Maison rustique, or The countrey farme· Compyled in the French tongue by Charles Steuens, and Iohn Liebault, Doctors of Physicke. And translated into English by Richard Surflet, practitioner in physicke. Now newly reuiewed, corrected, and augmented, with diuers large additions, out of the works of Serres his Agriculture, Vinet his Maison champestre, French. Albyterio in Spanish, Grilli in Italian; and other authors. And the husbandrie of France, Italie, and Spaine, reconciled and made to agree with ours here in England: by Geruase Markham. The whole contents are in the page following

The Warren.

CHAP. I.

Of the situation of the Warren.

HItherto we haue as briefely as possibly we could run through whatsoeuer thing belonging to the tilling and dressing of the earth, as gardens, meadowes, arable grounds and vines: now it is requisite, that following the order before pro∣pounded, we speake of the Warren, of wood, timber trees, parks for wild beasts, breeding of herons, and of hunting.

We will begin therefore to describe the Warren,* 1.1 the profit whereof is not inferiour to that of the pullaine, pi∣geons, and other small cattell, which are bred and fed about our countrie farme, but chiefely in respect of the selling of conies, which the good housholder may doe yearely, and that some yeares betwixt foure score a hun∣dred dosen, beside all those which the Lord of the farme shall stand in neede dayly to vse, either for eating in his house, or for to giue away and gratifie his friends with∣all. Againe the indeauour, care, and paine about a Warren is nothing so great, as that which is required in the ordering of other small cattell; for conies stand not in to haue a speciall and set gouernour, to take care continually of house, handle, make cleane, heale them when they are sicke, or to dresse them their meate, because that of of themselues they build earthes and little holes to hide and repose themselues in: and feeding, they looke not for any thing but that which the earth of its own accord, without any tilling doth beare and bring forth for them.

Wherefore for the most profit of your countrie farme, you must prouide and pre∣pare a Warren in such a place, as hath before beene spoken of, that is to say, betwixt your corne fields, vineyards, and grounds bearing timber trees, if peraduenture you haue not the b••nefit of some vnder wood neere vnto your house, where the conies may settle themselues and make their abode. Notwithstanding in as much as the hun∣ting and taking of conies, which haue their couer••s and boroughs in such vnder woods, is some what more hard and difficult than that of the Warren: and because also that conies liuing in smal woods multiplie nothing so much as those in the War∣ren, and that especially by reason of foxes, woolues, and other field beastes, whereun∣to they are oftentimes made a pray by being deuoured of them: it will bee better, and for your further both ease and profit, to make a Warren apart by it selfe.

You must then for the making thereof, reserue some fiue or sixe acres of fine du∣sti••, or sandie ground, such as is not fat, strong or close, in a high place lying open vpon the Sunne, and not in a ••arish or waterie ground: for together with that, the ••onie hateth aboue all things, moisture and cold; yet for the conueniencie of her ma∣king of here earthes, it is requisite that she be in a place, where she may dig with ease for the making of her bed and couert. This peece of ground shall be compassed and be set about after the manner of a parke, with reasonable high walls to keepe out fox∣••s, woolues, and other wild beasts, that they may not iniurie or make war vpon this little beast. Within this conigrie, you must plant great store of brambles, mulber∣ri•• trees, and ••loe trees, strawberrie plants, wild pine trees, hurtle berrie bushes, goose berrie bushes, m••rtle trees, and great store of iuniper, for the conie loueth the iuni∣per berrie aboue all other things. And as concerning hearbes, you must sow (if so be the earth bring not forth someof itselfe) great ••tore of sowthistle, groundswell, suc∣corie, coleworts, lettuces, clarie, taragon, thistles, turneps, cich ••ease, and other such like for the feeding of these little beastes. As for the drawing of some small brooke, or bestowing of any water conduit vpon them, you need not trouble your selfe, see∣ing the coni•• hath moisture more than any thing else. Neither yet doe you trouble your selfe to prepare them any other lodging, than the holes which they shall dig and worke out for themselues.

