says, ``can not well thryue by his corne without he have other
cattell, nor by his cattell without corne. And bycause that
shepe, in myne opynyon, is the mooste profytablest cattell
that any man can haue, therefore I pourpose to speake fyrst of
shepe.'' His remarks on this subject are so accurate that one
might imagine they came from a storemaster of the present day.
In some places at present ``they neuer seuer their lambes
from their dammes''; ``and the poore of the peeke (high)
countreye, and such other places, where, as they vse to
mylke theyr ewes, they vse to wayne theyr lambes at 12 weekes
olde, and to mylke their ewes fiue or syxe weekes''; but
that, he observes, ``is greate hurte to the ewes, and wyll
cause them that they wyll not take the ramme at the tvme of
the yere for pouertye, but goo barreyne.'' ``In June is tyme
to shere shepe; and ere they be shorne, they must be verye
well washen, the which shall be to the owner greate profyte
in the sale of his wool, and also to the clothe-maker.''
His remarks on horses, cattle, &c., are not less
interesting; and there is a very good account of the
diseases of each species, and some just observations
on the advantage of mixing different kinds on the same
pasture. Swine and bees conclude this branch of the work.
The author then points out the great advantages of enclosure;
recommends ``quycksettynge, dychynge and hedgeyng''; and
gives particular directions about settes, and the method
of training a hedge, as well as concerning the planting
and management of trees. Fitzherbert throws some light on
the position of women in the agriculture of his day. ``It
is a wyues occupation,'' he says, ``to wynowe all maner of
cornes, to make malte, to washe and wrynge, to make heye,
shere corne, and, in time of nede, to helpe her husbande
to fyll the mucke wayne or dounge carte, dryue the ploughe,
to loode heye, corne and suche other; and to go or ride
to the market to sel butter, chese, mylke, egges, chekyns,
capons, hennes, pygges, gese, and all maner of cornes.''
The Book of Surveying adds considerably to our knowledge of
the rural economy of that age. ``Four maner of commens'' are
described; several kinds of mills for corn and other purposes,
and also ``quernes that goo with hand''; different orders of
tenants, down to the ``boundmen,'' who ``in some places contynue
as yet''; ``and many tymes, by colour thereof, there be many
freemen taken as boundmen, and their lands and goods is taken
from them.'' Lime and marl are mentioned as common manures,
and the former was sometimes spread on the surface to destroy
heath. Both draining and irrigation are noticed, though
the latter but slightly. And the work concludes with an
inquiry ``how to make a township that is worth XX. marke a
yere, worth XX.li. a year,'' advocating the transition from
communal or open field to individual or enclosure farming.
``It is undoubted, that to every townshyppe that standeth
in tyllage in the playne countrey, there be errable landes
to plowe and sowe, and leyse to tye or tedder theyr horses
and mares upon, and common pasture to kepe and pasture their
catell, beestes and shepe upon; and also they have medowe
grounde to get their hey upon. Than to let it be known how
many acres of errable lande euery man hath in tyllage, and of
the same acres in euery felde to chaunge with his neyghbours,
and to leve them toguyther, and to make hym one seuerall
close in euery felde for his errable lands; and his leyse in
euery felde to leve them togyther in one felde, and to make
one seuerall close for them all. And also another seuerall
close for his portion of his common pasture, and also his
porcion of his medowe in a seuerall close by itselfe, and al
kept in seureall both in wynter and somer; and euery cottage
shall haue his portion assigned hym accordynge to his rent,
and than shall nat the ryche man ouerpresse the poore man
with his cattell; and euery man may eate his oun close at his
pleasure. And vndoubted, that hay and strawe that will find
one beest in the house wyll finde two beestes in the close,
and better they shall lyke. For those beestis in the house
have short heare and thynne, and towards March they will pylle
and be bare; and therefore they may nat abyde in the fylde
before the heerdmen in wintertyme for colde. And those that
lye in a close under a hedge haue longe heare and thyck, and
they will neuer pylle nor be bare: and by this reason the
husbande maye keoe twyse so many catell as he did before.
``This is the cause of this approwment. Nowe euery husbande
hath sixe seuerall closes, whereof iii. be for corne, the
fourthe for his leyse, the fyfte for his commen pastures,
and the sixte for his haye; and in wynter time there is but
one occupied with corne, and than hath the husbande other
fyue to occupiy tyll lente come, and that he hath his falowe
felde, his ley felde, and his pasture felde al sommer.
