus prepared doth break the stone of the bladder especially if there bee some small quantitie of it taken inwardly in drinke his gall likewise is good against grauell and the stone The hunting of the Hare CHAP. XXXI Of the pleasure of the hunting of the Hare and of the dogs that are fit for the same CErtaine it is that the hunting of the Hare is more pleasant more liuely and lesse costly not onely for gentlemen but also for all men of estate than of any other beast because it is accompanied with a thousand prettie pleasures and recreations euerie houre and of small charges besides the securitie thereof and the auoiding of the daungers and inconueniencies which are many and happen oft to such as hunt the Hart and the wild Bore whereunto you may adde the great contentment and no small pleasure which may be taken in seeing as it were the spirit of this little beast as it were admirable in nature and the sleights which she vseth to shift and rid her selfe from the dogs that chase her Such game we will allow our Farmer yea and so as that I could wish him to vse it as oft as hee can for it cannot but affoord him both pleasure and profit And whereas this game consisteth principally vpon multitude of dogs the gentleman that will doe the deede and hath a young companie of dogs to teach must obserue two things principally to traine and instruct them well The first is that from the beginning he accustome them to goe vncoupled and to run in all sorts of grounds and countries that is to say vpon plaines vnderwoods and thickets for otherwise if you accustome them from the beginning to run in one place onely as in woods or grounds that are fallen and haue the wood cut downe they will not make any reckoning of the plaines and fields but they will goe and raunge the grounds where they haue beene accustomed to find sport and take their pleasure in finding the Hare The second is that he neuer teach his dogs to hunt in the mornings because of the dew coolenes of the earth but rather in the height of the day for if you vse them to the coole seasons and then afterward bring them to hunt at the height of the day they feeling any heat or small wind will not afterward hunt any more Wherefore the fittest time to traine young dogs vp in and to make them fit for the hunting of the Hare is after September vnto December because that then the time is temperate as also because that the young hares are foolish and but weake bodied neither skillfull nor able to worke their wiles and besides because they themselues doe start of themselues many times before the dogs which take pleasure therein and become better entred and enured thereby than they would bee if they should be hares that would
hunt the hare shall bee brought to course the hart hee will not make any more account of the hare because he hath found and tasted the flesh of the hart to be far better than that of the hare CHAP. XXXIIII What profit commeth by the killing of the Hare LIke commoditie as is to be found in the killing of the hart and wild bore may be found also in the hare and to speake first of the food rising therof we see not any food more common nor more in request in our countrie of France than the hare It is true in deed that Physitians do iudge the flesh of the hare to be melancholike hard to digest in the stomake and begetting a grosse iuice but this is to bee vnderstood of old hares as such as are aboue a yeare old and such as are kept tame in boroughes and other inclosed places but the young leuerets haue a very pleasant and daintie flesh to eate yea in those which are growne great there are some parts which are in request as the loines the shoulders and hanches There may be marked in this little beast a marueilous fruitfulnesse in nature for that monethly she bringeth forth a great number of yong ones I know that some thinke that the male and female are of both sexes and that both of them do conceiue and ingender as if they were hermophrodites but it is a false conceiued opinion and a thing altogether strange and vnaccustomed to be in the workes and generation that is according to nature And it is furthermore most true that the female being bâ—gd ceaseth to ingender againe for the time that is to say to admit the companie of the male thereby to haue a second conception but by and by after she hath kindled she taketh the buck againe and that is the cause of their so great fruitfulnesse as much may be said of conies which are a kind of hare As concerning the medicinall vertues of the hare the flesh of the haire well rosted is a great helpe against bloudie and humorall fluxes of the bellie that liueâ— dried in the ouen and made into pouder is singular good for them which haue a weake liuer The braines being throughly boiled and rubd vpon the gums of young children helpeth them of the paines they haue of their teeth and helpeth forward their growth Take a whole hare both skinne and haire saue that you must take away her intailes close them vp in an earthen pot very well stopped and luted alterward put the pot into a hot ouen and there leaue it so long as till the whole bodie may be made easily into pouder in such sort as that there bee left no manner of moisture for else you should bee constrained to put the pot againe into the ouen vntill euery part and parcell were brought into pouder The weight of a French crowne of his pouder taken with white wine euerie morning two houres before meaâ—e doth take away the difficultie of making water and breaketh the stone both of the reâ—â—es and bladder but yet before the vse of this pouder the bodie must bee purged and during the time of the vse thereof there must bee applied vpon the reines two plates of lead of the breadth of foure fingers sewed together betwixt two linnen clothes The gall of the hare mingled with sugar cleanseth the eies and taketh away the pearle or spots of the eies The dung of the hare being carried about women hindreth their conception but one thing of a certâ—â—netie if it bee put vp into the secret parts of a woman in forme of a pestarie it stayeth the termes following excessiuely and drieth the mother that is too moist The bloud of the hare dried or fried and applied vnto a scab or ringworme drieth and healeth it incontinently The hare hath a little bone in the ioint of her legs which is soueraigne against the cholicke The hunting of the Brocke and Foxe CHAP. XXXV The profit comming of the hunting of the Fox and Brocke THe killing of Foxes and Brockes neither bring pleasure nor profit to the hunters taking profit in this place for meate and nourishment for the Foxe his flesh and much lesse the Brockes is nothing pleasant to eat in as much as it hath an vnsauourie strong and wild kind of taste Howbeit Galen in a certaine place letteth not to say that the flesh of the Foxe hath the like facultie and vertue with that of the Hare and yet in another place as restracting his former assertion he saieth that the Foxe is of the same temperature with the dog It is certaine that some countrie people hauing not the benefit of any other victuall liue not vpon any other than Foxe â—lesh but it is in the time of Autumne onely because that at such time the Foxe feedeth of nothing but of grapes by which meanes it may bee that his flesh may proue somewhat good Howsoeuer it bee if any profit grow vpon the killing of the Foxe and Brocke it is only because they deuour fowle and annoy the conies and warrâ—n Adde hereunto that the Physitians do make great account of the lungs of the fox for the disease of the lungs and shortnesse of the breath and of his grease for the paine of the sinewes of his bloud for the stone oâ— the oyle wherein the whole bodie of the Foxe hath beene boyled either quicke or dead whereof we haue spoken in the third booke for all manner of ioint-ach and of the priuie members of the Foxe against the stone CHAP. XXXVI Of the two sorts of Foxes and Brocks BEfore we goe any further there are two sorts of Foxes and two sorts of Brockes that is say great Foxes and little ones accustomed to lie and lurke in their dens and Brockes some like swine and some like dogges The two sorts of Foxes are sufficiently knowne The hog-like Brocks are whitish and haue the haire aboue their noses and vnder their throats a great deale more white than the dog-like haue their bodie of a greater bulke their head and snowt also more grosse The hog-like in going out of their dens do freely dung but euermore they make a little hole with the end of their snowt before or else scrape one with their feet and then dung therein the dog-like make their dung a farre off from their earths The hog-like commonly make their dens in sandie or other ground that is easie to dig and open places to haue the heate of the Sunne and being giuen to sleepe continually they are fatter than the dog-like The dog-like make their aboad in tougher earth or else in rockes making their holes and dens deeper and narrower than the hog-like because they cannot dig the stiffe and tough earth or rockes as the other do the sand and light ground The dog-like haue their nose throat and eares yellowish after the manner of the throat of a maâ—ten and they are a great deale blacker and longer
of the rods and stickes which were in it for that purpose and keeping them in some by-place for feare that by the hearing of noise they should beate and shake themselues letting their legge or thigh which they shall haue broken remaine vntied and vnbound for nature will heale it and make it to grow together againe speedily CHAP. LX. The manner how to serue ones turne of birdes when he would take and catch them and how to make them sing NOtwithstanding that all birds except the Spinke do sing in Winter as by name the Finch the Linnet the Miskin and other such like there are some found notwithstanding which being come out of the mue do giue ouer their singing because of the said mue Wherefore from the beginning of May you shall purge them which you would vse for your purpose to catch other birds withall in such maner as followeth You shall giue them in the first place of the iuice of beetes mingled with a little pure water and the day following you shall giue them a leafe of the said herbe The third day following you shall keepe them close in the house setting them vpon the ground that so they may eate their meate vpon it for the space of ten daies withdrawing them by little and little day after day from the light into some obscure and darke place And when they haue thus pasâ—ed ouer ten daies you shall giue them some beets againe and shut them vp in some square chest in a darke and by-place At the euening you shal dresse them with a lamp so dealing as that the said birds may see the same light for the space of two houres during which time you may make cleane her water-pot changing their mustard-seed euery eight day and giuing them of the leaues of beets euery fourth day and euery twentieth day of the iuice therof especially vnto the spink being the most subiect of all others to become blind And that you may keepe them without lice you must change their cage euery twentie daies