A SHORT HISTORY OF ENGLISH AGRICULTURE

BY

W. H. R. CURTLER

 OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1909

 HENRY FROWDE, M. A. PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK TORONTO AND MELBOURNE

PREFACE

'A husbandman', said Markham, 'is the master of the earth, turningbarrenness into fruitfulness, whereby all commonwealths aremaintained and upheld. His labour giveth liberty to all vocations, arts, and trades to follow their several functions with peace andindustrie. What can we say in this world is profitable wherehusbandry is wanting, it being the great nerve and sinew whichholdeth together all the joints of a monarchy?' And he is confirmedby Young: 'Agriculture is, beyond all doubt, the foundation of everyother art, business, and profession, and it has therefore been theideal policy of every wise and prudent people to encourage it to theutmost. ' Yet of this important industry, still the greatest inEngland, there is no history covering the whole period. 

It is to remedy this defect that this book is offered, with muchdiffidence, and with many thanks to Mr. C. R. L. Fletcher of MagdalenCollege, Oxford, for his valuable assistance in revising the proofsheets, and to the Rev. A. H. Johnson of All Souls for some veryuseful information. 

As the agriculture of the Middle Ages has often been ably described, I have devoted the greater part of this work to the agriculturalhistory of the subsequent period, especially the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 

W. H. R. CURTLER. 

_May 22, 1909. _

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

Communistic Farming. --Growth of the Manor. --Early Prices. --TheOrganization and Agriculture of the Manor

CHAPTER II

The Thirteenth Century. --The Manor at its Zenith, with Seeds of Decayalready visible. --Walter of Henley

CHAPTER III

The Fourteenth Century. --Decline of Agriculture. --The Black Death. --Statute of Labourers

CHAPTER IV

How the Classes connected with the Land lived in the Middle Ages

CHAPTER V

The Break-up of the Manor. --Spread of Leases. --The Peasants'Revolt. --Further Attempts to regulate Wages. --A HarvestHome. --Beginning of the Corn Laws. --Some Surrey Manors

CHAPTER VI

1400-1540. The so-called 'Golden Age of the Labourer' in a Period ofGeneral Distress

CHAPTER VII

Enclosure

CHAPTER VIII

Fitzherbert. --The Regulation of Hours and Wages

CHAPTER IX

1540-1600. Progress at last--Hop-growing. --Progress of Enclosure. --Harrison's _Description_

CHAPTER X

1540-1600. Live Stock. --Flax. --Saffron. --The Potato. --The Assessmentof Wages

CHAPTER XI

1600-1700. Clover and Turnips. --Great Rise in Prices. --MoreEnclosure. --A Farming Calendar

CHAPTER XII

The Great Agricultural Writers of the Seventeenth Century. --Fruit-growing. --A Seventeenth-century Orchard

CHAPTER XIII

The Evils of Common Fields. --Hops. --Implements. --Manures. --GregoryKing. --Corn Laws

CHAPTER XIV

1700-65. General Characteristics of the Eighteenth Century. --Crops. --Cattle. --Dairying. --Poultry. --Tull and the New Husbandry. --BadTimes. --Fruit-growing

CHAPTER XV

1700-65. Townshend. --Sheep-rot. --Cattle Plague. --Fruit-growing

CHAPTER XVI

1765-93. Arthur Young. --Crops and their Cost. --The Labourers'Wages and Diet. --The Prosperity of Farmers. --The CountrySquire. --Elkington. --Bakewell. --The Roads. --Coke of Holkham

CHAPTER XVII

1793-1815. The Great French War. --The Board of Agriculture. --HighPrices, and Heavy Taxation

CHAPTER XVIII

Enclosure. --The Small Owner

CHAPTER XIX

1816-37. Depression

CHAPTER XX

1837-75. Revival of Agriculture. --The Royal AgriculturalSociety. --Corn Law Repeal. --A Temporary Set-back. --The Halcyon Days

CHAPTER XXI

1875-1908. Agricultural Distress again. --Foreign Competition. --Agricultural Holdings Act. --New Implements. --AgriculturalCommissions. --The Situation in 1908

CHAPTER XXII

Imports and Exports. --Live Stock

CHAPTER XXIII

Modern Farm Live Stock

APPENDICES

I. Average Prices from 1259 to 1700

II. Exports and Imports of Wheat and Flour from and into England, unimportant years omitted

III. Average Prices per Imperial Quarter of British Corn in Englandand Wales, in each year from 1771 to 1907 inclusive

IV. Miscellaneous Information

LANDMARKS IN ENGLISH AGRICULTURE

1086. Domesday inquest, most cultivated land in tillage. Annual valueof land about 2d. An acre. 

1216-72. Henry III. Assize of Bread and Ale. 

1272-1307. Edward I. General progress. Walter of Henley. 

1307. Edward II. Decline. 

1315. Great famine. 

1337. Export of wool prohibited. 

1348-9. Black Death. Heavy blow to manorial system. Many demesnelands let, and much land laid down to grass. 

1351. Statute of Labourers. 

1360. Export of corn forbidden. 

1381. Villeins' revolt. 

1393. Richard II allows export of corn under certain conditions. 

1463. Import of wheat under 6s. 8d. Prohibited. 

End of fifteenth century. Increase of enclosure. 

1523. Fitzherbert's _Surveying and Husbandry_. 

1540. General rise in prices and rents begins. 

1549. Kett's rebellion. The last attempt of the English peasant toobtain redress by force. 

1586. Potatoes introduced. 

1601. Poor Law Act of Elizabeth. 

1645. Turnips and clover introduced as field crops. 

1662. Statute of Parochial Settlement. 

1664. Importation of cattle, sheep, and swine forbidden. 

1688. Bounty of 5s. Per quarter on export of wheat, and high duty onimport. 

1733. Tull publishes his _Horse-hoeing Husbandry_. 

1739. Great sheep-rot. 

1750. Exports of corn reached their maximum. 

1760. Bakewell began experimenting. 

1760 (about). Industrial and agrarian revolution, and great increaseof enclosure. 

1764. Elkington's new drainage system. 

1773. Wheat allowed to be imported at a nominal duty of 6d. A quarterwhen over 48s. 

1777. Bath and West of England Society established, the first inEngland. 

1789. England definitely becomes a corn-importing country. 

1793. Board of Agriculture established. 

1795. Speenhamland Act. 

About same date swedes first grown. 

1815. Duty on wheat reached its maximum. 

1815-35. Agricultural distress. 

1825. Export of wool allowed. 

1835. Smith of Deanston, the father of modern drainage. 

1838. Foundation of Royal Agricultural Society. 

1846. Repeal of the Corn Laws. 

1855-75. Great agricultural prosperity. 

1875. English agriculture feels the full effect of unrestrictedcompetition with disastrous results. 

 " First Agricultural Holdings Act. 

1879-80. Excessive rainfall, sheep-rot, and general distress. 

CHAPTER I

COMMUNISTIC FARMING. --GROWTH OF THE MANOR. --EARLY PRICES. --THEORGANIZATION AND AGRICULTURE OF THE MANOR

When the early bands of English invaders came over to take Britainfrom its Celtic owners, it is almost certain that the soil was held bygroups and not by individuals, and as this was the practice of theconquerors also they readily fell in with the system they found. [1]These English, unlike their descendants of to day, were a race ofcountrymen and farmers and detested the towns, preferring the lands ofthe Britons to the towns of the Romans. Co-operation in agriculturewas necessary because to each household were allotted separate stripsof land, nearly equal in size, in each field set apart for tillage, and a share in the meadow and waste land. The strips of arable wereunfenced and ploughed by common teams, to which each family wouldcontribute. 

Apparently, as the land was cleared and broken up it was dealt outacre by acre to each cultivator; and supposing each group consisted often families, the typical holding of 120 acres was assigned to eachfamily in acre strips, and these strips were not all contiguous butmixed up with those of other families. The reason for this mixture ofstrips is obvious to any one who knows how land even in the same fieldvaries in quality; it was to give each family its share of both goodand bad land, for the householders were all equal and the principle onwhich the original distribution of the land depended was that ofequalizing the shares of the different members of the community. [2]

In attributing ownership of lands to communities we must be carefulnot to confound communities with corporations. Maitland thinks theearly land-owning communities blended the character of corporationsand of co-owners, and co-ownership is ownership by individuals. [3] Thevills or villages founded on their arrival in Britain by our Englishforefathers resembled those they left at home, and even there thestrips into which the arable fields were divided were owned inseveralty by the householders of the village. There was co-operationin working the fields but no communistic division of the crops, andthe individual's hold upon his strips developed rapidly into aninheritable and partible ownership. 'At the opening of Anglo-Saxonhistory absolute ownership of land in severalty was established andbecoming the rule. '[4]

In the management of the meadow land communal features were much moreclearly brought out; the arable was not reallotted, [5] but the meadowwas, annually; while the woods and pastures, the right of using whichbelonged to the householders of the village, were owned by the village'community'. There may have been at the time of the English conquestRoman 'villas' with slaves and _coloni_ cultivating the owners'demesnes, which passed bodily to the new masters; but the formertheory seems true of the greater part of the country. 

At first 'extensive' cultivation was practised; that is, every year afresh arable field was broken up and the one cultivated last yearabandoned, for a time at all events; but gradually 'intensive' culturesuperseded this, probably not till after the English had conquered theland, and the same field was cultivated year after year. [6] After thevarious families or households had finished cutting the grass in theirallotted portions of meadow, and the corn on their strips of tillage, both grass and stubble became common land and were thrown open for thewhole community to turn their stock upon. 

The size of the strips of land in the arable fields varied, but wasgenerally an acre, in most places a furlong (furrow long) or 220 yardsin length, and 22 yards broad; or in other words, 40 rods of 5-1/2yards in length and 4 in breadth. There was, however, littleuniformity in measurement before the Norman Conquest, the rod by whichthe furlongs and acres were measured varying in length from 12 to 24feet, so that one acre might be four times as large as another. [7] Theacre was, roughly speaking, the amount that a team could plough in aday, and seems to have been from early times the unit of measuring thearea of land. [8] Of necessity the real acre and the ideal acre werealso different, for the reason that the former had to contend with theinequalities of the earth's surface and varied much when no scientificmeasurement was possible. As late as 1820 the acre was of manydifferent sizes in England. In Bedfordshire it was 2 roods, in Dorset134 perches instead of 160, in Lincolnshire 5 roods, in Staffordshire2-1/4 acres. To-day the Cheshire acre is 10, 240 square yards. As, however, an acre was and is a day's ploughing for a team, we mayassume that the most usual acre was the same area then as now. Therewere also half-acre strips, but whatever the size the strips weredivided one from another by narrow grass paths generally called'balks', and at the end of a group of these strips was the 'headland'where the plough turned, the name being common to-day. Many of thesecommon fields remained until well on in the nineteenth century; in1815 half the county of Huntingdon was in this condition, and a fewstill exist. [9] Cultivating the same field year after year naturallyexhausted the soil, so that the two-field system came in, under whichone was cultivated and the other left fallow; and this was followed bythe three-field system, by which two were cropped in any one year andone lay fallow, the last-named becoming general as it yielded betterresults, though the former continued, especially in the North. Underthe three-field plan the husbandman early in the autumn would ploughthe field that had been lying fallow during summer, and sow wheat orrye; in the spring he broke up the stubble of the field on which thelast wheat crop had been grown and sowed barley or oats; in June heploughed up the stubble of the last spring crop and fallowed thefield. [10] As soon as the crops began to grow in the arable fields andthe grass in the meadows to spring, they were carefully fenced toprevent trespass of man and beast; and, as soon as the crops came off, the fields became common for all the village to turn their stock upon, the arable fields being usually common from Lammas (August 1) toCandlemas (February 2) and the meadows from July 6, old Midsummer Day, to Candlemas[11]; but as in this climate the season both of hay andcorn harvest varies considerably, these dates cannot have been fixed. 

The stock, therefore, besides the common pasture, had after harvestthe grazing of the common arable fields and of the meadows. The commonpasture was early 'stinted' or limited, the usual custom being thatthe villager could turn out as many stock as he could keep on hisholding. The trouble of pulling up and taking down these fences everyyear must have been enormous, and we find legislation on thisimportant matter at an early date. About 700 the laws of Ine, King ofWessex, provided that if 'churls have a common meadow or otherpartible land to fence, and some have fenced their part and some havenot, and cattle stray in and eat up their common corn or grass; letthose go who own the gap and compensate to the others who have fencedtheir part the damage which then may be done, and let them demand suchjustice on the cattle as may be right. But if there be a beast whichbreaks hedges and goes in everywhere, and he who owns it will not orcannot restrain it, let him who finds it in his field take it and slayit, and let the owner take its skin and flesh and forfeit the rest. '

England was not given over to one particular type of settlement, although villages were more common than hamlets in the greater part ofthe country. [12] The vill or village answers to the modern civilparish, and the term may be applied to both the true or 'nucleated'village of clustered houses and the village of scattered hamlets, eachof a few houses, existing chiefly on the Celtic fringe. The populationof some of the villages at the time of the Norman Conquest wasnumerous, 100 households or 500 people; but the average townshipscontained from 10 to 20 households. [13] There was also the singlefarm, such as that at Eardisley in Herefordshire, described inDomesday, lying in the middle of a forest, perhaps, as in othersimilar cases, a pioneer settlement of some one more adventurous thanhis fellows. [14]

 * * * * *

Such was the early village community in England, a community of freelandholders. But a change began early to come over it. [15] The kingwould grant to a church all the rights he had in the village, reserving only the _trinoda necessitas_, these rights including thefeorm or farm, or provender rent which the king derived from theland--of cattle, sheep, swine, ale, honey, &c. --which he collected byvisiting his villages, thus literally eating his rents. The churchmendid not continue these visits, they remained in their monasteries, andhad the feorm brought them regularly; they had an overseer in thevillage to see to this, and so they tightened their hold on thevillage. Then the smaller people, the peasants, make gifts to theChurch. They give their land, but they also want to keep it, for it istheir livelihood; so they surrender the land and take it back as alifelong loan. Probably on the death of the donor his heirs aresuffered to hold the land. Then labour services are substituted forthe old provender rents, and thus the Church acquires a demesne, andthus the foundations of the manorial system, still to be traced allover the country, were laid. Thegns, the predecessors of the Normanbarons, become the recipients of grants from the churches and fromkings, and householders 'commend' themselves and their land to themalso, so that they acquired demesnes. This 'commendation' wasfurthered by the fact that during the long-drawn out conquest ofBritain the old kindred groups of the English lost their corporatesense, and the central power being too weak to protect the ordinaryhouseholder, who could not stand alone, he had to seek the protectionof an ecclesiastical corporation or of some thegn, first for himselfand then for his land. The jurisdictional rights of the king alsopassed to the lord, whether church or thegn; then came the danegeld, the tax for buying off the Danes that subsequently became a fixed landtax, which was collected from the lord, as the peasants were too poorfor the State to deal with them; the lord paid the geld for theirland, consequently their land was his. In this way the free ceorl ofAnglo-Saxon times gradually becomes the 'villanus' of Domesday. Landlordship was well established in the two centuries before theConquest, and the land of England more or less 'carved intoterritorial lordships'. [16] Therefore when the Normans brought theirwonderful genius for organization to this country they found thematerial conditions of manorial life in full growth; it was their taskto develop its legal and economic side. [17]

As the manorial system thus superimposed upon the village communitywas the basis of English rural economy for centuries, there need be noapology for describing it at some length. 

The term 'manor', which came in with the Conquest, [18] has a technicalmeaning in Domesday, referring to the system of taxation, and did notalways coincide with the vill or village, though it commonly did so, except in the eastern portion of England. The village was the agrarianunit, the manor the fiscal unit; so that where the manor comprisedmore than one village, as was frequently the case, there would be morethan one village organization for working the common fields. [19]

The manor then was the 'constitutive cell' of English mediaevalsociety. [20] The structure is always the same; under the headship ofthe lord we find two layers of population, the villeins and thefreeholders; and the territory is divided into demesne land andtributary land of two classes, viz. That of the villeins and that ofthe freeholders. The cultivation of the demesne (which usually meansthe land directly occupied and cultivated by the lord, though legallyit has a wider meaning and includes the villein tenements), depends toa certain extent on the work supplied by the tenants of the tributaryland. Rents are collected, labour superintended, administrativebusiness transacted by a set of manorial officers. 

We may divide the tillers of the soil at the time of Domesday intofive great classes[21] in order of dignity and freedom:

 1. Liberi homines, or freemen. 2. Socmen. 3. Villeins. 4. Bordarii, cotarii, buri or coliberti. 5. Slaves. 

The two first of these classes were to be found in large numbers inNorfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, andNorthamptonshire. It is not easy to draw the line between them, butthe chief distinction lay in the latter being more burdened withservice and customary dues and more especially subject to thejurisdictional authority of the lord. [22] They were both free, butboth rendered services to the lord for their land. Both the freemenand the slaves by 1086 were rapidly decreasing in number. 

The most numerous class[23] on the manors was the third, that of thevilleins or non-free tenants, who held their land by payment ofservices to the lord. The position of the villein under the feudalsystem is most complicated. He both was and was not a freeman. He wasabsolutely at the disposal of the lord, who could sell him with histenement, and he could not leave his land without his lord'spermission. He laboured under many disabilities, such as the merchetor fine for marrying his daughter, and fines for selling horse or ox. On the other hand, he was free against every one but his lord, andeven against the lord was protected from the forfeiture of his'wainage' or instruments of labour and from injury to life andlimb. [24]

His usual holding was a virgate of 30 acres of arable, though thevirgate differed in size even in the same manors; but in addition tothis he would have his meadow land and his share in the common pastureand wood, altogether about 100 acres of land. For this he rendered thefollowing services to the lord of the manor:

1. Week work, or labour on the lord's demesne for two or three days aweek during most of the year, and four or five days in summer. It wasnot always the villein himself, however, who rendered these services, he might send his son or even a hired labourer; and it was the holdingand not the holder that was considered primarily responsible for therendering of services. [25]

2. Precarii or boon days: that is, work generally during harvest, atthe lord's request, sometimes instead of week work, sometimes inaddition. 

3. Gafol or tribute: fixed payments in money or kind, and suchservices as 'fold soke', which forced the tenants' sheep to lie on thelord's land for the sake of the manure; and suit of mill, by which thetenant was bound to grind his corn in the lord's mill. 

With regard to the 'boon days' in harvest, it should be rememberedthat harvest time in the Middle Ages was a most important event. Agriculture was the great industry, and when the corn was ripe thewhole village turned out to gather it, the only exceptions being thehousewives and sometimes the marriageable daughters. Even the largertowns suspended work that the townsmen might assist in the harvest, and our long vacation was probably intended originally to cover thewhole work of gathering in the corn and hay. On the occasion of the'boon-day' work, the lord usually found food for the labourers which, the Inquisition of Ardley[26] tells us, might be of the followingdescription: for two men, porridge of beans and peas and two loaves, one white, the other of 'mixtil' bread; that is, wheat, barley, andrye mixed together, with a piece of meat, and beer for their firstmeal. Then in the evening they had a small loaf of mixtil bread andtwo 'lescas' of cheese. While harvest work was going on the better-offtenants, usually the free ones, were sometimes employed to ride about, rod in hand, superintending the others. 

The services of the villeins were often very comprehensive, and evenincluded such tasks as preparing the lord's bath; but on some manorstheir services were very light. [27] When the third of the aboveobligations, the gafol or tribute, was paid in kind it was mostcommonly made in corn; and next came honey, one of the most importantarticles of the Middle Ages, as it was used for both lighting andsweetening purposes. Ale was also common, and poultry and eggs, andsometimes the material for implements. 

These obligations were imposed for the most part on free and unfreetenants alike, though those of the free were much lighter than thoseof the unfree; the chief difference between the two, as far as tenureof the land went, lay in the fact that the former could exerciseproprietary rights over his holding more or less freely, the latterhad none. [28] It seems very curious to the modern mind that thevillein, a man who farmed about 100 acres of land, should have been insuch a servile condition. 

The amount of work due from each villein came to be fixed by theextent or survey of the manor, but the quality of it was not[29];that is, each one knew how many days he had to work, but not whetherhe was to plough, sow, or harrow, &c. It is surprising to find, thaton the festival days of the Church, which were very numerous andobserved as holy days, the lord lost by no work being done, and thesame was the case in wet weather. 

One of the most important duties of the tenant was the 'averagium', orduty of carrying for the lord, especially necessary when his manorswere often a long way apart. He would often have to carry corn to thenearest town for sale, the products of one manor to another, also tohaul manure on to the demesne. If he owned neither horse nor ox, hewould sometimes have to use his own back. [30]

The holding of the villein did not admit of partition by sale ordescent, it remained undivided and entire. When the holder died allthe land went to one of the sons if there were several, often to theyoungest. The others sought work on the manor as craftsmen orlabourers, or remained on the family plot. The holding therefore mightcontain more than one family, but to the lord remained one andundivided. [31]

In the fourth class came the bordarii, the cotarii, and the colibertior buri; or, as we should say, the crofters, the cottagers, and theboors. 

The bordarii numbered 82, 600 in Domesday, and were subject to the samekind of services as the villeins, but the amount of the service wasconsiderably less. [32] Their usual holding was 5 acres, and they arevery often found on the demesne of the manor, evidently in this caselabourers on the demesne, settled in cottages and provided with a bitof land of their own. The name failed to take root in this country, and the bordarii seem to become villeins or cottiers. [33]

The cotarii, cottiers or cottagers, were 6, 800 in number, with smallpieces of land sometimes reaching 5 acres. [34] Distinctly inferior tothe villeins, bordarii, and cottars, but distinctly superior to theslaves, were the buri or coliberti who, with the bordars and cottars, would form a reserve of labour to supplement the ordinary working daysat times when work was pressing, as in hay time and harvest. At thebottom of the social ladder in Domesday came the slaves, some 25, 000in number, who in the main had no legal rights, a class which hadapparently already diminished and was diminishing in numbers, so thatfor the cultivation of the demesne the lord was coming to rely more onthe labour of his tenants, and consequently the labour services of thevilleins were being augmented. [35] The agricultural labourer as weunderstand him, a landless man working solely for wages in cash, wasalmost unknown. 

All the arrangements of the manor aimed at supplying labour for thecultivation of the lord's demesne, and he had three chief officers tosuperintend it:

1. The seneschal, who answers to our modern steward or land agent, andwhere there were several manors supervised all of them. He attended tothe legal business and held the manor courts. It was his duty to beacquainted with every particular of the manor, its cultivation, extent, number of teams, condition of the stock, &c. He was also thelegal adviser of his lord; in fact, very much like his modernsuccessor. 

2. The bailiff for each manor, who collected rents, went to market tobuy and sell, surveyed the timber, superintended the ploughing, mowing, reaping, &c. , that were due as services from the tenants onthe lord's demesne; and according to _Fleta_ he was to prevent their'casting off before the work was done', and to measure it whendone. [36] And considering that those he superintended were not paidfor their work, but rendering more or less unwelcome services, histask could not have been easy. 

3. The praepositus or reeve, an office obligatory on every holder of acertain small quantity of land; a sort of foreman nominated from amongthe villeins, and to a certain extent representing their interests. His duties were supplementary to those of the bailiff: he looked afterall the live and dead stock of the manor, saw to the manuring of theland, kept a tally of the day's work, had charge of the granary, anddelivered therefrom corn to be baked and malt to be brewed. [37]Besides these three officers, on a large estate there would be amessor who took charge of the harvest, and many lesser officers, suchas those of the akermanni, or leaders of the unwieldy plough teams;oxherds, shepherds, and swineherds to tend cattle, sheep, and pigswhen they were turned on the common fields or wandered in the waste;also wardens of the woods and fences, often paid by a share in theprofits connected with their charge; for instance, the swineherd ofGlastonbury Abbey received a sucking-pig a year, the interior parts ofthe best pig, and the tails of all the others slaughtered. [38] On thegreat estates these offices tended to become hereditary, and manyfamilies did treat them as hereditary property, and were a greatnuisance in consequence to their lords. At Glastonbury we find thechief shepherd so important a person that he was party to an agreementconcerning a considerable quantity of land. [39] There were also onsome manors 'cadaveratores', whose duty was to look into and report onthe losses of cattle and sheep from murrain, a melancholy tale of theunhealthy conditions of agriculture. 

The supervision of the tenants was often incessant and minute. According to the Court Rolls of the Manor of Manydown in Hampshire, tenants were brought to book for all kinds of transgressions. Thefines are so numerous that it almost appears that every person on theestate was amerced from time to time. In 1365 seven tenants wereconvicted of having pigs in their lord's crops, one let his horse runin the growing corn, two had cattle among the peas, four had cattle onthe lord's pasture, three had made default in rent or service, fourwere convicted of assault, nine broke the assize of beer, two hadfailed to repair their houses or buildings. In all thirty-four were introuble out of a population of some sixty families. The account iseloquent of the irritating restrictions of the manor, and of theinconveniences of common farming. [40]

It is impossible to compare the receipts of the lord of the manor atthis period with modern rents, or the position of the villein with theagricultural labourer; it may be said that the lord received a labourrent for the villein's holding, or that the villein received hisholding as wages for the services done for the lord, [41] and part ofthe return due to the lord was for the use of the oxen with which hehad stocked the villein's holding. 

Though in 1066 there were many free villages, yet by the time ofDomesday they were fast disappearing and there were manors everywhere, usually coinciding with the village which we may picture to ourselvesas self-sufficing estates, often isolated by stretches of densewoodland and moor from one another, and making each veritably a littleworld in itself. At the same time it is evident from the extent ofarable land described in Domesday that many manors were not greatlyisolated, and pasture ground was often common to two or morevillages. [42]

If we picture to ourselves the typical manor, we shall see a largepart of the lord's demesne forming a compact area within which stoodhis house; this being in addition to the lord's strips in the openfields intermixed with those of his tenants. The mansion house wasusually a very simple affair, built of wood and consisting chiefly ofa hall; which even as late as the seventeenth century in some casesserved as kitchen, dining room, parlour, and sleeping room for themen; and one or two other rooms. [43] It is probable that in earlytimes the thegns possessed in most cases only one manor apiece, [44] sothat the manor house was then nearly always inhabited by the lord, butafter the Conquest, when manors were bestowed by scores and evenhundreds by William on his successful soldiers, many of them can onlyhave acted as the temporary lodging of the lord when he came tocollect his rent, or as the house of the bailiff. According to the_Gerefa_, written about 1000--and there was very little alteration fora long time afterwards--the mansion was adjacent to a court or yardwhich the quadrangular homestead surrounded with its barns, horse andcattle stalls, sheep pens and fowlhouse. Within this court were ovens, kilns, salt-house, and malt-house, and perhaps the hayricks and woodpiles. Outside and surrounding the homestead were the enclosed arableand grass fields of the portion of the demesne which may be called thehome farm, a kitchen garden, and probably a vineyard, then common inEngland. The garden of the manor house would not have a large varietyof vegetables; some onions, leeks, mustard, peas, perhaps cabbage; andapples, pears, cherries, probably damsons, plums, [45] strawberries, peaches, quinces, and mulberries. Not far off was the village or townof the tenants, the houses all clustering close together, each housestanding in a toft or yard with some buildings, and built of wood, turf, clay, or wattles, with only one room which the tenant sharedwith his live stock, as in parts of Ireland to-day. Indeed, in someparts of Yorkshire at the beginning of the nineteenth century thisprimitive simplicity still prevailed, live stock were still kept inthe house, the floors were of clay, and the family slept in boxesround the solitary room. Examples of farmhouses clustered together atsome distance from their respective holdings still survive, thoughgenerally built of stone. Next the village, though not always, forthey were sometimes at a distance by the banks of a stream, were themeadows, and right round stretched the three open arable fields, beyond which was the common pasture and wood, [46] and, encircling all, heath, forest, and swamp, often cutting off the manor from the rest ofthe world. 

The basis of the whole scheme of measurement in Domesday was the hide, usually of 120 acres, the amount of land that could be ploughed by ateam of 8 oxen in a year; a quarter of this was the virgate, an eighththe bovate, which would therefore supply one ox to the common team. These teams, however, varied; on the manors of S. Paul's Cathedral in1222 they were sometimes composed of horses and oxen, or of 6 horsesonly, sometimes 10 oxen. [47]

The farming year began at Michaelmas when, in addition to the sowingof wheat and rye, the cattle were carefully stalled and fed only onhay and straw, for roots were in the distant future, and the corn wasthreshed with the flail and winnowed by hand. In the spring, after theploughing of the second arable field, the vineyard, where there wasone, was set out, and the open ditches, apparently the only drainagethen known, cleansed. In May it was time to set up the temporaryfences round the meadows and arable fields, and to begin fallowing thethird field. 

