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. XVIII.

Barley.

AFter that vve haue thus largely spoken of Wheat and other Corne, it re∣maineth that vve should consequently speake of all manner of pulse: the ordering and husbanding vvhereof, to speake in generall, is like vnto that of the other graine going before, as namely, in the gathering of stones from off them, in manuring and giuing them their first, second, and third ea••ing, as also in clodding, sowing, harrowing, and mowing: but differing notwithstanding in some things, as namely, in their nature; and therefore it will be best to make a parti∣cular description thereof; especially of Barley, which howsoeuer it is of sleight vse in France, because of the great profit of the vine, and the plentie of Wheat in which the kingdome aboundeth, yet in other Countries it is of best respect, especially in England, vvhere the greatest sort doth grow, and where they make Beere thereof so good and excellent, that not any French Wine is more pleasant, or more wholesome. Therefore to speake first of Barley, ••••cording to the opinion of the French husband∣man, vvhich is not to be held most authenticall.

Barley must be sowne in a leane, drie, and small ground, or else in a ground that is verie fat throughout, because it doth bring downe and diminish the fatnesse of a ground mightily: and for that cause it is either cast into the ground that is verie far, the force and goodnesse vvhereof it shall not be able to hurt: or into a lea••e ground, vvherein a man should not sow any thing else so well. It must be sowne in a ground that hath had two earings, in some countries in the moneth of October, but in this countrie after the fifteenth day of Aprill, according to the common prouerbe (at S. Georges day you must sow your Barley, and lay your Oats away) if the ground be fat, but and if it be in a leane ground, it must be sowne sooner, not ••laying for any raine, in as much as that according to the prouerbe, Wheat must be sowne in 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and Barley in dust: for Barley cannot endure any great store of moisture, being of it selfe drie, open, and cold: againe, Barley being sowne in moist places, and much wa∣tered vvith raine-water, doth easily canker, and turne into darnell and oats: the same manner of ordering is giuen to the barley called mundified barley, and that because the chaffe thereof falleth presently, and cleaueth not vnto the corne, as it doth in com∣mon barley. When you perceiue it somewhat ripe, you must mow it sooner than any other corne: for it hath a brittle stalke or straw which is verie apt to breake, when it is verie drie, and the corne being but weakely inclosed vvithin his huske, doth easily and of it selfe fall vnto the earth: and hence also it becommeth more easie to thresh and shake out, than any other graine. After the corne is mowne, it will be good to let the earth lye ydle a yeare, or else to manure it throughly, and so to take away all the euill qualitie that is remayning and left behind. In a deere yeare it is vsuall to make bread of barley, as vve shall declare hereafter, and that better for the poore people than for the rich, and yet in one point to be praised, in as much as it is good & whole∣some for them that haue the gout: the assured truth vvhereof, is found out rather by experience than reason. Notwithstanding in as much as Barley (as Galen 〈◊〉〈◊〉) vvhether it be in bread or in pap-meat, in p••isan••s, in mundified barley, or other∣wise imployed, doth coole, and yeeld a thinne kind of nourishment, and somewhat cleanseth the bodie, in that respect it may be profitable for them that haue the 〈◊〉〈◊〉, as those that are full of humours, and subject to distillations falling downe vpon the mints.

There is made of Barlie a certaine kind of drinke, vvhich is commonly called ap∣tisane, and a meat that is good for sicke persons, called mundified barley, which th•• good vvife of the Farme may make in this sort; Take barley well cleansed and hus∣ked, boyle it till it burst, and till it become like vnto a pap-meat, after beat it in a mor∣ter, and when you haue so done, straine it through a verie fine strayner, put vnto it sugar, or the juice of sweet almonds, or of poppie-seed, melons, or lettuses, according as occasion shall be offered. Or else, Take of the best and newest barley, put it in a mortar, and cast vpon it warme vvater, as it vvere to wet it, but not to make it swim, afterward beat it gently with a vvoodden pestell, in such sort as that the huske that couereth it may be forced off, then chafe it betwixt your hands, that so you may free it quite from huskes; then afterward drie it in the Sunne: vvhen you haue this done, take a handfull of the said barly, and put it in a pot, vvhich it may fill to the halfe, and filling vp the other halfe with vvater, let it boyle by little and little vntill such time as it be burst, and become like pap-meat, let it run through a linnen cloth, and so straine out the juice.

Thus much for the French opinion of Barley: but to come to the true knowledge thereof, from the opinions of those that are better experienced in the same, you shall vnderstand that Barley ought to be sowne vpon the best, richest, and best husbanded ground you haue, and although it will grow in any soyle whatsoeuer that is vvell husbanded, not being too extreame cold and moist, yet the better the earth is into which you sow it, the better and the larger the corne is vvhen it groweth, and much more seruiceable for any vse you shall please to imploy it. That Barley which grow∣eth on the stiffe clayes is the best, being large, white, and full like a Buntings beake. That which growes on the mixt soyle, is the second best: and that which groweth on the sands, is the vvorst. Barley asketh the greatest tillage of all graines, because it must euer lye in a loose and gentle earth, and therefore when it hath least it ought to haue full foure earings before it be sowne, as in the fertile rich clayes, it must first be fallowed at the later end of April (for to stay till May the ground may be too drie) and this arder of fallowing must cast downe the ground, that is to say, the furrowes must be all turned downe from the ridge, and the ridge left open, so as the earth must receiue seasoning: At mid-May you shall manure it, and in Iune you shall giue it the second earing, which is called Sommer-stirring, and in this ardor you shall set vp the land, that is, you shall plow all the furrows vpward toward the ridge of the land, closing vp that which was before opened, and lapping in the manure into the earth in such wise that not any thereof be vncouered; then at August you shall giue it the third ardor or earing, vvhich is called foyling, and that is to cast the land downe a∣gaine, as you did vvhen you fallowed it, and this ardor is of all other one of the best, especially for the destroying of weeds and thistles; then in October you shall giue it the fourth ardor or earing, vvhich is called Winter-ridging, and in that ardor you shall euer set vp the land againe, as you did at the Sommer-stirring; and then in March and Aprill following, you shall sow it. Now touching the manner of sow∣ing of these stiffe clayes, you shall first make you seedes-man cast his seed ouer the land, in such sufficient manner as you shall thinke meet: then taking the plow, and beginning in the furrow, you shall cast the land downeward ouer the seed, till you haue plowed all the land, and left onely the ridge open, then holding the plow croswise ouerthwart the ridge, you shall close the ridge, and draw the mould into it, then you shall make your seedes-man cast another cast or two of the seed vpon the ridge onely, and then harrow it with woodden toothed harrowes, and this manner of sowing is called sowing vnder furrow. Now whereas I haue shewed you in the plow∣ing of your land, that you must first cast downe your land, then ridge it vp, then foyle it downe, and lastly, set it vp for the whole Winter following: you shall vnderstand that it is the best and most orderliest husbanding of land, breedeth the greatest plentie of mould, and couereth the manure closest, and maketh it soonest rot in the earth; yet notwithstanding for as much as Barley is a tender graine, and may by to meanes indure any cold or vvet, if you find that your lands doe lye too flat,