And when he hath mowen his medowe, then he hath his medowe
grounde, soo that if he hath any weyke catell that wold be
amended, or dyvers maner of catell, he may put them in any
close he wyll, the which is a great advantage; and if all
shulde lye commen, than wolde the edyche of the corne feldes
and the aftermath of all the medowes be eaten in X. or XII.
dayes. And the rych men that hath moche catell wold have the
advantage, and the poore man can have no help nor relefe in
wynter when he hath moste nede; and if an acre of lande be
worthe sixe pens, or it be enclosed, it will be worth VIII.
pens, when it is enclosed by reason of the compostying and
dongyng of the catell that shall go and lye upon it both day
and nighte; and if any of his thre closes that he hath for
his corne be worne or ware bare, than he may breke and plowe
up his close that he hadde for his layse, or the close that
he hadde for his commen pasture, or bothe, and sowe them with
corne, and let the other lye for a time, and so shall he have
always reist grounde, the which will bear moche corne with
lytel donge; and also he shall have a great profyte of the wod
in the hedges whan it is growen; and not only these profytes
and advantages beforesaid, but he shall save moche more than
al these, for by reason of these closes he shall save meate,
drinke and wages of a shepherde, the wages of the heerdmen, and
the wages of the swine herde, the which may fortune to be as
chargeable as all his holle rente; and also his corne shall be
better saved from eatinge or destroyeng with catel. For dout
ye nat but heerdemen with their catell, shepeherdes with their
shepe, and tieng of horses and mares, destroyeth moch corne,
the which the hedges wold save. Paraduenture some men would
say that this shuld be against the common weale, bicause the
shepeherdes, heerdmen and swyne-herdes shuld than be put out of
wages. To that it may be answered. though these occupations
be not used, there be as many newe occupations that were not
used before; as getting of quicke settes. diching, hedging
and plashing, the which the same men may use and occupye.''
The next author who writes professedly on agriculture is
Thomas Tusser, whose Five Hundred Points of Husbandry,
published in 1562, enjoyed such lasting repute that in 1723
Lord Molesworth recommended that it should be taught in
schools. In it the book of husbandry consists of 118 pages,
and then follows the Point of Housewifrie, occupying 42
pages more. It is written in verse. Amidst much that is
valueless there are some useful notices concerning the state
of agriculture at the time in different parts of England.
Hops, which had been introduced in the early part of the 16th
century, and on the culture of which a treatise was published
in 1574 by Reginald Scott, are mentioned as a well-known
crop. Buckwheat was sown after barley. Hemp and flax
are mentioned as common crops. Enclosures must have been
numerous in some counties; and there is a very good comparison
between ``champion (open fields) country and several,''
which Blith afterwards transcribed into his Improver
Improved. Carrots, cabbages, turnips and rape, not yet
cultivated in the fields, are mentioned among the herbs
and roots for the kitchen. There is nothing to be found in
Tusser about serfs or bondmen, as in Fitzherbert's works.
In 1577 appeared the Foure Bookes of Husbandry, translated, with
augmentation, from the work of Conrad Heresbach. Much stress
is laid on the value of manure, and mention is made of clover.
Fitzherbert, in deploring the gradual discontinuance of the
practice of marling land, had alluded to the grievance familiar
in modern times of tenants ``who, if they should marl and
make their holdings much better, fear lest they should be
put out, or make a great fine or else pay more rent.'' This
subject is treated at length in Sir John Norden's Surveyor's
Dialogue (1st ed. 1607), the next agricultural work demanding
notice. The author, writing from the landowner's point of
view, ascribes the rise in rents and the rise in the price
of corn4 to the ``emulation'' of tenants in competing for
holdings, a practice implying that the agriculture of the
period was prosperous. Norden's work contains many judicious
observations on the ``different natures of grounds, how
they may be employed, how they may be bettered, reformed and
amended.'' The famous meadows near Salisbury are mentioned,
where, when cattle have fed their fill, hogs, it is said,
``are made fat with the remnant--namely, with the knots and
sappe of the grasse.'' ``Clouer grasse, or the grasse honey
suckle'' (white clover), is directed to be sown with other
hay seeds. ``Carrot rootes'' were then raised in several
parts of England, and sometimes by farmers. London street
and stable dung was carried to a distance by water, and
appears from later writers to have been got for the trouble of
removing. Leases of 21 years are recommended for persons
of small capital as better than employing it in purchasing
land. The works of Gervase Markham, Leonard Mascall, Gabriel
Plattes and other authors of the first half of the 17th
century may be passed over, the best part of them being
preserved by Blith and Hartlib, who are referred to below.
Sir Richard Weston's Discourse on the Husbandry of Brabant
and Flanders was published by Hartlib in 1645, and its
title indicates the source to which England owed much of its
subsequent agricultural advancement. Weston was ambassador
from England to the elector palatine in 1619, and had the
merit of being the first who introduced the Great Clover,
as it was then called, into English agriculture, about
1652, and probably turnips also. Clover thrives best, he
says, when you sow it on the barrenest ground, such as the
worst heath ground in England. The ground is to be pared and
burnt, and unslacked lime must be added to the ashes. It
is next to be well ploughed and harrowed; and about 10 lb. of
clover seed must be sown on an acre in April or the end of
March. If you intend to preserve seed, then the second crop
must be let stand till it come to a full and dead ripeness, and
you shall have at the least five bushels per acre. Being once
sown, it will last five years; the land, when ploughed, will
yield, three or four years together, rich crops of wheat, and
after that a crop of oats, with which clover seed is to be sown
again. It is in itself an excellent manure, Sir Richard
adds; and so it should be, to enable land to bear this
treatment. Before 1655 the culture of clover, exactly
according to the present method, seems to have been well
known in England, and it had also made its way to Ireland.
