f 7^ The eigliteentli Eooke of 



thcmture of mrj mntrej^nwd fee what Cuch ground wilUhtde.'Xo cotne new unto our ploughs. G 

 Of Shares, there be many forts : firft, there is that inftruirsent called a Ciilter, which fervet h to 

 make way before, cutting and cleaving the hard and thicke ground as it goeth, before it be bro- 

 ken up and turned atonefide : this fbeweth by the flits and incifions thatTt makedi (as it \\ere by 

 a true line drawn) how the furroweslliall go jafterwhichjcommeth the broad birof ihc plough- 

 fharc indecdj lying flatwife, and in earing cafteth up all before itjand cleareth the furrow. A'fe- 

 cond fort there is, commonly ufed in many places, and it is no more but a bar of yron pointed 

 fliarpc in manner of a beake-hcad or ftem of a (hip : and it n)ay bee called, a Rorfle. And vvlien 

 the ground is not ftubbornebut gentle to be wrought, there is a third kinduled, which is no 

 *DeMaiK other thing but a peece of yron not reaching all over the * plough head and Qiooing it to the 



full,but turning up like a fnout \yith a linallpoint fharp at the end.This neb is foraewhat broader H 

 in a fourth kind of fharcsi but as it is broader in blade and trenchant withalljfo it is fliarperalfo 

 at the end, infomuch,that both with the point forward & the edges of the fides^ it not only picr- 

 ccth the ground before it poindant like a fword^but alfo cutteth the roots of weeds which it en- 

 countreth: a dcvife invented not longfinceinRhoetia.Asfor the Gauls,theyfcttooberides,cer- 

 taine fmallroundlesor wheelcsj^ aplough thuslliod &harnaired, they call in theirlanguage 

 * or as fomc ^Pianarati : the head of their fhare is broad,fafhioned like unto the bit of afpadc : and thus they 

 ihinkc.p/?». fow their grounds for the moft part,new broken up and not tilled nor eared before. And for tlia t 

 theirploulli-fhares be large and broad, fo much theeafierturne they up good turfs of earth and 

 make broad furrowes. Prelently after the plough, they throw in their leed,and.mould or cover it 

 afterwards withyron-toothed harrowes drawne aloft. Lands in this manner fown,need no other I 

 raking or weeding ; for commonly they make not paft two or three bouts in a land, and as many 

 ridges. Finally ins thought,that in this manner there may be fowne in one yeereby the heipe 

 of oneyokeof oxen,foniearpensor acresof land ordinarily,if the ground be gentle andcalle 

 to be eared , but if it be ftiffe and ftubborne,they lliall have worke enoi3gh to go through thirties 



Chap, Six* 



^ rht feafom that k proper for tillmg the ground: alfo the mAnmr of 

 coupling oxen in yoke. 



IN this operation of ploughing ground, lam of mind to follow that Oracle or Aphorifiiie 

 of Cato^ who being asked which was the firft and principall point of Agriculture, anfwered 1 

 bene cokre. x\^\^s^I.ven to hmband^order^and tend ground mil : being demaunded agamejWhat was the fe- 

 ^bencarare. coudj hc made anfwet. To plough well : and when the queftion was propounded concerning the 

 Hsnefiercorare. third pohitof husbandrie,hefaid, That it confijledw manuring and dunging iff\\\zxz bee other 

 neceflarie rules befides,fetdowne by him as touching this matter 5 namely. Make no unequal! 

 furrowes in ploughing, but lay them alike with one and the fame plough. Paflenotthe kindly 

 feafon, but eare the ground in due time. In the warmer countries, lands would bee broken up 

 and fallowesmadCjimmcdiatly after the winter Solfticc or Sunftead. In colder regions, touch' 

 them not before the fpring ^Equinox or mid-March. In a drie quarter, plough more early than 

 mamoift:fooner alfo in afafi andcompaafoiie, than inaloofe and light ground: inarat and 

 rich field.ihan in a leane and poore land. Looke in what climat the Summer is ordinarily drie L 

 and hotjitis thought more pro/7rable to care up a chalkie oralightandleanground,betweenc 

 the fummer Sunftead and the ^Equinodiall in the fall of the leate. Ifthe climat be fuch as yeel- 

 deth but little heat in Summer,and therewith many (Lowrs of raine^where the foile alfo is fat and 

 beareth a thicke greene.ford,it were better to breake up ground and fallow in the hoteft feafon : 

 where the foile is hcavie, groiTe, and fat, and wherein a man may tread decpe, I like well that it: 

 fhould be tilled and ftirred in winter: but in cafe it be very light and drie withall, it would not be 

 *In the Spring, mcdled with but a little befoic * Seednes. Here alfo be other proper rules fet down by Cato^ per- 

 tinent to A griculture : Touch nor (qd. he)in any hand a peece of ground that foon will turne to 

 duft and mire. When thou doeff plough indeed for to fow, employ thy whole ilrength thereto ; 

 but before thou take a deep flitch for all,give it a pin-fallow before ; this commoditic commeth M 

 thereof,That by turning up the turfc with the botom upward,the roots of weeds are killed.Some 

 arc of this opinion,That howfocver we do els, a groifnd fhould have the firft breaking up aboiit 

 the fpring .Equinox.A land that thus hath benonceplowed in the f^irina.iscallcd in Latin Ver- 

 ^aaum,&hath that name of the forefaid time Vcr5[/. the Spring.JIndeed lev grounds & fuch as 



rcil 



