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OBSERVATIONS

I N

HUSBANDRY.

By E D W A R D L I S L E, Efq;

LATE OF

C R U X-E ASTON, in HAMPSHIRE.

Satis mirari iion pojjum^' quod aninn Jibi quifque formatorem pr^eceptoremque viriutis e aetu
fapientiiim arcejfat ; fola res rujiica^ qua fine dubitatione proxima i3 quafi confanguinea
fapientia ejf, tarn difcentibus egeat qtiam inagiftris. Adhuc enim fcholas rhetorum, t?
geometrarum, r.iuficorumque^ vel^ quod tnagis mirandum efl, conteniptijjimcrum vitionim
officinas, gulofius cotidiendi cibos, £5" luxwiofius fercula firucndi^ capitumqiie £5? capUloriim
com'innatores non folum ejfe cudivi, fed ^ ipfe vidi : agricolctioms neque do£lores qui fe
profiterentur, neque difciptdos cognovi. Cum etiam, fi pr^ediElarum artium civitas egeret,
tamen, ficut apud prifcosy florere pojfet refpublica ; nam fine ludicris artibus, atque etiam
fine caufidicis olira fatis felices fuere futura^qiie funt urbes ; at fine agricultoribus nee
confijlere mortales, 7iec ali pcjfe manifejlum ejl. Columella, lib. i.

LONDON:

Printed by J. Hugh s, near Lincoln's-Inn-Fields :

For C. Hitch andL.HAWEs, J. Rivimgton and J. Fletcher, in Pater- nofter- row

J. RiviNGTON, in St. Paul's Church-yard -, W. Sandby, in Fleet-ftreet ;

And R. and J. Dodsley, in Pall-mall.

M DCC LVII.

ADVERTISEMENT.

AS I think myfelf obliged to make feme apology for the
uncommon form in which the following obfervations are
offered to the public, I beg leave to detain the reader a few
moments, in giving him a fhort account of my father's defign
in making and collecting them, with the method he purfued in
it, and the reafons that induced me to print them in the man-
ner they now appear.

To enter into a detail of the author's life and chara^er would,
in my opinion, be no ways neceffary to this work, nor could I
perhaps fay many things I know of him, without drawing fome
imputation of vanity on myfelf It may be fufBcient there-
fore to take notice, that he fettled at Crux-Eafton in Hamp-
fhire, as far as I can colled, about the 27th year of his age,
and in 1693, or 4, where he immediately determined to make
the ftudy of agriculture one of the chief amufements of his
life.

A 2 In

iv ADVERTISEMENT.

In purfuance of this refolution, not only at the place, and in
the neighbourhood where he lived, but in his journies, either
to Dorfetfliire, where he had concerns, or to Leicefterfliire, in
vifits to his father-in-law, Sir Ambrofe Phillipps of Garenton,
or to his own eftates in Wiltfliire and the Ifle of Wight, and
to other parts of the kingdom, he made it his bufinefs to fearch
out the moft reputable farmers, and get the beft informations
he could, in all the branches of hufbandry that were known
and pradtifed in thofe countries. His conftant method was to
note down the opinions and advices he thought might be ufe-
ful to him, and afterwards to add occafional remarks on them
from his own experience. For many years, I believe, he had
no other drift, in employing himfelf after this manner, than
merely his own information and improvement ; but about the
year 1713, he feems to have entered into a defign of making
his obferv^ations public ; for I find he had begun an index, and
had thrown together fome thoughts, as an eP/ay towards an
introdudion, dated at that period. Though his other ftudies
however, which were chiefly in divinity, in which he has left
a very long and laborious work ; his frequent attendance on
the bufinefs of his neighbours in the capacity of juftice of the
peace, and the care of a numerous family (for he had no lefs
than twenty children, of whom feventeen furvived him) hin-
dered him from purfuing this his intention, yet they did not
interrupt his firfl: defign, but he continued writing down his
inquiries and experiments to the time of his death, which hap-
pened in the year 1722.

As

ADVERTISEMENT.

As thefe obfervations therefore were left in fuch diforder, as
to require no fmall pains and application to regulate and digeft
them, and as all his fons, except the eldeft, were bred to profef-
fions, and thofe very foreign to that of agriculture, and had
neither leifure nor inclination for an undertaking of this nature,
they would, in all probability, have been entirely fupprelTed,
had not I accidentally communicated them to fome farmers of
my acquaintance, as likewife to fome gentlemen, who amufe
themfelves in hufbandry, who were all of opinion they might
be of ufe to the profeflion, and encouraged me to colledl them
under their feveral heads, and put them into the order in v/hich
they are here puWifhed.

Some of his readers will fmile, no doubt, to fee the names
of many of our Englifh farmers mingled together with thofe of
the antient Romans, Varro, Cato, Pliny, Columella, and Pal-
ladius, and with thole alfo of our own writers. Lord Verulam,
Evelyn, Ray, Grew, Boyle, and Mortimer ; but, had I thrown
them out, I muft have given an entire new form to the whole,
and when I had done all this, the reader, in my judgment,
would have owed me no thanks for my pains : it would have
robbed the work of an agreeable fimplicity, and made it appear
lefs genuine. I was inclined therefore to print it as I found it,
and was pleafed to find this inclination feconded by the advice
of many of my friends.

For

^1

ADVERTISEMENT.

For the ftile, I think, I need make no apology; for what
corrednefs can be expedled in obfervations haftily penned
down, and thofe oftentimes from the mouths of common far-
mers ? In a book intended for the inftrudtion of hufbandmen
ornaments would be mifplaced: it is fufficient if the language
be intelligible ; nor is it at all mj wifh, that the author fliould
be efteemed a fine writer, but a ufeful obferver.

The reader mufl; not expe<3: a compleat body of hulbandry
in thefe papers. Some things are but flightly touched on, as
hops and rye, and fome others not mentioned at all, as hemp,
flax, &c. and many ufeful obfervations might perhaps be added,
even in thofe matters that are treated on at large, and in which
the author was moft converfant ; for fuch is the extent and va-
riety of the fubje6l, that, according to his remark in the intro-
dudion, it is never to be exhaufted. Every day produces new
inventions and improvements in agriculture, but perfedion
is unattainable ; and, I believe, there is no farmer, of whatfo-
€ver induftry, age, judgment, and experience, that is not often
deceived, and that will not acknowledge himfelf deficient in
many particulars relating to his profeflion.

Nor is the knowledge of hufbandry to be acquired by read-
ing without pradtice. Books may give valuable hints to thofe
who have judgment to make ufe of them, but, to learn the
firft rudiments of this art, it is neceflary to ferve an appren-

ticefhip

ADVERTISEMENT.

ticefhip to it as to other trades. Many, and indeed the chief
part, of thefe obfervations therefore are not calculated for the
inftru6lion of mere novices, but to afTift thofe, who are already
praditioners ; to fliew them the opinions of others in doubtful
and difputed cafes, the rules laid down by the antient and
modern writers, and the ufages of diftant counties in this king-
dom ; to encourage them in making trials ; to caution them
againft many errors, and oftentimes fave them much labour
and expence, by communicating experiments already made ta
their hands.

As Mr. Lifle however began bis colledlion at a time when he
was but young in the bufinefs, and that purely for his own
information, there are fome rules in it, without doubt, that ex-
perienced farmers will have no need of, and fome perhaps that
may be thought of too little importance to enter into a work
of this kind ; but however common and unneceflary they ap-
pear to fome, they may be new and ufeful to others. What-
ever imperfedions there are of this nature, I muil fubmit to
take them on myfelf, and freely acknowledge, I know not
how to feparate the chaff from the corn. I intreat the read-
er's favour therefore, that,, whatever fuch faults he finds, he
would impute them to my ignorance in this art or fcience,
and not to the author, who died without revifing, or putting
his obfervations into any form, and who probably would have
made them better worth the public view, had it pleafed God to

have

vii

VIU

M^E

N T.

ADVERTISE

have continued the bleffing of his life to his family. — Such as
they are, they are all copied from his mani^fcript, not fcraped
together from other books for the fake of gaiEJjand would never
have feen the light, had I not thought they", would be of be-
nefit to my countrymen ; and, that I may be the more readily
believed, I affure them, except a few copies to prefent to my
friends, I reap no kind of profit from the publication.

Burclere, Hants;
Sept. I, 1756.

Thomas Lisle.

THE

THE

A U T H O R's

INTRODUCTION,

MDCCXIII.

IT may be looked on, in my opinion, as one of the chief misfortunes of
this age, that we have not fuch honourable conceptions of a country life,
as might engage our gentlemen of the greateft abilities in parts and learning,
to live upon and direcft the management of their eftates. It is what I have
in my moft ferious refledlions often lamented, not only as a confiderable dif-
advantage to themfelves, but a great lofs to the public. Among the Greeks
the knowledge and eftimation of agriculture was at the greateft height in
their beft times ; among the Romans their fenators ploughed j and the great
examples they gave of virtue and induftry laid the foundation of all their after-
greatnefs ; but as agriculture decreafed in their efteem, luxury took place, and
foon put a period to their p'ower. — I would recommend it to our Englifti
gentlemen to confider how much this may be our cafe at prefent j to look
round them, and fee how many fine eftates are daily mortgaged or fold,
and how many antient and noble families deftroyed by this pernicious and
almoft epidemic turn to idlenefs and extravagance. The yeomanry of
England, who in former times weie the flower of our militia, and the boaft
of our nation, have always continued to be of great confequence and ufe to
us, and a very neceffary link in the chain of government, as having an im-
mediate connexion with the gentleman on the one fide, and the labourer on
the other. Being diftrlbuted among the feveral pariflies, and fitted for va-
rious offices, under the ecclefiaftical and civil jurifdicftion, as of church-
wardens, overfeers, headboroughs, and the like, which will not hereafter
be fo worthily filled, they carried a refpeft with them, and were of efpe-
cial fervice in keeping the meaner people to their duty; add too, that, be-
ing men of fubftance, they were of wonderful advantage to the neighbour-
hood they dwelt in, by employing the poor, by affording them comfort

a and

INTRODUCTION.

and afuftance in their ficknefs or misfortunes, in advifing them in their fa-
mily concerns, and in compofing differences among them; and alfo to the
commonwealth in general, in keeping up a fpirit of liberty in the country
without hcentioufnefs, in withftanding corruption and oppreffion, in main-
taining the laws, and in afferting the priviJges of a free people, Thefe
too however have caught the infedlion, and will be mimicking the manners
of their betters : it is a melancholy truth, but I fpea-k it knowingly ; I fee
old reputable families in my neighbourhood every day falling away to no-
thing, and may take upon me to prophefy, pais but a few years, this race
of veterans will be loft in the kingdom. Nor can the gentry, with like
management, be long able to furvive them ; they muft one way or other
return to their original, the plough ; if they will not do it by choice, and
for their own advantage, they will hereafter be neceffitated to do it for
the advantage of others ; for we feem to be forming ourfelves apace after
the French model, here and there a great man, the reft all vafTals and
Haves. As this threatens to be the cafe, I fhould think it no fmall happi-
nefs, and myfelf no inconfiderable patriot, if I could contribute any thing
towards raifing the reputation of hufbandry among the gentlemen of this
kingdom. It is an undertaking, I acknowledge, that affords but little pro-
fpe<fl of fuccefsi for fo far are we now from efteemingit either honourable
or gainful, that we will not fuffer it to be ranked among the liberal arts„
and that we look on it as the high road for a gentleman to be undone j
nay, it is become fo decried, and out of fafliion, that the writing on the
fuhjedt feems to. render me accountable for an apology. I am fatisfied not-
withftanding, if gentlemen would ufe fuch proper methods to attain a fkill
in this, as they muft do to be mafters of any other art or fcience, they
would foon find an entertainment in it not unworthy the moft exalted ge-
nius. It was the method of life that our Creator firft defigned us, and that
to a farther end than our temporal good alone. Other worldly bufinefs car-
ries our minds oft' from God, whereas in this we draw nearer to him, not
only as the country life gives the greater opportunity vacare Deo, but as the
bufinefs of huft)andry is of that nature, as muft often raife in us good
refledlions, and turn our thoughts towards him. Every feafon, and every
change of weather in the feafon, awakens in us the confideration of his pro-
vidence, and a more than common fenfe of our dependence on his blefiing,
from the perpetual occafions we have of obferving and refleding how he
gives us our daily bread. A man cannot be bufied in the oflices of huf-
bandry (they confift of fo great variety) but many things will come under
2 his

INTRODUCTION.

his obfervation, from which divine, moral, and philofophical condullons
are fo natural and obvious, that, if he will avoid making them, he muft
fhut his eyes againft the light of the fun. It is a great miftake therefore in
thofe gentlemen, who confider huibandry as too narrow and mean a bafi-
nefs for a perfon of parts and education to employ himfelf in. Can they
propofe a nobler entertainment for the mind of man than he would find rii
the inquiries he muft make into all the powers and operations of nature
wherein hufbandry is concerned ? The fubjeft is fo vaft it can never be ex:-
haufled ; could he live, and fpend ages in agriculture, he might ftill go on
in his fearches, and ftill make frefh difcoveries, that would excite afreih his
admiration of the riches of God's wifdom. Add too, that fcene of nature,
which the country lays before us, has I know not what charms to calm a
man's paflions, and fo to compofe his mind, and fix his thoughts, that his
foul feems to be got clear of the world ; and the farther his education en-
ables him to carry his inquiries, the higher are his refledions raifed. In
the fields methinks God is walking, and, it is to be hoped, when he finds
man fo virtuoufly employed, in the way of his own defignation and ap-
pointment, he may be pleafed fo to vifit him with his grace, as to give more
light and warmth to the good thoughts at that time in his mind, and to fix
a deeper impreffion of them on his heart.

If we confider hufbandry in regard to our temporal good, provided it be
carried on with induftry and judgment, it is a fure way to improve our for-
tunes, and indeed the only way the landed gentleman can take ; it were to
be wiflied therefore they would exhort their children early, particularly their
eldefl fons, to think of it with emulation, and to enter into it as a fchool
of profit and education; whereas it is rather looked on as a purgatory for
the difobedient, a fcene of punifhment, to which a fon, who anfwers not
his father's expedlation, is to be abandoned j or a condition of life of which
none would make choice, but fuch whom fortune has not in other refpeds
favoured. If the country-gentlemen therefore frequently confilt of perfons,
who are either rufticated by their parents in anger, or who, making a virtue
of neceffity, fettle on their eftates with averfion or indifference, it is no won-
der the comedians exhibit them on our flage in fo defpicable and ridiculous
a figure ; but this is the fault of the perfons and not of the art. Were they
properly initlat^sd in the fludy of agriculture, and purfued it as they ought,
it would be fo far from excluding them from ufeful knowledge, and bring-
ing them into contempt, that I may venture to aflert, they would find it the
beil; fchcol of education, and the fitteft to prepare them for the fervice of
their coiintry in the two houfes of parliament of Great Britain.

a 2 - It

XI

xii INTRODUCTION.

It is not only an employment, whereby the health and conftltution is
eftablillied, which is very neceffary for the attendance on, and the dif-
charge of that great duty, but the bufinefs ofhulbandry, if they will not
mifpend their precious opportunities, brings them acquainted with the con-
dition and myftery of all forts of inland trades, inafmuch as, for the moft
part, they depend on, and have relation to the plough, or produce of the
land, and their interefts are mutually interwoven with the hufbandman's ;
nor can a difcouragement fall on hufbandry, either by bad feafons, or an ill
timed adl of parliament, but the meaneft artifan, the merchant, and even
the fovereign on the throne mufl: feel it. Thus we fee it is a vaft field of
fcience the hufbandman is exercifed in, and undoubtedly it muft be a very
great advantage to him, and give him weight in either of thofe afTemblies,
by furnifhing him with folid arguments, and enabling him to deliver his opi-
nion clearly and confidently on what he thoroughly underftands and knows.
It is a general obfervation, that they fpeak. befl;, and are befl heard, who are
more of an adive than bookifh life; the infirmities of the latter leading
them oftener to adorn themfelves than the fubjed, and to take a compnfs, to
fliew rather what they have read than what is only pertinent to the debate :
men of bufinefs are concife in words, and choice in matter ; men of fmall
experience and great reading voluminous in both kinds.

Again, it is furely no fmall recommendation to hulbandrv, that it is pro-
dudlive of long life and health. The nerves and all the folids of the farmers
and labourers bodies are much flronger than thofe of gentlemen, who live
an idle and unadive Hfe, their fluids much purer and unmixed ; their bones
confolidate eafily ; their {trained ligatures return foon, and with fmall help
to their tones ; their blood circulates better, and opens the channels of the
vefTels in bruifed places of its own accord, fooner than in a gentleman by
the afllflance of oils and plalfters ; and ordinary medicines work more fuc-
cefsfully on their difeales than the moft fovereign fpecifics on perfons of
higher quality. As they are lefs pafTive therefore in their conflitutions,
they often arrive at their fulnefs of years, which citizens, and gentlemen
who are not exercifed in country employments, feldom reach.

From what has been here obferved of the ftrength and athletic condition
of the countryman's body, it is eafy to conceive how a greater fhare of
health fliould be his portion ; and here I take upon me to affirm, that I
have mademyfelf acquainted with the difeafes of the farmers and labourers
in my neighbourhood, and have hardly found one who is fubjedt to either
gout, (lone, or cholic, or indeed to any chronical diflemper j nor do they
lie under that common infirmity of the gentry, arifing from ill habits of body
3 and

INTRODUCTION. xiii

and mind, called vapours, which is fuch a drawback from life, as to bal-
lance it's value, and render it little preferable to death. Their fenfes alfo
feldom fail j but they enjoy a comfortable ufe of them throughout their old
age. Their appetites to their food are much keener, and they receive much
more nourifliment from it than the idle part of mankind would do from
the fame in quality and quantity, or indeed from the richeft foops and
fauces J for their bowels are faithful ftewards of what they are entrulled
with J they ftrain it to the lafl drop, and fling away nothing to wafte. I
have obferved in their death-bed ficknefs they have kept a found memory
and underftanding, within a few minutes of their laft extremity ; for their
nerves, having not been vitiated in their tones by debauches, are ftrong ;
and the juices of their bodies not being depraved by vifcid, grumous, and
inflamed materials, the difeafed matter is not fo fiery as to afFe<fl them with
fuch fad delirious fymptoms as the fevers of the gentry arecommonly attended
with

The hu{bandman's death's blow is generally from a great cold, to catch
which he probably took a method fufficient to have killed the ftrongeft ani-
mal. For the moft part I have found it proceeded from imprudence, in
ftanding ftill without his cloaths, or drinking a great quantity of fmall beer,
when in a violent fweat, by which the cold has ftruck fo deep as to coagu-
late the blood and juices, and deaden the tones of all the folids ; fo that the
difficulty has been to fet the wheels again in motion, and to open ob-
fbrudlions by giving a fpring and hurry to the blood. But even in this his
lafl: and dying flate, as I faid, his complaints are few, in comparifon to
what I have feen thofe of higher condition labour under ; and his brain is
not difturbed like theirs in the common malignant cafes ; and this is no
fmall advantage and comfort to our huibandman, who is hereby enabled to
fettle thofe worldly affairs he had before negledled, to recommend him-
felf to the divine mercy, and, like a patriarch, to beflow his dying blef-
fing on his children. Before I leave this article, concerning health, let me
in particular recommend the confideration of it to men of letters. I make
no great queflion, if they would plough one day, that is, biify themfelves
as hufbandmen ufually do, and fludy the other, they would improve the
Hate ofMearning far beyond what they now do or can. My meaning is,
they would probably live longer, enjoy much greater health, and more
adlive fpirits ; whereas the fludious inquirers after knowledge, for the mofc
part, bring early decay on themfelves, for want of free ufe of air and exer-
cife, and relaxations of the mind j and, tho' moderate in other refpeds,
yet, through the common irregularities incident to bookifli people, by the

time

XIV INTRODUCTION.

time they arrive to a little more than the middle age of man, they are under
complicated diflempers, of an irreparable and broken conflitution, and the
remaining part of their lives is fpent in nurfing their infirmities, and purfuing
knowledge in a iickly and ungrateful manner.

But, among all the advantages arifing to a gentleman from the employ-
ments of a country life, the principal is that of doing good, of which no
one, in a private ftation, has greater opportunities. If he applies himfelf
to the variety of country bufinefs as he ought, he will not only give bread to
a great number of indigent and induflrious people, but his a(51:ions alfo are
on the flage ; his light is not buried under a bufhel. The charadlers of
thofe who live in a great city, where they have few tranfadlions with their
neighbours in the fime ftreet, are loft by tlieir difperfed dealing?, at diftant
places, and among people unknown to each other ; an excellent perfon
therefore cannot in this fituationbe propofed for a public example, to attrad:
the veneration of his neighbourhood. His fecret admirers are ftrangers to one
another, and to the inhabitants near him, and perhaps know but fingle inftances
of fuch a gentleman's worth ; whereas it is the uniformity that gives the
great luftre to his adions, and renders them moft amiable. With the gentle-
man, who is engaged in country affairs, it is far different. He muft unavoid-
ably concern himfelf with the families of the farmers and labourers round
about him, and with the tradefmen of the neighbouring towns and villages j
and, if he'be of fhining virtues, I cannot conceive but he mull be a great
tlefling to the pariflies vi'ithin the knawledge of him. By his frequent
dealing with, and employing the inhabitants, he will of courfe have fome
.cognifance of their lives and converfations, and, having an opportunitv of
knowing them, may encourage them as they feem beft to deferve from God
and man. They too, in their turn, even the loweft labourers, from fre-
quent and intimate views, will conceive a noble idea of their mafter, which
will be heightened by their concurrent teftimony when they meet together:
by his adlions and fentiments they will quadrate their own j and, if he be of
a piece, and uniform through all the parts of a good and prudent life, he
is miftaken much, if he thinks the benefit of his virtues confined to himfelf
only : he is obferved and imitated by this ordinary fort of peoole, and it is
they too, for the chief part, that will fix the character he muft bear. The
difcourfe on their mafter is the fauce to their bread and cheefe, when two
or three at breakfaft or dinner-time fit under a hedge j nay, their work by
the tafk alfo fiiallloiter, but fome remark they will make on the condudl of
one gentleman or other ; and we cannot be ignorant that every perfon of
this ftation in the country has adted a part, either good or bad, Sufficient to

occafiou

I N T R O D U C T I O NT. xv

occafion a general talk in the neighbourhood j his fpeech and behaviour in
all his dealings are reported again, tho' but one witnefs prefent, and how
jufl: or how difagreeable his fentiments or adlions were in any cafe that hap-
pened is canvafs'd amongft them, and judgment is pafled on his wifdom,
virtue, and religion ; and the labourer's wife muft hear the tale over again
when the hufband comes home. In a word, there is no adlion fo minute in
a gentleman but it is worth the gazing on; and, tho' it be of a nature in-
different, yet the manner of doing it may carry an unaffected beauty and
grace with it, which if it does, be affured, thefe country people will fee a
great way into it, and fecretly revere the perfon according to his merits.
Nor is this all, for the refpedl they bear him {hall influence their thoughts,
crufli their evil imaginations, left he, if they proceed to adtion, fhould have
the knowledge of it ; fo that a country gentleman, efpecially if in commif-
fion of the peace, fliall, in this ftation, do a world of more good in pre-
venting evil by his example, than by punifliing it. If, in the courfe of
country bufinefs, he determines differences without humour and peevifhnefs,
fhews a difpleafure without anger or fwearing, fets a mark of diftindtion ac-
cording to juftice and equity, the common people are fenfiblc enough of the
right judgment : he fows wifdom and goodnefs in their hearts, and the in-
Greafe may certainly be expeded amongft them.

I havel)ut one word more to add to the advantages of hufbandry already
enumerated, which is, that of all profeffions there is none more innocent or
more pleafant. The bufinefs of it goes on, in a known and certain courfe,
from feafon to feafon, from year to year ; the gains from it are mofl fatil-
fadtory to a fcrupulous confcience, becaufe our goods are fold in an open
market, are fet up together with thofe of our neighbours, and of the fame
kind and fpecies, whereby the ignorant may make the better comparifon of
their worth ; we do not grow rich by jobbing, or by buying and felling again,
the profitof which too often confiftsjin outwitting and preying on one another ;
but our advantages arife from the gifts of our beneficent mother, the earth,
whofe gratitude generally requites the tiller's care, and by whofe increafe
we hurt nobody ; our dependence, next to God's bleffing, is on our own in-
duftry and fkill, and, tho' the feafon difappoints us fometimes, yet that dif-
appointment is neither fo often, fo great, nor fo fatal as the difappointments
of thofe in other profeffions, whofe truft and dependence is more on man.
What miferable calamities fall out from the neceffuy truft in trade one
citizen muft give to another, and to his cuftomers, whereas the farmer fells
for ready money : he may thrive alfo without fupplanting his brother,
which the courtier can rarely do.— Certainly that perfon muft live a pleafant

life.

xvi INTRODUCTION,

life, whofe death every one defires to die j and there are very few, of any
art or employ, but who propofe to themfelves, if they are able, a country
retirement, with at leaft fome little of hufbandry, in the laft ftage of their
lives. If fo, tho' other occupations may be in themfelves innocent, yet
this almoft univerfal defire in men to quit them before they die, looks as if
they found it difficult to difcharge their confclences in them : they liiuft be
ienfible, they can make no great figure as hu(bandmen, but there is fomc
delight even in negative virtue, in being awake, and doing no ill.

To conclude ; as I have had fome tafte and relifh of thefe pleafures, I
am defirous to propagate the fenfe of them as univerfally as I can, and it
would greatly add to my own fatisfadion to have partakers with me in the
enjoyment of it.

O B S E R-

OBSERVATIONS

I N

HUSBANDRY.

ARABLE LAND.

§.i.T^ALLADIUS has laid down the following rule, by which ws°lf'J"i^

P

may make a judgment of the good or bad quality of land *. Digiiow to judg;
a ditch, or hole in the ground ; and if, on carting' in^the earth again, of «•

there is too much to be contained in the place it came from, this
fhews it to be a rich foil ; if the hole would have taken a greater quanti-
tity, it is a mark of a poor foil ; but, if it juft holds it, the foil is of a mid-
ling quality.

It is an indication of a good foil, fays Pliny, if the crows and other birds
flock eagerly to the new-turned-up earth, and follow clofe on the plough-
man's heels'". I doubt not indeed but the forts of beetles, which lay their
maggots in the ground in autumn, and are to be produced in fpring, (fuch
as the rook-worms) are fo wife as to lay them in rich ground, that they may

B be

* Pinguem terram fie agnofeis, fcrobe efFofsa et repleta fi fuperaverit terra, pinguis eft ; fi de-
fuerit, exilis ; fi convenerit sequata, mediocris eft. Pallad. fol. 51.

^ Eft indicatio bonae terrae, fi recentem exquirunt improbje alites vomerein coniitantes, corvique
aratoiis vcftigia ipfa rodentes. Plin. lib, 17. ch. 5.

2 ARABLELAND.

be the better nourifhed, as other infefts do alfo choofe the tenderefl plants
to lay their brood on. Worm- earths alfo abound mofl in the richeft land.

If you obferve any ground to bear a light crop of corn, and at the fame
time to be grafly, it is to be prefumed the ground, thus running to, and bear-
ing grafs, would have born corn alfo, if it had been well managed, and that
fuch ground is in good heart ; but, if ground bears little corn, and no grafs,
it is very fufpicious that fuch ground is poor.

Mr. Evelyn obferves, there are diverfe indications, by which we may
know good mold or earth, as, among others, an infallible one is its difpofi-
tion to melt, and crumble into fmall morfels, not turn to mud and mortar
upon the defcent of gentle fhowers, how hard foever it feemed before, and
if in ftirring it rife rather in granules than mafly clods. As the kind of it's
natural plant is, fays he, you may prognofticate for what tillage, layer, or
other ufe the ground is proper : thyme, ftrawberries, and betony diredl to
wood ; and Sir Francis Bacon takes notice, as have others alfo, that camo-
mile (I fuppofe he means mayweed) fliews a land is difpofed to corn, burnet
to pafture, mallows to roots ; but mofs, ruOies, wild tanfy, fedge, flags,
fern, yarrow, and where plants appear withered and blafted, flirubby and
curled, (which are the efFedts of immoderate wet, heat, and cold inter-
changeably) thefe are natural auguries of a curfed foil. When there is any

vein of ground that breaks up iron mold, no corn will grow there.

§. 2. 'The ancient writers agree, that a deep and moift foil, and Palladius
adds a chalky alfo, is moft fuitable to wheat, and a light dry foil to barley,
which will be killed, they fay, if fown in wet muddy ground 5 (and fo in-
deed barley might very well be in their countries, where it was lowed in No-
vember) that wet ground agrees beft with peas and beans, which, if com-
mitted to a dry foil, will perhh in the earth, or, if they are not abfolutely
killed, will come up in a ficklv ftarved condition j that the reft of the legu-
minous kind will bear a dry foil, but thrive moft in a wet one : of all thefc
however I fl^all treat under their feveral diftindl heads.
Of loam. ^_ 2. Mr. Evelyn does not reckon loam among the clays, though it feems to

be but a lucculent kind of argilla, imparting a natural ligament to the earth,
where you mix it, efpecially the more friable, and is therefore of all other
the moft excellent mean between extremes; faftening and uniting that which
is too loofe and ftony, cooling that which is hot, and gently entertaining the
moifture.
Ofilrongclay §. 4. I fee plainly by the temper of a field this year (1706) (fown with
lands. barley on wheaten fallows) which is mixt land, and alfo by the temper of

my clay-lands, [fown after a whole fortnight of dry and hot weather, at

the

' Spifla, ct cretofa, et humida terra bene far et triticum nutrit, hordcum agro foluto clele(5latiir,
ct ficco ; nam in lutofo fparfum moritur. Pallad. lib. I. fol. 53. Hordeum'in terra non humida
fed valde arida potius ferere oportet, frumentum vero in lutofa et humida terra feminandum eft;
in tali enim magis augefcit : fabus autem et pifum in lutofa ferere convcnit; in arida enim conci-
duntur piiufquam enafcuntur, et pereunt ; quas vero non conciduntur degeneres fiunt : reliqua Ic-
gumina fuftinent qujdem in arida terra fationem, veium nieliora etiam ipfa fiunt ct gcncrofioni in
irrigua feminata. Leontius in Gcoponicis, fol. 43.

ARABLE LAND.

3

the latter end of March, and three weeks cold drying windy weather follow-
ing in April] that lands of the vales of England, or ftrong clay-lands, fuch as
they are forced to ridge round, cannot but be moiil enough to bring up the
corn, even in the drieft fumniers.

At Oxford (anno 1708) in difcourfe with Mr. Bobart about the befl: me- jj ^^^ ^^
thods to tame harfli, churlifli, obftinate clay, he faid, by experience he had tainiiig them.
found the beft way was to fling it up in ridges in the winter, and after the
firfl: froft, when it thaws and molders, to fling and temper amongfl; it afhes
or chalk, or whatfoever you have to qualify it ; for the time being nickt,
wherein you can catch the claiy corpufcles under the greateft difunion
and feparation, is the time for keeping them fo, by mixing thefe other lighter
bodies amongft them, which will the longefl: prevent them from their re-
union : this I think to be good advice.

§. 5. If fome forts of ftifl:' and binding land be fown dry, and a flaarp fcudd to prevent
of rain falls before the earth has time to fettle, it is obfcrved that the crufl: of 'and trom
fuch land will bake, fo that the corn cannot come through, to the great da- ^'"S-
mage of a crop ; this evil happens not, if after fuch a fcudd of rain cool
cloudy weather enfue, and not hot fun-fhiny ; for then the earth will not lie
fo hollow as to be baked. The beft way I think to prevent this, when one
has fuch land to deal with, is, to roll it immediately after fowing, which faf-
tens the earth together, whereby the fun has not that power of piercing
into it, and confequently not of baking it.

§. 6. I have a field that is very apt to bind, if rain comes on foon after it is What grain to
fowed with fpring-corn, and a hot gloom on it, fo that the corn cannot come fowpn bakmg
through } therefore I advife that fuch ground, a ftiff clay, be fowed, as often land,
as conveniently may be, with winter-corn, fuch as wheat and vetches ; for
though wet comes then, the fun is not ftrong enough at that time of the
year to fcorch the ground up and to bind it; and it is obferved that this
ground has been always lucky for vetches, which I fuppofe is for the reafon
above.

§. 7. " A land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof," Numb. xiii. 32. Of white land;
may very properly be applied to fome of our chalky hill-country-land, which,
in return for ploughing and all charges, brings the farmer out of pocket.

Some of my neighbouring farmers coming to fee me, one of them afked
me if I intended to fow a certain field with wheat this year (1707) ; I faid,
Yes. He replied, he thought It would not bear twice ploughing, being white
land, and having lain ftill but two fummers ; and, faid he, for one earth it had
better lie ftill three years. I afked him why ; he feemed to be at a lofs about
a reafon; I told him, I thought the reafon of what he faid depended on the
firmnefs and fatnefs of the ground ; for, faid I, if white land that is lay, is
loofe at top, and not very clofe and v/ell fettled, then it is too early to fow it
on one earth, becaufe the bottom that is turned down will be loofe, and
the bottom with the harrows will be loofe, and confequently will not hold
rain well enough, but it will run through too foon. Said he. You fay well ;
but my reafon is, becaufe this field is apt to have redweed 3 and if fuch land

B 2 with

^ ARABLELAND.

with us is ploughed up under three years, and fowed to one earth, we obferve
it runs much to weed. If that holds, faid I, the reafon muft be, becaufe
the feed of the redweed being turned under the earth, where there is not
a faftnefs it grows through, whereas, where the land is faft, it is choak'd ;
. but this field feeming to me a faft and well fettled white ground, the rea-
fon will not hold in either cafe.

Note, it is common with farmers to fay, that generally their whitifh land,
unlefs a very barren mortar-earth, produces as good wheat and barley, and
fuller bodied, than their clay-land and Wronger earth : but I doubt the rea-
fon of it is, becaufe the lighter whiter earth needs not more tillage than they
give it, and is not much damaged with unfeafonable ploughing ; whereas the
clay-land is feldom ploughed enough by them, and that often unfeafonably, by
which it much fuffers.
Of black, §. 8. About the middle of a field near me, there runs a vein of black,

fpungy land, coary, fpungy, and yet dry earth, of the colour of Bagftiot-heath, only dry j
in this land the farmer never had good corn in his life-time, but here and
there a tuft ; therefore he never more fows it. In Woodcot-down there is
fuch a piece of land abutting to this field ; the farmer burn-bak'd it, not-

withftanding I told him he would have no corn ; and he had none. Note,

In thefe fort of grounds the rook-worms are bred ; and where rook-worms
breed argues a rotten loofe earth, but not always fit for corn, notwith-
flanding my former remark on the fagacity of thofe infedls ; this black
land to many Grangers would promife more than any other land on the

Of red, fandy farm.

^*"^ §. 9. A red, /andy, ferny ground, not worth twelve pence per acre,

fhould be managed thus : the fword of the ground is not to be killed un-
der two or three crops, if you winter fallow for fummer corn ; and fuch
ground will be fo beggar'd as to bring but pitiful grafies after two or three
crops, which crops alfo are likely to be very mean ; therefore I propofe that
fuch ground fliould be midfummer fallowed to rot the roots of the grafs, and
flirr'd in the winter, and ploughed and fowed with black oats and rye-grafs
early in the fpring, and fowed very thick, fo as to bind the ground by luch
means ; this ground will be in. good heart to bear the rye-grafs, and hold it
a year or two, or longer ; then this ground is to be ploughed up, and ma-
naged again in the fame manner ; for fuch ground will pay bell to be laid
, J. , down to grafs.

' jtti *o blights. §. 10. Some of my grounds are fubjeft to blight, for which reafon I
would never plough fuch a ground to white oats or barley, though never fo
good ; for barley and white oats raufi: be fown later than other corn, and
confequently will not have fo much time to be fettled in the ground, for
which reafon fuch a ground will be more fubjeft to blight ; black oats
therefore, and wheat, 1 hold the properefl grains for fuch ground, and do
believe in fuch ground the black oats fliould be drag'd in.

I fowed barley the fecond and third days of May, anno 1703 ; I had a
great burthen of rath-ripe barley, but thin and blighted for the mofl part}

for

ARABLELAND. 5

for indeed clay-land is fo flow in forwarding corn, efpecially if it lies to the
north, and has a hedge-row to the fouth to lliade it, and a wet fummer to
boot, as there was this year, that 'tis not to be expefted it can carry a full bo-
died corn ; therefore fuch ground ought to be fowed earlier. I obfei ved on
the north fide of the hedge-row, where the head-land was, the corn feemed
riper than any in the field, but very thin of flower, which I take to be
becaufe it had fo little fun, that nature could not carry it on to it's per-
fedlion, confequently, having done it's utmoft, the corn foon withered and
grew dry.

Our white land at Crux Eaflon, though poor, is faid to bear the beft
bodied corn, which I am fatisfied, according to the common way of manage-
ment, it does in wet or dripping fummers ; but if the fummer proves very
dry, as this year (1704) was, I find the barley, efpecially before it begins
to ripen, {brinks and runs to a brown colour, and blights, the ground not
being able to nourifli it any longer ; when the clay-land Iball better fupport
it's barley, and produce a fuller and finer rin'd grain : the leaves on trees in
white land in fuch years fliall foon decay and turn yellow.

The reafon why thofe grounds which hang from. the horizon to the eaft
are mofi: fubjeifl to mildew, and to blafi:ing, may be (as I judge) from the
fun drawing thefe vapours towards it, juft as a great fire in a room draws the
air towards it; fo the fun having fet thefe in motion, but not having llrength
enough to draw them into the middle region, to form them into a cloud,
doth yet draw them till he is below our horizon ; then thefe dews tend to
the earth from whence they were taken, and in their motion to the weft do
fall on that ground which hangs eaftward, at right angles ; therefore offen'-
five to them moft. Cook, fo. 8.— This feems to hold in corn land alfo.

§, II. The fide-lands in the hill country are always the poorelf, becaufe Of Me. land?;
the good grete, or mold, is waftied down by rain.

I was obferving the great difference between the lower head-land of my Ofi.ead!and«*
wheat and the other parts, the head-land being much the beft wheat : this
muft be occafioned by the horfes much treading on the turns, whereby the
head-land was laid fo clofe, that it kept in the moifture better than the lighter
parts, which foon burnt up.

I obferve the head-lands of all corn are firft out in ear, not only on account
of their being generally better in heart, but becaufe, lying under the hedge,
the corn lies warmer.

§. 12. Light land is faid to be the beft and kindlieft land for corn, whilfl °'",j|/;^
it will hold it, and that may be for three years ; but ftrong clay-land, though "^nj."'"
it will bring the lefs crops, will hold it longeft, and endure- ploughing pof-
fxbly for fix or feven years.

We have in the hill-country of Hamp/hire a light moldering ground,
efpecially on the fide-lands, which the countrymen think not fit to plough
up for a wheaten crop till it has laid ftill five or fix years, and got a fword,
but will then plough it to a barley and wheaten crop : the very life of thefe
grounds, when Jowed, confifts in holding the feed iaft together, which giit it
2 cannot

a tdrm.

ARABLE LAND.

cannot have, being moldering, without a fword ; therefore they are out
who will fow it beyond a wheaten crop (which is fowed on one earth) the
♦Tiound after a wheaten crop being too loofe ; I hold it beft therefore to lay
it down upon the wheaten crop, fowing rye-grafs with it, which will not
only grow up with the wheat, and keep the top of the ground firm againft
moldering in fummer and winter, but by the flrength of the fold on the
wheat wtll give good burthens of grafs till to be ploughed to wheat again. —
The beft hulbandry for all light barren ground feems to be, to fow it to rye-
grafs, and fo to plough it up to corn once in four or fxve years, and fow it
again on the firft crop to rye-grafs. Such ground is to be valued only on
account of it's grafs, but, if fowed to hop-clover, it will not at every two
years end be ftrong enough to carry corn.
Situation of §.13. " Cato, in the fituation of a farm, advifes his countrymen to choofe
" ' '" a fouthern afpeft ; of fo great confequence was the nearer neighbourhood of

the fun even in thofe hot countries, and therefore not to be defpifed in thefe
colder ; for it is plain to me, that the corpufcular bodies of the fun injevffed
not only into our bodies, but into all vegetables by it's heat, are in their in-
fluences prodigioufly more powerful towards frudifying all forts of plants,
than any other manner of heat, or other rich manures whatfoever ; for foot,
nitre, allies, blood, artificial falts, or other mangonifms and compofitions
Glauber has made, though they may perform wonders in our cold countries,
yet cannot produce above a fifth part of the incrcafe the earth fliall do, with-
out thefe arts, in thofe countries nearer the fun, as Africa, and the Weft-
Indies. And the heat of the fun is, I doubt not, fo corporeal a body, as to
have fixed in the earth of thofe countries it's minuteft particles fo far, that,
if we were to bring from thence a buihel or two of their earth, it would
for fome time do wonders in our cold country, till the treafures, the fun
had by it's adivity injedted, were exhaufted; and according to the above no-
tion is the great benefit of fummer fallowing to be accounted for : the often
turning the earth in the fummer grinds it into fmall mellow parts, each of
which receives thofe fubtle luminous emanations of the fun in a more
abundant manner, when it s parts are fo loofened by the plough and fpade.
And I doubt not but in the hot climes, in their rainy or wintry feafons, by
reafon of the richnefs of the foil, made fo by the corpufcles of the fun fo
plentifully injedled, that the trees ftrike roots much deeper than with us,
and that corn does fo alfo, though poflibly the llraw may not exceed the
length of ours, becaufe the fun checks it's growth, and confirms the fibres
and ftalks of the leaves too faft.

A field of mine has a hedge-row to the fouth-weft, on a rifing ground :
this hedge-row keeps off" the fun from it a great part of the day ; it is a
verv good clav piece of land, through which the whole flock of Iheep pafs
as often as they move from one ground to the other ; the corn here runs

much

^ Cato fcripfit, optimum agrum efle, qui fab radice montis fitus fit, et fpcciet ad nieridianr.m
ci^Ii partem, Varro, fol. 31. Inmeridiem fpedtet. Cato, f. i.

ARABLE LAND.

mucli into halm, to fhew the land is good, but produces a very thin grain :
and the fame proportion does a farm hold with this land, which lies fhelving
from the fun to the north ; for the fame reafon all head-lands fenced from
the fun muft be treated accordingly, and fweetened, not with duno-, but
chalk, aflies, &c, and fuch land is to be concluded always four: for the fame
reafon fuch lands are eafi-ly over- ploughed.

I have in the former obfervation tgjcen notice of the fun's checking the
growth of flraw, and confirming the fibres and leaves too faft, which is the
reafon I have afiigned, why the ftraw may not in hot countries exceed the
length of ours : this however may perhaps be no hindrance to the increafer
of the grain ; for from what I have remarked of this field, and alfo from
other obfervations, I am inclined to think Dr. Woodward's hypothefis not
improbable. — The vegetative particles of the earth, which are particularly
adapted for nourifliing the feed of a plant, may poflibly confift of a much
more fubtilized body than the other particles of earth, that nourifli the
ftraw, leaves, &c; and this body may require longer time to be fo rarificd,
concoded, and digefted, probably by the fun and air working on it, that by
fuch means it may be afiimilated ; for dung laid on very barren ground does
not, by experience, confift of abundance of thefe refined particles, and may
therefore produce abundance of ftraw, in our cold climate, but not of corn.
—If this be the cafe, it feems probable alfo, that in every plant, among the
innumerable tubes, which pafs thro' the ftalk (fuppofing of wheat) to the
ear, fome pecuhar tubes or fibres may be appointed by the All- wife Creator,
which run from the root upwards to the fummit, and are much finer and
ftraiter than the other tubes of the plant, for receiving and conveying to the
feed the fimilar and feminal parts and juices j confequently, where earth
does not abound in thefe parts, poverty arifeth in the increafe, tho' the earth
may abound in the more grofs vegetative parts, allotted for nourifbing the
ftalk. From hence it may be, that after one crop of peas you may have the
next crop of peas full in halm or ftraw, but never in kids ; from hence we
find, that often ftirring the earth, fubtilizing it's parts, and turning it up to
the air and fun, is exceedingly conducive to the multiplying of grain, though
the length of ftraw may not be much increafed by it : this may probably give
a reafon why afhes, foot. Sec. may have fuch copious vegetative particles in
them, as to force fo ftrongly the growth of plants; for the fire having fe-
parated and loofed the heterogeneous parts, which clogged each other, the
vegetative particles are thereby enabled to be more adtive, and, being reduced
into their minuter corpufcles, do afcend in greater numbers up the tubes of
plants. Nor is it to be objecfted, that by fire thefe vegetative particles ftiould
be deftroyed, feeing they are fuppofed to be folids. The proper alimental
juices being thus prepared by nature, and the different tubes being fitted to
receive them, vegetation appears to be performed in plants no otherwife than
by the rifing of juices up the tubes by the heat of the fun, in the fame order
and manner as the diflimilar juices and fpirits rife in an alembic ; the orifices
of the tubes, conduding either to the ftraw or feed, being fitted to receive the

juices

8 ARABLELAND,

juices appropriated to either *. This order is however fometimcs interrupted,
by reafon that the atoms of heterogeneous juices will fometimes flioot them-
felves up in different angular ftirias from what are adapted to the orifices of
the tuhes ; whereas in an alembic, where the paffage of rifing is free, the
apothecary can call for the order he knows his fpirits will rile in. — What
thefe alimental juices confift of, it is not eafy to fay: Sir John Floyer, in his

Touch-

* The common opinion, maintained by Mr. Evelyn and others, is, that every plant exhaufts it's
own proper nuti imenr, leaving that which is appropriated to the other plants quiet and undifturb-
ed. Dr. Woodward not only fubfcribes to this notion, but adds. That there are very many and
different ingredients to go to the compofition of the fame Individual plant ; of which ingredients
every part of the plant has one allotted to it for it's feparate and peculiar ufe. Our author, though
Of chance of he afferts notliing, yet, in this fuppofition, that the flraw and feed may be nouriihed by diiFerent
/pf^iec. kinds of juices, received at different orifices, and conveyed from the root upwards by different

tubes, feems not to diffent from Dt. Woodward's opinion. The docSlor reafons from the vaft
variety of tafles, fmells, colours, forms, and folidnefs, that it is impofllble one homogeneous
matter of the fame fubftance, conflitution, magnitude, fiijure, and gravity, {hould make up all
this variet)- ; and concludes, that there v/ant not good indications, that every kind of vegetable
requires a peculiar and fpecific matter for it's formation and nouriftiment ; Yea, faith he, each part
of the fame vegetable doth fo. The former part of this conclufion is affigned by the doctor as the
caufe of the necefTity of frequently changing the fpecies of vegetables. But Mr. Tull, in his 14th
chapter of Horfe-hoeing hufbandrj", treats the doctor's arguments with great co.ntempt, and in con-
tradiction to them advances the three followins propofitions,

I. Tlmt plants of the moji different nature feed on the fame fort of food;

1. That there is no ^lant but tvhat mufi rob any other plant ivithin it's reach ;

3. That a foil which is proper for one fort of vegetables once, is, IN respect to THE SORT OF
FOOD IT GIVES, proper to it ahuays;

And concludes, that if any one of the propofitions are true, there is no need to change the fpecies
of vegetables from one year to another, in RFspect to the different food the same soil
IS, though falsly, supposed to yield.

In fupport of thefe propofitions he argues, that, if in this feries of crops each fort were fo juft as
to take only fuch particles as are particularly proper to it, letting all the reff alone to the other
forts to which they belonged, then it would be equal to them all which of the forts were fown
firft or lafl. But let the wheat be fown after the barley, peas, and oats, inftead of being fown
before them, and then it would evidently appear, by the ftan'ed crop of wheat, either that fome
oi' all of thofe other grains had violated this natural probity, or elfe that nature has given to vege-
tables no fuch law of meum and tuum. Again, if all plants did not feed on the fame fort of food,
they could not rob one another, as they are allowed to do ; a charlock could not rob a turnip, and
ftan'e it more than feveral turnips can do, unlefs the charlock did take from it the fame particles
which would nourifh a turnip, and unlefs the charlock did devour a greater quantity of that
nourifhment than feveral turnips could take. Flax, oats, and poppy could not burn or wafle the
foil, and make it lefs able to produce fucceeding crops of different fpecies, unlefs they did exhaufl
the fame particles which would have nourifhed plants of different fpecies; for, let the quantity
of particles thefe burners take be never fo great, the following crops would not mjfs them, or
fuffer any damage by the want or lofs of them, were they not the fame particles, which would
have nourifhed thofe crops, if the burners had left them behind, quiet and undillurbed. Nei-
ther could weeds be any prejudice to com, if they did draw off thofe particles only that fuit
the bodieD of weeds; but conflant experience fhews, that all forts of weeds, more or lefs, dimi-
nifti the crop of corn. Thefe are his principal arguments, and as a confirmation of the
taft, that plants of the mofl different nature feed on the fame fort of food, he produces this ex-
periment. At the proper feafon, tap a birch-tree in the body or boughs, and you may have
thence a large quantit)' of clear liquor, very little altered from w'ater; and you may fee, that every
other fpecies of plants, that will grow in water, will receive this, live and grow in it as wci!
2s in common water. Having thus given his objedlions to Dr. Woodward's hjpotbefis, concern-
kig the caufe of the necc/Ety of frequently changing the fpecies of plants, he prceeeds to propote
Z hii

ARABLE LAND.

Toucliftone of Medicines, is of opinion, that plants only fpread their roots
in the common earth, but draw their nutriment from the rain water, im-
pregnated with the fulphureous acid of the air ; but Dr. Woodward by many
experiments has confuted this, and the like opinions delivered by other au-
thors, and fufficiently proved, that the watery part imbibed, and running up
the tubes, is only the vehicle to a certain vegetable terreftrial matter, which
gives nourifhment and increafe to plants. Thefe minute, atomical, imper-
ceptible bodies arife up thro' thefe watery tubes with wonderful fwiftnefs,
according to the rules of levity and gravity, by how much their atomical
parts are lighter than the water, or have a figure ferviceable to that fpeed j
and the water thrufting ftill forwards at the extremity, thefe minute parts are
forced to the fide of the tube or pipe, and every minute part helps to the
increaling and lengthening it.

his own. One true caufe of a crop's failing, faith he, is want of a quantify of food to maintain
the quantity of vegetables which the food fhould nourifh. When the quantity of food is fuffi-
cientfor atiother fpecies (that requires lefs) but not for that which iaft grew, to grow again the next
year, then that other is beneficial to be planted after it ; for the conflitution of plants are difF.rent ;
ibme require more food than others, and feme are of a ftronger make, and better able to penetrate
the earth, and forage for themfelves. Therefore oats mav fucceed a crop of wheat on Itrong
land, with once ploughing, when barley will not, becaufc barley is not fo well able to penetrate,
as oats, or beans, or peas are. Long tap rooted plants will not fucceed immediately after thofc
of their own or any other fpecies of long tap-roots, fo well as after horizontal-rooted plants ;
but horizontal will fucceed thofe tap-roots as well or better than they will fucceed horizontal ;
for the food at a greater depth has already been exhaufted by the one, and chiefly that which
lies nearer the furface by the other. The reader mufi: obferve here, that thefe caufes, to which
Mr. Tull imputes the necefllty of changing the fpecies of plants, are caufes only in the common
way of hufbandry ; for by his new method of conffant tillage, he tells us, he prevents their
efFedls. For example, wheat is not, in the common way, (efpecially on any flrong foil)
to be fown immediately after wheat ; for the firft wheat ftanding almofl: a year on the
ground, by which the ground mufl: grow harder, and wheat feed-time being foon after harveR-
in England, there is not fpace of time to till the land, after having been thus exhaufted, fo
much as a fecond crop of wheat requires ; but wheat, in his new method, may be fown im-
mediately after wheat; for by keeping the ground in conftant tillage he procures a fufficient
quantity of food for his plant":, and ftrengthens their conftitutions : if ground therefore be
managed according to the rules prefcribed in his book, he afTerts, there is no neceflity of ever
changing the fpecies. I think it may be objeftcd to this aflertion of Mr. Tull's, that it is not
only the farmer but the gardener alfo who complains, that his ground is grown tired of fuch and
fuch a plant; and finds himfelf under a neceflity of changing it for another fpecies; and yet in
his hands the hough and the fpade are in conftant ufe, and he is perpetually manuring, turning,
and pulverizing his ground ; and, if what Mr. Lifle has taken notice of be faft, that after one crop
of peas you may have the next crop of peas full in halm or ftraw, but never in kids, it feems
to follow that the feed and the ftraw require different juices for their nourifliment. See article
Peas, title. Land fowcd to peas will not bear peas well again for fix years. §. 12. alfo §. 11.
Upon the whole however, which of thefe two gentlemen is in the right, or whether either of
them is fo, I muft leave to the determination of thofe who have bufied themfelves in thefe
inquiries.

tJ- Of the order in which the fpecies fhould be changed, fee the author's remarks at the end of
ihe article Sowing.

C -MANURE

[ '0 ]

MANURE and M A N U R I N G.

Mr. Evelyn's
catalogue of
manures.
Of nitrous
f^hs.

§■ ^' TV /F-^' Evelyn has given us an account of the various manures, ei-
^VX t^^"" experienced by himfelf, or in ufe in his time, or of which
he had conceived a good opinion ; of thefe I {hall prefent the reader with
the following abflradl. Amongft his comports, he fays, cold and dry winters,
with ftore of fnow, is one which I reckon equal to the richeft manures, be-
ing impregnated, as they are, with celeftial nitre, fo. 312.

'Tis falts, which entice roots to afFedt the upper, and faline furface of the
earth, upon which the nitrous rains and dews defcend, and are the caufe
that feme plants the mofl: racy, and more charged with juice than any
other, fuch as the vine, thrive {0 well amongft rocks and pumices, and in
whatever maintains this vital pickle, fo. 312.

'Tis fait which makes all cover'd and long fhaded earths abound in ferti-
lity, ib, — Obferve therefore, how under corn and hay-reeks corn grows ;
but yet it feems in meads, grafa comes not up well under hay-reeks, becaufe
poflibly the ground may be too rich, or fait, for perennial grafs, tho' not for
annual corn.

Salt fown in gravel-walks (as I have experienced it) for a time burns the
earth, fo that nothing will grow upon it ; but when the rains have once
diluted it, it fprings up more wantonly than ever j for which I have left it
off. fo. 3 1 4.

He has a wonderful opinion of nitre, fo. 3 15. — But, for ought I find, he
is ftrangely confounded about the principles of vegetation, what they are.

§.2. Woad and hemp are faid to deftroy the vegetable virtue where they
grow. fo. 316.

Human dung. §. 3. He is againft the ufe of human dung, unlefs it be well ventilated and
aired, notwithftanding Columella, fo. 317.

§. 4. Aquatick fowls dung is too fiery, and therefore not to be laid on
ground, till the volatile falts have their mordicant and piercing fpirits qua-
Hfied. ib.

§. 5. If gravel be wet and cold, lime is preferable, fo. 304.

§.6. Arenous and fandy earths want ligature ; and befides, confifting of
fliarp and afperous angles, wound and gall, curl and dwarf our plants, with-
out extraordinary help to render the paflages more flippery and eafy ; there-
fore relenting chalks, with calcinations of turf, are profitable, fo. 30^.

§. 7. Sand, being of an open and loofe contexture, is apt to put forth a
forward fpring, as more eafily admitting the folar rays, but it does not con-
tinue ; this is an infirmity which may be remedied with loam, which unites
it clofer. ib.

§. 8. With a hungry, or weeping, or cold fort of clay, lime is not to be

mixt, which being flack'd is raw and cold. fo. 307. — To thefe laxatives are

2 ■ beft.

Woad and
hemp.

Dung of
water fowl.

Manures for
different foils,
Gravel.
Sand.

Cold day.

M A N U R E and M A N U R I N G. 1 1

beil, fiich as drift fand, fmall gritty gravel, faw-dufl: with marl, or chalk,
and continual turning it with the fpade and plough, fo. 307.

Chalk, is healing, and therefore proper for clay, cold, and fpewing grounds.

§. 9. Scouring of pond, or ditch-earth, is a moft excellent manure for Pond mud.
hght land. fo. 309.

§. 10. Lands that are hot and burning allay with fwine's-dung, or neats- Swine's-dung.
dung, fo. 309.

§. 1 1. Horfe-dungs the leafl pinguid and fat of any, taken as it falls, being Horfe-dung.
the mofl fiery, excites to fudden fermentation above any ; wherefore 'tis then
fit only for the hot-bed : but for fields it had need be well rotten, left it
bring a couch, and pernicious weeds j the feeds of hay and other plants of .
which the horfes eat, come oftentimes entire from them : fuch vegetables do
commonly fpring up from the foil of cattle, of which they chiefly eat, as
long knot grafs from horfe-dung ; fliort, clean, and fweet pafture, from the
dung of (heep and cows ; the fonchus or fow-thiftle from fwine. fol. 3 i 7.

§. 12. Neats-dung univerfally of all others is moft harmlefs, and the moft Neats-dung.
ufeful ; excellent to mix with fandy and hot grounds, lean, or dry. fo. 3 18.

§.13. Sheep's-dungis of a middle temper between cows-dung and pigeons- Shecp's-dapg,
dung; profitable in cold grounds, fo. 318.

§. 14. Pigeons-dung and that of poultry is full of volatile falts, hot and Pigeons-
fiery, and therefore moft applicable to the coldeft ground. Be this obferved "''^'
as a conftant rule, that the hotter compofts be early and thinly fpread, and
contra the colder, fo. 318. — Very efiicacious is this dung to keep froft out
of the earth, ib. — As the effedl of this dung is fudden, fo it lafts not long,
and therefore muft be the oftener renewed, fo. 319.

§. 15. Blood is excellent with any foil where fruit is planted; 'and, as to Blood,
it's improvements of corn-land, he tells you a ftrange ftory of the battle in
Badnam fields in Devonfliire. fo. 319.

After the battle of Badnam fields in Devonfliire, fays he, where Lord
Hopton had a fignal vidory, the blood of the flain did fo fertilize the ground,
that moft of the wheat ftalks bore 2, 3, 4, yea to 7, and fome to 14 ears ;
a thing almoft incredible, but afluredly reported by diverfe eye-witnefiTes.
fol. 319. — I have given my opinion of this and the like tales under the ar-
ticle, Corn in general — fee — Of many ears on one ftalk. — He adds, that
the blood and flefli of animals is much more powerful for the enriching of
land than their dung and excrements, and is computed at twenty times the
advantage, and to the fame advance above this is hair and calcined bones ;
and fo the dung of pigeons and poultry feeding on corn does as much ex-
ceed that of beafts, which feed on grofs vegetables, and one load of feed
contains as much virtue as ten load of dung.

§. 16. Wood-afties are fit for wet ground: in the Eaft-Indies, burning Wood-afhes.
trees to aflies is the only improvement, of which they ftrew not above a bufliel
to an acre ; it likewife kills the worms ; but in ground that isfubjedl to over-
heat and chap much, aflies and burning compofts do but increafe the fever,
and therefore contrary remedies fliould be fought, fuch as neat's and fwine's-

C2 dung;

12 M A N U R E and M A N U R I N G.

dung J but not (o, when lands arc naturally cr accidentally cold. fo.

Dungftoild §• 1 7- ^2 difapproves of laying dung in heaps in the field, expofed to
not lay ex- the fun, tain, and drying winds, whereby all the fpirit and ftrength is carried
iui^^d'aJr^ away ; and pretends to put us in a better method of managing our dunghills.
— Let the bottom or fides of a pit, fays he, be about four feet deep, paved fo
■with fmall chalk cr clay at the bottom, that it may hold water like a ciftern ;
dired; your channels and gutters about your houfe and flables to it. The pit
muft be under covert, fo that the downright rains at leaft may not fall into
it. Lay a bed of dung in it a foot thick, on that a bed of fine mold, on
that another bed of cyder-mere, rotten fruit, and garden ofFal, on this a
couch of pigeons and poultry-dung, with more litter, and beds of all other
variety of foil ; upon all this caft water plentifully from time to time : as for
frcfh dung, fuch as fheep make when folded, 'tis good to cover it with
mold as foon as poflible from the fun. fo. 326.

§. 18. He accounts the warmth of the woolly fleeces of flieep an improve-
ment to land as well as their dung. fo. 308 ; and the very breath and tread-
ing of cattle, and their warm bodies is comfortable, and marvelloully cherilh-
ing. ib. — Thus far Mr. Evelyn. — There is no great matter to be colledted
from the ancient writers on hufbandry in refpeft to this article of Manuring.
Manures ofed 'Pliny prefers cow-dung to horfe-dung ; and, if the cows, or cattle that chew
by the an- j^jg ^-yj^ f^^^^ ^^ ^5 good meat as horfes, without doubt the dung, by reafon
of fuch chewing, will be the finer. * Columella gives a like reafon for pre-
ferring afies dung to that of any other beaft ; becaufe, fays he, the afs is a
long time in grinding his meat, by which means it is more thoroughly di-
gefted, and fit to be laid on the ground immediately, as foon as made. Hogs
dung he efleems the worft of all. — ^ Varro and Pamphilus agree, that the
dang of geefe, and all aquatick fowls, is of a bad kind ; but the latter of
thefe affigns a different caufe for it from that given by our Englifh writer :
he attributes it only to it's too great humidity, whereas Mr. Evelyn reports it

to be of a fiery quality. ' Columella joins with *" Varro in giving great

commendations to pigeons-dung, beyond that of all other birds, on account
of it's fermenting heat, and in advifing to fow it on the ground before the corn
is harrowed in ; but, if tliis is not to be procured, he direfts us to make ufe

of

' Inter fimos bot'um praefertur antequam lumentorum. Plin. lib. 1 7. c. 9.

* Inter pecudum ftercus optimum exiftimatur quod afinus facit, quandoquidem idanimallentlfiime
mandit, idcoque facilius conquoquit, et bene confeiftum aque idoneum protlnus an'o fimum reddit.
Deterrimum ex omnibus fuiDum habetur. Columella, lib. 2. c. 14.

* Malum eft ftercus anferum, et aquaticarum volucrum, propter humiditatem. Pamphilus in
Geoponicis, fol. 5.

' Antequam farrias, more (eminantis, ex aviariis pulverem flercorls per fegetem fparge ; fi et is
lion erit, caprinum manu iacere, atque ita terram farculis permifcere, ea res laetas fegetes reddit.
Columella, lib. 2. fol. ic8.

' Stercus optimum eft volucmm, prater paluftrium et nantium ; de hifce praeftare columbinum,
quod fit calidiiTimum, et fermentare poflit terrain; id ut femcn afpergl in agro cportere. Varro,
lib. I. fed. 43.

M A NU R E and M A N U R I N G. 13

of goats-dung in it's ftead. 'Pliny recommends earth that is fait, as pre-
ventive of, or deftrudtive to infe(5ls ; and this may be one of the great advan-
tages from lime, foot, pigeons-dung, and often tilling the ground : " It is
agreed on, fays he, by every one, that there is no manure more profitable
than lupines, ploughed into the ground before they have kidded,

§. 19. The maintenance corn muft depend on, is the innate digefted falts Dang, it's
of the earth, and well concodled juices, which are not to be obtained by the '"'""fficicnc/
prascocious way, the fame year the land is dung'd j dunging is but a weak °^°'^ *
fupport for very poor land to depend on ; 'tis a good fauce to the noble
juices, which are before in the land, to heighten them : but if you think duno-
alone a fufficient nourifliment, where the land is before poor, you will find,
that in fuch cafe the corn will run out to a ftraw, and the grain to a thin body
with little flour ; and that very poor land fhall be as little able to bear good
dunging, as a poor man, whofe blood is poor, much ftrong drink : the very
quintefcence in earth, which improves grain, feems to depend very much
on the air, fun, and rains incorporated with the earth, which feem princi-
pally to give birth and life to vegetables ; for the receiving of which prin-
ciples the dung has not had time, which is newly depofited on the earth :
how much is to be attributed to thefe principles is eafy to be feen, if
Mr. Ray, Grew, and Malpigius be confulted.

§. 20. In difcourfe with farmer Sartain of Broughton in Wilts, and other Dung of
farmers, I was faying, that the tails and the improvement of the dung of ""'^ ^ooJ ■"
cattle was anfwerable to the food they feed on, and gave feveral inftances of thegooTner
it ; to which farmer Sartain replied, They were fenfible alfo, that, when they °^ "^«" ^°"'^'
foddered with the beft meadow-hay, it made their grounds quite another

thing in goodnefs, than v^'hen they foddered with a coarfer hay. Farmer

Stephens of Pomroy affented to this, and added, that the fheep flate in the
common of Pomroy was of fo rowty, wet, and poor a grafs, that the tails of
the fheep that fed on it would do land no good : to confirm his report, he
led me to a good healthy ground, which he had fowed to wheat, and which
he had folded with thefe flieep, {o rich in appearance, that no ground could
be feen for the trundles, and yet by the corn there was no fign of the good
efFedls it had on the land ; and the trundles, if you broke them, were as
coarfe as rabbet-dung. This makes therefore for the improvements bv
grafs-feeds in poor lands, forafmuch as the fheep gain not thereby a good
belly-full only, but alfo their dung has greater virtue.

§.21. If you divide the poorer part of a ground from the better, leave two of .iungmg
or three lugg in depth of the poorer ground within the hedge of the better P'""" i''"J '''^-^
ground ; becaufe the cattle love to creep to the hedge-fide, and v/iU improve ^ ^'^'^^'^'
that poorer part by their dunging on it.

§. 22. That

' Salfje terrs multo melius creduntur, tutiora avitiis innafcentium animallum.

^ Inter omnes conftat nihil eflc utllius lupini fegete, priufquam filiquLtur, aratro vel bidenti-
bus verfa. Plin. lib. 17. c. 9.

C? Mr. Miller teniarks, that in Italy, to this day, they cut down the narrow-leaved tdl tur-
nips, when in flower, and plough tliem into their ground as manure.

i^. M A N U R E and M A N U R I N G.

Ho.-'"-- dung §. 2 2. That part of my barley, which had been dunged with horfe-dung
^'""^T'^na '° ^^^ Y^^^ before for wheat, was twice as good as that part, which the fame
cow- ung. ^^^^^ ^^^^ dunged with cow-dung, though that part dunged with cow-dung

was rather the better land.
Horre-diing, §• 2^ Horfe-dung being laid on wheat-land juft before it is fowed, and
when to lay then ploughed in, and fowed on one earth, (which is often done in the hill-
*'^°" countiy, where the land is light) is apt through the fire of the dung to run

out the corn farter than the digeftion of the ftalk can be made ; and fo the
parts being loofe and hollow in the texture, when the winter comes, the
cold pierces it {o, that it withers and dies ; whereas dung fhould either, on
fuch land, be laid and fpread a month before the ground is ploughed and
fowed, or elfe fhould be ploughed in a fortnight before the ground is
fowed.
D«flgoffat- ^_ 24. Lord Shaftftjury complained to me, that he did not find feeding his
ferfbirfj^aJ grounds with cows, improved them. I told his lordfhip the reafon I believed
of milch cows, was, becaufe his cows were milch cows, not fatting beafts ; for the dung of
milch cattle cannot improve lands like the dung of fatting hearts, the milking
them follicidng the fat and nourirtiment of the creature to follow the current
of the milk, whereby the dung is much the poorer ; and why weather-fold
is worfe than ewe-fold, I conceive to be, becaufe the nourifhment of the
weather goes into his growth.
Of hL'ing §• 25. I ask'd a Wiltfhire man what the tails of a hundred rtieep might be

deep fortheir worth, if one was to hire them. He faid, that fometimes he had known
<iuDg. flieep to be let out, and they have had 12 d. per night for lending a hundred

fheep to fold, which is looked on of as good a value as a good load of pot-dung.
Note, in Leicerterrtiire one may have the fold of 200 for izd. per night.
Ewes dung §-26. Mr. Davers of Caufum in Wiltrtiire aflures me, that notable coun-
preferable to trvmen have told him, that in dividing the ewes from the weathers, in fold-
that of wea- .^-g j^ ^j^^ ^-^^^ ground, they have had" much the better corn where they have
folded the ewes. Mr. Davers th.>i;.'ht it was from the lambs, becaufe their
dung muft be richer fi-om the milk they fucked from the ewes. I have given
mv fentiments on this point m a former obfervation ; but quzere whether the
foil of all gelt creatures, is not le.- generous and rich than that of others. I
told Mr. Davers, that I had been affured, if cattle had poor mean hay given
them, the foil of 'em would do the ground little fervice, to which he affented j
and he faid further, that horfes dung when they were at grafs rather impo-
veriilied than better'd the land, whereas what came out of the rtablc was
otherwife.
Time of car- & 27. Carry out horfe-pifs, cows-pifs, hogs-pifs, when they are frozen and

ryingoutfome . v ' -' ^ 101

forts of ma- in Ice. ^ • i • t^ - j

nare. Many hufbandmen fling layers of malt-duft into the pigeon-houles, and,

Malt-duil when it is well covered, flin? another layer, and few it mix'd thus together

mixed with ,. , ,/-ii r ' ^ ■ ■ ti...

figeons- on their grounds, and find, they fay, great advantage in it. 1 nave not as
auBg. yet ha^ experience of it, but have heard it greatly commended, and believe it

to be a good way,

* i 28. Shar-

M A N U RE and M AN UR I NG. 15

§.28. Sharrock fays, fo. 91. For cold land, pigeon and poultry-dung" is Cautions in
very ufeful, which abound in volatile faltj thele are only fowed by the hand, "'"'"S P'?-^""
for fear of burning the corn in the chitting of the grain.— I have obferved Zlf'^''''
where thefe dungs have been over plentifully laid, that the place bore no
corn at all, whereas in other places, where it was moderately ftrewed, the
crop was exceeding great ; the fame effedl there is in urine and'foot, from the
very eager fpirit, and volatile fait, and therefore the fame caution is to be had
in their ufe: horfe-dung, if not rotten, lying thick will do the fame.

§.29. Mr. Patching of Leicefterfhire fays, They commonly fow two Q,uant!t>' of
quarters of pigeons-dung on an acre, (which is fixteen bufliels) and their P'§*°"'-
method of fowing it is, to fow it after the corn, and before the corn is har-acTe^°"^
rowed in : in meadows he fuppofes eight buHiels on an acre is enough.

§. 30. It may be judged that pigeons-dung is better than poultry-dung, P'S^ons-
from Mr. Evelyn's view of them by a microfcope; for he fays, that pigeons- fef^T
dung is conltituted of a Itift glutinous matter, eafily reducible to a duft, ofauy-dung.
grey colour, with fome hufky atoms after dilution ; but the dung of poultry
was fo full of gravelly fmall ilones and fand, that there appeared no other fub-
flance, fave a very fmall portion both of white and blackifh vifcous matter,
twifted up together, of all the other the moll: fastid and ill fmelling. Evelyn,
fo. 295.

§.31. Sir Ambrofe Phillipps fells his pigeons-dung for ^d. per bufhel, which Pigeons-
is 2s. 8d. per quarter; one Gimfon bought it, and laid it on Ught fandy^"^^' P';'/,

Jjj» . 1/* iii/i*« "^ ana manner

and, and, it proving a hot fummer, he thought it did his barley rather harm of fowing lu

than good. Mr. Putching is very fond of this dung, and buys it for 2 s. 6 d.
per quarter, and fows two quarters, and fometimes three on an acre, which
he thinks is beft : he fows it after his barley is in the ground, before harrow-
ing, and harrows in both together : he alfo fows it in the fame manner on
his wheat-land, and in cafe a wet and cold fpring comes upon his barley, fo
that he is like to have little in his furrows, he flings about a fack on an acre,
between the furrows, and finds it to ftrengthen and comfort the cold land fo,
that he has as good corn there as on the ridges : he bad me but try, and I
ftiould have as good an opinion of it as he had. Mr. Clerk of Ditchly told
me afterwards, that Sir Ambrofe fowed commonly five quarters on an acre.

§.32. The gentlemen mentioned in the preceding obfervation agreed, To manags
that the beft way to manage pigeons-dung in a dove-houfe, was often to lay aP'geons-
layer of ftraw upon it ; but then it will be amafs'd to fo great a bulk, that it '^''"S'
muft often be removed to fome place, where it may lie from the power of
the weather.

§. 33. Sharrock tells us, fo. 134, Soot and pigeons-dung abound much in Sootandpi-
volatile fait; and I have this year (1703) on a cold and moift clay, feen ex- S^°"'-'^'"''S-

cellent

" Mr. Miller fays, the dung of pigeon*, hens, and geefe are great improvers of meaaow or corn-
land i the firft of thefe being the beft fuperficial improvement that can be laid on meadow or corn-
land : but, before it is ufed, it ought to have lain abroad out of the dove-houfe fome time, that ths
air may have a little fweetened it,^ and mollified the fiery heat that is in this dung.

i6 M A N U R E and M A N U R I N G.

cellent advantage on the grafs thereby, it being only ftrewed thin on the grafs
before fpring ; but of the two foot was the beft.

Soot to kill §. 2^. Cook fays, fo. 19. Soot is good to kill mofs ; it's heat kills the roots,

'"° '■ for they lie on the top of the earth.

Soot to hy on ^_ 35. I find in Leicefterfhire many do fling foot on their green wheat in
February, fo as to blacken the land with it ; therefore I need not fear burning
my wheat with it, at that time at Eafton. The foot from the fea-coal is
eftecmed the bed:.

Coal adies §-36. A notable farmer told me, that he had tried all ways of managing

fola ""^^^ French grafs, by dung, and fold, &c. and had found coal-afhes the only, or
beft improvement. — Qu. Therefore why not beak-land burnt j and why may
not thefe be the beft improvements, becaufe they will not create and encou-
rage a rowty grafs to arife, to choak the French grafs, as Mr. Methuen had
obferved dung to do.

Id.thcreafon. It feems to me, that afhes may be propercft to French grafs, inafmuchas
they kill the natural grafs, from the fame reafon as the fait of brine does, or
urine thrown on gravel-walks ; and afhes have a ftrong fait in them ; yet this
fait is beneficial to the roots of the French grafs, becaufe it has a tap-root,
which runs deep, and the fait of the afties is very well qualified before it finks
down to the roots of the French grafs.

Rotten wood. §. 27' J- Mortimer, Efq^ F. R. S. fo. 380. reckons rotten wood of hedges
and coppices to be a great improver of the foil where it drops, and inftances
the earth where faggot-piles have been ufed to ftand.

Rotten leaves. ^_ ^S. Quinteny fays, the dung of leaves thoroughly rotten, is hardly fit
for any thing but to be thrown ov^er new fown beds, to hinder the rains, or
waterings, from beating too much on the furface, and fo hinder the feeds from
rifing; — and no doubt 'tis the fame with corn. Part 1. fo. 5.

Sea-ware and §. 39. Martin of the Weftern ifles fays, the manuring with fea-ware is an

marie. univerfal hufbandry throughout thofe iflands, fo. 53. &c. In the ide of

Altig, he reports, that, by manuring healthy ground with fea-ware, many
ftalks had five ears growing on them ; fo. 140; and in the ifle of Skie, by an
improvement of marie, 35 fold increafc was had, and many ftalks carried
five ears of barley ; and he afi"ures us this account was given him by the then
poftellbr of the land ; fo. 132. ''But I have in another place given my opi-
nion, that thefe fuperfaetations are not probable.

Malt-dull. §. 40. King of Ilfley in Berkftiire fays, that the malt-duft fowed on

barley-land did very little good laft fummer (anno 1699) by reafon of the
drought ; for, no rain falling from fowing-time till the feed was come up, the
flrength of the duft was not waftied into the land.

He faid, it was common in thofe parts of Berkfhire to lay malt-duft on
wheat-land, and to fling it on at the time they fow the wheat, and harrow
it in together, and a very good improvement it was ; but, faid he withal, I
Jiave heard hulbandmen argue that point, and hold, that malt-duft is better

for
° Vid. Corn in general.

MANURE and MANURING. 17

for fummer-corn than for wheat, and they give this reafon for it; the winter
corn hes a whole year in the ground, and the malt-duft will have fpent it's
ftrength by the time the winter is over, and not hold up the corn in heart all
the lummer: they fow with the wheat two quarters of malt-duft to an acre,
which makes four quarters of corn-meafure.

Farmer Ratty affured me, that malt-duft went beyond dung on clay-land •
for 'tis on fuch land, not on light land, that he has had the experience ofitj
and that farmer Hawkins knows this very well, tho' he does not care others
fliould, left the price ftiould grow dearer : he fays, he lays twenty facks on
an acre, of the ordinary four-bufliel-facks, which he buys at Whitchurch at
I s. per fack. He fows on his wheat-ground, not dung'd nor folded, about
February, and he fays the wheat will furpafs the dunged- wheat, and the
ground will produce a good barley-crop afterwards, tho' fuppofed to the
contrary.

Mr. Thomfon of Loughborough affures me, that malt-duft laid on cold
grafs-grounds makes a great improvement: he fays, he lays after the rate of
tour quarters on an acre, on fuch ground, but 'twould be better to lay fix or
feven. Note, five quarters on an acre is a peck on a lugg-fquare ; j\ quarters
IS a peck and an half It feems it would be agreeable on our cold clay-
meadows.

I have obferv'd of dungs, and lime, and ftrong beer, that they afford no
fpirits, or vegetable falts, till they have pafs'd a fermentation by fire, whereby
their fpirits or lalts are raifed and fecreted; fo I look on the fame obfervation
to hold good in malt and barley ; ground barley being of little profit to land
if laid on It; whereas ground-malt laid on land, (tho' 'twould be madnefs to
do It) a? we may judge by the malt-duft, would yield a great produce.

Mr. Clerk fays, he ufes the kiln-duft of the malt himfelf, viz. that duft
which comes through the hair-cloth, which he looks on to be better than
the other : he laid (he faid) ten quarters upon an acre, both on his grafs-
ground and barley, about January or February. I ask'd him if it would not
be apt to burn the ground, not being laid on earlier ; he faid, one fhower of
rain he thought waih'd the heat out of it. As to the largeft tail-duft of the
malt, he fold it for 4 d. per hulhel, to people to feed pigs with.

§. 43. In difcourfc with ICingon the fubjea of woollen rags, he affured w-oolkn
me of ftrange effeds Irom them, which improve to four or five crons. He "s^-
laid they might be bought at London for 2 s. or 2 s. 6 d. per hundred
weight, 1 12 lb. to the hundred ; old people might be hired to cut them on a
block, which would coft about 6 d. per hundred. Lay of thefe chopt fmall,
to an inch or two fquare ; fow them by fcattering them out of the feed-lip
at the lecond ploughing or earth, about the latter end of July : being thus
covered, they will grow finnowy or moldy by feed-time ^

§. 44. It

P Befide the manures fpokcn of by our author, there are two others much commended by Mr.
MilJer, which are rotten tanners bark, and rotten vegetables.— Oak-bark, fays he, after the tan-
ners iiave ufed it for tanning cl Icatlier, when laid in a heap, and rotted, is an excellent manure, efpe-

D ciailv

i8 MANURE and MANURING.

Worms good §. 44. It is a common and well approved of method in hufbandry, atLitch-
]onedune"kito^^^'^ ^'^ ^^"^P^'''''^' and the neighbourhood thereof, to carry out long dung,
the ground, and lay it on lay-ground, that is light and whitifh, and to let the worms draw
it in, being laid early; then to plough it up and fow it on one earth; but it
muft not be ftrong land, becaufe that can't be fowed on one earth.
Dung, timeof § 45' ^^ '^^ -^ frequent pradllce in the hill-country to pot-dung land, run to
laying it on. grafs and to a fvvord, in July, and to plough in the dung, and fow it on one
earth with wheat, the latter end of Auguft, or a week in September ; and true
it is, that, though the ground be grafly and fwordy, as it will be in our hill-
country by two years lying to grafs, and tho' the fpring be very dry, as alfo
the fummer, yet in April and May, whtn the fun gets rtrength, and warms
the ground, the fpirits of the dung will be drawn out of the ground upwards,
as will plainly appear by the good deep colour of the wheat, and the thicknefs
and thriving condition of it : however 'tis plain by feveral experiments I have
made this way, that the mellower and loofer the ground is, you thus ma-
nage, the better the Ipiritsof the dung will be drawn upwards, through the
earth, to the roots of the corn, as has appeared to me, both by the thicknefs
and colour ; therefore the hulbanding land this way, which is run to a matted
fword, ought, as much as can be, to be avoided. Corn thus hulbanded will
thrive very little during the winter, nor until warm weather comes : from

hence

'daily for ftiff cold land ; in which one load of this manure will improve the ground more, and lafl
longer, than two loads of the richeft dungs. It is better for cold ftrong land than for light hot ground,
becaufe it is of a warm nature, and will loofen and feparate the earth ; fo that where this manure has
been ufed three or four times, it Jiath made the land very loofe, which before was flrong, and not
eafy to be wrought. When this manure is laid on grafs, it fhould be done feon after Michaelmas,,
that the winter rains may wafh it into the ground ; for, if it is laid on in the fprinsj, it will burn the
grafs, and, inftead of improving it, will greatly injure it for that feafon. Where it is ufed for corn-
land, it fliould be fpread on the furface before the laft ploughins;, that it may be turned down for the
fibres of the corn to reach it in the fprin^jj for, if it lies too near the furface, it will forward the
grow'tli of corn in winter; but in the fprina, when the nourifhment is chiefly wanted to encourage
the ftems, it will be nearly confumed, and the corn will receive little advantage from it. - Rotten
vegetables of moft forts alfo greatly enrich land ; fo tliat, where other manure is fcarce, thefe may
be ufed with great fuccefs. The weeds of ponds, lakes, or ditches, being dragged out before they
feed, and laid in heaps to rot, will make excellent manure, as will moft other forts of weeds.
But where-ever any of thefe are employed, they fhould be cut down as foon as they begin to flower ;
for, if they arc fuffered to ftand until their feeds are ripe, the land will be ftored with weeds, which
cannot be deftroyed in two or three years ; nay, fome kinds of weeds, if they are permitted to ftand
(o long as to form their feed, will perfecS them after they are cut down, which may be equally pre-
judicial to the land: therefore the fureft method is to cut them down juft as they begin to flower ; at
which time moft forts of vegetables are in their greateft vigour, being then ftronger, and fuller of
juice, than when their feeds are farther advanced ; fo that at that time they .abound moft with falts,
and therefore are more proper for the intended purpofe. In rotting thefe vegetables it will be pro-
per to mix fome earth, mud, or any other fuch like fubftance with them, to prevent their talcing
iire in their fermentation ; which they are very fubjedt to, where they are laid in large heaps, with-
out any other mixture to prevent it ; and it will be proper to cover the heaps over with earth, mud,
or dung, to detain the falts ; otherwife many of the finer particles will evaporate in fermenting.
When thefe vegetables are thoroughly rotted, they will form a folid mafy, which will cut like but-
ter, and be very full of oil, which will greatly enrich the land.-— He commends likewife fea-fand,
Ihells, and corals, efpecially for a ftrong loam, inclining to clay; but adds, as thefe bodies are hard,
ihe improvement is not the hrft or fecond year, becaufe they require time to pulverize them, be-
fore their falts can mix with the earth to impregnate it.

MANURE and MANURING. 19

hence it may feem, that to carry out dung on fuch land the beginning of
June, and plough it in whilft the fun is hot, and has a good feafon to hold
fo, is better hufbandry than to defer it till Augufi: ; for the fun will exhale
upwards the fpirit of the dung. In poor ground it feems proper to me to
fummer-fallow it, (if lay-ground run to grafs) and flir it in the winter, in
order to fow it at fpring with oats or barley and French grafs, in order to feed
the French grafs with cows during the fummer, after the roots are well
eftabliflied ; and fuch feeding will not kill the French grafs in fuch poor
ground ; for there can be no danger of fuch exuberancy of fap, that the
root (hould fall under a plethory : in autumn it may be fed a little with fheep
without prejudice.

From the above obfervation, how the dung plough'd in under furrow is
drawn up to the roots of the corn by the flrength of the fun, may be ex-
plained, in the fame manner, how grafs in the hotteft fummers comes to have
moft goodnefs and fpirit, as is experimentally proved by deer, flieep, and
other cattle thriving by it (tho' plenty of rain does moft contribute to increafe
of growth) the effluvia which lie deep, being fo exhaled to the roots,

Mr. Biffy and Mr. Slade being with me, when in the month of July or
Auguft I was carrying out my dung to lay on land that was fwordy, in order
to fpread it, and turn it under furrow, they did not approve of that hufbandry;
Mr. Slade faid, he found it a much better way to carry it out in the fpring,
i. e. about May, to lay on ground not apt to run to grafs, and let it be wafli'd
in, which will mellow the ground, and hollow it ; and then turn it in at Mid-
fummer, and fow it on one earth. Mr. Bifly faid, he found it always the bell
way, if dung was free from weeds, and fliort, fuch as ox-dung and horfe-
dung that would fpit, to carry it out on the ground plough'd up to fow on
one earth, a little before you fow it, and drag it in : he faid, he always found
the beft corn by fuch hufbandry, and would have perfuaded me to try it.

§. 46. It feems to me, that the grounds near the houfe ought to have the To lay pot-
duns, in regard of the cheapnefs of carriage, and in regard that three loads, ""S""''
of corn may be carried in from thence, inftead of one from a farther dif-
tance ; and if fuch grounds confequently by rich crops of grafs-feeds maintain
a treble flock, what matter is it whether the grounds at a dillance have the
dung at the firft hand or fecond, I mean by the tails of fheep ? Befides, the
richer the grounds near to your backfide are, the more they will anfwer in
the produce of grafs, and in being of more general conveniency, as in main-
taining lambs at lambing-time, in fatting hogs by broad clover, in maintain-
ing horfes and mares with food, in bringing good goar-vetches, in the eafy
carting of a good burthen of grafs-feed-hay ; and, if not folding, other me-
thods may be ufed in manuring grounds at a diftance, fuch as ploughing in
goar-vetches, liming, rags, fowing to French grafs, watering, &c. — The
farmers however argue from experience, that we muft fometimes change
our manure from the fold to pot-dung, and not always fold on the fame
land.

D z §.47. They

20 M A N U R E and M A N U R I N G.

§. 47, They who are curious in felling feed-corn, will not allow a load of
corn or dung at harvell: to come through their wheat-fallow.
Diintr (hould §• 4^'- ^^ dung lies near the corn-carting, and not carried out before har-
not he near veft, fo many forts of corn will be littered in it, which will not have time to
the corn-cart- j.gj.^ jj^^j. y^^^ muft expecft a crop foul with trumpery.

Mold, to lay it §• 49. I hold it much the better way, if earth be carried out as a foil to
<"»• land, not to fpread the earth on the land till the lad earth be given for the

corn, and then to fpread it, and harrow it in v/ith the corn with new har-
row-tinings or drags ; hereby the earth will not be buried.
Of turning §• 5°- ^"^ °f my labourers was going to turn the dung for me into heaps

dung. in the foddering barton ; he afl^ed me, if he fhould ftir it all ; he faid, 'twas

beft to turn it all, and not lay the mixen he Hung up on the top of the reft ;
for though 'twas fomething more charge, yet 'twould rot the better. Farmer
Elton coming by, told me, I did well in it, for 'twas much the better way.
Straw, to ma- §. 51. If ftraw, not half dung, be carried out into the fields, and laid in
nageicfor heaps, and after rains turned, it v.'ill become dung in good time.
""*■ Mr. Raymond of Puck-Shipton in Wiltfhire vifiting me, I told him, I

intended to dig my farm-yard deep into holes, whereabouts the kine foddered,
that in thofe holes I might let the wet into my dung, that it might rot the
better. He immediately difapproved much of it, and faid, that way the dung
would never rot ; for ftraw was like weed, and other things, which lying al-
ways wet would never rot ; but that which would make ftraw rot was to let
it lie often wet and often dry ; therefore, faid he, we always covet as dry a
farm-yard as we can get, for the rains will wet the ftraw often enough ; or,
if it chance to be a very long dry feafon, you may wet it by throwing water
on it. — I have fince found by experience, that, if dung lies always wet, it
will not heat well, nor rot, and that it waftes itfelf and it's ftrength by the
wet ; therefore no better huft>andry than to fling it into a heap.

1 70 1 was a mighty corn-year, and a year which ran much to halm ; fo
that the beafts could not eat up their ftraw, but it lay in the barton not half
dung ; I propofed carrying out the ftraw or longifti dung, and laying it on
my wheaten lay ; a layer of ftraw, and a layer of wet and rottenifh dung,,
thinking the wet and tolerably digefted dung might rot the ftraw j but John
Stephens of Aflimonfworth, and farmer Crofs faid, the long ftraw had better
lie in the barton to take fome rains, and then being well wetted, and carried
forth, it might by the wheat-feed-time be dung, but, according to the way
I propofed, by that time it would produce nothing but finnowy or moldy
ft:raw.

§. 52. Columella advifes to keep dung in a heap till it is a year old, and
no longer ; for after that age, fays he, it lofes it's ftrength.
Age of dung. That new dung on cold land will run corn into ftraw, and make a great
fhew of corn, I doubt not ; but I do believe, the dung of one year old will
produce the fuller bodied corn. — Ufing dung however of only a year old, to
dung a wheaten crop, feems to be the occafion of the great produce of

weeds in our corn-land ia England.

§• 53- For

MANURE and MANURING. 21

§. 53. For three or four years they were very fond at Hufborne inHampfliire Time and
of laying their dung on the land, and fpreading it after the corn was fown and "^^[^'^^'^ '^f
harrowed j but they grew weary of it ; for their land was pretty light of d?n'gf
itfelf, and the worms working up for the dung made it too light.

I was going from Holt through Tilihade to Salifbury ; Tilfliade is on the
downs ; I obferved the village was carrj'ing out long dung, which being in
or about Oftober (as I thought an improper feafon) it invited me to afk the
reafon. They told me, it was to lay on their ground fowed to vetches, and
that they did not fow their vetches till the middle or latter end of Odtober,
when their vi'heat-land was fowed. Quasre farther of this hufbandry ; for it
feems to me, where land is fowed late, it muftbe good huftandry, and bring
the vetches forward, and warm, and comfort them, efpecially where land
is light and weak, as it is generally about Tillliade, being a £ne barley-
land.

Farmer Elton adviled me always, when I carried my dung out into the
ground, to fpread it immediately ; it will, faid he, make the ground kirnel
and fallow better, whereas to leave it in the heaps will rather hurt the corn,
and make it lodge and grow up rank. — But, faid Oliver afterwards, when I
was talking to him of it, we often lay it in heaps on the ground ; and in fuch
cafe, when we carry it on the land, we dig away from the mixen the earth
underneath about half a foot.

I was obferving to farmer Biggs, that farmer Bond of Highclear flung no
dung, in the fpurning or fpreading it, into the furrows, but carried a fpit all
along from the heap, and fpread it near to the brink of the furrows, and fo
fpurned to it. John Biggs faid, he never faw it done, but that doubtlefs
'twas a very good way ; for to.fling dung into the furrows was to double dung
them, by reafon that on each fide the furrow a furrow was veered in on the

furrow ^ Prudent hufbandmen, fays Columella, choofe to lay their dung

on the upper ground rather than on the lower (or to dung the ridges rather
than the furrows) becaufe the rains v/ill wafli down the richer particles.

Qu^asre, if ploughing in dung at ftirring time may not be beft, becaufe of
making the weeds grow, which are ploughed in at fowing the wheat.

Columella advifes to plough in dung as foon as it is fpread, that it's ftrength
may not be exhaufted by the power of the fun, and that the ground may
be mellowed and enriched by thus lying mixed with it j therefore, adds he,
you ought not to fpread more dung than you can plough in a day ''.

? Prudentes agricolas etiain in aratis collem magis quam vallem ftercorant, quia pluviae fem-
pcr omnem pinguiorem materiam in ima deducunt. Columella, lib. 2. ch. 18.

1 Disjeilum protinus fimum inarari, et obrui convenit, re folis habitu vires amittar, et ut per-
mifta humus prredifto alimento pin^uefcat ; itaque, cum in agro difponcntur acervi ftcrcoris, non
debet major modus coruni diflipari, quam quern bubulci eodem die poflint obrueie. Colu.tiella, lib.
8. fo. 100.

METHOD

22 MANURE and MANURING.

METHOD of manuring different LANDS.

Of dunged §. 54. Dunged land, in a wet year, bears the worft coin, efpecially if it

land in a wet ^g j^^ ^j^ ^^^^ . £qj. (ju^g then holdcth the moifture, and the ground
^ '^' being then wet withal, commonly doth produce a great many weeds,

which can digeft the fpirit of the earth and water better than the corn
can, becaufe they grow much quicker. Cook, fo. 31.
Of dunging §. 5^, Ground hard ploughed is apt to run to weeds, and dunging it, or
land that is foldino; on it earlv will make it more fubiedl fo to do ; for that will promote

hard plough- irii*^ ii rtj

ed. and forward the natural produce or the ground.

The beft §. j5. When we go on the improvements of land by dung, fold, or other

fo°be"moil'fnd manures, it ought firft to be confidered, what return we expedl of profit; upon
principally wliich confideration, I think, the gentleman, who undertakes the manage-
jniproved. j-nent of his own land, ought firft to apply his manures in improvements to
his clay-arable and mixt-arable ; becaufe the fame expence fliall double the
value of fuch lands, and thereby render an acre of los. per ann. to be

v/orth 20 s. Whereas the fame expence on poor white land, or poor fan-

dy land, &c. of perhaps no more than is, per acre, though it augments the
value of the acre four times, is an improvement but of 4 s, per acre per ann. and
then the improvements on fuch poor lands are not fo lafting. 'Tis true how-
ever, there is one fort of manure always to be applied to white, fandy, or
poor light lands from the firft entrance into hufbandry, which is your marles
and ftrong earths, from whencelbever they are removed. From hence
it may be inferred, that thofe do not beft, who, when they build farm-
houfes, choofe the fituation on the molt barren parts ; for, if their grounds
be healthy, and not worth above 10 s. per acre per ann. 'tis more profitable
to have the fituation of a farm there.

Land that is worth 5 s. per acre, and land that is worth los. per acre,
and land that will bear two quarters per acre, and land that will bear four
quarters per acre, do differ vaftly in proportion of value ; for, whereas the
land that is worth los. per acre is only double the value of that which is
worth 5, the land that will bear four quarters may very well be worth ten
t;imes the value of the land that will bear but two quarters ; becaufe the
price of feeding, dunging, folding, fowing, ploughing, weeding, mowing
or reaping, &c. of the four quarters per acre barley is no more than of the
two quarters per acre barley.
Wetgiound §, ^y, Palladius tells us, that a wet foil requires more dune than a dry

to be dunged ^^^ ,.

more than t- o • > • i • i i i

dry. §. 58, Monfieur de Quinteny's obfervation, abridged by London and

Of luitmg Wife, fo, 20, is as follows, viz. Since the great defedls of earth are too much

your dung to ' y ' o

your foil, moiiture,

' Ager aquofus plus ftercoris qusrlt, ficcus minus, Pallad, lib. i, k£i, 6,

3

MANURE and MANURING. 2^

moifture, coldnefs, and heavinefs, as alfo lightnefs, and an inclination to
parching, lb amongfl dungs fome are fat and cooling, as the dung of oxen
and cows ; others hot and light, as flieep, horfes, and pigeons-dung : and
whereas the remedy mufl: have virtues contrary to the diftemper it is to
cure ; therefore hot and dry dungs mult be ufed in cold, moift, heavy earths,
and open and loofe dung, in lean, dry, light earths, to make them fatter
and clofer.

§. 59. If you lay dung on a fandy or rocky ground, where it will be Dung on
weeping away, the oftener, and lefs at a time you lay, fo much the better ; hmv^tob°e"laid
for if one lay treble the quantity, it will as foon pafs through as a lefs on.
quantity,

§. 60. It fecms to me, that he who fows whitilh land to wheat, and dungs Timeofdung-
it, ought to dung it early in the year, and plough it in, that fo the earth may j'^S '^'"'"^
have time to drink it up; for, if white land be dunged late, being of a dry
nature, the wheat will have little goodnefs from it : I experienced this to
my coft.

S. 61. I had been to view a neighbourins: farmer's black, moorilli earth. Manure for
which was truly of the nature of black heath: I alked him, what manure j.^^'°'°°^"''
he found beft for fuch land ; he anfwered me, to fling pigeons-dung or
malt-duft upon the furface of it ; nay, faid he, if I dung it, I fling dung
upon it after 'tis fowed. And truly I think this the beft way to manage fuch
land ; for hereby the dung will be kept longeft in the ground, which is too
apt to run dov/nwards, and to be loft in ploughing it in, and to wafh away j,
and if fuch ground was never fowed but one crop at a time, and laid down
to grafs, and the goodnefs of the furface turned in, for a fecond crop, it would
1 believe be beft ; and if it was refrelhed again by a fprinkling of pigeons-
dung, whilft the crop is growing, it would not be amiis.

§. 62. The wet fpewy clays about Holt in Wiltfliire (of which fort, as Caufe vhy
well as in other places, there are abundance) are obferved by the moft experi- ^vet fpewy
enced perfons in hufbandry not toanfwer the defigns of thofe who pretend tOi,nproved by
improve by dung ; the reafon of which I fully obferved this fpring ; (anno dunging.
1707) ; for being here (at Holt) in the month of March, when the wind
was very bufy, every lugg fquare of the ground cleft many thoufand ways, fo
that there was not a piece of earth to be feen, on which one might let.
the fole of one's foot, but it had large gapings in it. The fame alfo it fuf- ,
fers in the heat of fummer ; from whence it is plain, that though thcfe lands
are of a ftrong clay, which generally pay for their manure the beft, yet being
in this cafe too obftinate, and clung io that they could not eafily dry, with-
out fplitting juft like green boards, the moifture of all manures muft needs
be waftied down, when rains come, through many hiatus's, which in a
moft hungry manner fecm to gape for the vital fubftance of the earth ; and fo
tiie foil is immediately carried down below the roots of all vegetables.

§, 6-?. Difcou-rfing with feveral farmers about the beft way to lay dung on Wi.ether to
the ground, whether on the lay-land or fallows, they feemed in general to |^y "J"^! "^"^'"^^
agree, that the beft hulbandry was to lay it on the wheat-fallows, and then faiiowL

to.

24 M A N U R E and M A N U R I N G.

to (lir it lightly in, if the land be ftrong lay-ground ; for if it be laid on

the lay, and then ploughed in, it will be apt to break up fo deep, and

thereby the dung be fo covered, that it will hardly turn up in the other

flirrings afterwards.

whento §• 64. I found by experience this year (1701") that the earlier dung, or

ilung mea- efpccially pond-mud, and coal-afhes, are laid on the meads, fo that they

°^^'' may be waflied in, the better the grafs may be mowed.

Benefit of ^_ 5^, Xo dung meadows and make them very rich in our hill-country,

' ""S'"St em. .g excellent hufbandry, not only for the greater quantity of hay they pro-
duce, but becaufe thereby they yield a good bite of grafs at lambing- time,
which is to be valued according to the occafion, and with which we can-
not be fupplied for money : the after-mafs alfo, which is much the greater,
for it, leffens the confumption of corn by horfes, and makes a halt cow fat,
with neither of which one can be fupplied but at unreafonable rates.
Whento §. 66. In March this year (3706) I folded at lambing-time part of a

ilung them, j-j-j^ad, and fed the whole mead that year ; but both cows and horfes neglefted
that part that had been folded, and fufFered it to grow up to great ranknefs ;
whereas the other part of the mead, efpecially the fideling piece, which
had aflics laid on it in the winter, they eat very bare ; by which I do infer,
all forts of dung ought to be laid on in Ocftober, that the heat of them may
be wafted by fpring, and not taint the juices of the grafs, and that aflies
make the fweeter grafs.
Straw, ky it ^_ 6^_ \ had farmer Biggs, Eachelour, and Crap, three excellent farmers,
dows'iti^vin- ^"^'"^h me. — In our difcourfe about the improvement of meadows, they all
ter. allowed of the bringing ftraw thereon in the winter, for the worms to draw

it in, to be very exceeding good hulbandry ; and farmer Bachelour faid, he
knew of nothing better than old thatch fo drawn in upon meadows.
Duns for bar- §• 68. I believe that fine mortar-earth or mixed mold, which is excellent
ley land. good foil for barley, carries the finer barley for being dung'd ; for the dung
mends the deficiency of fuch ground, which is inclinable to be too poor ;
but I do believe, on coarfe clay-land, whereon the barley runs naturally
coarfe, dung rather makes it the coarfer ; for the infirmity of fuch ground is
to be too rank, and coarfe, and is ftill coarfer for the dung.
Cats End bar- §• 69. They never dung oats nor barley in Hants. In the hill-country oats
ley not dunged do well without dung, and barley has the ftrength of the dung futiiciently

c"ountry!"" ^^^^' ^^^ wheatcn crop.

. §. 70. I was telling an experienced farmer, that I had ploughed down the

linchets.'"^ linchet of a certain acre ; and that my bailiff foretold me, I ftiould have the
pooreft wheat on that linchet; which I wondered at, in rejgard of the rich-
ncfs of the ground ; his reafon was, that the harrows w^ulci draw down all

* Mold, the good * grete on the half lugg-lands-breadth below. The farmer faid,
'twas very true, that in about three years ploughing 'twould be fo, but not
in one year, as he knew by experience ; therefore the brows of the llnchets
are to be well dunged. This argues, to dung a linchet you muft lay the
heaps above it.

§.71. Though

M A N U R E and M A N U R I N G. 05

§.71. Though I approve not of dunging French grals, nor clover, for OfdungM>g
reaibns given in another place, yet it is proper to dung rye-grals ; for there- "-yegrars.
by the roots of it vv'ill tillow and mat the more on the ground, and will con-
fequently occafion the greater deftrudlion and fuppreffion of the couch-
grafs.

Of C H A L K and chalking LANDS.

§. 72. Pliny tells of the cuftom of the Britons to chalk their lands
to great improvement, which, he fays, lafled their lives, lib. 17
c. 8. '

^.7^. It is faid in general, that chalking is better for the father than the DifFerent opi.
Ion ; however, others agree, it is as good an improvement for twenty years n=o"s about
as dung ; and that the clay-land has been always the better for it. chalking.

^J'^"^' ^^^^^^ Farthing, farmer Wey, and divers others of ' the Ifle of Chalk not to
Wight, all agreed, that chalk ftiould not be ploughed in too deep but kept be ploughed
above ground as long as poffible ; for it would be apt enough of itfelf to fink '" '^"^"
down and be buried j on which farmer Farthing took occafion to fay, that
Col. Flemming. in moring and grubbing up wood, had to his knowledge
found whole beds of chalk, an half fpit thick, half a yard or near a ya?d
deep in the ground, which, without doubt, was nothing elfe but the chalk
laid in the ground before it was made coppice ; for the chalk was of that
nature, that it would fink downwards till it became a bed of chalk : to this
they all agreed, but feemed to talk of it, as if it funk in whole bits and
pieces J but I told them, the truth of the cafe could be no other than this ;
the rain waOied continually the chalk off by a white water, the fediment of
which, when It came to the clay, there fettled, and became a vein or bed of
chalk and then fetded into a folid body ; but in that folid body it never did
hnk, for that was impofiible : chalk, however, by being ploughed in, with-
out giving It time to wafle, may perhaps be turned down and buried too
deep, and being laid at the bottom of the furrow may not be ploughed up
again. r o r

_ §. 75. Chalk is not an improver to land in the fame way as dung, which Hoh- chalk
gives virtue to the land, and improves it by a fat, fait, nitrous quality, and >mpov« land,
by communicating to it the very principles of vegetation ; but chalk is rather
an improver to land, as it is a great fweetener to four land, but more efpe-
cially as it opens the pores and particles of the land, and enables it to give
up all It's flrength, even till it is a caput mortuum ; fo that chalk is not like
dung, rich in it's own nature, but only mellows the land, fo as to loofen the
parts, thereby enabling every particle of it to communicate it's vegetative
principle; for which reafon, it is true, that land abufed by over-ploughing
after chalking, or ploughed as long as it would carry corn, will be laid
down to grals in a poorer condition than land can be when only dunged;
tor it is almoft impoffible to draw out the goodnefs of fuch land, inafmuch

f> as

26

Ll.ilk im-
p oves moll
the lind that
liesfarthell
from it.

Chalk, when
to be laid on
the ground.

Chalk, an im-
provement to
hollinht land.

Chalk fmks
thro" day, and
vice verfa.

Chalk Oil
meadows.

MANURE and MANURING.

as without chalk 'tis Impoflible to loofen it's parts, and unlock every clot, to
let it's virtue fly out ; fo that, properly fpeaking, chalk is rather a midwife
to deliver the land of it's fruitfulnefs, than what gives the fruitful principles
of vegetation to it.

§. 76. Chalk is commonly the greateft improvement of thofe lands that lie
fartheft from it ; becaufe the lands that lie near it, partake and have too much
of the nature of the chalk in them : they commonly lay twelve or fourteen
loads of chalk upon an acre, where they lay it fmgle, which will upon fome
lands caufe extraordinary crops of corn for fourteen or fifteen years together ;
and, where 'tis laid on grafs-grounds, it will not fo much increafe the bulk of
it, as it will make the grafs fweet, fo as to caufe cattle to fat fpeedily, and
cows to give thick milk. J. Mortimer, Efq; F. R. S. fo. 70.

In the Ifle of Wight they fometimes lay twenty-five waggon loads of chalk
on an acre; their chalk is, of a fat foapy kind, and they call it marie. The
farmers in the hundreds of Efifex bring their chalk as fir as from Gravefend,
but lay not fo much on an acre by half as thofe in the Ifle of Wight.

§. jj. If chalk be dug out of the pit, and lie a fummer before it be fcat-
tered, it will be fo hardened and dryed, that it will not eafily flat or difiblve ;
therefore it fliould be dug at the beginning of winter, and laid on the ground
forthwith ; it cannot however be fo well carried in winter, the days being fhort,
and, being more fat and clammy at that feafon, you cannot load it fo fall as
in fummer,

§.78. Mr. Worhdge in his art of gardening, fo. 13, fays, that you may
deal with chalky-land as with clay-land, tho' in a moderate way ; for chalky-
land is naturally cold, and therefore requires warm applications ; it is alfo fad,
and will the better bear with light comports, which is the reafon that chalk
is fo great an improver of light, hot, and dry grounds, efpecially having fuf-
fered a calcination.

§. 79. If chalk be laid on clay, it will In time be loft, and the ground
again return to it's clay ; and if clay be laid on chalk, in time the clay will be
loft, and the ground' return again to it's chalky fubftance. Many people
think the land, on which the other is laid for a manure, being predominant,
converts the manure into it's own foil ; but I conceive in both cafes the chalk
and clay is filtrated through the land on which 'tis laid by time, and, being
foluble' by rains into fmall corpufcles, is waflied through the land on which
'tis laid } for neither of thele manures is able to unite in it's fineft coipufcles
with the corpufcles of the land on which it is laid, fo as to make fo ftri(!t an
union and texture with it as the land doth with it's felf, and is therefore liable
to be born downwards with rains, till no fign of it be left.

§. 80. I was arguing with Dr. Heron how beneficial it was to chalk mea-
dows, even in the hill-country : he afiTured me, that fome of the notable
hulbandmen of Woodhay in Hampftiire had told him, 'twas a common prac-
tice with tenants, three or four years before they left their farms, to chalk
their meadows ; whereby 'tis true they v.'ould for three or four years fling out
a great croo of gfafs, but then they would be much the worfe for it ever after ;

and

M A N U R E and M A N U R I N G. 27

and this feems to carry fome reafon with it ; for the chalk (o mellows and opens
the pores of the meadow, that it enables the land to exhaufi; it's ftrength in all
part5 : for chalk does not carry fo much fatnefs as dung does to the land 'tis
laid on ; but it difpofcs the land to bear fuch crops by it's fvveetnefs, and well
difpofing of, and correcting an ill quality the land had before : but ftill I fee
not that this is any objedlion to chalking of meadows, provided, whilft by
virtue of the chalk they are bearing fuch burthens, you fee they be refrelh'd
with dung.

Though chalk laid on meadows enables them to give a great crop for three id. and on
or four years, and will then impoverifh them, yet I take it to hold quite con- P^'^^f^*
trary in pafture ; for the grafs being thereby fo much fweetened and increafed,
keeps conftantly fo much the more flock, by which it is maintained always in
the fame vigor.

§. 8 1 . I do fuppofe that chalk laid on fandy, or wood-feary ground laid up Chalk good
for pafture, may wafh and fink in, and fill up the interftices, and thereby con- '?'' ^^J^^X ^"^

r ,.\ 1-^11 rr ^ i ir • • ■ ^ clay land, and

lohdate and mend the texture or luch ground, and Iweeten it, as it is a great the reafon.
alkali ; and tho' by time moft of the chalk may be wafhed downwards, fo that
the ground may lofe the virtue, yet I do fuppofe the ftrength of the ground
may ftill continue much the better, by reafon that fuch manure having made
the fword of the grafs come thicker and fweeter, the good pafturage on both
accounts enlarges the quantity, and betters the quality of dung the cattle leave
on it, which in return maintains a better coat and furface to the ground : and
as chalk fills up the vacuities of fandy, or wood-feary ground, fo on the con-
trary, it infinuates it's particles into obftinate claiy and ftrong land, and divides
it, by making in a manner a fcilTure, thereby hollowing and mellowing it j
fo the two contrary extreams-are cured by chalk.

§. 82. Chalk laid on hop-clover and rye-grafs is a mighty fweetener, and Chalk im-
improver of thofe grafles, being laid upon it after harveft, at the beginning P['°^y" ''°P"
of winter, or whenfoever one can beft tend it ; it will quickly fhew the bene- r)e grafs.
fit, efpecially if the ground be of a four clay, and apt to run to coarfe grafs.

Of L I M E and liming LANDS.

§.83. All forts cf flints will make an extraordinary lime, but they are
hard to burn except in a reverberatory kiln, becaufe they are apt to run to
glafs. Mortimer, fo. 70.

§.84. December 9th 1699, I v/ent to Gracedieu, and difcours'd with the ^^^ '■"'s-
perfon who rents the Ume-kilns of Sir Ambrofe Phillipps ; and, two or three .t'l^'itme'la"''
of his workmen being prefent, I with them took the meafures of the kilns, LekeHedWre.
which was 2 t yards high from the veiy bottom to the top, one yard length-
wife in the bottom, and two feet wide : they told me, that I muft take care
not to widen it too much at top, not exceeding two yards, by reafon of the
greater confumption of coals ; for the more gradual the widening is, the better;
there was a layer of bricks run within fide of the kiln, a-crofs, between the

E 2 two

28 M A N U R E and M A N U R I N G.

two vent-holes where they draw out the lime, for the better fupport of the
lime from tumbhng down too foon. They burnt with culm, or coal-flack,
which they accounted as well, or better than the other coal, and cofls but i s.
per load, whereas the fine coal would coft 6 s. — The kiln had five air-holes,
two on each fide of the bottom, and two on each fide of the top, and one iii
the middle, of about a brick thicknefs wide j the ftone is very hard, and they
faid, three quarters of coal would only burn feven or eight quarters of lime;
the larger the kiln the more profitable. There was a flone that laid the
length of the kiln to keep up the v/alls from falling: the wall of the kiln
againft the bank vv^as but the thicknefs of a brick, but the oppofite fide a
brick length in thicknefs. This kiln would burn twelve quarters of lime in
twenty-four hours.
Id. in the Ifle Farmer Farthing, (of the Ifle of Wight) when I view'd his lime-kiln, told
of Wight. j^g^ J ,-j^,^j{^ j^Q( fe( up a kiln to burn above eighty quarters at a time ; he burns
but fixty ; that the kiln muft be made to belly like a ftone-mug, that the
flame may be beat down by thenarrownefsofthc top, and check'd from flying
out too fafl:. The kiln will be two days and two nights burning. The
chalk muft: be arch'd over the fire like an oven, and carefully laid, left it
tumble in. — In his kiln, to burn fixty quarters he ufed to confume two hun-
dred furze-faggots ; but now, as a great improvement in the price of liming,
he ufes peat in heating the kiln, and furze-faggots afterwards, and can heat
his kiln with two thoufand of peat, and burn it off to lime with five hundred
furze-faggots. Of their country peat, he fays, one may bring a thoufand in a
waggon. Note, the defign of the peat (being a flack fire) is only to diy the
marlc or chalk by degrees, in order for the furze-faggots to burn it off to
lime ; for if the fire be not flack and gentle, the chalk or marie drying too faft
will fly, and the arch with the chalk fall down; therefore when they ufed all
furze-faggots, and no peat, he ufed not to put the furzes at firft into the
oven of the kiln, becaufe the fire would then be too fierce, but only put the
ends lighted to the mouth of the oven, and flack'd the fire as he faw occafion,.
by it's beginning to fly, which was a great trouble, and made a great wafte of
the furzes, whereas the peat is all put into the oven. When the kiln is fit
for the furzes to be lighted, one may try by feeing whether the marie or chalk
will bear their blazing without flying, and, when the furzes are fet on fire,
one may know when the lime is thoroughly made by the flame ifluing out at
top; for the flame will break out of the kiln for three or four hours red ; but
when the topmofl chalk is lime (and then of courfe the undermoft is fo) the
flame will be pale, like the flame of a candle. He thinks what I make lime
of, being chalk, and not a chalky marie, as theirs is, may be perfecTted with
lefs fuel than theirs, which is of a moifter nature. — As foon as ever it is burnt
he carries it out, and, when it is flack'd, fpreads it. It muft be carried out,
tho' never fo wet, otherwife it will give with wet weather, and run together
to a plaifter, that it cannot be dug up without great difficulty with mattocks;
this muft be done, tho' it is very troublefome to remove it in wet weather ; for
it will bum the mens hands, and blifler them. He lays a bufhel and half on

alugg-

MANURE and MANURING. 29

a liigg-fquare, which is about thirty quarters on an acre. It mufl: be fpread
the firll: ftill day, as foon as flack'd, and very carefully, for in the true fpreading
of it is a great advantage, and ftirr'd shallow in, — Two men muft attend the
burning, who have each 1 2d. per day, and lad. per night, and vidluals :—
the man who lays the chalk in has 2 s. 6 d. for doing it. — Qusere, If bean-
ftalks well dry'd may not make a fire almoft as good as furze, I was after-
wards telling Mr, Thomas Beach in Wilts, that I thought the vvay of burnino-
lime with peat was not pradlicable with them, becaufe they made it of a hard
Itone, which the peat could not work on : but he faid, he was of another
opinion ; for in the north, he knew very well,, they burnt the iron-oar, and
melted it with peat; therefore he was fure, 'twould be a fire ftronp- enoug-h
to burn the lime-ftone, — Four or five hundred faggots lefs will burn a kifn,
where the chalk is dry; therefore it is of confequence to have your chalk d\i<y
a week before, that it may dry. ^

§. 85, Morris, my tenant in the Ille of Wight, and brick-burner, who Lime to be
came to burn lime for me, affures me, that in the illand they have tried ?'°"^'',f '""'
all forts of ways of burning hme, and ufing it; and that by experience they °°"'''"'"^^-
have found it the better way, when they have covered the heaps of lime with
earth, to plough it in, and fpurn or fpread it immediately as foon as it is flatted
fit for fpurning, rather than to let it lie long covered with the earth in heaps ;
and that the beft way of all, they have found, is, not to carry it out into the
field till the third earth that they plough for fowing their wheat, and then on
the firfi; flatting they have fpurned it; and, tho' the ploughino--in in fuch cafe
has burnt the hair off their horfes heels, yet it has not liurt^he wheat, but
they have then had the beft wheat,-Note, I do judge the letting the lime lie in
heaps, mixt with heaps of earth, for a long time, in Somerfetfliire, &c. is be-
caufe the fallows will not work fine enough without being long expofed to
the fun, and, iffo, the lime would not be well difperfed, to the great dif-
adyantage of the ground ; but, in lands working mellow, I am of Morris's
opinion.

§. 86. I burnt a kiln of lime to a greater degree than ordinary, fo that the Sign of good
bricks were all glazed, and in making and wetting up the lime I particularly '™'^-
obterved the water, as foon as flung on, to boil and dance more than ordinary,
and the lime to heave more, and in bulk the mortar (tho* the content of lime
in bufhels was the fame) v/as much bigger ; 1 obferved it to the mafons, who
feemed much pleafed with the goodnefs of the lime.— On which one of the
labourers obferved, that the cafe of lime was the fame as of bread- corn ; for
as the drier the wheat is, the flour of fuch corn takes up the more v/ater* and
plimbs the more, and makes more bread in bulk, both lighter and hoIloWer,
(whereas the flour of cold damp wheat heaves not with the water, drinks
little water, and makes heavy bread) fo my lime, being higher burnt, took
more water, plimb'd into a greater bulk, and would be mellower and lightei'
under the trowel ; and fo all the mafons agreed.

§, i^y. When I told a gentleman, ufed to lime burning In Wiltfhire, that in

the If e of Wight they ufed to burn off a kiln of eighty quarters of lime at a

3 time.

30 MANURE and MANURING.

time, he wondered at it ; faylng> how could they be affured to get it out be-
fore a rain came, for I, that burn but a httle, am forced to get a cover to keep
out the rain, left the lime when made fhouldby a rainfall into plaifter.
Stone lime |. 88. Skclc-lime cannot be fo beneficially laid on land as ftone-lime ; be-

ti.ebeit. caufe a greater virtue muft be attributed to the ftone-lime for it's burning

quality after it is laid on.
L'menotfo ^, gg. Lime being laid on meadows or paftures (lacks and cools by flow
''Tadow and degrees, fo as not to undergo fuch a heat and fermentation, as when it is
parture as for covered with the hillocks of earth flung up in arable ; therefore it cannot be
arable. of that great advantage to pafture.

Salt of lime §. 90. Worlidge fays, fo. 242. A mixture of lime is very good in moft
extrafted by grounds ; but the fait of limes extradled by water, and your ground watered
mended. therewith, is much to be preferred : it halh ahb this Angular property, that it

makes the worms foon leave the place fo watered.
Quantity of §.91. In Wiltfliire they lay twenty-four or thirty quarters of lime on an
hmc on an ^^^^^.^^ ^^ ^.j^g ground is. — But at Winterhays, and thereabouts in Dorfetfliire,
they never lay above twenty hogftieads on an acre, every hogfliead is four
bufliels. — The lighter the land is the more lime it will require, the ftronger
the lefs.
When to feat- §, ^2. In Leicefterfliire they fow or fcatter the lime on wheat-land when
wheLTand" they fow the wheat, but on barley- land the laft earth fave one ; and fo plough
barley, and it in, leit, if they fliould fow it with the barley in the fpring, it might burn
whatquantity. jj.^ They lay five quarters on an acre of each, according to the meafure as it
comes from the kiln, for after it is flack'd thofe five quarters will near
make ten.
Timeof lim- ^. g^. Liming of land being to bind it, it feems to me, land ftiould not be
ingUnd. lirned late in the year, no more than building fiiould go on then ; becaufe, the
land being then cold and moift, and but a weak fun to confolidate it, the end
of liming is loft ; for if it confolidate not at firft liming, it v.'ill not afterwards.
Of fcjttering §. 94. Farmer Wey and others fay, in the Ille of Wight they have a
lime. praiftice (which is the eafieft way, in cafe a buftiel of lime be laid in a lugg-

fquare) when a buftiel of hme is laid down, and the cart going, to tie a piece
of leather to the fpoI<.e, and when that goes juft round, it meafiires a liigg ;
for the compafs of a cart wheel is a lugg, that is 1 6 j feet : and, if you
would lay it in a lugg and half, you may manage it accordingly.
Price of liin- §. 95. Mr. Taunton of Dorfetftiire, in form of a bill for work, gave me
i"S- the following account of the method and prices of liming ; (the prices I think

extravagant) viz. For covering an acre of lime, i s. 8d. — Covering is when the
lime is firft laid on the land, it may be a peck in a place, and fo covered
over with earth. — For turning an acre of lime, 2 s. 6 d. — Turning is mixing
the earth and lime together. — For fpurning an acre of lime, 2 s. 8 d.— Spurn-
ing is throwing it abroad on the earth juft before fowed. — For hacking an acre
of lime, IS. 6d, — Hacking is breaking the clots abroad after 'tis fown. —
For fliovehng the furrows of an acre of lime, 8 d. — Shoveling is thecleanfing

the furrows, and throwing it on the land. 9 s. per acre.

§. 96. I

MANURE and MANURING.

-^i

§, 96, I aflc'd Mr. Clerk about the method of Hming about Loughborough; Method of
he laid, they laid on their grounds they laid up to grafs forty bufliels per '""'"S '." Lei-
acre about the beginning of Oftober, and on their arable lands the fame
meafure ; their way is, as the cart goes along the ground, to fling it over
with fliovels, and to fpread it thin. It feems it has been very hurtful to their Hurtfu! to
grafs-ground in rotting their fheep in wet years ; for it has proved the grafs ''^^^'' '^'^^P'
fo faft, as to rot the fheep. — I fuppofed the lands were fubjed: to rot before,
or elfe the lime would not have fubjedled them to it ; but Mr. Clerk faid, no,
that the lands were high up-land downy grounds, never fubjecfb to the rot
before ; and that many men in that country had proved it to their fad expe-
rience; and, fince they had found it, their way was to remove fuch fheep in
a wet fummer out of fuch grounds, and put others in. Note, the lime in this
country is ftrong : Mr. Chefllin is of the fame opinion.

Mr. Chefllin of Leicefterfliire fays, he pays but i2d. per quarter for his
ftone-lime, and fetches it two miles ; he lays fifty bufhels on an acre, becaufe
his is colder moifler land than his neighbours.— He fays, as it binds fandy
ground, fo it mellows and flats cold and clay-land. He can with a dung-pot
and two men fliovel it on about an acre and half per day. He fays, hehashad a
fiU-horfe's black coat burnt red with it; if it be wet weather when they fpread
it out of the dung-pots, they cover their horfes with old hammock-cloths,
and yet it will burn them very much. — Mr, Bowly fays, he never lays above
forty bufliels on an acre, but that forty when flack'd will be near eighty ;
if it lies out in the weather any little time, to have the dews or a fhower of
rain, it will flack of itfelf, but if they fetch it and lay it on their grounds di-
redly, then they flack it with water. — He thinks lime fhews not it's full
ftrength and power till the thii'd crop. One may over-lime ; for where the
lime is laid in heaps in the field before fpreading or fpurning it, there will
feldom grow any corn for a year or two. — He fays, they generally fow the
lime on the ground, and then the wheat, and then turn it in under furrow ;
but in fowing it with barley, they generally fow it the lafl earth fave one, and
turn it in, and then give the lafl earth for fowing the barley ; but, if they fow
with a wheaten crop, and then lay down to grafs, they fow the wheat on the
plough 'd land, and harrow it in, and then fow the lime, and harrow it in, in
order to lay it down fmooth to grafs ; for if they fliould harrow the lime in
firft, and fow their wheat, they would not in the fccond harrowing it be able to
bury it, the ground would be fo fine,

§. 97. A very underftanding hufbandman of Shropfhire coming to me at Method of
Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's, I afk'd him, whether his was as deep a country as l'"^'"g '."
Leicefterfhire ; he faid, it was. I afk'd him, if they ufed liming ; he faid, ^"'''^f'^"'^-
they did, and, on enquiry, I found the method in all refpefts agreed v/ith
the Lcicef!:erfl:iire manner, faving that they laid dung and lime together, viz.
about twenty load of dung, and but twenty bufliels of lime on an acre. In
the v/heaten crop they ploughed In the dung the lafl: fallow before fowing,
and before the fowing the wheat fowed lime. — They fetch'd the lime four-
teen iniles on horfes backs, becaufe in their deep country the carts could not

fo

3 2 M A N U R E and M A N U R I N G.

fo well go : it was a flone-lime, not a chalk. He faid, it coft at the kiln 3 d,

per bufhel, therefore with the carriage it muft be very dear.

Ofover- §. 98. I deliver it as a rule to all hufbandmen to be cautious of liming

ploughing af- gj-Q^^d, and then ploughing out the heart of it. I limed fome 3'ears ago in

Wiltfhire feven acres for an experiment, and laid down one acre to it's own

natural grafs in two years time, the grafs of which is to this day worth 40 s.

an acre. The third year I laid down another acre, which is to this day worth

30 s. per acre. The reft I ploughed five or fix years farther, which is not

worth fifteen groats per acre. The like experience I have had in bura-

beaking ground.

Of harrowing §. 99- Farmer Farthing, farmer Wey, and F. Loving of the Ifle of Wight,

the ground jgld me, that if, after I fallowed, before I plough'd my lime in, I dragg'd or

limine^ °'^ liarrow'd the ground fine, the lime would mix much the better with the

earth, and it would anfwer that charge very well.
Limegoodfor §. ICO. If We try the experiment, we fhall foon find it very vlhble, that
fa.idy ground, jjj^-jg agrees with fandy ground by it's binding quality; and the like obferva-
tion may be taken from the mortar commonly made of thefe two ingredients '.

Of

' Of liming from Mr. Duhamel, a French author. Vol. 3d. edit. 175-!-. p. 48 to 57.

Lime is ufed chiefly on frefh broke up lands ; after having plough'd them up not very deep, they
lay on the lime in the manner following.

They carr}' on the lime as it comes from the kiln ; and lay about one hundred piound weight in a
heap on every fquare perch ; fo that the heaps lie at a perch diilance one from another; then they
raife the earth all round the heaps in form of fo manybafins; the earth that forms the fides of thefe
bafms (hould be a foot thick ; and laflly, they cover the heaps, half a foot thick, with earth, in form
of a dome. The lime flacks under this covering of earth, and is reduced to powder; but then it
increafes in bulk, and cracks the covering of earth; if you do not carefully (lop thefe cracks, the
rain will infinuate itfelf, and reduce the lime into a pafte which will not mi.x well with the earth, or
make a fort of mortar, which will not anfv.-er the end propofed. The farmers therefore are very
careful to examine the heaps from time to time and flop the cracks : fome only prefs the top of the
heaps with the back of a £ho^ el ; but this practice is fubjecl to an inconvenience, for if the lime is in
a pafte within the heap, by this means you beat it fo together that it will not eafJy mi.x with the
eartli ; wherefore it is better to flop the chinks by throwing fome frefh earth over the heap.

When the lime is thoroughly flack'd, and reduced to powder, thev cut the heaps with a fhovel,
and mix the lime as well as [xjAible with the earth that covered it, and then having thrown it up i.a
heaps again, leave it expofed to the air for iLx weeks or two months ; for then the rain will do no
harm.

About the month of June they fpread thi* mixture of lime and earth upon the land ; but not all
over as may happenj on the contran,' they take it up by fliovelfulls, and diflribute it in little heaps at
equal diflances on each perch of land : thev obfer\e that thefe little heaps promote vegetation more
than if it was fpread uniformly all over the field, and they don't mind lea\ing little internals unlimed
between each fhovelfull. Afterwards they plough the field, for the lafl time, ven- deep : then to-
wards the end of June they fow buck- wheat, and cover it with the harrow, and if any heaps re-
maui break them with a hoe.

Buck- wheat occupies the land about one hundred days ; fo that this grain fown about the end of
J une is gathered about the end of September.

When the flalks and roots of this plant are dead and dried, they plough it up, and immediately
fow wheat and cover it with the harrow.

About the month of Julv or Augufl, after the wheat crop, they plough as foon aspoflible ; they
plough for the lafl time in Febinary or March in order to fow oats, or in April for bailey, but m
this cafe they flir the land two or three times to make it line.

They

M A N U R E and M A N U R I N G. 33

Of BURN- BEARING.

§. loi. Worlldge, fo. 234, fays— In the burn-beaking of land the ruftic Not to over-
obferves, that over-burning the turf is injurious, and that a more moderate "^"^ '^le turf,
burning makes the ground more fertile. The reafon is plain ; for in the
burning any vegetable, a gentle, eafy, and fmothering fire doth not wafte the
volatile nitrous fpirit fo much as a quick fire would do, and caufeth more of
it to fix and remain behind.

§. 102. Where much long mofs grows thick, tho' the ground be never fo of bum-beak-
fandy in it's nature, yet the ground underneath muft be of a moft cold and '"S '"°«y
four nature by being kept from the fun, and the wet more fogging in it than^'°""'^*
if it had been folid earth upon it ; for nothing retains water longer than fuch
a fpungy body, nor breaks the rays of the fun more from penetrating. There-
fore fuch ground ought to be burn-beak'd, or the mofs harrowed up before
feeding, and burnt in heaps, but rather burn-beak'd to deftroy the feeds.

§. 103. Quasre, in burn-beak'd ground what weeds or plants appear the firft
year, becaufe, according to Mr. Bobart of the phyfic garden at Oxford, their
feeds are deftroyed ; only fome few may be fuppofed to have Iain deeper than
the fire went into the earth '.

PLOUGH

The

They harrow in all thefe different grains, and when they are come up they pafs a roller over the
oats, and if there remain any clods in the barley they break them with a hoe.

The next February or March they fow grey peas or vetches.

After the harveft of thefe pulfe, they give one or two ploughings to prepare the land for wheat the
enfumg autumn.

The year after they fow oats mixt with clover, and then lay it down to pafture for three or four
years.

In fome new broke up lands they fow no buck- wheat, but let it lie fallow from the month of March
when It was firfi: broke up, till Oaober, when they fow it with wheat; makins ufe of the interme-
diate time to give it feveral ploughings ; thefe lands by this means being much liner, they ufe little
more than three fourths oi the quantity of lime above prefcribed, and generally have a better crop
than when they begin with buck-wheat.

Some farmers think a perch too great a diftance for the convenience offpreadingthe lime ; there-
fore they make the heaps lefs, and increafe the number in proportion. Being perfuaded that lime is
moft efficacious when near the furface, they firft plough it in, and then give it a fecond plouchincr
before they fow, by which means the lime lies chiefly near the furface. ° ^

Others lay the lime in a ridge from one end of the field to the other; this difpofition is the leafl
trouble to fpread.

T ,-' '^L^ following is an extrafl from Mr. Du Hamel's account of burn-beakiiig in France, which
i have here inferted, hoping it might be of ufe to the reader.

Of

[ 3+ ]

PLOUGH and CART-TACKLE.

Of different
kinds of
ploughs.

§• ^" IV /T ^' ^^^^y (who had many times fet his own hand to the plough^
ly J_ and got 200 1. per annum, from a fmall beginning by it) and I
were talking about the different varieties of ploughs in different countries, and
I aiked him, wherein he thought a two- wheel plough had the advantage of a
foot plough, or a plough without wheels. He faid, he knew of no other
ufe of a two-wheel plough, but that the ploughman could keep it more
fteady in ftony-lands, fo that every jolt fhould not fling it out of it's work ;
for it ftands to reafon that the wheels cannot be fo eafily joftled off, as the
plough might be without wheels ; for the outward wheel goes in a feam, and is

kept

Fl^. I.

PDO

Page 75— 33

^^•^©

Of BURN-BEAKING.

With regard to lands which are ploughed up but once in eight or ten years, it Is the cuftom to burn
them, to the end that the fire may divide the particles of the earth, and that it may be fertilifed by the
afhes of the roots and leaves. This is the method of the operation.

They raife the furface with a hoe or crooked pickax, the iron of which is very broad and thin, cut-
ting each turf as regular as poflible in the form (a. a. a. fig. 1.) about eight or ten inches fquare, and
two or three inches thick.

As foon as thefe turfs are cut, they employ women to pile them one againfl another, with thegrafs
fide inward in the manner (b. b. b. fig. 2.)

When the weather is fine, the air will dry them, in a couple of days, fufficiently for making the
furnaces and burning them ; but, if it {hould prove rainy, you muft be careful to turn the turfs, for
they mufl be well dr)"d, before you make the furnaces, of which we are going to fpeak.

In forming the furnaces, they begin by raifing a fort ofcilindric tower (a. b.) of* one foot diameter
(c.d. fig. 3.) as the walls of this little tower are'made of the turfs, their fize determines thethicknefs ;

but

• This muft be a n.iftake, I fuppofe three or four feet may be a convenient fize, as may be judged froia
the fic'i-e.

PLOUGH and C A R T - T A C K L E.

kept in by the whole land ; for the fame reafon, in hill-country-lands, where
one ploughs along the fide of a hill, any jolt would be apt to lift a plough
without wheels out of it's furrow towards the declivious ground.— I afked
him, wherein he conceived the advantage of a plough with one wheel to con-
fift : he faidj in the fame points as the former ; he knew of no other reafon for
ufing them.

§. 2. In

but in building them tbcy always lay tbegrafs downwards, and they make a door on the windward
fide, of a foot wide.

On the top of this door they lay a large piece of wood, which ferves as a lintel. Then they fill
all the infide with fmall dry wood mixt with ftraw ; and finifh the furnace by making a vault of the
fame turfs, like the top of an oven.

Beforcthe vault is entirely finifh'd, they light the vi'ood that fills the furnace; then they quickly
fliut the door (d.) with turfs, andfinifliby ftoping the opening (e. fig. 4.) which was left at the top of
the vault ; taking care to lay turfs on all the places where the fmoke comes out too plentifully, exaftly
as the charcoal-makers do ; for without that precaution, the wood will confume too fall, and the
earth be not fufficiently burnt.

If you cover the furnaces with earth, all the crevices being too clofely flop'd, the fire will be ex-
tinguilhed ; but, as you ufe only turfs, and always put the grafs downward, there is air enougii to
keep the fire burning.

When all the furnaces are made, the field feems covered with little hay-cocks ranged in quincunx's
(fig. 5.) but you muft watch the furnaces till the earth is red hot; to ftop with turfs any cracks that
may happen ; to repair fuch as may be in danger of falling, and to light again fuch as may be
extinguifhed. When the earth feems all on fire they want no further care ; even rain itfelf, tho'
before much to be feared, will not hinder their being fufficiently burnt ; fo you have nothing more
to do but to let them go out of themfeh'es.

At the end of twenty-four or twenty-eight hours, when the fire is extinft, all the heaps are re-
duced to powder, except fome of the tops which will remain not fufficiently burnt, they not being
enough expofed to the a<3;ion of the fire ; and 'tis for this reafon that we advife not to make the fur-
naces too big, becaufe, the walls being proportionably thick, the turfs on the outfide will not be
done enough, when the infide is over-done ; for if you burn them like bricks it will not be fit for
vegetation. Befides, in making large furnaces you will have too far to carry the turfs. You mioht
even make them lefs; but that would confume too much wood : thus you will find it neceffary to
conform pretty near to the proportions we have prefcribed.

When the furnaces are cooled, they wait till it rains, and then fpread the burnt earth as even as
poffible, leaving none on the fpots where the furnaces flood, which neverthelefs will produce finer
grain than the reft of the field, for which reafon they leave only fuch turfs as are not burnt enough
on thofe fpots.

They immediately pi jugh it very lightly, to begin to mix the burnt earth with the furface; but
they go deeper in the following ploughings.

If you can give the firft ploughing in June, and rain follows, it is poffible to reap fome advan^
tage from the land Immediately, by fowing,turn:ps, radifhes or millet; which will not prevent your
fowing wheat or rye the autumn following.

Neverthelefs it is better to lofe the advantage of fuch a firft crop, that you may have the whr .'e
time to prepare the land well for the reception of wheat.

Some choofe to fow rye ratlier than wheat, becaufe the firft produiSlion being very vigorous,
wheat is more apt to be laid than rye.

Some do not fpread the burnt earth till juft before the laft ploughing for wheat; they content
themfelves with ploughing well between the furnaces, which they take care to fet exactly in a line»
in order to leave a free paflage for the plough. But this is a bad method ; for, fince wheat is always
apt to be laid the firft year after burning, it is better to fpread the burnt earth early, before it lofes
part of it's heat, and for the convenience of well preparing the land ; for it is very materia] that the
burnt earth fliould be perfecflly well mixt with the foil.

It muft be owned that this method of burning is very expenfive, becaufe the labour muft be per-
formed by men, and that it confumes a great deal of wood ; but it is very advantageous, for after
this fingle operation, the land is better prepared than it would be by many ploughings.

F 2

36

PLOUGH and C A R T - T A C K L E.

Cf profcifilon. §. 2. In the Ifle of Harries, Seethe way of tillage iscomnionly by ploughing,
and fometimes by digging ; the ordinary plough is drawn by four horfes ; and
they have a little plough there commonly called a riftle, i. e. a thing that
cleaves, the coulter of which is in form of a fickle : it is drawn fometimes
by one, and fometimes by two horfes, according as the ground is : the defign
of this plough is to draw a deep line in the ground, to make it more eafy for
the great plough to follow, which othcrwife would be much retarded by the
ftrong roots of bent lying deep in the ground, that are cut by the little plough:
the little plough is ufed alfo to facilitate digging as well as ploughing. Martin,

fo. 54. This was alfu a common method ufed amongft the Romans, where

the foil would allow of it. But it fcems not prafticable in ftony and flinty lands,
but without doubt in deep lands is good hufbandry, and enables the plough-
man to turn up the fallows in an exaft and beautiful manner : I wonder thefe
barbarous Iflands fhould have it in ufe, and not we in England '. '' The Ro-
mans in rich ground, that was apt to detain the wet, ufed this cutting plough,
or what they called profciffion, in fpring, after the weeds were all come up,
and before the feeds were ripened.
Of the forts of §• 3- I ^nd in I.eicefterlhire they ufe Danifli iron in all plough-tackle and
iron ufed in horfe-fhoes, ex'cept the coulters and the plough-fhares, which are Englifli
poag -tacA e. .^^^^ They hold the Danifli iron to be more durable, and tougher than the
Englifli iron, which they cannot work fo well, as being much brittler, and
wearing fafl:er : they can in Leicefl:erfliire afford the Danifli as cheap as the
Englifli iron. — I afked the Loughborough fmith, if Danifh iron would make
wheel-tire, he faid care mufl: be taken that the fmith puts not in iron rank
with fteel, for then 'twill break prefentlyj but by breaking a bar before 'tis
ufed the fmith will know it.
Agree with §. 4- L is much the interefl of a gentleman to agree with the fmith for his.
the fmith by plougli-irons by the great ; for it is impoflible fuch a perfon fhould watch his
tJie great. fej-yants^ fo as to fee that they fent to the fmith fuch fliares and coulters only,-
as were worn out, or to take an account how often ; whereas fervants are apt.
before there is occafion, or the irons are worn out, confulting their own and
their horfes eafe, to fend them to the fmith, who fets down the fame price
as if the irons had been quite worn out : fo that if fervants and fmith be left toi
thenifelves, irons fhall come again no better than they were when they were ;
fent.
On keeping §, 5, The better order you keep your irons in, the eafier it is to the man that'
crder°"^ "' holds the full, and the eafier to the horfes that plough : the longer the point

of your fliare is, the more fleady does it go, and carries an evener furrow,
Ofkeerinea §• ^- ^ ^^^^ '^^^^ ^° ^"^^^ ^ (pzve coulter and fliare always by me, which is
fpare coulter in rcadinefs, whilft the worn-out one might be fent to the fmith to be new.

and Aiare. pointed 5;

* Sec Pliny fo. 294, 295. — Pallad. fo. 94 to 98. — Varro, book ift, fo. 37. Ofprofciflion.

'' Pingues campi, qui diutius continent aquain, profciiidendi Cunt anni tempire jam incalefcente,
ci'm omnes herbas ediderint, neque adhuc earum f mina maturuerint. Columella, lib. 2. fo. 09. --Of
feveral new invented ploughs and their conftruiSlion. See Mr. Tuil's book of horfe-hoeing
h-fbandry.

PLOUGH and CART-TACKLE. 37

pointed j and this I do, becaufe I expedl the fmith himfelf, and not his man,
fhould have the pointing of it ; for I depend on him for the well hardening it,
which could not be, if I fent the worn-out one over night to have it the next
morning ; I muft then take who could be found, either mafter or man. Add
alfo, that fuch coulter will be much the harder for lying by two or three,
days before ufed.

§. 7. To put old iron bands on new wheels is very ill hufbandry, for the Oldiron
wood muft neceflarily wear out prefently, the iron not being broad enough to vsfheehiii"^^

fave it. hufbandry.

§. 8. An old Nottingham fmith told me, it was much the durablefl: way to of making
turn up the edges of the bands to wheels, which adds to the thicknefs of the the bands to
edgings, and is the main fecurity to the bands ; for in the edgings they wear ^ ^^^'
away hrft j but, for their own intereft, wheel-wrights will pretend there is no
advantage in it; yet where the edgings are not turned up, in the ufing the
edges fliall be worn away, and the fillies fo worn, that the fpokes fliallbe ready-
to ftart out of their fockets, when the timber in other refpedts fliall be very
found. The fmith faid, the making them fo was a penny in a ilone difference
to him.

§. 9. Note, for fillies, afh that will fplit is with us thought fittefl, and much Split aft gooi-:
the flrongefl; but the arms of an afli-tree are commonly put in, if they bg '°™^'^fi^''c'-
not too frowe, and they muft be faw'd, and the body of an afli likewile if it
be knotty; becaufe, that will not fplit; yet, becaufe fuch fillies are faw'd
crofs the grain, they are not like to be durable.

§. ]o. Farmer Farthing, Wey, and Loving, of the Ifle of Wight, all aflure Elm goodfs^■
me, that elm fillies are bed for wheels, efpecially in deep ways, where the ''•"'^■"
waggon fways, and only fuch- they ufe in the Ille of Wight ; for they will not
crack with the nails being drove into them, as the afhen will ; but we at
Crux-Eafton, &c. ufe only aflien ones ; but I fuppofe the reafon is, becaufe
elm grows not in the hill-country, and I the rather think fo, becaufe belov/
the hill, where elm grows, they all ufe elm fillies.

§. IT. If the farmers boarded their waggons in Hampfhire, as they do in Oi'^boardlng
Hertfcrdfliire, the price of the boards would be gained in one harveft by fa-r ^^^BSons.
ving the droppings of the corn.

§. 12. It is found by experience, that tying the fide-boards to the raths of Of tying on
the waggon with leather thongs greafed, is much better and more lalting than '^e fide-boards.-
nailing them, becaufe the heads of the nails are continually breaking out by
the rtiaking of the waggon, &c.

O Co '

§. 13. It is a vaft damage waggons receive in winter by lying abroad : when ofhoufmg.
they are wet the froll cracks the wood, waggon;.-

§. 14. Every body grows weary of chequer-harnefs ; for tho' it looks Of hameff,
pretty at firft, yet it foon flies to pieces : chequer-harnefs is that which is ^|l'^J.^^ '||j."P*
work'd up with thongs.— The cheapefi: way is to work up the harnefs at ones niaking it,
own houfe ; the harnefs-maker hxi but i s, per day and diet, you finding the
fluff; in fuch cafe you muft provide three or four bull-hides two or three
y.ears beforCj. and put them out to drelfing to the collar-ni:iker; the drefling

com-

^8 PLOUGH and CART-TACKLE.

commonly colls as much as the hide is worth, be it bigger or lefs ; when
hides hold a pretty good price, a fmall bull's hide is worth 12 s. and it is
common for the currier to drefs one half for the ether ; when thefe hides are
drefs'd they'll take no harm for four or five years if kept dry, as fuppofe laid
on the ground under the beds that lie on it ; tho' it is faid that is rather too
dry. — A bull's hide Ihould never be ufed by the fhoe-maker, nor a cow's hide
by the collar-maker, there being a ftatute that provides in that cafe, tho' not
ftridly obferved. — A careful and good farmer in my neighbourhood keeps
bull-hides always by him, and ufes them on all occafions about his harnefs in
mending it, unlefs for fewing-thongs, and there, muft be white leather,
but otherwlfe the bull-hide is always beft. — The common price for a horfe-
hide undreft is 5 s. and the dreffing 5 s. If the eyes of the plough-traces are
hned with leather, (which is good hufbandry, to fave them from fretting out)
fuch lining colls no more than hempen traces.

The halters and cruppers and back-bands fliould be made of bull-hide, the
belly-bandsof heifer-hide, double-lined with horle-hide ; the fill-hangs of horfe-
hide, the rigg-rope of white leather, that is, horfe hide; the pipes of the back
and the collars of the belly of buU-hide.—lf the leather be not well tawed, that
is, drefs'd thoroughly with allum and fait, it will have a raw black feam run
throughout, which, when it grows dry, will be hard and horny, and crack
in bending; whereas, what is di-efs'd kindly, is like buff, foft, and one may
blow thro' it. Few harnefs-makers, that are white tawers, underftand how
to drefs their hides, but have them of the glovers or felmongers, and fuch
can lefs anfwer for their goods. Such leather as is white tawed, is never
tann'd : of my fet of harnefs only the pipes and collars pafs'd through the tan-
ner's hands. With good ufige they may laft a dozen years, and wet weather
will not damage them, if well dreft, and made according to the above direddons;
but great care muft be taken not to hang them againft a plaifler wall in the
winter, that being the likelieft way to rot and fpoil them.

§. 15. The fmith, carpenter, wheel- wright and harnefs-maker, may be
faid to be the landlords of thofe gentlemen who keep much husbandry in
their hands,

PLOUGHING.

Of pulvcra- s j . '' | ^ H E antient writers on hulbandiy lay a very great ftrefs on making

^'°°- J^ the ground fine by frequent ploughings. ^ It is advifeable, fays

Pliny, in llrong land, fuch as we generally have in Italy, to plough five

earths, but in Tufcany nine earths; '' and Virgil, adds he, is fuppofed to

have

* Spiflius folum, ficut plerumque in Italia, qulnto fulco melius feri eft, in Tufcisvcro nono.
Plin.

' Qiiarto feri fulco Virgilius exiftimatur voluiffe, cum dixit optimam tEe fcgetem, quae bis fo-
lem, bis frigora fenfifiet. ^Piin.

PLOUGHING. 39

have prefcrlbed four earths, or two fummer and two winter ploughings, by
the rule he lays down in his firft Georgic.

Ilk feges demum votis refpondet avari
V Agricolae, bis quae folem, bis frigora fenfit.

' It was the conftant maxim indeed among the Roman farmers, that they
could not give their ground too much tillage ; and, if a field required har-
rowing after the feed was fown, it was a fign, with them, that fuch field
had not been fufiiciently ploughed. Land, fay their authors, efpecially if it be
of a rich nature, and that is apt to hold water, ought to be turned up fo often,
and reduced to fo fine a powder, that the track of the plough-fliare may
hardly be diftinguifliable in it ; for by this method the roots of all weeds
will be torn in pieces, and deftroyed.

Among the moderns Mr. Ray affigns feveral reafons for making land fine
* and mellow before it is fown. It is beneficial, fays he, that the nitrous
particles of the air, which chiefly promote vegetation, may infinuate them-
felves more freely and in greater quantity thro' the cracks and interftices of
the land, and there be precipitated and adhere to it; perhaps the rain water
alfo may be of ufe in diffolving thofe falts, which they carry with them into
the pores of plants. Befides, the water finks more eafily thro' light loofe
earth, fo that the roots are in lefs danger of being fuffocated by too much
moifture, or of being corrupted and killed by too much cold ; and there is
this farther advantage in it, that by letting the air more plentifully into the
alr-vefl!els of the roots, it gives them a freer refpiration, which wc have already
Ihewn is not Icfs neceffary to plants than animals. — Mr. Evelyn explodes
thofe, who fancy the turning and ploughing land frequendy in the winter,
before it is employed for a crop, caufes it to exhale, and fpend the virtue it
fhould retain, there being in truth no compoft or laetation comparable to this
continual motion : it evaporates the malignant halitus and impurities of the
imprihmed air, laxing the parts, and giving eafy deliverance to it's oft"spring.
Thefe feminal falts and rudiments, wherever latent, are free to move and

exert

* Male aratur arvum, quod fatis fniglbus occandum eft ; id demum refle fubaclum erit, ubi non'
intelligeturutro vomer ierit. Plin.— Pingues campi, qui diutius continent aquani tam frequentibus.
denfifque fulcis arandi funt, ut vix dignofcatur in utram partem vomer aflus fit; quandoquidem fic
omnes radices herbarum perruptas necantur: fed et complurlbus iterationibus fic refolvatur vervac-
tum in pulverem, ut vel nuljam, vel exiguam defideret occationem, cum feminaverimus ; nam
veteres Romani dixerunt male fubaflum agrum, qui fatis frugibus occandus fit. Columel. lib. 2.
fbl. 99-

*' Turn ut particulffi aeris nitrofse, quibus praecipue vegetatio promovetur, in terreni interftitia
liberius et copiofius fe infinuantes ibidem praccipitsntur, et terreno adbErelcant : quin et aqure plu-
vise fortafle ad falium folutionem conducunt, quos fecum una in radicum poros convehunt : praete-
rea in terra laxa et foluta aquae promptius fiibfidunt, adeoque nee humore nimio radices fufFocant, nee
frigore corrumpunt : prasterea terra laxa et foluta ad hoc conducit, ut aer copiofior radicum tra-
cheas fubeat, ad rcfpirationis ufum, quam plantis uon minus neceflaiiam ^Ss c[uam aiiiinalibus
oflendimus, Ray, fol. 33..

4-0

The order of
fallowing
among the
aocients.

PLOUGHING.

exert their virtue, when thcfe chains and weights, which fetter and depress
them, are taken off. He afcribes more benefit to often opening, ftirring, and
ventilating the earth, than to dunging.

But if to pulverize and grind the ground was the only end of ploughing,
without any regard to the taking in the corporeal emanations of the fun, a
frofty winter fallow would chaften the earth, and make it as fryable as a
fummer one ; but the difference is vaftly great; for the fun improves the earth
more than dung does. — As fire in lime, or burn-beaking, raifes and fixes
the falts, fo does the fun, which is a fire ; therefore the more you let the fun
into the ground by ploughing, the greater the benefit.

In Afia and the hot countries their corn does not burn up, but is able to
come out of the ground, which in England it would not do, if we had their
hot weather. This feems to be owing to the mighty finenefs to which their
ground is reducible by the plough, they having fuch dr}' feafons for fallowings
and ftirrings, whereby their ground falls much clofer than ours, and does not
gape by the heat, but, by reafon of its mellow parts, drinks in abundance of
the dews, which our land, Icfs fryable, does not, and which dews, in great
probability, fall more with them than with us.

§.2. 'The method among the antients of ploughing from one tilt to ano-
ther is laid down by Columella as follows : Lands that are inclined to be moifl
ought to be firft broken up from about the middle to the latter end of April,
and, after this firft ploughing, to lie ftill till towards the latter end of June,
or about the time of the fummer folfi:ice, when they are to be ploughed a fe-
cond time, and about the beginning of September they are to receive their
third ploughing : but it is better to omit either or all thefe ploughings, than to
turn up the ground, when it is wet and in mortar, or even when the upper
part of it, after a long dry feafon, has been wetted by fudden fmall fliowers,
which have not funk deep into it; for, if you plough up the ground when in
a wet and dawby condition, there will be no meddling with it again for the
whole year, but it muft lie ufelefs ; and, if you plough it up when the fur-
face only has been thus wetted, it will be barren for three years afterwards.
The beft feafon for ploughing is, when the ground is in a moderate tempera-
ITventj neither very wet, nor very dry ; for by too much moiilure, as 1 faid

before,

' Uli2;inori cnmpi profdndi debent poft idus menfis Aprilis ; quo tempore cum arati fuerint, die-
bus interpofitis, circa folftitium, quod eft nono vel odlavo calendarum Juliarum, iterates efle
cportebit : ac deinde circa Septembris cakndas tertiatos : led quandocunque arabitur,obfervabimus,
i:e lutofus agertraftetur, neve exiQ;iiis nimbis fcmimadidus,quam terram ruftici variam, cariofamque
r.ppellant ; ca eft cum poft longas ficcitates levis pluvia fuperiorcm partem glebarum madefacit, in-
fcriorem iion attingit ; nam quaiido limofa verfantur arva, toto anno definunt pofle tra<ftari, ncc
funthabiliafementi, aut occationi, aut fatioiii : at rurfus qurs varia fubacla funt, couinuo triennio
fterilitate afficiuntur, medium igitur temperamentum maxime fequamur in arandis agris, ut neque
fucco careant, iiec abundant uiigine ; quippe iiimius humor, ut dixi, limofos, lutofofque reddit, at
qui ficcitatibus aruerunt, expedii i probe non poftunt, nam vel refpuitur duritia foli dens aratri, vel
fiqua parte penetravit, non minute diffindit humum, fed vaftos ccfpitcs convellit, quibus objaccnti-
bus impeditum ar^um minus refte poffit iterari : quo cvenit ut in iterationequoquefcamna fiant. Ac-
cedit hue, quod omnis humus quamvis Isetiflima, tanicii inferiorem partem jcjuniorem habet.
■Columella, lib. ;. fol. 99.

PLOUGHING. 41

before, it will cling together, and be like mortar, and, after a long drought,
tho^ a little moiftened at top, the plough- ihare will either not be able to pene-
trate it, and be continually thrown oil by the hardnefs of the earth, or, if it
fnould penetrate it, it will not make it line, but turn it up in large clods,
which will be a continual hindrance to you at it's next ploughinr, and at laft
be left unbroken and in lumps on the field. Add to this, that even in rich
foils, the part that lies deepeft is always the moft barren.

§. 3. One great reafon of a fummer-fallowing's enriching all ground feems Summer-''3l-
•to me to be, becaufe the fleams and vapours of the earth, which lie beneath '°}'''"£' ""^^
the turf and furrow ploughed up, are, in the fummer-time, conftantly ex- of it!
hahng upwards, which being ftopp'd and retarded by the furrow, and lodged
in the caverns, are, after evaporation of the watery parts, by the fire of the
fun, digefted into fixed falts ; for the continuation of the channels or pores of
perfpiration being broken by the furrow turned down, the cfHuviums ar:;
flopped, and fix, as againft a cieling of a vault.

I fummer-fallowed the one half of a field in May and June for wheat j
the other half I ploughed in September for winter vetches : the winter after
I could obferve the half fowed to vetches very much over-run with geranium
columbinum, but the wheaten part had not the tenth part of that v/eed, not-
withllanding it's having been dunged for wheat. So much is owing to a
fummer-fallow, which deflroys the weeds before feeding-time, whereas in the
vetch ground the weeds had feeded before it was ploughed. That winter
vetches prepare the earth for a barley-crop next year, is very much to be im-
puted to the fummer-fallow fuch ground may be fuppofed to have received
the year the vetches were fown in it ; and the dominion the vetches get over
weeds the following fummer, by killing them, lays open the bare earth to
the fun the fecond fummer alfo, which in a manner anl wers to two fummer-
fallows.

It feems to me no fmall regard ought to be had to keep cold clav-ground
from running out of tilt, in refpedf that when it is fo, the natural grafs fo
matts it, and it is fo clung with the roots thereof, that the fun cannot eafily
penetrate, to cherifli and ferment the juices into vegetable falts j whereas, if
you keep your ground knot-fine by fummer-fallows, and clover-grafs, which
gets dominion over the natural grafs, and plough it up before it runs to a
Iword, the ground will be loofe and open, and eafily penetrable by the fun,
rain, and air, whereby it will be capable of being impregnated much more
with thofe falts.

§. 4. On found experience I am thoroughly confirmed, that no land, efpe- Nottorum-
ciallyclaiy, ought to be fummer-fallowed, when it is the lead heavy by wet, "'""'^"°*^'
in order to prepare it for fpring-corn the fpring following ; for, tho' the
ground may work mellow enough, as to the temper of the earth, having the
fummer's fun to fliine on it, yet, being ploughed wet or heavy, the grafs will
grow lb as to clod it together, and fo matt the earth, that it will plough too
rough in the fpring to low fpring-corn at once ploughing. — It is the fame, in
cafe flrong land or fwordfd land be winter-fallowed wet, or fliff, and heavy,

G in

42 PLOUGHING.

in order to prepare it for ftirring the next fummer for a wheaten crop ; it will
turn up monfttous ftiff and rough : in both cafes you give away your fidl
labour.

Of FALLOWING.

I fummcr-fallowed afield when one part was burning-dry, the other part
very diy alfo, but yet moilier than the former ; at Michaelmas that part which
had been ploughed burning-dry had ten times more weeds come up in it than
the other ; from whence I infer, that the dryer you fallow ftill the better to
deftroy the weeds. — Again, I fallowed part of a field burning-dry in July,
immediately on which came a very hard rain, which made the furrows,,
though ploughed dry, fall flat and hard, in which at Michaelmas very few
weeds, comparatively of what might have been expedted, if fuch rain had not
fallen, were come up ; for the ground was thereby faftened before the feeds
could chitt.
On fummer- §• 5- The hu(handry of cold, wet, flrong clay-land in Wiltfliire is to turn it
fillowing up as early as one can in the fpring for a wheaten fallow ; if the ground be fo
Song "and ^^y ^^'^ fl:arky, that eight oxen and an horfe mufl be put to the plough, fo much
the better ; on this fallow (that is, on this one earth) they fow their wheat and
drag it in, and have much better corn than if they gave their wheaten land
three earths. — I think this huibandry founded on very good reafon ; for fuch
land, being ploughed up in fo hot weather and fo dry, becomes mellow and
perfe(ft dufty ; the earth being hard underneath, it will caft off the rains into
the hoUownefles between the furrows, and will lie dry all the winter ; where-
as, if fuch wet clay-land had been hollowed with two or three earths, it had
lain fogging in the wet, and drunk it up like a fpunge, and the chill would
have killed the corn ; nor would it have fallen mellower under the harrow
than the grete as above would do under the drag ; and the common faying
of the farmers in Hants, that they fee not but white land brings as good corn-
as clay-land, feems to make good, that they often manage clay-land in Hamp-
Ihire ill in their ploughing.
Caution a- §• 6- I '^i'*'' ^cry fenfihle on experience, that you ought not to let ground.

gainilletring you intend to fummer- fallow for wheat run too far to a head of grafs, fo that
loofonson'^^^ the fiieep fl:!all refufe to keep it fhort or bare ; for if the grafs comes to that
land to be pitch, you will not be able to make the flieep eat it, but a great deal of it will,
fummer-fal ^^^^ ^q bents ; and when you fummer-fallow, the furrows will not cover and.
turn over the ends of the grafs, but it will lie out at the feams, and fo being
not covered from the air will keep growing, and the roots will confequently
live, and matt, and plough up very rough when it is thwarted, tho' the
ground was fummer-fallowed never fo dry.
Nfanner of §. 7. In their Common fields in Leicefterfliire they give fi.ve tilts for their

fallowing in baj-jgy^ g^d four fov their wheat, five for their oats, and one for their peas
and beans ; their firft fallowing for barley is about March, as foon as feed-
time will give them kavej the fecond the latter end of May, or in June, as

hay-

PLOUGHING.

Iiay-making-time will give them leave ; the third in July or Auguft, as
harvefting will permit; the fourth the latter end of Odlober, or fooner, as the
wheat feafon will allow j the laft earth is when they fow, at the latter end of
February or beginning of March : they fay, if they did not make thefe many
tilts the weeds would come up fo fall:, and feed, that they would be quite
deftroyed with weeds. The tilts for wheat commence, as for barley, about
March, and fo they hold on according to their leifure till they fow, which is
about Michaelmas, and within three weeks after. — From hence it may be
obferved, that the deep land of the north can never want rain at feed-time, or
foon after, for their fourth earth being taken about September, or Odtober,
the winter paffing over it, and the earth being four months ftale when they
come to fow it, it muft needs turn up fo moifl, as both to bring up the corn,
and to fupport it againft the drought of any fummer.

My fervant was obferving to me, that in Leiceflerfl.ire they cared not how
deep they went with their furrow, when they fummer-fallowed, which, con-
fidering how fub'iecft they were to weeds, he looked on as a great fault ; for,
faid he, if they went fhallow, the fun would have power to fcorch up the
weeds and their feeds in a fhallow furrow, as foon as it moldered after the
firft rain ; whereas when they turn up fo deep a furrow, the feeds and the
roots of weeds are buried and kept moifl, and cool, and he quiet, and not
being influenced from the fun and air to germinate and chitt, and thereby to
be malted, they are fecured in a fafe repofitoiy, in order for vegetation, when
the earth is again ploughed up for wheat.

Of the DURABLENESS of fome SEEDS.

§. 8. It is manlfeft a great many feeds will endure many years buried in
the ground, and yet never rot nor perifb, but rife up again in their plants
when the ground by tillage is made a fit matrix for them : but, forafmuch as
I can obferve, thele feeds are the fmallefl of feeds, fuch as poppy, charlock,
and muflard-feed ; for peas, beans, and other corn-grain, and acorns, and the
like, will perifh foon, being buried in the ground ; the reafon of which feems
to be, becaufe thefe fmall feeds confift of more oily or bitter juices, which
preferve them from moiflure, and, in the next place, they confift of fuch
fmall fibres or vefl'els, that it is impoffible, when they lie half a foot, or a
foot deep in the earth, for the power of the fun fo to rarify the juices into
fuch fine particles, as to penetrate thofe minute tubes, on which all vegeta-
tion depends : whereas, when by tillage they have a light bed of earth, thofe
feeds, which are turned up on the furface, lie in the warmth of the fun,
where the particles of the earth are made very acftive and fine to pafs their
tubes. Thus thofe larger feeds above mentioned, whofe juices are lefs oily,
and their tubes more open, are eafily penetrated by the heavy and grofs juices,
which lie a foot deep in the earth, but not being able to protrude a root
downward, nor a plant upward, by reafon of the clofenefs and preflure of the
earth, from a plethory of the juices it is neceflary that an extravafation mufl

G 2 follow.

43

44 PLOUGHING.

follow, from whence a corruption muft proceed. From hence I conceive it
is, as Meagre writes, that primrofe feed, which is exceeding fmall, being
fown in fine mold, fome of the feeds will not come up under three, fome
under four, five, fix, and feven years ; fome of thofe feeds, I fuppofe, lay
buried deeper, fome Ihallower in the ground, and the juices that lie deeper
require more time to be rarified than thofe lying Ihallower. — That feeds are
more hardy, and can endure more than is generally conceived, Mr. Rudge of
Portfmouth gave me an inftance ; he affirmed, that until king William's
lime they did not ufe wormwood in their fliip-drinkj but that of late they
have ufed it with their hop?, which are conftantly boiled two hours, and then
iTung out on a dunghill, and that in thofe places now grow great quantities
of wormwood at Portfmouth, where none grew before. And Dr. Bradyl of
Leicefter did affure me, that at a dyer's in that town, who ufed the attriplex
baccifera, and boiled it in his dyes, after it had much boiling, and was flung
out on the dunghill, there would grow up, in great quantities, from the
feeds of it the attriplex baccifera : the berry of this plant is like a mulberry,
and it's feeds are exceeding fmall. When Mr. Ray fays the eryfimus Neapo-
iitanus (wild crefs, or hedge muftard) did grow in that abundance after the
fire of London, he adds, that this plant brings very fmall feeds and in great
quantity ; therefore a hundred years might it lie without germinating, and
not like to germinate then, unlefs it's tubes were put in adlion by the heat of
fire. Sir John Floyer, in- his Touch-ftone of medicines, tells us, that pop-
pies are very mucilaginous, and contain an oil, as appears by a milky juice;,
and an oil is preifed out of poppy-feed : this feems to account for the great
length of time they are fufpeded to have laid in the ground, where grafs-
lands after many years have been ploughed up, and this plant has come up
fo plentifully. Sir Thomas Brown alfo, in his Vulgar errors, gives feveral
Of equivocal inftances of the lafiing vitality that fome feeds are endued with. If Le Grand
generation, j^^j. ^^^^^ acquainted with, and confidered thefe inftances, he would not, I
think, have fo readily afferted the equivocal generation of plants; for his ar-
gument is, — -If you dig up the earth an ell deep, it will, without fowing, be
fruitful the firft year, but, if you turn it up deeper it will not be fruitful till
after a year or two. ' The feeds therefore of plants, fays he, are thofe infen-
fible particles, which, by the agitation of the fubtle matter, acquire that fitu-
ation, figure, and motion, which are neceffary towards the formation of the
firft rudiments of plants ; but this formation is not fo foon compleated, nor are
plants produced fo quickly this way, as in the ordinary manner of raifing
them from the feeds of plants.

Surely we have great reafon to conclude, from the inftances above men-
tioned, that the earth does not produce the moft contemptible weed without

a feed ;

' Plaiitarum igitur femlna funt infenfibiJcs illre particulas, quae, per matcrias fubtllis agitationcm,
dun fitum, figiiram, et motum acquirunt, quae iiecefliiria funt ac! (irimum ftirpis rudimentum ef-
foimandum ; fed eorum conformatio tardiiis abfolvatur, fciufijuc e.-: iliis plantce proveiiiunt quam e;i
icminibus pkntaium. Le Grand, p. 466.

PLOUGHING. ^^

a Ceed ; and we find that even at the beginning God took not that method, nor
did the earth bring forth plants in that manner when it was va'dly rich ; for
itisfaid,Gen. ch.ii. ver. 5.--" that God made every plant of the field before it
was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew ;" and it feems as
if Mofes had faid this to prevent an hypothefis, that matter could adl fo
nobly on matter ; what is recorded therefore in the preceding chapter, viz.
that God faid, " Let the earth bring forth grafs, the herb yielding feed, &c,"
can only mean, that God bad it come forth out of the ground. Patrick will
have thofe words above quoted, " before it was in the earth," — Interpreted —
before the feed was in the earth, v/hich if the Hebrew will allow of,
yet the foregoing words in that verfe, " God made every plant of the
field," — fhew the earth did not produce plants, as caufes naturally do
their eflredls.

§. 9. A great advantage in fummer-fallowing for barley is, that vour bar- Oi" fummer-
ley-land feldom is fufficient to provide for alfthe grades you fow,' and oat- ^JJ"^'^"^ '"'
land will feldom knot fine enough to fow ; but if oats be fowed on the bar- ' ' "
ley-ftubble which was fummcr-fallowed, in all likelyhood it will knot \etY
fine, and be fit to be laid down to grafs.

To futnmer-fallow for bailey, in order to deftroy weeds, you ought to fal-
low before the living weeds run to feed, and yet fo late, that the feeds of
fuch weeds as are in the ground may not have fummer enough to grow up
and feed before winter come, but as foon as may be (avoiding the latter in-
conveniency) is befi ; becaufe when weeds are moft turgid with juices, by
being ploughed up, their roots are like to be killed by a plethory : for the
time of weeds feeding confult the herbal.

Lands lying to the north, being cold clay-lands, fliould, if fov/ed to
barley, be fummer-fallowed, in order to fweeten the ground, and fowed
under furrow, the middle of March, if the earth can poffibly be got dry
enough, that the barley of land expofed to the cold may be got ripe before
the fan leaves it, and frorty nights come.

§. 10. It ought to be obferved by the hufbandman, not only what grounds Of fallowins:
are cold and foureft, but alfo what part of every ground is fo ; this he willP°°[*^°','^,
eafily difcern by the grafs the cattle fhall refuie, unlefs hunger forces them
to eat it : in the hill-country we may generally perceive thofe grounds, or
parts of grounds, which lie upon a declivity from the fun, or are cooped up
between hills, fo that the fun cannot freely irradiate them all d<iy, and are
not fo pervious to the air and winds, do bear a much fourer grafs than- the
fummits of the fame field ; and it is refufed by cattle, efpecially at a time
when grafs is plenty : I do advife in. luch. cafe, that the hulbandman take
held of all opportunities and feafons to turn up fuch parts of a field early in
the fummer to the fun, and alfo that he ftir it more in the fummer, there-
by to fwectcn it for grafs, and render it kinder for corn ; for he may be af-
furedi iuch ground as bears four grafs, however, it may bear a burden of

firav/,.

46 P L O U G H I N G.

ftraw, will not bear a plump berry, but a thin coarfe fort, which will not
£11 the builiel, as finer rin'd or floured corn will do.

On my farm there is land, which tho' very cold, poor, and whitifli

e;round, or woodfeary, yet is very apt to run to four, rowety grals, tho' it

has born corn but the vear before ; on fuch pieces of land we ought to have

a circumfpeft eye, both in refpeft of ploughing them very dry, and hot, and

.earlier than other lands, before they are run to grafs, fo as to nip the grafs,

as it were, in the bud.

Of winter- §. n. I find the evii of white poor ground chiefly is, that all the fpring

fallowing. tij-j-je it ploughs up too dry to bring up the corn, and tho' it be juft wet

enough for mixed or clay-ground to bring up corn, yet that white ground

fo foon dries, either by heat or the cold churlifli winds, which come at this

•putting forth time of the year, that the corn is checked in its * chiflum ; therefore, if you

its roots. fo^v fuch land on fallows upon a fecond ploughing, my advice is, that you

fallow early-, for flale fallows will work moirt. When you plough for fow-

ing alfo in the hill-countrv, there are advantages in ploughing the poorer or

mixed land firft, ifit lies warm and in fhelter, and the ftronger clay-land

•laft ; becaufe, when the feafon of the year for fowing draws towards an

end, the fallows being too dry for the corn to grow without rain, the full,

in ftrong clay-lands, that have a depth, may, without damage, be carried

lower than the rtale fallow, into the fredi mold, which will turn up moift,

(whereby you may have your corn all grow) which, in hot fummers, in

the hill-country, is the life of a crop.

•Ofwinter-fal- §.12. If ground be ploughed dry, tho' ever fo much rain fliould fall after it,

lowing dry. jt ^.jji foon be drv again, for the fame paffages the water found to wet it,

are alfo permeable to the fun : but if ploughed wet, it will not dry kindly

•J- mold. again that feafon, for the -f- grete is in a manner cruft thereby, and blended

{o in a dab together, that the fun cannot penetrate it j but his rays are re-

frafted.

I was obferving to a certain farmer, that a certain field did not produce
me fo good a crop of oats as I expefted, the ground having been fed to hop-
-clover for two years. The farmer replied, he believed the reafon was be-
caufe the winter proved fo wet, and, that being a white ground, we ftill
went thither in wet weather, becaufe ploughing in fuch weather did not
that harm in white ground that it did in other, but that white ground fo
ploughed bore the wcrfe corn, which I behevc to be true. Beware how-
ever of either fummer or winter-fallowing poor land in the hill-country too
dry, fo that it turns up deep, and breaks lower than the ftaple : by expe-
riece I know, you impoverilh fuch land as much, by jumbling the bad with
the good, as a year's dunging with the pot can do it good ; and all the ex-
perienced farmers I have confulted, which are many, are agreed, that, tho*
it is beft to plough up wheaten land in dry weather, (for if it is fallovred
wet, it will be apt to chill all the year) yet white land fhould be ploughed up
fomewhat wet ; for, when dry, it is apt to break up in too iiiff clods, and

turn

PLOUGHING. 47

cum up below the goodnefs of the mold. I have found by conftant expe-
rience in our hill-country land, where the chalk in many places lies rtiallow,
if, by reafon of ploughing too dry, the chalk brufh tears up, the corn will
in that vein become defective fome years after, tho' more manure be be-
llowed on it than on other parts of the fame land, where the chalk has not
torn up : therefore fallow not fuch land too dry.

The air and watery parts in earth ought to have a free circulation, as in
our human bodies, otherwifc a corruption and poifon of humours arifes : the
cafe is the fame in earth ploughed up wet, which clings and holds in all the
watery body, which then is very much, till it corrupts, and lets in no frefla
air, dews, &c. Now earth fhould be always taking in and perfpiring out,
even as our bodies do.

If ground be worked wet in feed-time, the wetter it is, the lefs can a
plough difpatch in a day; for if it clings and flicks to the plough, and to
the holder's ilioes, it hinders the fpeed, nor fhall the harrows harrow it fo
well at eight tinnings as otherwife at four.

§.13. If your ground be cold clay-ground, or four ground, fuch as I have, Cf fallowing
take care to purfue the ploughing it up whilft the ground is in the moft burn- ia,;d_
ing condition, and dry over head ; and flop when either of thofe cafes are
wanting ; and either give your oxen play, or contrive fome other work for
them. When your ground is fo ploughed up in fallowing, it will always
turn up again rotten, and in good order ; and by fuch methods of never fal-
lowing your grounds cold and wet, they will in fome years time be marvel-
loully fweetened, made healthy and kind for corn, and you will get a domi-
nion over all common gralles and herbs of the field, fo that fuch hill-country-
ground, after it has lain down to clover, will turn up the fccond year knot
fine, or fryable, which is a very aufpicious temper to promife a good crop.

§. 14. The difference in pradices amongll hulbandmen is very great ; Different
to plough up many grounds in the winter, and let them lie fo till feed-time, F^'^'^''^ '" '"''
and then to fow them with oats or barley on one earth, i. e. drag the corn country, in
in without more ploughing, is a frequent cuftom amongfl the hill-country- winter fallow-
men, which the vale-men, when they are told it, are furprized at, and fay, '"2"
if they did fo, they lliould have nothing but weeds, which I believe to be
true ; but, on the other hand, it is undeniable, that the hill-countiy-men,
whofe land lies cold, do this with good fuccefs. Thefe different events feem
to me to depend on good reafons, viz. high hill-country-land lying bleak
and cold, and being fomewhat poor, yet, if it be of a claiy kind, being
ploughed up early, will not, by reafon of it's barrennefs, and cold expoh-
tion, produce weeds during the winter ; the feeds of weeds in fuch cold
beds lie afleep, till roufed out of their lethargy by the warmer air and fun of
the fpring ; whereas in warmer foils,, which lie in the vale, where the land
is commonly richer, the feeds of weeds, even during the winter, if the
ground be hollowed up by ploughing, and mellowed by rains and frofts,
will fpiout and put forth a blade.

§. 15- -I

4S PLOUGHING.

Of piouj^Jiin!; §. i^. I was fayliig to farmer Elton, it was the common opinion of farmei-s,
unlcafonabj. ^j^^j. ^ ^^^^ fliould be flill going, in feafon, or out of feafon ; but I differ'd
from them ; for when a feafon prefented itfelf, and I was behind-hand, I
Ihould not fcruple the hiring three or four days work of a plough, and, if a
feafon did not prefent itfelf, fhould not fcruple the going on fomewhat to-
wards a fecond year's crop. He agreed with me, and faid, 'twas better to
be in the ftable than to do things out of feafon, and faid, there was a piece
of one of his fields an inftance of it ; they went to fallow there in a wet time,
becaufe they would not ftand ftill, and that part of the ground has worfted
three crops fince fucceflively, and made it run to weeds.
Winter fal- §, 16, It feems to me to be very wrong (tho' in the hill-country, where
wwlnterfa"!' ^^^^ earth is confequently dryer) to winter-fallow acrofs the lands or furrows,
lowacrofs the if poffibly it Can be avoided, efpecially if the lands lie on a defcent, and are of
fdrrows. .^ f^oi^ claiy nature ; for the current of the water is thereby ftopt, and the
field lying the wetter for it is thereby foured and chill'd ; it feems therefore,
that fuch lands fliould be winter-fallowed the fame way the lands and furro\\^
lie, if they lie upwards and downwards efpecially.

The ground generally winter-fallowed better in anno 171 8 than had been
obferved for many years : the reafon doubtlefs was the long, hot, and dry
fummer the preceding year, whereby not only the earth, through the
drought, was made more fryable, but alfo the free growth of all weeds, and
their roots, which matt the ground together, and harle in the clots, was
checked.

The philofophers fecm to agree, that in winter the air is fuller of nitre
than in fummer; therefore a winter-fallow, to let in the nitrous particles of
the air, muft be beneficial. ;

When winter- §. 17. It feems the winter-fallows of every ground are then moft feafonable,
wio\v!r|,moft^yj_jgj^ you can make the furrows ftand moft upright, and fo continue, with as
little falling down as may be, that thereby the land may lie the healthier and
dryer, and fhootoffthe rains ; whereas by falling flat it lies foggy, fpungy, and
cold.— Accordingly I was telling a very good farmer in my neighbourhood,
that I thought it was better not to winter-fallow ftiftland till the frofts were
near at hand; for, if one fallowed fuch lands early in Odlober, they might
fettle too much before the frofts might come to hollow them. He replied, if
it was lay ground, it might be as I faid, but, if it was ftiff land that was
ploughed the year before, it was beft, he thought, to plough it up as foon as
I could, tho' the very beginning of Odober, before it had time to fettle after
it's laft burden of corn ; for then it would, when firft fallowed, molder fine
enough. — Tho' clay-lands however ought to be fallowed early for the better
mellowing them, yet it feems to me no lofs of time, but rather gain, to wait
a little for the dry frofts ; becaufe in fuch weather you will better effect your
ends. If the fallows fliould have been flatted by the rains, the froft having
isfs power over them, they muft needs be more inclinable to run to weeds ;

on

PLOUGHING. 49

on the other hand, tho' fallowing {hould happen when the ground is very
wet, vet, if dry frofts follow, and not wet weather, fuch fallows may do
very well. The reafon is, becaufe fuch frofts uphold the ground from falling,
till it fetdes in the ridges in an upright {landing, and confequently receives the
benefits of the frofts: but this venture is not to be trufted to, left wet weather
fliould come after fuch fallowing, which is moft likely, as the ground is
already full of wet ; and yet the farmers will plough and fallow in the wet,
knowing, that they fometimes have had as good corn after a wet fallow as a
dry one ; but of the accidents, whereon it depended, they were ignorant ;
otherwife I judge they would not have done fo. — On the like reafon, in my
opinion, depends the wholfomnefs of the fummer-fallows ; for, if the fallow
be wet, it will be in danger of falling flat, unlefs very dry weather follow, to
fupport the ridges : confequently the fun has lefs power over the parts, nor
can it kill the weeds by it's burning heat, as in a dry fallow.

I gave a barley-fallow to a broad clover- field in July: fome faid, it would
not gain it's end, but lay the ground chill for the whole winter. — By Mi-
chaelmas I found it full of all forts of weeds green on the ground, which when
flirred would all be deftroyed. — Note, that fallowing land v/ell carries a whole
furrow in the winter, and cannot be fuppofed to lay a ground wet during the
winter, but rather dry, feeing the furrows have gutters between them, for
carrying off the water ; but if the ground falls fmall, then it may lie foggy and.
fpungy. The harrowing this ground after it was fallowed, made it fine, fo
that it brought up weeds in abundance, which would be ftirred in, and fo
deftroyed, and yet it lay hollow underneath.

The reafons of early fallowings and ftirrings, or thwartings, feem to depend
altogether on the nature of the lands you have to deal with; for if it be pro-
bable that ground may work dry and mellow at fpring-feed-time, care ought
to be taken to fallow fo early, that you may thwart early, I mean in January,
that your ploughing at feed-time may be moift ; but your fallowing, if the
ground be not graffy, may be later, efpecially your thwarting, viz, not till
March, if you are apprehenfive your ground is like to be too wet at feed-
time ; for 'twill plough much the drier at feed-time for being thwarted late in
a dry feafon.

