The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-07-28
EARLY ENGLISH HUSBIXBaY
BY cUFHBERT W. JOHNSON


bandry," by Sir Anthony Fitzherbert
published in 1884: and this is certain
Iy the earliest extant work on hUs
LANDRY that prOfesses to be written b.
an Englishman.
1teommences by saying, "Here be
/ gyneth the BOke Of Husbandry, anC
| fyrste whereby husbandmen do 1--WE.
An early section is OF ''dyvers man
ner of plowes."
1t is evident from this, that even il
those days there were different kind.
Of plOws used in various parts of Eng
land for, as our author remarks:
zone plOwe will not serve in al
| places; wherefore it is necessary L
have DIVERS sOrtes. In Somersetshire
DOrsetshire and GlOucestershire, TIA,
share beam, that in many places i
called the plOwe head, Is four or Iiv'
! feet iOnge, made very broad anC
| thinne; and that is because the lanC
/ is very toughe, and would suck the
/ plowe into the earth, if the share
beams were not very lOnge, broad anC
| thinne. In Kent they alter muche in
fashyOn; for theye goe upon wheels
as theye do in some parts Hartford.
shire, Sussexe and COTnwalle.' "But, u
adds FitzheFbert, very wisely, "neytlI-
er wyH stand too stTyctly on theyl
fashion, sythe there is no cOuntye but
custome or experience has instructed
them to make chOyee of what is
Gvayfable; and that lie will 1--WE in
any cDuntrye may by free charter
learneOf hys neighbours, and hOwsO-
ever ANY plowe may be made or fash.
yonet so it be well tempered, il may
the better be suffered"
Sir Anthony, like Bishop Great
head, was a decided advocate for the
use on heavy soils, of oxen in hus-
baBdry. He had evidently thought
mech on the subject. 1t is curious to
see how closely the arguments on the
subject by a farmer $40 years since,
resembled those of modern agricul-
turalists. At the conclusion of a Sec
ton devoted TO the subject, he re-
marks:
''If any sOrauee betyde a horse, as
old age, bruysying, blyndness or lame
ness, then is he worth nothing except
for q KENNEL Of noyse-begettyng
hounds We might suspect from this
that the judge was no friend to the
delights of the chase but if mySchiei
hefall an OK, for ten shyllings at any
tiIhehe may be fed, and then he is
mans. meal, aSld in that degree better
than he ever was. These reasons and
circumstances considered, / am of the
poets opynyOn, that the plOweof oxen
IS much more prOfyta lie than the
plOwes of horses, to which the Holy
Scryptures condensed; for whereso-
ever it Speaketh of the husbandrye, it
only sayeth the OK to his yoke for Ia
b0uT.'t
After telling the farmers Of his time
low they should plOw different kinds
of land ''all times of the year" he
then proceeds i'm a natural order of ar
ranging his work, to seed sowing.
He commences with seed, which
should be mingled, in fact, with all
other kinds, and which he thus de-
scribes:
tThere. is a seed called dyscretyOn,
if a husbandman have of that seed,
and nlyngle it amOnge hys other cOrne
theye wylI grow doubtless much the
betterf And he added: 'This seed
of dYscretyon has a wOndrOus VIRTUE,
for the more it it eyther taken of or
lent, the more it is"
''1'o SOwe Barley is the title of n
sectiOnsat page 10th. It seems that in
those days they were "three manner
of barleys, that is TO say, spot barley,
longe care, and barleye that some
MEME call bigge."
'ssTo SOWe Otes, is the next title of
a section. Our author says of this
prOD tTt il tn ba known that there
be Ill manner OF otes, that Is TO say,
redde otesi black otes and roughe otes.
Redde Otes are the best otes, and verge
good TO make 9temele OF" Back
oats, he deemed inferior TO the red,
ana he adds the roughe otes oe the
worst they be Nerye llghte ana TALES,
wherepy they Niyll hange eehe one to
the ~ 80, f...ts-
reg onto say, tliese man
ner OF oJes Weare the ground Yerye
sote, ana maKeth II 70 Dear quyehe;P
lie leaves the quantity OF seed oats
TO the farmer; his Wysedomo ana
dyseretyon must dlscerne u"
he proceeds to treat OF ''hoW TO har-
owe all manner of corne." The plow-
ing OF those days was evidently poor
" done, ana the harrows heaVy ana
rudeiy constructed. tltzherDerC. re-
marks, 1T Is great IaoOcr ana paine
70 the oxen 70 gOe 10 harroWei Tor Jhey
were better to goe to the plowe Two
Gays than 10 harroWe one day; IL Is
because II gOeth by tWytches ana not
aIteI one dIausnte' ,,.
1t seems irom what he says IN TINS
chapter MOVIE torkes anorakes should
De MADE, lp I9, that the husDalld-
man OF that time made their own.
When ne speaks OF haymaklng, Up
~, he truly enough remarks, good
tendynge Is the chief pOlnte To make
hey.P
Of artificial manures, they We're eV-
identity in those times not altogether
unaeqilainted, for fltZherbert IN his
chapter OF "How TO Make Barrayne
Grounde Brynge Forth Good Corne,"
recommends the mingling OF salt-pe-
Ire, dregs oil OIL, ana pigeons duhS
Win the seed.
slilen ne mas a chapter on how 10
carfye out Manure or Dqnge, ana now
10 Spreitle the same. ne a9VIseS hlS
Orother farmers thatlts tshouid Oe lay-
ed up IN small heaps neere JOgelheri
-" -
where the great heap stood 100 lohg'
least ii look q shower OF ram lJle
goodness OF the manure should ''runne
INTO the ground Were the heap stands
anu the rest When IL Is spreade Wyil
little protyt' lie also recommends
the use OF marie.
Another OF the DOCKS INTO Whlch
the work was DIVIDED, Is devOteu 70
the "breedyng and usa9es ot catteli
by whatsoever els appearances 70
theme, and flrst OF sheepe: III Ihis,
when speaking OF WhaI lhings fotte
the sheepe, he gives list OF things,
such as 1.-THE grasse called spear
woorte, and another called penny
grasse," and also AL manner oi
srasse that the land foode runneih
over, ALI .marrishe grOuhde, s;ilt
marshes only excepted Ana then
lac adds, munger rotte Is the WOrste
rotte that can be-"
~ Is ever noticeable tnaJ IN some
barharous countries, ana even III some
toward civilization, To
the women is assigned labours for
which men are better adapted. IL is
more especially so IN the warmer
climates OF our globe, nut even IN
mother England, IN tltzherherUs
book, we ilnd the following grave as
siSnment OF hard duties 10 farmer
wife IN the Time oil Henry VII:
ut IS the Wyfe's occupation 10 Wyn6I
now all manner ot corle, 10 make