THE OFFICE OF THE Good Housewife, With Necessary Directions for the Ordering of her Family and Dairy; and the keeping of all such Cattle, as to her particular Charge the oversight belongs. ALSO, The manner of Keeping and Governing of SILK-WORMES, and HONEYBEES; both very delightsome and Profitable.  
By F. B.  
LONDON, Printed by T. Ratcliff, and N. Thompson for Richard Mills at the Pestle and 〈◊〉 without Temple Bar, Anno Dom. 1672.   

TO THE READER.  
AMongst all the Sciences which man can attain to, either by contemplation or practice, there is none which more raiseth up his Spirits, ravisheth his Senses, causeth greater admiration of the works of God and Nature▪ bringeth greater contentment or recreation to the wearied Spirits, or which can be more profitable for the life of man, than Husbandry; whereby we see the incomprehensible power and greatness of God, who of a small ●orn, Pippin, Nut, tender Twig, & small Plant, causeth to grow up Trees, Herbs, & infinite store of Fruits; therein we acknowledge the bright shining beams of the goodness and bountifulness of the great Lord & Creator towards his Creatures, naturally and evidently to appear and shine; because, that of the things growing out of the Earth, he nourisheth, sustaineth and maintaineth our humane life; therein also we conceive marvelous exceeding pleasure to see the Trees and Herbs at certain times to spring out of the bosom and womb of their tender & natural Nurse. To be brief, we learn there what manner of life we ought to live, as not to be idle, but to incraase that which is ours; to contemn daintiness, pleasures, ambition, and such other vanities; and let us imitate the lives of our Forefathers; as of Abraham, who delighted in the life of a Shepherd; Saul, in keeping of Asses; David, in keeping of Sheep; and both of them called from the Fold, to the bearing of the Royal Sceptre: Elisaeus also, and Amos, of poor Shepherds, were made Prophets, and faithful Interpreters of the word of God▪ To be brief, the most worthy amongst our Forefathers, even such as are renowned in Holy Scripture for their virtue and excellency, were first of all Labourers; and afterwards by God taken from the Blow, the Cart▪ and Feeding of Cattle, to be employed in a more excellent Calling: This Country life being not only more holy, innocent, and just, but also more pleasing and acceptable unto God, and that which receiveth more blessing than any other from him. But let us pass over the Sacred Histories, and give me leave (following the Proverb, which saith, We must learn the manners of our Predecessors, and practice according to the present age) to lay out unto you the ways how a good Housewife (as to those particular things belonging to her Charge) shall Order and Govern a Farm, as that it may keep and maintain with the Profit and Increase thereof, her Husband, and all his Family, which shall be hereafter declared in this Tract of The Office of the good Housewife; who must not forget, that Woman was made for a helper, and that God doth call her to her task, which doth not consist of a few or base things, but of many and the principal matters; Yea, and the Cure & Charge of the Family's health. But leaving to speak any more of her charge in particular; I could wish her to be wise, according to Sobriety & Gravity; Sobriety, in not meddling above her place or reach in matters of Physic; and Gravity, in not having to do in the matter of Peaks and Paints, either for using or preparing them; for they argue, if not plainly prove, a light, a lose, and very sinful life. And thus good Women, having commended unto you, such advice as is both delightful and Profitable, (I leave you,) hoping you will practise it accordingly.  F. B.  

THE OFFICE Of the Good Housewife.  
ADam our first Father was placed in a Champion ground (after he was Created, and fashioned of the Earth, of the field of Damascus) to serve his Creator; and to the end, that all his actions might redound to the glory of his Sovereign Lord, not to toil in it with pain, and grief, which shortly after were laid upon him, and his posterity. This is the reason why the old Writers have called the Husbandman's Trade, the life of Liberty, and Innocency; for in truth, of all Arts, which respect either the profit, or health of man, Husbandry is the chief; for besides the nourishment it affordeth, it also hath a kind of continual Trade, with the Earth; the common Nurse of all men, strengthening and maintaining the powers of our bodies, and causing us to live more healthfully, and a longer time, and increasing abundantly our Posterities; as may be instanced in the story of Noah (writ by Diodorus Siculus) who with his Family coming out of the Ark upon the top of the Mount Cordicus, descended into the plain at the foot of the Mountain, in which, Noah erected a Pillar; and upon this occasion, ever after it was called, The place of Noah's coming forth of the Ark, and was inhabited by him and his Family; repeopling the World in such fruitful manner, as that Ninus in Noah's life time, was able, and did levy an Army of Seventeen hundred thousand footmen, Two hundred thousand horsemen; besides Ten thousand and six hundred Chariots, or thereabouts. Much to the same purpose Berosus writeth, That in the space of 100 years, these Husbandmen did increase so abundantly. That Noah One hundred years after the Flood (even when Phaleck was born) was constrained to send Sem into Asia, I'm into Egypt, and afric, and Japhet (whom men call Atlas Maurus, because he died in Mauritania) into Europe, all of them to perform the duty of husbanding the Earth, their natural Nurse, and to sustain those their great multitudes of people, which Scythia could no longer contain; Moreover, the plentifulness and number of such as have led the husbandman's life, and exercised Husbandry, hath been always greater, and their works more excellent than any others whatsoever. Cicero tells us, that there is no life, or manner of living more free, and more worthy a virtuous man, than the Husbandman's life; and howsoever it be, that every man in all things enquireth after his own commodity, and frameth himself to come as near to perfection and excellency as possibly he can; Yet the well-instructed and modest householder contenteth himself with that, whatsoever it be, that cometh of the hand and grace of God, and accounteth for great bountifulness and liberality such portion as falleth unto him. So then we are to hold ourselves content with such estate and condition, as the place shall afford where we must dwell and settle our habitation; and if it be not such as some curious man in his desire, or one that is hard to please, might require and look for, than we should strain ourselves to mend it by our industry, and the means set down by many famous writers on this subject. And now having roved thus far; I come to the owner of the Farm, who I wish and desire may be a man of great knowledge, well acquainted, and given to matters of Husbandry; for whoso is ignorant of them, having had but small practice therein; as also he which doth take his chiefest delight in other things, and spendeth his time otherways, must of necessity commit himself to the mercy and discretion of a Farmer, which will mock him to his face, and will impair his Grounds and House also, heaping thereto a world of quarrels and suits, which he will raise; or else he must trust to some other accomplisher of the business, either in governing, or waiting and attending, and he ask council of other the Farmer's thereabouts; they will make him believe things not to be so good by half as they are; and indeed we read for certain in the Roman Histories, that the Earth was never so fruitful, as when it was alured and won by the industry of the famous Roman Citizens, and delivered out of the tyrannous handling of gross-headed Peasants, whom we see before our eyes, (notwithstanding that they are altogether ignorant) to grow rich at our costs and charges, and to the great spoil of the Ground which they husband and till; there is nothing comparable to the overlooking eye of a prudent and discreet Owner, and one that is accustomed to Husbandry, who looketh after, and contenteth himself with such estate as may stand with his profit, let him learn well to know & understand the natures and choice of men, cattle and grounds, and let not that work happen, which he himself knows not how to do if he should stand in need, or else to give directions in, and command unto others; at least let him understand the times and seasons when, as also the manner how things were accustomed to be done; For the owner of a Farm that understandeth not, shall never know well what to command, and doth nothing but trouble and vex the workmen; and it is the manner of men to mock at such as command and will such things to be done, as are nothing to the purpose, but must afterwards be undone again, or else abide without any profit. Let the Owner of the Farm make his abode upon his own Inheritance; let him have a back Gate, that he may withdraw himself from home, and secretly return again when he pleaseth, and this will keep his People continually in doing of their offices and charge; let him not go to see the town unless it be upon his earnest affairs; and let him commit his Suits to be followed [which without great loss he cannot let pass] by some faithful Attorney, to whom he shall intrust nothing but the only counterpain of his evidence; and being in the Town, let him not go to see any man therein, except it be in Winter, or at such time as his Harvest is in, and his Seedtime dispatched; to the end that by one and the same means he may attend upon his Causes in controversy, and go about the getting in of his Debts. I wish further, that he carry himself pleasant and courteous to his folk, not commanding them any thing in his choler; for boisterous and rough language will prevail as little with men, as with stiffnecked Jades: let him speak familiarly unto them, let him laugh and jest with them sometimes; and also either give them occasion, or else suffer them to laugh and be merry; for their uncessant pains are something mitigated, when they are vouchsafed some gentle and courteous entreatance of their Master towards them; notwithstanding I wish him not to be too familiar with them, for the avoiding of contempt; neither would I have him to acquaint them with his purposes, except it be sometime to ask their council in a matter; and let him not spare sometimes to seem to do after their advice, though he had determined the same course before; For they will work with more cheerfulness, when they think that the matter is carried according to their invention: Let him patiently and quietly bear the tedious and troublesome natures of his neighbours, whom he knoweth to envy and repine at him, never giving them any just occasion of displeasure, but to pleasure them to the ut most that he can, and seem to be at one with them as if he never had understood any thing to move him to the contrary, and thus he may purchase peace and rest.  
Let him make choice of a Farmer or Bailiff of indifferent years, such a one as hath the report of an honest man, and his Wife to be a thrifty Housewife, and his Children well nurtured; such a one as hath no Earth near unto your House, who is well experienced in matters and businesses belonging to Husbandry; one that will use to rise first, and go to bed last, which will make no bargain when he is in drink; as also that he know how to govern, and amend all such Tools as he hath the handling of, or which his folk use; otherwise, if there should but need a Handle to a Spade, or Nail to a Horse or Tumbril, there must presently be admitted into wages a Nail-Smith for the Cart, and a Shooe-Smith for the Horse: Let this Farmer or Bailiff, have always his eyes upon his People, and oversee his Cattle every night; and not only when they are in the house, but also when they return from labour, or from Pasture; let him view and look well upon their countenance, gate, state, and gesture; for to know if there be any diseased or languishing: and from this care he is not to exempt himself any one day, in respect of the Oxen, Kine, Swine, and Sheep; for oftentimes in the Morning they go to their Pasture in good state and plight, and return sick home at Evening; Let him not go to bed before he have appointed every one of his people what he is to do the next day in the Morning; Above all things let him be just and true to his trust; Let him not Swear, but show such example to his people, as thereby he may induce them to esteem highly of him, to reverence and to honour him; Let him pay them their own justly, and not to pay them any thing before hand, if it be not in case of loss or fickness; Let your Farmer or Bailiff have all necessaries as he shall request of you, whether it be for the maintenance of your house, or the repairing of any other things that do belong unto you▪ watch him not so near, as that he may have cause to complain; for he may wrong you in some one thing or other that you would never think of; and mark, That to be too much exacting upon the Farmer, doth oftentimes make him either a mere negligent, or a plain Thief.  
Now to the end that his people may not live idle, and that they may not lose one small Minute of time, he shall dispose of his work so, as that they may every one have his certain time, and he shall know at his finger's ends what thing is to be done every month and time of the year.  
In the Month of January, chief towards the end, he shall cut down his Wood and timber, which he appointeth for building or other work, when the Moon is decreased; for the brightness of the Moon maketh the Wood more tender; and the Wood which shall be cut at such time, will endure a long time without rotting: He shall Dung the Fruit-Trees, not letting the Dung touch the Roots: He shall cut his Vines in fair weather: He shall cut and take away the superfluous Boughs of Fruit-Trees, the Moon decreasing, He shall furnish afresh or make new his Carts, Tombrels, Ploughs, and other his Instruments necessary for Husbandry.  
In February in the new of the Moon, he shall transplant Vines of two or three years old, he shall make ready his Garden grounds to sow and set therein all manner of Herbs, he shall repair the Hedges of his Gardens; he shall cleanse the Dove-house, Hen-house, and other places where the Geese make their haunt; because that these Fowls in the end of this Month begin to be hot, and to tread; He shall make clean the Bee-Hives, and kill their Kings; he shall give the Earth her second Ear-ring▪ for the sowing of Beans, Pease, Barley, Oats, Hemp, etc. he shall prune and cleanse the Trees of whatsoever is superflous.  
In March in the beginning of it he shall sow Line, Woad, Oats, Barley, Pease, Fitches, and other such like kind of pulse; He shall sow his Nurseries with Kernels of Apples; He shall plant such Herbs as are set low and close by the ground, as Sage, Lavender, Rosemary, Strawberries, Gooseberry-bushes, Roses, etc. He he shall trim up his Gardens, as well for the Kitchen as for pleasure, and shall sow therein whatsoever necessary Seeds.  
In April about St. George's day, you shall set abroad your Citron and Orange-Trees, Mirtle-Trees; as also all such other Trees as you had kept within the house all Winter, from which he shall remove Earth from foot to foot, taking from them such Roots as are put forth towards the upermost parts of the Earth, as also all superfluous Boughs, not suffering any one ●ranch to exceed another, either in breadth or height; He shall cut the new Vine: for at this time it endureth best to be cut, he shall be careful to to feed his Pigeons; because at this time and the next month they find but little in the Fields; he shall sow Barley till the end of the Month, and till the 8 th'. or 10 th'. of May.  
In May he shall water the Trees that are newly planted, he shall shear his Sheep, fill up his Wines and Cyders, gather store of Butter, and make Cheese, Geld his Calves, and begin to look to his Bees and Silkworms; he shall weed his Corn, he shall uncover and free the Roots of his Vines from the Earth about them, to the end that the heat may not hurt them; He shall take away all the tender branches and green Boughs, which bear no fruit.  
In June he shall make ready his Threshing flore, and cause it to be throughly cleansed of Straw, Dirt and Dust, he shall cut down his Meadows, make and In his Hay, and crop his Vines.  
In July he shall cut down his Wheat, Rye, Barley, and all other Grains that are ripe and ready to cut; he shall gather from Appletrees and Pear-Trees the faulty Apples and Pears, and such as do overcharge the Trees, he shall pull his Line and Hemp, and graft in the bud.  
In August he shall gather such Fruits as he meaneth to preserve; he shall take away the Leaves from about such Grapes as are slow and backward, to the end they may receive the more heat from the Sun; he shall prepare his Vessels for Wine and Cider, and other things necessary therefore.  
In September he shall give his Fallows the last Earth; he shall sow his Wheat, Mashline; Rye, and such like like Corn; cut down late Meadow-grounds, to have the after-crop; He shall gather Stubble for Fuel, and for the Oven all the Year; He shall gather the leaves of Wood, grind them and make them into Balls, and so dry them in the Sun.  
In October he shall make his Wines and Cyders, and tun them into Vessels, make Honey and Wax, and drive the old Bees; he shall bestow his Orange, Citron, Mirtle-Trees and others in some covered place, to avoid the danger of the vehement Cold.  
In November he shall Couch his Wines and Cyders in his Cellar; He shall gather Acorns to feed Swine; He shall gather such Garden-Fruit as will keep; he shall lay bare the Roots of Artichokes, and cover them again very well, that the Frost may not perish them.  
In December he shall oftentimes visit his Field, and let out the water, which may stand in them after great Rain; He shall cause water to run through the old Meadows, and dung them if need be; He shall make provision of Dung, to manure he Fallows that are broke up and Tiled; he shall cover with Dung the Roots of Trees and Herbs, which he intendeth to keep until the Spring, he shall Lop Willows, Poplars, Saplin and other Trees, to the end that their Boughs may more speedily put forth and grow so soon as Winter shall be passed; he shall cut down his Wood, as well for Building as for fire; he shall also busy himself in making many Instruments and necessary things of wood requisite for household store, and for repairing his Teams, Yokes, Ploughs, and all other Instruments for the fitting and garnishing of cattle, going to Cart or Plough, to the end that all may be in good order, when they are to go to labour; he shall also make provision of Spades, Shovels, Pick-axes, Hatchets, Saws, and other Furniture, fit for a Countrey-House-store.  
The condition and state of the Housewife or Dairy-woman, is of no less care and diligence than the Office of her Husband; understood always that the Woman is acquitted of Field-matters, in as much as she is tied to matters within the house, as the Husband is tied to what concerneth him, even all the business of the Field; and according to our Custom of England, Country women look unto the things necessary and requisite about Kine, Calves, Hogs, Pigs, Pigeons, Geese, Ducks, Peacocks, Hens, Feasants, and other sorts of Beasts and Fowls, as well for the feeding of them, as for the milking and making of Butter and Cheese, and keeping of all things neat and clean about the house, getting and providing the labouring men their Victuals in due season; and furthermore they have the charge of the Oven and Cellar, and the handling and ordering of Hemp and Flax, etc. as also the care of looking to the clipping of Sheep, of keeping their Fleeces, of Spining and Combing of Wool to make Cloth for the Family; of ordering the Kitchen Garden, and keeping of Fruits, Herbs, Roots, and Seeds; and moreover of watching and attending the Bees; she must be obedient unto God, and to her Husband, given to store, and lay up and keep things sure under Lock and Key, painful, peaceable, not loving to stir from home, not contentious, full of words and tattling, nor drowsy headed; let her dispose of all things under her charge in such sort, as that every thing may have his certain place, to the end that when they be to be used, they may easily be found and delivered; let her always have her eye upon her Maids, and be first at work, and last from it.  

