47
Let seruant be readie, with mattock in hand,
to stub out the bushes that noieth the land:
And cumbersome rootes, so annoieng the plough,
turne vpward their arses with sorrow inough.
Breaking up lay in som countrie.
48
Who breaketh vp timelie his fallow or [lay],
sets forward his husbandrie many a way.
This trimlie well ended doth forwardly bring,[32]
not onelie thy tillage, but all other thing.
49[33]
Though lay land ye breke vp when Christmas is gon,
for sowing of barlie[34] or otes therevpon,
Yet hast[e] not to fallow til March be begun,
least afterward wishing it had ben vndun.
50
Such land as ye breake vp for barlie to sowe,
two [earthes] at the least er ye sowe it bestowe.[35]
If land be thereafter, set oting apart,
and follow this lesson, to comfort thine hart.
51
Some breaking vp laie soweth otes to begin,[36]
to suck out the moisture so [sower] therein.
Yet otes with [hir] sucking a [peeler] is found,
both ill to the maister and worse to som ground.
52
Land arable driuen or worne to the proofe,
and[37] craueth some rest for thy profits behoofe.
With otes ye may sowe it, the sooner to grasse,
more soone to be pasture to bring it to passe.
Thus endeth Januaries husbandrie.
[1] "Broath is still us'd in some Farm Houses for Supper Meat, and Roast Meat look'd upon as very ill Husbandry."—T.R.
[2] looke not for foyzen. 1577. "Foyzon is Winter Food."—T.R.