Excerpts
from Fitzherbert's Book of Husbandry c. 1543
To
carry out dung or muck and to spread it:
And
in the later end of April, and the beginning of May, it is time
to carry out his dung or muck, and lay it upon his barley ground
.... But the husband that can find the means to carry out his
dung, and to lay it upon his land after it be the once stirred,
it is much better than to lay it upon his fallow, for divers
causes. One is, if it be laid upon his fallow, all that falleth
in the hollow rig shall do little good, for when it is rigged
again, it lieth so deep in the earth, that it will not be ploughed
up again, except that when he hath spread it, he will with a
shovel, or a spade, cast out all that is fallen in the rig.
And if it be laid upon the stirring, at every ploughing it shall
meddle the dung and the earth together, the which shall cause
the corn much better to grow and increase, And in some places,
they load not their dung, till harvest be done ... and that
I call better than upon the fallow, and specially for barley:
but upon the first stirring, it is best for wheat and rye, and
that his dung be laid upon small heaps nigh together, and to
spread it evenly, and to leave no dung there-as the muck heap
stood, for the moistness of the dung shall cause the ground
to be rank enough. And if it be meddled with the earth ... it
will last the longer, and better for barley than for wheat and
rye, because of weeds.
Horse
dung is the worst dung that is. The dung of all manner of cattle,
that chew their cud, is very good. And the dung of doves is
best, but it must be laid upon the ground very thin.
To
carry out wood and other necessaries:
And
in May, when thou hast fallowed thy ground, and set out thy
sheepfold, and carried out thy dung or muck, if thou have any
wood, coal or timber to carry, or such other business, that
must needs be done, with thy chart or waine, then it is time
to do it. For then the way is like to be fair and dry, and the
days long, and that time the husband has least to do in husbandry
....
To
know divers manners of weeds:
In
the later end of May, and the beginning of June, is time to
weed thy corn. There be divers manner of weeds, such as thistles,
kedlokes, docks, cocledrake, darnolde, gouldes, haudoddes, dogfennel,
mathes [mayweed], ter, and divers other small weeds.
But these be that grieve most: the thistle is an ill weed, rough
and sharp to handle, and fretteth away the corn nigh it, and
causeth the shearers or reapers not to shear clean. Kedlockes
has a leaf like rapes, and bears a yellow flower, and is an
ill weed, and groweth in all manner of corn, and has small coddes,
and groweth like mustard seed. Docks have a broad leaf, and
divers high spires, and very small seed in the top. Cockole
has a long small leaf, and will bear five or six flowers of
purple colour, as broad as a groat, and the seed is round and
black, and may well be suffered in bread corn, but not in seed,
for therein is much flour. Drake is like unto rye, till it begin
to seed, and it hath many seeds like fennel seeds, and hangeth
downward, and it may well be suffered in bread, for their is
much flour in the seed: and it an opinion that it comes of rye,
etc. Dernolde groweth up straight like a high grass, and hath
long seeds on either side of the stert [?start], and
there is much flour in that seed, and groweth much among barley:
and it is said, that it cometh of small barley. Golds hath a
short jagged leaf, and groweth half a yard high, and hath a
yellow flower, as broad as a groat, and is an ill weed, and
groweth commonly in barley and peas. Hawdod hath a blue flower,
and a few little leaves, and hath five or six branches, flowered
in the top, and groweth commonly in rye upon lean ground, and
doth little hurt. Dog-Fennel and mathes is both one, and in
the coming up is like Fennel and beareth many white flowers,
with a yellow seed: and is the worst weed that is, except terre,
and it commeth most commonly, when great wet cometh shortly
after corn is sown. Terre is the worst weed, and it never doth
appear till the month of June, and especially when there is
great wet in that month ....
How
to weed corn:
Now
it would be known, how these corns should be weeded. The chief
instrument to weed is a pair of tongs made of wood, and in the
farther end it is nicked, to hold the weed fast; and after a
shower of rain it is best weeding, for then they may be pulled
up by the roots, and then it cometh never again. And if it be
dry weather, then must ye have a weeding hook with a socket
set upon a little staff of a yard long, and this hook shall
be well steeled, and ground sharp both behind and before. And
in his other hand he hath a forked stick a yard long, and with
his forked stick he putteth the weed from him, and he putteth
the hook behind the root of the weed, and pulleth it to him,
and cutteth the weed fast by the earth ....
