THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Octobek 25, 1859. 
53 
The beat evidences of this that can be placed before our readers 
are the following extracts : — 
The first is what we should now call a “ Table of Contents.”— 
“ Q The i chapytre telleth how ye shall spende your good 
and extende youro londes. 
“ Q The li cliapytre telleth how youre londe shall bcmesurcd, 
and how many perches maketh an acre, & how many acres 
maketh a yerdc of londe, and how many yerdes maketh an hyde 
of londe, and how many liydes maketh a knyghtes fee. 
“ Q The iii cliapytre telleth how many acres of londe y l a 
plough may tele in a yerc. 
“ (3 The iiii cliapytre telleth a plough of oxen or a plough of 
hors may tele more londe in a ycrc and whiclie is more costly. 
“ Q The v cliapytre telleth m what season ye shall begynue to 
falowe all manor of londes. 
“ Q The vi cliapytre telleth how ye shall lay youre londe at 
sede tyme. 
“ G The vii cliapytre telleth how your londe shall be soweu in 
all seasons. 
“ G The viii chapytre telleth how ye shall eliaunge your sede 
and nourysshe your stubble. 
“ Q The ix cliapytre tellet h how ye shall nourysshe your dounge 
and wede your conic, and how it shall be mesured out of the 
barne, and bow moclie an acre shall yeldo agayn more than your | 
sede y l ye sholde have wynnynge therbv. 
“ Q The x cliapytre telleth how ye shall eliaunge all uianer 
of catell in season. 
“ G The xi chapytre telleth how ye shall change youre werke 1 
bestes and wene youre calves, and what prouff'yte ye shall have 
of youre kync, and vayll to butter and cbese. 
“ G The xii chapytre telleth howo ye sholde nourysshe youre j 
svvyne and your pygges. 
“ Q The xiii cliapytre telleth liowe ye shal noui'ysslie your 
shepe and dyvers medyeynes for theym. 
“ G The xiiii chapytre telleth what profytes ye shal have of ! 
youre ghees and liennes. 
“ Q The xv chapytre telleth how ye shall bye and selle and j 
preve youre weyghtes. 
“ Q The xvi chapytre telleth how ye shall take a compfe of j 
youre balyf ones a yere.” 
Of these “Cliapytres” we will republish four :— 
“ The ii chapytre. 
“ It is to wete that tlirc barly comes take oute of ye my tides of 
the eere maketh an ynche and xii ynches maketh a fote. And 
xvi fote and an halfe maketh a perche, anti xl perches in length 
and iiii in brede maketh an acre of londe, and iiii (acres) maketh 
a yerde of londe and v yerdes maketh an hyde of londe, and vii 
liydes maketh a knyghtes fee. 
“ Q The iii chapytre. 
“ Some men say y l a plough may not tele viii score or ix score 
acres of londe a yere. But I shall prove it by good reasou y l a 
plough may do it. Q For ye shall undstonde than an acre of 
londe is in mesure xl perches in lengthe and iiii in brede, and the 
mesure of a perche is xvi fote and an halfe. Q And so ye brede 
of an acre of londe is lxvi fote and so ye go with youre plough 
xxxiii tymes up and doune the londe and se the fyrst forowe be a 
fote and eche of the other be in lyke quantyto and then is an acre 
ered. And wlian the forowe is as strayte as it may be than is it 
xxxvi tymes up and doune the londe though it be a large acre. 
And the plough be never so feble attemoste ye have gone but lxxii 
tymes up and doune y° londe, which is but v myle way. Q Now 
truly the hors or oxe is feble that from the morowc maye not go 
softely iii myle from home and come agayn by none. Q And 
by this other reason ye undstonde that there be Iii wekes in the ! 
yere, take viii wekes for holy clays and other lettynges and there 
remanetk behynde xliiii to werke in the sc xliiii wekes hen cclx 1 
dayes besyde sondayes. G Also a plough shall ere thryes in the j 
yere | y 4 is to say in the wynter, in lenten, and in leke sede j 
time. G In wynter a plough shall ere iii rodes and a halfe a 
daye. And on eche other seasons an acre on the day at the lest. 
G Now knowo ye whether it maye bo done or not, but by cause i 
ploughmen carters and other fayne and werke not truly. Q It J 
is behovefull y l men fynde a remedy agaynst tkeyr servauntes. 1 
And therfore it is necessary that the balyf or some of the lordes 1 
ofiycers be with them the fyrst-e daye of doynge folowynge and i 
sowynge to se yf they do tlieyr werkes truly, & let theym answer 
you as moche werke as they dyde the fyrste day. Q Also it is 
necessarve that youre balyf overse youre werke men ones in a 
daye to wete yf they do theyr werke truly as they ought to do. 
and yf ye fynde theym contrary he shall chastyse theym resonable 
therfore, and by dyscrecyon, &c. 