Of Kine.  
ANd for the better keeping of Kine, let the Housewife cause her Maids to overlook oftentimes, and see that all things be well in the Cow-house; for there is nothing that doth them so much good, and keep them so well in health and good liking, (their Meat and Fodder excepted) as the clean and neat keeping of their Houses; let them be rubbed along the back, about the neck and head, and no more, with a wisp of straw hard writhe together, at their coming from Pasture, and in the Morning after they have been dressed, let the holes that are in their house-flore be carefully filled up, wherein their Piss might stand and stink, and cast Sand or Gravel upon the flore, that they may have the faster or surer setting for their feet; let them not be put to the Bull before they be upon their third year, nor any longer than until their twelfth year; for if they be put too soon then they be grown up to their full strength and growth, they will bring forth Calves half cast, small and little, weak and feeble, and if you continue their breeding after twelve years their Calves will not be so strong, nor of so comely a shape; she shall make much account of the Cow, which is of a mean stature, a long body, a large flank, four or five years old, of a black or brown Colour, or spotted with White, and either of these, a great belly, broad betwixt the brows, a black eye, and long horns, not turning in one twards another, but of a wide and well spread shape, her Ears very hairy, a narrow Jaw, a thick and gross Muzzle, wide Nostrils and sniuley, little and black Lips, her Hair glistering and thick set, her Legs short, her Thighs gross and thick, and her Neck long and gross, her Back large and broad, her Tail long even to the heel, her Hoofs short and even, a broad Breast, a great and gross Brisket, and her Dugs great and long.  
The Good Housewife must be careful, as well for the feeding of her people, as for the gaining of the Penny, diligently to set on work her Daughters and Maidservants, about the ordering of the Milk, and making of Butter and Cheese. After the Milk is Milked it shall be set in a place where it may be cool, to the end it may keep the longer, and become the thicker in short time; in as much as Cold doth thicken the Milk, as Heat doth sour it, ●● make it to turn, she shall not let her Milk be kept long, as above a day in Summer, especially in Autumn and the Spring; but as soon as she can she shall gather her Cream, Green-Cheese, Pressed-Cheese, Whey, and other Commodities, which a good Housewife is wont to raise according to the time; yet in Winter the Kine yielding but small store of Milk, as then being with Calf, she may gather three or four Meals together, which will not so soon be spoiled, by reason of the coldness of the Wether, which maketh the Milk to thicken presently; and seeing Cheese made in Winter, is not of so great price, nor so good and dainty, as in Spring, Summer and Autumn, by reason of the Grass; therefore it shall be no great matter to gather the Butter the clearer from the Cheese in Winter then at any other time. To speak any thing here of the making, keeping and ordering of Butter and Cheese, would be impertinent; for I presume there is no Countrey-House-Wife but is well acquainted therewith, and for those that live in Cities and great Towns, it matters not whether they are skilled therein or not.  
Let the Good Housewife take care that the Kine be provided with a Bull, and that chief in the months of May, June, and July; For about this time they are set to go a Bulling, seeking for the Bull themselves, without being lead unto him; and you shall know their inclination to the taking of the Bull by the puffing and swelling of their Hoofs, as also by their continual Lowing, and by their leaping upon the Bulls back. The profit which riseth by their taking the Bull at this time is; for that they will Calf about 10 Months after, (which is the just time of their Going with Calf) and that being at such time as new Grass doth draw on, it will be an occasion of increasing their Milk, and their Calves shall be a great deal the better fed.  
The Cow that is indifferent lean, will hold her Bulling better than the fat Cow; but on the contrary, a good Bull for breed must be fat, well set together, and well meated for Two months' space before.  
And for the choice of a good Bull, let him be rather long then high, of a black or brown hair, large betwixt the Shoulders, strong Legged, round and well trust Body, broad Breasted, short Headed, broad Brows, a fierce Countenance, and terrible to fight, black Eyes, short Horns, and a long Tail full of hair.  
During the time of the Cows going with Calf, keep them from leaping of Ditches, Hedges or Bushes, and a little before the time that they do Calf, to feed them in the house, or Yard adjoining to the house, and that with good Hay or Turnips, or such other Provender as the Country shall afford, not milking them at all for a good space before their Calving; for the Milk that they have then cannot but be nought, and become as hard as a Stone.  
As for Calves newly fallen, you must leave them with good Litter of fresh Straw until such time as the Cows have licked and cleansed them, and for two or three days after let the Cow be with the Calf, which doth heat and settle the Calf; after that you shall put it into some shed, providing it good Litter, and renewing the same once a day, and thence you shall bring them forth when you would have them suck; and if you see that they will not suck, or that being willing to suck, they can do nothing but offer to take the Paps, without sucking any thing, you shall look under the Tongue if they have not the Barbs, which is a whitish fleshiness growing under the Tongue, almost after the manner of the Pip, which (if it be so) you shall take away gently, (without flaying the Tongue) with a little pair of sharp Pincers, washing the place afterwards, either with red Wine of itself, or with the Infusion of Garlic and Salt stamped therewith: For this disease will cause them to languish, unto death, by keeping them from sucking; Let them be carefully kept from Lice and Scabs, both which do hinder them from thriving, the Lice may be picked away, and for Scabs if they have any, which you may know, if straking your hand along their Skins, you feel it, hacked and rough like a File, and the Hair stairing and standing upright; for the healing whereof you shall rub them with Butter all over where the Scab is. But as it is a great deal better to prevent diseases then to cure them: The Housewife shall cause her Calves once or twice a day to be rubbed over with wisps of Straw unbound, and suffer not their Piss to stand in Puddles under them; but let them be kept with fresh and dry Litter, causing their Dung to be carefully cast out every day from among their Litter.   

