An account for Husbandrie.
FIrst he that shal render account, ought to sweare that he shall render a true accoūt, and shall charge him selfe with that, that he hath receyued of the Lords goods, & that he hath not put in his scrole by his good will, but that which he hath lawfully spent about the Lords profit. And the clearke ought to sweare, that he hath truely put in his account, that which he iudgeth his maister to haue receiued of the goods of the Lord, and hath imployed nothing but that which hee knoweth to bee for the Lords profite. And then if he haue at other times rendred the like account: It ought be looked vnto how it is diuided, and if he be found in a rerage of money, or of corne, or of both, or of any other thing, let him cast vp all to the iust value of money, to charge therewith his account, at the beginning of his scrole, and to set it downe after the accounts [Page] of other rents receiued for the Lorde, and of all other things whereof neuer a penie may bee leuied, and to charge the account thereof, and to employ it at the ende in a great summe, and after to go to the expenses.
First, for the cost for carts, it is good for the smith to take a note, for to finde out what is néedful to haue of iron, and of stéele for the ploughes, and shooe the horses and all other their affayres, and to put that which may be behoouefull to be done, and is accustomed to be giuē of allowance in the countrey: and the same man shall sée, if within the manor there is growing any great wood, or great timber, or timber that a man may gather thereof axeltrées, naues, and other necessarie things to be felled, aswel for carts as for ploughs, so taking them a man may spare money. And for the ouerplus, which is not there to be had, and necessarie for him to buy, let it bee allowed vnto him. And it will bee good for him to haue both Carters & ploughmen which can worke all the timber of the carwood, the more are these two [Page 2] sorts of seruants to bee enterteyned. The sayde man shall sée at the ende of the yéere, all the smal necessarie things, all the prouisions, all the yron, and all those things which in the manour doe remaine little and small, and to write after in the other yéere, what thing it behoued him necessarily to buy, and to allow the same, and the ouerplus lay vp safely. The Prouost ought to cause to be gathered all the pilles of the trées to make cordes, for that, that hee shall néede of, and he must cause, to sow within the yard, hempe to make cordes for the carts, as haltars and other necessarie things, & the making of them must be allowed vnto him, if there be none of the houshold that can make them. Mending of houses, walles, hedges and ditches if néede be, ought to be allowed according vnto reason: yet the prouost must not sell, buy, receyue, nor deliuer any thing except by tally, or by good testimonie And the bailey must make all the seruants of the house, when he cō meth from labour, to labour about the yard, to thresh corne, or to make wals, [Page] ditches, hedges, or other necessarie workes about the house, for the sparing of money, and if there be any seruant of the house that can doe the worke: he must therefore allowe him more then any other: if he cause him to make that worke, and allow another to worke in his stead. The stewards or the bailies, shall sée all the buyings, and all the sellings which the baily or prouost shall make, for to ouersée that they bee well done, and to the profit of the Lord. And the steward and baylies which do kéepe the court, incontinent after the saide buying, ought to render their scroles at the Lordes court, or to the auditors of the court, that they may charge by their scroles the prouosts, and baylies which doe remaine accomptable of the profits of the yard for the whole yeare. And the prouost must make account of the issue of the Mares of the yarde, that is to wit, for each Mare a Colt by the yeare, and if there bee any that haue neuer a Colt, let it be inquired of, whether it be through ill regarde, or by want of good kéeping, or through ouer much trauell, [Page 3] or by default of a stallion, or that she be barren and bringeth no coltes, that hee may haue her chaunged for another in time: and it makes no matter whether he be in like maner charged of the issue or of the value of the same. And if there be any horse, or other beast dead, let it be inquired whether it bee through the default of the kéeper, or of the baylie, or of the prouost, who might haue well saued it, or to haue imployed some helpe about it, and did it not if they could, let them beare the losse thereof vpon their owne goods. And if they doe die by mischance, that it be not by their fault, as of the Morien, and any other diseases vpon beasts, let the prouost be answerable of the carkasses, and of the skins, and of the flesh, and the issues, and put them in the profite of the Lord, and let him imploy that, that he shall know or be able to prooue. And if there be anie thing lost in the yard, or without, or stollen away, the which be it quicke or dead, either little or great, whereby the Lord may haue any maner of losse, eyther by burning, or by any other maner, [Page] the Lorde must charge the pro ust therewith, and the prouost must charge those of the yarde which are guiltie thereof. And it is to be knowen, that all the seruants of the yarde, men and women must be attendant on the prouost, because that the prouost must answere for all their actions, and the prouost ought to bring into the Court those for whom he wil answer for their déedes. And the steward must sée that the prouost enter good pledges for all those of the yarde which are placed by the prouost: and if the Lord receyue any domages by the prouost, and the prouost hath not wherewithall he may restore the domages, all them of the town which haue chosen him, shall answere the surplussage for him, of that, that he shall not bee able to pay. And if the Lord doth place there a ponder, a field-kéeper, or a granger, or any other what soeuer he be, and the Lord doe receiue any damage by the fault of them the which hee shall haue there placed, the Lord ought to take his mends of them, because hee placed them, and not of [Page 4] his prouost. It is to be vnderstood, that manours that are gouerned by baylies, where there is no prouost, but the bayly who answereth for the manour that the sayd bayly shall render account, as the prouost shall and all the other seruants ought to answere to him for all thinges, without any alteration or change of wordes as vnto the prouost. And those which doe holde in villenage of any maner, ought to choose the prouost such as they will bee answerable for, for if the Lord doth receyue any domage by default of the prouost, and he hath not wherewithal to satisfie it, they shall pay for him the surplussage which he can not pay.
An answere of the seedes that must be sowen.
