time to time. At the time it was also a verycommon thing to throw "gobbettes of meate" and other leftovers from the table to thevarious animals who also shared the house. The floor very quickly became a veritablecompost heap, and as a result the earth floor soon became rich in saltpetre. So the floorsof the houses along with the floors of barns, stables and similar buildings were the onlysource of the valuable saltpetre, and therefore various acts were passed in order to make itso there was saltpetre available as required by the State "Saltpeetermen".In England Elizabeth I granted a monopoly for digging and working saltpetre toGeorge and John Evelyn and Richard Hills, and so diligent were these gentlemen in thesearch for saltpetre and getting rich it was said in a heated debate in Parliament about the"Saltpeetermen" that: They digge in dove cotes when the doves be nesting, cast up malting floors when the malt begreen, in bedchambers, in sickrooms, not even sparing women in childbed, yea, even in God'shouse, the Church.When the saltpetre rich soil was gathered it was stacked with layers of soil,wood-ash and manure. And also had with it bundles of brushwood here and there to admitthe air. Eventually the whole compost heap would become extremely rich with thevaluable saltpetre.The saltpetre then had to be seperated and this became a special process of itsown. Special tubs were used holding ten barrow-loads of the compost. These were packedwith straw a foot deep. And on top of that a wood grating was placed. The tubs werethen filled almost to the top with compost and then water was slowly added until the tubwas full. When the tubs were full, they were drained by using taps at the bottom of them.This liquid was next refined by being poured through more tubs containing straw andwood-ash after which it would be boiled. It was boiled in large iron pots, and as it washeated, scum consisting of common salt, rose to the top and was skimmed off. ...
