154 The eighteeiitli Booke of 



moft certcin and fure revenue was that, which would coft leaft, Hovyb'eit, this is not fd geherall a & 

 rulc^but it may alter according to the diverfitie of places^and fundrie occafions otcurrent.Here-, 

 unro alfo is to be referred another fpcech of his. That a good husbandfnan ought to be a feller^ 

 [and not a buyer : ] as alfo. That a man lliould make fpced in his youths and not delay to plant 

 and ftocke his ground 5 but not to build thereupon, before it bee and throughly .ftored that 

 way : and even then alfojhe (hould not be forward thereto^ but take leirure ere he^ be a builder i 

 for it is the beft thing in the world (according to the common protcrbe) To make ule and reap© 

 profit of other mcns follies : provided alwaies, that a mans land bpe not over-buiitj leaft the es- 

 pcncc of keeping all in good repaire, be chargeable and burdcnfome. Now when there is a fuf^ 

 ficicnt and competent houfc builded thereupon^ a good husband will ufe to repaire often there- 

 imto,and take pleafurc fo to doc : and verily a true faying it is. That the lords eye isitat better for H: 

 the land »than his hcclc* ^ ^ ^ 



^ Chap* VI. ' ' 



ffst» tdchfe a convenient placi for ic l>ui^^ 



A Ijo certein rules obftrvedm Aunciem time, as torn hing 



Hmbiindrie Andtillinggrotmd, ■ 



IN building upon a mans land,this mean and moderation is commended , That the houle be 

 anfwerable in proportion to the ground : for as it is a bad fight to ftc a large domainc and cir^ 

 cuitofground without a fufficient graungeorhome-ftalltoitifo itis as great a folly to over- J 

 build the fame, and to make a faire houfe where there is not land enough lying to it. Like as there 

 were two men at one time living, who faulted divetfly in this behalfe , to wit, Z. Lucuilm and 

 c&voU^ for the one was polTefled of faire lands without competent building therto,whcreas 

 LucuUm contrariwife built a goodly houfe in the countrey, with little or no living adjoyning to 

 it : in which regard,checked he was by the Cenforsjfor fwceping more floures than heploughed 

 lands.Now in building,there would be Art and cunning fhewed : for even of late daics C.Marms 

 (who had been Icven times Confullof Rome) wasthe laftman that built an houfe within the 

 tcrritorieof thecapcMifenum,and he feared itfo^as if he hadpitchedandfortificd a camp right 

 skilfully 5 in fiich fort^ that when SylU furnamed /^^//x, [/.Happie] faw his manner of building, 

 he gave out and faid,That all the reft in comparifon of him,werc blind beetlesjand knew neither g 

 how to build nor to encampe. Well then, a houfe in the country would be fet neither neare unto 

 a fennie and dormant water^ ne yet ovct-againfl the courfe and ftreame of a running river . And 

 yet,whatfaith Homer befides to this purpofc? The aire and mifts(quoth be,and that right truly) 

 arifing from a great river betimes in a morning before day-light, cannot chufe but be ever cold 

 and unholefome.How then ? mary if the countrey or climat be hot,an houfe mull fiand into the 

 North 5 but in cafe the quarter be cold, it ought to affront the South : if the trad bee temperate 

 betweene both,it fhould lie open upon the Baft point, where the fun rifcth at the -<£quinoxes«. 



As touching the goodnefle of the foiIe,and namely what fignes and markes there be of it ; al- 

 though 1 may fecme to have fufficiently fpoken alreadie, in the difcourfe which 1 had of the beft 

 kind of ground, yet I am content to fubfcribe to other tokens thereof delivered by other men, L 

 and efpecially by Catc in thefc words following : fVknyou fee (quoth h<:^) growing upon any land, 

 fiore ofWalmn^ Skegtrees ^Brambles ^ the Itttle mid Bulbous^ Crowtoes^ [called other wife our ladies 

 Cowflips] CUver-grafi or TrifoHe^ Melilote^ohe^ wild Pyrnes^ ^nd Crab^ees 5 knorvyee^ that thtfi 

 doe fhew a ground good for Wheat, and fi4ch like white-corne. So doth alfo the blackc mould and 

 that of afhcs colour,teftifie no lefle. Where there is ftorc of chalke or plaftie, the ground is nos 

 fo fit for corne; for all kind ofchaike doth heat over-much,unlel]e the fame be very leane . The 

 like doth fand alfo, if it be not pafling fine and fmall. And the cffeds abovefaid are much more 

 leeneintheplainesandchampaijie vallics, than upon the hills and mountaines Ouranceftours 

 in old time thought ita principall point of Husbandrie, not to have overmuch ground about 

 one graungc: for theyfuppofcd more profit grew by fowingiefle,andtilhng it better -.of which M 

 *iMuiAtit,gen, mind I percei ve "^VrrgiLms, And to fay a truth, coufefie we muft needs, 1 hat thefe large enclo- 

 TxiguUcdiho. f"''^^ and great domaines held by privat perfbns,have long fince been the r iiine olltalie, and of 

 late daies have undone the provinces alfo thereto belonging . Sixlandlords there were and no 

 more, that poffefied the one moitie of all Africke^at what time as the Empcrour 'Kem defeated 



and 