I fallowed a lay-ground to grafs in Odlober and November ; I began very
early to plough it, and fow barley in it, viz. the 25th of March : notwith-
ftanding the fallows were very ftale, and, being fowed fo early in the year,
one would think the ground moift enough to bring up the corn, as by turn-
ing up the furrows it feemed to be, yet the ground ploughing very rough,
being of a white nature, and requiring ten tinings, it was a very great difad-
vantage to the corn's coming up, there being no rain ; for the weather was
hot, or windy and dry, when it was ploughed, and the tumbling it up and
down fo often with the harrows dried the ground too much : fo therefore to
order white ground, that it may harrow at four or five tinings, and thereby
not lofe it's moifture, is good huft>andry.

H Mr.

^o PLOUGHING.

Mr. Ravmond favs, the good hulbands with them (in Wiltfliire) fal-
low up all the lands in the beginning of winter, and finifli by Oftober,
if they can, whillt their horfes are at grafs, and then lay them up at a cheap
keeping all the winter: this they do in Leiceflerfliire, as I have ehewhere noted.
Seeing the finer the earth is tilted, the more each part of it communicates
it's virtue to the grain laid in it j I fuppofe the finer it is winter-fallowed
(for the fame reafon) the more the winter rains and frofts communicate their
virtue to the land.
OfwJnter-fal- §• i8- The finer the earth is made by often ploughing for wheat, the clofer
lowing for it lies all the winter to the roots of the corn, provided you fow your corn in
wheat. ^^^^ time, fo that the frofts come not to hollow it before it is fettled ; for,

rot having time to fettle, it is in more danger of being hollowed by the frofts.
From my walking over the fallows, and obferving how dri% and healthy,
and expofed to the frofts, weather, and fun, the convex parts lay, and how
the many fmall concave parts and hollows lay to receive the fun's ftrongeft
heats, I cannot but think it great huft^andr)' to fallow up grafly, or ftrong
clay-lands in the winter-feafon, for wheat, tho' one muft give them an earth
the more poflibly in fummer, by fallowing twice inftead of once : indeed
this cannot be done vice verfa to barley, by giving that a fummer-fallow, be-
caufe barley is fown after fome corn that grew the fummer before.

By winter-fallowing for wheat you have this certain advantage, that the
fallows are fo mellowed by the winter-frofts, that all the fpring and fummer
lon<y they drink up the rains and fummer-funs the more greedily.

In winter- fallowing for wheat there alfo fometimes falls out this advantage
(as in anno J 705, when no rains fell from April to tlie fecond of July) that
you have not only fo much land fallowed before-hand, when no plough could
fallow in lav-lands by reafon of the drynefs, and confequently the farmers muft
be behindhand ; but vou may alfo all that feafon ftir the winter-fallows,
for all that time they will work.
Cfwmter-fd- ^- 19- Whereas in the ftrong deep lands of Buckinghamftiire, and in feme
lowing for other counties, where there are ftrong lands, the tarmers hold it ill huf-
bariey. bandrv to fow much barley, and they are reftrained from it by their landlords,

from an opinion that barley impoverilhes their land beyond other corn. — I
am apt to tliink, if barley impoverifties fuch clay-land, it muft proceed from
the winter-fallowing it, and tumbling it about in cold raw v.'eather, when it
is wet, being cold clay-land, whereby it is chilled and foured j whereas I fup-
pofe they plough not up for peas and beans and oats till the fpring of the
year, when they are fown j and peas and beans hollow and mellow the
ground.

The firft confiderations, after wheat and vetches are fown, in order to a
barley-crop, are of this nature, viz. to fallow up thofe grounds which vou do
not fold, and cf them to fallow thofe firft which are declivous from the fun,
or by reafon of high trees or hedge-rows are much fliaded, or by reafon cf
hedge-rows or declivities are llireened from the north and eaft ; for all fuch
grounds may and ought to be fown firft with barley ; and therefore the earth

ought

PLOUGHING. 51

ought to be prepared firft, and if fuch fields are to be folded, they ought to
be folded firft, in order to be fallowed as foon as may be.

§. 20. Mr. Edwards obferves, the firft thing the farmers do after harveft is Of wmter-
to fallow for black oats ; for the older the fallow is they few black oats on '"•■'lowing for
they obferve it to be the better ; but, if they fow white oats, they fallow °^ ''
but before they fow, for the later the fallow is for white oats, they count it
the better, for white oats love to lie light ; and, faid he, they never eive
two earths to black oats, but, if the ground be fuch as is run to grafs and a
fliff ground, it is better, and will well anfwer, in cafe you fow while oat?,
if you give it two earths ; nay, faid he, fome of our clay-lands are io flifF,
that it would very well pay if two earths were given to peas alfo, for it is and for peas,
impoflible fometimes they fhould fhoot their heads through. I faid I never
knew two earths given to peas before ; he replied, farmer Biggs, if I would
talk to him, would tell me the fame thing ■ and he was fure he loft half a
crop for want of it.

It was the 1 6th of Odober, and farmer Biggs had fallowed for oats ; I
afked, whether the land (he fowing on one earth) would not be too flale,
and lie too hard at feed-time. He faid, no ; if land worked light (for on
this land he had fowed oats alfo the lafh year) it would be in fit temper
enough at fpring ; that he and others commonly gave a fallow to fome oat-
land by the very beginning of Odlober.

Of Winter-fallowing early for OATS and BARLEY.

§.21. On the 2oth of Odlober, 171 9, 1 began ploughing a field of fifty-two
acres for oats, which had beefi fown to corn, and chiefly to vetches, fo that
the ftubble ploughed up fo fine and fmall, that it might be well fuppofed
the ground by the winter rains would fall flat : I had finiflied ploughing
thefe fifty-two acres by the 20th of November.— Notwith (landing it was light
and white ground, and fell fo fine, yet at the oat-feed time, Feb. 20, the
harrow tinings being good, the oats were laid deep enough in the furrows
or feams ; for tho' they feemed to be clofed, they were not fo, but there
were cavities underneath, tho' the feams clofed at top. This ground was
all harrowed off at five tinings, which was the effedl of early ploughing in
the winter. This method of fallowing light ground fucceeded admirably
well, and anfwered in every refpetft ; the oats were let in deep enough, and
profpered in colour beyond thofe I fovv'ed that year in flrong land on two
earths, and when I mowed them, the 15th of Auguft, they were in every
refpedt great oats, and the hop-clover I lowed with them fucceeded very
well, I concluded therefore from this and other experiments, that plough-
ing fuch light ground (which falls fine) thus early is beft, lince the cats can
be let deep enough into the feams, and by that means the ground fo plough-
ed, taking the winter rains, will retain fo much moilfure as to bring the oats
-all up, the contrary of which is the danger in all fuch light grounds. — For
the fame reafon I began fallowing fuch light lands for barley as early as the

H 2 middle

fine^

52 PLOUGHING.

middle of Odlober this year, that fo they, being beaten fiat by the winter
rains, and being drunk with them, might retain fufficient moifture to bring
up the barley at fpring.

In the beginning of November, 1712, I ploughed up four acres of a
field confiiling of fourteen acres, which had lain down to broad clover for
two years, during which it was mowed : tho' it was a clayey ground, it
broke pretty * knot by the plough, and therefore, having much other bufi«-
nefs in hand, I thought I might delay the tearing up the reft till the latter
end of January, and that it would harrow very well by the latter end of Fe-
bruary, fowed to oats ; accordingly, the latter end of January I ploughed
the reft, and fowed the whole field with black oats the latter end of Fe-
bruary : the ground drefiTed with the harrows very well ; only thisdiff^erence
I obferved ; the four acres ploughed in November was broke by the frofts
to duft ; the other part ploughed laft was not fo fine, but worked very mel-
low. This experiment I made on conjedure that the four acres ploughed
fo early would carry the beft oats, and my expe£lation was anfwered ; for
the whole field from the firft appearance gave me great hopes of a good
crop ; but by the latter end of May the four acres ploughed fo early was di-
ftinguifiiable in colour, to lookers on, at a quarter of a mile diftance ; for it
was much the ftronger, and darker in completion. June the 8th, which
was three days after, I took a view of another field, confifting of fix acresj
which I had ploughed in the winter in the former manner, viz. — I ploughed
up four acres thereof in Oftober, when the ground was very dry, and in
January I ploughed up the two remaining acres, the ground being likewife
then very dry. This field had been, as the other above mentioned, fov/ed
tv»^^ years to broad clover, and it turned up mellow in both parts, when
fowed to black oats in the latter end of February, and harrowed knot-fine,
only with this difference, that the four acres ploughed up in Odober
worked in duft, or like afties. The confequenec of this huibandry was as
the former, viz. — June the 8th the oats in the four acres, fo early ploughed,
looked more proud, were thicker, and of a deeper green than the two acres ;
and it is to be noted, that, in both the grounds, in thofc parts which were
fo early ploughed, no grafs appeared during winter, nor at fpring, to preju-
dice harrowing.
Of fallowing §. 22. I talked with feveral very experienced farmers concerning fallowings
for peas. £^^ ^^^^ . ^j^^y j^|j agreed, that their crop of peas would be better if they did,
and it would pay the charges, for fometimes their crops were bad for want
of it ; but it feems they had {o much other work for their ploughs that they,
could not allow time for it.

To fummer-fallow for peas doubtlefs would be as proper as for barley ; in-
which cafe you need not ftir the ground again, but harrow down the
roughnefs of the furrows before you plough for fowing ; your ground by
fuch fummer-fallowing, or indeed by an early winter-fallowing, being laid
curioufiy dry, will bear with the fowing the peas earlier than otherwife,
which has many advantages.— For this reafon it is, that the vale-farmers few

not

PLOUGHING. 53

not their peas Co early as wc in the hill-country do, tho' they lie warmer,
becaufe their land is wetter, and confequently colder ; but their barley they
fow a fortnight fooner than we, for by that time the fun has well heated
their land.

§. 23. This year, 1702, happened to be a very dry year, and fummer : ^^ p'oughin
an old farmer came to me, and lamented his bad crop of peas, and faid, they ^°''P^^^'
were worth little, and that they were fo from his hiring his ploughing,
which was of too little ftrength ; for, faid he, we had not horfes able to go
deep enough ; if we had had flrength to go an inch or two deeper I had had
treble the crop, for then I had laid them deep enough from the fun.

From hence may alfo be concluded, that the later in the fpring you fow
peas, the deeper you ought to go.

From what I have obferved this year, 1715, it is evident to me, that, if I
fow peas in cold clay-ground, I ought to lay the lands round and fmall, viz.
after the rate of five, fix, or at moft feven furrows in a ridge, whether I fow
over or under furrow ; for wherever the land lay flat, and pitched, or funk a
httle, there the peas failed, and did not come up, and thofe that did, continued'
all the fummer in an unthriving condition ; and yet the fpring after they were
fown was not wet, tho' indeed we had often cold dry winds ; the ground
thefe peas were fown in ploughed up very mellow and dry, and was fummer-
iallowed. All thefe advantages give a plain proof to me of the profit of laying
the lands in fuch grounds round, and I doubt not but where the ground was
moft healthy, and the peas more flourishing, yet both would have been more-
fo, if managed as above faid. The peas, from which I made this obfervation,.
were blue peas, fovv^ed fo late as the 19th of March, when the cold weather
might leem almoft over.

On experience I am very fenfible, that if peas be ploughed under furrow,'
in ground where one ploughs up-hill and down-hill, very great care ought to
be taken that you do not bury the peas ; for if the plough going down-hill be
not took up, or held up with a good ftrength, it will be very vifible at the
time of their coming up ; they will not come up half fo thick in that half of
the land, that was ploughed down-hill, as in that half that was ploughed up-
hill in every land refpeftively ; therefore, in fuch land, and efpecially when
fo carelefsly ploughed, it muft be evident there requires good dragging, and
very good harrowing, to break and tear the furrows into fmaller pieces, and to
open them well, and hollow their compadt cohefion, fo that the. corn may
come through. Indeed no corn lliould be fowed under furrow, where the
iiJrrow turns up whole, or does not break well into fhort pieces, but the
drags ought to tear fuch ground firft, before it is harrowed ; for in fuch
cafes the harrows do but fcratch the back of the furrows, and when that
loofe earth is waflied away^, or fettled, the back of the furrows will appear
intire and hard, I was plainly convinced of this in fowing peas under fur-
row in the two former years, but efpecially in fowing them fo this year,
17 1 6. From hence it is obvious, great care ought to be taken in well har-
rowing the ground, and that they, who go with the. harrows, ought to be;

welli

54- PLOUGHING.

Avell over-looked. It alfo feems to me, if ground ploughs rough, fo that It
may require much harrowing, and yet is fo heavy as to be in danger of tread-
ing, the belT: way is to drag it once or twice firft before it is harrowed, be-
caufe one turn of the drags will tear fuch ground more than three turns of
the harrows j and it flands to reafon the horfes need go over it fo much the
feldomer, and fo the treading will be the lefs j and it is to be noted farther,
that, if a diy feafon falls out, and fuch peas, fo fowed under furrows, are
not harrowed well, they will have the more difficult taflc to get through.
Of winter- §. 24. If a ground be run to a fword, or run out of the fown grafs, and fit

fallo

haik ground ^° ^^ ploughed up, in cafe the grete, or mold, is but fliallow, and the chalk
that is run to near the top, I think it is good hufbandry to give fuch a ground, for wheat,
a fword. ^ winter-fallow ; for then you can take a leifure-tlme for it; and be fure to
take a time when the ground fliall be moid, wherein you may go as fliallow
as you pleafe, and then may ftir it to your own mind in fummer ; whereas,
if you fallow fuch a ground in fummer, and the feafon be dry, as it ought
to be, it is odds but you turn up the chalk j for if the ground be dry, there is
a loofe fpungy coat between the firft coat and the chalk, which, being hol-
low, will fuck in the plough, fo that you cannot help ploughing up the
chalk ; and this method I believe will compenfate very well for the lofs of
the grafs.
Mannerof the ^^ 35. A field of mine was very well dunged for wheat the fummer 1713,
in wimer7 and bore a good crop of wheat ; in fpring 17 14, I fowed it to barley, hav-
fallowing for ing had a good feafon for winter-fallowing, as alfo a good dry feafon at fpring
demned'^°" for ploughing and fowing it, and a hot fummer, and the barley came up
well J yet I do not believe I had two quarters of barley on an acre.— This
ground is a flrong clay-ground, and it lies afiope north-eaft. — I am thoroughly
fatisfied by experience, that the way of the hill-country-hufbandry of plough-
ing and fowing fuch ground four years together, that is, to four crops ; the
firft of which is wheat, and the other three fpring-corn, for which laft three
they winter-fallow only ; I am, I fay, fatisfied this cannot be good hufban-
dry for fuch ground ; for the firft fummer-fallow it receives for wheat,
whereby it is warmed, mellowed, and fweetened, can by no means qualify
the coldnefs, heavinefs, and fournefs it receives the three years afterwards
by the three winter-fallowings for fpring-corn ; nor can, I conceive, any
other than the aforefaid reafon be given, why fuch land fhould produce but
two quarters of barley per acre, which in goodnefs and flrength was fuffi-
cient to bear four quarters. — Therefore fuch ground fhould after the wheat-
crop receive one or two fummer-fallows every other year for fpring-corn,
before it will be in right temper to receive a winter-fallow for a barley-crop,
in order to lay it down for grafs-feeds.
S'jmmer- §-26. To plough-in a good fword of grafs by a fummer-fallowing feems

ferreTtowiX' to be of much greater confequence to the improvement of the land than the
ter-fallowiug. doing it in winter; for the winter is too cold to ferment it, or to raife and fix
thofe bodies of fait thereby, which lie in thofe graffes ; it being eafy to be
■conceived that the moldinefs, and finnowynefs of the grafs io ploughed-in

ia

PLOUGHING. ^^

in fummer muft be much greater than in the winter ; for which reafon cow-
dung and horfe-dung, made in the fields by the cattle's foiling, falling fo thin,
is not of that confequence fome are apt to think, becaufe it never ferments,
nor heats.

There is a great nitre and fait in roots, as appears by Grew, wherefore the
ploughing-in broad clover-roots, which are fo big and thick in the ground,
before they are dead, by a Midfummer-fallow, to precipitate their rotting or
fermenting, whereby their falts are fixed, is of great confequence ; whereas
by the infenfible decay of the root by canker it is fo Icifurely done that it has
not fermentation enough to raife a good body of falts.

When there is a grafly turf oh ground it is obferved to bear much the befl
corn ; the reafon of which feems to be, becaufe the grafs and roots turned
down under furrow do heat, and thereby raife a great quantity of vegetable
falts ; for this reafon it was I had fo great a crop of broad clover by fummer-
fallowing its aftermafs, and do look upon it, if a ground has a grafly turf on
it, and not too rank or poor for barley,, it is beft to fummer-fallow it for
barley; then to give a winter-fallow for oats, and fow them on the back j
becaufe in the winter-fallow, tho' the grafs rots, yet it does not fo heat, for
want of fun, as to raife from it's rotting fuch a quantity of falts.

§. 27. To plough a grafly ground in winter, when the fnow lies on the 0/ ploughmg
ground, or when it is a wet feafon, is to bring up the weeds; for the fword g''°"nd 'hat
of the ground being turned in when wet, lies there fogging, and grows chill, winter,
keeping wet all the winter, nor will it eaiily dry.

Farmer Biggs ploughed up a fallow for peas, being a lay-ground with a
fword ; he faid, he would fallow it as fliallow as poflible, which was very
judicioufly confidered ; for undoubtedly, if a ground be run to fword, and is
to be ploughed againil the winter, the fliallower it is turned up the more
power the frofts will have over the roots of the grafs, in rotting them ; and
there is no doubt, if the plough flTcj.'l go deeper at fovving-time, but that the
freflier earth underneath will turn v.p mellow.

^. 2'^. A lay-o-round havino; been fown to broad clover-erafs two years, OffalIo'.v,ng-
about the 8th of November we began to fallow it; and the 1 8th, when they ii^^^l, i^^j^
had fallowed all (zve thehead-lar.ds, my bailiff faid to me, that he believed 'twas
befl; not to fallow the hei^d-lands, for, being flrong land and grafly, they would
at fovving-time turn back again whole, which appeared very reafonable to me ;
fo they were left unploughed. — From hence I do infer, that when grounds
are large that are to be fallowed, and are fl:rong lay-ground, it is good to
plough round the head-lands at firfl: hand of the year, though the plough
fhould be carried out again for a month or two ; there will be time thereby
given for the head-lands to rot, that they may turn up mellow when they are
Itirred again. Nor will the trampling on them when the ground is fal-
lowed dry, do any harm, but good; this will make the head-lands fweet, and
bear a good bodied corn.

§.29. I was fenfible by experience this year (anno 17 14) that, if ftrong •''■utumr-fai.
clay-ground have two earths given it to wheat, and after the wheaten crop is g°rafly^<^rou"d. :

taken ■

56 PLOUGHING.

taken off, it lies the next fummer to grafs, and is ploughed up at autumn,
tho' fuch ground be run to a thick matted fword, yet it will turn up rotten
and mellow at plough-fhear, fo as to flir well in the thwarting at Spring.

Of the METHOD of Ploughing for different forts of CORN.

ofpioughmg §• 30- They find by experience in the vale, that it is beft to fow wet clay-
wet coidland land on one earth, for thereby the corn lies dry, whereas if they gave it two
to one earth. ^^ three earths, and wet came, it would lie poachy, and cold, and thereby
the corn would be chilled.

if lands are to be ploughed up and fowed to one earth, which have lain
fix or feven years to lain or grafs, fuch ground will turn up with a much
•evener furrow, and a great deal more may be ploughed in a day, in cafe you
plough up the ground the fame way the furrow went laft.

I was afking the farmer who rented fome lands of me, which I have

lately taken into hand, how it came to pafs, that a certain parcel of ground,

which I had fowed to rye-grafs, run fo much to erfhes, it feeming, when the

corn was down, almofl choaked up with rowety grafs. He replied, that thofe

grounds had not been fown for three or four years laft paft but to oats, which

having but one earth, and ftiff land, the fword of the grafs and the root had

not been killed, whereas, had it been fowed to barley, it would have been in

as good tilt as any other land.

Why plough- §. 2 1. It is plain why ploughing of poor land brings weeds j not only on

ing poor land account that the coulter in lay-ploughing cuts the roots of the weeds in many

™^^ ^ ' pieces, all which grow, but alfo forafmuch as thofe roots will emit ftronger

Ihoots than the corn can, which proceeds only from feed ; and confequently,

the weeds muft over-top, and be more luxuriant than the corn.

Of ploughing §. 32. Notwithftanding it was very white ground, I ploughed three earths,

white land to ^^^ ^]^ fowed French grafs and barley in it : I had the eveneft and befl crop,

one earth. ,.,. , ,° -ixrii ji-

I believe, that ground ever carried. — I fowed the ground when it was as wet
as the plough could well go, which I believe is beft for white mortar-
earth-ground, which is not on a clay. — The reafon why farmers fow white
land on one earth, I judge to be from their great inclination to fave charges,
white earth being more capable of bearing a crop in that manner, as being lefs
fubje(fl to weeds than clay-land. — The reafon again they offer in argument
for fo doing is, and from experience too, as they pretend, bccaufe they have
had worfe crops on two or three earths than on one. — The true reafon of
which is, becaufe they have never fowed fuch white land on two or three
earths by choice and forecaft, but by neceffity, that is, when they have been
negligent in taking their time for ploughing up fuch land, and have defer'd fo
doing too long, whereby it has worked rough ; then on force they have
ploughed it again, or poffibly the third time, to correct the firft error, and all
in vain, and fo have had bad crops ; whereas, had they defigned three earths
from the beginning, and ploughed the firft early, and afted uniformly in their
fecond and third earths, 1 believe, they would not have repented it.

It

PLOUGHING.

57

It is ufually obferved, that the white land in our hill-country, if ploughed
to two earths, and thereby made light, is very fubjedl to poppy, which we
call red-weed, but clay-lands are not fubjeft to it ; the reafon of which feems
to be this : the poppy-feed is an exceeding fmall feed, (Mr. Ray computes
many thoufands to lie in a pod) and for that reafon is eafily buried in clay-land,
and lefs able to ilioot it's feed-leaves through, becaufe the clay foon fettles and
binds ; but through white land, made light by ploughing, it's feed- leaves eafily
pafs : it is very likely therefore (the evil of red-weed being fo great) it may be
better to fow white land on one earth.

There are feveral forts of light or white chalky grounds in the hill-country,
which (when fowed to wheat) ought to be fowed on one earth, otherwife they
will be fubjecft to red-weed or other weeds ; fo that there feems a necelfity to
give fuch land but one earth, whenever it is fown ; for it will not bear being
torn to pieces, tho' it had lain many years to fword; fo care ought to be taken,
that fuch land does not lie down too many years to grafs, left it ftiould turn fo
fliff and tough, that drags will not tear up enough of the coat or mold to
cover the wheat, and fo it fuffer on the other hand by lying too fliallow, and
on too ftifF a ground. If fuch ground has lain fo long to grafs, as to be ftub-
born, there is a great hazard but it produces the lefs crop, efpecially if it be in
a gentleman's hands, whofe many avocations call him from home, and from
a due attendance in the field whilft fuch land is fowing, it being very likely
where much dragging is required, and labour to drefs the ground, that fer-
vants will be fparing in it, than which nothing can in fuch a cafe be more
prejudicial; and in all cafes, it fhould be moft the care of a gentleman,
efpecially for the reafon abovefaid, fo to contrive the ordering his ground
againft the fowing-feafon, that, if poflible, it fliould be in fo good temper,
and order to receive the feed, that it fhould not be in the power of the plough-
man to hurt him, unlefs he went wilfully fo to do. — Such ground Ibould be
fo nicked in ploughing up for wheat on one earth, as to turn it up when the
furrow is a little inclinable to break, or be rotteniib, efpecially when we may
hope it will do fo, and grow a little mellow by lying a while to fun and rain.

§.33. In a burn-beaked ground I fowed barley and French grafs the i8th, Of ploughing
19th, and 20th of March under furrow; the refidue of the month was very J.° °"^ ""•*
dry, and warm, but the month of April to the 20th, had every day dry, cold,
and churlifli winds, and the 17th, i8th, and 19th, there were hoar-frolls in
the morning. — On the 20th of this month I viewed my barley, and found
moft of it looked wan, and fome of it yellowifti by the cold winds and hoar-
frofts J but there happened in this ground to be a linchet ploughed up in the
winter, on which barley had been fown on one earth ; this barley, tho' the
ground was new, did very manifeftly complain, and was quite yellow, which
proceeded from it's lying fo fhallow, and from it's dilability to ftrikc roots in
the firmer ground of one earth's fowing. Barley fowed on one earth in other
places I obferved to be very yellow on the fame occafion ; I do therefore
infer, that barley fowed under furrow will better bear cold than that fowed
on one earth. Part of this white land, over which the flieep had often gone

I to

58

PLOUGHING,

to fold, did not In the leafl complain ; but the leaves kept broadly extended in
their full verdure j whereas the others gathered up together, or loft fomewhat
of their colour. The French grafs fowed in this ground all this while did not
in the leaft complain, or the feed-leaves abate of their verdure.

1 find not only Captain Hedges, but Mr. Wefton and others make fome ob-
jedlions to my over-fondnefs of fowing my barley always, and my whole crop
on one earth ; faying, that in hot fummers the ears will (hrink and want
nourifhment, by rcafdn the roots cannot ftrike a depth j but farmer Bache-
lour of Litchfield will by no means, allow this to be an objedlion, for he fays
the contrary of this is true, and that in the drieft and hotteil fummers his one-
earth-corn flourifhes and looks greener than his two-earth-corn. It nnift then
neceffarily be, that when Captain Hedges and Mr, Wefton, &c. made this
their obfervation, they ploughed their white land eidier too wet, or too late,
when they fowed their one-earth-corn, whereby the fxofts had not time to flat
it, and fliatter it to powder -, and fo the drags could not raife a grete to let the
corn in deep enough.

Farmer Biggs aflured me, that he had found by experience, that it was
much the beft way to fow barley on one earth, if it was poor white land ;
on fuch land he was weary of fowing on two earths, being fatisfied he had
thereby loft his crops.

In fowing corn, as oats or barley, to one earth, in the hill-country, I con-
;ceive thefe to be the proper rules, and which I do pradlife, viz. to plough a
narrow furrow (not a wide and broad one) that the winter frofts and rains
may have the more power to mellow and fhatter the furrows againft fpring,
whereby the ground will harrow the better, and the harrow tinings go in
the deeper. To this end, that the ground may harrow the better, I always
take a time of ploughing fuch ground not only early in the winter, but alfo
in a dry feafon j and I take care to fence ground fo ploughed, during the
winter, and till I fow it, from ftieep, left they, by treading it, efpecially in
the wet, ftiould tread down the ridge of the furrows, and make it mortar.
On ploughing §. ^4. I fee not why they, who fow wheat on one earth, iliould fow the
Tot^^heT^ earlier, as the cuftom is, unlefs on account that the drags cannot raife a deep
grete > and fo the corn niuft get an early root, left it fliould be too much ex-
pofed to the winter : but provided your ground be in very good heart, and
the earth mellow, that the drags may, when loaded, enter deep, I fee not
why fuch one-earth-corn may not be fowed at Michaelmas.

From the obfervation I have made thefe three weeks, on wheat now
^rowing (May, anno 17 12) I pafs my judgment, that wheat, if fowed fea-
fonably, i. e. between the 6th and 20th of September, when fowed on two
earths, or on the fecond ploughing, will carry a better colour about the be-
ginning of May than the wheat fov/n on one earth ; for the latter, tho' it
might feem much the more flouriftiing, and of as deep a colour during the
winter, till towards May ; yet the ground fowed to one earth lying clofer
and harder than the other, the wheat could not move, nor ftrike fo good
roots as that fowed on two earths would do ; when the fpring began to grow

dry

PLOUGHING.

59

dry and hot, it would give off it's fupport to the corn ; which will then be
apt to turn to a bright and paler colour, and the weaker tillows and branches,
which made a fhow in the winter, will not come on, but ftarve ; whereas
the wheat fowed on two earths will, when hot weather comes, flourlfli
with a deep green, and fulfil all it's branches by nourifliing them, it having
a depth of mold, and mellownefs in it to maintain the roots. From hence it
appears how neceffary it is to plough deep, where the ftaple of the ground
will allow it, and to lay the feed into a good depth of mold well prepared
and fhattered by being broke with the plough.

However white light lands, as elfewhere obferved, are better fown on one
earth ; nor can a great crop be all fown in ftrong land, and on two earths, in
cold hill-countries, becaufe it cannot be in that manner fown time enough,
and the negledl of that would be a worfe evil than fowing on one earth, —
I muft alfo obferve, that my land, which is more brafliy and full of fmall
ftones, andoflefs depth of mold, though better fupported witli pot-dung
than the parts, which were only folded, brought lefs wheat than the
other } for which no other reafon can be affigned, but that the plough
could not turn up a furrow of that depth as in the other part, and confe-
quently the corn fuffered by the weather in the fummer-months, when it
grew dry. — If it be objedled to this obfervation, that barley fown on one
earth is generally faid to bear the hot fummers better than that on two earths,
it muft be replied, that, when barley is fpoken of in fuch a manner, it mufh
be intended of barley fowed on white land, or fuch light ground as would
lie too hollow, if fowed on two earths : of fuch ground it is true alfo, that
wheat fowed on one earth will endure the fummer better than that fowed on
two.

§. 35. It is a common prad:ice, in our hill-country, for farmers, the year Of ploughing
after they have fowed light white land to wheat on one earth, to turn it up for^Urfey sf-
again early the next year, i. e. in October or November, to fo.w barley again ter wheat in
on the back, or on one earth ; and this they do, becaufe fuch land is poor, ^^^ hiU-coun-
and will not anfwer the expences of two or three earths j and it is a queftion
whether lefs than three earths would moft times make fuch ground knot fine;
becaufe fuch white land in our country, being fowed the year before to wheat
on one earth, is fubjeft, efpecially if the fummer prove wet, to abundance
more rowet and grafs than our cold clay-lands fo fowed would be ; confe-
quently it would be difficult to deflroy it, and to make the couch tear out at
the third earth, tho' one ploughed it in early; therefore they endeavour to
feed the rowet with a great ftock of cattle as foon as the wheat is off; notwith-
ftanding v/hich, you will, if you have a good quantity of it, have a hard tafk
to get it eat clofe time enough for your plough to enter. — ] do not approve of
this hufbandry of fowing fuch land the next year after wheat, as abovefaid,
on one earth to barley, for the reafon following, viz. fuch land is com-
monly of a iliallov/ grete or flaple, and therefore muft be ploughed up {hal-
low, and the rowet, which is turned underneath fuch a furrow, will not rot
by fpring, but the roots will mat and hold the earth together, notwithftand-
ing the frofts may have confiderablv contributed to the tearing it to pieces ; —

'l 2 fo

6o PLOUGHING.

fo that, what with the Ihallow furrow you was obliged to plough, and the
clofenels of the earth, your drags and harrows will not at fpring be able to
get deep enough to give the barley a deep, and an eafy bed, and confequently
the barley mufl: ftarve in fummer. — I do therefore rather recommend fuch
land to be fowed to oats, in the fame manner as you would do to barley :
oats being fowed a mofith earlier, will have eftablifhed a root, and put forth
tillows before they are pinched with hot weather, and will better endure to
lie fliallow than barley would do.
Ofoneearth §. 26. It ought lo be confidercd, if we fuffer poor fhallow ground to run
to wneat. ^^^ ^£ ^jjj.^ ^^ letting it run too long to grafs, it will, if ploughed in fummer,
be apt to fpalt up below it's ftaple ; and if, to avoid that, you plough it up in
winter, when it is moift, and w"ill plough fliallow, in order to fow it to wheat
on two earths, poor fliallow ground will bear more weeds and lefs corn being
fown on two earths th.tn on one. — The beft way therefore is always to plough
up fuch land before it be run to too ftrong a fword ; that you may turn it up
to a fliallow furrow, and be fecure of it's working and tearing mellow under
the drags at feed-time, when you fow it to wheat.

Farmer Biggs and his fon, both aflurcd me, that though white land did well
with wheat on one earth, yet that they had always found it do better with
two ; but, faid they, on about an acre or more of white land, to which this
year (1702) we gave two earths, the wheat lies with it's roots out of the
ground; there being but a little fibre or two at moft that holds the root, and
can feed it, fo that it can cany no ear ; for it is impoffible it fliould have a full
grained corn, where there is fo little conveyance of nourifliment to it.— I
afked farmer Biggs how that part of the white land fowed on two earths came
to be fo much worfe than the reft. He faid, becaufe the land was fide-long,
and had a falling both ways, fo that when at fowing-time they ploughed it up
and down, one land having another falling againft it, every other furrow, fal-
ling with the fide-land and not againft it, filled up without a feam, fo that,
the land working fine, the corn could not be buried.— The beft way is, faid
be, to fow white land on two earths, and to fow the laft under furrow.

But I have fince found by experience, that, tho' two or three earths may
be beft for wheat on ftrong red clay-ground, (red-weed not being fo apt to
grow in that, tho' made never fo fine) yet that either two or three earths is
very improper for white light ground, or half red earth half white j for the
finer fuch ground is made it is fo much the more fubje<ft to red-weed, or pop-
pies, efpecially if the fummer prove cold and rainy, as in 171 5.

The farmers of our hill-country fay, they have found by experience, that
it is beft, when they fow wheat on one earth, which is always done early, to
fow old wheat rather than new ; becaufe the old wheat is not fo forward, and
apt to run away to a graffy head, nor to be (o proud as the new, which are
faults at the forehand of the year. — This feems reafonable to me.
Of giving two K ^j. Farmer Lake advifed me by all means to give two earths to my peas :
earths 10 peas, j^^j-^.^j^ if my land was like his, or the land about them, he was fure 1 ihiould
not often have a good crop on one earth. — Quaere about this.— -Farmer Biggs
fays, if it be lay-land, it will not come in tilt at two earths, but will turn up

whole,

PLOUGHING. 6i

whole, and, if it bebarley or oat-ftubble, it will not need it ; but he allows,
it may be good pradlice as the ground may work, for fometimes fach ftubble-
land may not work kindly under two earths. Farmer Elton afterwards told
me what Biggs faid was true, but it was upon land lying ftill a year or two
that two earths was fuch good hulbandry, and in that cafe it would come to
tilt at two earths.

§. 38. If you give fome of your wheaten lands three earths, ifftrong clay, Three earths
it will turn much to advantage, but then fuch land muft, if run to a fword, '°'*''°"S'*»<J-
be fallowed in winter; otherwife the grafs will not rot foon enough to be
ftirred : in fuch cafe you need not doubt of being able to flir fuch fallows in
the dried: time, when you cannot get the full into the gralTy grounds you
would fallow : by this means you will be able to cut out work for the mofl
precious time of the fummer, when farmers lie by, becaufe they cannot
eafily plough by reafon of the hardnefs of the ground.

§. 39. The advantage of giving three earths to fummer-corn is in this very Advantage of
manifeft, viz. that in a dry fpring and fummer, in any part of a ground that [o7ummer-''
works rough, for want of making the earth fine by fo much ploughing, in com.
that part the corn will come up edge-grown, and later than the reft of the
fame ground where it worked finer, and apf>arently thinner in ftraw, and
fhorter in ear, as was vifible anno 1704 in moft grounds, which might have
been prevented by giving three earths ; — for if the corn in ground working
rough comes up the later, it is confequently the backwarder, which is a great
difadvantage in our cold hill-country, where it is of the utmoft confequence
to have our corn early ripe.

§.40. In the inclofures in Leicefterfhire, where the land is frefli, the CuHom in
way is to have four fuccelTive crops without either dunging or folding; and ^^"^f ^^g''^^'
then to lay down to grafs, laying pot-dung on the laft ftubble: viz. they take worm there,
three crops of barley and one of wheat ; they harrow always on one earth ;
and plough not up for barley till January or February. — Becaufe, as I fup-
pofe, the land being deep, would be apt to run to weeds, on longer reft,
before feed-time. — In thefe inclofures they never rake a wheaten crop firft :
it feems in frerti broken-up ground both the wheaten and the barley crops
are fubjecl to be eaten by a worm, as the wheat is in the Ifle of Wight : to
prevent which Mr. Clerk eats the grafs as clofe as he can, for that being turned
in, as he thinks, occafions the worm.

§.41. The workmen that were flinging out dung for me faid, I might Of ftirring
ftir my land in the laft ftirring three weeks or a month before I flung in '"7 ^"^^^fo^
v/heat, and this was a frequent practice. 1 talked with an old experienced wheat.
farmer about it, but he feemed by no means to allow it for poor land that
had been often ploughed ; for it would, by giving it it's laft ftirring fo early
in the year, be apt to run abundantly to weeds ; yet, faid he, for frefli or
lay-land it may do very well.

§.42. I cblerve many farmers fcrupple ftirring their ground before feed-tiine Of llirring
(the fuccefs whereof neverthelefs they dcvibt of without it) either out of '^"''•
covetoufnefs, or a fancy of not having leifure to do it then, tho' at fuch times

teams

62

PLOUGHING.

Of (Iriking
furrows after
harrowing
wheat.

teams may be hired ; and yet at feed-time, when time is ten times more pre-
cious, they fhall bellow the fame time in harrowing it, by reafon of it's
roughnef?, and, after all, the ground fhall not work, fo well, nor lie down
fo fine as it ought to do.

If you propofe to fow the ground you fold for barley the laft in the fea-
fon, have a regard to the ftirring it, efpecially if it be a ground any wife in-
clinable to gra{s, for it is not to be fuppofed but the winter folding has efta-
bhlbed fuch a root of grafs, by inriching it, as is not to be overcome by
ploughing up the ground, after being fallowed fo late as the latter end of April
cr May, by which time the grafs mult have gained a good root, which will
not ealily be torn afunder from the earth by harrows, and confequently will
be apt to grow, and the ground not to work fine.

If you fummer-fallow for bariey, it is bell to ftir about two months before
feed-time, to kill the roots of the green weeds that are come up, by turning
them up to the frofts, and burying their leaves and ftalks ; befides fuch
around, being fo thoroughly mellowed by the fummer-fallow, is fo feparated
in it's parts, that it will not eafily fall clofe and heavy before feed-time, tho'
ftiiTcd two months before. — But if you have winter-fallowed for barley, and
intend to ftir, if the ground be ftill ftiff, you lliould ftir the earlier to mellow
it with the frofts ; but if the ground be pretty fr)'able before ftirring, the
later you ftir it the better, for then it will break the fmaller at feed-time,
having the lefs time to fettle ; and true it is, with the antients, that land can-
not be too fine for barley.

If ground, by fpring-ftirring and fummer-fallowing, be made curioufly
mellow for barley at feed-time, tho' it will wet fooner than barley-land that
has had but one fallow, fo it will alio dry vaftly fooner ; and if it be trampled
on wet by the horfes, yet the ground being fo fine and mellow, the corn
will come through ; whereas when ground works rough and wet, the un-
broken clods bind and cover in the wet, and keep the corn cold and wet all
the fummer, nor can it come through, but lies cold all the fummer ; be-
fides, to work ground rough and dry at feed-time, tho' by much harrowing
it may be made fine at top, yet it is to be confidered, the corn has not a
mellow loft bed, much of the land being buried in whole clods, as has been
obferved by the antient writers on hulbandry.

A neighbouring hufbandman carried me into his wheat, and lliewed me
three or four lands that he had ftirred, whereas to the reft he had given but
two earths : the wheat he had ftirred was as good again as the other, both
in colour and thicknefs ; the reafon why ftirring might be fo ferviceable was,
that, when two earths only are given, the earth turned up to the fun in the
firft fallow, and thereby mellowed and impregnated, is for the moft part
turned down and buried underneath the corn that is fowed at the fecond
ploughing, but on the third earth, it- is again turned up to the furface where-
on the corn is fown.

§, 43. The defign of ftriking furrows after harrowing the wheaten land,
is to ftrike the corn out of the furrows, wherein the corn generally dwindles,

as

PLOUGHING. fi.

as being chilled ; to do this, when the fold is after to go over it, is needlefs
becaufe the fheep will tread it in again ; but after the fold has run over it it
may be done.

For want of drawing a furrow after harrowing in of wheat the reapers at
harveft are at a lofs how to meafure, and for a guide to work by.

§. 44. Wet clay-grounds, that Ue wet and foggy all the winter, will chop Of trenching
and grow ftarkey all the fummer, fo that they will have peculiar infirmities ^^^^'°'^'^*^"
in all feafons : in my opinion, abundance of, and very thick trenching of
fuch lands will be a much cheaper, and more efFecflual improvement of
them, than dunging ; but indeed no improvement can have effed before they
are laid dry.

Of the TILLAGE of different LANDS.

§• 45- * ^^^- Hillman, a notable farmer at Thruxton, was againft my pick- Of ploughing
ing up of ftones, and faid, it was certain ground would fall finer under the i!°7. '""^•
plough which had mofl: ftones. To which I anfwered, that it was tme, ^. V^' ^' ^^'
lay-ground, or grafly ground, would break better on the firft ploughing (at Of picking up
leaft if the ground was wet) the fuller it was of ftones ; for fuch ground Aru;ents
cannot fo eafily cling, nor bind when ploughed up, becaufe of the great agamit it an-
number of ftones ; but ground, that has no ftones, will be made to work as '^'''"^'^■
fine at three earths, as the ground that hath ftones, and will plough with a
much narrower and finer furrow ftanding upright and on edo-e than the
ftony ground will do, the furrow whereof muft be carried broad, or clfe the
tumbling of the ftones will fill it up.

§. 46. Quinteny fays, to dry earths I allow a large culture or tillage at the Different Til-
entrance of winter, and the like as foon as it is part, that the fnows and '''?^ °'^.^''y
rains of the winter and fpring may eafily fink into the ground ; but to ftroncr garlhT"*
and moift earths I allow but fmall tillage in Oftober, only to remove the
weeds, and ftay to give them a large one at the end of April, or beginning-
of May, when the fruit is perfeftly knit, and the great moifture is over.

§. 47. If ground be of a hufky, wood-feary nature, in the parts of which of ploughing
is not a fit continuity, in fuch earth there is a porous adhefion, throuo-h li^fl-.>'. loofe
which both cold winds, and the fun may penetrate, and in which, being *^""-
of a fpungy nature, as light as it feems to be, the water will lie and chill
the ground, as it does alfo in heathy grounds ; to cure this evil, and bring it
to a more folid body, the more you plough it the clofer it will lie to the roots
of the corn, and become more folid, being alfo rolled, or rather trod with
Iheep ; for if in clay-land, notwithftanding the great room a poft takes in a
poft-hole, the fame earth will with eafe be rammed into the fame hole again
with the poft, and even more if need were, becaufe in the digging it up^'the
earth is broken into minuter parts, how much more is the hufky land above
mentioned fo broken by ploughing ; it being much more porous, and ca-
pable of being forced into a comparer and clofer body in it's furface the more
it is broken by the plough, and then trod with fheep, or rolled j whereas-

tlie

64 PLOUGHING.

the roller, or fheep, if it be fowed on one earth, will not be able to com-
prefs the clods, nor fqueeze the earth clofe in the hollows.

Of the MANNER of PLOUGHING.

Of ridging §.48. I obferved this year, 171 1, it having been a wet and cold fpring,

*" ■ that wherever in my clay-lands there was a little finking of the ground, on

thofe flats there was little barley, and that thin in body, the ground being
too wet for barley : from hence it feems to me, it would be very good huf-
bandry to ridge and round up all the grounds that are cold clay on our hill-
country, where the land is of depth to bear it ; for, as the delving parts
of the grounds are much too cold for barley, fo the very healthy and drieft
parts of cold clay would be the kindlier for barley, efpecially in fo cold a
country ; whereas throughout this hill-country we all plough the grounds
upon the flat, and thwart the furrows in ftirring. It feems alfo to me, that
this very good eftedl may proceed from fuch ridging up the lands, viz. that
the lands will on that account plough fo much the drier and mellower in
fallowing, and confequently will at feed-time, (by turning up dry in fallow-
ing) turn up dry and in powder ; whereas, when the lands in fallowing are
laid flat, they take in the wet, and lie wet all the winter, and when they
come to be ftirred at feed-time, they turn up too wet and cold for barley.
Ofploughing §. 49. There is a pradlice in hulbandry of giving the lafl ploughing to
juil before grounds fome time before fowing them ; which is, when ground is not in a
good for"'^' proper temper for flinging in the feed and harrowing ; this is done when perfons
ipring-corn. have a great deal to do, but, wanting a feafon, they would prepare their
grounds againfl: one may happen ; but this practice commonly meets with
very different events in wheat, or winter-corn, and in lenten or fpring-
corn } for winter-corn, when prudently done, it is very good hulbandry ;
but feldom fo, when pradtiled for fpring-corn, for the reafons following.
The reafon of doing it for wheat is, becaufe the feafon of the year being far
advanced for fowing wheat, and the land too dry to venture the fowing (for
wheat is feldom long hindered from fowing by wet) the hufbandman gives
the lafl: ploughing in order to fow wheat, that on the firfl; rain he may commit
the feed to the ground, and then harrow-in feveral acres in a day ; whereas
were he to plough for what he fows he could difpatch but little in a day : it
is apparent this pradlice may be very good hufl^andry ; for the ground in
this cafe is fuppofed to be ploughed very dry, and confequently a fine bed,
by breaking the ground with the plough, is not prepared for the growing of
the feeds of weeds j for no feeds of weeds can make advances to get the flart
of the corn till rain comes, and then the wheat will be fowed, and be able to
fet forth as forward as the weeds ; and hereby, when we are behindhand in
fowing our crop of wheat, much time is gained ; which is a great advantage
to a crop of wheat ; but in the other cafe, ploughing beforehand for barley, or
fpring-corn, in order to fow it when a feafon comes, or the ground is in
temper, mull in all likelihood be improper hulbandry ; becaufe, generally

fpeaking.

PLOUGHING. 65

fpeaking, we niuft in fuch cafe be fuppofed to plough beforehand, becaufe
the ground was too wet or too moift for fowing barley, and then, a bed being
prepared, and the fpring and warm time of the year being advanced, the
feeds of weeds will grow, if the ground were ploughed never fo dry, yet if a
glut of rain fhould come, which will hinder you from fowing, it vvill never-
thelefs make the weeds grow,

§. 50. Mr. Edwards afked farmer Biggs, if he had not laid his ground too Of hying the
flat. Note, he had fown it to wheat. — Farmer Biggs replied, confidering ^""°.'''^^^'''»
what fort of ground it was, it could not be too flat, it being a lightifh fort of^^!''^'^°^'
ground. — I afked, whether it was poflible to lay the wheaten ground too flat
in the hill-country of Hampfhire ; farmer Biggs replied, if it was clay-cold-
land, they looked on it befl: to round up the furrows a Httle, — and fo faid
Mr. Edwards.

Mr. Garnam, of Prior's-court, Berks, was alfo of opinion, that, if ground
was any ways wet and cold, laying it a little round for wheat not only fa-
voured the corn in laying it the healthier in the winter, but alfo, when the
fpring carne, by lying healthier it would lie fo much the warmer, and {hoot
avyay, tho' the fpring fhould prove wet and cold, and thereby avoid the
blights the better ; for laying corn dry forwards it as much as fowing early.

It is the heat and warmth of the earth, occafioned by the fun and dry
weather, that opens, loofens, and refines the vegetative parts, and caufes them
to breath up in fl:eams into the plants ; nor does the earth want moifture for
fuch a purpofe, provided it hath jufl: enough for a vehicle fufficient to convey
thofe corpufcles ; therefore all cold rains, or rains in cold weather, or wet
fogging in the earth, are great enemies to that vegetative power, and do chill,
check, and lock up (infl:ead of loofening) thofe corpufcles from afcending up
into plants, to the augmenting their bulks ; from hence it may be colleded,
how reafonable it is to lay the furrows of wheaten clay-lands up round, tho'
they are in the hill-country ; but, if they fliould lie at all flat, yet fo to con-
trive that they may not lie wet, longer than needs mufl: be, under the cold
winter or fpring rains.

Lands being made very fine for wheat ought to be fowed the later ; be-
caufe, if early fowed, many feeds of weeds, more tender than wheat, and
too tender to grow at the latter end of September, will grow at the beginning
of that month ; and the bed of earth you have made fo fine and fit for corn,
will, you muft conceive, be alfo fitter to bring up the feeds of weeds j and
the later you fow your wheat, if upon ftrong land efpecially, the more need
is there to lay up your lands fomewhat round, tho' the clay be of a healthy
dry nature ; for the drier the land lies the faflier the corn will come away,
and keep growing the better during the whole winter, it lying the warmer
for lying dry ; whereas cold and wet are certain enemies to vegetation.

§.51. Mr. Edwards was faying to me, that it was a great error to turn up Of l^rge fur-
too large a furrow, and that ploughmen, that they might be thought to have '°'^''
done a good day's work, were very apt to do fo, whereas it was more profit
to turn up as narrow a furrow as they could, tho' lefs land were ploughed.—

K Of

66 PLOUGHING.

Of this I fpoke afterwards to farmer Biggs ; he faid, it was truej the fmallcr
the furrow the better j but in lay-land, if ftiff, it would not turn up fmall,
but ftand. an end, if the ploughman endeavoured to turn it up fmall ; but, faid
he, in oat-ftubble, or barley-ltubble, that work light, the fmaller the furrow
the better.

Mr. Edwards having told me, that it was a great fault in ploughmen, out
of greedinefs to feem to have done much, to turn up large furrows at feed-
time, and it feeming good reafon to me, becaufe, the more and narrower the
furrows the more the corn, the corn coming up for the mofl part, in the
furrows. — I afked alfo Thomas Elton about it, a very underftanding huf-
bandman, and he faid, he could never for his part fee the fenfe of fallowing,
and taking pains all the year, to lofe a third or fourth part of one's crop at
laft by a large furrow. — I aflced him then, what furrow was beil in fallow-
ing ; he faid, if ground worked fine, a large furrow would do well, and turn
up fmall enough at it's fecond earth ; but, faid he, if it fallows up heavy and
rough, and be turned up in a large furrow, it will not be brought to be fine
by feed-time ; therefore fuch land ought to be fallowed with a fmall furrow.

Quaere, If the narrower the furrow in fallowing of ftubble ground would
not be the better for barley, as well as in the laft ploughing in fowing-time ?
becaufe the narrower the furrows the more power the frofls and dry weather
would have over them, and the more upright the more hollow they ftand ;.
whereas the broader the flatter, and more apt to receive the wet, and the
more the furrow holds in breadth the lefs does it break. I know in whole
land, that is graffy, it is otherwife, for, if fuch land be defigned for a fallow,
unlefs one furrow flap over the other, the grafs will live between the fur-
rows, and not rot, and if fuch land is to be fowed on one earth, if the fur-
rows lie upright, the corn mufl fall between.

I ordered my head-ploughman to fallow for barley in a field, which being
proper to be ploughed the fame way again, as I fallowed it, I thought it
might not plough fo fine at fowing it, as if I had thwarted it j fo I gave him
a caution, not to fallow it rough, but to turn up a little furrow. — But he
fa-id, a large furrow would be befl:, becaufe that will be fplit or divided in
feed-time, but if he ploughed a fine furrow now, and ploughed the fame way
at feed-time, a narrow furrow could not be fpUt in the middle, but turn
back again whole.

I was fowing barley on wheaten-fallow, and, as you plough up-hill and
down, the plough alfo goes along-fide part of the hill ; as I was in the field
obferving this ploughing, my bailiff faid, the plough going on the fide-long
could not carry fo narrow a furrow as otherwife it might, for, if they fliould
go to plough a very narrow furrow, they could not hold the plough in, 'but
the hill-fide would be often cafting it out ; on the other hand, when the
plough turns, and the broad board goes againft the fide of it, it is as hard
to keep a narrow furrow, the hill being apf to fling the plough off.

Of

PLOUGHING. (i^

Of PLOUGHING with HORSES or OXEN.

§. 52. My carter fays, that wherever one ploughs ftiff land, or lay-land, Stlffland
or hilly land, it is cheaper to maintain fix horfes, and drive them in the P'°"§"'''' . ,
plough, than four ; for, fays he, four cannot be fuppofed at moft to plough fix iio'der'
above an acre in a winter's day, and fix will go away fo faft with it (it being 'han four.
fo much eafier to them) as to plough near an acre and half per day ; and
then befides the horfes need not that proportion of oats, their labour being
eafy. A farmer ftood by and faid, he believed the fame ; if fo, the two
horfes will well pay for their keeping.

I fummer-fallowed for barley, and hired a farmer to fallow with four
horfes, and I fallowed myfelf with other four ; but the feafon being very
dry, and the ground having laid two years to broad clover, and being fiiony
withal, I found they made but a flow riddance, infomuch that I believe, a
plough and fix horfes would have ploughed as much as thofe two ploughs ;
and befides, they, by being weak, were forced to plough the ground fcrag-
ling, inafmuch as the ploughman was forced to wriggle with the plough,
where the full flopped at any ftones, to help the weaknefs of the horfes, by
means of which we could not hold a fleady and even furrow neither in breadth
nor depth ; and as his plough did confequently often jump out of ground, fo
he was at a great deal of pains and care to get it in again ; whereas a plough
with fix horfes goes through thick and thin, and will carry an even furrow by
flinging and forcing up all fl:ones in it's way ; fo note, againfl: the next time,
in like cafe, the advantage of ploughing with fix horfes.

§. 53. One advantage in a team of oxen is, that one of the men who go Advantage of
with them may go about other bufinefs when ploughing hours are over, for®"*""
one man is abundantly fufficient to look after fix oxen.

Mr. Baily of Wiltfliire very ftrongly perfuades me to keep a plough of oxen
together with my horfe-plough : he confeffes an ox-team cannot go to
market, in a country where horfe-ploughs are kept, becaufe of the ruts they
muft tread into, but for carrying out dung into the fields, ploughing, and
harvefting, they will do as well as horfes. He fays the flioeing of an ox
round, comes to 16 d. — but if the inner hoofs behind are not fliod, (which
in our country they need not, not going on the roads with them) four oxen
in fhoeing are but the price of three. He fays they will endure eight hours
ploughing in the day, in winter, with flraw only, till towards Lady-day,
and then they muft have hay j and if they are kept up, they will go as faft:
as a horfe-plough. And he fays, in the very winter they may be turned out
into the backfide to flraw after their day's work, and will not take cold ; but
I believe in our country fuch ufage would be too cold : Mr. Bifly was pre-
fent, and agreed to all this, — and both of them held, that, if fatting oxen
flailed were over-bound in their bodies, which by being kept hot they might
be apt to be, they muft: be turned out to the air, for, whilfl bound, they
will not thrive.

K 2 An

68 ^ HARROWING.

An advantage of ploughing with oxen is, that you fummer- fallow the
ftrongefl lands with them in the dryeft feafon (their chains being ftrong) by
making a plough of ten oxen, and adding a ploughman the more to hold
down the plough; whereas, if at fuch time you make a plough of eight
horfes, they will not carry fo true a furrow, and will break their harnefs.

HARROWING.

Ofthe farri- R. 1 . nT^ H E Romans, after the feveral fallowings before mentioned, fowed
tionofthean- J^ their grain, and, if they found occafion, harrowed it, and then,

as it feems to me, turned it under furrow, tho' I do not remember that any of
their writers fpeak particularly of fowing under furrow, or on one earth ; I
think they are filent in thefe matters. When this was done, and the corn
was come up, they proceeded to another operation, which they called far-
rition, a kind of harrowing or raking with * wooden or iron rakes, for they
are both either mentioned or intimated by Columella. — "^ This farriticn was
performed in dry burning lands before the winter came on, and then they
covered the blade intirely by raking the new earth over it, taking however
what care they could not to wound or mangle the roots.— This, they thought,
protected it from the cold, gave it frefh nourifliment, afTifted it in it's growth ',
and made the roots tillow and fpread. — When the rigor of the winter was
over (in January, according toPalladius, and in February according to Pliny,
and in dry but not frofty weather) they raked it a fecond time, in a llighter
manner, or a different way; — * But in cold wet land they ufed only the
fpring farrition, raking the earth fo as not to bury the blade, left the young
fuckers or tillows (hould be thereby deftroyed.— * The great ufe of this
later farrition was thought to lie in it's loofening the ground which had been
bound up by the winter's frofts, and thereby giving an eafier admiffion to the
rays of the fun. — They made it a rule however, let the feafon be never fo
favourable, not to ufe this hufbandry ', till the corn was grown to that
height as to equal the tops of the furrows.— Wheat was thus harrowed when
it began to have four leaves, barley when it had five, bean?, and the reft of
the leguminous kind, when they were four fingers high. — The earlier farri-
tion

' Lio-neis raftris farrlendus. Coliim. de medica. — Ferro fucclfa emoritur. Id. de lupino.

'' In aaris ficcis et apricis, fimul ac primam farritioncni pad queant fegetes, debere eas permoti
terra obrui, utfruticare poflint, quod ante hyemem fieri oportere, deinde poft hyemem iterari. — Sic
fieri debet ut .^e radices fatorum Isedantur.

' Utlatius fe humi frutex diffundat.

■* In locis frigidis et paluftribus pleruraque tranfa£la hyeme (arriri,nec adobrui, fed pjanafarritione

terram permoveri.— Cum pullulare dehit frumentum, putrclcit, fi adobrutum eft.— Columella

Qui farriat, caveat ne radices frumenti fuffodiat— -Plin. lib. l8.

' Sarculatio induratam hibemo rigore foli trillitiam laxat temporibus vernis, novofque foles ad-
mittit. Plln. lib. i8.

f Cumfata fulcos contexerint. Columella. (Sulcos squant fata.Virgi]ius.)Triticum farritur quatuor
foliorum, hordcum quinque. Palladius et Columella. — Faba et caetera legumina cum quatuor di-
gitis a terra extiterint. Columella.

HARROWING. 69

tlon would by no means be proper in our wet climate ; ^ and indeed this me-
thod of hulbandry, both of the earlier and later kind, tho' in frequent praftice
among the Romans, was thought by many to do rather harm than good, in-
afmuch as it often wounded the roots of the corn, or laid them bare to be
killed by the frofts. — When their farrition was finiflied, they pulled up by
hand the weeds that thefe harrows had left remaining, and this they termed
runcation.

§.2. Mr. Hillman being with me, when I ordered the fmith to make To fled the
tlnings to my drags, he perfuaded me to have the tinings fteeled, afTuring me ''"'"S^ of your
it would five times over-pay. — Qu. why not fteeled tlnings to harrows ? '^ '

§.3. It is fome difadvantage that oxen will not make any great difpatch in Of harrowing
harrowing, nor will the flow manner of their drawing the harrow about do ^'"^ °^*"*
great fervice, if the furrow tear not eafily ; for the harrows drawn flowly Aide
over the hard earth ; whereas, when drawn apace by horfes, they jump, and
whatever the tinings or teeth catch hold of they tear through ; but in mellow
rotten ground, where the harrows eafily enter, there you may make good
work with oxen.

§. 4. Sometimes in dragging-in of corn, efpecially by oxen, where the Caution a-
chain, which is faftened to the drags, may be taken up and ftiortened, as the ^"'"j '^^
ox-hind pleafes, if you have not an eye to your ox-hind, he will be apt to hinds in dra^-
fhorten his chain fo, that it (hall lift up a row or two of the hither or fore- '"S-
tinings, and fo but a fmall weight will lie on the hinder row of tinings,
whereby the drag will, for the moft part, be born up from the ground, fo
that the firft row, and it may be the fecond, fhall not enter the ground, nor
the hindmoft row go deep enough j and this the ox-hind will do, if not well
looked after, for the eafe of his cattle ; becaufe they draw abundantly lefs
weight, when the foremoft rows of tinings are lifted up from the ground,
than when the chain the oxen draw by is {o lengthened out, that every row of
tinings may lie plumb and flat on the ground, and have liberty thereby, not
being held up, of finking in the deeper ; whereby the corn is alfo laid the
deeper, and the ground torn the better : the ox-hind's ill pradlice in favour of
his cattle is ruinous to the mafter, and therefore fervants are to be well looked
after : an hundred pounds by this abufe may foon be loft in an hundred acres
of corn fowed on one earth.

§. 5. Where land has been fummer- fallowed for barley, two harrows will What nun ber
harrow it as well as four harrows will harrow land winter-fallowed for ?^i'^/''°"'l.

, beft for ilifF

wheat. land.

It is agreed, that three harrows will do more fervice than four going tv/o

and two, for the third harrow contributes much by it's weight in keeping

down the other two.

§. 6. If

s Qiiidam negant earn qulcqiiam proficere, quod frumenti radices farculo detcgantur; aiiqu.-s
etiain luccidantur, ac fi frigora inccffsrint poit farritionem, gelu frument«^erieccntur. SubjungeiiJa
eft deiiide farritioni riuicatio. ^^

70

HARROWING.

Manner of
harrowing
iliffland.

Caution
againft har-
rowing too
Ket.

§. 6. If furrows be ftarky and ftiff, fo that there may be danger of turn-
ing them back again, in thwarting them with the harrows, if one harrow
them not dire(flly athwart, but aflant, that danger will be prevented.

§. 7. It is to be obferved in harrowing, tho' the ground may harrow
well enough at top, whether it may not be fo wet underneath, as for the
horfes to tread the feed in too deep, and into fuch parte and mortar, that
it cannot flioot it's blade through.

It is a common piece of ill hufbandry, when the fpring-feafon of fow-
ing proves wet and rainy, and there may be a ground under harrowing that
may want but the laft tining or two, (perhaps an hour's, or but half an
hour's work of being finifhed) when a hard /hower of rain fliall come, and
the ground harrows wet, to continue harrowing, out of covetoufnefs of
finifliing that ground, and unwillingnefs to leave fo little behind undone, and
to come again to that ground, when the next work they are to go upon lies
perhaps a mile, or half a mile off ; but fervants Ihould have moft exprefs
charge giving them, as a general rule, at the beginning of feed-time, imme-
diately to flop and defift harrowing, if the ground harrows wet and dauby,
efpecially in clay-ground; for, tho' the ground harrowed never fo well before
a fliower of rain came, yet the taking one turn more with the harrows, while
the furface is wet, will make it crurt: and bake fo, that if diy and windy
weather come, the corn will have a difficult paflage through.
Of harrowing §. 8. I fowed a field anno i/c^ with oats, having fallowed it very early;
flony bot- ^y^^ winter proved wet and rainy, which beat the ground very flat ; but, being
in good heart, it was apt by fowing-time to Hiew grafs ; and particularly in the
bottom of that ground, that being very ftony, as well as beaten flat by the great
rains, the harrows could not raife a * grete ; therefore, tho' in the hill-
country fuch grounds are the beft, yet that bottom brought me more grafs
than oats ; wherefore it is to be. remembered, that fuch bottoms be ploughed
up again at feed-time, and care ought always to be taken, that fuch bottoms
lie light, when to be fowed, that the harrow tinings may be let in.

I had wheat anno iyo6, which I fowed on one earth, and tho' the bottom
of the ground was as good as any of the reft, yet the wheat was not above half
as good, neither as to thicknefs, nor the proof it was in : the reafon muft be,
becaufe, the bottom of that ground being very ftony, the tinings of the har-
rows rid upon the ftones, and fo the corn was never well healed. — There-
fore, when fuch grounds are fowed with wheat on one earth, I advife that
the ftony bottoms be ploughed fome time before, fo that they may come to
be thwarted, and fowed under furrow, when the other land is ploughed and
fowed to one earth.

§. 9. I can fee but little caufe for the fatisfadiion the farmers feem to have,
in fancying if a ground works rough, that fault may be cured by much
harrowing ; for thereby the lumps are buried, and, for the moft part, the
corn under them, there being only a fine fmooth mold gained at top, by the
fcratching of the harrows.

§. 10.

* mold

Much har-
rowing, no
cure for
ground
ploughed
rough.

HARROWING. 71

§. 10. Having harrowed a field of my wheat, and endeavouring to give it To drive
three or four tinings more, in order to fine off fome of the rougher part, '^f'^P °^^f ,

1 . t 1 1 /- • 1 • I r ■ • , ^^ wheat raifed

they brought up a great deal or gram, that in three or tour tinings before out of the
they had buried : I advifed with farmer Biggs, and propofed to rake them g'"0"nt] by
in : he faid, the beft way by much, and which in fuch cafes they ufed, was ^"*^^^'"8'
to drive their fheep over the ground, which would prick them in.

§. II. It is beft to let the furrows lie three weeks or a month, after fow- Of harrowing
ing peas, unharrowed ; the furrows keep the cold and wet from the corn ; P"*-
whereas, if by that time the peas be rooted, they will not have fprouted out,
and then the harrows will not hurt them.

§. 12. In talking with a notable farmer in Wiltfhire on the fubjed: of Ofdraggirg.
fowing broad clover with oats, he told me, he always dragged them in with
their country drags (which are not fo big as ours, and have but fix tinings
on a harrow) and this he does, tho' his ground had been ploughed up but a
fortnight before ; but he commonly fowed broad clover on ground ploughed
fo long before as Candlemafs, which never will, tho' it works mellow, fall
too clofe for the drags to tear it. — Here note, if dragging does fomuch better
with them than harrowing, even in ground that would, as we fhould think
in Hampfhire, tear well with harrows, it muft do better with us, becaufe
we do not plough fo deep as they do in Wiltfhire, nor will the tinings of the
drags go fo deep with us as with them, on account of the ftones, and fo we
can be in no danger or fear of burying oats or barley. The farmer fays, he
fows very little or no barley without dragging it, and the Uke he does to wheat
too after he has fown it, tho' on a fecond earth ; nay, he often drags the
ground once, when ploughed the fecond time, before he fows either wheat
or barley, in order to break this furrows and the feams, that the corn may
come up the more * fuant ; and on the backs of the furrows, which are * kindl/.
dragged after the corn is fown, there is no fear but the drag-tinings will let it
in deep enough. — To make wheat come up more fuant, when fown on one
earth, or on ftale fallows, he always drags it firft, before it is fovv^ed, and
then gives it two or three tinings, and fays, there is no fear but the drag-
tinings will let the corn in deep enough. — This method of dragging wheat and
barley land, in any of thefe refpedfs, before you fow it, faves feed : for you
may fow lefs on an acre.— It is a general fault in Hampfhire, that, having
fo much to do, we flubber it over without dragging when it ought to be
dragged, and content ourfelves with only harrowing the ground, and, when
we either drag or harrow, we do not beftow labour enough on it in either,
refpeit.

PICKING

[7a]
PICKING UP STONES.

^■'^kfr^^* °^§" I- ' B "^ HE advantage of picking up ftones in clay-land is, that, the

ftone's Vide J[ ftones being picked up, the ground harrows much the better ;

§. 45. of the number of ftones and their bignefs bearing up the harrows from reach-

■tmdd'of ^"§ ^^^ "t" grete, and making the ground plough rugged; nor can a weak

ftaple. plough turn it up but to great difadvantage, every ftone being a harrow-reft ;

befides, to plough fuch ground true, there muft two men go with the

plough, for a man and a boy are not fufficient, it being too tircfome for one

man to hold the plough all day, a man's weight being neceflary to keep the

plough in the ground. — It is to be noted that, where ground is trod much

by cattle, efpecially that part of it that they go moft in and out on, or where

carting has been, the ploughing is very ftiff.

The better raking up the barley is another motive for picking up the
floncs to be added to the former.

Another advantage of picking up ftones is, that thereby the plough
turns up frefh earth by going deeper : the very weight of the ftones (where
there are many) contributes to the fettling and binding of the earth to great
prejudice after rains.

The advantage of picking up great ftones at leaft appears from the incon-
vient rolling of wheat in March or April ; for the roller is always riding on
one ftone or other, which it cannot fqueeze in, and, in that cafe, is born
hollow throughout it's whole length from compreffing the ground.

Another advantage of picking up ftones is, that, if it be clay-lay-land,
and ploughed dr}-, which for wheat is to the advantage of the land, the
plough-beam, fprinter, whippings, and traces m.uft often break when they
come againft a great ftone, as my neighbour experienced this fammer (anno
1704) who faid, they broke in one piece of ground as much plough-tackle
(even their beam, tho' new, &c.) as came to the value of every day's work.

Another advantage of picking up great ftones in arable land is, that a lefs
roller, with fewer horfes, will roll the ground in feed-time.

Another advantage of picking up ftones is, that, at a day's notice, one
may take the advantage of the times in hayning up for mowing, after one
has waited for the fatting cattle on one's land, and found by the markets
riling they muft be bought in too dear ; but, if an hundred load of ftones
muft be firft picked up and carried away, it will render that method iin-
prafticable.
Nottopxk K 2. To pick up ftones from poor land, continued in that condition, I look

up ftones from 11. -/i-i ■ --ri 1 ,1

poor land. "pon rather to be impovermung than improving it ; tor thereby you rob the
poor land of it's only dependance, which was being kept moift ; for, if fuch
ground has not moifture to bring up the corn, it muft fail, having no
ftrength ; of rich land I believe juft the contrary, and that fuch abundance

of

SOWING. 73

of flints, which lie fo thick, or are fo broad as to keep the dews and the
fun from impregnating the ground, muft needs be to it's prejudice.

If a multitude of fmali ftones lie on light white ground, the evil whereof
is being fubjedl to be too light, it feems good to let them remain, that the
weight of them may comprefs the ground together (for which realbn they
are prejudicial to clay-land) and wedge themfelves with the ground, which
fecures it from burning, &c. — But great flones are every where pernicious. —
"^ In Sicily, near Syracufe, fays Pliny, a farmer, who was a ftranger to that
kind of land, and to the manner of hufbandry in thofe parts, loft his crops
by picking up the flones, and found it fo great a diiadvantage to his land,
that at length, to retrieve his damage, he thought it advifeable to bring them
back again. — The ground was light there, and, I fuppofe, they had not the
ufe of rollers in thofe countries ; nor do I find that Cato, Varro, Columella,
Palladius, or Pliny make any mention of a roller for their lands, but only of
a cylinder to roll their earthen barn floors hard, and a crates, or flat frame of
timber, to draw over their corn, and level their ground.

§. 3. Quaere, whether an abundance of flones in a ground may not hinder Stones hinder
the tillowing of wheat at fpring, by bearing the root off from the earth, and tTiwJ'^°'^
hindering it taking frefh root, and not fuffering the roller to prefs it to
the earth.

§. 4. To the difadvantage of flones in grounds may be added, that though Keeptheroots
the corn under them comes up, yet, where the root is hindered from the H^fiTofthe^
fun, fuch corn muft be thin ; and, when corn lies under ftones, fliaded fun.
from the fun, I fuppofe it not only to be thinner in grain, but fhorter in ear,
and to carry lefs and fewer tillows under the flones than if expofed to the
fun and air.

Nor in the bottoms, where fo many flones generally lie, do the fown
graffes, fuch as clover, &c. come to any thing, tho' the ground is allowed to
be much the befl ; if fuch a ground of twenty acres has fuch a bottom of
two or three acres, and it fhould cofl ten pounds ridding the flones, the ad-
vantage to the clover in thofe two or three acres would, I believe, pay the
whole charge.

SOWING.

§. I . ' ""T^ ^ E befl feed, fays Plinv, is that of a year old; if you keep it to Cf choxe of
j|_ two year old it is not fo good, but, if to three, it is worfe flill, the antiTrtf.
and, if it be older than that, it will not grow. ^ For feed you lliould choofe
the heaviefl corn, and fuUefl ears, and let them apart in the barn, and by no

' In Syracufano agro advena cultor, elapidato folo, pcrdidit fruges luto, donee regeflit lapidcs.
Plin. lib.' 17.

' Semen optimum anniculum, bimum detenus, trimum peflimum, ultra fieri le. Plin.

'' Ad (ernen refervandum eft quod graviiTimum : qux Ipica per intervalla femina habet abjicictur.
Plin.— Que fegcs grandifTima, atque optima fucrit, feorruni in arena recerni oportet fpicas, ut femcn
optimum habeat. — Varro, left. 56.

L means

74 SOWING.

means admit thofe ears that are not full throughout, but have only grains
here and there by intervals. Note the curiofity of the antients, and it ftands
to reafon ; it is in danger of producing fuch ears.
Quantity on §. 2. ' Pliny direds thofe that fow early to fow thick, as the corn will be
an acre. longer in coming up; and the later fown corn, he fays, fhould be fow^n thin,
left it fhould be deftroyed by coming up too thick on the ground : but furely
he muft mean this of the fpring-corn and not the winter-corn, for the diredl:
contrary rule holds in fowing wheat.
Time of fov- §. 3. "According to Cato, cold w-et land fhould be fown firft, and the
"S- warmer and drier ground be referved to be laft fown. — This he muft mean of

a winter-crop. Pliny and Palladius give the like rule : fee alfo a fubfequent
remark of mine on a paflage in Columella.
Ofthefeafons ^ ^^ ' i^y t^g month of November, fays Palladius, we fow wheat and
ricus^grain, " barley, and of wheat five modii to an acre ; Columella's direcflions are, four
and the quail- modii of whcat, five or fix of barley, three of peas, and fix of beans, which I
tity among -^vonder at. So that a modius, as above, being near half a bufhel, thev fowed
above two bufliels and a peck on their acre ; which is as much as generally
we fow in good ground ; but then it muft be confidered, that they fowed in
November, and we in September and Odlober. — ' But Palladius fays in
his calendar of September, In this month, in wet, barren, and cold
ground, and in places {haded from the fun, wheat ftiould be fown, in
clear ferene weather, about the time of the aequinox, that the roots may
have time to grow ftrong before the winter. — * Speaking of Septem-
ber, he fays. This is the firft feafon of fowing vetches to be cut up
for food, and the quantity to be fowed is feven modii on an acre.—
So that 'tis plain they fowed vetches two months before wheat, and fowed
feven modii on an acre ; which is above three bufhels. But in his calendar
of January he fays, In this month we fow vetches for feed, and not to be cut
up for food ; — which feems to agree with what I have in another place ob-
ferved, that the feed of a plant is the tendereft part of it : and fo Columella,
lib. 1 1, f. 9. — *'Of the month of May Palladius fays, At this time moft corn is

ia

' Feftinata fatione denfum /parge femen, quia tarde concipiat, ferotina rarum, quia denfitate
Tiimia necetur. Plin.

■^ Ubi quifque locus frigidiffimuf, aquofiffimufque erit, ibi primum ferito ; in calidiflimis locis
fementem poftremo fieri oportet. Cato, fed. 34. fol. 8. — Sationem locis humidis celerius fieri
ratio eft, ne femen imbre putrefcat, ficcis ferias, ut pi u viae fequantur, ne diu jaciens, et non con-
cipiens evanefcat. Plin. lib. 18. fol. 3CO.

Frigidis locis autumnalis fatio celerior fiat, verna vero tardior. — Pallad. lib. r. fol. 60.

* Novembri menfe triticum feremus, et hordeum : jujerum fcminis tritici modiis quinque tenebi-
tur. Pailad. — Tritici quatuor, hordei modios quinque vel fex, pifi. modios tres, fabs fex. Colum.
lib. 9. fol. 9.

' In hoc menfe, uliginofis locis, aut exilibus , aut frigidis, aut opacis, circa aequinoflium triticum
feretur, dum ferenitas conftat, ut radices frumenti ante hyemem convalefcant. Pallad.

* Nunc vicise, cum pabuH caufa, prima fatio eft ; vicia: feptem modii iugerum implebunt.

' Nunc omnia prope quae fata funt, florent, neque tangi a cultore debebunt. Florent autem fie:
/nimentum et hordeum, et quae funt feminis llngularis cxSo diebus florebunt, et delude per dies

qua-

SOWING. 75

in flower, and the farmer muft by no means fuffer it to be meddled with.
Wheat and barley, and all feeds that are fingle, and do not fplit, are eight
days in flower, and afterwards forty days in growing to maturity ; but feeds
that are double, fuch as beans, peas, and the refl: of the leguminous kind, are
forty days in flower, and are coming to perfedion during the fame time,

' Columella, lib. 1 1. f. 9. has thefe expreflions ; It is an old proverbial fay-
ing among the farmers, (a) early fowings often deceive us, (a) late never.— We
lay it down as a rule therefore, that thofe places, which are naturally (b)
cold, fhould be fowed firft, and thofe that are (b) hot, lafl.

As to the former expreflions, (a. a.) they wholly depend on the clime Depends on
whereof they are fpoken, viz. Italy,— where they ufed to fow wheat and S il'^o^rule
barley in December : no wonder therefore, if an earlier fowing, where the for us.
corn indures the whole winter, oftener mifcarries than a later fowing, where
it indures but half a winter : nor could they well fow too late, in another re-
fpedl ; becaufe their corn was ripe the beginning of June, that was fowed in
December; what harm then can enfue from it's being fown in January or
February ? for then it will be ripe in July, which is before it can fuffer by a
cold autumn. — It is plain therefore, it would be very dangerous to import this
ItaUan maxim into England ; becaufe we may eafily fow too late : for our
ground being poorer, if we fow it in May, which is the latter feafon of
Englifli feed-time, it may often be fo dry, as never to bring up the corn,
and what may be brought up, if the fummer be cold, will never ripen kind-
ly ; fome fort of fl:rong fat lands, and even fome cold gravels, may carry it
out fo late fown. — The latter expreflions, (b. b.) are alfo purely fouthern,
and would deceive an Englifliman ; but no wonder it was beft in Italy to fow
their cold land firft, whether .for wheat or barley j for diredions are given by ■
Palladius to fow fuch wheaten-lands, in September and Oftober;-— And thofe
months, and November and December, are drier months than January and
February ; therefore heavy fl:rong ground may be expeded to work better,
and the flinging corn into a dry warm bed, efpecially if land be cold, is of
great confequence, whatever weather may come after : and the feafon of
fowing their hot land is as judicioufly chofen in January and February, which
are wetter. — But this general pradice would be deftrudive to paying rents in
England j for the beginning of our barley-feafon being in March, and the
beginning of April, and the grounds fatiated with winter-rains, 'tis then com-
monly the wettefl: feafon, and confequently cold lands ought not then to be
fown, but hot lands; and therefore with us, in that cafe, the order in huf-
bandryis plainly to be inverted.

§. 5. If it be well confidered, that a Roman jugerum is but little better The antiems
than half our acre, and their modius a httle lefs than half our bufliel ; we |^°'''^'^ """"^

L 2 fliall ' ''"

quadraginta grandefcunt, ufque ad maturitatis eventum ; quse vcro duplicis feminis funt, ficut faba,
pifum, csteraque legumina, quadraginta diebus florent, fimulque grandefcunt. Pallad.

' Vetus eft agricolarum proveibium, maturam (a) fationem fajpe dccipere folere, (a) feram nun-
quam;— Itaque in totum prscipimus, ut quifque natura locus (b) fiigidus erit, is primus confera-
tur, ut quifque calidus, (b) noviflimus. Columella, lib, ij. fol. 9.

corn on
acre than we
do.

76

Time of ('ow-
ing.

Time «f foW'
ing in the
nonliern
countries.

Of rowing up
and doivu-
hill.

Of a feeds-
man.

Quantity of
fet-'ds, and
why farmers
differ in this
in the hill-
country.

SOWING.

fliall find that the Romans, fee their Rei ruftica; fcriptores, did feed their
grounds more than we do, notwithftanding they fowed better land, and it
lay i'o much warmer than cur's. — A modius is 26 lb. 8 ounces.

■^ Pliny orders to fow in an acre, (which is but little above half our acre)
of wheat five bufhels, (each little better than half our bufliel) of barley fix
modii, of beans a fifth part more than of wheat, of vetches twelve modii,
which I think very fVrange ; of chick peas, and chicklings, and peas three
modii, which is equally furprifing,

§. 6. Sharrock in his book of Vegetation, fpeaking of the feafon of fowing,
fays, fol. 10. The moft natural time offowing is that which nature itfelf fol-
lows, viz. when the feeds of their own accord fall into the ground.

§. 7. In the fecond volume of Colletflions of travels it is faid, that in
Mufcovy, as well as in Ingerland, Carelia, and the northern parts of Livonia,
they do not fow till about three weeks before Midfummer, becaufe the cold,
which has penetrated deep into the earth, muft have leifure to thaw, not-
withftanding which, their harveft is over in Auguft, the fun, which remains
fo long above their horizon in fummer, foon ripening their corn ; ' but the
Livonians are forced to dry their's by the help of ovens in the barns, after it
is brought in, which is fubjecft to many inconveniencies, and make their
corn unfit for feed, whereas, the Mufcovites carr)' in their's diy and fit to be
threflied, fo. 18,

§. 8. A feeds-man is much lefs apt to fow too thin going up and down-
hill than on a level, becaufe, when he takes his turn up-hill, his fleps are
always fliort, and his hand muft caft corn at every ftep ; again, going down-
hill it is painful to take large fteps. — My carter and feeds-man are very
pofitive in this point, and to me it feems reafonable.

§. 9. If your feeds-man in the caft of his hand back drops pretty much of
his feed, which is common to many, who are not right good feeds- men ; in
tlie middle of each half of the land, which the feeds-man walks on, you
may perceive a thicker lift or feam than ordinary, when the corn comes up,
as if it had been double fowed, as indeed it has ; and the other parts of the
ground between muft confequently be thinner fowed, by reafon of this feed
mifimploycd : old feeds-men will often do this when the wrift of their hand
grows weak ; but fuch a feeds-man oughr by no means to be fuftered to fow.

My feeds-man fays, he has many a day fowed five, and fometimes fix
quarters of oats or barley per day j though it is a very hard day's work ; but
wheat, he fays, is too heavy a grain to carry fo much of, and that three
quarters of wheat per day is very good fowing.

§. 10. In our hill-country of Hampftiire fome fow two bufliels and an
half of wheat on an acre, and fome fow four bufliels : 1 have been at a lofs

to

"■ Tritici quinque modios, hordei fex modios, fabae quintam partem amplius quam tritici, viciae
duoJecim modios, — ciceris, & clcerculae & pifi tres n.odios. — Plin. lib. 18. c. 24.

' Of this fee IVIr. TuUs and Mr. Duhamel's account in note o.'i Granaries. Article — Of pre-
fer ving corn.

SOWING.

77

to underftand the reafon of this diverfity. In both cafes, the ground beinp-
very poor, I do conclude, that where but two bufliels and an half are fowed,
the land lies cold, and is alfo cold in nature, (as at Eafton) and muft there-
fore be fowed early, as in Auguft, whereby it has the benefit both of the
autumn, and of the fpring-tillow. But in warm, tho' poor land, and lyino-
on the open hills, yet much warmer than at Eafton, (hould they fow early,
it would run up to fpindle ; confequently they are obliged to fow late, per-
haps the latter end of September, or the beginning of Oftober j — whereby
they lofe the benefit of the autumn-tillow, and can depend only on the
fpring-tillow, which on poor land is not confiderable ; therefore to fill out
a crop they fow it thick, viz. four bufhels on an acre.

§. 1 1. Whenever you fee corn in flourifhing proof, and of a good colour, Offowing ill,
tho' never fo thin on the ground, you may be fure the ground is in good ably"'^^'''^'^"
heart, and would have born a great crop, had there not been fome error in
the managing it, either by under-fowing, or by fowing the ground out of
order, in refpedl either to it's temper, or to the feafon when it was done.

§. 12. Being at Mr. Whiiller's, a difcourfe arofe about the quantity of Q^^'^'''^>' °^
feed to be fown in a new broken up ground, rich in heart.~Mr. Whiftler faid, b"oke" p^"^
he always underftood that fuch ground fhould be fowed thick. — And it is ground.
true ; this is the pradlice : but the intent of this can only be, and the only
foundation this pradice is built on mufi: be, that the thicker the corn comes
up the lelTer the ear, and the fliorter the draw, and therefore not in fuch dan-
ger of lodging as when fown thin ; for then the ftraw runs to a length, with
a long heavy ear ; befides, when corn tillows much, as in good ground
fowed thin it will do, many ftalks or tillows on one root do not ftand fo firm
as the fame number of ftalks do in the fame field, where only one or two
ftalks ftand on the fame root. ^ — But this method feems to flint the produce
and power of nature, for fear of a worfe inconveniency attending the corn by
being * more-loofe, and fo apt to lodge ; — whereas, in my opinion, this may * loofe at
be prevented by fowing great wheat, or battel-door- barley, or beans, which '■°°'"
have ftronger flalks, and are not in fuch danger of falling as vetches, peas, &c.
are ;— and thus the increafe of the ear will not, as in the former cafe, be di-
miniflied.

§. 13. The only reafon, as I conceive, for farmers choofing the fmalleft Offowmg
and leaneft feed for their poor ground, fuch as ours in the hill-country, is, f"!'^".'*^^"
that the large feed has a pofi^e in it to fend forth more tillows than the poor gtound.
feed, according to which power if the great feed fhould exert itfelf, and the
ground by reafon of it's poverty could not maintain what it had brought forth
in a green blade, then moft of fuch blades muft die, or ftarve j in which
cafe, it had been much better to have fown fmall feed, which would have
brought fewer tillows, and thofe have been well maintained. — What way
foever, whether by brining or liming your feed-corn, or nicking the feed-
feafon, it is of great confequence, and the firft good ftep to be made, to get
good roots from your feed ; for, tho' your ground be poor, the larger and fairer

the

78

Of fowing

under furrow,

Of fowing
fpring-corn.

Of fowing
fummer corn
early on
grpund win-
ter-fallowed
dry.

SOWING.

the feed ftrikes it's roots, It has the larger compafs of ground to draw nou-
rifliment from.

§. 14. It feems dangerous to fow any fort of corn under furrow in gravelly
land, or fuch ftony ground as may bind after rain, tho' it fliould work
never fo fine ; for the ground being inclined to bind makes the corn require
a much longer time to come up, whereby it runs the greater danger of fuch
weather falling, before it can come up, as may deftroy it.

§. 15. In the fpring-fowing-time, in our hill-country, we may venture to
plough and fow our ground a little wetter in the beginning of the feed-feafon
than we may in the middle and latter end of it, becaufe at the beginning of
the feafon the air is cooler than at the latter end, and the fun not fo fcorch-
ing ; and fo the ground ploughed and fowed a little too wet will have leifurc
to dry moderately, and not be fo fubjeft to bake and bind as towards the lat-
ter end of fowing-time, when the feafon begins to be fcorching.

§. 16. If ground, be it clay or other cold land, has been ploughed when
dry in winter, and fo early, that the rains and frofts it has fuftained have
flatted it to powder ; fuch lands no one fhould be afraid of fowing to barley,
oats, or peas, a fortnight fooner than ufual, in cafe the feafon be very dry, fo
that it will harrow on one earth in duft, or ftir up in like manner by the
plough ; for, if the earth be in fuch temper, no frofts, even the very hardeft,
following immediately on fuch fowing, can freeze the ground, becaufe there
is no watery fubftance in it to be frozen, and the feed, being put into the
ground dry, cannot freeze, and fo muft lie in a warm dry bed. — But again,
fuppofing rain fliould immediately come, and hold for a fortnight after fuch
fowing, yet ground fo ploughed and fowed, as abovefaid, will lie very light
and hollow, for the air, and winds, and fun to dry it apace, and will not lie
cold to the corn, as cold clays fallowed and fowed heavy would do, fo that
your corn will then lie fafe : again, when corn is fowed in fuch ground in
dull:, a moderate rain will not throughly wet it, but the ground, when fo dry,
will take it without being glutted ; and if fuch rain fliould continue for many
days, time is gained, and the fpring, by the end of thofe days, will be much
nearer advanced, which is a great point gained. — But fuppofing the worft,
that, after many days rain, when the ground is throughly wet, a fmart frdft
fliould come ; neither in this cafe would corn, fown when the ground was in
fuch order, take harm ; for firft, it is to be confidered, that towards March
the fun has got fome ftrength, and that frofty weather is ufually clear wea-
ther, when the fun fliines by day, and thaws as deep as the frofi: went by
night, which frofts at that time of the yearfeldom go fo deep as the feed lies,
in ground working in duft when fowed, which falls in deep; but fuppofing
the froft fliould go as deep as the feed fown, it muft ftill be allowed, the
roots of the feeds ftrike downwards, and firft form themfelves before the
fpear peeps out of the rind, or ftioots through the fkin of the corn ; fo that
to hurt the roots the froft muft go deeper than is common at that time of
the year ; but to prevent all poflible evil from frofts by fowing corn fo early,

when

SOWING. yg

when the ground invites you to it by To excellent a temper (which I do not
eafily forefee can happen) the perfon fo fowing his corn may do well to roll
it immediately after fowing, whereby the ground fo comprefled, if rains
fhould fall, and then hard frofts happen, would be able, by being more
compadt and clofe, much better to refift the frofts.

§. 17. It is the cuftom of farmers too frequently both at autumn-feed-time Bad cu,lom
for wheat, and at fpring-feed-time for barley, to plough up feveral acres of r'^°"Sthe
each fort a fortnight beforehand, in order to fow and harrow them in imme- their^fowrng.
diately, whereby they think, who have a great deal to fow, that they make
a mighty difpatch, having prepared fo much land beforehand, and kept them-
felves thereby beforehand in their bufmefs, and out of a hurry; but I take
this method to be very improper and ill hulbandry, for I have always obferv-
ed fuch fowings to be full of weeds. — The reafon of which I conceive to be,
becaufe in Auguft, and at the beginning or in the middle of September, and
in the middle of March, when thefe beforehand- ploughings are performed,
the feafon of the year is warm enough to fet feeds on growing, and the earth
moldering under the plough is well prepared for that end, whereby the feeds
of weeds begin to chiffum or fet forth their roots, and to germinate in fuch
land fo ploughed up before the corn is fowed, the harrowing in of which
when fowed will not prejudice fuch feeds fo as to choak them ; no wonder
then if you have another crop of weeds along with the crop of the firft
ploughing, and by harrowing in the furrows freih feeds of weeds are moved;
— but if any ground may be fo managed it feems that for peas may, becaufe in
fuch cafe, if one plough barley-erfli for peas beforehand, we plough it about
the latter end of February, which is before the feafon of the year is fo far ad-
vanced, as to make the feeds of weeds put forth either root or branch, and
therefore, in this cafe, J have known it often done fuccefsfully.

§. 18. Thofe lands that before harveft, on the fun's withdrawing from us, Cold, loofe
give-out in nourilhing and fupporting the corn, as, amongft others, cold, '^nd to be
loofe, hollow, wood-fear land will do, fuch lands ought to be earlier fown at f°*\^^^j^ *"''^.'
autumn for wheat or vetches, becaufe in fuch ground the corn will come but winter-"
flowly on to eftabhOi a root before winter, for the fame reafon that it gives- vetches,
out the following autumn before harveft ; but fuch ground ought not there-
fore to be fowed early in the fpring with tender grain, fuch as white oats,
barley, 6cc. — the ground being too cold ; fuch ground alfo fprings later with
grafs, and againft winter grows fooner rowety.

§. 19. There is no article in hulbandry of higher regard, and of greater
confequence than the rule of difference and diftindlion we ought to make be-
tween the feafons of fowing light, white, and chalky earth (of which we
have abundance in our hill-country) which is generally very poor, and other
forts of earth, Ey the conftant experience of my neighbours huftandry, and
my own bought experience, I find, that, if fuch chalky white ground be
fowed very wet, the whole crop is like to be very ordinary, tho' the ground
was put into the beft heirt ; for fuch grounds ploughed wet, to the decree of
fatnefs or dawbinefs, will certainly bind, and grow obftinate to a greater de-
gree

8o SOWING.

gree than the fliffefl: clays fo ploughed ; fo that little corn will be able to come
through, nor (hall the corn which grows be able to ftrike roots freely, by rea-
fon of the ftrong union of the white earth ; and fuccefiive rains, after you have
fowed white earth in fuch condition, will fooner loofen and open and mollify
the parts of clay-earth, fo as to let corn through than of white earth ; there-
fore ploughing fuch ground wet at feed-time (for fallowing it wet cannot be
amifs) or harrowing it wet and dawby is moft pernicious : yet it is a common
thina; for the farmer, when the rainy feafons make it too wet at feed-time to
plough other grounds, to plough and fow in the white lands, being deceived
by the mellow breaking of fuch earth, which feems to fall in pieces, all which
foon clofe into a folid compadl fubftance ; nay, the very bed of the farmers,
who are afraid of, or avoid the former evil, will in fuch cafe run into another,
when the white earth is too wet to plough and low at the fame time, viz.
they'll plough up fuch lands, and take the opportunity of fowing them when
they are dry ; but this is bad pradlice ; for the inner parts of thefe lands bind
and' fquat together below the harrow tinings, fo that the corn cannot flrike
roots, and if rainy weather continues two or three days after it is thus plough-
ed, the top of the earth will bind and fquat alfo ; fo that the harrow tinings
will never heal the corn, nor open the ground, tho' they go twent}' times
over it. The farmer will alfo, through difpatch, in a hurry of much bufi-
nefs, fow his ground in this wet condition, which brings commonly an addi-
tional affliction ; for, if wet weather follows, his corn muft lie above ground,
unharrowed, expofed to the birds, and will foon grow, which will oblige
him to harrow it in more wet, and unfeafonably than otherwife he would ^
and thefe are the confequences of fowing fpring-corn in white-land, either
over or under furrow.
Of fowing ^. 20. A crop of corn fown on white earth, after it has lain down long to

thac7s"affy g''^^s, is haz?.rdous, if there come a hot fummer after it; a fecond crop does
better ; your corn may then with drags and harrows be let in as deep as the
plough goes, and, being rolled, will indure the heat and want of rain.
Ruleforfow- ^_ 21. It is much in the power of farmers to make a fliort harveil every
""' jring- yg^j.^ which would be much to their advantage. This might be effecled by
the order of fowing the different forts of corn, viz. to fow the rath-ripe and
earlier corn fo in order, that they might be ripe nearer together, and as early
as poffible. To do this it is but imploying the more hands in a Ihorter time,
whereas there are too many farmers, who, for want of this contrivance, or
out of a delight they have in imploying but a few hands, fo fow their feveral
forts of corn, as to cut them with the feweft hands in a lingering manner,
not confidering how much is loft by the thinnefs of the corn in meafure, in a
backward harveft, befides the too frequent damage by rains in being late.

Of fowing SUMMER or WINTER-CORN early on one Earth.

§. 22. The reafon of fowing fummer or winter-corn earlier on one earth
is, becaufe the ground being clofer and farmer underneath than land often

ftirred,

coro.

SOWING. 8i

flirted, the corn cannot fo eafily enter with it's roots, and gain a depth before
winter or fummer advances.

§. 23. There is a great advantage in fowing early, where it may be done, by Advantage of
ground being in it's nature warm, and lying warm, and being fkreen'd from °^'"S<^ary.
jiorth and eallerly winds. It is no fmall inducement to it alfo, where it may
be done with good hufbandrv, in confiJeration that the ftraw of the corn will
be fo much the fliorter, whereby it is evident the flrength of the ground
will be fo much the lefs exhaufted.

§. 24. Such land as was hard ploughed, and thereby fubjed: to weeds, or wiut land
was pot-dung'd, a farmer, of whofe judgment I have a very good opinion, nottobefow<
faid, he chofe to fow about the middle of Michaelmas, becaufe the fowing ^ ^^''^'"
fuch land of the firfl fort early made it fubjedt to weeds, and if pot-dung

was laid early on ground it would be apt to breed weeds. 1 afk'd him

how the early fowing of land hard ploughed made it lubjeft to weeds. He
replied, that much ploughing brought weeds ; I fuppofe cutting the roots
into pieces that grow, as it is by colts-foot, which being ploughed in early
get?a-head before the winter comes, but being ploughed late is apt to be
Jiilled by the winter.

§. 25. "" Though white and clay-land may bring corn of very good change Of change of
for each other to fow, yet in a cold country, where both thofe forts of land
are cold and confequently bring a coarfe and thick rin'd-corn, I do by no
means allow of fuch feed for change, as before hinted. The change of
earth to feed is not of that confequence to a crop of corn, as is the flinging
in of feed in perfecftion into a cold ground in a cold clime.

So much depends on the goodnefs of your feed, that Mr. Hillman of
Berkfhire, a gentleman of gre.at experience in hu{bandry, faid to me, I verily
believe a farmer, that fows clean feed and good change, may live as well
upon his farm as the land-lord could do, that had that only farm, and kept
it in his own hands, but fowed foul feed, and was carelefs in his change ;
for what fignifies it to give one fhilling in the buftiel extraordinary for fine
feed-wheat, when three bufliels will fow an acre, the produce of which
may be fuppofed to yield twenty bufhels that will raife twelve pence per
bufhel extraordinary ; befides, if foul feed be fown, the burden cannot be
fo large ; for a great deal of it will be taken up in weeds.

It is however to little purpofe to fow the cleaned of feed in the common-
field-lands ; for it will never come out fine again, becaufe the neigh-
bours in fowing caft over fome of their feed into each other's land.

§. 26. Any wound to the nib of any feed, wherein the fmallefl fibre is Of wounds in
damaged, grows up and increafes with the plant, as a wound in the bark " '•

" The common opinion, fays Mr. Tull, is, that the flrong clay-land is befi to be fent to for
feed-wheat, whatever fort of land it be to be fown on ; a white clay is a good change for a red
clay, and a red for a white ; that from any ftrong land is better than from a light land, and that
fand is an improper change for any. But from whatever land the feed be taken, if it was not
changed the preceding year, it may poffibly be infeded with fmut ; and then there may be dan-
ger, ^ho' we have it unmediately from never fo proper a foil.

M of

82 SOWING.

of a tree : any imperfeftions in the leaves of bean-ftalks, when they firfl
come up, or other feed leaves, feem to owe themfelves to this caufe.
Defeaive §. 27. Towards the latter end of May (1707) I fowed garden-beans in

beans come ^ piece of ftrong clay-land in my garden ; the ground being in heart, I ex-
feed! ^ ^ ^^ peeled a crop of beans in the beginning of Auguft. The feed-beans were
, jj, A- finnowy, and fomewhat damaged withinfide (for I broke many of them)
being laid in a dampifh place ; the halm or fl:alk came up well, and they
bloffomed well enough, but not one kid came of all the bloflbms, tho' I
fowed a fpot of ground two or three lugg-fquare : the chief end for
which I inrtance this is it's relation to a preceding obfervation, that de-
fcftive beans proceeded from defedlive feed. — And this is the more obferv-
able, becaufe in the bloffoming-time frequent and great fhowers of rain fell,
and continued fo to do till Auguft, fo that this failure could not be attri-
buted to any blight, or want of moifture, but to the defeft of the feed only.
— I alfo had this fpring fome fummer-goar-vetches, that had been harvefted
wet, and lain all the winter fodden in their kids, and when threfhed they
were finnowy an.d flunk ; I doubted whether or not they would grow ; I made
a tiial of them in the garden, but not half of 'em came up ; fo I fowed about
two acres of 'em in a treble quantity, but having ten acres to fow I bought
feed for the other eight acres, and I obferved, tho' I know the whole ten
acres were of equal goodnefs, that the vetches of the damaged feed did not
produce one tenth part of the kids the found feed did, tho' the halm of each
was much of the fame goodnefs.

Mr. Bobart, of the phyfick-garden at Oxford, gave me fome Smyrna
cowcumber-feeds, of which very few came up, but none of thofe came up
which he referved for himfelf : the reafon was, as Mr. Bobart fufpcfted,
becaufe he kept his too long in the mucilage, after he had taken thofe out
which he gave to me ; and I do fufpeft that mine alfo, though not kept fo
long in the mucilage as to perifh wholly, had however in the feed of the
feed received a perifli ; becaufe, tho' the fruit came up very fair, being
twelve inches long, yet every feed of fome hundreds of them wanted a
kernel. The like defesfls I have already obferved in beans, whofe feed hath
been defedive, and bore no kids, tho' they bloffomed, and others I have
had bearing kids and yet not feeds ; all which, as well as that of the cow-
cumber, proceeded from the defecfts of thofe parts of the plant, which had
been formed perfect and compleat in the feed, but had, while in that ftate,
received fome damage, fo as to occafion a putrefadion in them, more or lefs,
according as they were moi-e or lefs tender ; for, as the plant by glaffes is to
be feen perfed: in the feed, fo the refpedlive parts of flower, pods, and feed
of the pods, tho' fmallcr than a mote in the fun, may for as much reafon
be conceived to be fully formed in the feed : it is plain the kernel of the
feed is not {o tough or firm a body, as the plant itfelf, or as the pod, or the
jfkin of the feed, the kernel being at firft but a thin gelly or mucilage, and
therefore more liable to be damaged. It may be refer'd to the above obfer-
vation of the Smyrna cowcumbers, that, of thofe exotic plants, which come

from

•

SOWING. ' 83

from warmer climes than ours, though they are of a ftrong nature, and
grow well with us, yet many will not bloflbm with us, and fome, that will
bloilbm, will not feed j becaufe, as the bloflbm is more tender in the feed
than the plant, fo is the feed of the feed more tender than the bloflbm.
Lucerne grafs rarely feeds with us, tho' it flowers, but the jeflliimine never ;
and it is very probable there are fuch defeds in mulberry, grape, and fig-
feeds here in England, that from the feeds of the fruit growing in England
they can never be propagated in England, though from their feeds they may
be propagated in other countries : this alfo may feem to account for the
degeneracy of the foreign coliflower-feed, when fown in England, from
whence, in two or three years time, if fown from feed raifed here, no flower
will proceed, but only a cabbage-head. Thus apple and pear-trees have
been known not to produce kernels, which I fuppofe was from the damaged
feed ; and I do therefore believe the cyons or cuts of fuch trees will not
produce kernels; of oranges, &c. likewife it is fuppofed the firfl: failure is in
the feed : Mr. Bobart fays, oranges rarely feed in England. — Heat and
drought, as well as cold, will, I doubt not, hurt the feminal juices of a plant
before any other part ; for in the very hot and dry fummer, in the year
1705, I found few apples that had any kernels in their feeds, tho' the coty-
lidones feemed perfed enough, and I quefl:ion 'whether under the tropics,
or near them, the apples bear feeds, or the huflcs of the feeds kernels.
Seeing therefore that fruit is never the lefs perfect, tho' it has no feeds,
quasre whether the fl:amina farinacea in the flower does not contribute to the
well-being of the fruit as well as the feed ; (God having intended the fruit
for the ufe of mankind, as well as the feed for propagation) otherwife the
.bloflbm that proves feedlefs ought to fall, as it is obferved to do when the
flamina farinacea are wanting ; for then the whole defign of nature is de-
feated, both in reference to fruit and feed.

§. 28. The farmers of Crux-Eafton, and this hill-country, buy their Change of
feed-wheat from Newbury and that country, becaufe there they are on a ^^^'^'
white earth, whereas Crux-Eafton is on a red earth ; and the country
about Newbury buy their feed-wheat of us, becaufe to change is thought
beft. — The changing the feed of all grain whatfoever is of as much ufc
and fervice as half the dung fufficient for a crop ; therefore the farmers
are often to blame for not changing fo frequently as they ought to do ;
if their corn prove good and fit for feed they will fow it a fecond year,
and fo it may do tolerably well, but longer it will do very ill.

I have a great opinion of the advantage of changing feed every year
rather than once in two years ; for I fowed barley of the laft year's feed in
the beginning of April, and I fowed part of the fame ground, but a clayier
piece of land, with freflu feed of this year's change on the laft day of April,
which ought to have been the coarfcr barley, whereas it proved full as '
white and fine, if not finer than the other.

M 2 §.29.

8+ SOWING.

The order ill §. 29. " Pllnv takes notice, that tlie rule laid down by Virgil is, to let tBc
which d;fFe- |^^j jjg fallow cvcry other year, which, if the farm be of fufficient fize
flioQldfucceed to admit it, he thinks is a very good way, but if you are fbraiten'd in con-
oue another, veniency of this kind, he advifes to fow wheat after lupines, vetches, or
beans, or any other grain that has the quality of fertilizing and enriching
the ground. — This is to be well noted, becaufe in England, where our land
is worfe, the farmer if he pays twelve fliillings an acre, will not imagine
rent can be paid, unlefs he fows it eveiy year, and he will not lay it down
to grafs.
Of fowing §. ^o. Some farmers approve very much of fowing peafe after wheat, and

peas after ^^xq^ barley, and fay, it will make a better tilth for the barley, and be the
lighter, inafmuch as the ground lies down a year with wheat, and but
half a year with peafe, therefore better to fow barley after peas than after
wheat; but it feems to me the beft way is (inafmuch as it may fuit other
circumftances of conveniency) to fow the clay-land to peas, and then to
barley, becaufe the clav-land will be the better mellowed thereby for barley,
and the whiter and mixt land to wheat, and then to barley, becaufe the
whole year fuch land goes with wheat will not prevent it's working un-
kindly for barley.
Peas do bed §• S^- The Country people fay, peas do beft on a barley-erfli, and of this
onbariey-eriii. J i^.^jyg fpoken morc at large under the article Peas, to which I refer the

reader.

To row wheat §. 32. Farmer Wingford falling into my company, I told him I purpofed

after peas on jq fg^ p-jy clay-land to peas, and then to barley, and lighter land to wheat

'"*" ■ and then to barley : he reply 'd, I might alfo very well in my clay-land fow

wheat after peas, which I remark, becaufe I think it properly faid ; for

peas will be a manure to wheat on fuch land, and not make it fo light as to

be fubjed: to blight, and clajxy heavv lands in Wilts are fo managed.

I afk'd farmer Elton, whv I fhould not on the ftrong clay-land of Crux-
Eafton few wheat atter peas, feeing ftrong clay-land could not by being
lightened by the peas-ftubble be fubjedl to blight, and it was the method of
many countries, where their land is of a ftrong heavy clay, to fow wheat
on peas or vetch-ftubble ; he replied, they had on the clay-peas-ftubble
fowed wheat the fame year at Crux-Eafton, and it had fometimes come
well, but for the moft part ill ; for the worm had in O<5tober, November,
and December fallen on it, and eat it up. I put afterwards the fame cafe to
farmer Biggs, and he faid, if the feafon proved diy for fowing wheat after
peas, the wheat generally proved well on clay-land ; but, faid he, if the peas-
Ihibble be wet when ploughed, the land being hollowed by the peas-ftubble
will lie very cold, hollow, and wet the whole year after, and the wheat,
if a bad winter, die away. I replied, when I fpoke of fowing wheat after

peas,

" Virgilius altemis ceflare an'a fuaJet, et hoc, ii patianUir ruris fpatia, utiltdimum proculdubio
eft ; quod fi jieget conditio, far ferendum, unde eTlupinum, aut vicla, aut faba fubhta fint, et
fjiix terrain faciant Istiorem. Plin. lib. i8. fe6l. 10.

S O W I N G. 85

peas, I did not mean the fowing it till the year after. He faid, he thought
there could be no better hufbandry than that, and free from the before-men-
tioned inconveniencies.

I obferve, in Wiltfliire, where the faid hufbandry is ufed of fowing wheat
on the fame year's peas-ftubble, that the ground is of a heavy malmifh fort
©f clay, and confeq.uently not fubjedl to the inconveniency of our dry hill-
country ftrong clay, which is apt to be hollowed too much after peas-flubble;
again, fuch hufbandry is pradlifed often in common-fields, where people will
not be at chargeable hufbandry; it is alfo praftifed (inftead of manure) where
lands lie at a diflance .from a farm-houfe, and in deep baning lands, where
the hulbandman dares not trufl to his fold.

If one would fow a large quantity of wheat on a peas-erfli, it mufl:, in the
hill-country, be with a provifo that harveft does not fall out very late ; for in
that cafe a large quantity of ground cannot be fowed on a peas-erfh early
enough, but a confiderable part of it, efpecially the poorer fort, will be
obliged to be fown to barley.

§,33. It had been a mighty wet winter and fpring, whereby the fallows Oits may fucv
were well wetted: I had that year a great crop of oats, and but a midling^^^^^^^'^^'j^^^^^'
crop of barley, which I impute to the barley's lying wetter, by being buried barky can in
deeper in the cold earth ; whereas the furface of the earth, in which the wet years,
oats were fowed, was foon and eafily redlified, the fun having full power to
penetrate that, and to move the falts, &c. for which reafon, in fuch wet years,
the hufbandman fliould alter his meafures, and fow his barley-fallows on one
earth to oats,

§. 34. Mr, ByfTy of near Bradford in Wiltfliire, ploughed up a piece Sowmg

of French grafs ground worn out, and fowed it on one earth, and faid he had ^^^^^^^'^'0° ^°^<^"
excellent barley ; and the next year he ploughed it for wheat, which whil ft g^aCs, con-
he was doing, farmer Sartain came by, and faid, that ground would fool him,acmned.
for he would have no wheat ;— and I having obferved a wheat-fiubble of his
to be very indifferent, afked him, how it came to pals his crop was {o ordi-
nary ; he faid, that was the ground abovementioned, and added, that the
corn all blighted ; he thought the roots of the French grafs, being not futti-
eiently rotted, or rather too rotten, but yet not converted into mold, made
the wheat * more-loofe, which I believe reafonable, and therefore fiich *Iooreatroot.
ground is to be well confidered of before fo hufbanded.

§. 35> Mr. Raymond of Puck-lliipton in Wilts, broke up ground of 30 s. whatfucccr-
per acre to deftroy the ant-hills, and the firft crop he fowed was white o/i^s 5|^'n"^^"|^^^'^|^'^j^
for, faid he, if it be fowed with wheat it will be mad, and come to nothing ; up rich
the fecond crop he fowed was fome fort of great wheat, whofe flraw is ground.
fo large and ftrong, that it is not fubjedt to lodge- j whereas, faid he, if fown
with any of thefmaller wheats, fuch as red flraw, &c. the rtraw of thofe are
weak, and would certainly, being rank, fall down and lodge j the next crop,
faid he, I will fow red ftraw ; for by that time the ground will be tamed ;
and tins is the approved method in that country, where rich lands are
broken up.

^. 36. The

86 SOWING.

Order of fovv- §. 36. The wholc method of hufbandry in the Ifle of Wight is, upon the
iag ia the lile g,.^ (iitj-j ^f i.^,-,^] (-q f^^y peas j on the next wheat, and then barley. In Hert-
Henfordihire, fordlWre the method is to fow, firlt wheat, next peas, and then lay down to
&c. fallow for a wheaten crop, or elfe fow oats after the wheat, and lay down to

grafs-feeds.
Jn Effex, ic. In Elfcx, and fome other places, efpecially where the ground has been
improved by chalking, they firft fow wheat, then beans, which, being kept
clean by the hoe, they reckon equal to a fummer-fallowing, then wheat
again, fov/ing broad clover on their iaft wheaten crop.
In Wilts. About Holt, it is a great practice to fow wheat after peas, and then peas,

and wheat again, not having in thofe parts fo much land as to afford to let a
ground lie ftill for a fummer-fallow. They reckon that a peas-crop does the
wheat as much kindnefs as laying it to a fummer-fallow.
In Leiceflcr- In Leiceflerfliire they fow a wheaten crop the laft, and lay down to grafs ;
^"■^- the reafon they give is, becaufe, the ground having a twelve-month to grow

to grafs, the year following they may expeft a very good head of grafs ; and
fo gain a year by it ; whereas, if they fow it with a fummer-crop, they can
expeft but little Ihow the firll year; and Mr. Clark faid further, that they
counted the wheaten ftubble kept the grafs warm in winter, and, as it rot-
ted, the worms drew it into the ground, which made much for the grafs p.
Wheat Town §. 37. I am fully fatisfied on experience that whoever keeps land poor, and
onpoorl.nd fows it With wheat, which grain requires land, (according to it's nature) in
wlll"*^^ >'ie ^^^^ heart, it will not only produce a thin crop in fhovv, but alfo a crop that

will fall fl:iort in refpedl of yielding.
Not to be §. ^8. Whatever the praftice may be to the contrary, I hold it improper to

fown on the ^ -wheat ou the green ftubble of s;oar-vetches cut for horfes : this ftubble

green itubbie , , . ^ . , , 1 ° -m /- j 1 j 1 j 1

ofgoar- being ploughed m with the wheat will hnnow, and heat, and moldy the
vetches. ground, and be fo far from feeding the wheat with a fweet difli that it will

make it produce but fmall ears, and weak tillows, and thin bodied corn.
Wheat near ^. ^g. No wheat Can be enfured to be clean feed from oats, if oats be fown
f*oul fe"d!^' ^" the next adjoining ground, for the rooks and fmall birds will carry them

into the wheat-land.
Of fowing §. 40. I have ventured to fow fome grounds with wheat after a wheaten

wheat after ^^^ ^j,^ jj^^g before, being fummer-fallowed the year after for the fecond
crop, and have found by experience that ftiong land will bear an excellent
crop of wheat after wheat, provided it be fummer-fallowed the fecond year,
that is, let the ground reft one year, dunging, or folding it for the fecond
crop; but by experience I find, that fliallow light ground will produce but
thin wheat, and a fmall ear, if fowed to wheat after wheat, and a fummer-
fi\llow taken between ; though the ground be dunged for fuch fecond crop,
efpecially if the fpring prove cold and wet ; for fliallow or weak ground being
unkind for a crop of wheat fo managed, if the fpring and fummer prove un-
favourable

p See the author's obfervations on Coj-n in general, where you will find fome particulars relating
to fowing.

ivJ->eat.

SOWING. 87

favorable to this grain, fuch ground will fhew it's paflivenefs, and tokens of
fuch inclemency, much more than ground of but equal ftrength, when fowed
to the firll crop of wheat.

OfSOWINGWHEAT.

§. 41. ""Lord Bacon, in his natural hiftory, fays, he fowed wheat deeped Of fteeping
in urine and dungs of feveral forts, chalk, &c. — And that the corn fteeped in ^"j^g^^ ^/^
urine, and fowed in the fame earth with the reft, came up, and grew bolder
than the reft ; — Therefore it feems of confequence that fheep and other
cattle have plenty of water j — But he fays not that he let it grow till it came
to feed.

§. 42. I had wheat fowed under furrow in a ground which I had plough- Offowlrg^
ed, thwarted, and dragged, after which I ploughed and fowed the corn in ^y^rOTf-"'^ **
the moft huftjandlike manner 1 could ; and indeed the wheat came up in the
furrows in uninterrupted parallel lines, and without any weeds between the
furrows. — But farmer Ginneway faid, that the ground at feed-time working
fo curious fine fhould have been fown one caft over the other under furrow,
and then the ground between the furrows had been filled, which I believe
to be a good way.

By the confideration of a ground where I have wheat fown this year 1706,
where the ground had been winter-fallow'd, and brought to a curious mold,
I am apt to believe, that in our cold clime, wheat in fuch earth Ihould be
fown under furrow, that it may lie the deeper ; for this crop on the 24th oi
April was miferably thin, and what blades grew feemed fomething towardb
an ink-blue, and the roots feemed matted on the furface of the ground j
which makes me believe, that the winter-corn was not buried deep enough j
being fown, as this ground was, not till the 25th of September, it lay too
much expofed to cold ; for, where ground works fine, the earth crumbles in
at the firft tining, and fills up the furrow ; and three or four tlnings finifijes
it, in which cafe it is not poffible it Ihould be v/ell burled. — If ground works
well, it is alfo beft to few vetches under furrow, the dung in that ca!e being
laid on the ground after the thwarting it. At fowing, the ground v/orking fo
iine, the feed was not eaiily buried, but lay on the fuiface, which was
inconvenient.

Some confideration there ought to be whether you fow under furrov/ at
two earths or three. It feems, if no reafon offers to the contrary, that wheat
folded on fallows ftiould be fown under furrow on the fecond earth, becaufe
the ftrength of the dung is turned down to the corn, but, if folded on the

fecond

"^ In corrtradifiion to this, Mr. Tull afTcrts, that, if fecd-v.'heat be fcaked in urine, it will not-
grow, or, it' only fprinkled with it, it will mod of it die. — A very knowing hufbandinan, whom I
confultej on this occafion, confirmed the former part of Mr. TulTs afFcrtion, and affurcd me he had
found it fo hy experience, but added, if the urine were mixed with foniev/hat more than onehal'
>water,-it would make excellent brine for feed-wheat — Ste mOiC on this fubjcil in the author's ob-
•fcri'ations on Wheat.

8S S O W I N G.

'fecon<i earth, then, for the fame reafon, to be fown under furrow on the
<hird earth ; but if the winter-fold for barley was on lay-ground, the barky
lliould, for the fame reafon, be fowed under furrow on the third earth.

September 14th, 1699, I obferved a clofe ploughing up in Leicefterftiire,
and the corn lowing under furrow ; the ground had been I'med, and fo
ftrangely run to weeds that I wondered at the boldnefsof thehu{bandman,and
'went up to him. — He was fowing his wheat fteeped in lime; 1 obferved the
grain was plim and very large ; I told him in HampHiire we efteemed the
leffer wheat the beft ; he faid, in the common-fields, where they gave three
earths, which laid the land light, they ufually fowed of the fmaller feed, but
(faid he) here we choofe a large feed, as fuppofing it has ftrength to fhoot
forth it's ftalks through the clots and earth it lies under; for it now lies
deeper, and the earth clofer and heavier upon it than if it were fowed after the
plough, and harrowed in ; befides, if very wet weather fhould fall upon it, fo
as thoroughly to wet the trumpery of weeds we turn in, a fmall grain would
be fooner chilled than this large fort. — I alked him, how many bufhels he
fowed ; he faid, three to an acre.

Mr. BilTy of Wiltshire being at Eafton I told him of my new hu{bandry
of fowing my wheat under furrow, and ridging it up. — He faid, if 1 fowed it
under furrow fo, I muft take care to be fure that the ground was fo thorough-
ly moift that the corn might grow from fuch moifture, though no rain fhould
come; for he had known crops often loft, by fowing dry under furrow, —
and I remember my carter had told me the fame thing.

In North Wiltfhire, when they fow under furrow, I find by the account of
■many experienced huihandmen, that they aim to fow the laft of their crop
that way, and to fow it on mellow earth, fuch as peas-erfh : the reafon why
they generally fow the laft of the wheat fo, is, becaufe it is the latter end of
iiutumn, for the moft part, before the ground is well wetted, and in order for
it ; for it is the greateil caution they have not to fow dry under furrow, but,
on the contrary, to fow fo wet that they may be fure the corn will grow:
but I find they all agree, provided the earth be wet enough, the middle of
Augufk would not be too foon to fow under furrow.
Time of fow- §. ^^^ It feems to me in early harvefts, occafioned by lK)t and dry fucn-
ang wheat, me^s, at which times the wheat is alfo very yellow, and ripens to perfeftion,
there is no need to fow fo early as in cold vi^et fummers, when the harvefl: is
backward, and confequently the wheat more horny ; for the ground being
heated, or in a manner burn-beaked by the hot and dry fummer, and the
flour of the wheat dry and mellow, it will come up and fhoot away at an in-
credible rate, and the after-mafTes of all grades in the autumns of fuch fum-
-mers carry a firrong deep green, a token of the ground being impregnated
with the heat, and a proof likewife that it has not been exhaufted of it's
fpirits, for they were not tranfmitted into vegetables, being bound up for
want of a vehicle to infufe themfelves into their roots by rains ; but after cold
faw fummers the autumn -after mafs of grafs has a weak pale verdure.

•§. 44. It was May 12th (anno 1700) and time to confider what to do with

"the

SOWING. 89

die wheaten fallows. Several good farmers were of opinion that It was time
enough to fow my fallows a fortnight before Michaelmas, becaufe I had
dunged them; but, faid they, in cafe one fows a light and poor ground, or a
cold ground, v\ ithout well maintaining it, fuch ground ought to be fowed the
beginning or middle of Auguft.

§. 45. ""To fow fummer-corn dry, and wheat wet, is accounted bcfl for dif- Tofowwheat
ferent reafons, viz. in the fpring there is no doubt but rain will come enough '^"'
to bring up the corn, and in September, when wheat is fown, there is little
danger at that time of the year of fo much fun as to harden a cruft on the
earth, fo that the corn cannot get out, tho' ploughed and fowed wet. — It
may not be amifs however, if one fows wheat at the latter end of the year,
fuppofe at Michaelmas, to fow it when the ground is dry ; for that time of
the year grows cool, and large dews fall, nor can it be long before rain
'will come ; and, if it be cold land, and fowed at the latter end of the year,
when the ground is very wet, it will be the apter to chill.

§.46. In die beginning of Auguft, 1697, I allced a hufbandman when Time offow.
the farmer intended to fow a certain field to wheat ; he faid, in the latter end v"^;"!!^"^;"^*
of Auguft. I afked him how that came to pafs, feeing he was already fow-
ing the field adjoining with wheat. He replied, it was becaufe that was fuch
light ground, that it murt be fown early, that it might get root before win-
ter came on ; otherwife it would be in danger of being killed ; but, faid he,
the former is a clayey heavy ground, into which the winter could not foon pe-
netrate, fo as to kill the corn ; befides, if that were not fown late, the weeds
would get ahead.

On the other hand, December 19th (anno 1700) I faw ground of farmer praaice m the
Farthing's in the Ifle of Wight.fown to wheat, which was maimed, and it 'fleofWigiit.
was not come up ; alfo I obferved fome other perfons fowing then ; I thought
it very late, and afked the farmer about it. He fiid, that, in their country
(the winter being milder than with us at Crux-Eafton) if fandy and poorifli
land be fowed early, it will have fpent it's ftrength on the halm, or green
wheat, before the fpring and lummer comes, and will not then be able to
maintain the crop.

The fowing of wheat in the Ifle of Wight late, that is, at the latter end of
Odlober, and all November, efpecially if land be poor, is very good huf-
bandry, (but it feems it ought to be well trod, left it fliould blight by being
too loofe) becaufe that country is warm through the vapours of the fca, and it
would fpend itfelf too faft, in cafe it was fowed in September ; but it is quite
otherwife in many parts of Hampfhire, becaufe the cold lies fo hard there,

t It is a general rule, fays Mr. Tull, that all forts of grain and feeds profper bcfl, fown when
<he ground is fo dry, as to be broken into the moft parts by the plough. The reafon why wheat
is an exception to that rule is, becaufe it muft endure the rigours of the winter, which it is the bet-
ter able to do, by the earth's being prefled or trodden harder or clofer to it, as it is when moved
wet. For this reafon the farmers drive their fheep over very light land, as foon as it is fown with
■wheat, to tread the furface of it hard, and then the cold of the winter cannot fo eafily penetrate, to
kill the roots of the tender plants.

N that

Early fown
whea; does
not tillow fo
much in the
ipi ing as late
{own.
Of wheat's

50 SOWING.

that the wheat cannot be too rank before winter, and will fettle the better j
yet, in cafe the winter fhould prove fo mild, that it fhould by being fowed
early run to be rank, it ought to be refreHied in the fpring by pigeon's dung,
or fome fuch contrivance j otherwife a fmall and weak ear with a weak
fpindle muft be expe(fted.

§. 47. The Hampfhire farmers obferve, it is not to be expedled, that
wheat fown fo early as the beginning of Auguft (hould tillow fo much, when
fpring comes, as wheat would do that is later fown ; becaufe wheat early
fown has already tillowed and too far fpent itfelf in the forehand of the year.

I ftruck in with a notable farmer in company with Mr. Hillman ; it was
July 24th, anno 1701 ; I alk'd them, whether fome in their countiy were
not fowing wheat ; they faid, many talk'd of beginning ; but, faid the
farmer, 1 think they had better let it alone ; for our's is a light and iandy
ground, and the fummer has been very dry and hot, (for not above a Ihower
or two of rain had fallen between May and that time) therefore, faid he,,
thefe laft two days rain (for it had rained plentifully for two days) the corn
by virtue of the great heat of the ground will rife up very quick and fafi,
and run itfelf out of heart before winter, and dwindle all next fummer, for
it is in a manner carrying a double crop ; — fo faid Mr. Hillman alfo.

Many of the hill-country of Hampshire are of opinion, that a fortnight
before Michaelmas and a fortnight after are the prime times for fowing wheat
in the hill-country, — but I do think all wheat fhould be in the ground
by Michaelmas- day.— It is true, too many of the hill-country do not huf-
band fo well as they ought to do ; for poor land fown early, if a mild
winter fhould come, may fpend itfelf fo much, that at harveft the fpindle
may be but weak; but if the land were better hufbanded, it would bear the
running to ranknefs in the forehand of the year, tho' the 'winter fhould
prove mild, and have ftrength enough not to abate of it's crop in the fpring.

It was the 15th of September (anno 1702) when farmer Hawkins told
me, that no wheat had then been fown with them about Andover ; for, faid
he, our ground puts very forward in the fpring, and wheat fov/ed early
would then be too proud.
In the hU- It feems, that in the hill-countiy of Hampshire we ought to take care not
country. jq f^^y ftrong clay-land too late with wheat ; indeed, the beginning of Sep-
tember feems not to be too early, for there is no danger of clay-land, lying
fo cold, being too proud ; the dews and cold nights in September and (ilo-
ber, the frofts and cold rains in winter, and the cold fpring will keep it
back ; fo that it feems in cold clay-land wheat ought to get fome good root
before the cold feafons come on, that it may be in heart to bear up againft
the winter ; whereas earth of a mixture between white earth and clay being-
of a drier, warmer, and healthier nature, and in every of the foregoing re-
fpedls capable of thriving both in Oftober, a^d all winter long, how wet
foever, as well as in a cold fpring, if fuch land be in good heart, it need not
be fowed till the laft of all your land. — The mere wliite earth-chalk might
alio be lowed as late, but that it is rarely in heart enough.

I was

SOWING. 91

I was obferving to feme farmers of Hok in Wilts, it being in the month in Wilts.
of March (anno 1702) that their wheat look'd much greener than ourHamp-
(hire wheat at this time of the year. They faid, it was becaufe it was
fowed fo much later, and that their's would lofe it's beauty, and it's firil
leaf would die and look rufly were they to few early.

Mr. Clerk of Leiceflerfhire fays, if the feafon be mild, they often fow in LeiceHer-
vvheat at Chriftmafs, and that Mr. Cheftlin has fowed wheat this year ( 1699) ^^"^'
which is not out of the ground, it being the i 2th of February ; that if they
fhould fow wheat as early as we do in Hampfhire it would be deftroyed by
weeds, as well as be too rank.

Mr. Raymond of Puck-fhipton, .Wilts, tells me, the notable men, who Wilts,
make their . obfcrvations in the vale, fay, though they fliould not have a
feafon to fow their wheat. fo early as they would, by reafon of the wet, and
are forced to ibw late, fuppofe the middle or latter end of November, yet
they find fuch wheat will do very well, if very hard frofts do not come
before it has made a pretty good fpear under-ground ; no matter whether
it has firft put forth a blade or not, for by the time the fpear is fliot under-
ground the corn is well rooted.

I have eight or nine acres of brafliy ground, tho' redifli and clayey,
occafioned chiefly by the abundance of ftones, which mixing with the clay
make it hollow ; this ground was fallowed up pretty late in the fummer,
viz. the latter end of July or beginning of Auguft, with intention of plough-
ing it again, and fowing it with wheat ; but viewing it September the 30th,
after a good fhower of rain, I found it would work and tear very well on
one earth, fo as to harrow off at fix tinings at moft ; fo, tho' the ground
was defigned for two earthsj yet I fowed it on one earth ; for it is of that
confequence to get in corn in good feafon, if the ground will work well,
that in the hill-country, where we have a great crop of wheat to fow, no
opportunity of fowing may be loft after this time of the year ; for it very
rarely happens but wheat early fown in fuch ground as above dcfcribcd, and
in the hill-country, comes off better, and produces a better crop than the
laft fown wheat, tho' we were fure of a feafon for fowing it.

I obferved, that a few lands of the abovementioned ground had a pretty In groiind rur.
deal of grafs come up in them, and faid to the man, who was there fowing, 'ograis.
that I thought fuch grafs would tear up pretty well with the harrows, the
ground being hollow, and having lain down but one year. — He laid, that
he thought alfo the grafs would do no harm, becaufe the ground would be
fown early, and fo the wheat would out-grow the grafs, and top upon it, —
which I thought a good reafon.

§. 48. * The old cuftom in the hill-country in Hampdiire has been to fow The earlier
two bufhels and an half of wheat on an acre in the ground early fown, but ^j'the'lcG"^'
in that later fown three bufhels and an half on an acre. — The reafon they feed is re-

N 2 alTign q^'reii-

» Mr. Tull obferves, when wheat is planted early, lefs feed is required than v/hen late ; be-
caufe le(s of it will die in the winter than of that planted late, and it has more time to tillow.

92 SOWING.

affign IS, that the earlier the wheat is fown the more it will (hoot out In
blades and tillows, and fpread farther, whereas the later fown corn will not
fpread, the cold winter coming on it, and very likely give but one blade
only.

One Parker came to fee me with farmer Biggs ; he was fpeaking of the
great fatnefs of their land for wheat, and faid, that at the latter end of
November they fowed but one bufhel on an acre, and, if in January, but a
peck more ; therefore, faid he, tho' we give fourteen {hillings per acre, we
fow a bufliel lefs on an acre, nay a builiel and three pecks lefs than you
when we fow late, for then, faid he, you commonly fow three buihels : fo
that the bufhel of feed you exceed in, or a bufliel and three pecks, will
abundantly recompence for what we exceed in rent, efpecially when wheat
is at fix fliiilings per bufhel ; but then, faid he, we give three earths.

I was telling Mr. Bachelour of Afhmonfworth, that I found! had under-
feeded my wheaten crop that I had fowed in my clay-lands in Septemhec

and 0<5tober this year (1705), and yet I fowed three bulhels on an acre.

To which he replied, that of late years he and others had by experience found,
that at that time of the year it was beft to fow at leaft three bufhels and aa
half ; nay, faid he, the ground at that time will take four bufhels, and we
find 'tis befl to fow four bulhels and an half of barley, and five of oats on an
acre.

As mofl farmers, who fow any quantity of wheat, propofe to buy every
year a load at leaft of feed-wheat for change, fo it is advifeable to fow the
faid load of bought feed fo early, and in fuch forward ground, that they
may be likely to houfe and threlh it time enough for fowing the next year's,
crop, which, in the hill-country, is by the middle of Auguft.

One ought to contrive to have the clean feed-wheat for a change as

early as may be, becaufe it is much dearer than common wheat, and the

earlier it is fown it will go the farther, becaufe lefs need be fown on aa

acre : again, it is proper to contrive to fow the choice clean wheat in good

knd, becaufe the increafe will be the greater, whereby you may have the

more to ferve your own occafions, or to pleafure your neighbour.

Of hard- §• 49- It feems to me cheaper and better to buy middling clean wheat

picking feed- for feed, and hand-pick it, than to buy clean feed, becaufe it cofts lefs to.

^^^^^- hand-pick that wheat than what one muft give over and above for clean

feed, which is never that I know of clean, though pretended fo to be.

Sowing early §. 50. It is a common expreflion in countrymen's mouths, that old wheat

P!'^,^".'" is not fo fubjedl to blight as new,— but, as I take it, the blight is not found-

'^ '"'^' ed either on the newnefs or oldnefs of the corn,* but inafmuch as old wheat

is generally fowed betimes, and before new wheat can be had, therefore

fuch land is lefs fubjedl to blight is true.

Again I judge, that, whereas it is faid, that wheat fowed early is lefs apt
to blight, the ground having more time to fettle, the main reafon is, not
that the time that latter fown ground hath to fettle is not long enough before
the burning v^eather and blights come ; but that, when ground is fowed

early;,

SOWING. 93

early, it has time to fettle before the frofts come, which keep heaving and
hollowing it, and hinder it all the year after from fettling.

§.51. It is obfer\'ed, that new wheat and old wheat being fowed at the Different
fame time, the new wheat will at the end of the firft three months be above |™"ew ^'
a week forwarder than the old :,for this reafon I advife to fow old wheat old wheac.
at the firft and earlieft fowing, if you fear winter-pride, but new wheat, if
you fow late, and fear it will be backward in tillowing '.

§. 52. In a hot fummer, when harveft comes early, before the ftrength Of ploughing
of the fummer be far fpent, when the wheat is yellow, tho' not hardened ^"heat'ib!- a
and thoroughly ripe, it is incredible how foon, if the ground be wet, * brit- baftard-crop.
ted corn will grow. I had fome acres this fummer (1714) blown out by a * '"itfhed,
high wind, enough to feed the ground for a baftard-crop ; and what fell in
criveil'es and chinks, the wind coming with rain, grew to be five or fix
inches long in ten days time ; fo that in fuch cafes, if you think to drag or
plough it in, the fooner the better; and, if you plough it in, the fhallower
the better, and the furrows as narrow as may be ; that, if it cannot get
through the furrow, it may have the lels way to fhoot llantwife before it

meets a feam to come out at. The lefs graify any ground is, and the more

knot-fine, fo much the narrower will the furrow turn up, or break by the
plough.

Of SOWING BARLEY.

§.53. " Sow barley in the drier lands, fays Varro; fo that, in thofe hot
countries, they did not look on their land too hot for barley.

§,54. It v/as Chriftmafs (anno 1702) and farmer Biggs, farmer Crap, xi^g of fow-
Mr. Bachelour, and farmer Hafcall were with me : I propofed to them the ing barley-
advantage of fowing barley and fummer-corn earlier than they did by a P;"^'^'^^.^^^^^^'
week or a fortnight, in cafe the land was in any good heart, and in duft,
for the damage by what might die by bad weather would not come to fo

much as was always loft by drought. Farmer Biggs and farmer Crap were

of my opinion, but Mr. Bachelour differed from us, which feemed to arife
from his fowing poor land early, but I grounded the fuppofition on the land
being in good heart ; however we all agreed, that the earlier barley was
fowed the finer it was, and the later the coarfer, which muft arife from the
firft having it's growth from it's earing in a hotter time, whereas that fow-
ed later has much the colder time ; fo rath-ripe barley is generally the
fineft. Farmer Biggs faid at another time, tliat a week's fowing earlier thaa
ordinary was of great avail to the finenefs of the barley.

Confidering therefore the fmall difpatch in ploughing the fecond earth in
the fpring, and the danger of being late, and alio caught in the wet, it
feems to me moft reafonable to. hire ploughs to help, the firft dry feafoa

that

• See the author's obfervations on Wheat.

■ In aridiore hordeum potius quam far ferito. Varro, fol. 34.

94

S O W I N G.

that offers, and not to truft to the contingency of dry weather ; for, tho*
you (hould continue hiring the whole barley feed-time, yet you will be well
repaid for it by putting your corn in early, which will carry the finer and
larger body.
Fn Leiceller- Captain Tate of Leicefterfliire fays, thai it is allowed that their early fow-
(hire. g(j wheat and earlier fowed barley are the beft, and that, if the feafon per-

mits, thev begin to fow barley the beginning of March ; — to that therefore
I muft attribute the finenel's of the barley of the north, feeing thev lie wetter
than we do at Earton, and feeing that we at Eafton have finer barley than
at Burclear, &c. — where thev are on the clays, they fowing as late as we
do ; vet there (hould be fome difference in foils, leeing Captain Tate named
In Yorkftiire. a place in Yorkfliire, where he fiid was the finefl: barley in England, wliich

would be ripe and in the barn in eight weeks time.

Time of fow- ^. 55. At feed-time, in flinging the barley into the ground, the farmers

ingbarley on gre^much governed by the feafon of the year; for, unlefs the ground be very

of land. dry, and has had warmth by fomc good weather preceding, they hold it net

proper to fow their barley, in fallowed land that the}' ftir again, till about a

wetk in April, becaufe, if much wet fliould foil on fuch land after fowing it

would lie fodding, and be apt to chill the corn, but on white land \*hich they

fow on one earth, if the weather be dry, they often fow a week before Lafljj^

day ; for from fuch land the water runs off and finks down the better ; be-

fides land fo fown is ufually white land that is naturally dry and warm.

Mr. Worlidse in his Kalendarium Rufticum, fo. 270, fays. About the end
of March or earlier you may begin to fow barley in clay-land, but not fo earlv
in fandy-land. — The only reafon of which, as I apprehend, is, that hot
weather coming on apace at that time of the year, the clay-land is very fubie<ft
to bake ; therefore it is beft to fow barley there before the fun has fuch power,
whereas the light land is in no fuch danger; and fince, as above, you find
that barley to prove finefl that is fowed earliefl:, fo,as clay-land naturally brings
the coarfcr corn, fowing it the earlier may much mend it.
Why weeds §• S^- it i? obferved by many, that, when they have fown their barley
abound inear- very early, the crop has been almofi eaten up by weeds ; the only realon to
ly-iowedbar- ^^ given for wecds in early-fown barley more than in that fown later is, be-
caufe many weeds and their feeds are of a more hardy nature than barley, and
will grow early, whilft the fpring is as yet cold, and may get the forehand of
the barley, and over-top it.
Timeoffow- §■ 57- February ifl. (anno 1669") I obferved a clofe of about twenty acres
ing barky in belonging to 3 farmer of Hawthomc in Leicefterfliire, which had been fal-
Leiciikrihire. j^^^.^^ ^^^p j^^. j]^g week before, -was fowing to barley ; thinking it was very
carlv I allccd the farmer, who was in the field, whether it was common in
that country to fow fo foon. He anfwered, that they generally found the
barlev firfl fowed proved befl^, and fo faid others whom I fpoke to about it.~
This ground kirnelled very fine, and was of a curious fat light mold, lying
very warm amidA the barns and houfes of the town, and upon a fhoot, that

neither

SOWING. 93

neither rain nor fnow could lie long on it.— I fpoke to Mr. Clerk of it, and
he faid, by the middle of February all the common-fields and inclofures
would be. fowing with barley : this was as warm a winter as had been
known. — He faid their grounds were very apt to bind by heat, and therefore
the barley was better if it was pretty high; whereby it kept the ground cool
againil^ the time the hot weather came upon it. — He faid, the fnow at this
time of the year never laid long with them, but he approved of late fowing
vyhere the fnow lay long. — He added however, that the farmer abovemen-
tioned fowed his barley a fortnight the earlier in hopes it might be reaped
the fooner, and fo he might be the forwarder in his turnip-feed-time.

§. 58. My opinion is, that fiich grounds as are early-fovvn in a cold hill- Whatkmdsof
country, the land itfclf being alfo cold or clayi(h, ought to be fown with a ^^''*>' ^° ''^
late-ripe barley, efpecially if fuch land be declivous from the fun, or hidden !°r,naoil^'
from it by hedge-rows ; for the ftraw of rath-ripe barley being in it's own
nature weak, will be much more fo where it has not it's fliare of the fun, and
where the cold clay-ground gives off it's ftrength fooner, after the fun's paf-
ling the follHce, than other ground ; on this account the flraw of the ra^h-
ripe barley, for want of being fupported and nouri/hed to it's maturity, rather
withers than ripens, and then the ftraw muft needs crumble or fall down ;
and the grain will plim no farther, but dry away and be very thin ; but the
flraw of late ripe-barley, being bolder and flronger, will ftand the longer ;
and, tho' the fun fhould be withdrawn, and the corn (hould lie under a
fhade, yet, fo long as it flands upright, the flraw will convey fo much nou-
rilLment to the grain, it being fown early, as to ripen it kindly, even notwith-
ftanding the difadvantage of being fluded from the fun. — Yet, if I may ad-
vife in this cafe, I (hculd rather prqpofe in fuch ground as hes from the fun,
or is fliaded, efpecially if it be clayey and cold in it^s nature, to fow white
oats ; tor they will have finiflied their courfe fooner, if fown pretty early,
and will ripen before the flrength of the fun iToall be much dechned.--If ta
avoid the aforefaid mifchiefs late-ripe barley be not fown, and there fhould
come a cold wet fummer to add to the evils aforefaid, rath-ripe barley bein^
fown will fall much the fooner, even while the flraw is green, and will then
never come to maturity, but from the roots new tillows will fhoot forth with
green ears, which will neither ripen themfelves, nor, by drawing away the
nourifliment, futter the firil: and elder ears to ripen.— The reader may fee
more relating to this fubjed: in my obfervations on Barley, where 1 have
treated more largely of the nature and qualities of this grain.

•§• 59- i'o"r buHiels of barley is generally the quantity allotted to be fown Qijantify of
on one acre, but, if the ground is very good, they may fow five bufliels. a'ri'^H -mr

Mr. Edwards of Leicefterfhire fowed this year (1699) four buniels of UiccileX".»
barley on an acre, becaufe his barley was not good ; when his feed was
good he uled to fow but three bufliels and a peck at mofi ; upon which he
argued much to prove, that it was mofl profitable to fow the beft feed, for
what of tlie other v^'ill grow, faid he, nobody knows,

§.60. If

96 SOWING.

If the fallows ^_ 5^^ jf ^he fallows are very dry, barley and oats may be fown fomewhat
ley and oa[s the earlier ; for it is a great matter to throw feed into a dry bed, efpecially if
may be iowedcold and wet fliould corne aher. Summer-corn may be killed two ways by
"• cold, I ft, by the chill and coldnefs of the earth; adly, by the fierce feafon and

coldnefs of the air :— Now, if corn be fowed when the land falls into powder,
tho' cold rains fliould fall after, yet the land will lie fo warm as not to chill
the corn ; and if the root is not ftarved, tho' the blade fhould be taken ofF,
that will grow again ; but if ground be ploughed wet, and fuch weather
fliould come, the corn will be in danger of being killed both ways.
Different fea- §.6 1. The general proverbs or wife fayings of our anceftors relating to
b"'r!e° in d'le^ hulbandry feem rather to have been calculated for the vales than the^hills ; for
hill and vale the hill-country was of lefs confequence till the late improvement j»f^fowing
country, in^re- gj.^j-g.f£gj}s_ 'pj-jg ancients ufed to fay, " barley rtiould leap on the ground,
and dry .^"^^ *' vvhen fowed out of the hopper," — which exadly fuits the condition of tlie
vales, where commonly they begin to fow their barley at the latter end of
February or the beginning of March, when it is impoffible fuch deep lands
fhould at that feafon be too dry ; they are rather fubjedl to the other extreme;
but in the hill-country, where the lands are light and poor, I have often ex-
perienced, that we have fown in the fpring, when the ground has been fo
diy that there was no likelihood, except rain came, of feeing half the corn
come up, and we have often waited a month for rain ; the confequence of
which has been thin barley, and an edge-grown crop; therefore, if my ground
be rightly prepared by feaionable fallowing, fo as to work fine at feed-time, I
never fear fowing my barley too wet, provided the ground be not in danger
of treading ".

Of SOWING BARLEY and OATS.

§.62. How much cold is an enemy to vegetation may appear from feeds

•put forth being put into a glafs of water; for many days they will not * chifium, nor

roots. imbibe the water-, but their pores will rather be clofed than opened by .the

water, it being cold ; for which reafon 1 conceive it not to he good to fow the

lenten corn in cold clay-lands, efpecially barley, early ; — for it feems not to

be good to check feeds in their progrefs to vegetation, for not proceeding in

that cafe is going backward, and fuch damage may the feed receive in a few

days, when firft fown, as it can never after recover.

Of oats. § 63. I cannot find in the four ancient authors De re ruftica, that any of

them give any directions about fowing oats: it feems they had an opinion,

that they were a grain to be negledled, being, as Virgil has it, of a burning

quality, and exhaufting the land, and they having other variety of corn for

their cattle.-— On review I find the following brief diredlion in Columella.

Oats

^ Of barley's degenerating, and cautions to choofe the fulleft and beft bodied feed, fee our au-
thor's, remarks on Barley.

SOWING. 97

^ Oats are fowed in autumn, and partly cut up green for food, and partly re-
ferved for the fake of the feed. The feed here to be laid up feems intended
for feed again ; for I cannot find any dircfted for feeding horfes, &c. in thefe
authors. If thefe oats were to be cut green, no wonder they preferred other
forts of leguminous corn.

§. 64. I inquired of a farmer in my neighbourhood about feed-oats ; and Time of low-
whether he had any to fell : he afked me, if I thought it not too early to fow "'^ °*"'
them yet, it being March 27, (anno 1703) for, faid he, I once fowed oats at
this time of the year, and in good land that I had defigned for barley ; but
cold dripping weather came, and I had not two bufhels again in an acre.

§. 65. A field of mine having born three crops, the laft of which was Time of Tow-
vetches, I fowed the fourth with white Poland-oats : the ground ploughing '"S white
very fine, and harrowing in duft, I was the rather inclined to harrow them in
on one earth, fince I could lay them in a warm dry bed, the ground being
very dry, which induced me to do it fo early as the 9th and 10th of March,
though it was fooner than I had ever known them to be fown.— There fol-
lowed a very dry cold fpring (anno 1713) without rain till the firft of May,
when there fell a plentiful rain, which went to the roots of all corn ; one
fourth part of the oats fown never came up, and thofe that did, looked fpiry
and weak till about the 2oth of May, and then, warm weather coming, they
thrived wonderfully in tillows, ranknefs, colour, and breadth of blade, fo
that it was plain the ground was in fufficient heart ; but they were fown too
early : it further appears that they were only fown too early, becaufe the up-
per partofthe ground, though by much the beft, had not half the crop of
oats the lower part of it had ; the reafon of which was that the upper part lay
mofl: expofed to the cold. — From hence it is plain, that two or three days
before the end of March, or after the beginning of April, is the time for fow-
ing white oats, and, if the ground be ploughed juil before fowed, they will
lie the deeper and warmer.

§. 66. Five bufhels of oats is the quantity they fow in the hill-country Quantit>-of
on an acre; — but, if there be a ftrong elbow-wind at the time of fowing, "n^'ihe'hil'u"*
there muft be half a bufhel extraordinary allowed to an acre, whether oats, country.
barley, or wheat, but a face or back-wind fignifies little, nor the elbow-
wind neither to peas or vetches. — There are fome farmers among us who low
but four bulli€ls, but that quantity is not fufficient to feed an acre properly :
though the feed be very good they ought not to ibw lefs than four bulliels and
an half.

§.67. Hugh Clerk of Hawthorne in Leicellerlliire, and Mr. Clerk of [^f '7 ^j*" .
Ditchly affure me, that, on light lands in the common-fields, they fow fix ar.doa'tsfov'-'
bufhels of barley in a lugg, that is a chain-acre, though but four in clay-land edon an acre
in the fame fields.— I alked Hugh Clerk the reafon of it ; he faid, becaufe, J;^'^'"^"-
if the light land was not filled with corn, it would be full of weeds. I alked

'' Avena, autumno fata, partim caeJitur in foenum, vel pabulum, iluni adhuc viret, partim fe-
mini cuftoditur. Columella lib. 2. c. 1 1.

O him

^8 SOWING.

him whether the clay-land would not be the fame, and if fo, why he did not

fow as much on that ; he faid, the clay-land would have as full a crop with

four burtiels as the other with fix, for from one grain the clay would put

forth three, four, and five ftalks, whereas the light earth would not yield

above one or two flalks.— I faw this fort of clay-land laft abovementioned,

and I thouo-ht it was half clay half fand. — On the lighter land they fow three

bu{hels of wheat, on the heavier but two, and of oats not above four bufhels

on the light land, for, faid he, there is more of that grain goes to a bufhel.

whlteoatsto §. 68. At Whitchurch farmer Perry and Mr. Bunny had difcourfe with

befownthick. j^g about the nature of white oats : — they both on their own experience a-

greed that they were to be fown very thick, becaufe they would not tillow

nor multiply like black oats ; — therefore, faid they, five bufhels ought to be

VidOats 60 fowed on an acre. — Farmer Crapp agreed afterwards that they would not til-

Of the ullow°' low like black oats ; but others I find are of a contrary opinion, as I have noted

ing of white jj^ ^y remarks on oats. ' Mr. Ray fays the white oat will degenerate in poor

**"'' ground, and become a black oat. — See my obfervations on Oats.

Of SOWING BEANS.

§.69. '' Palladius tells us, it is a rule laid down by the Greek writers, that
all corn of the leguminous kind fliould be fowed dry, except beans, and they
ought to be fowed wet.
Time of fow- §• 7°- I" Wiltlhire they fow beans in December and before Chriftmafs.—
ing"beans°ir' Farmer Miles faid, it was obferved that thofe beans kidded beft, and he
'^'''=- thought the reafon to be, becaufe fuch beans, being checked in their ftalk by

the cold weather, did not fpend their ftrength, when at the fame time their
roots were getting a faftning in the ground, whereby they fo much the better
fed their ftalks when fpring came ; whereas the beans fown late, having no
check, run into halm, and draw fafter from the root than it can afford, and
fo the root has the lefs flrength for kidding.
Eeans, if fow- §.71. Augufl 30th (anno 172 1) I fliewed farmer Sartain of Broughton in
ed early on Wilts the two acres and half of beans I had fowed; the ftrongefl and befl part
]and?to'br of the ground bore the woifl beans, and the lighter land by much bore beans
fowe'd dry. excellently kidded. — I had been at a lofs for the reafon of it, but as foon as
the farmer entered that part, which was the ftrong and cold land, he faid,
thofe beans looked as if they were fown too wet.— On refledlion I well re-
membered, that I feared, when they were fown, that part of the ground was
too wet. Why, firmer, faid I, fhould beans be fowed as dry as peas ? he faid
yes, if ground be ftrong clay-ground, one need not fear fowing them too dry
in February or the beginning of March, for fo early in the fpring the ground
could not but be moifl: enough to bring up the beans.

§. 72- I

= Si ager paulo fterilior fit avena noftra alba in nigrum degenerat. Ray, fol. 42.
^ Omnia lepumina CJracis auaoribtis leri jubeatur in ficca terra, fjba tantummodo in humida
debet fpargi. PJlad. lib. i. fed. 6.

SOWING.

99

§. 72. I was afking farmer White of Catmoor in Berkfhire, how he would How to plant
advife me to few horle-beans, whether to plant them or fow them; he faid,^°'''^^"^""'!'*
he thought in our country we could not well plant them, becaufe, our land °
being very ftony, the ftick for the mod part would not enter the ground, and
it would alfo be very difficult to hough them ; — but Major Liver did not appre-
hend thefe to be objedlions, and faid, if I planted them, I muft plant by a
line acrofs the furrows, becaufe there is no good houghing with the furrow,
the earth not being fo well raifed about them. — About Catmoor they often
fow beans and peas together.

§.73. Mr. Ray fuppofes, that the feminal leaves firft fwelling do afford Of the femi-
the firft nourifhment to the nib or radicle to fhoot, which having gotten root ^aHeaves of
does again nourifti the feed-leaves, which do again communicate their oleous
and fait particles to the plant ; but, fays he, in feeds, whofe leaves or feminal
lobes do not rife above ground, as in beans, peas, vetches, and other legumens,
the radicle, as far as I have obferved, does afford no nourifliment to the lobes,
which therefore cannot properly be faid to increafe and augment, tho' they
fwell very much, occafioned by the watery humour, that infinuates itfelf into
their pores, as into a fponge. Ray's Proleg. fol. 28. For this reafon the fe-
minal leaves or lobes of thefe grains may not be much the worfe for fowing, '
tho' the lobes are partly cut oft. The root of every plant makes a beginning, ^^^ '■°''*
and flioots downward before the plume ftirs and advances upwards ; for the
plume is included between the lobes of the feed, and fo the moifture or ve-
getable parts of the earth cannot come immediately to it, and lend their aftift-
ance, as they can to the outward part of the nib, which fends forth the root,
and therefore the root muft make it's firft advance '.

Of SOWING PEAS.

§. 74. Many good farmers I have coflvcrfed with on the fubjedt of fowing Of lowing
peas, agreed, if the ground was very dr}?-, and worked pretty fine, it was beft fuVow".
to fow peas under furrow ; — but, if they were fowed under furrow when the
ground was wet, and a dry feafon fliould come, the ground would be fo
ftarky that they could not come up. — By fowing under furrow there is this
certain advantage, that the peas are fecured from pigeons.

Feb. 1 2th, (anno 1699) they were fowing peas under furrow in the com- In Lekefter-
mon-fields in Leicefterfliire, and alfo harrowing fome in. — I afked Mr. Clerk '^"■^•
what rule he went by for harrowing in peas, or fowing them under furrow ;
he faid, if the land was light, they fowed under furrow ; but if heavy, they
ploughed and harrowed in; or though the land was clay and heavy, yet, if it
had had a frofty winter, whereby it broke and crumbled well under the
plough, they fowed under furrow, or fometimes, though land in it's own
nature light, having had an open wet winter, £l:iould work heavy, they have
neverthelefs fowed peas under furrow.

O 2 The

* See the article Beans.

100 SOWING.

o

The great danger of fowing peas under furrow, the ground being wet, is,
if rain fhould come upon it, and after that a baking fun, the earth will have
a glazy cruft at top ; now a pea will fhoot forth a fteni or wire, which fhall
work upwards, tho' a foot under ground, but the danger is left the bud, or
leafy fubftance it (hoots out when near the top, being broad and tender,
fliould not be able to get through the faid cruft, and fo be buried.

Farmer Lake of Faccomb, a very underftanding huftiandman, is not fond
of fowing peas under furrow ; he fays, they are fo long in coming up that the
knap-weed, and other weeds get up before them, and are apt to fmother the
peas, and if the land lies on a Hope, it is hard to plough ftiallow enough, and
i'o the peas may be buried.

Farmer Carter of Cole-Henly being with me, we were talking of peas j he
faid, he had always obferved, when peas are fowed under furrow, if the fur-
row ploughed heavy and clcfe, fo that the peas could not flioot upright, but
were forced to flioot aflant for a good length before they could get out, that,
tho' fuch peas halmed well, yet they never bloiTomed nor kidded well.— This
is very probable, and agrees with what has been already fet forth, viz. That
where a plant receives any injury, the firft is in it's feed, as being the moft
tender part, the next is in it's bloflbms, 6cc. Note, It is very obvious that,
where the pea runs flanting under a furrow before it can get out, it muft
fpend itfelf, and it is alfo vifible, that it lofes of it's health thereby in it's
being whitened and blanched.
In Wilts. The wet fpewy clay about Holt in Wilts, of which fort that country does

inuch confift, if kept in arable, is mad by much rain, if heat or winds follow;
for which reafon the countryman is forced to fow his peas under furrow, and
to leave the ground and furrows rough upon them, without harro wing-in the
grain, in hopes that, if rain come, the ridges will molder and tumble down,
and then grow mellow, that fo happily the peas, if the ground breaks kindly,
may coine through the earth under which they are covered, and, if the earth
be too clofe, that they may notwithftanding come through the feams of the
furrows ; thus their lands when finiflied lie like fummer-fallows for wheat,
for the finer they make their grounds the fafter they bind, . if rain ftiould
come and dry weather follow, fo that no peas could come through ; whereas
in the rough manner (above defcribed) in which it lies, the heat and rains
together contribute towards the moldering of the earth ; though this way is
fubjedl to many inconveniencies, (as before fet forth) yet under the circum-
ftances abovementioned I know not how the countryman can do better ; but
where fuch lands do abound, thofe parts of England will never get the name
of corn-countries.

Farmer Reynolds, ofLiverftock in Hampfhire, fpeaking of fowing peas
early under furrow faid, — it was an old proverbial fpeech, that

" The longer peas lie in their bed

" They will rife with the better head. .

Which obfervation I have found to be true..

. §■ 75' Fe-

S OWING. loi

§.75. February the 3d and 4th (anno 1713) I fowed four acres with Of fowir.g
Cotfhill-peas under furrow. — February 5th to loth I fowed under furrow ten ^er furrow'""
acres with great grey partridge-peas ; 'tis true, we had no Hinging fharp frofts
to endanger them that way, but we had a very long cold dry fpring with
eafterly winds, yet I could not obferve that either of thefe peas fuffered by
being fowed fo early, but flouriflied much the better for it.

lies, my tenant in Wilts, and Smith of Dead-houfe had fown the fame in Wilts.
grey partridge-peas under furrow the 25th of January in mellow good
ground, and throughout the fpring I obferved the halm to flourifh very
well, but at harveft, there having been an exceeding dry fpring and fum-
mer, they, like the generality of the peas of that countiy, bore very fliort,
and but few kids, whereas I had long ones, and my halm extraordinary
well kidded, not only of this fort, but all the forts of peas I fowed, viz,
blue-peas, and poplings, early in their feafon, which I attributed to the-
fumnier-fallowing my ground.

§.76. I am clearly of opinion, that in a cold hilly country, and more To plough up
efpecially if the foil be clay, which is therefore the colder, if you fow any ^''^ ground in
of the rath-ripe peas, which are the tender fort, fuch as poplings, blue- peas, |r^i^'n,e'^t'i^^'
or Henley-greys, it is prudent to plough up the ground a fortnight or three before you
weeks before it be fown, that it may be dried and mellowed by the air, ^°^'' "^'^'"''F^
wind, and fun, and then to take an opportunity of fowing the peas when ^"^
the ground is in the temper above defcribed, which cannot in fuch a fitua-
tion be too nicely regarded ; for the common way of fowing after the
plough the latter end of February, or beginning of March, efpecially if the
grain be tender, is ftill the more improper, becaufe the earth will at that
time turn up a little moift and cold, which fo early in the year chills corn ;
whereas by turning up the ground a fortnight or even a month before vou
fow it (according as your ground may require time for mellowing) you'll be
able to command a fit time to fow your feed in, a few dry days rendering land
chaftened, dry, and friable ; nor will land ploughed up dry in a cold coun-
try fo early as January or February be apt to bring weeds by lying fallow. —
I would alfo recommend the fame way for oats or barley, if fowed by the
middle of March, before the wither is warm enough to fet the feeds of
weeds a growing by the earth's lying in fuch manner tilled. — But when
I recommend the ploughing up of land a fortnight or even a month before
it is fown, it is not meant of ftrong land ; which will not by fuch time be
brought to harrow, nor of light ground, which works knot-fine ; for, if
rain in the interim (liould come, fuch ground will quatt, and the furrow
will fill up, and lie foggy and wet long after ; but fuch ploughing before-
hand-is meant of ground, which for the moft part will hold a furrow, or
plough with fome roughnefs, yet fo mellow as to fhatter either by dry or
rainy weather.

§. J'/. Being in WiltHiire I inquired of the farmers, viz. farmer Earle, Difference of
Mr. Smith, &c. why- they did not fow popling or grev Burbage-peas ; I r'^' '"I'-ardi-
found they thought thofe peas too nice to fow in their cold lauds, and faid "^ ^

they

I02 SOWING.

they did not do well with them, but that the hot and fandy lands about
Scene and the Devifes might be very proper for them.— Note, It is my
hndhJuV-'^'^ opinion, when any pea is fowed early under furrow, if the land be fome-
h.rro-.ved what mellow and friable, as in that cafe it ought to be, and alfo to be very
fome time af- dry when the peas are fowed, the beft way is, after the peas are fowed, to
peas.°^^'^^ let the furrows lie unharrowed for fome time, it may be for three weeks or
a month, for the roughnefs of the ground will be a great means to keep the
peas warm from frofts and winds, and dry from rain, whereas, if fuch land
be harrowed off fine, immediately after the peas are fowed, it will lie wet
and cold a long time in January or February before it can dry again, that
being the wet feafon of the year, and no fun to dry it ; but if fuch land be
harrowed only two or three tinings a month after fowing the peas, they ly-
ing deep Vv'il} only have rooted, but not fprouted, nor will any of them be
torn up by the harrows ; this method will protect the peas from cold till the
fiercenefs of the feafon is over, and fecure them a warm bed at firfh putting
in by the furrows covering them and fliooting off the rain, which is of vaft
confequence to all forts of corn.
Pcaschilledby §. y<^^ ^ neighbour of mine fowed peas on fallows, being dry and in
aftennou! good order, but, before he could finifli the harrowing them, came a fnow ;
after the fnow was melted, which was in a day or two, he fowed more in
the fame ground, being of the fame goodnefs, and harrowed them in, the
ground working pretty well, but not fo well and mellow as the former : of
the peas of the firfl: fowing he had treble the crop he had of the latter fow-
ing.— I conceive, for the folving thefe two notable inftances, we may com-
pare corn to an egg, which has the fanguinea gutta, of which Pliny fays,
" certo faltat palpitatque," and the many damages that fanguinea gutta re-
ceives on the firft incubation, either by thunder or fhaking, or chill the egg
Of thepunc- takes, are reckoned up by the Roman writers. Now, in like manner, in the
feed. germen of corn there is a puncflum fallens, a minute vital principle, which

moves, and which receives an immediate check, if laid in a cold bed, which
has a notable ill effedl throughout it's whole progrefs of vegetation after-
wards ; and a warm dry bed, which enlivens it, has, on the contrary, a
good eftect. I think there is no room to doubt but that there is an innate
adion in feed, more than is merely mechanical, implanted in it by God Al-
mighty, (it is this, which in it's pundlum fallens, inclines the root to take
downwards, and the ftalk upwards ; otherwife the firfl; condudl in vegeta-
tion is unaccountable) and that the feed has this power of adion feated in it-
felf purely relative to the thing it performs, and confined only to that ; nor
IS this ftrange, feeing the union of the foul and body in man cannot be re-
folved without flying to Omnipotence ; it is the lame of the animal life with
the body of brutes, and it is plain the things of this creation move within
peculiar fpheres of fubordinate gradations ; we may therefore well believe
there is a power of adtion thus confined, which partakes not of any agita-
tions ; this may be termed a moving fpring, elater, or pulfe ; nor is it rafli
to affirm fuch a motion we cannot fee ; for who can fee the motion of the
3 index

SOWING. 103

index of a clock ? and yet, that a motion can be a thoufand millions of times
lefs, none can deny.

§. 79. On lightifh or whitifli ground, or fuch ground as one may fufpedl Of dulling
to be too light for peas, in my opinion they ought to be drilled when few- ground '^ '
ed, and drilled at a tolerable diftance, that a fufficient quantity of earth
may be houghed up to cover the roots of the peas, in order to keep them
moift, and to break the fcorching heat of the fun, which^brings blights,
choaks them up in bloffoming-time, and occafions other evils, which may be
the chief reafon of drilling about Burbage.

§. 80. I afked feveral knowing farmers when was the befl feafon to fow Peas— the
peas. In this country, faid they, peas as well as vetches require to be fown 1^^*°" of fow-
early and when the ground is dry ; if they are fowed when the ground is °
very wet, or if much wet falls upon their being fown, they will be apt to
burfl:, and fvvell out of the ground, fo that they'll lie above ground. — I
afked them, how it could be that a pea could fwell out of the ground ; they
could not tell tliat, but one of them faid, he believed there was no more in
it than that the rain wafhed the earth from them. — I afked them, what they
meant by an early fowing, and when was the beft time to fow peas ; the farmer
lafl mentioned faid, he thought the latter end of February; — the reft agreed
to it, and faid, if they were fowed fo early they would be likely to kid be-
fore the blight came, which otherwife would breed a catterpillar that would
eat them up. — They told me little yellow worms fometimes would fwarm
on them.

Where elms, maples, and furze are, the butterfly, that breeds the catter-
pillar, lays her eggs, rather than in the peas, which fliews inftinft for the
good of her kind ; for the butterfly choofes what is beft for the nourifliment
of her brood, not herfelf, who is fed by the juices of flowers, and the honey-
dews.

It was January the 1 8th when my bailiff afked me when I would fow
the farther part of a certain field to peas ; he faid, he would not advife me
(unlefs I fowed them under furrow) to fow them till a week within, or the . .

middle of March ; for, faid he, the land has been hard driven, and is but
poor, and, if fowed too early, the peas may come up and receive a check
by cold weather, which they will hardly recover ; it is the fame with oats ;
therefore, faid he, about the middle of March is the befl time for fowing
peas in poor land, but, if you fow them under furrow, they may be fowed
the latter end of February, becaufe they will require a longer time to come
up. — Afhmonfworth-down is poor land, and they are ignorant when to fow
it, and commonly they fow it too early, whereby I have known -that
ground, to have had three ftarts, and as many checks by the cold weather,
which has brought their crop to nothing j — it is true, added he, farmer
Bond fows peas the latter end of February, but then his ground is good
ground, and lies warm.

I find it is the opinion of the beft hufbandmen- in thefejiarts, that a good 'oljefc^n
crop of peas depends very much on the early fovv'ing them. — Major Liver

fays

104 SOWING.

fays he never mifled of a good crop, If he fowed early, tho' in the coldeft
pjrt of the whole farm. — He faid, it being then February the 12th (anno
1701) if the ground had been dry enough he had fown peas before that
time.

Mr. Edwards aflures me that on Chriftmafs-day farmer Elton fowed the
Cotdiill-peas, and never had a better crop.
Thehotrpur If you fow hotfpur-peas in the field, fays Mr. Randal, you muft not fow
p-a to be them till May,"^ becaufe, if they ripen before other corn, the birds will de-

lown late. ^i

vour them.
Of fowing This year (1715) I fowed an hundred acres of peas; part of the land I

differenc forts fowed with great partridge-peas, both under and on furrow, from the be-
ofpeas. ginning of February to about the 20th day: thefe peas were fowed dry,

and they flourilhed exceedingly, holding their own, and profpering through-
out the fummer.— March 19th I began to fow the reft of the land with
blue peas and poplings ; thefe peas were all ftunted, and continued in an un-
thriving condition, with a fmall leaf, and pale of colour, till about the 8th
of June, when by means of warm weather they grew eftabliflied and mend-
ed in all refpefts, and got into a thriving way ; yet thefe peas were fown
when the earth worked well, and was in feafon, all the peas-land having
been fummer-fallowed. The reafon of this difference between the prof-
perity of the great partridge-peas, and that of the blue peas and
poplings I take chiefly to be this, that cold dry churiifli v/inds coming,
and cold rains falling from the latter end of March till the middle of May;
though they had very litde or no ill effedl on the great partridge-peas fov/ed
the beginning of February, becaufe their roots were not only v.ell eftablifli-
ed, but the ground was alfo by that time fettled to them, yet the blue peas
and the poplings had not eftabliflied their roots, nor was the ground fettled
to them, and fo they became paflive both to the cold winds and the cold
rains. — If it be objefted, that the great grey partridge-peas are much hardier
than the blue poplings, and that the difference might lie in that, — I anfwer,
'tis admitted that the great partridge-peas are a hardier fort of peas than the
blue peas or the popling-peas ; but there being at leaft five weeks difference
in the time of their being fowed, that fets them on the level with each other
in refpeft to their hardinefs and tendernefs. — And if it be farther objedled,
that cold churlifli winds and cold rain might as well have fallen on the
former as on the latter fort of peas, foon after the great partridge-peas had

been fown, 1 anfwer, we had a great deal of fuch weather then alfo; but

by conftant experience I have obferved, that peas fowed very early, the
ground being dry, and in good order at the time of fowing, do bear the
cold weather, cold rain, and cold wind, which then happens, better than
the peas fowed from the beginning to the middle or 20th of March do bear
the lame fort of v/eather, which ufually falls about that time of the year,
without rcfped: to the tendernefs of any particular fort of peas, (for I have
fown both blue peas and popling-peas the latter end of P'ebruary) becaufe it
fares with grains, ceteris paribus, as with our bodies, viz. that cold rains,

cold

SOWING. f05

cold winds, and cold air in the months of April and May pinch us, and make
us more fenfible of their effedls than thofe of February and March, whai our
pores are clofer, and the capillaries hardened ; for in April and May the fun-
beams play on us by lucid intervals, and open and foften the pores and capillaries,
whereby the cold penetrates deeper, and we are more fenfible of it; and thus
ftands the difference between the young tender roots of the latter-fowed peas,
viz. the blue and popling-peas, becaufe they are tenderer, and the great grey
peas fowed earlier, becaufe they are hardier, and fo their roots are hardened,
and flruck down deep into the earth, and the earth is well fettled about them
before the fun from April to June adts by fits on the ground to tl:ie prejudice
abovementioned, whereas otherwife, as hardy a pea as the great grey par-
tridge-pea is, the ftalk and leaves, if fowed at the time the other peas were,
would ficken alfo upon the fame occafion. — It may be demanded now what
remedy can there be prefcribed to help this ; I anfwer, — By all means roll Caution— to
thefe latter-fown peas the firfl opportunity of dry weather you have, after you ^l^.^'l^ga^,"""
have fown them, the ground being then alfo dry; thofe fowed the beginning
of February need it not ; but be fure to roll the latter-fown peas as foon as
you have half or a whole day's work for a team cut out, (which we commonly
reckon from ten to twelve acres) and delay it not out of impatience to fow
your whole crop of peas firfl:, for fuch delays are fatal ; a team that rolls ten
or twelve acres in a dav, can in lieu of it plough but one acre. — Note, I and
the whole country negleded fnatching this opportunity on account of drip-
ping weather, but dearly paid for it.

§. 8i. Of the great grey Cotfliill-peas three bufhels and an half ufed to be Thequantity
fown on an acre, but the ground about Crux-Eaflon is not good enough for of peas on an
them ; of the grey partridge-peas they fow here three buOiels on an acre.

This year (1700) peas being houfed dry, the more will go to a bufhel ; fo
pofiibly three buHiels and a peck may do to fow an acre ; otherwife it is beft
to fow four bufliels ; for peas, according to the countryman's obfervation,
never thrive well till they can take hands with one another, that is, by their -
firings, which they can never do if fowed thin : when they can climb up by
one another they fhade the ground.

July 20, 1 70 1, I obferved my peas, being well kidded, were fallen on the
ground about three weeks before they ought to be hacked, from whence I did
infer another benefit from fowing them thick, viz. that, by handling one ano-
ther, they were able to fland up the longer before they were pulled down by
the kids, whereas by being pulled down too foon, if wet weather fhould come,
both kid and halm might rot. Farmer Biggs fays, he had a fervant that one
year fowed five bufhels of peas on an acre, for which he was very angry with
him, but however he never had better peas.

Palladius tells us, and Columella and Pliny agree with him, that peas are to
be fown the latter end of September, in light, mellow earth, and in a warm
moifl: fituation, and we have feen indeed, that this dry fummer, 1705, has
been more ruinous to peas than any other fort of grain. The quantity Palla- o

P dius

io6 SOWING.

dius prefcribes to be fown on an acre is four modii, or three, he fays, may be
fufficient ; whereas we fow four bu(hels, that is eight modii, tho' we begin
not till March, and of vetches we fow not fo many as the Romans ''.

OfSOWINGVETCHES.

§.82. Palladius fays, vetches fhould be fowed as early in the morning as
the dew is off, and fliould be covered in before night, for otherwife the
moifture that falls in the night may corrupt and deflroy the feed.
Winter- §-83. Farmer Elton told me, it was agreed to be befl to fow winter-

fovved dry and vctches diy j the ground could not be too dry for them ; he faid they were a
early. ticklifli grain, and it was good to fow them early, by Michaelmafs ; — but,

faid he, I once fowed them when it was fo deep in wet that my horfes trod
as deep as the plough went, being loth to let them lie flill, and people who
came by thought me mad, but I never had a better crop of vetches. — Three
days after I dined with Mr. Whiftler, and, fpeaking about vetches, I faid they
were a ticklilh grain ; yes, faid he, but they need not be fo, if people pleafed ;
for I was told it by a wife hufbandman forty years ago, and have found it
true, that, if you fow vetches very early and dry, you'll have vetches enough. —
What, by Michaelmafs would you have them fowed? faid I. — Ay, faid he, by
the firft of September if you can ; the winter then will never hurt them ;
they are to be fowed at a leifure-time, when the ground may be too dry for
fowing wheat.
To be fowed Between the 29th of Auguft and the 4th of September, 17 19, I ploughed
^^' and fowed to vetches eighteen acres of a barley-ftubble, which had been

fowed to corn for feveral years before : the whole fummer having been ex-
ceeding dry, the ground ploughed in afhes, and had no moiflure to bring up
the corn j I chofe however to fow it in this condition, (tho' I had no profpedl
of the vetches growing without rain) becaufe I was apprehenfive, that, if rain
came, the ground might fall fo flat, and fo clofe together, that I fliould not
bury the vetches. By the fourth of September aforefaid I had fowed to
vetches another field of fourteen acres, a wheat-ftubble, it being alfo all in
duft. After fowing I trod them both with fheep, Notwithftanding this great
drowth, yet by the 19th of September the vetches in both thcfe fields were
come up, thick enough for a crop ; fo that it muft be concluded, by the be-
rinning of September there is, by night, a coldnefs and moifture in the air,
which enters the earth, fufiicient to make a vetch grow : barley alfo is of the
fame nature, for the barley by this time came up very thick in the firft men-
tioned field among the vetches, I having ploughed in the barley-ftubble. —
The fowina; of vetches in this manner fucceeded to admiration, for, as they
came up at firft extremely well, fo they held their own all the winter, and
when I viewed them the 7th of June (the time of noting this obfervation) the

whole
•

^ See the article Peas.

SOWING. 107

whole crop flood as thick on the ground as the ground could well bear, info-
much that it was not only the moft flourifliing but the thickell: crop I ever
had; for, judging from their thicknefs, one would conclude that every vetch
took root and grew.

Mr. Edwards ploughed for vetches about feven or eight days within Sep- ^'■' ^°''"'ant
tember, but it happened to be fo wet he could not fow, nor could he harrow feafon, to be
till the 24th of Odober, when he told me he would not fow them till to- 'o*" very
wards Candlemafs, for that the middle time of fowing vetches (about St. Leo-
nard) was the worft of all ; he allowed the early fowing was the befl: ; but,
faid he, the middle fowing, which is about the beginning of November, and
fo on, is the worft, becaufe there is warmth enough in the earth to bring up
the vetch, which will in all Hkelihood be tendei* when the froft comes, and fo
be cut off by it, whereas what is fown the lateft, fuppofe before Candlemafs,
when the ground is cold, will, if froft and cold weather come, lie buried
without coming up, and fo take no harm. This to me feems to fland
to reafon.

§. 84. I have found by experience, that it is not good to fow goar- vetches fo Jeafonoffow-
late as the beginning of May ; for they will not, if it fliould prove a wet cold '"S goar-
fummer, come to a good growth and bulk, and yet will be very grofs and
fappy, and unfit for horfes, efpecially when the heat of the fummer is going
off, as towards the latter end of Auguft ; and, if you defign them for dry fod-
der, they will be fo late ripe, that their grofsnefs will occafion their lying out
fo long, as to be in great danger of being fpoiled.

§. 85. At autumn (anno 1719) I was fo late in fowing that I could not fow Midhief from
winter-vetches till the 18th of Oftober, and got finiflied by the 24th. — [er'SciS"'
The feafon was too wet, and the ground ploughed and harrowed as heavy, wet and late,
but not heavier, than we generally defire it fliould for wheat, not fo wet as
to tread in when harrowed ; the winter continued very mild to the beginning
of February, when there came a little froft; yet the vetches never thrived,
but looked very dwindling, and of a ruflet colour, which I imputed to their
being fowed fo wet, and fo late in the year : I believe, tho' the ground had
been as wet as it was, they had not fucceeded fo ill had they been fowed five
or fix weeks earlier ; and yet this ground was in a very friable condition, not
clay, but a mixed land, and lies on a defcent to the fouth-eaft. The vetches
continued in an unthriving way till the firft of February, when a hard froft
came with an eafterly wind, which held for a month, and it killed the whole
crop root and branch.

§. 86. If a ground lies aflope to the north or weft, the earlier you fow it Ground flop-
for winter-corn the better ; becaufe in Auguft and September the days fliorten no^^^^to {.g
apace, and fuch grounds have but little fun then, not fo much as to make fowed early
early-fown corn winter-proud; befides, fuch corn will ripen the fooner, be-^"^"''
fore the fun lofes it's ftrength over fuch grounds the following fam.mer.— I "^^ "
fowed at the latter end of September, 1702, vetches in a field that lies from the
fun, the ground being alfo poor ; they kept blooming to the laft of Auguft,
and yet were very Ihort, and the land was white land. I fowed wheat,

P 2 , juft

I'lntcr-
corn.

io8 SOWING.

iull by the faid vetches, after Michaehiiafs, which ripened as early as any;
but then the ground was very well maintained, which muft make the
difference.
Quantity of ^_ §-,_ jf yctches be dry they fow two bufliels on an acre; if fwelled with
acre/ being moill:, two bufliels and an half, becaufe they take up more room.

Three buQiels of winter-vetches on an acre is more than is commonly fown,
efpecially on white land, becaufe they generally kid well on fuch land, but I
think three bufliels not too much for red land, becaufe they may kid the bet-
ter for it, and not run fo much to halm.
Tofavefecd ^_ gg_ It is good to have fuch plenty of winter-vetches, as to be able to
ncx jear? ^^^'^ ^^^^ J" halm for fowing the next year ; becaufe it is bell to fow them
early, i. e. by the beginning of September, vetches of the fame year's feed
being feldom ripe fo foon, nor can they be got to be threflied till Michaelmafs.
Care not to §. £g, A neighbour of mine was impofed on, and inftead of the winter-
^„^^"'^°g'^ °" vetch bought the fummer-pebble-vetch-feed, which he fowed, and, though
fced. the winter proved mild as ever winter did, yet in March they were all dead,

and the land was ploughed up again ; which I mention as a caution to others.
The pebble-vetch is a fummer-vetch, different from the goar-vetch, and not
fo big ; they call it alfo the rath-ripe vetch.

Vctthes two §. ^o. I was telling farmer Pocock of near Hungerford, that I had

year old Will fown winter-vctchcs two year old, being well houfed, and that they came up

peas.' well. He replied, that he had fown great partridge-peas the fecond fpring

after the harveft, and they grew veiy well ; but, fays he, I kept them in the
mow till near the time I fowed them, for otherwife, as he fuppofed, had
they been threfhed long before feed-time, they would not have grown
fo well '.

Of SOWING TILLS.

1 ills bell on §• 91' Going from Crux-Eafton to Holt I obferved in the fat ftrong clay-
good land, lands between Pewfey and Devifes beans on one ridge of land, and tills
on another, and fo to continue interchangeably for fome miles. — I thought
tills had always been fown on light and poor land ; therefore I afked r\
farmer I met whether tills grew well on fuch land ; he faid, the Wronger the
hnd the better the tills.— I afked him if they fowed not tills on two earths,
the ground being fo heavy; he faid, fometimes they did, and fometimes on.
one earth, as the land worked. Again I afked him, when they fowed the
Trmeoffow- jjUg^ j^g f^id before their barley, that is in March. I found by him that two
ouantity on buflicls, and two and an half were fowed on an acre : the tills on that land were
an acre. the befl I ever faw.

To fow barley §. 92. I was advifed by the country-people, where tills are much fowed,
With tills. to fow a bufhel of barley in every acre of tills ; they faid it would ferve the
. tills to climb up by, and the rudder would eafily feparate them,

S-93-I

• See the author's remarks on Vetches.

SOWING.

109

§. 93. I told my neighbouring farmers that between Pewfy and the De- Quantity on
vifes, in mighty ftrong land, they fowed two bufhels, and two buflicls and aa ^" ^"''•
half of tills on an acre. They replied, it muft then be becaufe, their land
being fo ftrong, if not fowed thick, they would run too much to halm, but
in poor land they thought a bufhel and a peck on an acre was fufficient.

Of SOWING GRASS-SEEDS.

§. 94. That feeds will not grow unhulled, or extra cotyledones, fee the
Experiments made by Malpigius in beans, lupines, &c. yet quzere ; for we
know hop-clover unhooded grows well ; but then that hood feems the pod
rather than the rind or cotyledon, the rind going and growing with the feed
ftill. The bran or cotyledon is taken off of oatmeal ; qusre of that there-
fore, and whether it will grow.