A valuable document, describing the duties of a reeve, gives manyinteresting details of eleventh-century farming:--

 'In May, June, and July one may harrow, carry out manure, set up sheep hurdles, shear sheep, do repairs, hedge, cut wood, weed, and make folds. In harvest one may reap; in August, September, and in October one may mow, set woad with a dibble, gather home many crops, thatch them and cover them over, cleanse the folds, prepare cattle sheds and shelters ere too severe a winter come to the farm, and also diligently prepare the soil. In winter one should plough and in severe frosts cleave timber, make an orchard, and do many affairs indoors, thresh, cleave wood, put the cattle in stalls and the swine in pigstyes, and provide a hen roost. In spring one should plough and graft, sow beans, set a vineyard, make ditches, hew wood for a wild deer fence; and soon after that, if the weather permit, set madder, sow flax seed and woad seed, plant a garden and do many things which I cannot fully enumerate that a good steward ought to provide. '[48]

The methods of cultivation were simple. The plough, if we may judge bycontemporary illustrations, had in the eleventh century a large wheeland very short handles. [49] In the twelfth century Neckham describesits parts: a beam, handles, tongue, mouldboard, coulter, andshare. [50] Breaking up the clods was done by the mattock or beetle, and harrowing was done by hand with what looks like a large rake; thescythes of the haymakers and the sickles of the reapers were very likethose that still linger on in some districts to-day. 

Here is a list of tools and implements for the homestead: an axe, adze, bill, awl, plane, saw, spokeshave, tie hook, auger, mattock, lever, share, coulter, goad-iron, scythe, sickle, weed-hook, spade, shovel, woad dibble, barrow, besom, beetle, rake, fork, ladder, horsecomb, shears, fire tongs, weighing scales, and a long list of spinningimplements necessary when farmers made their own clothes. The authorwisely remarks that one ought to have coverings for wains, ploughgear, harrowing tackle, &c. ; and adds another list of instruments andutensils: a caldron, kettle, ladle, pan, crock, firedog, dishes, bowlswith handles, tubs, buckets, a churn, cheese vat, baskets, crates, bushels, sieves, seed basket, wire sieve, hair sieve, winnowing fans, troughs, ashwood pails, hives, honey bins, beer barrels, bathing tub, dishes, cups, strainers, candlesticks, salt cellar, spoon case, pepperhorn, footstools, chairs, basins, lamp, lantern, leathern bottles, comb, iron bin, fodder rack, meal ark or box, oil flask, oven rake, dung shovel; altogether a very complete list, the compiler of whichends by saying that the reeve ought to neglect nothing that shouldprove useful, not even a mousetrap, nor even, what is less, a peg fora hasp. 

Manors in 1086 were of all sizes, from one virgate to enormousorganizations like Taunton or Leominster, containing villages by thescore and hundreds of dependent holdings. [51] The ordinary size, however, of the Domesday manor was from four to ten hides of 120 acreseach, or say from 500 to 1, 200 acres, [52] and the Manor of Segenehouin Bedfordshire may be regarded as typical. Held by Walter brother ofSeiher it had as much land as ten ploughs could work, four ploughlands belonging to the demesne and six to the villeins, of whom therewere twenty-four, with four bordarii and three serfs; thus thevilleins had 30 acres each, the normal holding. The manorial systemwas in fact a combination of large farming by the lords, and smallfarming by the tenants. Nor must we compare it to an ordinary estate;for it was a dominion within which the lord had authority oversubjects of various ranks; he was not only a proprietor but a princewith courts of his own, the arbiter of his tenants' rights as well asowner of the land. 

One of the most striking features of the Domesday survey is the largequantity of arable land and the small quantity of meadow, whichusually was the only land whence they obtained their hay, for thecommon pasture cannot often have been mown. [53] Indeed, it isdifficult to understand how they fed their stock in hard winters. 

According to the returns, in many counties more acres were ploughed in1086 than to-day; in some twice as much. In Somerset in 1086 therewere 577, 000 acres of arable; in 1907, 178, 967. In Gloucestershire, in1086, 589, 000 acres; in 1907, 238, 456. [54] These are extremeinstances; but the preponderance of arable is startling, even if weallow for the recent conversion of arable to pasture on account of thelow price of corn. Between the eleventh century and the sixteenth, thelaying down of land to grass must have proceeded on a gigantic scale, for Harrison tells us that in his day England was mainly a grazingcountry. No wonder Harrison's contemporaries complained of the decayof tillage. 

Mediaeval prices and statistics are, it is well known, to be takenwith great caution; but we may assume that the normal annual value ofland under cultivation in 1086 was about 2d. An acre. [55] Land indeed, apart from the stock upon it, was worth very little: in the tenth andeleventh centuries it appears that the hide, normally of 120 acres, was only worth £5 to buy, apparently with the stock upon it. In thetime of Athelstan a horse was worth 120d. , an ox 30d. , a cow 20d. , asheep 5d. , a hog 8d. , a slave £1--so that a slave was worth 8oxen[56]; and these prices do not seem to have advanced by theDomesday period. 

According to the Pipe Roll of 1156, wheat was 1s. 6d. A quarter; butprices then depended entirely on seasons, and we do not know whetherthat was good or bad. However, many years later, in 1243 it was only2s. A quarter at Hawsted. [57] In dear years, nearly always the resultof wet seasons, it went up enormously; in 1024 the English Chronicletells us the acre seed of wheat, that is about 2 bushels, sold for4s. , [58] 3 bushels of barley for 6s. And 4 bushels of oats for 4s. In1190 Holinshed says that, owing to a great dearth, the quarter ofwheat was 18s. 8d. The average price, however, in the twelfth centurywas probably about 4s. A quarter. 

In 1194 Roger of Hoveden[59] says an ox, a cow, and a plough horsewere the same price, 4s. ; a sheep with fine wool 10d. , with coarsewool 6d. ; a sow 12d. , a boar 12d. 

Sometimes prices were kept down by imports; 1258 was a bad and dearyear, 'most part of the corn rotted on the ground, ' and was not allgot in till after November 1, so excessive was the wet and rain. Andupon the dearth a sore death and mortality followed for want ofnecessary food to sustain the pining bodies of the poor people, whodied so thick that there were great pits made in churchyards to laythe dead bodies in. And corn had been dearer if great store had notcome out of Almaine, but there came fifty great ships with wheat andbarley, meal and bread out of Dutchland, which greatly relieved thepoor. [60]

Were the manors as isolated as some writers have asserted? Generallyspeaking, we may say the means of communication were bad and many anestate cut off almost completely from the outside world, yet themanors must often have been connected by waterways, and sometimes bygood roads, with other manors and with the towns. Rivers in the MiddleAges were far more used as means of communication than to-day, andmany streams now silted up and shallow were navigable according toDomesday. Water carriage was, as always, much cheaper than landcarriage, and corn could be carried from Henley to London for 2d. Or3d. A quarter. The roads left by the Romans, owing to the excellenceof their construction, remained in use during the Middle Ages, andmust have been a great advantage to those living near them; but theother roads can have been little better than mud tracks, except in theimmediate vicinity of the few large towns. The keeping of the roads inrepair, one part of the _trinoda necessitas_ was imposed on all lands;but the results often seem to have been very indifferent, and theyappear largely to have depended on chance, or the goodwill or devotionof neighbouring landowners. [61] Perhaps they would, except in the caseof the Roman roads, have been impassable but for the fact that thegreat lords and abbots were constantly visiting their scatteredestates, and therefore were interested in keeping such roads in order. But in those days people were contented with very little, and thoughEdward I enforced the general improvement of roads in 1285, in thefourteenth century they were decaying. Parliament adjourned thricebetween 1331 and 1380 because the state of the roads kept many of themembers away. In 1353 the high road running from Temple Bar, then thewestern limit of London, to Westminster was 'so full of holes andbogs' that the traffic was dangerous for men and carriages; and alittle later all the roads near London were so bad, that carriers 'areoftentimes In peril of losing what they bring. ' What must remotecountry roads have been like when these important highways were inthis state? If members of Parliament, rich men riding good horses, could not get to London, how did the clumsy wagons and carts of theday fare? The Church might well pity the traveller, and class him withthe sick 'and the captive among the unfortunates whom she recommendedto the daily prayers of pious souls. '[62] Rivers were mainly crossedby ford or ferry, though there were some excellent bridges, a few ofwhich still remain, maintained by the _trinoda necessitas_, by gilds, by 'indulgences' promised to benefactors, and by toll, the right tolevy which, called pontage, was often spent otherwise than on therepair of the bridge. 

A few of the old open fields still exist, and the best surviving exampleof an open-field parish is that of Laxton in Nottinghamshire. [63]Nearly half the area of the parish remains in the form of two greatarable fields, and two smaller ones which are treated as two parts ofthe third field. The different holdings, freehold and leasehold, consist in part of strips of land scattered all over these fields. Thethree-course system is rigidly adhered to, first year wheat, secondyear spring corn, third year fallow. 

In a corner of the parish is Laxton Heath, a common covered withcoarse grass where the sheep are grazed according to a 'stint'recently determined upon, for when it was unstinted the common wasoverstocked. The commonable meadows which the parish once had wereenclosed at a date beyond anyone's recollection, though theneighbouring parish of Eakring still has some. There are otherenclosures in the remote parts of the parish which apparentlyrepresent the old woodland. The inconvenience of the common-fieldsystem was extreme. South Luffenham in Rutland, not enclosed till1879, consisted of 1, 074 acres divided among twenty-two owners into1, 238 pieces. In some places furrows served to divide the landsinstead of turf balks, which were of course always being altered. Another difficulty arose from there being no check to high winds, which would sometimes sweep the whole of the crops belonging todifferent farmers in an inextricable heap against the nearestobstruction. 

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Vinogradoff, _Growth of the Manor_, p. 18; Medley, _ConstitutionalHistory_, p. 15. 

[2] Vinogradoff, _Villeinage in England_, p. 257. 

[3] Maitland, _Domesday Book and Beyond_, pp. 341 et seq. 

[4] Stubbs, _Constitutional History_, §36. 

[5] Vinogradoff, _English Society in the Eleventh Century_, p. 282, says, 'As a rule it was not subject to redivision. '

[6] Cunningham, _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_, i. 42. 

[7] Maitland, _op. Cit. _ p. 368. 

[8] _Anonymous Treatise on Husbandry_, Royal Historical Society, pp. Xli. And 68. About 1230, Smyth, in his _Lives of the Berkeleys_, i. 113, says, 'At this time lay all lands in common fields, in one acreor ridge, one man's intermixt with another. '

[9] See below. 

[10] Cunningham, _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_, i. 74. Maitland thinks the two-field system was as common as the three-field, both in early and mediaeval times. _Domesday Book and Beyond_, p. 366. 

[11] Nasse, _Agricultural Community of the Middle Ages_, p. 5. To-dayharvest generally commences about August 1, so that this, like thegrowth of grapes in mediaeval times, seems to show our climate hasgrown colder. 

[12] Vinogradoff, _English Society in the Eleventh Century_, p. 264. 

[13] Maitland, _op. Cit. _ p. 17. 

[14] Vinogradoff, _English Society in the Eleventh Century_, p. 265. 

[15] Maitland, _op. Cit. _ pp. 318 et seq. 

[16] Vinogradoff, _English Society in the Eleventh Century_, p. 345. 

[17] Vinogradoff, _English Society in the Eleventh Century_, p. 339. 

[18] Maitland, _Domesday Book_, p. 110

[19] Vinogradoff, _op. Cit. _ p. 395. 

[20] Vinogradoff, _Villeinage in England_, pp. 225 et seq. 

[21] Maitland, _op. Cit. _ p. 23. 

[22] Vinogradoff, _op. Cit. _ p. 433. 

[23] In Domesday they number 108, 500. Maitland, _Domesday Book_. 

[24] Maitland, _op. Cit. _. 

[25] Vinogradoff, _English Society in the Eleventh Century_, p. 300. 

[26] _Domesday of S. Paul_, p. Lxviii. 

[27] Maitland, _Domesday Book_, p. 56. 

[28] Cunningham, _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_, i. 166. Insome manors free tenants could sell their lands without the lord'slicence, in others not. 

[29] Vinogradoff, _Villeinage in England_, p. 279. 

[30] Vinogradoff, _Villeinage in England_, p. 285. 

[31] Ibid. P. 246; and _English Society in the Eleventh Century_, p. 448. At the end of the eighteenth century, in default of sons, landsin some manors in Shropshire descended to the youngestdaughter. --Bishton, _General View of the Agriculture of Shropshire_, p. 178. 

[32] Vinogradoff, _English Society in the Eleventh Century_, p. 456. 

[33] Maitland, Domesday Book, p. 40. 

[34] Ibid. 

[35] Maitland, _Domesday Book_, p. 35. 

[36] _Fleta_, c. 73. 

[37] _Domesday of S. Paul_, xxxv. _Fleta_, 'an anonymous work drawn upin the thirteenth century to assist landowners in managing theirestates' says, the reeve 'shall rise early, and have the ploughsyoked, and then walk in the fields to see that all is right and noteif the men be idle, or if they knock off work before the day's task isfully done. '

[38] Vinogradoff, _Villeinage in England_, p. 321. 

[39] Ibid. P. 324. 

[40] _Manor of Manydown_, Hampshire Record Society, p. 17. Breakingthe assize of beer meant selling it without a licence, or of badquality. The village pound was the consequence of the perpetualstraying of animals, and later on the vicar sometimes kept it. Seeibid. P. 104. 

[41] Cunningham, _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_, i. 106. 

[42] Vinogradoff, _Villeinage in England_, p. 264. 

[43] Andrews, _Old English Manor_, p. 111. 

[44] _Domesday of S. Paul_, p. Xxxvii. 

[45] Thorold Rogers, _Agriculture and Prices_, i. 17: Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 55: Neckham, _De Natura Rerum_, RollsSeries, ch. Clxvi. Rogers says there were no plums, but Neckhammentions them. See also Denton, _England in the Fifteenth Century_, p. 64. Matthew Paris says the severe winter in 1257 destroyed cherries, plums and figs. _Chron. Maj. _, Rolls Series, v. 660. 

[46] Woods were used as much for pasture as for cutting timber andunderwood. Not only did the pigs feed there on the mast of oak, beech, and chestnut, but goats and horned cattle grazed on the grassyportions. 

[47] The illustrations of contemporary MSS. Usually show teams in theplough of 2 or 4 oxen, and 4 was probably the team generally used, according to Vinogradoff, _op. Cit. _ p. 253. It must, of course, havevaried according to the soil. Birch, in his _Domesday_, p. 219, sayshe has never found a team of 8 in contemporary illustrations. To-dayoxen can be still seen ploughing in teams of two only. However, abouta hundred years ago, when oxen were in common use, we find teams of 8, as in Shropshire, for a single-furrow plough, 'so as to work themeasily. ' Six hours a day was the usual day's work, and when more wasrequired one team was worked in the morning, another in theafternoon. --_Victoria County History: Shropshire, Agriculture_. Walterof Henley says the team stopped work at three. 

[48] Cunningham, _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_, i. 570. 

[49] See the excellent reproductions of the Calendar of the Cott. MSS. In Green's _Short History of the English People_, illustrated edition, i. 155. 

[50] _De Natura Rerum_, Rolls Series, p, 280. 

[51] Vinogradoff, _English Society in the Eleventh Century_, p. 307. 

[52] Ibid. P. 312. Perhaps one of the most interesting features of thesmaller manors is that they were constantly being swallowed up by thelarger. 

[53] As some of the common pasture was held in severalty, this mayperhaps have been mown in scarce years. Walter of Henley mentionsmowing the waste, see below, p. 34. 

[54] Maitland, _Domesday Book_, 436; _Board of Agriculture Returns_, 1907. 

[55] Vinogradoff, _English Society in the Eleventh Century_, p. 310;Birch, _Domesday_, p. 183. 

[56] Maitland, _Domesday Book_. 44; Cunningham, _Growth of Industryand Commerce_, i. 171; _Domesday of S. Paul_, pp. Xliii. And xci. 

[57] Cullum, _History of Hawsted_, p. 181. 

[58] Rolls Series, ii. 220. According to this, the price of a bushelof wheat reckoned in modern money was £3 in that year

[59] Ibid. Iii. 220. 

[60] Holinshed, who is supported by William of Malmesbury in theassertion that in time of scarcity England imported corn. MatthewParis, _Chron. Maj. _, v. 673. 

[61] Jusserand, _English Wayfaring Life_, p. 79. 

[62] Jusserand, _English Wayfaring Life_, p. 89. 

[63] Gilbert Slater, _The English Peasantry and the Enclosure ofCommon Fields_, p. 8. 

CHAPTER II

THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. --THE MANOR AT ITS ZENITH, WITH SEEDS OF DECAYALREADY VISIBLE. --WALTER OF HENLEY

In the thirteenth century the manorial system may be said to have beenin its zenith; the description therefore of Cuxham Manor inOxfordshire at that date is of special interest. According toProfessor Thorold Rogers[64] there were two principal tenants, eachholding the fourth part of a military fee. The prior of Holy Trinity, Wallingford, held a messuage, a mill, and 6 acres of land in freealms; i. E. Under no obligation or liability other than offeringprayers on behalf of the donor. A free tenant had a messuage and 3-3/4acres, the rent of which was 3s. A year. He also had another messuageand nine acres, for which he paid the annual rent of 1 lb. Of pepper, worth about 1s. 3d. The rector of the parish had part of a furrow, i. E. One of the divisions of the common arable field, and paid 2d. Ayear for it. Another tenant held a cottage in the demesne under theobligation of keeping two lamps lighted in the church. Another personwas tenant-at-will of the parish mill, at a rent of 40s. A year. Therest of the tenants were villeins or cottagers, thirteen of the formerand eight of the latter. Each of the villeins had a messuage and halfa virgate, 12 to 15 acres of arable land at least, for which his rentwas chiefly corn and labour, though there were two money payments, ahalfpenny on November 12 and a penny whenever he brewed. He had to paya quarter of seed wheat at Michaelmas, a peck of wheat, 4 bushels ofoats, and 3 hens on November 12, and at Christmas a cock, two hens, and two pennyworth of bread. His labour services were to plough, sow, and till half an acre of the lord's land, and give his work asdirected by the bailiff except on Sundays and feast days. In harvesttime he was to reap three days with one man at his own cost. 

Some of these tenants held, besides their half virgates, other plotsof land for which each had to make hay for one day for the lord, witha comrade, and received a halfpenny; also to mow, with another, threedays in harvest time, at their own charges, and another three dayswhen the lord fed them. After harvest six pennyworth of beer wasdivided among them, each received a loaf of bread, and every eveningwhen work was over each reaper might carry away the largest sheaf ofcorn he could lift on his sickle. 

The cottagers paid from 1s. 2d. To 2s. A year for their holdings, andwere obliged to work a day or two in the hay-making, receivingtherefor a halfpenny. They also had to do from one to four days'harvest work, during which they were fed at the lord's table. For therest of the year they were free labourers, tending cattle or sheep onthe common for wages or working at the various crafts usual in thevillage. This manor was a small one, and contained in all twenty-fourhouseholds, numbering from sixty to seventy inhabitants. [65]

On most manors, as in Forncett, [66] which contained about 2, 700 acres, from the preponderance of arable, the chief source of income to thelord was from the grain crops; other sources may be seen from thefollowing table of the lord's receipts and expenses in 1272-3:

 RECEIPTS. £ s. D. Fixed rents 18 3 7-3/4 Farm of market 0 2 6 Chevage[67] 0 8 6 Foldage 0 3 9-1/2 Sale of works 5 13 2-3/4 Herbage 1 0 4 Hay 2 12 11 Turf, &c. 1 13 6-1/2 Underwood 5 10 2 Grain 61 12 3-1/4 Cider 1 1 11-1/4 Stock 5 3 0 Dairy 4 3 0-3/4 Pleas 14 0 0 Tallage 16 13 4 ------------------ £128 2 2-3/4

 EXPENSES. £ s. D. 

 Rents paid and allowed 0 3 2-1/2 Ploughs and carts 2 17 4 Buildings and walls 4 5 10-1/2 Small necessaries 0 7 10-3/4 Dairy 0 4 3-1/4 Threshing 1 15 5-1/2 Meadow and autumn expenses 0 1 4 Stock 0 16 7 Bailiff 1 19 0 Steward 1 6 9-1/2 Grain 8 2 4-1/2 Expenses of acct. 1 0 8-1/2 ------------------ £23 0 9-3/4

The manor was almost entirely self-sufficing; of necessity, for townswere few and distant, and the roads to them bad. Each would have itssmith, millwright, thatcher, &c. , paid generally in kind for theirservices. There was little trade with the outside world, except forsalt--an invaluable article when meat had to be salted down everyautumn for winter use, since there were no roots to keep the cattleon--and iron for some of the implements. Nearly everything was made inthe village. 

The mediaeval system of tillage was compulsory; even the freeholderscould not manage their plots as they wished, because all the soil ofthe township formed one whole and was managed by the entire village. Even the lord[68] had to conform to the customs of the community. Anyother system than this, which must have been galling to the moreenterprising, was impossible, for as the various holdings lay inunfenced strips all over the great common fields, individualinitiative was out of the question. As may be imagined, the greatnumber of strips all mixed together often led to great confusion, sometimes 2 or 3 acres could not be found at all, and disputes owingto careless measurement were frequent. 

It is not surprising that the services by which the villeins paid rentfor their holdings to the lord very early began to be commuted formoney; it was much more convenient to both parties; and with thischange from a 'natural economy' to a 'money economy' the destructionof the manorial system commenced, though it was to take centuries toeffect it. 

The first money payments apparently date from as early as 900, [69]but must then have been very few, and services were the rule in thethirteenth and earlier centuries, though at the beginning of thetwelfth we find a great number of rent-paying tenants. [70] In thefourteenth century money began to be more generally available, and theprocess of commutation grew steadily; a process greatly accelerated bythe destruction of large numbers of tenants who paid rent in servicesby the Black Death of 1348-9, which forced lords of manors to lettheir lands for money or work them themselves with hired labour. Before that visitation, however, it appears that commutation of labourservices for fixed annual payments had made very little progress. [71]

When these services were commuted for money in the thirteenth andfourteenth centuries they were put at 1d. A day in winter, and 2d. Aday in summer, and rather more in harvest[72]; and we may put theordinary agricultural labourers' wages from 1250-1350 all the yearround at 2d. A day, and from 1350-1400 at 3d. , but few were paid inthis way. Many were paid by the year, with allowances of food besidesand sometimes clothes, and many were in harvest at all events paid bythe piece. At Crondal in Hampshire in 1248 a carter by the yearreceived 4s. , a herdsman 2s. 3d. , a day a or dairymaid, 2s. [73] Thechange to money payments was beneficial to both parties; it stoppedmany of the dishonest practices of the lord's bailiff, apart from thefact that farming by officials was an expensive method. It meant, too, that religious festivals and bad weather would no longer diminish thelord's profits; on the other hand, the tenant could devote himselfentirely to his holding free from annoying labour services. [74]

The state of agriculture at the time of Domesday was apparently verylow, judging by the small returns of manors, [75] but by the time ofEdward I it had made considerable progress. During the reign of HenryIII England had grown in opulence, and continued to do so under hisgreat son, who found time from his manifold tasks to encourageagriculture and horticulture. Fruit and forest trees, shrubs andflowers, were introduced from the continent, and we are told that thehop flourished in the royal gardens. [76] At his death England wasprosperous, the people progressing in comfort, the populationadvancing, the agricultural labourers were increasing in numbers, thevalue of the land had risen and was rising. Then came a reaction fromwhich England did not recover for two centuries, and Harrison, whowrote his description of England at the end of the sixteenth century, says that many of the improvements began to be neglected in process oftime, so that from Henry IV till the latter end of Henry VII there waslittle or no use for them in England, 'but they remained unknown. '

The Hundred Rolls of Edward I, which embody the results of the laboursof a commission appointed by that monarch to inquire into encroachmentson royal lands and royal jurisdiction, show clearly that there hadbeen since the Domesday Survey a very great growth in the ruralpopulation, a sure sign that agriculture was flourishing; and on someestates the number of free tenants had increased largely, but theburdens of the villeins were not less onerous than they had been. 

It was in the thirteenth century that the practice of keeping strictand minute accounts became general, and the accounts of the bailiff ofthose days would be a revelation to the bailiff of these. 

At the same time we must not forget that the earliest improvements inEnglish agriculture were largely due to the monks, who from theirconstant journeys abroad were able to bring back new plants and seeds;while it is well known that many of the religious houses, theCistercians especially, who always settled in the remote country, weremost energetic farmers, their energy being materially assisted bytheir wealth. It is said that the great Becket when he visited amonastery did not disdain to labour in the field. 

Among other benefits that the landed interest gained at this time wasthe more easy transference of land provided, _inter alia_, by thestatute of _Quia Emptores_, which led to many tenants selling theirlands, provided the rights of the lord were preserved, and to a greatincrease consequently of free tenants, many of whom had quite smallholdings. [77] The amalgamation of holdings by the more industrious andskilful has, as we should expect, been a well-marked tendency allthrough the history of English agriculture, and began early. Forinstance, according to the records of S. Paul's Cathedral, JohnDurant, whose ancestor in 1222 held only one virgate in 'Cadendon', had in 1279 eight or ten at least. At 'Belchamp', Martin de Suthmere, one of the free tenants, held 245 acres by himself and his tenants, twenty-two in number, who rendered service to him; one of them beingde Vere, Earl of Oxford, who held 17 acres under Martin. To such aposition had the abler of the small holders of a century or so beforealready pushed their way, in spite of the heavy hand of feudalism, which did much to hinder individual initiative. At this period anduntil Tudor times England, as regards the cultivated land, wasessentially a corn-growing country; the greater part of the lord'sdemesne was arable, and the tillage fields of the villeins largelyexceeded their meadows. For instance, in 1285 the cultivated lands atHawsted in Suffolk were nearly all under the plough; in seven holdingsthere were 968 acres of arable and only 40 of meadow, a proportion of24 to 1. No doubt there was plenty of common pasture, but we cannotcall this cultivated land. The seven holdings were as follows:[78]

 Acres. 

 Arable. Meadow. Wood. 

 Thomas Fitzeustace, lord of the manor 240 10 10 William Tallemache 280 12 24 Philip Noel 120 4 7 Robert de Ros 56 3 5 Walter de Stanton 80 3 1 William de Camaville 140 6 8 John Beylham 52 2 3 --- -- -- 968 40 58

These were the larger tenants; among the smaller several had no meadowat all. 

We must not forget that the grazing of the tillage fields after thecrops were off was of great assistance to those who kept stock; forthere was plenty to eat on the stubbles. The wheat was cut high, thestraw often apparently left standing 18 inches or 2 feet high; weedsof all kinds abounded, for the land was badly cleaned; and often onlythe upper part of the high ridges, into which the land was thrown forpurposes of drainage, was cultivated, the lower parts being left tonatural grass. [79]

The greatest authority for the farming of the thirteenth century isWalter of Henley, who wrote, about the middle of it, a work which heldthe field as an agricultural textbook until Fitzherbert wrote in thesixteenth century, and much of his advice is valuable to-day. Therewas from his time until the days of William Marshall, who wrote fivecenturies afterwards, a controversy as to the respective merits ofhorses and oxen as draught animals, and it is a curious fact that thelater writer agreed with the earlier as to the superiority of oxen. 'Aplough of oxen', says Walter, 'will go as far in the year as a ploughof horses, because the malice of the ploughman will not allow theplough of horses to go beyond their pace, no more than the plough ofoxen. Further, in very hard ground where the plough of horses willstop, the plough of oxen will pass. And the horse costs more than theox, for he is obliged to have the sixth part of a bushel of oats everynight, worth a halfpenny at least, and twelve pennyworth of grass inthe summer. Besides, each week he costs more or less a penny a week inshoeing, if he must be shod on all four feet;' which was not theuniversal custom. 

'But the ox has only to have 3-1/2 sheaves of oats per week (tensheaves yielding a bushel of oats), worth a penny, and the same amountof grass as the horse. [80] And when the horse is old and worn outthere is nothing but his skin, but when the ox is old with tenpennyworth of grass he shall be fit for the larder. '[81]

The labourer of the Middle Ages could not complain of lack ofholidays; Walter of Henley tells us that, besides Sundays, eight weekswere lost in the year from holidays and other hindrances. [82]

He advises the sowing of spring seed on clay or on stony land early, because if it is dry in March the ground will harden too much and thestony ground become dry and open; therefore fore sow early that cornmay be nourished by winter moisture. Chalky and sandy ground need notbe sown early. At sowing, moreover, do not plough large furrows, butlittle and well laid together, that the seed may fall evenly. Let yourland be cleaned and weeded after S. John's Day, June 24, for beforethat is not a good time; and if thistles are cut before S. John's Day'for every one will come two or three. ' Do not sell your straw; if youtake away the least you lose much; words which many a landlord to-daydoubtless wishes were fixed in the minds of his tenants. 

Manure should be mixed with earth, for it lasts only two or threeyears by itself, but with earth it will last twice as long; for whenthe manure and the earth are harrowed together the earth shall keepthe manure so that it cannot waste by descending in the soil, which itis apt to do. 

'Feed your working oxen before some one, and with chaff. Why? I willtell you. Because it often happens that the oxherd steals theprovender. '

The oxen were also to be bathed, and curried when dry with a wisp ofstraw, which would cause them to lick themselves. 

