1, i 'f "I -( ‘M \ J Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Getty. Research Institute https://archive.org/details/ichnographiarust03swit_^0 Ichnographia Rujiica : OR, THE Nobleman, Gentleman,and Gardener’s RECREATION. , CONTAINING Directions for the general Di- ftribution of a Country Seat, into Rural and Extenfive Gardens, Parks, Paddocks, &c. § And a General Syftem of Agriculture, ILLUSTRAT With great Variety of COPPER - PL AXES, done by the beft Hands^ from the AUTHOR Drawings. ^ VOL. III. By Stephen Switzep^ Gardener, feveral Years Servant to Mr. London and Mr, Wife, L 0 ND 0 Printed for Browm without TeynpJe-Bar^ B. Barker and C King both in Wejimivjler-Hally fP". Mear% without Temple- Bar, andi?. Gojlhtg in Fleet-Jlreet, 1718. 4, ~ 1-.* % To the Right Honourable the E^v\ of PEMBROKE, This TREATISEof • \ Rural Gardening Is humbly Dedicated By his Lordship’s Mofi obedient Servant, Stephen Switzer. Tr r ) ■: ;■ ^V-t. -*’ X -- ■r / f' ■■ ■ •on 253 the I N D EX A ARchiteSut^f ufeful to Gardeners Arable Landy Improvement of Page, 9 129 B Buildingy the Vlan of with the Offices ^ 6cc. 52 Burning of Vegetables to improve Lands 203 Burn- bating of arable Land 210 Burning of Meadows 212 C Choice of Situations iv Choice of Soils ^ 6cc. for a Country Seat 16 Canals in a Garden^ 99 Cafcades 105 Clayey Land to be often manur'd 173 Chalking of arable Land 177 Coal INDEX. CoaUAjhes^ a fuperficial Dr effing 185 Claying of handy ifs Improvement 215 Clover 226 D Defign^ an Effiay on^ &c. i Deftgner^ necejary J^alifications for 9 Deftgns engravd on Copper Plates 52, 77, ico how work'd 61 Dungs y the Nature of for Improvement 17 1 Breffiings fuperficial, for Lands 1 8 1 Dyers Dung, for Manure , 205 Draining fenny Lands 238 * Mills, 6cc; 239 E Earths elegible 2 9 Of Earths, and how improv'd " 142 Earths, the Proof of 144 The fever al Sorts of, 5CC. 148 Enclofures of Land, the great Advantages . thereby 217 Inconvenience of common Fields in refpetl to Enclofures 218 Commons of late enclos'd for Corn 219 The fever al Sorts of Fences for En- clofures 220 — . Land which cannot be inclos'd, how improve able 223 F Fences INDEX. F FenteSy itiHeadof Walls 74 Fountains defignd 89 Of Fallowing of Land 153, 13.6 FdBowingy the particular Advantage and Ma- nagement of ■ 251 A very ancient Piece of Hujbandrjy ■ . - . 233 •vW* tl • * % 4 f XT* G Gardens Ruraly Extent of 51 GrafS'Slopes recommended 60 Walks^ Turf for 6^ Gravelling of Walks ^ how perform d Ji H Hills ^ no Hecejfity for Levelling ^ 47 Hedges lofty ^ for Enclofures 90 Horfe-Dung for Improvement 17 1 BeH for Barley 172 Hogs -Dung and human Ordure 174 Hair of Be alls for Improveing Land * 205 Heath and Fern 213 Of Hopyards^ the great Profit 243, 244 Planting.^ and Manure 245, 246 Poking of Hops 247 picking 249 — ^ Hops 250 252 INDEX. Hops Dryings the Method of Bagging, &c. IntroduBion to rural and extenjive Gardening I. 44 Improvement and. Management of arable Land 129 Improvement of Earths 142 • K JGln~JJhes, 5cc. a fuperfictal Manure 187 ( J >- Levelling of Garden-Ground Larons and Hedge- Rows Lines ferpentine^ entertaining in Gardens Lime us'd on Land Lime usd fuperficially Loame pulveris'd^ or loamy S^nd M 57, 64 87 107 *77 191 199 Method of working Garden -Defgns 61, Sic. A Manour laid out in rural Scenes 78, 86 Of Marie Jts'd on Ground for Corn 177 •' ' ' The fever al Sorts, and how us'd 178 Manures fuperfictal 187 Malt-DuB 195 Excellent for Barky 1 94 O Obfer- index. o Obfervations on Copper Plates $7, &c. Overflowing of MeadoW'Ground .^4° Mill for that Purpofe ibid. — Profits of Watering Meadows 242 P % Plate's engravd^ with various Defigns 52, 77, 98, 100 Poultry, Dungs for improving Lands 176 Pigeons Dung 207 • ploughs, the fever al Sorts of 226 — ! Particular Methods and Seafons of Ploughing 230 Ploughman, his ^alification 229, 230 R . Rural and extenfive Gardening 44 Rags, Improvement in the drejfing of Ground 205 A rural Garden particularly defcrib'd 113 S. Situation of a rural Seat 1 1 Soils how chofen . > ' \6 Summary of all that has been faid as to Situa- tions 40 A 1 N D E X ji Situation of a Seat defcrih'd mth the utmofi Variety loO Superficial Drejfings of Land after fown i8i — With Sheeps-Dung for Wheat 182 . With Saxe-DuH 188 : By Sea-Sand I9S» 209 ^ By Soap and Pot Jfiesy Soot^bic. 204 By Sea-Shells 208 Sowing, all Sorts of Corn the Seafons for 255 'Soils proper ' ' ibid. Quantities of Seed ibid. » .1 - Improvements of Clover, 5cc. 236 Terraces how made 266 ' Turf proper for Grafs-Walks 6<) Turf Jjhes, a fuperficial Improvement for Lands 190 Another SeBion on that SubjeB 201 • V Villa, how difpos'd 79» 9* Vegetables burnt to improve Land 203 ,W Wood-Ajhes, a fuperficial Improvement i B$ ^he Introduction to Rural and Extenfive Gardenings dCC, HAT the chief Satisfadion and Pleafure of the Mind (next to it’s own Serenity, Innocence and Tranquillity, and the Nobleft In- ftind of human Nature, it’s Sacred, Inexpreflible and Divine Effervifcence) arifes from, and It’s Flame is maintam’d by exteriour Objeds, every Perfon that lives a thoughtful and virtuous Life, will I doubt not readily own. For tho’ there are many Benefits convey’d to the Senfes by Sound, and tho’Tafte affords fome grofs Entertain- ment to the Body : Yet as an ingenious Author exprefs’d it, our Sight is the mofi: perfed, and mod delightful of all our Senfes 5 and certain it is, that there is that unutterable Mcafure, that affeds the Mind by Opticks, and other intuitive Knowledge, that is not to be found in any other common Matter. Thus when we view the Heavens in a ferene and calm Day, and in par- B ticular, ii The IntroJuUion to Rural ticular, that bright and dazling Lumi- nary the Sun : Or otherwife, in a fine clear Night the Starry Orb bcfpangled with all tliAt innumerable Company of glittering Beauties ; and if to this be added a Knowledge of their Motions, Revolutions, isre. In what a vaft and pleafing Ocean is the Mind embark’d. In like manner, when we take a Survey of the watry Part of the World, • and of the Numberlefs Inhabitants of the great Deep, of their Shape and Contexture ; and how Nature has provided them with every Thing that is proper for their Subfiflence and Safety ; In that aqueous Element, there feeras to be an Immenlity of Speculation. I F we penetrate into the Bowels of the Earth, (where Sight indeed does not always reach) and confider the feveral Kinds of Earth, Minerals and Fofiiles, that ,are often found in the Beds and Strata’s thereof, if we confider it Ma- thematically, as it is fuppos’d to turn on ifs own Axis, and thofe almoft un- account: and ExtenfiTje Gardenings &c. iii accountable Laws it fubfirts by, there is fcarcc any fnd of our Inquiries. But of all the Works of the Cre- ation, none calls for our Attention more than the Superficies of the Earth, the Work of the Third Day, the Beau- tifulnefs there is in the ProfpevSt of it the excellent Ufes and Variety therein are Studies and Speculations that ex- cel all others. And amidft all ; that of a Country Seat diftributed with Judgment, may well be accounted one ol the greateft ; in this every Perfon makes to himfclf a Kind of a new Creation, and when a Seat or Villa^ is decently and frugally diftributed, w"hat a Harmony does it create in a virtuous Mind, befides, the many grofter Ufes of it to the Body. All other Employs have fome things that are Pleafant in them, bur. in this there is a happy Compofition of every thing, that can poihbly make Man’s Lile and Labour agreea- ble, and give an Innocent Gratifica- tion to all his Senfes: The general B 2 View iv’ The Tntrodu^ion to ^urdl View of his well difpos’d Seat gratifies the Sight, the numbcrlcfs feather’d Choiriilcrs that perching amongfthis Woods, warble out their natural and melodious Strains the Hearing, the refrefhing Breezes of Air the Feeling, and the Palate is gratify d by an almoft an innumerable Number of pleafant and nedtareal Juices, and Fruits, and the Smell of Flowers, cheers the Or- gans of the Head in a wonderful man- ner. How fweetly glides the Blood thro’ its feveral Offices, how exhilara- ted the Mind, and with what Flagrance and Joy (as our great Poet exprefTes it) does the Heart and the whole Frame of Nature overflow. How fweet are thefe Amufements to the; Innocent and Virtuous, and how infenfibly are they carried to adore that divine Power that has made them thus fufceptible of their own Happinefs. T o come nearer to our prefent purpofe the Bufinefs of Gardening, Planting , and Husbandry , affords both the Mind and Body all that is good, and Extenfive Gardenings 5cc. V good or agreeable to our Natures, and gives us the Opportunity of being more beneficial to Pofterity, than any other Study or Employ whatfoever. Bu t the firfi: (I mean Gardening), fome unwary People argue againft, for it’s Expence and the Aliena- tion of fo mtfch Land from other ufes, with other things of this Nature : And indeed as it has been all along mmag’d, it is too juft a Charge and Blemifh to this Bufinefs, the extrava' gant Methods of making and keeping Gardens is fo chargeable and bur- ihenfome, that it often makes very •great Spirits link under it, and tho’ they have begun with fome Warmth, have at laft funk from Time to Time, .till they have laid it quite afide, and refigned all Thoughts of purfuing it any farther, and this moft evidently arifes from it’s Expence. I Therefore humbly fuppofc, it can’t but be a very ufeful Subject to endeavour to reduce that Expence, into; as narrow a Cornpafs as poftible, ; B 3 and vi The Tntrcdu^ion to Rural and fo to mix the profitable Part of a Country Seat with the pleafurable, that one may pay the Expence of the other. To accomplilh which nothing (in my (lender Opinion (can conduce more than this rural and extenfive Way of Gardening I am here propofing, whfre a whole Eftate will appear as one great Garden, and the Utile harmonioufly wove with the D«/a j and I believe, I am not fingular in my Opinion, if I affirm, that an even decent Walk carry’d thro’ a Corn Field or Failure, thro’ little natural Thickets and Hedge Rows, is as pleafing, as the moft finifh’d Partarre that fome Moderns have been To fond of. 1 A M not by this for excluding every thing of that kind, but that an elaborate finilh’d little Garden (hould hot determine our rural Purfuits, is what I fuppofCj very many will agree with me in, ■ T m s is in Truth, what fome in- genuous Gentlemen are now attempt- ing at, unto whom I humbly hope the avd Ext en five Garienivg, &c. vii the following Defigns will be of Ufc, and to make it the more ufeful, I (hall endeavour here to mark out fome ge- neral, I may add unnecelfary Expen- ces Gentlemen are very otten at in Gardening: The firft is walling, which is in it felf a great Expence 5 and in this one Article I have often feen, that there is as much Money expended; as would have embcllilh’d a hundred Acres of Ground in this rural Way I am fpeaking. The firft Thing Gentlemen com- monly do after their Houfes are built, is to fet out their Garden Walls: In this there is fome Surveyor or Brick- layer that is very ready, it being fome of the beft picking they can have ♦, and the Gardener himfelf is doubtlefs as fond of them as any thing, and thinks his Garden can t be fine, except it has a Brick Wall round it ; and- by this there is perhaps 5, 6, 7 or 800 /i andfometimes 1000 L expended, and the beautiful Profpe oc^-oo c >x..^'x.ox.oo.->ro<^ c^..ccooc^^ C H A P. 1. ff«"« "■ ' * - — — ^ S E C T I O N L Alt E.SSAT on Defign irt general ^ and the necejfary Qualifications of a good DESIGNER, E T us riow exatiiine tlie ge^s neral Idea of a good Defign^ and how a Country Seat may be beft diftributed 5 fo that Profit and Pleafure may be well mix’d together, that thofc Methods that have made Gardening and Planting burtherifonle and expcnfive, may in fome meafure be re-* mov’d, and that the Dcfigns themfelves may be more ruralj natural^ more eafy, and left G €lcp®li-s i An Elfay cn Vefign^ and the expenfive, both in the making, and keeping, and in Reality more intermixt both in Ref- pea to Pi ofit and Plealure, than any Defigns or Methods that have been yet_ taken. For to fpeak the Truth of this matter, moft of thofe that have pretended to give DeGgns in Gardening, have conGn’d their Thoughts too narrowly into a fort of Gne Sett Garden- ing, which can t be denied to be curious in its kind : But it is withal fo vety ExpenGve in the making (and which is of almoft an eternal l')uration the keeping) that very few -Gett- tlciiicn c^n, or cit lc3.ft csrc toalicnchofe5 and a wery high one is not always in Option of thofe Gentlemen that build or plant, midling Scituations are the nioft comrnon, which as they differ al- moft as much as the Faces and Ph} fiognomies of Mankind : I fliall pafs them all over, and proceed to fuch things, as ought above all to determine our Choice' in this Affair, which is Wood, Water, and a proper Soil, after 1 have intimated, how unreafonable it would be to place a Houfe and Gardens, either upon the very Sumit of a Hill, or in the very Bot- tom €f th^ Choice of SdiuationT. tomof a Dale, -when one meets with a very cafy flooping Defcent from North to South j ’tis reafonable, that there the Houfe Ibould be placed, about three Parts in Four toward theTop of the Hill, by which means ’tis preftrv’d from the violence and impetuofity of Northern Winds, and open to as chearful Embraces of the South. Yet as inconfiftent as this is with common Reafoa, r’tis what has been, and is in many Places the common Pradice 5 in Tike manner, if would be as improper fb to order the Matter, t^t our Gardens of Pleafure ^fhould lie North, or North Weft, or North Eaft ; fhe'raoft beautiful as well as the mpft healthy Pofition being theS6)Jth, South Eaft or thereabouts, for as the North Subjefts the Owner to rigid'intemperate Breezes, fo does the Weft to the violent Concuffions of Wind from the Weftern Ocean, as well as the un- -healthy Intenfenels of a declining Sun in the Afternoon,- which makes, it equally to be avoided, where-ever it poffibly can, at leaft the Builder Ihould take Care, that his Bed-chambers and Studies are riot in that Po- fition, but rather his Galleries and Rooms of a more pubiick life. The Ejfentid Choke of a ScHuatiott, I have been the fliorter on the more un- certain Rules for the Choice of the Scitua- tion of a Country Houfe, that I might have Room I d? Of the Choice of Schuationsl Room to enlarge on what I take to be the very Effential Parts of every Purchaftrs Choice in a Country Seat, in Refpeft to Wood, Water, and a proper Soil. Chap. III. SECTION IIL Of the proper Choke of Soils^ See. for a Country Seat, ONE of the firft and Principal Choices, every Purchaler, Builder and Gardener ought to make, is that of a good Soil : The beft of which are a landy Loame, and commonly lies in middling Fields or Up-lands 5 or the next a fine Pafture Black Mold, and both of thele when they are frelhj or as the inge- nuous Mr. Lametice terms them, untryed Molds are of excellent Ule, both for Timber, Fruit, Flowers, and Herbidge : It is of great Conlcquence likewife, what lies next, or is at the Bottom of this upper Surface, which if one could chufe, Ihould be One and a Half or Two Foot deep : The beft of our Bottoms then I efteem to be Gravel, Chalk or Shelly Rock mix’d with Earth, which always abounds with Of the fyoper Choice cf Soils, &c. 17 Vvith a nitrous Improvement, that Trees de* light in very much, for that the other Bot- toms of a barren Sand or Clay are both perw nicious, the one carrying of! the Nouriiliment from the Floors too faft, and the other rc'* raining it too long 5 the Bottoms of Grave!, above-mention d are fo very advanta^ gious to Fruir, that when there is a propor- tionable Depth of Earth, I fcarce ever knew it mifs, and the Fruir to be much fweeter and better, than upon loofe unlimited Bot- toms, this will be hinted more at in other Places 5 and as for chalky Bottoms, I have feen fo many Inftances of the Sweetnefs of the Fruk, that grows thereon in the Weft Country, contrary to my Obfervation in that particular in other Places, that I certainly conclude, that it is that that makes the Ei- fential Difference in the Tafte of Fruit in the South and North mmre than the Sun ^ which a florid Author has laid fo much Strefs- on, and an ingenious Gentleman, and a curious Obferver of Fruit aflui’d one, that the Grapes in thole Parts are as fvveet as any he ever tafted in France. Of no lefs Account are thefe Bottems to all other Herbidge and Trees, as being the fvveeteft as well as the dryeft Failures in the World, the one draining, and the other dry- ing up all Superfluity of Moifture : Vvhac has been faid of Loame and Failure Earth, limply confiderM, may be apply ’d to Lx^ame D ^ and 1 8 for a Country Seat. and Sandy Gravel, or Pafture Mold and Sandy Gravel mix’d together 5 both of them being excellent in their Kinds, as they keep the Earths they lie in from binding, by which means the Roots of Trees meet with left Ob- ftrudion, and in which indeed they take par- ticular Delight. But as the Choice of good Earths is not always in the Purchafers Power, but he is fometimes forc’d to content himfelf with tho/e Kinds that are in themfelves indifferent ; It feems requifite, we Ihould give a general Narration of all Sorts of Earth, as well thofe that are barren, as thofe that are indifferently good 5 that he may chufe the one and refufe the other, unleftthey can be amended at a reafonable Expence. Grounds are then fim- ple or compound : Simple are Clays, Sands, or Gravels, compound where thefe Earths are mixed, or all Mixtures of Earth ; Clay, Sand or Gravel may be all. good, and very fit to plant all manner of Trees in, and likewife may be very evil and barren 5 for all Earth fimple or compound doth participate with the Clime wherein it lieth, as hot or cold, moift or dry, and where the Ground or Earth participates of all the Elements equally, there it is the more fruitful : All Grounds may be known by their feveral Charaders, as by the Clime or Scituation of the Continent. Some Grounds naturally produce Weeds, as Mal- lows, Nettles, Docks, Hemlocks, or fuch like. Of the proper Choice of Soils, See. tp like, which generally grow in every good and fruitful Ground ; There is another Sort of Ground that has a different Face or Charafter, fuch as beareth Dazics, Clover, Charnock, Muftard Seed, c^c. This alfo may be very good Ground to plant in, but this is ever to be obferved, where Weeds or Grafs do na- turally grow ftrong or big, that Earth is un- doubtedly moft rich and fruitful ^ but altho’ both thefe Grounds may be good for Corn or Grals, yet the Planter may be deceiv’d by thofe outward Faces and Charafters, if he fearch not deeper into the Bowels of the Earth 5 for it is v/ell known, that many a Tree of huge Bulk is, and hath been ften to grow in a barren Earth, for Corn or Grafs ; and on the contrary, there are, and has been feveral fmall Trees of little Worth growing in ftrong Grounds, as to the outward Appea- rance, and thole fmall Trees of the Age or older than the other of greater Bulk ; for that the Ground may be good for Corn and Grafs, or the planting of fome finall Trees, which has but 6 or 7 Inches deep of Earth, which is not for large Trees that run deeper, by Realbn of Ibme malignant Feins and Strata of Earth, that the Roots of great Trees are oft to ftrike thro’. Another Charader of bar- ren Earth, is, when inftead of Graft which would be green, rank, and thick, a pale, thin, finall Grafs, fomething blewilh, alfo much Mofs, or when the Ground is cover’d D a with 20 for a Country Seat. vHth Heath, Furz, or Whin Biiihcs, Gorfe or fach like , thefe are apparent Signs of great Rarrennefs, crpecially if the Weeds or Rub' biflibe fmall ^ for, as is before meniion*d, what- ever it be that cumbers the Ground, the greater and ranker it is, it argues the richer Mold : Thirdly, there are other barren Grounds, which may be fo adjudgVl by the Scite or Clime wherein they lief as when the Ground is far remote from the Sun, or very near the Borders of thp Sea ; for the Storms a/nd ill Vapours from thence poyfon and ftarve the Earth, and are deftruftive to Trees and Plants 3 and I have lately feen near the Sea Coitfs^in the new Foreft young Trees, that have lean’d their Meads away there from, as fenfible of the Injur y they fhould receive fi om thole Sea Haws, particularly young Scotch Tirrs, not above a Foot or two high, that were there rais’d from Seed in the Gardens of a very ingenious Gentleman, and\ a great Lover and Obferver of thefe natural Enqui- ries ; likev/ife when the Ground lies mountai- nous and high, and very ftoney and rockey ; thefe are Signs of Barrennefs in many Places, yet the ftoney Ground may have good Earth underneath, fo that the Rock be not an entire Stone, but have Clefts and Paflages into the Earth to plant the Trees and Seeds in; and being once planted and thriving, will in due time open a wider Paffage, and produce a Timber Tree of as great Worth as other Ground Of the proper Choice of Soils, occ. 2 1 Ground void of Stones 5 and this Oyfervatiori tells us alfo, that Trees of fiiiall Strength ia comparifon of the Oak, being planted in or near a Stone Wall, the Jloots have fo increas’d and fv/ell’d, making their own Way by Ilea.- , Ton of a hard Rock feme Depth under Ground, which the Roots could not enters that they have lifted up the (aid Waif, and in a tew Years thrown it quire down to the Ground : Fourthly, there is another Sign of the Barren- nefs of Ground, which is to be adjudg’d by ii's own CohftiLiition ; for it is vyell knowip fP them, that are not ignorant of the Conni- tution of the World, that a Body is compos’d of all the Elements, Eartii, Air, Fire and ; Water ; and akho’ all thefe Elements are fiir« pie Bodies of tlienifelves, yet in all Bodies elfeare all the Elements, becaufe Water eva- porates into Air, and that Water is again made of Vapour, pLain teaeheth us ^ and that .Eaith and Water alio is rarified, may be proved by many Examples*, and that Fire the •Spirit infus’d woikingby Heat in ail Bodies, is not to be denyed by this. You fee that the Conkicution of a Body participates ol the four Elements, which is to fay, Q^ualiries Tot, cold, molft and dry ^ but, to come nearer our main Point, the Conftiriition of that 'Ground, where one of the four Elements doth moft predom'nate, is an apparent Sign .of Barreonefs, as when the Grounds are either extreamly cold and moift, or hoc and dry : D 3 r^ow 22 Yor a Country Seat. Wow thefe cold Giounds arc generally Clays,' except fuch as arc Subjeft to Inundations of Water or Land Springs, which are all cold, and may be unfruitful, (unlefs remedied by draining, the Cofl: of which is fometimes more than the Profit) and thele cold and barren Clays, as by the outward Face and Charafter Judgment may be given, generally produce Broom, Gorfe, Mofs, and Shrub- Brullies, or fuch like 5 and the Reafon of their Unfruiifulncfs is from their tough Nature and Bindingnefs in the Winter, the Pores are fo clofed, that the Rain or Snow falling and melting, cannot foak into the Earth farther or deeper, than the Pores of Earth are open’d by the Roots of Trees and Plants, or Corn and Grafs, wherefore lying at the Roots it doth bennmn and chill them, and hinder their Growth, and indanger the Stock thro* its over Moifinefs, by this it is that Nature is render’d fluggifli and unaftive, or, which is plainer, by the Super-abundance of Moi- Rure it is, that Heat, &c. can’t aft their Farts, and that thereby thefe co-efficient Pow- ers of Nature are ftop’d in their Joynt Ope- ration. Secondly, thefe barren Earths will require much more Dung than better Earths, and yet not laft half the Time ^ for by Rea- fon of the Bindingnefs of the Clay, the Soil cannot incorporate with it, fo that both Corn and Weeds will foon draw and fpend the Sub- ttanc.c thereof, and that which lemaineth Of the proper Choice of Soils, 6cc. 23 good above will exhale,* or if the Ground lie deep, then the Rain will walh it away. Thirdly, if the Spring or Summer be very hot or dry, the natural Toughnefi of the Clay doth fo fetter and lock the Roots or Grain within the Mold, that it will not give them Liberty to fprput, or if it doth, jet the Cold after much Rain will prefently Rarve the Root, by rotting thofe emulgent Fibres that fetch in Nourifhment thereto, and makes the Stem utterly unable to bring forth profitable Fruit 5 next to Clay are marie and chalky Grounds, they telng de- riv’d of Clays and Sands, Chalk being only (as fome define it) a kind of white Marie, it being ,* as they affirm, Marie, before it was Chalk, and both of them Earth or Clay at firft, only became hardned and colour’d by courfe of Time, as Stones are co-agulated by Water and Fire, wffiich we may well obferve in Bricks and Earthen Pots: For here Art imitates Nature ; as alfo that they are Sub- ject to Calcination, as Lyme-ftones, Flinrs, or the like are $ but becaufe Marie has its Original from Clay, I (hall leave it to be adjudg’d by Appearance as the Clay Ground is 5 excepting, that there you will find no Broom or Gorfe, or fuch like Weeds, for Marie is a great Enemy to Rich like Incum- brances. 24 for a Country Seat. As the Barrennefs of Clayey Grounds are known by tl'.eir oniward Faces and Characters, lb alio aie Sands ; and thefe are of as many Colours as the Clay : Thofe Sands that lie upon Mountainous and Rocky Places, are generally fpeaking barren, which may be perceiv’d by the fraall moffie and yellowifh Grafs which they bear •, other Sands that lie lower in wet moorilh Plains or Bottoms, are generally of a blackifli Colour, and produce a long, four, unwholefome Grafs ; but where tiie: Ground iieth dryer, the Earth or Sand will be very wlrite or yellow, and produce a ilrort, fmall, blewiflr, mofly Grafs : The greareft Part of thefe unfruitful Sands are much Subject to Fleath, Furze, Brakes or fuch like. • Now a great Caufe of the Uufruttfulnefs of thefe barren fandy Grounds, is by Reafon of the Porolity, or Hollowntfs of the Earth, as was Paid before ; for, altho’ it be W’el! ma- nured with Soil, or Dung, yet much Rain will wafla down the Dung lower into the Earth, than the Roots of the Corn or Grafs, which has-been the Reafon of the Way of Plow trenching in feme fandy Countries : The Manner of which 1 fltall here mention, ty'taufe it dees ss properly belong to this PUsce as any. Firft, the Plow having caft lip the Furrow, taking a good Slitch, (as they, at,!! it in Husbtndry) aiter the Plow there fbliovv 13 or Id Merf with Spades, who dig of the -proper Choice cf Soih^ &:c. 25 a Spit deep in the bottom ot the Furrow where the Plov7 hath gone, which they caft or lay upon the Ridge cf Earth, Vvdhch the Plov/ firft threw up; then follows the next Turn of the Plow, but that which then caft up is thrown into the Trench, the Men left to fill it again : Then the Men, as before, ftill follow the Plow, and dig or caft out of this Second Furrow another Spade’s Depth of Sand or Earth, which they caft, or the Se- cond Ridge of Sand or Earth the Plow has caft up 5 and fo on to the Third, Fourth, or Fifth Ridge ^ the Delvers foliowing the Plow, and the Plow them, during the whole Day’s Work 5 by which you may perceive, that the upper Earth or Sand, or as we call it, the Turft'lpit is buried, and the undennoft or freflt Sand laid uppernioft 5 and tliis is the Rule we may follow in any thing relating to Gardening or Planting, tiuV there is no Occafion of fb much Trqub-e in Rcliiion to Corn Land but in this we ought by no means to go too deep, becaofe (notwiLh- ftanding what has been here racniionVl) the deeper you go, the poorer your Sand or Earth is ; and i have (eeii Trenching 2 or 3 Spit has brought up fo barren, that for fome Years new planted Trees would not thrive therein, Bur, to go on with our Narration of Soils, *ts evident, that as much Rain and Wet is the Caufe of llnfruitfulnefs in hollow, hungry Sands 5 lb likewife is Drought ^ for the “2.6 for a Country Seat, the Earth being loofe and hollow^ the Sun by its Heat doth draw up the Moifture and Richneft of the Earth and Soil, which the Rain does leave, by which means thefe kind of Earths are doubly robb*d of their vital Juices. A Third Sort of Ground being barren and unfruitful is the Gravel which is mix’d with it, a hungry Earth refembling (or as it in- deed properly is) a gritty, loofe Sand : This Ground, if it lie high and mountainous, then the outward Face and Charafter will appear as it did in the poor Sand Clay, one Caufe of its Barrennefs is from Cold, the Gravel wanting good Earth to warm and nouriih that which fliould grow in it ^ alfo becaufe in Time of Drought, the Sun will fcorch and burn up that wdiich Ihould grow thereon : And if thisGraveley Ground lie low, then it is Subjeft to Land Springs, it naturally drawing the fuperfluous Moifture of all adjacent Lands , and this wallies away all the Subftance of the Soil, (which in its own is in Truth but little) alfo much Rain does likewife walh away the Fatnefs of the Earth, (inflead of improving it) by Ileafbn of the Ilound- ncE and Loofenefs of the Stones ; fo that what with the Waters within the Ground, and the Waters above the Ground, alfo the Heat and Scorching of the Sun, which doth dry up moreeallly its Moifture, this kind of Earth muft of Neceflity be unfruitful, nei- Of the proper Choice of Soils, &c. 27 ther IS there any way to improve it, but by gathering up the Stones, laying good Earth and Soil in the Room, and by making Drains to carry away the Water. I fli ill not advife any to buy or fix upon any Piece of Land on fuch an expenfive Proljieft 5 nor to begin this piece of Husbandry, (unlefs there are Abundance of Conveniencies to ballance it) becaule the Charges will amount to fo very much, and better Land, may, without doubt, be purchafed at eafier and lei's troublelbme Rates. Nor, as by the outward Face and Chara- fter, and by the Clime and Conftituticn of all fimple Grounds doth appear the Rich- nefs and Fruitfulnefs of one, and the Bar- rennels of the other ; fo likewile by the fame Rule, there may be