Of Swine, and the Office of the Hog-herd.  
OF all the cattle that serve for Food, the most ravenous, the most filthy, and the most harmful, is the Swine; and yet are they had in great estimation, and mnch commended amongst us, for the sweetness of the Flesh. The ravenousness and greedy feeding of this Beast, is witnessed by the Sow, which the French King killed in Hunting, within whose Belly were found six Pails full of Grapes; their filthiness and stench, their wallowing of themselves, their eating of stinking and filthy things, as also the harm that they do, may be proved by their rooting up and undermining of Walls, the trampling about Trees, Meadows, and unsown places; for this cause in a Farm of great Revenues there will need a man only for that purpose, to govern and guide them in the Fields, even such an one as knoweth how to dress and order his Herd in good time and manner, and in cleanly sort to put the Pigs that are weaned in one place with the Boars and Hogs; and the Sows with their young ones into a second place by themselves; and further that the sick and diseased may have a fresh place by themselves, fresh Straw oftentimes given them and renewed, doth fat them as much as their meat, and he must take care that their Troughs be always clean; and against variable weather the Hog-herd must have in store much Acorns, Beans, Crabs, wild-pears or some other rotten Fruit, or some manner of Pulse, or Coleworts, or boiled Turnips to give them; and every day when they come from the Field, let the good Housewife have in readiness for them hot meat, as Whey, or the droppings of the Cheese-press, mingled with Bran and Water: For besides that this good attendance will cause them to make haste home, and not forsake their company to run straggling abroad when the Hog-herd hath let them out of the Field; these hot Drinks and Meats do also heat the cold Meats, which they have fed upon in the Field all the day before. And Thirdly, they will rest better in the night. And Lastly, not become so subject to diseases; And let there be special care taken, that their meat be not cold nor too thin, lest it cause them to have the Flux of the Belly.  
Let the Swine-coats be paved with Stone or Brick, with good passage for their Piss to run away; for this Beast, though he be Sluttish and Dirty, doth notwithstanding prosper best in a clean house, and that the corruption of the Air, which this Beast maketh in close places (especially when they are many in number, may not cause them to have any ill sent, or other Diseases; it is convenient, that there be made open Lights or Windows with Bars, and that there be shutters to stop them when it snows, or in cold Wether; the benefit of which Windows will be to let out their evil Air, and let in the good; Keep not above ten Boars for one hundred Sows, and so proportionably, the rest as well males as females, let them be Gelt; Keep those especially for Boars which have a short and broad Head, the Snout set high and long, the Chine of the Neck large, his Feet short, his Thighs great, and all the rest gross, square and well set together, of Colour White, and full of Brisles upon his Back; And for Sows those which are long, side-bellied, small-headed, large-buttockt, and sides giving out, and likewise of a White Colour, of the rest make provision for your house.  
This Beast is a great Eater, and cannot endure Hunger, especially the Sows, which in this necessity have been seen to eat their own Pigs, and those of others, as also Children in their Cradles; and therefore you must have care, that their Troughs are never empty; They are subject to many diseases, and they are known to be sick when they hang their Ears much and become slow and heavy, or when they lose their Appetite. For the better certainty, when there do not appear any of these signs, pull from him against the Hair, a handful of Brisles off his Back; if if they be clean and white at the Root, he is sound and healthful; but if they be bloody or otherwise spotted, he is sick; likewise it is commonly said, That when a Hog is sick, he will neither eat nor drink, till he knows whether he shall live or die, and therefore when he falls to his meat, you may be assured that he gins to mend.  
The Hog by reason of his filthiness, hath (for the most part) one fault or other betwixt his skin and his flesh, how sound soever he be; and therefore it is good after he is killed to sing of his Hair with straw, rather than to scald them off with water; for the Fire doth draw our a great deal more easily then hot water, whatsoever is betwixt the skin and flesh; kill your Hogs in the increase of the Moon, and let them not drink nor eat the day before you kill them; that so their flesh may be the more dry; for if they drink till you kill them, the salting time will have the greater quantity of superfluous moisture to drink up; Cut out as many of the bones as you can; for that will cause the salting to be of better effect, preserving the flesh the longer from corruption.  
Cover your Bacon all over with bay-salt, renewing it once in three days, and do this for a Fortnight or more, and then hang them up to smoke over a Wood-fire, but in any case, not too near the heat of the Fire, and when they are well smoked, which will be in Ten days time, if they have a constant Fire, then hang them about your Kitchen, or other convenient place where they may keep dry. The Bacon thus salted, will be more fast, and of a better Taste than any other way; Some cut the flesh in pieces, and put it into a salting-tub, making as many beds of Salt grossly brayed, as of flesh, the one above the other, and when the Tub is almost full, they fill it up with Salt, and press all down together with weights; but this way is nothing so good, though more used by some people, and some Countries, than the other.   

Of Poultry, and first of Hens.  
AS concerning the ordering of Poultry and Fowls, which is the next chiefest thing that a good Housewife is to regard; There must care be had, that the Hen-house be every day made clean, even so soon as the Pullen be out, and the Dung put aside for the fatting of the Meadows, the Baskets for them to lay in, often shaken up and refreshed with new Straw and Nests, and their Pearches and Ladders scraped every Week; Their Water-pots must be kept clean, and filled with clean Water every day, and that twice in Winter, and thrice in Summer, and their Water must be clear always; for the filthiness of their water causeth the Pip, as well as want of water; Let there be no holes broken about the Hen-house for fear of Cats, Foxes, Weesles, Polecats, Fulmers, and other beasts given to ravin abroad in the night; as also the Kite, Hen-harrow and Owl, which sometimes will swap into the very Brood-house, to catch the Kitchin.  
To every dozen of Hens, one Cock is sufficient, and he must not be of Colour White or Grace, but Red, Tawny, or Black, his Body well compact, his Crest or Comb very upright, Red, thick, and not notched, toothed or gashed with Cuts, and well raised Neck and high, his Bill short, thick and crooked, the Pinions and flight of his Wings great, his Ears great and very white, his Eye black in a Circle that is Red, Yellow or Azure, his Wattles of a Rose colour, standing of a White and Red mixture, the Feathers of his Neck long, golden and changeable, his Legs very scaly, thick and short, his Claws short and fast, his Spurs stiff and sharp, his Tail upright, gross, thick and crooking backward. The Tawny or Reddish Hen likewise is the best, and that which hath the Feathers of her Wing Black, the stature of the Hen should be indifferent, her Head great, her Comb upright, and very Red, her Body great and square, her Neck thick, and Breast large; The Dwarf or little Hens do lay more Eggs than the other, but they are not so good to sit on Eggs, to bring forth Chickens; and if you be not disposed to keep a Hen to brood and bring up Chickens, you must within a day after she hath brought forth her Chickens▪ let her forth again to have the company of Cocks, to the end she may forget them, and begin again to lay; then take a great fat Capon, and one that is young, pull all the Feathers off his Belly, and ●ub his Belly with stinking Nettles, and after deliver him the Chickens to brood and lead, and by that means they will be better defended both from cold, and ravenous Birds, as also better fed, he must be put under a large Basket made with Osiers, with his brood of Chickens, and so leave him there some time, to the end he may fall in love with them, so soon as he shall be at liberty, he will bear them up, keep them, lead them, and become a more foolish doting or true lover of them, than the Hen herself would have been, when they are two days old, you must crumble them some soft Bread and Cheese, or else some Barley-meal, and Garden-cresses, or leaves of Leeks chopped very small, and a little sodden, and this will be good for them against Rheums, and the Pip, and after this time for the space of fifteen days the Capon or leader must be kept under a Coup, and let the Chickens run in and out about the Coup, and then at the end of those days to let them run about, both leader and followers, giving them still the same nourishment to feed upon; It will not be good to let them go too soon into the Court-yard, or abroad, and beware that the Snake do not breath on them, or hiss at them: For the smell of such breath is so pestilent unto them, as that it generally killeth them all; to prevent which, you must burn often near unto their Coup, Hartshorn, Galbanum, or womens-hair; for the fume or smoke of these doth drive them away.  
As concerning the cutting of Cock-Chickens, it must be done shortly after the Dam hath forsaken them, and that they begin to Crow and be in love with Pullet's; for if they scape the first year and half, there is no meddling with them: So after you have made choice of such as shall serve for the benefit and leading of your Hens, as those which are best made, and most bold, you must cut the other; for to feed and fat either in the Coup or Chaff-house.   

Of Geese.  
AS the profit of them is great, so the loss also profit; because the charge of keeping and feeding them is not so costly, as their watch and ward is gainful, being indeed better than that of the Dog, as hath been showed long ago by the Geese of the Capitol in Rome, who awakening the Soldiers and standing Watch, were the cause that the Enemy was repulsed and driven back; Again she declareth when winter and hard weather draweth nigh by her continual squeaking and crying; She layeth Eggs, hatcheth Goslings, affordeth Feathers twice a year, for beds, writing, and for shafts, which are gathered at Spring and Fall: The loss and discommodity is, because they crave a keeper; for otherwise they will bruise and knap off the young Sionces of Trees, the Herbs off the Garden, and Shoots of Vines, as also injure and hurt the Corn, when it is shooting and putting forth it's Stalk, as well by breaking it, as by dunging upon it, in such sort, that in Countries where Wild-Geese haunt, there is found sometimes a great piece of Corn wasted and destroyed in less than half a day, and the Tame-geeses do not less harm, if they be let alone and suffered to do it; for they pull up the Corn by the Roots; and besides, where they Dung there will nothing grow for a long time after.  
The best Goose and Gander is of Colour White or Grace, and the next with White and Grace, is also indifferent good; notwithstanding the White doth abound more in laying of Eggs than the others, and hath also a better flesh, and it is good to make choice of such a one as hath the knee-joynts, and space betwixt the Legs great and large; The Goose layeth three times, she be kept from sitting and hatching; but it is a great deal better that she sit upon Eggs, because the young ones thereby brought forth, do nourish better than the Eggs, and also do increase the Flock, and at every laying time, some will lay twelve Eggs, and more sometimes, others but five at the first, four at the second, and three at the last; and these three several times come between the first of March and the last of June, and they do never forget the place you first bring to lay in; if you take not up their Eggs, they will begin to sit as soon as they have their full number; but it hath been credibly reported, That if you take away their Eggs as they be laid, they will not cease laying till they come to a hundred; yea so long, and so many (as some say) until their Fundament stand gaping and open that they are not able to shut it, because of the effect wrought by their much laying. The Goose is commonly set upon 13 or 15 which is an odd number, and when she is set, you shall place near unto her some steeped Barley, in such quantity as that she may take it out of much water; for she loveth not to leave her Eggs or young ones, and by this means she shall not need to raise herself, except a very little for to feed, for otherwise her Eggs might take cold.  
The young Goslings must be kept shut up with the Dam for Eight or Ten days, and be fed within with Barley-meal tempered with Honey, Bran, and Wather, and now and then with Lettuces and tender Sow-thistles, after that with Wheat steeped and softened, and after that time to accustom them to the Meadows with their Dam; but let them be fed before they go thither; for they are so ravenously given, as that through sharpness in their hunger, they pull the Grass and young sprouts of Trees with such force and violence, that sometimes therewith they break their own Necks: They must be put up every night into the house, for fear of Foxes, Cats and Weesles.  
Gosling, intended to be fatted, must be chosen either very young, when they are but a month old, or else when they are four months old, they must be put in some dark and warm place, the younger will be fat in twenty days, and the elder fat in forty; You must give them Barley and Wheat-meal tempered with water and Honey; for the Barley maketh the flesh white, and the Wheat maketh them fat, and maketh a great Liver.  
As for the stock of Geese that go abroad, you shall feed them Morning and Evening with some sort of Pulse; and now and then give them some Lettuces, Succory, and Garden-cresses, to get them an Appetite; and for the rest of the day send them to the Meadows and Water-pools, under the custody of some little small Jack, who may keep them for going into any forbidden places, as also out of the Nettles and Briars, and from feeding on Hen-bane, which some call the Goose-bane, and from Hemlocks, which set them in such a deep sleep, as that they die therewith.   

Of Ducks.  
AS for any great diligence to be used about this Fowl; there is no such need except it be for keeping them from Weesles, Cats, Kites, Vultures and Serpents, in the place of of their haunt, they must have some Corn cast, and the dross of the Riddle about the edges of the Pond, and in the same, to cause them to be puddling in the mire; in other points they need not much attendance, nor greater care than this, to know their haunts, that so you may take their Eggs and put them under some Hen to sit on them.  
This kind of Foul is made fat in such manner as the young Geese; that is to say, with the same food; They are profitable to keep, in as much as their flesh is very pleasant to eat, the Feathers smaller, better, and more wholesome to sleep upon, than those of the Geese, they lay Eggs in great quantity, but not so good or delicate as those of Hens.   

Of Peacocks.  
THe Peacock is a Bird of more beautiful Feathers than any other that is, he is quickly angry; but he is as far off from taking good hold with his feet, he is goodly to behold, very good to eat, and serveth as a watch about the house; for spying strangers to come into the Courts or Yards, he faileth not to cry out and advertise those of the house; It is true that he is not kept with a little cost and meat, being a great eater, and quickly digesting his meat, the Cock being over rank by Nature, doth break the Hen's Eggs, thereby to keep her from sitting, that so he may the more freely enjoy and use her; the Cock liveth a long time, as twenty or five and twenty years, but the Hen somewhat less, both the one and the other somewhat troublesome to bring up when they are young; but there is no need of any great care to be taken of them after they have once left the Dam, except it be in keeping them from hurting the Corn; The Hen hath three several times or seasons of laying in the year, but she that is set hath but one, and passeth over the other times in hatching and leading of her young ones; She beginneth her first laying time at mid February, and layeth five Eggs one after another, at the second she layeth four, three; and at the third three or two; If the Cock and Hen tread not, you must bring them to it by such food and meat as will set them in heat, and for that parched Beans are very good; and to know when the Cock is in his pride and heat, you need no other sign then his viewing of himself, and covering his whole body with the Feathers of his Tail, and then we say, he wheeleth. When the Hen fitteth she withdraweth and hideth herself from the Cock, in the most secret place she possibly can; for he ceaseth not to seek her by reason of his excessive rankness and lustiness of Nature, and if he find her, to cause her to rise from off her Eggs, and then breaketh them. When she hath hatched her young ones, she must be diligently fed with her young ones, and kept under a Coup in some place where the Cock cannot come; for he hateth and hurteth his young ones, until they be grown to have a Coppel upon their heads; and at such time as this is growing out of them, they must be kept very warm; for than they are sick, and many die.  
You must feed the young ones at first with Barley-meal, tempered with Wine, in manner of thick Pottage; and to thicken it, some put thereto soft Cheese well purged from the Whey; for Whey will hurt them greatly: Sometimes they must have Grasshoppers given them (their feet plucked away) Spiders and Flies given them for Physic; for they drive away Vermin naturally, so that there is scarce any found where they haunt. The Flesh of Peacocks is melancholy and hard of digestion; but to make it tender, you must kill your Peacock in Summer a day before you eat him, and in Winter four days, and hang some heavy thing to his Legs; The Peacock well roasted may be kept a whole month, and looseth nothing either of his smell or good relish. The Dung of them is very Sovereign against the diseases of the Eyes, if it may be found; but the Peacock so much envieth the good of man, that he eateth his own Dung, for fear that any man should find it.   