so that the Water cannot descend from them, but either choaketh them, or keepes them too vvet, then you shall set vp your land, and not cast it downe in any ardor till you haue brought it to that conuenient height that the vvater may haue free passage from the same; and so on the contrarie part, vvhen your lands lye too high, you shall cast the furrowes downeward, vntill you haue brought them to that low∣nesse vvhich shall be conuenient; and vvhen you haue so done, then you shall cast them downe, and set them vp againe in such order as hath beene before mentioned. There is also another maner or sowing of barley vpon these fertile and rich grounds, vvhich is called sowing vpon the Iunames, that is, to sow barley on the same ground from vvhence but the haruest before you reapt your Barley, and it must be done in this sort; as soone as you haue reaped your barley, vvhich is commonly in August, you shall forthwith (if the ground doe require it) manure as much as you intend to sow Barley againe vpon, and as soone as you haue manured it, immediatly (if the ground be not too hard) you shall plow it, either setting it vp, or casting it downe, as the land shall require; or if it be too hard, then you shall stay for a showre of raine, yet the drier it is plowed, the better it is both for the land and the come: the land be∣ing thus plowed, you shall let it lye till Nouember, and then you shall plow it a∣gaine, but in this earing you shall be all meanes set it vp, and not cast downe the land, and so ••et it lye till seed-time, and then sow it vnder furrow as was before shewed. This barley vvhich groweth thus vpon the Iunames is the fairest, vvhitest, and goodliest Corne of all other, and is the onely principall Corne you can reserue for seed of all other; and therefore you must haue a great regard to the election of the barley you thus sow vpon the junames: for the sowing of Barley vpon any mixt earths, or hasell-grounds, vvhich are clayes and sands, or clayes and grauells mixt together, you shall husband the grounds in all poynts as you doe the clay-grounds, onely you shall differ in the times, for these mixt earths must be fallowed in Ianua∣rie, Sommer-stirred in May, foyled in August, and Winter-rigged in October: as for the sowing of them, you shall not sow them vnder furrow, but aloft, because they are of binding natures; so that after the sowing should any sodaine raine fall, and then a drinesse follow it, it would so bake the earth together, that the Corne vvould not possible be able to sprout through it; and therefore (as I before said) you shall sow it aloft, that is to say, you shall first plow it, beginning at the ridge, and setting the furrowes vpward, then cast on your seed, and lastly harrow it. Now for sowing Barley vpon sand-grounds, you shall husband it like vnto the mixt earths, onely you shall giue it an ea••ing more, that is to say, a double foyling, and you shall forbeare to sow it till it be about Whitsontide, for the heat of the sand is so great, that it vvill make the Corne verie swift in growth, and ripen verie sodainely. Barley, in vvhat soyle soeuer it is sowne, must be exceeding vvell sleighted, clotted, stoned, and vveeded, for it is so verie tender in the growth, that the smallest clot or stone will keepe it backe, and the least vveed vvill choake it. Barley is of most pretious esti∣mation vvith all those vvhich know the true vse thereof, especially for the making of mault, of vvhich is made Ale or Beere, drinkes so vvholesome and excellent for mans bodie, that no nation vvhich doth enjoy it, hath any blessing to preferre before it: as touching the order of making of malt, it is in this sort, first after your barley hath beene cleane vvinowed and drest, you shall put it into a cesterne or fat made for the purpose, and there sleepe it in vvater the space of three nights, then draine the vvater from it cleane, and so let it lye in the fat one night more, then take it forth of the fat, and lay it vpon a floore made either of boards, plaster, or earth: the earth floore is vvarmest, and best for Winter, the plaster floore is coldest and best for Sommer, and the boarded floore is betweene both: as soone as you haue laied it on the floo••••, you shall make it into a great big coutch or heape a yard thicke or better; vvhich coutch you shall make either long, round, or square at your pleasure, and according to the quantitie of your corne, it shall thus lye in the coutch till you see it begin to sprout and put forth little white jags or strings vvhich is called the coming of the mal••, and them you shall reane and turn it, bringing that vvhich was the out-side into the midst.