Judgment given of all compounded Grounds or mixed Earths, as Sand with Gravel, or Clay, or Loame with Gravel, or Sand, or other Earths ; but narrow Enquiry into all thefe will more properly come in, when we come to fpeak of Lands in particular, and tlicir Improve- ments i and thus much may fuffice in gene- ral, to paint out the extreme Badnefs and Indifference of Soils in Relation to the choice, every Gentleman makes of an Eftate or Villa, fo far as it relates to Grafs, Corn, and fu- perficial Vegetables, and by this that has been fpokeh concerning the Nature of Grounds fimple and compound, the Husbandmen may 28 for a Country Seat. have true Knowledge to order and drefs his Ground, and, by purging and cleanfing the lame from thofe Faults that hinder their En- crcafe, may expeft the better Crop, it he is by any means obliged to make ufe of it. But yetthehoneft Woodmi.in and Planter may be at a Lofs in the planting and lai- fig of Timber, if his Enquiry be no deeper than the outward Face of the Earth ^ for aitho’ every Ditcher can fpeak by Experi- ence in the making a Ditch, that the Cruft or good Earth many times doth lie but tv/o or three Inches deep, nod the next Earth proves a hard, hungry G ravel, about a Spades Depth more 5 the next Spades Depth under the Gra- vel is perhaps a cold, barren Clay, and un- der that fometimes there may be, tho’ but rare, a good Loame, or Sand, tho' this laft is fo intercepted by the ether Strata of bad Earth, that 'tis of little life : Flowever, this ousdit to induce all Gardeners and Planters as well as Parchafers, and Chufers of Scitua- tions and Soils, not to be content with a fuperficial View of their Lands, but to exa- mine them in feveral Places with a Spade; and this ought the rather to he done, bc- ca ufe I dare affirm, that there is 120 Superfi- cies of Earth how poor joe-iser it may he. hut has tn. its own Bowels fo met king or other for if 3 own Improvement. An Iiiftance of this Kind I have feen of a Perfon.that digged a Saw-pit, and fpreading the Scuff that came out" Of thep operCkke of Soils, &c. 251 out about that Corner of his Ground, he found great Improvement thereby, which induc’d him to dig Pits on purpofe, where- with he feveral times raannred that Piece of Ground. So wifely has Providence order’d the Events -of Nature in this, as well as other Matters ; and ’tis owing to our own Slug- gilhnefs or Want of Thought, that we make no better ufe of thefe Benefits, but this I lhall more fully make out in its proper Place, and continue to affirm alfo, and pertinent to this, that there are ' as many Sorts of good and bad Earths under Ground, as there are above ; but, to proceed, there are other. Grounds that have no Cruft or good Earth above at all, bur either a barren Sand, hun-. gry Gravel, or cold Clay, and fuch like, and yet within 12 ■ Inches deep you fliall find a very good natur’d Earth j and that there, are feveral Veins of good and bad Earth of all Qualities, thofe that dig in Mines and Wells can avert , alfo that there are feveral Veins of good and bad Earth upon the Ground, is obvious to the leaft curious Obferver, and is what in particular Gardeners and Plow- men can teftify. But there are feveral Sorts of Ground that may be good for Corn and Grafs or fmall Fruit Trees, that are not good for the planting of Timber Trees. Firft, fuch Grounds fhat have a good Cruft or Earth 12 or 14 Inches deep, and under this Earth a very cold, wet Gravel; this Earth is 50 for a Country Seat, is by no means good for Timber, for being full of Land Springs (which is Water run- ning wichin the Earth, or is dilcover’d by breaking out or fpewing up in many Places) This and the like I lay are not good to plant or fow Timber Trees in, becaule after the Roots of the Trees havepaffed downwards deeper than the good Earth, the young and tender Shoots of Roots (being the Fibres) are by too much Moifture and cold Water within the Earth bcchill’d and benumm’d, fb that they have not Strength enough to entertain the Earth underneath the Water, or if they do, the Water, like a tronblcfome and unwelcome Gueft, will be following af- ter, and thereby hinders them in their Growth, and conlequently ruins the Progrels of the Tree; and tho’ the Abeal, and fome other one of the Aquatick Tribe, will do tolerably well in thefe Gravely Spewy Lands we have been Ipeaking of, as well as in other dry hungry ones ; yet it would be in vain to think of planting Oak, Alh, Beech, or even Elm, tho’ an Aquatick, at any large Size^ for thelc Bottoms are as bad as the Ifrongeft Clays, which are lb very tenacious of Water and Rain, that we every Day fee Trees pine awav and die therein : For tho’ there is in many Places Oak, &c. that do grow in thele Kinds of Land, yet this we muft attribute to Nature, that is to their being fow'd there, or to their Ipringing up from the natural Juices Of the proper Choice of Soils^ See. 51 Juices of the Earth, and this Way many Things are done, that we can by no means effeft by Art ^ and this has led a great many Planters into Miftakes, of which I have elfe^ where fpoke of. Secondly, Such Grounds as have the lame or as good Earth as before mention’d, but underneath an undivided Rock or Quarry of a large Extent, thefe I fay are not proper for planting Timber Trees in (whatever they may be for fowing) for after the Roots of the Trees have grown deeper into the Earth than the Cruft or good Earth, as aforefaid, and reach unto the Rock, they cannot en- ter, and being only maintain’d by the up- per Roots that fpread along the Surface ((hallow as it is)’ can never grow to any Bulk, not having fiifficient Nourilliment for all the Roots, and therefore neceflarily want fo much of their due Growth 5 and altho' fuch Trees may thrive 50 or 60 Years, yet, as they grow in height and greatnefs, fo much the more are they in Danger of eve- ry Wind 5 becaufe thofe Roots that lliouJd grow deep into the Earth, not only to fup- port the Tree by Nourilliment and ballance it by Weight, but as ftrong Cords to bind it faft unto the Earth, are altogether hin- dred and difappointed of their life by Rea- fon of the Rock and Quarry they grow upon : Allb thofe Roots that touch the Rock, for want of Entrance will, in a (hort time, ^ 32 for (t Country SOatl time, periih and decay, and not only to the hindrance of the Growth, but to the fliortning the Life of the Tree it felf. The beft Tree that will grov/ on thefe kind of Places is Aih, by Pveafoii it is a Tree that naturally runs lliallov/, but even they are generally Pollards, fuch as will not advance to any degree of height* This Stoppage and Decay of the Roots may be difce*rn*d feveral ways. Firft, The middle Bough, that generally grows {freight and upright, and '’proceeds- from the Heart, will die and decay at the top, which tilay be known by the Pakneft and the falling of the Leaf fconer than ordinary .‘ Second- ly, the Bark will grow black: Thirdly, The Sap, which is as- the Blood, having not its natural Gourfe, - by Pxeafon of the Stoppage of the Root, wilh^brcak ’Cilt into Boyles, which are great Bunches in the Bark, Bady and Limbs of* the Tree, and in lime caufc it to be HoHow. Now fince it concerns every one, that will be at the Charge of Planting, what Soil he plants in^ he ought to fearch into the Bowels of the Earth at leaft 5 or 4 Foot deep, either by an Auger or by a Spade, which laft is the beft way becaufe then, if the Hole be 5 or 4 Foot wide, you may view the feveral Feds and Strata as they lie involv’d one iipcri another, and may thebetrer make Judgment of the Soil you are to plant upon, always icmem- Of the prbper Choke of Soihy &c. 3 3 that are proper for a Superficial Herbage, remembring that there be many Grounds, that are not fo for deep planting, for there is a vaft Difference in planting ahd /owing of Corn, and planting and fowing of Trees ; for the Husbandman in a Years Time, after his Seed is fown, may know the Nature of his Ground, and amend the Evils thereof, or forbear farther Charges, and let it reft for the feeding of Cattle : Whereas the Planter muft wait many Years in Expeftation to kno\y the Goodne/s of his Ground, and only guels at laft, without any Certainty, only by the Growth or thriving of the Trees planted,, which Event is commonly too late for the prefent Pofleffor to amend, and leaves him under the unhappy Refledion of laying out his Mony to no manner of purpole^ Having taken a brief Survey of unfruit- ful Grounds, by Reafon of the Conftitutioii and Clime, or Scituation of the Countries wherein they lie-, it will be needlefs to fpeak of thofe rich and fruitful Clays in huclijngham and Lekejlerfiire, See. of thofe fruitful Sands in Surry, Middlefex, and Suffolk^; al/b thofe rich and fruitful Gravels, and compounded and mix’d Earths in Barl-djiire and Hartford- JJnre, with many other Shires, l>y their Tro- dutfions you flidl know them : All the/e good Soils, if there be no Hindrance in the Bowels of the Earth formerly fpoke of, will require no other Charges than only the Choice of E good 5 4 /or Country Seat, good plants and good Seed, be it in their re- jpeftive Confiderations for the ufe either of the Husbandman, or the Gardener and Plan- ter; as for poor unfruitful Grounds, having but a thin Cruft, yet good Earth at the Depth of 1 8 or to Inches, the Seed or Plants that are to be planted in fuch Grounds are to be nourilh’d and maintain’d, until their Roots defcend and reach unto that good Earth-, therefore, not only choice Plants ate to be provided, but alfo good Earth to fet ot plant therein, thoft Plants, Trees or Seeds, this you will hereafter have more ample Di- To fum up all, there arc few of thofe Lands formerly mention’d, but may be made tolera- bly good for planting Timber Trees in ; and fewer yet but may be good for Corn and Grafs except thefe following. Firft, All Lands that be near the skirts of the Sea, for the Minis, Foo’gs, and Winds that come thence, much end'anger them and hinder their thriving. Se- condly, All high and dry Mountains, for they do not only want Moiftnefs of Earth, but are infefted by great Winds which frequently blow in thofe Places, and are very hurtful 5 and although there are, and have been feen Trees growing on high Hills, yet it is my C^i- nion they \ycre not planted there by Man, but were the Produftion of the Earth, and an Et- feft of the firft Creation. Thirdly, All Lands that lye flat, and are Subjeft to Inundations Of the ]>roper Choice of Soih^ &c. g § of Waters, for want of a Defcent or Current to carry them oflf fome way or oiher ; for al- tho’ moift Earth is good for Trees, yet too' much Moifture, as Water lying long on the Ground, or at the Roots of Trees is dangerous if not mortal, asis before intimated. Fourth- ly, All moorilh Grounds ; for although there are, and has been many great Trees growing in fuch Grounds, yet very Icldom found any well colour'd or long liv’d Timber Trees ? And how bad they are for Fruits common Experience tells. Fifthly, All entire and chalky Grounds ; for fuch Grounds are cold and dry,- and not good for Trees, except there be good Depth of Earth upon it, or a Mixture of other Earth, with that or any other fuch like Ground that draws the Roots down throThe Clifts and Crevices thereof Sixthly, All Grounds that are rocky or very ftony, either under or above the Earth j for altho’ Trees may thrive in fuch Grounds, yet it will require much Labour and Pains : And I am very dubi- ous of any long thriving of fuch Trees, where thus have extending their due Bounds, and are got into the naturally bad Soil. It is indeed a great Satisfaftion and Surprize to fee all thofe numerous Plantations, that are at Blenheim^ and other Places of Mrs. Loudon^ and Wife's carrying on ; tho’ they are there as wellaselfewhcje, very near a rocky, ilielly, of dfe clayey Bottom ; but there has been that Care and Expence ih'remedymg the Defers of E % 3^ for a Country Seat. Nature, that is not perhaps in the Power of any private Pui fe to perform 5 whoever would then chufe a Soil for himfelf, lliould beparticu- larly careful in this Point : 1000 1. being foon expended to remedy any Defeft in this Matter. I have now finiflit what I thought fit to premile for the Choice of Soils in general, as it relates to the Inftruftions of thofe that are to purchafe Vii/as for planting, &c. The particular Nature of Earths with all its Improvements will more properly come in fome of the fucceeding Periods : The next Confideration is concerning Wood, the Beauty of which is fo well known, and fo generally acknowledged by all, who have the Icaif Tafte of Country Amufements, that there feems to be no Occafion for me to enlarge upon it, efpecially in England, where ’tis our Ornament and Safeguard at home, but our ■ Puiffance and Glory abroad ; Tis in very many Refpefts the truly Decus and Tutamen of theft happy Iflands, the Lofs and Negleft of propagating, of which may in Time end in the fatal and unhappy Diflfolution of the nobleft Kingdoms in the World. Of this we have feveral kinds that excel each other in the Objeft of their Choice : The Principal whereof, is the Oak, Elm, and Beach : Of an inferior Account, Alh, Chef- nut, Sycamore, and Maple ; anci for Beauty and Ornament, the Lyme, Yew, Holley, &c. thofe Woods are fo much the more beautiful Of the proper Choice of Soils^ 8cc. 37 as they are plac’d, or not placed on Eminences Hoping Hills with Vallies between them, as they are naturally and promifcuoufly fcatter’d and difpers’d over a whole Eftate ^ and it lecms to be a great Miftake of thofe that efteem nothing to be beautiful, but what is regularly planted and diftribured out, as are many of Avenues leading to great Houfes : Since the Beauty of this Regularity is eafily feen at once, and then the Mind is by Nature foon cloy'd of it, but in the other, how pleafingly does it rove uncontroul’d thro’ the promit cuous Scenes of a Country, There are others feem to miftake, in thinking none more beau- tiful, than that that is placd thick and clofe together, as are our common Coppices, but I Ibould rather advife it to be (as already hinted) mix’d with Lawns, Vallies, and ri- fing Hills, that fhould be always prelent ing themfelves to the Rile of the Beholder, with open Glades, Corn Fields, and Pafture Lands ; in this Place a Hillock of Oaks for Shade ; in that a hollow and natural Lawn with a Cave or Grott *, in one, if poffible,a v/inding Valley between Two rifing or floping Hills of Wood: Here purling Streams 5 and in another place. Water fowling down not over polilh'd Mafonry, but over the rougheft Froft-work and rugged Stone, cover’d with Mofs and o- ther lapidary Excrefcencies and Herbs ; thefe agreeable Conveniencies with a little Im- provement will without doubt anfwer the dc- E i fign 5 8 for a Countfy Seat, Ti^n and employ the thoughts of the tnoft rious Ddigner. But however, beautiful Wood and thelb other Embellilhmcnrs of Nature are, unlels it meets with a sktlful hand in the Management, his commonly fpoil’d ; this I have already Ipoke to, and fo at prefent contenting my felf to cau- tion, that if the Wood is already grown and the Houfe to be built, that great Care be taken in the placing^ forthat there are Gafts, ' when Wood however beautiful foever in it felf may be in a wrong Place, and therefore ought to be cut away or theHouft fo plac’d, that it may be deprived of fome diftant View 5 fuch is the Cafe when yon have blue Hills, a fine Valley, or fome noble Lawn, Tower or fifing Hills, cloth’d with Wood at a large Diftance : Theft are Beauties fo noble, that even grown Wood ought to be cut down to admit an o- pen View to it. And yet fo inconfiderate are many Defigners in this Matter, that, in order m.;ke out one of their fine Draughts, his very often feen shat the Wood or Wildernefs is plapt juft in the way ; and our diftant unlimi- ted Profpeft fpoird 5 the Sum of this is, that all Defigners ought to have a particular Re- gard how Wood is plac’d, that it be not too near the Houft, and that it does in no wife Obftrudi: a diftinfc Veiw. What is faid of V/ood already grown, will direft the pranagcinent of Wood fo be hereafter fown ftr planted, with this difference, that the Faujc Of the proper Choice of Soils, See. of doing Wrong will be then the more inex- cufable, bccaufe the Defigner has liberty and time to diftingiriili, how and where to place Wood with Diferetion 5 if towards a barren Country or ill Profpeft, then Wood at the Extremity of the owners own Eftate to blind it 5- if the diftant Profpeft be good for the oppofite Reafon of the other, cut it quae down or be fure to plant no new Wood at all next fome kind of Water. The Beauty and Convenience of which is fo great, that a Perfon cant be faid to have made good Choice of a Country Seat, unlefs he has taken particular Notice of this ; he is then firft to find out the Spring-head, to take (as fhall be hereatter direfted) its Fall to the Houfe, he is to examine what quantity it will afford in its dryeft Seafon, he is to find out as large a Head as he can to penn up a Refer ve in Cafe ot dry Weather 5 and laft of all he is to fee, if a proper way can be found to carry oft all Superfluities; and if no Spring is to be found, how he may colleft Rain and Flood Water to- gether into large Ponds $ or how he may by Engines force Water up to the Top of the Levels both for U(e and Beauty. What are the Prizes of Engines, Conveyances, Drains, Pipes, and other Appurtenances, is taught more at large in the Chapter of Water- works. If all thefe come within the Compafs of a rea- fonable Expence, they will, tis bop d, anfwer E 4 the 40 for a Country Seat, the Pains and Care he has been at in this Choice, Summary pf all that has been faid as to Scituations. The Sum of what has been offer’d, relating to the happy Choice of Scituations, fcems to be this, that it be a niidling one, as we are here fuppofing 'tis, and upon a gentle Plain de- clining tovvaids the South ; one Inch in ten Foot is what we reckon a very proper Fall, but if it is much improv'd by Slopes and Terrace Walks as has already been dircded, then you difpenfe with three or four Foot, in ten Foot Fall, or more, Again, it confifts of a good Corn Land, red Soil, or a black Pafture Fand, and principally of a firm gravelly Bot- tom ; the Conveniencies of which being al- ready touch’d upon in the beginning of this Chapter, I lliall now enlarge upon. And firft, in Refpeff of that Benefit, it is tp all forts of T reps, as it keeps their Roots from running Deep, and contrafting thofe Difeafes, efpecially Barrennefs, that commonly attend them under that Misfortune, to illuftrate this by a few fpeculative Arguments : If the Sun be allow’d (as Philofophers by Allufion call St) to be the father, and the Earth the Mother of yegetation, ’tis not hard to conceive how thofe ^oots of Trees, that are defeended deep into the Earth, Ihould be entirely deftitute of ’■ ' ’ ' ■ • proper Of the proper Choice of Soils, Sec. 4i proper Nutriment, for tho’ there are in e- very particular. Stratum or Bed of the Earth Juices, which thofe Roots avaritioufly imbibe, yet by their Diftance, from the Sun they muft of confe- quence be grols and undigefted, and not in any Degree rarify'd for fuch Produftoin as Na- ture lias aflign’d to all forts of Trees, efpecial- ]y the Fruit bearing kind , for, tho’ Foreft Trees will prclper tolerably well in free, clear Soil, notwithftanding they are planted or run deep down into the Earth, yet Fruit Trees will not, being of much tenderer, and the Juices that conrtitute fuch Fruit ought to be of a much more refined Nature. This gravelly Bottom is of no lefs life in relation to the Beauty of TurfF and Carpet Walks, if it lie not fo near as to burn it up j for tho’ it keeps the Roots of Trees from run- ning deep into the Ground, it neverthelefs re- ceives all fuperfluous Moifture that would o- therwife ftagnate and rot the emulgent Fibres and Roots of Trees (which is too often the Cafe in clayey Grounds) and not only that, but is of great Inconvenience to the Owner in his Walks, from place to place, where with- out great Expence in Drains he goes through the moft uncomfortable Difficulty that at- tends a Country Seat, efpecially in the Win- ter, fo great indeed that if he had all the o- ther advantages of Choice in this Matter, and this one Ihould be wanting, ’tis fuch a Want as would ^.2 jhr a Country Seaf. would marr all the Pleafure oF a Seat. But, in.qommendation of Gravel, if to it be added the Eafe by v/hich we procure it for making of Walks in our Gardens and PH/as, ’tis of the greateft Importance. Since the chief Pleafure of a Country Seat is cither early in the Morning, or late in the Evening; at fuch 'times as Dews very much incommode one’s Paffage from one Garden Field or Clofure to another; what Felicity or Convenience can any Perfirn propofe to himfelf in the walking 'over and viewing the Beauty of a Fil/a, at the raoft pleafant Time and Seafon of the Year and fDay, if he has not Gravel to make fome dry Walks that communicate one with another, and convey him from place to place through it ; there is then no one that makes any Choice of an Eftate, but would upon all oc- cafions have a great Regard to this. To finilla, then, what can be faid as to Sci- tuations, they ought not to be too near any fenny, boggy,; or moralTy Land, or ftanding Lakes, or even very flow pac’d Rivers ; for that the Foggs and Vapours will very much incommode and annoy the habitating there, and if near the Building, fhould be rather plac’d on the North and North Eaft, than on the South Side thereof, fince the Sun draws all the Vapours thereof to its felf; and there- fore on the South and South Eaft, which draw up the Morning Fogg, thofe Scituations rauft be very unvs'holefbme in fuch Low-Grounds, the Of the proper Choice of Soils, dec. 43 the Fruit likcwife watry and fquafhy, and is by no means fo good as Up-Land. The Wood round it ftould likewifc not be fb thick as in common Coppices 5 for that creates Damps, and, as i cant recommend a very low Set- tuation, fo a very naked and high one, in my humble Opinion, is as much to be rejefted, where the Dweller is continually expos’d to the Terror and Noife of ruffling Winds 5 what I have already urg’d in relation to the Bot- tom, which ought to be chofe for the fake of Fruits and Convenience of Paflage will I hope be fufficient. To conclude, then the Conveniency of a Sci- tuation, it ought likewife to be in a Coun- try well inhabited, within a reafonable Di- ftance of a Country Town and a navigable River, ifpoffible, and free from troublefome and contentious Neighbours, and High-ways, that croft any of the beft Part of the Villa or Farm that it be in a Country well ftor’d with Wood, or, which is better, Coal, fince ’tis impoffible to expreft the Havock that great Families make in a finall wooded Eftate, in a little time ; This feems to be the beft choice a judicious Man can make for his Fla- bitation ; in this he may, if not wanting to himfelf, may reap alltheFelicity this Life can afford, and by a virtuous and careful Life be- come fit for an ever happy Place, where this on- ly can be exceeded, and of which this is a proper Type and Emblematical Reprefentation. CHAP. mssifsom^ciixxsasQ'tiSQrwisa^^ Chap. IV, SECTION IV. INTRODUGTION O F Kurd and Extenflve Gardening, H E foregoing Chapters being purely preliminary to this that follows 5 we come now to the main Defign of this Book (wz.) the Delineation of Rural and Ehc- tenfive Gardens, of which having fpoke con- fiderably in the Introduftion Part, and in feme of the foregoing Chapters of this Volume, there feems little Occafion to enlarge, much# left to repeat what is there (aid in its Recom-| mendarion, the propereft Method (after a| (hort Recapitulation) to illuftrate it, is by aj Reference to tbofe few Plates that follow. Tbtf ss*? Of rural and extenfive Gardening. 45 The Chief of our Defign tn this Book, be- ing the Decoration and Embellifliment of a whole Eftate, or at leaft, that Part of it that liesmoft contiguous to the'Manfion Houfe, inftead of fuch vaft and expenfive Gardens, that the Folly of this and the paft Ages hath run into, whereby that moft innocent and harmlefs Employ, is become a Burthen too great for the biggeft Eftate, and the Gardens themfelves not at all anfwerable to the need- lefs Expence that is laid out upon them. For, fuppofiog a Perfon lliould be poffefs’d of a Garden, thirty, forty, fifty, nay, as it is fometimes feen, of a hundred Acres of Ground 5 the Beauty is foon difcover’J, and at the fame time that that is, the Love of it too often vaniihes, and when we come to add the Expence thereto, we foon find it a loth- fome Burden, or the Owner whilft perhaps at the fame time his Eftate that lies contiguous to him, is as much neglefted, when by fjjread- in Money more lightly at home, it might in a great meafure be drefs’d and improv’d, and be made altogether as beautiful as the moft: elaborate Garden 5 befides, the affording him a continual Profit and Employ. To confirm this Suppofition , if his Grounds were handfomly divided by Avenues and H^ges j and if the little Walks and Paths that ought to run through and betwixt them, were made either of Gravel or Sand ; and if there were Trees for Shades with little Walks and purling 4^ Of rural and extenfive Gai-demngi purling Streams, mix’d and incorporated one, with another, what con’d be more diverting ? And why, is not a level eafy Walk of Gravel or Sand lliaded over with Trees, and running thro’ a Corn Field or Pafture Ground, as pleafmg as the iargeft Walk in the moft magnificent Garden one can think of? And why, are not little Gardens and Salons of Water as ufeful and furprizing (and indeed why not more fo) at Ibme confiderable Diftance from the Manfion Houle, as they are near it ? Betides as thefe Hedge Rows, little natiW ral Coppices, large Woods, Corn Fields, mix'd one amongft another, are as delightful as the fineft Garden ; fo they are much cheaper made, and ftill cheaper kept. And more than all, thecarelels and loolc Trelfes of Na- ture, that are eafily mov’d by the leaft Breath of Wind, offer more to the Imagination than the moft delicate Pyramid, or any of the longeft and moft elaborately clip’d Etpalier, that it is poffible to make ; for, a'tho’ we don’t by this abfolutely rejeft, in Ibme few proper Places Ibmething of that kind, yet why Ihould that be thought fuch a Beauty, as to exclude things more Natural ? And why fliould not a judicious Mixture and Incor- poration, of one with the other quite thro’ a large Efiate, be of more value, (viz,) as at or near the Houfe, a little more exatftitude is required ^ fo alter that view is over one would fometimes be palling thro’ little Pad- Of rural and extenfive.Gardemng. 47 . ducks and Corn Fields, fometimes thro’ wild Coppices, and Gardens, and (omeiimes by, purling Brooks and Streams, Places that are Jet off not by nice Arc, but by luxury of Na- ture, a little guided in her Extravagancies by the Artifts Hand, while fometimes it may not be improper unexpe ext en five Gardening, and ren Foot for the Horizontal of the next Slope, and the three hundred and thirty five Foot to the Center of the Sweep, at the upper-end of the Parterre of Water, or BowU ing-green of Grafs, be it which it v;ill, which Sweep being there from mark’d out, as eighty Foot, and the Walk thirty Foot, at the end of it, you are tomeafure the Extent of the middle Line, be it five hundred and thirty Foot, as upon the Draft, or more, or lefs. This being done, you are to return where you began, and then confider, fomeihing con» cerningyour Levels or Profile Lines, Concern- ing this, I have been already very particular, and fhall here need only direft, that the firft hundred Foot ought to be near a dead Level, as we call it, becanfe, if there are Peers at each , end, as there generally are on all great Ter- races, the Plinth will otherwife have but a very ill Afpecf. The ten Foot Slope we here allow three Foot and a half Perpendicular to, if the Ground allow it, or otherwife, but by no means lefs than two Foot and a half, in which laft cafe you mufi: contraft the Horizontal Line of your Slope to feven Foot, or there- abouts, otherwife it will be too flat. To purfue our Profile, and allowing an Inch in ten Foot fall, it comes thirty one Inches and a half fall in the Parterre, and that you will fix by making a dead Level at the ppppr end at A, (as has been already taught) Of rural and extenfive Gardening. 