Of Indian Hens and Turkeys  
THey may rightly be termed Coffers to cast Oats into, a devouring Gulf of meat, wherein there is no other pleasure to be taken, but only in their cry and furiousness when they are come to be great ones, or continual cheaping when they be little. It is very true that his flesh is fine and delicate, but without taste, and hard of digestion, and this is the cause why men use to powder them, Lard them much, and season them with Spices, and most commonly bake them in Pies.  
The meat for this kind of Fowl is the same that is good for Hens, and so made, and his property is to be abroad, to feed upon Grass, Herbs and Worms; and the Farmer may well say, that looks how many Turkeys he hath in his yard, even so many Mule Colts hath he in respect of their feeding. In Winter they must be set in a warm place and dry; their Perch not above eight or ten Foot from the ground, because they do not fly high. As concerning their laying and sitting, it is altogether like that of the Peacocks.  
The Housewife shall not make any great account of Turkey Eggs, at least he that loveth his health shall not esteem of them for his use; For Physicians hold, That Turkey Eggs engender Gravel, and minister cause to breed the Leprosy.   

Of the Dove-house.  
THe profit of the Dove-house is very great in respect of the young ones, which every year increase innumerably, insomuch that out of some Dove-houses, you may draw ten or twelve dozen a week all Summer long; the care to be had about them, is not so great as that about other Fowls, nor the cost so great; for they get their own live most part of the year.  
Let the Dove-house be seated where the good Housewife may conveniently, and with ease go unto it, and withal it would be well to be out of the noise of Folks, the dashing of Trees one against another, and the roaring of Waters, and it should be a flight shoot from any water, to the end that the old Pigeon may in her flight warm the water which she bringeth for to give her young ones, yet in Winter time when they do not breed, and that they lie at the Barn doors to pick up the Corn which is scattered from, or struck abroad by the Flail, let there be a waterpot set upon a Pillar of stone or wood for them to drink at, made in fashion of a Basin, divided into many partitions, that it may be easy for many of them to come to it together, either to drink, or bathe themselves in.  
The holes in the Dove-house should be made of Mortar, tempered with straw; for they are more kind for Pigeons then those which are made of Board's, square Tyle or Plaster, however they are subject to Chinks and Vermin; and therefore if you will have them good, you must draw them over with a strong crust of Lime within and without; and howsoever you make them for matter, yet they must be made so large, as that the Pigeon may turn herself in them, without ruffling her Feathers, and so high, as that the Pigeon may stand upright in it, and not touch the top with her back; if either of these two points be missing, than she leaveth her hole desolate and forsaken; and oftentimes the house too. To drive away Vermin, it is good to stick some branches of Rue in the windows or doors of the Dove-house.  
Upon the Pinnacle of the Roof make the picture of a Pigeon, either of Wood, Potters-clay or Plaster, to draw such as fly by thither. If your Dove-house is but meanly stored, draw none of your May flight, but let them fly; for they thrive better than the latter broods, and are sooner able to get their live; Above all things let them not be pinched of meat in the Months of April and May, because old ones are very many of them sitting, or else have hatched: Neither in the Month of June; for that is a time when they can get but very little meat abroad, and is call●d the benting Month, according to the old Verses.  
The Pigeon never knoweth woe,  
Until she doth a benting go.  
If you would increase the store of your Dove-house by drawing others thither, you shall lay upon the Altar within the house, or upon the Windows, a Loaf made of Red Earth, Cummin-seed well bruised, Honey and Brine all well boiled together, and dried in the Oven; for having picked upon this lump, they will never fail to return thither again; for they are much given to the pleasing of their taste; and further, by the very sent and smell of this remaining about their Bills, they will be the means to allure others along with them to their Coat, which for the aforesaid commodiies' sake, they will never leave or forgo.  
When you shall perceive that they begin to lay, cast them Morning and Evening a little clean Corn, and cause their waterpot, wherein they bathe themselves, to be oftentimes made clean, and fresh water put therein; Let the Dove-house be kept very clean, and for that cause let him that hath the charge thereof, go into it once every week at least, and that in the Morning, or at the times of relief, when the Pigeons are seeking their meat abroad in the Country thereabouts; for they keep their noon-tyde in the house, and at that hour he must not enter therein, he shall pair the floor, cast out such as he finds dead, make clean their holes; and if any are fallen out of their holes, let them not meddle to put them up again; if he perceive the train of any Snake or Adder, let him provide a long earthen pot, and set it upon its bottom, and put within it a Pigeon, and place it right in the train and walk of the Snake or Adder, and set by it some board or other, or other thing whereby she may creep up unto the top of the pot, and cast herself in afterwards and thus you may cleanse and rid the Dove-house of such Vermin.  
It is true, that Pigeous do require some cost in Winter, when through Frost or Snow, or when the Corn is shot, they cannot find any thing in the Field; but this is not above two months' continuance or thereabouts, that you need to feed them with Corn; at the end of which time they commonly afford you a flight, and they are the most fat, tender and dainty of all the year.  
You shall preserve the Dung which you take from the Pigeons, not mixing it with that which the Kine or Calves, etc. make; for it is very hot, and serveth to fatten and amend the Fenny and wet places of Corn-ground, or of your Meadows, or young Plants and tender Herbs, and to refresh and relieve all Trees subject to coldness and moisture.   

Of Gardens.  
IT is requisite that we should now describe the manner of ordering the Garden, wherein the good Housewife must have a good share in the oversight, we will begin therefore with the Kitchin-garden, which should be separated from the Garden of pleasure by the intercourse of an Alley of the breadth of three Fathoms, or else by a Wall or Hedge; both which Gardens must be in some plain plot of ground, as it were a little hanging for the convenience of the Rain-water that shall fall therein; and likewise for the benefit of their labour, it must be cast into squares, very equal and uniform, by the side of the Kitchin-garden; It were necessary to have a Garden for Hemp, Flax, saffron, Turnips, Parsnips, and other things of profit and good Husbandry; and on the other side of the Garden of pleasure, another Garden for Pease, Beans, Rice, Millet, and such other things; for they serve greatly for the keeping of a Family.  
The enclosures of the Garden must be such, as the commodity and necessity of the place doth require; that is to say of Walls, if the Revenues of the Farm will bear it, or of a strong and thick Quickset Hedge, if there want either Stone, Brick, or Revenues to build the Wall withal. Some there be that enclose their Gardens with Banks, but nothing to their profit; for the moisture of their Gardens which should serve them, is thereby conveyed away and taken from them; for this way doth no where hold good, but in Fenny and Marsh grounds.  
The ground of the Gardens must be good, of his own nature free from stones, well broken and dunged a year before it be digged to plant in, and after it hath been digged and dunged or marled again, you must let it rest and drink in its Dung or Marl. As concerning the nature and goodness of it, the stiff Clay or sandy ground are worst of all, but it must be fat in handling, Black in Colour, and which crumbleth easily in the breaking or stirring of it with your fingers, and becometh small with labouring, and generally all grounds that are good for Wheat are good for Gardens; it is requisite also (to the end it may bring forth green Herbs in abundance) that it be reasonable moist; for neither that which is very dry, nor that which is subject to much wet, is good.  
Notwithstanding if the grounds belonging to the Farm, happen not to be such, you must remedy it as well as you may; the stiff Clay and sandy places must be amended by Dung and Marl, and would be cast three foot deep, the watery places will be made better, if you mix with it some sandy or gravelly ground, and therewithal cast it round about with Ditches, thereby to draw and drain out the water annoying the Garden. Thus the good Husband shall do his endeavour to amend, and make his ground more fruitful; Let the Dung which he layeth upon it be either of Sheep, Swine, Horses or Pigeons, according as the nature of the ground shall require, and the elder it is, the better also; in as much as in time it looseth his filthy stink, and whatsoever other evil quality, and getteth a new kind of rottenness which is more soft and more easy to be converted into the substance of the Earth, whereby good earth is made better, and the naughty amended. This is the cause why such as have writ of Husbandry in Latin, do call Dung Laetamen, and French men call it Letiere; because it maketh the ground merry, that is, when it is once mingled and incorporated therewith.  
If it be possible let not your Gardens be on that side the house the Barn or Thrashing-flore is, to the end that the Herbs and Flowers may not be hurt by the Dust, Dirt, small Straw or Chaff, which might be blown from the Thrashing-flore unto the Garden by the wind; for such Chaff having taken hold upon the leaves, doth pierce and fret them through; and being thus pierced, they burn and parch away presently.  
As there are two times in the year to sow Herbs, so there are two seasons to bring into order and dress Gardens, that is to say, Autumn and the Spring; Let your ground be digged and manured in November, which you intent to sow in the Spring; and dig in the Month of May such other grounds as you intent to sow in Autumn; to the end, that by the Cold of Winter, or by the Heat of summer, the Clods may be apt to turn to dust, and become short and brittle, and all unprofitable Weeds may be killed.  

The time of Sowing.  
ALl Seeds which are for the store of the Kitchin-garden must be sown and removed in the increase of the Moon, as namely from the first day unto the sixth; and for those that are sown in the decrease, they either come up slowly, or else be nothing worth; besides that, although you sow in the increase of the Moon, it sometimes falleth out, that notwithstanding your Seed be fat, full, make a white Flower, and be nothing corrupted or hurt, yet some evil constellation (which the Gardeners do call the course of the Heavens) do hinder them, that they profit not, nor thrive any thing at all.  
If you are disposed to sow Seeds in Summer, it must be in the increase of the Moon of July and August, and in Autumn in the increase of the Moon of September and October; as also for the Spring in February and March: In places naturally Cold, or which receive no great Heat from Sunbeams, the sowing in the Spring time must be toward the latter end thereof, and that in Autumn hastened and early performed; and on the contrary, the sowing of Seeds in the Spring time, in a hot place, must be early, and the sowing in Autmn late. Seeds grow best when they are sown upon warm days, or days that are neither hot nor cold.  
Colworts, spinach of all sorts, with Succory, Garlic, Leeks and Onions are sown in Autumn, and live all Winter.  
Colworts, Rocket, Cresses, Coriander, Navets or Turnips, Radishes, Parsnips, Carots, Parsley, Fennel, and other Herbs, whose Roots are good in Pottage, are sown in Autumn; and in the Spring, notwithstanding they grow better being sown in July in hot Countries, and in August in Country's indifferent hot, and in September in cold Countries.  
Lettuce, Sorrel, Purslane, Cucumbers, Gourds, Savory, Hartshorn, Thrick-madam, Beets, and other tender Herbs, as also Artichokes are sown in the Spring, and for the most part also those of March and April grow more early than those of February, according to the diversity of the time.  
So soon as the ground is full of Seeds in all places, you must be careful to water it if the place be dry of its own nature, that so the Seed may not be hindered of his sprouting by too much dryness, or that the Herb already sprung, may not die. The best water to water Potherbs withal, is Rain-water, if it fall in the night, or in such a time as it may not heat the Herbs; for it washeth and cleanseth them from the Dust, and Vermin that eateth them, especially if the Rain come driving with a Northern wind; for want of this the River or Brook-water is best next, being a little warm, and instead of this Well water (drawn in the Morning, and put into a Barrel, or some other thing of Receipt, that so it may take the heat of the Sunbeams) may serve; for cold, and Salt-water is an enemy to all sorts of Herbs; The time to water them, is the Evening and Morning, not the midday, for fear that the water being heated by the Sun, and the surface of the Earth (being hot) might burn them at the Root.  
Cutting of Herbs is profitable for them, at such time as they be somewhat what grown, to make them keep their greenness the longer, and to make them more beautiful and tufted, to keep them from seeing, and also to gike them somewhat a more pleasant smell, than they had in their first stalk; but all Herbs must not be cut at all times; for such as have a hollow stalk, as Onions and others, if they be cut when it raineth, the blade or stalk of the Onion is filled full of water, and rotteth, and this is the cause, why Herbs of such nature are not to be cut, but in a fair and dry time.   