and that which vvas in the middest vnto the our-side, that so it may come all alike, for that which is in the middest, and lieth warmest, vvill euer come the first. Now so soone as you see it is all comed, you shall forthwith spread open your coutch vpon the floore, laying it not aboue a handfull deepe at the most, that so the corne may coole, and not sprout or come any further, not forgetting but euerie day the space of three vveekes, or vvithin three dayes of three weekes at the least, to turne the malt vpon the floore twice or thrice a day, least forbearing so to doe, the corne heat, and by that meanes aker-spire, vvhich is, to sprout at both ends, and so loose the heart of the graine, and make the malt good for nothing. When you haue thus giuen it full (••at and floore) three weekes, then you shall lay it on a vvell-bedded k••lne vpon a good haire cloth, and there with a gentle fire drie it: the best fewell to make this ••ire on, is straw, either Wheat, Rie, or Barley. Braken or Ferne is good also, go••sse is too sharpe, and vvood is the vvorst of all, for it leaueth (through the sharpenes••e of the smoake) an ill taste or sauour vpon the malt, yet here in France there be kilnes made of Bricke, vvith such furnaces that carrie away the smoake, that you may burne what fewell you please vvithout annoyance, neither are they so dangerous for the casualtie of fire, as the ••ther plaine kilnes in England and other places are. After your malt is vvell dried, you shall with your hands rubbe it well vpon the kilne, to get off the come or sproutings vvhich before the drying did sticke vnto it; for it is a generall rule, that the cleaner your malt is from come, and the snugger and smoother it lookes like Barley (prouided it be well malted) the better it is, and euermore the more marketable: for the come is of this nature, to drinke vp the liquor in vvhich your malt is mashed, vvhen you make Beare or Ale, and so by that meanes to scant you much of your proportion. When your malt hath beene well rubbed, and is reaso∣sonable cleane, then you shall shouell both the malt and the corne together, and so put them together into a close garner made for the purpose, vvhere you shall let it lye at least a moneth or six weekes before you vse it to ripen in the come, for that makes euer the best yeelding malt: then when you please to vse it, you shall either winow it, or trie it through a skreene made of wiers for the purpose, and then grind it, and brew it as occasion shall serue. Now touching the choyce of the best malt, you shal euer take that which is made of best and cleanest corne without weed-seeds, ••are, or like filthinesse; yet if it haue here and there an oat it is the better, and not the worse: it shall to your eye appeare bright, white, full, and cleane without come, in smell it shal be pleasant and sweet, and not sharpe of the smoake, in handling it shal be brittle and apt to breake, and the kernell shall be white and meallie, and in taste it shall be strong, and exceeding sweet, and the graines which you shall champe in your mouth, if you take them forth, and presse them betweene your fingers, they shall yeeld you a white juice like milke, but thicke and luscious: but if in the biting or breaking they be hard and vnapt to bruise, then it is a signe that there is in it much barley vnmalted, and so the malt of a great deale the lesse profit. Barley as it is thus most excellent for the making of drinke, so it is good also for bread, but not of the French maner, which maketh bread thereof simple of it selfe, for indeed that bread of all other is least nou∣rishing, and most vnsauourie: but to mix it with any other graine, as with wheat, rye, pease, or beans, with any one or with all of them, it maketh verie good & most whole∣some bread: it is vsed in England most for hind-seruants, adding to a bushel of it, and a bushell of pease, one pecke of wheat, and another of rie, and then laying it in strong l••uen, and scalding the meale well, to take away the strong smell of the pease, and sure this is a verie strong and well-relished bread, and most wholesome for any man that shall labour hard, as is found by experience in England and other places. This barley being boyled in water till it breake, and so giuen to eat whilest it is sweet, is the best food that can be for the feeding or fatting of swine of all sorts, whether they be brawnes, or porkets, or bacon-hogges: it also farteth a horse verie sodainely, but such fat will not indure labour: the light corne, or hinder ends of barley, are excellent for the seeding of all sorts of poultrie, as capons, hennes, turkies, geeese, or what else strayeth about the Farmers yard or house: a leuen made of cleane barley-meale,

and milke is the best food that can be for the cramming of all sorts of poultrie; many other vertues are in Barley, but none of greater vse than these alreadie rehearsed.

Oats notwithstanding that they grow amongst Wheat and Barley without being sowne, as an euill and vnprofitable thing, notwithstanding for the profit comming of them for the feeding of great cattell, as also of men in the time of necessitie, they deserue a proper and conuement kind of husbanding. They loue to be sowne in leane places, which are drie, well aired, and haue beene alreared twice eared, and that in Februarie, or March, but not later: they craue vvatering, and then they grow both fairer, and fuller set. They must be gathered presently after that Rie and Barley are in.

Although Oats be not vsed to make bread of, except it be in the time of great dearth, notwithstanding some doe beat them in a morter, and doe make a meale thereof called Oat-meale, vvhich is boyled either alone, or else with flesh, to vse in manner of a panade. Physitians are of judgement that Oat-meale so made doth feed verie vvell, and is good against the grauell and difficultie of vrine: for the truth vvhereof, I referre you to the Britaines and Ange••ines, which vse it for the same effects. When it is boyled all alone, for the making of it the more pleasant, there is woont to be put vnto it cowes-milke, goats-milke, or the juice of sweet al∣monds with sugar. The Flemmings vse to make pap-meat thereof, which they loue exceeding vvell. The Muscouites distill the water of oats, and vse it for want of wine, and such water heateth and maketh drunke no lesse than Wine.

Thus much of the French opinion of Oats, vvho are indeed but halfe knowing, or not so much, in the excellencie of the graine; but to come to their knowledge who haue the full proofe and triall thereof, you shall vnderstand that it is a graine of no lesse worth and estimation than any of the other, and questionlesse may much lesse be banished a Common-wealth than of the other, in as much as where none of the o∣ther will grow, there this will; you shall then know, that Oats will grow in any soyle whatsoeuer, as either in fertile or barren, hot or cold, drie or moist, nor doth it aske much labour: for in fertile soiles it wil grow with one earing, as namely at seed-time, which is euer about the end of March, or beginning of Aprill: it will grow also af∣ter any other graine, as after wheate, rye, barley, or pulse, but it is best sowing it after barley or pulse, because to sow it after Wheat or Rie would pill the ground too much, and make it barren too soone: In barren grounds it will grow with two arders, or three at the most, as one at Midsommer, another at Michaelmas, and the third at seed-time, or else at Michaelmas, and at seed-time onely: it must be sowne vnder furrow, like barley in loose moulds, and after two or three arders: but aboue furrow, in fast earths; and where it hath but one arder onely, it must be well harrowed, according to the strength of the mould, that is to say, with wooden-teeth in loose moulds, and vvith yron teeth in fast moulds: they must be cropt as soone as they turne colour, and appeare a little yellow, for else they vvill shed their graine, as being the loosest corne of all other.

These Oats are of diuers most excellent vses both for men and also for cattell, as first for Oatmeale which is made in this sort; as soone as your Oats haue beene thresht and vvynowed, you shall lay them on your kilne, and vvith a soft fire drie them verie vvell, and then carrie them to the milne, either the Wind-mill, the Wa∣ter-mill, or the Horse-mill, and there let the Miller cut them, and hull them, but by no meanes crush them to fine meale, but onely driue the cleane kernell from the courser hull; then vvith a fanne or a gentle vvind vvinnow the emptie hulls from the Corne, and if so be that you find they be not all cleane hulled, then passe them through the mill againe, and then vvynow them againe, and thus doe till the nulls be cleane taken off; vvhich hulls are a verie good prouander for horses: as for the Groats, vvhich is vsually called common or course Oat-meale, they are excellent to make porridge of all kinds, and for puddings of all sorts, or for any other pap-meat or panada whatsoeuer: it is also an excellent food at Sea, being boyled in Water, or otherwise vsed after the manner of grauell. This oat-meale being ground

into ••ine meale like other corne, maketh diuers kinds of verie good bread, chiefely where other corne is not to be had. If you mixe the fine meale of Oates with Wheat meale, it maketh verie daintie Oat-cakes, either thicke or thinne, and is of great esti∣mation where they are knowne. These Oates being maulted, as you mault Barley, make a verie good mault, and that mault both verie good Ale and Beere, only a little more sharpe than that which is made of Barley. Lastly, those Oates are of all other foods the best that may be for the feeding of horse, or fatting of cattell: they are also good to seed all sorts of Pulleine, especially Geese, Swannes, and all manner of water-fowle, which take much pleasure therein.