'Change your seed every year at Michaelmas; for seed grown on otherground will bring more profit than that which is grown on your own. '

Apparently the only drainage then practised was that of furrow andopen ditch; and we find him saying that to free your lands from toomuch water, let the marshy ground be well ridged, and the water madeto run, and so the ground may be freed from water. 

Here is his estimate of the cost of wheat growing[83]:

 'You know surely that an acre sown with wheat takes three ploughings, except lands which are sown yearly; and that each ploughing is worth 6d. And the harrowing 1d. , and on the acre it is necessary to sow at least two bushels. Now two bushels at Michaelmas are worth at least 12d. , and weeding 1/2d. , and reaping 5d. , and carrying in August 1d. , and the straw will pay for the threshing. '[83]

The return was wretched: 'at three times your sowing you ought to have6 bushels, worth 3s. ' The total cost is thus 3s. 1-1/2d. ; and withoutdebiting anything for rent and manure, the loss would be 1-1/2d. Anacre. 

The anonymous _Treatise on Husbandry_ of about the same date says, however, that 'wheat ought to yield to the fifth grain, oats to thefourth, barley to the eighth, beans and peas to the sixth. '[84] In theyears 1243-8 the average yield of wheat at Combe, Oxfordshire, was 5bushels per acre, of barley a little over 5, oats 7. In the Manor ofForncett, in various years from 1290 to 1306, wheat yielded about 10bushels, oats from 12 to 16, barley 16, and peas from 4 to 12 bushelsper acre. [85]

As for the dairy, 2 cows, says Walter, should yield a wey, (2 cwt) ofcheese annually, and half a gallon of butter a week, 'if sorted outand fed in pasture of salt marsh;' but 'in pasture of wood or inmeadows after mowing, or in stubble, it should take 3 cows for thesame. ' Twenty ewes, which it was then the custom to milk, fed inpasture of salt marsh, ought to yield the same as the 2 cows. A gallonof butter was worth 6d. , and weighed 7 lb. And the anonymous treatisesays each cow ought to yield from the day after Michaelmas until thefirst kalends of May, twenty-eight weeks, 10d. More or less; and fromthe first kalends of May till Michaelmas, twenty-four weeks, the milkof a cow should be worth 3s. 6d. ; and she should give also 6 stones(14 lb. Per stone) of cheese, and 'as much butter as shall make asmuch cheese. '[86] It was a common practice all through the MiddleAges, and survives in localities to-day, to let out the cows by theyear, at from 3s. To 6s. 8d. A head, often to the daya or dairymaid, the owner supplying the food, and the lessee agreeing to restore themin equal number and condition at the end of the term. [87] Theanonymous treatise tells us that 'if you wish to farm out your stockyou can take 4s. 6d. Clear for each cow and the tithe, and for a sheep6d. And the tithe, and a sow should bring you 6s. 6d. A year andacquit the tithe, and each hen 9d. And the tithe; and Walter says, 'When I was bailiff the dairymaids had the geese and hens to farm, thegeese at 12d. And the hens at 3d. '

Among other information conveyed by these two treatises we learn thatthe poor servants or labourers were accustomed to be fed on thediseased sheep, salted and dried; but Walter adds, 'I do not wish youto do this. ' Nor can we point the finger of scorn at this: for in thedisastrous season of 1879 numbers of rotten sheep were sold to thebutcher and consumed by the unsuspecting public without even beingsalted and dried. 

He further tells us that 'you can well have 3 acres weeded for 1d. , and an acre of meadow mown for 4d. , and an acre of waste meadow for3-1/2d. And know that 5 men can well reap and bind 2 acres a day ofeach kind of corn, and where each takes 2d. A day then you must give5d. An acre. '[88] 'One ought to thresh a quarter of wheat or rye for2d. And a quarter of oats for 1d. A sow ought to farrow twice a year, having each time at least 7 pigs; and each goose 5 goslings a year andeach hen 115 eggs and 7 chicks, 3 of which ought to be made capons;and for 5 geese you must have one gander, and for 5 hens one cock. 'The laying qualities of the hen, in spite of the talk of the 200-eggbird, were evidently as good then as to-day. In those days ofself-supporting farms it was the custom to put together the farmimplements at home, and the farmer is advised that it will be well ifhe can have carters and ploughmen who should know how to work alltheir own wood, though it should be necessary to pay them more. [89]The village smith, however, seems, as we should expect, to have donemost of the iron work that was needed. [90]

These extracts have given the reader some insight intothirteenth-century prices, prices which in the case of grain alteredvery little for nearly 300 years: for instance, the average price ofwheat from 1259 to 1400 was 5s. 10-3/4d. A quarter, and from 1401 to1540 5s. 11-3/4d. ; of barley, 4s. 3-3/4d. From 1259 to 1400, 3s. 8-3/4d. From 1401 to 1540; of oats, 2s. 5-3/4d. And 2s. 2-1/4d. In thesame two periods respectively; of rye, 4s. 5d. And 4s. 7-3/4d. ; and ofbeans, 4s. 3-1/2d. And 3s. 9-1/4d. [91] Wheat fluctuated considerably, being as we have seen 2s. A quarter at Hawsted in 1243 and in 129014s. 10d. , a most exceptional price. Oxen, which were chiefly valuedas working animals, were about 13s. Apiece[92]; cows, 9s. 5d. Farmhorses were of two varieties: the 'affer' or 'stott', a rough smallanimal, generally worth about 13s. 5d. , and the cart-horse, probablythe ancestor of our shire horses, whose average price was 19s. 4d. Agood saddle-horse fetched as much as £5. Sheep were from 1s. 2d. To1s. 5d. Each. In Hampshire in 1248 shoeing ten farm horses for theplough for a year cost 5s. ; making a gate cost 12d. As Walter ofHenley said, it cost a penny a week to shoe a horse on all four feet;these horses must have been very roughly shod. [93] It is evident, fromwhat Walter of Henley says, that horses were not always shod on allfour feet, and their shoes were generally very light. The roads weremere tracks without any metalling, so that there was little necessityfor heavy shoes; and as Professor Thorold Rogers suggests, it is quitepossible that the hoofs of our horses have become weaker by reason ofthe continual paring and protection which modern shoeing involves. [94]They weighed usually less than half a pound, and cost about 4s. Ahundred. 

The most striking fact about agricultural prices at this date is thelow price of land compared with that of its products. The annual rentof land was from 4d. To 6d. [95] an acre, and it was worth about tenyears' purchase. Consequently, a quarter of wheat was often worth morethan an acre of land, a good ox three times as much, a good cart-horsefour times, while a good war-horse was worth the fee-simple of a smallfarm. A greater breadth of wheat was sown than of any other crop; butit seems that none was ever stored except in the castles andmonasteries, for in spite of successive abundant harvests a bad seasonwould send the price up at once. Barley was, as now, chiefly used formaking beer, which was also made from oats and wheat, of coursewithout hops, which were not used till the fifteenth century; andsometimes it was made of oats, barley, and wheat, a concoction worth3/4d. A gallon in 1283. [96] Cider was also drunk, and was sold atExminster in Devonshire in 1286 at 1/2d. A gallon, and apples fetched2d. A bushel. Thorold Rogers[97] says that wheat was the chief food ofthe English labourer from the earliest times until perhaps theseventeenth century, when the enormous prices were prohibitive; butthis statement must be taken with reserve, as must that of Mr. Prothero[98] that rye was the bread-stuff of the peasantry. Where thelabourer's food is mentioned as part of his wages, wheat, barley, andrye all occur, wheat and rye being often mixed together as 'mixtil';and it is most probable that in one district wheat, in another one ofthe other cereals, formed his chief bread-stuff, according to the cropbest adapted to the soil of the locality. 

Walter of Henley mentions wheat as if it was the chief crop, for heselects it as best illustrating the cost of corn-growing[99]; and fromthe enormous number of entries enumerated by Thorold Rogers in hismediaeval statistics it was apparently more grown than other cereals. The chief meat of the lower classes then, as to-day, was bacon fromthe innumerable herds of swine who roamed in the woods and wastes, butin bad years, when food was scarce, the poor ate nuts, acorns, fernroots, bark, and vetches. [100]

As the cattle of the Middle Ages were like the mountain cattle ofto-day, so were the sheep like many of the sheep to be seen in theWelsh mountains; yet, unlike the cattle, an attempt seems to have beenmade, judging by the high price of rams, to improve the breed; butthey were probably poor animals worth from 1s. To 1s. 6d. Each, with asmall fleece weighing about a pound and a half, worth 3d. A lb. Or alittle more. 

FOOTNOTES:

[64] _Six Centuries of Work and Wages_, p. 39. No one can write onEnglish agriculture without acknowledging a deep debt to hismonumental industry, though his opinions are often open to question. 

[65] Compare the account of the manors in Huntingdonshire belonging toRomsey Abbey given in Page _End of Villeinage in England_, pp. 28 etseq. 

[66] Davenport, _A Norfolk Manor_, p. 36; and see Hall, _Pipe Roll ofBishopric of Winchester_, p. Xxv. 

[67] Chevage, poll money, paid to the lord. 

[68] Vinogradoff, _Villeinage in England_, p. 230. 

[69] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 117. 

[70] Vinogradoff, _Villeinage in England_, p. 307. On the Berkeleyestates in 1189-1220 money was so scarce with the tenants that therents, apparently even where services had been commuted, were commonlypaid in oxen. --Smyth, _Lives of the Berkeleys_, i. 101. In thethirteenth century the labour services of the villeins were stricterthan in the eleventh. Vinogradoff, _op. Cit. _ 298. 

[71] Page, _End of Villeinage_, p. 39. 

[72] Thorold Rogers, _History of Agriculture and Prices_, i. 82. 

[73] Hampshire Record Society, i. 64. See Appendix, i. 

[74] Hasbach, _English Agricultural Labourer_, p. 14. 

[75] Hallam, _Middle Ages_, iii. 361

[76] Denton, _England in the Fifteenth Century_, p. 56. 

[77] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 273. 

[78] Cullum, _History of Hawsted_, 1784 ed. , p. 180. 

[79] Ballard, _Domesday_, p. 207. 

[80] Walter of Henley, Royal Historical Society, p. 12. 

[81] Walter reckons the above food of the horse at 12s. 3d. , and ofthe ox at 3s. 1d. ; but both are wrong. 

[82] Ibid. P. 15. 

[83] Walter of Henley, Royal Historical Society, p. 19. 

[84] Walter of Henley, Royal Historical Society, p. 71. 

[85] Davenport, _A Norfolk Manor_, pp. 29 et seq. See also Hall, _PipeRoll of the Bishopric of Winchester_, p. Xxvi, which gives an averageyield of wheat over a large area in 1298-9 at 4. 3 bushels per acre. 

[86] Walter of Henley, Royal Historical Society, p. 77. 

[87] Thorold Rogers, _Agriculture and Prices_, i. 397; _Archaeologia_, xviii. 281. 

[88] Walter of Henley, pp. 69, 75. In Lancashire, at the end of thethirteenth century, mowing 60-1/2 acres cost 17s. 7-1/2d. _VictoriaCounty History, Lancashire, Agriculture_, and _Two Compoti of theLancashire and Cheshire Manors of Henry de Lacy_ (Cheetham Society). 

[89] Walter of Henley, p. 63. 

[90] _Crondall, Records_, Hampshire Record Society, i. 65. 

[91] See Thorold Rogers, various tables in vol. I. Of _History ofAgriculture and Prices_. Compare these with the prices on the Berkeleyestates from 1281 to 1307, omitting years of scarcity: wheat, 2s. 4d. To 5s. ; oxen, 10s. To 12s. ; cows, 9s. To 10s. ; bacon hogs, 5s. ; fatsheep, 1s. 6d. To 2s. ; and in the early part of Edward III's reign, wheat, 5s. 4d. To 10s. ; oxen, 14s. To 24s. Other prices about thesame. --Smyth, _Lives of the Berkeleys_, i. 160. 

[92] If it is true, as generally stated, that the mediaeval ox wasone-third the size of his modern successor, it is apparent that he wasa very dear animal. Cattle at this date suffered from the ravages ofwolves. 

[93] _Crondall, Records_, Hampshire Record Society, i. 64. 

[94] _History of Agriculture and Prices_, i. 528. 

[95] Seebohm, _Transactions of Royal Historical Society_, New Series, xvii. 288, says that rent in the fourteenth century was commonly 4d. ;the usual average is stated at 6d. An acre. 

[96] _Domesday of S. Paul_, Camden Society, p. Li. 

[97] _History of Agriculture and Prices_, i. 26. 

[98] _Pioneers of Agriculture_, p. 13. 

[99] Ed. Lamond, Royal Historical Society, p. 19. 

[100] Denton, _England in the Fifteenth Century_, p. 93. 

CHAPTER III

THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. --DECLINE OF AGRICULTURE. --THE BLACK DEATH. --STATUTE OF LABOURERS

After the death of Edward I in 1307 the progress of Englishagriculture came to a standstill, and little advance was made tillafter the battle of Bosworth in 1485. The weak government of EdwardII, the long French War commenced by Edward III and lasting over ahundred years, and the Wars of the Roses, all combined to impoverishthe country. England, too, was repeatedly afflicted during thefourteenth and fifteenth centuries by pestilences, sometimes caused byfamines, sometimes coming with no apparent cause; all probablyaggravated, if not caused, by the insanitary habits of the people. Themention of plagues, indeed, at this time is so frequent that we maycall them chronic. 

At this period corn and wool were the two main products of the farmer;corn to feed his household and labourers, and wool to put money in hispocket, a somewhat rare thing. 

English wool, which came to be called 'the flower and strength andrevenue and blood of England', was famous in very early times, and wasexported long before the Conquest. In Edgar's reign the price wasfixed by law, to prevent it getting into the hands of the foreignertoo cheaply; a wey, or weigh, was to be sold for 120d. [101] PatrioticEnglishmen asserted it was the best in the world, and Henry II, EdwardIII, and Edward IV are said to have improved the Spanish breed bypresents of English sheep. Spanish wool, however, was considered thebest from the earliest times until the Peninsular War, when the Saxonand Silesian wools deposed it from its pride of place. Smith, in his_Memoirs of Wool_, [102] is of the opinion that England 'borrowed someparts of its breed from thence, as it certainly did the whole from oneplace or another. ' Spanish wool, too, was imported into England at anearly date, the manufacture of it being carried on at Andover in1262. [103] Yet until the fourteenth century it was not produced insufficient quantities to compete seriously with English wool in themarkets of the Continent; and it appears to have been the long wools, such as those of the modern Leicester and Lincoln, from which Englandchiefly derived its fame as a wool-producing country. 

Our early exports went to Flanders, where weaving had been introduceda century before the Conquest, and, in spite of the growth of theweaving industry in England, to that country the bulk of it continuedto go, all through the Middle Ages, though in the thirteenth century adetermined effort was made to divert a larger share of English wool toItaly. [104] During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the exportof wool was frequently forbidden, [105] sometimes for politicalobjects, but also to gain the manufacture of cloth for England bykeeping our wool from the foreigner; but these measures did not stopthe export, they only hampered it and encouraged much smuggling. Itcommanded what seems to us an astonishing price, for 3d. A lb. In thethirteenth and fourteenth centuries is probably equal to nearly 4s. Inour money. Its value, and the ease with which it could be packed andcarried, made it an object of great importance to the farmer. In1337[106] we have a schedule of the price of wool in the variouscounties of England, for in that year 30, 000 sacks of the best woolwas ordered to be bought in various districts by merchants for EdwardIII, to provide the sinews of war against France. The price for thebest wool was to be fixed by the king, his council, and the merchants;the 'gross' wool being bought by agreement between buyer and seller. Of the former the highest price fixed was for the wool of Hereford, then and for long afterwards famous for its excellent quality, 12marks the sack of 364 lb. ; and the lowest for that of the northerncounties, 5 marks the sack. 

Somewhat more than a century afterwards we have another similar listof wool prices, when in 1454 the Commons petitioned the king that 'asthe wools growing within this realm have hitherto been the greatcommodity, enriching, and welfare of this land, and how of late theprice is greatly decayed so that the Commons were not able to paytheir rents to their lords', the king would fix certain prices underwhich wools should not be bought. The highest price fixed was for thewool of 'Hereford, in Leominster', £13 a sack; the lowest for that ofSuffolk, £2 12s. [107]; the average being about £4 10s. 

The manorial accounts of the Knights' Hospitallers, who then held landall over England, afford valuable information as to agriculture in1338. [108] From these we gather that the rent of arable land variedfrom 2d. To 2s. An acre; but the latter sum was very exceptional, andthere are only two instances of it given, in Lincolnshire and Kent. Most of the tillage rented for less than 1s. An acre, more than halfbeing at 6d. Or under, and the average about 6d. On the other hand, meadow land is seldom of less value than 2s. An acre, and inWarwickshire, Oxfordshire, and Norfolk rose to 3s. This is one of thenumerous proofs of the great value of meadow land at a time when haywas almost the sole winter food of stock; in some places it was eightor ten times as valuable as the arable. [109] The pasture on theHospitallers' estates was divided into several and common pasture, theformer often reaching 1s. An acre and sometimes 2s. , the latter rarelyexceeding 4d. The most usual way, however, of stating the value ofpasture was by reckoning the annual cost of feeding stock per head, cows being valued at 2s. , oxen at 1s. , a horse at a little less thanan ox, a sheep at 1d. The reign of Edward III was a great era forwool-growers, and the Hospitallers at Hampton in Middlesex had a flockof 2, 000 sheep whose annual produce was six sacks of wool of 364 lb. Each, worth £4 a sack, which would make the fleeces weigh a littlemore than 1 lb. Each. The profit of cows on one of their manors wasreckoned at 2s. Per head, on another at 3s. ; and the profit of 100sheep at 20s. [110] The wages paid to the labourers for day work were2d. A day, and we must remember that when he was paid by the day hiswages were rightly higher than when regularly employed, for day labourwas irregular and casual. The tenants about the same date obtained thefollowing prices[111] for some of their stock:--

 £ s. D. 

 A good ox, alive, fatted on corn 1 4 0 " " " not on corn 16 0 A fatted cow 12 0 A two-year-old hog 3 4 A sheep and its fleece 1 8 A fatted sheep, shorn 1 2 " goose 0 3 Hens, each[112] 0 2 20 eggs 0 1

In the middle of the fourteenth century occurred the famous BlackDeath, the worst infliction that has ever visited England. Its storyis too well known for repetition, and it suffices to say that it waslike the bubonic plague in the East of to-day: it raged in 1348-9, andkilled from one-third to one-half of the people. [113] It is said tohave effected more important economic results than any other event inEnglish history. It is probable that the prices of labour were risingbefore this terrible calamity; the dreadful famine of 1315-6, [114]followed by pestilence, when wheat went up to 26s. A quarter, andaccording to the contemporary chroniclers, in some cases much higher, destroyed a large number of the population, and other plagues had donetheir share to make labour scarce, but after the Black Death theadvance was strongly marked. It also accelerated the break-up of themanorial system. A large number of the free labourers were swept away, and their labour lost to the lord of the manor; the services of thevilleins were largely diminished from the same cause; many of thetenants, both free and unfree, were dead, and the land thrown on thelord's hands. Flocks and herds were wandering about over the countrybecause there was no one to tend them. In short, most manors were in astate of anarchy, and their lords on the verge of ruin. It is not tobe wondered at, therefore, that they immediately adopted strongmeasures to save themselves and their property and, no doubt theythought, the whole country. Englishmen had by this time learnt to turnto Parliament to remedy their ills, but as the plague was still raginga proclamation was issued of which the preamble states that wages hadalready gone up greatly. 'Many, seeing the necessity of masters andgreat scarcity of servants, will not serve unless they get excessivewages', and it is, therefore, hard to till the land. Every one underthe age of 60, it was ordered, free or villein, who can work, and hasno other means of livelihood, is not to refuse to work for any one whooffers the accustomed wages; no labourer is to receive more wages thanhe did before the plague, and none are to give more wages under severepenalties. But besides regulating wages, the proclamation also insistson reasonable prices for food and the necessaries of life: it was afair attempt not only to protect the landlords but the labourers also, by keeping both wages and prices at their former rate, so that itsobject was not tyrannous as has been stated. [115] It was at oncedisregarded, a fate which met many of the proclamations and statutesof the Middle Ages, which often seem to have been regarded as merepious aspirations. 

Accordingly, the Statute of 1351, 25 Edw. III, Stat. 2, c. 1, statesthat the servants had paid no regard to the ordinance regulatingwages, 'but to their ease and singular covetise do withdraw themselvesunless they have livery and wages to the double or treble of that theywere wont to take'. Accordingly, it was again laid down that they wereto take liveries and wages as before the Black Death, and 'where wheatwas wont to be given they shall take for the bushel 10d. (6s. 8d. Aquarter), [116] or wheat at the will of the giver. And that they behired to serve by the whole year or by other usual terms, and not bythe day, and that none pay in the time of sarcling (weeding) orhay-making but a penny a day, and a mower of meadows for the acre 5d. , or by the day 5d. , and reapers of corn in the first week of August2d. , and the second 3d. , without meat or drink. ' And none were to takefor the threshing of a quarter of wheat or rye more than 2d. , and forthe quarter of beans, peas, and oats more than 1d. These prices arecertainly difficult to understand. Hay-making has usually been paidfor at a rate above the ordinary, because of the longer hours; andhere we find the price fixed at half the usual wages, while mowing isfive times as much, and double the price paid for reaping, though theywere normally about the same price. [117]

It is interesting to learn from the statute that there was aconsiderable migration of labourers at this date for the harvest, fromStafford, Lancaster, Derby, Craven, the Marches of Wales and Scotland, and other places. 

Such was the first attempt made to control the labourers' wages by thelegislature, and like other legislation of the kind it failed in itsobject, though the attempt was honestly made; and if the rate of wagesfixed was somewhat low, its inequity was far surpassed by theexorbitance of the labourers' demands. [118] It was an endeavour to setaside economic laws, and its futility was rendered more certain by thedepreciation of the coinage in 1351, which led to an advance inprices, and compelled the labourers to persevere in their demands forhigher wages. [119]

Both wages and prices, except those of grain, continued to increase, and labour services were now largely commuted for money payments, [120]with the result that the manorial system began to break up rapidly. 

Owing to the dearth of labourers for hire, and the loss of many of theservices of their villeins, the lords found it very hard to farm theirdemesne lands. It should be remembered, too, that an additionalhardship from which they suffered at this time was that the quit rentspaid to them in lieu of services by tenants who had already becomefree were, owing to the rise in prices, very much depreciated. Theirchief remedy was to let their demesne lands. The condition of theManor of Forncett in Norfolk well illustrates the changes that werenow going on. There, in the period 1272-1307, there were many freetenants as well as villeins, and the holdings of the latter weresmall, usually only 5 acres. It is also to be noticed that in no yearwere all the labour services actually performed, some were always soldfor money. Yet in the period named there was not much progress in thegeneral commutation of services for money payments, and the same wasthe case in the manors, whose records between 1325 and 1350 Mr. Pageexamined for his _End of Villeinage in England_. [121] The reaping andbinding of the entire grain crop of the demesne at Forncett was doneby the tenants exclusively, without the aid of any hired labour. [122]

However, in the period 1307-1376 the manor underwent a great change. The economic position of the villeins, the administration of thedemesne, and the whole organization of the manor were revolutionized. Much of the tenants' land had reverted to the lord, partly by thedeaths in the great pestilence, partly because tenants had left themanor; they had run away and left their burdensome holdings in orderto get high wages as free labourers. This of course led to adiminution of labour rents, so the landlord let most of the demesnefor a term of years, [123] a process which went on all over England;and thus we have the origin of the modern tenant farmer. A fact ofmuch importance in connexion with the Peasants' Revolt, soon to takeplace, was that the average money rent of land per acre in Forncett in1378 was 10d. , while the labour rents for land, where they were stillpaid by villeins who had not commuted or run away, were, owing to therise in the value of labour, worth two or three times this. We cannotwonder that the poor villeins were profoundly discontented. 

On this manor, as on others, some of the villeins, in spite of themany disadvantages under which they lay, managed to accumulate somelittle wealth. In 1378 and in 1410 one bond tenant had two messuagesand 78 acres of land; in 1441 another died seized of 5 messuages and52 acres; some had a number of servants in their households, but themajority were very poor. There are several instances of bondmenfleeing from the manor; and the officers of the manor failed to catchthem. This was common in other manors, and the 'withdrawal' ofvilleins played a considerable part in the disappearance of serfdomand the break-up of the system. [124] The following table shows thegradual disappearance of villeins in the Manor of Forncett:

 In 1400 the servile families who had land numbered 16 1500 " " " 8 1525 " " " 5 1550 " " " 3 1575 " " " 0

There is no event of greater importance in the agrarian history ofEngland, or which has led to more important consequences, than thedissolution of this community in the cultivation of the land, whichhad been in use so long, and the establishment of the completeindependence and separation of one property from another. [125] As soonas the manorial system began to give way, and men to have a free hand, the substitution of large for small holdings set in with fresh vigour, for we have already seen that it had begun. It was one of the chiefcauses of the stagnation of agriculture in the Middle Ages that it layunder the heavy hand of feudalism, by which individualism was checkedand hindered. Every one had his allotted position on the land, and itwas hard to get out of it, though some exceptional men did so; as arule there was no chance of striking out a new line for oneself. Thevillein was bound to the lord, and no lord would willingly surrenderhis services. There could be little improvement in farming when thecustom of the manor and the collective ownership of the teams boundall to the same system of farming. [126] In fact, agriculture underfeudalism suffered from many of the evils of socialism. 

But, though hard hit, the old system was to endure for manygenerations, and the modern triumvirate of landlord, tenant, andlabourer was not completely established in England until the era ofthe first Reform Bill. 

FOOTNOTES:

[101] Cunningham, _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_, i. 130. Aweigh in the Middle Ages was 182 lbs. , or half a sack. 

[102] Second edition, i. 50 n. See also Burnley, _History of Wool_, p. 17. 

[103] Gross, _Gild Merchant_, ii. 4. It is from the Spanish merino, crossed with Leicesters and Southdowns, that the vast Australianflocks of to-day are descended. 

[104] Cunningham, _op. Cit. _ i. 628. 

[105] Ashley, _Early History of English Woollen Industry_, p. 34. 

[106] _Calendar of Close Rolls_, 1337-9, pp. 148-9. 

[107] _Rolls of Parliament_, v. 275. 

[108] _The Hospitallers in England_, Camden Society. 

[109] Denton, _England in the Fifteenth Century_, p. 147. 

[110] _Hospitallers in England_, p. Xxvi. 

[111] Ibid. Pp. 1, li. 

[112] Poultry-keeping was wellnigh universal, judging by the number ofrents paid in fowls and eggs. 

[113] 1348 seems also to have been an excessively rainy year. The wetseason was very disastrous to live stock; according to the accounts ofthe manors of Christ Church, Canterbury, about this time (_HistoricalMSS. Commission, 5th Report_, 444) there died of the murrain on theirestates 257 oxen, 511 cows, 4, 585 sheep. Murrain was the name given toall diseases of stock in the Middle Ages, and is of constantoccurrence in old records. 

[114] The cause of this as usual was incessant rain during the greaterpart of the summer; the chronicles of the time say that not only werethe crops very short but those that did grow were diseased and yieldedno nourishment. The 'murrain' was so deadly to oxen and sheep that, according to Walsingham, dogs and ravens eating them dropped downdead. 

[115] See Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 335. Also in an agewhen the idea of Competitive price had not yet been evolved, and whenregulation by authority was the custom, it was natural and right thatthe Government in such a crisis should try to check the demands ofboth labourers and producers, which went far beyond what employers orconsumers could pay. Putnam, _Enforcement of the Statute ofLabourers_, 220. 

[116] The average price of wheat in 1351 was 10s. 2-1/2d. , which wentdown to 7s. 2d. Next year, and 4s. 2-1/2d. The year after; but judgingby the ineffectiveness of the statute to reduce wages, it probably hadlittle effect in causing this fall. 

[117] See Appendix I. 

[118] Putnam, _op. Cit. _, 221. The statute for the first ten years, however, kept wages from ascending as high as might have been thecase. 

[119] McPherson, _Annals of Commerce_, i. 543, says that as the plaguediminished the number of employers as well as labourers, the demandfor labour could not have been much greater than before, and wouldhave had little effect on the rate of if Edward III had not debasedthe coinage. But if the owners did decrease the lands would onlyaccumulate in fewer hands, and would still require cultivation. 

[120] Page, _End of Villeinage_, pp. 59 et seq. 

[121] Ibid. P. 44. 

[122] _Transactions_, Royal Historical Society, New Series, xiv. 123. 

[123] This had been done before, but was now much more frequent. Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ p. 17. 

[124] 'After the Black Death the flight of villeins was extremelycommon. '--Page, _op. Cit. _, p. 40. 

[125] Nasse, _Agricultural Community of the Middle Ages_, p. 1. 

[126] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 137. 

