3i8 History of the EnglisJi Landed Interest. 



Hay rake. Hammer. 



Pease ineake. Tro^vel. 



Short barley rakes. Hod. 



Great do. Hoc; yoke. 



Pike. Twitcher and rings. 



Skuttle or skreine. Sheep marke. 



Sharing sheeres. Tar kettle and pot. 



Forke. Two pottles of tar. 



Hooke. 1 do. of pitch. 



Lath. 



"" As we proceed to describe in detail the work on the farm, 

 most of the above terms will receive explanation.^ Starting 

 then at Michaelmas, the beginning of the farming 3'ear, we 

 shall relate the Tudor husbandman's preparations for winter." 

 His first act is to thrash out and prepare some of the new crop 

 for seed corn. The farmer therefore proceeds to the barn, 

 unlocks its doors, and admits the thresher to the Rj-e Gofe or 

 Mow of stacked corn. The thresher ascends by means of the 

 gofe ladder, and pitches the corn down with the short pitch- 

 fork, using the long one when the straw mow gets high. The 

 flail separates the grain from the stalk, and the fork is used to 

 remove the straw from the thrashed corn. The fan and wing 

 are used for the winnowing, and the thrasher stands on the 

 nave during the process. The casting shovel is freelj' used to 

 spread the floor of the barn with an equable layer of the grain. 

 The furthest thrown is generally the heaviest and best, and 

 is therefore set apart for sowing. Preference is given to the 

 rye grown during the recent summer, as the newer the seed 

 the greater its vitality. Owing to its not having thoroughly 

 sweated in the gofe, the best corn comes out under the flail, 

 and the thin inferior grains remain in the ear. The rye is sown 

 in time for it to be "out of the milk,"' and have a full threaded 

 root before the winter's frost. It was sometimes mixed witli 

 white wheat and cropped together ; but though the mingled 

 flour made a palatable bread called " Terns loaf," it was 

 thought bad husbandry to grow the two crops on the same 



* 'Vide Glossary. 



- The whole of the description of Tudor farming is from the annotated 

 1774 edition of Tusser's lluadrad l\jintn of JIusbaiulnj. 



