Chap. V.
Of the breeding of Wood in rich champaine soyles.
Nature which is the most perfect worke-mistresse of all things (as all the Philosophers say) but I say our good God out of his most diuine wisedome, hath allotted to euery soyle, if we will note it, through the whole course of this Kingdome, particular profit to sustaine and maintaine it, as to some Mines, to some Timber, and to some fertility of grasse and corne, and where any one of these are, there commonly some of the other is euer wanting, as we sée daily in our experience; and for as much as in the fruitfull and fertill soyles of this land, of which wée estéeme the wealthie vales, as that ofEssam,White-horse,Beluoire, and many others the best, there is euer great scarsitie of Wood, the very wealthinesse of the soyle it selfe almost denying to beare such burden, because for the most part the stifnesse of those clayes is contrary to their growth, yet for as much as the necessitie and vse of Wood is so great and valuable, I would perswade euery good and worthy Husbandman, to endeauour himselfe with all his vtmost power and strength, to plant wood in euery conuenient place round about him, and not to take the rules of the ignorant for his lesson, that sith neuer any did grow there, therefore neuer any will grow there: for it is absurd and foolish: nor to say because my auncestors haue neuer done it why should I attempt it? These arguments are made from a false figure, and the Husbandman must remember that his dutie is industrie, and encrease not altogether imitation and president, and he must as seriously finde out new and néerer profits, as hold those he hath learned: and therefore he shall endeauour by all commendable labour to haue euer about him whatsoeuer is necessarie for his vse: but youwill peraduenture aunswere me, that to plant Woods in these rich soyles, were very much losse, because the fertilitie thereof will yéeld a much better profit. To this I reply, that I would not haue you plant any spacious piece of ground with wood, but onely your ditches, hedges, and such wast earthes, as almost denie any other profit, and that the want of wood in those places may not discourage you, to imagine that wood will not grow there. Doe but view the cytes of euery Towne in those rich Countries, the seates of Noblemen & Gentlemens houses, and the Parks which commonly are adioyning there-vnto, and you shall hardly sée any of them without the fellowship & acquaintance of some wood, which in times past hath béene planted either for defence or pleasure, and from thence collect that if wood will grow with my next neighbour, then why not with me, so long as the soyle doth not alter. ButLabor vincit omnia improbus, True industrie was neuer fruitlesse. Then for the generall good both of your selfe & your neighbours, looke that you replenish all your ditches & ring fences, with good store of Quick-set, that is to say, all that lye high, & out of the danger of water, with White-thorne, Black-thorne, and Bryer, and those which are low & subiect to washing, with Willowes, Sallowes, and Ozyers.
How to set all sorts of Quick-set.
Now for as much as it is not enough to say vnto the Husbandman do this, but that I must also shew the manner of doing thereof: I will shew you briefly how to set all manner of Quick-sets, and first for the white-thorne, black-thorne, bryer or such like, which must stand frée from inundation, you shal when you enclose any piece of ground, after you haue markt out the true breadth of your dyke vpon the in-side thereof, and close by the verdge of the dyke, cut with your spade a little trough, halfe a foote or there-abouts in breadth & depth, in which trough or small gutter, you shall lay the rootes of the first rowe of your Quick-sets, so as the top ends may looke vpward, & a little bend in towards the ditch, & these quick-sets you shall place within lesse then a foot one of another: then with your spadebeginning to make your ditch, you shall with the first cleane mould, couer all the rootes close and fast, so as they will not shake nor stirre with your hand, then hauing raised the banke of your Dyke, and couered the lowest rowe of Quick-set more then halfe a foote, and broken the earth so, as it may lye close and handsome together & you shall then after the same manner lay another rowe of Quick-set ouer the first, I meane not one Quick-set directly ouer another, but the second rowe placed as it were in the midst betwéene two of the first, though at least halfe a foote higher: then you shall couer that row like