as also for another reason which is because of the filth and stench thereof which might easily kill them Thus you must still be practising of these courses vnto the tenth of August which terme being expired you shall purge them anew in like manner as before suffering them by little and little more freely to see the light vntill the twentieth of the same moneth taking heed that they come not in the Sunne Thus they will serue you very well to take and catch birds withall in September and October and finally in all the rest CHAP. LXI Of the Misken AMongst the little birds of the cage the Misken is a of cheerefull nature and singeth sweetly and delightsomely she is exceeding pleasing vnto the sight She breedeth thrice a yeare first about the end of Aprill amongst the shrubs or hedges of iuie or laurell secondly about mid-May and thirdly and lastly in the end of â—une and this is their ordinarie and most common course for sometimes they come sooner or latter more or lesse Their nests are made of the most â—ine roots of herbs and oftentimes of the leaues of reeds according as the place will afford them where they nest To seed the Misken taken out of her nest you shall giue her of a sheepes heart miâ—â—â—ed very small taking away the fat and sinewes or else of a calues or heyfers heaâ—â— taking from it likewise the sinewes and the fat all the rest being well beaten and shrâ—â— because of digestion You shall seed her in her nest oftentimes giuing her euery time a moâ—â—ell or two and no more least they should die by being too much filled And when you shall perceiue that the Misken will â—ate alone you shall hang at her cage a little of the said heart minced not ceasing notwithstanding to feed her by putting it in her mouth certain times euery day for more asâ—urednesse After she hath beene accustomed to eate alone you may giue her some paste feeding her therewithall onely not giuing her any more heart when she shall be accustomed thereto Furthermore if you haue any great desire that she should learne some proper songe take the paines for to teach her for it is a bird that is very easie to be taught The Miskens which are taken in birding proue better and more perfect than the other They are woont to continue without singing the space of ten daies after they are taken You shal feed them for the space of eight daâ—es with new or drie â—igs and after you shall begin to giue them of the paste which is woont to bee made for the Nightingales wherof we will speake hereafter such as are fed with paste do liue longer than those which are fed with nothing but figs. CHAP. LXII Of the solitarie Sparrow BY nature the solitariâ— Sparrow is giuen to be melancholicke she loueth by-places and thereupon commeth her name because they are very solitarie as namely the old decayed walls of churches and other â—â—â—â—habited places as being far remoued from the companie of other birds she 〈◊〉 very iealous ouer her young ones she maketh her nest in the holes and clefts of old buildings and breedeth thrice a yeare first in Aprill secondly in May and thirdly in Iune If you will bring vp and take any pleasure by the solitarie Sparrow which haue taken young in their nests you must chuse the greatest and biggest namely such as are well couered with feathers for else you shal neuer bring them to any proofe If peraduenture when they are growne thus great they will not open their bils you shall open them giuing them as much as a bird will hold in her bill three or foure times But and if you perceiue that they will eate of themselues you may put in their trough or meate-boxe some of the foresaid heart not giuing ouer notwithstanding to put it into their mouthes vntill such time as they can eate alone But for such as open their bils you shall feed them with the said heart after that you haue taken off the skinne round about and the fat also and that once euerie houre or more if you heare them crie and see them gape Put in their cage a little straw or hay keeping them as neate and cleane as possibly you can for if you do not they will become lame or else die in a small time Wherefore you shall do as hath beene said vntill they haue mouted and afterward if you will keepe them in sand it will be very good howbeit I thinke it better to keepe them in hay all the Winter following And whenas they shall eate of themselues their meate shall bee sheepes heart small minced and sometimes of the paste which is woont to be giuen to Nightingales And sometimes for an extraordinarie dish you may giue them hard egges as also raysins CHAP. LXIII Of the Throstle THe Throstle is a bird knowne to euery one and she is as good to be eaten as to
they shall be beset and compassed To take birds with your hand you must scatter in some plaine and smooth piece of ground Corne or Millet steept in the lees of good vvine and the iuice of Hemlock and afterward drie them whereof when the birds shall haue eaten they will not be able to flie afterward so that one may take them with his hand To kill birds with the Long-bow or Stone-bow vpon houses trees or butts it is requisite that he that shooteth should haue double shafts forked before vvhen hee vvould kill Geese or other great birds and those verie sharpe euerie vvhere to the end they may cut off the vving or the necke vvhere they shall touch them for to strike them vvith the common shaft vvould not so hurt the bird as that she might be constrained to abide in the place for shee vvould flie away notwithstanding that she vvere hurt or shot through although shee vvould die thereof in another place The end of the seuenth and last Booke of the Countrey House FINIS A TABLE OF THE MATTERS contained in the seuen Bookes of the Countrey House A ABel borne the fourth of the Moone a good day 32 Abrecock-tree and Abrecocks how planted 378. being grafted are verie tender in the time of frost 372 Acornes to grow Oakes vpon how they must be sowne and husbanded 655 An Acre of ground how much it containeth 518 Adam created the first day of the Moone 32 Agrâ—monie 25. their vertues ibid. A good Aire is a necessarie thing to a Farme 4 Alberges or small Peaches 372 Alembecks of glasse how they must be ordered 446 Alembecks of the Venetians 445. how to choose them of glasse 446 Alembecks for distillations 447 Alkermus and the confection thereof 487 Alkakengi and the vertues and statutes thereof 288 Alleys 235 Aller trees and Aller plots 504. how planted 660 Almond trees where and when to be planted 307 Bitter Almonds made sweet 371 Almonds without shell and naturally written vpon ibid. Amel corne 551 Angelâ—ea and his vertues 199. the compound water thereof ibid. The Angeuins louers of their profit 23 Aniou a good soile 12 Annise 249 Ants spoyling Trees and Vines 405 406. to driue away Ants. 314 Apple-trees in what ground they grow best and how grafted 360. most precious and most in request of all other trees 379 How to keepe Apples 408. golden Apples 253. how to haue red Apples 365. Apples with short starts 380. Apples of loue 252. maruellous Apples 287. brought by Monsieur du Bellay B. of Mans 288. Apples of yellow colour 364. Apples of two tastes ibid. wilde Apples distilled 454 Aqua vitae often distilled 455. and whereof it must bee made ibid. it hath infinite vertues 456 Aquitaine a countrey fruitfull in all manner of good things 12 Arach the hearbe and the obseruations thereof 174 Arhâ—rs for Gardens and woods fit tor them 282 Arbâ—rs of the Kitchin Garden 156 The Arders of Arable ground 531 An Arpent of ground how much it containeth 518 Arsâ—â—art why so called and the properties thereof 197 Artichokes 170. their vertues and maner of dressing and the Moules and Mice are enemies vnto them ibid. Asarum Bacchar and the vertues thereof 198. good for a quartane Ague 40 Ashes make a leane ground 6 Ashes cluttering together like balls a signe of raine 25 Ash-tree distilled and the oyle thereof 482 Aâ—peragus may be growne of sheepes hornes 183 Asses to plow withall 539. Asses fore-shewing raine 25. 147 148. the nature burthen and goodnesse of an Asse ibid. Astrologie inuented by Shepheards 110 Auens 182 Autumne and the constitution thereof 34 126 366 380 Auuergne the people thereof are industrious and painefull but coueting other mens gaine 23 B BAdgers or Brocks are of two sorts their earths 699 Bay-tree where it must be sowne 337. in what soile and place it delighteth 396. the faculties thereof 397. Bay-tree keepeth the house from lightning ibid. Bakehouse belonging to the â—arme 570 That a Bailife of Husbandrie cannot carrie such an affection and vigilant eye as the Faâ—mor 15 Balme 252. it increaseth milke in Kyne 496. Balme distilled 453 Balmes artificially made and the description thereof and their kinds 437. Balmes of S. lohns wort 205. excellent Balmes of the hearbe Nicotiana 223 Barbell the fish 507 Barbes in Calues 63 Barley when and in what grounds it must be sowne 554. to prepare mundified Barley 555. Barley must bee sowne in dust 542 Barnes where and how they must be made and seated 18 Basill sowne putteth forth at the end of three â—aies 161. Basill and Amber are at perpetuall hatred 242. Basill causeth ache and scorpions in the head 243. Basill distilled 454 Basseâ—s or earth-dogges and how they must be ordered and saued 702. Bassets of two sorts ibid. and how to traine them vp and nurture them 700 Bastard Dittanie otherwise Fraxinella breaketh the stone 207 Marus Bath 442. the patterne thereof 443. Maries Bath multiplied 442 443 To Batâ—le ground and with what manner of dung 537 Against Baâ—s 315 Beanes what soile they craue 561. and why there are manie fooles whiles they are in flower 562. Beanes amend the ground where they are sowne 11. to cause Beanes to be quickly sodden 569. flowers of Beanes distilled for to keepe 465 â—ards of Goats 238 â—ares-breech 203 〈◊〉 when to be bought and killed 30 of a double kind of life 506. Beasts or their parts distilled 470. to tame wild Beasts 670. signes foretelling death of Beasts 29 〈◊〉 scarce of water 6. it beareth Riâ— contrarie to his nature 10. the people of Beauce are laborious 23 〈◊〉 of diuers sorts according to the diuersities of Countries and the manner of making of them and then temperature 587 590. it fatteth Hennes and Câ—pons 591 〈◊〉 the profit of them and how they must be ordered 316 317. what manner of ones they must be 318. how they must be handled 319. their conditions 321. their chastâ—tie sobrietie neatnesse 322. their kings and waâ—res among themselues 323 324. their kings must be killed which are the cause of their contention and what be their marks ibâ—a Bees that are cruell 326. swarmes of Bees and their fights ibid. what diseases Bees are subiect vnto and their remedies 326. they are engendred of a putrified carcasse 320. their â—ot going farre from their hiues a signe of raine 25 〈◊〉 ringing clearer and louder than ordinarie a â—igne of aine 25 â—â—aiamine borne the 23. dâ—y of the Moone 34 〈◊〉 173. and the speciall obseruations about the same ibid. 〈◊〉 tree 665 666 â—â—esonie â—02 Betonie distilled 453. watâ—r Betonie 211. Paules Betonie 204. called the Leapers hearbe and why ibid. 〈◊〉 or Oxen for the plough 539. fierce and cruell Beeues how tamed 92. of their diseases 9â— 94. three Beeues will not plough so much ground as one horse 91. great Beeues of Languedoâ— or Prouence 103. to cauâ—e Beeues to haue a good stomacke 436. to fat Beeues to sell 104. how they sore-shew raine 25. to