§. 95. James Young my tenant in the Ifle of Wight and I were talking of Method cf
clover-feed : he faid, he had been acquainted with a hufbandman who lived [°^urf/°'"
about Guilford in Surry, who told him, the method of fowing it there was,
after the barley was fowed, to roll the ground, which laid it fo fmooth that the
clover-feed might be delivered as even as you pleafed, and then to few it, and
give it a tining-in.

§. 96. My bailiff, who was many years a farmer, aflures me, that in the ^fowing
hill-country of Wiltfhire he has often known hop-clover and broad-clover- '^""[f^^j^^^"
feed fowed with wheat, and it has born the winter very well; he has like- bailey, ^v;
wife fometimes known clover-feed fowed among green wheat in March,
without harrowing it in, with good fuccefs.— Another, aWiltfliire farmer, told
me he had often known hop-clover fowed with the wheat in Wiltdiire, and
he thought it tlie beft way, efpecially if the ground was out of heart, for then
it would pay better than taking a crop or two of corn after the wheat ; one
gets a year's forwardnefs of the clover by it.— He fays likewife, that not far
from Puckfhipton, where the ground is pretty rich, he has known the
hop-clover fowed a month after the barley, left it fhould prove too rank.

§. gj. In September, ijig, I fowed broad-clover-feed with my wheat on Of fowing
twenty-nine acres of land ; I dunged about feventeen acres of it with cow ^"^^^jf ^;'5|°3,''_''
and horfe-dung, and the reft with the fold, or with pigeons-dung, or malt-
duft ; I laid, I believe, near forty load of pot-dung on an acre : it proved
an exceeding mild winter, with a cold and wet fpring and fummer, info-
much that near a month before harveft the wheat lodged : I had a very great
crop of wheat, yet, notwithftanding the dunging, and the mildnefs of the
winter, and the frequent rains throughout the fpring and fummer, the broad-
clover did not at all injure the wheat, though the wheat-harveft did not
begin till the 20th of Auguft ; then I began to cut this wheat, but the
broad-clover was neither rank nor high, fo as to prejudice the wheat, but
feemed rather to be too thin fet on the ground, nor had it made any effort
towards flowering ; yet by a fortnight after the wheat had been cut the
broad- clover appeared very thick on the ground, even fo a.s in many places

I to

no SOWING.

to be matted ; the leaf alfo was ver}' rank, fat, and grofs, notwlthftanding
much natural grafs grew up with it. — What deferves farther to be obferved
in this cafe is, that in the fpring of the year the wheat came up fo very grofs,
that, for fear of a lodgment, I was forced to put my whole flock into it for
three mornings to feed it down, and they without doubt fed on the young
broad-clover as well as on the wheat, yet it feems fuch feeding did the
broad-clover no harm.
Of fowing §. g'S. The loth of Odlober (anno 1720) I went into my neighbour's

I'll whea°In'' wheat-ftubblc to view the broad-clover he had fown among his wheat in the
fpring. preceding fpring, and before he had rolled it. — He was of opinion it fuc-

ceeded very well. — I found the broad-clover to have come up very thick,
but it had a very fmall leaf, and was lefs fappy than my broad-clover fown
when I fowed the wheat, which makes me conclude, that the feed fown fo
late could not penetrate with it's root into the ground fo well as mine, nor
find nourifliment and maintenance hke my broad-clover fown with the
v/heat, when the ground was new harrowed ; therefore it is my opinion,
that, when fpring comes, the late-fown feed will decline and fall off. — I
alfo obferved his clover thrived better where the ground was mere clay than
where it was a mixed earth ; and note, this had been a ver)' wet fpring and
fummer ; otherwife, fowing his clover as he did, he would have had but
little come up.
Broad clover §. 99. This harveft (anno 1720) farmer Crapp of Afhmonfworth, Hants,
dairagesbar- affured me, that, it bavins: been a wet and cold fpring; and fummer, he

lev jt .1 wet . . . . ■

fprinc and ^'^'^s worfe in his barley by 40 1. for fowing broad-clover with it ; for four or
fummer fuc- five wceks before harveft the broad-clover had fo eat out the barley, that the
ceed$. ftraw dwindled, and carried no fubftance, and the barley had but a thin

body, and, when it comes, faid he, to be threflied on the floor, it will
threlh fu heavv, that there will be no threfhing it out for the broad-clover,
which will deaden the ftroke of the flail. — He fays, if broad-clover be fow-
ed with oats, it does not do well on one earth.
Of fowins it It feems to me, that, fince broad-clover muft be fowed in good ftrong
bart'^^*""^^ clay-land, the rath-ripe barley is the fitteft to be fowed with it, becaufe it
alfo requires good land, but more efpecially becaufe it will be early ripe
before the broad-clover can grow to that height as to prey much on the
barley, or fo that fwarths of it muft be cut with the barley, which may
occafion the corn's lying out the longer, for the broad-clover to wither j it
will alfo be cut before that time of the year, when the dew falls in great
quantities on the broad-clover-grafs, which would prevent the barley from
being dry enough to be hcufed.
Of fowing it Since fo much has been faid of the damage that broad-clover often does
withoas. jQ ^ ^j.Qp q£ barley, for the better fecurity againft fuch evils, it feems reafon-
able to me, to lay down to broad-clover with a crop of oats : firft, becaule,
being fowed earlier with oats than with barley, it will not be in danger of
growing fo rank. — Secondly, tho' it ihould grow rank, it will not prejudice
the oats as it would do barley, becaufe oats may lie abroad a week after they

are

SOWING.

Ill

are cut, and take rain without damage. — Thirdly, the ground laid down to
oats is commonly in a poorer condition than ground laid down to barley,

and therefore the broad-clover will be lefs liable to grow too rank. .

Fourthly, oats are generally ripe before barley, and houfed before the feed-
ing weather of autumn comes, cfpecially on the latter-fown barley, which
fets the broad-clover a growing, and makes it very rank before the barley
can be cut.

The farmers of Wiltshire choofe rather to fow broad-clover with black
or white oats than with barley, provided the ground works up mellow, and
they fay, the broad-clover will be the better crop, and the more certainly
fo, for being fowed fo early as the oat-feed-time, nor will it ever hurt the
oats.

One of them, a very underftanding man, fpeaking in relation to his fow- "^'''s whole
ing broad-clover with his oats, told me, that he always dragged them in [^r'lecT '^ '""
with their country-drags (which are not fo big as our's, and have fix tinings TiV ^der
on a harrow) and this he does, tho' his ground had been ploughed up but '""^ ^'''^^.'^
a fortnight before; but he commonly fows broad-clover on ground plough- baTthrHril'
ed fo long before as Candlemafs, which never will, tho' it works mellow, pa'-graph
fall too clofe for the drags to tear it. ' ^^^'^'"^ "''^

§. ICO. Mr. Randolph and Mr. Short Baily of Wiltfhire difcourung vi-ith to «'ar"it— is
me about hop-clover-feed, Mr. Baily aflured me, that having once two or f^P^atcd here.
three quarters^ of hop-clover-feed by him, and having a wheat-ftubble, foul^'^on'"'"
which he obferved the following fpring to be pretty clear of weeds, and wheat iiubble
pretty hollow, he flung in his hop-clover-feed without harrowing it, and ^o'^'in"' ''^'^'
had as good a crop as at any other time. This he faid on an occafion I gave ™'^'"^*
him, by faying, I would try an experiment on my fide-lands by fowing
them with rye-grafs at fpring, on the oat-ftubbles, harrowing them in.

§. ioi. A noted farmer, near Uphaven, informed me, that it was the Of fowi'ng
beft way to fow hop-clover with French-grafs ; that he fowed feven bufhels S F°ench-
of French- grafs on an acre, and with it a good fprinkling of hop-clover ; grafs.
the advantage of which was, that it filled up thofe fpaces that milTed be-
tween the French-grafs, and kept down the weeds till fuch time as the
French-grafs could overcome all.

§. 1 02. It is my opinion, that, if the ground works light and fine,, of fowing
French-grafs-feed ought to be fown under furrow, becaufe (as I have elfe- French-grafs
where obferved) if it be fown on furrow, it is apt not to be healed. — To u",dc''-'fu" w
which add, that French-grafs-feed in it's hufks, being very prickly, is not "" "'
apt as the harrows move, to fall deep into the earth, and tho' fallen deep
enough, yet by means of the prickles which catch hold of the eaith, it is
apt to be harrowed up again.

About Crux-Eafton the farmers think they cannot fow grafs-feed too
deep, fowing it often with corn, and harrowing it in afterwards ; and I have
known hop-clover mowed fur feed, which, {landing too long, fliattered, asid
after the grafs was mowed wheat was fowed under furrow j'the ground was
harrowed fine, and the hop-ciover came up with the wheat as thick as could

3 be

IJ2 SOWING.

be defired, lb that I am fatisfied, if the earth be hght at top, there is no
danger of burying it.

March the 12th (anno 1707) I fov/ed French-grafs-feed under furrow:
no rain material fell till the 2 2d of May, being near ten weeks, during
which time the fun was very hot with dry winds and cold nights : in this
dry time I often fcratched up the ground, and found the lobes or feed-leaves
out under ground, but, tho' fown under furrow, at a perfedt ftand, not able
to advance farther v\^ithout rain, and before rain came, the feed-leaves did
a little languifli, and feem to have fpent their flock of juice, fo that I began
to fear the crop would die under ground ; but plenty of rain coming, I did
between the 30th of May and the third of June obferve the feed-leaves
coming plentifully out of the ground, which was near three months after
fown. I likewife obferved fome oats, fown under furrow the 1 8th of March,
Damage from appearing the firft of June; — I alfo obferved many ftems of thefe French-
worms, grafs-feedo to be bit off under ground, by worms, they not being able to get
tood above ground by reafon of the drought : the infefts of the field are a
great prejudice,
Grafs feed §. 103. Many have fown grafs-feeds when fallows have worked wet, and
may fail by bave had no grafs, which might as well happen from the wetnefs of the

iowin^ It on o ' o_ r i ^

wet f^lows. ground as the badnefs of the feed ; for if barley, which carries fo flrong a
blade, can hardly get through ground that binds by wet, how fliould it be
expefled of grafs-feed fo fown, the blade of which is fo much weaker and
tenderer ? I alledged this to a good farmer of my acquaintance j he rephed,
that, as he thought, grafs-feed could not fall in fo deep as to be bound. — I
anfwered he was miftaken, for the laft tining of the harrows let in the
gral's-feed as deep as the firft did the corn, of which I convinced him by go-
ing out and digging up the feed.
Broad-clover, §. 104. I hold, that in the hill-country, broad-clover ought to be fowed
f "^ n th''k thick, becaufe the grafs will be finer for fliecp, not fo grofs as otherwife it
would be, and confequently, if rain' falls, it will quickly be dry, and, if rain
ibould not fall, the hay, when mowed, will be the fooner made by four
or five days, and being cut in it's juice before the flower dies, it will not
take the damage that it would do, provided it was cut ripe.

I was complaining to farmer William Sartain of Broughton in Wiltfhire
that my broad-clover at Eafion was very four, occafio«ed by the coldnefs
of the land— He faid, if I fowed twenty pound of broad-clover .on an acre
inftead of twelve or fourteen, I fliould find it the fweeter and finer for it,
and it might be farther improved in fweetnefs, if I fed it very clofe, and did
not let it grow to any height.

In difcourfe with Mr. Randolph, and Mr. Short Baily of Wiltfhire, Mr.
Randolph highly commended the fowing all grafs-feeds in a greater quantity
than was pradtifed, efpecially, faid he, French-grafs-feed ; for, if it be not
fowed thick, if a hot fummer comes, it will burn, and other graffes, if they
be not fowed thick, will grow grofs, and then, if at mowing-time a difficult
k3.[on fliould come, the crop mufl ftand till it is a little over-ripe before it

be

SOWING. irj

be cut, and fo it will lofe it's goodnefs, whereas, had it been fine by means of
ibwing thick, it would take little damage. — In Wiltfliire they generally fow
three or four bufliels of rye-grafs-feed upon an acre, and Mr. Raymond
advifed me by all means to fow no lefs than three bufliels of hop-clover on
an acre ; for, faid he, if you fow but two bufliels, you will find abundance
of vacancies, which would have carried grafs, had the feed been dropped
there, the vacancy not being for want of ftrength in the land, but becaule
it had no feed fell in it.

§. 105. Seeds or kernels that are conical, as much as I have obferved. Of corneal
have their root and fpear at the narrow end, wherdiy, when they fall, ^'^^^^•
that end inchnes mofl to the ground ^

EXPERIMENTS on the GROWTH of SEEDS.

§. 106. I had often obferved in the fpring-time, when the blades of bar- Ofthepeady
ley firft began to flioot out of the ground, dewy drops ftanding every morning Jv^a°d their
on the points of the blades, even when the grafs of the field, which was run ufe.
into leaf, had fome mornings no dew thereon ; this made me believe they
proceeded not from the defcending or circumambient vapours of the
air, but from juices drawn up by the roots, which pafled upwards through
the tubes and iflued out at the top, which according to my conjefture was
true, as appears by this experiment I made. — I took a pot of fine garden-
mold, and placed it in my ftudy j the earth was but moderately moift, and
I put into it a handfull of barley ; when the barley fliot up about half an
inch or an inch, at the end of the points appeared the faid pearly drops ; I
wiped them all off, and carefully took up half a dozen of the blades of bar-
ley by the roots, then with a pair of fciflTars cut off the roots clofe to the
grains of corn, and covered them in the fame earth again ; the next day I
looked on the blades, and found the pearly drops of water fettled on the
blades as before ; but on the tops of thofe blades, whofe fibrous roots I had
cut off, not the leafl: moifl:ure appeared, though the blades continued in a
good verdure through the moifture of the earth they were put in ; this fliews
plainly, thofe watery globules are not coUedled from the moifture of the
outward air, but from the juices drawn upwards from the roots. I again
wiped off" the faid drops, and within three hours after found the tops of the
blades were fupplied with frefli drops, which trickle down the flalks when
they fwell to fuch a bulk as to break, and again foon renew themfelves.
This experiment was made in a mild-time in December. From hence it ap-
pears that moifture muff hold proportion to the roots ; and it gave me far-
ther occafion of admiring the wifdom of God in this appointment ; for ob-
ferving that thefe exfudations are, as foon as the fliarp-pointed blade appears,
continually fent forth, we may ground our iudgment on reafon and proba-

' See our author's obfervations on GrafTes.

Q_ bility,

514 SOWING.

bility, that this molfture immediately begins to difcharge itfelf, as foon as
the fpear is fhot thro' the end of the barley-corn, which foftens the earth
upwards, as the blade pufhes forwards, and facilitates the eafy paffage of the
fpear : I conjedure it is the fame in all the grafly fliarp-pointed plants for
the fame reafon. The roots of corn and beans alfo terminate in a fharp
point, as they tend downwards, and, feeing it is fo in the fpires
which afcend, I do very prefumptively fufpedl, that there is a continual ex-
fudation of a moift liquor from the points of the roots, to moiften and
foften the earth before them, the more to facilitate the roots penetrating
downwards, as it helps the blade to pufli upwards.
A cold foil §. J07, Tho' this laft fummer (anno 171 1) was a dry fummer, yet it was

^rnlo'as^to "°^ ^- ^^°^ fummer by any means : I malted barley in November which had
make it fit for taken no wet in harvefting, and was feemingly very dry and hard : I won-
fced. dered to find in every handfuU I took in the malt-floor at leaft one hundred

in^'barl'^'!'" grains that did not come : I ftayed till it came round to the kiln, and then
took twenty of the grains which did not fprout with root, and put them the
third of November into a flower-pot with very good mold, and fet the pot in
my fl;udy. Mr. Raymond came to fee me, and, he being prefent, on the 13th
I opened the earth in the pot, and found fourteen barley-corns of the twenty
had put forth roots, but had not fpeared : the other fix had not in the leall
made any profl;er towards putting forth a root, which I concluded were dead
corns. From hence we may eafily judge how my land, being cold in nature,
and coldly fituated, ripens not barley to perfeftion but in the hotteft fum-
mers, and that this barley, which came not till nine days after it had been
taken from the laft floor, would have proved very coarfe and edge-grown
barley, had it been fovvn in the field ; it alfo feems plain from hence, that
not only when the barley takes wet in harveft, and is cold by reafon of a wet
fummer, but even in all but the very hotteft fummers our barley fliould be
fv/eated on the kiln in order for malting.

It is now further to be obferved, that the very fame barley, out of the
fame field, and of the fame goodnefs with the twenty grains abovementioned,.
and which alfo had not taken wet in harveft, after the floors had been fea-
foned with drying off two kilns, did fo far root, that out of a handfull of it,
when it had fo paft the floors as to be within a week of the kiln, I did not
find above thirty grains, which did not fhew a root. Note, it is to be un-
derftood, that by drying off two kilns, and carrying the malt through
the floors, the floors and houfe had been fo warmed, which is very fenfible
to the fmell and feel, that thereby the vegetative powers of the barley were
forwarded and more exerted by fuch heat : this experiment ftill fliews how
wrong it is to fow fuch barley, efpecially in a cold ground and cold country, to
the growing of which warmth is more necefl!ary ; and tho', as I obferved, moft
cf this barley did coaie, yet much of it did lie fo many days backv/ard, that it
might be doubted whether it would make above half malt j it is to be believed
ihsreforeit might proycj if it came up in coldlandj an ullilagoor burnt ear.— From

hence

SOWING. 115

Tience I conclude, that wheat, if it handles cold and heavy, v/ill do better the Tr.ference that
earlier it is fowed, whilft the fealbn is warm; for if fowed late, by reafon of it's l^^l^f^^^^
own innate coldnefs, it will grow much worfe, and be longer coming up ; cold foil, are
from hence I alfo conclude, that peas cold or black by reafon of a wet bar- '?°"g'°'^ '°''
veil, and cold oats, ought by no means to be fowed in cold land. be fovved™"

§. io8. I took nineteen grains of barley out of a heap that pall the floors early.
of mv malt-houfe, and was to be drved oif in a week's time, which made noj^^'^ r^"^

r 11 1 <-■" T IT 1 1 degrees of vir-

fhew of a root, and on the 17th of November I put them into a nower-pottue in the fta-

of earth ; I obferved three of them had fliot blades in five days time above the mma of feeds.

earth, and on the 27th of November, which was ten days after I had put

them in earth, I took them out, and found four more grains were fpeared

under ground, and had not yet appeared, the fpears being fhort ; and I found

the ten remaining grains rooted with four or five roots, but not fpeared, as

yet appearing ; but on opening the rind found the fpears alive, and that they

had run near the length of the grain under the rinds: thefe inflances plainly

fhew the different degrees of virtue in the ftamina of feeds, and how far fome

flay behind others, which muft be of ill confequence when grain of the moft

perfedtion is not fown, efpecially when fuch indifferent feed is committed to

cold ground in a cold clime.

§. 109. In order to make a fuller experiment of this matter, I tried diffe- A farther ex-
rent grains from different foils. ^"''"h"' '"

February 8th 171 1, I put into a flower-pot two hundred grains of black ceffity of fow-
Poland-oats, marked numb. 8. — The fame day I put into a flower-pot two inggood
hundred grains of Eaflon-oats, marked numb. 9.— March i6th both thefe and froma^good
the Eaflon-oats were come up an inch in fpear; by the eye I could difcern no foil,
difference in the number of each come up ; (they feemed to be all come up j
viz. two hundred of each) but, on examining with the eye only, it was plainly
difcoverable that the Poland-oat came up with the flronger fpear, and March continuation
27th, after both forts of oats had been fome days in blade and leaf, it was as of experl-
difcernable, that the leaf of the Poland-oat was fomewhat broader than the ™^".'^' ^"'^
leaf of the Eaflon-oat, and the ftem proportionably flronger. ceming feed.

February 8th 171 1, I put into a pot two hundred grains of barley, being
verycoarfe, cold, and thin corn, marked numb. 5. — And in another pot two
hundred grains of Weflover barley, marked numb. 6. — And in a third pot two
hundred grains of my heft barley from the down, marked befl, B. numb. 7. '

March 13th there appeared but five of numb. 5, in blade, whereas of the
Weflover and my befl barley appeared half an inch above ground almoft all
that were fov/ed.

March 1 8th of the worfl barley appeared as near as I could reckon eighty-
five blades. — Of Weftover - barley I told above double the number, which
being thick I could not eafily count right, but believe very near the whole two
hundred grains were in blade. — Of my beft barley I believe I might not have
by thirty blades fo many as there were of the Weftover : — it was alfo manifeft
that many more of the blades of the Weflover barley, and my befl barley, had
from time to time dew-drops on them than had the blades of the coarfe bar-

0^2 ley i

ii6 SOWING.

ley; alfo the drops of the former were larger.— I could alfo eafily difcern, if I
looked attentively, that the Weftover barley carried a broader blade than my
beft barley, tho' my beft barley feed feemed as full bodied as the Weftover.

March' 27th I opened the three pots of barley, and was furprized to fee
how the Weflover-barley and my beft had ftruck roots down to the bottom
of the pot, the tap-roots were above eight inches in length and had matted
in the bottom, wanting depth to ftrike deeper; moft of the roots of the Weft-
over barley had ftruck feven, eight, and nine roots ; my beft barley did not fo
often run to feven and eight fibres or roots, but more frequent than the Weft-
over to five or fix. — The coarfe barley very rarely run to feven or eight, but
more commonly to four and five; — and I commonly obferved fome of the
collateral fibres or roots to be very fliort.
Cooclufion. From all the experiments I have made by fowing wheat, barley, oats, and
peas in flower-pots within doors, I have found that, though the earth was
rich and well moiftencd when I firft put the corn in, yet all the faid grains
would haften up to fpindle with a maiden fpear, without tillowing ; which
fliews that when ground of the field wants either ftrength, thro' poverty, or
convenient air and moifture, it will do the like, and when corn in the field
does fo, it is a certain fign of fome deficiency ; for the tillowing of plants pro-
ceeds from a redundancy of humours, or a good quick air that agitates them,
whereby the maiden ftock being not fufficient to receive the vegetable juices,
there muft be an irruption into collateral branches.— I cannot but in a great
meafure impute the abovefaid defedts in the feeds I fowed in the pots in my
ftudy to the want of, and the ftagnation of the air ; becaufe the earth, when
I examined it, did not feem fo very arid and exhaufted of juices, but that
the plants might have better flouriftied, confidering the goodnefs of the mold.—
But I believe the collateral branches to be as perfed as the maiden plant in the
feed ; and this vegetation to be no new formation, but an extenfion of parts
only.

As the experiments I have made therefore of fowing corn in pots of earth
were within doors, where it feems to me, for want of motion of air and a
quick fucceflion of it, the juices ftagnate in the plants, and are not puflied on
to tillow, but run to fpindle, and as by the experiments of malting barle)'-,
which in windy weather, when the air is plentifully forced into the bodies
of plants, runs out to root and to fpire in a hafty manner,. * I doubt not but,

whea

8 Of the great quantity of air contained in vegetables, and it's various ufes, fee the a>
tides Air and Seed in Mr. Miller's dictionary. — Lettice-feed, that was fown in the glafs-
receiver of the air-pump, which was exhaufted and cleared from all air, grew not at all in
eight days time ; whereas fome of the fame feed, that was fown at the fame time in the
open air, was rifen to the height of an inch and an half in that time ; but, the air being
let into the empty receiver, the feed grew up to the height of two or three inches in the
fpace of one week. — When feeds are packed up for exportation, great care fhould be taken,
that they are not fliut up too clofely from the air, which is abfolutely neceflary to maintain
the principle of vegetation.

ieeds fent from abroad in fealed up bottks would not grow when fown.

SecJs

SOWING. 117

when I can make the experiments of fowing corn (as before within doors)
in pots of earth placed out in the air in the month of April, when the earth
fhall be the fame, the water which waters both fort of pots be rain, the inlet
of the foutherly fun through the glafs window the fame pofition, and the
warmth within doors rather greater, I fliall then better difcover the beneficial
powers of air to plants, by comparing the difference; from whence juft re-
fleftions may alfo arife of how great confequence falubrious and plentiful hau-
ilus's of it muft be to our human bodies.

§. no. It is a difficult talk to unfold and afcertain the complicated princi- Ofvegetatlon
pies of vegetation (as they are more or lefs in all forts of earth, and as they '" general-
not only quicken or impregnate the feed, but carry it on through all it's gra-
dations, of woody, leafy, flowery, and fruit fubftances) fo as to know how
to proportion them, or fay in what manner and proportion they aft and per-
form their feveral offices.

For though experiments have been made of nitre, blood, foot, &c. all
which have been found great forcers, fo as to bring forward the leaves and
branches of a plant, yet it may be the flowers or fruit, either in bulk or
number, may not equally fucceed by fuch mangonifm ; few I believe having
had the patience to make an exacft experiment throughout the aforefaid
courfes of vegetation, or if they have, they may not have rightly confidered
what other mixtures there are in the earth wherewith thefe menftruums
may co-operate.

To make a jufl: experiment of this kind, I conceive the naturalifl ought to
take earth very much emaciated by hard ploughing (if it were reduced to a
caput mortuum it would be much the better) and to lay fome loads of it in
different heaps apart, and to impregnate each heap with a different and mofi:
fimple manure, and by equal meafure, and then to plant it with the fame
feeds ; it would be alfo proper that one heap of this earth fhould be left in
it's natural ftrength, and feed fowed in it, to fee the difference.

I fhould alfo propofe that many parcels of the fame earth were taken out of
a corner where the plough cannot come to ftir it up and impoverifli it, and
that the fame experiments were repeated, and a trial made as before what a
parcel of this earth could do by it's own virtue ;

Alfo, that in the like parcels of earth different mixtures were made and
blended together of the faid menfl:ruums, in order to fee the fuccefs of fuch "
compofitions ;

And when all this is done, if I may be allowed to anticipate the event, I
may venture to pronounce the projedt will be in a great meafure fruitlefs ; for
though by this means may be in a great meafure difcovered what are fpurs to
nature, and what will produce the defired increafe, yet to transfer fuch dif-
coveries into the courfe of hufbandry will be impradlicable, by reafon of the

expence.

Seeds being hung up a year in bags, and others from the fame parcel' being kept a year
in bottles felled hermetically, the former when fown grevy well, but none of the latter
came up»

5i8 SOWING.

expence, nor will it explain and difcover the principles of vegetation, as to the
caufe, fo as to make a perfon the wiler, though we know whereby to give
the production ; becaufe I conceive thefe menftruums taking in with them
the latent and concurrent powers and virtues of the air, earth, water, fun, and
temperament of foil with which they are blended and digefted, make a certain
union and texture fo incorporated and interwoven, that they are not eafily fe-
parable (unlefs by fire) from whence refults a third principle, or quinta elfen-
tia, which performs thefe mighty wonders of nature ; fo that from thefe
happy mixtures does arife a fpecifick which God wills (hall do, and therefore
does thefe great things.
' Wherefore by experience we fay of principles in vegetation with phyficians

in medicaments, that, as fuch and fuch fimples are of themfelves profitable
towards curing particular diftempers, fo when taken in compofition (as Syden-
ham profefles) their efficacy is much greater. '•'

This vegetable balfam, tho' fo difficult to fay wherein it confiffs, yet it may
be averred, is as eafily to be feen as underftood ; for tho' almoff: as fubtil as a
phantom, yet it's marks are eafily difcovered to the diligent hufbandman con-
verfant about arable land : we can eafily perceive by the diff^erent colour of
our land (as it turns up under the plough) whether it has born one, two,
three, or four crops, and how in proportion the virtue is gone out of it; and
as fenfible we are by it's rert, and lying to pafture, how with it's vigour it re-
news alfo it's colour ; we do not better fee and know when the plumb or grape
is covered with or has loff: it's bloomy blue, than we know by the colour
the fertility of our foil , which colour arifes from the principles before in-
timated, of dung, air, fire, earth, &c. mingled together, which by often
fowing are abforbed into the corn in too liberal a manner to be renewed by a
daily recruit from thofe elements.
Caufe of good §. m. There is one thing not eafily reconcileable, and which may well
land'sfoon re- jjff^j matter of fpcculation to the curious, which is, that very good earth,
ftrength', and tho' exhauffcd never fo much with ploughing (fo that it will not bear a
bad land not ^^op of com) yct wiU in a fev/ years recover by reff: J whereas land poor
°"'^'^" by nature, and yet capable of bearing as good a crop as the land good by
nature, when it's firength was at loweff: by being over-wrought by the
plough, ffiall make but a very ordinary improvement in proportion to the
other land, and never exceed a certain fecundity, which is it's ne plus ultra ;
and yet both thefe foils equally exhaufted one would think fi:arted fairly to-
gether, and ffood on equal terms and advantage of imbibing the aforefaid
elements, and thefe are all the materials and talents they have to improve
fi-om. — 1 am at a lofs what folution or tolerable account can be given of this
phenomenon, unlefs I fiy, the earth, which was good by nature, confifting
of a juft and happy texture of parts, fitted by a due continuity and unity
to receive the aforefaid elements, and yet not fo clofe as to retain and im-
prifon the watery and firey parts till they putrify and corrupt, but till by a
kind fermentation the fpirituous parts are converted into fixed falts, do then
Jet through, and fuffer the faeces to be waflied away, or to be purified by

the

ROLLING. 119,

the continual free accefs of the elements ; whereas, on the contrary, the
abovementioned poor land, either by too flridl a bond of union, (as clays,
before they are friable by art) are too compact and confolidated to admit
the benign influences of the elements, or elfe they retain and imprifon the
immifHons, till, for want of ventilation and circulation, the flagnating juices
grow four and acid, and, by reafon of the coldnefs of the earth they are fliut
up in, are not capable of a fufficient fermentation to be converted into fixed
vegetable falts.

The other fort of poor land, which being once impoverifhed is a long
time before it recovers, runs into a contrary extream, viz. that of too loole
and light a mold, which may be compared to a perfon under a dyl'entery,
who has no retentive faculty} through this the nourifhment palles with
that precipitation as not to abidj long enough to receive a fermentation j but
the fpirits, and all the fat fubftance received is waflied away and carried
downwards undigefled, and fo fuch ground can receive but flow recruits from
the elements.

Or £hall we fay, the recruit good land receives, after it is impoverished,
feems in a good meafure to arife from the effluvia of the layers or beds of
earth, many feet deep, which are exhaled into the upper furface, and by
the heat of the fun converted into fixed falts ; for generally the better and
richer the upper coat of the foil is, the lower veins of earth are in fome pro->
portion anfwerable and correfpondent thereto.

ROLLING.

§. I. T" Cannot find, as I obferved before, by any of the Roman writers, No roller a-
Jl that they ufed a roller in their hufbandry, but only a crates, that is, "}°"^ ^'^^ ^"t
a hurdle or fiat timber, to draw over their corn, to level the ground. See
ColumeHa, lib. 2. cap. 18.

§. 2. In Spain, after their fummer-corn is fown, a horfe draws a broad The Spanlfh
board of about ten foot lonsr, a boy ftanding on the board, and driving over !m''''T^"'^

^ .O'y £> ' o like the ar-

the corn, which ferves mftead of a roller. tientaates,

"Whereas above, the long plank is defcribed to be drawn as a roller.
Lord Pembroke reftified my notion, and told me, that the plank is drawn
at length after the horfe, as he has feen it j for, faid he, otherwife a horfe
could not draw it, and this way there is an equal weight on the earth for
the fpace the board covers, as there is on the breadth of earth covered by a
roller, whereas, had the plank covered the earth, and been drawn the fame
way as a roller, it would be too light to fignify any thing.

§. 3. Treading v.'heat, after it is fowed, by folding llieep on it, is alio v/ed Treading
to make it clofer than rolling it, in regard rolling only lays the ridge of the^^^"' '^"^
furrow flat, but the fbeep's- feet find every little hollow place,, and tread, it
«lofe»

lafkedi

12Q ROLLING.

In Leicefter- I aflced Mr. Edwards whether the fiirmers in Lclcefterfhire rolled both

ihirc. barley and oats ; he faid, yes, they alv/ays did, and wheat too, except they

folded it, but he never knew them roll peas. — I afked him why they rolled

not the wheat they folded ; he faid, becaufe that needed it not, for the fold

trod it harder than a" roller could prefs it, for which reafon they endeavour,

as much as they can, to fold on the light land. He faid a roller could not

be too heavy, tho' it was as much as five horfes could draw ; that the land

by good rolling, if there wanted rain, bore the hot weather much the

better; the roller alfo broke the clods, and made way for the corn to come,

up through them.

Caution to §.4. If corn be ,come up, and then rolled with a very heavy roller, the five

roll with Qf fj^ horfes that draw it, going all in a line, and treading in each other's

b°elft. °" ^eps. often bruife and hurt the corn very much, for which reafon it is ad-

vifeable to drav/ fuch a roller with horfes on bread:, fide by fide.
Heavy rollers §. ^, They are forced to make ufe of very heavy rollers in our hill-
in Hants, country to roll over the flints among the barley and oats, othervvife there
would be no mowing them ; they often ufe them likewife in March to prefs
the ground fomewhat clofer to the corn.
Two lighter §• 6. Major Liver fays, he rather approves of two rollers, that may be
rollers rather drawn by three horfes apiece, than one heavy one that requires fix ; for,
th^Tne'^hea- ^^'^^^ ^^'^' ^^^ ^'s'^*^ °"^^ "^^'^^ double the difpatch ; befides, if the great roller
vy one. be ufcd in clover-grafs it will be apt to bruife the bulbous root too much,

andifufedon corn-ground, tho' never fo dry, (whereon it will do moft
good) the horfes will break it up fo much with their heels in draining, that
it will not be healed again by the roller's coming over it.

As it is of great confequence in the hill-country, at feed-time, in dry

feafons, to break in the earth after the fown corn, the fame day it is fown,

with a couple of harrows, fo I think it is of as great confequence that a

roller, or a couple of a fmall fize, fuch as one horfe, or two at mofl; may

draw, be kept in readinefs, to fettle the mellow and hollow earth clofe to

the roots of the corn, without comprefling it too clofe ; for tho' corn loves

to lie cafy, it loves alfo that the earth fhould lie clofe about it, that it may

rro immediately on it's work of (hooting forth it's roots to the befi: advantage.

If the ground works any ways dry, or in powder, this will be found to be

the beft way in the hill-country, to prevent the fun's penetrating too deep

by reafon of the dry and light mold, — and then, after the corn is well come

up, the great roller may go over it as ufual.

Of rollers §. 7. My bailiff faid, he had feen rollers, on which nails had been drove

with nails in ^^ ^j^j^,}, ^g jj. could hold to favc it from cracking, and from wearing with

' ^"'' the fiones ; — but I think fuch a roller could ' not do well to roll flony land,

whcH the corn is come up, becaufe the nails would be apt to cut off the

corn.

Rolling faves §. 8. In converfation with feveral farmers on the fubjed of rolling, and

*^uan'ti^ will i^ '^peaking in commendation of rolling after the corn was fowed, they faid,

do!"'^"^' that

ROLLING.

I2t

that half a bufliel of oats might be faved in fowing an acre by fecuring the
earth, and laying it clofe to the corn ; if a rafcally team, faid they, were
bought for that purpofe, and fold off again, it would pay the purchafe of
the horfes.

§. 9. I beheve that a * wood-feer ground fliould have the great roller, if it * Loamy, fer-
be never fo big, go twice or three times or oftener over it, after it is fowed ")'' '^o^"^-
to fummer-corn, and after rains, to confolidate, if poflible, an iron-mold- for wood'^feer
ground, confiding of coarfe harth disjointed particles j for both cold and heatS'^ound.
penetrate it, and, by changes, make the corn die to the root, but at length,
getting more ftrength by this compreffion, the root may be enabled to live,
and maintain it's blade.

§. 10. In harrowing after fowing, it fliouId chiefly be confidered how what fort of
fmooth and fine your ground lies, in order to fettle, and, if any of your ground to be
ground lies rough and knobby hard, it feems that the fmooth loofe land J^ fo^yi^,„^*"
fliould be firft rolled, and the rough knobby land be deferred in hopes of a
fliower of rain to mellow and loofen it, not only becaufe the knobs will
then break, but alfo becaufe their being fo hard may bruife and cut off the
tender blades of corn.

§. ]i. Rolling as foon as poffible after fowing fummer-corn will in a Rolling foon
Sfreat meafure prevent edye-growing, in cafe of a dry feafon ; for the lower ^^'"^°'^"'S

1 • -n n 1 1 1 r 11 1 1 1 /• 1 . prevents edce-

corn laying moiiteiL, would, unleis rolled, come up long before the other ; growing.
but that which lies ihallowec, the cruft of the earth being fcorched, could
not get away without a good fliower, and perhaps be malted firft, whereas
rolling foon, if it be dry, brings it all up together.

§. 12. When the ground is wet, or after a little rain fallen, it is notNottoroIl
proper to roll, becaufe the earth will cling and gather to the roller ; and alfo ^^^"^ gjound
when land is wet, rolling after fowing may be ill hufoandry, becaufe it keeps ^ ^' owing.
the moifture fo much in the ground, efpecially if early in the fpring, that
thereby the corn will be chilled.

§. 13. If corn be well come up, and wet fall, it is generally proper to What com to
roll the lafl fowed firft, becaufe fuch corn has lefs dew, and the earth dries """'^ ''■''^ '■''^^"■
fa/left. . • ""^"P-

§. 14. They feldom roll their wheat about Holt in Wiltfhire, and obferv- Why they roll
ing the furface of the wheat-ground to lie very hollow and dry, and one's "°'^ ''^^'''
feet to fink deep into it, it being in March, I wondered at it, and fpoke to Hol^'in Wilts.
Mr. Randolph about it, — He faid, in their country they feldom found their
wheat fuffer for want of rolling, becaufe they ploughed round furrows, and
laid their corn in deep : — on which he and I went into Mr. Byfly's wheat,
and I found, tho' it was hollow, yet the corn lay about four inches deep,
and from thence took root downwards j however we both thought rolling
would not do amifs.

§. 15. Mr. Carter of Colehenley and Mr. Longman affure me, that they Of rolling
have rolled their wheat foon after fown when they can get a feafon for it, ^''f''"'. '^°.°"

1-1 1 1 1 t I r ■ , ^ ,^ , , ^ after lowing.

and it has always been much the better for it; and farther, that wheat fo
rolled has this advantage, that there is generally more leifure for rolling foon

R after

J22 ROLLING.

after fowing wheat than after fpring-corn, and it clofes the ground to the roots,
and prevents the winter-cold from penetrating, nor can the worms fo eafily
turn up the earth from the roots of the corn ; and by experience it has been
found, that fuch grounds bear the high winds the better for being fmooth ;
for the wheat itfelf breaks the wind, and each blade fhelters the other, and
more efpecially fo the lighter the ground was before rolling, juft as a drab-
coat is warmer to us than a fpungier cloth of the fame thicknefs ; and, when
the March-winds blow, the earth of fuch rolled ground is not fo eafily car-
ried away from the roots of the corn as that of rougher ground is. Mr. Car-
ter fays, about Bafingftoke they always roll in the fame manner.

At a meeting of feveral good farmers I difcourfed with them on the fub-
jedl of rolling wheat foon after it is fowed, and faid, ] could not fee any in-
conveniency in it, but that it muft be good hulbandry ; for I could not
apprehend bow by laying the land flat the wheat fhould lie the colder, or,
if it did, what fignified the blade being taken off by the winter cold fo long
as the root was well fortified by the earth's lying clofe to it ; yet I fliould
not always approve of rolling till I faw the approach of winter, left by roll-
ing too foon after fowing, efpecially if the beginning of winter proved mild,
it might bring the wheat away too faft, and make it rank. To this they all
affented.
Of rolling, in §. i6. The autumn anno 1715 was fo very wet, the country people
thefpringand^Q^lj j^(^j fow their full crop of wheat, and, ivhereas I intended to have
winter, wheat fow'n One hundred and fixty acres, I could fow but one hundred and twenty,
that was fow- — and one third part of that I could not get into the ground till between the
v/et'^^ ^^ loth and 20th of Odober. The winter proved extream cold and fnowy,
and the fnow lay deep and long on the ground : the wheat of the country
in general, as well as mine, was pinched by the cold, and ftopt in the
ground during the whole winter, efpecially the latter fown, and in the
fpring, when the fnow went off, from the end of January to April we had
. no rain, but drying churliih cold winds with frofts ; fo that towards the end
of March the wheat was very poor and weak, infomuch that a traveller
could hardly take it to be wheat. — Being fenfible the ground muft lie hol-
low from the roots of the wheat through fuch extream frofts, and alfo want
moifturc by reafon of fuch dry winds and want of rain, I rolled my wheat
at a time I could ill fpare my h^rfes from fowing fpring-corn, but it was
wonderful how much it began immediately to thrive after fuch comprefture
of the earth to the roots of the corn, and how much it contributed to the
colour, which was vifible in a day or two after rolling, and it continued to
improve proportionably, tho' the cold winds and drought ftill continued.

if wheat turns yellow, or looks unhealthy in winter-time by wet, it is to

no purpofe to fay, the ground will lie too fmooth and cold, if fmoothed by

roUing ; the prefent diftemper is to be confulted, and the ground, as fooa

as dry enough, ought to be rolled.

Befl feafon of & j~ ^s wheat fhould not be rolled too earlv in the fpring, left the frofts

folline wheat /i i , , i, • • r • i t i ' ,- u • • ..i

mthefphro-. uiould hoUovv it again, 10 It ought to be Qone loon enough to give u tne

advantage

ROLLING. 123

advantage of tillowing; for doubtlefs the finking the roots of the wheat
deeper into the earth by rolling, and the clofing the earth to the mores and
knees of the winter or autumn-tillows makes them tillow afrefli, and if
rolled by about the eighth or middle of March, that will, as I fuppofe, be
the beft feafon for rolling in the fpring ; neverthelefs wheat may be in that
unthriving condition, that it may be necefl'ary to roll it fooner.

§. 18. The firft week in May (anno 1703) I fowed rath-ripe barley, and Of rolling
on the firft of June I faw the L.a-ley falling off, and declining j the ground ''"''^y-
was very hollow, and as I thought needed roUing again ; fo I ordered it to
be rolled where it was lighted, as on the head-lands, &c. — The barley had
a good flem, and in going up the hill, the horfes being forced to flrain on
their hoof's points in many places actually cut off the barley at the ftem,
infomuch that I could in fome places take up handfuls j but examining it,
and opening the valves, I found nothing but leaves rolled together, and that
the ear of the barley was feated lower, and not yet fliot above ground ;
however I flaked down a ftick or two in the places that fufFered moft, to
fee how the ears there proved. — In the evening of the next day walking in
the ground I obferved the barley to look much refrefhed, and to be greatly
improved in colour, which feemed ftrange in fo fliort a time ; but what
wonder if a plant revives in twenty-four hours when, being gathered, it lan-
guifhes in one. The confiderable benefit it received was by comprefiing
the ground, which by it's fpunginefs had taken a great deal of wet, but the
roller, by comprefiing it, fqueezed it from the roots of the corn. — The corn
I had marked with ificks came up well alfo, and carried as good ears as the
other.

§. 19. Oats early fowed, if not rolled till towards the end of or after feed- Of rolling
time, ought, for the moft part, to be rolled with the heavieft roller, for a °*'^'
light one will make but a fmall impreflion where the ground has been fo
long fettled.

§. 20. I obferved the great grey partridge-peas fowed In February had Rolling
very little charlock among them, tho' not rolled: it feems to me the ground checks weeds/
ploughing heavier then, than it did in March, and the coldnefs of the feafon peas° ''"^ - "
obftrudted the germination of the charlock- feed, and by that time the fpring
came the ground was pretty well fettled, and become too clofe and hard for
much of the charlock-feed to pufli through ; — but the blue peas fowed in
March had abundance of charlock amongft them, efpecially where the
ground had been dry and worked fine, to the prejudice of the peas, thefe
peas not having been rolled neither ; wherefore I conceive, that rolling of
peas as foon as the ground is fown, or foon after, would hind and prefs it fo
clofe, as to prevent the charlock-feed from coming up; and I do therefore
hold rolling to be good to prevent the growth of this, and many other forts
of weeds. — And barley and oats, which with us are rolled, do doubtle^
thereby much more efcape being infefted with weeds : — but, as the coldnefs
of the ground in February, and the moifture is a check to the growth of
charlock, (for all moiflure at that feafon is cold) fo mojfture and wet after

R 2 the

124 C O R N in G E N E R A L.

the middle of March, and in April, is produdlive of charlock and other

weeds, becaufe fuch moifture is then tolerable warm by the power of the

fun afting on it.
Of rolling §. 21. To roU wintcr-vetches when firft fowed feems to me to be as proper

veiches. ^g jQ j.qJj wheat when firft fowed ; as before noted.

Ofrolling §. 22. In light land, where clover is fowed, if in the winter-time the

clover. oreat roller was drawn over it, it would faften the ground, and make the

clover hold much better and longer.

Of C O R N in GENERAL.

Opinion of §. I. ' f^ Olumella tells us, that, exxept we take care to change the feed,
the antients \^j^ com wiU degenerate much fooner in a wet foil than a dry one,

corn'Tdegl- and, after a third crop, wheat will become what he calls a filigo, a fort of
nerating. corn fair in colour, but poor in fubftance. Palladius fpeaks to the fame

purpofe.
Of many ears §. 2. Evelyn, as before hinted, reports that diverfe ears may grow on one
on one ftak. ^^^^^ which is what I have never obferved, except in Pharaoh's dream, (Gen.
xli. 5.) where we read of feven ears of corn that came upon one ftalk.

Heylin, lib. 2. fo. 133,— fays, in Rezan, a great and goodly province in
Ruflia, fituated between the river Tanais and the river Occa, the moft fruit-
ful country of all Ruflia, and (if report be true"* of the whole worid, it is cre-
•ftcmorflalk diblv affirmed, that one * grain of corn brings forth fix ears, the ftalks where-
ht"^^^for of are fo thick that a horfe may pafs through, or a quail fly out of one of
eiie there is them, but with verv much difficulty. This author alfo gives inftances of the
l"!!*!:"!,?.-- vaft fruitfulnefs of Padolia in Poland, fo. 144.

Mr. Bobart of the Phyfick-garden at Oxford told me, he had in his herbal
a barley-culm with three fair ears thereon, but the two outermoft were fliorter
than the other ; he infcribed or under- wrote this plant

Thus ; Hordeum fpica multiplici.

Found plentifully growing near
Sutton by Cranborn in Dorfetfliire,
By Mr. Crop of Chrift's-church-college, an. 1697.

Concerning the above field of corn Mr. Bobart faid, the ftory was, that
charitable woman in time of great fcarcity had relieved the poor, and God
gave this return. — The fame' day I faw dodlor Frampton of the abovefaid
county, who told me, he bad never feen the field, nor any fuch ears of

corn ;

' Celerius locis humidis quam ficcis frumenta degenerant, nifi cura adiiibeirtur renovare femen.
Columella, lib. 8. f. 102. — Nam omne triticum folo uliginofo poll tertiam fatio-)em convcrtitur in
filiginein, Columella, lib. 8. fo. 102. — Locis humidis f.;mina citius quam ficcis degenerant. Palla-
diul, lib. 1. fe<£l. 6. — Et infra dicit, omne triticum m folo uli^inofo, poft tertiam fationem in genus
iiii^inis commutatur.

markable in

C O R N ill G E N E R A L. 125

corn ; bat had heard of the thing, and the ftory.— However I give not much
credit either to the fadl, or the caufe. — Mr. Bobart alfo aflured mc, he had
once feen a wheat-ftalk with two ears on it. Some time after this I feat him
a fpike or an ear of fmooth-crefted-grafs, which divided itfelf in this manner
r, fo that there were two compleat ears nearly on one flalk. Refer this to
Mr. Evelyn's prodigy of wheat.

§.3. Mr. Ray, in his Prolegomenon to his firft volume of plants, quotes the Of barley
opinions of feveral authors, that barley ears have here and there carried grains of^ jiglfe^t"
of oats, and other grains of different corn from it's fpecies ; but they, who fpedes.
made fuch obfervation, it feems, were bookifli men, who were milled by the
appearance to their eyes, and unacquainted with what is commonly obferved
in hufbandry ; it being true, that, in wet years, when barley runs thin, it is
common for a grain, here and there in a barley ear, to have a deep crefe along
it, and to be as thin as an oat, and to refemble an oat very much, but in truth,
if unrinded, has no oat-hull, but a barley rind on it j and doubtlefs, in cafe
fuch oat they pretend to grow on the barley ear was fowed, it would produce
a true barley ear.

§. 4. In the hot countries, where little rain falls, the dews fall in vaft quan- Benefit of
titles, on which the heVb of the field has great dependance for being watered ; houounuLs"
this was reckoned in thofe parts amongft the greateft bleffings in the gift of
the Almighty, and fo Ifaac bleffes Jacob (Gen. xxvii. 28 and 39) God give
thee of the dew of heaven, and

Mr. Garret who lived many years at Madrid aflures me, their crops of corn
in Spain are much thicker fet than ours, and yet their ground is very light, at
which I wondered, their country being hot. — He replied, they fowed very
early, before the fun grew hot^ and that the dews were very great.

§. 5. This year (1707) the fpring proving very dry till June 13th con- latefowed^
vinced me, that not only peas, but all forts of corn alfo late fowed for feed will f°Jd well after
not feed well; for in our hill-country the oats and barley, fee. tho' fowed early, dry fprings,
vet not growing till the abovefaid rain fell, had all Ihort ears ; the fort of land '" '"^ ''''^'

^00 ' country,

could not bring on the corn faft enough, tho' the fummer ail-along after-
wards had plenty of rain. — In very rich lands, it is likely this year the fame
defeft was not obferved.

§. 6. It feems to me, and was apparent this cold wet fpring (1708) that, if Wheat will
the month of April be wet and cold, the wheat will not tillow, or multiply [^°'!/in°wec
it'siffues, but the wunter-fpindle or fhoot will run up; for that winter- ftalk coid (prlngs.
being hardened will keep growing, whereas, to form collateral buds, which
are tender, warmer weather is required, not too quick growing v/eather by
means of hot gloomy rains, but mild and mellow weather; for, when the
flufli of fap is impetuous by gloomy heat, it rifes fo faft upwards into the firil
maiden-ftalk, tl^t in it's hurry it ftops not enough to fiing out fidc-branches ;
as in the fmall pox, if in' the firft fymptoms the patient's blood be high in-
flamed and feverifli, it hurries the morbific matter fo furiouily along the veins,
that (unlefs by bleeding it be qualified) it is fo carried on in a torrent as not to

have

126 C O R N in G E N E R A L.

have leifure to kick out the puftles and the diftemper ; fo then a hot wet fea-
fon or a cold wet one are both unkindly for great crops of corn.
Ko cojntry §. j , The great fertility of ^Egypt fliews no country can be too hot where
thel'lndis'fer-^^^^ land is Very fertile; for our clays and mixed earths, that want the im-
t'li-. pregnating heat of the fun, are often burnt up ; but their lands are fo rich, that

if there is but tlie leaft moifture at the bottom of the full, when they fow,
their corn will be brought up in twenty-four hours time by vertue of that
moifture, before it can be dried up, at which inftant it llrikes it's roots into
the moifler earth, as before mentioned in corn fown in fand ;— whereas in our
country, where corn requires a week or ten days time to ftrike root in, the
moifture may be dried up before the grain can be impregnated, and fo, if
rain comes not, it often lies two, three, or four months without ftriking root,
as it did this dry fummer anno 1705 — and began but to growjuft before har-
veft. If corn once grows, we fee it is not eafily checked by drought in good
land : in the hot countries they have great dews.
Winter-corn g_ g_ gy (j-jg effedts of this very dry fpring and hot fummer (anno 1714)
bMterthan^ ^ from March to July the 23d, when we had a day's rain that went to the roots
fpriiig-cDrn. of the corn, I am fenfible that winter-corn, as wheat and vetches, do bear
up much better againft the mifchiefs by drought than the fpring-corn, as peas,
barley, and oats, the former being well eftabliflied at the roots, during the
winter, and the ground better fettled to them.
May, a cri- ^_ p_ Being in the north (anno 1706) I had a mind more thoroughly to be
th?l"nTen°'^ informed what was moft prejudicial to their lenten crop ; fo I afked an excel-
crop in the lent huibandman in Leicefterfhire when rain fell moft unfeafonably on their
^^ °' ^"S'fummer-corn ; he faid, in May ; if it proved a wet May they had always a bad
crop of barley ; for rain then, either killed it, or ftarved it, and made it look
yellow. — I aiked him what reafon he could give for it ; he faid, about the
beginning of May was commonly the time that their barley took it's weaning,
that is, faid he, when the leaves of the barley begin to die, having till that
time been for the moft part nouriftied by the milk and flour of the corn ; but
then it begins to put forth new roots, and new leaves, and to betake itfelf
wholly to it's roots for nourifliment : though the weather lliould prove never
fo good, at this crifis it receives a ftop and check, like a child taken from
nurfe, with whom it goes much harder if the nights are cold and long ; fo,
if wet and rainy weather comes then, the barley will be io daftied, that it
will never recover it, let what warm weather foever come after ; for, faid he,
after fuch rains, the fun having baked the top of the ground does thereby fo
bind it, that the heat cannot penetrate to the roots of the corn, which by that
means lie all the fummer in a cold bed ; — but a cold and dry May, faid he, I
never knew to hurt us, but rather do us good :— according as the fpring proves
forwarder or backwarder, fo does this crifis of the corn's taking it's weaning
come earlier or later, but generally about the beginning of May, unlefs the
fpring be very warm ; but a wet IVIay ufed not to hurt their wheat, except-
ing that it made it weedy i for, faid he, if we have a good feafon to fow our

wheat

C O R N in G E N E R A L. 127

wheat in, that feldom mifles. — Mr. Clerk faid afterwards, their having a fea-
fon to lay their barley into the ground dry, and having a dry bottom the depth
of the full, for it to take root in, was of great confequence towards a good
crop.

§. 10. Lord Bacon in his Natural hiftory fays, that in the hot countries it is Com does not
a frequent calamity, that the corn will not fpindle, that is, will not come out 'p'"'^'^ ^^li

/- . 1 /- 1 - r ^ 1 ill 1 1 • /- • • '" not COUU-

of the hofe, by realon of the great heat and drought ; and he is ot opinion, tries.
that on this account the latin word calami fas was derived from calamus. — But
I rather believe it alfo fignifies any other misfortune belonging to corn. Pliny
and Columella, fpeaking of blights and fmuts, fay, Hordeum omnium grano-
rum minime calamitofum j — but not fpindhng is a defeifl we feldom find in
England.

§. II. From conflant experience of fucceffive years I find, that cold wet Cold land and
years make the ftraw of all corn v/eak, fmall, and thin, infomuch that it is ^^">"rsoc-
apt to lodge and crumble down, which in the country we call being knee- weakftraw.
bent; on the other hand in dry hot fummers ail flraw is thick and ftrong.—
The ftraw in wet years runs the coarfer, and that in dry hot years the
finer, and then it has the more fpirit in it ; w^hich is the reafon why in hotter
countries than England the cattle eat ftraw ^o much better than with us, and
almoil as well as hay. — As cold wet feafons make the flraw run coarfe, fo cold
wet land has the fame effedl ; therefore, when both thefe caufes concur and
contribute their force, the ftrav/ will run very weak, thin, and coarfe ; as par-
ticularly, this year ( 1717) the rath-ripe barley did at Crux-Eafton, where the
land is cold and wet, as was the year, — and rain more than ufual falling on the
barley, about a month before harveft, lent a helping hand to the beating it
down; fo that the barley-ftraw in a manner broke off a little below the ear, and
before the grain v/as full plimmed or hardened, from which time all commu-
nication of nouriftiment llopt, and the corn rather flirank in than ripened, and
confequently the barley as well as the flraw in our cold lands ran very thin
and coarfe. — However I efteem it beft on our cold lands to fow one half of
the crop rath-ripe barley, becaufe, though in fuch a cold year it might fuffcr
as abovefaid in cold wet lands, yet, had it not been for the rain that fell, and
the winds that beat and broke it down at that nick of time, before it was-
hardened, it would have carried a better body than the late-ripe barley, in the
fame cafe, and on the fame fort of land, would have done.— The ufe to be
made of all this is, that tho' there is no preventing this evil, yet knowing
beforehand that in fuch a year your fodder-ftraw will be coarfe, you muft
therefore apply it to proper ufes, elfe it will deceive you.

§. 12. The colour of corn, viz. of wheat and barley, gives a great pre- "^^"'^ "'our cf
ference with the hufband'man in a market, which does not a little puzzle the "[quaw'*
inquifitive gentleman, a ftrangcr to hufbandry, who hears it ; but the reafon and why, "
tor it ia this; there is an uniformity between the colour of corn and it's
weight, and the latter never fails to be accompanied with the former

quality ; which therefore denotes its goodnefs. Wheat weighs light,

bccaule it has not come to it's full maturity, and £0 has not fuffi-

ciently

J 28 C O R N in G E N E R A L.

cienlly dllcharged the watery parts, which proceed cliiefly from the coldnefs
of the ground, that v.-anted fpirit to carry the grain to a fall perfedion of
ripenefs; and the defecl of colour may be occafioned by too much rain, which
fogged the grain in harveft, whilft {landing, or in gripp ; for being often
wet and dried again, every time it was dried, after being wet and full ripe,
the moillure exhaled by the fun's drying it carried alfo away a tindlure of,
or the particles of it's colour along with the exhalation of the watery parts,
and fo confequently the grain muft be more porous, lefs folid, and of courfe
lighter : the fame argument will hold for barley.

All corn is apt to grow brighter as it grows towards earing, but that, which

then moft holds the deep green colour, is likeliefl afterwards to have the largell

and boldeft ears, and to bring the grain beft to perfedlion.

Damage to §. 1 3. It was a very dry burning time (anno 1702) from the firft fowing of

green corn by ]enten corn to the 3d of June, at which time feme of my neighbouring farmers

near'cinn" wcrc praying for rain : why, faid I, you muft be in a better condition than I

time. ° am ; I have not feen your corn, but I know your's was fown ten days before

mine, and confequently muft better cover the ground, and keep it cool.

That might be, faid they, but in another refped:, becaufe our's was fowed

earlieft, it may be the worfe ; in about a fortnight our's will be at the time

for o-etting out of the hood, which it will not be able to do except rain come.

Oftheblof- §. 14. 1 obferve the white ftraw-wheat brings white bloffoms, as the red

iom. ftravv;wheat does red ones, and I fuppofe it is the fame with the white oat.

Prejudice §. 1 5. The latin writers De re agraria obferve, that rainy weather preju-

iVomrainat Jiccs all forts of corn at the blooming-time, except the leguminous fort; the

[imc.'and why. reafon of which, as I fuppofe, is, becaufe the wet falls into the hufk of

wheat, barley, and oats, which at that time opens, and fo is corrupted by the

wet ftanding on it^ whereas in the leguminous grain the pod lies within the

leafy flower, into which the wet cannot enter.

e- r J §. 16. The whiter wheat, barley, and white oats, or the hoods of black

Sign of good 5'*"* _ ' J' . ' ,,

corn when oats look as they ripen, and when they are npe, the better the corn j and the
growing. contrary, the coarfcr, or more blighted.

Thedifadvan- §. ij. The difiidvantage that late ripe corn lies under in point ofcoarfenefs

t?gc that late ^^^ j^^ coUcfted from the late ripe nuts hanging on the trees, in the beginning

unde'i-!"' ^'^* of September, or at leaft at Michaelmafs, efpecially, if rain Ihould fall about

that time, for notwithftanding the kirnel of the nut is fecured by a fhell, yet,

at that feafoh of the year, the cold damp air, the dews, and the rain penetrate

the fliells of nuts, whereby the kirnels change their colour, become waterifti, and

in a manner taftelefs; and doubtlefs the fame evil falls on the late ripe corn.

Offroft's' §• 18. When September is come, fay our hill-country farmers, there are

ripening corn, frofty nights, and then the corn ripens as faft by night as by day: they always

found it fo at Eafton.

But, notwithftanding this obfervation, with which our farmers comfort
themfelves, that in the frofty nights, at the beginning of September, the corn
ripens as faft by night as by day, yet willingly I would not have corn to be fo
ripened, for in truth fuch ripening may be more properly called blighting ;

inafmuch

CORN in GENERAL. 129

inafmuch as ripening implies filling^the grain, and fomewhat leading to it's
perfedlion ; but thefe frofty nights rather (hrink, and dry up the grain, and
Hop it's filling and plimming : in like manner all forts of fruit may be faid to
be ripened by the frofts, inafmuch as they precipitate to a rottennefs, &c. And
my opinion is, that fuch blighted or froft-bitten barley, not arrived to it's na-
tural ripenefs, can never have a goodnefs in it's flour like other corn that is
ripened thoroughly, nor be fo profitable for malting ; it may poflibly be as
big as kindly ripened corn.

§. 19. If harveft proves late, as in the latter end of Auguft, wheat and y^''"' f'"^'*.^
barley, that is then to fill, muft run thin, and the fame is true of all forts of aTatTharveft.
grain, and in a wet fummer the vale-corn, which ufually runs to halm, will
keep the ground cold, and prevent the filling of the grains.

§. 20. A late harveft is feldom, as I believe, a hurrying harveft ; becaufe, ^J^[f„j,i|;g
though in fuch cafe there is reafon to make all hafte pofTible, yet the coolnefs harveft.
of the days, and the long dewy nights will not let the corn ripen altogether,
nor make it flied or britt, as the early harvefts caufe it to do^ all which I
have experienced this year 1703.

§.21. Barley, in carrying to market, fay our farmers, need not be covered, ^LTinTa"^-
rain it never fo hard, but wheat is thought the worfe for rain. ing to market.

§.22. Mr. Ray conjedures, that the reafon why the grain is generally Why rank
thin, when corn grows very rank and thick in ftraw, is, not only becaufe ^°[^ g[!^"^s a
it's ftrength is exhaufted in the grofsnefs of the blade, but, fays he, that
grofsnefs of the blade may hinder it from the cherifhing rays of the fun,
which are neceffary to concodl the nutritious juices, and to convey them into
the feed, and he gives an inftancc of our fowing Englifli corn in America.
Hift. of Plants, vol. 2. fo. 1238.

§.23. Since (as by former remarks does appear) the wheat-ear is worfe for ^gJ^J^J^om'^
it's ftraw being broken, and for the fun's not coming to it's root, it follows finnowyhalm.
that, where vetches run fo rank as to finnow in their halm, the ftraw and the
juices conveyed through it muft be fo prejudiced as to carry a thin grain.

§. 24. Anno 1707 the winter proved exceeding wet, and the fpring and ^JjJ'/j,)"[" ^''*'
fummer were the fame, infomuch that the harveft was very backward, and bj'"ghced"corn.
it was the middle of Auguft before we began to cut wheat : the confequence
of thefe wet feafons, as I conceive, was, that the wheat in cold clay-lands
blighted, of which I made a general obfervation : the reafon I take to be, be-
caufe, thefe three feafons proving wet, the harveft was backward and late ;
and the rains being frequent till harveft, the vegetable juices, efpecially in
clay-lands, were heavy and chilled, and could not rife to nourifti the grain
and the ftraw j for which reafon, both being ftarved, the ftraw turned white
and fpeckled, and the grain ftirank, and, as I obferved, in fuch lands the
ftraw of red-ftraw wheat did not that year look red, but from it's green co-
lour turned to white ; but in white or warm land the wheat efcaped blighting,
becaufe there the vegetable particles were attenuated enough to afcend.

Tho' the wheat was fo much blighted in the year 1707, yet barley and oats
this year did not blight, but were full grained, whether, becaufe they had not

S been

130 C O R N in G E N E R A L.

been pinched by the winter, not being then fown, or from their lying on a
mellower mold and hollower from being later ploughed, whereby the fun
might injed; his comfortable rays the better, I know not. — We find no fum-
mer too hot for wheat, tho' it may for barley and oats.
Caufeof the §. 25. Of the caufe of uftilago or the burnt-ear in corn Mr. Ray gives his
uftilago or conjefture, fol. 1241 and 1242 ; — But my opinion is that it proceeds from
a defefl in the root, but then that defedt muft be attributed to ill feed, with
a diftinclion that makes no difference in the eftedl : the feed might be
damaged before it was fown, or the nature of the ground might occafion
the defedl ; for what difference is there between corn originally bad and that
damaged by keeping, or taking damage in the field, before it could come
up, by being almoft malted, or otherwife injured in the ground by it's ill
temper, or an unfeafonable feed-time ? What happened very obfervable to
clear this matter was, in the fpring-feed-time 1704 I fowed very good feed-
barley in all mv grounds ; therefore no fault in my feed ; fo did many other
farmers ; I could find little uftilago in my oats ; they being fowed early their
feed came up, and lay not in the ground to take the damage abovemention-
ed, and the oats which were fowed early, on which rain came, had not the
uftilago, nor the barley fowed early, except Ibme little matter occafioned
by their being fowed in white lands, but the middle fowing, when the
ground had not moifture enough to bring up the corn, nor had had any
rain fall on it for a long time, was injured in it's feed, and turned mightily
to the uftilago all over the country, but the latter fowing, after which raia
came, had little of it : hence may appear the great benefit of rolling. The
uftilago is common to the ears of grafs as w^ell as of corn, in which I have
frequently obferved it, efpecially in the gramen caninum nodofum avenacea
panicula, or knotty-rooted dog's-grafs.

In June however (1705) I gathered diverfe ears of black-burnt wheat, all
burnt to a black powder ; I alfo gathered feveral of the ftrong and good
ears ; I found the ftraw of the burnt ears drew with as much diniculty out
of the ground as the beft, and had, to my eye, as good mores ; I cut ever}'
ioint of the reeds in many places, both of the found and burnt-eared ftraw,
and found them to my eye, equally found, and as much verdure and firm-
nefs in the ftems that bore the burnt grains as in the others, and many of the
ears I found fo burnt before they came out of the hoods ; {o that I am again
at a lofs to conjefture what the caufe ftiould be. By the bignefs of burnt
grains it fhould feem, that this misfortune fell on the ear, when it was of
pretty tolerable length, and yet before it was half grown in the hulk ; for
it is moft certain that thefe grains could not grow after they were burnt.
See farther of the caufes of finut and blight under the article Wheat, §. ic.
fee alfo Barley, §. 24.

W H E A T.

[ '3' 1
WHEAT.

§. I. A Wheaten crop is the moft unprofitable of any to a farmer by^^'j^^'f"

_/\. reafon of the charges, — and becaufe a farmer fees not a return Stable.
of that ufually under a year and an half.

§. 2. It is commonly faid, that ground, which has got a fword, is befl Why land
for wheat, — and therefore farmers are apt to fay, that land, which is not^g^fg^^y^g^j^
inclinable to grafs, is not fit to be fowed with wheat, till it has got a
fword,— whereas the lefs fword any ground has the fitter it is for any fort
of corn, except it be white ground that wants a fword to hold it together.—
But a fword on ground is an argument that it has lain lay the longer, and
lying out of tillage makes all ground the better : I know no other way of
folving the abovefaid obfervation of die farmers.

§. 3. This year, 1717, we had no rain from about the middle of March to Of thehardi-
the 22d of May, (unlefs, a moderate fhower on the 7th of May, and fome"*^° ^ *^^
fmall thundef-lhowers, of which lafi: our neighbourhood had no fliare) and
yet my twenty acres of wheat on a fide-long white-earth-ground of about
fix-pence per acre, and fix acres more of wheat on the like fort of ground,
did thrive fomething all the while, and loft not much of it's colour, which
fliews how hardy a grain wheat is : during the aforefaid time we had alfo
for the mofi: part very dry hufky winds, hot fun by day, and frofi: by night :
it is true we had an exceeding wet winter, which might beat the white
ground the clofer.

In cold dry fprings and hotdry fummexs there is a great difference be-
tween the wheat and barley harvefts ripening; for this year 1714, was fiich
as abovementioned, when I began wheat-harveft July the 20th and ended
Auguft the 5th,— but did not begin to cut barley till Auguft the i6th, and
in a lingering manner ended the 30th. The reafon was, becaufe wheat,
being a hardier grain, was not checked by cold, nor heat, nor drought, it's
roots being well eft:ablifiied and the ground well fettkd to them ; but barley,
being a tender grain, was pinched and retarded by the cold ; the ground
feeing late ploughed in the fpring lay hollower and lighter, and confequent-
ly more fuiceptible of heat and cold.

§. 4 It is not eafy to be convinced, if ground be in good heart, though ^* "'^ tillow-
wheat may look very thin all the winter, and till May, how ftrangely it""^"
will tillow and fill up, if not hindered by weeds : this I have often obferved
in my wheat,

§. 5. * The Bluebury wheat is the red ftraw-lammas, not the white Different
ftrawj^ammas : there is another fort of wheat they call the white white, be- ^'^^^t"*^

S 2 caufe

» Mr. Miller reckons up thirteen charaders of wheat, viz. r. White or red wheat without
awns.' — 2. Red wheat, in fome places called Kentifh wheat. — 3. White wheat. — 4. Red-eared
bearded wheat. — 5. Cone wheat. — 6. Grey wheat, and in Ibme places duckbill wheat, and grey

pollajd.

132

of red-ftraw
wheat.

Of Thracian
wheat.

WHEAT.

caufe the ear and grain is ftill whiter than the white-lammas.-^Then there
is the bearded or Poland- wheat, which has a ftiffer and ftronger ftalk, and
is therefore often fown in wet cold clay-lands about Wiltfhire, becaufe the
llalk bears the wet better without rotting or lodging. Thefe are the chief
forts I have any experience in.

§.6. Mr. Raymond affures me that he finds red-ftraw wheat, if fown at
the fame time with any other wheat, will be ripe a fortnight fooner.

Note All precocioufnefs in the fame fpecies implies a loofenefs of texture,

and weaknefs in parts : I noted before that red-ftraw wheat and rath-ripe
barley were apt to fall and be knee-bent, and therefore the one was often
fowed, in deep lands that were apt to run rank, with great wheat, the other
with battle-door barley to fupport them, thefe being flronger in ftalk.

,§. 7. Mr. Ray tells us of a certain Thracian wheat, which they fow there
in "the fummer, to avoid the cold ; this wheat, fays he, is fowed on light
ground, and never has but one culm or flalk ; it ripens in three months.
What is more remarkable of it is, that it does not yield to any other wheat
in weight, and has no bran. He thinks however, that this wheat is not
of a different fort from the common wheat there, but that it alters it's na-
ture, and grows tenderer bybeing fown in the fpring, which is a property
worth noting.

§. 8. I faw fome branch-wheat, fo called, becaufe the ear is branched into
fmaller ears ifluing out of the main ear : of this I have no experience j and
can only fay that a gentleman, who is well acquainted with it's properties,
tells me it makes the beft frumenty that is, and the befl pudding, and cafts
as yellow a colour without eggs as other wheat does with eggs,

§.9. Difcourfmg with farmer Bachelour of Litchfield about the befl:
d from choice of feed- wheat ; he faid, he loved generally to choofe a middle brown-
poor ground ifli fort of grain, not the largefl: bright and fmooth fat corn.~I afked him why
fowed with j^g ^as againft a large fair grain ; he faid, becaufe he obferved fuch grain
wheat^"^^""^ was apt to carry a fmut. — If this be true, as probably it may, I know of no
reafon to be given for it, except that Litchfield-farm being generally a poor
foil, and lying pretty cold, cannot maintain and feed the root, fl:alk, and ear
of fuch fat feed fo well as it can thofe of the fmall grain, and fo the ear of
the large-grained wheat mortifies and corrupts in the fap, for want of
nourifliment, before it comes to be flour, which is the time for wheat to
take fmut. — It is manifeft from many experiments I have made, that the
number of the roots, the breadth of the leaves, and the length of the ears
carry a proportion to the fize of the grain, but poor ground cannot maintain
it, and fo produces a fmaller root, leaf, and ear than fuch feed would natu-
rally put forth, all which impairs the fliamina of the increafe, whereby the
ear is depraved, and liable to fmut ; but where (as at Crux-Eafton) ground
is fl:rong clay, tho' very cold, this objedtion may not hold good.

Another

pollard. — 7. Polonian wheat, — §. Many-eared wheat. — q. Sumrner wheat. — 10. Naked barley,
•or trlticum fpica hordei. — 11. Six-rowed wheat. — 12. Long-grained wheat. — 13. White-eared
wheat. But fome of thefe, he fays, he takes to be only feminal variations, and not diflinit fpecies.

Branch-
wheat .

Of fmut.
Smut pro
duccd from

WHEAT. 133

Another farmer told me, he looked on the fmall-grained wheat to be
better feed-wheat than the great yellow wheat ; for, faid he, the latter fort
is apter to fmut j befides a bufhel of the fmaller grain contains fo many
grains the more, which is a great matter : he added however, that the
fmaller the grain the earlier it ought to be fowed ; becaufe, if winter came
on upon it, that might prevent it's fhooting fo many blades, as otherwife
it might have done. I foon after confulted two other very knowing far-
mers about this matter : they were of a different opinion, and faid, the
bigger the feed was, of either wheat or barley, it would give the greater
more, and have more blades.

§. 10. 1 looked into Mr, Wilfon's fmutty and blighted wheat, in order toofthecaufe
difcover what might be the caufe of fmut and blight. The fmutty ears are°f'™"'
perfe(5l in the cherts, and almoft fo in the fulnefs of the grain, even fo far
that the chefts of many ears did ftrut; fo that the fmut muft fall on the
grain late, and when it is towards a fulnefs, for it cannot grow after it has
taken fmut. I could very rarely find a fmutty ear but all it's tillov/s were fo
too ; fo that from thence I conclude the fmut arifes from the root, and not
from any poifon in the air, which would not diftinguifli between the tap-
root and the tillow. I alfo obferved in the fibres of the roots of the fmutty
wheat a general brittlenefs, and the earth more ftarky and dry about them,
and I perceived, for the moft part, a ftream or ftreak of a brown ftain, the
breadth of a pin, in the firft joint above the root. So that I am apt to
believe that a fmut arifes from a total defecft of fap at the root, and a blight
from a partial one, when fome of the fibres may ftill live ; fo the grain,
being feebly fupported, does only fhrink or wither. — As for the early fmut
that falls on the ear, even before it is out of it's hofe, wherein the covering
or chaff is alfo fmutty, and all 'in a light powder, this fort of fmut feems to
arife from the fame caufe as the former, only the ear having not as then
obtained a firmnefs, it's rottennefs becomes more hollow and powdery, and
of Icfs confiftency than the fmutty ears that have obtained a firmnefs. On
the whole therefore, notwithflanding the latter part of my remark, §. 25,
under the article Corn in general, where I fay I could not difcover any
difference between the roots, flems, or joints of the flems of the burnt-eared
wheat and the found, I am ftill of opinion that both the uftilago and fmut
proceed from a defedf in the root.

Some farmers were faying, that dunged land, as had been always obferv-
ed, was more fubjedl to finutty wheat than folded land. If fo, the reafon
muft be, becaufe the dung hollowed the ground, and therefore the longer
the dung the greater the danger.

I have in another place obferved, that fmutty duft on feed-wheat may
produce fmutty wheat, and no wonder, feeing the feed immediately after
fown fwells and imbibes the fmut with the moifture, and the nib or
chiffum of ^he feed is corrupted and poifoned thereby. The nib of the
feed is not one fourth part fo big as a pin's head.— Seed blacked with uftilago
does not hurt like .fmut, becaufe the hot hurnii^g xjuaUty of the uililago

is

^s^

WHEAT.

thin blighted
wheat

is waflied out of it by the rain, and purified from it by the air, to both
which it is expofed.
Offowhig §. II. I fowed new wheat, but obferving much of it to be withered and

bhghted, I fhewed it to fome of the farmers, and they, but particularly
farmer Biggs*", faid, it was never the worfe for that, and it would grow as well
as if it were otherwife, and bid me put fome into the ground to try whether
his words were true or not. — I afked Thomas Elton about it, and he
faid, if it were not blighted and withered to a fkin, but only fo as to have very
little flour, he alfo thought it would grow j but then, faid he, I have known
it to die away afterwards. — I afked him, how he knew it was that wheat,
and how he knew it was for that caufe it died ; he repUed, becaufe he had
in fuch cafe fcratched up the root, and found that there was not flour or milk
fuflicient to maintain the blade till it could take root.

I met farmer White and farmer Bachelour of Litchfield in the market j I
told farmer White how thin his feed-wheat proved that he fent me, and that
it was exceedingly blighted ; and that I was fatisfied, let the farmers pretend
what they will, that blighted wheat, if fowed late in the year, tho' it might
come to a blade, yet the flour or milk that ought to maintain it would be fpent
•root. before it could * more; and then, if frofts canie, it would be in danger of

dying. — They agreed with me, that, in cafe it was late fowed, it was their
opinion alfo, but it would do well if fowed early ; — but, faid farmer Lake an
hour afterwards, when I was fpeaking to him of it, let it be fowed early or
late, give me a full bodied wheat.
Mufty wheat |. 12. Many farmers, and indeed all I have talked with on the fubjeft,
andwhy^'°^^'^§^^^ that mufty wheat, though not grown oat, will not grow. — I fuppofe it
is becaufe the feminal part is malted, tho' it does not outwardly fliew itfelf, as
it does when it is grown out.
Rath-ripe §. i-^. Farmer Biggs lays, he always fows the Bluebury -wheat, that is the

redTo whit^"^ rath-ripe wheat. — Tiie meal-men do not like the white-iammas wheat; they
lammas fav, it does not call fo fine a flour. — Thomas Elton alfo fays, they feldom fow

wheat by the of the white-lammas wheat, — and both he, and farmer Biggs fay, the meal-
men know it from the other better than they do who fow it. — Thomas Elton
fays, he has been at Reading with it, and could not have fo much by twelve
ihillings in a load as for the Bluebun/ wheat tho' of the fame goodnefs. — I
afked him, if they did not obferve to fow the white-lammas wheat earliefl:,
becaufe of it's being lafl: ripe ;---he replied, he found no difference in that,
but that it was ripe as foon as the other to the full.
Brining and K. I A. ' The orfeinal of brining and liminff fccd-wheat feems to be Durclv an

liming wheat. ^ 'f b b 5 r J

Vid.fowing Enghfli

* Mr. Tull is of the fame opinion with farmer Eiggs.

' Mr. Tull obfer\'es, that brining, and changing the feed are the general remedies for fmut; the
former of tnefe he has heard was difcovered, about feventy years before he wrote, by fome wheat
beirvg fown, that had been funk in the fea, and which produced dean corn, when it was a remark-
able year for fmut all over England ; but he afterwards doubts whether this might not happen by
rt's being foreign feed, and therefoie a proper change for our land. He tells us of two farmers,
wbofe Jsnds lay intermixed, who ufed the fame feed parted between them, and from a good change
I of

WHEAT. 135

Englifli pradice ; for which there is a ftory. Neither the Rel rufticae-

fcriptores, nor Pliny take any notice of it,

Sharrock fays, brining and Hming wheat may defend it againft grubs,
infed:s, and worms, and fortify the grain, but he cannot think it any fecurity
againft blights, &c. See fo. 99.

I had wheat brined and hmed for fowing, but much rain coming, and the
ground being wet, I could not fow it for a fortnight ; at the fortnight's end I
had fundry people with me about meafuring harveft-work, fo I afked their
opinion whether fuch wheat would grow or not ; — one faid, he had known
wheat that had not been brined and limed above a week, and a great deal of
it did not grow. — Another faid, it depended on the high degree to which it
was limed, for, if it was fo high limed that it flirunk and fhriveled, it would
not grow, but, in cafe the rind looked plump and fmooth, then there was no
danger. A third was of opinion, that there was a great difference in the man-
ner of brining it, for, if the wheat had been fteeped in brine, it would be
much apter to burn by lying in lime than it would having been only fprinkled
with brine in the morning it was limed.-— Note, this brined wheat was not
fowed till November 7th, which was feven weeks after it was limed, and
yet it grew, and came up fo thick that it feemed to have received no
prejudice.

§. 15. It was univerfally obferved this laft winter, (anno 1708) that the ^'autions— to
wheat which was killed was not killed by frofts, tho' they were very intenfe, derfurrow"hi
but by the winds, which drove the frofty particles in fuch a manner as to pe- the hillcoun-
netrate into the roots of the corn ; this may be fuppofed to be effedled with j^^ ' "°' '°
their angles, which lanced the fibres and cut them in pieces, like as fire by fine; nor to
it's fubtle corpufcles in it's rapid motion may be fuppofed to penetrate and di- cut hedges
vide bodies. — It was plain the wheat on our hills in Hampftiire and our highf°°/^f ,^g°'
grounds, was canonaded, for the driven fnow, as it was carried to the hedges cold winds,
by the wind, battered the wheat and cut oft" the blade, and the wounds it made
opened portals for the fiercenefs of the weather to enter the roots. — Wherever
the wheat lay out of or flieltered from the wind, in thole places it was faved ;
and the furrows of grounds, where by lying wet (and this was a Vv'et winter)
the wheat is ahvays worft, were, if the ridges croft the wind, the beft, becaufe
the ridges fheltered the furrows, but, if the ridges and furrows lay parallel to
the north, or north-eafterly wind, then the wheat in the furrows was alfo de-
ftroyed, but wheat lying under the (helter of hedges v/as faved. — From the
fad experience of this year we may in our hill-countries conclude it to be good
huft)andry, to have a fpecial regard, in the fowing of wheat-lands that lye ex-
pofed to the north or eafterly winds (for it cannot be fuppofed any danger can
come from the fouth or weft quarter) firft, to fow under furrow, or at leaft a

caft

•of land, aasd afierts, that the one, who brined his feed, hadiiofmut, but the other, who neg] cit-
ed it, h.id a very fmutty crop ; but again he doubts whether this feed might have been changed the
precedent year, and fo might not be greatly infedled, no more than what the brine and hine might
cure. He adds aUb, that fmutty feed-wheat, tho' brined, will produce a fmutty crop, unlefs the
year prove very favourable j for favourable years will cure the finut, as ujikind ones will caufe it.

136 WHEAT-

caft over and a caft under, that thereby the wheat niay He the deeper both
from the penetrating power of the winds and from their power of uncovering
the earth, and laying the roots of the corn naked; fecondly, to leave our
grounds a little rough, and not harrow them too fine, it being obferved that
the wheat faved itfelf much better when the knobby clods fheltered it; —
thirdly, to have a regard, where grounds lie bleakly expofed to thofe winds,
not to cut down the high hedges, \\'hich may be a fence to it, before
February.
Cbfervation §. 1 6. The 2oth of November, (anno 1704) I obferved the wheat on the
on the growth g^Qyp,^^ and that the firft, or capital branch, confifted of an upright fpire,
between tAvo leaves falling on the ground ; but the ifiues or tillows, be they
never fo many, had but one leaf on one fide of the fpire, by which the iffues
are to be difcerned from the main branch ; and in both good and poor v heat
the difference was the fame. — I know not therefore what the Latins meant,
when they faid, wheat muft not be raked till it has four leaves, nor barley till
it has five. — The fame day I obferved the tillo\\"S of rye-grafs, and found that
both the capital germen and the tillows do confift of but one fpire iffuing from
the middle of two grafs leaves, and therefore different from that of wheat.
Obfervation ^_ ^^^ jj. ^^^^ ^^c 23d and the 24th of June (anno 1703) I made the fol-
ai:d roots of lowing obfervations with relation to the ears of wheat : in one field there were,
■wheat, and for t WO acres together, generally in an ear ten chefts on a fide ; about four of
fowTittk land ^^^ middle chefts on each fide contained five grains, viz. two on each fide the
and good. middle grain; but the uppermoft and lowermoft chefts fell off gradually to
four, three, and two grains in a cheft. — I went into another field, and could
not find above eight or nine chefts in any ear there, nor in any of the middle
chefts above three grains, vi2;. one on each fide the upright middle one ; and
fo again the uppermoft and lowermoft chells fell away gradually into two, and
but one grain in a cheft • yet this land had been well dunged. — In another
field it was manifeft, that part that was dunged carried not fo long an ear, nor
fo many grains in a cheft as that part of it that was folded, and lowed on one
earth; but there were many of the ears of the folded wheat that held out ten
chefts, and had five grains on each fide of the two middle chefts : how thefe
ears might prove I knew not, very little of the v.'heat being blown. — I alfo
obferved the partitions of the chefts to open, in order to let out the blolToms ;
which when fhot out, they clofed again, and the bloffom hung dangling
on the outfide by a hair as fine as a cobweb : till I made this difcovery of the
chefts opening, I ufed to wonder how fo fine a thread could thruft out the
bloffom. — Then in another field I obferved the limed wheat to be of a moft
vivid fcarlet in the colour of it's bloffom, more lively than the flower of that
in the firft mentioned field, which was a more dulky fcarlet ; yet it exceeded
the flower of my other pieces of wheat, which generally did not come up to
the colour of that, having a more wan and fickly fcarlet coloured bloffom. — I
alfo pulled up feveral roots of wheat, fome of which had ten tillows ; for I
waflicd their roots, and found them all joined in one.

Now

WHEAT. 137

Now, if fome roots of wheat have ten tillows, others but two or three ; —
if fome ears of wheat have ten chefts of a fide, others but fix or feven ; —
and fome ears have five grains in the beft cheft, others but three, and two, I
leave it to be confidered what encouragement there is to fow little land and
good.— The ten-chefted ears at four middle-chefts each fide, with five grains
a piece, make forty grains; the twelve other chefts, at three grains in a cheft,
make thirty-fix, — The weak wheat has but twenty-fix grains in an ear, and
fix tillows lefs, and it's two tillows muft alfo hold but in proportion to the
top ears.

§. 18. I went under a hedge, where my wheat was almoft as high as my ^^^^^""^°^
head in the head-land, the reeds very ftrong, the chefts ten or eleven on a fide ; maded from
yet I obferved the blofl'oms generally to be very pale and fickly, of the colour of ^^^ f""-
aflies on a dying coal, and I feldom found above three grains in a middle-cheft :
thefe defefts I impute to the head-land being fhaded from the fun; for by the
length of the reed, the many chefts, and by my own knowledge of the ground,
it was very ftrong ; but doubtlefs thofe grains muft run very thin at harveft.

§. 19. July 6th (anno 1703) I viewed a field of wheat, the blofibm being Farther ob-
juftover; I plucked fome of the chefts, and found, tho' proviiion had been [^'J^^'°"^jf"
made for three or four grains in a cheft, yet in many of them there were not wheat, and
like to be above two or three grains, and I found in thofe failing grains their why nature

,,„ i-,ii • 1-n 1 • fiirnilhes more

bloflToms pent up and withered, the grains not having itrengtn to emit : — chefts than fhe
and in thofe ears, that had the withered grains, I found the outmoft grains can fill.
in the cheft on each fide to be beft maintained, nature having deferted the
others, not being able to maintain them.

Whereas I had obferved in the flowering of the wheat, that, the ears being
large and the chefts broad, there were in the middle cheft of the ear five
grains that had flowered, which" I apprehend to be the full complement in the
middle cheft of an ear ; examining thefe ears and chefts about a fortnight or
three weeks after I could in none of the middle-chefts find above th.^ee grains
of wheat, in many but two. — If you aflc, where was the advantage of theie
ears producing fo many cells, when but two or three grains, or cells in a cheft:
came to maturity ? I anfwer, the advantage was very great ; for in the firft
place they are a fign of the fruitfulnefs of the root, and, if two cells do decay,
the other three will be the better maintained, and have the fuller grain. Se-
condly,— where in the wheat flowering-time there are the more cells in a
cheft that bloftom, they can the better maintain the lofs by all accidents that
may happen ; for inftance ; if one or two grains in a cheft fail at flowering-
time by a fly-blow (it being often the cafe) there are bloflbms enough in the
cheft to make good that lofs by maintaining three good grains in a cheft j
whereas in ears that are weak, and produce but two or three bloflbms in a
cheft, if thofe bloflbms fliould be blown, all muft mifcarry. — I was apt to
think however, that of the five bloflbms produced in a cheft there could but
thiee prove good, nature not being able to maintain more; and this I concluded,
becaufe it could do no more by my wheat, which grew in general on exceed-
ing good ground ; and tlie chefts v/ere fo conftrufted, that it fecmed to me,

T there

J38

WHEAT.

A defeft in
wheat not
commonly
taken notice
of.

Of the tillow.
iug of wheat.

there could be room for no more grains in a cheft; but on coming from lifly
to Oxford I obferved fome mighty rich land, that had large eared wheat,
manv of the ears containing twelve chefls on a fide; I am now therefore con-
vinced, nature is not confined, as above hinted, to five blolToms in a cheft,
for in the middle chefi: of thefe ears there had been fix, if not feven blof-
foms, the two middlemoft of which nature was not able to maintain, and fo
they withered, but I told in thofe chefts five compleat grains full kerned.

§. 20. In viewing my wheat, when it was near full kerned, I oblerved
fome withered ears, which in all their chefts looked dead ; the grain was
fhrunk and withered, tho' in other refpeds good, for it had a found flour,
but the ftravv was dead to the root, and that drew up eafily, the fibres feem-
ing dead and dry ; fo that this is a farther, and another fort of defeat in wheat
than either fmut or blight, viz. by worm, or burnt.

§. 21. April 14th (anno 1705) 1 firft obferved the manner of the tillow-
ino- of whea't : the fpring-tillows, for the mofl part, do arife from the foot of
the root of the winter-fiems or fhoots, which may be two, three, or four, ac-
cording as the wheat is in proof; they arife from that foot, and, when they
break out at firft, they may be perceived by the eye in a bud fmaller than a
pin's head, containing a cryftaline pellucid juice ; which bud is fecured by
the coat of the outward leaf of the mother or winter-fhoot, between which
coat and the infide-coat of the winter-£hoot this tender bud pafles along, as
through a fheath, whereby it is protedled from outward injure'-, till it is fo
well grown as to break forth with it's green fpire ; from the fide of this win-
ter-flioot nosv and then only one of the faid fpring-foboles does arife, and
now and then another on the contrary fide, and perhaps a third or fourth on
the other fides, according as thefe winter or mother-fhoots are in a flourifh-
in'y condition, till at laft they, being grown thick and ftrong, open the focket
of the faid outward leaf, which girds them clofe to the mother-ftem, and fo
ftand independent, wide off from it ; and then that old leaf becomes ufelefs
and dies. — This day I alfo obferved a new pearly brood of foboles at the
root of the faid winter-flioot, in the manner as the other before defcribed, no
bigger than a pin's head ; but whether it be not now too late for them to
come to maturity is a queftion : it is very probable warm and dr/ weather
may very much conduce thereto. — The firft and earlieft foboles or tillows
abovefaid, being at this time Ihot up into the open air in a fpire, feem by
their grovvth to have made a bud very early in the winter, which another
year mav perhaps give me opportunity to enquire into. From many experi-
ments I have made, by lowing corn in pots, 1 find, that, when a maiden Ipear
has been dead, no collateral fpear has ibot from the fame bafis, but that the
tillows are properly offsets from the maiden ftem.

§. 22. The autumn (anno 1714) wanting rain, the ground, at the begin-
fprings with a j of wheat feed-time, was but iuft moift enough to brin? up the corn : the

thin blade It & - ■ ^ , / ,i i "^ j-i ir

feldotn reco- farmers (w'ho kept on lowmg) oblerved that the corn, whicti came up before
any rain had fell, had but a thin blade, and was of a dark colour, wanting the
broad leaf and golden colour they expefted : it fell out the fame with me in

the

When wheat

vers itfelf in
poor land

WHEAT. 139

the ground I fowed under furrow, tho' the moifture was fufficlent to bring up
the corn thick enough.— Farmer lies and farmer Box, my tenants in V^ilts,
obferved the fame thing in wheat they fowed at the beginning of wheat- feed
time. — It's not unHkely but this drought might do no prejudice where the
land is very good ; for tho' the thin blade, &c, certainly fhew the root and
ftalk to be weak, yet in rich land they might ftrengthen when rain came; but
where ground is poor, when wheat comes up thin in blade, it is a queflion
whether it will ever recover, and get a good root, ilalk, or blade, tho' rain
fhould come. — This narrow leaf is occafioned from the earth's not giving up
the juices freely at firft.

§. 23. In turning up wet wheat flraw (laid together in a heap the begin- Of the length
ning of November 1702) I found in January many loofe grains fpeared out, "f''^^ iheaths
but, on account of the thicknefs of the wadd of ftraw laid on them, they were grains.
not able to flnoot thro' : I meafured their white ftiff fheaths, thro' which their
blades pafs, and they were from four inches to iive inches and an half long.
Now, thefe grains having liberty to (hoot their flieaths to their utmofi: extre-
mity, according to the relpedtive vigour of each grain, and not being hindered
by the ftraw, I infer that thofe lengths are the utmoft lengths their flieaths
will reach to; fo that, if the grain is buried below fuch depth, the (heath
cannot prote<ft the blade, nor give it fafe convoy farther, but it muft venture
its own felf to get thro'. I obferved however a round wiry fubftance the
blade carried, an inch upwards from the opening of the flieath, and before it
opened into the leafy blade, which, tho' lefs in compafs, and lefs ftiff than
the flieath, yet feemed of a ftrength better able, than if it had been a leafy
blade, to penetrate upwards, if the fheath could not carry it into air. I infer
alfo from the different lengths of the fheaths, that thefe lengths depended on
the refpedlive powers of the grain, feeing they had the fame bed of llraw, and
were all buried the fame depth : it would be well therefore to try old grains
and new, and lay them at different depths, and fee what foundation it would -
give to farther conjedtures. I obferved the flieaths, which had ran out i^o
far, were much weakened by it, and had not that fliff ftrength that the
flieaths of common fown wheat has, which lies fliallow. The graffy blade
had fhot forth two inches into the dunghill, but looked of a yellow lickly
completion.

§. 24. In cutting many wheat reeds I obferved all their lowermoft joints were Of the knots
Ihort, of two or three inches in length, and without hollownefs, and that Hia^'^^nd ^^g
they gradually lengthened and hollowed ; which was in reafon fo ordered by growth of
God, for the better ftrengthcning the reed to fupportthe grain. The fourth '^hcat.
joint in all the reeds was very hollow and very moift ; feveral drops of water
came from moft of them in that joint ; whether it was occafioned by the very
wet May and June, or not, I cannot tell. Again, from that joint the next
above grew lefs hollow, and the uppermoft, that carried the ear, had no hol-
lownefs, but a green ftrong hood, wonderfully contrived for ftrength, to fup-
port the grain. The hoods of the firft joint were dead, (thefe 1 take to be
the two dying leaves that begin to appear in May) fo were the hoods of the

"T 2 fecond

140

WHEAT.

fecond joint, that being of fuch flrength as not to fland In need of them ; but
the two laft and uppermoft hoods feemed carefully to protedl thofe whole
joints refpedively, and to ftrengthen them. I alfo obferved the tillowing ears,
which, tho' they were fuckers from the trunk of the tall reeds, that bore the
long ears, yet they had two or three fmall roots of their own, on which they
feemed to depend. Quinteny obferves, the fap (hoots to the topmoft branch
moft vigoroufly : fo it certainly is in the wheat-ear ; for, if any grains in the
ear are wanting, they are the lowermoft.
offeeding K 25. Being at farmer Sartain's at Great Chavel in Wilts, I faid, that one

wheat with j^jy^j^tage of fowing wheat early was, that it might fat fheep, if it was too
*^^' rank.— Sartain replied, he did not approve of that hufbandry ; he thought it

a prefumption, and faid, it would be very apt to make the wheat fall and
lodge, and carry but a light ear notwithftanding.— I aiked him how fo; he
faid, it would flioot forth a fmall weak fpindle after feeding it, and if the
flraw was fmall the corn muft be fo too. — 1 fpoke to farmer Miles on this
fubjed: ; he faid, he looked on feeding not to hurt the wheat in the leaft, if
it were not fed late : it is true, faid he, if it be fed after the fpindle begins to
flioot, it would be the fame as feeding French-grafs, for then, as Sartain fays,
the firfl: fpindle being taken off, there would come up a weak ilTue or fpindle
by it.— Sartain gave me three or four inftances on his fide the queftion,and
Miles the like on his ; and the latter carried me to view a part of Mr. Brew-
er's farm, whichwasanno 1699 eat up bare, and had as good a burden of whea:t
as any in the county. — He looks on the difference therefore to be as above.

Major Liver and I difcourfing of the mifchief wheat might receive by being
fed down with flieep, — efpecially, faid the Major, to feed it as many farmers
do, who feem to be cautious, and think to be fure to do no harm, and fo they
only put in a few ; whereas, were I to feed wheat, I would put in as many as
ihould eat it down diredly; for, when there are but a few, they only crop
what they fhould not, viz. the youngeft fpindles.

I cannot imagine why wheat fhould be fed at any time, unlefs it be by one
evil to remedy a greater: if the wheat be not fo forward as to have tillowed
into fmall ftiff fpindles, long enough for the fheep to eat it, they can only
eat the leafy blade ; but I cannot fee how that puts the fpindle the back-
warder ; it rather l^ems to forward it, and ftrengthen it, forafmuch as the
fap, which had the leaf to nourilh before, has now only the fpindle, which
confequcntly muft grow the fafter and flronger. — But if the wheat be io
fpindled, that the (lieep can bite the fpindle off, then it will put it backward
to a great mifchief, inafmuch as fo ftrong a fpindle will never grow up again
from that more or root, nor carry fo good an ear as that would have cone :
indeed if a favourable fpring comes, efpecially if the ground be good, the coun-
try-man may think he can be no fufferer, becaufe he may, notwithftanding
this, have a good crop. — Yet it muft be confeft, that one muft refort to the
evil offeeding, if the wheat be fo exceedingly forward as to Ihoot into ear too
early in the fpring.

. When

WHEAT. 141

When I fhewed farmer Crapp and farmer Ginnoway fome young green
wheat, and let them fee there was a young ear above ground no bigger than
a pin's head, they both confeft, it was madnefs to feed wheat with fheep,
efpecially in our hill-country, where the land is not rich ; for in fuch land, if
the maiden-ear be eat off, it muft be a weak brother that puts forth in it's
room, whatever better may happen in rich land.

Mr. Eyre tells me, that farmer Lake of Faccomb is very much againft feed-
ing burn-beaked wheat, and fays it will occafion it to blight. — I afked Mr.
Eyre why the farmer thought fo. He faid, he could learn no other reafon
for it, but that it would be the later ripe, and the backwarder corn is in ripen-
ing the more fubjedl it is to blight. — Note, this obfervation, however he, or
any other notable farmer came to make it, pretty generally holds true, though
thetrue reafon, why feeding wheat fliould make it later ripe, the fanners are at
a lofs to difcern. — The true reafon hereof I have before proved, viz. that the
ears of wheat in February and March are an inch or two above ground, which
maiden-ears the fheep eat off, and then nature is put back to form other ears,
which muft neceffarily put the harvefl; backward, it may be a fortnight, and
alfo produce a weaker ftraw, more fubjedl to lodge and fall, in the room of
the maiden-ftems bit off, and probably with a fhorter and weaker ear, unlefs
the ground be very good. — This is like to be the natural confequence of feed-
ing wheat with fheep in the hill-country, where, by reafon of the cold, the
harvefis at befl are backward ; but thefe ill effedls may not happen where the
ground is warm and good, and the country lies low. — If proud v/heat were
mowed two inches above the ground, this would prevent the mifchiefs of
feeding ; but then I do not fee how it would prevent the ranknefs and lodg-
ing of the wheat, fince, the ear not being cut off, nature would not be put
backward j for the cutting off" the leafy-part fignifies neither one way nor
other } for that makes no advances after the end of May, but then rots.

§. 26. Whereas the Rei rufticae fcriptores diredt the farrition of wheat 9'^'^^'^'''"'
when it comes to have four leaves, as taken notice of before, — I have been at ''°" o"" ''^'^'"S

1 r 1 r 1 r • r 1 i 1 wheat among

a lofs to difcover the four leaves of wheat, becaufe it puts forth only three tneantients.
leaves, nor could I ever obfervemore. — But note, the two collateral leaves die
in about two or three months time, and then more leaves put forth ; fo that in
England four leaves never appear atone time, but in a warmer clime, as Italy,
the latter leaves may put out before the former are dead, and fo four green
leaves may be feen at the fame time.

§. 27. When the ears flrut, and the chefl:s fland open, it is a fign the Sign of good
grain plims well, and is full.

§. 28. In the beginning of May (anno 1707) my fervant faid, my wheat, sign of _
for want of rain, was at a fland in it's growth. — 1 alked him, how he knew ^t a«ar.dln"^
it ; he faid, by the fplkinefs and fpearinefs of the tops ; for, when it does growth.
not thrive, it runs to a fliarpnefs at top, and docs not hold broad as when it
thrives.

§. 29. It was the 15th of Apr.il (anno 1702) I firfl obferved, that the Time when
ear was fo early formed ; for in pulling away the valves, which were five, j:^^ fj^"/,"^^

at/ipnl 15.

142 WHEAT.

at laft I found the ear in it's cradle, or inmofl: valve, which valve was of the
length of three pins-heads j the ear itfelf not above two pins-heads in
length : I could not difcover it's parts with the naked eye, but with the
microfcope I could diftinguidi it's parts plain as in a full grown-ear, and
diftinguilh every feed to be of a watery pellucid fubftance; the grain being
formed by the middle of April, the weather following feems to be of great
confequence.

It was obferved this year, 1700, that wheat carried a very fhort ear; for
It had been a very wet cold May, and in that month, or near it, it was
that the ear was formed, and, if the root be chilled in that month, it will
not recover it.

The proverbial rhime holds not good on cold hill-country lands, tho'
confifting of (Irong clays, which yet is very true, when applied to Leicefter-
lliire, and other deep lands warmly fituated ;

" I came to my wheat in May,

" And went forrowful away ;

" I came to my wheat at '^ woodflieer,

" And went from thence with a good cheer.—

For, in cold hill-countries, whoever fees not the ground well flocked with
green wheat by the beginning of May, will never fee a good crop.
Edge-grown §. ^o. There is a fort of land the country-people call *woodfeer ground; in
^°g"°"^'^°^'^" this fort of land, fow early or late, the corn will be edge-grown, that is,
• Spungy, much of the blade, after it is come up, will die away, and then fpindle up
fern}', poor, again : this muft be occafioned by the root's being affedted, and not only
by the blade's receiving an injury, for then the blades of corn in the neigh-
bouring grounds would be the fame, as being expofed to the fame air; fuch
ground therefore muft be fuppofed to be of a hollow fpungy nature, very
fufceptible of the air ; and tho' it may feem to be clofer and more compadb
than chalky land, yet really it is not fo, elfe the chalky land would fufFer
the fame fate. In thefe woodfeer grounds the roots of the corn are injured
by the cold winds coming to them in March, April, and May, whereby
they ficken, and the blade prefently difcovers it by dying away.
Of wheat's §• S^- The lodging of whcat is often occafioned by a weaknefs in the

lodging, and flraw proceeding from the poverty of the land, it not being able to give
nourifhment, and fo the flraw grows limber. — And in very ftrong land the
flraw of red-ftraw-wheat will run to a greater luxuriancy in height than
the ftrength of the ftraw will bear, and then it will lodge.
Of blights on §. 32. This fpring (anno 1720) being very cold and wet, and the fummer
wheat. i-,y intervals rainy till harveft, and oftentimes the rain falling with that

weight as to beat down the beft of the wheat in mofl parts, a month at

leaft,

^ The word woodftieer is underftood for the froth, which, about the latter end of May be-
gins to appear on the joints of plants, and is more commonly called cuckow-fpit.

WHEAT.

leaft, if not five weeks before harveft, yet it did not, as ufual in fuch cafe,
blight, which was wondered at. — The reafon feems to be, becaufe the
ground by cloudy dark weather, and many repeated and frequent rains,
was kept cool, and thereby it fed the corn, fo that it did not fcorch and
burn as in other fuch years, whereby the green corn that lodged, was not
parched up ; for it is obvious, it muft burn and dry up more in hot fcorch-
ing weather, when it lies flat on the ground, than ftanding upright it would
do; becaufe by (landing upright it fliades the ground from the fun.

The country-man obferves the blight to appear on his wheat quickly
after it's bloflbming-time, and fo concludes the bloffoming-time dangerous
for blighting ; and in all probability it may be fo ; for the blight perhaps
arifes from the cold winds condenfing the fap and choaking up the pores of
the ftraw, whereby all nourifhment that fliould pafs to the ear is intercept-
ed : but if this blight proceeds from a mildew falling from the air, as many
people imagine, it cannot be fo ; for at the bloflbming-time the ftraw is not
dry enough to receive and fuck in fuch mildew; it abounds with moiflure
at that time, like green hay in fwarth, and cannot be prejudiced by rain,
as it may be after it is become hay, for then it imbibes the rain ; — but, as I
conceive, the blight appears not on the wheat till after the ftraw becomes
fomewhat dry ; tho' true it is, the mildew's lodging on the wheat at flower-
ing-time, if not waflied off by rain, may continue till the flraw be dry
enough to imbibe it. — The poorer the land is, or the lighter it lies, tho'
rich, the lefs able will it be to feed the roots of the corn fo as to over-
come the blight. — Now the reafon why wheat or barley is fuppofed to
be pafl: blighting when the grain comes to fome hardened pith, is, becaufe
the mildew coming on the ftraw then, it cannot affedl the corn fo as to
blight it, it having by that time got fuch a fubflance, as to be maintained
by very little communication of fap from the root, according to the degree
of which the wheat will fhrink more or lefs. — Perhaps the fmut m^ay be
nothing elfe but the higheft degree of blight, when the mildew comes fo
plentifully on the flraw as totally to interrupt and flop the riling moiflure, —
or when the particular bit of dung, or fuch moiflure as lies to the root of
the corn is, by that time the corn comes to kern, wholly confumed by the
heat of the fun.

Obferving the wheat-ears at bloflbming-time, I found, that, at fliooting
forth the blofTom, each cell or cheft opens more than ordinary, and, when.
the flower is come forth, it clofes again. This obfervation feems to account
for the blight wheat is faid to take at bloflbming-time, inafmuch as at that
time blighting winds and mildews are let into the cell where the grain is; thefc
mildews whether they proceed from the air, and falling on the plant enter
into it's pores, and prevent the fap from filling it, or v/hether they are
nothing more than the fap itfelf, which, in it's paflage thro' the pores of
the plant, is checked and thickened by the cold winds, and being unable
to fly off, lettles on the furface, however this be, they are of that gummy
nature, that they may eaflly be fuppofed to choak the grain.

Of

143

144 WHEAT.

Of BLIGHTING AIR.

• Country people look on hot glooms and a warm vapoury air to be blight-
ing and to bring caterpillars and green locufts; if fo, this feems to be an
argument for mildews falling from the air, and not proceeding merely from
cold, for the reafon thereof may be this ; thofe infecfts eggs being laid on
the leaves of trees and corn, the weather aforefaid coming, which contains
glutinous and unftious particles, may fallen thofe eggs to the leaves and fecure
them from being blown away, fill the fun can bring them to perfedion,
whereas, if winds had come, or rains, inftead of the aforefaid blighting air,
mofl: of them might have been deftroyed ; fo that fuch glooms may well be
fuppofed pernicious ; and fuch air may penetrate into the cells of the chefts of
wheat, and choak all circulation. — But on the other hand the mildew may
proceed from the cold nights that give a fudden check to the fap, which _had
before been attenuated by thefe glooms.

If ftrong winds come when the ftraw of the wheat is grown a little ftifF,
i. e. about three weeks or a month before the corn be ripe, a blight often hap-
pens ; for the draw, being then ftifFened, does not ply with the wind as when
full of graify fap, but by making refiftance it loofens the mores or fibres of the
roots, which give way or break, as may be feen by the wheat's reclining at
the root from the fide the wind fet till harvefl: ; whereby nourishment is not
fo well conveyed, and fo the corn Shrinks or blights, efpecially in loofe ground,
as it happened this year (1712) but, where wheat lay in a Shelving ground,
quite under the wind, no damage happened.

This year (17 12) about the time the wheat was kerned, andjuft got into milk,
or paffing out of it into foft flour, there happened ftrong wefterly winds, which
Ibained the roots of the corn, and made it recline ; foon after which it was
obferved by the country-man, that the corn was generally ftruck with a blight,
efpecially where the land was weak and light; for fome of the fibres of the

roots

' Mr. Miller gives the following account of blights from the learned Dr. Hales, which in a
great meaTure is agreeable to our author's fentiments. — Blights are often caufed by a continued
dry eaftcrly wind, for feveral days together, without intervention of fliowers, or any morning-
dew, by which the perfpiration in the tender bloflbms is flopped : fo that, in a fhort time their
colour is changed, and they wither aiid decay : and, if it fo happens that there is a long conti-
nuance of the fame weather, it equally aiteiSs the tender leaves ; for their perfpiring matter Is
hereby thickened, and rendered glutinous, clofely adhering to the furfaces of the leaves, and be-
comes a proper nutriment to thofe fmall infeiSts, which are always found preying upon the leaves
and tender branches of fruit-trees, whenever this blight happens ; but it is not thefe infers which
are the firit caufe of blights, as hath been imagined by fome ; tho' it mufl be allowed, that,
whenever thefe infects meet with fuch a proper food, they multiply exceedingly.

The wheat leaft liable to be hurt by thefe infeds, fays Mr. Tull, is the white-cone (or beard-
ed) wheat, which has it's ftraw like a rufti, not hollow, but full of pith, except near the lower
part, and there it is very thick and ftrong. It is probable it has fap veffels that lie deeper, fo as
the young infefts cannot totally deftroy them, as they do in other wheat ; for when the ftraw has
the black fpots (which he calls the excrements of thefe young infers) which fiiew that the infects
have been there bred, yet the grain is plump, when the grey cone and lammas-wheat mixed with
it are blighted.

WHEAT.

US

roots gave way, others broke, and the corn continued to lean from that point,
ftom whence the wind came, till harveft, but in very good land the corn fuf-
fered little by the blight. On my clay-lands, tho' the fibres of the roots were
ftrained, yet fuch of them as were not prejudiced were able tolerably well,
from the moifture of the land, to feed the corn beyond what dry and light
land could do : — However the ftraw of all the wheat in the country looked
white, and not ftained with black fpots. — The reafon was, becaufe this
blight proceeded not from the fat gummy-juices of the air, nor indeed from
the coldnefs of the wind, (either of which may choak the vegetable juices
and hinder them from afcending through the ftraw to the ear, whereby the
corn may be ftarved for want of nourifhment), but from the ftrength of the
wind damaging and weakening the roots, which are the feeders of the grain,
and preventing them from doing their office. — J had fuch ground, which
lay under a hill flieltered from the wind, that was not hurt. All corn,
on light and dry ground, ought to be cut fooner than corn lying on a flat
clay-ground, becaufe from the cold ground a damp fleam will arife, and
in fome meafure feed the corn that leans down more than it can be fup-
pofed to do from a pour dry ground, when the corn has lofl it's fupport
from the root.

Farmer Elton told me, that he had the ftraw of his wheat grievoufly
blighted, when the ears were not touched. — I told him, I thought that
mufi: be, becaufe the wheat was fo near ripe that it no longer depended
either on the root or the ftraw for it's nourifliment, and confequently any
defed in either of them could not affed: the ear.-^To which he affented, and
faid, he believed it was the truth of the cafe.

§. 33. The worfe wheat is, tho' it be never fo dry, It will handle the Cf wheat's
rougher; becaufe thin and coarfe wheat is not fo plump and globular as '^^"■^'■"S
fine wheat, and is often fo coarfe as to be pitted, and wrinkled, which mufl"^""^^'
needs make it lefs flippery.

§. 34. Wheat will handle colder out of a reek that is two years old than Of wheat's
it will out of a reek of one year old j— for in that time, the mifts and ^^'■'^^'"S cold.
rimes, efpecially in the hill-country, will be drove into a reek.

§. 35. January (anno 1705) we had a month's feafon of very wet and ^^^^^^T. cold
rimy-weather, in which time my bread proved very v/hite, infomuch as I ^'r'indmg^.'^ ^°'^
was uneafy about it : the miller faid, he ground the wheat as fine as ufual ; "
the cook-maid faid, flie ufed the coarfe fieve, as fne ufed to do : at lall the
miller faid, the reafon mufl be the dampnefs of the weather, v/hich made
the wheat grind heavy, and not fo fine, whereby the bran was the larger,
and the flour the lefs. — From hence it appears, that wheat, which is heavy
and cold, will not yield that flour that dry wheat will, nor confequently
that price, which is another difadvantage befides that of not keeping.

§.36. Anno 1715 I obfervcd in other perfons wheat as well as my P^^^'^^^^'Jia*
own, it having been a wet harveft, that moft farmers had fome wheat-
corn grown, and that fuch wheat would not yield fo much by three- pence
per bufhel as other corn that was not grown, and yet in fuch grown-

U wheat

IS grown.

146 WHEAT.

v/heat it may be there was not to be found above a grain of grown-corn in
two or three handfuls. — I thought it proper to demand the reafon of the
farmers, why fo few grains of grown-corn in a large quantity of wheat
fhould make fo great a difference in the price ; at length farmer Ifles, of
Holt in Wiltftiire, gave me the beft reafon : — he faid, where there is but a
little grown-corn in wheat it makes a very fenfible difference in the bread
or pudding made of it ; not that the grown-corn only, which is apparent to
us, when fo little, can make fo great a difference, but wherever, faid he,
fo much corn is apparently grown to our eyes, a great deal more is damag-
ed than appears to our eyes ; for the flour of corn will be damaged and clam-
my, tho' it has not gone fo far as to fhoot either root or fpear : it is enough
to vitiate the flour if the nib or pudlum fallens has fwelled fo as to
crack or burfl the fkin. — I told Mr. Raymond farmer Illes's judgment of
this matter, and he faid, it was a notable obfervation.

Rain coming before I could thatch a wheat-reek, one fourth part of the
round being unthatched, the wheat there took damage by growing ; and
it is to be noted, that a little grown-corn will do a great deal of damage ;
'tis not only the lofs of thofe grains that adually grow, but a foulnefs and
fuflinefs alfo, and a fmut that they beget in the germen, that rots the corn,
fo that fuch ears will fly into dult, like a puff, when they are flruck with
the flail, and difcolour the whole quantity of wheat threflied with them,
tho' it had otherwife taken no harm. — It is farmer Biggs's opinion, that it is
the befi to mingle all together, for the buyers will give nothing for the

bad. All my wheat of that reek alfo felt heavy and cold, tho' not one

fourth part had taken damage ; for the unthatched part taking damage, the

damp that was thereby received, and pent in when it came to be thatched,

did, it is probable, ftrike a chill to the whole reek.

Caution tofell §. 37. In Cafe the fpring be far fpent, and the fummer fo advanced, that

off old wheat ^,-j e^^iy aj^^ forward harvefl may be expefled, and the lafl year's wheat run

beflre nm* coarfc, by reafon of a cold fpring and fummer with a backward harveft, it

harveft. will bc bell to threfli out fuch wheat, and fell it before new wheat comes

into the market ; for the new wheat will carry fo much better a body and

colour, that the old wheat, when it llands in the market along with the

new, will fell to a much greater difadvantage than it would have done, had

it appeared by itfelf.

Antiquity of §• 38. In Mofes's fong on the overthrow of the ^Egyptians, Exod. ch. 15.

bariiing flub- ver. 7. it is faid, — " Thou fenteft forth thy wrath, which confumed them as

^^^- " ftubble," — whereby it appeareth how antient a cuflom it was to burn the

flubble. — ^ Pliny takes notice that Virgil gives great commendation to the

cullom of burning the ftubble, but he himfelf thinks it of no other ufe but

that of deflroying the feeds of weeds.

RYE.

* Sunt qui accendant in arvo et ftipulas, magno Virgilii prxconio j fumma autem ejus ratio ut
herbarum femen o.urant. Plin,

[ 147 ]

RYE.

§. 1. 13 YE is a grain feldom fown in the counties I have been mofi: con-
XV verfant, and, as for my own experience, it has been very little
in it.

Farmer Morrant of Eflex afTured me, that in their common-field one of the Rye carried
tenants one year fowed rye in but two acres, and there was not that year one f^o^ one lafd
piece of wheat in the whole field clear from rye. — It was conjeftured it muft toanodier,
be the common-field fheep croffing over the two acres of rye, after it was
fowed, that carried it about in their claws.

§. 2. Mr. Putching of Leicefterfhire informs me, that they fowtwo bufhels offowingrye
of rye on an acre, which is as much as they fow of wheat, becaufe, he fays, (i,ire.
tho' it is a thinner grain, and fo more of it goes to a budiel, yet it is alfo a
tenderer grain, and therefore they give that allowance. — He fays, in the com-
mon-fields in Leicefterfliire they winter-feed their wheat by confent, but they They never
do not feed their rye, becaufe it is too tender to bear it, and the fheep would ^^ ^^^'
make little holes with their feet in open weather, wherein the water would
{land to the injury of the rye.

BARLEY.

§. I. X7 ARMER Biggs of Hampfliire tells me, he fows much of the rath- Ofrath-Wpe

X^ ripe barley, that he fows it on clay-ground, becaufe the fault of " ^^*
that land is that it's corn will -be late ripe, which is mended by that barley :
rath-ripe barley, he fays, ought to be fown early, or the corn will be thin ;
he fows it in March. But farmer Elton, his neighbour, fays, fome fow it firfi:,
and fome the laft of barley : he alfo fays, it ought to be fowed in good ftrong
ground, elfe it's flraw being very hollow will be weak, and fo be beaten down
and lodge.

It feems that rath-ripe barley ihould be fown on better ground than other
barley, becaufe, ripening the fooner, it may be fuppofed to exhaull the good-
nefs of the land, and to draw it's moiflure from it fafler than it can well give
it, the corn coming to it's perfedlion in fo much the lefs time. — But Mr. Ray-
mond affures me, that with them, near Patney in Wiltfliire, they fow it in
the pooreft fandy ground.

Conformable to what Mr. Raymond had told me, a good farmer, and
neighbour to both Biggs and Elton, is pofitive that on his poor gravelly
ground it is much the befl to fow rath-ripe barley j for fuch land will not
hold out in feeding the late-ripe corn long enough, but will give off before it
is ripe ; therefore the rath ripe barley does better, to ripen which there is not
fo much patience required ; but qua;re how far this may hold alfo v/ith white
earth, which is the fort of foil Bigg's and Elton's poorer land confills of.

U 2 I fowed

148 BARLEY.

I fovved this year (1707) rath-ripe barley in very poor white ground ; I
alfo fowed the fame in very good ftrong clay-land : no rain fell to bring it
up till June, and after that we had frequent {howers, and plenty of rain till
harveft, and in harveft, and yet I obferved my rath-ripe barley in the poor
light land miferably bent, broken in the flraw, and harled or fallen down :
in the flrong clay-land it did the fame, but not fo much, tho' the ilraw, and
the leaf of the ftraw was blighted, and full of black fpecks, the ear thin, and
it's colour lofl in all the rath-ripe barley, whereas the ftraw of the late-ripe
barley was both free from thefe fpots, and ftood upright with good ftrength.—
I do infer from hence, that, feeing the clay-land in our hill-country, tho' in
good heart, and the moifteft ground we have, and in a moift year too, can-
not fufficiently feed the ftraw of the rath-ripe barley, fo as to enable it to ftand
upright, but fuffers it to be languid and withering; I fay, from hence I infer,
that rath-ripe barley cannot be a proper fort of barley for us to fow ; becaufe
in our hill-country, where the ftraw breaks or ftarves three or four weeks be-
fore harveft, it muft needs be a thin coarfe grain ; therefore in our hill-
country it is beft to fow late-ripe barley, tho' we ftiould provide three or four
horfes extraordinary againft fowing-time, in order to get the corn into the
ground a week before May begins.

This year (1707) rain not falling to bring up the fpring-corn till June, one
half of the feed, that which fell deep, came up without rain, but the reft not
till rain came. — This gave me the opportunity of making the following ob-
vious obfervation on the misfortune that rath-ripe barley is fubjedt to in fuch
years, viz. that half that came up firft, by reafon of the weaknefs of the ftraw
of fuch barley (as above fet forth) could not wait for the ripening of the lat-
ter edge-grown corn in the fame field ; but it's ftraw bent, broke, and harled,
and the ears buried themfelves among the broad-clover fown with the barley,
fo that I was forced to cut it,. not being able to ftay a week or ten days longer
lor the edge-grown corn to ripen j whereas, the late-ripe barley ftood fo up-
right in it's ftraw, that the corn, which firft came up, would ftay ten days for
the edge-grown corn.

In May, (anno 1702) I afked Mr. Raymond whether he was not of opi-
nion that rath-ripe barley, by reafon of the weaknefs of it's ftraw, was often
apt to fall down to the ground, iuft when ready to mow. He replied, with
them thc-y had no ftones, fo that was no hindrance, unlefs by the bending
dcv/n of the ears the fcythe might cut off fome of the ends of them, which
mifchief he had not obferved to be more in that fort of barley than any other;
— but that in rath-ripe barley there is this mifchief, faid he, we hold, viz. if
the ground be good, and the year a feeding year, rath-ripe barley is apt
to run rank, and to fall whilft very green in ear, which occafions the grain
not to fill, and is the greater mifchief j therefore, faid he, this year I fowed
common barley ; but fuch a hot dry fpring as this there can be no danger.

It was very manifeft to me, this year (1706), that the ftraw of the early-
ripe badey is thinner and weaker than that of the late ripe barley; for all my
rath-ripe barley (of which I fowed fifty acres in different forts of ground, and

fome

BARLEY. 149

fome of it fide by fide with the late-ripe barley) did crumple down in the
ftraw, when the late-ripe barley of the fame forwardnefs and growth flood
upright ; and this year I alfo obferved in all my rath-ripe barley, that the
grain was thinner than that of the late-ripe, which I impute to the dry fcorch-
ing fummer j the ftraw, being thinner and weaker, was lefs juicy (as we find
by giving it to cattle) and fooner dryed up, and the want of nourifliment
fooner appeared in that fort of barley j— but farmer Biggs fays, that in wet
fummers he ufually obferves the rath-ripe barley to be the fulleft bodied corn.

It feems plain to me, that rath-ripe barley, as it fliould be fown early, for
reafons before fet forth, fo it ought not to be expofed to the north, but ought
likewife to be fown in pretty good ground, either by nature, or made fo by
art J for we know, the poorer the ground is the weaker and poorer the flraw
will be in all forts of corn ; and if the rath-ripe barley has by nature a weaker
and thinner flraw than the late-ripe barley has, and on that account is apter to
crumple, to bend down, and to break in the draw before it is ripe, much
more will it be apt to do fo, when the fbraw is made much thinner and
weaker than naturally it would be, by the poverty of the ground it is fown in.

It is very evident to me this year (1720), that rath-ripe barley ought not to
be fown on poor ground, and much lefs fo, in cafe it lie declivous from the
fun towards the nortli.

§. 2. An experienced farmer of Somerfetfliire very much perfuades me, 9^ middle-
that the middle-ripe barley would be the beft I could fow at Crux-Eafton,'^'^^ ^"^^^^
and that I Ihould thereby avoid the inconveniencles incident to rath-ripe bar-
ley ; viz. that of crumpling and falling down, or being knee-bent, and that
of the thinnefs of the grain, from thence arifing ; for if by much wet it falls
dov/n too long before it be ripe, the barley will thereby be ftunted, and will
fhrivel and flirink ; for no nourifhment paffes after the breaking or bending of
the flraw J but this middle-ripe barley, faid he, will fland upright till harveft,
and then the ftraw makes better fodder than the other. — 1 replied, I had tried
it, having bought it for feed, in our neighbourhood, but found no fuccefs.—
He faid, he did not wonder at that, for he had done the fame ; but, faid he,
you mud buy it from about Bemerton, near Salilbury > in that cafe I found ic
quite another thing : buy a load yearly to keep up change.

It was very evident to me, after I had fovved middle-ripe barley, that the
corn which grew on that part of the ground declivous from the fun did not
ripen fo foon, nor (land fo long upright as the reft, but in many places fell
down flat into the grafs ; fo that middle-ripe barley, tho' it better bears late
fowing, even on a ground declivous from the fun, than rath-ripe barley, yet
it will neither bear the one nor the other fo well as late-ripe barley will do,
nor will it's ftalk ftand fo long.

It is obfervable that the middle-ripe barley abovefaid, which was fown at
the bottom of the field, lying on a flat, ripened altogether, and looked v/hite
and very * fuant, being forwarder than that part of the ground which lay on • kir.div,
the fide of a hill declivous to the fun ; but again, four or five luggs wide, flo""fi"ng'
in the bottom betv/ecn the hills, it ripened as foon, and looked as white and

fuant

150 BARLEY.

fuant as in the abovemendoned bottom that lay open to the fun and air ; but
on the fide of that hill that Hoped from the fun the corn was more edge-
grown, and lay backward, and neither looked fo white, nor was fo ripe.
This Ihews that a bottom ground, or a vale pent in between two hills, tho'
fl:iaded by one from the fun j yet, by means of the warmth and clofenefs of
the air, will many times ripen as faft as a ground lying declivous to the fun.
Of the nature §. t,- It does not fecm ver)'^ eafy to make a conjecture of the nature of late-
°'te^'f b ^^P^ ^"'^ rath-ripe barley, and to give reafons why the late-ripe agrees beft
ley. with cold, and the early-ripe with hot grounds, and with a hotter climate j

but 1 fliall venture however to deliver my notion of the matter. I conceive
the reafon why one fort of grain is late-ripe, another rath or early-ripe, is from
the flamina and conftituent parts of each grain, v/hich in the rath-ripe fort
are of a loofer and opener texture in the fallular parts and glands. The rath-
ripe barley having finilhed it's courfe, and come to a maturity in lefs time by
being committed to a warm bed, fliews the veffels of the feed to be lefs com-
pact, and the fibres and ligatures not fo well ftrung, and their tones loofer
than thole of the late-ripe ; for the quicker the growth of the folids are, in
animals as well as plants, the parts which contribute towards fuch growth and
increafe are lefs folid and compact, as czrrylng with them a greater mixture of
fluids, which are the neceffarv medium for confolidating the harder or drier
particles, which united make the folids, and therefore, the cement being of a
loofer fubltance, no wonder if the fibres of fuch feeds are fo too : thus the
parts of the rath-ripe feeds are not corded, braced, or faggotted together with
fo ilrong an union or texture as the late-ripe feeds, which lall: being fowed in
cold ground, and in a cold clime, the vegetable juices are fent up in lefs
plenty, and the particles that contribute to the folids are not over-flowed with
fo liberal a quantity of fluids, which are therefore the firmer maturated and
digefted ; from hence it muil follow, that the paflages of the fibres and glands
in fuch feeds are freighter, and the juices are longer in filtrating through
them; from whence it muft appear (which is the queftion in hand) how
the late-ripe feeds agree belt with a cold clime, and cold ground, and the rath-
ripe feeds with a warm clime, and warm ground ; for the ftamina of the late-
ripe feeds are clofer, harder, and more compadl, and there is a ftated time
for every difrinct progreflion in vegetation. The Rei rufl:ic£e fcriptores tell
us, — that after fo many days each fort of corn puts forth fo many leaves, then
has fuch a fl:ated time for flowering, and fuch from thence for fini(hing the
feed, and fuch for ripening it : fo, agreeable to the confliituent parts of the
feed, through which the vegetable juices are to pals, there is fuch a flated
time to be completed in 9^ch fl:ation and progreflion, before nature can right-
ly finilh one work, in order to another, till the end of her intention is an-
fvv'ered, viz. that feeds of increafe are produced from a feed. — From hence it
follows, that colder earth, and a colder air anfwer the nature of late-ripe
feed better, becaufe the vegetable juices are not forced up the plant in a more
furious manner than the veflels can receive them, or go hand in hand with
them in growth ; for the fibres and fiilular parts of a plant, or a fruit, are to

pro^

BARLEY. 151

proceed gradually in extenfion of parts, as well as in fulnefs of juices, and there
ought to be fuch an increafe of juices as is proportionably adapted to the
extenfion of the fibres, that one work of nature may not outrun the other ; .
for if the heat of the ground, or the air, haftens the juices of the ears of
late-ripe barley to maturity fafter than the fibres of the grain (being of a
harder texture) will be extended, or admit of extenfion, it follows that
fuch grain will not arrive to it's perfedion, or full growth, but muft dry
and harden before it is come to it's full body. — So, on the contrary, in rath-
ripe barley (in which the fibres are loofe, and confequently by nature dif-
pofed to a fpeedier extenfion) in cafe the ground it is fowed in be cold,
the fibres of the feed of increafe will run on fafter in extenfion, and fo to
maturity or hardnefs, than the cold juices of cold land, in a cold air, will
afcend to plim and plump up the feed, and from this ill match or marriage
muft arife a leannefs of feed in the increafe.

By what has been faid of the properties of late-ripe barley, it is evident,
that, if it be edge-grown, the ears that are firft ripe vv'ill better wait for
thofe which lye behind, or are greenifh, than the forwardeft ears of rath-
ripe barley can do ; for that will fall down, and be - more-loofe, if you de- * loofe at
lay the cutting of it when ripe. '^°°^'

It feemeth to me from the experience I have made, that late-ripe barley
will better endure to be fowed when the ground is wet than rath-ripe barley
will do ; the reafon of which I take to be, becaufe the late-ripe barley is
(as all other late-ripe feeds of the fame kind are) clofer in it's texture, and
more compaft in it's parts, and confequently more refifts moifture than the
rath-ripe barley does, which is opener and loofer in it's parts, and confe-
quently drinks in moifture more freely, and is fooner chilled thereby, or
made drunk therewith, and fo it"burfts.

. §.4. Mr. Clerk of Leicefterfhire informed me, that fprat or battle-door Of fprat or
barley required a ftrong good land, that it's peculiar property was, that itbatjiedoor
would not run up to a length of ftraw, tho' in good land, fo as to lodge, as
other barley would, and that it had a ftronger and more pithy ftraw, but
not fo good for fodder.

Mr. Ray, fo. 1243, fpeaking of battle-door or fprat-barley, fays, it is
thought to be more fafe than other barley from the depredations of birds,
becaufe it's grains are more difficult to be torn from the ear than the grains
of other barley.

J. Mortimer, Efq; F. R. S, fo. 100, — the fprat, or Fulham-barley is the
beft for rank land, becaufe it doth not run fo much to ftraw as the common
fort, and yields much better.

Mr. Johnfon of Bedfordftiire, of whofe judgment I have a great opinion,
after he had fov/n great-wheat in a new broken-up very rich pafture-ground
(which fort of wheat he chofe, becaufe it was the leaft fubjeft of any to
lodge) and the next year had fown beans, the year following, being the
third year of fowing the ground, took me with him to view it, in order to
advife with me what grain he fhould fow : he thought it would be too rank

for

T52 B A R L E Y.

for barley, becaufe that is more apt to lodge than oats, and alfo too rank
for oats, and was therefore inclinable either to fow great-wheat and red-
rtraw-wheat mixed, that the former might help to fupport the latter from
lodging and falling, it being a rank ground, or elfe to fow red-ftraw-wheat
alone, becaufe, next to great-wheat, that fupported itfelf the beil:. — I have
known great-wheat and red-ftraw-wheat often fowed in the north, in good
land, for the fame reafon. — 1 agreed with his reafons, as being good, but
told him, I fliould rather recommend battle- door or fprat-barley, if he
would fend for it from beyond London, it being not only a fliorter, but alfo
a ftronger ftrawed barley than any in the north, and therefore fitter to fow
on rich land, in order to prevent lodging, and was alfo good to mix with
other barley, to help to fupport it.

§. 5. Mr. Ray, fpeaking of the fquare-barley, or winter-barley, called alfo
big, fays, it is commonly fown in the mountainous parts of northern coun-
tries, where other kinds of barley will not bear the winter ; but this fort is
not hurt by the froft.
Offquare- 'phg fix-fquare barley, vulgarly called barley-big, is fowed in Leicefter-

ley b^g!"^ ^'' ^""'"'^ '^^ fmall quantities, but, tho' it is a great increafer, they told me they
did not like it, becaufe it was not good for malting, it had fo thick a rind.—
Mr. Glen of IL^wthorne faid, to fow a little of it for poultry did very well j
but, faid he, for the mofl: part they fow it in Northumberland, and fo far
northward, becaufe it will endure the winter, whereas the lenten-barley will
hardly ripen v/ith them.
Rich land c ^ Famier Elton having been at Major Liver's to buy barley for malt-

thin. ing, I afked him if he could deal, he faid, the Major had good barley, but,

having rented the parfonage of Hufborne for fix or feven years, he had fo
much bettered his own ground, that his barley was apt to run out too far
in length and be thin. 1 afked whether the richer the land the thinner the
barley. He faid, yes, if the ground be not thick and full feeded.
The thin- §. ^, Mr. Smith of Stanton afTured me, that eminent malfters, whom he

nofotmg to nzmcd, had told him, that the boldeft barley and the beft bodied for malt-
therichnefsofing Came off of the ftrongeft land. — I fuppofe their meaning was, where the
the land. j^^^j j^y |^q.j^ very dry and healthy; not land of a cold clajjey nature, but
fuch that had mellownefs and lightnefs with it's ftrength, fuch as the Lei-
cefterfliire and Northampton Qiire-lands are, and fuch as the land is about
Biihop-cannons in Wilts : what Mr. Smith fiid was on account of the pre-
ference generally given to hill-country-barley, which, as I take it, depends
on this diftindtion, viz. the hill-country- barley is generally better eftcemed
by the malfters than the vale-barley ; becaufe the hill-lands are often dry
and mellow, as well as of good ftrength, but the vale-lands are generally
too wet, cold, and clayey ; inftead of which, did the vale-lands exceed the
bill-lands in ftrength, and yet were of a mellow and dry mold, no doubt
fuch vale-land would bring the beft bodied-barley. — I fpeak this to fhew,
that poverty is no ingredient requifiite in land, for carrying a plump and fine
rinded barley ; yet it is true, that poor land, lying dry and warm, muft be

allowed

BARLEY. 153

allowed to bear better barley than rich land that lies wet and cold ; for bar-
ley does not (land fo much in need of ftrength in land as of the healthinefs
and warmnefs of the foil, tho' both are beft, where they can be had.

§. 8. * Upon obfervations made on my barley this year (171 1) after I Of barley's
had threfhed fome of different forts, viz. that which was earheft, middle- degenerating,
moft, and lad: fown, all of my own feed, as alfo barley from feed bought
of Mr. Cox of Weftover, I plainly fee the realbn why barley fown on our
hills, from year to year, of our own feed, without changing, mud in time
fo degenerate, as not only to produce a very thick-rinded, and cold glewifh-
floured barley,' but as fmall alio as a black oat : wherefore Crux-Eailon be-
ing cold both in it's lands and it's fituation, is neceilitated to be fown later,
and the ground not forwarding the corn in growth, as warmer lands do,
the harveft muft be later, all which contribute to the producing a thick
i^inded, and cold floured barley : barley, being tender in nature, requires a
warm foil and clime. — Now if you will fow the ieed-barley produced from
fuch a place, being coarfe, thick-rinded, and cold in flour, it will require
more days to root and fpear in than the bought feed it proceeded from,
which came from a warm land, and will alfo fl:rike lefs bold roots to for-
ward the grain towards maturity in the courfe of vegetation ; from whence
it is manifeft it will ftill come to a later harveft, and confequently be every
year coarfer, and every year proportionably degenerate. — As for wheat and
oats, they are hardier grains, and will bear fowing early in cold land, and
fo come to maturity in good time, and therefore will not fo foon degenerate,
tho' the feed fliould not be fo often changed.

As I have taken notice of barley's degenerating, and becoming coarfer
and coarfer every year, by reafon of it's being longer in coming up, fo with-
out doubt in fuch coarfe barley the nib or germen, and all it's parts, even
the feed of the feed is coarfer in it's texture.

§. 9. Anno 1699, after barley-feed-time there was for about a month a Caution— to
very dry feafon, fo that but very little barley came up, and, except rain ^P'''^ ^°°'^
came, it was very likely the whole crop might be loft, and, in cafe a very

^ Mr. Tull, in his chapter of the Change of individuals, fays, — Seeds in their natural climate
do not degenerate, unlefs culture has improved them, and then, upon omilTion of that culture,
they return to their firft natural ftate. He argues in this chapter, that the reafon why individuals
of all kinds of grain, as wheat, barley, and veaetables in general, degenerate, is owing to the
effefts of different climates, as heat, moifture, &c. and inftances, that flax-feed brought from
Holland, and fown here, will bring as fine flax as there, but the very next generation of it
coarfer, and fo, degenerating gradually, after two or three defcents becomes no better than the
common ordinaiy fort; — that common barley, fown once in the burning fand, at Patney in Wilt-
fbire, will, for many years after, if fown on indifferent warm ground, be ripe two or three weeks
fooner than any other, and is called rath-ripe barley ; but if fown a degree farther north, on cold
clayey land, will in two or three years loie this quality, and become as late ripe as any other.
Note, he has no great opinion of this barley, as being of a more tender fort, and thinner bodied
than the late-ripe, and not recovering a check from cold or droucht io foon as the other. — Weeds,
acorns, hips, haws, &c. (ays he, are thought to have been originally the only natural produ<?t
of our climate : therefore other plants, being exotics, many of them, as to their individuals, re-.
quire culture and change of foil, without which they are liable, more or lefs, to degenerate.

X wet

154

Experiment
to ihsw ihe
advantage of
fotting full-
bodied good

Of fov/ing
grafs-feed
with barley.

Caution — not
to buy barley -
feed illl rear
lowir.e,-:ime.

Of fowing
malted corn.

BARLEY.

wet feafon had come, it had been the fame ; from whence I obferve of
what great confequence it is to put very good feed into the ground j for
without doubt fuch feed will better endure all forts of extremities of wea-
ther than bad feed can do.

§. 10. About the middle of April (anno 1705) I fowed twenty-fix acres
of barley with feed that came out of an unhealthy cold ground, that ufually
run very thin ; fo that, however fuitable the change of the ground might
be, I doubted whether fo thin a grain as moft of this was could be fo
profitable as a fuller bodied grain. — To try the experiment, I took fixty
grains of this corn, of three diff"erent fizes, viz. twenty grains of the biggeft,
twenty of the middle fize, and twenty of the fmallefi: corns : I put the
twenty of each fort into three feveral pots, v/itli rich mold of the fame fort
m each pot : in eight or nine days fime I found thirteen of the fuller bodied
corns were come up, nine of the middle-fized, and but five of the fmallefi: ;
but the fullefi: bodied corn, both in colour and breadth of blade, exceeded
either, and both the other forts, — In three days after I found nineteen blades
of the biggelT: fort come up, feventeen of the middle fize, and thirteen of
the leaf!: : in three days after the twenty blades of the befl: and the middle
fort were all come up, but of the worft only feventeen blades ; but as thefe
blades of the worfi: fort carried a manifefi: difadvantage in colour and breadth,
and doubtlefs many of them would never have come up at all in poor
ground, tho' the better fort might all have grown, fo I qucftion not but I
fhall find the fame difproportion in all the tillows, ears, and body of the
grain.

§. 1 1. If you fow rye-grafs, or French-grafs with barley, it is to lefs pur-
pofe to be curious in your barley-feed : when you fow grafs-feed with barley,
it matters not if there be any trumpery of oats, &c. in it.

§. 12. At Chriftmafs-time (anno 1700) feveral good farmers being with
me, I was enquiring for peas and barley for feed. — They replied, that the
houfing of corn had been fo good this year, the buying of feed might be
ventured on the earlier, elfe they ufed not generally to buy their feed-barley,
nor feed-cats, but jufi: before fowing-time, left they fliould fmell by heating,
and fo not grow.

§.13. Mr. Thomfon, malfter, afliired me, that after barley is malted,,
and the coome and dufi: taken away by fcreening it, and fome time after
part, the malt will grow ; for, faid he, I have fowed it in my garden ; but
it will come to nothing ; from which I conclude, firft, the great confe-
quence of the flour in corn, to fi:rengthen the root, and to nourifh the grain;
in flinging out good roots, which in the malt is fpent and wafted before
it is laid in tlie ground; fecondly, I infer from hence, that the feeds of ma-
ny weeds, after they have Iain fome time in the dung-hill, may grow, tho'
thereby malted.

Farmer Bond afl'ures me, that Mr. Edmunds, the receiver of my Hamp-
fhire-rents (being a malfter) having taken lands in the beginning of May,
and no barley being to be had, he, by the perfuafion of liis malting-fervant,

made

BARLEY. 155

made ufe of barley he had wetted, and was jufl well chitted or fprouted ; he
fays, he faw the crop, and it came up very well, and was as good com as any
he faw that year (1703). — So that it feems to me, barley a little forwarded by
the malfter may be good to fow, though malt throughly made is ftark
naught.

Cook, the gardener, fo. 9.— I do advife my country-men, if late in fowing
any of their grains, efpecially barley and wheat, to fteep them ; if your grain
be fpeared, it is never the worfe, provided you fow it before the fpear be chil-
led or dried.

§. 14. It is agreed, that is the befl fort of barley, that is not blackifli at the The marks of
tail, nor has a deep rednefs, but is of a pale lively yellow colour, with a 2°°'^ '^"'^>'-
bright whitifhnefs in it, and if the rind is a little curdled, fo much the better.

§. 15. It is faid, that the curdled-rinded barley is the finer fort, and has the Caufe of cur-
thinner coat.— Being in the barn, and handling both the fmooth-coated bar- [^l^^.'^^'^'"'^^
ley and the curdled-coated, I perceived the reafon thereof; for if barley
comes to fweat in the mow, and to dry, if it be thin-coated, it will curdle, but
the rind of thick-coated barley, being ftiff, will not (brink, but will lie fmooth
and hollow, tho' the infide flour flirlnks from it.

§. 16. The 2d of May (anno 1720) farmer Sartain went out into the Barley, at firft
fields with me, and on viewing three or four fields of barley, which had been ^j^'pfi "^co-
come up about a fortnight, he obferved, that the barley of their country, i. e. lour on cold
north Wiltfloire, came up with a Wronger green colour, and did not look fo'^"*^*
pale or yellow as in our country, of which I am alfo very fenfible, and do
judge it proceeds more from the coldnefs of the land and country, in the firft
fown barley, than from the poverty of the ground; becaufe fuch manifeft
difference will not be at the firft coming up of the latter fown corn of our
hill-country, nor will fo great a difi"erence appear between our barley and
their's by that time June comes.

§. 17. When barley is ripe, it will double and bend down it's head ; at the To know
fame time you'll find fome ears to ftand upright, tho' the grain m.ay feem full ^^'"^5" barley
hard and dry, but the ftraw of fuch ears, efpecially at the knots, will be ting,
greenifh, and will therefore be apt to heat in the mow.

§. 18. Mr. Ray, fo. 1243, fpeaking of barley-ears, fays, they fometimesof the n^m-
contain twenty grains in each row. — Note,— I never yet faw above feventeen''^''°fE^^'"*

• y.^ in an ear.

or eighteen.

§. 19, This year (1706) not only in Hampfliire and Wiltfliire (where I faw showers be-
abundance of corn, and had good intelligence from others) but alfo in Ban-for^ '"rveft
bury-market (where I faw the facks of corn) as v/ell as in Leicefterfhlre, and j^^fg'^'^^"'^
by account from Mr. Clerk, in all the counties northward, the barley carried
a coarfe and thick rind. — For three months before harveft no rain fell ; fo it
feems, that fome fhowers before harveft are ufeful to make the rind fine.

§. 20. The barley this year (1702) was knee-bent, and would not therefore l^""- bent
mow well; for in fuch cafe, it being loofe in the ground, the fcythe, inftead jogs^n^r.iow
of cutting, carries the ftraw away with it root and all, which deadens the well,
fcythe's cutting what is farther on before it. — This proceeded from the dry

X 2 fummer.

156 BARLEY.

fummer, whereby the earth being loofe, it loofened the roots of the barley,
and confequently the grain could not fill. — I obferved what they call knee-
bent, and that the ftallc was bent from the root in the manner of a bow or
hollow for two or three joints, like leaning on the ground, which muft arife
from the corn's falling by being loofe, and then it rifes upwards again from
upwards of half the flraw, toward heaven, as all trees and plants do that fall
along ; their (hoots will ftill arife perpendicularly, and this occafions the bow
in the ftraw, which is called knee-bent.

When the barley (as above defcribed) is knee-bent, in fuch years, by the
breaking and bending of the ftraw, not only the grain is much thinner and
coarfer, by having it's nourifliment intercepted, but the ftraw alfois,for theflime
reafon, much poorer, becaufe by thofe breakings and bendings the juices are
flopt from rifing : fuch years you muft expedl great wafte to be made in the
ftraw; the catde by refufing much of it will make oughts ; and in fuch cold
wet years, in the cold clay-hill country, the barley is apt to look reddifli and
ftained at the germinating or fprouting end. — I would advife all hu(band-men
to avoid fowing fuch barley, efpecially in cold land, for, tho' it be not dead,
'tis too much like it, and will come away very untowardly in malting, much of
it lying behind on the malting-floor, and, fhould it come away no better when
fown, it would be edge-grown, and as very many grains of fuch barley will
never make malt, fo neither can they be fit for feed.

•^^'^ffh^''' §• 21. July 20th (1704) I obferved many full grown ears of barley lying
^' along in a tradl in the field, and withered, which feemed to be a great fpoil ;
I took them up, and found the hares had bit off the ftraws at the ground, to
make a more convenient track,

Cf worms |. 22. The fame day I obferved feveral grains of barley, alxnoft ripe in the.

eating ar ey. ^^^.^^ ^^ j^^^^ worm-holcs in die out-fide, like thofe in nut-fliells ; the flouL*
of thefe grains was eaten up.

I have obferved that a worm is blown by fome fly in thefpring underneath
the barley-ear, when young in grafs; I do not fuppofe however the fame hap-
pens to wheat, that having endured the winter, and being coarfer to their
tooth ; but I fuppofe the fame thing may happen in black oats.

OfeJge- §. 23. Edge-grown barley (i. e. fuch as is not full ripe with the reft, tho'

grown barky. ^|j ^^^ together) is very diicernable, tho' it fliould dry in the fwarth never fa
well ; for fuch edge-grown barley, when thrcftied, will look of a horncolour^
and have a (leek fniooth white coat like good wheat, but it will ftand hollow
from the flour, becaufe that, being pulpy, is ftirunk away from the coat.

Of burnt §.24. Auguft the ] 5th (anno 1703) I obferved much burnt barley, and

ei.le7."^°^'^ opening the black grains I found a maggot in many of the wholeft of them,
where the grain feemed to be preferved fomewhat intire i the maggot lay to-
wards the top of the corn, was of a bluifli colour, and had little legs to crawl
with. — I fuppofe the other grains in the burnt ear might have had maggots
too, but they being moldered away, the maggots were gone. — And yet it is
ftrange that burnt corn fhould proceed from tliis maggot blown by a fly, fee-
ing in burnt corn of all forts every grain in the ear is burnt, and fo is the ear

of

OATS. r57

of every fpindle from the fame root, and the ear is burnt before it gets out of
the hofe ; — and yet it is ftrange a fly fhould choofe a footy burnt place as a fit
matrix to lay her flie-blow in. — Quaere of this earlier in the year.

§. 25. If corn come into the barn greenifh, and is trod in the mow, it will Of mow-
be mow-burnt; for which reafon it fhould be laid light and eafy. — The in- ""^"^ "^^'
conveniency of mow-burnt barley is very great, for it will neither make malt,
nor will the hogs eat it freely, — It is as bitter as foot, and when the mai-
mers bite it, it is as red as a fox wlthin-fide, and if you fell a parcel of it to a
malfter, tho' at a low price, he will never come again.

Airinefs therefore is convenient to a barn, to keep the corn from heating,
for, if it be haflily brought in, as it often muft be, and before it is full dry,
it will through heat be parched, and fometimes fet on fire : this heat will make
the barley red at one end, fo that it will never come in malting, and a reek
in the barn will often be fo hot that there is no enduring to be upon it, —
Farmer Elton once thought that he fhould have had a reek of barley fired in
the barn by heat, and he was forced to cut a great hole down to the bottoni
of it, but could never ftay at it above a quarter of an hour at a time for fear of
being overcome by the heat. — It is barley and oats that are chiefly fubjeft to
heat, becaufe the undried-weeds are brought in with them, whereas there are
not fo many weeds among wheat.

OATS

§. 1.' \ Farmer dining with me, I was giving the reafon why oats im- Why oats ims.
/j^ poverlfhed the ground beyond other grain, and faid, that it was po""'^ '^'"^
not only becaufe the farmer generally fowed oats, when the land would bear
nothing elfe, and fo it being the lafl: grain fowed, he was apt to impute the
following poverty of the ground to that only, but that grain is commonly fown
on one earth, and confequently does not fall fo deep into the ground as corn

fown

* Mr. Miller, in his Gardener's Dicftionary, reckons four fpecics of oats, viz. common or white
©ats, — blacic oats, — naked oats, — and red or brown oats. — The lirfl: fort here mentioned, ^a^■s he,
is the moll common about London : the fecond fort is more cultivated in the northern parts of Ens;r
land, and is efteemed a very hearty food for horfes: but the firft makes the whiteft meal, and is-
chiefly cultivated where the inhabitants live much upon oat-cakes. — The third fort is Icfs common
than either of the othtr, efpecially in the fouthern parts of England; but in the north of England,
Scotland, and Wales, it is cultivated in plenty. This fort is eileemed, becaufe the arain threfhts
clean out of the hufk, and need not be carried to the mil), to be made into oat-meal crgrifl. An
acre of ground does not yield fo many bufhels of thefe as of the common oats, by reafon tlie
grain is frnall and naked, and goes near in meafure ; but what is wanting in the meafure is fupplied
ir» value. — The red oats are much cultivated in Derbyfliire, Staffordfiiire, and Ciiefhire, but are
never feen in any of the counties near London; tho', as they are a very hardy fort, and give a good
increafc, they would be well worth propagating, efpecially in all ftrong lands. — The ftraw of thefe
oats is of a brownifh red colour, as is alfo the grain, which is very full and heavy, and efteemed
better food for horfes than either of the former forts. — Our author fpeaks nothing of the naked, or
of the red oat;-, but only of white and black, excepting that he mentions the Poland fort, which i»
alfo a white oat, and of a fliorter grain than the common.

«s«

OATS.

fown oil two or three earths, and therefore oats prey more upon the goodnefs
of the land, than any other corn ; for they eat up all the fatnefs that the fun,
dew, or rain give to the furface of the ground, they lying fo (hallow, and for
the fame reafon ground will bear oats that can bear nothing elfe; that grain
lying fo fhallow lives on the nourifliment the fun, rain, and dews daily admi-
nifler. — And the farmer added, that a load of oats in the flraw was heavier
than a load of any other corn in the flraw, and may therefore exhauft the
ground more, — and note further, the increafe of oats is greater than of any
other grain.
Of the burn- Virgil, and the Romans who wrote of agriculture, often ufe uro for etnacio ;
ing quality of ^^g^ ^^^y aveuo) yet we find fire in all cafes enriches the earth : but the old fig-
nification of uro was alfo to chill. And cold is analogous to burning, as having
the fame efFed:, which we fee by it's withering up leaves.
Oftheroots §. 2. April 30th (anno 1705) I firft obferved, that from the oat many
of oats. rooted- fibres flioot forth, and the ftalk that rifes upward takes new root again

on the furface of the ground, at a certain diftance from the firft root, according
to the depth the oat lies in the ground, fo that the oat has two ranges or tires
of roots ; no wonder then that oats fliould draw off the nourifliment of the
earth more than barley.
White eats ^. y^ According to the beft obfervations I can make, white oats require a

ground ^^^ ^^^ ^"^ feeding ground ; for the halm, or ftraw running to a great largenefs
cannot be fupported without good juices and moifture ; I have alfo obferved,
that white chalky ground, tho' in never fo good heart, will be unfruitful with
white oats ; nor will a mixed mold, between white earth and red clay, of
which Vv'e have a great deal in our hill-country, be feeding enough for them :
cur red clays, and white clays, when in good heart, carry moifture enough,
and are very fit for that grain. — It feems to me, that white oats may be fowed
when the ground is moifter than barley will endure it to be, becaufe barley,
having a thinner coat, is fooner chilled by quick imbibing the wet, and many
of it's veflels may perhaps burft, whereas white oats refift the entering of the
moifture J they, having a double hull, are protedled, and cannot fo foon be
drowned.
White oats g_ ^_ J jQp}^ j,^ ^ j-eek of black oats of thirty-eight loads, and a reek of

than black! white oats of twenty-eight loads, and, when they were threflied, I found the
reek of white oats yielded more than the reek of black oats, of which I
fpoke to fome farmers ; they all agreed, that white oats always yielded better
than black oats, and faid, that an ordinary crop of white oats was accounted as
good as a good middling crop of black oats.
White oats §. ^, Anno 1703, having fowed white oats they proved blighted, but,
at'ain°from"^ as 1 thought, none had britted ; yet in November I faw a multitude of
the old roots, oats fpringing up very thick ; I feemed concerned, as thinking I had had a
great lofs by the fliattering,— but an old hufbandman faid, it was the nature of
white oats, when cut, to fpring up again from the old root, but they would
die away when the frofts came, but that black oats would not fhoot forth

blades

O A 1 b. I r Q

blades from the old root.— Some time after I dug up many of them, and found
no fuch matter, but there was an oat-hull at the root of all of them.

Farmer Wey, and farmer Farthing of the Ille of Wight told me, that
they, and feveral other farmers in the Ifland had cut oats this fummer (anno
1707) which came from the roots of the lafl: year's oats, and had fliot roots,
and tillowed from thence notably, and yielded very good crops ; but, that I
might not be miftaken, I afked them over again, if it was not from the
brittings of the laft year's oats ; but I found they were well acquainted with
a baftard-crop of oats ; and they both faid, that they had pulled up the
flubble, and it appeared plain that they v/ere iffues from the roots of the lall
year's ftubble.

§.6. In dry cold fprings, and hot fummers following, black oats fowed Black oats li-
on lay-ground, tho' clay-land and rotten, will be as fubjedl to blight as r*^'*^ j° J^'jf '^'^
winter-vetches fowed in fuch lay-ground, as it happened to both anno 17 14. g'roundincold

§. 7. Anno 1709 ; in fome of my wheaten-ground ploughed up this year, "^^^ ^p'''"&^-
becaufe the wheat was killed by the hard winter, I fowed, in the beginnino-hnd o'at—
of May, in part of it rath-ripe barley, and in part of it a white Poland-oat : lo^e' "'^'"^
both grains were put into a ground of equal fertility and moifture, and on ^'°^^'^'
the fame day. — I doubted not but the Poland-oat would be firfl ripe, and
was therefore furprized to fee the rath-ripe barley come up four or five days
before the oats ; I obferved alfo in other grounds fowed the fame dav the
barley to do the fame.~I foon concluded .the reafon to be, that the oat hav-
ing a double hull, and fo better guarded from moifture, could not fo foon
imbibe the vegetable water as the thin-rinded barley could, though doubtlefs
the texture of the flour of the oat, and the infolded fibres of the inclofed
plant being fofter would consequently grow fafter. — The corollary from
hence is, that if you would be fecure of the growing of Poland-oats without
the help of rain, they muft be committed to the earth with more moiiture
in it, or before it is fo dry as it ought to be for barley to be fown in it ; not
only becaufe the oats require more moifture to make them grow, but alfo
becaufe they lie fo many days longer in the ground before they come up
tlian the barley does. The drying ground by the heat of the fun may be
greatly exhaufted of the moifture in a few days^ which otherwife had beea
fufficient to have fet the Poland-oat a crowins.

§. 8. One of my neighbours was telling me, he thought oats v.'ould be Oats will not

cheapeft at Chriftmnfs, and he would buy them then againft: feed-time. I '^'"^P ^'H—

anfwered they would never keep, for oats of all grain keep the worft, and 'tZiHt
they would not grow if fufty, for I knew a great many farmers would kv feed-time,
up barley about Chriftmafs for feed, in order to kill the oats that might be
in it, prefuming the oats by feed-time would be fpoilcd for growing.'' It is
manifeft that oats take heat in a heap, and by the great v/et which comes
from them, when heated over the kiln for oat-meal, it is plain they have
great moifture in them ; otherwife one would think their hulls would pre-
ferve them better than any corn.— From hence it appears why oats are gene-
rally deareft at feed-time.

i6o OAT S.

Mufty oat! §. g, I vvas fpeaking to another farmer about pined or mufl:y wheat, and

wi notg.ow. j-^yjpg ^Yizt it would not grow. Pie faid, it was true ; but added, that pined
or muftv oats were more ditficult to grow than any other fort of corn, and
yet, faid he, I have known mufly corn grow well enough. — I replied, it
was becaufe it was fown on it's firft growing mufty, before it had received
any check by growing cold again, it being then taken in it's growing con-
dition.— He was of my opinion for the reafon I gave.
And to know J l^aJ an oat-reek, which, taking wet before it was thatched, when it
colour ^' ""^"^ ^^'^^ brought into tlie barn feemed to be in an ill condition, and three weeks-
thrediing lying en the floor in the chaff, the heap grew very hot, which I
had obferved for two or three days, and before I winnowed them I thought
they had been fpoiled. — Yet my bailiff w^ould perfuade me to fow them,
affuring me, that he had known heated oats grow very well, though heated
much longer after winnowed than thefe had been. — I got Tvir. Bachelour of
Aflimondfworth to look at them j he faid immediately, when he faw them,
thev would grow very well ; for, faid he, they have not loft their colour,
whereas oats, that have taken heat fo much as not to grow, will look as red
as a fox in their hulls. — All who were in the barn faid fo alfo, and that
they had feen vetches that had been heated look fo too.
Of white oats §. lo. Being in. company with two farmers, we were talking of white
and their til- Q^fg . jj^gy ^q^i^ affurcd me, they had often heard it faid, that white oats
°*'"^' came up Angle from their roots, and did not tillow as the black oats did,

but

I could not find by Mr. Raymond (though I had noted an opinon to the
contrary in Plampfhire) but that white oats would tillow as much as black,
and he fows as many on an acre as he does of black oats ; — but of all oats
whatever, if a ground works rough, fo that many grains are like to be buried,
they fow the more, viz. inftead of a fack, five or fix bufliels.
Of burnt oat- §■ i^- J^^V ^7^^^ (anno 1703) I obfervcd to-day, that the burnt oat-ears
cars. have the ftraw perfedt, and of a good green colour, and their pedeftal alfo,

on which the grain hangs, the fame, and the grain feems to have arrived to
a good bignefs, as in wheat and barley, before that blight fell on it ; for
certainly the grain could not grow after.
Ofoatslhed- §. 12. White oats are moft apt to llied as they lie ; and black oats as they
«^'"g- ftand. J. Mortimer, Efq; F. R. S. fo. 104.

Oats will not §. 13. It is Commonly faid, that oats cut green will ripen lying in fwarth. —
ripen if cut If by ripening be meant Ihrinking, drying, or withering, I muft allow the
^'"°' pofition } but if the country-man will have it that the greenifh oat";, a tort-

night or ten days, or be it but a week, before it is ripe, will proceed in it's
vegetable increafe, and fwell as well as harden by lying in fwarth, I muft
deny it. — This year (1707) I made a full experiment of this matter; for
when the fpring-corn was fown, the ground being generally dry, half the
oats and barley came not up till the latter end of May, when rain came,
whereby in moft places half the crop was edge-grown. — So, the forward-oats
being in danger in britting, we were forced to cut down the grcenilh corn

with

BEANS. i6i

with the ripe, when otherwife we fhould have waited ten days longer : I
let them he in fwarth above a week, and, when I carted them, I found the
hull of the greenilh oat had got a riper colour, and the pith was well harden-
ed, but pitifully lean and flirunk; fo that, though this is to be done on
neceffity, yet it ought not to be pradifed with fuch indifferency as is ufual
among the farmers. — Note, the pith of thefe green oats was well pafl the
milk, and come to a floury fubflance.

BUG K-W HEAT.

§. I. a TV yfR. Ray fpeaking of buck- wheat fays, there is no foil but what Of it's nature

J^Y J_ agrees with it ; it loves moifture, comes up foon, and ripens in^"'^ "'^•
a fhort time. The grafs of it, when green, ferves to feed black cattle, and
the feed itfelf when ripe is excellent for fattening poultry.

BEANS.

§, I. ^ /COLUMELLA thinks that land is not much frudified by leguml- of the nature

V_>< nous corn, but that they do not much damage the ground, of 'l^e bean.
lib. 8. fol. 103. And Palladius has a quotation from him, in which he fays
a lay-ground is better to fow corn on than a bean-flubble.

§. 2. I find it is an obfervation with Somerfetfliire-men, that when (as it Obfervation
proved this year, 1709) their beans are very good, they are with them very Jj^.^^J^^'!^*^^-
dear, and then wheat alfo is dear, becaufe the wet fprings, which make the bean-crop
their beans good, hurt their wheat, and they find by experience that wet and is bell beans
cold fprings in poorer and lighter lands runs the bean out into ftalk beyond
the ftaple, and then they never kid well, whereas, their deep rich grounds
will fupport the bean under it's freeft growth.

§. 3. I very much doubt whether horfe-beans will ever ripen kindly in Beans not
our hill-country of Hampfhire ; their pod is fo very moill: and thick, that, be- proper for the
fore it can be well dried by the fun, the cold days and de\^'y nights fo in- ' "'^°"'^'>-
creafe the moiflure, that the bean will rot before it can grow dry. — I the
rather believe this, becaufe I fowed garden-beans in February, but could
never get thofe that I defigned for feed to ripen.

§.4. About Bifliop's-cannons, All-cannons, and Stanton they fow horfe- Different fort*
beans in their common- fields without any laying the ground down to a fword, of land ufed
but about Holt they do not venture to fow ground to beans, unlefs it has °'^

^ Nullum fere folum refugit : gaudet imbrlbus, cito proveiiit, celeriter maturefcit : hcrbam
viridem, priufquam femen maturuerit, boves, junientaque pafcuiUur : femine gallinaceum genus
paflum citilTime pinguefcit. fo. 182.

'' Palladius, fo. 114. De faba, dicit, fatione ejus generis, ficut opinio habet, non fiecundatur
terra, fed minus Isditur. Nam Columella dicit, agrum fiumentis utiliorem pr^beri, qui anno
(uperiore vacuus fuerit, quam qui calamos fabaces inelTis cduxit.

Y lain

j62 beans.

lain down two or three years to grafs, and has got a fword ; the reafon the

farmer there gives is, becaufe the land about Holt is not Co ftrong as about

All-cannons, &c.

Quantity of §, ^ After the fertility of wheat mentioned by Pliny, he fays of the bean-

ftaiij_ ftalk, that one has been known to produce a hundred beans. Inventus eft

jam et fcapus unus centum fabis onuftus. Plin. lib. i8. fo. 277.

<^f^^^d\Ke- §_ 6. 'Mr. Smith of Stanton fays, horfe-beans are abundantly a more certain

horfe-beans, gi'^in than peas ; that there are three forts, viz. the SomerfetQiire horfe-beans,

andtheirma- which are the largeft, and a middle fort, and the leaft or fmalleft fort. — He

jiagement. ^-^yg^ ^j^^ largeft fort are too big for his land, and that he choofes to fow the

middle fort. — They never fow them, he fays, till the middle of February, or

the latter end ; they fow five bufliels on an acre, and are not in danger of

rooks after they are full come up ; he cuts them a little before they are full

ripe, otherwife in mowing the ripeft are apt to fhed ; that, take one time with

another, he has double the crop of beans to what he has of peas ; that he

never plants them, becaufe planted beans muft be houghed, and, where

ground is apt to bind, and bake, the hough cannot eafily enter to raife a grete,

efpecially where the land is ftony.— He affurcs me, that broad-clover will

grow very well with beans ; and that he has often ken the experiment

of it.

Of beans §. 7. When Pliny and the Rei rufticje fcriptores (zy, that the bean delights

laT^™"'^ in much wet weather. — It muft be confidered, that they lived in Italy, a

much hotter country than ours ; for in England we know that beans defire a

moderate feafon : in hot fummers, like this, anno 1707, their lower bloftbms

only kid, and in wet fummers they do not bloflbm well.

PEAS.

' As Mr. Lifle has but few obfervations on the culture of horfe-beans, and as Mr. Mi)ler is more
particular on that fubjeift, 1 judge the following note, taken from that author, may be acceptable and
ufeful tothofe, who arc defirous of information in this part of hufbandry. — " The horfe-bean de-
lights in a flrong moift foil, and an open expofure ; for they never thrive well on dry warm land, or
in fmall inclofures, where they are very fubjeftto blight, and are frequently attacked by a black in-
fe6t, which the farmers call the black dolphin : thefe infedls are often in fuch quantities as to cover
the items of the beans intirely, efpecially all the upper part of them ; and whenever this happens the
beans feldom come to eood ; but in the open fields, where the foil is ftrong, this rarely happens. —
Thefe beans are ufually fown on land, which is frefh broken up, becaufe they are of ufe to break and
pulverize the ground, as alfo to deftroy weeds, fo that the land is rendered much better for corn, af-
ter a crop of beans, than it would have been before, efpecially if they are fown and managed accord-
ing to the new hufbandry, with a drill- plough and ahorfe-plough. — The feafon for fowing beans is
from the middle of February to the end of IVIarch, according to the nature of the foil ; the flrongeft
and wet land fl^ould always be laft fown : the ufual quantity of beans fown on an acre of land is
about three bufhels; but this is double the quantity that need be fown, efpecially according to the
new huibandry : but I fhall firft fet down the praiflice according to the old hufbandry, and then
give direftions for their management according to the new.

The method of fowing is after the plough, in the bottom of the furrows, but then the furrov/s
ifhould not be more than five or at mofl fix inches deep. If the land is new broken up, it is ufual
to plough it early in autumn, and let it lie in ridges till after Chriftmafs ; then plough it in fmalj
furrows, and lay the ground fmooth : thefe two ploughings will break the ground fine enough for
beans ; and the third ploughing is to fow the beans, when the furrows fliould be made fliallow as
was before mentioned. Moft people fet their beans too clofe ; for, as feme lay the beans in the fur-
rows

[ 1^3 ]

PEAS.

§. I. ANNO 1708.— When the field and garden-peas this year ^y^re Of^'i^^ growth

Xx "e=^f a foot high, I obferved on the very top of them a purle or j^g of peas.
nefl: of buds of bloflbms, lying in a bag together ; and obferving farther that
there was no (how of bloffoms putting forth at the lower joints, I concluded
our crops of peas would this year mifcarry, and that we fliould only have
fome top-kids, all expedlation of the lower kids being vain, becaufe the kids
on the lower joints are always forwarder in blofToming and kidding than the
upper, or top joints, and, as I faid before, there was no appearance of blof-
foms in any of the lower gradus of joints : this afforded me fome amufements
in reafoning, but, not being fatisfied, in a day or two after I looked into thele
upper pods or bags of bloffoms again, and diffedled them; wherein I found
fometimes near thirty bloffom-buds, two or three of which ufually feemed to

have

rows after the plough, and others lay them before the plough, and plough them in, fo, by both
methods, the beans are fet as clofe as the furrows are made, which is much too near ; for, when
they are on ftrong good land, they are generally drawn up to a very great height, and are not fo
apt to pod as when they have more room, and are of a lower growth ; therefore 1 am convinced
by fome late trials, that the better way is to make the furrows two feet afunder, or more, which
will caufe them to branch out into many fialks, and bear in greater plent) than when they are clofer:
by this method half the quantity of beans will be fufRcient for an acre of land ; and, by the fun and
air being admitted between the rows, the beans will ripen much earlier, and more equally than in
the common way. — What has been mentioned mufl be underftood as relating to the old hufbandry :
but where beans are planted according to the new, the ground fliouldbe four times ploughed before
the beans are fet ; which will break the clods, and render it much better for planting: then with a
drill-plough, to which an hopper is fixed for fetting the beans, the drills fhould be made at three
feet afunder, andthefpring of the hopper fet fo as to fcatter the beans at three inches diftance in the
drills. By this method leis than one bufhel of feed will plant an acre of land. When the beans are
up, if the ground is ftirred between the rows with a horfe-plough, it will deftroy all the young weeds ;
and when" the beans are advanced about three or four inches high, the ground flwuld be again
ploughed between the rows, and the earth laid up to the beans ; and if a third ploughing, at about
five or fix weeks after, is given, the ground will be kept clean from the weeds, and the beans will
flalk out, and produce a much greater crop than in the common way. — When the beans are ripe,
they are reaped with a hook, as is ufually pradifed for peas ; and, after having lain a few days on
the ground, they are turned ; and this muft be repeated feveral times, until they are dry enough to
flack : but the beft method is to tie them up in fmall bundles, and fet them upright ; for then they
will not be in fo much danger to fufFer by wet, as when they lie on the ground ; and they will be
more handy, to carry to Hack, than if they were loofe. The common produce is from twenty to
twenty-five bufltels on an acie of land. — The beans fhould lie in the mow to fweat before they are
tlirefhed out ; for, as the halm is very large and fucculent, fo it is very apt to give, and grow moift ;
but there is no danger of the beans receiving damage, if they are flacked tolerably dry, becaufe the
pods will preferve the beans from injury; and they will be much eafier to threfh after they have
iweat in the mow than before ; and after they have once fweated, and are dry again, they never af-
ter give. — By the new hufbandry the produce has exceeded the old by more than ten bufhels on an
acre ; and, if the beans, which are cultivated in the common method, are obferved, it will be found,
that more than half their flems have no beans on them ; for, by Handing clofe, they are drawn up
very tall ; fo the tops of the flalks only produce, and all the lower part is naked ; whereas, in the
new method, they bear almoft to the ground j and, as the joints of the flems are fhoiter, fo the
beans grow clofer together on the ftalks.

Y2

164. PEAS.

have got the flart of the reft, and to be bigger in bulk, and higher in fta-
tiire ; moft of the reft feemed to He in a huddle, without making any gra-
dations ; but as I never had feen, unlefs in the crown-pea, (which carries all
it's blofibms in a tuft at top, like a nofegay) other peas put forth abave two
bloflbms and kids at top, which feldom come to good, fo I fufpedted in this
pod, there being fo many bloflbms in it, that they muft form the fucceflive
gradations of bloffoming-joints, which did arife from that ftock as from a
common root, and fo, that every bloflbm in order, as it grew forwarder than
the reft, did flioot forth, above which the main ftem ftill advancing made the
bloflbm left behind the fubaltern bloflbm of a lower joint) — to try which I
tied fcarlet threads juft under many of the faidpods, that I might know them
a2;ain, and, according to expeftation, I found in four or five days time that I
had feveral gradus of bloflbms, arifing from joints with lobous leaves above my
fcarlet threads, and the pod of blofibms ftill advanced on to the end, leaving
behind farther joints of bloflbms, till the whole ftock was fpent.

Inferences This obfervation was very pleafing to me, as being obviouflv fruitful of many

fro.n the fore- corollaries, which I fliall fet down in order.

going obler- ii- • i- rrii im ••/-••>

vation. (i.) By looking into this pod, or purfe or buds, while as yet it is fo in its

infancy as only to be viewed by a magnifying glafs, we may judge what hopes
there are of a future crop, provided the fucceeding months prove feafonable.
(2.) We may learn from hence what fort of peas to adapt to every fort of
ground; — but, before I enter on that part and ufe of the abovementioned ob-
fervation, I muft, for the better underftanding thereof, premife, that the
farmers vary in their judgment in no one point fo much as in the nature of the
pea : it is a common thing in the fame parifli to have many forts of peas fown ;
and the perfons refpedlively fliall every one have a great prejudice to any
other fort of pea, but what they fow, having, it is likely, been difappointed
of the return other forts of peas made, when they fowed them, and it is likely
may foon grow out of opinion of the pea they have made choice of, from
the great uncertainty of the produce of a pea-crop ; fo that the pea, in the

» fiibjea to countrv-man's underftanding, has got the charafter of a very * kittle grain.
But if the farmer v^'ould confider, from the foregoing obfervation, how
early or rath- ripe a pea is, or how late in ripening in it's nature ; and that
(feeing all it's ftock or poflTe to put forth blolloms lies within the foliage of
one pod^ the art muft refult from thence, fo to fow the peas, in fuch ground,
and at fiich time, that each fort of pea, according to it's nature, may have
time before autumn and cold weather come to check them, to fend forth all
the gradations of joints or bloflbms, that none may become abortive, for want of
fummer enough for nature to bring her embrio's to maturity, and finifli the
bud-bloflbms into kids. — If fo, then it is apparent (as all great peas are late
ripe, and run to a great halm or ftalk, and the fmaller the pea is, the earlier
ripe, and of fmaller halm) that the great, or late-ripe peas, fliould be fowed as
early as the clime you live in will permit ; for thereby fuch pea will get fo
forward as to have time to exert all it's gradations of kids and bloflbms, and
to have them perfected before rainy autumn comes, and puts a flop to farther

veo;etation.

Eccuents- un
certain

PEAS. 165

vegetation —Again, fuch great pea ought to be fowed on a wliite, or Tome
mixt land, not too grofs of juice, but not on a cold clay; for fuch moillure
will keep feeding the halm, and be inconfiftent with the firft defign of fow-
ing them early, that you might have all the bloflbms ripen, feeing fuch land
will retard it's progreilion to fuch maturity ; but the faid white, or mixt mold
muft be in good heart, otherwife it cannot maintain a great pea ; fo, vice
verfa, it is from hence apparent that a rath-ripe pea fhould be fowed in ftrong
feeding-land, b.ecaufe fuch land will maintain the pea more vigoroufly, and
there is no fear of it's halm growing too grofs, it being naturally fliort, and,
notwithftanding the coldnefs of the foil, there will be no doubt but the kids
will all ripen.

§. 2. There are a great many forts of field-peas, whereby the country- ^^'^at fom of
people are puzzled, and are governed by humour in their choice for fowing, ^[^-""^^^^'1'"^^^
and make great diftindlions between the forts to be ranged under the fameofptas.
clafs, from their good or bad luck, or good or bad judgment, in managing
their ground j infomuch that a neighbouring farmer, on the fame fituation of
foil with another, fhall be out of patience to hear fuch forts of peas commend-
ed by his neighbour, with which he has had ill fuccefs. — The forts of field-
peas then I take to be ranged under two heads, viz. the tender and the hardy
fmall fort, and the tender and the hardy great fort, not doubting but all forts
of peas, to be ranged under either of thefe clafTes, will equally agree or dif-
agree with the fame foil : the tender pea is improper for a cold country, or
for cold ground in a warm country, which amounts to the fame thing j the
great pea, by reafon of it's great halm, is not proper for a flrong and fat ground,
for the halm will increafe to fo great a length as not to bear kids. I am fa-
tisfied from my peas this year (1704) fown on flrong cold ground and peas-
ftubble, and others fown on bartey-flubble, that to lay peas on a mellow light
mold, made fo by ploughing, is much the beft way to bring along, and make
a full-kidded pea; for the latter, tho' not on fo good ground, had both thofe
advantages of the former.

§. 3. Mr. Raymond, who lives near Patny in Wiltiliire, fays, in thofe parts Cfthehot-
they had ufed to fow hotfpur-peas in their fields, but that now (anno 3708) ^P"'' F»-
they grew weary of it. — I afked him the reafon ; he faid, thofe peas did not
run out to fo long and leafy a halm, nor lie long enough on the ground to
improve and mellow it, but the other peas did much better.

§. 4 Farmer Elton, Mr. Edwards, and I fell into difcourfe about peas ; it Cf the Cots-
was anno 1700. — They agreed that Cotfliill-peas v/ere about twenty years ago ^'' ^'^^'
the only peas fowed in this country, i. e. in Plampfliire ; they are a very large
pea, near as big as a horfe-bean ; they grow exceeding rank, and kid won-
derfully in a year that they take in, but are a more * kittle grain than the * "''.cei tain,
partridge-peas ; they mufl be fowed early, and run out fo rank that they are
late ripe, and therefore fubjecfl to blights : the farmer ufed to fow them in
the middle or latter end of Februaiy, and to take a very dry time for it ; no
matter if fnow fhould fall afterward, he has had three quarters on an acre ;
but they both agreed, that of late years the partridge-pea has been Jiiore in ef-

3 teem ;

i66 P E A S. ^

teem ; it is fo called from it's reddifh fpeckles ; it is a more certain grain,
and earlier ripe, and fo lefs fubjedt to blights than the Cotfhill-pea, which
is neverthclefs the better pea to fat hogs with, becaufe they will not be fo
apt to fwallow them whole.

^Farmer Crapp, and farmer Biggs fay, the Cotfhill-pea does not well in

the hill-country of Hampfhire, becaufe the country is cold, and the halm of

that pea runs fo large, and to fuch exuberancy of juice, efpecially if the

field lies to the north, that the fun cannot ripen it, nor dry it, and check it ;

fo that, efpecially in a moiil fummer, it will keep on blowing, but not kid

well. — I take this to be true, and yet very reconcileable with what is faid in

another place of the great increafe of the Cotfliill-pea in a certain field, few

that is not a feeding cold clay-ground, but lies warm : on the other hand,

why the farmers fliould fay, that the fmall partridge-pea required the befl:

land and the Cotfhill-pea the pooreft, is eafily reconcileable ; — for the good

land in the hill-country is generally the ftrong clay, but the halm of that

partridge-pea will not run out fo rank that the fun cannot check and dry it.

Again ; the mixt fort of earth, running to a whitenefs, is generally poorer

than the flrong clay, yet it is not in truth poor, for where the Cotfliill-pea

thrives there muft be good flrengrh in the ground, to maintain fuch a

halm.

Of white and §. 5. Mr. Randolph of Woolly, who has been a great fower of all forts of

bi^fl" ^"V^^ peas, gives it me for a certain rule, that all white-bloffomed peas, whilft green

peas in boil- ^^ ^^^ kid, will boil green, and all blue or red-bloflbmed peas, whilft green

'"g- in the kid, will boil rufiet-coloured.

Of partridge- §. 6. Regard is to be had in fowing great partridge-peas under furrow
P«2'. (where the ground is fubieft to run to grafs, or is knotted with grafs that is

pretty thick fet on the ground) to what may happen to them in* cafe of a
wet llimmer; as for inftance, if in ground that has born broad- clover for
one fummer you fow peas under furrow the following February ; for though
perhaps fuch ground may break pretty well in ploughing, lo as for the peas
to come through, yet in cafe there (hould come a cold and wet fpring, and
a wet fummer, the grafs will, long before harveft, fo grow through the
peas, after they begin firft to fall, and at laft fo over-top them, that you will
be amazed, when you come to ftack them at harveft, to fee perhaps what
was a very promifing crop of peas in May and June fo devoured by grafs,
that the very halm as well as the kids fliall feem withered away, and almoft
blighted to nothing.

If ground be apt to run to grafs, or be knotted with grafs before it is
■ ploughed, and be fowed to peas on one earth, if a very wet fummer fliould
come, the peas will be over-run, and eat up with grafs ; to prevent which,
and to fence again ft this inconveniency in wet fummers, if the peas are fow-
ed on one earth, the ground muft either be knot-fine, or elfe be fallowed to
kill the grafs, and fowed on the fecond earth.
Of the blue §. 7. The blue peas, with us, run much larger than the fmall partridge-peas,
P"- and confequently fill the bufhel better: they kid, as I have obferved, better than

the

PEAS, 167

the other, and are a * rather fort, and will therefore bear fowing the later, • earlier ripe.
as about the beginning of April, when the inclemency of the air is over ;
and being to be cut greenifli, they may be flacked the earlier, which are
good properties in our cold hill-country.

