spring it is very good to ryde them vp and downe in some Riuer which wyll exercise their legges for the water dryeth the legges and restraineth the humors from falling downe and kepeth them from windgalles as soone as they come from the water you must with a little strawe wipe them cleane for the dampe of y stable causeth inflamation in the Horses legges that be wette The water acording to Vegetius his minde would be cleare and springing other like it a little running and troubled in a clay ground for this water by reason of the thicknesse and fatnesse doth better nourishe and feede the Horse then the swyft running streame yet those Horses that are vsed to the swyft and cleare Riuers are comonly the stronggest and best trauaylers and therefore it would be well considered how the Horse hath ben accustomed the colder the waters are the lesse they nourish the deeper a Horse drinkes the fatter he proues and therefore some Horscoursers vse to washe their Horses mouthes first with water and after to rubbe them with salt to geue them an appetite to their meate and their drinke EVPHOR I pray you let vs here some remedies for Horsses diseases for as Aristotle saith a Horse hath as many diseases as a man. HIPPO As touching diseases in a Horse it is better to preuent them by good heede taking and as Vegetius saith to be more careful in keeping a Horse helthy then when he is sicke to cure him which health you shall continue with ease yf you wyll obserue those thinges touching his diet his stable and his labour that I haue told you of before Who so euer wyll haue a good Horse and keepe him in good estate must often times see him come to him handel him and stroke him for that both makes him gentill and geues him a fayre coate and be still mindfull of the olde prouerbe the Maisters eye maketh a fatte Horse and to be short to haue him so still in his sight as he rather want his owne meate then his Horse should for he that neclecteth his Horse neclecteth him selfe To let him haue moderate exercise and to ryde him nowe and then yf the weather be fayre into the Feelde wyl doo him great good the morning is better to labour him in then the euenyng neyther must you in Winter or in Sommer ouerlabour him for being in a sweat and after taking colde he falleth into daungerous diseases And therefore remember what I sayde that where so euer you haue laboured him or rydden him be sure you couer him with some cloth and walke him softly that he may be cold before he eyther be suffered to eate or drinke when he is colde he may be led to the water and washed so as when you bring him into the stable you lytter him well and throwly rubbe him and so geue him meate If he be ouer trauayled the only remedy is rest and after his sweating to washe his mouth in Sommer with water and vineger in Winter with brine for the neclecting of these thinges hath been the destruction of many a good Horse Also to powre into his mouth wine and oyle in Sommer colde in Winter warme as Vegetius teacheth and as we finde by experience is very good for it is commonly seene that a tyred Horse yf necessitie forceth a further iourney with powring in a quart of good wine wyll trauayle lustyly You must not suffer your Horse to drinke after his iourney tyll he be colde howbeit yf he sweate not to extreamely and be rydden soone after it is not so daungerous it is farre better to let him thyrst then to geue him colde water yf he be hotte If a Horse haue long rested he is not to be trauayled vpon the sudden eyther in galloping or long iourney but to be laboured faire and softly at the fyrst A Horse that is weery or tyred wylbe woonderfully refreasshed so as it woulde seeme he had neuer been trauayled yf he may wallow him selfe eyther in the stable or other dry place out of the wynde and rayne and therefore Xenophon would haue neare vnto euery stable a place meete for their wallowing wherein after their iourneyes they may tumble them selues for in so dooing they shewe they are in health and refreashe them selues You must looke diligently that they be well looked to at night and that after their sweat they be wel rubbed and curried and that they be not disquieted when they should rest In Winter they would be clothed with Wollen for taking of cold and in Sommer with Camias to keepe them from flyes You must beware that you iourney them not long without staling but after you haue trauayled an houre or such a thing prouoke them to stale by ryding them out of the way into some place where sheepe haue dounged or into some hie Grasse Ferne or Stubble which order was continually obserued by the best dyeter of Horses that euer I knewe in England one Henry King who hauyng charge of that most woorthy Gentlemans Horses syr Thomas Chalenour caryed a fayre company of Geldinges from London to the Court of Spayne who notwithstandyng their long iourney through Fraunce and the painefull passage of the Piremies by the skilfull diligence of their keeper came thyther in as good plight as they came out of England And yf so be you see he can not stale or staleth with paine you must bathe hym with bath appoynted for colde that is oyle mingled with wine powred vpon his loynes also a Louse put into his yarde or Sope put into his fundament hath been seene to helpe him If this doo not helpe you must squirt in Hony boyled thinne with Salt into his yarde Some woulde haue the licour of the lyme Bitumen squirted in Aeliomus wryteth that the Horse that can not stale is presently remedied yf so be a mayde strike him vpon the face with her gyrdell the feete which is the cheefest matter in a Horse you shall alwayes keepe sound yf as I tould you afore your stable be well paued with round stone or well plancherd and kept cleane which done you must stop his hoofes with Cowe doung or for want therof with Horse doung watred and the legges must be often rubbed with a strawen wispe To cause the hoofe to growe or to repaire the broken hoofe take of Garlicke heades seuen ounces of Hearbegrace three handfulles of Allome beaten and sifted seuen ownces of Barrowes grease very olde two powndes mingle all these with a handfull of Asses doung boyle them and annoynt the hoofes therewith After their iourney see you searche their feete well suffering no grauel nor filth to remayne therein you shal well refreashe their hoofes with the oyntment aforesayde The ioyntes or the pasternes woulde be well bathed after their trauaile with warme wine or an egge or two would be thrust into their howfes the legges them selues would be washed with warme beere or some like bath If the Horse thrust out one of his feete and stand not
euen it is a signe of some fault in the foote the Horse halteth eyther by reason of the spoyling of his hoofe in iourney or by yll showing or by vnholsome humours fallen downe by long standing in the stable or by windgalles If the fault be in the showing strike vpon the head of euery nayle with the hammer and when you perceiue him to shrinke plucke out that nayle or powre vpon the hoofe colde water and that nayle that is fyrst dry plucke out yf it matter squeese it out and powre in Pitch well sodden with olde Swynes grease you must also speedely open his hoofe belowe that the matter yf it be full of corruption may descend least it breake out aboue the hoofe and so cause a longer time of healing The signes of it be yf he holde vp his foote which yf you doo pare him to the quicke and where you perceiue it to looke blacke open it and let out the matter if he be hurt inward and standeth but on his toe it sheweth the fault to be in his hoofe but yf he treade equally with his foote it declares the greefe to be some other where then in his hoofe yf in his haulting he bowe not his ioyntes it is a signe the sore is in the ioyntes For al halting generally mingle Hemp with the white of an egge and stop the foote withall and after clap on the showe yf it be a wound put herein the pouder of Oystershelles and Uerdegrease to drye it vp or the white of an egge with Soote and Uineger The Cratches as they commonly call them is a malady that happeneth betwixt the Pastornes and the Hoofe in the manner of a skabbe and is ingendred of the dampes of the stable whyle he standeth wette legged the remedy whereof is all one with the paines which is likewyse a sâ—raunce breeding about the ioyntes breaking the skinne and mâ—ttring taking away the heare washe the sore with warme Bâ—ece or with the broth wherein is sodden Mallowes Brimstone and Sheepes suet which must be bounde about the sore place morning and euening or else Sheepe suet Goates suet Swines grease Uerdegrease and quicke Brimstone Bolearmeniacke and Sope boyled and made in oyntment wherewith you shal anoynt y sore twyse a day washing it first with warme wine after it is dried annoynt it in the meane time kepe him out of the water the lees of wine is also sometime vsed in the curing of the Cratches Windgalles which are swellinges and risinges in the legges are cured with cutting and burning some thinke they may be restrayned and cured by rideing the Horse oftentimes vp and downe in some colde and swyft streame also by washing his legges with Salt Uineger Swynes grease and Oyle wrapping them vp certayne dayes or by launcing or skarrifiyng they are cured the outward sores are healed by burning If the backe be wrong with the saddell or otherwise hurt that it swell Vegetius would haue you to seeth Onyons in water and when they be so hotte as the Horse may suffer to lay them vppon the sore and binde them fast which wyll asswage the swelling in one night Item salt beaten and medled with Uineger putting to it the yoke of an Egge layed vppon the swelling wyll heale it besides Arssmart stamped and layd to dooth presently asswage the swelling If the backe be galled washe it with Beere and Butter or cast vpon it the pouder of a Lome wall There is a disâ—ase that is common in Horses called the Uynes which yf he haue turne downe his eare and launce the sore at the roote of the eare take out the matter but take good heede you cut not the vaine that lieth a little aboue If a Horse haue been set vp hot after his iourney and in his heate hath been watred or taken colde whiche the Germanes call Verfaugen in Englishe foundred or in some places fraide the remedie is the skinne of a Weesel cut in smal peeces fresh butter a rotten egge and vineger mingled together and powred into the Horse with a horne after whiche let him stand couered with a wet cloth tyll he waxe hot A present and assured cure for this disease I learned not long agone of that honest wyse and valiaunt Gentleman captaine Nicholas Malbee in whom there wanteth nothing belonging to a woorthi souldier his medecine was this Garter each legge immediatly one handfull aboue the knee with a liste good and hard and then walke him to chafe him and put him in a heate and being somewhat warmed let him blood in both the brest vaines and in the vaines of the hinder legges betwene the hoofe and the Pastorne reseruing the blood to make a charge withal in this maner Take of that blood two quartes and of Wheate meale as it commeth from the Myll halfe a pecke and sixe egges shelles and all of Bolearmeniacke halfe a pound of Sanguis Draconis halfe a quarterne and a quarte of strong vineger mingle them all togâ—â—â—her and charge all his shoulders brest backe loynes and forelegges therwith walke him vpon some hard ground three houres after leade him into the stable and let him stande tyed two houres to the racke without meate or drinke walke him then two or three houres more and then geue him a little warme water with ground Malt in it and after a little Hay and prouender then walke him againe vpon the hardest ground you can geat you shal ryde him the next day a myle or two softly and so from day to day vntyll he be wel which wyl be within three or foure dayes Rememember to let him stand y first day after his first walking two houres in water vp to the belly this medecine is infallible The collicke or paine in the belly is thought wyl be eased in a Horse or Mule onely with the syght of a Ducke or any water foule To keepe your Horse froÌ„ flyes it is good to washe him ouer with the iuyce of the leaues of the Gourde in the middes of Sommer Many times Horses are troubled with wormes or bots which you shal perceiue yf they cast their looke vpon their belly yf they wallow oftentimes and strike their belly with their foote the remedy is Harts horne Sauine beaten and geuen him with a little vineger in a horne Columella would haue you rake the Horse with your hand and after that you haue plucked out the doung to washe his fundament with sea water or brine Bâ—asanolus in his Commentary vpon Hippocrates declareth howe he cured the Duke of Ferars Horse being in great daunger with woormes by geuing them quicke siluer and Scordium or water Germander when no other medâ—ines would helpe The Rhewine or distillation maketh a Horse slothful dull and faint yet wyl he be ledde rydden and moderate labour is not amisse for him let him drinke warme water with Wheate branne the moâ—e fylth he voydes at the mouth the better wyll it be for him There are some diseases thought to be
vncurable which yf the Horse had and was sold by the old lawes he was to be turned backe agayne except the bargaine were otherwyse of which number are the broken wineded the lunaticke and the manginesse called the farcine which disease yf it come once to y stones is thought vncurable to this they adde the through Splenâ— some thinke that broken winded is not to be cured because it is like to the consumption of the longs in a man yet some hope of recouery there is if it be taken in time for letting of blood in dry diseases is against reason But you may annoynt the hole body with Wine Oyle mingled togeather warmed and curry him against the heare till he sweate and geue him this drinke inward from the first day the iuâ—ce of Pisan Swines grease clarified Amylum in new sweete wine which being boyled together you may geue it him with a horne to open his pipes set him so as he stand warme The lunaticke eyes are cured by letting him blood in the temple vaines bathing the eyes on the outside with some warme bath putting into them some strong water certaine dayes till they be hole For the manginesse take the woormes called Cantharides beaâ—ing them mingle with them a little Uerdegrease and so annoynt them with it warming the body of the Horse with a fyrepan Others vse to washe him with warme water twyse a day and after to rubbe him with Salt sodden in water tyll the matter come out Aboue al other they say it excelleth in the beginning to anoynt him with the fat of a Seale yf it haue runne long you must vse stronger medicines as Lime Brimstone Tarre olde Swynes grease of eache a like quantitie boyled togeather and with a little oyle made in an oyntment they vse to rubbe it also with the Soote of a Caldron Against many diseases both of Horses and Bullockes they vse the roote of the hearbe called black Ellebor of some Bearfoote of others Setterwort which they thrust in the brest of the beast betwixt the fleshe and the skinne making a hole before with a Bookine Against all diseases of Horses Vegetius commendeth this medecine as the cheefest Centory Woormewood Dogge Fenell wyld Time Saâ—apen Betony Saxifrage Aristolochia Rotunda take of eache alike beate them small and sift them and yf the Horse haue an ache geue it him with water yf he be ferme with good strong Wine The olde husbands would not suffer their Horses to be let blood but vpon great necessitie least being vsed to it yf it should at any time be omitted it should breede some disease and therefore in very young Horses and suche as be healthy it is best not to let them blood but in the roofe of the mouth For those that be come to their full age you may let them blood before you put them to pasture but beware you beare a steddy hand and strike them not too deepe Geldinges you shall not neede to let blood the Horses of Barbary as they say neuer neede any medecine EVPHOR You haue spoken yenough of Horses it is time you say something of Asses HIPPO It is greatly out of order but since you wyll needes haue me so to doo I wil not sticke with you to say what I can therin that eache of you may doo the like in his charge Asses are commonly kept yet not to be little set by because of their sundry commodities and the hardnesse of their feedyng for this poore beast contentes him self with what meate so euer you geue him Thystels Bryers Stalkes Chaffe wherefore euery countrey hath store is good meate with him besides he may best abide the yll looking to of a necligent keeper able to susteyne blowes labour hunger and thyrst being seldome or neuer sicke and therefore of al other cattel longest endureth for being a beast nothing chargeable he serueth for a number of necessary vses in carrying of burdens he is comparable to the Horse he draweth the Cart so the lode be not vnreasonable for grinding in the Mill he passeth all others therefore in the countrey the Asse is most needeful for carrying of things to the market and Corne to the Myll In Egypt and Barbary where the ground is very light they haue also their vse in plowing and the fine Ladyes of the countrey doo ryde vpon Asses richely furnished yea they be very apt to be taught so as at this day in Alcayre you shall haue them daunce very manerly and keepe measure with their Musitian Varro maketh mention of two sortes one wylde whereof in Phrigia and Lycaonia there are great store the wylde Asses that are tamed are passing good specially for breede they are easely broken the other is tame of which I meane to speake The best are brought out of Arcadia although Varro seemes to commend the breede of Italy for goodnesse He that wyll haue a breede of Asses must haue the male the female both of reasonable age large bodyed sounde and of a good kind the male must be at the least three yere old for from three tyll they be tenne they be fyt for breeding they bring foorth their Coltes sometimes at two yeeres and a halfe but three yeeres is the best age the female goeth as long with her burden as the Mare and dischargeth in all respectes as she dooth but she wyll not very well reteyne except she be forced immediatly after the horsyng to runne about she seldome bringeth forth two When she foaleth she gets her into some darke place and keepes her selfe from being seene They wyll beare all their life time whiche as Aristotle sayth is thirtie yeeres they are put to the Horse a little before the tenth of Iune and beare euery other yeere they bring foorth their Fole at the twelfth moneth Whyle they be with Fole they must not be greatly laboured for hazarding their Fole the male must neuer be idle for he is as lecherous as the deuyll and by rest wyl waxe nought The Colt is suffered to run with the damme the first yere the next is gently tyed vp with her only in the night times the third yeere they are broken according to their vse The damme doth woonderfully loue her young so much as she wil not sticke to come through the fire to it but the water shee dare in no wise come neare no not to touche it with her foote neyther wil she drinke in any strange water but where she is vsed to be watred so as she may goe stand dry foote They delight to be lodged in wyde roomes are troubled with fearfull dreames in their sleepes whereat they so pawe with their legges that yf they lye neare any hard thing they hurt their feete in drinking they scarsely touche the water with their lippes as it is thought for feare of wetting their goodly eares whose shadowes they see in their drinking no beast can worse away with colde then this If your Asses halt
sowe to hedge to build to mend such thinges as are broken to play the butcher to geue drinkes and medicines to sicke cattell and such other like thinges And thus must he proceede from one to an other tyll hauing passed them all he come to be a maister euen as Gregory Nazianzen teacheth of a Byshop and as Tully would haue a generall after he hath borne all other offices of the feelde RIGO You shewe me woonderfull Philosophie CONO As I saide at the fyrst his best age is betwixt thirtie and threescore for the flames of lustie youth beginning to abate he wyll not be so hotte in his wooing for whyle he folowes that game he wyll haue no minde but of his minion neither shal any reward be so welcome vnto him as the fruite of his fancie nor any greefe so great to him as the fayling of his desire If he once passe threescore he waxeth slouthfull and vnable to labour For I had rather haue the woorke of a painefull and diligent Bayliffe then the seruice of a great number of slouthful lubbers as he that had rather haue a Lion captaine ouer Hartes then a Hart captaine ouer Lions This must cheefely be looked vnto sins early going to woorke is a great matter that the Bailiffe be a good riser and that supplying his maisters place he may be the fyrst vp in the mornyng and the last that goeth to bedde and that he see the doores fast locked and euery man in bedde that the cattel haue meate yenough and be well littured that he set forward according to the time of the yeere suche as doo loyter in their labour that he him selfe goe lustely before that he suffer no man after it is day to lagge behinde but that they folowe the Bayliffe lustely with a courage as yf he were their captaine in a skirmishe and that he vse sundry deuises to cheare them vp in their labour sometime as it were to helpe him that fainteth to take his toole out of his hand and labour lustely before him And as a carefull shepheard earlie carying out his sheepe and bringyng them home late looketh that he leaue none of his flocke behinde him so likewyse ought a good Bailiffe to carrie out his men and to haue good regard ouer them If any of them happen to be hurt or sicke let him looke to the dressing of them and yf they be very sicke to carrie them to the sicke folkes lodging and to see that they be well ordered and to that vse haue I built yonder house that you see remooued from the other buildinges that the sicke may be had thyther and looked vnto specially yf their diseases be contagious lest other should be infected It is the maisters duetie to haue such regarde of the health of his seruauntes and to haue such care of them that their sicknesse may be preuented by good medicines and good looking to as to see that theyr meate and drinke be wholsome and good and geuen in due season beside that the Bailiffe eate his meate with them and not by him selfe whereby it shal be the better ordered And because Phisitians are not alwayes at hand in the Countrey it behoueth to vse such remedies as experience hath taught and such as haue holpen others of like diseases Those that labour in the Sunne because the Sunne hurteth the body and the vaynes theyr diet must be the thinner that they make not to great meales but eate litle and often this order keepeth them in health and helpeth digestion Some doo vse to geue Woormewood wine or potage made of Woormewood It is very necessarie for them sometimes to reâ—reate them selues so that in the meane whyle they geue not them selues to noughtinesse There must be heede taken that they drinke not when they be hotte nor lye vppon the colde ground yf their water be not good it must be wel purified It is very good also to let them drinke Barly water We must remember that seruantes be men besides such good looking to wyll breede a greater good wyll and duetie and lightly they wyl serue the faythfuller and better when they haue their health whiche haue had good cherishing in their sicknesse and besides which is not so well obserued in greater gouernours the Bayliffe must beware that he deale not to cruelly nor to gently with them that he alwayes make much of those that be diligent and painefull that he be not to hastie with the woorser sort that they may rather reuerence him for his seueritie then hate him for his crueltie whiche he shall easely bring to passe yf he rather beware that they offende not then after their offence to late to punishe them For there is none so good a bridle for an euil disposed person as to let him alwayes be occupied So that Catoes saying herein is most true that men in dooing nothing learne to doo euyll Let them haue their allowance and their meate in due season let them alwayes feede togeather in one place and the Bayliffe with them that he may be an example to them of all thriftinesse If he â—inde any of them to haue labourâ—d painefully and tâ—uely let him geue them a good countenance encourage them with rewardes to make them the wyllinger to doo their dueties beside let him looke that they be rather well clothed then curioâ—â—â—â— apparelled that their garmentes may keepe them from the colde aâ—d the rayne let their wages be well paide them that the wâ—at thereof be no excuse for them to loâ—â—er in their labour And as meate and apparell is necessarie for them so likewyse is correctâ—on For the wyse man sayth Geue a Horse the whip an Asse the snâ—â—â—ell and a Foole the rodde And agayne He that deales to gently with his seruauntes shal make them in the ende stubborne and froward Aboue all thinges let hym see that they feare God let him in no wyse suffer them to sweare or to blaspheme nor to vse filthy or vngodly speache but let him prouide that they be instructed in the Catechisme that they vse prayer that they go to Sermons vpon the holy dayes and receaue the Sacraments at times appoynted that they be not hunters of Alehouses or euill company For as the Poet sayth It is lawfull to be well occupied euen on the Festiuall dayes When they haue serued GOD and dyned let them walke abrode in the ground let them looke there be no cattell in the Corne and stoppe suche Gappes as they fynde open and looke that their cattell be in safetie abrode To be short the Bayliffe must in all these matters be as it were a Byshop or a maister of the woorkes so shall euery man the better doo the woorke that belongeth vnto him The Bailyffe must neuer be from their heeles least in his absence they fall to loytering neither must he suffer them any time to be idel he hym selfe must not be geuen to drinking or gaming nor to huntyng or fysshing except for his maisters profyte let him