Of setting and removing Potherbs.  
TO give the greater scope and liberty to Herbs, and to make them greater, you must remove them when they have four or five leaves out of the ground, and this may be done at any time; but especially see that the season be inclining to moistures and Rain, and they must be set in ground that is well furnished with fat, without any amending of it with Dung, if the time fall out dry, you must water them after they be new set in due time, not staying long, and set them thin, that so they may have their Earth lightened when need requireth, for thereby they will grow better and fairer.  
Slips for the Garden of sweet and fragrant Herbs may be gathered at all times, and they would be of young sprigs of a year old, taking part of the old wood, and writhing that to put it into the Earth, or else cleave it below, and put in the cloven an Oat, and round about it two or three more Oats, rather than Dung; for Herbs that are removed do not require Dung at their Roots; but rather they have need that the lowest parts of their Roots should be a little steeped in water.   

Of gathering and keeping Seeds, Roots, and Flowers.  
ROots for the most part are gathered when the Leaves are fallen off Flowers, as Borage, Bugloss, all good, and Marygolds when they are throughly open; Flowers must be gathered to be kept while they are shut, Leaves and whole Herbs when they are grown to the full, Fruits when they turn Yellow, and are grown to their perfection, Seeds when the Herbs are all laid and dry; and it must generally be observed in all manner of gathering, as well of Herbs, Flowers and Roots, as of Fruits and Seeds, that it be done in a fair and clear weather, and in the decrease of the Moon.  
Such Herbs as are to be kept must first be made very clean; and dried in the shadow, which is the best means to keep them stronger in their virtues and qualities and after put them up in bags of Leather, and not of woven stuff of wooden Boxes, that so they may not lose their virtue, as we see it put in practice by fine Herbs, which are kept to be used in Winter; wherefore me thinks, that the Apothecaries fail much in their way, which hang their Physick-herbs in the Roof of their house, whereby they spend their force, and become laden with Dust, Cobwebs, the Dung of Flies, and a thousand other filthy things.  
The best way to dry flowers will be in a temperate place, and to turn them oft, to the end they may not corrupt; having a continual care, that they may not lose their colour or smell, and when they are dried, put them into an earthen Vessel. Seeds must be kept in Bags, or Boxes well stopped and kept in dry places; and where there is no water shed; for Seeds are mightily spoiled with moisture. The Seeds of Chibolds, Onions, and Leeks, as also of Poppey, are kept in their rinds and heads: For to keep Roots you must observe two ways; for either they are to be kept new as they are yet green, or else they are to be kept dry; for to keep them new you must lay them in Sand or Gravel very thin, in some place under the Earth, and a little covered, or else to bury them under the Earth in the Garden, as I have seen it done to keep them the greatest part of the Winter. To keep them dry, after they are gathered, you must wash them with clear water, and after take from them all the small Fibres and Hair-threds that hang about them, and then dry them either in the shadow of the Sunrising, if they be but small and thin, as are the roots of Fennel, Succory, Parsley, Sperage and such like; or in the South Sun if they be gross and thick, as those of Daffodils, Gentian; Showbread, Water-lilly, Briony, and such like, after they are dried, and thus prepared, hang them in some high and upper room, open towards the Sun when it is in the South, and where neither smoke nor dust, nor the Sunbeams may any way hurt them.   

The Garden of Pleasure.  
THe most pleasant and delectable thing for recreation belonging to a Farm, is the Flower-gardens; it is a commendable and seemly thing to behold out of a window many Acres of ground well husbanded, whether it be Meadow, Pasture or Arable; but yet it is much more to behold fair and comely proportions, handsome and pleasant Arbours, as it were Closets, delightful Borders of Lavender, Rosemary, Violets, and other such like, to hear the ravishing Music of an infinite number of pretty small Birds which continually day and night do chatter and chant their proper and natural branch Songs, upon the Hedges and Trees of the Garden, and to smell so sweet a Nose gay so near at hand, seeing that this so fragrant a smell cannot but refresh exceedingly, when going out of your Bedchamber in the morning after the Sun-rise, and whiles the clear and Pearl-like Dew doth Perch upon the Grass; you may hear the melodious Music of the Bees, which busying themselves in gathering the Thime, do fill the Air with most acceptable sweet and pleasant Harmony, besides the Borders and Rows of Thime, Balm, Rosemary, Marjerome Cypress, Sothernwood, and other fragrant Herbs, the sight and view whereof cannot but give great contentment unto the beholders,  
The Garden of pleasure must be cast and contrived close to the one side of the Kitchin-garden, as before hath been said, but so as that they be sundered by the intercourse of a large Alley, and also a hedge of Quickset, whose ground must be of a like goodness, and have the like labour, Tilling and Husbanding that the Kitchin-garden hath bestowed upon it.  
The Garden of Pleasure shall be set about and compassed with Arbours made of Jessamin, Rosemary, Juniper, Cypress-trees, Ceders, Rosetrees, and others, first planted and pruned; as the nature of every one doth require, and after brought into form and order with Willow or other poles, as may serve for the making of Arbours, the ways of Alleys must be covered with Sand well beat, or paved with Stone or other like thing.  
The Garden shall be divided by a large Alley or Walk into two equal parts, the one shall contain the Herbs and flowers used to make Nosegays, as March Violets, Provence-gilliflowers, Purple-gilliflowers, Indian-gilliflowers, small Panuces, Yellow and White Gillyflowers, Marigolds, Daffodils, Canterbury-bells, Purple-Velvet-Flower, Cornflag, Lilies, & other such like, and it may be called the Nosegay-garden.  
The other part shall have all other sweet smelling Herbs, whether they be such as bear no Flowers, or if they bear any, yet they are not put in Nosegays alone, but the whole Herb with them, as Sothernwood, Wormwood, Jessamin, Marjerome, Balm, Mints, Peniroyals, Rosemary, Hyssop, Lavender, Basil, Sage, Savory, Rue, Tansey, Thime, Camomile, Nept, Sweet-balm, all good, and others of like nature, and this may be called the Garden of Herbs, of a good smell, the greatest part of which sweet Herbs, as also Nosegay-flowers, though they grow naturally, and of their own accord, without any labour or travel of the Gardener, yet such of them as stand in need of dressing and ordering, shall be sown, planted, removed, gathered and kept no otherwise then the Potherbs, but yet notwithstanding regard must be had of the nature of every particular one, but (because this tract is only directed to the good Housewife) I shall leave the particular ordering, sowing setting, and planting of all to the judgement and good discretion of the Gardener.  
And now having delivered the manner and form of the Garden of pleasure, I should withal speak of the manner of bestowing the Herbs and Flowers therein, in proportions of divers fashions, or in Labyrinths or Mazes; but in this course I cannot set down any universal prescript or order, seeing they depend partly upon the Spirit and invention of the Gardener, and partly upon the pleasure of the Master and Lord, unto whom the ground and Garden appertaineth the one whereof is lead by the hops and skips, turn and wind of his Brain, the other by the pleasing of his Eye, according to his best fancy, and therefore I shall here omit them, and proceed to instrust the good Housewife in what month, and time of the month divers sorts of Seeds may be sown.   

A Table to know the best time to sow divers sorts of Seeds.  

He that will sow seeds must know that  
Some may be sown at all times of the Month and Moon, as 

Asparagus  
Coleworts of all sorts  
Spinage-Lettice  
Parsnips  
Radishes.    
Others in a certain Month and time of the Moon, as in February the Moon being 

New 

Thime  
Garlic  
Borage  
Bugloss  
Marjerome  
Purslane  
Radish  
Rosemary  
Sorrel  
Double Marigolds    
Full 

Anise musked  
Violets  
Blites  
Skirworts  
White Succory  
Fennel  
Parsley.    
Old 

Cole Cabal  
White Cole  
Green Cole  
Cucumbers  
Hartshorn  
spinach  
Cabage-lettice  
Melons  
Onions  
Parsnips  
Burnet  
Leeks.      
Sow in Mar. the ☾ being 

New 

Garlic  
Borage  
Bugloss  
Marjerome  
White Poppy  
Purslane  
Radish  
Sorrel  
Thime  
Violets    
Full 

Musked Anise  
Blites  
Skirworts  
Succory  
Fennel    
Old 

Cole Cabage  
White Cole  
Green Cole  
Cucumbers  
Hartshorn  
spinach  
Hyssop  
Gillyflowers  
Cabage-letice  
Melons  
Onions  
Burnet  
Leeks      
Sow in April the Moon being 

New 

Marjerome  
Thime  
Violets    
Full 

Apples of love  
Marvellous Apples    
Old 

Artichokes  
Cabbage Cole  
Gillyflowers  
Parsnips      
Sow in May the Moon being 

Old 

Blessed-Thistle      
In June the Moon being 

New 

Gourds  
Radishes    
Old 

Cucumbers  
Melons  
Parsnips      
In July the Moon being 

Full Old 

White Succory  
Cabbage-lettice      
In August the Moon being 

Full 

White Succory      
Some seeds grow best being new, as 

Leeks  
Cucumbers  
Onions    
Other Seeds there are which grow best being old, as 

Coriander  
Parsley  
Savory  
Beets  
Cress'  
spinach  
Poppy    
These m●st be preserved from Cold. 

Lettuces.  
Artichokes  
Cabbage-cole  
Dyers-grain  
Melons  
Cucumbers     
It is good to plant and gather Grafts in the last of the Moon, and to graft two days after the change, 

Note that seeds must be gathered in fair weather in the wain of the Moon,— kept  
Some in 

Boxes of Wood  
Bags of Leather  
Vessels of Earth    
Others as 

Onions in their Husks.  
Leeks in their Husks.  
Chibolls in their Husks.         