126 127. Hoggeâ— 107. all of them 〈…〉 Maisters of the onâ—ly Gâ—â—aings of the 〈…〉 127 〈…〉 oâ— Qâ—inces 420 〈…〉 of all sorts 2â—7 〈…〉 a Hâ—â—ke 712 〈…〉 210 211 〈◊〉 â—hat things a Geometrician or measurer of grounds is to be â—urnished withall 519. and how the woâ—ke of measuring is to be performed 522 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 may reduce euery parcell of ground into a Quadrangle â—24 with a bâ—â—efe summe of the 〈◊〉 art of â—â—â—'uring 525. Instruments and people necessarie in the perfoâ—mance of the â—ame 519 â— Geometricall staffe to measure grounds withall 521 〈…〉 must be kept short 38 Henne◠〈◊〉 74 〈…〉 and to â—ill them 314 〈…〉 Kiddes and their nature 117. their coat 〈◊〉 they are nâ—uer without an ague 119 and the other 〈◊〉 that â—hey are subâ—ect vnto â—bâ—d their flesh causeth the 〈◊〉 sicknesse ibid. â—â—le Gâ—ats and their nature 118 〈◊〉 oatâ— wheat what manner of wheat 553 〈…〉 â—od 200 〈…〉 342 〈…〉 preserued 422 〈◊〉 â—â—se-grasâ—e 207 〈…〉 Goose-house 17 〈…〉 75 〈…〉 76 〈…〉 are hard of digestion 77 〈…〉 and their kindâ— 191. and vertues ibid. speciall things to be obserued about them 194. and to keepe them 281 〈◊〉 â—o Graâ—â— all sorts of trees 35 〈…〉 â—iue manner of waâ—es 344 〈◊〉 â—he 〈◊〉 sit for Grasâ—â—ng 3â—6 〈◊〉 â—o Graâ—â—e in the Canon vpon the Willow in the Crowne with a Sâ—ence and with a Motsell 358. in the ends of Bâ—anches 353. in the Barke Scutcheon and Cleft 347. in the Flute 355. in the Budde ibiâ— in the Canon 356. after the manner of a Goats foot 352. Vine vpon Vine 359 604. vpon the Vine a singular and profitable thing â—53 Orange trees 302. Oliue trees vpon the Vine 388. Plumme trees 341. Pomegranate trees â—05 Walnut trees 384 461. vpon a Cabbage stalke 345. Apple trees 360 〈◊〉 â—peciall obseruations in Graâ—ting to haue exquisit fruit 360 〈…〉 tooles 347 350 〈◊〉 â—he sappes of the Graâ—t and grafted tree must iumpe together 351 〈…〉 must thâ—iue the first yeare 348 Trees Grafted in what season they are to be transplanted 366 Gâ—aâ—ts hauing put forth how they are to be handled 403 Vpon what trees Gâ—afts hold best 345 Grafâ—s broken or burnt away must be grafted again 403 Grafts to graâ—t 345 To chuse gather and cut Grafts 31 349. and how they must be kept 348 Grafts that haue put forth how they must be hadled 403 Fruit Garners 16 Grapes how to know if they be ripe 608. how to remedie them drying away vpon the Vine ibid. as also their rotting vpon the Vine ibidem to keepe them a long time 606. and to haue them in the Spring â—â—id without kernâ—ls ibid. Grashopâ—ers hurting hearbes and how to kill them 314 At what time Grâ—â—se would be gathered 3â— Grease of Heanes 74 of the Goose good for the paine of the 〈◊〉 77 of Hogges good to dâ—aw all manner of Aposteâ—es to a head 108 The Orchards Greene-ploâ— the differences thereof 333 〈…〉 Corne. 57â— Groâ—ell 295 Clay Ground of no value 11 To know the Ground well is the principal point to thriâ—t 11. and how we must learne to know it 12 13 Aâ—â—able Grounds of their mâ—â—â—ting and of what 〈◊〉 they must be 518. the people and instrumeâ—ts requisite to measure them 519 Aâ—rable Grounds of what largenesse they must be how many ardors they craue 528 529 Arrable Grounds of Fraunce what manner of ones they be 527 What manner of things strong Grounds bring forth 11 Strong Grounds must not be often marâ—ed or dunged 5. signes of a fruitfull ground 12 Wheat Grounds how they must be tilled 534 535 〈◊〉 grow leane by being long sowne 157 much trampled are halfe eaten 14 vnâ—it to he plowed how they may be freed and made 〈◊〉 1â— stonie how to be made cleane ibid. lying farre ofâ— from the Lord doe breed nothing but bottles and staggons 14 chaâ—kie and sâ—atie are leane and how to make them better 13 To cleanse Grounds of weeds before you sow it 538 〈…〉 207 Groundswell â—1◠〈◊〉 distilled 463. oyle of Gâ—aiacum 48â— How to â—ish for 〈◊〉 526 〈◊〉 distilled 〈◊〉 to draw oyles out of 〈◊〉 483. 484 The 〈◊〉 of Gâ—yennâ— and the fruitfulnesse thereof 12 H HAy how it must be made and ordered 491 Hauâ— and the signes â—ore-tokening it 25 How the 〈◊〉 may be coloured 457 Of the signes of a good Hare and of her foâ—â—e 694 Hares marks of the male and female ibid. the hunting of them is better sport than any other 69◠〈◊〉 to traine vp dogâ— for the same ibid. their 〈◊〉 696. the best season of taking them ibid. their flesh is melancholike and euill for the stomack 697. wherefore their flesh is good 698. their maruellous fruitfulnesse 697. the more they are hunted in any countrey the more they are 〈◊〉 they liue seuen yeares ibid. Plough-Harâ—â—â— 18 To â—rrow plowed ground 544 Harts are not subiect vnto any ague 689 The hunting of the Hart is the game of great Lords and how the whole action is to be ordered 684 689 To know the place of the 〈…〉 68â— The Harâ— his induring of the Abbay 6â—9 A Beere for the Harâ— and a Baâ—â—er for the Bore a prouerbe admonishing Hunters 689 The dogges theâ— sees due from the Hart. ibid Singular medicines that may be made of euery part of the Hart. ibid. Siâ—nes of the Hart his age 〈◊〉 when they cast their hornes ibid. then wyles deceits and other 〈◊〉 of nature 645 687 Hart Cherrie-trees 374 Hart Cherries must be grafted 341 Harts-horâ—â— and his vertues 171 Harts 〈◊〉 202 Garden Hasel-tree 340 Haunters of Townes will neuer make good Faâ—mors 22 The Hawke called a Merlin 71â— To Hawke with the Faulcon or other Hawke and what season is best 709 31 Headacâ— 722 Hearbes of all sorts and in what season they must bee sowne 160 Pot Hearbes when and how they must be watered weeded and cut 162. the time to set and remoue them 163 Fine Hearbes to sowe in Gardens 159 Hearbes shew what manner of ground it is where they grow 530. for â—â—lowers or 〈…〉 of good smell 242. for Physicke and how they must be ordered 1â—8 for the 〈◊〉 462 The remedies against such accidents as do happen 〈◊〉 Hearbes 312 313 Heat is consisting of 〈◊〉 degrees 413 Heat when it is excessiue in Summer and what it prognosticateth 26 Hemlocke is Hogges poâ—son 203 Hempe what 〈◊〉 it requiteth and how it must be husbanded and dressed 566 Henbanâ— death to buds 77. to greene â—eeâ—e ibid. it is also poyson to Swine and therefore called Hogs-bane 10â— Henne-house must be kept cleane 66. where it must be placed 17 Hennes how to order and feed them 67. the markes of them which bee good 68. good to set them whiles the Moone is new 32. to take 〈◊〉 them their desire to fit 68. to make them fruitful 566. to fat them incontinently 5â—â— Rheumeâ— and â—â—uxes of Hennes 69 the Henne-pip ibid. Old Hennes and their diseases 68. their cures ibid A Henne
to sucke out venime 740 A Henne crowing like a Cock ouet-fat enraged 68 Water Hennes 78 How Hennes must be sed and loâ—ked to 67 68 Herâ—d caused the children to be slaine the 29. day of the Moone 34 The Heron wandering and whiâ—ling about a signe of raine 25 The Heromie and the ordering of Herâ—nt 671 Certaine obseruations concerning the Heron. 672 Hiacâ—â—th 239 Hissope 164. distilled 453 The Hobbâ—e a Hawke 711 Tame Hogges 18 Hogges better burnt than sealded 107 Hogges-troughs of Tamariske wood 290 Hogâ—hes where they must be placed 18 Holâ—-bocks 196 Honie of all sorts 330 The notes of good Honie 329 To make Hoâ—e 329. The vertues thereof ibidem To gathâ—r Hâ—â—ie 327 To make viuers compositions of Honâ—e 330 Honie distilled 456 Hops and the vertues thereof 287 Hoâ—e-hound 247 A Horse at his growth in fiue yeres but a man not before fiue and twentie 6â—6 Horses 〈◊〉 to drinke troubled water 129 61 63 Horses 〈…〉 how they must be 〈…〉 and trained 124. 12â— 131. 〈…〉 129. 〈◊〉 Horses 146. 〈◊〉 winded 149 hauing their backes broken 129. pricked with a 〈◊〉 114. bâ—witâ—hed 121. how to be handeld being 〈◊〉 and to what diseases they be subiect 137. the means to help the 139 The markeâ— of a good Horse 125 The know the age of a good horse perfectly ibidem Horses find â—eet to go well vpon when they haue to â—eed well vpon 129. a Prouerbe A leane Horse 147 Horses are 〈◊〉 by the Maisters eie a Prouerbe 1â— Horse mint 244 Horse taile 209 Hâ—and 〈◊〉 207 The House must not be to seâ—ke for 〈◊〉 nor ground for 〈◊〉 18. what is meant by the countrie House and 〈◊〉 it comp chendeth â— The 〈◊〉 Lodging 16. where the Farme-house must be 〈◊〉 4 of the inclosure thereof 13 The entrance of the Master of the familie his House 14 A â—umptuâ—uâ— House canteth ones better to enuie 13 We must purchase peace and a hoose readie made ibidem A House-holder must for ecast to haue more to sell than to buy 14 The Husbandrie of these times agreeth with the Husbandrie of the auncient times â— The Husbandrie of the vine both young and old 60â— of men of auncient times according to their countries 1 of grounds diuers and variable according to the soile and the scituation of places 〈◊〉 of the aâ—bor and vine is a like 157 Husbandmen must know the signes foreshewing raine windes c. 24 The Husbandmans clothes 22 The worke that the Husbandman must do euery moneth throughout the yeare 35 The Husbandmans tooles 532 The manner of Husbandrie entreated of 1 Hunting a thing that a good Husband may lacke 2 The profit of Hunting foure footed beaâ—â—es 672 Three sorts of Hunting ibidem The Hunting of the Hare more pleasant than any other 693 Hunting of the Wild Bore dangerous 690 A wine like Hydrome and the vertues thereof 330 I IAcob borne the sixteenth of the Mâ—one a good daie 33 Iapheth borne the 24. day of the Moone 34 Iâ—samine 286 Inclosure of the Orchard 333 The Indies discoured by the Spaniards 83 Insâ—sions 448. two things to be câ—sidered in Insusions ibid. 〈…〉 mâ—de in mans goats or swines bloud 449 〈…〉 must helpe oâ— augment the force and veâ—tue of 〈…〉 ibidem 〈◊〉 the Pâ—ophâ—t born the twentieth day of the Moone day somewhat indifferent 33 〈…〉 a â—ind of cheese and the mannes of making of â—â—â—em 65 〈◊〉 bâ—ne the 18. day of the Moone a prosperous day 33 〈◊〉 or ground pine 205 〈◊〉 â—â—es are tare in France 396. their nature ibidem 〈◊〉 planted 338 〈◊〉 â—â—per 285 causeth wine to run out of the vessell 286 K 〈◊〉 He principall Keyes of all the house 46 〈◊〉 â—lesh well accounted of 117. their skins how greatly profitable 119 〈◊〉 niâ— beanes or 〈◊〉 560 〈◊〉 Kâ—â—ching the first roome to be built in a good house where the Kitching must be seated 17 〈◊〉 â—is of dâ—â—â—rs fashions 253 254 â—â—â—ple Knot 258 〈…〉 and Câ—lâ—es how they must be sed and handled 62 〈◊〉 â—e â—â—â—king into the skie and drawing in the aire a 〈◊〉 of â—ame 25 L â—An through Labour doth â—ame euerie thing 10 〈◊〉 reqâ—â—sit in a Farmer 4 The gardens Labirâ—â—th 158 〈◊〉 â—wto handle and seed â—ambes 18 111 〈…〉 of Lâ—mbes and their remedies 116 〈…〉 â—mbes to make flocks 112 〈◊〉 boâ—ne the 〈◊〉 of the Moone a dangerous day 32 〈…〉 venomous sithes in the sea 507 〈◊〉 dâ— driue men to contention and law 4 〈…〉 maâ—uelous fruitfull 12 〈…〉 a kind of Hawke 714 〈◊〉 â— distâ— led 474. in what places it must be kept 17 〈◊〉 â—â—der 251 disâ—illed 463 〈◊〉 of the ashes of Cabages good to wasâ—â— the head 166 〈…〉 great and small their virtues and properâ—â—es 175 〈…〉 at what time they must be sowen 160 〈…〉 trees 296. what earth Lemons require 376 〈…〉 in what season they must be sowen 560â— to haue â—â—y good Lenâ—â—s 569 〈◊〉 of all kindes their husbandrie nature and speciall obseruations 167 when they must be sowne 160 they put forth the fourth day after they are sowne 152. they procuâ—e sleepe â—68 how to be preserued 279 〈◊〉 how it must be dressed 575 〈…〉 how distilled 455. and what is meant by 〈◊〉 〈…〉 place ibidem 〈◊〉 â—ighting in faire weather a signe of raine 24 〈…〉 and what they presage 26 〈…〉 238 〈…〉 of diuers sorts and colours 239. their vertues 240 〈◊〉 â—ater Lillies 239 〈◊〉 Inhabitants of Lymosin painefull sparing procuring 〈…〉 their owne profit than any others 23 den-trees and others of such like wood 665. 