324 History of the English Landed Interest. 



garden set, tlie lieacllands mown, and the oak bark harvested. 

 The following month was a busy time in the dairy ; all the 

 lambs were weaned, the ewes milked from then up to August, 

 and cheese-making was in full swing. The roofs of the build- 

 ings were re-thatched with reeds, the corn weeded, buck and 

 brank sown for hay or poultry and hog feed, and flax and 

 hemp for the housewife's distaff or rope-maker's yarn. Hemp 

 was of two sorts : the Fimble or female hemp, which ripened 

 soonest, was not worth half as much as the Carle with its 

 seed. 



After twifallow, or second ploughing of the fallow ground, 

 there was little else for the men to do save cart home the rest 

 of the winter-fallen timber and watch the various crops grow. 

 The farmer's wife would divide her attentions between super- 

 intendence of the dairy and distillation of the various aromatic 

 garden herbs into pleasant w^aters, the manufacture of which 

 was a feature of the age. In June the hands were taken from 

 the summer fallowing and set on to harvest the hay. Right 

 on till autumn it was in fact one long harvest, now of hay, 

 next of brambles and brakes, then of pulse, corn, buck and 

 ranke, lastly of flax and hemp. Wet times and early morning 

 were taken advantage of to complete the third ploughing (or 

 thryfallow) of the summer fallow ground. Hay was cocked 

 in unsettled weather, and on some farms each evening. Corn, 

 especially bread corn, peas and tare stacks were raised out of 

 the hog's reach on " hovels," i.e. places enclosed with crotchets 

 and covered with poles and straw. They were wattled with 

 whins and furze, so that turf, sea cole, tall wood, bavin and 

 billet could be secured underneath the stack. Flax was har- 

 vested sometimes as early as July. The crop was divided into 

 two lots, that for the linen being gathered before it ran to 

 seed. Buck and ranke were made into hay, and had to be 

 garnered in an absolutely dry condition. A piece of ground 

 in almost every farm w^as planted w^ith saffron roots, as it 

 afforded the best sward upon which to bleach linen. The 

 com harvest was sometimes let, either by the day or by 

 " great," ^ but the best plan was to hire men at their meat, 

 ' Tlic old term for piece- woi-k. 