CHAPTER IV

HOW THE CLASSES CONNECTED WITH THE LAND LIVED IN THE MIDDLE AGES

The castles of the great landowners have been so often described thatthere is no need to do this again. The popular idea of a baron of theMiddle Ages is of a man who when he was not fighting was jousting orhunting. Such were, no doubt, his chief recreations; so fond was he ofhunting, indeed, that his own broad lands were not enough, and he wasa frequent trespasser on those of others; the records of the time arefull of cases which show that poaching was quite a fashionableamusement among the upper classes. But among the barons were many menwho, like their successors to-day, did their duty as landlords. Of oneof the Lords of Berkeley in the fourteenth century, it was said he was'sometyme in husbandry at home, sometyme at sport in the field, sometyme in the campe, sometyme in the Court and Council of State, with that promptness and celerity that his body might have benebelieved to be ubiquitary'. Many of them were farmers on a very largescale, though they might not have so much time to devote to it asthose excellent landlords the monks. 

Thomas Lord Berkeley, who held the Berkeley estates from 1326 to 1361, farmed the demesnes of a quantity of manors, as was the custom, andkept thereon great flocks of sheep, ranging from 300 to 1, 500 on eachmanor. [127] The stock of the Bishop of Winchester, by an inquisitiontaken at his death in 1367, amounted to 127 draught horses, 1, 556 headof black cattle, and 12, 104 sheep and lambs. Almost every manor hadone or two pigeon houses, and the number of pigeons reared isastonishing; from one manor Lord Berkeley obtained 2, 151 pigeons in asingle year. No one but the lord was allowed to keep them, and theywere one of the chief grievances of the villeins, who saw their seeddevoured by these pests without redress. Their dung, too, was one ofthe most valued manures. Lord Berkeley, like other landlords, wentoften in progress from one of his manors and farmhouses to another, making his stay at each of them for one or two nights, overseeing anddirecting the husbandry. The castle of the great noble consumed anenormous amount of food in the course of the year; from two manors onthe Berkeley estate came to the 'standinghouse' of the lord in twelvemonths, 17, 000 eggs, 1, 008 pigeons, 91 capons, 192 hens, 288 ducks, 388 chickens, 194 pigs, 45 calves, 315 quarters of wheat, 304 quartersof oats; and from several other manors came the like or greater store, besides goats, sheep, oxen, butter, cheese, nuts, honey, &c. [128] Eventhe lavish hospitality of the lords, and the great number of theirretainers, must have had some difficulty in disposing of these hugesupplies. 

The examining of their bailiff's accounts must have taken aconsiderable portion of the landlord's time, for those of each manorwere kept most minutely, and set forth, among other items, 'in whatsort he husbanded' the demesne farms, 'what sorts of cattle he kept inthem, and what kinds of graine he yearly sowed according to thequality and condition of the ground, and how those kinds of graineeach second or third yeare were exchanged or brought from one manor toanother as the vale corne into an upland soyle, and contrarily'. Andwe are told incidentally he 'set with hand, not sowed his beanes'. Hewas also accustomed to move his live stock from one manor to another, as they needed it. 

The accounts also stated what days' works were due from each tenantaccording to the season of the year, and at the end of each year therewas a careful valuation of live and dead stock. [129]

The differencebetween the smaller gentry and the more important yeomen[130] whofarmed their own land must have been very slight. No doubt both ofthem were very rough and ignorant men, who knew a great deal about thecultivation of their land and very little about anything else. We maybe sure that the ordinary house of both was generally of wood; asthere is no stone in many parts of England, and bricks were notreintroduced till the fourteenth century and spread slowly. Even inElizabeth's reign, Harrison[131] tells us that 'the ancient houses ofour gentry are yet for the most part of strong timber', and he eventhinks that houses made of oak were luxurious, for in times past menhad been contented with houses of willow, plum, and elm, but nownothing but oak was good enough; and he quaintly says that the men wholived in the willow houses were as tough as oak, and those who livedin the oak as soft as willow. There are very few mansions left of thetime before Edward III, for being of timber they naturally decayed. 

In a lease, dated 1152, of a manor house belonging to S. Paul'sCathedral, [132] is a description of a manor house which contained ahall 35 feet long, 30 feet broad, and 22 feet high; that is, 11 feetto the tie beam and 11 feet from that to the ridge board; showing thatthe roof was open and that there were no upper rooms. There was achamber between the hall and the thalamus or inner room which was 12feet long, 17 feet broad, and 17 feet high, the roof being open as inthe hall; and the thalamus was 22 feet long, 16 feet broad, and 18feet high. About the same date the Manor house of Thorp was larger, and contained a hall, a chamber, tresantia (apparently part of thehall or chamber separated by a screen to form an antechamber), twoprivate rooms, a kitchen, brew-house, malt-house, dairy, ox shed, andthree small hen-houses. 

The ordinary manor house of the Middle Ages contained three rooms atleast, of mean aspect, the floor even of the hall, which was theprincipal eating and sleeping room, being of dirt; and when there wasan upper room or solar added, which began to be done at the end of thetwelfth century, [133] access to it was often obtained by an outsidestaircase. 

If the manor house belonged to the owner of many manors, it wassometimes inhabited by his bailiff. 

The barns on the demesnes were often as important buildings as themanor houses; one at Wickham, belonging to the canons of S. Paul's[134]in the twelfth century, was 55 feet long, 13 feet high from the floorto the principal beam, and 10-1/2 feet more to the ridge board; thebreadth between the pillars was 19-1/2 feet, and on each side it had awing or aisle 6-1/2 feet wide and 6-1/2 feet high. The amount of cornin the barn was often scored on the door-posts. [135] In the manorhouses chimneys rarely existed, the fire being made in the middle ofthe hall. Even in the early seventeenth century in Cheshire there wereno chimneys in the farmhouses, and there the oxen were kept under thesame roof as the farmer and his family. [136] When chimneys did come inthey were not much thought of. 'Now we have chimneys our tenderlingscomplain of rheums, catarrhs, and poses (colds);' for the smoke notonly hardened the timbers, but was said by Harrison to be an excellentmedicine for man. Instead of glass there was much lattice, and thatmade either of wicker or fine rifts of oak in checkerwise, and hornwas also used. Beds, of course, were a luxury, the owner of the manor, his guests, and retainers flung themselves down on the hall floorafter supper and all slept together, though sometimes rough mattresseswere brought in. 

Furniture was rude and scanty. In 1150 the farm implements andhousehold furniture on the Manor of 'Waleton' was valued and consistedof 4 carts, 3 baskets, a basket used in winnowing corn, a pair ofmillstones, 10 tubs, 4 barrels, 2 boilers of lead with stoves, 2wooden bowls, 3 three-legged tables, 20 dishes or platters, 2tablecloths worth 6d. , 6 metal bowls, half a load of the invaluablesalt, 2 axes, a table with trestles (the usual form of table), and 5beehives made of rushes. [137] These articles were handed down from onegeneration to another, and in a lease made 150 years afterwards of thesame manor most of them reappear. The greater part of the furniture, until the fifteenth century, was most likely made by migratoryworkmen, who travelled from village to village; for except the rudestpieces it was beyond the village carpenter, and shops there were none. 

It is not to be expected that when the master lived in this manner thelot of the labourer was a very good one. His home was miserably poor, generally of 'wattle and dab', sometimes wholly of mud and clay; manywith only one room for all purposes. A bill is still in existence fora house, if it can be called one, built in 1306 for two labourers byQueen's College, Oxford, which cost 20s. In all, and was a mere hovelwithout floor, ceiling, or chimney. [138] Their wretched houses appearto have been built on the bare earth, and unfloored. Perhaps as timewent on a rude upper storey was added, the floor of which was made ofrough poles or hurdles and was reached by a ladder. The furniture wasmiserably poor; a few pots and pans, cups and dishes, and some toolswould exhaust the list. [139] The goods and chattels of a landlesslabourer in 1431 consisted of a dish, an adze, a brass pot, 2 plates, 2 augers, an axe, a three-legged stool, and a barrel. [140] Englishmenof all classes were hopelessly dirty in their habits; even till thesixteenth century they were noted above other countries for theprofuseness of their diet and their unclean ways. Erasmus spoke of thefloor of his house as inconceivably filthy. To save fuel, thelabourer's family in the cold season all lay huddled in a heap on thefloor, 'pleasantly and hot', as Barclay the poet tells us; and if heever had a bed it was a bundle of fern or straw thrown down, with hiscloak as a coverlet, though thus he was just as well off as his socialsuperiors, for with them the loose cloak of the day was a commoncovering for the night. He was constantly exposed to disease, forsanitary precautions were ignored; at the entrance of his hovel was ahuge heap of decaying refuse, poisoning air and water. Even in thesixteenth century a foreigner noticed that 'the peasants dwell insmall huts and pile up their refuse out of doors in heaps so high thatyou cannot see their houses'. [141] Diseased animals were constantlyeaten, vegetables were few, and in the winter there was no fresh meatfor any one, except game and rabbits and, for the well-to-do, fish, but we may doubt if the peasant got any but salt fish. The consequencewas that leprosy and kindred ailments were common; and we do notwonder that plagues were frequent and slew the people like flies. Thepeasants' food consisted largely of corn. In the bailiff's accounts ofthe Manor of Woodstock in 1242, six servants at Handborough received41-1/2 bushels of corn each, 2 ox herds at Combe received the same, and4 servants at Bladon had 36 bushels each. In 1274 at Bosham, and in1288 at Stoughton in Sussex, the allowance was the same. [142] Thewriter of the anonymous _Treatise on Husbandry_ says that in his time, the thirteenth century, the average annual allowance of corn to alabourer was 36 bushels. [143] Fish, too, seem to have formed a largeportion of his diet; all classes ate enormous quantities of fish, before the Reformation, in Lent and on fast days, and the labourer wasconstantly given salt herrings as part of his pay. In 1359, atHawsted, the villeins when working were allowed 2 herrings a day, somemilk, a loaf, and some drink. [144] Eden[145] says his food consistedof a few fish, principally herrings, a loaf of bread, and some beer;but we must certainly add pork, which was his stand-by then asnow. [146] In the fourteenth century, at all events, there were threekinds of bread in use--white bread, ration bread, and black bread; andit was no doubt the latter that the peasant ate. [147] Clothing wasdear and cloth coarse, the most valuable personal property consistingof clothing and metal vessels. Shirts were the subject of charitablegifts. [148] By 37 Edw. III, c. 14, labourers were not to wear anymanner of cloth but 'blanket and russet wool of 12d. ' and girdles oflinen. If they wore anything more extravagant it was forfeited to theking. 

To the labourer of modern times the life of his forefathers would haveseemed unutterably dull. No books, no newspapers, no change of sceneby cheap excursions, no village school, no politics. The verycultivation of the soil by the old three-course system was monotonous. But there were bright spots in his existence: the village church notonly afforded him the consolations of religion but also entertainmentsand society. Religion in the Middle Ages was a part of the people'sdaily life, and its influence permeated even their amusements. Miracles and mystery plays, played in the churches and churchyards, were a common feature in village life; as were the church ales orparish meetings held four or five times a year, where cakes and beerwere purchased from the churchwarden and consumed for the good of theparish. Indeed, there can be no doubt that there was much moresociability than to-day, in the country at least. Labour was lightenedby the co-operation of the common fields; common shepherds andherdsmen watched the sheep and cattle of the different tenants, 'acommon mill ground the corn, a common oven baked the bread, a commonsmith worked at a common forge. ' His existence, moreover, wasenlivened by a considerable number of sports. A statute at the end ofthe fourteenth century (12 Ric. II, c. 6) says he was fond of playingat tennis(!), football, quoits, dice, casting the stone, and othergames, which this statute forbad him, and enacted that he should usehis bow and arrows on Sundays and holidays instead of such idle sport. This is a foretaste of the modern sentiment that seeks to wean himfrom watching football matches and take to miniature rifle clubs. Hewas also, like some of his successors, fond of poaching, though heappears to have been rash enough to indulge in it by day. 13 Ric. II, c. 13, says he was prone on holidays, when good Christian people be inchurch hearing divine service, to go hunting with greyhounds and otherdogs, in the parks and warrens of the lord and of others, andsometimes these hunts were turned into conferences and conspiracies, 'for to rise and disobey their allegiance', such as preceded thePeasants' Revolt of 1381; and accordingly no one who did not own landsworth 40s. A year was to keep a dog to hunt, or ferrets other'engines': the first game law on the English statute book. 

FOOTNOTES:

[127] Smyth, _Lives of the Berkeleys_, i. 302. No doubt the riches ofthe Berkeleys were considerably greater than those of many of thebarons. 

[128] _Lives of the Berkeleys_, i. 166. There is no reason to doubtSmyth, as he wrote with the original accounts before him. 

[129] _Lives of the Berkeleys_, i. 156. 

[130] The yeoman is said to have made his appearance in the fifteenthcentury, but the small freeholders of the manor before that date wereto all intents and purposes yeomen. No doubt, as trade grew in thefourteenth and fifteenth centuries successful tradesmen bought smallfreeholds in the country and swelled the numbers of yeomen. 

[131] Harrison, _Description of Britain_, F. J. Furnivall edn. , p. 337. 

[132] _Domesday of S. Paul_, Camden Society, p. 129. 

[133] Turner, _Domestic Architecture_, i. 59. 

[134] _Domesday of S. Paul_, p. 123. 

[135] _Historical MSS. Commission Report_, v. 444. 

[136] Ormerod, _History of Cheshire_, i. 129. 

[137] _Domesday of S. Paul_, p. Xcvii. 

[138] Denton, _England in the Fifteenth Century_. 

[139] Eden, _State of the Poor_, i. 21. 

[140] See Cullum, _History of Hawsted_. 

[141] Harrison, _Description of Britain_, Appendix ii, lxxxi. In somemanors, however, there were careful regulations for public health. According to the Durham _Halmote Rolls_, published by the SurteesSociety, village officials watched over the water supply, preventedthe fouling of streams; bye-laws were enacted as to the regulation ofthe common place for clothes washing, and the times for emptying andcleansing ponds and mill-dams. 

[142] Ballard, _Domesday_, Antiquary Series, p. 209. 

[143] Walter of Henley, Royal Historical Society, p. 75. 

[144] Cullum, _Hawsted_, 1784 ed. , p. 182. 

[145] _State of the Poor_, i. 15. 

[146] Thorold Rogers, _History of Agriculture and Prices_, i. 32. 

[147] See _Knights Hospitallers in England_, Camden Society, Introduction. 

[148] Thorold Rogers, _op. Cit. _ i. 66. 

CHAPTER V

THE BREAK-UP OF THE MANOR. --SPREAD OF LEASES. --THE PEASANTS'REVOLT. --FURTHER ATTEMPTS TO REGULATE WAGES. --A HARVEST HOME. --BEGINNING OF THE CORN LAWS. --SOME SURREY MANORS

We have seen that the landlords' profits were seriously diminished bythe Black Death, and they cast about them for new ways of increasingtheir incomes. Arable land had been until now largely in excess ofpasture, the cultivation of corn was the chief object of agriculture, bread forming a much larger proportion of men's diet than now. Thisbegan to change. Much of the land was laid down to grass, and therewas a steady increase in sheep farming; thus commenced that revolutionin farming which in the sixteenth century led Harrison to say thatEngland was mainly a stock-raising country. The lords also let aconsiderable amount of their demesne land on leases for years. 'Thenbegan the times to alter' says Smyth of the Lord Berkeley of the endof the fourteenth century, 'and hee with them, and he began to tackother men's cattle on his pasture by the week, month, and quarter, andto sell his meadow grounds by the acre. And in the time of Henry IVstill more and more was let, and in succeeding times. As for the days'works of the copyhold tenants, they also were turned into money. '[149]Such leases had been used long before this, but this is the date oftheir great increase. In the thirteenth century a lease of 2 acres ofarable land in Nowton, Suffolk, let the land at 6d. An acre per annumfor a term of six years. [150] It contains no clauses aboutcultivation; the landlord warrants the said 2 acres to the tenant, andthe tenant agrees to give them up at the end of the term freely andpeaceably. The deed was indented, sealed, and witnessed by severalpersons. The impoverished landlords also let much of their land onstock and land leases. The custom of stocking the tenants' land was avery ancient one: the lord had always found the oxen for the ploughteams of the villeins. In the leases of the manors of S. Paul's in thetwelfth century the tenant for life received stock both live and dead, which when he entered was carefully enumerated in the lease, and atthe end of the tenancy he had to leave behind the same quantity. [151]It was a common practice also, before the Black Death, for the lord tolet out cows and sheep at so much per head per annum. [152] The stockand land lease therefore was no novelty. In 1410 there is a lease ofthe demesne lands at Hawsted by which the landlord kept the manorhouse and its appurtenances in his own hands, the tenant apparentlyhaving the farm buildings, which he was to keep in repair. He was toreceive at the beginning of the term 20 cows and one bull, worth 9s. Each; 4 stotts, worth 10s. Each; and 4 oxen, worth 13s. 4d. Each;which, or their value in money, were to be delivered up at the end ofthe term. The tenant was also to leave at the end of the lease as manyacres well ploughed, sown, and manured as he found at the beginning. Otherwise the landlord was not to interfere with the cultivation. Ifthe rent or any part thereof was in arrear for a fortnight after thetwo fixed days for payment, the landlord might distrain; and if for amonth, he might re-enter: and both parties bound themselves to forfeitthe then huge sum of £100 upon the violation of any clause of thelease. [153] There is a lease[154] of a subsequent date (the twentiethyear of Henry VIII), but one which well illustrates the custom now soprevalent, granted by the Prior of the Monastery of Lathe in Somersetto William Pole of Combe, Edith his wife, and Thomas his son, fortheir lives. With the land went 360 wethers. For the land they paid 16quarters of best wheat, 'purelye thressyd and wynowed, ' 22 quarters ofbest barley, and were to carry 4 loads of wood and fatten one ox forthe prior yearly; the ox to be fattened in stall with the best hay, the only way then known of fattening oxen. For the flock of wethersthey paid £6 yearly. The tenants were bound to keep hedges, ditches, and gates in repair. Also they were bound by a 'writing obligatory' inthe sum of £100 to deliver up the wether flock whole and sound, 'notrotten, banyd, [155] nor otherwise diseased. ' The consequence of thespread of leases was that the portion of the demesne lands which thelords farmed themselves dwindled greatly, or it was turned from arableinto grass. Stock and land leases survived in some parts till thebeginning of the eighteenth century, when it was still the custom forthe landlord to stock the land and receive half the crop forrent. [156] According to the _Domesday of S. Paul_, in the thirteenthcentury, a survey of eighteen manors containing 24, 000 acres showedthree-eighths of the land in demesne, the rest in the hands of thetenants. In 1359 the lord of the principal manor at Hawsted held inhis own hand 572 acres of arable land, worth 4d. To 6d. An acre rent, and 50 acres of meadow, worth 2s. An acre. [157] He had also pasturefor 24 cows, which was considered worth 36s. A year, and for 12 horsesand 12 oxen worth 48s. A year, with 40 acres of wood, estimated at 1s. An acre. In 1387, however, the arable land had decreased to 320 acres, but the stock had increased, and now numbered 4 cart horses, 6 stottsor smaller horses, 10 oxen, 1 bull, 26 cows, 6 heifers, 6 calves, 92wethers, 20 hoggerells or two-year-old sheep, 1 gander, 4 geese, 30capons, 26 hens, and only one cock. The dairy of 26 cows was let out, according to the custom of the time, for £8 a year; and we are toldthat the oxen were fed on oats, and shod in the winter only. 

But if the position of the lords was severely affected by the greatpestilence that of the villeins was also. The villein himself wasbecoming a copyholder; in the thirteenth century the nature of hisholding had been written on the court roll, before long he was given acopy of the roll, and by the fifteenth century he was acopyholder. [158] There was, too, a new spirit abroad in this centuryof disorganization and reform, which stirred even the villeins with adesire for better conditions of life. These men, thus rising to a moreassured position and animated by new hopes, saw all round them hiredlabourers obtaining, in spite of the Statute of Labourers, double theamount of wages they had formerly received, while they were bound downto the same services as before. The advance in prices was furtherincreased by the king's issuing in 1351 an entirely new coinage, ofthe same fineness but of less weight than the old; so that the demandsof the labourers after the Black Death were largely justified by thedepreciation in the currency. [159] There had also arisen at this time, owing to the increase in the wealth of the country, a new class oflandlords who did not care for the old system[160]; and it is probablythese men who are meant by the statute I Ric. II, c. 6, whichcomplains that the villeins daily withdrew their services to theirlords at the instigation of various counsellors and abettors, who madeit appear by 'colour of certain exemplifications made out of the Bookof Domesday' that they were discharged from their services, andmoreover gathered themselves in great routs and agreed to aid eachother in resisting their lords, so that justices were appointed tocheck this evil. But there were other 'counsellors and abettors' ofthe Peasants' Revolt than the new landlords. One of its mostinteresting features to modern readers is its thorough organization. Travelling agents and agitators like John Ball were all over thecountry, money was subscribed and collected, and everything was ripefor the great rising of 1381, which was brought to a head by the badgrading of the poll tax of King Richard. It has been said that thechief grievance of the villeins was that the lords of manors wereattempting to reimpose commuted services, but judging by the petitionto the King when he met them at Mile-end there can be no doubt thatthe chief grievance was the continuance of existing services. 'Wewill', said they, 'that ye make us free for ever, and that we becalled no more bond, or so reputed. ' Also, as Walsingham says, [161]they were careful to destroy the rolls and ancient records wherebytheir services were fixed, and to put to death persons learned in thelaw. 

As every one knows, the revolt was a failure; and whether itultimately helped much to extinguish serfdom is doubtful. It probably, like the pestilence, accelerated a movement which had been for sometime in progress and was inevitable. There is ample evidence to provethat there was a very general continuance of predial services afterthe revolt, though they went on rapidly decreasing. One of the chiefmethods adopted by the villeins to gain their freedom was desertion, and so common did this become that apparently the mere threat ofdesertion enabled the villein to obtain almost any concession from hislord, who was afraid lest his land should be utterly deserted. Theresult was that by the middle of the fifteenth century the abolitionof labour services was approaching completion. [162] It lingered on, and Fitzherbert lamented in Elizabeth's reign the continuance ofvilleinage as a disgrace to England; but it had then nearlydisappeared, and was unheard of after the reign of James I. [163]

Seven years after the Peasants' Revolt another attempt was made toregulate agricultural wages by the statute 12 Ric. II, c. 4, whichstated that 'the hires of the said servants and labourers have notbeen put on certainty before this time', though we have seen that theAct of 1351 tried to settle wages. In the preamble it is said that thestatute was enacted because labourers 'have refused for a long seasonto work without outrageous and excessive hire', and owing to thescarcity of labourers 'husbands' could not pay their rents, a sentencewhich shows the general use of money rents. 

The wages were as follows, apparently with food:--

 s. D. 

 A bailiff annually, and clothing once a year 13 4 A master hind, without clothing 10 0 A carter, " " 10 0 A shepherd, " " 10 0 An ox or cow herd " " 6 8 Swine herd or female labourer, without clothing 6 0 A plough driver, without clothing 7 0

The farm servants' food would be worth considerably more than theactual cash he received; a quarter of wheat, barley, and rye mixedevery nine weeks was no unusual allowance, which at 4s. 4d. Would beworth about 25s. A year. He would also have his harvest allowance, though the statute above forbids any perquisites, worth about 3s. , andsometimes it was accompanied by the gift of a pig, some beer, or someherrings. [164] His wife also, at a time when women did the same workas the men, could earn 1d. A day, and his boy perhaps 1/2d. If hiswages were wholly paid in money, we may say that in the last half ofthe fourteenth century the ordinary labourer earned 3d. A day, so thatas corn and pork, his chief food, had not risen at all, he was muchbetter off than in the preceding 100 years. 

Cullum, in his invaluable _History of Hawsted_, gives us a picture ofharvesting on the demesne lands in 1389 which shows an extraordinarilybusy scene. There were 200 acres of all kinds of corn to be gatheredin, and over 300 people took part; though apparently such a crowd wasonly collected for the two principal days of the harvest, and it mustbe remembered that the towns were emptied into the country at thisimportant season. The number of people for one day comprised a carter, ploughman, head reaper, cook, baker, brewer, shepherd, daya(dairymaid); 221 hired reapers; 44 pitchers, stackers, and reapers(not hired, evidently villeins paying their rents by work); 22 otherreapers, hired for goodwill (_de amore_); and 20 customary tenants. This small army of men consumed 22 bushels of wheat, 8 pennyworth ofbeer, and 41 bushels of malt, worth 18s. 9-1/2d. ; meat to the value of9s. 11-1/2d. ; fish and herrings, 5s. 1d. ; cheese, butter, milk, andeggs, 8s. 3-1/2d. ; oatmeal, 5d. Salt, 3d. ; pepper and saffron, 10d. , the latter apparently introduced into England in the time of EdwardIII, and much used for cooking and medicine, but it gradually went outof fashion, and by the end of the eighteenth century was onlycultivated in one or two counties, notably Essex where Saffron Waldenrecalls its use; candles, 6d. ; and 5 pairs of gloves 10d. [165]

The presentation of gloves was a common custom in England; and thesewould be presented as a sign of good husbandry, as in the case of therural bridegroom in the account of Queen Elizabeth's visit toKenilworth who wore gloves to show he was a good farmer. Tusser bidsthe farmer give gloves to his reapers. The custom was still observedat Hawsted in 1784, and in Eden's time, 1797, the bursars of NewCollege, Oxford, presented each of their tenants with two pairs, whichthe recipients displayed on the following Sunday at church byconspicuously hanging their hands over the pew to show theirneighbours they had paid their rent. In this account of the Hawstedharvest the large number of hired men and the few customary tenants isnoteworthy as a sign of the times, for before the Black Death theharvest work on the demesne was the special work of the latter. 

In the fourteenth century the long series of corn laws was commencedwhich was to agitate Englishmen for centuries, and after an apparentlyfinal settlement in 1846 to reappear in our day. [166] It was thepolicy of Edward III to make food plentiful and cheap for the wholenation, without special regard to the agricultural interest: and by 34Edw. III, c. 20, the export of corn to any foreign part except Calaisand Gascony, then British possessions, or to certain places which theking might permit, was forbidden. Richard II, however, reversed thispolicy in answer to the complaints of agriculturists whose rents werefalling, [167] and endeavoured to encourage the farmer and especiallythe corn-grower; for he saw the landlords turning their attention tosheep instead of corn, owing to the high price of labour. Accordingly, to give the corn-growers a wider market, he allowed his subjects bythe statute 17 Ric. II, c. 7, to carry corn, on paying the duties due, to what parts they pleased, except to his enemies, subject however toan order of the Council; and owing to the interference of the Councilthe law probably became a dead letter, at all events we find itconfirmed and amended by 4 Hen. VI, c. 5. 

The prohibition of export must have been a serious blow to thosecounties near the sea, for it was much easier to send corn by ship toforeign parts than over the bad roads of England to some distantmarket. [168] Indeed, judging by the great and frequent discrepancy ofprices in different places at the same date, the dispatch of corn fromone inland locality to another was not very frequent. Richard alsoattempted to stop the movement, which had even then set in, of thecountrymen to the growing towns, forbidding by 12 Ric. II, c. 5, thosewho had served in agriculture until 12 years of age to be apprenticedin the towns, but to 'abide in husbandry'. 

One of the most unjust customs of the Middle Ages was that which badethe tenants of manors, except those who held the _jus faldae_, foldtheir sheep on the land of the lord, thus losing both the manure andthe valuable treading. [169] However, sometimes, as in Surrey, thesheepfold was in a fixed place and the manure from it was from time totime taken out and spread on the land. [170]

In the same district horses had been hitherto used for farm work, asit was considered worthy of note that oxen were beginning to be addedto the horse teams. The milk of two good cows in twenty-four weeks wasconsidered able to make a wey of cheese, and in addition half a gallonof butter a week; and the milk of 20 ewes was equal to that of 3 cows. 

On the Manor of Flaunchford, near Reigate, the demesne land amountedto 56 acres of arable and two meadows, but there must have been theusual pasture in addition to keep the following head of stock: 13cows, who in the winter were fed from the racks in the yard; 4 calves, bought at 1s. Each; 12 oxen for ploughing, whose food was oats andhay--a very large number for 56 acres of arable, and they wereprobably used on another manor; 1 stott, used for harrowing; a goat, and a sow. 

 £ s. D. 

 In 1382 the total receipts of this manor were 8 1 9-1/2 The total expenses 7 0 5 -------------- Profit £1 1 4-1/2 ==============

 Among the receipts were:-- For the lord's plough, let to farmers (perhaps this accounts for the large team of oxen kept) 6 8 14 bushels of apples 1 2 5 loads of charcoal 16 8 A cow 10 0 Among the payments:-- For keeping plough in repair, and the wages of a blacksmith, one year by agreement 6 8 Making a new plough from the lord's timber 6 Mowing 2 acres of meadow 1 0 Making and carrying hay of ditto, with help of lord's servants 4 Threshing wheat, peas, and tares, per quarter 4 " oats, per quarter 1-1/2 Winnowing 3 quarters of corn 1 Cutting and binding wheat and oats, per acre 6

On the Manor of Dorking the harvest lasted five weeks as a rule; thefore feet only of oxen used for ploughing, and of heifers used forharrowing, were shod. For washing and shearing sheep 10d. A hundredwas the price; ploughing for winter corn cost 6d. An acre, andharrowing 1/2d. 30-1/2 acres of barley produced 41-1/2 quarters; 28acres of oats produced 38-1/2 quarters; 13 cows were let for theseason at 5s. Each. In the same reign, at Merstham, the demesne landsof 166-1/2 acres were let on lease with all the live and dead stock, which was valued at £22 9s. 3d. , and the rent was £36 or about 4s. 4d. An acre, an enormous price even including the stock. 