THE Silkworm, And the Government of them.  
THE good Housewife must not make less account of the Silkworm then of the Honey-bee; for besides the pleasure which she may conceive of the sight of the marvellous industry of this little Creature in making and spinning of Silk, she may also reap an incredible profit of so excellent a work, which honoureth and maketh men glorious, attired with the pomp of this workmanship and piece of cunning skill; in so much as we see Kings, Princes, Knights, Gentlemen, and other personages clothed and apparelled with the travel of these pretty Creatures; and which is more, the Silk serveth not only for the appareling of men, but also for a singular remedy to comfort the Heart that is sick, to rejoice and recreate all the heavy and troubled spirits, as we may well perceive by that famous confection, called of the Physician's Alkermes; which being for the most part compounded of the decoction and infusion of Silk in the Juice of Kermes, being taken inwardly, is a Sovereign remedy in faintings and swooning; wherefore the good Housewife shall make great account of these Creatures, to the end that she may reap profit of the sale of the Silk, which she shall gather from them yearly; which profitable practice is well known amongst the good Wives of foreign Countries, from whence we have such great quantities of Silk brought into England  
And for the making of her best commodity hereof she must choose out a convenient place for the keeping of them, and it must be rather high then low, in a good Air, without moistness, and so provided of Windows, as that the Sun may come in at them Morning and Evening, if it seem good to those that have the charge of them. The Windows must be such as will shut close, either glazed or paper-windows, to the end that when it raineth or bloweth, in cold weather or in moist, they may be kept very close and fast shut; for who so faileth to govern, and provide for them in this manner, without doubt these pretty Creatures (being tender at all times) cannot escape but die, when cold weather cometh. There must likewise be Nets hanged before the Windows, to the end that when the Paper-windows are opened, the Sparrows, Swallows, and such like hurtful Birds, may not get in to feed upon these Worms: Neither Cock nor Hen must come in here; for they would so ravenously feed upon them, as that they would be ready to burst. The walls and floor must be very clean, and free from holes or crevices, by which Rats, Mice, or other like Vermin may enter and get in to kill and spoil these little things, either night or day. In it there must be Tables or Shelves for them to abide upon, and they must be kept upon Sheets of Paper, the edges turned up, that they may not creep away.  
The careful Housewife as soon as Spring draweth near, and that she shall see that the Mulberry-tree beginneth to bud, shall bring forth her Eggs that she hath kept all Winter, and set them where the warmth of the Sun may come to them; and if she see that the Mulberry-tree is slow to bud, there shall be fresh Dung laid to the Roots thereof, during the new Moon of March, thereby to bring it forward; for otherwise for lack of the leaves of the Mulberry-tree; if it should happen the Worms should be bred or hatched, you must for their food have recourse to the Heart of the Thorn, Elme-leaves, the tender tops of Nettles, and others, all which will but keep them alive; and as concerning making choice of such Worms as are to be breeders, you must take the seed, which being bathed in Wine, falleth to the bottom; and doth not float above; the time of breeding then is about the fifteenth or twentieth of April, from the fourth unto the tenth day of the Moon, but never in the decrease; for than they will bring forth their Silk at such time as they are strong, in such sort as that their ends and husks will be greater, harder, and more finely haired than any other that are bred at another time: For these that are bred in the decrease of the Moon are always feeble, and yield no profit; the way to make them hatch is, after that you have watered and bathed them in the Whitewine, rather than warm water, to lay them near the fire till they are a little warm; then lay them betwixt two Pillows, made likewise something warm, and so as they hatch and come out of their Eggs, to take them gently away, and put them upon Mulberry-leaves, and to lay them upon Board's or Papers that have been rubbed over with Wormwood or with Sothernwood, or some such like Herb, and give them fresh Mulberry-leaves Evening and Morning, increasing them every day as the Worms shall grow greater and greater, unto the fourth change; for than they will stand in need to be fed at noon also, because than they eat more than they were wont; but be cateful, that when they mew or change, you must give them sparingly; for than they are weak and feeble, and in any case let not the leaves be moist, wet or rotten, and if it should fall out, that they are wet when they are gathered, you must wipe them throughly with clean linen, and dry them a little at the fire if need be. They must be gathered of old Trees rather than young ones, and not to gather them in the Morning when they are wet with the Dew or other thing, until the Sun hath gone over them, and be sure to pick the bad from the good before you give them to the Worms. These little Creatures must not be touched with your hands, but as little as may be; for the more they are handled, the more they are hindered; because they are very exceeding tender and dainty, especially at such time as they cast their sloughs or claing; yet notwithstanding they must be kept clean and neat, and all their little Dung taken from them once in two or three days, the place where they are kept, must be perfumed sometimes with Frankincense, Garlic or Onions; that you may minister matter of pleasure to these little Creatures, and if they are weak and sick, these smells refresh and recover them again. You shall take notice that they are wont to sleep, especially at such times as they cast and change: After they have cast and changed the fourth time, they eat better than ever they did, until such time as their bodies begin to shine, and that they make show of the Silk that is in their bellies; which if it be to come white from them, their heads will look as if they were Silver; if Yellow, their heads bear the Colour of Gold, if Green or Orange Colour, their heads foretell the same. Thus they feeling themselves well filled and fed, do seek out some resting place for the purpose to fasten themselves unto, and there orderly to avoid their Silk, every one shutting up himself in his scale or husk, which they make or build up in three days at most.  
When you perceive them begin to spin, and fasten themselves to the Paper or other thing that they are kept on, You must make them little Coffins of Poper, putting but one in each Paper, and so pin them up about the Room to the hang or other things convenient; when they begin their work, they are so eager, as that they go mad till they be packed up in their little Clews and Bottoms, where they are so enclosed that a man would think they would be stifled they have finished their work in two or three days more or less, as the weather is cold or hot at that time. When any begin to spin, mark the Paper-coffins, when you pin them up, with the day of the Month; for in six days you may wind off their Silk, though they lie thus in their husks, for the most part twenty days more or less, according to the softness or hardness of their Bottoms of Silk, and then (if you do not wind off their Silk before) they will eat their way out.  
As concerning the choice of their Husks or Cod, the Orange-coloured are the best, and not the Yellow, and least of all the White or Green. When you go about to wind your Silk, you must have in readiness a Reel, and then after you have pulled off all the lose Silk, till you come to the hard bottom, find out an end, which you may do by drawing two or three ends together till they run single, and so do by the rest, and you may wind 10 or 15 Husks together, and your best way to wind is out of water a little warm, and wherein some gum-arabic hath been soaked. After this manner you may wind so much Silk off the Husks, that the Worms will drop out into the water, and the Gummed water gives the Silk an excellent gloss; Take the Worms out of the water, and lay them on sheets of Paper to dry, keeping them safe from Rats, Mice, and other Vermin, and then make choice of the best for breeding, which are the grossest and blackest; for those are the strongest, and afford better Eggs than any of the other; you must take more female-then males, and for the knowing of the one from the other, the Eyes of those Creatures do sufficiently testify thereof; for the females have thinner Eyes, and not so black as the males; but this is known best when the become Butterflies, which will not be till the middle of July, or after; and then as soon as they come forth out of their Husks, they will couple, and lay their Eggs, one will lay about 200 Eggs, which will stick to the Paper as they are laid, and there should be kept without stirring all Winter, till brooding time come again, and you must be sure to keep them from the Winter-frosts.  
As concerning the diseases whereunto these little Creatures be subject; when they have not been so carefully looked unto as they should, to be kept clean, when the cold Northern-wind, or the hot Southern-Sun hath molested them; as also when they have eated too much, than they become sick, wherefore keep them very cleanly, stop the Windows and holes by which the cold winds do enter and get in, and carry Coals of fire that smoke not, into their Rooms, setting thereupon Frankincense, (for they so love this smell, as that it presently cureth them) and also besprinkle them with a little Malmsey, or Aquavitae. And if they have been troubled with too great heat of the South Sun, then sprinkle on them some Rose-water; if they have over-eaten themselves the contrary diet will cure them, as the keeping them two or three days without eating any thing; if there be any of them that ure spotted with duskish, bluish, or yellowish Colour, and there appear withal upon their Bellies a certain humour that doth wet them, they must be speedily taken from out of the company of the rest, and carried out, and in the Morning before the Sun rise, set the whole and sound in the air for some small time, and after put them in their places again, and sprinkle them with good and strong Vinegar, and rub their Rooms with Wormwood or Southernwood, and also to give them air, and let them seal the force of the Sun, provided that the Beams thereof do not touch them, and so fit the Windows, that the Morning air may season and send his breath throughout the whole house, And as for those that are sick, keep them upon Papers by themselves, and now and then sprinkle on them some Rose-water, or Aquavitae, and rub their Papers with Wormwood, as before.  
The pleasure in the keeping, tending and observing this little Creature, is not to be conceived, but by those that have had the government of them. As concerning their shapes, first their Eggs are laid all round together upon the Paper, and in such order that none are laid upon another, and they are about the bigness of a Turnip-seed, or small white Beads, which within a week after they are laid do turn Yellow, and in a week more they are Brown, and the week after they are a Dun Colour, which Colour they hold all Winter till the latter end of April, at which time or beginning of May they will hatch and bring fourth young, as hath been showed before. When they are hatched they are black and no bigger than the end of a small Pin; when they they are about a fortnight old, their heads begin to be white, and a fortnight or three weeks after that, they cast a slough or skin, and the bodies begin to be white, and so at every time they cast, their Colour doth change, until such time as they begin to spin, and then you may perceive them to be clear, and shine of such Colour as the Silk will be that they spin.  
From the time that they are hatched to the time of their spinning, will be about seven weeks, and after that they never eat any more; for after the Silk is wonnd off, and the Worms come out of the bag, in a short time they come to be Butterflies, as you have heard before, and then after they have coupled and laid their Eggs, there is no more care to be taken of them, for than they pine away and die.   

