The country-mans recreation, or The art of [brace] planting, graffing, and gardening, [brace] in three books. The first declaring divers waies of planting, and graffing, and the best times of the year, with divers commodities and secrets herein, how to set or plant with the root, and without the root; to sow or set pepins or curnels, with the ordering thereof, also to cleanse your grafts and cions, to help barren and sick trees, to kill worms and vermin, and to preserve and keep fruit; how to plant and proin your vines, and to gather and presse your grape; to cleanse and mosse your trees, to make your cider and perry, with many other secret practises which shall appear in the table following. The second treateth of the hop-garden, with necessary instructions for the making and maintenance thereof, ... with some directions for tabaco. Whereunto is added, The expert gardener, containing divers necessary and rare secrets belonging to that art, ... hereunto is likewise added the Art of angling.

Other wayes of drying not so good.

SOme use to dry their Hops upon a common Oste, but that way there can be no great speed in your work, nor small expence of your wood, besides the danger of fire and ill suc∣cesse of your doings.

On this Oste you must have an Oste cloth, otherwise the Seed and Hops that fall down shall not onely perish, but en∣danger the burning of your Oste.

Upon this Oste you may not lay your Hops above eight or nine inches thick, which neverthelesse shall not be so soon dry, as they which lye upon the other Oste almost two foot thick, and therefore this way you shall make more toil in your work, more spoil in your Hops, and more expence in your wood.

Some use to dry their Hops in a Garret, or upon the floor of a Loft or Chamber, in the reproof whereof I must say, that as few men have room enough in their houses to contain a∣ny great quantity or multitude of Hops, so the dust that will arise shall empair them, the chinks, crevises, and open joynts of your Lofts, being not close byrthed, will devour the seeds of them. in the end the Leaves will endanger them with heating, when they are packt, as being not so soon dry as the Hops, which thereby will be utterly spoiled in colour, in scent and in verdure.

As for any low rooms or earthen floors, they are yet worse for this purpose than the other, for either they yield dust in drynesse, or moisture in wet weather.

And therefore if you have no Oste, dry them in a Loft as open to the air as may be: sweep, wash and rub the boards, and let your Broom reach to the walls, and even to the roof of your Loft, for I can teach you no way to divide the dust from your Hops, but so to prevent the inconvenience hereof.

Stop the holes and chinks of your floor, lay them not a∣bove half a foot thick, and turn them once a day at the least, by the space of two or three weeks.

This being done, sweep them up into a corner of your Loft, and there let them lye as long more, for yet there remain∣neth perill in packing of them.

If the year prove very wet, your Hops ask the longer time of drying, and without an Oste will never be well dryed.