AL the land must be measured each one by it selfe, and euery holding of the field named by their names, and euery medowe by it selfe, and euery pasture, euery wood, and euery heath, turberie, moore and marish also by themselues, and all by the pearch of sixtéene [Page] foote and a halfe, because it is easie for one to measure the lande there by the pole of sixtéene foote and a halfe. They doe sowe in many places foure acres with one quarter, and in many other places, it is required to haue one quarter and a halfe to sowe fiue acres of wheate, and of rie, and of beanes, and of peason, and two acres with one quarter of barley, and of otes. But because that some will bee sowen thicker then the other, the partie ought to measure in each manor euery acre by the corne, and sée howe much a man may sowe of each kind of corne vpon one measure, then may you alwayes bee certaine of your sowing. And because that a man soweth barley vpon a wheate field, and beanes, and peason, and lentiles amōngst the otes, the partie ought to name each land which is sowen in barley amongst the wheate, and each land of other corne which is sowen, amongst the otes. And there where the fieldes are diuided in two, the winterage or wintercorne, and the tramis (otherwayes common barley) are sowen in one and the same [Page 5] field. Therefore he must answere that of each land, what land is sowen of one kinde of corne, and which of another. And if there be any inclosure, he must sée what land he taketh in the inclosure and with what corne hee soweth each land, and the same séede hee must score by it selfe out of the other graine.
How a man ought to alow, or hire the haruest men in haruest time, and in time of making of hay.
YOu may well haue your lands wéeded for a penie an acre, and the acre of medow mowed for foure pence, and the acre of lande in the valley for thrée pence halfepenie, and take vppe and stubbe the acre for thrée halfpence, and to take vp and stubbe the acre of medow in the valley, for one penie farthing: and you ought well to knowe, that fiue men may well reape and tie two acres by the day of each kinde of corne, some more, some lesse. And where euery one taketh two pence by the day, [Page] yet you ought to giue fiue pence for euery acre, and vnto many more. And when the foure do take thrée halfpence a péece, by day, and the fift because he is a tier, two pence a day, you ought then to giue for each acre foure pence. And because that in many countreys they cannot reape by the acre, yet may a man know by the reapers, and by the dayes, that which they doe, so that you kéepe the reapers by the lands: to wit, fiue men or women the which you please, fiue men doe make one land, and fiue & twentie men do make fiue lands: and fiue and twentie men may reape and tie ten acres by the day in seasonable weather, and in ten dayes an hundred acres, and in twentie dayes two hundred acres by fiue score to the hundred. Then you shall sée how many acres hee hath to reape, in all, and you shall sée whether they agrée with the dayes, and then shall you allow them: And if they doe recken more dayes then it behoueth according vnto the order, you ought not to allowe it them, for it is their fault that haue not followed [Page 6] them, and caused them to worke so well as they should.
Howe landes ought to be measured.
ANd because the acres are not all alike, for in some countreys they doe measure by the pole of eightéene foote, and in some countreyes by the pole of twentie foote, and in some countreys by the pole of foure and twentie foote: and you must knowe, that the acre that is measured by the pole of eightéene foote, maketh an acre and a roode and the sixtenth part of a roode, of the pole of sixtéene foote, and foure acres make fiue acres, and the fourth part of a roode, and eight acres, do make twelue acres and a halfe roode, and sixtéene acres make twentie acres and one roode. And the acre which is measured by the pole of twentie foote, maketh an acre and a halfe, and the fourth part of a roode, of the pole of sixtéene foote, and foure acres doe make sixe acres and one roode, and eight acres make twelue acres and a [Page] halfe, and sixtéene acres both make fiue and twentie acres: and the acre which is measured by the pole of two & twentie foote, maketh an acre and a half and a roode and a halfe, and the sixtenth part of a roode of the pole of sixtéene foote, and the foure acres doe make seuen acres and a halfe, and the fourth part of a roode, and eight acres make fiftéene acres and halfe a roode, and sirtéene acres doe make thirtie acres and one roode. And the acre which is measured by the pole of foure and twentie foote, maketh two acres and a roode of the pole of sixtéene foote, and foure acres doe make nine acres.
The answer of the barne.
OF the profits of the barne, the man ought to sée how much of each corne he hath sowen, and how much it doeth answere in profite: that is by right and by common account, barly doth answer at the eight graine, that is to wit for euery corne sowē, eight cornes increase: and the rie, at the seuenth corne, and [Page 7] beanes at the sixth beane, and peason at the sixth pease, and of dredges of barly, and of otes, if they be equally mingled, at the sixth: and if there be more barley then otes, it ought to answer the more, and if there be lesse barley, it must answer ethe lesse, & also of masline, if it be equally mingled must answere at the sixt, and if there be more wheate then rie, it answereth the lesse, & the wheate must answer at the fifth corne, and the otes at the fourth. But because the landes doe not answere so well in one yeare as in another, the light landes do not answere as the good doe: and besides, it happeneth that the winterage taketh well, and the Lent faileth, and sometimes the Lent taketh, and the winterage fayleth: and therefore if the land answereth more then it is charged by the corne, the Lord looseth it, and if it doth answere lesse, of necessitie it behoueth him which rendereth the account, to pay it of his owne, and so no mā can receiue damage by the account aforesayde. And there is no perill to put men which may answere by the corne. [Page] [Page] [Page] [...] [Page 7] [...] [Page] and whosoeuer knoweth not the increase, let him place a faithfull man in whom he trusteth besides the thresher of the barne: and it is good for him which is beside the thresher of the barne to score the increase of each heape in the barne by it selfe, for to sée howe many quarters each heape of corne ought to render by it selfe. And if there be any heape without, let him cause it to bée measured by rode, and by foote in height and length, when he will cause it to be threshed, and let him score each heape by it selfe, then shall he be able to know as wel af each heape without, as of ache heape within the barne, both the stock & the profite: so that the heapes be euery one of one height, and of one length: and if he will sell his corne by the great, he may the better knowe howe much each heape ought to be worth, according vnto the price of the corne, if he selleth the corne by the great. It is good for him to score, and to sée the profite of each heape, and of each stacke: for the oftener he shall trie it, the certener he shall be of the profite, and of the stocke, be [Page 8] cause that corne doth not answer euery yeare equally: and let him take héede which is with the thresher of corne, that if he doth thresh any olde corne with the new, he thresh, and score it by it selfe out from the newe, and that the prouost may answere the sale of the corne seuerally, and sée the profite euery yeare, whether it shall answer to his séede.