FOOTNOTES:

[149] Smyth, _Lives of the Berkeleys_, ii. 5. There is no doubt thelease system was growing in the thirteenth century. About 1240 thewrit _Quare ejecit infra terminum_ protected the person of a tenantfor a term of years, who formerly had been regarded as having no morethan a personal right enforceable by an action of covenant. Vinogradoff, _Villeinage in England_, p. 330; but leases for lives andnot for years seem the rule at that date. 

[150] Cullum, _Hawsted_, p. 175. 

[151] See _Domesday of S. Paul_, Introduction. 

[152] Thorold Rogers, _History of Agriculture and Prices_, i. 25. 

[153] Cullum, _Hawsted_, p. 195. 

[154] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 586. 

[155] Banyd, afflicted with sheep rot. 

[156] Eden, _State of the Poor_, i. 55. 

[157] Cullum, _Hawsted_, p. 182. Another instance of the difference invalue between arable and tillage. At the inquisition of the Manor ofGreat Tey in Essex, 1326, the jury found that 500 acres of arable landwas worth 6d. An acre rent, 20 acres of meadow 3s. An acre, and 10acres of pasture 1s. An acre. _Archaeologia_, xii. 30. 

[158] Medley, _Constitutional History_, p. 52. 

[159] Cunningham, _op. Cit. _ i. 328, and 335-6. 

[160] _Domesday of S. Paul_, p. Lvii. 

[161] _Hist. Angl. _, Rolls Series, i. 455. The other political andsocial causes of the revolt do not concern us here. The attempt tominimize its agrarian importance is strange in the light of the wordsand acts above mentioned. 

[162] Page, _op. Cit. _ p. 77. 

[163] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 402, 534; _Transactionsof the Royal Historical Society_, New Series, xvii. 235. Fitzherbertprobably referred more to villein status, which continued longer thanvillein tenure. 

[164] Thorold Rogers, _History of Agriculture and Prices_, i. 278, 288. 

[165] Harrison, _Description of Britain_, p. 233, says the produce ofan acre of saffron was usually worth £20. 

[166] Exportation of corn is mentioned in 1181, when a fine was paidto the king for licence to ship corn from Norfolk and Suffolk toNorway. --McPherson, _Annals of Commerce_, i. 345. As early as thereign of Henry II, Henry of Huntingdon says, German silver came to buyour most precious wool, our milk (no doubt converted into butter andcheese), and our innumerable cattle. --Rolls Series, p. 5. In 1400, the_Chronicle of London_ says the country was saved from dearth by theimportation of rye from Prussia. 

[167] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _. P. 32. 

[168] Lord Berkeley, about 1360, had a ship of his own for exportingwool and corn and bringing back foreign wine and wares. --Smyth, _Livesof the Berkeleys_, i. 365. 

[169] Nasse, _Agricultural Community of the Middle Ages_, p. 66. 

[170] Customs in some Surrey manors in the time of Richard II, _Archaeologia_, xviii. 281. 

CHAPTER VI

1400-1540

THE SO-CALLED 'GOLDEN AGE OF THE LABOURER' IN A PERIOD OF GENERALDISTRESS

In this period the average prices of grain remained almost unchangeduntil the last three decades, when they began slowly and steadily tocreep up, this advance being helped to some extent by defectiveharvests. In 1527, according to Holinshed it rained from April 12 toJune 3 every day or night; in May thirty hours without ceasing; andthe floods did much damage to the corn. In 1528 incessant deluges ofrain prevented the corn being sown in the spring, and grain had to beimported from Germany. The price of wheat was a trifle higher than inthe period 1259-1400; barley, oats, and beans lower; rye higher. [171]Oxen and cows were dearer, horses about the same, sheep a littlehigher, pigs the same, poultry and eggs dearer, wool the same, cheeseand butter dearer. The price of wheat was sometimes subject toastonishing fluctuations: in 1439 it varied from 8s. To 26s. 8d. ; in1440 from 4s. 2d. To 25s. The rent of land continued the same, arableaveraging 6d. An acre, [172] though this was partly due to the factthat rents, although now generally paid in money, were still fixed andcustomary; for the purchase value of land had now risen to twentyyears instead of twelve. [173] The art of farming hardly made anyprogress, and the produce of the land was consequently about the sameor a little better than in the preceding period. [174]

At the end of the fourteenth century the ordinary wheat crop atHawsted was in favourable years about a quarter to the acre, but itwas often not more than 6 bushels; and this was on demesne land, usually better tilled than non-demesne land. [175] As for the labourer, it is well known that Thorold Rogers calls the fifteenth century hisgolden age, and seeing that his days' wages, if he 'found himself', were now 4d. And prices were hardly any higher all round than when heearned half the money in the thirteenth century, there is much tosupport his view. As to whether he was better off than the modernlabourer it is somewhat difficult to determine; as far as wages wenthe certainly was, for his 4d. A day was equal to about 4s. Now; it istrue that on the innumerable holidays of the Church he sometimes didnot work, [176] but no doubt he then busied himself on his bit ofcommon. But so many factors enter into the question of the generalmaterial comfort of the labourer in different ages that it is almostimpossible to come to a satisfactory conclusion. Denton paints a verygloomy picture of him at this time[177]; so does Mr. Jessop, who says, the agricultural labourers of the fifteenth century were, comparedwith those of to-day, 'more wretched in their poverty, incomparablyless prosperous in their prosperity; worse clad, worse fed, worsehoused, worse taught, worse governed; they were sufferers fromloathsome diseases, of which their descendants know nothing; the verybeasts of the field were dwarfed and stunted; the disregard of tosell their corn at low prices to the detriment of the whole kingdom: atypical example of the political economy of the time, which consideredthe prosperity of agriculture indispensable to the welfare of thecountry, even if the consumer suffered. Accordingly, it was enactedthat wheat could be exported without a licence when it was under 6s. 8d. A quarter, except to the king's enemies. On imports of corn therehad been no restriction until 1463, when 3 Edw. IV, c. 2 forbade theimport of corn when under 6s. 8d: a statute due partly to the fearthat the increase of pasture was a danger to tillage land and thenational food supply, and partly to the fact that the landed interesthad become by now fully awake to the importance of protectingthemselves by promoting the gains of the farmer. [178] It may bedoubted, however, if much wheat was imported except in emergencies atthis time, for many countries forbade export. These two statutes werepractically unaltered till 1571, [179] and by that of 1463 wasinitiated the policy which held the field for nearly 400 years. 

Thorold Rogers denounces the landlords for legislating with the objectof keeping up rents, but, as Mr. Cunningham has pointed out, thisignores the fact that the land was the great fund of national wealthfrom which taxation was paid; if rents therefore rose it was a gain tothe whole country, since the fund from which the revenue was drawn wasincreased. [180]

In spite of the high wages of agricultural labourers, the movementtowards the towns noticed by Richard II continued. The statute 7 Hen. IV, c. 17, asserts that there is a great scarcity of labourers inhusbandry and that gentlemen are much impoverished by the rate ofwages; the cause of the scarcity lying in the fact that many peoplewere becoming weavers, [181] and it therefore re-enacted 12 Ric. II, c. 5, which ordained that no one who had been a servant in husbandryuntil 12 years old should be bound apprentice, and further enactedthat no person with less than 20s. A year in land should be able toapprentice his son. Like many other statutes of the time this seems tohave been inoperative, for we find 23 Hen. VI, c. 12 (1444), enactingthat if a servant in husbandry purposed leaving his master he was togive him warning, and was obliged either to engage with a new one orcontinue with the old. It also regulated the wages anew, those fixedshowing a substantial increase since the statute of 1388. By theyear:--

 A bailiff was to have £1 3s. 4d. , and 5s. Worth of clothes. A chief hind, carter, or shepherd, £1, and 4s. Worth of clothes. A common servant in husbandry, 15s. , and 3s. 4d. Worth of clothes. A woman servant, 10s. , and 4s. Worth of clothes. All with meat and drink. 

By the day, in harvest, wages were to be:--

 A mower, with meat and drink, 4d. ; without, 6d. A reaper or carter, with meat and drink, 3d. ; without, 5d. A woman or labourer, with meat and drink, 2d. ; without, 4d. 

In the next reign the labourer's dress was again regulated for him, and he was forbidden to wear any cloth exceeding 2s. A yard in price, nor any 'close hosen', apparently tight long stockings, nor any hosenat all which cost more than 14d. [182] Yeomen and those below them wereforbidden to wear any bolsters or stuff of wool, cotton wadding, orother stuff in their doublets, but only lining; and somewhatgratuitously it was ordered that no one under the degree of agentleman should wear pikes to his shoes. 

In 1455 England's Thirty Years' War, the War of the Roses, began, andagriculture received another set back. The view that the war was amere faction fight between nobles and their retainers, while the restof the country went about their business, is somewhat exaggerated. Nodoubt, the mass of Englishmen, as in the civil war of the seventeenthcentury, preferred to 'sit still', as Clarendon said, but the businessof many must have been very much upset. The various armies werecompelled to obtain their supplies from the country, and with thelawless habits of the times plundered friend and foe alike, asCavalier and Roundhead did afterwards; and many a farmer must haveseen all his stock driven off and his grain seized to feed thecombatants. For instance, it was said before the battle called EasterDay Field that all the tenants of Abbot's Ripton in Huntingdonshirewere copyholders of the Abbot of Ramsey, and the northern army laythere so long that they impoverished the country and the tenants hadto give up their copyholds through poverty. [183] The loss of life, too, must have told heavily on a country already suffering fromfrequent pestilence. It is calculated that about one-tenth of thewhole population of the country were killed in battle or died ofwounds and disease during the war; and as these must have been nearlyall men in the prime of life, it is difficult to understand how theeffect on the labour market was not more marked. The enclosing of landfor pasture farms, which we shall next have to consider, was probablyin many cases an absolute necessity, for the number of men left totill the soil must have been seriously diminished. 

FOOTNOTES:

[171] See table at end of volume. The shrinkage of prices whichoccurred in the fifteenth century was due to the scarcity of preciousmetals. 

[172] Thorold Rogers, _History of Agriculture and Prices_, iv. 128. The rent of arable land on Lord Derby's estate in Wirral in 1522 was alittle under 6d. A statute acre; of meadow, about 1s. 6d. --_CheshireSheaf_ (Ser. 3), iv. 23. 

[173] Thorold Rogers, _op. Cit. _ iv. 3. 

[174] Thorold Rogers, _op. Cit. _ iv. 39. 

[175] Cullum, _Hawsted_, p. 187. The amount of seed for the variouscrops was, wheat 2 bushels per acre, barley 4, oats 2-1/2. 

[176] By 4 Hen. IV, c. 14, labourers were to receive no hire for holydays, or on the eves of feasts for more than half a day; but thestatute was largely disregarded. 

[177] See _England in the Fifteenth Century_, p. 105: 'The undrainedneglected soil, the shallow stagnant waters which lay on the surfaceof the ground, the unhealthy homes of all classes, insufficient andunwholesome food, the abundance of stale fish eaten, and the scantysupply of vegetables predisposed rural and town population todisease. '

[178] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 448. 

[179] McCulloch, _Commercial Dictionary_ (1852), p. 412. In 1449Parliament had decided that all foreign merchants importing cornshould spend the money so obtained on English goods to prevent itleaving the country. --McPherson, _Annals of Commerce_, i. 655. 

[180] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 191. 

[181] Much of the weaving, however, was done in rural districts. 

[182] See 3 Edw. IV, c. 5; _Rot. Parl. _ v. 105; 22 Edw. IV, c. 1. 

[183] Cunningham, _op. Cit. _ i. 456. 

CHAPTER VII

ENCLOSURE

We have now reached a time when the enclosure question was becoming ofparamount importance, [184] and began to cause constant anxiety tolegislators, while the writers of the day are full of it. Enclosurewas of four kinds:

 1. Enclosing the common arable fields for grazing, generally in large tracts. 

 2. Enclosing the same by dividing them into smaller fields, generally of arable. 

 3. Enclosing the common pasture, for grazing or tillage. 

 4. Enclosing the common meadows or mowing grounds. 

It is the first mainly, and to a less degree the third of these, whichwere so frequent a source of complaint in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies; for the first, besides displacing the small holder, threwout of employment a large number of people who had hitherto gainedtheir livelihood by the various work connected with tillage, and thethird deprived a large number of their common rights. 

The first Enclosure Act was the Statute of Merton, passed in 1235, 20Henry III, c. 4, which permitted lords of manors to add to theirdemesnes such parts of the waste pasture and woods as were beyond theneeds of the tenants. There is evidence, however, that enclosure, probably of waste land, was going on before this statute, as thecharter of John, by which all Devonshire except Dartmoor and Exmoorwas deforested, expressly forbids the making of hedges, a proof ofenclosure, in those two forests. [185] We may be sure that the needs ofthe tenants were by an arbitrary lord estimated at a very low figure. At the same time many proceeded in due legal form. Thomas, LordBerkeley, about the period of the Act reduced great quantities ofground into enclosures by procuring many releases of common land fromfreeholders. [186] His successor, Lord Maurice, was not so observant oflegality. He had a wood wherein many of his tenants and freeholdershad right of pasture. He wished to make this into a park, and treatedwith them for that purpose; but things not going smoothly, he made thewood into a park without their leave, and then treated with histenants, most of whom perforce fell in with his highhanded plan; thosewho did not 'fell after upon his sonne with suits, in their smallcomfort and less gaines. '[187] Sometimes the rich made the law aidtheir covetousness, as did Roger Mortimer the paramour of the 'SheWolf of France'. Some men had common of pasture in King's Norton Wood, Worcestershire, who, when Mortimer enclosed part of their common landwith a dike, filled the dike up, for they were deprived of theirinheritance. Thereupon Mortimer brought an action of trespass againstthem 'by means of jurors dwelling far from the said land', who wereput on the panel by his steward, who was also sheriff of the county, and the commoners were convicted and cast in damages of £300, notdaring to appear at the time for fear of assault, or even death. [188]Neither dared they say a word about the matter till Mortimer was dead, when it is satisfactory to learn that Edward III gave them all theirmoney back save 20 marks. We are told that Lord Maurice Berkeleyconsolidated much of his demesne lands, throwing together thescattered strips and exchanging those that lay far apart from themanor houses for those that lay near; trying evidently to get the homefarms into a ring fence as we should term it. [189] In this policy hewas followed by his successor Thomas the Second, who during hisownership of the estate from 1281 to 1320, to the great profit of histenants and himself, encouraged them to make exchanges, so as to maketheir lands lie in convenient parcels instead of scattered strips, bywhich he raised the rent of an acre from 4d. And 6d. To 1s. 6d. [190]There is a deed of enclosure made in the year 1250, preserved, bywhich the free men of North Dichton 'appropriated and divided betweenthem and so kept for ever in fee all that place called Sywyneland, with the moor, ' and they were to have licence to appropriate thatplace, which was common pasture (the boundaries of which are given), 'save, however, to the grantor William de Ros and his heirs' common ofpasture in a portion thereof named by bounds, with entry and exit forbeasts after the wheat is carried. The men of North Dichton were alsoto have all the wood called Rouhowthwicke, and to do what they likedwith it. [191] In return they gave the lord 10 marks of silver and aconcession as regards a certain wood. It has been noticed that theBlack Death, besides causing many of the landlords to let theirdemesnes, also made them turn much tillage into grass to save labour, which had grown so dear. We have also seen that the statutesregulating wages were of little effect, and they went on rising, sothat more land was laid down to grass. The landowners may be said tohave given up ordinary farming and turned to sheep raising. 

English wool could always find a ready sale, although Spanish sheepfarming had developed greatly; and the profitable trade of growingwool attracted the new capitalist class who had sprung up, so thatthey often invested their recently made fortunes in it, buying up manyof the great estates that were scattered during the war. [192]

The increase of sheep farming was assisted by the fact that thedomestic system of the manufacture of wool, which supplanted the guildsystem, led, owing to its rapid and successful growth, to a constantand increasing demand for wool. At the same time this development ofthe cloth industry helped to alleviate the evils it had itself causedby giving employment to many whom the agricultural changes wholly orpartially deprived of work. 'It is important to remember, that wherepeasant proprietorship and small farming did maintain their ground itwas largely due to the domestic industries which supplemented theprofits of agriculture. '[193]

Much of the land laid down to grass was demesne land, but many of thecommon arable fields were enclosed and laid down. John Ross of Warwickabout 1460 compares the country as he knew it with the picturepresented by the Hundred Rolls in Edward I's time, showing how manyvillages had been depopulated; and he mentions the inconvenience totravellers in having to get down frequently to open the gates ofenclosed fields. [194]

Enclosure was really a sure sign of agricultural progress; nearly allthe agricultural writers from Fitzherbert onwards are agreed thatenclosed land produced much more than uninclosed. Fitzherbert, in thefirst quarter of the sixteenth century, said an acre of land rentedfor 6d. Uninclosed was worth 8d. When enclosed. Gabriel Plattes, inthe seventeenth century, said an acre enclosed was worth four incommon. In fact, the history of enclosures is part of the history ofthe great revolution in agriculture by which the manorial system wasconverted into the modern system as we know it to-day of severalownership and the triumvirate of landlord, tenant farmer, andlabourer. No one could have objected to the enclosure of waste; it wasthat of the common arable fields and of the common pasture thatexcited the indignation of contemporaries. They saw many of the smallholders displaced and the countryside depopulated; many of thelabourers were also thrown out of employment, for there was no need inenclosed fields of the swineherd and shepherd and oxherd who hadtended the common flocks of the villagers in the old unfenced fields. But much of the opposition was founded on ignorance and hatred ofchange; England had been for ages mainly a corn-growing land, and, many thought, ought to remain so. As a matter of fact, what much ofthe arable land wanted was laying down to grass; it was worn out andneeded a rest. The common field system was wasteful; the land, forinstance, could never be properly ploughed, for the long narrow stripscould not be cross-ploughed, and much of it must have sufferedgrievously from want of manure at a time when hardly any stock waskept in the winter to make manure. The beneficial effect of the restis shown by the fact that at the end of the sixteenth century, whensome of the land came to be broken up, the produce per acre of wheathad gone up largely. [195] Marling and liming the land, too, which hadbeen the salvation of much of it for centuries, had gone out partlybecause of insecurity of tenure, partly because in the unsettled stateof England men knew not if they could reap any benefit therefrom; andpartly because, says Fitzherbert, men were lazier than their fathers. There can be no doubt that enclosures were often accompanied withgreat hardships and injustice. Dugdale, speaking of Stretton inWarwickshire, [196] says that in Henry VII's time Thomas Twyford, having begun the depopulation thereof, decaying four messuages andthree cottages whereunto 160 acres of 'errable' land belonged, sold itto Henry Smith; which Henry, following that example, enclosed 640acres of land more, whereby twelve messuages and four cottages fell toruins and eighty persons there inhabiting, being employed abouttillage and husbandry, were constrained to depart thence and livemiserably. By means whereof the church grew to such ruin that it wasof no other use than for the shelter of cattle. A sad picture, andtrue of many districts, but much of the depopulation ascribed toenclosures was due to the devastation of the Civil Wars. 

In spite of these enclosures, which began to change the England ofopen fields into the country we know of hedgerows and winding roads, great part of the land was in a wild and uncultivated state of fen, heath, and wood, the latter sometimes growing right up to the walls ofthe towns. [197] An unbroken series of woods and fens stretched rightacross England from Lincoln to the Mersey, and northwards from theMersey to the Solway and the Tweed; Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, and Leicestershire were largely covered by forests, and SherwoodForest extended over nearly the whole of Notts. Cannock Chase wascovered with oaks, and in the forest of Needwood in Camden's time theneighbouring gentry eagerly pursued the cheerful sport of hunting. Thegreat forest of Andredesweald, though much diminished, still covered alarge part of Sussex, and the Chiltern district in Bucks andOxfordshire was thick with woods which hid many a robber. The greatfen in the east covered 300, 000 acres of land in six counties, inspite of various efforts to reclaim the land, and was to remain in astate of marsh and shallow water till the seventeenth century. 

North and west of the great fen was Hatfield Chase, 180, 000 acresmostly swamp and bog, with here and there a strip of cultivated land, much of which had been tilled and neglected; a great part too ofYorkshire was swamp, heath, and forest, and of Lancashire marshes andmosses, some of which were not drained till recent times. The bestcorn-growing counties were those lying immediately to the north ofLondon, stretching from Suffolk to Gloucestershire, and including thesouthern portions of Staffordshire and Leicestershire; Essex was agreat cheese county; Hants, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, andBedfordshire were famous for malt, and Leicestershire for peas andbeans. The population of England in 1485 was probably from two to twoand a half millions. At the time of Domesday it was under twomillions, and from that date increased perhaps to nearly four millionsat the time of the Black Death in 1348-9, which swept away fromone-third to one-half of the people, and repeated wars and pestilencesseem to have kept it from increasing until Tudor times. Of the wholepopulation no fewer than eleven-twelfths were employed inagriculture. [198]

It was sought to remedy enclosure and depopulation by legislation, andthe statute of 4 Hen. VII, c. 19, was passed, which stated in itspreamble that where in some towns (meaning townships or villages) 200persons used to be occupied and lived by their lawful labours, nowthere are occupied only two or three herdsmen, so that the residuefall into idleness, and husbandry is greatly decayed, churchesdestroyed, the bodies there buried not prayed for, the parsons andcurates wronged, and the defence of this land enfeebled and impaired;the latter point being wisely deemed one of the most serious defectsin the new system of farming. Indeed, the encouragement of tillage waslargely prompted by the desire to see the people fed on goodhome-grown corn and made strong and healthy by rural labour for thedefence of England. It therefore enacted that houses which withinthree years before had been let for farms with 20 acres of tillageland should be kept in that condition, under a penalty of forfeitinghalf the profits to the king or the lord of the fee. Soon after HenryVIII ascended the throne came another statute, 6 Hen. VIII, c. 5, thatall townships, villages, &c. , decayed and turned from husbandry andtillage into pasture, shall by the owner be rebuilt and the land mademete for tillage within one year; and this was repeated and madeperpetual by a law of the next year. [199]

But legislation was in vain; the price of wool was now beginning toadvance so that the attraction of sheep farming was irresistible, andlaws, which asked landowners and farmers to turn from what wasprofitable to what was not, were little likely to be observed, especially as the administration of these laws was in the hands ofthose whose interest it was that they should not be observed. 

Their ill success, however, did not deter the Parliament from freshefforts. 25 Hen. VIII, c. 13, sets forth the condition of affairs inits preamble: as many persons have accumulated into few, greatmultitude of farms and great plenty of cattle, especially sheep, putting such land as they can get into pasture, and enhanced the oldrents and raised the prices of corn, cattle, wool, and poultry almostdouble, 'by reason whereof a mervaylous multitude and nombre of thepeople of this realme be not able to provide drynke and clothesnecessary for themselves, but be so discoraged with myserie andpovertie that they fall dayly to thefte and robberye or pitifully dyefor hunger and colde. ' So greedy and covetous were some of theseaccumulators that they had as many as 24, 000 sheep; and a good sheep, that was used to be sold for 2s. 4d. Or 3s. At the most, was now from4s. To 6s. ; and a stone of clothing wool, that in some shires wasaccustomed to be sold for 18d. Or 20d. , is now 3s. 4d. To 4s. ; and inothers, where it was 2s. 4d. To 3s. It is now 4s. 8d. To 5s. 

It was therefore enacted that no man, with some exceptions, was tokeep more than 2, 000 sheep at one time in any part of the realm, though lambs under one year were not to count. The frequency of theselaws proves their inefficacy, and the conduct of Henry VIII was thechief cause of it; for while Parliament was complaining of thedecrease of tillage he gave huge tracts of land taken from themonasteries to greedy courtiers, who evicted the tenants and lived onthe profits of sheep farming. [200] For the dissolution of themonasteries was now taking Place, [201] and the best landowners inEngland, some of whom farmed their own land long after most of the laylandlords had given it up or turned it into grass, and whose lands aresaid to have fetched a higher rent than any others, were robbed andruined. Including the dissolution of the monasteries and theconfiscation of the chantry lands in 1549 by Edward VI, aboutone-fifteenth of the land of England changed hands at this time. Thetransfer of the abbey lands to Henry's favourites was very prejudicialto farming; it was a source of serious dislocation of agriculturalindustry, marked by all the inconvenience, injustice, and loss thatattends a violent transfer of property. It is probable also that manyof the monastic lands were let on stock and land leases; and the stockwas confiscated, with inevitable ruin to the tenant as well as thelandlord. [202] And not only was a serious injury wrought toagriculture by the spoliation of a large number of landlords generallynoted for their generosity and good farming, but with the religioushouses disappeared a large number of consumers of country produce, theamount of which may be gathered from the following list of stores ofthe great Abbey of Fountains at the dissolution: 2, 356 horned cattle, 1, 326 sheep, 86 horses, 79 swine, and large quantities of wheat, oats, rye, and malt, with 392 loads of hay. [203] It must indeed have seemedto many as if the poor farmer was never to have any rest; no soonerwere the long wars over and pestilences in some sense diminished, thanthe evils of enclosure and the dissolution of the monasteries cameupon him. Many ills were popularly ascribed to the fall of themonasteries; in an old ballad in Percy's _Reliques_ one of thecharacters says, in western dialect:--

 'Chill tell the what, good vellowe, Before the friers went hence, A bushel of the best wheate Was zold vor vorteen pence, And vorty eggs a penny That were both good and newe. '

NOTE. --If any further proof were needed of the constant attentiongiven by Parliament to agricultural matters, it would be furnished bythe Acts for the destruction of vermin. [204] Our forefathers had nodoubt that rooks did more harm than good, yearly destroying a'wonderfull and marvelous greate quantitie of corne and graine'; anddestroying the 'covertures of thatched housery, bernes, rekes, stakkes, and other such like'; so that all persons were to do theirbest to kill them, 'on pain of a grevous amerciament'. 

FOOTNOTES:

[184] Much the same tendencies were at work in other countries, especially in Germany. 

[185] Slater, _English Peasantry and Enclosure_, 248. 

[186] Smyth, _Lives of the Berkeleys_, i. 113. 

[187] _Cal. Pat. Rolls_, 1331, p. 127. 

[188] _Lives of the Berkeleys_, i. 141. 

[189] Ibid. I. 141. 

[190] _Lives of the Berkeleys_, i. 160. 

[191] _Historical MSS. Commission, 6th Report_, p. 359. 

[192] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 379. 

[193] Ashley, _English Woollen Industry_, pp. 80-1. Broadly speaking, there are four stages in the development of industry--the familysystem, the guild system, the domestic system, and the factory system. 

[194] _Hist. Reg. Angl. _, p. 120. 

[195] Gisborne, _Agricultural Essays_, pp. 186-9. 

[196] _Antiquities of Warwickshire_ 2nd ed. , p. 51. 

[197] Denton, _England in the Fifteenth Century_, p. 135. 

[198] See Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 331; Denton, _England in the Fifteenth Century_, p. 127. 

[199] 7 Hen. VIII, c. 1. 

[200] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 489. 

[201] Dissolution of small monasteries, 1536; of greater, 1539-40. 

[202] Thorold Rogers, _History of Agriculture and Prices_, iv. 129. 

[203] Dugdale, _Monasticon_, v, 291. 

[204] 24 Hen. VIII, c. 10; 8 Eliz. C. 15; 14 Eliz. C. 11; 39 Eliz. C. 18. 