“ Q The iiii chapytre. 
! “ The plough of oxen is better than the plough of hors, but, 
| yf it be upon stony grounde y l whiche greveth sore the oxen in 
| theyr fete. Q And y 1 plough of hors is more costly than 
i y e plough of oxen &. yet shal your plough of oxen cloo as moche 
werke in a yere as youre plough of hors, though ye dryve your 
| hors faster than ye do your oxen, yet in what groiide so ever it 
be youre plough of oxen, yf ye tele your londe wel and evenly, 
they shal do as moche werke one daye with a nothor as your 
plough of hors, yf the groiide be tough, your oxen shall werke 
where youre hors shall shall stande styll. Q And yf ye will 
knowo how moche the one is costlyer than y e other I shal 
teche you. It is a costume y t bestes y L go to the plough shall 
werke from ye feste of Saynt Luke unto the feste of saynt Elene in 
Maye, that is to saye xxv weekes, and yf youre hors sholde be 
kepte in a good plyght to werke he muste hauo dayly the syxt 
parte of a bushel of otes pryce oh.* and in gresse in somer season 
xii d. And every weke that he standeth at drye mete one with 
another ob. in strawe for lytter. Q And in shoyge as often as 
lie is shodde on all foure fete iiii d at the leste. Q The somme 
of his expenses in the yere is ixs, vi cl. ob., besyde hay and chafe 
and other tliynges. Q And as for the oxe ye may lcepe hym in 
good plyght dayly to cloo his journey gyuynge hym euery weke 
thre oten slievcs pryce i d by cause x oten sheves yelde a busshell 
of otes yf they be made by the extent and in somer season xii d 
in gresse. Q The somme of his expenses by the yere isiiis. i d. 
be syde- strawe and chafe. Q And yf a hors be overset and 
brought downe with labour it is adventure &ever he recover it. 
And yf your oxe be oversette and brought doune with labour ye 
shall for xii d in somer season have hym so pastured that lie 
shal bo stronge ynough to do your werke or clles he shall be so 
fatte that ye may selle him for as moche moneye as he coste 
you. 
“ Q The xiiii chapytre. 
“ Ghees and hennes shall beat the delyueraunce of youre baylyf 
or lete so ferme a goos for xii d. in a yere. Fyue hennes and a 
cocke for iii s. in a yere and there be some baylyfs and deyes that 
say nay to this proufiytes. But I shall preue it by reason, for in 
halfe a yere be xxvi wekes, and in these xxvi wekes ix score dayes, 
and in eche of these dayes ye shall have an egge of ecli lienne 
& y l is ix score egges of cehe lienne in that halfe yere, it is a 
feble sale of egges & xxx egges be not worth a peny and yf 
ony of theym syt in that lialfe a yere or some daye in defaute of 
lyenge, ye shall be recompenced there fore, & of vi more to here 
out the ferme y e cocke, and w fc the sale of tlie oliekens y t youre 
syttynge liennes brynge forthe in that other halfe yere., G Nowe 
shall ye se whether I say sotlie or nay the pecoeke shall answere 
as moche the for feelers (feathers) as the shepe forliis wolle. Every 
cowe shall answere you a ealfe. And every moder shepe shall 
answere you a lambe. G Every female swyne shall answere you 
1 xiii pygges at thrye farowyges at two tymes at eche tyme iii & the 
i tliyrde tyme fyve the x for tythe. Q Every lienne shall answere 
you of ix score egges or of cliekens to y c value. G Every goos 
shall answer you of vi ghoslynges And yf ony of this catell be 
I bareyne ye balyf shall answere you of the yssue that is loste 
j thrugli liis euyll kepynge, by cause that he dyde not selle theym 
i and put the sylver to other proufiytes to the value.” 
The last three or four pages arc devoted to Gardening, and 
1 this portion has this commencement:— 
“ 0 Here begyneth the plantynge of trees and of vyties.” 
It is quite unworthy of the previous part, being a mere col* 
lection of the mis-statements of the Greek and Roman writers 
relative to altering the colour of fruits and similar indulgences 
of the imagination. 
It lias been doubted whether Bishop Grosseteste wrote all the 
works of which a list is given in his life by Pegge, as well as in 
Tanner’s Bibliotheca Monastica. It has been truly said that 
they are equal in number to those produced by any of the great 
Arabian Philosophers. Indeed, in one department of literature— 
Poetry, he surpassed them, for we have his “ Chastel d’Amour ” 
among the Harleian MSS. But, the works enumerated, and 
mostly remaining in MS. are generally very brief, and do not 
exceed, even if they equal, in number of pages, the varied works 
published by Fitzherbert, who, also, found time, notwithstanding 
his profession, to write his “ Boke of Husbandry.” 
Let us remark, also, that this is not the only work of Grosse • 
* Obelus, a fai thing. 
