¶ FOUR BOOKS OF Husbandry, collected by M. Conradus Heresbachius, Counsellor to the high and mighty Prince, the Duke of Cleve: Containing the whole art and trade of Husbandry, with the antiquity, and commendation thereof. Newly Englished, and increased, by Barnaby Googe, Esquire.  GENESIS. 3.19. 
¶ In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, till thou be turned again into the ground, for out of it wast thou taken: yea, dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return.  
¶ AT LONDON, Printed by Richard Watkins. 1577.   


POST. TRISTIA. LAETA    

TO THE RIGHT Worshipful, his very good friend, Sir William Fitzwylliams, Knight.  
IF such a have painfully and faithfully of long time served their Prince and Country abroad, do most of all others deserve, beside their condign reward, the benefit of a quiet and contented life at home, I know no man (good Sir William Fitzwylliams) that of right may better challenge it, than yourself: who for the long time of your painful service, the trusty discharging of the treasureship of Ireland, and your worthy government (while it pleased her most excellent Majesty to appoint you for the said Realm her highnesses Deputy) have so behaved yourself, as even your very enemies (whereof I know you had goo● store) have been forced to give you, will they nill they, your just deserved commendation. I leave to remember your sundry and troublesome travails, your Gentelmanly mind, always unweeried and unmated with what so ever peril or hazard happened: I pass over (because I know you delight not in hearing your praises) that honourable, and worthy for ever to be Chronicled, charge given upon the Oneale at Monham in the rescue of your miserably distressed and slaughtered companions, and countrymen, of which there be sundry yet remaining, that will attribute the having of their lives (next unto God) to the prosperous success of your valiant enterprise: Neither hath this your loyal service to your Prince and Country at any time been unaccompanied, without a fervent and zealous affection towards the Almighty, the chiefest and only beauty of all man's actions. Since thus (as I said) you may justly challenge for the good service you have done in your youth, a place and time of rest and quietness in your greater years, and that there is, in my fancy, no life so quiet, so acceptable to God, and pleasant to an honest mind, as is the life of the Country, where a man, withdrawing himself from the miserable miseries, vanities, and vexations of this foolish and now tòtoo much doting world, may give himself to the sweet comtemplation of God, and his works, and the profit and relief of his poor distressed neighbour, to which two things we were chiefly created. I thought it good to sand you here (as a token and testimony of my thankful mind, for your sundry freendshippes and courtesies showed unto me) a rude draft of the order and manner of the said Country life, which you may use (if it please you) for your recreation: and afterwards (if so you think it meet) publish under your protection, to the commodity and benefit of others. Far you well in great haste, from Kingston, the first of February. 1577.  
Your assured loving friend, Barnaby Googe.   

¶ THE EPISTLE TO the Reader.  
I HAVE thought it me●te (good Reader) for thy further profit and pleasure, to put into En●glishe, these four Books of husbandry, collected and set forth, by M. CONRAD HERESBACH, a great and a learned councillor of the DUKE of Cleves: not thinking it reason, though I have altered and increased his work with mine own readings and observations, joined with the experience of sundry my friends, to take from him (as divers in the like case have done) the honour and glory of his own travail: Neither is it my mind, that this either his doings, or mine, should deface, or any ways darken the good enterprise, or painful travails of such our Countrymen of England, as have plentifully written of this matter: but always have, and do give them the reverence and honour due to so virtuous and well disposed Gentlemen, namely, Master Fitzherbert, and Master Tusser, whose works may, in my fancy, without any presumption, compare with any their Varro, Columella, or Palladius of Rome. You have here set down before you, not only the rules and practices of the old ancient husbands, as well Greekes as Latins, whose very orders (for the most part) at this day we observe, and from whom (if we will confess the truth) we have borrowed the best knowledge & skill, that our skilfullest husbands have: but also have joined herewithal, the experience and husbandry of our own husbands of England, as far as either mine own observations, or the experience of sundry my friends would suffer me. And though I have dealt with many, both Grains, plants, and Trees, that are yet strangers and unknown unto us, I do no whit doubt, but that with good diligence and husbandry, they may in short time so be denisend and made acquainted with ou● soil, as they will prospero as well as the old inhabitants. It is not many ages agone, since both the peach, the Pistace, the Pine, the Cypress, the Walnut, the Almond, the Cherry, the Fig, the Abricock, the Musk Rose, and a great sort of others, both Trees and plants, being some Persians, some Scythians, some Armenians, some Italians, and some French, all strangers and aleantes, were brought in as novelties amongst us, that do now most of them as well, yea and some of them better, being planted amongst us in England, then if they were at home. I have also been careful about the planting and ordering of the Vine, though some of my friends would have had it omitted, as altogether impertinent to our country: because I am fully persuaded (if diligence, and good husbandry might be used) we might have a reasonable good wine growing in many places of this Realm: as undoubtedly we had immediately after the Conquest, till partly by slothfulness, not liking any thing long that is painful, partly by Civil discord long continuing, it was left, and so with time lost, as appeareth by a number of places in this Realm, that keeps still the names of Vineyards: and upon many cliffs and Hills, are yet to be scene th● roots and old remains of Vines. There is besides Nottingham, an ancient house called Chylwel, in which house remaineth yet as an ancient monument in a great window of Glisse, the whole order of planting, pruning, stamping, & pressing of Vines. Beside, there is yet also growing an old Vine, that yields a Grape sufficient to make a right good wine, as was lately proved by a Gentlewoman in the said house. There hath moreover good experience of late years been made, by two noble and honourable Barons of this Realm, the Lord Cobham, and the Lord Wylliams of Tame, who both had growing about their houses as good wines, as are in many places of France. And if they answered not in all points every man's expectation, the fault is rather to be imputed to the malice and disdain peradventure of the Frenchemen that kept them, then to any ill disposition, or fault of the soyle● or where have you in any place better, or pleasanter wines, then about Backrach, Colin, Andernach, and divers other places of Germany, that have in a manner the self same latitute and disposition of the Heavens that we have? Beside, that the dearness to the South, is not altogether the causer of good wines, appeareth in that you have about Orleans, great store of good and excellent wine: whereas, if you go to Burges, two days journey f●●ther to the South, you shall find a wine not worth the drinking. The like is (as I have herded reported by Master D. Dale, ambassador for her Majesty in these parts) of Paris, and Barleduke, the Town being Southward, with naughty wines the other, a great ways farther to the North, with as good wines as may be. But admit England would yield none ●o strong and pleasant wines as are desired (as I am fully persuaded it would yet is it worth the trial and the travail to have wines of ou● own, though they be the smaller: and therefore I thought it not meet to leave out of 〈◊〉 book the ordering and trimming of Vines. It remaineth now (good Reader) that thou take in good part my travail and ●ood will, which were ch●efely employed to the pleasuring and benefiting of thee, and not to quarrel with me, as is the manner of the most sort, for every fault and oversight that hath escaped my hands, nor to look for any curious, or well m●●●ured style, wherewith I am not able to satisfy thee, and though I were, yet were it neither for the matter nor method necessary. And therefore I trust thou wilt accept it as it is, specially considering, that I neither had leisure, nor quietness at the doing of it, neither after the doing had ever any time to overlook it, but was driven to deliver it to the Printer, as I first written it: neither was I privy to the printing, till such time as it was finished. And therefore (though there be faults, and great faults in it) I am not to be charged with them, that if time, or opportunity had served, would not have suffered them.  
Farewell.   

¶ The names of such Authors, and Husbands, whose authorities, and observations, are used in this Book.  

The Bible, and Doctors of the Church.  
Homer.  
Hesiodus.  
Theocritus.  
Solon.  
Xenophon.  
Plato.  
Aristotle.  
Theophrastus.  
●●Socrates.  
plutarch.  
Aelianus.  
Diodorus Siculus.  
Herodotus.  
Thu●●dides.  
Polybius.  
Cato.  
Varro.  
Vi●gil.  
ovid.  
Horace.  
Martial.  
Colum●lla.  
Celius.  
Hippocrase.  
Galen.  
Ae●●eta.  
Dioscondes.  
Nicander.  
Aristophane.  
Alexander Aph●od.  
Macer.  
〈◊〉.  
Dio.  
Vegetius.  
julius Fumi●●●.  
Both the Plimes.  
Atheneus.  
Iuliu● Pollu●.  
Lu●●an.  
Oppian.  
Constantyne.  
Cassianus.  
Didymus.  
Horentine.  
Anatolius.  
Sotron.  
Democritus.  
Appuleus.  
Heliodorus.  
Platina.  
Alexander Neap.  
Petrus de Cresc.  
Budaeus.  
Ruellius.  
Fuccius.  
Mathiolus.  
Cardanus.  
Tragus.  
S. Nich. Malbee.  
M. Capt. Byngham.  
M. john Summer.  
M. Nicas. Yetzwert.  
M. Fitzherbert.  
M. Wylli. Lambert.  
M. Tusser.  
M. Tho. Whetenhall.  
M. Ri. Deering.  
M. Hen. Brockhull.  
M. franklin.  
●. King.  
Richard Andrewes.  
Henry Denys.  
William Pratte.  
john H●tehe.  
Philip Partridge.  
Kenworth Datforth.    

The first Book of husbandry, entreating of earable ground, tillage, and pasture.  Cono. Rigo. Metella. Hermes. CONO. 
ME thinketh I hear a neighing and trampling of Horses without, go HERMES, go know what strangers there are.  HERMES. 
Sir, yfmy sight fail me not, it is RIGO, the principal Secretary.  METELLA. 
A goodly matter, scarce have you been two days at home, and now you must be sent for again to the Court, perhaps to be sent abroad in some embassage.  CONO. 
God forbid, judge the best, it may be he comes to see me of courtesy and friendship.  RIGO. 
Ah master CONO, I am glad I have found you in the mids of your country joys and pleasures: Surely you are a happy man, that shifting yourself from the troubles and turmoils of the Court, can pick out so quiet a life, and giving over all, can secretly lie hide in the pleasant Country, suffering us in the mean time to be cost and torn with the cares and business of the common weal.  CONO. 
Surely I must confess I have taken a happy way, if these gods of the Earth would suffer me to enjoy such happiness, that have bequeathed the troublesome and ambitious life of the Court to the bottom of the Sea. But what? do you intent to bring me again to my old troubles, being thus happily discharged?  RIGO. 
Nothing less, though I would be very glad you should not so hastily forsake the Court, nor rid yourself from the affairs of the common wealth. You know we are not born to live to ourselves, nor at our own pleasures: but for our country, our common weal and state whereto we are called. There can not be a worse thing, then for a man to suffer his country forsaken, to come into the hands of villainous people, and to rejoice with himself, that being out of gun-shot, he hath left the hurly-burly of gonernment. And though Cato had no need of Rome, yet Rome and Cato his friends had need of him.  CONO. 
I grant you, as long as years and strength will bear it, we are bond to serve in our vocation: but as you yourself are driven to confess, there is sometime a reasonable cause of giving over. Lucullus is highly commended, 
Lucullus.  that while his body was strong and lusty, he applied himself wholly to the service of his Country, and that after his honourable service both abroad and at home, in the end he got himself quietly again to his book. And Scipio, 
Scipio.  who after he had conquered both Carthage and Numidia, was content rather to leave of and rest him sel●e, then to do as Marius did, who after so many worthy victories and achieved honours, could not content himself when he was well, but puffed up with unmeasurable desire of glory and government, would in his old age contend with young men, whereby he brought himself at the length to most miserable misery. Surely Cicero took a better way by much, 
Ci●ero.  when after the overthrow of catelin's conspiracy, he rather contented himself to live quietly at home, then by ambitious intermeddling with the contentions of the common wealth, to bring himself in danger of his life. The desire of bearing rule in a common weal, is to be moderated with a certain bounded modesty, specially in this age of ours, when Courts are subject to such envies, hatreds, flatteries, slanders, covetous and ambitious desires, and where no place is left for virtuousness and christian simplicity. These are the things that drove Socrates and Plato from their common weals, and do likewise keep me, being now of good years and sickly, the Court forsaken, in this my poor cottage at home.  RIGO. 
Yea, but age is no sufficient excuse for you to leave the governing of your country. You know 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the labour of young men, and the counsel of old men, and how those common weals are safely alwayest guided, where old men's heads, and young men's arms are stirring. Father Nestor got great commendation for his counsel at the siege of Troy, 
Nestor.  where as Peleus and Laertes were despised, and accounted for benchwhistlers at home. 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉   CONO. 
Some are tickled with glory: some with gain, gifts, and rewards, retain the Cockrowen Courtiers, yea such as have one of their feet already in the grave. Now if we would content ourselves with this life, and give ourselves to the true and perfect life, 
In Prince's Courts we should not gape nor gaze,  
Nor ill success in suits should vex our mind:  
Not vain nor fond devise our eyes should dase,  
Nor lewd affection should our fancy blind.  
All such things should be left and laid aside,  
Now lives alas each out of order quite:  
And to our shame the time away doth slyde●  
All seek to live, but none to live upright.  As the Poet excellently well writeth in his Epigram, it were the part of a mad man or a coxcomb to run headlong without any profit into danger, when as he may live godly and quietly at home without all trouble, as our old fathers were wont to do.  RIGO. 
It is very true, the Poet accounteth him blessed to whom this life can happen: But in the mean time you are alone, and lead your life with beasts, lowtes of the Country, and trees, that have spent all your time before among wise and honourable personages. 
Socrate●  Socrates affirmeth wisdom to be learned in Cities, and not among beasts and trees.  CONO. 
Socrates' his judgement, though I will not gainsay, yet it appeareth by his disputations with Iscomachus in Xenophon, that he did not disallow the Country man's life. And as for my living alone, it almost happeneth here to me, as Cicero reporteth Scipio to say, that he was never less alone, then when he was alone: for being alone, I have continual conference with the gravest and wisest men. For either I apply myself wholly to the sacred oracles of the Prophets and the Apostles, who teach the true wisdom, by which both kings rule, and Princes govern, and by which our souls (which we chiefly aught to regard) are fed, which also show unto us the perfect way to that everlasting Court above: or when I list, I have the company of the greatest Princes and Monarchies of the world, with whom I confer of the doubtful state and government of common weals, 
The use of a solitaire life.  in reading the Histories and Chronicles of the world, travailing as it were throughout all nations, or reading the works of such as writ in husbandry, I occupy my mind in the beholding the wonderful workmanship of GOD in Trees, plants, and Beasts, whereby in the Creature, I acknowledge the Creator. And besides these dumb companions, my friends come sometime to see me, sometime Gentlemen, sometime Noblemen, sometime the Prince himself vouchsafeth to unite me: so that there is scarcely any day but that some come unto me, some for their pleasure, some for good will, and some for their business: For to my friends and my neighbours, I neither deny my counsel, nor my travail. Therefore is it very expedient that good choice be made of Lawyers, and discreet men for the Country, always provided, they give their counsel free and without wages. Many times beside, you from the Court send me hither process and arbitrementes to be tried before me. Thus have I in the Country sweeter and pleasanter company than you have, either in the Court or City.  RIGO. 
Tell me then I beseech you, how you bestow your time, and how you are occupied all the day? for I doubt not but you do as much as in you lieth to spend the time as profitably as you may.  CONO. 
I will tell you thoroughly, and not dissemble with you, if you will give me the hearing, and to begin, I will use the words and verses of the foresaid Poet, though in other his writings fierce honest, yet in this speaking very grave & wise. 
first served on knees the Majesty divine,  
My Servants next and ground I overlook:  
To every man his task I do assign,  
When this is done I get me to my book.  I use commonly to rise first of all me self, specially in Summer, when we lose the healthfullest and sweetest time with sluggishness. Aristotle accounteth early rising to be best both for health, wealth, and study. In the Winter if I be loath to rise, if either the unreasonableness of the weather, or sickness 'cause me to keep my bed, I commit all to my Steward, whose faith and diligence I am sure of, whom I have so well instructed, that I may safely make him my deputy, I have also Euriclia my maid, so skilful in huswyferie, that she may well be my wives suffragan, these twain we appoint to supply our places: but if the weather and time serve, I play the workmaster me self. And though I have a Bailiff as skilful as may be, yet remembering the old sayeing, 
The best dung 〈◊〉 groun● is the marsters' foot.  that the best dung for the field is the masters foot, and the best provender for the horse the masters eye, I play the overseer me self. That it is wholesome to rise betimes, I am persuaded both by the counsel of the most grave Philosophers, and beside by mine own experience. When my Servants are all set to work, and every man as busy as may be, I get me into my Closet to serve GOD, and to read the holy Scriptures: (for this order I always keep, to appoint me self every day my task, in reading some part either of the old Testament or of the new): that done, I writ or read such things as I think most needful, or dispatch what business so ever I have in my house, or with Sutars abroad. A little before dinner I walk abroad, if it be fair, either in my Garden, or in the Fields, if it be foul, in my gallery: when I come in, I find an Egg, a Thick, a piece of Rid, or a piece of Veal, Fish, Butter, and such like, as my Folds, my Yard, or my Dairy and Fishpondes will yield, sometime a Salad, or such fruits as the Garden or Orchard doth bear: which victuals without any charges my wife provideth me, wherewith I content me self aswell, as if I had the daintiest dish in Europe. I never lightly sit above one hour at my meat: after dinner I pass the time with talking with my wife, my servants, or if I have any, with my guests: I rise and walk about my ground, where I view my workmen, my pastures, my meadows, my corn, and my cattle. When I am in the Country, I go every day, if the weather be good, and no other great business, about my ground: if not every day, at the lest once in two or three days: as often as I come to the City from the Country, I do the like, to understand how my ground is husbanded, and what is done, what undone: neither do I ever go about it, but some good cometh of my travail. In the mean while I behold the wonderful wisdom of Nature, and the incomprehensible working of the most mighty GOD in his Creatures, which as Cicero truly affirmeth, 
A●adem. ●u●st●o. lib. 1.  is the delicatest food of the Soul, and the thing that maketh us come nearest unto God. Here way I with me self, the benefits and wonderful works of God, who bringeth forth Grass for th● cattle, and green Herb for the use of man, that he may bring food out of the Earth according to the Psalm. 
Psalm. 104.  Hear he preacheth to me. 
The fruitful Earth that tyld in sundry wise,  
Unto the eye her goodly fruits doth yield:  
The violets sweet that each where thick do rise,  
And stain with purple dye the pleasant field,  
The field with herbs, the herbs with branches brave,  
The glittering flowers that shine like stars of light,  
And springing fast disclose the grace they have,  
Each herb with sundry flower most sweet in sight.  What workman is there in the world, that is able to frame or counterfeit such heavenly works? Who could of a slender grass make Wheat or Bread, and of a tender twig bring forth so noble a liquor as Wine? but only that mighty Lord that hath created all things visible and invisible. With these sights do I recreate my mind, and give thanks unto GOD, the creator and conserver of all things, for his great and exceeding goodness, I sing the song, to thee O Lord belongeth praises in Zion, or, praise thou the Lord O my soul. etc. beseeching GOD to bless the gifts that he hath given us through his bounteous liberality, to enrich the Fields, and to prospero the Corn and the Grass, and that he will crown the year with his plenteousness, that we may enjoy the fruits of the Earth with thanksgiving, to the honour of him, and the profit of our neighbour. Then returning home, I go to writing or reading, or such other business as I have: but with study, or invention, I never meddle, in three hours after I have dined. I sup with a small pittans, and after supper I either seldom or never writ or read, but rather pass the time in seeing my Sheep come home from the Field, and my Oxen dragging home the Plough with weary necks, in beholding the pleasant Pastures sweetly smelling about my house, or my herds of cattle lowing hard by me: sometime I list to rest me under an old Holme, sometime upon the green grass, in the mean time passeth by me the pleasant River, the streams falling from the springs with a comfortable noise, or else walking by the River side, or in my Garden, or nearest pastures, I confer with my Wife or Servants of husbandry, appointing what I will have done: if my Bailiff have any thing to say, if any thing be to be bought or sold: for a good husband, as Cato saith, must rather be a cellar then a bier. 
A good husband must r●ther be a sell●r th●n a bier.  Sometimes (specially in Winter) after s●pper, I make my Minister to tell something out of the holy Scripture, or else some pleasant story, so that it be honest and godly, and such as may edify. Two or three hours after supper I get me to bed, and commonly as I said before, the last in the house, except my Chamberlain and my Steward.  RIGO. 
In the mean time being far from the Church, ne●ther can you hear the sermons, nor be present with your wife & your household at service: for your own part though you may supply the matter with reading, yet your wife and your servants can not so do.  CONO. 
For my part (without vaunt be it spoken,) I have service every day at certain appointed hours, where preacheth to me daily the Prophets, the Apostles, Basil, Chrisostome, Nazianzen, Cyril, Cyprian, Ambrose, Austen, and other excellent preachers, whom I am sure I hear with greater profit, then if I should hear your sir john lacklatines and foolish fellows in your Churches. My wife also being given to reading, readeth the Bible and certain Psalms translated into our own tongue, if there be any thing to hard or dark for her, I make her to understand it: beside, she hath private prayers of her own that she useth: in the mean time I have one, that upon the holy days (if the weather or our business be such as we can not go to Church) readeth the Gospel, teacheth the Catechism, and ministereth the Sacraments when time requires: but in the Summer time, if the weather be not unreasonable, we go always upon the Sundays and Festival days to our Parish Church, where we hear our Curate, and receive the blessed Communion: as for my household, I bring them to this order, that they always serve God before their going to work, and at their coming to meals. It is written of Anthony the hermit, that being demanded of a certain Philosopher, how he could in the solitary wilderness without any books, occupy himself in the study of divinity: 
The saying of saint Anthony.  He answered, that the whole world served him for books, as a well furnished Library, in which he always read the wonderful workmanship of God, which in every place stood before his eyes. In the like sort have I my household servants well instructed in the chief grounds of true religion, who leaving to their vocation and innocency of their life, not carried away with the vain entisementes and pleasures of Cities, do behold the Majesty of GOD in his works, and honour the Creator in his Creatures, not only upon the Sundays, but every day through the year, where they may also hear the little Birds, & other creatures in their kinds, setting out the glory and Majesty of God.  RIGO. 
You seem to tell me of a School of divinity, and not of a husbandman's Cottage, this was the very order of the patriarchs, and the Monasteries in the primative Church.  CONO. 

Homely. 56 ●pon the. 16 of Matth. and in other places.  In deed Chrisostome would have all Christians, married folks and unmarried, to lead their lives according to the rule and order of Monks: but of such Monks as lived in those days, not such good fellows as ours be now: for the profession of a Monk in that age, was no other but the life of the purest and perfectest Christians, which kind of life the old patriarchs as the Scriptures do witness did lead.  RIGO. 
I oftentimes wondered, that having so goodly a house and so well furnished in the City as you have, what you meant to desire rather to devil in the Country: but now that I see the good order of your life, I leave to wonder any longer.  CONO. 
It is natural to me, and left me by my parents, to delight in husbandry: for my Father, my Grandfather, my great Grandfather, and as far as I can fetch my pedigree, all my Ancestors were occupiers of husbandry, and were all born and died in this house that you see.  RIGO. 
I remember not long since, being in business with the Chancellor Hypsographus, a sober man, your neighbour, and one that delights in husbandry, it was my chance to see your father, surely a man would have taken him for old Laertes in Homer, or rather for Abram, or Isaac, and as the Chancellor told me, he was four score and ten years old: but so fair he bore his age, as I took him to be scarce fifty, his memory and judgement seemed to serve him wondrous well, he would talk of the orders of the Country, of the antiquities there abouts, of the stories of the Scripture, so sweetly and eloquently, as I was wonderfully in love with him: he had the Prophets and the Evangelists at his finger's ends, so that I saw the noble men had him in estimation, not without great cause.  CONO. 
In deed he took such delight in the holy Scriptures, as no day passed him without reading some part of them: he used to go commonly every day to the next Parish Church, neither would he miss any Sermon that he could hear of, he brought both Preacher and Priest into order, and caused them to frame their lives according to the rule of the Gospel.  RIGO. 
You paint me here the pattern of a Bishop, or an overseer: in deed the most part of these Priests had need of such overseers to restrain their covetousness, the spring of all their abuses.  CONO. 
To return to my quietness or my husbandry from whence I digressed, do you yet marvel how I can delight me self with this so honest and profitable a quietness, than which in the judgement of the holiest and wisest men, there is nothing more honest nor better, 
The commendation of husbandry.  neither is there beside any trade of life more meet for a Gentleman, nor travail more acceptable to GOD, then is the tilling of the ground. The people in the old time (as Cato a man of great wisdom, and a teacher of husbandry doth witness) as often as they would give a man the name of an honest man, they would call him a good husband, comprehending in that name as much commendation, as they could give him: beside, most mighty Kings and Emperors were no whit ashamed to profess this trade, 
Emperour● and kings professors of husbandry.  as Xenophon reporteth of king Cyrus: the like writeth Quintus Curtius of Abdolominus. Numa the king of the Romans bore a singular affection to husbandry, for that he thought there was no kind of life so sit to maintain either peace or wars, or for the provision of a man's life, being rather a giver of good life, than richesse. Moreover, Hiero, Philometor, Attalus, Archilaus, and a great number of Princes more, were delighted with the profession of husbandry: this knowledge is also highly commended by Homer, the very fountain in his time of wisdom, whereas he describeth Alcinous the king of the Pheaces, whose delight in the planting and pleasures of his Orchards was wonderful. And Laertes the old man, that with his continual occupying of husbandry, brought his mind better to bear the absence of his son. Hesiodus in his work 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 giveth great praise to Astrea, that being banished the City, gave himself to the life of the Country: Yea the ground hath beforetime been tilled by the hands of Emperors, the Earth in the mean time rejoicing to be torn with a Uictorers shaare, and to be ploughed with the hands of a triumphant Conqueror, either because they dealt with the like regard in their seed, as in their wars, or used such diligence in the Corn fields, as they did in the Camp, or else because all things handled with honest and virtuous fingers prospero the better, being more carefully looked to. Serranus when he was called to honour, 
Serranus.  was found sowing of seed. The Dictator's office was brought by the pursuivant to Cincinatus being all naked and besmeared with sweat and dust. 
Cincinatus.  The Purcevantes had first their name of calling Senators and Governors, out of the Country to the City. In like sort had this name at the first, the Fabii, the Pisons, the Curij, the Lentuli, the Cicero's, the Pilumni, and other ancient houses. Horace telleth, that of husbandmen have been bread the valyauntest and woorthyest Soldiers, affirming that the hand that hath been used to the Spade, proveth often of greatest value in the Field. Homer reporteth a great valiancy in Ulysses his Netheard in the slaughter of those fellows that would have ravished his mistress. Most certain it is, that a great number of Emperors have sprung from the Plough. And to let others go, it is known that the emperors Galerius and Maximinus, 
Husbandmen come to be Emperors.  came both of them from poor Herdsmen to the imperial dignity. The like is written of justine, Constancianus, Probus, and Aurelianus. The stories report, that M. Curius the Emperor was found in his house boiling of a Rape root, when he refused the great sums of gold brought by the Samnites Ambassadors. What should I speak of the antiquity of it? 
The antiquity of husbandry.  the holy Scriptures declare husbandry to be the ancientest of all trades. And to begin with the very beginning of man, and that neither Osiris, nor Dionysius, were the first founders of this knowledge, as the paynim fable, but that the most mighty Lord himself did first ordain it: for Adam and his sons were all husbandmen, No was a planter of vines, 
The first planter of Vines.  Abraham, Isaac, and jacob, were shepherds, Saul from his Asses, and David from his sheep were called to the crown, Eliseus and Amos of shepherds were made Prophets. Ozias as we read professed husbandry. jesus the son of Syrache commending husbandry above the rest, saith, he customarily used himself to hold the Blow, to drive the Cart, and to keep cattle: but what need we more? Our Saviour CHRIST himself glorieth to be the son of a husbandman, and frameth his parables of planting of vines, of Sheep and shepherds: moreover, as it is in Luke, our Lord seemeth to be a teacher of husbandry, where he showeth, that ●rees are to be digged about and dunged, that they may prospero the bette●. For si●h this knowledge is of all other most innocent, and without which it ●s most plain we are not able to live: the best and the godliest men have always embraced it, and the old fathers have ever counted it the very Cousin German to wisdom. 
Husbandry the mother and nurse of all other arts.  Cicero calleth it the mistress of justice, diligens, and thriftiness: some others call it the Mother and Nurse of all other arts. For whereas we may live without the other, without this we are not able to sustain our life: beside, the gain that hereof ariseth, is most godly, and lest subject to envy, for it hath to deal with the Earth, that restoreth with gain such things as is committed unto her, specially y● it be furthered with the blessing of God. The only gentlemanly way of increasing the house, is the trade of husbandry: and for this cause they were always accounted the perfectest Gentlemen, that, 
The worthiness of husbandmen.  content with the living their ancestors left them, lived in the Country of their lands, not meddling with figging, chopping, and changing, nor seeking their living by handicrafts. M. Varro in his time saith there was great complaint made, that the Father's forsaking the Plough and the Sickle, began to creep into the Town, and busied themselves rather with pageants and Midsummer games, then with the Uineyard or the Feeldi●, whereas the Governors of Rome so divided the year, as they assigned only the ninth day for business of the City, and the rest of t●e tune for the tillage of the Country, whereby being hardened with labour in peace, they might the better be able to abide the travail of wars. Which Country people were always preferred before the people of the City, and more Nobility thought to be in them that tyld the ground abroad, then in those that living idly within the walls, spent their time under the shadow of the Penthouse: except a man will, with the common sort, think it more honest to get his living with the blood and calamity of poor souls, or not daring to deal with the sword to make his gain of merchandise, and being a creature of the land, contrary to his kind, give himself to the rage of the Seas, and the pleasure of the Winds, wandering like a Bird from shore to shore, and country to country, or to follow this goodly profession of bawling at a bar, and for gain to open his jaws at every bench. Surely as I said before, this only hath been ever counted the innocentest trade of life, of all men, & in all ages. By husbandry were made rich the godly Fathers, Abram, Loth, jacob, and joab: and most certain it is, that this profession and this gain, is most acceptable to GOD, when he commanded Adam to till the ground, 
Gene. 3.  and to get his living with the sweat of his brows. Thus is husbandry of such authority, as GOD with his open witness hath allowed it, 
Husbandry pleasing to God.  and afterwards by his servant Moses hath added his blessing unto it, saying, I will give the ground my blessing in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth the fruits of three years. And again, If you will keep my commandments, 
Levit. 26.  I will sand you rain in due season, and the Earth shall yield her increase, and your trees shallbe laden with fruit, the threasshing time shall last till the vintage, and the vintage shall endure till the sowing time, and you shall eat your bread with plenteousness. What can there be now more pleasant to a Christian man, then to get his living by such means as he knoweth doth please GOD, and to play the Philosopher in the most sweet contemplation of the benefits of GOD, and to acknowledge and reverence the wisdom and power of the divine Majesty, and his bounteousness to mankind, to give him thanks and praise for his goodness, the very herbs and Creatures in the Field in the mean time preaching unto us.  RIGO. 
You frame me here of a husbandman a divine, and almost bring me in mind to become a husbandman, who always hitherto with the common sort, accounted this husbandry to be a beastly and a beggarly occupation.  CONO. 
What divinity there is in it, and what a field of the acknowledged benefits of God, you have herded. That the common sort do think it a beastly and a beggarly kind of life, it is no maruelye, sith the common people do never judge aright. The common people do wonder at the pomp of the Court, and judge them for the happiest men, that decked with gold and purple, are in greatest favour with Princes, and Officers, and councillors to them, little knowing in the mean time what heaps of sorrows lies hid under that brave and glittering misery. The common sort prefereth shameful and beastly delicacy, before honest and virtuous labour, joining to consume the night in drunkenness, lechery, & villainy, and the day in sleep and pastime, thinking such happy, as neither behold the rising nor setting of the Sun. But those that are of sounder judgement, accounted the husbandmen most happy, if they knew their own felicity, to whom the Earth in a far quieter manner doth minister a sufficient living. 
And thou with gorgeous gates the buildings high,  
With early greetinges always do not flow,  
Nor ceiling garnished gay with Imagrye,  
Nor rich attire we see, nor costly show:  
Yet steadfast state and life unskilled of guile,  
With wealth enough and pastures wide at will,  
And people strong trained up to pain and toil,  
And youth with diet small contented still,  
Where godly zeal and virtues all did devil,  
When justice last did bid the world farewell.  As the Poet hath most gravely written in the praise of the husband. 
Geor ●.  Aglaus Sophidus was judged happy by the Oracle of Apollo, because he occupied a small corner of Arcadia, but yet sufficient for his livelihood, where he spent his life without ever coming abroad: whose order of life showeth, that he was neither vexed with greedy desire, neither with any other trouble of mind, as Pliny witnesseth. But I hold you to long with commendation of that which of itself is sufficiently commended. Hawe, wife, I pray you let us go to dinner.  METELLA. 
You shall sir by and by. God morrow master RIGO, I thought Xenoplutus had been here, who useth to fetch my husband away: he hath by chance been now at home a week or twain, which some misliking, prefer him to most painful and troublesome business, procuring him to be sent in embassage beyond the pyllers of Hercules, and (which they would be loath to bear themselves) they cast all upon his back as a common packhorse, who being now old, reason would he should be spared and suffered to be in quiet, that being at the last free from the turmoils of the world, he might give himself to his prayers, and prepare himself for heaven.  RIGO. 
It were more for the benefit of his Country, that master CONO came oftener to the Court, but he is the seeldome● there, because he taketh such pleasure in his husbandry: howbeit, I came for no such purpose, but only to visit him, being my old friend.  CONO. 
You must bear with a woman's babbling.  RIGO. 
I pray you, sins it is not yet dinner time, let us walk about, that I may view your house till dinner be ready.  CONO. 
If it please you, I will show you my house, where I have appointed my kingdom.  RIGO. 
Now surely you have as happy & as pleasant a kingdom as may be.  CONO. 

Who is happy.  In deed I confess me self happy in this, that contenting me self with my poor estate, I desire no more: for as he saith. 
The man that most doth here possess,  

Horac●.  Thou canst not justly happy name,  
But he whom GOD with gifts doth bless,  
And well doth know to use the same:  
Him mayest thou rather rightly call,  
A happy man above them all.  Surely I, in this my kingdom, or rather poor cottage, am more happy than a great sort of Kings and Princes of the world, that are lords of so many and so large dominions. Richeses are not to be measured by their multitude, 
Who ●s rich.  but by the mind of the possessor. And as David saith, a little is better with the godly, than the great richesses of the wicked. Cincinatus occupied only four acres of ground. Socrates having but twenty marks in all the world, was counted a rich man. So I with Virgil do commend great possessions, but had rather occupy little. Therefore look not to see here the house of Lucullus, or Hyrcius, which is reported to be sold for 4000000. HS. Such stately dwellings and marble floors, as Cicero saith, I despise.  RIGO. 
Notwithstanding, here is all things fair, and as it appeareth commodiously built.  CONO. 
For my part, I build my house, as they say, according to my purse, agreeable to my calling, and to my living. I will show you in order how I have cast it, following the advise of Iscomachus in Xenophon, whom Cicero doth greatly commend. And first, 
The order of building of a house for the Country.  the seat of my house hath moved me to build it after this sort. Cato would have a man long in determination to build, but to plant and sow out of hand. Our father's herebefore observed the same, and seemed to follow the counsel of Cato and Columella, with whom agreeth also Pliny, that the owner build his house in good order, so as neither the house be to great for the land, nor the land to much for the house. And herein it is written, that L. Lucullus, and Qu. Scaevola were both to blame: for one of them had a greater house than was answerable to his living: the other, which was Scaevola, built a smaller house than his living required, where both are unprofitable to the master. For the great ruinous house, not only is more chargeable in building, but also asketh greater cost in the maintaining. Again, if the house be to little, it will be a destruction and loss of your Corn & fruit: therefore is it greatly to purpose, in what sort we build and ordain our house. Cato would have the house so seated, as the air be good about it, 
The seat of a house.  and (if it may be) placed at the bottom of a hill, looking directly South, and in a wholesome corner. Varros mind is, to have it placed toward the East, that it may have the shadow in Summer, and the Sun in Winter: with whom Columella agreeth, saying, that if ability serve, the seat is to be wished in a wholesome place (for Cato as shall hereafter be showed, would have healthy standing chiefly regarded) with a fruitful mould, some part of it champion, some hilly, lying East or South, well watered and wooded, and standing not far of from some haven, or navigable river, to the end he may carry and transport such things as him listeth. Cornelius Tacitus writeth, that the Germans were wont to build their houses, as the Hill, the River, the Wood, or the Lake, would best suffer them.  RIGO. 
Hereof I think sprung at the first so many surnames as are at this day derived from Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, and Woods.  CONO. 
It may be, yet others do counsel, in no case to set your house near a Marsh, or a great River: for the Fens and Marshes in the heat of the year, do sand forth pestilent and deadly damps, and a great number of venomous Creatures: which dying, for lack of their old moisture, infecteth the air, and breeds sundry and strange diseases. Homer affirmeth very truly, that the air which in the morning cometh from the River, is very unwholesome and dangerous: and therefore if the house must needs be built near a River, they would have such heed taken, as the River rather stand on the backside of the house, then before it: and that the front of the house be turned from the hurtful and unwholesome winds, and placed towards the healthiest quarters. Sin's all waters commonly with dampish vapours in Summer, and stinking cold mists in Winter, except they be well purged with wholesome Winds, do infect both man and beast with pestilence: best is it therefore in good and healthy places, to set the house toward the East, or the South, and in suspected airs to place them against the North. From the Sea it is good to be as far as may be, because the winds that blow from the Sea, are unwholesome, and the space lying betwixt you and it, yields always a loathsome air. You must beware beside, that you see not your house by any great high way, lest you be molested with passengers, and troubled often times with more guests than you would have.  RIGO. 
As far as I remember, the old fellows did measure the goodness of their dwelling, 
Neighbourhood.  by the qualities of their neighbours.  CONO. 
You say very well, in deed I had almost forgotten it, a froward knave to a man's neighbour, is not one of the lest mischiefs, as shallbe said in the end of this book. I have known sundry good men desirous of quietness, that have forsaken good dwellings, rather than they would abide the injuries and troubles of such companions: wherefore Hesiodus had some reason in saying, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 
As great a mischief is a froward knave,  
As is the joy a neighbour good to have.  But you marvel what I mean by such a long preamble, surely I am the longer in this matter, because you should understand the reason of building of my house. For whereas there are sundry purposes of building, and some build for pleasure, some for wantonness, and some for necessity, I thought it good to recite the minds of the old writers, concerning the building of a house. And when as every one will not suffer such curiosity as they require in the placing of a house, some building upon Rivers, some without or within the Marsh walls, who can not shun the neighbourhood of the River or the Sea, some in Lakes, some in Woods, and some building upon mountains, are driven to supply the defect of nature with art & industry, I me self sith I can by no means avoid the nearness of the River, do seek as much as in me lies, to turn away the discommodities: and because I feel the discomodity of the rising of the flooddes, I have set my house in this place without the banks, and mounted it as high as I could: and lest the rage of the water, and force of the ice should bear it away, I have planted round about it great trees: and that I might shun the damps of the ground, and the blasts of unwholesome winds, I have turned my doors and my windows to the holsomest quarters.  RIGO. 
Surely, either you, or your ancestors have both commodiously & handsomely placed this house, for the front is double, one part looking towards the East, the other towards the South, and so built with Galeries and Gables, as it both receiveth the Sun in Winter, and the shadow in Summer: beside, you have a fair porch as you enter in, that keepeth away the wound and the rain from the door.  CONO. 
All the one side, if you mark it, where the front is, lieth South, receiving from the first corner, the rising of the Sun in Winter, declining somewhat from the West, whereby it is warm in Winter, and not troubled with over great heat in Summer: for this kind of building hath an equal medley of the Winter winds and Summer winds, so that it receiveth the cool winds in Summer, and is not subject to the bitter blasts in Winter, though there be something in it that might be amended, and that doth not well please me.  RIGO. 
Some part of the building, me thinketh, is after the Italian manner.  CONO. 
Some part of it, being ruinous, I built after my fancy, and such as I found sound, I thought enough for me to keep the reparations.  RIGO. 
I pray you proceed with the describing of the rest. This base court seemeth also to me to be after the Italian fashion with two gates.  CONO. 
This Court I thus devised me self. Here was a kind of Court before, but not so commodious: therefore I made a square brickwall here with a great gate, for the bringing in of my carriages, and a lesser for people to pass in and out. In the void place here besides the porch, I have made a little walk, covered with a vine, with divers seats in it for shadow, where I many times walk and talk with such suitors as I have: I have in it a table of stone to sup upon when I am disposed. Oueragaynst the gate, as you see, at the South side of the Court, there is a Backhouse, and a Cornemill, with Ovens for bread, and other baked meats, there is also a Brewehouse with an Oast for drying of Malt to make Beer with.  RIGO. 
Surely all very handsome, and in very good order.  CONO. 
These offices (for fear of fire) you see, are all severed from the house: there is hereunto adjoining a very fair well, which besides the service here, doth also serve my Kitchen, and other houses of office: for within the house, I have neither well nor fountain, which is a great discommodity, such as I would give a great deal of money to remedy, both for health & coolness in Summer, and for watering my Gardens and my Orchards. Water is one of the principalest things to be cared for, as the greatest cause of health both in man & beast: but this want is supplied partly by a good well without, & partly by Sesternes receiving the rain water that falls in certain Conduits and pipes, which water is most wholesome for the body: and beside, the River is not far of.  RIGO. 
Come on I pray you, let us see this Backhouse, I hear that you have a new and a strange fashioned Mill of your own deuise●  CONO. 
You shall see it. When as in a great house, there is great need of Corn Mylles, and the common miles, being fair of, the way foul, and I at mine own liberty to grind at home, or where I list, thinking to make a mill here at home, when neither place nor authority will serve me to build either a water mill or a wound mill, and a querne, or a hand mill, doth but a little good: and to build a horse mill were more troublesome. When I saw the wheels that they use to draw water with, turned with Asses or men, I thought in the like sort the wheel of a mill might be turned, and after this sort devised I this engine, which a couple of Asses, guided by a boy, do easily turn, and make very fine meal, sufficient for mine own house, and most times for my neighbours, whom I suffer to grind tolle free.  RIGO. 
Surely I like well your devise. What will not the diligence of man bring to pass?  CONO. 
I find it profitable unto me, but because it is not the speediest way of grinding, I have beside a horse mill, which if need require, is turned about with a jade or two.  RIGO. 
Lo here is a great lead placed handsomely in a Brick furnace in the corner, which I think serveth to brew with all.  CONO. 
In deed to that end is it most occupied, but it serveth other turns beside.  RIGO. 
There is a Hopper (me thinketh) over the top of the Oast, whereto serveth it?  CONO. 
It serveth to convey down the Malt, after it is watered unto the hear clot, where it is dried.  RIGO. 
Wherefore serveth that great Ton?  CONO. 
To water the Barley in when need is, otherwise it serveth for a Mashfatte. Hereby is a Backhouse and a Pastry with two Ovens, one serving for household bread, the other for manchet for mine own table, and for Tarts and fine baake-meates. Here are also troughs to keep meal in, and troughs to lay leaven in, and there is a fair table to mould upon.  RIGO. 
All is handsome: but what means this building about your Court?  CONO. 
These buildings severed from the rest, do serve for guest chambers, with a chamber for my hot house: this side you see lieth against the setting of the sun in Summer, where the sun may lie from noon till night.  RIGO. 
But that little isle moated about, and severed from the court with a Bridge, seemeth to be more gorgeously and sumptuously built, I take it to be your own lodging, where you, your wife, and your servants mean to lie safely.  CONO. 
It is even so, and therefore it is built upon a higher ground, both for the safeguard of the foundation, and for the better air & fairer prospect: beside, my Garden and my Orchard are adjoining to it, which with the sweet smell of the flowers, and the fair beauty of the trees, bringeth both health and pleasure. The windows for the most part open all East, and some of them North, very few West, except from such Chambers or Galleries Southward, where I dine and sup, to receive the sun in Winter abundantly, and in Summer very little: the Tower that you see serveth for my Dovehouse.  RIGO. 
The great flyghtes of this house must needs fill the masters purse, and serve the Kitchen well.  CONO. 
In deed, if as that noble and passing well learned Varro affirmeth, they might be sold as in some ages they have been at eight pound a pair, or that a man might meet with such fools, as Columella writeth of, that have given 40. pound for a pair, I grant I could make a good handsome gain of them, but as they be, they hardly serve mine own table.  RIGO. 
What doth not the mad desire of delicacy procure? even in our days of late I have herded, there was threescore Florins given for a pair.  CONO 
I will keep you no longer here about mine own lodging, you have seen a great number of better houses, and peradventure had rather over look my outhouses.  RIGO. 
I had so in deed, you have, I see, divided your house into three parts.  CONO. 
So I thought it best, one for me self, an other for my husbandmen, and the third for grain and fruit●.  RIGO. 
What means this Cell here so handsomely built at the entrance?  CONO. 
This is sir, my Bailiffs lodging, I lay him by the Gate, that he may see who goeth in and out, and what is brought and goeth forth, from thence he may also look in●o the Kitchen, and see and hear what is there done: for beside the meat that is dressed, there are other things done there in the Winter mornings. Over my Gate I have laid my Steward, from whence he may look into the Court, and to the Gate, and oversee his neighbour the Bailie.  RIGO. 
Marry sir here is watch and ward in deed, this I think you learned of Varro, for it is a part of his order.  CONO. 
Thus experience teacheth. Hereby is my storehouse.  RIGO. 
Merciful God, what a sort of tools have you here?  CONO. 
Hesiodus would have a husband have all his furniture ready, and will not have him borrow in any case. 

〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.   

Of others borrow not, jest they refuse to lend,  
So thou shalt want, the time shall pass, and business never end.   Therefore I have so furnished my Bailiff, as he hath of every sort two. Marcus Varro divideth his husbandry necessaries into three parts: vowels, where he puts his own servants, & such as he hyreth: half vowels, where his working cattle be: and mutes, be these that you see, whereof the smaller sort be these, Axes, Hatchettes, and Scythes, of all sorts, Corn Scythes, Grass Scythes, Stubble Scythes, Handbils, sickles, Knives, Peasehookes, Spades, Shovels, Wedges, Draggehookes, great Saws, ●e●●er Saws, Handsawes, Timbersawes, Pitchforks, Iron hooks, Iron forks, Twybilles', Dung forks, tongues, shears, Sysars, mattocks, Fyles, Cleavers, Claspea, Lance●●, Strings, Cutting knives, Gelding tools, Clipping shears, levers, Presses, Rulers, Garden Rakes, Hammers, Chap 〈◊〉, Winches, Pulleys, Wheels, Rakes, single and double, Yokes, Collars, Bridse reins, Headst●lles, Halters, ●raaces, cords, Ha●nes, Baskets, Fans, ●●hippes, Fidels, Strikes, Spokes, Drawing knives, S●cks, Walks, Bottles, Weed hooks, Brakes, Hemp be●elles, Ducats, Spundelles, Wharles, Fyreshovels, Fyre-stones, G●ed●o●ns, Handbarowes, Dung Cartes, Wheelebarowes, Maundes, Hampers, Ropes, and Line, of all sorts. The so●●es and parts of P●owes and Wanes, I will show you when we 〈◊〉 into the court next the Heybarne● Hogsheads, Tons, and Uessels, for Wine, Beer, and Water, Pipes, Tunnels, and such like, shall likewise be showed you, when you come to the Brewhouse, and Windsel●er. With Co●erakes, Sives, S●rc●rs, Boul●ing rubs, Bou●●ars, that you shall see in the Backhouse, and instruments for all other purposes, laid up every one in his place, till they be to be occupied: for it is very necessary to have of every sort two, as the number of your servants and necessity requires: that if one be lost or broken, you be not driven to go a borrowing, or to leave your work, whereby your men shallbe idle, while your tools be a seeking. For to run every day to the Town to get new, is not for a husbands profile. Beside, in the mean time your servants ●oyter, and loose more than the value of their tools.  RIGO. 
Truly they be all placed in good order.  CONO. 
I place first by themselves, such as are most in use, that they may be the readier, and next to them, such as be occupied once in a month, or in a year: I give the keeping of them all by ●ale, to my steward or my bailiff, that they may deliver them out as need is, and lay them up again, and charge them in any case to look to them every month, that they may mend what is amiss in them.  RIGO. 
Order is a jolly fellow, and no goodlier a thing in a man, then to do every thing orderly, and to ●ay up every thing in such order, as it may readily be found, of which a singular example doth Iscomachus show 〈◊〉 Xenophon, in his Phenician bark, wherein a wonder it is to see what a deal of stuff he hath bestowed in so small a vessel: he carried with him all the furniture that a man should need, and every thing in such order placed, as they were at hand when need was, without any trouble.  CONO. 
I me self have an inventory of all my husbandry implements, and so hath my Bailie and his Wife, my steward hath the key of the storehouse, and delivers out, and receives as I told you, what every man needs: for I willingly neither borrow nor lend: I have a neighbour or twain, of whom sometime I borrow, and sand again: but except them, to none as Cato teacheth me.  RIGO. 
The same Cato also as I remember, teacheth to know a man's husbandry by his tools, & therefore by your great number of tools, a man may guess you have a great deal of occupying.  CONO. 
The double number of them makes the muster the greater: otherwise, if they were but to serve the turn, they would not seem so many.  RIGO. 
I pray you go forward with your description.  CONO. 
You see a void room before the Kitchen, which is an entry both to the Kitchen, to the folks Chamber, and to the Oxhouses, which aught to be near together, if any missefortune should happen to the cattle in the night, that my men might speedily help them.  RIGO. 
The Kitchen is very well handled, 
The Kitchen.  in that you have so well pargetted the roof.  CONO. 
It is because I have a great number of servants, which for lack of other room, do dine and sup here: beside, the pargeting or ceiling, is a good safety against fire.  RIGO. 
Here is a good handsome roosse by the Chimney, well stored with red Hearing, Bacon, and Marulmas beef, there is also a handsome sink by the Kitchin.  CONO. 
This lettised brickwall that you see, joineth to my Bailiffs chamber, so that he may see what is done in the Kitchen, and about the house. 
Larder.  Hereunto is also joined my Larder, a vault with three rooms, one serving for Butter and Milk, the other for Beer and Wine, the third for to keep ●leshe in: here have I no windows to the South, nor to the West, but all to the North, and to the East, because these quarters are lest subject to corruption, 
Corneloft.  and will longest preserve any thing. Above in the fit yonder, do I lay my corn upon a fair floor, closely fenced and seeled against Miso, receiving the light by lattisse windows from the North. Hard by, is an other fit very close, with like windows toward the North, 
Appleloft.  serving for my fruit: for that quarter is cold, and not moist, whereby it preserves best, both Meat, Corn, and fruit. Now if you will go through this door, you may behold the backside of my house: lo here a fair threasshing floor, whereupon my Corn is sundry times threshed, fan●ed, and winnowed, and many other things done, chiefly in the Winter mornings, though I have beside a threasshing place in my barn. On each side, are lodgings for my servants, and other rooms and lofts for straw and fodder for my cattle: and there by the stables, are also servants lodgings on every side, and my maids chamber near the Kitchen, and the washing house. You see this forestall closed round about, to the end that the cattle, when they be watered and putforth, while their houses be made clean, may be in safety. And here I keep also Geese, Ducks, Peacocks, Turkicockes, and other poultry. It is as you see, so enclosed with stables, barns, and other houses, that nothing can get out. Varro will in any case have two courts, an inner court with a little pond in it of standing w●ter, or running water, in manner of a Fishepond, and there he would have Horse and Oxen, coming from the Field, or stable, to be watered and washed, and to serve likewise for Sheep, Swine, and Geese. In the utter court would he have a Lake to cart in wheels, staves, and pieces of timber, for instruments of husbandry, that they might there be seasoned. This court he would have often strawed with straw, and Chaff, that being trampled with cattle, it may serve to say upon the ground. You see in this court a double dounghil, one of them newly thrown out of the stables, an other old one serving for the Field: for new dung is nothing so good as the old, for manuring of the ground.  RIGO. 
What means these twigs, bows, and straws, cast upon the dung?  CONO. 
This preserves the dung, that the juice that the ground requires, be not sucked out of the sun: and hither also runs the water from the Laundry to moist it the better. Varro would have here also a lodging for servants. But jest we tarry to long among the dounghilles, let us go see the other buildings about the Court. These great rooms that you see, 
Barnes.  be Barnes to la●● Corn in. In some places they use houses, in others again, stacks set upon props, which they call mows: but the houses are a great deal better. Next to the Barns, are the stables, 
Stable●.  standing arrow round about the Court. And because Virgil would have the stable stand toward the south, and Vitrunius, near the fire, I have followed their order in building my stables. And first have I set here my stable for my Cart horse. I have an other stable near mine own lodging, for my Horses of service, and Hackneys.  RIGO. 
That seemeth to be very handsomely built.  CONO. 
The next are houses for my sheep, and next them for Cows, Calves, & Heifers. There is a Hogsty with two rooms, one for my farrowing sows, the other for Hogs and Boars. There is also a third sty, not far from the washouse, for the fatting of my porks: every kind hath their keepers lying near them, that they may be at hand whatsoever chanceth. Last of all there stands my Heybarne, which hath in the upper rooms my Hey, and beneath, Wanes, Cartes, Carres, Wagons, Coaches, Harrows, Sledes, Ploughs, rollers, Wheels, Naves, Cartshooes, Yokes, Rakes, Plowbeames, and such other like, which are there safe from wet, and from pilferers.  RIGO. 
I pray you who doth look to all this gear, and keepeth every man to his work?  CONO. 
My Bailiff, as I told you before, overseeth both my work and my workmen: beside, I have ● Steward that looketh to the receiving of my revenues and commodities.  RIGO. 
Your Bailiff had need to be a skilful and a trusty man.  CONO. 
You say true, for as Xenophon saith, the choice of a Bailiff and a Physician aught to be one: you must choose such a one, 
The cho●se of a ●●●●iffe o●●u●bandry.  as being a very expert husbandman, may well be able to take the charge, and not to be ignorant of those things himself, that he commandeth others to do: for nothing is well taught or learned, without example. For as Cato saith of a husband of the old stamp, it goeth ill with that master whom the Bailiff must teach. As Iscomachus being demanded of Socrates, whether he would buy a Bailie, as he would hire a Smith, or rather teach him himself at home? He answered, he would have him of his own teaching.  RIGO. 
But this is after the old world, wherein no man was unskilful: but it is a wonder, how you that have always been brought up in Prince's affairs, could in these days (when very few, except ploughmen, and such as have no other trade of life, have any skill in it) apply your mind so unto it, as a man would think you had never minded any other profession.  CONO. 
Surely I think he shall never have a good Bailie, that is not able himself to judge skilfully of him: nor let him ever think to have his work well done, that knoweth not how nor which way things aught to be done, but must be feign to learn of his man: for the●e is none can judge of a work but a workman. Therefore in the choice of a Bailiff, 
What things ough●●o be in a Bailiff o● husbandry.  I would have four things chiefly considered: that he be loving, diligent, meet to rule, and trusty: and if you will add a fift, I am well contented, that is, that he be not given to drunkenness: for a drunkenman loseth with his memory the regard of his duty. I do not inquire whether he have been brought up civilly or deyntely, but I would have him a hard fellow, brought up from his childhood to labour, and one that were thoroughly well skilled, of a mean age, that he be not unwilling to work for youth, nor unable to cravayle for age. I would have him have some skill in Carpentry, that if there happened to be any thing broken about his Stables, his Cartes, or any other his instruments, he might speedily mend them, and that he could mend Walls and Hedges. I would have him also not unskilful in the diseases of cattle: such a one as hath been brought up with skilful husbands, will prove meetest to have charge. For there be a great number, that though they be skilful enough in their profession, yet have they not government in them: but either using to much sharpness, or to much gentleness towards such as be under them, do hinder the profit of their master, and therefore I would have a Bailiff well tried before he be taken: neither is it only to be sought, whether he be skilful in this craft, but whether he be trusty and loving to his master, without which, he is not worth a rush, though his skill be never so great. And chiefly, he must be skilful in this, to know what work is meetest for every man: for some works require strength more than skill, and others, otherwise. And therefore in appointing of these, he aught to have great judgement and good discretion, which he can not have, except he have good skill. Therefore a Bailiff is as well to be taught as a Smith, or a Carpenter: and the knowledge of husbandry is greater and of more difficulty. Wherefore I marvel, that in this so necessary an occupation, there are found so few masters and apprentices.  RIGO. 
Perhaps the tediousness and hardness thereof driveth them away.  CONO. 
Why have not Orators been likewise driven away, for hitherto as Cicero saith, there hath been no perfect Orator found.  RIGO. 
Of whom would you have your Bailiff to be taught?  CONO. 
Your question is good, I will show you, though very few have taught what belongeth to a husband in all things, neither shall you find many skilful in every point. Therefore he that shall be a bailie, must be taught by degrees, he must first begin when he is a child, 
The training of a Bailiff.  with keeping of Sheep or Swine, and when he is elder, with droves of cattle, and keeping of horse: he must learn next to dig, to threashe, to set, to sow, to hedge, to build, to mend such things as are broken, to play the butcher, to give drinks and medicines to sick cattle, and such other like things. And thus must he proceed from one to an other, till having passed them all, he come to be a master, even as Gregory Nazianzen teacheth of a Bishop, and as Tully would have a general, after he hath born all other offices of the field.  RIGO. 
You show me wonderful Philosophy.  CONO. 
As I said at the first, his best age is betwixt thirty and threescore: for the flames of lusty youth beginning to abate, he will not be so hot in his wooing: for while he follows that game, he will have no mind but of his minion, neither shall any reward be so welcome unto him, as the fruit of his fancy, nor any grief so great to him, as the failing of his desire. If he once pass threescore, he waxeth slothful and unable to labour. For I had rather have the work of a painful and diligent Bailiff, than the service of a great number of slothful lubbers: as he that had rather have a Lion captain over Hearts, than a Hart captain over Lions. This must chiefly be looked unto (sins early going to work is a great matter) that the Bailiff be a good riser, and that, supplying his masters place, he may be the first up in the morning, and the last that goeth to bed, and that he see the doors fast locked, and every man in bed, that the cattle have meat enough, and be well littured, that he set forward, according to the time of the year, such as do loiter in their labour, that he himself go lustily before, that he suffer no man after it is day to lag behind, but that they follow the Bailiff lustily with a courage, as if he were their captain in a skirmish: and that he use sundry devices to cheer them up in their labour, sometime as it were to help him that fainteth, to take his tool out of his hand, and labour lustily before him. And as a careful shepherd early carrying out his sheep, and bringing them home late, looketh that he leave none of his flock behind him: so likewise aught a good Bailiff to carry out his men, and to have good regard over them. If any of them happen to be hurt or sick, let him look to the dressing of them, and if they be very sick, to carry them to the sick folks lodging, and to see that they be well ordered: and to that use have I built yonder house that you see, removed from the other buildings, that the sick may be had thither and looked unto, specially if their diseases be contagious, jest other should be infected. It is the masters duty to have such regard of the health of his servants, and to have such care of them, that their sickness may be prevented by good medicines and good looking to: as to see that their meat and drink be wholesome and good, and given in due season: beside, that the Bailiff eat his meat with them, and not by himself, whereby it shallbe the better ordered. And because Physicians are not always at hand in the Country, it behoveth to use such remedies as experience hath taught, and such as have helped others of like diseases. Those that labour in the Sun (because the Sun hurteth the body and the veins) their diet must be the thinner, that they make not to great meals, but eat little and often: this order keepeth them in health, and helpeth digestion. Some do use to give Wormwood wine, or pottage made of Wormwood. It is very necessary for them sometimes to recreate themselves, so that in the mean while they give not themselves to noughtiness. There must be heed taken, that they drink not when they be hot, nor lie upon the cold ground: if their water be not good, it must be well purified. It is very good also to let them drink Barley water. We must remember that servants be men: beside, such good looking to, will breed a greater good will and duty, and lightly they will serve the faithfuller and better when they have their health, which have had good cherishing in their sickness: and beside (which is not so well observed in greater governors) the Bailiff must beware that he deal not to cruelly, nor to gently with them, that he always make much of those that be diligent and painful, that he be not to hasty with the worser sort, that they may rather reverence him for his severity, then hate him for his cruelty, which he shall easily bring to pass, if he rather beware that they offend not, then after their offence to late to punish them. For there is none so good a bridle for an evil disposed person, as to let him always be occupied. So that Cato's saying herein is most true, that men in doing nothing, learn to do evil. Let them have their allowance and their meat in due season, let them always feed together in one place, and the Bailiff with them, that he may be an example to them of all thriftiness. If he ●inde any of them to have laboured painfully and truly, let him give them a good countenance, & encourage them with rewards, to make them the willinger to do their duties beside, let him look that they be rather well clothed, than curio●●●● appareled, that their garments may keep them from the cold a●d the rain: let their wages be well paid them, that the w●at thereof be no excuse for them to lo●●er in their labour. And as meat and apparel is necessary for them, so likewise is correction. For the wise man saith, give a Horse the whip, an Ass the sn●●●ell, and a Fool the rod. And again, He that deals to gently with his servants, shall make them in the end stubborn and froward. Above all things let him see that they fear God, let him in no wise suffer them to swear or to blaspheme, nor to use filthy or ungodly speech: but let him provide that they be instructed in the Catechism, that they use prayer, that they go to Sermons upon the holy days, and receive the Sacraments at times appointed, that they be not hunters of Alehouses or evil company. For as the Poet saith, It is lawful to be well occupied, even on the Festival days. When they have served GOD, and dined, let them walk abroad in the ground, let them look there be no cattle in the Corn, and stop such Gaps as they find open, and look that their cattle be in safety abroad. To be short, the Bailiff must in all these matters be as it were a Bishop, or a master of the works, so shall every man the better do the work that belongeth unto him. The Bailyffe must never be from their heels, lest in his absence they fall to loitering, neither must he suffer them any time to be idle: he himself must not be given to drinking or gaming, nor to hunting or fishing, except for his masters profit: let him very seldom entertain any guests, except they be of his masters re●inewe: let him not bestow his masters money about his own merchandise, for such kind of bargaining makes him the slacker in his duty, and maketh his accounts seldom fall out just. Above all things this is to be wished in the Bailiff, that he do not think himself wiser than his master, or suppose himself to have more skill than he hath, and that he always seek to learn such things as he is ignorant of. For as it is very profitable to do any thing skilfully, so is it more hurtful to do it untowardly. Columella had rather have a Bailiff that could neither read nor writ, so that his memory be good: for such a Bailiff (saith he) will oftener bring his master money, than a book: because (not able to write) he can not so easily frame a false account. The Bailiffs wife must always be with him, 
The Bailiffs wife.  that she may keep him from running at rovers, and may help him in his labours: her age must be such also, as we required in the Bailiff before, she must be painful, healthy, careful, and honest. she must not be to ill-favoured, jest she be loathsome unto him, nor to beautiful, lest he dote to much upon her, and keep home when he should be abroad. She must in the mean time look to the ●itchin, and to other works at home, govern the maids, and keep them at their work, look to their necessaries, and give them their allowance.  RIGO. 
You seem to me here, to make the Bailiff a master, and the master a Bailiff.  CONO. 
This age of ours, quite corrupted with delicacy and deyntinesse, little regardeth the honest and profitable orders of our forefathers: for in those days the masters themselves played the husbands, and thought it not to go well with that master that must be taught by his Bailiff, as Cato witnesseth, and Varro also complaineth, that the husbands in his days had forsaken the Plough and the Scythe, and got themselves within the walls, and spent their time rather in May-games and Midsummer sights, then with tilling the ground, or planting of vines. Therefore Cato and the old writers do attribute many things to the master, that we assign to the Bailiff. And I, though I seem to put the charge of the household in the hands of my Bailiff, yet will I me self be overseer, and have every thing done as I appoint, entreating gently (as I taught the Bailiff afore) both the Bailiff and my labourers, regarding more their labour then my gains. But I carry you about to long, being fasting, I pray you let us go to dinner: you shall not dine at the Court to day, neither meant I to show you, as you see, the palace of Lucullus, but the poor cottage of Cincinatus, Abdolominus, or Laertes. Here you see the rooms for my husbandmen, severed from mine own house, but yet so, as I may easily see whatsoever they do. Here I and my wife with our household servants do lie.  RIGO. 
All very excellently well as may be, there is nothing wanting that is to be wished for. Mistress METELLA, you trouble yourself to much, like Martha, about the providing of your dinner.  METELLA. 
Not a whit sir, you must be contented with Country fare, you shall neither have red Dear, Marchpane, nor Sturgian, nor any Courtier's fare: but an Egg, and a Salad, a Pullet, or a piece of Lamb.  RIGO. 
This diet contenteth me above all other.  CONO. 
fall to it then, & tell me how you like our country wine.  RIGO. 
Surely it passeth either wine of Orleans, or Anjou. I did not think to have found so good a cup of wine in these quarters.  CONO. 
The husbandry, and good season of the year doth yield the same.  RIGO. 
Well, we sit to long at dinner. The weather being so fair and so pleasant abroad, it is ashame to sit any longer, but to walk out and look upon your ground.  CONO. 
The weather being fair, you bring a Horse to the Field (as they say) when you speak to me of going abroad: for I me self, if the weather or business do not let me, am every day, according to Cato's counsel, abroad in my ground: and if it please you, I will carry you abroad and show you my ground. You must not look to see the great Countries of Metellus or Lucullus, but the possessions of a poor Country man, that contented with his state, would be as he is, and would not change lives with the Emperor.  RIGO. 

Of the tilling and husbanding of the ground.  I pray you let me here your opinion of the Field, and the tilture thereof: for I see you are a perfect husband, and nothing unskilful. I have a great desire to hear some rules, and such as serve our turn best.  CONO. 
If it be a shame for an apprentice at the law, and a pleader of causes to be ignorant of the law wherein he dealeth, a greater shame is it for a professor of husbandry, to be unskilful in the ground whereon his whole trade lieth. How is he able to judge uprightly in husbandry, that knoweth not which way to till his land? The professors of all other arts, do commonly keep to themselves, such things as be the chief mysteries of their knowledge. 
The good nature of the husbandman.  Contrariwy●e, the husband rejoiceth to have every body made prime to his skill, & being demanded in what sort he doth this and that, he gladly declareth his whole dealing in every point: such good natured men doth this knowledge make. I have ordered my ground here, according to the diligence of the old fathers, rather than for the wantonness of these times. Therefore I will first show you their opinions, and afterwards mine own fancy. First, Cato appointeth niene degrees of the land in Italy. 
The degrees and sorts of ground.  The first, the Uineyard, that yieldeth much and good wine: the next, the well watered Garden: the third the willow Grove: the fourth, for Olive trees: the fifth, for meadow: the sixth, Corn ground: the seventh, for Copy ground: the eight, for Timber trees: the last, for Mast. But these degrees as Varro says, are not generally allowed of, neither have we the use of them all in these countries: but make most account of such land, as serveth for Garden or Orchard ground, Corn, or Fishpondes. Of Corn ground I will first entreat, and afterwards of Pasture, meadow, Wood Land, and willow Groves.  RIGO. 
I pray you then take the pains to show the nature of it, 
Of Corn● ground.  and which way the best ground may be known.  CONO. 
Cato counteth that the best ground, that lieth at the foot of a mountain, being level and lying toward the Sun, as the whole Country of Italy lieth. In cold and Norther●ye Countries, it is good to have the land lying East and South, lest these two quarters, being barred of by any hill, the land be frozen with cold: but in hot Countries it is better to have the ground lie North, both for pleasure and health.  RIGO. 
They say it is needful to know the conditions of every ground.  CONO. 
It is so, and sooner shall you do it, than the conditions of a man: for being well tilled, it will not deceive you, but deal justly with you. To know the nature of every ground, Iscomachus in Xenophon, doth will you to mark well the plants and the yield of the Country, 
How to know the goodnese of the ground.  except you will lose your labour or fight with God. Varro counsels you to look whether there be in the land either Stone, Marble, Sande, Gravel, Raddell, Chalk, Clay, Preble, or Carbuncle, that is ground over heated and parched with the Sun, which will burn the roots of what so ever cometh in it. Also if it be wet or weeping ground, or subject unto other inconveniences, and such ground also, according to the nature of the soil, is good or evil. In some countries stony ground is altogether barren, specially for Corn and Fruit. In other places again, they use stones in the manuring and bettering of their land, as in certain places of Arden is to be seen. Theophrascus writeth, that the Corynths did cast away all the stones out of the Fields of Sarragosa, and thereby made the ground the worse, when, the stones being away and the Country hot, there was no succour left to defend the ground from the extreme heat of the Sun. In other places in stony and hilly grounds Oats do prospero well. In like sort, in all Countries we must regard the lair of the Country, and the nature of the seed that we sow: for Gravel in some places is cast upon the ground in stead of dung, and some things prospero best in gravely grounds. In Barbary (as Columella doth witness) the very rotten sands exceed any other ground in fruitfulness. It is also something to the purpose, whether the gravel be white, red, or yellow: beside, some ground doth deceive both with colour and quality. In some countries the black mould is only esteemed: in others, the fat red mould is thought best. In England, the chalky ground beareth good corn, and pastures very well. In some places the thick and the clammy ground is most fruitful. In all these it is to be learned, what is best for the hill ground, what for the valley, what for the tilled, what for the lay ground, what the moist seggie ground requires, and what the dry and barren. Also in planting, what ground is best for vines, what for other trees, what delights in dry ground, what in moist ground. Virgil commends a mellow ground that is fat, and will soon be resolved, for such ground is tilled with smallest charge and labour: the next, is that which is fa●●e and stiff, which greatly recompenseth the husband his travail and charges: the worst, is that which is dry, lean, and stiff: for both it is tilled with great labour, and beside, neither answereth in his crop the husbands travail, neither serveth it for good meadow or pasture any time after, and therefore such ground is not to be meddled withal. Also, the goodness of the ground is easily perceived by perfect tokens: for a clod sprinkled with a little water, 
Signs of the goodness of the ground.  if in working with the hand it be clammy, and cleaving, and sticketh to the fingers like Pitch, when it is handled as the Poet saith, and breaketh not in falling to the ground, this showeth a natural fatness and richenesse to be in it: beside, you may know the mould that is good for Corn, if it bear Bulrusshes, Thistles, Threeleaved grass, Danewoort, Brambles, Blackthorne, and such like, as never grow but in good ground: as on the other side, loathsome and ill-favoured weeds, declare a lean and a bitter ground: fern, and withered plants, a cold ground: sad, and heavy coloured, a moist and a wet ground: a raddell and a stony ground, is discerned by the eye, a stiff and tough clay, by the labour and toil of the Oxen. A good token is it also of good ground, where the Crows and the Pies follow in great number the Plough, scraping in the steps of the Ploughman. The goodness is likewise known, if at the Sun setting, after a rainbow, and in a shower of rain following a great drought, it yieldeth a pleasant savour: also in taste it will appear, if tasting a clod that hath been watered in an earthen vessel, you find it sweet, it is a sign of rich ground, if bitter, a great token of barren ground, if it be saltish, it is to be shunned, and not to be used upon the dunghill. You must remember also, that ground will some times change, and of fruitful become barren, 
Ground will change.  which hath been seen, as Pliny reporteth, in the old time in Thessali, and in our time, in sundry places of our Country. Beside, one kind of ground, though it be never so fertile, will not bear all things, as the Poet wisely note●h, 
The disposition of the heavens to be obseru●d.  Ne serves one ground for every Crop. Moreover, the disposition of the Heavens is a great matter, all Countries have not the weather and air alike: wherefore it is the part of a good husband to know the nature and property of his ground, and to mark the disposition of it for every part of the year: he must also consider what Crop is best for every layer. Some ground serveth for Corn, some for vines, some for Olives, some for meadow, some for Pasture, neither may all things well be sown in rich ground, nor nothing in barren ground. Such things as need not much moisture, are best sowed in light ground, as the great Elaver, Sperie, Chich, and the other pulses that are pulled and not cut. Those that require more sustenance, are sown in richer ground, as Pot herbs, Wheat, Rye, Barley, linseed. Some of them do good to the ground the year following, as lupines that are used to be sown for the bettering of the ground. There is difference also to be put betwixt fruits for pleasure, and such as be for profit: as fruit trees and flowers, and such things as yield both pleasure and sustenance, and are also profitable to the ground. You must choose for Wyllowes, Osyres, and Reeds, a wet and a marish ground: and contrary where you will have Come & Pulse, that delights in dry ground, Sperage & such like, must be sown in shaddowy places, and other ground for Quicksets, Timber, Mast, & Fuel: yea such ground as is very gravely and barren, hath his use, where you may plant birch & such like, and watery grounds where you may set Alders, Broome, and Bullrusshes.  RIGO. 
Surely the temperature of the air, doth very much in the fruitfulness of the ground, for I have oftentimes marked, that one kind of ground is more fruitful in one Country, then in an other.  CONO. 
In Venefri, the Gravel ground bears olives best, where as about Granado, they require the richest ground that may be. When in other places the vine doth not prospero very well in stony grounds, about the Rhine the very ragged rocks do yield as fruitful vines as may be seen. Pliny doth witness, that in some places the vines do grow even in the Fens and Marshes, such a secret force is there in Nature. About Ch●l●ia, an Island about the Rhodes, it is said there is a piece of ground so fruitful, that they mow their Barley being sown in his season, and their Crop, sow it again, and gather it with their other grain. The Albanoyses receive the frivite of their land 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 untiled and unsown, and being once sown, it yieldeth his Crop three years together. Homer calleth Phrigea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and Argos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Herodotus writeth, that Babylon is so fruitful, as the ground yieldeth increase two hundred and three hundred fold. Pliny affirmeth, the increase in his time to be fifty, and to good husbands an hundred fold. About Monte Gibello, it is reported by credible people, to be an hundred fold. Italy is so fruitful, 
Italy, the garden of the world.  that Varro calleth it the Garden of the world, because it is so fertile and well planted in every place: Campania, being full of Corn: Apulia, plenteous with Wine: and Venafri, abounding with oil.  RIGO. 
I have herded say, that Germany and France have not been in times past very fertile, and that they have been altogether without vines, and now we see no Country more fruitful, that yieldeth greater abundance of all things. Where can you find better wines, then about Bavaer and the Rhine? I speak not of their great store of Grain, 
The fruitfulness of Germany.  Mines of Gold, Silver, Iron, and Lead. In the Country of Thuryn in Germany, it is said, that after Wheat once sown, the ground will yield Rye of itself two years together.  CONO. 
Yea, and in our Country here, we have ground that will bear Wheat every year. Rape seed being once sown with us, doth often yield his Crop two years together, without sowing or labouring.  RIGO. 
Under the Northern Pole it is reported the ground is so fertile, as they sow in the Morning, and reap at Noon. In Barbarye, 
The fruitfulness of Barbary.  where the ground is low, they plant under the Date tree the Olive, under the Olive the Fig tree, under the Fig the Pomegranate, under it the vine, under the vine they sow Wheat, and under Wheat Pulse, all prospering one under the others shadow, and yielding their fruit the same year.  CONO. 
That made me to say, that the ground follows the disposition of the Heavens.  RIGO. 
But sith in all places the ground is not of like goodness, what if we chance upon a lean and a barren ground, as Heathy, Brushy, & Gravelly ground? may these be made fruitful, and mended by art?  CONO. 
Very well, there is no Country that the most gracious Lord hath left without sufficient yield, if labour and travail be not refused.  RIGO. 
That skill I would gladly understand.  CONO. 
It is brought to pass divers ways, principally by dounging and diligent labour: 
Of dounging of ground  and to this end serve those heaps of dung that I lately showed you.  RIGO. 
I pray you let me know what dung doth most enrich the ground.  CONO. 
Varro, and Columella his follower, appoint three sorts of dounges: 
The sorts of dung.  the first of Poultry, the next of Men, the third of cattle. Of the first sort, the best is that which is had out of Dovehouses, the next is of Pulleyne, and all other foul, except Geese and Ducks, which is hurtful. The people in the old age had such store of Poultry and Fowl, as the dung of them sufficed for the manuring of their ground. The next to this, is man ● ordure, if it be mixed with other rubbish of the house: for of itself it is to hot, 
Urine  and bur●es the ground. Man's urine being six months kept, and powered upon the roots of Apple trees and vines, bringeth great fruitfulness to the trees, and giveth a pleasant taste to the fruit. In the third place is the dung of cattle, whereof the best is the dung of Asses, because this beast doth chaw with most leisure, whereby his meat being well digested, is made the profitabler dung. Next to this, is the dung of Sheep, next of Goats, then of Oxen, and Horses: the worst of all of Swine, very hurtful to Corn, but used in some places for Gardens, for lack of other dung, but is a great breeder of noisome weeds: yet Pliny seemeth to allow it, as the filth of a filthy creature. The dung of Horses likewise, where the Horses are fed with Barley, doth breed great store of weeds. The Lupine before he bear his Cod, is most commended, being turned up with the Plough or mattock, and laid in bundles about the roots of Trees or vines. Where they have no store of cattle, they use to mend their ground with Straw and fern, and with the stalks of lupines, and the branches laid together in some Ditch: hereunto you may cast Ashes, the filth of Synckes and Privies, and straw, with dust and other things raked together: but in the midst, you must lay some sound matter against the breeding of Adders and Snakes: also Humlockes, Walwoort, and the weeds growing about willow trees and fern, with other such rotten weeds you may gather and lay under your Sheep. They that devil in Gravelie and Heathie grounds, do take the Turfs of the Earth and the Heath, & laying them in heaps powdered with a little dung, suffer them to lie & rot, and after lay it upon barren ground, but specially where they keep great store of Sheep, they cast into their Folds such Turfs pared from the ground. Columella counts them but evil husbands, that have of every one of the lesser kind of cattle less than a cart load of dung in 300. days, and of each of the greater sort ten load, beside the filth and dirt of the yard. This is also to be noted, that the dung that hath lyen a year is best for Corn, 
Old dung best for Corn, and new dung for Meddowe.  for it hath is of sufficient strength, and breeds less weeds: but upon meadow and Pasture, you must lay the newest, because it brings most grass, and this must be done in February, the Moon increasing, for this is the best time to cause increase of grass. In the manuring of your ground, look that you lay most dung upon the top of the Hill, for the rain will bear it to the lower parts fast enough. He that minds to have his ground bear Corn, if he mean to sow in the end of Summer, must turn in his dung in September: if in the spring, he may lay it on at any time all the Winter. 
The observing of the Wind and the Moon, in mending of the ground  What time so ever it be done, you must look that the wind be Westerly, and the Moon in the wane. This observation helpeth greatly to the bettering of the ground. Beside, you must not forget to let the dung be dry before it be laid upon the ground. For though Columella do bid the contrary, our own experience wills us not to follow him: for dung while it is moist, 
Wet dung hurts the field.  doth more harm to the ground then good, as daily experience teacheth. Now as your land will wax cold, if it be not dounged, so will it be dried or burned, if it be manured yearly, or to much. The watery ground requireth more store of dung, and the dry ground the less.  RIGO. 
I remember I have yer this seen Earth taken out of the Fields near adjoining, and laid upon the land, I therefore guess, the earth may be mended with earth.  CONO. 
The Germans, besides sundry other sorts of enriching of their grounds, do in stead of dung, cast upon it a kind of pith and fatness of the earth: (Pliny counts it to be first devised in England and France) called Marga, 
Marle, a fat kind of earth used commonly at this day in divers parts of Sussex and ●en●, for the enriching of land.  as it were the fat of the Earth: but I rather think it to be the invention of the Germans, with whom yet both the name and the use is retained: it is got in deep pits, but not alike in all soils. That part of France that lies upon the Maase, doth show a sandy kind of Marle, differing from the fat Marl of Germany, but of the same quality: which carried upon the Sea in vessels, is sold as a great merchandise. In some places the scouring of Ponds and Ditches is used, to the great enriching of the ground, in the mountaynie and barren grounds. In some Countries they make their land very fruitful with laying on of Chalk, 
Chalk used for mending of ground.  as Pliny testifieth of the Burgundians, and the Gaskoynes. And in Germany in our days, this manner of mending of ground is common. But long use of it, in the end brings the ground to be stark naught, whereby the common people have a speech, that ground enriched with Chalk, makes a rich father, and a beggarly son. A little lower, not far from the Maase, in the Country of Lyege, they mend their land with a kind of s●ate stone, which cast upon the ground doth moulder away, and makes the ground fatter. 
Dounging with ashes.  In Lombardie they like so well the use of ashes, as they esteem it far above any dung, thinking dung not meet to be used for the unholsomenesse thereof. Columella writeth, that his Uncle was wont to mend sandy and gravely grounds with Chalk, and chalky & hard grounds with gravel and sand, whereby he had always goodly Corne. So do I think, that River land by overflowings, and fast ground with mud mingled with sand and gravel, will be made much better.  RIGO. 
You have t●ught me sundry ways of mending of ground, I would gladly now learn the right way of ploughing and sowing.  CONO. 

The m●ner of ploughing.  In ploughing and orderly preparing ground for seed, consists the chiefest point of husbandry. Cato affirmeth the first point of husbandry, to be to prepare the ground well, the second, to plough it well, and the third, to dung it well. Of ploughing and turning up the ground, the fashion is divers, according to the nature of every soil & country. All great fields are tilled with the Plough and the Share, the lesser with the Spade. The Ploughs are of sundry fashions, according to the diversity of countries, some single, some double, some with wheels, some without. The parts of the Plough, 
The parts of the plow.  are the Tail, the Shelf, the Beam, the Foot, the Coulter, the Share, the Wheels, and the Staff. The Share, is that which first cuts the way for the Coulter, that afterwards turns up the Forowe. Where the ground is light, they use only a small Share. In Lifflande they have for their Plough nothing but a Fork. In Syria, where they can not go very deep, they use (as Theophrastus writes) very little Ploughs. Pliny writeth, that wheels for Ploughs were devised by the Frenchemen, and called Plugrat, a German name, which corruptly is printed Planarati. In divers places where the ground is stiff, they have a little wing on the right side of the Coulter, which wing is to be removed to which side you list: with the Rod or Staff well pointed, the ploughman maketh clean his Coulter. When you work, your Oxen must be yoked even together, that they may draw more handsomely with heads at liberty, and less hurt to their necks. This kind of yoking is better liked of many, then to be yoked by the horns: 
This drawing with the head, is used in the upper parts of France and Spain.  for the cattle shallbe able to draw better with the neck and the breast, than they shall with their heads: and this way they put to the force of their whole bodies, whereas the other way (being restrained by the yoke on their heads) they are so grieved, as they scarcely raze the upper part of the earth. Where Horses may be used, their use is more commodious for the Plough, and the fewer of them the better: for many Horses draw too hastily, and make too large Furrows, which is not good: whereby we see the ground to be excellently well ploughed in Gelderland, 
The like is used with us in Norfolk, and I inconshy●d.  and about Coleyne, where they plough always with two Horses, going very softly. In France and other places, where they plough with Oxen, they make their Furrows rather deep then broad. Where the ground is stiff, the Coulter must be the greater and the stronger, that it may go the deeper: for if the crust of the earth be turned up very broad, it remaineth still hole, whereby neither the weeds are killed, nor the ground can be well harrowed. The furrow aught not to exceed one hundred and twenty foot in length, for if it do, as Columella saith, it is hurtful to the beasts, because they are to much wearied withal: but this rule, where the fields are large, is not in many places regarded, as in the Country of Gulicke, where the fields are great, their Furrows are drawn very long. You must not plough in wet weather, nor wet ground, nor when after a long drought a little rain falling, hath but wet the utter part, and not go deep. If it be too wet when it is ploughed, it doth no good that year. You must therefore have a regard to the temperature of your season, that it be neither to dry, nor to wet: for, too much moisture maketh it to dirty, and too great dryness maketh that it will never work well: for either the hardness of the Earth resisteth the Plough, or if it do enter, it breaks it not small enough, but turneth up great flakes, hurtful to the next ploughing. For though the land be as rich as may be, yet if you go any depth, 
Dead mould  you shall have it barren, which is turned up in these great clods, whereby it happeneth that the bad mould, mixed with the good, yieldeth the worser Crop. Where you have ploughed in a dry season, it is good to have some moisture in your second stirring, which moistening the ground, shall make your labour the lighter. Where the ground is rich, and hath long born water, it is to be stirred again when the weather waxeth warm, and when the weeds are full grown, and have their seeds in their top, which being ploughed so thick, as you can scarce see where the Coulter hath go, utterly killeth and destroyeth the weeds: beside, through many stirringes, your Fallow is brought to so fine a mould, as it shall need very little or no harrowing at all when you sow it: for the old Roman●s, as Columella witnesseth, would ●ay that the ground was ill husbanded, that after sowing had need of the harrow. Moreover, the good husband must try whether it be well ploughed or not, and not only trust your eyes, which (the Balks being covered with mould) may easily be deceived, but try it with your hand (which is a certainer proof) by thrusting down a rod into the furrow, which if it pierce a like in every place, it showeth that the ground is well ploughed. 
Trial of good ploughing.  If it be shallow in one place, and deep in an other, it declares the ground to be evil handled in the ploughing. If you are to plough upon a Hill, you must plough overthwart, 
The ploughing of a hill  and not up and down: for thereby the inconvenience of the steepness is met with, and the labour of both Man and cattle is lightened: but herein you must beware, that you plough not always one way, but sometime higher, sometime lower, working a slope, as you shall see cause. Touching the season of your ploughing, 
The best time of ploughing.  it must be chiefly in the spring, as the Poet well teacheth. When as the pleasant spring. etc. For in Summer the ground is to hard and churlish, and in Winter to fowl and dirty: but in the Spring the ground being mellow, is easily to be wrought, and the weeds are then best turned in, which both do good for the enriching of the ground, & plucked up by the roots before they have seeded, will never spring again. And therefore with us, we use to begin to plough about the midst of March: but in sandy and light ground, they use to plough in the midst of Winter, if the season will suffer, Pliny is of opinion, that stiff ground also should then be stirred. A slendar and level ground, subject to the water, would be first ploughed in the end of August, and stirred again in September, and prepared for sowing about the twelfth of March. The light hilly ground, is not to be broken up in Summer, but about the Ralendes of September: for if it be broken up afore, being barren and without juice, it is burned up with the Sun, and hath no goodness remaining in it. Wet ground, some would have broken up after the Ideses of April, which being ploughed at that time, should be stirred again about the tenth of june, and after again, about the Ralendes of September, according to columella's mind. But those that are skilful in husbandry agreed, that after the tenth of june, without great store of rain, you shall not plough: for if the year be wet, there is nothing to the contrary but you may plough in july. In the mean time, beware that you deal not with ground overwette, as I gave you warning before.  RIGO. 
May I plough in the night, if I list?  CONO. 