667. 〈…〉 and diseases 923. their food ibidem 〈◊〉 hutting the vine and how to kill them 607 Lice and other vermine haunting Hens 69 Lice of Calues 63 Lice of Bees 326 Line the husbanding thereo 368. when to be sowne 36. in what quarter of the Moone and when to bee pulled 31 Loches and how to fish for them 516 Locusts come euery third yeare and what harme they doe to trees 649 Locusts eating vines how they may be driuen away 607 Lâ—â—-tree 306 Lâ—pines and their husbandrie 560. and whereto they are good ibidem when they must bee sowne before they bloome caâ—â—ell must be put into them 570. â—at the earth 10 M MAdnesse of Dogs 147 Maine a rich countrie 12 The people of Maine are subtile craftie and very painefull for profit 23 Mallowes 196 Man will not be woon by rough handling 21 Mandraages 253 Maple tree 662 Marâ—h corne 554 Marchpanes what manner of pastrie 585 Mares how they must be handled â—â—5 The couering of Mares and taking of the horse 124. their amoâ—ous rage 147 Maâ—â—â—ome 250 Marigolds and their faculties 172 Marigolds in conserue 280. distilled 454 Marishes huâ—tfull to the Farme-house 5 Market matters would not be left vndone till after drinking 22 Maâ—le in what grounds necessarie 6 Marqâ—ots a sort of Vine necessarie 597 Beefe Marrâ—w 104 Maisters must know the natures of their seruants 23 Maisters must keepe more amongst their seruants than at the towne â—3
thereof louers of their profit 10 Trees and shrubs with a â—â—â—scourse thereupon 282 Trees are of two sort ingenerall 659 in what soile they would be planted 6 of the place and châ—â—â—hing of them in general 368 to set the female ones againe 367 grafted in what seaâ—on they must be transplanted 366 transplanted are the better 344 growing of stones 337 planted without roots 400 giuen to be ouer fruitfull how to moderate 404 to cause them to bring forth earely fruit 406 how to husband them when they begin to grow 403 how to plant â—ow and graft them to come by such fruit as is exquisite 360. to dig and picke them 402. to prune make cleane and bare them at the foot 31. 35. 401. 402 that are bruised with cattel 399. 400 full of mosse become leane 402 how to cure them 404 yellownesse and the laundise and the euill in them 405 and wormes troubling the same 406 to 〈◊〉 them that looâ—â— their flowers 405 A dead dogge or other caâ—â—ion applyed to the root of a Tâ—ee that is sicke doth set it in â—â—ength againe 402 Of fruit Trees in particular 370 The best season of planting and replanting of great Trees 368 To kill wormes in Trees that hurt their roots 400 To make those 〈◊〉 which me barren to beare fruit 405 Trees bringing forth grapes 366 Trees delighting to grow in the water 660 Trees of Soloigne are small and staruelings 654 Precepts of planting fruit â—rees 360 400 Water â—rees and their kinds and nature 334 To make wild Trees to grow of seed 656 What soile is best for while Trees their natures properties and differences 659 The best season to plant Trees for timber 651 To haue greene 〈◊〉 of all sorts at all times 363 Treâ—â—ile shutâ—ing in it sâ—lfe is a signe of raine 25 Triâ—kmâ—dame 172 Troughâ— at the Well side to water cattell at 15 Watering Troughâ— â— Trouts the fish how to take them 516 The Turkies rowst 17 Turneps the foâ—d of the inhabitants of Limosin and Sauoy 1â—6 how they must be husbanded and what their properties be 187 〈…〉 to goe vp to the Garners 17 〈…〉 tree 306 Oile of Turpentine 486 Tuâ—â—doneâ— their feeding and diseases 84. their bloud good for the wounds and vlcers of the eyes 〈◊〉 as also is their dung ibid. Hearbe Two-pence 212 V VAlentia the vale of Swannes 78 Valâ—â—ian and the veâ—tues thereof 199 Varietie of Countries causeth a diuers manner of labouring the earth 1 〈◊〉 the manner of making of it 620 Veriâ—â—ce of Apples 3â—0 〈◊〉 male and female â—97 their nature and vertues ibid. good for the sight ibid. Verâ—aine a signe that there will be good water found if there be a Well digged 7 Wild Vines of the hearbes called 〈◊〉 287 How Vinâ—â— newly planted would be husbanded 〈◊〉 Vines of diuers sorts according to their colours and other qualities 600 in what grounds they must be planted 192 two things to be considered in the planting of them ibid. they must be planted vpon the South 6 at what time to be remoued 39 how to choose their plants 595 596 plants where when and how they must bee planted 599 must not be planted of diuers plants 598 to make them newly planted to take root ibid. the manner of planting them is diuerse according to the 〈◊〉 of countries grounds 597 to cause them to hud quickly 606 how to handle them that haue too many branches 607 when they must be cut 35 growing vpon trees and after the fashion of aâ—â—ours 395 â—â—es well husbanded are of great encrease and profit 591 â—â—make barren Vines fruitfull 607 â—â—rtaine obseruations concerning Vines how to graft â—â—them and the manner of proceeding therein 605 606 â—â—nes being grafted yeeld great reuenâ—e 259 â—â—hat manâ—re is good and euill for Vines 599 â—â—manure Vines is a precious thing 595 â—â—make that Oxen and Kine doe not touth Vines 607. for those caâ—tell are very noisome to them ibid. othing must be sowne amongst Vines 598 â—â—ow to keepe Vines from the frost 606. their diseases and remedies thereof 607 â—â—he blacke Vine plant 600. foure kinds of it ibid. â—â—he white Vine plant and the kinds thereof 601 â—â—he husbandrie of the Vine both young and old and their sundrie earings 602 â—â—he inhabitants of Paris doe husband their Vines negligently 592 â— manure the new Vine 602. to prune and weed it and the rest of the earings belonging to it 599 â—â—he Vine hateth the Colewort aboue all things 598 â—he laxatiue Vine 606 â—â—reacle Vine ibid. â—â—ates of the Vine 461 â—he Vine Nurcerie 594 â—â—uill Vine-dressers described by their effects 599 â—â—Vineyard in a strong ground 11 〈◊〉 delight in stonie places standing towards the South 5â—6 â—â—ineger what it is 456 the manner of making of it 618 of Squilles 619 of Apples 380 distilled 456 and the vertues thereof ibid. quickly distilled 451 certaine obseruations concerning it 618 made without wine 61â— to cause it to become wine againe 618 Sweet Vineger 619 Dame Violets 238 Marian Violets ibid. March Violets 236 A Viper hauing stung a Horse 147 Vitis signifying a Vine whence so called 623 W WAsers 584 585 Walnut-trees and their Nuts how profitable 386 Walnut-trees when they are to be planted and remoued 3â—5 and how they must be alone and why ibid. Walnut-trees grafted 385. they naturally hate Oakes ibid. the more beaten the more fruitfull 386. without fruit and leaues till Midsummer 364. they foreshew plentie 385 Walnuts without shells 362 to cause them to haue a verie tender shel 364 386 how planted 385 how to keepe them greene 408 doe cause Capons to rost quickly 387 preserued 422 of hard digestion causeth headach and shortnesse of breath 387 distilled 452 How to haue grosse Walnuts 362 Presages of Warre 667 The Warren scituation thereof and profit 3. 644 and of the storing of it 645 To Water herbs 159. 399 Water the common drinke of all liuing creatures 6â—2 of diuers sores distilled with a discourse thereupon 438 and who was the inuentor ibidem of all sorts distilled of many herbs in particuler 452â— 453 compound distilled three manner of waies 460 distilled in Maries bath 442 distilled in the bladder 443 of licours 455 distilled of flesh 458 distilled for fukes 465 distilled of liuing creatures 458 of egges 458. of the vine 461 of crums of bread 466 of lard 467 of Rubarb distilled 462 of cowes milke 466 of a capons broth ibidem of oats making drunke like wine 558 of calues feet 462 of ligâ—â—â— vitâ— 465 To take away the heate of distilled Waters 45â— 452 〈◊〉 aine Water meet to be gathered into cesternâ— 6 The best Waters 9 Fresh Waterâ— spring out of cold places 5 Sweet Waters in particular 463 Salt or sea Water how it may be made fresh 456 Allome Water 462 Purgatiue Waters ibidem The vertues of distilled Waters 452 453. and their durablenesse ibidem Rose Waters distilled per descensuâ— 468 Compound Rose Water 462 Muske Rose Water 463 Sweet Water ibidem Counterfeit
ones 21â— vlcers of the mouth 197 199 203. of the eares 209. inward 207. of the lungs 205. of the â—emeâ— 459. comming of the pocks 58 203. vlcers in Oxen. 102 A low and base Votte 148. to haue a good voice 176 To stay Vomiting 48 204 213 249. to cause vomiting speedily 449. to prouoke vomite 285. to the curing of a quartane and tertian ague 298 Vrine of all sorts and to procure the making of vrine 〈◊〉 97 171 176 180 182 194 197 199 203 205 208 210 211 212 246 248 251 371 397 453 679 690 Horses hardly able to make their Vrine 141. W WArts 60 206. hanging Warts â—16 Against Witchcrafâ— 199 Fukeâ— for Women c. 208 304 465 Wormes amongst Beeâ— 398 Wormes and how to kill them 157 200 201 203 205. 207 220 245 247 251 285 372 〈◊〉 690. wormes in little children 180 210 244 246 561 693. wormes menting horses 146. to cause the wormes that trouble dogges to fall from them 677 678. to kill them that destroy trees 405 406. to keepe flesh from all manner of wormes 197. to cause them to come out of the earth in great aboundance 386 The flying 〈◊〉 a disease in horses 142 To kill earth Wâ—rmes that eat the roots of hearbes 401 Wounds in dogges 678 Woundâ— 198 200 207 214 against all sorts of wounds 204. against the inflammation thereof 28â— wounds fresh and new â—7 207 209 214 220. old 58 214. maligned 201. wounds in the armes and legges 219. in the noble and â—nner parts 207 208. in the head 〈◊〉 in the guts 288. wounds with Dagges 59. to draw yâ—on out of a wound 199. for to consider of inward and outward wounds 202 205 207 211 212. an excellent balme for green wounds and cuts 57 204 437 Wringâ—â—â—â— 249 Windinesse in the stomacke or bellie ibid. Y THe Yard swolne and the cure thereof The Yard of an Oxe growne hard FINIS Pâ—â—tarch in â—eg Apoh 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 2. Chro. 26. â—0 Genes 4. â— â— Sam. â— 14. 