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

CHAP. V.

The Plow mans instruments and tooles.

THe carefull and diligent plow-man, long time before he be to begin to eare his ground, shall take good heed, and see that all his tooles and implements, for to be vsed in plowing time, be readie and vvell ap∣pointed, that so he may haue them for his vse vvhen need shall be: as namely a waggon or two, according to the greatnesse of the farme, and those of a reasonable good bigge size, and handsome to handle, vvell furnished vvith wheeles, vvhich must be finely bound and nayled, and of a good height, but more behind than before: one or two carres, vvhich may be made longer or shorter, according as the matter, vvhich shall be layed vpon them, shall require: one light and swift cart, the bodie layed vvith plankes, and sufficient strong to beare corne, vvine, vvood, stones, and other matters that are of great vveight: a plow furnished vvith a sharpe culture, and other parts: tumbrills to carrie his dung out into his grounds: wheele-barrowes and dung-pots to lade and carrie out dung in: strong and stout forkes to load and lay vpon heapes the corne-sheaues: pick-axes to breake small the thicke clods: the roller to breake the little clods: rakes, pick-axes, and mattockes, or other instruments to plucke vp vveeds that are strong and vnprofitable: harrowes and rakes with yron or woodden teeth, to couer the seed with earth: sickles to sheare or cut downe haruest: flailes to thresh the corne: fannes and sieues to make cleane the good corne, and to separate it from the chaffe, dust, and other filth.

And because the plow is of all instruments belonging to the arable field the prin∣cipallest, and varieth the oftest according to the variation of climats, I vvill here giue you a little touch of the seuerall plows for euerie seuerall soyle; and first to speake of the composition of plows, it consisteth vpon the beame, the skeath, the head, the hales the spindles, the rest, the shelboard, the plow-foot, the culture, and the share; then the slipe to keepe the plow from wearing, and the arker-staffe to cleanse the plow when it shall be loaden vvith earth or other vild matter. The plow vvhich is most proper for the stiffe blacke clay, would be long, large, and broad, vvith a deepe head, and a square shelboard, so as it may turne vp a great furrow, the culture vvould be long and little or nothing bending, and the share would haue a verie large wing; as for the foot it vvould be long and broad, & so set as it may giue vvay to a-great furrow. The plow for the vvhite, blew, or gray clay, vvould not be so large as that for the blacke clay, onely it vvould be somewhat broader in the britch; it hath most commonly but one hale, and that belonging to the left hand, yet it may haue two at your pleasure, the cul∣ture vvould be long, and bending, and the share narrow, vvith a vving comming vp to arme and defend the shelboard from vvearing. The plow for the red sand,, would be lesse than any before spoken of, more light and more nimble; the culture would be made circular, or much bending like that for the white clay, yet much thinner, and the share vvould be made as it were with a halfe vving, neither so large as that for the black clay, nor so narrow as that for the white clay, but in a meane between both. The plow for the white sand differs nothing from that of the red sand, only it oft hath one addition more, that is, at the further end of the beame there is a paire of round wheeles

which bearing the beame, vpon a loose mouing axle-tree, being just the length of two furrowes and no more, doth so certainely guide the plow to his true furrow that it can neuer loose land by swa••••ing, nor take too much land by the greedi∣nesse of the yrons: the culture and share for this plow are like those for the red sand, onely they are a little lesse, the culture being not fully so long, nor so much bent, nor the share so broad, but a little sharper pointed, and this plow also serueth for the grauell howsoeuer mixt, whether with peeble, flint or otherwise. The plow for blacke clay mixt with red sand, and the white clay mixt with white sand, would be made of a middle size betwixt that for the blacke clay, and that for the red sand, be∣ing not so huge as the first, nor so slender as the later, but of a meane and compe∣tent greatnesse; and so also the culture and share must be made answerable, neither so bigge and streight as the greatest, nor so sharpe and long as the smallest. Lastly, the blacke clay mixt with white sand, and the white clay mixt with red sand, would haue a plow in all points like that for the red sand simple, onely the culture would be more sharpe, long, and bending, and the share so narrow, sharpe, and small, that it should be like a round pike, onely bigge at the setting on.

Thus you see the diuersitie of plowes, and how they serue for euerie seuerall soyle: now it is meet to know the implements belonging to their draught, vvhich if it be Oxen, then there is but the plow cl••uise, the teames, the yoakes, and beeles; but if it be Horse, then they are two-fold, as single or double; single, as vvhen they draw in length one horse after another, and then there is needfull but the plow cleuise, and swingle-tree, treates, collers, harnesse, and cart bridles; or double, when they draw two and two together in the beare geares, and then there is needfull the plow, cle∣uise, and teame, the toastred, the swingle-trees, the treates, the harnesse, the collars, the round withs, or bearing geares, bellie-bands, backe-bands, and bridles. Also, there be of harrowes two kinds, one vvith vvoodden teeth, the other vvith yron teeth: the vvoodden are for all simple clayes, or such as easily breake, and the yron for sands, mixt grounds, or any binding earth, and for new broken swarthes, or such earths as are subject to weeds, or quicke growth: for sleighting tooles, the barke-harrowes vvill serue loose grounds, and the roller those vvhich bind.

Notes

• Ploughes of di∣••erse sorts.