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

Rice.

IF you will sow rice you may doe it: but it is like to proue rather a worke of curio∣sitie than of profit; for rice is a commoditie properly belonging and growing a∣mongst the Indians, from whence also it is brought hither vnto vs in France. There∣fore for the sowing of rice either white or red, chuse out some place that is verie

moist, and in case you haue no such amongst your arable ground, then chuse out some field that is leane, foule, and nothing well clensed, or some other which is light and weake, but yet euen, and through which you may conuey some little brooke, or gutter of water. Eare the ground thrice, where you meane to sow your rice, and when you haue thus plowed it ouer thrice, sow your rice therein, which you must first steepe for one whole day in water: so soone as you haue sowne it, draw your lit∣tlebrooke along through it, and there suffer it to continue fiue whole moneths the depth of two singers: and when as you perceiue the blade to begin to shoot forth his eare (knowing that it also flowreth and seedeth at the same instant) then double the quantitie of water to keepe the fruit from blasting or spoyling otherwise. If you order it thus, you shall not onely reape great quantitie of rice, but you may also sow it three yeres together one after another, without giuing any rest at all to the ground, and yet the last yeare will bee no lesse fruitfull than the former: yea, which is more, you shall make the field more fat, frolicke, in better plight, and cleaner from weedes, and cleaner from noysome beasts than it was before: yea, and furth••r than this, you may sow therein for three yeares more, one kind of graine or other, wh••∣ther wheat, or meslin, whereof you shall not repent you in the time of haruest, you shall find it to faire and profitable. There is one inconuenience in rice, which is, that it causeth an ill aire by reason of the aboundance of water which it craueth for the space of fiue whole moneths: but to recompence the same withall, it proueth ve∣rie profitable for food and sustenance; for thereof is made pottage, and thereof al∣so is bread made, either with rie or mille••, or all three together, It is true, that it is much giuen to make obstructions, and it restraineth fluxes as mightily: and this is the cause why such as haue great loosenesse in their bodies do vse it oftentimes, espe∣cially, if it be parched and boild in cowes milke, wherein many little 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the ri∣uer haue bin quenched: if you boyle it in milke, adding therto sugar and 〈◊〉〈◊〉, it will prouoke vnto venerie. Many do thinke that it maketh fat; but seeing that (ac∣cording to the Physitians) it is not digested in the stomach but verie hardly, it must needs nourish but a little, and then how can it possibly make one fat? indeed it may be said rather to puffe vp than to make fat.