§. 8. The Burbage-grey or popling-pea is much fowed in the deep lands TheBurbage-
of Somerfetfliire, and called there, the clay-pea. P^' ""^ P"?'

... . f ling- pea.

§. 9. I find by all the iudicious farmers I can converfe with, that, though Peas love a
peas will not grow on poor light land, but require fome depth of foil and ^^fy 2"d l.eal-
ftrength, yet at the fame time peas will not thrive well in a cold wet clay- '^
land, but love a dry healthy foil.

I obferve about Holt in Wiltfliire, where the land is generally wetter than
at Crux-Eafton, that they lay up the pea-lands in fmall round furrows,
and they fow the great partridge-pea under furrow, if they can have a feafou
as early as Paul's-tide, i. e. the 25th of January ; and the reafon they give
for it is, becaufe being fown fo early they would lie too cold, if they laid
the lands flat. — Though I lie not fo wet, yet, my clay-lands being cold, I
am of opinion that I ought to imitate this huftandry, when I fow peas
early. — The coldnefs of the fituation of Crux-Eafton is alfo a fluther reafon
for fo doing, becaufe the cold air will not have fo much power of chilling
the earth, when laid in this manner dry, as it will have when lands hold
wet by lying flat ; for earth will not freeze, nor receive any impreflion
from cold, but on account of it's moifture, in which the more it abounds
the colder it will be, according to the decree of the coldnefs of the air— -
In Wiltfliire, if the land breaks tolerably rotten or mellow, they omit a
tining with the harrows, which would alfo be the beft way in our cold
country.

§. 10. A farmer in my neighbourhood having moft excellent boiling-peas, Of green peas.
which they call green-peas, I propofed to fow of them on a lay-ground I
had grubbed ; but the farmer forbad it, and faid, if they were fown on lay-
land, they would run to halm, and not kid : light barley-erfli, he faid, was
beft for them, and that, if they hit, they were mighty increafers ; that they
muft be fown about the beginning of April, and they yielded as good money,
and as certain as any corn, but they were a tickliflr grain.

§. II. The country-people fay, peas do beft on a barley-erfli ; the reafon Peas do left
of which muft be, becaufe how much finer the ground works fo much the °" * ^'','''T"
more does the earth, every part or it being opened, communicate or it s
goodnefs to the peas-halm, which being grofs requires good nutriment to
feed it; and where the ground lies lighteft, provided it be not thereby liable
to the evil on the other hand of burning, there the rain will w»*»wani the
goodnefs of the land to the roots of the corn, and feed it ; and I do believe
the fun in fummer prepares the thin topmoft cruft of the earth with rich
fpirits, which, when waflied into the earth, muft fruiflify plants.

The only reafon I can give why peas Ihould thrive fo well on barley-
erfli, (tho' poflibly the land may be much poorer than lay-ground) is, be-
caufe barley-land has for the moft part been mellowed by a wheat-crop the

year

i68 PEAS.

year before, and alfo fallowed, if not thwarted the barley-year : the ground
for thefe reafons is very mellow and light, and eafily admits the rays of the
fun, the rain, and the dew to penetrate to the roots of the peas ; whereas
the grofsnefs of the peas-halm lb over-fliadows the ground from thofe three
powers, that, where the ground lies more clofe and hard, thofe powers are
not fo acceffible to the roots of the peas ; for this realbn it follows, that
land, if not of a very light nature, is to be fallowed and thwarted for peas :
peas ought alfo to be fowed early in the year, that they may ripen between
fun and fun ; the grofsnefs of the halm fo much refifting the powers of
the fun, and obfcuring him when he grows weak, that the peas cannot ripen
in good time, and, if the ground lies not mellow and warm, they run out
to halm and do not kid well ; for the juices of the ground ought to be well
digefted alfo, to be fit to make flov/ers come in the joints of the peas-halm,
in order for bloflbms : befides, the earlier you fow your peas, the more hopes
you have of the blolfoms in the upper joints coming to perfe<ftion, which by
their backwardnefs are generally loft j and if thefe upper kids can get for-
warder than the coming of the locufts or green loufe, fo as to be too hard
for their teeth, they will (bv being earlier fowed) efcape all that damage ;
and note, as it is in the green herb, fo the early coming of all infedls de-
pends on the clime, and the nature of the foil, be it cold or hot, if the in-
fers are fuch whofe feeds are laid in the earth.

^ Pliny, fpeaking of the bean, fays, in fome of the northern iflands and
in Mauritania it comes up of it's own accord, and without tillage, but that
it is of a wild fort, very hard, and unfit for boiling. — I note this, becaufe
it's feed fovving itfelf falls on untilled ground, and therefore boils hard ; for
we obferve in peas, that the more mellow the ground is, the better they
boil, therefore boil well from barley-erfhes.

Farmer Biggs oblerved to me, that lafl year (1702) he had the experience

of fowing peas after barley, in a ground where peas had been fown the year

before the barley, and that, though it was in a bottom, yet he had poor

halm, and poor kids, whereas on two or three lands adjoining, and much

poorer land, where peas had not been fown fome years before, he had a

very good crop of peas.

land fowed §. 12. Mr. Raymond fays, he has always obferved, that land, which has

to peas wiii^ carried peas one year, will not be fit for them again in lefs tlian fix years

well ai^ain ior ''"''^ " '^ Y^^^ ^o^^ them fooner, they may polTibiy run to halm, but will not

fix years. kid Well, and fo, faid he, our neighbouring farmers have obferved — I fup-

pofe white or light land, being fo much the fooner robbed of all the fpccifick

nutriment of the grain by the crop of the fame grain it carried lall, cannot

be fo often renewed to peas as clay-land may, and the oftener land is dunged

the fooner it will recover, 1 judge, that fpecifick nutriment adapted to each

grain.

§. 13. Peas

* Nafcitur ct fua fponte plcrifque in locis, ficut feptentrlonalis rceani infulis, quas ob id noftri
fabariar. appellant, item in Mauritania, filveitris pailitn, led praedura, et quK percoqui non poffit.
Plin. lib. iJJ. fol. 283.

PEAS. 169

§. 13. Peas, of all forts of grain, degenerate fooneft, at lead in two or P<;as degene-
three years, be the land never fo good. Evelyn, fo. 324, "^"

§. 14. The honey-comb or pitted-pea ought not to be fown on the hills in The ho-^ey-
Hampfhire, for fuch pea is a cold pea, as not being fully ripened, but flirunk, comboi p utcd
and will not grow well in cold ground. ^''

§. 15. It is faid hop-clover ought never to be fowed with peas ; they'll co- Hopdover
ver the clover fo as to kill it : peas will kill the very v/eeds, and that is one of '■°'"?^'^ ^'^^'
the reafons why peas prepare the ground for barley.

But farmer Biggs afked me why I had not fowed a certain field, fown to
peas, to hop, or broad-clover ; and on my anfwering that I doubted whether
the peas might not have killed it; — he replied, there was no fear of peas
hurting it, where the ground was not rank, — and fo 1 found ; for at the lower
end of the field, where the farmer fowed his goar-vetches, I fowed hop-
clover, and it came up as well as any where.

§. 16. 1 obferved the green halm and leaf of my peas fown on a fummer- <"f the blue
fallow carried a ftrong deep green, and had a blue vapour on the halm and^^ °"^°" -
leaf, like the blue fteam on plumbs, which accompanied them to their flower- the weaher
ing ; but on peas lefs in proof, the leaf is of a paler green, and has lefs of that ^^^^ ^"^^ '"''*
blue vapour. — 1 take this blue vapour to be an exfudation from the plant, and loming-ti'me.'
is the effedl of a good infenfible perfpiration, and denotes health in the plant,
and luch plumbs and corn as have leaft of it are lefs in proof. — This blue ex-
fudation goes off of the leaves and ftalk a little before bloflbming-time, and
then they grow paler.— We had a cold cloudy dripping feafon during the blof-
foming-time of thefe peas anno 1715) and it was very obfervable to me, that
both my forts of peas (of which I had an hundred acres, great grey par-
tridge-peas, and blue popling-peas ) bloflbmed very blindifh, as peas will do
in hot fcorching dry weather at the bloffoming-feafon ; fo that I fully con-
cluded that neither of the extreams, either of wet or drought, were fo agree-
abletopeas as moderate rain with heat at their bloflbming-feafon ;but the con-
tinuance of many days cold rain muft be prejudicial ; — yet whether the hot
burning dry weather be not worfe than the other is a quei1:ion.

§. I/, if it be a dripping and rainy harveft, in the pea-feafon, between the To turn the
fliowers, when the upper part is dry, tho' the rain may have wet the ground ^^'^^"^'"^ .
through the wadds, to turn the wadds of peas will fave the kids from britting ^fter hacking
and {hedding ; for nothing makes peas more fubjecft to open the kids than lying '^^ p"- ^°.
fogging in the wet; therefore, in hacking them, to make the wadds fmall, is J-pg""
a prefervative, if the weather be fhowery, againft their britting, becaufe the
fmaller the wadds are the fooner they dry.— Of this 1 was very fenfible this
harveft (anno 1707) it being very fliowery ; for the Newbury-men's wadds
being hacked large, britted much, when our people's lefifer wadds fuffered no
damage : add to this, that the fmaller the wadds the fooner will the peas be
fit for carting, whereby a day gained often faves a whole crop from damage.

§. 18. When peas are well bloflbmed, there are two blofibms that divide Mark of peas
themfelves in forked-foot ftalks on every flem ; whereas many years there is ^f'"8 "'^!^
but one bloilom on each ftem.

Z §.19. Mon-

i^o PEAS.

Mr. Quin- §. 19. Monfieur de Quinteny fays, fo. 156 — That the bloflbms of peas

teny's obier- con^j-nonly fpriiig out from the middle of the fifth or fixth leaf, from whence
peas blofl'om- there fprings an arm or branch, that grows exceeding long, and produces at

ing not true g^ch leaf a couple of bloffoms like the firft. On reading this I went and

in fie peas. ^|g^g^ j^y p^^s, in a field where they Were extraordinary good ; — I found
for the mofl part that no bloflbms appeai-ed till, reckoning upwards, you came
to the fixth or feventh leaf, but where the pea-halm feemed not to be in good
heart, no bloflbm appeared till you came to the eighth or ninth leaf, nor could
I in any of the field-peas find any collateral beai-ing branch to ifllie out, as de-
fcribed by Monfieur Quinteny, but I did obferve fuch a branch to ilTue out in
my hotfpur garden-peas.
Vctclies §. 20. The top bloflbms of peas bring forth but a fmall blighted kid, and

greater in- J^^ng Jate OH the halm before they kid at all, fo that they feldom come to
peas, and of good j — but in my vetches I obferved many collateral tillows on the fl;alks,,
the fly that evcti from the root upwards, fo that there were commonly five or fix collateral
thcci.''"^ branches arifing, one above another, in two or three joints on a ftalk. — I
alfo obferved a downy cotton bud to arife from the fecond and third joint, juft
above the leaf, and fo for the mofl: part all along, where there were no kidst
this bud, though but fmall, feemed to me to be a bud defigned for a flower,
but mifcarried by the unhappy feafon of the year.— So I infer from hence,
tliat vetches, where they hit, are much greater increafers than peas. — Where-
as I was of opinion, that the milcarriage both of peas and vetches happened,
from the eggs of flies laid in the upper pod of each, I am now of the con-
trary way of thinking, viz. that the mifcarriage of the crop, both in peas and.
vetches, is in their lower bloflbms, which ought therefore to be earlier looked
into, it being of no great confequence how the upper pods are deftroyed, be-
caufe their kids never come to perfedtion : neverthelefs it is not unlikely but
the maggot bred in the upper pods, whether by flies eggs, or not, may tra-
vel downwards, and eat up the lower kids and leaves.
More on Mr. §. 21. It is faid by Quinteny, (as before cited) that peas commonly blof*-
abfemtion. fom at the fifth or fixth leaf ; which is, as I fuppofe, in dry and hot fum-
merSj when the halm is checked from running too grofs, and to fo many
joints i but, when in a wet year the halm runs out to a great length, the
ilalk at the fifth, fixth, or feventh leaf, is fo grofs and ovei-ftiadowed by the
other leaves, that the juice is not concodted enough till it has advanced more
into the fun, fo as to emit the blofl"oms. — And it ftands to reafon, that peas-
iet on fl:icks fliould kid better than thofe that lie all along, — and the well blof-
foming of beans feems to depend on the fame reafon ; therefore field-peas
when fowed thick do the better uphold themfelves by their firings, to let in

Tftheblof- ^^^ ^^^ ^^'^ ^'''' ^^^^ '^'^^y ^^^^ ^y ^'^^ weight of their kids.

fomsopen §. 22. It is obferved both in Hampfliire and Wiltflfire, that peas never kid.

^°h a"!-' " '^ ^^'^ ^^^^ year, in which they blov/ blind, that is, when their bloflx)ms open

Ofthe ^iirat '^ot full, as it happened anno 1705 — a wonderful di-y fummer.

the end of §. 23. When 1 was at Holt anno 1712 — I obferved in the peas, v/hile blof-

fta^ks'o'f die foming, that where there was but one fingle bloflTora on a foot-fiaik, there

pea, generally

PEAS, 171

generally grew up a little fpur, near an inch behind the bloflbm, on the fame
ftalk, in height about the length of a barley-corn. — I fufpedted that another
blofTom had grown thereon, and that the clafpers of the peas had taken hold
of it, and pulled it off by the power of the wind, or that fome other accident
had deftroyed the bloflbm ; but at this time, looking a little nicer into the
matter, I laid open fome cafes, wherein the bloffoms unblown lay in a cluf-
ter, as in a purfe, and there I obferved, that generally to the foot-ftalks of the
lingle bloflfoms there alfo grew a fpur ; only here the fpur was very fmall and
fhort, not of half a barley-corn's length, and very tender j thefe fpurs ad-
vance in flature and fubflance as the contiguous bloflfom grows, and by that
time the kid grows full, it will be as long as two or three barley-corns, and of
flrength proportionable, like a pea's-flalk : fo that one might well fuppofe a
pod had grown on it, and been pulled off by fome violence, but doubtlefs it
is an effort in nature towards producing a blofTom, fince it is feated in the very
place where a bloflfom grows, whenever the foot-ftalk carries a double blof-
fom ; and I prefume in rich land, and a hotter country, there rarely fails being
two bloffoms on every foot-flalk.

§. 24. I have obferved, when ground is in good heart, and rain falls fea- '^'''? '^7"
fonably to feed the peas, that their bloffoms blow flrong (as before taken no- foms turning
tice of) and further here I add, that the two outermoft and larger leaves of the back a good
bloffoms, which look like hoods, expand themfelves in (o ftrutting a manner S"-
as to bend backwards ; when they do fo, it is a fure fign of vigour ; from
fuch bloffoms there certainly will come a noble kid; whereas, when the
bloffoms blow blind or faint, fome of them fall off, or tho' they fliould be
ftrong enough to produce a kid, 'tis commonly but a poor one, and often of
a ram's-horn figure ; — and it may often be leen, that, when the firfl bloflfoms
blow vigoroufly, in a hot dry fummer, (but to effedl this, there muft be good
heart in the ground too) if the dry weather continues, the latter bloffoms fhall
blow very fickly, and make but ff arved kids, and many of the buds will want
flrength to put forth a blofTom, and wither ; yet, if a lucky rain comes in
time, it will fave them, and fo flrengthen them, that they'll go on blowing
with a lively colour.

§• 25. By the expanfion or contradlion of the leaves of peas the degrees of Senfationof
the cold nights may be feen : their flowers alfo, if put into warm water, will PJ^""- P^"'-

^ ■' . ' Jr ' ticulariy peas.

m an inflant open ; which fhews the wonderful confent of parts, and commu-
nication of particles in fome plants, analogous to the fpirits of men, by which
there is fuch a quick fenfation through the nerves,

§. 26. This year (171 6) I houfed my peas, as I thought, in excellent order. Peas not fo
they having taken no rain, and being thoroughly ripe; yet, when carried to ^^^^.'^^''^^^j-p^
market, they were fofter than other peas, nor would they rattle when handled the hill-comi-
in the facks like fome others. — The reafon of which muft be, that in our hill- "X ^' '" ^'"*
country the weather towards autumn is not hot enough to pufli them on to
that thorough ripenefs as in the vale, and as they mufl lie fome few days in the
field, after they are cut, to be thorough dry and hardened, fo our days are
cookr, and our nights both colder and more dewy than in the vale, and there-

Z 2 fore

172

Cuftom in
l.eicellerlhire.

VETCHES.

fore our peas are not dried to fo great a degree of hardnefs as theirs; and this
difference (cseteris paribus) holds good in other corn between the hill-country
and the vale.

§. 27. In Lelcefterfliire they fet all their peas abroad in ftacks, and houfe
none, becaufe (as they fay) fetting them abroad gives them a good colour,
whereas laying them up in a barn makes them look dark.

VETCHES.

Opinion of

the antients
concerning
vetches.

Opinions of
varioui far-
mers of the
profit from
vetches.

Vetches will
gr.^'v even
vvitiiout har-
rosving.

Vetches im-
prove ftrong,
led clay-
land.

§.i.' \ Ccording to Columella, if, when you cut up vetches and lupines
£\^ green for food, you leave the roots to grow dry in the ground, they
will impoverifh, and take away all it's flrength ; and he fays, it is the fame
of beans.

§.2. Farmer Biggs faid, vetches were the moft profitable grain that could
be fowed ; that a load of them would go farther than two load of hay ; he faid
farther, if they were fowed on land fomewhat light, where they would not
run up very rank, they were excellent for flieep, being reaped a little earlier
than they are for the horfcs, and v/hen dried the fheep would eat up every little
bitofftalk. — Thomas Elton faid, vetches were the moft profitable grain that
could be fowed, but he held that goar-vetches were apt to fcour too much, ef-
pecially if the weather was wet and cold. — Farmer Lake and farmer Bond'
agreed, that goar-vetches were beft for horfes when they were juft in kid, but
earlier than that, efpecially in cold and wet weather, they were too grofsj,
and not fo hearty.

§.3. I was telling the abovementioned farmers, that fome of my vetches
feemed to be uncovered, and not to have been harrowed enough. — They faid,,
if vermin did not meet with them, vetches would work themfelves into the
ground, and that they had fown them when fo much rain followed that they
Gould not harrow, and yet had as good a crop of vetches as at other times.

§. 4. I had a very fine crop of vetches in a falling white land, of about
three loads upon an acre, yet the fucceeding crop of barley was but ordinary j.
and indeed it feems to ftand to reafon, that a good crop of vetches is only a
confiderable improver of ftrong, or red clay-land ; for in fuch land they do
not only run ranker, whereby the halm betters it, but it alfo mellows fuch
land, which is very material towards a barley crop ; whereas in poor white
land, tho' the vetches may kid well, yet they feldom run to a good halm ,-
nor is it material for white land to be hollowed and made light by the vetches,
it's heavinefs being no defecft before ; therefore I hold, that, tho' a good crop
of vetches be on a white and poor land, yet it is not a foil to be depended on,
without folding, towai'd a barley-crop.

§•5- I

• Si lupini et viciae radices defedlo pabulo relidtae iriaruerint, fuccum omnem folo aufcrunt, vim-
qoe terr« abfumunt, quod etiam in faba accidit. Columella, lib. 2. cap. 1 4. Pallad. ad Idem, lib-.
1, fed. 6.

VETCHES. 173

§. 5. I fowed winter- vetches (anno 1703) on poor white land, and had but White land
eleven load of vetches off feventeen acres, befide the tythe, and yet it was a ^l^^^J,^
very wet dripping fummer, which favoured their growth extreamly; otherwife
there might not have been two load on the feventeen acres : this ought to be
a caution not to fow vetches on poor white land.

§.6. Wheat wiU endure the winter better than winter-vetches ; for, if Not to crop
wheat lofes it's top by the cold, it will grow again, but if vetches are cropt, ^'"^^"■
though they come to halm, they'll neither bloffom nor kid. — It is the fame
with peas as with vetches, if they are bit ;— and if they kid not tolerably, the
bell way is to give them to the horfes.

§. 7. By fowing a good quantity of winter-vetches there are feveral advan- Of the great
tages, the leafl of which, and the moft obvious is to render the ground fit for ["e^vetcii^'""
a barley-tilt, and fo knot-fine as to be capable (after it has been, if you pleafe,
winter-folded, as an additional richnefs) of being ploughed up and fown on
one earth. — And if the fummer be wet, fo as the meadows afford grafs enough
for hay, and the year is not encouraging, thro' frequent rains, to cut the
vetches for dry fodder, and make them into hay, the feed however (preferved
for fowing) is profitable. — But the greateft benefit arifingfroin vetches [in cafe
the fummer be burning-hot, fo as the meadows afford little hay) is that u\ fuch
time the vetches cut, when the flowering is juft over, or when the pods are
half full witii feed, are of great ufe to fapply the defedl of hay, and make the
nobler fodder for the year's being fcorching ; for at fuch times the vetciies are
not apt to run to fuch lengths as to rot on the ground, and you have commonly
a good feafon for making them into hay, and by cutting them thus early for
fodder, viz. by about the 20th of June, you may hope to have ploughed up the
ground again by the beginning of July, and fown thereon a crop of turnips.

§, 8. It is admitted by all kndwing perfons in hulbandry, that a good crop Winter-
of winter-vetches enriches land more, and prepares it better for a crop of ^fre^"e"^^'
barley than a good crop of peas does. — One reafon of this may be, becaulc ground for a.
a crop of winter-vetciies covers the ground longer than peas do. — But ano- barley-crop,
ther reafon feems probable to me, becaufe honey-dews are bred and gene- ^" ^^ ^'
rated in great quantities in the joints of the flalks of winter- vetches, and in
the foldings of their leaves (which incafe the bud of the blofforos) partly by
the extenor dews, partly by the exfudations therewith mixing, being con-
denied by the heat of the fun, and boiled into a fyrup, which contains fixed
ialts, and are afterwards by great rains wafhed off the vetches, and carried
into the earth, to it's great enrichment.

§. 9. It is the general opinion .of farmers I have talked with on this fub- Good after a^
jeft, that winter-vetches always do befi after a barley-crop : I have tried ^''«y-'-'°P-
them after oats with good fuccefs.

§. 10. I have found by experience, that if winter-vetches are fowed on Better r.fter
one earth, and on lay-ground, thougli clay-ground that turns up pretty mellow °'a"onTky-
and rotten, yet they will, if a hot fummer comes, be more apt to blight than j^roandiffow-
winter-vetches fowed on a clay-ground, VN'hich breaks fmall, after tvv^o or three '^^^ ^° °"*
former crops have been taken from it : fuch ground clofes better to the root.s.

§. 1 1. Far-

X74 VETCHES.

Awetfpring §. II. Farmer William Sartain of Broughton in Wilts fays, the rule in
inakes vetches jj^g valc fof fpring-vctches being dear is, when there is a wee fpring, when,
if the barley-land does not work well for a barley-crop, they like to fling in
a crop of fpring-vetches in order for a winter-crop of wheat at Michaelmafs;
and from this principle a wet fpring has occafioned fuch a demand for fpring-
vetches that he has, in fuch cafe, fold them for feven Ihillings a bulhel.
Dry famraers §. 12. As the drieft fummers make feed-vetches dear at Michaelmafs, fo
the fame, jj^gy gj-g niore fo in cafe of a bad fummer for fown giaifes, that is, in cafe
the fpring of the foregoing year was fo dry that the fown grafs-feeds did not
come up well ; for then, in the hiU-country, the fcarcity of grafs, made more
fcarce by a hot fummer, muft occafion the fcarcity of vetches.
Caution— to §. 13. If a hufbandman finds by the courfe of the winter that oats are dear,
fow them, if ^^d like to be dearer in fummer, he is not wife, who takes not care to fow a
oats be dear. ^^^^ quantity of goar-vetches in the fpring, efpecially if they are cheap.
Tufted- §■ 1 4- ^'icla. multiflora, apud Ray, vol. i. fol. 903. — Anglice tufted-
vetches a fign vetches. Mr. Bobart of Oxford allures me, that wherefoever this vetch

of rich land, gj-^^g ^^ jj^g mcadows, it is a fign of the land being very rich.

Of ploughing §• 15' ^ ^^^^ fometimes known many quarters of goar-vetches fowed only

in vetches, to the intent of ploughing them in : the beft way is firft to roll them,

Vid^fowing i^efoi-e you plough them, or elfe you could not make good work, that is to

fay, the way is to roll one land upwards, and the other land downwards,

that fo the plough need never to go againft the grain, the vetches being firft

laid flat before the plough in the rolling.

I fpoke to Mr. Biihop of Dorfetlliire of the huflaandry of fowing goar or
fummer-vetches, and ploughing them in inflead of dunging. — He commend-
ed the wav very rauch, and faid, in many countries, where they had more
arable than they could dung, they had no way better than fo to manage it ;
but doubtlefs the winter-vetches are more advantageous for that purpofe,
becaufe the fummer-vetches would come up fo late, that they could not
plough it up again early enough to funimer-fallow it, whereas the winter-
vetches would come up fo early, that the cattle might feed them down, and
they would afterwards be got up high enough to be ploughed in j — but this
hufbandry is for deep land ; for in Ught land upon a rock, where the rock
is but four inches beneath the furface of the land, the vetches fo fown would
never come up.

If any think fit to fow vetches for ploughing in under the furrow, in
order to improve the land, I think it eafy to prove, that winter-vetches are
properer for that purpofe than goar or fummer-vetches are ; for though goar-
vetches run much groffer, and in that refpedt would be better ; yet, in re-
gard they are tender, and will not endure being fowed till fpring, they can-
not get to a fufiicient growth for ploughing in till tov/ards Augufl:, by which
time the vigour of the fun, which fliould precipitate their putrifaftion by
raifing noble falts from them, will be fo much abated that little can be efltd:-
ed that way ; whereas winter-vetches being fowed before winter, and having
a root confirmed before fpring to proceed on, will be forward enough to be

ploughed

VETCHES, 175

ploughed in by a week, or a fortnight in June, and the quantity of their falts^
lying fo much more under the power of the fun to extract them, will am-
ply compenfate the ground for want of the larger halm.

*■ The antients piadlifed this hufbandry of ploughing in winter-vetches,
efteeming it equal to a coat of dung, as we learn from Columella.

§. 16. I took a view of my vetches in bloffom to fee in what different Obfervation
manner they blofTomed from my peas (taken notice of before ;) and I found, "nd bldfom-*^
that whereas good peas, that blow well, have two bloffoms on the fame ingof vetdie».
ftalk, on divided pedeftals ; fo, good vetches have two bloffoms growing
clofe to the ftalk at every joint. — I obferved under the uppermoft tuft of
bloffoms in fome of the vetch-halm two bloffoms at every joint of the
four upper joints, and at fome of the five upper joints; then three or four
lower joints had but one a-piece, and the halm carried four or five joints
lower, on each of which there were very fmall woolly buds, but fuch as
might blow afterwards, if the weather proved favourable. — From whence I
infer, that, if vetches have their complement of joints, they amount to fif-
teen, and, if they carry their complement of bloffoms, tliere are two at each
joint ; I obferved no more on any joint, and much of the halm had two blof-
foms only on the two upper joints, and but one on the joints beneath, and
pofTibly left off bloffoming at the fifth joint : again I obferved, that many
fevcnth and eighth joints carried two bloffoms, when the uppermofl had but
one bloflbm on each, and I found many of the fallen or falling-off bloffoms
of the lower joints blighted. Note, this was but in white land. — In another
field of vetches I afterwards obferved but four or five joints in a halm, and
but one or two of the uppermofl joints to have two blofiToms.

It was this year (171 2) obferved by many farmers, that the vetches kid-
ded at the top and not at the bottom, that is, they run on, and fpent many
more joints than ufual without putting forth either bloffom or kid : — I
thought the peas alfo did the fame. — I am at a lofs how to affign the reafbn
why vetches and peas fliould fome years run out into kid at the lower joints
firfl, and other years leave many lower joints unfruitful ; unlefs it be, that
the bloffoms being all formed in a clufler, as before defcribed, the cluflers
in wet years run on fo :^i't and furioufly into joints, that they pafs on too
quick to make a due formation of the lovvermofl bloffoms ; by which means
the unformed bud of the bloflbm, which nature defigned for fruit, is con-
verted into a falfe birth, and an imperfecft eflay j and fo the fame evil hap-
pens from bloflbm to bloffom, and makes it late before this fury of the fap

is
I

* Vice fimi lupinum certe praefidium expeditiflimum eft, quod cum exili loco circa idus Sep-
tembris fpailerit, et inaraverit, (which is fowins; under furrow^ iJque tempeftive vomere vtl
ligone fucciiierit, vim optime (lercorationis e .hibebit ; fuccidi autem lupinum fabulofis locis opor-
tet cum fccuiidum florem,^ rubricofis cum tertiam egerit : illic, dum tenerum eft, convertitur, ut
celeriter ipfuai putrefcat, permifceaturque gracili folo ; hie jam robuftius, qu^sd Iblidicres glebas
diutius fuftiiicat, et fufpeiidat, ut es folibus asftivis vaporatae refolvantur. Columella, fol. ' <^9-~7"
But it feerrTi that advantag-: cannot be made of the lupine-vetch in England ; becaufe it will die
if fowed before winter ; aiid illbwed i.i the fprLng, it will not be forward enough to anfwer thefs
endo>

Xy6 VETCHES.

ts fpentj'and fruitful bloffoms perfedled. — —Again, — when a very dry fpring
happens, as this year it did during the three latter weeks of April, and the
whole month of May ; it feems to me, that the buds of the lowermoft
bloffoms of the clofter, which doubtlefs are firfl formed in embrio, are
ftarved through drought ; and {o the joints, on which they fhould have
grown, are left naked -, but by the coming of more favourable weather the
upper joints prove fruitful ; fo that a due medium in the temperature of the
year between drought and wet feems to me to be the mofl: fruitful feafon. —
Again, — I have oblerved, when two or three joints have bloffomed and kid-
ded, and more bloffoms, perhaps two or three gradations, remained unkid-
ded, the feafon of the year being early enough, and the weather at the time
being warm enough to finifh them into kids ; yet, if a feafon of cold rain
then came, thofe bloffoms would not produce kids, becaufe, as it feems to
me, a good medium or temperature of the air is neceffary for that purpofe,
in order to digell the juices, which are chilled by cold rain, and dried up
bv hot burning weather.
Offrodripe- §. 17. Walking with a farmer in fome goar-vetches in September (1700)
ning goar- they feemed very backward, whereupon 1 afked him if he thought they
would ever ripen for feed ; he replied, when the froffs came they would
ripen ; - by which he meant, that till then (the fun now declining in it's
ftrength, and there being great dews and long nights) the halm would keep
feeding on ; but when the frorts came and checked the grofs nourilhing of
it, then the kids would fill better.
Vetcliej, §, j8. I was queilioning whether fome winter-vetches cut for feed fhould

when blight- ^^^ j^g brought in, left rain fliould fall and make the kids open, many
to'openand^ of them being dead-ripe; — but the farmers faid, no fear of that, for, tho'
ihed. they might fcem to be dead-ripe, yet they were alfo blighted, which is ap-

parent by the fmallnefs of the grain [and fuch I obferved them to be] and
therefore their kids will be tough, and not fo apt to open as at another time,
when of the fame ripenefs.
Profit of §. i^. After all that has been faid of the great profit arifing from vetches,

broad"] ^v*^ yet, if we compare it with that arifing from broad-clover, we {hall find the
compared, advantage on the fide of the latter, viz.

rSowing an acre of vetches at two bufhels per acre, and

I two Shillings and fix-pence per bufhel — — 050

y . 1 ) Ploughing and harrowing an acre — 060

j Hacking or mowing — ■ — ■ ~— o 26

LTotal — — — o 13 6

5 Sowing twelve pound to an acre, at 3 d. per pound 030

Mowing an acre - - — ^ ^ °

Total — 040

The difference in favour of broad-clover is — 096

R E A P I N G and M O W I N G. 177

The labour of carting, reeking, thatching, and fowing are the fame ; but,
if you buy the feed of each at market, the vetches are in carriage vaftiy
greater than the clover ; for a load of vetches, reckoning five quarters to a
load, will fow but twenty acres, whereas a lack of clover will hold two
hundred and fifty pounds, which will fow more than twenty acres. Again,
the fecond year's crop of clover, (if you let it grow the fecond year) is a very
great profit beyond the rent of the ground ; — fo that there is no reafon to
fow winter-vetches in any ground that will well bear broad-clover ; for it is
certain, every thing confidered, there is near twenty {hillings difadvantage,
communibus annis, by fowing vetches in land that will bear clover.

REAPING and MOWING.

r-p

HE antients reaped their corn before It was full ripe, as Of the time of
_ Pliny informs us. cutting com.

It is certain there are very great dlfadvantages in letting fome forts of corn To be cut he-
fland till it is full-ripe before it be cut. — Firft, both the chaff and the fod- 'o''^ '' '^ full-
der are worfe, — and, if fuch ripe corn takes v/et, the increafe in malt is loft, "^^'
if barley, it having already fpent itfelf, — and if it be wheat, the flour is much
the worfe, and the weight diminifhed, — but if corn be cut greenifh, it v/ill
bear a pretty deal of wet without damage, for it will not drink up the wet
like corn full-ripe, but rather only take in fo much as to be kindly fed by
it; — but if any fort of corn be blighted, the fooner it is cut down, tho' but
half ripe, the better, for nourifhment can no more be conveyed to it by the
ftraw, whereas, by lying in gripp it will be fed: — it is like feeding fick
perfons Vv'ith clyfters, when they can take no nourifliment at their ftomachs,
or turning a child to weaning, when it will thrive no longer with the nurfe's
milk.

Corn that is full of weeds ought to be cut three or four days fooner than Erpcdall}-
ordinary, that the weeds may have time to wither, and yet the corn not ^^eedy corn.
fuffer by being over-ripe ; whereas, if the corn in fuch cafe be full-ripe, it
will be liable to take damage by britting as well as lofs of colour, or by
rain, if it be kept out till the weeds are withered.

§. 2. If corn, or grafs is fo long as to lie down, they obferve to cut with Manner of
the corn, not againft the head of it that is falling; — but if it ftand upright, '^""'"^?- ^"^''^
they obferve as much as poffible always to cut crofs the furrows, and the is lodged.
fame in meadows, if therc be any furrows, that they may cut the bottoms ;
for, if they cut along the furrows, the rifing lands will carry the fcythe over
the bottoms, fo that it will leave the grafs uncut.

§» 3. If corn comes in wet, or not well dried, though it will not take Wet corn to
much harm in the mow, yet as foon as threflied, and laid together on an ^'^ ^"^"^J^^^

eJ.
' Secandi tempus cum fpica deflorefcere coepit, atque roboran : fccanaum antequam inarefcat.
PJin. fol. 314.

A a heap,

178

REAPING and MOWING.

heap, it will in a week's time fweat and cling together ; and be as white
with moldinefs as if flour had been ftrewed on it, — luch corn therefore
ought, as foon as thrertied, to be fent to market, and fold.
Corn ii better §. ^. Jt is faid, for corn to lie in fwarth a day is very good though a
day iiiTwlrth ^ower of rain fliould come ; for it makes it feel dry and flippery, and threrti
aiicr it is cut. the better ;— and Mr. Edwards blamed a neighbouring farmer much for
hurrying in his corn fo faft, if there was but any likelihood of a fhower;
whereas, faid he, a day's rain never did it harm, but rather good, and wheat
after cut was the better for a wet day. But, faid farmer Biggs, there is no-
thing loft by carrying it in before fuch Ihower of rain may fallj for, tho' it-
will feel cold, yet, not having laid abroad to take the fun and rain, it will
not be flirunk fo much as if it had done fo, and the fewer grains will go to
fill the bufliel, and that will make amends.
Nottomalce §, ^. Mr. Edwards cautions me not to make great barley-cocks, nor great
grest barley Q^f.^ocks, but middling ones : if the corn be thick, faid he, the talk-workers
and why. ' will be for making great cocks, which the men cannot pitch into the cart,
when they take off the tops, unlefs they trample on the cocks, which makes
the corn brit, efpecially when dead-ripe.
In hot fum- ^^ 5, Xn hot fummers you are to confider, that wheat is plump, and full
ploy the^more ""^ berry, and the glumes or chaff ftarky, and not tough, as in cold wet
reapers to fummers, whereby it holds the corn the clofer, and you ought to man your
make expedi. j^j^j.^,g^ accordingly by fetting on in hot fummers the more reapers j for
fuch corn, when fcorched up by the fun, and full in grain, will foon take
a ftain, and damage by wet, and brit, and be blown out by the wind :
when you have it dead-ripe, and of a good colour, it is all you can delire ;
Uaerefore in fuch cafe the lefs it lies abroad in gripp or (hock the better ; to
which end the higher they cut the wheat, fo as to cut the lefs graft, the
better ; that it may be the fooner in order for carting.
Why they ^_ y_ i"he chief reafon, as it feems to me, why in Leicefterfhire, North-

flubble in^ amptonfliire, and fuch deep lands the farmer cuts the wheat high from the
Leiceilerftiire ground, and leaves a high ftubble, is becaufe in low vale countries, where
^"^ ^°!w' ^^^ ^^^'^ '^ ^^^^ ^"'^ deep, and inclofed countries, the wheat, after it is cut,
and lies in gripp, does not lie fo expofed for the fun and wind to dry the
gripps after being fogged with wet, as it does in the hill-country; therefore
the higher the ftubble is left the gripps are thereby born up the higher,
and lie the hollower from the ground, and confequently are the ealier dried
by the fun and wind. — It is alfo to be remembered, that the fatter and
richer the land is the fooner the gripps will grov,'^ after they have taken wet,
in cafe they lie on the naked ground, and fooner than they would in fuch
cafe do in the hill-country, where the land is poor ; — therefore it is very
proper to leave the v/heat-flubble the higher, that the gripps may thereby
be born up from, the ground ; befides, the fhorter the flieaves are made the
more the barns will hold, and the ufe of the after-flubble, which makes
* ttatcb. excellent * elm, will compenfate the lofs of the flraw. In feme places they
mow it for drying malt,

§. 8. The

REAPING and MOWING.

79

§. 8. The forwarder any countries are in their harveft, whether by the The forward-
forwardnefs of the year, or the natural heat and warmth of the foil, fo much " ^'^'^ ^^^'■'"^-
the bolder may the hulband-man be in leaving his wheat the longer abroad fs'i^thVbn^e^
in the field, to take it's airings, and grow mellow, which makes it threfli the com may
better and look finer : for example, when the wheat-harveil falls out in the ''"-^ '" ^"''f P'
middle of July, or at lead; before the latter end of it, as it did anno
1 7 14, there can be little danger in letting the wheat lie abroad four or five
days, or a week, in cafe it be not cut over-ripe, even tho' a rainy day or two
fliould come ; for at that time of the year the fun is fo hot, the days fo long,
and the grafs fo fhort, and the dews for the moft part fo little, that the corn,
tho' it has a good rain, foon grows dry ; whereas, in the middle, or the latter
endof Auguft the rainy feafon generally comes in, the dewy nights grow
long, the grafs rough, and the fun's drying-power much abated, fo that, if
rainy weather fliould come, the wheat will be much more apt to grow.

§. 9. Red-ftraw wheat ought not to ftand till it is fo ripe as white- Red-flraw
ftraw may do, becaufe the red-ftraw wheat is much aoter to brit, if wind "'''^^" '" '^'^
fhould come ; therefore the common laying is, that red-ftraw wheat than whke-
muft be gathered knot-green, that is, whilft the knots in the ftraw are '^""'•
green.

Beyond Winchefler they cut red-ftraw wheat greenifli to amazement, a
fortnight earlier than we Ihould do, and let it lie in gripp a fortnight, often
turning it ; and for reaping, turning, and binding into fheaves they pay fix
fhillings per acre, whereas at Crux-Eafton we pay four fliillings, — but they
think their's the bed hulbandry.

§. 10. It is agreed, that wheat fbould be cut fooner for being blighted ; Elightfd
becaufe the fi:raw of blighted wheat, by {landing till the corn is full-ripe, ^"^^"^^^ '}i°"''J
will become fo brittle there would be no handling it. And it is firther ^ut.
agreed, that blighted wheat fliould lie longer in gripp than other wheat that
it may plim, which it requires more time to do : it will make it threfh
better, and come the clearer from the hull.

§. II. In mowing, a blighted patch of corn is known as foon as the Biiohted com
mowers put the fcythes into it ; for it is foft and tough, and they had as kr.our. by the
good cut again ft wool ; befides it is more-loofe, that is, loofe at root. mowers.

§. 12. Wheat defigned for feed ought to be cut riper, or at leaft to lie a wheat for
longer time abroad in gripp or fheaf than otherwife it need to do, or elfe, be- ^^^'^ piouldbe
ing for prefent threfliing, it will not come clean out of the ftraw, and the ^^
fofteft grains will beat fiat ; but, if it be defigned for a reek-ftaffold, and for
keeping, it will by lying and fweating in the mow, tho' carried in fomewhat
greenifh, and without lying in gripp or fheaf, come out of the ftraw, and
threfh very well.

It is certain, that the gripps of wheat, tho' laid as light and hollow as
pofTible, will by the weight of the ears fall to the ground, and take harm,
if fuffered to lie long out in wet weather ; though the ear of the gripp be
fet hollow, yet it will fall lower than the root-end of the ftiraw.

A a 2 §• 13- Though

i8o R E API NG and MO W I NG.

Straw worfe §.13. Thougli moft corn is the better for lying in fwarth or gripps ta
or jingou . ^^^^ ^j^^ dews, yet the ftraw is the worfe for it for fodder, except it was cut

before it w'as ripe, and only lie till fufficiently ripened to be carried in.
In hot dry ^. j^. Take notice, — in hot dry fummers, when corn ripens fully, and it's

vv^eTt'^Eeed ^wn virtuc gives it a colour, and plumps up the berry j there is no need to
not lie long in let wheat lie out in gripp before it is flieaved, nor in flieaf, as you would do
gripp,and -j^ ^ j,^]^ fummer, unlefs it be very grafly or weedy ; but in cold fummers
* ^' the wheat is horny, and wants a colour ; and the berry is thin and wants to

be plumped ; and the chaff of the cheffes is clung, and wants to be mellowed
in order to make it threfh the better: whereas in good and fruitful years the.
grain is full and fwells the chaff, even till it opens, and fo the wet will foak
in the fooner, and ftain the colour of the wheat; and in fuch good years it
ought to be confidered, that the ears are heavy, and, when they are in Ibock,
they fpread and hang over, being lop-heavy, whereby the {heaf opens wider,
and lets the rain into the bonds fooner than in cold fummers, when, the
wheat being light, the ears in the fliock ftand more upright, and clofer
together.
Caation— to §. 15. It is moft advlfeable to turn gripps of wheat lying out very early
turn the ^f^^^ being cut down, in order to get them dry as foon as poffible ; by this
means you keep them the longer from growing, in cafe of rain ; for when
gripps have lain fome time fogged with wet, if dripping weather, or only
driving mifts fliould continue, all the art im.aginable cannot prevent their
growing.
Nottogrlpp §. 16. In a hill-country, efpecially where there is cold clay-land, fingular
up the wheat regard ought to be had in harveft-time, not to gripp up the wheat into Iheaves
the day! in a '°° ^^''b' ^" ^^^ ^^^Y' ^^^ ^" ^^^^ ^ Country the gripps take fo great a damp by
hill-eou'mry. having laid on the ground, that, tho' the ftraw, and chaffy ears may feem to
be dry, when the dew is firft gone off, and after the fun may have ihined
• an hour or two on the gripps, yet there will remain an inward dampnefs in

the corn, and in the inlide of the ftrav/, which being fo reeked up will come
damp from the reek at threfliing-time. — Therefore the afternoon is certainly
beft for gripping and binding into flicaves, but fo that they may be finifhed
before the heat of the day is over ; yet the bonds ought to be laid in the morn-
To cam/ as ing, that they may not crack. — My opinion farther is, that in fuch a country
foonasreaped. ^^^^ ^^^ never be better houfed, if thorough ripe, and hard, and not weedy,
than by gripping and carting as fafc as it is cut dov/n ; for the dampnefs it
takes by Iving on the ground in the cold nights is not fo eafily recovered.
Of binding. §• 17- The farmers do not always look well after the binding up their
{heaves, but futfer the reapers, fordifpatch, to bind the bonds juft underneath
the ears, inftead of binding them at the other end j the confequence of which
is, that they will hardly hold together to be flung into the cart at harvefl, and
will certainly be in great danger of falling to pieces before threfhing-time,

I was telling one of my harveft women, that fhe muft rake oats for me on
tlie morrow morning j fhe rephedj it muH be after the dew was off the

ground,

R E A P I N G and M O W I N G. 1 8i

ground, for till that time (he (hould be makiag bonds for the (heaves fhe had
gpipped for the farmer ; for after the dew was oiFthey could not be made. —
I aflced her why ; (he faid, the ftraw would not twiit after the fun was up,
but would be brittle, and break off below the ears.

It rained in the morning while my wheat lay in gripp, but feeming to hold
up a little, I told one of my reapers, he might make bonds. He replied, un-
lefs it was like to be dry it was to no purpofe to make bonds ; for, when the
bonds are made, they mufl lay a gripp or two on them to keep them in their
places, otherwife the heat of the fun will make them untwift ; and therefore,
unlefs it were likely to be fair, it is improper to lay the gripps upon the bonds,
for the bonds being preffed down will grow fooner than any other corn, if
rain fhould come, becaufe they lying undermoft cannot dry.

Sheaves ought not to be bound up wet ; if they be, they will be moldy :
the' the bonds muft be made in the morning-dew, yet the flieaves ought not
to be bound up till perfectly dry.

The reapers were complaining, the weather was fo hot, that their bonds
laid in the morning would not hold at noon, when they came to bind ;
but, faid they, old Cole's held ; for he turned three or four ftubble or bottom-
ends of the rtraw to the ears of the bond, which made them hold, they being
thereby tougher, greener, and ftronger.

If in harvefl-time you forefee a little rain, it is befl: to gripp, and bind up
into fheaves, becaufe a little rain will fo wet the grippings, that they cannot
be bound up, and it may hold fo, on and off, till greater rains come, but the
fheaves being bound will foon be dry ; but if you forefee a hard rain, it is
better not to bind up into fheaves, for the fheaves will then be wet to the
bonds,' and mufl all be opened again.

§. 1 8. If rain comes in harvefl-time with a driving wind, it is the mofl Driving wind
dangerous of any weather for fheaves of wheat, and for flieaves that are wet )^||j.jj''^"^'^^_^^
to the bonds it is worfe, as all farmers do agree, than dov/n-right foaking for the wheat-
rain. *" ^^^^^^•

§. 19. In a wet harvefl, there is this benefit in making Imall fheaves, Of making
that being thinner at the top, and falling clofer, the rain does not fall down f^all iheaves
into the middle of them, and fo go through them into the bonds, as it is apt yeft.'^" '^^'
to do in great fheaves, which lie broader, and take a larger compafs.

Care ought to be taken that the fheaves are made fmall, in cafe you are Forweedy
•obhged to gripp and bind up wheat that is weedy, or thiftly, into flieaves, as *^°'^"'
for particular reafons you may be, viz. for fear of rain, or on a Saturday- night
becaufe you fear the weather on Sunday, that fo the air, wind, and fun may
have the greater power to dry them, which they could not do, if they were
made large.

§. 20. Mr. Whifller and Mr. Edwards, men of veiy good judgment inTohytHe
farming matters, were of opinion that it was befl the ni;^ht after the wheat was .l^J^^ u

i-rii 1- 11/1 n tJie Jirft night.

bound, u the weather was not catcning, to lay the fheaves, one by one, fiat
ea the ground, whereby the flraw would clofe together, apd fland with the

ears-

i§2 REAPING and MOWING.

ears ftifF and upright, and not be apt to lay open, and then five or fix (heaves
being put into fliock would abundantly better keep out the rain.
Not to lay the •§. 21. Some of the reapers had laid the ears of the grippings in the furrows
furrovvs ^ ^^ '•^^^ lands, and the halm-end out, whereas they ought to have laid the
firaw-ejui in the furrows, and the ears out, and then the ears would have
flood floping-up, and have lain dry, though rain had come, but the other
way it would quickly have grown, — and fo I found it to do.
Of cocking |_ 22. In Hampfliire they never cock the wheat in the field, as they do in

Wilts. ' Wiltfhire, whereby they may leave it out a month without damage j and, if
they did fo, the wheat would threfh much the better, for the air dries it;
■whereas, when carried forthwith into the barn, it is tough, and flicks to
the chafi'.

In making the wheat-pooks in Wiltfliire the flieaves are fet with the ears

uppermoll in the firft circle, and fo on in every rundle, till at length it draws

into a point ; and then a fheaf is opened and turned with the ears downward,

like a fhackle for a hive ; for an ear turned downwards will not grow, nor

take wet by half a year's wet weather, and the bottom of the fheaf being

broader than the top, every uppermoft circle hangs over the fheaves of the

undermoft circle, like the eaves of an houfe. — In a pook may be put a load or

two; it is a very good way to fecure corn againft rain, and to give the weeds

that may be amongfl: it a drying time.— In my opinion however this method

is not to be ufed where the wheat is defigned for a flafFold, becaufe, if the

weather prove wet, mice will run thither for fhelter, and be carried in with

the pooks. — Farmer Miles f^ys, in that falhion, without thatching, they make

wheat-reeks in the Ifle of Wight.

Caution -re- §. 23. In wet liarvefts, I advife, when the weather clears up, to fend fome

management of the mofl diligent and fkilful perfons into the field to fearch the tvthings of

of the'ftocks fheaves, and to obferve well which lie mofl: on the weather-fide, and itand

inwtt w»a- j^qj^ hollow, and open at top, and to remove all fuch together by themfelves,

and place them to fuch advantage, that the fun and wind may beft go through

them, moving thern off from the fides of hedges, &c. anil taking up fuch

flieaves as inay be blown down.

After rainy weather, tho' the wet fliould not have gone to the bonds of the

fheaves, yet it is good, when dry weather comes, to fet the flieaves of every

tything apart, fo that the air may come to every flieaf, and particularly to take

care to turn the weather- fide of each fheaf to the wind to dry the fooner ; for

tho' the wet may not have gone to the bonds, yet the fheaves are inwardly

cold and damp, but will by this method be much the fooner fit to be carted.

Damage from §.24. My next neighbour, anno 1696, unflieafed fome of his wheat to

opening^the^ dry it, and opened it, and turned it fo often, that the ears broke ofi^, whereby

them. he lofl: half his corn ; — caution therefore ought to be ufed in this cafe, lefl; by

curing one evil we create a worfe.
Wheat, if wet ^_ 25. A fmart fliower of rain fell on my wheat-flieaves, and it was thought
wiii°beda-^' i^ Went down to the bonds; whereupon, the next day being fair, the men

maged in the tOok

reek.

R EAPI N G and MO WING. iS%

took apart each tything, and fet the (hocks upright at ibme diftance afunder,
fpreading open the ears of the fhock to let in the fun and air ;— but afterwards
my baililf found that the rain had gone through the bonds, fo that he was
for unbinding them, and opening them to the fun ; — for he argued, that if
the infideof the flieaves were but wettifh only, and from the ear to the bond
were dry, fuch flieaves would grow moldy in the reek, and flrike fuch a
damp, that would caufe many ears to grow, and therefore he advifed to open
them. — I did open them, and found them to be dampifh, and fome of them
wet beyond the bonds : this was done to fix load of wheat, and the fheaves
were bound up again without much lofs of time,

§. 26. One of my reapers, when he had made up fome wheat into {heaves. Wheat long-
the wheat being long-eared and lop-heavy, faid, rain had not need meet with ^^^^'^'^ ^J|^ '°P*
thofe rtieaves before they were carried home. — I afked him why fo ; he faid, be carted foon
becaufe the ears being long and heavy were bufsle-headed,— that is, did hang '"°''f^a'^o^
their heads downward into the (lieaf, fo that (in cafe a rain fliould run down
to the bonds) neither fun nor wind could enter in to dry them, whereas, faid
he, when the ears are fliort, and not heavy, they Hand upright and hollow,
fo that the fun, and the air may eafiiy dry them.

§. 27. I ordered my mowers to fet their cradles down as clofe to their Caution in
fcythes as they could, for the benefit of the fwarths, the barley being very "^o^'^Z <=o™'
fhort ; if they had not done fo, they had loft half the corn ; but their cradles
carried the fliort barley together in a fwarth abundantly the better, by which
means it might be raked with lefs lofs. — N. B. To fee that other mowers do
the fame in fuch cafe.

§.28. If one cuts grafs, where ftones are, with a new fcythe, and it (hould Cut grafs in
flrike againft a ftone, the fcythe will break out into flakes, but an old fcythe ^Jl"^^^^"'^^
that has been feafoned will on-ly be blunted, and may eafily be ground out fcythe.
again.

§. 29. If corn harles or lodges, a fcythe cannot carry a cradle, becaufe the ^ ^^^^''^ |°^''
fingers of it will be pulled to pieces by the harled corn in drawing the fcythe ed corn. "
back ; but in that cafe, a bow on the fcythe is moft proper, which will carry
the fwarth away before it all together.

§. 30. The thinner and poorer barley and oats are, and the weaker in ftraw. Thin and
they ought to be cut a little the fooner, and lie in fwarth; for otherwife the^j^^p^j'^"^'^
llraw, if they are full ripe, will not ftand againft the fcythe. ftould be cut

§.31. I fovved broad-clover with barley, and, by all the country-men's '''^[°°"^J'-
judgment, it was deemed proper to mow this barley a week fooner than other- rank in bar-
wife it need to have been, becaufe the clover grew up rank, and it was agreed, ley, tiie bar-
that, if the barley ftood till it was full-ripe, or but near it, as the clover would j-^^^^J'^^^^j*
require four or five hot days to dry it before it could be houfed with the barley,
it would in that time, in cafe two or three days rain fliould fall, be turned
black, whereas, being cut thus early, it would take no damage by fuch wear
ther, but require to ftuy abroad as long as the clover.

§. 32.1 had barley this year ( 1702) knee-bent in a very extraordinary man- Kree-bent
ner, aad, being dead-ripe, it was crumpled down,, and harled by contrary n^^^wed with a

winds J, (hcrt fcytlie.

184.

REAPING and M OWING.

winds ; I added my own men to the mowers for difpatch ; but my men

having only grafs-fcythes, which are not fo long as the others, could not

difpatch like them ; — but farmer Biggs and farmer Knapp faid, that in this

cafe the fliorfer fcythes were more profitable to mow with than the others,

and miffed lefs of the corn.

'^^"*f'L°^^ §• 33* I^srley has been fo rank in fome places in a" wet fpring that it has

rack barley, tieen thought fit to mow it, and in fuch cafe it may be better to mow it than

to feed it, becaufe the fcythe only takes off the rankell, but the Iheep feed

upon all indifferently.

Of letting ^^ o^^ -pj^ig yg^j. (1702) the weather being encouraging, I left out barley

infwar'th. ^^'^ or fix days in fwarth, which, though both blighted and edge-grown,

plimmed, and gained ver}' near as good a colour as the beft.
Penefitof §. ^S- The 30th of Auguft (anno 1708) I cut barley from day to day, and

larlevnUrths continued to do fo for a week ; from the 30th of Auguft, for three weeks to-
inwe'twea- gether, we had every day rain, more or lefs, but moft of the time rain fell
'^^'■- plentifully every day.— I ordered my barley in fwarth to be turned every other

day during thefe three weeks, to keep it from growing j and though the
fwarths during this time, that lay uppermoft to the air, were hardly dry for
any fix hours together, — and the undermoft barley of the fwarths, which lay
next the earth, was generally fogged every day, and dungifh till turned, as
abovefaid, yet I had none of my barley grew. — This was chiefly owing to the
late feafon of the year before our barley ripened, and the continued cold
rains, \vhich did not much forward the growing of the barley, as they would
have done, had the harveft been forwarder; for, had the rain been accom-
panied with hot fun and glooms between, it would in half the time have
made it grow. — I mention this, that in fuch cafe, when fuch a year may
happen again, I need not be frightened, as we ail were this year : in our hill-
country the winds alfo contributed much to fave us.
Oaftonafide- ^_ ^6. The firft year that I took one hundred and forty acres into my own
mowed earl-er Viands, I had the fide-lands fowed to oats. — It was agreed by every body, that
tiianon aflit. thofe oats ought to be mowed two or three days fooner than if they Tvefe^n a
plain, becaufe, fay they, if you let them be as ripe there as in a plain one {hould
do, the ftraws will be fo hard and dry that the fcythe will feim over them.~
The reafon of this is, becaufe in fuch ground a man has not fo good a ftand,
nor can put that ftrength to the fcythe, his fwing being weaker, as he might
do in a plain, and fo the ftraw yields and bends. — Two acres of oats mowed
per day in fuch land is accounted as good a day's work as three acres in
plain land.
Peas hurt by ^, ^7. My labourers came from mowing vetches to mow peas, not having
mowing. their hacker's with them, and they were loth to go home for them for a piece
of a day: I foon came to them, and found that the fcythe made great wafte,
and cut off abundance of the kids in the middle, — and they themfelves could
not but be a{l:iamed of their work. I mention this, becaufe I am told it is
the cuftom in fome parts of England to mow peas.

§.38. I

RE A PI N G and MO W I N G. i8

J

§. 38. I am told, that between Cain and Chippenham the land is almoft Pea;> pijckid
as light as aflies, and of about fix fliillings per acre, and that there they nei-"^^j" ''^^^
ther mow nor hack their peas, but pluck them up. — Qusere, whether this
was not, for the mofl: part, the condition of the eaftern-country-land, and
whether there wool will not pull off better than with us.

§. 39. The blue pea, or green pea, which is for boiling, is to be cut green, The blue or
when the peas are thoroughly full-kidded, before the upper fide of the kidsS''^!^" PJ^^'°'"
toward the fun be turned, as they will turn white ; for then that whitifli b^ cut early,
half will not boil well, nor the peas fell in the market for boiling.^ An old
experienced f;irmer told me this, whereupon I went and gathered fome of
my own peas, which I thought not ripe enough to cut by ten days, accord-
ing as the partridge-peas are cut, and when 1 fhewed the kids, he faid, by
all means, it was fit they fliould be cut. — I wondered at it, and afked if they
would not turn black ; he faid, no, they w^ould keep their green colour,
though wet weather fhould come upon the halm, and turn it as black as a
hat. — Bnt they ought not to be threflied any time before they are boiled, or
fowed J for in four or five weeks they will finnow.

§. 40. Mr, Jackfon of Tackham affured me, that he fowed partridge-peas, P'^tridge-
which by having been cut green were turned as black as a hat, and yet he green,' turn
had as good a crop as he ever had : this crop I myfelf faw, and they were black,
very good peas.

§.41. The different opinions of my two ox-hinds divided me much about if vetches do
the feafon of cutting my winter-vetches, — The one was for having me cut ""^^ '^jJ^^^J^'^g
them when near full-kidded, and feemed moft to regard the kids, — The fooner cut.
other regarded the halm more than the kids, and faid, the horfes were as
fond of the halm, if taken in feafon, as of the kids, therefore the halm
ought not to be fufFered, if one can help it, to rot on the ground. —Farmers
Elton and Oliver agreed, that if the vetches fell out of the kids into the
manger, the horfes would not eat them, and faid, if vetches in the grain
were fet before horfes, they would not care for them ; fo faid Mr. Edwards's
fervant; — but Elton added, there was moderation on both fides to be regard-
ed, and extreams to be avoided, but, if the vetches did not l;id well, he
thought the befl: way was, efpecially if the feafon was like to be dry, to cut
them the fconer, for fo they would make the better fodder,

§.42. My winter-vetches were very well kidded, and almoft fit to be Vetches
cut, and houfed for winter-fodder. — Several farmers were of opinion, they f''""''' '^^ ""'

, n 1 heroic given

were then m very good order for horfes j but if, whim I gave them green to hories.
to my horfes, they were cut and laid on the ground two or three days to
wither a little, they affured me they would be more hearty ; for it would
take fomewhat from their grofsnefs,

§. 43. When you cut winter-vetches for winter-fodder, in the timing itjimeof cu^
you ought to confider, that, when they are cut green, they require a long t'ng vetches.
time to dry in, during which, efpecially if the weatlicr be wet, the vetches
will continue grov-'ing, and the kids, tho' lean when you cut them, and but
two rinds, yet will fill out, and almoft perfecfl tlaeir feed in the fortnight's

B b "time

i86 R E A P I N G and M O W I N G.

time that they mufl, for the mofl: part, lie abroad ; therefore of whatever fize
you would have the berry of, you mufl: cut the vetches at leafl: a week be-
fore they conie to that growth. — You ought always to cut them fo early
that there may be no danger of their kids fplitting, and (bedding in the fod-
dering with them, which they will do, in cafe you fuffer them to be near
ripe ; befides, the riper you fuffer the feed to be the coarfer will the ftraw
or halm be at the bottom, efpecially if the vetches through a wet fummer
are grown grofs.
Vetclies ftiort ^_ ^^, If vetclies are {liort, as being blighted, or otherwife, and dead-ripe,
cannorbe"'"^ it wlU be difficult to hack them, but impoffible to mow them, becaufe their
mowed. halm, which will be hard and dry, having no weight to bear againfl: the

fcythe, will yield, and the fcythe wiU flip over them.
Grafs ir.ow5 ^^ ^-_ When I was mowing my meadows at Eafton (anno 1701), about
nine in the morning, one of my mowers began to complain, that about this
hour, when the dew went off the grafs, was the worft time of all the day
for mowing grafs ; and fo it is, faid he, for corn too. — How, faid I, worfe
than at noon, and after ? he faid, yes. — Then I went to the other mowers,
who were mowing in another part of the meads, and aflced them at what
time of the day the grafs mowed beft ; they all faid at noon. Why, faid I,
your fellow fays — , Sec. (as above) and therefore before the dew is gone off,
I thought had been the befl: time. — They faid, no ; a hard fcythe will cut
the grafs befl: at noon,, but a foft fcythe while the dew is on the grafs.—
Why then, faid I, do they fay (if noon, which is in the heat of the day,
be befl:) that the grafs cuts befl: after rain ? for in this dry time we have at
prefent, I hear you complain of the ill mowing of the grafs. — They faid, that
is, becaufe the drought has lain fo long upon the ground as to make it hard,
fo that when the fcythe cuts clofe, it dances upon every little roughnefs,
whereas, was the ground a little moifl:ened with rain, the fcythe would cut
it, and every little excrefcence would be pared off; and then the fcythe
would not fcratch fo often, nor be fo often blunted. — I went to the firft,
and aflced him of the truth of what they faid, and he faid it was fo. — So
that it feems they were both in the right ; and though grafs mows befl: at
noon, yet it mows worll, when the dew is jufl: going off: the reafon they
could not give me, but I fuppofe, that on the firfl: going off" of the dew
the grafs is not fl:iff enough to fland fo fl:rong againfl: the fcythe, nor fo heavy,
nor weighty as when it was loaded with dew, which made it lie clofe 3 yet
at noon, when the grafs was become dry and fl:iff, it flood clofer than when

Better to mow , , . ° ■'

by rhe day the dcW WaS on it.

than the acre §. 46. In our hill-countrv, where grafs is fliort, I hold it beft to give
coant^r '^^^' °"^ fliiHing and fix-pence per day for mowing ; I rather choofe to do fo
ifgrafsbenot than to agree by the acre, that the work may be more carefully done,
fed dean ^_ ^^_ ^g onc of my labourers, an old experienced hind, was mowing,

tfe old rowft ^s every now and then complained of the old rowet, that hindered him, and
damages the deadened his fcythe. — It was fome time before I knew what he meant ; at
blums^'the length he pulled up fome fpiry tough capillary grafs, about three inches
icyttie. long,

RAKING. 187

long, which was the old winter-grafs : It feems I had not fed the grafs down
fo low as I fliould have done againft fpring, which did harm to the young
grafs that was to be cut ; for, if that had been fed better, the young grafs
would have come away thicker, and not have choaked up the fcythe. He
compared it to the young wool, which (when fheep have been pretty well
kept in winter, and then checked in the fpring) comes up under the firft
wool, and deadens the (hears, fo as to make it troublefome to cut with
them.

§.48, I was mowing broad-clover, where fome of it in gully-places was ^!'*^''"'°'
fhort, and I propofed to mifs thofe pieces, and not mow them, but the ^e cut.
mowers were againft it, and faid, the fhorteft, when mowed, would come
away much better for mowing, and fill towards the next crop. — Mr. Ed-
wards being prefent faid, that farmer Elton had once fome poor patches in
his mead, which, being fhort, he would not be at the charge of mowing,
but thofe patches were thinner for it afterwards in future crops.

RAKING.

§. I. I ^HOUGH mowing and raking of corn are the fame price per Two rakers to

J|_ acre, yet you muft have double the number of rakers that you °"^ ^^wer.
have of mowers, in order to make equal difpatch, becaufe the mowers have
not the lets and hindrances that the rakers have : the mowers can continue
mowing in moderate rain, as well as begin early in the morning, whereas
the rakers are flopped with every fhower, and commonly lofe two or three
hours in the morning in ftaying till the dew be off the ground.

§. 2. If the land be ftony, 'and the flraw of the barley fhort, it will do Rake the bar.
well to rake up the barley and cock it foon, left rain fhould come ; for rain {^/^^^^ ^°'^^
will fo beat the barley into the ground, that there will be no raking up half ftony land.
of it.

§. 3. Anno 170 1, my broad-clover came up with my barley fo high, that To employ
they were forced to cut the bailey under the ear : I thought the barley would tlhan women
rake much the better for the broad-clover, inafmuch as it would be kept up at raking bar-
:from finking into the ground. — But the mowers faid, no; that the broad- ^^y-
clover was fo long and thick, and the ftubble left fo high, that it would be
hard work to run the fork along under the fwarths, as alfo to draw the teeth
of the rake through the mattings of the grafs. — I believe therefore it
would be more for the farmer's intereft to employ men at this talk than
women.

One pcrfon is counted fufficient to rake oats after the cart ; unlefs Cinc to rake

St- afcer the
^.,, - - , V ' ^art— two t'

ItJll, two perfons are always reckoned nccefiTary. rske barley.

in a very high wind, but to rake after the barley-cart, be the Vv'ind never fo ^^t— two to

Bb 2 C A RR Y>

[ '88 ]

CARRYING of CORN.

When b.irley
h (hon, two
pitchers to one
loader.
Wet corn to
be put 1 ound
tiic f;des of
the barn.
Bljghted
■wheat to be
cirried as
foon as can be

To carry
oats in rimy
weather.

Carry light
loads near
heme, and
U'ger far-
iner off.

§• ^* "\X JI'^EN the barlev-ftraw runs very fhort, it is good hufbaiidry to
W have two pitchers to one loader in the field ) otherwife time will
be loft.

§. 2. If a load or two of corn comes in wet, in cafe your barns are boarded,
it will do well to fcatter it round about the fides of the barn.

§,3. If wheat be ftruck with the blight, the.ftraw in fuch cafe is hollow
and fpungy, and eafily drinks in wet ; therefore, if the corn be tolerably dry,
and in order, and the weather be anywife fufplcious, it is advif^ble to get it
into the barn as faft as poflable j for if fuch loofe ftraw fl;iould once foak in
wet, and fliowery weather (hould follow, it will be much longer before it can
be got dry, and fit to be carted, than other corn,

§. 4. A rimy day is better to carry home oats in than a hot day ; for in hot
dry weather the oat-ftraw will be fo fleek, that it will be troublefome loading
and tying it together, fo as not to Hide off from the cart, or not to fwag to the
fide the cart may lean on, and fo over-turn it. — Again, oats will be tougher,
and lefs apt to brit in carrying on a rimy day than on a hot burning day.

^. 5. Mr. Hillman, and another experienced farmer, faid, it was moft pro-
fitable at harvell to carry light loads near home, and bigger loads farther off,
not only becaufe, in cafe it be near home, the larger loads take up more time
in binding them, but alfo becaufe one man can pitch down at the barn fafter
than two men in the field can pitch up, efpecially after the load rifes to
a height.

T H Pv E S H I N G.

Threfhing-
floors of the
antients, and
in hot coun-
tries.

§. I. TT appears from Hammond, on Matt. iii. 12. — the Jews threfhing-
^ floors were on the mountains, and open fields, where the wind could
have free accefs, and fo it is, he fays, in fome parts of Spain. — By Varro it
appears the threfhing-fioors were generally uncovered, yet fome were other-
wife, but the uncovered threfliing-flcors were laid round that the water might
run ofif. Lib. i. c. ^^.

a In fome places they threfhed out their corn with flails on a floor, in others
they trod it out with mares, and in others beat it out with poles.
Ufed chaff or §. 2. It feems the antients had fome ufe for chaff, viz. in making of floors,
flraw in their fhoudi palca fignifies indeed ftraw as well as chaff. Cato, fo. i8.

flnnrc O r O K T

floors.

» Meflb ipfa alibi tribulis in area, alibi equarum greffibus exteritur, alibi perticis flagellatur.
Plin. lib. 18. c. 30.

THRESHING. 189

§. 3. '' In countries fubje<fl to rain they had their barns contiguous to tlieir
threfliing-floorSj and their floors aUb were covered, of which fee Varro, fo.
34. — Some, he fays, fortified the fides of their floors with ftone, others made
an entire ftone pavement ; he agrees with Cato, that rubbing the floors with
the lees of oil was neccflary to prevent the growth of weeds in them,
and a protedion again ft vermin, particularly ants and moles, to which oil
is poifon.

§.4. Mr. Tate was finding fault with the ftone and earthen floors of Earthen floors
Leicefl:erfhire, and faid the farmers were wedded to them, notwithftanding "".leic^fter-
one Sturt (as I think he named him) who hved at Wickham, and had been
the greatefi: commifiioner in England for buying up corn, had afTured him,
that thofe floors communicated fuch dampnefs to the wheat, that it was the
worfe, either for keeping or exporting, by fix-pence in the bufhel.

§. 5. In Italy, and other hot countries, they ufually threfh and winnow their Thrediingin
corn as foon as they have cut it down, or at leaft a great part of it, and this is countries.
done, before they bring it into the houfe, on a floor made in the open air. —
Being kept poor they have but very fmall farms ; — and I am apt to believe
that in Judea they did thus, becaufe their poflTeflions were cantoned into fo
fmall divifions. See Ray, fo. 402.

§. 6. Iron-clayted fhoes do not well to threfli wheat in, efpecially if it be ^['"^^ threfh-
new corn ; for fuch fnoes fquat and bruife it much : a threflier's (hoes fliould
by right be foled with an old hat.

§. 7. One of my fervants being threfliing peas, I afked him whether the Two threfters
floor was not too fmall for two men to threfli in together ; he faid, no, not to '^'-^"^^
threfli peas in, but it v.'as too fmall for two men to threfli barley, or other fo7barley
corn in, becaufe the flail makes the flraw of light corn fly away, and the than for peas,
threfhers mufl keep moving to follow it, and fo would be ftieightened for
room ; but a wad of peas, when laid down on the floor, not only lies heavy,
but harles together alfo, and lies for the moft part in the fame place it was at
firll laid down in, and fo the threfliers need not keep moving, but fland in
one flation, by which means they will not fcand in each other's way.

§. 8. A good threfher aflured me, that twelve bufhels of oats were counted Oftheqvian-
a good day's threfhing, but he had lately for feveral days together threflied '"^ °^*^°'""
fourteen bufliels, and winnowed them; but thofe oats yielded extraordinary ;„ a day.
well. He faid likewife, that twelve bufhels of barley was a good day's
threfhing, and in the country the common price was eight- pence per quarter;
but five or fix bufliels of wheat was a very good day's threfhing, and, in cafe

the

* Amurca perfundere folent areas, ea enim herbarum eft inimica, et fonnicarum, et talparum
venenum; quidam aream ut habeant folidam, muniunt lapide, aut etiam faciunt pavimcntiim: noii-
iiulli etiam tegunt areas ut in Bagiennis, quod ibi fepe id temporis anni oriuntur nimbi. Varro,
fo. 46.

Areas amurca confperGito, flc herbje non nafcentur. Cato, fol. 14.

Quatcnus ad aream; huic autem nubilarium applicari debet, maximeque in Italia, propter incon-
ftar.ti.im coeli, quo collata femitrita frumenta protegantur, fi fubitaneus imber incefierit : nam in
tranltnarinis quibufdam regionibus, ubi seftas pluvia caret, Aipervacuum eft. Columella, lij, i
fo. 93.

igd THRESHING.

the corn was clung, and yielded ill, fometimes three bulhels was as much as
could be thrcflied in a day.
It depends J havc for fonae time been uneafy about the fmall quantity of wheat my

com gSif ^ threfhers ufed to threfh in a day : my bed threflier feldom in any year
on. exceeded a fack in a day: I had this day (November 5th anno 1714) a ferious

argument with him about it, another good threftier being prefent. — The
firfl: perfifted, that it was well known to the threfliers of the country that they
could as eafily threfh fix bufhels of wheat in a day at Netherton-farm, it being
a warm gravelly bottom, as they could threfh four bufhels in a day at A(h-
monfworth, or Crux-Eafton ; for on inch cold lands the corn threfhed tough.
—The other faid, he had threflied at Netherton-farm for two or three years,
and that they commonly reckoned the fame difference in threfhing, as above-
faid, between the wheat of that farm and the wheat of the cold hill-land of
Faccomb, where the village (lands. — So that the difference between the cold
hill-lands, and the warm vale-lands, with regard to threfhing, I now look on
as a fettled point. — And note,— in fuch a cold hill-country as our's at Crux-
Eaflon is, men threfh harder to perform their day's-work than in the vale,
where the corn threfhes eafier, becaufe the flroke of the flail mufl in fuch
cold countries be forced down ftronger, to beat out the corn, than in the vales,
where a lighter ftroke does more work.

It is to be confidered, that Faccomb, and my neighbours wheat yields more
in a day's threfliing than in the clay-1. nds, becaufe their lands being lighter,
the flraw runs fliorter, and confequem^y more (heaves are laid on the floor,
and the more ears of corn muft therefo.--^ be laid there ; whereas on my clay-
land the flraw runs longer, and confc^uently the fewer flieaves and ears of
corn are laid on the floor to fill it.
Wheat to be ^_ ^ Q,-jg ^veek in particular our \-hea yielded very little ilour in grinding,
drj'weath"r. and had abundance of bran, of \/hich -he miiler alfo complained. — My
threHier afllired me, the reafou was, becaiiTe 1 had threflied that wheat whilll:
the weather was damp ; for, faid he, then the wheat will be cold, and will
not grind well, notwithllanding the weather be ever io dry afterwards; but if
threlhed dry,* and put it into facks, it will not afterwards grow heavy, and
yet if threflied in open weather, and then put into flicks, it will be mufly in
lefs than three weeks time.
Ofthrelhing §. jq. The beards of the barley will come oft much better in threfhing for
*>"ley. ^j^^ fwarth taking the dew.

Of thrediing §. I I . I had a mind to threfli out fome vetches in the field >they were ripe,

loTw'itir'"'" ^^^ ^ ^^^^^^ ^"^'^' '^'^ which, intending immediately to fow them, I afked the

Jaa.p. ^ farmer (fliewing him them) if they were not too foft to threfli ; he faid, all

the danger was that, if threfhed on a floor, the flail and the man's feet would

bruife and break them, but to threfli them on a hurdle, with a cloth, would

do well.

Ryeordover- §. 12. I was afking a good farmer in my neighbourhood, whether it was

JhTePned- ^^^ ^^ ^^"y r>'e-grafs, or clover-hay for feed, to the barn, or the reek, and

thrs"id.'" threfh it out afterwards, or to threfli it out in the field at hay-making ; the

o farmer

REEKS. 191

farmer faid, they did it both ways, but, faid he, I think the beft way is to
threfli it out in the field ; for, if the fun be hot, it will brit very much, and
there will be great lofs in carrying it home, efpecially if you go through nar-
row lanes, and then it will Hack and give in the mow, fo that it will threlh
but ordinarily, whei-eas, if threflied in the field about noon, when the hay is
dry, one man will thredi as much as three men can do the other way.

§. 13. 'As my bailiff was winnowing peas for feed, I obferved a- vafl Caution— to
quantity of charlock among them; he faid, it could not be helped; for J^'i^"^ " '
charlock was a feed that the fan would not feparate from any fort of corn,
but it might be done with the Ikreen, — So I ordered them to be ikreened
before they were fowed, and I advife the fame to be done with all forts
of corn defigned for feed.

§. 14. Farmer Biggs, and farmer Briftow were faying, that all forts of ^^^^^^^^^j^ .
corn yielded but few hulls this year (1702). (Note, it was a very dry fum- wet harvefc,
mcr and harveft). I aiked them, what might be the reafon of it ; they faid,
that wet harvcfts made the hulls come off the wheat-ears much more than
dry ones, and likewife the * oyls from the barley, but efpecially the fmall* beards.-
feathery hulls that are at the bottom of the barley-ears ; and in fuch years
the ftraw threlhes very brittle, and breaks into little pieces, which adds
much to the heap of hulls : it is alfo poflible the oyls may grow longer ia
wet fummers.

§. 15. Allow, if you can, an empty fpace of barn-room in harvefl-time, Ofa ftraw-
to receive the litter, and foddering-ftraw, that you threfh out before cattle °"*'
may come to fodder ; otherwifl fuch ftraw will be fpoiled by throwing it
into your back-fide.

REEKS.

§. I. "T AM upon experience an enemy to reeking corn abroad that you '^''"''"g '^""i-
J^^ have barn- room for, except it be wheat : if you propofe to thve(hf^"^.^l^^'^'
out your corn within the compafs of a year, the damage it may take by mice reekirg.
in fo fliort a fpace is inconfiderable, efpecially if by harveft-time you have
got the dominion over the mice by flore of cats, which a gentleman delight-
ing in hufbandry ought to value as much as many do their hounds : the
damage fuftained by mice will, I fay, be inconfiderable in comparifon of
the charge of reeking corn abroad. The computation of which lafl: will
run thus, viz. fuppofing it to be an oat, or a barley-reek of thirty-two load,
fuch a reek cannot well be fuppofed to be finilhed in lefs than two days ;
in loading and pitching to reek mud be employed, —

Seven

" Mr. Duhamel tells us, it is a cuflom in that part of France he writes of — to half-thrcfli the
flieaves without untying them, when there is a great deal of wjod among the wheat. By this
means, fays he, they get the ripeft and bcfi: grain, and few feeds of weeds ; for the weeds bein^
ftiorter than the wheat, are generally at the boitom of the flieaves. Pag. 188.

192

REEKS.

Seven men at harveft-wages

Two teams of horfes, two days ■■

Thatching — — — — —

Two load of ftraw — — — . - — — —

Stowing it in the barn afterwards feven men, a day
A team of horfes, a day — — —

1.

s, d.

I

8 0

0

14 0

0

3 0

0

^5 0

0

2 0

0

7 0

0

3 6

3

12 6

Ne2ligeiKe of
fervants in not
iecuring reeks
againft wet
weather.

Barley (liaw
not equal to
wheat for
thatching
reeks.

Of making a
wheat-reek.

Befides damages by birds devouring the fides, and in hard weather pulling
off the thatch, accidents by wet, charges and wafte in taking in, and hin-
drance from taking it in, it may be a month by hazy weather, or by not
being able to fpare people to do it, whereby many inconveniencies may be
fuftained, and the mice to be maintained are near the fame.

§. 2. It is a common folly of the bailiff or other fervants in hufbandry to
a(ft without apprehenfions of rain, when there is no appearance of it : if
reeks are making in hay-time, or harveft, tho' the mafter has provided ftraw
in abundance to fecure them, yet, becaufe the day's-bufinefs begins early in
a morning, the fervant is loth to beflow the time in carrying fo much ftraw
to the reeks as would fecure them in cafe of bad weather, and, becaufe the
bufinefs of carting holds out late in an evening, the fervants are loth to leave
a half-made reek fecure againft all weather by pitching up ftraw enough
upon it. — It is the mafter's bufinefs therefore to confider the temper of fer-
vants, and, if fuch works may be termed works of fupererogation, to gratify
with good ale rather than let them be undone.

§.3.1 laid abundance of barley-ftravv on the ridge of a long vetch-reek,
and brought it up fliarp ; I believe when the reek was cut the ftraw was
three foot tlfick, and yet the wet had run through this covering, and done
confiderable damage to the vetches : — the reafons of it were two 5 firft, bar-
ley-ftraw is more woollv and fpungy than wheat-ftraw, which is clofe and
hard ; fecondly, the reek hveated and heated pretty much, and it is ohferved
in fuch cafe the covering of ftraw is hollowed, and foftened, and tlie reek
thereby the apter to drink jn the wet.

§. 4. I made my wheat- raeks on ftafFolds, and, when I came to thatch
them, I made a queftion whether the perpendicular-fide to the weather
fhould not be thatched as well as the eaves ; — my thatcher faid, it was need-
lefs ; — I replied, that farmer Crapp had told me, though he had houfed
wheat in a reek-houfe, yet for want of having the fides boarded, the wind
had blown the rain againft the fides of the reek, fo that it had received great
damage. — The thatcher replied, he knew of that very well ; — for they had
not minded to lay the ear-ends of the ftieaves uppermoft and upon a rife,
all along as they made the reek, and to lay the ftraw-ends of the ftieaves

downwards ;

-REEKS. 193

downwards j which if they had done, it had been impoffible for the mrt
to have drove upwards to trie ears ; but on the contrary, in making the reek
they laid the ftraw-ends of the ftieaves higher than the ear-ends ; confe-
quently the rain that was blowed into the fl:raw-ends muft neceffarily run
downwards to the ears.

Harry Miles of Wiltfliire was faying, that people in our country have not
tlie way of making a reek well ; for, as they work it up, they fhould flill
keep the middle full, and then, when the reek finks, that will throw the
finking of the reck to the outfide, and fo make the outfide lie the clofer ;—
whereas, if the middle be left hollow, the reek will fall-in in the middle,,
and the outfide will be hollow.

It is proper in topping a wheat-reek to ufe a load or more of fmall fheaves,
according to the fize of the reek, becaufe a reek cannot be fo conveniently
drawn-in and narrowed at top with great long fl:ieaves as with flender fliort
ones ; therefore your hufbandman ought to take care to order fuch to be pro-
vided, and out of the fame ground from whence he makes his reek, in cafe
he means to lay only the corn of a particular ground in the fame reek.

Though a wheat-reek be well made, yet the bonds of the outer fheaves
will be apt to grow, if long unthatched.

§. 5. We were fetting up an oat-reek defigned to contain twenty load, Of making an
but by the foundation of faggcts I rather judged it fit to hold forty load 3 — oat and bar-
but the work-men faid, the cafe was different between oats and barley ; for
barley- flraw,. being rougher in it's oyls, would not flip and Aide as oat-flraw
would, it being lleek and flippery ; therefore barley might be over-laid the
foundation on all fides as much as you pleafed, but an oat-reek, which way
foever it inclined, would be apt to flip away and tumble down ; therefore an
oat-reek mufl not be widened beyond the foundation j efpecially if the corn
is carried in dry, as this was, and fo the more likely to flip.

§. 6. Farmer Wey of the Ifle of Wight, obferving fparrow-holes under the Of mice in a
eaves of a reek, faid, if the birds roofled in thofe holes o* nights, it was"^^^ "
a certain fign there were neither mice nor rats in the reek, for, if there were,
they would by their fqueaking and running about e.t night fo difquiet the
birds, that they v/ould not endure it : he had, he faid, heard many ancient
hufbandmen make that obfervation.

§. 7. I took-in a load of great partridge-peas out of a reek that was well Peas an^i
thatched, and had flood a year and an half: to my great furprize the peas j'^'^"'.'^^' ,

•' -Oil Qsrnp 111 rpf lis

were as foft as when the reek was made, but they were fweet and found ; in the hiii
I kept the reek for my horfes. — The reafon of their fofcnefs doubtlefs u'as"""'0'-
the damp winter-air, and Crux-Eafton mifls, which the flrong winds had
forced into the very middle of the reek : — I made the fame obfervation a
little before of a wheat-reek I kept over the year, and threfhed the latter
end of the fecond winter.

§. 8. A great matter depends on the well reeking of hay, for hay will of- Of a hay-
ten fwag and pitch in the reek after making, and mufl then be filled out ''^^'^"
with thatch to make it fhoot off the rain as well as the refl of the reek.

C c §.9, If

194 H E E K S.

o/areekTd ^' ^" ^^ ^ ^^^^ °^ ^^^' ^^ "°'' ^"^^^^ bfouglit in, it will be apt to heat, and
its heating.' '" ^^at cafe a long reek is beft, becaufe it may be made as long, and as
narrow as you pleafe, and therefore will not be lb apt to heat ; — but there is
the moft lois in fuch a reek, becaufe more of it, in proportion to what it
contains, lies e.xpofed to the weather ;— therefore, if hay be well dried, and
well brought in, a round reek is the moll: profitable ; neverthelefs, if it be
water-meadow-hay, let it feem never fo dry, I hold a long reek to be bell,
for fuch hay will, notwlthitanding it's drynefs, be apt to heat. — That in-
deed might be prevented by keeping the middle of the reek hollow from the
bottom to the top j — but, when that is done, all the fides of that hollow will
be finnowy, and a pretty deal of walle will be made that way too.
Of fecuring §. lo. Farmer Eiggs, as we were fpeaking of the diverfe ways of fecuring
hMtitg."* a reek of ill-got hay from heating, faid, after I had told him of other ways,
that they had of late years (before anno 1700) found by experience, that
to cut a fide-hole through the middle of the reek, of about four foot, or
four foot and an half diameter, arid to fecure it by under-propping it with
wood, was the bell way, and the fame method was to be ufed to prevent
corn from mow-burning, either in a barn, or in a reek.

I obferved at farmer Pain's at Gaufuks in the Ifle of Wight, in a hay-
reek cut into the middle fome faggot-ends appear ; I afked him the mean-
ing of it } he faid, it was an excellent way to pseferve and fecure a hay-reek
from heating, which was done in this manner; — within about a yard of the
bottom of the reek they fixt the firfl faggot end-wife, and then filled up the
hay round it, and then placed another, and fo on till within two or three
toot of the top, and then they covered it, fo that no wet could fall down to
hurt the reek, and let it fweat for three weeks, during which time it would
Imoke like a chimney, and after that you might take out the uppermofl fag-
got, and fill up the vacancy with hay, and then top-up the reek and thatch
it for the winter.
Not to thatch §. II. Lafl fummer (anno 170 1) I made a hay-reek, and a hard rain
^!e7rafn'^tiii ^^^^ "P°" ^^ before it was thatched ; but the mifhap was, I thatched too
-^tisquited.7. foon after the rain was over, that is, before the outer-coat was well dry: in
opening it for winter-fpending I found, that as deep as the wet and the damp
of it had ftruck-in, fo far die hay was finnowy, and dead, whereby I might
lofe a load of hay ; but in cafe I had not thatched it till the outfide had been
fully dry, the hay had recovered it's old fweetnefs, and fufFered no damage.
Of heating. §. 12. Being informed that a vetch-reek I had {et up had heated, I went
to obferve it, and, thrulling my hand into it, all along the fide againft which
the wind fet I felt no heat, nor in that end that took the wind oblique, but
at the farther end from the wind, efpecially towards the farther corner
of that end, it was confiderably hot within fix inches of the out-fide ; fo that
it is the wind that drives the heat to and fro in a reek, and caufes the pitch-
ing and yielding of it to that fide it drives the heat to, and that vetch-reek,
, the wind being changeable, did for a week after it was made accordingly
pitch from fide to fide.

G R A N A-

[ '95 ]
GRANARIES.

§. I. » OOME, fays Varro, have their granaries raifed high above the Of keepfng

1^ ground, and fome make them underground, but in either fort^^^*'-
they take care to keep out air and moifture, for if they get in, they will
breed the weevil. Wheat fo laid up has kept good for fifty years.

§.2. Brown quotes authorities, that in ^gypt wheat laid up in the
ears in granaries has lafted one hundred and twenty years, and fays,
more ftrange it may feem, how after feven years the grains conferved
fhould be fruitful for a new producftion; for Jofeph delivered feed to the
^Egyptians to fow their land for the eighth year ; and Theophraftus fays,
feed of a year old is the beft for fowing, that of two years old is not fo
good, but, when more than three years old, it is quite barren, but proper
Iiowever for bread-corn. — Yet feeing corn may be made to laft fo long, the
fru(fl:ifying power well may be conceived to laft in fome good propor-
tion, according to the reafon and place of it's confervation. Theophraftus.
fays in another place, — In a certain part of Cappadocia called Petraa wheat
has preferved it's frudtifying power even to forty years, and has been,
good for fowing °.

§■ 3- ^11

' Aliqui ponunt triticum in granaria fublimia, &c. — Aliqui fub terns, &c. — Et curant ne hu-
mor aut aer tangere poffit, quo enim fpiritus non pervenit, ibi non oritur curculio ; fic conditum
triticum manet vel annos quinquaginta, &C. Varro, fol. 47.

*■ Mr. Tu!l fays, the moft fecure way Vie knows of prefervins; wheat is by drj'ing it, and relates
a ftory of a neishbour of his in Oxfordfliire, who acquired a large fortune by this pradlice. His
method was to dry it on a hair-cloth, in a malt-kiln, with no other fuel than clean wheat-ftraw ;
never fufFering it to have any ftronger heat than that of the fun. The longtll time he ever let.
it remain in this heat was twelve hours, and the flioitefl: time about four hours ; the damper the
wheat was, and the longer intended to be kept, the more drying it required ; but how to diftin-
guifh the degree of dampnefs, and the number of hours proper for it's continuance on the kiln,
he faid, was an art impofllble to be learnt by any other means than by praiftice. His fpeculation,
that put him on this projecfl, was, that it was only the fuperfluous moifture of the grain that
caufed it's corruption, and made it liable to be eaten by the weevil. When dried, the bakers al-
lowed it worked better than new wheat, and every grain would grow after it had been kept feven
years.

As the method propofed by Mr. Duhamel for the prefervation of corn, by ventilation and kiln-
drying, not only appears reafonable and practicable, but has, according to him, been confirmed
by experiments, I have here eiven an extradl from his book, as a hint to the reader, referring
him, for farther fatisfaftion, to the original, where he will find draughts of the buildings and in-
firumcnts made ufe of for this purpofci

Mr, DUHAMEL on the Prefervation of Corn,

After having expatiated on the neceflity and ufe of preferving corn in granaries, efpecially in Conuceration
France, where they are frequently in danger of famine, he proceeds as follows. des grains

To preferve corn according to the common method requires immenfe granaries which mufl: be 1753.
very dry, and built \ery flrong, and, in thofe who have the care of them, great afliduity, fkill. Page 12.
wd probity are requifite ; and we may conclude that the want of fuch edifices, and ihe difficulty

C c a of

i<)6

GRANARIES.

Of a granary. §. '^. In dlfcourfe With fevcral notable farmers on country affairs, the^-
fcemed to agree, that a brick granary, ex'cept lined within-fide with boards,

would

of procuring proper perfons to have the care of them, is the reafon that magazines are not fo
mirch multiplied as could be wifned.

I hope, fays he, by the method I (hall propofe, to obviate all thofe inconveniencie?. By thefe
means a ]ar2;c quantity of corn will be preferved in a fmall compafs, without danger of heating
or fermentinlj ; it will be fecured from the depredations of animals and infecfts ; and you need not
fear even the incapacity or infidelit)' of thofe that are employed to take care of it ; and all this
without trouble and at a very fmall expence. But before I propofe my method, I (hall defcribe
the com.mon pradlice of the provinces about Paris. The inconvenicncies will be eafily perceived,
and you will be better enabled to judge of the great advantages arifmg from the method I pro-
pofe.
Page 14. When corn is laid up in a granary with intent to be kept a great while, the cuftom is to fpread

it onlv eishteen inches thick , 'tis ttue that, when it is old and very dry, the granary perfeftly
free from'moifture, and the joifts flrong enough to fupport the weight, they may lay it fomewhat
thicker ; but, as we muft fi.x on fome determinate height, I chofe this as the moft common in
larce granaries. That the corn may not lie againft the wall, they generally have a paffagc of
sbouttwo foot all round. By this means they prevent the corn from being loft by running down
the chinks that neceflarily happen at the edges of the floor ; they remove it from the holes made
by rats and mice ; they take care to prevent the dirt, which falls chiefly from fuch places, from
iTiixin<T with the corn ; they remove it from all moifture that may come from the fweating of the
walls, or from any defeft in the roof: laftly, the grain is more expofed to the air, and they con-
trive to leave a pallage for it's reception. This is a cuftom generally obferved, and probably has
been found iieceflary.
Pa<Te 15. The corn being thus removed from the walls, the fides of the heap make a declivity, which as

far as it reaches, contains but half as much as if the fides of the heap were perpendicular, and
this makes a lofs of near a foot all round the granary ; laftly, they leave a fpace, at one end,
fufficient for turning the corn; all this greatly reduces the contents of the granary, and, to make
it more clear, I ftTall give an example.

Suppofe a granar)' eighty foot long and twenty-one broad, which makes one thoufand fix hun-
dred and eighty foot Ifuperficies : you muft take off for the paffage and the flopeing of the corn,
at leaft three foot on each fide, which makes fix foot for the whole length, or four hundred and
eighty fquare feet, which being takqn from one thoufand fix hundred and eighty there remains
bu^t one thoufand two hundred, from which you muft take at leaft fift)' foot for the fpace necef-
far}' for turning the corn and the paffage at the other end : fo that you can reckon only on one
thoufand one hundred and fift}' foot fquare of room, which at eighteen inches deep will contain
one thoufand feven hundred and twenty-five cubic feet of corn, which will weigh about ninety-
two thoufand pound,
p^rre ,-, It appears from the foregoing example what immenfe buildings are neceflary for a large maga-

zine, and the vaft expence that muft attend the building and maintaining them. The buildings
at Lyons called les greniers dc I'abondance, of which we fhall fpeak hereafter, will furnifli a
further proof of it.

It follows then that it will be of great advantage to lay up a great quantity of corn in a fmallef
compafs, and we {hall make it appear in the following difcouife that it may very eafily be done.

Corn, tho' dry to appearance, contains a great deal of moifture. I have put new corn in glafs
bottles well flopped : the moifture that came out of it appeared on the infide of the bottle,
and the grain grew moldy. At certain intervals, in the year 1745, I weighed a quantity of wheat
cf the laft harveft, I expofed it for twelve hours to the heat of a ftove or kiln, which raifed Mr.
Reaumur's thermometer to fifty degrees : it loft an eighth of it's weight, and yet v.'as only dried ;
for being fowed it came up*
P.^ce 18. Ill 17+4- I Pi^t 'oTis wheat, and other grain, of the har\'eft of 1742, into a ftove heated fo as

to raife Reaumur's thermometer to 38° which is 8° higher than our hotteft fummers; both the
forts of corn, that were ufed for the experiment, in tv/enty-four hours were found to be diminifti-
ed -r,- ; they were put again into the ftove, which was heated to 51^, and in twenty-four hours
after "were diminiflied nearly ^^ 5 befides that which was weighed, there were fome fepatate par-
2 eels

GRANARIES. 197

'would damp and moldy the corn that lay next the fides, efpecially on the^
■weather-fide, which they called the fouth-weft fide 3— they gave inftances of

fome

eels both of new and old corn fet apart, to try what degree of heat it would bear without de-
llroying it's vegetation. I ("owed fome that had fuftered I2i°, fome 38, and fome 51 : and in all
thefe cafes, the new came up, but the old did not.

It is remarkable that, be it never fo hot during harveft, the fheafs that lie at top of the heap
ere harder to threfh than thofe that lie at bottom, which is the confcquencc of moiil: vapours that
rife from the corn.

If you put a large heap of corn in a granary, and do not ftir it for a confiderable time, or if Page 20.
you only till a barrel, after fome time, upon running your hand into it, you will find a fenfible
■heat in it and a fmall moifture ; fome time aftei- it acquires a vinous fmell, then turns four, and
at laft moldy ; in a word it ferments, and is no longer fit to make bread, and fcmeti.nes even the
fowls will not eat it.

It is to prevent fermentation that they lay it fo thin, as eighteen inches, in the granaries, and turn
it fo often.

If it has been a wet feafon, and much rain fallen during harveft, they are obliged to turn the corn
every three or four days ; but when corn is well conditioned, and the nrft year is pafled, it may be
Sufficient to turn it once a month ; fome turn but once a fortnight in the months of May, June, July,
and Auguft.

Thefe are the expences, and the care that attends it is not inconfiderable, efpecially in fummer,
-when the farmer has fo many calls and occupations in the field ; neverthelefs the proprietor muft
keep a ftrift eye upon his workmen ; for, befides the frauds they will commit, efpecially when corn
is dear, they frequently ftir only the top of the heap, fo that the bulk of the corn which you think
has been turned was never flirred at all.

Whoever can fave thefe expences and cares, will render the prefervation of grain much more Page 22.
eafy; and that is what we hope to fhew in the toHowing work.

t^-^heat is not only the nourifhment of men, but many other animals are particularly fond of it.
Nobody can be ignorant of the great wafte that is made in granaries by rats, mice, and birds : it
Teems poflible to defend it from thefe depredations by carefully flopping all pafTagcs, laying fnares,
poifon, &c. but all thefe precautions will not fuffice to prevent the pillage of thefe animals, who, be-
fides what they cat, wafte a great deal by means of the holes they make, through which the corn
runs down, and it is loft. If the farmer makes holes for cats to go in at, the birds will take the ad-
vantage of them, and the cats themfelves contribute to the wafte by their excrements, which form
heaps of infedted corn.

Our labour, therefore, will not be loft, if we can arrive at a method by which we may have no~
thing to fear from thefe animals, and that without the ufe of cats, fnares, poifon, Sec.

One of the greateft obftacles to the keeping of wheat, is the infefls that breed in it : the chief are
the weevil and moth. How often have the naturalift, the philofopher, the lovers of the publick
good, endeavoured to fearch out means of exterminating thefe infefts, which increafe fometimes to
fuch a number as to devour a great part of the grain ? AH the methods that have been propofed have
either proved inefFecEhial, or imprafticable; the only one ufed in our province is the palling all the
corn over a wire fkreen ; part of the weevils, and the corn they have damaged, falls through into s.
copper veffel, which they fet under the fcreen; but this tedious and expenfive operation, only di-
minifties the evil without curing it ; inftead of which we hope to proiiofe a method, by means of
which you will have nothing to fear from any fort of infefls, and that without charge or trouble.

The bufinefs is, in order to render the prefervation of corn eafy, firft, to keep a great quantitj'in Page 2J.
a fmall compafs ; fecondly, to prevent it's fermenting, heating, or contrafling any ill tafte ; thirdly,
to guard againft the rapine of rats, mice and birds, without expofmg it to the damage occafioned by
cats ; fourthly, to preferve it from mites, moths, weevils, or any other infed, and all this without
charge or trouble. Let us fee if all this may be brought about, and give an account of the eAperi-
ments we have made on the fubje<ft.

We caufed a cafe or little granary to be made, of oak plank two inches thick, forming a cube of
five foot ever)' way ; at fix inches from the bottom we made a flooring, or fecond bottom of lattice ■

work, placed upon joifts of five inches thick ; covering it with a llrong canvas ; and tliis little gra-
nary

19^ GRANARIES.

fome farmers who had fufFered by It ; — and a carpenter being there did attefi:
it, — They faid that mice would neither meddle with barley nor peas, if they

could

oarj- -vas filled quite full of good wheat ; it contained ninety-four cubic feet, weighing five thoufand'
and forty pounds.

Befort; we proceed any farther, it is proper to obferve, that fuch a granary of twelve foot cube will
contain one thoufaad feven hundred and twenty- eight cubic feet of corn, whereas the granary we in-
ilanced in the beginiiingof this work, which had one thoufand fix hundred and eight fquare feet of
fuperticies, could contain, in the common method, no more than one thoufand feven hundred and
tu enty-five cubic feet of corn.

Sags 27. This is an immenfe fiving both of room and expence, fince for about fixty pounds you may build

fuch a granary of brick or flone fifteen foot fquare and twelve foot deep, which will contain two
thoufand feven hundred cubic feet of corn ; whereas a granary, in the common form, to contain that
quantify', would coft eight or nine hundred pounds.

The little granary being filled quite full of corn, is to be covered with good oak planks, fodofely^
joined, that neither rats, mice, or even the fmallefl: infccS can get in, leaving only fome vent-holes,
with trap-doors» or covers fitted very exadly to them, of which we (hall fpeak hereafter.

Thus is our corn depofited in a fmall compafs, and perfectly fecured from rats, mice, birds, and
even infcds, provided there were none before in the granary, or among the corn ; but, if there ■
ihould, wefliall hereafter prefcribe a method of deftroying them.

Is^e 20.. It is notorious in this climate, tliatcorn laid up in great heaps will foon ferment and fpoil, to pre-

vent which it is ncceflary to force out the tainted air. and fupply it's place, from time to time, witlt-
frefli, in ihort to eftablifli a current of air, which fiiall pafs through the corn, and carry off the damp-
nefs. For this purpofe we propofed to make a falfe bottom of lattice work covered with coarfe can-
vas (but if it were for a large granary, wire in the manner of a fieve might be better) through which .
the air might pafs, and be forced out at the vent-holes at top.

P.ge 31. This purpofe is anfvvered by bellows, and the moft proper for the purpofe are thofe contrived by

doctor Hales (as defcribed in his book called a Defcription of Ventilators) bemg conftruded with-
out leather, or any other matter that is liable to be deftroyed by vermin.

Psgc J^' A large pair of thefe bellows being fo fixed as to receive the air from without, and convey it be-

tween the bottom and falfe bottom of the granary, when you would ventilate the corn, open the vent-
holes at top, and work the bellows, which will drive the air through the whole body of the corn
with fuch force as to make the duf} fly out of the vent-holes, and when confined to one faialJ opening
will blow up fome grains of corn a foot high.

Pare tJ. Every ftroke of the bellows conveys two foot cube of air into the granarj-, which, at the rate of

four hundred and twenty flrokes in five minutes, will fupply eighty thoufand fix hundred and forty,
cubic feet in a day, that is to fay in eight hours working.

The proportion of air in a heap of corn is found by calculation to be about ^, but fuppofing it
even a third part, it will be changed two thoufand frx hundred times in a day, with oae pair of bel-
lows ; but my granary has two pair.

?..ge %c. The corn I chofe for this experiment was of good quality: I ventilated it, not more than fix days

in a year, without the help of fire, which was fufficent to keep it fo well that the befl judges allow-
ed it to be as aood as could be.

When the bellows had not been worked for feveral months, the corn was allowed, by good judges,
to look and fmtll perfectly well, but they objeded that it did not handle well, that is, that it had
fome little dampnefs in it. The bellows were worked for half a day, and that objeiSlion was entire-
ly removed.

I?''£t 'V3> In hot countries corn may be preferved for a long time by being depofited in a vault or ciilern, fo

clofely flopped that the air can have no accefs ; but experience fhews, that this method will not fuc-
ceed in our climate, the fun not having power to exhale moiflure from the com fuiEcient to pre-
vent it's fermenting, when laid in a large heap ; and this is further proved by feveral experiments of
corn dried in a kiln, which, tho' it's weight was very confiderably diminifhed, did not lofe the ve-
getative quality, but grew very well.

liXit 51. It follows from thefe obrer\ations that it is necefTary to take away the fuperfluous moifture, and

reduce our corn to the fame degree of dr)'nefs as that of tlie hottell countries, in order to preferve it
in great bodies.

ExiTERlMEKT

GRANARIES. 199

could get any thing elle. — They faid, it had been commonly afferted that
mice would not touch wheat, where they could have oats ; that many there-
fore

Experiment on ninety-four cubic feet of wheat (not dried) which was preferved by ventilation Page 5J.

only, above fix years.

In the month of May, 1743, ninety-four foot of wheat was put in one of the little granaries be-
forementioned ; it was of the harveft 1742 and of an excellent quality, perfectly clean, and fo dry,
that it loft only -i- of it's weight by a fmall quantity of it for a trial being dried on a kiln with the
heat at fifty degrees of Reaumur's thermometer. This wheat was well cleaned from duft, and de-
pofited in the granary without being dried by hre.

The firft three months it was ventilated for eight hours once a fortnight, the reft of the year 1 743
and all 1744 it was ventilated once a month, all the year 1745 and part of 1746 but half a day once
a month, and after that but once in two or three months.

In the month of June 1750 the granary was emptied, and the wheat found to look and fmeR
very well, but felt a little rough in the hand, becaufe not having been moved for fix years, the little
hairs that are at the extremity of the grains, and the particles of the bran were roughed up ; but after
pafling twice through the wind-fcreen that objeilion was entirely removed, and it was found by the
bakers, paftry- cooks, &c. to be perfeclly good.

This was corn of eight years old, feven of which it was preferved in the granary v/ithout any fen-
fible diminution, and without any damage from rats or other animals ; it cannot be faid without ex-
pence, becaufe there was a man employed from time to time in the ventilating, but it is very eafy
to reduce that expence almoft to nothing, as will be fhewn hereafter.

Experiment on feventy-five foot of new wheat extreamly molft, grown, and that had already Page 6s.

cdntradled a bad fmell.

The harveft 1745 was very rainy, and all the corn grown in the ear; in the common granaries
it was always in a ftate of fermentation^ tho' laid but a foot deep, and turned every four or five days,

Seventy-nve foot of this grown corn, which fmelled very ill, and was fo moift as to wet the floor
of the granary where it lay a few days, was put, in this condition, and without being dried, into one
of our little granaries with fmall hopes offuccefs.

As the corn was very hot when put into the granary it was ventilated three or four times the firft
week, once in eight days during December and Januar)', and, as it had then loft great part of it's
bad fmell, from that time till June once a fortnight.

Then perceiving, by running one's hand into the top of the heap, that it heated, we concluded
it was going to be intirely corrupted, which determined us to empty the granary ; but, when we
had taken out about a foot of the top, we were greatly furprized to find the reft frefli, having very
little bad fmell, and drier than that preferved in the common granaries. So that we regretted
having emptied it.

The reafon why the top was the worft was, the moift vapours being always forced upwards in
ventilation ; and we apprehend, if inftead of emptying the granary it had been ventilated oftener,
the moifture that was at top might have been dried away.

This experiment teaches us one thing of importance, which is,' that in this fort of granary the
top of the heap is moft fubjeft to heat, fo that if the grain taken out of the vent-holes is in good con-
dition, you may conclude the reft to be ftill better.

Experiment on five hundred and fifty-five foot of wheat of the year 1750 (which was very damp Page 6f .
and difficult to preferve) put into one of our granaries without being dried on a kiln.

It muft be allowed that in this method it is very material to clean the corn well before it is put in
the granary, becaufe it is impoffible to do any thing more to it till it is taken out for fale, but above
all you muft be careful to clear itfromfmut or blighted giains ; for we find, by experience, that they
will communicate a bad fmell to the whole.

This five hundred and fifty-five feet of wheat was fo well cleaned, that, tho' at firft it had i part
of fmut or blighted grains, there remained fcarce any appearance of either when it was put into the

granary.

200 GRANARIES.

fore would by oats in one half of one fide of their barn, and wheat in the
ether half of tlie fame fide, but they themfelves never found but that the mice
would eat heartily of both.

THATCHING.

granary, only a li^hj duft that it was impo/Tible to e^et rid of, on account of the moifture of the grain,
which made it adhere too faft to be removed by fcreening.

This wheat fo well cleaned was put in one of our granaries, which had the bellows moved by a
wind-mill.

There was no want of wind during the years 175 1 and 1752, and, as it required neither expence
nor trouble. It was often ventilated, which preferved it very well, and not only dried it, but alfo
cleaned It, in a great meafure, of the bad fmell It had when it was put in.

When it was taken out it was very full of a fine duft, which feparated from the grain in propor-
tion as it dried, but, after having paft the wind-fcreen, it was found to be very good, and was
bought by the bakers at the top price of the market.
Page 72. By this experiment it appears, that very moiftcorn, which has a great difpofition to ferment, may

be preferved in thefe granaries by ventilation only ; but he thinks it not fafe to trufl to this fole pre-
caution ; becaufe, If a calm fhould happen about the month of June, fo as to rob us of the ufe of our
ventilating-mill, at a time when all nature is difpofed for fermentation, the whole might be fpoiled,.

To prevent which, he propofes two methods.

Page 72. The F I R S T M E T H O D

Is to keep corn near a twelvemonth in a common granary, during which time you will have op-
portunity to ufe all means of cleaning it, by which operations it will lofe fo much of it's molflure, as
to be perfedlly fit for the granary of prefervatlon.

This method will anfwer for fuch as defire to prefen-e the produce of their own lands only, and
are already provided with a common granary : but thofe that would buy up a large quantity of corn,
when the price is very low, for the chance of felling at a better market, mufl follow the

Page 75. SECOND METHOD.

You mufl have a common granary fufficient for cleaning the corn before you put it in the granary
of prefervatlon ; but as foon as it is well cleaned you mult dry it in a kiln (which is hereafter de-
fcribed) for by this operation, which is neither troubjefome nor expenfive, you will in a ver)- little
time dry It, more than if it had lain in a common granar)' for a year. After which operation you
may put it in the granary of prefervatlon without any fear, having only once paflcd it through the
wind-fcreeji to cool it, and clean it from duflj as will appear by the following experiments.

Page 76. Experiment on ninety foot cube of fine wheat, which was preferved without ventilation, after

having been dried in a kiln.

This wheat, tho' very full of fmut and duft, was fo well cleaned as to have no fault remaining
but dampnefs ; it was dried in a kiln, by which it loft a little difagreeable fmell which it had be-
fore ; when it was thought to be fufficiently dried, it was depofited in one of our granaries of
prefervatlon, which had bellows adapted to It, but there was no occafion to make ufe of them.

It appears by the foregoing experiment, that wheat well cleaned and dried need not be ventilated.

Page 78. Experiment on fevent}'-five foot cube of fmall wheat, mLxed with fmut, which had been dried

in a kiln.

Our different fcreens cleaned the large wheat perfectly, but with all our care we could not free
this fmall wheat from fmut, duft, &c. of which much remained, and the kiln did not clear it
from the bad fmell it had contrafled.

Frequent ventilation would undoubtedly have taken away that bad fmell, but this experiment
being to try the effefl of the kiln only, we determined not to ventilate, unlefe there was great

danger

[ 2CI ]

THATCHING.

§, I. T Was telling a Dorfetfliire farmer how ufeful it was to have wheat- Of reeking

J[ ftraw faved againft an unforefeen occafion, and for which it was
often wanted. — He allowed, it was very good huibandry, and added that he
commonly ufed to reek his wheat-ftraw, which would take no damage for a
year or two ; and, if there was no occafion for it, it would make litter and
dung at laft ; therefore, as wheat-ftraw in fome years proves very (hort, or
blighted, in neither of which cafes it will be fit for thatching, fo it is pru-
dent to fave and reek what one can fpare, when it proves long and good.

§. 2. It is of great ufe to have a good referve of barley-ftraw, or wheat- Oat-ftraw of
flraw, to fling fome loads of either on the peas, and barley-reeks, to fecure "
them when they are obliged to lie a long time unthatched ; as for oat-ftrav/, it
is of no great ufe, unlefs to cover an oat-reek, or peas for fatting hogs, or
corn for fowls.

§. 3. When ftraw is heaped up together in order to be helmed, it is fit at p^'ielmii-.g^
the time of wetting ftraw for helming that there fliould be two perfons to keep ""^ "^ ^ '"2-

the

danger of it's corrupting, which did not happen ; but yet the bad fmell increafed fo much that
we were obliged to kiln-dry it again after it was taken out of the granary, and to fcreen it feveral
times, by which means it made tolerable good bread.

This experiment fhews, firft, how neceflary it is to clean the corn well before you put it in the
granary of prefervation, and that, in fome cafes, both ventilation and kiln-drying are necefFary ;
fecondly, that corn, which has contracted a bad fmell, may be cleared of it by the kiln and wind-
fcreen.

Having found by the foregoing experiments that good corn, well cleaned, and properly kiln- Pat-e 80,
dried, may be prefer\'ed without ventilation, and that good corn tolerably dry may be preferved
by ventilation only, we conclude it muft be moft advantageous to join both methods, efpecially
for large magazines.

Experiment on eight hundred twenty-five foot cube offine wheat lightly kiln-dried and ventilated. Page 80.

This wheat was of the year 1750, and confequently but of a middling quality ; after being
well cleaned, and lightly kiln-dried, it was put in the granary of prefervation about feven foot
deep, which granary had bellows worked by a wind-mill.

This corn had a bad fmell, which was not enTirely diflipated by the kiln, but was entirely
cleared of it by ventilation ; it was not only well preferved, but fo meliorated, and became of to
good a quality, that the bakers preferred it to all other, and bought it two-pence per fack dearer
than the fame wheat preferved in the common method.

It is certainly moft advantageous to unite both methods, not only becaufe it is the moft Page 8 J.
effectual in preferving the corn, but it is alfo the leaft trouble and expence : for to kiln-dry it
fufficiently to keep without ventilation requires a large fire and long attendance, and to preferve
it without kiln-drying will require very frequent ventilation, whereas by joining the two metliods
you render both very eafy, lefs expenfive, and the fuccefs more certain.

In all thefe experiments we have never fuffered any thing by moth, or weevil, tho' the com-
mon granaries were greatly infefted witli them at the fame time ; this is a good prognoftic, but
wc muft not conclude from hence that this method will abfolutely prevent the mifchief: it may
be fuppofed, that the care we had taken, in thefe experiments, to clean the corn, had entirely
freed it from them, and m.-;v be objected that this great care cannot be taken in lars'c provifions,

D d " and

202

THATCHING.

of binding on
the thatch.

Of helming
long before
thatching.

Of wetting
the helm to
top reeks.

the heap clofe together by beating it, whilfl one flings water on it; otherwife,
if the ftraw lies hollow, the water will run fo faft through it that it will not
take wet.

§.4. It is found by experience, that in thatching barns. Sec. it is more pro-
fitable to bind on the thatch with pitched fliip-cordage untwifted (which is
fold at market-towns) than to bind it on with withs, not only becaufe the
cords bind fafter, which is much to be regarded in places expofed to the wind,
but becaufe they alfo endure longer: this method likewife faves the time of
twifting the withs, as well as prevents the damage done to the young cop-
pices in cutting them, and often unfeafonably too : if you pleafe, the fame
perfon who thatches may alfo bind on the cords, which faves one labourer's
hire, but it is thought to be better that a labourer fliould be within-fide to
bind, becaufe he can do it ftronger, which is of great confequence.

§. 5. I told Mr. Hillman near Andover that the mice got into my wheat-
ftaffold, tho' it was impoflible for them to come up by the ftaffold. — He
alked me whether I did not make up the helm fome time before I thatched
with it, for, if I did, the mice might very likely be carried into the reek.

§. 6. It is very good hufbandry to top hay or corn-reeks with well wetted
helms, that they may be well fparred down, and the fparrs will then flick

well

and that, fhould any get into the heap, they would be more dangerous, inafmuch as they would
not be difturbed for fo long a time ; tliefe refleclions determined us to make the following experi-
ment.

Of the MOTH or WORM.

Page 84. "^^^ moth lays it's eggs on the corn, the eggs produce a worm or caterpillar, which feeds on

the corn, and fpins a fillcy web all over the furface, fo as to make a cruft fometimes of three or
four inches thick, which is entirely fpoiled, befide the bad fmell it communicates to the whole.

Page 87, In winter 1746 we collefted all the wormy cruft (from our ordinary granaries) which was very

thick, the moths having been very numerous the preceding fummer : thefe crufts were broke,
and fcreened, and what grain could be got from it (which undoubtedly was impregnated with the
eggs of the moth) was put in one of our granaries which contained feventy-five foot cube, and
ventilated from time to time all winter.

About the end of May if you opened the vent-holes at top, a vaft number of moths flew out,
which fhewed they did not like their fituation.

In the month of June 1747, the granary was emptied ; the moths and worms were all perifh-
ed, and there was found only a thin cruft on the top, of about i of a inch thick, and the corn
had loft part of the bad fmell it had when put into the granary, infomuch that it fold for the cur-
rent market price.

Of the ^V E E V I L.

Paee So '^^^ weevil is of the beetle kind, it devours a great quantity of corn, old as well as new, but

does not communicate any bad fmell to it, as the moth does ; it will endure the heat neceflary
for kiln-drvine, and is numbed but not deftroyed by intenfe cold : they are generally found col-
le<Sed in heaps, which feel very warm, which warmth probably is neceflary for hatching their
eg2s, and if fo, they will not be in a condition to propagate their fpecies in our granaries. No
fmoke will deftroy them but that of fulphur, and that sives a bad fmell to the corn.

Pace Q- ^" ^^^ month of May 1751, we put fome v/eevils into our granaries, and when it was emptied

in Auguft 1752, we found none.

M A L T and M A L T I N G. 203

well in them; whereas, if you top with dry ftraw, the top will be liable to
be blown off, becaufe it lies loofe and hollow, nor will the fparrs ftick fad in
dry ftraw.

§. 7. I was thatching my cart-houfe with oat-ftraw ; it was March the Of thatcliirg
14th (anno 1703) — my oats not having lain long enough in fwarth did not ^^j.'^^_°^ "
threfh clean : the thatcher told me, he feared abundance of them would
grow in the thatch, and would damage it by rotting after they had grown,
and ftop the rain from running off, efpecially if a wet feafon, which would
make the oats grow, fliould enfue, but, if it fhould prove a dry fpring, they
might be malted; faid he, had this flraw been laid on in winter, the cold would
have killed the oats in chitting, and fo the damage had been prevented.

MALT and MALTING.

§, I. I? A R M E R Sartain and others fkilled in malting do allow, that bar- Barley as foon
_gP ley, as foon as it is houfed will work very well, and make very ^' 'j°'^'^'l ^"'^^
good malt, provided it took no wet in the field, after it was cut, but if it did,
they fay, it will not work well.

§. 2. Mr. Slocock of Newbury, a maltfter of long experience, informs me Barley very
(it having been a dry feafon for a good while) that the forward barley, v/hich <^n' ^'.'en
was already cut, and carried into the barn, was dried up with the drought, and not^mlu well.
would not therefore make fo good malt as that which fliould be houfed after
rain : it is true, faid he, fuch dry barley will raife an increafe and fmell well,
and will put forth a beard, i. e. a root, but it will not put forth a fpear to run
half the length of the barley-corn, and fo cannot make good malt, becaufe
the hardnefs of the rind binds up the fpear from fliooting. — So, it feems, a rain
on dry fhrunk-barley not only thins the rind, but loofens it alfo from the
flour, that the fpear may the better fl:ioot up between. Mixt barley, that is,
fuch, of which feme was brought in drier than the other, will never make
good malt ; it will not come all together ; it is the fame with old and new
corn.

§. 3. Barley, when firft cut, before it has fweated in the mow, will come when fweat-
as well as afterwards, but whilft it is in it's fweating it will not come at all. Jng in the

§. 4. Difcourfing with Sampfon Crefs of Holt in Wiltfliire, an obferving 1^^°'^,'^',^^''^
maltfter, about the art of making malt, I told him among other things, that I of the malt-
found the lighter the kiln was loaded in drying off a kiln of malt the fweeter ^'^" ^"'^ °^
the malt would be ; for fhould the kiln be loaded fome fix inches deep, th^ ^vater.
neither the flame nor the fmoke would pafs off well, but the malt would be
fuffocated with fmoke. — He replied, that he believed, if my kiln was choaked
with fuch a thicknefs, it could not have a good draught, but muft be a faulty
kiln ; for, faid he, a good kiln ought to have fuch a draught as to roar like
wires on a river, or like a furnace under a brewing copper.— Again,— i told
him the opinion of feveral judicious maltfters about changing the water in the

D d 2 cifiern

204 M A L T and M A L T I N G.

ciftern while the barley is v/etting, efpecially if it be coarfe or cold, becaufe a
flimy water would run from it. — He agreed, that in the fore-end of the year,
before the barley had taken it's due fvveating, be the barley never fo good, it
muft be very proper, becaufe the water fuch barley is fleeped in will be foul,
and the giving it a fecond wetting or running of water muft needs cleanfe it,
and tend to the making fweet malt. — In the fame manner, faid he, it is like-
wife proper to do by barley wetted at the latter end of the year, towards
fpring, becaufe, when the weather grows warm, water foaking barley forty-
eight hours will grow four, and begin to corrupt. — The next day I talked
with William Sartain of Broughton, and Mr. Whatly of Bradford, Wilts,
who are both of them maltfters ; they admitted it to be advantageous for the
corn in the ciftern to change the water at any time, except in the middle of
winter, when the weather was too cold. — As to the quick draught of the
kiln, and it's roaring (as above hinted) that, they faid, in many malt-houfes
depended on the corner the wind fat in, and on the opening of doors or win-
dows ; that though fuch fierce fires were beft for high-dried malt, yet a gen-
tler fire was beft for the pale-dried malt.
Of drying the ^_ ^^ ^hc two maltfters mentioned in the laft obfervation agreed, that you
floor °'^ '^^ cannot keep barley too backward on the floor, nor give it too much time, in
cafe it neither harles at root nor fpear, and that, receiving it's drying on the
floor, it would require the lefs fire and wood.
Hill-country §, 6. The liiU-country barley has a much finer coat, and confequently more
^h''^^ ^ h'^'^' ^°^'' ^^^" ^^^^ barley of the vale: the hill-country barley will be watered or
vale for malt, wetted in four tides, whereas the vale barley requires five, and the hill barley,
when it is watered, will in it's coat look as clear as the horn of a lanthorn.—-
Note, every day is a tide, and every night is a tide.
Of changing §• 7- On obferving that the ftraw-dried malt I made at Crux-Eafton
the water, and wanted the fine elegant flavour that was common to fuch malt made at Holt,
of the choice ^^^ — j ^jic^ourfed Sampfon Crefs about it,— and he fufpefted two errors in
my method of wetting ; firft, that the water I both wetted my barley and
brewed my malt with was not agreeable, for, if that was wanting in either
cafe, though I might brew very found drink, yet it would want that fine
flavour I complained to be deficient : though, faid he, I have a well, yet I
fetch my water both for wetting my barley, and brewing my malt from
Staverton -river; for pond, or well-water, that is either foul or unplealant
tafted, will want the fpirit when made drink of, and he wiflied me to ufe
chalky water out of my well for both ufes, for that is the water, faid he,
I would ufe if I had it. — Secondly, it is poflible you do not change your
water often enough at wetting ; for it is common for the firft water to come
away flimy, like ox-drivel, as you may find by taking up fome of the bar-
ley out of the ciftern, and the water will taint and grow four, if not changed
during the five tides ; which will give an odd tafte to the malt, or at leaft
rob it of it's flavour ; you (hould at leaft change the water once, efpecially
in the two warm feafons of making malt, viz. in the fpring, and at autumn,
for then the weather is warmer than in winter, and v/ill fooner taint ; but

if

MALT and MALTING. 205

if you fliould change the water three times in warm weather, you will find
it the better, and you will do well to have a hogfhead of water ready to run
into the ciftern as foon as the former water is let out, becaufe the barley by
lying clofe may be apt to heat. — He faid, he finds with him a hogfhead of
water will wet a quarter of malt.

In the fpring, and at autumn, when the weather is warm, he thinks four
tides enough, becaufe the water being then warmer than in winter, four
tides will penetrate more than five tides in winter.

He faid, in cafe barley would not work well, becaufe it was coarfe and
cold, he gave it fix tides, and changed the water after the third tide ; other-
wife it would be llimy before it could be flung on the floor, nor would it
without fo many tides take water enough to come * fuant ; — therefore, it is •kindly.weiU
a great error in my maltfter in fuch cafe to give barley only four tides, as I
have found he does.

§. 8. I propofed to my maltfter, to wet but three quarters of barley at aOfthequan-
time, that it might have longer time on the floor, left, by wetting more, [eJin°propori
which would require more room, one heap fhould prefs too faft on the tion to your
other ; — but he was againft it, and faid, it was "beft to wet as much as the ^°°^-
floor would carry, which was four quarters at a wetting ; for, faid he, the
more outfides you make the worfe the barley will work ; [as it ftands to rea-
fon it ihould] for the outfides which lie to the air, never work fo well as the
infide, and die more heaps you divide your quantity of barley into the more
outfides you make.

§. 9. I afked William Sartain, whether he approved of the cuftom ^^^°^^°^l^
flinging up the malt from the floor into an heap before the kiln, and letting "^^^ j^ ^^y'
it heat before they dry it; he faid, by no means; but, faid he, it is an old heat before
way, and they did it becaufe it's -being heated by fo doing would forward it '^O'l^S-
in the drying, and fave fuel, but it makes it high coloured. Whatly fays,
it will both give it a higher colour, and make it bite freer, i. e. fhorter, but
he does not, he fays, ufe it. Sampfon Crefs fays the fame, but condemns the
pradlice. It was an old way among maltfters, but they have found it to be
wrong. Whatly fays, — feme ufed to let it take heat till one might almoft
roaft an egg in it, but furely, fays he, that muft make the drink apt to turn
four.

§. 10. In the fpring, and at autumn, the barley will be apt to come rug- Of turning the
ged, i. e. put forth a fingle root at a time, inftead of pufliing forth all it's J^ring and ^
roots, in a manner at once: this is a fault; — in fuch cafe the forwardeft autumn,
root will be apt to draw all the fubftance of the flour away, and rob the
reft, and prevent them from (hooting forth, and fo you can never have good
malt.— To prevent this inconveniency, you muft turn the heap often, and
give it air, and fpread it thinner, in order to keep it cool ; which will check
the tap-root from running out fo haftily, and give the other roots time to
come on ; without which you cannot make good malt,

§. II. If you are dcfirous of having your drink in the greateft perfection, Rules forma-
I would recommend it to you to have regard to the following obfervations ; — ,"„ oJac "for

r irlt, brewing.

2o6 M A L T and M A L T I N G.

Flrft, to take great care that your malt be well fcreened, that being never
thoroughly done by the maltfter ; and therefore ought to be done over again by
you ; for if you keep it, not being exceeding clean from duft, and all man-
ner of foulnefs, it will in a little time decay and corrupt, and will give an
ill tafl:e to your drink, nor will that fine well, but be muddy. — Secondly, to
let your malt fettle five or fix days in the fack after you have ground it; for
it will then much better fall to flour, and grow dry, whereas otherwife it
will be clammy, and the water will not dilute it\— Thirdly, the older your
malt (but exceeding twelve months at leaf!) the better ; the time therefore
for buying of malt is before any new barley can be threfhed out ; for after
new barley comes to market the maltfler will be mixing the new malt with
the old, but old malt will go much farther than new. — Fourthly and laftly,
let your malt be well dried ; for flack-dried malt will not keep ; for keeping
ii ought to be well dried,
ciofe preiTing §. 12. Ocftober the 4th (anno 1712) Mr. Hillman, maltfler, ofAndover
' "^-"j^'?- vifitins; me, we difcouried about making malt: Mr. Hillman fald, the ait

prejudice to o ' ^ o ....

it. of parliament that laid the duty on malt was a general prejudice to it's being

well made ; for before the adt the maltflers ufed to fling the barley out of the
ciftern or ftone into the floor, and then caft it forward again, that the four
water might run off, and then fling it back into an heap, or a couch of only
ten or twelve inches thick, that it might lie eafy ; — but now the maltflers,
out of lucre of having the couch meafure the lefs, thereby to lefl'en the duty,
fling the corn out of the ciflern as wet as poflibly they can, that the weight
of it may prefs it the clofer together, and to that end they lay it in a heap
or a couch of twenty-four inches high, without flinging it off for the water
to drain away, whereby the undermofl: corn is prefixed fo dry that it is killed,

• molds. and never works into malt, but * finnows ; and by this means the four
water not running off gives the malt a four and churlifli tafle, which never
wears off. — The damage the undermofl: barley receives (as above defcribed)
from the clofe prefl'iire of it puts me in mind of the common expreflion of
the country-man, who fays, that when barley is firft fowed it ought to lie
eafy, the reafon of which he knows not, but obfervation and experience
confirms him in it. — From hence, it may not be improper to borrow a hint
how to account for the reafon of it : — it feems to me, as fome creatures, for
example amongft firties the eel, or the miller's-thumb will live with lefs air
than other fifbes, fo alfo it is with corn, amongfl: which fome forts of grain
are eafily fuffocated and choaked, and the vegetable pundum faliens (or
heart) fiifled for want of afufficient pabulum of air in it's tender infancy,
when opprefled with heavy wet clay ; whereas in more porous earth, which
lies light, and wherebv there comes a freer accefs of air to the feed, the ve-
getable progretfion is fupported and carried on in the feed. — I think it may
well be made a quane whether barley fowed in a pot of mold, and
put into an air-pump, where the air is drawn out, would not rot and finnow,
inftead of growing, — and whether, if the lame experiment was to be made

on
* This rule contradi6\ed § 19— at leafi: in pale-dried malt.

MALT and MALTING. 207

on barley and wheat put into an air-pump, the wheat would not fpear out
with the help of a lefs quantity of air than the barley, becaufe we fee wheat
will grow under a clofer, heavier, wetter, and colder earth, from whence
the air is more excluded, than barley will do. — Thomas Beckley of Bourn,
maltller, fays much to the fame purpofe with Mr. Hillman, and that fome-
times the keeping the barley longer in couch than ordinary for the excife-
man's coming contributes to the fouring the malt; and the clofe preflino- it
in the ciftern, by the deepnefs of it, whereby it lies the harder, hinders it
alfo from coming.

§.13. An old and an experienced honeil: maltfler did aflure me,— that if the To know
germen, or the fpire-end of the barley, which runs between the flour and ^'^*" ^Arhy
the rind, was not as high afcended between the rind as the root-end was put ed."^ ^ '"*'"
forth, fuch barley-corn was not fully malted, and that no more of the orain
would be converted to flour than as far upwards as the point of the germen
ran, and that by biting the grain one might find the difference; for that part
of the grain not malted would be hard and tough, and being ground would
be fat, dauby, and clammy in the liquor, and would not drink it up.

My maltfter fent me malt, which my butler was not pleafed with ; he
faid, there were many grains in every handful of it, which were not malted
at all, and many grains that were but half malted, of which I might be fatif-
fied, if I made trial in water ; for the corn, which was not malted at all,
would fink to the bottom, and the half-malted grains would fwim an-end
like a filliing-quill. — I called for a bafon of water to make the experiment,
and found it to be true.

§, 14. The maltfters have frequently a bufliel and an half increafe in the °'" ^^f'""
quarter, when they do not fcreep the coomb well, but in the London-trade ing!^'"""^''
there is not above a bufliel increafe to be had, becaufe for that market the
malt mufl: be made very * knot : if malt be fent to London, and be not * *««> c'"n.
made knot, it will heat, and the coomb fall off" in fifting, and tumbling it out
at the wharf, and then it will not hold out the meafure it was fent for,
which will occafion difl^atisfadlion between the fadlor and the maltfter.

§. 15. I find they agree, that pale-dried malt, if care be taken to o-ive it Of pale-dried
it's gentle heat with a foft fire, may be dried as hard as the higheft-dried "'*'^'
malt, though generally fpeaking the pale-dried malt is flacker dried ; but in
cafe time be taken in drying it well, they know not why it fhould not make as
ffrong drink as the high-dried malt, and both the malt and the drink keep as
long.

§. 16. Mr. Edwards fays, that he has ufed, and brewed with a bufliel of °^^^''^*'*"'*
wheat-malt, and twelve bufhels of barley-malt to the hogfhead to his very good °^''"^'''
fatisfaftion.— -He alfo fays, that Sir Robert Sawyer ufed always to put wheat,
beans, and oats to his malt.— -Hehkewife fays, that a bufliel or two of oat-malt
to twelve bufhels of barley-malt will ripen the drink much fooner ; — and fur-
ther, that oat-malt and barley-malt equally mixed, as many of the country
people here ufe it, makes very pretty, pert, fmooth drink, and many in this
countiy (in Hants) fow half barley, half oats for that purpofe, and call it
Dredge. 3 §. jy.

2o8 HOP S.

Of fern- dried
malt.

§. 17. 1696. Fern-dried malt is not of late years looked on to be fo good
as malt dried with other fuel, though fome years ago it was in vogue, but
people foon found their error : it ufed formerly to yield 2d. in the bufhel ex-
traordinary, but now it yields 2 d. in the bulhel lefs.— -It makes the ale taftc
maukifh.
Of burnt §. j g. If malt be burnt, the longer it lies by the better it will recover itfelf,

r^ng by keTp^-' ^'-'^^ ^^'^ heat, and look paler: I had fome drink made of malt, that being
ing. raihed would have been quite fpoiled, had it been ufed diredtly, but by keep-

ing it a year and an half by me it was fo well recovered, that there was no
lofs in it. — Pale malt is beft to be brewed as foon as it is ground, but the
high-coloured malt is better for being kept a while after it is ground before it
be brewed, becaufe it is too hard to break to pieces, and molder in it's flour,
till the air by being imbibed has loofened it's parts.
Of new and' §• 19- I find by my own, and the experience of other obferving maltfters,
odmalt. jj^^j. £qj. brewing drink malt is in perfedtion about three weeks or a month af-
ter it is made ; for by that time the fire will be out of it, and it will then be
fulleft: of fpirit; whereas the more it Ilackens afterwards the more the fpirits
go off, and with them the firength of the fmell abates, as may eafily be per-
ceived.— Therefore, though malt takes lead damage kept in a great heap, yet
I find they all agree, that one had better make Odtober drink with new malt
than with old, becaufe, if both years barley be equally good, the new malt
will brew ftronger drink than the old, but this more elpecially holds in pale-
dried malt, becaufe it may fo happen that high-dried malt may be fo fcorched
as not to be mollified, or have the fire enough out of it for brewing till many
months after it's being made, and by long keeping that fuffers leaft.

They hold that it is more profitable for the maltfter to fell old malt than
new, becaufe, before it is flacked, and while but nevv'ly come from the kiln,
much more goes to the bufl^iel.

HOPS.

Of fetting the §
bop-hillocks
at a didance.

/FR. Perdue, the greatefl: hop-merchant in Winchefter, fays, he
'X ^^^^ his hop-hillocks at double the diftance others generally do,
and that he is fure he is a gainer by it ; for thereby in poles, and otherwife,
he is but at half charges, and has as good a burden of hops as other people ;
for the fun having power to fliine through the poles, and to flirike it's heat to
the bottom, brings bloflbms from the very bottom, the fap being checked and
dried up by the fun, whereas, when the poles are fet thick, the hops carry
bloflToms only at the top.— Qu^re whether the fame reafon holds not, for fet-

ting beans thinner.

§. 2. Hops

' Our author having but few remarks on hops, they, who defire information in this particular,
in.-ty confult Mr. Miller's Dictionary, under the article Lupulus, wl;ere they will find a full ac-
count of this plant, with feveral curious experiments made by the Reverend DoHoi Hales.

GRAZING. 209

§. 2. Hops that feel clammy are the beft j therefore may be chofe in the dark. Of choofmg
§.3. The true vertue of the hop lies chiefly in the feed, and not in the oTthe hop-
leaf, which but few underftand j they choofe the hop by the colour of the feed.
leaf, whereas the brighteft leaved hops are the worft fort, becaufe they are
not full ripe, and confequently were gathered when the feed was in the milk,
whereby it flirinks to nothing} but the hop in perfedlion has a nut>brown leaf,
and it's feed being full ripe has a good pith ; which is what gives the grate-
ful bitter, though the generality of people are ignorant of this.

§. 4. Hop-poles for the fecond year ought to be lixteen foot long, the firft Of hop-poles,
year wanting none j the third year they ought to be twenty foot long ; after
that twenty-five foot, and^never longer. — If the girt of a twenty-five foot pole
be eight inches at the buorend, it is reckoned a compleat pole: afh is better
for poles than withy by five fhillings in the hundred, in the twenty-five
foot poles,

GRAZING.

§. I. T" T feems to me (as before hinted) that the Grecians, Romans, Phoe- Jews (killed in
I nicians, &c. derived their hufbandry from the Tews : for it is not to the manage-

•^m. ' J ^j ' iTicnt 01 cattle

be fuppofed but that Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, and his fons, who were fuch
wife perfons as they are recorded to have been, and fo converfant in cattle,
muft be excellently (killed in that branch of hufbandry. See Gen. xxxiv. 5.—
And that Jacob's fons were wife perfons may be feen by their conduifl before
Jofeph their brother. — That Mofes, who was fo excellently Ikilled in all the
learning of the Egyptians, and afterwards kept his father Jethro's flock forty
years, muft by means of his advantages in education have made vaft difcove-
ries in the nature of catde is mofl certain, and what converfe the patriarchs
had with all the eaflern nations, whereby thofe nations might be informed, is
well known,

§. 2. Doftor Patrick in his comment on Gen, xxix. obferves that Ra- Antiquity of
chel's name in Hebrew fignifies a flieep. — And Varro derives many antient fa- this branch of
milies from the names of cattle. Lib. 2.c. i.De re ruflica. — And lib. i. fo. ''"^ar.diy.
29. he fays, the pafloral care was the firlt imployment in the world, and
that agriculture came in of later years. — It feems indeed that thofe names, that
honourable families antiently affumcd to themfelves, were borrov/ed from the
names of cattle, as thinking the paflurage of them more profitable than tilling
the ground}— and we find of Jacob, notwithflanding his flocks were fo large,
that yet his provifion of corn was but from year to year } for in the fecond
year of the famine in ^gypt he wanted corn, fo that it feems he thought it
more profitable to trade in cattle, and their fleeces, than to go to markets with
corn. — It is to be obferved that Rachel kept the flieep, as being an honourable
imployment, not but fhe had others under her as afliflants and fervants. —
GOD himfelf is named the fliepherd of Ifrael : flieep-fliearing, not reaping
of corn, was their greatefl feftival. See Patrick, fo. 506. — In thj hot coun-

E e tries

2IO

GRAZING.

of cattle.

Of party-co-
loured cattle.

tries it appears, thiit their cuftom was to bring their flocks to wells, and into
fliades, to drink in the heat of the day, and, when that was abated, to drive
them to feed again, as appears from Genefis xxix. 7. — It is yet high day, &c.
See Dodlor Patrick's Comment; and Cant. i. 7. — and Palladius in his Calen-
dar fays, that the cattle ufed to be drove out to feed in the fummer evenings,
when the dew firll: began to fall, fo that then they ufed to tend their cattle
late, and the morning dew was alfo taken by them, which, and Virgil's fay-
ing, Et ros in tenera pecori gratifiimus herba, is contrary to our pradrice, and
fee Varro, 1. 2. c. 15.— Notwithflanding however what may have been conjec-
tured by various writers, and the preference given by them to the paftoral
charge, in regard to it's antiquity, it is plain from Genefis iv. 2. that and agri-
culture were near of the fame date, for Abel was a keeper of fheep, and Cain,
the elder brother, a tiller of the ground.
Of the colours §. 2- Mr, Brown, in his Vulgar errors, fo. 41. obferves, that, if fheep
have any black, or deep ruffet in their faces, they want not the fame about
their legs and feet; — that black hounds have mealy mouths and feet; — that
black cows, which have any white in their tails, do not mifs of fome in their
bellies, and if all white in their bodies, yet, if black mouthed, their ears and
feet maintain the fame colour. ^

§. 4. That Jacob's fheep brought forth fpeckled lambs, on viewing the rods
at the time of conception, is imputed by Patrick to the Divine will rather than
to the force of imagination ; yet he owns, that St. Auftin, and fome others,
imputed it to the operation of natural caufes, and alledges the like thing done
in Spain between horfes and mares. — Lord Pembroke told me, it was com-
mon in Spain to cover a mare with aTurkifh carpet, and to lay another before
her, when they brought the ftallion to cover her. — I have alfo obferved, that
it is a common expreffion, on feeing a party-coloured horfe, to fay, " He was
" begot on a common :" it being fuppofed, that there the marc might, at the
time of conception, have feveral different coloured horfes in view. — But no
wonder that thefe arts are not mentioned in the Rei ruflicae fcriptores, they
not being pradtifed by the Romans ; for their endeavours were to avoid party-
coloured breed, either in flieep, horfes, or horned cattle ; for which reafon
they would not keep fuch cattle of any fort, of either fex; and it feemsto me,
that Jacob propofed to Laban the ring-ftreaked, fpotted, and fpeckled cattle
for his hire, not only as unlikely to proceed from the white cattle, but alfo as
the cattle of lefs value than the white cattle ; for in thefe countries, as has been
before remarked, they did not afFeft cattle of medly colours, and, as it is likely,
becaufe they thought thofe cattle of the worfe natures, as not having been crea-
ted fo from the beginning ; all cattle at firft being of one colour in the fame in-
dividual, as black, white, red, &c. and the mixture of colours whereby their
natures are weakened, arifing from the copulation of males and females of dif-
ferent colours.
Cittk in low §. ^. The ftronger and richer the land is, the more mufl cattle be kept up
cafe not to be .^ .^ gQQ^ pitch; for, if on fuch land cattle are in the winter tuftered to run to
janJ. poverty, or are brought into it poor, they'll be liable to the yellows, and the

blain.

GRAZING. 211

blaiuj and mofl fort of diftempers ; for it Is the fame as if you fhould offer
llrong meats to weak flomachs, or to perfons in a low eflate of health. — It
was agreed by farmer Chivars, farmer Harding, farmer Earle, and farmer Ste-
vens of Pomeroy (notable Wiltfhire dairy-men) that cattle in good cafe, and in
heart, would for a little while feed on the coarfeft fodder, be it ftraw, or hay,
which cattle low in cafe, would ftarve before they would touch, and therefore
fuch cattle have the weaker flomachs.

§. 6. Great cattle choofe to feed with their heads from the fun both morn- Obfervatfon
ing and afternoon, feeding a different way in the afternoon from what they did e" ros m'te'ne-
in the morning. — Our cattle in England, feem not to care to feed among the ra, &c.
dew in the morning before fun-rife ; but like to flay till the fun has began to
warm it; fo that it feems, the faying of Virgil, — " Et ros in tenera pecori gra-
" tiffimus herba" — fhould be underftood in England of the dew after fun-
rife ; perhaps in Italy, where the days are fo hot, and the grafs in the day-time
roafled with the fun, the cattle may like to lick up the dew early in the morn-
ing, and doubtlefs in England our cattle vary much in their hours of feeding be-
tween fummer and winter.

§. 7. I obferve in the hill-country, that in fummer-time cattle covet to paf- Cattle clioofe
ture on the highefl part of the field, for fake of air, and go not down to the low ' ^und''^ h
part of the ground to feed, it lying clofe from the air, till towards the evening, weather.
when the bottom of the field is alfo cool ; the oxen likewife, which come
from the plough, and are hungry, will go up to the height till towards fun-
fet, though that part be very bare of grafs, — My fhepherd faid, on a certain
day, that he would drive my fheep into the road on the wafle to feed, be-
caufe the day was cool and airy ; for, faid he, if I drive them thither in a hot
fultry day, they will not feed, but will he in the rutts. — The reafon for their
doing fo, as I conceive, is, becaiife they find great relief by the flream of air
which runs along the rutts, as in a channel, when perhaps no motion of air is
fenfibly to be perceived elfewhere.

§. 8. When cattle in fummer-time go late to fliade, and come out from Sign from
fliade earlier than ordinary, to go to feed, it is a flirewd fign their commons '^'^eir going ta

/I ^ •> ° o feed.

grow fhort.

§. 9. Large cattle will taint poor ground with pafluring on it, and will ^.'^""''^
make mamocks, that they will leave and not eat ; when at the fame time, in gro"uiKf.
rich land, and a good pafture, they would eat up all the grafs clean ; and that
this fliould befo llands to reafon, becaufe, at bell the poor ground not being
veiy toothfome, a little addition to it of unfavourinefs, by piffing or dunging,
will occafion the cattle to forfake that part, efpecially about June, when poor
ground begins to fall off from growing ; whereas in good fweet ground the
taint does not near fo much overcome the fweetnefs of the grafs, and for va-
riety's fake it may be pleafant and grateful to the cattle, there being flill a con-
fiderable degree of natural fweetnefs left to recommend it. — In poor grounds,
fuch as hill-country-downs, the fheep will feed them down clofe, notwith-
flanding the ill favour of their tails : the reafon for the flieep feeding them fo
bare and clofe is apparent j for, wherever they lay their tails, there is time for

E e 2 fuch

212 GRAZING.

fuch part to out-grow the taint, the grafs being always kept young, and ten-
der, and in a fpringing and growing condition, which is not the cafe in poor
hill-country ground fet apart for pafture for great cattle, which muft therefore
be hained, fo as to be raifed to a good bite, for the grafs that may be tainted in
fuch paflures, is of a good length, and the greatefl; part that is above ground is
tainted ; when great cattle therefore are forced to eat it, they may he obferved to
walk along biting the tops of it; that is, fuch part as has grown up (ince the taint»
Of feeding ^_ j q. In cafe you defign the feedof the fecond year's broad-clover for your

cows and horfes, as not having provided new broad-clover for them, of one
year's growth j fuch fecond year's broad-clover, defigned for the fupport of
your cows and horfes, ought not, in our hill-country, to have been fed the
firfl year, but with cows, and a few horfes ; for if fuch ground be fed with
fhecp the firft fummer, it will much damage the produce of the fecond year ;
becaufe they will wound, and bite into the roots of the clover.
Cattle fed in §. 1 1. It had been a very dry and burning hot feafon for fix weeks, during
'*'°d^iM^" the latter part of April, and all May, (anno 1702) and I had an hun-
nowaier, dred fheep and three beads fatting in broad-clover : I often thought my fer-
vants had neglected to drive them to water ; for they had no water in the
paflure : fo, not trufting to my fervants, I drove my fatting-cows myfelf,
in the evening, to water, but could not perfuade them to tafte it, neither
that day, nor the next ; I alfo drove my fheep to water, and waited patient-
ly on them half an hour, but could not perfuade them to touch it. — I ob-
ferved the dung of the flieep to be very moifl ; and fat, and pappy like
cow's-dung ; whereas, when fheep feed in other grafs, they are naturally
very dry, and coflive ; from whence I infer, that the leaves and flalks of the
broad-clover being fo juicy, no cattle need fo much water with it as with
other grafs, if they may not even do without any at all.
Ofcattkfwel- §. j2. Farmer Miles of Holt afTured me, that about them, in Wilts, oxen
ci'ove" "^"^ ^"^ cows were in great danger of being fwelled by being put into broad-
clover, whenever any rain came, though it was dry when they were put
in : they had alfo, he faid, in thofe parts, loft fliecp by putting them into
broad-clover, and into green wheat likewife, in the fpring. — I faid, I had
this fpring (anno 1720) fed my wheat down with my flock, by putting
them in for two hours in a morning, after they came from fold ; and I had
found no hurt by it. — He replied, he fuppofed that would do them no harm,
but what harmed them was keeping them in longer, and letting them lie
down.
Of letting out §. 13. A farmer in my neighbourhood had like to have loft feveral oxen
the wind horn jj^jj, yg^j.^ (1720) by putting them into broad-clover, though he watched
ed by broad- them : one of them being lb much blown, that he thought he could not be
clover. faved, the farmer ignorantly ftruck the bullock with his pen-knife into the

hollow place under the free-bone, under the loin, which was wrong, and
the bullock died ; whereas, he fhould have taken a pair of ftrong pinchers,
and in that hollow place have taken hold with them on the builock's hide,
and have pulled it from the flefli v/ith all his ftrength, and then have flruck

his

GRAZING. 213

his pen-knife into the hide only that he had loofened, and not into the bul-
lock's flefli, whereby his guts were hurt, but, inftead of that, Ihould have
run it in between the hide and the flefli, and a wind would have ilTued out
llrong enough to have put out a candle. — In cafe a bullock, not thus blafted,
has a blain, do the fame thing, by lifting up the hide in the fame place,
and then makp but a fmall orihce, fo as to thruft in a pen-knife only, and a
great deal of wind will ifTue out.

I was fpeaking afterwards to an old experienced farmer on this fubjedt,
and he faid, he had not in thirty years time loft a cow by broad-clover, nor
did he think it more dangerous than other grafs, unlefs cattle came huno-ry
to it out of the ftraw-barton, or were very poor in cafe ; for then they would
knaw it unreafonably, and it was very grofs and windy ; but cows that had
the fame fpring been firft in other grafs, would not be very greedy of it,
nor would, in that cafe, over-fill themfelves j for they will eat any grafs of
the field before broad-clover.

I believe broad-clover is not fo apt to hurt cattle on our dry hills as on the
deep lands. — I alfo believe, the thicker it is fowed it is the lefs apt to hurt,
becaufe it runs the finer.

The reafon, as I conceive, why broad-clover is apter to blow a cow than
a horfe, is, becaufe a cow licks it in with her tongue, at a greater length,
jind fwallows it larger than a horfe does ; for he chews it more, as not chew-
ing it over again as the cow does in the cud, and fo it goes firft down into
the cow's ftomach more grofs, and with lefs of the falival juice to correct it
than that which the horfe fwallows down has.

Another farmer of my acquaintance in Wiltfhire had two beafts died with
the rife of grafs, by putting them into the aftermafs of his mead, which was
very lufcious, it having had a inighty quick growth, occafioned by warrri
rain ; and his cattle having for fome time fared hard, they eat fo greedily
on their being firft put into the aftermafs, that they quite choaked up their
firft ftomach, called the fardlngbag ; for, upon opening the cows, that fto-
mach was found full of raw indigefted grafs.

Mr. Bachelour of Aflimonfworth, and farmer Crapp, and farmer Biggs
difcourfing upon broad-clover, farmer Biggs faid, by mixing it with hop-
clover, he had never loft a cow in his life ; and fo faid farmer Crapp.

§. 14. The fummer, anno 1717, being fhowery, the hop-clover came On feeding
up thicker than ever I knew it, and grew to that height among the barley, °^^" ^'*
as, at harveft, to flower ; and we were forced to turn the barley-fwarths, ^°P"*='°''^''*
on account of the great quantity of hop-clover that we unavoidably cut off
by the fcythe with the barley.— I hoped therefore, that fo great a bite of
hop-clover, as my fatting-oxen might have after harveft, would bring them
forward, they being well advanced in flefli before ; and the hop-clover beino-
fweet, I had great expectations from it ; but for a fortnight I could only
keep my oxen to hold their flefh, and then for another fortnight I found
they loft flefli, though the bite of the clover did not fo abate, but that
it feemeJ thick enough to fupport them : my working oxen alfo filled

them-

214

GRAZING.

What grafs
bell to tat cat-
tle in Septeni

themfelves very well for near a fortnight j but when the head of the
hop-clover was taken ofF, they fell off their flefh. — My ox-hind faid,
the cattle were forced to pull up fo much of the barley-ftubble with the
grafs, that it greatly abated the goodnefs of it. From hence for the future I
may learn experience, and know how far I may depend on fuch hop-clover
for fatting my working oxen.

Cows, flieep, and all forts of cattle, will choofe rather to feed on broad-
clover, if it be kept down pretty clofe, than on hop-clover, when it has
once run into flower ; for of the two the hop-clover is the bitterer.

§. 15. My ground will almoil fat cattle in fpring, when the fap is flufli ;
but it muft be the aftermafs of good ground only, when Septernber and

bcr and Odo- Oftober comes, that will fupport a bullock, and carry him on when near
ber, fat : the poverty of grafs at that time may be feen by it's dying away, or

lofing it's colour : then fuch grafs is loft on a bullock.
Ofwinter- §• 16. Mr. Billy (my tenant in Wilts) a very experienced grazier, was
rowet, &.C. telling me, how much a beaft would thrive with his winter- draw, in cafe
he had the hberty of going abroad, and, befides his ftraw, picking up fome
winter-rowet, which would give him a better ftomach to his ftraw. — I re-
plied,— I found that by experience j but our hill-country-meads contained
fo few acres, they would not afford much winter-rowet ; but, faid I, though
rowet, which is of a deadifli nature, and afforded the catde little better than a
change only, made the ftraw more grateful, yet I obferved, by giving them
with their fodder a tafte of the firft fpring-grafs, which was lufcious and
gnafti, nothing would fooner wean them from, and take them more off their
ftomachs, not only to ftraw, but to the beft hay alfo ; and therefore I care-
fully kept them from fuch grafs. He replied, it was, generally fpeaking,

very true ; but yet that their fpring-grafs beafts would (before the quan-
tity of grafs was fufficient for a maintenance wholly thereon) eat heartily of
ftraw or hay, early in the morning, and whilft the dew was on the grafs ;
for in the fpring the cattle do not care for fuch grafs early in the morning,
nor till it has been warmed by the fun, and the dew taken oft' it j becaufe
fuch grafs is very cold by the wet lying on it, and the juices are then as yet
unconcoded, and you may fee the bullocks, at fuch time, ftand under the
hedges, forbearing to feed till the dew is off. — All this feems very reafonable,
whereas on the contrary, in the fummer-time, when the crudities of the
grafs are taken off", all cattle are more defirous of feeding in the mornings
and evenings, while the dew is on the grafs ; in which fenfe only Virgil is to
be underftood, when he fiys, — " Et ros in tenera pecori gratiffimus herba."
§. 17. I lopt feveral pollard-oaks this fpring (anno 1705) whilft in bud,
and let the loppings lie, in order to be faggotted : the beafts of the common
came and browfed on them, and the oak-buds killed five of the udder-cattle j
fee therefore, and prevent fuch evil for the future.
Calves will §. iB. I was telling my ox -hind, I doubted fome weanling-calves I
want wfte?'^ had wantcd water. — He faid, that was eafy to be feen ; for, if they fuf-
fered for want of water, they would not fill themfelves, though there was

never

Oalr-buds
poiibn to
cows.

GRAZING. 215

never fo much grafs, but would look mighty hollow and thin, and go about
bleating.

* Varro advifes to water cattle twice a day in the fummer and once in the
winter.

This winter (anno 1718) I was fully convinced of the great advantage it
was to cattle to have water at command in their foddering-yards, fo as to have
recourfe to it when they pleafed ; for the cattle in my cow-yard, where they
have no water, (but when they are drove to it, and that but once, or at moft
twice a day, and fometimes are neglefted, or drove unfeafonably) were in
general much more out of countenance, and leaner than four or five cows
that the parfon joifted for me, and which fed on the fame ftraw, it being the
tythe of my firm. — The difference lay only in this, that his cows went when
they would to the pond in his yard. — Gentlemen-farmers, having fo many
irons in the fire, ought to depend as little as may be on fervants, but (hould
provide fuch conveniencies as may, as much as pofllble, anfwer the fame
ends, without the care and trouble of fervants.

1 wintered this year (1719) twenty two-years yearlings in the French-
grafs, where they had alfo the running in the woods, and were foddered in
the ftraw-houfe, and thus they lived veiy lufty till March, when, the rowet
being gone in the field, and the bud beginning to fv/ell in the coppice, I was
forced to remove them, and bring them wholly to ftraw ; 1 was afraid they
would have been much pinched, their rowet being gone, and lofing their
range, and being confined to the backfide ; and for three or four days they
feemed to look hollow ; but then they filled again, and did very well, and I
do not a little impute their doing fo well to their having plenty of water at
command, and to the warmth of the yard : I note this, that I may not fear
the confequence in fuch another year.

§. 19. Stalled-oxen, if tied up to the houfe, which is clofe, have been Stalled-oxen
found of late years (fince 1705) not to hold to their ftomachs fo well as when '''°' '"^^''^P'
one fide of the houfe is open, like a penthoufe ; becaufe, when an ox grows
fat, he is naturally very hot ; therefore it is beft to have the fides of the fat-
ting-houfes open. — In yoking-time, whilft they plough them, if they flip a
cord, they never fight, but when fatting, it is likely they may.

§. 20. Farmer Elford of Dorfetfhire fays, that cattle, which are ufed to Of iioufmg
be houfed on nights in winter, will be tender, and expedl it, and will in ""'^*
winter fall away in their flelli if they have it not : therefore he, not having
the conveniency of houfing them, takes care not to buy a cow, if he per-
ceives fhe has been ufed to be houfed. — I afked him how he could perceive
that by a cow in a fair ; he faid, very eafily j for fuch a cow would have the
hair of her fides towards her tail clung with dung ; which they, who bring
her to market, cannot get off without great difficulty; the hair will fooner
come away than they can feparate the dung from it.

§.21. Poor catde may be kept to their good behaviour by flight inclofures ; ^^"'^ '" .
but by experience I find, that catde well kept, and high in proof, muft have ft^ongbS.

very
• Boves aeflate ad aquam apellendos bis, hyeme femel. Var. fol. 56.

cattle.

2i6 FODDERING.

very ftrong bounds, elfe, when they rife in cafe, they will foon break
through, efpecially if they want water, or take a diflike to their pafture.
A dog for §. 22. The annexed figure reprefents a clog to hang at the bottom of a

yoke, or fhackle, to prevent a beall: from leaping ; it may be increafed accord-
ing to the bignefs of the beafl.

c o

c, the hole through which the fliackle comes. — b, eighteen inches.—
a a, three foot long.

Of bells to §. 23. Being to fend five yearlings to the coppices, that I might hear

whe^°turned* whereabouts they were, I was to put on bells ; fo I bid my wood-man get

into the withs for the bells. He faid, by no means ; for a with would be apt to gall

woods. their necks, and the flies would blow the fore places, and, befides that,

withs would be apt to hang in the bufhes ; but a good flrong whitleather

collar would do very well ; but, faid he, an iron collar, made of a fmcoth

plate, is better, and will not gall, and the bell will found much better than

either with a with, or a whitleather collar j becaufe the iron collar holds the

bell oft from refling on their breafts ; whereas, with the other collars, the

bell lies on their breafts, whereby the found will be deadened.

FODDERING.

of convenient §. i.TN the foddering-yards ofbackfides, or other out-houfes, to have fe-
fi^a"'""^^'" ^ -fl- ^'sral divilions, over and above what is conftantly ufed, has great con-

yard. ° veniencies in it ; one of which is, that in them you may difpofe of a two-
yearling cow, or another cow, at the time of bulling ; not only to keep them
from a bull, hut from the other beafts alfo, that would be leaping fuch a cow,
whereby they may hurt each other, &c. — Efpecially cows forward with calf
will be apt to warp by leaping a bulling-cow.
Cattle, if once §.2. The open v.inters make hav the deareil:, if a hard froft and fnow come
foddered, will ^^ ^j^g forehand of them ; for if cattle once come to fodder, thev mult be held

not do witn- . ... . , ■, ^ 1 11 i 1

out it. to It, or tney will receive great damage. — In wafhy weather all tne nay one

can give to cattle will not make them thrive, but in dry frofly weather they'll

thrive v/ith their meat.
Cattle grow §. 2- I am affured by a f;irmer of Woodhay, in my neighbourhood, in the
loufv on bad ^^j^ ^j^^j. jj^gpg jg abundance of hay there fo four and rufhy, that it is not io

good for cattle as flraw in a good year, and he has known cattle grow loufy on

fuch hay.

I was telling this to another farmer, and he faid, it was true, and that fuch

fodder ought to be given to cattle but a httle at a time, fo as not to cloy them^

3 ^«'^'

FODDERING. 217

for, If they fliould be once cloyed with it, they would ftarve rather than feed
on it.

§. 4. Anno 1704, I let my cows go at large from their foddering-yard, Cows^ufed to
during the winter, and fo on till April, when they picked up fome grals ; and eafftraw,
thofe that had calved I baited with hay: the confequence of which was
plainly this, that by Mid- April my cows would not {land to eat any ftraw at
all, but were, during the months of March and April, fo weaned from ftraw,
by baites of grafs and hay, that they fell off from their ftraw quite, and grew
much leaner, and worfe in flefti than they had been, and apparently worfe than
the farmer's cows, which were, after the winter months, wholly pent up to
tlieir ftraw, and to the pond.

§. :;;. All forts of cattle that chew the cud, as flieep, cows, &c. care not to ^j'Jl^Yhrcud
graze after each other, nor to eat one another's leavings in the foddering-yards ; m^g ^^j t^ ^3^
but cattle that do not chew the cud will eat after thofe that do, and vice verfa. after one ano-

§. 6. 'Pliny tells us, where hay was fcarce it was ufual to feed their cattle Qf'^j^^jy^
with chaff and barley-ftraw. Of chaff", fays he, that is the beft fort, which
is the thinneft and fmalleft, and neareft to duft ; the beft therefore is from
millet, the next from barley, and the worft from wheat, except it be for hard
labouring beafts.

§. 7. On found experience I am convinced, that in our hill-country we ^^^^'j^^™^^
ought not to have any dependance on fending our catde out of the foddering- from the fod-
yard to grafs before the middle of May, and therefore we ought to be provided ^"^',^°"^^ii'i'.'^'
with winter-fodder for cows accordingly; for this year (1720) there was a (.gj^ntry, till
very wet fpring, and it continued fo throughout March, April, and May, and the middle of
yet the natural pafture-grounds did not afford a bite for the great cattle till the ^^^^*
middle of May ; indeed the hop-clover might be fit to fupport them a fort-
night fooner ; but it is a hard" matter, tho' one fhould have a good flock of
that grafs, to get the fliepherd's leave to hayn it from the flieep for that end,
he ftands fo much in need of the hop-clover grafs for his fiieep from the mid-
dle of March to the beginning of May,

§. 8. At the beginning of winter, fuppofe the latter end of Oftober, and a To foJder
good part of November, while cattle ftill continue out in the field at grafs, it is nior'uincrs.''
very neceffary to fodder them early in the morning, while the hoar-froft hangs
on the grafs, which they will not eat kindly of till the fun has warmed it

§. 9. The ftradling racks are beft for foddering, if made ftrong enough, i. e. O' '^"^^ '•
fo as not to be overturned ; for thefe racks may be lifted up as the dung mixen
rifes, which thofe fixed in the ground cannot be.

§. 10. It is a pradice in many pfeces, efpecially in the vale, to tie their cow- Cribs b; cr
beafls up to a rack to fodder ; but if one rightly reflefts on the places where it [^e^hin-
is done, we ftiall find it only ufed where the fodder is good, being either hay, cjuutry.
cr very good ftraw ; but in the hill-country of Hamplhire, where the cattle

* Ubi foeni inopia eft, ftramento paleam quasrunt, hordei ftipulam bubus sratifTimam fervant : —
Palea (chafFj plures gentium pro foeno utuntur; melior ea qu;e tenuior, minutiorque et pulveri pro-
prior, ideo optima e milio, proxima ex hordeo, peiUmaex tritico, prsterqi;am jumcntls operc labo-
rantibus. Plin, lib. 1 8. c. 30.

F f have

ai8 FODDERING.

have llraw-fodder only, and that not (o good as the ftraw In the vale, the
cuftom is to fodder their cows in racks, or cribs, in the open yard, which they
think better than tying their cattle up to racks in houfesj for the' in cold
and rainy weather the houfes may keep their loins dry, yet in countries
where the fodder is coarfe, efpecially after wet and backward harvefts, when,
the fpirit of the ftraw is waflied out by the rain, the giving cattle flraw from
racks, from whence they cannot pick and choofe, as from cribs they may, is
judged to tend to the impoverifliing the cattle, whereas in cribs they can pick
the fweet from the coarfe.

Afking a great grazier in Somerfetfhire, in what method he fed his fatting-
beafts, he told me, he thought it was beft for them to reach up to a rack. —
I faid, I thought not, becaufe reaching and bawling might give frequent
qualms to the ftomach of a fatting-beaft, efpecially when near fat. — He re-
plied, he did not know but it might j yet if you give them their meat from
under them, they will blow upon it, and fpoil half of it; fo that, if their
meat be given them from under them, it ought to be given to them fo little
at a time, that their breath may not taint it.
Rath-ripe §. 1 1. My (liephcrd aflures me, that my flieep, and other cattle will not eat

sood fodder ^V fpring-vetches made into winter-fodder fo well as they will the winter-
as late-ripe, vetches, the halm of the latter having, he fays, more ftrength and fpirit in it
than that of the former, the halm of which is loofe and woolly.— This feems
very reafonable to me, for the halm of fpring-vetches, and the ftraw of rath-
ripe corn of all kinds run in a parallel, as white, and black oat-ftraw, rath-ripe,
and late-ripe barley-ftraw, and I believe the fame may be faid of rath-ripe peas-
ftraw, and great partridge peas-ftraw.

Several farmers in my neighbourhood have affirmed to me, that the ftraw of
the Patney barley, otherwife the rath- ripe barley, was hollower, and not fa
good fodder as the other ; but farmer Farthing of the Ifle of Wight aflures me,
that his cattle eat his white oat-ftraw better than his black j and Mr. Smith
of Bifhop-Canons tells me, that his cattle eat rath-ripe barley-ftraw better than
late-ripe ; fo that it feems, the ftraw of thofe countries runs finer than ours,
their land better agreeing with the grain.
Cattle prefer ^_ j2. There is a manifeft difference in cattle's eating their fodder, when
juftThieflied. frcfti threflicd, and when it has been threfhed two or three days, efpecially
if the ftraw be but indifferent, and coarfe fodder.—I have been often fen-
fible of this, but more particularly this year (1719) in foddering with peas-
halm, when the cattle eat it very well all the week-days, while it was given
to them as faft as it was threllied, but fome, that had lain all Sunday on the
floor, they eat but indifferently on Monday ; and the more fo, becaufe a dry
cold wind had blown on it through the crevices of the barn-door.— This alio
the man, who threflied the peas and gave the ftraw to the cattle, faid was
manifeft to him.
Sho t nrnw §. i^. It is faid, the longer the halm of the corn is the worfe it is for fod-
preferred to ^^^ . ^^^ ftiortcft ftraw makcs always the beft fodder.

§. 14. I

FODDERING.

219

§. 14. 1 aflced farmer William Sartain of Broughton, Wilts, his opinion of oat- 9^!:^'^"^^^^
ftraw to fodder cattle with. His opinion was, that it ought not to be given fre- ^i^y^ '
quently to cattle for fodder, but only a little now and then, by way of change ;
for, he apprehended, there was a roughnefs or harflhnefs in that firaw, v/hich
made the gums of beafts, or the roofs of their mouths fore, and faid it was
the opinion of many that it fet their teeth on-edge.— But whatever was the
caufe, or howfoever they were aftedted, certain it was, that after cattle had
been held tooat-flraw a while they went off their ftomachs, nor would they
heartily fall to other ftraw, nor even to hay, after it. — Another farmer after-
wards in difcourfe affirmed it was difagreeable to cattle, and ought not to be
given to them too often, nor too much at a time, and he thought that it's
toughnefs might loofen their teeth by the ftrength they were forced to ufe to
chew it, and fo it made them unfit to mafticate other meat for fome time
afterwards.

§. 15. Farmer Biggs and farmer Crapp vlfiting me, the former faid, he Earieyiiraw
doubted his fodder would fall (hort, becaufe he had fowed fo much of his°""'^'°^"?^

' , . on one earin

barley on one earth, and his ftraw was much the worfe for it. — Neither bad fodder,
farmer Crapp nor I could well apprehend that : but faid he, the man who
threfhed for me, told me, that he had obferved it to be fo. — I afterwards
afked feveral farmers and threfhers concerning it, each apart : they feemed to
be at a lofs how it fhould be,— but at laft I found one, who readily replied, he
had often heard it accounted fo, and that the flraw of fuch barley was much
deader than that of barley fowed on two earths, and that it would ftarve cattle,
if held long to it. — I can conceive no reafon for it, except it is becaufe barley
fowed on one earth is generally fowed on poor, light, or white land,— and fo
the ftraw cannot be- fed with fo much fap and juice as otherwife it might be,
and therefore may be drier at harvefl than the flraw of corn fov/n on richer
land, and which in it's own nature may require two earths. — An old labourer
of mine agreed with Biggs's threfher, and faid, he could tell one-earth barley
from that fowed on two earths by mowing it ;— but I could not learn how.

§. 16. Mr. Smith of V/ilts affures me, that, amongft them, they give not Pcis-halm for
barley-fiiraw to their horfes, but peas-flraw, if it be any wife well houfed, and ^'''^'^^'''
that they always look on the great partridge peas-flraw to be better fodder
(ceteris paribus) than the fmall partridge peas-ftraw. This I mention here,
becaufe I have above noted, that rath-ripe ftrav/ of all kinds is worfe fodder
than late-ripe ftraw is. — Mr. Smith alfo fays, if their beans are well houfed,
they give their horfes bean-ftraw, and they eat it very well.

When peas-halm has fallen all along on the ground, and laid for fome time,
as it may fometimes do, till the grafs ihall grow through it, fuch peas-halm '

is not fit for fodder, the leaves being in a manner rotted off, and the halm is
only fit for dung.

§. ) 7. If thiftles are cut young, when they are withered the cattle will lick Thirties uf.d
them up, though, whilfi: they are green and growing, they will not touch °^ '''
them.

F f 2 i 18. Elm-

220

FATTING of CATTLE.

Elm-leaves §. j g. Elm-lcaves gathered green, and fuff^red to dry in the fun upon the

goo ro uer. |-,j.anches, the fpray being ftripped off in Auguft, will prove a great relief to

cattle in winter, or in fcorching fummers, when hay and fodder is dear ; the

cattle will eat it before oats, and thrive exceedingly with it ; but you ought

to lay thefe boughs in fome dry place, to prevent their muiling. — In fome parts

of Herefordlhire they gather elm-leaves in facks for their fwine and other

cattle : but fome fay, they are ill for bees, in that they furfeit of the blooming

feeds, which make them obnoxious to the lark, and that therefore they do

not thrive in elm-countries. J. Mortimer, Efq. F. R, S. fo. 333.

More profica- §. ig. In winter an ox will pay better for his hay, and thrive fafler than a

bie to winter jjgifej. thouQih her calf ihould be young; within her ; — therefore 'tis more pro-
oxen tcm -.'.■^ 11T
heifers. litable to wuiter oxen than heiiers.

FATTING

of

CATTLE.

Grafs, tho'
plenty of it,
from poor
la:id, not good
to fat oxen.

•Of fatting
cattle in Ja-
maica.

Of fatting a
youjig ball.

§. I. f I ^H O' grafs of a middling goodnefs may raife a beaft to be half
J^ fat, yet fuch grafs, tho' the bite be never fo deep, may not be
able thoroughly to fatten him, but he will flick there, or mend but very
little ; for tho' a lean beaft will feed greedily till he is half fat, yet after-
wards he will grow nice, and require to be tempted with fweeter meats ;
otherwife he will not feed beyond hunger : therefore perfons ought to con-
fider their land, and have a care how they refolve on fatting of cattle, be-
cauie they think they have plenty of grafs and a good bite. — Nor does it
follow, becaufe French-grafs, hop- clover, or rye-grafs will fat, that there-
fore fuch gralTes, when they grow on poor ground, will do the fame, tho'
the cattle may have a full bite ; therefore fuch ground ought to be applied
to the breeding of cattle.

§. 2. Dr. Sloan lavs, fol. S4. — The true way of fatting cattle, as I was
informed bv the graziers of Jamaica, is by bleeding them in the jugular vein,
(which will Hop of itfelf ) and then purging them with aloes, or fempervive-
leaves cleared of their out^vard iTcins. — Much the fame method is often ufed
by fome graziers in the north, efpecially if their grounds raife a bullock very
fart, as 1 fuppofe the land in Jamaica may do. — Dr. Sloan fays, the lefs nou-
rifliment the grafs affords die bigger the paunches of the beafts that feed on
it J fo that the bellies of cattle, in dry times, in hot countries, are as big as
if they were with young. — It would be the fame with all fcrts of cattle in
England alfo, if you ftarved them.

§. 3. I was faying to Mr. Bachelour of Afhmonfworth, that I approved of
cutting a young bull before his being put to fatting ; he feemed to wonder at
it, and faid, that he, and all the neighbourhood ufed to fat a young bull
without gelding him, and they fuppofed, except he was not fatted till the
next year, he would fat the better for it, and he was fure it was fo of a ram,
and to keep him till the year after would not pav charges.

§. 4- ^^

F A T T I N G of C A T T L E. 221^

§. 4. In fatting a bullock in Hampfhire in the winter they ufe, by the lat- Of fatting a
ter end of October, when the goodnefs of the grafs is gone, whereby he
became half fat, to give him hay, and then to finifh him with corn and
hulls ; but they ought to be wheat-hulls ; thofe are much the beft ; and it
is much better to give him threfhed corn than oats in the ftraw j for of them
he will make great wafte.

There is nothing cheaper, to raife a fattlng-bullock with, than ground-
barley mixed with chaff.

§. 5. A Wiltfliire grazier fhewed me a three-year-old bull in January ^^ fatting a
1698, which he had gelt a fortnight before Michaelmafs, and had then in new^.l^aa'c ox.
fatting, along with a heifer ; for, he faid, they would fat more kindly toge-
ther, and it would very much improve their meat. His way was, to drive
the new-made ox and the heifer to houfe on nights, and there give them
their fupper, and in the morning their breakfaft, and then let them out to
fodder with the milch-cattle ; for keeping them warm in the cold nights did
much favour their fatting.

§.6. About the beginning of November, when it may be fuppofed the Time of buy-
graziers have difpofed of many of their high-fat oxen, ^nd the plough-man ^"?a" ^'^^^
has fowed his crop of wheat, and cafts off oxen, then will the markets be
open for lean oxen, which the graziers buy to eat up the * oughts, and * leavings.
rowety grafs the high-fat oxen had left ; and then with ftraw or hay they
keep them in a thriving condition till fpring, when they begin to fat them ;
but from the beginning of November to the middle of December is the chief
time of felling them.

^. 7. A flailed ox in the winter, if he be kept to hay only, will eat at Quantity of

laiJ . .u //' ],ay a (Sailed

lealt a load every two months. ox will eat.

§. 8. I afked Mr. BifTy how long an ox would take to be fat ; he faid, a How long sn
good ox mull be in good cafe at May-day, when he is put to grafs to be fat- °^ '^ '" ^^'■'
ted, if he is defigned to be got fat by Allhallow-tide, which is about fix '
weeks before Chriftmafs ; nor will he be fat then without fome hay : but, if
any grazier fhould order his grazing fo, as not to get his oxen fat by that
time, but muft be haying ail the winter, — unlefs beef be at three-pence half-
penny or four-pence per pound, he can get nothing by it, — I afked him how
then it came to pafs that we had any ox-beef in the markets at the latter end
of winter; he faid, fome people were no wifer ; but there were often bea(1:s
put to fatting, that would not be fat fo foon as others, and fome people
over-ftand their markets by fetting themfclves a price, under which they will-
not fell, hoping beef will be dearer, and at laft are forced to fell ; then there
are cows that come in with-calf unfeafonably, and they muft be fatted, be
it when it will.

§. 9. Farmer Lavington of Wiltfhire fays, that a heifer, that has never Of fatting
been bulled, will not take fatting fo well as if flie had ; but if Hie has had a ^^'^'^J'^^^
ealf, or has warped, Ihe will fat very well, though not bulled, when flie bailsd.
was turned to fatting. — But Mr. Clerk of Leiceflcrfliiie lavs, it is not fafc
to trufl to her fatting without having her bulled.

§. 10. I

222 F A T T I N G of C A T T L E.

Howfoona §. jq. I alTccd Mr. Clerk how foon a calf would make beef; he faid, a
^eef '' ™^^ cow-calf would make very pretty beef at three years old, but, if killed Ibon-
er, they called it bevifs ; nor would an heifer prove in fat till that time, not
being paft growing ; for which reafon fteers will not be beef till four or five
year old, becaufe they will be fo long growing ; therefore it is only profit-
able for thofe countries to fat fteers that plough them.
Thefoonera ^, jj. J had an old black cow brought a calf in the beginning of July,
j^g\^"(^° the cow being high in cafe : the queftion was, whether I Ihould keep her
foonerher over the winter, for fake of her winter's-milk, flie having calved late in fum-
milk dries— jyjej- or fliould make the beft I could of fatting her, fhe being well in cafe.

therefore to , . - ^ , '^ .

be faitcd. ^o I allied the farmer's wife, if fuch a cow, being old, would give milk all
the winter ; flie replied, according as fhe fliould take bull ; the fooner fhe
took bull fo much fooner her milk would dry up — Now flie, being high in
cafe, would foon take bull ; fo I looked on myfelf as anfwered.

§. 12. An old cow, or an old fheep, will not fat near fo well with hay as

with grafs.

Ground oats Mr. Clerk of Leicefterfliire faid, he commonly gave a bull, or an old beaft,

or barley to when they Were got prettv well in flefli, (if corn was cheap) ground-oats

hc^. ° 3'""^ ground-barley; he faid, it would improve them much j he gave it them

drv, and it would make them drink abundantly.

Malt-tailings Mr. Putchin, and Mr. Olderihaw of the fame county affured me, they

or duft. knew of nothing fo good to plim a horfe, or an old cow, as the tails of the

malt, or the larger malt-dull: ; the proportion was, to boil two quarts of

malt-tails in fix or eight quarts of water, and to give it two or three times

a day: — it would, they faid, fat an old cow in fix weeks time, fo that fhe

would feel very well to the butcher, but then, faid they, flie would deceive

him ; for it cannot be expected that flefh blown up fo foon fliould carry any

quantity of tallow withinfide.

What ground §• 13. Falling into company with an ancient butcher, I afked him, what

beft tomakea arouud lie iudged beft for 2:ivin!^ tallow to a beaft. Ke faid, old erafs-grcund.

Dealt tallow - Jo ^00 ^^00^'

if fat, though lying high and dry, would do very well till towards Midfum-
mer, but it would then fall off, at which time the lower and moilter paf-
tures would tallow much better : he faid, fuch paftures were good for tal-
lowing ail the year round.
Turnips not §. 1 4. It has been found by experience, that turnips do not fat cattle well
cat°fe a*/? ^^^^^ Cliriftmafs ; they grow hollow and fticky ; but they will do very well
Chriftmafs. for folding fliccp.

Broad clover §• ^S- -^ butcher Came to buy an old cow of me; fhe was near fat:
rot fit to fat it was 0(ftober the 13th, anno 1702; he faid, if he bought her, he would
Oftober^" keep her till Chriftmafs in aftermafs-grafs, for my broad-clover would raife
Meadovv-af- lier no higher. — I faid, I thought fo too; for the broad-clover leaf, being
termaA beil. fo very broad, held a dew on it, at this time of the year, all day long, where-
by the catde fed half on water ; befides, the juice of that grafs was too v.-atery
at this feafon ; but the meadow-aftermafs is foon rid of the dew, within
three hours of the morning, and does not hold it like broad-clover. — This I

learned

F A T T I N G of C A T T L E. 223

learned by having occafion to carry fome aftermafs broad-clover hay to dry,
and to fpread it abroad, which I found was to no purpofe on a broad-clover
ground ; and yet I did it with good fuccefs on the rye-grafs, though of a

deeper bite than the broad-clover A farmer of my neighbourhood coming

afterwards, afked the above butcher's father, whether it was befl to fat a
cow in broad-clover or meadow-erfhe at this time of the year. The old
man faid, the meadow-aftermafs was abundandy the better, and gave my
reafon for it, without knowing what had pafled between his fon and me.