CHAPTER VIII

FITZHERBERT. --THE REGULATION OF HOURS AND WAGES

The farming of this period is portrayed for us by Fitzherbert, thefirst agricultural writer of any merit since Walter of Henley in thethirteenth century. He was one of the Justices of Common Pleas, andhad been a farmer for forty years before he wrote his books onhusbandry, and on surveying in 1523, so that he knew what he waswriting about; 'there is nothing touching husbandry contained in thisbook but I have had experience thereof and proved the same. ' In spiteof the increase of grazing in his time he says the 'plough is the mostnecessarie instrument that an husbandman can occupy', and describesthose used in various counties; in Kent, for instance, 'they have somego with wheeles as they do in many other places'; but the plough ofhis time is apparently the same as that of Walter of Henley, andaltered little till the seventeenth century. The rudeness of it may bejudged from the fact that in some places it only cost 10d. Or 1s. Though in other parts they were as much as 6s. Or even 8s. Hesays[205] it was too costly for a farmer to buy all his implements, wherefore it is necessary for him to learn to make them, as he haddone in the Middle Ages before the era of ready-made implements, whenhe always bought the materials and put them together at home. On thevexed question of whether to use horses or oxen for ploughing, he saysit depends on the locality; for instance, oxen will plough in toughclay and upon hilly ground, whereas horses will stand still; buthorses go faster than oxen on even ground and light ground, and are'quicke for carriages, but they be far more costly to keep in winter. '

According to him, oxen had no shoes as horses had. [206] Here is hisdescription of a harrow: it is 'made of six final peeces of timbercalled harow bulles, made either of ashe or oke; they be two yardeslong, and as much as the small of a man's leg; in every bulle are fivesharpe peeces of iron called harow tyndes, set somewhat a slopeforward. ' This harrow, drawn by oxen, was good to break the big clods, and then the horse harrow came after to break the smaller clods. Itdiffered slightly from the former, some having wooden tines. Forweeding corn the chief instrument 'is a pair of tongs made of wood, and in dry weather ye must have a weeding hoke with a socket set upona staffe a yard long. '[207]

He recommends that grass be mown early, for the younger and greenerthe grass is the softer and sweeter it will be when it is hay, and theseeds will be in it instead of fallen out as when left late; advicewhich many slovenly farmers need to-day. He does not approve of thecustom of reaping rye and wheat high up and mowing them after, butadvises that they be cut clean; barley and oats, however, should becommonly mown. Both wheat and rye were to be sown at Michaelmas, andwere cast upon the fallow and ploughed under, two London bushels ofwheat and rye being the necessary amount of seed per acre. In spite ofhis praise of the plough he allows that the sheep 'is the mostprofitablest cattel that a man can have', and he gives a list of theirdiseases, among the things that rot them being a grass calledsperewort, another called peny grass, while marshy ground, mildewedgrass, and grass growing upon fallow and therefore full of weeds wereall conducive to rot. The chief cause, however, is mildew, the sign ofwhose presence is the honeydew on the oak leaves. In buying cattle tofeed the purchaser is to see that the hair stare not, and that thebeast lacks no teeth, has a broad rib, a thick hide, and be looseskinned, for if it stick hard to his ribs he will not feed[208]; itshould be handled to see if it be soft on the forecrop, behind theshoulder, on the hindermost rib upon the huck bone, and at the nacheby the tail. Among other diseases of cattle he mentions the gout, 'commonly in the hinder feet'; but he never knew a man who could finda remedy. He was a great advocate of enclosures; for it was muchbetter to have several closes and pastures to put his cattle in, whichshould be well quick-setted, ditched, and hedged, so as to dividethose of different ages, as this was more profitable than to have hiscattle go before the herdsman (in the common field). 

It will be seen from the above that Fitzherbert made no idle boast insaying he wrote of what he knew, and much of his advice is applicableto-day, though the time is past for the farmer's wife to 'wynowe allmanner of cornes, to make malte, to shere corne, and in time of nedeto helpe her husbande to fyll the mucke wayne or dounge carte, dryvethe plough, lode heye, corne, and such other'; though she may go orride to the market 'to sel butter, cheese, milke, eggs, chekyns, hennes, and geese. '[209] It appears that the horses of England at thistime had considerably deteriorated, for the statute 27 Hen. VIII, c. 6, mentions the great decay of the breed, the cause it is stated beingthat 'in most places of this Realme little horsis and naggis of smallstature and valeu be suffered to depasture and also to covour marysand felys of very small stature'; therefore owners and farmers of deerparks shall keep in every such park two brood mares of 13 'handfulles' (hands) at least. Another statute, 32 Hen. VIII, c. 13, stroveto remedy this evil by enacting that no entire horse under 15 handswas to feed on any forest, chase, waste, or common land. 

This statute was a useful one, so also was 21 Hen. VIII, c. 8, whichforbade for three years the killing of calves between January 1 andMay 1, under a penalty of 6s. 8d. , because so many had been killed by'covetous persons' that the cattle of the country were dwindling innumber. Others, however, were merely meddlesome, and directed againstthat unpopular man the dealer. For instance, owners refusing to sellcattle at assessed prices were to answer first in the Star Chamber (25Hen. VIII, c. 1); and by 3 and 4 Edw. VI, c. 19, no cattle were to bebought but in open fair or market, and not to be resold then alive, though a man might buy cattle anywhere for his own use. No person, again, was to resell cattle within five weeks after he bought them (5Edw. VI, c. 14); and a common drover had by the same Act to have alicence from three justices before he could buy and sell cattle. Wemay be sure that these laws were more honoured in the breach than inthe observance, as they deserved to be. 

Hops were said to have been introduced from the Low Countries aboutthe middle of Henry VIII's reign; but there can be no doubt that thisis a mistake. It has been mentioned that they flourished in thegardens of Edward I, and a distinguished authority[210] says the hopmay with probability be reckoned a native of Britain; but it was firstused as a salad or vegetable for the table, the young sprouts havingthe flavour of asparagus and coming earlier. Hasted, the historian ofKent, states[211] that a petition was presented to Parliament againstthe hop plant in 1428 wherein it was called a 'wicked weed'. Harrisonsays, 'Hops in time past were plentiful in this land, afterwards theirmaintenance did cease, and now (cir. 1580) being revived where areanie better to be found?'[212] Even then growers had to face foreigncompetition, as the customs accounts prove that considerablequantities were imported into England. In 1482 a cwt. Was sold for 8s. And 1 cwt. 21 lb. For 19s. 6d. , an early example of that fluctuationin price which has long characterized them. [213] Their average priceabout this time seems to have been 14s. 1/2d. A cwt. 

During the Tudor period the number of day labourers increased, largelyowing to the enclosures having deprived the small holder and commonerof their land and rights. But judging by the statutes those paidyearly and boarded in the farm house were still most numerous. 

In 1495 the hours of labourers were first regulated by law. Thestatute II Hen. VII, c. 22, says that 23 Hen. VI, c. 12, [214] wasinsufficiently observed; and besides increasing wages slightly setforth the following hours for work on the farm: the labourer was to beat his work from the middle of March to the middle of September before5 a. M. , and have half an hour for breakfast and an hour and a half fordinner and sleep, when sleep was allowed, that is from the middle ofMay to the middle of August; when sleep was not allowed, an hour fordinner and half an hour for his nonemete or lunch; and he was to worktill between 7 and 8 p. M. During the rest of the year he was to workfrom daylight to dark. The attempt to regulate hours, which seem fairand reasonable, no doubt met with better success than that to regulatewages, for 6 Hen. VIII, c. 3 (1514), says the previous statutes hadbeen very much disregarded, and sets down the rates once more:--

 A bailiff's yearly wages, with diet, were to be not more than £1 6s. 8d. , and 5s. For clothes. 

 A chief hind, carter, or chief shepherd, with diet, not more than £1, and 5s. For clothes. 

 A common servant or labourer, with diet, not more than 16s. 8d. , and 4s. For clothes. 

 A woman servant, with diet, not more than 10s. , and 4s. For clothes. 

By the day, except in harvest, a common labourer from Easter toMichaelmas was to have 2d. With food and drink, 4d. Without; and fromMichaelmas to Easter 1-1/2d. With food and drink, and 3d. Without. Inharvest:--

 A mower, with food, 4d. A day; without, 6d. A reaper, with food, 3d. A day; without, 5d. A carter, with food, 3d. ; without, 5d. Other labourers, with food, 2-1/2d. ; without, 4-1/2d. Women, with food, 2-1/2d. ; without, 4-1/2d. 

FOOTNOTES:

[205] _Booke of Husbandry_ (ed. 1568), fol. 5. The surveyor ofFitzherbert's day combined some of the duties of the modern bailiffand land agent: he bought and sold for his employer, valued hisproperty, and supervised the rents. 

[206] _Booke of Husbandry_ (ed. 1568), fol. Vi. 

[207] Ibid. Fol. Xv. 

[208] _Booke of Husbandry_ (ed. 1568), fol. Xxix. 

[209] Fitzherbert adds pigs and all manner of cornes, so altogetherthe farmer's wife seems to have done as much as the farmer. 

[210] Sir Jas. E. Smith, _English Flora_, iv. 241. 

[211] _History of Kent_ (ed. 1778), i. 123. 

[212] _Description of Britain_ (Furnivall ed. ), p. 325. 

[213] Thorold Rogers, _History of Agriculture and Prices_, iii. 254. 

[214] See above. 

CHAPTER IX

1540-1600

PROGRESS AT LAST. --HOP-GROWING. --PROGRESS OF ENCLOSURE. --HARRISON'S'DESCRIPTION'

The period we have now reached was one of steady growth in the valueof land and its products. In 1543 Henry VIII, who had given away orsquandered, in addition to the great treasure left him by his thriftyfather, all the wealth obtained from the dissolution of themonasteries, debased the coinage in order to get more money into hisinsatiable hands, and prices went up in consequence. But there wereother causes: the influx of precious metals from newly discoveredAmerica into Europe had commenced to make itself felt, and thepopulation of the country began to grow steadily. Also, it must not beforgotten that the seasons, which in the early part of the century hadbeen normal, were for the next sixty years frequently rainy and bad. It is unnecessary to say that this must have largely helped to raisethe price of corn. The average price of wheat from 1540-1583 was 13s. 10-1/2d. A quarter; from 1583-1702, 39s. 0-1/2d. Corn was stillsubject to extraordinary fluctuations: in 1557, Holinshed says beforeharvest wheat was 53s. 4d. A quarter, malt 44s. After harvest wheatwas 5s. , malt 6s. 8d. , the former prices being due to a terribledrought in England. Oxen in the period 1583-1703 were worth 75s. Instead of under £1 in the period 1400-1540. Wool was from 9d. To 1s. A lb. Instead of about 3-1/2d. , and all other farm products increasedwith these. [215] Hops were from 1540-1582 about 26s. 8d. A cwt. , andfrom 1583-1700, 82s. 9-1/2d. In 1574 Reynold Scott published the firstEnglish treatise on hops, [216] in which he says, 'one man may wellkeep 2, 000 hils, upon every hil well ordered you shall have 3 lb. Ofhoppes at the least, one hundred pounds of these hoppes are commonlyworth 26s. 8d. , one acre of ground and the third part of one man'slabour with small cost beside, shall yield unto him that ordereth thesame well, fortie marks yearly and that for ever, ' an optimisticestimate that many growers to-day would like to see realized. 'In thepreparation of a hop garden', says the same writer, 'if your ground begrasse, it should be first sowen with hempe or beanes which maketh theground melowe, destroyeth weedes, and leaveth the same in good seasonfor this purpose. [217] At the end of Marche, repayre to some goodgarden to compound with the owner for choice rootes, which in someplaces will cost 5d. An hundredth. And now you must choose the biggestrootes you can find, such as are three or four inches about, and letevery root be nine or ten inches long, and contain three joints. 'Holes were then to be dug at least 8 feet apart, one foot square, andone foot deep, and in each two or three roots planted and well hilledup. Tusser, however, recommended them much closer:

 'Five foot from another each hillock should stand, As straight as a levelled line with the hand. Let every hillock be four foot wide. Three poles to a hillock, I pas not how long, Shall yield the more profit set deeplie and strong. '

Three or four poles were to be set to each hill 15 or 16 feet long, unless the ground was very rich, the poles 9 or 10 inches incircumference at the butt, so as to last longer and stand the windwell. After they were put up, the ground round the poles was to bewell rammed. Rushes or grass were used for tieing the hops. Duringthe growth of the hops, not more than two or three bines were to beallowed to each pole; and after the first year the hills were to begradually raised from the alleys between the rows until, according tothe illustrations in Scott's book, they were 3 or 4 feet high, the'greater you make your hylles the more hoppes you shall have uponyour poals'. When the time for picking came, the bines when cut werecarried to a 'floore prepared for the purpose', apparently ofhardened earth, where they were stripped into baskets, and Scottthought that 'it is not hurtfull greatly though the smaller leaves bemingled with the hoppes'. In wet weather the hops were to be strippedin the house. The fire for drying hops was of wood, and some driedtheir hops in the sun, both processes to us appearing very risky; asthe first would be too quick, and the latter next to impossible inSeptember in England. They were sometimes packed in barrels, asTusser tells us, 'Some close them up drie in a hogshead or vat, yetcanvas or sontage (coarse cloth) is better than that. '

By this time England had largely changed from a corn-growing to astock-raising country; Harrison, writing in the middle of QueenElizabeth's reign, says, 'the soile of Britaine is more inclinedto feeding and grazing than profitable for tillage and bearing ofcorne ... And such store is there of cattle in everie place that thefourth part of the land is scarcely manured for the provision ofgraine. ' But this statement seems exaggerated. We know that byHarrison's time enclosures had affected but a small area, and thegreater part of the cultivated land was in open arable fields. Theyield of corn was now much greater than in the Middle Ages; rye orwheat well tilled and dressed now produced 15 to 20 bushels to theacre instead of 6 or 8, barley 36 bushels, oats 4 or 5 quarters[218], though in the north, which was still greatly behind the rest ofEngland, crops were smaller. No doubt this was partly due to themuch-abused enclosures: the industrious farmer could now do what heliked with his own, without hindrance from his lazy or unskilfulneighbour. Tusser's preference for the 'several' field is verydecided; comparing it with the 'champion' or common field he says:--

 The countrie inclosed I praise the tother delighteth me not, There swineherd that keepeth the hog there neetherd with cur and his horne, There shepherd with whistle and dog be fence to the medowe and corne, There horse being tide on a balke is readie with theefe for to walke, Where all things in common doth reste corne field with the pasture and meade, Tho' common ye do for the best yet what doth it stand ye in steade? More plentie of mutton and beefe corne butter and cheese of the best More wealth any where (to be briefe) more people, more handsome and prest (neat. ) Where find ye? (go search any coaste) than there where enclosure is most. More work for the labouring man as well in the towne as the fielde. For commons these commoners crie inclosing they may not abide, Yet some be not able to bie a cow with her calf by her side. Nor laie (intend) not to live by their wurke, But thievishly loiter and lurke. What footpaths are made and how brode Annoiance too much to be borne, With horse and with cattle what rode is made thorowe erie man's come. 

But the rich graziers boasted that they did not grow corn becausethey could buy it cheaper in the market; and they are said to havetraded on the necessity of the poor farmer to sell at Michaelmas inorder to pay his rent, and when they had got the corn into theirhands they raised the price. The corn-dealers of the time were lookedupon with dislike by every one; many of the dearths then so frequent, and nearly always caused by bad seasons, were ascribed to 'engrossersbuying of corn and witholding it for sale'. By a statute of 1552 thefreedom of internal corn trade was entirely suppressed, and no onecould carry corn from one part of England to another without alicence, and any one who bought corn to sell it again was liable totwo months' imprisonment and forfeited his corn. Although we shallsee that this policy was reversed in the next century, the feelingagainst corn-dealers survived for many years and was loudlyexpressed during the Napoleonic war; indeed, we may doubt if itis extinct to-day. 

Many of the fruits and garden produce, which had been neglected sincethe first Edward, had by now come into use again, 'not onlie among thepoor commons, I meane of melons, pompions, gourds, cucumbers, radishes, skirets (probably a sort of carrot), parsneps, carrots, cabbages, navewes (turnip radishes (?)), turnips, [219] and all kindsof salad herbes, but also at the tables of delicate merchants, gentlemen, and the nobilitie. '[220]

'Also we have most delicate apples, plummes, pears, walnuts, filberts, &c. , and those of sundrie sorts, planted within fortie years past, incomparison of which most of the old trees are nothing worth: so havewe no less store of strange fruite, as abricotes, almonds, peaches, figges, cornetrees (probably cornels) in noblemen's orchards. I haveseen capers, orenges, and lemmons, and heard of wild olives growinghere, besides other strange trees. '[221]

As a proof of the growth of grass in proportion to tillage betweenthe fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, Eden gives severalexamples, [222] of which the following are significant:--

 Arable. Grass. Acres. Acres. 

 1339. 18 messuages in Norfolk had 160 60 1354. A Norfolk manor 300 59 1395. 2 messuages in Warwickshire 400 60 1560. 2 messuages in Warwickshire 600 660 1567. A Norfolk estate 200 400 1569. " manor 60 60

'Our sheepe are very excellent for sweetness of flesh, and our woollesare preferred before those of Milesia and other places. '[223] Sothought Harrison and many English landowners and farmers too, so thatlegislation was powerless to stop the spread of sheep farming. In 1517a commission of inquiry instigated by Wolsey held inquisition onenclosures and the decay of tillage, and it seems to have been theonly honest effort to stop the evil. It was to inquire what decays, conversions, and park enclosures had been made since 1489, but theresult even of this attempt was small. In 1535 a fresh statute, 27Hen. VIII, c. 22, stated that the Act limiting the number of sheep tobe kept had only been observed on lands held of the king, whereon manyhouses had been rebuilt and much pasture reconverted to tillage; buton lands holden of other lords this was not the case, therefore theking was to have the moiety of the profits of such lands as had beenconverted from tillage to pasture since 4 Hen. VII until a properhouse was built and the land returned to tillage; but the Act onlyapplied to fourteen counties therein enumerated. The enclosing forsheep-runs still went on, however, often with ruthless selfishness;houses and townships were levelled, says Sir Thomas More, and nothingleft standing except the church, which was turned into a sheep-house:

 'The towns go down, the land decays, Of corn-fields plain lays, Great men maketh nowadays A sheepcot of the church', said a contemporary ballad. 

Latimer wrote, 'where there were a great many householders andinhabitants there is now but a shepherd and his dog. ' 'I am sorie toreport it, ' says Harrison, [224] 'but most sorrowful of all tounderstand that men of great port and countenance are so far fromsuffering their farmers to have anie gaine at all that they themselvesbecome graziers, butchers, tanners, sheepmasters, and woodmen, therebyto enrich themselves. ' The Act against pulling down farmhouses wasevaded by repairing one room for the use of a shepherd; a singlefurrow was driven across a field to prove it was still under theplough; to avoid holding illegal numbers of sheep flocks were held inthe names of sons and servants. [225] The country swarmed with heaps ofmiserable paupers, 'sturdy and valiant' beggars, and thieves who, though hanged twenty at a time on a single gallows, still infested allthe countryside, their numbers being swollen by the dissolution of themonasteries and the breaking up of the bands of retainers kept by thegreat nobles. 

Rents also were rising rapidly. Latimer's account of his father's farmis too well known to be again quoted; his opinions were shared by allthe writers of the day. Sir William Forrest, about 1540, says thatlandlords now demand fourfold rents, so that the farmer has to raisehis prices in proportion, and beef and mutton were so dear that a poorman could not 'bye a morsell'. 'Howe joyne they lordshyp tolordshyppe, manner to manner, ferme to ferme. How do the rych men, andespecially such as be shepemongers, oppresse the king's people bydevourynge their common pastures with the shepe so that the poore arenot able to keepe a cowe, but are like to starve. And yet when wasbeef ever so dere or mutton, wool now 8s. A stone. 

'Now', says another, later in the century, 'I can never get a horseshoed under 10d. Or 12d. , when I have also seen the common pryce was6d. And cannot your neighbour remember that within these thirty yearsI could bye the best pigge or goose that I could lay my hand on forfour pence which now costeth 12d. , a good capon for 3d. Or 4d. , a henfor 2d. , which now costeth me double and triple. '[226]

Parliament, of course, tried to regulate the price of food; an Act of1532, 24 Hen. VIII, c. 3, ordained that beef and pork should be 1/2d. A lb. And mutton and veal 5/8d. A lb. The decrease in the number ofcows also received its attention; 2 and 3 Philip and Mary, c. 3, states that forasmuch of late years a great number of persons have fedin their pastures sheep and cattle with no regard to breeding, so thatthere was great scarcity of stock, therefore for every 60 sheep keptone milk cow shall be kept, and for every 120 sheep one calf shall bebred, and for every 10 head of horned cattle shall be kept one milkcow, and for every two cows so kept one calf shall be bred. The Actwas to last seven years, but 13 Eliz. C. 25 made it perpetual. 

In 1549 came the rising of Robert Kett in Norfolk, the last attempt ofthe English labourer to obtain redress of his wrongs by force of arms, though Kett himself belonged to the landlord class and took the sideof the people probably by accident. The petition of grievances drawnup by his followers aimed at diminishing the power of lords of manorsas regards enclosures, the keeping of dove-cots, and other feudalwrongs. 'We pray', said the insurgents, 'that all bondmen may be madefree, for God made all free with His precious blood-shedding. ' Therebellion came to nothing, and some of the abuses at which it wasaimed were dying a natural death, though enclosure often acted hardlyon the poor man. 

The manorial system went on steadily decaying, and by this time thedemesne lands had much diminished in area on most manors. Many parcelshad been sold to the new landlord class, who had made their fortunesin the towns and, like most Englishmen, desired to become countrygentlemen. 

Much of the demesne had been sold in small lots to well-off tradesmen, and as the villeins had become copyholders a large part of the landwas owned or occupied by yeomen or tenant farmers, who cultivated from20 to 150 acres. Many of the labourers also owned or rented cottageswith 4 or 5 acres attached to them. Such was the rural society at theend of the Tudor period. The progress of enclosures helped to destroythis, for the labourers gradually ceased to own or occupy land, farmsincreased in size, the ownership of land came to be more and more theprivilege of the rich, and people flocked in increasing numbers to thetowns. [227a] In five Norfolk manors in Elizabeth's time only fromone-seventh to one-tenth was in demesne, and little of what was leftwas farmed by the lord, but let to farmers on leases. [227b] On somemanors the demesne land lay in compact blocks near the manor house; onothers it was in scattered strips of various size; in others it lay inblocks and strips. The following particulars of a manor in Norfolkgive a good picture of an estate in 1586-8, the tenants on it, theirrank, and the size of their holdings:--

 Horstead with Staninghall, 2, 746 acres. 

 The tenants with messuages in the village were:--

 Acres. 

 1. J. Topliffe, gentleman 280 2. F. Woodhouse, Esquire 270 3. R. Ward, gentleman 265 4. H. Shreve 180 5. A. Pightling, widow 120 6. W. Rose's heirs 110 7. G. Berde 60 8. A. Thetford, gentleman 60 9. T. Pightling 60 10. R. Pightling 60 11. J. Rose 40 12. R. Lincoln 40 13. W. Jeckell 20 14. W. Bulwer 20 15. E. Newerby, gentleman 15 16. T. Barnard 12 17. E. Sparke 10

There were also 12 tenants without houses, holding from 1 to 20acres; the demesne was 230 acres; there were two glebes containing 84acres, and town lands of 7 acres. The waste amounted to 350 acres, which by 1599 had all disappeared. 

On this manor the houses were not collected together in a village asusual in most parts of England, but scattered about the estate. Intwo other manors the amount of waste remaining at this period wasvery small, but in three others little had been 'approved' and muchconsequently remained; most of the 'approvements', where made, seemto have been of long standing, and all the enclosures made were fortillage, not for grass as we should expect. The 350 acres of wastethat remained at Horstead in 1586-8 was enclosed in 1599 by agreementbetween the lords of the manor and the tenants on the followingterms:--

 1. Lords to take 80 acres in severalty. 

 2. Lords to reserve all rights to treasure trove, minerals, waifs, &c. , with right of entry to take the same. 

 3. All rights of pasture, shack, and foldage were to be extinguished on all lands in the village. 

 4. The tenants were to pay an annual quit rent of £7 14s. 5d. For their shares of the common. 

Before a man enclosed he consolidated his holding by exchange, so asto bring it into a compact parcel instead of scattered strips, a verylengthy process; then he ploughed up the bounds between the strips;after which he changed the direction of the ploughing, ploughing theland crossways, a very necessary change, as it had all been ploughedlengthways for centuries; and lastly he erected his fences: thebounds of the strips, however, were sometimes left to show which werefreehold and which copyhold. On the other hand, there were exceptionsto the curtailment of the demesne: on an Oxfordshire manor of thesixteenth century the greater part of the 64 yard-lands of which itconsisted had by then passed from the possession of the peasants tothe private use of the lord of the manor. [228] To each yard-landbelonged a house and farmyard, 24 to 28-3/4 acres of arable land, ashare in the commonable meadows which for each occupier came to some 8acres, also the right to turn out 8 oxen or cows, or 6 horses and 40sheep on to the common pasture. Probably, as in other manors inancient times, each occupier had a right to as much firewood as wasnecessary, and timber for building purposes and fences. The arableland lay in numerous small plots of half an acre each and less, mingled together in a state of great confusion, and was farmed on thefour-field system--wheat, beans, oats, fallow--though 200 years beforethe three-field system had been most common in the district. Many ofthe common arable fields evidently often contained, in those days ofpoor cultivation and inefficient drainage, patches of boggy and poorland which were left uncultivated. [229] In the rolls of the Manor ofScotter in Lincolnshire, in the early part of the sixteenth century, no one was to allow his horses to depasture in the arable fieldsunless they were tethered on these bad spots to prevent them wanderinginto the growing corn. [230] Many of the other regulations of thismanor throw a flood of light on the farming of the day. In 1557 it wasordered that no man should drive his cattle unyoked through thecorn-field under a penalty of 3s. 4d. Every man shall keep asufficient fence against his neighbour under the same penalty. No manshall make a footpath over the corn-field, the penalty for so doingbeing 4d. Every one shall both ring and yoke their swine before S. Ellen's Day (probably May 3), under a penalty of 6s. 8d. , the customof yoking swine to prevent them breaking fences being common untilrecent times. It was the custom in some manors to sow peas in a plotespecially set apart for the poor. Another rule was that no one shouldbake or brew by night for fear of burning down the flimsy houses andbuildings. The penalty for ploughing up the balks which divided thestrips, or meere (marc) furrows as they were called in Lincolnshire, was 2d. , a very light one for so serious an offence. In 1565 a penaltyof 10s. Was imposed on Thomas Dawson for breaking his hemp, i. E. Separating the fibre from the bark in his large open chimney on winternights, a habit which the manor courts severely punished owing to therisk of fire, for hemp refuse is very inflammable. It 1578 it was laiddown that every one was to sow the outside portion of their arablelands, and not leave it waste for weeds to the damage of hisneighbours; and that those who were too poor to keep sheep should notgather wool before 8 o'clock in the morning, in reference to thecustom of allowing the poor to pick refuse wool found on bushes andthorns, and this rule was to prevent them tearing wool from the sheepat night under that pretext. No man was to keep any beasts apart fromthe herdsman, for if the herdsman did not know the animals he couldnot tell them from strays. Every one was to sweep their chimney fourtimes a year, for fear of sparks falling on the thatch. No man was tosuffer the nests of crows or magpies in his ground, but pull them downbefore May Day. In the meadows, before each man began to mow his grasshe was to mark the exact limits of his own land with 'wadsticks' ortall rods, so that there could be no mistake as to boundaries. Thehealth of the community and of the live stock also received attention:in 1583 one Pattynson was fined 1s. For allowing a 'scabbed' horse togo on the common; dead cattle were to be buried the day after death, and all unwholesome meat was to be buried. 

Harrison praises the farmer of his day highly: 'the soyle is even nowin these oure dayes growne to be much more fruitfulle; the cause isthat our country men are grown more skilful and careful throwerecompense of gayne. ' He was also doing well by means of his skill andcare; and in spite of the raising of rents by the much-abusedlandlords; for in former times 'for all their frugality they werescarcely able to live and pay their rents on rent day without sellinga cow or a horse'. Such also used to be their poverty, that if afarmer went to the alehouse, 'a thing greatly used in those days, ' andthere, 'in a braverie to show what store he had, did caste downe hispurse and therein a noble or 6 shillings in silver unto them, it wasvery likely that all the rest could not lay downe so much against it. 'And In Henry's time, though rents of £4 had increased to £40, £50, or£100, yet the farmer generally had at the end of his term saved six orseven years' rent, besides a 'fair garnish of pewter on his cupboard', and odd vessels, also 'three or four feather beds, so manie coverlidsand carpets of tapestry, a silver salt, a bowle for wine, and a dozzenof spoones to furnish up the sute'. His food consisted principally ofbeef, and 'such food as the butcher selleth', mutton, veal, lamb, pork, besides souse, brawn, bacon, fruit, fruit pies, cheese, butter, and eggs. [231] In feasting, the husbandman or farmer exceeded, especially at bridals, purifications of women, and such othermeetings, where 'it is incredible to tell what meat is consumed andspent'. But, besides these, there were many poorer farmers who livedat home 'with hard and pinching diet'. Wheaten bread was at this timea luxury confined to the gentility, the farmer's loaf, according toTusser, was sometimes wheat, sometimes rye, sometimes mastlin, amixture of wheat and rye, though the poorer farmer on uninclosed landate bread made of beans. 