Ploughing in the night.  Yea very well, in Summer time and in hot Countries you may begin in the Evening, and continued till the Sun rise, that the moisture and fatness of the ground, may remain shadowed under the clod: and that the cattle through overmuch heat of the Sun, be not diseased nor hurt. How often you shall plough the ground that you mean to sow, partly the nature of the soil, and partly the condition of the seed will teach you, as when we come to it, I will tell you: for it is not needful to stir a gravelly and a light ground, so often as the stiff ground: yet we find that land, the oftener it is stirred, the better it bears. So that for some seed, you must not only twyfallowe & threefallowe your ground, but also fourefallow it, as they use in the fruitfullest places of Italy and Germany. In Misnia and Austria, they plough but twice. Stiff ground, as they commonly do in Italy, is best to be sowed upon the fifth stirring, in Tuscan, upon the ninth. Thus hath every Country both in this, and other matters, his fashion, according to the nature of the ground.  RIGO. 
But may I not sow one piece of ground every year without resting?  CONO. 
There are some grounds you may sow yearly, as in Italy and Austria, and likewise in some parts here about the River, that are fruitful either by nature, or by overflowing. In other places you must observe the old saying of the husband, Take not too much of your ground. Virgil would have ground rest every other year: which, if you have store of ground, out of all doubt is best. Hereof had the ground, that is sowed every year, his name in the old time: but commonly even the best ground requireth rest the third, the fourth, or (at the farthest) the fifth year. Varro writeth, that in Olynthia the land beareth every year, and every third year most plentifully. But if you will do well, you must let it lie every other year, according to the nature of the soil, or else sow it with lighter seed, that soaketh out less the substance of the ground, as lupines and others, that we will shortly entreat of. It is also much to be considered, whether the ground that you plough be say ground yearly sown, or fallow. If you break up new ground, if it be rich, heavy, and prepared for seed, it sufficeth to plough it once, and to sow it immediately, and harrow it. If it be light and gravelly ground, you mu●● thryfallowe it, specially at the first breaking up.  RIGO. 
Here you speak of divers terms belonging to this trade, 
divers Latin words belong to husbandry, interpreted.  I pray you make me to understand them, before you proceed any farther.  CONO. 
This art (as likewise all other) hath certain words peculiar and belonging to itself: and because sundry men of good learning have herein been deceived, lest my matter should be marred with dark and strange terms, I will declare the words as plain as I can, digressing a while from my farther speech.  RIGO. 
I beseech you heartily.  CONO. 
We take Agrum, a Field in out speech, not for a jurisdiction, a Diocese, 
Agri Vo●a.  or a Shire, as the old Lawyers take it: but with jabolenus and Florentinus, we count it a parcel of ground, either earable or pasture. Ager, Aruus, or Aruum, we call earable ground that is to be ploughed and sown. Varro would rather have it called Aratum and not Satum. The Field that is called Restibilis, is that which is renewed & every year sown, called of the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because his fruietfulnesse continueth to the next years & yieldeth his Crop every year. Ager Novalis, is called of Varro, the ground that hath been sowed & fallowed: of Pliny counted to be sown every other year: with the Lawyers it is counted ground new ploughed, that hath lyen a year: we, according to the vulgar speech (for we must speak with the most, & judge with the fewest) do call Novale Agrum, that which is new broken up, and hath not before been ploughed, whereof cometh Novalium Decimae, the cythes of new broken up land, yet I know there are some learned that count it that; which after his Crop lies lay. Veruactum is of Varro taken for the ground, that in the Spring time is turned up, and hath been for a while spared. Oftentimes is this also called Nouale, both the field that hath lyen a year, and that which is broken up the first Spring: for thus faith Varro, There is great difference whether you sow in untilled ground, or in that which is yearly sown, and is called Restibilis, or in that which hath lyen a while, and is broken up in the Spring. Moreover, both Co●imella, and Pliny, do use not seldom Veruact●● for ground new broken up in the Spring, taking their reason of the time, whereby 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, may be interpreted by the name of Veruactum, or Novale. The Field is said to be ploughed, to be stirred with the Plough when it is turned up: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Hesiodus says, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, it is broken up when it is first ploughed lying in great clods: the second ploughing is called Offringere Agrum, or Iterare, to plough again, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tertiare to thry allow it● Ageriteratus, and tertiatus, be usual words with Columella and Pliny, Nouare, is to change the ground w●ll husbanded before, and to plough it and prepare it for the sowing season. Occare, to harrow it, as Varro saith, is so to break it, as there remain no clod. The harrow, is an instrument cross lettused, to break the clods withal, and to cover the seeds. Cr●tire, is likewise used in the same signification. A●rare, is when that which is sown and come to some growth, is turned in with the Plough Pliny calleth Ararare, as it were Aratrare, to blow often that which is sown. Sarrire, is to purge with the Rake. Runcare, is to weed out of the ground noisome weeds, for which is also used Auerruncare and deruncare, and of Columellá, Exherbare● Pas●●nare, and Rep●stinare, is to dig about the vines. Pastinum, is a forked instrument used in planting of vines. Lirare, and Occare, are almost one, where we plough, so as we leave betwixt two Furrows a Ridge, for the dry keeping of the grain like a Garden bed. And hereof is that space called Lira a Ridge, which the husbandmen call dorcas, because the place being raised high, defendeth the Corn from the water, & Lira Hortensis, a bed in a Garden. Scamm●n, a baulk, is the gross earth that hath scaped the Plow●. Pliny willeth, that there be no Balks made, nor great clods remaining, meaning the great Turf that is turned up at the first ploughing. Scamnatus Ager, is called of Vibius Vrbicus, that land which runneth all in length from West to East, which if it be more of length than breadth, and lieth upon the North, is called Strigatus The land itself is also called gross and raw, that is not well mellowed, which hath need to be seasoned with the heat of the Summer, and the cold of Winter, and to be ploughed in the Spring. It is also called rich, fruitful, fertile: and that which is naught and yields not his fruit, is called lean, barren, hungry, or brynishe, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Also salt, bitter: sennishe, where the water still continues: wet, that some time lies dry: Carbunckled, that is burned with the son, rotten and mossy. It is also called pleasant ground, sweet, black, rotten, and mellowed, which are the signs of good ground: but hereof I think I have now spoken sufficiently.  RIGO. 
That you may continued your speech, I pray you go to your former matter again.  CONO. 
When you have broken up your ground, if it be Novalis as I said, and not tilled before, you may sow it presently, and harrow it, and if need be, rake it. The ground that is yearly sown, & that hath line spare, is to be ploughed thrice, according to the nature of the soil, and the seed that you mean to sow.  RIGO. 
Now you have told me how to order my land for seed, I pray you let me understand the sorts of seed, and in what sort they must be sowed.  CONO. 
That must I do. The seed that cometh of that which the Latins call Fruges, 
Of seed, & their diversity.  as Pulse and Corn, we here do call Fruges, all sorts of harvest grain, which the Germans call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, because they are geathered in their beauty and their ripeness. julian the Lawyer, calleth Fruges all things wherewith a man is fed. The ancient writers do understand it more largely, for all the fruits of the earth. Pliny divides it into two kinds, into Corn that grows on Ear, as Gallus the Lawyer defines it: the other that beareth cods, as all kind of Pulse, or pedware. Of the first kind, is Wheat, Rye, Barley, big, Oats, Beechewheate, or Buck, or if you will in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Rise, & Lenten Wheat, though all kinds grow not in all places, nor have in every place all one name. In some places you have not Lenten Wheat, chiefly where there is plenty of big. In other places they use neither Oats nor Buck. Of the kinds of Pulse are these Beans, Peason, lentils, Chiches, tars, Lintels, lupines, and such like. And though there be sundry sorts of seed, and every Country hath his kind, 
Old seed not to be sown.  and sows such as best agrees with their nature: yet generally this is to be regarded, that you sow none that are old and dried, but the newest: for old seed doth oftentimes as they write, change their nature: as the seed of Colwoortes, that being sown, turneth to Rapes, and Rape seed likewise into Colwoortes. The seed of the first year is best, of two year old worse, and of three, worst of all, the rest is barren and naught. The best seed also is that which is weightiest, and lieth in the bottom, and such as is full, and being broken hath a good colour: such as is wrinkled, and thin in the ●are, is to be thrown away. There is also another necessary note, to have the seed from strange ground, & from the worse to the better, and not the contrary, nor from cold Countries into hot, nor from the forward to the slow, and to beware that it be not bitten with Birds, Mice, or Ants: and to prospero the better, sprinkle them before they be sown, with the yvice of Houseleek. If you mingle with your grain the seed of Bearfoote, and sow it about your ground, you shall save it from the annoyance of Birds. You must sow your Ridges with an equal hand, 
The order of sowing.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and all alike in every place, letting your foot (specially the right foot) & your hand go together: Wheat, Rye, Barley, Oats, and other, chiefly such as bear cods, as Milium, and Panicum, must be sown with a full hand, but Rape seed only with three fingers.  RIGO. 
A man must use his hand I perceive, as the Harper doth, to make it perfit.  CONO. 
He must in deed. And as we put more water to stronger wine than we do to small, and lay the greater burden upon the stronger man, and some stomach requires the stronger food, so some ground may bear much seed, and some away with less: neither can it be certainly appointed, how much seed is generally to be cast upon an acre: though I know the old writers appointed certain quantity to every acre, which perhaps might serve with them: but we should foully deceive ourselves● if we should observe the like in every place. First, because some ground requireth more seed than other, as the ground is of stiffness or lightness: for the stiffer ground (as in holland near the rhine) requires much seede● where lighter ground requireth less. The timely sowing, the thinner: and the later, as Columella saith, the thicker. Secondly, their measures and acres differ, as the thing that at this day is not thoroughly agreed upon. But now you shall hear what seed every ground requireth.  RIGO. 
That I long to hear.  CONO. 
After long rest, or the first dounging, either Barley or Wheat is to be sown: but Wheat, though it require good ground, yet if the ground be to rich where it is sown, it will grow to rank, and lie leadge upon the ground. And therefore upon such ground, it is best to sow your Wheat after a crop of Barley, Pease, or Buck, and after your Wheat crop, to sow it with Rye: and then again (if the ground wax not poor) with Barley. In very rich ground, immediately after the geathering of Rape seed, plough it presently for Buck, whereby you may have two Crops in one year. In like manner the Cabegged Rape sown after Rye, maketh two harvests in one year. Pease, beans, tars, and Fitches, and almost all Pulse else, requireth rich ground, which afterwards may yearly serve for Wheat, Milium, and Rape. Pliny would not have Rapes sown, but in very well dunged ground: but we find by experience, that after a crop of Rye in mean ground, you shall have the same year great Rapes. Sandy and Gravesly ground, must rest every third year, for two or three years, that being then well dounged, you may sow Rye, or Buck, and after Oats. In good pasture ground new broken up, you may sow Oats after the first ploughing, after that, Rape seed, than Barley, after that Wheat, or Rye, and at last Oats, or Rye, if the nature of the country be for it. When this is done, you must either dung it, or let it lie say. If the ground be mellow, after Barley in some places they sow Millet, then Rad●she, after that Barley, and Wheat, as in Campania: and such ground is sufficiently ploughed, when it is sown in some place where Lenten Wheat is sown, it rests three months, & after is sown with Beans in the Spring, in no other wise may you charge indifferent ground. If after two seasons of Corn, you sow Pulse or Pedwaxe, the barrener ground must rest three years. Some will in no case have you sow Wheat, or Barley, in ground that lies f●llowe. After that you have thus sown your seed in ground thrice ploughed and well prepared, 
Harrowing.  then must you strait w●yes harrow it, which is done with a lettused instrument full of teeth drawn upon the ground, whereby the clods are broken, and the seed covered: in some places it is done with a board tied to the Plough, 
Raking.  which they call in Latin Lirare. Sometime Raking is needful, which in the Spring, loseth the earth made clunged with the cold of Winter, & letteth in the fresh warmth. It is best to rake Wheat, Barley, and Beans, twice. Moreover, they break a sunder with the Rouler the greater and stiffer Clods. 
Rolling.  Weeding is when the Corn is knotted, the noughty weeds being plucked up, delivereth the roots of the Corn, and severeth it. To speak of the season of Sowing, 
The time for sowing.  it is agreed upon of all men, that there aught to be no sowing in Winter, for the Winter Corn when it is sowed before Winter, appeareth above the ground sometimes within a seven night after, which if it be sowed after Winter is begun, it scarcely appeareth in forty days after. Some very fond think it better to sow in the Spring, then in Autumn. Pliny writeth, that in Trevers the Harvest being in, they have sowed in the coldest of Winter, and raking their ground in the spring, have had an excellent good Crop after. Among our harvest sedes, there are some harder that are able to abide the Winter, which are sown in hot Countries, as Virgil saith, about the setting of the seven stars, which Columella understandeth to be about one and thirty days after the Autumn equinoctial, that is, the ninth kalends of November, and in France and Germanse in September, and the beginning of October, as Rape seed, Wheat, Rye, Winter Barley, that are nourished in the shoulder-blade all Winter, and grow up towards ear-ring in the Spring. Some there be that will you to sow before, only in dry ground and hot countries. Some again would have you sow in cold Countries after the Autumn equinoctial, in hot countries later, lest they should flourish before the Winter, and be destroyed of worms, or blasted. Some on the other side make haste, 
Late soweing always ●ayleth.  saying, That soon sowing sometimes deceives, but late sowing, ever. It is good reason to sow timely in wet grounds, that the seed rot not with over much moisture, and later in dry grounds, lest lying long and not sprouting, it come to naught. Also, in timely sowing, to ●owe thicker, because it is slow in rooting, and in later sowing, thinner, lest with the thickness it be choked. Summer seeds, which are sowed before the rising of the seven stars, 
Summer grain.  and in the Spring, as Beans, Pease, and such, Pulse, Millet, Panicum, Sesamum, Summer Barley, Flax, Hemp, Oats, Buck, Sporia, and such other, are sowed in the Spring time. In Asia and Grece they sow all as they say, at the setting of the seven stars. Now, although there be certain precepts of the time of sowing, and how much seed is meet for every quantity of ground: surely, they might as I have said before, for their own Country and nature of their ground, give a kind of guess: but to determine any thing herein certainly, there is no man that can do it, but the ground and every man's own practice is herein the best master. 
A general rule.  One ancient general rule of husbandry there is, wherein we are warned in cold countries to sow late, in temperate Countries sooner, and in hot regions soonest of al. Eratosthenes saith, that India is subject to much reins in Summer, and that then they sow Flax, Sesamum, Rise, and Millet: and in Winter, Wheat, Barley, Pedware, and other fruits that we have not. Hesiodus, the Prince in his time of husbandry, wills us to sow according to the custom of Grece, his natural country. Virgil, Cato, Varro, Columella, and Pliny, appoint their rules for Italy, whose minds if you will have followed in all other places, you shall but seek to cover every pot with one cover. But to come to the matter, sith the seeds of sundry natures, require sundry times of sowing, and divers sorts of ordering, and that herein every Country hath his guise, I will here (observing such customs as are most general to them all) severally show you of every seed by himself, and so declare unto you the order of their sowing. And first, amongst all the fruits and grain that the Earth doth yield for our sustenance, 
Wheat.  the chiefest place is rightly given unto Wheat, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Grano, in Spanish Trigo, in Dutch Weyss, in French Fourment, as a grain most needful for man, and therefore most fruitful, because God hath ordained it to nourish man withal. It is wonderful what yield it hath been of in some countries. Augustus' his deputy sent him from Bisaice in Africa, of one grain of Wheat four hundred branches. And Pliny witnesseth, that in the same place, one bushel hath yielded a hundred and fifty bushels.  RIGO. 
There are that hold opinion, that this which the common people call Wheat, the Germans Weyss, and the Hollanders Terve, is not the true Wheat, but a kind of Rye, and that the true Wheat which the Italians call Grano, groweth only in Italy and in Spain.  CONO. 
That which grows in Italy and Sicily at this day, differeth not from ours in fashion, colour, nor flower, though the grain there be somewhat great, and the flower more clammey, which maketh it that it can not be long kept, specially about Rome. And whereas our Wheat is either bearded or pollarde, there's is altogether polled: we call it polled or pollard, that hath no Aanes upon the ears. And that we call the Aane, which groweth out of the ear like a long prick or a dart, whereby the ear is defended from the danger of Birds. With Virgil the Aane is used for the Corn, as the park for the Wheat. Gluma is the husks of the Corn whose top is the Aane. F●it is the small grain lesser than the corn that grows in the top of the ripe ear. To return to the Wheat, I grant there are some that doubt of this Wheat of ours, such hath been the injury of the time (as all things almost forgotten) we scarcely know how to name the food that we dayl● feed of. For my part, I will follow common use as a mistress in speech. The old writers have written of sundry sorts of Wheat, whereof they have thought that most needful to be sown, which they called Robus, as the fairest and weightiest. The second called Siligo, they used in their finest Cheat. The third, they called Trimestre, because it would be ripe in three months after the sowing. Though Columella allow no such kind, yet was it most ancient with the Greeks, and called Trim●non, growing only in the cold countries. In Th●●cia they have a kind that is ripe in two months, and is covered with a number of husks, against the extreme cold of the Country. In our Countries also we have Wheat and Rye, that we sow with our Summer grain, as we likewise do Rape seed, but to no great commodititie: for the Winter seeds too far exceed them, and being nourished in the earth all Winter, they prove, as Theophrastus saith, of more substance and profit. Amongst all these sorts Pliny recounteth the Wheat of Italy to be the best, both for beauty and weight. We use with us only two sorts, differing in this, that the one hath smooth ears without any beards, the other with long beards or Aanes, very ruff and sharp, not much unlike to Winter Bailey: in all other properties they are both alike. It is sown in September, the season being fair, 
The time for Wheat sowing.  the ground thrice ploughed and well raked or harrowed, although you may sow it very well after once ploughing upon ground where Pease, tars, or Buck hath been newly had of, in a good soil. Pliny and Columella would have you sow of Wheat and Rye, five busshels upon an acre: but as I have said before, this mea●ure is to be measured by reason. We at this day sow not so much Wheat upon an acre as Rye, nor so much Rye as Barley. It is best, if the Winter be like to be cold, to sow the sooner: if warm, the later. Wheat delighteth in a level, rich, warm, and a dry ground: a shaddowy, weedy, and a hilly ground, it loveth not, though Pliny say the hill yieldeth harder Wheat, but no great store. After it is sown, it putteth out a great company of small roots, and appeareth at the first why or shoulder-blade: it hath sundry stalks, but such as can not branch all the Winter, as other Winter Corn is, it is nourished in shoulder-blade: when the Spring draweth on, it beginneth to spindle: upon the third or fourth joint thereof, cometh out the ear, which first appeareth enclosed in the shoulder-blade, it flowreth the fourth or fifth day after: if it grow to rank at the first, it is eaten down with cattle, or in some place mowed: it is after weeded, it flowers about the tenth of june, sooner or later, as the year falls out, even at one time almost with the vine, two noble flowers with comfortable savour flourishing at once. Varro affirmeth, that the Wheat lieth fifteen days in the shoulder-blade, flourisheth fifteen, and ripeth fifteen: after it hath flowered it waxeth greater, and as Theophrastus saith, is within forty days after full ripe, where with the latest they reap in the eight month. Other say in six and thirty days, & reaped in the nienth month. It never ears, till all his joints or knots he grown. There are four joints in Wheat, as Pliny saith, and eight in Barley: but in our country and our days, both Wheat, Rye, Barley, and Oats, have but four, and that not always. Before the full number of the joints, there is no appearing of the ear: which when it cometh, beginneth to flower within four or five days, and so many, or little more, it fadeth. When the flower is go, the grain gins to swell, and in four or five days after to ripe. The shoulder-blade of the Wheat is something like a Sedge, but narrower than the Barley: the Spindle, Stalk, or Straw thereof, is smother and gentler, and not so brittle as of Barley. It is closed in many coats. The stalk that beareth the ear is higher than that of Barley, the ear groweth more upryghe and farther from the shoulder-blade, the chaff is softer, sweeter, and more full of juice, the ear of Wheat is out of order and uneven, as well of the Pollard as of the herded, where as Barley hath his ear of just number and in perfect order. In Bact●i●, it is said a grain of Wheat is equal in quantity to an ear of our Wheat. In Babylon, the blades both of Wheat and Barley, as Herodotus reporteth, are four inches broad. Wheat, as Columella writeth, after the third sowing changeth to Rye, which hath been known in Germany, as I said before, in many places. Of Wheat is made Amyl, the making whereof Cato and Dioscorides teacheth. After Wheat we sow with us Rye. There are that think it to be that which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, though Homer take 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for a kind of food for Horses: some others take it for a kind of Wheat. Herodotus saith, Bread was made of it. Of Laurentius, it is called Far, of Gasa, Siligo. divers learned men call it Secale, and take it for Pliny's farrago● the Frenchemen call it Segle, the Dutchemen Rock, the Italians almost as the Latins Saegala: the grain is something black, and maketh blackish bread. But to pass over all controversies, I follow the Country speech, and take Siligo for our common Rye which is sowed immediately after Wheat, about the end of September, or in the beginning of October, in good ground: in sandy and gravelly ground, it is sowed in February, and called Summer Wheat: it requireth the best ground, warm, and fast, and refuseth not light ground and gravelly, so it be helped with dung: it loveth wet ground as ill as Wheat, they both require to be sown in a deep mould and a plain soil: but Rye is sowed a little after Wheat, in the sowing whereof, you must occupy a third part more than of Wheat: it prospereth lightly in any ground, and many times with the yield of a hundred for one. It must be sowed after the third ploughing as Wheat & harrowed much after the same sort, the stalk or steal thereof, is smaller than the Wheat stalk, taller, and stronger, his care hanging downwards, and therefore more subject to blasting, because it receiveth and keepeth the water that falls while it flowreth, and suffereth the violence of mists and frosts: the straw thereof is gentle and flaxible, serving for vines and coverings of houses. Now followeth Bar●ley, 
Barley.  accounted in the old generations among the woorthyest sort of grain, and not of small estimation at this day. The Italians call it Beade or Beave, or Orze: the Spaniards Cevada: the Dutch men Gerst: the Frenchemen Orge: the Grecians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: and though it be used in Greece and Italy, and such warm and fruitful Countries for chattel's food, as Homer also witnesseth, yet in the Northern Countries it supplies the place both of Bread and Wine. There are of it two sorts Hex●stichon and Polystichum, whose ears are three, four, & sometimes six square, and divers ears springing from one grain, every ear containing above fourscore grains, so wonderful are the gifts and blessings of God. The other sort is called Distichon, having in the ear but two ranks or orders only. Again, there is one kind of it to be sowed in Winter, an other for Summer. The Winter Barley is of better yield, but it is soon hurt, specially with much wet and frosts following. There is nothing more hurtful to Winter Corn, specially Barley, Rape seed, and Rye, than the wet of Winter, nipped with often frosts, and after a warm thaw to be presently frozen again: both the sorts of Barley require ground that is very rich. Winter Barley after two or three plowings, is to be sowed in September: Summer Barley in March, or April, after twice ploughing: and many times, necessity forcing, after once ploughing: in the sowing, you must occupy more seed by half, then in sowing of Wheat: it requires a mellow and a fat ground, and therefore is best sowed, where the ground is most manured. The Winter seed flowreth in May, and is ripe in june at the furthest. This kind was not wont to be sowed in these parts, but great numbers now, moved by my example, do use and receive great gains by it. The Summer Barley in many countries is ripe and ready in three months af●er the sowing. In Arragon as Pliny writeth, it maketh double harvests every year. The seventh day after it is sown, it cometh up, and one end of the seed runneth down in root, the other, that ●ooner springeth, cometh up in shoulder-blade: the greater end of the grain maketh the root, and the slenderer the flower. In other grain the root and the shoulder-blade spring both from one part, the blades of both kinds are ruff. It must be geathered with more speed than other grains, for the straw of it is very brittle. Of Barley is made, as Dioscorides writeth, both Beer and Ale.  RIGO. 
I like your Beer you have excellently well, I pray you tell me in what sor● you make it?  CONO. 
I will not hide my cunning in this matter. My Barley is first steeped in a Sestorne of water a day or two, if it be Winter seed it is harder hulled, and requireth the longer watering. The Summer grain is thinner, and requireth a lesser tyme. When it is watered, I dry it upon a floor or a keel, till it swell and break, putting out as it were little beards or threads: if it be laid thin, it will in Summer, specially in March, dry and break of itself without any fire. You must take good heed that in sprouting it open not to much, and lose his flower. This being done I grind it, and put the meal into a Mash Fat, whereunto I put my liquor sodden, and after let it seeth three or four times, adding unto it, both for holsomenesse and taste, the flower of the Hoppe: after this, I put on Yeest, and set it a working, and then cleanse it. The more it is cleansed, the holsomer and clearer it is: that which cometh of the spurging, is kept both for brewing and baking: the drink will be the better, if you put to it a fourth part or sixth part of Wheat: the more Corn you la● on, the pleasant and better coloured will your Beer be. Your greatest care must be to see it well sodden, well cleanse●, and well hopped, otherwise Malt of itself will soon corrupt. Observing this order, your drink shallbe both wholesome and pleasant: that endureth best and longest, that is brewed in March. There is made of Barley Alica, a reasonable good meat, and Ptisan. How they must be made, you may read in Pliny. Next to Wheat and Barley, followeth Zea, which the common people both in Italy, 
Zea.  Spain, and Flaunders, call Spelta: the French call it Espeltra, with Homer is greatly commended 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the feel des that beareth the Zeam, being as Galen saith, the mean betwixt Wheat and Barley, for he hath the qualities of each of them, & is of two sorts, the one in stalk, joint, and care, like to Wheat, and carrieth in every husk two seeds, and therefore is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the other having both stalk and ear shorter, and but one grain in every husk, growing in two ranks, and in the top resembling Barley with his sharp Airs. In Italy, specially about Mirandula and Concordia, it is used in provender for Horses, it is not in these Countries in use. I would sow it here, sith the ground will well serve for it, and that both bread and drink might be made of it very well, but that it is something troublesome to grind, because of the double husks. It desireth a moist ground, rich and good, it is sowed, after the same manner that Wheat is sowed, in September or October: it flowreth in june, and is ripe in july, very meet for cold Countries, because it can abide frost and storms.  RIGO. 
There is (as I remember) a kind of Wheat called Far, 
Far. Ad●●reum.  the ancient people called it Adoreum, that groweth in many countries.  CONO. 
You say true, for with the old sort Far was a general name to all Corn, as Wheat Far, Barley Far, and Rye Far, and when Mylles were not yet devised, they did beat their Corn in Mortars, whereof came, that the Meal was call●d Farina: yet after, was the name of Far only given to Adoreum, though Columella called it always Far Adoreum, making four sundry sorts of it. The Frenchemen call it branch, the Italians Sandala, the Spaniards Escand●a, the common people of our Country call it Farro, the dutch Keskome, whose grain is very like Wheat, but that it is shorter and thicker, and where Wheat hath a cleft, there hath it a rising: it is heavier than Barley, and lighter than Wheat, it yieldeth more Meal than any other Corne. The people of Rome as Pliny saith, lived with this Corn at the first three hundred years, it groweth in Egypt without Aane, with a greater ●are and a weightier, it hath in the stalk seven joints, and can not be cleansed, except it be parched. France hath two sorts thereof, one of a reddish colour, which the people call red Wheat, the other whiter, which they call white Wheat, the ear is threesquare, not unlike to spelt. In Italy they make pottage of it for their labourers. Far or Adoreum, Virgil would have sown before the setting of the seven stars, after the equinoctial of Autumn: but in wet and cold barren grounds, it is best to sow it about the kalends of October, that it may take deep root before the sneezing and cold in Winter. It is sowed in low ground, watrishe, and chalky: after it is sowed, it must be harrawed, raked, and weeded: the raking loseth in the Spring, the heavy shafts of Winter. In raking or harrawing, you must take heed, as I have said before, that you hurt not the roots: weeding when it is knotted, severeth the Corn from all annoyances. The Frencheman sow it in hollow Furrows, because it is very subject to blasting, thinking thereby to preserve it both from blast and mildew. To sow it in high ground is discommended, though it prospereth t●e●e well enough, because cattle can not away with it, for the sharpness and ruffenesse of the ears, and because it requireth great labour in getting of the husks, which if it be not cleared of, is neither good for man nor beast: the unclean Chasfe doth hurt with the Cough the chattel's lungs. Amongst the Winter seeds, Rape seed doth challenge his place, 
Rape.  which I take to be the seed of the Rape which Pliny maketh for his third kind, and wild, whose root, like the Raddishe, runneth in length, the leaves being ruff like the other kinds, and the stalk bushy and full of branches: the root of it is good for nothing, but is only sowed for the seed, whereof they make oil serving for poor men's kitchens, fasts, and lights, specially in Germany where they want the oil of Olives, whereby ariseth great gains to the husbandman. In the hot Countries where they have other oil enough, this seed is of no use but in feeding of Birds: it is sowed in the end of August, or the beginning of September: how be it, sometime it is sown in March among the Summer seeds, but to nothing so great a profit: it is cast into very rich ground or well manured, thrice ploughed and well tilled, it must be sowed very thin: for being a very small seed, it must not be sowed with the full hand as Wheat is, but only with three fingers: it flowreth in March or there abouts, as the year is forward, and continueth his flowering a long time: the flower is yellow and very sweet, wherein Bees do much delight: as soon as it hath left flowering, it is presently ripe, it groweth two cubits in height bearing a plentiful seed in little small cods, it rendereth for one b●sshell, a hundred busshels of seed. Hitherto have I spoken of Winter seeds, now must I tell you of such as are sown towards Summer.  RIGO. 
Will you speak nothing of the Rape root which is greatly occupied of the husbandman, and not to be despised as a thing that groweth in great quantity, & is meetly good meat bo●h for man and beast.  CONO. 
The Rape is named of the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Rapo, in Spanish Nabo, in French Raven. The ordering of which, though I took it to belong to the garden, wherein you are able to say more than I, yet because you require it, and that sometime the husbandmen do plant them in their Fields, I will tell you as much as I know therein. There are two kinds of them, the first doth root all in length like the radish, which in many places of Germany is used for a dainty meat, the other either groweth in great roundness, or else very flat: they are nourished with mists, frosts, and cold, three months together, and grow to an exceeding greatness. Pliny writeth, that he hath seen Roots of them that have weighed forty pound. Some say, they have seen of them that have weighed an hundred pound. It is wonderful, that of so little a seed should come so great a root The Greeks make two kinds of them, the male and the female, both coming of one seed, the male when it is sowed thick, and the female when it is sowed thin. There are two seasons for the sowing of it, either in March, which will be ripe about the tenth of june, or in july or August, after the first ploughing, commonly upon the ground where Rye and Winter Barley have been newly had of. It is thought they are the sweeter by lying in the ground all Winter, when as the increase is not in the leaf, but in the root. They are also sowed (as Pliny writeth) in hot & moist Countries in the spring, and w●ll the better increase if they be sowed with Chaff, who would also have the sour naked, and in casting the seed, to wish good luck to himself, and to his neighbours. They are preserved from the Caterpillar, which commonly consumeth the young leaves, by mingling the seed with Soot, or steeping them all a night in the juice of Houseleek: Columella affirmeth, that he himself hath seen it proved.  RIGO. 
Now proceed (I pray you) with your Summer seeds.  CONO. 
The Summer seeds are almost all such as are ripe within three months, or four at the uttermost after they are sown, and some of them sooner, if the ground and the weather be good. 
Oate●.  Among the summer seeds we will first talk of grain, and after of pulse. Of the grain, Oats are the first that are sowed, though Virgil count them barren, and Pliny counteth them rather weeds then Corn, affirming that Barley when it prospereth not, will many times turn to Oats: yet the French men and the Germans count it (at this day) the best provender for Horses, and food for cattle. Pliny also witnesseth, that the Germans used to make pottage of Oats. And Dioscorides maketh mention of Oaten po●tage. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, pottage or gruel is made of Oats, it is called of the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Vena, in Spanish Auena, in French Auoyne, in dutch Haver, which though it grow not commonly in Italy, yet upon monte Fic●l●o, and in the kingdom of Naples about Siponto it is found. We have amongst us two kinds of them, one full and weighty, serving in dear years to make bread and drink of, specially if it be meddled wi●h a little Barley, and this kind prospereth in rich and new broken up ground exceedingly. The other kind is lighter, which the common people call Gwen and Brumhaver, it is very light, and yieldeth but little flower nor food, it groweth upon sandy and barren grounds, and serveth well for cattle and for Horse, both the kinds have bushy tops, from whence hangs the seed in likewise, resembling the Grasshopper: the flower of it is white, and from one grain, there springeth divers stalks. With Dioscorides, Bromos is a kind of Oats that resembleth Wheat in the stalk and the shoulder-blade, and groweth like wild Wheat. Theophrastus calleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Oat is not dangerous in the choice of his ground, but groweth like a good fellow in every place●, where no seed else will grow. Of the like disposition almost is Buck or Beechewheate, 
Buck.  unknown to our old fathers. It is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Beechewheate or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Blackwheate, though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth an other grain. I had rather call it Beechwheate, because the grain thereof is threecorned, not unlike the Beechemast both in colour and form, differing only in the smallness. The stalk is very great, and streaked like to the greater Fern: It hath many branches with a bushy top, a great sort of white flowers in a knop, like the flowers of Elder: it flowreth long together, and after appeareth the grain, first white and greenish, in shape threecornerd: after they be ripe the colour changeth to black or brownish like a chestnut. This grain hath not long since been brought from Russia & the Northern parts into Germany: now is it become common, and used for fatting of Hogs, and serveth the common people in dear seasons to make bread & drenke withal, it may be sowed in any ground how ●adde so ever it be: howbeit, it doth best in good ground, and is sown in April and May, and in june, after the reaping of Rape seed. You must sow less of it upon an acre by a fourth part then of Wheat or Rye: it is much used to be sowed upon the ground where Rapes grow, whereby the ground doth yield a double Crop in one year. When it is sown, it cometh un, if it be moist weather, within four or five days after, having two leaves at ● first appearing, not much unlike to Purcelaine. Among the Summer seeds is also received Summer Barley, 
Summer Barley.  which from the Sons entering into the equinoctial, till the end of March and April, is sown, and is reaped again for the most part in three months, or at the uttermost four. It requireth (as Winter Barley doth) a rich and a mellow ground, and to be sowed after twice ploughing, though sometime for necessity it is sowed after the first ploughing. And though it yield no● so good nor so perfect a grain as the Winter Corn doth, whose grain as Theophrastus writeth, is far more perfect and of stronger substance, bringing greater straw and weightier Ears, yet because it is harder husked, and the Summer seed more fine and gentle, is therefore of most men desired, and counted to yield more flower than the Winter grain: some again prefer the other Millet, 
Myllet.  called in Latin Millium, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Milio, or Miglio, having as it were a thousand grains in a Ear, as Festus seemeth to avow, in Spanish Mijo, in French Millet, and in dutch Hyers, where they make pottage of it and bread. The Russians and Moscovians are chiefly nourished with this kind of pottage, which they make with the flower mingled with milk, and the blood that they let from their Horses. The men of Ind, as Pliny saith, know no other grain bu● Barley and Millet, which grew in his time plentifullest in Campania, it is the best leaven that may be made, neither is there any grain comparable to it for weight, that more increaseth in baking: for of one bushel hath been drawn threescore pound of bread, and a bushel of sodden meat, made of three quarters wet and unsodde. It is sowed at this day in every place, though very little in the low Country, it groweth with a stalk full of joints a cubit high, a leaf like a Reed, a round and a small seed hanging down in long ruinnes with many tops, it groweth sometime seven foot high, it delighteth in a watrishe moorie ground, and in gravel, so it be now and then overflown, it hateth dry and chalky grounds. Some give counsel to sow it first in a cold and a wet ground, and then in a hot ground: before the Spring you must not sow it, for it delighteth much in warmth. A little seed of it, is sufficient for a great deal of ground: if it be sowed thick, it comes to naught: a great handful will serve a whole acre, wherefore in raking, you must rake out what is more than needful: an acre beareth forty busshels, if it be well sowed, every seed yieldeth about a pottle. It is forbidden to be sown among vines or fruit trees, and must continually be weeded and raked. When the ear is full grown, it must be geathered with the hand, and dried in the Sun, lest the wh●t weather shatter the seeds. This grain may very long be preserved, for being well laid up where the wind can not come, it will well last an hundred year. There is an other like grain that they call Indian Millet, with a great grain, and a black and big reedy stalk, which was first brought into Italy in the reign of Nero, which (as Pliny saith) was called Loba, whe●e as Lobae are rather the cods of all Pulse, and Phobae the manes and ●oppes of Millet, as it appeareth by Theophrastus. 
pannicle.  Panicum is called of the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of the Dutch Psennich, or Heidengre●ss, of the Italians● Pannacho, the Spaniards Panizo, the Frenchemen Pani●, so called of the little Pannicles wherein the seed lieth. It cometh up like Millet, with many leaves and slips, glittering with a reddish bushy top, full of seeds like Mustard seed, some yellow, purple, black, and white: it must be ordered in all things almost as Millet: being sowed in Summer, it is ripe in forty days after: in other places sowed in May in wet ground, it is to be geathered in September. The harvest, and the use of it, is almost all one with Millet, neither can it as Millet be fined without parching, when it begins to spindle, it must be well weeded, lest the weeds overgrowe it: being well dr●st with Cheesyl and Milk, it maketh indifferent good meat, in bread it is not so much used as Millet: for the bread is very dry, and croombleth like S●●d or Ashes, being altogether without moisture or cleaving: but the common people remediing that with lard or Oil, do make a shift with it as well as they can. They that devil about Pontus, are said to esteem it above all other food, as the people of Nauare do at this day. In many Countries it is used only to feed Pigeons withal. Of the number of outlandish grain, is Rise, 
Rise.  in share as Theophrastus saith, like darnel, having a bushy top like Millet or Pannicle, but no Ear: his grain is like the kind of Barley called Zea, the leaves are thick like leaves of Leeks, but broader, the stalk a cubit high, the flower purple. This grain is but geason in France and Germany, but in Italy and Lombary common, where it is called Elriso, and Men●stro Del riso, the Frenchmen leaving the first letter, do call it Rison, the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Spaniards call it Arross, Pliny supposeth it to be engendered of the water Sedge. There is made of it Furmentie, as Horace calls it Rise Furmentie. It is sowed in March as Millet and Pannicle is. The Indians (they say) do bruise it before they sow it, to make it the lighter of digestion. And as Strabo reporteth, they make drink of it?  RIGO. 

Sesamum.  What say you to Sesamum, that was greatly in use in the old tyme.  CONO. 
Sesamum is named with the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Italians Se●amo, the Spaniard A●onioli● the Frenchemen jugiolin. In times pa●t, it hath been more used and greatly commended, both of Columella and Pliny. At t●is day it is known to a very few, as a great sort ●f seeds else are, in so much as the very Corn that we daily seed of, we scarcely know what it is. Some reckon it in the number of Grain, and some of Pulse: the stalk thereof is not like Millet or Pannicle, full of joints, but plain and smooth like a reed, the leaves thereof ruddy, the seed white, not so big as linseed, and is contained in little knops like Poppy: it is sown before the rising of the Seven Stars, after the manner of Italy. Columella saith, that he hath seen it in Cilicia and Sy●ia sowed in june and july, and reaped in Autumn. It requires a mellow black mould, though it will grow upon good sandy ground, and forced ground, rain is hurtful unto it after it is sowed, where as it ●oth good to all other grain, no great cattle nor Uermine will meddle with it, it hurteth ground very much, because of the great quantity and thickness of the stalk, and the number of the roots. Pliny writeth, that it was brought out of India, and used both for meat and oil. But to return to such grain as we are acquainted with. Among the Summer seeds is Myscelyn to be reckoned. The husbandmen do sometime make a medley of sundry sorts of seeds, and 〈◊〉 them partly for cattle, and partly for hope, that though some of them fail, yet some will gro●e. But here must you beware, jest you mingle not Winter corn and summer Corn together, for that were a great oversight, and one of them must needs perish. Some Barley may well be mingled with Oats or Buck, as well for brewing, as for feeding of cattle: and tars or other like Pulse may be mingled with Oats, as very good food for beasts. They are to be sowed in time and place as I have cold before, in my several entreating of them.  RIGO. 
You have well satisfied me for Grain and Corn, you may now (if it please you) do as much in Pulse.  CONO. 
Pulse or Pedware, 
Of Pulse  is called of the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the other parts of the fruits of the ground: of these, there are sundry sorts as you have seen of Corn: some put Millet, Pannicle, and Sesanum, to this kind, because Columo●ll● sometimes puts them in the number of Grain, and sometime of Pulse: but I following Pliny herein, do put them amongst the kinds of Grain, accounting those to be Pulse, whose seeds are contained in cods, as Beans, Pease, Len●●es, tars, Chy●hes, Fytches, and such like, which all are to be sown in the Spring. Of all kind of Pulse, the greatest honour is due to the Bean as Pliny witnesseth, as to a Pulse that is most commodious for man and beast. 
Beanes●  In Greek it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian and Latin Faba, in Spanish Hava, in French Feve, in dutch Bonen. This amongst all other Pulse groweth in height without any stay, it hath a thick leaf, a creasted flower of divers colours, spotted white and black, which Varro calls the lamentable letters, it hath a long Cod, his fruit within broad, like the nail of a man, of divers colours, it appeareth at the first with many leaves like a Pease, and not with one alone like Wheat. It is sowed first of all other Pulse in the Spring time as Virgil will have it, and timely, because of Fabalia, which is the offal of the Beans, for both the cods and the stalk, is a food that cattle much delights in. Columella reporteth how he herded a skilful husband say, that he had rather have the offal of beans timely sowed, than the Crop of that which is ripe in three months, you must sow them in the increase of the Moon, and after once ploughing. It is said, that if they be enclosed in goats dung and sowed, they will yield great increase, and that the parts that are eaten or gnawn, in the increase of the Moon will fill up again. If they be sowed near to the roots of Trees, they will kill them. Some hold opinion, that if they be steeped in Capon's blood, they will be safe from all hurtful weeds, and that laid in water a day or two before they be sown, they will grow the sooner. The Bean delighteth in rich and well dounged ground, as all other Pulse doth: wet and low ground it doth not refuse, though all the rest desire dry ground, it weigheth not weeding, being able to overgrow them. Of all other Pulse it only springeth with an upright stalk full of knots, and hollow. And where as all other Pulse are long in flower, this flowreth longest, flowering forty days together, one stalk beginning when others end, and not all at one time as Wheat, they cod in sundry days, the lowest part of the stalk flowering first, and so upward still in order. So fruitful are they in some places, as you shall find one stalk to bear a hundred Beans. The Beans stick close to their cods, the black in their ●oppes, the Latins call Hilum, the cods Valuuli, the worms that breed in them, Midae. Lomentum is the Meal which the people in old time did use for the smoothing of their skins. Fresa Faba was the Bean that was but finally broken, and hulled●in the Mill. Refrina was that which they used to offer in sacrifice for good luck with their Corne. It is good to steep your Beans in the water of Saltpetre, a day before you sow them, you shall keep them from weevils as (Palladius saith) if you gather them in the wane of the Moon, and cherish them, and lay them up before the increase. Beans, and all other Pulse do mend the ground that they are sown in. The next to Beans in worthiness and sowing is Pease, 
Pease.  called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Pisa, and Piselle, in Spanish Aruera, in French Pese, in Dutch Errettem, a Pulse that groweth with hollow stalks and full of branches lying upon the ground, many leaves and long, the cods round, containing in them round seeds and white: though Pliny write, that they be cornered as Chych, of which sort we have some at this day bluish, with flowers in shape like the Butterfly, purple coloured toward the midst. There are two sorts of Pease, the one sort coveteth to climb aloft, and runneth up upon sticks, to which with little wynders he bindeth himself, and is for the most part only sown in Gardens, the other sort groweth low, and creepeth upon the ground: both kinds are very good to be eaten, specially when they be young and tender, they must be sown in warm grounds, for they can in no wise away with cold: they are sowed either upon fallows, or rather in rich and yearly bearing ground once ploughed, and as all other Pulse, in a gentle and a mellow mould, the season being warm and moist. Columella saith, that ground is made very rich with them, if they be presently ploughed, and the Coulter turn in and cover that which the Hook hath newly left. They are sowed among Summer Corn, commonly with the first. first beans, Pease, and lentils, than tars, and Oats, as is said before. Pease and tars must be sown in March and April, and in the wane of the Moon, le●t they grow to rank, and flower out of order: where as the best sowing for all other Pulse and grain, is in the increase of the Moon. There are that count Pease to be the Pulse that the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Latins Eruum, the Italians Eruo, the Spaniards Yeruo, the Dutchmen Eruen, of which there are two kinds, the one white, the other red. The later is wild, and groweth in Hedges and corn fields: it is a small plant, having his leaves narrow and s●lender, his flower either white, or meddled with purple, growing near together like Pease, there is no great business about it, it delighteth in a lean barren ground, not moist, for it will be spilled with too much rankness: it must be sowed before March, with which month it agreeth not, because it is then hurtful unto cattle. Eruilia is a Pulse like small Beans, some white, some black, and others speckled: it hath a stalk like Pease, and climbeth like a Hoppe, the cods are smooth like Pescoddes: The leaves longer than the leaves of Beans: the flower is a pleasant food to Bees. In France and Lombardy it is called Dora, or Dorella, Phaseolus in Latin, 
French Beans.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 garden Smalax, some call it Fasiolum, and Dolichium, among the Italians some call it Fagivoli, some Smilace, de gli Horti, others Fagivolo, Turcheses', others Lasanie, the Spaniards call it Frisoles, the Frenchemen Fasioles, and Fales Pinceos, the Dutchmen Fas●len, or wild Bonen. It is a kind of Pulse, whereof there are white, red, and yellow, and some specked with black spots: the leaves are like ivy leaves, but something tenderer, the stalk is s●lender, winding, with clasps about such-plantes as are next him, running up so high, as you may make Herbers under him, the cods are longer than Fennigrecke, the Grains within divers coloured and fashioned like Kidneys: it prospereth in a fat and a yearly bearing ground, in Gardens, or where you will: and because it climbeth aloft, there must be set by them poles or staves, from the which running to the tops, it climbeth upon Trees, serving well for the shadowing of Herbers and Summer houses. It is sown of divers from the Ideses of October to the Ralendes of November in some places, and with us in March. It flowreth in Summer, the meat of them is but indifferent, the juice not very good, the cods and the Grains are eaten together, or like Sperage. The jews cell them at Rome preserved, to be eaten raw. Lens and Lenticula, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
lintels.  in Italian Lendi iae bon maenastre, in Spanish Lenteza, in French Lentilla, in Dutch Linsen, is a Pulse very thick and bushy, with leaves like the Tare, with three or four very small Grains in every Cod, of all Pulses the lest, they are soft and flat. The white one's for their pleasantness are the best, and such as are aptest to seeth and consume most water in their boiling. It is sown with us in Germany in March and in April, the Moon increasing, in mellow ground, being rich and dry: yet Pliny would rather have the ground lean then rich, and the season dry: it flowreth in july, at which time by over much rankness and moisture, it soon corrupteth. Therefore to 'cause it quickly to spring and well to prospero, it must be mingled with dry dung before it be sown: and when it hath lyen so mingled four or five days, it must be cast into the ground. It groweth hy● (as they say) when it is wet in warm water and Saltpetre before it be sown, & will never corrupt being sprinkled with Bengwin and Vinegar. Varro willeth, that you sow it from the five and twentieth day of the Moon to the thirtieth, so shall it be safe from Snails. And Columella affirmeth, that if it be mingled with Ashes, it w●ll be safe from all annoyance. Cicer in Latin, 
chyche.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Ceci, Cicere Rosso, and Cicere b●ance, in Spanish Ganrangos, in French Chiche, and in Dutch Cicererbs, is a bushy kind of Pulse, having a round Cod, and therein a couple of three cornered seeds, whereof there are that make three kinds, white, read, and black, differing only in the colour of their flower: the best kind hath a sti●●e stalk, crooked, little leaves indented, a white, a purple, or a black flower. And whereas other Pulse have their cods long and broad, according to their seed, this beareth them round: it delighteth in a black and a rich mould, is a great spoiler of land, and therefore not good for new broken up ground: it may be sown at any time, in March, in rainy weather, and in very rich ground: the seed must be steeped in water a day before it be sown, to the end it may spring the sooner: it flowreth in june and july, and then falls to seed: it flowreth a very long while, and is geathered the fourth day, being ripe in a very short time: when it is in flower, of all other Pulse it receiveth harm by rain: when it is ripe it must be geathered out of hand, for it scattereth very soon, and lieth hide when it is fallen. In the chych there never breeds any worm, contrary to all Pulse else: and because it driveth away Caterpillars, it is counted good to be set in Gardens. Cicercula in Latin, 
Cic●rcula.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Cicerse, in Spanish Cizerche, it differeth from the Chych, only in that it is somewhat blacker, which Pliny accounteth to have uneven corners as Pease hath: and in many places about us, they use them in steed of Pease, esteeming them far above Peason: for they both yield more flower than Pease, & is lighter of digestion, and not so subject to worms. Columella counts it rather in the ●umber of Fodder for cattle, then of Pass for man: in which number are these that follow. And ●ir●t Vici● in Latin, 
tars and fodder for cattle.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Dutch Wycken, in French Vessae, so called as Varro thinks of winding, because it hath 〈◊〉 or clasps as the vine hath, whereby it clymeth upon such stalks as grow next it: it groweth half a y●rde high, le●●●ed like Tyutare, saving that they be something narrower, the 〈◊〉 like the clowre of Pease, having little bl●cke seeds in 〈◊〉, nor altogether: ounde, but bro●e like the Lintel: it required above ground, though it w●l also grow well enough in shadowy places, or ●any ground with small labour, being not trouble come to the 〈…〉 it requireth but once ploughing, and s●●keth for 〈…〉 ●or doung●ng, but ●nricheth the land of it se●●e, specially if ●he ground be ploughed when the crop is of, so that the Stalks may be turned in: for otherwise the Roots and Stalks remaining, do suck out the goodness of the ground: yet Cato would have it sown in grassy ground, not watrishe, and in new broken up ground after the draw be go, & the moisture dried up with the Sun and the Wind. You must beware that you sow no more, than you m●y well cover the same day: for the ●east dew in the world doth spoil it. Neither must you sow them before the Moon be 24. days old, otherwise the Snail will devour it: his time of sowing is, as Pliny writeth, at the setting of the Star called the Berward, that it may serve to feed in December: the seco●d sowing is in januarie: the last, in March. In Germany they use to sow them in March or April, chief for fodder for the●r cattle. To sow tars, and as Pliny saith beans, in not broken up ground without l●sse, is a great piece of husbandry: they flower in june, at which time they are very good of scour horses: it is good to ●aye them up in the cod, and to keep them to serve cattle withal. tars & Oats make a good meslyne sowed together. Lupinus in Latin, 
lupines.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian and French almost as in Latin, in Spanish Altramuz, in Dutch Roomsche Booven, is a Pulse having one only stalk, the leaf tagged in five divisions like a star, the flower white, the cods tagged, & indented about, having within them ●iue or six seeds hard, broad, & read, the leaves thereof do fall. This pulse requireth lest trouble, and is of small p●ice, and yet most helpeth the ground of any thing that is sown: for there can be no better manuring for barren Uineyardes and Corn ●eeldes then this, which either upon barren ground prospereth, or kept in the Garner, endureth a wonderful w●yle: being sodden and laid in water, it feedeth Oxen in Winter very well, and in time of dearth (as Columella saith) serveth men to assuage their hunger: it prospereth in sandy and gravelly grounds, in the worst land that may be: neither loveth i● to have any labour bestowed upon it, nor weigheth the goodness of the ground. So fruitful it is, as if it be cast among Bushes and Br●er, yet will it root and prospero: it refuseth both Harrowing and Raking, & is not annoyed with Weeds, but killeth the weeds about it. If dung be wanting to mend the ground withal, this serves the turn above all other: for being sowed and turned in with the Plough, it serveth the turn in steed of dounging: it is sowed timeliest of all other, and reaped last: it is sowed before all other Pulse, a little after Harvest: cover it how sclenderly you will, it careth not, an excellent good seed for an evil husband: yet desireth it the warmth of Autumn, that it may be well rooted before Winter come, for otherwise the cold is hurtful unto it. It flowreth thrice, first in May, then again in june, and last in july: after every flowering it beareth his cod. Before it flowreth, they v●e to put in cattle: for where as they will feed upon all other grass or weeds, only this for the bitterness thereof while it is green, they leave untouched. Being dried, it serveth for sustenance both of man and beast: to cattle it is given meddled with Chaff, and for bread for man's use: it is mingled with Wheat flower, or Barley flower: it is good to keep it in a smoky loaft, for if it lie moist, it is eaten of l●ttle worms and spoiled. The leaf keepeth course and turneth with the Sun, whereby it showeth to the husband, even in cloudy weather, what time of the day it is. Fenú grecum in Latin, 
Fenugreeke.  in Greek with Theophrastus and others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with Dioscorides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in French Fenegres, and Fenigrent in Italian, Faenigraeco in Spanish, Al●oluas in dutch, sometime by the Latin name, and commonly Roherne and Lockshorne, cometh up with a small stalk, the lief like a Threeleaved grass, it is sowed well in a slender barren ground, you must take heed you plough it thick, and not very deep: for if the seed be covered above four fingers thick, it will very hardly grow. Therefore the ground must be tyld with small Ploughs, and the seed presently covered with Rakes. There are two sorts of it, the one called of the common people Siliqua or code, which they sow for fodder in Sep●ember, the other in januarie, or the beginning of February: when they sow it for seed, it flowreth in june and july, when also it beareth his cod, but the seed is not ripe t●ll August: it is dressed to be eaten after the order of lupines, with vinegar, water and salt, some put to a little oil: it is used both for fodder, and divers other uses. Furthermore, of Pulse called of Gelliu● Le●ament● we have these general rules, that they all bear cods, and have single roots every one, except the Bean, the Chich growing deepest. The stalk of the Bean● and the Lupine is also single, the others are all fall o● branches and selender slips, and all hollow. All Pulse for the most part are to be sowed in the Spring and require very r●che ground●, except the Lupine, that c●res not where he lies: they are all sown in the increase of the Moon, except Pease: if they be watered be●ore their sowing, they prospero the better: they are speedily to be geathered when they be ripe, for they suddenly shatter: they will endure longest, being ge●thered in the change of the Moon. It is much to be regarded whether you will keep or cell them, for the seeds in the increase of the Moon do wax greater, the●e are that preserve them in earthen vesse●es, strewing ashes under them, and sprinkling them with Vinegar: some use ashes alone, other so●e 〈…〉 sprinkle them with Bergewine vinegar, as I have said of the Lin●yll. Moreover, the Greeks have willed to mingle with t●e dung a little Saltpetre when you sow them, whereby they shall the better seeth and be the tenderer: and if they be not presently ●ender, they will to cast into the pot a little Mustard see●e, which will make them straightway well. Theophrastus addeth divers things beside, which were to long to tell.  RIGO. 
Is ●t needful or every husbandman to sow all these Grain and Pul●e in h●s ground?  CONO. 
Not, but as I ●aide before, in speaking of ground and seed, you must chiefly sow such as best agreed with the nature of your ground: how be it, there are some of them that refuse no ground. There are certain of them as Varro saith, that are not sown for present necessity, but for other afterturnes. And others again that are of necessity to be sown, as Corn for man, and Fodder for cattle: of which must special care he had, that there be no 〈◊〉 of them, without which we can not ●iue: as Rye, Oats, and Buck, lupines and certain Pulse else for fodder, refuse no ground, though it be never so barren. Besides, 
Fodder for Cattles.  when as the husband must not only have a care of providing such as serve for the sustenance of man, but also for such as serve for the feeding of poor cattle, without which the ground can not be husbanded: therefore must he sow Pulse for the use of man and beast, and fodder in more abundance for the sustenance of beasts. Among all sorts of fodder, that is counted for the chief and the best, which the people of old time● and the Italians at this day call Medica, 
Medica.  some call it Treefoyle, the French men call it Grand ●rest●, the Spaniards ●lfals●, others call it Burgandie grass, because it was brought in by the Burgundians, it is now also come into Germany, and there called Welsholken, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Pliny writeth, that it was brought by the Romans out of Media into Italy, differing almost nothing from Tryfolly or Threeleaved grass: but that it is gr●●ter, higher, and ranker, for in stalk, leaf, and flower, it is all one, it groweth altogether busshing in leaves. In the top of the stalk it putteth forth short cods, writhe like horns indented about, and having as it were little prickles, wherein is the seed shaped like a Moon, and growing to the cod in bigness as the lentil: which being chawed, tasteth like Pe●se: every cod hath his seed, it requireth a fat ground without stones, full of juice and rich: in many places it cometh not up, in others it springeth very thick. Varro giveth charge, that it be not sowed in too dry a ground or tickle, but in good and well seasoned. Pliny would have the ground be dry and very rich, Columella biddeth, that the field where this Medica shallbe sowed, should be broken up about October, and so to lie mellowing all the Winter, and then to stir it in February, and the stones cast out, to harrow it well, and after in March to order it garden wise, casting it into beds, every bed ten foot broad, and fifty in length, so that they may be easily watered, and of every side well weeded: then laying on good old dung, let it lie till Apryl, and at the end of April sow it in such proportion, as every handful of seed may occupy five foot in breadth, and ten in length: and cover the seed out of hand, raking them with wooden Rakes, for the Sun will soon burn them. After it is sown, that it come up an inch in height, you must beware you touch not the ground with any iron instrument, but either with your yngers, or with Rakes of wood, weed it well from all other noisome things, otherwise it will grow wild and turn to pasture. Let the first harvest be long deferred, to the end he may somewhat shed his seeds: at other times you may mow it as soon as you w●l, and give it to your cattle. Such as are skilful in husbandry, do say, that if you mingle Oats with the seed of Medica, and sow them, they will 'cause them to stock very well: it is sowed in April or later, in May, to scape the frosts, and the seed is cast in like sort as Wheat is. When it beginneth to branch, all other weeds must be weeded away: and being this ordered, you may mow it six times a year. It flowreth six times, or at the lest five times, so it be not cut. When you have mowed it, water it well, and as it springeth, weed it again. And thus as I said, you may mow it six times a year, and it shall thus continued ten years together: it enricheth the ground, all poor and feeble cattle, are soon brought up with it: it likewise heals cattle that are diseased: but when it first springeth, till cattle be acquainted with it, you must give them but little at once, jest the strangeness of the food hurt them: for it maketh them to swell, and breeds great abundance of blood. Columella writeth, that one acre of it will well find three Horses a year. In some countries this herb doth grow in great plenty in every meadow, either of the nature of the ground, or through the disposition of the heavens, and sometime the relics of that which ●ath been long ago sown, doth yearly spring of the seed that falls, and overgrown with grass & weeds, doth change into meadow. I see no cause but that it may grow of itself, but that perhaps such plants as are brought out of strange countries require sowing and dressing: it is best to be mowed when it beginneth to flower, for it must not be suffered to seed, whereby the fodder shall be the better: which being well laid up, will continued in goodness three years, to the great profit of the Grazier, for as I have said before, there can be no better fodder devised for cattle, wherewith they will better feed, and sooner rise. The next in goodness in this Medica is Cytisus, 
Cytisus.  wonderfully as Pliny writeth commended of Aristomachus, and as Vergil saith, a good fodder for Sheep, and being dry, a delightful food to Swine: it may be moved sundry times in the year, to the great commodity of the husband: a little whereof doth soon fat up cattle, neither is there any other grass that yieldeth either more abundance or better milk, the most sovereign medicine for the sickness o● cattle that may be: b●side, the Philosopher's promise, that Bees will never fail that have this grass growing near them: therefore it is necessary to have your ground stored with it, as the thing that best serveth fo● Poultry and cattle: the leaves and seeds are to be given to lean and drooping Pullen: some call it Telinen, some trefoil, some great Melilot, the Romans call it Trifolu maius, great Tras●e, it is a plant all hairy and whitish, as Rhamnus is, having branches half a yard long and more, whereupon groweth leaves like unto Fenygreeke or clover, but something less, having a ryving crest in the midst of them. This plant was first found in the Island Cythno, and from thence spread throughout the Cyclads, and so to Greece, whereby the store of Cheese came to be great: neither is there any Country at this day, where they may not have great plenty (as Columella saith) of this shrub. In Italy it groweth about the encl●syars of Uineyardes, it shr●nketh neither for heat, cold, frost, nor snow: it requireth good groude, if the weather be very dry, it must be watered, and when it first springs well harrowed after three years, you may cut it down and give it your cattle. Va●ro would have it sown in well ordered ground, as the seed of Colwoortes should be, and after removed and set a foot and a half a sunder, or else to be set of the slips. The time of sowing of Cytisus is either in Autumn, or in the spring, in ground well ploughed and laid out in berdes: if you want the seed, you may take the slip, so that you set them four foot a sunder, and a bank cast about them with earth well dounged: you may also set them before September, when they will very well grow and abide the cold in Winter: it lasteth but three year. Columella hath two kinds of Cytisus, one wild, the other of the Garden. The wild doth with his claspers feed very well: it windeth about, and kills his neighbours as the ivy doth: it is found in Cornefeeldes, specially amongst Barley, the flower thereof is like the flower of Pease, the leaf if it be bruised, smelleth like Rocke●, and being champed in the mouth, it tasteth like Chyche, or Pease. There is an other kind of fodder among the plants, unknown to the old writers, very good to feed both cattle & Poultry. I know not whether it be known in other Countries beside Germany, the common people call it Spury, or Sperie: 
Sperie.  it h●th a stalk a foot in height or more, bushed forth in man's branches, it hath a white flower without any leaf: the flower endeth in little knops as Flax hath, containing in them a very little seed like Rape seed. They are much deceived that take it for Cytisus, when that (as Dioscorides saith) hath leaves like Fenugreeke, and this is altogether without leaves: neither is the seed any thing like, though the use be almost one. The best Milk and Butter in Germany, cometh of this feeding: wherefore it is esteemed almost as good as Barley, or other grain: the straw is better than any Heye: the Chaff feedeth as well as any Grains: the seed feedeth Pigeons and Poultry in Winter passing well: it is sowed in sandy and light grounds all the Summer long, and some sow it in Spring time with Oats for the seed sake: in Autumn and Harvest time it is sowed to feed cattle: it is profitable for husbands that devil in sandy and gravelly Countries, wherefore they should never be without good store of it, for Hens, Bees, Goats, Sheep, Oxen, and all kind of cattle delight very much in it: now remaineth the sowing of Flax and Hemp.  RIGO. 
I look for it.  CONO. 
These, although they be not to be received in the number of Corn nor Pulse, Fodder nor Herbs, yet is there great account to be made of them with the husbandman's things, without which no house can be furnished, nor man well appareled: which being beaten to a softness, serveth for webs of Linen, and twisting of cords: and more, of t●is so little a seed doth spring that, which (as Pliny saith) carrieth the whole world hither and thither, that bringeth Egypt to Italy, and carrieth us from Cales of Ostia in seven days. 
Flax.  Linum in Latin, in Greek, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian and Spanish Lino, in French Dulin, in Dutch almost like, ●auing that they call the seed Lyn and the plant Flax, is a very common herb, wherewith women are set a work: it hath a slender stalk, not much unlike to Sperie, but that it groweth higher a little, & bigger, with narrow leaves, & long blue flowers in the top, which falling away, leaveth behind them little round knops as big as a Pease, wherein are enclosed yellow seeds: it delighteth in rich ground and somewhat moist, some sow it in barren ground: after once ploughing, it is sowed in the Spring, and geathered in summer. In Gelderland and Gulicke, where there is great store of it, they sow it about the beginning of May: there are again that observe three seasons for the sowing of it, as the weather shall fall out, for it requireth rain and moisture: the ripeness of it, is perceived by the waxing yellow, and swelling of the knops that hold the seed, being then plucked up and made in little bundles, it is dried in the Sun, the roots standing upward that the seed may fall out. Some use again to card of the knops with an iron Combe, and drying them in the Sun to gather the seed. The bundles afterwards are laid in water heated with the Sun, with some weight upon them to keep them down: the rind waxing lose, showeth when they have been steeped enough. Then the bundles unloosed and dried in the Sun, are beaten with beetelles, when as the utter rind is peeled of, and combed and hacked upon an iron comb: the more wrong it suffereth, the better doth it prove: the Tow is severed from the Flax, and appointed for his use, so are they severally spon upon the Distaff, made up in bottoms, and sent to the Weavers, whereof are woven webs, to the great commodity of all men. Last of all, the web is laid out in the hot Sun, and sprinkled with water, whereby it is brought to a passing whiteness. It may be remembered, that not long since the women of Germany knew no costlier attire. The best Flax that is at this day, is brought from Moscovia, Livonia, and those countries, far excelling ours in height and goodness. Except there be great increase of it, & price in the Country where you dwell, Columella would not have you meddle with the sowing of it, for it is most hurtful to the ground, as Virgil hath noted. 
Flax, where he grows doth burn the field,  
The like doth Oats and poppy yield.  And therefore (but that women must have something to occupy their hands withal) it were more profit to sow the ground with corn, and to buy linen abroad, especially if you weigh the heart of your ground, and the charges of the making. Hemp, in Latin Canubis, 
Hemp.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Canabe, in Spanish Cannamo, in French Chamura, and in Dutch Haveph, is a plant of the Reedishe kind, having a very strong savour: it groweth with a single stalk, and many times to such a height, that it matcheth with indifferent Trees: it is of great necessity for the use of man, and serveth both for making of Canuisse, and framing of Ropes: the stalk hath many knots, out of which proceedeth branches with narrow leaves indented and sharp. Dioscorides describeth both the wild Hemp, and the Garden Hemp to have leaves like the Ash, hollow stalks, a stinking savour, and round seed. There are two kinds of it, the Male, that is without flower, and beareth a seed of sundry colours: and the Female, that, to recompense her barrenness, doth yield a white flower: it is sowed in Gardens, Orchards, or other goo● ground (as Pliny would have it) after a south-west wound: with us it is sown in the end of April, for it can not away with cold: some sow it at the rising of the star called the Berward, which is at the end of February, or the beginning of March: it loveth ri●che ground well dounged and watered, and deep ploughed: it is naughty sowing of it in rainy weather, the thicker you sow it, the tenderer it will be, and therefore many times it is sown thrice, though some there be that appoint to every foot square six seeds. The Female or fyrble Hemp is first pulled up, afterward the Male, or the Carl, when his seed is ripe, is plucked up, and made up in bundles, laid in the Sun for three or four days, and after is cast into the water, with weight laid upon him for eight or ten days, till he be sufficiently watered, and as Flax, till the Rind wax lose: then taken out, it is dried with the Sun, and after broken in the Brake, and then combed and hacked for Yarn and Ropes. Of Hemp, are made Cables, cords, Nets, and Sails for Ships, garments for Labourers, Shertes, and Sheets: the Shales or Stalks serve for the heating of Ovens, or kyndeling of Fires.  RIGO. 
In the Country of Gulicke, and some parts of France, I remember I have seen an herb planted of the common people with great diligence, that serveth as they said for Dyars.  CONO. 
You say true, that herb Cesar in his Commentaries of the wars of France, 
Woade.  calleth Glastum, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Gnado, in Spanish Pastel, in French with the common sort Guadum, and Guesde, in Dutch Weyt, the Dyars do use it, and with them it is greatly esteemed, and great gain ariseth thereof unto the people of Gelderland, julyes', and Turyn, and divers Countries else: the leaves as Pliny writeth, are like unto Dock leaves. Dioscorides writeth of two kinds, the wild, and the Garden woad, saying, that the Garden woad which Dyars use, hath leaves like plantain, but something thicker, and the wild, leaves like Lentyll, with yellow flowers: with this herb Cesar saith the people of England were wont to paint their faces and bodies, to seem more terrible to their enemies: it requireth like sowing and soil as Wheat doth: but it is a great soker of the ground, and much hurteth it: it would have a very rich and a fat ground, and well digged: for the ground were better to be turned up with Spades then with Ploughs for the sowing of this Plant, and it must be very well weeded. It is sowed in Gelderland in April, and after the common people's rule, in Easter wecke: at the first f●llowing they marvel the ground, after sow it: you must be very heedful in the weeding of it. When it is grown a handful high and more, they suffer it not to flower, but with an instrument for the purpose, they cut it close by the root, wash it, and carry it to the Mill, and suffering it to grow again, they cut it three or four times, and so leave it to seed. The green herb they grind in miles like Apple miles, pressing it, till they get out all the juice thereof, then roll they it up with their hands in round balls, and so lay it upon boarded floors to be dried.  RIGO. 
You have greatly delighted me, in describing unto me the order of sowing of seeds, without which, not only the people of the Country, but also the Courtier and Citizen are not able to live: my desire is now to understand the order of Harvest, the Country man's long looked for time, and the reward of all his toil.  CONO. 

Harvest.  I will proceed in the accomplishing of your request. When the Corn is ripe, before it be scorched with the great heat of the Sun (which is most extreme at the rising of the lesser Dog) it is to be cut down out of hand: for delay herein is dangerous. first, because that birds, and other vermin will devour it: and again, both the Grain and the Ear, the top and the straw being brittle and over dry, will soon fall to the ground: if storm or tempest chance to arise, the greatest part thereof will to the ground, and therefore it must not be lingered, but when it doth look yellow in every place, and before that the Grain be thorough hard, when they come to look reddish, you must then have it in, that it may rather wax in the Barn then in the Field. Experience teacheth, that if it be cut down in due time, the seed will grow in fullness as it lieth in the Barn: for the Moon increasing, the Corn grows greater: at the change, you must gather such seed, as you would should be lest faulty. Varro saith, that the best time for Harvest, is betwixt the Sunnestay, and the Dog days: for the Corn they say, doth lie in the shoulder-blade xu days, flowreth xu days, and ripeth in xu days. Among Grain & Pulse, the first that is to be geathered, is Rape seed. 
Rape har●est.  And because the seed, when the cod beginneth to wax yellow, declareth ripeness, it must be geathered out of hand: and sith the seed will easily scatter, it must be laid either in plain smooth places in the Field, or upon Canvas: and if it be presently to be carried, the Wain or Cart must be lined with sheets, jest with jogging and tottering of the carriage, the seed fall thorough. You must take good heed as well here, as in all other Pulse, that you prevent the rain, for the rain falling, the cods do open. As soon as your Rape seed is of, if the ground be ploughed, you may sow Buck, or Branke as they call it: so that of one piece of ground in one year, you may make two harvests. Next unto Rape harvest in these countries, followeth the harvest of Winter Barley, 
Harvest for Winter Barley.  which is to be dispatched before the seed (the Ear being over dried) do fall, for they have not husks to contain them as Wheat hath, & the Ears being brittle, will soon fall: yet some think it best to let the Barley lie a while in the Field, whereby they think the Grain will wax the greater. Then followeth the Hemp harvest. But first (as I said before) the Fymble or the Female, 
H●mpe h●ru●●t.  is pulled, and is dried a while in the Sun, than (bound up in bundles) it is thrown into the water, and kept down with some weight, that it swim not above. After likewise the Male, the ●eede declaring his ripeness is pulled up, and the seed being threshed out, it is cast into the water, till the stalk be soft: after, being dried in the Sun, it is made up in bundles to be knocked and shaled in Winter evenynges. Rye is to be mowed in june or july, and after that, Wheat. 
Rye and Wheat harvest.  Not better rule, then before the Grain be hard, and when it hath changed colour. An old Proverb (as Pliny saith) it is better to have in harvest two days to soon, the● three days to late. In Rye there is not such sear in scattering as in Wheat, which as soon as it is ripe, will shed with every wind. Wherefore good heed must be taken, that you linger not with Wheat after it is ripe: although Pliny affirmeth, that Wheat will have greater yield when it stands long: but surely deferring of it is dangerous, as well for the devouring of Birds and Uermine, as for shattering and falling of the seed through storm and weather: as the proof was seen in the great winds that were in the year of our redemption .1567. Then followeth the harvest of Pease, beans, 
The harvest of all o●her Corn and Pul●e.  tars, and Lentyles, according as they are timely sowed, wherein you must take heed, as I warned you before in Rape seed, that they lie not abroad in the rain: for if they do, they will open and lose their seed. Last of all, cometh the harvest of the other summer seeds, as of Barley, Pannicle, Myllet, and Oats. It is found by experience, that rain is good for Oats after they be down: for it causeth them to swell and to be fuller, and to that end they are left in the Field many times two or three weeks after they be down.  RIGO. 
What order have you in your reaping?  CONO. 
There are divers sorts of reaping, 
divers sorts of reaping.  according to the manner of every Country. Some with Sy●hes, which differ also as the work requires. In this Country we use three sorts of Corn Sythes, for either we have a Sith like a sickle, which held in the right hand, they cut the straw close by the ground, and have in the left hand a long hook, wherewith they pull together that, that they have cut, and lay it in heaps: and in this sort Wheat and Rye, and such Grain as hath the sturdiest straw, is reaped. In other places, as in julis, where the ground being very rich, the Corn groweth higher and ranker, there they hold their left hand full of Corn, and with the right hand with toothed sickles they cut it, leaving the straw under their hands long, to help the ground withal. In other places they use a greater Sith with a long Suath, and fence● with a crooked frame of sticks, wherewith with both their hands they cut down the Corn, and lay it in Swaths as they do Grass when they mow it, and with that they mow the higher sorts of Cor●e. Varro, and Columella, and other, do tell of sundry other sorts of reaping. Palladius teacheth, beside the labour of men, a shorter way to be done with an Ox, that shall in short time cut down all that groweth, which was wont to be used in France. The devise was, a low kind of Car with a couple of wheels, and the front armed with sharp sickles, which forced by the beast through the Corn, did cut down all before it. This trick might be used in level and champion Countries: but with us it would make but ill-favoured work. In reaping, you must regard to go with the wind: for if you work against the wind, it willbe hurtful as (Xenophon saith) both to your eyes and your hands. If the straw be but short, you must go nearer the ground: if it be long, you may put your sickles to the midst to dispatch it the sooner, and to make it thresh the better: and the stabble upon the ground must either, according to Virgil's rule be burned, or rot upon the ground for the bettering of the land. Some preserve that which is longest, to thatch Barnes, Stables, and Country Cottages withal. And where Hay is scant, it serveth for foddring of cattle: for Barley straw is a food that bullocks love well, and beside, all kind of straw, is good to litter withal. When the Corn is down, it is presently to be bound in sheaves: although Barley, Oates, and other Corn and Pulse is made up in Cops and Ryckes, but not without hurt and hazard. The Corn being cut, is not to be had into the Barn presently, but to be let dry, according to the nature of every Grain and Pulse: for if it be carried in before it be through dry, it corrupteth and rotteth. Oats and Buck, are longest left abroad, as also Lentyles, Pease, and Pulse: because they are longest in drying. Wheat may soon be carried, if it be not mingled with too many weeds, that hinder the drying of it. When harvest is in, the ground must out of hand be ploughed, both to kill the weeds, and to make it the meeter for the next sowing. The Corn cut down and dry, 
Ploughing after Harvest.  is to be laid either in Barnes, hovels, or Stacks, and after in Winter to be trod out with beasts, or threshed out with Flails, and to be cleansed with Fans.  RIGO. 
In Italy they use to tread out their Corn with cattle, the like reporteth Xenophon of the Greeks.  CONO. 
I have seen it me self, where they rather take Horse then Oxen, and that time they also wynnowe their Corn, thinking the south-west wind to be best for that purpose: but to stay for that, Columella thinketh but the part of a small husband.  RIGO. 
I see you have very large Barnes, what order observe you in the building of them?  CONO. 
You must so set your Barn, 
The Barn.  that the Corn may be well brought into it, and see it be very close on every side, leaving open a space for two doors, a fore door and a back door, but so, as neither of them open to the West, but rather North and East, and at both sides of the floor bestow your Corn in several tasses and moowes, so that you may easily come to every one at your pleasure. And though the Corn be laid upon Bats in the floors, yet let there be a space left in the midst, that may be open to the very top, that you may fetch what sort you list to be threshed. In some places they have a Poultry in the midst, wherewith they hoist up the Corn to the very Rafters of the house. In Holland they have few close Barns, but all hovels and stacks, so placed with hanging roofs upon posts, that with pings and wynches, they may heyghten it, or let it down as they list.  RIGO. 
Those kind of Barnes they say, are not so subject to Myse and Rats, nor so chargeable as the other.  CONO. 
How so ever the Barn be, you must place it as high as you may, least the Corn be spoiled with moisture or damps. Some think it better for them to be thatched then tiled: the largeness must be according to the greatness of your occupying. Some to the end Cats and Weasels may the better come by, they do vault the floor with Bryckes, and laying rafters thereon, do lay on their Corne. The floor must be fair and smooth made, so as the Corn may be well threshed or trodden out. Columella would have the floor fair paved with Flint or Stone, whereby the Corn will the sooner be threshed, and the floor not hu●t with beating and trampling of Oxen: and when it is found or winnowed, it will not be full of gravel and dirt, as the earthen floors yield. But we content ourselves with our earthen floors, well made and of good earth, mixed with a little Chaff, and the grounds of oil: for this preserveth the Corn from mice and Emmets. You must make it very even and level, and after it is mingled with Chaff, let it be well trodden, & so suffered to dry. You must keep also from it Beasts and Poultry, which with trampling and skraping will make it rugged and uneven. When the floor is dry, the Corn laid on it, is beaten out with Flails & cleaned with Fans, though in some place they rather like to tread it out with Oxen, and to wynnowe it after the old fashion with the wind.  RIGO. 
Well sir, when you have thus threshed your Corn, what ways have you to keep it from weevils?  CONO. 
The Garners, or Corn lofts, wherein your Corn thus threshed and cleansed shallbe laid, 
Garners.  must stand high, that they may be blown through with the Eastern and Northern winds, to which no moisture from the places adjoining must be suffered to come: for the quarters of the Heaven that are coldest and dryest, do both preserve Corn the longest. In Spain and Apulia being hot Countries, the wind is not only let in on the sides by windows, but also at the bottom by grates. Some again preserves it in vaults under the grand, where the dry earth doth cherish such fruits as she hath brought forth, used as Varro saith, in Spain and Garthage: a●d in our days we use to keep both Wine and Grain in such vaults. In Countries that are very wet and watrishe, it is better to make them in Garrettes as high as may be, having good regard that it be well walled and floored. Moreover, where as Corn is subject to weevils and Uermine, except it be very safely laid up, it will soon be consumed: 
Against breeding of Wyvels.  therefore you must make with Clay mingled in stead of straw with hear, then overcast it within and without with white Potter's Clay, last of all, steep the roots and leaves of wild Cucumbers in water two days, and with that water, and Lime, and Sand, make plaster, and wash therewithal the walls within: albeit Pliny counts lime as hurtful a thing as may be for Corne. Some mingle with lime the urine of cattle, as a thing that will destroy weevils, or the leaves of Houseleek, of Wormwood, or Hops: but specially if you have it, there is nothing so good to destroy all such Uermine, as the dregs and bottom of Oil: some use in the stead thereof, the pickle of Herrings. Having in this sort ordered their feelinges, & their floors being dry, they suppose that no hurtful worm shall annoyed what so ever Corn they lay in them. Some lay under their Corn, Fleewoort: others think it an assured remedy, if they be often fanned & winnowed, and thereby cooled: but Columella thinks it untrue, and that by this means the vermin shall not only be not driven out, but they shallbe dispersed throughout all the Corn, which if they otherwise be left alone, will meddle with no more than the outward parts, for a hand-bredth depth within, there never breeds any weevils: and therefore he thinks it better to let that alone that is already corrupted, and will go no further, then with farther meddling to mar all: for it is an easy matter when so ever you need to occupy it, to take away that is tainted, and to use the rest. But for all this, experience teacheth us, that there is no so good a remedy to destroy the Wyvel, as is the often fanning and winnowing in Summer. After the first two years, they hold opinion they will not meddle with Corn: but I weary you with carrying you to much about, and if it please you, we will return home.  RIGO. 
If it be for your ease so to do: otherwise there can be no greater pleasure to me, then walking abroad to hear you talk of husbandry. 
Of pasture & meadow  Are these that I see your Pastures, where your fat Oxen, and your Mares, and your calfs go leaping?  CONO. 
They are so. I lay all my Pastures several, for every kind of cattle to be by himself: in the hithermost that you see, are my cattle that I fat: in the next are my Horses, my Mares, and my Colts: in the next are my young breed, Yeerelinges, and Twayeerelinges. The Meadows that you see in yonder Ualley, lie all to be mowed. Here next to my house, are my Sucklings, that are brought to their dams to suck thrice a day, and therefore aught to be near: how be it, such as feed far of, must diligently and daily be looked to, for fear of diseases.  RIGO. 
Since I have troubled you this far, I can not leave till I understand all your orders.  CONO. 
No trouble at all to me, but rather as I said before, the recording hereof, is my great joy: for in talking of these matters you bring me abed.  RIGO. 
I pray you then take the pains to describe me the ordering of Pastures and Meadows, when as there seemeth to be a great affinity betwixt them and Corn ground, and because they are sometimes also to be ploughed, me thinketh this part remaineth to be spoken of.  CONO. 
With all my heart, I will satisfy your desire in as much as I am able: and in deed since I have all this while spoken of Corn ground, it is not out of order to tell you my mind of Pasture: and although Cato in some places doth give the pre-eminence to the vineyard, yet other old writers do most of all prefer Pastures, as the ground that requireth lest a do about it: and therefore they were called as Varro saith, Prata, because they were parata, always in readiness, and needed neither great charge nor labour, nor are in danger of storm or tempests, as other kind of ground is, except such parcels as lie near Rivers and Islands, which are sometimes overflowed: and that discommodity is sufficiently recompensed with the fatness that the water leaves behind it, which enricheth the ground, and makes it the better yearly to yield his gain either in Pasture or meadow. The Pastures wi●h us do commonly serve both for Pasture or meadow when we list, specially in such places where the ground is rich and dry, which they had ratired to employ to Pasture, because with dounging of cattle, it waxeth always the better, whereas with continual bearing of He●, in hath grown to be mossy and naught: but where the ground is always wet and watrishe, there it is better to let it lie for meadow. Columella maketh two kinds of Pasture ground, whereof one is always dry, the other overflown. The good and the rich ground hath no need of overflowing, the Hay being much better that groweth of the self goodness of the ground, then that which is forced by waters: which sometime notwithstanding is needful, if the barrenness of the ground requireth it: for in bad and noughty ground, good meadow may be made, if it lie to be overflown: but then must the ground neither lie hollow, nor in hills, jest the one of them keep the waters upon it to long, and the other presently let it forth again. Therefyre lieth the ground best, that lieth levelest, which suffereth not the water to remain very long, nor avoideth it too soon. If in such ground it chance to stand overlong, it may be avorded with water stream at your pleasure: for both overplus, and the want of water are alike hurtful unto Meadows. It is very handsome, where dry and barren ground lieth so by the River, as the water may be let in by Trenches when you list: in fine, the occupying of Pasture grounds require more care than travail. First, that we suffer not Bushes, Thorns, nor great Weeds, to overgrow them, but to destroy some of them, as Brembles, briars, Bulrusshes, and Sedges in the end of Summer, and the other that be Summer Weeds, as Sowthystell, and all other Thystels, in the Spring. You must take heed of Swine, that spoil and turn up the ground ill-favouredly, and all other cattle: except it be in hard and dry weather, for otherwise they gult and ma●re the ground with the deep sinking of their feet treading in the Grass, and breaking the Roots. The bad and barren grounds are to be helped with dung in Winter, specially in February, the Moon increasing, and the stones, sticks, and such baggage as lie scattered abroad, are to be thrown out sooner or later, as the ground is. There are some Meadows that with long lying, are over grown with Moss, which the old husbands were woout to remedy with casting of certain seeds abroad, or with laying on of dung, specially Pigeons dung: but nothing is so good for this purpose, as often to cast ashes upon it, for that destroyeth Moss out of hand. Notwithstanding, these are but troublesome remedies. The best and certainest is to plough it: for the ground after his long rest, will bear goodly Corne. But after you have ploughed it, it will scarce recover his old estate again for Pasture or meadow in three or four years. When you mean to let your ground lie again for meadow or Pasture, your best is to sow it with Oats, and to harrow the ground even and level, and to hurl out all the stones and such things as may hurt the Sith: for Oates is a great breeder of Grass. Some do cast hay seed, geathered from the Heyloaft or the racks, over the ground before they harrow it. Others again, when their Meadows have lyen long, sow beans upon them, or Rape seed, or Millet, and the year after, Wheat: and the third year they let them lie again for meadow or Pasture. You must beware, that while the ground is lose and soft, you let not in the water, for the force of the water will wash away the earth from the roots of the Grass, and will not suffer them to grow together: neither must you (for the like danger) suffer cattle to come upon it, except in the second year Goats, or Sheep, or such like, after you have mowed it, and that if the season be very dry. The third year you may put on your greater sort of cattle again, and if the ground be hilly and barren, you may dung the highest part of it in February, as I said before, casting on it some Hey seed: for the higher part being mended, the rain or water that comes to it, will carry down some part of the richenesse to the hottome. as I said before, when I spoke of the manuring of earable ground. But if you will lay in new ground for meadow, and that you may have your choice, take such as is rich, dewy, level, or a little hanging, or choose such as valley, where the water can neither lie long, nor run away to fast: neither is the rank Grass always a sign of good ground: for what goodlier Grass is there says Pliny, then is in Germany, and yet you shall there have sand within a little of the upper part. Neither is it always a watery ground where the Grass grows high, for the very Mountains in Sycherland yield great and high Grass for cattle. The Pastures that lies by the Lakes of Dumone in Austri and Hungry are but selender, nor about the Rhine, specially at his falling into the Sea about Holland, as likewise in Frislande and Flaunders. Caesar Vopiscus, the Fields of Roscius were the principal of Italy, where the Grass would so soon grow, as it would hide a staff in a day. You may make good meadow of any ground, so it may be watered. Your Meadows are to be purged in September and October, and to be rid of all Bushes, Brambles, and great foul Weeds, and all things else that annoy them: then after that it hath often been stirred, and with many times ploughing made fine, the stones cast away, and the clods in every place broken, you must dung it well with fresh dung, the Moon increasing. Let them be kept from gulling and trampling of cattle. The Mouldhilles & dounging of Horse and Bullocks, must with your Spade be cast abroad, which if they remain, would either be harberours' of Ants and such like Uermine, or else breeders of hurtful and unprofitable weeds: your Meadows must be laid in towards March, and kept from cattle, and made very clean: if they be not rich, they must be mended with dung, which must be laid on, the Moon increasing, and the newer the dung be, the better it is, and the more Grass it makes: which must be laid upon the top of the highest of the ground, that the goodness may run to the bottom. The best herb for Pasture or meadow, is the trefoil or clover: the next is sweet Grass: the worst as Pliny says, is Rushes, Fearne, and horsetail.  RIGO. 
How shall I know when the Grass is ripe, and ready to be cut?  CONO. 
The time of cutting of it, is when the Bent beginneth to fade and to wax stiff, and before it wither. Cato bids not to mow your Grass with the latest, but before the seed be ripe. It is best cut down before it wither, whereby you shall have bot● more, and better Hey of it. Some, where they may overflow it, do water it a day before they cut it, it cutteth better after a dewy Evening.  RIGO. 
Do you cut Grass in the like sort as you do Corn?  CONO. 
Almost in the like same sort, some do use short Scythes, mowing it with one hand: but we here do use the common great Sith, mowing with both our hands, as I said before, that Oats, and Barley, and such other like Corn was mowed: which Sythes we use to sharp with Whetstones, or instruments of Wood dressed with Sande. The Grass being cut, must be well tedded and turned in the Summer, and not cocked till it be dry: and if it chance to be wet with rain, it must not be turned, till the upper part be dried. There is a measure to be used in making of it, that it be not had in too dry, nor to green. The one sort, if the juice be dried up, serveth only for litter: the other (too green and moist) if it be carried into the fit, rotteth, and the vapour being overheated, falls on fire and burneth. And if so be the rain chance to fall upon the Grass that is new cut down, if it be not stirred, it takes not so much harm: but if it be once turned, you must still be stirring of it, otherwise it will rot. Therefore the uppermost part before it be turned, must be well dried with the Sun and the Wind: when it is dried, we lay it in windrowes, and then make it up in Cocks, and after that in Moowes, which must be sharp and picked in the top, the better to defend it from the rain: which if it do not fall, yet is it good so to do, that they may sweat in the said Moowes, and digest what so ever moisture is in it. And therefore good husbands do not lay it up in their Loftes, till such time as it hath sweated in the Field. Grass is commonly mowed twice a year, in May or june, and again after Harvest: the first mowing is counted the best. As soon as the Hey is of after the first mowing, it would be overflowed (if you may conveniently) to the end the after swath may be mowed in Autumn, which they call in Latin Cordum. In the Dukedom of Spol●to, it is said they mow four times a year, being dry ground, and divers other places thrice a year. Medica may be rut six times a year, if it be ordered as it aught to be. It is best mowed when it beginneth to flower, for it must not grow to seed: being dried, it is made up in bundles, and kept good three years, to the great comfort of poor cattle: but because I have told you of Medica before, it is but vain to rehearse it again.  RIGO. 
You have spoken of a very large and great knowledge of husbandry, which out of doubt requireth in a man great travail and diligence.  CONO. 
It requireth in deed great diligence and travail, howbeit, it recompenseth the pains and the charges not without great gains, whereof Pliny bringeth for example Caius Cresinus, who when upon a little piece of ground he reaped more fruit and grains a great deal, than his neighbours did upon their great occupiers, gr●we into great hatred amongst them, as though they had bewitched their fields: whereof being accused by Spurius Albinus, and fearing to be condemned, when the Quest should pass upon him, he brings all his instruments of husbandry into the common place, and brought in there with all his daughter, a jolly great roil, his iron tools perfectly well made, great Spades, 
The diligence of Caius Cresinus.  mighty Coulters, and lusty cattle: lo here (quoth he) mine echauntments, neither can I bring before you my great and painful labours, watchings, and sweated: whereupon he was presently quit by the voices of them all. But I keep you to long about my husbandry, it is good time we leave and go home.  RIGO. 
With a good will. If I may obtain one thing at your hands, which when you have made an end with, I will trouble you no longer.  CONO. 
What is that?  RIGO. 
If a man would buy a Farm or a Manor, in what sort shall he best do it? for I doubt not but you have good skill in such matters.  CONO. 
Iscomachus in Xenophon telleth, that his father taught him that he should never buy a piece of ground, that had been skilfully or curiously husbanded before, but rather such ground as by the slothfulness and poverty of the master, had lyen untilled and neglected, and yet seem to be very good ground: as it is better to buy a lean Horse, so that he be not old, and that he have the tokens of a good Horse, than a fat Horse, and one that is curiously kept. A well ordered peeece of land is held dear, and yields no great increase, and therefore is neither so pleasant nor so profitable, as that which by good husbandry may be made better. Cato would have two things to be observed in buying of land, the goodness of the ground, and the holsomenesse of the air: of which two, if either be lacking, whosoever doth buy it, he judgeth him mad, and meet to be sent to Bedlam: for none that is well in his wits, will bestow cost upon barren ground, nor hazard himself for a little rich ground, to be always subject to pestilential diseases: for where a man must deal with the Devil, there is not only his commodity, but his life doubtful, and rather his death then his gain certain. After these two principal notes, as Columella saith, Cato added of like weight these three that follow to be regarded: the Way, the Water, & the Neighbour. The goodness of the way is a great matter, for it both makes the master have a delight to go about it, and it is commodious for carriage, which bringeth great gain, and litleth charges. Of the commodity of water who doubteth, without whose use no man is able to live. Of a man's neighbour, he would have a man have special regard. Hesiodus saith, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an evil neighbour is a great mischief. I have known divers, that for the troublesomeness of their neighbour, have forsaken good dwellings, and changed gold for copper, because they have had false knaves to their neighbours, and quarrelers, that suffering their cattle to run at large in every man's ground to spoil their Corn and their vines, would also cut down wood, and take what so ever they find, always brabbling about the bounds of their ground, that a man could never be in quiet for them: or else have dwelled by some Caterpillar Ruffian or Swashbuckler, that would leave no kind of mischief undone. Among all which commonly there is not so ill a neighbour, as the new upstart, that takes upon him the name of a gentleman, who though you use him never so well, will at one time or other give you to understand from whence he comes, and make you sing with Claudian. 
ASPERIUS NIHIL EST HV MILI CUM SURGIT IN ALTUM.  
A leudar wretch there lives not under sky,  
Then Clown that climbs from base estate to high.  As the Proverb in England is, Set a Knave on horseback, and you shall see him shoulder a Knight: for an Ape will be an Ape, though you cloth him in Purple. Surely M. Portius would have a man shun the neighbourhood of such as the pestilence. I for my part am happy in this point, that I have no neighbour that I need to fear.  RIGO. 
Perhaps they dare not for your authority do, as otherwise they would.  CONO. 
But since death and other casualties rids a man of them, the dwelling is not to be left, if it have other good commodities, except it be placed in the borders of sundry Countries that be subject to great sicknesses. Some commend the dwelling that hath fair ways about it, is near some River or good market, whereby a man may carry his merchandise with less charges. The old fellows would never have a man place himself near the high way, for pilffering of such as pass by, and troublesomeness of guests, as I said before in speaking of the placing of an house. In the letting of a Farm, 
The letting of a Farm  those things are to be observed that I spoke of before, in describing of a Bailiff of husbandry and his labour: that you let it to such, whose travail and good behaviour you may be assured of, and that you regard more their good ordering of the land than the rent, which is least hurtful, and most gainful. For where as the ground is well husbanded, you shall commonly have gain, and never loss, except by unreasonableness of the weather, which the Civil Lawyer saith should not be any damage to the Tenant, or the invasion of the enemy, where the Tenant can not help it. Besides, the Lord must not deal with his Tenant so straightly in every point, as by law he might, for his rend days, bargains of wood, quit rents, or such, the rigour wherein is more troublesome than beneficial: neither aught we to take every advantage, for law many times is right plain wrong: neither must you be to slack on the other side, for too much gentleness many times makes a man the worst. And therefore it is good if the Farmer be slack in his payments, to make him to know it: but in no wise to be a raiser or enhaunser of rents, for that discomforts, and many times vndooeth the Tenant. Moreover, you must not lightly change the old Farmer, both because of his deserts, and that he is better acquainted with the ground than a new. L. Volusius would always say, that he was in best case for his lands, that had always his tenants born and bread up in them, whereby the long familiarity should make them more lovingly to use themselves: for sure it is an evil use often to change tenants, and therefore I do like well that order, where the land is let for the lives of the Tenant, his Wife, and his Child, paying a yearly rent, so that as long as he pays his rent, and keeps the reparations, it shall not be lawful to deceive him: for hereby the Tenant shall be provoked to order the ground with more diligence, to repair the house, & to look to it in all points as to his own, bestowing many times as much as he hath upon it. This way of letting land me see●es is best, where the ground is subject to the Sea or the River, or other danger, that the Tenant be charged with the maintenance of it. And here be sure that you let it rather to one of ability, then to a an unthrifty man that is not able to bear it, whereby you may lose both your land & your rent. In such place as lies near the lord, he may occupy it by his Bailiff, or to hawues: but where it is far of, it is better to let it out for a yearly rent upon the foresaid covenants. For if you occupy it with your servants, they will either look ill to your cattle, or your ground, or suffer things to be stolen, or steal themselves, or make you be at more charges than needeth, & be careless in every thing. In letting of ground commonly it is covenanted, that the Tenant shall not let nor cell without leave of the lord, and that he shall not break any Pasture or Meadow land, and what, and how much he shall sow of every kind of grain, how much he shall have for Pasture, how much he shall let lie, and how much he shall mend. Here have you almost as much as I am able to say in husbanding of the ground.  RIGO. 
I thank you, you have greatly delighted me with the describing of your Pasture ground and Earable.  
¶ The end of the first Book.   