Millet.

MIllet (as those know verie well which dwell in the Countrey Bearne, Bigorre, and Armignac) after that it hath beene steeped some certaine time in water, would be sowne, either morning or euening, in the coole thereof, in light and small moulded ground: and it groweth not only in grauelly ground, but also in sand, when the country it wet and moist: but in anie case it would not be sowne in drie grounds, and such as consist of Fullers earth, or are marly, neither must it be sowne before the Spring, for it requireth heat: wherefore it may conueniently be sowne in the end of the moneth of March, or else somewhat later, that so it may enioy the benefit of the dew a long time. It putteth not the husbandman to anie great charges, for a little seed will sowe a great deale of ground. So soone as it is sowne, it must be pressed downe with a hurdle of Wickers well laden, to keepe it from the heat of the Sunne, in the springing vp thereof: for otherwise the seed would grow vp and drie away, through the veh••mencie and heat of the Sunne-beames. Notwithstanding, it would be oft and verie well weeded, for the ••ooting vp of all manner of ill weedes, especially the blacke Millet. So soone as it may be spied peeping forth of the earth, and before that by the operation of the Sunne the corne doe shew, it must be pluckt vp by the hand, and be laid in the Sunne afterward to drie; and lastly, shut vp in some place where it may be kept: and being thus ordered, it lasteth longer than anie other manner of corne. Millet doth good vnto the fields wherein it is gathered, in this respect; name∣ly, that wormes will not hurt the corne that shall be sowne there presently after anie whit at all, seeing they will leaue the graine that is sowne, and cleaue to the straw of the Millet.

In the time of dearth they vse to make bread of Millet, but vnpleasant ynough, especially when it is setled: and the inhabitants of Gasco••gne and Campaigne doe vse a pappe-meat made of Millet with milke, and that not of the pleasantest taste: as well the bread as the pappe-meat, made of Millet, is of small nourishment: besides that, they make obstructions; and that, because Millet is cold in the first degree, and drie in the third. Millet fried with salt, and flowers of Camomill, and put into a bag, doth serue against the paines of the collick and wringings of the bellie. To keepe Purgatiues, as Rubarb, Agarick, yea and flesh also, from rottennesse and corruption, it is good to burie them in Millet.

Sesame.

SEsame would be sowne in a blacke ground that is somewhat rotten and moist. It groweth also in sandie and fat grauellie grounds, or in mingled grounds, and it is verie fruitfull, euen no les••e than Millet or Pannicke. It is true, that the good house∣holder needeth not trouble his braine much with the sowing of it, seeing it is apt to make the ground altogether barren, and yet is good for nothing except the oyle that is pressed out of it, and the cakes which liquorish women vse to make of the meale. It must not be sowne but in the midst of Summer, whiles the times continue drie, and that there is no raine looked for of a long time; for the raine doth hurt it after it is sowne, cleane contrarie to other plants, which (all of them) reioice in raine after they

are sowne. The oyle which is pressed out of the seed of Sesame, doth neuer freeze, and is the lightest of all other Oyles, and yet being mixt with Wine or Aqua-vitae, sinketh to the bottome. There is no account to be made of this graine for nourish∣ment, because it is giuen to ouercome the stomacke, and is hardly digested, as is all oylie matter.

Lentils.

LEntils must be sowne at two times, in Autumne, and most commonly, especially in France and cold Countries, in the Spring time, whiles the Moone encreaseth, vnto the twelfth thereof, and either in a small or little mould, or in a fat and fertile ground: for when they be in flower, they destroy and spoyle themselues through too much moisture, or by putting too farre out of the earth. And to the end they may grow the more speedily and the greater, they must be mixt with drie dung before they be sowne, and foure or fiue daies after that they haue beene so laid to rest in this dung, to sowe them. They will keepe long, and continue, if they be mingled with ashes: or if they be put in pots wherein oyle and preserues haue beene kept: or and if they be sprinkled with vineger mixt with Beniouin.

Lentils (howsoeuer auncient Philosophers had them in estimation) are of hard digestion, hurtfull to the stomacke, filling the guts full of wind, darkening the sight, and causing fearefull dreames: and withall, are nothing good, if they be not boyled with flesh, or fried with oyle.

Fasels.

FAsels grow in stubbly grounds, or rather a great deale better in fat grounds, which are tilled and sowne euerie yeare: and they are to be sowne betwixt the tenth of October, and the first of Nouember; or else in March, as other pul••e, after that the ground hath beene eared about the eleuenth of Nouember. They must be sowne af∣ter that they haue beene steept in water, for to make them grow the mose easily, and that at large when they are sowne, and alwaies as they ripen to gather them. They make far grounds where they be sowne: they are accustomed to beare much fruit: they keepe a long time: they swell and grow greater in boyling, and are of a good pleasant tast vnto all m••ns mouthes. It is true, that they are windie, and hard to di∣gest: but yet notwithstanding, they are apt to prouoke vnto venerie, if after they be boyled, they be powdred ouer with Pepper, Galanga, and Sugar: and yet more spe∣cially, if they be boyled in fat milke vntill they burst. If you mind to take away their windinesse, eat them with Mustard or Caraway seed. If you haue beene bitten of a Horse, take Fasels, chew them, and apply them so chewed vnto the greene wound. Young gentlewomen, that striue to be beautifull, may distill a water of Fasels that is singular good for the same end and purpose.

Lupines.

LVpines craue no great husbandrie, are good cheape, and doe more good to the ground than anie other seed: for when as Vineyards and arable grounds are be∣come leane, they stand in stead of verie good manure vnto them. Likewise, for want of dung they may be sowne in grounds that stand in need to be dunged, if after they haue put forth their flowers the second time, they be plowed vnder the ground: they grow well in a leane ground, and such as is tyred and worne out with sowing: and they may be sowne in anie ground, especially in stubbly grounds, such as are not tilled: for in what sort soeuer they be sowne, they will abide the roughnesse of the ground, and negligence of the husbandman: neither doe they craue anie wee∣ding, as well in respect of their root, which is single, as also for that if it were hurt, they would die presently, and because also that it should bee but labour

lost: for they are so farre off from being infected and wronged with weeds, that they euen kill them, and cause them to die. And this is the cause why manie sowe them in the middest of Vineyards, to the end they may draw vnto them all the bitternesse of the Vineyard, as being the qualitie most familiar vnto them, and with which they best agree. Notwithstanding they may not be sowne deepe: for when they flower, they are made no account of. Of all other kinds of Pulse they only stand not in need to be laid vp in Garners, but rather vpon some floore, where the smoake may com•• vnto them: for if moisture take them, they will grow full of wormes, which eate vp that which should make them sprout, and that which is remaining, can doe no good: they must be gathered after raine, for if it should be drie weather, they would fall out of their cods, and be lost.

