Plinies Naturall Hiftorie, 



A ordinarily ; neither doth it cat the ground out of heart^but rather maketh it more battlcjand fet- 

 veth in ftead of compoft or muckc. 



As for that kind of dredge or farrage which commethof the refufe and light corne purged 

 from the red wheat Far, it ought to be fownevery thicke^ with Vetches othcrwhiles mingled a- 

 mong. In Africke,the fame mixture is made of Barley. All thefe are good onely for provender 

 and beads forage : as alfo a baftard kind of Vetchescalled ^ Gracca,which pigeons love fo well, 

 that if they be ted oncetherewithjthey will never leave the place where they taftcd it, nor flie far 

 from thence . In timepaft our aunceftours had a kind of fodder or provender j which Cato called 

 Ocymumj wherewith they "^uled to ftay the gurrie in kine and oxen. Thisforrage was made of 

 •*bcanc/talkescutdowne greene as it flood before it was joynted and codded. But Sura Manlun 



B taketh this dredge to be another thing5faying,That in old time they ufed to put unto ten Modij 

 of Beanes, twaine of Vetches and as many of Ervile, and fowere woont to blend all togithcr 

 and fow them in an acre of ground at the fall of the leafe: and (faith hee) it would be the better 

 balimongif there were fomc Grceke Otes mingled withalljfuch as never fhedthe feed out of 

 the haw. This manner of dredge was called ufually Ocymum, and was woont to be fownc for a 

 kindof forragetofervekineandoxen. r^r/'^laith^thatit tookethat namebecaufeitcommeth 

 up fofpcedily, as being derived from the Grceke word «;£t>23 which fignifiethjQuicke, or Swift. 



AsforthegrafTeorhearbMedica [akindof Claveror Tfrefolie] theGreekes heldit inold 

 time for a meere ftraunger, as being brought into Greece from Media during the Perfian wars^ 

 which King D^r//^- levied againft Greece: howbeit, an excellent Simple it is, and worthy to be 



Q writtenof in the firft place. And to begin withallj this fingularpropertie it harh. That with once 

 fowing.itcontinueth above thirticyeeres without any need of renewing. Like it is to Claveror 

 three-leaved grafle, both in leafe and ftalke, but that the ftemme is parted by knots and jointSi 

 Moreover^as it rifeth higher and runneth up in the ftalkc,the leaves grow narrower .Of this herb 

 alone and of CytifuSj^/^/'Mtftr^^ compiled one whole booke j howbeitjhewratc of them both 

 confufedly. The ground wherein it is to bee fovycdjaf ter it is well rid of ftones and cleanfcd^mufl 

 be broken up and well tilled in the fall of the Icafc.Soone after it needeth to have another fallow 

 and be harrowed withall, and then covered with l^rdies : this would bee done two or three times 

 (five daies betweene) and therewith it ought to bee throughly dunged. This hearbe requireth a 

 found drie ground,and yetfuch as ishill of fucculent moifture within^or elfe where water is neare 



D at hand to commaund.Thc ground beeing thus preparedpught to bee fowed in the moneth of 

 May followingjfor otherwife the froft would take it and marre all, Moreover^rcquifite it is^that 

 it be fowed very thickCjlb as every place be taken up therwithjthereby to exclude all other weeds 

 and give them no roume there to grow. To this efted therefore every acre will take tweniie Mo- 

 dij or pecks of feed.But take heed withalljthat it be not burnt lb foon as it is put into the ground^ 

 and therefore immediately it muft be covered with mould.lf the foile be moift and given to bear 

 other grafle, the feed is foone overgrowne and choked, and then all will run to grafle, and lurne 

 to be a meddow.Which grafTe or coich when you fee begin to overrun the ground,it muft be all 

 weeded out prefently an inch deepe within the ground, and by hand rather than any weeding 

 hooke or thifile-fpade.NoWjwhen this hearbe Medica or Clavcr graffebeginneth once to flour, 



E cutit downe : and fo often as it floureth againejdowne with it.Thus you may have fixe m^jthes in 

 one yearCjOr foure at the leaft. You muft never let it fpindlc and beare feed : for better is it to take 

 it thus in the growth, while it is but young and greene grafTe, for three yeares together : and the 

 forragc or fodder is moft profitable. Sovvne(Ifay)itmuflbee in thcSpringjand weeded for the 

 firf! three yeares. The greene fourd afterwards ought to bee pared away with hookes and fpades 

 clofeto the ground :forbythismeanes youl"hallbeefure,that all other weeds will die, and this 

 hearbetake no harme by it, for that by this time it is deepely rooted , If the weeds doe get head 

 and overcome it, the onely remcdie is by the plough, to turne up the ground over and over fo 

 many timeSjUntill all other roots be killed. Moreover,heedmuflbee takeujthatof this herbage 

 or foddcr,bcaih doe not eat their fill'/orfeare you be driven of necelTitietoletthembloud, and 



F take downe their rankeneflc.The greener that it is,the more profite commeth thereof : for it dri- 

 cth braunch after braunch, untill at length it will crumble like duft or pouder^and then is it good 

 for nothing. 



As touching Cytifus5[/.the Shrub Trifolidw] which is afingularkind of pafturagc,andpa(feth 

 all the refljl have written atfuU in my difcourfe of Shrubs. For now at this prefent 1 am toprofe- 



cute 