Answere of dredges.
ANd if you doe make dredges, they must alwayes answere to you for nine quarters the tenth at the least, and yet it is a very small answer, but a man may bring it to this reckoning, because that he may not make thereof a greater store, when he putteth in greater store of otes, the dredges thereof wilbe worth the lesse, and of all the increase thereof the lesse Béere shall be made.
The profite of the dairie, concerning the small store.
ANd you ought to haue in each place and dyarie a man or womā to kéepe [Page] the smal store of the croppe, as is aforesayde. And if there be a man, yet he must doe all things euen so as if a woman were there, and ought to take the quarter of the yeare of sixtéene wéekes for the white meate, where the other quarters are taken of twelue wéekes, and he must sell all the corne, and shall take of the money of the dairie that is payed, to pay the woman which selleth it: If you do measure to sell foure quarters of wheate, or of rie, and sixe quarters of barley, of peason, beanes and minglings, you must allow in the sale one halfe penie and a halfe for euery oen of them: if they be measured to sale eight quarters of otes, for the same one penie: and the man ought alwayes to take in the quarter the fift for the full measure of euery kind of graine: Also a man ought to thresh the quarter of wheate, or of rie for two pence, and the quarter of barley, beanes and peason, for two pence halfepenie, and the quarter of otes for one penie, and to allow alwayes for euery fourth the fift for the full measure: and if the dairie wife take [Page 9] héede to all the sayde store which remaines in the yard, as to the swine and peacocks, and to their increase, and to the géese and to their increase, and to the capons, and to the cockes, and to the hennes, and to the chickens, and to the egges and their increase: and you ought to know that the sowe must pigge two times by the yeare, and at each time seuen pigges at the least, and euery goose must bring foorth fiue goslings by the yeare, and each henne must lay one hundred and fiftie egges, and bréed seuen chickens, whereof thrée must bee made capons, and if there be to many henne chickens, she must change them for cocke chickens: so many as it is here found that euery henne must increase thrée capons and foure hennes by the yeare: and for fiue géese, it behoueth to haue one gander, and to seuen hennes one cocke. And each cow must answere one calfe by the yeare, and each ewe shéepe one lambe by the yeare: and if there be any cow or ewe shéepe which bringeth forth no increase, let him inquire by whose default it is, either by [Page] the fault of the bailie, or of the prouost, or of the kéeper, through fault of good kéeping, or by want of food in summer time, or in winter seasō, or through want of a male, or if the prouost may haue changed it for any other in an vnméet time. And if it be not found by the default of none of them, let him make a full change of the issue, or of the valour thereof. And also if none dieth by any maner of way by his default, let him be answerable for the quicke beast, or of the value thereof: and if the mamour lacketh a dairie, it is alwayes good to haue a faithfull woman for the lightest costes that a man may, for to kéepe the small store, croppe, and all which is within the yard, and to answer all the issues as well of the crops, as of the dairie: to wit, of the sowes and of their pigges, of the peacocks and of their chickens, of the géese and of their goslings, of the capons and of the cocks, of the hennes and of their chickens, and of their egges, and she must be answerable of the halfe of the selling of them, as well as of the dayrie.
Answere of the white meate of kine.
EAch cow ought to answere from Michaelmasse day till the first Kalends May, by eight and twentie wéekes, the one and the older, the account of ten pence throughout all that time, the one more, and the other lesse. And it behooueth to vnderstande, that euerie cowe doth answere by equalitie, for the one giueth sooner milke then the other, and the one is sooner drie then the other, neither doe the Heyforts answere so much milke at their first bearing, as they doe at the other bearings after: but of those of eight yeare olde, they ought to answere so much: and the next day after the first Kalends of May, till S. Michaels day, by foure and twentie wéekes, the one day so much as the other, and they doe make right skore and eight dayes, and the profite of the milke of euery Cowe, must be woorth during that time, thrée shillings and sixe pence, & all the other season, the issue of the cow commeth to ten pence, & by this [Page] account euery cow ought to answer iiij. shillings .iiij. pence, of the profite of the milke: and it is to be vnderstood, y t euery cow must answer betwene the kalends of May, and Michaelmasse, six stones of chéese, and alwaies of six stones of chéese one stone of butter, and you ought alwaies from the next day after Michaelmasse till Saint Martins day at the least, and in the other season, after Christmasse till Sommer time, it profiteth more to the Lord to sel the milke, then to sell chéese: for it is more profite then to sell a gallon of milke, then to sel thrée gallons in Sommer, or at any other season: and if you doe make chéese, then a gallon of milke will be no more worth then it is worth at any other season.
The answere of the whitmeate of sheepe.
