Grain with less Trouble and Cost than before Page 32 Chap. 16. To reduce Grounds to Fertility that have been spoiled by salt-salt-water or overflowing of sea-breaches Page 34 Chap. 17. Good Pasture and Meadow to be made of barren Soil of any sort of Earth simple or mixed Page 37 Chap. 18. Several useful Engins described for the watering of Meadow Pasture c. Page 38 Chap. 19. Further Rules and Directions for watering Meadow and Pasture for the improving and fertilizing of it Page 41 Chap. 20. The proper way effectually to drain Land and reduce it to Fertility either Arable or Pasture Page 43 Chap. 21. To drain Fenny and Marshy Lands with the least Charge and most effectually c. Page 45 Chap. 22. Tools and Instruments proper and useful in the working part and order of draining Land c. Page 47 Chap. 23. The best way to improve drained Fen-Lands to great Advantage c. Page 51 Chap. 24. Discoveries of Abuses in Ploughing and how to order them c. Page 53 Chap. 25. A Description of the most necessary sorts of Ploughs used for Tillage in England Page 56 Chap. 26. A Computation of Work to be done by one Man in one Day in the sundry Occupations relating to Husbandry Page 65 Chap. 27. The Variation of Soil in the several Counties requires different Measures to be taken in Agriculture c. Page 67 Chap. 28. What is required in Husbandry in order to Oxen and Horses for tilling of Lands variously situate c. Page 69 Chap. 29. Proper things to be observed and done throughout the twelve Months in the Year Page 70 Chap. 30. Vtensils and Tools necessary for the Husbandman for Arable Land the Barn Stable Meadows and Pastures c. Page 73 Chap. 31. To preserve your Grain when sown from all sorts of Vermin who are apt to destroy or annoy it Page 75 Chap. 32. To prevent Smuttiness in Corn preserve it against Blasts the Injury of Black Frosts Snow-water Mists and how it is to be ordered when reaped wet Page 78 Chap. 33. Proper Directions for the stacking of Corn to keep it from Vermin Fowl taking Wet or Musting Page 80 Chap. 34. To know washed Corn and how to lay up and keep it to the best Advantage all useful sorts of Grain in Graineries c. Page 81 Chap. 35. The best way to plant and order Hop-Vines to a great Encrease and Improvement of Land Page 86 Chap. 36. How to order Hop-Vines gather and dry Hops after the best manner c. Page 89 Chap. 37. Flax and Hemp good Improvers of Land How to manure the Ground for them and sow and order them Page 90 Chap. 38. To order Hemp and Flax when ripe to the best Advantage Page 92 Chap. 39. How to plant and order Saffron for the Improvement of Land c. Page 94 Chap. 40. Claver or Clover-grass how in the best manner to order the Seed sow and increase it for the Improvement of Land Page 96 Chap. 41. St. Foin or French-grass Directions for sowing ordering and improving it on Land Page 98 Chap. 42. Improvement of Land by sowing and well-ordering Turnips Page 99 Chap. 43. Improvement of Land by Sowing of Carrots and how to well order them c. Page 101 Chap. 44. Improvement of Land by sowing of Parsneps and the well-ordering them Page 103 Chap. 45. Improvement of Land by sowing Weld or Would and how to order it Page 104 Chap. 46. Improvement of Land by sowing of Woad and how to order it c. Page 105 Chap. 47. Improvement of Land by sowing Madder and how to order it Page 107 Chap. 48. Wood-land and Inclosures Improved and the great Advantage made thereby Page 108 Chap. 49. Of Oak Elm and Beech how to order and improve them for the best advantage Page 110 Chap. 50. Of Ash Walnut and Chesnut-trees c. Their Improvement and well-ordering Page 113 Chap. 51. Of the Maple Horn-beam Quick-beam Hazle Box Juniper Holly and Fir-Trees how to Order and Improve them Page 117 Chap. 52. Of Trees delighting in wet Ground as the Poplar Aspen-tree Alder Willow c. their Ordering and the best way to Improve them Page 120 Chap. 53. Farther Improvements for Ordering sundry sorts of Trees for the valuable Improvement of Land c. Page 121 Chap. 54. How to Order Trees for their better growing and more speedily turning to good Advantage Page 124 Chap. 55. Sundry Trees not yet mentioned their Growth and Well-ordering for the Improvement of Land Page 125 Chap. 56. Of Trees fitting for Timber and other Vses the sundry sorts their goodness and to what Vses properly to be attributed very necessary to be known c. Page 127 Chap. 57. A true Receipt how to make the best Bird-Lime Page 129 Chap. 58. Wonderful Improvement of Land by planting Trees and by Inclosures shewing the advantage of it over those Lands that lye in Common Page 130 Chap. 59. Of Inclosures and Trees planted in Hedge-rows both Fruit and others and the benefit arising thereby to the Owners of such Land c. Page 134 Chap. 60. Reasons for Inclosures and Wooding of Land both for the private and publick advantage and the Objections made against them answered and confuted in many convincing Particulars Page 137 Chap. 61. How to take the Stag Buck Hare Fox Badger Wild-Goat and Otter which destroy Corn Vnderwoods c. Page 141 The Countryman's Almanack Page 146 THE Mystery of Husbandry OR Arable Pasture and Wood-Land IMPROVED The INTRODUCTION Of the Excellency Necessity and Vsefulness of the Advancement of Good Husbandry THE Excellency of Husbandry appeareth partly by its Antiquity as we esteem Things to be the more Admirable the more Ancient and the nearer they come to God the First Being of all Beings for as all Things nearer the Centre move more strongly so all Excellency appears most evidently the nearer if I may speak with Reverence to the Great Majesty the Almighty Husbandiser God himself First in his Making the World He made all Creatures all Plants Fruits Trees Herbs and all Things bearing Seed for the Food of Man and Beast God also made these most Excellent and Glorious Creatures as the Light the Day the Firmament the Earth and Seas the Sun Moon and Stars all to be Serviceable and Ministers to the Creatures Relief and all the Creatures subservient to Man and Man to Overlook Cherish and Improve the Fruits of the Earth and Dress and Keep them for the Use of the whole Creation So that God was the Original and Pattern of all Husbandry and First Contriver of the Great Design to bring that odd Mass and Chaos of Confusion unto so vast an Improvement as all the World admires and subsists on And having given Man such a Pattern both for Precept and Precedent for his Encouragement he made him Lord of all until he fell and after that God intended the Preservation of what he made notwithstanding the Great Curse upon Adam Eve and the Serpent