§. 16. Farmer Sartain faid, he had experienced, that hop-clover and ^"Pj^",^^^^^.
broad-clover hay would not prove a bullock in fatting ; — But qusere, whether hay not good
this may not only hold good in the great oxen of Wiltfhire. — Surely fmall '« '^' 'a^ge
hearts, fuch as are in our hill-country, may do very well with thofe forts of hay. Craffes, §. iS.

§. 17. I afked Mr. BifTy what aftermafs would raife a heart in autumn fo as Meadow-af-
to finifh him ; he faid, in the fpring almort any ground will raife a bullock, '^™^^^ ^-^
the fap being then flurti ; but it muft be the aftermafs of good ground only,
when September and Od:ober come, that will hold a bullock, and carry him
on when near fat ; for though, by hayning up a ground early, after mowing
or fummer-feeding, there may feem to be a great bite of grafs in it, yet, if
fuch ground, by reafon of it's poverty, fliou Id fall off of it's ftrength in Septem-
ber and Odober, which may be feen by the dying away, or the fading colour
of the grafs, it is loft on fuch a bullock.

If one has natural aftermafs-grafs able to keep up a bullock from Septem-
ber to Chrirtmafs, it will pay for keeping an almort fat bullock or cow, if flie
be not too forward with calf; and the reafon is, becaufe there is but a fmall
part of England that have natural aftermafs at that time of the year, fit to fat
with, in proportion to the fummer-clover every one has fit for that purpofe ;
befides ox-beef is not then come in, and cows are generally too forward with
calf.

§. 18. I afked Mr. BifTy if French-grafs hay was fit to fat a bullock with ; Of Frcndi-
he faid, the Somerfetfliire graziers going to London had often affured him,. f^j^jlj'j'jj.,.jj
that, if French-grafs was cut early in flower, it would fat cattle very well till
towards fpring, but then it grew too dry.

§. 19. By difcourfing with Mr. BifTy about winter-fatting I find by his ex- whatquaiv-
perience, and the neighbourhood's, who have kept the account, and weighed '^',^°.,t'yj-^
the hay, that a good heifer put up to winter-fatting on hay would eat at leaft heifer.
two hundred v/eight of hay per week, which at thirty fliillings per ton, or
eighteen-pence per hundred weight, w'ill come to three fliillings per week,
and at that rate her fatting for twenty weeks will coft three pounds, and in
lefs time a heifer, that is not very forward when put up to hay, cannot be
fatted ; yet at this rate, if beef fells well in the fpring, fome advantage may
be had, but gain cannot be depended on by fuch pradlice. — How comes it
then, faid 1, to pafs, that heifer-beef is fo frequently to be had in the fpring?
Becaufe, fiid he, we graziers have fometimes the mifchance to have a heifer
warp, that would other wife have been beef at Chrirtmafs, but carting her calf
put her at leaft ten weeks backward, and, to make the beft of her, we muft

keep'

224 • F A T T I N G of C A T T L E.

keep her on to fatting. Sometimes we are difappointed by a heifer's or a

cow's calving fooner than we expeftcd, perhaps in December or January, and

thence fhe would go dry; fuch we muft therefore fat, and, being fed with

hay, flie makes early beef in the fpring.

Alicwar.ce of ^, 20. Fourteen pound weight of hay is the conftant allowance on the road,

btailonthe *° every fit beali that is drove to London ; they that entertain fat cattle fling

roid. fourteen pound of hay for each beaft into the rack in the evening, when they

come into the inn, which is to ferve alfo next morning for their breakfaft ;

fo that half a tod, i. e. feven pound of hay, is fuppofed fuflicient for a fat ox's

bait at night, and the fanie in the morning.

Of beads that §. 2 1 . The cattle, that in hot weather come to London in droves, are many

^ove!."' °^ them heart-broken, and fo heated, and tired off their fpirits, that, if they

were not killed, they would die ; and thofe whofe feet bear not the journey

well, do fo wafle their iuices through the fatigue, that, when they are killed,

they will not fliften. — The reafon is, becaufe they have fo emptied themfelves

of their juices that their joints will remain loofe and flabby ; — and thus we

may obferve, the plimming of meat in boiling argues the youth of it, i. e. it's

fulnefs of juice, and it's fl^rinking argues the contrary.

Cattle handle ^ 22. Kir. Clerk, Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's tenant, fays, when he drives cattle

v^asm, Sec. to Smithfield, ifhehasa chapman that is eager, as foon as his cattle take

up their Aand, if he can, he will deal with him ; for cattle handle to thebeft

advantage when warm, and their fat when heated is mellower, and fofter than

after they have flood to cool.

One may be more deceived in the condition of a fat bead: in good quick-

fpringing grafs than in a coirie pafture, becaufe the fine grafs may plim him

fafler than it can make good found meat of his flefli.

Cf old cow- §. 23. An experienced butcher obferved to me, that a young beaft would eat

^^** \vell v/hen half fat, but an old cow, and hut half fat, was not eatable; for the

whole body of fuch a cow ought to be filled with new juices.

Old cow-beef generally comes in about St. Simon and Jude, which is the

latter end of Ocflober, or later ; for old cov.s are not apt to take bull fo foon as

young ones, and fo do not make the earlieft cow-beef.

Old COW'S td- §. 24, The butcher killed a fat cow for me, of four years old ; I f.iw her

'°'^'^j\°" opened, and {he proved very fat withinfide, and very fat on the back. — He

faid, it was common for a young cow to be fat on the back, but very rarely to

tallow well in the infide ; but old cows generally tallowed beft withinfide, but

not fo well on the b^ck.

Sign cf a §. 25. If a cow jecming high in cale fhould bring forth a fmall cajf, it argues,

^°<^^wT"°*' *^^ '^^^ thrives in tallow ; and if a good cow, middling in cafe, produces a great

calf, there cannot at that time be any foundation for tallow.
Old cows td- §. 26. I was at Gaufuns in Wiltrtiire with farmer Pain and Mr. Bifiy :
low be.l. tj^gy agreed that an old cow, though flie would not weigh fo well in the
quarters as a young one, yet {he would tallow better. — But farmer Pain {"aid,
to his certain knowledge, an old ewe would not do fo ; what tallow an old wea-
ther might yield he knew not. — However he was fure, that the beft mutton,
2 and

F A T T I N G of C A T T L E. 225

and that for which the butcher would give me moft, was a flieep of two
year, or two year and a half old ; fuch mutton would fpend and weigh beft.
I objedled, -that fuch flieep, not having done growing, would not be fat.
He laid, he never found it fo : he bade me look at the ewes with their
lambs, that he then had with him ; the ewes are but two year old, and I
hope, faid he, to have them all with the butcher in a little time.

§. 27. In difcourfe with farmer William Sartain of WiltOiire about the Mark-- of a
choice of a bullock for fatting, and when his bones lay well, he faid, an un- fo^fatt^ng.*^
derftanding butcher might get more money by an ugly mifhapen bullock
than one whofe bones lay well, becaufe thole bones that lie ill, carry more
fat than they feem to do ; therefore, if a bullock handles well in the places
they make trial of, that is only to be regarded.

§. 28. If a cow carries a deep navel, or her navel fprings or ftruts forth %",ofa
when {he is fat, it is a very good, and almofl a certain fign that {he will die ["g^^^fj °"^'
well, that is, that (he is full of tallow.

If an ox be full at the cod, when bought lean, or fprings and {Iruts forth Id. of an ox.
full in the cod, when fat, it is a good {ign that he will tallow well.

§. 29. ^ Varro, Columella, and Palladius are, in the main, pretty well Marks of a
agreed in the chara<flers they have given us of a fine ox, which are as follow — m°o°ng°th7an-
Symmetry of parts ; ftout found limbs ; a body large and fomewhat long nents.
(clofe and fliort, fays Columella) and well ribbed ; horns bending a little in-
ward like a crefcent, {lately, ftrong, and in colour inclining to black ; a
broad curled forehead ; large black eyes ; great hairy ears (or, as Markham
tranllates it, rough within) ; flat cheeks ; fpreading noflrils ; fnub nofe ;
blackifh lips ; neck thick, long, and mufcular, with vaft dewlaps, fwagging
down almofl to the knees j deep brifket ; buttocks round and full ; {ides
and paunch {Irutting and capacious ; a flrait flat back, or a little fwaycd ; a
tail brufhing his heels, the lower part of it thick with hair, and a little friz-
zled ; nervous and well fet his legs, and rather fhort than long ; his knees
flrait, fomewhat knotted, or emboffed, and {landing wide from each other ;
a foot not very broad, the claws large and of an equal fize, not {Iradling
apart, nor liable to accidents by inclining inward ; his hide fmcoth and fleek
to the touch, it's colour black, as the mofl eligible, becaufe it denotes the

' Has pecudes fint bene compofitas, integris membris (grandibus, Colum.) oblonga?, amplae,
(corpore denfo brevique, Colum.) nigrantibus cornibus (proceris et robuftis, Colum. fine curva-
turae pravitate lunatis. Pal lad ) latis frontibus (et crifpis, Colum) oculis magnis et nigris, pilofis
aurlbus (hirtis, Colum. magnis, Pallad.j compreffis mails, fubfimifve, apertis naribus, labris fub-
iiigris, cervicibus craflis, et longis, (et torofis, Colum.) a collo palearibus demiffis (amplis, et
pene ad genua, Colum.) latis humeris (vaftis, peftore magno, Colum.) bonis clunibus (ro-
tundis, Colum.) (capaci et tanquam implente utero, lateribus porreiflis, dorfo refto planoque,
vel etiam fubfic'ente, Colum.) caudam ut habeant profufam ufque ad calces, inferiorem partem
frequcntibus pilis fubcrifpam, cruribus (nervofis, Pallad. brevioribus potius quam longis, Colum.)
rcclis genibus, eminulis, diftantibus inter fe, pedibus non latis (ungulis magnis, Colum. et Pal-
lad.) neque ingredieiitibus qui difplodantur, nee cujus ungulae divariccnt, ct <^ujus unjues fuit
pares, — et leves, fays Varro, but that term muft rather refer to the cow than the ox. — Cotium
attadlu non afperum et durum, colore potiflimum ntgro, dein rubeo, tertio ht-lvo, quarto albo ;
molliiEmus enim hie, ut duriflimus primus.

G g bcafl

o

226 F A T T I N G of C A T T L E.

bead to be of the hardieft kind, next to that red, then flefh-colour, and
laftly white, which is the tendereft of the four. The colours Columella
and Palladius moft approve of are red and brown.
Id. for fattkg A beaft iliould have a large hoof or foot, and large long legs : this is a
^"d"™''* lign, that, when he is fat, he will weigh well. A fpiny legged beaft never
pays the grazier fo well as the former.

A beaft fhould not be leather-throated, that is, have his fkin hang down
deep under his throat ; but ft:iould have a thin neck : the former is obferved
never to prove fo well.

A beaft Ihould be deep in his gafcoigns, which mounts him high in the
hinder parts, and makes him weigh well.

A beaft Ihould be wide between both huckle bones, which gives room for
his fining : fuch a beaft, when fat, will be fure to weigh well.

A beaft fliould be deep in the brifket, that is, from the upper part of the
fSioulder to the lower part of the neck ; for then he will fill well with fat.

A beaft fl:iould be fhort ribbed, that is, the rib and the flank fliould meet
clofe : fome beafts either want a rib, or have a falfe rib, which is fo called,
becaufe it is very little, or lies deep within ; this is a great diflight, by which
means the flank will pitch and fall in.

When a beaft is fat, he will fliew himfelf to the eye to be fo by a roll of

fat as big as one's fift, which, when he Vv'alks, moves itfelf forwards before

his ftioulder : fuch a roll of fat may likewife be feen in his flank. Luxu-

riat toris, fays Virgil.

Sign of a §. ^o. A COW has a good udder, when her teats are at equal diftance,

lee BunT and ^"*^ pretty wide afunder ; when the teats are near together, there is danger

Cows§.i.&c. of lofing one of them ; as her teats ought not to be very fmall, fo neither

ought they to be too big; for fuch are called windy teats. — When a cow's

udder hangs full in leather, and in wrinkles behind, it is an argument the

veflel is large to receive milk, whereas fome cows, tho' they might give ever

fo much milk, have no vefl"el for it.

Mr. Clerk of Leicefterfliire fays, after all that has been faid, if he can buy
a cow cheap, he will buy her againft the rules of fhape above defcribed, and
ihe may fometimcs pay as well as any.
^'^d b*^ ft §■ 3 ^ ■ ■^^'"S ^^ ^°^^ ^^ Wilts, I fell into difcourfe with Mr. BifTy, and having

a mind to be more particularly informed in this branch of the grazier's bufinefs,
I afked him what were the figns and tokens of a good beaft ; thofe by which
he chofe them when he went to fairs ; for he had juft been faying, that there
were many beafts in a fair, which were in fliow twenty ftiillings better than
feme others, and yet not fo valuable as thofe that feemed to be fo much lefs
worth : nay, he faid, there were many fat beafts in Smithfield-market,
twenty {hillings more in weight than fome others, and of the fame age too,
and the lighter beaft the more preferable at the fame price. — He therefore
faid, that, in an ox the experienced graziers had a particular regard not
to buy one that had a long and heavy dewlap, or merry-thought, which
hung down under his throat, nor one that had a thick jaw, nor heavy fmall

eyes.

F A T T I N G of C A T T L E. 227

eyes, nor that was thin in the buttocks : they commonly obferved, he faid,
that thofe beafts, which had moft of thefe properties, paid leaft for their
fatting, nor did they take it kindly ; for they were apt not to take fat in all
parts proportionably alike.— We love to choofe thofe hearts which have not
too thick a hide, but of a middling thicknefs ; for the grain of the beef of a
thick-hided ox is apt to be coarfe, and yet we do not covet a very thin
hide neither. — The north-country oxen, faid he, are generally thick-hided,
nor will'they in Smithfield fell fo dear as North- Wiltfhire oxen will do : the
fweetnefs of our beef is efteemed greater than their's, and we can out-fell

them one hundred weight in feven, We choofe an ox with a light head,

thin and clofe jaws, full and lively eyes, not thin on the rump, but that has
a thin and fhort dewlap, and as little under the throat as may be ; fuch an
ox is likely to thrive much fafter than one of the contrary fliape, and to carry
fat in all pieces equally, which is a great advantage to the butcher ; for then,
the coarfe pieces will fell well. A light bony head in a flieep is alfo a good
fign, but in a cow a long and heavy dewlap is not fo much regarded. —
Then I went with him down to his grounds, and was fhewed two oxen which
anfwered the above differences and charaders. — Taking notice of a particular
ox, he faid, that he was half fat, and began to gather flefb, which might
be as foon perceived in the cod as any where ; for there they foon begin

to {hew their thriving, and fo does a weather- fheep. 1 obferved myfelf the

cod to he trufs, and extended round as big as my fift ; whereas, in the lean
oxen in the field, the cod was lank, and made little {hew. — He fays, all fat
beafts are apt to be too hot ; therefore a fatting-bullock, if he be kept out of
the wet, cannot be kept too cool, and for that reafon it does very well for one
fide of the fatting-houfes to be open ; for, if a fatting-bullock be too hot, he
will be apt to * peal : but for lean beafts, they could not be kept too warm. * the h^r will

§. 32. I find by Mr. Alyff of Oxenleaze, Wilts, that the largenefs of the AifoVfa
cod of a fat ox is a great beauty, and the bigger it is, proportionably a fign worked and
of his fatting the better ; and he is very pofitive in it, that oxen that work ^'^woik.-d
make the beft beef, and die kindlier, and are inwardly fatter than thofe that
never worked, and fays, (it being a phrafe he often ufed) that they divide
better in the joints, and piece better under the cleaver, when quartered-out
by the butcher ; whereas the unworked-beef does not fo eafily divide, and
(as he terms it) eats coarfe and livery. — I told him, I had often heard the
graziers affirm as much, but it did not feem reafonable to me, becaufe, as
country- farmers and labourers had much greater ftrength than gentlemen of
the fame bulk, by means of the exercife of all the ligatures and cords of
their bodies, which became thereby ftronger and tougher, fo I thought that
muft be the cafe of the ploughed-ox ; and feeing their fieili and ours is but
a bundle of pipes, tubes, or fiftular parts fa^gotted together, full of hetero-
geneous juices, I could not confequently fuppofe, but the fjcfli of a workcd-
ox muft be tougher than the fiefli of an unworked ox.

§.33. Markham, lib. i. fol. 62. — for an ox to feed, advlfes, that J'- J^"''".^°^^f^f
fliould as much as miglit be, be ever lufty and young of years, or, if old, ^j. ^^j. ^ ,,^'1, g'

G g 2 ' yet

228 F A T T I N G of C A T T L E.

yet healthful and unbruifed, which you may know by a good tall, and a
good piflel ; for, if the hair of one or both be loft, he is then a wafter, and
will be long in feeding. If you would choofe a fat beaft, handle his hind-
moft rib, and, if it be loofe, and foft, like down, then it fhews the ox to be
outwardly well fed ; fo do foft huckle-bones and a big notch round and
knotty ; if his cod be big and full, it fliews he is well tallowed, and fo doth
the crop behind the flioulders. .

Mr. Serjeant Webb's bailiff came to me in the beginning of November,
1713, to buy my lean oxen, that I wanted to caft off to the grazier. He
found fliult with feme that their bones did not lie right in two refpedts, viz.
that they were thin in their buttocks behind, i. e. that their buttock, or britch-
bone did not fpread, and ftand out wide ; from whence, he faid, they would
not prove, nor fill up in their buttocks behind, fo as to look well to the grazier.

Again, there were two of them that had a rib wanting on each fide, or a
rib lefs in the flank than they fliould have, viz. the firft rib next to the
buttock : note, though this defcd: commonly goes, and is known by the
expreffion of a rib wanting, yet a jufter expreffion is, that fuch a beaft has
a fliort rib, which finks or falls inward, and does not bear outward, as the
reft do, fo that in the handling one cannot get to feel all of it, but the lower
part feems loft, and therefore it vulgarly carries the name of a loft rib.

There was another bullock he excepted againft, becaufe the bottom bufhy
part of his tail was loft, having but little hair on it, which was to him a
token that he had been over-worked.

In two or three he difliked their hair's ftaring, or ftanding on-end, on
the ridge of their back, another argument of their hard labour.

I afked Mr. Dark, a great grazier in Wiltfhire, what marks he looked on
as promifing in beafts to be bought for fatting ; he faid, a beaft with thick
horns was by no means liked by graziers : and a thick head was an ill
mark amongft them ; a beaft with large ribs weighed well j a clofe-ribbed
beaft, with quarters that lay well, they liked to buy, and not a thin flat-
ribbed beaft.
A thick hide §• 34. A butcher bought a heifer half fat of me to kill : he faid, flie would
a bad iign. ^^^ p^y for keeping, for ftie was thick-hided, and fuch beafts would not
prove. — I obferved the hide feemed to fit loofe, and the hair to ftare more
than ordinary, or look like beggars-plufti.

Upon the beft inquiry I could make of Mr. Biffy, farmer William Sartain,
and others in Wiltfhire, they do not think the Welch-cattle of North-Wales
and the cattle of Shropfliire fat kindly; for they are thick-hided, efpeciallv the
burs, i.e. the oxen;~and it is to be noted, that the thicker hided the cattle are
thelonger they are in fatting.— Anditisgenerally to be obferved, that the cattle

of North-Wales are black cattle. But Mr. Bifly fays, that in South- Wales,

as in Glamorganftiire, they have thin-hided cattle, which are much on the
red and brown colour, and that they get their breed from Gloucefterfliire ;
they will fat very kindly.— Mr. Biffy tells me, the more northerly the cattle
are bred, by means of the cold, the thicker are their hides ; for in Leicefter-
-; ftiire.

F A T T I N G of C A T T L E. 229

fiiire, Derby fhire, and Yorkfliire, the hide of a large ox may fell for thirty
fhillings, becuufe of it's thicknefs, and being fit to make ben-leather for the
foles of Ihoes ; whereas the hide of an ox in North-Wiltfliire, &c. though as
big as the other, will not fetch above fifteen (hillings ; but fuch an ox will
notwithftanding fell for more than a north-country ox will do, becaufe the
meat is finer, and the beaft will yield more tallow ; for the finer the hide the
finer always the meat. — I put the queftion to farmer William Sartain, young
John Sartain, 6cc. — what difference there might be in Smithfield-market be-
tween the price of a north-country ox, and a North-Wiltfliire ox of the fame
weight ; they faid two pounds in ten pounds, but the hide of the north-coun-
try ox would yield a third penny more in value.

§. 35. If a farmer intends to graze cattle in a hill-country farm, fuch as Rules for the
mine in Hampfliire may be, thefe three things are efpecially to be regarded ; h'li-country
FirlV, to raife a good quantity of French-grafs for hay and aftermafs.— Secondly, S"^'^""-
to turn a good quantity of hill-country meadow into rich pafture, by feeding
it, dunging it, or other manure ; to make it fit for raifing the bullock or heifer
in the fpring, when he comes firft from hay into grafs-leafe, and to receive
him with a vigorous aftermafs, when other grafles, as clovers, and French-
grafs aftermafs goes off. — Thirdly, to have hovels in your bartons, inclofed
with clofe court walls, to flielter your cattle in the winter from wind and rain.
All thefe three things are neceffary and uniform, and do correfpond one with
another ; without them grazing muft be carried on very defectively, and to
litde profit by the hill-country farmer.

By the methods here prefcribed, in order to the fatting of cattle, plenty of
French-grafshay willenablethegraziertobuy in barren beafts before the fpring-
grafs comes, when it is moft likely they will be cheap, and may be bought to
the beft advantage, allowing the value of the hay they may eat in confidera-
tion with the purchafe; and if by winter-hayning fome meadow-ground, (after
it has been fed clofe, but has been kept high in heart, by feeding it, and foil-
ing it,) you can early in the fpring, by April or fooner, have a bite to take off
fuch grazing beafts from hay to grafs, it will be very advantageous before the
clovers can be ready, which are feldom fo in the hill-country till a week or
fortnight within Mayj—and by hayning-up fuch meads for an aftermafs, which
towards the end of the fummer are in very good heart, you'll fupport your
bullock, and carry him on when the fpirit of the other grafi^es fail. — Then
fuch cattle as are unfinirtied being brought to French-grafs hay, and tied up
under hovels, or coverings, and within court walls, will proceed in thriving
by being fecured from the wind and rain, and the tedious hill-country rimes,
that often continue whole winter-days, all which makes fatting-cattle brought
from grafs to pitch, and waflies them out. — Befides, if you have not plenty
of French-grafs hay, you cannot in winter make the beft of a milch-cow that
warps, or of a cow that towards the latter end of winter you may perceive
proves barren, or of a fat cow that cafts her calf before you kill her. — I men-
tion here the necefiity of French-grafs hay only, and not of clover hay, be-
caufe I fuppofe the hill-country farmer, who provides ftore of French-grafs

hay.

230

FATTING of CATTLE.

hay, will be wife enough not to mow the clovers, but to feed them, to im-
prove his lands, for the hill-country farmers have generally fo much land for
their money, that all they can do is little enough to keep their arable land in
fuch heart, as for their profit it ought to be in.

If the foregoing cautions are not oblerved, the ill confequences that wiU
follow muft be fuch as thefe ; — if the firft of the three foregoing cautions is
difregarded, your cattle cannot at any time of the year be made fat as they
ought to be, and then you mufl be under neceflity of felling them half fat, of
which necelTity the buyer never fails to take the advantage; and fell them you
muft, notwithftanding the profpedt of prices rifing in a month or two never fo
much ; and you'll commonly find, that you fhall have nothing for the meat
they have eat whilft they have been fatting. — In the fecond place, we will
fuppofe that very few will be fo unwife, as to begin to fat a beaft in Odlober
with hay, and fo to hay him throughout the winter ; but we may reafonably
fuppofe, that warping beafls and barren heifers, &c. may, and commonly are
begun to be fatted with hay from Chriftmafs, in which cafe, though hay be
plenty, yet if an early fpring-grafs be wanting, fuch cattle mufl; be hayed at
leaft till the middle of May ; for till then, in the hill-country, the clovers will
not give a beaft: a bite, and then commonly, where the mailer is at a lofs and
difappointed, the goods fufl:er before his eyes before he can make the beft of
them, and in this cafe he fhall find a beaft: vifibly pitch before he can find a
purchafer for him. — Again, if early fpring-grafs be wanting, you cannot begin
fummer-fatting of cattle, nor can buy a barren heifer till towards the middle
of May, and then they are commonly very dear ; and in the hill-countrv
from fo late a beginning the fummer-grafs will hardly fat a beaft, the ground
falling early off it's ftrength, being generally poor; — and then, if you have not
a quick-growing aftermafs treafured up, by keeping fuch ground as was for-
merly meadow in good heart for that purpofe, it is plain you muft again run
into the firft evil ; — and if you have fuch an aftermafs, you will again often be
wanting hay in November, and December, to finifti fummer-fatted beafts ; fo
that plenty of hay is alwavs neceftary, ^c. — And laftly, though you have both
hay and grafs, if you want winter ihelter the cattle muft iuffer.

Proposals for Fatting Cattle in the hill-country, and firft of the

Barren Heifer.

§. 36. It is propofed (i.) That the meadows of the farm, which generally
in a farm of an hundred pounds per annum hold to no greater proportion than
from twelve to twenty acres, be kid to pafture for the fatting purpofe.

(2.) That from feven to ten acres be yearly fowed to hop-ciover, for the firft
fpring-grafs for the fatting of beaft?.

(3.) That the good pafture you have made of ground beft inclined to natural
grafs, by chalking and dunging, &c. may receive the barren heifers, (for I fear
it will not be good enough, nor deep enough fed for the oxen) and this made
pafture, having been hayned from the latter end of Januar}', or the middle of

February,

F A T T I N G of C A T T L E. 231

February, I fuppofe may by the end of April have got a good head of
grafs,

(4.) Your barren heifers muft, from the time they may have been fuppofed
to have eaten up this made pafture, be kept in your meadows till they come
to the flaughter.

All fiuting-cattle, whether lambs, flieep, barren cows, or oxen, do require
a regular and projwrtionable progreflion from coarfer to better food, as they
grow more and more into good fle(h ; otherwife, when half fat, they will go
back, and you will not without great difficuhy raife them again, which will
be a great lofs, nor will fuch beef fpend kindly.

Agalnft the time he buys in his heifers, a gentleman who would make a
good hill-country grazier (for I do not fuppofe it to anfwer but to fuch who
kill their own beef in their family) ought to take care to be provided with an
over-plus flock of middling good hay, or of winter-vetches, or of barley-ifraw
and autumn-grafs mixed together, layer and layer of each, be it whatever it
will ; it ought properly to be better than barley- llraw ; for he is to fuppofe he
has bought barren heifers which have been kept all winter to ftraw j— if they
have been kept better, i. e. to ftraw and rowet, there is ftill the greater reafon
for him to mend their keeping ; — and he is from the time of buying to confi-
der, that he ought to begin to raife them in flefh ; for the better cafe they are
in againft they are turned to fpring-grafs, they will take to fatting the kindlier,
and bear their firft fcouring the better. — If he could turn them into a field, for
an hour or two in the day, where there is a little rowet, it would do v^^ell, and
to have change of the abovefaid dry meats would keep them the better to
their ftomachs.

Proposals for FatTing Oxen, in the hill- country.

§.37. The times of turning ofF oxen to fatting are two in the year, which
in feveral refpefts anfwer the publick conveniency, viz,

(r.) The hrft is about May-day, when the labour of the ox is pretty well
over for the fpring-feafon, the fpring-corn being then generally all fown.

(2.) The fecond time for turning oxen to fatting is the beginning of winter,
i. e. from the firft of Ocflober to the middle of November, which falls out
again very luckily j for then the winter-corn, i. e. wheat, and winter-vetches
are generally all fowed throughout England, and the plough-man's hurry
relaxes.

At both thefe times the grazing gentleman, who defigns to kill for his

table all the year round, muft turn oxen to fatting. We will firft begin

to difcourfe of the fpring-fatting, which is the moft chargeable to the hui-
bandman, and therefore he ought to expedt a better price, and a fuitable re-
turn ; for oxen turned out at May-day will hardly get fat till Chriftmafs, and,
if not turned out till June, will not be fat till March, April, or May, which
again falls out very opportunely ; becaufe from Chriftmafs till the latter end
of May cow-beef is very fcarce, and is generally fupplied by ox-beef ; but then

it

232 F A T T I N G of C A T T L E.

it IS obvious, that when an ox gets half", or three quarters fat by or bafor
vvinter, he mufl be fupported and carried on by a great quantity of hay, and
that very good ; for the beaft will then grow nice.

The other time of entering an ox into fatting is, as beforefaid, in Odtober
and November, when he is alfo turned off from the plough ; and the gentle-
man, my young hufbandman, muft be informed, that it is wafte to lay very
good, much more the beft of hay before fuch an ox ; for coming hungry and
poor to it, he will devour abundance, and will eat up the fatteft hay without
paying for the coft and charges of it. — The moft you can propofe by this
method is to get him fat by July, inftead of September, or Oftober ; during
all which interval of time heifer-beef will be plenty, and will fmk the price
of ox-beef ; therefore fo chargeable a method will not quit cofls.

What the grazier therefore in this cafe ought to do, is as follows : he fhould
bring his ox eafily and gently into good fleih by a rowet, that he ought to
have hayned his grounds up to for that purpofe, and of which rowet he ought
to give him the worft firfl, except it be of fo four a kind as to want the cor-
redlion of the winter-frofts before he will eat it, of which kind flubble-rowet
commonly is, and in fuch cafe that muft be referved till then, or rather for
young hearts, and milch-cow cattle. — He ought to give him variety of dry
meat along with his rowet, in which he ought to conlult his tooth by fling-
ing before him, by changes, each fort of good ftraw, giving now and then a
lock of winter-vetches, or coarfer hay, but of every thing good in it's kind,
i. e. fweet, and well made, and thus the ox ought to be carried on throughout
the winter. — Againft March comes he ought to have better hay j not only be-
caufe the rowet may be fuppofed to be all gone, but alfo becaufe the ox mend-
ing in flefh grows nicer, and will be weary of dry meat, through the tediouf-
nefs of being foddered fo much with it during the winter ; therefore his hay
muft be mended ; for not proceeding is going back. - Againft April, if pofTi-
ble, a fhort head of grafs fhould be got for him in your pafture-ground for cow-
cattle, by hayning the pafture in February, that he may have grafs along with
his hay, as before faid in the fatting of barren heifers ; — and againlt May a
head of hop-clover muft be in readinefs, in the hill-country, to receive him
into his firft full grazing, as is alio faid of fatting the barren heifer ; for it is
not to be fuppofed the meadows of the hill-country, which according to this
fcheme are to be converted to pafture, can be fit before the firft of June to en-
tertain a grazing-ox ; and it is alfo to be noted, that in the hill-country, in the
month of May, hop-clover will not afford a good bite for an ox, or a cow,
unlefs the autumn-bud be hayned, and preferved from being fed by ftieep :
in the month of May, if it fliould prove a cold and dry fpring, the fatting-
oxen and cows muft alfo with their hop-clover, if it be fhort, have good hay
given them, if they will eat it. — Note, fatting in the hill-country, if you hay
in the winter, is more chargeable than in the vale, not only becaufe hay is
dearer there, but alfo becaufe the wintcr-feafon begins a month fooner, and
holds a month later in the hill-country than in the vale.

Thus

TURNIPS. 233

Thus you fee what difadvantages the hill-country gentleman lies under,
who would kill a bullock once a month, or three weeks, more than a grazier
of the vale does ; for the firft muft, in a manner, by forcing nature provide
rowetand feveral forts of grafles in their due order, exaftly accommodated to
the feafon of the year, befides winter-meat, &c. — Whereas, for the latter all
may be procured in a natural courfe, with but a very little care and trouble.

Now I doubt not but by this time the reader is provided with a fatal ob-
jedlion, and will tell me, I have forgot the taking care to provide one of the
nioft material, and difficult ingredients to be had in the hill-country for fat-
ting of cattle, viz. proper grafs, in a futRcient plenty, and yet on all occa-
lions I have before prefcribed it. — I do acknowledge I fhould make a very
great, and ridiculous blunder, without an ample provifion in this cale ; I
muft therefore lay it down as a principle, that a hill-country grazier goes to
work without his tools, who does not lay down from fifty to an hundred
acres of land proper for it to French-grafs, not only on the account of making
up the deficiency of the meadows, not laid down to pafture, being converted
to other ufes, but alfo to aniwer many other demands, for inftrudions in
which matter, I refer to the chapter on French-grafTes, &:c. "■

TURNIPS.

§. I. * ^"^Bferving that the turnips, which one of my tenants was cutting, Liming good

V^^ were wormy, I told him, they would have been lefs fo, in cafe ^°'^ '"""P^.
he had limed his ground. — He faid, that laft year (1702) he limed one part
of his ground, and thofe turnips.were much freer from worms than thefe ; —
and, faid I, much fweeter too, I believed. — He anfwered, he never had
fweeter turnips, nor carrots than from that ground, and he did believe that
liming was the occafion of it.

§. 2. '' Mr. Heron of Norfolk aflures me, that they dung their turnip-land Dunging tur.
as much as may be, even to that degree, that their dry land-meadows are !?'P^ '" ^°'^'
quite impoveriftied by it.

§.3.1 had difcourfe with Mr. Pawlet of Leicefterfhire, who deals in great Rules for fow-
quantities of turnips j it was Auguft the 7th, 1699 — he fays, when turnips '"S tufmps-
are fowed after Midfummer they are generally counted out of danger of the
fly : — This fly is like to a weevil breeding in malt, with hard wings ; there
is no danger of it after the lurnip-leaf begins to grow rough, which will be
in a fortnight's time alter fowed, if they come up well. He fows a pound ■

*■ See the articles — Bulls and Oxen — Cows and Calves.

' To deftroy the caterpillar, Mr. Miller feys the fureft method is, to turn a lar^re parcel of
poultrj' into the field ; which ftiould be kept hungry, and turned early in the morning into the
field : thefe fowls will foon devour the infeds, and clear the field.

■* Dung and tillage together, fays Mr. Tull, will attain the neceflary degree of pulverization
in lefs time than ploughing can do alone; therefore dung is more ufeful to turnips, becaufe
they have commoiily lefs time to grow than other plants.

H h and

234 TURNIPS.

and an half of feed on an acre, and fo, as I find, do all the gardeners in
thofe parts ; for the more are fown on an acre the more chance they have
to efcape the flies. — ' There are, he fays, four forts of turnips i viz. the.
white turnips, the red or blue turnips, the yellow turnips, and the long
turnips; for fale the gardeners deal only in the firfl: two forts; — that the fly
lays more feverely on the leaves of the red or blue fort than on the white j
that turnips fhould be fowed in dry weather, or elfe they cannot be raked or
harrowed-in well ; that they muft have a fliower of rain to come up in ; that
though it is true the rain beats down and deftroys the fly that would devour
them, yet it makes thofe flies that out-live it cruelly hungry ; fo that it is
after fuch rain that the turnip-leaves are moll eaten. He fays, there is fo
much moifture in the ground before Michaelmais, that you never need to
doubt the feed fown in Augufl: or after.

§. 4. Mr. Scamwell aflures me, if I drew tobacco-duft over the land
where any greens, as lettuce, &c. are fet (fuppofe a pound to an acre) the
fly will not come to thofe greens. Qusre, if not a good way to fow turnip-
feed with tobacco-duft. — I am told if you mix powder-brimftone with your
turnip-feed it will preferve them from the fly. — Mr. Worlidge in his treatife,
called Two treatifes, fays, that the greateft enemies to turnips are the flies,
which, about the fowing-time, by the fun's influence, are generated in the
ftubble that remained in the field, where you now fow your feed; for it is
obferved, that an eafy ploughing and fudden fowing thcfe feeds makes the
turnips more apt to be thus deftroyed, than a well drefling, and more lei-
furely fowing ; for this deprives thefe vermin of their flielter and fuftenance,
fo that they generally die before the feeds come up. The feed being foaked
in foot-water, and fowed, the bitternefs they have attracted from the foot
is faid to be a fecurity againft birds, flies, and infedls. — New bum-beaked
ground fowed with turnips has been obferved to efcape the fly more than
other land, and feme ftrew aflies on their turnips in gardens to preferve
them from this infedl,
Turnips to be r jyjj. gachelour told me, that I might depend on it, this was fo cold
in a cold a country, that, if I fowed turnips the latter end of Auguft, I fhould not fo
country. much as have leaves, and therefore I ought to fow them by Midfummer :

he faid, he had known it tried.
Why turnips §. 6. I told a famous gardener, that I had heard it faid, if turnips were
ti,r wind i!" fowed when the wind was in the north, or north-eaft, that no turnips would,
northerly, or come up. — The caufe of that, he faid, muft chiefly be, becaufe luch wind,,
in a ho: which naturally parched the ground and dried up all moifture, v/as at that

g'oom, may . ''.»,.,, • 1 1 i 1 1 1 i_

»(K coD\fi up. time accompanied with orought ; but he doubted not, though turnips were
fown in fuch wind, if rain came afterwards, they would come up well. — >
I have alfo heard, faid I, that if turnips were fowed in rain, and a hot
gloom came afterwards, that no turnips would come up. — He faid, the
reafon of that, he thought, muft be, becaufe the ground, by fuch a fudden
heat after wet, was made ftarky, fo that the turnips could not get through ;

and
« .Mr. Miller adds two other forts, vtz. — the ruilj--black, and the green tur.iip.

TURNIPS. 235

and may not, fald he, charlock, and other weeds be deflfoyed by the
fame accident ? — And indeed 1 cannot but agree with him ; for if it be ob-
ferved, you will find the turnip does not come up with it's feed-leaves up-
right, picked, and (harp, as many feeds do, but with broad indented feed-
leaves, and the ftem that carries it's head being but tender, no wonder if it
cannot pierce through the cruft of earth, when it is hardened. — Here the
wifdom of God is to be admired, who, having ordered feed-leaves not (harp-
pointed or fpiked, but broad, or many, and indented, and fo not fit to force
upwards, has caufed them to bend their heads downwards, and (o to get
through the earth by their bended ftalk.

§. 7. I am of opinion the way to have large turnips is to preferve feme of Caution— to
the largeft turnips for feed ; for from fuch feed do the largeft turnips pro- P^cf'^fve the
ceed; whereas the feed bought of gardeners comes of their fcattered feed, '"^"^ ^^'^'^'
which, running up thick, does not head, nor produce a feed that will carry
a large turnip. — It is the fame of afparagus, fays Quintenv.

§. 8. Mr. Cheflin of Leicefterfliire having been very fuccefsful in turnips, Quantity of
I a(ked him, whether he did not fow about a pound and an half on an acre • '"'^ °"^
he faid, his was cold land, for which reafon he (owed rather more. ^"^'

§. 9. As the lefs folid the rinds of all feeds are the larger the fibres, andoftumip-
as the lefs ipirit and oil is contained in them they do the lefs refift veo-eta- '^^'^'^ bariiing
tion, and confequently putrefaction , and the fooner begin growino-, or are^^"V°°
malted in the ground, fo fuch feeds may be expeded, if they come not up
in a few days ^^as turnip-feed in four or five days) to be either burften with
too much rain, or malted for want of moifture, and conveniency to fet them
on growing ; for fuch feeds, of the nature above defcribed, are fufceptible of
a great deal of moifture, and therefore, when fown in the dried: time, though
they meet not with moiflure enough to fet them on growing, feldom fail of
being malted, becaufe the very relaxing quality which is in all earth, to^-e-
ther with the dew of the night, are fufficient for that purpofe. Yet, as to
the burfting the veflels of the turnip-feed by plethory canfed by too much
win, it may be noted, that fome have obferved a glut of rain to have fallen
on the turnip-feed, foon after they have fown it, without any fuch ill effeft,
and others have found that fuch fpeedy rains have burft the ve(rels, and
turned the fiour of the feed into a mucilage. — In thefe two different cafes, as
I judge, the following diftindlions fliould be made, viz. in cafe the turnip-
feed be f )wn for the lake of roots in June or July, while the ground is hot
with the funj and has at the time of fuch heat been glutted v/ith rain, or
that a glut of rain immediately falls on fuch fowing the turnip-feed, i. e.
the fame day, or the night after it was fown ; in fuch cafe I eafily conceive,
the turnip-feed being very fufceptible of moifture, the feed-veiTels may imbibe
the rain to fo great a degree as to be diftended thereby, and be burflen with
the heat that rarifies fuch moifture ;— but in cafe the feed be not fown till
about the middle or latter end of Auguft, when it is fown chiefly for the
herbage, the ground bt;ing generally cooler, and not heated like a hot-bed'

H h 2 to

236

Id, and cf
other keds.

TURNIPS.

to force up the feed (o quickly, yet moift enough, when drieft at that time
of the year, to fet the turnip-feed on growing without rain, in fuch cafe,
efpecially if rain does not fall under two days after the turnips are fown, it
is probable the feed may have had fo much time to fwell gradually in the
ground befoi'e the rain comes, that it may be paft fuch danger ; and this is
the beft account I can give of the atorefaid diverfity.

As for the above reafons turnip-feed is fubjedt either to be malted, or to
corrupt, it may not be improper to add here, that the fame reafons may hold
for the fame effecft in many other feeds, as the medic-grafs, the vetch,
fee. — which the Rei rufticse fcriptores order to be foon covered, becaufe
they are foon corrupted ; for whether a hafty rain may come fuddenly on
them, as they lie above ground, before they can be harrowed-in, or they lie on
the ground expofed to the fcorching fun before they are covered, it feems in
both cafes, for the fame reafon, they may either be malted by the fcorch-
ing heat of the day, and the giving damps of the night, or, being firft fcald-
ed by the fun, and a fudden rain coming on them whilft above ground,
they may imbibe the moifture the fafter, and fo burfl with a plethory, and
this more likely than if they were firft covered, or than after they have
lain wet in the ground, becaufe, in the firft cafe, the too much wet they
receive as they lie above ground carrying not fo much of the fpirit, or vege-
table juices, or volatile falts of the earth along with the water, the nib, or
germen is not fo much impregnated therewith, as to be pufhed forward into
the adt of vegetation, but the nib or plant of the feed is fwelled, and drown-
ed, and burlts in the veffels by receiving too much water without a fpirit
fufficient to ailuate and protrude the vegetable parts, &c. — In the fecond
cafe, the feed lying on the ground, if the fcorching fun lies on it, it's veffels,.
being thereby flirunk, do, on a hafty rain following, imbibe the moifture to.
a greater degree than otherwife, and to a burfting ; — and I muft now ac--
quaint the reader, it has not a little exercifed my thoughts in the reflecftion
what fliould be tUe reafon why hop-clover and broad-clover feed fhould often
come up fo partially in the fame field, where the na;ure of the earth has
been the fame, the feafon the fame, and the tillage the fame; yet I have
had fume lands in the fame field, and that more than once, where the clover
has not come up at all, or but very fparingly, when at the fame time it has
come up in another part of the ground very profpercufly. I am not able to
account for it otherwife than that 1 fufpedt we have fometimes fowed fome.
of the clover-feed, as is ufual, after the day's-work of harrowing has been
over, in order to cut out work for the horfes the next day, and then rain has
fallen in the night, or the next day, fo as to hinder the harrowing the feed
in for a day or two, or fun-fhiny, or windy weather has come, fo as to dry
the feed, and we have neglecfted to heal it with the harrows next day, other
bufinefs intervening, and fo the feed has periflied. I muft confefs I cannot
advance this beyond a probable hypothefis for want of having kept a diary
of the fad, therefore leave the reader to make the beft he can of the hint I

give.

U R N I P S.

m

give. — ^ Pliny fays, caution muft be ufed in fowing the medic-clover, which
ought to be covered in as foon as fowed, left it (hould be burnt up.

§. ID. Farmer Miles fays, he has often known, where peas have proved Of fowing
rank, fo as to have made the ground mellow, that turnips have been fown '""""'P o" »
thereon, as foon as the peas were removed, and harrowed-in without plough-
ing, and it has had very good fuccefs.

§. II. My gardener affirms, if turnip-feed be dropped, and in digging co- ^^ '""■"'?'
vered over with earth, he has the next year found fuch feed frefli and good, y^r in"the^
and, when the earth was turned back again, it has grown, and produced ground,
good turnips. — I afked him how that could be, fince it is faid, if turnips be
fown, and no rain falls in feme fliort time, the feed will die and never come
up. — He faid, that was true j for when it lies on the top of the earth, and
but juft harrowed-in, if nine or ten days hot weather come upon it, it will
never come up, but in this it was turned a fpade deep under ground.

§. 12. The Nevvtown-men, who houghed my turnips this year (1707) T'l^ t^me of
having made it their bulinefs for many years to hough turnips, afTure me, ^""^ ""° '''''
that it is beft to hough turnips as foon as they have four leaves, that is, as
they explain it, the two feed-leaves, and the two fucceeding leaves, provided
they are grown big enough to be out of danger of being buried in houghing.

§. 13. In houghing turnips I fuppofe care ought to be taken to hough Manner of
thofe up that are deepeft rooted in the earth, and to leave thofe that grow "°"8'*'"S "^'
upon, and moft out of the earth, without much regarding their bignefs, in-
afmuch as they that lie on the ground, and have room to grow, will quickly be
the biggeft turnips.

§. 14. A dry feafon is the beft for houghing turnips, becaufe neither the ^ f ^ ^^^^°'''
weeds nor the turnips houghed up will be fo apt to grow again. houghing tw-

§.15. I am apt to think the beft way to manage turnips ^the feed of which "'P^-
is impatient of growth, and apt to burft in too much wet, as alfo to cor- j^jnaa-^g"
rupt, if the ground be fo dry as only to give it a damp, but not wet enough to turmgited.
fet it on growing) is, firft to harrow the ground fine, then to roll it with a rol-
ler big enough to break the little clods, and fo to let it lie till the next rain ;
then the ground being mellow, to fow the feed, and harrow it in with fliort-
tined harrows, which may not open the ground too deep, nor bury the feed ;
then to roll it again with an one-horfe roller, in order to keep the moifture in
the ground as'deep as the feed may lie; for the furface of the ground muft not
be dried before the feed can llrike root, which maybe in two days and two
nights, and yet the furface of the earth muft be fo fine, and fo lightly com-
prelfed, that the feed may fpear through. — The myftery of the fuccefs or
mifcarriage of a crop of turnips confifts in thefe four things, viz. firft in the
feed's not lying too deep ; fecondly, in it's not lying too wet, which it cannot
eafily do if harrowed-in fliallow, for the furface of the earth is foon dry j
thirdly, in it's not lying too dry ; and, fourthly, in it's lying in a fine bed.

Turnips
* De medicacavendum, ne aduratur, terraque protinus integi debet. Plin..Iib. 18. fo. 28a,

238

Id. in clay-
land.

U R N I

S.

White-lard
better than
clay lor tur-
nips, in re-
gard to their
fweetneis.

White land
b id for tur-
nip;. Alfo
«1 fape-roots.

Turnips, if
not clejn
eaten, may
take root
Pj5:<in after
ploughing.

Turnips ought, in clay-land, to be but jufl: harrowed-in with a bufh, as light
as may be, that the turnip- root may grow upon the ground j for it will not be
able to grow to it's dimenfions within the clay-ground, nor can it, if it be
checked in it's growth by a ftiff ground, be fweet, becaule, for want of room,
the exuberancy of it's juice will make it knotty and flicky.

I have often confidered the nature of turnips, particularly with relation to
the foil of our hill-country, and do think we are like to be deprived of that
benefit others have from turnips, becaule our ground is Co cold and backward in
it's produdlions, that we can never expe<5t to fow a crop of turnips after a crop
of hotfpur-peas ; for in the firft place hotfpur-peas will be late ripe with us,
and, if we could rid that crop by the middle of June, yet that is too late to
fow turnips with us, on account of the drought that reigns over us at that
time, nor would turnips have time enough, in lb cold a country as our's is, to
grow to peifedion. — If we fow in the beginning of May, the turnip v/ill not
feed with us the fame fummer ; fo that it is plain we cannot have two crops
the fmie fummer, but the crop of turnips, which is hazardous, muft fland in
the room of a crop of corn. — The bell way 1 can propofe for a crop of turnips
in our country is, to winter-fallow the fecond or third year's clover-ground,
which will be rather too poor to bear a crop of barley without the foil of fold-
ing, and then to fow turnips the beginning of May, and, if they fucceed,
you will have all the May-lliowers to forward them, and time enough, if the
firft fowing fails, to try again, and, if you fhcjuid not fucceed at lift, the ground
will be very fulficiently, and excellently hufbanded to plough again, and fow
winter-vetches in Augufl : all things confidered here is the leaft: lofl every
way, as I could demonftrate.

§. 16. With us at Crux-Eafton, turnips will be fweeter in white than in
our clay-ground, as I have oblerved in a garden-plot with one part of it clay-
land, and the other white down-land : always from the white-land there
comes a very fwect turnip, but from the clay-land a rank turnip that the
people cannot eat ; — I fuppofe, if a ground confifted ofthefe two forts of land,
the flieep would lie on the turnips of the white-land.

But notwithrtanding this, January 10th (anno 1698) going to Holt by
Burbage I afked a farmer whether white lightilh land might not bear turnips,
and he faid, by no means, it was the worft fort of land of all for them ; the
blackifti fandy earth, or redifh fandy earth were the beft.— Another farmer I
met with afterwards faid the fame, and they agreed the beft time for lowing
them was about St. James's-tide. [Note, if they are fowed earlier ia the fum-
mer, the fun will ripen them, and bring them on fo faft that they will be
apt to run to feed.] Charlock, rape, and turnip-feed are not eafily diftinguifh-
able, and flieep will eat of the rape-roots as well as of the turnip roots, and it
is of the fame nature, and the fame fort of land agrees with it; only the rape-
root does not grow fo large as the true turnip-root does; yet many farmers
about Burbage buy of it to fow.

§. 17. Mr. Cooper of Berklhire fowed four acres to turnips lafi: fummer
(anno 1699) and ploughed them up at fpring, and fowed the ground to peas;

and

TURNIPS. 239

and the little dwarfifli turnips that were left behind uneaten, notwithftanding
his ploughing them up, took root again, and were then in great quantities
run to feed, and had much damaged his crop of peas ; but the feed being
dropped he intended, after the peas were off, to harrow them in.

§. 18. Being in company with Mr. Gouch, a Norfolk gentleman, we dif- Of the han-
courfed about the turnip-hufbandry of Norfolk : I could not find that they teniperationa
fo much valued the harm the fly did to their turnips, while they were young turnip.
and tender in the leaf, as they did a diftemper or difeafe that fell on the roots
of their turnips, which they called the hanbery, alluding it feems, as he faid,
to the like diftemper in a horfe's heel, which was a warty excrefcence, that
would fometimes grow to the bignefs of one's fift, and that fome year*
this diftemper would take whole fields, and, after it began to grow in the tur-
nips, they would never thrive. — No one, he faid, could ever find out thes
caufe of this difeafe. — I told him, I thought it muft proceed from the egg of
a worm or fly that was laid in the turnip, in the place where it had been bit,
and the litde maggot lay in the hollow place, which, with it's tail continually'
working circularly, formed the juice of the turnip into a round excrefcence^
about itfelfjin whach it continued growing, like that of the oak-apple ^

GRASSES.

* After bTaming the praffice of putting a flock of flieep into a large ground of turnips without di-
viding it, by which they will deftroy as many in a fortnight as would keep them a whole winterj,
Mr. Tull proceeds to give an account of the three manners of fpending turnips with fheep, which
are common to thofe drilled, and to thofe fown in the random way.

The firft manner now in ufc is, to divide the ground of turnips by hurdles, giving them leave to
come upon no more at a time than they can eat in one day, and fo advance the hurdles farther into
the ground daily, until all be fpent ; but we muft obferve, that they never eat them clean this way,
but leave the bottoms and outfides of the turnips they have fcooped in the ground. Thefe bottoms
people pull up with iron crooks made for that purpofe; but their cavities bemg tainted with urine,
dung, and dirt from their feet, tho' the fheep do eat fome of the pieces, they v/aRe more, and many
the crooks leave behind in the earth, and even what they do eat of this tainted food, cannot nourifh
them [o well as that which is frefh and cleanly.

The fecond manner is to move the hurdles every day, as in the firll ; but, that the flieep may noT
treadupon the turnips, they pull them up fiift, and then advance the hurdles as far daily as the tur-
nips are pulled up, and no farther : by this means there is not that waiie made as in the other way ;
the food is eaten frefli and clean, and the turnips aie pulled up with lefs labour than tlicir pieces
can be.

The third manner is to pull them up, and to carry them into fome other ground in a cart or wag-
gon, and there fpread them ever}' day on a new place, where the fheep will eat them up clean, both
Jeaf and root. This is done, when there is land not far off, which has more need of dung than that
where the turnips grow, which perhaps is alfo too wet for fheep in the winter, and then the turnips
will, by the too great moiffure and dirt of the foil, fpoilthe fheep, and, in fome foils, give thctn tl;e
rot; yet fuch ground will bring forth more and larger turnips than dry lan.l, and v. hen thrv are
carried oft and eaten on ploughed ground in dry weather, and on gteen-fv/ord in wet weather, the
fheep will thrive much better ; and that moift (oil, not being trodden bv the fheep, will be in much
the better order fora crop of corn ; and generally, the expence of hurdles and removing: them being
faved, will more than countervail the labour of carrying oft the turnips. — They muft alwavs be car-
ried off the ground for cows and oxcii, which will be fatted by them, and fome hay ui the winter.

/

[ 240 ]

GRASSES.

Graiiesindi- g^ 1 • T3 "^ ^V <^^^" obfervatlon I am fenfible, that, as the fort of grafs
tureand "oJd. sj every ground bears (which is befl difcovered by it's ear or panicle)

nd'sof the is a certain indication of the nature of the foil, fo by the thinnefs of the culm,
^''^' which carries the ear or panicle, and the fliortnefsof theearorpaniclecompared

to what you may obferve it to be in other grounds, you may make a right efti-
■ mate of the goodnefsor poverty of any ground carrying fuch or luch a fort of
grafs ; for the reafon holds as well in this cafe as it does in corn ; therefore it
is very neceifary for our hulbandman to underftand the Enghlh pafture, and
meadow-grafles.
The cow- §. 2. The cow-quakc grafs, or gramcn tremuhim, though a very poor and

quake grafs. flgn^jej- grafs, is no indication of poor land where it grows ; for Mr. Ray fays,
it is the moft common grafs of any in all the parture grounds throughout
England, Hoc genus in pafcuis per totam Angliam vulgatiirimum eft: in om-
nibus quas unquam lullravit Clufius regionibus prata multis locis veilit.
Fo. 1274.
Small creep- §. 3. The gramen parvum repens purpurea fpica, or fmall creeping grafs,
ing grab and jg no indication of bad eround, though a verv flender grafs: Ray fays, vol. 2.

fmoothcrell- - ,, , . . ° . ,f ; ,- ^ '^i » r . r

cdgrais. fo. I2b6. It IS very common in paltures. — It ieems to nave a great Iweetnels

in it. — The fame may be faidof the gramen criftatum, for that alio abounds

every where in our meadows and paftures. It is in Englifli called fmooth-

crefted grafs.

Perennial §. 4. As I coHcelve, It may be laid down for a general rule, that all fuch

gMiTesiTiay plants as are perennial will bear fowing as well at autumn, i. e. before winter,

wmt^LV'^ ^s at fpring, provided they are fowed early enough to take good root before

winter, the difficulty lying here ; for they are plants that will endure many

winters; thus may you fow rye-grafs, broad-clover, hop-clover, French-

grafs, 6cc.

I happened to carry out in my dung fome winnowings of clover-feed, and
laid them on two ridges of land where I had fowed wheat : the clover came
up ver)' thick at harvefi: ; but was not fj rank as the barley-clover, it being
kept down by the wheat. — It was a very wet, but not a hard froily winter;
but from hence I do infer, that clover-feed will endure the winter, nor will it
feed the next fummer, nor damage the wheat.
Of the gaping §. 5. This day, being the 30th of May (anno 1707) walking in the fields
of the feed- ^j ]yjj._ Raymond's I obferved that the feed-veffels, or cups of all the feveral
forts of grades in the meadows, gape in their flowering-time, {o that the little
miftrefs or plume (from whence the flower a'rifes, which is the firft principle
of the feed, and no bigger than the point of a needle) may eafiiy be conceived
to be hurt by bad weather, fuch as blights, mildews, rain, 6tc. I alfo ob-
ferved the feed-veflTels of the barley to gape.

I impute

GRASSES. 241

1 impute the great quantity ofgrafles thisfummer, 1705, to the advantage
of the great drought the grafs-flowers had in flowering-time, the farinaceous
or flowering feeds on the ftamina not having been washed off by rain.

§. 6. Hop-clover and broad-clover grafl"es feem to my eye, by their deeper Ofthenaturs
colour the fecond year than the firft, not to be fo fweet a food then as in the °f hopand
firft year, when they are brighter coloured.

§. 7. As broad-clover falls ofl'of it'sfweetnefs after Midfummer (as elfewhere Grafles abate
hinted) and will hot then fat ewes and lambs, as natural grafs in a good pafl:ure of their fweec-
vvill do, fo I doubt not but all grafl!es do abate of their fweetnefs and fpirit at Midtammer.
that time of the year.

§. 8. Varro fays the medic feed ought to be fowed in the morning after the Ofthemedk
dew is off; and no more ought to be fowed than can be covered-in by the har- ^^ "
rows the fame day ; for, if not covered, the leafl: wet may deflroy it.

Pofl: fecundam diei horam vel tertiam fpargenduni eft, cum jam omnis
humor fole ventove deterfus eft, neque amplius projici debet quam quod eodem
die poffit operiri, nam, li non inceflit, quantulocunque humore prius quam
obruatur corrumpitur. — I believe this feed, as well as vetches, and other grain
that come up in the fliorter time, takes in moifture very faft, and is apt there-
fore, if not fowed dry, to burft and corrupt.''

§. 9. 1 have often fufpefted, that the hop-clover and broad-clover we fow was Hop and
not of Engli(h>extrafl:ion,bccaufe it will not laft above twoyears with us, if mowed, bioad-clovet
and but three years if we feed it as fparingly as pofiible, and fow it in the beft England.
land we have ; therefore I thought thefe feeds might have been brought from
Flanders, where, as natives, they might laft many years;— but I am now (anno
1707) convinced from Mr. Ray, and from the nature of thofe plants: Mr. Ray,
in his Hiftory of Plants, vol. i. fo. 944, calls the broad-clover we fow — the
larger purple meadow trefoil ;— and (hews the manifeft difterences between it,
and our red honeyfuckle, and fays,~it grows in paftures, but lefs frequent than
the common purple trefoil, and is alfo fown in fields as food for cattle, and by
fome called common clover-grafs : and the fame author, in his Synopfls Stir-
pium Britannicarum, fo. 194, carries on the comparifon farther, and fays, it is
not fo durable as the lefler purple meadow trefoil, nor does it like that fow
itfelf. — And of the hop-trefoil, vol. i. fo. 949, he makes but two forts, and

* The medic or Luferne fo much extolled by antient writers had not been long introduced into
England, and was very little known in the time of our author. Mr. Tull's defcription of it is as fol-
lows. " It's leaves refemble thofe of trefoil : it bears a blue blofibm very like to double violets,
" leaving a pod like a fcrew, which contains the feeds about the bio;nefs of broad-clover, tho' longer
" and more of the kidney fhape. It's tap-root penetrates deeper into the earth than any other ve-
" getable it produceth."--He is of opinion however, from fome reafons he there mentions, that
there is no hope of making any improvement by planting it in England, in any manner praftifed by
the antients or moderns, and relates the great expence and pains the Romans were at to raife it ; bur
to thofe, who are defirous of making the experiment, he recommends his new Horfe-hoeing Huf-
bandry as the only method to obtain it. Mr. Miller calls it an extreme hardy plant, and is pofitivc
it willfuccced well in England, but feems to agree with Mr. Tull, that it cannot be cultivated here
to any good purpol'e by the old method of hufbandry ; for the rules he lays down for it's culture
are all according to Air.' Tail's manner, by the drill^ and the hoe-plough. See his directions at
large under the article— Medica.

I i fays,

24.3 GRASSES.

fays, the bigger, which is that we fow, grows in the fields among the
hedges, efpecially in gravelly or fandy foili.— I do indeed conceive, that none
of thefe trefoils are long-lived, not only becaufe they have tap-roots poorly
maintained by fibres (of which thofe we fow have fewer, and are lefs nou-
rilliedby the capillary roots than the others, they being pretty well matted)
but alfo becaufe I find the white honeyfuckle, the purple, and the leffer hop-
clover to increafe and decreafe yearly in a manifeft manner, according as you
improve or impoveriili your ground ; if you improve it with manure or afhes,
you may raife great quantities of it, I judge, from the feed, but if you mow
it, and with-hold your dung, it will die away in two or three years time. —
•Dutch The * white Iioneyfuckle, I think, ought chiefly to be managed by manures,
'^'°'"' where it likes a ground, becaufe it is fweet food, and by it's trayling ftalks

takes root at the joints, and matts extreamly, and foon over-runs a ground,
and is therefore, I believe, the longeft liver.
Tofowclo- §. ID. The more ilony your ground is the more reafon to fow clover, be-
ver or. ftony ^aufe thereby the barley may be the better raked up ; inafmuch as either hop
''"^' or broad-clover will bear-up the barley from the ftones, but rye-grafs, it feems,

is not ferviceable on that account.
Broad-clover §• 1 1 . I find that broad-clovcr, fowed onftrong clay-land, which is apt to
^""(^whTn '^ ''"" ^° fword, is not fo apt to run to grafs, if mowed, as when fed ; for when
fel than it is mowed, the clover-grafs runs fo rank, that it fhades and deprefies the na-
whenmowed. ^^^^^\ grafs, which it cannot do when fed ; befides, the feeding of catde brings
a foil to it, which encourages the natural grafs, but kills the broad-clover j
for, where the cow-dung lies, the broad-clover will turn white and rot un-
derneath it, and dunging of fown-grafi!es, fuch as faint-foin, inftead of en-
riching them, brings on the natural grafs.
Irquiry into §. 12. It feems to me a very great difficulty how to account for the growing
the caufe why Qj. ^q^ growing of broad-clover, whether fowed in the fpring, or at autumn
©'""^nfaib!" wif'^ ^ vvheat-crop ; for I have ofi:en obferved fome lands in the fame ground
to fail, where the nature of the foil has been the fame. — On the utmoft re-
fledlion I can make, I do conclude, that fometimes, where fields are fown
with wheat and broad-clover, the clover has failed on account of the coldnefs
and wetnefs of the ground, and I make the fame judgment of broad or hop-
clover fowed with oats, efpecially if fown early in the fpring, when, though
the land may not be too cold, neither in it's own nature, nor through rain,
&c. for oats, yet it may be fo for clover-feed. — And though white-ground In
it's own nature be dry and warm, yet it is hollow and light, and, being alfo
poor, the cold of the fpring often pierces it, and fo in fuch grounds the hop-
clover as often dies as in cold clay-ground. — And it often happens, that three
or four acres in a large ground may fail by being fowed wetter than the reft,
by the falling of rain, which m.ight put a ftop to the fowing of the oats for
two or three days, and then you may be obliged to fow again before the
ground may be dry enough for the clover-feed, though it may do well enough
for the oats. — Note therefore for the future to obferve more critically whether
this diverfity does not hold.— From hence feems to arife the caufe, why broad-
clove*

R A S S E S.

243

clover feldom fucceeds Co well with black oats as with white, becaufe they
are fowed early, and while the ground is cold, and therefore the more care
ought to be taken.

§. 13. The autumn-clover, which fhoots up at the beginning of Septcm- Of feeding
ber, arifing from a young bud, and being full of fap as well as of but a fhort '"■°^'-^ *^'*'^"'
length, is eafily fed and maintained throughout the winter, and therefore to be
faved by being hayned ; but the firft year's clover, which comes up among
the corn, or the growth of aftermafs-clover, being before autumn grown to a
good length, requires too much nouri(hment (when nature is withdrawing it's
flrength in order to form and nourifli the buds of the next fpring) to be main-
tained during the winter, and therefore ought to be fed down, becaufe other-
wife it would die on the ground.

§. 14. I left a patch of French-grafs for feed, and it britted much; I foon Caution to fa-
eat down the aftermafs, and hayned it from the middle of Auguft, or the be- t^e°r"bntdng* '
ginning of September, for the next fummer's crop : the 2d of Oftober See § 22.
(anno 1704) 1 went to fee whether the brittings came up, or not; I found
they came up very thick on the ground, with their feed-leaves, and eflabliflied
trefoil-leaves, and with farther foboles prepared at the roots for next year, and
I believed they would do well, not having been fed otherwife than as above ;
for this feeding of the aftermafs, to eat down the rowet, that the brittings
might grow, did them good. A day or two after I obferved broad-clover and
hop-clover in their feed-leaves, and their trefoil-leaves, very plentiful from
britdngs ; therefore the favouring fuch grounds a month after britting, and in
rains, advifeable.

§. 15. Broad-clover of the firfl: year, i. e. after the ftubble, is forwarder in Firft year's
it's growth, and fprings fafler than the fecond year's growth will do ; there- t|,°^i,">'^^'^"
fore, if you would have early grafs for your horfes, a clofe of the firft year's grais for
growth is fitteft for them. — The fibres of the roots of the young clover are Tories,
more fpungy than thofe of the fecond year's growth ; the glands alfo of the
former are tenderer, and more eafily admit of the philtration of the juices
through them than the latter do, and therefore the young bud fprouts fafi:er
than that of the next year's growth.

§. 16. Having faid fomething of the great fervice of twenty or thirty acres Of broad-
of broad-clover to fupport great cattle in a dry feafon, in July and Augufl, ^^°^^j° ^'^f^
when there is more efpecially a flop to vegetation for a month or five weeks, growth for
I have this fpring (anno 1719) found fuch twenty or thirty acres of broad- !^"'"S""|«
clover, of the fecond year's growth, of equal fervice to what it had been in vij. Fatung
July and Augull; ; for this year my broad-clover fupportcd my great cattle of cattle, § 17.
from the middle of April to the middle of May. — As 1 found the broad-clover
of the faid grounds beneficial the former year in July and Auguft, fo without
the fame relief this fpring my great cattle mufi: have flarved ; for my fodder-
llraw was gone by the middle of April, and no rain had fallen for five weeks
before, and the wind had been north and eafterly for fix weeks, fo that no
grafs of any other kind did wag, and yet the twenty acres of broad-clovcr did
from Mid- April to Mid-May maintain twenty-three yearlings, and eight (leers

1 i 2 of

244- GRASSES.

of four years growth, befides a great many hogs, and yet the pafture grew on
them, and run more and more to a head every day, though early in the fpring
the fheep had fed it down bare, fo that the ground was n6t hayned till the be-
ginning of April, and the wind, as well as drought, oppofed the growth of
the grafs.
Of broad- §. 17. Amongft the many advantages of fowing broad-clover one is, that

dover.its Bfe. Jt ^iU grow during the fore-part of the winter, and will fupport a few fatting-
flieep, giving them a little hay with it, and without the grafs being injured by
them, provided you keep only a few in a large extent of ground, that they
may not be forced to bite too clofe ; whereas hop-clover will make no fuch
advances in the winter months as to ferve fuch an end or purpofe : this is a good
conveniency to a country gentleman, who would fat his own mutton in the
winter.
Eroad-dover §. 18. As I remember, Ray fays, that the true broad-clover grows wild in
loves moift moift f^t meadows ; therefore it is no wonder that it fhould fucceed well when
fowed in moift, fpewy, and fpringy cold arable. — At Holt there is fo cold and
fpringy a clay, that the farmers ufed not to fow it, either to barley, oats, or
peas, and would but now and then clap in a few beans ; but farmer Ifles (be-
fore, or about the year 171 6) fowed it to broad-clover, and it got a very thick
fwarth, and carried a deep green colour, and yet the ground was not laid round,
but was laid down flat.
Id. black, Farmer Lavington of Wiltfliire was of opinion, that a black, fandy, mellow

fandy, mellow Jand was the beft ground for broad-clover, and that tlie old broad-clover hay
was as good as old meadow hay, only in foddering the leaves of the clover were
apt to fall off, and fo it m.ade more wafte than the other. — Mr. Raymond faid,
the broad-clover hay was fo lufcious, that neither fhecp nor cows liked it fo
well as common meadow hay; — but farmer Lavlngtcn replied, he found not
but that with change they liked it as well as the beft hay.
Of clover in ^, j^^ Jt often happens, that, when dry fprings and fummers follow after
ry prings. ^^^ iowing of clover-graffes, they will come up in a blade, and die away
again without any fign of a blade appearhig at harveft, and yet about that
time on the following fummer a thick blade fhall appear above ground, and
produce a good crop : this happens %vhen the blade only was killed by the
drought; but the root had efcaped, and fo fprung up again when rain came,
— When the blade appears in the fpring, tho' it dies away again, you may
have hopes of it's reviving, but, if it never appeared, there can be no hopes
at all.
Sick'y clover §• 20. A Glouccfterft^iire gentleman fhewed me his broad-clover, and faid,
fnouid be fed, fome part of it had been dunged, and was the better for it ; — but, when I
ieaithy j.^^j examined it, I found the land to be of a wet, cold nature, and 1 fufpeft-

ed that moft part of that wfiich was not dunged was killed by the wet, and
I believed much of the other was killed by the dung ; but it is true, fo
much of it as efcaped grew the thicker and ranker for it, being fupported by
the dung, as by a cordial, againft the wet. This broad-clover turned yel-
low ; theiefore, if it did not recover it's colour^ efpecially if it put forth

frefh

GRASSES. 245

frefh buds at the root, I thought he (hould feed it down, though if it re-
covered of it's fickly look, it ought to be mowed.

§.21. I have heard fay, that'broad-clovcr would not come again where Cowsdungics
the cows had dunged, and I do believe it, efpecially where it falls broad on kills broad-
the grafs ; for I have turned up fuch cow-dung, and found the broad-clov&r '=^°'^'"'
under it perfecftly whitened, and rotted by the dung, which roots I fuppofe
were forced by the dung in fuch a manner as thereby to be killed, as it fares
with kitchen-plants.

§. 22. November the 5th (anno 1703) I cut up feveral roots of broad- Of favouring
clover, and found the top of the root divide itfelf into many tufts, as the ^^l^^p]''^^^"
French-grafs root does, through the center of which tufts the new fobolesgrafa in No-
are formed, and iffue out ; I found at this time of the year moft of the fo- vember, &c.
boles formed for the next year grown enough to be bit off by the fheep, "^^ ^- '+•
which I conclude muft put nature very backward, and caufe her to form
another centrical bud within the foldings of that bit off; therefore great
favour ought to be fliown to fuch graffes at this time of the year ; — but as
for rye-grafs, and other fuch-like graffes, though their roots divide themfelves
into tufts, from the center of which alfo, as through a Iheath, the new
fpires of grafs fpring up, yet it is but of one continued fpring of grafs, not
made up of difiimilar parts, and fo it has no leafy head to be taken off, to
fo great damage as the French-grafs has ; but being bit off, it has fimilar
fuccedaneous parts, v/hich carry on it's grov/th, and fo winter-feeding does
not hurt it.

§. 23. My men were fallowing up a field that had been two years fowedofthe roots
to broad-clover : I wondered to fee fuch abundance of flender carrotty-roots °^^'°^^''- ^■^"
turned up by the plough, and ftaring an-end ; I plucked at them, and drew renews,
fome of them up, and found they were the broad-clover-roots ; I meafured
them, and found moft of them to be eleven inches long in the tap-root : It
is evident fiom hence of what confequence the depth and ftiength of the
foil is as well to broad-clover-roots as to carrots and parfnip?, and to hop-
clover too ; for quickly after I dug up a hop-clover-root of two years growth ;
it was in pretty good itrong ground, and I found it to be in length about fix
inches, and very thick, when compared with a root or two of the fame
year's growth ; I pulled another root of hop-clover, in a piece of white-land,
in the fame ground, but it was very flender and weak compared with the other,
and not fo long.— riFron"! hence it is plain, as has been before obferved, that
in good land the ©Se«*= is neither hurt by the fun, nor tore up by the cattle,
as it is in poor land : it is alfo apparent, from the deep penetrating of it's
tap-roots, how neceffary it is their mold fhould be made fine and eafy to
them when they are fown. — I alfo examined the rye-grafs, and I found it
confifted of an innumerable number of fhort hairy capillary roots, and con-
fequently feeds on the fat furface of the ground, and therefore at Midfum-
mer, when ground is burning, it fooneft burns, and is belt and chiefeft in
the fpring, and at autumn ; nor need ground be fo fine, nor fo deep, nor fo
ikh for it, as for either French-grafa or clover. Rye-gtafs improves for a

year.

24-6

R A S S E S.

year or two, or three j-ears ; whereas the clover dies away, and difimproves
the furface of the land, tho' indeed it improves yearly by pafturing of cattle,
by the heat of the fun, and by the moiflure of both rain and dew.
The good ^_ 24. The flourifhing condition of plants is no argument for the agree-

the plant no ment of the ground with them, in cafe the feed of fuch plants be the fruit
argument that for fake of which they were fown ; for, as before obferved, the plant is the
S''°^^^'^"'Pf_^hardieft part, and will often flouri(li in a foil much too cold to bring the
the feed. feed of it to pcrfedlion ; thus 1 can have rank barley-flraw, and rank broad-
clover-grafs on my clay-grounds, where the feed of each will be cold and
thin, nor will they come to due perfeftion.
Id. and infe- It is plain from the reafons aforefaid, that the feed-part of the feed is the
reiices. tendered part of it, and that the plant, or herbaceous part of the feed, is the

hardieft part of it ; fo that one need not to be fo very curious in changing
the feed of any grain, tho' fomewhat degenerated, when you fow not to pro-
duce feed, but only to raife the grafly or herbaceous part of the plant. —
Therefore what gore or winter-vetches, tills, or clover-grafs you may fovr
only for fodder for cattle will do very well from feed of your ov/n growth,
taking this caution, that every year you buy new feed for what you intend
to let run to feed, and wherewithal to fow your crops the fucceeding year ;
except indeed you raife feed of winter-vetches of your own faving, it is im-
poffible, if you fow a great quantity of them, to procuie feed time enough
to fow fo early as that grain requires to be fown ; fo remifs are farmer.*; in
threfliing out their winter-vetches for the market.
Afiermafs of §. 25. Our Hamortiire hill-country is fo cold, that the broad-clover after-
tTh "^'"^^h "^^''^ ripens very indifterently, and the juices of it are very cold and four ;
hiil-couDtry. fo that, if the hay made of it fods a little in the wet, tho' houfed afterwards
never fo dry, it becomes taftelefs : this I had experience of in the year 171 1 ;
when I had fuch hay that had taken wet, but was reeked very dry, and came
•out in good order j yet the cow-beafts would not eat it for change fo well
as ilraw, but made wafte of it; and the calves would not touch it; yet I
could fee nothing more than ordinary in it, but that it had loft it's colour and
fmell, but was neither wet nor finnowy.
Hop-dover, §. 26. I have obfervcd, that, if a fummer proves dry, hop-clover will
if the fummcr j^Qj. j^^jj above one year ; either the iheep, feeding it clofe, pull it up by the
faib but one roots. Or elfe the root not Itriking deep has no fliade, and fo is burnt up by
y^ar. ti^e fun.— But 1 have a great prelumptic , that that evil would be remedied,

if vi^e laid our grounds down in good heart to hop-clover; for then the root
would ftrike deep, and would neither be injured by feeding at ftubble-time,
nor by the heat of the fun in fummer.
Management §. 27. Mr. Townfend of Cain, in Wilts, tells me, that thereabouts they
ofb.oadclo- inake great advantage of ploughing the aftermafs of broad-clover into the
ver in 1 is. gj.^j^^j^^^ j|^g fecond year, and then fowing wheat on it : — they roll it down,

he fays, and fome, who have fheep, tread it down before they plough it in.
The younger §. 28. The extraordinary finenefs of the wool, about All-cannons in Wilt-
the root the Q{ne is imputed to the richnefs of their arable land, which bearing continual
^T""' ploughing,

GRASSES. 247

ploughing, the grafs that fprings up In the fallows Is thereby always young
and tender, as proceeding from annual feeds, not from old roots : it holds as
a general rule in graffes of all forts, that the younger the root the fweeter
the grafs. So broad-clover, and hop-clover, and rye-grafs too, are much
fweeter the firft year than the fecond j it feems therefore to be good huiban-
dry in the hill-country of Hampfhire to plough-in the fecond year's broad
and hop-clover, becaufe, as it is coarfer the fecond year than the iirft, fo it
muft be very coarfe feed in the hill- country, where it is often four the firft
year.

§. 29. It feems to me, that in the vale, where the land is good, and lies Ofpioughing-
warm, and brings the broad-clover forward, and where they fow wheat late "hJ^ygieVni
(the latter end of Odober, or after) they may plough-in the broad-clover hill coumrj-..
pretty early in the fpring, viz. by the middle of May, it having been hayned
up early for that purpofe ; for by that time there may be a good burden,
being ploughed-in, to improve the ground with, and there will be time
enough to fow it, either on the fecond, or on the third eai'th ; for the clover
will have time to rot by Michaelmafs ; but in the hill country, where both
the land and the air are cold, and confequently cannot bring the broad-clover
forward to a good head early enough in the fpring, and where we fow wheat
very early (in Augufh, or the beginning of September) 1 do not fee how we
can have a burden of broad-clover on the ground early enough in the Ipring
to have time, when ploughed-in, to rot, and to give the ground any more
than one earth before feed- time. — Therefore, in the hill- country, I rather
advife to feed the broad-clover early in the fpring, and then hayn it up, fo
that a good burden may be ploughed-in by the latter end of July, taking a.
dry time for doing it, in order to fow wheat on the back of it, i. e. on one
earth, in Auguft, or by the middle of September at fartheft.

§. 30. Amongft other advantages of fowing broad-clover beyond hop- Advanfage of
clover one is, that, as I have obferved, few thirties, docks, or other trum- beyond hop!
pery of weeds come up in my broad-clover grounds, in comparifon of v/hat clover.
come up in the grounds fown with hop-clover ; for the broad-clover fpread-
ing, and covering the ground fo much more than the hop-clover does, it kills
the weeds ; it alfo grows taller than hop-clover, and runs up to a good
height the fecond year's growth, which hop-clover does not, and is a great
means to fupprefs weeds. The growth of weeds in my hop-clover cannot
be imputed to the foulnefs of the feed, becaufe I ufe milled-feed.

§.31. Mr. Herrick alfured me from experience, that, if, on their rich Broad-ddver:
knd in Leicefterfhire, broad-clover was fown, when the ground was intend- jj^ij j"own to^
ed to be laid down for a long time to natural grafs, the broad-clover would, grafs in Lei-
when it decayed, prevent the ground from fwording to natural grafs. — This cefterfture.
may very well he in fuch grounds as naturally run to grafs, as the rich lands
of Leicefterfhire do, inafmuch as the broad-clover may deflroy the very roots
of the natural grafs, and kill the feedlings that may lie in the ground, and
would come up, were they not checked,

§. 32. The

24S G R A S S E S.

The poorer §. ^2. The poorer the ground is the clofer you ou^ht to feed down the
the dofer you ^°^^'"S''^^^s • broad-clover and hop-clover cught to be fed down almoft clofe
inuft feed to the root ; for, if either broad-clover, or hop-c!over grafs be lown on
lown-grafTes. white-land, or be out of proof by the poverty of the ground, and you let
them run but to a full-grown leaf, it will be of a foliomort colour, and fpeck-
led with black fpecks, which is a blight occafioned by the weaknefs of the
ground, and fuch grafies, efpecially hop-clover, will eat bitter, and therefore
the grafs of fuch ground fliould be always kept fed down clofe with flieep ;
for, if you let it run up high enough for a bite for a cow, no cattle will eat
it ; fo the rule holds, as well in fown as natural graffes, the poorer tlie ground
is the clofer to feed them down.
Jfcloverbe- §. 33. If broad-clover, or hop-clover has a fmall, thin, unfappy leaf, or
lywh^erf broke ^^^^^ °^ ^ foliomort colour, and is out of proof, whatever the nature of the
up, fow , ground be, and tho' generally kind for corn, yet truft not fuch a g'round at
vetches. |t's firft breaking up, neither to wheat, peas, nor barley, for it will difap-
point you : rather choofe to fow it to vetches, and if they prove well, you
may then promife yourfelf a good crop of barley : this I have found by ex-
perience to be true.
Hop-clover ^_ ^^^ If hop-clover and broad-clover be fowed together, and mowed, the
comes to no- hop-clover afterniafs will come to nothing j confequently the aftermafs of the
thing, if fown broad-clover mult be the thinner.

clover "^"^ " §• 35* ^ conclude that the hop-clover commonly fowed is not long-lived
. Hop-dover where it grows wild, as Mr. Ray fays, in arenofis & fabulofis (which I
fliort-hved. have often obferved) not above two or three years, becaufe in all forts of
foils that I have known it to be fowed in, as well fandy as gravelly, I never
heard that it lived above two or three years.
Fopdover §. -^6. Notwitliftanding what 1 have faid of the advantages of broad-clovcr
brcaTc!-<ve • ^eyond hop-clover, j^et 1 know many farmers are of opinion that hop-clover
See ^. 30. is much fweeter feed than broad-clover ; and particularly one allures me, if
aground be lowed half and half of each, the cattle will never touch broad-
clover till the hop-clover is eat quite bare. — He judged the broad-clover tD be a
four feed ; for, faid he, if cattle were put into a field of it, they would pare
away the four grafs round the hedges quite to the earth before they would
begin on the broad-clover ; but he faid, the broad-clover hay was much
better for either great cattle or fheep than hop-clover hay, which neverthe-
lefs was good feed for fheep, if v/ell houfed, but the broad-clover hay was
full as good as any other hill-country hay.
Caution to §• 37' Though I think it anfvvers my purpofe, as well as others in the

few twenty or hill-country, to fow hop-clover rather than broad-clover, yet it is very necef-
broad dover'^ fary for me every year to fow from twenty to thirty acres of broad-clover,
fsr fatting- to fupply me for a fliort time with grafs for my great cattle, when other gralics
beatts in the gj-g gather not fo foi Ward in the fpring as to paflure them, or have been burnt .
V. Fatting of "p in a hot fummer, and fo have expired till they revive in aftermafs ; for
cattle, §. 17. inftance, broad-clover may be very ufeful to ufher in the other fpring-graflcs
2 for

GRASSES. 249

for a fortnight before hop-clover will be high enough to afford a bite for
great cattle, and, if you mow the broad-clover, the aftermafs will he of great
ufe, when the vio;our of the hop-clover is fpent, as alfo that of the natural
gralles, which will come in turn after the hop-clover, and will hold till
after the hop-clover is gone ; the aftermafs of the broad-clover will then
fall in turn to fupport that great ftock of cattle maintained hitherto by hop-
clover and natural grafs, which you could not otherwife have maintained,
had you not had fuch a quantity of broad-clover aftermafs, or French-grafs
aftermafs, to receive them till the aftermafs of the hill-country meadows, or
the natural grafs paftures, could be of growth enough for that purpofe.

§. 38. The farmers are very apt to fay, that broad-clover impoveriflies Hop and
land, but hop-clover does not. — This, as it feems to me, muft be under- broad-clover
flood, if they are both mowed ; for then, broad-clover being double the 3°^ ^Yikh
burden, no wonder if thereby the ground be doubly exhaufted ; on the moft enriches
other hand, both being fed, it fliould feem, broad-clover maintaining twice '^""l-
the cattle that hop-clover will, acre for acre, it fliould doubly improve the
ground ; but to abate of that it may be objeded, that hop- clover being un-
deniably the fweeter feed confequently makes the richer dung, and therefore,
being but half the quantity in burden, yet being fed may improve ground as
much as broad-clover. — Cold clays are not fit however for hop-clover, and
it appears to me, that the beft barley ground is the beft hop-clover ground.

§.39, I have obferved, according to the forwardnefs or backwardnefs of Hop clover
the fpring, that about the beginning of May the hop-clover will have run be^fts'tafthr
it's length to it's lirft flowering, and then it begins to be paflure for cows and gth of June,
young beafts, and from thence it continues on flowering, joint by joint, as
the neft of bud-bloffoms proceed on in growth, ftill leaving a bloffom behind
on the lafl; joint on a flalk below, and thus it will continue to do till about
the eighth, or, as it did this year (1718) till the ninth of June, about which
time it will have compleated it's height, and the topmofl: bloffoms will then
wither and run to feed ; all which time, being about fix weeks, the hop-
clover grafs is very hearty for all great cattle, and they will eat it freely till
about the 8th or 9th of June, tho' the blofix)ms of the loweft joint are feed-
ed ; fo long as the feeds continue foft and green, and do not turn blackifh,
fo long the ftalk alfo will retain good fap ; fo until this time the hop-clover
grafs may be depended on for pafture for all forts of great cattle ; (heep alfo
will eat of it thus long very well, and will bite deep of the llalk.

§.40. 'It may be known, whether the hop-clover out of huflc is too Hop-dover
much kiln-dried or not, as well by it's ftrong flagrant fmell as by it's colour ^y '|j^>3 f^'^'jil'^
and tafte ; for it has a ftrong rich fmell, if not over-heated.

§.41. Walking in the hop-clover ground of the fecond winter's growth Hop-clover
on the 26th of January (anno 1702) I obferved more particularly than I had '■°ojs torn out
done before, that not only many hop-clover roots had been drawn out of the ^y whiter- "
ground by the fheep, and lay without any hold at all, but half the hop-clover feeding with

' Mr. Miller favs, in the choice of broad-clover feed that which is of a bright yellowifh colour, ference.
a little inclining to brown, fliould be preferred, but the black rejedcd as good for little.

K k tufts

250

R A S S E S.

tufts alfo were more or lefs drawn out of the ground, fome for inftance
half out, others not fo much, but in general they were all of them jogged
or loofened, which was occafioned by the fheep's being kept hard on them,
and often biting in laft fumrher's and this winter's feeding, but more efpeci-
ally in this laft winter, which proving very wet, the roots were the more
eafily Ic-ofened or drawn out ; belides by the great vacancies among the tufts
of the clover, compared with the firft thicknefs they appeared in after har-
veft, it was vifible vaft quantities had periflied in the aforefaid manner before
the fecond winter j nor can it but fland to reafon, that by their roots being
thus fhaken, and half drawn out of the ground, they muft be much weaken-
ed in their growth, and kept backward, no lefs than trees are that fuffer by
fuch loofening at their roots. — This is therefore a ftrong inducement to
me to think fummer-fatting of fheep more profitable than a winter-breeding-
ftock, whereby the winter-charges of the latter is altogether avoided, and
the clover, being winter-hayned for the fummer-fatting, four times the quan-
tity may be expeded to be well-grown and deep-rooted, and, fuch fatting-
fheep being to be well kept, there will be no danger of their much injuring
the clover in the fummer.
Of wild white ^_ ^2. Mr. Webb of Mountain-farley fowed the wild white and red broad-
dote^r or°ho- clovcr, OT honeyfucklc, and it holds the ground and decays not : he fays, it
neyfuckle. is pradifed in SuiTex, and that he had his feed from thence.
Of h ^^'^ §• 43' ^ '^^^ melilot-leaves are generally nicked in the edges by fome in-
lot— nonfuch. fciTt that knaws them : Mr. Bobart and myfelf were looking or> a plant of
9 it in his garden, that was fo bit ; — he faid, he never faw a plant of it but

what had it's leaves bit in that manner. — This cannot always be done by a
worm in the fame manner the peas are, for there were many collateral branches
ex it at Mr. Bobart's, which ftcod a foot and an half high, and had fliot
after it was out of the reach of the worm : qu^re therefore what infeit this
muft be —It has alfo the name of trifolium caballinum in Italy, becaufe
horfes are particularly fond of it — it feems it is an annual plant.
Of loufe- §. 44. Some will have the rattle-grafs to be called loufe-wort, becaufe it

^o"- makes the cattle loufy. Ray, vol. i. fol. 769. and Synopfis, fol. 162. la

pratis fterilioribus.
Of the honey. §. 45. The broad-clover grafs, which of late years (anno 1707) had obtain-
luckle-trefoil. ^^ fome Credit, as a longer living grafs than the common broad-clover, and
is fown under the name of cow-grafs, I find to be the common purple trefoil,
or honeyfuckle-trefoil, as defcribed by Mr. Ray, vol. i. fol. 944. diftinguilli-
cd from the great purple meadow-trefoil, which has always hitherto beea
fowed by the country farmers, and I doubt not but always will ; for by ex-
perience I find the other not to yield half the burden, nor indeed, in poor
ground, fuch as in our hill-country we commonly lay down to grafs, to be
a longer liver than the common fort j — but both forts being natural to fome

landf,

■• They, who are defirous of bem j acquainted with the culture of the meJilot-trefoii, or iicn-
fuch, may confnlr R-fr. Milher's Didlionarv, under the article- --MeJ- lot I believe there was verjr
littte of it fown in the fields in our author's time, nor is it yet grown common.

GRASSES. 251

lands, I doubt not but they will continue more years therein than when fown
in poor land, or in a foil not fo agreeable to the genius of the plant.

§.46. Mr. Holyday, a ccnfiderable clothier in Wiltfliire, was giving me Cf the kfl"er
an account, in the year 1707, that the Spanifh wool was always tfo^bled y^^i^^J^i^^^gj''
with a burr, and that, in cleanfing fome of the fouleft of it, there came offibmed.
moi-e coarfe foul wool than ordinary, fo that he was tempted to lay it on his
meadow-ground, to improve it, which brought forth a ftrange fortofgrafs,
that had lafted ever fince, it being many years ago. It was, he faid, a three-
leaved grafs, and brought forth yellow flowers, and abundance of burrs v/ith
feeds in them. — I found this to be one of the annual medics I had in my gar-
den, with burrs for the feed-velTels, and by it's feeding every year, I fuppofe, it
maintained itfelf in his ground ; but what I take notice of it for, is this ; he
aflured me, in picking the Spanifh fleeces there were none but what had
more or lefs of the burrs in them, which is an argument to me, that the
Spaniards fow much of this trefoil, it not being a native of their country, but
brought from Perfia. — Quaere if it may not be a very fweet feed to breed fine
woof — It feems to me in the leaf to tafl;e fweeter than hop-clover : I went to
fee this trefoil, and found it to be the lefl"er medic-trefoil that had fmall
burrs; — but I fince find by the clothiers, that the Spanifh wool has been
coarfer for thirty years lafl: paft than formerly, which may be occafioned
by their fowing thefe grafl"es.

§. 47. Notwitflianding the great charadler the Rei rufliicje fcriptores give Ofthecytifus,
of the cytifus, or fhrub-trefoil, for food for all forts of cattle and fowls, and ""^ '^j^];^'^'""^'
Pliny fays, — it is not in danger of being hurt by heat, or hail, or fnow, non MeJicago,
aeftuum, non gradinum, non nivis injuriam expavefcit, yet the ufe of this Miller.
trefoil is not to be transferred into our clime ; for Mr. Bobart afliired me,
that the plant will not bear our winters, unlefs houfed in a green-houfe.

Columella commending the cytifus for it's great ufe for cattle and fowl,
fays, there is no climate in which this fhrub will not grow plentifully even
in the pooreft foil, neque eft ulla regio, in qua non pofilt hujus arbufcula;
copia effe vel maxima, etiam macerrimo folo. fol. 187. — It will not, as above
noted, endure our winters in England.

§. 48. One of my tenants told me, rye-grafs was what they coveted in Rye-graft.
the ifle of Wight beyond hop-clover ; for, faid he, the rye-grafs will bear
the winter, and keep to a good head, which the clover will not do : I have
had, added he, an acre and an half of rye-grafs upon tolerable good ground,
which I have hayned up from Michaelmals until within a week of Candle-
mafs, and from thence to the middle of April it has kept fifteen ewes and
fifteen lambs.

Though I difapprove of dunging French-grafs and clover, for reafons
noted before, yet it is proper to dung rye-grafs ; for it makes the roots of that
tillow, and mat on the ground, to the utter deflru(5lion and fuppreffion of
the couch-grafs.

Mr. Ray fays of the gramen foliaceum, or rye-grafs ; it is a perennial plant,
with iointed roots, :^nd propagates itfelf by fending forth fibres from it's joints,

K k 2 fol.

252 GRASSES.

fol. 1263. — And becaufe it's roots do farther propagate, I doubt not but it
may be kept alive, by dunging it, many years longer than we ufually do, or
by refreshing it with foil, when after two or three years it begins to decay.

As rye-grafs does not improve land as other grafles do, fo it may be
prefumed, if Dr. Woodward's do6lrine be true, the rye-grafs roots, being
very , like the roots of oats, barley, and wheat, may feed on the fame falts
of the earth that the roots of thofe grains do, and that the orifices of the rye-
grafs roots confift of the fime angles with thofe of the faid grains.

Rye-grafs generally larts but three years : Mr. Lawrence, near Upcern,
Dorfet, told me, that he had as much rye-grafs feed on eighteen acres of
land as was worth twenty pound, and after the feed Vv'as threflied out,
the hay was better than oat-ftraw fodder. — I faw a reek of it in his back-
fide, and an oat-ftraw reek, which were both laid open to the cattle, and
they would not touch the ftraw, but had made fuch an hole into the rye-
grafs hay-reek, that it was ready to fall. — He faid, if it was mowed green,
and not for the lucre of the feed, it was excellent good for cattle. — He
fells the feed for twenty-two pence, and two fhillings per bufliel ; and fows
three buftiels on an acre.

Mr. Oxenbridge fliewed me fome of his rye-grafs hay, and I thought it
v.'as very fine hay ; he looked on it, he faid, as his choiceft fodder for his
fheep : — he mowed it when in the flower.

Farmer Ryalls of Dorfetfhire affirmed, he had known experienced farmers
fay, that the very hee-grafs, after mowing the rye-grafs the fame year it was
fowed, being ploughed-in, was as good as dunging, and would pay for the feed.
I find all farmers from experience do agree, that notwithftanding rye-grafs
will maintain as many cattle on an acre as hop-clover will do, yet it does not
improve land for corn like hop-clover. — This muft proceed from one of the
following two reafons, or partly from them both : viz. Firft, the rye-grafs con-
fifling of a multitude of matty fibres, which run on the furface of the ground,
they gird and hold it fo together, that when ploughed, they cannot be dif-

entangled from it's earth, which cannot therefore be made to work fine.

Secondly, the fibrous thready roots of rye-grafs having great likenefs to thofe
of wheat and barley, as alfo the fpiry grafs-leaf being much like the blade of
thofe grains, it may well be fufpedled, that the rye-grafs roots fuck fimilar
juices from the earth with the roots of thofe grains, and fo they may rob each
other of their fpecific nouridiment propeir to them; whereas, the roots of
hop and broad-clover being like a carrot, and their leaves different from the
blade of corn, they neither gird the earth together, nor feed on the fame
juices the aforefaid grains are believed to do ; for in all refpedts otherwife rye- -
grals fhould more improve the ground than hop-clover, not only as it feeds
more cattle, but alfo as it keeps down all weeds, which hop-clover does not.

A farther reafon why rye-grafs is not fo natural to produce a good crop of
corn as clover is, may be, becaufe rye-grafs and darnel are by many herbalifts
ranged, as baftard forts of corn, amongft the clafTes of corn : the roots of rye-
grafs are fweet and juicy, promifing nothing of ftrong concod:ed falts ; where-

3 as

GRASSES. 253

as the roots of clover are very hot and tart, which argues that they have drawn
to them and digefted many nitrous and fait parts, which, when rotten in the
earth, may well impregnate it. — Qusere about the roots of peas-halm, and of
the halm of vetches ; for I much fufpedl thofe roots to communicate to the
earth the fame benefit that clover-roots do, and a greater benefit than only by
mellowing it.

§. 49. All plants with piked flowers, as faint-foin, and which carry a gra- Cf mowing
dation of flowers one above another, on the fame fpike, put forth the lower- g^^^^Jj '^Jj.
mofl: blofl!bms on the fame fpike firfl, which go into feed in the fame order, the fake of
till at laft the topmoft buds flower and feed ; and of plants which bear many ^^^ ^"'^•
flowers on a gradation of joints, as the pea, hop-clover, common crow-foot
daify of the field, &c. I obferve the lowermofl: blofl!bms on the joints blow and
feed firfl ; and I do fufpecfl, that all thofe plants which carry their blofToms
on in a fucceflive gradation of joints, have thofe feries of joints all at firfl; in-
cluded in a huddle in one fmall pod ; at leafl: it has been fo with as many as I
have obferved, and as before noted of the pea ; which clufter of bloflbms fl:ill
advance upwards, leaving a joint bearing bloflToms behind, and fo on : thus it
is in hop-clover ; on which when it is in flower, the cattle for a fliort fpace of
time feed but fparingly, and on the uppermoft parts, and topmoft flowers, be-
caufe, the flov/ers on the lowermofl: joints being run to feed, tlie feeds cat
bitter, which the cattle diflike. — From hence it is obvious, that fuch grafs
mowed for feed ought to be mowed clofe to the ground, and the ftones to be
v/ell rolled down 3 elfe the beft of the feed, growing on the lowermoft joints,
will be lofl:.

§. 50. ' It is evident, that where French-grafs is fown, on thofe parts of Of^'^rench-
each field, where the earth is weak, fliiallow, and poor, there the French- ^'^'' ^'
grafs will firfl; decay.

§• 51- Being

' Mr. Miller fays, this plant, if fown upon a dry, gravelly, or chalky foil, will continue eighteen
or twenty years j but, if it be fown upon a deep, light, moift foil, the roots will run down into ths
ground ; and in a wet feafon the moifture will rot the roots, fo that it fcidom lafts above two years
in fuch places. This is efteemedone of the beft forts of fodder for moft cattle, and is a great im-
provement to fhallow chalky hills, upon which it fucceeds better than in any other foil, and will
continue many years. Mr. Lifle and Mr. Tull both agree with Mr. Miller in regard to it's being;
damaged by wet, but Mr. Tull will by no means allow that a fliallow chalky foil is moft proper for
it. As he has wrote very largely on the culture of this plant, I imagine the following cxtrai^ from
his work may be agreeable to the reader.

Extract from Mr. Tull, chap. 12. of St. Foin, or Sain Foin,— Sanum, foenum, Sandum fcenum,

or French-grafs.

There is a vulgar opinion, that St. Foin will not fucceed on any land, where there is not
an under ftratum of fione or chalk, to flop the roots from running deep ; elfe, they fay, the plants
fpend themfelves in the roots only, and cannot thrive in thofe parts of thcin which are above the
ground.-— I am aimoft afhamed to give an anfwer to this. ---'Tis certain that every plant is nourifhcd
from it's roots (as an animal is by his guts) and the more and larger roots it has, the more nourifh-
ment it receives, and profpers in proportion to it. St. Foin always fucceeds where it's roots run
deep, and, when it docs not fucceed, it never lives to have long roots ; neither can there ever be
fciuid a plar.t of it, that lives folong as to root deep in a foil tlrat is improper for it. ---An under

flratuin

254- GRASSES.

Wet or cold §• 51" Being at Holt, I was told by Mr. Bailey and Thomas Miles (the
land improper ^vi^ter having been exceeding wet) that the wet winter had killed abundance
grafs. oi' French-grafs round about the country, efpecially where it was near the clay,

— and I found it to be foj therefore neither cold nor wet land are proper for

French-grafs.

§. 52. Being

ftratum of very ftrong clay, or other earth, which holds water, may make a foil improper for it ;
becaufe the water kills the root, and never fulFers it to grow to perfeftlon. If there be fprings near
(or within feveral feet of) the furface of the foil, St. Foin will die therein in winter, even after it
has been vigorous in the firft fummer, and alio after it hath produced a great crop in the fecond
ilimmer.— The lighter the land the feed will come up from the greater depth, but the moll fecure
way is, not to fufter it to be covered deep in any land, for the heads (or kernels when fwoln) are
{o large, and the necks (or firings that pafs from the hulks to. the heads) fo weak, that, if they lie
much more than half an inch deep, they are not able to rife thro' the incumbent mold ; or, if they
are not covered, they will be malted ".—-The worft feafons to plant it are the beginnijig of winter
and in the drought of fummer : the befl: feafon is early in the fpring.— It is the ftronger when planted
alone, and when no other crop is fown with it : the worft crop that can be fown with it is clover or-
rye-grafs ; barley or oats continue but a little while to rob it; but the other artificial grafles rob rt
for a year or two. — The qtialities following are figns by which to choofe good feed — viz. The hufk
of a bright colour, the kernel plump, of a light grey or blue colour, or fometimes of a fliining
black ; — yet the feed may be good, tho' the hufk is of a dark colour, if that iscaufedby it's receiving
rain in the field, and not by heating in a heap, or in the mow ; and, if you cut the kernel ofF in the
middle, crofs-ways, and find the infide of a greenifh frefh colour, it is furely good ; but, ifofayel-
lowifh colour, and friable about the navel, and thin, or pitted, thefe are marks of bad feed. It's
manure is foot, peat-afii, or coal-afh. The firft: winter is the time to lay it on, after the crop of
corn is off. — (Note, other good farmers there are, who fay no afhes or manure fhould be laid on St.
Foin till it has been fowed two years, for it will force it too much, and the crop will not laft fo many
years if afhes be fowed as Mr. Tull directs.) — Be fure to fufter no cattle to come on the young St.
i'oin the firft winter, after the corn is cut that grows amongft it; their very feet would injure it, by
treading the ground hard, as well as their mouths by cropping it : nor let any flieep come at it, even
in the following fummer and winter. — St. Foin is more profitable either for hay or feed than meadow
grafs, for the latter, if not cut in good weather, is fpoiled, and yet it muft be cut in it's proper fea-
fon, which is but one, whereas there are four feafons for cutting St. Foin, and if you are difappointed
in the firft of thefe, you may ftay till the fecond, and fo on ; befides the hilly ground whereon St.
Foin is chiefly plant,ed, is more commodious for drying the hay, has lefs of the morning and evening
dews than the low meadows. The four times for cutting it are, — firft, before bloftbming, —
fecondly, when in flower, — thirdly, when the bloflbms are off, — and fourthly, when the feed is ripe.
He commends the firft of thefe, which he 'rails virgin hay, much before the others for keeping
working horfes in good cafe, or fatting fheep in winter, and prefers it even to beans, peas, and oats.
He adds however that this fort of hay is not to be had from poor ground, that is not cultivated, or
manured with peat-aflies, foot, or the like. — The fecond, or that which is cut in it's flower, accord-
ing to the moft common practice, tho' inferior to the firft, yet far exceeds all other kinds of hay
commonly known in England. — The third, which is cut when the bloffom is gone or going off,
tho' greater in bulk, is much lefs valuable than the former two, and, after thefe three, you have a
fourth chance for good weather when the feed is ripe.

To make St. Foin hay. — A day or two after it Is cut, when diy on the upper fide, turn the
fvvarths two and two together, oppofite ways, and the ground will require lefs raking. Make them
up into little cocks the fame day they are turned, if conveniently you can ; for when it is in cock, a
lefs part of it will be expofed to the injuries of the weather than v.-hen In fwarth. — Dew, being of a
nitrous penetrating nature, enters the pores ofthofe plants it reaches, and during the night poffelles
the room from whence fome part of the juices is dried out : thus it intimately mixes with the re-
maining fap, and when the dew is again exhaled, it carries up moft of the vegetable fpirits along

vv'ith

• Mr. Lifle difters from him in this, and advlfes, if the ground work light and fine, to ftv/ St. Foin under
furrow. See — Of fowing St. Foin.

GRASSES. 255

§.52.BeingatMr. JeremyHorton's in Wiltfliire, there were there Mr. A ntho- '^^'^^^'}Z "o'
nyMethvvinandMr. Holdway, clothiers, but experienced farmers, and I afked lrencl°?rafs.
them if they dunged their French-grafs; they faid, by no means; Mr. Holdway
faid, they looked on it in Gloucefterfhire, that dung did little good to French-
grafs,

with it, which might have been there fixed, had they not been taken away in that fubtle vehicle. If
St. Foin be fpread very thin upon the ground, and fo remain for a week in hot weather, the fun and
dew will exhauft all it's juices, and leave it no more virtue than is in ftraw. Therefore it is beft
to keep as much of our hay as we can from being expofed to the dews, while it is in makin<^, and
we have the better opportunity of doing it in this than in natural hay, becaufe we may more fafely
make it into larger cocks, for St. Foin cocks (tho' twice as big as cocks of natural hay) by the lefs
flexibility of the ftalk admitting the air, will remain longer without fermenting. — When the firft
cocks have flood one ni»ht, fpread two, three, or more together in a frefh place, and, after an hour
or two, turn them, andmake that number up into one cock ; but when the weather is doubtful,
let not the cocks be thrown or fpread, but inlarge them, by fhaking feveral of them into one, and
thus hollowing them to let in the air, continue increafing their bulk, and diminiftiing their niunber
daily, until they be fufficiently dry to be carried to the reek. The beft hay I ever knew in England,
was of St. Foin, made without fpreading, or the fun's fliining on it. This way, tho' it be longer
ere finifhed, is done with lefs labour than the other. — If St. Foin be laid up pretty green, in fmall
round reeks, with a large bafket drawn up the middle, to leave a vent-hole for the moidure to tran-
fpire, it will take no damage. Thefe reeks, as foon as the heating is over, ought to be thatched ;
and all St. Foin reeks, that are made when the hay is full dried in the cocks, ought to be thatched
immediately after the making them.

The feed is good for provender, and three bufhels of it, fome fay, will go as far in nourifhing
horfes as four bufhels of oats. All cattle are greedy of it; I have known hogs made very good pork
with it, but whether it will fat them well for bacon, I have had no trial.— 'The threfhcd hay alfo,
when not damaged by wet, has been found more nourifliing to horfes than coarfe water meadow
hay, and, when cut fmall by an engine, is much better food for cattle than chafj'of corn. — It re-
quires fome experience to know the proper degrees of ripenefs, at which the feeded St. Foin fhould
be cut, for the feed is never all ripe together, and, if we fhould defer cutting till the top feeds are
quite ripe, the lower, which are the beft, would fhed, and be loft. — The beft time to cut is, when
the greateft part of the feed is well filled; thrfirft-blown ripe, and the laft-blown beginning to be full.
— The colour of the kernel is grey or blueifh when ripe, and tiie hufk, that contains it, is of a
browniih hue, but both of them continue perfeftly green for fome time after full grown, and, if
cut in this green plight, will ripen afterwards, have as good a colour, and be as good in all refpeds
as that ripened before cutting, add to which, there will be lefs danger of it's fhedding.

St. Foin feed fhould not be cut in the heat of the day, while the fun fhincs out ; for then much,
even of the unripe feed, will fhed in mowing: therefore, in very hot Vv-eather, the mowers fhould
begin to work very early in the morning, or rather in the night ; and, when they perceive the feed
to (hatter, leave off, and reft till toward the evening. After cutting we muft oblisrve the fame rule
as in mowing it, viz, not to make this hay while the fun fbines. — Sometimes it may, if the feed be
pretty near ripe, be cocked immediately after the fcythe ; or, if the fwarths muft be turned, let it
be donewhile they are moift, not two together, as in the other hay aforementioned. If the fwarth
be turned with the rake's handle, 'tis beft to raife up the ears firft, and let the ftub-fide reft on the
ground in turning ; but, if it be done by the rake's teeth, then let them take hold on the ftub-fide,
the ears bearing on the ground in turning over. It is commonly rain that occafions the fwarths to
want turning, or otherwife, if the fwarths are not very great, we never turn them at all ; becaufe
the fun or wind will quickly dry them. — Sometimes, when we defign to threfh in the field, we
makeno cocks at all, and but only juft fcparate the fwarths in the dew of the morning, dividing
them into parts of about two feet in each part. By this means the St Foin is fconer driedthan when
it lies thicker, as it muft do, if made into cocks : but, if it be cocked at all, the fooner it is m.ade
into cocks the better; becaufe, if the fwarths be dry, much of the feed will be loft in feparating
them, the ears being entangled together : when moift, the feed fticks faft to the ear; but, wbea
dry, will drop out with the leaft touch or fliaktng.

Of threlhing St. Foin there are two ways, the one, in the heat of the day, while the fun {Lines,
in the field, the other in the barn. Of the former, the beft manner is, to have a large flieet pegged

(^Wll

236 GRASSES.

grafs, the dung chiefly encouraging bennet-grafs, and couch-grafs. — Mr,
Methwin faid, he would not beheve Mr. Holdwav, who had formerly told
him fo, but dunged Tome of his French-grafSj and found that the dung nou-
rifhed a natural grals, and caufed it to come up upon the furface of the ground,

but

down to the ground, for two men to threfh on. Two perfons carry a fmall ftieet, and lay Jt
down clofe to a large cock, and with two flicks, thruft under the bottom of it, gently turn it over,
or lift it up upon the ftieet, and carr}', and throw it on the great fheet ; but, when the cocks are
fmall, they carry feveral at once, thrown upon the little ftieet carefully with forks; thofc which are
near they carry to the threfliers with the forks only, as faft as it is threflied, one perfon ftands to
take away the hay, and laj' it into a heap, and fometimes a boy ftands upon it, to make it into a
fmall reek of about a load. As often as the great ftieet is full, they riddle it thro' a large fieve to fe-
parate the ft ed and chaff" from the broken ftalks, and put it into facks to be carried into the barn to
be winnowed. Two threftiers will employ two of thefe little flieets, and four perfons in bringing to
them, and v.-hen the cocks near them are threftied, they remove the threfhing fheet to another
place. — The fooner thefe threftied cocks are removed, and made into bigger reeks, the better; and,
unlefs they be thatched, the rain will run a great way into them, and fpoil the hay j but they may
be thatched with the hay itfelf, if there be notftraw convenient for it.

The better the feed efcapes the wet in the field, the fooner it's own fpirits will fpoil it in the gra-
nar}' or barn. Seed threftied in the field, without ever being wetted, if immediately winnowed, and
a fingle buftiel laid in a heap, or put into a fack, will in a few days ferment to fuch a degree, that it
will lofc it's vegetative quality : the larger the heap the worfe ; but I have known it lie a fortnight
in fwarth, till the wet weather has turned the huiks quite black ; then threftied in the field, and im-
mediately put into large veffels, holding about twenty bufliels each, and this feed has, by being often
wet and often dr)', been fo exhaufted of it's fierj' fpirits, that it remained cool in the veflels, without
ever fermenting in the leaft; and then it grew as well as any did that was ever planted. To prevent
the fermentation abovementioned many fpread it on a malt-floor, turning it often, or, when the
quantit\' is final!, upon a barn-floor, but much of it is fpoiled even this way ; for it will heat, tho' it
be fpread but anliandful thick, and they never fpread it thinner : befides, they may mifs feme houm
of the right times of turning it, for it muft be done \ery often; it ftiould be ftirred in the night as
well as the day, until the heating be over; and yet, do what they can, it never will keep it's co-
lour lb bright, as that, which is well houfed, well dried, and threftied in the winter; for in the
barn the ftalks keep it hollow ; there are few ears or feeds that touch one another, and the fpirits
have room to fly ofFby degrees, the air entering to receive them. — The only way I have found to
imitate and equal this, is to winnow it from the ftieet ; then lay a layer of wheat-ftraw (or, if that
be wanting, of verj' dry threfhed hay) ; then fpread thereon a thin layer of feed, and thus layer upon
layer, fix or {c\en feet high, and as much in breadth ; then begin another flack ; let there be flraw
enough, and do not tread on the ftacks. Ey this means the feed mixing with the ftraw will be kept
cool, and come out in the fpriiig with as green a colour as when it was put in, and not one feed of
a thoufand will fail to grow when planted. I have had above one hundred quarters of clean feed
thus managed in one bay of a fmall barn. We do not flay to winnow it clean before we lav it up
in the ftraw ; but only pafs it thro' a large fieve, and with the van blow out the chafF, and winr.ow
it clean in thefpring. — This field-threftiing requires extraordinary fine fun-fhiny weather, and there-
fore, in nioft fummers, it is 'out a fmall part of the day in which the feed can be threftied clean out.
They, who have but a little quantit)-, carry it into a barn early in the morning, or even in the
night, while the dew is on it ; for then the feed fticks faft to the ear : as it dries, they threfti it out,
and, if they cure it well, have thus fometimes good feed, but generally the hay is fpoiled. — There
are two misfortunes that attend carr)ing it in without threftiing. If carried in the dews or damp,
the hay is fure to be fpoiled, if not both hay and feed, and, if taken up dr}-, the feed comes out
with a touch, and the greateft part is loft in pitching up the cocks, binding and jolting in carr)-ing
home. To avoid this dilemma he relates a contrivance, which is intricate and impracticable to
common farmers, and therefore I omit it.

Rats and mice are great devourers of this feed, and will take the kernels out fo dextroufly, that
the hole in the hufk fliuts itfelf up when the feed is out of it ; but, if you feel the hufk between vour
finger and thumb, you will find it empt\'; alfo a fackful is very light. Incurious perfons have fowed
fuch empty hufks for feveral years fucceffively, and, none coming up, concluded their land improper
for St. Foin.

GRASSES. 2^-]

but it did not enrich the French-grafs ;— nor does it ftand to reafon it fliould,
the faint-foin root running down fo deep into the ground that dung cannot
reach it ; yet it will make the ftalks a little prouder, but will neither make the
root to tillow, nor matt.

^. c^. On the fecond of November (anno 170-j) I looked into my French- Ofthegrowih

•* J-J - , 1 , r • . t" .'.■,-" 1 T 11 J r of French-

grafs, to fee the method of it s progreflion in it s growth ; 1 pulled up lome grafs, ard

roots of it, and waflied them, and I faw plainly, that at the top the root di- caution not to
vided itfelf into many tufted branches, which tufts carried a few branches or Auguii!'^"
grafly divifions, which clofed together, all folding, at the bottom of the tuft,
one within another : in the center of thefe tufts were the foboles or miftreffes
wrapped up by the faid folding branches, which foboles were defigned for
the fpring-fhoot. In fome tufts the foboles were better grown than others,
according to the vigour of the tuft : thefe tufts taken up with the roots feem
to ftand off at a little diftance from the roots, fo as, (being fed in the winter,
by fheep efpecially,) to be obnoxious to be bit off, and fo the foboles, the
hopes of the fpring, may be loft: ; but, if you obferve them whilft in the
ground, thefe tufts are fo clofely feated, and let into the very ground, that
the foboles in the bottom of the tufts do not feem fo much expofed, but
only the leafy branches round about the tufts, which are well grown, and
not dependent on the foboles ; for, if they are bitten off, the hopes of the
fummer-crop feems to be deftroyed. Great regard ought therefore to be
taken, in winter-feeding of this grafs, by obferving how far the foboles are
advanced upwards, and whether within the power of the {heep to bite them
off or not, before they are put into it. Befides thefe foboles, mentioned to
be fituated in the center of each tuft, there appears here and there an eye,
or a bud, in the upper part of the root, but juft: to be difcovered, not fo big
as a pin's head, which in all likelihood makes but a very weak branch the
next year, but grows ft:ronger and ftronger every year, and thickens, as
wexing into tufts, ftironger and ftronger, according as frefli foboles may an-
nually arife out of the center of thofe of the laft year's growth. Thus it
feem?, that what is but a foboles this year, thickens the tuft next year, and
in it's center carries a new foboles, which grows ftronger the more the tuft
thickens ; by what appears, the old fpreading-branches of the French-grafs,
fuch as have grown up after the feeding of the aftermafs till September, be-
ing of the nature of the winter-vetch, will endure the winter, and be the
moft: vigorous branches of the next fummer, if not fed ; and whereas fome
fay, you ought not to feed French-grafs after Chriftmafs, it feems they do
well that feed it no longer, but they who feed it not at all after Auguil do
better.

§. 54. I obferved by digging up French-grafs roots, that their decay pro- '^If^J^^^^'
ceeds from the fame caufe that the decay of the broad-clover roots does, and grafs.
that in clay-land they decay fooneft: ; this decay is occafoned by the fibres
periHiing, and then the canker takes the top, and eats downwards.

§. z^^. After French-grafs is mowed, if you are refolved to winter-feed it, Beil manner
1 look on the following to be the beft: manner, firft:, to eat down all the wild °^,gdj"g"'

L 1 natural Fur.ch-grafs.

258 GRASSES.

natural grafs with fheep, that being fine and green, by virtue of being (haded
by the French-grafs, but will burn away if not eaten, and it ought alfo to
be kept down ; fecondly, to feed down the remaining part of the French-
grafs, which the fcythe has left, but, after thefe are eaten, I would advife,
that it fliould be hayned till towards September, becaufe the roots of the
French-grafs running down great depths are apt, till fummer is over, to
draw a great quantity of fap,and, if during the monthsof June and July, efpe-
cially if rain fliould fall, they fliould put fordi grofs buds, and tender flioots,
and the cattle fliould crop them off, the root might chance to be choaked
by a plethory, whereas about September the roots ceafe to draw in fuch plenty
of juices, and begin to be quiet, and, if the branches fliould then be eaten
off, the roots will not be fo over-charged as to want branches to empty their
redundancy of juices into.
k?M^by"'* §• 5^- The reafon why many plants are to be killed by often cropping,
cropping, and yet the natural pafture-grafs no wife fuffers by it, I conceive, is, becaufe
otiiersiiot.and jj^g leaf of the natural grafs is a continued fpire, and, when it is bit, leng-
thens itfelf out again by growth, and receives all the affluence of fap in the
root ; and in cafe it could be bit below the leafy fpire into the ground flieath,
yet in the tuft, from the fame root, are a multitude of iff^'es monthly and
weekly breaking out, enough to receive the fap from the roots, fo that the
roots cannot be choaked by a plethory. Now, the plants, which are to be
killed, by being cropped at fpring and at Midfummer, are thofe, which be-
ing full of fap, at thofe times only do make ilTues of flioots, which, being
cut off, the channels confequently are taken away, and the exuberancy of the
fap muft burfl: the root-veflels and kill the plant. Some plants there are, fuch
as hop-clover, broad-clover, and other trefoils, which may be faid to partake
of both natures aforefaid ; for the trefoil, being bit off from it's pedeftal or
ftalk, does not grow again, (as the fpires of common graffes do) that is, out
of the fame ftalk do iffue forth no new trefoil buds ; therefore it feems good
hufbandry to fuffer the trefoil-leaf to come to fome maturity before it is bit ;
but again, on the other hand, it has a property common with pafture-
grafs, which is, to be continually putting forth buds and iffues, one under
another, from it's roots, capable to receive all redundancy of fap ; for which
reafon it is not killed by often cropping.
French-grafs §. ^7, At Holt in Wiltfliire, walking in the French-grafs with farmer
equ™ o'na°' Miles, I aflccd him, whether he found the French-grafs aftermafs good for
tpral grafs for fatting of fliecp ; he faid, it was neither fo good, nor would prove them fo
fatting (lieep. ^,gj} ^g Englifli grafs ; for the flieep would pick up the Englifh grafs from
amongft it before they would heartily fall on the French-grafs. — He faid.
Not to feed it the flieep might feed the aftermafs of the French-grafs till towards Chrift-
aftcr chxift- jjiafs without hurting it, and after that the hurt it received was not from the
'"'^^" winter, nor by the frofts, but becaufe about that time, or foon after, it might

fpring and flioot up, and to take off that early flioot in the cold weather was
that which might hurt it; for by the fide of fuch early flioot a little dwind-
ling flioot would fpindle.

§. 58. Mr.

G R A S S E S» 259

§.58. Mr. Short Baily afTured me, that flieep will feed very well on ^fl'^"^"^''
French-grals hay, and make little wafte. — Mr. Randolph fays, the (heep ^^^ ''^' '°'"
will eat French-grafs hay till it be above three years old, but then it grows too
ftemmy.— Mr. Raymond fays, in their country the flieep eat French-grafs
hay very clean, if the grafs be cut before it blows out in flower.

§. 59. Mr. Anthony Methwin thought, that foddering of cattle in French- ^^^'^^''^V'
grafs would do it as much harm as winter-feeding. — Mr. Short Baily was of dering in
a different opinion, unlefs you turn in great cattle, which might tread it French-grafo.
too deep ; but he was confident, that folding or foddering with flieep would
do it a kindnefs.

§. 60. I have obferved, where natural grafs comes up near a hop- clover Natural grafj
or broad-clover root, that fuch root will be but of fliort continuance, and <^«^^^^^,^>'sot'-°'"
will infenfibly vanifli and die away before any of the reft of the clover-grafs ^" ""
in the fame field, about which no natural grafs comes up ; which makes for
what is faid by gardeners of thofe grafi"es, viz. that they and weeds impove-
rifli the ground, and draw away the nourlfliment from the plants. — Natural
grafs confifts of innumerable . matty fibrous roots, which, without doubt,
running on the furface of the ground, muft feed on the nourifliment which
the clover fliould have, and thefe graffes do, I believe, fo far rob the roots
of trees of their nourifliment, that the gardeners, who advife orchards to be
ploughed up, among other advantages to the root's of the trees, think likewife,
that thofe trees may find a farther advantage by having fuch grafi'es deftroyed
from the furface of the ground.

§. 61. The ftrength and fpirit of rowety grafs is obferved, after the firft Ofrowet.
fnow that falls, if it lies a while on the ground, to go off^ very much, and to
have little proof in it, to what it had before the falling of the fnow.

The more you improve your" grounds, the more rowet you will have after
the corn is cutj for the ftubble-land will carry a good grafs to maintain
cattle till it is ploughed up again, and this will both fave hay, and keep you
from a neceffity of threfliing out corn to a difadvantage of price.

There is often a rowet in grounds, which your own hearts, as being ufed -'^"d of
to fweeter grals, will not eat, or fometimes the growing lealon ot the year ■„
may not afford them opportunity to eat : in this cafe it will feldom be proper
to buy in hungry hearts to eat it up ; for they may either be dear, or, when
they have eat up your rowet, you will not know what to do with them,
they not deferving your fweeter meat ; therefore in this cafe I hold it to be
more proper to plough-in the rowet, for the improvement of your land.

§. 62. The grafs which country-people call the hooded-grafs, or lob- ^^J^*'^^^'^'^',
grafs, is apparently of but little value ; for it grows up with a fingle culm to ground.
a root, without grafiy leaves, or herbage about it's roots ; it generally grows
on the pooreft fort of ground ; no wonder then, that fo much of the feed of
this is commonly feen among the rye-grafs feed that is fold ; for the lands.
that are fowed with rye-grafs, are generally poor in nature, and impoverifli-
ed farther by corn ; fo thefe grounds are apt to yield abundance of lob-grafs.
for the bearing of which I hardly find any ground too poor j and I have ob-

L 1 2 ferved;

26o MEADOWS.

ferved, that poor ground will naturally carry a little crop of this grafs, tho'
it can maintain no other fort ; the more therefore of this a certain indication
of the greater poverty of the ground. — I have at this time, June the third
(anno 1707) obferved, that this grafs has perfefted it's feed, in it's feed-
veflels, when other graffes were but flowering, and as it's feed-vcffels eafily
fall, fo they naturally propagate themfelves.

The way to deftroy the lob-grafs, or hooded-grafs, is to feed your grounds
to prevent it's feeding, or elfe to enrich them by manure, fo that the tufted
roots of better grafles may fo multiply as not to give room for the lob-grafs
feed, which is a large feed, to take root ; the roots of that grafs feeming to
be very weak, as having but few fibres, and fo may eafily be juftled out of
the ground, as the innumerable fibres of other grafs-roots multiply by ma-
nure.— I fufpeft the lob-grafs to be but an annual. The French fow it, and
call it fromentel.

The teftuca avenacea hirfuta paniculis minus fparfis grows on walls, and
hillocks, and on linchets or balks in fields, and on dry places. Ray's Synop-
fis, 261.— This is what we call lob-grafs.
foot o^r mer" §" ^3* There are feveral ranunculi common in our meadows, which,
dow ranuncu- when green, blifler and ulcerate the flefh ; thefe the cattle will not touch,
'"^- but leave {landing in the fields, and yet, as I am told, all forts of cattle will

feed on them greedily, when dried and made into hay. Dodlor Sloan, fol.
25, mentions this, to account for the cafTavis-root, which, tho' fliong poifon
when green, being baked makes wholefome bread.
?gnof 'o"v "r° §• ^4- ^y ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^'■y ^"^' of dandelion ; but I conclude it no fign of
ty. poverty, Ray, vol. i. fol. 244. laying, it grows in gardens, and areas, and

paftures, and flouriflies through the whole fummer. — I fuppofe it is a grate-
ful bitter to the cattle ; I do not find but they eat it very well either in grafs,
or in hay.
Small hard ^_ ^^^ •j'\ie gramen minus duriufculum, or fmall hard grafs, grows plenti-
po^veuy.'^"° fully on my white chalky lands, at Crux-Eaflon, not worth fix-pence per
acre. — Gerard fays, this grafs is unpleafant to, and unwholefome food for
cattle, and that it grows in moifl: frefli marfhes.— And Ray, vol. 2. fol. 1287.
fays, on walls and dry places : fo that I find it is of the nature of mofs, which
grows equally either on walls or wet places, where the ground is out of heart,
and wants flrength j therefore fuch grounds want their cordials.

MEADOWS.

Klufhrooms §. i, 1 7^ ROM the obfervation I made of my own hill-country meads, I
o"good"m°ea- A ^'1^, that an indication of the goodnefs of the foil may be feen in

d'jw land. the muriiroom-feafon, by it's bearing (if it be a healthy pafiure) plenty of'
muflirooms ; for thofe meads of mine, the goodnefs whereof I full well
know, by my foiling and feeding them do bear the greater plenty accord-
ing as they are in heart, and the parts of the fame mead proportionably to

3 the

MEAD O W S. 261

the goodnefs of the foil} whereas thofe meads, which are out of heart, bear
no muflirooms.

§. 2. Linuiii catharticum, or dwarf-flax, Mr. Ray fays, abounds in the Dwarf flax in
drier paftures, efpecially on the hills. — 1 have great plenty of it in thofe "'"'^°^s.
meads that are very poor, but in meads which are in very good heart, tho' vf"ty°. ^^
only parted from the other by a hedge, none of it will grow : I take it to be
a great indication of poverty, where-ever it grows, and indeed, dry and poor,
and fat and rich are reciprocal terms, when we fpeak of land; for dunging
would moiften fuch dry lands, and alter their property, fo that dwarf-flax
would no longer take up an abode in them.

§. 2. Mr. Bobart aflured me, that the great or greateft of meadow-jTrafs, ^''S'"'^^'^'*

■^ J . . , • • 1 1 n 1 r 1 1 1 • /I common mea-

gramen pratenie paniculatum majus, is the belt hay or the meads, as beuig molt dow-grafs.
grafly or leafy, that is, the culms proceeding from the roots have the moft
gradus of leaves on them, and are very fweet : the common meadow-grafs,
gramen pratenie paniculatum minus, has no leaves to it's culms, in comparifon
with the other, and only an herbage from it's roots that is low ; yet Ray, I
find, fays, it is greatly coveted by the cattle, but takes no notice of the former
for that excellency. Vide alfo Ray's Synopfis, f 257. — But Gerard fays, the »
common meadow-grafs, gramen pratenfe minus, grows on barren hills, and is
only fit for fheep, and not great cattle.

§. 4. It feems to me, that the caufe of mofs in lands, or on trees, Mofsafign
&c. is poverty : the Rei rufticce fcriptores fay, that poor, dry, and hun- ° P°^"V'
gry land is fubjedl to mofs, and it certainly is fo ; and we know alio that a good
ftrong fort of land lying wet, or a hill-country land on a cold clay, or lying
(helving to the north, will be fubjedl to mofs alfo, and yet the land may be of a
good fort, and value, when cured of the mofs. — Neverthelefs the fame reafon
as above may be given for the mofs abounding in the dry beggarly land as in
the ftronger fort of land mentioned after j for what diff'erence is there between
land according to the firft inftance poor and dry, having no falts or vegetable
fpiritsinit, and the other fort of land, wherein the fpirits are bound up, and
chilled, and rendered unactive, by reafon of the coldnefs of the earth, it's wet- •
nefs, or it's lying to the north, fo that it's fpirits cannot be rarified, nor fet on
wing, in order to exert themfelves ? what fignify flrong liquors, or juicy
herbs, put into a ftill or limbeck, if there be no fire fet underneath to move
them, and make their fpirits rife ? — Again, as to dry, poor, beggarly land, and
as to trees bearing mofs, we may compare their llate to that of every dry
ftake or hurdle-hedge, in which, as the fap and fpirits of the wood are ex-
haled, which will be at a year's end, a mofs will grow on the bark, and more
and more the fecond and third year it ftands, as rottennefs comes on ; and
fo the mofs on the body of a tree, or it's branches, is an infallible fign of the
poverty of the tree, at leaft in thofe places where it grows ; it fhews that it's
fibres and fiftular parts for conveying of juices, in thofe arms or limbs, are de-
cayed, or decaying, or by fome accident rendered ufelefs.

§• 5- Colu-

» There is a middle fort of meadow-grafs between thefe two.

;.62 MEADOWS.

The older the |, ^, Columella is of opinion that the older the dung the lefs profitable it 13
tw^e'for f*^^ meadows. Fimum pratis quo vetuftius minus profit, quia minus herbarum
ineadov.s. progencret, &;c. — Columella, fo. io6.

Whyhmeand ^ ^^ That hop-clover and wild broad-clover come up in meads, and paf-
nieldows. ture-ground, by ftrewing aflies and lime, and in fome meafure by chalking,
feems to me to proceed from the heat of thofe manures, which render the
principles of vegetation more adlive, by attenuating them, and putting them
into a briik motion, whereby they become able to open and penetrate thofe
feeds, which are plentifully brought into the ground, by the feet of both men
and beads; but the principles of vegetation were too languid before for that
purpofe ; yet dung will in fome meafure do the fame thing ; foot alfo, as I
have experienced in my meads, has the fame effedl. — It is alfo to be obferved,
that path-ways through meads and pafture-grounds are more fubjedl to clover
than other places, which proceeds from the fame reafon ; thofe paths by often
treading become better land ; feeding-meads for the fame reafon produce
clover. — I queftion much whether thefe manures laid on arable land that is
laid up to pafture would under a long time produce the wild clovers, becaufe
the feeds are not in plenty on the furface but by long time.
Of rolling ^, ^, jvir. Wife's farm at Newnham in Oxfordlliire lying much on the

flc)od°"^^ water-meadows, it happened that his meadows, and the neighbouring people's
were, juft before hay- making time, overflowed, and exceedingly ftranded j
the neighbouring people cut their grafs in that condition, tho' hardly worth
the cutting ; Mr. Wife rolled his, which fo lodged and faftened the knots of
every fpire of grafs in the mud and ftrand, that from the knots there imme-
diately fprung up a very rich aftermafs, which he thought paid him the
damage of lofing his firft crop of hay, and he mowed it to his great
fatisfadion.
^'')5".'°'^°^ ^. 8. Columella recommends the fowinsr of grafs-feeds in meadows that are
meadows. t^in of grafs, the feed to be fown in a mild feafon, about February, and then

to dung the mead. fo. no.
A meadow, ^_ ^ jj. ^,^5 ^ yg[.y burning fummer (anno 1702), and we had no hay in
grafs. (hould the meads, but only bennets, and thofe not worth cutting : however the far-
be mowed, mers and labourers all agreed, that it was for my profit to mow them, tho' it
fliould not pay the charge of mowing ; for, faid they, the aftermafs will prove
away abundantly the better ; whereas the grafs will not grow afrefh, unjefs
the dying bennets be cut off, neither will horfes, nor other cattle eat the ben-
nets all the winter ; fo the dead rowet will continue on the ground, and will
prevent the growth of the grafs next fummer, and fpoil the mowing of the
meads the next year, and further, the bennets, if not mowed, would hurt the
eyes of the (heep, — and they all faid, they knew this to be true by experience.
feTdmg^""™ §• i°- Walking in the meadows on the 28th of May (anno 1714) I faw it
meadows. tvas very manifeft, that by feeding the meadows for two years laft pafi:, in-
flead of mowing them, I had greatly increafed the broad-clover honeyfuckle,
and deftroyed the yellow rattle or coxcomb-grafs.

^.11. When

PASTURES. 263

§. 1 1. When meadows have been foddered on in winter, take care to raice Of raking up
up the hay before the worms have drawn the ends of it into their holes ; for ^^y.^^^"^°^-
then it will not rake up, but will both hinder the mowing, and make the meadows!
new hay fufty.

§. 12. I think meadows ought to be hayned from about the middle of Au- Ofh^yning
guft till the end of Oftober, that, the fown grafles then going off, there may "P meadows,
be rowet till the latter end of December for odd horfes ; I think this will pay
beft, and if then hayned, in cafe the meadows are in good plight, they will
bring a head of grafs againft lambing-time.

§. 13, What up-lands you defign for mowing, in order to make hay, fluit '
them up in the beginning of February. J. Mortimer, Efq. F. R. S. fo. 25.*

PASTURES.

§• ^ • T T A V I N G, as I thought, greatly improved Crux-Eafton, by laying Paftures in the

J7X down grounds to grafs, that were more natural for bearing grafs h'H-cou'-itry
than corn; I confidered thereon, that I might greatly increafe the number of f "a" g^rea't^^^
my great cattle, i. e, my cows, &c. and I purpofed to keep oxen, knowino-"tt!e.
that I had a length of grafs for a bite for them j but I found myfelf miftaken
in this refpeft ; for our hill-country ground, though it be a clay, and im-
proved by manure and pafturing ; yet it is of a cold and four nature, and
though, by giving it time to grow, it may carry grafs to a length to anfwer
the aforefaid purpofes, yet the tops of fuch grafs will be coarfe and four, as
running to a length beyond what the ftaple of the ground can well carry, and
fo will do lefs fervice, in proportion to the length of time it will require to
arrive to fo great a growth as to maintain great cattle, than it would have
done, by a lefs and a Shorter growth, in maintaining fheep ; for the grafs, in
fuch cafe, being kept fhort, and not of a length beyond what the ftrength of
the ground will carry it to, it is in proportion fo much the fweeter, and better
for improving fheep than it would be, when run to a greater length, for fup-

porting great cattle ; as the common faying is, A lark is better than a kite.

Again, the keeping of fheep upon fuch land will make a much quicker re-
turn, inafmuch as the grafs, on hungry, or poorer paflure, will grow the
fafler (when it is fo kept down, by keeping fheep on it, as not to exceed an
inch in growth) than it could have done by keeping great cattle ; in which
cafe, tho' you let it grow to a greater length, fuppofe three times as long, it
will require five times the time, or perhaps more, in growing the two inches
beyond the firft inch, than it was in growing that firft inch : \£ all this be true,
it is apparent, that on fuch ground you may maintain a much greater number
of fheep in proportion than you can of great cattle ; i. e. fuppofe the propor-
tion of a fheep to a cow to be five to one, you ihail in this cafe be able to
maintain feven or eight flieep to one cow, and no one can doubt, where the
land is equally fit for either, but that ewes and lambs will pay better than the

keeping
» See the aitick Hay.

2h4. PASTURES.

keeping of cows : how little profit lean, in proportion, make of a dairy, in
coniparifon of what I can make of fheep, I am fully convinced by the great
turgid udders of the cows at Gaufuns, and the middling udders of the cows
at Pomeroy in Wiltfliire, and the lank udders of my cows at Crux-Eafton ;
nay, the cows at Holt carry much better udders than mine, and thofe cows
generally go with the flieep, which fl^ows the feed is much fweeter than
mine.
1 he gooJi efs §. 2. The proof of grafs, be it of the fame fort with that in another ground,
noMnh's*^ lies not in it's length, but in it's fap and grofsnefs ; for, if a ground be poor in
)eng.th, but in juiccs, the grafs will be fo long in growing, and the fun will fo harden and
n'i fap. confirm it's fibres, that it will eat hard, and afford lefs nourirtiment than the

fame fort of grafs, and of the fame height, which grew in half the time, the
fibres of which will be tenderer than the other.
Sign of good §. 2- This is a general rule that may be depended on in paflures ; where
a.id btd paf- gj-^^gg gfe, that naturally grow in barren grounds, fuch lands want manuring,
and then the better fort of graffes, which carry ftrong roots, will eafily over-
come fuch poor grafles, they having but weak roots, and fuch paftures are to
he looked upon to be in a better, or in a worfe condition, according to the
perfection and breadth of the leaf, and the length of the culm or panicle,
which fuch poor gralTes carry ; again, if by manure you fo alter the property
of your pafture as to bring up the clovers, you mufl: ftill obferve the breadth
of the leaf fuch clovers carry, and the largenefs of the flower ; for, if they
arrive not to that growth you fee them do in very good paflures, you may be
affured, your ground will ftill pay well for farther dunging.
Ofthench-_ ^.4.. Sir W. Raleigh, c. 3. fo. 31. fays, Qaintus Curtius makes this re-
partures""^'" P^'"^ ' — ^^^^^ there are pafture lands lying between the rivers Tigris and
Euphrates, which are of fo rich a nature, that thevdare noi fuffer the iheep to
lie long upon them for fear they fhould be furfeited and killed, — which is in-
cident to our rank gralTes, as clover, and quick-growing paftures of natural
graifes, efpecially in the fpring.
Ofp'oughing ^_ ^_ I have obl'erved ferny grounds (which have lain long to rowety grafs,
rowety paf- ^nd to a four impovcriflied grafs) fit almoft for nothing but to make catde
ture. loufy ; I have feen thefe grounds ploughed up for two or three years, and

laid down again without being fown to grafs, and have often obferved fuch
grounds to have put on a frefh face, and to have born a more fappy and juicv
grafs, and to have afforded a tolerable good pafture.. — The reafon of this I
conceive to be, that thefe rowety graffes (having for many years flied their
feeds, of which the ground was full, and the feeds alive) being by the plough-
ing killed root and branch, the feeds of thofe graffes take root, and bring
forth a young tender heib, which continues fo for a few years, till the roots
decay again, and then it is fit to be ploughed up again.
Of laying up §. 6. As it is better to plough up lands at the latter end of July, or the be-
paflures for CTinnins; of Auguft, for a barley, or a peas-fallow, than to fat fo late in the veaf,

Wiiitcr-rowct. ooo' y'^r ■' -''

' as has been noted before, fo it is better to lay up a grafs-ground at the fame
time of the year for a winter-rowet, fuch as will endure the frofts, which

will

PASTURES. 265

will In all likelihood pay better than late fummer-feeding : thofe who can only
ufe the prefent minute, and go to that which is moil: obvious, and for a pre-
fent advantage, in a road with the crowd, muft expedt but a vulgar ad-
vantage.

■ §. 7. I was at Pomeroy in Wilts in Odober (1699) viewing lands with far- Ofhayningup
rher Stephens : it was a mighty year for aftermafs-grafs, and he gave me to pa^"''" *''^'
underftand, that he hayned the grafs-ground which he had fed all the fum-
mer, for winter-feed, that the cattle might then have a good bite, and kept
feeding the aftermafs-grafs after the hay was off, becaufe the grafs of the
fed grounds is ftronger than the aftermafs-grafs, and will better endure the
winter frofts, and fnows ; whereas, were the af:ermafs-grafs fuffered to grow
to a good height, it would, if frofts came, be quickly cut off, or, being waflu'
and weak, if fnows fell, it would be beaten down, and grow rotten ''.

DOWNS.

■"Mr. Miller, to whom the world is greatly obliged for his excellent dictionary, under the articles
of Barley and Trefoil, complains of the ignorance, obftinacy, and covetoufnefs of the farmers in
fowing grafs feeds with their corn, and he again repeats the fame complaint, when he gives rules

for laying down land for pafture. His argument againft this practice is as follows. — If the corn,

fays he, has fucceeded, the grafs has been very poor and weak, fo that if the land has not been
very good, the grafs has fcarcely been worth faving ; for the following year it has produced but little
hay, and the year after the crop is worth little, either to mow or feed. Nor can it be expected tr>
be otherwife ; for the ground cannot nourifli two crops ; and, if there were no deficiency in the land,
yet the corn being the firft, and mofl: vigorous of growth, will keep the grafs from making any
confiderable progrefs. So that the plants will be extremely weak, and but very thin, many of them,
which came up in the fpring, being deftroyed by the corn, for where-cver there are roots of corn it
cannot be expefted there fhould be any grafs ; therefore the grafs muft be thin, and if the land is
not in good heart, to fupply the grafs with nourifhmcnt, that the roots may branch out after the

corn is gone, there cannot be any confiderable crop of clover. In anfwer to this, the farmers

argue from experience, and deny the fa£t, to wit, — " that, if the corn has fucceeded, the grafs has
been poor and weak, and fcarcely worth faying ;" for they fay, it very rarely happens that a good
crop of corn damages the crop of grafs that is fown \yith it, but, on the contrarv, they acknowledge

that the grafs has more frequently damaged the barley. Bv negletfling to fow srafs with our

corn, fay they, our ground lies idle, and we lofe a year's profit ; for they will not allow September
to be the proper feafon for fowing grafs immediately after a barley crop, for a rcafon I fhall hereafter
mention, tho' it may fometimes fucceed. — They aflert that the corn is a (hade and fafeguard to the
grafs, and that the latter is very feldom deftroyed but generally protecSled by it ; — that the roots will
branch out when the corn is gone, and the grafs get up after harvfcft, tho' it had been before kept
down by the barley ; — that the roots of the corn taking up part of the ground appears to them to be
of no real hindrance to the growth of the grafs after the crop is cut ; for the roots of the corn
dying away at the time the corn is cut, ceafo to rob the grafs of it's nourifhmcnt, and by their oc-
cupying part of the ground, the grafs is thereby prevented from coming up too thick, and the
plants ftanding at greater diftances from each other have more room to tillow and fpread ; whereas,
on the contrary, if clover were fowed by itfelf, at leaft in the common way of fovAnz, it would be
in danger of coming up too clofe, and of running up into a weak fpire ; — that it is common, even on
poor land, the firfl year after corn, to cut a ton of clover from an acre, on good land a ton and an
half, and fometimes two tons, which is fuppofed to be as great a burthen, and perhaps a greater,

for the reafons before given, than the fame land would produce if fown jv'ith grafs only.; As

clover and rye-graCs however are but of a fhort duration, they agree, that thtif crop i?, aeneral!'"-
fpeaking, not very confiderable the fecond year, when they feed it off and fallow the ground for
wheat. It appears notvvithftanding, from i\Ir. Lifle's account even of this fecond year's crop of
broad-clover, that it is not of that contemptible value that Mr- Miller has reprcfented it ; for .in his
obfervationsonGrafl'es, he reports, that twenty acres of broad-clover of the fecond year did from the
middle of April to the middle of May maintain twenty-three yearlings, and eight fleers of four .

M m )cars

[ 266 ]

D O W N S.

§. I . T Think it veiy advifable for gentlemen who have great downs, to plough
_!_ a furrow acrofs thcni in fome places, that they may turn the beft of
fuch lands into arable ; and they may have many inclofures, that, by realbn of
their poverty, may be fitter to be turned into rye-grafs downs than to be in-
clofed, and then not to be ploughed above once in five, fix, or feven years.

BULLS and OXEN.

§. I. ' X^OLUMELLA and Palladius Agree in the charader of a good

\^ bull, that he fliould be large in limb, gende in temper, and of a

middle age ; for the reft they refer us to what they have fiid of the ox, for

the only difference between them, fays Columella, is, that the bull has a

fterner

years growth, befides a great many hogs, and yet the pafture grew on them, and run more and
more to a head every day, though early in the fprmg the flieep had fed it down bare, Co that the
ground was not hayned till the beginning of April, and the wind, as well as drought oppofed the
growth of the grafs ; for no rain had fallen for five weeks before, and the wind had been north and
eafterly for fix weeks, fo that no grafs of any other kind did wag : and in another place, in compar-
ing the profit of vetches with that of broad-clover, he fays, the fecond year's crop of clover is a
very great profit beyond the rent of the ground. — The farmers however, admitting their crop is of
no great profit to them the fecond year, wifh Mr. Miller could make good his afiertion, and put
them in a way of laying down land, which has been in tillage, to grafs, in fuch manner as that the
fivord fliould be as good, if not better, than any natural grafs, and of as long duration , but, in
their opinion, the chief rules he lays down are not prafticable, efpccially in large concerns, and
among farmers in common hufhandry. — His firff rule is, that when ground is laid for grafs, there
fhould j;o crop of any kind be fowed with the feeds. This has been already anfwered. — His fecond
is, that the bcfl: fcafon to fow the grafs feeds upon dry land, is about the middle of September, or
fooner, if there is an appearance of rain. — To this they reply, that grafs feed fown at that time of-
the year is generally killed by the frofl: ; fo that, if you fow it at that feafon, you are in great danger
of lofing your whole crop, and, if you defer it to the March following, you lofe a year's advan-
tage; it is much fafer therefore to fow it with corn in the fpring, particularly on cold land, and
grafs fo fown will be much forwarder the year following than that fown in September. — But Mr. .
Miller has taken notice of this objection, and to obviate it, advifes to well roll the ground in the
end of Oftober, or the beginning of November. This the farmers own might be of great ufe,
but it mufl: be on ground that is naturally very dry indeed, or it is not eafy to be prachifcd ; for the
misfortune is, the weather is commonly fo moift during the months of OiSdber and November,
that it is thin exceeding difficult to roll the ground, which is wet and dawby at that feafon, and
cleaves to the roller, and there hardly happens one year in twenty that you can roll it.- - His
tiiird rule is, to lay the ground down to grafs by fowing the beft fort of upland hay feeds, and Dutch
clover or white honeyfuckle. — None of the farmers I have had an oppor'ainity of confulting have
any great experience in this kind of clover ; their objeflion therefore to this manner of laying down
r,round arifjs from the difficulty of obtaining any great quantity of this fine fort of upland hay
feeds ; for grafs for hay is cut before the feed is ripened, and out of ten bufhcls of hay feed not three
will be ripe enough to grow, and this laft is the number of bufliels Mr. Miller advifes to fow upon
every acre of land : beffles, fay they, in all paftures, be they never fo fine, there will be fpiry and
benty grafs, which is what chiefly ripens, the finer erafs being \ept down, and fcidom producing
much feid. They conclude therefore, that this may be a good rule for a gentleman, who has only
walks in a wood or garden, or a fmall piece of land to lay down to grafs, but that it will not be
of any advantage to farmers, for it cannot be int oduced into common praiTtice.

^ Membrisampliffimis, moribus placidis, media cttate ; ca;tera fere eadem omnia, qua? in bulius;
neque enim alio diftat bonus taurus a caftrato, nifi quod huic torva facies eft, vegetior afpectus,
breviora cornua, torcfior cervix, ventre paulo fubftrictioie. Colum. lib. 6. cap. 20. ^

B U L L S and O X E N. 267

fterner countenance, a livelier look, ftiorter horns, a brawnier neck, and a
ftreighter belly. -

§. 2. I find by farmer William Sartain of Wilts, that a. light headed bull, ^'arks and
with thin horns, not thick at the root, is preferable, cacteris paribus. And the ^j;[, " ^ ^°°
fanners of Holt fay, a bull will live very quiet with oxen, or young beatls, all
winter, till towards May-day, when he may grow a little rank.

It is ufually faid, that a bull of two years old is the beft to bull cows ; but His age.
I find by experience, that if he be of the hill-country breed, he will, unlefs
he be very well kept, be too fmall to bull the cows ot three and four
years old.

§. 3. Mr. Raymond, who has better breeding pafture, and warmer grour.d of his breed's
than 1 have on the hills, lays, that, if you have yearling heifers, and a year- ^'^~£«""""'15-
ling bull of the Gloucefter-brown kind for a choice breed, one muft often be
renewing, or keeping up the breed, by buying one of thofe yearling bulls;
otherwife the breed will loon degenerate,

§.4. I had, in November (anno 17 ii) an ox fell lame in the field, as he ^f a bull's
was ploughing, and I had, in the fame field, my herd of kine, and a bull go- ^vitiThi"^^"
ing with them ; the bull had never been yoked ; however the men ventured nrcath. See
to take him, and yoked him to an ox. — The bull bellowed as he went along, ^- "•
for two or three turns, but without making any refinance ; he ploughed qui-
etly that day, and the next ; whereupon I was very well pleafed, and thought
to have continued ploughing with him, but my oxmen faid, if I did, he would
kill the ox he went againft. — I thought they meant by horning him, or
bearing on him, but they faid, the bull would kill him with his breath. — I
was furpriied at the anfwer, and afked how that could be ; they faid, by blow-
ing on him with his breath, which was very ftrong, and that in Wiltfbire
thev, for that reafon, always ploughed with two bulls together in the fame
yoke. — But, faid they, the ilrength of their breaths prefently ceafes on their
being gelt.

§. 5. In the beginning of December (anno 171 1) I fent for the gelder of Theberrer
Kimbery to cut this bull, and he came and cut him, and he faid, he thought 5^'''= ^ bull is
he would do v.'ell ; but, as the bull feemed to be out of cafe, I alked the gel- ^^ bears"^'^
der, whether that was better or worfe for him ; he faid, they counted, that the cutting.
better condition the bull was in it was the fafer, and that he would bear it
the better.

§. 6. Mr. Bifiy fays, if a bull be gelt, his bullifli nature v/ill be ploughed When good
out in three years time, and he will make as good beef as any ox. becfa.te. cut-

§. 7. It is agreed on all hands by the farmers about Holt, viz. by farmer a bdlkillsan
Sartain of Brou2;hton, farmer Stevens, farmer Lofcomb, &c. &c. that an oxox withhis
does not care to plough fide by fide, or under the fame yoke with a gale, or a '■^^^'''^'^-
bull, till his bullilh nature is ploughed off, i. e. till a year at leaft be fpent in
work; and the chief reafon they alfign for it is, that the oxen cannot abide
the ftrong breath of the gales ; befides, with their fliort horns they can eafily
hit the oxen in the face. — They faid, it was plain the firong breath of a bull
will daunt an ox ; for a bull of a year old was fufiicient to keep the largefl

M m 2 - oxen

•268 B U L L S and O X E N.

oxen in order, amongfl: an herd of cows, and to keep the oxen from riding

them ; for, as foon as the oxen once fniell fo fmall a bull's breath, they pre-

fently acknowledge his fuperiority without contefting it, and run away from

him. — Many farmers for this realbn will by no means yoke an ox with a bull,

becaufe the bull's fl:iort horns, as well as his breath, are apt to beat the ox out

of the furrow, and to tire him, by his endeavouring to ufe an equal flrength

to draw fideways from the bull as to prefs forward.

Working §. 8. The north-country hearts that are of the weftern parts, much exceed

young beafts our's in bulk and weight; for, tho' we have as deep feeding in Somerfetfliire,

growth. ' ^^^ i" the vale of Wiltfhire, as they have in the North, yet becaufe we work

our bullocks, that ftops their, growth, whereas in the North they plough with

horfes, and keep their bullocks nnwrought till they are fatted and killed.

Signs, fmall §. g. Columella would have the oxen be provided with large hoofs, ungulis

or Jarge hoofs, jjjggj^jg^ lib. 6. fol. I 59. But the COWS with fmall hoofs, or of a moderate

iize, ungulis modicis, ib. fol. i66.
Of oxen heat- §. 10. Being at Holt in Wiltfhire in May (anno 171 1) Mr. Smith, my
ingan "^o^if tenant of Deadhoufe, knowing that I had newly kept two teams of oxen,
afked me how they held out in feed-time that fpring ; I told him, very well,
for the fpring had been fo cold all the feed-feafon as not to make a trial how
they would bear the heat ; but, faid I, tho' it has been very hot weather fince
I have been in Wiltfliire, yet I did believe, that at my return I fhould be in-
formed they had born the heat well in their fallowing for wheat. — Now they
have been at grafs near a month before the hot weather came, whereby their
bodies are well cooled, there is no doubt, replied he, but they will endure the
heat much the better ; but the time for their being overcome with heat was
in the fpring, their bodies during the winter having been dried up with dry
meat, efpecially if any of the hay you gave them was mow-burnt or high dried,
which would difpofe them to fcour; the reafon of which he thought to be, be-
caufe it heats them fo much as to make them catch at every mouthfurof green
grafs, which fets them on fcouring; for which reafon, he faid, his father ufed al-
ways in hay-making time to take particular care to dryareek of hay thoroup-hly
lor his working oxen again ft fpring, that it might not take any heat, but come
out of the reek green, which colour it lofes by heating, and that though
fuch hay lofes much of it's fmell, yet it is thereby made much cooler for the
bodies of the oxen, and they will eat the more greedily of it. — He faid, he
found, that in winter the oxen would eat heated hay without fcouring as well
as the horfes, and if French-grafs hay be well houfed, and cut green, he can-
not make his oxen eat of it beyond Candlemafs, but if over-dry and ripe,
they will not eat it after Chriftmafs. — From hence it feems, the longer you can
at firft hand provide, and keep your oxen at aftermafs, the better and cooler in
their bodies will they be, when they come to their work in the heat of the
fpring ; and fo they will be, the lels heated hay you fodder them with in winter,
yiung ox."^ ^ §• ^ ^ ■ ' ^'^ breaking the young ox, Columella fays, you fhould not fufter him

to
' Sed iiec m media parte verfurs coafiftat, detque requiem iu furama, ut fpe cefiandi tofum fpatium

bos

B U L L S and O X E N. 269

to flop midway in the furrow you are drawing, but always let him reft at the
end, that the hopes of refting may incline him to go through with greater
fpirit. If your furrow be above 120 feet long it will fatigue him too much,
and therefore it ought not to exceed that length. It may be obferved here,
that the meafure of an acre of land was the ordinary quantitity that a yoke of
oxen could plough in a day, from whence it took the name of jugerumj the
farrow above-mentioned to be ploughed o.t one heat, was called adus, and
was of 120 feet, and this being doubled in length made the two fides of an
acre, fo that when Columella advifes a furrow not to be carried above 1 20 feet
at moft, he intimates the cuftomary manner of ploughing, and agrees with
Pliny in afcertaining the meafure of the Roman acre, which is faid by the au-
thor laft mentioned, to be 240 feet by 220 : this contains 28800 fquarefeet;
our acre contains 43560 Englifli feet fquare ; fo ours is near double the Ro-
man acre. Two oxen theretbre might, in pretty light land, very well plough
a Roman acre in a day.

My oxhind took three of my fteers to break them, and to inure them to
the yoke ; he yoked two of the fleers, being two yearlings together,^ and fo
fuffered them to walk about the ground, where there were no pits, nor
ditches, for them to receive hurt by ; he alfo tied the bufhy parts of their tails
together ; the reafon of which was, becaufe they fliould not be able to turn
their heads to each other fo as to ftrike one another with their horns, or, by
bending their necks too much, by endeavouring to face one another, and then
ftriving, break their necks ; in this pofture he let them go in the ground, if
without holes or ditches, all nighty or elfe turned them into an empty open
barn fo yoked, and thus ufed them two or three times before he worked
them.

§. 12. If you turn off plough-oxen to lie by during the winter, in order to Yourgi.eafb
plough with them ag-ain in the fpring, the young fleers broken the fummer beil endure

r o o ro' yo ■ji/liT turning out

before, which have not been houfed in wmter, my ploughman judges belt tor j^-v^inter.
that purpofe, becaufe they'll beft endure to lie abroad in winter : next to thefe
the younger hearts will' befl endure it.

§.13. Working makes oxen's claws grow larger and broader than other- A broad daw
wife they would do ; therefore a broad full claw is a fign that an ox is, or at ^^^'^^^^^^.^
lead- has, been a good working bead, for hard working and free working uigbeaft.
will, either of them, make an ox's claws fo to grow, becaufe a hard working,
efpecially a free working bead, puts his claws ftrong to the ground as he treads,
and thrulls them hard againft it, which will caufe the aforefaid tffeCc ; whereas
a falfe working beaft will tread tenderly and lightly on the ground, and con-
fequently never fpread the horn of his claw.

bos agilius enitatur : fulcum autem ducere longiorem quam pedum centum viginti contrarium pccori ^,

eft; quandoquiJem plus Kquo fati^^atur, ubi httnc modum e.xcefiic. Colum. lib, 2. fol. 98.

Jugerum vocaba-ir, quod unojugobovum in disexarari poffet; adus, in quo boves agerentur, cum
aratur, uno impstujuftoj hie crat 120 pedum, duplicatufque in longitudincm jugerum faciebat.
Plin. lib. 18. cap. 3.

§, 14. L

270 B U L L S and O X E N.

Ofcuingoxen. §. 14. I dways ordered my oxhind, the morning the oxen are to be * cued,
*iliocd. |.Q jjg them where they may ftand in fome muck-hill, or moifl: place, in order
to fupple their claws; for as our nails, after wafhing our hands, pare the better,
fo will their claws do the fame, and the nails drive the eafier. After cuing
the oxen are always tender in their feet, and therefore fliould be favoured for
a day after, and not worked in hard or ftony ground, and, if they are at ftali
in the winter, the dung from their hinder feet fhouid be flung forwards under
their fore feet to keep them fupple ; their hinder feet will be moift enough
of courfe.

If you fling off plough-oxen for the winter, it is good to new cue them, or
at leall to turn them off with good claes on their feet ; for, when they are not
worked, their cues will lafl: a long time, and in the mean while their claws
will grow out v/ell, and harden againft fpring.

It is not proper to let oxen go to carting in coppices within two or three days
after being cued, till the cues are a little fettled to their feet; otherwife they
may be apt to tear them off amongfl: the ffubs of the coppices.
Of pitching ^. i^. Cato, fol. 13. fays, ycu fhould anoint the bottom and infide of your
their teet. Qxen's feet with liquid pitch before you drive them on the road, that they may
not wear cut their hoofs. — I do not perceive, tho' they ufed oxen fo much,
that they flioed them.
Of drawing §. ] 6. " Columella takes notice of the cuftom in many of the Roman pro-

vinces of diav/ing by, or, as he terms it, fixing the yoke to the horns, and
fays it is condemned by all the writers on huftandry, and not without caufe,
for oxen cannot draw with that force by their horns as by their necks and
breads.
A man better §. 17. lam of opinion there is nothing faved by taking a boy to drive an
thann boy to ox-ploiigh, though you plough v/ith but fix oxen ; a man will keep fo much
oxplojgh. the greater awe over them, and will make them go trig; nay, there is a con-
fiderable benefit, if two men go with the plough, for them to change hands
in the middle of the day, and drive by* turns ; fo niuch more notice v.ill the
oxen take of a diffbrent voice, that it will quicken them.
Offeedingox- c jg_ ^i^o^ half an hour, or fomewhat more, after m.y oxen came home

en alter vsorK. ^•',.,, t r 1 • • t • ^l t, r .. r

from tneir day s work of harrowmg-m oats, I went into the ox-noule, to lee
what order things were in there ; my oxen were all laid down in their flails,
chewing the cud, but no meat in their racks, not a fingle flalk of hay ; I
thought this hard ufagc, unlefs my ploughmen had iirfl fed them, before
they went to their dinners, and the cattle had eaten that^ferving up ; there-
fore I aflced my head- oxherd concerning it ; he faid, they never ferved their
cxen with fre.Hi hay at their firlt coming from work, but there \\-as always
feme of the oughts or leavings of their breakfafls let^'t in the racks for them,
which was then, when they were hungry, welcome to them, and they re-

^ Illud, quod in quibufdam provir.ciis ufurpatur, ut cornihus illigetur jugum, fere repudiatum eft
ab omnibus, qui prsecepta rufticis confcripferunt, neque immerito; plus eaim queunt pecudes collo
& peclore conari quamcornibus. Colum. lib. 2. fol. 98.

quired

BULLS and OXEN.. 271

quired them firft to clear the racks of that before they gave them, frefh hay. —
I note this, becaufe fomc idle hinds might fling fuch oughts out to the dung-
hill. The evening oughts or leavings, if the oxen will not eat them, ought
to be laid by for horfes, &c. becaufe, their bellies being well filled over night,
they are nicer in their food in the morning, and mud: have fiefli meat.

§. 19. After many years ufing my ox-teams 1 was (anno 1719) almoft >"- ^^.J^^Xcks
clinable to difpofe of them, they being fo chargeable to me in win.tr, in haydry.andoffod-
and vetches; but, whilft I had thefe thoughts, a Wiltfliire farmer, of whofedeiingthem
judgment I have a great opinion, told me, he ftiould think 1 might at leaft ^H^^gJ''"' '"
keep one ox-team very advantageoufly, if it were only to help eat up my
winter-ftraw, my cow-catde not being fufficient for that purpofe ;— to which
I replied, that to keep oxen all winter to eat up my ftraw would do me little
fervice, when by vertue ^nd flrength of the flraw I could not pretend, in
winter, to do any work with them ; — to which he anfwered, that was a
millake ; for I might very well work them fome time after they had cat up
their fodder in a morning, viz. from nine o'clock till two, if I put them not to
too hard work, and that fuch working every other day would rather do them
good than harm, and would get them a ftomach to their meat. — I made a
feruple of working them fo many hours, and faid, I could contrive work for
them of great ufe to me, and work them but from nine till twelve ; — but he
infifced, that I might work them from nine till two, if I contrived it fo as to
give them the beft of my flraw, tho' he acknowledged that ftraw was not fo
good with me as with them in the vale ; he faid farther, that nothing in win-
ter beat out cows or oxen more than their being wet on their backs or loins ;
it was therefore of great confequence to keep them dry overhead, in order to
hold them to their proof ; for, if cattle carried their hides wet day by day, it
was as bad to them as it would be to us to wear wet cloaths, and muH: make
them fink or pitch.— From hence I refolved, that I would oblige my fervants,
during the winter, at lealf in wet weather, to tie up my cow-catde in flied-
houfes, and to bring up my oxen from their flraw abroad, in wet v/eather, to
eat it in the ox-houle;~and for-the fame reafon it feems to me, that, if I work
my oxen in winter, as above propofed, by vertue of flraw, I ought not to
work them in cold and wet weather ; for working in one fuch day, will beat
them out (as. the farmer called it) and make them to pitch more than work-
ing three days in dry weather. — To this however I objeiled, that, thoT tied
up my cows and oxen in wet weather, yet 1 could not avoid letting them out
to water in the wetted: day, and though it rained never fo hard ; — to which he
replied, that letting them out to water at fuch a time would do them i;o
hurt ; it was only their continuing in the wet for hours together that did tliera
prejudice. — He faid farther, that, if I put the cows or oxen under fkurt.is, or
penthoufes, though they lay open to the air and wind on one fide, that mat-
tered not, provided their backs were dry.

Tl:ie fame farmer making me a vifit, I told him Vvhat g od fuccefs- 1 h?,d ^'ot beyond
had in foddering my oxen v/ith ftraw the lafl winter, and how well notwith- 'g^°JJJ_*'*

{landing

272 B U L.L S and OXEN.

binding they^iid their work.— He told me, he did not doubt but they would
- do fo, otherwife he would not have perfuaded me to it ; but, faid he, I would
not advlie you to keep oxen, you propofe to work, with ftraw in winter to
above fix, or however, not to above feven year old at fartheft ; for, when
oxen are pad that age, they fall off cf their flomachs more than younger cattle
will, nor can they hold their flefli with fo coarfe meat, and work withal, as
younger cattle can.

Clisfffor §'20. Barley-chaff is not proper for oxen, but wheat, and oat-chaff they

oxen. j^j^y g^(. . j^j-jg barley-chaff is apt to ftick under the roots of their tongues.

■\ cichci for §. 21. The plough-oxen may eat freely of the winter-vetches, and they
will do them the mod good at the beginning of winter, before they are forced
*to be houfed, and whilfl they have yet fome grafs left^in the field to eat
along with them ; for the cold rowety grafs, and the dry and hot winter-
vetches will qualify one another.

By all means, however, if, in the hill-country, you pretend to fat oxen, or
to work oxen in the plough, take care to have a good reek of old vetches in
flore againft fummer ; for it will rarely happen but they will have great want
of them, at lead; throughout the whole month of July ; for, the pafi:ure-
grafs in the hill-country, either burning up, or giving off growing by Mid-

*orbenting. fummer, it is the oxen and cow-caltle's * bennetting-time, till a frefh fpring
fiioots up by means of rain in Augufi:, when the corn-fields begin to open to
their padure, though the flieep which bite clofe may fare well : at this time
fuch a provifion of vetches to go on with the rowet, and the fmall pickings of
grafs left, will be a vad fupport to, and of great confequence with the oxen,
nor is the want of old reeked vetches, in this cafe, to be fupplied by green
vetches, which at this time of the year may be had in plenry ; for, though at
this feafon they are a good maintenance for horfes, yet they are unkind to the
horned cattle, and will be apt to fcour them, and to make them fick.

Of giving ^. 22. It is agreed by the Wiltdiire farmers, that from about the begin-

fmall parcels. "'"S of March to the beginning of May, i. e. till the ploughing oxen are put
to grafs, more efpecial care ought to be taken to give them hay in their rack,
in little parcels, fmall pittances at a time, becaufe, the hay then growing dry,
and the oxen growing hot, their breath will be fo much the more apt to blow
their fodder, and then they will not eat it.

Of fcrubbing ^.27. In inclofures in the hill-country, where there are dead hedges, efpe-

pofts for oxen. . f, •■> , , ■, ■' n r • i r i i r i

Tofavethe cially it oxcn are kept there, rugged pods let up m the fields, for them to
dead hedges.* fcrub againd, will be of great ufe to the oxen, as well as a fafeguard to the

hedges.

ofhoufing §. 24. It was the 15th of November (anno 171 3) when my oxhind pro-

their backs pofed 'CO me to take my plough-oxen into the houfe for the winter, it being

are dry. then dry and mild frody weather ; on the contrary my bailiff was of opinion,

that they might, for that reafon, lie out a few days longer; but the other faid,

the weather being dry was the reafon that he propofed houfing them at fird

when their^cks were dry ; for it is a faying in Wiltfhire amongd plough-

2 men.

C O W S and C A L V E S. 173

men, that, if in winter you flayed till the rain came before you houfed oxen,
and then their backs were wet when you firft houfed them, their coats or hair
would be apt to peel off in the winter. — ' The antients are very particular in
their dire(flions to keep the backs of oxen dry, and to rub them well when
they come from work, and pull up their hides that they may fit loofe and not
cling to their flefh.

COWS and CALVES.

§. I. • ' 1 ^ O keep cows from being high in cafe before bulling, and the
\_ bull to be in high cafe is Columella's rule, as well as Varro's.
'■ It appears alfo by Columella, that in Augufl and September they gave their
cows leaves as a good part of their food. " He is likewife of Varro's opinion,
that, if the bull turns off to the right, it is a bull-calf, and, if to the left, it
is a cow-calf, but that only in cafe the cow takes not bull again, which rarely
happens. "^ He and Palladius are in general agreed on the marks that diflin-
guifh a good cow, to wit, that fhe fhould be tall in ftature, long in body, of
a vaft belly, broad forehead, black large eyes, neat, light horns inclining to
black, hairy ears, flat jaws, a dewlap and tail very large and long, hoofs and
legs of a moderate fize,

§. 2. Markham in his Country Contentments, fo. 71, fays, in the choice Choice of a
of a cow, fhe fhould ever have four teats, but no more) her forehead broad
and fmooth ; her belly round and large : a young cow is the befl for breed.

S. •?. A notable dairy- woman informs me, that in Leicefterlliire they obferve, '^^'t' °^^
and fhe has obferved the fame herfelf, that a cow with thick horns, which do
not lefTcn and thin in a taper manner, gives not fo much milk as the cows with
fiend er horns do.

§. 4. If you would choofe a cow to feed, handle her navel, and, if that be Mark of a fat
big, round and foft, fhe is furely well-tallowed. Markham, lib. i.fo. 62. '^°^"

§. 5. When a cow has a calf, one may difcover by the thriving of the calf, ^ good cow
as foon as by any thing whatfoever, whether the cow gives very good and rich thrh^ng of
milk, or that which is but wafliy ; but fome, when they bring the cow and k's calf.
calf to market, will beforehand fill the calf's belly with two cows milk ; but
then the cow's udder, by it's fulnefs, will be apt to fhew it.

• Boves, cum ab opere disjunxerit, fubftri(nos confricet, manibus comprimat dorfum, et pellem
revellat, nee patiatur corpori adhaerere, quia id genus inorbi maxime eft armcntis noxium. Co-
lumella, fol. 99.

" Propter fa;turam hxc fei-vare foleo, ante admiffuram, menfem unum, ne cibo et potione fe imple-
ant, quod exiltimantur facilius macrae concipere : fed tauri e contra impkantur duobus mcnfibus ante
admifiuram. Varro, lib. 2. fol. 58.

'' A calendis Julii in calendas Novembris fatientur fronde. Colum. lib. 6. cap. 3.

' Mas anfaeminafitconceptafignificat defcenfu taurus cuminiit; fiquidcm, fi mas eft, indexte-
riorem : ad idem Ariftoteles.

■' Altiffimne formse, longaeque, maximi uteri, frontibus latifTimis, oculis nigris et patentibus, cor-
nibus venuftis, et levibus, et rigrantibus, pilofis auribus, compreflis mails, palearibus et caudis am-
pl.ffimis, ungulis modicis, et modicis cruribus. Col. lib. 6. cap. 21.

N n ^.6. In

274 C O W S and C A L V E S.

Age ofacow. §. 6. In difcoiufe with a notable cow-keeper he faid, that he counted not a
cow old till fhe was eighteen or twenty years old, and that cows would very
well live fo long, though but few, as he believed, kept them beyond twelve,
or thereabouts j they would not abate of their milk till they came to be very
old.

But another of the fame profeflion replied, if a cow be kept above eight
years old, though {he might give good milk without abatement, yet Ihe
would be worth nothing for fatting, {he would be tough ; and that flie muft
be helped up, when Ihe was down, unlefs flie were very well fed ; he alfo
faid, that many young cows would take a trick of not riling of themfelves,
but of lying, when down, till they were helped up.

Varro, lib. 2. De re ruftica, c. 3. fo. 51. fays, a cow is not good for breed-
ing after flie is ten year old.

Known by 'pj^g ^gg ^f ^ cow, after flie is three year old, may certainly be difcovered ;

for every year after that age at the root of her horn flie will put forth a rundle,
like a curled ring : on examination I faw an inft^ance of it in one of my own
co^^■s.

And the An old cow alfo will lofe her fore teeth in her lower jaw, and, if you

teetii. fliould buy fuch a cow for the fake of a good calf by her fide, and believing

flie may give good milk, if flie has lofl a tooth before, you muft not think of
keeping her above a year or two at moft, but mufl: fat her off. If a cow be
pot-bellied, it is a certain fign flie is old.

Age, when a §. 7, The farmers of the Ifle of Wight agree, that a cow is not in perfec-

feaion'" ^"' *^°" ^^'' S^^'^"S ^^^^ "^^^ "^^'^ ^^^^ ^""^ ^^ ^^ y^^"" ^^'^' ^""^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^ common in
that countiy, where a perfon rents land of one landlord, and cows of another,
to give ten fliillings a year rent for a grown cow ; but as for a heifer of the
third year, which is the firfl: year of her giving milk, you may have her milk
for her keeping, and though flie may the next year let for ten fliillings, yet
flie will not give fo much milk then as flie will do afterw'ards.
Caution— not §. 8. I was telling farmer William Sarta^n, and farmer Ifles, my tenants
|°^"|j!"^^in Wiltfliire, the cold v/inters in the hill- country fell fo hard on old cows
years old in v/ith calf, tliey being long kept to fl:raw, which is with us fourer than ordi-
tie hill- nary, that I was refolved I would not keep a cow to the pail for the future
country, beyond fix year old j— they agreed, that I was much in the right of it.— •
Farmer Ifles faid, the keeping cows fo long and hard to ftraw, and having but
little rowet for them, was the occafion of their running out fo much to be pot-
bellied, as they ufually do.

And I am fmce confirmed by experience, that in cold hill-country air, where
the ftrav/ is alfo coarfe, by reafon of the cold land it was produced from, cows
fhculd not be kept till they aje old, but be fold off at fix, or feven years old
at farthefl: ; becaufe fuch cows, after that age, and in fuch a place, will pitch
much at the end of the winter, efpecially after calving time, nor will they pick
up their flefli again before fummer is far gone, whereas young cows will
bear the hardfliips of winter with four fodder much better than old cows.

§. 9. Mr.

C O W S and C AL V E S. 275

§. 9, Mr. Bifly coming to fee me, and looking out into the backfide, told ^^^"^"[a
me immediately, that I had a free martin.— I aiked him how he knew a free
martin from a cow ; he faid, very well, it being eafy to be feen ; for, faid he,
the bearing of a martin gathers up more like a purfe, and is not fo firm and
turgid as that of a cow; her head alfo is coarfer, and opener horned, like an
ox, neither has flie fuch an udder as an heifer not with calf, but a fmaller. —
He faid, the meat of a free martin, if well fatted, would yield an halfpenny
in the pound more than cow-beef would do.

Amongft the cows the Romans knew that there were fuch as we call free [^^^^JJJYo'Jhc
martins, which they called taurae, and fuch they yoked with oxen. Colu- Ron,ans,
mella, lib, 5. fo. 166.

A free martin is a fort of a barren cow, which hardly carries any teats to
be feen ; fhe will never take bull ; jQie fats very kindly, and in fatting fhe'U
grow almoft as big as an ox j fhe is counted efpecial meat. When a cow
brings two calves, a cow-calf and a bull-calf, the cow-calf will be a free
martin, and will never bear a calf; but I believe the bull-calf is not affeded
in the like manner, but will propagate his fpecies as other bulls.

§. ID. Mr. Biffy, laying his hand on an heifer, faid, fhe was barren j I ^"J^°j^*jfg^
afked him how he knew that ; he faid, very eafily ; for, faid he, when a cow
has not taken bull, or not gone through, her bearing will be firm, and turgid,
whereas, after flie has taken bull, and proves with calf, her bearing flirinks,
and grows lank, and then again, about two months before her calving, it
grows turgid ; but this fulnefs of your heifer's bearing cannot proceed from
her being fo forward with calf, becaufe {he looks lank, nor can I feel any
calf; for he felt her ; and, faid he, if we graziers knew notthefe things, we
fhould fufFer much.

§. II. Captain Tate of •- near Loughborough, obferved to me i^^^^ "^^^^f^J^^^'

1706) that, notwithfianding the Leicefterftiire land was richer than that of^^ggJ^^^J^g'^
Lancafliire, yet they could not keep up the Lancafliire breed of cows and in Lekefter-
calves they bought of them, but they would degenerate fo, that in the third '^»''^-
defcent they had their LeicefterOiire breed again.— He could not tell me the
reafon of it, but the next day meeting with Mr. Clerk, he faid, he conceived
the reafon to be, becaufe they in Leicefterfhire were not fo choice in the
breeding, and managing of them as the dairy-men in Lancafhire were ; for,
faid he, in Lancafhire I have known them give eight, or ten pound for a bull-
calf of a year old, which fhall then be in his prime, and large enough for
bulling the cows, but will decline and grow worfe at two years old ; then, to
make their calves large, they wean them with unlkimmed cow's-milk, where-
as we in Leicefterfliire give them Ikimmed-milk and whey, after their having
had new-milk a month, and this regimen it is that fo much improves the
Lancafliire breed beyond ours.

I aflced the abovefaid Mr, Clerk why the dairy-men in Leicefterfhire did
not prove as good hufbands, and order their cows as well as thofe in Lan-
cafhire did ; he faid, it would not pay, nor be worth while ; for their land
was better than that of Lancafhire, and turned to a better account in breed-

N n 2 ing

276

and CALVES.

ward with
ca!f.

ing coach-horfes and mares, and fatting of cattle, and they kept but fmall
dairies, and therefore it would not be worth their while, where they milked
but a few cows, to go to fuch a price for a bull. — He faid, they obferved
farther, that their large breed of coach-horfes, if carried into Yorkfliire, would
degenerate and grow fmall, and if the pad, and laddle-breed of Yorkfliire,
were brought into Leicefterfhire to breed, they degenerate into a flefhy heavy-
limbed fort of horfes.

Our hill-country farmers and dames are of opinion, that weanling-calves,
or yearlings, brought out of the vale, do well in the hill-country ; for they are
no' otherwife kept than they ought to have been in the vale, that is, wintered
with hay j but it is true, cows from the vale do not do well v.-hen they come
to the hills.
Of knowing K j2. Being in company with farmer White of Catmore in Berkshire, and
heffet'fbr" '" farmer Crapp of Aflimonfworth, Hants, I was faying, that I had winter-
feed, efpecially rowet, for more beafts than I had, and did therefore intend,
about Chriftmafs, to buy in hearts of a year and an half old. — No, faid farmer
White, I would advife you to buy heifers forward with calf, and, as you have
rowet, you may keep them the better, and in all likelihood they'll fetch a
good price in the fpring ; for laft fummer (anno 170 1) was fo dry, that
abundance of calves either went through, or will come in late; therefore a
forward heifer muft yield a good price ; — and you will not fail in having them
that are forward with calf at Chrillmafs ; if you go behind them, and drav^^
their teats, and, if milk comes, they are for your purpofe.
CWtsufedin §.13. I afked a notable Wiltfnire dairy-man, if it was not a frequent prac-
fairs. fj(,g ^Q ^11 j]^e calf's belly with milk the morning they drove the cow and calf

to a fair, to be fold, in order to make the cow's udder appear full all day, and
whether they had not a way, by drawing a firing through the calf's noftrils,
and tying it in the roof of the mouth, to keep the calf from fucking ; he faid,
fome did pradlife thefe things, but he never did ; nor would he ever buy a cow
in a fair, if her milk feemed to be pent up in her udder, nor where no fign of
the calfs having fucked that day could be difcovered; for in fuch cafe he
fhould fufpeft fome cheat ; nor did he ever ferve a cow or calf as abovefaid, and
yet never found but they went off as well as other people's, who might ufe
fuch arts. — He faid, they had alio a way of befmearing the cow's teats with
covv'-dung, and then the calf would not fuck, and in driving the cow to the
fair her udder would be fo dirty, and dufly, that it would not be feen.
Caution— §. 1 4. I would never advife any man to let his cows ; for it never gives any

not to let content to either fide, and the tenant will in all likelihood be negligent in let-
cows to hire. ^.^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^j^^ l^^jj thafhe may milk her the longer; for if fhe be not
with calf, fhe will give milk all the winter in good plenty, and, when fpring
comes, he cares not ; for he knows fhe mufl be changed off.
Of fatting §• 15' A perfon who lives in Moorfields, near to the cow-keepers and rent-

cow, at Lon- g|.g t^ere, and fays, he is acquainted amongfl them, tells me, that the cows are
fed with fuch foul and rank food, that it rots them in the fpaceof tv.-o years, or
two and an half at mofl,and the cow-keeper's practice is of coarfe to put them

away

cows and CALVE S. 277

away fat by fuch time, left they fhould be found dead on a fudden. They are
foon fatted, being good meat all the time they are milked ; the food they give
them is grains, cabbage-leaves, and bean-fliells, of which laft their milk, will
tafte ftrong during thefeafon.