Lupines are good to feed Oxen in Winter, but they must be steept in salted and riuer water, and afterward boyled: they serue also for to feed men, to make bread thereof, when it is a time of dearth of other corne. Some doe note this speciall pro∣pertie in them, which is, that they turne about euerie day with the Sunne: insomuch, as that by them workmen are taught the time of the day, though it be not cleare and Sunne-shine.

Lupines stampt and laid vpon the nauell, do•• kill wormes in little children: the decoction thereof doth prouoke the termes of women, and taketh away the ob∣structions of the sight, by reason whereof, manie doe wish them to be taken of young maidens and women which haue pale colours. Their meale is singular good in ca••aplasmes to resolue the swelling of the Kings euill, and other hard tumours, as well boyled in honey and vineger, as in honey and water: and likewise for the Scia••ica.

Beanes.

BEanes must be sowne in a fat soile, or else a ground that is well manured, and ea∣red with two earings: and although it be in stubbly grounds, and seated in low bottomes, vvhither all the fat and substance of the higher parts doth descend; not∣withstanding the earth must be ••li••ed and cut small, and the clods broken before they be sowne: for albeit that amongst all the other sorts of pulse there be not any that doe so little vvaste and the strength and juice of the earth; notwithstanding they desire to be vvell and deepe couered vvithin the earth: they must be diligently vveeded, at such time as they peepe out of the earth, for so the fruit vvill be much more, and their coddes farre the tenderer. They may be sowne at two times of the yeare, in Autumne vvhere it is a strong ground, and the beanes be great; and in the Spring, especially in this Countrie, in a vveake and light ground, the beanes being but small, and of the common size: those vvhich are sowne in Autumne are more worth than the other, so that the hindes let not to say, That they had rather eat the huskes or stalkes of beanes sowne in due time, than the beanes themselues of three mo∣neths old, because they yeeld more fruit, and haue a greater and better stored graine. But at what time soeuer you sowe them, you must haue speciall regard to sowe them all about the fifteenth day after the change of the Moone, because that in so doing, th••y will be the be••ter loaden, and because they will not be so much assailed of little vermine, as and if the Moone were new. The day before they be sowne, you must steepe them in the lees of Oliues, or in water of Nitre, to the end that they may beare the more fruit, be more easie to boyle, and not to be subiect to be eaten of Weeuils or Larkes. They must likewise reape and pull them vp in the new of the Moone, be∣fore day, and after leaue them in the ayre to drie, and thresh them out before the full Moone, and afterward carrie them into the Garner, for being thus ordered, vermine will not breed in them. Againe, they proue more profitable, being planted, than sowne, in a good ground, that is well dressed, tilled, fatted, and manured: vvhich said ground, if it be sowne the yeare following with Wheat, will yeeld a more copi∣ous and plentifull haruest, in as much as Beanes doe fatten a ground more than anie

other kind of Pulse. If you would keep them long, you must sprinkle them with salt water: but if you meane to boile them, you must bee sure to keep the salt from them, because salt-water doth harden them: they must not be left in the cold aire, for the cold also doth make them the harder to boile. To keepe them from being euen of wormes, they must bee annointed or rubd ouer with oile-oliue, one after another, vntill such time as they be well liquored with this oile. The flowers of Beanes, not∣withstanding that they be of a pleasant and delightsome smell, doe hurt a weake braine, and such a one as is easily carried away and ouercome. And hereupon it commeth to passe, that there are a great number of fooles, when Beanes are in flower.

Thus much for the French experience of Beanes, which doth indeed more con∣cerne the Garden-Beane, than those which are continually in vse amongst Husband∣men. Therefore to come to the profit and true knowledge of the husbanding of Beanes, you shall vnderstand, that they are onely to be sowne in a rich stiffe ground that is verie fertile, as namely the black or blew clay, for in other earths they ••oy but a little: and they will grow with one ea••ing onely, which would be done at the be∣ginning of Ianuarie vpon such earth as hath borne Barly before, or else vpon greene∣swarth, which hath not been plowed long before: it must be plowed deep, and haue a great furrow turned vp: then you shall let it lye, till it haue taken frost and raine: then vpon the next faire season, being about or soone after S. Valentines day, you shall sowe it and harrow it. As for the weeding of Beanes, it is to no purpose; for they are of themselues so swift of growth, that they will out-grow all weedes. And if they haue anie Pease mixt amongst them (which should euer be, for it is the surest seed) they will smother vp and destroy all sorts of weedes. They are, because of their vp∣right growing, better to be mowne with sythes, than cut to reapt with hookes: they aske little withering; for so soone as the cod turnes blacke, the stalke dryes. The vse of them is principally for prouander for Horses, or to mixe with Barley, Wheat, or Rie, to make bread for hind-seruants, or for hunting or running Horses: but then commonly they are vsed simply of themselues, or else mixt with Wheat onely: for the mixture of Barley or Rie is not good for Horses of that nature, except for some cause physicall, as to keepe them soluble in their bodies, and so forth. The Garden-Beane is good for men to eat, being boyled and mixt with butter, vineger, and pep∣per; or for want of butter, with oyle-Oliue. The cods also are a verie good food, be∣ing boyled whilest they are greene and tender. Lastly, the water which is distilled from the flowers of Beanes, is good to take away the morphew or spots in men or womens faces.

Small Peason.

SMall Pease are no lesse profitable for the fatting of ground that is leane, than Lu∣pines. It is true that if you looke to haue good store of them, and well-codded, you must sowe them in fat and warme grounds, and in a temperate and moist time, as in Februarie or March, and sometime in September, in the increase of the Moone: and yet it is hard for them to endure and hold out the Winters cold, for they alwaies desire the full fruition of the Sunne, and doe grow a great deale the fairer, when they doe enioy it accordingly, and when also they are borne vp to that end on stickes, ra∣ther than let fall flat to the ground, to creepe vpon it: they must be sowne thinne, because their stalkes doe spread themselues further than anie one other kind of pulse. They are verie subiect to be eaten within of Wormes: and yet those which are so eaten of Wormes, are better to sowe than the other which are whole and sound: For this cause, if you will preuent the Wormes that they may not hurt and hinder your corne, sowe Peason first in the place. It is true, that for the better growth and prospering of them, the thicke and grosse seed is most conuenient to be sowne, espe∣cially if it be laid in water to steepe therein a night, because thereby they grow the more easily, and lose some part of their saltnesse, in being steept, by which meanes

they recouer their naturall verdure againe. They must be gathered in the decrease of the Moone, presently vpon their being ripe, for else they drie vp, and fall out of their swads. The earth wherein they are sowne, standeth in need but of one earing.