a common Saying That Ground enriched with Chalk makes a rich Father and a beggarly Son The River-Land by overflowing and fast Ground with muddy mingled with Sand and Gravel will do very well CHAP. III. The Nature Vse and Benefit of Marl. THE Germans besides other sorts of Enriching their Grounds do in some places instead of Dung cast upon it a kind of a Pitch and Fatness of the Earth Pliny would have it to be first devised in England and France called Marga as it were the Fat of the Earth it is gotten in deep Pits but not alike in all Soyls Questionless Marle is a very useful thing the Nature of it cold which is the Reason that it saddens the Land exceedingly and very heavy it is and will go downward Some Countries yield Marle of several Colours as 't is affirmed of Kent where 't is found both Yellow Grey Blew and Red the Blew and Grey are counted the best for to Marle together I hold not propâ—r but when you resolve to lay down your Land to Graze be sure at the last Crop you intend to take which may be two or three more after Marling then Manure your Land with Dung which will open lighten and loosen the Land for the less binding and the more light loose and open the more fruitful it is so that it will produce a gallant Clovery The first Year after you have laid it down upon the Wheat or mixed Corn-stubble you should run it over again with Dung and it will pay treble The Lands upon which Marle is most natural for increase is upon the higher sandy Land mixed of Gravel or any sound Land whatsoever though never so barren to which it is natural and nourishing as Bread to Man's Life CHAP. IV. Of Ploughing the Parts of the Plough and the best Season for Ploughing IN Ploughing and Ordering and right Preparing the Ground for Seed consists the chiefest Point of Husbandry The most Experienced affirm That the first Point of Husbandry is to Prepare the Ground the second to Plough it well and the third to Dung it well The Fashions are divers according to the Nature of every Soyl and Country All great Fields are Tilled with the Plough and Share the lesser with the Spade The Ploughs some are single some double of sundry Fashions according to the diversity of the Countries some are with Wheels some without The Parts of the Plough are the Tail the Shelf the Beam the Foot the Coulter the Share the Wheels and the Staff The Share is that which first cuts the way for the Coulter that afterwards turns up the Furrow where the Ground is light they use only a small Share In Liffland they have for their Plough nothing but a Fork In Syria where they cannot go very deep they use as Theophrastus saith very little Ploughs Pliny writes that Wheels for Ploughs were devised by the Frenchmen and called Plugrat a German Name which is corruptly printed Planarati In divers places where the Ground is stiff they have a little Wing on the right side of the Coulter which Wing is to be removed to which side you list with the Rod or Staff well pointed the Plough-man maketh clean his Coulter when he works The Oxen must be yoaked even together that they may draw the more handsomely with their Heads at liberty that their Necks may not be hurt This kind of Yoaking is better liked of many than to be yoaked by the Horns for the Cattel shall be able to draw better with the Neck and the Breast than they shall be with their Heads and this way they put too the force of their whole Bodies whereas the other way being restrained by the Yoak and their Heads they are so vexed and hindred as that they can scarcely race the upper part of the Earth Where Horses may be used they are more commodious for the Plough and the fewer of them the better for many Horses draw too hastily and make too large Furrows which is not good whereas we see the Ground to be excellently well ploughed in Gelderland and about Cologne where they plough only with two Horses going very softly In France and other places where they plough with Oxen they make their Furrows rather deep than broad Where the Ground is stiff the Coulter must be the greater and the stronger that it may go the deeper for if the Crust of the Earth be turned up very broad it remaineth still whole whereby neither the Weeds are killed nor the Ground can be well harrowed The Furrow ought not to exceed One hundred and twenty foot in length for if it do as some hold it is hurtful to the Beasts because it will be too wearisome to them but this Rule is not observed as in the Countries where the Fields are great their Furrows are drawn very long You must not plough in wet Ground nor when after a long Drought a little Rain falling hath but wet the upper part and not gone deep If it be too wet when it is ploughed it will do little good that Year you must therefore observe that the Season be neither too dry nor too wet for too much driness causeth it that it will never work well for either the hardness of the Earth will resist the Plough or if it does enter it breaks it not small enough but only turneth up great Flakes hurtful to the next Ploughing For though the Land be never so rich yet if you go any depth it will prove barren which is turned up with great Clods from whence it proceeds that the bad Mould mixt with the good yieldeth the worser Corn. Where you have ploughed in a dry Season it will be convenient for you to have some moisture in your second stirring which moistning the Ground shall make your Labour the easier When the Ground is rich and hath long born Water it is to be stirred when the Weather is warmer and when the Weeds are full grown and have their Seeds in their top which being ploughed so thick as you can scarce see where the Coulter hath gone utterly killeth and destroyeth the Weeds besides through many stirrings your Fallow is brought to so fine a Mould as that it shall need little or no Harrowing when you Sowe it for the old Romans as Calumella affirms would say That the Ground was ill husbanded that after Sowing had need of the Harrow Moreover the good Husbandman must try whether it be well ploughed or not and not only to trust to his Eyes but to Experience with his hand otherwise the Balkes being covered with Mould he may easily be deceived so that he must be upon certain proof to which purpose let him thrust down a Rod into the Furrow which if it pierce alike in every place it sheweth that the Ground is well ploughed If it be shallow in one place and deep in another place it signifies that the Ground was not well ploughed If you are to plough upon a Hill you must plough overthwart
drawing the Earth in one place then proceed in the most likely places till you come to the Marle And the most proper places to make this Essay is in the lowest part of high Countries near Brooks and Lakes and in the high parts of Low Countries upon the Knowls of little Hills and in the Clefts of steep Banks or Breaches in Hills opening of themselves in some places it lies deep in some again shallow and commonly these barren sandy Grounds are verged with it lying very deep Having found it dig it up in great Lumps and bring it to your Land with what speed you can lay it on Heaps a yard Distance one from another and when iâ— is dried spread all the Heaps and mix the Marle with the Sand and observe if the Land ascend upon a Hill to lay twice as much on the upper part as on the lower because the Rain washing it will carry the strength downward so that it will fatten the Earth as it goes And where Marle is wanting Fullers Earth is an excellent Soil to supply the place of it beat these with a Beetle or Maul as small as you can and for this sort of barren Land though in Clay it is nought you may use Chalk or Lime-stones which much comfort it strengthen and knit the Ground together And having thus done when Seed-time comes plough it again deep that the new-broke-up Earth may mix with the old and lime it a little for the Nature of the Ground requires not so much of that as the Clay Ground This Ground will bear Wheat well but is most attributed to Rye which will grow on it in abundance If you sow Wheat steep it in salt-Salt-Water