156 AGRICULTURAL WRITERS. 



preferred their methods of culture and handUng to those adopted in the 

 south. 



He next discusses the brewing of beer in March and October. He 

 was no believer of the ten-year-old beer that many country gentlemen 

 talked of and magnified. In the chapter devoted to the breeding of 

 horses he strongly recommends the best and most healthy to be used as 

 parents, as a poor horse imparts all its vice to its progeny. The 

 remainder of the book is devoted to bees and the virtues of honey, and 

 to the great profit to be made by breeding of carp in fishponds near the 

 City of London or other eminent cities inhabited by the nobilitv and 

 sentrv. 



JOHN SMITH. 



It is a question whether the John Smith who wrote the " Husbandman's 

 Magazine " is not the same individual 1 have discussed on page 124. 

 Be that as it may, the present is quite a distinct book, and dated thirty- 

 five years later. In the epistle to the reader he commences, " Since 

 there is nothing more useful than Husbandry, and that in the well 

 management of Rural Affairs the welfare of Kingdoms and States mostly 

 depend, I consider it a necessary duty to give my Countrymen full 

 directions to improve their honest labour and industry." His ideas on 

 the management of beasts contain much that is according to modern 

 opinions, as he does not go in for the wild extravagances of some of 

 those before him ; yet his medicines consisted of most of the old herbal 

 remedies. To cure the staggers he says : " Take a quarter of an ounce 

 of beaten pepper and half a pint of vinegar w-ell w^armed, pour it into the 

 nostrils of the beast, holding his head back, and afterwards let him blood 

 in the Nose Vein." How to know^ the age of a horse by his tail he says : 

 " Feel with your thumb and finger close to the setting on or growing to 

 the rump, and if the joint on each side stick out in a knob bigger than 

 any other by the bigness of a small bird's f^%^, then he passes not two 

 years old; but if that joint be ulain and even wath the rest, then he is 

 between ten and thirteen years old." Many are the remedies given for 

 curing the ailments of this noble beast. When discussing sheep he 

 breaks out into poetrv, presumablv to fill up the page : 



When summer fair with Western Winds doth call 

 Your Lusty flocks to Woods and Pastures all ; 

 Send them betimes, when day at first does rise, 

 And Hoary Dew on verded grass thick lyes ; 

 From thence, when at the fourth hour of the day, 

 (The Sun high mounted) make them dry, convey 

 Them to fresh springs, where pleasant waters be, 

 And make them drink in Troughs of Oaken Tree. 



