Notes (35. 7—^^- 7)' 137 



iust proportion, and what Come is so sowne prospereth greatly : but. if thou wilt 

 be assured that no Come thou sowest shall faile, then take Salt-peeter and mingle 

 with thy Come, and sow it, and thy labor shall neuer be frustrate. For want of 

 it, take the black dreggs of Oyle, and wette thy seede ere thou sow it, and it shall 

 vndoubtedly spring vp. If thou hast none of these, then take Pigions dunge, 

 and mingle it with thy seede in thy hopper, and sow it : though it be not so good 

 as the other, yet is the profitable vertue wonderfull. 



35. 7. AenU] Kent, and Hartfordshiere. 



8. gtse] vse. Gise = guise, way, manner, plan. I. R. has " great safety for 

 sheding the Come," retaining here the old use oi for. 



12. I. R. adds— For your seede, if you will be aduised by me, you shall change 

 it alway once in two or three yeare. For to sow continually one seede bred in 

 one soyle it will decay & grow ill : and in your exchange draw it alwayes from 

 the harder soyle, and being brought into a better, it must the rather prosper. 



36. 3. reed\ reeded. This form is wrong, like our use of wonted for wont 

 ( = won-ed). 



At the end of this section, I. R. closes his First Booke. 



37. 6. Here I. R. inserts — Of Sheepe there be two sorts, that is, blacke and 

 white, but the white is the best, for the Wooll they beare there bee of diuers 

 Staples : some long and hairie, as those bredde in barren cold Countries, and that 

 is the worst ; some hard, short, and curld, as those bred in woody grounds, and that 

 is better : some long, thicke, soft, and curled, and that is the best of all : and they 

 be bredde vpon fine heathes, where they haue short, dry, and sweet foode. The 

 profit of wooll the world can witnesse, and yeerely your Ewes will bring forth 

 Lambes, which is an other commoditie ; and lastly, in some Countries, as in 

 Suffolke, Essex, and Kent, with many other, they milke their Ewes, a gaine 

 equall to the rest. Therfore when you chuse sheepe, elect them big-boand and 

 well-woolld, their colours beeing white. For Virgill faines, that Cynthia, the 

 Goddess of Chastitie, in whose thoughts could neuer enter impuritie, was 

 enamored of Endimion onely through hys flocke of white sheepe. When therfore 

 you haue got a fl(x;k of white sheepe, then you must chuse Rams to equall them, 

 for preseruing the breede : your Ram would bee white also, and ouer and beside 

 you must looke in his mouth, and if the roofe thereof lie blacke, then is hee 

 not good : for either hee will then get blacke Lambes, or at least staine the)Tr 

 fleeces with a duskie colour. The greater the homes of your Ram is, the 

 worse ; for the pollard is the chiefest Ram. 



14. blyssomme or ryde\ blossome and arride. 



16. at the Exaltation of the holye crosse} in September. 



32. I. R. adds — Wherfore be carefuU to keepe thy sheepe well, both with hay in 

 Winter as well as with grasse in Sommer. Also in the Winter such Sheepe as 

 thou intendest to fatte and sell, let them either haue straw or fleakes to lie vpon, 

 for the cold earth will both disease them and hinder their feeding. 



38. 3. trouse] brouse. See these words in the glossary. 



6, 7. The sense is — and if she (the ewe) will not stand sideways beside the lamb ; 

 i.e. in such a position that the lamb can approach her side. There is an evident 

 misprint in 1. 7, where the original has ewe for lambe. I. R, tries to make sense 

 by turning all into call; thus — " and if she wil not stand side-long, call the Ewe 

 and giue her a little hay," This is an evident attempt at making sense by falsify- 



10 