and for the other mix a little Bay-Salt with it when you sow it The Weeds this kind of Ground is most subject to are Wild Harbottles Chessbeles Gipsie-Flowers and the like which may be taken out by drawing up the Roots or cutting off the Stalks close by the Ground The Ground thus ordered will bear Wheat or Rye three Years and after that Barley with once ploughing the fifth Year Oats the sixth and seventh excellent Lupines and then it will be good Pasture three or four years after which you must dress it as before to recover its Heart and Strength CHAP. XII Of Ordering and Dressing Barren Sand over-run with Heath Fearn Braken and the Nature of the Soil c. THis sort of Ground is more dry loose and harsh than the former and to bring it to Fertility mow down the incumbring Weeds as close as may be and note if they be high it shews the Ground of some strength but if low weak and out of heart Lay them thin and turn the Weeds you mow down that they may dry and when they rustle that you may crumble them bring your Plough and turn up your Furrow that it may lie flat to the Ground one green Swarth against another then observe how broad your Furrow so turned up is or the Ground so covered and leave so much Space unploughed between Furrow and Furrow so that there may be a green Baulk and a Furrow And having gone over the Land in this manner take a Paring-Shovel and pare up the Furrows about two Inches thick in pieces of three Foot in length make them in little hollow Hills about a Yard and a half distance one from another ti l they are dried well in the Sun or Wind and placing the Earthy part upwards put dried Fern under them and set them on fire when that is done and the Earthy part sufficiently parched hack over the Furrows that are turned up then beat and spread the Ashes and burnt Clumpers over the Ground mixing it well with the Mould then Marle it plentifully which done plough it over again very well leaving nothing unturned up and then the fresh Ground mixing with the rest will augment to the strength of the Soil and this Ploughing should properly be about the latter end of June The Ground thus dressed Lime it a little and this liming will much abate the growth of Weeds or any other Incumbrance its acute quality deading the Roots and above all is a great Enemy to Thistles which Fern Ground naturally alters into After this it requires a third ploughing very deep and harrow it well but my Advice is not for sowing Wheat on this sort of Ground it not-being proper for it unless a little on the best part of it for the Supply of your Family because it has not much more Strength than the Manure allows it but it will bear excellent Rye the first three Years and the fourth Barley and three Years after tolerable good Oats the eighth Year you may sow Fetches or Lupins and for three Years after it will be tolerable good Grass with a little Manure of Dung or slimy fat Casting of Ditches or Ponds You must after sowing harrow it well and close it for though it is Sand the Marle and Lime will make it cling hard together The Weeds that after this are most likely to spring up with the Corn are Fern and Thistle where the Lime had not strength to settle and destroy them As soon as they appear pull them up and lay them on Heaps to rot and make Dung CHAP. XIII Of Ordering and Enriching Barren Lands subject to Wild Briars Twitches and Bushes c. THese Lands remaining in their Nature unprofitable Art and Industry are required to render them advantagious to the Owners and in the first place cut up these Shrubs or Under woods as close to the Ground as may be then stub up the Roots very clean and they will in a manner recompense the Labour in serving for Fewel or mending Hedges then with a pair of strong Harrows go over the Ground and laying Weights on them to press the harder on the Surface tare up the Twitch-Briars that have escaped your fight as also the rough Grass till the bare Earth appear unlading the Harrows as they are cloyed and laying the Refuse up in Heaps on the sides of the Ground to dry and then bring them on the Ground and burn them spread the Ashes and plough them in leaving no part of the Ashes untouched with your Plough hack it small and let it be run over by Children or others at a small rate to gather up all the remaining Fibres or Roots that appear above ground burn them also and scatter the Ashes on the Land To manure this sort of Ground The best Manure Experience approves of is Horse or Ox-dung Straw rotted in Stables or Cow-houses with the Scowring of the Yard where Sinks come and Cattel or Poultrey trample and likewise the scowring of muddy Ditches Ponds Brooks Lakes where there is fat Slime which is known by Willows growing and thriving about them mingle tâ—is with the first Manure then harrow it even and sow it after that harrow it again well and it will produce exceeding rich Maslin or Mixture of one part Wheat and two of Rye for then
Heat and Vigour yet Excess imbitters and utterly wasts the Strength of it eating and spoiling the Roots of Grass Trees or any thing of natural Growth and therefore the Salt-water being drawn off and stayed from any more flowing in the Ground by lying low is capable of having fresh Water brought upon it from higher places which lying sometime will take out the Saltness of the Earth the other left behind it to a great degree it need not exceed above four or six Inches on the Surface if the Land be level let it lie two or three days and then by the help of Ditches or Sluces drain it away or by the help of Engins which I shall have particular occasion to speak of it may be thrown off into convenient places as over the Banks into the Sea if it be near or on other waste Ground where it may dry up and between whiles flow it often till the fresh Water has in a great measure taken the Saltness out of the Earth The Ground being drained and pretty dry about the latter end of March plough it up as deep as well you can turn up a large Furrow and laying it into Lands raise them up as much as you can lay them round and observe if they be simple or mixed if it be Sand whether red or brown then take such clear Earth as is free from the Washings of the Salt Water being of a small and mean Stiffness and Richness digged out of some Pits or Banks where the least Miss or Spoil may be made lay it in little Heaps and spread it over the Land and when dry clot it and break it as finely as possible and this Earth will suck and draw the Salt into it taking off much of the evil quality in the sandy Ground and also stiffning the Sand makes it apt for Fruitfulness If this Ground damaged by Salt Water be rough hard gravelly Earth then spread in like manner the best and richest Clay that can be had or for want of that blue Marle which will not only suck up the Saltness but cool and much refresh the Ground adding new Nourishment whereby the Seed that is cast in will be fed and nourished But if the spoiled Earth be a tough stiff Clay though seldom found so near the Overflowings of Salt Water cover it over with the finest fresh Sand which will separate the Sand from the Clay and take away the naughty Stiffness of it that will otherwise oppose the rising of the tender Sprouts it will also give a gentle Warmth and abate the Coldness of the Clay and make it bring forth plentifully If it be a