I have instructed you in the foregoing Chapter, after what manner such Wines as are of a mean price, may by the help of Concentration be conveniently transported out of one Country into others more remote, where no Wines grow, and produce good profit. The which Artifice may be of most great benefit to the Inhabitants of such Countries as abound in Wine, and want sometimes Chapmen or Merchants for the same.
’Tis very well known to every one, that in most places of Germany (but especially in Franconia, and in the other Countries adjoining) Corn is so exceedingly plenty, and of so vile a price, that the inhabitants know not what to do therewith; and for that reason it lies and rots in their Barns and Granaries, the exceeding abundance thereof either hindring the sale of the same, or the great costs and charges of Carriage hinder the Transportation of it into the lower Countries of Germany, where ’tis dear enough.
Hence comes it to pass, that the miserable Inhabitants have indeed Wine and Corn enough, but want Moneys to pay the Tributes due to the Magistrate; so that tho’ they have such plenty of the Divine Gifts, and so much Riches, yet for all that they are in great penury and want, in that they cannot sell off so much as to pay their Family’s expence, viz. Men-servants and Maid-servants wages, or so much as to sustain them. Verily, this is a punishment from the hand of God, and a singular one too, by which he corrects us ungrateful men. In time of the Wars, when a huge Scarcity pinched the Inhabitants of Germany, then the common outcry went up to Heaven, and promised largely an amendment of life; but when the War was over, and all quiet, and a most wisht-for Peace returning, then all men generally became worser, and more wicked, tho’ the goodness and bounty of God had bestowed on them such a great plenty of things so exceeding necessary: And now such great Fulness being enjoyed, they now gape after Money too, and murmur against God, as the Israelites did, who loathing, as ’twere, the plentiful abundance of things necessary, murmured at Moses.
The reason why Corn is so exceeding plenty, is this:
After the making of Peace, and sending away the Souldiers, many Commanders being weary of warfare, and abounding with Money and Horses, bought (or rather squeez’d out) of the poor Inhabitants, every where destitute of Money, most notable Farms, for a very mean price, and did set themselves with the utmost of their Industry to till the Earth, which had lain fallow a long time; which Lands became so fruitful that it even amazed all men. The poor Inhabitants too, who now had gotten a little Money, they also set their hands to the Plough, and used even the utmost of their endeavours in the tillage of the Earth: From hence it came to pass, that they were so furnished with such a vast deal of Corn in a few years space, that they knew not at all what to do therewith. As for carrying it into far distant Countries, the troublesomeness and charges of the Carriage were too great an hindrance: To lay it up in the Granaries, that the Air will not suffer them to do, tho’ in the time of Joseph such a thing was done in Egypt, where the Air being Nitrous, dry, and not so easily subject to corrupting, as ours is, preserved the Corn from Corruption.
What I have here written, hath proceeded forth from a good mind and sincere intention, and I hope ’twill do more good than hurt. I know that the eyes of many will be opened to see what a Babylonish Confusion the present World is in; I pray God to be an helper to the Good, and to be a reducer of the Wicked from the course of their Impiety, into the Right way.
The Process of Concentrating Corn is this:
In the first place, you are to make a Malt of your Barly, Wheat, Oats, Spelt, or any other kind of Grain or Corn, the which dry either in the Sun or in the Air, or else in an Oven heated a little, and not to be scorched and parched as it were after the Brewers custom; for so the sharp fume of the wood would stick thereunto, and make it black and bitter, and it may easily be conjectured, that there would be no good come of it, for by this means the smoak of the wood would stick on to the Corn and the Sprouts it has thrust forth, and are moistened, and so would make the Ale that is boil’d thereoutof unwholsome, and of an ungrateful bitter flavour: But now such Malt as is dried in the Air, Sun, or in a warm Stove or Oven, has no such ungrateful taste as comes from the smoak of the wood, but remains sweet and pleasant.
NB. Else you may do thus; The Corn, after it hath sprouted and hath been thrown abroad on some Floor, open to the air, and thereby been a little freed of some of its moisture, may be dried purely and quickly too in the Brewers great Coppers, in which they are wont to boil their Ale or Beer, provided it be continually stirred about with some wooden stick without ceasing, that it may be all over hot, and so become dry. But yet you must have a care that your fire be not too strong under your Copper wherein you dry your Malt, and so burn the Corn, and make it taste untowardly; this done, the dried Malt is to be ground as other Malt which is used to make Ale withal is wont to be, but yet so, that it be not too finely ground nor too grosly; for if it be too gross, and the Grains be unbroken, the water cannot sufficiently get out the Virtues and Juice in the boiling, but that the best part will remain in the boiled Grains, and so be thrown away on the Beasts in their nutriment; but if it be ground too small, it will run into heaps, and hinder the straining out of the Ale; therefore a mean is to be observed, and care taken that no errour be committed, by either excess or defect. The Malt being on this wise prepared, every one may boil his Ale according to his custom, and so much thereof as his Vessels, Coppers, and Coolers will admit of: Some do pour boiling water on their Malt, and mix them both by stirring them well together, and then let them settle for some time that the water may take into it self the strength of the same; then they draw out that water by a Tap, and pour on more, and repeat the Infusions so often, until the water can get out no more sweetness, and there remain nothing but the insipid Husks, the which are nourishment for Cattel.
NB. Othersome that have no Vessels to extract the Virtue out of the Malt in, by boiling water, do put the prepared Malt in wooden Vessels or Tubs, and pour thereon warm water or cold, and stir it very well about, and leave it so for some hours, that the Malt may be macerated; then do they put it in a Copper, and pour thereunto so much water as may keep the Malt from burning to in the boiling; and having boiled it for half an hour, they pour it out upon a bed of straw, fitted for that purpose, and placed over a Cooler, and so strain the Ale: This Labour of pouring on, boiling, and straining, is so oft repeated, till the water sucks no more sweetness out of the malt. This manner of boiling Ale is used by those only who want store of Vessels, and pretty large ones: The former way is not only better and more commodious, but likewise more fit for the boiling of a greater quantity of Ale.