5 5 and by flipping the Rule up and down at the lower-end of the Parterre at E, a piece of Pa- per, and driving the Stake there, till it comes to the cxaft meafure of two Foot, leven Inches and an halfl ’Tis true, thefe finkings might have been done as you went all along in the meafuring 5 but I have in this place, a delire to Ihow the Plan, and Profile diftindly, and fo leave it to the Gardeners Choice. And nov/ let us go on again to fink the Slope, which, fuppofing to be three Foot and a half, either more or left, according as the Ground feems beft to allow 5 for I would by no means limit any Bady j the finking or railing an Inch may fave the Workman to or 20/. in his Pocket, and the Work never the worfe •, and the truth is, “tis in this, that the greateli: Judgment of an Un- dertaker confifts, (viz.) that he has fo great Care and Knowledge as to fix his Levels in fuch a manner, that he may not have any Earth to bring in, or to carry away. But, to re-affume the Subjeft we were upon, we are now fallen from the Levels of tire grand Terrace, firft, three Foot and a half, then, two Foot leven Inches and a half, and, laftofall, three Foot and a half, which is in all nine Foot feven Inches and a half, and be this laft Level, either a Parterre of Water, or a Bowling-green , or any other Le- vel Parterre, or Lawn of Grafs, we may perceive according to the Draft, .that we are %6 Of rurjl ml extenfive Gariening. at the !ower-end of our Levels, and inentring Upon our Wood-work : It is therefore now our pur pole, having eftablifli*d the middle Line and Level, to let the further-end of the Ground Walk to be followed as it naturally lies, (except there Ihould happen to be an ex- traordinary deep Hole, or a Hill, that ftopps the View) to let it have its faid natural Courle, and to return to the lining and levelling of the Side Divifions of this Defigm It is very obvious to any, that underftand the leaft of Line and Level, that the Divifions quite round the Building, and the great Ter- race that the Levels thereof depend on the Bottom cf the Plinth of the Bafis of the Houfe 3 and that every Undertaker ought to fo fore- caft his Bufinefs, that the Earth that comes out of the Foundations and Cellars of the Building, fiiould fupply all the Defefts of the natural Ground, that it fliould help to raift that and a’l the Terraces, and give the Building it felf that Elevation, that is required to it, in order to compleat its Beauty and Magnificence 5 and this is the particular Care of the Surveyor and Gardener, and not fo mueh the Builders, who veryfrldom and (incked it is not fo much their Pufinefs) care whereabout they fix their Plinth and Bafis, leaving the Gardener at lafl: to remove, perhaps, at a very great Difad van- tage, all the fuperfluous Earth that lies round the Buildings, and entails an Expence almoft gs great as the making his Gardens, and the Building Of rural and ext en five Gardening, 5 7 Building at the fame Time, bury’d as it were, under Ground, The Plinth ought, then, to be at Icaft three Foot and a half, above the common Level of theGroundj for ’tis ealj', in Cafe an error is committed on that Side the Queftion,to reme- dy it. I need not fay much here, as to the lining out thofe Out-court Yards, as to the levelling and firft fixing the Plinth ; for in Cafe we fliould by miftake fix the Levels a lit- tle too high, ’tis an eafy matter to make good the Terraces, by finking the Parterre or Court Yards a little the lower; and if the Terraces are four or five high round the Building, it is yet an error on the right Side, and as has been often obferv’d, makes the Building ftill the loftier. This being well underftood, and the Level and Bottom of the Plinth fix’d rather too high than too low, it is eafy to fix in and level the Stakes in the grand Court, and the lefler Court Yards, from thofe that theMafons and the Gardener agree upon for the Level ; and if the Ground falls off, to let thofe Courts hang likewife ; and if othervvife, to let them remain on a dead Level. And from this let us return to the flaking our, and levelling the Side Terraces, which I would in fuch a De- fign, as this, always, plead for, for the Reafons I have urged in the Chapter treating of Ter- race 58 Of rural and ext en five Gardening, race Walks, where the Method of doing it is likewife handled. It is fufficient here to intimate, that at the Letters O O, a dead Level be carryed on as far as the Peers on each End at B B, thus far however is requifite ftiould be dead Level 5 but afterwards, we lhall fall into our Woody Scenes, as will be feen in a fequent Plate, and then wefhall follow the natural Fall and Rife of the Ground 5 and this will let us likewife into a Confideration, how long we fhould make our great Terrace of a Level, which we may venture to fix at 600 or 700 Feet, or 1000 at moft, and thus long are the two beft Ter- races in their refpedive Kinds, that we have in E'/gland. Whether the End of this Terrace fhould be flopp’d by a Grafs or Grill, will be argued by andby 5 tho’ a Grafs is certainly the bell, as ly- it.g moft open. As for the Side Divifions of \Vood on each Side the Parterre, let them be according as the Ground is too, it will not be a Fault in them, if one of them lies one Foot or two higher than the other, it is nor feen in a Wood, tho’ it may be a Blemifli in an open Terrace, Lawn or Parterre. And hence forward we lhall follow Nature, and think no more of levelling any otherwife than a crofs the Walk,which ought not to be fideling 5 bccaufe It will be an Inconvenience to the Per- fons that walks in it, and as for the lining this and the lower part of the Wood out, the Of rural an^ ehenfive Gardening, 5 9 Defign as it appears ftak’d out, tells more than many Words. I lhall only advife on this, of Line and Level, that the Slopes of the Side Terraces in the Bottom, Level of the Bowling-green, or otherwife the Parterre of Water, are by the caft-fall made confiderdbly greater, in Truth juft double ; for that the Side Terraces fliould keep the Level all of one length quite thro". When therelore the level ismade acrofs the head of our Work at O O, and at A, that then you repeat the fame at D, quite crofs the Bottom of the Work, letting the fide Terraces hang half an Inch in ten Foot, as the Parterre a- bove does an Inch ; and this will caufe the Stakes at F F, the Top of the Side Terraces, at the lower-end to be two Foot and fix Inches, or there-abouts fall, and the fame Level at F F, to be (fuppofing the Level of the' Bowling-green, or Parterre of Water, a dead one, which it muft be) four Foot fix Inches 5 befides, if it be fupposd to cramp the Slope, ’tis an eafy matter to give the Walks on each fide the faid Bowling-green, ^c, a Foot dependance to the Bottom of the Lawn 5 and that will make the Head of the Terrace at F F, five Foot fix Inches, which will make the Crampnefs of the two Levels imperceptible ^ 1 mean, that of the upper Level falling an Inch in ten Foot, and the lower one, being upon a dead Level, whilft 6o Of rural and e^tenfive Gardening, the Terrace of each Side, muft have an equal depending Line. But I muft not finilh thisSeftion, before I remark, that, at the End of the Side Terrace, inftead of Stone Steps, there may be obferv’d to be only Slopes of Grafs. For as the Intent of the Writing, this Terrace is to fave all the Expences poffible, fo I can’t but obferve in this place, to what a needlefs Expence, many Gentlemen run themfelvesin Stone Work and Stone Steps. I do not by any means argue againft the Beauty of them, and againft their ufe in the grand Defigns of Princes , but they are in themfelves, lb expenfive that all thofe Perfons that attempt at a frugal Way of Gardening, ought by all means to avoid them. 40 or 50/. is loon Expended in fuch Works , and that Sum of Money will do a great deal in exten- five and rural Gardening j and befides,tho’that be, but a defpicable Sura in comparifon, yet we ought to remember that ancient frugal Proverb, Every little mtih^s a mickje ; and that being often repeated, it very much en- hances the Expence of Gardening. !, One would therefore ufe Steps, but in the I two Slopes, that fall down one under another, | and, the truth is, the Defign of Slopes, is alfo | to fave Expence ; for that your Terrace Walls ] as are generally made, are to be rejefted aS ^ much as poffible likevvife. of rural and extenfiz/e Gardening. 6 1 The Proportion that one would allow in fuch Slopes, where Steps lliould be (and for frugality we make Slopes of Grafs) fliould be at leaft five or fix Foot Horrizontal to one perpendicular ; according to which thefe Slopes are about forty Foot Horizontal, which is full enough ; and, in cafe of Want,^ of Room thirty Foot would have done very well. And with this, I fhall finifli what I had to fay, as to the De- lineation and Profile of this Defign, coming now to the Method to be taken in working it. SECTION V. Of the Method of mrkjng the afore- mention’d Defign. T H E Ground being flak’d out,as is before direded, with Stakes of 6 Inches fquare, aadjif it be a loofe hollow Ground, of two Foot and a half, or three Foot long : or, if a clayey fall Ground, one Foot and a half, or two Foot isfufficient; if theStakes drive hard, they ought to be of hardeft, knotty, furly Oak, and fb flrong, that four or five Men may drive them down with Sledges or Beetles as we common- ly call them j for it muft beobfcrv’d, that on the Defign before-going, there are but a few principal Stakes mark’d therein^, which Stakes ought to be fo fix’d, that. no Cart or other com- 6% Of rural aftiextenfiveGdrienhg. common Accident may remove them j whichj if you fufFer, the Lines will be always out of Order, and the Levels fo uncertain, that it will be the greateft Perplexity imaginable to work 5 and at laft, perhaps, it will be all falle, and to do again ; and this is a misfor- tune that happens fo often, that I can’t but repeat my Diredions agdn and again in this Point ; fince by the Carelefsneft of Workr men, Carters, and Labourers, your Stakes will be fo confounded, that ’twill be hard to find where about you are, without often beginning de novo, and tracing your Levels over again. The Gardener ought, therefore, to lay an Heap of Bulhes round thefe main Stakes, to fecure them againft what may happen, and as for thofe Stakes, that are to be put at every ten or fifteen Foot diftance between them, then it will be time enough to do that juft as your is Work going forward, which may be done with fmaller Stakes ; but be fure thefe angular and main Stakes be ftrong, and drove in by four or five Men as hard as they can drive them, fo will your firft Onlet be fecure, and you may with Pleafure proceed to what follow?. And in the firft place, the Ground being thus mark’d out, if your Swarth and Turffbe good, and the Sea (bn proper, you are ta confider, how to ufe that to the beft Advan- tage. I mean the TurfF cut, as we com- monly Of rural and e^cten five Gardening. <$‘3 monly do it, about fix Inches Thick, and ufed in the covering of our Carpet and Terrace Walks, and on our Plates and Lawn of Grafs, or Bowling-green 5 and here it muft be ob- lerv’d, that, tho* the Turff it felf may be coarfe, yet a little good keeping by moving, fowling, &c. will make it fine, and it will be a great Convenience, and fave a confidera- blc Sum of Money, if you can have TurfF enough there, or in any Failure Ground near at hand, which will by fowing of Hay-feed, loon come again fine enough for its own Purpofe ; .perhaps the Convenience of this Turff may lave the Owner yo or Sol, in his Pocket, Carriage being what a Man ought above all things carefully to avoid, al- tho’, as I have often heard the weaknefs of the Arguments, the Draughts (as they commonly call them in the North) be the Matters own, yet in this Work he will find too many things of ablolute NecelTity to be done by them, to employ them idlely 5 befides, they mutt at the fame time have care to feed them well, and Cart Gears, and the Attendance of two Men, which might be otherwife, and, perhaps, much better employ’d. We begin, then, in this Cafe, with the Par- terre quarters mark’d H H, for it is no mat- ter, when the full Defign is flak’d out,whether one begin in the middle,or at which end it be, the Pains and Care we have been at, in ad- jutting the Line and Level fufficiently anfwcrs ^4 Of rural and exten five Gardening, that, and we may begin where the Nature of our Work and Materials require. It is always to be obferv’d, that our Stake Heads are 6 Inches or more above the common Level of the Ground, to give Room for the (training and tying the Garden Line, for level- ling and raking. Having then rang’d in fmal- ler Stakes in the quarters H H, and reduc’d them to a rough Level, and having alfofome fine Mold at hand, to throw over to rake fine in order for the Turff, (which Levelling, Raking, d^c. has been taught elfewhere) you are to lay your Turff, and having finifh’d both quarters, you are to proceed to the large Bowls below, placing round the Edges of your Grafs, to keep People from trampling thereon ; and then repeating the fame Method, you will perhaps have ufed all, or mofi: of the Turff that was in the Way, either on the fpot where your Work was doing, or on the grand Area, or Plan of the Building, and in contri- vances of this Nature ’tis that j great deal of Money is alw'^ays (av’d, and on the contrarj’', generally thrown away by the inconfiderate Carelefsnefs of many, that pretend to Bufinefs of this kind, Perfons that are always in a Wood, (as it were) and never know or con- fid er, where and how they are to begin or" end to the beft Advantages. j Having then, by all poffible Methods ufed the beft and;moft ufeful of your Turff or Swarth ; you are to proceed to fleece off all the Of rural and extenfivs Gardening. ^5 the good Mold you can there find, carrying it either immediately into Heaps or Leftals, or otherwife to your Kitchen Garden, or Quarters and Divifions of Wood, df-c. This Care ought by all means to be taken, where your Earth is lhallow, or but indifferent $ but where your Earth lies naturally very deep, there needs no fuch Expence, but this with all the coarfer Earth may be jumbled toge- ther in the making thole Terraces, that are defign’d round the Houfe 5 but ’tis very much to be doubted, where one may once in ten times find fo happy a Scituation and Soil, as not to require our former Care and Pains. The Turff thus (fuppoledly) carried away, we may obfcrve our Level Stakes from two Foot to fix Inches high above the natural Ground, and perhaps a confiderable deal more. Theft Stakes are then to be filled up with the Earth, dug out of the Foundations of the Building and the Cellars ^ and after- wards, if thoft Terraces are not quite filled up, then we rauft have Recourft to borrow of our Neighbouring Plats to finilli t hem, and here, as has been before obftrv’d, it can’t poffibly do much hurt, tho’ by a more ju- dicious Calculation, vve might have fav’d fbme Expence, but our Plinth is fix’d, and we are oblig’d to work up to it in all our Levels. However, as I have already urged, Vis an Error on the Right Side, and is much , G better 66 Of tural and extenfiXe Gardening. better than burying the Building too deep. When your Terraces are every where made good, and brought up within about 2 or j Inches of the Plinth by the Cart or Wheel-barrow (which lliould run forwards and backwards thereon, as much as the Na- ture of their Rake requires) let it remain a while to fink, if two or three Months, the better ; for Terraces that are rais’d high are apt to fink in Holes, and then the Owner is apt to fret. In this Cafe, then he ought not to be too hafty, but befides his ramming it well, and carting, wheeling, jand trampling it over, he fhould fee it well fettled j while, on the other hand, the lower Quarters of a Parterre, or an open Lawn, or Bowling-green, that is not fo rais’d, may be immediately turff d fb, as to ufe the Turffthat otherwife would be fpoiled, or lye in the Wa)'. I have in one of the preceding Chapters Ihown how to take the mean of any Level, and, by meafuring the Depth of every Stake- head, to find what Gauge to go, and this is particularly ufefu! in all thefe Cafes, where (if fjppofe it be the Lawn) you have 200 Stakes all of different Heights above the na- tural Ground, by adding thofe feveral Heights together, and dividing them by the 200 (more or lefs) the Number of Stakes it gives, that mean Depth you are to go, and will caule the IfTue to be, that you will very near the Of rural and e^tenftve Gardening. the matter have no Stuff cither wanting or to /pare* When yoilr Terrace Walks, and your ether Divifions, are therefore Icvell’d in your Par- terre, Court Yards, and Terraces, and fo much of it turff’d as you think convenient, on Account of its finking, thus let it remain a Month or two, only beating cn it well, and fbraetimes rowling it ^ and be not over-fond of mowing it, till ’tis well fettled ^ for ’tis that that often makes it bare in many Places, efpcciallyif the Weather be dry, and hottifb. And now let us proceed to the Side Quarters of Wood, leaving the Turffing of the Ter* race Walks, ’till a longer Seafon, and the gravelling the Intervals, (for I fuppofe no- thing but Grafs and Gravel, Statues, and Fo- reft Trees inajl my Defign) ftiil longer, evert till the laft Thing of all be done in finilhing the Garden. Coming now into the Side Quarters 1 1, already flak’d out (as before) you are to examine the Nature of your Levels, and what Gauge you can beft go to make your Stuff hold out. Which done, fuppofe it fix, eight, ten, or twelve Inches Gauge below the Heads of them, ftrain your Line to that Depth, and while fome are digging, or trench- ing in the Qiiarters, let others be digging on in the Walks, and throwing thence what good Earth lies there, in order to fill the Infide, and make them fo much the deeper, G * And 6S Of rural and exienfive Gardening. And in truth, where-ever the Ground isftial- low, there we commonly contrive as many Walks and Cabinets as we can, and make them fo much the wider, that the Earth that comes thereout, may raife the Quarters to a proportionable thicknefi. And let thefcQttar- ters remain rough, and in Ridges, that the Ground may fweeten, and meliorate, efpeci- ally, if it be a wet, four Land, it is better to lole a whole Seafon in planting, than ei- ther to foWjOr plant on four, wet Land, where the Trees will not root, nor the Seed fprout, w'hatever the hafty and impatient may think of if. The fame Care and Proceedings ought to be in the Quarters K K., in all, which if the Ground is lumpy, heavy, and ftifF, or wet, and (our, one ought firft to take care to draw off the Water, and then to ridge it for a whole Winter Seafon, and, if very bad, let it lie fallow all the Summer, only lowing a few turnings ^ and by the Michaelmas follow- ing, you may exptdt your Ground to be in good Order, either for p'anting,or fovving. And now we return to the finiliiing our Terrace Walks, and Paiterre, that are not turff’d, and to the gravelling thereof. Gravel indeed muft be got where it can, but TurfF is, without doubt, to be had nearer at hand, than where ’tis generally got ; and I can’t but often think with Plealure on the Frugality of a Gentleman, for whom I lately did fome BufincTs, Of rural and e^tenfwe Ga rdening. 6^ Bufinefi, who reviving to plow an Up-land Pafture for Corn, that had lain Paftore a great while, fleec’d off all the TurfF, and thereby fav’d 40 or yo /. and might, had his Defign been bigger, fav’d himfelf 2 or j 00 1. in his Pocket, whilft another Gentleman of no lels Charader wilfully fleec’d Part of his Meadows for that purpoie, which in one Summer came as thick again, and to my cer- tain Computation fav’d lyo/. But fo wed- ded are all our Gardeners to their old Ways, that no Turff will do but finer Sheep Walk TurfF, which very often turns moffie, and is not worth a Farthing, while the luxurious TurfFof Paftures grow ftrong, and maintains an excellent Verdure and Carpet ; and, in truth, after a little more Care than ordinary, in mowing and rowling, is much beyond the fined Sheep WalkTurfF that can be found. ’Pis already obferv’d that Turff ought to cut about two Inches thick, and this efpeci- ally, if it be cut either very early in Au- tumn or late at Spring , but great Care ought to be taken that it be cut of an equal thteknefs, and well joynted in laying, that it have, at lead, four Inches of the midling fort of Mould to lay on, and, if it be furring Gravel or Sand, that the Earth be fix, eight, or ten Inches thick, and if Part of it be a ftrong Loamy Clay, ’tis ftill the better and will maintain its fined: and natural Verdure j the want of which is a great Blemilh in fome G 3 ' of 70 .Of rural and extenfive Gardening. of our Gardeners, that have been carclefly made. If the Ground be frefli and clear from Weeds, Towing with Hay-Seeds, chofe out of fuch Hay-lofts, where the Hay lyes that comes out of clear Up land Paftors : But if the Ground be coar/e and foul with Weeds, Turffing is much the better way, fince the W’eeds will come up To faft, and fo thick, that it will endanger the Eradication of your young tender Graft, and coft more in weed- ing and keeping afterwards, than would have tprff’d it. The beft time to Tow Hay-feed is hlkhjeJmas. or before, or, indeed all the Month of September^ when the Husbandman fows his Wheat 5 and, if Jugufi be a coolifh Month, even then it is not too foon, efpe- ciaily confidering that luch Seed will not take any harm by lying , they ought to be cleared and fettled j as for Corn, it being a great Fault to Tow it, fo foul as feme do, v/herewith grow up all Sorts of Trafb, yvhjch will inevitably fpring up with if, and always look ugly. The beft Earth, either for turffing, or fowin^ of Hay-feed, is, the Crumbs, as we expreis it in Gardening, or the next fpit or Shoyclling of Mould that lies under the upper Tutfi^dSpit; for, tho’ that be fometimes Cloddy, yet by laying it upon the Verges, and Quarters defigned for Grafs, and expo- fiqg it to the Sun and Air for a Fortnight, or Of rural and extenfive Gardening. 7 1 or three Weeks, the firfj: Rain that ccmes, it falls to Duft. This is jTuppos’d to be in the Autumn Seafon, towat"ds the latter End, the bcft Time of aay' for theDefigns, and laying out and planting of Gardens. The next Care is the Gravelling th^ Walks, that lie betwixt the Quarters, and Divifions of Grafs, out of which I do fuppofe there is already taken all the good and fecond Sort of Mould for ufe ; the Bottom of all thele Walks fhould be fill’d with Lira^ Rubbilh, or Coarfe Gravel, Flint Stones, or other Rocky Stuff, in order to keep the Weeds from pafling through j and this ought to be eight, or ten Inches over- which you may jay fix, or eight Inches of fine Gravel, not Icreen’d, for that Ipoils it, but beft on a round Heap, by which means the great rough Stones will run down on each Side, and thofe being every now and then rak’d off, the Gravel is fine enough for our purpofe : The Finenefs of Grave! in fome Walks being unpardonable Folly. When you come, then, to lay your Gravel fix Inches thick, or eight, or ten, if plentiful, you are indeed oblig’d in Order to Rake the Walk true and level from all great Dips , as well as little Holes, I fay you are here oblig’d to Rake almoft all the Stones of your Walk under your Feet ; but inftead of bury* ing them all, which many Gardeners do, even to a Fault, one ought rather to fprinkle G 4 them ji Of rural and e^tenfive Gardening. them back again, gently over the lafi Length that is Raked, whereby the Walk lies much the firmer , and thofe coarfeft Stones do not add a little thereto. In the firft Volume is hinted a Rematk of Walks being made too round , and this is committed in very many Places to fuch a degree of Folly , that you can’t walk with that Eafe and Pleafure one ought to do, befides the Roundnefs takes off a confiderable deal from the feeming Width of the Walki An Inch Crown in five Foot, is what we al- low, for our Gravel Walk ,• fo that if the Walk be twenty Foot wide, ’tjs higher in the Middle, than on each Side by four Inches, if twenty five, five Inches 5 if thirty Foot, fix Inches, and loon. After the'^Walk is laid carefully, or indeed after every Length or Part of it, which is, commonly, about fifteen each, you are care- fully to rowl it long-ways, and crofs-ways, the Perlbn that does it wearing flat heel’d Shoes 5 for when little Holes are once made, in a new Walk , tis not eafy to rowl them lip again. But, above all, three or four Water Rowlings are very Efiential, to the laying Firm of a Gravel Walk : By Water Rowling, w'e mean, when it Rains fo very fafl:, that the Walks fwim with Water, and, this makes the Gravel bind j and, as foon Bs dry Weather comes, they bind as hard as Terrace. c The Of rural and ext en five Gardening. 7 5^ The beft Gravel for binding is a kind of Iron Mould Gravel ; or Gravel with a little binding Lime amongft it, and Ihew, the latter is apt to ftick to the Heels of ones Shoes in hot Weather ; yet in dry nothing binds better. And this diredbs to the me- thod, fometimes us’d, of mixing Loam with it, when the Gravel is over Sandy or Sharp, this being call: in Heaps, and well mix’d and blended together, will bind like a Rock ; whereas loofe Gravel, is as uncomfortable, and uneafy, as any other Fault in a Walk ; and ’tis in this we in England are always like to exceed, either the French^ 'Dutch ^ or Flemming. The propereft Time for laying feve- ral Walks is in the Month oi March’-) and, as it is a Folly to lay Walks for Winter, fo it is alfo to begin (boner in the Spring. The laft that I (hall here mention, tho* ’tis a Work that is often done, before either of the other two, is planting or (owing. But of this I have (aid fo much in the (irft Vo- lume , that I (hall not repeat it again , but only fay a (mall matter in Refe- rence to the Defign in Hand. And firfl:, to fave Expence, both in the making and keeping, I put in a general Ca- veat againft all Borders, Greens, and Flowers; fo that how fimple foever thefe Deligns may appear, we only recommend plain Gra(i, and Gravel ; and the fide Terraces, planted at fiif Of rural and extenfive Gardening* at about twenty, or twenty five Foot afnn- courfe , the Trees, that are the moft proper at prefent, and will be of as much Advan- tage to futurity as any, are the Elm j that, being a very hofpitable Plant, and any thing will grow under it 5 it will, foon make a Shade, and will anfwer the Ex- peftation of the Planter, the beft of any Tree, I can name. Tho’ one would, in this cafe, get any Trees out of the Woods, that will move with any profpeft of Succels, to fill up our ru- ' ral Plantations. To fum up all, the Advantage to be reap’d ' from this rural Way of Gardening , and of this little Scheme, in particular, we have here, | tho’ it be a plain mean Scituation, twenty' four Acres of Ground altogether ; and might as well, be ten times the Qyantity, where the Owner may Work round it, and a-crofs it, in his Night Gown, and Slippers 5 and vifit all his Affairs, either late at Night, or early in the Morning j without either Dirt j of Dew. And feeing thole are the chief times, j either for Bufinefs or Pleafiire, in the whole Day, I can’t, but think that theft imperfefl: Hints will be very acceptable to the World,. as Of rural and extenfive Gardening, p s as they will be alfo more largely handled itt the enfuing Plate. In the mean time, the Owner may walk four or five Miles in this little Scheme, with- out going over one Walk twice , and by lit- tle Gardens, Seats, and other Ornaments ; he has as great a Pleafure, as one that enjoys the nobleft of Gardens. His Expence in making, has been but little, and his Expence in keeping is yet lei’s ; fince neither, the Scythe, nor Shears, and nothing but the Role, fcarce ever comes here. And, in Anfwer to what may be objeded, by the lazy Drone, (■y/z..) its Slownels, in coming to Perfeftion, 1 muft needs give it, as my Thoughts, to be of no weight ; for, on the contrary, I always love to lee a young Coppice coming up under-hand more than one that is larger ; the Beauty of all Coppice Wood being, in my Opinion the next two, or three Years after they are fill’d, and before the young Wood grows up too high. Tofinilh this Seftion , the Gardener muflr, for a Year or two, after thele Hedge-Rows are low’d, keep them houghed, as he does Turnips 5 and he may, alfo, fow Turnips a- mongft them, to creep down the Weeds, which he may pull up, and throw over the Hedge to his Sheep. He ought, alfo, to Plant, in this Hedge- Row, good Store of Fil-berts, Hazlenuts, Damalcens, and all other fort of coarfe Fruit, and $6 Of rural and extenfive Gardening. and fuch Wood-berries, as will entice the Birds : He may alfo Plant, Crabb and Pear- ftocks, and graft them (the Apples, becaufe of Hares) two or three F oot above the Ground, and he may in Ihort, makes bis whole Eftate, as one large Garden. The greateft Expence that can be fore- men in this whole Method, is in the infinite Length, and number of Walks ; and 'tis for this and Water I facrifice all the other Beauty of our common and extenfive Way of Gardening. Grant me but thele, and take all the reft , but the Walks being but narrow, and be they either Gravel or Shells, or even Sand, and barren Earth, it anfwers my purpofe, provided they be not laid too round or Hog-back’d, and the Stones be not fo rough as they are in the Walks of St. James's Park, which is doneby the carelefs- nefs of thofe that firft laid them, and by the People that are always kicking them up j thofc kind of Walks are the moft preferable in this, as well as other Places, are fuch as lie near a Level, and that are fmooth, fuch as thofe that are made of Earth, or Sand, or line Gravel. But, I had almoft forgot, to tell that Ser- pentine Lines, do not always go thro’ enclos’d Hedge Row’s, they having for the moft part only Standards for Shade, as you go round in them, and Dwarf, Bulhy, Fil-berts, &c, betw'een, and the great (Rattle arc kept from coming Of rural and extenfive Gardening. coming into the Walk by a Ditch, or Stop and Rail, fuch, tho’ not fo very ftrong and of fo good Tiniber, as encompafles Blooms- bury Square, And tl;o’ Sheep would be apt to creep un- der the Rails, and fo get into the Walks, yet a good Ditch will frighten them j and if they did get in, they are harralefs enough to be admitted. This open Way of Planting ought alfb to be fometimes uled in long Walks 5 and we ought to take all the Opportunities we can to open Glances into the adjacent Corn-fields and Enclofures, for the Reafons I have fpoke to in the Paragraph about the middle Walk of this Defign 5 and this is all I (hall fpeak to in thisSe£fion. I Chap, yi. 9 8 Of rural and extenjive Gardening. ^ Chap. VI. S E C T I O N vir. OJ)[ervations on ?late the H E next Plate contains an en- Level Piece of Ground, ^ Rivulet running round the fame, which River Bounds in all the interior Part of the ■JaSiKWO^ andlikcwifeiheplea- ftnt Wood on the outfide, and at the End by the Canal which forms a natural. The main Body of the Houfe is but 150 Foot wide ; for which Reafon, we fuppofe a long Gallery, or Lodgings at each End joyn- ing to it. As for the Gardens and Eftate adjoyning to it, the Draught explains it, fo that I need add little on thafSobjed. The Ponds on the Right are a fuppoled Filhery, and the Grounds on the Left for Padducks, the paffing of the little Walks thro’ them, makes them as plealant as any Carden ; and here *tis we fuppofe, that all Trees, Bulhes, are kept a. little trimm’d, I mean as to the extraordinary Luxury of , them. Thje T/als SZTaaegS. Vol TAii J’/a/s Meu'ise reiztej ts tAe JOej/^n TTT^TrA'art’iA S^- ?f tAe J Of rural and extenfive Gardening, "'„;The Woods on the other Side the Canal, tho’ they are not in the Garden, will, how- ever, appear as a Part of it, and need little Expence in keeping, and there may be the Pheafant Houfe, being amongft the Corii- fields. B is the J^3'7/ and when you are up, gives fitch a No- ble Profped: of all that lies round one, that it very much exceeds, all that can be ima- gin’d or thought of, in common Gardening. But, to come to the Defign, and the Me- thod of ending, it is to be oblerv’d, there is a little Walk, that leads quite round on the brovv of the Hill, which I call a Natural Walk, or Terrace, and which I do always lay down as a handing Rule, in all floping Hills 5 the under Wood is all fuppos’d to be clear’d away, and only the Timber Trees left j for this gives an eafy open View to the Wal- ker, and he fees, with the utmoft Pleafure, all diftant Profpeds, and particularly, that delightful Valley, with all its turnings, and windings, that lies under, which is always an adjunft to fuch rifing Hills. • The Diftribution and Figure of this Wood Is by no means Regular j were it fo, there would be an end of all its Beauty ; bur, ! >valking round it you have, all the Natural j ¥itv/ J for the inhde is fo irregujar, that ’tis j not Of rural ancfextenfive Gardening. lo 3 not eafy to difcover or plott it down, and is in truth cut out as Nature has allow’d it 5 for where-ever there was an open Place, 'tis there Nature direfts, either a Lawn, or a Walk ; by which means the Coppice Wood, is more full of fmall Branches and Leaves, than it would be, if the Walks were cue out of a Thicket, and affords a Pleafure greater than I amwell able to exprefs ; and here is no Regu- larity obferv’d, but in that rifing Lawn com- ing from the Grand Terrace, planted pro- mifeuoufly on each fide, and that open Lawn or Figure above, where we fuppofe to be Seats, and Statutes. But there we learn all the common Form, and by no means cut it out into a Star, or any Mathematical Fi- gure, but follow Nature, and where-ever we find natural Openings and Glades, there, to make our Lawns and Walks, be they ei- ther ftrait, or Serpentine, ftill humouring, and not (training, the Place by Art. A Walk that breaks off from one another at 20 degrees, is as Beautiful as at the Reftangle at 30, and a Serpentine Line that follows no Center, but Nature ; as Convenient as, nay more, than, the moft exactly Concentrick Figure, that the Line.or Compafs can delcribe. From this Ihort View of the Method of cutting out, and ordering, and the Beauties that attend our Natural Wood 5 we might proceed to think of it in refpedf of its cheap- nefs, both in making and keeping 5 but this 1 4 will 1 04 Of rural and extenfwe Gardening. will fall in a more general and proper Place,^ by and by ; and, for that Realbn, we return to the Front being in fome meafure fatisfy’d, with what has but Ihortly hinted at, in this Particular. And from the Center of this Front, review a Walk of above 1000 Yards long, and a Ca- nal at the End, of an indetermiate Length ; this, as to the general, but more particularly this method of a plain Parterre? in the firfl: divifion, and the Lawn or Bowling green, that lies in the fecond, bounded on each fide by a T errace, planted with Ewglijh Elm ; ^otvvithftanding its plainnefs, can’t but have a noble effeft on the Eye. I might in this Place have drawn more Avenues to the Houle i but that I take to be one way of fpoiling the varieties of any Scituation, fince, by that means, all the Beauty thereof is feen at once, and there's an End. But as you proceed down this middle Line, there is fomething New and Noble, at every Center 5 as you pafs at the upper End of the firft divifion, with a large Statue, or Obelisk on the Hill, on the Right a crofs the Valley, while. the other is bounded, fhut with Wood. At the extremity of the Lawn, at, or near the Center the ftrikes the fweep : You view not only the crofs Walk it felf, but the mid- dle ; and twoDiigonal Walks, of thirty, or forty Foot wide, that carries the Eye above 4C0Q Foot, quite a crofs the Valleys up the ■ ' • ' " rifing of rural and eitenfive Gardening. 