EAch milked shéepe ought to answere profit of her milke, all the Sommer long, so long as shee giues milke sixe pence: for the shéepe that giues milke, giues no milke after August, and no [Page 11] man doth kéepe them for to giue milke after August, because that they are lesse woorth, and are the more perillous to passe the Winter, and if they be sicke, or féeble, their profite is the lesse. And the dairie wife ought to answer so much profite of a gallon of shéepes milke in chéese and butter, as of a gallon and a halfe of cowes milke: and a gallon doth weigh seuen pounds: and two gallons, do weigh fouretéene pounds, and foure-pounds makes the stone. And it is to be knowen, that the Mare goeth fortie nine wéekes after shee hath bene couered, before she bring forth any colt. And the Cowe from the time that she hath beene couered goeth fortie wéekes before shee bring foorth any calfe. And the shéepe goeth xxj. wéekes from the time she hath béene couered, before she bring a lambe. And the sowe goeth xv. wéekes, from the time that she hath bin couered, before she farow any pigs. And the sowe farroweth her pigges fiue times in two yeares, and no more. And the goose bréedeth one time by the yere. And the hen hatcheth if she be well [Page] kept, and be good two times in a yeare, but that happeneth not euery yeare: neither can euery one of them giue profite, but onely according as they shall be well kept, answere they profite, either more or lesse.
This husbandrie made a Knight, sir Walter of Henley, who after rendered himself into the order of the Friers-preachers, & did reach vnto the people, how they ought to liue wisely and hohestly of their goods, and not to waste too much before hand, lest they should want after.
THe father sate in his olde age, and sayde to his sonne, Faire sonne, liue wisely, according to God, and after the world. Towards God thinke often of the passion, and of the death that Iesus Christ suffered for vs, and loue him aboue all things, and feare him, & kéepe his commandements. As touching the world, thinke yee on the whéele of fortune, how men haue no riches, and whē they are on the top of the whéele, howe [Page 12] by mischance they doe fall into pouertie, and more into afflictions: therefore I pray you to order your life according as your lands are worth, and do extend by the yeare, and no higher: If you can improue your lands to gaines, either by storing or by other purueyance more then the ordinarie reuenue, kéepe the ouerplus in store: for if corne faile, store dyeth, or burning happeneth to come, or any other mischance, then the same that you haue in store will be profitable to you. If you do spend by the yeare the worth of your lands, & any losse in the yeare or mischance happen to come, you haue no recourse to your store, and let the storer make no waste, nor destroy his goods, as some men do, as those marchāts which do by for twentie shillings, and do sell for ten, that man is neither called nor approoued wise, that can deliuer himselfe out of losse and dooth it not. You may sée some men which haue landes and reuenues, and can not tell howe to liue: wherefore I will tell it you, because they liue without order, or any forecast, or prouision afore hande, [Page] and they spend & wast more then their lands are worth by the yeare, and when they haue wasted their goods: then haue nothing but sorrow in their mouthes, & doe liue in anguish, neither can they make any shift for their profit. Such a man may one reproue in English thus: Whoso striketh further then his whittle wil last, in the stroke his foot he must stretch. Faire sonne, be you wise in your déed, and against this world which is so mischieuous and ticklish, that you may want nothing, & that you néed not to depend vpon any man for your reliefe. If there be any men carting in your yards, let thē be aduised by their elders, & if in your iudgement you think that they be too high minded, be you aduised here to measure y e same, so y t you may not be reprehended thereby, neither here nor before God. Be you acquainted w t honest persons & wise, & you shal haue the loue of your neighbors: for it is said in Frēch: whosoeuer hath a good neighbor, y e same hath a good morning. Vse your tongue wisely, that you be not iustly reprehended: you shall discretly spend those goods which God hath lent you.
You ought to know foure things, in layings out and in expenses: the first is, What yee must giue, how & to whom, and how much you must giue: for the first, that you must giue before néed requires it: for two shillings giuen then, are better accoūted of then twelue shillings, when néede forceth you to it: for the second, whether you ought to giue, or to spend, and to doe it willingly, then the same shall bee double rewarded vnto you, and if you do giue vnwillingly, you shall léese all that you doe either giue or lay out: for the thirde, giue to him that may be profitable vnto you & to others: for the fourth, how much you must giue, neither more nor lesse, but according as the worke is, either great, or litle, that you haue to do: looke on the poore, not for the praises of the worlde, but for to haue the loue of God, which giueth vs all things. You shall enlarge your lands and tenements by your loyal men sworn. First recken your yards, gardens, doue-houses, orchardes, what they may be worth by the yeere, besides your prouision.
Then reckon howe many acres of medow you haue, and what they be woorth by the yéere, and sée also how much wood you may sell by the year, without any waste or destruction, and what the same may be woorth by the yeare: and what your milles: and your fish ponds are worth by the yeare, besides the prouision: and then reckon how many acres you haue of erable land: and how many be of them in euery field: and of frée holds, how much each of them conteyneth, and by what seruice: and of copie hold, how much euery one of them conteyneth, and by what seruices and customs or duties they be held, let them be employed and all other things wherin they do profite, account what they be worth by the yeare. And by the husbandmen, you shall enquire howe much will serue to sowe an acre of land, of euery kind of corne, and how much prouisions you may haue vpon euery manour: and by the allowance you shall know how much your bailyes must answere in their scrowles, besides the sayd alowance. So may you be able to know [Page 14] how much your lands are woorth by the yeare, and your tenements also, wherby you may dispose of your liuing so as it is tolde you before, and whether your prouosts do set downe in their accounts so much corne sowen, vpon so many acres: So to the allowance, and perchance shall you finde fewer acres then they will tell you, & more corne sowen then it were néede or requisite: for you haue at the end of the allowance with how much a man may sowe an acre of land of all sorts of graine. Besides this, if néede were to bestowe either more or lesse cost about the ploughes: by the allowance you shall be certified how: I will tell it you. If your lands are diuided by three, the one part to the winter, and another part in Lent, and the third part in resting land, then is the plough nine score acres. And if your landes be diuided by two, the one moitie is sowen in winter, and