The second Book, of Gardens, Orchards, and Woods.  Thrasybulus. Marius. julia. 
BEcause of the Alliance betwixt Herbs, Trees, and Corn, and because their husbandry is almost one, it is reason that next to the first book, written of earable ground and tillage, should follow the description of Orchards, Gardens, and their fruits. Virgil in writing of husbandry, left this part unwritten of: how be it, divers others both old and new writers have not without some diligence written of this part, but yet by snatches (as it were) and not thoroughly: whose opinions, joined with mine own experience, it seemeth good to me in this book to declare. And since the use of Orchards and Gardens is great and ancient, 
The use of Gardens of great antiquity.  and that Homer writeth, how Laertes the old man, was wont with his travail in his Orchards, to drive from his mind the sorrow he took for the absence of his son. And Xenophon reporteth, that king Cyrus, as great a prince as he was, would plant with his own hands, and set Trees in his Orchards, in such order, as it seemed an earthly paradise. Qu. Curtius writeth of Abdolominus, that for his great virtue, of a poor Gardner, came to be king of the Sidonians. And surely, not unworthily is this part of husbandry esteemed, seeing it doth not alonely bring great pleasure, but also is greatly profitable for the maintenance of household, and the sparing of charges, ministering to the husband daily food and sufficient sustenance without cost. For when (as Columella saith) in the old time the people lived more temperately, and the poor at more liberty fed of flesh and milk, and such things as the ground and folds yielded: but in the latter age when ryotte and daintiness began to come in, and the wealthier sort to esteem no fare but costly, and far fetched, not content with mean diet, but coveting such things as were of greatest price, the poor people as not able to bear the charges, were banished from the costlier eats, and driven to content themselves with the basest food. And hereof sprung at the first the planting of Orchards, and making of Gardens, wherewith the poorest creature that was, might store his Kitchen, and have his victuals always at hand, the Orchard and Garden serving for his Shambles, with a great deal more commendable & hurtless diet. Herein were the old husbands very careful, 
An evil Garden, token of an ill huswyfe.  and used always to judge, that where they found the Garden out of order, the wife of the house (for unto her belonged the charge thereof) was no good housewife, for they should be forced to have their victuals from the Shambles or the Market, not making so great account of Colwoortes then, as they do now, condemning them for the charges that were about them. As for flesh, it was rather loathed then used amongst them. Only Orchards and Gardens did chiefly please them, because the fruits that they yield, needed no fire for the dressing of them, but spared wood, being always of themselves ready dressed, easy of digestion, and nothing burdensome to the stomach: and some of them serving also to powder or preserve withal, as good merchandise at home, as Pliny saith, not driving men to seek Pepper as far as Indie. Of Lucrin, I the Oysters not regard, as the Poet saith. And therefore to make them of more worthiness, and that for their common profit they should not be the less regarded, there were divers noble men of the house of Valerius, that took their surnames of lettuce, and were not ashamed to be named Lettismen. 
O● Lettusyns.  The old people had in great estimation the Gardens of the daughters of Altas, and of the kings Adonis, and Alcinoi, of whom Homer so much speaketh, as also the great vaulted Gardens, either built by Semiramis, or by Cyrus the king of Assyria. Epicure is reported to be the first that ever devised Garden in Athens, before his time it was not seen that the pleasures of the Country were had in the City. Now when Thrasybulus travailing in the affairs of his Prince, chanced to come to the house of Marius, and carried by him into a Garden that he had, which was very beautiful, being led about among the sweet smelling flowers, and under the pleasant Hearbers, what a goodly sight (quoth) Thrasybulus is here? how excellently have you garnished this paradise of yours with all kind of pleasures? Your Parlours, & your banqueting houses both within and without, as all bedecked with pictures of beautiful Flowers and Trees, that you may not only feed your eyes with the beholding of the true and lively flower, but also delight yourself with the counterfeit in the midst of Winter, seeing in the one, the painted flower to contend in beauty with the very flower: in the other, the wonderful work of nature, and in both, the passing goodness of God. Moreover, your pleasant Herbers to walk in, whose shadows keep of the heat of the Sun, and if it fortune to rain, the Cloisters are hard by. But specially this little River with most clear water, encompassing the Garden, doth wonderfully set it forth, and here withal the green and goodly quickset Hedges, in chargeble kind of enclosures, differeth it both from Man and Beast. I speak nothing of the well ordered quarters, whereas the Herbs and Trees are severed every sort in their due place, the Pot herbs by themselves, the Flowers in an other place, the Trees and the Imps in an other quarter, all in just square and proportion, with Alleys and Walks amongst them. Among these goodly sights, I pray you remember according to your promise (for so the time requireth) to show me some part of your great knowledge in Garden matters, sith you have upon this condition herded me heretofore garbring, or rather weerying you with the declaiming of my poor skill in the tilling of the Field.  MARIUS. 
Your memory is herein a little to quick, but what shall I do? promise' must be kept, and since you will needs force me, you shall hear me babble as well as I can, of my knowledge in gardning: but not with the like pleasure that I herded you talking, of your grazing and your ground.  THRA. 
Yes truly, with as great pleasure and desire as may be.  MARIUS. 
Come on then, let us here sit down in this Herber, and we will now and then rise and walk, resting us as often as you will: in the mean time JULIA shall make ready our supper. And first, even as you began with the choosing of a place meet to set your house upon, so must I with the choice of a Plot meet for a Garden. The ordering of Gardens is divers, for some are made by the Manor houses, some in the Suburbs, some in the City, where so ever they be, if the place will suffer, they must be made as near to the house as may be: but so, as they be as far from the Barns as you can, for the chaff or dust blowing into them, and either subject to the Dung heap, whereby it may be made rich, or else in some very good ground that hath some small Brook running by it, or if it have none such, some Well or Condite, whereby it may be watered. An excellent plot for the purpose is that which declineth a little, and hath certain gutters of water running through divers parts thereof: for Gardens must always be to be easily watered, if not, with some running stream, some Pomp is to be made, or Kettell, Mill, or such like, 
The time of s●●rchyng for water.  as may serve the turn of a natural stream. Columella would have you make your search for water, when the Sun is in the latter part of Virgo, which is in September before his entrance into the Winter equinoctial, for than may you best understand the strength or goodness of the springs, when after the great burning heat of the Summer, the ground hath a long while continued without rain. If you can not thus have water, you must make some standing Pond at the upper part of the ground, that may receive and contain such water as falls from above, wherewith you may water your Garden in the extreme heat of the Summer: but where neither the nature of the soil, nor conveyance by Conduit, or Pomp, or running stream is to be had, you have no other help but the rain water of Winter, which if you also have not, then must you delve & lay your Garden three or four foot deep: which being so ordered, will well be able to abide what so ever drought do happen. This is also to be regarded, that in Gardens that are destitute of water, you so order them into several parts, that what part you will occupy in Winter, may lie toward the South, and that which shall serve you for Summer, may lie towards the North. In a Garden, as in the choice of Corn ground, you must look whether the goodness of the ground be not hindered by the unskilfulness of him that hath occupied it. You must also make choice of your water, of which the best as Pliny saith) are the coldest, and such as be sweet to drink: the worst, that comes from Ponds, or is brought in by trenches, because they bring with them the seeds of Grass and Weeds: but the ground doth most delight in rain water, which killeth Worms and baggage that breeds in it: but for some Herbs, salt water is needful, as the Raddishe, Beete, Rue, Sa●rile, to which, all salt water they say, is a special helper, making them both pleasant and fruitful: to all others, 
Th● 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 of Gardens.  sweet water is only to be used. And because I have begun to entreat of watering, I must give this note, that the times of watering is not in the heat of the day, but early in the morning, and at night, lest the water be heated with the sun: only Basyl you must water at Noon, the seed something will come the sooner up, if they be sprinkled at the first with hot water. You have here herded, that the first needful thing for a Garden, 
Enclosing of Gardens.  is water. The next to that is enclosure, that it be well enclosed both from unruly folks and thieves, and likewise from Beasts: lest lying in wait for your Herbs & your Fruits, they may both bereave you of your pains and your pleasure: for if either they be bitten with Beasts, or to often handled with Men, it hindereth them both of their growth and seeding: and therefore it is of necessity to have the Garden well enclosed. Now for enclosures, there are sundry kinds, some making earth in mould do counterfeit Brickwalls: others make them of lime and stones, some others of stones laid one upon an other in heaps, casting a ditch for water round about them, which kind Palladius forbids to follow, because it will draw out the moisture from the Garden, except it be in marish ground. Other make their fence with the seeds and sets of Thorn: some make them of mud walls covered with straw or heath, Varro maketh mention of four kinds of enclosure, the first natural, the second wild, the third soldierly, the fourth, of Carpenter's work. The first and natural is the quickset Hedge, being set of young Thorns, which once well grown, regardeth neither fire nor other hurt. The second is the common Hedge made of dead wood, well staked and thick plasshed, or raylde. The third the Soldiers fortifying, is a deep Ditch with a rampire: but the Ditch must be so made, as it may receive all the water that comes from above, or falls into it, wherein the vaumure must be so steep, that it may not easily be climbed. This kind of fence is to be made, where the ground lies near the high way, or butts upon the River, of which sort I shall have occasion to speak more hereafter. The fourth fence made by the Carpenter or by the Mason, is commonly known: whereof there is four sorts, either of Stones, or of Bricks, of Turf and Earth, and little stones framed in mould. Columella following the ancientest authors, prefereth the quickset Hedge before the dead, both because it is less chargeable, and also endureth the longer, continuing a long time: which Hedge of young thorns, he teacheth to make in this sort. The place that you determine to enclose, 
The making of a quickset h●dge.  must after the beginning of September, when the ground hath been well soaked with rain, be trenched about with two Furrows, a yard distant one from the other, the depth and breadth of every one of them must be two foot, which you must suffer to lie empty all Winter, providing in the mean time the seeds that you mean to sow in them, which must be the Berries of sharp Thorns, briars, Holly, & wild Eglanttine, which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ● Dog briar. The Berries of these you must gather as ripe as you may, and mingle them with the flower or meal of tars, which when it is sprinkled with water, must be put upon old ropes of Ships, or any other ropes, the ropes being thus handled and dried, must be laid up in some boarded ●●oore. Afterwards when Winter is done, within forty days after, about the coming of the swallow, if there be any water remaining in the F●rrowes, it must be ●et out, and the mellowed earth, which was cast out of the Furrows in the end of Summer, must now be cast in again, till you have filled them up to the midst: then must you handsomely unfold the rope, and lay them in length thorough both the Furrows, and so cover them, taking good heed that you throw not to much earth upon them for hindering the spring: which commonly useth to appear within thirty days after, & when they be grown to be of some height, they must be made to incline to the space betwixt the two Furrows: in which space you must have a little walled Hedge, to teach the springs of other Furrows to climb by, which will be a 〈…〉 and a comfort to them. But I have an other & a more readier way of making of them, which you first practising in this Country, 
another newer and bette● 〈…〉 hedge.  divers others have followed. I also do make a certain Ditch, and geathering in the wood the young springs of Thorns, cutting of their tops, I set them on the bank of the Ditch, so that they stand half a foot out of the ground, plucking up all the weeds (specially the first summer) that grow about them, and suck away the juice that comforts the set. The roots being thus rid, I cover all the earth about them with straw, whereby both the dew of the night is let into the roots, and the poor plant is defended from the burning of the Sun. The year after, I make a little s●lender rail of poles, whereunto I lay up the springs, weaving them in such sort as I will have them to grow, which I yearly make higher, according to the height that I would have the Hedge to spring. Eight, or at the uttermost niene foot, is a sufficient height, and what so ever spring above, must be plasshed of one side or the other, to make the fence the stronger. When I have thus done, I mat it thicker and thicker every year, filling up the places where I see it thin, with such bows as I see grow out of order: and thus is it woven so thick with yearly bindings, that not so much as a small bird is able to pass thorough it, nor any man to look through it. When it is thick enough and big enough, the superfluous springs must every yeerer be cut. This Hedge can never be destroyed, except it be plucked up by the roots: neither fears it the hurt of fire, but will grow the better for it. And this is my way of enclosing a Garden, as the pleasantest, most profitable, and of lest charges.  THRA. 
There is an other way of making of a quickset Hedge, 
another sort of hedging.  which our Hedgers in the Country do use, which is something the stronger. For setting the young sets, as you have said before, when they be grown to some greatness, they cut the Thorn near to the ground, and being half cut and broken a sunder, they bow it along the Hedge, and plash it. From these cuts spring up new plants, which still as they grow to any highness, they cut them, and plash them again: so doing continually, till the Hedge be come to his full height. This way the Hedge is made wonderful strong, that neither Hog nor other Beast, is able to break through it: but the other is a great deal more pleasant to the eye. But if I have not sets yenowe to serve, may I make an Imp Garden of their seed?  MARIUS. 
Yea very well. Make your Thorn Garden or store plot in this sort. Take your Berries or Stones, and mingle them with earth, lay them up for the first year in some place meet for them, the next year sow them as thick as you can, and you shall within a little time have a whole wood of thorns.  THRA. 
You have now spoken of water and enclosure, two principal points in a Garden: it now remaineth for you to speak of the ground meet for a Garden, and of the order of dressing of it.  MARIUS. 
Of the sundry sorts of ground, and of the discerning of them, because you in your describing of Corn ground before have sufficiently spoken, I do not think it needful for me to repeat it. Again, it is enough to me to add only this, that the ground aught not to be too rich nor too lean, but fat and mellow, which bringeth forth a small kind of Grass like hears: such ground requires lest labour, the stiff and the rich ground asketh greater pains about it, but doth recompense it again with his fruitfulness. The stiff, lean, and cold ground, is not to be meddled with, as Columella writeth in appointing good ground for Gardens. 
The ground that gives the ripe and mellowed mould,  
And doth in working croomble like the sands,  
That of his own good nature yieldeth manifold,  
Where Walwoort with his purple berry stands:  
For neither doth the ground that still is dry,  
Content my mind, nor yet the watery soil,  
Whereas the Frog continually doth cry,  
While in the stinking Lakes he still doth moil.  
I like the land that of itself doth yield,  
The mighty Elm that branches broad doth bear,  
And round about with trees bedeckes the field,  
With trees, that wild bears Apple Plome and Pear.  
But will no Ber●oote breed nor stinking Gum,  
Nor Yew nor plants, whence deadly poisons come.  And this much of the Garden ground, which as I said, is watered, or may be watered, and is enclosed either with a Wall, a Hedge, 
What to be considered in the cho●se of Garden ground.  or some other safe enclosure. After this, it is needful it lie well to the Sun, and warm: for in ground that is very cold, the warmth of the Sun will not much avail it. And contrary, if it be a heat burning Sand, the benefit of the heavens can little help it. 
Air.  You must yet look, that it lie not subject to ill winds that are dry and ●●●●ching, 
Winds.  and bring frosts and mists. But now to the ordering of your Garden. 
The ordering of Gardens.  first, you must be sure that the ground which you mean to sow in the Spring, be well digged in the fall of the leaf, about the kalends of October: and that which you garden in the fall of the leaf, must be digged in May, that either by the cold of Winter, or the heat of Summer, both the clod may be mellowed, and the roots of the weeds destroyed, nor much before this time must you dung it. And when the time of sowing is at hand a five days before, the weeds must be got out, and the dung laid on, and so often and diligently must it be digged, as the ground may be thoroughly meddled with the mould. Therefore the parts of the Gardens must be so ordered, as that which you mean to sow in the end of Summer, may be digged in the spring: & the part that you will sow in the spring, must be digged in the end of Summer: so shall both your f●llowes be seasoned by the benefit of the cold and the Sun. 
Bedde●.  The beds are to be made narrow and long, as twelve foot in length, and six in breadth, that they may be the easier weeded: they must lie in wet and watery ground two foot high, in dry ground a foot is sufficient. If your beds lie so dry, as they will suffer no water to tarry upon them, you must make the spaces betwixt higher, that the water may be forced to lie and avoid when you wil Of the kinds and sorts of dounging, 
Of digging and dounging of Gardens.  being sufficiently entreated of by you, I will say nothing: only adding this, that the dung of Asses is the best, because it breeds fewest weeds: the next is Cattles dung, and sheeps dung, if it have lyen a year. The ground as I said which we mean to sow in the Spring, we must after the end of Summer let lie fallow, to be seasoned with the frost and the cold: for as the heat of Summer, so doth the cold of the Winter bake & season the ground. When Winter is done, then must we begin to dung it, and about the fourteenth or fifteenth of januarie, we must dig it again, dividing it into quarters and beds. first must the weeds be plucked up, and turfs of barren ground must be laid in the Alleys, which being well beaten with Beetles, and so trod upon, that the Grass be worn away, so that it scarce appear, it will after spring up as fine as littleheare, and yield a pleasant sight to the eye, which will be very beautiful. When you have severed your flowers by themselves, your Physic herbs by themselves, and your pot herbs and sallettes in an other place, the beds and the borders must be so cast, as the weeders hands may reach to the midst of them, so shall they not need in their labour to tread upon the beds, nor to hurt the herbs. And this I think sufficient for the preparing of your ground before the sowing. Now will I speak of sowing, and what shallbe sowed in every season. 
Of sowing.  To speak of all sorts of herbs and flowers, were an endless labour, only of those that are most needful, I mean to entreat. And first of herbs, some are for the pot, some for the sight, some for pleasure and sweet savour, and some for physic. And again, some are for Winter, some for Summer, and some betwixt both. The first time of sowing after Winter, is the month of March, April, and May, 
Three seasons to sow in.  wherein we use to sow Colwoortes, radish, Rape, and after Beets, lettuce, sorrel, Mustardseed, Corr●ander, dill, and Garden Cresses. The second season for sowing, is in the beginning of October, wherein they set Beets, and sow Smallage in Gellaci and Arreche. The third season, which they call the Summer season, in some places the Gardeners begin in januarie, wherein they set Cucumbers, Gourds, Spinnache, Basyl, Pursline, and savoury. Many things may be sowed betwixt these seasons, and yet do very well. All Garden herbs are commonly sown before the tenth of june, such things as you would not have seed, you may sow after this time. Some things are sowed only two times a year, in the spring, and in the end of Summer. Others again at sundry times, as lettuce, Colwoortes, Rocket, radish, Cresses, Corriander, chervil, and dill. These are sowed about March, or about September, and as Columella saith, do come either of the seed, or of the slip: some of the Root, some of the Stalk, some of the Leaf, some of the Clot, some of the Head, some of both: others of the Bark, others of the Pith: some, both of the seed and the slip, as Rue, wild Marierum, and basil, this they cut of, when it comes to be a handful high: others grow both of the Seed and the Root, as Onions, Garlic, and such like. And although all thing will grow of their seeds, yet this they say, Rue will not do: for it very seldom springs, therefore they rather set the slips. These that are set of the Root, do commonly last longer, and branch better, putting forth young slips from his sides, as the Onion and Gith. The stalk being cut, they all do spring again for the most part, except such as have special stalks, called of Theophrastus' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is, such as when the stalk is cut, grow no more: Gasa interprets it Secaulia. The Rape and the radish, their leaves being pulled away & covered with earth, do grow and continued till Summer. The fruits of some is in the earth, some without, and some both within & without, some lie & grow, as the Cucumber and the Gourd, & sometimes hung, though of greater weight by much than the fruits of Trees: some require stays & helps to climb by, as Hops, lupines, & Pease: some seed groweth better. The newer they be, 
Of seeds.  as Leeks, Nigella Romana, Cucumbers, & Gourds, & therefore some use to steep their Cucumber-seede in Milk or Water, to 'cause them to grow the speedelyer. On the other side, of old seed better groweth the Beete, Garden Cresses, Pennyroyal, great Marierum, & Corriander. In the Beete this is only observed, that the seed cometh not all up in one year, but part the second year, & some the third: and therefore of a great deal of seed, springeth but a little. Touching seed, this is to be well seen to, that they be not to old and dry, that they be not mingled, or taken one for an other: old seed in some is of such force, as it changeth the nature: for of old Colwoort seed springeth the Rape, and likewise of Rape seed Colwoortes. Also, that you gather not your seeds to soon nor to late. The very time as Theophrastus writeth, is at the spring, the fall of the leaf, and the rising of the Dog: but not in all places and kinds alike. 
What seed spring soon and which slowly.  Of Seeds, the soonest that spring are these, Basyl, Arach, Naven, Rocket, that cometh up the third day after the sowing, lettuce the fourth day, the Cucumber and the Gourd, the fifth day, Parslin longer ear it come, Dyl the fourth day, Cresses, and Mustardseed the fifth day, Beets in Summer, the ●ixth day, in Winter, the tenth or the twelfth, Leeks the nienetienth day, sometime the twentieth, Corryander later: which if it be new (except it be thrust together) it groweth not at all. Peneryall, and great Marierom, come up after thirty days. Parsley, of all other the longest before it come up, appearing the fortieth day after, 
The weather for sowing.  or many times the fiftieth. You must also consider, that the weather in sowing is of great force: for the season being fair & warm, they come up the sooner. Some sorts seed one year, and never after come up: some again continued, as Persley, Smalledge, Leeks, Nigella, that being once sowed, come up every year. Such as continued but a year, presently upon their seeding dye: other spring again after the loss of their stalk, as Leeks, Nigella, Onions, and Garlic: and commonly all such as put out from the side: and all these require dounging and watering. 
The Moon  In sowing beside, some think you must have regard to the Moon, and to sow and set in the increase, and not in the wane. Some again think it best from that she is four days old, till she be fifteen: some after the third, others from the tenth, till the twentieth: and best (as they all suppose) the Moon being aloft, and not set.  THRA. 
But now I pray you tell us something of the ordering of the best Garden herbs you have.  MARIUS. 
Some divide their gardning time by the months, as they do their other husbandry.  THRA. 
I care not whether by months, or other ways, but I would feign know the ordering of your Garden here: for I know in hot Countries they garden all the Winter long, but I am altogether for our Country, whose order we must here follow.  MARIUS. 

The time for gardning  In these parts they commonly begin their gardning (if the weather be fair and seasonable) in the end of February. At this time therefore the Garden being dounged, digged, raked, and cleansed, they use to plant Sperage, and Rue.  THRA. 
I pray you begin with Asparagus, 
Of pot herb.  or Sperage● and the other pot herbs, every one in his order, and afterward with flowers, and Physic herbs.  MARIUS. 
Asparagus was wont to grow wild, but now is brought into the Garden, 
Asparagus.  it is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Italian, Spanish, and French, it is almost all one, the one calling it Asparago, the other Asperge, the dutch men call it Sparages and Spiritus, because it comes up of itself: for the Garden Sperage they were not acquainted with. It is planted in two sorts, either of the Seed, or the Root. They take of the Seed as much as you may take up with three fingers, and bestowing it in little howls, every two or three seeds half a foot a sunder: they set them in rich ground in February, and cover the ground with dung. The weeds that grow, must be well plucked away, after the fortieth day they come up as it were to one root, and tangled together, the roots have sundry long threads, which they call the Sponge. In ground that is dry, the seeds are to be set deep, and well tempered with dung. In wet grounds on the other side, they are to be set shallow in top of the borders, jest the moisture destroy them. The first year you must break of the stalks that grow, for if you pluck them up by the roots, the whole sets will follow, which are to be preserved for two year with dounging and weeding. All the years after, you must not gather them in the stalk, but pull them from the root, that the roots being opened may the better spring, which except you do, you hurt the spring. Him that you mean to keep for feed, you must in no wise meddle withal, after, burn up the bushes, and in Winter dung well the roots with dung and ashes, they are planted also of the roots, which after two years you must remove into a warm and well dounged ground. The trenches where you mean to set them, must stand a foot a sunder, and a shaftman in depth, wherein you must so lay your Sponges (as being covered) they may best grow: but in the spring before they come up, you must lose the earth with a little fork, to 'cause them the better to spring, and to make the roots the greater. Cato would have you to take them, but so, as you hurt not the roots, & after to pull the plant from the root: for if you otherwise break it, the root will dye, and come to nothing. But you may so long crop it, till you see it begin to grow to seed: in which year for the Winter time, you must according to Cato's mind, cover it with straw, or such like, lest the cold do kill them, and in the spring open it again, and dung it well. Some think, that the first year it is needless to do any thing to the plant, but only to weed it. From the roots, which they call the sponges, there springeth first certain buds with crompled knops, very good and pleasant for sallettes: which if you suffer to grow, it strait bussheth forth with branches like fennel, and at length grow to be prickly: after it hath flowered, it beareth a Berrie, first green, and when it is ripe, red. If you would have Sallettes of Asparagus all the year through: when you have geathered the Berries, open the roots that run aloft by the ground with digging, and you shall have the roots sand forth new buds out of hand. It is thought, that if you break to powder the horn of a Ram, and sow it, watering it well, it will come to be good Sperage. In the Spring time they make a very good salad, being sodde in water, or fat broth, till they be tender: for if you seeth them too much, they will waste away. When they be sod, they dress them with Vinegar, Oil, Pepper, and Salt, and so eat them: or as my friend William Prat, very skilful in these matters telleth me, they cut them in small pieces like Dyse, and after they have parboyled them, butter them with sweet butter, a little Vinegar and Pepper.  THRA. 
You have very well showed me the ordering of Asparagus, I pray you go forward to Rue.  MARIUS. 
Rue, which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Latins Rutam. 
Rue.  the Italians Rutache, the Spaniards Ruda, the Frenchemen Rue de gardin, is planted at the end of February or in March, prospering best in dry and sunny grounds, it abhorreth both water and dung, which all other herbs most delight in, it most delighteth in ashes: and where all other plants will spring of the seed, this they say will never do it. The branches being slipped of and set in the spring, will very well grow, but if you remove the old root, it dieth: it delighteth in the shadow of the Fig tree, and being stolen (as they say) it prospereth the better: it is sowed with cursing, as Cummin, and divers other, and can not abide the presence of an unclean woman.  THRA. 
I see goodly Lettuse here, I pray you how do you order it?  MARIUS. 
lettuce is called in dutch Lattich, 
lettuce.  in French Laictue, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Lactuca, and so in Latin, in Spanish Lechugas, whereof besides the wild, there are three kinds, one croompled, which Columella calleth Caecilia, and Spanish Lettuse, of the Countries where it most groweth, and is greatest esteemed, in Dutch called Krauser Lattich, in French Crespue, the other Cabbage lettuce, in Dutch Knopf Lattich, in French Laictue testue, of Pliny called Laconica, and Sessilis, because it groweth round like an head, or a apple. The third sort is called Rotunda, because it groweth in compass upon the ground.  THRA. 
But how come you to have so good Lettuse, and how do you order them?  MARIUS. 
At the end of February, or in the beginning of March, we use to sow it, that it may be removed about April or May. In hot Countries as Palladius telleth, they sow it in januarie or in December, with intent to remove it in February: but you may sow it at any time of the year, so the ground be good, well dounged, and watered. When you remove them, the roots must be pared and rubbed over with dung, and such as be already planted, their roots must be bared and dounged: they love a good ground, moist & well dounged, they spread the better (if you set by th●m the Rape) or when they begin to stalk, the stalk being tenderly cloven, you lay upon it a clod or a tyleshard: they will be white, if you sprinkle them often with sand, or tie sand within the leaves, and both tender & white you shall have them. If two days before they be geathered their tops be tied up, they will be round and cabbage: if the root, being removed when it is growena hand broad in height, be pared and smered with fresh Cow dung, and earth cast about it, be well watered, and when it grows high, the top be cut, a potshard laid upon it, the sweeter also they will be, the more you restrain the stalk from shooting up, which must, as I said, be kept down with some stone or weight, that they may spread the better. If the lettuce chance by reason of the badness of the soil, the seed, or the season, to wax hard, the removing of it will bring it again to his tenderness: it will have sundry and divers tastes, if taking a Treddle of Sheep or goats dung, and hollowing it cunningly with an all or a bodkin, you thrust into it the seed of lettuce, Cresses, Basyl, Rocket, Smallage, Parsley, and Radyshe, and after wrapping it in dung, you put it into very good ground, and water it well. The Parsley, or Smallage goeth to root, the others grow in height, keeping still the taste of every one. Constantine affirmeth lettuce to be a moist and a cold herb, a quencher of thirst, and causer of sleep, and that being boiled, it nourisheth most, and abateth lechery, for which the Pithagoreans do call it Eunuchion. Galen himself, the prince of Physicians doth greatly commend it, who in his youth did always use to eat it raw, and after in his elder years boiled, whereby he kept his body in good temperature. Endive, 
Endive.  in Latin Intabum, or Intubus, not unlike to lettuce, some call it Garden Succory, the Dutchmen and common sort Endiviam, the Italians and the French Cicoriam, the Spaniards Endibia, it is sown as other Garden herbs in March, it loveth moisture and good earth, but you must make your beds when you sow it the flatter, lest the earth falling away, the roots be bared: when it hath put forth four leaves, you must remove it unto well dounged ground, that which is sown before the kalends of july, doth come to seed, but that which is sown after● seedeth not. You must sow that which you would have to serve you in Winter in October, in warm stony places for salads in Winter, they use at this day when his leaves be out, to fold them up together & tie them round in the top with some small thing, covering them with some little earthen vessel, the roots still remaining to nourish them withal: thus doing, they will grow to be white and tender, and to lose a great part of their bitterness. It is said, that they will be white, if they be sprinkled a few days abroad, and lying upon sand, be washed with the rain: and thus is Endive with his increase preserved all Winter. Some there be, that contenting themselves with less charges and labour, do only cover them with earth, others again with straw: this order of wintering of it, is now in every place grown to be common.  THRA. 
I see also in this pleasant Garden Colwoortes, 
Colwoorts.  that we Country folks be so well acquainted with.  MARIUS. 
Is it meet my Garden should want that, which as you know Cato prefereth before all other herbs, in describing the wonderful properties and uses thereof? and this place I only appoint for such common pot herbs, as Colwoortes, Beefs, Endive, Onyans, Rapes, Navenes, Leeks, Carrettes, Raddishe, garlic, and Parsneppes: the worthier sort I place by themselves, and as the nature of every one requireth. Colwoortes is commonly called in Latin Brassica, or Caulis, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in French Choux, in Italian Caule, in Spanish l'erza, in dutch Koil. The old writers made divers sorts of it, as at this day there be. One sort with great and broad leaves, a big stalk, and very fruitful. This sort is commonly known, which being the pleasant in Winter, when it is bitten with the frosts, is sodde with Baken, and used in porridge. The tender part of the top being a little boiled, is served for sallettes, dressed with oil and salt. The second sort with the croombled leaf, of that resemblance that it hath to Smallage, is called Selinocis or Apiaria, of the common people crompled Col, or wrinkled Col. The third sort which is properly called Crambe, hath a smaller stalk and leaf, smooth, tender, and not very full of juice. The fourth sort is the great Cabbage, with broad leaves and a great head, called in dutch Kappes, in French Cheux Cabuz, of the old writers Tritiana Brassica, and this kind is only most set by. In Germany there is one kind of them that they call Lombary Colwoort, or Savoy Colwoort, sweeter than the other, and not able to endure the Winter: and an other with very broad leaves croompled and full of wrinkles, but a great de●le blacker, which the Italians call Ne●●●caules, and the Latins Nigra Brassica, of the number of th●se that they call commonly red Col, of the old writers Marucina Brassica. There are beside other sorts, taking their names of they Country where they grow, as Aricina and Cumana. The best time for setting and sowing of Colwoortes, is after the Ideses of April. In cold and rainy Countries, the oftener it is dounged and raked, the better a great deal will the Colwoortes be: some use to sow them about the Kalends of March, but then the chiefest of it goeth out in leaf, and when it is once cut, maketh no good stalk for the Winter after: yet may you twice remove your greatest Col, and if you so do, you shall have both more seede● and greater yield: for it so aboundeth with seed, as it is sowed with no less advantage than Rape seed. For the making of oil, Colwoortes may be sown all the year long, but chief in March after it is sowed, it appeareth within ten days, except your seeds be old and dry, for old seed will grow to Rapes, as old Rape seed will to Colwoortes. Some say it prospereth best in salt ground, & therefore they use to cast upon the ground Saltpetre or Ashes, which also destroyeth the Caterpillar: it is removed in june, chiefly when it hath put forth sire leaves, and that when the weather is rainy, so that you cover the root before with a little fresh dung, and wrap it in sea-weede, and so set it. Moore diligence is to be used about the Cabbage: it must be sown in March in the full of the Moon, that it may remain in the ground two Moons, and in May you must take them up, and set them again two foot asunder. The ground must be well digged where you set them, and as fast as they grow, the earth must be raised about them, so that there appear no more than the very tops of them: for to 'cause them to grow fair and great: you must as often as you remove them, bank them up with earth about them, that nothing but the leaves appear. And this you must often do to all the kinds of them, the hoar frosts make them have the greater sweetness. The Uineyardes (they say) where Colwoortes grow, do yield the worser vines, and the Col corrupteth the wine.  THRA. 
I pray you proceed with the rest of these pot herbs.  MARIUS. 
You see hereby spinach, 
spinach.  so termed (as you know) of the prickly seeds, called in Latin Spinacia, and even so in Italian, Spanish, French, and Datche: it is sown as those before, in March, Apryll, and so till September: if it may be well watered, it cometh up in seven days after the sowing, you shall not need to remove it. The seed must presently after the sowing be covered, and afterward well weeded: it refuseth no kind of ground, but prospereth in every place, you must often cut it, for it continually groweth, it is to be boiled without any water, where in the boiling it doth yield great store of juice, and contenting itself with his own liquor, it requireth none other. afterward, being beaten and stirred with the ladle, till the clamminess be go, it is made up in little balls, the juice strained out and boiled upon a Chafyndishe with Ole or Butter, some add thereunto Uergius, or the juice of sour Grapes, to make the taste more tart. I show you in order as you see, all my Kitchen herbs, now followeth sorrel, 
Sorrel.  called in Latin Acetosa, in Italian likewise, in Spanish Romaza, in French Oxella, in Dutch Surick, of the sourer thereof. There are sundry sorts of it, we have at this day two kind, the Garden sorrel and the wild, which are pleasant both in broth and sallettes, and of this herb the wild sorts are both sourer in taste, and smaller in leaf: it is sowed as all other pot herbs are, and it groweth of itself in Meadows and Gardens. 
Cummin, & Co●ri●nder.  Cummin and Corriander require well ordered ground, they are sowed in the Spring, and must be well weeded. Cummin is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Cuminum, and almost like in all other languages: it is sowed best (as they think) with curfing and execration, that it may prospero the better. Corriander called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Coriandrum, and in almost by the same name in all other tongues, doth best prospero when it is sowed of seed that is oldest. smallage and Parsley called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
smallage, or Parsley.  and also Petro●elinon, in Latin Apium, Petroselinum, and Apium hortense, in Italian Apio domestico, and Petrosello, in Spanish Petersillie or Peterlin, it is sowed at the equinoctial in the Spring time, the seed beaten a little, and made up in round pellets: we call it equinoctial, when the night and the days are of equal length over all the world: that is, when the sun, the captain and author of the other lights, the very soul of the world, doth enter into the signs of Aries and Libra. It is thought to prospero the better the older the seed is, and to spring the sooner: it cometh up the fiftieth day, or at the soonest the fortieth day after it is sown: when it is once sown, it abideth a long time, it rejoiceth in water or wet. 
Fenel.  Fenel in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian E●nochio, in Spanish Hinozo, in French Fenoil, in dutch Fenchel, is sowed in the beginning of the Spring in hot sunny places, stony ground, or any ground: being once sown, it springeth every year. anise in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Anisum, so known in most tongues, as Cummin, and Corriander, requireth a ground well ordered and dressed. dill in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Doll.  in Latin Anethum, in French and Italian almost so, in Spanish Eneldo, in Dutch dill, endureth and abideth all kind of weathers, but delights most in warm ground: if it be not well watered, it must be sowed thinner. Some never cover the seeds when they sow them, supposing that no Bird will meddle with it, it cometh up also of itself as Fenel doth. Cheruyl in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
chervil.  in Latin C●r●foli●om, in dutch Kerbel, in Italian Gingidia, in French Cerfu●il, desireth a good ground, moist, and well dounged: it is sowed with the rest in cold places. In this same month they also sow Beets, 
Beets.  though you may sow them when you will at any other time of the year as spinach, it is a common Country herb, they call it in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Bietola, in Spanish A●elga, in Dutch Beett, or Mangelt. No Garden herb hath greater leaves, so that with due ordering, it groweth like a young tree. It is called Beta, because when it seedeth, it is (as Columella affirmeth) to the likeness of the Greek letter β. There be two sorts of them, the white and the black, the ordering of them is after one sort: it is sowed as Colwoortes, Sozel, and radish are, in March, April, or May. Some think the best time for sowing it, is while the Pomegranate doth flower, it may be sowed nevertheless as lettuce, Cols, and divers others, at any time of the Summer. The seed, the older it is, the better it is to be sown, as are the seeds of Smallage, Parsley, Garden Cresses, savoury, wild Marierum, and Corriander, though in all other the newest be best. It cometh up in Summer the sixth day, in Winter the tenth after the sowing, it loveth a moist, a rich, and a mellow ground, you may remove it when it hath put forth five leaves, if your ground like well to be watered: if it be dry ground, it must be set in the end of the Summer, as I have said of Colwoortes, though it make no great matter at what other time you do it. When you remove it, you must rub over the root with new dung. This is proper to the Beete, that his seed come not all up together, but some the year after, some the third year: and therefore of a great deal of seed, there is at the first but a little show, it groweth the broader and the whiter, if when it is something grown, you lay upon it tile stones, or such like, to 'cause it to spread, as I spoke before of lettuce. Garden Cresses in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Ga●den Cress'.  in Italian Nasturtio, and Agretto, in Spanish Mastuerzo, in French Cresson, de gardin, in Dutch Kerss, are sowed bath in the spring, and at the fall of the leaf, it cometh up the first day after it is sown, and drinketh away the moisture from such herbs as grow near him, mingled with other herbs, he careth not what weather come, and therefore prospereth both as well in winter as in summer: if it be sowed with lettuce, it cometh v● exceedingly, it delighteth in moisture, which if it want, it will do well enough in watery places it groweth of his own accord, as about Padelbor, a Town in Westphalia, it groweth in great abundance in the River, and therefore is called of some Water Cresses: it was called in the old time Sisimbrium. The branches when they wa●e old, are netted together with white hairy rings. Garden Poppy, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Garden Poppy.  in Latin Papaver sativum, is thought best to grow, where old stalks have been burned, it is sowed in warm places with other pot herbs. Mustardseed, 
Must●●dseede.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Sinapi, in Dutch Seneff, in Italian Senape, in Spanish Mostaz●, in French Seneve, there are two kinds, white and black, it is best to be sown in the end of summer, and again in March. Where it is once sown, it is hard to rid the ground of it again, because the seed doth still grow as it falls. It loveth to grow upon dounghils, and cast banks.  THRA. 
I see you have very fair Radishes here.  MARIUS. 
Nothing so fair as I have had them, for where as they delight in the Sun, 
radish.  and in warm ground, my Gardeners have here set them in the shadow. The order of them is to be set in very good ground, and lying upon the Sun: some saith, it doth not greatly care for dung, so it may have Chaff strawed upon it. When it is come to some growth, they must be covered with earth, for if it flourish once above the ground, the roots will never be good, but hard and full of pith. It is called radish, because it exceedeth all other roots in greatness. Pliny writeth, that he saw at Erford in Germany, radish as big as the body of an Infant. It is sowed twice in the year, in February or March, the Moon being in the wane, jest it grow too much in leaves, four fingers distant one from the other, and again in August, which is the best season for them. Those that you set after the tenth of june, will never seed, the like is to be observed in all other seeds, it cometh up commonly the third day after it be sown: in hot and Southerly Countries, the weather being fair, it groweth soon to stalk, and quickly seeds. The leaves as they grow, must still be trampled down and trodden upon, whereby the root shall grow the greater, otherwise it flourisheth with leaves, and giveth increase to the leaf, and not to the root: the less and the smother the leaf is, the mileder and the sweeter is the root: cold as some say, doth further the goodness of them. They say they will be very pleasant, if the seed be steeped in meedth, or in the juice of reyzyus: they wax sweet with cold as the Rape doth, and their bitterness is taken away with brine, and therefore some would have Radishes watered and nourished with salt waters: being sodden, they come to be very sweet, and serve the turn of Rapes, ge●ing fasting, they provoke vomit, they are hurtful to the vines and to the Teeth. radish eaten at first, is a good preservative against poison: eaten before meat, it breaketh wind, and provoketh urine: and after meat, it loseth the belly, it is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Raphanus, in Italian Rapha●, in Spanish Ravano, in French Rave, in Dutch Retich.  THRA. 
There is an other kind of them, that the Dutch men call Merrettich, I take it to be that which the Romans called Armaracia, called commonly in Italy Ramaracta, the first letter misplaced.  MARIUS. 
You say well, but this is more full of branches, greater in leaves, thin in body: the leaves are not unlike to the former radish, but that they are a little sharper and longer, and the root s●lenderer, and therefore there are some that deny it to be Armaracia: but here let the Physicians contend. Theophrastus maketh mention of sundry sorts of Radish. This kind of radish hath a wonderful biting taste, a great deal more than Mustard seed, and fetcheth tears from the eyes of them that eat it: it is set and planted in this sort. The root is cut in a great number of pieces, whereof every piece prospereth: for if you pluck up this kind of radish by the roots, you may cut of a good quantity of the root, and dividing them into small pieces set them, setting the old root again by himself, and they will all grow & prospero very well.  THRA. 
Yea, have you got the Rape? hitherto I thought he had only belonged unto us, for we use to sow them after the Sun hath been at the highest, and immediately after over other Corn, for the sustenance both of man and beast.  MARIUS. 
You do well, 
Rapes.  and we sow it now in May, and in watery ground sooner, and in some places in july. There are divers sorts of them, some of them round, some grow all in length, and are most pleasant in taste, as at Binge, and in the Country of Bavar. Some again of the quantity of a man's head, and of a hundred pound weight: but the smallest sort is the sweetest. There is an other kind of Rape that they use to sow, which carrieth his seed in little cods, and is chiefly planted in Germany for to make Oil of, the which you the other day spoke of, it is called in Greek Goloules, in French Rave, in Italian Rapo, in Spanish Nabo, in dutch Reuben. There is also an other wild kind called Rapunculus, 
The little Rape.  that groweth half a yard hie full of seed, and tender topped. This they gather in the spring time, before the stalk be sprung up, and pulling it up by the roots, do use it in sallettes, supposing it to be a wild kind of Rape. The Navens also called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Navens.  in Latin Napus, in French Navet, in Italian Napo, in Spanish Nabicas, in Dutch Stockruben, may be counted in the number of Rapes, for Rapes in some ground change into Navens, and in some ground, Navens into Rapes. These also love to grow in a well watered, mellow, and a rich ground: though such as grow in sandy and barren ground, prove often the sweetest in eating. They use to sow them in March, and in some places before, as also in August. Parsneppe in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Parsnip.  in Latin Pastinaca, in other tongues almost as in Latin, is very pleasant to be eaten● and requireth a fat and a rich ground, and deep digged, whereby the root may have room enough to grow in: it is sowed and set in the spring, and in the end of summer.  THRA. 
You have here also in this Garden read Carrots.  MARIUS. 

R●dde and yellow Carrettes.  I have so. Yellow Carrettes is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Siser, in French Cheruille, in Italian Sisero, in Spanish Chirivias', in dutch Querlin, I think you know it. Pliny writeth, that Tiberius was so in love with this root, that he caused Carrettes to be yearly brought him out of Germany, from the Castle of Gel●uba standing upon the Rhine. It delighteth in cold places, and is sowed before the kalends of March, and of some in September: but the third and the best kind of sowing as some think, is in August. There is also wild Carrot, a kind of Parsnep, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ● in Latin Daveus, in Italian Dauco, in French Carote savage, in dutch Woortzel, there are that suppose it to be the yellow ro●te, that is so common in Germany, they are to be sowed in March. It is general to Rapes, Radishes, parsnip, Carrots, Onions, and Leeks, that they be well trodden upon, or kept cut, to the end the roots may grow the greater. Of Leeks there are two sorts, 
Leeks.  the one called Capi●atum, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and the other Sectiuum, which they use always to cut close by the ground. The headed, or set Leek, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Capitatum, in Italian Porro capitato, in Span●she Puerro con Cabeza, in Dutch Lauch, in French Porreau, the other Leek in Latin Sectile, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in dutch Schnitlauch, beside the often raking and dounging, must be watered as often as you cut it down. The seeds in cold hot Countries, is sowed in januarie or February, and in colder places in March, to 'cause it to grow the fairer and the better. They use to knit up a good deal of seed together in thin linen clotheses, and so to lay them in the ground: but to make them greater headed, when it hath well taken root, they use to pluck it up by the blades, and raise it so, that as it were hanging and born up by the earth, it is forced to fill the empty place that lies under it: the blades and the roots cut of, they use to set the heads, underlaying them with a Tyleshard, that when as they are not able to run down in length, they should be driven to grow in bigness and breadth. The Leek delighteth in good ground, and hateth watery ground: sowed in the spring, it must be removed or set again after harvest, that they may be the greater, the earth must be continually loosed about it, and they must be pulted and railed up, as I said before: if when you remove them, you make in the heads of every one a little hole with a piece of a Reed, or any thing except Iron, and thrust therein a Cucumber seed, they will grow to a wonderful greatness: some use in stead of Cucumber seed, to put in Rape seed. To have very large and great Leeks, you must hollow a Treatle of goats dung, and f●ll it full of leek seed, for the little sprout at the first restrained, will run altogether in one, and so come forth of the ground: and this as Hieronimus Cardanus writeth, hath been often tried to be true. They shall not savour of Leeks or Onions, that have eaten Cummin after. It cometh up the tenth day after the sowing, and lasteth two year: the first year it contenteth itself only with bearing of leaves, the next year it riseth in a long stalk hollow within, the top garnished with round knops of flowers. The Onion, 
Onions.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Cepa, or Cepe, in Italian Cipella, in Spanish Cebolla, in French Oignon, the next neighbour to the Leek, is also of tw● kinds, the one kind called Capitatum, that groweth to head, the other Fissile, that without any head only flowrisheth in blades, and is often gathered as Leeks are, & therefore only is sown and not set in February or March in fair weather, & in the wane of the Moon: it delighteth in rich ground, well digged & dounged, and therefore Columella would have the ground well f●llowed, that it may be mellowed with the Winter frosts, and after dounged, after well digged again, and the roots and weeds cast out, laid out in beds and sowed: it is called Fissile, 
Fissile.  because it is parted and divided below, for in the Winter it is lest with his top naked: in the spring time the blades are pulled of, and other come up in their places. The heads are set, and if you pluck away the tails & the outgrowings when you set them, they will grow to be very great. Twenty days before you set them, dig the ground well, and lay it dry, and so shall they prospero the better. The heads are set in Autumn, and grow to seed as other plants do: if you mean to gather the seeds, when the stalk is grown, you must prop it up with little sticks, that the winds shaking of the stalk, shatter not the seeds, nor break the stalk: which seed you must gather before it be all black, for the blackness is a sure sign of the full ripeness: if you will not have it seed but head, pluck of the shoulder-blade still close by the ground, so shall all the maintenance go to the root. Among all other herbs, only the Onion is not subject to the force of the Moon, 
Onions.  but hath a contrary power, for it waxeth in the wane of the Moon, and decreaseth in the increase of it: yet there are that hold opinion, that if you sow them in the wane, they will be the smaller, and sourer, and in the increase, they will be the greater, & the milder. The red Onion is more sharp than the white, they are best preserved in Barley Chaff, if first you dip them in hot water, & after dry them in the sun, till they be through dry. They are of the common people thought to last longest being hanged up in the smoke, for the kindred it hath with the Onion. I proceed to speak next of Garlic, 
Garlic.  called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Allium● in Italian Aglio, in Spanish Aio, in Dutch Knobloich, in French Aux, it groweth with a shoulder-blade like the Onion, but not hollow, the stalk round, and the flowers in the top in a round tuft where the seed lieth. Garlic groweth both of the head & the seed, as the Onion and other of this kind doth. It is commonly sowed in February or March, according to the disposition of the weather, as the Onion is. It would be set in the uppermost part of little narrow Ridges, the cloves being distant four or five inches one from the other, and not very deep. After, when the cloves have put forth the little strings, or when their blades are come up, they must be well racked, for the oftener you do so, the greater they will be: but if you will have the heads the greater, before it grow to stalk, you shall wind and wreath the green blades together, and tread them to the ground, for that continual treading upon them will make them the greater. In October the cloves must be plucked a sunder, & set in row upon high borders, that they may scape the danger of the winter storms. They say the seant of them will seize, if you eat after them the root of Beets toasted at the fire: thus saith Pliny out of Menander.  THRA. 
What herb is that yonder that cometh up so high as a man may make a staff of the stalk, the leaves large and round, the flower in shape seeming to compare with the Rose?  MARIUS. 
It is Hollioke, or garden Mallow, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Malowe●●  in Latin Malua hortensis, in dutch Peppel, in Italian and French, almost as in Latin.  THRA. 
What, the same that Horace taketh to so wholesome for the body? and which of Hesiodus and Martial is so highly commended?  MARIUS. 
The very same, and also which is more wonderful, in it the leaves turn about with the sun, so that it may serve in stead of a Dial, declaring by the turning of his leaves, what time of the day it is, though the sun do not shine, which the Philosophers think to be done, by the drawing of his moisture. In Africa as Pliny writeth, it cometh in seven months to be like a young tree, and serve well for a walking staff. It is sowed in October, or in the end of the summer, as also at other times, that by the coming on of Winter, it may be restrained of his high growth: it rejoiceth it rich and moist ground, and must be removed when it cometh to have four or five leaves, it groweth best when it is young: when it comes to greater, it dies in the removing. We use it both for the pot and for sallettes, the taste is better when it is not removed: you must sow it but thin for growing to rank, and in the midst of them you must lay little clods or stones, it requireth continual raking, and maketh better the ground where it grows.  THRA. 
I marvel whether you sow porcelain, sith it groweth wild abroad.  MARIUS. 

Purcelaine.  The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Latins Portulacan, with the Italians it hath the same name, in Spanish Verd●laga, in French and Dutch Porchelle, it is sowed in Gardens, and well ordered doth grow the better and spreadeth the farther, it hath a black seed growing in little green cups.  THRA. 
Bugloss that the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Latins Bugglossum, the Dutchmen Ochsenzung or Burretsth, the Frenchmen Borague, the Italians Borache, the Spaniards Boraje, Is not this it that I see here with the fair blue flower, and a stalk a foot long, and full of branches?  MARIUS. 
Bugloss is at this day with the Apothecaries called Borage, though they differ something in the flower, and in very deed they are two sundry herbs, for some call the common Borage, the lesser Bugloss, and the greater Bugloss, is thought to be that which Dioscorides calleth Circium, the true Buglose, the flowers of both sorts are used in sallettes, and in wine, because it maketh the heart meery, and therefore is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is to say, gladness, the leaves are also used in dressing of meats, it is sown about March, and once sown, it will never away, there is also a wild kind of it.  THRA. 
I pray you go forward, and tell us some thing of Straberries, which here grow with great plenty and beauty, helped as it seemeth with good ordering.  MARIUS. 
They are so, for we use to bring roots out of the woods, 
Straberrie●.  which being set and planted in the Garden, prospero exceedyngly two or three years together: and after, we either remove them again, because they wax wild, or set the wild in their places: and so have we them to yield their fruit twice in the year, in the spring, and in the end of summer. And although it groweth of itself in shadowy woods in great plenty, as if it delighted in shadow of Trees, yet being brought into the Garden, it delighteth in sonny places, and good ordering, yielding a great deal more and better fruit: it creepeth upon the ground without a stalk, with small strings coming from the root, with a white flower, and a leaf like a trefoil, indented about. The berries, which is the fruit, are red, and taste very pleasantly, the Dutchmen call them Erdbern, the Frenchemen Frese. There is an other fruit that groweth something higher, whose berry is also like the Straberie. 
Rasping  Dioscorides seemeth to call it Rubus Idaeus, the Briar of Ida, because it groweth in great abundance upon the mountain Ida. It is not full of prickles, as the other brambles are, but soft and tender, full of branches & whitish leaves, it beareth red berries, something paler than the Straberie, and very pleasant in taste. The Grecians call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Dutchmen Imberens, the Frenchmen Fram●osas.  THRA. 
What is that groweth yonder, a yard in height?  MARIUS. 
It is commonly called Licorice, 
Liquorish.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Dulcis Radix, in Italian Regolitia, in Spanish Regaliza, in French Reclisse, in dutch Clarits, or Sussholts.  THRA. 
I did not think to have found it here. I hear it groweth very plentifully about the main, I would be glad to hear how you do order it, for it hath a root for the sweetness thereof (whence it taketh his name) very commendable.  MARIUS. 
It is set of young springs of the root, as the Hoppe is, in dry light ground, and sonny.  THRA. 
What say you to small Reazyns, 
Small Reazins.  called in Latin Ribs? do you think the old writers knew this bush?  MARIUS. 
That which we call at this day Ribis, and the Dutchmen Saint john's pearl, because about Midsummer it is garnished with red & rich berries, having a tart taste, quenching thirst, chiefly, the raging and extreme thirst of fevers, and cooling the stomach, which the Appothecaries in Sugar or Honey keep all the year, is thought was unknown to the old writers: but now a common bush used for enclosing of Gardens, and making of Borders and Herbers: it will easily grow, but that it is something troublesome, by reason of his sharp prickles to be bend about summer houses.  THRA. 
You spoke even now of Hops, do you set in these your princely paradises, 
Hops.  that plant that is so common with the Country man? for about us they make great gain of it. 
Read the perfect ordering h●●●of, in m●●ster reynold Scots book of Hoppe Ga●dens.   MARIUS. 
Tell you therefore, I pray you, how they do use it.  THRA. 
It is set of the young shoots, as you told a little before of Licorice, and that in the end of summer: or if they fear a hard winter, in M●rch. The sextes or shoots are cut from the old roots, and are set in ground well covered with dung and good mould, and afterward hilled, and so suffered to remain all Winter. In the spring, the earth is stirred with Rakes, and not with Spades, and the hills raised, and the ground rid of all hurtful weeds. About May, certain poles are set up, upon which the Hoppe clymeth: all the spray that springeth above the flower, is commonly cut of. About September, or in the end of August, the flowers or bells are geathered and kept to make Beer with: when the Hops are geathered, the remains are cut down close to the ground, and the hills being again raised, are covered with dung. The tops, and the young buds that come first out in April, are used to be geathered for sallettes, and keepeth them from growing to rank. But now, I pray you go on, and return to the description of your Garden. O what excellent Melons, Pompens, Cucumbers, and Gourds have you here, I pray you tell in what sort you order them.  MARIUS. 
Melons (which some, because they are fashioned like Apples call Rome's) are of the kind of Coucumbers, and so are the Pepones which the Frenchemen call Pompions. The Cucumbers in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Coucumbers.  in Latin cucumber, in Italian Cucumero or Cedruolo, in French & Dutch Cocumbre. They change to Pompions, and Muskemillions, from which they only differ in shape and greatness: when they exceed in greatness, they become Pompions, and when they grow round, they are Mellonpompeons: all these kinds are called of some writers Melons. The Grecians call all the sorts, as well Coucumbers as Mellonpompeons, by the name of Pompions and Melons: though there are some that make a difference between Pompions and Melons, neither do the learned yet thoroughly agreed upon these means, nor can it be certainly said what kind the old writers meant by Pompions, and Melonpompeons. Pompions do creep along upon the ground with ruff leaves and a yellow flower, and are pleasant to be heaten when they be ripe. The sweetest sort of them they call Succrino, or Muskmillions. The Mellonpompeons are supposed to spring first in Campania, being fashioned like a Quince. This kind hangs not, but groweth round lying upon the ground, and being ripe, do leave the stalk. Some Cucumbers are called Citrini, of their yellowness when they be ripe, and also Citruli or Citreoli, they grow all in length, and are spotted as the Citrons are: some be called Ma●in, and be called in Italian Cucussae Marinae, the seed whereof is to be eaten before they be ripe: they are cut in pieces, and porridge made of them, not much unlike in fashion to the Melon. There is also an other kind of cucumber of a huge compass, almost as big as a bushel: the Mowers and Harvest folks in Italy, use to carry great pieces of them to the Field with them, to quench their thirst. You must set all these kinds in March, the seeds must be set thin, two foot one from an other, in watery ground well dounged and digged, specially sandy ground: you must lay them in milk, or water and honey three days, and after dry them and sow them, so shall you have them very pleasant. They will have a very sweet savour, if their seeds be kept many days among Rose leaves. Your Coucumbers shallbe long and tender, if you see under them water in a broad vessel, two handfuls under them. They delight in water so much, as if they be cut of, they will yet bend toward it, and if they hung or have any stay, they will grow crooked, as also if you set oil by them, which they greatly abhor. The flowers being suffered to grow in Pipes, do grow to a wonderful length. They love not the Winter no more than doth the Gourd, whereunto they are almost like in nature, for the flowers, the leaves, and the claspers, are like of them both: but the Gourd is more busy in climbing, 
Gourds.  so that with hasty growth, it spreadeth quickly over the Herbers and summer houses, running up by the walls, and mounting up to the very Tiles of the houses, having a great fruit of a monstrous bigness, hanging by a small stalk, in fashion like a Pear, and green in colour, although when it hath flowered, it will grow in what fashion you will have it: they say, there hath been some of them mean foot in length. The round one's also grow to be used for great vessels: the rind of the new one's, is soft and tender, but of the old one's hard, whereof when the meat is out, travailers make great bottles to carry drink in. The Gourds that are used to be eaten in summer, are sundry in shape, for some are round, some long, some broad: and though the fashion be divers, yet the nature is all one: for it is made by art to grow in what shape you will, as in the form of a creeping Dragon, or what yelist, they are called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Zuma, in Spanish Calabaz in dutch Kuirbisch, the French une courge. The seeds that the Gourd feareth next to the stalk (as Paladius saith) are longest, they in the midst round, and those that lie on the side, short, broad, and flat: if you set the sharp end of the seed downward, as Columella saith, you shall have them both greater Gourds and Coucumbers. It delighteth in a moist, rich, well dounged, and well watered ground. That which groweth without water, brings the pleasanter fruit, and that which hath water enough, needs the less looking to. The flowers where they be set, must be digged a foot and a half deep, the third part whereof must be filled with straw, and then with good rich mould: it m●st be filled to the midst, than the seeds being set, must be watered till they be sprung, and after, earth laid to them still as they grow, till the furrow be filled. They must be set thin, two foot a sunder, it cometh up in six or seven days after the setting. Those that are set in dry ground, must be very well watered, therefore they use to set by them earthen pots full of water, with rags or clouts in them to water them. When they be a little grown, they must have helps set by them to climb upon, the longer they be, the better the meat is. You must beware there come no women near where you set them, for their presence doth greatly hurt them. Those that you keep for seed, you must suffer to remain upon the stalk till Winter, and then geathering them, and dry them, either in the sun, or in the smoke, for otherwise the seed will rot and perish. They will long be preserved and continued fresh, if after they be geathered they be put into a close vessel with the le●ues of white wine, or hanged in a vessel of vinegar, so that they touch not the vinegar.  THRA. 
What means that great thistle that springeth there?  MARIUS. 
Did you never read in your Columella of the Hartichoch, 
Artichoch  specially in his verses that he written of Gardning, where he saith. 
Go set the bristled Hartichoch,  
That well with wine agrees. etc.  Athenaeus in his second book Dipnosophus out of Sophoclus, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  A thistle is the Hartichoch, that every where doth grow. It is a kind of Thistel, by the diligence of the Gardner, brought to be a good Garden herb, and in great estimation at noble men's tables: it is as you see framed with a round prickly head, having a great sort of flakes set in order steeple wise. The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Latins Strobilum, because the fruit of it something resembleth the Pineapple. The Frenchemen call it Alticocalum, of the Arabic article Albina, and Cocalos a Pineapple, whereof it is corruptly called Artichault, in Italian and Spanish Cardo, in dutch, sometime by the French name, sometime Strobirn. It is called of Columella Cinara, because in his growing, he chiefly delighteth in ashes. The seed is best sown in March, and the sets in November: if you will have it yield fruit in the Spring, you must bestow much ashes upon it, it will hardly bear the first year that it is sown. Beware that you set not the seed with the rung end upward, for so shall your Artichoch prove very little and evil favoured. It loveth good ground and well dounged, and prospereth best in fat ground. Palladius would have you moreover, to set the seeds in well ordered beds, in the increase of the Moon, half a foot a sunder, and not deep, but taking them in three of your fingers, thrust them down, till the earth come to the first joints of your fingers, then cover them tenderly, and water them often, specially toward Summer, so shall you have the bigger fruit. When they grow up, they must be continually weeded and dounged, as I said with ashes. They say, they will lose their prickles, if the tops of the seed be made blunt upon a stone before they be set: and sweet they will be, if the seed be laid in Milk. You must keep them from Moles & mice, with Cats or tame Weasels, as Ruellius teacheth you. Athenaeus calleth the stalk of the Artichoch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that lieth upon the ground, and that which standeth upright 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  THRA. 
Well, what herb is yonder same that cometh up as it were hears, with a bluish flower and pale, having in the midst of the bells, as it were, fiery yellow tongues?  MARIUS. 

Saffron.  It is Saffron, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Crocus, in Italian and French so, in Spanish Aczafran.  THRA. 
What need we care any more for either Corycum, Sicil, or Cyren, from whence we fetch it with so great charges?  MARIUS. 
Yea, there groweth great plenty of it in Germany about Spirs, and divers other places, which may compare in goodness with any other place. It is set in March of the head that it hath round, and in cloves as the lily, the Leek, and the Sea Onion. Constantine affirmeth, that it may be set of the root, as soon as the flower is of. The roots or the heads do so increase under the ground, that of one of them some year springeth eight or nine others. In many places they are removed every seventh or eight year into better ground, whereby they come again to be as good, as at the first. In the countries lying upon the Rhine, they pluck them up every third year, and lay them a drying in the sun till August, and then pulling of the outer skin, they set them again half a foot one from the other: the best heads are those that are fattest, and have little hears, the worst look rottenly and ●●fauouredly, and have an ill savour: It delighteth to grow by high ways and near springs, and to be trod and trampled on, prospering as it were by oppression: it groweth green all the Winter, it is geathered in Autumn, when it is come to his colour, by plucking out the little yellow tongues from the bell, which are afterwards dried three or four days together, and well picked and purged, and so made up in boxes: some think it best to dry it in the shadow. It is craftily counterfeited by the Apothecaries, braying it in sodde wine, which they besmear adding thereto the scum of silver or lead to increase the weight, the craft is perceived by the dustinesse thereof, and by the savour of the sodde wine. The proof of the good is, if it crackle between the hands as a brittle thing, which the counterfeit doth not, or if in putting it to your mouth, it 'cause your eyes to water. Wherefore, the best is that which is new, and hath a pleasant smell, in colour like to gold, and dieth the fingers in touching it. In March you must purge the ground where it groweth, and whether you pluck it up or not, notwithstanding, other herbs may very well grow there until August: Pursleyne, Parsley, or such like herbs do best grow there. And when the Saffron beginneth to flower, you must rid away the other herbs: for in harvest time about September or October it flowreth.  THRA. 
Here is great store of Rosemary, 
Rosemary.  the chiefest beauty of Gardens, and not to be wanted in the Kitchin.  MARIUS. 
Of the ordering of Rosemary, sith you will have me, I will speak a little. There are which suppose it to be the same which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, because it savoureth like Frankincense, in Latin it is called Rosmarinus, and in all other tongues it keepeth the name, it serveth both for pleasure and profit. Theophrastus maketh two kinds of it, a barren, and a fruitful, and is set of small slips in April: it is set by women for their pleasure, to grow in sundry proportions, as in the fashion of a Cart, a Peacock, or such like thing as they fancy. It delighteth in stony or rough ground, and in the tops is the seed enclosed in little husks white and round. It flowreth twice a year, in the spring, and in the end of summer: it is geathered from May till September, and it is good to pluck of the flow●e often, that it may not flower too much. In the higher parts of France it groweth wild in such plenty, that they use almost no other fuel: it is in cold Countries in Winter set in Sellars and hot houses, & is brought again in the spring into the Garden. But here you must beware, that when you first bring it out, you keep it from the March sun, setting it in the shadow, acquainting it by little and little with the air: some use to house it with straw and horse dung, and so leave it in the Garden. Sauge, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Sauge,  in Latin Saluia, and like in other languages, is an herb common in every Garden: it is planted both of the seed and the slip in March, in any kind of ground, it maketh no matter where: the gardeners use to lay bucking ashes about it, whereby it prospereth the better. Next to Sauge is Mint, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
M●ntes.  in Latin Menta, in Dutch Myntz, in Italian and French, after the Latin, in Spanish Yerua buena: it is planted and ordered in all thing as Sauge is, it prospereth both in dry, and wet grounds, and groweth well by waters. If you lack seeds, you may take the seed of the wild Mint, and set them with the tops downward, whereby they shall leave their rankness, and being once sown or set, groweth every year. 
Pimpe●n●l.  pimpernel, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Pimpinella, is used both in the Kitchen, and in Physic, and being once sown, groweth every year both in sonny places, and in shaddowy: it groweth in most places wild. Hyssop, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Hyssop.  in Latin Hyssopus, and so called in mo●● tongues in Europe, a common herb known to every Gardener: it desireth, though no sonny ground, yet good and rich ground, it is planted both of the seed and the slip: when it hath once taken root, it careth not for the sharpness of Winter. 
Savoury.  savoury in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Satureia, or as Columella saith, Cunila, in Italian Coniella, Savoreggia, Thymbre, in French Savoreje, in dutch Kwel Zwibel hisop, groweth in barren places, and is set and sowed as the plants before. The next is that which commonly is called basil, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Ocymum, in French, Italian, and dutch, Basilica: 
Basyl.  an herb that is used to be set in the midst of knots, and in windows, for the excellent savour that it hath: it is also good for the pot, it is sowed in March and April, and delighteth in sonny ground, you must put two seeds still together. Basyl is best watered at noon, whereas all other herbs are to be watered in the morning and in the evening, it may be removed in May. Theophrastus saith, that it prospereth best, when it is sowed with curses. Marierum, 
Marierum.  in Latin Amaracus, and Maiorana, is also in like sort used, the dutch and the Italians call it after the Latin, the Spaniards Amoredeux, the French Mariolaine and Thine, in Greek of Dioscorides and Paulus Aegineta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, this also for the pleasant savour it hath, is set in pots and in Gardens: it is sowed in March three or four seeds together, & half a foot a sunder, in May when it groweth to some height as Basyl, it is removed. Time near of kindred to these, 
Time.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in French, Italian, and dutch, like the Latin, in Spanish Tomillo, delighteth in stony, light, and sonny ground: it springeth both of the seed and of the slip, and also of the flower as Theophrastus saith. These three tender and delicate herbs, are to be sowed with great heed, either in earthen pots, or in garden beds. Hitherto have I described unto you, such herbs as serve for the Kitchen, and because the latter sorts are also esteemed for the savours, I will go forward with the description of the rest that are set in Gardens for the pleasure of them, and for the savour, do garnish the said Gardens, and serve also for other purposes. Of Rosemary, I spoke before, I will now proceed with these that grow before my feet. Lavender, called in Latin Lavanda, 
Lavender.  or Lavendula, that groweth in borders about the beds, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. and keepeth the Latin name in other tongues, doth grow in wild places and stony: it is set of the slips, & removed, it groweth to Spike in june, and in july is geathered and tied in bundles for the savour, the flower is distilled for sweet waters. Flowregentle, in Latin Amaranthus, 
●lowregen●le.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, though it have no savour at all, yet hath it a delightful beauty to the eye, the Frenchemen for the fairness of the colour, excelling both crimson and purple in grain, do call it Passevelleurs, the Italians Fioruelu●o, because it contendeth in colour with crimson in grain, it loveth to be often geathered and plucked, whereby it springeth the better, the flowers after they be dead, with a little water come again to their colour: it is called Amaranthus, because it dieth not.  THRA. 

Lauendercott●n.  Here followeth Lavendercotten.  MARIUS. 
This Lavendercotten, in Greek is called as Pliny supposeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as it were the little Cypress, some call it Santonia, & female Sothernewood, in Dutch it is called Cypressen, in French Cyprez, it groweth commonly in Gardens, springing every year. Myrtel, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Myrtus, in Italian Myrto, in Spanish Araihan, in French Meinte, 
My●t●l.  in Dutch Welsch●heidelberr, the leaves are not much unlike to the leaves of the Olive tree, something smaller, with slender branches, and leaves growing in order one by another as you see, with black berries, and leaved like the Pomegranate. It groweth always green, it is set and sowed both of the seed, the slip, and the stock: but you must still raise up the earth about it, till it be thoroughly rooted. Some sow the berries being a little beaten, and covered in Furrows of ●arth: it delighteth in continual weeding, so groweth it to a handsome height, meet to shadow Herbers: it loveth to be watered with the urine of men, or of sheep. This only is to be wondered at, that of the liquor thereof alone, may be made all sorts of wine and oil. Cato teacheth to make wine of the berries, being dried, and put in water & honey sodden together: if they be not dried, they come to oil, how the wine of them is made, Dioscorides sufficiently declareth. Pliny reporteth, that Cato made three sorts of Myrtels, white, black, and a third kind that he calleth coni●gale: it delighteth to grow by the Sea banks, as Servius saith, it groweth at this day commonly in Italy, along by the Sea coasts.  THRA. 
O what sweet and goodly Gelyflowres are here:? 
Gilyfloures.  You may truly say, that Solomon in all his princely pomp, was never able to attain to this beauty: some of them glitter with a perfect crimson dye, some with a deep purple, and some with a passing beautiful carnation: I marvel the old writers knew nothing of these in their time.  MARIUS. 
There are some that suppose to be a kind of Garden Betony, which the Gardener feiching out of the field, and thrusting Cloves into the roots of them, with diligent planting have brought to this excellency: others think it to be called Vetonica of the Spaniards, who first found it. Some think it to be O●nanthe, because it flowreth with the vine: it delighteth in warm sonny ground, it is sowed seldom of seed, but commonly set of the slips, as I said of Rosemary. The Gardeners in the end of Summer, do take the roots, and set them in pans, pots, or payles, and when the frosts come, they carry them into their sellers, and in fair warm days bring them abroad again, and suffer them to be now or then watered with the rain. It hath been often seen, that in such vaults or sellers, they have flowered all the Winter long, through warmness of the place: some set bows about them, and cover them with straw and horse dung, to preserve them against the cold: it often happeneth, that one root beareth one year white flower and red, & the third speckled or Carnation.  THRA. 
Lo, yonder are Roses growing in borders, and made in a maze: do they grow of the seed, or of the set?  MARIUS. 
Roses, 
Roses.  called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Ros●, and in all other languages as in Latin, are diversly planted, sometime of the roots, sometime of the branches, being cut in small sets, and planted a foot a sunder. Some wreath them in Garlands, and so set them to have them smell the pleasanter. The use of sowing of them is best: how be it, they will very well grow of the seed, though it be long ear they spring, & therefore they set them of sets a foot in length: i● neither delighteth in rich or moist ground, b●t is well contented to grow amongst rubbish, and under walls. The places where they must grow●, must be digged deeper than come ground, and not so deep as the Uineyard: the Rose is rather a thorn then a plant, and groweth upon the very brambles: it cometh first out in a little bud & long sharp beard, which after they be opened, it discloseth itself and spreadeth abroad, with a yellow hairy tusk in the midst. Pliny maketh mention of sundry sorts of them: one sort he calleth Milesia, having an orient and fiery colour, an other Alabandica, with white leaves, and S●erm●nia, the basest sort of all: the damasse and the white, are used for sweet waters: they differ in roufnesse, pricles, colour, and smell. There are that have but only five leaves, and others with an hundred leaves, neither good in beauty, nor in smell: the roufnesse of the rind (as Pliny saith) is a sign of the savour. There are some little pale one's called Carnation & Provincers, 
Musk●●ses.  these do wonderfully grow where they once are planted, and have a most excellent savour. R●ses are used to be set in February, which is either done with the seed, or the set planted in little furrows. The seeds (as ●a●adius saith) are not the little yellow things in the ●●ddest of the Rose, but the grains that grow within the red riped berry: the ripeness whereof is deemed by the sworthinesse and the softness of the berry: where they once are planted, they continued long, and after they die, they send ou● new buds and springs. If you lack sets, and would of a few have a great number, take the branches that begin as it were to show their buds, and cutting them in sundry sets, four or five singers in length, set them in good ground well dounged and watered: and when they be of a years growth, take them up, and set them a fo●te a sunder, prune them and trim them with often digging about them. Roses must still be cut, for the more you cut them, the thicker and the doubbler they grow, otherwise they will wear single and wild, it will also do them good sometime to burn them: being removed, it springeth very soon and well, being set of sets four fingers long or more, after the setting of ● seven stars, and after removed in a westerly wind, and set a foot a sunder, and often digged. The old Rosyars must have the earth loosed about them in February, and the dead twigs cut of, and where they wax thin, they must be repaired with the young springs. To have Roses of five sundry colours upon one root, make when they begin to burgeon, a fine hole beneath in the stock under the joint, and fill it with red colour made of Brasell sodde in water, and thrust it in with a clout, and in the like sort put into an other part of the stock green colour, and in an other yellow, and what other colours you will, and cover the holes well with Ox dung and Loam, or very good earth. If you will have your Roses bear betimes, make a little trench two hand breadthes of round about it, and power in hot water twice aday, and thus doing (as Democri●us promises) you shall have Roses in januarie. You may preserve Roses before they open, if making a slit in a Reed, you enclose the blossom, and when you would have fresh Roses, take them out of the Reeds: others put them in earthen pots close covered, and set them abroad: the Roses continued always fresh that are dipped in the dregs of Oil. If you will have them at all times, you must set them every month, and dung them, and so (as Didymus saith) you shall have them continually. To 'cause them, or any other flowers to grow double, put two or three of the seeds in a Wheat straw, and so lay them in the ground. If you set Garlic by your Roses, they willbe the sweeter: the drier the ground is where they grow, the sweeter they will be, as it appeareth by the season of the year, for some years they are sweeter than others: the Rose willbe white, that is smokte in with brimstone, when it beginneth to even: amongst all Roses, those are most to be commended, that they call Carnations and Provincials. The oil of Roses was greatly had in estimation even in Homer his time, and at this day the vinegar of Roses is greatly used. Next unto the Rose in worthiness, for his savour and beautiful whiteness is the lily, 
lilies.  called in Gre●ke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Giglio, in Spanish Tirio, in French Fleur de Lis, in Dutch Lilien. The Greckes hold opinion, that it sprung first of junos' milk sprinkled upon the ground. In February we begin to set lilies, or if they grew before, to lose the earth about them with a rake, taking good heed that the young tender shoots about the root be not hurt, nor the little head: which taken from the old root, we set for new lilies. As the Roses are, so are the lilies, the sweeter, the drier the ground is where they grow: lilies and Roses being once set, continued both very long. There are red lilies made so by art, for they take the stalks and roots of the lily, and hung them in the smoke till they wither, and when the knots begin to uncover, they are laid in March in the lees of red wine, till they be coloured, and then set in the ground with the lees powered about them, so will they come to be purple. Violet in Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Viola. 
Violets.  Violet black, and Violet purple, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian it is called Viola porporta, in Spanish Violetta, in French Violets de Marts & Caresme, in dutch Fiolen: these although they grow wild about every Hedge and Wall, yet are they set in Gardens with other flowers. There are sundry sorts of Violets, both of kind and colour, but the ordering of them is in a manner all one.  THRA. 
I have now herded enough of Kitchen herbs and flowers, therefore now, I pray you, let me hear you say something of the third sort, that is Physic herbs, for me seemeth I see a great sort of healing herbs here in your Garden.  MARIUS. 
Nature hath appointed remedies in a readiness for all diseases, 
It is but the opinion of a Gardne.  but the craft and subtlety of man for gain, hath devised Apothecaries shops, in which a man's life is to be sold and bought, where for a little bile, they fetch their medicines from Jerusalem, and out of Turkey, while in the mean time every poor man hath the right remedies growing in his Garden: for if men would make their Gardens their Physicians, the physicians craft would soon decay. You know what your old friend Cato saith, and what a deal of Physic he fetcheth out of a poor Colwoort.  THRA. 
I do remember it, and that he saith he was wont both to help himself, and his whole family, with the herbs of his Garden. But what herb is yonder with the long stalk, and the long black indented leaves on the top? if I be not deceived it is Bearfoote, with whose root we use to heal our cattle when they be sick.  MARIUS. 
It is so in deed, and is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Berfoote, or Setterwort.  in Latin Veratrum, there are two kinds of it, the black and the white: the white, is that which the Dutchmen call Nyswurts' wranckrau●, the black they call Kristwurts, because it flowreth about Christmas, the Italians, the Spaniards, and the Frenchmen keep the Greek name. The root of this Bearfoote they thrust through the ear, or into the breast of the beast, that is either diseased in his lungs, or hath the murrain. Columella seemeth to call it Consiligo, it groweth not in Gardens, except it be sowed: it continueth long, and loveth cold and woody ground. There stands not far from that, an other very noble herb in Physic called Angelica, 
Angellic●  it is supposed to be called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and whether it be Myrrhis with the Latins or no. I leave that to the Physicians to discuss: it is called with the Italians, Spaniards, Frenchmen, and Germans Angelica. His root, because it is a sovereign remedy against the plague, and hath divers other good operations, it is cherished in our Gardens, and being once sowed, it cometh up every year, it groweth also wild in the mountain country, and flowreth in july and August. Here is also Helicampane, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Enula, in Italian Enela, in Spanish Enula campana, 
Helecompany.  in French Aulne, in Dutch Alan●, this also is set in our Gardens for medicines sake, & we make much of it for the root: it groweth wild in hilly Countries, and dry shaddowy places. In Summer the root is taken out of the ground, and cut in small pieces, is dried: at this day it is called Enula campana, it hath a yellow flower, a leaf like Mullin, but white and hoary at the one side. Wormwood, though it grow in every place, 
wormwood.  yet this that you see here is Roman or Pontic Wormwood, the Latins call it Cerephium, or A●sinthium Romanum, the Dutchmen Romische wermut, the Italians Assenso, the Spaniards Encensos', the Frenchmen Aluine and Absince, this kind is set in our Gardens, and thought to be the best. savin which we have here also in our Gardens, for divers diseases of cattle, is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Sabina, 
savin.  in dutch Sevenboun, in Italian as in Latin, in Spanish likewise, in French Savinier, it hath leaves like juniper or Cypress, always green, there are two kinds of it, one like the Tamariske, the other like Cypress: it is a bush rather spreading in breadth, then growing in height: the berries which he beareth, may be geathered in the end of Summer, or any other tyme.  THRA. 
But many times we see Gardens to be destroyed with worms and vermin, what remedy have you for this?  MARIUS. 
Of the faults of the ground, and the remedy thereof, as the amending of either too much moisture or dryness, I spoke in the beginning, touching Worms, Flies, and other vermin that annoy the Gardens, which for the most part are these, Caterpillars, Snails, Moles, mice, Gnats, and Ants. 
Against Caterpillars.  There are that say, that if you mingle with your seeds Soot, or the ●yce of Houseleek, or Singreene, the Caterpillars will not meddle with the herb that springeth of such seed, and that they will do no harm to your trees, if you sprinkle them with the water wherein the ashes of vines hath been laid: moreover, the stalks of Garlic made in bundles, and burned in Orchards or Gardens, destroyeth the Caterpillars. They will not breed (as they say) if you burn about the roots of your herbs or trees, quick brimstone and lime: the same they report of lie made of the Fig tree. Aunt's will not annoyed your corn or herbs, if you encompass it round with chalk, or put into their hills, the ashes of burned Snails, and if some of them be taken and burned, the rest will not come near the savour: if Assa foetida be laid in oil, and powered upon their hills, it utterly destroyeth them: they will not touch the trees nor the herbs, if you anoint the stalks with bitter lupines, or lime laid with oil. You must shake of the Caterpillars in the morning, or late in the evening when they he numbed: also water wherein Dyl hath been sodden, cast about in the Orchard when it is cold, destroyeth them. It is written, that if you set Chiches about your Garden, Caterpillars will not breed, and if they be already bred, you must seeth the juice of Wormwood, and cast among them. The dung of Bullocks burned upon the coals, destroyeth gnats, 
gnats.  the like also doth brimstone: a Sponge wet with vinegar and hanged up, draweth also swarms of gnats unto it: also the maw of a Sheep new killed, not washed nor made clean, if it be laid in the place where Mot●●as, or other such vermin do use, and covered a little the upper part, you shall after two days, find all the noisome vermin crept into it: thus must you do twice or thrice, 
Moles.  till you think you have destroyed them all. Of killing and driving away Moles, Sotion the Greek writeth, that you must take a Nut, or any like fruit, and making it hollow within, fill it up with Chaff, Rosen, and Brimstone, afterward stop the vent holes that the Mole hath in every place, that the smoke break not out, only leaving one open, where you shall lay the Nut, in such sort as it may receive the wind on the back part, that may drive the smoke into the mines. There are also traps to be made, for the destroying of Moles: a frame is to be set up upon the new hills, with a piece of wood so hollow and framed, that it may receive (as it were in a sheath) an other piece of wood made in fashion like a knife, to this is joined an other little stick that lieth in the hole, and is fastened to a catch without, that as soon as the Mole toucheth the stick within, she is taken presently, as it were with a pair of shears. mice are taken, 
mice.  if you power into a platter, the thickest mother of oil, and set in the house a night, as many as come at it, are taken: also the root of Bearfoote mingled with cheese, bread, flower, or grease, killeth them. Tart and very sharp vinegar mingled with the juice of Henbane, and sprinkled upon the herbs, killeth the Fleaes, 
Garden Fleas.  or little black worms that be in them. No kind of vermin will annoyed your herbs, if you take a good sort of Crefyshes, and cast them in an earthen vessel with water, suffering them to work abroad in the Sun for the space of ten days, and after with their liquor, sprinkle your herbs. But I keep yo● to long in this ill-favoured Garden, if it please you we will walk into the Orchard adjoining.  THRA. 

Of Orchards.  With a very good will, although the goodly fair colour and sweet savour of these herbs and flowers, beside the fair headges enclosing it as it were with a gorgeous green tapestry, make me that I could abide here ever.  MARIUS. 
Both the Garden and the Orchard are enclosed with several hedges and ditches, whereby they are defended from hurtful beasts and unruly folks (as I told you at the first) when I began to speak of the enclosing of Gardens and Orchards.  THRA. 
Every thing liketh me passing well: Good Lord what a pleasant ground, what a Paradise is this? me thinks I see the Orchards of Alcinous, the trees are set checkerwise, and so catred, as look which way you will, they lie level: King Cyrus himself never had better. If Lysander had ever seen this Orchard, he would have wondered a great deal more, than he did at Cyrus his Orchard.  MARIUS. 
Such gorgeous Gardens and Orchards as Princes have, I neither desire, nor mean to counterfeit: but using the diligence of a poor Country Gardner, I build (as they say) my walls according to my wealth. I framed the order, and set the most part of these trees with mine own hands, following herein, the Fathers of the old time, who delighted themselves chiefly with this kind of Philosophy. So then (as I think) the Trees and Woods to be the greatest commodity given to men: for besides the house pleasure that they minister unto us, the gracious Lord, that is the giver of all good things, hath also given us a number of other goodly commodities by them, which at the first served men for food, covering, & clothing: which commodities, the very Ethnics had in estimation. But unto us that know God, by whom we have received our pre-eminence above all other creatures, which benefit we aught with thanks to acknowledge, the holy Scripture doth teach a more higher and mystical consideration: for before that gracious Lord had framed man, willing to provide him of food and apparel▪ he caused all kind of pleasant trees bearing fruit to spring out of the earth, that they might serve for the sustenance of man: and in the midst lie planted the Tree of life, and there buy, the Tree of knowledge of good and evil, to the end that Adam might have an assured sign of his duty and reverence towards GOD, out of which the Lord (as in a Temple did speak unto Adam) and Adam himself, if the continued in his innocency after his refection of the Tree of life, had with his posterity preached God, and always been thankful unto him, for his authority given unto him over all other Creatures, as the Prophetical Pslamist singeth. This that thorough the bountiful liberality of GOD, was given us to so good an end, the ungodly and wicked posterity turned to idolatry, consecrating both Trees and Groves, to the idols of the Heathen.  THRA. 
What? me thinks you begin to play the Preacher with me.  MARIUS. 
Surely, there is no better a place to preach in then here, to acknowledge the Creator in his Creatures, and by these visible works, to behold the Almighty and everlasting power, blessedness, bountifulness, and Godhead, of the incomprehensible workman, and always to speak & preach of them: but I will say more hereafter. The planting of trees doth out of all doubt (as I said) bring unto us both profit and pleasure: and therefore this part of husbandry, must not be neglected, for Columella accounts it one of the chiefest points of husbandry, which the Poet seems to agreed unto. 
Of tillage all this while, and of the stars  
We here have talked.  
And Bacchus now of thee I mean to sing etc.   THRA. 
I pray you then declare unto me, the order of planting and preserving of Trees.  MARIUS. 
Let us first sit down under the shadow of this fair vine, that yieldeth both pleasant wine, and comfortable shadow.  THRA. 
Agreed.  MARIUS. 
The sorts of trees are divers and manifold: some grow wild, some come of the seed, some of the root, as the self same Poet saith, 
Some sorts there are, that of the seed are sown,  
And some that set of roots, to seeds are grown.  Some do grow & spring of themselves: a number of others again are to be sown. Those that grow wild without the labour of man, do bear their seeds each one according to his kind: but those that are set and dressed, do yield greater increase. There are divers again that are always green, and do never lose their leaf, which are (as Constantine rpeorteth) these, the Date, the Orange, the Lemon, the citron, the Bay, the olive, the Cypress, the Pine, the Holly, the Box, Myrtel, Cedar, and juniper. As for strange trees, and those that will grow no where but at home, we will not meddle withal: we will therefore begin first with those that yield us sustenance, and bear fruit, and those are divided into three sorts: for either of the sets they come to be trees as the olive is, or else shrubs as the wild Date, or neither tree nor shrub as the vine.  THRA. 
I desire to here your opinion of every sort, for I think it no small skill to plant such fair Gardens, Orchards, and Uineyards. Me thinks you have used a wonderful good order, that amongst your vines, you have intermeddled olive trees, Fig trees, Almonds, & Abrecocts, and that you have severed your Orchard from your Garden, and your Uineyard from them both, with fair hedges and ditches.  MARIUS. 
It was needful so to do, lest my folks labouring in some of them, should come into the rest, contrary to my pleasure. first if you will, I will speak of those that bring us fruit, and then of the ●●l●e, and the order of setting and planting of Woods. first (as your Columella saith) that ground that serveth for an Orchard, will serve for a Uineyard, as you see it doth here: and if the ground be h●●ly, rugged, and uneven, it is more meet for a Uineyard then for an Orchard. If therefore you will make an Orchard, 
How to 〈…〉.  you must choose such a ground as is meet for it: a rich ground, level, and lying upon the Sun, which when you have found, you must well enclose it, as I taught you before in the enclosure of Gardens, that it may lie out of danger of cattle and knaves: for although that the trampling, and dounging of cattle, is not unprofitable to the trees, yet if they be either bruised, or broken while they be young, they will soon come to naught. When you mean to dress your Orchard place thus fenced, you shall make your furrows a year before you plant them, so shall they be well seasoned with the sun and the rain: and what so ever you plant, shall the sooner take. But if you will needs plant the same year, that you make your furrows, let the furrows be made at lest two months before: after, fill them full of straw, and set it on fire. The broader and the wider that you make your furrows, the fairer and more fruitful will your trees be, and the fruit the better. Your furrow must be made like an Oven, or Furnace, wider at the bottom then above, that the root may spread the better, and the cold in Winter, and the heat in Summer, may the better be kept from it, and also in steep grounds, the earth shall not so easily be washed away. In setting of your fruit trees and vines, you must place them in order, either Checkerwyse, or Netwyse: which needful order of setting, is not only profitable by receiving the air, but also very beautiful to the eye: when as, which way so ever you look, you shall see them stand in rank, and which also is to good purpose, the trees shall equally receive their moisture from the ground.  THRA. 
I see the Gardeners in every place observe this order, setting their trees in such proportion, as which way so ever you look, your eye shall not be let, but shall see the trees stand straight in order.  MARIUS. 
I have used two sorts of this catred order, one wherein my trees stand four square like the Chequer or Chesseboorde: the other not in square as the first, but losing-wyse or Diamond wise like the Glass windows or Nets. You must frame it according to the nature of the trees, jest the lower sort be drowned of the higher. You must also set them a good distance a sunder, that their branches may spread at pleasure, for if you set them to thick, you shall be able to sow nothing betwixt them, and they will be the less fruitful. Therefore Paladius would have the space betwixt them, thirty foot at the lest: there is more profit in the general disposing of them, intermeddling the greater with the lesser, so as the great one's do not annoyed their underlings, 
Dropping of tr●●●.  either with their shadow or dropping, for that they grow not equal to them in strength or bigness. Pomegranates and Myrtels must be sowed nearer together, as mean foot a sunder, Apples nearer than they, and Pears nearer than them both, but of them there are sundry sorts, Almonds and Fig trees, must also be set nearer. And because there is a natural friendship and jove betwixt certain trees, 
Friendship amongst ●●ees.  you must set them the nearer together, as the vine and the olive, the Pomegranate and the myrtle. On the other side, you must set far a sunder, such as have mutual hatred among them, as the vine with the Filberde & the Bay. There are some of them, that desire to stand two and two together as the Chestnut: the dropings also do great hurt of all sorts, but specially the dropings of Okes, Pinetrees, and Mastholmes. 
Shadows of trees.  Moreover, the shadows of divers of them are hurtful, as of the Walnut tree, whose shadow is unwholesome for men, and Pine tree that killeth young springs: yet they both resist the wind, and therefore are best to be set in the outer sides of the Orchards, as hereafter shallbe said. Of the place, and the order, perhaps you think I have said enough, and look that I should proceed to the order of planting and setting.  THRA. 