mixed Earth observe whether it be binding or loose if the former Sand it as before if the latter spread it with the richest Clay you can get When you have thus ordered your Land plough it a second time before Midsummer so that the new-layed Earth may be well mixed with the old then take the Mud of dried bottoms of Lakes Ponds or Ditches of Waters that were fresh or Woollen Rags chopped small or with both together cover it over lightly then immediately plough it Land after Land lest by long lying the Sun attracts the strength out of the Manure then let it rest till Michaelmas and so give it the last ploughing and sow it with the hardest and largest Wheat and for this Land that which is called the White Pollard is the best and if the Salt Water be kept out you will have a very good Crop the second Year sow it with very good Hemp-seed and it will prove very gainful the next Year lay it flat for Oats and then lay it down and it will prove good Meadow or Pasture However the first Year after laying down let Sheep graze on it whose cropping it and Dung will fertilize it and then you may use it as you please either keep it for Grazing for it will produce extraordinary good Grass or for Meadow and in a few Years you may plough it again to produce good Corn especially Wheat for by this time the Saltness is very much taken out of it And thus you may reduce all sorts of Ground overflowed by Salt Water where there are no Salt Water Springs to feed and float it for if there be and they cannot be drained turned away or otherwise remedied your Labour is lost Where fresh Water cannot be brought on these Grounds to float them add to your former Manure Moorish Earth the Soil of Streets and High-ways the Earth dug up where Dunghils have lain a considerable time Rubbish and Sweepings of the House Barns or Yard and having spread them on the Land take a large Hawthorn-bush rough and prickly plash other Bushes and fasten to it To make it lie flat and pressing on the Ground tye on the upper part of it wooden Rowlers and lay other Weights on it to fasten it to the Horses Drawing-geer by the Stem or great Stalk and draw it over the Ground in the nature of a Harrow to break all the Clumpers and lay the Earth very smooth after every ploughing then sprinkle Soap-Ashes moderately on it and it will lose its Saltness in a little time and become good producing Ground either of Corn Meadow or Pasture CHAP. XVII Good Pasture and Meadow to be made of Barren Soil of any sort of Earth simple or mixed WAys of enriching the Earth are two-fold viz. By Water and Manure and for this use the lower the Ground lies so it be subject to Overflowings or much Wet it is the better and is sooner made good and brought to Profit Then consider what sort of Grass it naturally produces whether clean and entire or mixed with that of worser growth and of these the first is most promising and if the Growth be intermixed with Thistle Broom or the like or burthened with offensive Weeds grub and pluck them up by the Roots clearing the Ground of them as well as you can dry them mix them with Straw and burn them upon the Swarth of the Ground and spread the Ashes then fold your Sheep upon the Ground for several Nights that their Dung may strengthen it and their Feet trample up the Grass then scatter it over with good Hay-Seeds and go over them with a Rowler or beat them with a flat Shovel that they may be the better pressed into the Ground to take Root then over these scatter Hay or the Rotting of Hay under the Stacks or the Sweepings of the Barn or moist Bottoms of any Hay that has been good and is moist and of no other use then spread on your Manure as Horse-dung Man's Ordure or the Dung of any Beast and being thinned and the Clots well broken let it lie till the new Grass springs through it and the first Year do not graze it lest not having taken very good Root the Cattel tread it up but mow it while it come to Perfection And although the first Year it may prove short and coarse yet the second
it will be fine and very long and in great Plenty and once in twenty or more Years Dressing will continue it for good Meadow or Pasture if in dry Seasons you have Water to relieve it which may be gathered by bringing Springs or the violent Fallings of Rains into a Ditch on the other side of it or by any other Conveniency according to the Situation of the Ground on the ascending part to overflow it so long that it soak deeper than the Roots of the Grass to continue Moisture for the Nourishment of it a considerable time The best Season in general for watering Meadows is from the beginning of November to the end of April and the muddier or more troubled the Water is the better for then it brings a Soil upon the Ground and this is properly after hasty Showers and great Fluxes of Rain and you may make a Conveniency if you have many Fields lying together especially in a Descent to pen up the Water in one till very well soaked and then by a Sluce or breaking down of a Dam let it into the next and so by a small addition of Water transmit it to many This may be done likewise after Mowing in drowthy Weather or if you Graze the Land it may be done at any convenient time CHAP. XVIII Several Vseful Engins described for the Watering of Meadow Pasture c. THere is great Advantage to be found in watering of Lands on several occasions as the Nature of them or the Climate they lie in requires but then there is some Difficulty in doing it where the Conveniency of Rivers and Land-floods are wanting and without the help of Engins many times exceeding Toil and Labour is required which induces me to describe some of the most material And first The Persian Wheel so named from its Use and the great Advantage it brings to the Kingdom of Persia on this occasion This Wheel is made after the manner of an Undershot Mill viz. with a double Ring into which two Pins pass and on them the Floats are fastned which Floats are to be hollow and the half most remote from the Wheel holds the Water raken in at the open place about the middle of the back of the Float and as the Wheel turns so the Water is raised by degrees and tends towards the part of the Float that is next to the Wheel and as it surmounts the Receiver the Water empties into it one Float succeeding the other so that at one turning round of the Wheel 30 Gallons of Water may be delivered This Wheel ought to be about 15 Foot Diameter and the Floats at 18 Inches distance and so it will deliver the Water at about 10 11 or 12 Foot above the Stream it takes it from and may be carried four times round in a Minute so that in one Hour it will distribute about 120 Hogsheads of Water with 12 or 18 Inches penning or stopping but an ordinary Current of Water will very well water about 30 or 40 Acres of Land according as it may lie disposed to receive as to Level or Descent When you do this consider the Nature of your Land If it be a cold Clay too much Water injures it if light warm or sandy then a little Water greatly refreshes it It is also to be observed that this Motion well set a going is constant and will last some Years with little Charge of Repairing and the slower it moves the better it delivers the Water and a small Stream will carry it It may also be used in Draining of Lands if a Current can be made to carry the Wheel about and