The poor ate bread of rye or barley, and in time of dearth of beans, peas, and oats, and sometimes acorns. [232] According to Tusser, thelabourer was allowed roast meat twice a week, 'Good plowmen looke weekly of custom and right, For roast meate on Sundaies, and Thursdaies at night';

and Latimer calls bacon 'the necessary meate' of the labourer, and itseems to have been his great stand-by then as now. The bread and baconwere supplemented largely by milk and porridge. [233] The statute, 24Hen. VIII, c. 3, says that all food, and especially beef, mutton, pork, and veal, 'which is the common feeding of mean and poorpersons. ' was too dear for them to buy, and fixed the price of beefand pork at 1/2d. A lb. And of mutton and veal at 5/8d. A lb. ; but thestatute, like others of the kind, was of little avail, and the priceof beef was in the middle of the sixteenth century about 1d. A lb. Or8d. In our money. As the average price of wheat at the same date was14s. A quarter, or about 112s. In our money, fresh meat wascomparatively much cheaper, and it is no wonder that even the farmercould not afford wheaten bread regularly. Moryson, writing inElizabeth's reign, says 'Englishmen eate barley and rye brown bread, and prefer it to white as abiding longer in the stomeck and not sosoon digested'. [234]

A tithe dispute at North Luffenham in Rutlandshire throws considerablelight on the financial position of the various classes interested inthe land about 1576. At the trial several witnesses were examined, whoall made statements as to the amount of their worldly wealth, and itis a noteworthy fact that even the humblest had saved something;perhaps because there was no poor law or State pension fund todiscourage thrift. [235] Thomas Blackburne, a husbandman, who hadserved his master as 'chief baylie of his husbandrie', had at the endof a long life saved £40. Another, William Walker, eighty years ofage, during forty years of service to Mr. John Wymarke had put by £10. Robert Sculthorp, who had at one time been a farmer, was worth £26 6s. 8d. , but the size of his farm is unfortunately not told us. RolandWymarke, a gentleman farmer, who had farmed for forty years at NorthLuffenham, was little better off than Thomas Blackburne, the baylie, for he estimated his capital at £50. £50, however, must not be takenas representing the average wealth of a 'gentleman', though a fewhundred pounds was then considered a considerable fortune. In 1577Thomas Corny, a prosperous landlord at Bassingthorpe, Lincolnshire, had a house with a hall, three parlours, seven chambers, a highgarret, maid's garret, five chambers for yeomen hinds, shepherd, &c. , two kitchens, two larders, milk-house, brew-house, buttery, andcellar; and it was furnished with tables, carpets, cushions, pictures, beds, curtains, chairs, chests, and numerous kitchen and otherutensils, besides a quantity of plate, which was then looked upon notonly as a useful luxury but as a safe form of investment. The smallsquire was not nearly so well off as this. In 1527 the house of JohnAsfordby, who was of that degree, contained a hall, parlour, smallparlour, low parlour, a chamber over the parlour, gallery chamber, buttery, and kitchen, and furniture was scanty, but the plate cupboardwas well filled. [236] A prosperous yeoman was often comparativelybetter off than the small squire. Richard Cust, of Pinchbeck in thesame county, though his house was small, consisting only of a hall, parlour with chamber over, kitchen with chamber over, brew-house, milne-house (mill-house), and milk-house, was richer in furniture, possessing a folding-table, 4 chairs, 6 cushions, 27 pieces of pewter, 10 candlesticks, 4 basins, 1 laver, 6 beds, and other articles. [237]

FOOTNOTES:

[215] See table at end, and Thorold Rogers's prices in Vol. V. Of hisgreat work. 

[216] 'A perfite platforme of a Hoppegarden', in _Arte of Gardening_, by R. Scott, 1574. 

[217] Tusser recommends that the hopyard be dug. Thomas Tusser wasborn in Essex, about 1525, and died in 1580. He led a roving life, which included a good deal of farming; but the statement that he diedpoor appears to be inaccurate. Much of his advice is not veryvaluable. 

[218] Harrison, _Description of Britain_, p. 110. 

[219] Usually grown in gardens, until the middle of the seventeenthcentury. Tusser also mentions them. 

[220] _Description of Britain_, ii. 324 (Furnivall ed. ). 

[221] Harrison, _Description of Britain_, ii. 329. 

[222] _State of the Poor_, i. 48-9. Blomefield's _Norfolk_, iv. 569, i. 51, i. 649. Dugdale, _Warwickshire_, p. 557. 

[223] _Description of Britain_, iii. 5. 

[224] _Description of Britain_ (ed. Furnivall), ii. 243. 

[225] Froude, _History of England_, v. III. 

[226] 'A compendious or brief examination of certain ordinarycomplaints', quoted by Eden, _State of the Poor_, 1. 119. 

[227a] _Transactions of the Royal Historical Society_ (New Series), xix. 103. 

[227b] Ibid. Xi. 74 sq. 

[228] Nasse, _Agricultural Community of the Middle Ages_, p. 9. _Archaeologia_, xxxiii. 270. 

[229] In the still surviving open fields at Laxton, mentioned above, there are certain unploughed portions called 'sicks', or grassypatches, never cultivated. --Slater, _op. Cit. _ p. 9. 

[230] _Archaeologia_, xlvi. 374. 

[231] _Description of Britain_, ii. 150. 

[232] In the reign of Mary, 'the plain poor people did make very muchof acorns. ' Cullum, _Hawsted_, p. 181. 

[233] Eden, _State of the Poor_, i. 116. 

[234] _Itinerary_, iii. 140. 

[235] _Rutland Magazine_, i. 64. 

[236] _Victoria County History: Lincolnshire_, ii. 331. 

[237] See _Records of Cust Family_, i. 56. 

CHAPTER X

1540-1600

LIVE STOCK. --FLAX. --SAFFRON. --THE POTATO. THE ASSESSMENT OF WAGES

The cattle and sheep of this period have generally been described aspoor animals, and no doubt they would seem small to us. To JacobRathgib, a traveller, writing in 1592, they seemed worthy of praise:'England has beautiful oxen and cows, with very large horns, low andheavy and for the most part black; there is abundance of sheep andwethers, which graze by themselves winter and summer withoutshepherds. ' The heaviest wethers, according to him, weighed 60 lb. Andhad at the most 6 lb. Of wool, a much heavier fleece than is generallyascribed to them; others had 4 or 5 lb. Horses were abundant, and, though low and small, were very fleet; the riding horses beinggeldings and generally excellent. Immense numbers of swine were in thecountry, 'larger than in any other. ' Six years later anothertraveller, Hentzner, noticed that the soil abounded with cattle, andthe inhabitants were more inclined to feeding than ploughing. He saw, too, a Berkshire harvest-home: 'As we were returning to our inn (atWindsor) we happened to meet some country people celebrating theirharvest-home, their last load of corn they crown with flowers, havingbesides an image richly dressed by which perhaps they would signifyCeres; this they keep moving about, while men and women, men andmaid-servants, riding through the streets in the cart, shout as loudas they can till they arrive at the barn. ' Harrison[238] tells us, nodoubt with patriotic bias, that 'our oxen are such as the like are notto be found in any country of Europe both for greatness of body andsweetness of flesh, their horns a yard between the tips. ' Cows haddoubled in price in his time, from 26s. 8d. To 53s. 4d. 'Our horsesare high, but not of such huge greatness as in other places, ' yetremarkable for the easiness of their pace; and 5 or 6 cart-horses willdraw 30 cwt. A long journey, and a pack-horse will carry 4 cwt. Without any hurt, --a statement which is one more proof of the poornessof the roads. The chief horse fairs were at 'Ripon, Newportpond, Wolfpit, and Harborow, ' where horse dealers were as great rogues asever. Pigeons were still the curse of the farmer, and their cotes werecalled dens of thieves. 

By the end of the sixteenth century, certainly by the first quarter ofthe seventeenth, the villein, who in the Middle Ages had formed thebulk of the population, had disappeared. [239] It is probable that evenat the beginning of the Tudor period the great majority of the bondmenhad become free, and that the serf then only formed one per cent. Ofthe population, and many of those had left the country and becomeartizans in the towns, for personal serfdom had outlasted demesnefarming; though even there the heavy hand of the lord was upon themand enforced the ancient customs. 

In the sixteenth century flax was apparently grown upon most farms, the statutes 34 Hen. VIII, c. 4, and 5 Eliz. , c. 5, obliging everyperson occupying 60 acres of tillage to have a quarter of an acre inflax or hemp, and Moryson says the husbandmen wore garments of coarsecloth made at home, so did their wives, and 'in generall' their linenwas coarse and made at home. [240]

 'Good flax and good hemp to have of her own In Maie a good housewife will see it be sowne', sings Tusser. The statute of Henry VIII enjoined the sowing of flaxand hemp because of the great increase of idle people in the realm, towhich the numerous imports, especially linen cloth, contributed. 

Saffron also was much grown, that at Saffron Walden in Essex was saidto be the best in the world, the profit from it being reckoned at £13an acre. Its virtues were innumerable, if we may believe thecontemporary writers; it flavoured dishes, helped digestion, was goodfor short wind, killed moths, helped deafness, dissolved gravel, and, lastly, 'drunk in wine doth haste on drunkenesse. '

The most important novelty of this century was the potato, which thecolonists, sent out in 1586 by Sir Walter Raleigh, brought fromVirginia to Ireland, though it had been introduced into Europe by theSpaniards before this. According to Gerard, the old English botanist, it was, on its first introduction from America, only cultivated in thegardens of the nobility and gentry as a curious exotic; and in 1606 itoccurs among the vegetables considered necessary for a nobleman'shousehold. [241] It is curious to find Gerard comparing it to what hecalls the 'common potato', in reality the sweet potato brought toEngland by Drake and Hawkins earlier in the century. In James I'sreign the root was considered a great delicacy, and was sold to thequeen's household at 2s. A lb. , an enormous price. 

Like most agricultural novelties it spread very slowly, but about themiddle of the seventeenth century began to be planted out in thefields in small patches in Lancashire, whence it spread all over thekingdom and to France. [242] At this date it was looked upon as a verysecond-rate article of food, if we may judge by the _Spectator_ (No. 232), which alludes to it as the diet of beggars. About 1690, Houghtonsays, 'now they begin to spread all the kingdom over, ' and recommendsthem boiled or roasted and eaten with butter and sugar. [243] Edennotes its increasing popularity during the eighteenth century, and byhis time (the end of that century) in many parts it was the staplearticle of food for the poor; in Somerset the children mainlysubsisted on it, and in Devon it was made into bread. Its cultivationon a large scale in the field did not, however, spread all overEngland till the Napoleonic war, and the ignorance and prejudiceagainst it lasted for long; even Cobbett called it 'the lazy root, 'and whole potatoes were used for seed regardless of the number ofeyes. 

In 1563 was passed the famous Act, 5 Eliz. , c. 4, which Thorold Rogershas asserted to be the commencement of a conspiracy for cheating theEnglish workman of his wages, to tie him to the soil, to deprive himof hope, and to degrade him into irremediable poverty. [244] Theviolence of this language is a prima facie reason for doubting thecorrectness of his assertion, which on examination is found to begrossly exaggerated. Under Richard II the justices were authorized tofix the rate of wages, provided they did not exceed the maximum fixedby Parliament. The Elizabethan statute abolished the maximum and leftthe justices to fix reasonable rates. So far from being an attempt tokeep wages down it seems to have been an honest effort to regulatethem according to prices, [245] whereas most previous statutes hadmerely reduced wages. The preamble of the Act states this clearlyenough, saying that the existing laws with regard to the hiring andwages of servants were insufficient; chiefly because the wages 'are indyvers places to small and not answerable to this time respecting theadvancement of prices in all things that belong to the said servantsand labourers, the said lawes cannot conveniently without the greatgreefe and burden of the poore labourer and hired man be put in dueexecution. ' But as several of these Acts were still beneficial it wasproposed to consolidate them into one statute in order to banishidleness, advance husbandry, and give the labourer decent wages. Itwas enacted therefore that all persons between the ages of twelveyears and sixty, not being otherwise occupied, 'nor being a gentlemanborn, nor having lands of the yearly value of 40s. , nor goods to thevalue of £10, ' should be compellable to serve in husbandry with 'anyperson that keepeth husbandry' by the year, and the hours of work werere-enacted. 

The rates of wages of artificers, husbandmen, &c. , were to beascertained yearly by the justices and the sheriff, 'if heconveniently may, ' at quarter sessions, 'calling unto them suchdiscrete and grave persons as they shall thinck meete and conferringtogether respecting the plentie or scarcitie of the tyme and othercircumstances necessary to be considered, ' and the wages fixed were tobe certified into Chancery. Then proclamations of the wages thusdetermined were to be made in the cities and market towns. Everyperson who gave higher wages than those established by theproclamation was to be imprisoned for ten days and fined £5, everyreceiver to be imprisoned twenty-one days. The importance stillattached to the harvest season is shown by the section that allartificers and others were compellable to work in harvest or be put inthe stocks two days and a night. For the better advancement ofhusbandry and tillage every householder farming 60 acres of tillage ormore might receive an apprentice in husbandry, but no tradesman ormerchant might take an apprentice save his own son, unless his parentshad freehold of the annual value of 40s. ; and no person was to use'any art mistery or manual occupation now in use' unless he had servedseven years' apprenticeship to it. There can be no doubt that theclauses last quoted confined a large portion of the population toagricultural work, but as we know that the people were deserting thecountry and flocking to the towns, this must have seemed to theframers of the law very desirable. 

This method of fixing wages was in force until 1814, and its repealthen was entirely contrary to the opinion of the artizan class; but itmay be doubted if the magistrates extensively used the powers giventhem by the Act, and wages seem to have been settled generally bycompetition. Several instances remain, however, of wages drawn upunder this Act. Almost immediately after it was passed, in June 1564, the Rutland magistrates met under the Act, and stated that the pricesof linen, woollen, leather, corn, and other victuals were great, sothey drew up the following list of wages[246]:--

 A bailiff in husbandry, having charge of two plough lands, at least should have by the year 40s. , and 8s. For his livery. 

 A chief servant in husbandry, which can eire (plough), sow, mow, thresh, make a rick, thatch and hedge, and can kill and dress a hog, sheep, and calf, by the year 40s. , and 6s. For his livery. 

 A common servant in husbandry, which can mow, sow, thresh, and load a cart, and cannot expertly make a rick, hedge, and thatch, and cannot kill and dress a hog, sheep, or calf, by the year 33s. 4d. , and 5s. For his livery. 

 A mean servant in husbandry, which can drive the plough, pitch The cart, and thresh, and cannot expertly sow, mow, thresh, and load a cart, nor make a rick, nor thatch, by the year 24s. , and 5s. For his livery. 

The chief shepherd is only to receive 20s. And 5s. For his livery; butthis must be an error, as in the statutes 6 Hen. VIII, c. 3, and 23Hen. VI, c. 12, he was placed next the bailiff as we should expect. 

These wages were evidently 'with diet', and show a considerableadvance on those fixed by 6 Hen. VIII, c. 3. [247] By the day theordinary labourer was to have 6d. In winter, 7d. In summer, and 8d. To10d. In harvest time, 'finding himself. ' A mower with meat earned 5d. , without meat 10d. A day; a man reaper with meat 4d. , without 8d. ; awoman reaper 3d. , and 6d. 

As the price of corn and meat was three times what it had been in thefifteenth century, and the labourers' wages, taking into considerationhis harvest pay, not quite double, the Rutland magistrates hardlyobserved the spirit of the Act. Rutland, moreover, judging by theassessments of the time, was a county where agriculture was veryflourishing; and thirty years after we find in Yorkshire that thewinter wages of the labourer were 4d. And the summer 5d. A day: thatis, he had little more wages than in the fifteenth century, withprovisions risen threefold. At Chester at the same date his day'swages were to be 4d. All the year round. [248] In 1610 the Rutlandmagistrates at Oakham[249] decreed that an ordinary labourer was tohave 6d. A day in winter and 7d. In summer, the same wages as in 1564, yet wheat in that year averaged 32s. 7d. A quarter. A bailiff by theyear was now advanced to 52s. , a manservant of the best sort, equal nodoubt to the chief servant in husbandry, to 50s. , a 'common servant'to 40s. , and a 'mean servant' to 29s. , but all without livery. AtChelmsford, in 1651, there was a very different rate fixed, theordinary labourer getting from 1s. To 1s. 2d. A day; but this seems tohave been exceptional, as at Warwick in 1684 he was only to have 8d. , and as late as 1725 in Lancashire 9d. To 10d. A day. [250] In 1682, bythe Bury St. Edmunds assessment, a common labourer got 10d. A day inwinter and 1s. In summer, and a reaper in harvest 1s. 8d. By the yeara bailiff was paid £6, a carter £5, and a common servant £3 10s. , ofcourse with food. [251] These figures clearly prove that the wagesfixed by the magistrates were often terribly inadequate, though itmust be said in their defence that the great rise in prices probablystruck them as abnormal and not likely to last. It should beremembered, too, that besides his wages the labourer and his familyhad often bye industries such as weaving to fall back upon, and inmost parts of England still a piece of common land to help him. 

FOOTNOTES:

[238] _Description of Britain_, iii. 2. 

[239] _Transactions of the Royal Historical Society_ (New Series), xvii. 235. 

[240] Moryson, _Itinerary_ (ed. 1617), iii. 179. 

[241] _Archaeologia_ xiii. 371. 

[242] In 1650 it was much cultivated about London. 

[243] _Collections on Husbandry and Trade_, ii. 468. 

[244] _Six Centuries of Work and Wages_, p. 398. 

[245] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, ii. 38. The Statute ofLabourers of 1351 made the same effort, see p. 43. 

[246] Thorold Rogers, _History of Agriculture and Prices_, iv. 120;and _Work and Wages_, p. 389. 

[247] See above. 

[248] Thorold Rogers, _Work and Wages_, pp. 390-1. 

[249] _Archaeologia_, xi. 200. 

[250] Thorold Rogers, _Six Centuries of Work and Wages_, p. 396. 

[251] Cullum, _Hawsted_, p. 215. It is strange to find food reckonedso highly; if the common labourer at Hawsted received his food, he wasonly paid 5d. A day in winter, and 6d. In summer; if one man's foodwas reckoned at half his wages, how far did the other half go infeeding and clothing his family?

CHAPTER XI

1600-1700

CLOVER AND TURNIPS. --GREAT RISE IN PRICES. MORE ENCLOSURE. --A FARMINGCALENDAR

The seventeenth century was one of considerable progress in Englishagriculture. The decay of common-field farming was enabling individualenterprise to have its way. The population was rapidly growing; by1688 the returns of the hearth tax prove that the northern countieswere nearly as thickly populated as the southern, and prices duringthe first half were continually rising, though after that theyremained almost stationary, since the effect of the influx of preciousmetals from the New World was exhausted. In the first half of thecentury John Smyth ascribes the advance of rents to the Castilianvoyages opening the New World, whereby such floods of treasure haveflowed into Europe that the rates of Christendom are raised neartwentyfold'. 

But the greatest agricultural event of the century was theintroduction of clover and the encouragement of turnips as grown inHolland, by Sir Richard Weston, about 1645. No doubt the turnip wasalready well known in England. Tusser and Fitzherbert both mention it, apparently as a garden root only; but Gerard in his _Herbal_, 1597, says it grew in fields 'and divers vineyards or hoppe gardens in mostplaces of England', which certainly points to an effort having beenmade generally to use it as a field crop whenever an enclosed spacegave it some protection from the depredations of the common herds. However, its cultivation must have declined, as long after this it wasregarded as a novelty as a field crop in most parts of England. [252]In Holland it had been used in the field universally, and this usewith that of 'great', as it was called, or broad clover, Westonpressed on the English farmer. But their progress was wofully slow. AtHawsted in Suffolk clover and turnips were first sown about 1700, andthe eastern portion of England was far ahead of the north and west; aslate as 1772 Arthur Young wrote that 'sainfoin, cabbages, potatoes, and carrots are not common crops in England; I do not imagine abovehalf or at most two-thirds of the nation cultivate clover. '[253] Yettheir introduction must have been of the greatest benefit to thefarmer and the public; his stock of hay was increased, he couldutilize his fallows, and keep a much larger head of stock through thewinter, who would give him a greater quantity of manure. Every onewhere turnips were grown could now have fresh meat during the winter. The slow progress of these great blessings is perhaps the strongesttestimony in our history of the innate conservatism of the farmer. Thegreen crop was for long considered to be suited only to the garden, and as our forefathers were prejudiced against the spade it wasdifficult to get such crops cultivated even there; but it should alsobe remembered that no crop was possible in the common fields which didnot come to maturity before Lammas, unless some special agreement wasmade as to it. [254] Clover, Sir Richard Weston said, thrives best whensown on the worst and barrenest ground, which was to be pared andburnt, and unslaked lime added to the ashes. Then it was to be wellploughed and harrowed, and about 10 lb. Of seed sown per acre in theend of March or in April. 'It will stand five years, and then whenploughed up will yield three or four years running rich crops ofwheat, and then a crop of oats, after which you may sow clover again. '

In the seventeenth century the practice of liming and marling, whichhad been largely discontinued since the fourteenth century, wasrevived (Westcote, in his _View of Devon_ in 1630, calls liming, &c. , a new invention), and there was also a great improvement inimplements. Patents were taken out for draining machines in 1628, fornew manures in 1633-6, ploughs 1623-7 and 1634, mechanical sowing1634-9. Only six were taken out, however, between 1640 and 1760 thatconcerned agriculture. [255] The Civil War checked the improvement, forthough the great mass of the people had nothing to do with eitherparty, the country was of necessity in a very unsettled state, andboth sides plundered indiscriminately. Yet in some parts, as inDevonshire, so many of the able men served in the two armies, that fewbut old men, women, and children were left to manage the farms, andeven they were afraid to grow more than enough to supply themselvessince both armies seized the crops. [256] These bad effects lasted forsome time afterwards; Chapple, a Devonshire land agent of theeighteenth century, says he had talked with people who remembered thestate of husbandry in the last ten or twelve years of the reign ofCharles II, when in many parts of Devonshire an acre or two of wheatwas esteemed a rarity. 

That the rate of progress in the century was not more rapid isattributed by Blyth to several causes[257]:--

 1. Want of leases, by which tenants were deprived of security. 

 2. Discouragement to flood (irrigate) land, from the risk of law suits with neighbours. 

 3. Intermixture of different properties in common fields. 

 4. Unlimited pasturage on commons, by which they were overstocked. 

 5. The want of a law compelling all men to kill moles. 

 6. The excessive number of water-mills, to the great destruction of much gallant land. 

The average price of wheat during the seventeenth century was 41s. Aquarter, of barley 22s. , and oats 14s. 8-1/2d. Oxen averaged about £5apiece, cows much less, about £3, and there was not much change intheir value during the century. Sheep were about 10s. 6d. , and acart-horse in the first half of the century from £5 to £10, in thesecond half from £8 to £15. Beef rose from 2d. A lb. In the early partof the century to 3d. At the close of it. Wool remained stationary atfrom 9d. To 1s. Per lb. 

[258]A proclamation of 1633 fixed thefollowing prices for London poulterers and victuallers:--

 s. D. 

 Best turkey-cock 4 4 Duck 8 Best hen 1 0 3 eggs 1 1 lb. Best fresh butter in winter 6 1 lb. Best fresh butter in summer 5 1 lb. Best salt butter 4-1/2 Best fat goose 2 0 " crammed capon 2 6 " pullet 1 6 " chicken 6

According to the _Manydown Manor Rolls_ the Wootton churchwardens in1600 paid from 8s. To 11s. For calves, 4s. 4d. For a fat lamb, 8s. Fora sheep, 6s. 8d. For a barren ewe, 6d. For a couple of chickens, 1s. 6d. For 500 faggots. [259]

After the restoration in 1660 another period of prosperity setin, [260] and altogether the century was a prosperous one for farmersand manufacturers. The newly established Royal Society materiallyhelped agriculture. 'Since his majesty's most happy restoration thewhole land hath been fermented and stirred up by the profitable hintsit hath received from the Royal Society, by which means parks havebeen disparked, commons enclosed, woods turned into arable, andpasture lands improved by clover, St. Foine, turnips, cole-seed, andmany other good husbandries, so that the food of cattle is increasedas fast, if not faster, than the consumption, and by these means therent of the kingdom is far greater than ever it was. '[261] The centurywas distinguished also for the curious number of cycles of good andbad seasons; 1646-50 were years of prolonged dearth, wheat reaching anenormous price, and 1661-2, were famine years, while the end of thecentury was long famous for its barren years. 

With the prices of produce rents rose enormously. Very early in thecentury[262] rents of arable land had increased ninefold, since thefifteenth century, and by 1688 Davenant and King estimated the averagerent of arable land in England at 5s. 6d. Per acre and of permanentgrass at 8s. 8d. Perhaps this is too high an estimate, as on theBelvoir estate of 17, 837 acres in 1692 the rental all round was 3s. 9-1/4d. An acre for land above the average in quality, though it mustbe remembered that the Earls and Dukes of Rutland were indulgentlandlords. 

The _History of Hawsted_ affords a valuable index of the increase ofrents at this period. [263] In 1500 the average rent was 1s. 4d. Anacre; in 1572, 39 acres of arable, meadow, and pasture were let for2s. 3d. An acre, the landlord, it is interesting to notice, reservingthe right of hawking, netting rabbits, hunting, and fowling; and aboutthe same date other lands on the estate were let at 1s. 3d. And 1s. 6d. An acre, so that there had not generally been much advance since1500, which is what we should expect, as the great rise took place atthe end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenthcenturies. In 1589, therefore, it is not surprising to find that 40acres of meadow and pasture let at 5s. An acre, and in 1611 somebuildings and 155 acres of park at 11s. An acre. In 1616, 366 acres ofarable and pasture and 39 acres of meadow were valued at 12s. An acrefor letting, and the Hall Farm of 175 acres (8-1/2 acres meadow) at10s. ; and Great Pipers Farm of 138 acres (8 meadow) at 7s. , whilemeadow and pasture near the mansion was valued at 21s. An acre. 

In 1658 the rent of the Hall Farm had advanced from 10s. An acre toabout 13s. , though in 1682 it went down to 11s. 6d. [264] According tothe survey of the Manor of Manydown in Hampshire in 1650, meadow landwas worth 20s. An acre, pasture 8s. To 10s. , arable from 2s. To 10s. , the latter showing a great variation in quality. [265] In 1723 BryersWood Farm at Hawsted, which had been let in 1620 for £15, was let at£29 5s. These rents are considerably higher than the estimate ofDavenant and King; but it must be remembered that they were for landin the parts of England, where farming was at its best, and they, inaccounting for the whole country, had to take into consideration avast amount of land in the north and west which was worth very little. In the Rawlinson Collection[266] in the Bodleian Library is a rentalof Lord Kingston's estate in north Nottinghamshire in 1689, the rentsaveraging 10s. An acre; but this was an exceptionally good estate, much of the property being meadow and pasture. The farmhouses alsowere above the average, while in two of the parishes the tenants hadrights of common, and in two others the tenancies were tithe free. There was very little arable land on the estate, three small holdingsletting for 6s. 8d. An acre; and some of the pasture land was let at14s. , 15s. 6d. , and even 18s. An acre. The largest farm, Saundby Hall, of 607 acres, nearly all meadow and pasture, was 9s. 10d. An acre. Thecottages were fortunate in having pieces of land attached to them. InSaundby, Richard Ffydall rented a cottage and 2 acres of arable landfor £1 13s. 4d. ; Widow Johnson a cottage and yard for 13s. 4d. ;William Daubney a cottage with 6-1/2 acres of arable and 5-1/2 acresof pasture for £7 18s. 6d. A farm in Scrooby, consisting of amessuage, cottage, and 113 acres of arable, meadow, and pasture, onlylet at £23. 

As to the freehold value of land, in 1621, according to D'Ewes, it wasworth from sixteen to twenty years' purchase; yet, in 1688, Sir JosiahChild said that lands now sell at twenty years' purchase, which fiftyor sixty years before sold at eight or ten; and he also states, 'thesame farms or lands to be now sold would yield treble and in somecases six times the money they were sold for fifty years ago'. [267]Davenant puts land at twelve years' purchase in 1600, at eighteenyears in 1688. [268] In 1729 the price of land was said to betwenty-seven years' purchased. [269]

The legislation against laying down tillage to grass was continueduntil the end of the sixteenth century. The statute 39 Eliz. , c. 1, repealed 4 Hen. VII, c. 19, and all other Acts against pulling downhouses, and provided that a house of husbandry should be a house thathath or hath had 20 acres of arable land. All such houses which hadbeen destroyed during the last seven years were to be rebuilt, and ifdestroyed more than seven years only one-half was to be rebuilt; butto each of them at least 40 acres of land were to be attached. 