1 05 rifing Hills on each fide, up to a large Cen- ter, which, if the View be there flopp’d, may be placed, either a large Statue, Banquet- ing Houfe, Obelisk, or what the Defigner pleafes^ And, if there be Plenty of Water, a Cafcade rowling down, and facing the Per- fon that looks thereon, at that great Di- flance. If it be thought that forty Foot is too little, for fo long a View, I fnall not contefl it, but only obferve, that the nar- rower a Walk is, the farther of appear, any ob^edf, that is plac’d at the End of it 5 and this I take to be of no Iraall account, efpecial- ly, if the Walk be not too narrow a Walk, of fixty Foot wide, as the middle Walk is, will very well admit of jcooFoot long (elpe- rially when there is a Valley, that opens wi- der at the End of it) and for thofe crols Walks 40CO Foot long, to forty Foot wide, is not an ill Proportion. To come nearer the Center of our Work, it is to be obferv'd, that the Termination, of what may be properly call’d, the enclofed Garden Ends with this great Bafin, at the fides whereof there are little Gates, that open by the fides of the Fountain,* which Gates do by no means obftrucfl the general View, and are of themfelves fufficient to keep all Cattle from entring into this Parc of the Garden, that ought to be kept from their tramplings ; and this is the largcfl De* fign, that the greateft of our Country Seats • feem 1lo6 Of rural and ext en five Gardening, feem to require to be in the infide of the Garden, it being twenty Acres by this Scale. Altho’, it may by altering the Scale, be made to ferve indifferently foradefign of the fame Sort of eighteen, fixteen, and four- teen Acres, but fcarce Jefs. All the reft of the fide Walks, may be Ihut up, after the fame Manner. The truth of it is, the Owner ought to have as few Gates and Styles, aspoflible; they being be- fides the Expcnce a Trouble and Inconve- nience in a great Eftate. Before I quit the interior Part of my De- fign, I ought to mind my Reader, that the fmallnefs of the Scale would not admit to make much Work in the infide of the Wood Qtjarters, neither, indeed, does there require much. Bur, if any Gentleman thinks, that the Qjjarters are too large, and will admit of more ^ there are fbme Defigns in the forego- ing Part of this Book, that will fnit it ; ma- ny may be colleded out of Mr. James's Book; and ftill more may be contriv’d by our Skil- ful and Ingenious Draughts-men, or Planome- trians ; it is much more to my purpofe, that 1 purfue the main intent of this Defign, and fpeak more largely to the exterior Part of this Defign 5 which, I may venture to affirm, will afford as much Variety and Speculation, as any thing yet defign’d, in the Way of Garr dening. Oi all the Lines that a Defigner ought to ufe, Of rural and enenfive Gardening, 107 ufe in natural Gard’ning, the loofe Serpen- tine Line feem to be the moft entertaining 5 becaufe thereby the Owner does not fee all his bufinefs at once, but is infenfibly led from one Place to another, and from a Lawn to a Hill, or a Dale, which he is not apt to per- ceive, till he is juft upon it ; this I have made great ufe of ; but not fo much to be offenfive, by this means. The Perfon that Walks over, this Eftate in a Corn field, fometimes in a little Thicket of Wood, and fometimes in a plain twirling about, and palling thro’ all thefe Beauties, which lurprizingly fucceed each other, while at the fame time thofe En- clofures, and little Fields of Corn, Pafture, are in the middle, and divided thereby. But this Winding, and twilling of the Lines, both upon the main Levels, and on the brows of the Hill, has an imfpeakable ef- fedt on thefe Valleys, and riling Theatres of Wood on each fide, involv’d, as they will ap- pear one with another. There is certainly nothing, either in Na- ture, or Art, that excels fuch Defigns and Improvements 5 and muft be efteem’d at leaft a faint Eflay, and Copy of the fublime Thoughts of ancient and modern Poets on this Subjedf^ How fweetly is Virgil’s Mule delighted, with a winding Valley, and a lof- ty Hill. And whenj delighted amidft the Croud of rural and happy Thoughts, even till he was quite latiated, makes thefe his 10% Of rural and e'x^tenfive Gardening. j/loTi, and laft Retreat ! How fweet would EoilkaK, or a 7)rydefi, have turned their Song ' And how wou’d Cowley have been de- lighted, in fuch rural Scene?, as a Defign of. this kind would have prefented him with. But to take too much delight here, how pleafant foever the thoughts may be, ’tis in iheie dired Circular and Serpentine Lines that the Mind is pleafingly carried forwards and backwards ; and while in one Place a Valley prefents it felf; then likeWife Hil's, Ba'fons of Water, and Fifli Ponds, and little Glades cut down to fltew for Calcades, if Plenty of Water. In (hort, the whole Defign is eafier feen, by this imperfed Draft of it, than exprefs’d, and will, befides it ufe, I hope, ftill encreafe tipcn the Minds of thole, that pleafe to Pe- rufe it, and put it into Pradife. It is eafy to fee, that all the Enclofures in the upper Part lie encompaffed by thole Ser- pentine Walks j and fo likewife is the Adea- dow in the Bottom, where a Walk of Gravel is Carried round at the bottom of the Hill, and little Ditches of about fix Foot wide, to Mrry off the back Waters, and to bring round a Part of the main Stream, which runs in the middle. And it is a doubtful Point, whether in fuch a Cafe one would not fill up the Ri- ver in the middle, and divide the Stream on dach fide, for the fencing in of the Meadow, from Cattle that feed on the Hill, and for fa- ving Of rural and extenfive Gardening, i op vtng that traft of Ground, that is left there ; befides the Stream running exaftly under the Hill, is very beautiful and conformable to the Songs, of the ancient, and beft of our modern Poets. To this we may add, that it is always fliady and cool in one fide or other, even in the middle of the hotteft Sul- try Day. And thefe Ditches will likewife divide the Meadows, into fo many Parts and Lots, that it will be alfo ufeful in the keeping, and feeding of Cattle feparately, and will be no diladvantage to the Grafs, defign’d for Hay. If any Body is fo frugal, as to objed, that the Walks and Coppices in this Defign take up a great deal of Ground, it can- not be denied that there is fbmething of Truth in it 3 but not fo much, as appears by this Draught, the Scale whereof is fo Imall, that the Walks and Hedge-Rows could not be Blown, but by making them wider than in Reality they need to be 5 and this confi- derably leffens the Qjaantity of Land in the Infide 3 for, whereas thefe Walks and Hedge- Rows are moft of them forty or fifty Foot wide, there is no Occaficn to have any Hedge-Row, Walk and all, above 24 Foot, (viz.) eight the Walk, and eight the Hedge- Row, on each fide; and as for others, where there is no Hedge-Row, but only Lines of Tree-', and Dwarf Euflies between them 1 10 Of rural and extenfive Gardening, them (as has been already defcribed) to maintain the Hedge Line ; there fixteen Foot is a fufficient Width between Hedge and Hedge, or Stoup and Rail, and Stoup and Rail, (f/ss.) eight Foot Walk, and four Foot on each fide , for the Verge, and Trees , but this is direded already, as is alfo the more particular method of laying out, and dividing this Eftate into rural and extenfive Garden. And by it is feen how much Profit and Pleafure may be mix’d together; and that this Defign of above joo Acres may be made as pleafant as, or pleafanter than any. And, however, there are many of my Profeffion, that will, I am very well a- ware. Carp and Quarrel with this Book, becaufe they will, I fuppofe, think that the Grift, as it is commonly call’d, will fall Ihort at their Mill, in the vending and difpofing of their Trees, and Plants 3 yet I hope the Publick will Reap fome Bene- fit and Pleafure hereby. The Ancient Fi/- las and Pofleluons of the Greeks and Ro‘ mans were undoubtedly of this kind, in which they fpent the happieft of their Mo- ments, and Reap’d not a little Advan- tage thereby ; in thofe early Days of Inno- cence and Antique Virtue. By this every one may difcover how happy Of rural and extenfive Gardening. 1 1 1 happy he may make himfelf, in his rural Villa, thus order’d, and difpos’d ; if to this be likewife added the Profit (as well as Pleafure) that accrues to him thereby'. All which will come in to be ccnfider’d at the latter End of this Volume. Chap. Vlir. 7 H ..: , ;:. •= .f . 'r-^ ■/ -■’' -:. - •• ■ '■•■ Ji J ^ ■' : V. I J ^j;]' ..-a ^ :'. - - V ■ • , ^ ^ ' ^ ■ a; A •i' • . » i !\ t i i A (jrrA!^''> ;♦ H' J.fi ' :) I ' ■ ;• vA .'V.:;1 : 9 yl - i r - f ■- \ >' > t cf,. I I 1 / •f. ' i of rural and extenfive Gardening. 1 1 3 SECTION IX. Defer fption of a heautiful Rural Garden. Efore I quit fliy agreeable and enter- taining Subjeft of Defigns in gene- ral, I cannot omit giving a particu- lar Defeription of a Rural Garden^ which tho’ not equally extenfive, yet perhaps equally beautiful to moft we have in England^ notwithftanding the happy PolTelTor bears no higher Charafter than that of a private Gen- tleman. * K I have * Mr. Blathwayt’j Gardens at Durham near //;« Bath in Glour cellerfhire. 114 of rural and extenjive Gardening* I have been a great many Pages in treating of Situations, which a Man would always willingly chufe,tho’ it is rarely in his Power ; I therefore hope this Defcription will be the more acceptable, as it contains matter of Fad, and is no way chimerical ^ and when ’tis confider’d, that Nature has a greater Share in the Beauties I am proceeding to, than Art j not but very confiderable Sums have been ex- pended to bring thefe Gardens to that Per- feftion which I fome Years fince faw them in, when my Affairs requir’d my Atten- dance on a Perfon of the firft Rank at the Bath. To defcribe the Situation of the Seat in general is a Talk of Difficulty 5 the bell Ac- count I can give of it in a few Words, is, that ’tis a beautiful Irregularity, here a Dale, there a Mount, here a winding Valley, there a purling Stream, And indeed the Quantity of Water which abounds here, and plentifully fupplies the Water-works, is found Fault with by fome Perfons as an Annoyance to the Houfe, feated low ^ but without con- fidering the many large and moft exquifite contriv’d Drains ereded for its Conveyance to diftant Ponds. Some of rurhl and extenfive Gardening. 115 Some injudicious Perfons likewife make an Exception to the Situation of this Seat, not only for its- being low and moift ^ but on Ac- count of its being furrounded on one Side with Hills, fo as not to be difcern’d ’till you come juft upon it 5 what ever Fault this may , be in the Efteem of the Generality-of Man- kind, I ftiall not pretend to determine 5 but I have this to offer in its Favour, that on your Approach to the Houfe from the Hills, you are at once entertain’d with an infinite Va- riety of beautiful Profpeds, the furprizing Pleafure whereof would have been in a great Meafure loft by a rernote anticipating Viewi And from the other’ Side of the Houfe, a fine Vale of a confideyable Extent is dif- cover’d even from the firft Floor, notwith-^ ftanding its being low with Refpeft to the Northern Side, encompafs’d with afpiring Mounts; But as it is not my Bufinefs to engage in a particular Defence of a Gentleman’s Choice of Situation, (wherein Fancy always prefides with the greateft of Men) I fhall proceed to my particular Defcription 5 and herein firft begin with the Green-houfei To pafs by the Magnificence of the Seat^ the Green-houfe adjoining to it, is, 1 think, one of the moft beautiful and commodious Piles ■K 2 for 1 1 4 Of rural and extenfive Gardening. for its Purpofe, I ever faw 5 it is near a hun- dred Foot in Length, and of a proportionable Breadth and Height. The Outfide is built of the fineft Stone, adorn’d with numerous Co- lumns of the fineft Architedure, and the main Front neatly fet off with extenfive Safh Windows, in Height almoft from the Bottom to the Top : You afcend five or fix magnifi- cent Stone Steps to enter, where you have a large folding Glafs Door: Underneath are Vaults with Stoves for Fire in the Winter, and Repofitories of Garden-Tools, and the Top is furrounded with Rail and Ballifter, having at proper Diftances an agreeable Va- riety of fmall Statues mixt with Urns, And in the Front are various Motto’s in large Charafters of Gold, very well adapted to fo noble a Confervatory. This Green-houfe in the Winter is replete with all Manner of fine Greens, as Oranges, Lemons, Mirtles, &c. fet in the moft beau- tiful Orders feveral Rows of Scaffolds one above another, are ereded for that Purpofe, on the Topmoft whereof are plac’d the moft tender, but largeft Plants 5 and the Shrubs, Flowers, &c, below, fo as to make the Fi- gure of a Slope, with Walks between the whole Length, for the Gardener to examine into the Health and State of his numerous Vegetables : The Infide of the Houfe, if I raiftake of rural and extenfve Gardening. 1 1 5 miftake nor, is cas’d with Bricks, which keeps it naturally warm and healthy ^ there are feveral Stoves underneath at convenient Di^ fiances for Firing, whereby a regular Heat is diffus'd over the whole Houfe, and the Out- fide is fo well guarded with Shutters in the Winter, as to difdain the Fury of the inoft penetrating Winds. The Saffies being very large, efpecially at the Eaft End, by a prudential difplaying of them in the Spring, inures the Greens to the Air fo as to prepare them for a Removal to the Parterre 5 and when mod of the hardieft Plants are expos’d Abroad, it is ufual here to preferve two or three Rows of Oranges, i&c. the Length of the Houfe, which make mod beautiful and fragrant Walks with- in Doors 5 and the whole Houfe is white- waih’d, and hung round with the mod en- tertaining .Maps,' Sculptures, And .fur- nilh’d with fine Chairs of Cane for the Sum- mer; When you quit the Green-houfe^ at the Foot of the Steps are plac’d two prodi- gious large and fine Aloes, which with their prickly, bulky Arms, high extended, appear like Giants to defend the Entrance of the Confervatory : Turning to the left you find a fpacious Pavennient Walk, the whole Length K 5 of 1 1 8 Of rural and extenfive Gardening, of the Front of the Houfe and Green-houfe, at each End whereof are Paintings in Niches reprefenting Statues. To this Pavement in the Summer are carry’d Orange-Trees, Lemons, round-head-, ed Bays, &c. in Tubs, and plac’d in Rows, fo as to make a mod delightful Walk before the whole Front, which is continu’d on the left againft the Side of a Terrace-Walk, to the upper Part of the firft Parterre : The Parterre is cut into four Quarters of Grafs and Gravel, of various Forms, the Borders adjoining to the principal Gravel Walk, lead- ing to the main Door of the Front, being fet off with large Pyramid Silver Hollies, Ews, &c. having painted Iron Rods with gilded Nobs for their Support, and the Cen- ter-Sides, &c. with round-headed Laurels exactly dipt, Bays, fmall Pyramid Ews, ^c. Facing the Front of the Green-houfe‘\s a running Canal of clear Water, about a hun- dred Yards in Lengthy at the upper End, in an enlarg’d Circle, with a high Head of fine Stone, is a Fountain which cafts Water a- bove fixty Foot in Height, and great Variety of fmall Pipes playing all round, which en- tirely fill the Circle or Head of the Canal. In this Canal feveral Sorts of Filh are con- fin’d, of rural and extenjive Gardening. 1 1 9 fin’d, as Trour^ Perch, Carp, &c. of a very large Size, and tho’ it is deep, yet the Water is fo tranfparent that you may eafily difcover the fcalely Refidents, even thofe of the fmalleft Dimenfions : And this Canal is fo very much freqented in the Sum- mer, that the Filh will not be difturb’d at your Approach 5 but are almoft as tame as the Swans, (two whereof continually waft themfelves with Grandeur in this Canal) which will not fcruple to take an uncommon Feeding from your Hands. The Situation of the Canal is lower than the Parterre before the Body of the Houfe, feparated with Walls j that on the Left ma- king the Parterre a Terrace, and that on the right dividing the Garden from the Park 3 fo that it is as it were a private Garden of it felf, and indeed is a molt pleafant one in a hot Seafon : In the Walls on each Side are feveral Falls of Water, from Pipes and Mon- fters Heads to Bafons, from one Bafon to another, which at laft empty into Streams appearing like Brooks, and thei'e difcharge themfelves into the Canal : One of the Walls is fill’d with Fruit-Trees, and the other (the higheft) with Ever-Greens^ and of each Side the Canal are Walks of Bays, Philireas, &c. in Tubs, and two very large Silver Hol- lies at the End to grace the Entrance. K 4 The i 1 8 Of rural and extenfive Gardening, The Wall of the Canal is cover’d with a Coping of fine Free Stone, and fo are all the Walls belonging to thefe Gardens. At the upper End of it are about half a dozen Stone Steps, which lead you to the fecond Parter- re: This Parterre is of the whole Breadth of the Garden, and is finely adorn’d with round- headed Standard Laurels, pyramid Ews, &c. with Iron Rods and gilded Nobs 5 and the two Quarters of it, on each Side the large Walk leading to the Front-Door, are during the Summer fet off with Oranges in Tubs, d^c. in the Nature of an Orangery : Oppofite to the Canal, is an Odagon Fountain of a confiderable Extent, the Pipe in the Middle throws a large Stream of Water a very great Height 3 and round it there are eight large Cafes or Heads facing each Side of the Odagon, with a Multitude of fmall Pipes very clofe together, which when play’d, make a very good Reprefentation of Pillars of Water. The End of this Parterre is fenc’d in from the Park with curious Iron Work, on Dwarf- Walls % and on Pillars between the Spikes are fix’d Variety of Heads carv’d out of fine Stone ^ here’s a large Iron Gate beautifully Wrought, and finely painted and gilded, which lets you into the Park j after you have Of rural and extenjive Gardening, 1 1 q have pafs’d about twenty Yards on a Gravel Walk in the Park, yop come to a noble Cata- raft or extended Cafcade of Water 5 this Cafcade is on a Line with the Oftogon Foun- tain, and the Canal, and all exadly fronting the Door of the Green-houfe 5 it has, as I re- member, near two hundred and fifty Steps to the Top, and as many Falls for the Water to defcend, and it is fo high, that you have feveral Seats ereded for Refting. At the Bottom there is a large Oval Pond with a Fountain in it ^ at the Top there is likewife the fame, and in the Middle a large and lofty Pedeftal, fupporting a Neptune cut out in Stone, of large Dimenfions, with an exalted Trident in his Hand ; a Whale is reprefented between his Legs,difcharging a great Quanti- ty of Water into Bafons on the Heads of Tritons, frona whence it falls large Sheets to the Pond. At regular Diftances are plac'd feveral fmall Pipes or Fountains to the Top of the Catarad,. on the Steps which facilitate the Defcent of the Water 5 thefe Pipes, when they play, feem a Slope-Walk of Foun- tains j ' and when the Catarad plays at the fame Time, the Weight of the Water, and the Falls are fo great, that the Noife very near equals the Billows of a raging Sea, and play be heard at a very great Distance : At 12 2 Of rural and extenfive Gardening. the Bottom of the Steps are planted two Thorns encompafs’d with Seats, which are arriv’d to a large Stature, and being kept of a round regular Form with frequent Clippings, make a very good Figure : There are fmall Pipes which twine round the Bodies ot thefe Trees, and appear more like Ivy on the rough Bark, (being painted Green) than leaden Pipes, which on the Turn of a Cock difcharge Wa- ter from a vaft Number of fmall Nofils in the Head of the Trees, all round as natural as if it rain’d 5 and in a cloudy Day I have been inform’d, Spedators fetting down here to reft themfelves, the more thefe Pipes have play’d, the clofer they have embrac’d the Tree for Shelter, fuppofing it had really rain’d, ’till the Gardener has convinc’d them of their Error, after they had partaken of a fufficient Sprinkling to imprint in their Memo- ries the pleafurable Miftake. Between this Hill, which gives the Situa- tion for the Cataraft, and a Hill in the Park, you have a fine winding Valley of about half a Mile in Length, planted with Horfe- Chefnuts ^ at the upper End is a fine Brake of Wood on the one Side, and on the other a large fquare Pond 5 from this Pond a fmall Channel is cut for the Water, which after a great many Falls from Cafcades, at Length enters another Pond, fo that you are never out of rural and extenfive Gardening* 123 out of the agreeable Noife of a murmuring Stream. Near this Pond, at the Entrance of the Chefnut-Walk, is likewife a third Pond, of a large Extent, having in the Middle a very fine Statue and Fountain. From hence you come back to the Garden, and mount the Terras- VValks,whicharefeveral, one above another; and very beautiful ; the firft adjoins to the North Side of the Houfe, fo that you come from a Clofet, one Pair of Stairs, immediately out upon it 5 and at the End of this, in the Middle of a fmali Slope-Garden, enclos’d with a lofty Hedge on one Side, and a high Wall on the other, is a fmall Statue reprefeiiting Iris, from which a Fountain plays, and fills all that Quarter with feeming Rain, to the very great Re- frelhment of thofe Perfons who frequent the Rooms facing it in a fcorching Seafon : But to return to the Terras’s 5 there are four in Number of a good Length one above ano- ther before you arrive at the Top, at the Ends of which you have a Wall to feparate them from the Church-yard, beautify’d with fine Paintings in Niches 5 except it be in one of the broadeft, where you have a moft com- modious Summer-Houfe.anfwering to a Pigeon- Houfe on t’other Side in the Park. You af- cend thefe Terras-Walks on large fquare Stone Steps, ’till you come near the Top, when 12 2 Of rural and extenfive Gardening. when you arrive at very grand and magni-« ficent Steps, cut out in the Form of a half Circle. When you, have afcended thefe Terras’s^' the firft Thing which offers to your Sight, is a large Stone Statue on a handfomc Pedeftal, near a Wildernefs, and a fine Fountain with plenty of Fifh, on Ground of a more exalted Elevation than the Top of the Houfe ^ from thence you proceed to two Noble Terras-Walks, each above a quarter of a Mile in Length, one for the moft Part enclos’d with a very lofty Hedge, kept fhorn, and a Wall with Fruit-Trees, making it a folitary Walk, and the other o- pen and expos’d 5 but planted on one Side with round headed Dwarf Elms, and Firs, and Iron Rails on the other ; From this Ter- ras you have a profpeft from you of about eight or ten Miles over a rich and fertile Vale, which, by Variety of Woods, Groves, and Meadows, appears like a Rural Garden to this ftately Manfion. Here you have in View the Avenue to the Houfe, which is full of ftately Plantations, and to which you have a regular Defcent or Slope planted wuth Dwarf Fruit-Trees. On the other Side of the grand Avenue are two very large Ponds, almpft cover’d with Water-Fowl, and a no- ble Dittch Fountain between, having fmall Seats of rural and extenfive Gardeuing. 1 1 5' Seats and Arbours all round, and Falls of Water, which make the Figure of a Py- ramid, by defcending from one Bafon to another ; In the Court- Yard before the Houfe are two large Pedeftals with Sphynxes, fine- ly carv’d, and the Stew-Pond 5 on one Side is the Orchard, and at the End is the Kit- chen-Garden. As you proeeed on the Terras Walk, you meet with Niches and Falls of Water, and likewife a Fountain in the Middle 5 and towards the End you are agreeably furpriz’d with a Flower-Garden on a Slope, to which you are let thro’ the Hedge by an undifco- ver’d Gap j when you come to the End of the Terras, your Profped: is fo far enlarg’d, that you fee Welch Mountains thirty or forty Miles diftant : Here you have large arch’d Seats, on which are painted Motto’s fuitable to their Situation, and a pleafant little Garden laid out into Gravel-Walks, Grafs- Plats, d>“c. from hence you advance to a Mount confiderably higher ftill, in the Mid- dle of a Warren ^ on the Top of which is a large Seat, call’d a Windfor Seat, which is contriv’d to turn round any Way, either for the Advantage of Profped, or to avoid the Inconveniencies of Wind, the Sun, &c. Here ’tis you have a moft entertaining Profpcft all of rural and extenjive Gardening. iiS] all rounds and you fee into feveral Counties , of England^ as well as into Wales. From this Seat you defcetid again to af flourifliing Wildernefs, on an eafy Slope, cut out into the utmoft Variety of Walks, efpecially folitary Walks, and beautify ’d with Statues : In the Middle there is si delightful fquare Garden, having four large Seats at the Corners, and a Seat round an afpiring Fir-Tree in the Center, from whence your Profpeft terminates in a large old Church, at a very great Diftance. I never ; in my whole Life did fee fo agreeable a Place for the fublimeft Studies, as this is in the Summer , and here are fmall Delks erefted in Seats for that Purpofe* ; On one Side you ctfcend feveral Grafs- Steps, and come to an artificial Mount, whereon is a large fpreading Tree, with a Vane at the Top, and a Seat enclofing it, | commanding a moft agreeable and entire Profped of the Vale below 5 from hence you come down to a very magnificent Ar- bour, with the Convenience of Water-Works to play round it. Oppofite in the Park, on a Hill of equal Elevation, is an Arbour eve^ ry Way anlwering this, and compleats the Regularity ? From hence you afcend the Mount again, and go by the Lodge and a large Nurfery of Trees into the Park, where, 127 extenfite Gardening'. on a Hill almoft as high as any I have defcrib’d, is the Spring Head and the Pond, which fup- plies the Water- Works : It takes up near an Acre of Ground, and at the Head is eight- een or twenty Foot deep ; it has an Illand in the Middle planted with Trees, contains Variety of the fineft Water-Fowl, is well flock’d with moft Sorts of Filhj and here you may fail in a Ship on a Mountain. C H A P. •jv#' yi INTRODUGTIOiSr, O F T H E Management and Improvement of arable hand. H E foregoing Chapters of thefe Volumes relating entirely to ” T the Diftribution of Country Seats into rural and extenfive Gardens, &c, it feems requifite s<3X.