Poetry: Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry

Overview

Thomas Tusser's "Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry" is a richly pragmatic and homely handbook of Tudor farming and household management rendered as verse. Composed of short rhyming couplets, it compresses hundreds of counsels, proverbs and maxims into a single, memorable compendium aimed at ordinary farmers, gardeners and householders. The work blends immediate practical instruction with moral and economic advice, so that thrift and skill are presented as virtues as well as necessities.
Tusser's voice is plain, often humorous and frequently admonitory, addressing both the rural labourer and the rural (or aspiring) gentleman who seeks to profit by honest husbandry. Each couplet functions like an aphorism: easy to remember, quick to recite and intended to be put into practice across a farming year.

Structure and Style

The material is systematically arranged by the agricultural calendar, taking the reader through month-by-month tasks and seasonal responsibilities. Rather than long expository chapters, Tusser offers short, compact lines that encapsulate a single task, rule or piece of wisdom, making the book as much a mnemonic aid as a manual. That ordered, cyclical layout mirrors the rhythm of rural life and reinforces the idea that good husbandry is an ongoing, habitual practice.
Formally, the couplets are plain and often colloquial, relying on rhyme and rhythm to lodge advice in the reader's memory. The economy of language gives the work its charm: mundane procedures, ploughing, sowing, pruning, milking, and storing, are conveyed with clarity and occasional wit, so the reader absorbs both technique and temper.

Practical Content and Counsel

Advice ranges from large-scale agricultural strategies to detailed domestic routines. Tusser treats crop husbandry, sowing, soil management, rotation and the timing of planting, alongside animal care, describing feeding, breeding and shelter for cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. Household economy receives equal attention: brewing and baking, cheese- and butter-making, preserving food, mending tools, and managing servants and labourers appear frequently, reflecting the interdependence of fieldwork and household provisioning.
Many couplets emphasize economy, urging prudence in expenditure, careful use of stores, and sensible labor allocation. The book repeatedly stresses the value of preparation, repairing fences, curing meats, and saving seed, so that calamity and waste are minimized. Practical tips are often paired with pithy moral injunctions that frame sound farming as both sensible business and ethical behavior.

Seasonal Organization

The month-by-month arrangement turns abstract technique into a living schedule. Each season brings its own cast of chores: spring for sowing and pruning, summer for tending and harvesting, autumn for gleaning and preparing stores, winter for mending and planning. Tusser's sequence helps readers pace their work and anticipate needs, making the book a year-round companion for those managing land and household alike.
This temporal framing reinforces environmental awareness: weather, pests and timing recur as decisive factors, and many couplets advise responsiveness to changing conditions rather than blind adherence to routine.

Language and Tone

Tusser's diction is plainspoken, peppered with aphoristic wit and persistent moral flavor. He blends proverbs with direct instruction, producing a tone that is at once didactic and convivial. When he scolds or teases, the rebuke feels like the counsel of a seasoned neighbour rather than a remote academic: grounded, earthy and focused on results.
The verse form makes advice memorable and transmissible, a quality valuable in an age when literacy and printed manuals were less pervasive.

Historical Significance

The book became widely read and reprinted, helping to codify English agrarian practice in the later sixteenth century. It sits at the intersection of practical manual and popular literature, influencing both rural conduct and the broader cultural image of the English countryside. As a record of contemporary techniques and attitudes, Tusser's couplets are invaluable for understanding the everyday economy, seasonal rhythms and moral expectations of Tudor England.