〈…〉 The varietie of Countries causeth a diuers manner of labouring of the earth Ouer-much curiositie the ruinâ— of good wits What manner of Husbandrie iâ— entreated of in that which followâ—th The name of the Country â—ouse 〈◊〉 a Farme Meese or field Inheritance The Translator The English practise added to the French The Summe of the first Booke The Sâ—mme of the second Booke The Summe of the third Booke The Summe of the fourth Book The Summe of the fiâ—â— Booke The Summe of the sixt Booke The Summe of the seventh Booke The Kitchin must be the first piece of building in a good house Purchase by statute the surest of al others That there be 〈◊〉 foolish buyers than sellers That Land 〈◊〉 striâ—e in hand Labour 〈…〉 a Householder That 〈◊〉 to say that euerything hauing attained his height doth in the â—nd decrease 〈…〉 A good aire 〈…〉 Farme Neere vnto a good neighbor Farre from places of garrison Farre from Riuers and Brookt It behoueth vâ— to content our selues with that which God and Nature affoordeth Rockâ—e grounds good for the bearing of Vines and so for such Countries as a bound with Vines A high and flat Countrey Pooles Cesternes Pits called Aranques To make a Cesterne for to hold and keepe Raine water The way to prepare ground for the bearing of wood A Country neare vnto Riuers The pleasures of Princes A drie Countrey A Hill to build vpon 〈…〉 Wells of good Water Fountaines To find out the beads of Fountaines The best time to 〈◊〉 out Spring-heads 〈…〉 What Waters are best Places giuen tâ— bring forth 〈◊〉 Deceitfull stone-pits Why the earth is termed by the name of a Mother That it is against the nature of the free Countrey of Beaâ—x to beare any Rie Toâ—â—aine the Garden of France Man by labour is able to tame euery thing Watrie and marish places The vnder parts of watrie grounds Islands of Flaunders To build on the tops of high ground Wild grounds Desarts and Bull-rushes Stâ—nie grounds Vntilled grounds Sandie grounds What is 〈◊〉 to know the nature of great Sand. Strong grounds Rough ground A clay ground To build vpon a high ground Territories and fields lying in Croye and Ardose The nature of the earth must be knowne An old prouerh That of compulsions comes no good Good ground a fruitfull countrey of France The fruitfulnes of Aquitaine The inconueniences of the Southerne wind in Languedoc Prouence and Guienne The signes of a good and sertile ground Naughtie earth Great Cages make not theiâ— Birds good Vnfaithfull Farmers The eye of the Master fatteth the Horse 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈◊〉 The base Courts 〈…〉 Of the Ligâ—ts to be made in Building 〈…〉 The Wells of the Câ—â—rt Tâ—e dore of â—he Hâ—use A partition The Farmers Lodge The Farmers Ouen The Farmers Chamber Garners Stables for Hoâ—se 〈…〉 Oxe-housâ—s The entrance of the householdeâ—s dwelling place The round staires The Kitchin The chietest Lights must be tâ—ward the East Garners The North wind good for the keeping of Corne. A Henne-house Turkâ—â— Hennâ—â— and Cockâ— Fesants 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 〈…〉 What things are most fit to be farmed out The chiefe key of all the rest 〈…〉 To order his Suites What time the Householder should keepe at his Farme and when he may best goâ— abroad to the Towne or elsewherâ— Men cannot abide to be roughly entreated Husbandmens apparrell To know to write and read is not necessarie for a farmâ—r Paper endureth all tâ—ings A Farmer must haue much knowledge 〈…〉 Nâ—cessarie things to be prouided It is not good â—o exact too much at a seruants hands The naturall inclimatâ—on of the sâ—uerall Câ—untâ—imen of France Normans Normans Picards Bâ—yais Limâ—sins Goscoins 〈…〉 〈…〉 The fâ—retelling of Raine Signes â—oreâ—â—kening great store of Raine Signes â—oretâ—kening Snow Haile Signes â—orâ—â—tkening Winds The signes foretokening Tâ—â—nder Lightnings and Tempests The signes â—ore-tokening faire Weather Sigâ—es â—oretokening the beâ—innings and endings of times Signes â—oretokening Cold. A long Winter The heat oâ— Summer The knowledge of the disposition of eueriâ—â—oneth 〈…〉 A good or bad yeare Signes foretokening fruitfulnesse A barren â—â—are Tokens â—â—reshewing Cornâ— to be good cheape or deare Signes foreâ—â—kening a sickly or sound yeare Thâ— Sunne and the Moone great Lights Of the Moone Tâ—e cause of the growâ—h and waâ—â— of thâ— Moone To slaughter Caâ—â—ell in the new of the Moone Fruit-trees and others To cleanse trees To gather fruits Grapes To sow Cornâ— To winnow or fanne to searce and lay vp Corne vnder locke To grind Corne. Onions soâ—n in the wanâ— Tâ— mow Medâ—wâ—s To dung them Ianuarie Februarie March Aprill May. Iune Iuly August September October Nouember December To â—se Bread temperately Prouision for Drinke The Plague Naphe A continuall Feauer A Quartane Aguâ— Thirst. A Tertian Ague A Quotidian Ague Headach comming of Heat Headach comming of drinking of Wine Headach proceeding of Coldâ— Frensie Drowsinesse or heauinesse of Sleepe
Too much watchfulnesse Swimming in the Head The Apoplexie The Palsie The Epilepsie or falling sicknes Rednesse of the face Spots in the face The Kings euill Ill eyes A weake sight Paine in the eyes Rednesse in 〈◊〉 eye Filth in the eye A blacke and blew eye A blemish in the eye Rednesse in the eyes The inflammation of the Eye The weeping Eye The white spots of the Eyes Ache in the Eare. A noise in the Eare. Deafenesse The smelling lost Swelling vnder the eare Stinking nosthrils Bleeding at the nose Tooth-ach Loose teeth Blacke Teeth Red Teeth Stinking Mouthes Stinking Teeth Wrinkled Hands The Cough Squinancie Pleurisie Spitting of Bloud The beating of the Heart Swouning Flagging witherâ—d and hanging Brests 〈◊〉 of Milke Aboundance of Milke The inflammation of the Breasts Belching Hicket Vomiting Paine in the stomacke The Liuer obstructed Heat of the Liuer Iaundise Dropsie Paine of the Spleene Collicke Flux of the Bellie The bloudie Flux Flux of Bloud 〈◊〉 Wormes Painet of the Hemâ—◠〈◊〉 The flux of the Hemorrhoids The stone in the Reines Difficultie of Vrine The stone in the Bladder Pissing in bed Hot vrine Barrennesse in women The menâ—â—ruouâ— flux 〈…〉 Suffocation of the Matrix The falling downe of the Mother The Inflammation of the Matrix The Inflammation of the yard The Stinking of the feet To be brought in bed before due time Hard and painfull labor The claret water The after-birth Throwes of womâ—n after child-birth For the Rupture Gout and ach in the hands Sciatica Sinewes oppressed For the pricking of the sinewes For the paines of the sinewes Paines of the ioynts Windie swellings Red pimples or swellings To suppurate an Impostume A naile otherwise called a furuncle or cats-tayle Tetters The pits of the small Pocks Vlcers about the nailes For schirroâ—â— tumorâ— Falls from on high A greene wound Old or new wounds The Carbuncle Anthrax c. Vlcers of the Pocks A wound with shot Inward wounds Knots or knobs The falling of the haâ—re Vlcers Kibes on the heeles Black and blew spots through blowes Wart Nolime tangere Crab-lice Burning Ringwormes The Canker The Moth in the haâ—re To make the â—aâ—â—e blacke The bitâ—â—g of a mad dogge The bitings of Serpents A Snake crept into the bodie Horse-leachâ—s The stinging of Spiders Lice Mushromes eaten A cleane cow-house The putting of Kiâ—â— to the Bull The time of the yearâ— fittest for Kiâ—â— to be put to the Bull. Sienes of a good â—ull Feeding of Cattell A Câ—w with Calfâ— The Cow would haue a cleare water as the Horse a troubled The Barbs vnder Calues 〈◊〉 Lice and Scabs of Calues Kine To gâ—ld the Calues The marks of a good Cow Milke The keeping of Milke Good Milke Creame Fresh or greene Cheese Sowre milke or Serate Whay Butter The making of Cheese To curd the milke The best runniâ— Hard Cheese The goodnesse of Cheese The Hen-house kept cleane Baskets for Hennes to lay in Pearches and ladders made cleane and rubd downe Their dâ—â—nking â—â—ought kept cleane Fresh straw on the dung ill The dustin of Pullen To take away the leâ—s of Hennes â—aying Beasts to be prouided against as enemies to poultrie The wings of Cocks Capons must not be cut The Brood-house The markes of a good Henne The Henne with spurs The daintâ—e-mouthed Henne The oâ—er-fat Henne The mad-brained Henne A young Henne clocking A young Henne good only to lay egges An old Henne is good to sit To take away a Hennes desire to sit Capons to brood and lead Chickens The diseases of old Hennes The Henne Pip. Fleas and verminâ— about Hennes Physicke for Hennes For the rheume in Hennâ—s For the loosenesse of the belly in Hennes For costiueâ—esse in Hennes To take the Pip from Hâ—nes Against Fleas and Vermine Against the â—itings of venimous Beasts Against Beasts that eat Pullein Against Foxes The laying of Hennes To haue egges all Winter time The time to set Hennes Ouens to set egges in To set egges of other birds vnder Hennes To haue Henne-birds or Cock-birds A Ceremonie obserued in setting of egges The Hennes meat drinks must be set within the thing she siteth in The impatiencie of women To trie the egges that must be set The Henne Pip. To hatch Chickens without the heat of the Henne Yâ— know a good egge How egges may be kept in Winter and Summer To gâ—ld Cockreld To fat Capons capons of Means and Bretaigne Chickens of diuers colours Great egges To make egges soft How to keepe egges What egges will keepe best The stone in a Capons stomack To rost an egge without any fire An egge written vpon An egge lifted vp into the aire The applying of a Henne to draw forth venome The innermost skin of the Hens stomack against the flux of the beâ—â—y grauell The broth of a Henne good to loosen the belly The stones of a Capon The fat of a Henne The gall of a Henne Henne-dung A hard rosted egge The yolke and white of an egge The white of an egge The yolke of an egge Geese loue to bath and tumble themselues in the water The Goose is a bird of great profit and disprofit Wild Geese The memorie of a Goose. To set Geese The ordering of Goslings How to 〈◊〉 Goslings Meat for Geese The quills of dead Geese are not so good as those of the liue The diseases of Geese Goose greese A place for Ducks to set in The ordinarie food of Ducks The egges of Ducks see vpon by a Henne are better than if they were hatched by the Duck her selfe Wild Ducks may be will taken when they are drunke The bloud of Ducks The Drake cureth the Collick Teales Young Ducks Water Hennes Small Ducks Woodcocks Curlewes Birts of a double life Swannes Valentia the vale of Swans How manie Swannes are ynough to be together Cranâ—â— Storkes Hennes of Numidia Feasant Cocks and Hennes not so â—asie to make tame To fat Feasant Cocks and Hennes The Peacockâ— walke The diseases of Peacocks The nature of Pea-hennes The sitting of the Pea-henne A Peacock of a white colour The feeding of yong Peacocks The laying of Pea-hennes The diseases of Peacocks The flesh of Peacocks is hard Indian Hennes good coffers to burie Oats in That a Peacock is better meat than a Turkies What meat is fit for Turkies The times wherein Turkies doe lay The diseases of Turkies Turkie egges Turtle doues What meat Turtles feed vpon The diseases of Turtle doues Stock-doues Partridges of browne colour and spotted The egges of Partridges The gall of a Partridge Fierce Quailes Thrushes Sous The value of this bird in times past and yet also The ordinarie meat for Thrushes The profit of a Doue-house Where a ground Doue-house is permitted and lawfull to be had Pies and Sparrowes male and female do sit A dore window Beasts to be kept out of Doue-houses A draw lattice window To store a Doue-house To tame Pigeons Perfumes for the Doue-house To draw Pigeons to a place Pigeons dung The Oxe-house The Oxe-keepers charge The