>0£X * compleat them, in {hewing how thefe feveral Parts are beft to be manag’d and improv’d, in Order to an- fwer the Care and Expence, the Owner is fuppos’d to be at in this matter, I fhall, therefore, in this Part of my Work ftick L 1 30 Of the Management j and chr tly to the exterior Parts of our Defign* ^ and reierve the interior Parts, as Flower, Kitchen, and Fruit Gardens, for the Clofe ' ot iby whole Defign in this general Syftem of l^gricukure and Gardening. . But, before I proceed to this, I muft ob- fcrve, that the Method I have taken is diffe- rent from that o^ferv'd by thofe that have gone before me'; and the 'Truth is, Hus- band0 is fo very much improv'd, fiacc many or moft of thofe Traffs were written, that they would havoafforded me Iktle Affiftance, j and for that Reafon I have confulted them very little, or no otherwile, than to avoid the Method they have taken ; but have drawn thefe Papers together from .my own Qbfervations, and the prefent Praftice of, our bcft Husbandmen and Gardeners, col- 1 Icffed as they have been by my own Labour | and Pains in my Paflage thro’ the beft Coun- tries for Husbandry in this Kingdom. And, that I might make them ftill the mote ufeful and intelligible to the Gentle- man and Gardener, I have endeavour’d to afligu the natural Realbn of Things to every Precepr, which will undoubtedly make the greater I'mpreffion on the Mind, and all Praffitioners will have the clearer Idea of what they are in every Refpedl: to do, for (as is already hinted in the firft Vblume) it is in Gardening and all other ingenious Amnfe- ments, as it is in Theology, Philofophy, &r. wherein Imprcziement cf arable Land. 13! \vlierein one Theme that is cleared by natural and rational Arguments (when agreeable to ’the Judgment of great Men) makes more Impreffion on the Mind, than many ' pcK fitive Precepts, which too often (to ufe the common ExprelBonJ go in at one Ear, and Out at the other j bat when the Nature and Heafon of the matter is clearly made cut, the Judgment is foon fix’d with Delight, and the Matter retain’d as long as Life it felf, or Memory is perfed or lafting. ' Thus, I have not thought it fufficient to fay pofitively, that fuch and fuch Compo- fures of Earth, Dang, or other Improve- iinents are proper for fuch and fuch Lands 5 ISut have from as plain Arguments, as the Nature of the Matter \VOu!d tear, and to the belt of my own Underftanding dcmon- ftrated why it is fo, and have endeavour’d to fiiew the Methods, by which Nature works its Effeds. , And, that I might proc&ed the better, I have firft faid fomething preparatory to the Irnprovement of Lands by ploughing them j the Nature of , all or moft of the Sorts of Land we abound with here in England, and their Improvements by Dung, or other Com- pofis, and by' fowing of Grafs-feed, And, to finilh all, added the particular Ufes and Virtues of ail, Sorts of Compoft, abftradediy confider’d with a Treatife of Seeds and Grain, that are to be Low’d in thefe our rural Plan-. L 2 tations Of ths Management, and rations and ViMi^ both for Profit and Plea- fure. This being premis’d, as the general De- fign of this Chapter ; let us now in Purfu- ance of our Defign, inquire into the Nature ofi the feveral Improvements we now makei ufc of in Eftglam for our Lands, w'hether Natural, or Artificial. By Natural I would be "underftood to mean the fimple Methods of Fallowing, Folding, and Dungings and by Artificial, the feveral Compofures of Earth, , ,Dung, and, which is ftill more furprizing, the Help that Lands receive from Gral’s-feeds and Vegetables. Both of them might be in- ileed included under one Head, but 1 pur- pofely divide them for the more Methodical Preceding in this Work. SECTION ir. Of the Natural Improvements of Land by the Plough, Spade, 6cc. TH E Original of this is without doubt, coeval with the World it lelf, being appointed by God Almighty for the Employ of Man after his unhappy Fall, and for the Redrefs of thofe Malignities that were in- flided on the Earth (.by God’s Command) for Man’s Difobedience ; and this being the firft of our natural Methods, I thought fit to Improvement of arable Land. 133 to place it here. And firft of Summer Fal- lowing. Of Summer faliowin^. This I call a Natural Way of improving Land, it being efFefted without the Addition of Artificial Comports, and Nature, with the fimple Application of Folding, renews the exhaurted Vigour of the Earth, by its being laid fallow all the Summer, where by the Dirtillation of the Rain and Dews that fall in Summer, and by the Joynt Operation of the Sun, Air, and Rain (but chiefly of the Sun as prime Agent) the Ground is as it were calcin’d , for the Effeft that attends all Lands thus fallowed I take to be this, that during the four hoc Months, fuch kind of Lands are expos’d to the continual burning Heat of the Sun, and in (bme Meafure heated as Chalk or Stone is in a Lime Kiln ; by which means the Crudities of the Earth are correded, and the firrt Rains that comes in Attgufi, make it fall to a Powder, as Chalk Or Lime ftone well burnt does, when Water is thrown rhereon, and that in the ftifteft and moft furly of all our Soils. And, tho’ at firrt Sight, there may be lome Reafon to think, that during the exccffive Heats, that reign in fbme hot Summers, the Juices and Vital Qjjaiities of the Earth may be thereby exhaurted ; yet we find the contrary by Ex<* L 3 perienee. 154 Of the Management, ani perience, and that the hottcft Summers are the greateft improvers of our fallowed Lands 3 and from this we may realon with our felves, that tho^. the attraftive Power of the Sun does undoubtedly drav/ up a confi- defabie Quantity of thofe Juices, yet there is an equah if not a fuperfluous Dimiffion of thofe Vapours again in the Nofturnal Dews, that are generally very great in Summer, efpecially afrer an hot Sultry Day ^ but by the Joint Operation of the Sun, Dews, together with the Ventilations of the Air, the Earth is fwcetened, the Crudities thereof txhaufted, or expelfd ^ and, by being burnt, and crumbled into Duft, as it were, receives with the greateil Eafe the refrefliing DiftiU lations of the Clouds in the Autumn (and, if I may fo call it, by the happieft Coition ima- ginable) impregnates the Womb cf the Earth, and fits it ior its beft Produftiens : And this is the Rcafon that our befl: Florifts now chufe fallow’d Land, thus managed, before the mgft elaborate and choiceft Arti-i ficial Compofuies for their fineft Flowers 5I and will teach ail that make heaps for that or any other cWit^e Exoticks or other Plants, that his not Dung that does their Work, but a proper Earth well ventilated and cabi cin’J ; and will ftrll farther inftruct them,! that have noc the Convenience of coming! to good fallowed Land, to fpread the Earth for their Flowers .very thin on the Ground, ImprCTjement cf arable Land. 135 in fome wafte faving Place ail the Suni,ate>^ Months, to correct and fweetcn it, as afore* faid ; and that ’tisnot theQaantity of Grofsi but the Qiiality of the moft refined Ju1ce» that is moft proper for the Prodnftions of Nature. Bat I am infenfibly carried into the Garden, I therefore return to obferve, that this Way of fallowing is more particularly beneficial to all lumpy, heavy Lands s and thofe Perfons that have a great deal of that Work to do, lliould firft begin on their coldeft, heavieft Lands, and afterwards pro- ceed to thofe that are lighter s and, indeed, whereas cold heavy Lands lliould be thus expos’d for three or four Months, half the Time v/ill ferve for lighter, and lome Earths are by Nature fo tradable, that they require no fallowing at all. It may be thought, that what I have been here advancing, may contradift what I have Taid in the firft Volume, in relation to the mixing and fpreading of Dung and Compoft over Lands, becaufe the Sun is apt to exhale the Juices thereof; but my Arguments on this Subjed, . relate chiefly to ftrong Lands ; and, as for Mixtures, or Dung, fimply confidered, fuch an Expofure would be very prejudicial, ; becaufe the Contexture of the Earth is fuch, ethat it will not retain the Juice fo well as oftrong Land will, and will be, by the attra- ydive Heat of the Sun,very much emaciated or ^ dried up, jiotwithftanding phe nodurnal Di- L 4 miffion ■ j 5^ Of the Vianagement^ and niiffionot Dews, &c. And 1 have the Au- thority of my Lord Vertilam on my fide in this Matter 145. Of his Natural Hijto- ry) where he advifeth the not fpreading Dung and Compoli: over Lands, till juft before they are ploughed. I have been the more particular on this, becaule I have oblerv’d, the Farmers in many Countries fpread it, or, at leaft, lay it in little fmall heaps on their Fields, perhaps five or ten Weeks before they plough it in ^ but this will be more proper to fpeak to hereafter. It would beneedlefs for me to fay much as to the Inftrumcnts with which this Work is done, as Ploughs and other Utenfils, they being already well known to moft Kufticks; and, befides, the fame is already done to my Hand by ^\r. Mortimer in his laborious ColIe~ Siions on Nusbandrj^ SECTION III. Of Winter Tallowing, The next Natural Improvement I ftiall mention is Winter-Fallowing, which: ■ in cold, heavy Lands, is as eflentral as the Spmmer Fallow, and the Refult is much the fame^ theSharpnefs of the Air in a froftyi ^Vinter mciioratiitg the Ground, us much as; ■' ' . ■ ‘ thpi Improvement of arable Land. 137 theintenfe Heat of the Sun in Sumraei', This fort of Work is of mighty Advantage to all Sorts of arable Lands, becaufe it Iweetens the Earth, kills the Weeds 5 and Land thup plough’d up and laid fallow all the Winter, is ready for any kind of Spring Crop : But in cold, heavy Lands it is certainly the word of Husbandry to omit it j (tho* we fee it too of- ten) and this is the reafon why all good Hus- bandmen in the Wood-land Countries, where the Ground is ftrong, lay their Ground they defign the next Year, for Barley, or any o- ther Spring Crop, Fallow : And to look a little while into our Gardens, we fee all good Gardeners, as foon as Michaelmas is turn’d, trenching their Ground, and laying it in Ridges (the Method of doing which, is • taught in thehrft Volume) for it is not only of great Advantage to the Ground, but it lies likewife more ready againft the Spring, and fitter to receive what Seed we intend to fow upon it ; and, as our Country Men phrafe it, it Ploughs, Harrows, and Rakes a great deal the better for it. The Country Farmer (hould, then, as foon as his Crop of Wheat is off, and the Herbage a little cut down Qviz.) as foon as Harveft and Wheat fowing is over, confi« der what ftifFLand he has, that he intends to fow in the Spring, and plough it up, but in as rough a manner as he pleafes. The Froft in the Winter will pierce the greateft Horfe- headed Lumps his Plough can throw up, and will, 15 8 Of the Management] and will, before Spring, reduce it into the fineft Dull: or Mold, whereby it will be fow’d, and harrowed with more eale, and is thereby in the faireft way of yielding a bountiful En- creafe. Before I go any farther, ’tis requiflte I fliould mention feme of the Sorts of flouglt- ing in ufe with us in Lands of different Con- textures.' Of Plough-trenching, I have alrea- dy fpoke, in the Choice of Soils in the be- ginning of this Book. Rafter Ploughing and Sowing under Furrow, is what needs (bme Explanation, there being little faid of it in any of our Ruftick Authors •, the firft is us’d in Lands, after they are burnt baked, as our Farmers term it, where they fet their Iron pretty fliallow, and plough one Furrow, and leave another whole: For, fay they, Ihould we plough our Ground throughly, the Afhes, which are the Spirit and Life of our Ground, would be all buried, and the Ground itfelf be ufelefs, and never the better for Baking, whereas this alternate Plough- ing and Harrowing afterwards mixes the Earth and Allies together, and they are not bu- ried as in the other common ways of Plough- ing they infallibly muft be. Ploughing and Sowing under Furrow is where the Ground is very light, and fandy, and that the Corn requires to be well cover’d, and this is ufual in I’uch Lands in Peale, and Oats, and fome- times even Barley and Wheat, But, to pro- Improvement of arable Land. 13^ ceed, to heavy Lands, let us take a fliort View how the Dhlblution of them is effeft- ed. We muft oblerve, that next to Heat, (nay, I may ftv, equal to Heat) there is nothing more piercing than Air in a clear frofty iSiight, and therefore it is no wonder, if it works the fame Effefts as Heat does , for^ ’tis very certain, that Heat, and Cold have a virtual Tranfition without Communication of their Subftances fin every thing but Plants and Animals) in Relation to each other, and. that the Air caufes this Dillclution purely of itfclf (at lead with very little affiftance from Heat and Moifture) condens’d and frozen ftrft, and afterwards relax’d by its own genial Warmth, with none, or very little, help from the Sun : And it is obfervable, that the drier and finer the Air is (as is the cafe of clear frofty Weather) the more fubtle and per- fpiring it is, I have already in the firft Vo- lume faid fomewhat of the husky piercing Winds in March, and how prejudici- al they are to the milky emulgent Fibres of a newly planted Tree, which will fliflici- ently convince any Perfon that takes notice of it, how deep Air will penetrate into the Earth 5 and, tho’ this pure refined frofty Air we are fpeaking of be not fo piercing as that dry husky Air is, yet it is much more natu- ral, as being firft: much finer, and befides actuating with much more Moderation •, for whoever examines . the Origin and Violence ' of i4o Of the 'Management^ and. of March Winds, will find them to be owing to a more violent Caufethan pure frofty Air is •, bur, to take our leave of this ftricSt Enqui- ry, leaft it lead us too far out of the way, ’tis by means of this open Expofure in the Winter, that our molt furly Lands are cor- redfed, and it therefore keeps the Husband- man under the greateft Necefiify of ufing his Ground after this manner ; and both of thefe f allowings are of that Benefit in Gardens and plantations, that the Diredions relating thereto, ought to be writ in Charafters ol" Gold, for that ’tis the common Method that is taken of breaking up Ground and planting it immediately, that occafions very much of the ill Succefs of Planting and Gardening, as well as Husbandry ; the Earth being oft times (I might fay always) four and undigeftedj and no wonder if the new planted Tree, or new low’d Seed does not thrive, but if he doesftrike Root at all, looks in a very ftar- ving Condition;' and ’tis ten to one if ever he makes a good Tree, except the Ground be naturally very good, which does not gene- rally happen. Let that Perlbn, therefore, that has a mind to plant or to fow either Maft or Corn, or to plant large Trees, confider what time of the Year he intends to do it ; if at Uidaelmas, or fome little time after, then plough the Ground, or prepare the Holes wherein his Trees are to ftand in, viz. the latter end of A^ril, Impro'oement of at able Land. 141 April, or the beginning of May, or, indeed? any part of that Month will do : Thus let it lie all the Summer, but if it be in heaps of Eafth, and lies thick, turn it as often as yoa can. In like manner, if you are to fow or plant in the Spring, ufe the fame Method, be it either for Foreft Trees, Acorns, Corn, or any other Garden-like, and Foreft Improve- ments. For to conclude this View, this Ex- pofure, does not only diffoivc the Lumpynefs of the Earth, and correft the Sournefs and Crudity thereof, but (as all Philofophers own) there is both in the Sun and Air a ni- trous and fulphurous Matter, which is of particular Ailment in the Growth and En- creafe of Vegetables, Trees, &c. And this is very diftoverable both in fappy, juicy, or fucculent Plants, call them which you will j that tho‘ they are out of the Earth, by the help of Air and Sun only will for fome con- liderable time grow and fprout, fuch are Oni- ons tyed up to a Stick, &c. and amongft the Exotics, the Aloes, Cereus’s, &c. which, not- withftanding their being out of the Earth, readily obey the Diftates of Nature, and if they have Air or Heat, fprout out and grow. Chap. 14^ the Management ^ and C H A P. II. S E C T I O N IV. Cf Earths and their Improvement. g(!53(!asS3C!5Q® T will not be expefted, I pre- § § that I Ihould in this Ex- I plication o^ Earths and their "" ' run intonhe Charafte- riflicks of Earth, but only ftick clofe to thole that this Country common- ly abounds in, be they Sands, Clajs, or other black Pafture and arable Lands, compound^ ed of LoamC and Sand ^ of Sand and Loame; cr of Clays mix’d with either, as they were temper’d or fram’d, and as they are to be found promifcUoulTy fcatter’d and difpos’d^ by the great Author of the Univerfe in the Formation of the World (or as they were coflfufediy hurl’d together, by the violent Agitation of the Waters in the univerfa! De- Bur, before I proceed to the feveral Kinds of Earth wherewith we abound, it will be peceliary I Ihould define the natural good Qualities thereof, and how they are difcove- rable by fight, fineil, and touch j but above a!], and that which few of our moft elaborate Chymifts Improvement of arable Land. 145 Chymifts have toucbt upon, its Weight, is as lure Indication ot its Goodnefs, as any of the aforc-mentioned, as containing therein great quantity of Nitre, and other folid Ma- terials that give it Ligature and Ponderofity,' and render it fit for- the Produftion of Corn, Trees, Plants, and other Vegetables of all Sorts, ufeful for human Life, or the Refrelh- ments of it, and firft by fight; - I can’t think- it fufficient to believe, with fome'of the Antieots, that blackilh Grounds are Cold and Dryi ; for whete-ever there is mixture of Sand, ' the? c?brttrary evidently appears : Or that k’lfhot and choleric Grounds are red or brown y ' that cold and moift are always v/hitiflv or hot, and moift, ruddy^ Thefe participate of thefe ftveral (Qualities, as they are more or lefs mix’d' with a fandjv gravelly, or arenacious, or oft the contrary with heavy and clayey, lumpy, or fluggifh Materials ; or as they are many times tin^u- red and dhcdoured by ftanding Water, or Rains, by Exhalations from Minerals, the beat of the Sun, or other Accidents ; Molds of a lively Chefnut are the beft, of which Colour are the beft Loames, and alfb the beft natural Earths 5 next that, dark Grays and Ruflet : the light and dark Alh Colour are the very word, being fuch as are found on common heathy Ground : The clear Tawny is by no means commendable, but the yel- Ibwilh Red is the word of all, as they are like- Y44 Of the Management, and likewife found in the wild and wafte Parts of the Country, and generally produce nothing but Gorze, Furze^ or Fern, as their Bottoms are more or lefs of a light and fandy, or of a fpewy Gravel or clayey Nature. All good arid wholfome Lands will like- wife after Rain, or the breaking up by the Spade or Plough, emit a good Smell, fo, that ’tis well known our Phyritians recommend it as conducive to Health, and to the recovery of Strength to Con- fumptive Bodies : On the contrary . (for I have particularly tryM in the Fens of Liticolfijhire') when you break up any of thofe Grounds, where the Waters are ftagnated, there will come forth fuch a Stench, as one is hardly able to bear ; but Earth likewife re- ceives this badnefs of Smell from fome Mine- ral or Metallic Quality, that lies in the fubfid- ing Beds and Strata of the Earth, and are drawn up by the attradlive Power of the Sun. And we may generally obferve, ’tis in thefe Places, Wood Timber, or even our fmaller Herbage and Vegetables never flourifh to any degree of Perfe^ion. There may be many other Caufes of the ill Scent and Difcolour of Earths, as where thefe Mineral, Metallic, or Stagnated Waters, by means of their fuperi- our Level and Verticity, break out and ex- pend themfelves quite thro’ the Neighbour- hood, tainting the Earth where-ever it pafles, and leaving behind thofe difmal Marks of Sterility Improvement of arabk Land. 145 Sterility and Difcolour : By breaking up and fwelling to the Earth, we may then judge of its Qualities, and by carrying of thole Springs by Drains, ^c. and expofing the Earth it felf to the Ventilations and other Emunda* tions of the Sun and Air, it may in time be fweetned and ftript of thole unwhollbme Ef^ fluvia, that render it loathfome to the Ani- mal, as well as Vegetable Part of the Cre- ation. Another Proof of good Mold, is by the touch, or handling, by which we dilcover whether it confifts of Subftances, entirely arenaceous, or clammy ; or, as Mr. Evelyn exprefles it, whether it be tenera, fat- ty, deterfive, or flippery, or more harlh, gritty, porous, or friable ; that being always beft, which is between the two Extrearas, and not containing the two different Qiialities of foft and hard mix’d, of churlilh and mild, of moilt and dry; not too unftuous nor too lean, but fuch as will eafily diffolve, of a juft Con- liftence between Sand and Clay, and fuch as will not flick to the Spade or Fingers upon every flalhofRain. In a Word, as Mr. Eve- lyn has it, that is the beft Earth in all Senfes, that is of a blackifh Gray (or I rather affirm, a lively Chefnut, or Hazel Colour) cuts like Butter, flicks not obftinately, but is Ihorf, tolerably light, breaking into fmall Clods, is Iweet, will be temper’d without crufting, M or 1^6 Of the Management, and or chapping in dry Weather, or turning to Mortar in wer. • As for the feveral Parts of which Earth is compos’d ([ mean thofe relating to Vegeta- tion) ’tis certain they are but few; the Earth ftript of its fertile Principles, being no other than the Bed or Couch, wherein they He after their firft Lodgment and Impregna- tion, fince 'tis apparent, that the Earth is not all Saif, Nitre, or call it which you will, but that all abound with it, feme more, and fome Jefs ; and the Earth fimply confidered, may be divided into two Parts ^ that which is gritty, porous and crumbling, that which is vifeous or clammy. And I muft confefs my felf at a lofs to find how Mr. Evelyn fuppo-. fes that Clarominefs is an Accidental, ra- ther than a Conftitutive Part of Earthy fince the Glutinofity of Clay does without doubt proceed from the fame Time and Caufe, as the locfe arenaceous and po- rous of Sand 5 it being thofe, and only thofe two Principles, in relation to touch, that properly belong to the Head we are on. The proper Apellation of thofe other clear, fandy, or cryftalline Parts, which are by all acknowledged to be theNutritive Parts, when 1 by the Diftillations of Rain and Water, and by the approach of the Fibres of the Tree, they liquate and run, and arc either joyn’dJ to, or more properly are carried thro’ the In- terftice? ' Improvement of drahle Land. 147 terftices and Pores of the Plant, by the Order of Nature, or fhe attractive Power of the Sun. Mr. Ei elyn calls it Salt, or Nitre, whilft Mr. Woodward is forry he can’t fubfcribe to .it ; being pofitive from Experience, that Salt and Nitre, are in their own Natures entirely (deftrudive to Vegetation; But this Gentle- man’s Miftake feems to be as to the Qjtan- tity that is us’d 5 whereas, were it to be light- ly ftrow’d over the Ground we Ihould foon perceive it give a new Vigour and, Ferment to it: On the contrary, it mud be own’d, that where-ever it is fpread thick it deftroys all near it ; yet after this, when the Vigour and Heat is abated, and thofe Principles come to their Original Tone, Vegetables fpring up much more freely than before 5 and this is evident to thofe, who by Pot Alhes, or Fiery and Nitrous Waters, endeavour to deftroy Weeds, Worms, in their Grafs and Gravel-walks. But, let us fee how earneflly Mr, Evelyn contends for this Application; the Salts (fays he) entice the Roots to afFed the upper and faline Surface of the Earth, upon w'hich the Rains and Dews defcend. ’Tis Salt which makes all cover’d and long lliaded Earths fertile, and renders the Dung of Pigeon, Poultry, and other falacious Corn fed Birds fo eminently effe- Auak M a ’Tis 14S Of the Management, and ’Tis Salt that gives luch Vigour to Places fpi inkled with Urine, Soot, Aflies, ^c. ’Tis Salt which refulcitates the dead and ‘ mortified Earth, when languifhing and fpent by her Indulgence to her Verdant Of-spring, ’Tis Salt which renders Egypt fo luxurioufly fruitful, after the Inundations of the River Nile, and the nitrous Grounds of Jamaica, and other Places which caufe fiich a ftupen- dous Growth of Plants and Trees< This, and much more of this has this in- genious Gentleman urg’d in behalf of this Principle; but I am lenfible I have digrefs’d a little from the methodical Purfuit of what I propos’d, tho’ under thofe Heads it was pro- per to fay fomething of this likewife. Of the feveral Sorts of Earth, See. What I next propofe to inquire into, is the particular Nature of moft Sorts of Earth, that England abounds with, both for the ufe of the Spade and Plough. And here I would premife, that one and the fame kinds of Earth is alter’d in its own Nature, and require more or left Culture and Improvement, ac- cording to the Nature of the lubfiding Bodies on which they lye ; feme of thefe being fuch, ^ as has been bfore-mentioned, as draw off their Juices too faff, whilft others are fo te- nacious of Rain, as to change their very Conllitutions, and alTume the very Nature? Improvetnent of arable Land. 1 4p of thofe that lye under them: Thus do we • often fee Clay turn every thing near it into its own Nature, whilft Barren, as avariti-. ou% devour thofe Earths, that either Art or Nature has made prolific. The firfl: Kind of Earth that I would- {peak of, and which indeed in refped: of its Goodnefs, requires little Help or Improve- ment, is Loame or Brick Earth , it being ftrong in its own Nature, and needs little more than the Spade or Plough ( either for the Gardener or Husbandman) to bring it into Order and Culture. This is the very beft of our Wheat Land 3 and this in all Sorts of Compofures of Earth, the Gardener or Florifts efteems the beft, as being of a clofe and Butter-like Contexture, that is, perfect as to fmell, tafte and hand- ling, and has in Ihort all the good Properties we have lately affign’d to good Earth : But this, as is already hinted, requires (except it be where it abounds much with Sand) a Fallowing, and if for Corn, one Years reft in four or five, and a folding of Sheep to give it new Vigour and Ferment. If you fow it then with Wheat, it ought to have a Summers Fallow: if with Barley f which is a Spring lowing) a Winter Fallowings except it be a mild Loame, and much inclin’d to Sand, which I would more properly call (and fo I lhall fpeak by and by of it) Sand or fan- dy Loatjie, or the very beft of Sands. To M 3 finifh 15° Of the Management, dni finifh what I have to fay on this, I mean as to its Improvement, as it is a fort of Land that requires no Subftance, being neither eat up nor emaciated by rough Clays nor barren Lands j its Refrefliment, when ever it v/ants, needs to be only good in Quality ; and as to the Quantity, little will lerve. Sheeps Dung, orthe^olding of Sheep, as is already men- tion’d, is the moft excellent Improvement for it; butindefeft of that, fince ’tis impoffible any Farmer or Husbandman Ihould have enough for all his Land of that fort of Manure, except his Pafture very much exceeds his ara- ble Land, I would therefore propofe fome Manures, which I have try’d in Gardening, and think the propereft for the Refrefnment of thefe kind of Lands, which, notwithftanding" their natural Heartinefs, w'ill yet in time, by over much Ploughing and Sowing wafte and decay. Be provided then with a good Ma- gazine or Leftal of Earth, compos’d as fol- lows ; three Loads of Lime to one of Coal Afhes ; four of clean Horfe Dung, one of Sea Sand, if to be procured, or elfe Sand from the wallaing of Hills, throw them all together into a Pit, Stratum upon Stratum^ and after they are well rotted and foak’d to- gether, turn them over three or four times, and they will be excellent for the Reinvigora- fion of this, or any other Tired Land^ the Land having then laid Fallow all Summery a little before Ploughing for the Crop, lay it Improvement cf arable Land. 1 51 on the Land; 5'o or 60 Load on an Acre will be fufficient, and none need doubt, but this will give due Vigour to it 5 and,what I would always be glad to be underftood to mean, when I fpeak of Improvement of Land,a new Ferment to this Tired Land. There be thofe that fcarce ever give thefe kind of Lands any Reft ; but this is too fevete, fome of thefe will hold very well four Crops, or perhaps five but I think no body ought to go beyond this . However, every body may be govern’d by the Strength and Goodnefs of their Land, which is fometimes better, and fometimes worle. The Change of Crops in this Land is likewife as requifice as in others 5 not only of Seed fetch’d from other Places, but alio a Change every Year as to its Kind, Wheat, Bar- ley and Oats are what generally follow one an- other^ but even this Method fhould be alter’d. Since ’tis now allow’d by all, that there are fe- veral Sorts of Juices in one fort of Land, that every particular Plant aflumes to it Celt, and delights in, thus we fee, after a piece of Ground has bore Wheat oneYear,tho’itbrought a very good Crop that Year, yet another Year it fliall be very poor, or at leaft by no means equal to what itwas theYear before; and yet Barley, or any other Grain will be as luxu- rious and ftrong,as if there had been no Crop on that Land the Year before i and the next Year, Oats, Vetches, Peafe, or Beans (if the , Groun4 naturally ftrong) and fo on. Which M 4 Ihows, 152 of the Management, and fliows, that tho’ the Juices particular to one Sort of Crain be drawn off one Year, yet other Sorts of Grain find fome likewife pro- per to them, &c. what has been faid as to the way of Change in Cropping, may be alfb faid of Manure, in which a Husband- man lliould never ufe one and the fame Method. Let Sheep Folding fupply for once, the Compofition before defcrib’d, and another time the Compofition of Blood, Urine, d^c. that will be found elfe- where prefcrib’d, it would be ill Husbandry to turn thefc very good Lands into Grafs.