f linies Natural! Hiftorie. i6i 



A <^ire wcllknowne all the Alps over, and In other cold and winterly regionsj where (by the report 

 of the inhabitants) this kind ofcorne doth wondrous well, and none profperedi betierorgrow- 

 eth more ranke than iti OverandbefideSj thereis another kind of wheat that purteth up from 

 every root one ftalkc and no more in any place whatfoever ; the manner is to fbw it in no ground 

 but that which is lightj and it never mififech.Alfo about the Thracian gulfe, there is wheat that 



• within fortiedaies after the fowing,\5)ill beripe,and thereupon it is called the Two-monch wheat. 

 And would you hear a wonder ? there is no wheat moreweightic than it 3 and befidesjit ycelderh 

 no bran at all. hiSicilie and Achaia both, there is great ufe thereof, andnamely among the 

 rnountainers of thofe two countries. Much feeking alfo thereis after tha t cornc in tht liland Eu- 

 boeajabout Caryftus. See how much Columella wasdeceived^who thought that there was not to 



B be found fo much as any kind of threc-moneth wheat : whereas it is plaincjthat filch hath been 

 of oldandtime out ofmind.TheGreekes alfo have a proper nameforit, and callit Trin)enon. 

 Furthermore, it is reported, that in the countrcyBactnana, there is fome come of that big- 

 neflcjthat every graine is full as much as one of the eares of ours. 



ButtoreturneagainetooLirHusbandrie jofallfpiked corne^Barley isfowed firftrbiitl pur- 

 pofe to fet downe the very juft time and (ealon appropriate to ech kind , according to the fevcrall 

 nature of every fort, which my meaning alfo is to decIare.Meane while I cannot omit jthat there 

 is amongthe Indians, barley both fowne and alfo wild, whereof they make the beft bread that 

 they have. As for us Itahans (to fay a truth) we fet moft ftore by Rice,whereof (being husked and 

 cleanied)wem^ikegcotes,likeforall theworldto thofe which other men befidesdoe make of 



C barley husked.The leaves verily that this graineRice doth beare,bepulpous and flet'hicjrcfcm- 

 bling Porrec or Leekes^but that they be broader : the ftem groweth a cubit high,thc flower is of 

 purple colour, and the root round like a jem or pearle. 



Barley [husked] was the moft auncient meat in old time,as may appeare by the ordinarie cn- 

 ftomeof the Atheniens (according to the leftimonieof Af^'^W^r) as alfo by the addition or 

 furname given to lword-fencers,who upon their allowance or pcniion given them in barly^were 

 called Hordearij, p. Barley-men.] The ordinariedrie groutor meale alfoPolenta, which the 

 Greekes fo highly commend,was made of nothing els but of barley: and the preparingthereof 

 was after fundrie waies.Thc manned that the Greekes ufed, was firiho fteepe the barley in watery 

 andgiveit one nights drying; the morrow after, they parched or fried it, andthen grounditin 



D a mill. Others there be, who (when it is well fried and partched hard) befprinckle it once againe 

 with a little water, and then drie it before it be ground. There arefomc 3gaine,whotake the cars 

 of barley when they are green, beat and drive the corne oat,and while it isfrefli and new^cleanfe 

 it pure J which done, they infufe itin water,and while it is wec.bray it in amortar : then,they walli 

 it well in ofier paniers^and fo let the water run from it, and being dried in thefunne,they pound 

 or ftampe it againe-, and beeingthrougliiy husked and cleanfcd, grind it into meale as is afore- 

 faid. Now when it is thus prepared one way or other, to twentie pound of this barley they put of 

 Linefeed three pound, of Coriander feed halfeapound,of fait about* two ounces and two * Jcctduium. 

 drams :andafterthey have parched them all well, they blendthem togitherand grind them in 

 a querne. They that would have this meale tokeepe long, put up into new earthen vefTels all to- 



E gither both flower and bran. But in Italic they never ufe to fteepe or foke itin water,but preleni- 

 ly parch it, and grind it llnall into a fine meale^putting thereto the former ingredients j and the 

 graine of Millet befides. 



Asfor bread of Barley ,fo much ufed of our forefathersin old time,ihe pofteritie tharlived af- 

 tei-jfound to be naught and coi^demned it : infiichfortjas they allowed it for provender only to 

 feed their beafts and cattaile with.But in (lead thereof came up the ufe of * husked barley, to bee * '^^'Z"'^- 

 foddenfor grewell ;fo highly commended as a moft nutritive and f^rongmeat jarid withall,paf- 

 fing holefome for mans bodie : in fo much as Hippocrates (who for skill and knowledge was the 

 prince of allPhyficians) hath written one whole booke in the praifts onely of it. Now the beft 

 Ptifana or husked barley, isthatwhichcommeth from Vtica.^As for that, which we have from 



V iEgyptjit is made of the flat barley which groweth upon the eare in two rankes or (ides only . Ta* 

 TAnmiPs faith,That in the realms of Granade, Andalufia, and Africk, the barley whereofthe faid 

 Ptifane is made^isfmooth and naked in tfie eare without eiles or beard at all. Hee alfo is of opi- 

 nion, that Rice and the graine Olyra, are all<>ne. The manner of preparing luisked barley and 

 itlakin g Ptifaiu'is fo comni&nly knowne, that I need notto fay a word thereof. 