OF THE Honey-bee, And the Government thereof.  
IF the greatest part of the profit of a Farm depend upon the keeping of Cattle: I dare be bold to affirm, that the fruitfulest thing that can be kept about a Countryhouse, is Bees; indeed there is some pains and care to be taken in choosing, feeding, watching, and keeping of them clean in their Hives; but withal, what so rare and singular commodity have we as the Wax, and the Honey which we enjoy by their admirable workmanship, both profitable and pleasant for the use of man; Let not it then seem strange, if I advise the Housholder to be careful to keep Bees about his Farm, and withal teach him in a few words what should be the ordering and governing of them and their Hives, and what time and hour it is good to gather Honey and Wax.  
The Housholder therefore shall first make choice of some fit and secret place in his Garden of pleasure, for the keeping of his Bees, in the bottom of some Valley if possible, to the end they may rise on high to fly abroad to get their Food, and also when they be laden, they may descend the more easily downward with their load; but especially let the place be open to the South Sun, yet where they may be shaded sometimes, and that by some wall, ramport, or house-side, that they may be defended from winds and tempests, and so also that they may sly sundry and several ways, for to get diversity of Pastures, and so return again to their little Cottages laden with their Composition of Honey.  
And it is convenient to have them where there is good store of Thime, Organy, Winter-savory, Wild-thime, Rosemary, Sage, Gillyflowers, Violets, White-lillies, Roses, Saffron, Beans, melilot, and other sweet Herbs and Flowers, wherein there is no bitterness, and also Fruit-trees, Peach-trees, Pear-trees, Appletrees, Cherry-trees, and other such like.  
The place must be closed in with a strong Hedge or good wall, for fear both of Beasts and Thiefs; for Kine and Sheep do eat up their Flowers, and beat the Due off from the Flowers, which should load them; but of all tame Beasts there is none that doth so damnify these little pretty wretches as Swine and Goats; for the Goats wast their Food, and jump against their houses, yea, and oftentimes beat them down; the Swine, besides the wasting of their Food, rubbing against their Hives, do overturn them, and the seats whereon they be set; Sheep in like manner losing some of their locks of Wool upon the Hedges, are the cause that the silly poor Bees now and then become entangled therein, when they labour to get their Food, and so leave their Carcases for a pledge; Hens likewise have a glutronous appetite towards them, Snakes and other like venomous Beasts sometimes take up their Inns in their Hives; but to take away this casualty at once and for ever, you must plant Rue round about them in good quantity; for such Beasts cannot abide this Herb. Their place also must be far from the Dunghills, and all dirty or miry places which might hurt them with ill smells; for they are deadly enemies to all filthivess and uncleanness; but let their places be as near as you can to some little Brook of water, naturally and of itself continually running, and this Rundle must have by the edges thereof Stones or Boughs of Trees for the Bees to light upon.  
But whatsoever the place be, whether in the Garden of pleasure or else where, it must not be hemmed in with very high walls on every side, unless you leave slits or holes in the walls about four foot from the ground, that the Bees may pass the easier in and out.  
The place and standing for the Bees being thus appointed, the next thing is to provide for Hives; the best are those which are made of Board's, wide enough, but not very long; and they must be made so, that one or two of the Board's may be lifted up when the Honey is to be taken, or the Hives to be made clean; There are some Hives made of Sallow or Willow twigs; and some of Straw, but not so convenient as the former; they must be wide beneath, and narrow above, drawn over and dressed on the outside with Lime and Oxe-dung mingled together, that so they may continue the longer; they must be set upon Board's fitted for the purpose, and that near unto some wall or house-side, but not close to it, that so there may be a space left, for one to go about them and make them clean, or else upon some Vault of Stone or Brick to the height of three foot, and as much in breadth laid over with mortar on every side, and planed so, that that neither Rats, Mice, or other Vermin may climb thither to hurt them. The Hives shall be so set, as there may be a certain distance betwixt one and the other, that when need shall require to look unto any one, for the making of it clean, or any other thing. You may not shake or disturb the adjoining Bees, who do greatly fear when they are touched, lest their workmanship of Wax (which is very weak and easy to be spoiled) should be stirred or broken. The Hives must have some covering or shelter of Board's or other thing besides the shade of Leaves and Boughs, which may serve to preserve them against cold, Snow, Rain and heat, although heat do not so much hurt unto Bees as cold. Therefore behind the Bees as they stand, there must be some building, or at least a wall, which may be to them instead of a Sunny-bank against the Northwind, and keep the Hives in a moderate warmth, and mark it well that you put the forepart of the Hive, where the Bees come forth, something more towards the East than the South; to the end that in the Morning the Bees for their earlier coming forth may have the Sun warm upon them for their better awakening. The holes by which they pass and repass, must be very little, that they may may not give place for the entrance of much cold, and they will be big enough, if so be there may but one Bee pass at a time; but according to the quantity of Bees in the Hive, you must have more or less holes, three holes will be sufficient for the fullest Hives. It would be convenient that they be sheltered with Board's in Winter, made with Windows to open and shut, that you may close them up in Snowy or very cold weather.  
I will say nothing here of the engendering of Bees, whether it be by the coupling of Males and Females together, as we see in other kind of Creatures, or by the corruption and rotting of the Belly and Entrails of a young Bullock; (whereof Virgil speaketh) but I will describe them as they are already engendered, as what be the properties of such as are fit and like to make good Honey.  
There are many sorts of Bees; for some are of a golden Colour, clear, shining and bright, others blackish, rough and hairy, some great, some small, some thick and round, and others spare and long, some wild and some tame; but if you would buy or gather swarms to keep for their Honey, look and take good heed that they have the Marks following, as that they be little ones, somewhat long, not hairy, golden coloured, shining and sparkling like Gold, spotted above, gentle and loving. For the greater and longer that Bees are, the worse they are. And if they be cruel they are nothing worth; notwithstanding that their Choler and malice is easily helped if they be well marked and fruitful, by seeing them oft; for in your oft going to them they become tame; but because one cannot perceive whether they have all these marks aforesaid, if he see them not: If you buy them, before you bargain you must open the Hives, and see if they be well replenished or not, and if you cannot look up high enough, you may guests what they are by considering if there be good store at the mouth, and whether you hear a great noise and huzzing within; and if they be all retired to rest, if you blow into the Hive, you will presently perceive whether they be many or few, by the noise which they will make when they feel the breath. It is good to buy them as near unto your abode as you can, and not in other Countries far off; for the change of their Pasture Air and Country doth astonish and amaze them; besides also, the farther they are carried, the more they are pained in their Hives; but if they cannot be had but by seeking far for them, it will be best to carry them away in the Evening or before day, and rather in Spring then in Winter, and then to be born between two men, and when they are brought to the place of their abode, you must not open them till next day at night, to the end that after they have rested all night, they may be the fit to come forth peaceably in the Morning; There is no such careful heed to be taken in the choosing of those which are given, nor of those which are taken out of the Fields or Woods; although I could advise the contrary, seeing the charges and pains are as great about the bad as the good; notwithstanding when one taketh them out of the Fields or Woods, it is not possible to make such choice as he would, and therefore must be content with such as come next to hand. The manner used in some Countries to gather them is thus. When you have found out any place where store of Bees do use and keep, (which is commonly in in Woods and Forests where Herbs do abound, and Trees of sweet smell and near some small River or Fountain) you shall use diligence to find out the place of their abode, which you may easily learn by watching their return from water, whether it be near or far off, then afterwards in the beginning of the Spring, with Thime and Balm bruised, with other such like Herbs as Bees love, anoint and rub a Hive well, so that the smell and Juice thereof may remain behind; after that make the Hive clean, and sprinkle it with a little Honey, and having thus handled it, set it down in the Woods or Forests, near unto the Springs where the Bees do most use, and after they have once found it out, the Hive will quickly be full of Bees.  
The good Housholder having provided Hives and fit places, and also having bought or gathered good store of Swarms of Bees to replenish his Hives, shall be careful to afford them a more diligent and attentive kind of Government, and ordering then unto any kind of cattle; Because the Bee is more discreet and industrious than any other kind of living Creature: For she hath a kind of wisdom coming near unto the understanding of man; and therefore look then for a more careful manner of usage and carriage towards her from them that are her Governors and cannot abide them to be sluttish and negligent, nor to be niggardly or filthily entreated. It must therefore be his condition that shall have the charge of them, to consider their manners, and manner of living, and accordingly to frame himself thereunto in the best sort that may be. They have a King whom they obey as their Sovereign in all things, accomplishing and fulfilling, whatsoever he shall give them in charge, whether it be to go forth, or to return home, or to stay within, and they attend him always in companies wheresoever he be, they comfort him, if at any time he be sick; and do keep about him if he cannot fly, not one of them is negligent and slothful, but every one ready and quick to any kind of work; some gather and bring home what they get and suck from Flowers and sweet smelling Herbs and Leaves, unto those which stay within the Hive making Honey; others are busy in making Combs, and building of little Cabins. Some make Honey, and others attend other matters and vocations; some lay their hands to the softening of Wax, and temper it so well, as that making thin Leaves thereof, they therewith build up and frame them Cells and Cloisters; others with great labour do sunder the gross and drossy substance, and make ready a place for every sort of Honey; some of them with their pains and diligence do keep clean the Hives; which notwithstanding are never defiled by any of their own Dung; for always in flying abroad they void their excriments; some there are which ordinarily do nothing but keep watch and ward, to the end that to the uttermost of their power they may withstand whatsoever thing may annoy or hurt them. They carry out such as die within their Hives; but then their King dies, they stir him nor from his place; but crowding one upon another's back about him, they seem to lament and mourn, as they make show by their noise and humming, and that so vehemently, as that if their Keeper do not look unto it, and take him from under them, they will suffer themselves rather to die for hunger, then forsake him. To be brief, every one of them is so diligent at his work, as they cannot bear it, that any should be in their company that should not be occupied in doing of something; and this is the cause why they drive away the drone which will never work, neither is good to any thing else, but to waste and devour the Honey. They hate above all things evil scents: They never fly against the light, nor unto any flesh, or blood, or fat; but content themselves with Leaves and Flowers only, which have a sweet smelling Juice; They take delight in pleasant Songs and Voices, whereon it cometh to pass, that if they be scattered abroad, they will be called together at the delightful ringing of some Basin or small Bells. To be brief, their fashion and manner of living is as it were wonderful in nature: But to give over all further describing of them, I will content myself in delivering the conditions and duties required about their ordering and governing.  
He therefore that hath the charge and over sight of the Bees, must be careful first of their Pastures (whereof we have made mention before) than he shall diligently look unto their Hives twice or thrice a Month, beginning at the Spring, and continuing till November; for there is not that time in the year, wherein they stand not in need of something, and if they be well ordered, they will continue ten years: They must be opened about the Month of March, and the Honey-combs made clean with a very strong and solid Feather, when as they cannot be come by with the hand, that so whatsoever filth is gathered there in the time of Winter, may be cast out, and the Spider's Webs; which spoil all the Combs, may be taken away, Afterwards he shall smoke them all with Oxe-dung burnt; for this Dung by a certain affinity is grateful and well liked of Bees; but in the mean time before he handle the Hives, be sure that he hath not been drunk the day before, and that for the present he come not near them without being washed, made clean, and well apparelled; in like manner he must abstain from all meats that are of strong smell, as are all Salt-meats and Soused-meats, and all things being strong of scent, as Garlic or Onions, or such like things; and let him carry in his mouth some thing that hath a good smell; for by this means they will love him so well, as that he may handle their Hives at his pleasure, and the little pretty Birds will never hurt or annoy him. In the Spring when they begin to multiply, and increase, and to cast their Swarms, which so soon as they can fly, desire nothing more than to fly away, and not to abide with the old ones, and much less to become Subjects unto them, than it will be necessary to keep watch very diligently, and that from seven or eight a Clock in the Morning till two or three in the Afternoon, that so they may not fly unto some other place; wherefore if you can discern and spy out their Kings, it will be good to take their Wings from them, if they make show of themselves oftentimes, and seem as though they would fly together with their company, as also to cast dust them or water; for by these means they will be kept from going away, so that then they will not go out of their own Yard, nor out of the limits of their own Kingdom; neither will they suffer their Troop to go far from them, or else it will be good after they are come forth, to astonish and occupy their minds with the sounding of Basins, Brass-pans or Kettles, ringing forth softly; for by how much you sound the stronglier, by so much they mount the higher into the Air, and stray the farther off; but if it be a gentle and low sound, they in like manner do stay and keep themselves near at hand, and below; If you see them begin to knit and hasten themselves to the Bough of a Tree, or to any bush near the ground, sound your Pan or Basin more gently, and then having got a Hive well prepared (as before is showed in taking of Bees in the Forest or Wood) shake them all therein, and cover them so close with a sheet or other linen cloth, that they may not get out again, and at night when they are all got up into the top of the Hive, (as by that time they will) remove your Hive, and set it upon the board or seat of Stone or Brick, where it shall continue, If they rest themselves in such a place as where you cannot come at them with your hand, then take a Pole and tye to the end of it a Hive, ordered as before, and sprinkled with good Wine, and hold it near unto the Bees, and thus they will not fail to go into it. Another way, and which is the best in my opinion, is thus. When you see that the young Kings shall be come forth with their young Train, which within a day or two will all become together at the mouth of the old stock, and show by sufficient signs and tokens that they are desirous of some place of their own, and peculiar to themselves, than set a Hive ready dressed before them, and they will go into it, and rest contented therewith, and abide therein.  
It is to be known when this young Host will come abroad, by the noise and humming which they will make in the Hive three days before that they purpose to come abroad, as if a Camp of Warlike men would rise up and remove; And to know when they make this noise, he must lay his Ear at Evening to every Hive, that so he may hear the noise and humming when they make any. And yet indeed this noise and humming is sometimes a sign and token of some fight or strife raised betwixt them, as where there are more Kings than one, which must be well prevented; otherwise by such civil Wars and deadly fights, all the whole Troop and Company will quickly be overthrown and brought to nothing; but this intended Combat is quickly taken up with a Bowl of boiled Wine set unto them, or else some Honeyed Wine or other such liquor; which by its sweetness is familiar to Bees for these will appease their fury; but yet if you perceive, that these fights and skirmishes are not thus ended, you must make haste to kill the Kings of the Bees, which are the cause of such seditions and tumults, These poor Creatures are so enraged with love towards their King, that for to defend him, they willingly cast and expose their own lives into open hazard against all his Enemies, which come to assail him, besides other incredible obeisance, which they continually yield unto him.  
At this time of the Spring it likewise sometimes cometh to pass, that by reason of the hardness of the winter past, or of some disease or sickness, there is great want and scarcity of Bees in old stocks, and this must be remedied by putting a new Swarm into that hive, killing the young King, that so his Subjects may content themselves to live peaceably under the old; but if you have not a Swarm, than the next way is to put the Troops of two or three such diminished stocks into one, bedewing or sprinkling the same before with some sweet Liquor, and after to shut them up in the same Hive, and set something within it for them to eat, until they be well wont unto it, and so to keep them three days closed up, giving them a little fresh Air at some small and little holes.  
If Rainy weather continue long, that the Bees cannot go out of their Hives to seek pastures, and to bring home food unto their young brood, you must not fail to help them with some provision of honey, until such time as they shall be able to fly abroad to get their own living, and to work their Honey combs off, for otherwise you shall quickly make an end of them, as it oftentimes comes to pass. All the Summer they must gather Honey (whereof we will speak hereafter) and at the same time every ten days their Hives must be opened and smoked with Oxe-dung, and afterwards be cooled by watering the empty parts of the Hive, and likewise be made clean, and all Grubs taken out of them if any be therein. In some fair day about the end of Autumn, you must make clean their Hives; but see that it be hot and calm weather; and all the Winter you must not open nor touch them; but keep them close within till the Sunbeams break forth again for their comfort, stopping without whatsoever clefts and holes you find, with Mortar and Neats-dung mixed together, so that you leave none open, but only a way for them to pass in and out; and also though their Hives stand under Covert, yet cover them again with Hackles made of straw, or some such like thing, that as much as is possible they may be kept from cold and winds, which they fear and abhor more than any other thing, and you shall likewise provide, in case of a hard Winter, to make provision of Juice of sweet Balm, Honied-water, Sugered-water, Milk, or other Liquor, which may be convenient for them, in which Liquor you must steep pure and clean Wool, whereupon the Bee sitting, may suck out the Juice or Liquor that is therein.  
In the Combs are found Drones like unto Bees, but greater, which (although they be unprofitable, because they gather no food or sustenance, but eat up that which others bring in) yet do serve for something, for they hatch the young brood, whereupon come the small Bees, and therefore you must not kill them at all, but keep a certain number; to the end that the Bees may not grow slothful and idle.  
And to the end that they may not endure hunger in Winter, and that they may not eat up the Honey they have made, and which is best untaken from them, it will be good to give them some dry Figs stamped or tempered in water, or boiled Wine, and likewise some Raisins stamped and sprinkled with water, or else some Curranes stamped with good Wine; or else to cast then in at the door of the Hive some sweet Liquors with Sirings, as Milk, and especially Goats-milk, as the best of all the rest, to bear out the scarcity and poorness of the time until Spring.  

