84 AGRICULTURAL W RULERS. 



thrown out by the Lords ; but in 1801 they were partially successful, and 

 the first general Act for inclosure was passed, being " an Act for 

 consolidating in one Act provisions usually inserted in Acts of inclosure." 

 In 1845 3- General Inclosure Act was passed which appointed an 

 Inclosure Commission, The lands that might be inclosed were : 

 (i) those that might be inclosed without intervention of Parliament; 

 (2) lands that could not be inclosed by the commissioners without the 

 previous consent, including all lands over which rights of common 

 existed, all waste land of manors over which tenants had right of com- 

 mon, also all wastes within fifteen miles of London or other towns, 

 distances varying according to number of inhabitants ; (3) all town and 

 village greens were excepted by this Act. Gabriel Plattes has a good 

 deal to say on this subject in his book entitled : 



" Practical Husbandry Improved ; or, A Discovery of Hidden Treasure, Hidden 

 since the World's beginning," vvhereunto All Men of What Degree Soever, are friendl}- 

 invited to bee Sharers with the Discoverer, written by Gabriel Plattes, and now pub- 

 lished for the Generall Good and Benefit of the Commonwealth. I,ondon, Printed for 

 Edward Thomas, and are to bee sold at his House in Green Arbor. 



By the known times of his life and death, it is pretty certain he began 

 his observations at the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, and continued 

 them through the reigns of James I. and Charles I., and also during a few 

 years of the Commonwealth. He was the author of several books, yet 

 he was allowed to die of hunger in the streets of London. 



Little seems known about Svlvanus Taylor, beyond the fact that he 

 was the author of the work described in the illustration on opposite page. 



GERVASE MARKHAM. 



1568-1637. 



A GREAT manv works on agriculture appeared in the earlv part of the 

 seventeenth century, some of them very heterogeneous performances, yet 

 withal containing many judicious directions and a good deal of rash 

 speculation. He who wishes to view the condition of those ent'aged in 

 the pursuit during this period, as well as the cultivator who still obsti- 

 nately resists every new practice, may be gratified in tracing the 

 gradual progress of improvement, which included the introduction of 

 clover and turnips into England, of hedges into Scotland and Ireland, 

 and the execution of extensive embankments and drainages. As the 

 industry advanced, one point is very noticeable in these books of instruc- 

 tion, and that is in the directions, which are more systematically arranged 