And those burroughs or clappers which shall be meet for them to worke in, which borrough would (if the nature of the ground doe not allow it) bee cast vp somewhat high and s••••ape wise, so as the water may by all means dessend, and passe from the same without soaking into it, or drawing it vpon any fluxe of raine whatsoeuer: vp∣on the tops of these burroughs or clappers, for the better strengthning of them, and holding the loose mould together, you shall plant good store of alders and other rough bushes which are quicke of groweth, whose roots once entring into the earth and twinding about the mould, will keepe any from falling, more than that which the conie of her owne selfe diggeth: and although out of the precisenesse of choice we desire a speciall place for the conie Warren; yet you shall vnderstand that the most barren••est ground whatsoeuer (so it lie drie) will serue for the conie Warren, as namely the most dryest heath or downes, or those earths which are ouer runne with linge, gorse, whynnes, braken, broome, ferne, and such like, for a conie feedeth as a sheepe doth, close and neere to the ground, and will gather vp the smallest chi••e of grasse that may be, and also delighteth to crop vpon weeds or any other tender bud that groweth within the compasle of her feeding: the snow is her greatest enemie, ••et not so much for the want of food, as for the ouer moistning of ••er food, and so bringing rottennesse: therefore it is meere to haue euery Winter in your Warren a little cob or stacke of hay, wherewith in those extreame times you may fodder your conies, pricking vp little 〈◊〉〈◊〉 thereof in clouen stickes close by the ground, which they will eate with all greedinesse, for it is a meat at those times which they loue ex∣ceedingly: for proofe whereof doe but fodder sheepe neere vnto a connie Warren, and you shall see how euening and morning the conies will swarme vnto the same, eating vp whatsoeuer the sheepe shall leaue, which is not too hard or rough for their eating.

CHAP. II.

That there must a Clapper be made for the better storing and planting of your Warren.

ANd yet it is not inough to haue made and finished the things that are to bee done round about the Warren, as to haue fenced it, with whatsoeuer is ne∣cessarie for the preseruing and nourishing of conies; but you must also store and plant it: for no more than arable ground beareth fruit, except there be seed cast into in: nor the vine any grapes, except it bee diligently planted

and dressed: so neither thinke you that your Warren, be it neuer so nea••ly and neces∣sarily appointed and trimmed vp, can breed and feed conies, except you first put them there. Wherefore for your storing of your Warren, it is requisite that you cast vp a clapper, wherein you may put your males and females to kindle euery mo∣neth: for to buy so many as should be needfull would be too costly and chargeable for the farmer or housholder. Seeing also that it commeth to passe oftentimes, that after hee hath sold many vnto the vitailers, or for that the foxes haue eaten vp some great number, the Warren remaineth quite spoiled, and destitute of conies, in so much as that he must be compelled to store it againe. It is better therefore, in respect of the greater commoditie and lesse charges, to make a clapper in some corner of your court, kitching, or garden, which may be foure square, narrow, and fenced in with bords, or plaistered walls: indeed it were better to be prouided in the Warren, for so the young ones might more commodiously out of the clapper passe into the Warren at some one side of the clapper, which should bee crosse wrought with lat∣tise worke, and should haue the holes thereof left so wide, as that the young ones might passe out and in vnto their dams.

Whether therefore the clapper be prouided in the Warren, or elsewhere, you must build certaine small lodgings paued with boords, and these must haue holes in them like to those which the conies make themselues in the earth, and euery one seuerall from another, for the conies to betake themselues into: and it will be enough for to allow in such places one male to eight or ten females; and yet therewithall to keepe the bucke close shut vp in his lodging, for feare he should hurt and wrong the young ones, for the male conie (contrarie to the nature of all other manner of buckes) de∣uoureth the young ones. It is very true, that so soone as it is espied, that the Doe hath kindled, she must incontinently be put into some other hole with the male, that so he may Bucke her: for this is a most certain thing, that so soone as the Doe is emptie and deliuered of her young ones, euen so soone she is full againe of young, in such sort, as that she bringeth forth young euery moneth in the yeare: yea, and being great with young, she letteth not to take the Bucke, and to continue a second burden, which she bringeth forth afterward in due time. So as that this fruitfulnesse in conies hath become so admirable vnto many, as that some haue vpon too slender grounds thought and beleeued that the Bucke shoold conceiue aud become great with young aswell as the Doe, which is very false and altogether contrarie to all naturall course in the action of generation, seeing that by natures course, it is ordained that the fe∣male only amongst beasts should conceiue and ing••nder, and not the male.

