194 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



therof will never be layde dovvne in this king- 

 dome." His directions to use all kinds of other 

 manures are frequent and fervent. He notices the 

 burning of earth and weedes, which he calls 

 " burning of baite" — the dung of live-stock, rotten 

 straw, " mudde of ponds and ditches," " the spy- 

 teling of house-floores/' street-sweepings, sea- 

 weeds, pigeon's dung. He even had the wisdom, 

 in that early day for the progress of agricultural 

 discoveries, to plead earnestly for the use of manure 

 with the seed. He says, " Take pigeon's dung or 

 puUen's dung (that is, any kind of lande fowle 

 whatsoever, but by no means any water fowl), or 

 pigeon's dung and puUen's dung mixt together, 

 and allowing to every acre two or three bushells 

 thereof, which is the true quantitie of seede pro- 

 portioned for the same; and this dung being 

 broken and masht into small pieces, you shall put 

 into your sydlop or hopper, and in the same man- 

 ner as you sowe your come, you shall sowe this 

 dung upon the ground, and then immediately after 

 it you shall sowe your wheate, either steept in 

 brine or salt sea water, or unsteeped, as you shall 

 think good; but in case you can neither get salt 

 sand nor sea rocke weedes, then you shall by no 

 means omit the steepeing of your seede, neither 

 shall you faile before you sow your seede to mLxe 

 withe your pigeons' and pullens' dung a full equal 

 part of bay salt well dried and broken." 



Of Sir Hugh Platte, who was Markham's co- 

 temporary, and published in 1594 his "Jewel 

 House," we know but little. He was a lawyer, 

 and of Lincolnshire ; had an estate near St. 

 Alban's, and a garden in St. Martin's-lane. He 

 was described by Weston as " the most ingenious 

 husbandman of the age he lived in." 



It will be interesting to my readers if I endea- 

 vour to trace the progress of agriculture in Eng- 

 land, from the date of the publication, in 1532, of 

 the three or four earliest of works on English hus- 

 bandry, till the close of the sixteenth century — 

 "the period (about 1700) remarkable for the intro- 

 duction of turnips into our field husbandry. It 

 happens that, by the care and researches of several 

 members of the CuUum family, the progress of 

 farming in the Suffolk parish of Hawsted has been 

 traced from an early period, with very tolerable 

 accuracy" (History of Havjsted, by Sir J. Cullum, 

 Bart.). 



The soil of this parish (which is situated about 

 three miles south-west of Bury St. Edmunds) is a 

 light-coloured, strong loam. In this is situated 

 the old mansion and estates of the CuUum family; 

 and, from the documents in their possession, and 

 other authorities, the history of the parish was 

 compiled. 



From these it appears (p. 229) that in 1536 four 

 acres of arable land were let for four shillings a 

 year, seven acres for five shillings, and about 

 twenty-five acres called "Clopton's Closes" for 

 twenty shillings a year. Ten years after this, the 

 rent of land began, seemingly, to increase ; for in 

 1546 two acres and three roods of meadow, on the 

 estate, were let for fourteen shillings a year, and 

 half an acre for two shillings and sixpence. At 

 the expiration of another quarter of a century we 

 find the rent still at the old value; for in 1572 



thirty-nine acres of the Cullum estate, consisting 

 of " londe meadowe and pasture," were let for 

 twenty-one years for four pounds nine shillings a 

 year, which is about two shillings and three-pence 

 per acre. 



The skilful modern agriculturist may be curious 

 to discover, from the terms of a lease made of a 

 farm three centuries since, what were the brief 

 stipulations of a Suflfolk landlord in the rather pri- 

 mitive times of good Queen Bess. Sir J. Cullum 

 enables us to answer the question. The landlord 

 reserved to himself the liberty of haying (rabbit- 

 netting), hunting, and fowling, with power to dis- 

 train upon default of payment on the usual days, 

 and to re-enter upon default of a month. The 

 tenant might stubb and grubb the bushes and 

 briers growing in the grounds, and eare (plough), 

 break up, and put in tillage" all the pasture- 

 grounds, except the borders about the same where 

 there grew either wood or timber, and might crop, 

 lop, and shred such trees as had been used to be 

 cropped, lopped, and shreded, but no other. He 

 was also to lay and leave the earable land to pas- 

 ture one whole year before the end of the lease. 



The husbandry of the grass-lands of Hawsted 

 was then, evidently, that of a slovenly time; for 

 these bushes and briars are commonly named in 

 the leases of that day. 



After the date of the above-mentioned lease, it 

 seems that the landlord of Hawsted deemed it ne- 

 cessary no longer to be content with granting leave 

 to the tenant to clear the fields of these bushes ; 

 for in 1574, 1575, and 1577, the tenants were 

 made to covenant that " they will stubb and reat 

 up" these encumbrances. They were encouraged 

 to this by having the bushes for their trouble. 

 This, however, was probably then done in a very 

 unhusbandlike manner, as it was to be repeated 

 annually. 



It was in 1593, sixteen years after the date of 

 these leases, that 231 acres, being parcels of land 

 within or near Hawsted Park, were let for three 

 years for £57 13s. 9d., or nearly five shillings an 

 acre ; and 76 acres and 1 rood of pasture and 

 wood (the last 13 acres 3 roods) for £16 a year, 

 which is above 4s. 3d. per acre. 



The produce of the grass-land was probably 

 poor. Arable soils were hardly better managed ; 

 for old Harrison, who published his description of 

 Brittain in 1577, gives but a poor account of the 

 average produce of the island. And this he does 

 although evidently inclined to think well of the 

 farming of his time. He tells us that in ordinary 

 years each acre of wheat, one with another, 

 throughout the kingdom, if tvell tilled and dressed, 

 would yield 20 bushells, of barley 26, of oats and 

 such-like 5 quarters. 



The farm-houses of those days were of a very 

 rude description. Glass windows, now far from 

 being deemed a rarity, were only then beginning 

 to be introduced into the houses of the husband- 

 There is no mention of them in the papers 



man. 



of the Hawsted estate until ]6l5, when the tenant 

 of the farm and park was to be allowed by the next 

 tenant half the expenses he should incur for locks 

 and keys, hooks, hinges, and glass windows. 

 From these notices, however, we may discern 