the former, and ouer it place a third, which shall stand directly opposite, and ouer the first, so that in their growth the middle rowe shall as it were grow betwéene two of the lowest, and two of the highest: and then vpon this vppermost rowe lay the remainder of your earth, and make your banke perfect, and in this sort finishing one yard of the Ditch after another, you shall at length bring your labour to the end of your desire. Now in this labour you are to obserue some speciall things, as first to looke well vpon your Sets before you put them into the ground, and be sure that they be gréene, young and vntainted, then that the rootes be cleane, and no small thréeds or iagges hanging about them. And lastly, that they stand vpright, and not aboue foure or fiue inches without the earth at the most, then shall you looke well to the making of your banke, and lay the earth so as it may not slip or fall backe into the Dyke, so as the raine may wash away the mould, and leaue the rootes bare: but let all things be done strongly and artificially. The best seasons for this worke is the moneths of February, March, and Aprill, or September, October, and some part of Nouember: if the weather be dry aboue head, when you haue set your Quick-set, you shall make a dead hedge vpon the top of the new banke, to kéepe those Cattell which are within your ground, from breaking forth or hurting the Quick-set: and another small fence on the lowe verdge of the Dyke which is outward, tokéepe those cattell which graze without from running into the dyke, and hurting the quick-set. Now after a spring and fall is past, you shall suruay all your quick-set and wéede it cleane from all manner of filthinesse that doth choake or stifle it, and scratching the fresh mould about it giue comfort to the roote: then if you perceiue that any of your Sets be dead, you shall plucke them vp, and place new in the roome, and if any be blasted in part, and not clean killed, you shall cut away so much as is blasted, and let the rest remaine, you shall looke well to the Caterpiller and other wormes, which mightily deuoure Quick-sets, especially in these fat Countries, and if you finde any taint of them, destroy them as is shewed you in a former Chapter.
Planting of greater Trees.
After your Quick-set is come to the age of thrée yéeres, and that the banke is setled and swarth growne thereon, you shall then within the body of your hedges plant all manner of great Trées, as Ash, Béech, Maple, and such like, and also all manner of fruit Trées, as Aples, Peares, Plums, Wardens, and such like, and in the first thrée yéeres be very carefull to preserue each in his true proper nature, and doe to them all the rights which is due to their growth, and in that time obserue which kinde of Trées in the generality prospereth best, and agréeth most naturally with the soyle. And of those Trées sée that you flourish your grounds most plentifully, the particular manner of planting whereof is already formerly declared. And hence dothKentandWorcestershire boast of their fruit,Windsor,SherwoodandHollamshire their Oakes, and other particular Countries their particular commodities.
Of the setting of Willowes, &c.
Now for the setting of Willow, Sallow and Oziers, it is a thing so vsuall and common, that it néedeth no great Art in the relation, yet because I would be loath that any omission should be taken for negligence, you shall vnderstand that in setting them you must first respect the place, which would euer be lowe and moyst, the water sometimes washing them, sometimes cooling them, and euergiuing them comfort. Now to speake first of the Willow it would be euer planted vpon bankes, where it may stand more dry then wet, for such prosper best, and endure longest, as for proofe some will continue, twelue, fiftéene nay one and twentie yéeres, where as those which are set close by the water, will hardly endure seueral, but not aboue nine yéeres at the most. Touching their planting, they be set two manner of wayes, but which is the best, is not yet agréed on amongst Husbandmen. The first is to take an Augure full as large in compasse (although much shorter) as that where-with you boare Pumps and with it boare a hole in the earth two-foote, and a halfe déepe, then hauing headed some of the choysest Willowes you haue, take the fairest and straightest of those lops, and then cutting the sloape-wise at both ends and leauing no superfluous twigs cleauing there-vnto, put the bigger end downe very hard into the earth, and then with the mould which came