Time of planting.  What t●m● is the best for planting and setting of trees.  MARIUS. 
The chiefest time of planting (as Florentine saith) is the end of Summer, for the● is nature most occupied about the root, is in the spring about the upper parts: and therefore graf●yng is merest in the Spring, and setting in the end of Summer: 
Time for gr●f●ing.  for the plants are watered all the Winter, and therefore it is be●t sorting or planting, from the setting of the seven stars, 〈◊〉 the twelft of December. In the spring time, you may set those things that you forgot before, at what season so ever it b●: look that you set them in the afternoon, in a fair westerly wind, westerly wind, & in the wane of the Moon. Pliny saith, 
The observation of the Moon.  that this note is of great importance for the increase of the tree, & goodnessee of the fruit: if the tree be planted in the increase of the Moon, it groweth to be very great: but if it be in the wane, it will be smaler, yet a great deal more lasting.  THRA. 
But are there more ways than one of planting and setting?  MARIUS. 
A great sort: 
The kinds of planting and graffing of tree●.  we plant either by graffing, setting of the kernel, or the stone, setting the roots, stocks, or slips, grafting betwixt the bark and the tree: some are planted in some of these sorts, others in all. In Babylon (as they say) only the leaf set, comes to be a tree, first I will speak of graffing, 
Three kinds of graffing.  and then of the rest. There are that appoint but three kinds of graffing, betwixt the bark and the wood, in the stock, and emplastring, or inoculation. The first for they call grafting, the second imbranching, the third inoculation, or imbudding. Such trees as have thickest barks, 
What trees are best to be graffed betwixt the bark and the wood.  and draw most sap from the ground, are best graffed betwixt the bark and the wood, as the Fig, the Cherry, and the olive: those that have thin rinds, & content themselves with less moisture, as if the sap leaving the bark, should gather itself to the heart, as the Orange tree, the Apple tree, the vine, & divers others, in these it is best to open the stock, and graff in the wood. 
What tre●● agreed best together.  Some trees are also best graffed upon other some, the Fig that prospereth best upon the Mulberry stock, and the Plane tree: the Mulberry upon the Chestnut, and the Beech, the Apple, the Pear, the Eline, and the white Poplar, wherein if you graff, you shall have your Mulberries white: upon the same stock are graffed the Pear, the Quince, the Medlar, and the Seruisse: the Pear upon the Pomegranate, the Apple, the Quince, 
To have red Pears and Apples.  the Mulberry, and the Almon. If you gra●●e your Pear upon a Mulberry, you shall have red Pears: the Apple is graffed upon all Pear stocks, and Crabbe sets, willow, and Poplar: being graffed upon the Quince, it bringeth forth the fruit which the Greeks call Melimela: it is also graffed upon the Plomtree, but being graffed upon the Plane tree, it bringeth forth red Apples. The Medlar being graffed upon the Thorn, the graft groweth to great bigness, but the stock continues small: upon the Pine tree, it bringeth a sweet fruit, but not lasting. The peach graffed in the Thorn, 
A peach ●ith an Almond in it.  or the Beech, groweth to be very fair, and great: the Almond and the peach being joined together, and graffed in the plum-tree, will bear a peach with an Almond in the stone. The filbert will only be graffed in the Wylding, not agreeing with any other. The Pomegranate delighteth in divers stocks, as in the willow, the Bay, the Ash, the Damson, the Plome, and the Almond, upon all which he prospereth well. The Damson groweth very well upon any kind of wild Pear, Quince, and Apple: The Chestnut liketh well the Walnut and the Beech. The Cherry refuseth not the company of the peach, nor the Turpentine, nor they his: the Quince will well be graffed upon the Barbery: the myrtle upon the Sallow: the Plome upon the Damson: the Almond upon the filbert: the citron, because of his tender tree, and thin rind, will scarcely bear any other graff, and therefore contents himself with his own branch. The vine that is graffed upon the Cherry tree (as Florentinus promises) will bear Grapes, and graffed upon the olive, will bring forth a fruit, that bearing the name of both his parents, is called El●o●laphylos. 
olive grape  In fine, all young trees that have sap in the bark may be graffed: if it be greater, it is best graffing near the root, where both the bark and the wood, by the reason of the dearness of the ground are full of sap. He then that will grafted either in the stock, or betwixt the stock and the rind, let him gather his graffs from a fruitful tender tree, and full of joints, 
The choice o● gra●●ing.  and out of the new spring, except he mean to graff an old tree, when as the sturoyer the graffs be, the better they are, otherwise the last shoots of such trees as have lately born will be the best. You must gather them on that side the tree that lieth upon the North, others like better the East side then the shaddowy. Virgil forbiddeth those that grow upon the top, thinking them better that grows out of the side. To be short, your graffs must be full of buds lately grown out, smooth, the rind smooth, good, and ready to grow: they must be of the last years growth, 
The knots  which is known by the knots or joints, that declare every years growth: beside, graffs of all trees are not to be geathered alike: for vines and Fig trees are dryest in the middle parts, and take best of the top, and therefore from thence you must gather your graffs: olives are fullest of sap i● the midst, and the outer parts dryest. Those best agreed together, whose rinds are nearest of nature, and do blossom, and bear both about a tyme. You must gather your graffs in the wane of the Moon, ten days before you graff them. Constantine addeth this reason, that it is need the graff do a little wither, that he may the better be received of the stock. 
The time for graffing.  You must appoint your graffing time in the spring, from March, when as the buds do begin to burgeon, but not come out (although you may graff the Pear when his leaves be out) until May: for graffing in rain is profitable, but not for imbranching. The olive, whose springs do longest bud, and have much sap under the bark, the abundance whereof doth hurt the graff, must be graffed (as Florentine saith) from May, till june. Columella would have the olive graffed from the twelfth of March, till the first, or sixth of April, and the time of graffing, to be the Moon increasing, in the after noon, when there bloweth no South wind. When you have found a good graff, take your knife (being very sharp) and pare it about a three fingers from the joint downward, 
The manner of graffing.  so much as shall be meet to be set in the stock: that part that is under the joint (not perishing the pith) you must cut with your knife, as if you should make a pen, so as the wood with the wood, and the bark with the bark, may join together, as just as may be. Which being done, if you mean to graff in the stock, you must first saw it smooth, and then cleave it in the midst with a sharp knife, about three fingers: and to the end you may handsomely put in your graff, you must have a little wedge of wood or iron, (Pliny thinks it better of bone) which wedg● (when you will graff between the rind and the stock) must be made flat on the one side, and round on the other, and the graff must be pared also flat on that side that must stand next the wood, taking always good heed that the pith be not perished: the other part must only have the rind pulled of, which after you must set in the cleft, or betwixt the bark, till you see all parts agreed together. Some do cut the point of their graff three square, so as two sides are bore, and the other covered with his bark: and in that sort they use to graff in a stock one against another, but it is thought best to graff no more but one. When you have thus set in your graff in the stock, pluck out the wedge: but here is a great carefulness, and heed to be used. And therefore, good grafters think it best to hold the graff even with both hands, lest in the binding and pulling out of the wedge, the graff be hurt, or stand uneven. For avoiding of which, some use for to bind the stock about, and after to put in the wedge, the bands keeping it from opening to wide. The harder they be set in, the longer will they be ear they bear, but will endure the better: you must take heed therefore, that the cleft be not to slack nor to straight. When you have thus graffed, bind the stock with a twig, and cover it with loam, well tempered with Chaff, two fingers thickness, and (putting Moss round about it) tie it up so, that there come no rain at it, nor be hurt with the Sun or the Wind. This is the order both in the old time, and at this day used: though in Columellas time (as it appeareth) they were not wont to graff, but only betwixt the bark and the wood, for the old people (as Pliny writeth) dared not as yet meddle with clea●yng of the stock: at length they presumed to make holes, and graff in the pith, and so at last waxed bold to cleave the stock. Cato would have the stock covered with Clay & Chalk, mingled with Sand, and Oxedoung, and so made in mortar. Sometime they graff with the top of the graft downward, and they do it to make a little tree spread in breadth. It is best graffing next the ground, if the knots and the stock will suffer: and pliny would have the graff grow forth not above six fingers. If you will graff a little tree, cut it near the ground, so as it be a foot and a half high. If you would carry your grafts far, 
To keep your graffs.  they will longest keep their sap, if they be thrust into the root of a Rape: and that they will be preserved if they lie betwixt two little guts running out of some River, or Fishpond, and be well covered with earth.  THRA. 
I do now greatly desire to hear you say something of emplast●ing or inoculation, 
Of empl●st●●ng and inoculation.  that is, in graffing with the bud or the leaf, which you call in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ● which kind of graffing, I see those that are given to new fashion's delight much in.  MARIUS. 
This is no new manner of graffing, but we find that it was used both of the Latins, and of the Greeks, when taking of a leaf or little bud, with some part of the rind with him, we graff it into an other branch, from which we have taken as much bark. This order (Columella says) the husbands in his days were wont to call emplastring, or moculation: and before Columellas days, Theophrastus in his book the causes plantarum, doth show the reason of inoculation. Pliny doth say, it was first learned of Daws, hiding of seeds in caves and holes of trees. This kind of graffing as Columella doth write, and our Gardeners themselves confess, is best to be used in summer, about the twelft of june: yet Didymus saith, he hath graffed in this manner, and hath had good increase with it in the spring time. And sith it is the daintiest kind of graffing, it is not to be used in all trees, but alonely in such as have a strong, a moist, and a sappy rin●e, as the olive, the peach, and the Fig, which are full of Milk, and have a big bark. Of that tree that you mean to graff, choose the youngest and the fairest branches you can, and in them take the bud that is likeliest to grow, and mark it round about two inches square, so as the bud stand even in the midst, and then with a sharp knife cut it round about, and flaw of the rind, taking good heed you hurt not the bud, and take out the piece. Afterwards, go to the tree that you mean to graff on, and choose likewise the fairest branch, and pair away the rind a little space, & join in your bud so just, as the rinds may agreed together so close, as neither water nor wind may enter in. You must look that you hurt not the wood, and that the rinds be of one thickness. When you have this done, bind it up, so as you hurt not the bud: then clay it over all, leaving liberty enough for the bud. Cut of all the spring that grows about it, that there be nothing left to draw away the sap, but that it may only serve the graff: after one and twenty days unlose it, and take of your covering, and you shall see your bud incorporated in the branch of a strange tree. Columella speaketh of an other sort of graffing, to bore a hole in a tree with an Augur, 
W●●rble graffing.  either to the pith, or the uttermost rind, going something sloapewyse downward, and getting out all the chips clean, take a vine, or an arm of the best U●ne, not cut from his old mother, and paring away the outer rind, thrust it fast into the hole being all moist & full of sap, leaving a bud or two only upon it: afterward, stop the hole well with Moss and Clay, and commit it to the earth. In this sort may you graff vines upon Elms, so shall the branch live being both nourished by his old mother, and his new father. Two year after, you shall cut of the new graffed branch, and the stock wherein you graffed, you shall saw of a little above the bory●g, so shall the graff become the chiefest part of the plant. The like do our country men, taking a branch of a Beech a foot thick: and when they have cut it and bored it, they set in it the branches of the best Pear or Apple that they can get, setting the same in a very wet ground in March, and in the same month the year after taking up the Beech, they cut it a sunder with a Saw betwixt the holes & the branches: and every piece of stock with his branch, they set in very rich and fruitful ground. There are some that brag of ●n other kind of graffing, not much unlike to the former, whereof notwithstanding. A●rican in Constantine maketh mention, as tried in a peach. They will a man to take the branch of a willow as big as your arm, 
 & two cubits in length or more: this they would have you to bore through the mids, and after sl●pping of the branches of a peach as he stands, l●●●ing only the top untouched, they would have you to make the Pe●c●e pass through the willow bat, and that done, to bow the willow like a bow, se●ting both his ends into the earth, and so to bind up the hole with moss, mortar, & bands. The year after when as the head of the peach, hath joined himself with the pith of the willow, that both the bodies are become one. You shall cut the tree beneath, and remove it, and raise up the earth, so as you cover the willow bow with the top of the peach: and this shall bring you Peaches without stones. This kind of graffing must be done in moist places, and the Wyllowes must be hol●en with often watringes, that the nature of the tree may be of force. The kinds and manners of propagation, are declared by Pliny, 
Propagation, and his kinds.  who telleth of two kinds: the first, wherein a branch of the tree being bowed down, and buried in a little furrow, and after two years cut of, and the plant in the third year removed: which if you intend to carry any far distance of, it is best for you to bury your branches in baskets, or earthen vessels, in which you may appliest carry them. And an other more delicater way he speaketh of, which is to get the root out of the very tree, laying the branches in baskets of earth, and by that means obtaining roots betwixt the very fruit and the tops (for by this means the root is fetched from the very top, so far they presume) and from thence fetch them, using it as before: in which sort you may also deal with Rosemary and savin. Columella showeth a way, how slips of all manner of trees may be graffed in what trees you list.  THRA. 
And some are also set of the slips, or slyvynges: I me self have plucked a branch from a Mulberry tree, and bruising the end a little with a Mallet, have set it in the ground, and it hath grown to be a fair tree: the like hath been tried (as they say) in Apples and Pears.  MARIUS. 
You say well, for nature hath showed us, that the young sciences plucked from the roots of the trees will grow: the youngest are best to be planted, and so to be pulled up, as they may bring with them some part of their mother's body. In this sort you may plant Pomegranates, Fylbertes, Apples, Seruysses, Medlars, Plomes, figs, but specially vine, & sometimes Cherries, and Myrtels. Of the stock and the branches are also planted the Almond, the Pear, the Mulberry, the Orange, the olive, the Q●●●ce, the ivy, and the turkish Plome: which the oftener you remove them, the better they prove. Pliny saith, that branches cut from the tree, were at the first only used for hedges, Elder, Quinces, and briars meddled together, afterwards for use, as the Poplar, the Alder, and the willow, at this day we set them where we best like. Heed must be taken, that the stocks, or the sets be of a good kind, not crooked, knotty, nor forked, nor sclenderer, then that a man may well gripe with his hand, nor less than a foot in length.  THRA. 
It remains now, that you speak of the setting of the fruit or kernel.  MARIUS, 
Nature (as Pliny saith) hath taught us to set the kernel, by the seeds devoured of birds, and moistened with the warmth of their entrails, and after voided in the boughs and ryses of trees: whereby we find many times a Plane tree growing out of a Bay, a Bay out of a Cherry, and a Cherry out of a willow. Many trees are set of the fruit, kernel, or stone, which grow yearly of themselves, by reason of the falling of the fruit: as Chestnuts, Haselnuts, and walnuts. Columella saith, they are the fruitfuller trees that spring of their fruit, than those that are set of the stock, or the branch. Some delight to be set in trees, and not in the ground: and when they have no soil of their own, they live in a stranger. Of the fruit or kernel, are planted Nuts, Almonds, Pystaces, Chestnuts, Damsons, Plomes, Pineapples, Dates, Cypress, Bays, Apples, Pears, Maples, Fyrtrees, Cherries, Peaches, and Alm co●tes: but set or planted, they prove to be the kyndlyer. Some of these do grow in graffing, and other ways: for experience teacheth, that the Nut and the Tere●●ith are graffed, and Demageron witnesseth as much: neither are all fruits, kernels, and stones set in like sort, as hereafter shallbe seen. Some are laid in water before, others not: some lie three days in honey and water, and at the fall of the leaf, are buried in the ground till March: 
 and then set Nuts are only laid in moist dung a day before, and of some in water and honey only a night, jest the sharpness of the honey destroy the sprout. Some are 〈◊〉 with their tops standing upward, as the Chestnut: others downward, as the Almond, though this is not greatly to be regarded, sith we see the fruit that falls from the tree, or is let fall by Birds, doth prospero best of any other.  THRA. 
I have a wonderful delight in the Imp Gardens of these Countries, I pray you tell me how they be ordered.  MARIUS. 
The ordering of an Imp Garden may not be passed over, 
Of imp Garden.  wherein as in a Park, the young plants are nourished. And because the Nurse sometimes aught to be kineder and tenderer than the Mother, a meet ground must be choose for the purpose: that is, a ground dry, fat, and well laboured with the mattock, wherein the stranger may be well cherished, and very like unto the soil, into which you mean to remove them. The kernels, or stones, must not be altogether naked, but a little covered with some part of the fruit, so shall they afterward endure the longer. They must be set a foot, or there abouts a sunder: after two years they must be removed. And because their roots do run very deep into the ground, they must be somewhat bend, or turned in, to the end they may spread abroad, and not run downward. Above all things, you must see it be free from stones and rubbish, well fenced against Poultry, and not full of chinks or clefts, that the sun burn not the tender roots: they must be set a foot & a half a sunder, that they hurt not one that other with their near growing. Among other evils, they will be full of worms, and therefore must be well raked and weeded: beside, growing rank, they must be trimmed and proyned. Cato would have them covered over with Lattuses upon forks, to let in the sun, and to keep out the cold: Thus are the kernels of Pears, Pineapples, Nuts, Cypress, and such others cherished. They must be gently watered for the first three days, at the going down of the sun, that they equally receiving the water, may open the sooner. Ziziphas, or Turkey Plums, Nuts, Wallnuttes, and Chestnuttes, Bays, Cherries, Pistaces, Apples, Dates, Pears, Maples, Fyrres, Plomes, and divers others, are set of the stone, or kernels. In removing of them, have special regard, that they be set in the like soil, or in better, not from hot and forward grounds, into cold and backward, nor contrary from these to the other. You must make your furrows so long before, if you can, that they be overgrown with good mould. Mago would have them made a year before, that they may be well seasoned with the Sun, and the weather: or if you can not so, you must kindle fires in the midst of them two months afore, and not to set them, but after a shower. The depth of their setting must be in stiff clay, or hard ground, three cubits: and for Plome trees, a handful more. The furrow must be made Furnase like, straight above, and broad in the bottom: and in black mould, two cubits and a hand broad, being square cornered, never deeper than two foot and a half, nor broader than two foot broad, and never of less depth, than a foot and a half, which in a wet ground will draw near the water. Such as delight in the depth of the ground, are to be set the deeper, as the Ash, and the olive: these & such like, must be set four foot deep, the others it sufficeth if they stand three foot deep. Some use to set under their roots round little stones, both to contain, and convey away the water: others lay gravel underneath them. The greater trees are to be set toward the North and the West, the smaller toward the South and the East. Some will have no tree removed, under two year old, or above three: and others when they be of a years growth. Cato resisteth Virgil's authority, that it is to great purpose to mark the standing of the tree, as it grew at the first, and to place it towards the lame quarters of the heaven again. Others observe the contrary in the vine, and the Fig tree, being of opinion, that the leaves shall thereby be the thicker, and better defend the fruit, and not so soon fall: beside, the Fig tree will be the better to be climbed upon. Moreover, you must beware that by long tarrying, the roots be not withered, nor the wind in the North when you remove them, whereby many times they die, the husband not knowing the cause. Cato condemneth utterly all manner of winds and storms in the removing of trees, and therefore it is to great good purpose, to take them up with the earth about them, and to cover the roots with a 〈◊〉, and for this cause Cato would have them to be carried in basaet● filled with earth up to the top: the tree must so be set, as it may stand in the midst of the trench, and so great heed must be taken of the roots, that they may not be broken, nor mangled.  THRA. 
Let us now go forward with every tree in his order.  MARIUS. 
Among all trees and plants, the vine by good right challengeth the sovereignty, seeing there is no plant used in husbandry more fruitful, and more commodious than it, 
The Vine.  not alonely for the beautifulness, and goodliness of the fruit, but also for the easiness he hath in growing, whereby he refuseth not almost any kind of Country in the whole world, except such as are too extremely scorched with the burning heat of the Sun, or else to extremely frozen with the vehement cold, prospering also aswell in the plain and champion country, as it doth upon the hilly and mountain Country: likewise as well in the stiff and fast, ground, as in the soft and meilowe ground: and oftentimes in the loamie and lean ground, as in the fat and foggy, and in the dry, as in the moist and miry, yea and in many places, in the very rocks it groweth most abundantly and most fruitfully, as is to be seen and proved at this day about the river of rhine in Germany, and the river of Mosel in France: and above all this, it best abideth and beareth the contrary disposition of the heavens.  THRA. 
Not doubt it is the most excellent plant: but whom do you suppose to be the first author of the planting of it? the common sort do attribute the first invention of it to Bacchus.  MARIUS. 
We that are taught by God's holy word, do know that it was first found out by the patriarch No, immediately after the drowning of the world: it may be, the vine was before that time, 
T●e invention of the Vine.  though the planting and the use thereof, was not then known. The Heathen both most falsely, and very fond, as in many other things, do give the invention of the same unto the god Bacchus. But Noah lived many years before either Bacchus, Saturnus, or Vranius were born.  THRA. 
It is most likely so: but I would feign know, whether the planting of vines doth more enrich the husband, than other husbandries do.  MARIUS. 
About this question there is no little ado among the writers of old, where there are some that prefer grazing, tilling, and woodsales far above the vines: and yet again there wants not great and learned men, that affirm the vine to be most gainful: as declareth that old fruitfulness of the vines, 
The Vineyard most gayneful.  mentioned by Cato, Varro, and Columella, which upon every acre yielded .700. gallondes of Wine, and the Uineyardes of Seneca, wherein he had yearly upon one acre .1000. gallondes: when as in Corn ground, Pasture, or Woodland, if a man do get upon one acre twenty s. a year, it is thought a great matter.  THRA. 
But the vine asketh great charges, and great travail about it, 
Corn field and Vineyards compared.  and it is subject to many mishaps, as the cold frosts of Winter, the blasts & burning of Summer, and from the first appearing, till the third of May (which is the last decretory day of the vine) the hurt of the cold and frost is feared. When it hath scaped this danger, then cometh a greater mischief, which lightly every year doth great harm: for either with blasts in the Dog days, or for lack of rain, the Grapes are withered and spoiled, or else with overmuch rain they wax sour, and not ripe. Sundry other mishaps there happen, that the vine is subject to.  MARIUS. 
I grant: so is your Corn likewise, for both it asketh great charges, and such casualties often times vndooeth the poor husband. For in all kind of husbandry, if there be not great diligence, and good skill employed, there will be but small commodity reaped. And especially the vine requireth great husbandry about it, for it is tender, and soon harmed, and therefore in choice of the Uineyard, there must be good heed, and both the nature of the country, and the disposition of the Heavens to be well considered. Most men plant their vines without any great care, or heed of them: and when they grow up use little diligence in the trimming of them, by which negligence, many times they wither before they be ripe. Others again think it makes no great matter, what ground they bestow about it, & most times lay out for this purpose the worst ground they have, as though it would serve for this plant, that will serve for no other thing. Some again reap all the commodity they can the first years, not providing for farther time, and so complain, that their gains doth neither answer their travail, nor their charges, whereas in deed their own folly and negligence is the cause: for if there be diligence and pains bestowed upon it, as Columella proveth by many reasons, there is no husbandry so profitable, as the planting of vines.  THRA. 
I do not deny but that there is great profit in it, where the ground is meet for vines, and not so fit for Corn: otherwise I think the sowing of Corn to be an easier matter, and speedier way to enrich the husband.  MARIUS. 
Surely as touching the easiness of the husbandry, and the greatness of the gain, the old writers have ever preferred the Uineyard afore the Corn field: for as Columella reporteth Siserna writeth, that the labour of one man is sufficient for eight acres of vines, or at the lest for seven: of the increase I have spoken before.  THRA. 
Marry sir at this day one man thinks three acres too much for him: but not to trouble your talk, I pray you go forward with the husbandry of your vines.  MARIUS. 
The ordering of the wine bearing vines, as the sorts of vines are sundry, neither can they be contained in certain numbers, for there is as many sorts, as there is of ground. Homer giveth the chiefest praise to the wine of Maronia, and Pramnium, Virgil most commends Rhenishe wine: others the wine of Aminea, Lamentana, Candy, and Corsega, but I mean to speak of those that are common in our days. In Italy at this day they make most account of wine of Corsega, Romani, and Mesina. In Spain they chiefest esteem wine of S. Martin, of Ribodavi, and Giberaltar. In France the greatest praise is given to the wine of Orleans, Anjou, and Greves. Germany began but of late to meddle with planting of vines, for Varro writeth, that the Frenchemen, and the Germans had in his time both vines, and olives: but at this day the Rhine, the Necker, the Mene, Mosel, and Danow, may compare with any countries, for goodness of their vines.  THRA. 
I see that the vines are diversly dressed otherwise in Italy, then in France, and otherwise in France, then in Germany, every Country using his several fashion.  MARIUS. 
True: for as Pliny, after Columella, teacheth, the vine may be planted five sundry ways: for either his branches are suffered to run in safety upon the ground, or else without any stay grow upright, or having a stay or a prop set for them, they climb up by it, or else run up by a couple of such props, called of Livy a yoke, or else sustained with four of those yokes, which of the resemblance that they have with the hollow gutters of a house, are said to be guttered: others again suffered to run upon frames like Arbers, serving to sit under, and are called Arbour vines: others run up by the walls of houses. Moreover, the yoked vines, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, are tied together, and joined with three or four props, as if they were yoked: some do let them run upon trees, as commonly in Lombary they are suffered to climb upon Elms, 
Trees which be friends or foes to the Vine.  Wyllowes, and Ashes, where they greatly prospero: neither do they like all manner of trees, for they hate the Nuttree, the Bay, the radish, and the Coll: as again they love the Poplar, the Elm, the willow, the Fig, and the olive tree. The vines that are yoked, or stayed up with props, receive more air, and bear their fruit the higher, and ripe the better, but ask more trouble in the looking to: and these are so ordered, that they may be ploughed, whereby they are the more fruitful, because they may the oftener, and with the less charge be tilled. The vines that creep upon the ground, make much wine, but not (as Columella saith) so good.  THRA. 
Now to your ordering of them.  MARIUS. 
first I will speak of the ground, and of the digging of it, 
The ordering of Vines.  and after of the planting, and cutting of them. And first you must take for a special note, that every vine will not agreed with every place, nor yield his wine in like goodness, of such force is the quality of the air, neither will all kind of ground serve: 
What ground is best for the Vine.  for Columella doth counsel to set the vine in a wild ground, rather than where Corn or Bushes have grown: for as for old Uineyardes, it is most certain they are the worst places of all other to set new in, because the ground is matted, and as it were netted with the remains of the old roots: neither hath it lost the poison of the rotten and old stinking roots, wherewith the soil (glutted as it were with venom) is benommed. And therefore the wild and untyld ground is chiefly to be choose, which though it be over grown with shrubs and trees, may yet easily be rid. If such wild ground be not to be had, the best is the plain champion land without trees: if neither such a ground, than the light and thin bushy ground, or olive ground. The last and worst (as I said) is the old rotten Uineyard, which if necessity compel you to take, you must first rid the ground of all the old rotten roots, and then cover it either with old dung, or with the newest of any other kind of manuring: the roots being thus digged up, must be laid up together, and burned. After must the ground be considered, whether it be mellow and gentle: it is thought to be good, that is something greety and gravelly, and full of small pebbles, so that it be mingled with fat mould withal, which if it be not, is utterly disallowed. 
Dame Ceres joys in heavy ground, and Bacchus in the light.  You shall perceive it to be massy and thick, if being digged and cast into the hole again, it riseth over: if it scarcely fill the hole, it is a sign that it is light and thin. The Flynt by the general consent of husbandmen, is counted a friend to the vine, specially where it is well covered with good mould: for being cold and a keeper of moisture, it suffereth not the roots to be scalded with the heat of Summer: so much, that Columella doth will men to lay certain stones about the sides of the Uinetrees, so that they exceed not the weight of five pound a piece: which as Virgil hath noted, keeps away the water in Winter, and the heat in Summer. 
Hurl in the thirty stone, or therein throw the nasty shells.  So do we see the banks of the Rhine being full of these stones, to yield an excellent good wine: but the stones that lie above ground, are to be cast away: for in the Summer being heated with the sun, they burn the vine, and in the Winter they hurt them with their coldness, contrary to those that lie in the bottom. But the best of all is the foot of an hill, which receiveth the falling mould from the top: or the valley, that with overflowing of Rivers hath been made rich. Neither is chalky ground to be refused, though the chalk of itself that Potter's use, is hurtful to the vine. The hungry sandy ground, the salt, bitter, and thirty ground, is not meet for the vine: yet the black and the reddish sand, meddled with some moist earth, is of some allowed well enough. Moreover, neither ground too hot or too cold, too dry nor too moist, too slender nor too stiff, that will not suffer the rain to sink, is meet to be used for vines, for it will easily gape and open, whereby the sun coming in at the crayvesses, doth burn the roots: that again which is over thin, letting in as it were by ventes the rain, the sun, and the wind, doth dry up the moisture of the roots: the thick and stiff ground is hardly to be laboured, the fat ground subject to too much rankness, the lean ground to barrenness: wherefore there must be an even temperature amongst these extremities, as is required in our bodies, whose health is preserved by the equal medley of heat and cold, dryth and moisture, fullness and emptiness, or thickness and thinness: neither yet is this temperature in ground for vines so justly to be evened, but that there is required a more inclining to the one part, as that the earth be more hot than cold, more dry than moist, more s●●htyll than gross, specially if the state of the heavens agree● again, what quarter whereof the Uineyard aught to lie, 
What quarter of the heaven the Vine must lie against.  it is an old controversy, some like best the rising of the sun, some the West, some the North, Virgil misliketh the West: others again think the best lying to be upon the South. But in general it is thought best in cold countries, to have it lie toward the South, in warm countries upon the East, in hot burning Countries, as Egypt, and Barbary, upon the North. Pliny would have the vine himself stand towards the North, and his spring, or shouts, towards the South. A fit ground and w●ll lying, being found out, must be diligently digged, dounged, & weeded: all unprofitable weeds must be pulled up, and thrown away, jest they should spring again, and either corrupt the young plants, or hinder the labourer.  THRA. 
Before you come to trenching, I would gladly hear, in what sort you plant your vine, and what season is fittest for it.  MARIUS. 
I will first speak of the season, and afterwards of the planting. The vine is planted according to Virgil's rule, 
The time for planting of Vines.  in the fall of the leaf, but better in the spring, if the weather be rainy, or cold, or the ground be fat, champion, or a waterish valley: and best in the fall of the leaf, if the weather be dry and warm, the ground dry and light, a barren, or a rugged hill. The time of planting, in the spring (as Columella saith) endureth forty days, from the Ideses of February, until the Aequinoclial: and in the fall of the leaf, from the Ideses of October, to the kalends of December. Cassian in Constantine being taught by experience, wyls in watery grounds you should rather plant in Autumn, when the leaves are fallen, and the plants after the vintage, delivered of the burden of their clusters, sound & strong, before they be nipped with the frosts, for than they best agreed with the ground, nature applying herself wholly to the nourishing of the root. The time of graffing Columella saith, is of some extended from the first of November, to the first of june, 
Graffing of Vines.  till which time the shoot or graff may be preserved: but it is not well liked of him, who rather would have it to be done in warmer weather, when Winter is past, when both bud and rind is naturally moved, and safe from cold, that might annoyed either the graff, or the stock: yet he granteth (when haste requireth) it may be done in the fall of the leaf, when as the temperature of the air, is not much unlike to the spring: for which purpose, you must choose a warm day, and no wound stirring. The graff must be round and sound, 
What graffs to be choose.  not full of pith, but full of buds, and thick of joints, the tenant whereof must not exceed three inches, and smooth, and even cut: the stock and the cleft must be well closed with clay and moss. Those that grow toward the South, must be marked, which Virgil observing saith. 
But on the bark, they also note the quarter of the skie●  
The order how it stood, and grew, and where the South did lie.  The like is to be done with all other trees. Of planting of vines, there is two ways, the one of the root, the other of the branch, or spray: the root is counted a great deal better than the branch or set, by reason of the forwardness, and vantage that it hath, in that it hath already taken root. The root is set in stiff ground, well digged and laboured, in a trench of three foot, the set or spray, in a gentle and mellow ground: in dry ground, it is neither good to set the root, nor the branch, in a dry season: it is best to plant in the fall of the leaf in a hot season, and in a cold and moist, in the spring: in much wet, you must set them thinner, in great drieth, thicker: in what sort you shall make a store Garden for vines, Palla●tius teacheth you. The set requireth a time to root, and being removed, will bear the better fruit. The roots do bear fruit the second year, or sooner: the sets, or branches, scarce in the third or fourth year, though in some places sooner. Didymus in Constantine, teacheth an easy and a ready way of planting the quickset: which is, to take of a strong and ten year vine, the longest and fairest branch, that groweth lowest, a foot from the ground, and laying it along in a trench of a foot depth, to cover it with earth the space of four joints, so that the remain in the top, exceed● not two or three joints: and if the branch be so long, as it will serve for two buryings, you may make thereof two roots. You must not suffer two roots to run up upon one stay, but allow every root his supporter. The branches or sets that you mean to plant, you must cut from a ●●ry fruitful and flourishing vine, that hath born ripe and per●●●● good fruit, full of joints, and not any ways tainted, but whole and sound. Of such you must choose your sets, and not of young vines, that are weak and feeble, but such as are in there chief state. Moreover, you must gather your set, not of the highest, nor the lowest, but from the midst of the vine: the set must be round smooth, full of knots and joints, and many little burgeons. As soon as you have cut it of, look that you set it: for better doth it agreed with the ground, and sooner grow. If you are driven to keep them, bury them in the ground either lose, or loosely bound: and if the time be long that you mean to keep them, you must say them in empty barrels, strawing earth under them, and upon them, that the earth may lie round about them: and the barrel you must stop closely with clay, that there enter neither wind nor air, so shall you preserve them two months in their goodness. Such as are over dry, you must lay them in water xxiiii hours afore you set them, and you must set two sets together, that though the one fail, the other may take: and if they both grow, you may take up the lesser of them: you must not make a medley of sundry sorts, specially white and black together: but as Columella saith, must sort them severally. You must beware, that the sets have not put out their springs, and that you set not a withered set. Constantine would have the set something crooked, affirming that it will the sooner take root. You must lay about them three or four stones, and then raise the earth, that it may equally with the dung be trodden down: for the stones keepeth the earth firm, and as I said before, cooleth the root. Both the ends of the set you must anoint with Ox dung, for the killing of the worms: as for the length, if it be full of joints, it may be the shorter, if it have few joints, you must make it the longer, and yet not exceeding a foot in length, 
The length of the setter.  nor a shaftman in shortness, the one for being burned with over dryness in Summer, the other lest being set to deep, it be with great hardness taken up, but this is for the level ground: for upon hills, where the earth still falls, you may have them a foot and a hand breadth in length. Florentine would not have the trench less than four foot in depth: for being set shallow, they sooner decay, both for the want of sustenance, and great heat of the Sun, which is thought to pierce four foot into the ground: though some there be that think three foot sufficient for the plant. The trenches for vines, Virgil would not have very deep: but deeper a great deal for trees. Such vines as you mean shall run upon trees, you must plant three cubits distant from the tree: afterwards, when they be well grown, and need to be joined with the tree (which you shall perceive by his thickness) you shall lay it down in length, and bury it, till it come within a foot of the tree, suffering the remain to go at liberty, nipping of all the buds with your nail, except one or two, that it may the better prospero, which when it is grown up, you must join by little and little to the tree, that it may rest upon it: which part of the tree must be diligently proyned, and the springs and scyenses, that grow out of the root, must according to Florentinus, be cut clean away. The trees, as much as may be, must be forced to the East and the West, and both the Tree and the vine, must have the earth well digged, and dounged about them. In rich ground, you may suffer the trees to grow in height, but in barren ground, they must be polled at seven or eight foot, lest all the substance of the earth, be soaked up of the tree. After your planting, you must dig the ground every month, and weed it, specially from the first of March, 
The 〈…〉  till the first of October: every thirty day you must dig about the young plants, and pluck up the weeds, specially the grass, which except it be clean plucked up and cast away, though it be never so well covered, will spring again, and so burn the plants, 
 as they will make them both foul, and withered: the oftener you dig them, the more good you do them. When the Grape begins to altar, you must in hand with your third digging, and when it is ripe, before noon when it waxeth hot, and after noon when the heat decreaseth, you must dig it, and raise the dust, which doing, defendeth the Grape both from the sun and the mist. According to Virgil's mind, the vine must be digged and weeded every month: some would have them digged all the Summer long, after every dew: others again will not have them digged, as long as they ●udde, or burgeon, for hurting the springs, saying, that it is enough to dig them thrice in the year, from the entering of the sun into Aries, till the rising of the seven stars, and the Dog. Some again would have it done from the vintage before Winter, and from the Ideses of April before it take, and then again before it flower, and likewise before the burning hours of the day: in some places when they have digged them, they do not straightways cover them, but suffer the trenches to lie open all the Winter, in wet and rainy places they cover them sooner, closing up the roots with earth, and stopping all the passages of the water. 
What dung is best for Vines.  Some make the trenches very deep, and some not passing a foot deep: and when they have done, they cover them aloft with Ox dung, sheeps dung, or Hogs dung, or of other cattle: Pigeons dung is the hottest, and such as causeth the vine fastest to grow, but maketh the worser wine. The dung must not be laid close to the vine, but a little distant from it, whereby the roots that spread abroad, 
Where the dung must be laid.  may have some help of it, and the dung must not touch the roots, for breaking of them: if there be no dung at hand, the stalks of Beans, and other Pulse, will well serve the turn, which both defendeth the vine from frost and cold, and keeps them likewise from noisome worms: the kernels, and the stalks of the Grapes, do likewise supply the want of dung, 
Piss the best dung.  but the best of all, is old stolen urine. The plants of a year, or two year old, and so forth till five years, must be discreetly digged and dounged, according to their state: in sandy ground, the best dung is of Sheep and Goats, and in such sort you must dig the ground, that the earth that lieth highest, be cast to the bottom, and that which was at the bottom, 
The order of digging or stirring the ground.  be laid aloft: so shall that that was dry by the moisture within, be helped, and that which was moist and stiff by the heat above, be loosened. You must also see that there be no holes nor pits in the Uineyard, but that it lie even. When you have thus digged it, and that the vines have taken root the first year, the roots that grow above, must be cut away with a sharp knife: for the vine, if it be suffered to root every way, it hindereth the deep down growing of the root. The vines that are now of two years growth, we must dig and trench about two foot deep, and three foot broad, according to the rule of Sotion. Of those vines that climb upon trees, you must likewise cut of the sprigs that run among the roots of the tree, lest the small root tangled with the greater, be strangled: and therefore you must leave some little space betwixt the vine & the Tree. Often digging causeth great fruitfulness: good heed must be taken, that the plants be not hurt in the digging: also it must be digged before his flourishing, or shooting out of his leaves, for as immediately therewithal he beginneth to thrust out his fruit. So he that diggeth after the romming forth thereof, loseth much fruit with the violent shaking, and therefore must dig the timelier. Cutting and dressing of the roots, you must begin in hand with at the Ideses of October: 
Dressing of Vines.  so that they may be trimmed and dispatched afore Winter. After Winter, dig about the roots that you have dressed: and before the son enter the Aequinoctium, level the roots that you have trimmed. After the Ideses of April, raise up the earth about your vine: in Summer let the ground be oftentimes harrowed. After the Ideses of October (as I have said) before the cold come in, you must dress the roots of your vines, which labour layeth open the Summer springs, which the good husband cutteth away with his knifed for if you suffer them to grow, the roots that grow down will perish, and it happeneth that the roots spread all above, which will be subject both to cold and heat: and therefore what so ever is within a foot and a half, is to be cut of, but so, as you hurt not the principal. You must make this riddance of the roots at every fall of the leaf, for the first five years, till the vine be full grown, after, you must dress them every fourth year: such vines as are joined with trees for the unhandsomenesse, can not be thus handled. vines and Trees, the sooner their roots be thus dressed, the stronger and weightier they will be: b●t such as grow upon the sides of hills, must so be dressed, as the upper roots near to the stock may spread largely, and underneath towards the foot of the hill, the earth must be bancked, to keep the water and the mould the better. The old U●ne must not have his root meddled withal for withering, nor be ploughed, for breaking of them, but the earth a little loosed with a mattock, and when you have thus dressed the root, lay dung about it. After this ridding of the roots, then followeth pruning, or cutting, whereby the whole vine is brought to one twig, and that also cut within two joints of the earith: which cutting must not be in the joint, but betwixt the joints with a slope cut, for avoiding the water: neither must the cut be on that side that the bud comes out of, but on the contrary, lest with his bleeding he kill the bud. Columella appointeth two seasons for the cutting of vines, the spring, and the fall of the leaf, judging in cold countries, the cutting in the spring to be the best, and in hot countries where the Winters be mild, the fall of the leaf: at which time both trees & plants, by the divine and everlasting appointment of GOD, yield up their fruit, and their leaf. Yet must not your sets be too nearly cut, except they be very feeble: but the first year they be set, they must be helped with often digging, and pulling of the leaves moonthly while they bear, that they may grow the better. Pamphilus in Constantine declareth the time of cutting, or pruning, to begin in February, or March, from the fiftienth of February, till the twentieth of March: some (he saith) thought good to cut them immediately after the geathering of the Grapes, lest by bleeding in the spring, they lose their sustenance: though being cut in the fall of the leaf, it springeth the sooner in the spring, and if the cold of frost happen to come, it is spoiled. Therefore in cold countries, it were better to prune it a little, then to cut it thoroughly, that is, to suffer the principal springs, and branches to grow. Again, it is very necessary to cut them in the spring: the cuts must be made with a very sharp knife, that they may be smooth, and that the water may not stand in them, to the engendering of worms, and corrupting of the vine: you must cut them round, so will the cut be sooner grown out again: but Pliny would have them slope wise, for the better avoiding of the water. The branches that be broad, old, crooked, or writhen, cut away, and set young and better in their place. You must make an end of your cutting with as much speed as you may, from the Ideses of December, till the Ideses of januarie: you must not touch your vines with a knife, for Columella witnesseth, that vines in Winter may not be cut. In cutting, remember well to cut it betwixt two joins, for if you cut it in the joint, you spill it: let the cut be always downward, so shall it be safe both from sun, and weather. You must not cut them very early, but when the sun hath drunk up the frost, or the dew, and warmed the branch: the springs of the sets the first year, must be cut with good discretion, nor suffered to grow to rank, nor cut too near, but making the old set to suffer a spring or two to grow out. Next unto cutting, followeth the propping, or supporting of the vine: and it is best for the young and tender vine, not to be stayed up with any strong stay, but with some small thing at the first, 
Propping of Vines.  and while it is young, it must be deyntely tied to the stay, with small twigs of willow, Elm, Broome, Rushes, or Straw: this latter binding, is thought to be best, for the twigs when they wax dry, do pierce and hurt the rind. There is an herb, which because of his aptness for tying of vines, the Sicyllians call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The best stays for vines as Pliny saith, are made of willow, Oak, Reed, juniper, Cypress, and Eldar. And in an other place, he prefereth the Chestnut for this purpose, above all the rest. The best for the vine, is the Reed, which well endureth five years: gelding of the leaves, and cutting the vine, is almost in one manner. The gelding of the leaves, or branches, must be done twice a year, to the end that the superfluous springs and leaves may be plucked of. 
G●ldyng, or plucking of of leaves.  The first (as Pliny writeth) must be done within ten days after the Ideses of May, before the vines begin to flower: for about the tenth of june, both the vine, and Wheat, the two noble fruits, do flower. Of the second time, the opinions are sundry, for some suppose it best to pluck of the leaves and branches, as soon as it hath left flowering: others, when the fruit is full ripe. The superfluous springs being young and tender, are to be taken away, that the vine may be more at liberty, and through blown with the wind. This gelding, or cutting away the superfluous branches and leaves, is as needful as the propping: for both the fruit doth prospero the better, and the propping the next year will be the handsomer, and the vine will be the less full of galls: for that which is cut being green and tender, doth the sooner and the soundlier recover himself, and the Grape ripeth the better. Ten days before the vine begins to flower, see that you geld it in this sort: cut of all the superfluous branches, both on the top, and on the sides, but meddle not where the clusters grow, strike of the tops of the branches for growing to rank: such Grapes as grow towards the South, or the West, leave them their branches to defend them from the heat of the Sun: cut away most from the young vine, for overburdning him. After the heat of the Sun beginneth to fade, away with the leaves, for hindering the Grapes of there ryping: and while the Grape is a flowering, busy yourself with digging about it. Such vines as with thickness of their leaves corrupteth their fruit, are to be rid of their superfluous branches and leaves, a month before the gathering of your Grapes, that the wind may blow the better through them: but the leaves that grow aloft in the very top, must not be meddled with, but left as a defence, and shadow against the heat of the Sun: but if so be the end of Summer be given to much rain, and that the Grapes swell in greatness, than hardly pluck of the leaves from the top also.  THRA. 
You have told us of a great deal of labour about vines.  MARIUS. 
The vine keeper must often go about his vines, and set up his props, and make even his yokes.  THRA. 
One thing, I pray you, let me hear more, the signs and tokens of the ripeness: for as I understand, we may not be to busy in geathering them to soon, nor use any lingering after they be ripe, without great harm.  MARIUS. 
You say true: for being geathered before they be ripe, they will make but small wine, and not durable. And again, if you suffer them to long, you shall not only hurt the vine with the overlong bearing of her burden, but also if hail or frost happen to come, you put your vine in great danger. Democritus writeth, that the Grape endureth in his ripeness not above six days, and therefore the judgement of his ripeness, is not alonely to be given upon the sight, but upon his ta●te, though Columella thinketh there can be no certain judgement given of the ta●te. But if the stones do change their colour, and be no longer green, but be almost black, it is a sign the Grape is ripe. Some again do press the Grape betwixt their fingers, and if they see the stone to slip out smooth, without any thing cleaving to it, they think them meet to be geathered, but if they come out with some part of the Grape cleaving to them, they count them not to be ripe. Others prove them in this sort: out of a very thick cluster, they take a grape, and as they behold the cluster well, wherein they see no change, they take it for a token of ripeness. You must gather your Grapes, the Moon being in Cancer, Leo, Libra, Scorpius, Capricorn, or Aquari, and underneath the earth.  THRA. 
Is there no way to make the Grape ripe speedily?  MARIUS. 
Pliny teacheth, to rub over the roots with ta●te Vinegar, and very old urine, and thus to be often digged, and covered.  THRA. 
What order have you for preserving of your Grapes, when they be geathered?  MARIUS. 
Some keep them hanged up in the roof of Chambers, & some in earthen pots close covered with wooden vessels. Pallalius showeth away how to keep them upon the vine, till the Spring.  THRA. 
I pray you proceed with the other fruit trees of your Orchards.  MARIUS. 
Among other fruit trees next unto the vine (as Columella saith) the chief place is given to the olive, 
The olive.  in Latin Olea, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Of all other plants, it requireth lest travail and charges, where as the vine requireth most: and though it bear not every year, but every other year, yet is he to be born withal, because he asketh neither co●t, nor labour: and if you bestow any upon him, he recompenseth it thoroughly, with the abundance of his fruit. And since there is so great profit and commodity in this tree, and that the uses of it are so many, and so needful, it is good reason to be diligent and careful about it: he loveth a ground neither to high, nor to low, but rather the side of a hill, such as is the most part of Italy and Spain: for in such ground, the extreme heat of the sun, is something mollified with the cold blasts of the wind: for in olive trees (as Pliny saith) the soil, and the clime, is of great importance: it delighteth in a warm, and a dry air, and therefore in Barbary, Sicil, Andalusia, sundry parts of Italy, specially Campania, it prospereth wonderfully: it liketh not too great heat, nor too much cold. And therefore in hot countries, it joineth upon the North side of the hills, & in cold, upon the South side. It is thought, that if it stand above threescore miles from the sea, that it either dieth, or proveth not fruitful. The best ground is the grauel●y ground, having aloft a little chalk mingled with land: it is also good gro●nd where the sand, or gravel, is meddled with rich mould: yea the sliffe ground, if it be rich and lively, doth very well agreed with this tree. Chalky ground is utterly to be refused, and watery and marish ground, worst of all. The ●yke is a barren sand, and a hungry sand: but you may see it well in corn ground, where either the Wylding, or the ●asthelme hath grown: but betwixt the Oak and it, there ●● great hatred, for if the Oak groweth near, it flieth away, and ●●●in●eth towards the earth: and though you cut down the Oak, yet the very roots poisoneth and killeth the poor olive. The like some affirm of the trees called Cerrus, and Esculus: for where they be pulled up, if you set the olive, he dieth: so doth it (as Pliny saith) if it chance to be bruised of the Goat. On the other side, betwixt the olive and the vine, there is great friendship and love: and it is said, that if you graff the olive upon the vine, it will bear a fruit that shallbe half Grape, and half olive, called Vuolea, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an olive grape. There are sundry ways of planting of olives: some take the biggest branches from the trees, and saweing of the youngest plants of two cubits in length, they set them orderly in the ground: some set the whole tree together. Some again cutting of the tops, and all the branches, set the stock, about the rising of the star Arcturus. Many make them Imp Gardens in good ground and mellow, such as is commonly the black mould: herein they set the young branches, the lowest, and the fairest, two or three inches in thickness, and very fertile, which they gather no● from the body of the tree, but from the newest and latest bows. These they cut into pretty sets of a foot and a half in length, taking good heed that they hurt not the rind, and paring the ends very smooth with a sharp knife, and marking them with red O●re, that they may know which way they stood afore, and so setting the lowest part into the ground, and the highest towards the Heaven, they put them in the ground, and so they grow the faster, and bear the better: for if you should set them with the lower end upward, they would either hardly grow, and prove unfruitful: and therefore they have a regard of the setting of them. You must beside, before you set them, rub over both the top & the foot, with dung mingled with ashes, and so set them deep in the ground, covering them four fingers thick with rotten mould. You may choose whether you will set them all under the ground, or set some part within the ground, and suffer the rest to appear above the ground: those that be set all within the ground, need not to be marked, but such as shall stand with one part above the ground. Didymus would have them so set, as they may appear four fingers above the ground, and then to make a little trench for the receiving of the water: and this manner of planting with the bows, is of Didymus best liked. Where you mean to plant, you must purge the ground of all other plants, bushes, and weeds: and the trenches must so be made, as with the wind, the sun, and rain, it may be mellowed & made crombling, that the plants may the sooner take root. If your business require haste, you must a month or two before, burn in the trenches either sticks, or reed, or such things as will easily take fire: and this you must do divers days together. Your trenches must be three cubits, or there about in depth, & forty cubits a sunder, whereby the trees may have air enough: the first year, second, & the third, the earth must be trimmed with oftē●aking: the first two years you must not meddle with propping● the third year, you must leave upon every one a couple of branches, and often rake your Imp Garden: the fourth year, you shall of the two branches, cut away the weaker: being thus ordered, in the fifth year they will be meet to be removed: the stock that is as big as a man's arm, is best to be removed: let it stand but a little above the ground, so shall it prospero the better. Before you remove it, mark the part that stood South with a piece of Ochre, that you may set it in like manner again. You must first dig the trenched ground with mattocks, and after turn in stone ploughed earth, and sow it with Barley: if there be any water standing in them, you must let it out, and cast in a few small stones, and so setting your sets, cast in a little dung. After the tenth of june, when the ground gapes with the heat of the Sun, you must take heed, that the sun pierce not through the clefts to the root. From the entering of the Sun into Libra, you must rid the roots of all superfluous springs: and if the tree grow upon the edge of a hill, you must with little gutters draw away the muddy water. The dung must be cast on at the fall of the leaf, that being mingled in Winter with the mould, it may keep the roots of the trees warm. The mother of oil must be powered upon the great one's, & the moss must be cut of with an iron instrument, or else it will yield you no fruit. Also after certain years, you must cut and lop your olive trees, for it is an old proverb: that who so ploweth his olive Garden, craveth fruit: who doungeth it, moweth fruit: who cutteth the trees, forceth fruit. In the olive tree, you shall sometime have one branch more gallant than his fellows, which if you cut not away, you discourage all the rest. The olive is also graffed in the wild olive, specially betwixt the rind and the wood, and by emplastring: others graff it in the root, and when it hath taken, they pull up a parcel of the root withal, and remove it as they do other plants. Those olives that have the thickest barks, are graffed in the bark. The time of graffing them, is from the entering of the Sun into Aries, and with some from the xxii of May, till the first of june. The time of geathering of olives, is when the greater part of half the fruit waxeth black, and in fair weather: the riper the olive is, the fatter will be the oil. In geathering of olives, there is more cunning in making oil, then in making wine: the lesser olives serve for oil, the greater for meat. There is sundry sorts of oil made of an olive, the first of all is raw, and pleasantest in taste: the first stream that comes from the press is best, and so in order. The best oil is about Venafri in Italy, and Licinia in Spain. The next in goodness is in Provence, except in the fruitful parts of 〈◊〉. The olives that you may come by with your hands, you must either upon the ground, or with ladders gather, and not beat them down: for those that are beaten down do wither, and yield not so much oil as the other: and better is the olive that is geathered with the bore hand, then with gloves: there is an old law for olives, bruise not the olive, nor beat him. Those that pass the reach of the hand, must be rather beaten down with Reeds than Powses: the oil is increased from the rising of the Bearward, to the sixteenth of the kalends of October: after, the stone & the meat do grow. Of oil, some part serveth for meat, and other for the sowpling of the body: and therefore as Varro saith, it accompanieth his master, not only to the Bath, but also to the Field, or where so ever he goeth. The olive whereof you make your oil, must be taken from the ground: and if it be foul, must be washed: for the drying, three days is sufficient: if it be frosty weather, they must be pressed the fourth day: every first heap must be put in earthen pots, and oil vessels, where with hard and rough stones they are grinded. The gathered olive, if it lie to long in heaps, putrefieth by reason of heat, and makes unsavoury oil. mills are more handsome for the making of oil, than the Trough & the Foot: for the mills may be handled with great discretion: the whole store may be raised or let down, according to the quantity of the Berry, jest the stone which would mar the taste of the oil, should be broken. The presses chiefly, and the oil houses aught to be warm, for the speedier running of the oil: which with cold would make the longer stay. And sith heat and warmth is so needful, you must provide that your house lie toward the Sun: so shall you need neither flame nor fire, which with knoke or soot, may corrupt the taste of your oil. The laws and order of geathering, and bestowing of olives, hath Cato described: the manner of preserving them, is declared by Columella, which were too much for me to speak at this time.  THRA. 
Go on then, and let us hear what you can say of Apple trees: whose use is more commonly known unto us.  MARIUS. 
The Apple, called in Latin Pomum, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 
Apples.  There are that put this difference betwixt the Apple and the Nut, that what so ever fruit is to be eaten soft without, and hard within, is an Apple, and the contrary a Nut. Pomum generally spoken, is to be understood of all that the Greeks comprehend in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as Beaches, Quinces, and Pears, whereunto the Lawyer agreeth: but in this place I speak of Apples, according to the common phrase: as for Quinces, Pomegranates, & Turkey Plums, I will speak of in their due places. There are such sundry sorts of Apples, differing both in shape and savour, as are scarcely to be numbered. In the old time the chiefest Apples were Septians, very great and round, Martians, Claudians, Ma●●ans, and Appians, so called of their first founders: some again took their names of their countries, as Camerians, and Grecians: so others of their colours, as re●de, sanguine, silken, and golden. We have at this day that are chief in price the Pippin, the Romet, the Pomeroyal, the Mar●●gold, with a great number of others, that were too long to speak of. There is but one manner of planting and graffing of them all, saving that the peach, the Lemon, the Ahrecoct, the Quince, and the citron, which are all of Dioscorides accounted in the number of Apples, require a little more diligent care, as shallbe said hereafter, than the others, for they are all both planted and graffed: the manner of an Imp Garden Cato describeth. Apple trees are set either in February, or in March: or if the country be hot and dry, in October and November. But all kinds of Apples do better prospero by graffing, and inoculation, or imbudding, as I said before, about March or April, or at what time so ever the sap be in the rind. They are also graffed by implast●yng, about the tenth of june: though some (as they say) have had good success in doing it, after the entrance of the Sun into Aries, as I have said before, where I spoke of implastring, and graffing. The Apple is commonly graffed upon the Crab stock, or upon the Bramble, being first planted, and the year after cut of within a foot of the earth: upon this stock you may graff (as I said) the tender young graffs of any Apples. Palladius saith, you may graff the Apple upon the Perry, the Hawthorne, Plome tree, Seruisse tree, peach, Plane tree, Poplar, willow, and Pear: but in such difference of countries, we can set down no certain order for them all: and therefore as far as mine own experience, and the knowledge that I have learned of others will stretch, I will gladly show you. There are that according to the old order, do graff the Apple either upon a wild Perry, or upon a Quince, whereof they have a most excellent fruit, called of the old writers Melimela. If you graff upon the Plane tree, you shall have a red fruit: you may also w●ll graff your Apple upon the Damson tree, and if you graff upon the citron, you shall have them bear, as Diophanes saith, fruit almost all the year long. The Apple loveth a fat, and a good ground, well watered rather by nature, then by industry. In mountain countries, they must always be set toward the South: it prospereth well enough, so it be something helped with the Sun, neither do they refuse either rough, or marish grounds. A lean and a barren soil bringeth out worm eaten, and falling fruit: the noisome worms are destroyed with Hogs dung, mingled with man's urine, and powered upon the roots. And if the tree be very full of worms, 
Against hurtful worms.  being scraped down with a brazen scraper, they never come again, if the place whence you scraped them, be rubbed over with bullocks dung: some add unto urine goats dung, and power upon the roots the lees of old wine. The tree that is sick, or prospereth not, is helped being watered with Ass dung, and water six days: they must be often watered at the set●yng of the Sun, till the spring be come out. Pliny writeth, that the water wherein lupines hath been sodde powered upon the tree, doth the fruit good. They say, if the tree be much watered with urine, the fruit willbe red. Others again set under their trees Roses, thinking thereby to have their Apples red. Apple trees (as I said before) must be set every sort by themselves, as Columella biddeth, jest the small trees be hurt of the great, because they be not all of one growth, nor strength. Beside, you must set them very thin, that they may have room to shoot out their branches: for if you set them thick, they will never bear well, and therefore you must set them forty, or at the lest thirty foot a sunder: the Apple declareth his ripeness, by the blackness of his kernels. They are geathered after the fourteenth of September, or there about, according to their kind, and not before the Moon be seventeen days old, in fair weather, and in the after noon: those that fall from the tree, must be laid by themselves: it is better to pull them, then to shake them, jest they be bruised in their falling. 
To keep Apples.  They are kept in fair lofts, vaults, or cold places, with windows opening toward the North, which in fair weather must be set wide open: and therefore Varro would have all Apple lofts have their windows North, that they may receive the North air: the South winds must be shut out: the blasts of the North wind, doth make them wrinkled and rugled: they must be laid thin upon straw, chaff, or mats. I had an Apple brought me on't of H●lland, that endured three years: I have a tree of them here in this Orchard of his colour, called a Greening. You must lay every sort by themselves, jest sundry sorts lying together, they sooner rot. Some use to lay them in Nut leaves, which both giveth them good colour, and good smell. They are also kept from rotting, if they be laid in Barley, or Wheat. Palladius would have them kept in earthen vessels close stopped, in Sesternes, or in Caves. Apuleus in Conctantine, would have every Apple wrapped in Nut leaves, and so laid up: a great sort of ways beside of keeping them, you shall read in divers authors. Some to avoid the hurt of the frost, use to cover them with wet linen clot, which being frozen, the fruit that lieth under it, is preserved. Your Apples must be so laid up, as the stalks stand downward: neither must you touch any, but such as you need. Apples are hurtful to bearing cattle, so as the savour causeth them to tire, as Lucian in his ass witnesseth: the like is written of Pears, the remedy they say, is to let them eat some of the fruit afore. Of Apples, with certain mills for the purpose, they make a drink called Cider, and a smaly drink beside with water, and the refuse of the Apples strained: a good drink to cool the thirst of the poor labourer. A kind of vinegar also they make of Crabs, and sour Apples, which lying in heap togeathe three or four days, they afterwards put into a Pipe, or Tun, wherewith they mingle spring water, or rain water, and so is it suffered to stand close covered thirty days, and after taking out what vinegar they need, they put in again as much water. The Pear, 
The Pear.  in Latin Piperollo 〈◊〉, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, challengeth the next place, and is one of the chiefest beauties of the Orchard. The Apple tree spreadeth in broad branches, the Pear tree riseth in height, and delighteth in a rich and a moist ground: it doth grow of the kernel, and of the Pippin, but is a great while before it come to good: and when it is grown, it degenerateth from them his old good nature, and therefore it is bett●r to take the wild plants, and to set them in their ground in November, and when they be well rooted, you may gra●●e upon them. It is sa●de, that i● so spr●sp●reth with o●ten digging, and much moisture as it never loseth his flow●e. You shall do great good unto it, if every other year you bestow some dung upon it. Over do●ng is thought to make great and massy Pears: some put to a● the ashes to make their taste the pleasanter. They 〈◊〉 not alonely planted of the roots, but also the very little twigs being plucked from t●e root, will grew. If you will 〈…〉, let them be three year old, or at the lest two 〈…〉. Seem again take the fairest 〈…〉, and set them as they do the 〈…〉, is March and April. 〈…〉, when the blossom is on it, 〈…〉. It i● graffed upon the 〈…〉, the Apple, and 〈…〉 upon the Mulberry, your Pear shallbe red. Virgil teacheth to graff it upon an Ash, whereas in deed it will agreed with any stock: the grass must be the growth of a year, & afore it be graffed, cleared of all the leaves and tender parts. And if you would have the fruit pleasant, and the tree fruitful, you shall bore a hole through the stock close by the ground, and driving in an Oaken, or a Beechen pin, cover it up with earth: if the tree prospero not, wash the roots, and water them with ●ees of old wine fifteen days, so shall it bear the better and pleasanter fruit. It shall never be hurt with worms, if when you ylant it, you do anoint it with the gall of an Ox: if the tree (whose roots have been cut) seem not to prospero, Palladius his remedy, is to pierce the root through, and to drive in a pin made either of Oak, or plum tree. If your Pears be stony, and choke Pears, dig up the earth from the roots, cleanse them of stones, and sift in good new mould again in the place: let your Pear trees stand thirty foot a sunder, or little less: your Apple tree farther, as I have said. They are kept preserved sundry ways, some dipping the stalks in boiling Pitch, do afterwards hung them up, and so keep them: 
To keep Pears.  others keep them in new boiled wine, or in a close vessel: others in sand, some in slockes, and some again covered with Wheat, or Chaff: some are of opinion, there is no kind of fruit, but may be preserved in honey. Of Pears, Palladius teacheth as of Apples, to make both drink and sauce, the juice being priest out with the press: women have a pretty dish made of Pears for their religious fasts, called Castimoniale. Next in order after Apples and Pears, cometh the Quince, 
The Quince  which was first by Cato called Co●oncum, the Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of the city ●ydon, from whence it was first brought, the Italians Meie cotogne, the Spaniards Memb●●●llo, the Frenchemen un coignier: both the Greeks and Virgil, call them of the colour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, golden Apples, and Struthia, which kind (though they differ a little) are of this sort: for Colume●a speaketh of three sorts of Quinces, S●●uthia, Chrysomela, and Mustea, which all serve both for health and pleasure. They are planted after the same manner that Pears and cherries are: some affirm, that the set that have been set in March, or in February, have taken such root, as they have born fruit the year after. They grow well in cold and moist countries, in plain and hilly grounds: in hot dry countries, you must set them in October. Many set them w●th the tops and the set, but neither of them both is very good: and being set of science, they soon degenerate. They are better graffed in the stock, then in the bark, and that in February, or March: they receive into their stocks, the graffs (in a manner) of all manner of trees, the Pomegranate, the Seruisse, all the sorts of Apples, and make the fruit the better. The Quince tree must be set in that order, that in the shaking of the wind, they drop not one upon the other. When it is young, or newly planted, it is helped with dung, or better with ashes: they must be watered as often as the season is very dry, and digged about continually: in hot countries in October, or November, in cold countries in February, or March: for if you do not often dig about them, they will either be barren, or bear naughty fruit: they must be proyned, cut, and rid of a●l encumbrances. If the tree be sick, or prospero not well, the root must be watered with the mother of oil, mingled with the like quantity of water, as Didymus in Constantine saith, or unslaked lime meddled with Chalk, or Resin and Tar must be powered upon the roots: you shall gather them in a very fair day, being ●ounde and unspotted, and very ripe, and in the w●ne of the Moon. They are best kept coffened betwixt two hollow Tiles, 
To keep Quinees.  well closed on every side with clay: some ●y them only in dry places, where no wind cometh: others keep them in Chaff & Wheat: many in Honey, some in Wine, and maketh the Wine more pleasant. Democritus biddeth you beware, that you lay them not near other fruit, because with their air they will corrupt them. There is also made a kind of wine of Quinces (being beaten and pressed) and ● little honey & Oil put unto it: our country men make of them a precious Conserve, and Marmelad, being congealed with long seething, and b●yled with Sugar, Wine, and Spices I will now show you of t●e M●●lar, which the Greeks call M. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Latins Mespilus, 
 the Italians Nespilo, t●e Spaniard Mespero, the Frenchmen Mesplier, or Nes●●ier, the Dutchmen Mespelen: this tree is also of the number of Apple trees, and Pear trees: it is planted in like manner as the Quince is: it delighteth in hot places, but well watered, though it do well enough in cold. We have seen it prospero very well among Okes and Woods: for we have seen great Woods of them growing among Oaks, that have yearly yielded a great deal of money. Some say it is planted of the science, in March or November, in a well dounged ground and mellow, so that both the ends be rubbed over with dung. It is also set of the stone, but than it is very long before it come to any thing: it is excellently well graffed in the Bramble, the Pyrry, or the Apple. The Medlar that you mean to keep, must be geathered before they be ripe: and being suffered to grow upon the tree, they last a great part of the Winter: they are also preserved in sodden Wine, and vinegar and Water: in Cato's time they were not known in Italy. Pliny and others have spoken of them: neither is it certain, whether the old writers took them for Seruisses. Pliny speaketh of three kinds of them: the first kind having but three stones in them, called therefore Pri●●●cum. We have at this day two kinds, the one having here and there prickles, growing in every Wood and Thicket, very sour afore it be mellowed, and made so●t with frost, and cold of Winter: the other having no prickles at all with a great fruit, which seemeth to be brought hereunto by diligent planting and graffing. The wood of the wild Medlar we use to make Spokes for Wheels of, and the twigs of them serve for Carters whips. Next unto the Medlar for neighbourhood sake, we must speak of the Seruisse, a high tree with a round berry, or fashioned like an Egg: wherefore it is called Ova as Theophrastus witnesseth, 
The Seruisse t●●e.  and the fruit 〈◊〉 the Latins call it Sorbus, the Italians as the Latins, the Spaniards Seruall, the Frenchemen Cormie or Cormier, the Dutchmen Sporeffelbaum. The fruit grows in clusters as the Grape doth: the wild is better than the Garden fruit. It delighteth in cold places, and if you plant it in hot countries, it will wax barren. It hath no prickles as the Medlar hath, it groweth of the stone, the set, the root, or the science, and prospereth in a cold and a wet soil upon hills: it is plan●ed in February and March in cold countries, and in hot, in October and N●uemb●r: it is graffed either upon his own stock, or on the Q●●nce, or H●w●horne, either in the stock, or the bark.  THRA. 
I marvel how you can have Pomegranates here, I pray you show what o●der you use.  MARIUS. 

Pomegranates.  Among the strange fruits, there is none comparable to the Pomegranate so called I think) because of his country Carthage and Africa, where the be●t do g●owe: t●e tree (as you see) is not high, the leaf narrow, and of a very ●aire green●, the flower purple, and long like a Coffin the Apple that is compassed with a thick rind, is all f●ll of grains within: it ●s called of the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as well the tree as the fru●te 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Pomegranate sweet and sour: it is called in Latin Asalum ●un●●um and Malum Granatum, in I●alian meal grano, in Spanish Granada, in French Tomos de gran●●, in dutch Granata●ssel. This tree only as the Fig a●d t●e U●●e, the body being cloven, dieth not: the branches are full of prickles as the G●rst●is: it loveth both a ●ot ground, and a hot country, and liketh not watr● places. In some hot country's, it groweth wild in the bushes: it is pl●●ted in the spring ti●e, the roots b●ing warred with ●ogges dung and Stolen. It is gra●●ed upon his own stock, and also upon other trees, and likewise o● the sciences that g●owe from the roots of the old tree. And though it may be planed sundry ways, 〈◊〉 the best way is the branch of a cu●●●● in length, smoothed with your knife at ●oth the ends, and 〈…〉 in the groun●, with bo●h his ends well smeared wit●●o●ges do●ng and Stolen. There is also an other way of plan●yng it, which i●, to take a very fruitful stock, which m●y be br●●ght to the earth, and him a●ter the manner of other trees they grass by ●nfolliation, betwixt t●e b●rke and the rind, and well and closely bind it after they set it in the ground not touching the gr●●●ed part, but the parts beneath, anointing it with the mother of oil, and make it fast with cords, that it slip not back, till the branch be grown. It much delighteth (as Democritus saith) in the Myrtill, insomuch as the roots will meet and tangle together with great joy. The fruit will grow without kernels, if as in the vine the pith being taken out, the set be covered with earth, and (when it hath taken) the spring be proyned. There is as African reporteth, in every Pomegranate a like number of grains, though they differ in bigness. Basyl writeth in his Hexam, that the sour Pomegranate will grow to be sweet, if the body of the tree near to the root be pierced through, and filled up with a fat Pitch tree pin. You shall have them endure a very great while, if they be first dipped in scalding water, and taken out quickly be laid in dry Sand, or else in some heap of Wheat in the shadow, till they be wrinkled, or else so covered with Chaff, as they touch not one the other. Other say, it is best to keep them like Quinces, covered with Plaster, or Chalk: for in cold places they are kept without corrupting. The rind of the Pomegranate is called in Latin Malicorium, the flower of the Garden Pomegranate Dioscorides calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and of the wild 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  THRA. 
I here also, the outlandish citron is here very carefully planted.  MARIUS. 
The citron, 
Citrons.  called also the Median, the Persian and the Assyrian Apple, because it was first brought out of Persia, & from the Medes: others say, it was first brought out of Africa into Greece by Hercules, and therefore Varro calleth it, the Apple of Africa: they are called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and in Italian Citroni, in Spanish Zidras, in Dutch Giter●apf●el Pomerancen, in French Citron: the fruit is called in Latin Hipericum, and Aureum malum, the golden Apple, also the marriage Apple of jupiter and juno: such of them as are yellow, and of a golden colour, they commonly call Oranges: such as are of a greenish pale yellow, they call Cytrols, or Cytruls: thos● that are long, fashioned like an Egg, if they be yellow, are called Citrons, if they be green, Lymons: if they be very great and round like Pompions, they call them Pom●cydrons: the tree doth always bear fruit, some falling, some ripe, and some springing, nature showing in them a wonderful fertility, as in the trees that Homer describeth in the Orchards of Alcionous. The leaf is like the bay leaf, saving that there grow prickles amongst them: the fruit is yellow, wrinkled without, sweet in savour, and sour in taste: the kernels, like the kernels of a Pear, a great resister of poisons. The tree is planted (as Palladius saith) four manner of ways, of the kernel, the science, the branch, and the stock. If you will set the kernel, you must dig the earth two foot every way, and mingle it with ashes: you must make short beds, that they may be watered with gutters on every side. In these beds you must open the earth with your hands a hand breadth, and set three kernels togethers with the tops downward, and being covered, water them every day, and when they spring, leave no weeds near them: they will spring the sooner, if you water them with warm water: others say, it is best the grains being taken out in the spring, to set them diligently in good mellowed furrows, and to water them every fourth or fifth day: and when they begin to grow, to remove them again in the spring, to a gentle and a mayst ground, for it delighteth in much wet: if you set the branch, you must not set it above a foot and a half in the ground, lest it rot●e. The science and the stock, ●a●la●ius thinketh i● better to be planted, and showeth wh●ch way. If any man mean to cherish this tree, let him def●nd it well from the ●orth, and set it toward the South, and the sun in the winter, ●n frayles or baskets: wherefore, some th●● 〈◊〉 careful and diligent t● the rendering of this tree, do make little vaults toward the South close covered, and within the● near th● w●ll, 〈◊〉 plant the Orange, suffering the 〈◊〉 all summer to 〈◊〉 to the sun, and to have the heat thereof: and as soon as winter comest they cover them strait with straw, or matt●●, specially with t●e stalks of Gourds. This 〈◊〉 delighteth to ●e continually digged about, they are gr●●●ed 〈◊〉 hot places ●n April, in cold countries in May, not under t●e bark, but clea●ing the stock hard by the root: they may 〈◊〉 gra●●ed bot● on the Pear tree, and the Mulberry: but when 〈◊〉 are gr●●●ed, must be fenced either with a wicker basket, or some earthen vessel. The fruit will be sweet, if the kernels be steeped in water sodde with honey, or which is better in sheeps milk. Such as you mean to keep, must be geathered in the night, the Moon being down, and geathered with branches and all, as they hang. Where the fruit burdeneth the tree, you must pull them of, and leave but few on it, which will be the pleasanter, and the kindlier fruit. It is at this day nourished both in Germany and France, and is planted in vessels full of earth, and in hot weather is set abroad in the sun: in cold weather set in sellers, or in hot houses. I have seen in Germany, certain hot houses o● purpose made of fir boards, that in Winter have warmed all the Garden, and in Summer the frames taken away, have given place to the sun. If while they be young and little they be put into earthen vessels, or glass, they grow according to the proportion thereof: so that you may have them fashioned either like a man, or like a beas●, according ●o your fancy: but you must so order your moulds, as the air may come to them. But lest I keep you too long with these ou●l●nd●she trees, I will speak something of our own trees, wherewith we are be●ter acquainted: among which we have the Mulberry, 
The Mulberry tree.  in Latin Morus, in G●eeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the fruit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Moro, in Spanish Mora, in French Meure, in dutch Mulbern: this is accounted of all other trees the wisest, because he never blossometh, till all cold weather be quite past: so ●hat when so ever you see the Mulberry begin to spring, you may be sure that winter is at an end: he is ripe with the first, and biddeth out so hastily, as in one night with a noise, he thrusteth out his leaves: they die the hands (as Pliny saith) with the i●yc● of the ripe berry, and wash it of with the green berry: he changes his colour thrice, first whi●e, then red, and lastly black: he loveth hot places, and gravelly, and delights in digging and dounging, but not in watering: his roots must be opened about October, and the lees of wine poured upon them: it is set of the stones, but thin: it often groweth to be wild: the best planting is the seyens, and the tops, a foo●e & a half long, smooth at both ends, and rubbed over with dung. The place wherein you set your 〈◊〉, they cover with ashes mingled with earth, but cover it not above four fingers thick. Palladius bids you to set it in March, and to remove it in October, or November. Deritius telleth, that the Mulberry may be planted in the fall of the lease, by thrusting into the ground the branches, after the order of the Fig tree, which I me self have proved, special, if the end that is cut be well bruised, that it may the quicklier take root: and so when you have made your hole, with a stake thrust it in: ●t is best graffed on the Beech, and the white Poplar, either by graffing in the stock, or by inoculation: and so shall the berries be white. It is graffed also in the Fig, and the Elm, which in old time they would not suffer, for fear of corrupting. Of the Mulberry is made a very noble medicine for the stomach, and for the gout: they will longest endure (as it is said) kept in glasses. The leaves do serve to feed Sylkewoormes withal, whereof some make a very great gain, and set them rather for that purpose, then for the fruit.  THRA. 
What tree is that with the ruddy coloured fruit like a Cherry?  MARIUS. 
It is a cornel tree, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Cornus, 
The Cornel  in Italian Corneolo, in Spanish Zereko seluestro, in French Corn●er, in Dutch Cornelbaum, the tree is thought never to exceed twelve cubits in height: the body is sound and thick like horn, the leaf is like the Almond leaf, but fatter, the flower and ●he fruit, is like the olive, with many berries hanging upon one stalk, first white, and after red: the juice of the ripe berries, is of a bloody colour: it loveth both mountains and v●lleys, and prospereth both in moist ground, and dry: it groweth both of the s●●ppe, and of the seed. You must beware you plant it not near to your Bees, for the flower doth kill as many of them as ●as●eth it.  THRA. 
What tree is t●e same that groweth next us?  MARIUS. 