After that the young ones are growne somewhat great, and become able to leaue their dams, you shall carrie them into the Warren for to store it therewith, and so let them grow wild: otherwise if you keepe them shut vp, and fast inclosed in the clap∣per with their dams, they will become tame, and alwaies continue as it were slum∣bring and heauie, like vnto those which are continually shut vp in clappers made for the purpose; and so will haue a grosser and more vnpleasant flesh.

And yet notwithstanding, you must beware not to put abroad into your Warren, the old clapper conies, either males or females: for seeing they haue not had their free swing to run abroad as those of the Warren, and haue not learned to saue them∣selues from dangers and violences offred them by foxes and other such wild beasts, they would bee by and by deuoured; so that thereupon it seemes better to containe and continue them still in their accustomed clapper.

Conies in the clapper are to be sed with col••worts, lettuses, groundsell, clarie, suc∣corie, sowthistle, ••arragon, thistles, cich pease, oats, barely and bran mingled together, and other such like things, as we haue spoken of heretofore. In some countries they feed them with mans bloud, such as is to be come by when sicke persons are let bloud: but such manner of feeding of them is starke naught, and maketh their flesh vnsauo∣rie in eating, and very preiudiciall vnto health.

And surely to speake the truth there is no food that a man can bind a conie to 〈◊〉〈◊〉 which is wholesome for them, because they are beasts which aboue all other desire

freedome of feeding, and to make choice of their owne meat. Whence it comes, that the tame conie is nothing so pleasant to eat as the wild, but is of a much ranker taste, and most easie to be discerned.

CHAP. III.

How the Conies in a Warren ought to be handled and ordered.

ALthough the hauing of a clapper be very necessarie for the storing of a war∣ren, againe and againe (as we haue said before) notwithstanding, for need, one may leaue off all vse of the clapper, and so, without any further charge or expences, content himselfe with putting a certaine number of conies, both males and females, into his warren, of them to haue sufficient store by encrease of young ones. True it is, that they are not so fruitfull, nor of such plentifull encrease, and therefore the warren will not be so soone stored by them: for they being accusto∣med to the warren, become more sauage and strange, but lesse giuen to engender: and thereupon it commeth, that the Does of the warren bring forth young ones onely thrice or foure times a yeare, and those that are kept in house-clappers, once euerie moneth: But howsoeuer it be, if you find it more for your profit to furnish your war∣ren with store after this later manner, it will be sufficient, for six dozen of Does, to put in nine Bucks, hauing more regard and consideration still vnto the Does than to the Bucks, to spare them, if at any time you would take any.

Their feeding shall be no otherwise than hath alreadie beene mentioned: and yet notwithstanding, besides that manner of feeding, if you would haue great store of conies in your vvarren, and that they should be to sufficiently fed, as that they should become fat, it will be good to sowe an acre of ground, or two, with Barly or Oats, not for to make any further haruest of them, than that which they shall leaue vneaten. You must haue a speciall care, that they feed vpon good nourishment, because their flesh (in like manner as the flesh of Partridges) doth retaine the smell and sauour of that whereupon they feed: as for example, of Iuniper, if their vvaren be full of Iuniper, and so semblably of other things.