Cich Peason.

CIch Peason doe likewise grow in fat and moist places: they must be sowne in a rainie time: they doe greatly load and burthen the earth, and for that cause are neglected of the wiser sort of husbandmen. Notwithstanding, if you will sowe them, you must steepe them in warme water a day before, that so they may grow and put forth of the earth the sooner and greater. Some to haue them grow the fairer, doe steepe them and their cods in nitrous water. To keepe them that passengers and o∣ther folke may not gather them to eate when they are ripe, you must water them fiue mornings together before the Sunne rise with water wherein haue beene steeped the seedes of wild Cucumber and Wormewood, and the dew within fiue daies after will haue taken away all the bitternesse thereof. Such practises are likewise good for to be vsed about small Peason and Beanes. The vse of them is good for such as are slow to performe the act of carnall copulation, and especially to carrie away grauell, and to breake the stone, as also for such as haue weake lungs and low and weake voi∣ces. They are also good against melancholie, and doe cut off troublesome thoughts and cogitations, and put in place thereof iollie conceits and merrie moodes: and then they being laid forth in the Moone-shine when it is in the encrease, and be∣fore the Sunne rise, they must be sprinkled with oyle-Oliue, afterward steeped in warme water, to soften them, and lastly, boyled for to be eaten. The way to vse them, is rather to suppe vp their broth, made with the rootes of Parsley, than to eare the Peason.

Small Cich Peason.

SMall Cich Pease, called of the Latines Cicercula, must be sowne in fat places, and in a moist time, as in Ianuarie or Februarie: they doe lesse harme to a field than anie other pulse: but for the most part they neuer come to profit: for when they are in flower, they cannot abide drowth, nor anie strong Southerne windes, at such time as they leaue flowring.

Great wild Tare, and bitter Fetch.

THe great wild Tare and bitter Fetch doe desire leane places, and such as ar•• not moist: for sometimes by putting forth too freely, and growing too much, they ouerthrow themselues. They may be sowne in Autumne, or in the end of Ia∣nuarie, and all the moneth of Februarie, but not in March, because if it should be sowne in this moneth, it would hurt the Cattell, especially Oxen, troubling them in their braines.

Fetches.

THere are two seed-times for Fetches: the first, when they are sowne for to feed cattell, and it is about the fifteenth day of September: the second, in Februarie, or March, and this is for to make bread of for to eat, being mixt with other corne: both of them may be sowne in vntilled grounds, but it is better when they are sowne in grounds that haue had their three earings. This seed loueth not the dew, and therefore it must be sowne two or three houres after Sunne-rise, when all the moi∣sture thereof is spent and consumed, either by the wind, or by the Sunne: and it must not alone be sowne, but it must also be couered the verie same day, because that

if the night should come vpon it, and wet it but a little before it were couered, it would quickly become corrupt and putrified. The ground wherein it is sowne, nee∣deth not anie more than one earing, and when it is sowne, it needeth no weeding. In anie case it must not be sowne before the fifteenth day of the Moone, for other∣wise the Snailes will annoy it. In like manner it must not be sowne neere vnto anie Vine or Orchard, or anie place where there are trees growing, because it draweth vn∣to it the iuice of such plants as be neere it: and yet the Fetch doth not make the ground leane, but rather fat: and that it is so, appeareth; because that so soone as the Fetch is taken away out of the fields, there may Peason, Millet, or anie other sort of Pulse be sowne.

Panick.

HE that would sow Panick, must make choice of a light, grauellie, sandie, or stonie ground, and such a one as is situate amongst hills, and on the tops of hills, and yet whereas there is no little resort of water, for that it being hot by na∣ture, groweth and putteth forth more easily than Millet. It must be sowne in Sum∣mer: and it groweth so speedily, as that it may be mowen within fortie daies after that it is sowne. The inhabitants of Gascoigne make bread thereof, but it is verie vnpleasant, because it is verie short and apt to c••umble away, euen like ashes or sand. The Perigordians frie it with butter, or oyle: others eate it with milke, or meat-broth.

Fenugreeke, Cummin, and Mustard-seed.

FOr the sowing of Fenugreeke, you must make choice of such ground as you would for the Fetch, which you must not cut the second time, seeing the first, if it be done thicke and small, and not deepe, will serue: for if the graine should be co∣uered aboue foure fingers, it would not be able to sprout and spring vp, and there∣fore the plough and harrow both must goe but lightly ouer it. The meale of Fenu∣greeke, with Brimstone and Nitre, doth take away the freckles of the face. If you mingle it with a fourth part of the seedes of Cresses in vineger, it will proue a singu∣lar remedie for the falling of the haire called Tinea. If you boile it in honied water, putting thereto some Swines grease, it will resolue the swelling of the testicles, hands, feet, and vnder the eares, and is profitable against the wrenches of ioints. The de∣coction thereof drunke oftentimes, doth infinite good to such as haue beene troubled with an old cough, and likewise for the vlcers of the breast: for the distillations and rhewmes falling vpon the eyes, you must wet clothes in the decoction of this seed, and apply them vnto the browes. And as for Cummin and Mustard-seed, wee haue spoken of them in the second Booke.

Medick fodder, or Snaile-clauer.