Moone be seuenteene dayes olde in fayre weather and in the after noone those that fall from the tree must be laide by them selues it is better to pull them then to shake them lest they be brused in their falling They are kept in fayre loftes vaultes or cold places with windowes openyng toward the North which in fayre weather must be set wyde open and therefore Varro woulde haue all Apple loftes haue theyr windowes North that they may receiue the North ayre the South windes must be shut out the blastes of the North winde dooth make them wrinckled and rugled they must be layde thinne vpon strawe chaffe or mattes I had an Apple brought me on t of Hâ—lland that endured three yeeres I haue a tree of them here in this Orchard of his colour called a Greening You must lay euery sort by them selues lest sundry sortes lying togeather they sooner rotte Some vse to lay them in Nut leaues whicâ—e both geueth them good colour and good smell They are also kept from rotting yf they be layde in Barly or Wheate Palladius would haue them kept in earthen vessels close stopped in Sesternes or in Caues Apuleus in Conctantine woulde haue euery Apple wrapped in Nut leaues and so layde vp a great sort of wayes beside of keeping them you shall reade in diuers aucthours Some to auoyde the hurt of the frost vse to couer them with wette linnen cloth which being frozen the fruite that lyeth vnder it is preserued Your Apples must be so layde vp as the stalkes stand downeward neyther must you touche any but suche as you neede Apples are hurtfull to bearing cattel so as the sauour causeth them to tyre as Lucian in his asse witnesseth the like is written of Peares the remedy they say is to let them eate some of the fruite afore Of Apples with certayne mylles for the purpose they make a drinke called Cyder and a smaly drinke beside with water and the refuse of the Apples strayned a good drinke to coole the thyrst of the poore labourer A kynde of vinegre also they make of Crabbes and sowre Apples which lying in heape togeathe three or foure dayes they afterwardes put into a Pipe or Tunne wherewith they mingle spring water or rayne water and so is it suffered to stand close couered thyrtie dayes and after taking out what vineger they neede they put in agayne as much water The Peare in Latine Pi 〈◊〉 in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chalengeth the next place and is one of the cheefest beauties of the Orcharde The Apple tree spreadeth in broade branches the Peare tree ryseth in heygth and delighteth in a riche and a moyst ground it dooth growe of the kernell and of the Pippin but is a great whyle before it come to good and when it is growen it degenerateth from them his olde good nature and therefore it is bettâ—r to take the wylde plantes and to set them in their grounde in Nouember and when they be well rooted you may graâ—â—e vpon them It is saâ—de that iâ— so sprâ—spâ—reth with oâ—ten digging and much moysture as it neuer looseth his flowâ—e You shall doo great good vnto it yf euery other yeere you bestowe some doung vppon it Ore doâ—ng is thought to make great and massy Peares some put to aâ— the asshes to make their taste the pleasanter They 〈◊〉 not â—lonely planted of the rootes but also the very little twigges beâ—ng plucked from tâ—e roote wyâ—l grew If you wyl 〈…〉 let them be three yeere old or at the least two 〈…〉 Seme agâ—yne take the fayrest 〈…〉 and set them as they doo the 〈…〉 is Marche and April 〈…〉 when the blossome is on it 〈…〉 It iâ— graffâ—d vpon the 〈…〉 the Apple and 〈…〉 vpon the Mulbery your Peare shal be redde Virgil teacheth to graffe it vpon an Ashe whereas in deede it wyll agree with any stocke the grasse must be the growth of a yeere afore it be graffed cleared of all the leaues and tender partes And yf you woulde haue the fruite pleasant and the tree fruitefull you shall bore a hole through the stocke close by the ground and driuing in an Oken or a Beechen pin couer it vp with earth yf the tree prosper not washe the rootes and water them with â—ees of olde wine fifteene dayes so shall it beare the better and pleasanter fruite It shall neuer be hurt with woormes yf when you ylant it you doo annoynt it with the gall of an Oxe yf the tree whose rootes haue been cutte seeme not to prosper Palladius his remedy is to pearce the roote through and to driue in a pinne made eyther of Oke or Plome tree If your Peares be stony and choke Peares digge vp the earth from the rootes clense them of stones and sift in good newe mould agayne in the place let your Peare trees stand thyrtie foote a sunder or little lesse your Apple tree farther as I haue sayd They are kept preserued sundry wayes some dipping the stalkes in boyling Pitch doo afterwardes hang them vp and so keepe them others keepe them in newe boyled wine or in a close vessell others in sand some in slockes and some agayne couered with Wheate or Chaffe some are of opinion there is no kinde of fruite but may be preserued in hony Of Peares Palladius teacheth as of Apples to make both drinke and sause the iuyce being prest out with the presse women haue a prety dyshe made of Peares for theyr religious fastes called Castimoniale Next in order after Apples and Peares commeth the Quince whiche was fyrst by Cato called Coâ—oncum the Greekes call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the citie â—ydon from whence it was fyrst brought the Italians Meie cotogne the Spaniardes Membâ—â—â—llo the Frenchemen Vn coignier both the Greekes and Virgil call them of the colour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 golden Apples and Struthia which kind though they differ a little are of this sort for Columeâ—a speaketh of three sortes of Quinces Sâ—â—uthia Chrysomela and Mustea whiche all serue both for health and pleasure They are planted after the same maner that Peares and Cherys are some affyrme that the sette that haue been set in March or in Februarie haue taken suche roote as they haue borne fruite the yeere after They grow well in colde and moyst countreys in playne and hilly groundes in hotte dry countreys you must set them in October Many sette them wâ—th the toppes and the sette but neyther of them both is very good and being set of scyens they soone degenerate They are better graffed in the stocke then in the barke and that in Februarie or March they receiue into their stockes the graffes in a maner of all maner of trees the Pomegranate the Seruisse all the sortes of Apples and make the fruite the better The Quince tree must be set in that order that in the shaking of the winde they droppe not one vpon the other When it is
Hogges doung you set it in the ground Agayne you shall haue them wâ—thout stones yf you pearce the tree thorowe and fill it vp with a pinne of Wyllowe or Cornell tree the pith being had out the rootes of the tree must be cut and dressed in the fall of the leafe dounged with his owne leaues you shall also at this time proyne them ridde them of all rotten dead bowes If the tree prosper not powre vpon the rootes the lees of olde wine mingled with water Against the heate of the sunne heape vp the earth about them water it in the euenyng and shadowe them as wel as you may Agaynst the frostes lay on doung yenough or the lees of wine medled with water or water wherein Beanes haue been sodden yf it be hurt with woormes or such baggage powre on it the vrine of Oxen medled with a third part of Uinegar The Date tree in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian in Latine and in Spanish Palma in French Arbor de Dattes in Dutch Dactelenbaum the fruite in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Palmulae in Italian Dattoli in Spanish Dattiles in French Dattes in Dutch Dactelem it groweth in a milde grauelly ground delighteth in a watry soyle though it desyre to haue water all the yeere long yet in a dry yeere it beares the better and therfore some thinke that doung is hurtful vnto it About the riuer Nilus in the East partes it groweth plenteously where as they vse to make both wine and bread of it this tree in Europe for the most part is barrayne though it be planted of many for noueltie sake The stones of Dates are planted in trenches of a cubite in deapth and breadth the trenche filled vp agayne with any maner of doung except Goates doung then in the middest of the heape set your stones so as the sharper part stand vpward other would haue it stand towarde the East and after when first they haue sprinckled thereon a little salt they couer them with earth well medled with doung and euery day whyle it springeth they water it some remoue it after a yeeres growth other let it growe till it be great Moreouer because it delighteth in salt grounde the rootes must be dressed euery yeere salt throwen vpon them and so wyll it quickly growe to be a great tree The settes are not presently to be put in the ground but fyrst to be set in earthen pottes and when they haue taken roote to be remoued Date trees haue such a delight one in the other that they bend them selues to touche togeather and yf they growe alone they waxe barrayne They are planted as Plinie sayth of the branches two cubites long growing from the toppe of the tree also of the slippes and slyuers The same Plinie affyrmeth that about Babylon the very leafe yf it be set dooth growe THRA I remember you tolde me once the spring and scyens that groweth out of the rootes of some trees wyll very well be planted MARIVS I tolde you before that diuers of the trees whereof I spake might be planted of the branches and of the scyences hauing some part of the roote plucked vp with them and so I sayde the Chery might be planted as also the Hasel the Laurel the Myrtel and the Medlar likewyse the fayrest branches slipped of and the endes a little brused and thrust into the ground commonly doo growe to be trees as I mee selfe haue tryed both in the Mulbery the Peare tree and the Apple tree One thing I wyll adde beside that the trees that beare fruite ouer hastely doo eyther neuer come to their iust bignesse or the fruite that they beare dooth neuer long endure wherefore I thinke sprang fyrst that lawe of Moses that fruite trees should for three yeeres be counted vncircumcised and theyr foreskinnes with theyr fruite should be circumcised that is the burgens and blossomes should be plucked of lest he should beare before his time or when he hath borne lose his fruite but I keepe you too long in the describing of my Orchard THRA O no I rather whilest I heare you imagine mee selfe to be amongst them planting and viewing of theyr fruites but now remaineth that in steede of a conclusion to your talke you declare the order of preseruing them to that end specially that those thinges that are appoynâ—ed for remedie being not duely or in time administred be not rather a hurt then a helpe MARIVS Your motion is good fyrst therefore and generally dounging and watring is needefull for fruite trees a very fewe excepted and herein heede must be taken that you doo it not in the heate of the Sunne and that it be neyther too newe nor too olde neither must it be laide close to the foote of the tree but a little distance of that the fatnesse of the doung may be druncke in of the roote Pigeons doung and Hoggerdoung doo also heale the hurtes or woundes of trees The water wherewith we water them must not be Fountayne water or Wel water yf other may be had but drawen from some muddy Lake or standyng Poole Moreoner you must take heede as I also tolde you before when we began to talke of planting of an Orchard that your trees stand a good distance a sunder that when they are growen vp they may haue roome yenough to spreade and that the small and tender be not hurt of the greater neyther by shadowe nor dropping Some woulde haue Pomegranate trees and Myrtels and Bays set as thick togeather as may be not passing mene foote a sunder and likewyse Chery trees Plome trees Quinces Apple trees and Peare trees thyrtie foote and moe a sunder euery sort must stande by themselues that as I saide the weaker be not hurt of the greater The nature of the soyle is herein most to be regarded for the Hill requireth to haue them stand nearer togeather in windy places you must set them the thicker The Olyue as Cato sayth wyl haue fiue and twentie foote distance at the least You must set your plantes in suche sort as the tops be not hurt or brused nor the barke or rynde flawed of for the barke being taken away round about killeth any kind of tree You must also haue a regard of the shadowe what trees it helpeth and what trees it hurteth The Wallnut tree the Pine tree the Pitch tree and the Fyrre tree what so euer they shadowe they poyson The shadowe of the Wallnut tree and the Oke is hurtfull to Corne the Wallnut tree with his shadowe also is hurtful to mens heads and to all thinges that is planted neare it The Pine tree with his shadowe likewise destroyeth young plants but they both resist the winde and therefore good to enclose Uineyardes The Cypresse his shadowe is very smal and spreadeth not farre The shadow of the Figge tree is gentle though it spreade farre and therfore it may safely yenough growe amongst Uines The Elme
tyl al be digested You must not suffer them to goe farre from the Henne but to keepe them about the Coope and to feede them tyl they waxe strong with brused Barly Barly meale you must also take good heede that they be not breathed vpon by eyther Toade Snake or Euet for the ayre of such is so pestilent as it by by distroyeth them al which mischiefe is auoyded by burning of Harts horne Galbanum or Womans heare the smoke of al which preuenteth this pestilence You must see beside that they lye warme for they neyther can suffer cold nor to much heate the feathers about theyr tayles must be pulled away lest with the hardning of their doung their passages be stopped whiche yf it be you must open softly with a little quill you must keepe them with the Henne for a moneths space and after suffer them to goe at libertie Both the old and the young are of all other diseases most troubled with the Pippe specially about haruest time which is a little white skinne couering the tippe of theyr tongue which is to be plucked away with the nayles and the place to be pouldred with Asshes or Garlike pouldred and sprinckled vppon it From this plague you shall preserue them by feeding them in cleane vesselles and geuing them alwayes the purest and cleanest water and keeping their houses alwayes cleane and smoked or by smoking them as they sitte with the smoke cheefely of Bayes and Sauyn The wiues of the countrey do commonly cure them by thrusting a feather through their nose and stirring it euery day theyr diet must be Hearbgrace wrapt in Butter or Garlike mingled with meale or water or Cloues of Garlike wette in warme sallet Oyle and put into theyr mouthes Some sayth Columella doo vse to washe theyr mouthes with pisse and keepe theyr billes so long close as the salt and bitter taste force them to cast at their nose the spring of the disease Others agayne doo cut Garlike in gobbettes and putting them in skallding Oyle after it is cold doo washe their mouthes If they happen to eate Lupines they wyll strayght swell vnder the eyes whiche yf you doo not gently open and take out the Core to presently killeth them And yf so be the Pippe haue nowe closed vp the eyes and that they forsake their meate you must lanch their Cheekes with a sharpe knife and thrust out the water that lyeth vnder the eyes and put in the wound salâ—e sinely beaten this happeneth cheefely when in the sommer time they drinke foule water and also when they want meate or take cold If theyr eyes be sore you may heale them with the iuyce of Purcelane and Womans milke annoynting on the out side or with Cummin Hony and salt Armoniacke You shall ridde them of Lyse with parched Cummin and Stauesacre a like quantitie of eache beaten togeather and powred on with Wine also the water wherein wylde Lupines haue been sodden If your Henne fall to eaâ—ing of her egges taking out the white you must powre in playster or some liquid thing that may come to a hardnesse in the shell To keepe them from eating of Grapes you shall geue them the berry of the wood called the wyld Uine gathered from the Hedge before it be ripe and sodden with Wheate floure the euill cast wherof wyll cause them to lothe Grapes Plinie affirmeth that yf you geue them the flowers of the Uine with theyr meate they wyll not touche the Grape As in all other cattell of the countrey so in these kindes the best are to be kept and the worst eyther to be sold or to be killed in the house And therfore euery yeere about the fâ—â— of the lease when they cease to breede you shall lessen theyr number and put 〈◊〉 the old ones Sâ—ch as are aboue threeâ— eâ—res and such as are eyther vnfruiteful or not good bringers vp of Chickins but specially those that eate vp eyther theyr owne Egges or theyr fellowes or such as after the Cockishe manner eyther crowe or trende to the which number you shall also adde such as were hatched after the tenâ—h of Iune which neuer proue to be fayre but the Cocke as long as he is able to treade you may keepe for you shall seldome meete with a good Cocke For fatting the best are those that haue the skinnes of theyr neckes thicke and fattysh The place where you meane to fatte them must be very warme and of little light because as both Varro and our owne experience sheweth the light and theyr often sturring keepeth them from being fatte thus must they be kept for fiue and twenty dayes wherein they wyl be fat Let them hang euery onâ— in his Basket or Cage by him selfe whiche must haue in it two holes one to thrust out his necke at the other to cast out his doung that he may discharge him self and let them be strawed eyther with strawe or course heye for the harder they lye the sooner they fatte Pull away besides their feathers from their heads theyr winges and their tayles the one for auoyding of â—â—â—e the other for binding their bodyes The meate that you giue theâ— must be Barâ—y meaâ—e whiche mingled with water be made in litâ—le pellets wherewith they wylbe fatte as some thinkeâ— in foureteene dayes but see that you geue it them but moderately at the fyrst tyll they well digest it after geue it them in quantitie according as they digest it 〈…〉 them no newe tyll you perceaue by feeling of their croppes that the olde be endewed Others doo sprinckle theyr meale with Hony sodden in water putting to three partes of water one of Hony and one of Wine and wetting herein Wheaten bread they therewithall doo cramme them Others say that yf you put herevnto a little Mylke they wylbe woonderfull fatte The Cockrelles are gelded as Aristotle sayth in the hinder part which when they tread falleth out this part yf you burne two or three times they wyll be Capons And yf they be right Capons theyr coames becommeth pale neyther crowing nor treading any more Our wyues of the countrey cutting them betwyxt the legges take out theyr stones and sowing vp the wound annoynt it with Butter which donne they shutte them vp in a Coope not suffering them to drinke in a day or two From the beginning of haruest and all Winter long the offal of the Corne and the Barnes doore doth feede them sufficiently where they plant Uines sparing others more costly foodes they feede them with the kernelles oâ— the Grapes and where there is neyther the offall of Corne nor Grapes they must be fedde with Oates Spery or such like To cause them to laye in Winter you must geue them as I tolde you Hempseede If you would haue great Egges Leoncus teacheth to beate in powder Bricke or Flaunders Tyle and mingling it with Chesyll and Wine to make it in Dowe and geue it to your Henne or to put a Saucerful of
and yeeldeth good aduantage hath with their broode and feathers for beside the profite of theyr Egges you may twyse in the yeere at the spring and the fall of the leafe pull them Moreouer they are a very good dishe for the â—able yea being more watchfull then the Dogges they geue warning when they sleepe And therfore they wâ—re with the Romanes had in great honor because they with their gagling bewrayed the enimie that otherwyse in the night time had taken the Towne Plinie wryteth of a Goose that would neuer be from the Philosopher Lacydes Your choyse must be of those that be of the fairest kinde Varro liketh best the white ones which colour was most esteemed in the olde time as appeareth by the presentes that were geuen the same Varro accounteth the gray for a wyld kind They are kept in Marshes Fennes Lakes Moorish commons for to Corne ground Medowes and Pastures it is a very hartful Foule she biteth whatsoeuer young spring she may reache what she once hath bitten doth neuer lightly prosper againe Besides she stencheth the ground with her vnprofitable or rather most hurtfull dounging wherefore as I sayde it is best to keepe them in Fennes Lakes and Marshes If you haue store of such ground you shall doo well to keepe them for you can not well keepe them without good store of water and pasture The Goose delighteth in such meate as is naturally moyst and colde and shunneth naturally such thinges as are hurtfull for her as the leafe of the Bay and as Alianus wryteth the Oleander the best and meetest time for them to breede in is from the Kalends of March to the tenth of Iune They tread most commonly in the water whyle they swymme in the Ryuers or Fishponds Columella would haue you keepe for euery Gander three Geese thinking by reason of theyr vnweldynesse this number to suffise within your courte you must make them for theyr better safety seuerall and secrete pennes in sundry partes thereof where they may sitte breede Some would haue the Goose roome framed in such order as euery Goose may haue her place to her selfe which yf any man thinke too troublesome he may make one sufficient wyde roome to serue them all The places where they shall lay must be dry and well strawed with strawe or such soft matter and well defended from vermine The Goose must not be suffered to lay out of her nest but when you shall perceaue they seeke it you must grâ—pe them and yf they be with Egge which you shâ—ll easely feele shut them vp in theyr nestes which you shall not neede to doo aboue once or twyse for where she hath once layde shee wyll alwayes of her selfe seâ—ke to be They wyl laye as some hold opinion thryse in the yeere yf they be not suffered to sitte as it is best you doo not for theyr Egges are bettâ—r to be hatched vnder a Henne then of them selues and wyll â—etter a great deale prosper The Egges of Geese Swans were vsed as Alianus witnesseth as a most daynty dyshe at â—â—nkettes among the Kinges and Princes of the Indies Aristotle affirmeth that the Goose alwayes vseth to sitte and neuer the Gander contrary to the order of many other Fouleâ— continuing alwayes tyll shee haue hatched After the last laying you shal suffer them to sitte and marke euery ones Egges with a seuerall marke that they may be sette vnder theyr owne Goose for it is thought they wyll neuer hatch a strangers Egges without she haue her owne vnder her Of Goose Egs as of Pehennes Egges you shall as I sayd before neuer sette vnder a Henne aboue fiue nor vnder three but vnder the Goose you shall set at the least seuen and at the most fifteene You must keepe to lay vnder your Egges the rootes of Nettles which they say preserueth them against the stinging of Nettels which otherwyse many times killeth the Gosling yf they sling them The Egges wyll not be hatched yf the weather be cold before the thyrtieth day yf it be warme in lesser time howbeit for the most part the Gosling is hatched the thirtieth day after the sitting Some doo vse to set by the nestes Barly steeped in water or Malte whereby the Goose shall not be forced to be any whyle absent from her Egges When your Goslinges are come foorth you shall for the fyrst tenne dayes feede them with the Goose in the nest Afterwardes when the weather is faire you may suffer them to goe abrode taking good heede that they be not stinged with Nettles nor that you let them goe a hungerd into the pastures but to geue them afore they goe abrode the leaues of Endiue or Lettuse chopt to asswage their hunger for yf you put them a hungerd into the feelde they straine and breake their owne neckes with pulling at the tough and stubburne weedes by reason of the sudden starting backe againe of the weede The Goslings of diuers broodes must not goe togeather nor be shutte vp togeather for hurting one another When they be foure monethes olde or somewhat before is the best time for fatting them the young ones are soonest easeliest fatted If you geue theÌ„ ground Malt wheate floure you neede to geue theÌ„ nothing so you let them haue drinke yenough and keepe them from going abrode The Grekes did vse to put to two partes of ground Malt foure partes of Bran tempring it with water letting them drinke thrise a day at midnight If you would haue theyr Lyuers soft and tender you shall mingle dry Figges well beaten with water and making pellets thereof cram them with it for the space of seuenteene or twentie dayes The Iewes at this day being the skilfullest feeders that be doo vse a strange order in the fatting of them wrapping the Goose in a linen Aporne they hang her vp in a darke place stopping her eares with Peason or some other thing that by neyther hearing nor seeing of any thing shee be not forced to stroggel or crye after they geue her pellets of ground Malt or Barly steeped in water thryse a day setting by them water and grauell by which maner of feeding they make them so fatte as the Lyuer many times commeth to be fiue pound in weyght Whylest I was at the councell of Wormes there was a Lyuer of a Goose brought me by a Iewe that wayed foure pound Plinie is also a witnesse of the greatnesse of the Lyuers of fatte Geese affirming that they wyll growe after they be out of the bodyes being sprinckled with milke The common order of fatting with our countrey people is to shutte them vp in a darke and a narrowe place and to set before them Barly or Beech wheate geuing them water with a little Sand or Grauel in theyr Troughes and with this order they haue them fatte in fourteene dayes After haruest they wylbe fatte with the Grotten or Stubble They are plucked as I sayd before twyse in the yeere in the spring