in Lent: and the other moitie in resting land, then shall the plough be of eight score acres. Go you to the allowance, and sée how many acres in demain land you haue, and thereby [Page] you may be certified as well how much the plough of eight score acres hath to do, as the plough of nine score acres hath to doe. I will shewe vnto you, that of eight score acres, is fortie acres of winteredge, and fortie acres of lent, and foure score acres of resting lande: Return and replough the foure score acres, and then the plough shall goe of twelue score acres. Concerning the plough of nine score acres, thrée score acres for winteredge, and thrée score acres for lent, and thrée score for resting land, and then runne ouer and plough againe the thrée score acres. Then shall the plough goe for twelue score acres by the yeere, as the plough of eight score: Some men do saie, that a plough cannot do so much by the yéere, I wil shew you that it may doe it: You knowe that an acre ought to bée of fortie poles in length, and foure poles in breadth, and the kinges pole is of sixtéene foote and an halfe. Then is the acre of sixtie sixe foote of breadth: Now goe on forward thirtie thrée times about, and take roome of [Page 15] one foote in breadth. Then is the acre otherwise. But goe thirtie sixe times about for to make the roome narrow, and when the acre is gone forwarde then you haue gone seauentie and two furlongs, which doe make sixe leagues, that is to wit, twelue furlonges for one league: the horse shall be verie poore, or the oxe either, the which in one morning cannot goe softly and with a little pace the waie of thrée leagues, and to go back at noone. And by another reason I will shewe you that it may doe so much. You knowe that there is fiftie two weekes in one yeere: now take away eight weeks for the holy daies and other lettes, then shall remaine fortie foure weekes of trauayle, and in all that time the ploughe shall haue to doe, but the plowing of the resting lande, and the plowing of the sowing in winter, and in Lent, the dayes-worke of three roodes, and halfe a rood, and to stir againe one acre. Nowe see you, whether a ploughe which is well kept and folowed, may not do so much in one day, [Page] and if you haue lands whereon dungue may be layd, take paines to dungue it according as the land doth require: and haue regarde to knowe whether your land be well in dungue, and whether your dungue bee well kept as it must, then it shall answere to the thirde part of your lands by the alowance. Be they your tenants or customers, if they doe deny customs or seruices by your alowance, you shall know the certaintie.
If you be to choose bailifes, or serge, ants, choose them neither by kinred, nor by fauourable worde, nor by any other like things, if they be not of good name, and let them be honest and auncient, and such as knowe the profite of the dungue. Take no corne-kéepers but of your homagers and lande-holders: and if you doe choose them, let them bee of your homagers choosing: for if they trespasse, you shall haue your remedie vpon them.
At the beginning of breaking, tilling and sowing of your lands, sée that the bailifes and the kéepers or prouosts, be alwayes in companie with the ploughmen [Page 16] to sée that they worke plainly, and doe well their worke, and at their iourneys ende, to sée howe much they haue done, so that they may be answerable for all afterwards, except they can be able to shew certaine apparant let: and because that seruants are commonly slacke in their workes, it is néedefull to cast ouer their fraudes. In y e meane time it is néedefull for the kéeper to admonish them euery day. On the other part, the bailife ought to looke so well about it, that they doe well: and if they doe not well, let them be rebuked, and corrected for it.
You shall at the plough of oxen draw one of your horses: for the plough of oxen (if the land be not stonie) can not shift their féete. The plough of oxen is farre better then the plough of horses, The cause why? I will tell it you. The horse doth cost more then the oxe: besides that, the plough of oxen is so much woorth by the yeare as the plough of horses, because that the naughtinesse of plough-men suffereth not the horses to goe more then their pace. Besides the [Page] same for the stayings, the plough of horses shall staie, when the plough of oxen shall goe on. And wil you sée, how much the horse costeth more then the oxe, the same I will tell you: It is alwayes accustomed, that those beastes which doe serue about the plough, doe lie in at the manger, betwixt Saint Lukes feast, & holy crosse-feast in May, during twentie fiue wéekes: and yet the horse must be well kept to doe his daies iourney, he must haue oates by night, the sixt parte of a bushell of oates estéemed at a halfepenie, hee must haue at the laest twelue sheaues of grasse in Summer time euery wéeke, some horses more and some lesse, of one penie the burthen. Concerning y e shoowing, if they be shoowed of al foure féete, the summe riseth to twelue shillings fiue pence halpenie hy the yere, besides the fodder and the strawe: and if the oxe be in good liking to do his work, then it is needfull to allowe him at the least, thrée sheaues and a halfe of oates by the weeke, rated at one penie, and in Summer season twelue burdens of grasse, rated at two shillinges and one [Page 17] penie besides fodder and straw, and ten sheaues of oates, doe answere a bushell of oates heape measure. And when the horse is olde and tired, then is there in him nothing good but the skinne. And when the oxe is olde, with twelue burdens of grasse, he will be woorth being fatted, or being solde, so much as he did cost you first, or more.
In breaking time, is a good season for the plowmā, if the ground breaketh after the plough: and the fallowing after Midsommer day, it is best for him whē the dust doth rise after the plough: and in the earing & sowing time, when the land is setled, and is not too close: but he that hath much to doe, can not haue all the good seasons. And when you do breake déepe any good land, then must you square furrow, for to haue good resting land: but pricke it not to déepe but sparingly, onely doing so that ye may destroy the thistles & the wéeds: for if the land be fallowed to déepe, and if it be wette and waterish when it is eared and sowen, the plough can not then reach any certaine ground: but it [Page] shall goe flowing as in a good ground: and if the plough might goe two finger deeper then the lande was fallowed, then shoulde the plough finde the certaine grounde, and shoulde bee cleansed, and should make faire and good plowing.
In sowing time, doe not plough large surrow but a little one, and well ioyned together, that the seede maie well fall. And if you doe plough large furrowes for to make great dispatch, you shall doe hurt as I will tell you. When the land is sowen, the harrow will come that shall rake all the séede on the hill which is betwene the surrowes, and the furrow which is large shall be discouered, and there shall grow no corne: and to shew you that it is so, when the corne is vpon the ground, go to the head of the land, and looke on the corne towardes the other head, and you shall sée that the same which I tell you is true.
