(8) The Single-linckes of Iron, which ioyne the Swingle-trées vnto the Toastrées.
(9) The Belly-bands, which passe vnder the belly of the horse, and are made fast to both sides of the Treates, kéeping them downe, that when the horse drawes, his coller may not choake him: being made of good small line or coard.
(10) The Backe-bands, which going ouer the horses backe, and being made fast to both sides of the Treates, doe hold them, so as when the horses turne, the Treates doe not fall vnder their féete.
How many beasts in a plough. Thus I haue giuen you the perfect portraiture of a well yoakt Plough, together with his Implements, and the vse of them, being the best which hath yet béene found out by any of our skilfullest English Husbandmen, whose practise hath béene vpon these déepe, stiffe, blacke clayes. Now you shall vnderstand, that for the number of Cattell to be vsed in these ploughes, that in fallowing your land, and plowing your Pease-earth, eight good Cattell are the best number, as being the strongest, and within the compasse of gouernment, whereas more were but troublesome, and in all your other Ardors, sixe good beasts are sufficient, yet if it be so, that eyther want of abilitie, or other necessity vrge, you shall know that sixe beasts will suffice eyther to fallow, or to plow Pease-earth, and foure beasts for euery other Ardor or earing: and lesse then this number is most insufficient, as appeares by daily experience, when poore men kill their Cattell onely by putting them to ouer-much labour. And thus much touching the plowing of the blacke clay.
Chap. VI.
The manner of plowing the white or gray Clay, his Earings, Plough, and Instruments.
Now as touching the white or gray clay, you shall vnderstand that it is of diuers and sundry natures, altering according to his tempers of wet or drynesse: the wet being more tough, and the dry more brittle: his mixture and other characters I haue shewed in a former Chapter, wherefore for his manner of plowing (obseruing my first methode, which is to beginne with the beginning of the yéere, I meane at Christmas) it is thus:
Of sowing of Pease and Beanes. If you finde that any of this white or gray clay, lying wet, haue lesse mixture of stone or chaulke in it, and so consequently be more tough, as it doth many times fall out, and that vpon such land, that yéere, you are to sow your Pease and Beanes: for as in the former blacke clay, so in this gray clay you shall begin with your Pease-earth euer: then immediately after Plow-day, you shall plow vp such ground as you finde so tough, in the selfe-same manner as you did plow the blacke clay, and so let it lye to baite till the frost haue seasoned it, and then sow it accordingly. But if you haue no such tough land, but that it holdes it owne proper nature, being so mixt with small stones and chaulke, that it will breake in reasonable manner, then you shall stay till the latter end of Ianuary, at what time, if the weather be seasonable, and inclining to drynesse, you shall beginne to plow your Pease-earth, in this manner: First, you shall cause your séedes-man to sow the land with single casts, as was shewed vpon the blacke clay, with this caution, that the greater your séede is, (that is, the more Beanes you sow) the greater must be your quantitie: and being sowne, you shall bring your plough, and beginning at the furrow of the land, you shall plow euery furrow downeward vpon the Pease and Beanes: which is called sowing of Pease vnder furrow: and in this manner you shall sow all your Pease and Beanes, which is cleane contrary to your blacke clay. Besides, whereas vpon the stiffe clay it is conuenient to take as large furrowes as you please, vpon this kinde of gray clay you shall take as small furrowes as is possible. Now the reason for this manner of plowing your Pease-earth, is, because it is a light kinde of breaking earth, so that should it be sowne according to the stiffe blacke clay, it would neuer couer your Pease, but leaue them bare, both to be destroyed by the Fowles of the ayre, and the bitternesse of the weather. As soone as your Pease and Beanes are risen a fingers length aboue the earth, then if you finde that any of your lands doe lye very rough, and that the clods be great, it shall not be amisse, to take a payre of woodden Harrowes, and harrow ouer all your rough lands, the benefit whereof is this, that it will both breake the hard clots, and so giue those Pease leaue to sprout through the earth, which before lay bound in and drowned, and also lay your lands smooth and cleane, that the Mowers when they come to mowe your Pease and Beanes, shall haue better worke, and mowe them with more ease, and much better to the owners profit. For you must vnderstand that where you sow Beanes, there it is euer more profit to mowe them with Sythes, then to reape them with Hookes, and much sooner, and with lesse charge performed. The limitation of time for this Ardor of earing, is from the latter end of Ianuary vntill the beginning of March, not forgetting this rule, that to sow your Pease and Beanes in a shower, so it be no beating raine is most profitable: because they, as Wheat, take delight in a fresh and a moyst mould.