If you see any conie-hole stopt with hay, or straw, or such other like thing, doe not vnstop it, but content your selfe onely to obserue it, and to gesse that there are young ones vvithin, vvhich the dam nourisheth: for this is the manner of the Doe, that from the time that she hath kindled, vvhether it be in a house, clapper, or in a vvarren, shee shutteth & stoppeth vp her hole with hay, straw, or some other grasse, such as shee can gather together, and to no other end, but that the Bucke may not find her yong ones, or goe into her hole, vvhere if hee should once come, hee would eat vp all her young ones: this thing being assuredly and vndoubtedly conceiued of the Doe, whether she be in her hole, or else goe forth to feed, she stoppeth her earth: and if so be that at her returne she find the mouth of her hole neuer so little vnstopt, she her selfe will by and by kill her young ones, hauing taken opinion, that the Bucke is gone in thither. And this is the cause why good hunters will neuer put their ferret into any earth, vvhose mouth they see stopt, for feare of disquieting the dam, and causing of her to kill her young ones. True it is, that shee doth not keepe her hole euermore shut: for at such time as shee knoweth her young ones to be growne great, and become strong ynough to seeke their meat, and to runne with others, shee beginneth to make a little hole for them to issue and goe out at.

Furthermore, you must not thinke, that conies, either males or females, doe at any time forget their earth, be it neuer so farre off: for howsoeuer some say, that comes haue no memorie, notwithstanding they are alwaies mindfull of their hole, be they strayed or wandered neuer so farre from the same. And this is the reason likewise

why some say that a good conie will neuer die out of her earth.* 1.2 You must likewise coniecture, that the conie is taught by nature to be afraid of the fox, as the sheepe of the woolfe, which is another case besides his wild and strange nature, why, when he goeth out of his hole, his mind runneth vpon nothing but running, thereby forget∣ting to thinke vpon other conies holes, and so of the Does, and of the eating of her young ones: for although he bee mindfull of his owne earth, yet hee taketh no care, neither casteth any whit about, how he may find out of fall vpon that which belon∣geth to another: likewise the Doe to take from him all occasion of any whi•• regar∣ding hers: is woont to stop the mouth thereof as hath beene said.

Furthermore, you must bee carefull round about the verdge of your conie Warren in the most secret and obscure places, and where you shall find the greatest suspition of the trackt of vermine, to place trappes and ginnes which may take and deuoure them, nei••her shall your trappes bee made all of one fa∣shion, but of diuers fashions, as some of them must bee hollow and passable both waies, the which are called coffer trappes or hutches: some frall-traps, which are to crush and kill sodainely: some spring-trappes, to snickle or halter either bird or beast, as also pit-falls, and other ginnes: all which the Warrenner shall diligently and carefully looke vnto, and baite with the liuers of conies, or some other such beastes: and in the highest part of the Warren, the Warrenner shall place a paire of gallowes made of crosse poales, on which he shall hang all the vermine which he shall kill, as Foxes, Faulmars, Cats of all kinds, Buzards, Crowes and such like, (all which breed great destruction in the Warren) as well to scar away other from hun∣ting thereabouts, as also to giue testimonie to the owner of his care and diligence in preseruing his ground from such like incumbrances.

CHAP. IIII.

Of the difference betwixt the Warren and clapper conie.

THe Warren conie hath a redder and thinner haire, a swi••ter and slen∣derer bodie, she is also more watchfull and wild, hauing a pleasanter flesh, and lesse ingendring melancholie than the clapper conie: for the clapper conie lacking libertie, cannot runne not exercise her bo∣die, and so becommeth more familiar and tame, more grosse, fuller of haire, more heauie and drowsie, and therefore lesse pleasant: againe, if it happen by chance that shee come into the Warren amongst wilde ones, she is by and by deuoured of Foxes or other beastes, enemie vnto her, hauing neuer beene acquainted with the the assaults and enimities of the said beastes before. As concerning other matters,* 1.3 both of them are better to be eaten young and small, than when they are great. Their braine is good to asswage the paine that young children doe endure in the breeding of their teeth: notwithstanding, such as would preserue their memorie must beware and e••te as little thereof as they can possibly, because it furthereth forgetfulnesse. The fat of conies is much more to bee commended than any other part, because it is better than any other helpes to make liniments of for the reines which are grieued with the grauell or the stone.

Notes

• * 1.1

  The profit of the Warren.
• * 1.2

  A good conie dieth alwaies in her earth.
• * 1.3

  The vertues and speciall proper∣ties of conies.