The complete farmer: or, a general dictionary of husbandry ... in which everything valuable from the best writers on this subject will be extracted ... / By a society of gentlemen, members of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce.

Date:
1766
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The complete farmer: or, a general dictionary of husbandry ... in which everything valuable from the best writers on this subject will be extracted ... / By a society of gentlemen, members of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    that and their exercife ; giving them but a moderate quantity of hay, corn, or water, at a time, and moift- ening the former to prevent their requiring too much of the latter, and never exercifing them but with modera¬ tion, as has been before obferved. The following ball may be given once a fortnight or three weeks ; and as it operates very gently, and re¬ quires no confinement, except the days it is given (when warm meat and water will be necefl'ary) it may be con¬ tinued for two or three months. Take fuccotrine aloes, fix drams; myrrh, galba- num, and ammoniacum, of each two drams ; bay berries, half an ounce ; oil of amber, a fpoon- ful : make the whole into a ball with a fufficient quantity of fyrup of buckthorn. Bartlef s Far~ j-tery, fag, 68. BROODING, the adtof a hen, or other bird, fitting on a number of eggs, to keep them warm, till they hatch, or produce young ones. BROOM, the name of a plant, of which two fpccies are natives of this country, called the common and the fmall broom. The common broom is the genijla irifolia of Mr. R.ay. It rifes about three feet in height, with fhrubby ftalks, garniflied with fpear-like leaves, and terminated by loofe fpikes of yellow flowers, fucceeded by fhort pods, which turn black when ripe, and contain four or five kidney- fhaped feeds. It flowers in June or July, and the feeds ripen in autumn. The flowers of this plant arc ufed by the dyers to give a yellow colour; whence it is called dyers broom, green-wood, wood-waxen, or dyers weed. T'he fmall Englifh broem, called alfo petty-whin, is the genijia fpartium minus Anglicum, of Tournefort. It rifes like the former, with a fhrubby ffalk, but only to the height of about two feet, fending out many flender branches, which are armed with long Angle fpikes, and garniflied with very fmall fpear-fhaped leaves, placed al¬ ternately on every fide of the branches. The flowers branch out without fpines, fhort, and have five or fix yellow flowers growing in a duffer at the end. They come out in April and May, and are fucceeded by fhort turgid pods, containing four or five fmall kidney-fliaped feeds, wdich ripen in July. This fort grows naturally upon open heaths, in many parts of England. The twigs of broom are excellent forthatching barns, ccc. being very tough, and of long duration. Ropes alfo, and thofe not bad ones, are made of the fviingy fibres of this plant, of which the ancients ufed alfo to make a kind of flax. According to Mr. Bradley’s calculation, an acre of of broom is worth upwards of fix pounds annually, for the feeding of bees only, befides the wythes and flumps, which will pay for the rent of the land. Certain it is, that no flowers are more pleafing, or more profitable to bees, than thofe of broom. But conlidcred as a weed, is one of the mofl pernici¬ ous plants that grows upon the land ; for its roots pene¬ trate deep, and, at the fame time it fheds no leaves, fo that it is continually fucking the moifture from the earth. T he bell method of dellroying it, is by burning the land, then ploughing it deep, and manuring it very well with dung and aflres ; or by fpreading on the land chalk or marie, or manuring it with urine. If the ground be defigned for paifure land, it is befl to cut the broom dole to the ground in May, when the lap is flrong in it. By this artifice the roots are deflroyed ; whereas in the common way of pulling up the young plants, fome firings of the roots will be left, and the lead of thefe v\'iil grow. Foddering of cattle upon broomy land is one very good way of deftroying the broom, their urine killing the roots, and their treading the land makes it lei's proper for the roots to extend themfelves ; for broom is feldom feen to grow near old paths. Bradlty's llujbandry,, vcl. J. fag. i8i. Mortima's Hufianchy.) voL I. fag. 308. Adills's Hujbandry, W. 111. fag. 36!. BROWN, a