THere is not either anie Pulse or other feeding which is more agreeable or more precious for the feeding of beasts, than Snaile-clauer, called in French Sainct foin, for that it may seeme to spring out of the earth, and as it were of a more speciall fauour from God, not onely for the nourishing and fatting of heards of cattell, but also to serue for Physicke, for beasts that are sicke, and in that respect it is called of the Latines Medica. Some call it Burgundie hay, because the Burgundians 〈◊〉〈◊〉 beene alwaies verie carefull for the sowing and tilling of this hearbe. The inhabi∣tants of Picardie call it Foinasse, and manie haue giuen it the name of great Trefoile. Howsoeuer the name goe, the benefit of this gras••e is so great, as that euerie casefull husbandman ought continually to reserue the better part of his grounds, to bee sowne therewith. Make choice therefore of the sowing and growing of great store of this gras••e, of an euen ground that is verie cleane and fat, easie to be plowed, and

which hath had three earings before it was sowne, as also which hath beene well dunged, well harrowed, and digged and delued rather in the decrease of the Moone, than plowed with the plough, beginning the worke in Iune, afterward in August, October, December, and Februarie, to the end that the weedes that are in the ground may bee sufficiently killed, as well by the heate of Summer, at the cold of Winter. After that you haue made the ground well pleasing, and fit by such indu∣strie, beginne to sow it in the end of Aprill, during the new of the Moone, and to∣ward the latter end of the day; for being watered by the dew of the night, it will spring more speedily and easily out of the earth, than and if it were sowne in the heat of the day, because it would be burst continually, and would come but to small ef∣fect and profit. You must not bee niggardly in sowing of it: for by how much the more seed you sow, by so much the more thicke will the grasse grow; neither will there grow any other grasse there; and so there will also the more profit grow and rise thereupon to the good house-holder. So soone as it is sowne, you must harrow it euerie manner of way, as long-waies, broad-waies, and ouer-thwart, with harrowe•• or rakes of wood set thicke with teeth, but not of yron, because it is an vtter enemie to yron: afterward you must water it gently for the first time; for and if you should water it forcibly, and with aboundant store of water, you should driue the seed all to one side of the field, and yet you must not water it after September vnto the end of Aprill. It will be good to cut it downe with a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 fiue or sixe times the first yeare, and so proportionably the yeares following; for it endureth ten yeares, yea thirty as Pliny sayeth, without standing in neede of being sowne againe. The fit time to cut it downe is May, Iune, Iuly, and August, and the new of the Moone: in the meane time you shall not let it lye vpon heapes any longer than a day in the mea∣dowes, for if it should stay there any long time, it would raise such a hear, as that it vvould smother and kill whatsoeuer were vnder it, to the keeping of it for euer grow∣ing againe: wherefore it will be good to carrie it elsewhere, and to drie it assoone as possibly may bee, stirring it euerie day, from day to day. Againe, you must not let the cattell feede neere vnto this grasse, in as much as not their tooth onely, but their verie breathing on it also is very noysome vnto it, and that so greatly, as that it afterward becommeth either barren, or else dieth presently: it must not bee giuen greene for cattell to eate, least it make them sicke by reason of the moisture and heat that is therein: it must stay till it be drie before you giue it them to eate, and then al∣so but in small quantitie; for that this grasse begetteth in them such store of blo••d, as that of the much eating thereof, they would be strangled therewith. The good husbandman must be carefull to gather and reserue seed of this snaile clauer, to sow the same vvhen it shall bee requisite: it must not bee gathered the first yeare that it beareth, by reason of his weakenesse; but in all the other following, and that in the moneths of Iune and Iuly, so soone as the huskes wherein the seede is contained shall appeare drie, and the seeds themselues be turned yellow.

Mixt prouander.

MIxt prouander must be sowne in fat and well manured places, and such as haue beene twice eared: it will be verie good if it be sowne with pilde barley, some∣times it consisteth of barley, oats, fetches, and fenugreeke, vvhich are let grow hand ouer head, and are cut afterward either greene or ripe, to make fodder of for cattell in Winter.

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.

Hempe.

HEmpe must be sowne in fat and well dunged grounds, and watered with some little brooke, or else in fl••t and moist countries, where much labour and ploughing hath beene bestowed: for the fatter the ground is, the thicker will the barke or pilling be. It must be sowne in March, and gathered when the seed is ripe, and afterward dried either in the Sunne, Wind, or Smoake, and then laid in water for to bee watered, that so the pilling may the more easily depurt from the stalkes, after∣ward to be vsed in making of ropes and cloth, a labour and trauaile well beseeming and fit for women.

This is the opinion of the French, but not the generall opinion of the better ex∣perienced: for, the rich ground which is spoken of here to sow hempe in, must not bee taken for the rich stiffe blacke clay, or for any clay at all: for although they will beare hempe; yet they put forth so much bunne, and so little pilling, that in∣deed the hempe that groweth therein is good for nothing: therefore the best ground to sow hempe on, is the richest of all mixt earths, whose mould is driest, loosest, blackest, and quickliest ripe, with little earing, as namely with two ardors at the most, which vvould be in October the first, and the last in March, which is the best and most conuenient time for sowing. Hempe must bee exceedingly well harrowed and clotted, and the mould must bee made as small as dust; for the seed is verie tender at the first sprouting: but being once gotten aboue the earth, it ou••∣groweth all other weeds whatsoeuer; and out of its owne nature, it doth choake and destroy them: whence it comes, that hempe neuer needeth any weeding: it must bee diligently and carefully kept and tended (after the first 〈…〉〈…〉

appeare aboue the earth) from birds, for the seede is so sweet and so much desired of all small birds, that without great and diligent care they will not leaue you any in the earth. Now for the best time of gathering your hempe, it is acording to the com∣mon custome of house-wiues, about Saint Margarets day, being towards the lat∣ter end of Iuly: But more particularly, you shall vnderstand that it is best pulling your hempe for the pill as soone as it doth begin to turne yellowish, and the leaues to hang downeward looking vnto the earth: but if for seed, then not be∣fore the seed looke blacke, and bee readie to shed: hempe must euer bee pulled vp by the rootes, and first spr••ad thinne vpon the earth, then afterwards bound vp in bundles, which they do call bayts, then it must bee c••rryed to the water to ripen, of which water the running streame is the best, and the standing pond is the worst: yet it must bee done with great heed; for hempe is very poysonous, and it doth not onely infect the waters, but it doth also poyson much fish: Hempe must lye three dayes and three nights couered in the water; then it must bee cleane washt out of the water, and afterwards brought home and dried either in the Sunne or vpon the kilne. There bee some house-wiues, which (either for sloath, or for want of a conuenient place to water in) doe ripen their hempe vpon the ground, by suf∣fering it to lye at the least fifteene nights vpon the s••me, taking the dewes which do fall Morning and Euening, and other raine by which it ripeneth; prouided that it bee turned euerie day once: but this manner of ripening is not good; for besides that it is vnkindly, and doth oftentimes cause the hempe to bee rotten, it also ma∣keth the hempe to be very blacke and foule; so that it doth neuer make white cloth. After the ripening and drying of your hempe, you shall brake it in brakes which are made of wood for the same purpose, and this labour would euer as neere as you can bee done in the Sunne-shine: after the braking of hempe, you shall swingle it, then beate it, then heckle it: and if you intend to haue verie fine cloth of it, you shall after the first heckling, beate it againe, and then heckle it through a finer hec∣kle, then spinne it, after warpe it, and lastly weaue it. Thus much for the hempe which is vsed for to make cloth withall: but for such as shall bee preserued for cordage, or the roper, you shall onely after the ripening pill it, and then either sell or imploy it.