To
mow grass:
Also
in the later end of June is time to begin to mow, if thy meadow
be well grown: but howsoever they be grown, in July they must
needs mow, for divers causes. One, it is not convenient to have
hay and corn both in occupation at the same time. Another is,
the younger and sweeter that the grass is, the softer and sweeter
it will be when it is hay ... and the elder the grass is, the
harder and drier it is, and the worse for all manner of cattle:
for the seeds be fallen, which is in manner of provender, and
it is the harder to eat and chew. And another cause is, if dry
weather come, it will dry and burn upon the ground, and waste
away ...
How
forks and rakes should be made:
A
Good husband hath his forks and rakes made ready in the winter
before, and they would be got between Michelmas and Martylmas,
and baked, and set even, to lie upright in thy hand: and then
they will be hard stiff and dry. And when the husband sitteth
by the fire, and hath nothing to do, then may he make them ready,
and tooth the rakes with dry wethywood, and bore the holes with
his wymble, both above and under, and drive the teeth upwards
fast and hard, and then wedge them above with dry wood of oak,
for that it hard, and will dry and never come out ....
To
tedd and make hay:
When
thy meadow be mowed, they would be well tedded and laid even
upon the ground: and if the grass be very thick, it would be
shaken with hands, or with a short pikefork. For good tedding
is the chief point to make good hey, and then shall it be well
withered all in like, or else not: and when it is well withered
on the over side, and dry, then turn it clean before noon, as
soon as the dew is gone. And if thou dare trust the weather,
let it lie so all night: and on the next day, turn it again
before noon, and toward night make it in windrows, and then
in small haycocks, and so stand one night at the least, and
sweat: and on the next fair day cast it abroad again, and turn
it once or twice, and then make it in greater haycocks, and
to stand so one night or more, that it may ungive and sweat
... And for to know when it hath withered enough, make a little
rope of the same, that ye think should be the most greenest,
and twine it as hard together between your hands as ye can,
and so being hard twon, let one take a knife, and cut it fast
by your hand; and the knots will be moist, if it be not dry
enough. Short hay, and ley-hay, is good for sheep, and all manner
of cattle, if it be well got. A man may speak of making of hay,
and getting of corn, but God disposeth and ordereth all things.
How
rye should be shorn:
In
the later end of July, or in the beginning of August, is time
to shear rye, the which would be shorn clean, and fast bound.
And in some places they mow it, the which is not so good to
the husband's profit, but it is the sooner done. For when it
is mown, it will not be so fast bound, and he cannot gather
it so clean, but there will be much loss, and taketh more room
in the barn than shorn corn does. And also it will not keep
nor save itself from rain or ill weather, when it standeth in
the cover, as the shorn corn will do.
How
to shear wheat:
Wheat
should be shorn clean, and hard bounden in like manner; but
for a general rule, take good heed, that the shearers of all
manner of white corn cast not up their hands hastily, for then
all the loose corn, and the straws, that he holdeth not fast
in his hand, flieth over his head, and are lost: and also it
will pull off the ears, and especially off the corns that be
very ripe. In some places they will shear their corns high,
to the intent to mow their stubble ... [for thatch to roof
houses].
To
mow or shear barley or oats:
Barley
and oats are most commonly mown, and a man or a woman followeth
the mower with a hand rake half a yard long, with seven or eight
teeth, in the left hand, and a sickle in the right hand, and
with the rake he gathereth as much as will make a sheaf....
To
reap or mow peas and beans:
Peas
and beans be most commonly last reaped or mown, of divers manners,
some with sickles, some with hooks, and some with staff-hooks
...
How
all manner of corns should be tithed:
Now
that all these corns before specified be shorn, mowed, reaped,
bounden up, and laid upon the ridge of the land, let the husband
take heed of God's commandment, and let him go to the end of
his land, and begin and tell nine sheaves, and let him cast
out the tenth sheaf in the name of God, and so peruse from land
to land, until he have truly tithed all his corn. And beware
and take heed of the saying of our lord by his prophet Malachias
... Because you have not given to me your tithes, and your first
fruits, therefore ye be cursed, and punished with hunger and
penury ....
Please
go to page three of Fiztherbert's Rules.