Manna or Hony dewe cleauing to the leaues before the rising of the sunne as it were snowe or rather candied Suger Whether it be the sweat or excrement of the heauens or a certayne spittell of the starres or a iuyce that the ayre purgeth from him selfe how soeuer it be I would to GOD it were such as it first came from aboue and not corrupted with the vapours and dampes of the earth Besides being sucked vp from the leaues by the Bees and digested in theyr mawes for they cast it vp at theyr mouthes and also distempred with the sent of the flowres ill seasoned in the Hyues and so often altred and transfourmed loosing much of his heauenish Uertue hath yet a pleasant and a speciall celestial sweetenesse in it The best Hony is of Time as I haue sayde before and good likewyse of Cithisus of the Figge tree very pleasant Varro sayth they take not their sustenance and theyr Hony both from one A great part of theyr foode is water which must not be farre from them and must be very cleane which is greatly to purpose in making of good Hony. And when euery season suffereth them not to be abroad they must at such times be fedde least they should then be forced to liue all vppon the Hony or to leaue the Hyues empty Some geue vnto them water and Hony sodden togeather in little vessells putting into it Purple wooll through the whiche they sucke it for feare of drinking to much or drowning them selues others dry Figges eyther stamped by them selues or mingled with water or the drosse of Grapes or Reasons mingled with sweete Wine and tostes made therewith or with Hony yea I haue seene some vse but in my fancie without reason to geue them Bay salt Moreouer as Bees require great looking to continually and their Hyues dayly attendance so most of all they craue diligent regarde when they are about to swarme whereunto yf you haue not a great good eye they will b idde you farewell and seeke a newe maister For such is the nature of Bees that with euery Prince is bredde a common wealth which as soone as they are able to trauaile doo as it were disdayne the gouernment fellowship of the old Bee which most happeneth when the swarmes be great and lusty and that the old stagers are disposed to send abroade their Colonies and therefore you shall by two tokens specially know when the newe Princes with their people will abroade The first when as a day or two before they cluster and hang specially in the euening about the mouth of the Hiue and seeme to shewe by their comming out a great desire to be gone and to haue a kingdome and countrey by them selues which if you prepare them at home they content them selues very well with it And if the keeper prouide not for them taking them selues to be greatly iniured they depart and seeke a newe dwelling To preuent this mischiefe Columella wylles you to looke diligently to them in the spring time about eyght of the clocke or at noone after which houres they commonly goe not a way and to marke wel their going out and comming in The other signe is that when they are reddy to flye or going they make a great humming and noyse as souldiers redy to remoue theyr campe At theyr first comming out they lye aloft playing vp downe as it were tarryng for their fellowes tyll all theyr company come Yea many times the olde inhabitantes being weery of theyr dwellinges doo leaue theyr Hiues which is perceyued when they come so out as none remaine behind and presently mount into the ayre then must you fall to ringing of pannes and basons to feare or bring downe the runnawayes who being amased with the greate and suddaine noise doo eyther presently repaire to theyr olde Hiue or els knitte them selues in swarme vpon the branch of some tree neare to the place then must the keeper out of hand be reddy with a newe Hiue prepared for the purpose and rubbed with such hearbes as the Bee delightes in or sprinckled with little droppes of Hony I haue seene in some places vsed Creame and so shaking them into the Hiue and couering them with a sheete let him leaue them tyll the morning and then set them in their place He must as I tolde you before haue diuers newe Hiues in a redinesse to serue the turne withall And yf so be you haue no trees nor bushes growing neare the Hiues you must thrust into the ground certaine bowes and branches for the purpose whereuppon they may knit and settle them selues and rubbe ouer the bowes with Balme or such pleasant hearbes that when they as I say knitte and settle putting vnder the Hiue and compassing them with some little smoake you maâ— cause them to fall into a newe countrey for they will rather goe into a newe Hiue then into an old yea yf you offer them the Hiue that they came from they wil forsake it for a newe Some of them wil sodenly leaue the Hiue without any tarrying which the keeper may perceaue yf he vse to lay his eare in the night time to the Hiues for about three dayes before they goe they make a great noyse like souldiers ready to raise their campe whiche Virgil noteth Theyr mindes are easely knowen for such as stray The brasen sound commandes to come away When through them all a warning voyce is sent That doth the warlike Trumpet represent And therefore when such noyse is heard they must be very wel watched whether they come out to fight or to flee the keeper must be at hand their fightes whither it be among them selues or one Hiue with an other are easely stickled A little dust cast vp on hye Doth end the quarrell presently Or Honied water sweete Wine broth of Reasons or any pleasant licour wherein they delight cast and sprinckled amongst them doth straightwayes part them The selfe same remedies makes two Princes of them being fallen out to be quickly good freendes againe for when there happeneth many times to be in one Hiue sundry kings by whose dissention that whole number of the subiects in the Princes quarrells goe togeather by the eares you must by all meanes seeke to remedy it least by ciuel dissention the poore people be destroyed And therefore yf you perceaue them often to fight your best is to kill the heddest of the dissention and to appease the fury of the fighters by those meanes that I told you before And when the Marciall swarme is setled vpon some branch of a tree looke yf they hang al togeather like a cluster of Grapes which is a signe that there is eyther but one king or yf there be moe they be agreed and then you shall not trouble them but take them into the Hiue but yf so be they hang in two or three clusters like the pappes or vdders of a beast it is a signe there are diuers maister
hath often also been seene that their Coames being emptie they haue continued fasting till the Ides of Februarie and cleauing to the Coames as yf they were dead haue yet retayned their life but least they shoulde lose it altogeather it is good to powre them in some sweete licours by little pipes whereby they may sustaine their liues till the Swallow with her appearing promise a welcomer season After which time when the weather wyll suffer them they begin to seeke abrode for them selues for after the Sunne is in the Aeqâ—inoctial they neuer rest but trauaile painefully euery day and geather flowres and necessaries for their breeding Besides because fewe places are so fruitefull as they yeelde flowres both Sommer and Winter therefore in suche places where after the Spring and Sommer at whiche times both Beanes Rapes Wyllowes and other plantes and hearbes in euery place doo flowre the flowres doo faile they are carried of diuers and that in the night as I tolde you before into such places wheras there is good store of late flowring hearbs as Tyme wylde Marierum and Sauery wherwith they may be fedde geather foode at their pleasure and as Columella wryteth that Bees in the olde time were brought from the feeldes of Aâ—â—aia to the pastures of Athenâ— and so transported in diuers other places So may we with vs carry them from places where the flowres be consumed in the Spring to the sommer flowres as Clouer and suche other and after that about the end of the Sommer to places furnished with Heathe Tamariske such other late bearing flowre For the auoyding of this inconuenience of carrying from place to place I wyl shew you in what sort I haue ordered my Beeyard at home And because maister Hersâ—ach hath shewed you before in his Garden many good hearbes and yet not whereto they serue I wyll shewe you a fewe plantes that I haue set about my Bees seruing both for their commoditie and the health of my houshold I haue chosen of a great number suche as be most necessarie and of greatest vertue whose speciall vertues and woonderfull woorkinges geuen onely by the most gratious and bountifull framer of the Worlde and being as it were sucked and drawen out by the carefull toyle and diligence of the Bee must needes adde a greater perfection to their Hony and their Wax I haue first enclosed the yarde where my Bees stand with a quickset hedge made of Blacke thorne and Honysocâ—e the one of them seruing the Bee with his flowres at the beginning of the spring and the other at the latter end of sommer The first the Blacke thorne beareth a pleasant white flowre so much the welcomer to the Bee as it is the very farewell of the Winter for he commonly flowreth not till the Winter be past These flowres newly geathered and steeped all a night in the best and strongest Wine and afterwards destilled in Balneo Marie being drunke helpeth any paine in the sides as hath been certainely prooued Tragus the Germane confesseth that with this onely water he hath cured all manner of paines about the stomacke hart or sides Wine made of the Sloe and preserued vntill Iuly or August when the blooddy flixe most raigneth is a soueraine medecine against it The other the Honysocle or Woodbine beginneth to flowre in Iune and continueth with a passing sweete sauour till the very latter end of the sommer The water thereof destilled and drunke two or three dayes togeather at times asswageth the heate of the stomacke helpeth the Cough and shortnesse of breath Ragges of linnen dipped therein and applied doo heale any heate of the eyes or lyuer Next vnto my Hiues I haue planted the sweete hearbe Melissa or Apiastrum called in English Balme with a square stalke a leafe like a smoothe Nettle and a yellow flowre and groweth almost in euery Hedge an hearbe well knowen to the olde women in the countrey and greatly desyred of the Bee. This Melissa or Balme sodden in white wine and drunke two or three morninges togeather purgeth the brest helpes the shortwinded comforteth the hart driueth away the dumpishe heauinesse that proceedeth of Melancholy helpeth the falling sicknesse and almost all other diseases being chopped small and steeped a night in good white wine and afterwards destilled is greatly commended not only in deliuering women from their panges and greefes of the mother being drunke to the quantitie of three or foure spoonefulles but also cureth the paines or fainting of the hart called commonly the passion of the hart Cardamus greatly commendeth this hearbe for the comforting and renewing of a decayed memory and affirmeth that it is a causer of sweete pleasant sleepes Next vnto this haue I growing that sweete and precious hearbe Angellica whose seedes I first receyued from that vertuous and godly Lady the Lady Golding in Kent a Gentlwoman that setteth her whole felicity in the feare and seruice of the Almighty this hearbe is in flowre seede leafe stalke and sauour so like vnto Louage as they may hardly be discerned the one from the other the leafe doth in a manner resemble the Figge leafe sauing that it is more iagged and indented round about If any man be suddainly infected with the pestilence feauer imoderate sweat let him take of the roote of this Angellica in powder halfe a dramme and putting to it a dramme of Treacle mingle them togeather with three or foure spoonefulles of the water destilled of the said roote and after he hath drunke it let him lie sweate fasting for the space of three houres at the least thus dooing by the helpe of God he shall escape the danger the roote steeped in Uineger and smelt vnto and the same Uineger sometimes drunke fasting doth preserue a man from the pestilence to be short the roote and the water thereof is soueraine against all inward diseases it scowreth away the collections of a Plurisie beginning helpeth vlcered and corrupted Loonges and is good against the Collicke Strangury restraint of womens purgacions and for any inward swelling or inflamacion the iuyce thrust into a hollow tooth aswageth the paine the water dropped into the eare doth the like the said iuyce water put into the eye quickeneth the sight taketh away the thinne skins and rines that couereth the eye Besides a most present remedy in all deepe and rotten sores is the iuyce the water or the powder for it clenseth them and couereth the bone with good flesh It was called in the olde time Panacea or Healâ—al Next vnto this Angellica haue I growing in great plenty Cardus Benedictus or blessed Thistell whiche the Empirickes or common Proalisers doo commend for sundry and great Uertues affirming that it was first sent out of India to Frederyck the Emprour for the great Uertue it had against the headache or megrime being eaten or drunken Likewyse they say it helpeth against the dasing or giddinesse of the head maketh a good memory
and restoreth the hearing For the proofe of his greate force against poyson they bring foorth a young mayden of Pauy that hauing vnwares eaten of a poysoned Apple and therewithall so swolen as no Treacle nor medcine could cure her was at the last restored to health by the destilled water of this Thistell and likewyse that a boy into whose mouth as he slept in the feelde happened an Adder to creepe was saued by the drinking of this water the Adder creeping out behind without any hurt to the childe In fine they affirme that the leaues iuyce seede and water healeth all kind of poysons and that the water hath healed a woman whose brest was eaten with a canker to the very ribbes I haue also set in this little peece of ground great store of the hearbe called Numularia or Penigrasse which creepeth close by the ground hauing vpon a long string little round leaues standing directly one against the other and a yellow flowre like the Crowfoote It is a soueraine hearb for healing of woundes not only outward greene woundes but also inward sores and vlcers specially of the Loonges wherof there hath ben good profe Tragus affirmeth that he hath seene dangerous desperat woundes cured with this hearbe being boyled with Hony and Wine and drunke It healeth exulcerations of the brest and Loonges and may be well geuen to those that cough and are short breathed and to little children diseased with the dry cough who by reason of theyr tender age may take no stronger medicine I haue seene good plenty of it growing by the shadowy Ditches about great Peckam in Kent I haue beside there growing Scabious an hearbe that groweth commonly in Corne with a iagged leafe lying round vpon the ground and thrusting out in Sommer a long stalke with sundry branches the flowres growing in blewe knoppes or tuftes like Honycomes This hearbe being sodden with white wine and drinke doth helpe the Plurisie against which diseases the women of the countrey that many times take vpon them to be great Dâ—ctâ—esses in Phisicke doo stil the water thereof in May and geue it to be drunken at eache time two or three sponefuls not only against the Plurisie but against inward imposternes coughes and all diseases of the brest Against imposternes diuers as Traâ—us wryteth doo make this composition they take a handfull of Scabious the hearbe dryed of Liquerisse cut small an ounce twelue Figges Fenell seede an ounce Aniseede as much Or as halfe an ounce these they lay al a night in water the next day they boyle them tyl a third part be consumed and after making it sweete with Suger or Hony of Roses they geue it waâ—me in the morning and the euening wherewith they say the imposterne is ripened made soft and cought out â—VLLARIVS I remember that passing by the house of that honorable Baron the Lorde Cobham whose house you shall seeldome see without great resort by reason of his noble disposition and honourable intertainement that he geueth to all commers I chanced to see in his Parke at Cobbam a certaine hearbe called Veronica whereof I haue heard vertues MELISSEVS That can I also shewe you amongest the hearbes that I haue about my Bees it is called of some Feueriuum and Veronica as it is supposed of a certaine French King who was thought by the iuyce thereof to be cured of a great Leprosie it is called in english Fluellin it creepeth lowe by the ground as Penigrasse doth and beareth a leafe like the Blackthorne with a blewish speâ—kled flowre with a seede inclosed in little powches like a shepeheards purse and groweth commonly vnder Okes. D Hieron wryteth that the force thereof is marueylous against the pestilence and contagious ayres and that he him self hath often times proued The water of the hearbe steeped in white Wine and destilled therewithal he hath cured sundry times hotte burning and pestilent feuers as well in young men as in old Hieron Transchweyg commendeth it to be singuler good for all diseases of the Spleen the shepheardes of Germany geue it with great profite made in powder and mingled with salt to theyr cattell diseased with the cough being steeped in Wine and destilled it is a most present remedy in all pestilent feuers being geuen two ounces thereof with a little Treacle and after layed warme in bedde and well couered it expelleth the poyson by sweate and driueth it from the hart The water of this hearbe taken certaine dayes togeather two ounces at a time helpeth the turnesicke giddinesse of the head voydeth fleame purgeth blood warmeth the stomacke openeth the stopping of the Liuer healeth the diseases of the Loonges and the Spleen purgeth the Uaines the Matrice and the Bladder it driueth out sweat and venome helpeth the Iandise the stone of the Reygnes and other greeuous diseases You shall also haue amongest these plantes of myne the good sweete hearbe Cariphilata or of some Benedicta of others Sanamanda called in English Aueus whose roote whether it be greene or olde resembleth the Cloue in sauour the leafe is iagged rooffe of a darkish greene and not much vnlike to Agrimony the flowre is yellow and after the falling thereof leaueth a prycly knoppe like a Hedgehogge the roote the longer it hath growen the sweeter it is the speciall vse of this roote in some countreys is to be put in Wine in the spring time for it maketh the Wine to tast and sauour very pleasantly which Wine as many hold oppinion doth glad the harte openeth the obstruxion of the Liuer and healeth the stomacke that is ouer burdened with cold and grosse humors this roote boyled in Wine and geuen warme doth ease the greefe of the stomacke or the belly proceading of eyther cold or winde Hard by this hearb haue I planted the great water Betony called of some Ocimastrum of Mathiolus Scrophularia Maior it hath a great square stalke and bigge leafe indented round about the the flowre is in colour Purple and in fashion like the shell of a Snayle it flowreth in Iune and Iuly and groweth most by waters in shadowy places Tragus teacheth to make a speciall oyntment thereof seruing against all scabbes and sores wherewith he saith he hath seene people so mangy as they haue seemed euen Lepers to be cured his oyntment is this Take the hearbe rootes and all gathered in May washed and well clensed from all filth stampe it and strayne out the iuyce and keepe it in a narrowe mouthed glasse well stopped wherein you may keepe it a whole yeere and when so euer you list to make your oyntment take of the same iuyce of Wax and Oyl of eache a like quantitie and boyle them together vpon a Chafingdish of coles stirring them well tyll they be incorporated and so vse it Mathiolus teacheth to make a singuler oyntment thereof against Kernells the Kinges euil and the Hemrodes his order is this You must gather the rootes in the end of sommer
