312 



A DISCOURSE 



BOOK in. Mr. Cooke's directions are these : prepare as for sowing of barley; 



^^"^'"y^ about February scatter your seeds : if you plough your ground into great 

 ridges, the thickness of the earth on the top will afford more depth and 

 nourishment for the roots, and the furrows being filled up with leaves, 

 when rotten, will lead the roots from one ridge to another : in dry ground, 

 plough the ridges cross the descent, not to drain, but to keep the water on 

 the ground ; but in wet lands, contrary : this I hold to be an excellent 

 note : he conceives the barley season to be of the latest to sow your seeds, 

 but with oats it does well, so you sow them not too thick ; but it is best 

 of all to sow them by themselves, without any crop of grain at all. 



A more expeditious way is to plant with sets, making holes or fosses, 

 (which are best,) two feet wide and deep, and about half a rod distant, 

 viz. four in every rod square, two sets in each hole, sowing your keys 

 and seeds among them the ensuing spring, and that continued as oft as 

 you find stampings and ke^/s to be had, even till your wood be perfectly 

 furnished, only taking care that they lie not long too thick, because it 

 will heat and burn the kernels ; and, therefore, let them be put into the 

 ground as soon as they are pressed, or else lay them thin, or parted with 

 straw. 



In case your land be poor, and wanting depth, or but indifferent, ob- 

 serving the posture of your ground, divide it into four yards distance at 

 both extremes, by small stakes, making rows of them, by setting up some 

 few between them, to direct and lay your work straight, ploughing one 

 yard of each side of the stakes, if the ground be green sward, for the 

 easier running of the roots : having thus ploughed two yards, and left two 

 unploughed through the whole piece, some short time before the planting 

 season, so soon as the fall of the leaf begins, dig up the unploughed inter- 

 stices, laying one-half of the earth on the unploughed pieces, and the other 

 half upon the rest ; and as you do this, plant your prepared sets about a 

 yard distant, with store of sallow or other cuttings with them, digging 

 that ground which you laid on the ploughed part a good spade deep, which 

 will make it near a foot thick to plant your sets in : thus proceed from 

 one unploughed ground to another, till all of it is planted : two men on 

 each side of the ridges will soon despatch the work, which should be 

 finished by the latter end of January, which is the best time for the sowing 

 your keys, nuts, and other seeds, unless the weather be frosty, in which 

 case you may a little defer it ; and when all is sowed, cover them a little 



