580 The eighteeiidl Eooke of 



u feges dc it Hiould fecme tliat "^f'lrgil prefcribed, thar the ground iliould have fourc f iltfies In all ^ bj 

 thcfc words J when he faidjThat the corne was beft,which had-two SiimiBcrs and two V\ uucrsi 

 But if the ground bee ttrong and cough, as in moflparts of Italiey there needs a ■^fiff tikh before 

 fowing: and in Tufcane verily they give theirgroundjOiherwhiles no fewer than nine fallowes^ 

 before it be brought into tillage , As forBeancs and V etches, they may be (owed under furrow^ 

 without breaking up the ground befbre3fGr thisis a read^^ie way5gainingtimejlaviiig-eharges,3nd 

 Iparing labour. 1 i- ; : j . ui^ r 



And here I cannot overpafle one invention ttiore as touchir}g caring and-|>l'0nghing th.^ 

 ground, devifed in Piemont and tbofeparts bey<^nd the Po, by occafion of fome hard nicafkr^ 

 and wrong offered to the people and paifants of that countrcy during the warrcSiAiid thiisilQocI 

 thccafe. The Salafliafismakuigrodes into the vale lying under the Alp^s, as th^y^orra'ied'li'iici |ij 

 harried the countrey all over^aflaicd alfb to'bverrun their fields of Panicke and M 

 come up and well growne^meanirig thereby to deftroy it : but feeing the nature of tha t graine- ro 

 be fuch^as to rile agaiiit and to eheeke this injutie^they fet pldughesimo it jShd turned all uniei 

 furrowjimagining by that meanes to Ipoile it for cVcY. B ut fee ! what enfued theruponJtho^^^^ 

 thus mifufed(in their cbnceif)bare a two-fold erbp,irt'pro|^C5ri?i<9n toother years j and yeclded lU 

 plentiful! an harveit^asthat thereby the paifants aforefaid leariied the deviie of ttirning corne iii 

 the blade into the ground, which 1 fuppofe in ihof^ daies vvheh irn'ewcame upjthey called Ani- 

 trare. And this point of Husbandriie theyputin pradfife, when the corne beginfe'tbgaUie¥ and 

 lliew theftem or flrawjto wit/o fooneas it hath piit forth two or three leaves and'nomi^re. 



Neither will Iconceale from you another new devifc^pradliifed and invented iirlf, not above j 

 three years pail in the tcrritorie ol Treviers/ieare to Ferrara. For at what time as their corn fields 

 by reafon ofan extreame cold winter,(eemed tobefroiVbittcn and fboiledjcbey fowed thefame 

 againe in the month of March, raking and fcraping the upper coat of the ground oiiely without 

 more adoe : and ncverin their lives had they the like encicafe when harveftcame. Npwas tou- 

 ching all other Tillage and Husbandrie meet for the groundj I will write thereof relpedtively to 

 the fsvcrali kinds of corne. 



Chap. XXi. 



of the tilbgt: and orderingof the ground, • 



THe fine Wheat Siligo, the red bearded Wheat Far, and the coriiriion Wheat Triticum ^ 

 Spelt or Zea (generally called Seea,);^nd Barley,w hen they be new fown jwould be well clot- 

 ted and covered firff,harrowed afterwards,and weeded at the laff to the very root: all at fuch 

 feafons«s iTiall be iLewed hereafter. And to fay a truch,every one of ihefe is afiiificient workefoc 

 one man to doe in a day throughout an acre. As for the Sareling or fecond harrowing, it dooth 

 much good to corne ; for by loofcning the ground about it, which by the VVintercold was liar- 

 dened J clunged, and (as it were) hide- bound, it is fomewhat enlarged and at libertie agairift the 

 Spring tide,and full gladly admitteth and receiveththe benefite of the frefli and new come Sun* 

 iliine daiesXet him take heed who thus farclerh or raketh the ground,that he neither undermine 

 the roots of the cornejuor yet race or difqiliet and loofen them.The common wheat jBarley, the L 

 Seed Zea, (/.Spelt) and Beanes/.vould doc the better if they were thus farcied, and the earth laid 

 loole about them twice.The grubbingupol weeds by the root.at v^^hat time as the corn is jointedj . 

 (namely jwhen the unprofitable & hurtful! hearbs are plucked ibrth and rid out of the way)much 

 helpcth the root ol the corne,difcharging it from nojlbme weeds^procuring it more nutriment, 

 and levering it apart ftom the other greenefourd of common graffe.Of all Puire,tbe Cich peaie 

 asketh the lame dreflfing and ordering, as the red whiCatFar. Asfor Eeanes,thcy pafie not at all 

 for weeding : and vvhy? they overgrow all tlie weeds abot]t,and choke them.The "Lupines reqiiirc 

 nought elfe to bee done unto them but onely weeding. Millet and Panicke,ilfcft' bee clotted and 

 once harrowed untill they bee covered : they call not for a fccond raking and fcraping about ^ 

 them^for to loofen the earth,and to lay frtilVmould unto them;mucb le& to be wecded.As for ^ ^ 



For fo he in- 



Silicia or Siliqua,^.'^Fcn!greeke,and F«fels, ^.Kidney- Beancs,they care onely for clodding, and 

 ^erpreceib it^ thcrcanend. . . ' ' ... 



i^'chap!o"this ' Moreovcr,chere be certaine grounds fo fertile,that theeornecoiKmii-igtipTothicke and rank 

 hooki, ill the bladcjought then to bekciobed (as it were) U raked witbskind of htrrowfet with t^th or 