§. 16. I was fenfible this year (171 8) that a cow well fummered is, as the A cow or calf
faying is, half wintered ; for this fummer was two years I weaned twenty weiliummered
calves ; that fummer being wet, there was confequently plenty of grafs, and tcred.
thofe calves were very lufty againft winter, and eat their ftraw, and throve
very well all winter with ftraw, and the advantage of running in my wood;
but, on the contrar}', this laft fummer being very dry, and grafs running ftiort,
my weaned calves, eleven in number, were pinched before winter, and fo
came but poor to their flraw, the confequencc of which was, they never eat
their ftraw well, nor did they care to abide in the coppice to pick on the
brier-leaves as the former calves ufed to do ; fo five of the eleven dropped
off in the winter by the wood-evil, and the other fix I was forced to take to
hay by the middle of February, and could hardly preferve them, nor could I
thereby raife them but very little by the middle of April.

§. 17. I alked farmer Chivers of Gaufun in Wilts, how much hay he con- a cow after
fumed in a year ; he faid, above fixty ton ; — I thought that was a great quan- calving eats
tity for his ftock ; he replied, his was a dairy of cows, and that, when they had t™an^before
calved, they would eat a prodigious quantity of hay. — Why, faid I, have
cows when they have calved greater ftomachs than before ? Yes, faid he,
a cow when flie has a calf to maintain, and is alfo milked, will eat as much
as two other cows ; a cow in that cafe will eat as much as an ox.

Many other farmers agreed, that a milch-cow would in winter eat as much id. a mikh-
hay as a fatting-ox ; for, faid they, the drain from milking her is fo great, that '^°^^' "' winter.
it keeps her up to a great ftomaclr.

§. 18. Thefpring (anno 1714) proving fo cold and dry, that I could have French-grafs
no profpedl of mowing a good fwarth in the French-grafs, about the 24th of'" '"priignot
May, I put in my working oxen, and milch-cows to feed it down, it being, cWrfor°^ '
as I thought, a noble bite for them ; but we foon found, that the cows yielded cows, &c.
lefs milk than when they went in the broad-clover, nor did the oxen fill them-
felves fo well as to be able to go through with their work, and fo my oxhind
feared.

§. 19. Being at Ponieroy in Wilts, and feeing farmer Stephens had fowed Vetches, &c.
vetches, I afked him, why he had done fo ; he faid, they were excellent ^ "^"^'f' ^°

.... iij- • I'l cows after

good to give his cows that calved m winter, or early in the fpring ; for fuch calving,
cows would often be chilled in their calving in cold weather, and fuch meat
would be a cordial to them ; he had had, he faid, cows take fuch colds in their
calving, that their bones would be fore a great while after, fo that they would
not be able to fet a leg forward ; in fuch cafe he made a great toaft for them,
and put it into two quarts of ftrong ale, and gave it them, repeating it two
or three times, and found it did a great deal of good.

The country-men generally agree, that to give a cow rough 1)arley when u. ro...<-h
fhe has calved, is very helpful to the bringing away the cleaning — Quasrc, barky. °

whether

278

cows and CALVES.

whether the reafon muft not be, becaufe it is a heartener, and a ftrengthener,
and that the cleaning flays behind by reafon of lownefs in the cow.

When cows calve, efpecially if they have had any hurt, or are in poverty, the
cleaning often does not come away well, but will hang down, and if it be
negledled, and the cow has not in a day or two a drench to bring it away,
by heaving and ftraining to bring it away, flie will fall into the running of
the reins, which will come from her like the white of an egg ; this will
much daunt the cow, and fink her fo, that flie will not foon get her flefli
again. To prevent this, and to bring away the cleaning, I have known it a
common praftice to give her a handful or two of mifsletoe ; to which purpofe
Mr. Ray alfo obferves, vol. 2. fol 1584. Commanducata; fruticis frondes, &
depaftae a jumentis & vaccis a rufticis noflris ad fecundas remorantes ejiciendas
utiles cenfentur.
In the hill- §. 20. In the hill-country, where the winter provifion for the cows is but
country let the ordinary, it is certainly beft to let them go dry when they goto winter-fodder, or
bXe^yot^ rather a little before that time, that they may be dry againfl they go to fodder,
fodder them in and then you fhould alfo contrive as much as you can, to fodder them where
^"''"' they may have rowct : — this is the way to keep them in cafe all the winter,

and to hold up your cows to a good body, and to bring them to the pail in
fpring with good udders, and to fupport a good breed of calves : by being
let to go thus early dry they will be better able to walk a field at fome di-
ftance, where rowet may be had, or, if you have conveniency of foddering
at a diftance, they may abide where the rowet is to be had.
Give cows §. 2 I. The rule is not to give the fliort fodder in wet weather, becaufe the

w« wmheV" c^"^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^P^ ^° wafte it and trample it under foot, than they will

that which is longer.
A cow-houfe §.22. Cows that are tied up in a cow-houfe never look fo well, nor are in
rot equal to a fo good cafe as thofc that are foddered in a backfide ; for they want the air-
Slrtng^"' ings. nor will they prove j tho' it is poflible they may require lefs meat, as all

unhealthy creatures do.
or cows lick- §.23. I afked farmer Lake, what was the reafon that it harmed a fat beaft
fefves*'"' tolick liimfelf;Mr. Bachelour of Aflimonfworth was then in company, and
they both faid, that where a fat cow licked, it would make a jelly in the
place, under the Ikin.— And, faid farmer Lake, fuch cows do not begin to lick
themfelves till they begin to pitch, and fink by faring hard 5 therefore the
butchers care not to meddle with fuch cattle ; for where they have licked the

tongue leaves a mark, and the butchers can eafily fee it. 1 fuppofe when

they begin to pitch they begin to itch, which is the reafon of their licking.

Of a cow's §. 24. It was May the nth (anno 1702) when fome farmers, good judges

going to bull. p£ cattle, v/ere looking on my calves, which were then yearlings, and they

being in a lufty condition, the farmers faid, if I did not keep tJiem from the

' bull, they would take bull by Midfummer, which would fpoil their

growth.

They fiiid farther, that cows would take bull the fooner for a bull's going
with them, meaning, that if cows were lufty, they would take bull in three

or

cows and CALVES.

or four days time, if a bull were put to them, though otherwife their defire
would not come fo foon.

One of them faid, for the hill-country cows that were fmall, a young bull
of but a year old, and a fmall one, was beft — He had, he aflured us, a lufty
cow fpolled by a three year old bull, which flung the cow in the cow-barton
amongfl: the dung, and put out her hip.

In the beginning of Odlober (anno 1703) I obferved a cow, that had gone
through her bulling, riding m.y other cows; coming to Holt, and being afraid
fhe might prove troublefome to my cows with calf in the foddering-yard, I
allied Stephens of Pomeroy, if Ihe would be for bulling every three weeks in
winter, as well as in fummer ; he faid, no ; (lie might not be for bulling above
once or twice in the winter, becaufe it was winter.- -But, faid he, if a cow goes
thro' in the fummer, and is apt not to ftand to her bull, if immediately after
fhe is bulled you take about a pint of blood from the rump-vein of the tail, it
will make her ftand to her bulling : — and further, faid he, if you would have
all )'our cows come in well together, you muft milk a cow while Ihe is bulling,
and give each of the other cows that you would have take bull a pint, or a
quart of the buUing-cow's milk, and they will in two or three days take bull.
— Another faid, that fpatling-poppy would do the fame thing : I had a maid,
faid he, lately ufed to the dairy-countries, who, when I had a cow not apt to
take bull, went into the grounds, and gathered a large handfhl of fpatling-
poppy, and held it to the cow, and fhe eating it readily went to bull in two
days after, and this, fhe faid, in their country feldom failed.

Mr. Wiltshire of Road coming to Holt while I was there, I had fome dif-
courfe with him about cowsj it was in January (anno 1698); he faid, he had
one that had gone through this year 5 — I alked him, how that came to
pafs ; he faid, he fuffered her to" take bull at a year and a quarter old, letting
her go on Road-common, where there were young bulls of that age ; fo Hie
brought him a calf at two years old, and, when they calve fo young, they
ufually go through the year following '. — I wondered much that a cow fhould
calve fo young ; — upon which he faid, down in Somerfetfhire they ufed com-
monly to let their young cows, where they were well maintained, take bull
at a year and a quarter old. — The fame day farmer Pain {hewed me two fine
heifers with calf, that took bull at a year and a quarter old, but it was by
accident and againfl his will, the bull breaking loofe to them.— He faid, what
Wiltshire obferved of fuch heifers going through the next year might be very
likely in their poor keeping, but would not fo likely fall out if they were
well kept.

Farmer Stephens, and farmer Chivers fay, unlefs the keeping be choice
good, (fuch as Gaufuns near Bradford- Wilts) it is by no means proper to aim
to have calves to come at Candlemafs, nor to let yearlings take bull at Midfum-
mer ; it utterly fpoils their growth ; — nor does Stephens like, that his heifers at
Pomeroy ihould take bull till two year old.— Yet they fay, that fometimes, if

they

* Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's ihepherd fays the fame with farmer Wiltlhire.

279

28o C O W S and C A L V E S.

they are very well kept, though not often, heifers will take bull at a year old,
that is to lay, at the beginning of May, though regularly they will not take
bull till towards Midfummer ; but tliis is to be underftood of fuch as were
calved about Candlemafs, there being almoft a year's advantage gained over
them that were not calved till May-day.

I was telling a great Somerfetilnre da!r)--man of a heifer I fatted, which
from Midfummer to March would never fland to her bulling, nor did fhe rife
in flefli, fit for killing, by March, though (he had corn with her hay moft of
the wnter. — The farmer faid, he had had fuch heifers, and that they never
would fat inwardly : as foon as one finds them take to that trick it is beft to fell
them off.

I was faying to Mr. Clerk of Ditchley in Leiceflerfliire, that I had heard
fome farmers fay, that, though a cow, which never had been with calf, would
not fat kindly till (he had been bulled, and was with calf, yet a cow that had
once had a calf would take fat well enough, though neither bulled, nor with
calf. — To which he faid, that the latter might prove better than the former,
but neverthelefs the latter would not come forward, nor prove any thing fo
well before as (he would do after fhe had taken bull, and was with calf, but
would every three weeks be on the fret, and run about chafing herfelf; and
lofe as much flefli in the day or two flie was for bulling as flie had got in three
weeks before. — He fays, if one buys in, what we call, barren beails, to fat,
they will require, and take bull as foon as they grow a little in proof.
Id. and of §.25. I have found by experience, that thofe who keep ploughing, and

buU^to^Bo al- fatting-oxen, as I do, ought always to have a bull to go with the cows, to
ways with the keep the oxen from riding them ; for otherwife it is impoffible to keep them
cows. feparate; for the oxen will break over hedge and ditch after the bulling-cows.

— The beft way, in order for this end, is to buy a fine bull-calf from North-
Wiltfliire every year, and then you'll always have a bull of two years 6ld, and
a bull-calf, which will come up yearly for ufe, one year after the other ; and
the bull will be fo mafler over the oxen that the cows and oxen may go to-
gether without inconveniency; nay, it is a good way to have a bull go with
cows, if it were on no other account than to prevent the other cows from
riding thofe which were for going to bull.
Oxen {hould §. 26. It feems to me, that in the fpring of the year, and throughout the
rae^'from^^^' funii^^r, till the barren cows have taken bull, the oxen ought to be feparated
cows infum- from the cows, both at grafs, and in dillind; foddering-yards, becaufe the oxen
*°"- will be riding the heifers, and ftraining them, as well as beat out themfelves.

There are often many damages and loffes, which fall out in the way of
hulbandry, to rectify which, it may be, it is inconvenient at that prefent time,
and fo one bears with them ; whereas it is ten to one but we fhall be much
more incommoded in confequence, for want of re<ftifying at firft the firfl
damage or lofs. — An hundred inftances cf this nature might be given ; a cow,
forinllance, wants to take bull, and it maybe, at the firfl approach of the
fpring, you are not provided with a bull, and it being a bufy time, it would
very likely be a fmali inconveniency for you to fpare a perfon to drive this cow

3 ^o

cows and CALVES. 281

to a neighbour's bull, perhaps a mile, or two ofF; but this Inconveniency of
the two is generally the leaft ; for, by not doing fo, your oxen, if you keep any,
will break out after this cow, and teach others to do the fame, which they will
hold to ever after, to a great inconveniency to your corn, &;c. And it is almofl:
incredible how even oxen in a diftant ground v/ill fnuff up the effluvium of a
cow s:oinQjto bull, and break over hedges after her.

§, 27. As I was (hewing a cow to a butcher, this cow, faid he, is with To know
calf. — I afked him how he knew ; he faid, very eafily ; when a cow is i^^Uj^ '^'^
twenty weeks gone with calf, if one went to the right fide of the cow, and
preffed hard againft the flank with one's hand, and did it with a fwift motion,
one might feel the calf knock againft one's hand, of the bignefs of a ball ; till
the calf be twenty weeks old, or thereabouts, it lies up high under the flank,
but then, as it grows bigger, it falls down lower, and then one muft feel lower
for it ; and when there is another perfon on the other fide of the cow, and
he flioves the flank on his fide towards you, it will help the perceiving it,
when flie is but very young ; and fo the graziers, by the hardnefs and big-
nefs of the calf they fo feel, -judge how far the cow is gone.

Two underftanding farmers were with me, viewing my hearts, and they ^^. and how
obferved a heiter's udder to fpring much ; whereupon my bailiff faid, flie ^^ S0"«'
would calve in a day or two ; — but the farmers faid, it might be a week
firft J for a heifer will fpring fuller in her udder, and for a longer time before
calving than a cow.

William Sartain, an experienced farmer of Broughton in Wilts, aflures me,
a heifer will not, when (he is half gone, fo eafily difcover herfelf to be with
calf as an elderly cow will, becaufe the fides of an elderly cov/ fall in more ;
in judging of an heifer one may often be miftaken. — He lays, vv'hen a cow is
half gone, the graziers reckon that the calf preys on the cow, and that (he
waftes ; not but that a cow may be fat in fle(h, and very fit to kill, within
three weeks or a month of her time ^ but in that cafe, withinfide, and in
her fuet, (he will be much impaired; — and one in the company added, her
flefli, though fat, would not in that cafe fpend fo well ; to which William
Sartain agreed, and faid, undoubtedly it would not eat fo juicy as thefle(h of a
cow but half gone.

§.28. In January (anno 1700) I was difpleafed to fee the damage the Of cows over-
farmer's hogs did me, in roading about, and told him, I would have them |.J^'^° '''^°^:
penned up in his foddering-yard. — My dame replied, if fo (he muft fell
them ; for they muft not come into the foddering-yard amongft the beafts ;—
I afked her why ; flie faid, ft would endanger the cows, being big with
calf, over-laying themfelves ; for, faid (he, the hogs would nuzzel, and
make holes in tlie ftrav/, and the cows lying down in fuch hollov/s might die
before morning, becaufe they could not rile. — The farmer fiid it was very
true. — And I obferved, that tho' no pigs came there, they took care every
night to lay the ftraw fmooth. — I fpoke of it afterwards to Mr. Edwards, and
he was wellapprized of the truth of it.

O o If

232 C O W S and C AL V E S.

If a cow be tied up in the houfe, great care ought to be taken, when her

calving time draws near, to watch her by day and by night, left her calf

flwuld be drowned ; for, the cow's head being tied to the rack, flie cannot

turn back to lick the calf j befides (he may calve in her dung, and fo the calf

may be fmothered.

Management K 29. If a young heifer be pretty forward with calf, that is, ready to come

of a heifer , beginniuo" of Tulv, and grafs fnould be like to be plenty that year, it may

fometimes do well to let her go on, and calve; llie may pay better to the

dairy than to fell to the butcher ; but, in cafe it {hould be like to be a fcarce

fummer for grafs, flie muft be heightened up in fat as faft as may be, and

be fold to the butcher ; otherwife fhe may lofe all her keeping ; for flie will

fall away when flie comes near calving, and, in cafe (he calves, {he may yield

no more than what flie coft when bought in. — When a cow begins to come

pretty forward with calf her teats will be turgent, and fpring forth.

Of a coft's Mr. Cherry of Shotftroke's bailiff informs me, that to let a cow keep com-

flinldiig. pany with other cows, after fhe has flunk her calf, will be apt to make fomc

of the others flink alfo.
Not to milk §■ 30. It is dangerous trufting to milk a cow all the year that has warped,
a cow that for flie wiU be in danger of warping again : fometimes one may venture to
has warped, ^jjj^ ^^ ^ ^^^.^ g^^j young heifer, but it is generally very unfafe. It is gene-
rally beft not to milk fuch a cow ; for that will keep her very poor, and unfit
to fell to the grazier ; whereas, by letting her dry up, fhe will be in the better
cafe, and fell the better, and pay more than flie would by milking.
Of cows §• 31- Mr. Godwin of Gloucefterfliire told me in January, anno 1698, —

warping, and jj-j^^ j^g ^ad had ill luck this year in his cows ; for three had warped, and one
fhiough. gone through. The calves, he faid, were fquatted, and one of their heads
had a hole beaten into it, which he judged to have been done by his cow
that went through ; for it feems, it is the nature of a cow that goes through
to defire a bull once every three weeks after, and flie will then be riding the
other cows, which anothef cow that has warped, or gone through, will like
very well, but the cows with calf will flip away, and flep with their hinder
quarters afide from fuch a cow's leaping them, and then it often happens,
that fuch a cow's knees fall againft the fide or flank of the cow with calf, and
fo fquat the calf.

Stephens of Pomeroy being prefent agreed to the above ; and faid, that he
never had but one cow that warped in his life, and the reafon why he had
been fo fuccefsful, he believed, was, becaufe he never had a cow go through.
—It feems, the defire in a cow that goes through for a bull every three weeks
o-enerally lafts about twenty-four hours, but fometimes it holds three days,
durin-^ which time, Mr. Godwin faid, if he obferved it, he tied her up. —
I aflced Stephens, if he knew what made a cow apt to go through ; he faid,
he was fatisfied it was for the moft part from hence j if a cow fliould come
too early with calf, that is, before the huflsandman would have her fo to be,
and confequently (hould be defirous very early to be bulled again, the huf-

band-

C O W S and C A L V E S. 283

bandman will balk that defire two or three times together, that his cow may
fall with calf at a more feafonable time than otherwife flie would have done :
after fuch balks it is odds, faid he, but, when flie takes bull, flie goes
through ; and there is oftentimes a young heifer, that (in the year the farmer
firfl; defires flie fliould take bull, and the firft time of the heifer's defiring it
in that year) when fhe fhall be brought to the bull, will be very jfkittifh, and
will not ftand to be bulled ; in that cafe, faid he, for fear of the forefaid dan-
ger, I have taken the heifer by the nofe, and held her till flie was ferved. —
But, faid Godwin to Stephens, in cafe a cow be fubjed: to go through, do you
know how to prevent it ? Stephens faid, after fuch a cow has taken bull, to
bleed her well in the tail is the befh thing I know of.

If a cow cafts her calf, you muft let part of her bag that will hang down
behind continue fo till it rots off; for if you pull it off, you will be apt, with it,
to pull away what you ought not. — If you have a cow, that either warps her
calf three months before her time (for if flie warps but a month before her
time, flie may give milk never the worfe for it) or goes through on her bull-
ing, never proving big with calf, difcretion muft be ufed, whether you will
milk her on, or fat her j and this ought to be, according as the cow is like to

prove well for the pail or not. The daiiymen think the aforefaid bag that

hangs down, the other cows fmelling to it, is apt to make them warp alfo, as
well as the warped cows riding the others.

They count a cow's warping her calf a month before her time not to be fo
bad as an ewe's lofing her lamb ; for the calf when firft weaned cannot be va-
lued at above half a crown, and it robs afterwards more butter and cheefe
than quits cofts ; whereas, a lamb will yield a crown after it has fucked milk
that otherwife would never have turned to any account.

A neigbour of mine had three cows that flunk their calves, and yet he
could find no hurt in the cows, nor could imagine the meaning of it ; a little
time after paying a vifit to Mr. Dark of Beckington in Wilts, and fpeaking of
the accident, Mr. Dark afked him, whether he had not rid fome ponds or
ditches that year, and fpread the foil of them about ; he faid, he had ; why
then, faid Mr. Dark, I have often heard fay, that that will caufe the cows to
flink. This feemed ftrange, but mentioning it afterwards to fome of his
workmen, they agreed, that they had before heard fuch a faying.

I aflced Mr. Hawkins, an experienced grazier, if a three-year-old heifer,
that had warped early, as fuppofe about January or February, would make
found beef; he faid, not fo good as one older would do, but flie would
tallow the better for having warped fo early. — I fuppofe a barren beafl:, for the
fame reafon, will do fo too.

§. 32. Mr. Biffy faid, it was very common, at this time of year, about July, Cows apt to
for a cow to die in calving. — I aflced, for what reafon ; he faid, at this time of jnVdy^ '^'"^
the year their calving over-heated them, and, tho' they were like to do well, Caution— to
they muft be kept from cold v/ater, of which at this time they would be apt^^^^||^^^
to drink a great quantity, and would die thereon prefently after; — and, when water,

O 0 2 they

284 C O W S and C A L V E S.

they are fuffcred to drink, they ought to have hay given them before they
drink. — I afked him, if drinking when they calved v/as not dangerous in the
fpring ; he replied, the cow was not then fo thirfty as to drink to harm herfelf ;
however, he took great care then to give them hay before he gave them
water.
Caution— to §.-3^. June the I2th Canno 1718) I walked out on Oxen-leafe grounds in

21VC COWS «■ • •-'•-' ^ / / O ^^

warm water, Wilts, with my tenants Tomkins, and farmer William Sartain, to fee Tom-
and but little kins's Cattle } there was a cow that had not then calved, but Tomkins ex-
calvi™1n^ "^"peded her to calve every day; flie was a fine large cow, and in mighty cafe,
in June or for fhe was pretty good beef: farmer Sartain faid to Tomkins, he mud have
•J"'-*'- his eye to that cow when flie calved, and not let her have water for twenty-

four hours after flie had calved, and when he did give her fome, he muft fee

that flie drank but a little, and that it was warmed. 1 afked why that care

muft be taken ; he faid, when cows calve in fummcr, or hot and warm wea-
ther, there muft be greater care taken of them than when they calve in the
fpring ; for their bodies in hot weather will in calving be heated, and in that
cafe the cow will be very craving after cold water, on drinking of which fhe
will take chill and die ; therefore in fuch cafe it is ufual to drive fuch a cow to
the houfe as foon as ftie has calved, and not let her drink foon, and when
fhe does, but fparingly, and of warm water, for about two days ; and this cow,
faid he, being in high cafe, will have the more need of fuch regimen ; for
fhe will in hot weather heat herfelf fo much the more in calving. — I talked
with farmer Chivers of Gaufuns about it the next day, — v.'ho faid, all this was
true, and that his next neighbour loft a cow a fortnight ago for want of fuch
care.
Ofa bull calf. §. ^^. Jt Js commonly faid, that a bull-calf, as well as a pur-lamb, comes

a week earlier than the females.
Of cows milk %' ZS' Sir Ambrofe Phillipp's dairy-maid was advifing with the butcher
turning fait, vvhat flie fhould do with a cow that fell off of her milk, and her milk grew
very fait : no hurt was vifible in the cow, nor had (he got any cold. — I afked
him, if either of thofe things would have occafioned it ; he faid, yes ; he had
known either to have been the caufc of it, and particularly, when the late
cold (anno 1699) fo univerfallv feized the horfes, the cows at Loughborough
fhared in it, and they fell off" of their milk, and it turned fait, and this was in
June, and the farmers fuppofed the milk would not come well again till the
cow had had a calf.
Todryapa §. ^5. A butcher of Whitchurch in Hampfliire, being with me, took no-
tice of an old cow fo forward with calf in June (anno 1702) as to be within
a month, the cow being alfo in good cafe ; he faid, it was a pity, and advifed
however to dry up her udder as foon after flie had calved as the calf was a
fortnight old. — He faid, when we went about it, we fhould anoint the udder
with tar, but not the teats, and half milk her two or three times before we
let her go dry ; he afTured me, this v/as the method of the Scmerfetlhire
graziers, — and tar is a cooler, and a difpeller of tumours.

3 ^'^

C O W S and C A L V E S. 285

In Derbyfhire, as fome farmers of that country affured me, if a cow's milk
does not dry up well after the cow is turned to fatting, by reafon of the plenty
of grafs, and puniflies her, they give her a pint of verjuice at two or three
days diftance, which effedlually does it.

§. 37. Being in company with Mr. Bifliop, and farmer Ryalls of Dorfet- ^jj^^^^ '^^
fhire, we fell into difcourfe about milch-cattle, Sec. Mr. Bifhop allowed me,
that milk of cows was thicker in winter than in fummer, but had not fo much
cream in it, but much of the fubftance of the milk cruddled on the top; that
the milk, whilrt: the cow was with calf, inclined towards bitternefs and falt-
nefs.— He and Ryalls did agree, that, if cows were low in cafe, and eat only
/Iraw, they would not give good milk till they calved, but it would fall to rag-
gednefs fix or eight weeks before their calving-time ; but, if the cows were in
good cafe, and had good hay, they might give tolerable good milk till they
calved ; however they thought it was not advifable, in either cafe, to milk
them within two months or ten weeks of their calving ; for that it did cer-
tainly impoverhh both cow and calf much more than the value of the milk
came to, nor would the cow come in fo early and forward in the fpring for her
milk ; they alfo agreed, that, whilll creatures were young, as lambs and
calves, they Ihould be well kept, and they would (hift the better for it ever
after ; for fuch a calf would, they faid, come in a year the fooner for the
pail ; and they agreed, that, though Mr. Bifhop fent his hog-lambs into So-
merfetlliire for rich pafture from Michaelmafs to I^ady-day, and paid half a
crown a-piece for keeping them, yet he was paid double fold for it.

In the months of May and June, fay Mr, Biffy and Mr. Pain of Wilts, a
cow, in our good paftures, ought to pay 3 s. per week in her milk, which rear-
ing a calf till five or fix weeks old will not do, fo that about that time our
butchers kill the calves, at a fo.rtnight old, mere carrion j for fuch calves
will not pay us above 2 s. per week,

§. 38, Mr, Maferly was faying, it was agreed on all hands, that an heifer's An hdfer'scalf

calf was much better for rearing for breed than a cov/'s calf. 1 replied, ii: ;rV?hanV^^'^"

was fo, but I was at a lofs for what reafon it fliould be fo ; — he faid, he lup- ^ow's calf,
pofed, the only reafon could be, becaufe the heifer could not be milked at the
time Ihe went with calf, which robbing the calf in the cow's belly mull needs
do the calf a great prejudice.

§.39. My oxhind, who manages my ox-ploughs, and was for many years a ^^^"" J^",^"
farmer himfelf in the north-weft of Wiltshire, fays, according to his experi- hardy when
ence, and the experience of other farmers in his country, the latter fallen cows as early
calves, fuppofe in May and June, are never fo hardy afterwards when they *^*"^" °"^''
are cows, nor will they bear the winter fo well when they are cows as thole
reared from calves which fell at the latter end of February, or the beginning
of March.— It feems to me, that the reafon for this muft be, becaufe the
latter fallen calves muft confequently be weaned late, fuppofe, about Auguft,
and calves always pitch, and fall away on their firft weaning, and then winter
comes oa fuch late weaned calves before they have recovered their ftrength ;
and again, fuch calves not being fo well eftabUlhed in their vigor and ftamina

286 C O W S and C A L V E S.

vitas, nor having had that fhare of the fummer-fun which early calves have,
never do arrive to that flrength in their cords, and ligatures, and folids, as the
early weaned calves do, and confequendy, being alio when cows of a more
tender nature, do fufFer more in winter, nor can they fo well bear the hard-
fliips of it as the others can. — He affirms farther, that fuch late weaned calves
when they come to be cows, will never flied their winter-coat fo foon, by a
confiderable time, as the early weaned calves will, — and indeed this is very
true; for I have now, being in the month of June (anno 171 2) a yearling
calf, which, though he fell in June, and, being a very fine one, I kept him,
and let him run with the cows all the winter, and he out-grew the calves that
fell in March, yet pretty much of his ruffet winter-hairs are ftill on his back ;
whereas the coats of the early weaned calves are fleek and fmooth. — He adds,
farther, that cows in a fair, in May or June, that have not flied all their win-
ter-coats, are, in his country, as much concluded by knowing farmers to have
been late fallen calves, as if they had {ecn them calved; — neverthelefs lam
fenfible the occafion of this may alfo often be from the poverty, and hard
winter's-keeping of the cows. — I have alfo now three cows of my own breed,
which have not yet (though the latter end of June) kindly and perfedly Ihed
their winter-coats, and yet are very well in flefti, which I believe to be from
the aforefaid reafon ; for though I do not certainly know that they were late
calved, yet, becaufe of the coldnefs of our fituation, and the fcarcity of grafs
and hay in the fpring, we are forced to contrive the bulling of our cows fo,
that the calves may fall pretty late. — It is certain, that the earliefl: breed of the
fpring, of all kinds, are moft valued, and the farmers find the abovefaid account
in them, as for inflance, in colts, pigs, and lambs ; the earhefl: are the moft
valuable, and to be endeavoured for, if the place will admit of it, and there
be fit provifions for them. — School-boys, by experience taught, greatly prefer
- the finging birds hatched in March to thofe that come later, and it may be
queitioned, whether the early births of the fpring may not have a fpecial in-
fluence in regard to the vigor and ftrength of mankind, but that the foul of
man, and the affecflions thereof, and the ftrangc artful mixtures of food, under
infinite noxious varieties interpofing, exercife fo vaft and immediate a domi-
nion over health, and in the well or ill difpofing the conftituent parts of our bo-
dies, that it is difficult to make the obfervation thereof; yet fome little better
judgment might be made in the wilder part of the Indies, where the favages
conform themfelves more to the methods of mere animal life : I fhould think
the fetting out on the race with the fun, even in the laft cafe, cannot but
give fome advantage. — Note, from hence it feems to me reafonable, when we
go to fairs early in the fpring to buy barren beafts for fatting, to buy thole
that are fleekeft, i. e. have neareft lofl their winter-coats, becaufe it feems
they will thrive fafteft.

I have taken notice,- that calves late calved do not flied their coats fo early
in the fpring, when they come to be cows, as thofe cows do that were reared
from calves calved early in the fpring, and being willing to know the opinion
of fome of the notable dairy-men about Holt, I found moft of them had made

the

C O W S and C A L V E S. 287

the fame obfei-vation. — Thomas Miles added, that fuch late-catvcd calves
generally carried thick hides, and the reafon he gave for it was, becaufe the
cows, which calve about May, are by that time got into good flefl:i and heart,
and fo nourifh their calves the better; for which reafon their hides are thicker.
— Farmer Chivers faid, that, when fuch cattle v/ere not forv/ard in fliedding
their coat?, it was a fign, that their ftrength of nature was backward, and
their blood cold, for that cattle's-blood in the winter, when they were out of
proof, if they vv'ere let blood, was fenfibly to the hand colder than in the
Ipring, and colder in April than in May.

Note, there is, on the approaching fpring, a certain degree of proof re-
quifite to give adivity to the blood to go to the extremities of the capillary
veflels, in order to form new roots of young hairs, till which be done, the
old ones ftill continue their roots, and are not expelled.

§. 40. Farmer William Sartain fays, about them in Wiltfhire the farmers Of giving
geld the bull-calves at a month old, and then, in a week, or at fartheft a "'f" ^^V **
fortnight's time, after they have recovered their being daunted by gelding, weaning.
they wean them from the cows by giving them fome locks of the fweeteft
hay they can get, in fome convenient place, where there is an outlet to grafs ;
and that the calves will delight to broufe on the hay more than the grafs ;
and this they make them to do for a fortnight before they turn them wholly
to grafs. — I afked him for what reafon they gave fuch calves hay at their nrft
weaning ; he faid, to dry up the water in them, and to harden their bodies ;
otherwife, if they were at firft turned wholly to grafs, it would be apt to fcour
them too much at iirft, and make them pitch ; — but Farmer Chivers faid, on
fat ground, fuch as Gaufuns, they only wean the calves that fell about Candle-
mafs at fix weeks old, in order to their taking bull the next year, and then
there is no grafs, yet they do very well on hay alone.

§.41. An experienced dairy-man in Somerfetfliire tells me, if you rear a Of weaning
calf, he rather approves of weaning him at fix or feven days old, which may '^'^'^'"•
be done by warming the ikimmed-milk for him, into which if you dip your
finger, and put it into his mouth, he will fuck, and then, if you put a little
bundle of hay, and give it into his mouth, he will fuck that, and fo, if the
hay be put into the pail, and his head thrufl to it, he will fuck the bundle of
hay in the milk, till he has drank it all up. — He fays, he obferves the calves
weaned thus early to grow better, and make larger cattle than thofe weaned
at feven or eight weeks old j for then they will pitch very much upon their
weaning : however this way is very good, when the cows are poor ; for the
milking of them will not draw them half fo low as the calves fucking
will do.

Another, of great note in the fame country, agreed, it was befl: to wean a
calf early from the cow by giving him the milk out of the pail; for then he
might run with the cows all fummer ; whereas, if he was fufFered to fuck the
cow till he was five or fix weeks old, he would be apt to fuck her again after
being weaned, efpecially if the cow be any thing fond.

A new

288 C O W S and C A L V E S.

A new dairy-maid of mine (anno 1706) defired (he might wean my calves
at two or three days old, as foon as they could have drawn down thebeeftings;
for fhe faid, they v/ould not be fo apt to fuck one another. — I note this the
rather, becaufe we ufed before to keep them long with the cow, and they
ufed to fuck one another.

Being in the Ifle of Wight (in Auguft, anno 1708) I afked my tenant
farmer Farthing and his wife (that farm depending much on breeding cattle,
and confequently in weaning calves) hovv^ they weaned calves; for fome years I
had found ill fuccefs in trufting to the fcrvants weaning of calves; fome of them
by ill and four diet, for want of their keeping their troughs fweet, grew loufy ;
others fell into difeafes by being over-fed ; I found by them, that, amongft
other things, they gave a rule to their fervants, in the meafure of feeding,
in this manner, viz. they ordered every calf to be fed by it's felf, in a bucket,
by a prefcribed quantity ; viz. they gave three pints to a calf on it's firft wean-
ing, and advanced it gradually, as the calf grew, to five pints, as the calf was
able to take it, before being turned grazier for itfelf, and this was the largeft
quantity they ever gave one calf in a day. — They fed every calf at a feparate
bucket ; for they found many inconveniencies in feeding them together; fome
calves having a greater ftomach, or being quicker feeders than others, would
eat too much, and the flower feeders would fuffer, and have too little.

I had a mind to know dame Farthing's opinion of weaning the calves by
letting them run with the cows rather than fuckling them by hand : fhe faid,
if they took dieir weaning by running with the cuws, they would not be fo
gentle, nor ftand fo well to the pail, as the others.

Farmer Stephens, farmer Box, and all the farmers at Holt agree, that it is a
very good way to give weaned calves, when firft turned out to grafs, fkimmed
milk, morning and evening, in troughs, for fome time, but fay, in their
country they cannot afford it, becaufe of making cheefe of the fkimmed
milk, and their hogs muft have the whey.

Being at Holt the 23d of May (anno 1719) I went to Pomeroy, where
farmer Stephens had a calf of but a month old, which he intended then to
turn to grafs. — I allied him, if he was not too young to eat grafs; and live on
it, he faid, no j they would take their weaning as early as that, but calves
ufually fell fo early in the year, that there was no grafs, but at this time of
the year ^there is grafs and leaves every where for them to pick on, upon
which account they might now as well wean a calf at a month old, as in
March at fix or feven weeks old.

If in weaning calves the grafs be apt to fcour them, putting a little fait in
their milk will be a means to put a ftop to it.
Of calves ^_ ^2. I faw two half-yearling calves of mine in December (anno 1701)

other. fucking one another for a long time together ; two Glouceuerfliire yeomen

being with me, they faid, that tar mull be put to their teats, to prevent
it; for otherwife in their country they look on it, that fuch calves will, when
cows, get a trick of fucking themfelves or each other.

§• 43- In

C O W S and C A L V E S. 289

§. 43. In taking a view of my lambs to fee if they were meat for the Damage from
butcher, my fhepherd caught a fat lamb by the tail, for which a butcher of P'^'""-S /^ calf
Whitchurch chid him; but the prejudice thereby I knew not, till mythsuTl. ^
butcher the market-day after told me I had fpoiled a calf by hallino- him by
the tail, whereby his kidneys were very red, and his loins ftrained, by which
his thriving was fpoiled ; he faid it was the worft thing that could be done to
a calf at his fucking-time to hall him about by the tail, or any other creature
whatfoever, for the reafons abovefaid.

§. 44. In Hertfordfhire and ElTex the calves-coops are fet fo that the fun Of calves-
may come as little at them as can be. From J. Mortimer, Efq. F. R. S. coops.
fo. 169.

§. 45. If calves and lambs cannot be well fupported for the two firfl Calves
months in a kind way of fatting, it is hard to make them fat, but they being '^""^eJ-
ilunted at firft v/ill be pot-bellied.

§. 46. Farmer Stephens of Pomeroy in Wilts tells me, (September 1712) Ofbleeding
it is now the pra^flice of the butchers all over the country to buy the calves, "^^^^•
or agree for them as foon as weaned, and to come when they are about nine
days old, and bleed them in the neck, taking the quantity of about half a
pint, and to come three or four days after, and bleed them again the fame
quantity, and a third time the butcher comes three or four days after that,
and bleeds them a pint. Note, he is fure a pint is the lead quantity they
take from them the lafl: bleeding ; he rather believes it is a quart.

Mr. Perdue of Winchefter has had good fkill in fatting calves, and the
butchers would prefer a calf of his beyond any others. — He fays, he ufed, ac-
cording as his calf was lufly, at about a fortnight old to take from him about
a pint of blood, and about a fortnight after another pint ; he ufed to bleed thent
in the neck- vein ; — he fays, he pkced their pens fo hollow from the ground that
their pifs might run through and oft, but never ufed to remove their litter, but
everyday give them a fprinkling of frefh wheat-ftraw over their old bed ; by
this means, faid he, the calf lies clean and dry, and much warmer than
otherw^ife it would do, for, faid he, a calf can't lie too warm, and the heat
of the dung, fermenting under the ftraw, will much contribute to warmth.

§. 47. The method of the houfwives in Leicefterfhire, if a cow gives but
little milk, fo that the calf is not well maintained, is to fcald bean-flour and Of milk and
put it into the milk : giving them this milk very hot they think much ^."^"-''°"'' '°
contributes to the whitening the veal, as the bean-flour does to the fatting : Ind whiten *
you muft give it them hotter and hotter by degrees, at firft lukewarm, till at ^^^l-
length they will be able to drink it as hot as you can endure your finger
in it.

§. 4B. I was commending the goodnefs of my veal to a great dairy-man,
and faid it was of a calf two months old. Then, anfwered he, the calf muft A cow-calf
be a cow-calf, for otherwife it would eat firong at that age ; the cafe is the "'■> ^^ '^^'^^^
lame with a fucking-pig ; a fow-pig will eat well at a month old, but a boar- i^!^' *
pig at that age will eat ilrong.

^ P §. 49- Sir

2go

No white
veal of a calf
lefs than a
month old.
Time of fod-
deringcalves
iu the winter.

Difeafes in COWS and CALVES.

§. 49. Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's keeper fays, that veal cannot be white till
after a calf he a month old ; for till that time a calf does not begin to be white
in his flefh.

§. 50. If yearlings or calves are fo well provided in winter-time with rowet,
which they can come at, that they need be foddered but once in the day, that
time had bcft be early in the morning ; becaufe there is ufually a hoar-rime on
the grafs, till the fun rifes to melt it, whereas the reft of the day the feeding
on the rowet is very good till evening.

Difeafes in COWS and CALVES,

A moift nofe
a fign of cat-
tle's being
well.

Of bleeding
cattle before
grazing.

Cf the mur-
rain.

Of the joint-
murrain, or

Quarter evil.

§. 1. TV /T R. Smith of Deadhoufe in Wilts, walking with me at Gaufuns,"
^VX ^ P°°^ woman came forth, and afked him, what he thought of a
cow (he believed to be ill ; he faid, he thought the cow was not ill, becaufe
her nofe was moift, and that, if a cow or a beaft be ill, that moifture prefently
dries up ; Mr. BifTy faid, fo it was obferved alfo in the yellows, and red-water,
which, it feems, are only a higher degree of the black-water.

§. 2. I afked Mr. Clerk of Leicefterfliire, whedier he ufed to let his beafts
blood that he bought in for grazing ; he anfwered, it was not only a fafe v/ay,
but they would alfo thereby thrive the better ; he faid, if oxen bought in had
been hard worked, or cows hard drove, it w-as very proper to let out their
corrupt blood, if it was only on that account, after they had been a week or
a fortnight fettled to grafs ; befides, as to other cattle, it was very well to
bleed them when they firft came into proof, left they fhould overflow with
blood : it is, he faid, the fame alfo with horfes.

§. '^. I met Mr. Putchin, a great grazier, and a country-fellow, who la-
mented he had loft a cow of the murrain : we fell into difcourfe about the
murrain, and they both agreed, that in fuch a cafe it was very neceflary to
bury the beaft that died prefently upon the fpot, by digging a hole for it clofe
thereto, and to drive beafts away out of the ground, and keep them from
fmelling to it, for, whilft it was above ground, they would be apt, i^ they
could come at it, to fmell to a dead beaft ; and, to prevent the reft from
having the diftemper, they rubbed their noftrils with tar, and daubed an
egg over with tar and thruft it down their throats. — Sir Arhbrofe Phillipps's
fliepherd agreed to all this, only faid, he blooded them alfo.

§. 4. In the month of.Novernber (anno 1707) I loft two calves by putting
them into young frefti broad-clover that was grofs, and of this year's Rubble.
— They call the diftemper the joint-murrain ; farmer Munday, who lives-
by Aldern-Mead, Hants, fays, it is common for calves to die fo in the vale,—
but it is notfo on our hills. — The calves muft be bled in the jugular-vein, a
pint of blood, and be drenched with it, with a handful of fait mixed with
the blood.

The joint-murrain in calves, mentioned above in 1707, I find by others is

called the quarter-evil ; I find by farmer Stephens of Pomeroy, it falls on

2 yearlings

Difeafes in C O W S and C A L V E S. 291

yearlings and two-yearlings at fpring, and autumn, that is, OiStober, and it

feems to me to be owing to the quick rifing of grafs at thofe feafons, efpe-

cially where, through the goodnefs or moiflure of the ground, it grows fafler

than the fun can concod: it's juices, which chill and coagulate the blood in

thofe cattle, and occafion a fettled jelly in the neck, flioulder, or loins. The

faid farmer approves the medicine above prefcribed, but fays, he has found

by experience, that an egg-fliell filled with tar, and minced rue, and with

a ffcick thruft down the throat (with blood-letting) is the beft remedy ; he

fays, to prevent this mifchief, he has always found it befl to let the yearlings

and two-yearlings go with the cows, efpecially at fuch times of the year. — ■

The reafon for which I conceive to be, that the cows eat up the grofTer grafs, /

and thereby the calves feed the fweeter. — I find by him, that he never knew

milch-kine to have the quarter-evil, for which this account, I think, may be

given, viz. the morbifick matter is difcharged by the cows with calf in the

foulnefs of their urine.

§. 5. In difcourfe with my old fliepherd, in July anno 1697, (who fays, he ?/,'^l^^'"'
has been a fliepherd ever fince he was ten years old) about the blain, he faid, ;„ j^eep.
it fell on the cattle only at the fpring of the year, and was over before the latter
-end of July ; it comes from a little red worm that the cattle lick up, of which
he has feen many ; if it falls under the tongue, the beafl may be cured, if it
be taken in time, and the bladder occafioned by the bite be broken and rubbed
with fait ; but, if the blain- worm be broken in the mouth of the cow, and be
fwallowed, and goes into her guts, he knows no cure for it ; and yet, if the
blain-worm be picked up by the cow, and fwallowed whole, it v/ill go through
her, and do no harm. Mr. Edwards's fervant tells me, he has {ecu. two blain-
worms in the bladder under a cow's tongue; my fliepherd fays, he never
knew it to fall under a flieep's tongue; if they have it, it is by breaking the
blain-worm, which being fo fwallowed he knows no cure for it.

On the 23d of March (anno 1705) I went down to Gaufuns, where I faw
Chivers amongft his beads ; he was faying, he could never ftir from them at
this time of the year ; for at the firft fpring of the grafs their blood would fud-
denly rife, which is the blain, and a bead was foon loft; and then he fliewed
me one which was growing bad. I afked him how he knew the rifing of the
blood ; he faid, that a beaft's eyes would run with water, and, before he dies,
as the diftemper rifes, his eyes will fwell, and his blood, when bled
under the rump, will feel hot: in fuch cafe, faid he, we give them
the following drench; — a pennyworth of Englifli liquorifli, of Englifh
annifeed, of turmerick, of long pepper, of horfe-fpice or diapente * ana, * of each tie
ground all fmall, and juft boiled up in a quart of ftrong beer ;— but, if by the Jj"^^ ^'J,''/!"'''-''
heat of the blood one finds the diftemper to proceed from a hot caufe, then quorifh.
the horfe-fpice is to be omitted. — He fays, though he has rented good lands,
yet he never had land fubjed: to the rife of blood before ; for it mull be very
quick growing ground, as indeed Gaufuns was. — Mr. Biffy fays, the bladder
under the tongue in the blain will fometimes be as big as a pigeon's-egg, and,

P p 2 if

292

Red-water.

The hafk.

Of indigef-
tion.

The maw-
bound.

Difeafes in C O W S and CALVES.

if they cannot find the bladder there to break it with their hand, they rake
their bum-gut, and find it in their back.

Difcourfing with a Devoniliire yeoman on the difeafes incident to catde, and
particularly the blain, he faid there is a diftemper that falls on a bullock in
the fpring, between April and June, occafioned by the overflowing of the
blood, which they in their countr}' call the bladder ; the bullock will be taken
with a fwelling of his lips, and running of his mouth, and fwelling of his
eyes, and running of them ; if it be dlfcerned before he falls, he is cured by
thrufting a pen-knife upw^ards, from the root of his ear, and bleeding him in
that manner, and pulling out his tongue, and rubbing it with a handful of fait.
When I was at Mr. Gary's in Dorfetfhire, Mr. Bifliop told me for certain,
and upon his own experience, in talking on the blain in cattle, that, if one
run a bullock fo diftempered through the ear, near the root, with a knife, it
would cure him, and was the certaineft remedy he knew of; he feemed very
ignorant of fuch a thing as the blain-worm, but knew well in fuch cafe, that
a bladder arofe under their tongues, and that many for the cure would rub
the bladder with water and fait, and break it. — He thought there was no
cure for the red-water in fheep ; but faid he had often had the fancy to rip
up the iTcins of their bellies, and let out the water, and few them up again ,-
he faid the hog-fheep were moft troubled with it.

§.6. They have in Wilts a difeafe on their cows, which they call a hafk or
bulky cough ; the cow will cough hufkily, and feem not to be able to bring up-
any thing, and loll out her tongue ; this diftemper feldom falls on them in the
fummer, but at the beginning of fpring, and on the yearlings and calves more
than on the cows : the remedy is, to take a pint of lukewarm milk from the
cow, and put into it a quarter of a pound of the fat of rufty bacon minced
fmall, and give it the beaft to drink; you may, if you will, put into it a little fallad
oil ; it will do the better, and keep the beall falling two hours before and after.

§. 7. Notwithftanding the cow-kind chew the cud, yet they are fubjedt to
indigeftion, as may appear from what I this day obferved in fome of mine
(July 22) which having the night before broke out into fome winter-vetches,
which 1 was then cutting for winter-fodder for my fheep, eat plentifully of
them, and the next night they fcoured, and I obferved in their dung the
grain of the \etches whole, and in great quantity.

§. 8. There is a diftemper in cows called maw-bound ; their maws will be
fo bound, that what they eat will not digeft, or pafs, and will grow fo hard,
that what has been taken out, when they cow has been dead, would endure
kicking about without breaking ; at the fame time the cow will have a black-
i Hi watery loolenefs : the firfl fymptom it generally difcovers itfelf by is, the
cow will be fubieft to coughing ; it is cured eafily at the beginning by giving
them a purge of cream of tartar, aloes, Sec. " Columella has taken notice of

the

' In bove cruditatis figna funt crebri ru£lus, ac ventris fonitus, faftidia cibi, nen'orum intentio,
hebetes oculi, propter qua bos neque ruminat, neque lingua fedetcrget, Si negkfta cruditas eft.

Difeafes in C O W S and C A L V E S.

293

this indigeftion in the cow-kind, and tells us the figns of it are frequent
belchings, and noife of wind in the belly, cramps, loathing of food, heavy-
eyes, &c. and adds, that if it be negleded, it is followed by worfe fymptoms,
fuch as fwellings, gripings in the guts, groans, reftlefnefs, and frequent agi-
tations of the head and tail.

The diftemper in cows called the maw-bound, Mr. Clerk fays, comes from
a furfeit by being over-heated by driving, or when a new cow is worried by
others ; he fays, a cow will likewife fometimes be maw-bound by eating of
fedges in the water. The cure is, to give her a quart of cream, jufl: upon
it's breaking, before it is turning to butter, viz. when it is oilyifli ; he fays, the
calves will alfo fometimes be taken with a cough ; the cure is, to boil a pound
of bacon, and give them a quart of the liquor in the way of a drench j it will
cure them after once taking.

§.9. Farmer Way, and others faid, that my tenant at Woodhoufe would Offcounng.
always fell a calf at a month old for twenty {hillings, and his way was, as foon f'^^l^'f'-'*'"
as the calf was calved, to boil a piece of the inlide bark of oak as big as one's §.12.
hand in milk, and give it to the calf to drink, and this at once taking would
prevent the calf from fcouring, though he gave it never fo much milk after ;
whereas the danger of fiUing a calt^s belly is of making it fcour ; then he
would boil barley-meal and chalk in milk, and put it in a trough to fland

knee high, and the calves would be frequently licking it. Note, chalk is

binding and drying, which I conceive to be the true reaibn why it is given
to calves, the binding quality preventing the flux, confequently nourifliing
and making fat, as likewife making the flefla v.'hite.

For the fcouring of a horfe, cow or flieep, take wheat-flour ; tie it up in a
cloth, and boil it in a pot of water five or fix hours ; then bake it in an oven
with a batch of bread j then take it out of the cloth, and keep it in a pot ;
when you ufe it, take a quarter of a pound of it, and as much bole-armoniac
beaten very well together, and a handful of bramble-leaves choped fmall,
and mix it with a pint and an half of cold fpring- water, and fo give it to a
horfe, and let him drink cold fpring- water ; give it in milk to a cow.

A very good dairy-woman in Leicefterflure affured me, flie was pofitively
confident on many and frequent trials, that if a calf has a lax or loofenefs,
though never fo great, giving it nine horfe-beans to fwallow morning and
night, will certainly put a flop to it in once or twice taking ; ftie has tried
other remedies without fucccfs, but never mifl'ed of fuccefs in this j a mif-
trefs of her's who kept a great dairy, told her the fecret, which at firfl flie
thought a jeft.

§. 10. The following receipts for the red-water in cows and bullocks are Red-water,
frequently ufed amongft the dairy-men in Leiceflierfhire. — The beft, — ^bl^ed j^^^'^g -water
firft either in neck or tail ; then make a good ftrong poflet with fpice, and
give it blood-warm 3 then take a penny-worth of aqua vitse, a hat-crown full

of

& inflatio ventris, & inteftinorum major dolor infequitur, qui nee capere clbos finit, gemitus expri-
mit, locoque flare non patitur, fepe decumbere, & agitare caput, caudamcjue crebrius agere.
Colum. lib. 6. fol. J 61.

294- Difeafes in COWS and CALVES.

cf yarrow; pound and ftrain all the virtue out, and put it to the aqua vitse ;
then take a red willow-ftick and burn it to a coal ; pound it fmall, and put it

all together, and give it as foon as it can be got ready. Another, — take of

fliepherds-purie, red-fliank (that is, herb-robert) yarrow, knot-grafs, of each
alike, and flired them all together ; then put them into a quart of milk, and
heat it with a red-hot iron, and give it blood-warm.

For the red-water in a beaft; — take moufe-ear and herb-robert, of each an
handful, the inner bark of a barbery tree a pretty quantity, but not fo much
as of either of the other two ; chop them very fmall, and put thereto a quart of
new milk ; then make it as warm as milk from the cow, and give it with a
drenching-horn to the beaft in the morning, and keep him fafting one hour
after, and, if the blood turn not the next day, give him another drench of
the fame, but no more ; for if the fecond draught does not cure him, you
mufl: kill him, and eat the meat ; for it is never the worfe or unwholfomer
for that difeafe, and the longer you let him live the leaner he will be, and at
lalt will die of himfelf.

Note, as to the red-water, and the above receipt, it is to be obferved,
the ingredients are eafy to be had, and that moufe-ear is a great aftrin-
gent, and excellent againrt; the dyfentery and watery humours, unde, fays

Mr. Ray, ovium gregibus nosia cenfetur. The barbery in all it's parts has

likewife the fame virtues.
The wether in §• 1 1 . For the wether in the reins ; — take two penny-worth of long pepper,
thexeins. ^^d three fpoonfuls of henbane-feeds ; beat them together, and mix there-
with a pint of thin grounds of ale or beer ; heat it blood-warm, and drench
the beaft, and then wind him up warm in hay.

Note, as to the wether in the reins in cattle, the henbane or the feed of it
is excellent good againft the gonorrhaea or muliebria profluvia. Vid. Ray,
fol. 711.
Of the wether §. 12. For the Wether that comes forth either before or after calving, —
before or after {.^j^g ^P,j^j£gg(j ^j^ J hquorifh of each one ounce bruifed, fennigrick a penny-
worth bruifed, the leaves of fetwall, (i. e. valerian) and primrofe-roots, of
each an handful picked, waflied, and fhred, and then pounded ; boil all in
three pints of ftrong ale, or beer, till it is half wafted ; then ftrain it, and di-
vide it into two parts, and into one part of it put a piece of Uveet butter, as big
as an egg, and give it to the cow blood-warm, and keep her fafting an hour
after, and the next day give her the other part of the drench blood-warm,
W'ith a piece of butter in it, as before; it is beft to give it in the morning faftin^,
except there be need to do otherwife, and then the firft part may be given at
any time, as foon as it can be made ; — and, if it be after calving, and that the
cow fhould heave much, then the wether muft be thruft in, and fewed up to
fticks with a ftrong awl and flioe-thread, and the beaft be kept v/arm, and
drink warm water for five or fix days after. — If the wether hang out much,
fome ufe to burn dry bean-ftalks, and with frefh hog's lard make the afhes up
into balls, as big as great wail-nuts, and thruft one of them into the beaft,

in

Difeafes in C O W S and C A L V E S.

295

in the midft of the wether, and when flie heaves it again, put in another ball,
and fo till fhe is well.

In the above receipt, fetwall or valerian is good againfl burftings, primrofe-
root is very reftringent, & cohibendo alvi profluvio magnopere confert, ven-
triculum atque adeo univerfa inteftina foluta roborat, & foeno-grsecum, fecun-
dum veteres, fasminarum mails plurimum fubvenit. Ray. Bole-armoniac is very
aliringent, good againfl the diarrhasa and dyfentery, and menflrua profluvia.

§. 13. Sir Ambrofe Phillipp's fhepherd faid, that their beafts were never The yellows,
troubled with the yellows, but that the beafts in fome other places in the
neighbourhood, where the feeding was very grofs and fat, were fubjecSt to itj
fo that he fuppofes rich feeding may be the chief caufe of that diftemper :— -
he thought bleeding was the beft way to prevent it.

A gentleman in Worcefterfhire told me, January 1696, that his cows had
the laft fummer been very fabjedl to the yellows ; — I afked him, if they were
dangerous; he faid, they often died of them. — I again inquired, how they
appeared ; he faid, the whites of their eyes would look very yellow, their
flomachs fail, nor would their food prove them; their udders v/ould fwell,
and their milk fall away, and look yellowifli; he faid, if it fell on their back
and loins, it was not eafily cured, but, if it fell only on their udders, it might
be cured by letting blood and drenching, and, if it were taken, betimes, blood-
letting only might do. — An hour after a farmer came in, and agreed to this,
faving that he knew not what the yellows on the back and loins were.

A certain farmer faid (in July anno 1701) that a cow of his had lately had
the yellows, and the firft coming of them to be known was by her milk being
wheyifli, and in rags, before fuch time as her udder looked yellow ; he
faid farther, the remedy he ufes, is, to bleed the cow prefendy, and then to
take hot embers, and milk fome of the cow's milk into them, and rub

her udder therewith at evening milking-time for two or three evenings;

he fays, the cure by hot embers has been by experience very well approved of.
In this diftemper, if a cow has not a fpeedy remedy, fhe often lofes a teat,
and fometimes her udder.

§. 14. They have a diftemper in Leicefterfhire frequent amongfl the calves. The black- -
which in that country they call the black-legs ; but Mr. Glenn, who lives at ^"^^j °'^ *°° '
Utoxcefler in StafFordfhire, calls it the wood-evil. It feems it is a white jelly,
and fometimes a bloody jelly fettling in their legs, from whence it has it's
name of black-legs, and often in the neck between the fkin and flefli, which

will make them carry their necks awry. 1 find by Sir Ambrofe Phillipp's y cife^fesin

fhepherd, it is of the fame nature with the wood-evil in flieep, which, heinfteep.
fays, are alfo fo affedled, and fo properly may be called the wood-evil ; and,
like the fheep, if it falls in the calves joints, they overcome it, but if in their
bowels, they die, nor is there any cure.

§. J 5. Farmer Stephens fays, for the haflacks in calves he takes thin flices The hnfiacks.
of the veiy * raftiefl fat bacon he can get, and flireds it into fmall diamond- *riii^'eft-
cuts, and then makes milk blood-warm, and puts as much of the fhred rafty
bacon into it as will anfwer the quantity of bread ufually put into milk, and

of

296

Difeafes in COWS and CALVES.

of this ir.ilk and rafty bacon he ufually gives two hornfuls to each calf, which
cures them without foil, when they have been fo bad as to loll out their
tongues ; he fays, the quantity of milk you may give to each calf may be three
quarters of a pint. — Farmer Chivers fays, for this diftemper he gives two or
three balls, as big as chcfnuts, of an equal quantity of butter, tar, and rue
choped fmall, and puts them down the calfs throat beyond the quilt. — Far-
mer John Sartain fays, it is looked on that haflacks often come on calves by
their feeding on drier grafs than ordinary, or by reafon of their wanting water.
— This might be the main occafion of it in the calves I brought out of Wilt-
. fliire, becaufe my grafs was drier than that, and, though they had plenty of
water, yet it might be fuch they did not not like fo well as what they had
been ufed to in the vale, calves being nice ; and drought feems likely enough
to be the caufeof it, both in refpccft of food, and for want of water, becaufe
it is generally agreed that the broufing on wood will give calves the
haflack.

Mr. Beach fays, he has flood by and feen his father and his tenants give

the following drench to their calves for the haffacks, viz. take about three

quarters of a pint of milk, and heat it blood-warm, and put to it two fpoonfuls

of fallad-oil, when the milk is thus blood-warm, and give the laid quantity to

each calf; it will be about two hornfuls.

Thepipp. §. 16. If a calf takes the teat into it's mouth, and refufes to fuck, fufpeft

the barbes under the tongue, almofh in the manner of the pipp, which you

may take away gently, &c. — Maifon ruflique.

Oat-hulls in §.1/. I law an ox's eye almoft out, as I thought; three farmers ftanding

oxen'seyes. ^^ ^— ^^ jj. ^,^^g ^^^^ ^^ oat-huU, which among the fodder would frequently

get into their eyes ; powder of fugar or ginger blown into their eyes would,

they agreed, cure them.

Of greafe in §. 18. I faw (in Augufl 1 699) one of Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's cows with a

thelicels. bynch and fwelling on the outfide of either hinder leg, and I afked the caufe

of it. His dairy-maid and the fliepherd faid, that the cow being in high cafe

when fl^e calved about Michaelmafs was two years, heated herfelf in calving,

and cold weather coming upon her, (he took cold, and fo the greafe fell into

her heels, but flie was never the worfe ; it v/as only an eye-fore.

Thelonreor g_ j^_ Farmer Elford of Upcern in Dorfetfliire tells me, cows will be fo

the claws. fore between their claws that they cannot (land, and will pine upon it; this

y. theloore he and olhcrs informed mc, in that country was called the loore, and they

indiaep, §.16, agj-ggfj^ tj^^t a hair-rope rubbed between their claws till the place bled would

cure them ; but Elford adds, that what will fpeed the cure is, to take verdi-

greafe and lard, and mix them together, and anoint the place : this he ufes

to do, and had it as a great fecret, from a cow-dodlor.

Difcourfing with old Wilkins, a notable farmer of Hathern in Leicefter-
fhire, he and another creditable hulbandman agreed, that the fowle or loore
in ibeep's feet came from their going in wet ground, and was increafed by
the long grafs and ruOies which got between their claws, the patture-Oieep
being moil troubled with it, but itfeldom afflidted the folded -flieep: he laid,

bleeding

Difeafes in COWS and CALVES. 297

bleeding a cow troubled with it on each fide the claws, would, at the begin-
ning, before it was too far gone, cure it without doing more : but then it was,
he faid, a common faying, that you muft cut up the turf fhe bled on, and carry
it, and hang it up in a hedge, and, as the turf grows rotten, the claw will
grow well : but, faid he, the meaning of cutting up the turf and carrying it
away, is, becaufe, if the freili blood of a cow lies on the ground, the whole
herd will come and fmell to it, and fly about the ground, and fall foul on, and
pufli one another, and fpoil one another : for which reafon, if a cow be bled
in the tail for the worm in the tall, they always ftaunch and dry up the blood
in the wound perfedly well, before they turn her out to the herd, otherwife
they would fmell at her, and pufli her, and one another.

§. 20. Being in May (anno 17 12) in company with Chivers, Stephens, &c. Tail-foaked.
and having lately had a cow tail-foaked, or with a worm in her tail (as before
noted) I was defirous to difcourfe on that fubje<fl with them, and I found
they all well knew the diftemper, and had it amongft their catde : they agreed,
that, though it fometimes fell on cattle in good cafe, yet it more generally
afflided poor cattle. — They did not feem to obferve, as Mr. Hayes, a gentle-
man farmer, whom I before had confulted on this diftemper, had done, that
a cow which had once had it, was more liable to it afterwards than another
cow. — I afked them, whether they had ever feen a real live worm in the tail;
Chivers only in the company pretended to have feen fuch a thing, and faid,
he once faw a long narrow flelliy ftring, like a thread, cut out, it was of a red
colour, and moved : they all agreed that the cow could not rife up in fuch a
cafe ; and that the cure was to flit the tail where it was foft, and with a rag
to bind in fait, rufty bacon, foot and garlick beaten together, and. one of the
company added rue J but the tail muft not be bound too hard, nor continue
bound above a week, left the cow fliould lofe the brufti of her tail : they fay,
in fuch a diftemper a cow's teeth will be very loofe : it feems, cows teeth are
always in their beft health fomewhat loofe, if you thruft them inwards with
your thumb ; mens teeth will alfo be loofe under ill habits of body. — Note,
it feems to me, that both the medicine of oil of turpentine rubbed in, as
mentioned in another place, and this medicine, aft their cure by heating the
marrow of the cow's back and loins, with which the fpine of the cow's tail
has a communication, for the difeafe feems to lie in the back, and that the
tail indifpofed alone could not in fuch manner affedl a cow as to weaken her to
the degree above related.

Speaking farther of this diftemper to a Dorfetftiire farmer, he told me, they
call it the worm in the tail j the joint of the tail near the rump will, as it
were, rot away, and the teeth of the cow grow loofe, and her ftomach fall
off, fo that it will in a very little while fink the ftouteft cow or bullock, tho*
it feldom falls on a bulloek in good cafe, but generally on cattle when they
are poor. — The cure is, to cut a deep gafli into the fore, at the rump, and

rub a handful of fait into it, and {o bind it up with a rag. Again talking of

it to farmer Ryalls, he agreed to what the other had faid, only he added, they
mixed foot and a clove of garlick with the fait, and that the tail muft be well

Q_q and

2gS Tlie D A I R Y.

and carefully cut, or elfe the kine might be in danger of lofing their tails j
he fays, though they call it the worm in the tail, there is no womi there, but
he takes it to arife from the blood, when the blood runs high.

The D A I R Y.

Gf cieanlLiefs §. x. O O much cleanncfs in fcalding relates to a dairy, that Chivers of
*"' '^ ^"^•^' (^ Wiltfliire averred (farmer Sartain being prefent, and confenting

thereto) that the dairy-farms fpent as much wood in fire, to that end, in
fummer, as they burned for other purpofes in winter.

If the milk-veffels are not kept clean, they will be four, and the cheefe
will be four before it can come, and will eat four and choaky.
Of coolnefs. §, 2. Chivers took notice how a cool dairy was a great means towards pre-
ferving the cream the longer from turning four; faid he, my milk-houfe is
too fmall for fo great a dairy as mine is, for the milk coming in hot, the fleam
of it heats the air of the room.
Of cows not §. 3. My next neighbour had a calf penned up, and the cow grazed in a
givingdown ground by it, and the cow being kept from her calf, and yet able to come
up near to the pen, grew unlucky to pigs that were routing in a dunghil
near, and gored one of them in the eye, whereupon flie and her calf were
turned out together, but then the cow would not give down her milk to them,
that milked her. — I allied the farmer's wife, a notable dame, the reafon of it..
She faid, when the calf was penned upj and the cow was brought to it,
when they milked her, the calf was hungry, and would fuck hard, and the
cow would give down her milk to the calf, and then the maid alfo might
milk her, but when the calf was turned abroad with the cow all day, when
the maid came to milk her, the calf not being hungry, the cow would hold
her milk up from the maid ; and fo, fhe faid, other cows were apt to do.

A gentleman farmer of Gloucefterfhire told me (anno 1698) that he had a
cow of fix years old that had ufually given good milk, but the laft year fhe
would hold up her milk, and would not give any, and he knew not what
fhould be the reafon of it. — A farmer coming in, I aiked him his opinion
aboutit. It is odds, faid he, but fomebody has ill milked her ; for if one milks
fuch a cow by halves, that is, to flep away, and come again, or to keep talk-
ing and milk her in a very flow manner, the cow's patience will be tired, and
fo fhe will get that trick.
How many §. 4. I alked farmer Clerk of Holt in Wilts, how many cows a very good

cow a woman dairy-maid might be able to milk in an hour ; he faid, and they prefent all .

may milk man 11 -^ ,.,. , ^ ^

hour, Sic. agreed, that it v/as a good hour s work m their country, where the cows gave
a great deal of milk, to milk fix in an hour ; he faid, he thought his wile
could milk as fafl:, and with as much ftrength as any body could, and fhe
could once he believed have milked eight, but fhe was not able, though of
but a middle age, to do fo now : farmer Chivers, and farmer Stephens agreed
to this. — They alfo faid, when cows began to give off their milk, they would,

if

The DAIRY.

299

if not milked clean, foon grow dry. — I put the queftlon, when It was that
the cows began to give off the height of their milk ; they agreed, that they
began to abate about the time of the bloffoming of the wheat, and fo on, till
a good aftermafs came, and then for a little while their milk would increafe
again, but cold and rainy weather in the autumn will dafli the cows, and then
their milk will abate again. — I take the reafon why the cows milk abates about
wheat-bloffoming time, to be, becaufe about that time the grafs of the field
blolloms alfo, and the flufli of the fap is come to it's height and matu-
rity, and then abates; for the roots of the grafs at that time begin to harden
and grow dry, nor do they take in the juices of the earth fo freely as they did
before, and fo grow drier and drier till the feed is hardened ; which feed being
fo brought to maturity, the roots of the grafs for fome time, till the cold and
winter checks them, flrike frelh fap-roots, or buds preparative to the enfuing
fpring, and which will the next year be the fpring-roots and increafe; on
thefe new efforts or effays, as aforefaid, in autumn, after the feed of the grafs
is perfedied, depends the ftart of the autumn-grafs till the cold checks it,
which we call the aftermafs, and from whence the cow's milk fomewhat
increafes.

§. 5. Good houfwives may know whether cows are well milked or not ; for How to know
if the quantity of milk does not yield fo much cream as it fhould do, were when cows
the cov/s milked dry, then they may be affured that the cows ftroakings are milked'^"
not milked away, for, if the ftroakings are left behind, much the greater
portion of cream in proportion is left in the udder ; becaufe the waterifli part
of the cream comes away firft, and the fattefc at laft ; for they, being the
laft of the cow's milking, lie up higher in the udder ; and confequently are
more digefted and concodled by the internal heat of the cow's belly.

§. 6. Sir Ambrofe Phillipps had a cow which, when milked, gave blood Of a cow's
with her hinder teat; and the dairy-maid endeavoured, as I obferved myfelf, udder that im
with great pains to milk that teat ; and after fqueezing with all the power flie ^^" '^"' ^ '
could, there would come forth a firing of coagulated blood two or three
inches long, which being removed, the like would follow three or four times
together, and then there would come forth milk from that teat, as at
other times, though much diflained with blood : the cow all the while would
endure the milking, only when the maid ftroaked the upper part of the udder
behind, to bring down the bloody matter, her hurt being conceived to be
there, fhe would not endure it; this held for near three weeks. — And it
feems they had known the like before : it was fuppofed another cow had run
her horn againft the bag of the udder behind, and bruifed it, and they an-
ointed the udder behind only ; all the reft of the teats gave good milk. — It
feems, if a lazy maid, who would not have taken fo much pains with the
tent, had had the managing of the cow, the bloody milk having had no vent,
would have fpoiled the udder.

§. 7. Sometimes a cow's udder will be bobbed after flic has calved, that is, of a crw's
will be very hard like a board ; the cow will not 2;ive dov/n her milk well, i^dcier growing

•' r\ hard after

0^1 2 and ^^,^,i„g_

300 The DAIRY.

and her udder will afterwards quarne, that is, grow knotty ; in fuch cafe, till

her udder is come into order, her calf ought not to be taken from her, becaufe

fhe will not give down her milk fo kindly to the hand as flie will to the calf, and

thereby her udder will be apt to grow fore, and break as womens breads do.

cf hill and §. 8. Mr. Whifller obferved, that the hill-country cows milk did not yield

cows"see^4 fo much cream to the fame quantity of milk as the vale-cows milk will do.-—

27. Ofcheefe. But furelythis muft proceed from the poverty of the hill-country cows, they

being generally poor in cafe : your thin necked and bodied cows, that are

wafliy and flue, are obferved to give a great deal, though but thin milk :

but feeing our beef and mutton, when fat, eats as fvveet as any in the world,

I cannot conceive why the milk of our cows, if they were in as high cafe as

the vale-cows generally are, fhculd not yield as much cream as their cows

milk does.

I have heard it obferved by fome farmers and dairy-women, that cows with
yellow horns, or with thick necks give generally very good creamy milk, and
that cows with thin necks are generally remarked to be flue cows, that is,
cows that will not thrive with their meat; and thefe will give a great quan-
tity of milk, but it will be of a blue or grey colour, and will yield but little
cream. A cow, they fay, fliould not be milked within about ten weeks of
her calving, for though (he will give good milk to the very day of calving,
yet the calf will be thereby ftarved* A cow fliould be milked very clean, or
her milk will dry away.
Profit of a §. y. Farmer Mofeley of the Ifle of Wight, and his wife, being at Crux-

Eall:on (anno 1698) they gave me the following account of a. dairy ; viz.
that 45 s. per cow rent, was counted a good price in the ifland, that formerly
it ufed not to yield fo much, but upon the rife of butter and cheefe, it now
fetches as above : take one cow with another in the ifland, if they give two
gallons of milk per day it is well j w^hich will yield four pound of butter per
week ; and from June to Michaelmafs, if a cow yields 70 lb. of butter to be
potted, which comes to 23 s. 4d. — and an hundred weight of fliim-milk
cheefe at i^d, per lb. that is 14s. per hundred, it is what is commonly ex-
pected; befides which, there is the May-butter, for in the ifland they begin
not to pot till June : then it is faid, a cow's whey will maintain a pig ; but,,
laid he, it will not; the calf alfo may be valued at fixteen fliillings.
Cf taking §. 10. In cafe the firfl milk, which they call the beafl;ings, be not taken

away the away clean from the cow, upon her fiifl: calving, it will go near to make the

'" '"°^' cow's milk to dry away.
Cf giving the §• H- The Roman writers on hufl)andry forbidding the colafl:ra or beafl:-
^..lungi to a jngs to be given to the calf, as if it was a poifon, 1 aflced farmer Stephens
about it, he being in his way a notable obferver, and milking a great part of
his dairy-cows with his own hand : he fiid, at firfl: he did let the calves fuck
the beaftings, and found no inconveniency in it, but, faid he, I have very often
obferved, when a cow has warped her calf, and we have put a calf of ten
days or a fortnight old to draw down the udder (which is better done by a calf

than

The D A I R Y.

301

dian by hand, becaufe the cow Is apt to hold up her milk when milked) that
a calf of that age has been much purged by the beaflings, and received a great
deal of harm thereby ; and therefore he held that the beaftings might furfeit,
and had better be drawn off j it flands to reafon, if one faw what a curdled
body they are of.

§. 12, Thunder will fo break the cream, and turn the milk in the milk- Of thunder
pans, that no cream can be fkimmed up for butter; nor will the curd for ''^'^^'^'"S
cheefe hold together, but will break afunder.

§.13. Though it be commonly faid, that a quart of cream will produce ^ ^eam^man"^
pound of butter ; this muft be underftood of a quart of cream that has fettled a pound of.
two or three days, for three pints of cream juft fkimmed from the milk will butter,
yield in three days {landing little better than a quart. If you bring in the
milk, and ftrain it prefently into the pans, without letting it ftand to cool be-
fore you ftrain it, there will be much the lefs cream.

§. 14. Farmer Elford, of Chubbs, near Upcern Dorfet, fays, he reckons ^^t^''^""
the bell; butter and cheefe to be made after June ; and whatever may be faid ^ade after
of May-butter or cheefe, he thinks it not fo good by much as that made after- June. vid.
wards ; and his reafon is, that though ths grafs comes on thick in May, yet ^^j'^'^rg
till the end of June the cattle do not recover their winter hardfhips, and
though the grafs be in good cafe in May, yet the cattle muft likewife get
into heart before they can give abundance of milk, or that that is very good.

§. I ^. I am informed, that throughout Devon (hire they make their butter Of fcald
in a different manner than elfewhere ; for they fet the milk over the fire in tlTtter. °^
many brafs pans to warm in, which makes the cream rife, and when a blad-
der rifes in the middle they take it off the fire, and take off the cream, and put
it into a tub, and it then looks like a clouted cream ; then a maid only by
putting in her arm and ftining it, brings it to butter prefently, which is very
rich butter, but the cheel'e that is made of the Ikim-milk is very poor and has
little goodnefs in it.

§. 16. It is agreed by the dairy-men about Holt, that againft peas and Butter dearer
beans time grafs- butter rifes in it's price by reafon of it's eonfumption on thofe^p°^j'|^[j^^^'^
legumens, therefore good houfwives coUedi butter a month before that fea-
fon, and fait and pot it.

§. 17, I have heard that a young heifer's maw that has never been with Of rennet,
calf, makes ftronger rennet, and is better for cheefe than a calf's maw.

§. 18. I find by the converfation of Chivers, John Sartain, and many other The richer the
judicious dairy-men about Holt, that cheefe made between hay and grafs is v^ii'-^rc the
apt to heave, (i. e. when the catde eat of hay and grafs, as in the beginning ^°,"^|ig J^l^i^
of the fpring) and is a flronger fort of cheefe than grafs-cheefe, and therefore be kept.
is not fit to be fent to market under a year old, becaufe till then it will not be
mild: in a word, I find by all the information I can get, that the richer the
ground is (as it is with the ftrongefi: beer) the cheefe of it muft be kept the
longer before it is ripe, fo as to eat mild and palatable, and then none will
cat better..

§.19.1

302

The DAIRY.

Wildhire,

ofcheefe. §. ig. I am informed by farmer Stephens, my tenant at Pomeroy in Wilts,

who is the moft experienced man in all things relating to a dairy that ever I
met with ; firft, that, if milk be four, the cheefe thereof will always eat
* Dry. * chocky and never eat fat, though there be never fo much cream put into it,

chalk}'. which is the reafon why chedder-cheefe often eats fo, being made fo large,

that they keep their milk collecting too long ; fuch cheefe in toafting will burn
and bladder, a fure fign it is not fat. — Secondly, fuch cheefe (to ftiew it is dry
and not fat, notwithftanding a great deal of cream be put into it) will in it's
coat on the milk-houfe fhelves look white and dry, and never gather a blue
coat : neither vv^ill cheefe over-falted ever gather a blue coat, but in toafting
burn at the fire, tho' never fo much cream be in it, and will look white and dry
in it's coat.
In Soir.erfct- §• 20. Being with Stephens about Eaft-Lydford near Somerton in Somer-
fhire and fetihire, and having there bufinefs with a great many farmers, I found by
Stephens and the confeflion of thofe farmers, that notwithftanding their lands
were much richer than thofe of North-Wiltfliire, they could not pretend to
make fuch good cheefe as was made in North-Wiltfliire, and that the North-
Wiltfliire cheefe of the fame fort would out-fell the Somerfetfliire cheefe by
three fliillings or four {hillings in the hundred weight. — It was allowed alfo,
that the Somerfetfliire women could not make a cheefe with a yellow coat
like thofe of North-Wiltfliire ; wherefore the Somerfetfliire women, to dif-
guife it, put faunders into their milk, to give a yellow colour to the coat of
their cheefe, which giving alfo a yellow colour to the infide, when people put
in the tarter, they find the art, and upon difcovery take exceptions, for the in-
fide of the North-Wiltfliire cheefe is white. — Audit wasconfeffed by all and
agreed that down farther weftward, tho' the lands were better, yet the cheefe
was worfe than in thofe parts of Somerfetfliire I fpeak of — This allowed of
difference between the North- Wikfhire and Somerfetfliire cheefe gave me
many fpeculations into the reafons for it, and I ailced them prefent about it. —
Stephens above-mentioned would have it, that in Somerfetfliire they were
not fo good houfwives as in North -Wiltfliire, nor would he give any other
reafon, notwithftanding I had laid, if the difference confifted in art, inter-
marriages would foon reiflify that mlfchlef, and a farmer that is choice in the
breed of his bullandhiscow,and goes far for them, would alfo fend for thebefl
dairy-maid in the country of North-Wiltfhire ; for the difference he fpeaks of
amounted to at leafl twenty pounds in two hundred pounds rent per annum,
and it was not to be conceived a whole county would be lb flupid as to fufter
fuch a lofs, when the North-Wiltfhire parts, wherein he lived, were but twen-
ty-four miles diflant from thofe parts of Somerfetfliire I was then in.— They
allowed alfo at Winchester fair, if the fair was dull, the Somerfetfhire men
muft flay a day the longer before they could fell. — I caijnot give a reafon for
this, unlefs the following be one, viz. Somerfetfliire lying low and wet, though
the grounds are very rich, the juices of the grafs are from thence lefs fpiri-
tuous, and lefs concocted and digefted, more grofs and gnafli, and confe-

quently

The D A I R Y. 303

quently the cheefe wants the virtue of that from the North-Wiltfliire grounds,
where though the grafs may grow flower, yet the watery juices are more rec-
tified and qualified : therefore all this, if it be true, muft depend on thefe
fuppofitions; — Firft, that dry grounds, by reafon of poverty, afford no rich
juices, and confequently no good cheefe, for we mufl: not fay, becaufe North-
Wiltlhire being drier than Somerfetfliiie outdoes it in cheefe, therefore the
hill-country in Hampfliire being drier than North- Wiltfliire has better cheefe,
for the contrary is evident — Secondly, that there is a medium in the v/atery
temperature of the earth, either extream of which viliorates the juice, where
there is not an equal heat of the fun or fatnefs in the earth to corredl the juices
of the fuperluxuriant grafs.

§.21. This fpring (anno 1720) was throughout a cold and very wet fpring. In ^'onh-
and the fummer was wet and {howeiy till July the i8th, and a great burden greater"ihe
of hay and grafs there was in North-Wiltfliire, unlefs in the water-meads, plenty of
where they were ftranded ; however cheefe bore a great price, viz. twenty- j'^'^f ^'it^ftlls
four (hillings per hundred, for that firfi; made in the fpring 5 and the tenants
of Holt who were going with their cheefe to Maudlin fair at Winchefter,
which is on the azd of July, expedled a higher price: the reafon of which
was this ; the lafl; fummer was fo very dry, and the winter-meat, both hay and
ftraw fell fo very (hovt,. that the generality of cows were much pinched, fo
that the cows about Holt gave but little more milk or cheefe this wet fummer
than they did the fummer before ; again it is generally noted that in North-
Wiltfhire when they make moft cheefe, they fell it deareft, and when the
leaft, they fell it cheapeft ; the reafon is, in wet fprings and fummers, the
generality of North-Wiltfliire not lying low and wet, as Someifetfliire does,
in thofe years they make moft cheefe there, whereas the land of Somerfet-
ihire, and Lincolnfhlre, and the de.ep lands of England lie all the fpring and
fummer under water, or fo much in a poach, that the grafs is chilled, and
cannot grow; but in the North- Wiltfhire fummers it is the diredt contrary:
-then in cold wet fummers the firft cheefe-fair of our parts, which is Maud-
lin-hill fair, carries the bell price of all the later fairs, as falling before the
Somerfet(hire cheefe can come to a fair.

§. 22. Stephens having: before made it one of the charadlers of a good ^^''^^ ^1"*

,"'- '■ , , ° . . xnji- II • coat or vm-

cheele to carry a blue coat on it, or a vinnow : 1 alked him whether it were now on a
good hocfw'ifery to wipe that off. Fie faid, there were two forts of vinnow cheefe.
on cheefe, one in the nature of mouldinefs, or long downy vinnow, not blue,
which proceeded from the moiftuie of the air and weather, efpecially towards
winter, and fuch vinnow cannot be too often wiped off; and, if negledled, it
will eat into the cheefe, and give it a bittei ifh tafte within the coat ; whereas
the blueifh vinnow he fpoke of proceeded from the inward fweat of the cheefe,
and would come on the cheefe in dry weather as v/ell as moift.

§. 23. Of the three forts of cheefe, viz. the hay cheefe made fome time 9^^^^(\ r
after the cows calving, the fpring-grafs cheefe made in May and June, and
the aftermafs cheefe, though the aftermafs cheefe be the heavieft, and bat
taflelefs, yet it is the fattelt of the three, and, if it be kept to a good age, is a

fiuKular

30+

The DAIRY.

Angular good cheefe ; for then the cows milk has the moft: cream : the hay
cheefe, if the cattle feed on good hay, will cafl as yellow a colour on the coat
as any, and" being made in the fpring, will have a very hard and fmooth coat,
having the fpring to dry it in ; it is a very good cheefe, and very profitable in
a family, being very tart on the tongue, and will go very far in fpending,
Ofaftermafs §_ 24. Being at Pomeroy in Wilts to tafte cheefe in the beginning of No-
.chcefe. vcmber, (anno 17 14) Stephens, having fold his cheefe made in the fpring,

had only the early aftermafs cheefe fit fo; fpending left ; but he and his wife
afiiired me, fuch cheefe was fatter and mellower than the cheefe made in
April, May, and June, though the fpring-made cheefe was tarter : I afked
them how the aftermafs cheefe could he termed the fattefl, when certainly
the grafs in May and June was richer than in July, Auguft, and September.—
They faid, they fuppofed the reafon to be, becaufe the cows about April
having b. ought calves, which were not weaned from them till about the be-
ginning of May, the cows were low in flefli and condition, having had little
grafs to fupport them till then, and when the flufli of grafs comes in May, it
is true they give a great deal of milk, but not fo much cream in proportion, nor
fo fat milk as in the aftermafs feafon, when the cows being got into good
heart, and flefh, they better concodl and digeft the juices of the grafs with
.thofe of their own bodies. — So from thence, faid I, it mufl: follow, that a
poor cow muft always give thinner milk than a cow in good fiefli. Again, I
fuppofe on this reafon depends in fome meafure the tartnefs of the cheefe
made in the fpring, becaufe the cows have not then good juices in their own
bodies to qualify and mellow the acrimony of the juices of the grafs, nor has
the fun had time to concocl the juices of the grafs, which are therefore eager
and tart.
Broad-dover §.25. Mrs. Bifly the elder of Hclt aflures me, that broad-clover will not
good"cheefe!^ make good cheefe ; for it will tafle ftrong and bitter, yet they have not found

it to heave : (he alfo fays, that neither the milk nor the butter tafte welL
A cheefe-loft §. 26. It is agreed by the dairy-men in Wiltfhire, that the higher in the
highand^oo! ^^'^i^g ^ milk-houfc is, and the lefs heat underneath, as from cattle in a ftable,
' 5cc. fo much the better for a cheefe-loft; for heat makes cheefe heave, efpe-
cially if the land it be made from be rich.
\yhere cows §, 27. When farmer Sartain and farmer Stephens were making remarks
milk, the^ ^^°w ^^^ COWS of Gaufuns exceeded thofe of Pomeroy in milk, yet they a-
milk has greed that no cheefe exceeded that of Pomeroy, and that thofe dairies, Vv'here
more cream jj-,£ ^ovvs give fo much milk, did not make the richeft cheefe; for, faid they,

m proportion . , ° • 1 , n -n , -n 1 • •

to the quan- wherc the cows give the leait milk, the milk has more cream in proportion to
t'ty- the quantity. — * But this feems to be contrary to a former obfervation : and

' ■ '■ ■ farmer Sartain faid, this I know by the farm at Holt, for when I lived there,
none made better cheefe than I did, though I rented only the arable and poor
grounds. — Upon which I objedted foon after to farmer Sartain and farmer
Chivers, how then it came to pafs, that poor ground wovild not make rich
butter ? to which Chivers replied, that doubtlefs it would ; that is, faid he,
if you fhould have a fufficient large dairy, and milk enough to make butter

every

The DAIRY. 305

every day, or every other day at fartheft ; for then the cream being Avect, the
butter would be fweet and rich alfo j whereas poor and fmall dairies churn
but twice a week, and then, the cream being turned or upon turning, the butter
cannot be 2:ood. And the cream of four and coarfe jrrafs, fuch as mine is at
Crux-Eafton, will fooner turn four in proportion to the fournefs of the giafs.

§. 28. September 5th (anno 171 2) being at Holt in Wiltfliire, I encou-
raged my tenant Stephens of Pomeroy to come to Crux-Eafton in Hampfhire V'"g:-c';eefe
at Michaelmafs to fell his fpring-cheefe ; viz. that made in May : and he [owards^Can-
feemed inclinable to do fo. — Of which delign of his I acquainted farmer dlemafs.
Chivers the next day. — Chivers fmiled, and faid, he thought Stephens would
be wifer than to go fo far at that time of the year to fell his beft fpring-cheefe;
for, faid he, fuch cheefe does not likely meet with the beft price till towards
Candlemafs, when the aftermafs cheefe is fpent, for in autumn and about Mi-
chaelmafs there is fuch abundance of foft aftermafs cheefe to be fold, and the
poorer fort of dairy-men pour it fo faft into the market, as alfo their fpring-
cheefe (for then thefe dairy-men's harveft is over) that the fpring-cheefe will
afterv/ards rife in it's value, like hard-keeping pippins, which yield double
the price at Chriftmafs that they would in autumn, when the country was full
of all forts of fummer-apples, the great plenty of which fummer-fruit depre-
tiates for fome time the price of the hard-keeping fruit : and in like manner,
when the corn harveft is juft in, fo many flrrmers occafions for money being
to be anfvvered, the beft corn will not generally come to the beft market till
the glut is over, and the barns grow empty : I grant, faid farmer Chivers, the
latter made or aftermafs cheefe we muft all properly fell, whether poor or
rich, becaufe though the aftermafs cheefe be in truth as fat as the fpring-
cheefe, yet it is a heavy deadiQi cheefe, and will grow tough or glewifh by
keeping, whereas there is no occafion for felling the fpring-cheefe, unlefs for
want of money, becaufe that will grow mellow and gain fpirits by age,

§. 29. Mr. Raymond told me (in June anno 1709) it was always obferved
about them, at Puckfliipton in Wiltftiire, about two miles from Patny, that ^n Wikdiire
when wheat was dear, cheefe was dear alfo, which feemed ftrange to him ;itdearrc'"*r
becaufe, faid he, it was a wet and cold fpring that made wheat dear, and then is dear, and ''
we have always the greateft plenty of grafs, which one would think fliould^'^y-
make plenty of cheefe. — I replied, according to a former obfervation, the
reafon was plain to me, becaufe the country where he lived, and Pewfy in his
neighbourhood lay on warmfands, which land, and the hill-country of Wilt-
fhire within two miles of him, bore great burdens of grafs, as he fiid, in wet
and cold fprings; but, faid I, the deep and lowlands of England fuch as So-
merfetfliire, &;c. 6cc. which fort of lands fet the price to cheefe as well as
wheat, miferably fall fliort of a crop of grafs in cold and wet fprings, as I told
him I was but then newly an eye-witnefs of, for I came then from Eaft-Lyd-
ford in Somerfetftiire to him, being June 19th, and the grounds of that
country had not then got a good bite of grafs, by reafon of the cold wet Ipring,
nor had they been able to fat cattle in time.

§. -^o. Our hill-country land is fo much the more improper for a dairy, Hiii coantrv
becaufe our foddering-feafon holds fo very long, and is fo tedious, by 'and improi-er

R r means '"°''^'^"">-"

3o6 S H E E P and L A M B S.

means of our rowet-grafs falling off a month fooner than their's in the vale, and.,
the fpring grafs coming a month later ; fo that the cows muft needs be in a
low condition at fpring.

As I have taken notice that the clover is four in cold lands, fo doubtlefs the
butter and cheefe muft partake of it's nature more or lefs, as the clover may-
be fourer or fweeter, which may reafonably be fuppofed to be^the caufe of the,,
butter and cheefe at Eafton being ftrong and rank \

SHEEP and LAMBS.

The (hepherd §. I . T T IS vcry neceflary in inclofed farms, that, if the fliepherd be not

to mend j^ required to hedge at fpare times, he fhould however be required to

* ^"" mend, for his bufinefs being much in walking about the grounds he has the

opportunity of feeing what is amifs.
Benefit of a §. 2. My fhcpherd affures me, that by my {hepherd's cart I fhall fave the
foddering- value of it this one year (anno 1701) ; for, fays he, it is impoffible in this hill-
""' country but broad-clover hay efpecially muft be abundantly blowed away by

the wind, when it is carried by bundles at the fl:iepherd's back j whereas the
fides of the cart will preferve it from the wind.
Advantage of §. 3. Having made fome remarks on the fmall profit arifing from a flock-
keeping up a ^£ fl^eep^ I imparted the fubftance of it to a gentleman in my neighbourhood,
,ctp ^^ ^^^^ pradice in huibandry ; he faid, that I was in the right of it, who lived
in inclofures, but if he, where there was intercommoning, muft buy new
flieep yearly at Ipring, that were not ufed to fhift for their living, in their bare
commons they would be ftarved ; they muft therefore keep up a flock accuf-
tomed to the place. — Add to this, that the winter-fold, by reafon of the
grafs not being fo fweet, and the frofts falling on it, is not fo good as the
fummer-foldo.
Fed age of an §. 4, Mr. Bifliop of Dorfetfhire his fliepherd fays, they generally reckon an.
weandfheep. g^e's third lamb to be the beft ; and they reckon a (heep to be at full growth
and prime at four years old ; though, he knew not, he faid, but, if an ewe-,
had threat keeping, fhe might belly fome time after that ; fome flieep would
grow broken-mouthed at five or fix years old, and others not till nine or ten:
when they find an ewe a good motherly one, and to bring a good lamb, they
keep her till fhe is broken-mouthed.
Of (bleep's K r. Sheep at two years old have but two teeth, at three years old theyr

**"^" have four teeth, at four years old fix teeth.

OF BREEDING SHEEP.

Sheep from a §. 6. I bought about forty ewes out of Oxenleafe in Wilts (anno iJiS)
warm country where the orouud is coarfe, and they alfo fared hard ; I brought them to

Crux-

» Amonw other ufeful inventions with which the reverend and learned Dr. Hales has obliged the
world, he has publifhed one to fweeten milk that has got an ill taflefrom the cows eating; of crow-
earlick, cabbage, turnips, autumnal leaves, &c. which hceffedls by volatilizing the rancid oil with
heat and, when heated, diflipating it by ventilation. — See his Account of the good efFe<3 of blowing
ihowers of air up through milk, and alfo a Plate of the inftrument for performing it, printed for
Richard Manby, iin the Old-Bailey, near Ludgate-Hill, J 756,

jn open coni-
zuon fields.

do not thrive
00 the hills

S H E E P and L A M B S. 307

Crux-Eaflon in Odtober, where they had plenty of hop-clover ; they feemed
to do very well till December came, and then they crouded up under fhelter
of hedges, and ran into the lanes, and their wool being thin, and fliort, and
more knotty than our's, they could not bear the cold of Crux-Eafton well,
nor keep the open fields in winter, nor could we hold them with the beft hay,
but they would pitch. — From hence qusere, whether it be fo good hufbandiy
as is imagined, to mend our flock of fheep or cows by a fine wool-fheep or
Gloucefter-brown ; fincc the produce carry fuch thin fine-grained hides, as
may not prove fo well on our cold hills.

§. 7. Sheep without horns are counted the beft fort; becaufe fo much of Sheep whhbut
the nourifhment doth not go into the horns. J. M. Efq. F. R. S. fol. J77. homs tlie beft.

§.8. I carried farmer Miles of Wiltfhire to a field where I had fome ofleather-
■* couples fatting, I told him the ewes were leather-mouthed with thick lips. — mouthed or
He faid, they were called with them hants-flieep ; they were a fort of fheep •^EwesTnd
that never fhelled their teeth, but always had their lambs-teeth without fhed- lambs,
ding them, and thrufting out two broader in their room every year. — Being the
next day at Mr. Raymond's, I had an opportunity of difcourfing his fhepherd,
who faid, he had been a fliepherd thirty years ; he knew the fheep by the
fame name, and faid, that now and then, in buying a parcel of fheep, two or
three would creep into their flocks, but he never knew of fo many together
as twenty, which at that time I had : he faid their teeth would not hold them fo
long as other flieep, but would wear down to a thicknefs by reafon of their
biting on them from lambs, fo they ought to be fatted a year the fooner.—
Mr. Raymond being by faid, there were fuch a fort of horfes called by the
name of hants-horfes, that always fhewed themfelves to be fix years old.

My fhepherd bought me a fcore of couples ; when he brought them home
he faid, they mufc be fatted, forthey would not live in our flock, but would
be ftarved : they were a fmall fort of fheep, and out of cafe. I wondered at
it, and afked him how that could be. He faid, they were thick leather-
mouthed cattle, of which fort there were many in Wiltfiiire and Berklhire,
and therefore they could not bite fo clofe as our flieep, if they went in the
flock with them.

§, 9. Mr. Oxenbridge of Wilts fays, he grew weary of fending his -j-hog- + Young
fheep from Michaelmafs to Lady-day into Somerfetfliire ; for, though by that ''""pftiould
means he brought them home in high cafe, and could maintain them fo all '^'^^ ^^ °
the fummer, yet he found they expected as good keeping the next winter,
and for want of it would pitch, and not hold their flefli fo well as thofe which
had always continued on the farm. — I told farmer Ryalls, and Mr. Biihop's
fliepherd of this; they faid, they were againft fending hog- fiieep abroad, if
there was land to maintain them in the winter without pinching the flock ;
for, if the winter proved hard, they would often be cheated of their meat,
and be negledled abroad : but a hog-Iheep ought to be kept up well the firft
winter, to be brought into good bone and limb ; for, if a f thief be not kept x yo^^^
up v/ell, and ihould pitch in yeaning-time, unlefs you take her lamb from her, ewe of the 3d
and put it to an ewe, it is odds but you lofe both thief and Iamb ; for it will yf.".";ied

K r 2 bring teeth.

^oS SHEEP and LAMBS.

bring the flcenting or fcouring upon her and kill her ; and it is a very good
way to put a thief s lamb to an ewe that has loft her lamb ; for the ewe will
maintain it well, and flie is paft improving, but the thief will thrive much the
better for having the lamb taken from her.
A frei-martin §. lo. Mr. Biffy fays, an ewe-flieep that is a free-martin, befides the pifTed
iheep. ftinking tail llie carries, has a leffer and lanker bearing than other fheep.

Farmer Collins of the Iile of Wight alTures me, there are free-martins in
flieep both male and female ; he has for a fancy fometimes kept one of each
four or five years : he fays, they will ftink like a goat if you come near them,
fo that one can hardly bear the fmell j and the female does not pifs as other
ewes do, but her pifs comes dribbling from her, and the pifs of the male
runs dribbling down along his yard.
Of ewes not §• H- Being at the fold with my fliepherd, he pointed at an ewe, faying,
tEkmg ram. ^yliat a fine ewe there is ! her tail is apt to be fo rough, and loaded with wool,
that next ramming I will clip her ; for faid he, I believe thatlaft year the rani
could not T?.m her for that reafon. — I obferved indeed her buttocks to be wad-
ded with wool. — That year (anno 1702) I had about thirty of my beft ewes
that went through and proved barren, which might be for the abovefaid rea-
fon ; for I keeping my iheep very well, they might by ramming-time carry
too much wool on their buttocks : the year before I alfo had about twenty
proved barren.
In mcTofures, §.12. Difcourfing With a farmer in the Ifle of Wight about Iheep, I faid,
TreXar^an "ow (in November 171 8) flieep being dear, an ewe-fold would pay he iter than
cwe-fcli pays a weather-fold becaufe of their increale. — To which he replied, it 'was un-
bctter than a doubtedly fo, in cafe the fheep went in inclofures, where one could give them
wea er- o . ^j^^j^. jjeHj^g f^^\\ . \)^^^ i^ ^afe they go on common downs or fields, then of ne-
celiity one muft keep weathers, becaufe they can fare hardier than ewes, or
elfe your neighbour's flock will ftarve your evi'es.
Of ewes an §• 13- The ewes muft be well kept all the winter and better than the wea-
weathers. thers : a weather's wool is of much lefs value than the wool of an ewe, and
will fcarce pay for his winter's keeping, but his tail in folding on the barley in
fpring, when the ewes muft not be folded, will turn to better account. — Wea-
thers among a flock of ewes will thrive better than by themfelves, becaufe
they will beat off" the ewes, and have the top of the grafs in fummer, and the
beft of the hay in winter.
Cf boyirg §. 14. In buying ftieep for fatting at the firft hand of the year in fpring, one

ftietpioria:- jj^gy be pretty fecure of buying in thofe that will thrive, inafmuch as flieep,
"' which feem forward in cafe early in the fpring muft be of a thriving fort,

otherwife they could not be forward in flelh fo early : but for the fecond fat-
ting it is not lb certain, forafmuch as fheep may be in good cafe at Midfum-
mer, and yet have been a tedious while in arriving to that condition, and con-
fequently will be fo in their progreflion.
Ofrubbng §. i^. My neighbour's fliepherd ailced me, if I knew how to make rotten
^'"^^lil^^" fheep found; on which I inquired of him, if he knew how to do it ; he faid,
to rub their eyes with fait would deceive the buyer, and make the whites of

their

S H E E P and L A M B S. 309

their eyes look curious and red ; that prafhice, faid he, is common among the
fheep-jobbers. — i\fterwards I afked farmer Elton about it j he faid, he had
heard that the fheep-jobbers did ufe it.

§. 16. Sir Ambrofe Pliillipps's {hearers faid, it was a common cheat about of making
them, to get reddilh clay, and diffolve it in water, and colour the flieep with flieep to ap-
it, and two or three hours after, when it was dry, to card their wool on their P"^^^^p_°
backs, to make the buyers believe they had been folded-lheep, and not paf-
ture-flieep ; for folding the flieep on the fallows gives their wool that reddifli
colour ; and in cafe the fheep were foreft, or pafture flieep, many would
not buy them, becaufe being not ufed to a fold, nor fallows, they would not
be able to keep them in either, but they would break away.

§. 17. Lean fheep fell well at this time (June 8, 1707) though the fpring Of lean (heep
and fummer-part of the year to the 22d of May (when rain fell) has been the ^y„"g°f*""*
drieft in the memory of man ; I was at a lofs for the reafon of this wbilft in
Hampfliire, which is a breeding country of flieep, but when I came into
Wiltfliire a grazing and fatting country, I foon faw the caufe of the dearnef*
of lean flieep j for it feems, a greater demand had been for their fat lambs for
three years laft paft than ever was known, and greater droves of them carried
to London, and when the ewe-lambs were fatted, the ewes were confequently
fatted too, and this extraordinary confumption has wafted the breed of flieep,
and confequently raifed the price of lean weathers, but efpecially of ewes..
— In difcourfe afterwards with Mr, Bifly on this fubjeft, he allowed
there had been greater drifts of lambs fent to London for thefe three years
laft paft than ufual, the reafon of v/hich was the breed of flieep greatly in-
creafmg, becaufe there had been no rot, wliich moved farmers to fat lambs,
becaufe (heep were like to be cheap ; but, faid he, the aforefaid reafon is not
the only one, why lean flieep are dear, but the drought is the chief reafon,
for no rain falling till the 22dof May, and dry weather follovv'ing, graziers
bought flieep, fearing they (hould not be able to fat greater cattle, grafs being
fo fhort, and the feafon of the year fo late.

Being at the fold with my fliepherd, I aiked him, what ram-lamb he would Marks of a
fave for a ram ; he pointed at one, which he faid was deep-wooled behind, pr°per j°'r:!f''
and had broad buttocks.— That is true, faid I, but yet 1 do not approve of iamb.
him, becaufe he is fo wide-headed, that is, his horns ftand fo wide, which
may endanger the ewes in yeaning by bringing fuch lambs of the breed, as I
have often heard it obferved by old experienced fliepherds. — He admitted this
to be a proper objedtion.

§. 18. At Loughborough Capt. Tate was faying, that he wouldbuy him Akrge Lin-
a Lincolnfliire tupp to improve his flock. — Major Hartop was there, and bid ^.^"ropcr for
him have a care that he was but of the lefler fize, otherwife his ewes might fxall ewes,
die in yeaning, unlefs they were large flieep. The next day I met Mr. Clerk
with Captain Tate, and he faid the fame thing. We fee it happens to little
lap-bitches often if lined with a great dog.

|. 19. PalladiU'S

qio SHEEP and LAMBS.

Ofthecholce §• 19- ^Palladius, Columella, and Fliny, fpeaking of the choice of a ram,
ofaram-froni (iiredl US, not Only to have a regard to the whitenefs of his wool, but to his
'^Ite'rs'^"' palate, and the veins under his tongue, for, if thefe are black or fpotted, ac-
cording to their notion, the lambs that proceed from him will have black or
fpotted fleeces.

'' Other qualities required in a ram, as delivered by the antient writers, are
thefe. His figure fliould be ftately and tall, his belly big, fwagging, and
AvooUy, his forehead broad and well frizzled, his eyes of a hafel-grey, encir-
cled thick with wool, his breaft, Ihoulders, and buttocks broad, his tail very
long and fleecy, his tefticles huge, the ringlets of his horns circling inward.
Not that a ram, fays Columella, is more ufeful for having horns, for the befl:
« Probably to are thofe that have none, but becaufe one of this kind is lefs * hurtful
the ewes ia than tliofc, whofc horns are more open and extended : in climates how-
yeanuig. ^^^^ ^■^^^ ^^^ cold, wet, and fubjedl to ftorms, we rather recommend the
largefl; headed rams ; for the greater and more fpreading the horns, the more
will their heads be covered and prote6led from the weather,
ofarara, and §• 20. Mr. Bifliop's (hepherd faid, that they reckoned a ram would ferve
the proportio.n(-j^irty ewes, though they ufually kept two or three rams over and above to
fsnules! ° their flock: they kept their rams well againft ramming-time, but afterwards
turned them out to the hardefl: fare ; and if the ewes warped, they turned
them out to the rams again, and they would bring lambs again about St. James-
tide. The above is a large proportion of rams to ewes, for a good ram will
very well ferve no lefs than iixty ewes.

Mr, Bifliop faid, he knew how not to be deceived in a fair by a ram that
had his flones in his back, for a weather ; for he had a thicker nofe, and was
ram-headed.

Jacob prefented to his brotherEfau 200 fiie-goats and 20 he-goats, 200 ewes

and 20 rams, 40 kine and 10 bulls, Genefis, cap. xxxii. ver. 14 and 15. —

Qiijere, whether that might hot be the proportion of males allotted to females

in thofe countries.

Ewes in the §• 2 1. Mr. Bachelour of Aihmonfworth is much for keeping the ram from

hillcountry^ the hog-fliecp till they are two years old ; for, fays he, they make the only

to the ram till (heep for our hill-country, but hog-lheep in our hiU-country make very ill

two years old. mothers, unlefs extraordinarily kept. Columella recommends an ewe of two

years old. Elige ovem bimam.

The

' Cujus colons fub lingua habuere venas, ejus &: lanicium eft in fcetu, variumque, fi plures fuere.
Plin. lib, 8. ,cap, 47. — Non folum ea ratio eff probaiidi arietis, fi vellere candido veftitur, fed etiam
palatum atque lingua concolor lana eft ; nam cum hx corporis partes .nigras aut maculofe funt,
pulla, vel etiam varia nafcitur proles. Colum. lib, 7, cap. 3. Pallad. fol, loi,

'' Sint fronte land veftiti bene, ravis oculis lana opertis, auribus amplis, peftore & fcapulis & clu-
nibus latis. \'arro, lib. 2. cap. 2.

Habitus autem maxime probatur, cum eft altus atque procerus, ventre promifib atque lanato,
Cauda longiffima, denfique velleris, fronte lata, teftibus amplis, intortis cornibus ; non quia iragis
hicfitutllis (nam eftmelior mutilus aries) fed quia minime nocent. Qiiibufdam tamcn regionibus
ubi cceli ftatus uvidus, ventofufque eft, arietes optaverimus \c\ amplifliniis cornibus, quod ca por-
reda altaque maximam partem capitis a tempeftate defendant. Colum. lib. 7. cap. 3.

SHEEP and LAMBS. 311

The farmers are apt to give their ewes they fell at St. Leonard's the ram at
Bartholomew-tide and early that they may thrive on it before they come to the
market.

§. 22. I was faying to farmer Lake "of Faccomb, Hants, that I wondered Of ewes being
how my rams could break out, and get to my ewes, and ram them, becaufe [^[^^amb's^
we coupled them together, and kept them in clofe inclofures, and yet they
muft get out to the ewes, becaufe twenty of them had lambed a little after
Chriftmafs. — The farmer faid, I fufpedl fome of your forward ram-lambs
might ram them, they not being feparated from the ewes, for fuch ram-lambs
will ram the ewes ; I myfelf, faid he, had forty fo rammed : and thofe ram-lambs
of yours, which were lambed at Chriftmafs, will ram your ewes again, if not
feparated as foon as the rams are.

§. 23. Farmer Ryalls of Dorfetfliire walking with me in Mr. Bifliop's ewe- Colour of the
leafe, he went up to a lamb not long lambed, that was of a yellowifh hue, fo IhTtwe"*^"^
coloured I fuppofe from the ewe : he faid fuch a colour argued, that the ewe health,
was in good heart and cafe, but if the lamb when lambed was of a greenifh or
blackifli caft, or of a pale white, it was otherwife.

§. 24. In walking he turned up fome of the fheeps-dung, which was of an Mark ofthe-
intire clot, with only one or two foldings in it : he faid, and fo did Mr. Bilhop's |i°°p"
lliepherd who was with us, that it was a fign fuch flieep were in good cale,
and had their bellies full, whereas, if their dung came away in pellets it was
othervv'ife.

§. 25. Cows and fheep will fall away, and look hollow in the flank, a day Signofanesve'a-
or two before they calve or lamb, as if they had done fo : and cows will iam"bingf "^
always pitch upon their rump, that is, have more hoUownefs there than any
where elfe.

§. 26. Tailing the ewes in the fpring-time, that is, cutting away the wool ^^^^^^''"'S '"^^^
from under their tails, and their udders, is very proper, efpecially in deep and
fatting countries, where they fat their lambs, and do not fold : it keeps their
udders fweet and free from chopping by the heat of their urine, fo that the
ewe may the better bear the lamb's fucking her, for her udder being fore, fhe
will not let the lamb fuck, but will wean it ; and the fweetcr her udder is, the
better will the lamb like to fuck it ; whereas otherwife the lamb will be apt to
take to grafs, and wean itfelf, whereby a lamb intended for fatting will be
prejudiced. _

§. 27. In lambing- feafon the hill-country fliepherds have a hard time of J^ of e\ves^''^nd.
being obliged to watch the ewes fometimes for a month together, every night iambs.
of the week, left they fiiould be frozen to the ground : it is fometimes very
troublefometomake the young ewes of a year old to take notice of their lambs:
if ewes are not wintered well, they will never have good lambs, but rafcally
ones, it is all in all to feed the ewes fo, that they may bring good lambs. —
Oftentimes they are forced to give the lambs milk, which if not boiled, will
carry them off by a loofenefs.— The warmer part of the downy hill-countiy
allow three tod and an half of hay to the wintering of one Hieep, and fuppofe
the half tod to anfwer the accidents of a feverer winter than ordinaiy, but at

Crux?"

312 S H E E P and L A M B S.

Crux-Eafton it is neceflary five tod fliould be allowed to every fheep ; for the
winter is longer at Crux-Eafton than moft part of the downs, it lying under
fnow fometimes a fortnight, or a month together, when the other downs are
free from it.

About lambing-time when they hurdle up the ewes new fallen in the mead
at night, it is cuflomary for them to go forth at midnight, and to ftir up the
ewes; for fome ewes will be fo lazy as not to rife all night, and then their lambs
will be almoft ftarvedbymorning, whereaswhen they are thusraifed.theirlambs
will have opportunity to fuck. — By that means alfo a lamb may be faved, which
the ewe could not lamb without help ; and fometimes a lamb will be faved,
which v/asin danger of being loft, by getting outof the fold between thehurdles,
' The antients laid a great ftrefs on the attendance and care of the ftiepherds at
yeaning time, and Palladius advifes to put the lamb to the teat as foon as it is
fallen, but to take the beaftings from the ewe firft, left they fliould be hurtful
to the lamb.
Ofcvvescaking §. 28. My ewcs not lambing fo faft after they had begun in March (anno
ram. 3702) as ufually, I was fpeaking of it to my fliepherd: he faid, he believed

it was, becaufe we folded them late in the year, on the cold wheat-land, after
it was fowed, which made them not take ram fo faft.
Knotted (heep §. 29. Mr. Bifliop lays, he fees no difterence between the horned and knot-
often bred tedftieep; if he fees a fine lamb of the knotted flieep he keeps him, though
&c. ' his flock be horned : he fiys, he has often a knotted lam.b from the horned

flieep, and a horned lamb is often bred from a knotted ewe j — and fometimes
a black lamb from a white ewe and ram.
The firft lamb §.30. It is to be obferved, that the firft lamb an ewe brings is generally
bellied. ^ ^°'" potted, that is, pot-bellied, fliort, and thick, which is not fo good a lamb as
the long ftraight-llmbed lamb is ; ^ the antients feparated thefe from the reft
of their flock, as being of a weak nature, and not fo long-lived as thofe that
came from older ewes.
Of cows- §.31. It is advifeable to be provided with a cow with calf in winter, that

lambs.""^ the weak and fickly lambs may have milk in the fpring; and the offifil hay the
fliecp make will fodder her ; but, if ewes are kind to their lambs, and have
milk enough for them, it is better not to give them cows milk ; for it does
not agree with lambs fo well as ewes milk, but is apt to fcour them, for which
reafon they ufually boil it.
Of recovering §. 32. If a lamb, when firft lambed, is overcome by the hardfliip of the
fihilled lambs, ^^eather, wrap it in a wifp of ftraw, and bring it to a hay-reek, and it is ftill
better if it be in a flieep-barn, where the ftieep may go round it ; thruft the
lamb into a warm hole of the reek, and in a day's time, if any thing will, it

will

' Pafior partus pecoris non fccus ac obfletricum more cufiodire debet ; neque enim aliter hoc ani-
mal quam muliebris fexus enititur, fspiufque laborat in partu. — Columella, lib. 7. c. 3. --Agnus
ftatiiii natusuberibus matcrnis admovendus eft: manu prius tamcn cxiguum laftis, in quofpiffior eft
natura, mulgenduin, quod paftorcs coloftram vocaiit ; namque hoc iignis, nifi auferatur, nocebit.
Pallad. in calendar. Novcm.

^ Oviculas ex primiparis natas abalienarc oportet, ceu minime diuturnas. — Dldymus in Geoponl-
gIs, fol. 450. Primiparis minorcs foetus. Plin. lib. 8. c. 47.

S H E E P and L AM B S. 313

will recover the lamb, and then you mufl: bring the ewe to it, that it may
fuck : the reek is much more fuitable' to the nature of the lamb than the
fire-fide.

§.33. The main care to preferve lambs at yeaning-time, if fnow fliould fall, of the care of
is to bed them with flraw. A young ewe will be fliy of her lamb by reafon "^ '"
of the tendernefs of her udder : the young ewe, being forward, mult be kept
hurdled up for a day and a night, till fhe takes to her lamb, in the fame man-
ner as when a flrange lamb is put to an old ewe.

When Mr. Bifliop's fliepherd had tamed an ewe that he had tied up to a
flrange lamb, he ufed, when he let her out, to tie her hinder and her fore
leg together with a firing, that flie might not run away from her lamb.

If an ewe warps her lamb before her time, or the lamb comes at it's full
time, but in an ill condition, or dead, it feems improper, to me, to put a twin-
lamb, or a thief's lamb to fuch an ewe ; for fuch an ewe's milk will not be
kindly, nor will the lamb thrive j but, if the lamb comes at full time and
found, though dead, or is afterwards killed by an accident, then fuch ufage is
very good, and I have done accordingly.

If any good ewe lofe her lamb by a fox, or weafel, or other accident, the
fhepherd ought to fet a thief's lamb or twin-lamb to her : the lamb's head to
be wiped with the fheep's green tail, till brought to it's nature ; and

If there be no lamb in that flock to fpare, a lamb ought to be fought in a
neighbouring flock.

In lambing-time always put thofe ewes that brought twins apart by them-
felves ; becaufe, if you let them go with the other ewes and lambs, they are
apt to lofe one of their Iambs, till they are a little fettled with them.

• Palladius fpeaking of the ewes that have newly lambed, fays, the lamb
fhould be fliut up with the ewe for two days.

§. 34. As to weaning of lambs, in fome places they never fever the lambs Of weaning
from their dams, efpecially in the befl paflures, where the ram goes conflandy ^^'^'^^*
with the ewes ; becaufe, when the ewe goes to ram again flie will go dry, and
wean her lamb herfelf ; and in unfound paflure they reckon it befl for lambs
to run with the ewes, becaufe they feldom rot while they fuck, unlefs the
ewe's milk fails. J. Mortimer, Efq. F. R. S. fo. 179.

§. 35. The butcher coming to kill me a lamb, which I helped to catch, I Of care in
held it up by the back to weigh it; and, when he had killed it, I obferved "''^•^'"S a
the blood, where I had griped the lamb on the back, was already fettled in a *"
bruifed manner, though killed immediately upon it.— He lays, it neither hurts
calf nor lamb to catch it by the hinder leg.

§. 36. They ufed at Crux-Eaflon formerly to cut their tup-lambs early. Of outing
within fix weeks old; but of late (anno 1697) they have put it off to St. ^*'"^--
James's-tide, becaufe they find the lambs, when fo old before they are cut,
cany a better head for it. — In Wiltfliire they cut them at fix weeks old. —
The Wiltfliire farmers judge it is hard to keep the wound from the flies, when
cut fo far on in the fummer.

* Per biduum natus cum matre claudatur. Palladius, fol. I j8.

S f Farmer

314 S H E E P and L A M B S.

Id. and of Farmer Farthing of Appleford in the Ifle of Wight, who had in April

^^X°hi ht (^"'^o 1700) newly cut his lambs, affured me, that feveral of the lambs
■git. ^^^^jj ^^yg under their legs, on their thighs, red fpots in the flefh or fkin, as
big as the top of one's finger, and if they cut fuch lambs they would moft
certainly die in lefs than twelve hours j nay, faid he, if fuch lambs be but flit
in the ear or ear-marked, fo as blood be drawn whilft they have thofe fpots,
they look on it that they will die : but three or four days after thofe fpots ap-
pear they will go away, and then they may be cut : — he had half a fcore that
he forbore cutting at that time for that reafon. — He fays, in the ifland they cut
the lam.bs in the beginning of April at fartheft, that they may cut them be-
fore thefe fpots come forth, for they obferve the fpots to come forth when the
hawthorn buflies begin to bud. — To all thefe points farmer Clyde did agree,
and fays farther, that, if they had no fpots under their thighs, yet, if they were
in their bodies, which was not to be feen, it was the fame thing ; for he had
loft lambs, and when he had flead them, he faw the fpots. — Farmer Far-
thing's fhepherd caught me a lamb or two to fhew me the fpots, which were
hke a bloody fcurvy-fpot.

In the ifland they approve of cutting lambs and not of girding ; becaufe
girding makes them not limb fo well in their thighs, nor be fat there, when
they come to be fatted.

When I difcourfed my (hepherd, and farmer Elton about the red fpots under
lambs thighs, and told them, in the ifland they all looked on it to be mortal
to cut a lamb at that time, I aflced, whether they did not obferve the fame
about them. I found they had heard fomething of it, but faid, the method in
their country was to fear, and if it be dexteroully done, no blood will be drawn,
nor do they regard whether they do it when the fpots are on the lambs
or not.

Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's fhepherd knew nothing of the red fpots under lambs
thighs, and yet cuts them about the beginning or middle of April; he ob-
ferves not the fign, nor thinks it ought to be regarded, only he takes care not
to cut them when the weather is too hot, nor in wet weather ; for the wet
falling on their loins at that time, is apt to give them cold. — He fays, it is a
common opinion amongfl: them, that if a man cuts lambs who has a fl inking
breath, or that takes tobacco at the time, either of thefe will poifon the place,
and make it apt to gangrene. — An Irifliman, coming to Sir Ambrole's to buy
mares and rams in that country for breed, wondered to fee the fliepherd cut
his lambs on a day when the wind was northerly, and faid, they fhould in
Ireland look on it to be certain death to the lamb, if cut on fuch a day.

Formerly the butchers ufed not to like fearing, but would have the lambs
be drawn becaufe it hurt the leg of mutton, it never being full there, which
was true as they then managed it ; but of late we find fearing to be the lafer
way, and to put the lamb to lefs pain than drawing, and we now prevent that
miichief by fearing as little of the cod away as poflible.

The butchers aflTure me, that a pur or ram-lamb will never be fo fat for
the butcher as an ewe-lamb : they fay, the pur-lambs I intend to fat fliould

be

S H E E P and L A M B S. 315

be drawn as foon as they are a fortnight old ; they would fat much the better
for it ; and if I fhould keep them to be weathers, though they will not run fo
much to a head as thofe that are cut or drawn later, yet they make better
mutton.

June 3d (anno 1702) I cut my pur-lambs, the weather being very hot, and
they feemed to my fhepherd to do very well that night and all the next day,
not being able to come to the pond to wet themfelves ; the third day they had
the liberty of the pond, when he obferved, they would take the water, and
even fwim, they went in fo deep : that week I loft fix of them, which died
of the rankling of the cutting : I had at the fame time ten lambs cut, which
went by themfelves from the flock, being twin-lambs, but they could come
at no water, and thefe did very well.i — Therefore it may be flirewdly fufpefted
that the other lambs rankled from their running up fo deep in the water, and
that they fhould be kept from water, efpecially in hot weather, for three or
four days after their being cut. — Mr. Edwards aflures me, he has often heard
that going into the water was very dangerous for new cut lambs j — but farmer
Bond fays, he keeps not his from water, nor has he found that it hurts
them.

Mr. BifTy draws the flones both of his calves and his lambs himfelf with
his teeth. J wondered at it, becaufe it feemed at firft, as if he thought touch-
ing the ftones with the hand or an inftrument might not fucceed fo well j
but he faid, the only reafon he knew of was, becaufe by the help of his teeth
one man could do two men's work ; for whilft he draws the ftones with his
teeth, he has his two hands at liberty to hold back the ftrings of the ftones
that they are not drawn away ; for the ftrings run up into the loins and back-
bone, and if care be not taken to keep them back with both hands, the ftones
would draw the very cawl after "them, and then the lambs muft die ; there-
fore the way is to draw the ftones leifurely with the teeth, that you may be
fure to hold the ftrings from drawing; after.

Mr. Bifhop fays, in Dorfetfliire they cut not their lambs till the latter end
of May. I afked him the reafon of it. He faid, they kept them the longer
from cutting, that they might be able to fold on the barley-grounds, which
they would not be, if they were cut in March : their great fair for pur-lambs
at Sherbourn is in July. — They have three ways in Dorfetfliirc for cutting
lambs ; by cutting and fearing ; by fwigging, which is girding them hard
round the cods, and cutting the cod away clofe to the ftring j they know whe-
ther it be well done or not by it's not bleeding afterwards : and tliirdly, draw-
ing, which is done by making a flit in the cod as wide as an half crown, and
drawing out the ftones, which will bring away with them a back ftring, and
ftuns the poor lamb for the time : if this way kills them, it is in two or three
days time, but in fwigging they will die fometimes a month after : Mr. Bifhop
ufes drawing, and fays it is the beft way: and fo faid another farmer.

About Holt they cut their lambs at a fortnight or three weeks old, though
they fliould fall at Chriftmafs ; and then, fays Illes and William Sartain, they
will eat as fweet as the ewe-lambs : they take care to cut them in dry or

S f 2 frofty

3i6 S H E E P and L AM B S.

frofty weather, and not in wet, and to keep them walking after it, and to
raife them up three or four times, and keep them ftirring that day they
are cut. — Note, they all draw their lambs-ftones with their teeth, which
is the only way if you intend to fat them.^They fay, it is fo eafy to do, that
anyone may do it.

They advife me to put my ewes to ram, in cafe I would fat my lambs, fo
as to come the latter end of January, or, confidering the coldnefs of our
country, in the middle of February. — \Villiam Sartain faid at another time,
that he fcrupled not to draw the flones of his lambs at four or five days old,
if they were come down, fo as to take hold of them, and had commonly
done it, but never loil: any.

The north country, as Lincolnflilre, and thofe counties that fend their
knot-headed lambs (i. e. not horned ones) to Smithfield market, (they being
great lambs of large-fized Iheep) do not fend their lambs to London till about
Midfummer, and hold on fending till about Bartholomew-tide ; thofe lambs
are coarfe, efpecially the males, becaufe they do not geld them, though they
fat them, which makes them the larger; for they agree, that gelding them
makes them of lefs growth, though the meat is the fweeter for it.
Of fatting §• 37- Mr. Clerk was telling me how they managed their lambs in EfTex to

lam sin E - ^^j^ them fo fat in the London markets, as they do before Chriftmafs ; he fays,
they keep their ewes as high as ever they can, and houfe their lambs, and
bring in the ewes to them at fix in the evening for all night, and turn them
out at fix in the morning till nine, and then take them in again, and turn them
out till fix. — But as foon as an ewe's lamb is fatted ofi", and fold, they keep
fuch ewes to ferve the lambs that are left ; the ewes that feed all night are
taken in in the morning about nine, and then the mother-ewes are not called
in in the day-time : the fofter- mothers are held whilll the lambs fuck : all the
time of fatting the lamb has it's bed of flraw changed once or twice in
twenty-four hours, and a chalk-flone to lick on.
Of ewes §. 38. Virgil feems to be wraped up in his poetical fpirit when he triumphs

bringinglanibsQj^(.|^g fruitfulnefs of Italy, and fays,—" that the lands bear two crops in a year,
wiceajear. ^^^ ^^^ ewes lamb twice." By which he muft mean, that the ewes fo lamb
twice in a year, as to bring up their lambs to a marketable condition, within
the compafs of the year, that is, fo as to have taken their weaning, or be fit
for the butcher ; otherv/ife if he means, that their ewes bring lambs twice
within the compafs of the year without rearing them, he fays no more than
what is common throughoutt he world. — The Rei rufiicae fcriptores fay, " that
when the ewe takes ram again, flie will wean her Iamb." But it feems this
expreflion of the Rei ruflicas fcriptores is generally to be underftood ; and doubt-
lefs, according to the common condition of flocks, the ewes are not in fo
good cafe as to fuckle one lamb and breed another, and therefore will, if with
lamb again, wean the fucking lamb. — But it happened otherwife with
farmer Stephens, my tenant, for he had three ewes that v/ent in
good paflure, which brought him lambs at Chrilbnafs, which he fold fat
to the butcher at Lady-day lad (anno 1707) and at the beginning of June

thinking

S H E E P and L A xM B S. 317

thinking his ewes to be mutton, for they looked big, he went to fell them to
the butcher, who handled them, and found their udders fpring with milk,
"and that they were near lambing, and accordingly did lamb the firft week in
June : and this his neighbours know to be true. — Thefe ewes being well kept,
did in this cafe, it is evident, take ram three months before they weaned
their firft lambs : and thefe ewes had always been ufed to bring twin-lambs,
and fo of a more fruitful fort, though in this cafe they brought but fmgle
ones.

I am informed from Dr. Sloan, that in Jamaica ewes bring forth twice in
fifteen months, without any regard to the time of the year, but cows as in
Europe.

§. 39. When God demands the firft-born of cattle for himfelf (Exod. xxii. Time whe«
30.) he fays, " feven days it fhall be with it's dam, on the eighth day thou g^^^g^^j^^j^
fhalt give it me." On which Dr. Patrick remarks, " that till then the young
were not of a maturity, nor accounted wholfome." — To which I muft add,
that they are not fo by that time in our cold country in England, where a
fortnight is the fooneft we think well of fuch creatures for eatables : but it is
verv reafonable to believe they were maturer in half that time in Judea ; for
it is apparent to me, on experience, that fucking-pigs, and lambs, and calves
thrive much fafter in England in the hot months of the fummer, than they
do in winter.

OF SHEARING SPIEEP.

§. 40. Being on the 4th of June (anno 1701) to wafh our fheep on the To let flieep
morrow, I afked my fhepherd, .what time in the morning he would drive ^ool before
them to the wafh-millsj he faid, they fhould not begin wafhing perhaps till ^l^^^^^
ten, but he would begin to drive them by five in the morning, or earlier, that
the fheep might have time to cool after they came there, before they were
waflied, otherwife it might make them ill.

§. 41. Going along with my fheep to wafhing, my fhepherd afked me, if Nottowaih a
I fhould in a week's time want to kill a fat flieep, becaufe if I did, faid he, [^|gn"t^^.°n
I will not wafh him; for the tumbling and rubbing the flieep damages the in a week
mutton, if killed fo foon after, but it is never the worfe for it in a fortninght's ^f^'^''-
time.

§. 42. In Kent, nearHiam-kill-marfh-prieft, about ten miles beyond Gravef- Manner of
end, they wafl:i their fheep in the following manner; — there being creeks, wafting (ijeep
that are muddy, when the tide is down, but, when the fea flows, are deep "^^^^ "^^ '
in water, they tie ropes to three or four flieep of the flock, and hall them
over, the reft willingly following, and then the faid flieep are drawn over
again in the fame manner, and by the time they have fwam over feven or
eight times, which is as often as they well can do in a tide, they will be well
waflied : — and this wafliing, they fay, is preferable to our fcouring and rub-
bing them : — ^from hence it appears the fak water is not pernicious to their
wool.

§.43- I

3 1 8 S H E E P and L A M B S.

Warnin? §• 43- I afked Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's (hearers, if they did not reckon a
wSairc"' flow-running water better to wa(h the fheep in than a quick-running ftream,
becaufe it fcoured better. — The fliepherd laid, he had heard it fo reckoned,
hut he rather hked a (harp ftream, for if it did not fcour fo well, yet it left
not that oily fmell behind it that the other was apt to do, which would in-
vite flies to blow the wool between wafliing and fliearing. The (hearers

faid, — they believed they could not wafli their (heep lb clean as we could at
Crux-Eallon, becaufe their fheep went much on a fandy foil, and the grit
of that would not wa(h out fo well as the clay.
Of (hearing §.44. Coming over Appleford-ccmmon in the Ifle of Wight, I obferved
Ihrnleof'' "" ^^^ tails of the weathers (beared clofe all along down from the rump, fo
\vigh:ai-.d that their tails hung down like rats-tails: I inquired the meaning of it, and
Herifordfhire, ^^^^ anfwered, that they always did fo in the lile of Wight both to weathers
and ewes, becaufe they fo bepified their tails, that it burned and fcorched
up their dugs. — They fometimes began to do it in the beginning of April,
fometimes not till May, according as the feafon proved.— My bailiff fays,
they have the fame cuftom in Hertfordfhire.
Of care in §. 45. Shearers ought to go very foberly and carefully to work, left they

ihearingevve- ^^^ ^ff jj^g ewe-lamb's teat, and yet, be they never fo careful, that may fome-
times be done ; and in fuch cafe they ought to take care to mark fuch a lamb,
that it may be fatted.
Of care, that §• 46. I was talking of driving my (lieep into a lay-ground of fre(h grafs
{heep may not after wafliing, and before (hearing: but many that were prefent faid, by no
wathingand" "^eans ; for that would fcour them, and foul their wool ; and alfo, when
fhearing. drove into the barn, they would be trampling in their dung and daub them-
felves ; therefore, faid they, we take care to give them the fliorteft pafture,
after wa(hing till (hearing, we can get, that their dung may be pellets.
Of pricking §. ^y. In ihearing the danger is, left any of the iheep (hould be pricked
jheep in (hear- ^^,-|.j^ the (liears, which if done, and not taken notice o , fo as to cut it out
with the (liears, it will be ant to rankle, and kill the (lieep in twentj'-four
hours time ; but cutting does little or no prejudice if tarred.
Offheepbeing §.48. The night before (liearing we drove die flieep into the barn, left:
thr{h"''-^i" rain ftiould come: my ihepherd, and thofe who helped him were in fear left
barn. ^^"°* any of them ftiould be fmothered, and therefore they ought to be looked to,
to fee they keep their faces in the air.— My next neighbour loft feven or eight
in one ftiearing-time, and divers others have had the Uke misfortune happen.
Fatting-lhecp §. 49. Mr. Weedon, and Mr. Cowilade of Woodhay, ulually (hear and
ill inclofures wa'lli their fatting-(heep by May-day: the reafon they give for it is, becaufe
eare ^^^^.^ inclofures are very fmall, and confequently too hot, and therefore their
fatting-(heep need to have their coats off fo much the earlier, and they thrive
the better for it.
Of plucking §• 5°- ^It ^'^^ ^''^ antient cuftom (as the Rei rufticas fcriptores tell us) to

deep. pluck

' Oves non ubiquetondentur ; duratquibufdam in locis vellendi mos. Plin. lib. 8. c. 48. Et V^arro
de re ruftica, lib. 2. fd. 64. ait, Ex vocabulo — vellera, animadverti licet, prius lans \-ulfuram quam
tonfuram inventam.

earl/.

SHEEP and LAMBS. 319

lluck the wool from the fljeep's backs, inftead of (hearing it, and this cuftom
afted in fome places even to Pliny's time, and Varro derives the word vellus,
a fleece, from vello, to pluck.

§.51. I never ufed to fliear till the Monday before Midfummerday, but I Sl;eep well
now (anno 1714) find I was in an error in fo doing, and that, as my keeping ^^^^'^.^^^1^^*
is very good, by which means the wool grows the larger, and heats the fheep earlier,
the more, and their flefliinefs being fuch as to bear the cold the earlier in part-
ing with their fleeces, I ought to begin to fliear the firfl week in June ; and
the rtieep would not only thrive much the better, when the load of their
wool was gone, but their new wool would alfo have more time to grow againfl:
Weyhill fair, which would make the fheep look more burly. Sheep when
fhorn have better ftomachs, for the heat of the wool takes away their
appetites.

What in fcripture is tranflated the fhearing-houfe, fignifies in the original,
the houfe of the (hepherd's binding ; for they bound the feet of the flieep
when they (beared them. Vid. notes on 2 Kings -x. 12.

§. 52. Two or three days before my (heep-lhearing, 1 was confulting with To avoid
my (hepherd how to provide barn-room enough to houfe my (heep the even- i'°"if"°.'^^u^
ing before (hear-day, in cafe it (liould be likely to rain that evening. — He was will permit,
very defirous to have more barn-room than former Hiepherds, to keep his before (hear-
fheep cool ; but had great hopes the weather would be (b very fair, that they'"^"
need not be houfed till the morning of the fhear-day ; for, faid he, the houfing
them over night before (hear-day, when they are loaded with wool, heats
them fo, that when they are (beared they catch cold, and will be glandered,
and fnivel very much.

§. 53. The (hearers agreed, that, if (heep were poor, it was a great ad- a great ad-
vantage to them to have two or three good feafonable and moderate days of ^^"'^S^ '°
weather after (hearing, for, if the (lieep were poor when (beared, and two or ]^3°g j^^jg.
three hot days came prefently upon them before they were fettled, it was r^-te weather
wonderful to fee what alterations it would make on them : their ikms would ^'^^^ ^^'"^^"S-
turn fcurfy and ftarky, and their wool ftare and grow thin : and, if the wea-
ther (liould prove cold, and exxeeding wet, it would quite chill fuch flieep ;
about fix weeks ago, it being about Midfummer (anno 1699) a mighty
cold and wet day and night falling on fuch (heep the next day after their
(hearing, they were fetched home dead in dung-pots j but neither of thofe
forts of weather had much efl^edl: on fat (heep, or thofe in very good cafe,

§. 54. I afked farmer Biggs, Mr. Edwards being prefent, why they fheared Whytheyfhear
their lambs in this country, and not in our part of Wilt(hire. They faid, '^^^^^"^
they judged we folded not fo much as they : and that lambs being folded and and not in
kept hot thereby, it would increafe their tick which breeds in them ; and 'Viltihire.
they cbferved the wool, if let alone, would quite eat out the fle(h of the
lamb, and bring it to be out of cafe.

§. ^^. Many farmers in Hampfhire always let alone fliearing their fheep till Not to fhear
a week or ten days after die wa(hing; it is held that the (beep's fweating fotiila week
long in their wool does it good, and makes it weigh the heavier, ^"^^^^ '"^*

Farmer

320 S H E E P and L A M B S.

Id. and of the Farmer Biggs and I dlfcourfing on flieep-fh earing, the farmer faid, it was

mot 1 in woo.. ^ great damage to wool to have the moth, which' was chiefly got, efpecially

if the wool was kept above a year, by laying it againfl: a fouth, fouth-weft, or

other damp wall, or by rtiearing the fheep before the wool was dry

after wafhing. But, faid I, how can one help it ? if (hearing-day be fet, and

it fhould fo fall out that much rain fhould fall between waftiing and {hearing-
time. — Said he, the rule of the country is, that farmers, that ufe the fame
Ihearers, and are to come after, muft put back their (liearing-days, that you
may flay till your wool be dry : but, added he, fuch hindrance feldom hap-
pens, for, lefl rain fhould fall the night before fliearing-time, they that have
barn-room ufe to drive their fheep in there the night before, or, if rain fliould
fall on them the day before, they will drive them clofe up into a barn, where
their wool will heat, and the wet fcon be dried up: others will not drive them
up into a barn the night before fliearing, if not likely to rain, but will watch
them, lefl rain unexpected fhould come. — And they that have dry downs
for their flieep to go in, will keep them a- week or ten days after wafhing, be-
fore they will fliear them, that the flieep may fweat in their wool, which is a
very good way j for by the oily goodnefs the wool gets, it will grow till that
be fpent after fliearing.

On the contrary, Mr. Raymond and his fliepherd were difcourfing on wafli-

ing and fliearing, and propofed wafhing to be on a Monday, and fhearing

the Wednefday after. — I afked if that was not too foon ; they faid, no, the

heat of their bodies and the fun would dry their wool in one day and a night,

and that many farmers would fliear the next day. — The fhepherd feemed to

be defirous of having it done the fooner, left the fly fhould damage the

wool by blowing it: all however agree the wool fliould be dry before it is

flieared.

Of not mark- §. j;6. In fliearing the flieep at Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's, the fhepherd gave

iul'trThlee ^^^"^ '^^^ ruddle-fliroke, but not Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's-mark. — I alked him,

days after liow that caoie to pafs ; he faid, he thought it was better to let them alone two

iheaniig. or three days firfl, for while they were fo bare of wool they were apt to be

burnt with the iron, which would make the place fore and fubje<St to the flies.

OF FOLDING SHEEP.

Cf the (lieep- ,§. ^y, Numb.xxxii. 1 6. *' And we will build flieep folds here for our cattle."

eaiicm col"',.^'^''^'^ looks as if fuch hulbandry was in ufe then as is now-a-days. But quasie

tries. the original, and fee the 14th verfe, which being compared with this, it

feems their flieep were kept in immoveable houfes, not in moveable folds as

now-a-days.

Columella fays, " QucE circa Parmam &z Mutinam macris flabulantur
" campis." lib. 7. fo. 173. — Therefore it feems they had fome way like our
flieep-folds, and did not truft altogether in flieep-coats.

It further appears, that the fheep-folds of the eaftern countries were not
fuch as our's, but houfes, to which the parable of our Saviour in the tenth

chap.

S H E E P and L A M B S. 32 ,

chap, of John has relation, as well as to the ufage of the fhepherd's goliiff
before, and calling the flieep after him. See from ver. i, to 5.

Mr. Garret, who has lived four years in Spain, affures me, that, in thofe U.in Spalns
parrs where he was, they fold their flieep as we do our's, only their fold is
made net-wife with ftrong cords, and about fix feet high with the bottom
flaked down to the ground, and two cur-dogs, of a breed between a maftiff
and a greyhound, lie within the fold, to guard the flieep from the wolf.

§. 58. In favour rather of keeping a weather-flock than an ewe-flock on a weather-
the hiil-country, befides other conveniencies, you may have the benefit of the "o'^^ prefer-
fold for barley at the principal time when it does moft good ; viz. on the fal- "^'^ a' ^ ■
lows between the latter end of February and the middle of April, when the d^r"hill coun-
ewes cannot be folded. try.

§. 59. The limitation of an ewe-flock for folding and keeping on throuo-h-- Rules for
out the winter, or be it a weather-flock, ought to depend on thefe rules ; °ft, l^fp'nga
Not to keep more at winter than you can winter either by meads, or fowed t"'inter'!'°"^'*
graflfes and hay. — adly, Not to be fatisfied that you can provide hay for them
by fowed graffes, as broad-clover, &c. in cafe fuch lands, as are fitteft to
carry fuch grafles lie at a diftance for mowing, whereby you muft main-
tain them with dung, where, by reafon of carriage, it will be'charoeable, un-
lefs your lold can maintain more ground than your out-lying lands to your
farm, which in the hiil-country is not likely : and to carry but (even or eio-ht
pots of dung in a day, by reafon of the difliance, and mowing, is not reapin'-J-
a profit, but bare exchanging : but, if you have much land round about, and
near your houfe, whereto you can carry thirty or forty load of dun"- a day,
and which will bear broad-clover hay, then you may increafe your flock pro-
portionably.

§. 60. As to fatting your ew"es and Iambs out of your flock, if you have Not to weak-
lands difpofed for fatting, you ought to confider, if you break your flock by ^"y°"'''^°'^'=
drawing out ewes with their lambs for that purpofe, what flock you will have out cweTjnd
left to fold on your wheat-fallows, and how far your wheat-land fiands in lambs for fac-
needofafold; for if you leave yourfelf not fuflicient, it will be indifcretion ''"S"
to weaken your fold ; befides it will hurt your breed ; for you will draw off
many forward lambs, which might peihaps have carried on the breed other-
wife, and when a hill-country farmer is fettled in a flock, it is not good to be
buying yearly, to keep up his complement, on account of many damages which
may from thence enfue : it is better therefore in fuch cafe to buy ewes with
their forward lambs to put into your fatting-grounds : but in cafe ycu fow
wheat-land good enough without the fold, or have another way cf manurino-
it, by liming, 6cc. then it may be very well to fat off certain numbers ot'
your flock.

§. 61. Though, fays a very good farmer of my acquaintance, 1 have but cf winter-
a mean opinion of winter-folding, or to fold on barley fown, and may in f^^'dir.g, a; d
time fallow on grafs-ground inftead of barley-land, yet I would fold on bar- JJ^afii."^ "^
ley-land fallowed or ftirred, from the time "my lambs were ll:iff enough after ^'^^'

Tt lambitt;?

322 S H E E P and L A M B S.

lambing to go on fuch fallows, for, fays he, the benefit of an acre fo folded
is three times as good as one winter-folded for barley.
Ewes and §. 62- Farmer Glyde of the Ifle of Wight, with whom I was talking of huf-

able to we"' Landry affairs, told me, there was one thing he believed I knew not of, which
thers for fold- he would tell me ; he would, he faid, advile me to fold my ewes and lambs on
^^'g- the barley-land in the fpring, and divide my flocks in folding, for, faid he,

tvi'-o hundred ewes and their lambs will do as much, if not more, good by
folding" on an acre of land, as four hundred weathers: I have, faid he,
folded apart on the fame land at the fame time tv/o hundred ewes and their
lambs, and in another fold of equal dimenlion five hundred weathers, and I
have always found, that the folding of the ewes did me the befl fervice, and
brought me the befi: corn.
Of folding on §• ^3' ^^7 fhepherd is of opinion, that ewes ought not to be folded on
barley, &c. the barley-fallows, or any other fallows in lambing-time, but weathers only;
for the lambs being wet when lambed would be dirtied with the fallows, and
the ewes would prefently forfake them : therefore the ewes ought in lamb-
ing-time to be folded in the meadows, where it is clean, and the folds re-
moved as often as the cold wind fliould change from corner to corner. — And
afterwards, he faid, they ought to fold weathers on the barley till a fortnight
after May, but the ewes never after Candlemafs.

It is plain that the early folding an ewe-flock and lambs in April, on
wheat-fallows, pinches the lambs, and fo does folding them at that time on
the barley-grounds, both which are too cold for them, efpecially in our hill-
country ; care ought therefore to be taken, that thofe lands do not of necef-
fity want folding on in thofe months, but that they may be otherwife pro-
vided for, and that during that time the ewe-fold may be on grafs-grounds,
or lay-grounds defigned for fallows.

We mull be more cautious in April and May of folding an ewe-fold on the

barley-land, they being wettifh, than of folding them on the wheat fown in

Augull: or September; becaufe the lambs in April and May make the ewes

rife often and move, whereby the ground becomes much more trodden at

that time of the year by the ewe-fold, than it would be by a weather fold, or

* Young jm * hog-fold, as may apparently be feen, if the folds be divided.

To drive §• 64. Telling Mr. Gerrilli the great grazier,and farmer Ifles, how dear Mr.

lambs late to Eyrcs our minifter fold fat lambs to the number of fifteen May i8th, viz.

them ^Vlir- ^^^ ^^^ fliillings and fix-pence each, and that they had been folded all along

ly. to the very day he fold them. — They replied, that folding the lambs did very

little hurt them with refpeft to their fat, provided they were drove pretty late

to fold, and let out early in the morning.

Cfthefolding §• 65. Sunt qui optime ftercorari putent fub dio retibus inclufa pecorum

in Italy. manfione. Plin. f. 299. So it feems this was a folding as we do, unlefs by fub

dio, be meant, by day.
Of folding on §.66. Walking with Mr. Raymond into his arable-common-fields Oc-
be'rand'o?f°.^°^^'^ 25th (anno 170B) we met his fhepherd pitching the fold on the new-

ter-Voldins. '"' fowed

S H E E P and L A M B S. 323

fowed wheat. — I alTced him, whether he did not find that pitching the fold
on the wheat at this time of the year, and a fortnight later, turned to a much
better account- than folding for the barley-crop for the year following. — Mr.
Raymond and his (hepherd readily replied, undoubtedly it turned to the beft
account to fold after this time on wheat. — I faid, for my part, I had obferved
the fold carried on the land defigned for barley fo early in the winter had httle
eifecft, it's ftrenrjth being fpent and waflied away by fpring, fo that it will
make but little fhew in the crop of barley next fummer, and that therefore I
chofe to preferve four, five, or fix acres of wheat-fallow that lies warm, and
will bear fowing late, to carry my fold over to the latter end of October, ra-
ther than finifli my wheat-fold by the end of September, and then carry it
on my barley ; for though the latter part of October might, in our cold
country, be too late to fosv wheat, yet it was better than to be fo foon folding
barley, which would be no better for it. — To which they replied, I was
much in the right, — And as I have before obferved how infignificant the fold
is in the winter, efpecially in hard frofts, I imparted it to Mr. Raymond, who
concurred with me, and faid, he had folded on arable land in fnow, and found
not the leaft benefit : whereupon he refolved in fuch cafes to fold on meadow
and pafture, in mighty expedlations of grafs, but it made no return, where-
fore in fnows, he now lets his Iheep ramble,

§. by. Whereas I have faid, that in cold clay-ground, and in a cold high Of winter-
hill-country, a winter-fold does little good, yet I have by experience found !"°!^'"° '" ^"^^
the contrary in fuch parts of the hill-country, where the land is dry and light,
and that it does great fervice to the barley crop. — This diiference may be re-
conciled thus, i. e. where the land, though called hill-country land, does
not lie very high, for the height much tends to the chilling of the ground :
again, the explanatory reafon of "this difference, though hardly accountable
for, yet feems to me chiefly to lie in the chilling quality of the ground, which
at firll receives the dung and pifs, and that deadens the ferment; whereas in
warmer ground it's progreflion toward that end is fupported by a fufficient
benign warmth, fince in both forts of earth the urine does undeniably fink
into the earth and mix with it.

§, 68. My ground being cold and feeding, I fliould in the fpring of the To fold wide
year, when I come either to pitch my fold on the barley-fallows, or on the '" 'Spring o"
fown barley, fet it very wide, in order to avoid the ufual inconveniencies of ^"^^^j'^ '"^
penning at that time, viz. the ranknefs and lodging of the barley, and the °
confequences, thinnefs and coarfenefs.

§.69. It was the loth of Odlober f anno 1720) when my fold was going cautlon
to be fet on the wheat-fallows of a field, which was heavy land, and the againft folding
fallows, where the fold was to go, were to be ploughed up the next day; I ""gtVand foon
was afraid the land would be too wet to fold on after the wheat was fown, after fowing.
and fpoke to the fliepherd about it. — He faid, he believed I might be in the
right, efpecially fince the rams had been fome days put to ramming the ewes,
becaufe the rams would keep moving and ftirring the ewes all night in the

T t 2 fold.

324

of penning
flieep on
hurdles.

Of turning
arable to mea-
dow.

Of winter-
folding for
barley.

Id. in Leicef-
■terfhire.

Dung.

folding in
Dorfetfliire.

Of folding un'
feafonably.

SHEEP and LAMBS.

fold, whereby the ground would be battered and trod, and fo fquatted that
the wheat might not get through,

§. 70. That the Greeks did pen up their flieep that they might pifs through
hurdles, as in Hcrefordlhire, you may fee in Palladius's calendar, November,
to avoid dirting and damaging their fleeces.

§.71. Farmer Miles, w^hom 1 have often mentioned with approbation, ad-
vifed me, if I would turn arable into meadow, and lay it up to grafs, to tling
ftraw upon it that is lefs than half rotten, and then fold upon it the fmie night,
and it will bring tbe ground on very faft.

§.72. Purfuant to what has been before laid, that folding in winter for
barley is not profitable, becaufe, by waiting for the fold's running over the
land, we lofe the principal feafon of fallowing ; yet however it may be pro-
per to fold till Chriftmafs, and then go on the wheat-lay ; becaufe we can
lofe no fallowing feafon by thatj we cannot well have finifhed our fallowing
any year before Chriftmafs.

I find by Mr. Antill and Mr. Clerk, and others, that in Leicefterfhire they
have no winter-folding for barley; they leave ofi^by Michaelmafs at fartheft,
and fometimes cannot fold again till May ; the reafon is, their lands are fo
wet they would be always in a poach, and the coldnefs of the lands would
kill the flieep : to help which defeft, they * muck their barley-lands, and
from thence begin their huft)andry, and low wheat the year after, often
under furrow, on their barley-ftubble, for they fay, if they lliould dung their
wheat-ground it would rot their wheat, and they low peas or beans after the
wheat, and then lay the ground to fummer-fliUow again, to be mucked in
May for barley, or to fold for wheat ; fo that they carry out their dung before
it is half rotten, or the feeds of the weeds killed : but in their inclolures they
fow four crops of corn all on one earth, without dung, for the moft part be-
ginning with oats, and laying down to grafs with wheat.

§.73. I am told, that in Dorfetfliire the aim of the farmers is, to fold on
their Iheep-leafes in the middle of July, and fo till Michaelmafs, that in the
winter there may be a good head of grafs for the milch-ewes.

§. 74. It feems to be incovenient to grafp at fo large a wheat or barley-crop,
as hardly to be able to compafs it without folding late on the wheat after it is
fowed, or on the barley-land after it is fowed ; for by being under the above
neceflity, in order to compafs what one has engroffed, one may often be ob-
liged to fold unfeafonably on each fort of corn, nor will the fold in that cafe
make good the damage done to the flock by the latenefs of the feafon : and an
ewe-fold is often damaged by folding on the cold land at the latter end of
Odlober ; whereas it is better to come early with your fold off of the wheat-
lands on to the barley lay-grounds, and from the fowed barley on to the
wheat-fallows ; for thereby you will fold the fame quantity of ground of the
xefpeftive grains without the refpecflive inconveniencies.

Between wafliing and fiieaiing-tinie flieep ought not to be folded, becaufe
:pf dirtying their wool, nor from the cutting of the lambs till a fortnight

after.

S H E E P and L A M B S. 325

after, nor in flieep-leafes or arable in very wet weather, for it will tread the
grafs into dung.

§. j^, A fervant of mine, a man of very good underftanding, tells me, he Of foldin<j in
has been many years a fliepherd, but could never obferve that the fold ever frofty weather,
did any good in frofty weather : particularly he remembers a very fliarp frofly
winter, in which a whole flock ufed daily to gather to a hay-reek, in a ground
where they were foddered, yet he could not obferve there was any better
corn there than elfewhere. — I aflced him the reafon of it ; he faid, the froft
wafted and preyed on the dung; and I the rather approve this obfervation of
his, becaufe of the great prejudice ftrong beer and fpirits receive by being
frozen, even fo as to become mere caput mortuums.

If froft has the fame effedl on dung, by impoverifliing it, that it is faid to
have on the flieep-fold, and on ftrong beer : quaere, whether it be proper or
not, to leave horfe or cow-dung fpread on land without ploughing it in.

Mr. Raymond is alfo of opinion, that the winter-lrofts do very much
deaden the folding of the flieep, and rob it of it's virtue.

§.76 Farmer Elton faid, the method he beft approved of in folding, was What land t»
always to fold that land firft that was firft defigned to be ploughed, fuch as foldfirft.
white or whitifli land, they not being apt to bear weeds, nor will the fold be
apt to caufe weeds to come, and fuch land he would fow firft, viz. at St.

James's-tide. 1 faid, I fliould think, though fuch land fhould be fowed

ever fo wet, yet, if the month of Auguft ftiould prove dry and fcorching, it
would burn, and fuffer by fuch early fowing — He replied, if fowed wet, yet
fo as it came up, he never knew the drought to hurt it.

§. 77. It was a very dry feafon from the firft of March to the fixth of May of foldirgon
(anno 1701) during which time I fet my fold on my barley. — Several of the barley in a diy
farmers in my neighbourhood faid, it would be apt to do the barley more ^^ °"'
harm than good, for the ftieep would fcratch up the feed ; whereas if rain
had come, fo that the ground had not been in a dull, their fcratching would
have done no harm. — But I rolled before I fet my fold, and fo I prefume the
ground was fo faft as to receive the lefs damage, it being alfo ftony, and
therefore the llieep could not fcratch it fo much as otherwife perhaps they
might have done : the event was, the fold did no harm, but good.

§.78. Mr. Gilbert of Madington was telling me, the way of huftjandry Offolding
about him, near Salifbury, was, to fold on their wheat after it was fowed till ^ and Holt"'
St. Luke's- tide, which is in the middle of Ocftober ; then to draw off their m Wilts.
flock for a month to fold their flieep-leafes, and then on the barley-fallows. —
I aflced fome North-Wiltfliire farmers, if about them they ever folded on the
wheat-land after it was fowed ; they faid, no, they never knew it to be
done in any part thereabouts, yet folding after the corn was fown did it more
good than before ; but the reafon why they did not do it about Holt, &c. they
believed was, becaufe they were forced to lay up the wheat-lands in high
ridges by reafon of the deepnefs of the earth, and it's wetnefs, and the flieep
if folded on fuch land, would do nothing but lie between the furrows, which
would do the land but little fervice : befides, they faid, in the h il-country the

land

326

SHEEP and LAMB S.

land was rather of the lighteft, and the treading of the fheep, after it was
{owed, preiTed it clofer than it was before, and fo did it fervice.
Of folding on g_ jg^ ]y[j._ Raymond alTured me, that Iheep folded on fandy lands would
land." ' thereby be fenfibly more impoverifhed than thofe folded on clay-lands, and
this, faid he, the fhepherds agree to, who live where there are fach ditferent
forts of land. — The reafon feems to be, becaufe the fandy lands draw forth
and drink up the outward moiflure of the flieep, to fill up which emptinefs
of the outward vefTels, a frefli juice muft fucceed, and fo on; or elfe that
the fandy lands being hot, make the flieep perfpire more than clay-lands do,
whereas the cold clay rather repels perfpiration.

If fandy or light ground, as has been before hinted, draws the fat and
moifture of the fheep-fold off, fo as to impoverifh a flock more than if they
had been folded on cold clay-lands, it muft be allowed on the other hand,
that light ground may be better enriched by a fold than heavy land, becaufe
the light ground imbibes more of the moiflure and fat of the flock ; and this
gives fome account why it is faid, poor lands often pay better for their
folding than fl:rong lands : for the fame reafon winter-folding, when the
ground is wet and cold, holds no proportion to fummer-folding.
Of folding on ^_ g^^ Difcourfing with farmer Biggs on hufljandry, he faid, he folded
ter. ' on the fallows all winter long, though never fo wet ; yet, faid he again, fome—
times the fold does harm : let it be never fo wet, faid he, early in the year, .
folding on the fallows does no harm ; for, in the firfl: place, there is heat
enough in the ground at the firfl; hand of the year to keep off the chill, and
then the ground is not fo fettled, but that the rain foon runs through it, but
at the latter end of the year the ground is fettled ; then treading it with the
fold in wet weather makes it hold water, by which it may be chilled, and
kneads the very wot into it, whereby there will be the lefs corn.
OffoWing on §• Bi. Before I came from Crux-Eafton in February (anno 1698) in order
barley. to go into the Ifle of Wight, 1 had a difcourfe with an old experienced fliep-
herd about folding the flock on fallows : he faid, as to wheat, it was excel-
lent good, but they rarely folded on barley-land after it v/as fowed, for if it
was a whitifli land, and a hot fummer came, it would be burnt up : befides,
the flieep would be fcraping at that time of the year on the barley-land, and
would take the corn out of the ground ; but the wheat, faid he, lay too deep
for them to do fo. But when I came into the I flc of Wight, farmer Col-
lins was of a different opinion, and faid, he had always folded with good
fuccefs on hot dry fandy ground after it was fown with barley, and was ear-
nefl: with me to try it ; for, faid he, you will quickly fee the benefit, and
though rhe flieep fliould fcrape, you will find the barley come thickeft
there.— There is land however about Hufl)orne and Stoke in Hants that will
burn by folding on in the fpring, and get more harm than good, if hot weather
come, it being a hungry fliarp gravel.
Of folding on ^^ ^2, As it fecms to me, the double folding on the early wheat-fallows,
wheat Mows, to be fown on one earth, cannot occalion the roots of the grafs ploughed-in
to (lioot up afrefh, but rather prevents it, by treading the earth down into

a hard

SHEEP and LAMBS. 327

a hard plaifter, fo that they cannot rife ; it is true, it may bring up a frefli
new grafs, which, having weak roots, will eafily be torn up by the draggs.

§. 83. * Columella, fpeaking of feeding flieep, fays, there is no fort of land, Manner of
or food, but what (by the continual ufe of that only) fheep will he tired of,^^J^^^^^l^^
unlefs you give them fome fait now and then to lick, from whence they may antients.
procure a new appetite to their meat and water. " All the fummer time du-
ring the hot feafons they muft be let out to feed as early as may be, while the
dew is on the grafs ; and when the fun is about four hours high, they muft
be led to water and under fliade, and again to feed towards fun-fet. In the
dog-days the flock fliould be fo led as to feed with their heads towards the
Weft in the forenoon, and towards the Eaft in the afternoon ; for it is of
great confequence, fays he, that the flieep's heads fliould be turned from the
fun, which would be hurtful to them. And Varro gives the fame diredlions,
becaufe, fays he, the flieep's heads are extremely foft. — Perhaps this may be
the chief reafon of the rams and ewes in companies turning face to face, in hot
fun-fliiny days. During the winter and early in the fpring they fliould be
kept in their fold, till the fun has melted the hoar-froft from the grafs, which
would occafion rheums in their heads, and would alfo fcour them : for this
reafon in the cold wet feafons of the year they fhould be watered but once a
day. ' They let their ewes, as Varro alTures us, go out to feed with the reft
of the flock, but kept back the lambs, which were fuckled by the ewes at
their return, and then again feparated from them. '' They alfo tethered
their lambs at ten days old, left they fliould diflocate or hurt their tender
limbs by playing together.

Of FEEDING and FATTING SHEEP,

§. 84, When I was giving Mr. Lawrence of Dorfetfliire a defcription of JJ^^'J^f'^^"'
Crux-Eafton, and the farmers management of their fheep there: he faid, he Crux-Eafton
knew how the farmers managed there, and that they were to blame ; for blamed.
they might manage their fheep better, and have full as good there as at
Upcern, if they would feed them well in the winter, and at the latter part

of

8 Nee tamen ulla funt tam blanda pabula, aut etiam pafcua, quorum gratia non exolcfcat iifu
continuo, nifi pecudum faflidio paftor occurrerit prjebitofale, quod, velut ad pabuli condimentum,
per aeftatem canalibus ligneis impofitum, cum e paftu redierint, eves lambunt, atque eo fapore cu-
pidinem bibendi pafcendique concipiunt. Colum. lib. 7. fol. 175.

*■ Dum mane novum, dum gramina canciit, et res in tenera pecori gratiffimus herba : inde ubi
quarta fitim coeli collegerit hora, ad puteos et umbras ; rurfus ad pafcua producendum folis ad oc-
cafum, &C.-- — Et ill canicuiis, ante meridiem grex in occidentem fpecSans agatur, et poft meri-
diem progrediatur in orientem; fiquidem plurimum refert, ut pafcentium capita fint obverfa foli, quia
plerumque nocet animalibus. Hyeme et vere intra fepta contineantur, dum dies arvis gelicidia de-
trahat ; nam pruinofa iis diebus herba pecudi gravedinem creat, ventremque perluit, quare et fri-
gidis humidifque temporibus anni femel tantum ei poteflas aquie facienda eft. — Ita pafcere pecus
oportet, lit averfo fole agat, caput enim ovis molle maximc eft. Varro, f. 53.

' Matres cum grege paftum prodeunt, retinent agnos qui, cum reduclre ad vcfperum, aluntur
ladte, et rurfus difcernuiitur. Varro, fol. 54.

'' Circiter decern dies cum prasterierunt, palos afKgunt, et ad eos aJIigant libra, aut qua alia
re levi diftantes, ne toto die curfantes inter fe delibent teneri aliquot mcmbrorum. Varro, fol. 54.

-;2,8 SHEEP and LAMBS.

o

of the year fend them abroad for a month, as the Dorfetfliire farmers do, in-
to the vale-lands to refrefh their own grafs, and would fold on their {heep-
llates : but, faid he, they in Hampfhire follow the plough fo much, that
they negleft their flieep ; and fuffering theii- hog-flieep to run in the woods
all the winter was a foolifh thing ; for they loll their wool by it, and it ftunts
them in their growth, by keeping them fo poor ; and it is the greater folly,
as they are to come into the places of their old ewes, whereby the flock is
fpoiled : befides, faid he, when they become ewes, they will always after-
wards be lofing their wool in the hedges : and if they in Dorfetfhire find but
one ewe in a flock apt by that means to be bare, they will fell her off at.
the next Weyhill fair.

Mr. Bifliop of the fame county faid, he always takes care to keep his
flieep up in high cafe in very cold weather, or in deep fnow : and the better
hay, and the more of it, you give your fheep, the better will their wool and

their foil pay for it, and over-pay too. He faid, a weather would grow fat

with hay fooner than with grafs : and, if the fnow be but moderately deep, viz.
not above a foot, the fheep will fcrape for the grafs : but then in fevere wea-
ther care ought to be taken to put them in a ground out of bleak winds, and
where the grafs is longeft, as having been firfl: hayned. — He approved not of
the Hampfliire way of fitting up with their folds in lambing-time ; for thelT
walking up and down wi.h the lanthorns greatly difiurbs the fold, and makes
the ewes apt to be frightened, and to run away from their Hands in the
fold, by which means the lamb is either over-laid, or feparated from the
ewe ; whereas otherwife the ewe and the flieep folded would keep in the fame
place. — He likewlfe fays, the befi; thing that can be done in lambing-time
is in hard weather to fling five, fix, or fevcn trufles of hay into the fold amongft.
the flieep, for them to trample down, to fave the lambs from being frozen,
and to keep them dry: the hay, fays he, is of an infignificant value
to the fervice it does to the lambs — He adds, if it be a w«t feafon in
lambing-time, the folds ought to be made the larger : if a hard frolly
time, the clofer the better, nor need one be afraid of the lambs being
over-laid, if the fold is not diflurbed. — He fays, in lambing-time, the fold
ought to be vifited in the morning, and the firft thing to be done ought to
be to walk round it, and fee what outermoft ewes have lambed, and then flip •
a huid'e and draw the ewe and lamb out carefully, that the ewe may 2^0
away wi:h her lamb to graze, and keep together ; for, if the flock be let out
with them at the lame time, it is the nature of the ewe to go away :o graze, .
and amidll the whole flock the ewe and lamb will foon lofe each other :
then you fliould go inward, flill drawing out the outermoft ewe and lanib.
An idiofyn- §. 85. That there is an idiofyncrafy in cattle of the fame fart, or fpccies,
cra(y in cattle j^gg been already hinted ; to which may be added, that farmer IQes my te-
fort. ^ *"" "^^'- ^'^i^''es me, that if they about Holt, i. e. in the vale, buy flieep againft
the winter out of the hill-country, fuch fheep will, as ufually, exped; a great
deal of hay, though they have never fo much plenty of grais. — And proba-
bly they may in a great meafure expedl it, through their conflitution of

2 juices J

S H E E P and L A M B S. 329

juices ; for otherwife it cannot be fuppofed how giving the younger fheep
hay in the hill-country, but perhaps for one year, fhould entail a neceflity of
continuing it for the next, where the juices of the graffes fo much exceed
thofe of the hills. — To exemplify which, having bought fows with pig out
of the vale, for the fake of a large breed, where they had been ufed to be
fed only on whey ; thefe fows, when they were brought into my yard in
the. hill-country, where there was plenty of shattered corn, fufficient to keep
my own country hogs, which thrived well on it, grew lean, and made but
a poor livelyhood ; and what more furprized me, the pigs of thefe fows which
were littered with me, took after grazing, and, when they came to be great
hogs, they would not flay in the ftubble-fields to get their bellies full, but
would foon beat out into the grafs grounds, and fo would the breed of the
breed laft mentioned do. — Thus fays Horace, " Fortes creantur foitibus,
nee feroces aquils pavidas generant columbas." — And this idiofyncrafy feems
more vifible in beafts and men that live on the fimplefl food than in thofe
that live on varieties.

§. 86. It ought to be contrived in hill-country-farms, which ufually have To provide
but a few acres of meadov/ and pafture, and the reft in arable, that there grafs-gmund
be a few acres of arable (according to the bignefs of the farm) laid down on (^eep"occa'- ^
different parts of the farm, therein commodiouily to receive the flock of fheep fionally.
after harveft, as often as the ftubble-grounds may be dirty ; for in wet wea-
ther, if the fiock fliould go in fuch ftubble, they would fpoil more than they

eat. But yet, if grounds are laid down yearly to clover-grafTes, as is ufual in

the hill-country, then it is to be noted, that grounds of the fecond year's
clover are very fit to receive the flock of fheep in fuch wet weather ; for
ground of the fecond year's clover is well fettled and covered with grafs, nor
will it be like to be trampled -to dirt, it being firm, nor is it gnafh and
lufcious, as the flubble-clover is, and fo is very fit for the fheep, and will
not put their mouths out of tafte for other coarfer grafles, as the flubble-clo-
ver will do, — Neverthelefs fatting-flieep may he fuffered to feed freely on
the flubble-clover ; for they mufl be fupported with other grafles, as good
as that, had they not that, and fweet pafture of natural grafs muft be found
for them when that Is fed out.

§. 87. Having in November (anno 1707) a good crop of turnips for the Turn'ps apt
winter-feeding my flock of fheep, I had a defire, before I entered on the to breed wind
doing it, to confult a firmer's fhepherd, who had for many years ufed his '" '^"i^''
fheep to turnips : I underftood from him, as alfo from others, that turnip-
feeding was apt to breed wind in the fheep and gripings, for which, while they
were under the diftemper, they knew no remedy, but to cut their throats,
if they were fatting: you may perceive the diftemper by their ftretching out
their limbs, and fpreading them : but, to prevent this evil, they agree it is
neceflliry to give the flieep fome dry meat in the evening, though coarfe.

It is farther agreed, that an ewe-flock is not fo fubie(ft: to the abovefiid
diftemper by feeding on turnips, as a weather-flock woukl be, the Iamb in
he ewe carrying off the water, that, in fuch cafe, the tvves are over-

U u charged

330 S H E E P and L A M B S.

charged with from the turnips 5 for the ewes, when with lamb, pifs and dung

much more eafily and plentifully than the weathers do; which is but rea-

fonable to believe, all creatures with young being apt to make water often,

and dung, nor are they fo able to retain it as when not fo : and particularly

phyficians look on child-bearing women to be more fecure from cholick,

gout, &c. than when child-bearing is over, for the above-faid reafon.

Sheep to be §• 88. It is a thing commonly known, that after harvefl: fheep muft be

kept out of kept out of the barley- ftubble till the hogs have eat up the fcattered bar-

ncwftabbie. j^^^ j^^ by fwelling in the maws of the flieep it fhould kill them.-ButI

alfo find by my fliepherd and others, that (heep ought to be kept out of

all forts of ftubble till the corn is well eaten up by the hogs ; becaufe the

wheat and oats they leafe will be apt to make the fheep fcour, as this year

(anno 17 19) wheat made many of my flieep fcour.

§■ ^9- '^ills are excellent good for ewes, to breed milk for their lambs,
ewe^^°° °^ being given them inftead of hay, and is the true ufe of that grain : they
W'ill grow very well in ftrong clay-land, but are rather reckoned an im-
poveriflier than an improver of the ground, contrary to what other kidded
grains are.
Why broad- §. 90. The reafon why flieep are in lefs danger of being hurt by broad-
clover more dover than COWS are, may be, becaufe the flieep feed only on the very
cows than fineft and tendered part of it, nor can they eafily be brought to tafte of the
Cieep. grofl^eft part of it : this I plainly faw when I fatted flieep in the broad-

clover this year (anno 1702). — It is however a lufciousfood, and apt to
throw flieep into a fcouring.
OfpufinT Broad-clover will not fat flieep fo fafl, nor fo well, as hop-clover v/ill do.

flieep into" §• 91' Farmer Elton advifed me by all means, if the feafon proved dry

woods after after my flieep were flieared, to put them into my woods of four or five years
growth, for a week or a fortnight : he afilired me, if it were a dry time,
they would do the woods no harm ; for in that cafe the rowety grafs in the
woods would be Aveet, and the flieep would not be tempted to crop the flioots j
but in wet weather the rowet turns four. — This, he faid, would do them a
great kindnefs in flieltering their coats from burning, and their bodies from
damage thereby, and at the fliepherd's whifl:le they would all come out of
the woods to folding. — It may be ferviceable to the flieep, but I doubt of the
former part of hisallertion, viz. that they will eat the rowet, and not crop
the flioots. See my Obfervations on woods.

I had a few teg or hog-flieep of my own, and at Michaelmafs I bought in
fome more, and put them then into the meadows, the hedge-rows of which
being cut the year before, put them upon browzing at that time of the year. —
About the latter end of November, I put them into my young coppices, where
they foon fell to browzing : we wondered at it, and were at a lofs for the
caufe J till my fliepherd remembered me what we had done, having enticed
them into the fault at the firfl: hand of the year.
Ofkav«tor ^_ ^^^ Cato dicit, fol. 2. Autumnitate frondem populeam, ulmeam, quer-
neam(iue csdito per tempus ; earn condito non peraridam, pabulum ovibus.—

So

S H E E P and L AM B S. 331

So that they were not the dead worthlefs leaves they collcv^cd, but they
flripped the branches of their leaves whilft growing, and made a kind of hay
of them.

§.93. 'Poligona, knot-grafs, fwine's-grafs, or blood-wort, according to Swine's-grafs
Columella, is very pernicious to flieep, occafioning violent diftentions and con- ^^'^ ^°^ ^^^P-
tradlions in their bellies, by which they bring up a thin, frothy, fhinking mat-
ter.— The cure is to bleed them under the tail, clofe to the buttocks, and alfo
in the upper lip.

§. 94. The Maifon ruftique fpeaklng of flieep, fiys, in winter, autumn, shcep not tn
and fpring, you fliould keep them clofe in the morning, and not carry them be drove to
to the fields until the day has taken away the froft from off the "round : for ''^'^.^"'^ |.°°

,,. . ^ ^ r . . ■' , , . ^ .,.<=> , . , early in troltr

at thele tunes the hozen grals begets a rheum and heavjnels m their heads, and weather.
loofeneth their bellies, fol. 157. The fame obfervation has been made by the
antients, as I have noted before.

Some fay, that, in the open moid weather in the winter, the Hieep have
more need of hay than in the cold froily weather, and it does them more
good ; for it dries up the water, the grafs then making them flue.

§. 95. In deep fat lands farmers may be in the right to hope for, and to of foddering
endeavour to preferve their flieep without hay in winter, or as long as they flieep in win-
can, becaufe their lands may be able to do it : yet, quaere, in cafe they fliould'^''"
buy in flieep to winter, which have been ufed to hay, whether fuch flieep
will not only expeift it, but v/ill not alfo pay for it, if it be given them. But
for hill-country farmers, whofe winter-grafs cannot be fuppofed to maintain
their flocks, I fay, they ought to fodder in good time ; otherwife their flocks
will foon eat up all their grafs, and then they muft, as they draw near to
lambing-time, eat all hay, which is not fo well as hay and grafs earlier in
the winter would have been ; and dien the grafs would have held out.

§. 96. Farmer Biggs commending racks to fodder flieep in, faid, it was aRacksfor fod-
veiy waflieful, flovenly way to fling the hay loofe about the fold, as fome would '^^""S ^^«P
do ; for whatever hay the flieep fat down on, neither they nor any other
cattle will touch after, for which reafon no cattle care for feeding after flieep,
their dung and pifs being a great nufance ; but cows, faid he, had rather pick
the dungy ftraw and litter on the dung-hills, which comes from the horfes,
than to have the fv/eet clean fl:raw that comes out of the barn.

On my aflcing feveral good fliepherds, why they fet the hay- racks open to
the flieep in each ground ; they afllired me, that, in that country, Dorfet,
they had tried all ways of giving fodder to the flieep, and did find, that to
let them go to the racks when they had a mind to it, was befl: ; for many
flieep liked grafs, and would thrive better on it than on hay ; and others would
eat hay better than grafs, and if the hay was very good, they would give as

U u 2 - good

' Eft etiam ovibus gravis pernicics hcrbas fanguinaiije, quam fi pafta eft ovis, toto ventre diften-
ditur, contrahiturque, & fpumam quandam tenuem tetri odoris cxpuit, celeriter fanguinein mitti
oportet fub cauda, in ea parte quae proxima eft clunibus, nee minus in labro fupcriore vena folverida
eft. Colum. lib. 7. fol. 178.

332 S H E E P and L AM B S.

good milk, for it ; and many fheep would eat it befl, if you let them have their
own time of eating it.
Of cnbs, A very good Ihepherd near me, approves very much of cribs for foddering

fheep in : he fays, in wet weather they fave littering of the fodder, and tramp-
ling it under foot: — but he fays, fometimes a cow or a fheep has hung it's
horns in the bow, and broke it's neck, but this rarely happens : that the gen-
tleman whom he ferves had only lofl one heifer by fuch accident in twenty

years time, and a fheep or two. Another told me, his mafter never lofl any

cattle that way ; but one morning, faid he, I came in good time, and faved
two that were hangrjno;.

I told my fliepherd what fort of racks I defigned for my fheep to be fod-
dered in, which were according to the Dorfetfhire fafhion, as the fliepherds £j|
there had advifed me to make them ; and he approved very well of it for the • ]
faving of hay : but, faid he, the cow-cribs with bow partitions are very fer-
viceable on one account ; for when an ewe, by reafon of a lufty lamb, has had
a hard labour, whereby the lamb is ftunned, or much weakened, fuch
lauib will be able to get up and fuck, by flrengthening itfelf with leaning
againft fuch cribs as they lie in the fold.
What hay §. 97. Farmer Biggs faid, that he was confident, if it was a hard winter^

fteepwilieat ^q'^ flieep v/ould eat 2C if not ^o tons of hay. — Farmer Crapp faid, he had

ma hard wm- -^^ . ^ , •' ^ -^ , ,- J tt >

ter. often given above 25 tons to that number of fheep.

Mr. Slade of Tilfhade tells me, that they allow a ton of hay for every fcore
f fh Jsp they winter on their downs, and provide for the winter accordingly.

I afked my fliepherd, what quantity of hay would maintain a fheep at
Eafton in a hard winter. He gave me no ready anfwer ; I told him, I looked
on five todd and an half to be a noble provifion : he could not rightly fall into
a connderation of that proportion, but faid, if it was a hard winter a fcore of
flieep would eat a ton of hay. — Whereupon we computed the difference of
ore Hi mates, and found that mine held a fourth part greater than his : how-
ever he faid, he thought his a great allowance.
Of providing §. 98. Farmer Elton told me, that his father and he had lofl many a pound
Koaii<:hay ^y ^qj. buying coarfc or under-hill hay at the firfl hand of the year for their
»eiingiheep. cwes ; tor, when a hard winter has come, they have been forced to give
them a coarfe hay at laft, which has impoverifhed them, and made them:
pitch, and in the breed made them fpoil the whole flock.
Vetches for §, gg^ About Tilfliade in Wiltfliire there is little hay, and the chief fupport-
"■'^^' of the flieep during winter is vetches : Mr. Slade alTures me, if vetches cut

greenifh for fheep fliould take a month's rain at firfl:, if they can at Lift be.
houfed dry, the flieep will eat them ftalks and all better than the befl hay.
Houfingfnecp §. ICO. I have heard, that in Spain they houfe their flieep on nights, which,
benencialto J doubt not but Contributes to the finenefs of thdr wool. — And the warm
fold, made warmer by the fheep than of itfelf it would be, is better for the
Vvool of the fheep than for them to lie abroad.
What flieep t5 §• ^°^* I" fitting flieep, the barren ewes, and thofe v/hich have Icfl their
be firii fa;ted. lambs, come firfl in order, and then old fheep that aie.to be fatted with grafs,

§. 102. Sir

S H E E P and L A M B S. 333

§.102. Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's fliepherd being in difcourfe with me, I whetherewes
afkedhim, fuppofing one fhould fat flieep, whether the cafe was not the '^ou'd be ram-
fame with the ewes, as with cows to be fatted ; that is, whether or not the^^^^^ °'*
ewes might not be firft rammed ; and whether they would not then fat the
kindlier for it. He replied, the cafe was not the fame with ewes as with
cows ; for the ewes would take ram but at one time of the year only, fome
earlier, others later : but befides, the ewes going but twenty weeks with
lamb, they contrived they fhould not be with lamb, becaufe they would be
too forward with lamb before they could be fat. — I then afked him, if he ever
knew a ewe bring a lamb twice in the fame year. He faid, never ; but an ev/e
that had warped her lamb very early might fometimes have another within
the year, though very rarely. — He fays, the graziers contrive their cows
fhould be bulled at fuch a time, as that they may be fat for the market by the
time they are half gone with calf, for then they tallow beft, and their meat is a.
great deal the firmer for it,

§. 103. The farmers in the Ifle of Wight reckon an ewe that warps any Off^utirga
time by or beibre the middle of February, fo that fhe may make early mut- ^v/ethat
ton, while it yields a good price, is as good as *couples. *Aneweand

§. 104. It was the 25th of December (anno 1707) when I had at autumn lamb,
fatted twenty weathers, which I defigned to kill after Chrillmafs : atthis time j,o|''be L" m
my fliepherd came to me, and faid, he could not hold up the flieep in their winter on hay
fat, unlefs I could find them fome grafs to go with their hay : he told me ""'y-
they would wafte the beft hay he could give them, and eat but little of it.—
Till now I thought one might have fatted fheep with hay alone, if it were
very good : but on inquiring I have found, that fuch Iheep as abovefaid,
mull; have a little grafs with their hay. — Therefore, if you would have fat
iheep to kill from Chriftmafs till fpring, you ought to contrive to keep a re-
ferve of grafs for that purpofe, or to fow turnips in autumn for the teed of
their leaves.