feelde that hath lyen a yeere and that whiche is broken vp the first Spring for thus faith Varro There is great difference wheâ—her you sowe in vntilled ground or in that whiche is yeerely sowen and is called Restibilis or in that whiche hath lyen a while and is broken vp in the Spring Moreouer both Coâ—imella and Plinie doo vse not seeldome Veruactâ—â— for ground newe broken vp in the Spring taking their reason of the time wherby 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be interpreted by the name of Veruactum or Nouale The Feelde is saide to be plowed to be stirred with the Plowe when it is turned vp 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Hesiodus saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is broken vp when it is first plowed lying in great Cloddes the seconde plowing is called Offringere Agrum or Iterare to plowe againe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tertiare to thry allowe itâ— Ageriteratus and tertiatus be vsuall woordes with Columella and Plinie Nouare is to chaunge the grounde wâ—ll husbanded before and to plowe it and prepare it for the sowing season Occare to harrowe it as Varro sayth is so to breake it as there remaine no Clodde The Harrowe is an instrument crosse lettused to breake the Cloddes withall and to couer the seedes Crâ—tire is likewyse vsed in the same signification Aâ—rare is when that which is sowen and come to some grouth is turned in with the Plowe Plinie calleth Ararare as it were Aratrare to plow often that which is sowen Sarrire is to purge with the Rake Runcare is to weede out of the grounde noisome weedes for whiche is also vsed Auerruncare and deruncare and of Columellá Exherbareâ— Pasâ—â—nare and Repâ—stinare is to digge about the Uines Pastinum is a forked instrument vsed in planting of Uines Lirare and Occare are almost one where we plowe so as we leaue betwixt two Furrowes a Ridge for the drie keeping of the graine like a Garden bedde And hereof is that space called Lira a Ridge whiche the husbandmen call â—orcas because the place being raysed hye defendeth the Corne from the water Lira Hortensis a bed in a Garden Scammâ—n a Balke is the grosse earth that hath scaped the Plowâ— Plinie wylleth that there be no Balkes made nor great Cloddes remayning meaning the great Turffe that is turned vp at the fyrst plowing Scamnatus Ager is called of Vibius Vrbicus that lande which runneth all in length from West to East whiche yf it be more of length then breadth and lyeth vpon the North is called Strigatus The land it selfe is also called grosse and rawe that is not well mellowed whiche hath neede to be seasoned with the heate of the Sommer and the colde of Winter and to be plowed in the Spring It is also called riche fruitefull fertyll and that which is nought and yeeldes not his fruite is called leane barren hungry or brynishe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Also salt bitter sennishe where the water still continues wette that some time lyes drye Carbunckled that is burnt with the sonne rotten and mossie It is also called pleasaunt ground sweete blacke rotten and mellowed which are the signes of good ground but hereof I thinke I haue nowe spoken sufficiently RIGO That you may continue your speache I pray you goe to your former matter agayne CONO When you haue broken vp your ground yf it be Noualis as I sayde and not tylled before you may sowe it presently and harrowe it and yf neede be rake it The ground that is yeerely sowen that hath lyne spare is to be plowed thryse according to the nature of the soyle and the seede that you meane to sowe RIGO Nowe you haue tolde me howe to order my lande for seede I pray you let me vnderstande the sortes of seede and in what sort they must be sowed CONO That must I doo The seede that commeth of that whiche the Latines call Fruges as Pulse and Corne we here doo call Fruges all sortes of haruest grayne which the Germanes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they are geathered in their beautie and their ripenesse Iulian the Lawyer calleth Fruges all thinges wherewith a man is fedde The auncient writers doo vnderstand it more largely for all the fruites of the earth Plinie deuides it into two kindes into Corne that growes on Eare as Gallus the Lawyer defines it the other that beareth Coddes as all kinde of Pulse or pedware Of the first kinde is Wheate Rye Barley Bigge Otes Beechewheate or Bucke or if you wyll in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ryse Lenten Wheate though all kindes growe not in all places nor haue in euery place all one name In some places you haue not Lenten Wheate cheefely where there is plentie of Bigge In other places they vse neither Otes nor Bucke Of the kindes of Pulse are theseâ— Beanes Peason Lentiles Chiches Tares Lintels Lupines and suche lyke And though there be sundry sortes of seede and euery Countrâ—y hath his kinde and sowes such as best agrees with their nature yet generally this is to be regarded that you sowe none that are olde and dryed but the newest for olde seede dooth oftentymes as they wryte change their nature as the seede of Colwoortes that being sowen turneth to Rapes and Rape seede likewyse into Colwoortes The seede of the fyrst yeere is best of two yeere olde woorse and of three woorst of all the rest is barren and nought The best seede also is that which is waightiest and lyeth in the bottome and such as is full and being broken hath a good colour such as is wrinckled and thinne in the â—are is to be throwen away There is also another necessarie note to haue the seede from strange grounde from the woorse to the better and not the contrary nor from colde Countreys into hotte nor from the forward to the slowe and to beware that it be not bitten with Birdes Mise or Antes and to prosper the better sprinckle them before they be sowen with the yuice of Houseleeke If you mingle with your grayne the seede of Bearfoote and sowe it about your grounde you shal saue it from the anoyance of Birdes You must sowe your Ridges with an equall hande 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and all alike in euery place letting your foote specially the right foote your hand go togeather Wheate Rye Barly Otes and other cheefely such as beare Coddes as Milium and Panicum must be sowen with a ful hand but Rape seede only with three fingers RIGO A man must vse his hande I perceaue as the Harper dooth to make it perfite CONO He must in deede And as we put more water to stronger wine then we doo to small and laye the greater burden vpon the stronger man and some stomacke requires the stronger foode so some grounde may beare muche seede and some away with lesse neither can it be certaynely appoynted howe muche seede is
occupied it You must also make choyse of your water of whiche the best as Plinie sayth are the coldest and such as be sweete to drinke the woorst that comes from Ponds or is brought in by trenches because they bring with them the seedes of Grasse and Weedes but the grounde dooth most delight in rayne water which killeth Woormes and baggage that breedes in it but for some Herbes salt water is needefull as the Raddishe Beete Rue Saâ—rile to which al salt water they say is a speciall helper making them both pleasaunt and fruitefull to all others sweete water is only to be vsed And because I haue begunne to entreate of watring I must geue this note that the times of watring is not in the heate of the day but early in the mornyng and at night least the water be heated with the sunne onely Basyl you must water at Noone the seede something wyl come the sooner vp yf they be sprinckled at the fyrst with hotte water You haue here heard that the fyrst needefull thing for a Garden is water The next to that is enclosure that it be well enclosed both from vnruly folkes and theeues and likewyse from Beastes least lying in wayte for your Herbes your Fruites they may both bereâ—ue you of your paynes and your pleasure for yf eyther they be bitten with Beastes or to often handeled with Men it hindereth them both of their growth and seeding and therefore it is of necessitie to haue the Garden well enclosed Nowe for enclosures there are sundry kindes some making earth in mould doo counterfeite Brickwalles others make them of lime and stones some others of stones laide one vpon an other in heapes casting a ditche for water rounde about them whiche kinde Palladius forbiddes to followe because it wyll drawe out the moysture from the Garden except it be in marrishe grounde Other make their fence with the seedes and settes of Thorne some make them of mudde walles couered with strawe or heath Varro maketh mention of foure kindes of enclosure the fyrst naturall the second wylde the thirde souldierly the fourth of Carpenters woorke The fyrst and naturall is the quickset Hedge being set of young Thornes whiche once well growen regardeth neyther fyre nor other hurt The seconde is the common Hedge made of dead wood wel staked and thicke plasshed or raylde The third the Souldiers fortefying is a deepe Ditch with a rampier but the Ditche must be so made as it may receyue al the water that comes from aboue or falles into it wherin the vaumure must be so steepe that it may not easily be climed This kinde of fence is to be made where the ground lyes neare the hie way or buts vpon the Riuer of which sort I shal haue occasion to speake more hereafter The fourth fence made by the Carpenter or by the Mason is commonly knowen wherof there is foure sortes eyther of Stones or of Brickes of Turfe and Earth and little stones framed in moulde Columella folowyng the auncientest aucthours preferreth the quickset Hedge before the dead both because it is lesse chargeable and also endureth the longer continuing a long time which Hedge of young thornes he teacheth to make in this sort The place that you determine to enclose must after the beginning of September when the ground hath been wel soked with rayne be trenched about with two Furrowes a yard distant one from the other the deapth and breadth of euery one of them must be two foote whiche you must suffer to lye emptie al Winter prouiding in the meane time the seedes that you meane to sowe in them which must be the Berries of sharpe Thornes Bryers Holly wylde Eglanttine which the Greekes call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â— Dogge Bryer The Beries of these you must geather as ripe as you may and mingle them with the floure or meale of Tares whiche when it is sprinckled with water must be put vpon olde ropes of Ships or any other ropes the ropes being thus handled and dryed must be laide vp in some boorded â—â—oore Afterward when Winter is doone within fourtie dayes after about the comming of the swallowe yf there be any water remayning in the Fâ—rrowes it must be â—et out and the mellowed earth whiche was cast out of the Furrowes in the end of Sommer must nowe be cast in againe till you haue fylled them vp to the middeâ—t then must you handsomely vnfâ—lde the rope and lay them in length thorowe both the Furrowes and so couer them taking good heede that you throwe not to much earth vpon them for hindering the spring whiche commonly vseth to appeare within thirtie dayes after when they be growen to be of some heyght they must be made to encline to the space betwixt the two Furrowes in whiche space you must haue a little walled Hedge to teache the springes of other Furrowes to clime by whiche wyl be a 〈…〉 and a comfort to them But I haue an other a more redyer way of making of them which you fyrst practisyng in this Countrey diuers others haue folowed I also doo make a certayne Ditche and geathering in the wood the young springes of Thornes cutting of their toppes I set them on the bancke of the Ditche so that they stand halfe a foote out of the grounde plucking vp al the weedes specially the fyrst sommer that growe about them and sucke away the iuyce that comfortes the set The rootes being thus ridde I couer all the earth about them with strawe whereby both the dewe of the night is let into the rootes and the poore plant is defended from the burnyng of the Sunne The yeere after I make a little sâ—lender rayle of powles wherevnto I leye vp the springes weauing them in such sort as I wyll haue them to growe which I yeerely make higher according to the height that I woulde haue the Hedge to spring Eyght or at the vttermost niene foote is a sufficient heyght and what so euer spring aboue must be plasshed of one side or the other to make the fence the stronger When I haue thus done I matte it thicker and thicker euery yeere filling vp the places where I see it thinne with suche bowes as I see growe out of order and thus is it wouen so thicke with yeerely bindinges that not so muche as a small birde is able to passe thorowe it nor any man to looke through it When it is thicke yenough and bigge yenough the superfluous springes must euery yeerer be cut This Hedge can neuer be destroyed except it be plucked vp by the rootes neither feareth it the hurt of fyre but wyl growe the better for it And this is my way of enclosing a Garden as the pleasantest most profitable and of least charges THRA There is an other way of making of a quicksette Hedge which our Hedgers in the Countrey doo vse which is something the stronger For setting the young settes as you haue sayde
are set in Gardens for the pleasure of them and for the sauour doo garnishe the sayde Gardens and serue also for other purposes Of Rosemarie I spake before I wyll nowe proceede with these that growe before my feete Lauender called in Latine Lauanda or Lauendula that groweth in borderâ— about the beddes in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and keepeth the Latine name in other tongues dooth growe in wylde places and stonie it is set of the slippes remooued it groweth to Spike in Iune and in Iuly is geathered and tyed in bundels for the sauour the flowre is distilled for sweete waters Flowregentle in Latine Amaranthus in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though it haue no sauour at all yet hath it a delightfull beautie to the eye the Frenchemen for the fayrenesse of the colour excelling both crimson and purple in grayne doo call it Passeuelleurs the Italians Fiorueluâ—o because it contendeth in colour with crimson in grayne it loueth to be often geathered and plucked whereby it springeth the better the flowres after they be dead with a little water come againe to theyr colour it is called Amaranthus because it dyeth not THRA Here foloweth Lauendercotten MARIVS This Lauendercotten in Greeke is called as Plinie supposeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it were the little Cypres some call it Santonia female Sothernewood in Dutch it is called Cypressen in Frenche Cyprez it groweth commonly in Gardens springing euery yeere Myrtel in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Myrtus in Italian Myrto in Spanishe Araihan in Frenche Mâ—inte in Dutch Welschâ—heidelberr the leaues are not much vnlike to the leaues of the Oliue tree something smaller with sclender branches and leaues growing in order one by another as you see with blacke berries and leaued like the Pomegranate It groweth alwayes greene it is set and sowed both of the seede the slippe and the stocke but you must styll rayse vp y earth about it til it be throughly rooted Some sowe the berries being a little beaten and couered in Furrowes of â—arth it delighteth in continuall weeding so groweth it to a handsome heygth meete to shaddowe Herbers it loueth to be watred with the vrine of men or of sheepe This onely is to be woondred at that of the liâ—our thereof alone may be made all sortes of wine and oyle Cato teacheth to make wine of the berries being dryed and put in water honnie sodden togeather yf they be not dryed they come to oyle howe the wine of them is made Dioscorides sufficiently declareth Plinie reporteth that Cato made three sortes of Myrtels white blacke and a thirde kinde that he calleth coniâ—gale it delighteth to growe by the Sea bankes as Seruius sayth it groweth at this day commonly in Italie along by the Sea coastes THRA Oh what sweete and goodly Gelyflowres are here You may truely say that Solomon in all his princely pompe was neuer able to attayne to this beautie some of them glitter with a perfect crimson dye some with a deepe purple and some with a passing beautifull carnation I marueyle the olde wryters knewe nothing of these in their time MARIVS There are some that suppose to be a kinde of Garden Betony which the Gardner feiching out of the feelde and thrusting Cloues into the rootes of them with diligent planting haue brought to this excellencie others thinke it to be called Vetonica of the Spaniardes who fyrst found it Some thinke it to be Oâ—nanthe because it flowreth with the Uine it delighteth in warme sonny ground it is sowed seeldome of seede but commonly sette of the slippes as I sayde of Rosemarie The Gardners in the end of Sommer doo take the rootes and set them in pannes pottes or payles and when the frostes come they carrie them into their sellers and in fayre warme dayes bring them abroade agayne and suffer them to be nowe or then watred with the rayne It hath been often seene that in such vaultes or sellers they haue flowred all the Winter long through warmenesse of the place some set bowes about them and couer them with strawe and horse doung to preserue them agaynst the colde it often happeneth that one roote beareth one yere white flowre and redde the third speckled or Carnation THRA Loe yonder are Roses growyng in borders and made in a maze doo they growe of the seede or of the sette MARIVS Roses called in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Rosâ— and in all other languages as in Latine are diuersly planted sometime of the rootes sometime of the branches being cutte in small settes and planted a foote a sunder Some wrethe them in Garlandes and so sette them to haue them smel the pleasanter The vse of sowing of them is best howe be it they wyll very well growe of the seede though it be long eare they spring therfore they set them of settes a foote in length iâ— nâ—yther delighteth in riche or moyst ground bâ—t is well contented to growe amongst rubbishe and vnder walles The places where they must growâ— must be dygged deeper then come grounde and not so deepe as the Uineyard the Rose is rather a thorne then a plant and groweth vppon the very brambles it commeth fyrst out in a little budde long sharpe beard wâ—iche after they be opened it discloseth it selfe and spreadeth abrode with a yellowe heary tuske in the middest Plinie maketh mention of sundry sortes of them one sort he calleth Milesia hauyng an oryent and fyerie colour an other Alabandica with white leaues and Sâ—ermâ—nia the baseâ—t sort of all the damâ—sâ—e and the white are vsed for sweete waters they differ in roufnesse pricles colour and smell There are that haue but onely fyue leaues and others with an hundred leaues neyther good in beautie nor in smell the roufnesse of the rynde as Plinie sayth is a sygne of the sauour There are some little pale ones called Carnation Prouincers these doo woonderfully growe where they once are planted and haue a most excellent sauour Râ—ses are vsed to be sette in Februarie which is eyther done with the seede or the sette planted in little furrowes The seedes as â—aâ—adius sayth are not the little yellowe thynges in the â—â—ddest of the Rose but the graynes that growe within the redde riped berrie the ripenesse whereof is deemed by the sworthinesse and the softnesse of the berrie where they once are planted they continue long and after they dye they sende ouâ— newe buddes and springes If you lacke settes and woulde of a fewe haue a great number take the branches that begin as it were to shewe their buddes and cuttyng them in sundry sets foure or fyue syngers in length set them in good grounde well dounged and watred and when they be of a yeeres growth take them vp and set them a foâ—te a sunder proyne them and trimme them with often digging about them Roses must styll be cutte for the more you cutte them
with olde doung or with the newest of any other kynde of manuryng the rootes beyng thus digged vp must be layde vp togeather and burned After must the ground be consydered whether it be mellowe and gentle it is thought to be good that is somethyng greety and grauelly and full of smal peebles so that it be mingled with fatte mould withall whiche yf it be not is vtterly disalowed Dame Ceres ioyes in heauy ground and Bacchus in the light You shall perceiue it to be massy and thicke yf beyng digged and cast into the hole agayne it ryseth ouer yf it scarsely fyll the hole it is a signe that it is lyght and thinne The Flynt by the generall consent of husbandmen is counted a freend to the Uine specially where it is well couered with good mould for beyng cold and a keeper of moysture it suffereth not the rootes to be skalded with the heate of Sommer so muche that Columella dooth wyll men to lay certayne stones about the sides of the Uinetrees so that they exceede not the weyght of fiue pound a peece which as Virgil hath noted keepes away the water in Winter and the heate in Sommer Hurle in the thyrstie stone or therein throwe the nasty shelles So doo wee see the bankes of the Rhine being full of these stones to yeelde an excellent good wine but the stones that lye aboue ground are to be cast away for in the Sommer beyng heated with the sunne they burne the Uine and in the Winter they hurt them with their coldnesse contrary to those that lye in the bottome But the best of all is the foote of an hill which receiueth the fallyng moulde from the toppe or the valley that with ouerflowyng of Ryuers hath been made riche Neyther is chalkie ground to be reâ—used though the chalke of it selfe that Potters vse is hurtfull to the Uine The hungry sandy ground the salt bitter and thyrstie grounde is not meete for the Uine yet the blacke and the reddishe sande medled with some moyst earth is of some alowed well yenough Moreouer neyther grounde too hotte or too colde too drye nor too moyst too sclender nor too stiffe that wyll not suffer the rayne to sincke is meete to be vsed for Uines for it wyll easily gape and open whereby the sunne comming in at the crayuesses dooth burne the rootes that agayne whiche is ouer thinne lettyng in as it were by ventes the rayne the sunne and the winde dooth drye vp the moysture of the rootes the thicke and stiffe grounde is hardly to be laboured the fatte grounde subiect to too muche rancknesse the leane grounde to barrennesse wherefore there must be an euen temperature amongst these extreamities as is required in our bodyes whose health is preserued by the equall medley of heate and colde dryth and moysture fulnesse and emptinesse or thicknesse and thinnesse neyther yet is this temperature in ground for Uines so iustly to be euened but that there is required a more enclining to the one part as that the earth be more hotte then colde more drye then moyst more sâ—â—htyll then grosse specially yf the state of the heauens agreeâ— agayne what quarter whereof the Uineyard ought to lye it is an olde controuersie some like best the rysing of the sunne some the West some the North Virgil misliketh the West others agayne thinke the best lying to be vpon the South But in generall it is thought best in colde countreys to haue it lye toward the South in warme countreys vpon the East in hotte burnyng Countreys as Egypt and Barbary vpon the North. Plinie would haue the Uine him selfe stand towards the North and his spring or shoutes towards the South A fytte grounde and wâ—ll lying being found out must be diligently digged dounged weeded all vnprofitable weedes must be pulled vp and throwen away lest they shoulde spring agayne and eyther corrupt the young plantes or hinder the labourer THRA Before you come to trenchyng I woulde gladly heare in what sort you plant your Uine and what season is fittest for it MARIVS I wyll fyrst speake of the season and afterwardes of the plantyng The Uine is planted accordyng to Virgils rule in the fall of the leafe but better in the spring yf the weather be rayny or colde or the ground be fatte champion or a watrishe valley and best in the fall of the leafe yf the weather be drye and warme the ground dry and lyght a barrayne or a rugged hill The time of plantyng in the spring as Columella sayth endureth fourtie dayes from the Ides of Februarie vntyll the Aequinoclial and in the fall of the leafe from the Ides of October to the Kalendes of December Cassian in Constantine being taught by experience wyls in watrye groundes you should rather plant in Autumne when the leaues are fallen and the plantes after the vintage deliuered of the burden of theyr clusters sound strong before they be nipped with the frostes for then they best agree with the ground nature applying her selfe wholly to the nourishing of the roote The time of graffing Columella sayth is of some extended from the fyrst of Nouember to the fyrst of Iune tyl which time the shoote or graffe may be preserued but it is not well liked of him who rather woulde haue it to be done in warmer weather when Winter is past when both budde and rynde is naturally mooued and safe from colde that myght annoy eyther the graffe or the stocke yet he graunteth when hast requireth it may be done in the fall of the leafe when as the temperature of the ayre is not much vnlyke to the spring for which purpose you must choose a warme day and no wind stirryng The graffe must be round and sound not full of pith but full of buddes and thicke of ioyntes the tenant whereof must not exceede three inches and smoothe and euen cut the stocke and the cleft must be well closed with clay and mosse Those that growe toward the South must be marked whiche Virgil obseruyng sayth But on the barke they also note the quarter of the skieâ— The order how it stoode and grew and where the South dyd lye The lyke is to be done with all other trees Of plantyng of Uines there is two wayes the one of the roote the other of the branche or spray the roote is counted a great deale better then the branche or set by reason of the forwardnesse and vauntage that it hath in that it hath alredy taken roote The roote is set in stiffe ground well digged and laboured in a trenche of three foote the set or spray in a gentle and mellowe ground in drye ground it is neyther good to set the roote nor the branche in a drye season it is best to plant in the fall of the leafe in a hotte season and in a colde and moyst in the spring in much wet you must set them thinner in great dryeth thicker in what sort you shall make a