^ And before 1 leave this, I would note, that there are fome Kinds, at firft breaking up, too rich for Wheat, and fliould for that rea- fon have a Crop of Horfe Beans, and alfo of Peafe (perhaps the better Kind) to abate their Vigour. Of the fame,or near a Kin to thefe, are the richeft Clays, tho’fometimes of a more dusky Hue and Colour, for the Chryftalline and Ni- trous Particles, tho’ not lefs abounding in this than in the other richer Molds and Loames as to outward Appearance 5 are yet fo lock’d up and invefted in their lumpy and furly Beds, which are as fo many Prifons and Cells, to confine them from the liberty of ading their Parts in the Bufineft of Vegetation, till they are unlock’d by the intenfe Heat of the Sun in Summer, or Improvement of arable Lancf. 155 by the rigorous Cold of the Winter, fecond- ed by Rains and Dews, which relax the Firm- nefs of its Parts, and by a natural and eafy Kind of Calcination, make thofe Lumps crum- ble into the fineft Duft or Mold. But there are feveral ways to bring thefe ftifF Grounds to Tillage, fince when they are firft broke up out of a common Pafture, or have laid unplough’d for a Year or two j this common Method of Tilling by a Sum- mer or ' Winter Fallow will not do, the Husbandmen in Part Buckjfighjmflnre^ Sec. where thofe Lands are in great Plenty, give them the ordinary Method of fallowing, and then low them wit h Horfe Beans,and in other Parts of Berf^jhire and Hamffliire with Peafe ; and this is a good Method to bring it in- to Tillage. I lhall not in this Paragraph Ipeak of many of the very furly Clays we meet with in feveral Places; fome of them when they are new broke up, re- quiring at leaft three, and fometimes four Plowings, (^bis Frigora) two Winters to bring them into Order, this being what I fltall treat of with their Management and Culture in the next. As for the changes of Corn Ma- nure, what was Ipecified in the firft Divifion of Earth will be proper in this, without very much Variation, there being little Difference in them, but the Colour both of them abounding with a happy Equa- 154 Management^ ant lity of landy Vifcous and Chryftalline Par- ticles. We come next to the ftifiell: and fourefl: of our Clays, in which, notwichftanding the terrible Epithet they carry along with them, are lodg’d great Qiiantity of Saline Particles, were the Beds in which they lie, with due Labour and feafonable Management, reduc’d into a proper friable Temper ^ but there is bcfides this, a Sournefs, which is very inju- rious to Grain, that is, the Natural bad Qiia- lity of thefe Kind of Lands ; a good Expo- fure to the Air does well here, and there are, who to reduce thefe Grounds into Tillage, quickly are for Burning or Devonfliiring them ; but this by honeft painful Husbandmen and thoft who have a regard to Pofterity, or the real Benefit of their Landlords, is not reckon’d a good way, neither will it hold fo long, nor carry fo many Crops as what I am going to advance in its room, and which is the laft, and ought to be nolefs the Care of every honeft Man. The grazing Part, when thrown up, will not be fo good, even tho’ it is Town with Grafs Seeds, which, Ibme pre- tend, will attone for the fevere Ufage fucU Ground has met with. In Countries where Chalk is to be had if it be for reducing into Culture, un- plough’d Grounds, or for the Improvement of thefe that have been feveral times plough’d, as focn as ever Wheat Seafon is over, and " 'i'eams Improvement of arable Land. 155 Teams at liberty, give a Chalking, and a Winter Fallow ; no matter which of them you do firft ^ tho’ perhaps Ploughing may be beft, becaufe Chalking may be done in frofty Weather, when Ploughing can’t : Here let it lie as rough as you pleafe for the Winter, to mollify the Clods, and to help and reduce the Chalk Stones. And here I muft remark, that the Chalking of any Land, is better at MichuU mas than in the Spring Quarter ; for the Dry- nefs of the Summer, is apt to fet the Chalk fo hard, that it will not eafily diflblve. This way of Chalking, is, however, an excellent Manure for all four, furly Lands, nothing in Nature of Improvements being fweeter ; and as it is alfo Heating, it will ftill add a Warmth tothefeKind of Lands. But, to proceed, here let it lie till Spring, at which time plough it croft-ways, and this will tumble and mix the Chalk and Earth together ; the Chalk will by the fevere Winter Frods be Ihaken to pieces,' but if it be a violent ftubborn Clay, which the Owner may readily perceive, I Ihould not advife bis thinking of Planting, or Sow- ing it this Spring, but let it lie fallow like- wife the Summer, left by endeavouring to crop it ftho’ it be with Beans, Peafe, Tur- nips, it return to its firft Nature ; but if you ihould think proper to crop, you muft Plough it a third time in March : However, I rather advife the letting it be low, till she Showers reduce it into a better Tem- ' ‘ ■■ per 15^ Of the Management, and per ftill ^ and then, if it be not the mnft in- corrigible Clay,you may think of it for Beans, C^c. and the next Year give it Winter Fal- low, and fow it with Barley ; after that it will carry Wheat, becaule then the Chalk will be come to the height of its Improvement : And thefe Lands will alternately carry Crops of different Kinds for five, fix, or feven Years, whereas Burnt-baking will at beft laft but three or four. And as throwing up is good for nothing, with the laft Crop you fow, may be mix’d Clover, which is an excellent Im- provement of thofe tenacious Lands. I know what I have faid on this Head, is a kind of Invedive againft burning of Lands,as it ener- vates and deft toy 8 very much of thofe Juices, which are the proper Aliment and Spirit of Vegetation, and nothing can be faid in its Juftification, but that it brings Land into Tillage much eafier and cheaper than the other Method does. But in cafe that Chalk can’t be had, then a due Expofure for two Winters and one Summer, at leaft,muft fupply thisDe- fedf. During the Courfe of thefe fix or feven Years this Land is kept in Tillage, it ought, above all Things, to be fallowed in the Win* ter,tho’ it cannot be in the Summer (perhaps) left it return to its own furly Nature ^ but this I have urg’d tlfewhere, as a Method the tnoft conducive ofall,to theRedu&ion of thefe Kind of Earths, or Clays. And what will add very much to the good Produdfion of thefe lmproy>efnent of araUe Land. thefe Grounds, will be fuperficial Dreffirigs (if it can be)of MaltDuft’,WoodAllies,and fuch other Dreflingsjwhich Ilhall eliewherere com- mend for being by Nature fluggilh and un- adiVCi Thefe Dreffings will give it a new Ferment and Aftivity ; and Experience tells ns, how much this does that way. The fe- veral Changes I have heretofore mention’d* are likewife very proper in this, as well as in other Lands. Grain of different Sorts, pro- cured from different Places, will ftill have their natural Goodnefi and Largenefs : And in fliort, thefe ftrong Clays, if fbwn with Wheat or Barley, if they have a Winter fal- low, and are fuperficially cover’d over with any of our Afhes, and other Volatile Com- pofures and hot Dungs, as Pidgeons, will produce in as great Perfeftion as many other Lands, that appear of a more natural and genuine Conftitution. It would be of excellent Advantage to all thefe Kind of Lands, if in their rough Fallows there could be Quantities enough of Sea Sand, or Coal Afhes, or Pidgeon’s Dung j this would fb me- liorate the lumpifh Quality of it, and would fall in with the Ruins of the Lumps, that the Groundwould work as fine as anyGardenjand 50 or 40 Loads will be fufficient in an Acre of the worft Lands of all ; the Fiercenefs of thofe Improvements will thus be taken off,and the Ground it felf reduc’d to a Flower 5 for this we fee by Experience in our Gardens, w here 158 Of the Management y and where we ufe them more plentifully thatl in our Fields, The next Earths we (hall fpeak of, are Ruflet Grays, or Pafture, blackjlh Molds, as they are of a Temper between Loame, .Clay and Sand, and are in their own Nature ioofe, and friable, and need lefs Culture, (tho’ more Manuring) than any of the Fore- going, and thefe differing in their refpe- fbive Goodnefs and Ufe, as they are higher or lower fituared, and as they are more or lefs advantag’d by Water, which is the greateft Improvement to thefe Kind of Landsi *tis on thefe that Corn is eafieft propagated on Up-lands,, and ’tis on thefe that in Lower- lands, as in the Levels, and Hoilandilh Parts ,of Cambridge, Lincoln, and Tork^fhtre, that we have the rich Produces of Lime, Hemp, Coal, &c, and which, if continued only in Pafture, is in thefe Countries worth ly or 20 Shillings /er Acre, and fometimes more j but when fow’d with thofe Kinds of Seeds, juft mention’d, has to my own particular Know- ledge produc’d 12, I y and 20/. Acre, all Expences paid 5 but of this, more in its pro- per Place. Of thofe Ruflet Gray Earths there are two kinds, one that is very ftrong, lumpy and heavy, and the other that is lighter, and more approaching the Nature of Sand. The firft Kind muft be us’d, as is already taught, for Clays, and Summer fallowing for Wheat, Improvement of arable Land, t Wheat, and Winter for Barley are of excel- lent ufe ^ as for Peafe, Beans, and Oats, they are Grains that require the leaft Prepara- tion of any that the Husbandman lows, and are indeed a kind of Tillage them- felves, by reducing Grounds to a proper Temper, and the Grounds may remain rough, as if they were juft fallow’d, and yet produce thofe Crops. About Fifty or Sixty Load of Sea Sand, Cole Allies, or Pigeons Dung will be a good fimple Ma- nure for it 5 or you may make ufe of the Compofition I have before prefcrib’d for Clayey Grounds, but what are of mighty Advantage for all thefe kind of Lands, are the Superficial Dreffings of Malt Duft, Cole Allies, Wood and Straw Afhes, Pigeons Dung, &c. laid on upon your Corn in Ja- nuary., February or March, after the Crop is fow’d ; becaufe it gives new Spirit, Life and Vigour to the Grain and Ground likewife. And this Ihould never beneglefted to Ground, that is any ways poor, and has not been ma- nur’d before fowing. But the chief of thefe Soils I am upon, and on which I intend to enlarge the moft, are thofe that are by Nature light 5 becaufe, tho’ they are eafier brought into Tillage than other Lands, yet are they fooner wore out, and will confequently require more and oftner Applications to redrefs them. As "166 Of ihe Management^ and As for Summer or Winter fallowing, there is not that Occafion here, as there is in heavier Lands ; and, if they are very light, need not to be fallowed at all, it being obierv’d by Husbandmen, that they produce Abundance of Weeds, as Charnock, after fuch an Expoflire ^ when ever you have a Mind then to plow fuch Lands, if they want dungings be provided of large Leftals of fuch Dungj Earths, d^c. as can be got at hand, always remembring, what I have in the firft Volume affirm’d, that Dung and Earth mix’d together are much more advantageous to the Improve- ment of Lands than Dung us’d feparately, for the Reafons there affign’d , and I muft urterly condemn the Method fome of our Country Men take of fpreading their Durig in little heaps all over their Land, for that the Sun exhaufts and eradicates the Salt and Fertility thereof, by its long Expofure in the Summer Months, and is indeed fo dry’d, as not to retain any Virtue at all. For Lands of this Kind take, then, the fol- lowing Compofitions j one Load of rotten Dung ^ one Load of Lime ^ one of the Shovelling of Streets, and half a Load of Cole Afhes, Pigeons Dung, or Sea Sand ; or, in Default of that, the wafliing of Hills. And if araongft tliefe there are mix’d half a Load or any Quantity, in Proportion, of Garden Sweepings, of the Leaves and Trafh of Trees, the Guts and Garbage of Beafts and Fowl, Im'proveTft&M of arable LdnU.. i6t of Pot-Aflies, Old Hags, &c. it will in three or four Months, and by often turning make excellent Manure 5 about 60 or 8 6 Loads will be fjfficient for an Acre, and you may here- on fow what you pleafe j but our general Method in this,as in all other Lands isChange, If thefe Ruffet Gray Earths lie low, and the Water run round them, or thro’, by Ditches and Carriages, as we term them, then they are excellent for Coal, Hemp and Flax, and will bring in more Money than Corn will. The firft Year, then, after the Ground is new broke up, or newly Dung’d and Manur’d, low it with Hemp, Flax, or Coal Seed 5 and after that, you may fow Oa"s, Barley, or Pulfe, and Wheat allb, if it be naturally good Land ; for thole other Seeds are great Drainers and Decay ers of the Salt and Nitrous Parts of Land ; fo that ex- cept the Ground is very good, or one can fpare a little Compoft to re-invigorate it, one would never fow Wheat ; for the Com- pofts for thefe lower wet Lands, tho’ they are loofe, ought to be of a more lively Nature, than thofe that lie high ; for which, then, take as follows (ziz.) one Load and a half of Sea Sand, Coal-Aflres, Pigeon, or Sheep’s Dung : One Load of good rotten Dung : And half a Load of the Shovelling of Streets, Pond Earth, or the like; Add to thefe, a quarter of a Load of Pot- Aflies,or any other of thole Kind of Simples, that I have N capitU' 1^2 Of the Management^ ani capitulated 'above a fimple Manure ; for thofe low Lands is likewife Chalk, as Lime, Marie, and Loame are for thofe that lie higher and farther from Water 5 for which I alio recommend (where all thofe Simples can’t be procur’d) Lime and Pond Earth mix’d together, if the Ground be very light ; as allb Loame and Marie, by. them- lelves, of which more in their proper Places fuperficial Dreffings are likewife very good here. The next and laft Earths I fliall mention, are fandy Loames, or more barren and loofe Sands. Now as fandy Loams are feme of the very beft Lands, and the eafieft reducible in- to Tillage, they will require the Icfs Confi- deration, *tis fufficient for them that they are Plough’d juft as they are to be Sown, for the fame Reafons I have juft now allign'd to the loofe Gray Ruffets j for Loamy Sands, or Brick Earths, that are thofe where the Loame is predominant j thefe have been already con- fider’d, and thefe will produce in their re- fpeftive Changes all Sorts of Grain ; as alfo all our Garden and Culinary Seeds, as Peafe, Beans, Carrots, Turnips and Parfnips, and have little occafion of Manure and Reft, but once in four or five Years at moft 5 after, then, they have Sown this Kind of Ground for two or three Years with the fucceffive garden Crops of Peafe, Beans, then the Ground be Sown afterwards with Wheat, Barley I Improvement of arahle Lan^. i jand Oats, bccaufe this Ground being by Na- iture very rich (too rich Indeed for Corn, and [would make it run all to Straw) the Gar- iden Crops will draw off the fuperabundant , Luxury thereof, and make it more fit for the [other Produfts of Corn. But as thefe Grounds as well as others will decay, fomein five or fix, and others in fe- ven, eight or nine Years, *tis reafonable to give then fome Reft, or fome Manure. The iManures that are proper for them, and which will naturally impart a Blackilhnefs, are Dungs well temper’d, mix’d and blended with Earth, of a pretty equal Temper, not too hot nor too cold j after the following Man- ner, one Load of rotten Horfe Dung, a quar- ter of a Load of Lime, a quarter of a Load of Pidgeon and Sheep’s Dung, a quarter of a Load of Cow’s Dung, and a quarter of a Load of Sea Sand, half a Load of Marie, and half a Load of fmall Chalk, if they are to be had, or Chalk and Marie mix’d together are very good, or Chalk or Marie feparate, a* bout loo Load of the firft, and 70 of the laft5 for that Marie us’d in too great abundance, will be of ill Confequence to thefe Kinds of Lands, as making them too luxurious, which would be, and is a great Fault in all Lands, as too lean making every thing that grow s in it, run all to Hawmj and tho’ it may feem a kind of a Paradox, yet, I dare affirm, there / N 2 are 1^4 Management, and nre almoft as many ordinary Crops raifcarry by this means as the other. Another great Improvement of thefe Kinds,, and indeed all Sorts of Lands, are Turnips 5 for that after the Vigour of the Ground is wafted, or the Ground is, as we fay, tired, a Crop of Turnips fow’d thereon, and Win- ter-fed with Eeafb, or Sheep (as we ftall hereafter fpeak more largely) will migh- tily refreflt, and by Ploughing in the Offal, you may the next Spring fow it with Bar- ley, Oats, and any other Grain. French Wheat or Vetches, is what one would make the laft of all ones Crops, before the Sowing it over again is re-aflum’d with Garden Stuff, or Corn; on the Vetches may be baited Horfes, on the French, Cows, whilft it is green 5 and as they trample upon Dung very much, they improve, and by the natural Heat of their Bodies, as they lie, do cherifti the Ground in an unconceivable Manner 5 and when they have eat, and bask’d about it, then may the Remainder be plough’d in, which is indeed of it felf naturally' a very great Iim prover, but much more with thefe Auxilia- ries. ' ^ The laft Kinds of Earth I lliall mention, are poor Lands, be they either Sand, or Na- tural Mold, (hallow as they are, and dripp’d of all their Natural Principles, by too muchi Ploughing and Sov/ing,or as they are robb’d by their rapacious Subftitntes, and Under- Improvement of arable Land. 1^5 Layers of Gravel, Sand, Clay, or Chalk ^ anJ theft of all others require an annua! or bien- nial, at leaft a triennial Relief by Compoft, or other Artificial Improvements j and, be- cauft theft Kinds of Earth are very numerous and extenfive, the Husbandman ought, by all poffible means to apply his Thoughts to find out great Quantities and great Varieties of Improvements, either Simple, Compound, or Natural. And the firft I lhall mention a- mongft the Simples is Chalk, if the Ground lie upon a Clay, or Marie, if on a Rock, or fandy, or gravelly Bottom, or as either of them are more lightly or heavily difpos’d, or requires the contrary Qualities of Heat and Cold ; but as theft two Improvers' are not always eafy to be procur’d, the Husbandman muft ftretch his Confiderationyet farther, and procure good Qtiantities of Manure, for ’tis dry barren Land, of which generally moft Farms and Eftates are compos’d ,• and becauft in theft fhallow Kinds of Land, there is Sub- ftance wanting, we ought to take care to fleece and pick up all the Mold we poffibly can out of the High-ways, and other publick and uftlefs Places and Corners, allowing at leaft 160 Load to an Acre : Let our Compo- fition be then twoLoadofTurffy Earth, col- lefted as above ; one Load of Pond Earth, or the ftouring of Ditches; two Load of rot- ten Horfe Dung, half a Load of Cow’s Dung, half a Load of Hog’s Dung, half a N I " Load j66 Of the Management] an3. Load of Lime 5 all thefe being well blended, mix’d and incorporated together, will make a fubftantial, excellent Manure ; and to this Compofition may likewife be added, the Gar- bage of Poultry, Sweepings of the Houfe, the Trafh and Leaves of the Garden, or any other Refufe ; and this will laft three or four Years, whilft you Reap or Mow the feveral Crops of Wheat, Barley and Oats ; and then you muft think of refting it a Year, or elfc throwing it up to Grafs $ and if the Country naturally produces Chalk, Loame, or Marie ; either of them will be a proper Manure for once, by which means you have one or two, or perhaps three or four Changes : And if the Country abounds with Sheep, then a Fold- ing for another, and laft of all Compofts of Sea Sand and Lime mix’d together, and laid in a Pit, as fhall be hereafter direfted, will make an excellent Dreffing. I had almoft forgot to adviie what I have elfewhere brie- fly intimated ; that you ought by no means to omit the fearching the Nature of your Ground below by Digging, for ’tis ten to one but you meet with ftveral Kinds of Earth and Clays, yet the Bowels of your Land, be it never fo poor, that will be of great life and Improvement to the Surface, fince there are few, very few Clays that do not contain a good deal of Vegetative Salt in them, and being untry’d and frelh, will yield both Sub- ft^nce and Spirit to your worn out and ex- haufted Improvement cf arable Land. 1^7 haufted Lands, as I have before- mention’d in the Cafe of my Friend, that digg’d only a Saw-pit in one corner of his Field, and there found a coarfe, rough fort of Earth and Clay, which nevertheleft fertiliz’d his Land in a very great Degree, and inclin’d him, when he had once feen the Advantage of it, to dig Pits on purpofe, wherewith he improv’d his Land ; and this is particularly ufeful where the Ground lies a great way from Dung, and other better known Improvements 5 tho’ even there this would be advantageous for a Change. Thefe feveral Changes, in the Cul- ture and Management of Lands, are of migh- ty Value, becanfe it has always been obferv’d by our skilful Husbandmen, that the Dreffing of Ground, one and the fame way, two or three times has not had the good EfFetS: of that Change , and of this I defire particular Notice Ihould be taken. But if the Ground be poor and well tired out, then it is that the Farmer has Recourfe to the laft, and indeed fome of the greateft Improvements that have been dilcover’d in this and the laft Cen- tury, I mean Grafs Seeds ; for poor clayey, Clover, Treefoil and Regrafs, and for poorer dry Land on a rocky, fhellyGround,<5’'- mentatisn (which like a Spring in Mechanifm, fets the whole Scene of Nature at Work) is caus'd by the Intcrpofition or Mixture of Bodies cf different Qualities one HL’ith another. ’Tis thus that Sand mix’d with Clay does well, eR pecially where it is impregnated with faline QiTalities : And ’tis thus that Coal Aflies work there Co admirable Effeft in loofening and niouldring ftifF Clay, and, as we common- ly term it, making Ruff, and Aftiey, or Sandy- like, And ’tis alfo certain, that thofe Im- provements are better or worle, as they abound more or lefs with this Nitrous and Spirituous Matter, which Coal Afhes, and next to it, the Aflies of Vegetables do more than others 5 and ’tis this from which ail Husbandmen may- judge of the Quantity that is proper for an Acre of Land, or for any Quantity mote or lefs. SECTION Jmproifewent of ardbk'Land. 203 ftft S E C T I O N xir. Of the Superficid Improvement of Lands ^ hy burning of feveral Sorts of Vegetables. The next Iniprovement I fliall fpeafc of, that is procur’d by Calcination or Burning, is a Commixture of all the Offal of Vegetables, as Wheat, Barly and Oat Straw, were they not ufeful in Fodder, ^c. but in their Room get a good Quantity of Wheati or any other long Stubble of Fern, Furste, Broom, Hearthi-the Leaves and Cuttings of Trees rak’d out of the Garden, Meadow and Field, and efpecially Coppices, out of which poor People might pull great Quanti- ties of long Grafs and Weeds, and might rake ijp great Quantities of Leaves, Brulh Wood, e^c. which would very much promote the natural Growth of the Wood it lelf In Ihort, a diligent Husbandman would fearch every Creek and Corner where he has any Pro- perty, or can have any Leave. And when a good Quantity of thefe feveral Materials of Fern, Furze, Broom, or any other Trafh or Refufe is got together, he would there fet fire to them, and carry the Afhes home, and lay them up in his Store-houfe for Superficial Coverings, for the enfuing Seafons of lowing Wheat 204 Management, and Wheat and Early. What vaft quantities thole Gentlemen and Farmers might procure that live near large Commons, and vaft uncultiva- ted Heaths and Woods, is obvious to every one that has made the leaft Obfervation, and is a Confirmation of that generally receiv’d Maxim, That Nature never made any thing in vain. In this cafe it would be proper to allow, ^d. a^d.^d. or even 6d. per Bufttel more or lefs to poor People, to colled and burn all fuch Tralh in Summer dry Wea- ther, or which would be more proper in the dryeft Weather about Michaelmas, it being then they are largeft of Growth, and begin- ning to dry, they will burn beft. Of this, ’tis ealy for any Farmer of Induftry, in moft places, to colled j, 4, 5, or doo Bulhels more or lefs as be has occafion. And this is what in courfe we call (No. ii.) SECTION, xir. Of the Superficial Improvement of Land by Soap and Tot-Ajhes, Soot, &c. Here alfo Nature has order’d a double life to be made of thofe Materials firft nam’d, as the other is the Refult of good Fi- ring and Hofpitality. But thefe all likewife ought to be kept in this our new Conlerva- tory Improvement of arable Land. 205 tory, to prevent the Rains from walliing the Virtue of theiU aWay. The Soap Allies are good for cold, four Lands, for Grafs or Corn, and efpecially for Wheat, but the Salt of the Pot Afhes being drawn off in a great meafure by the Potters, they ought to be laid thicker on than any other Afhes % 6 or 8 Load of the firft will do an Acre ^ but of the laft, there had need be 15 or 20. But becaufe great Qyantities of this can’t be procur’d, the Farmer ought to do as much as he can, and mix them with other Superficial Manures, which will give him an opportu- nity of obferving, which amongft them ail are the beft Improvements, as alfo of the more proper and certain Quantities every Rod or Acre will require. Thefe Manures, whether we account them fimply in fmall Heaps as one, or blended together, I call (No. 1 2.) of our Superficial Dreffings. SECTION XIV. Of Super fid a n)r effing of Lands^ fown tvith Corn, by Rags, T^ycr s Tjftrtg, filair of Beajis, &c. 1 Reckon all thefe Superficial Manures to- gether, that I may avoid Multiplicity, as they and every one of them are more or lefs effe. 2o6 Of the Management] anS. efFedual in rhe Bufinels of Vegetation, and in the Growth and Produdion of Plants and Corn. The firft are great Improvements to chalky, binding Lands 3 Inch, are many of thofe in Hampjhire and Wilt [hire, and many other Places. About 2^ or 26 Bulhels will manure an Acre, being chopp’d fmall and har- rowed in with the Corn, or ftrewed over afterwards by Hand. The Hair of Beaftsis likewife very good Manure to throw over Lands, could we procure great Quantities 3 but this our Plafterers rob us of Dyer’s Dung is by feme accounted an excellent Im- provement of Land, and two Load of it is fuflScient for an Acre, but I have not feen this us’d any where. If to all that we have laid, we add the wafle Bark out of Tann Yards, which has a very rich Salt in it: As likewife all the other Refufe and Sweep- ings of the Tanners, which may be bought, I fuppofe, for i d.ot 2 d. per Bulheh Thefe, I lay, all laid up in our Conlervatory, and fpread on Corn, muft of courfe improve it, but for fear they lliould be too ftrong before they are correded by Fire, and that they ihould not anfwer the Intent of Tillage foon enough, it would be well to burn them, and tho’ there will be lels in Quantity, it will go much farther ; 4 or 5 Load of this being un- doubtedly lulBcient for an Acre of Land, and much better than 20 or 35 unburnt, and will much Improvement of arable Eancf. 