as the Land lies higher or lower so lesser or greater Wheels may be used and they will exceedingly superabound the Charge and Trouble by making of Grass grow in great Plenty where otherwise little or none would appear and by Troughs or Trenches the Water may be carried from one Ground to another a very great Distance if not hindred by steep Ascents There is another sort of an Engin used which is called a Wind Engin and may be used on still Waters where there is no Current to carry the Wheel about or a Dam cannot be conveniently made to force it and this serves indifferently for watering or drawing Several have been the Inventions of Ingenious Men to accomplish this some have designed it by Horizontal Windmils and by a Wheel with Scoops or Buckets fixed to Chains also by a Wheel carrying up the Water in Buckets fixed thereto and by the Swiftness of the Motion casting it a great way forcibly from it But that I most approve on as the best and least chargeable is the Vertical Sails like the ordinary Windmils only they are not so long though more in number placed in an Axis of a length proportionable to the length of the Veins the one end resting on the moveable hollow piece of Timber that is to move round over the Pump as you have occasion to turn the Reins the other resting on a Semicircle in which there are several Notches and Stays that it may be placed as you please So let the Wind stand any way yet by the Motion of the Semicircle you may have it at one end of the Veins or the other and let the Pump on which the one end of the Axis rests be placed over the place you are to draw your Water out of at the Nose or Mouth at such a height as is convenient to conveigh it into a Trough and this Pump may be made of a Diameter according to the strength of the Windmil and observe so to order the Bucket that it may always dip into the Level of the Water which prevents much Injury and Trouble to the Work This Pump may be round or square according to the smallness or largeness of it Let the Handles of the Pump extend in length to the Axis of the Windmil which must to receive and move the same be made crooked like the Axis of a Cutler's Grinding-stone or Dutch Spinning-wheel turned with the Foot or the end of the Axis of the Windmil may rest upon a Cylinder or Box made moveable on the top of the Pump with the crooked Neck or End within the Cylinder so that when it is turned any way the end of the Axis is perpendicular over the Pump And moreover you must take care that the Handle or Rod of your Bucket may turn Swivel-wise to answer the Shiftings of the Wind as the Sails are changed and these kind of Mills are of excellent use and to be made or manured at a small rate and are easily to be repaired when out of order or taken to pieces and removed from one place to another carrying off abundance of Water if kept in continual Motion which a scanty Wind will do CHAP. XIX Further Rules and Directions for Watering Meadow and Pasture for the Improving and Fertilizing of it HAving spoken of conveying Water to the Ground I now come to direct how it ought to be
dispersed on it The Water being raised to the height you desire cut your main Carriage allowing it a convenient Descent that it may have a good Current all along and let the Mouth of it be of Breadth rather than Depth capable to receive the whole Stream you desire and when you are to use a part of the Water let the main Carriage narrow by degrees that at the end it may press the more forcibly into the lesser Carriages that issue all along from it and at every rising Ground and other proper Distance you ought to cut small tapering Carriages proportionable to the Distance and Quantity of the Land or Water you design to fructifie which must be very shallow and many in number for the Water running shallow and swiftly over the Grass greatly revives it In the next place observe that in drawing or watering of Lands you may make Drains to carry off all the Water the Carriages being on and therefore they must bear some Proportion to it though not so large and as the Water is conducted by the lesser Carriages to every part of the Land so the lesser Drains must be made in the lowest places to lead the Water off and as the Carriages lessen so must they widen as they run to drain the Water well off as soon as the Land is well soaked into other Grounds for if Water be left in low places it proves very injurious to the Grass in the Winter it kills it and in the Spring and Summer much hinders its growth breeding Rushes and Weeds though when drained produces good Pasture Is you water droughty Land in the Heat of Summer do it in the Night or a very cloudy temperate Day taking it off again before the Sun-beams shine hot upon it left that conspiring with the Heat that comes out of the Earth deaden or sicken the Roots of the Grass so as it wither and flag rather than grow to any great Advantage In some places for the more ease of Watering you may have the opportunity to command a small Stream or Spring and to bring it down by Carriages upon the Lands and proportion them small or great according to the quantity of Water you can give and if it be little from drilling Springs make Stops in the Carriages that it may water one Land first and then by the Drains convey it to that which lyeth lower and so by degrees to all as Conveniency will admit and the small Springs in constantly working will bring much Improvement As for Springs that produce a hard harsh Water proceeding from Alomy Vitrioline and Coal Mines or Minerals it is not to be brought on Lands unless for the destroying of Rushes and Weeds and afterward the Acrimony taken off by mollifying Waters or well dunging with fat and nourishing Soil to amend the Barrenness and produce store of Grass CHAP. XX. The proper way effectually to Drain Land and reduce it to Fertility either Arable or Pasture WHen Land is much incumbred by Water and thereby rendred as it were useless especially where there is a Superfluity of venomous corrupting Water lying in the Earth much occasioning Bogginess you may nevertheless consider that this Land with some Labour and Cost may be brought to be very good and in order to the procuring of it to be so I shall lay down plain Rules and Directions Take special Care in draining such Grounds especially where there are feeding Springs and observe in this case the Descent that you may the better by the Drain take away all the Water from the bottom or else it will be of little Value therefore observe the lowest Level of your Drain and so low that you may draw off your Water and not any lower can you carry it away by this means therefore be especially careful herein and then if you can get a lower Descent from this carry your Drain upon the Level till you find certainly you are got under the Moisture Miryness and Water that either feeds the Bogs or covers the Land and go a Spade's Graft or thereabouts deeper and so you need not tye your self to a dead Leavel but as the Moisture lieth higher or Ground rises so may you rise in the working your Drain keeping one Spades Graft under it Observe that in cold Rushy Lands this kind of Water that creates much Barrenness is found beneath the first and second Swarth of the Land and beneath that you most frequently find a little Gravel or Stonyness in which this