high places and such as are not ouer-shadowed the fall whereof doth enioy the Sunne-rising for water out of such Fountaines is a great deale more light and pleasant in tast and by how much it runneth the swifter and longer way in the Aire and Sunne before it come to the bottome so much it groweth the better as when it falleth from high Rocks it is as it were beaten and broken in falling through the downe-right places of stones and craggednesâ—e of the Rocks We must also see that such Mountaines be full of Dogs-tooth Plantaine Fox-taile wild Penny-ryall transmarine Sage which is called Adianthum Milfoile Chameleon and generally all other hearbes and plants which grow without being planted and are by nature greene well branched good and thicke and well flowred The time most apt in all the yeare and affoording greatest perseuerance for the finding out of the heads of Wells and Fountaines are the moneths of August or September for then it is easie to know the greatnesse of the head when the earth by the great heat of Summer hath no moisture of raine left remaining in it and then also we may gather assurance of such as will neuer drie vp altogether If it happen that the head Fountaine be somewhat too farre from the Farme you may force the water to come thither by little Riuers or rather more conueniently by chaâ—els and conduits made of Lead Wood or Pot-earth the best are made of Aller tree Fâ—rre tree or Pine tree out of which distilleth Perroâ—en because that such Trees haue an oylie humour and hot which easily resisteth the hurtes which water might cause Next to them are those which are made of Pot-earth if that the water carried along in them were not the cause of breeding obstruction These must be two fingers thicke and sharpe at one end the length of halfe a foot to goe the one of them into the other the worst sort is those made of Lead because the water carried along by them purchaseth from the Lead an euill qualitie and that because of the Ceruse thereof so that it oftentimes causeth bloudie fluxes and other such like diseases if we beleeue Galen and them which for this cause call the inhabitants of Paris Squitters because they vse Fountaine-water which runneth through Leaden pipes which point notwithstanding seemeth not to be without all doubt seeing that Ceruse cannot breed nor be made of Lead without vineger and for that we see also diuers Countries doe drinke of such waters without being troubled with bloudie fluxes whatsoeuer it is wee must set well together and soulder the pipes with a compound made of vnquenched lime and the greaâ—e of a hogge or of Perrosen and the whites of egges or of lyme whites of egges oyle and the filings of yron because that all these things doe hinder corruptions and rottennesse which the water might cause If any Mountaine doe hinder the laying or bringing along of these Pipes wee must make them way if any Valley we must reare arches such as are to be seene in a Village neere vnto Paris called Arâ—ueil and that because of those said arches or rayse pillars and other matter to support those water-passages But it is not sufficient to haue found out those Heads of Wells and Fountaines but we must further consider of the goodnesse and wholesomenesse of the Water as Aristotle teacheth vs For seeing the greatest part of our life dependeth vpon the vse of this element it is requisite that the Master of the Household should haue care to procure good Water in as much as Water must be the most of his seruants drinke and that the Bread which he and his familie doe eat is kneaded therewith and the greatest part of his victuals boyled therein The best and most wholesome Water of all others is Raine Water falling in Summer when it thundereth and lightneth verie much and yet notwithstanding Raine Water causeth costiuenesâ—e and obstructions especially that which is kept in Cesternes newly made and that by reason of their Mortar wherewith they are ouer-layd It doth also corrupt very quickly that onely excepted which falleth in May and being so corrupted it maâ—reth the voice bringing Hoarsenesse and a little Coâ—gh Next to this in goodnesse is 〈◊〉 Fountaine Water which falleth from the Mountaines and runneth along amoâ—gst Stones and Rocks Next to this in goodnesse is Well Water or that which issueth at the hanging parts of the Mountaines or that which springeth in the bottome of a Valley The fourth different sort of Waters is that of the Riuer The worst of all the rest is that of the Poole and Marish Grounds and yet that which runneth not is worse than all the rest and more apt to inâ—ect The Water of Snow and Ice is the most vnwholesome of all because it is the coldest and most earthie as not hauing beene prepared by the heat and vertue of the Sunne And as conceâ—ning the Water of Wells and Fountaines seeing it is not found good alwaies and in all places we shall know them to be good if it haue neither tast sâ—â—ell nor any colour whatsoeuer being notwithstanding verie cleere and of the nature of the Ayre taking quickly the colour of anie thing that one shall cast into it being also cleane warme in Winter and cold in Summer easie to make hot and as soone becomming cold againe in which Peason Beanes and other such like things doe boyle easily and which being put for some space in a Brasen Copper or Siluer Vessell well scoured leaueth no discoloured parts or spots in the same and which when it hath beene boyled in a Caâ—ldron made verie faire and cleane doth not make any â—etling or shew of filth in the bottome if such as vse to drinke it haue a cleere voice a sound breast and the die or colour of the face be neat and liuely finally that which together with the rest of the markes is verie light and by consequent as principall of all the rest shall that be iudged which excelleth in the foresaid markes and qualities and for to know which is the lightest weigh as much with as much of euerie sort of Water or else take two three or â—oure Clothes of one and the same webbe length and breadth according to the quantitie and sorts of Water which you would compare together and in euerie one wet a Cloth distill the Clothes or let the Water drop out of them and then weigh them for the Cloth which was moistened in the â—ightest Water will then weigh lesâ—e than the rest It is true that the lightnesse of Water is not so truely tryed by weight as by drinking not causing at such time anie burthenous weight in the places about the short Ribbes and passeth through the bodie speedily as also in being quickly hot and quickly cold Drie Places and Countries abounding with Mountaines doe commonly bring forth Stones which is easily perceiued by the rough and boisterous handling of the Earth
that so you may take their egges to put vnder some Henne to sit them thereby to make them tame for the fowle that is thus or dered will be better than that of the yard and which stirreth not out of the Court or from about the sides of the streets to tread To take such wild Ducks as are about your Ponds to make them tame you must cast the lees of wine or red wine in that verie place of the Pond side where you 〈◊〉 accustomed to cast them meat of wine and corne with leauen and flower tempered together and you shall take them when you see them drunke or else to take of the root and seed of Henbane a good quantitie and lay it to steepe in a basen full of water a whole day and a night afterward put thereinto Wheat and boyle all together vntill the said Corne be well steept and swelled afterward you shall put of the same Corne in the said place for the wild Duckes will runne vnto it and as soone as they shall haue eaten it they will fall downe all astonished and giddie This kind of fowle is made fat in such manner as the young Geese that is to say with the same food onely it remaineth that you should giue vnto them besides that the small of the fish and so you need not to cowpe them vp and as for your common ones the more you suffer them to runne the better it is for them You may make your profit of this bird in as much as the flesh thereof is very pleasant to eat especially about the necke and breasts the feathers thereof are â—maller better and more wholesome to sleepe vpon than those of Geese She layeth egges is great quantitie but not so good or delicate as those of the Hennes but yet of vse 〈◊〉 make Cakes fried Meats and other daintie Deuises adde hereunto that you may set them vnder Hennes When this bird trimmeth her feathers with her bill it betokeneth Wind. Also some hold the bloud thereof hardned and drunke with wine is good against all manner of poyson The Drake applyed aliue vnto the bellie is a soueraigne remedie for the 〈◊〉 of the Guts and Collicke insomuch that some say that this disease thus cured returneth vnto the Drake and that in such sort as that hee dyeth of it Teales young Ducks water-Hennes and small Ducks of the Pond will neuer be made tame but otherwise you may more easily take them than you can the wild Geeâ—e We may say as much of the Woodcocke and Curlew and other birds hâ—â—â—ting the Water and Riuers and liue notwithstanding vpon the Land for which cause they were called by men of old time birds of a two-fold or double kind of liuing and feeding Swannes haunt and loue to resort to some particular places onely as in watrie wandring and solitarie places There are great store to be seene in such places towards Toâ—â—s Angoulesme Coignac the Riuer of Sharant which is reported to be floored with Swannes and paued with Trouts Sameure in Fraunce as also in Flanders and towards Valentia which some say to haue beene in that respect called the Valley of Swannes and may be made tame and may be put either in Ponds or iâ— Fennes but indeed they destroy and spoyle verie much fish Sometimes they feed vpon the greene Corne as the Gosling or wild Goose and doe make great spoilâ— and wast therein It is sufficient for two paire to take their pleasure in your Pooles or foure if they be verie great and one paire onely is ynough in your Fish-pond and they must haue a house apart in the Orchard or Garden couered ouer a little and free from disturbance often made cleane and refreshed for they defile verie much If they haue not ynough whereon to feed in the place of their abode you must cast them some softened bread or some of the smallest fishes This is a great eating fowle and chargeable to be kept he maketh his Neast himselfe and hatcheth but once a yeare and three egges at the most at a time but he is a verie beautifull and pleasant bird There is a certaine kind of Swanne which hath his