If the ground be to be sowen vpon the furrow, sée that it be tilled with litle furrows, and the ground so high as you may possible, and sée that the furrow, [Page 18] which is betwixt the two furrowes, be straight, and the land which lieth as it were a combe in that furrow, vnder the left foote after the plough, that it may be all turned, and then the furrow shall be streight inough.
Sow your lands betimes, so that the earth be setled, and the corne wel rooted before the comming of the hard winter.
If perchance it happeneth that any great raine falles vpon the land within the eight dayes, that it is sowen, and then a harde frost commes two or three dayes after, if the lande be hollowe, the frost shall pearce the earth so déepe as the water is gone in, and therfore the corne which is sprowted shal be incontinet rotten.
Two perilles that are in sowing in Lent season sowinges so betimes: The earth that is clayish, and the stony grounde, I will tell you wherefore: if it bee a drie season in March, then the clayish earth shall waxe too harde, and the stonie grounde shall waxe dryer, when it is couered, wherefore it needeth, that [Page] such landes be sowen in a conuenient time, so that the corne may be well nourished by the moystnesse of the winter. The hollow lands néed not to be sowen otherwayes but in their time: for these two are two sorts of ground which fall to be hollow and great in shewe, but in the sowing of them, let the landes bee somewhat wet. And when your lands be sowen: cause to scowre well the marish, and other waterish grounds, and cause the ditches about them to be well clensed, that thereby your land may be the sootter dried from the water.
Cause to clense, and wéede your corne after Midsommer day, for it is not good to do it afore. And if you do cut of the thistles, a forte-night, or a seuen-night before Midsommer day, of eache shall come two or thrée: cause your corne to be wisely reaped and put in the barne.
To make the profite of your barne, sée that you entertaine a faithfull honest man, that may faithfully charge the prouost: for it is séene often that the Barner, and the granetier, doe ioyne [Page 19] together to doe ill: let your prouost, and your granetiers cause the same corne to be truly caried, but measure of eight bushels, one pecke for the waste and decay, at the comming in, and at the going out of the barne: for their is deceite in the heaping, as I will tell you. When the prouost hath rendered account of the profit of the barne, then cause the bushell to be proued wherewithall it was charged: and you shall finde that foure heaped quarters, shall make the fift, a little more or a little lesse, and if the bushell be narrower of fiue quarters: this take, and if it bee narrower of sixe quarters, then take the seuenth: and if it be yet narrower of the seuen quarters, then take the eight: and yet being narrower of eight quarters, take the ninth, and of each of them a litile, either a little more or a little lesse, according to their bignesse: Now some of these proffes of measure will render a true account but with the ninth quarter, what bushel soeuer it be, either broade or narrow will do it. And if the bushell be broade there is a great [Page] deceite, if the profite of your barne answereth but to the thirde of your seede, you get nothing except the corne be verie well solde: you knowe well that an acre of lād which is sowen with wheat, will haue three tillings, except those lands the which are sowen euery yéere, some more, some other lesse. Each tilling is woorth sixe pence, and the harrowing is worth one penie: and it behooueth to sowe vpon euery acre two bushels at the least, and these two bushels are at the least woorth at Michaelmasse twelue pence, and the wéeding a halfpenie, and the cutting downe fiue pence, and the carying in haruest one penie, and the fodder shall quite the thresshing. And the thirde part of the seede ought to yeelde sixe bushels of Wheate: And if at Michaelmasse Wheate bee woorth foure shillinges, then are sixe bushels woorth three shillinges, and your haruest charges doe amount to thrée shillings one penie and halfepenie.
Chaunge euery yeare the seede at Michaelmasse: for the séede which is [Page 20] growen vppon other lande will proue better, then the séede which is growen vpon the same land. And if you will sée it, cause to till two forelandes of one and the same lande, and in one day, and sowe the one with the féede that you haue bought, and the other with the séede which is growen vppon the same land: and when you come in haruest time, you shall proue that I tell you true.
Sell not, neither stirre not your stubble, because that for the lesse you should léese the most.
When you cause dungue to be kept, with good earth, cause your dunguehil to be dressed & mingled with the dungue, and cause euery fortenight to draw out of your shéepecote wherwith to dungue your clayish ground if you haue it, or with some good earth drawen out of the ditches, and then scatter it vpon, and if there remayne any fodder besides the sustainement of your cattell: you shall cause it to bee scattered within in the yarde, and within the myre, and in your shéepecote also, cause it to [Page] be scattered, and in like maner in your modde, & before the drought of March, cause all your dungue to be heaped together, which is in the stables, in the yarde, and without. And when you minde to dungue your ground, and the same to carie, you must haue a man whom you trust well, that is faithfull vnto you, to follow your cartes the first day, and if he séeth that they doe their worke without feyning, sée at the iourneyes ende howe much they haue done: and let them answere so much euery day, except they may shewe some certaine let. Your dungue which is mingled with earth, you shall put vpon sandie ground if you haue any, the cause wherefore I will tell you. The Sommer time is hote, and the dungue hote, and when the third heate is assembled to them, by the great heate they doe wither away after midsommer day. The barley doth growe in a sandie ground as you may well sée where you goe in many places. On the Euening, the land which is mingled with dungue, causeth the sand to waxe colde, and rayseth vp [Page 21] deawe, and therefore that your landes that are sowen may bring foorth the more, dungue them, and till them not too déepe, because that the dungue is marred in turning in too déepe. How I will tell you what aduantage you shall haue by the strawe which is mingled with the earth. If the dungue be but it selfe, it may last thrée yeares, or there aboutes, according as the land is either cold or hote. The dungue which is mingled with earth, doth last y e double, but it shall not be so quicke: you know well that the marle, lasteth more then straw, why so? Because that the dungue wasteth in turning it déepe into the earth, and the marle in turning of it out of the earth. And why doeth the dungue mingled with earth last longer then the pure dungue, I will tell it to you. The dungue and the earth which are tilled together susteyneth the strawe that it wasteth not in the turning in, though it should waste naturally. Therefore I pray you to cause dungue to be kept according to the abilitie. And your dungue which is scattered, and somwhat moistned, [Page] is in season good to be turned, for the ground and the dungue shall then take the better together. And if you put your dungue vpon fallowes, it shall bée all at the stirring turned vnder the ground, & in sowing time shall come vp againe, with the mingled ground: and if it be put vpō stirring in sowing time, it shalbe turned the more vpō the earth, and the lesse mingled with the ground and that is not approoued: and the nearer the dungue is to the séed it is better: at the feast of our Ladie, first cause to fatten your dungue, according as you haue of shéepe, either more or lesse: for they do in that season cast much fatning.