Water is and sometimes below these in a hungry Gravel but it usually lies deeper in boggy Land than in Rushy and a Spades Graft you must go deeper than the bottom of these As for the Matter causing the Bog it is easie to be discover'd sometmes lying within two Foot of the Superficial part of the Ground and usually within three or four though some lie far deeper as six and eight or more and having found this Spring that would willingly break out were it not incumbred by the Load of Earth it is forced to wheeze through and break its way by much spreading dig a Foot beneath it give it a Current in the Drain and if it be swift it will suck all the other Springs to it and make the boggy Spunginess of the Ground to cease so that in a little time a Driness will insue Make your Drain from the bottom of the Bog trenching it in the sound Ground or else in some low Ditch so low as you conceive it under the Spring or Spewing-Water then carry up the Trench into the boggy Streight through the middle of it one Foot under that Spewing-Water or Spring upon the Level unless it rises higher for many times it rises as the Land rises and at other times riseth very level even to the Head of the Bog into which you must carry your Drain or within two or three Yards of the Head of it then at the Head strike another Trench overthwart both ways at the middle Trench as far as the Bog goeth all along the End of it continuing at least one Foot under it and this may work a strange Alteration in the Ground without any more Trenching Or to work it somewhat more certainly consider after you have brought a Trench to the bottom of the Bog then cut a substantial Trench about it according to the Dimension of the Bog whether round square or long or three or four Yards within the boggy Ground for so far it will drain well that which you leave without the Trench underneath the Spring-Water Round and when you have so done make one Work or two overthwart it upwards and downwards all under the matter of the Bog and in a Year at furthest your Desire will be answered CHAP. XXI To Drain Fenny and Marshy Lands with the least Charge and most effectually c. FEnny and Marshy Ground is another thing to be considered and great Advantages to be raised by well draining them so that they may be converted
it they will die Grashoppers in some measure do much Injury by feeding on the Leaf and Blossom of Corn and Pulse from the earliest to the latest These are hard to be destroyed without very great labour and that is by sprinkling the Corn with Water wherein Wormwood Rue or Centaury has been boilâ—d till the strength of them are quite taken out by the Water and if they bite where the Sprinklings happen they will die and the Scent of any bitter thing is so offensive to them that they are never sound where any such thing grows Moles are two ways destructive to Corn viz. in eating the Roots and rooting it up not making distinction of any sort but taking all alike There are divers ways of taking them but not so easily when the Corn is well grown for then they do their chiefest mischief when their Tracts or the Casting up of their Hills cannot be so easily discovered However you must do it as well as you can and when you see them casting up or moving in their Tracks strike them with an Iron of many Spears or dig Pits in their Tracts and set earthen glazed Pots which they will blindly fall into and cannot scramble out or fill a earthen Jugg with Pitch Rosin and Brimstone with some loose Tow or Rags and firing it clap the Neck to the mouth of the hole and the Air in the Earth drawing the Scent to a great distance will stifle them or mix the Juyce of Hellebore with Rye-meal scatter little bits in the Furrows and finding it in their way they will greedily eat it and die CHAP. XXXII To prevent Smuttiness in Corn preserve it against Blasts the Injury of Black Frosts snow-Snow-water Mists and how it is to be ordered when reaped wet THere are other Mischiefs that befal Corn though not from living Creatures which I have laboured to find some suitable Remedies for in the trying many Experiments To prevent the Smuttiness and Mildew before you sow your Grain sprinkle the Ground over lightly with Chalk beaten very small Against Blasts the properest Remedy is held observing the Season when they usually happen to make Fires of Stubble or rotten Straw and burn in them the Snips of old Leather the Shavings of Horn and a little Brimstone so advantagiously on the sides of the Ground that a small Gale of Wind may carry the Smoâ—k and spread it among the Corn or Puâ—e This will likewise destroy Flies and other Black Frosts are very injurious to all Grain the piercing Cold chilling or killing the fertile Heat that propagates the Growth and either withers or stints it if it be extream and without Snow To bed it and keep off the bleak Winds there is no better Remedy against this than to strow Ashes over your Land either Wood or Sea coal and they add much Heat to it and keep off a great part of the Cold some throw rotten Straw over it but that proves a great Incumbrance the other nourishes the Ground and is good Manure for barren Earth As for Snows lying on the Ground it injures not the Corn but upon Thaws the Water being of a harsh Allomy nature much injures the Roots if it lie long upon it and the best way to prevent it is to lay your Lands high your Furrows deep and to have suitable Drains to the Lowness of your Ground to drain it away as fast as may be Mists and Fogs are very offensive where they are great or rise from ill-scented Grounds especially from Fens Salt-Marshes Standing-Pools Lakes c. The way of remedying this evil is to smoak the Land in the Evening with any sort of Fuel that casts a gross thick Smoak which will in some measure disperse and dry up the Vapour that would otherways by falling on it be poisonous and offensive to the Corn. Of Corn reaped wet there comes great damage for being so by Rain and not time given it to dry abroad or by the Unripeness or too Greerness of it when mowed if the Heat be great thereby contracted it often sets it on fire if less it moulders rots or moulds the Straw and Grain that it is of little or no value You may know when the Corn is ready to reap by the much bending of the Ear driness of the Stalk and hardness of the Grain then if you see any Weeds growing up among it that are but of a moderate height reap it as soon as you can to take in the less Weeds or the Seed of them to encumber or worsen it If Grass be grown high among it and you cannot avoid reaping it with the Corn take care to spread it thin before you sheave it and dry it well in the Sun till it wither and become as Hay very dry and then sheave it up and shock it in small Shocks then when it has sweat a little open it and give it the Sun and the Air that it may yet be more dry then lay it in greater Shocks and let it sweat again and so open it and when it is by this means well opened and dried Inn it but sometimes Rain or great Mists causes a Weakness if it be before the Reaping let it stand somewhat longer in Expectation of a favourable Season but if your Expectation be frustrated and by the abundance of falling Rains the Corn is likely to be beaten down grow again or rot you must make a Virtue of Necessity reap it carry it home and having aired and