forth, with the Augure ram the earth close and hard about the Set, so as no reasonable strength may shake it. Now there be other Husbandmen which in stéed of the Augure take onely an Oaken or Ash stake, of the bignesse of an vsuall set, and with a Béetell driue it into the ground two foot and a halfe, and then by shaking and opening the earth, pull it out againe & then put in the Set as is before shewed, and beate and tread the earth close there-vnto, and there is no doubt of the well prospering thereof. Now for the defects which Husbandmen finde in these two seuerall plantings. Some say, that the Augure taketh out so much earth, that the Set cannot but stand loose at the roote, and so wanting full hold of the earth, either takes not at all, or continues but a little space. Others say that the driuing in of the stake beates the earth so hard together, that it withstandeth the passage of the tender sprouts, & so killeth the set, but both are deceiued: for these are but suppositions, and experience daily shewes vs, that these are the best and spéediest wayes of setting of all sorts of Willowes that euer anytime brought forth, and I haue knowne one man set this way two hundreth Sets in a day, of which not one hath failed, but all prospered. Now for your Sallowes, you shall set them, and chuse the Sets in all poynts as you doe the Willow, onely they would be placed a little néerer the water, for they delight some-what more in moysture, as for the Ozier it would be set like other Quick-set in the side of bankes, so as it may almost touch the water, and as your Willowes or Sallowes would be set a little remote one from another, as namely tenne foote asunder: so these must be set close together, and in thicke rowes one against another: and these Ozier Plants you must cut from their head, being the principall spiers which grow thereon, and then cut off their tops, leauing them not aboue two foote long at the most, and of all other they are the quickest in growing.
The vse of Willowes, Sallowes, and Oziers.
And although Willow, Sallow, and Ozyer, are in our lawes estéemed but as wéedes and no Woods, yet they be so profitable, that the Husbandman can hardly misse them, the Willow and Sallow seruing for fence and fewell, to make Harrowes, Cart-saddles, & horse Hames, and the Ozyers, for fish Leapes, or Wéeles for Baskets, Scuttels, Fans to winnow with, and many other things full as necessary: therefore if you haue any marish grounds that are vselesse, bogge-myers, or Ilands in great riuers, let them be imployed to the nourishing of these profitable wéedes, and by making draynes through them to giue the water passage, you shall in small time bring them to earthes of great profit, which consideration were it rightly wayed, there would not be halfe so much wast ground as is in this Kingdome.
Ordering of the Willow.
But to my purpose, when you haue planted these Willowes, you shall after euery floud, sée if the water haue driuen any of them away, or displease them, and immediately mend them, and set them vp straight againe. If any Cattell shall pyll or barke them, you shall pull vp such Settes, and place new in their roome.Your Willow set would by no meanes be too long at the first setting, for then will neuer beare a good head, and too short is likewise as vnprofitable, therefore it is held to be fiue foote aboue the earth, is a length sufficient: you may head your Willowes once in thrée yéeres, or fiue at the furthest, and when you sée the bodies waxe hollow, you may cut them downe for the fire, and fixe new Sets in their places.
Ordering of Ozier.
The Ozier to come to his true profit and season asketh much pruning and trimming, as namely you must kéepe the stocke lowe, and neuer aboue halfe a foote aboue the earth, you must picke them cleane from Mosse, and from the slime and filth, which the ouer-flow of the water will leaue vpon them: you shall prune the small spiers, and make them grow single one by another, and if any shoote out a double stalke, you shall cut it away, you may head them euery second yéere at the fall onely, and though some head them once a yéere, yet it is not so good husbandry, nor will the Ozier be so tough or long lasting. The best seasons for the setting of the Willow, Sallow, or Ozier is, either any part of the Spring or Fall, and the best time to loppe the Willow or Sallow, is in the Spring for fence, and in the Fall for timber or fewell; but the Ozier would be cut at the fall of the leafe onely. And thus much for the bréeding of Wood in the rich champaine Countries.