$j6 The eighteenth Booke bf 



much harnie : nay I will fpeakc a greater word and which may fceme wondci ful Thel-e is ndt a G 

 bird of theairconeorother5thatdarc enter or approach fuch a field Field-mice and Rats are 

 skated away and will not touch corne, which before the fowing was either beftrewed with the 

 a(hes of Weafils or CatSjOr cHe drenched with the liquor and dccodtion of water wherein they 

 were boiled : howbeit this inconvenience enfueth hereupoUjThat bread made of fuch corn will 

 have 3 finacb, and fent ikongly of fuch Gats and Weafils : and therefore it isiuppofed a more 

 expedient and fafcr way to medicine our feed-come with oxe gall, for to preferve it from the 

 faid Mice and Rats. But what rcmcdic againft the blaft and mildew, the greatcft plague that can 

 befall upon corne ?Mary prickc downe ccrtaine Lawtell boughs here and there among the ftan- 

 dingcornc^all the faid mifts and mildews will leave the corneand paflfetodie Bayleavesjand 

 there fettle. What fhall we doe then to come when it is ovcr-ranke ? Eat it me downe with (heep* 

 . andfpare not^whiles it is young and in the blade onely ^ before (I (ay) it be knotted ; and never 

 feare harme by the (beeps teeth as neare as they go to the ground :for]ctit be thus eaten many 

 timesj the corne will be the better^ yea and the head will take no harme thereby but proovc the 

 fairer. If fuch ranke corne be once cut downe with the {y th, and no more, certein it is that the 

 graine in the care will bee the longer to fee to, howbeit void and without any floure within it :for 

 low fuch feed againe^atid it will never grow nor come up. And yet about Babylon, the manner is 

 to mow it twife firft, and the third time to put in ilieepe to it for to eat it downe 5 otherwife the 

 come would never fpindle,but blade ftill, and run all to leale. But being thus cut and cut againe, 



*Faiic!ui:foi}. and eaten in the end^yec fhall have it to encreafe and multiply fiftie for one, ^fo fertile is the 

 foiletandif the owner be a good husband befidcs, and ufe the ground accordingly, hee fliall 

 rcapc thrice as much, even a hundred and fiftie fold. And what carefull diligence is that which ^ 

 is here required ? Surely neither much, nor difficult : onelyhemuftbefuretokecpe the ground 

 well with wateringfor a long time togithcr,to thcend that it may be difcharged of the overmuch 

 fat within it, which by this meanes will be wafhed well away5a*nd the rankneile dclaied. Yet as rich 

 and fertile as this foile is, the two rivers Euphrates and Tigris (which ufe to overflow and water , 

 the countrey) bring no flimie mud with them, as Nilus doth in ^Egypt, whereby the ground is 

 made fo fat as it is -.neither is the nature of the earth there, given to breed hearbsthat itfhould 

 need any weeding: and yet fo plenteous and fruitfull it is, that itfowethitfelfe againft the next 

 yeere j for the corne that Ihcddeth in the reaping and mowing,being troden under foot into the 

 ground,is as good as a fowing, and rifcth of it felfe without any further labour. 



Seeing then there is fo great difference in the foile,! am put in mind therby to fit every ground K 

 with feed reipedively, according to the nature and goodnefle thereof. This therefore is the opi- 

 nion of Ct/^, That in a grofie and fat foile,there would be wheat and fuch like hard corne fowne; • 

 and if the fame bee fubjed alfo to mifts and dewes^ there may be fowed therein Radifh. Milletj 

 and Panickc, mufi bcfbwcd firft in a cold and waterifh ground ; and afterwards for change, in a 

 hot foiIe.//t'>», the red bearded wheat Far or Adoreum, rcquircth a chalkie and fandie ground^ 

 and namely if it be well watered. //fz»> the common wheat loveth adrie foile, cxpofed to the 

 funne, and not given muchto breed fuperfluous weeds, //m. Beans will doe well in a found and 

 faff foile. As for Vetches, they care not how litdc they be fowed in a moiff peece of ground,and 

 fuch as is,apt to run to graffe. Moreover /or thqfinc winter wheat Siligo,whereof the beff man- £ 

 chet is made, as alfo for the common frumentie wheat, there would be chofen an open & high 

 groundjlyingpleafantly upon the funne, that it may have the heat thereof to parch it as long 

 and as much as is poffible. AsforLentiIs>they doc like a good rough and flirubbie foile, full of 

 red carth, fa as it be not apt quickly to gather a green-ford. * Barley would gladly grow upon a 



Thitar^f ^^^^^^ ground new broken up, or clfe fuch as be in heart tobeare every yeere. And as for fummer 

 "^'^'^ (barley) of three moneths, it would bee fowne in a ground where it could not have an early or 

 timely Seedncs,and which is fo fat and richjas it may affourd to beare crop,ycer by yecr.Finally5 

 to fpeakc to the purpofe indeed,this alfo is Catees wittie rcfolution in one wor4 for all ; If the foile 

 be light arid Ieane5fecd it with fuch graine or forage feed,as require no great nourillimenr, as for 

 example, with Cytifusjand excepting the Cich pcafe,with allpulfe thatare ufed to be plucked M 

 out of the earihjand not mowed downe: and thereupon indeed arethefe pulfe called inLatine 

 Legumina, bccaufe they are plucked and gathered in that fort : but in cafe the ground be good 

 and fat,fbw fuch things as require fuller food and nutriment 5 and namely, all garden woorts and 

 pothearbsj wheat, both the common and ihcfinej and Linefed.Thcn, aceordingto this rule, a 



lean? 