dryed a little under shelter you must have Kills to dry it often turning and shifting the Sheaves and when it is dry let it cool well and mow it up lightly that the Air may come plentifully amongst it leaving for that purpose a hollow in the middle of the Mow and underneath and so it will be kept good and sweet CHAP. XXXIII Proper Directions for Stacking of Corn in the true Method to keep it from Vermin Fowl Taking-Wet or Musting WHere there is not a Conveniency of Housing there is a necessity of Stacking Corn and care must be used for the well-ordering of it this way that it may be preserved with the least loss also from Wet and Moulding for a moist Ground if the Stack be unadvisedly placed on it without any other Remedies will spo l at least a yard of the Bottom and therefore you must make and raise your Ground on purpose with Gravel Sand and Pebles or other Stones not subject to breaking proportionable for a Stack either round or a square or triangular distant from Eves-dropping or the Driping of Trees and so that the violent Winds cannot blow the Rain or Melting-Snow off from them though they stand at some distance upon the Stick yet so that it may stand safe sheltered from high turbulent Wind that would arise or uncover it then upon the Earth so rais'd above the level of Water occasioning Overflowings by sudden Showers make four pieces of Stone or Timber like Blocks broad on the lower-end and narrower on the
has free access to it and thirdly it is refreshed by the tossing it up and down To preserve Rye or Maslin or as some call it Muck or Blend-Corn being a mixture of Rye and Wheat as for this sort of Grain or for Rye alone that which preserves the Wheat will preserve the Rye for they are Grains of like nature only the Rye is somewhat hotter and dryer and will continue good in moister places and therefore the Plaister-Floors with often turning is the properest to preserve it It will also do well in close Hutches or in the Pipe or Dry-Fat but being once opened and the Air freely entring among it exceept it be soon spent it will putrifie or taint To preserve Oats after they are thrashed and dryed put them into a close Graner or Cask free from moisture and they will keep many Years and Oat-meal is preserved the same way though it is proper it should if possible have some air of the Fire for the warmer it stands the longer it will continue sweet and good As for the well-keeping of Meal let it lye about a fortnight in the Bran before you bolt it and then you will have near half a Peck in a Bushel more than if you had boulted it as soon as ground put it then in dry and well-seasoned Casks tread it in by degrees as hard as you can head it close from the Air and when you take any out let no more be taken out than what you presently use and so it will keep well a long time but if it has come by Sea or in rainy damp weather then lay it abroad on Sheets and air it and it will keep it sweet and a little tainted restore it To preserve Pease or Fetches which of all other Grain are most subject to rottenness and imperfection being of their own nature apt to breed Worms Weavels or Mites through the too much sweetness of the Kernel of the Grain to keep them then long and good conditioned dry them either in a Kiln or the Sun especially those you use for Diet or Provinder and lay them in Graners or Floors that are dry and they will last sound and good a long time and not be subject to any corruption or breeding Insects lay them in thick heaps and so they will be preserved moist the longer time for if they be too much dryed in the Air by lying thin it takes away part of their sweetness and goodness Beans is another Commodity very necessary and useful in this Nation and therefore among others the well-keeping and preserving them ought to be considered These are more gross and fat than any I have heretofore spoken of and by reason of the fulness of their substance more subject to moisture and such damp humours as corrupt them It is not therefore the best way to Thrash any more then what are for present use till the middle of March at which time they having kindly sweat in the Mow or Stack and become dry and hard not apt without bad keeping to relent again then keep them either on plaister or boarded Floors or well-made earthen ones the space of twelve days without tossing or turning lay them as thick as you please for being once well dryed they will not relent or you may put them up in Barrels especially such as have had sweet Oyl in them and they will make them excellent good for the use of the Kitchen if they be close covered and kept dry by reason of a certain mellowness that will be infused into them and they will keep as many Years as you would have them To keep and preserve all small Seeds of any nature or quality soever gather them as soon as they are ripe in a clear Sun-shiny Day dry and wither them in the shade keeping the Sun and moisture from them then bind them up in bundles without thrashing hang them up and keep them in their own Cods and they will last good a full Year In preserving of Lentils or Lupines lay them together on a boarded Floor in large broad and flat heaps two Foot or two Foot and a half thick sprinkle them with Vinegar and Lasarpitum and not any change of Weather or Vermin will do them hurt and they will keep many Years and although these are seldom used for humane Food yet are they very profitable for the well feeding of Horses Swine and other Domestick Cattle making them sooner fat than any other ordinary Pulse they are also physical and good for many Medicines for remedying Diseases in Cattle and the longer they are well kept the more is their virtue and therefore they ought to be well esteemed among other Grain or Pulse CHAP. XXXV How the best way to plant and order Hop-Vines to a great Encrease and Improvement of Land SInce Hops though formerly not esteemed but accounted as a pernicious Weed have in the latter Ages gained a general esteem and barren Ground may be greatly improved by them it will not be amiss to bestow one Chapter in this Book in directions how they ought to be ordered and improved to the best advantage Consider then that this Plant is very tender and will not thrive to any advantage on too rich or too poor a Ground for in the first they grow up to rankness bringing forth only Leaves and no Bells in the second very few Leaves or Bells dwindling and coming to nothing If you have no other conveniency but the first you must allay the fatness of your Hills by mixing Chalk with the Mould or small Gravel if it be hazle or mixed Mould and if it be stiff Clay then with good store of red Sand for any of these in a little time will lessen fertility The Ground being free from Water it may be raised about two Foot and a half and the compass answerable neither too big nor too little but shaped like a Sugar-loaf yet so on the top that the hill may be flat a little to retain the Rain or the thick Dews that falls upon it moderately but shoot off the great abundance Make not the hills intirely of one Mould but a third or better of such Earth as you shall dig up under Dunghills and a little Soap-ashes drained from the Lye and by mixing them together compound your Hop-hills but if these are difficult to be got sufficient for your purpose then a third part of these and two parts of natural Earth may be sufficient for your purpose though the first is better however it must then be renewed in three or four Years or the strength of it will be lost When your hills are made pare up the green Swarth in the Alleys about four fingers thick and with it cover the outside of your hills almost to the top turning the Grass-side next to the Earth of the hills that rotting there it may add to the manuring and and keeping them very warm let there be so much space on the top of the hills as may contain the Plants