Make once in the yeare your prouision, draw btwéene Easter and Whitsunday, to wit, your oxen and kine, and other cattel which are not to be kept: let them be put to fatten to grasse, and you shall gaine: and knowe the certaintie that then the woorst is better woorth then the best. How? I will tell it you: If they be cattell for burden, they must be kept better then the other and more made of, else the other are the more [Page 22] grieued by their default: and if you must buie any store, buie it betwéene Easter and Whirsuntide: for then are cattell leane, and good cheape: And before your horses be too olde, or tyred, or leane, or of small valour, you may sell them away in due season, and then may you relieue your selfe with good and young. How store should be kept it is good you should know it, to make your seruānts wise: for when they shal sée that you know it, they shall indeuor to be the better.
The cattell for the plough must haue pasture sufficient to doe their worke, and that they be not laboured too much vnder, when they shall come to the manger: for you should bestowe too much cost to restore them, and so your gaines should be diminished: put them in no houses in rainie weather: for surfetting may come betwixt the haire and the skin, which turneth to the great damage of your cattell: and if your cattell haue their ordinarie prouender let it be giuē to thē by day light, at y e sight of the hayward, or of the prouost, & mingle it [Page] with a little strawe of wheate, or of oates, and not of barley straw, because barley strawe hath too many beards, which will offend the mouthes of the horses. And why doe you say so? by proofe of the straw I will tell it you: because it happeneth often that théeues doe steale their prouender, and the horses doe eate strawe better then the prouender, and doe fatten, and doe become better. And let not much fodder be giuen to the oxen at once, but litle at once and often, and then they eate it well, and waste little of it: and when there is greater quantitie before them, they doe eate their bellies full, then they doe lie downe, and doe gnawe, and with the blowing of their breath, doe beginne to hate and to waste it. And let the cattell be kept cleane, and when they be drie currie them, for that doth them good: and let the oxen be curried with a wispe the day, and they shall licke themselues the better. Let your kine haue sufficient pasture, least they giue the lesse milke. And when the oxe calfe is calued, let him haue his milke one whole moneth: [Page 23] at the moneths ende take from him a dugge, and euery wéeke one dugge, thē shall he sucke eight wéekes, and lay food before him that he may learne to ease: and let the cowe-calfe bee at her milke thrée wéekes: at the trée wéekes ende take away from her all the other dugs, as from the oxe-calfe, and let them haue wate and foode before them, be they within the house or without: for many doe die on the ground of the disease of the lights, for lacke of water. Besides that, if there be any oxe which begins to be out of flesh, bestowe some cost to susteine him: for it is truely sayde, that the penie is well bestowed tha bringeth in two pence. If your kine be féeble, picke them out, and those that be not good, put them away. And if your kine be fed in pasture of salt marish ground, then ought two kine to answere a stone of chéese, and halfe a gallon of butter by the wéeke: and if they be fedde in pasture of wood, or in medows, after mowing time, or in stubble, then must thrée kine answere by the wéeke, one stone of chéese, and halfe a gallon of butter: [Page] betwene Easter & Michaelmasse without any replie of second hay betwéene Easter and Michaelmasse, and twentie bearing shéepe, which are fed in pasture of salt marish ground, must and may well answere both of chéese and butter euen so as the kine aforesaid. And if your shéepe be fed with fresh pasture & of fallowes, thirty bearing shéepe ought to answer of butter and chéese, euen so as the kine afore mētioned. Now there be many great prouosts and surueyors, the which will gainsay this thing, and the reasō wherfore they do it, is because that they do eat, giue & waste the whitemeat: and know ye, that for to sée if the whitemeate is not spent, nor otherwise wasted, except about the thing aforesaid your kine & shape may be so much the better, & ought to answere the proofes aforesaid: wil you sée it in them how thrée kine must make a stone of chéese: the cow of one of these thrée kine shalbe but poore, of the which a man cānot make in two dayes one chéese, woorth one halfepenie, which is according to the rate of those daies, in six daies iij. chéeses worth [Page 24] thrée halfpence, & the seuenth day of the wéeke is not in the account, because that the seuenth day shal helpe for the tenth, and for the wast, & is allowed for y e cost. Though it were but thrée halfepence in the weeke in xxiiij. wéekes which are betwixt Easter and Michaelmasse, there shalbe thrée shillings for the worst cow. Now set downe the profite of the second cow at so much, & of the third cow euen at so much, then haue you ix. shillings, & therfore you may haue a stone of chéese cōmonly to sel▪ And one of the thrée kine shalbe but poore, of the which a man can not reape the thirde part of a pottell of butter by the wéeke, and if the gallon of butter is woorth sixe pence, then is the third part of a pottell woorth one penie.