whereof you may gesse what heygth the Horse wil be of being yet a coult The knees must be round flexible and small and not bowing inwarde nor stiffe the Thies large and well brawned his brest greate and brode his necke soft and broade not hanginge like a Goates but vpright like a Cockes and well reyning his mane thicke fauling on the right side some like it better on the left his hed small and leane for a greate and heauy head is a signe of a dull Iade his moussell short his mouth wide with large wrincles still playing with the bytte and foming as Virg. There stamping standes the steed and fomy bridell fyerce hee champes The Horse that hath a dry mouth is nought his cheekebones would bee euen and small for if they stand to farre a sunder he will bee ill to bee brydled and the vneuennes of the Cheekes will make him hedstrong and neuer to reyne well but to thrust out his head ilfauoredly his eyes great bluddy and fiery standing out of his head which is a signe of quicknes and liuelynes hollowe and littell eyes are nought and blacke or pale starres in the eyes are to be dispraysed these faults are best spied in the nyght bye Candell light Columella commendeth black eyes A wall eye is very good such as they say Alexanders Bucephalus had The eares must bee shorte standinge vpright and stirring for the eares bee the tokens of a Horses stomake which if they be greate and hanging are signes of a Iade The nostrells must bee wyde the better to receaue ayre which also declareth a liuely currage his shoulders large and straight the sides turning inwarde the ridgebone ouer the shoulders being something hie geeues the horseman a better seate and the shoulders and the rest of the body is stronger knitte together if it bee double his sides deepe well knitt behinde and somthing bowed vp which both is better for the horseman and a signe of greate strength his Loynes the broder they be the better he lifteth his forefeete and followeth with the hinder and his paunche shall the lesse apeere which both disgraceth him and burdneth him his belly must be gaunt his buttockes large and ful of fleshe answerable to his brestes and his sides for if he be brode hanched well spred behind and goeth wide his pace wil be the surer which wee may perceaue in our selues if wee assaye to take vp a thing from the ground stryding and not with our legges together wee take it vp with more case and strength His tayle would be longe bristly and curled the length whereof is not only a bewâ—y but also a greate coÌ„modity to him to beate away flyes yet some delight to haue them curtailed specially if they be brode buttockt 〈◊〉 fine the hole body would be so framed as it be large hye liuely spâ—â—ed wel trussed Some horsemen would haue their Horse to be limmed after the proporcion of diuers Beastes as to haue the head and legges of a Stagg the eares and tayle of a Fox the necke of a Swâ—nne the brest of a Lion the buttoâ—kes of a Woman and the feete of an Asse Virgill in his Ge 〈◊〉 both very clarkely describe the tokens of a good Horse 〈…〉 aduaunced â—ie at the first the kindly colt doth pace 〈…〉 as wel beseemes his raceâ— And formâ—â—st stil â—e goâ—th and through the â—treame he makes his way And ventures first the bridgeâ— no suddain sound doth him affray 〈…〉 is his necke and 〈◊〉 his hed is framed small 〈…〉 his backe is brode and 〈◊〉 big withall The â—ay is alwayes counted good so likewise is the gray The white and yellow worst of all besides if farr away There happen any noyse he stampes and quiet cannot rest But praunceth here and there as if some sprite were in his brest His eares be sets vpright and from his nose the fiery flame Doth seeme to come while as he sauffes snorthes at the same Thicke is his mane and on the right side downe doth hanging â—al And double chinde vpon his loynes a guâ—ter runnes withall He scraping standes and making deepe a hole he pawes the grouÌ„d Whiles as aloud his horned house al hollowed seemes to sound You see in how fewe verses the Poet hath expressed the properties of a good Horse other condicions there be for which they be liked when they be pleasant first liuely gentle and tractable For such as Columella saith will both better be tought and better away with trauaile Xenophon accounteth it a signe of a good Horse if after the werines of his iourny he seeme to labour lustely againe we finde also by experience the better the Horse is the deeper he thrustes his hed into the water when he drinketh and that being a colt striueth to outâ—â—me his fellowes in the pasture and as Virgil saith leape first into the water and passeth bridges not tarriing for an vsher nor â—earing the Ise. EVPHOR What colour in Horses count you the best The Poet seemeth to mislike the white which others againe as I haue sundry times heard commende speciâ—lly in England where they are wel accounted of and most esteemed HIPPO Touching the colours there are diuers opinions and of all colours lightly you shall â—inde both good bad so that the colour is not so greatly to be regarded if he haue other tokens of a good Horse yet for bewâ—y and many times for goodnes we make choyse of colour The best colouâ—s as diuers suppose are these the rone the white waâ—d the bay the sorell the dunne the daple gray the ashy white the flebitten the milke white the blacke and the iron gray The Bay is most of pryce as farre as I see at this day and preferred by the Poet aboue the rest The Frenchmen call the bay Horse Le Bayart loyal trusty bayard they are the better that haue a starr in the forhed the foote spotted a littel with white aforetime the dapple gray the flebitten the mousedun and the grisel weare most esteemed such as came nearest to them as the Iron gray the bryght sorell the browne bay Onely Plato commendeth the milke white that Virgil dispayseth Others commend the blacke specially if he haue eyther white starre in his forhed or strake downe his face or hath any white vpon his foote the Cole blake without any white is altogether misliked the fleabitten Horse proueth alwayes good and notable in trauayle the yelowish and the skued or pyed Horses are discommended almost of all men notwithstanding eyther of them if they bee well marked proue often tymes well inough specially the yellowish if he haue a blacke list downe his backe from the necke to the tayle The Stallion therefore would bee of one colour strong bodyed well limmed according to the proporcion afore The Mares woulde likewise haue the saide proporcion of the stallion specially to haue large bodyes fayre
placed as it may alwayes be in the masters eye and to be lightsome least the Horse being vsed to the dark his eye dasel at the light Some thinke they will be the gentler if they be vsed to the light and the fayrer if they haue the sunne at his rysing in somer time let as mutch ayre come to them both day and night as you can In winter your stable should rather be warme then hot and therfore your stable must stand toward the south but so as the windowes may open toward the North which being kept shut in winter may be warme opened in somer you may let in the coole ayre EVPH. The like we vse in our oxe stalles HIPPO Besides whereas the bodies of Cattell haue nede of rubbing as well as mens bodyes for many times it doth the Horse as much good to be stroked downe the backe with your hand as to feede him The Horse is to be continually curryed in the morning at night and after his labour In currying of them we must begin at the head and the necke for it is a vaine thing to make cleane the lower partes and leaue the other foule It is good also to obserue due times for his feeding his watering his trauayle Thus much of his exercise Now followeth to speake of his dyet and because we haue spoken before of his pasture we must also say sumwhat of his other feding The better a man would haue his Horse to proue the better must he looke to his meate for the good feeding the country people say is a great helpe to the goodnesse of the Horse If the Horse be young as I said before of Coltes he must be fed with grasse chaffe and hay if he be elder and mete to trauaile his foode must be the dryer as Chaffe Barley Oates and Hay Chaffe doth not so well nourish by reason of y drynesse but it keepes the body in good plight and because hard meate is hardest of digestioÌ„ it is therefore to be geuen to those that labour The stocke or studde must be pastured in large pastures and marshes as also vpon mountaines and hilly groundes but euer well watred not dry rather champion then woddy and rather soft sweete grasse then hye and flaggy if y pasture be too short they sooner weare their foreteeth are toothlesse before their full age And where as euery kind of Creature is naturally moyst a Horse ought cheefely whether he be young or old to be fed with moist pasture for y better conseruatioÌ„ of his natural temprature Some would haue you in no wise to geue your Horse grasse in the spring time but in Iune or the fall of the leafe they would haue you geue them grasse with the deaw vppon it and in the night season Oates Barly Hay Howbeit in y colder couÌ„treys in Germany France England where the pasture is very good they doubt not to skowre their Horses with greene grasse and weedes of the meddowes and in the chotter countryes they doo the like with greene blades of wheate or barly Sâ—me vse to geue theÌ„ Aples shared in peeces to skoure theÌ„ withal thus much of skouring of Horses Generally who so euer will haue his Horse helthy and aâ—le to endure trauaile let him feede his Horse with Oates mingled with chaffe or strawe so shall he be temperatly well fed and yf so he labour much geue him the more Oats His meate must be geuen him as some thinke best in a lowe manger set so lowe as they are forced to eate their meate with some difficultie or trauaile which they say is to make them bend their neckes by which excercise both the head and the neck groweth bigger and they wyll be the easier to be bridled besides they wyll be the stronger by reason of the hard setting of the forefeete Howbeit in some places they vse hie standing mangers after what sort so euer they be they must alwayes be kept clene and well swept before you cast in their meate Their prouender though diuers Horscorsers that liue by sale of Horse do feede them with sodden Rie or beanemeale sodde pampering them vp that they may be the fayrer to the eye yet is it not good â—oode to labour with The best prouender that is is Oates and for defâ—wâ—e of them Barly you must beware you geue them neyther Wheate Ric or any dry pulse their prouender must be geuen them rather often litâ—ell then once or twyse a day in greate porcâ—ons least you gluâ—te them therewith they are vsed to be fed comonly â—iue times a day when they stand in the stable keeping an equall number of houres betwene y times when they trauaile you may geue them meate seldomer but in greater quantitie yf their iournies be long they must haue prouender besides in the night alwayes remembryng as I said that you glâ—â—â—e them not The better a Horse feedeth the better wyll he labour you must also beware that you geue him no prouender neyther Oates nor Barly after any great labour till he be thorowe colde notwithstanding you may geue him a little hay to coole his mouth The hay must be sweete and wel made and 〈◊〉 shaken before it be cast in the racke and specially seene too that there be no feathers of any fowle amongest it If the 〈…〉 very hotte after his labour let him be well couered and softly walked tyll he be colde before you set him vp when he is sâ—â— vp 〈◊〉 him well leâ—â—t the coldnesse of the ground stâ—â—ke into him in any wyse washe him not when he is hot but when he is through colde water him and washe him wiping him dry when you bring him in If the Horse forsake his meate some vse to stampe Garlike and Pepper and to geue it him rubbing his teeth well till his stomacke come to him some would haue a cloute wette in salt water tyed vpon a sticke and thrust into his Iawes In watring you must looke well vnto him for as Aristotle saith beastes doo feede and are nourished the betâ—eâ— yf they be well watred Horses and Camels do loue best to drinke a thicke troubled water in so much as yf y water be cleare they wyl trouble it with their â—ecte For the most Bullockes againe desire a fayre cleare water and 〈◊〉 The same Aristotle also affirmeth that a Horse may suffer thyrstâ— 4. dayes without drinke Varro wylles you to water your Horses twyse a day which order we obserue that is once in the morning and againe in the afternone but in winter yf they drinke but once a day it suffiseth before you water him he must be well rubbed and then ledde into the water vp to the knees specially yf he be leane yf he be fatte he may goe the deâ—per Notwithstanding there are some that holde opinnion they ought not to goe so deepe as their stones touche the water specially if the Horse be young After Marche the
at any time you shal thus remedy theÌ„ wash al the foote with warme water afterward make them cleane with a sharp knife which when you haue done take old chamber lye as hot as may be melt therin Goates suet or if you haue not y Oxe tallow anoint al the feete til they be hole EVPH. They say that betwixt an Asse a Mare is gotten the Moyle as a third kinde of two sundry kinde neyther resembling the father nor the mother HIPPO It is very true as of the shee Asse the Horse is engendred the shee Moyle but altogeather stubborne vnreasonable dul Also of the Mare the wyld Asse being broken are bredde Moyles that runne passing swyâ—tly are wonderful hard hoofed but rugged of their body mischeuous stomaked yet easie to be handled the Mares for breede must not be vnder foure yeeres nor aboue ten they are faied in the twelfth moneth as Horses and Asses are as Aristotle saith but Columella sayth their foling time is not before the .13 moneth The female conceaueth as experience teacheth assuredly after the seuenth day the male doth neuer better horse theÌ„ wheÌ„ he is most tired She that conceaueth not before she hath cast her coltes teeth is taken to be barraine as she likwise that takes not at the first horsing Those that are gotten betwixt a Horse an Asse in olde time were called Neyars such as were brought forth betwixt an Asse a Mare they called Moyles The Moyles them selues they say doo neuer ingender yf at any time they did it was taken for monstrous accounting the cause of their barrâ—nnesse y contrarietie of their kinds which matter a long time troubled both Aristotle the rest of the Philosophers Though Aristotle hath other where written that Moyles doo both ingender bring forth and with him agreeth Theophrastus affirming y in Capadocia they do coÌ„monly bring forth ingender of themselues The like doth Varro before him Dionysius and Mago affirme that the breeding of Moyles in the countreys of Aâ—fryk is neyther monstrous nor geason but as common as our breede of Horses but the Moyle is both fayrer and better stomaked that is begotten of an Asse and a Mare The Stallion that you meane to haue for your race of Moyles must be as fayre as you can geat hauing onely this regarde that he be large of body bigge necked broade and strong ribbed large and brawâ—y brested his thyghes full of synowes and his legges well knitte of colour blacke and spotted for Asses though they be commonly dunne yet that colour agreeth not well with a Moyle some say that what colour you would haue your Moyle to be with that coloured cloke you must couer your Asse The Asse so proportioned as I haue declared that you meane to appoynt for your Stallion you must strayghtwayes take from his damme put him to some Mare that hath a Colt sucking of her you shall easely deceiue the Mare by setting her in a darke place remouing her owne Colt from her and putting to her in steede therof the Asses Colt which she wyll nurse as her owne Afterwards when the Mare hath been vsed to it a tenne dayes she wyl continually after y time geue it sucke The Asse being in this order brought vp wyll better acquaint him selfe with the Mares sometimes though he be sucked only with his owne damme being brought vp when he is young amongst Mares wyl wel yenough keepe company with them as Columella sayth but our Asses are of themselues desyrous yenough of the Mares that they neede not to be trayned to the matter for it is a woonderful Coltishe beast vnreasonably weapned He must not be lesse theÌ„ three yeeres olde wheÌ„ he couereth your Mares which must be in the spring time when you may well feede him with grasse good store of Oates Barly neyther must you put him to a young Mare for if shee haue not been horsed before she wil so beate her woer y she wil make him like the worse as long as he liueth for remedy wherof you must at y first put to the Mare a vilder Asse y may woe her before but not suffered to Horse her when you perceaue y shee is Horsing away with y raskall put to your Stalion A place fitte for this purpose the countrey people as Columella saith were woont to haue which they called a frame or a brake with two rayles on both sides a little distance betwene y the Mare can not striue nor turne from y Horse the lower part inclosed and the Mare standing lowe so the Asse may the better leape her hauing the vpper ground for his helpe which when shee hath conceaued at the twelue months end brought forth the yeere after she must be suffered to run emptie that she may the better bring vp her Colte The she Moyle being a tweluemonth old must be taken from the dam let run vpon mountaynes or wylde places for the hardning of his hoofes the better enduring of labour for the Male is y better for burden the Female the quicker and liuelier both the kindes doth trauayle wel tyll the ground if the plowman be not vnreasonable or the grounde so stiffe as it requireth a drawght of Oxen or Horse They wil leaue striking and kicking if you vse to geue them wine as Plinie reporteth who likewyse writeth that a Moyle wil liue fourescore yeeres EVPH. Since you haue begunne with trauayling beastes what can you say of the Cammell HIP. The Camell is cheefely vsed in the East partes which some suppose to be the seruisablest cattel for man that is as it were therevnto only framed for he is bumbast vpon y backe for bearing of burdens Also he hath foure knees where as the Horse the Asse such others haue but two for his hinder legges bowe forward as a mans knees doth wherwith he kneeleth to receiue his burden There are two kindes of them y Bactrian and the Arabian the Bactrian haue two bunches vpoÌ„ their backes and the Arabian but one the other on their brest to leane vpoÌ„ both sortes of them lacke their teeth aboue as y Bullocke doth they al serue in those countries for burden to carry men in y wars they are as swyft as Horses but some a greate deale more then others neyther wyll they breake their pace nor carry more burdens then they are vsed to they beare a naturall hatred to the Horse and can forbeare drinke for foure dayes he drinkes when he may both for that is past and to come troubling the water before with his foote otherwyse he delighteth not in it he is fed beside his pasture and such thinges as he gettes in the woodde with Oates or Barly Salt he engendreth backward as the Elephantes Tygers Lions Connies and such other whose instrumentes grow backward when they meane to goe to rutte they seeke the secretest and
hath a more frowning and fierce looke shorter hornes greater and thicker neck so bigge as it seemes the greatest parte of his body his belly something gaunter and meeter for Bulling of Kine The Bull before he be suffered to goe with the Kine must be well fedde with grasse chaffe or hay and kept seuerally by him selfe neyther must he goe to the Cowe till the tenth of Iune Varro woulde not suffer him before the rising of the Lira but Aristotle woulde haue him all the reddring time to goe in pasture with the Kine The Cowe likewyse would be hie of stature and long bodied hauing greate vdders broade forheade fayre hornes and smoothe and all other tokens almost that is required in the Bull specially to be young for when they passe twelue yeeres olde they are not good for breede but they liue many times farre longer if their pasture be good they kept from diseases The olde Cowe geueth more milke then the young according to the country peoples prouerbs olde Kine more milke young Hennes more egges Againe vnder three yeeres olde you may not suffer them to goe to Bull yf they chaunce to be with Calfe before you must put the Calfe from them and milke them for three dayes after least their vdders be sore afterwardes forbeare milking Plinie writeth that at a yeere olde they be fruitefull but the breede wyll be little as it happeneth in al too timely ingendringes You must euery yeere in these beastes as in all other sort your stocke that the olde that be barraine or vnmeete for breeding may be put away solde or remoued to the Plowe for when they be barraine as Columella sayth they wyll labour as well as Oxen by reason they are dryed vp but we vse commonly to fatte them their age is knowen by the knottes and circles of their hornes which Plinie marketh likewyse in Goates The time for going to Bull some take to be best in the midst of the spring Palladius would haue it in Iuly for so in the twelfth moneth she shal Calue for so long she goeth with Calfe as the common people say a Cowe and a Quene haue both one time In many places they desire to haue their Cowes goe to Bull a thirtie or fourtie dayes after the tenth of Iune that they may Calue in March or Aprill they that would haue muche milke so order the matter as their Kine goe to Bull from the spring to winter whereby they alwayes milke some at once bulling she conceaueth yf the chaunce to fayle she goeth to Bull againe within twentie dayes after some say yf so be the Bull come downe on the left side of the Cowe it wyll be a Cowe Calfe yf on the right side a Bull Calfe The Greekes affirme that yf you wyll haue a Bull Calfe you must knitte the right stone of the Bull and for a Cowe Calfe the left Varro saith that yf you put the Cowe to the Bull immediatly after gelding she conceaueth Columella affirmeth fiftene Kine to be yenough for one Bull. I thinke he wyll well yenough serue twentie Kine yf he be such a Bull as I described yf you haue good store of pasture you may let them goe to Bull euery yeere but you must beware your Kine be not too fatte for that wyll hinder their being with Calfe The Cowe should when she is reddring haue but short pasture and the Bull his belly full so shall neyther she be too fat nor he vnlusty If the Cowe wyl not take the Bull you must stampe sea Onyons in water and rubbe her vnder the tayle with it yf the Bull be not lusty yenough about his businesse take the peezell of a Stagge burne it and make it in pouder and with a little wine and the pouder bathe his stones and his pezell withall which wyll serue for the like purpose in all other beastes as Quintillian sayth his courage is also stirred vp by the like odours that you speake of for your Horse A Bul ought not to leape the Cowe aboue twyse in a day as some thinke but we finde by experience that he may oftner In some places they haue common Bulles and common Boares to euery towne a Bull wyll waxe furious at the sight of any redde thing as the Elephant and the Lion whiche can not in no wyse abide the syght of any white thing A Cowe wyll geue sucke to a straunge Calfe but let not the Calues lye with them in the night for feare of ouerlaying them Some weane them at the first and suckleth them with Milke or Whaye hauing a little Branne in it or Flowre wherewith they bring them vp till they be able to feede Whether you meane to reare them for breede labour or feeding you must let them want no store of good pasture for though they be of neuer so great a breede yet yf their pasture be scantie they wyll neuer come to their full growth for pasture makes the beast as the countrey people say Mago and the olde husbandes woulde haue you to gelde them whyle they be very young whiche order we likewyse obserue in cutting of them and in the Spring or at the fall of the leafe when they be three monethes olde or there about we vse to gelde the Bull Calues and spay the Cowe Calues sowing vp the wounde and annoyting it with freshe Batter Columella woulde not haue them cutte but their stones broken by little and little with an instrument whiche kinde of gelding he best liketh because in the little young ones it is donne without bleeding for when they be something growen vp it is better to cut them at two yeere olde then at a yeere olde which must be donne in the spring or at the fall of the leafe the Moone being in the wane you must tye vp the Calfe to a frame and before you cut him you must fasten about the synowes whereby the stones hang a coople of smal stickes like a payne of tonges and taking holde therewith cut away the stones so as a little of the vpper parts of them may remayne with the foresaid synows for by this meanes you shal not hazâ—rd the beast by ouermuch bleeding neyther is his stomacke quite taken away but hath something of the fâ—â—her remayning and yet looseth his abilitie 〈◊〉 rendring Notwithstanding yf you suffer him immeâ—diatly vppon this newe cutting to goe to the Cowe it is certaine he may geat a Calfe but let him not so doo for feare of bleeding to death The wounde must be annoynted with the Asshes of Uines and Lytharge and he must not be suffered the first day to drinke but nourished with a little meate three dayes after he must be dâ—eted according to his seeblenes with greene bowes and sweete grasse cut for him and looked to that he drinke not too much and yf you wyll you may annoynt the sore for three dayes with Tarre and a little Asshes and Oyle to heale him the sooner and to keepe the place from flyes You must vse them
