[Sidenote: To geld ox-calves.] It is tyme to gelde his oxen calues in the olde of the mone, whan they be .x. or .xx. dayes olde, for than it is leaste ieoperdye, and the oxe shall be the more hyer, and the lenger of body, and the le_n_ger horned: and that maye 4 be well prouyd, to take two oxe-calues, both of one kynde, of one makynge, and both of one age; gelde one of them, and let the other goo forthe and be a bull, and [Sidenote: A gelt calf grows bigger than a bull.] put theym bothe in one pasture, tyll they be foure or 8 fyue yere olde: and than shall ye se the oxe-calfe ferre [Sidenote: [Fol. 40.]] greatter euery waye than the bull; there is noo cause but the geldynge; and yf thou gelde them not tyll they be a yere olde, there is more ieopardye, he shall be lesse of 12 bodye, and shorte-horned.
[Sidenote: Horses and mares.] A husbande maye not be withoute horses and mares, or bothe; and specially, if he go with a horse-ploughe, he muste haue both his horses to drawe, and his mares to brynge coltes, to vpholde his flocke, and yet at manye 4 tymes they maye drawe well, if they be well handled. But they maye not beare sackes, nor be rydden vppon noo iourneys whan they be with foole, and specyally whanne they haue gone with foole .xx. or .xxiiii. wekes, 8 [Sidenote: Take care of the mares.] for than is the greateste ieopardy. For yf she be rydden vppon, and sette vp hotte, or tourned out and take cold, she wil caste her foole, the whiche woll be a greatte losse to the housbande. For she wyll labour and beare whan 12 she hath fooled, and drawe whan she is with foole, as well as the horse. It is conuenient for the husbande to knowe, whanne his mare wolde be horsed. It is the [Sidenote: [Fol. 40_b_.]] common sayenge, that she wyll take the hors within .ix. or 16 .x. dayes, nexte after that she hath fooled: but that saying I holde not with, for and she do so, she wyll not holde therto, for the hors dothe dryue her to it. But .xx. days after, is tymely ynoughe to brynge her to a hors. 20 For she wyl not holde to it, excepte she be kene of horsyng, and that shal ye knowe by her shap, for that wyll twyrle open, and close agayne, many tymes in an houre: and than brynge her to a hors, and let her be with hym a day or a 24 nyght, and that is suffycyent. For it is better, to kepe [Sidenote: Keep the horse from the mares.] the horse frome the mares, than to go with them, for dyuers causes, and specyally he shall be more lusty, and the moo horse-coltes shall he gete. But he that hath 28 very many mares, may not alway attende them, but let them go to-gether, and take as god sendes it. Some men holde an opinion, that if the horse be put to the [Sidenote: Men have various opinions about foals.] mare in the begynnynge of the moone, after it be prime, 32 he shall gete a horse-foole. And some men saye the contrary: that if he be putte to the mare in the olde of the mone, he shoulde gete horse-fooles. And I saye, it maketh noo matter, whether: for this cause I haue 36 [Sidenote: I have 60 horses myself.] proued. I haue my selfe .lx. mares and more, able to [Sidenote: [Fol. 41.]] beare the horse, and from Maye daye vnto saynte Barthylmewes daye, I have .v. or .vi. horses goynge with theym bothe daye and nyghte, and at the foolynge-tyme 40 I haue vpon one daye a horse-fole, and on the nexte daye, or seconde, a mare-fole, and on the thirde or fourth day next after, a horse-fole agayne, and soo euery weke of bothe sortes, and by theyr opynyon or reason, 44 I shulde haue .xiiii. dayes together horse-fooles, and [Sidenote: With men who speak sophistically,] other .xiiii. dayes together mare-foles. And me semethe, that those men that holde that opinyon, speke sophystycallye; that if soo be they layde any wagers thervppon, 48 that they shoulde bothe wynne in theyr owne conceyte by this reason. Whether it were gette in the newe of [Sidenote: a filly may be called a horse-foal; and a colt may be called a mare-foal.] the mone or in the olde of the mone, it is a horse-foole, bycause a horse gate it, though it be a felly-fole; and it 52 is a mare-fole, bycause a mare fooled it, thoughe it be a horse-colte. And so (_Diuersis respectibus_) theyr opynions maye be trewe. But of one thynge I am certayne, that some one horse wyll gette more horse-fooles than 56 other horse wyll doo, and lyke wyse a mare wyll beare moo mare-fooles than some other mare wyll do, thoughe they be horsed bothe with one horse. Me semeth there is no reason why, but the lustynes of the nature of bothe 60 [Sidenote: [Fol. 41_b_.]] partes, whether of them shall haue the domination.