Hempe seed is verie good to make hennes lay many egges, and that in the depth of Winter, and greatest coldnes of the same. Many doe burne the thickest rootes of the male hempe, and of the same so burnt and made into powder, do make gunne-powder. The iuice or decoction of the greene herbe being strongly strained, and powred in some place where there are earthwormes, doth cause them to come forth by and by: likewise being dropt into the eares, it causeth the worms or other beastes which shall bee gotten in thither to come out presently, and this wee haue learned of fishermen, which by this wile doe take wormes to serue them for their hookes. Hempe seede must neither bee eaten nor drunke, because it sendeth vp ma∣ny fumes vnto the braine, which will cause the same to ake▪ and therefore women do greatly transgresse the rules of Physicke, which giue this bruised seed in drinke, to such as are troubled with the falling sicknes or head-ach. This is a thing to be won∣dred at in hempe, that seeing there are two sorts of it, the male and the female, yet the female beareth not the seed, but the male.

Line.

LIne must not bee sowne in any ground, but where there riseth great profit; and this followeth and is caused by reason of the seede which impaireth all sorts of grounds verie much, and for that cause it must bee sowne in a verie fat ground, and such a one also as it reasonably moist. In any case the ground where line-seed is sowne, must bee curiously handled and clensed, and with manifold earings plowed and turned ouer so oft and so long, as that it become like dust: and furthermore the good hus-wife must be carefull when the line is growne, to free it from being 〈◊〉〈◊〉

with the weed vsing to wind about it, and which of some is called 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and that not once but oft: to the end that in gathering the seed, in beating it with beetles, heckling and spinning of it, such filth may not remaine among the tow. It must be gathered when it is ripe, and when the colour of it groweth yellow, and af∣ter layd vp in some drie place, that so it may bee defended from the raine and dew, which are vtter enemies vnto it: when it is drie, it must be thresht as soone as may be (to the end that the mice eat it not) with wooden mallets, to get the seed out of it, and presently after that it shalbe caried to the water about the change of the Moone, that it may lie therein three or foure daies in Iuly or August, till it become soft and tender, to the end that the pilling or barke thereof may the more easily be seperated from the stalkes for the making of cloth. When it is drawne out of the water, it must bee laied on a heape, all round, but two or three fadomes broad, loading it aboue with boords and stones, and after that spred in the Sunne, to the end it may drie the better. The finest line, which is without seed (notwithstanding it bee the least and lower of growth than the rest) is the best, being soft and fine after the manner as it were of silke: whereas that which is long and thicke, is also more rough, and boy∣sterous in spinning. You shall make verie fine and white sowing threed of your sine flax in this sort: Let it be watered in running water fiue or six daies in Iuly or August in the change of the Moone: so soone as it is drawne out of the water, spread it in the Sunne, that it may drie, neuer casting it into any heapes, for that which is laid vpon heapes after the comming of it out of the water, that it may take a heat, and being pressed downe to that end, doth become blacke, and turneth into a darke and obscure colour.

This line after it hath receiued braking and the first hackling, you shall take the strickes, and platting them into a plat of three, make a good bigge roule there∣of, and put it into a smooth and round trough made for the purpose: in the same manner as you beate hempe, so you shall beate this flaxe till it handle as soft as any silke, then vnplat the strickes againe, and heckle it through the second heckle, the which must bee much finer than the first: which done, plat vp the strickes a∣gaine, and then beat it the second time, and then vnplat as before, and heckle it the third time through the finest heckle that can bee gotten, then spinne this ••ow, and it will make you yarne either for Lawne, Holland, or Combricke, or for the finest sisters thred that can bee sowed with: as for the hurds which doe fall from the heckle, you shall haue a great and diligent care to keepe them light and loose; for by reason of the much beating, they will bee exceeding soft, and apt to clot∣ter together, and abide in lumpes, and in the drawing of the thred, it will handle very woollie: yet bee well assured, that from the first hurds, you shall make a most exceeding fine mydling, from the second a very fine lynnen, and from the third a pure good holland. Many other labours are bestowed vpon fla••ce: but in this alreadie rehearsed, consisteth the whole art of the huswife; yet herein by the way is to bee noted, that euer before you beate your flaxe, you shall bestow great drying of it, letting it stand each seuerall time at the least foure and twentie houres within the aire of the fire before you beate it, for drying causeth it to breake.

Out of the seed of line, you may presse an oyle which will neuer 〈…〉〈…〉 so cold: it is vsed of Physitions, Painters, and many other sorts of workemen. It is singular good to soften hard things, for the paine of the hemorrhoides, chape and tumours of the fundament called Condylomata, being washed in rose-water, it ••••∣reth burnings: it is maruelous good in plurisies, if so be that it be 〈…〉〈…〉 is old heateth and procureth vomite.

Nauets and Turneps.

NAuets and Turneps delight in a light and fine would, and not in a 〈…〉〈…〉 sad ground; and yet turneps grow better in moist ground•• 〈…〉〈…〉

on the tops and sides of hills, in drie and pettie grounds, such as those are which are sandie and grauelly. Howsoeuer it is, the ground where they are sowne, must haue beene oftentimes turned and cast, harrowed, and dunged; for by these meanes they will not onely grow well, but the ground (after that they be gathered being thus pre∣pared) will bring forth fairer corne. Turneps are sowne twice in the yeare, in Febru∣arie, and in August, in a well manured ground, and you may not suffer them, after that they haue gotten some little growth, to put vp any further out of the earth, for and if they should still grow more and more aboue the earth, their root would be∣come hard, and full of small and little holes. See more of nauets and turneps in our second booke.

Notes

• 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• 〈◊〉〈◊〉-bread.
• Mundified Barley.
• How Barley ought to bee sowne.
• Iunames.
• Barley.
• Malt.
• Oats.
• Oat-meale.
• Grauell.
• Water distilled of Oats.
• Oyle and cakes of Sesame.
• Wherefore Lu∣pines are good.
• Wormes in little children.
• The cause why there are manie fooles, when Beanes flower.
• The seed of hempe. To make hens lay egs.
• To make white threed.
• Oyle of lin-seed.