whyle they be yet young to suffer to be handled and stroked and tyed vp to the Manger that when they should come to be broken they may be handled with more ease and lesse daunger but Columella forbiddes you to meddle with the breaking or labouring of them before three yeere old and after fiue for the one is too soone the other too late Those that you haue taken vp wylde and be well framed and proporcioned accordyng to my paterne you shall handle and breake in this sort Fyrst of all see that you haue a large roome where the breaker may easily goe vp and downe and out at his pleasure without any daunger Before the stable you must haue a fayre feelde that the Steeres may haue libertie yenough and not be feard or haltred with trees or busshes In the stable you must haue certayne stalles or boordes yokewyse set vp a seuen foote from the ground to which the Steeres may be tyed this done choose you a fayre day for the purpose and taking them vp bring them into the stable and yf they be vnreasonable wylde and curst let them stand tyed a day and a night without any meate to tame them withall afterwardes let him that keepes them offer them a little meate not sidewayes or behinde but before coyng them all the whyle and speaking gently to them stroking their backes and their moosels sprinckling them with a little sweete wine taking good heede that they strike him neyther with head nor with heele for yf he once get that tricke he wyll neuer leaue it Thus being a little acquainted with him you shall rubbe his mouth with Salt and let downe into his throte certayne lumpes of salt tallowe and powring after a quart of good wine whiche wyll make him in three dayes as good a fellowe as you woulde wishe him to be Some vse to yoke them togeather let them drawe some light thing or plowe in a light plowed ground that their labour hurt not their neckes The redyer way of breaking them is to yoke them with an olde Oxe that may easely inâ—truct them yf he happen to lye downe in the furrowe doo neyther beate him nor feare him but binde his feete togeather and let him lye that he may neyther sturre nor feede which being well punished with hunger and thyrst wyll teache him to leaue that sullen tricke The feeding of this kind of cattel is diuers according to the diuersitie of Countreys yf there be store of good pasture in the countrey there is no foode to that in countreys where wanteth pasture and specially in Winter he must be kept in the Stal and fed with such fodder as the countrey yeeldes Where there are Tares to be had it is the best feeding for them and Hay is very good Chaffe and Coolestalkes with Chaffe and Hay and chopt strawe sodde togeather in water is very good feeding for Winter In some places they feede altogeather with newe threasshed strawe in many places they geue them Lupines steeped in water or Chiches or Peson mingled with Chaffe besides the branches and leaues of Uines the greene branches of Elme Ashe Poplar and Holme in Winter when other greene bowes fayle the Figge tree wyll serue or the brousing of Okes and Holly Oxen are soone fatte in good pasture and with Wheate Rapes Apples and Radishe Oxen or Kine wyll be passing fatte where there wanteth pasture by geuing them Meale mixt with Wheate Chaffe and Rapes or Graynes They wyll waxe the sooner fatte in wasshing them with warme water or as Plinie sayth by cutting their skinnes and blowing in winde to their bellies with a Reede Sotion teacheth that they wyll be fatte yf when they are taken from pasture you geue them the fyrst day Colwoortes chopt and steeped in sharpe Uinegar and afterwardes Chaffe being well cleaned and mingled with Wheate branne for the space of fiue or sixe dayes feeding them after with good store of fodder in Winter you must feede them at the first Cockcrowing and agayne when the day begins to breake in Sommer first at the breaking of the day then at noone and at night in Sommer you must water them twyse a day three houres afore noone and three houres after in winter once aday with warme water which is also thought to be good for fruitefulnesse and therefore the Lakes that are filled with Rayne water are good for them This kind of cattell desireth not cleane or fayre water but foule and pudled yet it were better to geue them fayre water Also you must prouide them of warme pasturs for the winter and in sommer very coole chiefely Mountaines where they may browse vpon the bushes and picke vp a good liuing among the Woods but in lowe groundes and neare the Riuer Oxen are sooner fatted and Kine geue a greater quantitie of Milke In Sommer they lye abroade all the nightes in many places yea in England you shall haue them fodred abrode all the Winter Though they be able to abide cold yet must you prouide them of large stalles for the succouring of such as be great with Calfe Your stables or Oxstals must stand dry and be well floored eyther with stone grauaile or sand the stone will suffer no water to abide vpon it the other will soone drinke it vp and dry it both sortes must be layed slope that the water may runne away for rotting the groundsels and marring their houses Let them open toward the South so shall they be the dryer and the warmer notwithstanding let your windowes open North and East which being shutte in Winter and open in Sommer may geue a healthful ayre In fine as neare as can be let the houses be neyther to hotte nor to colde and as dry as may be Columella would haue two Oxhouses one for the winter the other for the sommer both vncouered but well and high walled for keeping out of wyld beastes The stalls would be eyght foote wyde that they may haue roome yenough to lye in that the Kine great with Calfe hurt not one the other nor the stronger Oxe wrong the weaker and that there may be roome for theyr keepers to come about them and for yoking them Vitrunius would haue the Oxehouse open towardes the East and to be neare the fyre for fyre is naturally beneficiall to cattell both for the drying vp of the infectiue dampes and the keeping of the cattel warme Besides by seeing of the fire they are made gentler and by the heate thereof what cold they haue taken in the pastures is expelled and diuers inward diseases cured The houses must be seuered with diuers roomes enclosed and racked the racke must stand no higher then the Oxe may easely reach and must haue such particions as one beast begile not the other whereto they must be well haltred and tyed for hurting one the other Cato would haue the particions lettised Moreouer it is to no purpose to feede them wel except you also looke to the keeping of them in health and sound
Horses for the sight of the Ducke as Vegetius and Columella say is a present remedy to this beast For the Flix or the Laske which in some places they call the Ray take Sloes and dry them in powder and geue it them to drinke yf it be the blooddy Flixe the old fellowes were wont to cure it in this sort They suffred not the beast to drinke in three dayes and kept him fasting the first day and gaue him the stoanes of Reazins or Grapes dryed and made in powder two poundes with a quart of sharpe tarte Wine and suffered them to drinke no other drinke and made them eate the browsing of wyld Olyue trees and Mastyxe trees and yf they mended not with this they burnt them in the forehead to the very brayne pan and cut of theyr eares The woundes tyll they were whole they washed with Oxpisse but the cut partes were to be healed with Oyle and Pytch If your Calues haue the Ray or Laske take sweete Milke and put therein the Rennet of a Calfe make it no thicker but as the Calfe may well drinke it and geue it him luke warme If your Bullocke haue the Cough and yf it be but beginning geue him a pint of Barly-meal with the yolke of an Egge the Reazins boyled in sweete Wine and strained a pint mingle them togeather and geue it him fasting Also Graines beaten and mingled with Floure fryed Beanes and meale of Lentylls all stirred togeather and geuen him in a mash Columella would haue you geue them Grasse chopt and mingled with Beanes that are but a little broken in the Myll and Lentylls small ground and mingled with water The old Cough they cured with two pound of Hysope steeped in three pintes of water and mingled with Floure which they made him to swallowe and afterwardes powred into him the water wherein Hysope had been sodden also Peason with Barly water and sodden Hony when they had the Cough and Consumption of the Loonges To keepe them aliue they vsed to burne the roote of a Hasell and to thrust it through their â—ares geuing them to drinke a pint of the iuyce of Leekes with the like measure of Oyle and Wine For the Cough of the Loonges I vse to geue them long Pepper Graines Fenegreke Bays Anysseede Ortment balles Turmericke and Madder beating them all togeather and seething them in good Ale grounes If your Calues haue the Cough take Sentury and beate it to powder and geue it them If they haue the Feauer or Ague you shall perceaue it by the watring of theyr eyes the heauinesse of their head the driueling at the mouth beating of the vaines and heate of the whole body let them fast one day the next day let them blood a little betimes in the morning in the tayle after an houre geue them a thirtie little stalkes of Colwoortes sodde in Oyle Water and Salt which must be powred fasting into them fiue dayes togeather Beside you may geue them the toppes of Olyue trees Lentylls or any tender brutinges or branches of Uines and wype theyr mouthes with a Spunge geuing them cold water thrise a day The blood faling downe into the legges causeth them as Vegetius sayth to halt which as soone as you perceaue you must straightwayes looke vpon his hoofes the heate whereof wyll declare his greefe beside he wyl scarse suffer you to touch it But yf so be the blood be yet aboue the hoofe in the legges you shall dissolue it with good rubbing or yf not with that with Scarifâ—â—ng or Pouncing the skinne If it be in the foote open it a little with a knife betwene the two clawes and laye to the sore cloutes dipped in Uineger and Salt making him a shooe of Broome and be well ware he come not into any water but stand dry This blood yf it be not let out wyll breede to matter which wil be long eare it heale yf it be opened at the first with a knife and made cleane and after cloutes dipped in Water Salt and Oyle layd to it and at the last annoynted with olde Swynes grease and Goates suet boyled togeather it wyll quickly be whole This disease as I take it the countrey people call the Fowle or the Wyspe which they sometime cure with drawing a rope of strawe or heare through the Cleese tyll it bleede or by searing of it with a hotte iron If the blood be in the lower part of the Hoofe the vttermost part of the Clee is pared to the quicke and so the blood let out and after the foote wrapped with clowtes and shooed with Brome you must open the Hoofe in the middest except the matter be ripe If he halte by reason of the Crampe or payne of the sinowes you shal rub his knees thighes and legges with Salt and Oyle till he be whole If his knees or ioyntes be swolen they must be bathed with warme Uineger and Linseede or Mylet beaten and layd to it with water and Hony. Also Spunges wette in hotte water and dryed againe and annoynted with Hony are very good to be layd to the knees yf vnder the swelling there be any humor Leauen or Barly meale sodde in water and Hony or sweete Wine must be layd to it and when it is ripe it must be opened with a knife and healed as before All greefes generally yf they be not broken must be dissolued whylst they are new with bathes and fomentations and yf they be old they must be burned and the burning annoynted with Butter or Goates suet If he haue hurt his heele or his Hoofe stone Pitch Brimstone and greasie Wooll must be burnt vpon the sore with a hot iron The like must be done when he is hurt with a Stub a Thorne or a Nayle being first plucked out or yf it be very deepe it must be opened wyde with a knife and so handled for kiâ—ed heeles take and cast him and bind his legges fast togeather then take your knife and cut it out as nie as you can and let him bleede well then take a peniworth of Uerdegrease and the yolke of an Egge and temper them well togeather and bind them close to the place and he shall heale If the Udder of your Kine do swell you shall bathe them with Iuie sodden in stale Beere or Ale and smoke them with Hony Coames and Camomell If the Bullockes feete be neare worne and surbated washe them in Oxe pysse warmed and kindling a fewe twygges or spraps when the flame is doone cause him to stand vpon the hotte imbers and annoynt his hornes with Tarre and Oyle or Hogges grease They wyll neuer lightly halt yf after they haue ben laboured their feete be washed wel with cold water and afterwards their Pastorns and the places betwene the Clees be rubbed with old Swynes grease The skabs or manginesse is gotten away with rubbing them with stamped Garlicke which also cureth the biting of a madde Dogge besides Peniriall and Brimstone beaten and boyled
with Oyle Uineger and water and after whilst it is warme a little Alom made in powder and cast into it doth cure the skabbe being annoynted in the sunshine Other vse to annoynt them with Butter and Bullockes pisse and some againe take Rozen Tarre Wine and vse it as a Pultesse Hydebound is when the skin so stickes to his backe that you can not take it vp from the ribbes which happeneth by suffering him to take cold after his swette or yf after his labour he be wette with rayne or brought lowe with sicknesse which because it is very dangerous you must looke that when they come from their labour and are hot you sprinkle them with Wine and geue them some peeces of fatte or suet But yf they be alredy Hydebound it is good you seeth some Bay leaues and with the warme decoction thereof to bath his backe and to rubbe him all ouer with Wine and Oyle mingled togeather and to lyft and plucke vp the skinne round about and that abroade while the sunne shineth If his bleeding stench not after the cutting of the vaine the remedy is to lay his owne doung to the place A common medecine for all diseases as Vegetius reporteth is this the roote of a sea Onion the roote of the Popler and the common Salte of eache a sufficient quantitie lay them in water and geue it your cattell to drinke tyl they be whole which also being geuen in the beginning of the spring for the space of fourteene dayes preserueth them from all sicknesse Nowe that you haue heard in what sort the old husbands did remedy the diseases in their cattell I shall breefely declare vnto you the remedies that are obserued in sundry diseases at this day wherof I haue chopt in some amongst the medecines before First for the Murraine it beginneth at the first in the throte and swelleth in the head and rotleth with much noyse in the throte whereby it is perceaued take a quart of newe Milke half a peniworth of Butter a peniworth of Garlicke two peniworth of English Saffron two peniworth of Cinamon two peniworth of Turmericke a quantitie of Hearbegrace a quantitie of Bittony mingle them altogether geue it him warme then take an Alle and thrust the top of his nose vpwarde take but the very top to thrust through and not to the headwarde then let him blood in the necke almost a pottell yf he be able saue the blood and let it stand yf it change he may liue yf not he dieth An other for the same Where he swelleth about the iawes and vp to the eares open him vnder the iawes to the roote of the tongue get in your finger and open it a good wydenesse then take a good peece of ruâ—tie Bacon a handfull of Raggewort stampe them well togeather and fyll the hole full with it then let him blood at the nose and the tongue A drinke for the same Take Tansie Hearbegrace Longwort Hisope Time of eache a like quantitie halfe a handfull stampe them and take a quarte of good Alegroundes and seethe them a wallope or two take and straine it and put the licour into a vessell put therunto a peniworth of Graines a peniworth of long Pepper a peniworth of Ortment a peniworth of Fenegreke geue it the beast luke warme The sicknesse of the Loonges is perceiued yf the Dewlappe be hard closed togeather very farre vp also in hard feeling the Hyde vpon the backe it cracketh or snappeth much also a short husking and thrusting out the tongue withall yf it be much perished on the left side he is vncurable whiche you shall perceiue by the Hyde which wyll sticke fast on that side and likewyse the Dewlappe yf he be farre gone he wyll grone much The remedie for this disease is to take long Pepper a peniworth round Pepper asmuch of Graines two peniworth of Turmericke two peniworth of Fenegreke two peniworth of Mace asmuch Cloues a peniworth of Anisseedes a peniworth of Madder two peniworth of Tryacle of Geane the vtter rine of Wallnuts dryed and made in pouder Iuniper berries poudred Oxe Loongworth Fetherfewe Hearbgrace Tansie Horse Mintes Bay berries poudred a peniworth of Garlicke a quarte of Chamberly a pinte of Salte a quantitie of Butter Setter him before or immediatly after this medcine geuen The order of Settring a Bullocke is this take Setterwort otherwyse called Bearfoote and Garlicke like quantitie peele and stampe the Garlicke pare the Setterwort cleane and wrappe them wll in Butter then cut the Dewlappe two inches behinde the sticking place to the brestwarde and cut it alongstwyse about two or three inches and pull the Dewlappe with thy finger or with a sticke rounde about one side from the other as much as you can possible Then put the Setterwort Garlike and Butter as much as thou canst well put in and thus doo on both sides the Dewlappe then rowle him so that the string may goe through both holes on both sides the Dewlappe alwayes remembring to cut the Dewlappe a handbroade or aboue the bottome and in any wyse to rent him to the bottome before you put in the medecine The third day after the Settring looke to them open the wounde and let out the corrupcion yf it be come downe if not put in more of the medicine and turne the rowle and yf it be much swolen and hard and wyll not rotte take a hotte iron and take vp parte of the soare the skimâ—â— and the fleshe in such place as thou seest most conuenient so as it come not to the bone and thrust the iron through on the one side and on the other or once right vnder yf the swelling be right beneath and tarre him well yf the flyes be busie Which flyes yf they chaunce to get into the soare take a cloth or towell and lappe it about a sticke and put it into skalding hotte Tarre and so among the Maggottes searching euery corner wel After you haue pearsed him with the hot iron remember to take a little sticke and Towe and dipping it in Sallet Oyle or Wooll Oyle to rubbe the hole where the iron passed The sicknesse of the Gall is knowen by the running eyes yf he haue much yellowe earewaxe it is also discerned by the browne yellowes vnder the vpper lippe the cure is this Take Chamberly good Ale groundes or Beere groundes hard Soote in pouder Gallwort beastes Loongwort Planten leaues Hearbgrace Hempleede or Hemp toppes Garlicke stamped a peniworth of Aqua vite for a great Bullocke take almost a quarte of this medecine for a small Bullocke lesse when he hath drunke take Salt Lome of the wall and leauened bread and rubbe well his tongue and all the roofe of his mouth then washe his backe and chafe it wel with Chamber-lye lukewarme geather all these hearbes in Sommer and keepe them and make them in pouder This medecine serueth likewyse for the Loonges If a Bullocke be diseased in
a sharpe poynted knife slytte the skinne a quarter of an inche long aboue the hole and as much beneathe and put thy one hande in the hollowe of the foote vnder the hinder Clee and set thy thumbe aboue almost at the slytte and thrust thy finger vnderneath forwarde and with your other hande take the blacke heares by the ende or with thy kniues poynt and pulling the heares a little a little thrust after thy other hand with thy finger and thy thumbe and there wyll come out a woorme like a peece of fleshe neare as bigge as a little finger when it is out put a little Tarre in the hole and it wyll shortly mende If they happen by the extreame heate of the sunne to fall downe and to forsake their meate geue them the iuyce of the wylde Beete and cause them beside to eate the Beetes If they hardly drawe their brethe slytte their eares and let them bleede If they be troubled with the cough Almondes beaten with wine and powred a prettie quantitie into their nostrylles remedieth them A Sheepe or Swyne that hath the murreyne of the Loonges you shall helpe by thrusting through their eare the roote of Setterworâ— this sicknesse dooth commonly spring of want and skarsetie of water and therefore in Sommer time specially you must suffer no kinde of cattell to want water Their legges yf they happen to be broken are to be cured in like sort as mens be being wrapped fyrst in wooll dipped in Oyle and Wine and afterward splented The young Lambes other Sheepe also whyle they goe a broade are troubled with skabbes and manginesse about their lippes which they geat by feeding vpon deawy grasse the remmedie is Hysope and Salt of eache a like quantitie beaten togeather and their mouthes their pallattes and their lippes rubbed withall the vlcerous places must be noynted with Uineger Tarre and Swynes grease Yf they chaunce to swell with eating of any woorme or venemous grasse you shall let them blood in the vaines about the lippes and vnder the tayle and after power into them chamberly If they happen to swallowe a Horsleache power into them strong and tarte Uineger warme or Oyle Agaynst the murrion or the rotte I haue seene geuen them certaine spoonefulles of Brine and after a little Tarre this medecine was vsed by Maister Ihon Franklin of Chart in Rent who was in his life time a skilfull husband and a good housekeeperâ— In like sorte haue I seene this medecine Take for euery fore one peniworth of Treacle and likewyse one little handfull of Hempseede ground Iuie Elder leaues and Fetherfewe as much as a Tenisballe of Lome and asmuch Bay salte put thereto Chamberly and alittle Soote make it all luke warme and geue to euery one three spoonefulles good and after euery one a little Tarre before they goe out of hand In some places they vse to take the dryed flowers of Woormewood mingling them with Salteâ—they geue them to their Sheepe as a general medecine against all diseases This medecine is commended by Hierominus Tragus both for aswaging of any paine and driuing away any hurtfull diseases from cattell EVPHOR Good HEDIO forgeat not to speake something of your Goates HEDIO Goates haue many thinges common with Sheepe for they goe to Buck at one time goe as long with young as the Sheepe doo they yeelde commoditie with their fleshe theyr milke theyr cheese their skinnes and their heare the heare is profitable to make ropes of and packes and diuers like instrumentes belonging to sea men by reason that it neyther rottes with moysture nor is easely burnt with fyre Varro maketh mention of two sortes of them a heary sort and a smoothe Suche as haue Wennes or Wartes vnder theyr Chynnes are taken to be most fruitefull theyr Udders would be great theyr mylke thicke the quantitie much The hee Goate would be softer heared and longer his Necke short his Throte Boll deeper his Legges flesshy his Eares great and hanging it is thought better to bye the whole flocke togeather then to bye them seuerally At the Chinne of euery one of them hangeth a long beard which Plinie calleth AruncuÌ„ by which yf any man drawe one of them out of the flocke the whole flocke as amased stand gazing vppon him The hee Goate because of his beard and as Alianus sayth by a certayne instinct of nature preferring the male before the female goeth alwayes before his woman The bargayning for this cattell is not after the maner of bargayning for Sheepe for no wyse man wil promise that they be free from sicknesse being as they be neuer without the Agewe but he assures them that they be well to day and can drinke One thing is to be woondred at in this beast that he draweth not his winde as all other beastes doo at his Nose but at his eares The best kindes of them are those that bring foorth twyse a yeere and suche you must seeke for your breede The Goate is able to engender at seuen monethes olde being euen as lecherous as a Goate for whyle he is yet sucking he wyl be vpon y backe of his damme and therefore he waâ—eth feeble and vnable before he be sixe yeeres olde being nowe soked and consumed with his ouertimely lustinesse of his youth and therefore after he come to be fyue yeere olde he is no longer to serue your turne for breede The tyme when you shall suffer them to goe to rutte is in Autume a little before December that at the comming of the spring and blossoming of the trees the young may be brought foorth The Goate goeth with young as I sayde fyue monethes as the Sheepe dooth she bringes foorth commonly two and sometime sixe as Plinie witnesseth Suche as beare twyse you must keepe for your stocke for the renuing thereof and the encrease As touching their breeding you must in the ende of Autume seuer your hee Goates The young Goates of a yeere olde and two yeeres bring foorth Kiddes but as Columella sayth they are not to be suffered to bring them vp except they be three yeeres olde and therefore you must away with the young that the Goates of the fyrst yeere may breede and suffer the Kydde of a two yeere damme to sucke no longger then it is meete to be solde When the Kyddes are brought foorth they must be brought vp in like sorte as I tolde you of the Lambes sauing that the wantonnesse of the Kydde is more to be restrained and heedelyer to be kept in and must be fed beside theyr milke with young bowes Plinie affirmeth that they be skarse good for breede at three yeere olde but yf they passe foure they be starke nought that they begin at seuen moneths euen whyle they be vnder the mothers brest The fyrst ryding prospereth not the second is somewhat to the purpose the third spredth shee bringes foorth tyll shee be eyght yeeres olde and therefore the she Goates when they
