[Sidenote: Barley.] Every good housbande hath his barleye-falowe well dounged, and lyenge rygged all the depe and colde of wynter; the whiche ryggynge maketh the lande to be [Sidenote: [Fol. 11.]] drye, and the dongynge maketh it to be melowe and 4 ranke. And if a drye season come before Candelmasse, or sone after, it wolde be caste downe and waterforowed bytwene the landes, that the wete rest not in the raine: and in the begynnynge of Marche, rydge it vppe agayne, 8 [Sidenote: Sow five bushels to the acre.] and to sowe in euery acre fyue London bushelles, or foure at the leaste. And some yeres it maye so fortune, that there cometh no seasonable wether before Marche, to plowe his barley-erthe. And as soone as he hath 12 sowen his pees and beanes, than let hym caste his barley-erthe, and shortly after rygge it agayne: soo that it be sowen before Apryll. And if the yere-tyme be paste, than sowe it vpon the castynge. 16
¶ It is to be knowen that there be thre maner of barleys, that is to say, sprot-barleye, longe-eare, and beare-barley, [Sidenote: Sprot-barley.] that some menne call bigge. Sprot-barley hath a flat eare most comonly, thre quarters of an inche brode, 20 and thre inches long, and the cornes be very great [Sidenote: Long-ear.] and white, and it is the best barley. Long-eare hath a flatte eare, halfe an inche brode, and foure inches and more of length: but the corne is not so greate 24 nor soo whyte, and sooner it wyll turne and growe [Sidenote: Bear-barley.] to otes. Bere-barleye or bygge wolde be sowen vppon [Sidenote: [Fol. 11_b_.]] lyghte and drye grounde, and hathe an eare thre ynches of lengthe or more, sette foure-square, lyke pecke-whete, 28 small cornes, and lyttel floure, and that is the worste barley, and foure London bushels are suffycient for an acre. And in some countreyes, they do not sowe theyr barley tyll Maye, and that is mooste commonly vpon 32 grauel or sandy grounde. But that barley generally is [Sidenote: Sow in March.] neuer soo good as that that is sowen in Marche. For if it be verye drie wether after it be sowen, that corne that lyeth aboue, lyeth drie, and hath noo moysture, and that 36 that lyeth vndernethe, commeth vp: and whan rayne cometh, than sprutteth that that lyeth aboue, and often-tymes it is grene whan the other is rype: and whan it is thresshen, there is moche lyghte corne, &c. 40