Ziziphus.  That tree is called Ziziphus, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Giuggi●le, in Spanish Az●fe●fo, in French Imubae, in Dutch 〈◊〉, the berries whereof, are like the Cornel berries, the low●e like the olive flower, but more sweeter. Columella speaketh of two kinds thereo●, the one red, the other white, they are set of the stones, in hot countries in April, and in cold places in May, or else in june: you may set both the stone, and the branch, it is very slow in growing: if you set the plant, you m●st do it in March in soft ground: but if you set the stone, you must set them in a little trench of a hand broad, three stones together, with their points downward: it loveth not to rich a ground, but rather a l●ght gro●nd and a warm place: in winter (as Palladius s●yth) it is good to lay stones about the body of the tree. 
Italian ●●be●ts.  The next are Italian Fylbertes, in Latin Pista●ea, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Pa●●inachi, in Spanish Alhozi●o, in French Pistaches, in Dutch Wels●e pini●ernus, the leaf is narrow and brown, for upon the branches hung the Nuts, like the Nattes of the Pine. Of this tree it is thought there ●s both male and female, and therefore they grow commonly together, the male having underneath his shell, as it were long st●nes: it is graffed about the first of April, but upon his own stock, and upon the Terebinth, and the Almond tree. They are also set (as Palladius witnesseth) in the fall of the leaf in Oc●ober, both of the s●ippes, ●nd the Nut: it delight●th in a hot and a moist country, and joys in often watering.  THRA. 
Because I remember you told me b●fore, that of plants and trees some do grow of the seed, or fruit, and some are graffed: and because I have herded the graffing of most of them, I would now fain hear you speak of such trees as grow only o● the stone, or berry.  MARIUS 
Your remembrance is good: for tho●gh they commonly grow better when they be graffs, yet some there be that prospero the better being sown, and wy●● scarce grow a●y other way. And though same of the foresaid trees being set, do well prospero, as the Midler, the cornel, and divers other, yet sometimes they wax wylde● and are long before they come to perfection, which Virgil also affirmeth, 
For that same tree that of the seed, the stone, or berry grows,  
Doth slowly spring, and ●long it is, ere any fruit ●e shows:  
And when it comes, it proveth wild, and doth degenerate,  
And loseth that same relish swee●e, that longe●h to b●●state.  but by graffing it is restored again. Some of them again, how so ever they be sown or set, do not degenerate, or grow out of kind, as the Bay, the Date, the Cypress, the peach, the Abricoct, the Danison, the Pistace, the fir tree, and the Cherry: and because they be not all of one order, I will tell you severally of the chiefest of them. To plant trees of the seed, nature (as I said before) taught men at the first: the seed being devoured of birds, and with the dung let fall in the clefts of trees, where they after sprung and grew. The Bay, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
The Bay.  in Latin Laurus, in all other tongues almost as in Latin. The berry is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latin Lauri ●a●●s, in Italian Bacche de lauro, in Spanish Vaya de laurel, in Dutch Lorb●ren, a most grateful tree to the house, a porter to Emperors and Bishops, which chiefly garnisheth the house, and standeth always at the entry. Cato maketh two kinds thereof, the Delphic, and the Cypress: the Delphic, equally coloured and greener, with great berries, in colour betwixt green and red, wherewith the Conquerors at Delphus were wont to be crowned. The Cypress Bay hath a shorter leaf, and a darker green, guttered (as it were) round about by the edges, which some (as pliny saith) suppose to be a wild kind: it groweth always green, and beareth berries: he shooteth out his branches from the sides, and therefore waxeth soon old and rotten: it doth not very well away with cold ground, being hot of nature: it is planted divers ways, the berries being dried with the North wind, are geathered and laid abroad very thin, l●●t they cluster together, afterwards being wet with urine, they are set in furrows a handful deep, and very near together: in March they be also planted of the slip, and the s●yens. If you set them of the slip, you must set them not p●s●ing ●●ene foot a sunder: but so they grow out of kind. Some think, that they may be graffed one in an other, as also upon the Serui●se and the Ash: the berries are to be geathered about the beginning of December, and to be set in the beginning of March. 
Nut trees.  Nut trees are most commonly planted of the Nut, as all other shell fruits are. Of all Nuts the Almond is counted to be the worthiest, 
The Almond tree.  called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Mandorle, in Spanish Almeidras, in French Amandes, in Dutch Mandelen, they are set in February, and prospero in a clear and a hot ground, in a fat and a moist ground they will grow barren: they chiefly set such as are crooked, and the young plants, they are set both of the slipes, the root, and the kernel. The Nuts that you intent to set, must be laid a day before in soft dung: others steep them in water sodde with honey, letting them lie therein but only one night, lest the sharpness of the honey spoil the plant: and being thus ordered Columella saith, they will be both the pleasanter, and grow the better. The tops and the sharp ends you must set downward: for from thence cometh the root, the edge must stand toward the North: you must set three of them in triangle, a handful one from the other: they must be watered every ten days, till they grow to be great: it is also planted with the branches, taken from the midst of the tree. The Almond is graffed not near the top of the stock, but about the midst, upon the bows that grow out. This tree doth soon bear fruit, and flowreth before all others, in januarie, or February. Virgil accounts it for a prognosticatour of the plentifulness of Corne. 
When thick the Nut tree flowers amid the wood.  
That all the branches laden bend withal:  
And that they prospero well and come to good▪  
That year be sure, of Corn shall plenty fall.  The bitter one's (which are the holsomer) are made sweet, if round about the tree, four fingers from the root, you make a little trench, by which he shall sweat out his bitterness: or else if you open the roots, and power thereon either urine, or Hogs dung: or if at the root of the tree, you thrust in a fat wedge of P●tche tree. By this means (as Basyl saith) they will lose their bitterness: but no tree groweth sooner out of kind, and therefore you must often remove it, or graff it when it is great. Wallnuttes, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin I●glantes, 
walnuts.  in Italian Nocy, in Spanish Nuezes, in French Noix, in Dutch Groisse nusz: they are set in the ground (as Pliny saith) the seam downward, about the beginning of March: some think, that they will grow as the Filbert doth, either of the slip, or the root: it groweth speedily, and liketh a dry and a cold place, better than a hot. The Nut that you mean to set, will grow the better, if you suffer it to lie four or five days before in the water of a boy, and will prospero the more, if it be often removed: those Nuts (as it is thought) prospero best, that are let fall by Crows, and other Birds. If you pierce the tree through with an Augur, and fill up the place again with a pin of Elm, the tree shall loose his knotty hardness, neither will he loose his fruit, if you hung by either Mullet, or a piece of Scarlet from a dounhill.  THRA. 
What is the reason you plant your Walnut trees round about on the outside of your Orchard, and not among your other trees?  MARIUS. 
Because his shadow is great, & unwholesome, beside the hurt he doth with his dropping. He sucketh out a great deal of good juice from the ground: for as you see, they are very mighty and high trees, so as some of them are two or three endome about: they occupy a great deal of room with their standing, and beguile the other trees of their sustenance: beside, there are certain trees they agreed not well withal, and therefore have I set them on the outside of my Orchard, as standards to defend their fellows from tempest and weather. Among Nuts, is also to be recounted the Hazel Nuts, a kind whereof is the Filbert called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
 in Latin Auellan●●, in Italian No●iuole, in Spanish Auellamas. in French N●r●ee●●e, 
 in Dutch Haselnu●ez: they are planted after the manner of the Almond: it delighteth in clay and waterish grounds, and upon hills, being well able to abi●e the cold. They were first brought into Asia and Greece from P●●tus, and therefore called Pontic, and Heracleotic●e. etc. Among the Nuts also challengeth the Chestnut his place, 
Chestnuts.  though he be rather to be reckoned among mast, whereby is called the Nut, or mast of ●upite●, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Castanea, in Italian Castagne, in Spanish Castava, in French Castagnes, in Dutch Kastey: it loveth well to grow on mountains, and in cold countries: it hateth waters, and desireth a clean and a good mould: it misliketh not a moist gravel ground, and joyeth in a shadowy and Northerly bank: it hateth a stiff and a red clay ground, it is planted both of the Nut, and the set: it is better planting Woods of them of the Nut, then of the set, otherwise the safer way were the set, which in two years beareth fruit. It is planted when the sun is in the equinoctial, both of the science, the set, the branch, and the root, as the olive is. The Chestnuttes that you mean to sow, must be very fair and ripe, the newer they be, the better they grow: you must not set them after that sort that you set Almonds, or Filberts, but with the sharp end upward, and a foot a sunder: the furrow must be a shaftman deep. You were better (as I said) to make your Grove of the Nut, then of the sets, which will be meet to be felled for stays in seven year. Columella writeth, that the Chestnut meet for the supporting of vines, if he be sowed in well digged ground, doth quickly spring, and being felled after five years, it prospereth like the willow: and being cut out in stays, it lasteth till the next felling, as shallbe showed hereafter, when we speak of Woods. They will also have the Chestnut to be graffed on the Walnut, the Beech, and the Oak: it hath been seen, that where they grow two and two together, they prospero the better. The Pine, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Pinus, in Italian and Spanish Pino, in French Pin, in Dutch Hartzbaum, is planted not much unlike to the Almond, the kernels of the key clocks being set as the Almond is: they are geathered in july, before the caniculer winds, and 〈◊〉 the Nuts, the husk being broken, fall out. The best time of sowing them, Palladius reckoneth to be October, and November: this tree is thought to be a nourisher of all that is sown under it. The Pitch tree is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Tinea. in Italian Pezzo, in Spanish Pino negro, in Dutch Rotdannenbaun, but I come now to the Cherry. The Cherry tree, 
The Cherry tree.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the fruit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian the tree Ceraso, the fruit Cerase, and Ciregio, in Spanish Cerezo and Cereza, in French Cerisier and Cerise, in Dutch Kirsba●m, kirsea: the tree is easy to be planted, if the stones be but cast abroad, they will grow with great increase: such is their forwardness in growing, that the stays, or supporters of Unnes being made of Chery tree, are commonly seen to grow to be trees. They are graffed upon the Plome tree, upon his own stock, upon the Plane tree, and on the Bramble, but best upon the wild Cherry it joyeth in being graffed, and beareth better fruit: if you graff them upon the vine, your tree shall bear in the spring: the time of graffing, is either when there is no Gum upon them, or when the Gum hath left running. They remove the wild plant, either in October, or November, that the first januarie or February, when it hath taken root, it may be graffed upon. Martial would have you graff it in the stock: but in deed it prospereth better, being graffed betwixt the bark and the wood. It delighteth to be set in deep trenches to have room enough, and to be often digged about. It loveth to have the withered bow continually cut away: it groweth best in cold places, and so hateth dung, as if it be laid about them, they grow to be wild: it is also planted of the slips, and will bear his fruit without stone: if in the setting of the set, you turn the upper end downward. Others will, that the tree being young and two foot high, be slit down to the root, and the pith taken out of both sides, and joined together, the seams close bond about, & covered with dung: which within a year after, when it is well grown, the young graffs (which hitherto have born no fruit) if you graff them, will bear cherries without stones, as Martial saith. There are sundry kinds of Cherys (as Pliny reporteth, or Apronianus) that are redder than the rest, Actianus as black as a coal: which kind in Germany yet at this day, they call Acklische kirsen, Celicians that are round. Pliny in speaking of the sundry sorts, prefereth the Duracins, which in Campania they were wonted to call Plinians: and a little after he saith, upon the banks of the Rhine, there grow als● Kersis, of colour betwixt black, red, and green, like the Juniper berries, when they be almost ripe: in which the common sort of books have Tertius for Kirsis amongst the Germans: for Pliny whereas in many places he usurpeth the Dutch words, as in the .9.10.17. and .18. book, and in divers other places, which being not understanded of the Latin, came altogether corrupted to the posterity. There are also Bay cherries, graffed at the first in the Bay, that have a pretty pleasant bitterness: at this day, the small cherries are best esteemed, growing upon a low bush with short stalks, round fruit, and very read, much meat, soft, and full of liquor. It is said they will bear very timely, if you lay Lime about them: it is good to gather them often, that the● which you leave, may wax the greater: for setting and planting of Cherys, you may read a great sort of rules in the geatheringes of Constantine. There are also found a kind of Cherys growing wild in the Woods, and He●gerowes, with little berries, some red, some altogether black, which the Farmers in the Country do use for to fat their Hogs withal. The plum tree, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the fruit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
plum trees.  in Latin Prunus and Pruna, in Italian Prune and Succive, in Spanish Ciruel● and Ciruela, in French Prune, in Dutch Proumen, it is planted from the middle of Winter, till the Ideses of February: but if you set the stones at the fall of the leaf, let it be done in November, in a good and mellow ground, two handfuls deep: they may be likewise set in February, but then they must be steeped in lie three days, that they may sooner spring: they are also planted of the young sets that grow from the body of the tree, either in januarie, or in the beginning of February, the roots being well covered with dung: they prospero best in a rich and a moist ground, and in a cold country: they are graffed toward the end of March, and better in the cloven stock, then in the bark, or else in januarie, before the Gum begin to drop out: it is graffed upon his own stock, the peach, and the Almond. There are sundry sorts of Plums, whereof the Damson is the principal, joying in a dry ground, and in a hot country, and is graffed as the other Plomes are. There are divers coloured plum, white, black, purple, and red: wheat Plums, and horse Plums, wherewith they use to fat Hogs. The finger Plums are most commended, being of the length of a man's finger, which are brought unto us from Bohemia, and Hungary, and julians, and Noberdians, being blue in colour, but later. The Damsons are dried in the sun upon Lattyses, leads, or in an Oven: some do dip them before, either in sea water, or in brine, and after dry them. The peach tree, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
The peach tree.  the tree 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Persica, in Italian Perseo, in Spanish Durasuo, they are also called Rhodocina, and Dorocina, or Duracina, whereof there are four kinds: but the chiefest are the Duracins, and the Abrecocts: in November in hot countries, and in others in januarie, the stones are to be set two foot a sunder in well dressed ground, that when the young trees are sprung up, they may be removed: but in the setting, you must set the sharp end downward, and let them stand two or three fingers in the ground: wheresoever they grow, they rejoice most in watery grounds, which ground if you want, look that you water them abundantly, so shall you have great store of fruit. Some would have them set in hot countries and sandy ground, whereby they say, their fruit will longer endure: the better will also the fruit br, if as soon as you have eaten them, you set the stone, with some part of the fruit cleaving to it: it is graffed either on himself, the Almond, or the Plome tree. 
The Abryco●●.  The Apples of Armenia, or Abricoct, doth far excel the peach, used as a great dainty among noble men, and much desired of the sick: they are best graffed in the Plome, as the peach in the Almond tree: the fairest graffs that grow next the body of the tree, are to be choose and graffed in januarie, or February, in cold countries, & in November in hot: for if you take those that grow in the top, they will either not grow, or if they grow, not long endure. You shall inoculate, or imbudde them in May, or April, the stock being cut aloft, and many young buds set in: neither must you suffer them to stand very far one from the other, that they may the better defend themselves from the heat of the sun. The Frenchmen, and our Gardeners also, after the Italians order, do graff the Abricoct, taking a graft (not full a finger long) or the bud that is well shout out, with a little of the rind cut of, and slitting the rind of a young Plome tree cross wise, they set them in, binding them well about with Hemp, or Tow, and that in the end of june, or in july, and August. Some think they will be red, if they be either graffed in the Plane tree, or have Roses set underneath them: they will also be figured, or written in, if seven days after that you have set the sto●e, when it beginneth to open, you take out the kernel, and with Uermillion, or any other colour, you may counterfeit what you will, after the stone closed up about it, and covered with clay, or Hogs dung, you set it in the ground. Again, you shall have them without stones, if you pierce the tree thorough, and fill it up with a pin of willow, or cornel tree: the pith being had out, the roots of the tree must be cut and dressed in the fall of the leaf, & dounged with his own leaves: you shall also at this time prune them, & rid them of all rotten & dead bows. If the tree prospero not, power upon the roots the lees of old wine mingled with water. Against the heat of the sun, heap up the earth about them, water it in the evening, and shadow them as well as you may. Against the frosts, lay on dung enough, or the lees of wine meddled with water, or water wherein Beans have been sodden: if it be hurt with worms, or such baggage, power on it the urine of Oxen, meddled with a third part of vinegar. The Date tree, 
The Date.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian, in Latin, and in Spanish Palma, in French Arbour de Dates, in Dutch Dactelenbaum: the fruit in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Palmulae, in Italian Dattoli, in Spanish Dattiles, in French Dates, in Dutch Dactelem, it groweth in a mild gravelly ground, & delighteth in a watery soil: & though it desire to have water all the year long, yet in a dry year it bears the better: and therefore some think, that dung is hurtful unto it. About the river Nilus, & in the East parts, it groweth plenteously, where as they use to make both wine and bread of it: this tree in Europe (for the most part) is barren, though it be planted of many for novelty sake. The stones of Dates are planted in trenches of a cubit in depth and breadth, the trench filled up again with any manner of dung, except goats dung: then in the midst of the heap set your stones so, as the sharper part stand upward: other would have it stand toward the East: and after, when first they have sprinkled thereon a little salt, they cover them with earth, well meddled with dung: and every day while it springeth, they water it: some remove it after a years growth, other let it grow till it be great. Moreover, because it delighteth in salt ground, the roots must be dressed every year, & salt thrown upon them: and so will it quickly grow to be a great tree. The sets are not presently to be put in the ground, but first to be set in earthen pots, and when they have taken root, to be removed. Date trees have such a delight one in the other, that they bend themselves to touch together, and if they grow alone, they wax barren. They are planted (as Pliny saith) of the branches, two cubits long, growing from the top of the tree: also of the slips and slyvers. The same Pliny affirmeth, that about Babylon, the very leaf (if it be set) doth grow.  THRA. 
I remember you told me once, the spring and science that groweth out of the roots of some trees, will very well be planted.  MARIUS. 
I told you before, that divers of the trees whereof I spoke, might be planted of the branches, and of the sciences, having some part of the root plucked up with them: and so I said the Cherry might be planted, as also the Hazel, the Laurel, the myrtle, and the Medlar: likewise, the fairest branches slipped of, and the ends a little bruised, and thrust into the ground, commonly do grow to be trees, as I me self have tried both in the Mulberry, the Pear tree, and the Apple tree. One thing I will add beside, that the trees that bear fruit over hastily, do either never come to their just bigness, or the fruit that they bear, doth never long endure: wherefore I think sprung first that law of Moses, that fruit trees should for three years be counted uncircumcised, and their foreskins with their fruit, should be circumcised: that is, the burgens and blossoms should be plucked of, jest he should bear before his time, or when he hath born, loose his fruit: but I keep you too long in the describing of my Orchard.  THRA. 
O not, I rather (whilst I hear you) imagine me self to be amongst them, planting and viewing of their fruits: but now remains, that in steed of a conclusion to your talk, you declare the order of preserving them, to that end specially, that those things that are apppointed for remedy (being not duly, or in time administered) be not rather a hurt, than a help.  MARIUS. 
Your motion is good: first therefore, and generally, dounging and watering is needful for fruit trees, a very few excepted: and herein heed must be taken, that you do it not in the heat of the Sun, and that it be neither too new, nor too old: neither must it be laid close to the foot of the tree, but a little distance of, that the fatness of the dung may be drunk in of the root. Pigeons dung, and Hoggerdoung, do also heal the hurts or wounds of trees. The water wherewith we water them, must not be Fountain water, or Well water, if other may be had, but drawn from some muddy Lake, or standing Pool. Moreoner, you must take heed, (as I also told you before) when we began to talk of planting of an Orchard, that your trees stand a good distance a sunder, that when they are grown up, they may have room enough to spread, and that the small and tender, be not hurt of the greater, neither by shadow, nor dropping. Some would have Pomegranate trees, and Myrtels, and Bays, set as thick together as may be, not passing mean foot a sunder: and likewise Cherry trees, Plome trees, Quinces, Apple trees, and Pear trees, thirty foot and more a sunder: every sort must stand by themselves, that (as I said) the weaker be not hurt of the greater. The nature of the soil, is herein most to be regarded: for the Hill requireth to have them stand nearer together, in windy places you must set them the thicker. The olive (as Cato saith) will have five and twenty foot distance at the lest. You must set your plants in such sort, as the tops be not hurt, or bruised, nor the bark, or rind flawed of: for the bark being taken away round about, killeth any kind of tree. You must also have a regard of the shadow, what trees it helpeth, and what trees it hurteth. 
Shadow of trees.  The Walnut tree, the Pine tree, the Pitch tree, and the fir tree, what so ever they shadow, they poison. The shadow of the Walnut tree and the Oak is hurtful to Corn: the Walnut tree with his shadow also, is hurtful to men's heads, and to all things that is planted near it. The Pine tree with his shadow likewise, destroyeth young plants: but they both resist the wind, and therefore good to enclose Uineyardes. The Cypress, his shadow is very small, and spreadeth not far. The shadow of the Fig tree is gentle, though it spread far, and therefore it may safely enough grow amongst vines. The Elm tree, his shadow is also mild, nourishing whatsoever it covereth. The Plane tree, though it be thick and gross, is pleasant. The Poplar hath none, by the reason of the wavering of his leaves. The Alder tree hath a thick shadow, but nourishing to his neighbours. The vines is sufficient for himself, and the moving of his leaf and often shaking tempereth the heat of the sun, and in great rain well covereth it ●elfe. The shadow of all those, is commonly mild and gentle that have long stalks: 
Dropping of t●●●s.  the dropping of all trees is nought, but worst of all those, whose branches grow so as the water can not redyly pass through: for the drops of the Pine, the Oak, and the Mastholme, are most hurtful, in whole company you may also take the walnut: the Cypress (as 〈◊〉 says) hurteth not. Moreover, pruning and cutting is very good and necessary for trees, whereby the dead and whytered ●owes are cut away, and the unprofitable branches taken of: but to prune them every year is naught, 
pruning.  though y● U●ne requireth cutting every year: and every other year, the 〈…〉 the Pomegranate, and the olive, whereby they will the sooner bear fruit: the others must be the seldome● proyned. olive trees must be proyned in the fall of the leaf, after the setting of the seven stars: and first, they must be well dounged, is a help against their hurts. You must cut away all the old rotten branches that grow in the midst, and such as grow thick, and are tangled together, and all the waterbawes, and unprofitable branches about them: the old one's are to be cut close to the stock, from whence the new syrinxes will arise. S●arifiyng also or 〈◊〉, 
S●arefying.  is 〈◊〉 hossesome for the trees, when they are screyned with their leaves, and dryness of their barks: at which time we use to ●aunce the bark with a sharp knife, cutting it straight down in many places: which, what good it doth, appeareth by the opening and gaping of the rind, which is stayghtwayes filled up with the body underneath. 
Abl●●ue●ton.  You must also trim and dress the roots of your trees after this sort. You must open the ground round about them, that they may be comforted with the warmth of the Sun, and the Rain, cutting away all the roots that run upward. 
Removing.  The trees that you remove, must be marked which way they stood at the first: for so teacheth Virgil. 
And in the bark they set a sign,  
To know which way the tree did grow:  
Which part did to the South incline.  
And where the Northern blactes did blow.  Also, you must consider well the nature of the soil, that you remove out of a dry ground, into a moist, and from a barren hill, to a moist plain, and rather fat, then otherwise. The young plants being thus removed, must in the second, or third year be proyned, leaving still about three or four branches untouched, so shall they the better grow: this must you usually do every other year. The old tree we remove with the tops cut of, and the roots unperished, which must be helped with often dounging and watering. Apple trees that blossom and bear no fruit, or if it bear, they suddenly fall away, you shall remedy by slitting of the root, and thrusting in of a stone, or a wooden wedge. 
When trees bear not, or hold not their fruit, a remedy.  Also, if you water your trees with urine that is old, it greatly availeth (as they say) both to the fruitfulness, and pleasantness of the fruit. If the tree decay by reason of the great heat of the sun, you must raise the earth about it, and water the roots every night, setting up some defence against the sun. To 'cause their fruit to be quickly ripe, you must wet the little roots with vinegar and urine that is old, covering them again with earth, and often digging about them. The urine of men, if it be kept three or four months, doth wondered much good to plants, which if you use about vines, or Apple trees, it doth not only bring you great increase, but also giveth an excellent taste & savour, both to the fruit and the wine: you may also use the mother of oil, such as is without salt, to the same purpose, which both must speedily be used in winter.  THRA. 
We see that frosts and mists, do often times great harm to trees, have you any remedy against it?  MARIUS. 
Against frosts and mists, you must lay up round about your Orchard, little Fagottes made of stalks, rotten bows, or straw, which when the frosts, or mists arise, may be kindled, the smoke whereof avoideth the danger. You must have also dry dung amongst your vines, which when the frost is great, you may set a fire: the smoke whereof disperseth the frost.  THRA. 
What if the trees be sick, and prospero not?  MARIUS. 
When they have any such sickness, they use to power upon the roots, the lees of wine mingled with water, and to sow lupines round about them. The water also wherein lupines have been sodde, powered round about, is very good (as Pliny says) for Apple trees.  THRA. 
Trees are often times also hurt with worms.  MARIUS. 
If your trees be troubled with worms, there are divers remedies, for the juice of Worm wood destroyeth the Caterpillars. The seeds, or grain, that are steeped in the juice of sengreen, or Houseleek, are also safe from any worms: also asthes mingled with the mother of oil, or the state of an Ox, meddled with a third part of vinegar. Moreover they say, that the trees that are smoked with Brimstone, or lime, are safe from hurtful v●rmine: Galbanum likewise burned upon the coals, drives them away. The blades also of Garlic, the heads being of, so burned (as the smoke may pass through the Orchard) doth destroy the Caterpillars: some mingle Soot with the seeds, and sprinkle them with water: Democritus writeth, that a woman in her uncleanness, ungirt, and her hear hanging about her shoulders, if she go bore foot round about the place, the Caterpillars will presently fall: but perhaps I trouble you with this tedious, or long discourse of herbs, plants, and trees, and therefore though there be much more to be spoken of, jest I should seem to over weighed you, I will make an end.  THRA. 
A trouble? no, you have done me a singular great pleasure, in declaring unto me the right ordering of a Garden, and an Orchard, which (not thoroughly entreated of by others) you have briefly, and perfectly, to our great commodity described. And whereas you have largely spoken of our trees at home, it remains for you to say something of the disposing of Woods. It was my chance to pass yesterday, by a great Wood of Okes, and Coppisse, planted in very good order, and hard by, a willow grew upon the side of a River, excellently well ordered, where the Fields were enclosed round about with great Elms, which greatly beautifieth your dwelling, and yield (I warrant) not small profit: I therefore greatly desire to hear some thing of this part of husbandry.  MARIUS. 
Though it be without my covenant, 
Of Wod.  and that you demand more than I promised, yet since you force me, I will not refuse it, lest you should think I would fail you in any thing. As touching Woods, Ancus Martius (as Petrus Crinitus writeth) was the first in Rome that ever dealt in them: the old Fathers had always a speiall regard of Woods, wherefore Virgil saith: 
If that of Woods I frame my song.  
Woods unto Princes do belong:  
If that of Woods I list to sing●  
Woods may full well beseem a King.  It was ordained by the Romans, that the Consuls should have the charge of the Woods, that there should no Timber be wanting for building of Houses, and ships, and other Timber works, both public, and private. The state of Venice at this day, observeth the same order, pointing a private officer for their Woods, who hath in charge as well to see to the yearly planting of them, as to let that there be wanting no Timber for their necessary uses. The Wood that you told me you passed by, is of Okes, Beeches, and other Mast trees: some part serving for Timber, and other for fuel. Of these therefore will I first begin to speak, and then of olive Groves and Wyllowes, some of them be wild, and grow of themselves, not needing any looking to, but such as daily experience shows, are nothing so good, as those that are planted. Woods and forests, do chiefly consist of Oak, Beech, fir tree, Byrche, Pine, Pitch tree, Mastholme, Cork, wild olive, Medlar, Crabbe tree, juniper, Cornel, and Pyrry: other Woods have other trees, according to the nature of the ground. The great Wood of Harteswald in Germany, as it runneth through divers Countries, beareeth in some place only Oak, in others Beech, in others Fyrres. The Forest of Arderne for the most part beareth Oak: Montisicello, Larshe, fir, Cornel, and Tamarice. Monte. D S. Cothardo, great abundance of Chestnut trees. These wilder sort, though they grow of themselves, may yet well be planted, if you have meet ground of the acorn, and the berry: each of them liketh some one kind of ground better than an other, as first Theophrastus, and after Pliny hath declared. In the mountains delighteth the fir tree, the Cedar, the Larsh, the Pitch tree, and such as bear Rosyne: as also the Holm, the Terebinth, the chestnut, the Mastholme, the Oak, the Beech, the juniper, the Cornel, and the Dog tree: though some of these also prospero well enough in the plain. The fir, the Oak, the chestnut, the Fyrrebeech, the Mastholme, and the Cornel, grow aswell in the Ualley, as on the Mountain: upon the plains you shall have the Tamarix, the Elm, the Poplar, the willow, the Hazel, the Wallnutte, the Hornebeame, the Maple, the Ash, and the Beech. You shall not lightly see the plum tree, the Apple, the wild olive, nor the Wallnutte, upon the Mountain: all such as grow as well in the plain, as upon the Mountain, are larger and fairer to the eye growing in the plain, but are better for Timber and fruit, upon the Mountain, except the Pear and the Apple, (as Theophrastus saith): In marish ground delighteth the willow, the Alder, the Poplar, and the Privey. And although the most Woods do spring of their own nature and accord, yet are they by planting, labour, and diligence, brought to be a great deal more fair and fruitful: for as afore I told you, how fruit trees were nourished and brought up in Imp Gardens, so are these wild and fruitless trees, set and planted for Timber and Fuel. He that is disposed to plant a Wood, must first, according to his soil, choose his sets: and if he have them not springing of his own, let him make an Imp Garden of the seeds, enclosing well the ground with Hedge, Rampire, or Dytch, jest Sheep, Goats, or any other cattle, come in to bite and browse it: for what so ever they have once bitten (as if it were infectted with a deadly poison) perisheth: and therefore those that mean to plant Woods, either for Timber, fuel, or Mast, must carefully provide against these hurtful enemies. The country laws have therein well provided, that where such springs are, they shall feed no Goats, nor such cattle. Amongst the Mast trees, and such as serve for Timber, the first place of right belongeth to the Oak, 
The Oak.  called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Quercus ● in Italian ●uercia, in Spanish Roble ● in French Chesne, in Dutch Eichenbaum, he that will then plant an Oak grove, must provide him of ripe Acorns, not over dried, nor feut●e, or any way corrupted: these must he sow in good ground, well tilled, with as great carefulness as he plants his Orchard, and well enclose it, that there come no cattle in it: which (when they be something grown) you must about February remove to the place where you intend to plant your Wood: if you cut & prune them, it is thought they will prospero the better for Mast: but if you reserve them for Timber, you must not touch the tops, that it may run up the straighter, and higher. In removing them, you must make your trenches a foot and a half deep, covering the roots well with earth, taking good heed you neither bruise them, nor break them: for better you were to cut them. The Oak agreeth well enough with all manner of ground, but prospereth the better in Marshes, & marry places: it groweth almost in all grounds, yea even in gravel and sand, except it be over dry: it liketh worst a fat ground, neither refuseth it the Mountain. We have at this day and Oak in Westphalia, not far from the Castle of Altenam, which is from the foot to the nearest bow, one hundred and thirty foot, and three else in thickness: and an other in an other place, that being cut out, made a hundred Wain load: not far from this place, there grew an other Oak of ten yards in thickness, but not very high: the Rovers in Garmany, were wont to use for their Ships, hollowed trees, whereof some one (as Pliny saith) would carry thirty men. The next amongst the Mast trees is the Beech, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
●eechwood  in Latin Fagus, in Italian Faggio, in Spanish Haya, in French Faus, in Dutch Buchen, planted almost after the same manner that the Oaks be. The Mastholme, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latin Hex, in Italian where it is better known ●li●e, in Spanish Enzina, in French Haussen: it groweth high, if it have a ground meet for it: it prospereth upon hills, and likes not the plain: it beareth Acorns lesser than the Acorns of the Oak, a leaf like a Bay, and is continually green. The like hath the Cork tree, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ● in Latin Suber, in Spanish Alcornoque, in French Liege, which is counted amongst those that bear Mast, the bark whereof we occupy, for the floats of our fishing nets, and in Pantofels for Winter: all other trees (saving only the Cork) if you spoil them of their bark, do dye. another Mast bearing Oak there is, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ● in Latin Quercus siluestrum, in French Chesne, a kind whereof some think the Cerre tree to be, called in Latin Cerrus, growing in wild and barren places. T●ere are some that do number the chestnut tree amongst the Mast bearers: but of this I have spoken before. The best Mast is the Oak Mast, 
Mast, and his differences.  the next the Beech and the chestnut, than the wild Oak. etc. all very good and meet for the fatting of cattle, specially Hogs. The Oak Mast, or acorn, maketh thick Bacon, sound flesh, and long lasting, if it be well salted and dried: on the other side, Chestnuttes and Beech Mast, make sweet and delicate flesh, light of digestion, but not so long lasting. The next is the Cerre tree, that maketh very sound and good flesh: the Mastholme maketh pleasant Bacon, fair, and weighty: Pliny says, that it was ordained by the law of the twelve tables, that it should be lawful for any man to gather his own Mast, falling upon the ground of his neighbour, which the Edict of the chief justice doth thus interpret: that it shall be lawful for him to do three days together, with this proviso, that he shall only gather the Acorns, and do no harm to his neighbour, as Vlpianus witnesseth. Glans Mast (as Caius says) is taken for the fruit of all trees, as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth with the Greeks, though properly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, be those fruits that are shield, as Nuts, and such other. Upon these Mast bearers there groweth also the Gall, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in French Noix● de gall, in Italian and Dutch, as in Latin, in Spanish Agalla, a little ball rugged and uneven without, whereof some be massy, some hollow, some black, some white, some big, some lesser. It groweth (as Pliny says) the sun rising in Gemini, coming all out suddenly in one night: in one day it waxeth white, and if the heat of the Sun then take it, it withereth: the black continueth the longer, and groweth sometime to the bigness of an Apple: these serveth best to curry withal, and the other to finish the leather, the worst is of the Oak: and thus of such trees as bear Mast. Now will I join with all the principalest of the other trees, to make up your Woods, amongst which are the Elm, and the willow: the Elm in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
The Elm.  in Latin Vlmus, in Italian & Spanish Olmo, in French Orme, in Dutch Vlmbaum, and Yffenholiz: the planting whereof, because it is to great use, and easily grows, we may not let pass: first, because it groweth well with the vine, and ministereth good food to cattle: secondly (as it is all heart) it maketh good timber. Theophrastus and Pliny, do both affirm the Elm to be barren, peradventure because the seed at the first coming of the leaf, seemeth to lie hid among the leaves, and therefore it is thought to be some of the leaf (as Columella affirmeth.) He that will plant a Grove of Elms, must gather the seed called Samara, about the beginning of March, when it beginneth to wax yellow, and after that it hath dried in the shadow two days, sow it very thick, and cast fine sifted mould upon it, and if there come not good store of rain, water it well: after a year you may remove it to your Elm Grove, setting them certain foot a sunder. And to the end that they root not too deep, but may be taken up again, there must be betwixt them certain little trenches, a foot and a half distance: and on the root you must knit a knot, or if they be very long, twist them like a garland, and being well nointed with Bollockes' dung, set them, and tread in the earth round about them. The female Elms are better to be planted in Autumn, because they have no seed: at this day in many places, cutting of sets from the fairest Elms, they set them in trenches, from whence when they are a little grown, they gather like sets, and by this dealing make a great gain of them: in the like sort are planted Groves of Ashes. The Ash in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Fraxino, in Spanish Fresno, in French Fraisne, 
ash groves.  in Dutch Eschen: the Ash delighteth in rich and moist ground, and in plain countries, though it grow well enough also in dry grounds, he spreadeth out his roots very far, and therefore is not to be set about corn ground, it may be felled every third or fourth year, for to make stays for vines. The Ash groweth very fast, and such as are forwards are set in February, with such young plants as come of them, in good handsome order standing a row: others set such Ashes as they mean shall make supporters for garden vine, in trenches of a year old, about the kalends of March: and before the thirty sixth month they touch them not with any knife, for the preserving of the branches: after every other year it is proyned, and in the sixth year joined with the vine: if you use to cut away the branches, they will grow to a very goodly height, with a round body, smooth, plain, and strong: Pliny writeth of experience, that the Serpent doth so abhor the Ash, that if you enclose fire, & him with the branches, he will rather run into the fire, then go through the bows. birch, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latin Betula, as Theoprastus writeth in his fourth book, is a tree very meet for Woods: it prospereth in cold countries frosty, snowy, and gravely, and in any barren ground, wherefore they use in barren grounds, that serve for no other purpose, to plant Byrches: it is called in Italian Bedolla, in dutch Byrken, in French Beula, Pine Woods, Fyr Woods, Pitch tree, and Larsh, are common in Italy about Trent. The Pine tree in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latin Pinus, 
The Pine.  in Italian & Spanish Pino, in Dutch Hartzbaum, is planted of his kernels, from October to january: in hot and dry countries, and in cold and wet places, in February or March: the kernels must be geathered in june, before the clogs do open, and where you list to sow them, either upon hills or else where: you must first plough the ground and cast in your seed, as you do in sowing of corn, and cover them gently with a light Harrow or a Rake, not covering them above a hand broad: you shall do well, if you lay the kernels in water three days before. The kernels of the Pine are called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Spanish Pinones. 
Fyrre trees.  The fir tree in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Abies, in Italian Abete, in Spanish Abeto, in Dutch Deamen, loveth not to have any great ado made about it: if you be too curious in planting of it, it will grow (as they say) the worse, it grows of his own kernel in wild mountains, plains, or any where. The Pitch tree, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
The Pitch tree.  in Latin Picca, in Italian Pezzo, in Spanish El pino de que se haze la pez, in Dutch Rododemem, is a tree of the kind of Pines, and very like to the Pine, sweeting out his Resin as he doth: for there are six kinds of these Resin trees, the Pine, the Pitch tree, the wild Pine, the fir, the Larsh and the Tar tree, the planting of them all is alike. The Alder, a tree also meet for woods, 
The Alder.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Alnus, in Italian Auno, in Dutch Elsen, in French Aulne, it groweth in plain and marish places near to Rivers. Theophrastus says, it yieldeth a fruitful seed in the end of Summer: many places are commodiously planted with Poplar, whereof there are two sorts, the white called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and the black 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: the white is called with the Italians Populo bianco, with the Spaniards Alamo blanco, 
Poplar, white and black.  the black of the Italians, Populo negro, of the other Alamo negrillo, in French Peuplier, in Dutch Peppelem, it is planted of the branches and sets, and delighteth in watery places, or any other ground it proveth very fast: the black hath the ruggedder bark, his leaves round while he is young, and cornered in his age, white underneath, and green above. The timber hereof is good for buildings, specially within doors: his Wood is whitish within, and the rind blackish, whence he hath his name. Theophrastus addeth a third kind called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which some call the Poplar of Libya, and of the Alps, it hath a rugged bark like the wild Perry, a leaf like ivy, and is in colour like a dark green, sharp at the one end, 
Wyllowes.  and broad at the other. The black Poplar groweth in great plenty about the lower parts of the rhine, though Homer call the W●llowe a fruitless tree, because his fruit turneth into Cobwebs before they be ripe: yet is the sovereignty given him amongst Woods that are usually field. Cato giveth the third place of husbandry grounds to the Wyllouwe, preferring it either before the olive Grove, corn ground, or meadow, for it is oftener to be cut, and groweth the thicker, neither is there so great gain with so little charge in any thing: it delighteth in watery grounds, dark and shadowy, and therefore is plan●ed about Rivers and Lakes, howbeit it groweth in the Champion, and other ground: it is planted of young sets, a foot and a half long, and well covered with earth: a wet ground requireth a greater distance betwixt them, wherein you shall do well to ●et them five foot a sunder, in order like the sink upon a die: in the dry ground they may be set thicker to gather, yet Columella would have them five foot distance for passing by them. There are two sorts of Wyllowes, one sort enduring for ever, called Osyar, 
Osyars.  serving for making of Baskets, Chairs, Hampers, and other country stuff: the other kind growing with great and high branches, serving for stays to vines, or for quicksettes, or stakes of Hedges, and is called stake Wyllowe: it is planted both of the tiwgge and of the stalk, but the stalk is the better, which mu●t be set in a moist ground well digged, two foot & a half in the ground before it spring, and when the twygges are bore, you must take them from the tree when they be very dry, otherwise they prospero not so well: these stakes or sets being taken from the young stock, that hath been once or twice cut, and in thickness as m●ch as a man's arm, you must set in the ground three foot, or a foot and a half deep, and six foot a sunder, laying good mould about them fence: them well, that there come no cattle to pill of the bark of them. After three or four years you may pull them, whereby they will grow and spread the better, and so you may continually cut them every five, or fourth year, whereof you may make sets for planting of more, for the old one's are not so good to be occupied. The time of cutting of them, is from the fall of the leaf, until April, the Moon increasing, and in Westerly, or Southerly winds: for if you do it, the wind being in the North, we find by experience they will not grow so well: you must cut them clean away, that the old branches hurt not the young springs: some think the young willow to grow the better the nearer the ground, and the smother he is cut. 
For planting of Os●●res.  The Osyar commonly groweth of his own self, and is also planted of his rods, in watery and marish grounds, the earth raised up, and laid in furrows: it is planted and springs most plentifully, where the earth is beaten up with the rage and overflowings of the water: it serveth as a sure defence for making of Banks and Walls in Marshes, and that chiefly in March, the Moon increasing: the Osyar may be cut every year, or every two year if you will. Lo, here have you concerning Woods, what needefullest are for our countrymen to plant: for as for Woods of Cedar, Cypress, and other strange trees, it is not for our husbands to busy themselves about: wet and rich grounds that are meet for corn, is also good to be planted with Okes, Beech, willow, & Poplar, although the Oak and the Beech refuse hilly, and lighter ground: sandy, and barren grounds, are good for Byrche, Bramble, Broome, and heath, as I have sufficiently said before. Now perhaps you would have me proceed with Coppisse woods, that are continually to be field.  THRA. 
I would, if it were no pain to you.  MARIUS. 
Coppisse, or sale wood, were first brought up (as Pliny saith) by Qu. Martius. This kind of Wood groweth commonly of his own accord in Forests, and watery places: but all Woods are not for this purpose, for some trees there are, which if you cut and paul often, will fade and dye, as the Ash, the juniper, the Cherry, the fir, the Apple, and the Pyrry: and some again, if they be not cut, will perish: the vine requireth yearly cutting, the olive, the myrtle, and the Pomegranate, each other year. In cutting of them (as they are divers) so is their order: for the Oak, as he groweth slowly, so is he not to be cut, before he be of seven, or eight years growth: and the nearer the ground you cut him, the better he grows, though he may be polled seven or eight foot above the ground: the like is of the Beech, saving that he may sooner be cut. The great willow, and the Poplar, are cut after one sort, as I showed a little before: though the Osyar may be cut every two year, or every year. The Chestnut may be field every seventh year, both for Fuel, or for vine st●ues. Trees are cut and polled sundry ways, for either they are field close by the ground, or the body is polled, when it comes to be of the bigness of a man's arm, or more, as the willow is. Coppissed woods are commonly severed into so many parcels, as may serve for yearly felling, some still growing while others are a felling, and because some of them grow faster than other some, every sort hath his place, and his season appointed. Some are felled every fourth year, some every fifth year, as the willow, the Poplar, the Alder, and the Byrche: some, once in seven year, as the Chestnut, and some in more, as the Oak. It remaineth, that I now show you the manner of felling of timber, and what timber is meetest for every work.  THRA. 
I have a great desire to hear what time is meetest for felling of timber, which much availeth (as they say) to the long enduring of it: after, I would know what timber is meet for every purpose.  MARIUS. 
The season of felling, no doubt is to great purpose, whether it be for Timber, or Fuel: for such trees as are field either in the spring, or in summer, though they seem dry without, are notwithstanding full of moisture and witness within, which in burning, will never make good fire: and therefore for Coppisse and fire wood, your best felling is in Winter: and for building, it is best cutting of your trees in December, and januarie, the mo●ne being in the wa●e, from the twenty, to the thirtieth day. He are there some that say, they have found by experience, that trees being cut in januarie, are full of sap: and therefore think it better either to cut them before, or after. Cato saith, the best time is about the twelfth of December, for the timber tree that beareth fruit, is be●t in season when his seed is ripe, and that which hath no seed, when it pills it is time to cut. Such as are flawed, serving for pillars of Churches, or other round works, must be cut when they spring: shingles, and such as the Hatchet must flaw, are to be cut betwixt mid Winter, and the beginning of the Western winds. Pliny affirmeth the best season for felling of timber, to be while the Moon is in conjunction with the Sun. vitrvuius an excellent fellow in building, doth will you to fell your timber from the beginning of Autumn, till the time that the Western winds begin to blow, the which winds begin to blow (as Pliny saith) about the sixth Ideses of February: for in the spring, all t●ees are as it were with child, and bend all their force to the putting out of their leaf, and their fruit. Since than they be sappy, an● not sound, by the necessity of the season, they are made by the reason of their looseness feeble, and of no force: even as the bodies of women, after they have conceived, from their conception, till the time of their deliverance, are not judged to be sound, or perfit. In like sort the trees in Autumn, when the fruit & leaves begin to fall, the roots drawing from the earth their sufficient sustenance, are restored again to their old estate: beside, the force of the air in Winter doth fasten and make sound the trees, and therefore is it then thought the best time to fell your timber. The manner of cutting of it is this, first to cut it till you come to the middle of the pith, and so to let it stand, that the sap that is in it, may descend and drop out: so shall not the moisture within putrefy, nor corrupt the timber, but pass clearly away. When you have cut it, and you see it dry that it hath left dropping, you may cut it down, and so shall you be sure it shall best serve your turn. There are some masters in building, that think it best after you have sawen out your timber in boards, to lay them in water for three or four days, or if they be of Beech, for a longer time, eight or nine days: and being ordered in this wise, they shall neither (they say) be rotten, or worm eaten.  THRA. 
Now let us hear what trees are best for timber.  MARIUS. 
There are divers and sundry uses of timber: such as are barren, are better than the fruitful, excepting those sorts where the male beareth, as the Cypress, and the Cornel: in all trees the parts that grow toward the North, are harder and sounder, which are almost covered with moss, as with a cloak against the cold: the worst are those that grow in shadowy and waterish places, the massyer and better during, are they that grow against the Sun: and therefore Theophrastus divideth all timber into three sorts, into cloven, squared, and round, of which the cloven do never rend nor come: for the pith being bared, drieth up and dieth: they also endure long, because they have little moisture. The squared, and the round, or the whole timber, doth come and gape, specially the round, because it is fuller of pith, and therefore renteth and coameth in every place. And such high trees as they use for pillars, and main posts, they first rub over with bullocks dung to season them, and to suck out the sap: for the moisture do always come sooner than the dry, and dry better to be sawed then the green, except the Oak, a●d the Box, that do more fill the teeth of the Saw, and resist it. Some again refuse to be glued either with themselves, or any other, as the Oak, which cleaveth as soon to a stone, as any wood, neither do they well cleave, but to such as are of like nature: to be bored, the green is worser than the dry: the light and the dry, are harder to be cut: for bands & withes, the willow, the Brome, the birch, the Elm, the Poplar, the vine, the cloven Reed, and the Bramble are best: the Hazel will also serve, but the best is the willow: they have also a certain hardness and fairness, meet to be used in graven works. Among those that serve for timber, are most in use the fir, the Oak, the Pine, the Larshe, the Escle, the Elm, willow, Cedar, Cypress, the Box, birch, Plane tree, Alder, ash, wild Oak, Da●e tree, Beech, wild olive, Mastholme, Walnut, Maple, and Holly, and divers others, used according to their nature, and the manner of the country where they grow. The fir tree, whereof I have also spoken before, giveth out Rozin, and his timber is meet for divers works, and greatly esteemed for his height and bigness, whereof are made the ship masts, and pillars for houses: for it is very strong, and able to abide great force. 
The fir.  It is used also in building, for great gates & door posts: in fine, good for any building within, but not so well enduring without doors, and very soon set afyre. They used (as Theophrastus saith) in the old time to make their Galleys & long Boats of fir, for the lightness sake, and their ships for burden, of Pine tree, and Oak. Of Oak, I have spoken a little before, the timber whereof is best, both for inward buildings, and for the weather, and also well enduring in the water: Hesiodus would have yokes made of Oak. The wild Oak serveth also well in water works, so it be not near the sea: for there it endureth not, by reason of the saltness: it will not be pierced with any Augur, except it be wet before: neither so will it suffer (as Pliny saith) any Nail driven in it, to be plucked out again. The Mastholme, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a tree well known in Italy, 
Th● Mastholme.  the wood whereof is tough and strong, and of colour like a dark red, meet (as Hesiodus saith) to serve for Blow shares: it may also be made in Wainscot, and Pail board. The Larsh tree, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Larice, in Dutch Lerchenbaura, 
The Larsh.  was in the old time greatly esteemed about the River Poe, and the Gulf of Veniz, not only for the bitterness of the sap, whereby (as vitrvuius saith) it is free from corruption and worms, but also for that it will take no fire, which Mathiolus seemeth with his arguments to confute. It is good to sustain great burdens, and strong to resist any violence of weather, howbeit they say, it will rot with salt water. The Escle is a kind of Oak, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latin Esclus, is soon hurt with any moisture: the Elm, the willow, and the Poplar, whereof I have spoken before, will very soon rot, and corrupt: they will serve well enough within door, and for making of Hedges. The Elm continueth very hard, and strong, and therefore is meet for the cheeks and posts of Gates, and for Gates, for it will not bow, nor warp: but you must so dispose it, that the top may stand downward: it is meet (as Hesiodus saith) to make Blow handles of. The Ash (as Theophrastus saith) is of two sorts, 
The Ash.  the one tall, strong, white, and without knots, the other more full of sap, ruggedder, and harder. The Bay leaf (as Pliny saith) is a poison to all kind of cattle: but herein he is deceived, as it should appear by the likeness of the name, for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the young tree, whose leaves (as is certainly tried) killeth all such beasts as chaw not the cud. ash, besides his manifold use otherways, maketh the best and fairest horsemen's staves, whereof was made the staff of Achilles, which Homer so greatly commends: it is also cut out in thin boards. The Beech, whereof I have spoken before, although it be brittle and tender, and may so be cut in thin boards and bent, as he seemeth to serve only for Caskettes, Boxes, and Coff●●s, his colour being very fair: yet is he sure and trusty in ●earing of weight, as in ●xeltrees for Cartes, or Wanes. The bark● of the Beech was used in the old time, for vessels to gather Grapes in, and other fruit, and also for Cruettes, and vessels to do sacrifice withal: and therefore Cu●i●s swore, that he brought nothing away of all the spoil of his enemies, but one poor Beechen Cruet, wherein he might sacrifice to his gods. The Alder is a tree with a straight body, a soft & radish wood, growing commonly in watery places, it is chiefly esteemed for fund●tions, and in water works, because it never rotteth lying in the water: and therefore it is greatly accounted of among the Uenetians, for the foundations of their places, and houses: for being driven thick in piles, it endureth for ever, and sustaineth a wondered w●●ght. The rind is plucked of in the Spring, and serveth the Dy●r in his occupation: it hath like knots to the Cedar, to be cut and wrought in. The Plane tree is but a stranger, and a new come to Italy, brought thither only for the commodity of the shadow, keeping of the sun in Summer, and letting it in in Winter. There are some in Athens (as Pliny saith) whose branches are .36. cubits in breadth: in Lycian there is one for greatness like a house, the shadow place underneath containing. ●1. ●oote in bigness: the timber with his softness ●at● his use but in water, as the Alder, but drier then 〈…〉, the Ash, the Mulberry, and ●he Cherry. The Lynder, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and so in Italian, in Spanish La●era, in Dutch Lyndon: this tree ●h●ophras●u● counteth best for the workman, by reason of his softness: it breeds no woornes, and hath betwixt the bark and the wood, sundry little rinds, thereof they were wont in pliny's time to make Ropes and withes. The ●yrch is very beautiful and fair: the inner rind of the tree, called in Latin Liber, was used in the old time in stead of paper to write upon, and was bond up in volumes, whereof books had first the name of Libri, the twigs and bows be small, and bending, used to be carried before the Magistrate among the Romans, at this day terrible to poor boys in schools. The Elder tree, called of Dioscoridus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latin Sambucus, in Italian Sambuco, in Spanish Sauco, in French Suseau, in Dutch Hollenter, doth of all other trees soon and easelist grow, as experience besides Theophrastus doth teach us, and though it be very full of pith, yet the wood is strong and good: it is hollowed to divers uses, and very light staves are made of it. It is strong and tough when it is dry, and being laid in water, the rind cometh of as soon as he is dry. The Elder wood is very hard and strong, and chiefly used for Bore spears: the root (as Pliny saith) may be made in thin boards. The Fig tree, is a tree very well known and fruitful, not very high, but somewhat thick (as Theophrastus saith) a cubit in compass, the timber is strong, and used for many purposes, and sith it is soft, and holdeth fast what so ever sticks in it, it is greatly used in Targets. Bore tree, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Italian Boxo, in Spanish Box, in French Bovys', in Dutch Busthaum, an excellent tree, and for his long lasting, to be preferred before others. The Box that turned is, saith Virgil. juniper, 
juniper.  called both of Theophrastus and Diosco●ides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, because it driveth away vermin: for with his savour, Toads and Snails, and such like, are driven away, in Latin it is called juniperus, in Italian Ginipro, in Spanish Euebro, in French Geveure, in Dutch Wachoi●er: it is very like to the Cedar, but that it is not so large, nor so high: though in many places it groweth to a great height: the timber whereof will endure a hundred years. And therefore Hannibal commanded, that the temple of Diana should be built with rafters and beams of juniper, to the end it might continued. It also keepeth fire a long time, insomuch as it is said, the coals of juniper kindled, have kept fire a year together: the gum whereof our Painter's use. The Cedar tree, 
The Cedar.  in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Cedrus, and almost like in other tongues: the hardness of this timber is only praised, and that it will neither rot, nor be worm eaten, but continued ever. Solomon built that noble Temple of GOD at Jerusalem of Cedar: it is very meet for the building of Palaces and Castles: the Cedar, the Eben, and the olive tree, do never chink nor come. Images of gods and saints were always made of Cedar, because it ever yieldeth a moisture as though it sweated. Theopra●●us writeth of Cedars in Syria, of four else and more in compass. The Resin & Pitch of the Cedar tree, is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The Cypress, 
The Cypress.  and the Pine, do endure a long time without either worm, or rotting: Pliny commends Gates of four hundred years old. 
The Pine.  The Pine (saith Theophrastus') is of great strength, and very meet for the streyghtnesse and handsomeness, to be employed in building. 
The Walnutte tree.  The Walnut tree is a great tree and commonly known, whose timber is much used in ●eelinges and tables. Theophrastus writeth, that the Walnut tree before he falls, maketh a certain kind of noise, which it once happened in Antandro, the people being greatly afraid, fled suddenly out of the Baths. The wild olive, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
The wild olive.  in Latin Olcaster, in Italian Olivo Saluatico, in Spanish Azenuche, in French Olive sauvage, in Dutch Wilder Olyboum, of his wood is made the hastes and handles of Wymbles and Augurs. Holme, or Holly, is a tree whose leaves are full of prickles round about the leaf, 
The H●lly.  and the bark, being both continually green, the berries like the Cedar: of the rind of the roots they make bird-lime: the wood is very hard, the branches will well wind and bow, and therefore serveth excellent well for quickset Hedges: the Dutchmen call it Hul●en. The Maple, 
 called of Theophrastus' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Dutch 〈◊〉. for the beauty of the wood is next to the Cedar, having a very fair and pleasant grain, of the resemblance called Peacocks tail: with this wood tables are covered most gorgeous to the eyes, and other fine works made, specially of the knobs or wens that grow out of it, called Bruscou and Molluscou: of which the knobs hath the fairer and the more courled grain. Molluscou is a more open grain, and if so be it were of sufficient breadth for tables, it were to be preferred before the Cedar: now it is but seldom seen, and that in writing tables, or about beds. There is also a knob, or a wen growing upon the Alder, but a great deal worse than that of the Maple. The Date tree, 
The Date tree.  whereof we have spoken before, hath a very soft wood. The Cork, his timber is tough: 
The Cork  but now for a farewell, 
What turn each timber serves.  I will show you what works every timber is meet for. The fir, the Pine, and the Cedar, serve for Ships, for Galleys, and lighters, (as Theophrastus saith) are made of fir, 
For Ships.  for the lightness sake: Ships of burden, are made of Pine. Upon the French and Germany seas, they chiefly use Oak about their Ships: the self same timber also serveth well for building of houses, 
For Houses.  specially the Cedar, and the Cypress. The fir, the Poplar, the Ash, and the Elm, are meet for the inner parts of the house, but they serve not so well in the weather, as the Oak doth. For conveyances of water, the Alder, the Pine, and the Pitch tree, 
For water courses.  are best made in pipes: being well covered in the earth, they last a wonderful while, but if they sye uncovered, they sooner perish: the Oak also, the Beech, and the Walnut, endure very well in the water. The timber that longest endureth, is the olive, the Oak, the wild Oak, and the Mastholme: for as Pliny witnesseth, the olive hath been s●ene to stand two hundred years, and like the Cedar, and the Cypress, as hath been said before: for Rafters, and Mortisse pieces, the Elm and the Ash, 
For be●●ing of 〈◊〉.  by reason of their length serves best. The best to bear weight, is the fir, and the Larsh, which how so ever you lay them, will neither bend, nor break, and never fail, till worms consume them. contrariwise, the olive tree, and the Oak, will give and bend, and so will the Poplar, the willow, the Elm, and the birch. The Date (a worthy tree) bendeth up against his burden. The Poplar on the other side, giveth at every light thing. The Elm & the Ash, though slowly, are easily 〈◊〉. These also are easily wound and bend: the willow, the B●●ch, the Broom, the Oak, and the Oaken boards. 
 shingles to cover houses withal, are best made of Oak, Beech, and such others as bear Mast: and also of such as yield Resin, as the Pine, and the Pitch tree: the Pitch tree, and the Oak, serve best for Cups, Tankardes, and such like. Those that are cut for wainscot and thin boards, the Cerre tree, the Terebinth, the Maple, the Box, the Date, the Mastholme, the root of the Elder, and the Poplar. For the beautifying of Tables, 
 serveth chiefly the Maple, the Ash, the Walnut, and sometimes the Cherry, and the Pear: but the preciousest are the Cypress, and the Cedar Tables. For Axeltrees, Wheels, and Spokes, serveth the Oak, the Maple, and the Beech, ●●●gil doth also appoint the Cedar, and the Cypress to this use. Hereof they make the Spokes of Wheels, and hereof Cartes & Wanes. The self same timber also serveth (as Hesiodus saith) for Ploughs, 
 Yokes, and Wagons: but that he addeth hereunto the Ash, and the Cerre tree, and as the Ash for his softness, so the Mastholme for his hardness. For Pullye●, Wymbles, Sheaths, and Mallets, the meetest are the wild olive, the Box, the Mastholme, the Medlar, the Elm, the Ash, the Maple, and the Bramble: but the greater sort of Mallets, or Beetles, and the Wheels and Pullyes for Mylles and Welles, are made of Pine, and Walnut tree. ●ato would have the Wanes and Cartes made of Holly, Bay, and Elm. Hyginu● would have the handles, 
For hastes, and handles.  or steals of husbandmen's tools, made of Dog tree wood, Holme, Cerre tree, and (which we have commonly in use) Box. Targets are (as Theophrastus saith) made of Widow, and vine, 
●o● Targets  for being pierced, they close the harder 〈◊〉 eathe●● but the willow is the lightest, and therefore the better. The Fig tree also, and the kindle, the birch, the Poplar, and the Elder, serve all w●ll for Targets. The best wood for horsemen's staves, 
〈…〉 ●aues.  is the Ash, and (as Virgil saith) for valiant staves, the M●riel: the Ewe tree serveth (as the same Virgil witnesseth) for Bows. 
The Ewe tree for the Persian bow they bend.  For Gates, they use the Elm: for Hampers, or baskets, all such as easily bend. For Cupplinges and Raf●ers of houses, the Elm, and the Ash for thin board, the best to cleave, the fir, 
●or w●te● woo●●●●.  the Poplar, and the Beech: for long during, and abiding the weather, and standing in water, the Oak is commended, for which the other serve not, save for the water, the Beech, and the Alder: for fire, and light, are used the fir, the Pitch tree, and the Pine. The best coals are made of the fastest wood, as the Oak, 
●or co●●ng  and the wild Oak: but the Fyners rather desire the coals that are made of the Pine tree, because they better abide the blowing, and die not so fast as the other. The Cerre tree, though the timber be of no great use, yet serveth it well to make coal of for the Brass Forges, because as soon as the bellows leave, the fire ceaseth, and there is little waste in it: but for building, the timber thereof is altogether unprofitable, because it doth easily break, and moulder away: but being in ●ostes unhewed, it serveth well enough within door. The aptest to take fire, is the fig tree, and the olive tree: the Fig tree, because it is soft and open: the olive tree, for the fastness and the fatness. The Earth tree (as vitrvuius saith) resisteth the fire, though Mathiolus (as I said before) goeth about to disprove it. In all the bodies of trees, as of lively creatures, there is skin, senowes, blood, flesh, veins, bones, and marrow: their skin is their bark, of great use among country people: the vessels that they gather their vines and other fruits in, they make of the bark of Lynd tree, fir, willow, Beech, and Alder. The Cork hath the thickest bark, 
The bark.  which though he lose, he dieth not, for so be beneficial hath nature been to him ● that because he is commonly spoiled of his bark, she hath given him two barks. Of his bark, are made Pantoffels', and ●●yppers, and Floats for fishing nets, and Angles: if the bark be pulled of, the wood sinks, but the bark always swimmeth. The next to the rind in most trees, is the fat, the softest and the worst part of the tree, and most subject to worms: therefore it is commonly ●ut away. The sap of the tree, is his blood, which is not alike in all trees, for in the Fig tree it is milky, which serveth as a rennet for Cheese. In Cherry trees, it is gummy: in Elms, saltish: in Apple trees, clommy and fat: in vines, and Pear trees, watrishe: they commonly spring the best, whose sap is clammiest. The juice of the Mulberry, is sought for (as Pliny saith) of the Physicians. Next to the fat, is the flesh, and next to that, the bone, the best part of the timber: all trees have not any great quantity of this fat and flesh, for the Box, the Cornel, and the olive, have neither fat, nor flesh, nor marrow, and very little blood: as neither the Seruisse, nor Alder, have an● bone, but both of them full of marrow. Reeds for the most part have no flesh at all: in flesh of trees, there are both veins and arteries, the veins are broader, and fairer: the arteries are only in such trees as will cleave, by means of which arteries it cometh to pass, that the one end of a long beam laid to your ear, if you do but fillip with your finger upon the other end, the sound is brought forthwith to your ear, whereby it is known, whether the piece be strait and even or not. In some trees there are knoties on the outside, as the wen, or the kernel in the flesh of man, in the which there is neither vain, nor artery, a hard knop of flesh being clung, and rolled up in itself: these are most of price in the Cedar, and the Maple. In some, the flesh is quite without veins, having only certain small strings, and such are thought to cleave best: others, that have not their strings, or arteries, will rather break then cleave: as the vine, and the olive, will rather break then cleave. The whole body of the Fig is fleshy: as the body of the Mastholme, the Cornel, the wild Oak, the Mulberry, and such others as have no pith, is all bony. The grain that runneth overthwart in the Beech, was taken (as Pliny saith) in the old time for his arteries.  THRA. 
There are other commodities beside the timber, to be geathered of these trees.  MARIUS. 
Very true: for (as I said before) of the Medlar, the Oak, the Chestnut, the Pine, and the Beech, these trees that grow in the Woods, beside their timber, bear fruit also, good and meet to be eaten. So of the Fyrres, the Pitch trees, and the Pines, we gather Resin and Pitch, to our great commodity and gain: as of the Oak, the Beech, the Chestnut, the Medlar, and the Pine, we have fruit both meet for man, and also good for feeding of Hogs, and other cattle. In time of dearth, both our forefathers, and we, have tried the good service, that Acorns in bread hath done: yea, as Pliny and others have written, they were wont to be served in amongst fruit at men's tables. Neither is it unknown what great gains some countries get by Acorns, Resin, and Pitch: the gail also groweth upon these acorn bearing trees, whereof I have spoken before. Amongst all the trees out of which runneth Resin, the Tar tree, a kind of Pine, is fullest of sap, & softer than the Pitch, both meet for fire, and light, whose boards we use to burn in steed of candles. The Cedar sweateth out Resin & Pitch, called Cedria. Moreover, of trees is Brydlime made, 
birdlime.  the best of the Cerre tree, the Mastholme, and the Chestnut, specially in the Woods about Seine, and near the sea side, where they are carefully planted in great plenty, by the birdlime makers: for they gather the berries from the trees, and boil them, till they break, and after they have stamped them, they wash them in water, till all the flesh fall away. Pliny affirmeth, that it groweth only upon Okes, Mastholmes, Skaddes, Pine trees, and Fyrre. Byrdelyme is also made of the roots of certain trees, specially of the Holly, whose roots and barks withal they gather, and lay them up in trenches, covered with leaves in a very moist ground (some do it in dung) and there they let them lie till they rot, then take they them out and heat them, till they wax clammy, and after wash them in warm water, and make them up in balls with their hands, it is used (beside other purposes) for the taking of birds. Besides all this, there sweateth out of trees a certain Gum known to all men, as of the Cherry tree, the plum tree, the juniper, the olive, the Blackthorne, the ivy, 
varnish.  and Almond. Out of the juniper, cometh Uernish: out of the Myrrh, Scorax: out of the white Poplar, Amber. 
Amber.  Pliny writeth, that Amber cometh out of certain Pine trees in the fat, as Gum doth from the Cherry tree. And thus these things that I have here at your request declared, touching the order of planting and sowing, I beseech you take in good worth: you hear my wife calleth us to supper, and you see the shadow is ten foot long, therefore it is high time we go.  THRA. 
I give you most harry thanks, that you have thus friendly entertained me in this your fair Orchard, with the sweet description of these pleasant herbs and trees.  JULIA. 
Sir, your supper is ready, I pray you make an end of your talk, and let the Gentleman come in here into this Arbour.  MARIUS. 
Come let us go.  
Soli Deo laus & gloria, per Christum jesum.  
The end of the second Book.   

¶ The third Book, of feeding, breeding, and curing of cattle.  Hippoconus, Euphorbus, Hedio, Eumaeus. 
THAT the breeding and feeding of cattle is a part of husbandry, and near joined in kindred to the tylture of the ground, not only appeareth by Virgil, the prince of Poets, who hath in his Georgics thoroughly set forth the order thereof, but also by the witness of the more ancient Philosophers Xenophon, & Aristotle. The like doth our common experience at home daily teach us: for albeit that trade of tillage & keeping of cattle is divers, and the manner of occupying many times contrary the one to the other: as where the grazier and breeder, requireth a ground full of grass and pasture, the husbandman on the other side, a ground without grass, and well titled: yet in these their divers desires, there appeareth a certain fellowship and mutual commodity redounding in their occupying of one the other, which Fundanius in Varro doth seem by an apt comparison to prove: as in a couple of Shawms, or Recorders, saith he, the one differeth in sound from the other, though the music and song be all one (the one sounding the Triple, the other the Base) in like manner may we term the grazier's trade the Triple, and the tyl●ers occupation the Base, following Dicaearchus, who reporteth, that at the beginning, men lived only by breeding and feeding of cattle, not having as yet the skill of ploughing and tilling the ground, nor planting of trees. Afterwards in a lower degree, was found out the manner of tilling of the ground, and therefore beareth the Base to the feeder, in that it is lower, as in a couple of Recorders the Base to the Triple. So this using to keep cattle for ploughing, carriage, dounging of our ground, and other commodities, and on the o●her side, to till the ground for feeding and maintenance of our cattle, it comes to pass, that though the manner of occupying in tillage, and keeping of cattle be divers, yet one of them so serveth the turn of the other, that (as it seemeth) they can not well be a sunder: for without the service of Horse and Oxen, we can neither blow, nor dung our ground: and Chaff, Straw, and other offal of Corn, is meet to be spent upon the ground, then to be sold, both for the Farmer's behoof, and the lords, and better bestowed upon the household cattle, then upon the foreigners. Besides, the dung of the cattle enricheth the ground, and bringeth great increase: and whereas there is no place (as Columella saith) but in the tillage of their ground, they have as much need of cattle, as men: the cattle serve not only for the tilling of the ground, but also to bring in Corn, to bear burdens, carry dung for the ground, and also for breed, and increase of the stock: whereby they have their name iumenta, of helping, because they help and further us either in our labours by ploughing, or bearing. Neither is it only sufficient to nourish and bring up this kind of great cattle called iumenta, but also the other lesser sort of beasts, as Sheep, Swine, Goats: and of fowls, Geese, Peacocks, Ducks, Pigeons, Hens, Chickinnes, and other poultry, and things belonging to husbandry, wherewith the good husband, beside his own sustenance, maketh great gain: and if the ground be for it, and Pales favourable, there ariseth oftentimes as great profit, as in sowing of Corn, and that with smaller charges. For a proof that feeding is gainful, the words pecunia money, and peculium substance, or richesses, being both derived from the Latin name of cattles, may very well serve: for in the old time they used their cattle in stead of money, and their common penalties & fines, taken in cattle, the greatest, was thirty Oxen, & two Sheep, every Ox valued at u s. & vi. d. and every Sheep at vi d. the smallest was a Sheep: the very like is yet observed with the noblest and warlikest people, whose substance lieth altogether in cattle. Cato being once asked by what part of husbandry a man might soon be made rich, made answer, by great grazing: and being asked again, which way he might get sufficient livelihood, 
The worthiness and antiquity of keeping of cattle.  he answered, by mean grazing. Moreover, that the worthiness and first original of keeping of cattle is of greatest antiquity, and that the trade thereof hath always, from the time of the patriarchs hitherto, been counted most honest, as well the scriptures, as profane histories do witness, 
The worthiness and antiquity of keeping of cattle.  which kind of life, how acceptable it hath, always been to God, by those that lived in the first world doth, plainly appear. The scripture showeth how graciously the Lord accepted the sacrifice of Abel, a keeper & feeder of sheep, besides Seth, No, Abraham, Loth, jacob, job, Amos. Holly and blessed men are commended for keeping, and feeding of cattle, whereby attaining to great wealth, they sustained themselves, their wives, their Children, and their huge families. The Sons of jacob, when as they were demanded by the king of Egypt what manner of life they led: made answer, that they were feeders and keepers of cattle, from which trade Lot, Morses, Saul and David, were by the will of God, advanced to the Crown. As among the Gentiles the most ancient, and famous Princes were, some of them brought up by Sheaperds, & some sheaperds themselves. Romulus & Cyrus being mighty Emperors, were brought up among sheaperdes. Besides Galerius Maximinus, Constantine, Probus, & Aurelianus, came all from the Oxstall, to the Imperial Seat. Homer commends ●l●sses his swinherd, for his great valiance and nobleness. That the valiant and noblest people have professed this trade, the Italians, Germans, and Swytzers can testify, whose Countries being now grown to more delica●ye, than they were wont to be, were wonted always, when their doings were most famous, to glory and vaunt themselves of this life, as at this day the Goodliest and wisest do. And therefore the ancient writers, as well Greekes, as latins, do count the chiefest wealth to be in the numbers of sheep, cattle, and Fruit: for which estimation the cattle were supposed to be clad in Golden Coats: whence sprang first the fable of the Golden fleece of Colchos, which jason, and his companions attempted to fetch, & of the Golden apples, kept by the daughters of Atlas. Besides the signs of Heaven the seas, Mountains, & Countries do bear their names of Beasts: among the 〈…〉 the Bull: the mountain, Taurus: and the 〈…〉 took his name of Calves. Moreover the 〈…〉 the worthier, in that it hath some resemblance of the 〈…〉 governor: and therefore the Prophets in their Oracles, and poets in their verses, do often times call kings and princes by the names of shepherds, and feeders of the people. Yea the LORD of the whole world doth call himself a shepherd. Since it appeareth by these examples, of what worthiness keeping of cattle is, and how near it is linked with tillage, I have here thought good, after the entreating of tillage, Gardning, and Orchards, to describe as briefly as I can, the order and manner of keeping of cattle: which skill though Varro divideth only into three parts, I have divided into four. In the first part I put the great cattle for burden, as Horses, Asses, Mules, camels: in the second part the lesser sort, as Sheep, Goats, and Swine: in the third, such things as are belonging to the keeping and safeguard of cattle, not for the profit they yield of themselves, but for their necessary use, as shepherds dogs, and cats: of these three parts in this third book I entreat, of: the fourth I refer to the fourth book. Having thus declared the contention betwixt keeping of cattle, and tillage, with the worthiness and antiquity thereof, I mean now to prosecute such things as are belonging to the same. I have brought in the masters and keepers of every kind of cattle, resting themselves upon the holiday in the green grass, & the summers shadow, every one declaring his skill and knowledge, according to his profession. The parties are EUPHORBUS the Netheard: HIPPOCOMUS the horse-keeper: HEDIO the shepherd, and EUMAEUS the swineherd.  EUPH. 
How sirrah HIPPOCOMUS, whither wander you? do you not know that it is holiday, a day to dance in, and make merry at the ale house?  HIPPO. 
everyday is holiday with lazy and slothful merchants: it lieth me upon to look to my profit, to see whether my Horses feed well, and that they take no harm. The pastures are so burned with the heat of summer, that I am afraid for w●●t of meat, they will seek to break into other grounds, and so hurt themselves.  EUPH. 
Why bring you not them into this field, where there is both a good grotten, and pretty store of grass among the headgroves.  HIPPO. 
You persuade me not the worst.  EUPH. 
Come on then, bid Mastix your boy bring hither your Horses, and you yourself, sit you down under this Hazel, that will yield us both shadow and nuts, and we will sand for EUMAEUS, and HEDIO, if you think good, and we will pass away the time with such talk as we shall find.  HIPPO. 
Agreed. Go Mastix, Fetch hither the Horses, with the Coults and the Asses.  EUPH. 
And you EUMAEUS, and HEDIO, bring your Herds together, and come hither, every man shall lay down his shot, as they use in the Tavern, but without money or any charges, declaring at large what belongeth to the cattle he keepeth. Your Horses HIPPOCOMUS are yet in good plight, I see the Horses of our neighbour Agrius of late, which are leaner and barer a great way.  HIPPO. 
Peradventure they have not so good looking unto, though they neither want pasture, nor are much laboured: but mine on the other side, are continually laboured, and are not so well fed, but are better looked unto then my neighbours.  EUPH. 
Well, since both time and place requireth it, I pray you let us hear what you can say, touching the charge and looking to of Horses.  HIPPO. 
Surely I have not so much money to tell, but I may well be at leisure, and therefore since you are so earnest with me, I will not deny your request: although that of this matter, an honest and learned Gentleman of England, master Thomas Blunduile hath so thoroughly written to his commendation and benefit of his country, as there can not be more said: I refer you therefore wholly to him: notwithstanding, briefly I will show you my fancy. Among all other creatures that we use in our labour, 
Of Horses.  the Horse may worthiest challenge the chiefest place, as the noblest, the goodliest, the necessariest, and the trustiest beast that we use in our service: and since he serveth to so many uses, I should here bestow some time in his praise, and in declaring his service, but for this, an other time shall better serve.  EUPHOR. 
We only here desire to know the signs of a good, and an excellent Horse, and the right manner of ordering him.  HIPPO. 
First you shall know that Horses serve for sundry purposes. Some, for the Plough, the Cart, & the packsaddle, others, for light Horses, Coursers, & Horses of service, others again, for Stallions, and breeders: and therefore they must be choose according to their service. Soldiers, and men of war, desire a sierse Horse, courageous, swift, and well coloured. The husbandman would have his horse gentle, large bodied, and meet for travail and burden. Notwithstanding, the breeding, and bringing up of them, is almost one: for in their breeding, we hope to bring them all to the saddle.  EUPHOR. 
What things are most to be considered in their breeding?  HIPPO. 
He that hath a fansey too breed Horse, must first provide himself of a good race, and then of good ground, and plenty of pasture, which in other cattle, aught not to be so greatly observed, but in Horses there must be special care thereof. And therefore, you must first see that your Stallion be of a good race, well proportioned, and framed in every point, and in the like sort, the Mare. Some reckon their goodness by their Countries, wherein they take for chie●e, the Jennet of Spain, the Courser of Naples, the Sarmacian Horse, the Pelo●on●han, the Turkey, and the Thessalian: but these serve chief for running, and swiftness. For largeness of body, enduring of labour, and fitness for breed, the best are to be had out of Friesland, Holland, and Artoy●. The shape and proportion of the Horse, aught heedily to be considered, for the very look and countenance oftentime, declareth the goodness of his nature. Therefore, you must diligently consider his making, from the heel to the head, and first you must chiefly regard his feet: for as in viewing of a house, it is in vain to regard the beauty of the upper rooms, if the foundation be ruinous: so the Horse that is not sound of his feet, will neither serve the Soldier, the Husband, nor the traveler. In your looking upon him therefore you must first consider his hooves that they be not tender and soft, but hard and sound, round and hollow, 
The hoof.  that the hollowness may keep his foot from the ground, and sounding like a Cymbal as (Xenephon saith) may declare the soundness of the foot, for the hoof that is full and fleshy, is not to be liked, & the Horses that have such hoo●es do easily halt, wherefore divers commend a Horse like the hoo●e 〈◊〉 ass, the pastors next to the hoof not to long as the goat hath, for shaking of his rider, and breeding of wind-gall, nor to short, for being hurt in stony ground. The legs & the thighs sith they are the standards of the body, they aught to be even, strait, and sound, not gouty, with much flesh and veins. for such as have their legs clad with much flesh and veins, 
The legs.  they with great journeys grow full of windgalls and swellings which will 'cause them to halt, which Legs at the first foling, are as long as ever they willbe, by reason whereof you may guess what height the Horse willbe of, being yet a colt. The knees must be round, 
The knees.  flexible, and small, and not bowing inward nor stiff, the these large and well brawned, 
The thighs.  his breast great and broad, 
The breast.  his neck soft and broad, 
The neck.  not hanging like a Goats, but upright like a Cocks, and well reyning, his mane thick, 
The mane  falling on the right side, some like it better on the left, his head small and lean, 
The head.  for a great and heavy head, is a sign of a dull jade, his moussell short, his mouth wide with large wrinkles, still playing with the bit and foaming: as Virg. There stamping stands the steed, and foamy bridle fierce he champes. The Horse that hath a dry mouth is naught, 
The mouth.  his cheekebones would be even and small, for if they stand to far a sunder, he will be ill to be bridled, and the unevenness of the Cheeks, will make him headstrong, and never to rain well, but to thrust out his head ill-favouredly, his eyes great, bloody, and fiery & standing out of his head, which is a sign of quickness and livelynes: hollow and little eyes are naught, 
The eyes  and black or pale stars in the eyes are to be dispraised: these faults are best spied in the night buy Candle light. Columella commends black eyes. A brickwall eye is very good, such as they say Alexander's Bucephalus had. The ears must be short, 
The ears.  standing upright, and stirring, for the ears, be the tokens of a Horse's stomach, which if they be great and hanging, are signs of a jade. The nostrils must be wide, 
The nostril 〈◊〉 shoulder  the better to receive air, which also declareth a lively courage, his shoulders large and strait, the sides turning inward, the ridgebone over the shoulders being something high, 
The 〈◊〉.  gives the horseman a better seat, and the shoulders, and the rest of the body, is stronger knit together, if it be double, his sides deep, well knit behind, and something bowed up, 
 which both is better for the horseman, and a sign of great strength: his Loins, the brother they be, 
 the better he lifteth his forefeet, and followeth with the hinder, and his paunch shall the less apeere, which both disgraceth him and burdneth him, his belly must be gaunt, his buttocks large, 
 and full of flesh, answerable to his breasts, and his sides, for if he be broad hanched, & well spread behind, and goeth wide, his pace willbe the surer, which we may perceive in ourselves, if we assay to take up a thing from the ground, striding, and not with our legs together, we take it up with more case and strength. His tail would be long, bristly, 
 and curled, the length whereof, is not only a beauty, but also a great commodity to him to beat away flies: yet some delight to have them curtailed, specially if they be broad buttockt. 〈◊〉 fine, the hole body would be so framed, as it be large, high, lively sp●●ed, & well trussed. Some horsemen would have their Horse to be limmed after the proportion of divers Beasts, as to have the head and legs, of a stag, the ears and tail, of a Fox, the neck of a Sw●nne, the breast, of a Lion, the buttocks, of a Woman, and the feet of an Ass. Virgil in his Goe 〈◊〉 both very clerkly describe the tokens of a good Horse. 
〈…〉 advanced ●ie at the first the kindly colt doth pace.  
〈…〉, as well beseems his race●  
And form●●st still ●e goeth, and through the stream he makes his way  
And ventures first the bridge● no sudden sound doth him affray.  
〈…〉 is his neck, and 〈◊〉 his head is framed small.  
〈…〉, his back is broad, and 〈◊〉 big withal,  
The ●ay is always counted good, so likewise is the grey.  
The white, and yellow worst of all, beside, if far away  
There happen any noise, he stamps, and quiet cannot rest.  
But praunceth here and there, as if some spirit were in his breast.  
His ears be sets upright, and from his nose the fiery flame  
Doth seem to come, while as he sauffes, & snorthes at the same.  
Thick is his mane, and on the right side down doth hanging ●al.  
And double chinned upon his loins, a gu●ter runs withal,  
He scraping stands, and making deep a hole, he paws the ground  
While as aloud his horned house, all hollowed seems to sound.   
You see in how few verses the Poet hath expressed the properties of a good Horse: other conditions there be for which they be liked, when they be pleasant, first lively, gentle, and tractable: For such as Columella says, will both better be taught, and better away with travail. Xenophon accounteth it a sign of a good Horse, if after the weariness of his journey he seem to labour lustily: again, we find also by experience, the better the Horse is, the deeper he thrusts his head into the water when he drinketh, and that (being a colt) striveth to out●●me his fellows in the pasture, and as Virgil says, leap first into the water, and passeth bridges, not tarrying for an usher, nor ●earing the Ise.  EUPHOR. 
What colour in Horses count you the best. The Poet seemeth to mislike the white, which others again, as I have sundry times herded, commend, specially in England, where they are well accounted of, and most esteemed.  HIPPO. 
Touching the colours, there are divers opinions, and of all colours, lightly you shall ●inde both good & bad: so that the colour is not so greatly to be regarded, if he have other tokens of a good Horse, yet for beauty, and many times for goodness, we make choice of colour. The best colours as divers suppose are these, the rone, the white wa●d, the bay, the sorrel, the dun, the daple grey, the ashy white, the flebitten, the milk white, the black, and the iron grey, The Bay is most of price as far as I see at this day, and preferred by the Poet above the rest. The Frenchmen call the bay Horse Le Bayart loyal, trusty bayard: they are the better that have a star in the forehead, & the foot spotted a little, with white, aforetime the dapple grey, the flebitten, the mousedun, and the grisel wear most esteemed, & such as came nearest to them, as the Iron grey, the bright sorrel, the brown bay. Only Plato commends the milk white, that Virgil, dispayseth. Others commend the black, specially if he have either white star in his forehead, or struck down his face, or hath any white upon his foot, the Coal black without any white, is altogether misliked, the fleabitten Horse proveth always good and notable in travail: the yellowish and the skued or pied Horses are discommended almost of all men, notwithstanding either of them (if they be well marked) prove often times well enough, specially the yellowish, if he have a black list down his back from the neck to the tail. The Stallion therefore would be of one colour, 
The Stallion.  strong bodied, well limmed, according to the proportion afore. 
The Mares.  The Mares would likewise have the said proportion of the stallion, specially to have large bodies, fair and beautiful, of one colour, great bellied, with large and square breast and buttocks.  EUP. 

Age.  What age count you best for breed?  HIP. 
The Stallion may go with the Mares when his joints & limbs be well knit and come to their groweth, for if they be to young, they get but weak and wearish Colts: some use to let them go together at two years old, but three year old is the better: the Stallion will serve you from that time till xx year, it hath been seen that they have got Colts till forty, being helped a little in their business, for it is not years but skill that abateth lust, as Aristotle afore Plini written. Yet some think them not meet for breed before the fourth or fifth year, in which space they feed them lustily, to make them more courageous, for the lustier they be, the better Coultes they bring, neither would they have under xuj. mares, nor above xx. for one Stallion. Herodotus writeth that one Horse will well suf●●se xx. Mares, but the number aught not always to be observed, but sometimes more, sometimes less, according to the state of the Horse, that he may the longer endure: a young Horse should not have above fifteen or sixteen Mares with him: the Horses must be sometime severed, for danger and hurting of themselves, having in the mean time good regard to the state of his body, for some be weaker and fainter than others.  EUP. 
what age do you think best for the mare to go to the Horse?  HIP. 
The Mares will conceive at two years old, but I take it the better not to suffer them till they be three year old, as likewise I think them not meet for colts after ten, for an old Mare will always bring a dull and a heavy-headed jade: they go with foal eleven months, and fool in the twelfth.  EUP. 
How can you know their age when you be doubtful of it?  HIP. 
That may you know divers ways, but specially by the teeth, and those teeth that declare the age, the grecians call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which teeth when he loseth, he loseth both estimation and sale. Aristotel affirmeth that a Horse hath 40. teeth, of which he casts the thirtieth month after his foling four, two above, and two beneath, again in the beginning of his fourth year he casts likewise four, two above & two beneath, being full four, and going upon his fift, he casts the rest both above and beneath: such teeth as come up again be hollow: when he beginneth to be six year old the hollones of his first teeth is filled up: in the seventh year all his teeth are filled up, and no hollowness any longer to be seen: after which time, no judgement of his age by his teeth is any more to be had: there are some that take upon them to tell his age buy the joints of his tail, after the mark is out of his mouth. Palladius shows, that a Horse when he begins too be old, his temples wax hollow, his eye bryes grey, and his teeth long. Aristotle says, that the age of all fourfooted beasts may be known by the skin of their jaws: for if it be pulled up and presently let fall again, if it fall smooth, it declares a young beast, if it lie in wrinkles, it showeth he is old. A Horse liveth commonly xx. years, some thirty, or forty, and also to fifty, as Aristotel says, if he be of a good disposition and well dieted, it is said there have been Horses that have lived 75. years, the Mare liveth not so long as the Horse, nor the Stallion, so long as the Horse that is not suffered to run amongst Mares: the Mare leaveth growing at five year old, and the Horse at six or seven.  EUPHOR. 
What time think you best for covering of Mares.  HIPPO. 
In the spring, after the twelfth of March, I take to be the best, after the spring in the rest of the year they are to be kept from the Horse, for hurting of the Horse: for the Mare, after she hath conceived, suffers the Horse no more, but beats and strikes him with her heels, yet in most places, they suffer their Stallions to run with their Mares all the frowner long, and take it to be the best way, for answering the Mare's desire, for many times the Mare will not abide the Horse till summer time, or August, and the August Colt proves commonly very fair. Although the Colts that are foled in the spring, are not to be desired, because they run all the year with their dams in good pasture, and therefore it is best at that time to put the Mare to the Horse, for these creatures specially, if you restrain them, are most enraged with lust, whereas came at the first the name of that deadly poison Hippomanes, because it stirred up a fleshly affection, according to the burning desire of 〈◊〉, which groweth in the forehead of the Colt, of ●he 〈◊〉 of a sigge, and black, which the dam doth 〈◊〉, as soon as she hath foled, bite of: and if she be prevented, she neither loves the Colt, nor suffers him to suck, 〈◊〉 is to be doubted, but that the Mares in some countries so burn with lust, as though they have not the Hor●e, with their own fervent desire they conceive and bring forth after the manner of Birds, as the Poet noteth. 
In fu●iu● lust the Ma●e exceeles all other beasts that be.  It hath been said, that in Spain● Mares have conceived with the wind, and brought up their Colts, but the Colts have not lived above three years. Aristotle writeth, that a Mare's desire is quenched by shearing of her mane.  EUPHOR. 
What if the Mare will not take the Horse, is there no means to make him?  HIPPO. 
There are that rub her tail with sea onions, nettles, or madder, and so provoke her to lust, some time a scurvy jade is put to her, who when he hath got her good will, is strait removed, and a better Horse, put in place. If the Horse be to slothful, his courage is stirred up by wiping her tail with a sponge, and rubbing it about his nose. If we would have a Horse Colt, we knit the left stone of the Horse with a cord, and for a Mare the right. The like is to be observed almost in all other beasts.  EUPHOR. 
How often must she be Horsed after she take.  HIPPO. 
They take not all alike, some are sped at once, some twice, some more. It is laid, a Mare will not suffer above fifteen times in the year: being often times satisfied with fewer. They must be put to the Horse at times twice a day, in the morning, and at night, when they are sped, it appeareth by refusing & striking at the Horse. They say, there is amongst these beasts a great regard of kindred, and that you can hardly force the Colt to Horse the dam: for proof whereof they report, that where as a certain horse-keeper did make his Horse, by covering his eyes, to cover his dam, the clot being pulled away, when he see what he had done, he ran upon his keeper and slay him: as soon as she is covered, the Mare must out of hand be beaten, and forced to run, lest she lose that she hath received. Surely a Mare of all other beasts, after her covering, doth run either southward, or northward, according as she hath conceived either Horse Colt or Mare Coul●: her colour also doth change & become brighter, which when they perceive, they oste●her the Horse no more. Some after a few days if they douther, offer the Horse again, & if she refuse & strike (as I said before) they judge she hath conceived.  EUP. 
Must they be covered every year?  HIPPO. 
Such is our covetousness, as we seek to have them bear every year: but if you will have good Colts, let your Mares go to Horse but every other year, so shall they well answer your desire, howbeit the common use is every year.  EUP. 
We see asses sometimes to cover mares commonly, and thereof is engendered the moil, and foled in the twelve. month, as shall be said hereafter. Some say it is best to cut the mane of the mare that shallbe covered of the Ass, though others hold opinion that it shall abate her lust. The mares that be with foal, must be well looked unto, and put in good pasture. And if thorough the cold of winter, pasture be wanting, they must be kept in the house, and neither laboured nor ias●ed up and down, nor suffered to take cold, nor to be kept to many in a strait room, for casting of their foals, for all these inconveniences will hazard their foals, yet too travail them moderately, will do them rather good than harm, for to long rest will 'cause them to be restive, and to tire sooner. Aristotle writeth, that the Sithians did use to travail their Mares great with fool after the time they began to stir, supposing their foling should be the easier, but good heed must be taken, that their bellies be not hurt with any thing while they are with fool, but if so be the mare be endanger, either in casting her fool, or in foling, the remedy is, Poilipo●y stamped, mingled with warm water, and given with a horn: it is said that the smell of a Candle snuff causeth them to cast their fools: you must every year oversee your Mares, and such as be unprofitable or barren, must be put away, for from their first foling, they are not too be kept above ten years, at which time they are lustily eynough, and may be well sold, but so will they not be after: The young foals are not to be handled with the hand, for they are hurt with the lightest touch that may be. It must be seen unto, that if the Mare be horsed, there be room enough for her and her fool, and that the place be warm enough, that neither the could harm it, nor the dam overlye it, and therefore the place must be well choose, that is, neither too hot, nor to cold, and afterwards by little, you must bring up the Colt: when it groweth to be something strong, it must be put to pasture with the Mare, lest the Mare receive hurt, by the absence of it: for chief this beast of all others, most esteemeth her young, and if she be kept from it, taketh harm: the fool that lacks his dam, is often brought up, of other Mares that have Colts: the Mare must go in very good pasture, that the Colt may have store of milk. Being five months old, when you bring them into house, you must seed them with barley flower and bran: at a twelvemonth old, you must either put them into good pasture, or feed them with bran, chaff, and hay. Varro will not have you to wean them, till they be two years old: and though I like not too soon weaning, yet we use commonly to wean them at five or six months old, and to let them run in good pasture, which custom proveth not amiss. Moreover as long as they run with the dam, you shall do well to handle them now and then, least, when they be put from the dam, they wax wild: they must be taught to be gentle, and not only to abide a man, but to covet his company, and not to be afraid at every strange sight, nor at every noise but to come to it. Xenophon says, we must (as men) provide skoolmasters for our children, so likewise teachers for our Horses, and appoint how we will have them broken: for as their service is divers, so must be their breaking. But hereof we shall speak more hereafter, when we entreat of horsemanship, and breaking of Horses: only now we will deal with those that suck, and serve for the Blow. To make them gentler, the bridles, and other horse harneyes, must be hanged by them, that they may the better be acquainted with them, both with the sight, and the jingling. Now when they be well tamed, and will suffer to be handled, Varro would have you lay a boy groveling upon them twice, or thrice, and after to bestride them, and this he would have done, when they be three year old, for than they grow most, and begin to be great brawned. There be that think a Horse may begin to be handled at a year and a half old, and Varro, at three year old, when their provender is given them: but we use commonly after two years to labour them gently, first in harrowing of new ploughed land, which is good both for their foot, and their pace, and also with Ploughing, and such like exercise, whereby we use to acquaint them with cold and heat, in drawing together. It must be seen to, that they be even matched, lest the stronger spoil the weaker, while he dreadeth the rating, and whipping. Horses take less harm with drawing, then with bearing. Thus must they be used to reasonable travail, by reason whereof, they will be the harder, and not so lightly take harm: but herein must be great discretion.  EUPH. 
What say you to Geldings? for in these parts we use Geldings most.  HIPPO. 
They serve for some purpose, but he that will have a good g●lding, must g●ld (as they say) a good Horse, they are cut at a year old and elder: I myself have cut them at five year old, and six year old: in cutting they lose their stomach, you must look that they be in good plight when you cut them, for as they are at their cutting, they commonly continued. The Mares also use to be spayed, but not often, and with great danger.  EUPH. 
What manner of stable would you have, for I have sometimes heard, that the stable is of great importance?  HIPPO. 

Stables.  Your stable must be built in a dry place, for wetting the Horse's hoof, which you shall avoid, if you plank it with good oaken planks, or (which Xenophon would rather have you do) with round paving stone, keeping it always clean from dung, and straw, and after laying fresh litter, so as they stand hard, and lie soft. Xenophon would have the stable so placed, as it may always be in the masters eye, and to be lightsome, lest the Horse being used to the dark, his eye dasel at the light. Some think they will be the gentler, if they be used to the light, and the fairer, if they have the sun at his rising in summer time: let as much air come to them both day and night as you can. In winter, your stable should rather be warm, then hot, and therefore your stable must stand toward the south, but so as the windows may open toward the North, which being kept shut in winter, may be warm, & opened in summer, you may let in the cool air.  EUPH. 
The like we use in our ox stalls.  HIPPO. 
Besides, whereas the bodies of cattle, have need of rubbing as well as men's bodies, for many times it doth the Horse as much good to be stroked down the back with your hand, as to feed him. 
Curriing.  The Horse is to be continually curried in the morning, at night, and after his labour. In currying of them we must begin at the head, and the neck: for it is a vain thing to make clean the lower parts, and leave the other foul. It is good also to observe due times for his feeding, his watering, & his travail. Thus much of his exercise. Now followeth to speak of his diet: and because we have spoken before of his pasture, 
Diet.  we must also say somewhat of his other feeding. The better a man would have his Horse to prove, the better must he look to his meat, for the good feeding (the country people say) is a great help to the goodness of the Horse. If the Horse be young (as I said before of Colts) he must be fed with grass, chaff, and hay: if he be elder and meet to travail, his food must be the drier, as Chaff, Barley, Oates, and Hay. Chaff doth not so well nourish, by reason of the dryness, but it keeps the body in good plight: and because hard meat is hardest of digestion, it is therefore to be given to those that labour. The stock or studde, must be pastured in large pastures and marshes, as also upon mountains and hilly grounds, but ever well watered, not dry, rather champion then woody, and rather soft sweet grass, then high and flaggy: if the pasture be too short, they sooner wear their foreteeth, & are toothless before their full age. And where as every kind of Creature is naturally moist, a Horse aught chiefly (whether he be young, or old) to be fed with moist pasture, for the better conservation of his natural temprature. Some would have you in no wise to give your Horse grass in the spring time, but in june, or the fall of the leaf: they would have you give them grass with the dew upon it, and in the night season Oates, Barley, & Hay. Howbeit, in the colder countries in Germany, France, & England, where the pasture is very good, they doubt not to scour their Horses with green grass, 
Skowring.  and weeds of the meadows: and in the chotter countries, they do the like with green blades of wheat, or barley. S●me use to give them Apples shared in pieces, to scour them withal: & thus much of scouring of Horses. Generally who so ever will have his Horse healthy, and a●le to endure travail, let him feed his Horse with Oats, mingled with chaff or straw, so shall he be temperately & well fed, and if so he labour much, give him the more Oats. His meat must be given him as some think best, in a low manger, set so low, as they are forced to eat their meat with some difficulty or travail, which they say is to make them bend their necks: by which excercise both the head, and the neck groweth bigger, and they will be the easier to be bridled: beside, they will be the stronger, by reason of the hard setting of the forefeet. Howbeit, in some places, they use high standing mangers: after what sort so ever they be, they must always be kept clean, and well swept before you cast in their meat. Their provender though divers Horscorsers, 
Provender.  that live by sale of Horse, do feed them with sodden Rye, or beanmeal sodde, pampering them up, that they may be the fairer to the eye: yet is it not good ●oode to labour with. The best provender that is, is Oats, and for def●w●e of them, Barley: you must beware you give them neither Wheat, Ric, or any dry pulse: their provender must be given them rather often, & little, then once or twice a day in great porc●ons, lest you glut them therewith: they are used to be fed commonly ●iue times a day, when they stand in the stable, keeping an equal number of hours between the times: when they travail you may give them meat seldomer, but in greater quantity, & if their journeys be, long they must have provender beside in the night, always remembering (as I said) that you gl●●●e them not. The better a Horse feedeth, the better will he labour: you must also beware that you give him no provender, neither Oats nor Barley, after any great labour, till he be thorough cold: notwithstanding you may give him a little hay to cool his mouth. The hay must be sweet and well made, and 〈◊〉 shaken, before it be cast in the rack: and specially seen too, that there be no feathers of any fowl amongst it. If the 〈…〉 very hot after his labour, let him be well covered, and softly walked till he be cold, before you set him up: when he is s●● up, 〈◊〉 him well, le●●t the coldness of the ground st●●ke into him: in any wise wash him not when he is hot, but when he is through cold, water him, and wash him, wiping him dry when you bring him in. If the Horse forsake his meat, some use to stamp Garlic and Pepper, and to give it him, rubbing his teeth well, till his stomach come to him: some would have a clout wet in salt water tied upon a stick, and thrust into his jaws. In watering, you must look well unto him, for (as Aristotle says) beasts do feed, and are nourished the bet●e●, if they be well watered. Horses and Camels, do love best to drink a thick troubled water, in so much as if the water be clear, they will trouble it with their recte: For the most Bullocks again desire a fair clear water, and 〈◊〉. The same Aristotle also affirmeth, that a Horse may suffer thirsty 4. days without drink. Varro wills you to water your Horses twice a day, which order we observe, that is, once in the morning, and again in the afternoon: but in winter, if they drink but once a day, it sufficeth: before you water him, he must be well rubbed, and then led into the water up to the knees, specially if he be lean, if he be fat, he may go the de●per. Notwithstanding, there are some that hold opinion, they aught not to go so deep, as their stones touch the water, specially if the Horse be young. After March, & the spring, it is very good to ride them up and down in some River, which will exercise their legs, for the water drieth the legs, and restraineth the humours from falling down, and keepeth them from windgalles: as soon as they come from the water, you must with a little straw wipe them clean, for the damp of the stable causeth inflammation in the Horse's legs that be wet. The water (according to Vegetius his mind) would be clear, and springing, other like it a little running and troubled in a clay ground: for this water, by reason of the thickness and fatness, doth better nourish and feed the Horse, than the swift running stream: yet those Horses that are used to the swift and clear Rivers, are commonly the stronggest and best travailers, and therefore it would be well considered how the Horse hath been accustomed: the colder the waters are, the less they nourish, the deeper a Horse drinks, the fatter he proves: and therefore some Horscoursers use to wash their Horse's mouths, first with water, and after to rub them with salt, to give them an appetite to their meat and their drink.  EUPHOR. 
I pray you let us here some remedies for Horses diseases, for (as Aristotle says) a Horse hath as many diseases as a man.  HIPPO. 
As touching diseases in a Horse, it is better to prevent them by good heed taking, and (as Vegetius says) to be more careful in keeping a Horse healthy, then when he is sick to cure him: which health you shall continued with ease, if you will observe those things, touching his diet, his stable, and his labour, that I have told you of before. Who so ever will have a good Horse, and keep him in good estate, must often times see him, come to him, handle him, and struck him: for that both makes him gentle, and gives him a fair coat: and be still mindful of the old proverb, the masters eye maketh a fat Horse, and to be short, to have him so still in his sight, as he rather want his own meat, than his Horse should: for he that neclecteth his Horse, neclecteth himself. To let him have moderate exercise, and to ride him now and then (if the weather be fair) into the Field, will do him great good: the morning is better to labour him in then the evening, neither must you in Winter, or in Summer overlabour him, for being in a sweat, and after taking cold, he falls into dangerous diseases. And therefore remember what I said, that where so ever you have laboured him, or ridden him, be sure you cover him with some clot, and walk him softly, that he may be cold, before he either be suffered to eat, or drink: when he is cold, he may be led to the water, and washed: so as when you bring him into the stable, you litter him well, and thoroughly rub him, and so give him meat. If he be over travailed, the only remedy is rest, and after his sweeting, to wash his mouth in Summer with water and vinegar, in Winter with brine: for the neglecting of these things, hath been the destruction of many a good Horse. Also, to power into his mouth wine and oil, in Summer cold, in Winter warm (as Vegetius teacheth) and as we find by experience, is very good: for it is commonly seen, that a tired Horse (if necessity forceth a further journey) with pouring in a quart of good wine, will travail lustily. You must not suffer your Horse to drink after his journey, till he be cold: howbeit, if he sweat not to extremely, and be ridden soon after, it is not so dangerous: it is far better to let him thirst, then to give him cold water if he be hot. If a Horse have long rested, he is not to be travailed upon the sudden, either in galloping, or long journey, but to be laboured fair and softly at the first. A Horse that is weighed, or tired, willbe wonderfully refreshed, so as it would seem he had never been travailed, if he may wallow himself either in the stable, or other dry place out of the wind and rain, and therefore Xenophon would have near unto every stable, a place meet for their wallowing, wherein after their journeys, they may tumble themselves: for in so doing, they show they are in health, and refresh themselves. You must look diligently that they be well looked to at night, and that after their sweat, they be well rubbed and curried, and that they be not disquieted when they should rest. In Winter, they would be clothed with Woollen for taking of cold, and in Summer with Camias, to keep them from flies. You must beware, that you journey them not long without stalling, but after you have travailed an hour, or such a thing, provoke them to stolen (by riding them out of the way) into some place where sheep have dounged, or into some high Grass, fern, or Stubble, which order was continually observed, by the best dyeter of Horses that ever I knew in England, one Henry King, who having charge of that most worthy Gentleman's Horses, sir Thomas Chalenour, carried a fair company of Geldinges from London, to the Court of Spain, who notwithstanding their long journey through France, and the painful passage of the Piremies, by the skilful diligence of their keeper, came thither in as good plight, as they came out of England. And if so be you see he can not stolen, or staleth with pain, you must bathe him with bath appointed for cold, that is, oil mingled with wine powered upon his loins: also a Louse put into his yard, or Soap put into his fundament, hath been seen to help him. If this do not help, you must squirt in Honey boiled thin with Salt into his yard. Some would have the liquor of the lime Bitumen squirted in: Aeliomus writeth, that the Horse that can not stolen, is presently remedied, if so be a maid strike him upon the face with her girdle, the feet (which is the chiefest matter in a Horse) you shall always keep sound: if as I told you afore, your stable be well paved with round stone, or well plancherd and kept clean: which done, you must stop his hooves with Cow dung, or for want thereof with Horse dung watered, and the legs must be often rubbed with a strawen wisp. To 'cause the hoof to grow, or to repair the broken hoof, take of Garlic heads seven ounces, of Hearbegrace three handfuls, of Allome beaten and sifted, seven ounces, of Barrowes grease very old two powndes, mingle all these with a handful of Ass' dung, boil them, and anoint the hooves therewith. After their journey, see you search their feet well, suffering no gravel, nor filth to remain therein, you shall well refresh their hooves with the ointment aforesaid. The joints, or the pasterns, would be well bathed after their travail with warm wine, or an egg or two would be thrust into their howfes, the legs themselves would be washed, with warm beer, or some like bath. If the Horse thrust out one of his feet, and stand not even, it is a sign of some fault in the foot: the Horse halteth, either by reason of the spoiling of his hoof in journey, or by ill showing, or by unwholesome humours fallen down, by long standing in the stable, or by windgalles. If the fault be in the showing, strike upon the head of every nail with the hammer, and when you perceive him to shrink, pluck out that nail, or power upon the hoof cold water, and that nail that is first dry, pluck out: if it matter, squeeze it out, and power in Pitch well sodden with old swines grease: you must also speedily open his hoof below, that the matter (if it be full of corruption) may descend, lest it break out above the hoof, and so 'cause a longer time of healing. The signs of it be, if he hold up his foot, which if you do pair him to the quick, and where you perceive it to look black, open it, and let out the matter: if he be hurt inward, and standeth but on his toe, it showeth the fault to be in his hoof: but if he tread equally with his foot, it declares the grief to be some other where, then in his hoof: if in his halting he bow not his joints, it is a sign the sore is in the joints. For all halting generally, mingle Hemp with the white of an egg, and stop the foot withal, and after clap on the show: if it be a wound, put herein the powder of Oystershelles, and Uerdegrease to dry it up, or the white of an egg, with Soot and Vinegar. The Cratches (as they commonly call them) is a malady that happeneth betwixt the Pasterns and the Hoof, in the manner of a scab, and is engendered of the damps of the stable, while he standeth wet legged: the remedy whereof, is all one with the pains, which is likewise a straunce breeding about the joints, breaking the skin, and m●ttring: taking away the hear, wash the sore with warm B●ece, or with the broth wherein is sodden Mallows, Brimstone, and sheeps suet, which must be bound about the sore place morning and evening, or else Sheep suet, goats suet, Swine's grease, Uerdegrease, and quick Brimstone, Bolearmeniacke, and Soap, boiled and made in ointment, wherewith you shall anoint the sore twice a day, washing it first with warm wine, & after it is dried anoint it, in the mean time keep him out of the water: the lees of wine is also sometime used in the curing of the Cratches. Windgalles, which are swellings, and risings in the legs, are cured with cutting, and burning: some think they may be restrained and cured by riding the Horse oftentimes up and down in some cold and swift stream, also by washing his legs with Salt, Vinegar, swines grease, and Oil, wrapping them up certain days, or by lancing, or skarrifiing they are cured: the outward sores are healed by burning. If the back be wrong with the saddle, or otherwise hurt that it swell, Vegetius would have you to seethe Onions in water, and when they be so hot as the Horse may suffer, to lay them upon the sore, and bind them fast, which will assuage the swelling in one night. Item salt beaten and meddled with Vinegar, putting to it the yoke of an Egg, laid upon the swelling, will heal it: beside, Arssmart stamped and laid to, doth presently assuage the swelling. If the back be galled, wash it with Beer and Butter, or cast upon it the powder of a Loam brickwall. There is a dis●ase that is common in Horses, called the Uynes, which if he have, turn down his ear, and lance the sore at the root of the ear, & take out the matter: but take good heed you cut not the vain that lieth a little above. If a Horse have been set up hot after his journey, and in his heat hath been watered, or taken cold, which the Germans call Verfaugen, in English foundered, or in some places frayed: the remedy, is the skin of a Weasel cut in small pieces, fresh butter, a rotten egg and vinegar mingled together, and powered into the Horse with a horn: after which, let him stand covered with a wet clot, till he wax hot. A present, and assured cure for this disease, I learned not long agone, of that honest, wise, and valiant Gentleman, captain Nicholas Malbee, in whom there wanteth nothing belonging to a woorthi soldier, his medicine was this: Garter each leg immediately one handful above the knee with a list, good and hard, and then walk him, to chafe him, and put him in a heat, and being somewhat warmed, let him blood in both the breast veins, and in the veins of the hinder legs, between the hoof, and the Pastorne, reserving the blood to make a charge withal in this manner. Take of that blood two quarts, and of Wheat meal, as it cometh from the Mill, half a peck, and six eggs, shells and all, of Bolearmeniacke half a pound, of Sanguis Draconis half a quartern, and a quart of strong vinegar: mingle them all tog●●●her, and charge all his shoulders, breast, back, loins, and forelegges therewith, & walk him upon some hard ground: three hours after, lead him into the stable, and let him stand tied two hours to the rack, without meat or drink, & walk him then two or three hours more, and then give him a little warm water, with ground Malt in it, and after, a little Hay, and provender, then walk him again upon the hardest ground you can get: you shall ride him the next day a mile, or two softly, and so from day to day, until he be well, which will be within three or four days. Rememember to let him stand the first day after his first walking, two hours in water up to the belly: this medicine is infallible. The colic, or pain in the belly, is thought will be eased in a Horse, or Mule, only with the sight of a Duck, or any water foul. To keep your Horse from flies, it is good to wash him over with the juice of the leaves of the Gourd in the mids of Summer. Many times Horses are troubled with worms, or bots, which you shall perceive, if they cast their look upon their belly, if they wallow oftentimes, and strike their belly with their foot: the remedy, is Heart's horn, savin beaten, and given him with a little vinegar in a horn. Columella would have you rake the Horse with your hand, and after that you have plucked out the dung, to wash his fundament with sea water, or brine. B●asanolus in his Commentary upon Hypocrates, declareth how he cured the Duke of Ferars Horse, being in great danger with worms, by giving them quick silver, and Scordium, or water Germander, when no other medicines would help. The Rhewine, or distillation, maketh a Horse slothful, dull, and faint, yet will he be led, & ridden, and moderate labour is not amiss for him, let him drink warm water with Wheat bran: the mo●e filth he voydes at the mouth, the better will it be for him. There are some diseases thought to be uncurable, which if the Horse had, and was sold, by the old laws he was to be turned back again, except the bargain were otherwise: of which number are the broken wineded, the lunatic, and the manginess, called the farcine, which disease if it come once to the stones, is thought uncurable, to this they add the through Splent: some think that broken winded is not to be cured, because it is like to the consumption of the longs in a man, yet some hope of recovery there is, if it be taken in time: for letting of blood in dry diseases, is against reason. But you may anoint the hole body with Wine & Oil, mingled together & warmed, and curry him against the hear till he sweat, and give him this drink inward from the first day: the iu●ce of Pisan, Swine's grease clarified, & Amylum, in new sweet wine, which being boiled together, you may give it him with a horn, to open his pipes, & set him so as he stand warm. The lunatic eyes, are cured by letting him blood in the temple veins, bathing the eyes on the outside with some warm bath, & putting into them some strong water certain days, till they be hole. For the manginess, take the worms called Cantharides, bea●ing them, & mingle with them a little Uerdegrease, and so anoint them with it, warming the body of the Horse with a fyrepan. Others use to wash him with warm water twice a day, and after, to rub him with Salt sodden in water, till the matter come out. Above all other they say it excels, in the beginning to anoint him with the fat of a Seal: if it have run long, you must use stronger medicines, as Lime, Brimstone, Tar, old swines grease, of each a like quantity, boiled together, and with a little oil made in an ointment: they use to rub it also with the Soot of a Cauldron. Against many diseases both of Horses, and Bullocks, they use the root of the herb called black Ellebor, of some Bearfoote, of others Setterwort, which they thrust in the breast of the beast, betwixt the flesh and the skin, making a hole before with a Bookine. Against all diseases of Horses, Vegetius commends this medicine as the chiefest, Centory, Wormwood, Dog Fenell, wild Time, Sa●apen, Betony, Saxifrage, Aristolochia Rotunda, take of each alike, beat them small, and sift them, and if the Horse have an ache, give it him with water, if he be ferme, with good strong, Wine. The old husbands would not suffer their Horses to be let blood, but upon great necessity, lest being used to it, if it should at any time be omitted, it should breed some disease: and therefore in very young Horses, and such as be healthy, it is best not to let them blood but in the roof of the mouth. For those that be come to their full age, you may let them blood before you put them to pasture, but beware you bear a steady hand, and strike them not too deep: Geldinges you shall not need to let blood, the Horses of Barbary (as they say) never need any medicine.  EUPHOR. 
You have spoken enough of Horses, it is time you say something of Asses.  HIPPO. 