be aboue eyght yeeres is not to be kept for shee then becometh barraine Those which want hornes as in the male kindes of all others be the best for the horned by reason of theyr weapons are hurtful and vnruely Besides the female of such as lacke hornes doo geue alwayes greater plentie of milke but Columella as he commenâ—eth the Pollardes in a temperate and milde countrey so in a boysterous and a stormie region he would haue them horned Such as haue hornes doo shewe their age by the cirkels of their hornes it is thought that they see as well by night as by day and that they alwayes lay theyr faces turned one from the other and in that order also feede Cold as it is sayde is very hurtfull to this kinde of cattell specially to those that be with young as likewyse the extreame heate The witte of this beast Nutianus reporteth he once had experience of wheras a couple of them chaunced to meete vppon a very long and narrow brydge and the straightnesse woulde not suffer them to turne and to goe backwarde blindfolde in suche a strayght considering the swyftnesse of the streame vnder them was more vnpossible the one of them lying downe the other passed ouer his body Varro doth commend sundry little flockes kept seuerall then greate flockes togeather vsing for example one Gaâ—erijus because a great flocke is sooner subiect to the murrine thinking fyfty to be yenough for one flocke Columella also affirmeth that there ought not to goe aboue one hundred of them togeather whereas of Sheepe he alloweth a thousand in one flocke The byting or brusing of them is poyson to all kinde of trees and therefore were they in olde time sacrifysed to Bacchus because they were so hurtfull to Uines Theyr stables Columella would haue to stand vpon a stony ground or els to be paued for this beast needeth nothing vnder him but a fewe bowes when he lyeth abroade the shepheard must often sweepe and make cleane their houses not suffering any doung or moysture to remayne in them that may be hurtfull to the flocke for as I sayde before they are seeldome without feuers and much subiect to the pestilence And whereas other cattel when they haue the Murrayne amongst them as soone as they be infected beginne to languishe and pine away onely these Goates as soone as they be taken though they be neuer so lusty to looke vpon suddenly fall downe togeather and dye as thicke as hayse whiche disease dooth cheefely happen by too muche ranknesse of pasture And therefore as soone as you perceaue one or two of them fall downe let the whole flocke blood with as much speede as you may and suffer them not to feede all the day but shutte them vp the foure middle houres of the day Yf they be diseased with any other sicknesse you must geue them the rootes of Reedes and of the great white Thystle stamping them with iron Pestels and strayned with rayne water let them drinke it and yf so be this medecine heale them not your best wyl be to sell them or to kyll them and pouder them and when you bye newe bring them not home too hastâ—ly tyll the disposition of the ayre be altered If they fall seuerally sicke cure them in such sort as you do your Sheepe Florentinus saith yf you stampe with water the Guysard of the Storke and geue them to drinke a spoonefull a peece it preserueth both Sheepe and Goate from al murrayne and pestilence If their bellyes be swelled with water which the Grecians call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Dropsey yf the skâ—nne be laâ—mâ—ed a little vnder the shoulder it lets out the hurtfull matter and you may heale the sore with Tarre EVPHOR You haue for your part very well satisfyed vs touchyng the good ordâ—â—yng of your cattel there remaynes yet one thyng for you whiche we all forgate to speake of and that is the orderyng of Mylke our cheefest foode and sustenaunce HEDIO Seeing that of this cattell whereof I haue enâ—treated the profyte of the Milke is not small it is no great reason we shoulde ouerpasse the orderiâ—g of the same â—or Milke as Varro sayth of all liquid thinges wherewith we seede is the greatest nourisher Milke differeth in goodnesse â—ecording to the nature of the beastes that geue it as the Milke of Women of Kine Sheepe Goates Asses Mares and Cammeâ—s the greatest nourisher is Womans milke the next Goates milke whereby the Poets faine that their god Iupiter him selfe was nursed with Goates milke the sweetest next to Womans milke is the Cammels milke the holesomest is Asses milke the Asse as soone as she is with Colt geueth milke the Cowe neuer tyll she haue Calued most comfortable to the stomacke is Goates milke because he rather feedeth on bruttes and bowes then vpon grasse Cowe milke is most mede â—mable and most of al looseth the belly Sheepes milke is sweeter and nourisheth more but is not so good for the stomacke by reason it is fatter and grosser All milke that is milked in springtime is watrisher then the milke of sommer as likewise is the milke of young cattell it is holsomest being sodden specially with the Prebbles of the Sea. The Sheepe about Poncus neare to the Ryuer Astace doo geue as Plinie sayth blacke milke All milke generally as Dioscorides wryteth is of good nourishment but fylleth the stomacke and the belly with winde that whiche is milked in the spring is thinnest but looseth the belly most The difference of milke is taken as Varro sayth of the pastures the nature of the cattell and the milking Of the pasture when the caâ—tell is fedde with Barlye Strawe and all other hard and drye meates and this greatly nourisheth For purging of the belly the grasse pastures specially where the cattell feede of purging hearbes as Cardamus in his booke de plantis teacheth that yf you wyll purge Melancholy you must feede your mylche Goaâ—e or Asse with Polipodi and for all other humours Sene for the Dropsie with Spurge or Agarick for cleansyng of the blood with Fumitorie or Hoppes and yf you wyll but only loose the belly with Mercury or Mallowes so farre Cordanus Our countreymen doo cheefly commend for milke the pastures where groweth Spery and Clauergrasse and that is all bedeckt with yellowe flowres For the cattel the difference is betwixt the sicke and the healthy the young and the olde and for the milking that is best that is not long kept after the milking nor that is milked immediatly vpon the Caluing a grosse vnholsome kinde of milke To trye whether milke be mingled or not you shall take a sharp Rushe and putting it into the milke let it droppe from thence vppon your nayle and yf the droppe runne abroade it is a signe there is water in it yf it keepe togeather it shewes it to be pure and good Of milke is made Butter whose vse though it be cheefely at this day among the Fleminges
is yet a good and a profitable foode in other countreys and much vsed of our olde fathers yea euen of the very Patryarches as the Scriptures witnesseth the commoditie therof besides many others is the aswaging of hunger and the preseruing of strength it is made in this sort The milke assoone as it is milked is put out of the payle into bowles or pannes the best are earthen pans and those rather broade then deepe this doone the second or the third day the Creame that swyms aloft is fleeted of â—and put into a vessell rather deepe then bigge round and Cylinder fashion although in some places they haue other kinde of Charmes lowe and flatte wherin with often beating and moouing vp and downe they so shake the milke as they seuer the thinnest part of from the thicke which at the fyrst gather together in little crombles and after with the continuance of the violent moouing commeth to a whole wedge or cake thus it is taken out and eyther eaten freshe or barrailed with Salt. The Buttermilke that remayneth of the Butter is eyther kept for the famely or geuen to Calues and Hogges as a daintie foode Cheese is also made of the milke of cattell the milke being powred into a vessell of earth putting into it a little Rennet the quantitie of a Walnutte in a great vessell of milke whereby it turneth into curd Varro dooth better like the Rennet of the Leuret or the Kydde then the Lambes howbeit we commonly vse the Calues Rennet others vse sundry other meanes only with heate warming it in Tinne vessells and after dipping these vessels in cold water which is the sweetest and cleanliest manner others put in the seede of wylde Saffron and being so turned the Whay doeth greatly purge fleame others againe vse the milke of the Figge tree and then doth the Whay purge both choler and fleame some turne it with Oxymell or syrope of Uineger which is of all other wayes the holsomest some besides vse the little skinne of Birdes guysards and others the flowres of wylde Thystels or Harâ—â—chockes The newer and better the milke is the better wyll be the Cheese for made of two sorts of milke or milke that is to neare fleeted it soone sowreth and waxeth hard and nought and is not to endure any whyle Agayne being made of fatte and â—â—we milke it wyll very long endure and long continueth in his fatnesse and softnesse about a two or three houres after you haue put in your Rennet the milke commeth to a curd which is straightwayes put into Formes or Cheesefattes and pressed or yf they be but small they are only pressed with the hand If they be of any quantitie they haue great weyght vpon them it is very needefull you presse out the Whay with as muche speede as you can and to seuer it from the curd and not to let it lye slowly drayning of it selfe Those that make great Cheeses haue mouldes for the purpose and weyghtes and presses answerable After this they take them out of the presse and saye them vpon Hardelles or fayre smoothe tables in a shadowy and cold place and close from all windes springsing them all ouer with Salt that they may sweate out all theyr sowrenesse laying them so as they touch not one the other When they be nowe well hardned and thickned they are taken vp and pressed agayne with greater weyghtes and rubbed ouer with parched Salt and after layed in presse againe whereby it is thought they wyll neyther haue eyâ—s nor be ouer dry which faltes hapneth to come when they be eyther not well pressed or too much salted Some vse to put into the bottome of theyr pâ—yles the greene kernelles of the Pine apple and milking into them doo cause it so to turne You may also cause your Cheese to relishâ— of what soeuer you wyll as Pepper or any other spyce but Columella countes that for best Cheese that hath least mixture in it The strongest Cheese and hardest of digest on are those that are made of Buffes Milke the next are such as are made of the Milke of Ewes but the myldest and lightest of digestion are those that are made of Goates Milke the Cheese that is made of Mares Milke is of the same quantitie that the Buffe Cheese is There is Cheese also made of Cammels Milke and of Asse Milke the Cheeses that are made of Buffes Milke are at Rome in great estimation of all other cattell Such as are touched both aboue and beneath and haue more then foure pappes you can make no Cheese of theyr Milke for it wyll neuer curd In our dayes the best Cheeses are counted the Parmasines made about the Ryuer of Po esteemed for theyr greatnesse and daynetinesse of which you shall haue brought into other countreys that way aboue threescore pounde Next are commended the Holland Cheese the Cheese of Normandy and the Englishe Cheese In England the best Cheese is the Chesshyre and the Shropshyre then the Banbury Cheese next the Suffolke and the Essex Cheese and the very worst the Kentish Cheese The places where the best Cheese is made appeareth by this olde englishe Distichon better sensed then footed Banbury Langtony Suffolke good Cheese Essex go thou by Shropshyre cum Cheshyre Hertford may well with the best peere Of the discommoditie of Essex Cheese our Englishe Martial Iohn Heywood thus meeryly wryteth I neuer sawe Banbury Cheese thicke yenough But I haue seene Essex Cheese quicke yenough Cheese they say wyll best endure and is longest preserued yf you keepe them in heapes of Pulse or Wheate and yf you steepe your Renuce in the iuyce of Byrch you shal be sure to haue neyther Myte nor Creeper in your Cheese The Cheese that is soft and newe doth more nourish then the dry be more comfortable to the stomacke not long in digesting the old is contrary according to the prouerbe No Cheese good but the new Old Cheese wyl become new in taste yf you lay them in Time Uineger or in Wine yf through age it be hard and bitter let it be rubbed ouer with Meale of vndryed Barley and then dipt in water and after the outer rynde scraped of We haue oft times proued that hard Cheese wrapped in cloutes wet in Uineger or Wine and oftentimes sprinckled with wine and so layde vp returne to a softnesse and a very pleasant taste Some lay it in leauen couering it close therewith and therby make it soft It is reported that Zoroastes â—â—ued twentie yeeres in wyldernesse with Cheese so ordered as it neuer waxed olde EVPHOR Of the Whay that commeth from the Cheese being sodde with a soft fyre tyl the fatnesse of the Cheese swym aloft are made Welcurdes HEDIO You were woont to loue them well EVMEVS I doo in deede specially yf there be good store of newe milke put into the Whay The olde wryters doo teache the making of a kinde of white meate not much vnlike to Welcurdes which they called Melcan
it vp with the rinde of Wyllowe or Elme after this keepe them vp in the house a day or two and geue them warme water with a good quantitie of Barly flowre If the Quynsey or Vnula to which desease this beast is wonderous subiect chaunce to take them Dydimus woulde haue you let them blood behinde aboue the shoulders others vnder the tougâ—e some agayne cure them with settering If the kernells swell in the throate you must let them blood vnder the tongue and when they haue bledde rubbe their mouthes within with salte finely beaten Wheate floure Democritus woulde haue you geue to euery Sowe three pound weyght of the beaten roote of Daffadyll If they vomite and lothe their meate it is good to geue them before they goe abroade the shauinges of Iuory with fryed salte and ground Beanes Swyne whyle they feede abroade by reason of their great deuouring for it is an vnsatiable beast do wounderously labour with the abundance of the Splen for remedy wherof you shall geue them water as oft as they thyrst in Troughes made of â—amaryce the iuyce of whiche wood is very holsome for them Democritus teacheth to geue vnto Hogges that haue the Splen the water wherein the Coles of Heath haue been quenched This beast hath somtime a sicknesse wherin he pines away and forsaketh his mâ—ate and yf you bring him to the feelde he suddenly fallâ—th downe and lyeth as it were in a bead sleepâ— which as 〈◊〉 as you pâ—rcâ—iue you shall shuâ—â—e vp the hâ—ly heard in soâ—e house and make them to fast one day both from water and meate the nâ—xt day the roote of the wyld Coucumber 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 with water is geuen them to drinke wâ—â—ch aâ— soone as they haue taken they fall a vomitting and so purge themselues When they haue thus expelled theyâ— câ—â—ller you shall geue them hard Beanes strained with brine An exâ—elleâ—t 〈…〉 against all pestilence of Swyne doth Hieroâ—â—mus â—raâ—us teach which is when you see them infectâ—d â—o geue them the rootes of Polipodi or Oke Ferne boyled in wine whereby they shall purge what so euer is euyll from them and most of all choller wherewith Swyne are most troubled tâ—â— same Hieâ—â—n as I remember teacheth for a Horseâ— though it be without my commission to meddle with them â— If he be sicke and suddenly fall downe of a disease that you know not to put vnder his tongue a peece of a Ferne roote wherevpon you shall see him immediatly voyde vpward and downeward what so euer is in his body and presently amende this he sayth and truely I dare beleeue him that he prooued with a Horse of his owne But to my Swyne whereas thyrst in sommer is hurtfull and daungerous to all kind of cattell to this beast it is most hurtfull and therefore you must not water them as you doo Sheepe Goates but twyse or thryse a day but yf you can you must keepe them by the water side that they may go thereto at pleasure for the Swyne is not content with drinking but he must often coole and plong his filthy panch in the water neither delighteth he in any thing so muche as to wallowe in the durt And yf you haue no suche places neare you must draw some water from the Well and geue it them in Troughes abundantly for except they drinke their fyll they wyll fall sicke of the Loonges which disease is cured as Columella wryteth by thrusting the roote of Setterwort through their eares Plinie affirmeth the Tode to be a present remedie for the sicknesse of Swyne Some say that yf a Sowe lose one of her eyes she dyeth soone after otherwyse she liueth fyfteene yeeres There is a kinde of disease amongst Swyne though otherwyse they be healthy and fatte wherin their fleshe is all infected with little graines as bigge as Peason the Greekes call them Chalazos and we at this day measled Swyne which you shal soone perceiue by the sight of the tongue and the horsenesse of their voyce this disease they say is naturall vnto them from which you shal preserue them yf you nayle certaine places of lead in the bottome of their Trough You shall also keepe them from this disease yf you geue them to drinke the roote of Briony the general and common remedy is Allome Brimstone and Bay berries of eache alike adde therevnto a handful of Soote beate them all togeather and put them in a bagge which bagge you shall cast into their water when they drinke and renue it twyse in the yeere EVPH. I pray you EVMEVS doo not dissemble but tell vs truely how you doo to haue your Hogges so fatte I beleeue you are in the Barne sometime when you should not be EVMEVS What meanes soeuer I vse in ordring my flocke is not to my mauters losse no more then is your diligence wherby you bring your cattell to be so fayre I told you before that he was an vnthrifty husband that had his Bacon from the shambles and not of his owne prouision and besides my maisters the Phisitions geue great commendations to Hogs flesh in that it hath such a nearenesse agreement with our bodyes neither is there as I sayde before a beast that makes more dishes And therfore it is greatly for profite to haue the husbandmans kytchen well stored with Bacon wherwith he may sustaine his houshold al the whole yeere You shal easely though woods be wanâ—ing â—ind Barnes Marshes Corne feeldes to feede them with They wyll be fatte as Plinie supposeth in threescore dayes specially yf they be kept from meate three dayes before you feede them they are fatted with Barley Otes or other Corne or Pulse eyther geuen whole or ground but of all others best wâ—th Mast and that flesh is better and of more substance that is fed with Acorns then that which is fatted with eyther Bâ—â—â—â— mast or Chestnutte This beast wyll in time be so fatte as he wyl be able neyther to goe nor stanâ— Yea Varro telles that there was seene in Arcadia a Sowe so fatte that she was not only vnable to ryse but suffered a Mouse to make her nest in her body and to lay her young there The same Varro reporteth that there was sent to Volumius a Senatour of Rome a peece of Porke of two ribs that wayed three twentie pound the thicknesse of which Sowe from the skinne to the ribbe was one foote and three ynches Your best is to put to fatting your Swyne of two or three yeeres olde for yf they be younger their growing wyll hynder their seedyng To keepe your Bacon any long time you must vse great diligence in the saltyng and drying of it whereby you shall haue it both holsomer and sweeter and besides to continue diuers yeeres to serue the turne yf scarsitte happen Your Hogge being in this sort fatted you must shut vp and not suffer him to drinke the day before you kyll him whereby the fleshe wyl be the dryer
