32 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE 



He advises the sowing of spring seed on clay or on stony 

 land early, because if it is dry in March the ground will harden 

 too much and the stony ground become dry and open ; there- 

 fore sow early that corn may be nourished by winter moisture. 

 Chalky and sandy ground need not be sown early. At 

 sowing, moreover, do not plough large furrows, but little and 

 well laid together, that the seed may fall evenly. Let your 

 land be cleaned and weeded after S. John's Day, June 24, for 

 before that is not a good time ; and if thistles are cut before 

 S. John's Day ' for every one will come two or three.' ' Do 

 not sell your straw ; if you take away the least you lose much ; 

 words which many a landlord to-day doubtless wishes were 

 fixed in the minds of his tenants. 



Manure should be mixed with earth, for it lasts only two or 

 three years by itself, but with earth it will last twice as long ; 

 for when the manure and the earth are harrowed together the 

 earth shall keep the manure so that it cannot waste by descend- 

 ing in the soil, which it is apt to do. 



' Feed your working oxen before some one, and with chaff. 

 Why? I will tell you. Because it often happens that the 

 oxherd steals the provender.' 



The oxen were also to be bathed, and curried when dry with 

 a wisp of straw, which would cause them to lick themselves. 



' Change your seed every year at Michaelmas ; for seed 

 grown on other ground will bring more profit than that which 

 is grown on your own.' 



Apparently the only drainage then practised was that of 

 furrow and open ditch ; and we find him saying that to free 

 your lands from too much water, let the marshy ground be 

 well ridged, and the water made to run, and so the ground 

 may be freed from water. 



Here is his estimate of the cost of wheat growing 1 : 



' You know surely that an acre sown with wheat takes three 

 1 Walter of Henley, Royal Historical Society, p. 19. 