§. 105. Mr. Slade of Tilrtiade, and Mr. Bifly of Holt in Wilts, made me of fatting
a vifit : and having often before complained to Mr. BifTy, that I could not fat 'ambs in the
iambs at Eafton, Mr. Bifly faid, he was fure I might fat lambs at Eafton ; 1^'"-=°"""/-
only I muft take this fpecial care, to put the ewes and their lambs, within a
fortnight after the falling of the lambs, into clover, and muft keep them well,
and not let them fink j for both Mr. Bifly and Mr, Slade fiid, if once 1 let
them fink, there would be no raifing them again : and Mr. Bifly faid, I muft
take c.^re not to let the clover be too high.

§. 106. I find by farmer Illes of Holt, that they can in that country fat Of fatting
Iambs exeeding well on broad-clover j but, fays he, we cannot afterwards fat |^T''^^"k'^.V
the ev/es fo well, for they will rife but flowly in flefli : the reafon that he clover. " '
gave for it was, becaufe the lambs were fatted in the fpring, while the broad-
clover was young and fvveet ; for it vAW held fweet and good till towards Mid-
funimer, but then fills oil, which is about the time the latter lambs are fatted,
and then the ewes will not thrive fo v/ell with it as the lambs will do. Pie r

fold his lair,bs fat this jear, 17 16, by the 20th o5May, and then by Midfum-

Z. mer.-

334- S PI E E P and LAMB S.

nier the ewes were well in flefn, that is, half fat with the broad-clover ; but
then they got no farther by the broad-clover, only held their own till harveft,
when they throve apace, and foon got fat in the ,ftubble.

The fame farmer, having been two or three times at Crux-Eafton, and feen

cur broad-clover, admits, that we cannot pretend to fat lambs with it near fo

well as they can at Holt ; for the clover at Eafton mnfc be fourcr and bitterer

than theirs at Holt, both from the coldnefs of the ground, and the cold-

nefs of the air : for, faid he, we at Holt, though v/e lie on a warm flone-bra(h,

cannot pretend to fat lambs in a cold fpring as we can in a warm one, for the

faid reafon ; and particularly this dry and cold fpring, lyig,! obferved, added

he, when I brought my couples home from v/here I had wintered them, the

ewes would keep walking much about the ground, and continue bleating,

whereby I knew they dilliked their clover, and I fa:d, I fliall have no good

fat lambs this year, and fo it proved.— I Hke not, faid he, when the ends of the

wool on the backs of the flieep twift, and fland fpriggy, as they were apt to

do this year.

jfahmbonce g_ jq^. jf an ewe's milk after flie has lambed, dries away by reafon of bad

wan'j o/milk. ^ay, or fcarcencfs and poverty of grafs, fo that the lamb pitches, it will never

jt will never* be reco.vered, and lambs fo pinched will never fetch it forward again, fo as to

recover it. ^^ fo well grown or fo fat, or fo foon fit for the market as otherwife they

would have been ; in all which refpeds there will be great lofs, and this holds

in fonie degree in other cattle.

Of fatting ^_ jQg_ On telling Mr. BilTy what encouragement I found for fatting lambs

hiU-rounlly. at Crux-Eafton, I alfo added the difficulties I fliould meet with in that affair.

He faid, if I thought my broad-clover would prove too four, and be apt to

fcour my lambs, I mull fow half broad-clover and half hop-clover feed mixed
together; and he faid, that he and feveral others had of late (anno 1720)

done fo, and found it very effedual. And I am apt to fancy, if a fprink-

ling of lye-feed, it yielding a fweet grafs, was mixed with the clovers, the
variety would be grateful to the lambs, and make them fat the fafler.— But it is
ray opinion, that, ifyoureferve the fatteft of your arable-land clovers, the
land being in good heart, fuch clovers will be fat, juicy, fweet, and nourifh-
ing ; for I have obferved, that, when ground has been ploughed out of heart,
though it was in it's own nature ftrong ground, yet the clovers it has pro-
duced have in their nature been weak, and their leaves thin and not fappy,
nor of a deep verdure, but of a pale colour, and fpeckled on the back of the
leaves as if fly-fhitten, and confequently has no good nourifliment in it ; nor
would hogs or other cattle abide in fuch clover any longer than they were
forced to it ; and the leaf of fuch clover has to my tafle been an ungrateful
bitter, whereas the fat fappy-leaved clover has been agreeable.

§. 109. When flieep are thriving, their wool is of a bright white colour.

A mark of a §. HO. I find by Mr. Gerrifli of Broughton - in Wilts, the great grazier,

ihecp's having ji^^f jj-^g rifing up of the fat on the back of a fheep in a bladderinefs, or fort of

Undly!"'"^ froth and foam, is a very good fign of the kindly fatnefs of that flieep ; which,

fays he, the turaip-fattcd flieep vAW do even in the winter time, whereas the

fat

S H E E P and L A M B S. 335

fat of our fheep, fed in winter on hay and good grafs, will lie clofe and flat
on their backs, and not rife in bladders when they are fleaed.— He affures
me, that thirty acres of very good turnips will fat four hundred weathers.

I went to Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's flieep-pen with the fliepherd : in hand-
ling the fheep he Ihewed me the piece of fat by the briflcet, before the
flioulder, which is called the moufe-piece, which I handled in many of
them, it being bigger or lefs according to the degree of fatnefs the flieep is
in : the dent alfo on the rump I felt in many, which is occafioned from the
riling pieces of fit on each fide, where the fheep are fat.

I aflied the fliearers of Garenton, where a flieep was to be handled to know
whether it was fat or not ; they faid, if a weather-flieep, or an ewe that never
had had a lamb, it was to be handled at the dug, and at the rump of the
tail, for thofe that are very fat will fometimes be as big there as one's wrift,
and the fame on the brifket and (lioulders : an old ewe is to be judged of in
the fame manner, except in the firft mentioned place.

An experienced butcher who is to draw out a number of fheep at a certain
price, will always choofe for the fattefl, though there are larger flieep in
the flock, and in good cafe too ; becaufe the fatter the beafl: or flieep, the
more juicy will his flefli be, and confequently weigh the heavier, which will
make it mofl; profitable to the butcher. — And a beafl: fatted by grafs will
weigh heavier than a beaft fatted by hay, becaufe the flefli will be more
juicy.

§. III. In dlfcourfe with feveral butchers, they agreed, efpecially if the of fatted
winter proved wet, that turnip-mutton would be waterifii, and not anfwer fli«p. viz. on
it's weight when killed, fo well as other mutton, for perfeft water would broTddover,
run out between the fl-iin and the flefh, it being withinfide : and, faid they, and of driving
your mutton fed with broad-clover does not give that fatisfadlion that other ^^^'^^ '° ^°"-
mutton does ; for the fat will be apt to look yellowifli ; yet in truth no mut-
ton eats fo fweet as that, the fat whereof has a yellowifli cafl, though people do
not generally like it. — They faid further, that a flieep or a lamb fatted would
drive from Crux-Eaflon to London, with lofing but a very little of it's weight ;
this they faid, becaufe I told them that in driving from Holt in Wiltftiire to
London, a weather of about feventeen fliillings price would lofe eight pounds
of flefh ; to which they replied, though cattle will not lofe much f\e[h in dri-
ving fifty miles, yet if you drive them fifty more they will lofe their flefli very
confiderably. — And, fud they, a fheep barely mutton, fuch as we buy of you,
will not bear driving to London, though it may be but fifty miles, becaufe they
would lofe that lit'tle fle(h they had got. — The hinder quarter of an ewe,
that has had a lamb, is not profitable to us, nor acceptable, becaufe the udder
will wafte, &c.— they owned, however, it was otherwife with a barren ewe, of the nor-
but, faid they, there are few of thofe in this country. — If an ewe be going to them and
ram when Ihe is killed, the mutton will eat rank, lamb""and

§. 112. I find by converfing with our Wiltfhire graziers, that fat lambs ^vhy the Wih..
come not to Smithfield from the North till after Whitfuntide, and t^^"' Ji.''f'|[5l'ar,
though they are huge lambs, in comparifcn of the foutherly and weftern, ij,'^;^^^^ '^ '

even fpriog..

336 Difeafes in SHEEP and LAMBS.

even as big again, yet they are very lean compared with our's of the fouthcrly
counties. — I find, one reafon, why not only lamb, but mutton and beef alfo,
out of Wiltrtiire and the foutherly countries, fells dear in wet fprings, is, be-
caufe the roads from the North, and Somerfetfliire, Sec. are bad to travel
on, and the cattle cannot go into thofe deep leafes, they being under water,
or fo trodden and poached, that, by reafon of the cold, the grafs does not
thrive for a bite for the beafts, nor improve thera till towards the middle of
fummen

Direafcs in SHEEP and LAMBS.

Of young §. I

fhcep that
have their

Y fliepherd was talking in June (anno 17C3) of drawing out my

__ old ewes for the market j and faid, in all likelihood there would

gums grown be three or four of the younger fort drawn out with them ; and for

over their the moft part it happened fo every year ; for now and then a young flieep,

^^"^' even one of two teeth, will have it's mouth hang over, that is, it's gums

will be grown out fo long as to fliut over it's teeth j and fuch flieep muft as

much be difpofed of as broken-mouthed flieep, for they cannot well get their

living, but will always be out of cafe.

Of a (heep §• 2. Being at my fold, I faw my fliepherd turn out a young flieep to be

fpewingup fold with the old ewes. — I aflced him why he did fo ; he faid, becaufe it

it'sgrais. fpewed up it's grafs ; and then he fliewed me the outfide of it's mouth and

nofe bedaubed with the green juice ; fuch flieep, he faid, would never

thrive.

Of lambs §• 3' My flicpherd fays, that the caufe of a lamb's being drowned in the

drowntd in ewe's bclly, (the ewe's being under a fcarcity of water, and having dry movi'-

burnt-hay) is, that by the greedinefs of the ewe's drinking when flie gets to

water, flie gluts tlie lamb with the abundance of water flie drinks. — Farmer

Bachelour alfo believes it is fo, yet fays, that he has feen lambs with a

watery humour, as if they had a dropfy.

§. 4. A fheep which is cored, after it has been fo a year, or thereabouts,
fbeep."^""^" (for which time it may very well live, if chiefly fed with hay) will have a
water-bladder, as big as an egg, under it's throat, it's eyes likewife will be
white, and fo will it's mouth and gums.

If any flieep in a flock core in the winter, it will be eafily feen at fliearing-
-time ; for fuch flieep will be poorer than the refl:, and fhew it that way by
that timci and their wool will run into threads, that is, their wool will
twifl togei:her at the ends, and look fomewhat like teats: yet I have known
fliepherds fay, tiiat fometimes the wool of very found flieep will be apt to
run together into threads^ and the finer the wool the apter fo to do.

Mr. Bifliop's fliepherd caught a flieep that was cored the laft year, and
fliewed me how it might be feen by the eyes of the flieep, they being in the
valves and veiny parts, (and the eye-lids v/hen turned up) milk-white ; where-
as the other healthy flieep, he fliewed me, had eyes as red as a cherry.— He

told

the ewe's
belly

Of a cored

Difeafes in SHEEP and LAMBS. 337

told me, fome would fay, thinnefs of wool on the breaft was a fign of a core ;
but he had had no regard to that faying ; — that fheep that were fo cored, be-
ing in a healthy country, and taking to eat hay, might live a year or two the
longer for thofe reafons, but would never recover. — Note, this milkincfs of
the eyes fhews that fuch fheep are far gone ; they may be cored before they
have that to fliew : thefe cored fheep have the fluck, or plaice- worm in their
livers, with which their gall is alfo full before they die : they call thefe
worms "plaice-worms from their figure, which is like a plaice. — When they
look on a fheep's eye to fee whether the flaeep be cored or not, their term
is, they will fee how the fheep tefts.

§. 5. Mr. Cheftlin of Leicefterfliire fays, that fheep when firft touched *^f '^« '<'''
with the rot will thrive mightily in fatting for ten weeks, but, if they are
not difpofed of when they are come up to a pitch, they will in feven or eight
days time fall away to nothing but fkin and bone ; he has often had them die
in the height of their pitch in half an hour's time with twenty-feven pound
of tallow in their bellies.

Mr. Raymond, Mr. BifTy and I being together, Mr. Raymond faid, that
if the fummer did not rot the fheep, it was generally agreed that the winter
would not. — Mr. Bifiy replied, that he had often heard the fame ; and fo
they agreed, that there was no danger of the extreme wet winter this year
(anno 1702) rotting the flieep, feeing the foregoing fummer had been fo hot
and dry as it had been. — I alked Mr. Raymond, what he thought might be
the reafon of fuch a faying ; he faid, that a gloomy wet fummer gave an un-
digefted quick growth to the grafs of cold land, which occafioned a rot
among the fheep ; and the faid grafs was in danger of continuing on in that
unwholfome way of growing all the following winter, till the month of
March, and the next fpring came to give it a check, and the fpring brought
forth a new grafs j whereas the power of the winter alone was not flrong
enough to begin a rot.

^ Mr. Ray fpeaking of marfli-trefoil, fays, Sir Tancred Robinfon com- Mariii-trefoii
mends it for dropfical cafes, and fays, he has known fheep, that have had the ^°°^ ^°' ^^^
rot, drove into marfhes where this herb has grown plentifully, and cured
by it-
Mr. Boyle fays, on the beginning of a rot among flieep, where It appeared, Id- ^panifli
by the killing a flieep or two, that the whole flock were touched, a friend of
his cured the rot by giving each flieep a handful of Spanifli lalt for five or
fix mornings together.

Mr. Raymond of Puck-Shipton in Wiltfliire, fays, that, when the mea-
dows are flabby and full of water, they are then fafelf, and lefs fubjedl to bane
than they are in a dry winter.

» I am aflured Dr. Nichols has lately communicated to the Royal Society feveral curious obferva-
tions on the form and the nature of this animal, which will be publifhed in the next volume of
their Tranfafiions.

*■ Dominus Tancredus Robinfon trifolium paludofum in hydropicis affectibus commendat, feque
fa-pius obfervafie, ait, oves tatndas in paludes hac herb abundantes compulGis, ejus epj reflitutas
/anitati. Ray, fol. 1099. "^

X X John

238 Difeafes in SHEEP and LAMBS.

Id boon) John Earle, of Parks in Wiltshire, fliewed me how the flieep had crept and
'fed mightily on the broom : they will eat it heartily all the year, but efpe-
cially in the fpring, when it is in bloffom : it flains their teeth as black as
foot ; we caught one, that I might be an eye-witnefs of it. — He fays, he be-
lieves it will preferve fheep from the rot, and he fliewed me twenty, that
he had bought five or fix months before, which, he faid, were fo rotten,
that they would hardly drive home, but they were now recovered and grown
l^t, though the ground he had kept them in had hardly any pickings in it
but what the broom afforded : he had another ground where the broom had
been faffered to run to feed, and the {heep had not been in it above three
weeks, before they had eaten all the kids up. — Brocm, fays Mortimer, in
his book of hufbandry, is one of the beft prefervativcs againft the rot in
fheep : I have known fheep, when not too far gone in the rot, cured of it>
only by being put into broom lands.

In Somerfetfhire they keep no flocks of fheep, for fear of a rot, it being a
deep country ; but are very glad of the opportunity of having the tails of the
hill-country flocks : again, the hill-country farmers are glad to fend their
flocks thither for a month, after their corn is cut, to feed on the flubble-
grafs, there not being there any danger of a rot.
The wood- §. 6. As to the wood-evil in fheep, I find Leiceflerfhire is veryfubjecft to-

evil. See Dif. jj . Jt is agreed that it is occafioned in May, and about Michaelmafs, by
^d cllver' bleak cold eafterly winds ; it falls chiefly on the lambs : if an ewe be ia
f^ood heart, fhe will overcome it very well ; but when it falls into their
bowels, it is held incurable, nor could I find they had any medicine for it
when in the limbs, but only time would wear it off. — One may perceive the
diftemper in them by their going lame, their necks, or fome of their limbs
will be drawn up altogether by it.
7he fiaggers. §. 7. The fheep-land at Appleford, in the Ifle of Wight, is fubjedl to the
ftaggers : the chief remedy they find is, to drive the fheep to change of
grounds often, to keep the grounds from tainting.

I obferve lambs that die of the fiaggers, do not die of them fo very
voung, as whilft they merely fuck, fuppofe within the fortnight, but after
they begin to eat grafs, and of thofe the hopefulefl and luflieft ; by which
I do conclude, that it is not the cold weather alone that brings the fiaggers,
for then it would fall more on the lambs of a week and a fortnight old than
on others, they being inoft unable to bear it : it arifes therefore from their
feeding on the cold watery grafs in the months of March and April, which
makes them abound with watery humours in their bodies, which the cold
■winds feize on and chill, and bring thofe cramps and aches into their limbs.
It is obferved this difeafe is much prevented by early folding of the lambs,
and with e;ood reafon, for thereby in the cold nights the lambs are kept warm,
and alfo prevented from eating fo much grafs as otherwife they would, where-
by fuch watery humours are fed. — Quaere, whether our cold country may
be proper for fatting of lambs till towards May, when the fun has got a full

f"""^ 'i. 8. I.

Difeafes in S H E E P and L A M B S. 339

§. 8. In opening the flneep's fliull for the giddinefs, it maybe difcovered The gid, or
where the bag of water lies, by the thinnefs and foftnefs of the fkull, and S'^^'nefd.
fo to know in what place to open it, for it will bend under one's finger.—
A farmer at Upcern told me, if the bladder lay under the horn, there was
no coming at it.

I am informed alfo, that the bladder under the horn or flcull, which makes
beafts giddy, never falls upon any fheep above the age of a hog or a thief;
nor upon any bullock after two years old.

§.9. Some years the Iheep will be apt to be taken with a difeafe they of the (ha-
call the fliaking ; fome farms are more fabjedl to it than others : it is a kii'S-
weaknefs which feizes their hinder quarters, fo that they cannot rife up when
they are down : I know no cure for it.

This fhaking, as I obferved, is incident to fome farms, infomuch as fome
years an hundred of a l^ock have died of it : neither Mr. Oxenbridge, Nat.
Ryalls, nor Mr. Bifhop's fliepherd knew of any cure for it. — But they
faid that horfes going with flieep are apt to caufe it, and fo are briery
hedge-rows grovi^ing out intp the ground ; but that milch-kine and goats going
with the {heep were good againfi; it. — Farmer Bartlet who rents 800 1. per
annum of Mr. Freek, whofe farm was fubjedt to it, would pick out a fheep
prefently that had it.

§. ID. Mr. Lewis of Broughton informs me, the floeep of that fide of Of blindnefs,
Witfhire are not fubjedl to the fhaking, nor to the white fcouring : as for ''^"'^ °f '^^
the green fcouring, either in (heep or bullocks, he fays, verjuice is beyond fng^"
the oak-bark, and a more certain cure j a wine-glafs full is. enough for a
flieep, and a pint for a bullock. — He fays, that about his part of Wiltfliire,
the flieep are troubled with a blindnefs 3 their cure is anointing their eyes
with goofe-dung.

§. 1 1. Mr. Bifliop's fliepherd fays, he can prefently fee if any of his flieep The over:
are fick by the dulnefs of their countenances, and their looking fl:ill forwards : fhTblood.
but he knows of nothing to give them in fuch cafe, unlefs when they are
fick with the overflowing of the blood, which is about Michaelmafs ;
it comes from high feeding, and a quick flioot of the grafs, and then he
bleeds them either in the eye-vein or the tail-vein, and takes more or lefs
blood from them, as they feem to be more or lefs infed:ed. — When he bleeds
them in the tail-vein, he lets it bleed till the blood flanches of itfelf : but
when he has a mind to ft:op the eye-vein, it is only holding his thumb on it

a little while. He fays, he approves of bleeding them in the eye-vein, but

he never knew any body to do it but himfelf.

I afked him again about his bleeding his flieep in the eye-vein and the
tail-vein for the overflowing of the blood about Michaelmafs ; for another
fliepherd had faid, he only knew the hog-flieep to be fubjeil to it : but
the fliepherd fays, it is true, the hogs are mofl: fubjecft to it, and apt many
times about Michaelmas to die of it j but yet he fays, the ewes and weathers
■will fometimes have it.

X X 2 §• 12. The

340

Difeafes In SHEEP and LAMBS.

Offcourin^. §. 12. The fheep in this country about Crux-Eafton are little troubled

with fcourings. 1 afked my (hepherd how that diftemper came; he faid,

by a quick flioot of the grafs in the firft hand of the fpring; but it was
eafily cured ; for, when they found it, they brought them to their hay
again, and that flopped it: but he faid, in the vallies, and fome- places
where the weed grunfel grows, the flieep are much troubled with it.

I {"hewed an experienced farmer a lamb which fcoured, having had no
vent but what the fhepherd cut. — He faid, by all means, if it can live;
fat it off; for he never knew fuch a lamb live to be a fheep ; it would al-
ways need frelli cutting and opening.

Mr. Smith, of Deadhoufe, fays, that broad-clover is more apt to fcour
fheep or other cattle than hop-clover is, and that they are both more apt to
fcour than natural grafs, and confequently not fo proper as other grafs to
raife a beafl: or a. ilieep in fat ; that a beaft, cow, or fheep, if they fcour
but one day, will lofe more flefh than they can get again in a fort-
night; that, when, flieep or lambs fcour, if you cut off the ends of
their tails, it will ftop the fcouring, fo that they will fcour no more that
feafon .
\'ide Difeafes I told Mr. Bifliop of Dorfetfhlre, of the rind of the oak that lay under
ancowsand the bark, to cure the fcouring of flieep : he knew nothing of it, but faid,
i-ves, §. 9. ^j^^ diftemper came from a quick growing of the grafs in the fpring, and
that they looked on it that their fheep would not thrive in the fore
hand of the year till they had had it ; but that fcouring at other times of the
year was mortal, and that he knew of no cure for it ; and that their fcourings
then v/ould be of a nafty white fort of matter.

His fliepherd fays, all flieep will have the fkenting in the fpring ; if they
have it in the winter they look on it as unfeafonable: the white fkenting or
fcouring is very rare in fheep ; it happens oftener to the lambs, and very
feldom are they recovered of it : he knew a lamb of their flock, he fays,
recover of it lafl year, (anno 1696) but when they do, they will afterward
peel all over.

When I- told Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's fliepherd, that verjuice was good to
give hearts for the fcouring : he faid, he did not think fo well of that way,
either for flieep or cows, as to give a purge : in fuch cafe, he fays, he gives
one groat's -worth of cream of tartar, two penny-worth of aloes, a penny-
worth of fennigreek-feed, a penny-worth of turmerick, or a farthing or half
penny-worth of long pepper in a quart of warm ale, for a cow ; but of thefe
ingredients, mixt together, and put into fuch a quantity of ale, he would not
give a flieep above two fpoonfuls.

§. 13. One of the chief diftempers in fheep is the red-water, of which

water. Vide.'^ot one in a hundred ever recovers: it is thought to come by feeding on four

ped-water in grafs ; if it feizes on a fat fheep it will be worth nothing but the fkin, for, if

'^thet^t 1 y°^ '"^"'^ ^^^ ^^"'^ ^°^ ^^^ tallow, it will ftink all over the houfe in a ftrange

' manner : this diftemper is aptefl to feize on thofe fheep and lambs that arg

befl in proof.

I afked

Difeafes in S H E E P and L A M B S. 34J

I aflced a farmer in my neighbourhood, who keeps a very large flock of
fheep, and has had long experience in them, what he thought to be the oc-
eafion of the red-water; he anfwered, a quick growing of the grafs in the
fpring, and a too quick thriving of the flieep upon it, but he admitted it not
to be curable. An old and very underflanding fhepherd afterwards affured
me, that it came only on the fheep when they were out of condition, and
weak, and fell fii'fi: on the fpring-grafs, efpecially if it were four. — He faid,
before it is long gone they are eafily cured by giving them the infide rind of
the bark of oak, but as for hay, when they are in that weak condition, they
will not eat it. — Three or four little pieces will do, if one makes them chew
and fwallow it: he fays, the chewing it has often flopped a loofenefs with
him.

I had much difcourfe with an Irhhman (anno 1700) who feemed very
fenfible in hufbandry, and talking with him about the difeafes in flieep, he
aflced me, if I knew any cure for the red-water ; 1 faid, no, I thought it in-
curable.— He faid, in Ireland they had of late found out a remedy, which
cured many though not all ; it is as follows ; when you find the llieep's breath
to ftink, which will fhew itfelf in the red- water, take two quarts of brandy,
and two gallons of tanner's owze, that is, the liquor out of the tan-pit, with-
tlie lime bark, and the wafliings of the ikins in it, and mix the brandy and
tliis liquor together ; then take a hen's egg and blow it, and take off the top
of the fhell, and fill it with the liquor, and put it into the horn ; this is the
quantity to be given to each flieep, but if a fheep be very weak, then leffen
the quantity ; though the medicine be not infaUible, he has cured, he fays,
many in his flock with it.

With us they ufually give the flieep the following drench for the red-water,
or rather to prevent it. If it be Tor a fcore of hog-fl:ieep, then about this pro-
portion, a fpoonful of bole-armoniac, a fpoonful of the powder of ginger, a
handful of rue, a handful of red fage, and about a quart of water to be boiled
to a pint, give three fpoonfuls to each flieep.

Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's fhepherd fays, to prevent the red-water in flieep, jj ^^^ ^f,
he always bleeds them twice a year in the tail-vein, at Michaelmafs, and in blinduefs.
the fpring, and two or three times in each feafon, bleeding them as he fees
occafion, that is, as they feem more or lefs to rife in proof: he takes four cr
five fpoonfuls of blood at a time, from his whole flock round : he prefers
bleeding in the tail to the eye-vein, both for the red-v/ater, and the fliaking,
which his fheep are fubjed: to. — But he confeffes, for the red-water, when it
has feized on the fheep, he knows no cure. — He fays, garlick fteeped in new
milk is faid to be extreme good to prevent the red- water, given twice or
thrice, a fpoonful at a time. — Sir Ambrofe's flieep, he tells me, are troubled
much with blindnefs, which begins after the flicaring-time; they have a white
film over their eyes : he cures'them, he fays, with eye-water made of allum
and vinegar.

§.14. Com-

142

Difeafes in SHEEP and LAMBS.

Oftheftone, §. 14. Common dog- grafs, quick-grafs, or couch-grafs, ' Mr. Ray fays, is
a cure for flieep and black cattle when they are afflidled with the ftone, which
they are apt to be in the winter and fpring. He quotes Fran, de la Boe, and
Glillon for his authority ; but I muft enquire farther of this, for neither the
Rei rufticx fcriptores, nor Worlidge, nor Markham, do obferve in oxen or
flieep fuch a diftemper as the ftone. — My fhepherd fays, he has known a
white round ftone in the neck of a fheep's bladder, of which it died.
Oi' biindnefs. §. 1 5. My fhepherd came to me in July (anno 1701) and told me, I muft
get better grafs for my ftieep, for a great many of the lambs w^ere blind or
growing to be fo : he faid, a fcum grew over their eyes, which, as he had
obferved, ufually happened at this time of the year, in cafe they pitched, or
funk in flefli by fhort commons ; and that my weather-lambs were moft fub-
jeft to it. — I told him that might be becaufe they were but lately cut, fo they
muft be fubje£t to fmk on that account. — He faid, that might be fomething,
but when the grief of that was over, it was the fame as before ; but ewe-
lamb?, and cwe-hog-lambs, and ewe-hog-flieep, and old ewes, were hardier
than the weather-fort, and would bear the winter better. — I afked him, if there
was not fome other caufe of their growing blind, for I had heard of others ;
he faid, yes, he knew of one more, and that was all ; in wet and growing
years, when the fheep fared fo well that they could not keep the bennets
down, they would be apt to get into their eyes, and blind them for fome time.
— Note, if the ewes be the ftronger and hardier conftitutioned creatures than
the weather-kind, this gives fome account why the ewe-fold fliould be better
than the weather- fold, that is, manure the land better.

Sheep's eyes will often run with water, and be blind by feeding too much
in the wheat-ftubble : the caufe is, the wheat-ftubble runs into their eyes.—
This I have heard (hepherds fay before, and my fliepherd affures me it is
true.

Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's fliepherd agrees that goofe-dung is good for biind-
nefs in flieep.
• Cuttle-bone. In the Ifle of Harries, the natives pulverize the * fepia;, which is found
on the fand in great quantities, with which they take oft' the film on the eyes
of ftieep. Martin of the Weftern Ifles, fol. 38.

A quantity of wild fage being chewed between one's teeth, and put into
the ears of cows or ftietp that are blind, they are thereby cured, and their
fight perfedlly reftored ; of which there are many fredi inftances, both in
Skie, and Harries iflands by perfons of great integrity. Martin, fo. 181. —Wild
fage choped fmall, and given to horfes with their cats, kills worms, ib. 182.
Theloore. §• 1 6. The ftieep near Loughborough are mightily troubled with the

\ id. the loore loore Of forencfs of the claws, and fo are the cowS] fometimes an hundred

meows and ^^^p

calves. Sx,

* Oves & boves czlculis vexati in hyeme & vemo tempore liberantur a recent! gramine canino.

Ex Obferv. Fran, de la Boe, p. 300. Idem jampridem obfcnavit dominus Gliffonius. Ray,

lib. 2, fol. 1255.

Difeafes in SHEEP and LAMBS.

343

fheep in a flock fliall be down together, and fo troubled with it that they wilt
be forced to feed on their knees ; and many times the cows, for want of good
management, never recover it, but continue always lame, and grow club-
footed : vcrdigreafe and hog's-lard is a good medicine for it ; and fome ufe
aqua-fortis for it.

For the fowle or loore in cattle, the beft method is to take two penny-
worth of allum, two penny-worth of arfenic, one pint of wine-vinegar, and
two quarts of fpring-water ; boil the water till it is half gone, then pound
the powders fmall, and boil all together. — This diftemper breaks out between
the claws of a beaft or a {heep, with rottennefs and ftink : before you-
drefs the fore, you muft pare the claw fo far as it is hollow, then put fo
much of the liquor as will run all over the fore ; the foot muft be dry when
it is dreffed, and kept fo an hour : in once or twice dreffing you need not
doubt of a cure.

§. 17. I faw Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's {hepherd drefs the fcabs in his fheep. The fcaK
and he lliewed me how to know where the fcab was not killed after dreffing ;
for where the fcab was alive, there in the dreffing and rubbing it would itch,
which would make the flieep mump and nibble with their lips : he faid, it
was not good to let the {heep-water be too ftrong, it was better to have it of
a moderate ftrength, and to drefs the fame flieep twice, than to think to kill
the fcab at once, efpecially if the flieep be pretty far gene with it; for it will
make them grievous fore : the flieep, he faid, had the fcab very much when
he came firfl; to Sir Ambrofe's, and he thought to cure them the fooner by
making the water ftrong, but he harmed them by it ; for it made fome of
them fo fore, that for three days and nights together they would lie down,
and only feed round about them without rifing. His flieep-water is made of
tobacco, and the liquor of falt-beef, and fometimes he puts foap-fuds to it.

I told a Leicefterfliire farmer, I obferved two or three of his flieep to break
out, and grow fcabby on the back. — He faid, it was true; but he dared not
to meddle with them then, it being in January (anno 1698) becaufe they were
big with lamb, for fear of fquatting their lambs.

An old fliepherd of Derby fliire told me in September 1697, there was lately
difcovered a better medicine for the fcab in flieep, than tobacco, and fait, and
the murrain-berry root, viz. " a quart of fpring-water with about half an ounce
of quick-filver in it, boiled to a pint ; and once anointing of the fcab with it
would cure it.

The gundy or foulnefs of the tail, flioulder, or breaft in a flieep, is a fort
of itch that comes with over-heating by over-driving, or double folding them,
and to rams, by heating ihemfclves with the ewes : it is cured by dreffing
with flieep-water, made of tobacco, fait, and murrain-berry root, boiled in
human urine, or water three or four hours : half a peck of fait, and three

pounds-

* A gentleman of Hertfordfhire communicated to me the following remedy for the fcab, which,
he fays, has been ufed with Cf>od fuccefs in that country. An ounce of white mercury, and two
ounces of ftone-vitriol ; diflblve thefe in three (]l"^'^ o^ water boiled in a glazed eaithen got, and
wafli tlie part affeded with tins liquor.

344 Difeafes in SHEEP and LAMBS.

pounds of tobacco, and a hatful! of roots to a barrel of water or urine, — If
it runs on after Michaelmafs, when wet weather comes, it is hardly to be cured
all the year, nor is it to be Avaflied in v/et weather. — The good quality of a
fhepherd is, to difcover this diftemper ere the wool be broke by it.

Mr. Bifhop's fliepherd fays, when the gundy or fcab in fheep firft appears,
it is a boyl no bigger than the top of one's finger, and may be difcovered in a
Ilieep by it's {landing ftill, and wriggling, as if feeling after the itch.

When my fliepherd ufes the fheep-water to kill the fcab, he (hears off the
loofe wool they have raifed with rubbing, by clipping it as fliort as the other
wool, that by the breaking of it again, he may know whether the fcab be
cured or not.

He fays, nothing will fooner give ftieep the fcab, or breaking out, than
hunting them on nights, and heating them before they are folded ; whereas,
on the other hand, before the ewes are half gone with lamb, or when they
are not with lamb, nothing is better, when they are turned out of the fold in
the morning, than to drive them a little ; it will fet them which liave any
ftoppage on coughing, whereby they will force the phlegm through their
noftrils.
Themaggot. §. 1 8. Sir Ambrofe Phlllipps's fhepherd, for the maggot, lays the juice of
elder, and the juice of arfe-fmart to the fore.

In difcourfing with an old fliepherd about the maggots in flieep, it being
in July (anno 1697) he faid, if they fell upon the back, or woolly part of
the flieep, a good fliepherd would be careful of the wool, and not cut it off,
but take the maggot out, and rub bruifed hemlock, or bruifed elder upon it,
and all over the body upon the wool, which would keep off the flics. — An
hour after difcourfing farmer Elton's flbepherd, he faid the fame, and farther,
that, if the maggot was in the tail, he would cut it out, and rub hemlock and
elder upon it, but not tar the tail. — I told him, I had feen the tail tarred: he
faid, then it was by a young fliepherd that underfliood not his bufinefs ; for
it would not come out, but fpoiled the fale of the wool.— He faid, the plains
were little troubled with the maggot, the flies feldom coming there. — After-
wards difcourfing with a third fliepherd, he faid, at this time of the year,
and after fliearing-time, he ufed tar to the tails, for the maggot, but not
before fhearing-time, for, faid he, it would now wafli out again by the
weather.

If a flieep has the maggot, it will be fick and pine, and creep into the
hedo-es : the cure is fallad-oil, or frefli butter mixed with tar, and made into
an ointment.

My fhepherd was faying, that an ewe-fold required more trouble and care
to look after it than a weather-fold did.— I afls:ed him, why; he faid, ewes and
lambs were much more fubjedl to the flics and worms than weathers were ;
becaufe ewes could not be fhcared fo clofe as weathers, on account of their
teats ; and ewes and lambs were more fubjedt to fcour than weathers.
Of lice. §. 19. Mr. Bifhop's fhepherd told me, that it was natural to fome fheep to

be loufy, let them be never fo well kept, but poverty would gready increafe

the

Difeafes in SHEEP and LAMBS. 345

the lice : if a {heep was fubjedt to be loufy, they ufually put fuch away,
though otherwife never fuch good (heep ; for it was odds but their lambs
would be fubje(£t to it too.

He added, it was eafy to fee whether flieep were either fcabbed, or loufy,
or not } for the fcab, when it firfl appears, pitches in one fingle patch, from
which the flieep will rub, or bite off the wool: but when they have lice,
fheep will be raifing and thinning their wool, by rubbing their horns on it,
and biting it off in many places : the befl: thing he knows of to kill the lice,
he fays, is goofe-greafe ; and to cure one flieep will take a quarter of a
pound.

In fliearing-time, I obferved many lice in the flieep j and I was told, that,
if thofe flieep were flieared, fo that the crows and magpyes could come at the
lice, the flieep would in a week's time be rid of them.

It being an extreme wet winter (anno 1707) wherein we had fcarce any
frofl; ; I obferved to my fliepherd, that the wool of my flieep fliared very
much. — He faid, that was occafioned by their fucking their wool, by reafon
of their lice, with which this winter had filled them full -, for, faid he, it is
vvet that breeds lice, and makes them increafe, nor is it to any purpofe to
fearch their fleeces, or to medicine them, to kill the lice, till diy weather
comes, becaufe the rains will continually wafli away the medicine ; whereas,
when fpring and dry weather comes, it will put a flop to the progrefs of the
growth of the lice, and then the medicines will eafily exert their virtue. — So
that I perceive the winter rrionths are the great breeders of lice in flieep.

§. 20. Riding in a furzy and ferny ground of farmer Stephens's, with him Of adders bit-
and farmer Sartain, I told farmer Stephens the ground was only fit for flieep. '"S ^-^^P-
n — He faid, the grafs was fit, but the ground did breed fo many adders, that
he did not care to venture flieep- there in fummer time, for one fummer he
loft a fcore out of threefcore, by the adders biting them : he fiid, it was the *
udder-flank, or throat, that they ufually bit the flieep in, and that the place
would look black, but they could not recover them by any ointments. — Far-
mer Sartain faid, they had fuch a ground by Broughton, which would do the
fame : they agreed that cov/-cattle and horfes were not fo liable to this niifchief
as flieep were, becaufe in hot weather it is the nature of flieep to rife up often,
and then run a few yards and lie down again, as alfo to run with their nofes
low to the ground : it is probable the hides of the great cattle being thicker
than the hides of the flieep, the teeth of thefe venomous creatures have fel-
dom force enough to enter •".

§.21. I had an ewe in June (anno 1701) that broke out moft miferably of {heep lark,
about her eyes, and had a watery running, with a fwelling, with which flie fparred.j
was blind, and continued fo for fix weeks : we could not imagine v/hat was
the matter with her,— My fliepherd faid, he believed flie was hrk-fpurred.

I aflccd, what that was ; he faid, at this time of the year, when

the larks build their nefts, if a flieep fhould come fo near to a lark's

* Note,— to bath the psrt with fallad oil is now a known cure for the bite of an adder,

Yy nefl

34^ HORSES.

neft as to tread on it, the lark will fly out, and fpur at the fheep, and, if the
fpur made a fcratch any where on the eye or nofe, it was perfedl poifon, ai,d
would rankle in luch manner as this ewe's eye did: this, faid he, is certainly
true, and other fhepherds would tell me the fame ''.

Of HORSES.

§. I. ^" I ^ H E Latin writers have given us fome few rules concerning the
J[ breeding and choice of horfes, but, the greater part of them re-
lating to thofe that were defigned for the war, or the chariot-race, fuch obfer-
vations can afford but fmall inftrudlion to the farmer, and I might, it will be faid,
have fpared myfelf the trouble of tranflating or tranfcribing them. It may
however be agreeable to many of my readers to be acquainted with what little
they have told us of their method of treating thefe creatures, and with what
were efteemed perfedlions among them ; add, that fome of thefe perfedtions
may be required even in the draught-horfe, and perhaps the more he par-
takes of them it may render him the more valuable. — Columella, in his rules
for breeding horfes, diredls, that the ftaUion be pampered, and kept high with
food ; that he cover not lefs than fifteen, nor more than twenty mares in a
feafon (but this, fays Palladius, muft be regulated by judgment, according to
the ftrength of the ftallion, who will laft the longer in proportion as he is
lefs drained :) a young ftallion (hould not cover above twelve or fifteen mares
at flirtheft ; that he be not fuffered to cover before he is three years old (not
till he be compleat four, fays Palladius) and he will laft very well to his
twentieth year. — If the mare caft her foal, or fhould foal with difficulty, he
prefcribes a drench of polypodium, bruifed, and mixed with warm water; but,
if fhe brings forth eafdy, he particularly cautions us by no means to affift the
birth with our hands (nor handle the young for fome time after they are
brought forth, fays Palladius) as the leaft touch may be an injury to the foal.
The mare fhould not take horfe till flie is two years old, nor after fhe is
ten i for when paft that age fhe will bring a weak and unprofitable breed : in
this he agrees with Varro. She fhould not be fuffered to breed oftener than
every other year, that fhe may keep her milk the longer to bring up her foal,
which fliould fuck two years. — Colts ought not to be broke till they are two
years old, according to Palladius (but Varro fays, till they are turned of three ;
if for domeftic ufes, fays Columella, at two years old, if for the race. Sec. not
till after three.) He orders horfes to be cut in the month of March, which
he alfo fays is the proper month for covering, but Varro, fpeaking of the
latter, fays, any time between the vernal equinox and the fummer fblftice.
' According to thefe writers, if you intend your horfe for a ftallion, you

fhould

* See the author's Obfen^ations on wool.

' Equos ad admiffuram quos veils habere, legere oportet ampio corpore, formofos, nulla parte
corporis inter fe non congruenti, Varro.— Cum vero natus efl pullus, confellim licet indolem aefti-

HORSES. 347

ftiould endeavour to procure one that is full fized, beautiful, and well propor-
tioned. His nature and difpofition, even when a foal, may be foon dif-
covered, by his livelinefs and intrepidity ; by his betraying no fear at the fight
or found of things he is unaccuftomed to ; by his being the leader of his com-
pany, more wanton and playful than the reft, and fometimes making trial of
his fpeed with them, and excelling them in the race ; by his leaping the ditch,
paffing the bridge, or plunging into the ftream without hefitation : all thefe
are prefages of a generous and noble fpirit. — His make and fliape fliould be as
follows ; — his head of the fmaller fize, and lean, the fkin juft covering the
bone; his ears little, picked, upright, and clofc to his head; his eyes black
and large ; his noftrils wide ; his neck deep, and not over-long, with a thick
dark-coloured mane flowing on the right fide ; his bofom deeply fpreading,
and very mufcular ; his fhoulders large and ftrait j his fides rounding inward ;
his back-bone broad, and, as it were, double, but at leaft not prominent ; his
belly of a moderate fize ; his loins broad, and Hoping downward ; his buttocks
round ; the mufcles of his thighs vifibly numerous and protuberant ; his legs
ftrait and equal ; his knees round, not big, nor turning towards each other ;
his foot neat and firm, hollow hoofed, and not low heeled, with a fmall co-
ronet on the top of it; his tail long, full, and wavy ; his whole body large and
compadl ; his height proportioned to his ftrength ; of fo manageable a temper,
as to ftart forth at once on the leaft encouragement, and be ftopped without
much difficulty when at full fpeed. — Great regard muft be had to the race
he comes of. — Palladius has added alfo a lift of the colours they moft approved;
but we choofe, fays he, a ftallion of one true colour, and rejeft the reft, ex-
cept a multitude of other perfedlions atone for this defed:. ""I have only one

obfer-

mare, fi hilaris, fi intrepWus, fi neque confpe£tu, novseque rei auditu tciretur, fi ante gregem pro-
currit, fi lafcivia & alacritate, interdum & curfu certans asquales exfuperat ; fi foffain fine cunftatione
tranfiliit, pontem flumenque tranfcendit : ha;c erunt honefti animi documenta. — In forma hoc fe-
quemur ; ut fit exiguum caput & ficcum, pelle propemodum foils offibus adhaerente, Palladius ;—
brevibus auriculis, argutis, arre£tis, applicatis ; Var. Columella, Pallad. — nigris oculis, Col. &
magnis, Pal. naribus apertis ; cervice lata nee longa ; densa juba, (& fufca, Var.) & per dextram
partem profusa, (late patent!. Pal.) & mufculorum toris numerofo pectore ; grandibus armis &:
re<£lis ; lateribus inflexis ; fpina duplici, (fin minus non extanti; ventre medico, Var.) latis lumbis
& fubfidentibus, (deorfum verfum preflis, Var.) rotundis clunibus ; feminibus torofis ac numerofis,
Col. cruribus reftis & sequalibus ; genibus rotundis, ne magnis, nee introrfus fpeftantibus, Var.
pede ficco & folido, & cornu concave altius calceato. Pal. cui corn.^i mediocris fuperpofita fit;
Cauda longa & fetosa crifpaque, Col. vaftum corpus & folidum ; robori conveniens altitudo ;
mores, ut vel ex fumma quiete facile concltetur, vel ex incitata feftinatione non difficile teneatur.
Pal. de ftirpe magni intereft qua fit, Var.

^ ' Primus & ire viam, » & fluvios tcntare minaces
Audet, 3 & ignoto fefe committere ponti ;
4 Nee vanos horret ftrepitus. — Illi ardua cervix,
* Argutumque caput, * brevis alvus, "< obefaque terga ;

Luxuriatque toris animofum pectus.
' Denfajuba, '" & dextro jadata recumbit in armo : •

[I At duplex agiturper lumbos fpina, — ViRCii-. Gccrg, lib. 3.

Y y 2 ■ ' Ante

34-8 HORSES.

obfervation to add before I clofe this feftlon, which is, that the charadlers of
a fine horfe given us by Virgil and Columella are in fo many particulars the
fame, that the latter undoubtedly copied from the former.

§. 2. The tenth commandment forbids us, to covet our neighbour's ox or
his afs : it is probable the horfe is not mentioned, becaufe there were but few
horfes among the Ifraeiites till Solomon's time. — So alfo, Exod. xiil. ver. 8.
it is appointed for every firftling of an afs to be redeemed ; Bp. Patrick fays,
there was the fame reafon for horfes and camels, but an afs is mentioned, be-
caufe there were plenty of them, though but few of the others.
Of buying ^^ ^^ Mr. Clerk of Leiccfterlhire affures me, that if I buy colts of two

plough! ' ^ years old, I may begin to work them gently in the plough, and at harrowing-
time : and that, if 1 laid out twelve pounds, which he would advife me to
do, rather than but ten pounds on a colt, by the time he came three years
old, he would very well earn his meat. — This, he faid, was the pradtice of all
Northamptonfhire, viz. to buy their colts at that age, and by the time they

came four, to fell them off for the coach. He allured me, they would be

prefently gentle, by being wrought two or three times with other horfes j
and that their food (hould be oats in the ftraw, and barley in the ftraw.

He fays, that colts of two years old will very well do two, or three days
work in the week at the plough, and at harrowing ; but in Leicefterfhire they
do not plough fo hard as with us in Hampfliire.

* Antegregem procurrit, '■ pontcm ' flumenque tranfcendit, 4 neque confpedlu novsequc rei audita
terrctur. — ' Exiguum caput, * fubftridtus venter, i lati lunibi, * mufculorum toiis numerofum peflus,
» denfa juba, " & per dextram partem profufa, " fpina duplex. Columella.

• Thefirft to lead the way, * to tempt the flood,

* To pafs the bridge unknown.

■» Dauntlefs at empty noifes ; lofty-neck'd,
'Sharp-headed, * barrel-bellied, '' broadly-back'd ;
' Brawny his chert, and deep.

' On his right {houlder his '• thick mane reclin'd
Ruffles at fpeed, and dances in the wind.
" His chine is double. Mr. Dryden's Tranflation of the third Geor.

The above chara<3ers given us by Varro, Columella, Palladius, and Virgil, according to our author's
remark, feem principally to relate to thofe horfes that were defigned either for the manage or the
chariot-race ; obferving however that thefe characters are not fufficiently difliinguifhed, but too
much blended with each other, he has taken from all of them together what he thought made a pro-
per and uniform portrait of a fine horfe, in which, it appears to me, he has an eye to the war- horfe
only. — The like want of precifenefs in diftinguiftiing one kind from another, was perhaps a fault
not uncommon among the antientwriters on hufbandr)', and may particularly be feen in Varro, who,
under the article — de Bubus & Vaccis — has given us a defcription that, taken in the whole, is
fuitable to neither ox, bull, nor cow, but hasfomewhat that relates feparately to every one of them,
at leaft in the judgment of our prefent graziers, and dairy-men. I know no one that has diftinflly
charafterizcd the various forts of horfes, excepting it be our countryman Mr. Dodfley, who, in his
Poem on agriculture, having firft fpokenof thofe that are proper for the draught, and the roaJ, has
fo well defcribed the hunter, and the war-horfe, that, if Mr. Lifle's book were not intended merely
for inflruftion, I fhould have been tempted to have inferted fome lines of it in this note, for the
reader's entertainment ; I take the occafion however of recommending it to him, as, I think, it has
been left taken notice of than it deferves, and as I wifh the author may find encouragement to
purfue his plan, and oblige the public with the two remaining books he at firft propofed.

3 §.4. Being

HORSES. 349

§.4. Being at Appleford in the Ifle of Wight (anno 171 1) farmer Far- Of l^efping

... -.. .. .- . --. -. marc:s t-^

breed.

thing was fpeaking of his mares, that he chofe rather, for fake of breed, to "'^"'^ '°''

keep them than geldings, and that he had a ftaliion for that purpofe, which
went in his team. — I afked him, how he could manage that matter fo as to
keep his ftone-horfe quiet, and free from unluckinefs, and within inclofures j
hefaid, he kept no geldings j for whenever a gelding came into the field or
the ftable with the mares, the ftone-horfe would immediately be biting
the mares, and kicking the geldings, but would go as gentle as poffible
with the mares by themfelves : then, faid he, that he may not break over
hedges, we always fetter him with a mare, and fo he will be eafy. — I replied,
if he went with the mares, he would be apt to fpoil the mare he went with,
by leaping the other mares, which would endanger the putting out the
flioulder of the mare with which he was fettered. — He faid, he made the
links {^o long that there was no danger of that ; for the flallion often leaped
other mares in the field, whilft he was fettered to a mare, without any incon-
veniency.

It is profitable to keep mares for foaling : the only inconveniency in them
is, that their foals mufl: come in March or April, or be worth but little ; and
then fuch mares can do but little fervice in barley-feed-time : but afterwards
you may work them as much as the other horfes.

§. 5, I bought colts of two and three years old, and put them into the woods, ofkeepmg
from whence they broke out andflrayed : the farmer faid, I fhould have kept colts in woods,
them in the meadows till they had been acquainted, before I had turned them
into the woods — I replied, it being then the beginning of December (anno
1700) that the meadows would have made them fo fweet-mouthed, they
would not have endured the woods. — The farmer faid, the meadows at that
time of the year would not rnake them fine-mouthed, but he granted the
hop-clover grounds would.

§. 6. I was faying to farmer Parfons of Northamptonfliire, that I intended of keeping
to keep mares, and to breed: this was anno 1701. — Pie cautioned me not to '"a"'" for
do as many did, viz. keep up the foals from the mares, and only let them fuck J^\^^ ' ^^^ °^
morning and night, before the mares go to, and when thej' come from work :
this will fpoil both the mare and the foal ; for the mare will fret, and her
milk being pent up will over-heat, and that will furfeit her foal : whereas a
mare fliould do very httle work, but go with her foal at grafs, till the foal is
fit to go after the mare, and then it is beft for the foal to follow the mare
at work, and to fuck a litde at times. ' Columella in part lays down the
fame rule.

§. 7. If your grounds are bounded with good hedges and ditches, it may be Of keeping
convenient to keep a few colts to eat up the offal hay, the wafle and offal of <=°''^*
the fl;ieep.

' Cclumella fpeaking of fucking colts, fays, cum firmior erlt, in eadem pafcua, in quibus mater
eft, dimittendus, ne defiderio partus fui laboret equa ; nam id praecipue genus pecudis amorenatorum,
nifi fiat poteftas, noxam trahit. — Therefore it feems farmers allow the fucking colts to follow tl.e
the mares by their fides in carting.

§. 8. it

350 HORSES.

Profit from §. 8. It would be no paradox to aflert, that, whereas a brace of faddle-
horie-dung, geldings at London, cannot be kept for lefs than 50 1. per annnm, yet the fame
geldings, in the country, may, by a gentleman, who keeps lands in his own
hands, be kept in a manner for nothing : or in other words, every horfe in
the country is worthy of his meat. Two geldings will gi\'e twenty-four
load of dung in the year, which will nobly dung an acre of ground ; this
acre, modeftly fpeaking, will bring four crops, equivalent to four quarters of
oats per acre per annum, and a new acre is to be dunged yearly, fo there will
foon be the produce of four acres yearly, to be accounted for in the fame
proportion, for the maintenance of thefe two horfes ; and will alfo pay for
the rent of the ground, feed, and ploughing, for three bufliels per week
will maintain them. And the like computation for the yearly produce of
four acres of clover, enriched by the manure, fliall nobly maintain your two
horfes in hay and grafs. — In the fame manner may the bread-corn for a fa-
mily be provided for almoft nothing : for, in my family, that fpends a
bulhel and an half of wheat in a dav, and burns ten chaldron of coals per
annum, befides wood, I have from thence at leaft twelve dung-pot loads of
aflies in the year ; and from garbage and dull, and wafhing of the kitchen,
brew-houfe, and milk-houfe, at leaft twelve loads more, which is yearly
noble manure for one acre, each of which acres will, modeftly computed,
produce equivalent, for four vears, to fixteen bufliels of wheat per acre, and
four times fixteen is fixrv-four bufliels. — Your grains alfo, and your pot- liquor
devoured by the pigs, produce fome loads of dung, nor ought the pigeon-
dung to be flighted And the fown-grafl'es in each acre holding two years,

eight acres of grafs are yearly to be accounted for on the fcore of the manure
arifing from the two horfes, and eight acres on the fcore of the houfe-
manure, in all fixteen acres, four of which will provide hay for the two
horfes, another four acres will fat forty-eight flieep, that is, fix flieep per
acre, twice in the year, and the other eight acres will fat twelve cows for
the houle.
©f pafture for §. g. In our cold hiU-country we ought always to have a confidei-ation to
■ ^ the pafture-grounds we referve for our cart-horfes in fummer, fo as to be
able at leaft to allot pafturage for them under good fhelter, in cold, windy,
or rainy nights ; for warmth at iuch times is of as much regard as their food.
Of barley for §• lo- Speaking of the great expence of keeping ftone-horfes in the houfe,
fione-horfes, my bailiff aflurcd me, that ftone-horfes kept in the houfe in barley-feed-time
would not be kept up in flefli by oats, without peas or barley. — I replied, that
I thought barley might give them the fret.— He faid, if it did heat them, as it
would be apt to do, the carters would, unknown to their mafters clap barley
in an old fack into the pond for a night, and take it out early in the morning,
and would give them of this half malted, and it would cool them again : he
faid, in feed-time, when the carters would be giving them barley, it would,
as I faid, heat them, and, when they had been heated, one might perceive
it, by their gnawing and eating the earth w^hen they could come at it.

§. II. I

HORSES. 351

§. r r. I have heard many carters fay, that when a horfe is out of condition, a lean horfe
and hard worked, no quantity of oats will make him thrive; for his work '^^"^ ^°'|_-^'^
will lie fo hard upon him, being out of cafe, that it will keep him low, by corn,
give him what meat you will : but a horfe in cafe may eafily be kept up with
lefs meat, notwithftanding he is worked.

§. 12. Farmer Ifles of Holt, Wilts, aflures me, that peas-ftraw, or Peas-halm for
peas-halm, if well houfed, is the beft and heartieft fodder for cart-horfes, ^y'^f^j^j^g"
beyond barley ftraw, or middling hay, and the horfes will eat it better, nor
does it fcour them, nor give them the fret. — I was furprized at this account,
becaufe in our hill-country we feldom give peas-halm to horfes, nor do the
cow-cattle much care for it, for they will but pick on it a little ; which makes
me fufped:, that, as in other cafes, fo in this, the peas-halm in our cold
hill- country is not fo fweet as in the vale, but of a four juice, and the cattle
will pick but little of it, be it never fo well houfed. — William Sartain fays
the fame, but adds, it will be apt to make horfes, if they be held to it, pifs
high-coloured water.

1 find the ufual method in Leicefterfhire is to give their horfes peas- in Leicefisr-
ftraw, and they care not how little barley or oat-ftraw they give them : they^'f^-
think the peas-ftraw to be more cooling, and more heartning, and lefs bind-
ing than barley-flraw.— They feldom give oats in provender, but peas or
beans mixt with wheat-chaff, or barley-chaff,

I was telling fome of our Hampfliire farmers, that in Leicefterfliire they in H?.nt«.
gave their horfes peas-flraw, and thought there was more flrength in it than
in any ftraw-fodder, and valued it the moft : whereas I obferved, they in
Hampfhire made little efleemof it, and flung it to the dung-heap. — They re-
plied, thattheylookedonittooas a very hearty rtraw, but it was likely that, when
I obferved they flung it away, the year muft have been bad, and it had been
ill houfed ; but, faid they, the flraw as well as the peas, if not well * hinted • weii put up
and dried, are dangerous to give to a horfe, which is the reafon we the fel- together.
domer give it them in this country.

§. 13. Take care to have a good flore of winter-vetches between the lat- Winter vet-
ter end of Augufl and the beginning of November ; for the old flraw being ^^^^\J°^
then gone, and the new not ready, and the grafs almoft at an end, they will
be a great fupport to your horfes.

I obferved in the Ifle of Wight in May (anno 1699') that, after feed-time,
the farmers baited their horfes fometimes with grafs ; for it feems, the fod-
der by that time has but little goodnefs in it. — In our part of Hampfliire,
againfl that time, the farmers ufe to lay up fome winter-vetches and peas for
their horfes, to help out with the drynefs of the flraw, and to give them a
bundle after watering-time, morning and evening: but peas and vetches in
the flraw are by no means counted wholfome till after Candlemafs, when
they have fweated in the mow ; for if they be given fooner, they often give
the horfes the fret ; the drier the peas and vetches are in the flraw it is
counted the better.— They generally referve the greatell part of the peas in

the

zs^

HORSES.

the ftraw till feed-time, and then they give them the horfes, to cool their
bodies after hard working.

To have winter-vetches in reek againfl: barley-feed-time, is as good huf-
bandry as to have them againft the beginning of winter, when there is no
ftraw, and the grafs is pretty near gone j for before barley-feed- time the
flraw is too dry for horfes.
_, §. 14. This year, 1704, was a mighty dry year, and con fequently gore-

vetches, vetches the fafer to be given to horfes : our carters gave our horfes of them
very freely, they being very dry and good, and I had fix acres of them : but
they filled my horfes very full of blood, and one of my coach-horfes fell down
dead in his harnefs ; his blood being a little heated by driving, and too thick
to circulate, burft the vefl'els : therefore to drive them leilurely, if full of
blood, is befi:, and, let the gore-vetches be never fo good, give the horfes
dry meat every third week.
Winter- §. 15. I afked Mr. Bachelour of Afhmonfworth, how it came to pafs, that

vetches.- winter- vetches were not thought proper in the halm, unlefs the weather were
very dry; feeing, if they were well hinted, as mine this year (1700)
were, without taking wet, and had well fweated, I faw not how a wet
day could affcft them ; he replied, that their halm was loofe and fpungy,
and would give in damp weather, though in reek, which would be apt to
give horfes the fret.
Of hay and §. 16. Farmer Knap of Burclear gave his horfes hay and chafi", but no

chaff mixed, f^^aw, and does afl"ure me, that he allowed his horfes winter and fummer
but one bufliel of oats apiece per week, and one bufliel of beans per week
amongfl; fix of them. In the eight winter and fpring months he faved fix
bufliels of oats per week, which comes to twenty- four quarters, and at 14 s.
per quarter, makes 17I. — but then for the four quarters of beans to be dif-
counted for at 20 s, per quarter, the oats faved will be but 13 I. — The hay
the fix horfes will eat in the eight months will be twelve loads, which can-
not be valued at lefs than 18 1. — So that this way of farmer Knap's is worfe
by 5 I. per annum, than the common allowanee of oats with flraw, only he
has faved all his ftraw, which cannot be worth much more than 5 1. — There-
fore this way of farmer Knap's feems to be a proper fort of hufbandry in the
vale, where hay is plenty, and their land too good for oats ; for farmers are
very unwilling to buy oats, though they come cheaper than hay, but always
make the product of their own farm ferve all occafions : thus few farmers
will buy beans for their horfes at the fame price they may fell oats : it is alfo
a good way, where, in the hill-country, a farm grows more french-grafs-
hay than the farmer can get chapmen for.
Of feeJine §• ^7* ^'^^^ being very dry in April (anno 1707), I thought it would be

horfes with cheaper to feed my horfes with barley ; fo I propofed it to my carters : but
barley. ^j^gy ^vere all againft it, and faid, the time of the year for that was over ; for,

if I gave them it during the fummer, it would heat them too much ; the
feafon for that was in the winter. — But quaere why they give horfes barley
in the hot countries.

§. 18. In

HORSES. ^e.

§. 18. In difcourfe about feeding of plough-horfes, feveral farmers allowed Of feeding
dry peas or vetches to be very hearty and wholfome for them, provided they '^°ff"with
had fvveat well in the mow, otherwife very improper. — And one of them tlidlT. ^"'^
afferted, that four bufhels of peas, mixt with oats, would go as far as a
quarter of oats.

§. 19. In Leicefterfliire they hold it very improper to give horfes chaff and With chaff
oats together ; for with the chaff they will be apt to fwallow the oats ■''"'^ °^"
whole. ^"'■^''^•

§. 20. The Loughborough carrier gives his horfes no oats, and but very With beans
little hay : he gives them, when at Loughborough, oat-hulls and beans • '"'"'^ oa'-Jiu!Is.
viz. after the proportion of a peck of beans to a bufliel of hulls : a quarter
of a peck of beans to a peck of hulls he thinks enough for one ho:fe at a
time : he fays, with this feed, when at Loughborough, feven or eio-ht
horfes, from Friday-noon to Tuefday-noon will eat him up but three, or
four hundred pound weight of hay, which is at mofl but fixteen todd : his
oat-hulls coft him 2d. per bufliel : fo then, if a plough-horfe has two baits
in the day, he will eat half a peck of beans, which at 6 s. per bufliel, will
come to gd. — and the hulls a penny.

§.21. At London the laid carrier gives his horfes only beans and bran j V/ith beans
viz. a bufhel of beans to two buOiels of bran : but there he wives them ^"'^ '^''^"'
hay, becaule he mufl: pay for it, whether they eat any or not.

§. 22. In carting of peas in harvefl:, horfes fliould be kept from eating New pew
them J they are apt to give them the fret. gives hories

I gave my horfes peas-chaff in Odober, and it gave two of them the fret idtpeas'chaff.
the fecond day. Note, this was too early in the year to give them
peas-chaff, which, when given, ought to bethe chaff of peas well houfed.

§. 23. Mr. Bayly of Wick ativifes me by all means, to prevent furfeiting ofclctniiKr
my horfes, and breeding diftempers in them, to fee my chaff well cleanfed chaff. " ' "
from the duft in the barn before it is brought into my chaff-bin in the
ftable ; for, when the chaff is carried foul to the bin, the carters are many
times carelefs, and in hafle, fo that they give it not proper, nor indeed
any cleanfing, which is very pernicious to a horfe, and the dull and dirt
binds up his body.

§.24. Mr. Edwards fays, barley-chaff is accounted better than wheat- '^'^''^^"^"^^
chaff, the common price of which is 2 s. 6d. per quarter, and a bufhel of J^l'cliiow-
oats per week to a cart-horfe with this chaff is accounted a full allowance in ance for a
the height of work. — But the farmers fay, they allow eight bufliels to fjx '''"'''•
horfes, and it fcarcely does. — Chaff is accounted fouler feed than oats, and fo
not fo good for faddle-horfes as for cart-horfes. — Now, fuppofino- oats at
20 s. per quarter, the above allowance comes but to 6 1. los. per annum for
oats.— Note, the farmers fay, barley-chaff is too hot and binding for horfes
not ufed to it, and oat-chaff is little worth.

Farmer Lavington and Thomas Miles of Wiltfliire fay, that wheat and
barley-chaff mingled together are befl for horfes.

Z z Ccmins:

354- A S S E S and M U L E S.

Coming Into my flable (and fufpe(fting I had not the befl chafF for my
money, for I bought my chaff that year of the farmer) I found, as I
thought, too much oat-chaff with the barlev-chaff, and was angry: hut my
carter anfwered me, there was not oat-chaff enough ; if there were more,
he faid, the horfes would eat it better : one part oat-chaff and two parts
barley-chaff was the beft proportion ; for the barley-chaff, though the more
heartning, yet was rough in the mouth, and very troublefome and unplea-
fant on that account, but the oat-chaff foftened it : elpecially after water-
ing, barley-chaff alone was very improper, but before the water wafhed it
down. — Then, faid I, wheat-chaff mixt with the barley-chaff feems tome
to be beft, becaufe that is foft, and anfwers all the ends of oat-chaff, and
is more heartning. — This he agreed to.
T'^^/'ff ^'h"^ §■ ^5' Conformable to the opinion of the antients, viz. that thofe forts of
more nou- chaff Were moft nourifhing which were fmalleft, as has been before hinted,
■jilhing. is our pracftice amongft the farmers : for, when fodder-ftraw is dear, we
cut it, finding it thereby to be moft nourifliing; it feeming, that of the
fmaller parts any thing confifts, it the more enables the juices of the
flomach to digeft it, and the juices of that thing are the eafier extrafled
from it : thus we grind corn for poultr}', hogs, 6cc. whereby we fuppofe it
more nourilliing than whole corn.
Gf barley.. §• 26. I thought my barley-hulls this year (anno 171 8) would be very
chafF. good, hecaule my barley had taken no rain in harveft, and, the fummer
having been very hot and diy, they were the pure oils of the barley, with-
out any mixture of leaves of weeds, 6cc. with them. But my threfher

told mc, that my hulls, for that reafon, were never Avorfe ; for they were
fo rough and coarfe, and fo harfh to the horfes mouths and throats, that my
carters complained of them, and faid, their horfes care not to eat my barley-
hulls as ufual ; whereas, faid he, in wet years, when the broad and hop-
clover grow to a height in the corn, as alfo other weeds, their leaves fof--
t-en the afperity of the barley-hulls..

I threftied hop-clover for feed (anno 170 1) and faved the leaves, which
we beat out, and gave to the horfes, and they hked them much better than
chaft'.
To Tavebar- §. 27. It is good to fave barley-ftraw and peas-halm, in the fpring after
^^^"g^^jjj^l-Q^thrcfhing is over, for litter for horfes throughout the fummer; to fave
;i«er. wheat-ftraw, for which there is always in the hill-country, where there are

many barns, and wheat-reeks, and lefs wheat fowed than in the vale, a.
greater occafion than ibr barley-ftraw, for thatching.

ASSES and MULES.

§, I. \X7 I THIN five days of a flie-afs's foaling, (he (hould be horfed
V V again : a ftie-afs was horfed two feafons with a jack of her own
foaling, and flie went through both times.

§. 2. I afked

W O O D.

155

§. 2. I afked Mr. Garret, If he had not {ecn ajack-afs fell for 30 1. — he j^ Ac, ^f great
aflured me, he had feen two in the king of Spain's llables at Madrid, which price inSpain.
coll; him 60 1. each ; they were fourteen hands high, but were flrange
rough, dull looking creatures, efpecially about the head : the king had them
to get mules.

§. 3. He faid, there was one thing very remarkable, when a mare takes Of muks.
a ftone-afs, and has a mule-foal by him, fuch a mare will ever after go
through, if leaped by a ftone-horfe, and will never bring a horfe-foal after.

The mule begot between an he-afs and a mare is commonly livelier, and
more like the nature of the mare than a mule begot between a Hone-horfe
and a flie-afs. Partus fequitur ventrem, fays Mr. Mortimer.

§. 4. In the ifland of Malta, Ray firft noted the. cuftom of flitting up the orn-f ■ ,
noftrils of aiTes, becaufe they being naturally ftreight and fmall, are not afl'es noics.
fufficient to admit air enough to ferve them, when they travel or labour
hard in the hot countries : and thence he philofophically reafons, tl>at the hot-
ter the country is, the more air is neceffary for refpiration.

WOOD.

§. I. T" F your acorns, maft, and other feed be to be fowed in a place of acomj,
^ too cold for an autumnal femination, your feeds may be prepared '^^^' ^<=-
for the vernal femination, by being barrelled or potted up in moid fand or
earth, flratum fuper ftratum, during the winter, at the expiration whereof
you will find them fprouted, and they will be apter to take then than if they
had been fown in the winter, and will not be fo much concerned at the heat
of the feafon, as thofe which are crude and unfermented would, when
newly fown in the fpring, efpecially in hot and loofe grounds. Evelyn's
Sylva, fo. 7.

§. 2. I know it is a tradition, that the elm and fallow have no feeds: butOftheeJm
I have railed feveral of them from feeds. Cook, fo. 5'. ^"'^ fallow.

§. 3. Mr. Raymond put me very much upon fowing afh-keys up and Of alh-keyt,
down in my woods ; and fetting plants in all vacancies. — I have known
great improvements made in coppices by fowing afii-keys.

§. 4. The withy, fallow, ozier, and willow, may be raifed from feeds, , .
but, as they feldom come to be ripe in England, the other ways of railing ' ' ^' '^'
them are more pradiicable. Mortimer, fo. 364.

§. 5. The afli is one of the worft trees to take root by laying; but yet it Of laying afli,
will take. Cook, c. i. fo. i. — The oak will grow of laying, and fo will the^^k, and elm.
elm very frequently, ib. Cook.

Thofe forts of trees which will grow by cuttings, are the eafiefl to raife
by layings. Cook, fo. 9.

§. 6. Touching the beft way for laying your layers of trees, obferve, if they Of laying
be trees that hold their leaf all winter, as firs, pines, holly, ycv^s, box, hayes, "■«"•
laurel, ilix, &c. let them be laid about the latter end of Augufl:. ib. Cook.

Z z 2 But

35^

WOOD.

But if they be fuch as flied their leaves In winter, as oak, elm, lime, fyca-
more, apple-trees, pear-trees, mulbery, &c. let fuch be laid about the mid-
dle of Od-ober. See the reafons, Cook, lb.

I know in fmall plants the fpring or fummer doth very well for laying
them, for they, being fliort-lived, are the quicker in drawing roots, ib. fo»
10. The fame rule holds for cuttings, as to the feafon, ib. fo. 12.

In laying, if you will, you may twiil: the end you lay in the ground like a

with, ib. As to laying, the harder the wood is, then the young wood will

take beft, laid in the ground, but, if a foft wood, then elder bows will take
root beft. Cook, fo. 11.

1 think Mr. Ray fays, that the elder flick will put forth roots, if it be fet

in the ground, at any place between the knots, though there be no joint :

however, if Mr. Ray has not faid it, I am fure it is true.

Of raifin» §* 7* -^^ raifing trees by the roots of a tree, let the tree be a thriving tree,

trees by the neither tvwo young nor too old ; for, if it be too young, then the roots will

xQois. i^e fQQ fmall for this purpofe, if too old, it is poflible the roots may ba

decaying, and then not fit for this purpofe. Cook, fo. 13, and 14.
Of ralfinR §• ^' ^^^ ^^V ^^'^^ fuckers from fuch trees as may be propagated by

fuclcen, fuckers, by digging about the roots early in the fpring, and finding fuch

as with a litde cutting may be bent upwards j raife them above ground
three or four inches, and in a fhort time they will fend forth fuckers
fit for tranfplantation : or you may fplit fome of the roots with wedges, or
break them, covering them with frefli mould; they will quickly fprout out.
Mortimer, fo. 323.
Of the time §• 9' Monfieur Quinteny, part 2d. fo. 180. faith, I aftecft to plant prefently
of planting, after Martlnmafs, in dry and light grounds, but care not to plant till the end
of February in cold and moift place?, becaufe the trees in this lafl can do
nothing all the winter, but. may more likely be fpoiled than be able to pre-
ferve themfelves ; whereas in light grounds they may begin even that very
fame autumn to fhoot out fome fmall roots, which will be a great advance to
them, and put them in the way of doing wonders in the following fpring. —
I recite my author, becaufe I think it applicable to planting quick-fet hedges ;
having in the year 1702 planted quick-fet hedges in November, in very
good, but ftrong cold clay-land, and the winter proved wet, whereby fuch
land mull: be fo much the colder ; but the fummer proved a very dry hot
fummer, which one might have thought more beneficial to fuch earth, but
(according to Monfieur Quinteny's obfervation) the ground being chilled, the
plants came not away all the fummer following, making very poor flioots,
and but juft faved themfelves from dying ; and I believe their condition
was fo much the worfe, becaufe I ploughed up the trench wherein the fcts
were planted, before.it was dug, whereby the earth laid fome time a fodding :
on the other hand, I planted a mead of cold clay-land the latter end o£
Febfi a. y, bui; the land was very good; and the plants made extraordinary
iboots.

Legendrc

WOOD. 35y

Legendre, the Frenchman, fays, in fuch foils as are moifl, and backward.
It is bed to ftay till the end of February before you plant j becaufe too much
moiflure corrupts and rots during winter, but the hot and early grounds muft
be planted in JNovember, that the roots beginning before winter, whilft the
warm weather lafts, to put forth fome fmall filaments, may fo unite them-
felves with the earth, that the trees at fpring may grow and flourifli fo much
• the fafter, fo. ig. — Trees are not fit to be replanted, till their fap be wholly
Ipent, for, if there be any fap in them, when they are taken up, having
now no more nourifhment, they fade, and their bark which is yet tender,
will grow rivelled and dry, and fo it is the lefs capable of receiving the new
fap when it begins to afcend in the fpring, fo. 93. — We fee that, if trees
grow yellow, and fick, having but a fmall ftore of fap, they prefently caffc

their leaves, ib. Now feeing that the fap falls fooner in dry grounds than

in thofe which are moift, it is certain that in fuch grounds trees may be both
taken up, and alfo replanted earlier, ib. — The fmall branches and buds of a
tree new planted muift be taken ofi^, which open a paflage in the bark, and
come out of the body of the tree, for they always grow up with the greatefh
vigour, fo. 96. — In pruning, and flopping the growth of the boughs, care
mufl: betaken to cue one fliort one between two lorg ones, that being un-
equal when they come to fpring, the middle of the tree may be the better
furnifhed. In the fame, manner muft the dwarf-ftanders be cut, becaufe that
each branch, which is cut, puts forth many more, and therefore being cut
all of the fame height, they caufe confufion of branches in the top of the
tree, and the midft of it in the mean while remains unfurnifhed, becaufe the
fap defigns always to afcend, and runs more willingly into the high boughs
than into thofe that are lower, fo. 1 24;

Lord Pembroke tells me, it was a common faying, that all trees were to
be planted when their leaves were falling :" and he looked upon it to be a
good rule for fuch trees as were naturally of the growth of the fame coun-
try where they were tranfplanted, or of a cold country, as the northern fir,
which naturally grows in the north ; if any of them are tranfplanted hither,
or raifed from fbeds, they may be tranfplanted at the firft fall of the leaf
before winter : but it is otherwife with the fouthern fir, for you muft ftay
till- the warmth of the fpring for the tranfplanting of that j and this dil-
tintftion, faid he, it was reafonable to think held good in all cafes between
northein and fouthern plants.

I obl'erve fir and holly-leaves do not fill fo often on our cold hills, as in the
vale, nor do the fpruce-fir in particular litter our walks fo much as in warm-
er places : the reafon why thefe ever-greens keep their leaves fome years,
is from the viicidity of their juice, which is more fo in our cold country,
but in a warmer foil or clime is fo attenuated, that the leaves muft fall
often er.

Lan2;ford of planting fiys, that when the fesdlings are grown up a foot The luanner.
high lie to be. removed into the nurfery for inoculating, Sec. — the tap or

heait-

358

WOOD.

heart-root ought to be cut off, that it may not run direftly downward be-
yond the good foil, but may fpread it's roots abroad in breadth.

Stronp- and weli-grown trees may profper as well or better than fmall ones,
efpecially in uncul':ivated or ftiti land by nature, where young trees cannot fo
well put forth roots. And, if you fl:iould have a tree between ten and thirty
years old that you have a mind to remove, you mufl about November, the
year before you tranfplant it, dig a trench as narrow as you pleafe, but fo deep
as to meet with moft of the fpreading roots, at fuch diilance round about the
body of the tree as you would cut the roots, off at when you remove it j about
■half a yard diftance from the body of the tree may do very well, except the
tree be very large, but, if you have not far to carry it, leave the roots the
longer; as you make the trench, cut the roots you meet with clear off", and
fmooth without fplitting them, or bruifing the bark ; then fill up the trench
again, and by the next Odlober, when you take up the tree, you will find
thofe o-reat roots will have put forth many fibrous roots, and made prepara-
tion for more, which frefh and tender roots upon removal will enable the
tree to draw more nourifliment than otherwife it would be able to do. Lang-
ford, fol. 8 1.

Of cutting ofF §. lo. Before I had read Quinteny, and found by him, how neceffary it

the taproot, ^^g ^^ fpread the uppermoft range of roots flat down, fo as to run between
two earths, I knew not the reafon for cutting off the tap-root ; but now it is
plain the uppermoft range of roots could not be fo fpread unlefs the tap-root
were cut off. — There is alfo a farther reafon for cutting off the tap-root, be-
caufe being a ftronger root than the reft, it draws the nourifhment from them,
and fliooting downwards, after fome time dies in the poor clay, and the other
fpreading roots being cramped and flunted at firft, never after make good
roots, or recover it.

Ruksfor §. II- " Columella advifes, to fet trees removed towards the fame afpeft

planting. they grew in before. lib. 5. fol. 150.

In tranfplanting omit not your placing trees towards their accuftomed af-
pedt, ib. and, if you have leifure, make the holes the autumn before. — Plant
deeper in light, than in ftrong ground, and flialloweft in the clay : five inches
isfufficient for the drieft, and two for the moift land, provided you eftablifh
your plants againft the wind. Evelyn, fol. 224.

^ On a rocky, chalky, or gravelly foil, if you cannot conveniently raife a
hillock, and plant on the furface, dig the holes flielvlng inward, that the
roots may find their M'ay upwards, and run between the turf and the
rock.

Plant forth in warm and moift feafons, the air ferene, the wind weftvvard ;

» Mr. Miller concludes this rule to be of no confequence, from feveral trials he has made.

* Mr. Miller advifes, if the trees have been long out of the ground, fo that their fibres are dried,
to place their roots in water eight or ten hours before they are planted ; obferving to plant them in
fuch manner, that their heads may remain eredl, and their roots only immerfed therein ; which will
fwell the dried veffels of the roots, and prepare them to imbibe nourifliment from the earth.

but

W O O D. 359

but never while it actually freezes or rains, nor in mifty weather, for it moulds
and infecTts the root. Evelyn.

' I was difcourfing with Lord Pembroke on his plantation of elms at Wilton,
which were of the largeft magnitude any had been known to be planted : he
faid, of thofe, the heads of which he had lopped when he planted them, not
one in twenty lived, but of thofe ^he had planted with their heads unlopped,
not one in twenty died.

Trees produced from feeds muft have the tap-roots abated, the walnut-tree,
and fome others excepted ; and yet, if planted merely for the fruit, fome
affirm it may be adventured on with good fuccefs : you muft fpare the fibrous
parts of the root, thofe who cleanfe them too much are punifhed for their
miftake. Evelyn, fol. 224.

§. 12. Jf you are to plant a coppice, it is a good way to fet your plants in o^ ,^„.;„
trenches, as oneraifes quickfet-hedges, and not to fow feeds, for they are te- coppice.'"^ *

dious in coming forward, and will tire one's patience in weeding them. I

would not fet above four plants in twelve feet fquare, and at regular diftances
fo that the benefit of ploughing might not be loft, and then at fix or feven
years growth I would pla(h, by laying the whole flioot end and all under the
earth in the trenches, which would not therefore be choaked, but flioot forth
innumerable iffues : this, by great experience, oak, a(h, hazle, and withy,
will do.

In our parts we never fet lefs than an hundred plants in a double chafed lus;^- ;
and, if the earth turned up fuch rubbifli and ftony ftuffthat the edge of earth
on which they are to plant, is too narrow for a double chafe, then they alwavs
fet eighty plants on a fingle chafe in a lugg.

§.13. Young aflies taken out of the wood to be planted, will neither be rf young
well rooted nor taper, but top-heavy ; therefore you will be obliged to take adies taken
off the heads before you replant them; and then, at beft, expert but a good ^''°'" *'°°"^'"
pollard, and it is poffible you may wait long before you can get it to thrive ;
for the head being taken oft' leaves fuch a wound as will be long in curing-,
and yet you were obliged to do it, or elfe the roots could not have maintainc'd
that head : it is the fame with a walnut, therefore be fparing of taking oft' the
topm.oft of them. Cook, fol. 2.

If you move a little afli-flioot of about one foot in ftature, you muft not bv rj j r

1 a- • > 1 • 1 1 • ■ • 1 . J la. and ot

any means take oft it s top, which being young, is pithy, nor by any means walnuts.
cut off the fibrous parts of the roots, only that downright or tap-root is to-

■^Mr. Miller greatly difapproves the modern praftice of removins; large trees. If planters, fp.ys
he, inflead of removing thefe trees, would begin by making a nurfery, and raifjng their trees from
feeds, they would fet out in a right method, and fave a great expence, and much time ; and they
would have the conftant pleafiire of feeing their trees annually advance in their growth, inftead of
their growing worfe, as will always be the cafe where old trees are removed.— T or of all the planta-
tions Vw-hichl have yet feen, let the trees be of any fort, there is not one which has ever fucceedcd.

. Nevi'-plaiited trees, fays he, flTould be watered with great moderation, and he pro\es, from an

experiment made by the reverend Dr. Hales, that it is impoflible fuch trees can thrive, v/here the
moifture is too great about their roots,

tally

360 WOOD.

tally to be abated : this work ought to be done in the latter end of Oftober or
the beginning of November, and not in the fpring, Evelyn's Sylva, fol. 41.
The fide branches of fuch a fhoot may be cut off", ib. Being once v/ell fixed,
you may cut it clofe to the ground, as you pleafe, it will caufe it to flioct pro-
digioufly, ib. — Never let your walnut-tree, when tranfplanted, be above four
years oldj and then by no means touch the head with your knife, nor cut away
fo much as the tap-root, if you can conveniently difpok of it, fince being of
a pithy and hollow fubftance, the leaft diminution or bruife will greatly en-
danger the killing it. Ev. ib.

V/alnut, afli, and pithy trees are fafer pruned in fummcr than in winter,
in the warm weather than in fpring, Vv'hatever the vulgar may fancy ''. Ev.
fol. 223.

Of timber. ^, j^. The feedingefb ground makes the toughell: timber, for where an oak

grows moft in a year, that oak will make the tougheft timber j but in dry
grounds oaks grow flow, and the annual circles being clofe together, the
timber muft then be the finer grained. Cook, fol. 37.

Growth of The infide rings, fays Evelyn, are more large and grofs, and diftinft in trees,

timber. -which grow to a great bulk in a fhort time, as fir, afli, &c. fmaller or lefs dif-

tinft in thofe that either not at all, or in a longer time grow great, as quince,
holly, box, lignum vitas, ebony j fo that by the largenefs and (mallnefs of the
rings the quicknefs or flownefs of the growth of any tree may perhaps at cer-
tainty be eilimated. Thefe fpaces are manifeftly broader on the one fide than
on the other, efpecially the more outer, to a double proportion or more, the
inner being near to an equality. It is afTerted, that the larger parts of thefe
rings are on the fouth and funny fide of the tree, which is very rational and
probable j and this feems to be the reafon for fetting a tree, you remove, in the
fame pofition, becaufe of maintaining the fame parts in as good a manner as
before. Wafer, in his book of the ifthmus of Darien, fays, the Indians knov/
not, when the fun is obfcured by clouds, how the points of the heavens lie, but
by cutting round the bark of a tree, and on that fide the bark is thickeft they
know to be fouth. — It mult be much more fo in our northern climates than
under or near the tropic.

§. 15. There is a difpute among the learned enquirers whether there is a

btiolrof fop.' U"iform circulation of fap in plants, or not. ' The author of the Burgundian
philofophy afiurcs us, that, if fome of the roots of a plani be put into water,
and other roots of the fame plant be kept out of water, yet thefe latter will

■' Mr. Miller advifes, by no means to cut off the main leading fhoots when you tranfplant, for, by
feveral experiments he has made, he has found, that the flicrtening of the branches is a great injury
to all new-planted trees. — See his Didlionary — article — Planting.

' Si ejufdem plantas quaedam radices aqua funt immerfse, reliquae extra aquaijiextarent, ese tamen,
. ut radices intra aquam demerfie, iiicrefcere vifre funt, & novas fibras emittere ; quod demonftrat quod
rcciproca circulatio eft a trunco in radices. Phil. Burgund. fol. 1 149. Eadem eft ratio plantas a
terra cum radicibus avulfs, & in duos ramos divifa;; nam fi unius rami extremum aqua immerfum
fuerit, planta diu Integra & viridis pcrmanet, & interdum folia in raceme altcro germinat, cum alia
plants ejufdem generis tunc avulfa Itatim marcefcat.

increafe.

WOOD. -,6i

O'

increafe, and flioot forth fibres as well as the former; again, if a plant, that
has two branches, be taken up by the roots, and the extreme part of one of
thefe branches be put in water, this whole plant fhall remain a long time with-
out any decay, and even fometimes put forth leaves on the other branch, when
another plant of the fame kind, takfn up in the fame manner, and none of
the roots or branches put in water, fhall foon wither and die. From thefe
two experiments he infers, there is a reciprocal circulation of fap from the
trunk to the roots. — We are told by Ray, fol. 128. (Malpigius and others con-
curring) that one of the main ufes of the leaves in trees and plants is to pre-
pare and concocfl the nouriflnment of the fruit, and the whole plant, not only
that which afcends from the root, but what they take in from without, from
the dew, moift air, and rain. As a proof of this, it is afferted, that if many
forts of trees be defpoiled of their leaves, they will die, as it happens in mul-
berry trees, when the leaves are plucked off to feed filk-worms ; and if in
the fummer feafon you denude a vine branch of it's leaves, the grapes will
never come to maturity, becaufe the juice returns from the leaves that fervcd
to nourifh the fruit : hence alfo they infer a circulation of the juice in plants,

That there is a regrefs of the juice in plants from above downwards, and

that this defcendant juice is what principally nourifhes both fruit and plant, is
well proved from the experiments Mr. Brotherton has made. Phil. Tranfafl.
No. 187.

Mr. Bobart aflures me, that in a nurfery, he has bent the top of a young
grafted plum-tree to a plum-ftock, and grafted it ; and that, when the graft
took, he cut off the young tree from the root ; which tree notwithftanding
flouriflied, and bore fruit by the retrograde fap, which fhews the fap defcends
as well as afcends ^

§. 16. My woodward affures me, that windy weather makes the fap rife wird makes
much fooner in trees than it would otherwife do, though not attended with ^^'^ % '"ife.
rain, efpecially if the wind be foutherly or wefterly.

§. 17. It is very generally to be obferved, that where a whole tree, or arm ^ \,rz,K]i diat
of a tree, is mu-ch blighted one year, it is very apt in fuch cafe, to blight again blights one
in following years, efpecially if the feafon of the year fhould not be kindly : J'f". '^P' '"
for which this reafon may be given ; there are particular roots v/hich for the nJ.xt, and
moft part feed particular branches, though there may be alfo a confiderable ^vhy.
nutriment from the general circulation of fap ; now, if any fuch root fails, as
by many caufes it may, no wonder if the branch fo depending on it fhould
yearly blight, and yet it may at fpring put forth leaves, k,c. by reafon of the

* In oppofitioii to the notion of the circulation of the fap in trees, fays Mr. Miller, the reverend
Dr. Hales has prefented us with majiy experiinentSvand thinks upon the whole, from thefe experi-
ments and obfervations, we have fufHcient ground to believe, that there is no circulation of the f?.p
in ^•egetabIes; notwithflanding many ingenious perfons have been induced to think there was, from
fevcral curious obfervations and experiments, which evidently prove, that the fap does, in fome mea-
fure, recede from the top toward the lower parts of the plants ; whence they were, with good pro-
bability of reafon, induced to think, that the fap circulated.- Vid. thefe experiments in IVliller's

Diclionar}', article. Sap, or in Dr. Hales's Treatife on vegetable ftatics.

A a a great

362

w

o

o

D.

Not to put
catde into
wood J to eat
up thefedgy
grals.

Oak-buds
poilon to cat-

tle.

Of calves
cropping

woods.

great redundancy of fap, by participating of the fuppofed common circulation j
but when the fap grows lefs vigorous, then the failure will appear. Again, in
all blights you muft fuppofe a flirinking, and contraiftion of the fibres, and
veffels of the branch that blights: no wonder then, if on fuch withering,
contradion, and clofure, they never again receive the fap fo kindly as before,
efpecially after the run of the fpring-fap is over, which may for a time pro-
duce leaves and blofToms, but will by Midfummer, when that plenty abates,
be deferted.

§. 18. I obferve the fedgy grafs comes not up in felled coppices the firft
fummer ; confequently the young (hoots have a year's ftart of that grafs ; the
next fummer the fedgy grafs comes up, and grows ancle-high, equal with the
two-years flioots; but what harm can it then do the wood ? the third year the
fedgy grafs dies, and you fee no more of it. I fpeak this, in anfwer to the
country-man's objeftion, who pleads for putting fome lort cf cattle into cop-
pices to keep down the fedge, which he pretends otherwife will choak and
damage the plants. — I have experienced this to my coft,

§. 19. It was May the 6th (anno 1701) that I bought fome yearlings; and
I allied the farmer, if I might not put them in the coppice till Midfummer ;
the farmer laid, not yet, by any means ; for fear they ihould be oakered, that
is, left they fliould bite off the oak-bud before it came into leaf, which might
bake in their maws and kill them, but after the oak-bud was in leaf it would
be fafe enough. — The higher coppices are fit for yearlings, and the coppices
of the laft year's growth for hog-fheep in winter. — My fliepherd faid, what
the farmer obferved as to the oak-bud was true ; but he thought that the year
was fo backward that they were not yet come out, and fo there could be no
danger at prefent. — Farmer Elton faid, his father had loft abundance of year-
lings by the oak-bud, by putting them into the coppices while that was out.
— I have fince experienced the fame, and have remarked it, when I treated
of black cattle. See Grazing, §.17.

§. 20. It is a common faying, that calves will not crop in woods : but I put
fix calves into my woods, in November, which very much cropped the year-
ling-flioots. All hufbandmen I told of it very much wondered at it; but the
reafon to me was clear, viz. on firfl putting them in there came three or four
days hard frofl, with a fhallow fnow, and a rime that laid on the bennetty grafs,
fo that they could not come at the ground, but could only meet with brier-
leaves, of which, though I had plenty, they were but thin diet to depend
on altogether, yet together with other pickings would have been a noble
maintenance for them, if they could have come at the rowet: this flreight-
nefs of commons brought them to the neceflity of cropping the young flioots,
which they afterwards continued to do, having got the habit of it, and find-
ing, when the open weather came, the flioots to be toothfome, though the
rowet in the coppices would have been fufficient.

For a general rule, newly weaned calves are lefs hurtful to newly cut fpring-
woods than any other cattle, efpecially, if there be abundance of grafs ; and

fome

WOOD. 2^j^

fome fay, colts of a year will do no harm ; but the calves muft be permitted
to flay awhile longer, and furely the later you admit beafls to graze the
better. Evelyn, fol. 147.

§. 2 1. I was at my coppice where my labourers were felling, and obfervcd Of wood hurt
to them with fome wonder, that, though the coppice then felling was of my ''>' "'''^•
own preferving, ever fince it was laft felled, yet the growth feemcd not more
than it was, when in the farmer's hands, who abufed it with cattle, nor did I
fell it for more than when I lafl felled it. — The reafon they judged, was, be-
caufe the biting it in the farmer's time had brought it to a fmall ftem, and, faid
they, wood of a fmall ftem or flock will not bring a large fhoot ; for it re-
quires two or three fellings to pafs, though preferved, before wood abufed
can recover to a flem, fo as to fend forth a good flrong fhoot.—Note, from hence
arifes a corollary, as a farther inducement to let coppice-wood grow to four-
teen years growth, if the land will fo long maintain it, becaufe the circle of
the annual growth is not only thereby much increafed, but alfofrom a larger
flock or trunk flronger fhoots will put forth, and carry a proportionable an-
nual increafe to the fourteen years end.

I carried two experienced woodmen into my woods, they having bought
fome lops of me, and fhev/ing them the damage, the farmer had done me,
they obferved it, and faid, it was much to be lamented; becaufe thofe flioots,

which were cropped, would grow forked, and never be fit for rods. 1 afked

my woodman what price my rods yielded; he faid, the lafl year 1 2d. per
hundred, but this year, 1699, wood being dearer, i4d. per hundred, and, in
cafe they were not bit by cattle, they would fetch i5d. or i6d. per hundred.
— The above two men advifed me to cut this coppice at feven or eight years
growth ; for, faid they, the roots are fo much damaged by the feeding of
cattle, that they will be apt to die away, and not maintain their burden to ten
years growth.

I w^as feeing my woodman make his fold-hurdles : he was very uneafy
about the fplitting them and working them ; he fliewed me two or three
knots in mofl of the rods where they had been bit in the growing by the cat-
tle ; where the rods had been fo browfed that they would hardly fplit through
thofe knots, at leafl not by an equal divifion without fnapping off, and many
of them did fnap off, and fuch fplit rods, if they would fplit, and the whole
rods, when they come to work and wind, would in twifling often break at
thofe knots. — From all which I do conclude, that it is of a very ill conle-
quence to put catde into coppices, for which the treading down the briers
and fedge is but a fmall equivalent. — And if hog-fheep are put in, and at fea-
fonable times, it is endlefs watching them ; for when they begin to fall on the
wood, they will all fall on together, and bite every flem in two days time :
— and it may be concluded from that brittle knottinefs, which the work-»
ing thofe rods difcover, how ill the fap can pafs upwards, to feed the top-flioots,
through the M^hole compafs of years they have to grow, to the growth of
which the obflrudion the fedge gives for one year can be but little : admit-
ting which, I would then advife the rtiepherd, at a proper time, to go with

A a a 2 his

364 woo D.

his whole flock, and tread down, and eat up fuch rowct in one day's time,
taking fuch a time or times for it as may be moft feafonable, as fuppofe frofty
weather, the rowet being then the fweeteft.

The 17th of January (anno 1702) I ordered my hog-fheep to be turned

into the coppice, intending they (hould eat up the rowet for fome time. •

My fhepherd immediately drove them thither, but, as he obferved, the fheep
inflead of eating the rowet, fell on the young flioots, and eat them with that
greedinefs, that he called the labourer who was felling in a neighbouring cop-
pice, to obferve it alfo : and he told me of it afterwards, and faid, he llood by
and faw them bite off flioots at half a foot in length. — The reafon of this, faid
he, mufh be from their fweet feed on your clover, for which caufe they will
not, like other fheep, touch your four rowet.

The reafon why flioots bit off by the cattle perifli farther downwards than
the fame branch would do, if cut with a knife, is, becaufe the top of the flioot
being bit, is rugged, whereby the water runs not off, but keeps foaking down;
whereas, had it been cut with a tool, it's fmooth and Hoped edge, like a hind's
foot, would caff the water off.

It is generally faid, that fheep going in woods, and rubbing againfl: the
trees, or the young fhoots, do by their wool poifon the very bark, fo that it
fliall in that place canker, or at leaft the tree in that place fliall vifibly grow
hide-bound, and bend in, and grow gouty above fuch rubbing-place. — This
I fuppofe muff arife from the abundance of oil in the wool, which, the fun
and wind drying it in, enters the bark, and choaks up the pores, where the
paffageof the fap is : in the fame manner ointments laid on fwellings are re-
pellers, inafmuch as they ftop the pores of perfpiration ; and linfeed-oil laid
on bricks keeps out weather.
Damage from §.22. Farmer Rutty told me, he had once heard fay, that hogs would do
ogsi.iwoo 5. ^g j^y^i^ harm in a young coppice as any other cattle j butfiedid not believe
it, till fetching away fome wood he had bought of me in July (anno
1701 ) he found a farmer's pigs broke into my coppices, and he obferved them
to fall on the flioots, and eat them up as faff as other cattle. * I wonder the
antients, who preferred wood to pafture, fliould not confider the damage that
cattle did them.
Of letting §. 23. My woodward affures me, that if I would let my coppices run to

to^ouneur^^ fourteen years growth, inftead of ten, which I might do by dividing them
years. accordingly, they would yield a fourth part more profit, becaufe a coppice at

fourteen years growth will yield double the value of a coppice at ten, the in-
creafe of wood when it comes to be eight or nine years old does fo much ad-
vance.— But here it is to be noted, that there are fome parts of my coppices
which grow on veiy barren land, that is out of proof, and the wood will be
fcrubbed and grow rotten, and dead on the tops before it is ten years old ; it
cannot be profitable to let fuch wood grow to fourteen years of age. — He alfo
aflures me, that my hazle at fourteen years age, which runs up without
knots, is as fit for hurdles, being fplit, as any other.

f Pafcuxntiir armenta commodiffime in nemoribusj ubi virgultaSc fronsmulta. Varro, fol. 56.

3 1 was

WOOD. 365

I was fpeaklng to my labourers of the advantages of letting my coppice-
woods run to fourteen or fifteen years growth, where the land was in condi-
tion good enough to fupport the wood to that growth. — They added to what
I had faid, that, by letting the coppices ftand fo long, the wood would be run
to fo large a ftature as to over-Qiadow the grafs, v/hereby the roots of the
fedge-grafs, which fo much over-run the young coppices, to the prejudice of
the young wood, would thereby in a great meafure be killed.

Letting coppice-wood grow to fixteen or feventeen years growth is of great
fervice to young heirs, becaufe by fo many years growth their barks are cafe-
hardened, and able to withftand the cold, when the coppice is cut, and they
mull ftand naked, whereas, when coppices are cut at ten and eleven years
growth, the barks of the young heirs are fo tender, that they are ftarved with
the cold air and winds. Ivy itfelf, fays Evelyn (the deflru6tion of many a
fair tree) if very old, and taken off, does frequently kill the trees by a too
fudden expofure to the unaccuflomed cold.

When coppice-wood is of fourteen or fifteen years growth, it will fetch a
better price in proportion than younger wood, becaufe it will be applicable to
more ufes, and particularly in the cooper's bufinefs ; for he will ufe the withy
and fome of the a(h for hoops for wine-hogfheads j another part of the afli
may ferve for prong-ftaves, rake-ftaves, and rath-pins for waggons, and the
reft may be parcelled out for hurdle and flake-rods.

Oaken ftems of fourteen years growth are (in my woods, which in a great
meafure confift of them) as high as the a(h or withy, and meafure more in the
diameter ; for oaken ftems are ftronger at root, and will hold growing longer
than afli, withy, or hazle. When hazle grows fpriggy in the body, and ftioots
forth from the fides of the bark, it is a fign that it has given out, and done
growing at the top.

§. 24. Coppice-wood, in hedging and hurdling, wears much better and Of the time of
longer, if cut between Michaelmafs and Chriftmafs, but fells beft in faegots, ^'^'""i cjp-

o ' ' 00 ' pices

if cut between Chriftmafs and Lady-day, becaufe it flirinks lefs, and is moft
fwelled, and looks beft to the buyer : the method at Crux-Eafton, and the
hill-country thereabouts, is only to oblige the buyers to rid the coppice by
Midfummer ; they think the coppices are not harmed, if rid by the time the
Midfummer-fhoots fpring up : they had not rid this year (anno 1697) by the
latter end of July. ,

It was the firft of May (anno 1701) and I propofed to cut coppice- wood
for the fire : my woodward faid, it would not hurt .the ftools to cut it fo
late, but it would never wear well in hedging nor burn well ; for, after the
firft blaze was out, the coals would burn as dead as if water had been flung
on them.

I had a doubt how I fliould fence-in my corn and hay-reek I was going to
make, Auguft the 27th, (anno 1701) having no wood cut fit for the purpole,
and fuppofing it too early then to cut for it. — But my woodward afliired me,
it was very fafe to cut coppice-wood at Bartholomew-tide, and it did the

mores

366 WOO D.

mores no damage ; and, faid he, all the farmers in the country, in the laft
year of their leafe make a felling between Bartholomew-tide and Michaelmafs,
of all the underwood their leafe will juflify them in.

It is obferved, that coppice-wood, cut for hedging at the latter end of win-
ter, will not endure fo long by a year as that which is cut at the beginning
of winter : which, as I believe, may not only be becaufe the wood late cut,
is cut after the fap is rifen, or attenuated by the fun, but alfo oftentimes
becaufe it is not cut long enough before fuch rarefadlion is made ; for, if
a tree, or a cyon cut to be grafted, as Quinteny affirms, will endure many
weeks of the winter out of the ground, or without being grafted, and, when
fpring fhall come, it will by vertue of the fap inherent in it, when at-
tenuated, put forth buds for fome time, till it dries away; fo it follows, that
the fap inherent always in the ftem of the wood, if not cut fo early as to
have long time to dry, may be put into motion at fpring, fo as to effedl the
above-mentioned inconvenience ; therefore I hold hedging-wood and fire-
faggots fhould be cut in October.

My woodward fays, he thinks it is heft for coppice-woods to be felled the
latter part of the year, about February or March ; for, fays he, if they be
felled early in the winter, the frofts fall on their rtools, and dries, parches,
and flirinks them at the top, and obliges the bud at fpring to flioct forth
three or four inches lower than elfe it would do ; whereas, if they be cut
late, the bud will break forth at the top. — A fliort time after, I afked Hard-
ing of Holt the wood-merchant about it, and he agreed to the fame.

It is a common practice of hufbandmen to fell their hedge-rows, and
fmall brakes within the grounds, thofe years they fow the grounds with
wheat ; but fuch perfons ought well to confider, firft, whether fuch land,
after the wheat is oil, will not bear a rowet too long for iheep to eat, and,
if fo, great cattle muft be put in to eat up the long rowet, and the fooner the
better for their tooth, and then attendance muft be given by a cow-keeper by
day, before the harveft is in, and confequently the wages the dearer, and
when you may have many other offices to employ fuch a pcrfon in : there-
fore, in fuch cafe, my advice is to let the hedge-rows fland till after the
wheat-crop be got in, when great cattle may be fuftered to feed down
the rowet without prejudice to the hedge-rows, and at that time of the year
fuch grafs is wanted by night, and, during the future three crops, it is to be
fuppofed the rowet will not be fo large, but fheep may overcome it, nor will
they very much prejudice the young wood.
Cfthemanner ^_ 25. In your coppices, fays Evelyn, cut not above half a foot from the
coppices"^ ground ; nay the clol'er the better, but flope-wife to the fouth, fo. 149.
Of pcilarding §• 26.- The oak will fuffer itfelf to be made a pollard, that is, to have
oak, elm, and it's head quite cut off ; but the elm fo treated will perifh to the foot, and
certainly become hollow at laft, if it efcape with life. Evelyn, fo. 151.
The beech is very tender of lofing it's head. Evelyn, fo. 152.

§. 27. The

WOOD. 367

§. 27. ** The bark in the hill-country will not flrip fo fbon by a month as in Of ftripping
the vale : again, in the fame wood on the hill, there will be a fortnight or °*^'^^ ''^'■'*-
longer difference between the ftripping of a tree, that is in proof, and one that
is not : the fap runs fafteft up a tree in proof.

After ftripping, when the bark is dry, it is high time to rid the wood of
it, for, if a quantity of rain fliould come, it would do it much hurt, and take
off it's ftrength, and then it would grow * finnowy : therefore the tanners, *MoulJy-
when they buy bark, hurry it away with all the carriages they can get, as
they would to fave corn from damage.

The fip after open winters never runs well in barking-time at fpring ;
for it fpends itfelf gradually before-hand, and forwards fome part of the
branches of a tree when other parts ftir not, and fo all the branches will
not bark equally alike : again, a hard froft at the entrance of the fpring,
as this year (anno 1708) fo as to check the rifing fap, and difturb it while it
is rifing and fpending itfelf, is a great hindrance to the kindly barking for
that feafon, and makes the fip do it's bufinefs by halves ; but a froft fome
time before the fpring does a kindnefs ; in fhort, the greater the flufli of
fap (coming all at once) it makes the better bark, and is better both for the
tanner and the ftripper.

As I have obferved before, the fap in oaks rifes flower at fpring, and the
bark ftrips worfe, and the tree that year makes worfe flioots, when in a lin-
gering manner lucid days too early in the fpring ha^bften invited forth the fap
from the roots, which has as often received fudden checks by cold, than when
the beginning of the fpring of the year continues cold, whereby the fap in the
roots continues filling and is kept from fpending itfelf in the trunk and bran-
ches, till the uninterrupted heat breaks forth, and the flufli of the fap af-
cends with continual folicitations.by the heat : in like manner it is, I fup-
pofe, with lefs and tenderer plants ; their flioots are ftronger, the graffy part
more tender and grofs, when the backward fpring carries afterwards an un-
interrupted heat, than when the buds and flioots are earlier invited forth, and
then flopped .-witii the cold. We find all garden-herbs in like manner,
which have flowly kept growing on all the winter, not fo toothfome to the
infedls as thofe, the feeds whereof are not committed to the ground till
fpring.

§. 28. Between the annual circles doth fome fap arife, as is plain in a tree Oftreeslivmg
barked round, which yet will live; and the more porous this tree is between ^^ *" "'^
thefe annual circles, the longer that tree will live j as I have experienced in

*' Mr. Miller obf^rves, that the time for felling timber is from November to February, at which
time the fap in the trees is hardened ; for when the fap is flowing in the trees, if they are cut down,
the worm will take the timber, and caufe it to decay very foon, rendering it unfit for building
either {hips or houfes. He thinks therefore it would be more for the public benefit, if(infteadof
the ftatute now in fore:- for felling trees during the fpring feafon, when the bark will eafily ftrip) a
law were enatled to oblige every perfon to ftrip off the bark of fuch trees, as were defigncd to be
cut down in the fpring, leaving tiie trees with their branches ftanding till the following winter j
which will be found to anfwer both purpofes well.

walnu'.

368 FENCES.

walnut, and afli ; but holly and box have died in lefs than a year ; for trees
that hold their leaves, their wood is clofe and compadl between the annual
circles, and that is the reafon they die foon after being barked round.
Cook, fo. 48.
Time of fag- ^^ 29. I afked my woodward the 13th of March (anno 1702) if it was
not time to faggot ; he replied, the wood-chapmen did not care to have their
wood faggotted fo early, till it had flirunk, elfe, after it was faggotted, it
would be apt to flirink and fall to pieces : therefore, faid he, we faggot that
wood firll: which was firft cut.
^^P''*^'"''."g §. 30. In loading wood one man on the cart can flow to two men that
wood on'the P'^ch it Up : therefore, where you cart wood by change of waggons, you do
cart. not find your horfes full employ, where but one man pitches.

Of dn-ing §■ S^' ^ <^"t down green timber in Auguft (anno 1707) to fet my lath-

laths before maker to work to make laths for immediate ufe : he defired me to let him fet
ufing. them out a funning for four or five days before he bundled them up, or that I

ufed them, that they might be dry ; for, faid he, the timber being green the
nails will ruH:, and fo rot, and then break off, unlefs the laths were firft
dried. — And fo faid the carpenter.
Of grubbing. §• 32. Oak-underwood, and white-thorn are the worft of any to grub;
becaufe they both fhoot their roots more downwards than any other.

It was the beginning of March (anno 1701) I agreed with two labour-
ers to grub a hedge-row : they defired they might go upon it prefenth',
before the fap was got plentifully into the roots ; for fuch roots, if they were
full of fap, as well as their branches, would, they afiiired me, if cut then,
though never fo dry afterwards, burn dead, and make but a forry fire.

FENCES.

Maple bad for §. I. "\ /f"APLE, if it grows in hedges, will deftroy the wood under it;

hedges. J^V A ^'^^ ^^ receives a clammy honey-dew on it's leaves, and, when

it is wafliedofFby rain, and falls upon the buds of thofe trees under it, it's
clamminefs keeps thofe buds from opening, and fo by degrees kills all the
wood under it. Cook, p. 72.

Adv!ce to §. 2. I would advlfe the country-gentleman to fow many haws, &c. in his

nurfery, that, where they grow thin in his hedges, and there are vacancies,
he may dig up thofe plants, earth and all, and carry them to fill up fuch
empty fpaces. It will be good however to fow thefe haws in poor ground,
for, if tranfplanted from a rich foil to a poor one, they will not thrive well.

Of cutting §. 3. The flow, or hedge-peak-bufli is apt to die in the hill-country, where

the land is poor, and they are let to grow in the hedges till feventeen or
eighteen years growth, before they are cut: therefore the beft way of pre-
fcrving fuch hedges is to cut them at eight or nine years growth. The
ftones of thefe alfo fhould be fown in nurferies. — Mr. Evelyn excepts againft

black-

black-thorn.

FENCES. 369

black-thorn being mixed with the white, becaufe of their unequal pro-
grefs. *

§.4. By

^ Mr. Miller gives the following diredions for raifing quick-hedges. — The fets ought to be about
the bignefs of one's little finger, and cut within about four or five inches of the ground j they ought
to be frefli taken up, flrait, fmooth, and well rooted. Thofe plants which are raifed in a nurfery
are to be preferred.

Secondly, If the hedge has a ditch, itfliould be made fix feet wide at top and one and an half at
bottom, and three feet deep, that each may have a flope ; but, if the ditch be but four feet wide,
it ought to be only two feet and an half deep ; and, if it be five feet wide, it fhould be three feet ;
and fo in proportion.

Thirdly, If the bank be without a ditch, the fets fhould be fet in two rows, almoft perpendicu-
lar, at the diftance of a foot from each other.

Fourthly, The turf is to be laid with the grafs-fide downwards, on that fide of the ditch the bank
is defigned to be made ; and fome of the beft mold be laid upon it to bed the quick ; then thequick
is to be laid upon it, a foot afunder ; fo that the end of it may be inclining upwards.

Fifthly, When the firfl row of quick is laid, it muft be covered with mold, and the turf laid
upon it, as before, and fome mold upon it; fo that when the bank is a foot high, you may lay
another row of fets againft the fpaces of the lower quick, and cover them as the former was done;
and the bank is to be topped with the bottom of the ditch, and a dry or dead hedge laid to Ihade and
defend the under plantation.

Sixthly, There fhould be flakes driven into the loofe earth, at about two feet and an half
diflance, fo low as to reach the firm ground. Oak Hakes are accounted the bell-, and black-
thorn and fallow the next: let the fmall buflies be laid below, but not too thick, only a little to
cover the quick from being bit by cattle, when it fprings ; and alfo lay long bulhes at the top
to bind the flakes in with, by interweaving them. And, in order to render the hedge yet flronger,
you may edder it, as it is called, i. e. bind the top of the flakes in with fome fmall long poles or
flicks on each fide; and, when the eddering is finifhed, drive the flakes anew; becaufe the wa-
ving of the hedge and eddering is apt to loofcn the flakes The quick muft be kept conftantly

weeded, and fecured from being cropped by cattle ; and in February it will be proper to cut it
within an inch of the ground, which will caufe it to ftrikc root afrefh, and help it much in the
growth.

The following is Mr. Franclin's method of planting quick-hedges, as given us by Mr. Miller.

He firfl fet out the ground for ditches and quick ten feet in breadth; he fubdlvided that by marking
out two feet and an half on each fide (more or Icfs at pleafure) for the ditches, leaving five in the
middle between them ; then, digging up two feet in themidft of thofe five feet, he planted the ^
fets in ; which, although it required more labour and charge, he fays, he {aund it repay the coft.
This done, he began to dig the ditches, and to fet up one row of turfs c«i the outfide of the faid five
feet ; namely, one row on each fide hereof, the green fide outmofl, a little reclining, fo as the
grafs might grow.

After this, returning to the place he began at, he ordered one of the men to dig a pit of the
underturf mold, and lay it between the turfs placed edgewife, as before defcribed, upon the two
feet, which was purpofely dug in the middle, and prepared for the fets, which the planter fet widi
two quicks upon the furface of the earth, almofl upright, whilfl another workman laid the mold
forwards about twelve inches, and then fet two more, and fo continued.

This being finifhed, he ordered another row of turfs to be placed on each fide upon the top of
the former, and filled the vacancy between the fets and turfs as high as their tops, always leaving
the middle, when the fets were planted, hollow and fomewhat lower than the fides of the banks by
eight or ten inches, that the rain might defcend to their roots ; which is of great advantage to
their growth, and by far better than by the old ways, v/here the banks are too much Hoping, and the
roots of the fet are feldom wetted, even in a moift feafon, the fummer following; but if it prove
diy, many of the lets, efpecially the late planted, will perifh, and even few of thofe that had been
planted in the latter end of April (the fummer happening to be fomewhat dry) efcaped.

The planting being thus advanced, the next care is fencing, by fetting an hedge of about twenty
inches hitth upon the top of the bank on each fide thereof, leaning a little outward from the fets,
which will prote£l them as well, if not better, than an hedge ofthrec feet, or more, flanding on the
furface of the ground ; for, as thcfe are raifed with the turfs and fods about twenty inches, and the
hedge about twenty inches more, it will make three feet four inches ; fo as no cattle can approach

B b b the

370 FENCES.

ofdead §• 4- By all means fet your dead hedges at a good difl.ance from your

Ledges near quick-fet plants, not only on account of prelerving your plants, but your dead
qmc--e=. jjedges alio: for, if great cattle have any likelihood of reaching your plants,

in reaching after them, and prefling upon the dead hedge they will break it

down a year fooner than ordinary, and learning fuch a habit, and finding

the luccefs, they will not afterwards be broke of it.

For the two firfi: years, fays Mr. Evelyn, to diligently weed is as necelTary

as fencing and guarding from cattle.
Of fprinkl-ng K r. Xo fteep cow-dunjr and lime in water, and to fpriiikle vouns hedges

young hedt^es •i-./-- r -oo

w;th cow-° With It, IS fuppolcd to prevent cows and 'J'.eep from browfing them : and it
dung and is good to fcrve hedges the fame with horfe-dunc;, v>here horfes feed, and
.ime-w2ter. ^yjje,^ jj jg ^vafhed off by the rain, to renew it. — The end of mingling lime

feems to be, to mike the liquid ftick, and to bind it.
Of thickening ^_ 5_ ]f jjn hedge by ill ufage, or by age, be grown thin, the bed way
" ■ is to cut it clofe to the ground the year you fow it with wheat, and to fling
earth to it, to refreih it, and to make a dead hedge without it ; by this
means the old ftems will tillow afrefh and thicken ; whereas by plafhing,
unlefs a hedge be thick enough to afford the lofs of young flioots, by drop-
ping on them, they will be killed. But in doing this you muft not cover the
llems with the earth ycu fling up, left you choke and kill them ; if you
intend therefore to lay a great quantity of earth to the roots you muft leave
the ftems fomewhat the longer.

The digging a trench or ditch by flinging frefli moId>to the ftoolsof an
old hedge is of fpecial ufe, forafmuch as the trench, laying many of the
-^ roots of the old hedge bare, makes them fend forth {hoots, whereby the
hedge is thickened ; for roots turn to branches when expofed to the air.

Take a well-rooted itt of holly, of a yard long, and ftrip off the leaves and
branches, and cover them with a competent depth of earth, and they will
, fend forth innumerable quantities of fuckers, and quickly make a hedge. —
Mortimer, fol. 4. — A holly or other ever-green, if liriped or blanched in
the middle of the leaf, will in time lofe it's ftripes, and the natural green
^ will overcome ; but, if the edges of the leaves are v.'hite, thev will always

fo continue ; therefore the latter is three times more valuable than the for-
mer, and this is the difference the gardeners make.

the hedge to prejudice it, unlefs they fet their feet in the ditch itfelf, which will be at leafl a foot
deep; and from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the hedge about four feet and an half, which
they can hardly reach over to crop the quick, as thev mi^ht in the old way ; and bef;des, fuch sn
hed^e will endure a year longer. — Where the ground is but indifferent, it is better to take twelve
feet, for both ditches and banks, than nine or ten ; for this will allow of a bank at leaft fix feet
broad, and gives more fcope to place the dead hedges farther from the fets ; and the ditches, being
(hallow, will in two years time, graze.

As to the objeflion, that taking twelve feet wafles too much ground, he affirms, thst, if twelve
feet in breadth betaken for a ditch and bank, there will no more ground be wafted than by the com-
mon way ; for in that a quick is rarelv itx^ but there are nine feet between the dead hedges,
which is entirely loft all the time of fencing j whereas, with double ditches, there remain at leaft
eioihteen inches on each fide where the turfs were fet on ciiZt^ that bear more grafs than when it
lav on the flat ; but admitting three feet of ground were wafted, he dews the damage to be incon-
fiderable. He tlien compares the charges, and alTerts, that forty poles planted in the old way will
coftfeven pounds, and the fame meafure in the new way but three pounds.

§•7- I

FENCES. 371

§.7. Mn plafhing a hedge, round a hedge-row or coppice, leave theOfpiafhing a
plafhers cf the hedge withinfide the coppice, and turn the brurtiy part to^^^^S^-
the clofe, that it may not injure the young fhoots by dropping on them, and
that the cattle may not come at the fhoots of the plafliers, and browfe them,
and kill them. — Take care alfo to fet the flakes outwardly, and off the fhoots,
whereas the hedgers for riddance, and for fake of making flakes of the live
fl:andards, work the plafhed hedge flrait on, moll likely through the middle-
mofl part of the hedge, which mufl drop over your young flioots arifing
from the flools, and leave many without, expofed to the ground, to be fed ;
though by this means you make the more luggs of hedge, yet the good
hufbandry of it will repay you. — Plafhing work for the mofl part ought to
be ended early in April ; becaufe, as foon as the bark loofens by the fap,
when the plafh is bent back in the cut, it hollows, and gapes from the
wood, and fo is apt to die, becaufe the fap cannot be conveyed to it. Withy
and a(h will firfl take damage by late plafhing, becaufe the fap firft rifes in
thofe kinds of wood. But as to the cutting down a quick-hedge, if it be the
latter end of April, it will rtioot as foon, if not fooner than that cut in the

winter. It is too common to fee withy and afli-plaflies dead in hedges,

which comes from their being plafhed too late.

It being frofly weather in November (anno 1700) yet my woodward was
for going on with a dead hedge I was making : I faid, furely it would be
very improper, and that the wood would not work, but would fnap by
means of the froft. — But he anfwered, no, that was a miflake, it was plaffi-
ing that was Improper in hard frofls.

The white-thorn in hard frofls will be fo brittle as in bending to break
like a rotten ftick ; but the black-thorn, withy, and crab-tree will endure
bending in the hardefl of weather.

As I was riding with Stephens, he went to pull up a large brier, which by
it's length had bent downwards to the ground, and had at the end flruck
forth plenty of new roots j from whence it maybe obferved how apt they a:c
to propagate : I alfo conclude any other part of a brier that touches the
earth will be apt to flrike new roots, and fo it may be ufeful in fome va-
cant places by plaHiing to encourage them. In wet fummers, when the

ground is open and moift, as this year (anno 1703) they propagate abun-
dantly ; but in dry fummers they are not fo plentiful.

§. 8. If an hedge has been in ill hands, and often bit, and abufed by of cutting an
cattle, and is an old hedge ; if you cut down this hedge, that it may thicken, "'d hedge to
and grow better, remember not to cut it down too low, not fo low as the '^"'^"^'
old flem, but leave fome little length, about three or four inches cf the

•" In plafhing quicks, fays Mr. Mi'ier, there are two extremes to be avoided; the iirfl: is layijit;
it too low, and too thick ; becaufe it makes the fap run all into the fhoots, and leaves theplaflisi
without nourifhment; which, with the thicknefs of the hedge, kills them. — Secondly, it muft nut
he laid too high ; becaufe this draws all the fap into the plafhes, and fo caufes but fmall fhoots at
the bottom, and makes the hedge fo cliin, that it will neither hinder the cattle from going through,
nor from cropping it.

B b b 2 thriving

372 ! FENCES.

thriving and younger wood (landing on the old ([em, for, if you cut below
that, the old flem often happens to be near rotten, and the tubes that convey
it's juices to the young roots are but few, and their fprings are eafily loft, if
you divert them from their common current, and channel, and the coat and
bark of the ftem is commonly fo cafe-hardened, that no bud can break.
through i whereas by leaving a little part of the young wood on the old
flem you preferve the old channels of the tree, and they carry a bark with

them fappy and eafily peiforable by a bud. N. B. I once loft a hedge by

cutting it down too low.
Of flakes for §• 9. Oak-lops and hollow pollards cleaved make excellent ftakes for
fences. fences, and, confidering their laftingnefs are the beft huft)andry, or if two of

thefe ftakes are placed in each lugg, they will greatly preferve the
reft: of the hedge. Withy will rot the fooneft of all wood, and a fmall
hazle-ftake will laft longer in a hedge than a great withy : but an afli-ftake,
next to oak, will laft longeft.
Of making a §. ID. I was Walking between the coppices with my woodward, and he
dead hedge j^jj j^g j^j^g notice of a hedge on one fide of the way, and faid, he had ad-
vifed the making it fo thin as it was, and it was now five years fince it was
made, and yet it ftood well ; whereas, faid he, by and by you will come to a
fence- hedge of the coppice, not made longer ago, which is rotten and
down ; for your labourer would make it too thick, and cram in abundance
of wood, whereby the wet lodged in it, and made it rot much the fooner.
Hedges not §. 1 1 • Hedging ought not to be done in frofty weather, for with the bar
'° ^^ "'*^^ '" they cannot make holes for the ftakes to go into, but what ftakes muft be
lefs than the bar, nor can they be drove farther than the pick of the bar ;
and upon the firft thaw the hedge will fink away and fall.
Of fV ting §• ^2. Vv'hen you make a hedge, it is advifeable to fplit the rods, for you
rods for hedg- may obferve the unfplit rods in a hedge grow fpeckled by the fap oozing
'"S- through in fpots, which opens and loofens the pores of the wood, and pre-

vents it from clinging, and binding, as it does when fplit; for then the fun
dries it up with all it's fap, and is next of kin to burning the pofts-ends of
gates ; which dries the inmoft fap out of the pofts, that would rot them,
and gives a cole of that depth to the outfide, through which the moifture of
the earth does not foak.
*l"ime of §. 13. In the fpring, during March and good part of April, I find it very

mending ufeful to vIew carefully all over thofe fort of hedges which may need repair,
^ ""■ and not only mend where there is an immediate neceftity, but wherefoever

alfo they may decay before harveft ; as alfo all fuch hedges, where though
you can receive no trefpafs till harveft, by realon they border on other corn, or
mowing-ground, yet are liable to it in harveft, when grounds muft lie open ;
thefe you ought to mend, for men cannot be then fpared, nor can you then
get wood.
CautioTi— rot §• H- ^^ '^^ ^ common pradlice in the hill-country to cart hedging- wood,
toletiiedging and fling it down in great heaps, perhaps half a load in a heap, and to fuffer
*'°°^J'^^'°''Sittolie, perhaps a month Or two, before it is hedged up, to the great detri-
thegiound. nient

FENCES. 373

ment of the wood j which by fo lying on the ground and receiving the rain
and rime, which commonly fall there, and being imperviable to the wind
and fun to dry it, foon rots, and fuffers more by fo lying in fuch thick wads
a month or two in the field, than it would have done in three times the
time in the coppice, where it lies on the roots, and is thereby kept hollov/ from
the ground, and lies thinner, whereby the wind can foon dry it after rain.

§. 15. Farmer Farthing of the Ifle of Wight exceedingly commends the Rod hurdles
cleft timber-hurdles for a fold, and that they are beyond rod-hurdles j liei"o,^of cld^
fays, he has had the experience of them both, and the former go much be- timber,
yond the latter in cheapnefs, though at the firft hand they are dearer : be-
lides, he fays, with the rod-hurdles he has had a fheep fpoiled and ftaked by
leaping over the fold, and this he has known pretty often.

§. 16. The goodnefs of rods depends greatly on their ftraitnefs without Of rods,
knots ; fuch will lafl half a year the longer for being fo, befides, the more
knotty rods are, the more will the flieep rub off their wool againO: them.

My labourers were twifting fome hazle-rods, which were apt to break, of
which they complained : they were red hazle, not white; I afkcd them the
difference, they replied, it was very great ; for the white hazle might be
feen by the white bark, and the red by the red bark : the white hazle will
twift ten times better than rhe red, being tougher, and confequently abun-
dantly better for all forts of hurdling work, and for the winding of a hedge,
and for fpars for thatching ; nay, faid they, the white will laft near a year
longer in hedging. To this my woodman feemcd to agree, and fo did
another experienced woodman, whom I talked with the next day ; only the
latter faid, he did not know that the white had any advantage of the red in
hedging, but only in hurdling, where the rods were to be twifted.

§. 17. Where great cattle pa^ure never truft to a patched, or a half made O'*" hedges
hedge, you will continually be making good the trefpafles, and the cattle
will get a vicious habit, of which you will never after break them.

If a hedge needs patching, and is to be a fence again ft hogs or great cattle,
efpecially where water and fliade are wanting, it is much the beft hufbandry
to make it all new, though the reft may be tolerable, and fome of it feem-
ingly fufficient for another year, for a declining hedge will decay more in a
year than one can eafily imagine ; and if fuch cattle find any one place of it
weak enough to be forced, the ftrongeft part will never ftand againft them ;
fo that you will be daily patching fuch an hedge, and at times when you can
ill fpare a fervant, fuppofe in hay-making or harveft-time ; and at laft you
fliall have a continual patched hedge from year to year, wherein there will
be fome parts you will think too good to pull down, and yet no part of it
good ; whereas in mendings wood cannot be fo well joined as when it is
worked into an intire hedge at once.

Dividing open fields into inclofures by quick-fet fences, where ten acres of
flrong land is divided from thirty acres of light land, and the hke, is a real
improvement, in refpccfl that a tenant will give much more for the lands lo
divided ; whereas before the good land was fwallowed up by the poor land ;

nor

374 ORCHARD or FRUIT-GARDEN.

nor could the light and poor land be ploughed as often as the ftrong land,
nor the ftrong land fo feldom as the poor land, without reciprocal inconve-
niency.

If your corn-grounds, that lie contiguous, are well fenced againft each other,
you will have thereby the advantage, as foon as the corn of one field is rid
awav, to put in cattle, or hogs, to eat up both the grafs and loofe corn ; whereas
otherwife your cattle may be kept out a great while, when they need it, till
other ground be rid.

ORCHARD or FRUIT-GARDEN.

Kottoflccp §• !• T"^ ^ "°^ fteep feeds of trees in water, as fome may advife you j

feeds except J_^ fo'' ^^ '^^ "°^ good to ftcep any fort of feed, unlefs fome an-

fome annuals. ^^^-[^^ ^j^^j to f^eep them is good, efpecially if late fown : but to fteep ftones,

nuts, or feeds, that are not of quick growth, in water may kill them, by

making the kirnel fwell too haftily, and fo crack it before the fpear can do

it, or it may mould or ftupify the fpear. Cook, fol. 63.

§. 2. The antients always preferred orchards to paflures, and paftures to

arable. See Varro, fol. 32.

Of planting §. 3- In our hiU-country, where we are on cold clays, or elfe the earth is

apple-trees in fo poor that it's Vegetable particles are not copious, nor very a(flive, it has been

the hi .-coun- pi^^-gj-ygj tj-,a(- apple-trees are very hard to be raifed, unlefs the crab-ftocks be

planted where they mufl: remain two years before they are grafted, or ratlier

unlefs the crab-kirnels be fowed where they are to continue unremoved, and

fo grafted. — Probably the reafon for this may be, becaufe there is a confider-

able knot of tranfverfe fibres where the graft is jointed, through which the

iuices and vegetable particles find it a very hard talk to pafs, where the juices

of the ground are cold, as in clay-lands, or the particles of vegetation lefs

copious and a<flive, as in poor lands, efpecially when the flock irfelf being

planted after it's being grafted, muft be fuppofed to receive a check, and it's

tubes fome fireightncTs by clofure, and therefore cannot admit a free pafiage

of juices upwards to the graft : whereas when the flock has been planted two

years, and it's roots fettled, the juices may have a vigorous pafl'age, and fo

can eafily force their way through the fibres where the graft knits : yet where

tliere is a mellow ground, or a rich fat fand, there the vegetable corpufcles

rife fo ftrongly and plentifully, and the juices of the earth are fo thin, that

they can eafily pafs upward to the graft through the knot, and in fuch a

happy foil a tree planted after being grafted may do well.

Oftnnfplat.t- §. 4. I by no means think v/ell of removing crab-llocks out of the woods

ft°k^'' and tranlplanting them ; becaufe fuch flocks, when they come to be expofed

to the open air, and taken out cf their flitlter in the warm woods, do not bear

the cold winters well, nor even the fummer funs.

Of cuttings for §• 5- Your cuttings for planting ihould be from half an inch to a whole

jiaating. jj^^h dianictcr ; for, if they be lefs than half an inch, they will be

v.cak

ORCHARD or FRUI T-G A R D E N. 375

weak and have a great pith, which will take wet and be likely to kill your
cutting ; and befidcs, when your cuttings are too fmall, they are not pre-
pared with thofe pores, that is, litde black fpecks on the bark, where the
roots break out, if fet in the ground ; a fign that thofe that have that mark
on them will grow, as elder, alder, fallow, water-poplar, &:c. and \i they be
too young they will not have that burry knot v/hich is very apt to take root :
and if they are above an inch diameter the tops of your cuttings will be
long in covering over, and fo may decay by the wet. Cook, fol. 12.

§.6. The Fiench gardener tranflated by Evelyn, fol. 54. favs, the heftOfEf^f"-
grafts are thofe which grow on the flrongeft and mafter-branch of a tree, and
which are wont to be good bearers, and fuch as promife a plentiful burden
that year, being thick of buds; for hence it is that your young grafted trees
bear fruit from the fccond or third year, and fometimes from the very firll ;
whereas, on the contrary, if you take a graft from a young tree, which has
not as yet born fruit, that, which you fhall propagate from fuch a cyon, will
not come to perfedlion a long time after.

I went with my gardener into my crab-ftock nurfery, to choofe fomeftocks
for grafting on : I had fome that came from another nurfery, and others that
I had raifed from crab-kirnels, but had never been removed ; thefe feemed
to be the moft flourifliing, and on thefe I would have had him grafted ; but
he refufed, faying, that they had only a tap, but no fibrous or bufl:iy roots,
and therefore, when removed, would not be able to feed their ftock and graft.
— Note, fuch ftocks removed may be well able to maintain themfelves, but
it is a different thing to maintain their grafts, and forcibly tranfmit juices enough
thro' the knot of the graft, where the fibres run tranfverfe.

Cyons grafted upon fuckers are more difpofed to produce fuckers than grafts
on the main ftocks do. Ev. 140;

lu January or February, as you find the weather grow warm, the wind
neither being north nor north-eaft, you may graft cherries or plums, but
not apples till the bark of the ftock will rife or peel from the wood, v/hich is
feldom before the middle of March, and often not till April : this is the beft
way of grafting them, but if you will graft apples in the cleft, you may do it
fooner. Lang. fol. 46.

The great ufe of grafting by approach is, where trees (fuch as the vine, or
cver-greens) run fo much to juice, that the graft cannot eafily confolidate to
the ftock by reafon of the great fluidity of fip ; there by length of time and
patience it will confolidate by approach.

§. 7. I gathered withy-ftioots over which the cart-wheel had run, and Ofbudding.
pieffed them flat, in which fhape they continued to grow, and the fap fwel-
led through their fibres, and rifing higher there than in other places of
the bark, plainly Ihewed, that the fap is conveyed by thofe fibres, to each of
which in their progrefs broke forth a bud fooner or later, and it was to be ob-
ferved that the fibre leflcned extreamly as it palled on, after it's having fent
out it's bud, not being able farther in it's whole progrefs to fend out another ;
for all buds that appeared above being well obferved, could be perceived to

be

376 ORCHARD or FRUIT-GARDE N.

be collateral, and to belong to fome parallel fibre, though fometimes the bud
above mio-ht feem to turn athwart the fibre of the lower bud, and hang per-
pendicularly over it. — From hence may appear the reafon why an inoculated
bud may not take, viz. becaufe it is not placed on a fibre ; therefore care is to
be taken to place the inoculated bud perpendicularly under another bud, that
it may be fed, and not over, left the under bud weaken the fibre that paffes
from it, and it fhould not be able to feed the inoculated bud.

Mr. Bobart of Oxford tells me, he once inoculated a bloflbm-bud of an
apricock, and the bloflbm grew to be a ripe apricock.

To bud a walnut-tree, when five or fix feet high, doth not alter the pro-
perty of the wild kind, but makes the tree more naturally bear fruit, both
fooner and better too. Cook, fol. 6i.

I know Lord Bacon tells you, that peaches come beft of fi:ones unbudded 5
but I advife you to bud all you raile of ftones, feeds, &c. though it be to take
a bud off from the fame flock, and to bud it on that, as I have often done.
Cook, fol. 61.

Currants and goofeberries may be inoculated on their own kind. Mortimer,
fol. 455.
Of pruning. §• 8. As good pruning helps the growth of trees, fo alfo doth it prolongtheir
lives : for it is well known that the pruning fome annual plants will make
them laft more than one year. Cook, fol. I.

Le Gendre fays, a gardener ought not to prune the large fhoots of fome
trees, fuch where the lap is very plentiful by being in good ground ; for, if the
fap be flopped ever fo little, it will caft itlelf into the buds, which would
have born fruit, and make them grow into wood ; therefore he ought to
manage it fo as to leave neither the foot nor body of the trees too much un-
furnilhed ; for this reafon he muft rather cut the tall-fliooting branches, unlefs
in the cafe above, too fliort than leave them loo long, taking mofl from the
higheft branches, and fuch as are towards the top of the wall, becaufe thefe
draw all the fap to themfelves, and leave the bottom of the tree unfurnirtied :
this is the caufe that peach-trees are fo difficult to be kept, experience teach-
ing us, that, if the gardener does not perfedly underftand the v/ay of cutting
them, and taking their fprouts away as they ought to be, they will be ruined
in fix or feven years, fol. 127.— Trees, to be well pruned, mufr have their
boughs every year refreflied more or lefs, according to their force, by cutting
away the wood that fprings in the month of Auguft, which being the fhoot
of the latter fap, cannot be ripened, unlefs it be necefi'ary to preferve it for
want of better, or that it be found to be ftrong and well nourilhed. fol. 127.

Thofe boughs alfo that fhoot too faft muft be flopped and kept fhorter than

the others, for they draw all the fap to them and wrong the reft that are
weaker : but the mafter-bough muft always be preferved, being that which
grows ftrait upwards, fo ftopping it from year to year that it may always be
the ftrongeft, and maintain the fliape of the tree : thofe boughs alfo, which
are weak and fmall, muft be fhortened, and thofe, which are difpofed to bear
fruit the following year, to the end that they may grow ftrong, and that their

buds

ORCHARD or FRUIT-GARDEN. 377

buds may be well nouriflied. ib. — It is farther neceflary to prune thofe
branches that are full of fruit-buds, for too great a quantity of blofToms con-
fumes the tree, belides that from thence the fruit comes lefs fair j but in the
pruning of thefe it muft be obferved to cut them above a leaf-bud, and as near
to it as may be, for two reafons, the firft is, becaufe by that means the
fruit will profit moft, for, when it is not covered with leaves, it dries, and
feldom arrives at it's natural perfedlion : the fecond reafon is, becaufe fo the
branch will recover itfelf that very year ; whereas, if it be cut higher, and
far from a leaf-bud, there will remain a litde flub at the end of the twig, which
dries up, and cannot recover itfelf in two or three years : as for fuch boughs
as are taken wholly off, they muft be cut as near the ftem as may be, for fo
they will recover the fooner, and that without making any knot. fol. 129. —
The pruning of peach-trees muft be the laft of all, and then, when they begin
to fpring, and are ready to flower ; becaufe their young wood is fo tender,
that, if it be cut, it will be dried and fpoiled upon the leaft froft, from whence
a great many of the fmaller twigs die, and muft oftentimes be cut again, ib.
■^Plum-trees and cherry-trees muft not be cut, or ftopped on the fap, but
only cleared and difcharged of their ufelefs wood within the tree : and for
this reafon they are not proper to be kept as bufhes or dwarfs, fol. 131.

Some trees are fo apt to run to bearing, that thereby they will ruin
themfelves in a very few years ; to diminifli this, their heads muft be cut off,
or their boughs fliortened to the half, and for two or three years all their buds
taken off, for by this means, provided their roots be lively, they will grow
much into wood. Le Gendre, fol. 149.

§. 9. It will be neceifary every year to prune and nail wall-fruit to the wall Of nailing;
twice or thrice, according as they grow more or lefs, in doing which you muft
obferve, to bend down the ftrongeft fhoots that would grow upwards, towards
the fides, otherwife they will be apt to run ftreight upwards, and not cover
the fpace you dclign for them, and by their luxurious growth will extreamlv
rob the fide-branches of their nourifhment; there will branches enough fpring
out frefti to run upwards out of them when they are fo bowed. Langford,
fol. 54.

§. 10. A tree, fays Le Gendre, draws it's nouriftiment only from the fmall Ofdunguig
roots, fol. 1 36. — When it is neceffary to dung apple-trees, peach-trees or apri- and apncockl
cock-trees inoculated on a plum-ftock, or pear-trees grafted on a quince-ftock, trees,
it is enough to fpread the dung upon the ground fix feet about the ftem, and
fo to dig and work the earth and it well together, for thefe fpreading near the
furface of the earth are eafily fenfible of the amendment, fol. 138.

Many farmers in the lile of Wight threfli winter-vetches for their breeding-
pigs, and give them to them in the winter ; and one that I know in particular
gives them the vetches round about his apple-trees, and fays, their foiling, or
nufling, and keeping the grafs and weeds down, or digging and hollowing the
ground, is the reafon why his orchard brings apples every year when others
tail.

C c c §, 1 1. In

;78

ORCHARD or FRUIT-GARDEN.

§. II. In cold countries both the bark of trees, and the rind of fruit is
thickeft : fo it is plain of latter peaches, &c.
E^^'«5 '""vice- §. 12. " This fpring (anno 1708) was very v;et and cold, with frofty morn-
foming-time. ^"S^» efpecially at apricock and peach-bloflbming time, infomuch that rain
Vv'^ould fall in the night and freeze in the morning ; the confequence of which
was, that apricocks were fix and eight {hillings a dozen: but an ordinary neigh-
bouring-man to me, who had an apricock-tree next his houfe, being watchful
of molt contrary feafons, and finding the benefit of nurfing his tree under
difliculties, did by night cover it with rugs and blankets from the rain, the
confequence whereof was, he had thirty dozen of apricocks on his tree : his
name was Timothy Skrine of Broughton near me in Wiltfliire. — I alfo obferved
that year in fome few places fome thatched eaves, which hung a foot and an
half over fqme garden-mud-walls, where were good ftore of apricocks and
peaches } and I judged they owed their fruitfulnefs to thefe caufes, for they
were thus fliaded from the rain, which falling at night into the bloffoms
of others, and congealing, burned them up and mortified them ; and how they
piecemeal mortified, the morning after was very vifible. — The 17th of Auguft
1 was at Oxford in Mr. Bobart's phyfic-garden ; I related the matter to him
with my refleiStions on it. — He was pleafed with the relaion, and faid, he
would carry me to an objedl which fhould confirm my opinion : he fhewed

* This obfervation is agreeable to the inftrudions given by Mr. Miller, under the article Blight. —
" There is a fort of blight, fays he, againll which it is very difficult to guard our fruit trees; this
is fliarp pinching frorty morning--, which often happen at the time when the trees are in flower, or
while the fruit is very younj, and occafion the bJoflbms or fruit to drop oft'; and fomctimes the ten-
der parts of the (hoots and leaves are greatly injured thereby. The only method yet found out to
prevent this mifchief, is, by carefully covering the walls, either with mats, canvas, reeds, &c.
which being faftened fo as not to be diftuibed by the wind, and fuffered to remain on diirins; the
night, by taking them off every day, if the weather permits, is the b-ft and fureil method that hath
yet been ufed in this cafe ; which, althourjh it has been flighted and thought of little fervice by fome,
yet the reafon of their being not fo fervictahle as has been cxpetSed, was. becaufe they have not
been rightly ufed, by fuffering the trees to remain too long covered; by which means the younger
branches and leaves have been rendered too weak to endure the open air, when they are expofed to
it ; which has often proved of worfe confequence to trees than if they had remained intirely unco-
vered. Whereas, when the covering before mentioned has been performed as it ought to be, it
has proved very ferviceable to fruits ; and many limes, when there has been almoft a general de-
ftruiSion of fruits in the neighbouring gardens, there has been a plenty of them in fuch places,
where they have been covered : and though the trouble may feem to fome to be very great, yet,
if thefe coverings are fixed near the upper part of the wall, and are faftened to pullies, fo as to be
drawn up, or let down, it will be foon and eafily done ; and the fuccefs will fufficiently repay the
trouble."

The latter part of Mr. Lille's obfervation may feem favourable to horizontal fhelters, but, if
rightly confidered, it implies no more than Mr. Miller has allowed ; for it is far from concluding
that they ought to be fixed and conftant, or that walls flioulj be built in that manner, nor does it
aflert any thins; of the goodnefs of the fruit, but only of the quantity. He brings thefe inftances of
the projeiSling eaves to confirm the opinion he had delivered before, viz. that the plenty of fruit
that year on fome trees was owing to their having been protecied from cold winds, rain, and frofls,
in the time of their bloftbming ; but, notvvithftanding this, fixed horizontal fhelters may, at other
times, and in other refpeits, be very prejudicial both to the fruit and the trees, as Mr. Lliller has
{hewn both from reafon and experience.

me

ORCHARD or FRUI T-G A R D E N. 379

me the houfe he Hves in, planted on the walls of thephyfic-garden, on which
walls, as far as his houfe goes, is a large eavlng to his houfe, which faved his
peaches from the north wind and the rain, fo far as his houfe went, and fo far
he had good flock of peaches on feveral trees, but no farther; and the end of
his houfe reaching to the middle of a tree, the fruit ended there.

§. 13. This year (anno 1720) the fpring and fummer to Auguft the i.jthP'"'"^'^^^
(when this was wrote) was often very rainy, and the days for the feafon of the fto"^eciK)p in°
year very cold, it was obfervable, that in my kitchen-garden, where the land cold wet wea-
was very good, the plums which were flandards, and did cleave from the '1^'^''' °''^''",
ftone, fuch as theOrleans, the Damafcenes, the Queen-mother, &c. did all chop why.
in feveral places, not, as I believe, one plum on a tree excepted, and gum iffued
out of the chops : but a violet-plum, a ftandard there, which is a plum that
does not cleave from the flone, did not in the leafl chop : it was farther ob-
fervable that fuch plums as grew againf!; the walls, and did cleave from the
flone, though they grew againft a north-weft wall, did none of them chop.
—And the fame obfervation I have made other years, in cold and wet fum-
mers : it may alfo be added, that the foil in my kitchen-garden was full as
good, and as well maintained as the borders of my plum-trees againft the
north-weft walls : from this experiment I draw the two following conclufions,
viz. that the reafon why the plum that did cleave from the ftone in my kitchen-
garden did chop, was, becaufe fuch plums, which cleave from the ftone,
are of a drier pulp and do not overflow fo much in juice as the violet-
plums do, and thofe which do not cleave from the ftone ; and therefore,
through the wet and cold feafons of the year, the fpirituous juices, which
can only ftrain through the ftalk of the plum, being not rarified, through
want of heat, could not afcend, and fo thofe plums, dry in their nature, being
now made more fo, for V'/ant of moifture chopped : but moifture enough af-
cended the violet-plum, though lefs than in other years, which by nature
overflowed with juice, to preferve that from chopping.

The fecond conclufion is, that the much rainy and cold weather, to both
which the ftandard-trees were expofed, was the only reafon and caufe of this
circumftance of the chop in the aforefaid plums, and made the diflerence
between the ftandard-plums, and the plums againft the north-weft wall j for
though the fituation againft fuch expofition one may think very cold, as not
having fo much benefit of the fun from all quarters, efpecially from the eaft
and fouth afpedl, as the garden-ftandards had, by which means the garden-
ftandards were on as good, if not better footing in hot and dry fummers, yet
in fuch a cold and wet fummer as this was, the cloudy weather v/hich inter-
cepted the fun, and the cold windy and rainy weather, from which the plums
under the north-weft wall were very much defended, (o chilled the juices, as
to produce the ill. effe<5ts above-mentioned.

I have feen fruit-trees ftanding in hedges pallifade-wife, in fome particular
part of which hedges, poflibly for a lug or two, the trees every year blighted :
I have known new earth to be laid to the roots, and the old to be removed

C c c 2 without

380 GARDEN.

without efFeifl : then I have known new trees to be planted in their room,
yet ftill the evil has continued. In fuch cafes I have always obferved the po-
lition of the place to be the difeafe, either that there has been a repercuflion
of an eafterly wind from a piece of wall on the place, or fome angle which
has turned the ftrength of a malignant wind on it, which caufe being re-
moved the efFedl ceafed. — I was fpeaking to Mr. Bobart of this, and he faid,
that London the king's gardener had told him, that he was at Verfailles, and
obferved that the king of France for this reafon could have no fruit \

GARDEN.

§. I. '^TT^ H E common damafk-rofe is the antient inhabitant of England.
1^ Mortimer, fol. 477.

Of therofe. I was telling my gardener how much fruit depended on the leaves of the
tree, &c. — he added, that in the monthly rofe he could flop the progrefs of
it's bloflbm a month by pulling off the leaves of the tree ; for it would not blow
again till it had put forth frefh leaves.

Of woodbines. g^ 2. The woodbines or honey- fuckles in my borders have not thriven, but
for the moil part died yearly, and I have been forced to renew them ; I firfl
thought our country was too cold for them, but at length I was rather inclined
to think our foil was too dry and too hot, our garden being much expofed
to the fouth fun ; fo I laid heaps of grafs to the roots, and quickly found it

to have fuccefs. Agreeable to this feems Mr. Ray, Hiftoria plantarum,

vol. 2. fol. 1490. Hsec fpecies in feptentrionalibus regionibus, Germania, An-
glia, Belgio, &;c. in fepibus frequens.

Of fait laid on §.3. I would have thofe that lay fait on their gravel-walks, to kill the

gravel walks, weeds, to obferve, if in a few years they do not produce more weeds than
thofe gravel-walks that had had no fait laid on them did. For the fait at
firft ftupifies the roots, as being more than they can digeft, till wafhed in by
the rain and qualified. Cook, fol. 18.

KITCHEN-GARDEN.

Ofimprovine §' 4" Worlidge, fol. 257. fays, removing of plants, and alteration of the

plants by re- foil is a good Way to improve them ; feveral efculents grow the fairer for it,

moving them, ^g cabbages will not leaf well in cafe the young plants be not three or four

times removed before the fpring, the fame is obferved in lettice, onions, and

feveral others, if they are removed into improved earth every time, they will

eat the tenderer and finer.

Afhesgood §• 5- Columella recommends aflies to be laid on artichoke beds, which he

manure for
artichokes.

*" See the article, Water and Watering, from §. 5. to the end,

fays

GARDEN. 381

fays is extreamly beneficial to that plant '. But Mr. Powel the gardener was
a ftranger to the agreeablenefs of that manure to them.

§. 6. The latter artichokes will keep to autumn, if you cut them before they of keeping
are ripe or going to blow, but it muft be in a dry feafon, and when they artichokes.
are very dry, and hang them up in a cellar ; for they will keep growing on,
and blow, and feed : I have known them kept fo two months ; or you may
cut the fpring-artichokes when half ripe, and then they will bear again at
autumn.

§. 7. Carrots and parfnips are faid to delight in different foils ; viz. carrots. Of carrots and
in fandy and the lighteft ground, parfnips, in the ftrongeft land. — Mr. Ray P^fmps.
agrees to this, for he fays, the carrot delights in gracili folo, but the wild
parfnip in folo pingui & opulento. It is a good property in a carrot to be thick
and fhort.

If carrots dnd parfnips are not gathered as foon as they come to their perfec-
tion in growing, which is to be known by the withering of their leaves, the
worm will eat them, which will caufe a canker.

§. 8. One of my labourers put me in mind of earthing up my cabbage- Of cabbages,
plants ; I knew they would thrive the better for it ; but he faid, it would
make them take frefh roots, whereby they would better in their flem fupport
their cabbage-heads, which otherwife would be flung by the wind.

§. 9. Markham in his book of huftandry, and fkill in cookery, p. 51. fays, of tranfplant-
that herbs growing of feeds may be tranfplanted at all times, except chervil, '"§ ''"'^^•
orage, fpinage, and parfley, which are not good after being tranfplanted ; but
obferve to tranfplant them in moifb and rainy weather.

§. 10. Glycirriza, or liquorice, Mr. Ray fays, rarius autemin Germania aut '-'^ ''^"°""'
Anglia floret, ideoque flerilis a nonnullis fed temere credita. Now Englifh
liquorice being the beft, fliews plainly the perfedlion of the root has no affinity
with the perfedlion of it's tafte ; for no doubt but the root of liquorice grows
more perfedl, that is, larger, in thofe countries where the plants flower and
bear fruit, though there it may eat more fl:icky and fliringy, and be lefs plea-
fant in tafte : fo that the perfection in the tafte of the root may be a defeft
in it.

§. II. Sharrockin his book of vegetation fays, that Englifh feed of onions of onions,
brings but fcallions or fmall onions. I find this to be true, and that they will
not keep long, but grow foft, and rot in three weeks time after they are
taken up.

* Cinara multo cinere ftercorandum, id enimftercoris huic oleri videri aptiflimum. Columella.

WEEDS,

of foJderir,!
with weedy
flratt'.

Of poppy Or

red-weed.

Of killing
weeds.

w

[ 382 ]

E E D

S.

§• I- IT* A R M E R Chlvers of Gaufuns in Wilts fays, the thirties camei
JP at fiift; there, as in other rich paftures, from the ill hufbandry of
the farmers, who in hard winters foddered with thiilly ftraw, or thiftly coarfe
hay, and from thenceforward they have increafed to a great degree. — I re-
member that by foddering in my meads, in a very dry fummer, with goar-
vetches, I filled my meads with morgan and other trumpery.

§. 2. Poppy or red-weed feldom grows in the deep and wet lands of Hants,
nor in the deep lands in Leicefterfliire, nor indeed do the plants which come
up from the fmalleft feeds, fuch as rue, whitlow-grafs, ficc. grow in ftrong
lands, but in the lightefl: lands, which are confequently the barreneft ; becaufe
thofe fmall feeds are eafily opprefl'cd in ftrong or wet lands, nor are the vege-
tative particles heated, and thereby refined enough to penetrate the pores of
their feeds.

§. 3. The farmers do not in the lafl crops lay down their lands to clover
in the ftrong and deep foils of Northamptonfliire, becaufe they would then
be prevented (if they made any benefit of their clover the next fummer) of
taking fo efteftual a remedy by an early fummer-fallow, and after that of
giving their lands a fecond tillage, perhaps to deftroy the with wind (which I
have often obferved to trouble them) and other fuch ill weeds as are apt to
grow up with their wheat, if not fubdued by an early fummer-fallow. After
all it muft beconfefiied, that nothing is better hufbandry in our ftrong clay-
grounds in the hill-country than to keep them in tillage, and not to fuffer them
to run to a fword of natural grafs, which is prevented by ploughing up the
firft fummer's clover to a wheat-crop, about the beginning or middle of Au-
guft, after you have in a manner had the benefit of the fummer-crop ; and
yet this practice is fubjedl to the inconveniency of cultivating the weeds fuch
fort of land is fubjeft to, efpecially when it fliall be folded or dunged, as
wheat-land ought to be. Therefore itfeems a medium ought to be tiken in
this cafe, and you ought to obferve carefully what fort of ground is fubjeft to
what fort of weeds j for fome of my clay-grounds are not fubjeft to withwind,
and fome of my light and white grounds are not fubjedl to morgan or red-
weed as others are, and yet I can lee little difference in the grain of the land ;
accordingly you may fuit your hufbandry, in humouring your grounds, and
venturing the aforefaid method in one ground, which for the foregoing rea-
fons you ought not to rifque in another : again, it often happens in our hill-
country- land, Vv'e have feveral forts of earth in the fame field, as ftrong red
clay, fome mixed earth, and fome white ; in fuch cafe, when in the courfe of
hufbandry you fhould lay down your laft crop of corn to clover, you may for-
bear fowing that part of the field which is of ftrong clay to clover, that you
may not be hindered from doing that which perhaps may be moft for your
benefit; viz. of giving it an early fummer-fallow in order for a wheat-crop.

A2;ain

WEEDS. 38.

Again j'ou muft be nicely careful of giving fuch lands as are fubjedl to weeds
the firll frofty fallows of the winter ploughings every year that they are
fown to barley, oats, or peas, in cafe you fallow for peas : by this method
you will in time gain in a great meafure a dominion over thofe forts of weeds,
which otherwife would eat out and overtop your corn.

Sowing clean feed, and laying grounds down to grafs-feed, will at length
overcome all manner of weeds, whereby the heart of the ground is eaten out, ^
and the mere in heart yon accuftom to lay down your grounds to grafs-feed,
the thicker the grafs or clover will grow, and the better efFedl it will
have.

Mr. Ray fpeaking of ludweed (with which the fields at Crux-Eafton are
very much troubled) fays, it grows chiefly on dry, barren, and gravelly
ground. — If fo, it feems it may be extirpated by improving the land by good
hufbandry : and it feems to be the fame with all other plants that afFeft bar-
ren and poor ground ; the juices being poor and four that they feed on, they
go off of courfe by making the land generous : and indeed good healthy land
feems much eafier to be cured of the weeds incident to it than poor land,
without altering the condition and property of each fort, becaufe colt's-foot,
docks, wild carrot, parfnip, 6cc. excepting the thiftle and knapweed, may
eafily be deftroyed by being prevented from feeding ; whereas the plants of
barren grounds being both fmall and infinite, the labour of deftroying them
would be alfo infinite without altering the property of the ground. There-
fore the confequence of ploughing lands hard is very difcernable, as alfo of
how great confequence it is fometimes to feed meadow-lands for a year or
two, thereby to deftroy thofe weeds which are annual by preventing them
from feeding.

Sharrock however in his book" of vegetation, fo. 141. fays, that the plants
which annually die, if they are difappointed of running to feed, will continue
and furvive many years, even till they are permitted to run to feed.— If fo,
the feeding of meads, and cutting thiflles, &c. in order to deflroy annual
weeds, may not be fo effedlual as above propofed.

The meafures to be taken in the three feafons of the fummer for cutting
of weeds feems befl to be taken when they are fulleft of fap, which we may
judge of by the Gripping of oak, which is mofl in fap in the breaking
out of the bud into a leaf, before the leaf be full grown : and fuch half-
grown leaves, by reafon of their fulnefs of fap, the froft feizes fooner than
the others : fo that the weeds ought to be cut down when the fap is mofl
in the root, viz. at fpring, Midfummer, and Michaelmafs-flioot, which is
on the full fwelling of the bud.

Our farmers fay, one need not regard what weeds come up in the fummer-
fallows, or when one fows wheat ; for thofe weeds and May-weed will all
be killed by the winter, but it is the weeds that "come up in the fpring that
du the harm.

§ 4. If much wet brings up weeds, how comes not the corn alfo to Why wet
thrive in wet weather ? The reafon is, becaufe many weeds are natural to wet '"''"f "P,

' •' weeds snd

ground, not corn.

:M

WEEDS.

ground, luch as colt's foot, docks, thiflles, &c. and to cold clay ; the wet-
ter therefore the year proves the more fuch plants will grow to the maftery
of the corn : but wet feafons agree with no fort of corn : God having or-
dered that man fhoald live by the fweat of his brow, has given that general
defecT: to land, as to ftand in need of being laid dry by art and tillage. Ac-
cording to what has been laid, lands lying aflope to the north from the fun,
will be the more fuhjedl to weeds.
whywKest ^_ ^^ It is the obfervatlon of country-farmcrs, that, if the feafon of fow-
comes weedy'. i"g wheat be dry, it brings many weeds into the corn : — becaufe the feeds
of weeds have a moiflure in them by lying fo long in the ground as eafily
makes them grow when the ground is made fine for them ; whereas the corn,
being put into the ground as dry as may be, cannot by that little moifture of
the ground grow, and fo the weeds firft fet out ahead of the corn : befides
the feeds of many weeds by much wet may burft, as it is in many garden-feeds.
Caut'ion not to §. 6. It is Commonly faid, by thofe who forbear to weed their wheat till
weed corn jj. jg quite, or almoft in ear, that what is trod down or bent will rife again :
L eTr." tee but I weeded my wheat in the beginning of May, at leaft three weeks before
§. 10. iz. it was in ear, and on the 23d of May 1 walked by the fides of the corn, and
faw many of the bent and trodden down blades, which it was impoflible
fliould rife : I found in the bending of all of them, where they had been
broken down, the juices in that bending turned black, and became an iron-
mould, which in all probability before harveft might rot them off : I found
all fuch blades mounted upwards from the firft joint above the bending, ma-
king directly upwards towards the fun, as the young fhoots of trees fallen
down will do, and the bended head of a pea, as it flioots out of the ground,
which rifes upright in the blade, making a right angle in that joint ; and fo
•Loofe at it is to be obferved that barley blighted by being * more-loofe does, which
^"°^' falling down at the root, the blade in like manner bends inwards at
the firft joint above the root : undoubtedly therefore fuch weeding corn fo
high does it harm ; it would be worth the obferving at harveft what ears
fuch corn produce, as alfo whether the blades trod down to the north and
facing the fouth do not rife more upright to meet the fun, than thofe trod
down towards the fouth do in rifing towards the north, and fo from other
points of the compafs : as we tread down onion, turnip and carrot-tops to
ftrengthen the roots, and to weaken the heads, think j'ou not it does the
fame to wheat ? and confequently the bruifing and treading it down muft
be prejudicial to the corn.
Some corn §• 7- There is not always the fame reafon for weeding corn, though the
does not want vveeds may be as full fet at one time as at another : for fometimes one is fure
mher'corn? '^^^ ground is in very good heart, and the weeds, by coming up late, are not
fo; it often happens that the corn flarves the weeds and overcomes
them ; but, if the land is poor, fo that the corn fhall be danger of falling off,
the danger will be of the weeds ftarving that.
What corn ^. g. Special regard ought to had to the v/eeding of fuch corn, which
we'eded!° * ought not to he long abroad in the field after it is cut, fuch as white oats,

barley,

WEEDS. . 385

barley, and wheat ; becaufe they will not bear to lie out ib long, as that
the weeds cut with them may dry without damage ; whereas black oats and
peas, the firft may lie out without damage till the weeds are dry, and peas muft,
to be dry themfelves, lie out as long as the weeds may be dry alio : however,
it is beft to weed oats.

§. 9. If you know a ground in It's own nature fubjecfl to poppies, thiflles, of weeding »
morgan, &c. it is good, if the fummer prove cold and wet, to look over feccndtime.
it a fecond time, though you had weeded the wheat in the fpring ; for it is
incredible how a fecond crop of thofe weeds will flourilh in fuch years,
(though they were out of proof at theiirll early weeding) and keep on growing
till harveft, fo as to burn the corn and eat out the heart of it,

§. 10. My wheat was putting out into ear when I fent weeders to weed it, Not to weed
but found at the day's end, that their {looping to pull up the may-weed and «i'e,.t ntar in
red-weed had bent many of the reeds under the ear, for the wheat was tall, "j'V' ^'^
and not likely to look up again, it being thick ; therefore much of it was trod-
den down, or rather broke off near the root, the reed being grown {[iff: I fent
my bailiff and others to view it, and they reported, that the weeders had done
a great deal of injury to the corn. — So for the future I hope I fliall be wifer,
and fee my wheat weeded earlier : but, had my wheat been ihorter and
thinner, and a poor crop, it is probable to fuch wheat very little damao-e
might have been done : certainly it is befl to weed wheat as early in the
fpring as the weeds are all come up, and, if it mult be weeded a fecond
time, ten acres will be weeded in the time of one. I fee quick-fet plants
and garden-fluff thrive fo exceedingly the more for being weeded, that I
cannot believe but that early weeding the corn will have the fame good
effedt.

§. II. I aiked my bailiff, it having rained the day before, why he did not Nottowcj
go to thiflling my barley j he faid, by no means, he fhould do more harm immediaiciy
than good, whilft the top of the earth was clammy ; for it would clod to " ^"^^ "'""
their (hoes, and in treading on fuch barley as was flaallow-mored it would
ftick to their fhoes, and they fhould pull it up after them; as well as tread
other ears into the ground which would never rife again.

§.12. I began weeding my barley early this year (anno 1703) and my Cfweedirg
oats fooner by a fortnight than others thought of it : I had about ten weeders "',^; '^'"'' *"
in my corn, and yet found by the latter end of the weeding-feafon, by the
damage they began to do in treading down the corn, that I had great realbn
to rejoice for fo doing : I had my weeders all ready againfl hay-making-
time, which was then at hand : but when I had done weeding, the far-
mers had fcarce begun, rain coming and preventing them, as they had
miffed making ufe of the feafon when they m^ight : he that thinks he lliall
have a good crop of any fort of corn, had beft weed it early, becaufe his
corn, running thick and grofs, will receive the mdre damage by late weed-

Weeds cut late, when grofs, and the barley grofs, it is likely the corn

D d d mufl

386

WEEDS.

muft have been much kept down by the weeds falling on It, fo that it can
never rife again.

Of wild oats. §. 13. » Mr. Ray fpeaks of wild oats as a weed difficult to be got rid of;
for ripening before harveft, and fliedding it's feed in the ground, it will
remain there till the ground be ploughed up again, though it be for a whole
year, and then come up with the corn.

The Ifle of Wight is extremely apt to run to wild oats, which major
Urry fays, will lie four or five years in the ground, and come up when it
is ploughed : his way to kill them is, to lay the ground down to clover, ani
to mow the oats and clover together before the oats are ripe, and then?
their roots will never grow again.

Offurze. §. 14. Mr. Gary's woodman walking with me upon Winterhay's farm in:

Dorfet(hire, I obferved the grounds to be much over-run with furze ; he
faid, they were the worft fort of furze, they were French furze, which run
up higher than the Engli/li furze does, but would not be fo eafily killed with
chalk, nor were they tender enough for the cattle to eat them : they begin to
blow in the middle of January, and laft all the fummer ; the Englifh furze
begin to blow the latter part of the fpring, and hold it all the fummer. — I
could fee little difference between them, only the Englifh was of a clofer
thicker prickle, and the fmalier prickles tenderer.

Of fern. §• 1 5- Mr. Ray, fpeaking of the fern, fays, it is killed by cutting it two

years together.

The deftruftion and killing of fern by cutting it feems to me to depend on,
the iudicious time of doing it, viz. at the three proper feafons, the fpring,
IMidfummer, and Michaelmafs, when and juft after the refpedive budh are
fliot forth, to which nature has defigned the current of the fap, which,
having no vent, muft caufe a plethory at the rootand body of the plant, and
turn to corruption ; for the fap muft break all the capillaries, of which there
are a multitude.

OftkLlling;. §. 16. Taking a view of my corn about three weeks after it had been
thiftled, I could not find that any of the ftems of the thirties, which had
been cut off, fliot upwards fince the thiftling-hook had taken hold of
tliem, nor did they anywife tillow out, or fhoot up fuckers ; but I found three
or four of the ferpentine leaves to every thiftle.( which crept fo low it was
impofiible the hook ftiould take hold of them) to have fpread themfelves out
pretty largely, yet not fo conliderably as might have been expecfled, the fap
feeding them plentifully ; nor could I find the roots of thoie thirties, which
had been cut off, thrive beyond their fellows afterwards : it may be worth
the inquiry whether thofe lower creeping leaves would not rife muck
higher, if one had patience to ftay, fo as the hook might cut below them :
but the bert way of all, both for difpatch and profit, I conclude to be, to

• Inter fegetes nimis frequens eft, nee agri, qui ea femel infeiSi funt, facile hac pefte liberantur ;
ttenim ante mefTem maturefcens, femen in terram efFundit, qucd per hyemem ibidem reptans,
aut per integrmn annuaij H fatio intermittatur, cum fegete denuo I'uccrefcit. fo. 1 254..

draw

WEEDS. 387

draw the thiftle before it be grown to that bignefs-that they ufually cut them,
and when the ground is reafonably moift : when they are pretty big they will
eafily draw by the thumb and two fingers, but falfe fingers of hard Icatlier
may eafily be had.

About a month after I had thiflled oats and barley, I obferved the barley-
ground to be full of thirties again, whereof many ftood fo near to the old
ftems, viz. within fix inches, that I fuppofed they had tillowed from them;
therefore I dug down carefully half a foot in the ground, but could not
find the roots of the young thifiiles inclined towards the old ftem : I tore
up the young thirties with roots of nine inches long, broken off" and very
taper and flender at bottom, with fmall fibres belonging to them, as other
maiden-thirties had : nor is it to be conceived that nature, which is ordered
to go the neareft way, fliould from the flenderert and lowert part of the old
root fend forth it's fucker, but from the upper part and rtrongert of the whole
foot, neareft to the furface ; fo I obferved fome fmall tillows or ifiiies from
the old ftem, which did not advance to any great height ; they ifiTued out
between earth and air, and, as if maintained by the old ftem, they carried a
fhrivelled dwarfifh look with them: they ifilied out more freely and lons;er
here than in the white foil though thiftled a fortnight before this ground; for
either the ftems here carried no fuckers, or very dwindling ones : therefore
there is lefs danger of the thirties growing again by tillowing, in this thirtling
white land early than rtiff clay : nor did the under-leaves of the old rtems
fhoot out to any length in the white ground in comparifon to what they did
in the clay : the wet year was the occafion of thefe tillows.

Augurt 24th (anno 171 1) I dragged a nine-acre piece of wheat, fowed on
one earth, which was very thick, and full of thirties that had tillowed out
from old rtems, which I had c'ut about a month or fix weeds before, left
they rtiould run to feed ; I was a little apprehenfive, though I knew the
thiftle to be but an annual plant, whether the tillowing thiftles from the
old roots might not ftrike frerti roots to the great prejudice of my wheat;
there were alfo many thiftles which were feedlings. — November 17th I vi-
fited my wheat, and though the forehand of the winter-feafon had been
very mild, yet I found all the thiftles dead and rotten in the roots : it may
be the drags battering them might haften the eftecfl, but I beheve they had
been dead fome time before.

If wheat be not well thiftled, the reapers take up the grips fo tenderly, left
they ftiould prick their hands, that by their loofe handling them many ears
are left behind, and fuch foul work is made, that the wheat left behind
might fow the ground.

Though barley and oats fliould both be thiftled, yet, if it is impradlicable
to accomplifti both, the oats fliould be left unthiftled rather than the barley,
not only becaufe the oat-rtrav/ is generally lefs proper for fodder than the
barley-ftraw, but alfo becaufe oats may lie longer in fwarth and in cock than
the barley, and fo the thirties may have a reafonable time for drying : it is
further alfo to be noted in thirtling fpring-corn, that, if the thirties be

D d d 2 once

38S WEEDS.

once grown tall,' ftrong, and prickly, as they commonly are before the bar-
Ley be out in car, and about five weeks before it is cut, then I think, though
the barley be not fo high, nor thick as to take harm in thiflling by tread-
ing, yet the thiflling in fuch cafe does more harm thaa good j firft, becaufe
the thiftles being grown fo flicky will not thoroughly wither, nor fhrink and
waRe away, as it were to nothing, by harveft, but will be raked up with the
corn ; fecondly, by harveft fuch great thirties will turn black, and fpoil the
fodder (being raked up with the fwarths) a great deal more than if they had
flood till harveft ; for then, being cut green with the corn, they will hold a
good colour, and drying they will eat tolerably well, nor will the cattle refufe
them in the flraw. Chalking land is an excellent way to deftroy the
thiflles.

It need not be wondered at, that in borders, alleys, grafs-plots, gravel-
walks, dec. weeds, grafles, and trumpery fliould fo increafe as they do, if
we obferve that fuch weeds and graffes, however low they feem to be kept,
run to feed when they are Co fmall as to efcape our obfervation, and beforc-
they feem to be worth weeding up.

I was weeding my barley (anno 1701) fo long before it was in ear that one.
could not know it from oats ; the thirties weie then pretty high and rtrong 5
but a farmer in my neighbourhood faid, he never weeded fo early, becaufe
the thirties would grow up again — Upon which, I talked with all the.
weeders, and with other hurt)andmen, and 1 found by them plainly, that,
iiotwichrtanding what the farmer had faid, it was good hurt)andry to thirtle
as I did ; for otherwife the thirties would grow fo big as to eat up the heart
of the corn, which it would not recover y and though the thirties might
grow again, yet they would not feed nor be rank, but rtill be over-topt
and kept under by the corn ; whereas by going into the corn when in ear
damage was done, and then the thirties were fo big, that being cut down
they would fall on the barley, and fink it down, fo that it might fome of it
never rife again, and that more efpecially, if they cut down the thirties in
rainy weather j for thereby they would be grofs and heavy, and not apt to
wither fo foon as otherwife they would do, and fo the corn might be in
danger of being ever held under : but when the corn was as young as
mine, thirtllng when wet did it no harm : and, if by thirtling fo early you
were forced to thirtle again, it was no more than the beft hufbandmen often,
do.

This day, being June 25th, (anno 1703) I conceived a fancy for reafona
before hinted at, that a better method might be found out for dertroying of
thirties than cutting them ; fo I went into a ground with a pair of tongs
(which alfo might be improved) and with them I took hold of the lower-
ftem of the thirtle, and drew it up with all it's roots nine inches in length, the
ftems of the thirties being nine inches or a foot long, and thai with greater-
expedition by much than the labourer could cut them, a^ he, being cye-
witnefs of it, was fatisfied. This inftrument may not, it is p Tib'e, d :> {o well
in wheat, becaufe the ground may be too liard to draw the root -, the prac-
tice

W E E D S. 38^9

«ice mall only be in bailey, where the ground is loofe : if the ground be
fomewhat moift,it will be the better.

It is good to thiftle broad-clover, and to cut out the docks, and fcabius's,
&c. as well as corn, for thereby the broad-clover (I know it by experience)
may be made a day the fooner.

§. 17. All this fpring (anno 1708) being wet, and lands being generally ^^'^''"'°*='^'
obliged to be fowed wet, it was obferved there was an infinite quantity of knov/n°from
charlock in cold red clays, both peas-land and barley-land j but in white ortufnip-
lighter land the charlock did not fo much over-run it : therefore it feems
one fhould avoid ploughing and fowing cold clays wet, if only on the ac-
count of charlock ; the reafon for this feems to be, becaufe charlock-feed is
very oily and hot in tafte, as has been before noted, and therefore refifls
putrefadlion, and confequently the fibres of the feed are not eafily opened,
and loofened, nor penetrated but by a great deal of moiflure ; whereas white
and light earth is foon dry after rain, and fo the water does not continue long
enough on it to fet fuch feed on growing : therefore cold wet lands are al-
ways more fubjeft to charlock than white land. — In thib the turnip-feed is of
a dire(fl: contrary nature to charlock-feed, which latter to the taffe convevs
in a very apparent manner a much tarter, ftronger oil ; for though the tur-
nip-feed requires a fpeedy (hower of rain 'to bring it up, yet much rain,
when it is firll fown makes it drunk, and it's parts being loofe and uncom-
padl imbibe the rain fo freely, that if they continue in it they are converted
to mucilage : I have often fowed charlock-feed and turnip- feed in flower-pots
at the fame time, and watered them,, and found that whereas turnip-feed
will fliew itfelf in three days, charlock would not appear under ten days j the
feed-leayes and roots of the lafl: are much hotter and more peppery than the
plant of turnip ; therefore none who fow turnip-feed need be at a lofs, on the
firft appearance of the plant, to know whether it be turnip or charlock ; for,
if the feed-leaves appear within a week's time, it cannot be charlock ; a"-ain,
if leaf or root tafles hot, it cannot be turnip, which tafles mild ; the advan-
tage of knowing which is, that one may loie no opportunity to fow turnip-
feed again in a very few days, and confequently lofe not the feafon, if it comes
not up, which by the aforefaid figns one may know ; whereas, if one muft
learn the difi^erence from the leaves they put out after the feed-leaves, that
muft take up at leafl three weeks, and thereby the feafon of fowing again
may be lofl ; for, if we have not fliowers or moifture for the fowing of tur-
nips, it will be to little purpofe.

On obferva'ion pafl on my corn of all forts June 8th (anno 17 15)
■niy wiieat, which was fown on one earth, worked fine and pretty dry,
i.e. a little drier than we commonly defire it to do for wheat, and which
was lown pietty early, ran very much to charlock: I alfo obferved that my
blue pcasv\hich were fowed in March, and the ground ploughed fine and
dry, brought up abundance of charlock : whereas the wheat-ground \\'hich
nloughcil up as heavy, and wet, and cold as we commonly defire it, and the
grey pariiidge-peas, v\hich v\erj; fown from the ^beginning of February to

th:

590 W E E D. S.

the 20th, ^vhen the ground and the weather were colder, produced very
httle or no charlock : all this feems to depend on one and the fame reaforv
in relation to the fowing, whether at fprlng or autumn ; viz. the charlock-
feed being clofe in it's tubes and vefTels, and full of oily parts, which refift
putrefa(flion, as aforefaid, the juices of the earth (v/hilft cold and wet, and the
feafon fo alfo) could not infinuate into the charlock-feed, it not being atte-
nuated enough by heat : whereas, when the feafon of the autumn and fpring,
and the ground was warmer, and turned up fine, the juices eafily penetrated
the vefiels of the charlock-feed, and fet them on grovving ; that afterwards,
when both the weather, and the ground grew warmer, the charlock-feed
did not grow up, is not to be wondered at, fince the good difpofition of the
bed feeds are at firft committed to is of the greateft moment, and the earth
foon fettles, and hardens, and falls clofe, and becomes unfit to make the
feeds grow.

This fpring (anno 1701) I fowed gore-vetches on a ftale fallow of a
head-land, and fowed another piece of gore-vetches the fame year on a fe-
cond ftale earth of a month turned up ; at the fame time we gave a fecond
earth for barley ; and I had nothing but charlock on the latter, and nothing
but thirties came up in the former ; from whence I colledl, that harrow-
ing on a ftale fpring-fallow tend? to nothing but producing fuch weeds the
ground is inclined to : therefore I had better have given another earth upoa
the fowing of my vetches, which would have buried the charlock that had
took root, which the harrows alone could not do.

I winter-fallowed two grounds lanno 1702) when in very good temper and
dry : the latter end of February or beginning of March I ploughed one again
and fowed it with peas, the ground working dry : I likewife ploughed the
other again, and fowed it to peas and gore-vetches at the fame time ; in both
thefe grounds, and all over them came up abundance of charlock, fo that
they were perfed: yellow with it ; only about two acres of the latter was re-
ferved till the latter end of April, and then had a fecond earth, and was fown
to more gore-vetches ; but then rain had fiiUen and the ground worked
pretty lumpifli, and therein I had not a ftem ot charlock came up.
.. J We had a very fhowery wet fpring all March, April, and Mav, and the

id. and o ,,_- ,,!,•• i-n 'ij

thiiUes. firft week ot June, and my lands, being in very good tillage, worked ex-

ceeding; fine at fowing-time for peas, oats and barley, as alfo had my wheat-
land and vetches, and I never knew fewer thirties in all forts of my corn, but
there was abundance of charlock, which I have often ohferved to be the con-
fequence of land's working fine and dry. Charlock therefore is more the
produce of poor ground, becaufe that generally works finer and drier than that
which is ftrong; but thirties are more commonly the produce of rtrong land,
becaufe that generally works colder, wetter, and rougher, which properties
brin<T thirties ; confequently in thofe years, vvherein the ground works worft,
the thirties ccme up thickert. Perhaps the reafon of this may be, becaufe the
feed of the thirtle may have taken root before the fpring-corn is fown, and,
when the ground works rough, it may not be torn from many clods of earth,

and

WEEDS. 391

and fo dies not, but abundance of the roots, having a faftening to the earth,
ilill live ; whereas, when the ground works fine, the roots of the young ten-
der thirties may be torn away from the earth, and fo wither and die ; and
that this may be the reafon I am apter to beUeve, becaufe, when ground
works rough, a crop of thiftles foon appears, and tops the corn, which
could not be, except the thiftles had had fome rooting before the ploughing
for fowing ; for whei e the ground ploughs fine, as the thirties are few, the
corn tops them, till it leans down it's head before the harveft, and then the
thirties, which were not weeded up, may fliew their heads above the corn ;
and in this cafe the thirties are generally weak, as having no root but what
might grow from the feed after the corn was fown ; for, as was faid before,
where the ground works fine, what tender young thirties had taken root,
which are the thirties fuppofed moft to annoy corn, are, by the fine work-
ing of the groundj conceived to be torn up by the roots : thus the fine tillage
of the ground prepares a bed for the feeds of weeds, but tears up root and
branch thofe weeds, \\ hich had before taken root, which, generally fpeak-
ing, are the mort hurtful weeds ; fine tillage of the ground therefore, in the
general, is a quality of good hufbandry.

What may be the caufe of producing charlock I cannot tell, but it feems, it
muft be either the fowing ground early, or dry j for that part fown late and
wet had none ; nor did my barley that year fowed late and almort in the duft,
produce but very little charlock : but after fowing the barley in April
and May, there was no rain for a long time, yet the barley came up well, but
the charlock came up very thin. — From hence I cannot but conclude, that,
though a dry fummer, and a dry winter-fallowing tends much to the killing
of the weeds, which arife from roots or their fibres, as alfo from feeds, by
laying open the ground to the frorts in winter, and to the fcorching heat of
the fun in fummer ; yet that, when fuch earth comes to be fown either to
winter or fummer-corn, the finer and drier it works, and the better for
bringing up the corn, the better and kindlier in proportion for the feeds of
weeds, by reafon the feeds of weedb are of lefs pith than the corn, confe-
quenrly more apt to be choaked when the ground works rtifF: but when it
works well for the corn, it does fo alio to bring up the weeds, which arife
fiom feeds, or fur the bringing up fuch weeds as arife naturally from the
ground, the body of the ground being more opened to the fun and rain's vi-
liting all it's pores and impregnating it : for I cannot fee why earth beft
prepared to bring up the feed-corn, is not alfo bert prepared to bring up tlie
feeds of weeds, and fuch weeds as are natural to the ground. But thefea-
fonable winter and fummer- fallowing, as before hinted, may reafonably pre-
vent and cut off fuch weeds as arife from roots or feeds. — And as to fuch
weeds as arife by roots or fibres of roots, the drier and duftier corn is laid in-
to the ground, the more muft fuch roots be feparated from the earth, and be
expofed to wither by the heat of the fun : but, as v/as faid before, I think it
holds quite contrary in weeds arifing from feed, and that the good difpcfitioa
and meliownefs of the ground is firtert to produce weeds either from feed or

naturally j.