20 j much change and improve the very Na- ture of the Land it felf. Thefe I call (No. I J.) SECTION XV. Of the Superficial .Improvement of Lands ^ after, thep are fown, by Ptgeoas and Sheep’s Dung. Pigeon’s Dung has long ago been known to be one of the beft . Superficial Im- provements that can be laid on Meadov/ or Corn Land, when it has lain Ibmetime abroad, and is a little aired and fweet- ned, and is efpecially to be recommended for all cold, wet, clayey Lands ; this I would alfo keep after ’lis, aired and dried in the Confervatory, that it may be dry and fit to fow then, which it is not if it lies abroad, becauie it naturally clots in the wet: ’Tis beft then to mix it with a little Earth, to keep it from hanging together ; and when it is dry in the Summer, the biggeft Clods ought to be well beat to pieces and pulve- riz’d, by which means you may fow it as thin as you will, for the fowing of it too thick is a great Fault, it being naturally very hot and ftrong. The Dung in Hen Roofts, that of •Swans, PeacocksjPatridges, or any other of the oviparous Kind, are alfo to be us’d after the fame 2o8 Of the Management, and fame manner, as is alfo that of Sheep and Deer coliefted togetherj and^ when they are near dry, beat and pulveriz’d together, and kept till the time they are us’d in the Conler- vatory. And this I call (No. 14.) Some Farmers fow this with the Corn and harrow it in, but I prefer the pulverizing Way, inaf^ much as it does not fall in Heaps, but every Part has an adequate Proportion. section XVI. Of the Superficial Improvement of Lands, after they are fom, by Sea-Jhells. H E lafl: of all the Improvements of this Kind that I lhall mention, are Oyfter, Cockle, or other Sea-Shells, either ftamp’d to pieces, or, which is the quickeif way of reducing them to Manure, by Burn- ing and Calcination. And this Kind of Ma- nure to all thole that live not (only juft 6y theSeaCoafts, but to thofe that live 10 or 1 y Miles of, is not expenlive nor difficnlt to be procur’d, neither is the quantity of fo lit- tle account as may at firft be imagin’d, and is ftill more uleful and convenient in thcfe Places where Water-Carriage is fo eafy, as it is now render’d in many Places, and would, in truth, be of much more Import for Land, than for Carden IrHprovement of arable Land. 209 Garden-Ground, tho* it is proper and agreea- ble for both. Thefe Shells being nothing elfe but Salt congeal’d, when diflblv’d, ar^ endu’d with a niofl fruftifying Quality, and will enrich Lands for many Years together, tho’ the firflYearyou may be very littlefenfible of its Efreft, ’til it has been fufficiently mix’d with the moifl: Earth, and expos’d to the Sun. Your fewer or cold Ground generally reaps the greateft Benefit from thefe Shells ^ and Sea-S nd, which has commonly Fifli-Shells mix’d with it, broke almoft as fmall as the Sand itfelf by the continual Flax of the Tide, is a very great Improver of Lands. The rich- eft, of all Sand is that which comes from the Creeks of the Sea 5 its Goodnefs confifts in its Saltnefs, and the Fat or Filth that the Sea gathers from Land-Floods, the Shores, the Fifh, and ofher Things that putrify in the Water, and the Mixing of the Shells as al- ready mention’d. This Manure is very much iifed in the Wefi Coimtty^ where, after they have taken four Crops of Corn from it, they lay down the Ground to Pafture for fix or fe- ven Years: It catifes the Corn to have a large Ear and a fiiort Straw, fo that fometimes the Ear of Barley is almoft as long as the Stalk : And the Produd of Grafs, after it is laid down, is very good, and, tho’ fhort, yields great Plenty of Milk, and fattens CatteJ ex- ceedingly. There are three Sorts of Sands, the Red, the Blue, and the White, of which (i the 2 10 Of the Management and the Red- colour’d is efteem’d the beft, and th« White the world. Ihefe may be call’d N? 15. % % @ # % =m t @ '3 3 3 3 SECTION XVII. Of the Improvement of arable hand by Burn- bating. This Method of improvement is call’d Devonfyirmg, as being in the County of Devon firfl: invented and moft pradis’d ; It is nofproper for all Sorts of Lands, but that only which is barren, fowr, or heathy, whe- ther it be hot or cold’, dry or moift : It is done after the following Manner 5 You are firft to get a Breaft- Plough ; with this you are to pare off the Turf, turning it over as it is cut, unlefs it be in a very hot Seafon •, fet it a little hollow, for its more eafy drying 5 and when it is thorough dry let the Turf, be laid in fmall Heaps, about two Wheel-barrow Load together 5 and then if the Turf be full of fibrous Roots, or has a good Head upon it, it will burn without any additional Fuel 5 but if not, the Heaps are to be rais’d on fmall Bundles of Fern, Gofs, that it may fet the whole on Fire. When the Heaps are re- duc’d to Alhes, let them lie ’til they are a little , Improvement of arable Land. i \ i little fodden with Rain, before you proceed to fpread them 5 or if it be a dry Seafon, and there is no Probability of Ram, you may, when the Wind is ftiil, give them a gentle Spreading^ biit if there be much Wind ftir- ring, it wdll prevent their equal Scattering. In the Operation of Burn-bating particular Care is to be taken that the Turf be not over- burnt y for if it be reduc’d to white Afhes, the nitrous Salt will be exhaufted^ and the more moderate and regular the Fire is, the better the Salt is fix’d. The Ground under, the Hills ought to be pared fomewhat lower than the Surface of the Earth, to check the extra- ordinary Fertility occafion’d by the Fire in thofe Places beyond the others : And thefe Parings are li'kewife to be equally fpread, otherwdfe it is iinpoffible you fliould have a Crop of Corn of equal Growth or Goodnefs. Some Perfons burn with the Earth, the Roots of Gofs, Broom, Stubble, &c, and others pare off the Heath and Turf, and after having made them into little Hills, fire and burn ’'em to Allies^ and into every Heap they put a Pedc of unflack’d Lime, v/hich is to be cover’d over with the Afhes, and fo left to fland ’till the Rain comes and flackensthe Lime, after which both are to be mingled together, and fpread over the Land. ‘ This Burn-bating is a prodi- gious Improvement to barren heathy Ground 5 the firft two or three Years it will produce furprizing Crops of Corn, infomuch that a Man may in that Space of Time make the In- (12 beritance 2 12 of the Ivlanagement and heritance of his Land, and the Charges paid. But after 3 or 4 Years the Strength of this Im- provement will confiderably abate,andtheSoil be lefs fertile than before for a longSucceffion of Years 5 fo that ’tis not advifeable to take this Method of Improvement with any Land but what is of an inconfiderable Value. The Ground muff be plough’d fliallow, otherwife its Strength will be of Ihorter Duration 5 no more than the ufual Quantity of Seed is to be fown, and that late in the Year^ if it be Wheat, it mufl: not be put into the Ground ’till towards the End of OBober^ to pre- vent the exceflive Ranknefs of the Corn. SECTION XVIII. Of Eurning of Meadows and Paflure Ground. AS the Hufoandry ofBurning isnecellaryfor reinvigorating of barren, heathy, arable Land, fo it is an excellent Improvement to marlhy, cold,ru(hy Paflure, where the Ground is fo rnoiH, that the Hay is render'd Ihort and fowr, and other Inconveniencies arife 5 when this Improvement is to be commenc’d. In the Month of July or Jugujl you are to pare off the Turf, and burn it after the, Manner dire- ded in Burning' of arable Land : This being done, let the Ground be plough’d up, either imme- Improvement of arable Land. 213 immediarely, or the following Spring, and fowed with Hay-Seed, or with Corn and Hay-Seed together. By this means the acid Juice, of a fterile Nature, which lay on the Surface of the Earth, and hinder’d theGrowth of the Herbage,will be exhal’d, and the Grafs which had a long time degenerated, by (land* ing in a poor Ground, be totally deftroy’d, and the Land reftor’d to Fertility, fo as to be capable of receiving a better Species brought in the Seed from other produdive Soils. This Method of Burning Meadows and Failure- ' Ground is certainly of the greatell Ufej but the Expence and Trouble being very great, and the Improvement of Lime having got a prodigious Reputation, in rcTpect to the Ma- nagement of cold marlhy Paflure, it is not at this Time fo frequently pradis’d as formerly, but Lime and other fuperficial Improvements are preferr’d. SECTION XIX. Of Improvements by Heath and Fern, THere are feveral Particulars relating to the Burning of Heath and Fern, and the Management of the Land whereon they grow for Improvement, cbferv’d in feveral Counties of England, worthy to be cbmmu- Q. 3 nicated 2 14 Management and nicated to the Reader.- In Kent it is cufloma-^ ry for Hufbandinen to cut up the Heath in Majy and when ’tis dry they burn it, and fpread the Aflries on the Ground ^ afterwards they plough up the Turf with a broad finri’d Plough, this they likewife burn, and ming- ling the Aihes with Lime and Sea-Sand, they alfo fpread it over the Ground, and upon that lay a good Quantity of Dung. About the End of September they fow the Land with Wheat, which they do annually for three Years 5 the fourth Year they fold it with Sheep, and fow it with Barley ^ the fifth, fixth, and feventh Years they fow it with Oats, and the eighth with Peafe 5 and after that it will bear very good Grafs. In , Staffordjhire they flock up the Heath in the Summer, and burn it, mixing the Afhes with Lime, and, allowing four Load to an Acre. They plough the Ground under Furrow about the Middle or End of September ^ox Beginning of Otlober^ and fow it firft with Rye, allowing two Bufhels to an Acre, the Encreafe of which -is commonly twenty five Bulhels. Af- ter the Crop of Rye they fow Barley, next to Barley VVhite Peafe, after that Oats, and at lafl lay it down for Grafs. Fern is one of the worll of Weeds, and hard to deftroy 5 but if it be cut when the Sap is in it, and left to rot upon the Ground, it is a very great Impro- ver of the Land ^ for if it be burnt when f© cut, its Aihes will produce double the Qiian- tity of Salt of any other Vegetable. S E C T L Improvement of arable Land. 1 1 5 * * a- ^ ^ .^3 -S * .Ji SECTION XX. Of Improvements ly Claying of Land. THO’ Clayey Soils are very apt to retain Water on the Surface, fo as to chili the Plants and Produfts, yet the Black and the Yellow are very well approv’d for Corn ^ they hold Manure better than any other Lands, and yield the befl Grain, efpeci- ally where there is a Mixture of Lirne- ftone. But to come to the Improvements by Clay 5 Clay is commended as a confidera- ble Improver of light and fandy Grounds^ but it is good to try it in different Lands, both arable and pafture 5 and for fevcral times, at feveral Seafons, and like wife in feveral Proportions 5 by which means you may find out the true Value of it, as you may by the fame Method all fubtcrranean Manures. "I'his Claying of Ground has been praftis’d many Years in fome Parts of Tork^nre ^ and the manner of doing it is thus: The Clay the Inhabitants have near, and after they have bared away two Yards deep of Sand, they fink a Pit about fix Y’ards in Depth, and eight or ten fquare 5 out of this Pit they dig Clay, of a biueifh brown Colour, not fandy at all, but clofe, fat, and very ponderous, and that burns well for Bricks: This they do about CL 4 Mid- ti6 of the Management and Mtdfimmer, and only in a dry Summer j allowing great Qiiantities to an Acre of Ground, and for three or four Years it con- tinues in Clods upon the Land ; It will laft a very confiderable Space of Time, for near forty Years, and then it is to be renew’d. Sandy Ground will bear no Sort of Corn but Rye, if you drefs it never fo well with Lime, or any other Compoft 5 but if once you clay it, it will produce good Barley, Oars, Peafe, ^c. And Barley is the mofl proper Grain for Land improv’d this Way, which, after the firft Year, will be plump and round like Wheat. t, » 'Sit Improvement of arable Land. ?,i 7 SECTION XXI. Of Enclojures, Improvements therebji, Fences, Sics Would be endlefs to enumerate ail the X Advantages arifing from Enclofures of Land •, wherefore I (hall content my felf with only obferving, that it promotes the natural Fertility and Richnefs of the Soil, and gives the Hulbandman an Opportunity of adding his diligent Care and Expence to improve it, by which Means it will fiirnifti the Owner with a greater Burden of Corn, or whatfoever is fown therein. In the fame Soil, in a common Field where there is only a Hedge between, you'll find a very great Difference in the yearly Valuer and when 'tis laid down to Pafture, it yields much more Grafs than the open Field Land : The Hedge-Rows not only keep the Ground warm, and fecureit from the violent nipping and dry bjafting Winds, to which the Champion Fields are expos’d in the Springy but likewife afford Shelter for the Cattle both in Summer and Winter: Thefe Hedges alfo fupply the induftrious Hufbandman with Plenty of Fire-boot, Plough- boot, and Cart-boot, and if carefully pre- ferv’d, they furnilh him with Timber, Mart for Swine, and Fruit for Cyder. Enclofing 2 1.8 Of the Management and of Lands employs the Poor^ and ’tis general- ly obferv’d, that a Country enclos’d, maintains at leaft triple the Number of Inhabitants as a Champion Country, fo great are the Profits attending this Hufbandry. Befides thefe Ad- vantages, Enclofures are not fubjeA to feveral great Inconveniencies that attend the com- mon Field and open Land 5 for fuch, being fow’d with Corn, are liable to Injury by Cat- tle, that ftray out of the adjoining Commons and Highways ; The Tenants or Owners of feveral Parts or Portions are bound to keep 'J’ime as well in Sowing as Reaping, or let their Parts lye wafte, left the Corn Ihould be fpoil’d; And when theCorn is juft come up, it receives great Damage, in a wet Spring, by Travellers with their Horfes to avoid a bad Road ^ fome Years many Acres of Ground are loft in a large common Field by this Means, ail which are avoided in Enclofures. The Imallep your Enclofures are, the greater is the yearly Value of the Land, and the better Crop of Corn and Grafs, and more flourifli- ing Trees they produce^ and the larger the Fields or Enclofures are, the more they re- fembie the common Fields or Plains, being fubjed: to the like Inconveniencies in forae Pro- portion : And *tis always founds that a Farm divided into many Enclofures, yields a great- er Rent than if the fame were in but few. But too many Hedges and Banks in rich wa- ter’d Meadows, wafte a gre^t deal of the Land, and by their Shadow Prejudice the Grafs, Improvement of arable Land. 1 1 9 Grafs 5 as alfoby Dripping, for Grafs needs no Shelter, that abiding any Weather : And in cafe the cold Spring keeps k back, it fears no Drought, but has Water and Heat fufficient in itfelf to bring it forwards^ fo that ’tis unpro- fitable in fuch Ground to have nuineroy^F ences, unlcfs proper jEquatick Plants are fet, whofe Shrouds exceed in Value the Grafs they fpoil, which may well be done in Rows, and on the Edges of the Banks, &c. and will amounts a confiderable Improvement if the right Kind be chofen. We every Year experience the Be- nefit of Enclofures more and more 5 and I be- lieve it was never fo much praftis’d as at this prefent Time. I have obferv’d ift fevcral Farts of Englaiid^ in my Travels lately, con- fiderable Enclofures of Waftes, Commons, Downs, and other before almoft ufelefs 'Lands, which indeed have put me out of the former Road, but given me a. very agreeable Profped of the Produfts from the Improvement. Open Lands, of little Value, when enclos’d, tilfd, and well order’d, will generally prove excel- lent good, and fuddenly repay the prefent great Expence incident to Enclofures : And •neither the popular ilPgrounded Argument of its contributing to the Impoverifhing of Land, nor the feveral Interefts of Propri- etors, nor yet Highways that frequently go over open Lands, fliould be any Impe- diment to this great Piece of Hulbandry. But Care muft be taken to plant fuch Trees, and in fuch a Manner as they may fucceed well, which leads me to treat of Fences. The 2ZO Of the Management and The Haithorn makes the befl: of common Hedges, and is either rais’d of Seeds or Plants^ but fometimes they do not appear the firft Year^ the Haw and many other Seeds fleep two Years, and therefore are frequently dug up by U\e Hufbandtnan, defpairing of their Growth, before they have gone their whole Time. As to their Management, when you have bury’d your Haws in a Trench, in Beds, for Transplantation, as foon as they peep, and as often as they require it, they muft be care- fully cleans’d of the Weeds for three or four Years, by which I’ime Seedlings will be of a Stature ft to remove : After this, in Ground ■which is more dry than wet, (for a watery Soil is unnatural to them) place the firft Row of Sets, about a Foot Diftance from each other, in a Trench of about half a Foot deep, even with the Top of the Ditch, in a Hoping Po- fture j then raifing your Bank about a Foot upon them, plant another Row, fo as their Tops may juft peep out over the Middle of the Spaces of your firft Row 5 cover thefe again to the Height or Thicknefs of the other, and place a third Bank oppofite to the firft, and then finilh your Rank to it’s intended Height 5 this being done, guard the Top of your Bank, and cutmoft Verge of your Ditch, with a fufficient dry Hedge, interwoven from Stake to Stake, to fecure your Quick from Cattle j repair fuch as decay from Time to Time, and after three Years growth, fprinkle forne Timber or Fruit-Trees among them for your Improvement of arable Land. 2 2 f your Nurferies. This is the common Way of Qihcking 5 and the Seafon for this Work, is ffom the Beginning of February to the End of March^ or from September to the Be- ginning of December. If you make a Fence on a Bank of Earth, as ordinarily you do on the Verges of Coppices and other confiderable In- clofures^ caft up your Ditch of about three Foot broad, and three Foot deep, beginning firft to turn the Turf, upon which lay fome of the beft Earth to bed f our Quick in, and there fet your Plants, two' in a Foot Spacer let them be frefh gather’d, freight, fmooth, and well rooted, adding now and then at e- qual Spaces, of about twenty or thirty Foot, a young Oakling, Elm, A(h, or the like, which in Time will be ornamental Standards and good Timber. And in Herefordjhire the Hulbandmen. plant a Crab Stock at every twenty Foot Diitance, in their Hedges, for the Grafting of Fruit, If you would multiply your Rows, about a Foot above the firft, plant another Rank of Sets, fo as to point juft in the Middle of the void Space of the firft : And if you would fortify your Fofs to the Purpofe, do the fame on the other Side, of the fame Depth, Height, and Planting, and then cap the Top in Form ‘of a Pyramid with the Bottom of the Ditch : Weed them conftant- ly for 2 or 3 Years,- efpecially before Midfum- nier. Some cut their Sets, at 3 Years, even with the Ground, to forward their Growth, and find that in a Year or two, they will have fhot 2Z2 Of the Management and (hot as much as in feven, had it been let alone. When the Hedge is about'fix Years Growth, • get it plalh’d, in February or OBober, by Tome Ikilful Hufbandman : This is perform’d with a very (harp Handbill, in the following Man- ner : Firft, cut oif all the fuperfluous Sprays and Straglers ^ then fearch out the principal Stems, and cut them flantways clofe to the Ground, fo far, ’till you make them comply handfomly ; that done, lay them from you (loping as you go, folding in the leffer Branches that fpring from riiem and at every five or (ix Foot Diftance referve an upright ftrong Set, cutting it o(F at the 1 op to the Height of your intended Hedge, and let it (land as a Stake to fortify your Work, and receive the Turnings of the plalh’d Sets about it. Oak is to be prefcrv’d for Stakes in this Work, unlefs it be moift moorifh Ground, when Withy, A(h, Mafle, or Hazel, driven into the Ground, will do very well. This Plaflaing makes an impregnable Hedge in a few Years, and may be repeated as you fee Occafion 5 but you muff fecure the Spring from Cattle with Thorns, ’till it is eftablilh’d. When there are great Trees or Stubs in Hedges, with Gaps for Cattle, which are common in old negleded Fences, cut them f6 near the Earth ’till you can lay them acrofs, that the Top of one may reft on the Root of the other, as far as they extend, flopping the Cavities with their Boughs and Branches. In Corn-mall the Hufbandmen fe- curetheir Wood and Lands with high Mounds, on Improvement of arable Land. ^25 on which they plant Acorns, which flioot fo vigoroufly as to form a double, durable Fence. They likevvife make Hedges of prickly Furzes, which are extraordinary Fences. Furz is propagated by Sets or Seeds, and will make a Hedge in three Years Time, if it be kept well weeded, and fccur’d from Cattle, (efpe- cially Sheep, which are great Devourers of it) ’till it attain fome Bignefs, and then nothing can injure it: If dipt it will thrive extreme- ly, and be very thick 5 but if it be permitted to grow at large, it will prove the better Shelter, and yield excellent Fuel: ’Tis alfo an admirable Covert for Game.and profpers in moift as well as dry Soils, tho’ it is moft pro- per for old dry. Banks, or fuch a dry Sand or Gravel, that nothing elfe will grow on’t. When you plant any of the moft robuft Fo- reft-Trees, efpecially the Oak, at competent Spaces in Fields or Meadows, it is a very good Method to open a Riiig of Ground, at about four Foot Diftance from the Stem, and prick in Quick-fet Plants, which by Clip- ping may be kept of what Height you pleafe. Thefe Hedges will be very beautiful to the Eye, prove a good Fence, and yield ufeful Bufhes, Haws, If a Piece of Ground in a common Field cannot pofTibly be enclos’d without great Expence and Difficulty, I would advife the fowing of it fometimes with Clover : This will certainly' invite all the Sheep of the whole 224 Management and whole Field to that Pafturage, when the Harveft is over, where they will, of Confe- quence, drop their Dung, (the heft Soil we are Mafters of for Corn-Ground) and on the next Ploughing it will be turn’d in ^ and by the very’ great Increafe of the Crop of Corn the enfuing Year, very well recompenfe the Expenee of Clover-Seed, CHAP. 225 «-«fi-*iK •?*<•«*«*«** *»***^* *#*****«*?:**4r*« # 0 iS -U @ -Si -St # v^ iS; v9> @ •# @ if if vf '-f if CHAR IV. Of Ploughs and Ploughing, dec, SECTION I. SF all the Inftrumentsand Engines us’d in Hufbandry, the Plough is the moft confiderable ^ and of thefe there is a great Difterence about their Make and Shape, every Country being fond of its own In- vention. It is a needlefs Talk to attempt a Defeription of all Sorts of Ploughs us’d in the feveral Parts of England, neither would it be for my Purpofe, to examine into the va- rious Methods of forming this Engine, by whimfical Perfons, who oftentimes feek Cufiofity more than Profit 5 fo that I fhall only take Notice of the moft ufual Inftru- ments of this Kind, and at the fame Time fet forth their particular Advantages and De- fers. The Ploughs efteem’d beft for each Sort of Land are as follow ; For ftiff black Clay, the Plough that is large, long, and broad, having a deep Head, and a fquare Earth- board, fo as to turn up a large Furrow 5 the Coulter long, and a very little bending, with a large R Wing, 2 25 Of the Management and Wingi and the Foot long and broad, fo as to make the Furrows deep, is efteem’d the moft proper. 1 he Plough for white, blue, or grey Clay, need not be fo large as the former 5 but fomewhat broader at the Breech, the Coulter long and bending, and the Share narrow, with a Wing coming up to arm and defend the Earth-board from wear- ing. And the Plough for red or white Sands, or Grave), or any light Moulds, may be lighter and nimbler than the latter, the Wing not fo large, and the Coulter thinner and more circular : Thus much in general j I come now to deferibe the particular Ploughs accounted the beft for Tillage. The One-Wheel-Plough may be made Ufe of almoft in any Sort of Land, being a great deal lighter than other Wheel-Ploughs, and with which, being drawn by one Horfe, and held by one Man, one Acre a Day may be plough’d in a moift Sea- fon. The double wheel’d Plough, us’d in Hertfordfiire and elfewere, is the ftrongeft, and apparently one of the moft preferable Ploughs for many Ufes^ ’tis alfo of the eafieft Draught, and fuits beft with all Sorts of Soils, except miry Qay in the Winter, which is apt to clog the Wheels ; And even for thofe Lands, it is the beft Inftrument to plough up Lays or Summer Fallows with t, becanfe it turns in the Turf after the moft convenient Manner, and cuts up Mole-hills or uneven Ground without levelling. The Wheels of this Plough are eighteen or twenty Inches high. Improvements of arable Land 217 and the Farrow- Wheel is fometimes larger than the other that goes on the Land : It is ufually drawn with Horfes or Oxen, two on a Breafh The Colchefier Plough is a fine light Wheel-Plough, with which and two Horfes the Huflbandraan can cut up two A- cres in a Day of rheir light Ground : This Plough has a very peculiar Iron Earth-board, made rounding, which helps to turn the Earth or Turf much ^better than any other Sort of Ploughs that has been as yet invent- ed, The Kefitipj Plough is double wheel’d, and foinewhat clumfey. The Snjfex Angle Wheel Plough, is of a different Make from moft other Ploughs, and more clouterly 3 It is very wide in the Breech, fo that the Draught of Confequence muft be hard. The Lincoln- Jbire Plough is fingular in its Shape, and very good for marfhy or fenny Lands that are fub- jed: to Weeds and Sedge 5 but the Ground muft be free from Stones, by reafon of its Coulter and the Largenefs of the Share, which is com- monly made very fharp, and above a Foot broad. The moft common plain Plough, call’d the Dray-Plough, made without either Wheel or Foot, is of an eafy Draught, and the beft Plough in the Winter for miry Clays 3 but the word in Summer, when the Surface of the Earth is hard: It is fet higher or lower, as Occafion ferves, by Wedges. The Caxton Plough, invented to cut Drains with in ftiff miry Clay Grounds, is )ike another Plough, only much* larger and ftronger : It R 2 has Z28 of the Management and has two Coulters, bending inwards, to cut each Side of the Trench 5 the Share is very broad and flat, and cuts off- the Bottom of the Trench ^ and the Mould-Board is three Times the Length ufual in other Ploughs, to call the Turf at a Diftance. Thefe are the fevefal Sorts of Ploughs us’d in Tillage, to which I may add the double Plough, (which is where one Plough is fix’d to the Side of the other) that with two Men and four Horfes, will plough up a double Qttantity of Land in a Day, one Furrow by the Side of the other. Befides this, there is another Sort of Plough, whereby two Furrows may be plough’d at once, one under another ^ and the Ground is flirr’d up twelve or fourteen Inches deep, which is of great Ufe. The only foteign Plough I fhall mention, is the Spanijh Plough, with one of which and one Beaft, the Hufbandmen of Spain plough up two or three Acres of their light Lands in a Day : For the Ufe of the particular Parts of a Plough, the Coulter is a fharp turning Wheel, that cuts the Roots of the Grafs or Sedge a-crofs by its Motion, as it goes round, and the broad Share likewife cuts the Bottom of their Roore at the fame Time : The Coul- ter, where the Land is ftifF, muff be the larger and the ftronger, and go the deeper ^ for in deep Grounds the Weeds root the deeper 5 and for the better cutting up of them, it is ufu- al to fet on the right Side of the Coulter a fmall Wing, or Fin, which fevers the Bottom Improvement of arable Land. 229 of the Roots in two, and eafes the Draught of the Plough. Ploughs, in general, are to be great or fmall according to the Depth and Strength of the Soil you plough, as has been already obferv’d, and as the Earth is wet or dry ; on which Account every Farmer ought to have feveral Sorts of Ploughs. Care is to be taken in the making of Ploughs, to have them go true to the Pitch they are fet, and keep to the Line they are in, without fwerv- ing to the Right or Left, which depends very much upon the exad Formation of the Iron Work. A Ihort Plough, or a Plough with a broad Breech, cannot go fo eafy after Cattle as a long narrow one, and the latter may be made to turn a Ridge equal to the former. Having now given you a Defcription of the various Kinds of Ploughs, I proceed to Plough- ing ^ but firft 1 (hall fet forth the particular Buliiiefs of a Ploughman. A Ploughman, or Carter, ought perfeftly to underhand Cat- tle, the Goodnefs of Corn, and the Nature and Quality of all Sorts of Ground, to which he is to have a juft Regard, the Seafons of the Year, and the Cuftoms and Ufages of the Place where he refides: He ought to con G- der well how to lay and difpofe of his Fur- rows, of what Depth he Ihould plough them, and by what Means he may be able to raife the greatcft Share of Mould, all which his own Experience will bcft teach him ; He is to chufe and order his Cattle for the DivcrGty R 3 of 230 Oj the Management and of Grounds he is about to till 5 wherein, if his arable Land lies againft the Side of a fteep Afcent, as commonly barren Earths do, he is not to plough that Land diredly againft the Hill 5 for this very Labour would una- voidably breed fueh a VVearifomnefs in the Cattle, befides the Over-heating and Danger of Surfeiting, that there would be no going through with the Work : The Ploughman mult therelore take Care to plough fuch Ground fide-ways overthwart the Hill, fo as the Beads may tread as near as may be on the level Ground, and never directly up and down, by this Means the Cattle will not ot> .ly perform their Work without Injury, but alfo the Lands be the better preferv’d ; for the Compoft or Manure laid upon it, will not be fo foon wafted away from the upper Parr, by reafon the Furrows, being turn’d crofsways upwards againft the Hill, will necelfarily hold the Soil within it much better than if they were laid ftraight down in an even Defcent. A Ploughman, thus qualify’d, being chofen, and obfervjog thefe general Rules, I come next to the particular Management. If your Work be ploughing of Layes, which is the firft cutting up of Grafs Ground for Corn, you are to commence your Labours in yannary^ when the Land is wet 5 and the Turf being then tough, will hold tp turn without break- ing, in the exaft ordering whereof confifts the greateft DifRcuky with Relation to this Sort of Ploughing: This Performance de- Impfovement of atable Land. 251 pends very much upon the Make of the Plough 5 for the better ordering whereof, if the Earth-board does not turn the Turf well, fome Nail upon it a fmall Piece of Wood, to take the upper Part of the Turf as it rifes on the Earth-board, w’hich will caufe it to fall over with the Grafs Side downwards, and lay it fo flat and true, that one can fcarce difcern where the Plough went. In the Ploughing of Fallows, (which is a confidera- ble Benefit to the Land, and few Soils will bear more than two or three Crops without it) let your Ground lye all the Winter, fo as the Sheep may cat off what Grafs and Weeds grow on it in April, or the Beginning of May 5 then, as foon as you have done fowing ©f Corn, begin to plough up your Fallows: This firft Fallowing in moft Places ought to be ve- ry lhallow, and the Land well turn’d, and kept clofe together ^ lor the thinner the Turf is, the fooner it will dry through and kill the Weeds, efpecially if the Weather be fea- fonable and not too moift ; Butin fome Pla- ces where there is a very cold Clay, that will not bear Corn well without being expos’d to the Heat of the Sun, it is neceiTary to make the firft Ploughing of the whole Depth you defign, that the Ground may be the more ef- fedually warm’d. The fecond Ploughing, which is call’d Twi-fallowing, is ufually in the Month of June, when you are in all Cafes to go your full Depth : This Ploughing is generally perform’d with the Team early R 4 in 232 of the Management and. in the Morning before the Dew is off the Grafs, that fo the Labourers may have Time to feed their Cattle, before they repair to carrying of Hay in the Afrernoon, which may be done at the fame Time. About the latter End of July, or the Beginning of Au- gufl, is the Seafon for the third and laft Ploughing, call’d Tri-fallowing 5 this is done juft before you fow your Wheat or Rye j and if the Land rifes full of Clots, or be a binding Soil, you are to make it fine by Harrowing upon the Approach of Rain 5 but then it muft not Ij'e long before you plough it up into fmall Ridges 5 and, as near as you can, leave no Weeds or Grafs-Turfs unkill’d or unbroke with your Harrows 5 becaufe they four your Land, and caufe the Mould to lye hollow from the Roots of the Corn. If your Ground be a heavy Clay, it ought to be plough’d up in a Seafon as dry as you can pofiibly chufe, to prevent the Encreafe of Weeds, which would be otherwife unavoida- ble 5 but Stone-bralh and light Soils are to be till’d in a moderate dry Seafon : And if the Ground be raoift and defign’d for Wheat, it is good Management to Jay the Furrows high and fnelving between, and not far afun- der, for the more effeftual Draining off the fuperfluous Moifture, which at fome Seafons in the Year is very pernicious. Where Land is but indifferent, and Manure is not to be had, fallowing every other Year is found a great Improvement of arable Land. 2 j j great Improvement, and is a very ancient Piece of Hufbandry, as we are inform’d by Xenophon, Pindar, &c. In fome Parts of England the Farmers fallow their Land af- ter they have taken two Crops, the lirft of Wheat, and the fecond of Peafe : In Staf- fordshire it is a frequent Praftice to give their Lands a Winter Fallowing, befides the three Summer Fallowings, and to lay their Land up in Ridges, when they fow Barley, which feems to be the Method mention’d bv nrgil. The greedy Villager likes leS that Mould, Which twice has felt the Sun, and twice the Cold. S E C T I- ^34 Of the Management and # # §s 0 -t u >?