46 AGRICULTURE IN THE 



I think have been due to his suggestions. He then describes 

 the parts of the plough, and the several ploughings which land 

 should undergo in order to render it fit for husbandry, or, as he 

 calls them, 'Ardors,' the various kinds of soil and their require- 

 ments, and the different manures with which they should 

 severally be treated, the best land being what he calls ' black 

 clay,' and the various kinds of ploughs which experience has 

 shown to be best for each soil. He discusses the two kinds of 

 harrows, one the smaller instrument with teeth of wood or iron, 

 the former principally for clay soils, another the larger, always 

 with iron teeth, for ground which is apt to bind. On the 

 strong lands he grows wheat and beans, on the lighter soils 

 barley, on the lightest oats. Sandy soils he says are fit for 

 spring or March rye, peas, vetches, or lupins. Peas he says are 

 made into bread in Leicester, Lincoln, and Notts, and else- 

 where, and are particularly useful in long sea voyages. And 

 he adds generally that there is no day in the year, ' but the 

 Sabbath, but it is necessary that the plough be going.' The 

 two kinds of clay, black and gray, and the two kinds of sand, 

 red and white, are treated by Markham as simple or uncom- 

 pounded soils. The mixt soils are gravel with small pebbles, 

 as is common in Middlesex, Kent, and Surrey, and gravel with 

 hard flints, as in Herts, Essex, and other counties. These soils 

 have been rendered moderately fruitful by labour and skill. 

 Markham excuses the details with which he treats these 

 several soils, for the reason that husbandry is so traditional, 

 that if a farmer quitted the district where he was prosperous 

 because he was familiar with it, and cultivated another district 

 which was new to his experience, he would certainly incur 

 considerable loss, if not certain ruin. 



He describes a way of setting wheat and other corn by 

 hand. The seed is to be picked, the ground is to be carefully 

 prepared, and raked smooth. Then a frame six feet square 

 bored with holes six inches apart is to be laid on the ground, 

 and a hole being made into the ground at each hole in the 

 frame, at least four inches deep, a single grain of this corn is 