dufley kind of colour, inclining fome- what towards rednefs. A brov/n horfe is not reckoned altogether fo beautiful as the bay or chelnut. There are alfo degrees of this colour, lomie being light, .and others very dark. They have almoft always black manes and tails, and ofCert their joints are black, though not fo fhining as the bays* but rufly. Almofl all brown horfes grow gradually lighter towards their bellies and flanks, and many are light about their muzzles. The moil beautiful are thofe which happen to be finely dappled, for the plain brown are efteemed more ordinary. Many of them are coarfe, but flirong and ferviceable, fit for draught, for burden, or for war. Gibfon on Horfes., vol I. fag. 46. BROWN-Sl'OUT, a name given in fome parts to ftrong brown beer, brew'ed from brown high-dried malt. BROWSE, branches fit for the food of goats, &c. BRUISE, a hurt caufed by the force of fomething blunt and heavy. Horfes and other cattle are very fubjedf to bruifes from various accidents ; but as the blood is no ways aftedled in thefe cafes, one general method of cure is only necefl'ary ; and that is by coolers and repellers, fuch as white wine vinegar, old verjuice, or compofitions made with alum, vitriol, and the like, which fhould be applied frequently to the fwelling, till the heat and in¬ flammation is abated. BUCK-BEAN, ox Marjh-trefoil., trifolium falujlre, a plant with large oval leaves, pointed at each end like thofe of the garden bean, fet three together on long pe¬ dicles, which embrace the ftalk to fome height, and there parting, leave it naked near the top, where ilTues a fhort fpike of pretty large, reddifli, monopetalous flowers, each of which is cut into five fegments, hairy on the infide, and followed by an oval feed-velTc]. It is perennial, grows wild in marfhy places, and flowers in May. Sheep, when found and in health, always avoid eat¬ ing buck-bean ; but when the fymptoms of the rot be¬ gin to attack them, they fearch for it by inllintSf, and devour it greedily. Where fuch fheep are paftured, no buck-bean is to be found, for in a week or two they de¬ vour it all. Might it not be prudent, therefore, in huf- bandmen, who graze large flocks, to cultivate an acre of this plant in fome moraffy ground, which otherwife would not yield them two fhillings the acre Some might be cut up green, for unfound fheep, and given them with lucern, as occafion requires ; and fome might be made into hay, and mixed with their fodder. I can¬ not remember that this advice has been given by any hufbandry writer. EJJ’ays in Hujbandry, EJfay fag. 137. BUCK-WHEA'l', the name of a plant generally confidered as a fpecies of corn, though not fuch in fadl; nor does it grow like any of the efculent grains. Its leaf, from being roundifh at firfl, takes nearly the fhape of that of ivy, but longer pointed, and much fofter. Its ffalk is round, hollow, and weak, fometimes reddifh, but moff commonly green, and growing to the height of about two feet and a half. Lateral branches, which flroot out almoff at every joint, are terminated by purplifh flowers, which are fucceeded by fmall tiiangu- lar feeds, black on the outfide, and white within. Buck-wheat will thrive in any foil, not excepting even barren fands, as they are commonly termed ; but grows largeff in dry ground which have been well ploughed. When railed for its grain, a buflrel of feed is fufficient for an acre of land, which will frequently'' yield fifty or fixty bufliels : but when it is intended for green fodder, which is the ufe moff commonly made of it here, fome people low tluee or four bufhels on an acre, in order to have a thick crop. The ufual time of low¬ ing it is about the beginning of May ; but if it be lowed fomewhat earlier, and a warm feafon enfues, it will bear cutting twice in the fummer. It comes up foon, and ripens generally, according to M. du Hamel, in one hundred days after lowing, fo that buck-wheat fown in June is reaped in September. Whcji mowed, it muff be left in the field feveral days, that its ffalk may dry before it is houfed. 7’here is little danger of the feeds falling out, nor is it much injured by wet. Thefe feeds are excellent food for pigeons, poultry, hogs, rabbits, Kc. and are found to make horfes thrive when given among their oats : but for thefe they fhould be firff cracked in a mill; being apt, other- wife, to pals through them whole. T he flower of buck-