Asses.  It is greatly out of order, but since you will needs have me so to do, I will not stick with you to say what I can therein, that each of you may do the like in his charge. Asses are commonly kept, yet not to be little set by, because of their sundry commodities, and the hardness of their feeding, for this poor beast contents himself with what meat so ever you give him, Thystels, briars, Stalks, Chaff, wherefore every country hath store, is good meat with him: beside, he may best abide the ill looking to of a negligent keeper, & able to sustain blows, labour, hunger, and thirst, being seldom, or never sick, and therefore of all other cattle longest endureth: for being a beast nothing chargeable, he serveth for a number of necessary uses: in carrying of burdens, he is comparable to the Horse, he draweth the Cart (so the load be not unreasonable:) for grinding in the Mill he passeth all others, therefore in the country the Ass is most needful for carrying of things to the market, and Corn to the Mill. In Egypt and Barbary (where the ground is very light) they have also their use in ploughing: and the fine Ladies of the country do ride upon Asses richly furnished: yea, they be very apt to be taught, so as at this day in Alcayre you shall have them dance very mannerly, and keep measure with their physician. Varro maketh mention of two sorts, one wild, whereof in Phrigia and Lycaonia there are great store: the wild Asses that are tamed, are passing good, specially for breed, & they are easily broken: the other is tame, of which I mean to speak. The best are brought out of Arcadia (although Varro seems to commend the breed of Italy for goodness.) He that will have a breed of Asses, must have the male & the female both of reasonable age, large bodied, sound, and of a good kind: the male must be at the lest three year old, for from three, till they be ten, they be fit for breeding: they bring forth their Colts sometimes at two years and a half, but three years is the best age: the female goeth as long with her burden as the Mare, and dischargeth in all respects as she doth: but she will not very well retain, except she be forced immediately after the horsing to run about, she seldom bringeth forth two. When she foaleth, she gets her into some dark place, and keeps herself from being seen. They will bear all their life time, which (as Aristotle saith) is thirty years: they are put to the Horse a little before the tenth of june, and bear every other year: they bring forth their fool at the twelfth month. While they be with fool, they must not be greatly laboured, for hazarding their fool: the male must never be idle, for he is as lecherous as the devil, and by rest will wax naught. The Colt is suffered to run with the dam the first year, & the next is gently tied up with her, only in the night times: the third year they are broken, according to their use. The dam doth wonderfully love her young so much, as she will not stick to come through the fire to it: but the water she dare in no wise come near, not not to touch it with her foot, neither will she drink in any strange water, but where she is used to be watered, & so as she may go & stand dry foot. They delight to be lodged in wide rooms, & are troubled with fearful dreams in their sleeps, whereat they so paw with their legs, that if they lie near any hard thing, they hurt their feet: in drinking, they scarcely touch the water with their lips (as it is thought) for fear of wetting their goodly ears, whose shadows they see in their drinking: no beast can worse away with cold than this. If your Asses halt at any time, you shall thus remedy them, wash all the foot with warm water, & afterward make them clean with a sharp knife, which when you have done, take old chamber lie, as hot as may be, & melt therein goats suet: or if you have not y●, Ox tallow, & anoint all the feet till they be hole.  EUPH. 
They say, that betwixt an Ass, & a Mare, is got the Moil, as a third kind, of two sundry kind, neither resembling the father, nor the mother.  HIPPO. 
It is very true: as of the she Ass, & the Horse, is engendered the she mule, 
Moils.  but altogether stubborn, & unreasonable dull. Also of the Mare, & the wild Ass, being broken, are bred Moils that run passing swiftly, & are wondered hard hoofed, but rugged of their body, & mischievous stomached, yet easy to be handled: the Mares for breed, must not be under four years, nor above ten: they are faied in the twelfth month, as Horses and Asses are (as Aristotle says): but Columella saith, their foling time is not before the .13. month. The female conceiveth (as experience teacheth) assuredly after the seventh day: the male doth never better horse, than when he is most tired. She that conceiveth not before she hath cast her colts teeth, is taken to be barren, as she likewise that takes not at the first horsing. Those that are got betwixt a Horse & an Ass in old time, were called Neyars, & such as were brought forth betwixt an Ass & a Mare, they called Moils. The Moils themselves (they say) do never engender: & if at any time they did, it was taken for monstrous, accounting the cause of their barrenness, the contrariety of their kinds: which matter a long time troubled both Aristotle, & the rest of the Philosophers. Though Aristotle hath other where written, that Moils do both engender, & bring forth: and with him agreeth Theophrastus, affirming, that in Capadocia, they do commonly bring forth, & engender of themselves. The like doth Varro, & before him Dionysius, and Mago affirm, that the breeding of Moils in the countries of A●fryk, is neither monstrous, nor geason, but as common as our breed of Horses: but the Moil is both fairer and better stomached, that is begotten of an Ass, and a Mare. The Stallion that you mean to have for your race of Moils, must be as fair as you can get, having only this regard, that he be large of body, big necked, broad, and strong ribbed, large, and braw●y breasted, his thighs full of sinews, and his legs well knit, of colour black, and spotted: for Asses (though they be commonly done) yet that colour agreeth not well with a Moil: some say, that what colour you would have your Moil to be, with that coloured cloak you must cover your Ass. The Ass so proportioned (as I have declared) that you mean to appoint for your Stallion, you must straightways take from his dam, & put him to some Mare that hath a Colt sucking of her: you shall easily deceive the Mare, by setting her in a dark place, removing her own Colt from her, and putting to her in steed thereof the Ass' Colt, which she will nurse as her own. Afterwards, when the Mare hath been used to it a ten days, she will continually after the time give it suck. The Ass being in this order brought up, will better acquaint himself with the Mares, sometimes though he be sucked only with his own dam, being brought up when he is young amongst Mares, will well enough keep company with them (as Columella saith:) but our Asses are of themselves desirous enough of the Mares, that they need not to be trained to the matter: for it is a wonderful Coltishe beast, & unreasonably weapned. He must not be less than three years old when he covereth your Mares, which must be in the spring time, when you may well feed him with grass, & good store of Oats, & Barley: neither must you put him to a young Mare, for if she have not been horsed before, she will so beat her wooer, that she will make him like the worse as long as he liveth: for remedy whereof, you must at the first put to the Mare a vilder Ass, that may woe her before, but not suffered to Horse her, & when you perceive that she is Horsing, away with the rascal, & put to your Stallion. A place fit for this purpose, the country people (as Columella says) were wont to have, which they called a frame, or a brake, with two rails on both sides, & a little distance between, that the Mare can not strive nor turn from the Horse: the lower part enclosed, and the Mare standing low, so the Ass may the better leap her, having the upper ground for his help, which when she hath conceived, & at the twelve months' end brought forth, the year after she must be suffered to run empty, that she may the better bring up her Colt. The she mule (being a twelvemonth old) must be taken from the dam, & let run upon mountains, or wild places, for the hardening of his hooves, & the better enduring of labour, for the Male is the better for burden, & the Female the quicker and livelier: both the kinds doth travail well, & till the ground, if the ploughman be not unreasonable, or the ground so stiff, as it requireth a drawght of Oxen, or Horse. They will leave striking and kicking, if you use to give them wine (as Pliny reporteth) who likewise writeth, that a Moil will live fourscore years.  EUPH. 
Since you have begun with travailing beasts, what can you say of the Camel.  HIP. 

camels.  The Camel is chiefly used in the East parts, which some suppose to be the seruisablest cattle for man that is, & as it were thereunto only framed: for he is bombast upon the back for bearing of burdens. Also, he hath four knees, where as the Horse, the Ass, & such others have but two: for his hinder legs bow forward as a man's knees doth, wherewith he kneeleth to receive his burden. There are two kinds of them, the Bactrian, and the Arabian, the Bactrian have two bunches upon their backs, and the Arabian but one, & the other on their breast to lean upon, both sorts of them lack their teeth above, as the bullock doth: they all serve in those countries for burden, & to carry men in the wars: they are as swift as Horses, but some a great deal more than others: neither will they break their pace, nor carry more burdens than they are used to: they bear a natural hatred to the Horse, and can forbear drink for four days: he drinks when he may, both for that is past, and to come, troubling the water before with his foot, otherwise he delighteth not in it: he is fed beside his pasture, and such things as he gets in the wood, with Oats, or Barley, & Salt: he engendereth backward, as the Elephants, Tigers, Lions, Coneys, and such other, whose instruments grow backward, when they mean to go to rut, they seek the secretest and desartest places that may be: neither may a man at any time come near them, without great danger. They go with young a twelvemonth, and are meet for breed at three years old, and after a year they conceive again: they bear but one at once, as Elephants, and other great beasts do: they give milk, till they be great. Again, (as Aristotle says) Didymus in his books of husbandry writeth, that the Camel hath a regard to his blood, as the Horse hath, and lieth neither with mother, nor sister. And the female Camel of Bactria, feeding upon the mountains amongst the wild Boars, is often times breamed of the Boar, and conceiveth. Of the Boar and the she Camel, is engendered the Camel with two iompes upon the back, as the Moil is of the Ass, and the Mare, and in divers things resembleth his sire, as in bristled hears, strength, and not fainting in the mire, but going lustily through, and in carrying double so much as other camels, as the same author saith. The females of them are spayde, to serve the better for the wars: they live (as Aristotle saith) fifty years, others say a hundred years, and are subject to madness (as Pliny saith) there are a kind of them called Cameleopards, that have the resemblance of two divers beasts, the hooves and hinder legs like an Ox, his forelegs & his head like the Camel, the neck like a Horse, being flecked white and red. Strabo saith, he is coloured like a fallow dear, strait necked, and high, like an Ostryge, his head something higher than a Camels.  EUPHOR. 
I remember I have seen the like beast for all the world in a piece of tapestry with black Moors, with their wives and baggage upon their backs, save that they had there little horns upon their heads, like as some sheep have. I think Heliodorus in his Aethiopian story, did first describe this beast, but these outlandish beasts we meddle not much with.  HIPPO. 
Go to EUPHORBUS, let us now see you discharge your part, according to your promise, and tell us some part of your cunning in keeping your cattle: for next to the Horse in worthiness, cometh the Ox.  EUPHOR. 

Bullocks.  Since it is so appointed, I am contended to show you what I can say touching my poor skill: and first, I may not suffer the Horse to challenge the chief place, when the old writers and ancient people did always give the garland and chief praise to the Ox, as to a good ploughman & faithful servant: for Hesiodus, a most ancient writer, & the gravest author of our profession affirmeth, that the family doth consist of the husband, the wife, and the Ox. The self same by his authority doth Aristotle seem to allege in his Pollytickes, and in his Economickes, which beast was always of that honour and estimation, that he was condemned in a great penalty, who so ever did kill him, being a fellow, and chief helper in our husbandry. By the worthiness of this beast, many great things received their names of them: for of the number, beauty, and fertility of Heyfars, did Italy (as they say) first take his name, because Hercules pursued the noble Bull called Italus. This is the chief companion of man in his labours, and the trusty servant of the Goddess Ceres: in many great things for the royalty of the Ox, they derived their names from the Ox, as in calling also the Grape Bumammam: in fine, jupiter himself thought good to convert into this shape his sweet darling Europa. Moreover, of a rotten steer are engendered the sweet Bees, the mothers of Huny, wherefore they were called of the Greeks (as Varro saith) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The same Varro makes four degrees in their age: the first of Calves, the second two Yeerynges, the third Steers, the fourth Oxen, the Sexes: in the first, the Bulcalf, & the Cowecalfe: in the second, the Heifer, and the steer: in the third and fourth, the Bull, and the Cow: the barren Cow he calleth Tauram, the milk Cow● Hordam, from whence came the feasts called Hordica festa, because the milchkine were then sacrificed. The goodness of this beast is divers, according to the diversity of the country: the best were counted in the old time to be of the breed of Albania, Campania, and Toscam: at this day we take the best kind to be in Hungary, Burgundy, Friesland, Denmark, and in England. Of Bullocks, some are for the drawght, some for the staull, and some for the pail: to what purpose so ever they serve, whether it be for labour, for milcking, or for feeding, it is best always to choose such as are young, of lusty age, rather than those that are old and barren, the words of covenant in the old time (as Varro says) in selling of Bullocks, were these: do you warrant these Bullocks, or Steers, that you cell to be sound, of a sound herded, and without fault? The Butchers that buy for slaughter, and such as by for sacryfises, use no word of warrantise: and though some Bullocks are choose by their strength, some by the greatness of their body, yet the best commonly have these properties: large, well knit, and sound limbs, a long, a large, and deep sided body, black horned, though in the colour there be no great matter, yet some mislike the white for their tenderness, which when Varro consenteth, who would have them broad forheaded, great eyed and black, his ears rough and hairy, his chaws to be large and wide, his lips blackish, his neck well brawned, and thick, his dewlappes large, hanging down from his neck to his knees, his shoulders broad, his hide not hard, or stubborn in feeling, his belly deep, his legs well set, full of sinews, and strait, rather short then long, the better to sustain the weight of his body, his knees straight and great, his feet one far from the other, not broad, nor turning in, but easily spreading, the hear of all his body thick and short, his tail long, and big heard. Palladius thinketh, the best time for buying of drawght Oxen, to be in March, when being bore, they can not easily hide their faults, by the fraud of the seller, nor by reason of their weakness be to stubborn to be handled. It is best to buy them of your neighbour, lest the change of air and soil hurt them: for the Bullock that is brought up near home, is better than the stranger, because he is neither troubled with change of air, water, nor pasture: if you can not have them near you, buy them from some like country, or rather from a harder, and be well assured that you buy them even matched, jest in their labour, the stronger spoil the weaker. Look beside that they be gentle, skilful in their labour, fearful of the goad, and the driver, not dreading any water, or bridge: great feeders, but softly, and not overhastyly: for such do best digest their meat. In choosing of bull, or Cows, the very like signs are to be required, that the Bull differeth from the Ox, in that he hath a more frowning and fierce look, shorter horns, greater, and thicker neck so big, as it seems the greatest part of his body, his belly something gaunter, and meeter for Bulling of Cows. The Bull before he be suffered to go with the Cows, must be well fed with grass, chaff, or hay, and kept severally by himself, neither must he go to the Cow, till the tenth of june. Varro would not suffer him before the rising of the Lira: but Aristotle would have him all the reddring time to go in pasture with the Cows. The Cow likewise would be high of stature, and long bodied, having great udders, broad forehead, fair horns, and smooth, and all other tokens almost that is required in the Bull, specially to be young: for when they pass twelve years old, they are not good for breed, but they live many times far longer if their pasture be good, & they kept from diseases. The old Cow giveth more milk than the young, according to the country people's proverbs, old Cows more milk, young Hens more eggs. Again, under three years old, you may not suffer them to go to Bull: if they chance to be with Calf before, you must put the Calf from them, and milk them for three days after, lest their udders be sore, afterwards forbear milking. Pliny writeth, that at a year old they be fruitful, but the breed will be little, as it happeneth in all too timely ingendringes. You must every year in these beasts (as in all other) sort your stock, that the old that be barren, or unmeet for breeding, may be put away, sold, or removed to the Plough: for when they be barren (as Columella saith) they will labour as well as Oxen, by reason they are dried up, but we use commonly to fat them: their age is known by the knots and circles of their horns, which Pliny marketh likewise in Goats. The time for going to Bull, some take to be best in the midst of the spring: Palladius would have it in july, for so in the twelfth month she shall Calf, for so long she goeth with Calf (as the common people say) a Cow and a Queen have both one time. In many places they desire to have their Cows go to Bull a thirty or forty days after the tenth of june, that they may Calf in March, or April: they that would have much milk, so order the matter, as their Cows go to Bull from the spring, to winter, whereby they always milk some: at once bulling she conceiveth, if the chance to fail, she goeth to Bull again within twenty days after: some say, if so be the Bull come down on the left side of the Cow, it will be a Cow Calf, if on the right side, a Bull Calf. The Greeks affirm, that if you will have a Bull Calf, you must knit the right stone of the Bull, and for a Cow Calf, the left: Varro says, that if you put the Cow to the Bull immediately after gelding, she conceiveth: Columella affirmeth fifteen Cows to be enough for one Bull. I think he will well enough serve twenty Cows, if he be such a Bull as I described: if you have good store of pasture, you may let them go to Bull every year, but you must beware your Cows be not too fat, for that will hinder their being with Calf. The Cow should when she is reddring, have but short pasture, and the Bull his belly full: so shall neither she be too fat, nor he unlusty. If the Cow will not take the Bull, you must stamp sea Onions in water, and rub her under the tail with it: if the Bull be not lusty enough about his business, take the peezell of a Stag, burn it, and make it in powder, and with a little wine and the powder, bathe his stones, and his pezell withal, which will serve for the like purpose in all other beasts (as Quintilian saith) his courage is also stirred up by the like odours that you speak of for your Horse. A Bul aught not to leap the Cow above twice in a day as some think, but we find by experience, that he may oftener. In some places they have common Bulls, and common Boars to every town: a Bull will wax furious at the sight of any red thing, as the Elephant, and the Lion, which can not in no wise abide the sight of any white thing. A Cow will give suck to a strange Calf, but let not the Calves lie with them in the night, for fear of overlaying them. Some wean them at the first, and suckleth them with Milk, or Whey, having a little Bran in it, or Flower, wherewith they bring them up, till they be able to feed. Whether you mean to rear them for breed, labour, or feeding, you must let them want no store of good pasture: for though they be of never so great a breed, yet if their pasture be scanty, they will never come to their full growth: for pasture makes the beast (as the country people say.) Mago, and the old husbands, would have you to geld them while they be very young, which order we likewise observe in cutting of them: and in the Spring, or at the fall of the leaf, when they be three months old, or there about, we use to geld the Bull Calves, and spay the Cow Calves, sowing up the wound, and annoyting it with fresh Batter. Columella would not have them cut, but their stones broken by little and little with an instrument, which kind of gelding he best liketh, because in the little young one's, it is done without bleeding: for when they be something grown up, it is better to cut them at two year old, then at a year old, which must be done in the spring, or at the fall of the leaf, the Moon being in the wane: you must tie up the Calf to a frame, and before you cut him, you must fasten about the sinews, whereby the stones hung, a couple of small sticks like a pain of tongues, and taking hold therewith, cut away the stones, so as a little of the upper parts of them may remain with the foresaid synows: for by this means you shall: not hazard the beast by overmuch bleeding, neither is his stomach quite taken away, but hath something of the f●●her remaining, and yet loseth his ability 〈◊〉 rendering. Notwithstanding, if you suffer him imme●diatly upon this new cutting to go to the Cow, it is certain he may get a Calf, but let him not so do, for fear of bleeding to death. The wound must be anointed with the Ashes of vines, and litharge, and he must not be suffered the first day to drink, but nourished with a little meat: three days after he must be dieted, according to his feebleness, with green bows, and sweet grass cut for him, and looked to, that he drink not too much: and if you will, you may anoint the sore for three days with Tar, and a little Ashes, and Oil, to heal him the sooner, and to keep the place from flies. You must use them while they be yet young, to suffer to be handled, and stroked, and tied up to the Manger, that when they should come to be broken, they may be handled with more ease, and less danger: but Columella forbids you to meddle with the breaking, or labouring of them, before three year old, and after five: for the one is too soon, the other too late. Those that you have taken up wild, and be well framed, and proportioned, according to my pattern, you shall handle and break in this sort. first of all, see that you have a large room, where the breaker may easily go up and down, and out at his pleasure, without any danger. Before the stable, you must have a fair field, that the Steers may have liberty enough, and not be feared, or haltered, with trees, or bushes. In the stable, you must have certain stalls, or boards, yokewyse set up, a seven foot from the ground, to which the Steers may be tied: this done, choose you a fair day for the purpose, and taking them up, bring them into the stable: and if they be unreasonable wild and cursed, let them stand tied a day and a night without any meat, to tame them withal: afterwards let him that keeps them, offer them a little meat, not sideways, or behind, but before, coing them all the while, and speaking gently to them, stroking their backs, and their moosels, sprinkling them with a little sweet wine, taking good heed, that they strike him neither with head, nor with heel: for if he once get that trick, he will never leave it. Thus being a little acquainted with him, you shall rub his mouth with Salt, and let down into his throat certain lumps of salt tallow, and pouring after a quart of good wine, which will make him in three days, as good a fellow as you would wish him to be. Some use to yoke them together, & let them draw some light thing, or plough in a light ploughed ground, that their labour hurt not their necks. The readier way of breaking them, is to yoke them with an old Ox, that may easily instruct them: if he happen to lie down in the furrow, do neither beat him, nor fear him, but bind his feet together, and let him lie, that he may neither stir, nor feed: which being well punished with hunger, and thirst, will teach him to leave that sullen trick. The feeding of this kind of cattle is divers, according to the diversity of countries: if there be store of good pasture in the country, there is no food to that: in countries where wanteth pasture, and specially in Winter, he must be kept in the Stall, and fed with such fodder as the country yields. Where there are tars to be had, it is the best feeding for them: and Hay is very good, Chaff, and Coolestalkes with Chaff and Hay, and chopped straw sodde together in water, is very good feeding for Winter. In some places, they feed altogether with new threshed straw: in many places they give them lupines steeped in water, or Chiches, or Peson, mingled with Chaff: beside, the branches, and leaves of vines, the green branches of Elm, ash, Poplar, and Holme: in Winter, when other green bows fail, the Fig tree will serve, or the browsing of Okes, and Holly. Oxen are soon fat in good pasture, and with Wheat, Rapes, Apples, and radish: Oxen, or Cows, will be passing fat where there wanteth pasture, by giving them Meal mixed with Wheat, Chaff, and Rapes, or Grains. They will wax the sooner fat, in washing them with warm water, or (as Pliny saith) by cutting their skins, and blowing in wind to their bellies with a Reed. Sotion teacheth, that they will be fat, if when they are taken from pasture, you give them the first day Colwoortes chopped and steeped in sharp vinegar, and afterwards Chaff, being well cleaned, and mingled with Wheat bran, for the space of five or six days, feeding them after with good store of fodder: in Winter you must feed them at the first Cockcrowing, and again when the day gins to break: in Summer first at the breaking of the day, then at noon, and at night: in Summer you must water them twice a day, three hours afore noon, and three hours after: in winter, once aday with warm water, which is also thought to be good for fruitfulness: and therefore the Lakes that are filled with Rain water, are good for them. This kind of cattle desireth not clean, or fair water, but foul and puddled: yet it were better to give them fair water. Also, you must provide them of warm pasturs for the winter, and in summer, very cool: chiefly Mountains where they may browse upon the bushes, and pick up a good living among the Woods: but in low grounds and near the River, Oxen are sooner fatted, and Cows give a greater quantity of Milk. In Summer, they lie abroad all the nights in many places: yea, in England you shall have them fodred abroad all the Winter. Though they be able to abide cold, yet must you provide them of large stalls, for the succouring of such as be great with Calf. Your stables, or Oxstals, must stand dry, and be well floored, either with stone, gravaile, or sand: the stone will suffer no water to abide upon it, the other will soon drink it up and dry it: both sorts must be laid slope, that the water may run away, for rotting the groundsels, and marring their houses. Let them open toward the South, so shall they be the drier, and the warmer: notwithstanding, let your windows open North and East, which being shut in Winter, and open in Summer, may give a healthful air. In fine, as near as can be, let the houses be neither to hot, nor to cold, and as dry as may be: Columella would have two Oxhouses, one for the winter, the other for the summer both uncovered, but well and high walled, for keeping out of wild beasts. The stalls would be eight foot wide, that they may have room enough to lie in, that the Cows great with Calf hurt not one the other, nor the stronger Ox wrong the weaker: and that there may be room for their keepers to come about them, and for yoking them. Vitrunius would have the Oxehouse open towards the East, and to be near the fire: for fire is naturally beneficial to cattle, both for the drying up of the infective damps, and the keeping of the cattle warm. Besides, by seeing of the fire, they are made gentler, and by the heat thereof, what cold they have taken in the pastures, is expelled, and divers inward diseases cured. The houses must be severed with divers rooms, enclosed and racked, the rack must stand no higher than the Ox may easily reach, and must have such partitions, as one beast beguile not the other, whereto they must be well haltered and tied, for hurting one the other: Cato would have the partitions lettised. Moreover, it is to no purpose to feed them well, except you also look to the keeping of them in health, and sound, and therefore whether they be in house, or abroad, you must always have a special regard unto them, and to overlook them in the night, specially, if there be any Cows amongst them with Calf. And though it be needful at all times to oversee them, both morning and evening, yet most needful is it of all other times, to see to them in the spring, when you first put them to pasture: for at that time, by reason of their change of diet, both Oxen, Cows, and Hayfarres, are most in danger of sickness: in Winter again to look to them, that they be not, for sparing of charges, kept so poor, as they be utterly spoiled. And therefore you must spare no litter, specially when they come from labour, to rub them, and dry them, stroking them with your hands, and raising the hide from the flesh, which will do them great good. In coming from work, or out of the pasture, you must wash their feet well with water, before you bring them into the house, that the dirt and filth cleaning to them, breed no diseases, nor soften their hooves. Beware of too much cold, or heat, for too much of either, filleth them with diseases. You must take heed they be not chaste, nor chafed up and down, specially in hot weather, for that bringeth them to a Fever, or causeth them to have a Flix. Take heed also, that there come neither Swine, nor Poultry near their stalls, for both of them with their dounging poisoneth the beast. The dounging of a sick Swine doth breed the Pestilence, or Murrain amongst cattle. You must away with all manner of carryons, and bury them well for infecting your cattle. If so be the Murrain chance to come amongst them, you must presently change the air, and sever your cattle far a sunder in divers pastures, keeping the sound from the sick, that they be not infected, not suffering them either to feed together, 
The Mur●in and his divers kinds.  or drink together. The Pestilence, or Murrain, is a common name, but there are divers kinds of it: in some Murraines, the cattle drivell and run both at the nose and mouth, in others again they be dry, and fall away more & more: sometimes it comes in the joints, and causeth them to halt before, or behind, sometime in their kidneys, and appeareth by the weakness of their hinder parts, wherein they seem to have great pain in their loins. another kind there is, that riseth like a Farcine, with Pimples over all the body, now appearing, and presently vanishing, and coming out in a new place. another sort, betwixt the hide and the flesh, wherein the humour sweateth out in divers parts of the body. Sometime it is like a Leprosy, when all the skin is full of little pimples, and sometime a kind of madness, wherein they neither hear, nor see so well as they were wont, though they look fair and fat and lusty enough. Every one of these kinds, are contagious and infective, and therefore as soon as you perceive them infected, you must presently put them a sunder for infecting the whole stock, lest you impute that to the wrath of GOD (as many fools do) which happeneth through your own beastliness, and negligence. The common remedy (as Columella says) is the roots of Angellica, and sea thistle mingled with Fenel seed, and with new boiled Wine, Wheat flower, and hot water to be sprinkled upon them. The common people, when they perceane either their Horse, or bullock sick, or any other cattle else, they use to take the root of black Ellebor, 
〈◊〉  called of some Consiligo, of others Bearefoote, and for a Bullock, to thrust it in the dewlap, for a Horse, in the breast, for Swine, or Sheep, through the ear, making a hole with a bodkin, and thrusting the root presently through, which the new wound holdeth fast that it can not fall out, whereunto all the whole force of the poison doth straightways gather, and runneth out in filthy water. Perfumes in this case (as Vegetius teacheth) do much good, as Brimstone, unslacked Lime, Garlic, wild marjoram, and Coryander seed, laid upon the coals, and the Oxen so held, as they may receive the smoke by their mouth and nose, that i● may fill their brain, and their whole body with a healthful air. It is good also thus to perfume the whole body, both for the health of the sick, and preserving of the whole. Before I proceed any farther, I will set you down what kind of Spices, and what quantity you aught always to have in a readiness for your cattle. You must have one pound of Fenicricke, half a pound of Liquerisse, one pound of Grains, Turmeric, half a pound, or a quartern of bay berries, one pound of long Pepper, half a pound of Treacle of Gean, a pound of Amsseede, half a pound of Coming, half a pound of Madder, Ortment, half a pound. The herb, whose root you must use (as I said before) groweth in many places in the woods: it was once brought unto me by chance from Darndal in Sussex, by one Richard Androwes, a good painful searcher out of such things: the picture whereof, I have here set before you, for your better knowledge. For beside his present remedying of cattle, he serveth against divers diseases in man, specially for the quartan, as the learned Mathiolus hath in his description of plants mentioned. To return to my cattle: 
〈◊〉 Crudity.  if they want their digestion, or chaw not Cud, which diseases is perceived by often belching, and noise in the belly, with forbearing of their meat, dullness of their eyes, and not licking of themselves. Take a handful of pelitory of Spain, as much of Hearbgrase, as much of Fetherfew, Sage, Whorehound, and bay-salt, three pints of very strong new drink: seeth them together three or four wallops, and give it him bludwarme in the morning, not suffering him to drink, till the afternoon: if you neglect this disease, so that he be pa●ned in the belly, and full of grief, he will groan and never stand still in one place. For remedy whereof, you shall bind his tail close by the Rump, as straight as may be, and give him a quart of Wine, with a pint of the purest Oil: and after drive him a pace for the space of a mile and a half: anoint your hand with grease, and rake him, afterwards, make him run again: some use to let him blood in the tail, within a handful of the rump. There is a disease which they call the Wolf, others, the Tail, 
The Tail.  which is perceived by the looseness or softness betwixt the joints: take the Tail, and feel betwixt every joint, and where the joint seemeth to be a sunder, or is soft and not close as the other joints, there take and slit him the longest way under the Tail, about two inches long, and lay in the wound Salt, Soole, and Garlic, and bind it fast with a clout about it. The Colic, or pain in the belly, is put away in the beholding of Geese in the water, specially Ducks (as you said before) of Horses: for the sight of the Duck, as Vegetius and Columella say, is a present remedy to this beast. For the flux, 
The Flix.  or the lask, which in some places they call the Ray, take Sloes and dry them in powder, and give it them to drink: if it be the bloody flix, the old fellows were wont to cure it in this sort. They suffered not the beast to drink in three days, and kept him fasting the first day, and gave him the stones of Reazins or Grapes, dried and made in powder two pounds, with a quart of sharp tart Wine, and suffered them to drink no other drink, and made them eat the browsing of wild olive trees, and Mastyxe trees: and if they mended not with this, they burned them in the forehead to the very brain pan, and cut of their ears. The wounds, till they were whole, 
lask i● Calves.  they washed with Oxpisse: but the cut parts were to be healed with Oil and Pitch. If your Calves have the Ray or lask, take sweet Milk, and put therein the Rennet of a Calf, make it no thicker but as the Calf may well drink it, and give it him lukewarm. If your Bullock have the Cough, 
The Cough.  and if it be but beginning, give him a pint of Barly-meal with the yolk of an Egg, the Reazins boiled in sweet Wine and strained, a pint: mingle them together and give it him fasting. Also Grains beaten and mingled with Flower, fried Beans, and meal of Lentylls, all stirred together, and given him in a mash. Columella would have you give them Grass chopped, and mingled with beans that are but a little broken in the Mill, and Lentylls small ground, and mingled with water. The old Cough they cured with two pound of Hyssop, steeped in three pints of water, and mingled with Flower, which they made him to swallow, and afterwards powered into him the water wherein Hyssop had been sodden, also Peason, with Barley water and sodden Honey, when they had the Cough, and Consumption of the Loonges. To keep them alive, they used to burn the root of a Hasell, and to thrust it through their ●ares, giving them to drink, a pint of the juice of Leeks, with the like measure of Oil and Wine. For the Cough of the Loonges, I use to give them long Pepper, Grains, Fenegreke, Bays, Anysseede, Ortment balls, Turmeric, and Madder, beating them all together, and seething them in good Ale grounes. If your Calves have the Cough, take Sentury, and beat it to powder, and give it them. If they have the Fever, 
The Fever.  or Ague, you shall perceive it by the watering of their eyes, the heaviness of their head, the drivelling at the mouth, beating of the veins, and heat of the whole body: let them fast one day, the next day let them blood a little betimes in the morning in the tail, after an hour give them a thirty little stalks of Colwoortes sodde in Oil, Water, and Salt, which must be powered fasting into them, five days together. Beside, you may give them the tops of olive trees, Lentylls, or any tender brutinges, or branches of vines, and wipe their mouths with a Sponge, giving them cold water thrice a day. The blood faling down into the legs, causeth them (as Vegetius saith) to halt, 
Halting.  which as soon as you perceive, you must straightways look upon his hooves, the heat whereof will declare his grief, beside, he will scarce suffer you to touch it. But if so be the blood be yet above the hoof in the legs, you shall dissolve it with good rubbing, or if not with that, with Scarifying, or Pouncing the skin. If it be in the foot, open it a little with a knife between the two claws, and lay to the sore, clouts dipped in Vinegar and Salt, making him a shoe of Broome, and be well ware he come not into any water, but stand dry. This blood, if it be not let out, will breed to matter, which will be long ear it heal: if it be opened at the first with a knife, and made clean, and after clouts dipped in Water, Salt, and Oil laid to it, and at the last anointed with old swines grease, and goats suet boiled together, it will quickly be whole. This disease, as I take it, the country people call the Fowl, or the Wyspe, which they sometime cure with drawing a rope of straw, or hear, through the Cleese, till it bleed, or by searing of it with a hot iron. If the blood be in the lower part of the Hoof, the uttermost part of the Clee is pared to the quick, and so the blood let out, and after, the foot wrapped with clouts and shod with Brome, you must open the Hoof in the midst, except the matter be ripe. If he halt by reason of the Cramp, or pain of the sinews, you shall rub his knees, thighs, and legs, with Salt and Oil, till he be whole. If his knees, or joints be swollen, they must be bathed with warm Vinegar and linseed, or Mylet beaten and laid to it, with water and Hony. Also Sponges wet in hot water, and dried again, and anointed with honey, are very good to be laid to the knees: if under the swelling there be any humour, Leaven, or Barley meal sodde in water and Honey, or sweet Wine, must be laid to it: and when it is ripe, it must be opened with a knife, and healed as before. All griefs generally, if they be not broken, must be dissolved whilst they are new, with baths and fomentations: and if they be old, they must be burned, and the burning anointed with Butter, or goats suet. If he have hurt his heel, or his Hoof, stone Pitch, Brimstone, and greasy Wool, must be burned upon the sore with a hot iron. The like must be done when he is hurt with a Stub, a Thorn, or a Nail, being first plucked out, or if it be very deep, it must be opened wide with a knife, and so handled: for kibed heels, take and cast him, and bind his legs fast together, then take your knife, and cut it out as nigh as you can, and let him bleed well: then take a pennyworth of Uerdegrease, and the yolk of an Egg, and temper them well together, and bind them close to the place, and he shall heal. If the Udder of your Cows do swell, you shall bathe them with ivy sodden in stolen Beer, or Ale, and smoke them with Honey Coames, and Camomile. If the bullocks feet be near worn, and surbated, wash them in Ox piss warmed, and kindling a few twygges or spraps, when the flame is done, 'cause him to stand upon the hot embers, and anoint his horns with Tar, and Oil, or Hogs grease. They will never lightly halt, if after they have been laboured, their feet be washed well with cold water, and afterwards their Pastorns, and the places between the Clees be rubbed with old swines grease. The scabs or manginess, 
Skabbes.  is got away with rubbing them with stamped Garlic, which also cureth the biting of a mad Dog: beside, Peniriall and Brimstone, beaten and boiled with Oil, Vinegar, and water, and after whilst it is warm, a little Alom made in powder and cast into it, doth cure the scab, being anointed in the sunshine. Other use to anoint them with Butter and bullocks piss: and some again take Resin, Tar, & Wine, and use it as a Poultice. Hydebound, is when the skin so sticks to his back, that you can not take it up from the ribs, which happeneth by suffering him to take cold after his sweat, 
Hidebound.  or if after his labour he be wet with rain, or brought low with sickness: which, because it is very dangerous, you must look, that when they come from their labour, and are hot, you sprinkle them with Wine, and give them some pieces of fat or suet. But if they be already Hydebound, it is good you seethe some bay leaves, and with the warm decoction thereof, to bathe his back, and to rub him all over with Wine and Oil mingled together, and to life and pluck up the skin round about, and that abroad, while the sun shines. If his bleeding stench not after the cutting of the vain, the remedy is to lay his own dung to the place. A common medicine for all diseases, as Vegetius reporteth is this: the root of a sea Onion, the root of the Poplar, and the common Salt, of each a sufficient quantity, lay them in water, and give it your cattle to drink till they be whole: which also being given in the beginning of the spring, for the space of fourteen days, preserveth them from all sickness. Now that you have herded in what sort the old husbands did remedy the diseases in their cattle, I shall briefly declare unto you the remedies that are observed in sundry diseases at this day, whereof I have chopped in some amongst the medicines before. First for the Murrain: 
For the Mureyne.  it beginneth at the first in the throat, and swelleth in the head, and rotleth with much noise in the throat, whereby it is perceived: take a quart of new Milk, half a pennyworth of Butter, a pennyworth of Garlic, two pennyworth of English Saffron, two pennyworth of Cinnamon, two pennyworth of Turmeric, a quantity of Hearbegrace, a quantity of Bittony, mingle them altogether, & give it him warm: then take an all, and thrust the top of his nose upward, take but the very top to thrust through, and not to the headwarde, then let him blood in the neck almost a pottle, if he be able: save the blood and let it stand, if it change, he may live, if not, he dieth. An other for the same. Where he swelleth about the jaws and up to the ears, open him under the jaws to the root of the tongue, & get in your finger, and open it a good wideness, then take a good piece of rusty Bacon, & a handful of Raggewort, stamp them well together, and fill the hole full with it: then let him blood at the nose, and the tongue. A drink for the same. Take tansy, Hearbegrace, Longwort, hyssop, Time, of each a like quantity, half a handful, stamp them, and take a quart of good Alegroundes, and seeth them a wallope, or two: take and strain it, and put the liquor into a vessel, put thereunto a pennyworth of Grains, 
For the loonge●.  a pennyworth of long Pepper, a pennyworth of Ortment, & a pennyworth of fenugreek give it the beast luke warm. The sickness of the Loonges is perceived, if the dewlap be hard closed together very far up: also in hard feeling the Hide upon the back, it cracketh or snappeth much: also a short husking, and thrusting out the tongue withal: if it be much perished on the left side, he is uncurable, which you shall perceive by the Hide, which will stick fast on that side, and likewise the dewlap, if he be far go, he will groan much. The remedy for this disease, is to take long Pepper a pennyworth, round Pepper as much, of Grains two pennyworth, of Turmeric two pennyworth, of fenugreek two pennyworth, of Mace as much, Cloves a pennyworth, of Anisseedes a pennyworth, of Madder two pennyworth, of treacle of Geane, the utter rind of walnuts dried, and made in powder, juniper berries powdered, Ox Loongworth, Fetherfewe, Hearbgrace, tansy, Horse Mints, bay berries powdered, a pennyworth of Garlic, a quart of Chamber-lye, a pint of Salt, a quantity of Butter: Setter him before, or immediately after this medicine given. 
Settring of cattle.  The order of Settring a Bullock is this, take Setterwort, otherwise called Bearfoote, and Garlic like quantity, peel and stamp the Garlic, & pair the Setterwort clean, and wrap them well in Butter, then cut the dewlap two inches behind the sticking place, to the brestwarde, and cut it alongstwyse about two or three inches, and pull the dewlap with thy finger, or with a stick, round about one side from the other, as much as you can possible. Then put the Setterwort, Garlic, and Butter, as much as thou canst well put in, and thus do on both sides the dewlap, then roll him so that the string may go through both holes on both sides the dewlap, always remembering to cut the dewlap a handbroade, or above the bottom, and in any wise to rend him to the bottom, before you put in the medicine. The third day after the Settring look to them, open the wound, and let out the corruption (if it be come down) if not, put in more of the medicine, and turn the roll: and if it be much swollen and hard, and will not rot, take a hot iron, and take up part of the soar, the skimed, and the flesh, in such place as thou seest most convenient, so as it come not to the bone, and thrust the iron through on the one side, and on the other, or once right under, if the swelling be right beneath, and tar him well if the flies be busy. Which flies if they chance to get into the soar, take a clot or towel, and lap it about a stick, and put it into scalding hot Tar, and so among the Maggottes, searching every corner well. After you have pierced him with the hot iron, remember to take a little stick, and Tow, and dipping it in Salad Oil, or Wool Oil, to rub the hole where the iron passed. The sickness of the Gall, 
The Gall, or Yellows.  is known by the running eyes, if he have much yellow earewaxe, it is also discerned by the brown yellows under the upper lip: the cure is this. Take Chamber-lye, good Ale grounds, or Beer grounds, hard Soot in powder, Gallwort, beasts Loongwort, Planten leaves, Hearbgrace, Hempleede, or Hemp tops, Garlic stamped, a pennyworth of Aqua vite, for a great Bullock, take almost a quart of this medicine, for a small Bullock, less: when he hath drunk, take Salt, Lome of the brickwall, and leavened bread, and rub well his tongue, and all the roof of his mouth: then wash his back, and chafe it well with Chamber-lye lukewarm: gather all these herbs in Summer, and keep them, and make them in powder. This medicine serveth likewise for the Loonges. If a Bullock be diseased in the liver, 
For the Liver.  he complaineth first in the legs, which will so grieve him, that he shall not be well able to stand, though he be in good liking: the remedy is this. Take a quart of good Ale (if it may be got) if not, take Beer put therein liverwort, a good handful, Wormwood as much, a pennyworth of Garlic, half a pennyworth of Madder, a pennyworth of round Pepper, as much long Pepper, a pennyworth of Cloves and Mace, a pennyworth of treacle, mingle them together, the herbs being powdered, 
The Blaine.  and give the beast a drink lukewarm. The signs of the Blaine, are these: swelling about the face, and the eye, and somewhat in the body: if it be in the body, it swelleth much there, the only remedy is. Take and search him in the mouth, if you perceive blisters under the roots of his tongue, or other place there abouts, then cut them to the bottom, and let them out, and rub the place with Salt: search him also for the body at the fundament, by the arm or hand of some young stripling: and when his arm is in as far as he can, let him turn his hand upward, and feel for the blains, or blisters, & break them with his nails, pulling them quite out: see that he anoint his hand well with Grease, or Sope. There is a disease called the Sprenges, 
The Sprenge●.  wherein he will smite his head backward to his belly, and stamp with his legs: you must put your hand into his fundament, as far as you can pull out the dung, then shall you find blood, pull the blood quite out, and take a good handful of Bay sal●, and put it in at twice, as far as you can: if he have this disease, he will swell in the body, and covet much to dung. If he have the Staggers, 
The Staggers.  he will look very read about the eyes, & cast his head backward: take the fourth part of an ounce of Pepper, bruise it, and take half a pint of sharp Vinegar warmed blood warm, and power it into his Nostrils, and hold his head well upward, and let him blood at the Nose. If your Bullock turn round, and have the Dasye, 
The Das●e.  you shall take him by the head, and feel upon his forehead, and you shall feel it with your thumb: cut the skin crosswise right in the place, and wipe away the blood as it doth increase with a clout, and bind a clot over his head, and keep it warm. If your Oxen piss blood, 
Pissing of blood.  keep them four & twenty hours from water, & then give to every one a little dyshefull of rennet curds in a quart of milk, let them not drink in four hours after. There sometime runneth a blood upon the back of a Bullock, which will make him draw his legs after him, & go as if he were swayed in the Chine: cut of a joint, or two of his tail, and let him bleed: if he bleed too much, knit his tail, or fear it. If he have the Panteys, 
Panteys.  he will pant much, and shake in the Flank, & sometime shake down: give him a little Rennet with Soo●e and Chamber-lye. If he swell of the Taint, 
Taint.  or S●ingworme give him Urine, Salt, & treacle to drink: if he be Hydebound, 
Hydebound  ●●ampe the leaves of Floredelise, strain them, and give the beast to drink: if he chance to have a stroke in the eye, take the juice of Smallege, Fenel, and the white of an Egg. The Gargyse, 
Gargyse  is a swelling beside the eye upon the bone, l●ke a botch, or a bile: if your Bullock have it, cut of round about it pieces of skin as broad, then cut also round about those pecces, one narrow lap of the skin, which will keep the disease from his lips, for if it come to his lips, it is uncurable. Then take Chamber-lye, and Salt, and seethe them together, and wash the places where the skin is cut of, and wash it therewith evening and morning, till the swelling be go, skraping of the skabbes, and other filth at every dressing to the quick, till the swelling be go, not sparing it, so long as it watereth, and runneth: when the swelling is clean go, take Nerualle and Honey, boiled together blood warm, and anoint all the said places, which will both heal it, and 'cause the hear to come again. We have certain medicines beside, that we use generally for all diseases, 
For all diseases.  as this, which is very sovereign: take a handful of beasts Loongwort, a handful of other Loongwort that serveth for the pot, a handful of inward ryne of Elder, a handful of rue, chop them small, and put them into a pottle of good Ale, let them seeth till they be soft, then stir them, and put into the liquor a pennyworth of long Pepper, a pennyworth of Grains, a pennyworth of Liqueryse, a pennyworth or aniseed, a half pennyworth of Comen, a pennyworth of Turmeric, all well beaten, and put into the liquor, with a quarter of a pound of Madder: and whilst all these do seethe, take a great bowledishe, and put therein a handful of Bay salt, half a handful of Garlic, four new laid Eggs, shells and all, two balls of Ortment, grind all these things with a Pestle in the bowl: then take the liquor aforesaid from the fire, till it be half cold, and put the warm liquor into the bowl, with the Garlic, Salt, Eggs, and Ortment, brew it well together, and give the beast to drink blood warm, or a little more. An other of the same sort is this, two pennyworth of Comen, a pennyworth of Grains, two pennyworth of Anisseedes, a pennyworth of bay berries, a pennyworth of Fenecrycke, a pennyworth of Turmeric, one ball of Ortment, a pennyworth of treacle, or rather for the Loonges, three or four spoonfuls of Madder, beat them all to gather, and put them in three quarts of drink, set them on the fire, till they be blood warm, give the beast no drink in the morning before, nor till noon after in the Summer, and in the Winter till night: or if you will, you may give them this medicine following: take Flint soot, that is hard dried upon a post or roof, and beat it into powder with Salt, then take running water, and seeth it, rank ivy, with the Soot and Salt, and when the ivy is soft, take and wring out the juice, and strain all together through a linen clot, & give it your cattle to drink blood warm, in the spring, and at the fall of the leaf. Bubale called of the common people Buffs, 
The Buffs.  of Pliny Bisonte, are common in Itally, beyond the Apenin: a wild and savage beast, that for their fearsenesse, are handled with rings of iron in their noses, of colour black, their bodies large, and mighty, their legs well set, and knit very strong, and in respect of their body short, their horns large cranyed, and black, their hear small and short, their tails little, they are in those parts used for carriage, drawght, and like uses, as the Ox. Of the milk of this beast are made Cheese, that about Rome, and other places are greatly esteemed: Columella counts them to be strong meat, and heavy of digestion. Lo here is all that for my share I have to say, touching my cattle: now HEDIO hold you the candle an other while.  HEDIO. 
Next unto the greater sort of cattle, the chiefest place is to be assigned to Sheep: yea if you consider the great commodity and profit, they are to be preferred before them: for as Oxen serve for the tilling of ground, 
Sheep.  & necessary use of men, so is to this poor beast ascribed the safeguard of the body, for the Sheep doth both with his fleece apparel us, & with his milk, & wholesome flesh, nourish us (as the Poet witnesseth.) 
Poor beast that for defence of man, at first created waist,  
And in thy swelling udder bear'st, the juice of dainty taste:  
That with thy fleece kepst of the cold, that should our limbs assail  
And rather with thy life, then with thy death, dost us avail.  Of Sheep there are sundry breeds. The rich & the champion country, breeds a large, and a great Sheep: the barren and the clyffy, a reasonable stature: the wild and the mountain ground, a small and a weerysh Sheep. The old husbands, did greatly commend the breed of Milet, Appulia, and Calabria, and most of all the breed of ●aranto, next of Parma, and Modena. At this day for the fineness of their fleece, are most in price the Sheep of England, of Germany about the Rhine, and of France. Varro counseleth all such as would buy Ewes, to have their chief consideration of their age, that they be neither to old nor to young, the one of them not yet come to it, the other already past profit: but better is that age, whereof there is some hope, then where there followeth nothing but a dead carcase. Your best is therefore to buy them at two years old, and not to meddle with such as are past three: their age is to be known by their teeth, 
The choice of Ewes.  for the teeth of the old one's are worn away: next must you look, that your Ewe have a large body, deep woolled, and thick over all the body, specially about the neck, and the head, and good store upon the belly: for such as were bore necked and bellied, the old husbands always refused. The neck must be long, the belly large, the legs short, though the Sheep of England be long legged, the tail in some country short, in others very long: for in Arabia some have tails a cubit long, but wonderful broad: others, (as both Herodotus, & Aelianus affirm) three cubits long, so that the shepherds are forced to tie them up, for being hurt with trailing upon the ground. In Egypt, a Rams tail hath been found to way twenty pound, & more. The Ram must have his horns great, wyneding inward, and bending to the face, though in some place they have no horns at all, 
Rams.  & yet not better Rams: the horns must rather crookle inward, then grow strait up. In some countries, that are wet, & stormy, Goats and Rams are to be choose, that have the greatest & largest horns, whereby they may defend their heads from storm and tempest: and therefore in cold & stormy countries, the horned Rams are best: in mild & gentle climets, the bold. Beside, there is this inconvenience, when he knows himself to be armed, he will always be fight, and unruly among his Ewes: and though he be not able to serve the turn himself, yet will he suffer no other Ram in the flock, till he be even cloyed, & lamed with lechery. The Pollarde on the otherside, finding himself unarmed, is milder and quieter by much: wherefore the Shepherds, to restrain the rage of the unruly, do use to hung before his horns, a little board with sharp pricks inward, which keeps him from his madness, while he perceiveth himself to be hurt with his own blood: others say, that if you pierce his horns with a wimble next to the ears where they wind inward, he will leave his brawling. In some places also the Ewes are horned: but to the Ram his eyes must be brown, his ears great, his breast, shoulder, & buttocks broad, his stones great, his tail broad, and long: you must look beside, that his tongue be not black, nor pecled, for commonly such will get black & pied Lambs, as Virgil noteth. 
And though the Ram in sight be white as snow,  
If black within his laws his tongue be wrought:  
Refuse him quite, lest if he leap thy Yow●.  
He do infect thy fold with colour naught.  Buy not your Sheep but washed & unshorn, that the colour may plainlier appear: the white colour, as it is the beautifullest, so is it the profitablest. In March is your best buying of Sheep: 
When to buy sheep.  for shepherds like such as have well worn out the winter. Whosoever will be a sheepemaister, must regard the ability of his ground: for it is not enough to have pasture in summer, But they must be well provided for in winter: in any wise, you must have store of pasture, and better it is, and more profitable to the Master, to keep a few Sheep well, than a great number with scarcity of pasture. Florentinus is of that fancy, that he would your number should rather be odd then even, thinking that number more fortunate, for the healthynesse, and long continuance of the cattle: but these are superstitious toys, as are a great number of others imagined by the faithless. Be sure every year once, to make your muster, and supply the places of such as are dead, or sick, with a new and a sound number, so that the Master be not deceived with an old unprofitable flock. The hardness and cruelty of the cold Winter, doth oftentimes beguile the shepherd, and destroyeth many of his flock: whereof (presuming of their strength in the end of the Summer) he had made no supply, and therefore Columella is of opinion, that the age for breed aught not to be less than three year, nor above eight, both because that neither of the ages is meet to be kept: and also that whatsoever cometh of an old stock, hath lightly a smack of his old parent's imperfection, and proveth either to be barren, or weak. The self same Columella would have the Ewes to be put to the Ram, after they had passed two year old, & the Ram to be of five year old, and after seven, to decay. In many places at this day, they suffer both the kinds to breed, from two year old, till nine: but before two years, it is not good to put either the Ram, or the Ewe to breed, although in most places they suffer the Ewes at a year old. The Ram is put by his purpose, by the Wyckers, or Bulryshes, tied to the Ewes tail, but more commodiously, by going in several pastures: howbeit, they are not commonly severed, but suffered to go together. The Rams that you would have to serve your Ewes, must afore the blossoming, be kept in good pasture. for two months, whereby they may the better be able to do their business: but in our country, we commonly suffer them to feed together. To increase their lust, you shall give them in their pasture, the blades of Onions, or Knot grass: they rather covet the old Ewes, than the young, because they be easiyer to be entreated, and the Rams themselves in age be the better. By knitting of the right stone, you shall have Ewe Lambs, and of the left, Ram Lambs: also their blossoming in the north-wind, ge●tteth Ram Lambs, and in a Southwind, Ewe Lambs. One Ram (as Dydimus affirmeth) sufficeth for fifty Ewes: when they have all conceived, the Rams must again be banished, for dangering and harming the Ewes. During the time of their blossoming, they are to be watered in one place (as both Varro, & Pliny affirm) because the change of water both discoloureth the wool, & dangereth the Lamb. The policy of jacob the Patry●rche, in procuring of party coloured Lambs, is well enough known. The best time for blossoming, is from the setting of the Bearwarde, to the setting of the Eagle: (as Varro and Columella have written) which is (as Pliny interprettes it) from the third Ideses of May, till the thirteen kalends of August, other think it good all the year long, many prefer the Winter Lamb before those that fall in the spring, as a creature that of all others, best brooketh his Winter birth. The thunder, if the Ewes go alone, makes them cast their Lambs, and therefore it is good to let them go with company, for avoiding that peril: they go with Lamb .150. days, or five months: such as are afterward dammed, are feeble and weak, and such were of the old writers called Cordi: for the most part they bring but one Lamb a piece, yet oftentimes two, and if they be well fed, six at a time. It hath been seen in Gelderland, that five Ewes have had in one year, five and twenty Lambs: it may seem peradventure to many uncredible, & yet not great marvel, since they have twice a year most times two, and sometime six at a time. The shepherd must be as careful as a midwife in the yeaning time, for this poor creature (though she be but a Sheep) is as much tormented in her delivery, as a shrew, and is oftentimes the more dangerously vexed, and pained in her labour, in that she is altogether without reason: and therefore it behoveth the shepherd to be skilful in medcening of his cattle, and so cunning a midwife withal, as if need require, he may help his Ewe, what danger soever happen. The Lamb as soon as he is fallen, must be set on foot, and put to the dams udder, and oftentimes his mouth held open, the milk must be milked in, that he may learn to suck: but before you do this, you must be sure to milk out the first milk called Colostra, whereof I will speak hereafter: for this, except some quantity be drawn out, doth hurt the lamb: if the dam dye, you must suckle it with a horn: if the Lamb will not of himself suck, he must be put to it, and his lips nointed with sweet Butter, and swines grease, and seasoned a little with sweet milk. As soon as they are lambed, they must be shut up together with their dams, whereby both the dam may cheerishe them, and they learn to know their dams. afterward, when they begin to wax wanton, they must be severed with Hardelles: or (as Varro writeth) after ten days they must be tied to little stakes with some gentle stay, for hurting of their joints, and waxing lean with to much play. The weaker must be severed from the stronger, for hurting of them. And in the morning betimes, before the ●locke go to pasture, and in the evening when they be full, the Lambs must be put to their dams: and when they wax strong, they must be fed in the house, with Clover, and sweet grass, or else with Bran, and Flower. And when they have got greater strength, they must be let out wit● their dams about noon, in some sunny and warm close near adjoining. In the mean time, you must not deal with milking of the Ewes, so shall you have them to bear the more wool, and bring the more Lambs. When the Lambs are taken from the dams, good heed mu●t be had, that they pine not away: and therefore they must be well cherished in thei● weaning time with good pasture, and well 〈◊〉, both from cold, and extreme heat. Now after that t●ey have forgotten the udder, that they care not for their dams, then shall you let them feeds with the flock: howbeit in most ●●●ces the Lambs are su●●ered to feed in the flock together with their dams, & to suck till harvest time, till the dams themselves do wean them. Varro would have you not to g●ld your Lambs under five months old, & that in a season neither too hot, nor too cold: but experience teacheth us, that the best gelding is under the dam when they be youngest: for in the older (as in all other beasts) it is dangerous. Those that you will keep for Rams, you must take from such Ewes as use to have two at one time. The best pasture for Sheep, is the grass that is turned up with the Plough, and groweth upon f●llowes: the next is that, that groweth in dry Meadows: the marshy ground is to be refused, and that which groweth near unto Lakes, and Fens: the plain and the champion fields and Downs, are best for the delicatest and soonest woolled Sheep. To be short, the shorter and finer the grass is, the meeter is it for Sheep: and yet is there no pasture so good, or so fine, but with continual use, your Sheep will be weighed of, except the shepherd remedy th●s fault with giving of them Salt, which (as a sauce to their food) ●e must set ready in Summer when they come from pa●ture, in little troughs of wood, by licking whereof they ge●t them an appetite both to their meat, and their drink. For where as Sheep wax soon fat with watering (as Aristotle affirmeth) you must in summer every fifth day let them have Salt, a peck to every hundred: so shall your Sheep be always healthy, wax fat, and yield you plenty of milk. Moreover, against the winter rot, or hunger rot, you must provide to feed them at home in Cratches. They are best fed in the warmer countries, with the leaves and bro●singes of Elm, and Ash, and the Hay that is made after harvest in the end of summer, because it is softest, & therefore sweeter than the other. With what heed and carefulness this cattle is to be said, Virgil declares, who wills a regard to be had of the times, both of their watering, and feeding. 
When Summer fair with Western winds doth call,  
Your lusty flocks, to woods and pasture sand  
Betimes, when day doth spring and over all,  
The gladsome grass the hoary dew doth bend.  
From thence when as the fourth hour of the day,  
With lofty Sun doth make them dry to be,  
To wells or waters deep go take the way,  
And make them drink in troughs of Oaken tree.  But in the noon time, and the heat of the day, you must drive them to the valleys, and shades (as he saith) a little after. 
Wheresoever of love the ancient Oaken tree,  
His broad and mighty branches spreads, or where:  
In sacred Groves of Holmes the shadows be.  After, when the heat is past, you must drive them again to the water, and so bring them again to field. 
When Sun is set, and evening Star appears,  
That cools the air, and dewy Moon she cheers.  Varro affirmeth, that they divided their pasturing times in Puglia, after this manner. First they put them out to pasture betimes in the morning, when as the dewy grass doth far exceed in pleasantness, and sweetness: the grass that being burned with the heat of the Sun, is over dry. About noon again, till it wax cooler, they are to be driven under some cold or watery Rocks, and broad shadowed trees, and toward the evening be suffered to feed till sun set, always having regard, that in their driving, their heads be from the sun: for no beast is so tender headed. Within a little after the setting of the sun, they must be driven to water, and after, suffered to feed again, till it be dark: for than is the pasture sweetest. This order is to be observed from the rising of the seven stars, and the lesser Dog, till the latter equinoctial. The like doth Columella, and Pliny teach, that after the rising of the Dog, the flock must afore noon be driven Westward, and feed with their face toward the West, and after noon they must be brought again Eastward. The fields whence the Corn is newly had of, is good to past●re them for two causes, both for that they are well fed with the leavings of the sheaves, and that with the trampling of the straw, and dounging, they make the ground richer against the next sowing: but our country men do not well like, that Sheep should feed upon the ears of Wheat. The p●sturing of them in the other seasons, as winter, and the spring, differs in this point, that they put them not abroad, till the sun have drawn up the dew, and hurtful vapours of the ground, and so feed them all the day long, thinking it sufficient to let them drink at noon: but our husbands use not to suffer their Sheep to feed abroad in the summer time, neither before the sun rising, nor after the setting, by reason of the dew being more hurtful in summer, then in winter. In winter, and the spring time, they keep them in the fold, till such time as the sun have drawn up the rhymes and hoar frosts from the fields: for the frosty grass at this time of year, do stop their heads with rheum, and fylles their bellies full of water: and therefore in the cold and wet seasons of the year, it is enough to let them drink once a day. Moreover the shepherd, as also the keeper of all cattle, must deal gently, and lovingly with their flock, and comforting, and cheering them with singing, and whistling: for the Arabians (as Alianus writeth) do find, that this kind of cattle taketh great delight in music, and that it doth them as much good, as their pasture. Beside, they must be well ware in the driving of them, and ruling of them, that they guide them with their voice, and shaking of their staff, not hurting, nor hurling any thing at them, nor that they be any time far of from them, and that they neither lye● nor sit: for if they go not forward, they must stand: for it is the shepherds office to stand always as high as he can, that he may plain and easily discern, that neither the slow, nor the great bellied in laning time, nor the quick, nor the lively, while they roam, be severed from their fellows: and lest some thief, or wild beast, beguile the negligent shepherd of his cattle. Of their pasturing, I think I have spoken sufficiently, and therefore I mean now to show you of their houses, or sheepecots, 
Sheepecots.  whereof there aught to be a special regard, that they be conveniently placed, not subject to winds, nor storms, and that they rather stand toward the East, then toward the South. Columella would have them built low, and rather long, than b●ode, that they may be warm in the winter, and that the straightness of the room hurt no● the young. And beside, he would have them stand toward the South: for this beast (though his garments be warm) can not away with cold weather, neither ye● with the gre●t heat of the summer. I have seen some sheep houses so framed, as they have had their gates toward the South, and toward the East, that they might answer to the seasons of the year. Columella would have the house set toward the South, and on the Backside a close Postern, where they may safely take the air. You must look beside, that where they stand, the ground be made fair and even, some thing hanging, that it may be clean kept, and that the urine may be well voided away: for the wettenesse hereof doth not only hurt, and corrupt their feet, but also spoileth their coats, and maketh them rowfe, and ill-favoured. Let there therefore be no moisture, but always well strawed with dry Fearne, or straw, that the Ewes that be with young, may lie the softer, and cleaner. Let their beds be very clean, for the cleaner they lie, the better they feed: let them in any wise be well said: for a small number (as I said before) well fed, yield more profit to their Master, than a great flock barely kept. You must also have several partisions to keep the weaker and the sick, from the strong and unruly. And thus much of housed Sheep, that are every day brought home, but in some places they are kept advoyde, far from either town, or house. In Forestes, & upon 〈◊〉 fields and downs, in these places the shepherd carrieth with him his Hard●lles, and his Nets, and other necessaries, to sold his flock withal. In the desert fields, when as the winter pastures, and the summer pastures, are distant certain miles asunder (as Varro saith) he would have the flocks that have wintered in Apu●ia, to be kept in summer upon the mountains of ●●e●e, and Virgil thus writeth of the shepherds of Ly●ia. 
What should I here of Lybian shepherds tell,  
Or of their pastures writ, and dwellings poor:  
That night and day on downs, and deserts devil,  
Where wanders still the flock without the door.  
And on the ground doth lie the shepherd hear,  
While he removes with him continually:  
His house, and all his household goods doth bear,  
His staff, his dog, and all his armoury.  The like have I myself seen in Swycherland, and other places of Germany, where the shepherd, lying still abroad with his flock, folds his Sheep in the night with Hardels, tying their dogs about them for watchmen: the shepherd himself in a little house upon wheels, sleeps hard by his charge. The Sheep of Greece, Asia, an Toranto, and those which they call covered Sheep, are commonly used to be kept in houses, rather than abroad, for the excellency and finesse of their wool.  EUPHOR. 
What times do you appoint for the shearing of your Sheep?  HEDIO. 
The times of shearing, 
Shearing of Sheep.  are not in all places one, but vary, according to the disposition of the air, the cattle, and the country: the best way is to have good regard to the weather, as the Sheep be not hurt by shearing in the cold, nor harmed by forbearing in the heat. In some places they have two seasons in the year for shearing of their Sheep: the first season for their shearing, is either with the beginning of May, or else with the ending of April: the second season of their shearing, is about the beginning of September. Such as do use to shear their Sheep but once in the year, do commonly appoint for their season, the tenth of the month of june, about which time also such as do shear twice a year, do shear their Lambs. Three days before you shear them, you must wash them well, and when they be full dry, you may shear them: they do not in all places shear their Sheep, but in some places (as Pliny saith) pull them. The old husbands did accounted for the best wool, the wool of Puglia, and that which in Italy was called the Greek fleece: the next in goodness they took to be the wool of Italy: in the third place they esteemed the Milesian fleece: the wool of Pullia is but short, and meet to be worn only in riding cloaks. The wool about Toranto, and Canas, is thought to be passing good: but the best at this day, is the wool of England. The finer your pasture is, the finer (as it is thought) you shall have your wool. The wool of such sheep as are slain by the Wolf, & the garments made thereof (as Aristotle says) is aptest to breed lice. If you happen in the shearing to clip the skin, you must forthwith anoint it with Tar: when you have shorn them, some think it good you anoint them with the juice of sodden lupines, Lees of old Wine, and the drags of Oil made in an ointment, and after three days to wash them (if it be near you) in the sea, or if the sea be far of, with rain water sodden with Salt. And being thus ordered, you shall not have them to loose their wool all the year, but to be healthy, and to carry a deep and a fine fleece, and therefore Virgil bids you, 
Go plunge them often in healthy streams.  There be some again, that would have you to anoint them three days in the year, the da●es being soon after you have washed them, with Oil, and Wine mingled together. Against Serpents, that many times lie hide under their Cribbes, you must burn Cedar, Galbanum, or woman's hear, or Hearts horn: in the end of Summer is your time for drawing and severing of them (as I told you before) when you must cell your Sheep, that through feebleness, they fail not in the Winter. Beside, kill one or two of them, you must look well upon their Livers, and if the Liver be not sound (for hereby is foreseen the danger) then either cell them, or fat them, and kill them: for ve●y hard is it to save them, their Livers being perished. Infected Sheep, are more subject to skabbes and manginess, than any other cattle, which cometh (as the Poet witnesseth.) 
When coldest storms do wet them near,  
And ●oary frosts on ground appear.  Or if you wash not of the sweat of the Summer with Salt water, or otherwise. If when they be shorn, you suffer them to be hurt with brambles or thorns: or if you put them into houses, where either Horses, Mules, or Asses have stand, but specially lack of good feeding, whereof proceedeth poorness, and of poorness, skabbes and manginess. The sheep that is infected, is thus known: if he either scratch, stamp with his foot, or beat himself with his horn, or rub himself against a tree: which perceiving him so to do, you shall take him, and opening his wool, you shall find the skin ruff, and as it were itchy: divers men have divers remedies for this malady, but such as are not at hand to be had, Virgil thinks there is no presenter remedy, 
Then at the first to clip away the sore,  
For being hid, it festereth the more.  Constantine out of Dydimus affirmeth, that the skabbes of Sheep are healed by washing them with Urine, and after anointing them with Brimstone, and Oil. The common shepherds, when they perceive a Sheep to fall a rubbing, they straightways take him, and shedding the hear, do sear the place with Tar: others do teach other remedies more hard to be come by, which are not for every shepherd, nor every country to use. And if the hole flock be infected, it doth many times so continue, as it shall be needful to change houses, and (which in all other diseases) behoveth both country, and air. This on alonely medicine have I always proved, for the keeping in health of this cattle, to be most present, and sovereign: take the berries of juniper, beat them small, and sprinkle them with Oats, and Salt, mingle them all together, and give it your Sheep, three or four times in the year: for though they refuse to eat the juniper berries of themselves, yet for the desire of the Salt, and the Oats, they will easily take them altogether. If they be lousy, or full of tickels, they use to beat the roots of Maple, and seething them in water, and opening the wool with their fingers, they pour the liquor, so as from the ridge of the back, it run all over the body. Others use the root of Mandrake, being well aware that they suffer them not to taste it. If they have the fever, you must let them blood in the heel, betwixt the two Clees, which the Poet teacheth, saying: 
It easeth strait the flaming fevers pain,  
If in the foot you strike the spinning vain.  Some let them blood under the eyes, & some behind the ears. The Fowl, a disease betwixt the Clees, is taken away with Tar, Alum, Brimstone, and Vinegar mingled together: or powder of Uerdegrese put upon it. The swelling betwixt the two Claws, must be cut with great wariness, jest you hap to cut the worm that lieth in it, for if you do, there cometh from her a hurtful mattering, that poisoneth the wound, and maketh it uncurable. 
Master 〈◊〉 for 〈…〉.  Master Fytzherbert, a Gentleman of Northamptonshyre, who was the first that attempted to wright of husbandry in England, appointeth this cure: his words be these. There be some Sheep that have a worm in his foot, that maketh him to halt, take that Sheep, and look betwixt his Cleese, and there shall you find a little ho●e, as much as a great pings head, wherein groweth five or six black hears, like an inch long, or more: take a sharp pointed knife, & slit the skin a quarter of an inch long above the hole, and as much beneath, and put thy one hand in the hollow of the foot, under the hinder Clee, and set thy thumb above, almost at the slit, and thrust thy finger underneath forward, and with your other hand, take the black hears by the end, or with thy knives point, and pulling the hears a little & a little, thrust after thy other hand, with thy finger and thy thumb, and there will come out a worm, like a piece of flesh, near as big as a little finger: when it is out, put a little Tar in the hole, and it will shortly mend. If they happen by the extreme heat of the sun to fall down, and to forsake their meat, give them the juice of the wild Beete, and 'cause them beside to eat the Beets. If they hardly draw their breath, slit their ears, and let them bleed. If they be troubled with the cough, Almonds beaten with wine, and powered a pretty quantity into their nostrylles, remedieth them. A Sheep, or Swine, that hath the murrain of the Loonges, 
The murreyne of the Loong●s.  you shall help by thrusting through their ear, the root of Setterwor●: this sickness doth commonly spring of want and skarsetie of water, and therefore (in Summer time specially) you must suffer no kind of cattle to want water. Their legs if they happen to be broken, are to be cured in like sort as men's be, being wrapped first in wool, dipped in Oil and Wine, and afterward splented. 
Lambs.  The young Lambs, & other Sheep also while they go a broad, are troubled with skabbes, and manginess about their lips, which they get by feeding upon dewy grass: the remmedie, is Hyssop, and Salt, of each a like quantity beaten together, and their mouths, their pallattes, and their lips rubbed withal: the ulcerous places, must be nointed with Vinegar, Tar, and swines grease. If they chance to swell with eating of any worm, 
Eating worms, or venomous grass.  or venomous grass, you shall let them blood in the veins about the lips, and under the tail, and after power into them chamber-lye. If they happen to swallow a Horsleache, power into them strong and tart Vinegar warm, or Oil. Against the murrion, or the rot, I have seen given them, certain spoonfuls of Brine, and after a little Tar: this medicine was used by Master John Franklin of Chart in Rent, 
Master John Franklin.  who was in his life time a skilful husband, and a good housekeepers In like sort have I seen this medicine. Take for every fore, one pennyworth of Treacle, and likewise one little handful of hempseed, ground ivy, Elder leaves, and Fetherfewe, as much as a Tenisballe of Lome, and as much Bay salt, put thereto Chamber-lye, and a little Soot, make it all lukewarm, and give to every one three spoonfuls good, and after every one a little Tar, before they go out of hand. In some places they use to take the dried flowers of Wormwood, & mingling them with Salte●they give them to their Sheep, as a general medicine against all diseases. This medicine is commended by Hierominus Tragus both for aswaging of any pain, and driving away any hurtful diseases from cattle.  EUPHOR. 
Good HEDIO forgeat not to speak something of your Goats.  HEDIO. 
goats have many things common with Sheep, 
Goats.  for they go to Buck at one time, & go as long with young as the Sheep do: they yield commodity with their flesh, their milk, their cheese, their skins, and their hear: the hear is profitable to make ropes of, and packs, and divers like instruments belonging to sea men, by reason that it neither rottes with moisture, nor is easily burned with fire. Varro maketh mention of two sorts of them, a hairy sort, and a smooth. Such as have Wens, or Warts under their Chynnes, are taken to be most fruitful: their Udders would be great, their milk thick, & the quantity much. The he Goat would be softer heard, and longer, his Neck short, his Throat Boll deeper, his Legs fleshy, his Ears great, and hanging: it is thought better to buy the whole flock together, then to buy them severally. At the Chin of every one of them hangs a long beard, which Pliny calleth Aruncum, by which, if any man draw one of them out of the flock, the whole flock (as amazed) stand gazing upon him. The he Goat, because of his beard, and (as Alianus saith) by a certain instinct of nature, preferring the male before the female, goeth always before his woman. The bargaining for this cattle, is not after the manner of bargaining for Sheep: for no wise man will promise' that they be free from sickness, being as they be, never without the ague: but he assures them that they be well to day, and can drink. One thing is to be wondered at in this beast, that he draweth not his wind as all other beasts do at his Nose, but at his ears. The best kinds of them, are those that bring forth twice a year, and such you must seek for your breed. The Goat is able to engender at seven months old, being even as lecherous as a Goat: for while he is yet sucking, he will be upon the back of his dam: and therefore he wa●eth feeble, and unable, before he be six years old, being now soaked and consumed with his overtimely lustiness of his youth: and therefore after he come to be five year old, he is no longer to serve your turn for breed. The time when you shall suffer them to go to rut, is in Autumn, a little before December, that at the coming of the spring, and blossoming of the trees, the young may be brought forth. The Goat goeth with young (as I said) five months, as the Sheep doth: she brings forth commonly two, and sometime six (as Pliny witnesseth) such as bear twice, you must keep for your stock, for the renewing thereof, and the increase. As touching their breeding, you must in the end of Autumn sever your he Goats. The young Goats of a year old, and two years, bring forth Kids: but (as Columella saith) they are not to be suffered to bring them up, except they be three years old: and therefore you must away with the young, that the Goats of the first year may breed: and suffer the kid of a two year dam, to suck no livelier than it is meet to be sold. When the Kyddes are brought forth, they must be brought up in like sort as I told you of the Lambs: saving that the wantonness of the kid, is more to be restrained and heedelyer to be kept in, and must be fed beside their milk, with young bows. Pliny affirmeth, that they be scarce good for breed at three year old, but if they pass four, they be stark naught, & that they begin at seven months even while they be under the mother's breast. The first riding prospereth not, the second is somewhat to the purpose, the third spredth, she brings forth, till she be eight years old, and therefore the she Goats, when they be above eight years, is not to be kept: for she than becometh barren. Those which want horns (as in the male kinds of all others be the best) for the horned, by reason of their weapons, are hurtful, and unruly. Besides, the female of such as lack horns, do give always greater plenty of milk: but Columella (as he commends the Pollardes in a temperate and mild country) so in a boisterous and a stormy region, he would have them horned. Such as have horns, do show their age by the circles of their horns: it is thought, that they see as well by night, as by day, and that they always lay their faces turned one from the other, and in that order also feed. Cold (as it is said) is very hurtful to this kind of cattle, specially to those that be with young, as likewise the extreme heat. The wit of this beast Nutianus reporteth, he once had experience of, whereas a couple of them chanced to meet upon a very long and narrow bridge, and the straightness would not suffer them to turn, and to go backward blindfold in such a straight, considering the swiftness of the stream under them, was more unpossible, the one of them lying down, the other passed over his body. Varro doth commend sundry little flocks kept several, then great flocks together, using for example one Ga●erijus, because a great flock is sooner subject to the murrine, thinking thirty to be enough for one flock. Columella also affirmeth, that there aught not to go above one hundred of them together, whereas of Sheep he alloweth a thousand in one flock. The biting or bruising of them, is poison to all kind of trees: and therefore were they in old time sacrificed to Bacchus, because they were so hurtful to vines. Their stables Columella would have to stand upon a stony ground, or else to be paved, for this beast needeth nothing under him but a few bows: when he lieth abroad, the shepherd must often sweep and make clean their houses, not suffering any dung, or moisture, to remain in them, that may be hurtful to the flock: for as I said before, they are seldom without fevers, and much subject to the pestilence. And whereas other cattle, when they have the Murrayne amongst them, as soon as they be infected, begin to languish, and pine away: only these Goats as soon as they be taken, though they be never so lusty to look upon, suddenly fall down together, and dye as thick as hayse: which disease doth chiefly happen, by too much rankness of pasture. And therefore as soon as you perceive one or two of them fall down, let the whole flock blood with as much speed as you may, and suffer them not to feed all the day, but shut them up the four middle hours of the day. If they be diseased with any other sickness, you must give them the roots of Reeds, and of the great white thistle, stamping them with iron Pestles, and strained with rain water let them drink it: and if so be this medicine heal them not, your best will be to cell them, or to kill them, and powder them: and when you buy new, bring them not home too hast●ly, till the disposition of the air be altered. If they fall severally sick, cure them in such sort as you do your Sheep. Florentinus says, if you stamp with water the Guysard of the Stork, and give them to drink a spoonful a piece, it preserveth both Sheep and Goat from all murrayne and pestilence. If their bellies be swelled with water, which the Grecians call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Dropsey, if the sk●nne be la●m●ed a little under the shoulder, it lets out the hurtful matter, and you may heal the sore with Tar.  EUPHOR. 
You have for your part very well satisfied us, touching the good ordering of your cattle: there remains yet one thing for you, which we all forgot to speak of, and that is the ordering of Milk, our chiefest food and sustenance.  HEDIO. 
Seeing that of this cattle whereof I have en●treated, 
Milk.  the profit of the Milk is not small, it is no great reason we should overpass the ordering of the same: ●or Milk (as Varro saith) of all liquid things wherewith we seed, is the greatest nourisher. Milk differeth in goodness, recording to the nature of the beasts that give it: as the Milk of Women, of Cows, Sheep, Goats, Asses, Mares, and Camels: the greatest nourisher is Woman's milk, the next goats milk, whereby the Poets feign, that their god jupiter himself, was nursed with goats milk: the sweetest next to Woman's milk, is the camels milk: the holesomest, is Ass' milk: the Ass as soon as she is with Colt, giveth milk: the Cow, never till she have calved: most comfortable to the stomach, is goats milk, because he rather feedeth on bruttes and bows, then upon grass. Cow milk is most meed amable, and most of all loseth the belly. sheeps milk is sweeter, and nourisheth more, but is not so good for the stomach, by reason it is fatter and grosser. All milk that is milked in spring-time, is watrisher than the milk of summer, as likewise is the milk of young cattle: it is holsomest being sodden, specially with the Prebbles of the Sea. The Sheep about Poncus, near to the river Astace, do give (as Pliny saith) black milk. 
Black milk.  All milk generally (as Dioscorides writeth) is of good nourishment, 
Error in the understanding of Dioscorides.  but filleth the stomach and the belly with wind: that which is milked in the spring, is thinnest, but loseth the belly most. The difference of milk, is taken (as Varro saith) of the pastures, the nature of the cattle, and the milking. Of the pasture, when the ca●tell is fed with Barley, Strawe, and all other hard and dry meats, and this greatly nourisheth. For purging of the belly, the grass pastures, specially where the cattle feed of purging herbs, as Cardamus in his book de plantis teacheth, that if you will purge Melancholy, you must feed your mylche Goad, or Ass, with Polipodi, and for all other humours Seen, for the Dropsy with Spurge, or Agarick: for cleansing of the blood, with fumitory, or Hops: and if you will but only lose the belly with Mercury, or Mallows: so far Cordanus. Our countrymen do chiefly commend for milk, the pastures where groweth Spery, and Clavergrasse, and that is all bedecked with yellow flowers. For the cattle, the difference is betwixt the sick and the healthy, the young, and the old: and for the milking, that is best, that is not long kept after the milking, nor that is milked immediately upon the calving, a gross unwholesome kind of milk. To try whether milk be mingled or not, you shall take a sharp Rush, and putting it into the milk, let it drop from thence upon your nail, and if the drop run abroad, it is a sign there is water in it: if it keep together, it shows it to be pure and good. Of milk is made Butter, 
Butter.  whose use (though it be chiefly at this day among the Fleminges) is yet a good and a profitable food in other countries, and much used of our old fathers, yea even of the very Patryarches (as the Scriptures witnesseth) the commodity thereof, besides many others, is the aswaging of hunger, and the preserving of strength: it is made in this sort. The milk, assoon as it is milked, is put out of the pail into bowls, or pans, the best are earthen pans, and those rather broad then deep: this done the second, or the third day, the Cream that swims aloft, is fleeted of ●and put into a vessel rather deep, then big, round and Cylinder fashion: although in some places they have other kind of Charms low and flat, wherein with often beating and moving up and down, they so shake the milk, as they sever the thinnest part of from the thick, which at the first gather together in little crombles, and after with the continuance of the violent moving, cometh to a whole wedge, or cake: thus it is taken out, and either eaten fresh, or barrailed with Salt. The Buttermilk that remaineth of the Butter, is either kept for the family, or given to Calves and Hogs, as a dainty food. Cheese is also made of the milk of cattle, 
Cheese.  the milk being powered into a vessel of earth, putting into it a little Rennet, the quantity of a walnut, in a great vessel of milk, whereby it turneth into curd. Varro doth better like the Rennet of the Leuret, or the kid, than the Lambs: howbeit, we commonly use the calves Rennet: others use sundry other means only with heat, warming it in Tin vessels, and after dipping these vessels in cold water, which is the sweetest and cleanliest manner: others put in the seed of wild Saffron, and being so turned, the Whey doth greatly purge phlegm: others again use the milk of the Fig tree, and then doth the Whey purge both choler and phlegm: some turn it with oxymel, or syrup of Vinegar, which is of all other ways the holsomest: some beside, use the little skin of Birds guysards, and others, the flowers of wild Thystels, or Artichokes. The newer and better the milk is, the better will be the Cheese: for made of two sorts of milk, or milk that is to near fleeted, it soon soureth, and waxeth hard and naught, and is not to endure any while. Again, being made of fat and ●●we milk, it will very long endure, and long continueth in his fatness and softness: about a two or three hours after you have put in your Rennet, the milk cometh to a curd, which is straightways put into Forms, or Cheesefattes, and pressed: or if they be but small, they are only pressed with the hand. If they be of any quantity, they have great weight upon them: it is very needful you press out the Whey with as much speed as you can, and to sever it from the curd, and not to let it lie slowly draining of itself. Those that make great Cheeses, have moulds for the purpose, and weights and presses answerable. After this, they take them out of the press, and say them upon Hardelles, or fair smooth tables, in a shadowy and cold place, and close from all winds, springsing them all over with Salt, that they may sweat out all their sourness, laying them so, as they touch not one the other. When they be now well hardened and thickened, they are taken up, and pressed again with greater weights, and rubbed over with parched Salt, and after laid in press again, whereby it is thought they will neither have ey●s, nor be over dry: which faults happeneth to come when they be either not well pressed, or too much salted. Some use to put into the bottom of their p●yles, the green kernels of the Pine apple, and milking into them, do cause it so to turn. You may also 'cause your Cheese to relished of what soever you will, as Pepper, or any other spice: but Columella counts that for best Cheese, that hath lest mixture in it. The strongest Cheese, and hardest of digest on, are those that are made of Buffs Milk, the next are such as are made of the Milk of Ewes, but the mildest, and lightest of digestion, are those that are made of goats Milk: the Cheese that is made of Mare's Milk, is of the same quantity that the Buff Cheese is. There is Cheese also made of camels Milk, and of Ass Milk: the Cheeses that are made of Buffs Milk, are at Rome in great estimation of all other cattle. Such as are touched both above and beneath, and have more than four paps, you can make no Cheese of their Milk, for it will never cured. In our days, the best Cheeses are counted the Parmasines, made about the river of Po, esteemed for their greatness, and daynetinesse, of which you shall have brought into other countries that way above threescore pound. Next are commended the Holland Cheese, the Cheese of Normandy, and the English Cheese. In England, the best Cheese is the Cheshire, and the shropshire, than the Banbury Cheese, next the Suffolk, and the Essex Cheese, and the very worst the Kentish Cheese. The places where the best Cheese is made, appeareth by this old english Distichon, better sensed, then footed: Banbury, Langtony, Suffolk good Cheese, Essex go thou by, shropshire, cum Cheshyre, Hertford may well with the best peer.  
Of the discommodity of Essex Cheese, our English Marshal john Heywood, thus meeryly writeth: 
I never saw Banbury Cheese thick enough.  
But I have seen Essex Cheese quick enough.  Cheese they say will best endure, and is longest preserved, if you keep them in heaps of Pulse, or Wheat, and if you steep your Renuce in the juice of birch, you shallbe sure to have neither Mite, nor Creeper in your Cheese. The Cheese that is soft and new, doth more nourish then the dry, & be more comfortable to the stomach, not long in digesting: the old is contrary, according to the proverb, No Cheese good but the new. Old Cheese will become new in taste, if you lay them in Time, Vinegar, or in Wine: if through age it be hard and bitter, let it be rubbed over with Meal of undried Barley, and then dipped in water, and after, the outer rind scraped of. We have often times proved, that hard Cheese wrapped in clouts wet in Vinegar, or Wine, and oftentimes sprinkled with wine, and so laid up, return to a softness, and a very pleasant taste. Some lay it in leaven, covering it close therewith, and thereby make it soft. It is reported, that Zoroastes ●●ued twenty years in wilderness with Cheese so ordered, as it never waxed old.  EUPHOR. 
Of the Whey that cometh from the Cheese, 
Wellcurds.  being sodde with a soft fire, till the fatness of the Cheese swim aloft, are made Welcurdes.  HEDIO. 
You were wont to love them well.  EUMEUS. 
I do in deed, specially if there be good store of new milk put into the Whey. The old writers do teach the making of a kind of white meat, not much unlike to Welcurdes, which they called Melcan, 
Melca.  & made it in this sort. They put into a new earthen vessel Vinegar, and suffered it to boil softly upon the fire, till the vessel had drunk up the Vinegar, and into that vessel they powered in milk, & set it where it might stand steadfast, whereby they had within a while their desire. But me thinketh I have for my part done enough, it cometh now to your turn EUMEUS to go forward with the rest.  EUMEUS. 
That the keeping of Swine belongeth to husbandry, 
swine.  doth evidently appear by the saying of the ancient husbands, counting him asseuthful and an unthrifty husband, that hath his Bacon rather from the Bu●cher, then from his own roof: for there ariseth as great profit many times to us of our own Swine, as doth to you that be keepers of greater cattle of your flocks: for if Bacon be away, the chiefest supporter of the husbandman's Ritchin is wanting. And whereas swines flesh seemeth abominable to ye●oolish jews, I believe verily they never tasted the G●monds of France, so highly commended by Varro, Strabo, Athenens, and other learned writers: which I suppose were no other but the flyches of Westphaly, so greatly esteemed at this day, not only in Germany, but in Rome, and that they were called by the names of Celtyck Gamonds, because the old writers, specially the Greeks, called all the countries on this side the Alps, both French and Dutch, by the name of Celtyck. Surely there is no beast beside, that makes more dainty dishes, there is in him near fifty different tastes, where every other beast hath but one: and hereof came at first the sharp law of the Censores, forbidding it to be used at suppers, the udders, the stones, the trypes, and the forepart of the heads of Swine, (as Pliny witnesseth). And most apparent is it, that not only the French, and the Dutch in those days, but also the Italians, and the Greeks, nourished great herds of Swain. Among the Greeks, Ham●● maketh mention of one of my name, that had twelve Hogsties, every sty containing ●ifty Porklinges, and Polybius writeth, of more than a thousand to be rered at a time, among the ancient Italians, Tuskans, and French, Varro accounteth a hundred but a small herded. Who so will nourish Hogs, must have regard both to the fairness, and the age: Varro addeth beside, the nature of the kind, and the country. And because the young do commonly resemble their parents, he would have you choose such as are fair, and large bodied, and which makes most to the matter, as fruitful as may be: which Varro, doth cheesely commend those that be of one colour, their bristles would be thick, hard, and black, if it be in a cold country: if in a temperate, you may nourish the smooth. Their proportion would be long, large sided and bellied, wide buttocked, short legged & footed, big necked, and well brawned, short groyned, and turning upward, his tail wrynckled. The kind is most commended, that bringeth many Pigs, the country that breeds large and great: the best age for the Boar, is a year old● though at half a year old they are able to serve a Sow: one Boar is enough for tenae Sows and m●●e. The Sow is sufficient to bring Pigs at a year old, and so for seven years after, the fruitfuller she is, the sooner she w●reth old: at her first farrowing, you shall easily see what number she will bring forth: for she will not much differ in the other. The best kind of Sows have twelve paps, the common sort ten, or not so many. Every Pig doth know his own pap that he was born to, & sucketh only that, and none other: if you take away the Pig, the pap drieth, as both Pliny, and experience showeth. They were wont to be bought & bargained for in this sort. Do you warrant that these Swine are sound, that I shall well enjoy them, that you will answer the faults, and that they be of a healthy breed? A wet moorish ground, is meetest for this cattle, for he delighteth not in water, but in dirt and mire, so much (as Varro writeth) that the Wolf, as soon as he hath caught a Sow, draggeth her to the water, because his teeth is not able to abide the heat of her flesh. And although this beast will away with any ground, (for he seedeth both in mountains, champion, and marish) yet his cheese delight is in the Woods that is full of Quagmires, where there groweth store of Oak, Cork, Beech, Mastholme, wild olives, wild Dates, Haselnuttes, Crabbe trees, Plome trees, and Cherry trees: for these do fruit divers times, and feed the herds almost all the whole year. Where there wanteth Woods, they must be fed from the ground, wherein a marishes to be preferred before a dry ground, that they may mousell in the marsh, dig up worms, wallow in the mire, and toomble in the puddels of water, which in summer is most needful. They also hunt after roots, specially Fern roots, and the roots of Bulrushes, Rushes, and Sedges, beside good grass well feedeth a Swine, and Orchards of Cherries, Plomes, Apples, and Nuts. And notwithstanding all this, the Barn, for you must feed them often by hand, when meat fails abroad, and therefore you must preserve store of Acorns, in Cestornes in the water, or dried upon smoky floors, also beans, Pease, and tars must be given them, and not so much as Barley spared: for this kind of feeding doth make them fair, and not only fats them, but giveth the flesh a pleasant taste. When they are yet young and suck, both they, and their dams must be well fed, they must be put to feed early in the morning afore the heat of the sun, & after kept in shadowy places, where there is good store of water. Afore they go to pasture, they must be medecined, lest the grass scar them to much, by which they willbe greatly weakened. In winter they must not be put abroad, till the frost be of the ground, and the ice thawed. And though the Swine will roam at the known voice of their swineherd, yet Varro will have them be brought both to pasture, and homeward, with the sound of a horn: their meat must be given them (kattred thin, so shall both less suffice, and the greater shall not harm the smaller: as soon as they hear the horn, though they be never so far of in the Woods, they come running with all haste. Polybius telleth, that the Italians use not to follow their herds, as the Greeks and others do, but going a pretty way before them, they blow their horns, their herds being acquainted with the blast, do follow them in great order. They do so well know and obey the call of the swineherd, if we may believe Alianus, 
A wonderful knowledge in swine.  that when certain Rovers landing upon the coast of Tuscan, and taking great numbers of them out of their sties, carried them aboard, the thieves having weighed up their anchor, and being under sail, the Swine upon the hearing of their keeper's voice, suddenly ran to the one side of the ship, & overturned her, whereby (the Pirates drowned) the Swine came safe to land to their masters. As I have here told you of the conditions of the Boar and the Sow, and of their keeping, so will I now show you the manner of their breeding. The breming time is reckoned to be from winter, till the twelfth of March, so shall you have them to farrowe in summer: for the Sow going four months with pig, farroweth in the fifth. She is with pig at the first breming, but they use to let them go often to Boar, because they soon miscarry. And if you will have two farrowes in one year, you must put your Sow to Boar in February, or january, that she may farrowe by April, or May, when as there is good pasture abroad, and milk is in his chief strength: and when they be weaned, they may well feed upon straw, and grottens, and after, the Sow may farrowe again in the end of Autumn: for Varro saith, her farrowing times are so divided for the nonce, as she may farrowe twice a year, while she hath four months to bear them, and two to feed them. As soon as they be with pig, you must keep the Boar from them: for with his unruliness, he maketh them to cast. Young Swine for breed, must not be less than a year old, as Varro would have it: howbeit, they begin at eight months, & continued seven years. The Boar beginneth at eight months, or six, and continueth well four years, and after at three or four years old you may geld them, and fa●te them. Some would not have you keep up above eight, others not above six: not that the Sow is able to keep no more, but that she that keepeth more, sooner faileth. Varro reporteth, that the Sow of Aeneas Lavinus, farrowed at one time thirty white Pigs: but it is monstrous when she farroweth more than she hath paps. Every Sow must have her sty by herself when she hath farrowed, and not suffered to go with the whole herded, as other cattle are, but little Coats to be made for them, wherein they may be kept either farrowing, or with farrowe: for Swine, if they lie together in any number, being commonly ill mannered, do lie one upon the other, whereby they hurt such as are with pig. And therefore you must have several sties where they may farrowe, and made high, that the Sow can not get out: for covered they must not be by no means, that the swineherd may look that the Sow overlay none of them, & to see what they want, that he may make it clean, and as often as he cleanseth it, he must straw sand, or such like, to dry up the moisture: for though she be but a swinish creature, yet loveth she to have her chamber clean. When she hath farrowed, she requireth greater quantity of meat, whereby she may give the more milk, specially Barley steeped in water, or ground & tempered with water. And if you have not good store of meat, your best is to cell the Pigs: so shall the dam being delivered of her burden, be sooner with farrowe again. Such as are farrowed in winter, are commonly poor & wretched, both because of the cold, & that their dams do not like them for wanting of milk, & biting their paps. If the Sow eat her pigs, 
A child eaten by a Sow.  it is no wonder, for swine of all other beasts, can worst away with hunger, which when it provoketh, they eat not only their own, but young children, which not long since happened in Sussex, to the pitiful discomfort of the parent. They suffer not the Sow to go abroad in ten days after her farrowing, except it be to drink: after, they suffer her to go about the house, that she may the better give milk. When the pigs ware great, they desire to go abroad with their dams, at which time they are fed by themselves apart, to the e●de they may the sooner forgeat their mother: which they will do in ten days. It behoveth the swineherd to be careful and diligent about his charge, that he have in memory every one of them, both old and young, that he consider every farrow, and shoot up those that be great with Pig, that they may farrowe in their Sty. He must have special regard of every young Pig, that every one of them be brought up under their own dam: for if they get out of the Sty, they straightways mingle one company with an other, whereby the poor Sow is forced to give milk many times, to more Pigs than her own: and therefore the swineherd must sh●tte up every damn with her own Pigs. And if his memory serve no● to know them all, let him pitch every Sow and her Pigs with a several mark: for in a great number it shall behove him so to do, for confounding his memory. The old husbands observed always two times in the year for cutting of them, the spring, and the fall of the leaf, whereby they avoided the danger, both of the heat, and the cold. The Bore pigs they ●utte when they were six months old, and again at ●oure year old, to make them fat, making two wounds, and taking out the stone of every side: or else when you have taken out one stone, you mu●t thrust your knife again into the wound, & cutting asunder the skin betwixt both the stones, draw out with your finger's the other, so shall you make but one scar, but this kind of cutting is somewhat more dangerous. The Sows are said by burning the matrix with an iron, and the scar healed up, whereby they will both have no more Pigs, and be the fatter. Aristotle, & following him Pliny, would have the Sow after two days fasting, hanged up by the fore legs, & so cut, whereby she will be the sooner fat: but I judge it better to cut th●m when they be young, at two months old, or younger, for so are they in lest jeopardy. After they be cut, you must keep them from drink, and give them but little meat: the wound must be anointed with fresh butter, and sowed up. As the wrystling and turning up of the tail, is a sign of a sound Hog, so be there certain & assured signs of their sickness: for if you pluck of the bristles from the back, and find that their roots have blood in them, it shows the Swine is not well. 
Of diseases in swine, and the cure.  Besides, if your Hogs be sick, or taken with a fever, they hung their heads a oneside, and suddenly as they run abroad, they stay, and being taken with a turning giddiness, they fall down: and therefore you must mark well on which side they hung their heads, that you may cut the ear of the contrary side to let them blood: and under the tail beside, two inches from the roompe, you shall strike the vain, which there is easily to be seen: for the bigness of it, you must first beat it with a little stick, and after it swelleth with the beating, open it with your knife, and having bled sufficiently, bind it up with the rind of willow, or Elm: after this, keep them up in the house a day or two, and give them warm water, with a good quantity of Barley flower. 
Quinsey.  If the Quynsey or Vnula, (to which disease this beast is wondrous subject) chance to take them, Dydimus would have you let them blood behind above the shoulders, others under the tough, some again cure them with settering. If the kernels swell in the throat, you must let them blood under the tongue, and when they have bled, rub their mouths within with salt, finely beaten, & Wheat flower. Democritus would have you give to every Sow, three pound weight of the beaten root of Daffadyll. If they vomit and loath their meat, it is good to give them before they go abroad, the shavings of ivory, with fried salt, and ground beans: Swine while they feed abroad, by reason of their great devouring (for it is an unsatiable beast) do wounderously labour with the abundance of the Splen: for remedy whereof, you shall give them water as often as they thirst, in troughs made of ●amaryce, the juice of which wood, is very wholesome for them. Democritus teacheth to give unto Hogs that have the Splen, the water wherein the Coals of Heath have been quenched. This beast hath sometime a sickness wherein he pines away, and forsaketh his m●ate: and if you bring him to the field, he suddenly fall●th down, and lieth as it were in a bead sleep●: which as 〈◊〉 as you perceive, you shall shu●●e up the h●ly herded in so●e house, and make them to fast one day, both from water and meat: the n●xt day, the root of the wild cucumber 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 with water, is given them to drink: w●●ch a● soon as they have taken, they fall a vomiting, and so purge themselves. When they have thus expelled they● c●●ller, you shall give them hard beans, strained with brine. An excellent 〈…〉 against all pestilence of Swine, doth Hiero●●mus ●ra●us teach, which is when you see them infected, ●o give them the roots of Polipodi, or Oak fern boiled in wine, whereby they shall purge what so ever is evil from them, and most of all choler, wherewith Swine are most troubled: t●● same Hie●●n (as I remember) teacheth for a Horse● though it be without my commission to meddle with them ● If he be sick, and suddenly fall down of a disease that you know not, to put under his tongue a piece of a fern root, whereupon you shall see him immediately void upward and downward what so ever is in his body, and presently amend: this he saith (and truly I dare believe him) that he proved with a Horse of his own. But to my Swine, whereas thirst in summer, is hurtful and dangerous to all kind of cattle, to this beast it is most hurtful, and therefore you must not water them as you do Sheep & Goats, but twice, or thrice a day: but if you can you must keep them by the water side, that they may go thereto at pleasure: for the Swine is not content with drinking, but he must often cool and plong his filthy paunch in the water: neither delighteth he in any thing so much, as to wallow in the dirt. And if you have no such places near, you must draw some water from the Well, and give it them in troughs abundantly: for except they drink their fill, they will fall sick of the Loonges, which disease is cured (as Columella writeth) by thrusting the root of Setterwort through their ears: Pliny affirmeth the Toad to be a present remedy for the sickness of Swine. Some say, that if a Sow loose one of her eyes, she dieth soon after: otherwise she liveth fifteen years. There is a kind of disease amongst Swine (though otherwise they be healthy and fat) wherein their flesh is all infected with little grains as big as Peason: the Greeks call them Chalazos, and we at this day measled Swine, 
Measled swine.  which you shall soon perceive by the sight of the tongue, and the hoarseness of their voice: this disease they say, is natural unto them, from which you shall preserve them, if you nail certain places of lead in the bottom of their Trough. You shall also keep them from this disease, if you give them to drink, the root of Briony: the general and common remedy, is Allome, Brimstone, and bay berries, of each alike: add thereunto a handful of Soot, beat them all together, and put them in a bag, which bag you shall cast into their water when they drink, and renew it twice in the year.  EUPH. 
I pray you EUMEUS do not dissemble, but tell us truly how you do to have your Hogs so fat. I believe you are in the Barn sometime when you should not be.  EUMEUS. 
What means soever I use in ordering my flock, is not to my mauters loss, no more than is your diligence, whereby you bring your cattle to be so fair. I told you before, that he was an unthrifty husband that had his Bacon from the shambles, and not of his own provision: and beside, my masters the Physicians give great commendations to Hog's flesh, in that it hath such a dearness & agreement with our bodies, neither is there (as I said before) a beast that makes more dishes. And therefore it is greatly for profit, to have the husbandman's kitchen well stored with Bacon, wherewith he may sustain his household all the whole year. You shall easily (though woods be wan●ing) ●ind Barnes, Marshes, & Corn fields to feed them with. They will be fat (as Pliny supposeth) in threescore days, specially if they be kept from meat three days before you feed them: they are fatted with Barley, Oats, or other Corn, or Pulse, either given whole, or ground: but of all others, best w●th Mast: and that flesh is better, and of more substance that is fed with Acorns, then that which is fatted with either B●●●● mast, or Chestnutte. This beast will in time be so fat, as he will be able neither to go, nor stan●: Yea Varro tells, that there was seen in Arcadia a Sow so fat, that she was not only unable to rise, but suffered a Mouse to make her nest in her body, and to lay her young there. The same Varro reporteth, that there was sent to Volumius a Senator of Rome, a piece of Pork of two ribs, that weighed three & twenty pound: the thickness of which Sow from the skin to the rib, was one foot and three inches. Your best is to put to fatting your Swine of two or three years old: for if they be younger, their growing will hinder their seeding. To keep your Bacon any long time, you must use great diligence in the salting and drying of it, whereby you shall have it both holsomer and sweeter, and beside to continued divers years to serve the turn, if scarsitte happen. Your Hog being in this sort fatted, you must shut up, and not suffer him to drink the day before you kill him, whereby the flesh will be the drier. When you have thus after his thirst killed him, you shall either scald him with water, or with a flame made with straw, or sticks, sing him: for the manner of such as slay him. I like not. After that, hanging him up by the heels, you shall pluck out his bowels, and put them to dressing: his flesh being cold & hard, you shall lay upon a table, and cutting out the head, the gammon, and the fleetches, powder them with salt, thrusting great store thereof in every place, specially where the bones be: that done, put it into your pouldring tub, strowing salt enough under it: some would have you salt in the wane of the Moon. Before you powder it, you must press and dry out all the blood and the water. Some before they salted it, do pluck out the bones, thinking it the best way for preserving it, and to keep it longest sweet. Others again do not straightways put it into the pouldering tub, but do leave it upon a table for ten days after, and then hung it up in a pure air, to dry in the lard. And when it hath been dried in the wind certain days, by little and little they let the smoke come to it, and afterwards more abundantly. The Bacon will be the sweeter, if beside the smoke, the wind may come to it: if you hung it in grea●e smoke at the first, it will be rusty. Dydimus saith, that the Bacon will long continued sweet, if after the dressing, cooling, and drying, it be hanged up in shaddowy and moist places, rather toward the North, then toward the South, and that it will be sweeter, if it be covered with snow, and Chaff: the tubs that you powder in, must be such as have had Oil in, rather than those that have had Vinegar. Although I have before spoken of the worthiness and antiquity of shepherds, and herdsmen, 
Of ●heph●ard●s.  yet must I here say, that it is in vain to meddle with the ordering and keeping of cattle, except you have handsome, and skilful men that may take the charge. For the knowledge of keeping of cattle hath a discipline, wherein a man must from his very childhood be brought up: and surely it is meet that the husband, or Bailiff, have been brought up, or trained in all these trades, and to come by degrees to his masters prize: As from a swineherd, to a shepherd, from a shepherd, to a netheard, etc. And most true it proveth in this that cometh to pass in all other governments, that such are best able to take charge of government, that passing by degrees and offices, have from being under government, come to govern themselves: for though (where the flock is but small, and feeding not far of, is brought home every day) Children, and young folks, are able to serve the turn: yet where the flocks be great, and must be kept night and day in forests, and wild fields (as I said before) of the flocks that wintered in Appulia, and sommered in the mountains of Kiete, here I say the shepherds must both be men of lusty age, strength, and diligence, as also skilful in that belongeth to their office: for neither old men, nor children, are able to endure the hardness of climbing the hills, nor the sharpness of the cold mountains, which they must always do that follow their flocks, specially they that keep Bullocks and Goats, that delight to feed upon Rocks, and clives. You shall see on the mountains of Swycherland, great & goodly fellows furnished in warlike manner to follow their herds and flocks, and to lodge in the wild deserts, far from the company of men, and there also to make both Butter and Cheese; wherefore such as are meet to take charge in these places, must be light, swift, & well limmed, and not only well able to follow their flocks, but if need be, to defend them from wild and ravening beasts, to life great burdens, to follow the chase, and to be good archers: in fine, such a one as Homer doth make his EUMEUS to be. And therefore the old husbands in hiring of a shepherd, did always covenant among others, that he should be sound of body and limb, and free from filching and theft. In Slauony, the herdsmen do use to have their wives abroad with them, as companions of their journey to dress their meat, & such things as they need: such things as are for the health of his beasts, the shepherd must always have in a readiness. Varro would have him both for this purpose, & for the better order of his reckonings with his master, to write and read. Of the number of the herds men, how many every flock aught to have, is to be measured by the country, and kind of the cattle. The same Varro alloweth for every four score Goats one shepherd, which Atticus alloweth to a hundred, to every fifty Mares two men: in our country one shepherd sufficeth for a hundred, or two hundred Sheep, yea many times for three hundred, and above, specially where they be every day brought home. One swineherd will keep twenty, or thirty Hogs, or more, if the ground be thereafter, the like for Bullocks and Cows. For Horses we seldom have herdsmen, but every man keepeth them at home either in stables, or pastures, not commonly exceeding the number of twenty. In what order you shall feed your cattle, either in Summer, or in Winter, and when towards the South, 
Dogs.  and when to the West, I have told you before. The Dog (though the Lawyer alloweth him not in the number of cattle) and though he yields of himself no profit, yet is he as the shepherd (for his trustiness, & watching of the flock) to be esteemed, and set by: for they have been seen to fight in the defence & quarrel of their master. Yea divers of them have been known after their masters death, upon great affection and love, to famish themselves, whereupon the price of good Dogs grew to be very great. It is written, that Alcibiades gave for one Dog, eight score pounds. There is not a more necessary creature, than the Dog about husbandry: for beside his singular faithfulness and watching in the night time, he is also a quarter master in keeping of the cattle, and very needful for the defence of them: specially Sheep & Goats, which would be soon destroyed by wolves, Foxes, Gray's, and other vermin, if Dogs were not set to be their keepers. Swine feeding in herds, if the wild beasts invade them, making as it were a alarm with their grunting and crying, assemble themselves in their own defence. The greater cattle defend themselves some with their heels, some with their horns, only the poor Sheep hath no soldier but the Dog. Of Dogs that serve for profit, there are but three sorts: for of the fourth (which are but for pleasure) I make no account. One of the sorts, is such as by sent, or swiftness serve for the chase, and kill of wild beasts: these, what manner of one's they should be, and how they should be ordered, Xenophon and Oppianus, in their Cynigetickes have taught, and I in my last book, where I shall speak of hunting, will declare. But now I will only speak of Dogs for the husband, and keepers both of the house and the cattle: and first of the Mastie that keepeth the house: 
The Bandog for the house.  for this purpose you must provide you such a one, as hath a large and a mighty body, a great and a shrill voice, that both with his barking he may discover, and with his sight dismay the thief, yea being not seen, with the horror of his voice put him to flight. His stature must neither be long, nor short, but well set, his head great, his eyes sharp, and fiery, either brown, or grey, his lips blackish, neither turning up, nor hanging too much down, his mouth black and wide, his neither jaw fat, and coming out of it of either side a fang, appearing more outward than his other teeth, his upper teeth even with his neither, not hanging too m●ch over, sharp and hidden with his lips, his countenance like a Lions, his breast great, and shaghard, his shoulders broad, his legs big, his tail short, his feet very great, his disposition must neither be too gentle, nor too cursed, that he neither fawn upon a thief, nor i'll upon his friends, very waking, no gadder abroad, not lavish of his mouth, barking without cause, neither maketh it any matter though he be not swift: for he is but to fight at home, & to give warning of the enemy. The Dog that is for the fold, must neither be so gaunt nor swift as the Grayhound, 
The shepherds Masty.  nor so fat nor heavy as the Masty of the house, but very strong, and able to fight and follow the chase, that he may be able to beat away the Wolf, or other beasts, and to follow the thief, and recover the pray, and therefore his body would rather be long, then short and thick: in all other points he must agreed with the Bandog. Touching the kind, the Dog is thought better than the Bitch, because of the trouble she bringeth when she is assault: howbeit, the spayde Bitch's do bite sorest, and are more waking. For their age, they must neither be Whelps, nor too old: for the Whelp can neither defend himself, nor the flock, where as yet the old hath some use about a house. If you have a Whelp (which age is better to be trained, either for the house or the fold) you shall perceive by his foot whether he will be great or no. His head must be great, smooth, and full of veins, his ears great, and hanging, his joints long, his forelegs shorter than his hinder, but very straight and great, his claws wide, his nails hard, his heel neither fleshy nor to hard, the ridge of his back not to much appearing, nor crooked, his ribs round and well knit, his shoulder points well distant, his buttocks fat, and broad, and in all other parts (as I said) of the Bandog before. For his colour it maketh no great matter, though Varro would have him white, and so would Columella, the Dog for the field, as he would have the house Dog to be black: but the pied colour is judged naught in them both. The wh●te they commend, because he may be discerned from the Wolf in the night, whereby they shall not strike the Dog in steed of the Wolf. The black again for the house, is best commended, because of his terror to the thief in the day, and the hurt that he may do by night, by reason of his not being seen: the dun, the branded, and the red, do not mislike me, so they be well marked beside. Thus must you judging him as a Lion by the claw, either buy one, or bring up one for your purpose. How much teaching, or bringing up prevaileth, appeareth by Lycurgus, his example in Xenophon. To make them fierce and cursed, you must pluck them by the ears, set them together with your hands, and keep them from being hurt: so shall you have them the bolder, and the fiercer, and such as will never give it over. You must use him first to the chain, by tying him to a clog, setting him draw it a while by his neck, and when you have a little space used him in this sort, then may you either lead him, or tie him: it is best to keep them tied in the day time, to make them the cur●ter, and to let them loose in the night time: so shall they in the night time watch, and in the day sleep. To arm them against the Wolf, or other wild beasts, you may put broad colours about their necks full of nails, and iron studs, lining it with soft leather within. You must look that your Dogs be of a good kind, and (if you can) all of one kind, so shall they stick the better together: choose them that have the cursedest dams, and such as have their paps even. They begin to litter at a year old, and continued mean years, after ten they be worth nothing. The Dog (as Columella saith) gets whelps lu●●yly, till he be ten years old: the whelps of old Curs, are slow, and naught. Homer seemeth to make the life of a Dog, above twenty years, where he speaketh of the coming home of Ulysses, and the knowledge of his Dog: and I me self have seen Dogs that were said to be so much, but altogether unprofitable. Their age may be known by their t●eth, the young having (as Aristotle saith) white teeth and sharp: the old, black and blunt. In the spring they begin to be assault, and go with whelp (as Aristotle and Xenophon saith) threescore days, or at the most threescore and three. Varro writeth, that they go three months with young: the Dogs of Lacedaemon engender at eight months old, and all other Dogs also at half a year: they are with whelp at once liming: they litter about june: when they be lyttred, they are blind, and the more milk they have, the longer it is before they see, but never longer than one and twenty days, nor sooner than seven days. Some hold opinion, that if there be but one at a litter it will see the ninth day, if two, the tenth day, and so a day added for as many as be, and that those that be of the first litter do soon see: the best of the litter, is that which last seethe, or which the Bitch first carrieth to her kennel. As soon as they be Whelped, cast away such as you mislike: of seven, keep three or four: of three, two: while they be young, at the first they must be suffered to play with the dame, that they may grow the better, afterward, let them be taught, and tied (as I told you) tying them in the day, and letting them lose in the night, and such as you know to be of a good kind, and would have them prove well, suffer them not to suck a strange dam: for the milk and blood of the mother, is of great force to the goodness and growth of the Whelp. And if so be the Bitch lack milk, suckle them with the milk of a Goat, till they be four months old. Lay underneath them in their kennels straw and Chaff, that they may lie warm: for they can not well away with cold. You must cut the tails of the Whelps, when they be six weeks old, in this manner, there is a sinnowe that runs from the ridge of the back, to the tip of the tail, which being held fast with a pyncer, and a little drawn out, you shall cut a sunder, whereby neither the tail shall grow to any foul length, nor the Dog shall at any time after (as they say) be mad. They are thought to lift up the leg when they piss, at six months old, which is a sign of the perfectness of their strength. The feeding of both kinds is all one, they may be fed with bones, porridge, and such like: in any wise let them want no meat, for if they do, they will for hunger raven abroad, and forsake both the house, and the flock. Xenophon would have you give them Milk all the year long, and such food as they shall feed with all their life time, and no other thing: if you feed them too full, it will breed (as he saith) diseases in their legs, and rot them within. Bread is their common meat, but Varro would have it given either with Milk, or Whey, by use whereof, they will never forsake their cattle. You may give them beside, bread, with the broth of sodden bones, and the bones themselves bruised, which will make their teeth the sounder, and their mouths and jaws wider, and they willbe the keener, by reason of the sweetness of the Marrow. You must beware they eat no dead Sheep, lest by reason of the taste, they fall to the live one's. While the Bitch hath Whelps, you must feed her rather with Barley bread, than Wheaten bread: for they prospero better with it, and makes them give more milk. You must feed them thrice a day, in the morning when you tie them up, at noon, and again at night, when you set them loose. Their names that you give them, must be short, that they may sooner hear when they be called. The Greeks, and the Latins, gave them names of two syllables, the Germans lightly but one syllable, 
 as Ball, Slut, Patch, Grim etc. all though Columella would not have their names under two syllables, showing for example the names of Dogs among the Greeks, and the Latins, as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and Lupa, Tigr●●, Cerua: Xenophon reckoneth up thousands all for the most part of two syllables. The diseases and grievances of Dogs, are the biting of Flies, ticks, and manginess. Against this, you must wash them, when they be Whelps, with bitter Almonds stamped and strained with water, washing them both about their ears, and betwixt their claws, that neither Flies stick to them and blister them, nor ticks or Lice molest them: and if they be already mangy, you must anoint them with Tar, and Hogs grease: the ticks also, if you touch them with this medicine, will presently fall of, for you must not pluck them of by force. If your Dog be full of Fleas, the remedy is Cummin beaten with a like quantity of Sneezing powder, & mingled with water, rub him over with it, or the old dregs of Oil rubbed over all his body. If he be skabby, take Cyt●isus and S●samum, beaten them together, & mingling them with Tar anoint the sore: this medicine will also remedy a christian creature. They say also, that if you thrust the skin through with an iron, it will heal the manginess, or if you smear them over with Gun powder, or cast them into a Tanners Fat. Aristotle writeth, that Dogs are chiefly troubled with three diseases, madness, Qui●s●y, and the Gout, and whatsoever he biteth in his madness, becometh also mad● and dieth thereof: the madness is must extreme in the 〈…〉: what so ever is bitten by them, fai●●th straightways into a loathing, and fear of water. To preserve them from it, you must mingle with their meat for thirty days together, or if they be already infected, give them Sneezing powder to eat. Pliny writeth, that there is in the tongues of Dogs a little worm, called of the Greeks ●yrta, which if it be taken out while they be whelps, they will neither be mad, nor greedy, or ravenous. If the Dog be mad, 
Mad Dogs.  he refuseth both meat, and drink, and driveleth ill-favoured foamy matter, both from his nose, and mouth, he looketh with a loathsome countenance, his body his lean, and more clung together then it was wont to be, he beareth his tail betwixt his legs, and biteth without any barking what soever he meets, falling as well upon men, as beasts, making no difference betwixt his friends, and strangers. As the Dog is a watchman and keeper of the house and the flock, so the Cat is also a household servant to be cherished. 
Cats.  The Egyptians for their profitableness, did worship for their God a golden Cat: for whereas Rats and Mice, as well in Cities, as in Granges, are greatly hurtful, we keep up Cats for the avoiding of the m●schiefe, neither is there a speedier remedy. The Cat is a beast of nature enemy to the Mouse, watching in the night, and sleeping in the day, stealing suddenly and swiftly upon the Mouse: she seethe better by night, then by day (as Alexander Aphrodiseus writeth) her eyes shine and glister in the dark. They go a Caterwauling about February, and other times in the year (for they often engender) and bring forth their young one's blind, as the Bitch doth. Herodotus says, that after the Cat hath kitned, she cometh no more at the Buck, which when he perceiveth, & can not have his purpose, he killeth the young, whereof when she seethe herself bereft, for very desire of young (whereof this kind is most desirous) she cometh strait to the Buck. For my part I would rather counsel you to destroy your Rats and Mice with Traps, Banes, or Weasels: for besides the sluttishness & loathsomeness of the Cat you know what she lays in the Malt heap) she is most dangerous and pernicious among children, as I me self have had good experience.  
Soli deo honour & Gloria.  
The end of the third book.   