The diseases of Bees and their remedies.  
THe Bee is subject unto the Plague, in which case there is no more Sovereign a Medicine for them, then presently to carry them far off; they are troubled with the Flux of the Belly in the beginning of the Spring, when the Spourges are in the flower, and the Elme-trees bring forth their Seed, where they are given to feed greedily, and with great Stomaches, having fasted all Winter, and they be so desirous to eat of these new and young Flowers, as some folk are to eat of new Apples, and thereupon they die quickly, if it be not speedily fore-seen. For this cause you must quickly help this Flux of the Belly, with the Rinds or Seeds of Pomgrannets dried, pounded and serced, and afterwards mixed with Honey, and sprinkled with sweet Wine, or with Honied-water, wherein hath been boiled Rosemary, or with Marselles Figs, which have been boiled long in water.  
Bees over often sick when there is great store of Flowers; for the Bees thereupon labour rather to make great store of Honey than any young Bees, and so it cometh to pass that many die of excessive toil and travel; wherefore when in the Spring time the Meadows and Fields are full of Flowers, it will be good every third day to stop up the places whereat they go in and out of their Hives, leaving only a few little holes, but such as the Bees cannot go out at, that so they may be turned from making of Honey, and also when they perceive that they cannot fill up all their waxed Chambers with Honey, they may apply themselves to fill them with young Bees.  
They fall into a Consumption and dry all away when they have endured a very great heat or cold, and it is evidently derceived; for it is often seen, that one beareth out of the Hive the body of another that is dead, and and some of those that are within a Hive become pensive and sad after the manner of a general mourning, which when it happeneth to them, they must have meat made of Honey, boiled and beaten with Galls or dry Roses.  
Sometimes there is such store of Combs made, as that for want of Bees they stand empty, whereupon it cometh, that they rot and destroy the Honey by their rottenness, and the spoil of the Honey causeth the Bees to die; for to remedy this you must put two Swarms into one Hive, or else cut away the putrified Combs with a very sharp Knife or other well whetted Tool.   

The gathering of Honey, for which there is so much labour taken all the year, is chief effected at three several time, as shortly after the Spring, all the Summer, and in the beginning of Autumn; but there cannot any prefixed day or certain time be appointed for the same; seeing it dependeth upon the finishing of the Combs, for if you draw them out before they be throughly wrought, the Bees will grow malcontented, and cease to work any more, by reason of the thirst which they endure. The time of gathering Honey is known by the Bees ceasing to make any great noise, but turning the same into a soft and low buzzing; as also if the holes which are above are stopped with Wax, and if the Bees drive out the Drones, which are like unto Bees, but a greater beast, and altogether unprofitable, and without taking any pains; for they gather no Food, but eat up that which others bring in. The Hour of taking the Combs is most commonly in the Morning or Evening; For it is not good to disquiet or trouble them in the heat of the day: The Hives must not be wholly emptied, and so all the Fruit taken out, but there must be left about a fifth part as well in Spring as in Summer; but in Autumn two parts must be left, and a third taken; for by this means you shall not much discontent them, but shall leave behind abundantly behind for them to feed upon, The gathering of Honey most commonly used and reasonable, is but to take the ripest Combs, and those which are best perfected, and with all of them unto two thirds; If the Hive be but half full of Honey, then but the half of that to be taken; and if it be under half full, then proportionably; you must make them come forth with the smoke of Neats-dung, or of Galbanum, or wild Mallowr, and with the Juice of this Herb anoint his face and hands which shall gather the Honey, to keep him that he be not stung; or which is better, let him have a thin hood to compass and go over his face, head and neck, and Gloves on his hands; and by this means he shall see at his pleasure what he goeth about to do, and yet be free from the danger of the Bees stinging; but notwithstanding that you take from their work of Honey and Wax; yet you should not kill them, nor drive them far away if it be possible, but keep them to draw more profit out of them afterwards, and when there is no hope of good of them by by reason of their oldness; even than you must not use any ingrateful cruelty towards them, as murtherously to massacre them instead of recompense.  
In the Country of Tuscany in remembrance of the beautifulness of this poor Creature, it is forbidden upon a great penalty to kill Bees, so long as possibly by any means they may be kept alive; when you are to take out any of their Combs; therefore, you must smoke them in such sort, that they may withdraw themselves into the top or covering of the Hive, and not to come forth, or else you shall make them come forth; the covering of the Hive being taken away and a Sack tied to the mouth of the Hive, so smoking the Bees, they will betake themselves into the Sack, which must be tied and laid upon the ground until such time as the Honey be taken away at leisure; After this, the Hive must be set to the mouth of the Sack, and the covering put upon it again, that so the Bees may return and enter 〈◊〉 their house again to begin th● work anew, or else to set near unto the Hive you intent to geld, another empty Hive, which shall be perfumed and hanged about with sweet smelling Herbs, to entice them thereunto  
The Combs being taken away, shall be carried to the place where you intent to make the Honey, and stopping the Windows of this place, prevent the coming of Bees thereinto; for they will busily seek the Treasure that they have lost, and therefore to cut off all means of entrance for them into this place, you must there raise a smoke, which may drive away 〈◊〉 which shall assay to come in.  
You must drain your Honey the same day that you have taken out your Combs, although they be warm and somewhat hot; and for the doing thereof the Combs must be set one against another in a Willow or Osier basket, wrought very clear, and fashioned like unto an Hippocras bag; After that you have cleansed away from the Combs the Seed of the young brood, and all manner of other filth, let the Honey run through the basket into a basin, than put it into an Earthen Vessel, which must for some small time be left open, till it hath done boiling and casting forth of its froth; this done, the pieces and lumps of Combs shall be taken out of the basket and pressed, and there will Honey come out of them, but not so good as the former, which must be put by itself, that the pure, and that which is indeed very excellent, may not be corrupted thereby; 〈◊〉 that the Combs are throughly pressed and washed in sweet water, they shall be cast into a Copper or Brass Kettle with some water, and so set upon a soft fire to melt; this Wax thus melted shall be strained, letting it run out into water, and then being melted again with water, you shall make it up into what form you will  
The good Farmer maketh gain of every thing, and I dare boldly say, that there are few things found about a Countryhouse which are of greater increase and advantage then Honey. Again we see what Traffic the Spaniards make with it, who through the barrenness of their Country, having no other means to enrich themselves, do keep a great number of Bees. In like manner do the Inhabitants about Narbone, who send amongst us great quantities of Honey, which we make serve for our use; but I would advise such as make a Traffic hereof, that they would not gather any Honey but that which is good; For the labour and cost is no less to nourish and keep bad Bees, than those which are good.  
The marks therefore of good Honey are, that it be of a Yellow Colour, pleasant smell, pure, neat, and shining in every part, sweet and very pleasant to the Taste, and yet notwithstanding this having a certain kind of acrimony of shardness, of an indifferent consistence betwixt thick and thin, hanging together in itself it such sort, as that being lifted up with the finger's end, it keepeth together in manner of a direct line, without any breaking asunder; it must not be long in boiling, and yield but small store of Scum when it doth boil, and that which is gathered in Spring and Summer is much better than that which is gathered in Winter.  
Honey the newer it is, the better it is, clean contrary to Wine, which is more commended when it is old then when it is new; this also is to be marked in Honey, that as Wine is best at the Mid-Cask, and Oil at the top, so Honey is best towards the bottom; for by how much Honey is more firm and heavy, so much it is the better as being the sweeter.  
The use of honey serveth for many things, it prolongeth life in old Folks, and in them which eaten of a cold Complexion; that it is so, we see that the Bee which is but a little Creature, feeble and weak, liveth Nine or Ten years by her feeding upon Honey: To be short, it preserveth and keepeth from putrefaction and corruption, which is the cause that we have so many Compositions made therewith, as Honey of Violets, Roses, Rosemary-flowers, Myrtles, Bugloss, and such like. We have have here in England a Drink made of Honey, which is far more pleasant, and more wholesome than many mighty Wines, and it it is called Mead, or rather Metheglin, this kind of Drink is very good against Quartain Agues, ill dispositions of the body, Diseases of the Brain, as the Falling-sickness, Apoplexy and Palsy, in which cases Wine is forbidden.  
The Countrymen of Provence, and the Italians, do make Marchpanes of Honey, and Almonds, etc. which are singular good for them to eat which are in a Consumption; as also to cause spitting, many other Virtues there are in Honey, which I shall here omit, and conclude with the discourse of an ancient Gentleman, who lived a retired life in a small Cottage in Kent, to some strangers who visited him, wherein I shall a little further acquaint you with the Commonwealth of Bees, which is neither impertinent to the matter in hand nor tedious to make you weary. It follows thus.  
Gentlemen I have for the space of twenty years passed dwelled in this place, taking no delight in any thing, but only in keeping my Bees, and observing them, and this I find, which had I not seen, I should hardly have believed, that they use as great wit by indution and art by workmanship, as ever man hath, or can, using between themselves no less justice than wisdom, and yet not so much wisdom as Majesty, insomuch as thou wouldst think that they were a kind of people, a Commonwealth for Plato, where they all labour, all gather Honey, fly altogether in a Swarm, eat in a Swarm, and sleep in a Swarm, so neat and finely, that they abhor nothing so much as uncleanness, drinking pure and clean water, delighting in sweet and sound Music, which if they hear but once out of Tune, they fly out of sight,, and therefore are they called the Muse's birds; because they follow not the sound so much as the consent; they live under a Law, using great reverence to their Elder; as to the wiser.  
They choose a King, whose Palace they frame, both braver in show, and stronger in substance, whom if they find to fall, they establish again in his Throne, guarding him continually with no less duty than devotion, as it were for fear he should miscarry, whom they tender with such faith and favour, that whithersoever he flieth they follow him, and if he cannot fly they carry him; whose life they so love, that they will not (for his safety) stick to die; such care have they for his health, on whom they build all their hope, if their Prince die, they know not how to live, they languish, weep, sigh, neither in tending their work, nor keeping their old society; and that which is most marvellous, and almost incredible; if there be any that hath disobeyed his Commandments, either on purpose or unwittingly, he killeth himself with his own Sting, as Evecutioner of his own stubbornness.  
The King himself hath his Sting, which he useth rather for honour then punishment, and yet albeit they live under a Prince, they have their Privilege, and as great Liberties as straight Laws.  
They call a Parliament, wherein they consult for Laws, Statutes, Penalties, choosing Officers, and creating their King, not by affection, but reason not by the greater part, but the better, and if such a one by chance be chosen as is bad, then is there such civil War and dissension, that until he be plucked down, there can be no friendship  
Every one hath his Office, some trimming the Honey, some working the Wax, some framing the Combs, and that so artificially, that Dedalus could not with greater art or excellency better dispose the orders, measures, proportions, distinctions, Joints and Circle; divers hue, others polish, all are careful to do their work so strongly, as they may resist the Craft of such Drones as seek to live by their labours, which maketh them to keep watch and ward, as living in a Camp to others, and as in a Court to themselves, such a care of chastity, that they never engender, such a▪ desire of cleanness, that there is not so much as meat in all their Hives; when they go forth to work they mark the wind, the Clouds, and whatsoever doth threaten either their ruin or Reign, and having gathered out of every Flower Honey; they return laden in their Mouths, Thighs, Wings,, and all the body, whom they that tarried at home receive readily, as easing their backs of so great burdens.  
The King himself not idle, goeth up and down entreating, threatening, commanding, using the Council of a Sequel, but not losing the dignity of a Prince, preferring those that labour to greater authority, and punishing those that loiter with due severity; all which things being much admirable, yet this is most, that they are so profitable, bring unto man both Honey and Wax, each so wholesome, that we all desire it; both so necessary that we cannot be without them. Here is a Commonwealth which oftentimes calling to my mind, I cannot choose but commend above any that either I have heard or read of, where the King is not to talk of, where there is such homage, such love, such labour, that I have wished oftentimes rather be a Bee, than not be as I should be.  
In this little Garden with these Hives, in this house, have I spent the better part of my life, yea and the best, and thus contented with a mean Estate, and never curious of the high Estate, I found such quiet, that me thinks he which knoweth least, liveth longest; insomuch that I choose rather to be an Hermit in a Cave, than a Councillor in the Court.  
FINIS.    

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