right foot diuided into fingers and fashioned with nailes and clawes or tallons as birds of the prey haue whereupon in striking into the water he catcheth and footeth his prey but his left foot is fashioned after the common manner of others and with it he roweth vpon the water Such a one was seene and killed at the Abbey of Iuilly neere Dampmartin in the yeare 1554. This kind of Swanne feedeth no where but in the water and vpon his prey and is altogether wild and cannot handsomely be tamed but the common Swanne is not such a one Socrates in Plato saith that this bird is dedicated to Apollo because of the gift of diuination which he hath by which he foreseeth his death and singeth verie sweetly and melodiously when he perceiueth the same at hand as seeming thereby to foresee what good Death doth bring with it I haue obserued that he doth not onely foresee his owne death but also the death of men especially when he appeareth in such places as he was not wont to haunt Witnesse hereof is S. Bartholomew his day in the yeare 1572 two or three dayes before which were seene manie Swannes flying swimming and diuing in the Riuer of Seyne betwixt S. Clou and the Port of Nully Cranes are not much vnlike to Swannes and are not birds of continuall haunt but yearely remouing from the Countries that are more hot vnto those Countries that are more cold Their departure is about September and their returne shortly after the Spring seed time and although they doe addict themselues vnto watrie places yet they feed for the most part of that which the drie land yeeldeth and not of things affoorded by the water for they liue and feed vpon Corne as doe the wild Geese There is no cause why you should make any great account of the Crane for although hee stay a certaine time with you yet hee layeth not anie moe than two egges all the yeare long Wherefore if you be willing to keepe of them you may doe it rather to please your sight withall than for anie hope of encrease for they neither lay nor sit anie moe than two egges And further their flesh is of a verie hard digestion especially if it be new killed but if you will eat it stay some time after the taking of them and hang them vpon the arme of some Figge-tree that they may grow tenderer Also eate them rather a long time after they haue beene dressed than whiles they are yet warme When you see them flye aloft in the Ayre without making anie noyse then looke for faire weather but and if you see them rest themselues vpon the ground be ye assured that it will be raine If your Farme be neere vnto marishes and
make it purge and boyle vp and withall they hang in the vessell a nodule or knot full of 〈◊〉 pepper ginger graines of paradise and cloues also they cast into the vessell a handfull of Elder-tree-flowres they set the vessell in the Sunne in Summer time for the space of fortie daies or in Winter they set it in some caue vnder the ground This kind of honied water is verie soâ—â—â—aigne against 〈◊〉 agues 〈◊〉 dispositions of the bodie diseases of the braine as the falling sicknesse apoplexie and palsie in which cases wine is forbidden The countrie men of Prouence and the Italians doâ— make marchpaines of honie and almonds after this manner Take white honie three pound and three whites of egges beat all together with a woodden pestill in a bason till it grow vnto the colour of milke afterward see the bason vpon a fire of coales stirring all together very carefully with the pestill till such time as it become somewhat thicke then put thereto sweet almonds stamped and fried such quantitie as shall be needfull for the making of it of some good consistence being yet hot powre it our vpon some marble or polished table make vp your marchpaine thereof and it will be singular good for them to eat which are in a consumption as also to procure spitting CHAP. LXXI Of the markes of good Waxe and the manner of preparing diuers sorts of Waxe GOod Waxe must be of a verie yellow colour smelling sweet far light pure 〈◊〉 close neat and purified from all filth It is the ground of other Waxes called artificiall as being by art made into diuers colours as blacke red greene and white Waxe Blacke Waxe is made with ashes of burnt paper greene by putting 〈◊〉 vnto it red by putting the root of Alkanet vnto common Wax or the powder of Cinnabrium but white Waxe is made many waies but for the most part after this sort and manner Melt Waxe in some vessell â—it for the purpose afterward 〈◊〉 it from all manner of superfluities through a strainer being thus strained 〈…〉 a soft coale fire in a great skellet or vessell of copper to keepe it liquid and in 〈◊〉 close thereby you shall haue one or two great barrells made after the manner of 〈◊〉 â—ubs full of water newly drawne out of the well in which you shall wet 〈…〉 that are round flat and halfe finger thicke fashioned like round coueâ— or 〈◊〉 of pots and in the middest they shall be made fast to a little sticke or woodden 〈◊〉 manner of a graspe by which one may handle them you shall dip the same 〈◊〉 well wet in water in the vessell where the Waxe shall be melted and pâ—eâ—â—â—ly after you shall pull them out full of Waxe and put them in the water â—ubs where the 〈◊〉 will abide that shall haue cleaued vnto them you shall gather this wax together and spread euerie peece by it selfe vpon hurdles couered with linnen cloth in the 〈◊〉 heat of the Sunne in the moneth of Iulie and vpon these you shall leaue it till it become white In the meane time while it shall thus lie in the Sunne if it happen 〈◊〉 the heat of the Sunne be so vehement that it melteâ—h the wax so spâ—ed vpon the hurdles you must water and sprinkle it often with coole water by the same meaâ—â— also defend it from the Bees which will flie thither from all corners to 〈◊〉 out the honie Otherwise boyle the wax in water so oâ—t as vntill that you see it 〈…〉 it this manner of whitening wax is not so sure nor of so easie charges as the 〈◊〉 for the often melting of the Wax doth wast it verie much but the drying of it in the Sunne bringeth no great losse as you shall best find after proofe and triall made To make â—earing candle Take two pound of new Wax a pound of good 〈◊〉 and a quarter of a pound of turpentine mixe them and make searing Wax The end of the second Booke THE THIRD BOOKE OF THE COVNTRIE FARME The Orchard or Greene plot CHAP. I. Of the differences of Orchards or Greene plots and the inclosing of the Fruit-Garden THere are three sorts of Orchards or Greene plots the one otherwise called an Arbour contriued with great bankes and this is pointed out and prouided in a field couered with green grasse and a fountaine in the middest of it and wrought-into dâ—uers plaine and euen plots and braunches consisting of loâ—ts which are sustained and borne vp with carpentrie or frames of timber vnder which a great number of people may sit couered ouer head Of this sort I haue seene at Basill and 〈◊〉 other places in Germanie and to â—it a place for this manner of greene plot it 〈◊〉 requisite that it be cleansed from all manner of stones and weeds not so much as 〈◊〉 roots left vndestroyed and for the better accomplishing hereof there must boyâ—â—ng water be powred vpon such ends of roots as sâ—aying behind in the ground canâ—â—ot be well pulled vp and afterward the floore must be beaten and troden downe 〈◊〉 â—ightily then after this there must be cast great quantity and store of turfes of earth 〈◊〉 of greene graâ—â—e the bare earthie part of them being turned and laied vpward 〈◊〉 afterward daunced vpon with the feet and the beater or pauing-beetle lightly 〈◊〉 ouer them in such sort as that within a short time after the graâ—â—e may begin 〈◊〉 peepe vp and put forth like small haires and finally it is made the sporting green 〈◊〉 for Ladies and Gentlewomen to recreate their spirits in or a place whereinto â—â—hey may withdraw themselues if they would be solitarie and out of â—ight The second sort of greene plots is that which our auncient Frenchmen who first â—â—rote our Romane discourses and histories haue taken and vsed for a place of 〈◊〉 for Princes and was called in aâ—ncient time after the manner of a sojouâ—â—ing 〈◊〉 abiding place but now by the name of a beautifull prospect Which beside the â—â—ately building singularly contriued in partitions diuersitie of workes and most â—â—aire windows compassed in with goodly water ditches â—ed from continuall runâ—â—ng Springs doth containe an â—â—ner and base Court with gardens for pleasure and fruits with vnderwoods warrens fishponds and whatsoeuer goodly and beautifull thing is wont to stand about princely palaces The third sort of greene plots is that which we intend to trim vp in this place and it may supplie the place of the fruit garden for a house respecting and looking to thrift and to keepe a houshold for husbandrie such a one as we haue here 〈◊〉 to furnish and set out euerie way well appointed and in which vve are 〈◊〉 to regard profit joyned with a meane and moderate beautie and coâ—â—â—nesse than any vnnecessarie â—umptuousnesse Therefore to goe on in our designed course and intended plot this place requireâ—h that next after the kitchin and flower gardens with their appurtenâ—â—â—â—
very right necessarie in parkes as well for the reliefe and sustenance of wild beasts as for the watering washing and moistning of the grounds to make them fruitfull Besides whensoeuer your gaine is extreamely hunted and brought to the pinch of extremitie then he will flie to the water which is called the soile and there find reliefe and rescue for according to the saying of the profit Dauid As the Hart desireth the water brooks c. so a deere in his greatest extremitie findeth reliefe and is refreshed by drinking or bathing in the water For a betâ—er proofe whereof I will repeate vnto you a notable true and very memorable experiment approued by a gentleman of good worship and place in his countrie who being a very good hunts-man and very well experienced in the nature of wild deare It was his chaunce to bring vp a tame Stagge which by the excellencie of his keeping and full feeding grew a verie faire and great deere as soone as the deere was three yeares old hee caused him to be broke to the saddle and being himselfe a good horse-man and hauing a good horse-man then attending vpon him what through the ones instruction and the others paine the Stagge became so well reclaimed that not any gelding in his stable was more obedient to the man better mouthed or more tractable to carrie his rider than the Stag was in so much that when at any time the gentleman went forth a coursing or to other pleasure he would cause the Stagge to be ridden forth with him also when he traueild any smal iournie the Stagge also carried a man with him but the rider of the Stagge found that after hee had gone three or foure miles the Stagge did â—uer faint and grew wearie which as soone as he imparted to his master he presently commanded him to ride the Stagge when he so fainted to the next water and there cause him to drinke onely calling to mind the saying of Dauid before rehearsed and he found that so soone