¶ The fourth Book, entreating of Poultry, Fowl, Fish, and Bees.  PULLARIUS. CHENOBOSCUS. MELISSEUS. PISSINARIUS. PULLA. 
AS keeping and breeding of cattle, doth yield no small commodity and gains to the husband, so the nourishing, and maintenance of Poultry, Fowl, Bees, and Fish (if the country be for it) doth commonly arise to his great advantage, whereby both the revenue is greatly increased, and the table daily with dainty, and no chargeable dysshes furnished. Cages, and houses for Birds, wherein were kept all manner and sorts of Fowl, were first devised by M. Lelius Strabo at Brundisium, from which time it was first put in use, to pen up such creatures, as naturally were accustomed to flee at their liberty in the air. At which time also began to be brought in strange & outlandish Fowls, the keeping and breeding whereof, yieldeth to the husband both pleasure, and profit. We have here brought in PULLARIUS, CHENOBOSCUS, MELISSEUS, and PISSINARIUS, every one of them severally entreating of such things, as belongeth to his charge.  MELISSEUS. 
I see you have here (PULLARIUS) great store of Fowl, and Poultry, and I believe verily, the profit and commodity of them, will not quite half the charges they put you to.  PULLARIUS. 
Yes verily they quite your cost, whether you cell them, or keep them for the Kitchin. It is said, that Auidius Lurco made yearly of his Poultry and Fowl five hundred pound.  MELISSEUS. 
But I do a great deal better like the common Poultry, that we keep about our houses.  PULLARIUS. 
We have also of the same here at home with us.  MELISSEUS. 
Then let me understand (I pray) in what order you keep them, for herein you seem to be most skilful.  PULLARIUS. 
It is meet that every one be skilful in the trade that he professeth. If you will I will not refuse to show you that little cunning that I have: so you on the other side vouchsafe to show me the ordering of your Bees.  MELISSEUS. 
I will not stick with you for that, to tell you the best that I can.  PULLARIUS. 
Well then with a good will I declare unto you my knowledge, beginning first with those kinds that are most in use: for amongst all other household Poultry, the chief place is due to the Cork and the Hen, that are beside so common, as the poorest widow in the country is able to keep them. In this Bird there are three points of natural affection chiefly to be wondered at. The first, the great carefulness that they have during the time of their sitting, wherein for the desire of hatching their young, they seem to be careless of either meat or drink. Secondly, that they bear such love to them, as they stick not to hazard their own lives in the defence of them. And thirdly, that in the storm, great cold, or sickness, they preserve and nourish them under their wings, not making for the while any account of their own selves. There is hereof a most sweet comparison in the Gospel, wherein our Saviour CHRIST compareth himself to the Hen that gathereth her Chickens under her wings. And therefore, since these are common for every man to have, and that they always feed about the house, I think it best to begin with them, and to tell you which are best to be liked, which to be brought up, and which to be fatted. First, the bell to be bought for broode● 
The ●●or●e 〈…〉 brood.  are the dun, the red, the yellow, and the black, the white are not to be meddled with, because they are commonly tender, and prospero not, neither are they beside fruitful, and are always the fairest mark in a Hawk, or a Bussardes' eye. Let therefore your Hen be of a good colour, having a large body and breast, a great head, with a strait red and double come, white 〈◊〉 and great, her talons even. The best kind (as Columella saith) are such as have ●iue claws, so that they be free from spurs: for such as wear those Cockish weapons, are not good for brood, and disdain the company of the Cock, and lay but seldom, and when they sit, with their unruly spurs they break their Eggs. The little Pullet's, or Hens, though the old age, both for their unfruitfulness, and other causes disallowed them, yet in many places they prove to be good, and lay many Eggs. In England at this day, they are used as a dainty dish at men's tables. 
The choice of the Cock.  In the choice of your Cocks, you must provide such as will tread lustily, of colours, as I told you for the Hens, and the like number of talons, and like in many other points, but of stature they must be higher, carr●yng their heads strait up, their comes must be ruddy and high, not hanging, nor falling down, their eyes black and sharp, their bills short and crooked, their ears great and white, their wattelles' orient, having under them as it were a kind of grayish beard, the neck feathers of colour divers, either a pale, golden, or a gylstering green, which must hung ruffling from his neck, to his shoulders, their breasts must be large, and well brawned, their wings well feathered and large● their tails dubled and flagging, their rumps and thighs full of scathers, their legs strong, well armed with sharp and deadly spurs: Their disposition (for you shall not need to have them great fighters) would be gentle, quick, and lively, and specially good wakers, and crowers: for it is a Bird that well aporcioneth both the night and the day, and (as Prudentius witnesseth) exhorteth to repentance. Neither must you on the other side, have him a Craddon, for he must sometime stand in the defence of his wife & his children, and have stomach to kill, or beat away a Snake, or any such hurtful vermin: but if he be to quarrellus, you shall have no rule with him, for fightting and beating his fellows, not suffering them to tread, though he have more than his hands full himself. This mischief you may easily prevent, with shackling him with a shoe sole: for although such lusty fighters are bred up and cherished for the game, yet are they not to serve the husbands turn at home. A Cock framed and proportioned after this sort, shall have ●iue or six Hens going with him.  MELI. 
I pray you let me understand what time of the year is best for bringing forth of Chickens?  PULLA. 
In some places, specially the hottest countries, the Hens begin to lay in january in colder countries, e●ther in February, or at the latter end of january: you must also further their laying, be giving them meats for the purpose, as Barley half sodde, which maketh both the Eggs the fairer, and causeth them to lay the oftener. Some think it good to mingle therewith the leaves or the seeds of Cytisus, which both are thought to be greatly of force in making them fruitful. If this be not to be had, you may supply the want with Spery, or (as Ca●dan●● saith) with hempseed, which will 'cause them to lay all the W●n●●r. When they lay, you must see that their nests be very clean, and kept still with fresh clean straw: for otherwise they will be full of Flease, and other vermin, which will not suffer the Hen to be quiet, whereby the Eggs do not hatch even together, or many times wax addle and rotten. The Eggs that you set under them, must be new laid, howbeit, so they be not above ten days old, it maketh no great matter: if you look not to them, they will straightways sit after their first laying, which you must not suffer, for the young Pulle●s, are better for laying, then sitting: the desire of sitting is restrained, by the thrusting a feather through their nose. The old Hens must rather be suffered to sit, than the younger, because of their experience. Herein must you ha●e a special regard to know which be best to sit, for some be better to bring up Chickens, then to sit. Others again will either break, or eat up both their own Eggs, and their fellows Eggs: such you must put aside, and if their nails and bills be sharp, rather employ them in brooding, then in sitting. Democritus telleth, that Chickens may be brought forth without setting under the Hen, if so be the dung of Hens, sifted very fine, be put in little bags, basted about with soft feathers, upon which the Eggs must be laid straight upright, with the sharp end upward: upon these again must the like quantity of hens dung be laid, so that they be of every side closely covered. This done, you must suffer them to lie for the two or three first days, and after, e●ery day turn them, taking good heed, that you knock them not one against the other in the turning. After twenty days, you shall find the Eggs broken: and therefore the twentieth day, plucking away the shells, and taking out the Chicken, you may commit them to the Hen. It is written, that Chickens have been hatched by the continual warmth of a woman's bosom: beside, it hath been seen, that Eggs being laid in an Oven, or warm place, covered well with Straw and Chaff, having a little fire beside, and one to turn them continually, have disclosed and broken at their accustomed time. Aristotle writeth, that Eggs put in warm vessels, or covered with dung, will hatch of themselves. The number of the Eggs that your Hen shall sit upon, some would have to be odd, and not always alike, but in januarie and February fifteen, and no more, in March nieneteene, and no less: which number you shall continued all the summer, till September, or October, after which time it is to no purpose to breed any longer: for the Chicken, by reason of the cold weather and diseases, never prospero. Yea some be of opinion, that after the tenth, or twelfth of june, you shall never have fair brood, and that the best season for sitting, beginneth at the tenth of March. And herein you must always be sure to have the Moon increasing, from that she be ten days old, till fyfteene: for that is the best time to sit in. And so must you again dispose the time, as the hatching may fall out in the increase of the Moon: for the just time of hatching, there are sundry opinions. Aristotle writeth, that they are hatched in nieneteene days, Varro (for Chickens) one and twenty days, or twenty days, for Peacocks and Geese, seven and twenty days, and sometimes more: Ducks, in the like space to the Hen, specially if they sit night and day, allowing them only the morning, and the evening to feed: which times they must of necessity have. If so be you will set under your Hen Peacock's Eggs with her own, you must set her upon the Peacock's Eggs, ten days before she have her own eggs, whereby they shall be hatched all at once, neither must you set above five Peacocks or Goose Eggs under a Hen. If you would have all Cock Chickens, 
To have Cock chickens, or Hen Chickens.  you must choose such Eggs as be longest and sharpest, as again (for Hens) the roundest, (as both Pliny and Columella write) though Aristotle seem not of that opinion. To understand which be good eggs, which not, you must (as Varro teacheth) put them in water, and such as be naught, will swim aloft, and the good, go strait to the bottom. Others do hold them up against a candle, and if they see through them, they judge them light and naught. You must in no wise shake them, or shoggle them, lest you break the strings of life, that are but newly begun: it hath been seen, that by shaking of the eggs, the Chickens have been hatched lame. We may beside perceive whether the Eggs will prove well or not, if four days after the Hen have sitten, you hold them up in the sun, or other light, and if you see that they be clear, cast them away, and put other in their places. Against thunder, 
Against hurt of thunder.  that many times marreth the Eggs, some do set about them the leaves or branches of Bays, or Bentes, or Grass, others (again) the heads of Garlic, and nails of iron. In the great heat of the Summer, you must now and then sprinkle the Eggs a little with water, and wet them, lest by the extreme heat they wax dry and addle, specially the Eggs of Turkeys and Hens. When so ever you mean to make clean their nests, you must take up the Eggs, and lay them tenderly in some l●ttle basket, and so lay them speedily again in the clean nest, near to the place where the Hen sits: you must set water, and meat, that they may better keep their nests, and that by their long absence the Eggs wax not cold. And although the Hen doth always turn her Eggs, yet it behoveth you when she is from the nest to turn them softly with your hands, that by receiving a like warmth, they may the sooner be ready. And if she have happened to burst any of them with her feet, you must presently remove them. At the nienetenth day, you must look diligently whether the Chickens do job the shell with their bills, and harken whether they peep: for many times by reason of the hardness of the shell they can not come forth, & therefore you must help them out with your hands, and put them to the Hen, and this you must do no longer than three days: for the eggs that after one and twenty days make no noise, have nothing in them, and therefore you must cast them away, that the Hen lose not her labour. Upon the twentieth day, if you stir the eggs, you shall hear the Chicken, from that time begin the feathers, the Chicken lying so, as the head rests upon the right foot, and the right wing lieth upon the head, the yolk vanishing by little and little away. You must not take the Chicken away as they hatched, but suffer them to remain one whole day with the Hen in the nest without meat or drink, till such time as they be all hatched. It is wonderful, and yet the experience seen, that before they be suffered to eat they take no harm, though they fall from a great height. The next day, when all the flock is come forth, Columella would have you to put them under a sieve, and to perfume them with the smoke of Pennyroyal, or to hung them in a basket in that smoke, which preserveth them (as it is thought) from the pip, which many times destroyeth the poor Chicken: then must you put them into a Coop with the Hen, and feed them at the first with Barley meal, sodden in water, and sprinkled with a little Wine. Afterwards, when they go abroad, you must feel every one of them, whether there remain any of the meat they received the day before: for if their Crops be not empty, it betokeneth want of digestion, and therefore you must keep them fasting till all be digested. You must not suffer them to go far from the Hen, but to keep them about the Coop, and to feed them till they wax strong with bruised Barley, & Barley meal: you must also take good heed, that they be not breathed upon by either Toad, Snake, or Euet, for the air of such is so pestilent, as it by & by destroyeth them all: which mischief is avoided by burning of Heart's horn, Galbanum, or Woman's hear, the smoke of all which preventeth this pestilence. You must see beside that they lie warm: for they neither can suffer cold, nor to much heat, the feathers about their tails must be pulled away, jest with the hardening of their dung, their passages be stopped, which if it be, you must open softly with a little quill: you must keep them with the Hen for a months space, and after suffer them to go at liberty. Both the old and the young, are of all other diseases most troubled with the pip, 
Against the pip.  specially about harvest time, which is a little white skin, covering the tip of their tongue, which is to be plucked away with the nails, and the place to be powdered with Ashes, or Garlic powdered and sprinkled upon it. From this plague you shall preserve them, by feeding them in clean vessels, and giving them always the purest and cleanest water, and keeping their houses always clean and smoked, or by smoking them as they sit, with the smoke chiefly of Bays and Savyn. The wives of the country do commonly cure them, by thrusting a feather through their nose, and stirring it every day: their diet must be Hearbgrace wrapped in Butter or Garlic, mingled with meal or water, or Cloves of Garlic wet in warm salad Oil, and put into their mouths. Some (saith Columella) do use to wash their mouths with piss, and keep their bills so long close, as the salt and bitter taste force them to cast at their nose the spring of the disease. Others again do cut Garlic in gobbettes, and putting them in skallding Oil, after it is cold, do wash their mouths. If they happen to eat lupines, they will straight swell under the eyes, which if you do not gently open, and take out the Core, to presently killeth them. And if so be the pip have now closed up the eyes, and that they forsake their meat, you must launch their Cheeks with a sharp knife, and thrust out the water that lieth under the eyes, and put in the wound sal●e sinely beaten: this happeneth chiefly when in the summer time they drink foul water, and also when they want meat, or take cold. If their eyes be sore, you may heal them with the juice of Purcelane, and Woman's milk, anointing on the out side, or with Cummin, honey, and salt armoniac. You shall rid them of lice, with parched Cummin, and Stavesacre, a like quantity of each beaten together, and powered on with Wine: also the water wherein wild lupines have been sodden. If your Hen fall to ea●ing of her eggs, taking out the white, you must power in plaster or some liquid thing, that may come to a hardness in the shell To keep them from eating of Grapes, you shall give them the berry of the wood called the wild vine, gathered from the Hedge before it be ripe, and sodden with Wheat flower, the evil cast whereof will 'cause them to loath Grapes. 
Choice of Pou●●y.  Pliny affirmeth, that if you give them the flowers of the vine with their meat, they will not touch the Grape. As in all other cattle of the country, so in these kinds the best are to be kept, and the worst either to be sold, or to be killed in the house. And therefore every year about the f●● of the lease, when they cease to breed, you shall lessen their number and put 〈◊〉 the old one's. S●ch as are above three● e●res, and such as are either unfruitful, or not good bringers up of Chickens, but specially those that eat up either their own Eggs, or their fellows, or such as after the Cockishe manner either crow, or trende: to the which number you shall also add, such as were hatched after the ten●h of june, which never prove to be fair, but the Cock as long as he is able to tread you may keep: for you shall seldom meet with a good Cock. For fatting, the best are those that have the skins of their necks thick and fattysh. The place where you mean to fat them, 
〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉.  must be very warm, and of little light, because as both Varro, and our own experience showeth, the light, and their often stirring, keepeth them from being fat: thus must they be kept for five and twenty days, wherein they will be fat. Let them hung every on● in his Basket or Cage by himself, which must have in it two holes, one to thrust out his neck at, the other to cast out his dung, that he may discharge himself, and let them be strawed either with straw, or course hay: for the harder they lie, the sooner they fat. Pull away besides their feathers from their heads, their wings, and their tails, the one for avoiding of ●●●e, the other for binding their bodies. The meat that you give the●, must be Bar●y mea●e, which mingled with water, be made in little pellets, wherewith they willbe fat (as some thinker in fourteen days: but see that you give it them but moderately at the first, till they well digest it, after give it them in quantity, according as they digest it: 〈…〉 them no new, till you perceive, by feeling of their crops, that the old be endued. Others do sprinkle their meal with Honey sodden in water, putting to three parts of water, one of Honey, and one of Wine, and wetting herein Wheaten bread, they therewithal do cram them. Others say, that if you put hereunto a little Milk, they willbe wonderful fat. The Cockrelles are gelded (as Aristotle saith) in the hinder part, 
Making of Capons.  which when they tread, falls out: this part, if you burn two or three times, they will be Capons. And if they be right Capons, their combs becometh pale, neither crowing, nor treading any more. Our wives of the country, cutting them betwixt the legs, take out their stones, and sowing up the wound, anoint it with Butter, which done they shut them up in a Coop, not suffering them to drink in a day or two. From the beginning of harvest, and all Winter long, the offal of the Corn, and the Barns door doth feed them sufficiently: where they plant vines, sparing others more costly foods, they feed them with the kernels o● the Grapes: and where there is neither the offal of Corn, nor Grapes, they must be fed with Oats, Spery, or such like. To 'cause them to say in Winter, 
Of Eggs.  you must give them (as I told you) hempseed. If you would have great Eggs, Leoncus teacheth to beat in powder Brick, or Flaunders tile, and mingling it with Chesyll and Wine to make it in Dowe, and give it to your Hen, or to put a Saucerful of the powder of the brick, to a gallon of Bran, and to feed them with it. The Eggs of Pigeons, Geese, Peacocks, and Turkeys, be all white, the Eggs of water Foules be greenish, & pale, the Ginny hens Eggs, be like to the Pehennes in all things, saving that they be speckled as the Turkey Hens. Th● Pheasants, and the Rastryls' Eggs, are radish. The Eggs of all Fowls (as Pliny saith) are of two colours, wherein the water Foules Eggs, having a great deal more yolk then white, and that more black than others. The Eggs of Fish, are all of one colour, having no white in them. The Eggs of Birds, are by reason of their heat, brittle: and Serpents Eggs, by reason of their coldness, tough: Fish, by means of their moisture, soft in laying, the round part of the Egg cometh first out, the shell being soft, and presently after hard: what form soever they have the long are most commended● as witnesseth the Poet. The Egg in fashion framed long, no of them (as I said before) is brought forth the Co●ke Chicken, as of the round one's the Hen, though Aristotle be against it. Some Hens do lay very great Eggs, and those most times with two yolks, having the shell d●uided as it were with a circle, which both Aristotle writeth, and our experience approveth. Some both lay double, and hatch double: some are so fruitful, as they lay great numbers at one's, some every day, some twice a day: some are so fruitful, as they kill themselves with laying. In the midst of all Eggs, there lieth as it were a drop of blood, which is supposed to be the heart of the Bird, which is first in all the body framed: the body itself is wrought of the white. The sustenance is the yolk, the head while it is in that shell, is bigger than all the body, the eyes shut up more than the head. While the Chicken increaseth, the white goeth to the midst, and the yolk compasseth it round about. The twentieth day (as I said before) if you stir the Egg, you shall hear the Chicken, from which time the feathers come forth, lying so, as the head rests upon the right foot, and the right wing covereth the head. The addle Eggs are thought to come of the vain lust and treading of the Hens together: some suppose them to be bred of the wound, and therefore call them wind Eggs, as Aristotle before Pliny hath written. Eggs are preserved in Winter, if you keep them in Chaff, Straw, or leaven, and in summer, if you cover them with Bran, or Wheat. Some do cover them before in fine beaten salt for the space of six hours, and after wash them, & so lay them in Chaff, Straw, or Bran. Others again cover them in beans, and some in bean flower, and some in heaps of salt: but salt, as it suffereth not the Eggs to corrupt, so it greatly deminisheth the substance of them. Your Hen houses must be made in that part of your house, as lieth in the Winter towards the rising of the sun, and joining as near as may be to some Rylle, Oven, or Chimney, or to the Kitchen, so as the smoke may come amongst them: for smoke is very wholesome for this kind of Fowl. And that was (I think) the cause that the old people made choice in their quitrentes of smoke Hens, as of the best, as it appeareth by old rentalles. Let the front of your Hen house stand always towards the East, and to that coast let the door open. Let the inner roo●es be well furnished with Loftes and Lathers, and small windows opening Eastward, at which your Poultry may flee out in the morning, and come in to roost at night. Look that you make them close at night, and let the windows be well lettysed for fear of vermin. Let your nests and lodgings, both for laying and brooding, be orderly cast, and against every ne●t and rousting place, place steps and boards to come up by, making them as rough as may be, that the Hens may take good hold when the● flee up to them, and not by their over ●ind●t●enesse, be forced to flutter and hurt their Eggs. I● shall not be amiss, if you ●arget the house both within and without with good 〈…〉 by n●i●her Weasel, nor other hurtful vermin may enter in. Boarded floor are not for Fowl to roost upon, which almost all kind of Birds r●●●se, because of the hurt that they receive by their dung, which if it cleave to their feet, breeds the G●u●e. And therefore to roost 〈◊〉, you must make them Perches, which Columella would, should be made foursquare: but it is better to have them round, so that they be not too smooth for them to take hold by. Let the Perches reach from one side of the brickwall to the other, so as they stand from the floor a foot in height, and two foot 〈…〉 one from the other: and thus have you the faison of your Hen house. The court where they goe● must be clean from dung and durtinesse, not having water in it, sa●ing in one place, and that must be very fair and cle●●●: for if it be puddled, or dirty, it b●eedeth (as I said before the pip. To keep their water clean, you may have fair earthen, or stone vessel, or trowghes of wood, covered in the top, in the which there must be several holes so big, as the head of the Fowl may easily enter: for if you should not keep them thus covered, the Poultry would in their drinking 〈◊〉 and poison it with their dung. Their meat must be given them betimes in the morning for straying abroad, and a little before night, that they may come the timelier to their rest. Those that be in the Coop, must (as Columella saith) be fed thrice in the day: the others must be used to an acquainted voice, that they may come at the calling. The number must be well marked: for they soon deceive their keeper. Beside, you must have round about by the walls, good plenty of dust, wherein they may bathe and prune themselves: for as the Swine delighteth to wallow in dirt, so doth this kind to bathe and tumble in the dust. And this is (I think) almost all that is to be said of Pulleyne.  MELISSEUS. 
Yea, but we must hear something also touching the other sorts of Fowl that are kept about the house, which peradventure CHENOBOSCUS can instruct us of.  CHENOBOSCUS. 
And if you will needs have me● I will not refuse to show you somewhat also of my feathered cattle.  MELISSEUS. 
I pray you do so.  CHENOBOSCUS. 
Among the Fowl that we keep about our houses in the country, 
 the second place of right, is due to the Goose and the Duck, which are of the number of those that they call Amphibia, because they live as well upon the land, as the water. And because the keeping of Geese requires no great labour, it is a thing not unmeet for the husbandman, for that (if he have place commodious for it) it is done without any charges, and yieldeth good advantage hath with their brood, and feathers, for beside the profit of their Eggs, you may twice in the year, at the spring, and the fall of the leaf pull them. Moreover, they are a very good dish for the ●able, yea being more watchful than the Dogs, they give warning when they sleep. And therefore they w●re with the Romans had in great honour, because they with their gaggling bewrayed the enemy, that otherwise in the night time had taken the Town: Pliny writeth of a Goose, that would never be from the Philosopher Lacydes. Your choice must be of those that be of the fairest kind: Varro liketh best the white one's, which colour was most esteemed in the old time, as appeareth by the presents that were given: the same Varro accounteth the grey for a wild kind. They are kept in Marshes, Fens, Lakes, & Moorish commons: for to Corn ground, Meadows, and Pastures, it is a very hartful Fowl: she biteth whatsoever young spring she may reach, & what she once hath bitten, doth never lightly prospero again. Besides, she stencheth the ground with her unprofitable, or rather most hurtful dounging: wherefore (as I said) it is best to keep them in Fens, Lakes, and Marshes. If you have store of such ground, you shall do well to keep them: for you can not well keep them without good store of water and pasture. The Goose delighteth in such meat as is naturally moist and cold, and shunneth naturally such things as are hurtful for her, as the leaf of the Bay, and (as Alianus writeth) the Oleander: the best and meetest time for them to breed in, is from the Kalends of March, to the tenth of june. They tread most commonly in the water, while they swim in the Rivers, or Fishponds. Columella would have you keep for every Gander, three Geese, thinking by reason of their unweldynesse, this number to suffice: within your court, you must make them for their better safety, several, and secret pens, in sundry parts thereof, where they may sit & breed. Some would have the Goose room framed in such order, as every Goose may have her place to herself: which, if any man think too troublesome, he may make one sufficient wide room to serve them all. The places where they shall lay, must be dry, and well strawed with straw, or such soft matter, and well defended from vermin. The Goose must not be suffered to lay out of her nest, but when you shall perceive they seek it, you must gr●pe them, and if they be with Egg, which you sh●ll easily feel, shut them up in their nests, which you shall not need to do above once, or twice: for where she hath once laid she will always of herself se●ke to be. They will say (as some hold opinion) thrice in the year, if they be not suffered to sit, as it is best you do not: for their Eggs are bett●r to be hatched under a Hen, then of themselves, and will ●etter a great deal prospero. The Eggs of Geese, & Swans, were used (as Alianus witnesseth) as a most dainty dish at banquets, among the Kings and Princes of the Indies. Aristotle affirmeth, that the Goose always useth to sit, and never the Gander, contrary to the order of many other Foule●, continuing always till she have hatched. After the last laying, you shall suffer them to sit, and mark every one's Eggs with a several mark, that they may be set under their own Goose, for it is thought they will never hatch a stranger's Eggs, without she have her own under her. Of Goose Eggs, as of Pehennes' Eggs, you shall (as I said before) never set under a Hen above five, nor under three: but under the Goose you shall set at the lest seven, and at the most fifteen. You must keep to lay under your Eggs, the roots of Nettles, which they say, preserveth them against the stinging of Nettles, which otherwise many times killeth the Gosling, if they sling them. The Eggs will not be hatched if the weather be cold, before the thirtieth day, if it be warm, in lesser time: howbeit for the most part, the Gosling is hatched the thirtieth day after the sitting. Some do use to set by the nests, Barley steeped in water, or Malt, whereby the Goose shall not be forced to be any while absent from her Eggs. When your Goslinges are come forth, you shall for the first ten days feed them with the Goose in the nest. Afterwards, when the weather is fair, you may suffer them to go abroad, taking good heed that they be not stinged with Nettles, nor that you let them go a hungerd into the pastures: but to give them afore they go abroad the leaves of Endive, or lettuce chopped, to assuage their hunger: for if you put them a hungerd into the field, they strain and break their own necks, with pulling at the tough and stubborn weeds, by reason of the sudden starting back again of the weed. The Goslings of divers broods must not go together, nor be shut up together, for hurting one another. When they be four months old, 
Fatting of Geese.  or somewhat before, is the best time for fatting them: the young one's are soon & easeliest fatted. If you give them ground Malt, & wheat flower, you need to give them nothing, so you let them have drink enough, and keep them from going abroad. The Greeks did use to put to two parts of ground Malt, four parts of Brancha, tempering it with water, letting them drink thrice a day, & at midnight. If you would have their livers soft and tender, you shall mingle dry Figs well beaten with water, and making pellets thereof, cram them with it for the space of seventeen, or twenty days. The jews at this day, being the skilfullest feeders that be, do use a strange order in the fatting of them, wrapping the Goose in a linen Apron, they hung her up in a dark place, stopping her ears with Peason, or some other thing, that by neither hearing, nor seeing of any thing, she be not forced to stroggel, or cry: after, they give her pellets of ground Malt, or Barley steeped in water thrice a day, setting by them water and gravel, by which manner of feeding, they make them so fat, as the liver many times cometh to be five pound in weight. Whilst I was at the council of Worms, there was a liver of a Goose brought me by a jew, that weighed four pound. Pliny is also a witness, of the greatness of the livers of fat Geese, affirming, that they will grow after they be out of the bodies, being sprinkled with milk. The common order of fatting with our country people, is to shut them up in a dark, and a narrow place, and to set before them Barley, or Beech wheat, giving them water with a little Sand, or Gravel in their troughs: and with this order they have them fat in fourteen days. After harvest, they willbe fat with the Grotten, or Stubble. They are plucked (as I said before) twice in the year, in the spring, and in the fall of the leaf. Some use to clip them, but then their feathers never grow so well: but if you pull them, you shall have them to come very fair again: and this is enough for a Goose. Ducks and Teals, 
Ducks.  are to be ordered in like manner almost as the Goose, saving that they delight more in waters, and marshes: and therefore you must force some Waters, Lakes, or Pools, for them, whereunto they may easily go and swim, and dive at their pleasure. Columella would have you have a court for the nonce for them, where no cattle use, and near to the house, round about the which you shall build for them little handsome ●oomes, three foot square, with pretty doors to every one of them: which when they breed, you shall keep shut. Hard by, you must have either some Pond, or River, wherein (as I said) they may swim: for without the help of the water they can as evil live, as without the land. It is good also to have near unto them, some good pasture, or meadow, or to set about the Ponds or Rivers, such herbs as they best like, as clover, fenugreek, endive, lettuce, and such other as they most delight in, and wherewith their young do well feed: beside, you must give them Oats, Barley, and other corn in water. There is nothing that they more love than Acorns, nor that better fatteth them. They delight wonderfully to be amongst Reeds and Sedges, wherein they may lie safe from ravenous Birds, but so, as there grow no great stalked weeds, that may hinder their swimming: for they delight greatly to play themselves in the water, and to strive who can swim fastest, when the weather is fair and warm: for as they love such places where they may best pray upon the creatures of the water, so are they much offended, if they be restrained of their liberty in swimming. In Winter, when the waters be frozen, you must ply them sometimes with meat. They delight to make their nests in some secret Covert, but therein you must prevent them, and make their nests in their own lodging, or abroad, well covered and closed with weeds: to which nest you must have some little sluice, or gutter, by which you may every day power in water and meat. Their food must be (as I said) Oats, Barley, Pease, pannicle, Millet, and Spery, if you have any store. They lay great store of Eggs, wherewith as with Goose Eggs, you may well feed your family. The Eggs of Ducks and Geese, are kept in like sort as I told you of hens Eggs: and beside in Brancha, Wheat, or Ashes. They breed in the same season that Geese and other Fowl do, about March and April. And therefore where you keep them, you must straw sticks and straws for them to make their nests withal. Their Eggs must be suffered to be hatched by themselves, or else removed & set under some Hen: for the Ducklinges that the Hen hatcheth, are thought to be gentler and tamer. You must take good heed, that the Eggs which they lay, be not eaten and spoiled by Crows and Pies, while the dam is seeking abroad for meat. If so be you have Rivers, and Lakes for the purpose. It is best to let the dams bring them up, for when they be hatched, they will live very well upon the water with their dams, without any charge at all: only taking good heed, that they be defended from Buzzards, Rites, Crows, and other like vermin: but so you use them, as they will every night come home to the house, for it is not good to let them be abroad in the night, for danger of losing them, and making them wild. Yet hath it been seen, that such as have hatched abroad, have afterwards come home, and brought with them a great number at their tails. When I was Ambassador in England, it was told me by men of good credit, that there was in Scotland near to the Sea, certain trees, that yearly brought forth a fruit, that falling into the Sea, become a kind of wild Ducks, or rather Barnacles, which though it seemed strange unto me, yet found I Aristotle a witness of the like, who writeth, that the River Hypanus in Scythia, bringeth forth trees, whose leaves being somewhat larger than Maple leaves, whereof cometh a kind of four footed Birds. But now to Peacocks, 
Peacocks.  which Birds being more for pleasure then profit, are meeter to be kept of noble men, then of poor husbands of the country, though Varro writeth, that M. Aufidius Lurco, who first began the fatting of this Fowl, made yearly of his Peacocks four hundred pound, whose example numbers following, the price of Peacocks grew to be great, so much, as their Eggs were sold for half a crown a piece, the Peacocks themselves, at four nobles a piece. The flesh is very good and delicate, meet for noble men's tables, and will be long kept without corrupting, the Eggs also be very pleasant, and good to be eaten. Hortensus they say, was the first that ever killed Peacock for the table in Rome, as a new dish at the priests feast. To this Bird, is ascribed both understanding and glory: for being praised, he sets up straight his tail, and (as Pliny eloquently discrybes it) chiefly against the Sun, whereby the beauty may more be seen. His tail falling every year with the fall of the leaf, he mourneth, and creepeth in corners till it be sprung again. They go abroad, as Hens and Chickens do, without a keeper, and get their own livings. They be best kept in little Islands: for they flee neither high, nor far of. Some think it to be a spiteful and an envious Bird, as the Goose to be shamefast, and that he devoureth his own dung, because he would have no man receive benefit by him. He liveth (as Aristotle saith) five and twenty years: he breeds at three years old, the Cock having his feathers divers coloured: he hatcheth in thirty days, as the Goose doth, & layeth three times a year, if his Eggs be taken away and set under a Hen. You must look, that those that you set under a Hen, be new laid, and that the Hen from the first of the Moon, be set upon niene Eggs, five of the Peacocks, and four of her own. The tenth day after she hath sit, take away the hens Eggs, and put under the like number of fresh hens Eggs. They must be turned, and therefore marked upon one side. And see that you choose the greatest Hens: for if the Hen be little, you must take the lesser number of Eggs, as three Pehennes' Eggs, and six Hen Eggs. When they be hatched, you must as you do with the Hen, let them alone: the first day afterwards bring them out, and put them with the dam into a Pen, and feed them at the first with Barley flower sprinkled with water, or pap made of any other corn, and cooled. A few days after, give them beside this, chopped Le●kes, and Curds, or fresh Cheese, the Whey well wrong out: for Whey is thought to be very hurtful for the Chickens. After they be a month old, you may let them go into the field and follow the Hen, tying the Hen with a long line, that she go not to far abroad, but that the Chicken may come home in time. After the sixth month, you may give them Barley, and bread: and after the seventh month, you may put them to roost in the house with the other Peacocks, not suffering them to sit upon the ground, but upon perches for taking of cold. And although when they wax great, they chiefly delight to sit upon the tops of houses, and be as the Goose is, which are the best watchmen, and also the best warning givers in the night time: yet is it best for you to use them to sit upon perches, in houses made purposely for them. Columella thinks it not good to suffer sundry Hens with their Chyckins to feed together, because the Hen after she seethe a bigger than her own, maketh the less account of her own Chickens, and many times by that occasion forsaketh them. The Cock, for the great lust that he hath of tread, breaks a sunder the Eggs that be under the Hen, and therefore it is best to have the Hens to sit as secretly as may be: they also use to beat and chase their own Chickens, till they see them cressid upon the head, taking them till then, to be none of their own. One Cock sufficeth for five Hens, who by two often treading, doth many time's cause that the Eggs never come to good. In warm countries they begin to tread in February, when setting v● his tail round about him, taking himself for no small person, he beginneth to woo, and therefore at this time both the Cock and the Hen, are to be cherished with meats for the purpose to increase their lust, as Beans toasted a little by the fire, and given them warm every five days in the morning. The quarrelous & troublesome Cocks, must be severed from their fellows, for hurting the weaker, and keeping others from treading. The Hens must be kept so, as they may say only in their houses, and every day groped for their Eggs, and heedely looked to, with soft straw laid under their perches: for many times they say as they sit upon the Perch. 
Disease's.  The diseases of this Fowl, and the remedies, are almost one with the diseases of the house Cock and the Hen spoken of before, that is the Pipp●, and ill digestion. Their greatest danger is, when their Coames come first out, for then are they pained, as children are in breeding of teeth.  MELISSEUS. 

Turkey Cocks.  I would feign learn the right ordering of their outlandish Birds, called Ginny Cocks, & Turkey Cocks.  CHENO●OSCVS. 
This kind of Poultry we have not long had amongst us: for before the year of our Lord 1530. they were not seen with us, nor I believe known to the old writers. Some have supposed them to be a kind of the Birds called in the old times Meleagrides● because of their bluish Coames: but these kinds have no Coames, but only Wattles. Others again reckon them for a kind of Peacocks, because they do in treading time after the same sort, spread and set up their tails, bragging and vaunting themselves: howbeit, they neither resemble these in all points. But because this kind of Fowl, both for the rareness, and also the greatness of their body, is at this day kept in great flocks, it shall not be much amiss to speak of them: for in flintiness and goodness of meat, the Hens may compare with either the Goose, or the P●henne, and the Cock far excel them. The colour of their feathers, is for the most part white, black, or p●ed white and black, some blue and black. Their feet are like unto the Peacocks, their tails short, but spread, and born up after the peacocks guise, specially when they tread. The heads and the necks of them, are naked without feathers, covered with a wrinkled skin, in manner of a cowl, or a hood, which hanging over their bills, they draw up, or let fall at their pleasures. The Cork hath the greater Wattles under his c●inne, and on his breast a ●uf● of hear. The colour of that wrinkled skin about his head (which hangs over his bill and about his neck, all swelling as it were with little blathers) he changes from time to time like the Chameleon to all colours of the Rainbow, sometimes white, sometimes read, sometimes blue, sometimes yellow, which colours ever altering, the bird appeareth as it were a miracle of nature. The dieting and keeping of them, is almost all one with the Peacock, saving that this Bird can worse away with cold, and wet. It is a Bird wonderfully given to breeding, every Cock must as the Peacock, have four or five Hens with him: they are more forward in breeding then the Peacock, beginning either the first year, or at the farthest at two year old: they begin to lay in March, or soone●. In hot countr●s they lay great numbers of Eggs, if they be continually taken from them and set under Hens, and if so be you take them not away, they begin ●o sit at the first: for they be of all others most given to sitting, and ●o much, that if you take away all their Eggs, they will sit upon a stone● or many times the b●re nest. You must therefore restrain them of this desire, either by thrusting a ●eather through their nose (as I before told you) or by wetting their bellies with cold water. You must set under their Eggs (as I taught you before) in the Peacock: for they have both one time of hatching. The keeper must mark the one side of the Eggs, and always turn them, sprinkling them now and then gently with fair water, and take heed the Cock come not at them, for he will break them as well as the Peacock: for the Cock of this kind, is a froward and a mischievous Byrd. The Chickines being hatched under a Hen, may be kept with the hens Chickens, or else very well alone with the Hen, growing faster a great deal then the Peachicke. You shall feed them in like sort as you do the Peacoke, or other Poultry: for they will eat any thing, and delight in grass, weeds, gravel, and sand. And because they can not away with cold, nor wet, you must keep them in Winter, in the warmest and dryest places you have. The perches whereon they use to sit, must not be high, but an eight or ten foot from the ground, neither ●e they able to flee any great height, and therefore must be helped with lathers, or steps. The greatest disease that they are subject unto, is the pip and the Squecke, which must be hol●en in like sort as the Hens, and the Eggs kept after the same manner. In some places they use to make Capons of them when they be young, which are served as a dainty dish to the table, as was much used in the house of that godly and virtuous Semproma, the Lady Hales of Kent, 
Lady Hales a m●●ro● of Gentilwomen.  who was first the wife of sir Walter Maun●yll of Northamtonshyre, a woman in whom all virtues & bounties in her life time flourished.  MELISSEUS. 
I well remember that Lady, and have herded her highly commended of such as in her life time best knew her, for a number of gracious and goodly gifts that were in her, as her special love and delight in God, and in his service, her helpful hand and comfort to such as were poor and distressed, ●s well in relieving them with meat and money, as with healing diseases, and curing a number of loathsome, and almost incurable ulcers and wounds, her mild and sweet disposition, her great humility, & carelessness of the vain world, and other such virtues. I would to Christ that all other Gentlewomen, that profess Christ outwardly, were as well given to follow him in deed, as she was unfeignedly.  CHENOBOSCUS. 
She was the very Phoenix and Parageon of all the Gentlewomen that I ever knew, neither am I sure I shall ever see the like: but she happily rests with him, whom in her life time she so earnestly served. If you be not weary, I will return to my Fowl, and show you the best order for keeping and maintaining of Pigeons.  PULLARIUS. 
I think both MELISSEUS and PISSINARIUS would gladly hear you to tell us some thing of this, as I me self most willingly also would.  CHENOBOSCUS. 
Though you PULLARIUS are better able to speak hereof then I am, yet because of my profession, I will not refuse to take it upon me. 
Pigeons.  What so ever he be, that given himself to the trade of husbandry, it behoveth specially to have a care for breeding of Pigeons, as well for the great commodity they yield to the Kitchen, as to the profit & yearly revenue that they yield (if there be good store of Corn fields) in the market. Varro writeth, that in his time a pair of Pigeons were sold for .1000. HS. And that Lucius Axius, a knight of Rome, before the civil wars betwixt Caesar and Pompey, sold his Pigeons at ten li. the pair: so much was that time given to wantonness and gluttony, yea at this day in our time, hath been seen given for a pair of Pigeons ten li. Flemish. And therefore the Dovehouses are commonly built with great cost and beauty in the tops of turrets and Houses, from whence by narrow grated windows, they flee abroad to their feeding. Pigeons (if the country be for them) are fed and maintained with little cost, feeding themselves all the year long with such meat as they find abroad, except at such time as the ground is covered with snow, when as you must of necessity help them with a little meat. There is two sorts of them, one wild kind, that is brought up in D●uehouses, & is of colour either bluish, white, speckled, or dun: howbeit, the white is not good to be kept, because they be soon destroyed with vermin. In Italy, there are of this sort, as big again as ours, and are now common in Flaunders. another sort is more familiar and tame, and something more large of body, with rough feet, and commonly of colour white, and sometime speckled and yellowysh: this kind is commonly kept in Cities and Towns, where the others can not be kept, and is fed with meat at home, and because they are ever in danger of vermin, and ravening Birds, they are still kept within doors, and always fed at home. This kind the common people call tame Pigeons, or month Pigeons, because they breed every month, save in the dead of Winter. Both these sorts are wondrous fruitful, breeding commonly eight times a year (if the kind be good) yea sometimes ten, and ●leuen times: for in Egypt● as Aristotle telleth) they breed all the Winter long. And though Hens are more fruitful in laying of Eggs, yet Pigeons are more profitable by often bringing forth young: and therefore you must provide you such breeders, whose bodies be great & fair, not too old, nor to young, o● a good and perfect colour, and a fruitful kind. It behoveth him that will begin a Dovehouse, not to begin with the young and little one's, but with the breeders, and to buy so many Cocks, as he doth Hens, and to keep them if he can, matched together of 〈◊〉 ne●t: for if they be so matched, they will breed a gre●t deal better. They bring forth commonly a Cock and a Hen together (as Aristotle writeth) and our experience showeth it: in March they begin to breed, if the weather be w●●me, before. There is no Bird fruitfuller than the ●●●ion, for in forty days she conceiveth, layeth, sitteth, and brings vp●● that for the most part all the year, except (as I said before 〈◊〉 She layeth two Eggs, and when she hath 〈…〉 is a Cock, the next she layeth, which is a Hen, the 〈◊〉 never ●●htly cometh to g●od. Both the kind●●● do always 〈◊〉, the Cock in the day, the Hen in the night, they hatch in twenty days, they lay after five t●e ●inges. In 〈◊〉 they sometimes bring forth in two 〈…〉 for upon the nienetenth day they hatch, 〈…〉 again. And therefore you shall often ●●nd among the young Pigeons, Eggs some ready to hatch, and some flying: if there be no Cocke●, the Hens will tread one the others, but their Eggs never come to good, but are wound Eggs: Aristotle, and Theodorus calleth them water Eggs, whereof there never cometh any thing, and because the young one's will breed at five months old, we suffer the first flight to fly, to increase the breed: as being hatched in March, will breed again in july, or August. Those that we mean to t●ke for the Kitchen, or the Market, are best to be drawn at the latter time of the year, when they are worst able to de●end themselves from the cold, and from Buzzards, and Crows: the best for brood among all Fowls, is the March brood. They that mean to fat Pigeons to cell them the dearer, do sever them when they be newly feathered, and feed them with chawed white bread twice a day in Winter, and thrice in Summer: and such as be now hard penned, they leave in the nest, plucking the feathers of their wing, and breaking their legs, that they remove not from their places, giving the dams good plenty of meat, that they may better feed themselves, and their young. Some (as Gelius writeth) do softly tie their legs: for if they should break them, they think the pain would keep them from fatting: but this tying doth little good, for while they struggle to get themselves lose, the labour will keep them from being fat: but their legs being broken, the pain will not remain above two days, or three at the uttermost, and will keep them that they shall never stray from their places. Some use only to p●●on them, but so fall they many times out, and become a prey to 〈…〉 therefore it is good to bring them to the Kitchen before th●y ●e full ripe. The unfruitful and naughty coloured, and the otherwise faulty, aught chiefly to be fats, and must be crammed in such sort as you cram Capons. Dovehouses, or places for Pigeons to build in, are made a ●e● di●ers manners: for the tame Pigeons, and such as are fed at home, they make in the highest parts of their houses lying toward the South, certain hollow rooms, and celles for them, such as 〈◊〉 RIUS hath described for his Pullen: and if the pla● 〈◊〉 not so serve, driving in certain pin●es into the brickwall, they ●ay v●on them frames of boards, with par●●●ions in them, or partaken pots to breed in, letting certain ledges run from 〈◊〉 to hole, that they may the better come to their nests, and walk up and down in the Sun. But the houses for the other wilder kind, because they contain great numbers, are built after a more handsome order, although under the eves of houses, and in steepels of Churches, you shall have thousands breeding. Varro appoints the Dovehouse to be build in this sort: a towrie adjoining to the house, and well lofted and seeled above, with one little door in it, and four windows, answering the four quarters of the Heaven, which windows must be well grated, so as they may give light enough, and keep out vermin. All the walls within must be fair white limed, for with this colour is the Pigeon wonderfully delighted: beside, it must be well pargetted and playstered without, specially about the windows, so as neither Mouse, Weasel, nor other vermin may enter: the windows must be so placed, as they may let in the Sun all the Winter, having a hole of sufficient wideness over against them, well netted and tunnelled, in such sort, as the Pigeons may easily flee out and in at, and yet not suffer any hurtful bird to enter: for the Pigeon taketh great delight in flying now and then abroad, where after she hath recreated herself, she cometh with joy to her nest again: as on the otherside she mourneth, if she be restrained of her liberty. Round about the walls within, you must have little round holes, from the top to the bottom, wherein they may breed: Varro would have them three handfuls in length, and ledged from hole to hole for them to walk upon. Some think it best to make your holes of Lome, or Lime, and not of Brick and Stone, as many do, because of the warmth. There be some that build their Dovehouses upon pillars, in the midst of some Pond, or great Water, both because they delight in water, and because they will have them safe from vermin. The meat that they most delight in, is tars, wild fitch, Pease, Wheat, millet: where these be not, you may give them Spery, specially in winter Rape seed, and Cocle: for by gathering and pecking up these little seeds, they get themselves a heat in cold weather. When you give them meat, you must throw it hard by the walls: for that part is commonly cleanest from dung. And though Varro bids you to sweep and make clean your Dovehouses continually, and that the dung is good & profitable for the field, yet seeing this kind of Fowl doth delight in places sprinkled with their own dung, you shall not need to be careful in cleansing of it. Look well that they be not frayed, or disquieted with Guns, or noise of people, or other like, specially when they sit: and if you have occasion to go into the house, see that you do it about noon time, when they be abroad a feeding, and be sure to knock well before you come in. Some say, that it will 'cause them to love the house, and allure others to come thither, if you sprinkle them with common, before they go to feeding, or perfume the house with Sage, and Francensence. Some have an other experience for this purpose, and that is Potshards beaten small and seared, mingled with the herb Coast, and good old wine, and given unto them. Others take Barley flower, sodden with dry Figs, and a part of Hony. Cardan teacheth this, as the best for this purpose, of Barley, or millet, of cumin, of Cost, of Agnus Castus, of Honey, of old Loam, or Mortar, of good Muskadel, boil them all together, and make a stone of them to be set in the midst of a house. Tragus teacheth to take the roots of the Thystel, and to boil them with the pickle of Hearings. Constantine out of Didymus, writeth of divers other things for this purpose, which who so will, may try. Look well that they be not destroyed by the Hawk, or Buzzard: the Hawk is a special enemy to this Bird, whose taking, Varro teacheth you in this manner: to lay a Pigeon upon the ground, and to stick, bending closely over her, a couple of lime rods. There is a kind of Hawk, that naturally is terrible to other Hawks, and preserveth the Pigeon: the common people call it Castrel. Columella affirmeth, that if you take the young Castrels, and preserve them every one in earthen vessels well covered and plastred all over, and hung them in the corners of the Dovehouse, it makes the Pigeons have such a love to the house, as they will never forsake it. They have many other adversaries, Crows, Daws, and Owls, which all destroy the Pigeons, specially when they breed. I found of late in mine own Dovehouse, an Owl sitting solemely in the nest upon her Eggs in the midst of all the Pigeons, and hard by the house in an old hollow tree, I found pieces of young Pigeons, that the Owls had brought to feed their young with: and though the Owl seem to be greater than the Pigeon, by reason of the thickness of her feathers, yet will they creep in at as little a place as the Pigeon will: so small and little is their bodies, though they be bombased with feathers. Against Weasels, Stoates, and such like, Palladius would have you hedge the Dovehouse about with sharp prickly branches void of leaves, as Gorse briars, and such like, as they dare not pass through for pricking. Didymus and others, do bid you hung great branches of Rue all about the house, specially at the entrance of the door, or to put wild Rue under their wings, or to sprinkle them with Rue: for this herb (as they say) hath a special force against such hurtful vermin. Some say, that if a Wolves head be hanged in the Dovehouse, it will drive away all hurtful vermin.  MELISSEUS. 
We have herded enough of Pigeons, I pray you proceed with such other Birds as you keep in the country. Keep you any Fesantes here?  CHENOBOSCUS. 

Phesantes.  This kind of Birds (though they be very seldom kept among the country people) yet of many curious and fine fellows, for their rareness & flintiness, they are brought up, and kept. And because they benefit the keeper, and profit the husband, (if the soil and country be for them) the old writers have placed the keeping of them, within the compass of husbandry. Palladius teacheth, that you must provide such as be young and lusty, that were of the last years bringing forth: for the old one's be never fruitful. One Cock is sufficient for two Hens: they breed once a year, and lay to the number of twenty Eggs, beginning in April, and somewhere in March, but they are better to be brought up under a Hen: so as you set under one Hen fifteen Eggs, observing the time of the Moon, and the number of the days, as I told you before of the Hen. The thirtieth day they come forth: for the first fifteen days you must feed them with Barley flower tenderly sodde, and cooled, upon which you must sprinkle a little Wine. After, you shall give them Wheat, Grasshoppers, and Aunt's Eggs: let them not come near the water for catching the pip, which if they chance to have, you shall rub their bills with Garlic stamped together with Tar. They are fatted in thirty days with Wheat flower, or Barley flower made in pellets, the pellets must be sprinkled a little with Oil, and so put into their throats, you must take heed you put it not under their tongues, for if you do, you kill them: neither must you give them any meat, till you perceive the first be digested.  PULLARIUS. 
What say you to Turtle Doves, 
Turtles.  these are also brought up and kept in some countries.  CHENOBOSCUS. 
Columella affirmeth, that Turtles will neither say, nor bring forth in the house, nor Partredges: and therefore they used to take them wild when they were full ripe, and to feed and fat them in little dark rooms like Pigeon holes: the old one's be not so good, as neither the Pigeon is. In Winter you shall hardly have them fat, in Summer, they will fat of themselves, so they may have plenty of Wheat and Corn: the water must be very clear and fresh that you give them. They hold opinion, that the Turtle after he hath lost his mate, continueth ever after solitary. But because there is greater store of Thrushes & Blackbirds, we care the less for keeping of Turtles. 
Thrushes, and Blackbyrdes.  Though Thrushes and Blackbirdes be kept in divers places: yet as Pliny saith, there is in no place greater company, then is taken in the Winter time in Germany: that they were used for great dainties, appear by Horace. 
Not daintier dish than is the Thrush,  
Nor sweeter than the tripe.  They are commonly dressed whole and not drawn, for their inward parts may well be eaten, so they be new: their Crops are commonly full of juniper berries, M. Varro writeth, that Thrushes were in his time at twelve pennies a piece. Where they use to keep them, they also put as many as they take wild among the others, that they brought up before, by whose company and fellowship, they pass away the sorrow of their prisonment, and fall to their feeding: for you must always have old fellows for the purpose, by whose example they may learn both to eat and drink. They must have houses warm, as your Pigeons have, crossed through w●th small perches: for a●ter they have flown about, or have fed, they desire to rest. The perches must be no higher than a man's height, so as you may easily reach them standing upon your feet. The meat must be cast in such places of the house, as lie not under the perches, for filing of it. Columella, and Palladius write, that unripe Figs beaten and mingled with Wheat flower must be given them, that they may eat thereof their filles. Aristotle maketh many kinds of them, among which he also putteth the Colmons, that feedeth upon Grapes. Our Thrushes do feed for the most part upon juniper berries, which their Crops being opened (as I said) do show. They use also in many places to keep Quails, 
quails.  which is rather a Bird of the earth, then of the air, (as Pliny saith) but because they feed upon Elebor, and venomous seeds, and beside are vexed with the falling sickness, many do marvel (as Athenaeus writeth) why they be so greatly esteemed. They say, their young must be fed with Aunts, and Emmets Eggs, as the Partryge. It is thought, that he flieth over into other countries in the Winter time, as the Crane, and the Stork doth, following for their guide the oldest Quail, called the mother Quail.  PULLARIUS. 
You have forgotten one noble and goodly Fowl, that is used to be brought up in the husbandman's Ponds, Lakes, and Rivers, I mean the Swan.  CHENOBOSCUS. 

The 〈◊〉.  You say true: for this Bird is commonly brought up in the low countries, and kept in great numbers in Linconshyre, a country replenished with Gentlemen of good houses, and good house keepers. And Athenaeus alleging the authority of Aristotle, accounteth this Fowl to be very fruitful, and of great stomach, so much, as it is thought they dare give battle to the eagle They are bred and kept (as you well said) in Lakes, Rivers, and Fishponds, without any charge at all, and do great good in the Rivers by plucking up the weeds, and other annoyances: for the excellency of his down, and flintiness of his flesh, he is greatly esteemed. There is one excellent kind of them, that taketh his name of the goo● watch that he keepeth, and is always cherished and kept in the Ditches of Cities, and Fortresses, for his great faithfulness in giving warning. They be kept almost in like manner as Geese are, but that they use to sit longer, sitting a whole month, or there abouts: they bring forth seldom above eight, and so many did my Swans bring me, and sometime five. They make their nests hard by the water of Sedges, Weeds, and like stuff: their young one's they carry straight into the Rivers. If the Lakes and streams be frozen in winter, you must house them. This Bird is counted among such as live longest, foreshowing her own death, as Plato and Martial witness, with a sweet and lamentable song. Thus much concerning my profession I have told, I trust you that be my friends, will take it in good part, and now PISSINARIUS I resign my place to you, to whose turn it is come.  PISSINARIUS. 
It falls out in good order, 
Of Fisheponds.  that from talking of water Foules, we should come to entreat of Fisheponds, and Fish: although I do mean to entreat larglyer both of keeping and taking of Fish in my Halientycks, but because the husband's house, both for watering of cattle, and other uses can not be without Ponds, and Lakes, and that every house is not so seated, as it hath earable ground about it, it is lawful for the husband to make his best advantage of his Ponds, and Waters. The Noble men and Gentlemen of Rome, were wont to build about their houses fair Fysheponds, and many times satisfied herein their pleasure, with exceeding cost and expenses, as M. Varro writeth, of the sumptuous and costly Fyshponds of Hortensius, Hircius, and Lucullus. M. Cato, when he had the wardship of Lucullus, made four hundred pound of the Fish in his Pond. The same Varro maketh mention of two sorts of Fishponds, the one of sweet water, the other salt, the one amongst the common people, where the springs feed them, and of great profit, the other near to the Sea, where Neptune doth yield them both store of water and Fish: for examples, may serve the Fishponds of Hortensius, which rather pleased the eye, than the purse. The best making of Ponds, is either by the sea, as Lucullus, who to let in the Sea into his ponds, made a passage through the midst of a great hill, whereby he thought himself as great a Lord of Fish, as Neptune himself: or else to have them feed from some great stream, or River, that may bring in both water and Fish, which by flood or Sluse, may let in always fresh water, not suffering the old to corrupt, but always refreshing it, and bringing more Fish. The next in goodness, are those that are fed with Pipes, or secret passages under the ground, & may be let out again by Sluse, which Sluices must so be made, as when you lift, you may let the water into your Meadows, to make them more fruitful, as is to be scene in the countries of the Swytches, and Heluetians, and in many other places. And therefore the waters (as I said) must be well enclosed with good Bays, Banks, and Wales, that they may be able to abide the rage of the floods and the water. The worst and last kind, is such as are made in Lakes, standing Pools, and Rain waters. These kind of ponds, though they be the worst, by reason of their unclean stinking and corrupt water, yet where there is no better, are to be made account of: for though they be not the holsomest for keeping of Fish, yet they yield some commodity, and are most necessary about the house, either for watering of cattle, keeping of Beef and Ducks, and washing, and other like uses: but if so be you can make them either by the Sea, or near s●me great River, so as the water may be let in and out at your pleasure: and when so ever you open the Sluices to let out the w●ter. Be sure that you have them well grated, that the Fish can by no means pass through, and let the passages, if the place will suffer it, be made on every side the Pond: for the old water will best void, when so ever the stream bends, the currant lie against it. These Sluices or passages, you must make at the bottom of the Ponds, if the place will so serve, that laying your level with the bottom of the Pond, you may discern the Sea, or River, to lie seven foot higher: for this Columella thinks, will be a sufficient level for your Pond, and water enough for your Fish. Howbeit, there is no doubt, the deeper the water comes from the Sea, the cooler it is, wherein the Fish most delight. And if so be the place where you mean to make your Pond lie level with the brim of the Sea, or the River, you must dig it nine foot deep, and lay your currant within two foot of the top, and so order it as the water come in abundantly: for the old water lying under the level of the Sea, will not out again, except a greater rage come in: but for the Pond that is subject to the flood and the ebb, it is enough if it be but two foot deep. In the banks and sides of these Ponds, you must have Bushes and creak holes, for the Fish to hide them in from the heat of the Sun: beside, old hollow trees, and roots of trees, are pleasant and delightful harbours for Fish. And if you can handsomely convey them, it is best to bring from the Sea, little Rocks with the weeds and all upon them, and to place them in the midst of your Ponds, and to make a young Sea of them, that the Fish may skarsly know of their imprisonment. About Turwan in France, and in other places, you shall find in Loughes and Rayne waters, even in the wilderness and heaths, great abundance of Fish. In divers places of the low countries, where they have their Ponds fed with the River, which they may shut out at their pleasure, they so order them, as they be either environed, or divided with deeper Ditches, wherein the Fish doth live in the Summer time: and the rest of the ground betwixt the Ditches, the water being voided and kept out by Sluices and Banks, is sowed with summer corn, and after harvest, the water let in again, whereby the ground being wondrously enriched, doth yield great crops of Barley, and Summer corn, and (as the Poet saith) for the land, so may be said for the water, Not every ground for every seed ● but regard must be had, what for every one meet. The Romans keep in their Ponds Lampryes, Oysters, Luce's, Mullettes, Lamporns, Guyltheddes, and all other Fish beside, that are used to be kept in fresh waters. Ponds for Oysters, were first devised by Sergius Orata, at the Baynes, about the time of L. Crastus the Orator, before the battle of Marsie, not so much for delicacy, but for his commodity and gain. Cocles, and Musles, were kept in Ponds by Fuluius Hirpinus. Moreover, divers Fish delight in divers places. The best Pikes and Luce's, were thought to be in the river of Tiber, betwixt the two bridges: the Turbottes, at Ravenna: the Lampreys, in Sicylli so Rivers, Lakes, Pools, and Seas, in some places have better Fish, then in others. Whereto to return to my Fishponds from whence I came, neither may all sorts of Fish be kept in every one, for some sorts are Gravellers, delighting only in Gravelly, Stony, and Sandy waters, as Menowes, Gudgeons, Bullheddes, Ruffs, trouts, Perches, Lamporns, Crevisses, Barbylls', and Chevins. Others delight again in Muddy places, seeking ever to lie hid in the Mud, as the Tench, the Eel, the bream, the carp, and such others. Some again delight in both, as the Pike, the Luce, the carp, the bream, the Bleak, and the Roach. The Gravelly Fish, specially the Menowes, are engendered of sheeps dung, laid in small baskets in the bottom of a gravelly River. The Luce, or Pike, groweth (as likewise doth the carp) to be great in a short time, as in three or four years, and therefore in such Ponds as have neither the Sea, nor River coming to them, we use every fourth, or third year, to draw the ol●, and to store them with young. And in these parts we chiefly store them with carp, having small Ponds, and Stews for the purpose to keep them in, so as you may come by them at your pleasure. Thus much I thought good to declare unto you touching my profession, let us now see what you (MELISSEUS) can say for your Bees, and your Honey.  MELISSEUS. 

Bees.  Because I will not have our discourse of husbandry deprived and maimed of such a profitable member, whose use may in all places, be they never so desert, or barren be had, I think it good as a conclusion to the whole, to show you for my part, the manner of keeping and ordering of Bees: for the good husband by cherishing of them, picketh out many times a good piece of his living, yea the poo●e soul of the country that hath no ground to occupy, may raise hereof, and that without charges a great commodity. Merula reports, that Varro had yearly for the rent of his Bees, a thousand gallons of Honey: and that in a house in Spain, having not passing one Acre of ground to it, hath yearly been made of the Bees, fourscore pounds worth of Wax and Hony. This little poor creature the Bee, doth not only with her labour yield unto us her delicate and most healthy Honey, but also with the good example of their painful diligence and travail, encourageth man to labour and take pains, 
Industry of Bees.  according to his calling; in such sort, as it seemeth the almighty and most excellent majesty, hath of all other specially created this little poor creature, for the benefit and commodity of man: by whom, besides the commodity of the Honey and Wax that they make, we might both take example to spend our life in virtuous and commendable exersises, and also to honour and reverence the wonderful bounty & goodness of the most gracious LORD showed towards us, in the creation of this small and profitable worm. They are continually busied in labouring, they show great cunning and workmanship in their travails, they have always amongst them the lively image of a perfit common wealth, 
Bees, their common weals.  they yield obedience to their Prince, not liking the government of sundry heads, but love to be ruled by one: each one of them laboureth and travaileth in his charge, in so much, as the wisest Governors and councillors in common weals, have taken the Bees for their pattern in choosing of Princes, distributing of offices, rewarding of virtues, and punishing malefactors. Varro did always call them the birds of the Muses, 
The birds of the Muses.  and Virgil with wonderful colours, doth eloquently set forth the Bees, their common weal, Palaces, buildings, cities, laws, manners, wars, and travails, supposing them to be partakers of reason, and that they have some instinct from above, in that they so near resemble the minds of men, yea many times excel them, touching their obedience to their Prince. 

Virgil.  Not Egypt in his prime, nor Lydia large and wide,  
Ne yet the Parthian people great, nor all the Medes beside.  
Do so their King obey, who being safe and well,  
Their minds are all together one, he only bears the bell.  
On him they cast their eyes, and guard him day and night,  
And often they bear him on their backs, in his defence they fight.  
But if he chance to dye, than all is dashed and done,  
Their combs asunder down they tear, and all to ruin run.  If the King be taken, the whole swarm is had: if he be go, they disperse themselves abroad, for they can not live without a King, hating as well the heedless government, as the subjection to many heads. If the King, or (as we term him) the master Be dye, the whole swarm droupeth and mourneth, they straightways cease from gathering of Honey, they stir not abroad, but only with a heavy and sorrowful humming, they swarm and cluster together about his body. The nature surely of this poor creature is greatly to be wondered at. 
They only of their brood have common care,  

Virgil  And neighbour like their houses nearly stand:  
And ruled are by laws that none do spare,  
Alone they know their home and native land.  
And mindful of the stormy Winter nearer  
In Summer great, to live by all the year.  Their Prince's Palace is sumptuously built, in some several part of their Hives, being mounted above the rest, which if you happen to bruise, you destroy the brood. They live all as it were in a camp, and duly keep their watch and ward, working together, and oftentimes sending abroad their Colonies: they are warned at their Captains appointment, as it were with the sound of a Trumpet, by which they know both their times of wars, and truce: they ward all the day time at their gates in warlike manner, and have great silence in the night, till one of them in the morning humming out the discharge of the watch: they get them abroad to their business, as the Poet hath eloquently expressed. 
Together all they quietly do lie,  
Together all they toyll with equal might: 
Virgil.   
And in the morning forth together fly,  
And home as fast they come again at night.  
Where as they lay their weighed limbs to rest,  
And trim their wings, and set their legs in frame:  
Till every one himself hath thoroughly dressed,  
Then singing at their doors a while they game.  
Till one gives warning for to go to bed,  
Then down they lay to rest their sleepy head.  For when the sleepy time of the night comes in, they make less and less noise, till one of them goeth about with the like sound that he gave in the morning, setting as it were the watch, and giving them warning to go to rest: at which time they all suddenly hold their peace. In the morning (as I said) at the discharge of the watch, they roam strait to the gates, but fly not abroad, except they see the weather will be fair: whereof by nature they have perfect understanding. 
Nor from the Hives, if likely it be to rain,  
They far do stray, 
Bee's foreshowers of stonnes.  nor trust they will the sky:  
If that the Southwind blow, but still remain  
At home, or busied be with waters nigh.  
Short flytes they make, and when such storms they see.  
They bear about the smallest stones they find:  
And as the Botes in floods that ballast be,  
So with the same they counterpoise the wind.  Being loaded, they fly with the wind: if any tempest suddenly arise, they counterpoise themselves with little stones, flying in the wind as near the ground as may be: their labour, both at home, and abroad, is certainly appointed. They labour at the first, within the compass of threescore pace about the Hives: and when the flowers there have been sufficiently wrought, they sand abroad their discoverers to find out more food. And when they fall all together to their business, some work the flowers with their feet, others carry water with their mouths, and drops in their little fleeses: the young lusty fellows labour abroad, the elder at home. Those that go abroad, do with their forelegs lad all their thighs, which nature for the nonce hath made roof: thus being loaded, legs, head, back and all, as much as they may bear, they return home, where there wayghteth commonly three or four at the door to unload them. Within all this while are some laying in order, some building, some making clean, and some making ready their meat: for they feed not severally, for fear of veguiling one the other. They frame their houses archwyse within the Hives, with two passages, so as they may enter one way, and go out an other. Their combs that they make are wrought full of holes, which holes (as Varro saith) are their celles, or lodgings, made every one six square, according to the number of their feet: these celles they do all fill with Honey, filling every one in a day or two. These combs are fastened to the upper part of the Hive, and hung a little upon the sides, not cleaving to the Hive, being now cornered, now round, according to the fashion of the Hive, as both Pliny reporteth, and I shall hereafter show you, when I speak of the framing of the combs. The combs are kept up from falling, with small pyllers and props below, so built as they may go round about to repair them. The three first lofts of their celles beneath, are left empty for fear of the Hive: the uppermost are as full as may be. Such as are loiterers and idle vagabonds amongst them, 
The punishment of loiterers.  are noted, and punished with death. 
Some range for fool and ply the fields abroad,  
Some still at home do labour busily:  
And round about with ware the Hives do load,  
Which from the gums they painfully do try.  
The first foundations for the combs they make,  
And clammy cleaving Wax they fasten by:  
While others of their brood the charge doth take,  
And fosters up the seed that shall supply.  
another sort doth work the Honey pure,  
And fylles the celles with liquor that you see:  
And others are appointed to the door,  
To look abroad what weathers is like to be.  
Or to unload such as have laboured well,  
Or else to drive the drowsy Drone away:  
Their labour smokes and all of time doth smell,  
The Honey sweet that in their combs they lay.  And a little after. 
The great do guide the Hive,  
Make fast their combs and Palaces contrive.   CHENOBOSCUS. 
Of the worthiness, travail, workmanship, and good order of this little creature, you have sufficiently spoken, it now remains that you declare unto us their sundry kinds, their keeping, and their ordering.  MELISSEUS. 
Aristotle maketh many sorts and kinds of them, 
The kinds of Bees.  whereof he counteth the short speckled and well knit, to be best: and next to them, the long one's like Wasps: the third, the kind that they call the Thief, 
The thief.  with a very large body: the fourth, the Drone, 
The drane.  being bigger than all the rest, wanting both his sting, and courage to labour: and therefore they use to make at the entry of their Hives small grates, wherein the Bee may enter, but not the Drone. And the same Aristotle in the Chapter before saith, that there are two kinds of kings, or master Bees, the one of a golden colour, which is counted the best, the other black, & more party coloured: they be twice as big as the other Bees, the tails of them as long as one and a half of the other, they are called of some, the mother Bees, as the chief breeders, 
Breeders.  because the young of the Drones are bred without a king, but the other Bees never. Virgil following herein Aristotle, 
The best sort of Bees.  doth most commend the little, long, smooth, and fair Bee, and making mention of two sorts of kings, the worse whereby he shall do no harm. 

