AGRICULTURE IN BRITAIN. 437 



Parkinson, in 1629, mention the turnip as a garden vegetable, 

 neither of these authors gives the least hint of their field culture. 

 Be that as it may, Ray, in 1686, informs us that they are sown 

 everywhere in fields and gardens, both in England and abroad, 

 for the sake of their roots. 



The first notice of sheep being fed on the ground with tur- 

 nips, is given in Houghton's "Collection on Husbandry and 

 Trade," a periodical work begun in 1681. In 1684, Worlidge, 

 one of Houghton's correspondents, observes : " Sheep fatten 

 very well on turnips, which prove an excellent nourishment for 

 them in hard winters, when fodder is scarce, for they will not 

 only eat the greens, but feed on the roots in the ground, and 

 scoop them hollow, even to the very skin. Ten acres, sown 

 with turnips, clover, etc., will feed as many sheep as one hun- 

 dred acres thereof would before have done." 



Potatoes, first introduced in 1565, were at this time beginning 

 to attract attention. "The potato," says Houghton, "is a bac- 

 ciferous herb, with esculent roots, bearing winged leaves and 

 a bell flower. This, I have been informed, was brought first out 

 of Virginia, by Sir Walter Raleigh ; and he stopping at Ireland, 

 some was planted there, where it thrived very well, and to good 

 purpose ; for in their succeeding wars, when all the grain above 

 ground was destroyed, this supported them ; for the soldiers, 

 unless they had dug up all the ground where they grew, and 

 almost sifted it, could not extirpate them. From hence they 

 were brought to Lancashire, where they are very numerous, 

 and now they begin to spread all the kingdom over. They are 

 a pleasant food, boiled or roasted, and eaten with butter and 

 sugar. There is a sort brought from Spain that are of a longer 

 form, and are more luscious than ours. They are much set by, 

 and sold for sixpence to eightpence a pound." 



The exportation of grain was regulated by various laws, during 

 the sixteenth century, and importation was not restricted, even 

 in plenty and cheapness. In 1663 was passed the first statute 

 for levying tolls at turnpikes. Enclosures, by consent and by 

 act of parliament, also began to be made during this century. 

 The agriculture of Scotland, during the fifteenth and sixteenth 

 centuries, continued to languish, especially upon the estates of 

 the barons, where the profession of a soldier was regarded of 