as the Stagge had drunke hee was as fresh as at his first setting forth and by that obseruation onely could make the deere trauell twentie and fiue and twentie miles a day without any trouble by which it is most credibly found that not any thing can be more necessarie in a park than store of sweet cold water of which the riuer is best the fountaine next and the standing pond the worst notwithstanding the standing pond how euer it is the worst water yet it is very commodious because in it you may breed all sorts of daâ—â—tie fresh fish as the carp bream pike tench and perch also in them you may both feede and breede all manner of wild foule by framing little Islands in the middest of those lakes or ponds where the swans bussards elkes and other smaâ—l foule may frame their nests and lay their eggs out of the daunger of the water In the most conuenientest laund of the parke which is most spatious and fruitfull and which hath the greatest prospect into the parke and where the deere take greatest delight to feed there you shall build the lodge or house for the Keeper to dwell in and it shall by all meanes stand cleane and open euerie way so as there may bee no secret approch made vnto the same but such as the Keeper may easily behold from his windowes and it shall stand so faire in the view of the laund that from thence a man may see euery way round about the same and some part vp into the high woods and other most secret parts of the parke so that when the least disturbance or troble is offered vnâ—o the deere a man may from that lodge take notice of the same this house must bee made like vnto a little forcellet or fort strong and with diuers angles the windowes whereof so flanking one another that when any approach by stealers or other malitious persons shall bee made to the same the Keeper may from thence either with his bowes or with some other engines so annoy them that they shall by no meanes besiege or coope him vp in his house which is the practise of many subtile knaues but that hee may dispight their force issue forth and defend himselfe and his charge against them if there bee any part of the house which the windowes cannot flanker as the doores iaumes or such like then ouer them shall bee made little loopeholes through which the Keeper may either shoot cast stones or scalding water to make them auoid from the same close by this lodge shall bee built the kennell for the Keepers hounds and the cocke-house where hee shall keepe his fighting cockes and hennes also without it shall bee made a place for him to hang the hornes which his deere shall cast at the latter end of the Spring time also in your parke as well at both the ends of your laund which are the next adioining to the couert as in all other suspitious places where any man may in the night course your deere you shall place long stickes or slaues which are foure or fiue foot in length and two or three inches in compaâ—â—e with both the ends sharpned exceeding sharpe and stuck sloapewise into the ground and standing not aboue a foot and a halfe or two foot aboue the the ground at most and these you shall set crossewise very thicke that when a stealer shall come to course in the night his grey hound may run and goarâ— himselfe against the same you shall also by no meanes alongst your pale walke plant fruit trees blacke-thorne or bullies for they are the occasion of much hurt and destruction to your pale vnder the colour of gathering the fruit and breed a great decay to your quickset besides many other mischiefes which are excussed by the pretence of getting that fruit onely yet would I not haue the parke vnfurnished of all manner of fruit for besides the pleasure thereof they are an excellent mast in which deere infinitly delight and are â—ed very much with the same You shall not by any meanes in one parke mixe the red deere and the fallow deere together for the red deere is a masterfull beast and when the time of bellowing commeth he growes fierce and outragious so that hee will be entire Lord of the field and will kill the fallow deere if they but crosse him in his walke and therefore each must bee kept seuerally in seuerall parkes Againe Cranes Raâ—ens and wild-geese are excellent things to be nourished in a parke and will stand in steed of Keepers vnto the same for in the night time if any thing stir about the ground to which they are not continually accustomed they will with their clamours and noise not only giue warning to the Keeper but any that shall dwell neare to the ground not ceasing their noise till the ground be at peace and rest againe It is meet also that there should bee great store of grasse ground
in the place and trees bearing fruit amongst all other trees there is speciall account made of acornes wild apples wild peares strawberrie trees other such like for the feeding of these wild beasts Notwithstanding the good farmer must not content himselfe with the prouision which the ground bringeth forth of it selfe but at such times as the earth is barren and when there is nothing to â—eed vpon in the forests they must haue giuen vnto them of the haruest fruits and be fed with barley pure wheat beanes the drosâ—e of the wine presâ—e and whatsoeuer else is good cheape And to the end that these wild cattell may the better know that there is such prouision of meate for them there must bee amongst them some tame ones and such as haue beene trained vp in the house for they will follow any whither and draw the other after them and so bring them to the place of prouision for their feeding And this order must not onely bee obserued in Winter but also when they be great with young and when they haue calued that so they may feed them the better And to that end there must regard be had to see when they haue fauned that there may be corne giuen them The wild bore would not be let grow elder than the age of foure yeares for hee groweth vnto this time but afterward paireth and becommeth leane by reason of old age wherefore it is meete that hee should bee sold whiles he is in his beautie and prime A Stag may be kept a long time for he is young a great time and liueth a great while But as concerning small beasts as hares they must not be put in a parke fenced only with postes and pales for seeing they are small they will easily passe through the gaping and open spaces and hauing got through run away Their parkes therefore must be walled about and their feeding of fourage or masâ—in corne succories lettuses cich-pease barley steeped in raine water for leuereâ—s are not greatly in loue with drie corne As for conies we haue spoken of them in the treatise of the Warren Of the Heronrie CHAP. XX. Of the situation of the Heronrie and of the ordering of the Heronshewes WE haue intreated in the first booke of certaine strange and wild birds as peacockes turkeies phesants and small hens and haue said that it is a curious and difficult thing to breed and bring them vp and we may say as much or more of the herne which is called of the Latins Ardea as a man would say Ardua because he is giuen to flie on high for there is nothing but charges in this bird without any profit True it is that princes and great states which loue the game may take some pleasure and delight in the fâ—ght of the hauke for to take the herne as also some good liking in swallowing the sweet morsels in eating of the herne but especially of the stomake and brest in like manner there are some that say that a Herne is a princely dish and meat for a king but all this pleasure is not come by without double costes Let vs then put case and admit that the Lord and Master of the farme bee a Prince or great Lord and that hee beareth a verie good will to all manner of game and to fare daintily then hee may so prouide as that he may now and then haue some sport and pastime with the Herne either in taking or eating of the same wherefore it shall not bee a misse if we speake a word or two of the Heronrie to the end we may not let slip and ouerpasse any thing in generall of all that which may be necessarie for the beautifying and perfecting of our farme and countrie house To prouide therefore for a Heronrie or place to breed herons in being if you meane to haue it not onely for pleasure but also for profit vnto the Lord thereof you must first consider that the herne is but a guest for a time affecting solitarinesse and very fantasticall as not giuen to stay in any place but such as pleaseth him verie well and for that cause it is not to be taken as an indifferent thing to place or bestow their prouision for their nesting and abode in any place but onely where it is coniectured that in passing along they haue begun to rest settle themselues as in a place that is most pleasant and delightsome to them For the Heronrie must in prouiding be two manner of waies considered of as first there must consideration be had of their food and nourishment that so when it shall please the Lord of the farme to hauke the herne or to make any great and costly banket he may haue them readie at his commaundement And secondly to allure and draw herons as they flie along for the herne that is shut and made fast in a heronrie calleth vnto him such as flie by for they hearing the voice of the hernshew so shut vp and made fast do thervpon stay and make their nests vpon the vppermost and higest part of the heronrie whereupon it commeth that hauing laid their egges by and by their young ones are taken to be shut vp and made fast in the heronrie Let vs conclude then that before there be any cost made in building a place for the heronshewes to build in there must diligent care bee had in discerning of the commodiousnesse and fitnesse of the place and that is gathered by hauing knowne the herne now and then to haue contented and pleased himselfe therewith for if a man should go about to shut vp a herne in such place as he taketh no delight in hee would neuer haue young but die out of hand Furthermore it is requisite that there should passe some small streame of water through the middest of the heronrie for the heronshew is a water bird taketh delight and pleasure in water as liuing altogether vpon eeles and other such like liuing fishes The building of the heronrie must bee made altogether for light wrought with verie close latises and clouen planâ—â—es about the height of six fadome from the ground and well couered about to the end that the heronshewes flying by may make their nests vpon the heronrie in fit and commodiouâ— sort Their meat must be liâ—e eeles and other sâ—ch like fishes sometimes the inner parts of beasts as also the â—lesh of wolues and dogs cut into small gobbets and they must haue giuen them to eate vntill they be full that so they may be fat against the time of haâ—king or banketting and not for increase or store for there are but a few hernes that will lay egges being restrained of their libertie And yet this I will tell you by the way that if the Lord of the farme doe take any herne out of the heronrie to make him sport by flying him with the hauke that then he must beware not to do it neere vnto the heronrie