The shape of the king.  Destroy (says he) and let the other live,  
Whose golden how doth glister in the eye:  
And decked with glittering scalls fair show doth give,  
Of far more Grace and far more Majesty.  
With loathsome look the other dot● appear,  
And draggling draws his tail with heavy cheer.  And as there is two sorts of kings, so is there of the other Bees. 
Some ugly seem, and some again do shine,  
Be dashed with drops of goldin colour fine.  Being mild and gentle: for the Bee the greater he is, the worse he is, and if he be angry, and fierce, and round, he is worst of all. And because (as I said before) the best are only to be meddled with, sith the good and the bad are alike chargeble, and require like tendance, and special heed to be had that you meddle not the bad with the good: for less will the increase of your Honey be. if some of your swarms be ill matched. You may store yourself with Bees three manner of ways, either by buying them, taking the wild swarms, or making them by art. Such as you buy, 
What to be considered in buying of Bees.  let them be of the kind and shape that I told you of, and be sure before you buy them, that the swarms be whole and great, which you may judge by looking into the Hives, or if you can not be suffered so to do, you may guess it by other tokens: as if so be you see great numbers clustering at the door of the Hive, and if you hear a great huzzing and humming within: or (if they be all at rest) putting your lips to the mouth of the Hive, and blowing therein, you shall easily perceive by their answering sound, whether their number be great or no. In buying of them beside, you must look whether they be sound, or sick: the signs of their being in health (as shall be showed when I speak of their diseases) is, if their swarms be great, themselves fair, and well coloured, and work lustily. Again, a token of their not being well, is if they be hairy, look loathsomely, and dustely, except at such time as they labour: for than they wax lean and roof with extreme travail. You must make your conjecture likewise by their age: such as are not above a year old, look fair and smooth, and shine, as if they were oiled: the old one's are both in sight and feeling, roof and rugged, and by reason of age, wrinkled: which nevertheless for cunning in making their combs, experience, industry, and skilfullnesse in the weather, do far pass the others. In any wise see that you buy them rather from your next neighbour, then from a strange country, or far of: 
Transporting of Bees.  for they many times perish by change of air, or shaking in the carriage. And if you be driven to carry them far, take heed you neither jog, nor jumble them: the best way to carry them, is upon a man's shoulders, and that in the night time, suffering them to rest in the day, and pouring into them such sweet things as they delight in, and keeping them close. It is better removing them in the spring, then in winter: for they do not so well agreed with winter. If you carry them from a good place to a barren, they will straight ways bid you farewell, and forsake their Hives. When you have brought them to the place where you mean they shall stand, if it be day time, you must neither open them, nor place them, till it be night, to the end they may after the quiet rest of the night, go cheerfully to their work the next morning. Be sure to mark them well beside for two or three days after, whether they go all out or no: for if they do, it is a shrewd sign they will away. Sometime, if the place be good, you shall assay to store yourself with wild Bees: 
The taking of wild Bees.  for although that Bees (as Pliny says) can not be rightly termed either wild, or tame, yet Varro calleth them wild, that breed in wild places, and tame, such as we keep at home: and affirmeth the manner of keeping them to be divers. There is great store of these wild sort in Sarmatia.  PULLARIUS. 
They say, that in Livonia, & Sarmatia, (from whence is brought hither great store of Wax, and Honey) the country people do gather it in great abundance in hollow trees, and desert places.  MELISSEUS. 
The greatest token of Bees, and Honey near, is where they be in great numbers about the waters: for if you see the number but small, it is a sign it is no good place for Bees: and if so be you see they come in great numbers, you may soon learn where their stocks be in this sort, as Columella and others have taught. 
To found out the Bees.  You shall carry with you in a saucer, or such like thing, some red colour, or painting, and standing near to the springs, or waters there abouts, as fast as they come, touch them upon the backs while they are a drinking, with some little straw dipped in the colour: and carry you there, till such time as you see them return. If the Bees that you marked do quickly return, it is a token their houses be not far of, if it be long ear they come, it shows they dwell farther of: wherefore you may judge by the time. If they be near, you may easily find them, if they be far of, you shall come to find them in this sort: take a piece of a Reed, or a Kex, with his knots and joints, and making a small hole in the side, power into it either Honey, or some sweet thing, and lay it by the water: and when you see the Bees have found it, and entered the hole for the savour of the Honey, stop you the hole with your thome, and let but one go out at once, whose course you shall follow, as far as you can see him: and this shall bring you part of the way. When you can no longer see him, let out an other, and follow him, and so an other, one after an other, till you come to the place. Others use to set some little vessels with Honey by the water: which, when some one Bee or other hath happened to taste, she giveth strait knowledge to her fellows, whereby by their flying in number, they come to find out their dwellings. If you find the swarm to be in some such hole as you can not come at them, you shall drive them out which smoke, and when they be out bring them down with the ringing of a latin basin, so as they may settle upon some tree, from whence you may shake them into your Hive. If the swarm be in some hole above in the branches, you may saw of the branch handsomely, and covering it with a white clot, place it amongst your Hives. If they be in the body of the tree, then may you softly saw of the tree above the Bees, and afterward, close underneath them: and being covered as before, carry them home, stopping well the chinks, and rifts, if there be any. He that seeketh the Bees, must begin in the morning, that he may have the hole day before him to mark their labouring. Thus far of the kinds of Bees, and getting to them: now will I show you of the placing of them, 
Standing for Bees.  ordering, and keeping of them. The place for your Bees and your Hives must be so choose, as they may stand quietly, and secret, standing specially in such place, as they may have the Sun in winter, and in the spring time always at the rising, and such as is neither too hot, nor too cold: (for the excess of either, doth hurt them) but rather temperate, that both in summer and winter, they may have moderate warmth, and wholesome air, being far removed from the company of either man, or beast. 
Where neither wound may come, whose blasts forbids  
Them bringing home their loads, nor Sheep, nor wanton Kids.  
To spring among the flowers, nor wandering best,  
Shake of the dew, and trampling spoil the rest.  For they most of all delight in quietness: beware beside, that there be no hurtful creatures near them, 
What vo●mine annoyeth the Bees.  as the Toad, that with his breath doth both poison the be, and also draweth them to him: the Woodpecker, the Swallow, the Sparro, the Stork, Spydars, Harnettes, Butterflies, Serpents, and Moths. 
drive from thy Hives the hurtful Lysart green,  
Keep Throstells, Hens, and other birds vntrewe●  
And Progne, on whose breast as yet is seen,  
The bloody mark of hands that I 'tis slew.  
All these destroy thy Bees, and to their nests do bear,  
Such as they take in flight, to make their young once cheer.  Of such things as hurt your Bees, I will hereafter speak more, where I shall show you of their diseases and harms: in the mean time I will go forward with the placing of them. The place where they should stand, would rather be in the valley, 
The valley better for the Bee, than the hill.  than very high: but so, as the rebound of no Echo do hurt them, which sound is very noisome unto them: so shall they flee with more case and speed to the higher places, and come laden down again with less travail. If the seat of the house will so suffer, it is good to have your Bees stand near your house, and to be enclosed with a hedge, or a pale: but on such side as they be not annoyed with the sent of sink, privy, or dunghill. The best standing, is within the sight of the master, by whose presence they are safest kept. For their better safety (if you fear them) you may set them a yard or more from the ground, enclosing them with little grates left open against every Hive, or so lettysed with stone, as the Bee may easily come out and in, and scape both birds and water: or if you list, you may make a little house by for the keeper, wherein you may lay your Hives for your swarms, and other necessaries meet for your Bees, setting near to the Hives some shadowing trees for them to swarm upon, according to the Poet's advise. 
And plant the Date tree near, or pleasant olive tree,  
That with their floury branches sweet, thy Hives may shadowed be:  
That when the captains young, lead out their lusty swarms,  
The pleasant shade may them allure, to shun the greater harms.  
Not needing for their ease, in places far to roam,  
When as they may more safely sit, and better speed at home.  If it may be, 
Fa●re water 〈◊〉 for Bees.  let them have some fair spring near them, or else some water conveyed in pipe: for without water they can neither make Honey, Wax, nor breed up their young: and therefore saith the Poet. 
Have s●unt aynes sweet at band, or mossy waters green,  
Or pleasant brook that passing through, the Meads is sweetly seen  And straightways after: 
If either standing pool be neither to them nigh.  
Or ●●rning stream with hasly course, their dwellings passeth by,  
Cast ●ow●● of willow cross, and mighty stones withal,  
That may preserve the fainting Bee, that in the flood doth fall.  Round about the Beeyard, and near to the Hives, set herbs, plants, and flowers, both for their health, and profit: specially such as are of the sweetest and delicatest savour: 
Herbs that Bees delight in.  as Cithysus, Thyme, Cassia, Rosemary, savoury, Smallage, Violets, Sage, Lavender, Myrrh, wild Marierum, wild Thyme, Balm, sweet Marierum, Saffron, beans, Mustardseed, poppy, melilot, and Roses. And if there lie ground near it for the purpose, sow it with Rapeseed, and Beechwheate: for they wonderful delight in the flowers hereof. Pliny writeth, that Bees delight greatly to have Broome flowers near them: of trees, they most delight in these. The Pine, the willow, the fir tree, the Almond, the peach, the Pear tree, and the Apple, and such as the flowers thereof be not bitter. Of the wild sorts, the Terebinth, the Lentise, the Lyndtree, the Cedar, and the Mastholme. The best Honey (as Palladius says) is made of Time: the next, of wild Time: the third, of Rosemary. You must remove from your trees, Yew tree, the Box, and the Cornel: Pliny would also have the olive away. Banish also all the kinds of Sporge: for with that, as also with the flowers of the Cornel, they fall into a Flix and dye. Besides, you must suffer no Wormwood, nor wild Cocomber to grow near them: 
Herbs noisome to Bees.  for they both destroy the Bees, & spoil the Hony. And because the flower, or fruit of Elmes doth specially hurt them, therefore in such parts of Italy where plenty of Elms grow, the Bees do not long continued. Touching your Hives, 
Of the Hives.  they are made of divers fashions, according to the manner of the country. Some are made round, some square, some three foot in height, & one in breadth, made very narrow toward the top, lest the Bees should overlabour themselves in filling of them. Some make their Hives of Lantern horn, or Glass, to the end (as Pliny saith) that they may view the manner of their working. Varro maketh mention of earthen Hives well plastered within and without with good Ox dung, so as the roffenesse and ruggedness can not displease them: but for all that, the earthen Hives be the worst that may be, because in Summer they be too hot, and in Winter too cold. The best Hives, are those that are made of Cork wicker, or rinds of trees, because they keep out both cold and heat: the next are such as are made of Straw and Bentes matted together, two foot in breadth, and so much, or more, according to the number of your Bees in height. In some places they make them of one piece of wood, cut and hollowed for the nonce, or of joined boards, five or six foot in height, and these neither are to hot in Summer, nor to cold in Winter. Of these wooden Hives, the best are those that are made of Fig tree, Pine, ash, and Walnutte, of such length (as I told you) and a cubit in breadth. Besides, they would be covered with either Lime, or Ox dung: for so (saith Florentine) you shall keep them long without rotting. You must also boar them through slopewyse, whereby the wind gently entering, may dry up all cobwebs, or such like noyances. You must always have good store of Hives lying by you, that may be removed and easily carried where you list: for the fixed, or standing Hives, be discommodious, as which you can neither cell, nor remove: though Celsus seem to commend the standing Hives, because they are neither subject to stealing nor burning, being made of Brycke, 
How you must place your Hives.  or loam. Your Hives (as Columella out of Celsus doth teach) must stand upon some table of stone, a yard from the ground, and so much in breadth, so smoothed and playstered, as neither Toad, Euette, or Snake may creep up: and in such order they must be placed, as there may be betwixt every one a little wall, or partition, being open both before and behind. If you have no such partitions, then place them so, as they be a pretty way distant one from the other, that in dressing and looking to any one of them, you shake not, nor hurt the other: for a little ●●●ling doth soon mar all their houses, and many times spoil the Bees. It is enough to have three ranks of them, one above the other: for the keeper shall have enough to do, to over look the uppermost. The part where the Bee doth enter, must stand a little lower than the hinder part, so as the rain can not run in, and the water (if there be any) may easily void. And because cold doth more annoy the Bee, than heat, you must arm your Hives well behind, against the hurt and bitterness of the North wound, and let the sun come bountifully to them in the Front. And therefore it is best for you, to make the holes where they come in and out, as small as you may, that they suffice only for the bigness of the Bee, partly for avoiding of cold, & partly to keep out efts, Beetels, Butterflies, Bats, Moths, and such other hurtful vermin, that would otherwise destroy the Coames: wherefore it is good you have two or three such small holes together in every Hive, for the commodity of the Bee, and restraint of the enemy.  PULLARIUS. 
Well, I pray you let us know when the Bee beginneth to labour, and when he ceaseth.  MELISSEUS. 
Because I have declared unto you before their toil, 
When the Bee rests. The beginning and order of his travail.  their diligence, and order of their travail, I will now likewise show you what time they begin to labour. In the winter time, from the setting of the seven stars, till the beginning of the spring, they keep their houses, and come not abroad, by reason of the cold: in the spring, they come straight abroad, and from that time forward (if the weather let them not) they never rest day. First of all, they frame their Coames, and Wax, that is, they make their houses and chambers, whereof they make so many, as they think themselves able to fill: then fall they to breeding, and last of all, to making of Hony. Their Wax, they make of the flowers of trees and plants: their Honey, of the gums and clamminess of trees that are gluey, as Wyllowe, Elmes, Reed, juice, Gum, and Resin: Aristotle saith, they make their Coames, of flowers, their Wax, of Gums, and their Honey, of the dew of the air, that falls chiefly at the rising of the stars, and that there is no Honey made before the rising of the seven stars, and their Coames of flowers, and that the Bees do not of themselves make the Honey, but only gather the honeyed dew that falls, because the keepers find the celles to be filled in some one, or two days: and that the Honey being taken away in the end of Summer, the Hives are not found to be furnished again: though there be flowers enough at that time. This, and much more hereof (saith Aristotle) whom Pliny following him, affir●meth Honey to be made of the air, most of all, at the rising of the stars, chiefly the Dog shining out early in the morning: therefore you shall found in the morning betimes, the leaves of the trees bedewed with honey, as you shall likewise have the apparel, Hear, and Beards, of such as have been early abroad. In the morning, our common people call it Manna, 
Manna.  or honey dew, cleaving to the leaves before the rising of the sun as it were snow, or rather candied Sugar. Whether it be the sweat or excrement of the heavens, or a certain spittle of the stars, or a juice that the air purgeth from himself, how soever it be, I would to GOD it were such as it first came from above, and not corrupted with the vapours and damps of the earth. Besides, being sucked up from the leaves by the Bees, and digested in their maws (for they cast it up at their mouths) and also distempered with the sent of the flowers, ill seasoned in the Hives, and so often altered and transfourmed, losing much of his heavenish Virtue, hath yet a pleasant and a special celestial sweetness in it. The best Honey is of Time, 
The best Honey of Time.  (as I have said before) and good likewise of Cithisus, of the Fig tree very pleasant: Varro saith, they take not their sustenance, and their Honey both from one. A great part of their food is water, which must not be far from them, and must be very clean: which is greatly to purpose in making of good Hony. And when every season suffereth them not to be abroad, they must at such times be fed, lest they should then be forced to live all upon the Honey, or to leave the Hives empty. Some give unto them, water and Honey sodden together in little vessels, 
Bees● their winter food.  putting into it Purple wool, through the which they suck it, for fear of drinking to much, or drowning themselves: others, dry Figs, either stamped by themselves, or mingled with water, or the dross of Grapes, or Reasons mingled with sweet Wine, and toasts made therewith, or with Honey: yea I have seen some use (but in my fancy without reason) to give them Bay salt. Moreover, as Bees require great looking to continually, and their Hives daily attendance, so most of all they crave diligent regard, when they are about to swarm, 
Going away of Bees, and the tokens thereof.  whereunto if you have not a great good eye, they will b idde you farewell, and seek a new master. For such is the nature of Bees, that with every Prince, is bred a common wealth, which as soon as they are able to travail, do as it were disdain the government & fellowship of the old Bee, which most happeneth when the swarms be great and lusty, and that the old stagers are disposed to sand abroad their Colonies, and therefore you shall by two tokens specially know, when the new Princes with their people will abroad. The first, when as a day or two before they cluster and hung (specially in the evening) about the mouth of the Hive, and seem to show by their coming out, a great desire to be go, and to have a kingdom and country by themselves: which, if you prepare them at home, they content themselves very well with it. And if the keeper provide not for them, taking themselves to be greatly injured, they departed, and seek a new dwelling. To prevent this mischief, Columella wills you to look diligently to them in the spring time about eight of the clock, or at noon: after which hours, they commonly go not a way, and to mark well their going out, and coming in. The other sign is, that when they are ready to fly, or going, they make a great humming and noise, as soldiers ready to remove their camp. At their first coming out, they lie aloft playing up & down, as it were tarring for their fellows, till all their company come. Yea, many times the old inhabitants, being weighed of their dwellings, do leave their Hives, which is perceived when they come so out, as none remain behind, and presently mount into the air, then must you fall to ringing of pans and basins, to fear, or bring down the runnawayes, who being amazed with the great and sudden noise, do either presently repair to their old Hive, or else knit themselves in swarm upon the branch of some tree near to the place: then must the keeper out of hand be ready with a new Hive prepared for the purpose, and rubbed with such herbs, as the Bee delights in, or sprinkled with little drops of Honey, (I have seen in some places used Cream) and so shaking them into the Hive, and covering them with a sheet: let him leave them till the morning, and then set them in their place. He must (as I told you before) have divers new Hives in a readiness to serve the turn withal. And if so be you have no trees nor bushes growing near the Hives, you must thrust into the ground certain bows and branches for the purpose, whereupon they may knit and settle themselves, and rub over the bows with Balm, or such pleasant herbs, that when they (as I say knit and settle, 
Bee's delight in new Hives.  putting under the Hive, and compassing them with some little smoke, you ma● 'cause them to fall into a new country: for they will rather go into a new Hive, then into an old: yea, if you offer them the Hive that they came from, they will forsake it for a new. Some of them will suddenly leave the Hive without any tarrying, which the keeper may perceive, 
〈◊〉 of 〈…〉 and 〈…〉.  if he use to lay his ear in the night time to the Hives: for about three days before they go, they make a great noise, like soldiers ready to raise their camp: which Virgil noteth. 
Their minds are easily known for such as stray,  
The brazen sound commands to come away.  
When through them all a warning voice is sent.  
That doth the warlike Trumpet represent.  And therefore when such noise is herded, they must be very well watched, whether they come out to fight, or to flee, the keeper must be at hand: their fights, whither it be among themselves, or one Hive with an other, are easily stickled. 
A little dust cast up on high,  
Doth end the quarrel presently.  Or Honeyed water, sweet Wine, broth of Reasons, or any pleasant liquor, wherein they delight, cast and sprinkled amongst them, doth straightways part them. The self same remedies makes two Princes of them, being fallen out, to be quickly good friends again: 
divers ●●nges in 〈◊〉 Hive.  for when there happeneth many times to be in one Hive sundry kings, by whose dissension that whole number of the subjects in the Prince's quarrels, go together by the ears, you must by all means seek to remedy it, lest by civil dissension, the poor people be destroyed. And therefore, if you perceive them often to fight, your best is to kill the heddest of the dissension, and to appease the fury of the fighters, by those means that I told you before. And when the Martial swarm is settled upon some branch of a tree, look if they hung all together like a cluster of Grapes, which is a sign, that there is either but one king, or if there be more, they be agreed: and then you shall not trouble them, but take them into the Hive, but if so be they hung in two or three clusters, like the paps, or udders of a beast, it is a sign there are divers master Bees that agreed not together: for which you shall search, where you see the Bees to cluster most. Therefore anointing your hands with the juice of Balm, or Beewort, that they may abide you, thrust in your fingers softly amongst them, & shedding the Bees, search well, till you have found the ringleader of the dissension, whom you must take away. What the proportion & shape of the king is, I have told you a little before, that is, something longer than the other Bees, 
The shape of the king.  and lesser winged, of a fair & glistering colour, smooth, & without sting. Howbeit, some of them be shagheard, and ill coloured, which are naught, & to be killed. Let the best (as he saith) were the Crown, who must himself also be deprived of his wings, if he be to busy headed, & will always be carrying his people abroad. So shall you with the loss of his sails, keep him at home spit of his teeth, while he dare not for want of his wings venture out of the doors, 
To keep the king at home.  and so shall he keep his people at home. Dydimus writeth, that your Bees will never go away, if you rub the mouth of your Hive with the dung of a calved Calf. To the same end serveth it, if you stamp the leaves of wild Olives, & garden Olives together, and anoint the Hives in the evening therewithal, or if you wash the Hives & the walls with Honey sodden in water. When an old stock is come to a small number, & that there be not Bees enough to furnish the Hive, you must supply the want with a new swarm, destroying the king of the first swarm in the spring, so shall both the swarms devil together in amity with their old parents, as shall be showed you hereafter, where I mean to speak of repairing the stock. The summer being past, ensueth the time for taking of Honey: to which harvest, the travail of the whole tendeth. 
G●l●ing, o● 〈…〉 the Hives.  The time for gathering thereof, Columella teacheth to be then, when we perceive the Drones to be driven out and banished by the Bees: for, thence they drive the drowsy Drone away. This Drone is an untimely birth, 
The Drone.  and an unperfet Bee, but very like unto the Bee, save that he is bigger bodied, lying always idle in the Hive, not labouring himself, but feeding like a lubber of the sweat of his fellows, yet serveth he for the breeding and bringing up of the young: which when he hath done, they thrust him out of the Hive. 
Time for 〈…〉.  Varro apointeth three seasons for taking out the Honey: the first, at the rising of the seven starres● the second, in summer: the third, at the setting of the seven stars: this sign is when the Hives be heavy, & that they be double furnished. You may make your conjecture by the Bees, when they make great noise within, & when you see them stand dancing and playing at their doors, as also if looking into the Hive, you perceive the mouths of the Coaches to be covered with a Honey film. Dydimus thinketh it to be the best time for the first harvest, the rising of the seven stars, or the beginning of May: the second, the beginning of Autumn: the third, the setting of the seven stars, which is about October. Howbeit, these times be not always precisely to be observed, but according to the forwardness of the season: for if so be you take the Honey before their Coames be ready, they take it ill, & presently leave working. The time for gelding, or driving your Bees, is early in the morning: for you must not at noon trouble your Hives. For this kind of gelding of your Hives, you must have two instruments for the non●e, a foot & a half long, and more: the one of them must be a long knife of a good breadth, having at the end a bending crook to scrape withal: the other must be plain, and very sharp, that with the one you may cut the Coames, & with the other scrape them, and draw out what so ever dregs or filth you ●inde in them. And if your Hives be not open behind, you shall make a smoke with Galbanum, or dry dung, being put into an earthen pan made for the purpose, small at the one end, from whence the smoke shall come, & broad at the other, from which you shall blow up the smoke from the fire, in such sort, as Colum●lla showeth you. This pot you must suffer at the first, to smoke into the Hive, and afterward round about without, and so shall you drive them. He that meddleth in this case with the Bees, 
 must specially keep himself from lechery, and drunkenness, and wash himself clean: for they love to have such as come about them to be as pure and clean as may be. They delight in cleanliness so much, as they themselves do remove from them all filthiness, suffering no filth to remain amongst their labours, raking up in heap together the excrement of their own bodies, which in rainy days, when they work not abroad, they remove and throw out of the Hive If you set Garlic by them, they will sting all that come near them. Their anger is chiefly assuaged by the presence of those that use to tend them, at whose coming they wax wilder, being well acquainted with those that are their keepers. If there be two swarms in one Hive, and agreed together, they have two sorts & manner of Coames, every swarm observing his own order: but all the Coames so hung by the roffes of the Hives and sides, as they touch not the ground where the Bees use chiefly to walk, as I said before in their building of their Coames. The fashion of their Coames, is always according to the fashion of their Hives, 
Fashioning of the Coames.  sometimes square, sometime round, sometime long as the Hives are, in which they are fashioned as in a mould. Pliny writeth, that there were honey Coames found in Germany, of eight foot in length, but howsoever they be, you must not take them all out, but must use discretion in taking of them. Among our people in the first, be harvest (if I may so term it) they use with their crooked knife, to pair away no more but the empty celles, till they come to those that be full, taking good heed that they hurt them not: and this they do in the spring. In the latter harvest, that is, at the end of Summer, they take the Coames full of Honey, in such sort (as I told you) burning the old Bees, and always keeping and preserving the young swarms. In the first taking, when the Meadows are full of flowers, they leave the fift part of the Coames behind: in the latter harvest, when winter approacheth, they leave a third of the Coames for the sustenance of the Bee. But this quantity can not certainly be prescribed for all countries, but must be measured according to the abundance, or want of flowers. Dionysius Thaseus, thinketh good to leave them a tenth of their Coames in the Summer time, if the Hives be very full, otherwise, according to the proportion: and if they be empty, not to meddle with them. Pliny would not have the Honey of the spring time (which he calleth flower honey) to be meddled with all, but to be spared. Others leave no Honey at all for them, because of the abundance of flowers that are then springing, which is the chief foundation of their Coames. Such as be skilfullest, do leave the Bees a twelfth part of their labour: and this they do about a thirty days after the swarm, which they make an end of commonly in May. The old and the corrupt Coames, are for the most part at this time taken away, and the sound, and such as are filled with Honey, left: in taking of the Honey at the latter time of the year, they use to destroy the oldest stocks, to save the charges of feeding of them. This driving and gelding of Hives, is not commonly used in the country, but they rather according to their custom, at the end of the year burn them, alleging for their authority an old english proverb of their own. drive Bees, and lose Bees: burn Bees, and have Bees: and in some places they drown them. When you have thus spoiled your Hives, you shall carry all your Coames into some handsome place, where you mean to make your Honey, and stop up all the holes and crevices of the walls and windows, as close as you may: for the Bees willbe very busy to recover the prey. Your Hives being thus driven, if there be any ill placed Coames at the entry, you shall altar them, and place them in good order, so as the tops stand downward, so when you next geld them, you shall easilyer take out the old Coames, and leave the new, and the Wax shallbe the newer: which the older it is, the worse it is. When so ever you take out your Coames, look that you strain out the Honey the same day, while they are hot and new. The Honey that you take at the full of the Moon (as Pliny saith) yieldeth most, and the fairer the day is, the thicker it is. The Coames being taken out, let them rather be warmed then heated, lest by over heating them, you strain out the Wax with the Honey: afterward, put them into a good strong bag, and with a press, or other instrument made for the purpose, or with a wicker basket, press out the Honey, but see that before you press it, you sever from it such Coames, as have in them young Bees, called with some Grubbes, or any red or rusty dross: for these with their evil juice corrupt the Hony. When the Honey is this strained out, it is put into earthen vessels, and suffered to stand uncovered a few days till it have wrought, and cast up a fit all his drags, which you must often skim of with a little stick: but in many places they are not so curious, but jumble altogether, and so cell it gross as it is. The best Honey is always in the bottom, as the best Oil aloft, and the best Wine in the midst.  CHENOBOSCUS. 
What countries yields the best Honey, and which count you the best?  MELISSEUS. 
The best Honey was in the old time thought to be in Athens, 
The best Hony.  and in Sicil: it is now thought very good that cometh from Moscovia, and the North-east regions. The Honey at the beginning is thin as water, and after the straining, it worketh like new Wine, and spurgeth: at the twentieth day, it waxeth thick, and afterwards, is covered with a thin rind, or film, where the froth of the purging is geathered together. The best Honey, and least infected, the Bees do gather from the leaves of the Oak, the Lindtree, and the Reed. There is three sorts of Honey, 
Three sorts of Hony.  the best kind is that which is called Authim, or flower honey, made in the spring-time: the next, is Summer honey, or hasty Honey, made in thirty days after the tenth of june, when the Dog begins to come in, the third is Heath honey, a wild kind of Honey, and not allowed, being geathered after the first showers of Autumn, while the Heath is in flower: and therefore like the Sandy Hony. The best Honey (as Diophanes saith) is clear, yellowish, smooth in touching, and fine, roping, if it be drawn in length, and long, sticking together, clammy, and hard to be got asunder: the Honey that is of the worst making, is to be boiled. Bread, 
Bread corrupteth Hony.  if it be dipped in it, doth straight corrupt it, and therefore take heed you put it not where Bread hath been. The fragments of the Come that have once been pressed, being taken out, heated, and strained again, do make a second Honey, which you must put up, and keep by itself, for spoiling of the other. Naughty, & counterfeit Honey, is diserned by the burning, for the ill Honey burneth not clear, as the said Diophanes witnesseth. The dross that remains after the pressing, after that you have diligently washed it in sweet water, 
The Making of Wax.  must be put in a brass Cauldron, and putting a little water thereto, melted upon the fire, which when you have done, you must strain the Wax through a Sieve, or such like thing made of Straw, or Rushes: and after seeth it again, and pouring it into some vessel with water, from whence you may eassy take it, make it up in cakes, or what fashion you like. Pliny writeth, that the Coames must first be washed well, and afterward dried in the dark, for the space of three days, and the fourth day set upon the fire in a new earthen vessel, so as the Coames be covered with water, and then strained through a Cive: last of all, boiled again in the same vessel, and the same water, and so poured into vessels with cold water, having their sides nointed with Hony. The Wax will be very white after it hath stand in the Sun, and been twice sodden: you shall make it black with the ashes of Paper, and being mingled with Uermillon, it willbe red, and so otherwise coloured as you list.  CHENOBOSCUS. 
If in the making of your Honey your Bees be almost consumed, what ways have you to repair them?  MELISSEUS. 

Bees decayed.  When as an old stock is come to be small, and that you are to furnish out the number, you must destroy (as I said) the new king in the spring time, 
The repairing of them  when there is a new brood in the Hive, that the new people without discord, may devil with their old parents. And if so be the Coames have not yielded a new brood, you must take the dwellers of two or three other Hives, and put them into one, but so (as you remember before) to sprinkle them with some sweet liquor, and so shut them up with food convenient for them, till they be fully acquainted, leaving but little breathing holes about the Hive, and keep them thus enclosed three days. Others do use to kill the elder king, but that Columella alloweth not: but if the king be very old, (the age of Bees shall shortly be showed unto you) and the people always given to sedition, then shall you choose a king from the Hives, that have most number of kings. I told you before how you should make them agreed, when you put to swarms together, lest they should destroy one an other, ●hat is, to take away the kings of the new swarms.  CHENOBOSCUS. 
What if the whole stock be decayed by taking the Honey, or by sickness and diseases, will they breed again, or may they be repaired by art?  MELISSEUS. 
By bo●h, 
Breeding of Bees.  though the breeding and engendering of Bees, is very doubtful with Aristotle, neither dare he after his long disputations, affirm any certainty thereof: sometime he resiteth the opinions of others, some thinking that they are engendered by coppulation, the Drone being the male, and the Be the female: Other saying, that they bring forth young, but do not engender, but that they gather their young one's, but from whence, they know not. Some say, from the flowers of Marjoram: some, from the flowers of the Reed: others, from the olive flowers, because when soever there is great plenty of olives, there is also great swarms of Bees. There are again, that think the Drones to be so geathered, and the Bees to be bred only of the kings: and a little after, he saith, The young are best bred, when the Honey is made, they labour with their legs the Wax, and with their mouth they cast out the Honey into the celles, and having laid their young, they sit upon them as birds do. The little Worm, or Grub, being thus hatched while he is small, lieth crumpled up in the Come: afterward, sprawleth abroad by his own force, and falls to feeding, cleaving so to the Come, as he seemeth to be tied. The brood of the Bee, and the Drone, is white, of which cometh little Worms, that after grow to Bees, and Drones: thus much, and more, says Aristotle. In other places he would seem to gather, that the Bees are engendered of the kings, saying, that if this were not, there were no reason for such things as are committed in their government, and that the kings by good reason remain still in the Hive without any travail, as only born for breeding. Beside, they be greater, as though their bodies were purposely framed for generation: and they punish the Drones. It is not very likely, that the children should punish the parents, therefore the Bees are not engendered of Drones. Besides, it is a great argument, that Bees are engendered without copulation, that their brood lieth very small at the first, wrapped up in the holes, or celles of their Coames, whereas all other Flies and Worms, that are bred by copulation, do long engender, and quickly lay, in greatness, according to the kind of the Worm. P●inie following herein Aristotle, affirmeth, that Bees do sit as Hens do upon their Eggs: and that which is hatched, is at the first a small white worm lying cross the hole, and cleaving in such sort, as it seemeth to feed. The king is at the first, of a yellowish colour, as a choose flower, framed of the finest substance, neither is he bred a worm, but with wings at the very first. The other common sort, when they begin to have fashion, are called Nymphs, as the Drones, the Sireus, and the Cepheus, whose heads, if any man chance to pull of, they serve as a delicate food to the breeders. After a little time, they power into them food, and sit upon them (making a great noise as it is thought, to procure a heat necessary for their hatching) till breaking a sunder the films that encloseth every one of them like an Egg, the whole brood cometh forth. Pliny addeth, that this was seen and observed at Rome, in a Hive made of latterne horns: the whole brood is finished in five and forty days. As soon as they are brought out, they are taught to travail straightways with their dames, the young people waiting presently upon their young king. There are sundry kings bred for failing, and when they come to age, by common consent, the foulest and untowardest of them are destroyed. That there is two sorts, and what fashion they be of, I told you before.  CHENOBOSCUS. 
Let us now hear something of their age.  MELISSEUS. 
Their age (they say) may thus be known. Such as are not above a year old, 
 do shine, and look as they were newly oiled: the old one's be roof, shagheard, wrinkled, loathsome, and yllfavoured to look upon, howbeit, for making of Coames, these are the best. Aristotle in his book before mentioned affirmeth, that Bees live six or seven years, and that if a stock continued niene or ten years, the keeper of them hath good luck. pliny writeth, that one stock was never seen to continued above ten years, not though you supply the places of the dead every year with new: for commonly in the tenth y●ere 〈◊〉 their first ●●●ng, the whole stock dieth. And therefore to avoid the mischief of being utterly destitute, it is good to increase the number of your Hives, with new swarms every year. And if so be your Bees, through sudden storm, tempest, or cold, lie dead upon the ground, you must gather them together into a platter, 
To revive Bees that b● dead.  or a broad basin, and lay them in your house toward the South, specially if the weather be good, after, cast amongst them ashes of Fig tree wood, being something more hot, then warm, shake them gently up and down, so as you touch them not with your hands, and so setting them into the Sun, they will (as Varro saith) quicken again. To whom Columella subscribing, addeth, that such Bees as you find dead under your Hives, if you lay them up in a dry place all the Winter, and bring them out into the Sun in the Spring, when the weather is fair, and sprinkle them with the foresaid ashes, they will recover within a few hours. They that list, may prove it: I have not hitherto tried it. Marcus Varro holdeth opinion, that Bees are engendered sometime of other Bees, 
Making of Bees.  and sometimes of the body of a young Bullock putrefied, resiting this epigram of Archelaus. 
Of Steer that strangled is, are children strangely bread,  
Of Horse engendered is the Wasp, and Bees, of Bullock dead.  
The Horses breed the Wasps, the Bullocks breed the Bees.  For a young Ox, or Steer, being strangled, corrupted, and cast into some such place, where the putrefied vapour can not breathe out, and store of herbs and flowers agreeing with the nature of the Bees thrust into the body, as Time, Caslia, and such like, wherewith the vapour may be tempered, you shall hereof quickly have Bees, even as you may of the body of a Horse likewise ordered, have Wasps and hornets. Virgil hath described both the manners of engendering of Bees, and the first sort, in these words. 
This use, you wonder would, doth please the Bee,  
The chains unchaste of Venus they detest!  
To file themselves with filthy lechery,  
They judge unmeet, nor willbe so increased.  
But from the plants and pleasant flowers sweet●,  
They fetch their tender brood, and hence they get:  
Both King and Court, and whatsoevers meet,  
To raise their walls, and Empire up to set.  The other manners, 
Bees made of a steer.  or repairing Bees by art, the same Poet eloquently this touched. 
But if your Bees do happen all to dye.  
The breeders go, that should the race renew:  
His lesson learn, whose skilful cunning buy,  
Made Bees, with blood of Bullocks that he slew. etc.  The manner how Bees are engendered of a Bullock, Virgil doth largely discourse out of Mago, and Demberitus. You must frame a little house foursquare, about ten cubits in breadth, and as much in height, with four windows on every side, one. A young fat steer being brought hither, his Nose, his Ears, and all other open ventes stopped, and filled with linen, dipped in Pitch, must be beaten with numbers of Clubs to death, so as both the bones and the flesh, may be broken without any blood: for of the blood, cometh the Bee. Afterwards, the house being deep strawed with Time, and the Bullock laid upon his back, the doors and the windows must be close shut up, and so plastered, as there can no air enter. Three weeks after, the windows must be opened on every side, save where the wind bloweth strongest, and the light and the air let in: when it hath been well cooled and refreshed, the windows must be shut up again, and made as close as before: and being opened the eleventh day after, you shall find the house full of Bees, and nothing left of the Ox, save the horns, the hear, and the bones: they hold opinion beside, that the kings are engendered of the brain, and the other Bees, of the body.  TULLARIUS. 
I like not so costly coming by Bees.  MELISSEUS. 
Of the same opinion is Columella: I tell you but the order of the old skilful fellows, you may choose whether you will try it.  CHENOBOSCUS. 
I had rather you would tell us what siicknesses and diseases they are subject to, and how we may know the sicknesses, and in what sort to help them.  MELISSEUS. 
I will willingly show you. 
Signs of sickness in Bees.  The signs and tokens of their health, is if they be lively, quick, and many in number: if their workmanship be neatly, and equally wrought: if they go about their business cheerfully, and if they look taire and smooth. Their signs of their not being in health, is if they look loathsomely, be roof and hairy, except in the time of their labour, when they commonly look like labourers, or be drowsy, or if you see them carrying out of dead carcases, and following the Corpse's, after the manner of mourners, or that you hear no noise, nor stirring amongst them. These signs when you see, Columella willeth you to give them meat in little troughs of Reeds, specially Honey sodden, and ground with Galls, or Roses. You must also to heal them, perfume them with Galbanum, Reazins', or old strigges of Grapes. If the king happen to dye, the common people wail and mourn with great heaviness, neither will they make any provision for their own sustenance: and therefore if you feed them not, they will famish themselves.  PISSINARIUS. 
With what diseases are they most vexed?  MELISSEUS. 
They are many times infected with the pestilence, 
The diseases of Bees, and the remedies  against which you have no other remedy, then to sever the Hives far a sunder. Their chiefest and early sickness, is in the beginning of the spring, when the Spurge and the Elm do both flower: for as upon new fruits, so at their first coming abroad, enticed with these new flowers, being almost hungerstarven with the winter passed, they feed so greedily, as they fall into a flux, whereof if they be not quickly remedied, they die. For Spurge doth lose the bellies of all other creatures, but the flowers of Elm, bringeth only the flux to the Bee. And therefore in such countries, where there is great plenties of these trees, the Bees continued but a while. Columella teacheth you against this disease, to give them Rosemary sodden with water and Honey: some again use to give them the stolen of man, or bullock: as also the grains of the Pomegranate beaten, and sprinkled with Wine, or Rezins, with the like quantity of Manna kneded together, and given them 〈◊〉 sharp Wine, boiled in an earthen vessel, and powered 〈…〉 Reeds. Virgil describeth an herb called Aumellus, with a yellow stalk, and a Purple flower, the juice of whose roo●e, being sodden in old Wine, and strained out, is very good to be given them. Columella out of Higimus, teacheth to remedy them in this sort. First, to take out all the rotten and corrupt Coames, and to give them fresh meat, and after, to perfume them with smoke. It is good also to put to a decayed Hive, a new swarm, as I said before. Many times, they die of a disease that they call the great devouring, which happeneth when they have made so much Wax, as they think they shall be able to fill, and afterwards, by storm and tempest, many of them be destroyed, so that the remain sufficeth not to fill the Coames, whereby the empty parts of the Coames becometh rotten, and so by little and little infecteth both the Honey, and the Bees. For which the only remedy is, either to put in a new swarm to fill up the celles, or if you have no such swarms, to cut away part of the Coames before they come to be naught, which you must do with a very sharp knife, for fear of displacing the rest of the Coames. A cause beside many times of the death of the Bees, is their too much prosperity, as when there are divers years great abundance of flowers, and the Bees so busy in their feeding, that they forget their breeding, who overweerying themselves with travail, they die, not leaving any brood behind them. It is called Blapsig●nia, when either by sickness, slothfulness, or barramesse, they leave no fruitte behind them. To remedy this, it is good every third day, to shut up the Hives close, leaving but very small holes, out of which they can not creep: so shall they be forced to look to their brood, when as they can not otherwise range abroad. 
What hurts Be●s.  Many times beside they are the cause of their own deaths, when perceiving their Honey to go away, they feed to greedily. Their own Honey doth also many times destroy them: for being touched with it on the back, they are so limed, as they can not stur: and Oil doth not only kill Bees, but also all other like creatures, Flies and Worms. They hate all filthy favours, and sting such as smell of ointments: they are often besieged with Wasps, hornets, and great gnats: the Swallow doth oftentimes spoil them: the Woodpecker doth with his long tongue, thrust into the Hive, lick up their Honey, and divers other Birds (as I have said before) annoyed them. The Toad bloweth them, and sucketh them up at their own doors, who sustains no hurt by their stinging. Sheep are also hurtful and troublesome to Bees, in whose fleeses, they so tangle themselves, as they can hardly get out. In the waste woods of Sarmatia, where they make their Coames in the hollow fir trees, the Bear for the desire of the Honey, climbeth up to them, and robbeth them. Against these Bears, the Beekeepers use to hung before their Hives, 
To keep Bees from Bears.  great Maules and Beetles, which the more angrily the Bear shoveth aside, with the greater sway they come upon his head again, whereby the Bees are well de●ended. The savour of Crevisses, if any man boil them near to them, doth kill the Bees: the Echo is also a great enemy to them, that with her resounding, doth shake and fear them, and hurtful to them is also the mist. The Spider is also their deadly foe, and where they can prevail, make havoc of the Hives, setting their webs and nets in every corner, to overthrow the poor Bee. The night Butterfly, that flieth about the candle, is hurtful to them two ways: for they both consume the Coames, and of their excrements left behind them, is engendered Moths, in the very wood beside, breeds a Worm that consumeth the War. These hurtful vermin, the careful keeper must diligently labour to destroy, and prevent, and look that he pluck up all such bushes and plants, as offendeth them, not suffering any such to grow near them: and to keep all hurtful cattle from them, letting them always have such things at hand, as they most delight in. For the keeper hath work enough to turn him to all the year long: for after the twelfth of March, 
Hives pur●ed in the s●●ng.  their Hives must be opened and looked unto, that all the rubbish and filth of winter, may be swept away, and the Spiders that spoil the Coames, plucked out, and that they may be smoked with smoke made of Ox dung, 
Smoke good for Bees.  or linen, (as I spoke of before): for smoke is of nature profitable to the Bees. And though it be troublesome for the time to them, yet is it certainly very wholesome for them. The Worms, besides Moths, and Butterflies, must be killed, which cleaving like a pestilence to the Coames, do fall away if you mingle with your dung the marrow of the Ox, and laying it upon the coals, make your smoke: with this order shall your swarms be kept still in health, and shall be better able to abide their labour: this kind of purging them must be often used, from the Calends of April, till the fall of the leaf. The keeper must keep himself (as I said before) clean from drunkenness, lechery, and all unclean and strong savering scents: for they love to be purely and faithfully looked unto, (as hath been often said) About an eight and forty days after the entering of the sun into Aries, they begin to swarm, and at the same time do many stocks perish, that have few and diseased Bees. About the same time, are bred in the uttermost parts of the Coames a brood of a greater bigness, which some count to be the kings: 
O●stri.  others call them Breeze, because they course and chase the Bees, and therefore think it good to destroy them. From the rising of the seven stars, that is, from the fifth Ideses of May, till the tenth, or the twelfth of june, they use to cast their swarms, at which season, they must be carefully looked unto for going away: from that time, 
times for s●●●m●ng.  till the rising of the Dog, or the coming in of the Dog days, which is almost thirty days (as Columella says) the harvest is both for Honey, and Corne. In what sort the Hives are to be driven and gelded, is showed before: but at this time, and till the twelfth of September, the Hives must be opened every tenth day, & smoked. The Hives being thus smoked, you must refresh the Bees, with sprinkling and casting into the empty parts of their Hives, very fresh and cold water: and if any thing remain, not washed away, you must sweep it of with a Goose wing. Besides, the Moths, if they appear, must be sweeped away, and the Butterflies killed, which dwelling in the Hives, are commonly a bane to the Bees: for they both eat up the Wax, and with their dung, do breed a kind of worm that they call Hive Moths. 
To destroy Butterflies.  These Butterflies, as Columella teacheth, you may when the Mallow flowreth (at which time there is greatest number of them) destroy in this sort. You must have a vessel of Brass very high and strait, narrow necked and mouthed, in the bottom whereof, you must have a light, and set it in the evening near unto your Hives, and you shall see all the Butterflies straightways fall to the light, and while they play about the flame, they burn themselves, while they can neither get up, by reason of the straightness, nor shun the fire, by means of the brazen walls. Betwixt the risings of the Dog, and of the Bearward, which are almost fifty days, you must take good heed your Bees be not spoiled by hornets, which at that time lie in wait for them, even at their own doors. After the rising of the Bearward, about the twelfth, or fourteenth of September, is the second harvest of your Honey: from that time, till the setting of the seven stars, which is about forty days, the Bees do provide for their winter store, of the flowers of Heath, Tamariske, and other bushes and shrubs, of which provision you must take nothing, lest you discourage them, and drive them away: from the setting of the seven stars (which is about the entrance of November) the beginning (if we may believe Pliny) of winter. The Bees live all the winter long, upon such store of Honey, as they have laid up: at this time, the Hives must be opened and cleansed of what so ever filth is in them, and diligently ordered, for during the winter time, your Hives must neither be opened nor stirred, and therefore in the end of the Summer, 
No stuning of Bees in Winter.  while the weather is yet mild and temperate, your Hives being made clean in some Sunny day, see that you thrust under them, certain close covers that may reach to the very bottom of the Coames, not leaving any void space, whereby the Hive shall be the warmer. When you have this done, close up every rift and open place with Clay, and bullocks dung mingled together, daubing it all over without, leaving only a little hole to come in and out at. You must arm them also against the cold and tempest, with good coverturs of straw and bows. Some use to put into the Hives, small Birds being drawn, which with their feathers keep the Bees warm all the Winter, and wherewith, if they happen to lack food, they feed themselves sufficiently. Yea, it hath been seen they have so fed upon them, as they have left nothing but the bore bones: howbeit, as long as their Honey sufficeth, they never meddle with the Birds. It is very good and necessary (as I told you before) to set them meat in little troughs of Reeds, to defend themselves against famine. When Winter is past, in the space of forty days, they make an end of all their Honey, except their keeper deal the more liberally with them. It hath often also been seen, that their Coames being empty, they have continued fasting, till the Ideses of February, and cleaving to the Coames, as if they were dead, have yet retained their life: but lest they should loose it altogether, it is good to power them in some sweet liquors by little pipes, whereby they may sustain their lives, till the Swallow with her appearing, promise' a welcomer season. After which time, when the weather will suffer them, they begin to seek abroad for themselves: for, after the Sun is in the Aeq●inoctial, they never rest, but travail painfully every day, and gather flowers, and necessaries for their breeding. Besides, because few places are so fruitful, as they yield flowers both Summer and Winter: therefore in such places, where after the Spring and Summer (at which times, both Beans, Rapes, Wyllowes, and other plants and herbs, in every place do flower) the flowers do fail, they are carried of divers (and that in the night, as I told you before) into such places, whereas there is good store of late flowering herbs, as Time, wild Marierum, and savoury, wherewith they may be fed, gather food at their pleasure, and, as Columella writeth, that Bees in the old time, were brought from the fields of A●●aia, to the pastures of Athen●, and so transported in divers other places. So may we with us carry them, from places where the flowers be consumed in the Spring, to the summer flowers, as Clover, and such other: and after that, about the end of the Summer, to places furnished with Heath, Tamariske, & such other late bearing flower. For the avoiding of this inconvenience of carrying from place to place, I will show you in what sort I have ordered my Beeyard at home. And because master Hers●ach hath showed you before in his Garden many good herbs, and yet not whereto they serve, I will show you a few plants that I have set about my Bees, serving both for their commodity, and the health of my household. I have choose of a great number, such as be most necessary, and of greatest virtue: whose special virtues, and wonderful woorkinges, given only by the most gracious and bountiful framer of the World, and being as it were sucked and drawn out by the careful toil and diligence of the Bee, must needs add a greater perfection to their Honey, and their Wax. I have first enclosed the yard, where my Bees stand, with a quickset hedge made of Black thorn, and Honysoc●e the one of them serving the Bee with his flowers at the beginning of the spring, 
Black thorn  and the other at the latter end of summer. The first, the Black thorn beareth a pleasant white flower, so much the welcomer to the Bee, as it is the very farewell of the Winter: for he commonly flowreth not till the Winter be past. These flowers newly geathered and steeped all a night in the best and strongest Wine, and afterwards distilled in Balneo Marie, being drunk, helpeth any pain in the sides, as hath been certainly proved. Tragus the German confesseth, that with this only water, he hath cured all manner of pains about the stomach, heart, or sides. Wine made of the Slow, and preserved until july, or August, when the bloody flux most reigneth, is a sovereign medicine against it. 
Woodbine  The other, the Honysocle, or Woodbine, beginneth to flower in june, and continueth with a passing sweet savour, till the very latter end of the summer. The water thereof distilled and drunk, two or three days together at times, assuageth the heat of the stomach, helpeth the Cough, and shortness of breath. Rags of linen dipped therein, and applied, do heal any heat of the eyes, or liver. Next unto my Hives, I have planted the sweet herb Melissa, or Apiastrum, called in English, Balm, 
Balm.  with a square stalk, a leaf like a smooth Nettle, and a yellow flower, and groweth almost in every Hedge, an herb well known to the old women in the country, and greatly desired of the Bee. This Melissa, or Balm, sodden in white wine, and drunk two or three mornings together, purgeth the breast, helps the shortwinded, comforteth the heart, driveth away the dumpish heaviness, that proceedeth of Melancholy, helpeth the falling sickness and almost all other diseases: being chopped small, and steeped a night in good white wine, and afterwards distilled, is greatly commended, not only in delivering women from their pangs and griefs of the mother, being drunk to the quantity of three or four spoonfuls, but also cureth the pains or fainting of the heart, called commonly the passion of the heart. Cardamus greatly commends this herb, for the comforting and renewing of a decayed memory, and affirmeth, that it is a causer of sweet & pleasant sleeps. Next unto this, have I growing that sweet and precious herb Angellica, 
Angellica.  whose seeds I first received from that virtuous and godly Lady, the Lady Golding in Kent, a Gentlewoman that setteth her whole felicity in the fear and service of the Almighty: this herb is in flower, seed, leaf, stalk, and savour, so like unto Lovage, as they may hardly be discerned the one from the other, the leaf doth in a manner resemble the Fig leaf, saving that it is more jagged, and indented round about. If any man be suddenly infected with the pestilence, fever, immoderate sweat, let him take of the root of this Angellica in powder, 
For want of Treacle, you may take the whole dram  half a dram, and putting to it a dram of Treacle, mingle them together with three or four spoonfuls of the water distilled of the said root, and after he hath drunk it, let him lie & sweat fasting, for the space of three hours at the lest: thus doing, by the help of God, he shall escape the danger: the root steeped in Vinegar and smelled unto, and the same Vinegar sometimes drunk fasting, doth preserve a man from the pestilence: to be short, the root and the water thereof, is sovereign against all inward diseases, it scoureth away the collections of a Pleurisy beginning, helpeth ulcered and corrupted Loonges, and is good against the Colic, Strangury, & restraint of women's purgations, and for any inward swelling, or inflammation, the juice thrust into a hollow tooth, aswageth the pain, the water dropped into the ear, doth the like: the said juice & water put into the eye, quickeneth the sight, & taketh away the thin skins and rinds that covereth the eye. Besides, a most present remedy in all deep and rotten sores, is the juice, the water, or the powder: for it cleanseth them, and covereth the bone with good flesh. It was called in the old time Panacea, or Heal●al. Next unto this Angellica, have I growing in great plenty, Cardus Benedictus, 
Cardus Benedictus.  or blessed thistle, which the Empirics, or common proalizers, do commend for sundry and great virtues, affirming, that it was first sent out of India, to Frederyck the Emperor, for the great Virtue it had against the headache, or megrim, being eaten, or drunken. Likewise they say, it helpeth against the dasing, or giddiness of the head, maketh a good memory, and restoreth the hearing. For the proof of his great force against poison, they bring forth a young maiden of Pavy, that having unwares eaten of a poisoned Apple, and therewithal so swollen, as no Treacle, nor medicine could cure her, was at the last restored to health, by the distilled water of this thistle: and likewise that a boy, into whose mouth as he slept in the field, happened an Adder to creep, was saved by the drinking of this water, the Adder creeping out behind, without any hurt to the child. In fine they affirm, that the leaves, juice, seed, and water, heals all kind of poisons, and that the water hath healed a woman, whose breast was eaten with a canker to the very ribs. I have also set in this little piece of ground, great store of the herb called Numularia, or Penigrasse, 
Penygrasse.  which creepeth close by the ground, having upon a long string little round leaves, standing directly one against the other, and a yellow flower, like the crowfoot. It is a sovereign herb for healing of wounds, not only outward & green wounds, but also inward sores and ulcers, specially of the Loonges, whereof there hath been good proof. Tragus affirmeth, that he hath seen dangerous, & desperate wounds cured with this herb, being boiled with honey and Wine, and drunk. It heals exulcerations of the breast and Loonges, and may be well given to those that cough, and are short breathed, and to little children diseased with the dry cough, who by reason of their tender age, may take no stronger medicine: I have seen good plenty of it growing by the shadowy Ditches, about great Peckam in Kent. I have beside there, growing Scabious, 
Scabious.  an herb that groweth commonly in Corn, with a jagged leaf, lying round upon the ground, and thrusting out in Summer a long stalk, with sundry branches, the flowers growing in blue knops or tufts, like Honycomes. This herb being sodden with white wine, and drink, doth help the Pleurisy, against which diseases, the women of the country, that many times take upon them to be great D●ct●esses in Physic, do still the water thereof in May, and give it to be drunken at each time, two or three spoonfuls, not only against the Pleurisy, but against inward imposternes, coughs, and all diseases of the breast. Against imposternes, divers (as Tra●us writeth) do make this composition, they take a handful of Scabious, the herb dried, of Liquerisse cut small an ounce, twelve Figs, Fenell seed an ounce, aniseed as much, Or as half an ounce, these they lay all a night in water: the next day they boil them, till a third part be consumed, and after making it sweet with Sugar, or Honey of Roses, they give it wa●me in the morning and the evening, wherewith they say, the imposterne is ripened, made soft, and caught out.  ●VLLARIVS. 
I remember, that passing by the house of that honourable Baron, the Lord Cobham (whose house you shall seldom see without great resort, by reason of his noble disposition, and honourable entertainment that he giveth to all comers) I chanced to see in his Park at Cobbam, a certain herb called Veronica, 
Veronica.  whereof I have herded virtues.  MELISSEUS. 
That can I also show you amongst the herbs that I have about my Bees: it is called of some Feveriwm, and Veronica, as it is supposed of a certain French King, who was thought by the juice thereof, to be cured of a great Leprosy, it is called in english Fluellin: it creepeth low by the ground, as Penigrasse doth, and beareth a leaf like the Blackthorne, with a bluish speckled flower, with a seed enclosed in little pouches, like a shepherds purse, and groweth commonly under Okes. D Hieron writeth, that the force thereof, is marvelous against the pestilence, and contagious airs, and that he himself hath often times proved. The water of the herb steeped in white Wine, and distilled therewithal, he hath cured sundry times, hot burning and pestilent fevers, as well in young men, as in old. Hieron Transchweyg, commends it to be singular good for all diseases of the Spleen: the shepherds of Germany, give it with great profit made in powder and mingled with salt, to their cattle diseased with the cough, being steeped in Wine and distilled, it is a most present remedy in all pestilent fevers: being given two ounces thereof with a little Treacle, and after laid warm in bed, and well covered, it expelleth the poison by sweat, and driveth it from the heart. The water of this herb taken certain days together, two ounces at a time, helpeth the turnesicke giddiness of the head, voideth phlegm, purgeth blood, warmeth the stomach, openeth the stopping of the Liver, heals the diseases of the Loonges, and the Spleen, purgeth the Uaines, the Matrice, and the Bladder, it driveth out sweat and venom, helpeth the jandise, the stone of the Reygnes, and other grievous diseases. You shall also have amongst these plants of mine, the good sweet herb Cariphilata, or of some, Benedicta, of others, Sanamanda, called in English Aueus, 
Aueus.  whose root whether it be green, or old, resembleth the Clove in savour: the leaf is jagged, roof, of a darkish green, and not much unlike to Agrimony: the flower is yellow, and after the falling thereof, leaveth a prycly knop like a Hedgehog: the root, the longer it hath grown, the sweeter it is: the special use of this root in some countries, is to be put in Wine in the spring time: for it maketh the Wine to taste and savour very pleasantly: which Wine, as many hold opinion, doth glad the heart, openeth the obstruxion of the Liver, and heals the stomach, that is over burdened with cold and gross humours: this root boiled in Wine and given warm, doth ease the grief of the stomach, or the belly, proceading of either cold, or wind. Hard by this herb, have I planted the great water Betony, called of some, Ocimastrum, of Mathiolus, Scrophularia Maior: it hath a great square stalk, and big leaf indented round about: the the flower is in colour Purple, and in fashion like the shell of a Snail, it flowreth in june and july, and groweth most by waters in shadowy places. Tragus teacheth to make a special ointment thereof, serving against all scabs and sores, wherewith he says, he hath seen people so mangy, as they have seemed even Lepers to be cured: his ointment is this. Take the herb, roots and all, gathered in May, washed and well cleansed from all filth, stamp it, and strain out the juice, and keep it in a narrow mouthed glass well stopped, wherein you may keep it a whole year, and when so ever you list to make your ointment, take of the same juice, of Wax and Oil, of each a like quantity, and boil them together upon a chafing-dish of coals, stirring them well, till they be incorporated, and so use it. Mathiolus teacheth to make a singular ointment thereof against Kernels, the kings evil, and the Hemrodes: his order is this. You must gather the roots in the end of summer, and after that you have made them very clean, stamp them together with fresh Butter, and putting them into an earthen vessel close covered, set them up in some moist & dampish place, suffering it there to remain for the space of fifteen days: afterwards, let the same Butter be melted with a soft fire, and being well strained, lay it up for your use. There have I also an other excellent herb, called in Latin Cardiaca, 
Cardiaca.  I know no name for it in English, except you will call it Motherwort, and in deed it is the very true Motherwort: it groweth by high ways, and near to stone walls, it hath a leaf something like a nettle, but more indented, the leaves next to the root being jagged like the crowfoot: it groweth bushing with many stalks, I have seen it plentifully in Surry, and some store of it about Maydstone in Kent: it is of great force against any sickness of the heart, whereof it taketh his name: it helpeth Cramps, & Palsies, it cleanseth the breast from phlegm, it killeth Worms in the body, openeth cold obstructions, provoketh Urine, and women's Courses: being made in powder, and a spoonful of it given in Wine, it wonderfully helpeth the hard labours of women.  CHENOBOSCUS. 
I marvel you have no store of Betony also: 
Betony.  for I have seen the Bees labour diligenttly upon it, and have herded, that it is of great virtue.  MELISSEUS. 
I have great store in deed of it, but that I forgot to tell you of it, it is known so commonly, as I need not to describe it unto you: whosoever is troubled with breaking of wound, and weakness of stomach, and those whose stomachs retain not their meat, or whosoever feels a sour belching from his stomach, and is therewith often troubled, let them continually use Betony, either the herb and flower boiled in Wine, or the water distilled, or the Conserve (as they call it) of the flowers. And if so be you lack the Conserve, or the water you may use the dry herb in powder, either by itself, or with Honey: women that are troubled with the mother, may use this herb for their remedy. To be short, the flower, leaf, and root of Betony sodden & drunk, or howsoever you will, in Electuary, Conserve, Syrup, Potion, or Powder, as you list to take it, is singular good in the diseases of the stomach, liver, spleen, kidneys, and bladder, it freeth the Matrice from obstruction, and draweth from thence all hurtful moistures. For consumptions of the Loonges, Coughs, Dropsies, continual and putrefied Fevars, proceeding from the stomach, boil the leaves and flowers of Betony in Honeyed water, and you shall have present help. Thus have I showed you what kind of herbs I have planted about my Bees, to the end they should have food at hand of the sweetest, and the holsomest: I have showed you also the virtues of the herb, the flower, and the water, that you may use for your own commodity: only this warning I give you, that you do not distill them, as the unskilful do, in stills of Lead, Tin, and Brass, which poisoneth and spoileth the water, but in Glass Stills, set in some vessel of water upon the fire, whereby your water shallbe most perfect and wholesome. The difference of these two distillinges, appeareth plain: for example, in Wormwood, which if you distill in your common Styllatories, the water cometh out sweet, having got a corrupt quality by the nature & corruption of the metal: whereas, if you do it in Stills made of Glass, looking that the Glasses be well closed round about, your water shall have the very taste, savour, and property of the herb. With these Glass Stills you may so order your fire, as you may draw out of every herb, the water, spirit, oil, and salt, to the great comfort of sick and diseased people. I set beside, great plenty of savoury, Heath, Tamariske, & without the Beeyard, Broome, in whose flowers the Bee much delighteth. I keep you here peradventure too long in so small a matter. 
Small is the thing, yet small is not the gain:  
If gracious god's permit, and Phoebus' not disdain.  As the heathen Poet writeth: but I will here make an end of my talk, that hath perhaps been thought too long.  
FINIS.  
Soli Deo.   

Old English rules, for purchasing land.  

Who so willbe wise in purchasing.  
Let him consider these points following.   

FIRST see that the land be clear,  
In title of the selleare.   

And that it stand in danger,  
Of no woman's down.   

See whether the tenure be bond or free,  
And release of every feoffee.   

See that the seller be of age,  
And that it lie not in mortgage.   

Whether a tail be thereof found.  
And whether it stand in statute bond.   

Consider what service longeth thereto,  
And what quitrent thereout must go.   

And if it be come of a wedded woman,  
Think thou then on covert baron.   

And if thou may in any wise,  
Make thy charter with warrantise.   

To thee, thy heirs, assigns also,  
Thus should a wise purchaser do.    

¶ Faults escaped in the printing.  
leaf. Page. Line. Faults. Corrections. 2. 1 2 Now if We if 3 2 7 hear he preacheth here preacheth 26. 2 18 part for the wheat part for the whole 27. 1 22 why or shoulder-blade with one shoulder-blade 46. 1 14 great occupiers great occupyings 47. 1 35 For law For right law 5. 2 11 himself herself 47. 1 14 that be subject. etc. or be subject to invasions 49. 1 12 In chargeable ne chargeable 52. 2 28 In Gellaci Nigella 100 1 9 willow grew willow grove 111. 1 13 titled tilled 112. 2 3 meet meeter 115. 2 29 at the first at first 115. 2 29 limb limbs. 118. 2 34 Horsed housed 124. 2 17 ache agewe 124. 2 17 fern free 124. 2 36 wherefore whereof 128. 1 23 which when with whom 128. 2 11 that save that 133. 1 16 for Ortinent, read Orlament where 134. 2 16 so ever you find it in beasts medicines. 134. 2 17 as broad as broad as a Groat 146. 1 8 the beasts the bodies 149. 2 3 roam run   

¶ A TABLE OF ALL such principal matters and words as are contained in this Book, wherein the first side of the leaf is signified by A. and the second by B. and whereas the Book is in sundry places noted with one number twice, the second number is showed by this mark * before the number.  


A.  ABlaqueation of Vines. 
82. b.  Africa, her fertility. 
19 a.  Aglaus judged happy by Apollo. 
7. a.  Ambition to bemoderated. 
1. b.  Almonds. 
94. a.  Almond tree. 
 Annyse. 
57 b.  Angelica. 
68 a.  Angelica, the virtues. 
190. b.  Anthony the saint, his answer 
4. b  Arcturus, his setting. 
139. a.  Armaracia. 
59 a.  Abrecocks. 
96. b.  Aruneus, what. 
144. b.  Ass, her foaling. 
125. a.  Ass, the stallion. 
126. a.  Ass, his remedy for halting. 
125. b  Ass, his use. 
125. a  Asparagus, the berries. 
54. b  Asparagus. 
54. a  Axeltrees the best wood. 
108. b.  Ashes for dung. 
20. b.  ash grove. 
102. b.  ash tree. 
106. b.  Appletrees, how to set. 
90. a.  Apples, their kinds. 
90. a.  Ass' wild. 
125. a.  Apple lofts. 
12. b.  Apples, their ripeness. 
88 a.  Amber. 
110. a.  Avens, the virtues. 
192. a.    


B.  Basyll. 
65. a.  Barnacles growing out of trees. 
165. b.  Bee's delight in new hives. 
181. b.  Bees lost, their repairing. 
186. a.  Bees tame. 
177. a.  Bee's best to be bought, and how. 
176. b.  Bees clustering, what betokeneth. 
181. a.  Bees bread of a steer. 
186. a.  Bees, how to be carried. 
177. a.  Bees, what angreth them. 
182. b.  Bee's wild. 
177. a.  Bees expelled by smoke. 
177. b.  Bees Mases birds. 
174. a.  Bees, plants pleasing them. 
179. a.  Bees, plants hurtful to them 
179. a.  Bees to 〈◊〉. 
186. a.  Bees if they br●ede not. 
187. b.  Bees w●lde, their taking. 
177. a.  Bee's fo●eshewers of weather. 
175. a.  Bees sit. 
185.  Bees not to be removed in winter. 
189. a.  Bees in hollow trees. 
177. b.  Bees how to order. 
188. a.  Bees must stand near the master. 
178. b.  Bees clean water. 
178. b.  Bee's attendance all the year. 
188. a.  Bees hunted by Harnettes. 
189. a.  Bees hurt by Echo. 
188. a.  Bees, smoke good for them. 
188. b.  Bees to keep from Butterflies. 
189. a.  Bees, what hurts them. 
187. b. 178. a  Bees, wh●t doth them good. 
188 b  Bees hurt by Elm flowers. 
187. a.  Bees hurt by spurge. 
187. a.  Bees better the valley, than the hill. 
178. b.  Bees, to heal their diseases. 
187. a.  Bees, their age. 
185. b.  Bees cleansing the hives. 
189. a.  Bee's health, the tokens. 
187. a.  Bees idle, their punishment. 
175. b.  Bee's harvest, or diving. 
182. a.  Bees to drive, what smoke. 
182. b.  Bee's meat. 
180. b.  Bees several labours. 
175. b.  Bees, the master, where to seek. 
182. a.  Bees swarming time. 
188. b.  Bee's hatching. 
185. b  Bees their watch. 
174. b.  Bees, the taking of the comes. 
182. a. and 188.  Bees, the drones. 
176. a. and .182. a  Bees roaming away, to restrain. 
181. b.  Bees roaming away, the signs. 
180. b.  Bees, their industry. 
174. a.  Bees how to find. 
177. b.  Bees their winter food. 
180. b.  Bees angry, to appease. 
183. a.  Bees, the breeders. 
176. a.  Bee's harvest double. 
183.  Bee's diseases, their preserving. 
187. a.  Bees when they begin to labour. 
180. a.  Bee's rest. 
175. a.  Be, the old master, what to do. 
182. a. and 184. b.  Be the master, divers in one hive. 
181. b.  Bees, their palaces. 
174. b.  Bees, their government 
.174. b.  Be the master, his making. 
176. b.  Bees common wealth. 
174. b.  Be the master restrained. 
182. a.  Bees to make. 
186. b.  Bees, their standing. 
178.  Bees removed for food. 
189. b.  Boar and Bull common. 
* 127. b.  Beets. 
57 b.  Betony. 
66. a.  Betony, the virtues. 
193. a.  Byrche. 
102. b. and .107. a.  Bizontes. 
137. a.  Borage. 
61. b.  Bullocks, their fatting. 
* 128. b.  Bullocks, how to buy. 
128. a.  Bullocks, their shape. 
128. a.  Busses. 
127.  Bullocks, their food. 
128. b.  bullocks halting, remedy. 
131. b.  bullocks ill digestion. 
130. b.  bullocks bitten with a mad dog. 
132. b.  bullocks hydebound. 
132. b. and 134. b.  bullocks fever, the cure. 
131. b.  bullocks ache in the sinews. 
132. a.  bullocks mangers. 
129. b.  Bullocks, their hooves worn. 
132. a.  Bullocks, the flux. 
131. a.  Bullocks, to preserve them. 
129. b.  Bullocks, mangy. 
132. b.  bullocks sores mattering. 
132. a.  Bullocks he'll hurt. 
132. a.  bullocks hoof hurt. 
132. a.  bullocks watering. 
129. a.  bullocks pasturing. 
129. a.  bullock, the tail. 
131. a.  bullock, the cough. 
131. a.  bullock how to setter. 
133. a.  bullock, the murryne. 
132. b.  Bullock's long sick. 
133. a.  Bullocks, the yellows. 
133. b.  bullocks liver sick. 
134. a.  Bullocks, the blame. 
134. a.  Bullocks, the sprenges. 
134. a.  Bullocks, the staggers, and the daisy. 
134.  bullocks pissing blood, the panteys, taint, and g●rgyse. 
136. b.  Bullocks, for all diseases. 
136. b.  Blackethorne flowers, the virtues. 
190. a.  Balm, the virtues. 
190. a.  bugloss. 
61. b.  bean, the straw, and the offill. 
33. a.  Beech grove. 
101. b.  Beech. 
106. b.  Bull common. 
127. b.  Bull, his making. 
128. a.  Beech wheat. 
31. a.  Birdlime, the making. 
110. a.  Baytree. 
93. b.    


C.  Camel of Arabi. 
126. d.  Camel of Bastria. 
126. b.  Camel, her foaliug. 
127. a.  Cameleopard. 
127. a.  Camels engender backward. 
127. a.  Corn fields and Vineyard compared. 
77. b.  Caution in buying of land. 
46. a.  S. Tho. Chaloner. 
122. a.  Courtiers, their gorgeous misery. 
7. a.  Colwoortes, the seed for oil. 
56. b.  Chalk used for dung. 
20. b.  camel engendering with Boars 
127. a.  Candles of trees. 
110. a  Coals of wild Oak. 
109. a  Coals of jumper. 
107. b.  Coals, what wood to be made of. 
109. a.  Carottes. 
59 b.  Cheese of huge bigness. 
147. b.  Cheese parmasia. 
147. b.  Cheese not to be made of be●ste● that have more than four paps. 
147. b.  Chestnuts. 
94. b.  Cato's answer touching biceding. 
111. b.  Cato's Oracle. 
15. a.  Cabbage. 
56. a.  Co●le crompled. 
56. b.  Citrons. 
91. a.  Cordum, a kind of Hay. 
45. b.  Cotryander. 
57 a.  Corn●lltree. 
92. b.  Cresinus, his diligence. 
46. a.  Coucomber. 
62. a.  Cumyn. 
57 a.  Cypress. 
107. b.  Cyrus' king, nursed by shepherds. 
113. a.  Cytisus. 
37. b.  cattle their breaking. 
128. a.  Colts their handling. 
119. a.  cattle keeping and tillage their fellowship. 
111. a.  cattle keeping, the antiquity and woorthynesse. 
113. a.  Cork tree. 
109. a.  Cork grove. 
101. b.  Gornefloore. 
12. b.  Cow barren. 
128.  Castryl. 
170. a.  Cow, her age. 
128. b.  Cow, her making. 
128. b.  Cow, her calving. 
* 127. a.  Calves their gelding. 
* 127. b.  Cocks their choice. 
158. a.  Capons, their making. 
161. b.  Chickens hatched without the Hen. 
159. a.  Chickens diseases and remedy. 
160. a.  Cock, a mover to repentance. 
158. a.  Crosses. 
58. a.  Cardiaca his virtues. 
192. b.  Carduus Benedictus, the virtues. 
191. a.    


D.  Date tree. 
97. a.  Damsons. 
96. a.  dill. 
57 b.  Drone Bee. 
176. a. and 182. a.  Dog the star, his rising. 
189. a.  Dogs to rid them of ticks. 
156. a.  Dog for the house. 
154. a.  Dog for the sold. 
154. b.  Dog ma●●de, the tokens. 
156. b.  Dog, his age, 
155. a.  dogs tail, the cutting. 
155. b.  Dogs, their feeding. 
155. b.  dogs coolours. 
154. b.  Dogs, their kinds. 
154. a.  dogs kind to be regarded. 
155. a.  Dogs of wonderful p●ice. 
153. b.  dogs diseases, and remedies. 
156. a.  dogs names. 
156. a.  Dogs, their lyttures. 
155. a.  Dovehouse, building. 
169. a.  Doves to keep from the Halke. 
170. a.  Doves, their food. 
169. b.  Doves, their foes. 
170. a.  Doves, their price. 
168. a.  Doves, their kinds. 
168. b.  Doves, to allure them to the house. 
107. a.  Doves young, their feeding. 
169. a.  Dung, the sorts. 
19 b.  Dung new, best for meadows. 
20. a.  Dung old, best for come ground. 
20. a.  Dung for Vines. 
82. a.  Dounghill. 
13. a.  Dwelling house. 
10. b.  Dung best, the masters foot. 
30.    


E.  Elm. 
102  Elm, his use. 
106. a  Eggs, their sorts. 
161. b.  Eldar. 
107. a.  Elecompany. 
68 a.  Emperors of Nethardes. 
113. a.  Endive. 
55. b.  Eggs to be hatched. 
158. b.  Eggs how to choose. 
159 b.  Eggs kept from thunder. 
159. b.  Eye of the masters, fats the horse. 
121. b.    


F.  Flax. 
38. b.  Fir tree, his use. 
106. a.  Flower gentle. 
65. b.  Filbert. 
94. b.  Fruitfulness of divers countries. 
19 a.  Fig tree. 
107. a.  Fenell. 
57 b.  Fenugreeke. 
36. a.  Fodder for cattle. 
36. b.  Fish delighting in mud. 
173. b.  Fish delighting in gravel. 
173. b.  Eishepondes, their sundry sorts. 
172. b. and 173. a.  Fishpondes, where best. 
172. b.  Fishpondes. 
172. a  Fry. 
173. b.    


G.  Garlic. 
60. a.  Galls. 
102. a. and. 110. a.  Garners. 
42. b.  Goose pens, their standing. 
163. b.  Goose liver of great bigness. 
164. b.  Goose, her hatching. 
164. a.  Goose, their fatting. 
164. a.  Garden herbs, the sowing. 
52. b.  Garden, the standing. 
52. a.  Garden, what mould best. 
51. b.  Garden dounging and digging. 
52. a.  Gardens of great antiquity. 
48. a.  Garden, a shambies. 
48. b.  Garden without water. 
49. b.  Garden ill, declares an evil huswyfe. 
48. b.  Garden when to water. 
50. a.  Graffing. 
72. a.  Graffing, the season. 
71. a.  Graffing, a new way. 
74. a.  Graffing, divers sorts. 
72. a.  Graffing with the top downward. 
73. b.  Gelliflowres. 
66. a.  Gourds. 
62. b.    


H.  Helecampany. 
68 a.  Husband, his good nature. 
17. a.  Husbandmen most happy. 
7. a.  Husbandmen come to be Emperors. 
5. b.  Husbandry nurse of all other sciences. 
6. a.  Husbandry cozen German to wisdom. 
6. b.  Husbandry, her nobility. 
6. a.  Husbandry, her antiquity. 
6. b.  Husbandry pleaseth God. 
6. b.  Husbandry no base trade. 
7. a.  Holly, the tree. 
107. b.  honey combs, what fashion. 
183. a.  honey combs. 
175. b.  Harvest for Oats. 
41. a.  Happy, who is. 
7. b.  Haru●st of H●mpe. 
41. a.  H●ru●st of Wheat. 
41. a.  Harvest of Rye. 
41. a.  Harvest of Rapeseed. 
40. b.  Harvest of Winter Baily. 
40. b.  Harvest of all other Corn and Pulse. 
41. a.  Hemp. 
39 b.  Hartichocks. 
63. a.  Heavens, their state for the ground. 
52. a.  Heavens, their state for planting and sowing. 
53. b.  Horse's age how to know. 
117. a.  Horse loveth troubled water. 
121. a.  Horse his proportion. 
115. a. b.  Horse broken wynded. 
124. a.  Horse forsaking his meat, the remedy. 
121. a.  Horse halting, the remedy. 
123. a.  Horses their colours. 
116. a.  Horses, the Cratches. 
123. a.  Horses soundring. 
123. b.  Horses galled. 
123. a.  Horse described by Virgil. 
115. b.  Horse wyndgalles. 
123. a.  Horse to be in health. 
121. b.  Horse provoked to stolen. 
122. a.  Horse tired, the remedy. 
122. a.  Horse having worms, the signs and the remedy. 
124. a.  Horse to keep from Flies. 
123. b.  Horse when to be broken. 
119. a.  Horse's feet, the cure. 
122. b.  Horse his rheum, the cure. 
124. a.  Horse mangy. 
124. a.  Horse the vives. 
123. a.  Horse pained in the belly. 
123. b.  Horse how long he lives. 
117. a.  Horse wholesome to travail. 
121. a.  Horsing of Mares, the time. 
117. b.  Horses watering. 
121. a.  Horses' gelding. 
119. b.  Horses carrying. 
120. a.  Horse is ordering after tratravayle. 
121. b. 120. b.  Horse his provender. 
120. b.  Horse his scouring. 
120. a.  Horses general remedies. 
124. b.  Horse's stables. 
119. b.  Horse clotheses. 
122. a.  Horse less hurt by drawing then bearing. 
119. b.  Horse's wallowing, wholesome. 
122. a.  Horse hot, not to be watered. 
121. b.  Horse cold, to have. 
118. a.  Horse how to choose. 
115.  Horse suddenly sick, the cure. 
151. b.  Heye making. 
45. b.  Heye cutting. 
5. b.  Heye when to cut. 
45. b.  husbands bestowing of tyme. 
2. b.  Hog sick, the signs. 
151. a.  hog mesled. 
152. a.  Hog sound, the tokens. 
151. a.  Hogs their breaming, and farrowing. 
149. b.  Hog sick of the Quinsey, and the Kernels. 
151. a.  Hogs, their gelding. 
150. b.  hog, the fever. 
151. a.  Hogs, their herds. 
148. b.  Hogs diseases, and the remedies. 
151. a.  Hogs long sick, remedy. 
151 b.  Hogs sick of the milt. 
151. a.  Hogs turnesicke. 
151. b.  Hogs made to the horn. 
149. b.  Husbandry commended. 
5. a.  Hedge dead. 
50. a.  Hedge quick preferred. 
50. b.  Hedge quick, sundry ways of making. 
50. b.  Hens for brood, their choice. 
157. b.  Hens how long in hatching. 
160. a.  hens house, the standing. 
162. a.  Hens how long in sitting. 
158. b.  Hens their feeding. 
163. a.  Hens how to fat. 
161. a.  hens must have dust. 
163. a.  Hens what jigs to set under. 
159. a.  hens to keep from sitting. 
158. b.  Hens the number to a Cock. 
158. a.  Herbs for pleasure and beauty. 
65. a.  Herb what for pastures. 
45. a.  Hippomanes. 
117. b.  Horda, what. 
128. a.  Hyssop. 
64. b.  Honey of the ●eath. 
184. a.  honey making. 
185. b.  honey, the kinds. 
184. a.  honey the best. 
184.  honey how corrupted. 
184.  Hill how to plough. 
21. a.  Hives of Bees. 
179. a.  Hives the entry small. 
180. a.  Hives fed with birds. 
189. b.  Hives their moths. 
189. a.  Hives decayed, their repairing. 
184. b.    


I  Implastring. 
74. a.  Inoculation. 
74. a.  Instruments of husbandry. 
11. b.  Italy why called the Orchard. 
19 a.  Italy why so called. 
127. b.  jumper. 
107. a.  joab. 
113. a.  Impes● their removing. 
76. a.  Images that sweat. 
107. b.    


K.  Kitchin. 
12. a.  King. H. 
122. a.    


L.  Larshe. 
106. a.  Lavender. 
65. b.  Land what it requires. 
46. b.  Land neighbourhood to be regarded. 
46. b.  Land the degrees. 
17. a.  Land good, the tokens. 
18. a.  L●querize. 
62. b.  lettuce. 
55. a.  Lettuzins, a surname. 
48. b.  lentils. 
34. b.  leek. 
59 b.  Lyndtree. 
106. b.  Lechery, what hurt to the body. 
144. b.    


M.  Maple. 
107. b.  Maple boards. 
108. a.  Marjoram. 
65. b.  Moowes for Corne. 
13. a.  Mallow. 
61. a.  Manna. 
180. b.  Melca. 
148. a.  Melons. 
62. a.  melon pompions. 
62. a.  Medlar. 
89. b.  Mares whether they should be covered yearly. 
118. a.  Mares with Foal how to use. 
118. b.  Mare's time of Fo●ling. 
118. b.  Mares conceiving by the wind. 
117. b.  Mescelin. 
32. b.  Meddowe new to make. 
44. b.  Meadows why so called. 
43. b.  Meadows, their ordering. 
44. a.  Mowles to catch and destroy. 
69. a.  Mast, what. 
102. a.  Mast, the difference. 
101. b.  Mast, the use. 
110. a.  Mastholme grove. 
101. b.  Milk black. 
146. a.  Milk to try. 
146. b.  Milk the ordering. 
146. b.  Milk the difference. 
146. a.  Milk, the whey. 
14●. a.  Milk to purge Melancholy, and all other humours. 
146. a.  Milk to purge the dropsy. 
146. a.  Milk to purify blood. 
146. a.  Milk to lose the belly. 
146. b.  Moon observed in sowing. 
53. b.  Moon observed in dounging. 
53. b.  Mint. 
64. b.  Myllet. 
31. b.  Mulberry tree. 
92. a.  Mulberry, the w●●est 〈◊〉. 
92. a.  Moils, their colour. 
126. a.  Moils do breed. 
126. a.  Myse to destroy. 
69. a.  Moss to destroy. 
44. b.  Myrtle tree. 
65. b.  Mustardseed. 
58. a.    


N.  Navewes. 
59 b.  Netheardes made Emperors. 
113. a.  neighbourhood. 
9 a. 46. b.    


O.  Of choosing of ground. 
16. b.  Of corn ground. 
16. b.  Of Ducks. 
164. b.  Of Bees. 
173. b.  Of Geese. 
163. a.  Of ploughing. 
20. b.  Of Asses. 
124. b.  Of Bullocks. 
127. b.  Of Horses. 
114. a.  Of Colwoo●●●. 
56. a.  Of Buffs. 
137. a.  Of Butter. 
146. b.  Of Camels. 
126. b.  Of Dogs. 
153. b.  Of Goats. 
144. a.  Of Cheese. 
146. b.  Of Wax. 
184. a.  Of Pigeons. 
168. a.  Of Cats. 
156. b.  Of Hens. 
157. b.  Of Pothearbes. 
54. a.  Of Gardens. 
52. a.  Of Turkycocks. 
166. b.  Of Milk. 
146. a.  Of Pulse. 
33. a.  Of Hony. 
180. b.  Of Harvest. 
40. b.  Of Moils. 
125. b.  Of Sheep. 
137. b.  Of Eggs. 
161. b.  Of shepherds. 
153. a.  Of Peacocks. 
165. b.  Of blood letting. 
124. b.  Of Orchards. 
69 b.  Of fatting of swine, salting, and preserving of Bacon. 
152. b.  Of seeds, and their sorts. 
53. a.  Of dounging. 
19 b.  Of swine. 
148. a.  Of woods. 
100 a.  Of good ground. 
18. a.  Of Wheat. 
26. a.  Of Turtle Doves. 
171. a.  Of the Bailie of husbandry. 
13. b.  Of the Vine. 
77. a.  Orange always bearing. 
91. a.  Oranges their planting. 
91. b.  olive Grape. 
85. a.  Oak grove, the planting. 
101. a.  Oak of a wonderful bigness. 
101. a.  Oak his use. 
108. a.  olive. tree. 
84. b. and. 107. b.  olive ripe, the tokens. 
86. a.  olive wild. 
107. b.  olive geatherers' law. 
86. b.  Oysters. 
173. b.  Order, his commodity. 
12. a.  Oyster ponds. 
173. b.  Oil, the making. 
86. b.    


P.  pannicle. 
32. a.  Parsnep. 
59 a.  patriarchs shepherds. 
113. a.  Plough, his wing. 
21. a.  Ploughing, the season. 
22.  Ploughing in the night. 
21.  Blow, his parts. 
21. a.  poppy 
58. a. and. 39 a.  peach tree. 
69. b.  peach with an Almond curnell. 
72. b.  Pestilence in cattle whereof. 
129. b.  parsley. 
57 a.  Pitch tree. 
103. a. and .95. a.  pimpernel. 
64. b.  Pine tree. 
95. a.  Pistaces. 
93. a.  Pitch. 
110. a.  plants prospering with cursing. 
55. a.  plants prospering by theft. 
55. a.  Planting, the tyme. 
71. b.  Planting, the Moon observed. 
71. b.  plants steeped. 
75. b.  plants, their diversity. 
75. b.  Plane tree. 
106. b.  Popular grove. 
103. a.  Poplar, his use. 
106. a.  Poplar white and black. 
103. a.  Pigs thirty at one farrowe. 
150. a.  Purcelane. 
61. b.  plum trees, their kinds. 
96. a.  Plome tree. 
96. a.  Ptsan. 
29. a.  Pullettes. 
158. a.  Pomegranate. 
90. b.  Pomegranates have like number of grains. 
91. a.  Pears red. 
88 b.  Pear tree his planting. 
88 b.  Pears how to keep. 
89. a.  Pear tree. 
88 b.  Penygrasse, his virtues. 
191. a.  Pastures. 
129. a.    


Q.  quails. 
171. b.  Quince tree. 
89. a.  Quinces when to be geathered. 
89. b.  Quinces how to keep. 
89. b.  Quicksettes, their planting. 
80. b.  Quickset. 
80. b.  Quayle, mother. 
171. b.    


R  radish, his use. 
58. b.  Rams, which to be bought. 
138.  Rape. 
59 a.  Rape harvest. 
40. b.  Rape of great bigness. 
30. a.  Rape root. 
30. a.  radish of great bigness. 
58. b.  radish root. 
58. b.  Remedy against gnats. 
69. a.  Remedy against Wyvels. 
43. a.  Remedy against Caterpillars. 
68 a.  Rozyn. 
110. a.  Reasyns' small. 
62. a.  Romulus' nursed by shepherds. 
113. a.  Rose. 
66. a.  Rosemary. 
64. a.  Raspis. 
62. a.  Rewe. 
54. b.  Rennet for Cheese. 
146. b.  Raking. 
25. b.  Rye. 
27. b.  Rye harvest, 
41. a.  Rise. 
32. a.  Rich, who. 
8. a.    


S.  Swan. 
171. b.  Saffron. 
63. b.  Saurye. 
65.  Setterwoort and his use. 
68 a. 124. a. 130. a.  servants their looking to 
15. a.  Servants health to be regarded. 
15. a.  savin. 
68 b.  Sallettes. 
48.  Sorrel. 
57  Sauce of Apples. 
88 b.  Sauce of Pears. 
89. a.  Sheep piled. 
137. b.  Smalladge. 
57 a.  Se●●● and La●ders. 
12. b.  Sheep sick of the lungs, the cure. 
143. b.  sheeps cough, the cure. 
143. b.  Sheep their time of blossoming. 
139. a.  Sheep what number to be kept. 
138. b.  sheeps tail of wonderful bigness. 
137. b.  sheeps leg broken, the cure. 
143. b.  Sheep yearly to be drawn. 
138. b.  Sheep their wind perished. 
143.  Sheep having the fever. 
343. a.  Sheep their great increase. 
139. a.  Sheep the sorts. 
137. b.  Sheep to keep in health. 
143. a.  Sheep the Fold. 
143. a.  Sheep skabby chynd. 
143. b.  Sheep their feeding. 
140. a.  Sheep their lambing time. 
139. a.  Sheep the murrain. 
144. a.  Sheep skabby. 
143. a.  Sheepecoates. 
141. a.  Sheep shearing, the tyme. 
142. a.  shepherds resemblance with princes. 
113. a.  shepherds care in feeding. 
140. b.  Slewes for Fish. 
173. b.  Sauge. 
64. b.  Sow farrowing, her age. 
148. b.  Soommer seeds. 
26. a.  Seeds their coming up. 
53. b.  Seeds what for every ground. 
25. a.  Seeds the choice. 
24. a.  Sowing, the order. 
24. b.  Sowing, the season. 
25. b.  Semyn oil. 
32. b.  Sesamum. 
32. b.  Solitary life, his use. 
2. a.  Seruisse tree. 
90. a.  spinach. 
57 a.  Sponge. 
54. a.  Spery. 
38. b.  Sow four moonethes with pig. 
149. b.  Swynestyes, their standing. 
150. a.  shepherds of Zuytcherland. 
153. a.  Sellars. 
12. b.  Ships, of what timber. 
108. a.  Sheep delight in music. 
141. a.  Sheep few, and well fed. 
138. b.  Sheep of what age, and how to buy. 
137. b.  Sheep kept abroad. 
142. a.  Sheep when to buy. 
138. a.  Sheep covered. 
142. 2.  Sheep having swalloved a horseleech, his cure. 
144. a.  Scabious, the virtues. 
191. b.    


T.  Timber for building. 
108.  Timber for Pumps, and water pipes. 
108.  Trees the Northside mossy. 
105. b.  Tree of knowledge, why created. 
70. a.  Tree foreshowing his fall. 
107. b.  Tree never without fruit. 
91  Tree the wisest. 
92. a.  Trees best for timber. 
105. b.  Trees how to keep from worms. 
90. b.  Trees springing best of the seed. 
70. b.  Trees soon grown, the fruit lasteth not. 
97. b.  Trees graffed in the stock. 
72. a.  Trees graffed betwixt wood and ryade. 
72. a.  Trees whereon to be graffed. 
72. a.  Trees when to be proyned. 
98. b.  Trees spring slowly of the seed. 
9●.  Trees always green. 
70. b.  Trees to be peeled. 
104. b.  Trees removed, their standing. 
99 a.  Trees helped with urine. 
99 a.  Trees the trimming of their roots. 
99 a.  Trees their fat. 
109. a.  Trees to save from mists. 
99 b.  Trees sick, the remedy. 
99 b.  Trees their flesh. 
109. b.  Trees their skin. 
109. b.  Trees a great benefit. 
69. b.  Trees bearing fruit, their forres. 
70. b.  Trees to ripe timely. 
99 a.  Trees not bearing, the remedy. 
99 a.  Trees their distance in standing. 
68 a.  Trees young, their pruning. 
99 a.  Trees standing Sawtyer wise. 
69. b.  Trees standing Checkerwyse. 
69. b. 71.  Trees their bows. 
109. b.  Trees their order for graffing and planting. 
72. a.  Trees their blood. 
109. a.  Trees lanced. 
98. b.  Trees their seed plot. 
76. a.  Trees their kinds. 
70. b.  Trees their dounging. 
98. a.  Trees their dropping. 
98. b.  Trees their love. 
71. b. and. 97. b.  Trees their removing. 
99 a.  Trees their wens. 
109. b.  Trees their veins. 
109. b.  Trees their shadows. 
71. b. &. 98. a.  Timber for ploughs. 
108. b.  Timber for water works. 
109. a.  Timber for bows. 
109. a.  Throstels. 
171. a.  Timber for boards. 
108. b. 
for Axeltrees, for Haftes and Handles. 108. b. for Gates. 109. a for Lances, for Tables, Ships, Targets, Sheaths, Pulleys. 108 for beams. 
107. b.    tenants changing, not good. 
47. b.  Their labour more to be regarded then their rent, their ordering. 
47. a.    


V  Veronica, his virtues. 
191. b.  Vine plants which, and how to get, their keeping, their length. 
81. a.  Vine plants, their planting. 
81. b.  varnish. 
110. a.  Vine his easy husbandry. 
79. a.  Vintage. 
84.  Vineyard stony. 
80. a.  Vine the plucking of his leaves. 
83. b.  Vine his propping. 
83. b.  Vine his first planter. 
77. a.  Vine his wonderful increase. 
77. b.  Vines but late in Germany. 
79. b.  Vines yoked. 
79. b.  Vines guttered. 
79. b.  Vines mingled, not to be planted. 
81. a.  Vines how to stand. 
80. b.  Vines planted, their ordering. 
81. b.  Vines how to be dounged. 
82. a.  Vine his friendship and hatred with certain trees. 
79. b.  Vine when to plant. 
80. a.  Vine his graffing. 
80. a.  Vine who first found. 
77. a.  Vine when he flowreth. 
27. a.    


W.  Woormewood. 
68  Wood for cups. 
108. b.  Winter grain the best. 
27. a.  Wheat fifteen days in shoulder-blade, fifteen in flower, and fifteen in riping. 
48.  Wyllowe groves. 
103. b.  Wyllowe his use. 
108. b.  Wyllowe the kinds. 
108. b.  Wood cutting, the season. 
104. b.  Woods coppised. 
104. a.  Woods coppised their severing. 
104. b.  Woods for Mast. 
101. a.  Woods greatly cherished by the Romans. 
100 a.  Woods wild, their fruits. 
100 a.  Wheat harvest. 
41. a.  Wheat the kinds. 
26. b.  Wheat sowing. 
27. a.  Wheat and the Vine flower together. 
27. a.  Wine of Apples. 
88 b.  Wine of Pears. 
89. a.  Walnut tree, his use. 
108. b.  Walnut tree foreshoweth his fall. 
107. b.  Wools the best. 
137. b.  Water Betony, his virtues. 
192. a.    


Y.  Yew tree, his use. 
109. 2.    


Z.  Zo● 
29. a.  Ziziphes'. 
92. b.    
FINIS.