haâ—e a speciall regard to knowe which be best to sitte for some be better to bring vp Chickins then to sitte Others agayne wyll eyther breake or eate vp both their owne Egges and their fellowes Egges such you must put aside and yf theyr nayles and bylles be sharpe rather employ them in brooding then in sitting Democritus telleth that Chickins may be brought foorth without setting vnder the Henne yf so be the doung of Hennes syfted very fyne be put in little bagges basted about with soft feathers vppon which the Egges must be layd strayght vpright with the sharpe ende vpward vpon these agayne must the like quantitie of Hennes doung be layd so that they be of euery side closely couered This done you must suffer them to lye for the two or three first dayes and after eâ—ery day turne them taking good heede that you knocke them not one against the other in the turnyng After twentie dayes you shall finde the Egges broken and therefore the twentieth day plucking away the shelles and taking out the Chickin you may commit them to the Henne It is written that Chickins haue been hatched by the continuall warmth of a womans bosome beside it hath been seene that Egges being laide in an Ouen or warme place couered well with Strawe and Chaffe hauing a little fire beside and one to turne them continually haue disclosed and broken at their accustomed time Aristotle wryteth that Egges put in warme vesselles or couered with doung wyl hatch of them selues The number of the Egges that your Henne shall sitte vppon some would haue to be odde and not alwayes alike but in Ianuarie and Februarie fifteene and no more in March nieneteene and no lesse which number you shall continue all the sommer tyll September or October after which time it is to no purpose to breede any longer for the Chickin by reason of the colde weather and diseases neuer prosper Yea some be of opinion that after the tenth or twelfth of Iune you shall neuer haue fayre broode and that the best season for sitting beginneth at the tenth of March. And herein you must alwayes be sure to haue the Moone encreasyng from that she be tenne dayes olde tyll fyfteene for that is the best time to sitte in And so must you agayne dispose the time as the hatching may fall out in the encrease of the Moone for the iust time of hatching there are sundry opinions Aristotle wryteth that they are hatched in nieneteene dayes Varro for Chickins one and twentie dayes or twentie dayes for Peacocks and Geese seuen and twentie dayes and sometimes more Ducks in the like space to the Henne specially yf they sitte night and day allowing them only the mornyng and the euenyng to feede whiche times they must of necessitie haue If so be you wyll set vnder your Henne Peacocks Egges with her owne you must set her vppon the Peacocks Egges ten dayes before she haue her owne egges whereby they shall be hatched all at once neyther must you set aboue fiue Peacocks or Goose Egges vnder a Henne If you would haue al Cocke Chickins you must choose such Egges as be longest and sharpest as againe for Hennes the roundest as both Plinie and Columella wryte though Aristotle seeme not of that opinion To vnderstand which be good egges which not you must as Varro teacheth put them in water and such as be nought wyl swyme aloft and the good goe straight to the bottome Others doo hold them vp against a candle and yf they see through them they iudge them light and nought You must in no wise shake them or shoggle them leste you breake the stringes of lyfe that are but newely begun it hath ben seene that by shaking of the egges the Chickins haue been hatched lame We may beside perceiue whether the Egges will proue wel or no yf foure dayes after the Henne haue sitten you holde them vp in the sunne or other light and yf you see that they be cleere cast them away and put other in theyr places Agaynst thunder that many times marreth the Egges some doo sette about them the leaues or branches of Bayes or Bentes or Grasse others agayne the heades of Garlicke and nayles of iron In the great heate of the Sommer you must nowe and then sprinckle the Egges a little with water and wet them least by the extreame heate they waxe dry and adle specially the Egges of Turkies and Hennes When so euer you meane to make cleane theyr nestes you must take vp the Egges and laye them tenderly in some lâ—ttle basket and so lay them speedyly againe in the cleane nest neare to the place where the Henne sittes you must set water and meate that they may better keepe theyr nestes and that by theyr long absence the Egges waxe not cold And although the Henne dooth alwayes turne her Egges yet it behooueth you when shee is from the nest to turne them softly with your handes that by receauing a like warmth they may the sooner be redy And yf shee haue happened to brust any of them with her feete you must presently remoue them At the nienetenth day you must looke diligently whether the Chickins doo iobbe the shell with theyr bylles and hearken whether they peepe for many times by reason of the hardnesse of the shel they can not com foorth therfore you must helpe them out with your handes and put them to the Henne and this you must doo no longer then three dayes for the egges that after one and twenty dayes make no noyse haue nothing in them and therfore you must cast them away that the Henne loose not her labour Upon the twentieth day yf you sturre the egges you shal heare the Chickin from that time beginne the feathers the Chickin lying so as the head resteth vpon the right toote and the right wing lieth vppon the head the yolke vanishing by little and little away You must not take the Chickin away as they hatcht but suffer them to remaine one whole day with the Henne in the nest without meate or drinke tyll such time as they be all hatched It is wonderfull and yet the experience seene that before they be suffered to eate they take no harme though they fall from a great heygth The next day when all the flocke is come foorth Columella woulde haue you to put them vnder a siue and to perfume them with the smoke of Peniryal or to hang them in a basket in that smoke which preserueth them as it is thought from the Pippe which many times distroyeth the poore Chickin then must you put them into a Coope with the Henne and feede them at the first with Barly meale sodden in water and sprinckled with a little Wine Afterwardes when they goe abroade you must feele euery one of them whether there remayne any of the meate they receaued the day before for yf theyr Croppes be not empty it betokeneth want of digestion and therfore you must keepe them fasting
proportion and yf they be empty not to meddle with them Plinie woulde not haue the Hony of the spring time whiche he calleth flowre Hony to be medled with all but to be spared Others leaue no Hony at all for them because of the abundance of flowres that are then springing which is the cheefe fundation of their Coames Such as be skilfullest doo leaue the Bees a twelfth part of theyr labour and this they doo about a thirtie dayes after the swarme which they make an end of commonly in May. The olde and the corrupt Coames are for the most part at this time taken away and the sound and such as are filled with Hony left in taking of the Hony at the latter time of the yeere they vse to destroy the oldest stockes to saue the charges of feeding of them This driuing and gelding of Hyues is not commonly vsed in the countrey but they rather according to theyr custome at the end of the yeere burne them alleging for theyr aucthoritie an olde englishe prouerbe of theyr owne Dryue Bees and loose Bees burne Bees and haue Bees and in some places they drowne them When you haue thus spoyled your Hyues you shall carry all your Coames into some handsome place where you meane to make your Hony and stoppe vp all the holes and creuisses of the walles and wyndowes as close as you may for the Bees wylbe very busie to recouer the pray Your Hyues being thus driuen yf there be any ill placed Coames at the entry you shall alter them and place them in good order so as the toppes stand downeward so when you next geld them you shall easlyer take out the olde Coames and leaue the newe and the Wax shal be the newer which the older it is the worse it is When so euer you take out your Coames looke that you strayne out the Hony the same day whyle they are hotte and newe The Hony that you take at the full of the Moone as Plinie sayth yeeldeth most and the fayrer the day is the thicker it is The Coames being taken out let them rather be warmed then heated least by ouer heating them you strayne out the Wax with the Hony afterward put them into a good strong bagge and with a presse or other instrument made for the purpose or with a wycker baskette presse out the Hony but see that before you presse it you seuer from it suche Coames as haue in them young Bees called with some Grubbes or any redde or rusty drosse for these with theyr euill iuyce corrupt the Hony. When the Hony is this strayned out it is put into earthen vessels and suffered to stand vncouered a fewe dayes tyll it haue wrought and cast vp a loft all his drags which you must often skim of with a little sticke but in many places they are not so curious but iumble alltogeather and so sell it grose as it is The best Hony is alwayes in the bottome as the best Oyle aloft and the best Wine in the middest CHENOBOSCVS What countreys yeeldes the best Hony and which count you the best MELISSEVS The best Hony was in the olde time thought to be in Athens and in Sicil it is nowe thought very good that commeth from Moscouia and the Northeast regions The Hony at the beginning is thinne as water and after the strayning it worketh like newe Wine and spurgeth at the twentieth day it waxeth thicke and afterwardes is couered with a thinne rine or filme where the froth of the purging is geathered togeather The best Hony and least infected the Bees doo geather from the leaues of the Oke the Lindtree and the Reede There is three sortes of Hony the best kinde is that which is called Authim or flowre Hony made in the spring-time the next is Sommer Hony or hasty Hony made in thirty dayes after the tenth of Iune when the Dogge beginnes to come in the thyrd is Heath Hony a wyld kind of Hony and not allowed being geathered after the first shewers of Autum whyle the Heath is in flowre and therefore like the Sandy Hony. The best Hony as Diophanes sayth is cleare yellowish smoth in touching and fine roping yf it be drawen in length and long sticking togeather clammy and hard to be got asunder the Hony that is of the worst making is to be boyled Bread yf it be dipped in it doth strayght corrupt it and therefore take heede you put it not where Bread hath been The fragments of the Coame that haue once been pressed being taken out heated and strayned agayne doo make a second Hony which you must put vp and keepe by it selfe for spoyling of the other Noughty counterfet Hony is diserned by the burning for the ill Hony burneth not cleare as the sayd Diophanes witnesseth The drosse that remaineth after the pressing after that you haue diligently washed it in sweete water must be put in a brasse Caldron and putting a little water thereto melted vpon the fyre which when you haue done you must straine the Wax through a Siue or such like thing made of Strawe or Rushes and after seethe it againe and powring it into some vessel with water from whence you may eassy take it make it vp in cakes or what fashion you like Plinie wryteth that the Coames must fyrst be washed well and afterward dryed in the darke for the space of three dayes and the fourth day set vppon the fyre in a newe earthen vessell so as the Coames be couered with water and then strayned through a Ciue last of all boyled againe in the same vessell and the same water and so poured into vessells with colde water hauing theyr sides noynted with Hony. The Waxe wyl be very white after it hath stand in the Sunne and beene twyse sodden you shall make it blacke with the asshes of Paper and being mingled with Uermillon it wylbe redde and so otherwyse coloured as you lyst CHENOBOSCVS If in the making of your Hony your Bees be almost consumed what wayes haue you to repayre them MELISSEVS When as an olde stocke is come to be small and that you are to furnish out the number you must destroy as I sayd the newe king in the spring time when there is a newe broode in the Hyue that the newe people without discord may dwell with theyr olde parentes And yf so be the Coames haue not yeelded a newe broode you must take the dwellers of two or three other Hyues and put them into one but so as you remember before to sprinckle them with some sweete lycour and so shutte them vp with foode conuenient for them tyll they be fully acquainted leauing but little breathing holes about the Hyue and keepe them thus enclosed three dayes Others doo vse to kill the eldest king but that Columella alloweth not but yf the king be very old the age of Bees shall shortly be shewed vnto you and the people alwayes geuen to sedition then shall you choose a
and whatsoeuers meete To rayse their walles and Empire vp to set The other maners or repairing Bees by art the same Poete eloquently this touched But yf your Bees doo happen all to dye The breeders gone that should the race renewe His lesson learne whose skilfull cunnyng bye Made Bees with blood of Bullockes that he slewe c. The maner how Bees are ingendred of a Bullocke Virgil doth largely discourse out of Mago and Demberitus You must frame a little house fouresquare about tenne cubites in bredth and as much in heighth with foure wyndowes on euery side one A young fatte Steere being brought hither his Nose his Eares and al other open ventes stopped and filled with linnen dipped in Pitche must be beaten with numbers of Clubbes to death so as both the bones and the fleshe may be broken without any blood for of the blood commeth the Bee. Afterward the house beeing deepe strawed with Tyme and the Bullocke laide vppon his backe the doores and the wyndowes must be close shut vp and so plaistred as there can no ayre enter Three weekes after the wyndowes must be opened on euery side saue where the winde bloweth strongest and the light and the ayre let in when it hath been wel cooled and refreshed the windowes must be shut vp againe and made as close as before and being opened the eleuenth day after you shall finde the house ful of Bees and nothing left of the Oxe saue the hornes the heare and the bones they holde opinion besides that the kinges are ingendred of the braine and the other Bees of the body TVLLARIVS I like not so costly comming by Bees MELISSEVS Of the same opinion is Columella I tell you but the order of the olde skilfull fellowes you may choosâ— whether you wyll trye it CHENOBOSCVS I had rather you would tell vs what siicknesses and diseases they are subiect to and howe we may knowe the sicknesses and in what sort to helpe them MELISSEVS I wyl wyllingly shew you The signes and tokens of their health is yf they be liuely quicke and many in number yf their woorkemanship be neately and equally wrought yf they goe about their businesse cheerefully and yf they looke taire and smoothe Their signes of their not being in health is yf they looke lothsomely be roffe and heary except in the time of their labour when they commonly looke like labourers or be drousie or yf you see them carrying out of dead carkasses and folowing the Corses after the manner of mourners or that you heare no noyse nor sturring amongst them These signes when you see Columella wylleth you to geue them meate in little troughes of Reedes specially Hony sodden and ground with Galles or Roses You must also to heale them perfume them with Galbanum Reazins or olde strigges of Grapes If the king happen to dye the common people wayle and mourne with great heauinesse neither wyll they make any prouision for their owne sustenance and therefore yf you feede them not they wyll famishe them selues PISSINARIVS With what diseases are they most vexed MELISSEVS They are many times infected with the pestilence against which you haue no other remedy then to seuer the Hiues farre a sunder Theyr cheefest and early sicknesse is in the beginning of the spring when the Spurge and the Elme doo both flowre for as vpon newe fruites so at their first comming abroade entysed with these newe flowres being almost hungerstaruen with the winter passed they feede so greedily as they fall into a Flix whereof yf they be not quickly remedied they dye For Spurge dooth loose the bellies of all other creatures but the flowres of Elme bringeth only the Flix to the Bee. And therefore in such countreys where there is great plenties of these trees the Bees continue but a while Columella teacheth you against this disease to geue them Rosemary sodden with water and Hony some againe vse to geue them the stale of man or Bullocke as also the graines of the Pomâ—gâ—aâ—â—te beaten and sprinckled with Wine or Rezins with the like quantitie of Manna kneded togeather and geuen them 〈◊〉 sharpe Wine boyled in an earthen vessell and powred 〈…〉 Reedes Virgil discribeth an hearbe called Aumellus with a yellowe stalke and a Purple flowre the iuyce of whose rooâ—e being sodden in old Wine and strained out is very good to be geuen them Columella out of Higimus teacheth to remedy them in this sort First to take out all the rotten and corrupt Coames and to geue them freshe meate and after to perfume them with smoke It is good also to put to a decayed Hiue a newe swarme as I saide before Many times they dye of a disease that they call the great deuouring which happeneth when they haue made so much Wax as they thinke they shal be able to fill and afterwardes by storme and tempest many of them be destroyed so that the remaine suffiseth not to fill the Coames whereby the empty partes of the Coames becommeth rotten and so by little and little infecteth both the Hony and the Bees For which the only remedy is eyther to put in a newe swarme to fill vp the celles or yf you haue no such swarmes to cut away part of the Coames before they come to be nought which you must doo with a very sharpe knife for feare of displacing the rest of the Coames A cause beside many times of the death of the Bees is theyr too much prosperitie as when there are diuers yeeres great abundance of flowres and the Bees so busie in theyr feeding that they forget theyr breeding who ouerweerying themselues with trauaile they dye not leauing any brood behind them It is called Blapsigâ—nia when eyther by sicknesse slouthfulnesse or barramesse they leaue no fruitte behind them To remedy this it is good euery third day to shutte vp the Hiues close leauing but very small holes out of which they can not creepe so shall they be forced to looke to their broode when as they can not otherwyse range abroade Many times besides they are the cause of theyr owne deathes when perceauing their Hony to goe away they feede to greedily Their owne Hony dooth also many times destroy them for being touched with it on the backe they are so limed as they can not stur and Oyle doth not only kill Bees but also all other like creatures Flies and Woormes They hate all filthy fauours and sting such as smell of oyntmentes they are often beseeged with Waspes Hornettes and great Gnattes the Swallow doth oftentimes spoyle them the Woodpecker doth with his long tongue thrust into the Hiue licke vp their Hony and diuers other Birdes as I haue sayd before annoy them The Toade bloweth them and sucketh them vp at their owne doores who sustaines no hurt by their stinging Sheepe are also hurtfull and troublesome to Bees in whose fleeses they so tangle them selues as they can hardly geat out In the waste woods of Sarmatia
When you haue thus after his thyrst killed him you shal eyther skalde hym with water or with a flame made with strawe or stickes syng him for the maner of such as flea him I lyke not After that hangyng him vp by the heeles you shall plucke out his bowels and put them to dressing his fleshe being cold hard you shall lay vppon a table and cutting out the head the gammon and the fleetches pouder them with salt thrusting greate store thereof in euery place specially where the bones be that donne put it into your pouldring tubbe strowing salt yenough vnder it some would haue you salt in the wane of the Moone Before you pouder it you must presse and drye out al the blood and the water Some before they salt it doo plucke out the bones thinking it the best way for preseruing it and to keepe it longest sweete Others agayne doo not strayghtwayes put it into the pouldering tubbe but doo leaue it vppon a table for ten dayes after and then hang it vp in a pure ayre to drye in the larde And when it hath ben dryed in the winde certaine dayes by little and little they let the smoke come to it and afterwards more abundantly The Bacon wyll be the sweeter yf beside the smoke the winde may come to it yf you hang it in greaâ—e smoke at the fyrst it wyl be rustie Dydimus sayth that the Bacon wyl long continue sweete yf after the dressing cooling and drying it be hanged vp in shaddowy and moyst places rather toward the North then toward the South and that it wyll be sweeter yf it be couered with Snowe and Chaffe the tubbâ—s that you poulder in must be such as haue had Oyle in rather then those that haue had Uineger Although I haue before spoken of the woorthynesse and antiquitie of shepheardes and heardsmen yet must I here say that it is in vayne to meddle with the ordering and keeping of cattell except you haue handsome and skilful men that may take the charge For the knowledge of keeping of cattell hath a discipline wherin a man must from his very Chyldehood be brought vp and surely it is meete that the husband or Bayliffe haue ben brought vp or trayned in all these trades and to come by degrees to his maisters pryze As from a swyneheard to a shepheard from a shepheard to a netheard c. And most true it proueth in this that commeth to passe in all other gouernmentes that such are best able to take charge of gouernment that passing by degrees and offices haue from being vnder gouernment come to gouerne them selues for though where the flocke is but small and feeding not farre of is brought home euery day Chyldren and young folkes are able to serue the turne yet where the flockes be great and must be kept night and day in Forestes and wylde feeldes as I sayd before of the flockes that wintred in Appulia and sommered in the mountaynes of Kiete here I say the shepheards must both be men of lusty age strengh and diligence as also skilfull in that belongeth to theyr office for neyther old men nor chyldren are able to endure the hardnesse of clyming the hilles nor the sharpnesse of the cold mountaynes which they must alwayes doo that follow theyr flockes specially they that keepe Bullockes and Goates that delight to feede vpon Rockes and Clyues You shal se on the mountaines of Swycherland great goodly fellowes furnished in warlike maner to followe their heardes and flockes and to lodge in the wylde desartes farre from the company of men and there also to make both Butter and Cheese wherfore such as are meete to take charge in these places must be light swyft well limmed and not only wel able to followe their flockes but if neede be to defend them from wyld and rauening beastes to lyft great burdens to followe the chase and to be good archers in fine such a one as Homer doth make his EVMEVS to be And therefore the olde husbandes in hyring of a shepheard did alwayes couenant among others that he should be sound of body and limme and free from filching and theft In Slauony the heardsmen doo vse to haue theyr wyues abrode with them as companions of theyr iourney to dresse their meate such things as they neede suche thinges as are for the health of his beastes the shepheard must alwayes haue in a redynesse Varro would haue him both for this purpose for the better order of his reckoninges with his maister to wryte and reade Of the number of the heards men how many euery flocke ought to haue is to be measured by the countrey and kinde of the cattell The same Varro alloweth for euery foure score Goates one shepheard which Atticus alloweth to a hundred to euery fyftie Mares two men in our countrey one shepheard suffiseth for a hundred or two hundred Sheepe yea many times for three hundred and aboue specially where they be euery day brought home One swyneheard wil keepe twentie or thirtie Hogges or more if the ground be thereafter the lyke for Bullockes and Kine For Horses we seeldome haue heardsmen but euery man keepeth them at home eyther in stables or pastures not commonly exceedyng the number of twentie In what order you shall feede your cattel eyther in Sommer or in Winter and when towardes the South and when to the West I haue tolde you before The Dogge though the Lawyer alloweth him not in the number of cattel and though he yeeldes of him selfe no profyte yet is he as the shepheard for his trustinesse watching of the flocke to be esteemed and set by for they haue been seene to fight in the defence quarell of their maister Yea diuers of them haue been knowen after their maisters death vppon great affection and loue to famishe themselues wherevpon the price of good Dogges grewe to be very great It is written that Alcibiades gaue for one Dogge eyght score poundes There is not a more necessary creature then the Dogge about husbandry for beside his singuler faythfulnesse and watching in the night time he is also a quarter maister in keeping of the cattell and very needefull for the defence of them specially Sheepe Goates whiche would be soone destroyed by Woolfes Foxes Grayes and other vermine yf Dogges were not set to be their keepers Swyne feeding in heardes yf the wylde beastes inuade them making as it were a larum with their gruntyng and crying assemble them selues in their owne defence The greater cattell defende them selues some with their heeles some with their hornes onely the poore Sheepe hath no souldier but the Dogge Of Dogges that serue for profite there are but three sortes for of the fourth which are but for pleasure I make no account One of the sortes is such as by sent or swiftnesse serue for the chase and killing of wyld beastes these what maner of ones they should be and how they should be ordred Xenophon and