Interposition of the Earth's Shadow between her and the Sun-beams for rising like a Pyramid it reaches her opacous part and she being a Body of herself without Light can give no Reflection of the Sun-beams till passing on she recovers the refreshing of its Light And though many from these Contingencies make strange Prognosticks yet proceeding from Natural Causes I think they signifie no great matter as to Transactions on the Globe of the Earth Of Whirlwinds A Whirlwind is a Wind bursting out of a Cloud breaking or rowling round about often overthrowing that which standeth in its way by reason of its innate Violence carrying things not exceeding ponderous aloft with it in the Air. The Matter of a Whirlwind is not much differing from the Matter of Storm and Lightning that is an Exhalation hot and dry breaking out of a Cloud in divers parts of it which occasions the blowing about also it causes the Air to imbody against its Violence and so breaking through it comes with the greater Force Of the Rainbow THE Ground or Reason of the Rainbow is only the Sun's Reflection on a hollow Cloud which the Edge being repelled and beaten back against the Sun from thence ariseth the so great Variety of Colours by reason of the mixture of Clouds Air and Fiery Light together Thunder and Lightning are caused when hot and dry Vapours mixt with Moisture are exhaled up into the middle Region and there exhaled into the Body of a Cloud These two Contraries not agreeing together break forth with great Violence so that the Fire and Water break forth of the Clouds making a roaring Noise which we call Thunder and the Fire lâ—ghting the Thunder is first made but the Lightning first seen in regard the Sight is quicker than the Hearing Which to prove observe at some distance when a Man is cleaving of â—locks or a Carpenter hewing a Log and you shall see the Fall of the Beetle or Ax some little Distance of Time before you hear the Noise of the Blow Now of Lightning there are many sorts that which is dry burneth not at all but dissipateth and diâ—perseth itself Likewise the moist burneth not but blasts and changeth the Colour But the clear is of a strange Property for it melteth the Sword and singeth not the Scabbard it draweth Vessels dry without hurt to the Vessels Some rich Misers have had their Silver melted in their Bags or Purses and yet neither Bag nor Purse hurt nay not so much as the Wax that sealed the Bag stirred It breaketh the Bones and hurteth not the Flesh and killeth the Child in the Mother's Womb not hurting of the Mother What great Cause have we then to pray as it is in the Litany From Thunder and Lightning good Lord deliver us Sundry things are not hurt by the Lightning it entereth not above five Foot into the Earth it hurteth not the Lawrel-tree Such are freed as are shadowed with the Skins of Seals or Sea-Calves The Eagle likewise is Lightning free Pliny saith Scithia by reason of Cold and Aegypt by reason of Heat are seldom molested with Lightning Of the Nature and Properties of the Seven Planets SAturn the highest of the Seven being well affected is grave with Authority studious of great Matters a Lover of Secrets full of Labour and Toil covetous and studious for his own Benefit unconstant in his Word solitary and a Lover of Husbandry a great Scraper together of Wealth being ill affected he is fearful sad envious superstitious deceitful sloathful thoughtful of base things malignant dull and a great Liar Jupiter the only Signifier being well affected stirreth up Men to Honesty maketh them religious just heroick faithful and magnificent famous Governours grave and wise studious in their Business careful of their own liberal upon discreet occasions without Dissimulation but being ill affected unfortunate and weak he is given to Pride and Prodigality Mars well affected is valiant strong unfearful desirous of Revenge impatient of Wrong generous fit for Government boasting and not regarding Riches being contrarily affected he is unjust cruel a Tyrant proud rash turbulent a Blood-shedder and an Author of all Dissentions and Discords The most noble Planet is Sol being well affected signifieth Kings Princes Poâ—entates he is heroick industrious provident and ambitious delighting in Wealth valiant secret quiet and honest He giveth long Life and a sprightful Body a judicious Mind he giveth Honours Dignity and Riches and which is most of all he maketh Men famous and desirous of Honour Venus being fortunately affected maketh one beautiful pleasant fair-spoken delighting in gorgeous Apparel eloquent pitiful apt for to please sociable excelling in Musick impatient reserved but being ill affected she is libidinous a Lover of Lovers idle jealous sluggish regardless of Fame fearful and prone to all Evil. Mercury well seated maketh one wise studious and apt to all Learning cunning subtile and wary skilful in Poetry Geometry and the Mathematicks given to Law desirous of Differences and Eloquence in Disputation but being unfortunate he is malicious subtâ—le crafty forsworn and a desperate Liar Luna or the Moon causeth one to be unstable faint-hearted fearful a Vagabond and prodigal she delighteth in the Study of Romances to walk from place to place to travel far Countries and to plant Herbs and Trees she also signifieth Messengers Sea-men Ladies Fishers and all such as be in continual Motion The Vnfortunate and Fatal Days in the Year THE ancient Astronomers have observed certain Days in every Month to be held fatal and unfortunate in which they accounted it ominous to begin or undertake any Affairs which Days are these January 1 2 4 5 10 15 17 19. February 8 10 and 17. March 15 16 and 21. April 16 and 21. May 7 11 and 20. June 4 and 7. July 15 and 20. August 19 and 20. September 6 and 7. October 5. November 15 and 19. December 6 7 and 9. Furthermore they will have in the Change of every Moon two unfortunate Days in which they recount whatsoever thing is begun late or ever done it shall come to no good In January the 3 and 4 Days of the New Moon In February the 5 and 7. In April the 5 and 9. In March the 6 and 7. In May the 8 and 9. In June the 5 and 15. In July the 3 and 13. In August the 8 and 13. In September the 8 and 13. In October the 5 and 12. In November the 5 and 9. In December the 3 and 13. Again there are some that prick out of the whole Year six most unfortunate Days above all other wherein they advise no Man for to bleed or take any Drink because the Effects of the Constellations work mightily to Death and in other Respects that they might be unfortunate They are January the 3d April the 30th July the 1st August the 1st October the 2d and December the 31st Moreover there are certain unfortunate Days in the Year call'd Dog-Days which are accounted very prejudicial to