THE THREE PLOUGHINGS 9 



says in his Itinerary (1617), was used by labourers because it " abode 

 longer in the stomach and was not so soon digested with their 

 labour." Wheat and rye were sometimes sown together. But as 

 rye was slower to ripen, the better practice was to sow it alone and 

 earher, lest, as Tusser (1557) writes, " rye tarry wheat, till it sheds 

 as it stands." The mixed cultivation was, however, recommended 

 as a cure for mildew, and for this reason prevailed in Yorkshire 

 in 1797. Barley was the drink-corn, as rye was the bread-corn, 

 of the Middle Ages. It was of two kinds. The head with two rows 

 of grain seems to have been used exclusively for brewing ; the 

 coarser four-rowed head, known as " drage," was used partly for 

 brewing, partly for feeding pigs and poultry. Barley and oats 

 were often sown together. In the North, oats were extensively 

 cultivated ; but they were grey-awned, thin, and poor. In the 

 Midlands and South of England they were comparatively rare on 

 tenants' land. 



The fa llows were three times ploughed in preparation for wheat 

 and rye. The seed began to be sown after Lammas Day (August 

 12),i and at latest was completed by Hallowmas (November 1). 

 For oats, beans, and peas, the land was ploughed and the seed sown 

 between the Feast of Purification (February 2) and Easter. Oats 

 were said to be best sown m " the dust of March." " On St. 

 Valentine's Day cast beans in clay. But on St. Chad sowe good 

 or bad." That is to say, the time for sowing beans was between 

 February 14 and March 2. Barley came last. The land was 

 ploughed and sown between Hoke-tide (the third Tuesday after 

 Easter) and Pentecost. The ploughings were performed, and the 

 teams sup phed and driven, partly, bv the_.serYants of the demesne, 

 partly_by_the_tenants. Sometimes ploughmen seem to have been 

 hired. The harro wings were similarly provided for, and the 

 harrow, often a hawthorn tree, weighted on its upper side with 

 logs, was supplied from the lord's waste. Here also harrowers 

 seem to have been sometimes specially hired. In this case they 

 possibly provided their own home-constructed implements with 

 sharp points or teeth Hke the modern type of harrow. When the 

 fallows were first broken up, as was then the practice, in March, 

 or when the land was prepared for barley, the ground was often 

 so hard that the clods had to be subsequently broken. For this 



1 The Julian calendar was in force. To make the dates correspond with 

 those of the present Gregorian calendar, twelve days have to be added. 