Of sowing of Barley. After the beginning of March, you shall beginne to sow your Barley vpon that ground which the yéere before did lye fallow, and is commonly called your tilth, or fallow field: and if any part of it consist of stiffe and tough ground, then you shall, vpon such ground, sow your Barley vnder furrow, in such manner and fashion as I described vnto you for the sowing of your stiffe blacke clay: but if it be (as for the most part these gray and white clayes are) of a much lighter, and as it were, fussie temper, then you shall first plow your land vpward, cleane and well, without baukes or stiches: and hauing so plowed it, you shall then sow it with Barley, that is to say, with double casts, I meane, bestowing twise so many casts of Barley, as you would doe if you were to sow it with Pease. And as soone as you haue sowne your Barley, you shall take a payre of woodden Harrowes, and harrow it as small as is possible: and this is called sowing aboue furrow.
Of sowing Oates. Now if you haue any land, which eyther through the badnesse of the soyle, or for want of manure, is more barrayne, and hard to bring forth then generally the rest of your land is, then you shall not bestow Barley thereupon, but sow it with Oates, in such manner and fashion as is appointed for the sowing of Pease, that is to say, if it be stiffe ground you shall sow it aboue furrow, if it be light ground, then you shall sow it vnder furrow, knowing this for a rule, that the barraynest ground will euer beare indifferent Oates, but if the ground haue any small hart, then it will beare Oates in great abundance: neither néede you to be very precise for the oft plowing of your ground before you sow your Oates, because Oates will grow very well if they be sowne vpon reasonable ground, at the first plowing: whence it comes to passe that many Husbandmen doe oft sow their Oates where they should sow their Pease, and in the same manner as they doe sow their Pease, and it is held for a rule of good husbandry also: because if the ground be held any thing casuall for Pease, it is better to haue good Oates then naughty Pease: besides, your Oates are both a necessary graine in the house, as for Oate-meale, for the pot, for Puddings, and such like, and also for the stable, for Prouender, and the féeding of all manner of Poultry. The time for sowing of your Barley and Oates, is from from the first of March till the first of Aprill, obseruing euer to sow your Oates first, and your Barley after, for it being onely a Summer graine, would participate as little as may be with any part of the Winter.
Of Fallowing. About the middest of Aprill you shall beginne to fallow that part of your ground, which you entend shall take rest that yéere, and so become your fallow or tilth-field. And in fallowing this gray or white clay, you shall obserue all those rules and ceremonies, which are formerly described for the fallowing of the stiffe blacke clay, knowing that there is in this worke no difference betwéene the blacke clay, and the gray clay, but both to be plowed after one manner, that is to say, to haue all the furrowes cast downeward, and the ridges of the lands laid largely open, and of a good depth, onely the furrowes which you turne vpon this gray clay must be much smaller and lesse then those which you turne vpon your stiffe blacke clay, because this earth is more naturally inclined to binde and cleaue together then that of the blacke clay. The time for fallowing of this ground, is from the middest of Aprill vntill the middest of May: at what time you shall perceiue your Barley to appeare aboue the ground, Of sleighting Barley. so that then you shall beginne to sleight and smooth it: but not with backe Harrowes, as was described for the blacke clay, because this gray clay being not so fat and rich, but more inclined to fastnesse and hardnesse, therefore it will not sunder and breake so easily as the other: wherefore when you will smooth or sleight this ground, you shall take a round piece of wood, being in compasse about at least thirty inches, and in length sixe foote, hauing at each end a strong pinne of Iron, to which making fast two small poales, by which the horse shall draw, yet in such sort that the round piece of wood may roule and turne about as the horse drawes it: and with this you shall roule ouer all your Barley, and by the waight of the round piece of wood bruise and breake all the hard clots asunder. This is called amongst Husbandmen a Rouler, and is for this purpose of sleighting and smoothing of grounds of great vse and profit. Now you shall vnderstand that you must not at any time sleight or smooth your Corne, but after a shower of Raine, for if the mould be not a little moistned the rouler will not haue power to breake it.