> SECTION II. Of Sowing all Sorts of Grain IN all Sowings great Regard is to be had in to make Eledion of good and proper Seed, It is advifeable for the Farmer to procure Seed from a worfe Soil than his own ^ but if he cannot get fuch, ’tis more profitableto have it from good Land, than not to have Change j for all manner of ^cds degenerate very much when they are fown long upon any Land, tho’ moft upon bad Ground. If you obtain Seed from a diftaot and op- pofite Fart of the Kingdom, as from the Itorlh to the South, you’ll find the greateft Improvement, and the farther "Northward the greater ftill will be the Advantage, The Rea- fon why Variety of Seed is beneficial to Land, is this : Every Sort of Grain draws from the Earth only its proper Juice for its Nourifh- ment j fo that the Sowing of the fame Grain often, exhaufts and weakens the Ground, by ftill attrading the fame Kind of Salts, one Crop after another, When you have chofe a proper Seed, the next Thing to be confider’d, is the agreeable Soils, Seafons, and Qyanti- tities, obferv’d in fowing all Sorts of Corn. The Clay and Sandy Soils are generally e- fteem’d Improvement of arable Land. 135 fteem’d the beft for Wheat, this Corn always requiring a fubftantial Earth ; The Seafon for fowing of Wheat is about Michaelmas, a Month before or a Month after. If you com- mence your Sowing before Michaelmas, two BulheJs to an Acre will be a fufficient Qjaan- tity well manag’d ^ but if you do not begin this Work ’till after Michaelmas, it will be necefTary to give your Ground two Bufhels and an half an Acre, otherwife you may be difappointed in your Crop : For in all Cafes of Sowing, the later your Seafon is, the grea- ter Quantity of Seed muft be allow’d 5 and dry Ground cannot be fown too foon in a proper. Seafon, that the Corn may come to Maturity in a cold Summer. Light gravelly Soil is the moft proper for Barley and Oats 5 and it cannot be over rich for this Grain, tho’ it may for Wheat. The Seafon for Sowing of Barley is the Month of Jpril, and your Quan- tity ought not generally to exceed four Buftx- els to the Acre, unlefs you are very late in your Sowing. The Seafon for fowing of Oats is any Time in March, and the Qpanti- ty of Seed may be from three Bulhels and an half to four Bulhels the Acre j ’ wherein you may obferve, that if the Ground be light, the lefs Seed will fulEce, becaufe fuch Land is lefs fubjed to Weeds than any other. Moift heavy Clay Ground, not fit for Corn, is moft agreeable to Peafe and Beans ; You are to fow thefe Sorts of Grain in February, after the Rate of four Bulhels to the Acre. New- broke z^6 ' Of the Management and broke Ground ought to be fown with feveral Sorts of Grain, before it will be fit to receive Wheat : The firft Year you may fow it to Oats, the fecond to Barley, and the third to Beans or Wheat : And Beans and Peafe are ex- cellent to kill the Weeds, and prepare your Arable for the more noble Sorts of Grain, par- ticularly Wheat. It is ufual in many Parts of England, to fow Hop, Clover, and Ray Grafs, amongft Wheat or Barley at the fame Time with it ^ this will not only -enrich the Ground, by the Soil of Cattle feeding on it, for a con- ftant Tillage, but likewife expeditioufly bring plough’d Ground to a good Sword, if you intend to lay it down to Pafture j an Acre of Ground will require ten Pound of Clover- Grafs Seed, French Grafs is alio a very great Improvement to the Herbage of fome Ground : The Soil for this Seed ought to be a moift Gravel, but not too wet, and pretty rich: It muft not be fed with Sheep. Clover Grafs is efteem’d the principal of Grafs, both for the great Improvement it brings by its prodigious Burden, and by the Excellency of the Hay for Food for Cattle : One Acre of it will feed as many Cows as fix Acres of other common Grafs:; the Milk will be much richer, and more in Quantity j and it will fatten well. This Grafs may yield three Crops in a Year, and, after- all, be Food for Cattle in the Winter. When it begins to knot, which will be about the Middle of May^ the firft Crop, it is to be cut ; and if it grows not Improvement of arable Land. 237 not too ftrong, it will be exceeding rich and good. For the Time and Manner of fowing it, when the Land is manur’d, firft fow your Barley or Oats, and harrow them ^ then fow the Clover Grafs pretty thick, and harrow it over likewife ^ the Corn, in this Cafe, is to be thinner than ordinary. All Summer Corn does beft in a dry Seafon except it be black Oats, which require more Moifture than any other Grain 5 but a very- dry Spring is fatal to new-broke Ground the firft Year. I omitted in the Section of Plow- ing taking Notice, that tho’ three Earths are neceffary for Wheat, yet two Earths will ferve for Barley, and one for Oats is fuffici' ent juft before fown : And that Regard may be had to the Strength and Nature of the Land ^ for rich heavy Ground cannot well be plough’d too often, to- make it light and the better Manure, by killing the Weeds, as light poor Ground cannot be plough’d too feldom, for Fear of impoverilhing it. Wheat cannot well be put into the Ground in a Sea- fon over wet, and Rye cannot be fown too dry: CHAP. of the Mcmagement and CHAP. V. Of Improvements ly Draining of Fenny Lands, &c, SHERE are two Sorts of Fenny Lands, viz. thofe as are conftantly wet, only in a dry Time fhallower than in a moift Seafon, and thofe that are only cafually drown’d by up-land Floods and great Rains : The laft are gene- rally of a very large Extent, and fituate upon a Level 5 fo that the Water cannot run off from them, but it remains ’rill the dry Wea- ther occafions it to be fuck’d up. In draining either of thefe Sorts of Lands two Things are to be conGder’d, either the laying of them abfoluteiy dry, or diverting of the Land- Floods, Rains, &c. The former makes a per- feft Cure, and is effected thus: If your Grounds lye between Hills, which have gene- rally Defcent enough to drain them, but have Springs pent by a Weight of Earth, that dams in the Water, fometimes cauGng it to fpread on the Ground fo far as it is foftj in the drain- Improvement of arable Land. 239 draining of fuch Lands, you are to obferve where the loweft Place is, and what Defcetit it has, that fo the Earth may be cut deep e- nough to convey all the Water away from the Bottom of the Bogg 5 and it muft be cut a Spit below the Springs, or elfc the whole Work will be to little Purpofe. In the dig- ing of this Drain you are to begin at the low- eft Place, and fo carry it towards the Spring- Head, where you muft make fuch Trenches, either round or crofsways, as you ihall find neceflary for the abfolute draining of your Land. For the draining of flat Levels from Land-Floods, and low Fenns, whereby the Water is diverted, and the Ground render’d ferviceable, you are iikewife to confider the loweft Part of the Ground, and to carry off the Water that Way before .you attempt a thorough Draining. When this is taken Care of, then proceed to make your principal Drains, which are to be cut wide, and deep enough to carry oflF the Water from the whole Level, and as ftreight as is poflible, conveying all your fmall Drains into the middle one, which is the chief Article of the Work j always ob- ferving to make the Drains largeft at the Mouth, and to narrow them by Degrees, as they run more into the Lands. Thefe Drains are to be well cleans’d from Mud and Weeds xht Spring zndi Fall. In the Fens of Lincoln- P}ire,n is ufual for Occupiers of Lands to ereft a particular Wheel for Draining, turn’d with large I 240 Management- and large Windmil-Sails, and made proportiona- ble to the Strength that is to drive them j fo that a great Quantity of Water may be row’d along upon a Flat, where it i^ not to be rais’d to any Height : For this Purpofe the Spoaks are made broad and fet a littie doping, to row the Water more readily ^ and they are exactly fitted to move between two Boards : But when the Engine is to raife the Water any fmall Height above the Level, the Spoaks are made hollow like Scoops, and fet fo, as to deliver the Water at the Height intended : And if the Place require the Calling of it over a Bank that is of any confiderable Height, the Ends of the Spoaks are to be form’d like Box- es, which, as the Wheel rifes, let the Water run into the Circle made hollow to receive it, and a Channel being cut on the Back of the Spoaks, delivers the Water as the Wheel de- fends As this Wheel is effectual for drain- ing of Lands, fo an- Engine call’d the ?erfian Wheel, will raife a Quantity of Water fuffici- ent for Overflowing of Lands that border on the Banks of Rivers, where the Streams lye fo low, as to be incapable of doing it. This “ Wheel may be made of any Size, according « to what Height’you would have the Water “ convey’d, and the Strength of the Stream “ that gives Motion to the Engine. One Sort “ of thefe Wheels is made after the manner of “ an imdcr-lhot Mill, with a double « into which are let two Pins, whereon the “ Floats Improvement of arable Land. 14 1 “ Floats are fatten’d, which are made hollow ^ “ the half that is moft remote from the Wheel holds that Water which is taken in at the “ open Place above the Middle of the Back of ” the Float 5 and as the Wheel goes round, and the Float laden with Water rifes, fo “ the Water by Degrees tends towards that “ Part of the Float which is next .the Wheel ; As the Float furmounts the Cittern or Re- “ ceiver, the Water difeharges it felf into if, “ every Float fucceeding each other, and all “ emptying themfelves into the Receiver 5 ” fo that if one Float contains a Gallon of “ Water, and there be thirty Floats on the ** Wheel, at one Motion round it delivers ** thirty Gallons of Water into the Cittern. Such a Wheel may be about fifteen Foot “ Diameter, and the Floats at eighteen Inches Dittance, fo as to throw out the Water “ eleven or twelve Foot above the Level of “ your Stream. The Wheel will go round “ four times in a Minute, and carry up a- bout one hundred and twenty Hoglneads of “ Water in an Hour, only by penning or ftop- “ ping an ordinary Current. This Engine “ will very well water thirty or forty Acres “ of Land 5 it works conttantly, and will laft many Years without Repairs, fo as it be “ not permitted to ftand ftill 5 for then one “ Side would grow dry and lighter than the “ other 5 and the flower the Motion is, the “ better the Water is deliver’d.” The Drain- S ing. 24 i Of the Management and ing, and Overflowing of Lands, make both very confiderable Improvements ^ the former done on a fenny, marfhy, fowr. Failure, to preferve it from Ruflies, and render it heal- thyj and the latter is ufually pradis’d on Mea- dows, and indeed generally affords the greateft Of Hops and Hop-yards, and their Management. HIS is one of our mofl: profitable rural Employments 5 but it comes more under the Cognizance of the Gardener than the Huibandman ; every PolTeflbr of a Plot of Ground being ca- pable of managing a Hop-yard without the Expence of Ploughs, Cattle, for its Culture, (not but the Charge of keeping a Hop-Garden in Repair is very confiderable) and by ma- nual Induftry, with the Ufe of the Spade and Hoe, to go through the feveral Particulars of this Bufinefs. The very great Eftates acquir’d within an Age part in the Merchandize of Hops, is a fufticient Encouragement to all induftrious Perfons to venture on thefe Planta- tions ^ and befides the uncommon Profit, they employ a greater Number of Poor than any other rural Affairs wfiatfoever. The Plant- ing, Soiling, Digging, Hoeing, Polling, S 2 Tying, 244 Management and Tying, Picking, render a great manyHands not only of Men,butWomen,and Children, ne- ceflary in their Difpatch : And the Bufinefs, for the moft Part, is fo little laborious, that thofe Perfons as are unfit for many other Employs, may follow it with Pleafure : I have known at lead thirty Pounds per Annum made, clear of all Expences,from an Acre of Ground, and a Garden, of a confiderable Extent, con- tain the fame Qitantity per Acre, one Acre with another. This has occafion’d me to view the noble Plantations at Farnham with the greateft Satisfadion : The Neatnefs and Exadnefs of thefe Gardens make them appear like regular Woods or Groves. And in many Parts of Hampjhire the Inhabitants are fo very fenfible of the Advantage arifing bythefe Plants, that their Gardens are fill’d with ’em j and there is nothing more common, than to fee Hedges in diflant Fields entirely furround- ed with Hops. But to proceed to their Ma- nagement : This Plant delights in the richeft Land, and a deep light Mould, the fame be- ing better if mix’d with Sand ^ and a black Garden Mould is excellent for it : A Piece of Ground a little inclining to the South, the Soil being mellow and deep, and having Wa- ter near at Hand, in the Summer, will do very well : And indeed moft Sorts of Lands will ferve for Hop-Gardens, except it be fto- ny, rocky, and ftiff Clay 5 but if for Want of a better Soil you are neceflitated to plant in a cold, ftiff, four, or barren Land, the beft Improvement of arable Land 245 and moft proper Means is to burn-beat it about the End of September, which will occafion a very great Improvement : However, let your Ground be in what Condition it will. Care hiuft be taken in the Beginning of Winter to till it either with the Plough or Spade. As for the Planting of Hops, fome do it in Squares, Checker-wife, which is moft convenient, if you intend to plough with Horfes between the Hills 5 others, in Form of a Qtaincunx, that is better for the Hop. Which Way foever it be, pitch a fmall Stick at every Place where there is to be a Hill, after affigning the Di- ftances, and laying out the Rows by Line and Meafure j and when that is done, in cafe the Ground be poor or ftiff, let fome of the belt Mould that can be procur’d, or a Parcel of the belt Dung and Earth mix’d, be brought into the Garden 5 at each Stick dig an Hole of about a Foot fquare, and fill it with this Mould or Compoft, wherein your Plants are to be fet. The Diftance of the Hills, in hot dry Ground, may be five or fix Foot only ^ but in moift, deep, and rich Mould, which bears large Hops, you mud place them feven or eight Foot afunder 5 and fo, according to the Goodnefs of the Ground, you arc to lay out the Hills. As for Compofts for the Hop-Garden, if the Dung you intend to ufe be rotten, it muft be mix’d with two or three Parts of the common Earth, and fo left ’till the Spring, and that will ferve to make up the Hills withal : Your Dung is not S 3 to 2^6 of the Management and to be new, which is injurious to Hops 5 and that of Horfes, Cows, or Oxen, tho’ very good, is not to be compar’d with Pigeons Dung, a little of which laid to a Hill and mixt, that it may not be of too great Heat in a Place, is of very great Advantage. Sheeps Dung is alfo very good 5 fo that if fome of it, with Pigeons Dung, be fteep’d in Water 'till it is quite dilTolv’d, and a Dilhful of it pour’d into the hollow Place at the Top of every Hill, inftead of common Watering, the Ver- tue of it will immediately penetrate to the Roots , and prove more expeditious for Enrich- ing of Hop-Hills, and lefs expen five, than any other Way whatfoever. Your Ground being laid out and foil’d, we come to the Planting of Hops, wherein thefe Things are to be confider’d 5 the Choice of Sets, the Pruning, and the Seafon for plant- ing. The moft proper Time of Planting Hops is in OSober, before the Approach of the cold Weather 5 and this Work rauft not be deferr’d too long, that the Plants may have Time to fettle befoie the Spring. In the Choice of your Sets, the largeft, of about eight or ten Inches in Length, and having three or four Joints or Buds in each Plant, are to be preferr’d 5 but the Roots that grow downwards are not to be cut. Thefe Plants are to be put into the Holes (prepar’d for them before taken out of the Ground) at each Cor- ner of the Hole to be one, and the Earth to rais’d two or three Inches about them, unlefs you / Improvement of arable Land. 247 you plant fo late, that the green Sprigs are fhot forth, when they are to be cover’d left you deftroy them. The Hills are not to be too high the firft Year 5 but to be encreas’d in Extent, as the Roots of the Hops encreafe in Stature, and produce great Qiiantities of Shoots to require it : It is the fame of Poles 5 for the firft Year two fmall Poles will fuffice, the next Year there muft be two or three large ones, and the third Year four of the largeft Poles will be necelTary to fupport the Crop, if your Hops are large, in a thriving Condition, and the Hills are fo far afunder as to have Room for them. In the Management of old Hops, if they are worn out of Heart, you are to dig them about the Beginning of Winter, taking away as much of the old barren Earth as you can,and putting fat Mould inftead thereof 5 but if the Hops are ftrong and in good Heart, Manuring and Pruning is moft advifeable 5 for this perfedly reftrains them from a too early Springing. In the Drefling of them, you are to pull down your Hills, and undermine roundabout ’till you come near the principal Roots j then take the upper or younger Roots in your Hand, and fhake off the Earth, which being remov’d with the fame Tool, you’ll difcern where the new Roots grew out of the old Sets : Be care- ful not to injure the old Sets ^ as for the o- ther Roots they are to be cut away, neither need they be fpar’d to the Delay of the Work, except itbe fuchas you intend to plant: No S 4 more Of the Management and more of the Roots muft be uncover’d than the Tops of the old Sets in the firft Year.of cutting, and at what Time foever the Hill is cut down, the Roots are not to be cut ’till March. At the firft Dreffiug all fuch Roots or Sprigs as grew the Year before out of your Sets, are to be cut away within one Inch of the fame 5 and afterwards, yearly, they muft be cut as clofe as can be to the old Root, unlefs it be a weak Hop, when fome principal new Shoots are to be left at Drcf- fing. The old Roots are red, but thofe of thelaft Year are white. The Rootbeingdrefs’d, the rubb’d Mould is to be apply’d ; and in Dref- fing, as in Planting, the down (hooting Roots are not to be medled withal, nor the Hills to be made too high at firft. When the Hops appear above Ground, you are to begin to pole them, and not before 5 for ’till then you cannot judge where the largeft Poles will be neceiTary : In the doing of this, it is good to let the Poles lean outwards 5 and to fet them towards the South, is efteem’d a good Piece of Hulfaandry. When the Hops are (hot two or three Foot out of the Ground, the next Bufinefs is to conduft and tye them to fuch Poles as are fit for them j this muft not be deferr’d, and in the doing of it, you are to be fure to tye your ftrongell Shoot to the largeft Pole, and not to fallen themfo clofe to the Pole, or with fuch Tackle, as to gaul them, large coarfe Yarn being efteem’d the beft. Bandage for that Purpofe. About Midfimmer they be- Improvement of arable Land. 249 gin to leave running at Length, and then to branch 5 but fuch of them as are not at that Time got up to the Tops of the Poles, Ihould have their Tops nipt off, or elfe diverted from the Pole, that they may branch the bet- ter, which they will do much more than if they were permitted to extend in Length. In May, after Rain, it will be fometimes necef- fary to make up the Hills with a Hoe or Spade, or by Ploughing to deftroy the Weedsj and in a dry Spring they ought to be water’d 5 for which Reafon it is prudent to fituate your Hop-Garden near fome Rivulet or Stream, or, for want of this Convenience, dig a Well from fome Pond made with Clay, in the lower Part of the Ground, to receive hafty Show- ers by fmall Aqueduds leading to it, which is the belt approv’d Water of any for this Pur- pofe. After every Watering, (which need not be above twice or thrice during the Summer, provided it be thoroughly done) take Care to make up the Hills, wherein Holes for the Water were made, with fome of the Parings of Earth, and the Weeds and cooleft and moifteft Materials that can be got. Towards the End of July, or Beginning of JuguH, Hops begin to blow, ’till which be part, they are not out of Danger from Blights : In forward Years they are fometimes ripe at the latter End of AuguH, and if they are not then in full Ma- turity, they are fo always early in September. When they look a little browniih, gather them without Delay, but not while they are wet j 2 50 of the Management and wet j and if the Dew be on them, or a Shower of Rain has taken them, fliake the Pole and they’ll dry the fooner. If they be over-ripe, they’ll be apt to flied their Seed, wherein confifts their chiefeft Strength ^ nei- ther will they look fo green as otherwife they would do, but fomewhat brown, which much leifens their Value ; tho’the longer they Hand the lefs they wafte in Bulk, and the more they encreafe in Weight. The moft expe- ditious and fafeft Way to gather them, is to make a Frame with four Ihort Poles or Sticks laid on Forks driven into the Ground, of that Breadth, as to contain either the Hair- Cloth of your Kiln, or a large Blanket tack’d round it about the Edges. On this Device the Poles with the Hops on them may be laid, being either fupported by Forks, or the Edges of the Frame ^ at each Side whereof the Pickers may Hand or fit, and pick the Hops upon it. When the Blanket or Hair- Cloth is full, untack it, carry it away, and place another, or the fame empty ’d, in the fame Frame again ; and this Frame may be daily remov’d with little Trouble to fome new Station, for Convenience in the Work. As fail as the Hops are pick’d they rnuft be dry’d^ the Flemming^s and Hollanders ered an Oofl: or Kiln on purpofe for this Bufinefs 5 but we commonly dry them on an ordinary Malr-K'ln in a Hair-Cloth ^ tho’ Tome Perfons are at the Trouble of making a Bed of flat Ledges about an Inch thick, and two or three Improvement of arable Land. 251 three Inches broad, fawn and laid one a-crofs the other, checkerwife, the flat Way, the Di- ftances. being three Inches or thereabouts 3 the Ledges are to befo enter’d and put one into ano- ther, that the Floor may be even and fmooth : This Bed may reft on two or three Joyces fet edgeways to fupport it from finking 5 then co- ver it with large double Tin folder’d together at each Joint, and fo order the Ledges before they are laid, that the Joints of the Tin may always lie over the Middle of a Ledge 5 end when the Bed is wholly cover’d with Tin, fit Boards about the Edges to keep up the Hops, only let one Side be fo order’d, to re- move upon Occafion, that they may be fliov’d off as before. The Hops may be turn’d on this Tin-bed, or Floor, with great Safety 5 and not only a fmall Expence of Fuel will do, but auy Manner of Fuel ferve in this Cafe, as well as Charcoal, and the Smoke not paf- fing thro* the Hops : But Care niuft be taken to make Conveyances for it at the feveral Cor- ners .and Sides of the Kiln. The eafy turn- ing of Hops is a Wafte and Injury to them, and an Expence of Fuel and Time : It is beft to have a Cover to the upper Bed where- on the Hops lye, that may be let down and rais’d at Pleafure^ this Cover may be tinn’d over, by nailing Angle Tinn-Plates to the Face of it, that w'hen the Hops begin to dry, and are ready to be burnt, you may let down the fame within a Foot and lefs of rbc Hjp>, which will refled theHeat upon them, thn i • 2^2 Of the Management and the uppermoft Hop will be as foon dry as the lower ones, and all of them be equally dry’d. When your Hops have lain about a Month after drying, on a boarded Floor, to cool and grow firm and tough, you are to proceed in their Bagging: Firft, you are to make a round or fquare Hole in an upper Floor, big enough for a Man with Eafe to go up and down, and to turn and wind himfelf about ^ and it is generally fitted to the Mouth of the Bag : Then tack a Hoop about the Mouth of your Bag fall with Pack-thread and a Pack- Needle, that it may fupport the Weight of the Hops when full, and of the Perfon that treads them : This done, let the Bag'down thro’ the Hole, and the Hoop will reft above, fo as to keep the Bag from Aiding wholly thro. Into this Bag call a few Hops, and be- fore you go in to tread, let an Handf^ul of the Hops be ty’d at each lower Corner with a piece of Pack-thread, to make as it were a Taffel, whereby the Bag, when full, may the more conveniently be lifted or remov’d : Then go into the Bag, and tread the Hops on every Side, another ftill calling in as fall as you re- quire, ’till it be full. When 'tis well trodden and fill’d let the Bag down, by unripping the Loop at Top, and clofe the Mouth of the Bag, filling the two upper Corners as you did the lower; Hops thus bagg’d, and well pack’d, will keep feveral Years in a dry Place, taking Care that they receive no Injury by Mice j for tho’ thefe Vermine will not eat them, Improvement of arable Land. 1 5 5 them, yet will they make their Nefts in ’em, and thereby do you a confiderable Damage. I am come now to a Conclufion of my Work 5 and if I have, towardsthe latter End, touch’d upon fome Subjects which I did not feem to intimate in the Beginning, I doubt not but they will be excufable, fince it was the more effeftually to mix the profitable Part of Gardening with that of the pleafurable, and to perfue the Improvements of Lands in the utmoft Latitude. This 1 was advifed to by my Friends 5 and, upon a thorough Refle- xion, I thought it entirely confiftent with my Deiign of both Diverting and InflruXing the Publick j fo that I have made a fmall Altera- tion in my Method ^ and leaft I fliould tire the Patience of my Reader, I have omitted, for the moft Part, in my two laft Volumes, all Drefs which might feem fuperfluous, and kept more entire to Informations j which I am per- fuaded cannot be dillik’d, but on the contrary approv’d, fince it lelTens the Price of the Per- formance, *as well as contrafts it. I do not pretend to accufe any Perfons of borrowing from other Writers, or pre- fume to fay that my Book is free from any Thing of that Nature, as does the Reverend Mr. Laurence 5 I am not afliam’d to confefs that I have taken feveral valuable Hints and informations from the beft Authors extant, (as I have already particularly obferv’d in the Preface to roy ad Volume) being very fenfible that 2 54 Management and that my Book would have been very defir cient and incompleat without them : But 1 hope the World will do me the Juftice to own, that there is no Particular 1 have taken from the Writings of any other, but what ap- pears here with Additions and Improvements. It has been my great Ambition and Defire to entertain the Nobility, Qiiality, and Gentle- men of Eftates, with the beft Defcription I were capable of in my Profeflion, at the fame time having a due Regard to the moft minute Information necefiary to be communicated to the praftical Gardener. This I could not have done without the Meafures I have taken ^ and if I have the good Fortune not to fail in the former, I think I am pretty fure of pleafing the latter. That Part of Gardening relating to Flow- ers, Green-houfes, &c. I have pafs’d over withopt particular Notice^ and indeed thofe Heads have lately been fo ingenioufly treated of hy Mr. Bradley, that I have little Room at prefent to fay any Thing very material on thofe Subjefts. Mr. Bradley has. not only fhewn himfelf a fkilful Botanift, but a Man of Experience in other Refpedls, and is every where a very modeft Writer. To conclude, I hope I lhall not bp too fe- verely dealt with by the Generality of Man- kind, when I have taken fuch elaborate Pains to divert them : And as 1 began with Poetry, and in the Summer Seafon all Gentlemen are fond • # ' ■ j i Improvement of arable Land. 255 fond of Retirement in the Country, I don’t doubt but they'll readily join with me in thefc Lines of the celebrated Mr. Addifon 5 Bear foine God^ to Baia j gentle Seats ^ Or cover me in Umbria’j' green Retreats 5 Where evn rough Rocks with tender Mjrtle bloom^ And trodden Weeds fend out a rich Perfume: Where Western Gales eternally reftde.^ And all the Seafons lavijh all their Pride : Blojfoms^ and Fruits^ and Flow^rs^ together rife^ Aud the whole Tear in gay Confufmi lies. FINIS. ' I hope the Reader vrtll excufe the Want of three or four Plates w this Volume.^ (vchich voere at firfi intended) there being one Plate \lUiflrating a nnherfal De/ign of Mitral Gardening-^ introduCIory to the feyeral Vefcriptions, :t:\ ■; '* . .^ ^ .*'•■' ^ t . .1 « ■''• ' \-r''' -V'. '■■ ■■". ■ ■■'S '''■ ' SFEdAL- 85-b \bd)b • V.5 GETTY CENTER LIBRARY