Chapter 8. ¶ How a man should plough all manner of Lands all times of the yeare.
Now that I haue prescribed the manner to make and temper the most or all the sorts of Ploughs, it shall next seeme expedient for me to show the manner and time of the yeare in which a man ought to Plough, and for the better vnderstanding of the ignorant, I will begin at the beginning of the yeare, and so succeede downe-ward: After the feast of Epiphanie it is time for a Husbandman to goe to Plough, to wit, if your ground be a stiffe and a tough clay, then shall you begin and Plough your Pease-earth, which is, where you had your Wheate, Rye, and Barley, the yeere before: this ground being ploughed, you shall let it so lye, which is called bayting some fiue or sixe dayes, that it may receaue a frost or two, which frost will so lighten and deuide the earth, that when you shall come to harrow it, it will runne to a very good mold, that otherwise it would neuer doe. If your ground be naturally light and sandy, then may you immediatly vpon your ploughing sowe without giuing your ground any bayte at all. When your Pease earth is sowne, and the Spring is creeping on: then if you will follow Virgils famous principles, begin to fallow your ground which must rest that yeare. In the beginning of Lent sow your Barley upon clay grounds, but in hote sandy grounds, if you stay a moneth or more longer it will be much the better. At mid-sommer stirre vp a-new, that is, Plow againe your fallow ground: & before the rising of the North-starre, which is eleuen dayes before the Æquinoctial Autumnal, or the thirteenth of September, then sow your Wheate and Rye, and these be the seasons and the graynes to sow, except Oates, which is alwayes to be vsed in like manner as Barley is. If you haue any ley ground to fallow or breake vp for to sowe Oates vpon, then let that be the first thing you take in hand, that the grasse and the mosse may be rot in it, and let your Plough runne a deepe square furrow, and in all manner of ploughing, see that your eye, your hand, and your foote agree, and be alwaies ready one to serue another, and to turne vp so much mold and to lay it flatte that it reare not an edge: for if it stand vp vpon an edge, the grasse and mosse can neuer kindly rotte, which being vsed as it should, is an excellent manuring.
If you sowe Winter-corne, as eyther Wheate or Rye vpon swarth ground, looke how much Corne toucheth the mosse, so much will be drowned and cannot spring, the mosse in his owne nature dooth keepe so much wette in it selfe. In some Countries, if a man plow deepe, hee shal plough past the good ground, and so haue little Corne, but that Country in my iudgement is not fitte for tyllage, but rather thereto to reare and breede Cattell, as Oxen, Kine, or Sheepe, or els they must goe beate their lands with Mattocks, as they doo in many places of Cornwall, and in some places of Deuonshiere. The manner of plowing land is in three formes: eyther they be great Lands, as with high ridges and deepe furrowes, as in all the North parts of this Land, and in some sotherne parts also, or els flatte and plaine, without ridge or furrow, as in most parts of Cambridge-shiere: or els in little Lands, no Land containing aboue two or three furrowes, as in Midlesex, Essex, and Hartfordshiere.
For the first, it is needfull, where the grounde is stife, tough, and binding, beeing alwaies capable of much wette, that if the Lands did not lie hie, not onely would the fatnesse choake the Corne ere it could come foorth, but also the colde soaking wette, would confound the vigor and strengthe of the seede. For the second, that is good where the ground is somewhat light, and giuen to barrennesse: so that what forcst [read forct] vertue soeuer you thrust into the ground, either by manure or otherwise, the Land lying flatte and plaine, shall still retaine it, not suffering it as els it would to wash away with euery shower. For the last, that is, where the grounde is both barren, cold, and stiffe: if there you plough in large Lands, the wether and season will so binde it together, that the seede shall burst, but not finde any passage to sproute. Againe, such ground is subiect to much weede, besides, if your lands should be any greater, you should neuer possibly come to weede them, eyther as they would or they should be done.
9. I. R. alters this section, noting—“Neuer sowe Pease or Beanes on a light, hote sand ground, for that will neuer beare them, but for the Beane, the extreamest and the stiffest ground is the best. If it bee lesse stiffe, then the mingled ware[38] is best, as Pease and Beanes well sorted. If it bee neither stiffe nor light, then cleane Pease is the best, for they wil prosper most kindliest.”
13. I. R. adds—“Pease are an excellent seede, and inrich ground as much as the light manuring: which is the reason, that in many places of Lincoln-shiere, and els where, sowing their inam Wheate where theyr Pease grew, they haue the finest Corne.”
10. 1–9. Varied by I. R.
13. kedlokes] Kellocks (but elsewhere Kedlocks).