Now for as much as this rouler is of so good vse and yet not generally vsed in this kingdome, I thinke it not amisse to shew you the figure thereof.
The great Rouler.
As soone as you haue roulled ouer your Barley, & laid it so smooth as you can with your rouler, if then you perceiue any hard clots, such as the rouler cannot breake, then you shal send forth your seruants with long clotting béetels, made broad and flat, and with them you shall breake asunder all those hard clots, and so lay your Barley as smooth and cleane as is possible: the profit whereof you shall both finde in the multiplying of your Corne and also in the sauing of your sithes from breaking, at such time as you shall come to mowe your Corne, and gather in your Haruest.
Your Barley being thus laide smooth, you shall then follow your other necessary businesses, as preparing of your fewell, and other néedements for houshould, vntill the beginning of Iune, at which time you shall beginne to Summer-stirre your fallow field, which shalbe done in all points after the same manner as you did Summer-stirre your blacke Clay, Of Summer-stirring. that is to say, you shall beginne in the ridge of the land, and as when you fallowed your land you turned your furrowes downeward, so now in Summer-stirring, you shall turne your furrowes vpward and close the ridge of [you] land againe. As soone as this Ardor is finished, or when the vnseasonablenesse of the weather, as either too much wet, or too much drynesse shall hinder you from Plowing, you shall then looke into your Cornefields, that is to say: first into your Wheate and Rye field, and if there you shall finde any store of wéedes, Of weeding. as Thistell, Darnell, Tare-Cockle, [or such like,] you shall with weede-hookes, or nippers of woode, cut, or plucke them vp by the rootes; and also if you finde any annoyance of stones, which hinders the growth of your Corne, as generally it happens in this soyle, you shall then cause some Boyes and Girles, or other waste persons, Of stone gathering. to gather them vp and lay them in heapes at the lands ends, to be imployed either about the mending of high wayes or other occasions, and for this purpose their is a generall custome in most Villages, that euery houshoulder is bound to send out one seruant to be imployed about this businesse: whence it comes to passe, that it is called common worke, as being done at the generall charge of the whole Parish. After you haue wéeded your Wheate and Rye, you shall then wéede your Barley also, which being finished about the midst of Iuly, you shall then beginne to looke into your medowes and to the preparing of your Hay haruest.
Now at such time as either the vnseasonablenesse of the weather, Of foyling. or the growth of your grasse shall hinder you from following that businesse of Haruest, you shall then looke into your fallow or tilth field againe, and whereas before at your Summer-stirring you Plowed your land vpward, now you shall beginne to foile, that is to say, you shall cast your land downe againe, and open the ridge: and this Ardor of all other Ardors you must by no meanes neglect vpon the gray, white clay, because it being most subiect vnto wéede, and the hardest to bring to a fine mould, this Ardor of all others, doth both consume the one and makes perfect the other, and the drier season you doe foile your land in, the better it is, and the more it doth breake and sunder the clots in pieces: for as in Summer-stirring the greater clots you raise vp, and the rougher your land lies the better it is, because it is a token of great store of mould, so when you foile, the more you breake the clots in pieces the better season will your land take, and the richer it wilbe when the séede is sowne into it: And the season for the foiling of this soile is from the midst of Iuly till the midst of September.
Of Manuring. Now albe I haue omitted the Manuring of this land in his due place, as namely, from the midst of Aprill, till the end of May, yet you shall vnderstand that of all other things it is not in any wise to be neglected by the carefull Husbandman, both because the soyle being not so rich as the blacke Clay, will very hardly bring forth his séede without Manure, and also because it is for the most part subiect vnto much wet, and stones, both which are signes of cold and barrainenesse. Now for those Manures, which are best and most proper for this soile, you shall vnderstand that all those which I formerlie described for the blacke Claies, as namely, Oxe or Cowes dung, Horse dung and Shéepes dung, are also very good for this soile, and to be vsed in the same manner as is specified in the former Chapter: but if you haue not such store of this Manure as will serue to compasse your whole land, you shall then vnderstand, that the blacke mud, or durt which lies in the bottome of olde ponds, or else standing lakes, is also a very good manure for this soile, or else straw which is spread in high-wayes, and so rotted by the great concourse or vse of much trauelling, and after in the Spring-time shouelled vp in great heapes, is a good manure for this earth: but if you finde this soile to be subiect to extraordinary wet and coldnesse, you shall then know that the ashes eyther of wood, coale, or straw, is a very good manure for it. But aboue all other, and then which there is no manure more excellent for cold barraine clayes of this nature, the Pigions dung, or the dung of houshold Pullen, as Capons, Hennes, Chickens, Turkies, and such like, so there be no Goose-dung amongst it, is the best of all other: but not to be vsed in such sort as the other manures, that is to say, to be laid in great heapes vpon the land, or to be spread from the Cart vpon the land, for neyther is there such abundance of such manure to be gotten, nor if there were, it would not be held for good husbandrie to make lauish hauocke of a thing so precious.
The vse of Pigion or Pullen-dung. You shall then know that for the vse of Pigion or Pullen-dung, it is thus: you shall first with your hand breake it as small as may be, and then put it into the Hopper, in such sort as you put your corne when you sow it: and then looke how you sow your corne, in such sort you shall sow your Pigion or Pullen-dung: which done, you shall immediately put your Barley into the same Hopper, and so sow it after the Pigions or Pullen-dung: by which you are to vnderstand that this kinde of manuring is to be vsed onely in Séede-time, and at no other season. This manure is of the same nature that shéepes manure is, and doth last but onely for one yéere, onely it is much hotter, as being in the greatest extremitie of heate. Now if it happen that you cannot get any of this Pigions or Pullen-dung, because it is scarce, and not in euery mans power, if then you take Lime and sow it vpon your land in such sort as is before said of the Pigions-dung, and then sow your corne after it, you shall finde great profit to come thereon, especially in colde wet soiles, such as for the most part, these gray white clayes are.
Of sowing Wheate. After your land is [foild], which worke would be finished by the middest of September, then you shall beginne to sow your Wheate, Rye, and Maslin, which in all things must be done as is before set downe for the blacke clay, the choice of séede, and euery obseruation being all one: for Wheate not taking delight in a very rich ground, doth prosper best vpon this indifferent soile. Whence it comes that in these gray white clayes, you shall for the most part, sée more Wheate sowne then any other Graine whatsoeuer. But as touching your Rye and Maslin, that euer desires a rich ground and a fine mould, and therefore you shall make choise of your better earth for that Séede, and also obserue to helpe it with manure, or else shéepes folding, in such manner as is described in the former Chapter, where I spake of the sowing of Wheate, Rye, and Maslin.
Of winter-ridging. As soone as you haue sowne your Wheate, Rye, and Maslin, you shall then about the latter end of October, beginne to Winter ridge, or set vp your land for the whole yéere: which you shall doe in all points, as you doe vpon the blacke clay, without any change or alteration. And the limitation for this Ardor is, from the latter end of October vntill the beginning of December, wherein your yéeres worke is made perfect and compleate.