Isatis herba

A fertile field, if not renewed by
the constant plow, will have nothing
but grass along with thorns.
However, then, with the turf hav-
ing been turned over very often, it
is certain that the roots of other
herbs, which the Woad herb cannot
endure, are killed in the summer time
by the heat of the sun, and in the
winter by the frost. There are three
genera of it, divided by seasons and
sowing.

1. Genus

Winter
woad. The first genus is sown in the win-
ter time around the birth of the
Lord, or after, with the field pre-
viously worked and prepared for
this purpose with diligent cultiva-
tion in the autumn, so that before
that time when the field is covered
with the seed of Woad, or before the
seed begins to break forth from the
earth, it seems clearly deserted and
uncultivated among the other grain-
bearing fields. And so, when it hap-
pens that the field and everything
around it is covered with snow, the
plowmen nevertheless sow the seed
upon the snow, yet in such a way that