Cause your hogs to be tried once in the yeare, and if you doe finde any one that is not sound remooue it. Kéepe you neither Bore nor Sow except they be of good kind. Your other Sowes shall you cause to bee gelded if they doe not pigge: then shal you haue bacon made of them, euen as good as of the hog. In winter must you féed them y t they perish [Page] not, and that they may be well able to pigge: in thrée monethes they néede to be kept with good foode, to witte, in Februarie, March and Aprill, and thrée times in the yeare, must your sowes farrow pigges, except it be through ill kéeping. A nourishment in swine is to haue a long morning, and to lye drie. Cause your hogges to be gelded whiles they be yong, then they shall growe the better.
Sée that your shéepeheard be not too hastie, for by hastinesse cattel may bée to villainously driuen, that thereby, they may happen to perish. When shéepe do goe a féeding, and the shéepeheard is amongst them to hastie, and driuing the shéepe too hastily, then is that a token that he is not gentle to his shéepe.
Cause your shéepe to be milked euery yeare betwéene Easter and Whitsonday, and those that are not to be milked, cause them to be shorne betimes, and marke them from the other, and put them in woods that bee closed, or within some other pasture grounde where they may fatten, and sell them [Page 22] about Midsommer: for then is shéepes flesh in season, and let there wooll bee sold by it selfe, with the skinnes of them that are dead of the morrion. And when you haue solde your shéepe, your wooll and your skinnes aforesaid, set vp again in their steades so many shéepe. Some men do set vp againe others by the profite they make of them that are dead of the morrion, howe? I wil tel you: if one shéepe dieth suddenly, they doe put the flesh into the water, so long as from the morning till noone, and then do hang it vp, and when the water is dried vp, they cause it to be salted and dried: and if they doe sée that any sheepe beginnes to pine away, be it either that her téeth do fall, or that her téeth falles not, they cause them to be killed, powdred and dried as the other, and then they doe cause them to be pressed, and do spende them at home among their men, and iourneymen, and so much as the prise amounteth, they doe render in season: and of that, and the skins they do set vp againe so many other shéepe: but I wish not you to doe the like. Sée that your [Page] shéepe be within at home, betweene the feast of Saint Martin, and Easter: I will not say but if the ground be drie, and the water be drawen to his course and place, and the weather be faire, that your muttons may not lie out: and let them that be kept at home haue hay, either more or lesse, according as the weather is: and cause to dunge the floore of the sheepecote euery fortenight, so as I haue told you heretofore, and let straw be laide vpon the same. And know ye, that you shall haue more profite, then if they did lie in the mire: and if your sheepe are within in stormie weather, let them be by themselues, and let them haue of the coursest hay, or hay mingled with wheate straw, or oate straw well threshed: Wherefore, I will tell you: They are tossed by night in the myre by stormie weather, and the next day after by reason of their lying they do not feed, and then they doe come to the cribbe hungrie, and the stronger do thrust out the feeble, and do swallow vp without gnawing the small hay, and the sheepe that hath eaten her belly full gnaweth [Page 23] her fodder, and that fodder which is not gnawen nourisheth not, but remaineth within the bodie, and therefore is vnnaturall, whereby many do perish: and if the fodder be mingled, they will eate it the better because of the coursenesse of the fodder: and if you doe lacke hay, take the coddes and the strawe of peason, which is good fodder for sheepe. And when your lambes are yeaned, let the sheepeheard take away the wooll which is about the dugges: for it happeneth often that the wooll sticketh in the lambes mouth, and so the lambe swalloweth it vp: and it remaineth within their stomacke, and thereby many are perished: and at the feast of S. Simon and Saint Iude, cause to draw out two of the middle sort, and two of the best, and two of the woorst, and if you doe finde that they be not sound, cause the best of them to be solde, and let honest persons haue them vpon good suretie, till hogges-day, and then cause other to be set vp againe in their stead.
Of géese and hennes, let hem be at the discretion of the baylie, because [Page] [Page] [Page] [...] [Page 23] [...] [Page] that all the time I was a Bayliffe, both Géese and Hennes were let to farme, Géese for twelue pence, Hennes for thrée pence, and some for foure pence, by the yeare.
Sell and buie in due season, hauing alwaies one honest man or two, which may testifie of all things: for there bee some other persons then those which are accomptable, the which doo encrease the buyings, and doo diminish the sellings: and if any rerage runne lying vpon the finall account, let it be quickly gathered vp: and if they doo name certein persons which do owe the rerages: kéepe with you their names: for it happeneth often that Seruants and Prouostes, doo serue their owne turnes, and do cause others to serue their turns which they ought not: and they doo the same, for to hide their owne delaies. Make a view of the account, or cause it to be made, by some trustie person, once in the yeare, and a finall account at the yéeres ende. The view of account must be made, to know the estate of things, as of the profits, receits, sales, buyings, [Page 18] and other expenses. And thereupon, if there be any money remaining, take it out of the hands of the Seruants: for it happeneth often that Seruants, and Prouostes doo make marchandise by themselues or by others, with their Lords money, to their profit, and not to the profit of their lords, the which thing is not honest: if you must buy or sell in the countrey where is no good order: be you then well aduised, for you may be defrauded by them which cannot bee contraried. Those that haue the custodie of such thinges, must of necessitie haue these foure things: To loue and feare their Lord, and as for the raising of profit, they ought to doo it as though the thing were their owne: and as for their expenses, they should so expend, as supposing the thing not to apperteine vnto an other. There be many seruants and Prouostes which haue these foure things togither: but many there are which haue fled from the thrée first, and kéepe the fourth, and haue vsed the same contrary to right, as a thing apperteining to an other: receiuing and taking [Page] with both their left & right hand, when as they thinke that their delaies can be by no meanes perceiued or knowen.
Visit often your things, and cause them to bee visited: for it is saide in a common saying: Who often visiteth his owne goods, if hée gaineth not, hée dooth not léese: and those which serue you by the yeare, shall the more beware to [...] ill, and shal endeuour themselues the more to doo their best.