392 WEEDS.

naturally ; the garden-mold being (o fine, is for the lame reafon fo fubjeift to
weeds. I fee quickfet-plants and garden- ftuff thrive fo exceedingly the more
for being weeded, that I cannot but believe early weeding the corn will do
the fame good to the ground ; and this may appear from mellow earth flung
up in digging a pond or other hole, which earth is generally of a mellow, hol-
low fort, whereon thiflles, and other weeds will grow abundantly, whether
they come up naturally or by feeds fown ; this feems to fliew how much fitter
the better tempered mold is for weeds as well as for feed-corn : but when a
mere and perfedt ftrong clay is flung out in a heap in digging fuch a pond or
hole as aforefaid, then, as I have obferved, fuch mere clay has produced no
weeds, the earth wanting that hoUownefs and fit mellownefs, till by lying two
or three years the upper crufl: is hollowed by the fun, or by the treading both
of men and cattle.
Of couch- §. i8. Mr. Raymond fays, the moft defl:ru(ftive grafs to corn is the knot or

grafs. couch-grafs, it being of that increafing nature, that, if but a piece of a root

were left, it would in one feafon fpread over a patch of ground as big as a
fmall cafl:ing-net.
Of great and §. ig^ Mr. Ray fpeaking of great bindweed, fays, it is frequent in hedges in
^gj oj"^'ijjj. watery places, it's root is perennial, but it's ftalk annual: I fuppofe the fmall
wind. bindv/eed is of the fame nature, as to the foil it defires, and the perennial root it

carries ; it grows in my clay-land, to the corn's great prejudice : therefore
land may be prefumed cold that runs to it, and muft be treated accordingly :
I am apt to believe it propagates itfelf by feeding in pafl:ure-ground, for it feems
to flower too late, in corn, to feed before the corn is cut.

In both barley and wheat, in the deep rich land, near Ilfley.in Oxfordfhire,
I obferved, withwind with mighty grofsnefs climbed up moft of the halm to the
top, no doubt, but to the prejudice of the corn in many refpedls, which mufl;
be eat up before harveft.

I have known withwind or bindweed multiplied and propagated both in
barley and wheat, where the land has been flrong, and therefore more fubjeifl
to that weed; for, when fuch ground has been ploughed for fome crops, to
peas, barley, or oats, for which corn the land is only ploughed in the winter
months, or for winter-vetches, for which end it is not tilled till about Septem-
ber, there is no killing thereby the roots or feeds of weeds as by fummer-fil-
lows for wheat, but the weeds, which multiply from the off-fets or joints of
roots, or from feeds, do increale thereby ; in fuch cafe I have known clay-
land folded for barley (and particularly that part of the ground, which waiting
for the folds going over at lafl: was lateft fallowed) bring up a great in-
creafe of withwind, though the fpring and fummer has been very dry, info-
much that every blade of barley had a withwind round it ; fo that, as the fold
has brought up a crop of barley, fo it has, with it, to every blade of corn brought
up it's enemy to eat it out, and pull it down before it is ripe, and prevent the
filling of the grain, whereby the crop of barley is greatly hazarded after it is
cut alfo, by the dange'- it muft run by laying in fwarth till that weed is wi-
hered, before it can be carted. — Again, near the end of the firfl fummer,

after

WEEDS. 393

after the firfl: year of a hop-clover crop, which I fed, that is, about the begin-
ning of Auguft, I fallowed a ground for v/heat, and then dunged the fallows,
and fowed my wheat before Michaelmafs : I had a very good crop of wheat,
but a withwind came up to every blade, fo that, had it been a wet and cold
fummer (whereas it was a hot and dry one) my wheat had been pulled down
and lodged while green in ear, and in the milk, and then could not have filled
in body and flour, and fo had been of the nature of blighted corn : the in-
creafe of this withwind was, without doubt, occasioned by the laying down
this ground only to one fummer-feed after the hop-clover was fown, when
the ground had born three or four crops of fummer-corn after it's v/heat
crop, whereby, by the winter ploughings, as I intimated before, the ofF-fets of
the roots of weeds, and their feeds were propagated ; and I could not properly
by a feafonable fummer-fallow deftroy thefe roots or feeds, by giving the
ground a fummer-fallow the beginning of June ; for then I had lofl the fruits
of my hop-clover crop by ploughing it in at the beginning of the firft fum-
mer, which would have contributed much to the killing of the withwind ;
and by delaying the fallowing three months longer, viz. to the beginning of
Augufi:, the fun had both fo loft it's ftrength to burn up the roots, and malt
the feed, and the ground the opportunity of lying long to a fallow, that the
dung laid on the fallows gave new life to the roots and feeds, which was very
apparent by this one experiment : there had been a great deal of hop-clover
feed fhed that year, becaufe I could not feed the hop-clover down lov/
enough (I had fo great a burthen on the ground) and this fliattered feed being
on the besinning of Ausiuft fallowed in, laid under the fallows alive till about
the loth of September, when I turned up the ground again for fowing wheat;
then the hop-clover feed was turned up again, and grew mightily by virtue
of the dung, and at harvefl^ produced, with my wheat, fo fine a crop of
clover, that I thought it would better pay the feeding it a year, than to
proceed on in the ufual courfe of hufbandry, viz. to winter-fallow after wheat,
for peas, oats, &c.

§. 20. Every one agrees the lighter one makes ground fubjecft to red-weed, ^^PP^' '^^J^^-
and may-weed, by giving it more earths, the more of thofe weeds it will may-weed,
bring, and thofe are fome of the worft weeds in corn ; for I have known as
good a crop of wheat as one would defire all the winter-time, and by thofe
two vi'^eeds coming up in the fpring and fummer, it has been eaten out fo, that
there has not been the feed.

I find all agree, that in weeding the morgan or may-vreed, and the red-
weed, they Ihould be drawn up by the root rather than cut up with the hook ;
becaufe they have a llender tap-root, which draws eafiiy, without loofening
the ground, and mores of the corn, whereas, if they be cut, they will lillow
and come again ; but the thiille has too great a root to be drawn, and when cut
comes not again.

Seeing poppy requires a winter and fummer for growing, to make it's feeds
grow, in order to fallow them up the fummer after, and deftroy them, it

E e e feems

39+

WEEDS.

feems the fummer-fallowing the year before, or the Odober before, is much
conducing towards a wheaten crop.

The poppy is a winter and not a fummer weed, the feed requiring
to have root very early in the fpring ; therefore I never could obferve it grow
in barley or oats, unlefs it was barley and oats fowed on one earth, which is
very early fown ; the rooted feed, poffibly, in fuch cafe, being not pulled up by
the harrows, grows, tho' in very little quantity.

It is ufually obferved, that the white land in our hill-country is very fub-
iefl to poppy, if ploughed with two or three earths, and made thereby light,
but clay-lands are not fo fubjedl to be reduced : — the reafon of which feems
to be this ; becaufe the poppy- feed is a mofl fmall feed (for Mr. Ray computes
many thoufands to lie in apod) which feed, byrealon of it's fmallnefs, is ea-
fily buried in clay land, and lefs able to flioot it's feed-leaves throu[jh, becaufe
it fooner fettles and binds than in light land, through which it's feed-leav?s
eafily pafs : it is very likely therefore, the evil of red- weed being fo g^eat, it
may be better to fow white land on one earth.

The poppy is much hardier than the wheat, for that bloffi^med exceeding
thick in the grounds where the wheat was alnioil all killed, expofed to the
cold winds of this winter 1709.

It is very plain that braifhier fliallower ground in the hill-country is very
fubjedt to red-weed or poppy, and the ftroiig clay-ground not (o ; therefore,
wherever in a clayey piece of ground there is a lip.k.in;a; or fall, or the grete
runs (hallower (as in fome places of '.aufl of my clay-rields it does'i as alfo in
the lighter fields, there I ought to give the weeders flricfler ordc s to be cau-
tious and circumfpedl to pull the poppy- weed up : — but, as to the flrong deep
clay-land, even the poppy, though it does appear there thick, need not be
much regarded; for it will there every day dwindle, and the cold clay will
ftarve it ; whereas, on the contrary, what poppy appears in fpring in the light
fhallow ftone-braiftiey land, though the root and ftalk feems poor, will fpring
forward, and thrive apace all the fummer till it blows and feeds.

When the farmer fays, red-weed, morgan, &c. burns up corn, it is only
meant that, when, that gets ahead, it fucks up the moiflure from the corn,
and then indeed it's lamentable effefts are as if the corn was fcorched up.
Cockle §• 2 I. Being with farmer Lake of Faccomb, we fell into difcourfe on huf-

bandry, and I told him I was gathering the cockle in the field out of the
winter-vetches, left I fhould bring them into the dung of the back-fide : he
faid, he faw not how that profited much, unlefs I defigned them for feed, and
then it might be inconvenient, but, if they were for horfes meat, if the cockle
with the vetches came into the dung, it would be heated thereby, and never
grow again} the fame he faid of charlock : I afked him then if he never
thought abundance of trumpery was carried into the field with the dung,
which grew again ; he faid it was fo in cafe green new dung was carried
forth, but in cafe the dung was firft flung up in heaps to rot, the feeds in it
of weeds did not grow : he faid, if his feed-wheat was clean, he never ob-
ferved he had cockle. §. 22. Mr.

WEEDS.

395

§. 22. Mr. Ray fays of the coin-marygold, it has a woody root, and ftrikes Com-mary-
deep, therefore muft eat out the heart of the ground, and muft be a great ^'^ '
harm to corn ; if it's feed ploughed-in will grow, as the garden-marygold will
being dug in, it is hard to overcome the increafe of it.

§. 23. Farmer Biggs told me, that a field of his was all over-run with colts- Colts-foot.
foot, and that he fowed it to vetches, and that thofe vetches britted or fcat-
tered, fo that he put in his pigs to fatting in it, which nufsled about as much
as they thought good, whereby, as he thinks, they trod and nufsled in
many of the vetches, for they came up very thick, and he preferved them,
and had a very good fecond crop ; which two years crop of vetches killed al-
moft all the colts-foot, fo that there has been but little there fince.

Colts-foot is feldom knov/n to grow in the common arable fields, for the
(heep fare fo hard there, that they eat up all the roots on the fallows, but,
unlefs one was to bring fuch (heep on our fallows, tliey will not be eaten, for
our (heep will not deftroy them.

The reafon why laying a ground down long to grafs is faid to kill the colts-foot
and other perennial weeds, is, I fuppofe, becaufe the roots of the natural grafs
matting more and more every year, do in four or five years time fo fill the
ground and faften it, that the colts-foot cannot come through at fpring ; they
may alfo happily fo bind the furface of the earth together, as to hinder the
root from that communication with the air at other times as all plants may
require ; to haften therefore the deftru6tion of colts-foot, I apprehend that
plat of the ground, where it abounds, fhould be laid down to rye-grafs, to con-
tinue fo till it is deftroj-ed j though the other part of the ground be fowed to
clover, and ploughed up again, yet the colts-foot fhould continue lay, and.
be dunged well, and mowed, and fowed very thick to rye-grafs ; thefe means
may effedually deflroy the colt«-foot, as it is manifefl dunging land does de-
ftroy clover and Fi"ench-grals.

I this day (July the 3d) ploughed up broad-clover, and turned up the roots
of colts-foot. I obferved between earth and air many little buds fhot forth of
the bignefs of theMidfummer buds in fruit-trees (in all probability to be the
enfuing leaves or flowers of the next year) from the root j at five, fix, or feven
inches depth 1 obferved here and there a flioot, of a callous body, like the
root, one, two, three, or four inches long. Whether the firft or fecond fort of
flioots we;c to be leaves or flowers of the next fpring will be fit to be enquired
into at fprir.g, but what is to be obferved, is, that in my fallow I turned up
the- colts-foot roots of a foot long; therefore in a winter-fallov/ I had un-
doubtedly turned up the fame roots, at leaft of the fame length, and one
would think to better effecSt, nature being to begin again all the progrefs flic
had been going on till that time ; but it is manifeft a fummer-fallow is of much
greater confequence to deftroy the colts-foot, than a winter : hov/ comes this
then to pafs ? the only reafon I can give is, that the nature of colts-foot is to
thrive and improve in cold wet ground ; the winter-fallow therefore does not
deft:roy thefe roots, v/hich are ploughed up. but they live ftill by reafon of
the coldnefs of the ground at that feafon, and ftrike fre£h roots j whereas the

E e e 2 colts-

396 WEEDS.

colts-foot lies fo dry in the fummer-fallows, turned up to the fun, as to die,
nothing being more contrary to their nature than a healthy dry foil. — This
ground being ploughed dry, and a rain following, whereby the ground was
mellowed, 1 found thefe roots eafy to be pulled up, at a confiderable length,
with their foboles or hud of the next year, above taken notice of; from which
I do infer, that in hiring people to pull up fuch colts-foot roots, if a remain-
der does break off, and is left behind, which may grow, yet for the next year
it cannot, becauie, the foboles being loft, it is too late in the year to pr^ovide
another ; and though it may be thought that fuch roots as are turned up in
a fummer-fallow, v/ill wither of themfelves, yet it is to be confidered, that
fuch foboles as are buried, if the feafon be wet, will Tpring again.

Being at Oxford, I vifited Mr. Bobart of the phyfick-garden, and I told him
of the method I took todeftroy the colts-foot : he faid, if I cut the colts-foot
often in a fummer, or whipped it, it would, he believed, kill it; I faid I had
fo heard of fern ; he agreed it to be true, and faid all plants were eafily killed
by keeping them under ground in that manner.

RagwoK. §. 24. Common ragwort, Mr. Ray fays, grows in pafcures and lay-grounds,

and about path-ways the root dies ; therefore it propagates by feed, and is to
be exdrpated before it feeds, by cutting it up.

Hoary perennial ragwort, Mr. Ray fays, has a perennial root, and throws out
new foboles, or buds, at autumn: if fo, different methods are to be taken with
it to extirpate it.

Nettle. §-25. Mr. Ray tells us, that the common ftinging nettle is of a lafting
nature, but the lefTer ftinging nettle is annual.

DyerVweed. ^^ 26. Dyer's-weed makes the milk of the cows that feed on it bitter, as it
alfo does the butter and cheefe made of it.

Mullen. §• 27. Ray and other herbalifts fay, that mullen grows on clifts and banks,

and fay nothing of it's growing in warm funny fields, which it does atCrux-
Eafton, particularly in one of my fields, where not above thirty roots of it
came up in a fcattering manner at firft, which feeded, and the winds blew it
about the ground, and the next year came up thoufands ; but I obferved thofe
that feeded the year before died, and therefore that it is a weed eafily deftroyed
by cutting off the flem when it is in flower, and preventing it's increafe by
thoufands.

Grouiidfel §. 28. Groundfcl and favine are good againftthe worms, commonly called

goodagainft the bots in horfes.

tne worms. ,- i mi 111 11 1

Piiewort. §. 29. In our meads at Ealton, on our hills, and hedges, and lanes, we have

great plenty of piiewort growing, which is an argument, that fuch of our
lands are moift; and ftrong where it grows.

Spurge. §■ 3°- I firi'l l^y Mr. Ray, fol. 868 and 869, that both the tithymalli or

corn-fpurges, which grow up in corn-fields, are but annual.

Scurry. §• 3^- ^" ^^^^ common corn-fields, about Lutterworth, inclinable to a heavy

fat fand, I obferved fpurry to grow wild very plentifully ; I gathered of it,
and fhewed it to Mr. Bobart of Oxford ; we both wondered fo contemp-
tible a plant fhould be fown in the Low Countries, where Mr, Worlidge,

fol.

V/ E E D S.

397

fol. 31. fays, they fow it twice a year; once in May, to be in flower in June
and July, and the fecond time after rye-harvefl is in, to ferve their cattle in
November and December ; he fays, hens will eat the herb greedily, and it
makes them lay eggs the fafter.

§. 32. The knapweed, or matfellon, is chiefly natural to corn-land, in a gra- Knapweed,
velly foil, and is of a perennial root, as Mr. Ray obferves : devil's- bit is alfo '^^"'"^' *^'^'
perennial in it's root ; it is probable blue-bottles are the fame, and all of the
fcabius fort, feeing they emit new foboles every fummer at the root for the
fruit of the next year, and feem not to feed early enough, before the corn is
cut, to propagate themfelves in corn-lands by feed, in which ground they
mo ft abound.

It feems plain to me that both knapweed, fcabius, and fpatling-poppy roots
are perennial, as alfo millefoyle \ which infefts fome paftures) by the many
buds or foboles they emit at their roots at this time of year.

§.33. It's feed ripens very foon, and as foon flieds, after which it dies away Yellow rattle
root and all before hay-harveft : the ready way to deftroy it is to well-S''^-^-
dung the meadows.

§. 34. Eye-bright fiouriflies chiefly in upland barren paflure ground. Eye bright.

§. 3 5. Mr. Ray fays, lady's finger grows for the moft part, in dry, chalky, or Lady's-finger.
gravelly foils, and in all barren ground.

§.36. Yellow lady's bed-ftraw, or cheeferening, over-runs almoft two of ^'eilow lady's
my meads, which have been mowed and not well fupported with manure ;
but my other meads, parted only by a hedge, the foil and fituation the fame,
being fed for two years have very little of it ; it grows chiefly in warm places,
and in dry paftures, and on hillocks, and balks. — Therefore where this grows
you may conclude your meadows want foil to fatten them.

§. 37. Mr. Ray fays, the root of wild-tanfey is good to eat, and fomewhat Silver weed,
of the parfnip kind, and that hogs are very fond of it. orwildtanfey.

§. 38. On the 23d of Odober I obferved a great deal of chickweed, the Common
branches of which carried many buds in order to bloflbm, many full bloflb.ms, chickweed.
many feed-pods with white feeds almoft ripe, and many pods with red feeds
full and kindly ripe ; fo it feems it is in the nature of this plant to be always
feeding, and io the lefs fence agalnft it by any fort of huflsandry.

§. 39. There are feveral ranunculus's common in our meadows, which, Crow-foot, or
when green, blifter the flefli ; thefe are not touched by cattle, but left ftand- '■""^"'^" "^•
ing in the fields, and yet, as 1 am told, are fed on greedily by all forts of cat-
tle, when only dried into hay : Dr. Sloan mentions this to account for the
cafl'avis root, which, being ftrong poifon, by being baked is wholfome
bread, fol. 25.

§.40. Red-rot (or flower-fun-dev/) is faid to take the name of red-rot from Red. rot, or
it's being fo pernicious to fheep. flower-fun-

§. 41. I obferved abundance of ground-ivy trailing on the ground, and, in Ground-ivy,
gathering it up, I found the trailing joints, being in abundance, had ftruck
frefh roots, from whence new leaves came up, as in ftrawberries.

§. 42. Mr.

398 WEEDS.

Mallows. §. 42. Mr. Biffy of Wiltfliiie had abundance of mallows that came up in

a broad-clover ground, fo as to overfliadow the broad-clover ; he was fatisfied
mallow was in the clover-feed, becaufe his brother fowed the fame feed, and
had the fame increafe of mallows ; BifTy fays, every bit of the root of a mal-
low will grow. Note, this 23d of October I obferved plentiful foboles or fpring-
iffues from the old roots.

Foors-pariley. §. 43, Cicutaria tenui folio, or fool's parlley, which grows in rich land,
and in grounds that are cultivated, is an annual, and therefore may be de-
flroyed before it has feeded.

Sil'^°°' §• 44- ^^ Sheepfliead and Hawthorn-fields in Leicefterfhire, I obferved
fome ridges fo peftcred with hares-foot trefoil growing amongft the corn,
that it feemed as bad a weed in the corn as any I had i'ccn that year ; both
grounds feemed to be of a clayey fand.

Cow-garlick. §. 45. Being at Mr. Raymond's, he affured me, that cow-garlick was a great
whore in corn, a little way from his place in the dry fandy grounds ; and yet it
is no whore to them who fow it in the clays ; for there it will not grow ; but
in his neighbourhood it comes up in the corn in great abundance; Stevens of
Pomeroy fays, it grows in fome places in fuch abundance, that the wheat taftes
Itrongof it, and is thereby damaged 6d. and i2d. in the bufliel.

Mofs. §• 46- As rye-grafs and natural grafs eat out the clovers, fo I obferve in the

third year of rye-grafs mofs begins to grow on the land, and eat out the rye-
grafs and natural grafs, and is the great impoverifher of meadows ; it is very
probable it's feeds are carried to far diftant grounds, being fo imperceptible (as
Mr. Ray makes it) to the eye: it is very probable alfo, it, being fo fmall, is bu-
ried in arable, which may be the reafon it comes not up but in land lying to
reft, where the feed cannot be covered or bound ; it is poffibL alfo it comes
not up in arable with the corn, becaufe (as many feeds do) it may not grow
under two, three, or four years time j Mr. Ray obferves, they are apt to grow
either in too cold lands, or too fcorched-up lands : he fays, on houfe-tops
they feldom increafe on the foiith fide of the tiling, as on the eafterly expo-
fidon, and northerly, which the fun goes off from by times, and on v/hich the
firft dews of the night fail ; from v/hcnce it may be concluded, land is fo
much the more or lefs liable to it as it faces thofe expofitions : but feeing it is
fo great an enemy to meadow, and other gralTes, the nature of it ought well
to be oblerved, and it's feeds planted in pots to fee their nature, that thereby
one may know how to deftroy it; — our experience feems to agree with what
Mr. Ray fays as to it's inclination to thrive in cold land, it being manifeft that,
when fuch cold clay is redified by arties or lime, or as he fays, ^ afhes of which
lye has been made, which he advifes to be laid on the ground in the month
of March, the mofs forfakes the ground for fome time.

Murcus, qui hortos & prata humida obfidet, ita ut gramen fupprimat, Martio menfe cinere abo-
letur, fed eo quo lixivium fuehc confedum. Ray, Hilt. Plant, fol. 122.

It

WATER and WATERING. 399

It is no fuch great wonder that moflesfliould grow on ftones and walls, if we
confidcr hov/ many thoufand times lefs their feeds are than the feeds of mod
herbs, whereby they have as fit a matrix to cover themfelves in, in the cre-
vices of the ftones, where ufually duft gathers, and are as well buried, in
proportion to their bodies, as the feeds of other plants are in earth-mold ;.
nor are we more to wonder, that the moffes from the faid feed fliould thrive
and flourifli as well as their feeds germinate, if we confider how their bodies
drink not only the dews, but are fitted, by the innumerable angles their
branches and clo/e-knit fibres make, to be a long receptacle of water, and
at the fame time to break all the rays of the fun, and how fit for gathering
the duft to their roots, as by experience may be feen.

§. 47. That dung, afhcs, 6vC. fl)ouldkill mofs, is, I fuppofe, from this rea- Whvdung
fon ; becaufe the mofs having a moff vvondeiful Imall root, which grows only f"'| ^'^^"
to the ground by adhedon, is eafily faffocattd with too much goodnefsof the
dung, and overcome by the ftiong penetrating quality of the allies, as being
BO ways qualified by rain on the furface of the ground. For thefe reafons
the rnoit diminutjve plants will not grow on rich ground, fuch as rue, whit-
lovv-gir.f's, mofs, and a great many more, becaufe they, being very fmall,
and of flow growth, are eafily overcharged with a plethory, from whence the
fibres of the plant, nay even of it's very feeds whilft in the ground, mufl
burft.

WATER and WATERING.

§.'i. T" T is of but little purpofe to depend on a pond's holding, becaufe it is Of making s

J^ dug in a ftrong clay, if there be no great fliade over it; for theP^""^-
fun and froft. will quickly open it, and the water will run away j but fuch
pond muft be made with four fquare flopes, and covered with gravel, or a
mortar-earth, four or five inches on the tops, which, cattle treading it in, will
cement with the clay, and bind, and will not crack with the fun and froft ;
but nothing fuffers more by either than mere clay.

§. 2. I begin to fufpeft (in my hill-country-farm, where 1 have no Water proper
ponds but what are pitched, and where I have my backfide-pond and the^^"^ '^*"-^-
ftreet-pond, which both muft necefi"arily be fometimes ftained with dung)
that, of your great cattle efpecially, it is of confequence to buy thofe that have
been bred in the hill-countries, where they have been ufed to want water
more than they will with me, and have been ufed to drink our pond and
ciftern water j for I find cattle that have been ufed to fpringor river water, do
drink very fparingly of our water j and then 1 am fure they cannot thrive or
fat well.

§. 3. Foul water, as Grew obferves, will breed the pip in hens, and nafty- Foul «7.tar
nefs lice and fcabs in kine : and all creatures, fwine tfierafelves, which love P°''"'<^'o^s to

,. ' 1 • 1 n 1 1 1 cattle, »Vc,

dirt, yet thrive belt when kept clean

§.4. Farmer Elton, late of Crux-Eafton, extolled the convenience of the Watering
pond I made in my field to a high degree; he faid, that by means of that^'^i^-

pond

400

WATER and WATERING.

plants.

pond I need not fear the drieft year, for, if I had no grafs, and did put a hay-
reek in the field, my Iheep would be all the fummer mutton, when others
would be carrion.

Farmer Collins (in the Ifle of Wight) was fpeaking of the great neceflity
of having convenient water for cattle at all times, both for their health and
increafe of their milk, and how infufficient it was for cattle to be drove to
water but twice a day, whereas the cattle would polfibly drink five times a
day : and he faid, that hard weather came one winter when he had lambs,
and was forced to fodder his ewes with hay, and the water where they
drank was frozen hard over ; three or four lambs of a day died away, and
the ewes had not milk for them ; at laft he bethought him to break the ice
of the pond, which when he had done the flieep came to the water with
great eagernefs, and went in above their bellies and drank, and he had no
more lambs died.
Water proper §. 5. Worlidge, fo, 248. fpeaking of different waters, fays, it is a very
for watering great injury to moft tender plants, to be diluted with cold water from the
well or fpring ; it checks their growth exceedingly, as may be feen by a
bleeding vine, to the naked roots of which if you pour ftore of fpring or cold
water, it fuddenly checks the afcending of the fap, by means whereof the
bleedino; ceafes, and the wound confolidates again, before the more liberal af-
cent of tlie fap : much more then will it check the growth of a weak herb or
flower.

§. 6. Rain-water feldom finks above a foot deep, but water of fnow two
or three foot deep, as being much heavier than rain-water; and as it melts
flowly and by degrees, from the undermoft part of the mafs of fnow, fo it
foaks with more eafe, not being hindered by the wind or fun. — Therefore
(fays Monfieur de Quinteny) I dread much fnow upon moift ftrong grounds,
and order it to be removed from about the fruit trees, fo in dry earth I
gather it as a magazine of moifture to the fouthern expofitions, fo. 29.

§. 7, Worlidge, fo. 248. fays, it is obferved to be beft to fow in the dufts,
whereby the feeds gradually fwell, from the cold dews of the night and from
the air, and are made ready to fprout with the next rains. — So it is not good
to water new-fown feeds, till the long defedl of fliowers invite you to it j fome
feeds, as radifh, lettuce, gilliflower-feeds, &c. remain not long in the earth,
and therefore may in two or three days, for want of rain, be watered ; but
tulips, auricula, parfley, carrot-feed, 6cc. lie long in the ground, and re-
quire not fo fpeedy an irrigation.

§. 8. It is better to water a plant feldom and thoroughly, than often and
flenderly, for (hallow watering is but a delufion to a plant, and provokes
it to root fliallower than it otherwife would, and fo makes it more obnoxious
to the extremity of the weather. Mortimer, fol. 455.

§. 9. The reafon, I conceive, why plants or trees once begun to be watered
in the heat of the fummer mull be continued on, otherwife it is worfe than
if they had not been watered at all, is not becaufe a tree once watered needs it
the rather, but becaufe watering in the heat of fummer makes the ground

3 fubjedt

Rain and fnow

Watering
feeds.

Of watering
j-lants.

Of watering
trees.

WORKMEN and V/ O R K. 401

fubjedt to chop the more when dry, and therefore fuch ground mufl be kept
moift.

Mr. Bobart, of the phyfick-gcirden in Oxford, fays, that it would be a veiy
good way, in dry fuminers, (where water can be had) to water ail forts cf fruit-
trees, for fake of the fruit-buds and bearing fhoots, and {hoots of the wood
for the following year, which are all formed in the Auguft before ; which do
raiferably fail by reafon of the drought.

I have heard it reported more than once, how conftant and great burthens
of fruit orchards have had, where the owners had power of throwing the
water over them ; of this it feems the antients, particularly Cato had a great
opinion, when (in book ift. de Re ruflica) next to the vineyard, he gave the
preference to hortus irriguus ; it is no wonder if they foon found out the be-
nefit of the command of water to trees in hot countries ; it feems to be ex-
preffed by Cato, as if an orchard was no orchard without it ; and though our
clime ftands not fo abfolutely in need of watering, yet by this hint we may
conclude hov/, in fome hot fummers, and dry grounds, an orchard is of
little value without fuch convenience.

§. 10. Want of rain at bloffoming-time often makes the bloflbms drop ; by Of watering
watering thefe trees have bore abundantly when none others did. Mortimer, bioom'^"*"
fol. 529.

§. II. This exceeding dry fummer I obferved apples were rather fmaller Of watering
than ufual, which Stevens of Pomeroy, my tenant, perceiving, and that his ''t'P'"*l''^"
trees were well loaden, he in good time began watering his trees often, pour- fm^ll? '^ '^
ing down leifurely two or three buckets full of water to each tree ; which
bounty his trees foon began to be fenfible of; for whereas before, his and his
neighbours leaves of their apple-trees were pale and fhrivelled, his foon
recovered a ftrong deep colour, and he was very fenfible his apples looked
of a livelier fairer colour, and grew larger.

WORKMEN and WORK.

§. I. 'Tn A K E care to man the hay-harveft with enough people, for I j^*"gj^''^" '^°

]^ find, by underftonding farmers, that it helps to the difpatch '^"^^^ "
mightily, if it be any thing of a good hay-making day, to turn even the grafs
fwarths that fame day.

The not well manning a harveft, has either of thefe three efFeds, viz.
that corn is over-ripe, or, being cut down, is not carried in without damage,
or is cut down too foon, for fear lefl it fhould all ripen together on you ; the
difadvantages of the two firll arc very apparent ; and for the difadvantage of
the latter, your corn (hall yield two fliillings in the quarter lefs than if it had
been properly ripe j and two men extraordinary are many ways needed, both
to carry on fowing, dung-carting, thatching reeks, or odd neceflary things.

Fff §.2. Whereas

402 W O R K M E N and W O R K.

Proper times- §,2. Whereas men's hands are not only wanted in harveft-time, but in
for oifFerent feetl_tinie alfo, therefore great care ought to be taken by forecafting, to do-
all works before thofe times, which otherwife muft of neceility be done
then ; therefore let no thatching, carpentry work, mending of hedges, or
other work, whereby the laboarer may be called off, be delayed till then;,
which will not only put you in a hurry for want of men, fome of whom
may be fuch indiir'erent workmen as you would not employ but on neceffity,
but hereby you are obliged, to be often calling off the labourers from the
works they fliould flick clofe to, whereby you cannot fo eafily take an ac-
count of their works.

Take care how you bring yourfelf under two dilemmas at the fame time
in your hufbandry : as for example, to be under equal inconveniencies if
wood-carting is not performed to-morrow, and ploughing or fowing, whea
you have but one team to fupply thefe double duties : qr again, to be obliged
to keep folding your whole flock, becaufe you cannot otherwife manage the
corn you have undertaken, when another way you fuftain as great a lofs by.
the not having the liberty of making the beft of your lambs and old flieep, by
fatting them to a good advantage : if you run yourfelf into fuch inconvenien-
cies daily, it will daily take off a confiderable part of your profits ; and though
you take the beft care to free, and make yourfelf eafy from fuch incum-
brances, the nature of hufbandry will unavoidably force fuch difficulties too
often upon you ; for there are critical feafons offering themfelves for fome
things to be done, in which one would be glad to have three times the num-
ber of men and horfes, that are requifite in courfe, to carry on the bufmefs of
the farm.
Leavenothing ^^2- Avold ail mrnner of winter work as much as poffible (except the
that^ay be diredt hufbandry of ploughing) all cartings wear out your plough-timber
doneinfum- abundantly, foul and v/ear out your lanes, unlefs frofty ; and fo many lets
happen by bad weather, that man and horfe often, for a longtime, earn not
half their pay : bring not yourfelf therefore under neceffities of winter work,-
by picking up floncs for highways, which you muft be neceffitated to re-
move becaufe of your ploughing up the ground j by leaving any ways un-
done in fummer, that muft be repaired in winter, one load of llones in fum-
mer going farther than two in winter, and then carting to that end hurts the
ways as much as mends them : let your hedges, where damage may arife, be
therefore well in repair before winter, that there be no works of neceffity in
wood-carting ; let all carpenters work, bricklayers work, pitching or paving
work, be forefeen in fummer, that by bad weather and fhort days they may
not lofe half their time in winter: bad wet weather in the winter is not fit
for any fort of carting, fuch as wood, dung, chalk, &c, (but to plough
white land in the hill-country, and in moderate frofls you ought to be fal-
lowing) and if you leave fuch work undone, depending on the winter, you
will be at a much greater lofs to finifh it, on account of unfeafonable wea-
ther, than you will be at a lofs how to employ yourfelf in cafe the hardeft
fnow and froils come : for then there may be dujig and chalk-carting, carting

flones

aner.

HOGS. 403

flones in heaps, which may be took up by the fliovel : going to the befl
markets that are fartheft ; and no ingenious contriver, be the froft never fo
long, can be at a lofs to invent work for that feafon fully to employ him.

§. 4. The labourer's lazy time for work, when they want the mafler's eye When work.
moft over them, is about three weeks or a month before harveft, when work "•«" do leaii
of all forts grows fcarce, hay-making and faggoting, and dung-carting being ^°'''^*
over, and moft other works out of feafon ; then they are apt to fpin out
their time, and linger it on to harveft, that they may not want employ.

§. 5. I advife every farmer to employ a nimble, adtive, and free-labouring of jobbj,
man, in fuch buiinefs as confifts in jobbs and fraftions, and employ the dull
heavy man, if fuch he employs, to fingle works, fuch as threfhing, 6cc.
whereof an account can be kept ; for a lazy lubbard will lofe half his time
in the vacancies between one work and another, if you employ him in many
in the day.

Of the FARM-YARD, &c.

§.1. IV /F ^' Raymond advifed me to fence about my backfide with a mud- of a mud-

IV JL wall ; he faid, it was not only ornamental, but the cheapeft and ^ail.
moft ferviceable of any ; he gave but fixpence per lugg or pole of a foot high,
and two feet and half broad : but indeed, if he made it nine feet high, he
gave five ftiillings and fix pence for nine lugg of that height : he added,
that in keeping my cattle warmer by fuch a wall I might fave half my
fodder.

§. 2. When I {hewed feveral underftanding farmers my ftables that were Oftheftablc.
building, and told them I propofed but four horfes on a fide, whereas in my
farmer's ftables they allowed fix horfes to thofe dimenfions, and would reafon
it to be fuflicient, by faying the horfes would not lie down all together, and it
was lufficient for their ftanding ; they all replied, they hoped I was wifer than
to regard them ; that too narrow room might be the fpoihng of a horfe,
whofe value might pay for the enlargement.

HOGS.

§. I. ' 8 ^ H E marks of a good hog among the antients, according to Varro Marks of a
J|[ and Columella, were a fmall head, fhort legs, long bodies, large good hog.
thighs and neck, and the briftles on the laft mentioned part thick fet, ereft,
and ftrong. In Wiltfhire they look on huge heavy lop-ears in a pig, as a
very good fign of his making a great hog.

§. 2. I afked Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's (hepherd, whether the country people Spayed and
made any difference in the price between fpayed and gelt fhutes, piovided, in g='f n^utes.
Other refpeds, they were cjually good ; he laid, they would nut draw out

F f f 2 the

404

HOGS.

the gelt flioots unlefs they had a better price, though he knew no other dif-
ference, but that the gelt pigs would be the mafleis over the fpayed, andfo
fare better, and confequently thrive better.
Signs of an §, 3. A gentleman in my neighbourhood bought half a dozen young hog-
uuchrivuig {\iyites, (of about nine fliillings value) ; when they were bought I thought them,
big enough for the money, but did not like their fliapes, being not long and ftrait^
but their rump bones rifing a little j but what was the worft fight and omen,
thefe hogs, though of little bodies, had long hairs and brirtles : he kept them,
three mon-hs, gave them four bufliels of vetches, and very good keeping ;
then put them up for porkers, and gave each a fack of peas, and would thea
be glad to fell them for the prime coft, and the price of the peas they had eat,
fo little did they thrive : the length of their hair I take to be an ill fign, when
their bodies are not proportionable, for it fl^ews the hogs have had fome check,
which notwithftanding hinders not the brillles from growing, no more thaa
ficknefs does a man's hair or nails ; and one had better buy hogs in a backfide
than in a market ; for one cannot fee fo well what is a proveable hog in a
market as one can in the backfide, when he is among thofe of the fame litter,,
and the moft proveable pig is cheapeft, though deareft at firft coft.
Ofhogsdege- §. 4. The breed of pigs I had of farmer Stephens of Pomeroy in Wilts^
nerating. ^hich Were ufed there to whey and grafs, being removed to Crux-Eafton,
where their food was corn and wafli, did bring but three, four, or five pigs at
a farrow, and fo the defcendants of them continued to do for three or four
years, which I impute to their degeneracy, for want of the fame food they
and their parents had been ufed to.
Fruitfulnefs of §. ^. » Varro fays, we may judge of the fruitfulnefs of a fow from her firft
^"S^'- litter ; for flie generally brings about the fame number ever afterwards.

Keeping fows K 6, I kept four fows, but foon grew weary of their farrows, for to a boy
unprofitable. ^^ other fcrvant, that is to feed them, a great deal of corn is to be committed,
both on account of the fows and weaned pigs, and in the favour that muft be
ufed to them when they come to be fliutes j if fuch fervant either gives them-
not enough, or your corn waftingly, or neglefts them fome hours, either thro'
idlenefs, or being otherways employed ; in either of thefe ways, the profit of'
breeding thefe creatures is loft ; and if we make up the account how much-
corn the fow eats us, the weaned pigs, and lliutes, they eat out their heads j
efpecially confidering, that in every year yc^u keep your low you lofe twenty
fhillings, inafmuch as a pig ought to pay fo much, and, when you kill your
fow, the bacon is nothing near fo good : I infer from hence, that it is no
ways proper for a gentleman to be a breeder of pigs, or other young crea-
tures, as poultry, calves, &:c. any farther than aconveniency is to be regarded,
but rather leave them to farmers wives, who can tend them themfelves punc-
tually in all refpedls ; nor can I apprehend the profit to be any thing to them,
notwithftanding their ofFul corn, which they might fell : we fay a fow will

» Sus ad fceturam quam fit fcecunda animadvertunt fere ex primo partu, quod non multum in reliquis

int-nf. Varrn. fnl. c6.

undo

H a G S. 405

undo a poor man, and we obferve they never keep them notwithftanding
they may feed them with their own hand, and fee nothing be loft.

I find great inconveniency by having four fows this year, not only on ac-
count that the greater pigs are the more negledied, fuch attendance muft be
on the little pigs, hut alfo on account of the harveft coming on, againft which
time, and in which time, a boy's bufii^efs (hould be to give the birds difturb-
ance, and break them of their haunts, and drive the drove of pigs early into
the field a leafing, at which feafon his time is loft (which is too precious to
fling away) in breakfafting the little ones ; befides, at that time a fpare hand is
very uleful, for an hour or two, in the garden, when no weeders can
be had.

§. 7. They count in Wiltftiire, breeding of pigs not to make fo quick a ^^ •^''^^^'ng
return as buying in of Welch pigs, and fatting them off with whey as faft as *°^^"
they can : a pig bought in will in fix weeks, or two months, be very good
bacon, or pork, and pay at leaft eighteen pence or two ftiillings per week.
In VViltfliire they order it fo, that the fows farrow not till May, becaufe their
dairy comes not in till then j but he that intends to keep no cows, muft order
fo that his fows farrow fix weeks before harveft, that at harveft the pigs may
be able to go into the field.

A certain dame was commending the breed fhe had of fows and pigs j I
replied, I thought them to be the fmalleft fort ; flie faid, the farmer could
not abide the great large fort : I alked her what was his fancy for that; (he faid,
that the pigs, that were farrowed in March, of the greater fort, would not
make porkers in winter, for they would keep on grov.ing ilill inftead of
growing far.

Befides the trouble of breeding pigs, it is well to be confidered, v/hether
you can maintain the young ftiutes as well as the old ones between the leaf-
ing of the harveft and fatting, for, if not, you muft be forced to threfh out
barley the fooner, when moft likely it is the cheapeft ; nor likely is there
more wafte corn in the field than the great hogs of a farmer can pick up.

§ 8. Sir Ambrofe Phillipps had a hog, which they thought to be gelt, and Of a boar
-put him up to fatting, but he never fatted kindly, and, when they came to kill ^'■'"''. '''^ '^°""
him, they found his ftones in his back ; his bacon fhrunk and eat ftrong : the
fliephcrd fays this is common to lambs, which when, at cutting-time, they
find, tliey fat them up-, it is common, he fays, alfo to horfes.

§.9. They give the fows in Leicefterfliire, that they may take boar the To make a
fooner, a good piece of leaven once in twenty-four hours, for two or three r""^j.°° '°
times : it is nothing but the green dough made as common leaven.

§. 10. r was going to buy a fow and pigs, and confulted feveral perfons Of the fow
about the managing them, who acquainted me of thefe particulars, viz. — and pigs.
Firft, That a young fow, as this was but a year old, would bring but fmall
pigs — Secondly, That being a young fow, and having fo many as nine pigs,
it could nor be expedled any of them would be fo properly fat for wafters, as
if ftie had brought but four or five. — Thirdly, That this fow had come too
early for moll farmers keeping, though, if they had keeping for them, it was

beft

40 6

HOGS.

beftof all, becaufe, if not ftunted, they would be young bacon within the

^-ear. Fourthly, That luch young pigs, and other lean pigs, fhould not have

their bellies full given them' at firA of fweet whey, for by that means they
often burA their b'ellies. — Upon which I alTced a Wiitfliire dain'-woman about
it, and flie faid, flie never knew them break their bellies ; but one of our
Hampfhire women replied, it was becaufe in their country they iTcimmed the
cream off to make whey-butter, which took ott from the lufcioufnefs.

■^ Varro's rule is to fave as many pigs as the fow has teats : if ll-.e brings
fewer, fays he, (he is a bad breeder, and not profitable to keep, and if {he
brings more, it is very extraordinar)-.
Offows eat- Jf a fow be high in cafe when ihe farrows, I am informed, (he will be apt
ing their pigs. ^^ ^^^ ^iCT piffs. ""The firll farrow of a fow is accounted the worfl.
Bean flour §• 1 1- I ^^Id a notable dame in Wiitfliire, that I thought to give my fow

go^forfows and pigs bean-flour, inftead of barley-flour j flie faid bean-flour was beft, and
v.khpigs. ^^Q Jj i^jge^ j„oft milk ; but when flie gave them barley-flour, {he ufed to

have fome oats ground with iL
Whey good §. 12. Whey is more nourifliing to pigs than fkim-milk.
for pigs. &. I-, I had little pigs of about fix weeks old newly weaned ; my bailiflF

ot rmgicg. .^.j^5'(5J.--opinion they would turn up the meadows and corn-land, and dig worfe
than older pigs (it was then juft the opening of the ftubble) he afked me
whv I did not ring them, for by that means the fow would not endure them
■to iiang on her ; for me pigs, though v.-eaned, did run after the fow and
would be lugging her teats ; he faid, it was a common thing to ring the pigs
■they defignecf to\vean, in order the fooner to wean them, for, being ringed,
the fow would be hurt by their fucking, and fo forfake them fooner.

The fmitlicame to ring my httle pigs; I attended the operation j he faid
he never fpoiled a pig in his life, v.hich put me upon afking the quellion,
whether pigs were ever hurt by ringing ; he replied, yes, often ; for, faid he,
if you run them through the' griiUe of the fnout, which lies on the bone
and beneath the flefhv part, the pigs nofes will often fwell and rancle fo as to
kill them ; therefore great care mult be taken that the ring be only run thro*
the flefliy'ridce of the fnout: again, faid he, if the ring be twifted too clofe
to the fnout, lb that it binds too^hard, and cannot run round with eafe to th^
pigs, their fnouts will fwell, in which cale the rings mulT: be taken ott,
^nd the fnouts anointed to give them eafe.

Rint' not a fow with pig, left in the difpute fiie call her pigs, nor en-
deavoul^ to take an oat-hull out of a cow's eye forward in calf, left fhe

Ofcutrfngand^''TH- May the 17th, 1700, farmer Elton cut and fpayed his pigs, which

fpaying. ^gre fixteen weeks old ; the fame day, by the lame gelder, farmer Biggs, my

nei<^hbour, fpayed his, which were fix or leven weeks old : they did very

wetl, and fell to their meat prefently; but farmer Elton's pitched, and would

i" Parcere tot oportet porcos, quot mammas habcat, fi minus pariat, fruchiariam idoneam non efle,
fi plures pariat, efle portencum. \'arro, fol. 56.
* not

H O G S. 407

not come to their meat, nor eat of wafh, when they called them to it, till the
fifth day, at which time they began to feed ; the farmer thought he fhould
have loft them ; 1 afked dame Biggs what (lie thought could be the meaning
that there fhould be that difference between their pigs ; flie faid, pofllbly far-
mer Elton's might be. too hoggifh and rank, and then they are apt to
pitch ; now I had obferved, belore they were cut, that they were apt to ride
one another : upon this, I inquired of an underftanding farmer, when he
thought it was befl to cut and fpay pigs ; he faid, the boar-pigs, the fooner
the better, if it was in a fortnight or ten days, as foon as their ftones were
come down j there was the lefs danger, and they would pitch the lefs upon
it ; nay, if a pig was cut in that time, defigned for roafting, it would be never
the worfe : as to a fow-pig, faid he, they cannot be fpayed under five, fix, or
feven weeks old, and then is the time for it : in two or three days after this I
came into Wiltfliire, and afked farmer Pain the fame queftions, and he agreed
to what the farmer laft mentioned had faid.

I had little pigs cut and fpayed the ^'^ of September ; it was agreed, it was
not fit to defer it, becaufe the weather would foon grow too cold, and, when
they are cut or fpayed, they mufi: be kept moving and walking for three or
four hours, left by lying down too foon they fhould fwell.

If pigs be cut (or efpecially if fpayed) they ought not to be fuffered to creep
through hedges, left: the thread which fows up the fpaying hole, be drawn
out, or the place bruifed ; nor ought they under a fortnight's time, in fuch
cafe, to be ringed, left they ftruggle and hurtthemfelves.

A fow-gelder that had cut for me, cut four pigs for a neighbouring farmer, .
and the pigs happened to be broken-bellied, and they died on the fpot, their
guts coming out at their cods : 1 afked whether it was ufual for pigs to be
burften-bellied ; they faid, yes ; and that, if they were cut young, they do
often not perceive it, but if they did, they fhould forbear to cut fuch pigs,
or, when cut, fhould take great care to few up the fkin.

If a boar-pig be cut or gelt, his tufks do not grow, which feems to (hew a.
ftrange confent of parts between the ftones of a boar and his tufks ; and this
feems to hold vice versa ; for this month (September) I broke the tufks of a
large, fierce, and moft venereous boar, which before was riding all the gelt
and fpayed pigs in the backfide, and would all the days and nights lie clofe to
the fow that was brimming, having at that time feven fows, and would go
over walls and pales after them, five feet high, but when his tufks were broke,
he begun, from that time, to abate of his vener\', and carried much lefs re-
gard to them, and grew dull in his courage ; I take the more notice of this%
becaufe I obferve the antients took the like notice of the relation between the
cock's ftones and his fpurs.

' Of making capons (fays Columella, lib. 4. cap. I. fol. 185.) feminiares,capi, qui hoc nomine
vocantur, cum fint caftrati, libidinis abolemire causa, nee tamen id patiuntur amifTis genitalibus,
fed ferro candente calcaribus inullis, quae cum ignea vi confumpta funt, hda. ulcera, dum confaiief-
eaiitj figulari creta liajntur.

They

408 HOG S.

They told me it was common among the pig-jobhers to put off a farrowing
few for a fpayed fow, by cutting a flit in her fide, and fowing it up again ; I
alked what that cheat availed the" feller ; they faid, fuch a fow was worth lefs
bv two fliillings or half a crown than a fpayed fow, for there is hazard jn

fpaving.

A fow will not fat, unlefs fpayed before put up to fatting, but will be con-
tinually riding the other hogs, and hinder them alfo from fatting ; wherefbre
it is common to fpay them a fortnight before.

Itwas July the 25th, and the fow-gelder was with me to have fpayed my
fows (for it feems that is a good time in order to their fatting before harveft;)
but we thought them rank, that is, defirous of the boar, and fo we would not
let him undertake it, for we look on it to be two to one but in fuch cafe it will
kill the fows.

It is f^enerally faid, that it is good to fpay a fow two or three days before her
litter of^pigs are weaned, becaufe, in cafe flie fliould take harm, the pigs wili
draw off the venom ; or, without being Ipayed, flie may be fatted at Alichael-
mafs, becaufe being young with pig will not hurt her.
Of turnips for §, j -. I was telling a perfon of great repute in huftandry matters, that I
^'°^^' could not make my pigs, in the winter, eat turnips, which was a great lofs to

me • for I could not keep fo good a winter ftock as I otherwife fliould, but he
affured me, he kept, one wmter, a gre, t many pigs by turnips; he faid,
he mixed feme bran with them, and fcalded the turnips, but, faid he, they will
not eat the fcalded turnips without bran.
Of grains. §. 16. In managing hogs a gentleman has a good advantage above the far-

mer in this refpect, inafmuch as in March (when the corn is almofl threflied
out) o-reat ftore of drink may be brewed, with the grains of which many pigs
may be maintained till the middle of May, whei^ the broad-clover comes in ;
and' in Ocftober another great brewing may be had, to fupply a great quantity
more of -trains, fo as to maintain porkers (if pork in Odlober and November
fells cheap) till December and January, when it is more likely to fell dear, for
pork at the forehand of the year, viE. September, Odliober, and November, is
mofl likely to be cheap, inafmuch as the gleanings of the harveft do raife
the porkers to a great height, at which height they muft be killed, becaufe
tliey cannot be maintained at it.
Gore-vetches • §.17. It is a common thing to fow half an acre of gore-vetches for hogs,
goodforhogs. yf]^Q^Q farmers keep a great many, and they v/ill eat them greedily, if the
rrore-vetches run grofs, and you give them to them when grofs, and before
they are run far in flov/er.
Vetches too §• 1 8. In WiltOiire they count vetches too hot a food to give pigs, which is
hot for hogs, apt to give them the meafles ; and therefore they mix other corn with them.
Mr. Ray fpeaking of the vetch fays, fol. 900. they are ufed in England as
food for horfes mixed with peas and oats, and adds, as peas are loofening,
and of great virtues, fo vetches are binding, and have no good virtues.
Bro-d clover §• IQ- I find broad-clovcr not only excellent for keeping pigs to a height in
good for March

porkers.

HOGS. 409

March and April, in which months the farmers corn is gone, and the dairy
not come in, but alfo excellent for heightening up porker fhutes, after the
gleanings of the harvefl: is over, all the months of September, OcSlober, and
part of November, at which time pork is at the cheapeft, becaufe the har-
veft has fatted fo many, which people muft fell, becaufe, after the gleanings
are over, they cannot maintain them ; whereas, by the help of this clover,
with fome little other helps, the porker fhutes may be kept on longer.

§. 20. I afked fome farmers of experience, if pigs would not take the fame BroaJclox'er
damage by broad-clover as cows ; they replied, that the full-grown pigs ^'^'^'^^ >'°""S
would thrive exceedingly with it, and be good pork, but that it would fcour '^'^^'
the young pigs, tho' of twelve, thirteen, or fourteen weeks old, and make them
fwell as big as two, but they never knew it kill them : on the whole it was
agreed, that hogs will grow very fat by broad-clover, yet they never care that
their young fhutes and pigs fhould eat much of it, for it not only fwells them
for the prefent, but makes them pot-bellied.

§.21. Henbane is beneficial and nutritive to hogs (as Dr.Mead obferves, in Henbanegccd
his Eflays on poifons) tho' it kills poultry. °' ^°°^

§. 22. If any perfon in the winter time keeps thirty or forty hogs, as I and Warm wafh
many hill-country farmers do, I do advife, if they have the building of their
own hog-houfes, wherein are their ciflerns for their hog-wafh (of which I have
one holding about eight hogflieads)to fet up a copper alfo and furnace therein,
handy to put in the wafh, which may heat the wafh for the hogs in the win-
ter ; I find it to be very profitable.

§.23. A butcher this day (September the 3d) wanted to buy fome porkers Nuts bad for
and bacon hogs of me j my corn-erfli was juft eaten up by them -, fo I '°^^'
told him I would gladly have parted with fome of them, if I had not hoped
they would take to the nuts, which were in abundance in my coppices ; he
replied, the nuts would hurt them ; nuts would make their fat foft and greafy,
fo that it would boil away, and nuts, being fo fweet, would make them fo
fweet-mouthed, that the lean ones would not take to their walh when the nut-
ting feafon was over, nor thofe, that are to be fatted, to their peas ; and they
would lie in the coppices whilfl any nuts lafted, though there were not a tenth
part enough to maintain them, or to keep them from pitching : my cook
faid, all this was true ; fhe knew it to be fo by experience : I allied her how
fhe knew this : fhe faid flie had lived in families that had had experience of
it, and had heard many fay to the fame etfedl : my woodman and other la-
bourers do agree in it ; but they add however, that, if fuch bacon be put in
the pot when boiling a gallop, it will make it boil firm.

§. 24. Farmer Collins of the Ifle of Wight affures me, that if the pigs HemloLl: root
meet with a piece of hemlock- root, in their digging up and down, be it never y^^^°^'^ ^"^o^-
fo little, they will be perfedly mad, and jump as high as an ordinary chim-
ney-piece, and it is great odds but they die.

§. 25. Mr. Edwards chid his man for fufi^ering his pigs to lie at night in the J^°' '° '*;'
dung of the backfide, and for not accufloming to chace them to their ftye : dunganikht,

G g g I afked

4IO

HOGS.

I aflced him what was the reafon for it ; he faid, their lying in the dung was not
accounted wholfome for them ; for the heat of the dung made them fo ten-
der, that they would not endure the eold fo well, nor thrive with their meat
fo well.
Offaiting §.26. Mr. Edwards, and my neighbouring farmer, and I, were difcourfing

^'°^^' upon hogs ; Mr. Edwards faid, the farmer kept hogs in too good a condition

before he put them up to fatting ; the farmer replied, there would be the
more lean, and therefore the bacon the better j for lean muft be a long time
making in a hog, and if a lean hog were foon fatted up, though you might
raife him to what degicc of fatnefs you pleafed, yet fuch fat would flirink and
boil away : the farmer faid, the great cotfliill-pea is much the beft pea for
fatting hogs, and a quarter of them would go much farther than a quarter of
the others, the which they would not fwallow whole, as they would many
of the partridge-peas. The underling hog put up with the reft, is longeft a
fatting, being beat off by the reft, fo makes the fatteft bacon ; that bacon
therefore they generally keep for beans.

At Newbury I met farmer White of Catmore ; we talked of fatting pigs ;
I faid I believed beans to be as good to fat with as peas ; he faid, he thought
fo too, and many perfons about him did fat with them ; he thought change
was very good, which kept them up to their ftomachs, and faid, you muft
begin with beans, for after peas he thought they would not eat beans, peas
being the fweeter food ; he and farmer Stockwell did both feem to agree
(that in reafon, though they never tried it) the flour ofbeans or peas would
fat better than the whole grain.

I find farmer Farthing, and my tenant farmer Wey of the Ifle of Wight,
without regard to the price of peas, be they cheaper or dearer, do ftill fat with
ground-oats, and barley, and do allow a bufliel of barley to a fack of oats ;
they fiy, the reafon for allowing barley to the oats is to make them both
grind, for otherwife, I conceive, the mill could not be fet fine enough to grind
the oats by themfelves ; they affure me, the hogs will fat thus much fooner
than with peas, but, I fuppofe, if peas could be ground, it would alter the cafe,
for hogs feem very voracious of peas, and to chufc the pea-ftubble beyond
any other; they fling alfo into the trough, when they feed them, if there be
many of them, a handful of bay-falt, but if that be not to be had, other fait,
which makes them drink very much, and contributes to their quicker
fatting.

In difcourfe with farmer Briftow, I obferved, that the fmaller peas were
fweeteft, and difcernable fo to our tafte, and the fmall grey partridge par-
ticularly fvveeter than the great partridge, and therefore, tho' the great par-
tridge was always deareft, yet the leflTer would fat a hog fooner. He faid, his
father, who lived near Reading, and the farmers thereabouts, gave their hogs
the white boiling pea, and that they fatted much fooner ; I anfvvcred, un-
doubtedly the blue pea (which of all field-peas is the fweeteft) would for the
fame reafon fat hogs fooneft ; he replied, no ; for he could afllire me, that

about

HOGS.

411

about Reading they had tried them, and had found they made the hogs fcour j
therefore it feems they are too lufcious and cloying.

Farmer William Sartain of Wilts came to fee me at Eafton, June the 8th,
and I carried him into my corn, and fliewed him feveral forts of peas I had
fowed, viz, great grey-partridge, or Windfor-greys, burbage-popling, and
blue peas ; the farmer aflured me, that though blue peas, if they boiled
well, would fell for nioft on that account, yet the grey-partridge would
fat hogs better than the burbage-popling, or blue pea, as he had ob-
ferved on experience ; and he faid alfo, that, though the popling and
blue pea feemed fweeter, yet the hogs would prefer the great partridge to
them, as he had often experimented, by laying all three forts in diftin(fl
troughs before them.

Mr. Smith of Stanton, a very experienced farmer, affures me, that the bell:
way of fatting hogs is thusj viz. to give them, when they are firft put up, rough
corn, or peas wads,that they may work upon the halm, which when they have
done for two or three days, then he gives them threfhed peas in troughs, and
alfo a fervice, once or twice a day, of wafh ; and this he continues to do for
two or three days, and then he plies them, in the ufual way, with peas alto-
gether and water ; by this means they are not at firft glutted and furfeited,
but kept to a coming flomach, and are by degrees initiated to a full diet. —
However, it is agreed that hogs fliould be well fwilled with wafh before they
are put up for fatting, otherwife they will make themfelves fick for two or
three days.

I obferved two pigs, after they had been about three weeks in fatting, to
look very lank in the flank ; notwithftanding this it was agreed they were very
fat ; and that pigs would bluff and fwell much with their feeding the firft fix
or feven days, and look fatter to the eye than afterwards ; for, when they
gather fat inwardly in their bellies, the weight of it draws down their bellies,
and makes them look thinner and lanker.

§. 27. A boar is fit to be killed when lefs fat than a hog ; for all the foftoffattir.ga
fat between the flefli and horn will be, for the moft part, boiled away, there- ^°^''-
fore to no purpofe to make it very fat.

If any gentleman keeps a boar for fatting, I advife him to be provided with
another young boar to brim the fows, againft the time he puts up the old one
to fatting ; for by experience I find, that, though the fatting-boar be penned
up at fome diftance from the backfide, and out of the road of the hogs, and
hedged out from them, yet the brimming fows will rig over or under hedges
to him, or labour fo long at the gates till they fhall open them, and, if they
once get to the outfide only of his pen, it does the boar more harm than a for-
night's meat will do him good.

§. 28. Mr. Edwards and others I find do agree, that a gelt hog fattens moft Of.-! gelt lio»
in the back, and a fow in the belly. , ^'"^ ' ''°^'-

§. 29. About Holt in Wiltfliire, the fiirmers never ufed to turn their for- Not to fend
wardeft pigs into the corn-fields, for they, that were near half fat with whey, [^-J^P'S' * '"'"•

G g g 2 would

412

H

O

S.

would never go a leafing to any pnrpofe, but would either come home again,
or lie down under the hedge?, fo that they would come home worfe than they
went out ; therefore they ufually buy lean pigs againft fuch time.

Clean ftrawfor §• 30. Of hogs, Tays the Maifon ruftique, frefli ftraw often given them

hogs in fatting, doth fat them as much as their meat, and you muft take care their troughs
be always clean, fol. 147. Special care muft be taken that their meat be not
cold, nor too thin, left it caufe them the flux in their bellies. 'Columella
has the like obfervation in regard to keeping them clean.

Of acorns. §• S^- In an acom year the hogs will not thrive proportionably on the

maft, at the firft part of the feafon, as they will after wet has fallen, to make

• Grow. the acorns * chiltum, for then they are far more nourifhing. — They are apt
to fcour hogs, when eat new from the tree, and are not then fo good, as
when they have laid in heaps to fweat.

Signsofafick §, 32. A fign to knowif a hog be fick, is, when he hangeth his ears very

°2' much, and for your better certainty thereof, pull fom him, againft the hair,

a handful of briftles off" his back, if they be clean and white at the root, he is
found and healthful, but, if they be bloody or otherwife fpotted,he is fick.
Maifon ruftique, fol. 149.

§. 33. The figns of a meazled hog are blackifli puftules under his tongue,
and if he cannot carry himfelf upright on his hinder legs, and if his briftles
are bloody at the roots. Maifon ruftique. — '' Alfo Florentinus in Geoponicis,
— ' Didymus tells us that Democritus prefcribed for this diftemper in hogs,
bruifed afphodel roots to be given to them mixed in their food, and fays it
will cure them in lefs than feven days.

Of the fever. §. 34. If a pig is hot in his body, which is to be known from the drinefs
of his dung ; two fpoonfuls of fallad oil in a pint of warm milk, fuch as
comes from the cow, will cleanfe him, and bring him to his ftomach again.
' Didymus prefcribes bleeding in the tail.

§. 35. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards fay, the murrain in pigs (for as much as
they can obferve, and as their dodlor for drenching tells them) proceeds
from their being in too great proof, and cafe ; many hold that mufty corn
will give them the murrain ; as foon as they obferve it in one, they drench all
the reft.

It was the 25th of Auguft I had a hog died of the murrain, and many hogs
did die about the country ; I had fome powders to give them in their walli of
grains, which I could not get them to eat of, it being ftubble-time ; my bailiff

Of the mea
zles.

Of the mur
rain.

■^ Quamvis prsdi£lum animal in pabiilationem fpurcitie vcrfeiitur, rnundiilimum tamen cubile defi-
dcrat. Columella, lib. 7. fol. i8i.

■■ Qui ipfos emunt ex pilisde juba evulfisfanitatis ipforum notas funiunt; fi enim fuerintcruentati,
morbum indicere aiuiit, puros contrarium. Florentinus in Geop. fol. 468.

*= In quem cafum DemorrituG phyficus afphodeli radicis modice tufte minas tres cibo fingulorum
fuum admifcere jubet, & ante feptimum diem iiitegram fanitatem inde recuperaturos teftatur. Di-
dymus. fol. 4.70.

' Si febricitent, fanguis e Cauda emittendus. Didymus, ib,

faid,

FI O G S. 413

faid, he could not ever, in the the like cafe, get them to eat of grains, but
the way was to give them it in iTcim-milk, and then they would eat it.

This (1705) was a wonderful dry fummer, in which for three weeks
we fetched water for our cattle ; about the latter end of Odober I had a fow
with pigs fell ill, and in a day or two after a fatting hog fell ill, and died ; we
fent to the hog-dodlor to drench all the hogs, who faid, Mr. Whiftler had loft
fix, and that they died in many places, and the caufe of the murrain was the
mighty dry fummer, whereby the hogs had not water in plenty to drink, nor
mire to roll themfelves in : therefore after fuch dry fummers drench hogs by
way of precaution,

§. 36. Mr. Boyle, in his Advantages of experimental philofophy, recom- Ofthcle-
mends antimony to cure the leprofy in fwine, it being a great fwectener of the P'"'^^"
blood, and fays alfo, it is very good to cure the worms in horfes.

§. 37. A noted pig-dodor in Hampfhire advifes me, if ever I bleed a pig Of bleeding in
in the tail, to cutoff his tail above tlie hocks, and rub it firfl, it will bleed the ^'*'="^^''
better : pigs by having too lide of their tail cut off, efpecially in the fummer,
when troubled with flies, will be knocking it about their hocks^ and keep it
bleeding fo as to bleed to death. Note, he fays, the long-legged hogs, as it
were double-jointed at the knee, are of a breed fubjedl to the ftaggers.

§. 38. We had a young pig of three quarters old; we killed it for bacon ^ Young cigs
the farmer faid, though I gave fix fhilllngs per fcore, the pig eat him as much "°' r'ofitabie
peas as he was worth, for, faid he, a young pig, though he m.akes the beft ba- °' ^'^°"'
con, yet fats not fo fafl: as a pig of full growth, for his food runs into growth.

§. 39. I bought a hog, and when it was fwillcd, the farmer commended Of fwillirg
very much the fwilling of it, becaufe it was in no place burnt ; whereupon I ^ ''°2-
afked him if it was ufual to have them burnt; he faid, where the hog was
dirty there would be danger of it's burning, which in that place fpolled the
bacon.

The chief or only damage of burning a hog in fwilling is, that the bacon
will be apt to rufl there.

Care mufl: be taken, after hogs are fwilled, that they be not brulfed.

§. 40. Remember to provide a flock of fait in the moft dry feafon of the of fait and
fummer, becaufe it will come dry to you, and is at fuch times always cheapefl; falting.
for the falternes at fuch times, being able to make a greater quantity of fait
than they have ftowage for, fell it the cheaper.

§.41. A hot fire in a chimney, which heats the bacon, and then letting Cfdryirg
that chimney be without fire again, makes the coat of fuch bacon flack, and ^^'^°"'
brings a rufl into it.

POULTRY.

^ [ 4H ]

POULTRY.

Number of K j. /COLUMELLA, fpeaking: of cocks, fays, one cock is fufficlent to

hens toa*'l/-r ° ' J •

cock. VJ fi^'e hens.

Hemp-feed §. 2. Mr. Ray fays, hemp-feed is looked on to make hens lay, even in win-

jnakeshens fg^^ j^^j jq incline them to fo much fat as to prevent their kindly laying
after ; it is pernicious to be given to finging birds alone, without other feeds ;
it either kills them v/ith fat, or makes them dull in finging. — ' The antients
were of opinion that the leaves of cytifus made hens lay. As to the age, when
hens are in greateft perfedtion for laying eggs, they preferred thofe of two
years old.

Of egg?. ^_ ^ _ j^ purfuance of what I have remarked before in regard to the pundlum

fallens in feeds, viz. that it is anfwerable to the fanguinea gutta in an egg, and
like that is a vital principle, which has adlion antecedent to bare rules of mat-
ter, and is owing purely to the will of God, fuitable to Mofes in Geneiis, I
do conceive farther, that the pundlum fallens in a feed, as alfo the fanguinea
gutta in an &vg, have each alike their fiftole and diaftole, that is, an opening
and (liutting in a fpringy manner, and that, if the egg is heated, or under
incubation, the yelk being immediately attenuated by heat, does infinuate fome
of it's parts into the opening of the heart or fanguinea gutta of the egg, which
in it's reciprocal fliutting motion fqueezes the juices into the paffages and
iirft lines already formed, although wonderfully fliort and fine, which are the
main branches of the bird; thus they are lengthened and thickened by each
opening and fliutting, till the whole yelk is abforbed ; thus the flour alfo in the
feed is attenuated by moifture and heat, till at length it is quite fwallowed by
the pundtum faliens, which like an engine cafts it into the velfels of the plant:
thefe are the firftfood both of plant and animal.

Columella lays it down as a rule, that eggs ought to be fet at ten days old,
whereas in England they maybe fet well at thirty ; the reafon is, becaufe the
heat of the air in Italy is ftrong enough to adx fo on the fanguinea gutta as to
lengthen the fibres fo far, and to make fuch progrefs towards the growth of
a chicken, that the circulation to the extremity of thefe fibres cannot be main-
tained, and confequently not the nourifhment of the chicken without a
greater heat, for want of which there is a failure, if not committed to incu-
bation } but the air of our clime works fo flowly, that it fcarce forwards it.

I afked a notable dame whether it was true, that if a hen v/as kept too fat
Hie would lay an egg without a fliell, and a lefl"er egg; fhe faid it was true :
I afked whether fhe had a hen fometimes crow-trodden ; fiie faid, her people
would fay fo Ibmetimes, and fuch hen's feathers would flare ; it fell com-
monly on a hen that was black, but Mrs. Edwards affirmed, fhe had known
it befall other hens too ; they faid it was incurable. I the rather mention this>

' Cj'tifi folia viridia ipfas fcecundiffimas faciunt. Apte astate ad parienda ova funt anniculas,
maxime vcro biennes, minus his valciit feniorcs. Florent. in Geop. fol. 379.

3 becaufe

O U L T R Y.

415

becaufe Mr. Markham affirms it in his book of hulbandry, in his chapter of
Poultry.

'^ Eggs that are new laid may be known by their roughnefs and whitenefs,
and, if you hold them up to the fun, you will find a tranfparency in them,
which is not in eggs that have been fat on two or three days. If they are fat
on, Florentinus cautions us not to Ihake them for fear of deftroying their vital
principle. Varro fays the fame, and adds, that addled eggs will fwim in water,
and good ones will not.

§. 4. ' The antients, in many parts ofhufbandry, had a very great opinion of of fetting
the influence of the moon, and accordingly in fetting hens, Columella dire6ts it heni.
fhould be done from the tenth to the fifteenth day of the moon's increafe ;
which is not only of advantage, fays he, to the increafe of the chicken^s in the '
eggs, but by this means it will fo fall out, that the chickens will be hatched
alfo when the moon is increaling, which will be a great benefit to them.

When a hen is ready to fit it may be found by the feathering her neft, for
flie then begins to pull off the feathers from her breaft, and to make her bed ;
and before flie is ready to fit, if you would have her fit in the place you de-
fire, it is good to confine her to that place before fhe has laid all her eggs, that
by laying an egg or two there, flie may be reconciled to it ; for, if her laying
be out, and fhe has chofen another place, it will be hard to get her to lit to
what place you defire j and it is better to let her fit in the worft of places flie
fhall choofe, than to remove her from the place flie has once chofen. Colu-
lumella diredls to increafe the number of eggs you put under hens as the wea-
ther grows warmer, fol. 187.

I find Pliny, Varro, &c. order, that the number of eggs you fet under
hens fliould be odd, without afTigning the reafon for it ; but Markham, fol.
J 12. fays, the eggs will lie the rounder, clofer, and in evener proportion to-
gether."

'' DIgnofcantur ova, an quod in ipfis eft foecundum habeant, fi poft quartum diem incubationis
ad folis radium coiitempleris ; fi enim quid fibratiim tranfiens appaiuerit, & fubcruentum fit, quod
inert foecundum erit ; i\ vero pellucidum erit, ceu ftcrile ejiciatur. Sed expcrimenti fumendi gratia,
ovanon funt concuticnda, ne quod in ipfis vitale eft corrumpatur. Floren. in Geopon. fol. 379, 380,
?ic. — Ova plena fint atque utilia necne animadvert! aiunt pofie, fi demiferis in aquam, quod inane
natat, plenum defidit.

Ova fi incubantur, fi habent in fe femen pulli ; curator quatriduo poftquam incubari cctperint, in-
telligere poteft ; fi contra lumen tenuit & purum uniufmodi efle animadvertit, putant ejicienduui,
& aliud lubjiclendum. Varro, lib. 3. fol. 72.

As our author has given no diredions for preferving eggs,' the following fliort note may perhaps
not be in;pertine!it. Some dip them in hot fat, which, if care be taken that they are not over-
heated by it, may be a good way ; but as eafy and cleanly a method as any, and I believe the fafeft,
is, to beat up the whites of eggs to an oil, and then to fmear over the eggs you intend to prefene
with a camel's hair brufti dipped in this liquor. Take care that they are entirely covered with this
varnifti, and I am credibly informed it will keep them frcfh above a twelvemonth.

■= Semper autem, cum fupponuntur ova, confiderari debet ut luna crefcente a decima ufque ad
quintam decimam id fiat ; nam & ipfa fuppofitio per hos fere dies eft commodiffima, & fic adminif-
trandum eft, ut rurfus cum excluduntur pulli, luna crefcat, diebus quibus animantur ova, &.' in fpe
ciem volucram conSrmantur. Columella, lib. 8. fol. 188.

§. 5. Many

4i6

O U

T R

Of fetting
geefe and
turkeys. See

Of breeding
chickens.

Of rearing
chickens in

Vetches not
good for
•hickens.

Of a pullet

with ezz.

Of geefe.

§. 5. Many of our turkey-eggs and goofe-eggs proved addled this year
(1706) fo that we had very ill-luck in hatching our feathered fowl ; a maid,
who came juft after our ill luck, faid the reafon muft be, becaufe we ftill
took away the eggs from the hens as foon as they layed them, whereas, if
their eggs had been left, their defire of fitting had increafed, and they would
have fat fooner; therefore her miftrefs did let the eggs alone : note, it will
be good therefore to pen up the hens foon after their laying is over, and make
their nefls and put eggs into them.

§. 6. Chickens do bet-ter, and thrive much the fafterfor running about with
the hen, not being cooped up ; for the hen, having her liberty, fcratches up
emmets, bugs, and worms, more agreeable food than we can give them ; but
the hen, having been cooped up, is very wild when fet free, and rambles at
a flrange rate, to the lofs of her chickens, nor makes fhe, when fet free, a
tender mother.

§. 7. The princefs's poulterer aflured me, that rearing early chickens by a
kitchen-fire, as poor people did, was by no means a good way, for it was
not a natural warmth to them, and their flerti would not eat well ; that ftraw
and the warmth of the hen, but efpeciaUy good meat in their bellies, was the
beft means to fupport them in cold weather : for outward warmth fignifies
nothing, if there be not a good vital fubftance j and, faid he, in feeding little
turkeys and chickens, you will find by experience they will feed better and
thrive fafter by pecking off of your finger than from the ground ; barley-meal
is the heartieff and beft food for them, and cheefe-curd a very hard food, that
nouriflies not nor heartens, and therefore it is a great miftake in houfewives,
who give it.

§. 8. Farmers agree, that at the lime of threfliing their vetches, it is com-
mon to have the chickens, almoft as big as the old ones, die, being notable
to digefl the vetches, which fwell in their crops; and even the biggeft poultry
will be fick with it.

§. 9. A pullet with egg is accounted very good meat, but then I conceive
it is about the beginning of February, when they are but young with egg ;
for on their firfl being with young all creatures thrive, but the embryo grow-
ing big it preys on the mother, and draws the moifture and nouriflimentfrom
her, which is the cafe of the pullets at this time of the year, viz. the begin-
ning of March.

§. 10. Mr. Cowflade of Woodhay tells me, notwithflanding the objeftion
to geefe on their tainting the grafs, they are a great good to cattle, where
lands are fubjedl to murrain ; he fays the common of Emburn is the fame
fort of land as that of Woodhay, but in the court-leet at Emburn, fuch are
prcfented as put geefe in the common ; yet Woodhay people take the liberty,
and it is obferved, where one beafl dies of the murrain at Woodhay, ten die
of it at Emburn. Salmon's Difpenfatory fays, goofe-dung is excellent againft
the green-ficknefs, fcurvy, jaundice, dropfy, and gout.

Pliny fays of the goofe, they tread in the water, and Worlidge fays, it is
obferved of gtcfe, that in cafe the waters are frozen up (as in fome hard

winter

POULTRY. ^,7

winters they are) about their treading-time, then the moft part of their eggs
will prove addled ; the reafon is faid to be, becaufe the goofe proves more
fruitful when flie is trod by the gander in the water than if upon the land,
fol. 175. Qusre how it fares with thofe, who keep geefe where no water is,
or where the ponds prove dry in treading-time.

Young geefe will never fat well when they are breeding their younp- fea-
thers, for their feathers take off from their nourifliment. "^

§. II. Of geefe, Columella fays, you (hould allow a gander to three geefe; Three geefe
for they are too heavy to ferve more '. to a gander.

§. 12. The older the geefe, the fooner they lay, for which reafon an old Oldreefe
goofe is more profitable in bringing earlier goflings, which yield the more mo- '"'^^^ «arlicft.
ney. Some fay, if the goofe be two years old it is as well as if more, but
ducks will breed as well at one year old.

§.13. Geeft love not to fit but upon their own eggs, at leaft the better part Of fettine
muft be their own; if you take them from them at firft, as they lay them, geefe. Seej.y.
they will lay on even to a hundred, till fuch time as their fundaments ftand
gaping open, not being able to fhut them, by their own laying. Maifon ruf-
tique, fol. 107.

§. J 4. I afked a notable dame why (he penned up the ducks and geefe, and Of penning
the ducklings and goflings at night ; flie faid it was, in the firft place, becaufe g«f^^andduck$
thefe laft were young, and for fear the hogs (hould meet vvith them, and eat them: ^' "'2''^"
I afked her why there was not the fame danger by day; (he faid, there was
fome danger, but not fo much, the old one keeps them then, for the mofl part,
in the water, and when they are penned up chey are more fecure from the
ftote : faid flie, we pen up the geefe and gollings much, by day, when young,
becaufe the goofe is not fo careful as the duck of her young ones, but will
keep with the gander and floek, and run up and down with them, infomuch
that the young ones, in following them, will frequently fall down dead on the
fpot ; but the duck will keep with the young ones, without regard of the
other ducks. I afked another dame of thefe things next day, and fhe agreed
to it, and added, that, if pigs once took to eat up ducklings and goflings, they
would never give over till they had eat up old ducks, and geefe, and f^ander ;
the fows particularly, if kept hungry, v.ere very fuhjccfl to it.

§. 1 5. Ducks, I am informed, generally lay in the night, wherefore a care- Duck*,
ful dame drives them then into a lower coop, and feels every one of them, in
the morning, during their laying-time, to fee whether they have laid that
night, or whether they are full of egg ready to lay, if fo, flie keeps thofe in ;
if (he takes not this method, they lay about in fo many holes, that fhe is apt
tolofe their egsis.

I was faying to a certain dame, that I thought there was little profit in
ducks and geefe, forfeveral reafons, and that there was little they could feed
on, but what the hogs did and could find out ; flie rephed, that ducks, whilfl

» Singulis maribus tcrnas fceminas deftina ; nam propter gravitatem plures inire non pofTunt.
Colum. fo). 193. & Palladius, fol. 59.

H h h pigs

4i8 PIGEONS.

pigs fed on corn, would follow the pigs, and live very well on their dung; I

afked whether it was fo with geefe j flie faid, (he had not obferved them to

do it.

Of ducks fet- §, i6. This day (April the 24th) my fervant was wondering to a dame in

""^* my neighbourhood that my ducks were not for fitting, notwithftanding they

had laid out their laying of eggs ; the dame replied, that was no wonder, for

fhe did not cxpedt her own ducks fliould fit under a month yet ; for, faid fhe,

ducks have two layings of eggs, and do not fit to hatch till the laft, which is

about the middle of May ; if you will, faid fhe, have early broodlings of

ducks, you mufl fet the firft layings under hens. Neither the Rei rufticas

fcriptores, nor Worlidge fpeak of this. — Note, (April the 12th, 1707) this

day I have two ducks that have been fitting this fortnight, but this is not very

common.

or fatting §. ij. Columella advifes to put aftermafs hay under fatting-poultry in their

foaltry. coops, for if thcy have a hard bed, they will not eafily grow fat ; and to keep

them in a warm, clofe, and dark place, that they may move as little as poflible,

for cold and motion are a great hindrance to their fatting.

Of cramming. §-i8. In cramming turkeys and chickens, faid the princefs's poulterer,

be fure you give them time to fwallow before you give them more ; for, if you

cram it down too faft, they will not thrive with their meat : he faid further,

that the prime feafon for a pullet is before {he has laid, or a week after, for

after that time the firaining herfelf has fo weakened her, that flie pines, and

her flefh eats not well.

Peul'ry dege- §. jg. In poultry, if you keep long in the fame ftrain, the young ones will

*'"^'^" degenerate, and oftentimes die before they come to maturity j it is the fame

with pigs and calves.

PI G E O N S.

Oftlw pigeon. K. I. TT N pigeon-houfes, many build a lower wiodow in the wall under
*'°"^*- _£ the eaves, to open and fhut at difcretion, to let the young pigeons

of every latter breed (which are weakeft) out the fooner, they being not Itrong
enough to rife upright through the well of the houfe.

Some fay, there ought to be double the number of holes, at leaft, as you
have hen- pigeons, befides what are to be allotted for the cocks ; becaufe the
hen-pigeon, whilfl flie has young ones in one hole, will be building and fit-
ting in another.

It is a great doubt whether it is beneficial to a pigeon-houfe, to keep the
holes clean from the dung and trumpery.

Varro ^ calls the pigeon a very cleanly bird, and advifes to fweep the dove-

houfe,

' Varro (\\b. 3. de Re ruftica, fol. 70.) fays, permunda; funtenim hs: volucres, itaque paftorem
fcoJumbariaciuotquotmenfibus crebro oportet everrere. Columella ait (lib. 8, fol. 1 90. J totus au-

tem

PIGEONS. 419

houfe, and clean out the filth frequently all the year round ; for the neater it
is kept the livelier the bird, adds Columella ; the whole place, fays he, and
even the holes, ought to be white-waflied, the pigeon being particularly fend
of that colour. — The Roman epicures had a cuflom of breaking the legs of
the young pigeons, that, not being able to move, they might fat the better.

^ Didymus diretfls us to hang up fprigs of lue at the entrance, andin many
places of the dove-houfe, which, he fays, is good to drive away vermin. jThe
old authors agree in the fame thing in regard to hen-houfes.

§. 2. It has been a queftion with many, if dove houfe pigeons pair or not. Of pjgfi,,
and keep true to their plighted love, which it feems to me they muft do, bs- f ^'^"'fe-
caufe we often find in their hole a pair of eggs and a pair of hatched pigeons
near fledged, which eggs are foon after hatched alfo, which could not well
be, unlefs the cock fed the young ones whilft the hen fat. ^

§. 3. We had no rain all April and May, and had never fo poor pigeons in Cry weather
that feafon ; the reafon feiems to be, becaufe the corn in the fields was dry, Jge^';"' ' '^
there having been no rain to moiften it ; for young birds mufl have what is
tender of digeftion, and fo we treat all forts of poultry.

§. 4. Towards the end of the month of June, in the pigeons benneting of their feed-
time, I entered my pigcon-houfe to fee, in cafe there were any young ones, '"g on 'he
what feeds they had in their crops ; I took half a dozen young ones ; befides ^^^f^l^
what corn they could here and there pick up, I found much charlock-feed,
and the feeds of the common creeping crow-foot or butter- cups (in their
crops) which is a fmall, flat, and fliarp-pointed feed, (vid. Ray, fol. 581.) and
afterwards did obferve great flocks of pigeons to light in thofe fields, where
that plant grew plentifully, at the time of it's feeding.

July the 19th I had a pigeon killed in the field, and opened his crop, which
was full of the before-mentioned butter-cup feeds, and fumitory-feeds, and
nothing elie, faving half a dozen bud-flowers of charlock, and two or three
oats J I obferved they were very voracious of thefe feeds -, for 1 had three
acres of arable, which had laid down to grafs two years, and that had more
butter-cups in it pofTibly than my whole farm befides, in which my whole
flight of pigeons lay all day, and in a piece of wheat near my houfe, which
had much fumitory in it ; you may fee, where thefe plants grow in fields near
pigeons, the feeds picked oflf: they are therefore of great ufe in ridding the
fields of weeds.

§. 5. It is not to be doubted, if you, in winter, feed your pigeons, but others Of feeding
from other dove-houfes will come to the table in your dove-houfe, by ob- P'S<^^"^-
ferving them fleek, and in good liking, or by fmelling the fort and plenty of
food they have in their crops, as well as is elicvvhere noted of rabbits.

tern locus, & jpfsecolumbarum celiac poliri debent albo teftorio, quandoquidem eo colore pnecipue
deledlatur hoc t^enus avium. Pulli fraclis cruribus citius pinguefcunt, nam frada crura non plus
quam bidui, aut aJ fummum tridui dolorem afFerunt, & fpem tollunt evagaridi. ib.

Nam quanto eft cultior, tanto lastior avis confpicitur. Columella, fol. 190.

*> In fcneftris& olliis aliifque pluri'ous columbarii locis, rutne ramulos depop.ito, k fufpende; habet
enim ruta naturalcm quandam coiitrarietatem ad beftias. In Geoponicis ex DiJymo, fol, 773.

^'^' "^' H h h 2 §. 6. A

420

BEES.

Water necef- §. 6. A pigeon-houfc Will not thrive unlefs very near water; not but the

fary near a p|geons Can go far for water for themfelves, but their returns muft be very

frequent and quick for their young ones, who are wanting much water, and

by carrying it far, it will be dried up in their crops before they can bring it to

their young.

BEES.

Of beesin ge- §. 1. T T THAT E V E R you do to bees muft be in the morning and not
neral. V V ^t night by a light ; for every bee that is diftuibed and ftrik.es

againft the light, is loft and chilled by lying out.

Xhe honey-bee never draws it's honey from the broad- clover, for it's pro-
bofcis is not long enough ; it is the humble-bee that feeds on that. The beft
provifion for bees early againft the fpring, is by fowing turnips in Auguft,
which will flower in the fpring, from whence the bees extracft abundance of
honey : they draw abundance oi honey alfo from the vetch-blofibms, but
never lie on the pea.

A fouth-wefterly expofition is better than a fouth-eafterly ; for the fouth-
eafterly calls the bees out too early in the morning, and in a fouth-wefterly
they will work an hour later at night. If a hive v/ill not fwarni, fo that you
are forced to raife the hive, you muft be fure, before v/inter, to take the prop
from under the hive, and though they have worked down into the prop, the
combs muft be cut away, that the bees may lie clofer and warmer, for the
reafon why a fmart comes to nothing, is, becaufe they are too few in the
hive.
Their manner §. 2. This day (September the 15th) I could not but recoUecfl what Pliny
of breathing, fays of flies, that they breathe not from their mouths, but from porous parts of
their bodies, in which opinion I was confirmed ; for a bee had fallen into my
garden pond, and was labouring at the oar to get out ; I wondered to fee,
from the fides of his body, divers quick curling ftreams on the furface of the
water, which extended two inches long from each fide of the bee, and each
ftream was diftinguifhed and divided from the other like the points of a
compafs ; I faw plainly this could not be from his legs, and his wings laboured
but little ; I was fatisfied thefe ftreams proceeded from the porous portals his
labouring breath came out at, which ifluing with force (for otherwife it could
not have made fo long ftreams) may give feme account how the vibration of
his wings on thofe portals makes his wind-mufick, and plays thereon as we
do on a flagelet.
Of hives. §.3. The 16th of January was a ftill fine froft, and at noon it was fine

and v/arm in the funfhine j I obferved it to invite many bees out of my hive,
efpecially out of my boxen-hive, which ftood under my ftraw-hive, and in
the funfhine I faw them play ; I faw here and there one fly out of another
ftraw-hive, but very few ; the next day I told between twenty and thirty that
lay dead on the ground under the hive, and at the hive door, with a hoar-

froft

HAY. ^„

froft of the night covering them ; note, the entry-hole of this hive was very
open, wherefore I do infer that fuch entry-hole, being large, lets not only
the cold and wind in, to their prejudice, but the funfhine of the winter to
their utter ruin : I do infer likewife that thefe boarded hives are not fo warm
in winter to refift the cold, nor fo able to refift the fun either in fummer or
winter, as the ftraw-hives, becaufe the heat and cold cannot penetrate, where
the particles of each injeded have their powers broken by fuch a numerous
body of twifted ftraws, between each of which there is a fort of vacuity,
which muft needs make the froft and fun break their lines ; whereas timber
being porous, and yet a continued body, the heat and cold paffes through it
without interruption ; fo that, I believe, the fun has too immediate an influ-
ence on the bees in thofe boxen-hives to their great prejudice, both at fprinf^
and winter. ^

_ §. 4. Mr. Cherry's gardener of Shotsbroke had put, during the winter, a Mice a.d
piece of flit trencher before the bee holes, with two little arched holes cut in "'o'''^ P^""-
them, to let the bees jufl: have room to pafs in and out ; I thought it had been "''^'°"*'
for warmth, but he faid it v/as to keep out the mice, which would foon, in the
winter, deftroy a hive : he faid the moths were likewife very pernicious to
bees ; for they would get into the hives towards the latter end of fummer,
and at the bottom of the hive, about the edges of it, lay their eggs, which at
the latter end of fpring come to great maggots, and crawl up and'down the
hive from comb to comb, fucking the honey ; thus, he fays, he has known
five or fix hives, in a feafon, deftroyed by them 5 his way is to lift up the
hives, and examine them, after Michaelmafs, and defliroy fuch ejo-g ; he fays,
the mice get not into the hives all the fummer long ; for then "the bees are
ftrong and lie before the hole all night, and will not let them come in.

H A Y.

§. I. T Was taking notice that fome hay my fervant had bought for me cf making

1^ had loft it's fmell, which could not be from the rain ; for none *'''>'•
fell that year in the hay-making time, but it had laid abroad in the dew
without being made into cock ; and this is frequendy the cafe of hay below
our hill ; for below the hill after it is laid in fwarth and tedded, that is, fcat-
tered abroad, they do not cock it till they cock it for good and all ; whereas
in the hill-country they cock it the fame day it is tedded, if it be a hot day.

§.2. If you will make aftermafs broad-clover, I hold it heft not to let it Mal-w
lie one night in fwarth, but againft every night to cock it in large cocks to fecure broad-dover
it from the dews, which, at that time of the year, fall very largely ; for the '''■^"
dews foke into the broad-clover, and thin the fpirity juice, and thereby make
it volatile and eafily exhaufted by the fun ; whereas, if the fpirity juice, which
is of a confiftency, be not thinned by the water getting into it, the fun will
£x it, by drawing out the watery part from it, but if it be thinned by adven-

t'^'ous

422

HAY.

titious water, by reafon of fuch thinnefs of the body, it will all evaporate : it
is true, by laving it in fwarth night after night, it will fooner be hay, but then
the hay will be fpoiled ; for the drinefs of the body proceeds from the above
precipitate manner of exhaufting the fpirituous juice by letting in the
water".
G'eat burnet ^_ ^^ They count the great-burnet hay in Leicefterfliire, the beft flieep-

hay, and the bert horfe-hay.
Hay better in §. 4. I was laying, at the appraifement of the hay in Sir Ambrofe Phillipps's ■
a reck than great bam, at which I was prefent, that I would not make ufe of that barn
"■ for my hay, unlefs the feafon of hay-making was wet, but put it without

door in a reek ; to which the keeper replied, that he owned hay came better
out of a reek than a barn, and that hay reeked abroad required much lefs
making, having a paffage for the air and wind to qualify it.

I was propofing to fet up a 'reek-houfe for hay in my meads ; feveral of my
oldefland moil experienced labourers feemed to be againft it, but I could not
have a reafon, only they faid, hay never came fo well out of a reek-houfe as
out of a reek, and one of them faid, the reafon was, it never lay fo clofe j
the timber ports, bearing againft the hay, kept it from finking clofe, and fo it
lay too hollow ; I replied, that then in making the reek, room of a foot fpace
within the timbers fhould be allowed it for linking, which caution, I take it,
fhould be always ufed in fuch cafes.
Of making a §. 5. In making hay-cocks it is of great confequence to fee that the cocks
cock. j^j.g fj-jade with a narrow bottom, and round head ; for where they are made

with a broad bottom and Iharp top, pyramidwife, the cock links flat, and
fquats down, and lies fo wide, and broad, that rain damages it greatly,
whereas a round top with a narrow bottom will fave the cock from rain.

In making hay-cocks, in order to be carted, I find by experience, that they
ought to be made large (from a dozen to fifteen to a load, which they ought
not to exceed) becaufe the fewer make a load, the fooner they are loaded,
and the greater is thedifpatch, and, if they are fet out in rows it is the better j
lefs time is loft in going from cock to cock ; the more hay-cocks you make,
the more bottoms, and, in proportion to the hay, more lies on the ground,
and confequently, if the feafon be wet, it is by lying long on the earth liable
to more damage ; a little cock is apter to fall flat, and, if rainy weather comes,
what with the bottoms and tops, it all takes wet, there being little in the
middle} again, being light of weight, it cannot comprefs itfelf clofe, but is
hollow, and fo takes in the rain, and, if you cart in the dew, or when the
ground is wet, there is more hay fpoiled by raking in the wet, where are
many fmall cocks, than where a few great ones.
Ofit'sfweat- §. 6. It feems fit to be conGdered in the buying a hay-reek, hov/ far the
»''S- hay-reek may have heated when it was made, for, if it heated well, provided

it be not too much, the hay will yield the more loads, becaufe in fweating it

' For ma'cing St. Foin or French-grafs hay, fee note extracted from Mr. Tull, under the article
Grafies, §-50.

t' Dutch birns had not been introduced, or were but little known in our author's time.

3 falls

WOOL.

423

falls fo much the more clofe ; whereas, if the hay was put up over-ripe, it
will not fo well anfwer expectations in the quantitji, it lying fo much the
hoUower.

§. 7. An antient experienced farmer tells me, he always found old hay as Of old and
good for cattle, till the latter end of the year, as new j but then it grew too "^^'^ ''"'*>'•
dry for them.

§. 8. We found it manifeft this year, in hay-making, that (hort hay of the Short hay
fame bulk out-weighed long hay abundantly. *"^'^ '"^*'

WOOL.

§. I. /^^ N E of my labourers in * mowing complained of the old rowet that Growth on
\^_^ choaked up the fcythe, and compared it to the young wool, |''« '^s'^P'*
which, when fheep have been pretty well kept in the winter, and then •icemowing.
checked in the fpring, comes up under the firft wool, and deadens the Ihcers,
fo that it is troublefome to cut.

I immediately went to another, who I knew had been a fliepherd, and had
fhcered much, and inquired of him concerning fuch wool ; he faid, it was
true, that, if {heep are kept well at the forehand of the year, and have a check
in the fpring, and then comes a tiufli of grafs on the firft rains, their winter
wool will grow no more, but a young wool will arife, and caft off the old wool,
fo that one may almoft wipe it off with one's hands ; now if the young wool
is not grown fo long, but that the flieers Hide over it, or between the young
and old, then it is nut troublefome to Iheer; but if it be grown fo long that
the fheers muft cut it, then it choaks up the Iheers, and makes it troublefome;
and in drawing the wool out with one's finger and thumb, to fee the finenefs
of the thread, it will part.

§. 2. I fold my wool to a fell-monger, and we happened to fall into an ar- v.'hen ww;
gument what time of the year wool grew fafteft on the fheep's back ; he faid, S'°"^ Mcft.
it grew fafteft that quarter of the year which was between Chriftmafs and
Lady-day ; I wondered at that, becaufe it was the coldeft quarter of the year ;
but he anfwered me, it did grow fafter then, than from Lady-day to the 17th
of June, which was the day I ftieered, for, faid he, the wool ftops in growth
long before that, and begins to loofen from it's root, and a new wool growing
thrufts it out.

This put me in mind that the fleeces in the eaftern countries might be eafier
plucked, and with lefs pain to the fheep than we imagine, if they nick the
time in doing it, when the wool loofens from the fkin of the fheep.

§. 3. May the 19th farmers Box, the father and fon, and farmer Ifles, far- Wool on the
mer Stephens, and young farmer Sartain of Wilts, all agreed, that wool grew^"P ^^"^'''^ed
fafter on the fheep in dry than wet fummers (for from the growth of the (Tieep thcr/ ^"*
the wool depends) and that all forts of cattle fatted then fafter, and grew
fafter than in wet fummers, if they had meat tolerably fufficient: for continual

wet

424

W

o

o

L.

Of fvvatliing
(lieep in Per-
fia.

Of wool peel-
ing off ihe
fliecp.

OfSpanifh
wool.

Fine feed
makes £ae
wool.

Short grafs
beft for the
wool.

Fallows pro-
duce good
wooL

wet outwardly on their coats waflies them out, as well as inwardly, and then
the graffes are fourer alfo ; befides cattle have more hours for eating in dry
than in rainy weather.

§.4. There is a particular fort of fheep in Perfia of which they are very
choice, their wool is as foft as filk, and I am well informed, that to preferve
the beauty of it, and keep it to a good curl, they fwathe their fheep.

§. 5. When a fheep's wool peels away under his belly, the (hepherds fay,
it is, moft generally, a fign of an old fheep ; not but that a young fheep will
be fometimes fubjedl to it ; that v/hich will beft prevent the like another year,
if young, is to keep him up in cafe.

The ev/es that lamb about Lady-day, will have their lambs, by the quick-
nefs of the grafs at that time, fo brifk and forward, that with fucking and
butting they will have beat all the wool bare from the ewes belly by the time
they come to be fheered.

§. 6. Mr. Methwin and Mr. HoUiday, clothiers, fay the Spanifh wool is
not near fo fine and fo good of late years, not above half fo fine as it was for-
merly ; the fineft, they fay, comes from Segovia in Spain j the fame they fay
of Herefordshire wool.

§. 7. Tho' one farm and another is faid to have better and worfe wool, yet
the rule is very uncertain'; it is according to what fort of (heep a farm keeps,
which may occafion a great alteration in it, for ewes carry finer wool than
weathers and hogs ; again, the wool is improved according to what grafs one
gives the fheep, clover-graffes raifing a coarfer wool ; again, it depends on
what fort of hay the flieep have at winter ; the better the hay the finer the
wool ; and hill-country hay, if one has enough of it, will bring finer wool
than the next farmer fliall have, who buys a vale hay.

If fheep are abufed in their keeping fo as to pitch, their wool, tho' never fo
fhort, will handle hard and rough, be curled, and not run into a ftrait thread,
and break off in combing.

§. 8. At Bilhops-Cannons and all the Cannons, where the wool is fo fine,
and the land fo good, they keep their feeding as clofe as may be ; for they
count, amongft them, the fhorter the fheep's pafture the fweeter ; if fo, it
n\u.i\ be more fo with us, where the ground is poor and four. The wool from
Wodcote-farm, which is contiguous to me, will out-fell that from Crux-
Eaflon, becaule their fheep feed on the downs, and ours on the corn-leafe.

§.9. In Ifbrants Ides Hiftory of his embafiy from Mufcovy to China,
printed 1706, he fays, fol. 189. the mulberry-trees in China are managed in
a manner different from all other countries; for they are kept low, and an-
nually lopped, as the vineyards are ; becaufe, fays he, the young fhoots occa-
fion the production of the beft filk ; and indeed the difference between the
filk produced by thofe worms which feed on the firft leaves, and that of the
latter growth, when they are much harder, is very confiderable. — I note this,
becaule I have m-ide a remark before, how the beft wool proceeds from grafs
growing on fallows, which proceed from a feed of the fame fummer, and
there feems to be a great affinity between wool and filk.

§. 10. Burn-

WOOL. 425

§, 10. Burn-beaking the downs will be a great prejudice to the ftaple of Bum-be.-.king
wool ; for, though the bulk of wool may come off the vale, yet it is mofi: P'^judicial to
born and bred on the downs, from whence the vale-men buy their fl:eep, or ^ ^^^°° '
otherwife they would not have fo good wool ; and though particular parts of
the vale, as all Cannons, &c. produce a fine wool, yet the reafon of that is be-
fore given.

§. II, Mr, Bifliop's fhepherd of Dorfetfhlre faid, the older (heep grew, the Wool of old
finer was their wool, and the leaft of it, '^"P ^"*'^-

§. 12, Where the ewe-wool is deareft, the lamb-wool is cheapefl j for the Ofeweand
evi^e's wool fells for it's finenefs, but the lamb's wool for it's length, lamb-wool.

§.13, Mr. Bell of Marlborough, coming to buy my wool, aflced me whe- Oflamb'*
ther I (beared my lambs at Midfummer, as I did my other flieep ; I told him ^°°^-
yes ; becaufe, fiid he, many will fhear their lambs a month after j for the
v/ool is fo much the better for being the longer, the ewe's wool the fl:iorter
the better, the lamb's wool the longer : I aflced how much it might yield the
more for being a month's growth the older ; he faid, a penny perhaps in the
pound : I anfwered, twice fliearing made two troubles and charges, and I
knew not v/hether it would turn to account.

I told my fhepherd what Mr. Bell faid about fhearing the lambs early j and
he replied, if the lambs were late fhorn, they would not at Michaelmafs carry
fo good a body and look fo full, nor carry fo good a price; fome fhear
them fb fliallow as to leave a good coat behind, becaufe they may look more
burley at a fair. — Quasre therefore, if I fliould not fhear thofe later which I
keep myfelf. — Afking my fhepherd this queftion afterwards, he faid, it would
be two troubles both in wafhing and fhearing, and chargeable, more than the
profit on the wool would come to, and the fooner we fneared our lambs, the
more wool they would have when they were flieep.

§. 14. I afked Mr. Townfend and Mr. Fiy, clothiers, the reafon why Hert- ^"o' "f^^ol-
fordfhire wool fliould be the worfl in England; they faid it was ceitainly fo, ''^ "^"P*
and that they afFefted the fort of fheep they had, as a very large flieep, which,
faid they, are of the coUey fort, that is, black faces and legs, and their wool
is very harfh, mixed with hairs, like dogs hair, and notfo white as ours.

§. 15. Stevens of Pomeroy in Wilts, defired to have two or three fleeces of Black wooli
my black wool, and made nofcruple to give me nine pence per pound for it,
though he was loth to give fo much for the white fleeces; for, faid he, the
black fleeces are of more value than the white, and he gave this reafon ; in
the making a dark-coloured medley drugget, or cloth, the thread of the .
white being twifted with the black will effetl: it without being dyed, and will
make i:iuch the ftronger cloth, in as much as all dyes that dye a dark colour
do much rot the worllieds ; but the dyes of light colours, being only a light
ftaining of them, do not fo much hurt the wool.

§. 16. When the wool-man was weighig my wool, he flicwed me the dif- Curleiwool.
ference of fome fleeces in goodnefs, and particularly the locks of fome fleeces
that were curled, and faid, fuch wool was not, by a penny in a pound, fo fine,

I i i as

426

WOOL.

as that which was foft and flralt, nor would fuch wool lie fine and fmooth in
the druggets.
Goodneft of §. \-j , \ was arguing with my wool-man on the qualities of wool, and in-
^°° ' fifled that, tho' they judged according to the fineness of the thread of wool,

yet wool of the fame finenefs might be much better than other wool,
becaufe the proof and ftrength of the thread in one fort of wool, might be
better than in another of the fame finenefs, by reafon of better food, being
never pinched fummer or winter, and confequently having proof to the veiy
end of the hair : he faid, that wool impoveriflied by ill-feeding or flarving,
at any time of the year, was plainly difcernable ; for it would run off thin to-
wards the ends of the hairs more than fuits with a taper figure, I fuppofe
the change towards the end is difcernable as in corn andgrafs, when it withers
at the top : he allov/ed my wool was better than my neighbours, for my not
pinching them any time of the year.

§. 18. A great dealer in wool affures me, that wool of fixtecn fliillings in
the tod is eighteen pence in the tod worfe in goodneTs when three years old j.
for then it grows flarkey and dry, and will not lie fmooth in the fpinning ;..
for the oil of wool waflres very much after two years old.
Edge-grown §-i9- I was witli Mr. Anthony Methwin, a great clothier, and entered
''°°'- into difcourfe with him of wool; the edge-grown wool, I fpoke to him of,

he affured me, was the worft abufe the wool-men put upon the clothiers, for
the young wool of it was all to be flung away, becaufe it could not be worked
up in cloth ; he faid, wool that pitched, by reafon of the fheep's poverty, would
tear and break in pieces, and great wafte was made of it, that wool managed
as I manage mine, was much the better in all refpefts, and more profitable to
the clothier to buy, and tho' it might run a little longer for it, would be ex-
traordinary good for clothing : he agreed with me, that fallows always pro-
duced better wool than the very fame ground when laid down to grafs, and
faid, the longer a ground lay to grafs, and the older the grafs was, it was the-
ranker food, and the wool coarfer ; for which reafon the fallows having
new young grafs in them, produce fo much the finer wool ; he did, for the
fame reafon, afl!ent, that the hop-clover generally fpeaking (efpecially in clay-
land) might produce a finer wool than it's natural grafs j that the thicker and
clofer wool handled, and ftraiter in it's threads, and not curled, it was the finer,
and laid fmoother in the piece of cloth : That wool, added he, in the (heep,
that hangs leafl: under the droppings of the other, is the finefl, fuch as the
neck, and breaft, and belly.
mLkm"»TOo"i §• ^°' ^fi^^d^J^^ pitch-mark, if it be not worn out before (hearing-time,
the wool-men do not like, becaufe, fay they, we have no help but to cut it
off, whereas, tho' the ruddle, if the flieep be much ruddled, weighs to our
lofs, yet that wafhes out.
Cf hindirg §. 2 1. Wool incrcafes by lying by, and, if put up hollow, will in two or three

it's growing. ^^^''^ ^^^ ^'^''y ^lofe, and be intangled, which is occafioned by it's growing ;
but it will not grow till after it's fweating is over, which is not till Michaclmafs.

It

H IDES. 427

It is generally agreed, that wool, being bound up very clofe, fo that the
wind cannot get into it, will pay intereft in growth till towards the next
fpring, but fliould be fold before the March following, left the winds of that
month fliould dry it too faft.

§. 22. The wool-man having bought my wool, and coming to weigh itjaflured Of the wool-
me, that by the tumbling and removing the wool, and letting in the air to it'°^'*
in the carnage, it would lofe in the weight, a pound in the tod, before he got
it home : from hence it follows, that to move your wool in the loft, or from
one room to another is lofs, or to tumble it up and down in fearch of mice.

§. 23. When wool-men buy not at the firft hand, when the wool is fheared. Time for fel-
they care not to buy in the winter ; for the damp and foggy air gets into the '"S-
wool in winter, which makes it weigh heavier ; therefore the chapman choofes
not to meddle with it till fpring.

§.24. I find, bv Mr. Brewer, Mr. Methwin, and many more clothiers I of the feveral
converfed with in Wiltlhire, that the wool-breakers do, in the firft place, fepa- parts of tie .
rate the fleeces by themfelves that run moft of a fort.

Then they fort the different kinds of wool in each fleece by itfelf, which
fleece is never divided into lefs than four parcels, viz.— The tail-wool is laid afide
for lifts for cloth, rugs and blankets. — Half the buttock towards the flank is
for the long woofted thread, in ferges and druggets, which they call the
woofted, and runs the length of the ferge or drugget, which, tho' fpun to a
finer thread, yet is harder than the abb, which crofles the woofted thread, and
runs the breadth, yet is of a coarfer wool : but Mr. Merryman, clothier of
Newbury, denies that any of the buttock is fine enongh for the woofted thread.
—What is on the back and ribs is fomewhat finer, and makes, in druggets,
the thread called abb ; which runs crofs the chain, called the woofted, and is
of a finer wool than the buttock, and twifted in the thread loofer. — The
neck, and breaft, and bottom of the belly make the thread which in the fineft
cloth is the chain, called the warp in cloth, which anfwers to the chain or
woofted thread in druggets ; but the abb in cloth, which anfwers to the abb
in druggets, is all made of Spanifli wool, which, being finer, will come clofer
together, and the finer it is made, tho' the thinner, yet will keep cut rain the
better : but Mr. Merryman of Newbury, clothier, will not believe the neck
and breaft fine enough for the chain.

H IDES.

§.i. ACCORDING as the beafts were in proof, in flefti and fatnefs, Of t.^e qualhjf

x\_ proportionable is the value of the hides, and fuch will be the*' ' "'
proof of them under the hands of the tanner ; for example, as young meat
and fat meat plims and increafes in the roafting and boiling, but lean and
eld flirinks, fo a hide of a young and fat beaft fwells and thickens in the tan-

1 i i 2 pit,

428 RISE and FALL of MARKETS, &c.

pit, and yields a proportionable increafe according as the beaft is young and fat;
but tlie hide of a lean and old beaft fhrinks and lofes it's fubftance in the tan-pit,
and will not take the tan as a young hide : therefore a murrain hide is of fmall
value, unlefs it be the back part, to make a pair of boots, to which purpofe it is
ufeful, on account of it's flirinking and clofing of the pores ; the very bell; of the
hides are bought by the bridle-makers, becaufe they are required to be of the
bed fubftance : the value of a hide is known by it's weight, by lifting it with
the hand, as it weighs heavier or lighter in proportion to it's largenefs or fmall-
nefs, nothing being a greater commendation of a hide, than to weigh much
heavier than one would expeft from the fize of it.

The north-country hides are the beft, and thickeft, and generally handle
beft, the reafon whereof probably is, becaufe their feed is deepeft, and they are
maintained always in good keeping, and never pinched.

It is generally agreed, the finer the hide the fweeter the meat of a beaft.
Of fhcfp- §.2. The Ik'ins of the fheep thicken much, after they are fhorn : in fome

*""'• time after they will grow as thick again as before : I judge this muft proceed

from the cold, and puts me in mind, that the hides of all cattle are thicker
grained in the hill-country than in the vale, as alfo of the ftory (which,
as I remember, Herodotus tells) of the Perfians and Greeks, that when they
were, on both fides, llain in a battle and ftripped, the nations were not to be dif^
tinguifhed but by their fkulls ; for the Perfians wearing always turbans on thelr
heads, which kept them very hot, their fkulls were much the fofter, and.
would yield to the impreflion.

RISE and FALL of MARKETS, and their

CAUSE S.

Ofbuylng §• 1. f^^- ENE RALLY fpeaking, the earlier a thing is bought, when
««riy. VJJ t'^^ market is open, it is bought the cheaper, for though after-

wards many contingencies may have an influence, yet the general condition
of mankind, who are not provided with money to buy as early as their ccca-
fions want it, or want to fell before there is a general demand for goods, mufl
favour the ready-monied man, who is provided beforehand ; thus, for exam-
ple, they, who at fpring of the year firft buy barren beafls to fat, or fheep,,
have the advantage ; for t-hey, who 1^11 earliefl:, either want the money, or
winter-provifions, as hay and ftravv, to maintain them till the grafs grows ;
which is a general cafe of too many ; arjd they, who buy early, do it becaufg
they have money before the generality have it for fach purpofes, or a remain-
ing furplus of hay, or flraw, more than the flock of their farm can fpend,
which is the cafe of few, fo at fuch times there mufl be regularly more fellers
ihaji buyers..

§. 2* In:

RISE and FALL of MARKETS, &c, 429

§. 2. In the fummer 1702, there was a great fcaicity of hay and grafs, for Plenty of one
which reafon beads were not fatted in fo great a number as ufually; confe- J:'"'^ °i.P[°^'"
quently the breed in England of beads increafed ; this year, 1703, tliere was others.
much grafs and hay, abundajice of beads therefore were fatted, which made
beef cheap, and fat mutton, by reafon of a bane, was cheap; and feeing beef
and mutton was to be had cheap, people would give but a low price for cheefe
and bacon : fo that any one kind of food being cheap is apt to lower the price
of all other forts.

§. 3. From the exceeding lad year's hot fummer, 17 19, whereby fewer scarcity of
beads were fatted, and hay very fcarce the fpring following, beef yielded five l^^ef makes.
pence per pound ; this made fiit lamb fell exceeding dear, not only at fpring*!""^' ^'*^*
but all along June and July ; the reafon is plain ; becaufe there mud be a
great many fat lambs go to make up the failure of each ox's fatting, and meat
mud be had.

§, 4. On the i6th of September wheat was finking, and about this time of Sheep and
the year wheat generally falls in price, for the farmers, who live in the paf- ^'''"'''' "^''"P

''1 . ° .- 1 , ^ , . . ,-1 , , i about bcptcra-

ture and turnip-countries, do, about this time of the year, tumble out their bcr.
wheat in the markets, and glut them, in order to raife money to buy (beep at
Weyhill, and the fheep-markets, as well as to pay harveding, and for feeding
tlieir ground with wheat.

Wheat funk for a few markets, and dieep, notwithdanding it was a great
autumn aftermafs for grafs, and a great turnip year; the reafon of it was,
that money mud be raifed by mod farmers out of the produce of their
farm at this time of the year (September) to anfv/er their many occafions, and
they, obferving wheat to fink, thought fit to leffen their winter dock of flieep,
and keep their wheat, becaufe hay, through the wet, was generally damafj'ed,
and not great in quantity, and -fo the maintainance of dieep was like to he
chargeable ; and confequently fuch fale out of the capital mud glut the market
and fink the price.

§. 5. From the 24th of September to the 2cth of Ocftober, 1704, the land Of the rife ar.i-
was fo dry, that the farmers dopped ploughing for, and fowing of wheat : '^'^ *'^^°""-
Mr. Raymond, and Mr. John Horton of Wiltfhire, came to me in a vifit, and
I was faying to them, furely if this v^^eather held a week longer it would
make wheat rife ; no, faid they, at fuch a time it finks In prefent, becaufe the
farmers fend their wheat to market, which they would have fowed, but the
next year it will be dear: it is the fame cafe as in a rotof Iheep, everyone
having dieep to fell, for the prefent they are cheaper.

§. 6. Generally it may be forcfeen and concluded, that, when the harved Pnces of feed".
falls pretty late, feed-wheat, of the old year and of the new, will hold dearer, ^'''^"^•
in the hill-country (in proportion to the following price of wheat when the
markets open) than when the harved comes on early, and quick; the reafon
is, becaufe, when the harved falls out late, farmers fow much, in thofe coun-
tries, of old wheat, becaufe they fow early, v/hich goes a great way in the
confumption of the dock at the latter end of the year (i. e. September); alio,
when harveds fall out late, the farmers can raife money foon from barley, oats,

and

430 RISE and FALL of MARKETS, 8cc.

and peas, becaufe by October thofe grains are vendible, and fo they are not

forced to fell wheat fo foon, to raife money by that grain alone, to difcharge

the harvefl: wages ; but when harvefl comes early, old feed-wheat may pro-

. , bably fink in price, vice verfd.

co°n unftVor §• /• The nearer the market is to London, the worfe the market is, if

London mar- wheat be cold Of grown.

p !'^ §. 8. From harvefl time through the winter (1705) barley was three

barley. fliillings in the quarter dearer, near Salifbury, Devizes, and the inland towns,

than at Newbury, Reading, and thofe countries that drove the London trade
of malting ; the reafon was, the great ftock of barley, the traders in malt to
London had provided the year before, had glutted the London market,
whereas the malfters in the inland trade do not provide great quantities be-
forehand, and therefore, the crops of barley miferably failing this hot fum-
mer, barley bore a better price with them than with us.
Bane infhetp §, g. I was obfcrving to Mr. Hawkins, the great Hampfhire farmer, it was
makes corn ^ faying in this country, that if corn was dear {heep would be dear, and
vice verfl ; he faid, the foundation was in the Iheep and not in the corn, for,
if a bane fell on flieep they would be dear, and, if a bane tell on flieep, corn
would be dear, becaufe there could not be a fifth part of the folding that
otherwife there would be, and confequently a deficiency of the crop, and
therefore dear ; but if no bane, and a great breed of flieep, corn would, on
the other hand, be plenty.

I add to this, that by a bane year of flieep, it may generally be taken for a

rule, wheat will be made dear, becaufe in baning years it is a wet fpring ;

but a baned year makes, for the prefent, beef and mutton cheap, becaufe

fuch abundance of mutton mufl be killed, before the bane be too far gone

in tlie fat fheep, but the rot makes both afterwards dearer j the dearefl

time for mutton and beef is Lent, though it is fcarcc alfo the latter end of

March and April, but then the plenty of lamb and veal keeps the price from

riling

A bane or rot §. lo. When there has been a rot of Hieep, it may be reafonably expe<5ted

^U weir" ^^^^'^ ^^^^ ^^''^^ ^^^^ ^^^' ^" °-^^^ ^° replenifh the breed that is lofl.

S^carcityof §• H- When there is great fcarcity of hay againfl winter, it is to be

hay makes fuppofed that lanibs will fell befl, becaufe they can live beft without

lambs feU , ^^ ^

well. "'\V.

Prices of §• ^'^- ^^ years of warm dry fprings, or only of moderate rains, I obfervc,

ca.ile. cattle are always cheap, becaufe the breeding counties, which are always

the barren, efpecially Cornwall and the mountainous parts of Wales, tumble
out fo many into our markets, being not able to maintain them; on the con-
trary, in years of wet and cold fprings there is a good growth of grafs in
the breeding counties ; therefore thofe counties, rather wanting more
mouths for their grafs, do not fend them to our markets, and therefore cattle
are dearer ; after many dry fprings, that their breed has been drained by our
markets, if a cold wet fpring comes, then cattle may be expedled very
dear, as in this year (1709) was the cafe; for then they can fpare none ;

note.

RISE and FALL of MARKETS, &c.. 431

note, though in dry hot fprings there be a greater growth of grafs in deep
cold lands, as Somerfetfliire, 8cc. for which reafon it might be thought
their demand might fet a good price to the Welch cattle, yet it is to be on-
fidered, that in fuch cafe the greater neceflity lies on the feller ; for the Welch
cattle mufl: ftarve, if they keep them, whereas no great inconvenience lies on
the renter of the deep lands, whilft his gralTes grow a little the longer only,
if he keep off from buying ; itiis plain in this cafe the Welchman muft buckle
to i whereas in wet and cold fprings, when the Welchman can keep his
cattle, it is as plain the neceflity lies on the buyer.

§. 13. During September, Oiftober, and half of November, fat hogs fold Prices of fat
for 4s. 6d. and 4s. 8d. per fcore ; but thefe are whey hogs, i. e. fatted with ^°^'''
whey, and drove pretty far from the dairy-countries, which driving, and their
fort of food, takes away the value of the bacon j fo our hill-country bacon,
where the hogs feed on corn moft of the year, and are fatted therewith, yield
fix pence or eight pence per fcore the more ; about the beginning of Novem-
ber I fold for 5s. 2d. per fcore, and thought the price of eight pence per
fcore more a good equivalent ; but by the latter end of November I found
the hogs fatted fold at the market for fix iTiillings per fcore, at which I was
furprized, peas not rifing in the price; but inquiring into the reafon of it, I
found that our hill-country bacon feldom came to it's full price till about the
latter end of November or December, when all the whey-bacon is gone, for,
whilft that is plenty in the market, it keeps down the value due to the hill-
country hogs, though at the fame time they may yield eight pence per fcore
more, yet feldom fo much then as they do afterwards ; therefore it is good
hufbandry not to be too ready to fell our hill-country fat hogs.

§. 14. This fummer, 1720, young pigs on a fudden grew dear all over Eng- ^ j ^^
land J the time they firft appeared to be fo was about the middle of June, mcr makes
and the reafon for it was (as aiTigned by the farmers about Holt) becaufe the >|°""S P'gs
laft fummer was as hot and dry as had been known for fome years, for which
reafon the quantity of whey was much lefiened in the dairy-countries, and
the crop of corn, particularly peas, run very fhort ; and fo the breed, which,
would have been otherwife preferved, was fent to market for the fpit.

§. 1 5. If a' dry fpring fhould come, with a fucceeding hot and burning fum- \\r}^^„ to buy-
mer till Midfummer, fo that the firft crop, or burden of grafs, be loft, and, cattle.
being under-ftocked with cattle, you have a hay-reek in ftore, you will have
good encouragement to buy ; for in fuch cafe you may buy very cheap, and
will be very well paid for the hay they fhall eat ; for you may expedl a great
aftermafs, the earth not having then yet exerted her ftrength ; for the hot
fun thereon will have been equal to a dunging ; but then you ought to buy
your cattle half fat, that your aftermafs may finifli their fatting.

§. 1 6, This fummer (anno (1720) about a month or five weeks before hay- Lean and
making, there fell fo much rain in moft parts of England, that the water- barren
meadows were overflowed, an.d very much ftranded, infomuch that in feveral ^",j;.r^,/(.tfmn.
places they fold the hay to them v/ho would cut and carry it off: in general mers.
they made the hay up in reeks, with defign to buy-in lean cattle, after Chrift-

mafs.

432 RISE and FALL of MARKETS, &c.

mafs, and early in the fpring, for fatting, and fo to get them forward ia

fiefli. Note therefore, when fuch wet fummers happen, doubtlefs lean and

barren catde for fatting muft after Chriftmafs, and towards the fpring, be
dear, becaufe a large demand for them for that purpofe may be expected.
Confcquenc.-s ,^^ j^^ This year (1704) there was a plentiful fpring for grafs, but no rain
the/iVjune ^^^^ ^-^^ J^iiie and July, and fo the grafs was all burned up ; from whence I
and July. inferred, firft, that beef and mutton would be dear by September; for by that
time the forvvardeft beef and mutton would be fpent; — fecondly, that barren
beafts would be fcarce and dear the following fpring; becaufe, there having
*-^°'ff°^'* been plenty of grafs in the fpring, few beafts would * go through ; — thirdly,
that cows with calf, that had been early bulled, would be plenty and cheap
at Chrlftmafs for fatting, and yet not eafily to be fatted, by reafon of the dry
months of June and July.
Ofacolddry §. 18. There had been (anno 1716) a.cold dry fpring and fummer to the
Xpnngand ^^j.^ ^utumn, i. 6. the latter end of Auguft, fo that there was but a fmall crop
, ' of hay, and the aftermafs ran very fhort, rain coming too late to bring it to
any length before winter came, and turnips alfo failed ; whereupon it was the
opinion of both Mr. BilTy and William Sartain, tv/o Wiltfhire graziers of great
experience, that beef would be very cheap till Chrlftmafs, becaufe the gra-
ziers would fell oft' their beafts the forehand of winter, though but half fat,
for want of hay ; but that beef svould be very fcarce and dear in the fpring,
and the rather, becaufe very few old cows, that have had damage, or went
through, will be turned off to fatting at autumn, for want of hay ; but will be
uiilked another year : this will alfo make mutton very dear at fpring.
■When grafs is §. ig. There is no hopes of a good year for the graziers when grafs is
bepTnmn<T^of P^^^^ty ^^ the beginning of fpring ; for then they buy their cattle dear, and
fpring, iS:. yet meat Will be cheap all that fummer; for fo many will buy-in for fatting,
that, though the fummer fliould prove never fo dry, yet fo many beafts will be
made half fat by the fpring-grafs, and muft of neceffity be fatted out, that

beef muft needs be plenty. On the contrary, a good year for the graziers

is, when, for want of grafs in the fpring, barren cattle fell cheap, whereupon
fewer buy for fatting ; and then rain coming plentifully, the beafts being
bought cheap, and a fcarcitv of beef in courfe following, and the grazier hav-
ing plenty of grafs to keep cattle in for a market, makes them pay well. —
And note, that in wet forward fprings barren cattle may be expedted to be
fcarce and dear the year following, becaufe beafts being well in cafe take bull
and go not through ; the contrary may be expeded in backward fprings,
efpecially when winter-meat proves fcarce.
Ahotaiic^dry §. oq. Laft fummcr (anno 171 9) was very hot and dry, and fo little rain
fioneTth°e'"' ^'^^'' ^^^' ^"^^ ^^ops of both hay and ftraw fell fo ftiort, that the vale-farmers,
cheapnefsand for want of winter-provifions for their cattle, fold cows after Michaelmafs for
afterwards the thirty fhiliings a-piece, which ordinarily were then worth 4I. per cow. — It was
of cattle. 3s forward and plentiful a fpring for grafs the fuccecding April and May as
had been known for many years ; yet cows fold cheap, becaufe the ftock of
cattle, fo few having been fatted, was ftill too great ; but after Chriftmafs

beef

WEATHER. 433

beef was fo very dear, that, take the whole quarter of an ox, it yielded a groat
per pound: balls alfo were excefllve dear this fpring; a bull that ordinarily
would yield but 40s, fold for 3I. 10s. or 4I, — The reafon was, becaufe, the
wintering of cattle having been very chargeable, the bulls were fuppofed not
to anfwer the charge of wintering fo well as other cattle ; fo the farmers killed
them, though but juft w^holfome, and fold them for a farthing, and an half-
penny a pound, and eat them in their families ; fo the great flaughter that had
been of them the winter before made them very dear in the fpring.

§.21. 0(5lober and November are the cheapeft times for beef, becaufe there When beef «
is then a glut occafioned by the old cows, which are turned oif by the dairy '^''"P^^-
at May-day to be fatted, and are killed in thofe two months.

WEATHER.

§. I. ^"T^HIS year (1712) was hitherto (June the 20th) a very hot fum- Eff'^'SsofgUy

I mer ;_ it was a dry February and March, then a little rainy the '^"''^^•
firfl week in April, then no rain till about Mid-may, when we had a hard
thunder (hovver, which went to the roots of the corn ; then no rain till the
beginning of June, when fell moderate rain, for half a day, enough to o-q to
the roots of the corn ; then no rain till this day, June the 20th, w^hen a hard
fhower, of two hours, went to the roots of the corn.— This hot fummer,
with fo little rain, had this efFedl upon my oats, as follows. — In November I
had ploughed up forty acres of white poor land, after it was run to a thick
fliort grafs, and had laid down two years to hop- clover, in order that, after it
had laid ploughed all the winter, and took the frofls and rains to flat it, the
ground might be a fit and mellow bed to receive the oats ; but, notwithftand-
ing the ground was ploughed fo early, yet, being a pretty dry and mild winter,
at the middle of February, when the oats were fown, the ground required
much harrowing, and though they came up well and promifing, yet, for
want of rain to foften the ground and mellow it (having the difaJvantao^e of
being fowed on land not fufficiently loofened) they did not flrikc good roots,
but dwindled, and by the 20th of Jui •, when they v/ere fhooting into ear,
were very thin, for want of tillowing, anJ were run into fpindle, and looked
very poor and ftarving.— The bad condition of thefe oats feems to be owino-
to the drought of the year, and the chalky conflitution of the ground, which,
being lay ground, was not fufiiciently loofened, though ploughed early,
and dragged in with the beft management, in order to help it's natural
defeds ; and therefore, for the future, it is to be obferved, that a crop of
corn fowed on fuch white earth, after it has laid down fo long to grafs, is very
much hazarded in cafe fuch a hot fummer happens ; whereas, if this had been
the fecond crop fowed to oats, inftead of the firfl:, doubtlefs the fuccefs would
have been much better; for then fuch white ground, in the fecond year of
it's tillage, would have ploughed up fine and rotten, and the oats, witli the
drags or harrows, would have been let in as deep as the plough went, and
then, being rolled, would have endured the heat of the fummer, and the

K k k vvanr

434

WEATHER.

want of rain, as I experimented this fame year, in a crop of oats fowed in the
fame down, on a black rotten earth, but poor and wood-feary, which I had
not thought worth ploughing and fowing ; but having fowed it to oats and
French-grafs from lay the year before, and the French-grafs mifcarrying, I
fowed it again to oats and Frcnch-grafs this year ; the ground turned up like
afhes, as deep as the plough went ; I dragged in the oats, and French-grafs
ten days after the former, yet both the oats and French-grafs endured the
drought and hot fummer to a wonder, and held till this 20th of June,
when rain came, the colour of a ftrong dark green. — Other fields ploughed
up early for oats, after they had laid down two years to broad-clover, plough-
ing up pretty mellow, and, being clay grounds, endured the heat of this fum-
mer very well, and held a flourifliing colour, though fowed not till the firft
week in March; yet I was fenfible, through the drought feveral of the weak
tillows were loft. — But white land, as abovelaid, having laid to grafs, is more
difficult to be brought to a friable temper by once ploughing than the other
* , fort of grounds here mentioned, which are of ftrong clay. — Alfo, when
wheat has, the year before, been fowed to one earth, on whitifli ground that
has laid to grafs, I obferve, not only, that fuch ground is more apt to run to
rowet in the wheaten crop (whereby the earth is more bound by the roots of
the grafs) than clay ground fowed on one earth, efpecially if it be a little ftony ;,
but alfo white earth, in cafe it ploughs ftiff, does not feparate and break, when
it is to be harrowed, as the clay, if a little ftony ; and this I plainly fee by com-
paring together, this year, feveral pieces of barley.

Though our fpring corn is better in cold clay lands, in the hill-country, in
warm than cold wet fummers, it is apparent to me, not only from this, but
from many years obfervation, that, tho' fpring corn will hold it's colour in a hot-
dry fummer, in the hill-country, in clay lands, yet our clays are feldom fo
good, and of fuch depth as to bring to maturity, in fuch fummers, all the
backward tillows, but the ftrerigth of the ground gives off, and the number
of ears is not fulfilled, in fuch cafes, for want of feafonable rains ; whereas in
rich clays of the vale, where the corn is buried deeper, pofiibly no fummer
is too hot.
Fffcasof a §. 2. This fpring (anno 1707) was exceeding dry from about the 12th of
dry fpring. March to the 22d of May } for but one moderate fliower, on or about the
when Fre'iich- i3thof April, fell, which went not to the roots of the corn, for it brought
j;rafs, wheat, up nonc, and but moderately refreflied any grafs. During this feafon the winds
feaed\heir' Were very parching, the fun hot by day, but the nights cold : my French-
growth, grafs, on a burn-beaked ground, fowed the year before, was very hopeful at the
beginning of March, and fo on to the middle of March and the latter end of
April, and looked fo green, that I thought I fliould cut half a load at leaft on
an acre ; but from the latter end of April it began to fall off, and to turn to-
ward- a fiUemot colour, and made little or no growth all the fpring : on the
22d of May rain fell plentifully, and frequent rains after j 1 had great expec-
tation my French-grafs would recover it's colour, and alfo grow in ftem and
length of blade, in hopes of v/hich I waited till the 19th of June, but then
found all hopes were in vain ; for the grafs altered not in colour, and very

little

WEATHER. 435

little in growth, from thefe rains. The very fame thing happened to dx
acres of wheat I had in very white poor ground, whicii having loH: it's colour
(being within a week or ten days of earing before rain fell) never recovered
it's colour after, and put forth a yellowifli and very fmall ear: the fame hap-
pened to my French-graffes fowed the autumn before with my wheat,

From hence I obferved that, when the air and the fun have concofted the
iuices of plants, and confirmed and hardened the fibres of the leaves and
ftems (which the air and fun do rather in lefs time than they otherwife would,
where there is a poverty of juices) the fibres being fo fixed and hardened, that
they are not capable of being enlarged, and fo not to be extended by more
juices, the juices, ftruggling for a vent, difcharge themfelves into foboles above
the roots, if the plant be perennial, providing tender juicy buds for the next
year ; for thus it was with my French-grafs, when I pulled up it's roots: from
hence I may for the future judge when the hopes of the year are loft.

§. 3. This fpring (1714) was very dry, and the fummer very hot and dry j EfFedsof a
it was obfervable, that the increafe of rabbits, pheafants, partridges, and hares '^'^^ '^""'^"^'^'
were very great, and I faw many coveys by July the 20th, near as big as the
old ones ; fo much does the fun favour their increafe in number and bulk, and
doubtlefs the increafe of the vermin ihatdeftroy them, as polecats, ftotes, and
foxes, hold a proportion ; as fuch fummers conduce to the deftruftion of the
fifh by reafonof the lownefs of the waters, fo they contribute exceedingly to
their multiplication and growth ; the lafl fummer being very raw and cold, the
miller of Long-parifh complained of the fmall fize of his fpawn, occafioned
by the coldnefs of the feafon, and made it his apology for furnifliing me with
no better trout.

§.4. This winter (i7i3)has been the drieft and freefl from rain find Qfa rematk-
fnovv I ever knew, and the mildeft and moil: moderate for frofls j and the able mild win-
fpring was alfo cold, and the drieft, and the fummer the driefr, for we had, ^^''.^"'^ '^^^
during the whole fpring and fummer, but thefe three rains following, viz. |a- """
nuary and February dry, March the loth, or thereabouts, fell a rain that
might pofllbly go to the fheer-point ; then it continued dry till June the 9th,
when we had fuch another rain as the former ; it continued on dry with us
(though fome ftorms did fcatter in feveral parts as we heard) till June the 2 ift,
and 22d, v/hen a rain fell, which I believe went to the fheer-point; and by
this time the wheat was ripe in moft places, and the reapers were fet on the
white oats, and peas were hacking, and fome barley was cut ; it is true, ge-
nerally fpeaking, the laft mentioned lacked above a fortnight of being ripe,
tlie fpring having been dry and cold, which kept the grain backward ; black
oats were fit be cut, with me, by July the 28th. — From the account before
given, of the dry winter, the cold and dry fpring, and the hot fummer, which
periods of time, from the beginning of January to the 28th of July, being
above feven months, take in only three moderate rains, it will be fit to con-
fider what confequence it had on all forts of corn, and the different properties

of the land on which it grew. Firft, as to wheat ; it was generally very

good throughout the kingdom, and floufiflied flrangely on all llrong healthy

K k k 2 lands ;

43^

WEATHER.

linds ; nor did I obfervc any light poor lands fuffer thereby, fa as I could im-
pute tlie weaknefs of the crop to the continued drought ; the berry was.
plump and well coloured, golden coloured and not horney coloured, and no
failure of cherts in the ear, as there was in the lad cold and wet fummer j it
is true, iurt; on the hardening of the wheat the flraw did, in many places,
give off, fo as to be ftruck with a blight, and felt tough and rottenifh under
the hook, but this was for fo few days before the berry was ripe, and the
wheat was reaped, that the wheat being, in a manner, already ripe, the berry
did not fuffer thereby : what I did particularly wonder at, during the fiery
trial all corn didfeem to undergo this fummer, was, that I had twenty acres
of wheat, and the ground being of a cold clayey nature, I had fowed the
wheat under furrow, and laid the ground round in fmall high ridges, of feven
furrows in a land or ridge, thereby thinking to lay this cold land dry and
warm, (though this land had by nature a dry fituation, being on the fummit
of my hill-country farm) and the lands being thus laid round were fo dry as to
be duft, to the eye, before the beginning of June, infomuch that if I run
my flick in as deep as the roots of the wheat, and turned up the earth,
there was no moifture to make a cohefion, but the earth fo turned up fell
into the drieff powder, yet did the wheat of this ground flourifli, and grow
proud in colour beyond any wheat in my farm, though the land was poor,
under the fourth crop, and had no dung or fold to fupportit ; and this wheat
proceeded to ear, and brought me ten to eleven chefts in the ears, and per-
fected the berry, without giving out the fupport of it, till harveft ; and yet
the earth feemingly iron whereon it grew throughout the whole fummer ; this
evidently (liews, the clay land of England ought to be fo prepared by tillage,
that the fun may carry on it's bufinefs of burnnig and drying it, to the greateft
degree it is capable of doing.

As to the winter-vetch crop of this year, it bore the tedious drought and
heat better than the peas, wherever they both grew in land of the fame kind;
in hill-country land, if the mold was any ways light, weak, or poorifh, they
bore up againff the heat, where the peas gave out, were parched up, and were
lofl in bloffom or kid ; this advantage the vetches had over the peas, by hav-
ing their roots cftablifhed during the winter, and by the earth's being well
fettled and clofed to the roots before the drought came : yet I obferved, where
vetches were fowed on one earth, on ffiff land, in our hill-country, which.
had laid two years to grafs, fuch vetches did give out at bloffoming time, and
yielded only top kids, and the leaf foon blighted after the bloffoming time
was over; Vvhich was occafioned, by fuch land being unfriable, har/li, and
churlifh, and fo did not clofe to the roots, of the vetches, to keep out the
fcorching heat, as did the earth of mellow land, tho*^ not fo ffrong ; parcels
of whole land lowed in the fame field, tho' of a weaker, yet of a more loofe
texture, did fupport the vetches better.

As to the peas crop this year, (1714) I obferved where lands were not of
a fbong clayey or malmy kind, or of a fat fandy mold, they failed evtremely
bo.th.in halni and kid : generally all dry^ harfli or hungry ground, all ground

that

WEATHER. 437

that w rot well worked with the plough, or where the pea was notfowed
early, to eftablifli the root before the drought came, and bloflbmed late, there
was a great failure both in halm and number of kids, and thofe kids were
very (hort, and but two or three peas in them.

As to the black oat crop, it being generally (efpecially in the hill-country)
fown either on light weak land, or on ftronger land after it has been worn out
with three former crops, and for the moft part being fown on one earth, they
were in general very indifferent and poor throughout the hill-country, yet
being ufually fowed at leaft a month before the barley, their roots were fo
well eftablirtied, and the ground fo far fettled to the roots, that, of the two,
they efcaped better than the barley, though that was fowed in much better
ground ; in the vale I alfo obferved a great failure of oats.

In regard to the barley-crop of this year, there was a great failure through-
out the hill-country j for the lands there are generally of a lighter, drier, and
huflcier nature, and not partaking of the malmy fatnefs of the clays, or of
the mellow, rich, hazle mold of the vales; wanting therefore the ftock of
vegetable fpirits to fupport the root, and having not that mellownefs of parts,
to clafp about and clofe to the roots, the barley failed in proportion as the lands
did more or lefs partake of the aforefaid properties, or were later lowed; yet it
muft be granted, that in the hill-country, where was ftrong land, or cold
clays, if the land was in good heart, worked well with the plough, and fowed
early, fuch land bore very flourifloing barley : in the vales, where the earth
was of a white malmy clay, of a binding fand in good heart, or of a fat hazle
mold, and in good bean and peas land, well worked, and fowed earlv, there
was excellent barley ; but wherever, in the vale, the land came Ihort of thefe
properties, v/as indifferently hufbanded, or wns fowed late, there alfo was a
lamentable crop of barley.

§. 5, This year (1709) we had a cold April and May, infomuch as between of a cold
Winchefter and Banbury I hardly faw a good acre of corn : but when I went fpnng.
from Banbury ail along to Garenton in Leiceilerfliire, 1 never faw better in my
life (fo faid the country people, in thofe parts, of their corn) the rcafon of
which muft be, that the firfl lands, being poor and lighter lands, were pe-
netrated by the colds, and had not flrength to lupport the corn againft thena ;
but the northern lands, which were ten (hillings per acre, did fupport their
corn; therefore a cold April and May will not make a fcarcity, if not wet.

§. 6. I look on rain always to carry with it frudif^'ing principles; yet it EfTcasoftarn.
happens fometimes, that rains, being very frequent, do beat the fallows flat
and clofe, {o as to prevent the ground from letting in the fun and air, and in
that refpedl they may be prejudicial.

Wetfummers (fuch as in the year 1703) keep that juice, v/hich forms the
flour in corn, watery and thin, and hinder it from digefting and fixing into a
firm body ; and time loft is never to be regained by any plant, in any of it's
progreffions, whether as to it's formation of roots or fruit; there are certain
progreffions limited for every day and week, as on the hatching an eeg, and
any interruption is a prejudice : nature will finifli what /lie has undertakan

(with

438 WEATHER.

(with a very little regard to the difference of time) whether it be pcrfeft cr
imperfect. — The wetnefs of this whole winter, which was very rainy, pre-
vented fo many grains being formed in the ear as is ufual ; for it was matter
of fadl, the ears were never fliorter; the wetnefs of May and June prevented
the grains in every ear filling before it fliot out of hood ; for it was manifeft
there were four or five hufks in moft ears, at the bottom of the ear, which
were not perfected nor filled ; and doubtlefs the remainder of June and July,
if wet, will make the grain in the ear thin, and the lowermoft grains more
efpecially.

It feems a great deal of rain and wet weather, to wheat in ear, and other
corn when it is high, is a prejudice; for thofe juices, which form and fill up
the ear and grain, and fafhion, and make the blade to grow, feem to be dif-
ferent ; inafmuch as, both in corn and fruit, it is worfe the wet years, when
the blade and flioots run longeft : when the corn is up fo high, though the
feafon of the year be hot, yet the ground is fo fhaded as to be in danger of
being chilled by much rain ; it feems that the heat and power of the fun
iiiuft, the whole time, attend the ground in it's incubation ; for none doubts
the Weft-Indies being better ground than England, yet runs the corn up to fo
mighty a ftubble (to which length it cannot grow till towards the latter part
before it's ripening) that to it's length, which runs fo high, and keeps off the
benign influence of the fun, Mr. Ray imputes the thinnefs of the grain.
Of a wet §■ 7. This fpring ( 171 1) was wet and cold for the moft part of March and

ipring. April, and May was alfo rainy ; the confequence of which, in ripening our

corn at harveft, was this ; the wheat ripened, and we were reaping it by the
27th of July; but the oats ripened not till the i8th of Auguft, when I began
to cut them ; and the barley began to ripen not till the 26th of Auguft,
when I began to cut the barley ; fo there was near three weeks diftance be-
tween the wheat and oat-harveft, and near a month's diftance between the
wheat and barley-harveft. From hence I conclude (as it feems to me) with
reafon, that the colder and wetter a fpring happens to be, and the longer it
continues fo, there will be the longer diftance of time between the wheat, oat,
and barley-harveft ; for the wheat being a hardier grain, and being ftrong and
well rooted at the fpring of the year, is not pinclied by a v/et and cold fpring,
nor kept back in growth, as the oats and barley are, they being tender grains
and their roots weak at that time of the year; and (vice versa) hot fprings
may ripen the barley before the wheat, as it ftands in more need of warmth,
and is more fenfibleof it than the laft mentioned grain.
Of wet win. §. 8. Laft, winter (1702) was a very wet winter, and May and June follow-
ing were aYo very wet, which made corn yield very ill : I infer, if the next
winter and fummer {hould prove as wet, and yet not wetter, corn will prove
thinner and yield worfe, and be dearer than in the former year ; becaufe that
year came after a very dry fummer, for which reafon the corn fared the better;
but it is a great difadvantage for land to wear wet cloaths to it's back two years
together: the more years prove fo unfeafoiiable, the more and more will the
land be poifoned.

It

tcrs.

WEATHER. 439.

It is a common imagination of the farmers in the hill-country, when much
and almoll continual rains fall for a good part of the winter, that it will make
corn dear, whereas I have commonly found them difappointed in I'uch their
expedlations, and that the lands in the vale do not fo much fuffer, through
a rainy winter, as they imagine, nay not fo much as the high hill-country
lands, if the ground be of a cold clay : for the vale lands, though they lie low,,
and are thereby fubjetfl to be wet, yet, for the moft part, are warm in their
nature, by reafon of a mellow hollow texture, whereby they foon recover and
grow dry after the winter is gone off, the fun and wind piercing into them,
efpecially if the ground of the vale be good, as it ufually is much better than
that of the hills : in fuch cafe, by it's own vital heat and fpirit it refiffs the
chill of the winters, and foon recovers itfelf again ; whereas lands of the high
hill-country, efpecially the clays, being of their own nature much poorer,,
and more out of heart than thofe of the vale, do more in that refpect fuffer
by winter cold rains, and, by reafon of their heavy and clofe obftinate texture,,
do much longer retain the water in them after the rainy feafon is over ; by
which means I have often obferved, that,- if cold rains return on the back of
the former, the corn of fuch cold clays on the hills, being llill fickly through-
the former wet, often dies ; whereas that of the vale fooner recovering (as I
faid before) the chill of the former wet, has got feme days ffrength and re-
frefliment to bear up againft the cold poifon of the fecond rainy feafon which
io foon returns after the former.

That winter wet is not reckoned to harm wheat by fogging the roots of it,,
anfwerable to the vvetnefsof aMarch month, has this reafon for it; becaufe the-
pores of the roots are, in a manner, quite choaked up in the winter, nor is
the winter water adlive, becaufe there is not fun enough to attenuate it's parts,
and to make them penetrate* the tubes and roots of the wheat; whereas,,
when the month of March comes, the fun has got ftrength, and has opened
the porous roots of the plants, and has attenuated the juices, which are there-
fore drank in greedily, and at this time the fun has not yet got power enough
to qualify this dropfy by it's heat, by drying up the waters, &c.

§. 9. I obferved, at one end of a field, that my barley looked much more Of rain aftce-
fickly and thinner (when fowed a month or fix weeks) than the reff, but re- lowing.
membered that very patch had been dunged the year before for the wheaten
crop much more than any part of the field, at which I wondered; but was
told, that that patch was fowed, and before it was harrowed wet came, fo that
the ground was chilled and did not harrow well ; fo much the good condi-
tion of corn depends on thefe two things.

§. 10. Ido conceive the coldnefb of the nights, (where the ground is cold clay, of colJnigltts-
and the country higli fituated and hilly ' does moft contribute to the coarfenefs"^^'"'=<>"^'"}'--
of the corn ; for the funimer days (tho' the cooleft) are fomewhat refrefliing
to corn as well as man, but the nights are many times of fo cold a degree as
to check the vegetable progreffion ; efpecially, when there has been rain from
a cold CO ner, and a cold foil for the corn, fuch cold of the nigh: being of a,
degree beyond what the corn can fupport itfelf under, it is pinched thereby.

§.11.. On.

44-0

WEATHER.

vJe.

Caofcofr^iii §. !!• t)n feveral years experience I find, that on our high hills, fituated
faiiinK in th,- ,iear a valc (efpecially in the Tpring time of March, April, and perhaps May,
when the air is cold, dry, and windy, and of a harfh aflringent tem-
per, as ufuaily it is at thofe times of the year : or, in fewer words, when the
weather glafs imports dry weather, for to that temper of the air I conceive the
caufe following is aflignable) it is to be obferved, that though there be large
floatino- clouds boding rain, that rife and pafs on one after another, watering li-
berally fome parts of the earth over which they pafs ; yet that fuch clouds at
thole times of the year feldom empty themfelves on our hills, but on the vales,
whilll: we, envioufly, at a diflance look on our neighbours happinefs : this
feems to be, becaufe the air, being, as before mentioned, dry and thin, has
more elafticity in it, and confequently gives a greater refinance to the clouds
driven on by the winds, fo that the clouds are eafily diverted and turned aGdc
into the ftronger channel of the wind in the vale under the hills, and therefore
our expectation from the clouds rifing from the horizon big with rain, at thofe
times of the year, are generally vain : whereas I obferve, on the contrary,
when the air is loaded with moifture, as may be fenfibly perceived by the
dampnefs of moft things, and by the weather-glafs being low, that fuch clouds
before mentioned, fliall keep their fleady courfe towards us, in an impartial
manner, according to the tendency of the air and wind at that time ; fo that
every cloud moves in a dired: line without making a curve, or yielding to the
vortex of the vale, and then we have a fhare of the rain with our neighbours.
This feems to depend on the yielding temper of the air, whofe tention, by the
moifture, being unftrung, and it's elaftic power being loft, the clouds meet
with Icfs rcfiftance, and ib purfue a more fteady diredl courfe;, and are lefs
drawn off and foUicited by the collateral curren<: of air in the vale, but take
their courfe purfuant to the diredlion of the wind behind them, the air before

I dx tion of ^^^^^ eafily yielding.

" ■"' §. 12. From conftant experience I have concluded, that, if the air be fultry

and gloomy, without a breath of wind or very little, the fky full of light wool-
pack clouds boding no rain, yet in fuch cafes fierce ftiowers are very near, fui-
table to the gloominefs and fultrinefs that forerun : for the clouds moving to-
wards you, though not above your horizon, according as they are larger, ftop
the current of the air; vv'hcnce fuch a clofenefs happens, that breathing, on
luch approaching weather, is not lb eafily performed, and from the atmofphere
being full of ponderous clouds, it happens that the heat of the fun-beams,- on
us, muft be very intenie, when they are coUefted and contracted into nar-
rower fpaces, and either pafs through the concave clouds, or are refleded
from them, or bieak through the narrov/ interfpace only between the clouds,
which makes thole fcalding uneafy heats: then in fuch cafes, tho' no threat-
ening cloud appears in fight, yet be aflured that rains are not far diftant, and
in an hour's time you may be likely to be furprized ; then govern yourfelf ac-
cordingly for that whole day, whether it be in harveft or hay-making time,
or when any bufinefs may fuffer by rain, and lay not yourfelf open to the
power of fierce rains to hurt you, but be on your guard, and forecaft: the moft

advantageous

rain.

W E A T H E R.,, 44.1

advantageous game you can play, on the certain expeftation of hafty fliovvers,
and let not the fallacious opinion of the labourer, in harveft or hay-making,
deceive you, who thinks rain is far off, becaufe no cloud is near, and a pretty
clear iky.

§. 13. It is an inftance of great providence, that in the hot climates God^f rain inhot
fends rain but feldom, unlefs the firfl and latter rain, to bring up the corn and '^'""^'"•
ripen it, and to bring it out of the hofe; fordid it rain frequently there, as in
England, &c. the corn would run up to fuch a height as to lodge and rot.

§. 14. By what I can colled: from the anticnts, they certainly thought the Of the moon'*
moon had a confiderable heat, more or lefs, according to it's increafe or de- »nfl"cace.
creafe, and in that fenfe the expreffion of Columella muil be underftoodj — fol
& luna coQUUNT, for Virgil applies the fame to the fun,

" Glebafque jacentes
*' Pulverulenta coquat maturisfolibusEeilasj"

and what elfe can that verfe in the Pfalms fignify ; " The fun fliall not burn
thee by day, nor the moon by night ?" With regard to it's power and influence,
fublunary things feem to have a force and llrength increafing as the moon
increafes, and a force and ftrength decreafing as the moon decreales ; and this
is more vifihie or intelligible in things weak of themfelves, which are
more eafily affecfted, fuch as are feeds fown, which are young and tender,
children ill, fick perfons, perfons weak in their underftandings, and confe-
quently in the fpirits, perfons weak in their eyes, and confequently in the local
animal fpirits of that part, which have not a good influx ; thus we fee it is in
a moon-blind horfe ; but, if ground be ftrong, I believe it is not much in the
power of the moon to affeft the feed, as ftrong-confl:itutioned perfons are not
affeded much with weather, good or bad, whereas valetudinarians muft live
by rule ; for I apprehend the influence of the moon to be no more than what
file has by her borrowed light ; the increafe or decrecfe of which, when the
fun is withdrawn from us, may fenfibly zffe€t things weak, to their comfort
or difcomfort; and the juices in the plants and feeds, and fpirits in our bodies
may rationally and experimentally enough be allowed to move brilker, or the
contrary, as her borrowed light is greater or lefs : perfons who, through a
laxity of mufcles, ftammer, are obferved, the wind being fouth, or fouth-
weft, which relaxes, more to ftammer ; but fuch winds aftedl not the fpeech
of other perfons, who at other times pronounce diftinctly.

§. 15. The wind moving the plants, and blowing them to and fro, feems, Oi" the wind,
as Sir Francis Bacon has obferved, to be the fame towards llrengthening the
fibres and folids of plants, as exercife is to us.

L 11 ENEMIES

[ 442 ]
ENEMIES to HUSBANDRY.

Offo.;es. 1^ j^ "|\ /TR. Bifliop of Dorfetfliire, his (hepherd, and his carter told me,
X V JL that in lambing-time, and whilft the lambs might be in danger
of the fox, they fend out a couple of fellows with horns all night to walk
about, and blow and halloo, and on thefe nights ftake down a couple of dogs,
at fit diftance, in a bleak cold place, which will make them bark all night ;
but that way, the fliepherd fays, will not always do, but a lamb however will
be loft fometimes ; nor can the fame dogs abide it for above two or three
nights ; for then they will be fo cramped as not to be able to get over a ftile
for two or three days afterwards : thefe men, who walk about, have fixpence
a'night, and meat and drink j they mufl not walk about with a dog, for by
fo doing the fheep will be fet o' bleating and running as much as if the fox
was amongft them ; fo that they would not know when the fox came, which
by the difturbance among the flieep may be known ; nor will they, after he
has been with them, be quiet from bleating till ever)' ewe has got her lamb.

Another, a gentleman farmer of that county, aflured me, he drew his flock
together within two acres of ground almofl as clofe as if he had folded them ;
and fet four dogs, flaked down at each corner, to keep off the fox by barking
all night, and yet the foxes llole away that night two lambs, and bit a third.

Kares. §, 2. I obferved in the barley feveral full-grown ears withered lying along

In a track of the field, which feemed to be a great fpoil ; I took them up, and
found the hares, to make a more convenient track, had bit the ftrav/s off at the
ground. a

Moks. §, 2. The fquare of timbers I faw in the Ifle of Wight, to cut

mole-hills off, were fix feet and a half in length, and the plate
of iron about two inches broad, and fliarpened as a knife is,
from the back to the edge ; and made after this faihion, a the
joifls, if one may (o call them, acrofs, which are (loped all away
upwards, fo as with the flat fide they he on the ground and are
fharp ; all the pieces of timber are much of the fame bignefs,
about half a foot broad and four inches, or better, thick, and
the plate of iron fet on the uppermoft fide of the lowermofl bar, marked a a,
hangs a quarter of ar. inch with the rtiarp edge over that bar of timber.

Mice. §. ^. In taking down a reek-flaffold of wheat, I obferved (as at other times)

the mice for the greatefl: number by much lay on the fouth-weft fide of the
reek, from which corner comes moft rain and moid: air, of which they may
drink ; this reek was carried up to a center like a cockpit, thatched as well, to
my neighbouring farmer's judgment and mine, as ever we faw a reek; yet
thefe mice had opened holes in the center top, and hollowed it in fuch man-
ner, in order to come at the water, that, being a wet winter and fummer, much
rain had fallen in and done confiderable damage j fo that the top thatch of
reeks is to be looked after, where mice are fufpected to be.

ENEMIES to HUSBANDRY. ^4.3

To my great furprize I find, that mice will not eat the hulled hop-clover
feed, but will fcoop out all the flour of the broad-clover feed, and, to amaze-
ment, will not leave one feed in a bufliel, but what is thus fcooped, in a fliort
time.

§. 5. This day (April the 24th) I obferved the rooks, in my garden, toR°°l^'*
pull up the beans when they were corne up green; they pull at the green
llalk, and, if the ground be loofe, the bean-feed but little wafted comes up
with it. Corn was almoft all fowed now throughout the country, which I
believe made them apter to fall on the beans : and in the afternoon of this
day I obferved the barley juft coming up out of the ground, and a parcel of
rooks lying thereupon, with their heads going apace up and down from the
ground j I went to the place, and found they had been pulling up the blades
of corn, with which often, efpecially with a little fcratching, came up the
feed itfelf, litde wafted, and only fwelled, the blade but juft appearing : note,
my ground being rolled, they could not fo well draw the grain after the
blade, and on that account grew, I believe, fooner weary : the reafon why
they fell on the barley was, I fuppofe, the fame for which they fell on the
beans, viz. all corn being fowed, they could, for a few days, make better wages
in fifliing after the corn thus than in looking after the loofe grains above
ground.

In Wiltftiire, at Holt and thereabouts, I obferved boys keeping ofl^ rooks
from peas in the fields after they were come up ; upon inquiry I found it was >
necefiary, if peas came up before other corn was fowed, which was ufual in
thofe parts. It is not fo in our hill-country, becaufe we are fowing black
oats in abundance before our peas appear ; but if I fow the great cotfliil-pea,
which I intend to do, which muft be fowed very early, and come up before
other corn is fowed, I muft have, I find, the rooks kept off", or elfe, if 1 (hould
go from home for three or four days without taking care about it, they may
be all pulled up before I return.

§. 6. The deftruftion that pigeons and rooks make is incredible ; a neigh- Rooks and pi.
bouring farmer afliu-es me, that he has knovvn an acre fowed with peas, and aS«°™-
rain coming fo that they could not be harrov/ed in, every pea was fetched
away in half a day's time by the pigeons.

I fowed wheat very early (viz. by the 3d of Auguft) which was before the
wheat harveft opened ; the rooks, having no other corn to prey on, laid on it,
and devoured a great quantity: but they do moft harm, when, in the winter-
time, the fnow lies on the green wheat, andisfirft going off; for having had
no food for fome time, they fall then very greedily on the wheat.

' Rooks, if they infeft your corn, are more terrified, if in their fight you
take a rook, and, plucking it limb from limb, caft the feveral limbs about your
field, than if you hang up half a dozen dead rooks in it ; this Mr. Ray fays in
two or three leaves of Remarks on huft)andry, fol. 194, in his Etymology of

words.

» Among the many contrivances to frighten rooks, fays Mr. Tull, as feathers {luck up, tlie limbs
of rooks fcattereJ about the ground, dead rooks hung on flicks, the gun, or a boy to halloo, or
throv,' up his hat, or a dead rook in die air, I h;,ve found the laftto be tlie moft cfic(ftual.

L 1 1 2 The

44^ ENEMIES to HUSBANDRY.

The grain of my wheat began to harden in the ear, and the rooks to ga-
ther to it : I was faying to my bailiff, that it would be hard to keep them from
it, unlefs two men compaffe'd it with guns ; but he anfwered, it was a field
of whofe haunt the rooks might eafily be broken, for, faid he, there is only a

* Fole. dead hedge for a few * lug on one fide, all the reit is quick hedge, and if you

frighten them there, they will fly off to another haunt; a rook does not like
to come to corn, but where there is a dead hedge, for they mufl: be out upon
the watch (and they do not care to light upon a quick hedge) to tell tidings :
but crows will often light on the quick : I obferved this year towards harveff,
that the rooks gathered much about thofe corn grounds, where my ponds
were, to rendevouz and drink, and fo to the corn again j therefore break them
of their haunts early there, before the corn ripens.

Rooks will not pull up the lenten com till feed-time is over, and there is
not grain for them ; and they feldom care for peas in the grain, nor barley as
long as they can come at oats : for the oat fliipped of it's hulk is much
fweeter, and tenderer to be bruifed than barley, but when it is come up into
blade, then they will moll fall on barley ; being laft fowed, and a fuller bodied
grain, there is more flour left in the barley than in the oat ; when they fall on

• toofc at the barley in the ear it is in light ground that is hollow, where it is * more-
loox.. loofe ; if peas were fowed late, without doubt they would fooner fall on

their blade, and pull them up than other corn, becaufe of the bull; of their
grain, in which there is more flour to be found unexhaufied ; and I do re-
member, they fell on gore-vetches, that were fowed in May, with that voraci-
oufnefs that it was very hardtofecure half of them : in fome grounds, which
they take to, one may gather in the compafs of a yaid a handful of blades they
have pulled up : — it is true, pigeons love peas beft, which may proceed from
the weaknefs of their bills that they cannot unfliell the oat, and from the heat
of their crops, which maydigeft a pea better than the rooks can.

It had been an excefiive dry fummer from April to this day (7th of July)
and tho' there were no worms nor bugs, by reafon of the drought, to be met
with, yet the birds did not fall on the cherries, which I and others wondered at>
but probably it was becaufe there was fo much corn fown about the houfe j
but, where the fummer is fo very dry that rooks cannot come to worms, nor
the plough go to turn them up, they will fall on the corn before it is half ripe,
even when they can have but a green juice in the ftraw to chew, therefore are
to be prevented.

Wow*! §• 7' ^ f-irther evil there is in rooks, that their neffs, when their breed is

over, is a harbour to the latter brood of the fparrows, which bird choofes then,
when the weather grows warm, and the air mild, to build fub dio, and not to
ftive herfelf up in nefts under the eaves of a houfe.

Snails. §. g. In September I found many fnails eggs laid at the roots of plants I

pulled up: the 2 iff of Odober in rainy weather I obferved a multitude of
white fnails or flugs, crawling on the ground, under the cabbages in the gar-
den, moft of which were not half fo long as my nail, and in thicknefs no big-
ger than a pin's head j fo that I concluded them newly hatched from the Sep-
tember

ENEMIES to HUSBANDRY. 445

tember eggs ; therefore it is feafonable to deftroy the old ones before September,
in order to deftroy the brood. Quare, if they lay eggs any other months of
the year ; if fo, to be chiefly taken off before fuch laying alfo.

In February I planted cabbages, and by the latter end of March had moft
of them eat up by white fnails, or flugs, of which fort of fnails we picked up
a quart or more in a morning early for many mornings ; the country was this
year much infefted with them ; this evil fecms to have proceeded from the
very mild winter, which did not deftroy the eggs they lay every autumn in
abundance at the roots of all manner of herbs: the fame is to be expedlcd
another mild winter, therefore look after them early in the fpring.

Worlidge (fol. 262) fays, that fnails are of both fexes, and couple from
fpring until Midfummer and after, and lay their eggs in the ground ; you will
find them with their bodies buried in the warm duft, and only their (hells
above the ground } when you take them out you mull: rake out their eggs
and deftroy them, or elfe fome will be hatched the fame year, and fome in
the fpring following.

§. 9. Ants, in the hotter regions, are reckoned among the pefts of the ^^■'^
field, as in Italy, Spain, and the Weft-Indies, Mortimer, fol. 2«;3.

One Timothy Skrine (a very induflrious and laborious perlon in planting
orchards, and my neighbour in Wiltfhire, who from an eflate of ten pounds
per annum, improved it that way to fifty pounds per annum) came to fee
me in HampHiire, and walking out with me in my meads, and obferving the
emmet-cafts, he told me, he had tried many ways to deftroy them, being much
troubled with them, and particularly the opening their hills in winter, which
they would rebuild again ; (I fuppofe at winter they lie lower than people
ufually dig after them, therefore that way is unfuccefsful) but that the beft
way, as he has by experience found, is to fling abroad their hillocks in the
month of June, in their breeding time, when they lay their eggs, before they
come to be flies : I fuppofe this deftroys their breed, puts them on endlefs
labour to find them out, till they are hunger-ftarved, and, the brood being de-
flroyed, the old ones (who are not I imagine long-lived) decay, and die in
a fhort time ; or perhaps they leave their habitations out of refentment for the
cruel ufage of their young, God having v/ith his firfl blefling at the begin-
ning implanted in all creatures an earneft defire of propagating and protefling
their fpecies ; and we fee the moft fearful of them will venture their lives
for their young ones; and it has been known, when perfons would deftroy
rookeries by firing at the old ones daily, it could not be done, but, when the
nefts with young ones have been brought down, and burned under the trees,
they have all deferted.

§. 10. I made a gravel walk in my garden, and underlaid it with white mor- Wcrms.
tar earth rammed in, and laid ftrand on it ; both coats were above a foot thick ;
notwithftanding which the worms, in a few days time, made their holes
through ; I cannot fuppofe it polfible for the worms to thruft or bore thro"
fuch a folid with their inout ; but having obferved what a power they have with
their mouth to pluck at grafs, do believe, in the fame manner they ufe their

mouth

44-6 E N E 1^1 I E S to H U S B A N D R Y.

mouth in pulling away the earth in little crumbles, which they ftill tumble
downwards under them.

I n\ade a little court with a gravel walk in the middle, and grafs-plots
of turf on each fide the walk : the worms came through the turf in vaft
numbers, and were very hurtful to it ; the days being very rainy for a feafon,
which brought them out at nights ; my fervants vifited them with candle and
Lintern, and caught great quantities of them, till at length they grew fo
cunning that on ftepping on the turf, though at great diftance, they
would feel the turf fhake, and fhoot into their holes j befides, they would
not, at their ufual hours, come out of their holes, nor then, as they ufually did
before, lay out with mofl part of their bodies, but with their nofes onlyj obferv^
ing the improveable wifdom of thefe infe(fi:s, I thought to be cunninger than
they, and made fure of taking thofe that lay within my reach on each fide of
the walk ; for the gravel walk laid lower than the turf, and, being a folid, did
not {hake the turf, fo I carried, as I flood in the walk, my candle and lan-
tern over the turf as far as I could reach, but the worms being ufed to the
light fliot into their holes as foon as ever the rim of light came over them ; I
fuppofe they have no eyes, but God has given them an exquifite feeling to
fupplv that defeft, in many refpe<fl:s, in order to felf-prefervation. Light being
a fluid body makes a difFeiCnt configuration of the particles of the air, which
they can diftinguifh by the feel, as a blindman can by ufe fome colours ; at
laft I found the way to deftroy them was, to vifit them very early in the morn-
ing, in copulation, when I found they had a ftupor ; which put me in mind
of that faying of Pliny, omne animal pofl coitum trifle.

I have a clay fo obflinate about my houfe, for a quarter of a mile's compafs,
and withal fo flinty, that I am fure a mole could never come within that
fpace, and yet, if a flick be put in any place, and ftirred about, the worms
will rife and come forth, for fear of the mole, which feems to be purely ow-
ing to the enmity God has fet between the worm and the mole from the be-
ginning } for it mufl proceed from fomewhat innate, that a creature, which
had never, in the grounds here mentioned, CAperience of harm in this kind,
fliould blindly ufe this flratagem.

It is a common proverbial faying of the countryman, that at whatfoever
country-farm a colony of rooks plant themfelves, and make a rookery, it is a
lign of good luck and good fortune attending that man ; and on men growing
unfortunate, and low in the world, the rookery has been obferved to forfake
fuch farm : for both which obfervations fom.e good reafons may be offered ;
viz. it is certain where a man is a good hufband to his land and improves it,
the v/orms alfo (a great food to thefe creatures, efpecially at fome times of the
year) multiply, and grow alfo to a much greater bulk and fatnefs ; the ftrength
of land being as difcernable by the large fize of worms as from the growth of
plants, and the beetle kind, on whofe grubs or maggots, therefore called
rook-worms, the rooks do greatly feed, (as is apparent by their following the
plough) do not only grow in fuch ground m.uch fatter and larger, but thofe
ilies of the beetle kind, by the wifdom God bxss given them, do covet and

chcofe

ENEMIES to HUSBANDRY.

447

choofe to nefl their fly-blows in fuch land as will beft nourini and provide for
them ; and the fame inftance of the wifdom of thefe creatures may be given
in many like cafes ; but, where an ill hufbandman comes, the contrary to this
foon comes to pafs, upon which, no wonder if they fay, let us go hence.

Upon viewing a farm in the lie of Wight, to purchafe it, we were afraid
the farmer, according to the liberty he had by his leafe, would have ploughed
up the cow-leafe ; farmer Collins faid, if it was his he fliould hardly do it ;
for, faid he, good fweet cow-pafture ground, that has laid to grafs a long
time, is (in the Ifle of Wight) very fubjed: to the worm, which will eat uj)
the corn ; it was a furprize to me to hear him fay fo, and therefore I inquired
more particularly about it ; he faid, the worm was very fmall, with a black
head, hke a fly, and when their wheat, about March, fliould promife ex-
ceeding well, it would die away on a fudden ; take up fuch green wheat by
the root, and jufl: above the root and grain, within the earth, one may obferve
the ftalk almofl bit in tvvo, and very commonly the worm upon it, and frefli
ground is very fubjedt to it, for the two or three firfl: crops ; I aflced him if
it ever fared fo with their barley j he faid, he never knew the barley to re-
ceive damage by it, but he had known the peas receive the fame damage as
the wheat. Mr. Rowler, an experienced yeoman, was prefent, and confirmed
what Collins faid.

§. 1 1. If ground be infefl:ed much with rook- worms, ploughing it up will Rook-worm.
cure it of them for" fome years.

§. 12. I was at lord Pembroke's, and his lord(hip was difcourfing about in- Of the eggs of
fedls and their eggs, and propagation ; he faid, that many of their eggs which '"'^^3.
were laid late, did lie out all the winter, and were not brought to perfection
till fpring ; therefore it is obferved, that, where there is a cold winter, there
is a lefs increafe of thofe infedls.

§.13. The wifdom of God is very manifeft in that contemptible infedl we Nut-ma^^'ot.
call a maggot, and in the fly that blows it in the nut : I do not remember that
ever I faw two maggots in a nut, though mofl: nuts in a bunch are faulty where
cne is fo ; it feems the maggots of the whole bunch are the blowing of one
and the fame fly, and that all the nuts of the fame bunch would have been
blosvn, if fome accident had not difliurbedthe fly at the time of her incubation,
for that a flefh-fly does at the fame time lay many eggs is certain : again, it may
feem flrange, that one and the fame fly fliould difcern (it being an ad: of almofl
the fame inflant of time) where fhe blowed her maggot, fo as not to lay another
in the fame nut ; yet it feems ftranger, that every other fly fliould difcern
where a former had blown a maggot, fo as to avoid laying her fly-blow on the
fame nut ; otherwife it would afterwards happen that many maggots would be
in the fame nut, and the provifion of maintenance fall fhort: where the fly-
blow is injeded, when the nut is very fmall and tender, a canker grows over
and clofes, and confifts of a rotten fubflance ; and here It fhews wifdom alfo
in a maggot, that it can difcern that eafier place of entrance.

§. 14. I obferved this day (the i ith of Augufl:) a multitude of young ca- Caterpillars*
terpillars on the leaves of my turnips half-grown}, all the faid half-grown

Z. leivcs

44-8 E N E M I E S to H U S B A N D R Y.

leaves they had almoft eaten up : note, the fummer being very hot from April
to this day, I conclude the latter brood of autumn was ripened alfo the fame
year, the eggs of which would otherwife have laid in the ground till next
winter, thefe will be deftroyed the next cold rains : from hence I conclude
we fiiall have the fev/er infedls next year : it was a new thing to me at this
time of the year to meet with fuch an enemy.

I obferved this year (1709) in my walks among apple-trees and codling-
hedges, that fome apple-trees were fmitten with the blight, as the country
people call it, when their leaves are eaten up with the caterpillar, whilft I
obferved that the reft were under a flourifliing and green verdure, and un-
touched by the caterpillar ; and I was told by the owners that fuch trees
were moft years fo fmitten ; this occafioned fome fpeculation and Icrutiny,
but I fcon judged the reafon of it ; for I perceived a difference in the colour
and (hape of the leaves, between the blighted and unblighted trees, and
upon inquiry found them to bear different fruits, and, if of the fame fort
there were any blighted (which rarely happened when others efcaped) I
found, by reafon of the different ages or unthriving condition of thefe trees,
they had put out their leaves earlier or later than the others, and foon per-
ceived that fome trees, by bearing fweeter leaves than others, were more
fuitable to the tooth of the caterpillar, or by bearing earher or later, were
more fuitable as well as more tender at the time the caterpillar was to be fed,
and that fuch Hy laid her eggs on fuch trees (by the wiidom appointed fuch in-
fcdts by Providence) on which the worm (i. e. the caterpillar) when hatched
and grown to maturity, might have it's beft maintenance.
Caterpi;hrs ^_ j^_ A notable fellow (though a labourer only) in hufbandry, drove a
voice of oxen from the neighbourhood in Wiltflnre where I have concerns
(viz. Bradford and Trowbridge) : I walked him about to fliew him my corn,
and an occafion offered to difcourfe on peas : I afked him if they were not
often eaten up by a caterpillar in Wiltflnre ; he faid, in cafe the peas grew
into a good halm, and blowed well, they never doubted a good crop of peas in
their neighbourhood, for he never knew peas hurt by caterpillars in their coun-
try ; but about fourteen years ago there was a winged fly, a fort of locuft,
which did them damage : I replied, I fuppofed they fowed peas fo early as to
efcape the danger of the caterpillar by their forwardnefs before that infedl
came ; he faid, that was not his meaning, but the true reafon for the efcape
of the peas, about them, w^as, becaufe fo many elms, maples, and oaks grow
about their grounds, which the fly (the parent of the caterpillar) who knows
the tooth of her brood, prefers before the pea, and in the leaves of the faid
trees lays her eggs : I take notice of this, becaufe it is agreeable to my own
obfervation in former papers ; and here the hand of God is very wonderful,
to inft,u(5i: the butterfly to choofe fuch plants, to lay it's brood in, as are beft
fuited for their nourifliment, whereas the butterfly judges not of it, norchoofes
it, by tafte, leaves of plants not being the food of thofe flies, but the juices
of flowers and honey-dews.

§. 16. The

ENEMIES to HUSBANDRY. 449

§. 16. The green-loufe or locuft falling on the broad fide of the pea-kid. Gnfs-ioufc or
and thereupon the grain not thriving, feems an argument that the %, which '°"'^-
nourishes the pea vvithinfide, is conveyed to the grain, and ftrained through
the fibres of the kid ; for otherwife there is no reafon why the pea (hould
fufFer by this, feeing the fpine, to which the pea adheres by a thread, is prc-
ferved entire, and is joined to the main ftalk ; through this therefore' the fan
might be conveyed direcflly, and without any prejudice to the pea, were it
not firfl: to be flrained through the fibres of the flat fide of the kid.— This to
be referred to what Malpigius has faid of the fap's circulating throuo-h the
leaves to the fruit. ^

The 13th and 14th of June, in pulling up wheat in ear, and fowthiHIes,
I did obfcrve among the upper part of the roots of moft of the wheat and
fowthiftles, knots or clufters of grafs-lice, or green locufts though thefe ap-
peared whitifli, being under ground, and as yet but jufi: come to their Ihape)
and amongft moft of thefe clufters I obferved a fly at her incubation, which
feemed very turgid of a whitifh matter, {he being then blowing thefe infedls •
her wings were black, and the fly was plainly the fame as the locufls, only
it had wings : I found at no root more than one fly.

§. ly. On May the 22d was the firfl: cuckow-fpit I had obferved, which Cuckow-fpic;
was on a woodbind joint ; till within a day or two of that time there had
been no rain or dews all April and May, and fo whatever infers of that kind
were laid in the joints of plants could not live, but muft be fcorched up.

In the hifl:ory of Works of the learned, for April 1707, I find Monfieur
Poupart has given an account of the cuckow-fpit, or fpring-froth ; he fays, as
foon as the litde creature comes out of it's egg, it goes to a plant, which it
touches with it's fundament, and fafliens there a white drop of liquor full of
air; it drops a fecond near.the-firfl;, then a third, and fo on, till it covers it-
felf all over v/ith a fcum or froth ; this froth keeps it from the heat of the
fun, or fpiders that would fuck it ; note, this is not agreeable to my obferva-
tion made in another place, nor can I agree with Mr. Foupart ; for it is nothin"-
but the nightly dew, which falls on the fork, or joint of the plant, which
the little infeft with his probofcis, as with a bellows, works into froth.

§. 18. Being acquainted that a great blight was upon the apples, where I Ofthc flj- in
obferved no leaves cat up by the caterpillar, I judged fuch blight muft be of an- ^^P','"' c.^''
other fort, and upon inquiry (when none of the apples were bigger than °'"'' ''*""
goofeberries, and the more backward much lefs) 1 found this blight was on
the bloflbms j for I found the bloflbms had been clofed up, and a cement
bound the rims of their leaves together, and in the hollow inclofure was a fly,
brown, and of a hazle colour, of hard wings like the beetle kind, of leo-s not
flielly like theirs, and more nimble, of a neck as big as horfe-hair, and as long,
near, as his body, at the end of which he bore a very fmall head between
two flender horns : where thefe bloflbms were fcorched up by the fun and
looked black, by reafon of the time which had pafl'ed fince their more early
blowing, there I found the fly perfcd, as before defcribcd ; but in thofe blof-
foms whofe leaves were lefs dried, fcorched, and fun-burnt, which I tool: to

M oi m be

45°

ENEMIES to HUSBANDRY.

be bloflbms of more backward trees, there I found the fly as yet Imperfecfl
and unripe, with a yellow foft ll;in and helplefs, but in a quick motion of it's
body, it's Icf^s and wings being as yet fwathed up in this outward coat, which
. was by heat to ripen and crack : I perceived, by the degrees of the forward-
nefs and backwardnefs mentioned of this infeft, that the fly which blowed
them, mufl have feveral days for reigning, to do this mifchief, diftant in time
from each other : it was no cobweb as I could find, that cemented thefe leaves
to-yether as above mentioned ; but 1 conceive it to be done by the heat of the
fun drawing away the tenuous parts from the dew of the flower, whereby the
gummy fubftance quickly joined thefe leaves : it may be the fly tookablight-
int^ mildew air for the doing it: I believe this mifchief was done before the
bloflbm opened itfelf fully, becaufe the clofure and figure of it was ia
all like a bloflbm whofe leaves clofe at top before they are expanded.
When the infe<5l grows to maturity, he eats a hole and goes forth : a vafl mif.-
carriage fell on the fruit this way, more than in all other ways befidesj I
found it the fame in all gardens and orchards : note, the cofl:ermongers and
cyder-men may enrich themfelves by an early forefight of this, by buying up
the apples ; for the fcarcity is to be forefeen before the flower is full bloflbmed,
whereas we do not ufually underfland this mifchief till it is obvious to every
eye.

CON-

CONTENTS.

A

RABLE LAND —

Page I

MANURE and MANURING

method of manuring different lands

of chalk and chalking lands ■

of lime and liming lands — —
of burn-beaking

PLOUGH and CART-TACKLE

PLOUGHING

of fallowins: ■

of the durablenefs of fome feeds

of winter- tallowing early for oats and

barley

of the method of ploughing for diffe-
rent forts of corn

of the tillage of different lands

of the manner of ploughing —

of ploughing with horfes or oxen

HARROWING —

PICKING UP STONES

SOWING

of fowing fummer and winter- corn

early on one earth

of fowing wheat

of fowing barley

of fowing barley and oats —

of fowing beans • •

of fowing peas

of fowing vetches

of fowing tills

ID

22

25
27

33

34

38
42
43

SI

56

63
64
67

68

72

73

80
87
93
96

RYE

BARLEY

OATS

BUCK-WHEAT

BEANS

PEAS

VETCHES

REAPING and MOWING

RAKING

CARRYING of CORN
THRESHING —

REEKS

GRANARIES

THATCHING —

of fowing grafs-feeds i

experiments on the growth of feeds i

92
09

08

09
13

MALT and MALTING

HOPS

GRAZING

FODDERING

'47
ib.

ifJi

ib.

163

172

^77
187
188
ib.
191

^95

201
203

205

209
216

ROLLING

CORN in GENERAL

WHEAT

of blighting air

119
124

144

FATTING of CATTLE 220

propofals for fatting cattle in the hill-
country, and tirft of the barren
heiier — 230

propofals for fatting oxen in the hill-
country ■ 231

TURNIPS

M m m 2

— 233
GRASSES

o

GRASSES
MEADOWS
PASTURES
DOWNS

N

Page

BULLS and OXEN — —

COWS and CALVES —

Difeafes in COWS and CALVES -,

The DAIRY —

SHEEP and LAMBS

of ihearing fheep •

of folding Iheep

of feeding and fatting flieep . —

Difeafes in SHEEP and LAMBS —

HORSES

ASSES and MULES

WOOD

FENCES — —

ORCHARD or FRUIT-GARDEN

T

240
260
263
266

ib.

273
290
298

306

320
327

346

354

355
368

374

E N

S.

GARDEN . — 380

kitchen-garden — — ib»

WEEDS 382

WATER BndWATERING — 399

WORKMEN and WORK -- 401

OftheFARM-YARD,&c. 403

HOGS — ib.

POULTRY 414

PIGEONS 418

BEES 420

HAY 421

WOOL 423

HIDES — 427

RISE andFALL of MARKETS and their

CAUSES 428

WEATHER 433

ENEMIES to HUSBANDRY 442

THE END.

E R R A T A.

I AG E 13, §. 20, line 8 — and p. 16, §. 36, 1. 5, for— rowty — read rowety or roweny.

69, note ", 1. 2, for — frumento — r. frumenta.

81, §. 24, 1. 9, for — get — r. gets.

84, note, 1. 2, for — et — r. aut.

96, §. 61, 1. 3, for — of fowing — r. by fowing.
146, 1. 12, for — puftum — r. pun(3:um. ^
160, §. 13, 1. 3, for — oat a fortnight — r. oat cut a fortnight.
167, §. II, 1, 6, for — will not wafh — r. will wafh.
209, §. 4. 1.4, for — bud — r. butt.
245, §. 23, 1. 14, for — colour — r. clover.
269, note, 1.2, for — hanc — r. hunc.
337, note, 1. 5, for — herb — r. herba.
364, §. 22, 1. 2, for— but I did — r. but he did.
367, §. 27, 1.22, for — has often — r. have often,
367, 1. 31, for — with the cold — r. by the cold,
405, §. 10, 1. 5, for — wafters — r. roafters.

m