The next statute, 39 Eliz. , c. 2, sets forth once more the advantagesof tillage, viz. The increase and multiplying of people for service inthe wars, and in time of peace the employment of a greater number ofpeople, the keeping of people from poverty, the dispersal of thewealth of the kingdom in many hands, and 'the standing of this realmupon itself without depending upon foreign countries'[270]; andtherefore enacts that lands converted from tillage to pasture shall berestored to tillage within three years, and lands then in tillageshould be so continued; but this was only to extend to twenty-threecounties, and omitted most of those in the south-west. At thebeginning of the seventeenth century a reaction set in; the price ofcorn had risen immensely and continued to do so, the price of woolremained stationary, and tillage was as profitable as grass. In 1620Coke speaks of the man who only kept a shepherd and a dog as one whonever prospered. In 1624 several of the tillage laws wererepealed. [271]

As an example of the unenclosed fields, at the end of the sixteenthcentury, we may take the common fields at Daventry, which were threein number, containing respectively 368, 383, and 524 acres, dividedinto furlongs, a term which had now a very wide signification, each ofwhich was subdivided into lands nearly always half an acre in extent, several of these lands when adjoining being often held now by the sameowner. One furlong may be taken as an example. It was 37 acres 1 roodin extent, and contained ninety-six lands, owned by seventeen people. The meadows were divided still more minutely, some of the smallerportions being only a quarter of an acre each. The largest meadowcontained 50 acres, divided among fifty-three people. In the manor, besides the arable and meadow, there were 300 acres of commonpasture, a park, and a small wood. There were forty-one freeholdersand many leasehold tenants, the average freehold being 34 acres, theaverage leasehold only half an acre, small holdings being the usualfeature of the unenclosed township. 

In the seventeenth century the price of wool ceased to operate as acause of enclosure, but in many parts the change to pasture continued, owing to the rise in price of cattle and of wages. The same reason, too, for laying down land to grass that had been so powerful in thepreceding centuries still existed, the common arable fields neededrest from continual cropping and poor manuring, while good crops ofcorn could be grown from the virgin soil of the newly enclosed waste. The preamble of the Durham decrees clearly states this: 'the land iswasted and worn with continual ploweing, and thereby made bare, barren, and very unfruitful. '[272] We may, therefore, take Coke'swords as inapplicable to many districts. In the seventeenth centurythere were several methods of enclosing. Sometimes the lord of themanor enclosed and left the land of the tenants still in common; or atenant enclosed piece by piece; or enclosures were made by Act ofParliament, the earliest of which for common fields was passed in thetime of James I, a method at this period very seldom used; or therewas an agreement between lord and tenants often authorized by theCourts of Chancery or Exchequer. 

Besides enclosure, another process was going on, the consolidation offarms by the amalgamation of small holdings into larger ones. Farmhouses, as we see them to-day, began to appear on the holdingsthus consolidated, instead of being grouped together in villages. Awriter in 1604 says, 'we may see many of their houses built alone likeraven's nests, no birds building neere them' so unwonted was the sightof isolated dwellings in most places at the time. 

However, in 1630 Charles I went back to the policy of his forefathersand issued letters to certain of the Midland counties ordering allenclosures of the last two years to be removed, and Commissions wereissued to inquire into the matter in 1632, 1635, and 1636, [273] thechief evil feared from enclosures being depopulation, and encloserswere prosecuted in the Court of Star Chamber. 

The assertion that enclosures ceased during the seventeenth centuryhas been proved inaccurate by modern research, and there is no doubtthat they went on continuously. In 1607, in the Midlands, theenclosing of land produced serious armed resistance, probably becausethe Midland counties were then the great corn-growing district ofEngland, and the change to pasture and the consolidation of farmsdisplaced a larger population there than elsewhere. Between 1628 and1630 enclosures in Leicestershire, for instance, were very numerous, no less than 10, 000 acres being enclosed in that time, most of whichwas converted to pasture. The attempt of the Government to check themovement, initiated by Charles I, seems to have had considerableeffect, but died away with the Civil War, and though other attemptswere made under the Commonwealth they came to nothing, and from thistime enclosures went on unchecked by the Government, [274] and weresoon to have its active support. Yet there was a vast amount still incommon field: the whole of the cultivated land of England in 1685 wasstated by King and Davenant to amount to not much more than half thetotal area, and of this cultivated portion three-fifths was stillfarmed on the old common-field system. Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Huntingdonshire, and Bedfordshire werecomparatively unenclosed. [275] From the books and maps of the day 'itis clear that many routes which now pass through an endless successionof orchards, corn-fields, hay-fields, and bean-fields then ran throughnothing but heath, swamp, and warren. In the drawings of an Englishlandscape made in that age for the Grand Duke Cosmo scarce a hedgerowis to be seen.... At Enfield, hardly out of sight of the smoke of thecapital, was a region of five-and-twenty miles in circumference whichcontained only three houses and scarcely any enclosed fields. '[276]The enclosure of these areas was to be mainly the work of the latterhalf of the eighteenth and the first quarter of the nineteenthcenturies. 

The amount of enclosure in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and the firsthalf of the seventeenth centuries was, according to the latestresearch, much, and perhaps very naturally, exaggerated bycontemporaries. Between 1455-1607 the enclosures in twenty-fourcounties are said to have amounted to some 500, 000 acres, or 2. 76 oftheir total area, [277] but the evidence for this is by no meansconclusive. However, there seems no reason to doubt that the enclosureof this period was but a faint beginning of that great outburst of itthat marked the agrarian revolution of the middle of the eighteenthcentury, and that it was mainly confined to the Midland counties, Mr. Johnson, in his recent Ford Lectures, has stated that the enclosure ofthe sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was not accompanied by verymuch direct eviction of freeholders or bona fide copyholders ofinheritance; yet the small holder suffered in many ways, e. G. By thelord disproving the hereditary character of the copyhold, or bychanging copyholds of inheritance into copyholds for lives or leasesfor lives or years. He and his successors could then refuse to renewat the termination of lives or years except on payment of apractically prohibitory fine. In short, though there was not muchviolation of legal right there was much injustice, and enclosure, though its effects were exaggerated at this period, certainly tendedto displace the small landholder. It does not appear, however, thatthe moderate-sized proprietors were seriously affected. Many of thelarger freeholders and copyholders on manors enclosed on their ownaccount, and perhaps increased at the expense of the very large andthe very small. Indeed, the decrease of small landowners was chieflydue to political and social causes. The old self-sufficing, agricultural economy of England, which we have seen beginning to breakup in the fourteenth century, was becoming thoroughly disintegrated. The capitalist class was increasing; the successful merchant andlawyer were acquiring land and becoming squires; there was an intenseland hunger. Simon Degge, wilting of Staffordshire in 1669, says thatin the previous sixty years half the lands had changed owners, not somuch as of old they were wont to do, by marriage, but by purchase; andhe notices how many lawyers and tradesmen have supplanted thegentry. [278]

In fact, there was a much freer disposal of lands from the end of thefifteenth century, when the famous Taltarum's case enabled entailedestates to be barred, until the Restoration, than there has beenbefore or since. For these two hundred years the courts of law andparliament resisted every effort to re-establish the system ofentails; the owners of land constantly multiplied, and this tendencymust have counteracted the displacement of the small holder byenclosure. Sir Thomas Smith, writing towards the end of the sixteenthcentury, says that it was the yeomen who bought the lands of'unthrifty gentlemen;' and Moryson tells us that 'the buyers(excepting lawyers) are for the most part citizens and vulgarmen'. [279] It became one of the boasts of England that she had a largenumber of yeomen farming their own land. During the Civil War, however, it became important to landowners to protect their propertiesin the interest of children and descendants from forfeiture fortreason. The judges lent their aid, and the system of strict familysettlements was devised, under which the great bulk of the estates inEngland are now held. This system favoured the accumulation of landsin a few hands and the aggregation of great estates, and was largelyresponsible for the disappearance of the small freeholder. 

In reviewing the progress of agriculture in the seventeenth century, the drainage of the fen country of Lincolnshire and the adjoiningcounties must not be forgotten. It had been for centuries the scene ofdrainage operations on a more or less extended scale, few of which, however, met with success; but in the seventeenth century the growingvalue of land caused a serious revival of these efforts. Attempts madeunder Elizabeth and James I had only succeeded in rescuing a certainamount of land for pasture, [280] but in the reign of Charles I thescheme of Cornelius Vermuyden was more successful. His system, however, was defective, and in the reign of Charles II the BedfordLevel was in a lamentable state and in danger of reverting to itsprimitive condition. Many of the works too were destroyed by the'stiltwalkers', and in 1793 Maxwell states that out of 44, 000 acres offen land in Huntingdonshire only 8, 000 or 10, 000 were productive[281];and in 1794 Stone tells us that the commons round the Isle ofAxholme were chiefly covered with water. [282] Still to Vermuyden andhis contemporaries must be assigned the credit of the firstcomprehensive scheme for rescuing these fertile lands from the watersthat covered them. 

At the commencement of this important century an old calendar of1606[283] clearly sets forth the farming work of the year:--

January and February are the best months for ploughing for peas, beans, and oats, and to have peas soon in the year following sow themin the wane of the moon at S. Andrewstide before Christmas; which maybe compared to Tusser's advice for February, 'Go plow in the stubble, for now is the season For sowing of fitches of beans and of peason. '

'Clean grounds of all such rubbish as briars, brambles, blackthorns, and shrubbs' (then more often choking the ground than now), which areto be fagoted as good fuel for baking and brewing. 

'Do not plough in rainy weather, for it impoverisheth the earth. '

March and April. Take up colts from grass to be broken. Sow beans, peas, and oats. In these months are all grounds where cattle went inthe last winter to be furthed (apparently managed) and cleared and themole-hills scattered, that the fresh spring of grass may grow better. All hedges and ditches to be made betwixt 'severals', evidentlyenclosures as distinguished from common fields. From March 25 to May 1summer pastures are to be spared, that they may have time to get headbefore summer cattle be put in. In the meantime such cattle are to bebestowed in meadows till May Day, and after that date such meadows areto be cleansed and spared until the crops of hay be taken off. Fromnow till midsummer sell fat cattle and sheep, and with the money buylean cattle and sheep. Sow barley. 

May and June. Sort all cattle for their summer pasture on May Day, viz. Draught oxen by themselves, milch cows by themselves, weaningcalves, yearlings, two-year-olds, three- and four-year-olds, everysort by themselves, which being divided in pasture fitting for themwill make larger and fairer cattle. Separate the horses in the sameway. Wash sheep and shear four or five days after, which done the woolis to be well wound and weighed, and safely laid up in some placewhere there is not too much air or it will lose weight, nor where itis damp or it will increase too much in weight. Cleanse winter cornfrom thistles and weeds. 

July and August. First of all comes hay-making. In August wean lambs, and put them in good pasture, and in winter put them in fresh pastureuntil spring, and then put them with the 'holding' sheep. 

In these months is corn to be 'shornne or mowen downe' (the writer, itis to be noticed, has no preference for either method); and after thecorn is carried put draught horses and oxen into the averish (cornstubble), to ease other pastures; and after them put hogs in. Gathercrabs in woods and hedgerows for making verjuice. 

September and October. Have all plows and harrows neat and fit forsowing of wheat, rye, mesling (wheat and rye mixed), and vetches. [284]

Pick hops. Buy store cattle, both steers and heifers, of three or fouryears old, which being well wintered at grass, or on straw at the barndoors, will be the sooner fed the summer following, and they willsooner feed after straw than grass. 

From October to May are calves to be reared, because then they be morehardly bred and become the stronger cattle. Feed brawns, bacons, lards, and porkets on mast if there is any, if not on corn. 'In thesemonths cleanse poundes or pools, this season being the driest;' anextraordinary assertion, unless the climate has changed, seeing thataccording to the monthly averages from 1841-1906, taken at the RoyalObservatory, Greenwich, October is the wettest month in the year. [285]

November and December. Sort all kinds of sheep until Lady Day, viz. Wethers by themselves, and weaning lambs by themselves; and do not putrams to the ewes before S. Lukestide, October 18, for those lambs fallabout March 25, and if they fall before then the scarcity of grass andthe cold will so nip and chill them that they will die or beweaklings. It is good at this time to take draught cattle and horsesfrom grass into the house before any great storms begin. Thrash cornnow after it hath had a good sweat in the mow, and so dried again, andgive the straw to the draught oxen and cattle at the standaxe or atthe barn doors for sparing of hay, advice which Tusser also gives:

 'Serve rie straw out first, then wheat straw and peas, Then ote straw and barley, then hay if ye please. '

FOOTNOTES:

[252] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1896, pp. 77 sq. , and Gerard, _Herbal_ (ed. 1633), p. 232. 

[253] About 1684, John Worlidge wrote to Houghton that sheep fatted onclover were not such delicate meat as the heath croppers, and thatsheep fatten very well on turnips. Houghton, _Collection forImprovement of Husbandry_, iv. 142. This is said to be the firstnotice of turnips being given to sheep. 

[254] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1896, p. 77. One of the proofs of the rarityof vegetables among the poorer classes of England, especially in theMiddle Ages, is the fact that rents paid in kind never included them. 

[255] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1892, p. 19. 

[256] Chapple, _Review of Risdon's Survey of Devon_ (1785), p. 17 n. _Victoria County History: Devonshire, Agriculture_. 

[257] Blyth was a great advocate of enclosure. 'Live the commoners doindeed', he says, 'very many in a mean, low condition, with hunger andease. Better do these in Bridewell. What they get they spend. And canthey make even at the year's rent?'

[258] Rymer, _Foedera_ (Orig. Ed. ), xix. 512. 

[259] _Manydown Manor Rolls_, Hampshire Record Society, p. 172. 

[260] Thorold Rogers, _Work and Wages_, p. 459. 

[261] Houghton, _Collections, &c. _, ii. 448. 

[262] Thorold Rogers, _History of Agriculture and Prices_, v. P. Vii. Cf. P. 139 infra. 

[263] Cullum, _Hawsted_, pp. 196 et seq. In the Hawsted leases, at theend of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries, it isnoteworthy that there were, at a time of repeated complaints againstlaying down land to pasture, clauses against breaking up pasture land. 

[264] In 1677 there were complaints of a fall in rents. 

[265] _Manydown Manor Rolls_, Hampshire Record Society, pp. 178 etseq. 

[266] Rawl. A. 170, No. 101. 

[267] McPherson, _Annals of Commerce_, ii. 483. 

[268] Ibid. Ii. 630. 

[269] Ibid. Iii. 147. The rental of the lands in England in 1600 wasestimated by Davenant at £6, 000, 000, in 1688 at £14, 000, 000; and in1726 by Phillips at £20, 000, 000. Ibid. Iii. 133. In 1850, Cairdestimated it at £37, 412, 000. 

[270] With what horror would those legislators have contemplatedEngland's position to-day, when a temporary loss of the command of thesea would probably ruin the country. 

[271] 21 Jac. 1, c. 28. 

[272] _Transactions of the Royal Historical Society_ (New Series), xix. 116. 

[273] _Transactions of the Royal Historical Society_ (New Series), xix. 127. 

[274] Ibid. 130. 

[275] See article in _Transactions of the Royal Historical Society_(New Series), xix. 

[276] Macaulay, _History of England_, ch. Iii. 

[277] _Quarterly Journal of Economics_, xvii. 587. Considering thatthe legislature of the sixteenth century was against enclosure anddepopulation, it is hard to understand 31 Eliz. , c. 7, which forbadecottages to be erected unless 4 acres of land were attached thereto, in order to avoid the great inconvenience caused by the 'buyldinge ofgreat nombers and multitude of cottages, which are daylie more andmore increased in many partes of this realme'. How was it thatcottages had increased so much in rural districts, which are of coursealluded to, in spite of enclosure?

[278] Harwood, _Erdeswick_. 

[279] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ p. 44. 

[280] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 187. 

[281] _General View of Hunts. _, p. 8. 

[282] _General View of Lincoln_, p. 29. 

[283] _Farming Calendar_, from an original MS. , printed in_Archaeologia_, xiii. 373 et seq. 

[284] Cf. Tusser:

'October for wheat-sowing calleth as fast';

and

'When wheat upon eddish (stubble), ye mind to bestowe Let that be thefirst of the wheat ye do sowe';

and

'Who soweth in raine, he shall reap it with tears'. 

[285] The writer of the diary probably meant this work should be donein September. 

CHAPTER XII

THE GREAT AGRICULTURAL WRITERS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. --FRUITGROWING. A SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ORCHARD

The seventeenth century is distinguished by a number of agriculturalwriters whose works, as they afford the best account of the farming ofthe time, we may be pardoned for freely quoting. The best known ofthem were, Sir John Norden, Gervase Markham, Sir Richard Weston, Blythe, Hartlib, Sir Hugh Plat, John Evelyn, John Worlidge, andHoughton. 

Sir John Norden printed his _Surveyor's Dialogue_ in 1608, which is inthe form of a conversation between a farmer and a surveyor, the formerat the outset telling the latter that men of his profession were thenvery unpopular because 'you pry into men's titles and estates, andoftentimes you are the cause that men lose their land, and customs arealtered, broken, and sometimes perverted by your means. And above all, you look into the values of men's lands, wherefore the lords of manorsdo reckon their tenants to a higher rent, and therefore not only I butmany poore tenants have good cause to speak against theprofession'. [286]

The surveyor attributes the increase in prices to farmers outbiddingone another for farms, for the rents of farms and prices growtogether; a statement which seems to have been quite true and disposesof the assertion that the landlords raised the rents unfairly, forthey were quite entitled to what rent they could get in the openmarket, the farmers being presumably wise enough not to offer rentswhich would preclude a profit. He further blames the farmer of his dayfor being discontented with his lot: in former times 'farmers andtheir wives were content with mean dyet and base attire and held theirchildren to some austere government, without haunting alehouses, taverns, dice, and cards; now the husbandman will be equal to theyeoman, the yeoman to the gentleman, the gentleman to the squire, andthere is at this day thirty times as much vainely spent in a family oflike multitude and quality as was in former ages'; a complaint thathas been common in all ages. Contrary to what is the practice to-day, and apparently to common sense, the surveyor recommends that opendrains be made as narrow above as at the bottom, at the most not morethan a foot and a half broad. [287] Hops, he says, were then grown inSuffolk, Essex, and Surrey, 'in your loose and spongie grounds, trenched. ' 'Carret' roots were raised in Suffolk and Essex, andbeginning to increase in all parts of the realm[288]; but if healludes to their cultivation in the open field the statement must betaken with considerable qualification, as they were not so growngenerally until the end of the eighteenth century or the beginning ofthe next. 

Kent was then, as now, the great fruit county of England; 'above allothers I think the Kentishmen be most apt and industrious in plantingorchards with pippins and cherries, especially near the Thames aboutFeversham and Sittingbourne. ' But Devon and Hereford were also famous;Westcote about 1630 says the Devonshire men had of late much enlargedtheir orchards, and 'are very curious in planting and grafting allkinds of fruit'[289]; and John Beale in 1656 tells us Hereford 'isreputed the orchard of England'[290]; while Hartlib says there weremany orchards in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. [291] He calls'Tandeane' near Taunton the Paradise of England, where the husbandrywas excellent, the land fruitful by nature and improved by the art andindustry of the farmers; 'they take extraordinary pains in soyling, ploughing, and dressing their lands, and after the plow there goethsome three or four with mattocks to break the clods and to draw up theearth out of the furrows that the lands may lye round, and that thewater annoy not the seed (the water evidently often lying long in thefurrows between the great high ridges), and to that end they mostcarefully cut gutters and trenches in all places. And for the betterenriching of their ploughing lands they cut up, cast, and carry in theunplowed headlands and places of no use. Their hearts, hands, eyes, and all their powers concurre in one to force the earth to yield herutmost fruit; and the crops of wheat that rewarded this industry weresometimes 8 and 10 quarters to an acre. 

A short pamphlet called the _Fruiterer's Secrets_, published in Londonin 1604, imparts some interesting and curious information about fruitgrowing. [292] There were then four sorts of cherries in England, Flemish, [293] English, Gascoyne, and black, and the preserving of themfrom birds, always a burden on the grower, the author says can be doneby a gun or a sling; the worst enemies being jays and bullfinches, whoate stones and all. Stone fruit should be gathered in dry weather, andafter the dew is off, for if gathered wet it loses colour and becomesmildewed. If nettles newly gathered are laid at the bottom of thebasket and on the top of the fruit, they will hasten the ripening offruit picked unripe, and make it keep its colour. 

Those English farmers who still shake their apples from the trees tofall and be bruised on the ground had better listen to the carefuldirections for placing the ladder on the trees where it will do nodamage, as to the use of the gathering hook so that the branches canbe brought within easy reach of the picker on his ladder, the wearingof a gathering apron, and the emptying of it gently into the baskets. Green fern has the same effect on pears packed for carriage as nettleson stone fruit; while apples should be packed in wheat, or betterstill in rye straw. For long journeys the American system of packingin barrels is anticipated, the apples being carefully put in by hand, and the barrels lined at both ends with straw, but not at the sides toavoid heating, while holes should be bored at either end to preventheat. Pippins, John Apples, Pearmains, and other 'keepers' need not beturned until the week before Christmas, and again at the end of March, when they must be turned oftener; but never touch fruit during a frostor a thaw, or in rainy weather, or it will turn black. 

Hartlib, a few years after, reckoned no less than 500 sorts of applesin England, though doubtless many of these were identical, since thesame apple often has two or three names in one parish. The best forthe table were the Jennetings, Harvey Apple, Golden Pippin, Summer andWinter Pearmains, John Apple, &c. ; for cider the Red Streak (the greatfavourite), Jennet Moyle, Eliot, Stocking Apple, &c. He was told thatin Herefordshire a tenant bought the farm he rented with the fruitcrop of one year; £10 to £15 having been given per acre for cherriesand more for apples and pears. Pears for the table were the Windsor, 'Burgamet, ' 'Boon Christians'! Greenfield, and others; and for perry, which John Beale, a well-known writer of the day considered 'a weakdrink, fit for our hindes and generally refused by our gentry asbreeding wind in the stomack', the Horse Pear, Bosbury, Choak, &c. [294] There were many kinds of plums, among them the Mistle Plum, Damazene, Violet, and Premorden. 

Four kinds of grafting were practised: in the cleft, and in the bark, the two most usual ways; shoulder or whip grafting, and grafting byapproach, [295] the last 'where the stock you intend to graft on and thetree from which you take your graft stand so near together that theymay be joined, then take the sprig you intend to graft and pare awayabout three inches in length of the rind and wood near unto the verypith, and cut also the stock on which you intend to graft the sameafter the same manner that they may evenly join each other, and sobind them and cover them with clay or wax. ' Inoculation was alsopractised, 'when the sap is at the fullest in the summer, the buds youintend to inoculate being not too young but sufficiently grown. ' Fortransplanting the middle of October is recommended, and the wiseadvice added, 'plant not too deep, ' and in clay plant as near thesurface as possible, for the roots will seek their way downward butrarely upward; and in transplanting 'you may prune the branches aswell as the roots of apples and pears, but not of plums. ' The bestdistance apart in an orchard for apples and pears was considered to befrom 20 to 30 feet, the further apart the more they benefit from thesun and air, a piece of advice which many a subsequent planter hasneglected. For cherries and plums 15 to 20 feet was thought right. Worlidge's directions for pruning are minute and careful, and shouldbe well hammered into many slovenly farmers to-day. 

Cider-making was performed much as it is in old-fashioned farmsto-day, by mashing the apples in a trough by means of a millstone setedgeways, and then pressing the juice out through hair mats, thejuice, says Hartlib, 'having been let stand a day or two and the blackscum that ariseth in that time taken off they tunne it, and in thebarrels it continueth to work some days longer, just as beer useth todo. [296] Another method was to put the fruit in a clean vessel ortrough, and bruise or crush it with beetles, then put the crushedfruit in a bag of hair-cloth and press it. [297] After the cider was inthe barrels there was placed in them a linen bag containing cloves, mace, cinnamon, ginger, and lemon peel which was said to make thecider taste as pleasantly as Rhenish wine. 

Worlidge gives us what is perhaps the first mention of a poultry farm, and strangely enough it seems to have paid. 'I have been crediblyinformed that a good farm hath been wholly stocked with poultry, spending the whole crop upon them and keeping severall to attend them, and that it hath redounded to a very considerable improvement'. [298]Incubators of a very rude sort were used, three or four dozen eggsbeing placed in a 'lamp furnace made of a few boards', and hatched bythe heat of a lamp or candle. 

It must strike the reader that the accusation levelled against theEnglish farmer, of having made little progress in his art from theMiddle Ages to the commencement of the reign of George III is hardlywarranted. Their knowledge and skill in their business were evidentlysuch as to make considerable progress inevitable, and then as now theywere in some cases assisted by their landlords, as in Herefordshire, where Lord Scudamore, after the assassination of his friend the Dukeof Buckingham, devoted his energies to the culture of fruit, and withother public-spirited gentlemen turned that county into 'one entireorchard', besides improving the pastures and woods[299]; thoughHartlib laments that gentlemen try so few experiments for theadvancement of agriculture, and that both landowners and farmersinstead of communicating their knowledge to each other kept itjealously to themselves. [300] The chief hindrance to landlord andtenant was that the heavy hand of ancient custom lay upon them, withits antiquated communistic system of farming, which still in thegreater part of the land of England utterly prevented good husbandryand stifled individual effort. It was one of these Herefordshiregentlemen. Rowland Vaughan, who in 1610 wrote what is probably thefirst account of irrigation in England, though the art was mentionedby Fitzherbert and must have been known in Devon and Hampshire longbefore his time; indeed, it is another instance of the then isolationof country districts that he speaks as if he had made a new discovery. He tells us that 'having sojourned two years in his father's house, wearied in doing nothing and fearing his fortunes had been overthrown, he cast about what was best to be done to retrieve his reputation'. And one day he saw from a mole-hill on the side of a brook on hisproperty a little stream of water issuing down the working of themole, which made the ground 'pleasing green', and from this he was ledon to what he calls 'the drowning of his lands'. This was sosuccessful that he improved the value of his estate from £40 to £300 ayear, and his neighbours, who of course had first scoffed at him, cameto learn from him. Not many years after 'drowning' was said to havebecome one of the most universal and advantageous improvements inEngland. [301] Vaughan says that he had counted as many as 300 personsgleaning in one field after harvest, and that in the mountains neareggs were 20 a penny, and a good bullock 26s. 3d. , but this was abackward region. [302]

Between 1617 and 1621 the price of wheat fell from 43s. 3d. To 21s. Aquarter, and immediately affected the payment of rent. [303] Mr. JohnChamberlain, in February, 1620, wrote to Sir Dudley Carleton, 'We arehere in a strange state to complain of plenty, but so it is that cornbeareth so low a price that farmers are very backward to pay theirrents and in many places plead disability: for remedy whereof theCouncil have written letters into every shire to provide a granarywith a stock to buy corn and keep it for a dear year. ' Sir SymondsD'Ewes notes in his diary that 'at this time (1621) the rates of allsorts of corn were so extremely low as it made the very prices of landfall from twenty years' purchase to sixteen or seventeen. For the bestwheat was sold for 2s. 8d. And 2s. 6d. The bushel, the ordinary at 2s. Barley and rye at 1s. 4d. And 1s. 3d. The bushel, and the worser ofthose grains at a meaner rate, the poorer sort that would have beenglad but a few years before of coarse rye bread, did now usuallytraverse the markets to find out the finer wheats as if nothing elsewould please their palates'. Instead of being glad that they were foronce having a small share of the good things of this world, herejoices that their unthankfulness and daintiness was soon punished byhigh prices and dearness of all sorts of grain. [304] The year 1630 wasthe commencement of a series of dear seasons, when for nineconsecutive years the price of wheat did not fall below 40s. A quarterand actually touched 86s. The restraints laid on corn-dealers had, since the principles of commerce were being better understood, beenmodified in 1624, but the high prices revived the old hatred againstthem, and we find Sir John Wingfield writing from Rutland that he has'taken order that ingrossers of corne shall be carefullie seen untoand that there is no Badger (corn-dealer) licensed to carry corne outof this countrye nor any starch made of any kind of graine'. He addsthat he had 'refrayned the maulsters from excessive making of mault, and had suppressed 20 alehouses'. [305] However, the senseless policyof preventing trade in corn received a severe blow from the statute 15Car. II, c. 7, which enacted that when corn was under 48s. Personswere to be allowed to buy and store corn and sell the same againwithout penalty, provided they did not sell it in the same marketwithin three months of buying it, a statute which Adam Smith saidcontributed more to the progress of agriculture than any previous lawin the statute book. 

Gervase Markham, who was born about 1568 and died in 1637, gives us adescription of the day's work of the English farmer. He is to rise atfour in the morning, feed his cattle and clean his stable. While theyare feeding he is to get his harness ready, which will take him twohours. Then he is to have his breakfast, for which half an hour isallowed. Getting the harness on his horses or cattle, he is to startby seven to his work and keep at it till between two and three in theafternoon. Then he shall bring his team home, clean them and give themtheir food, dine himself, and at four go back to his cattle and givethem more fodder, and getting into his barn make ready their food fornext day, not forgetting to see them again before going to his ownsupper at six. After supper he is to mend shoes by the fireside forhimself and his family, or beat and knock hemp and flax, or pitch andstamp apples or crabs for cider or verjuice, or else grind malt, pickcandle-rushes, or 'do some husbandry office within doors till itbefall eight o'clock'. Then he shall take his lantern, visit hiscattle once more, and go with all his household to rest. The farmroller of this time, according to Markham, was made of a round pieceof wood 30 inches in circumference, 6 feet long, having at each end astrong pin of iron to which shafts were made fast. [306] He mentionswooden and iron harrows, but this refers only to the tines, the woodenones being made of ash. From an illustration of a harrow which hegives, it appears it was much like Fitzherbert's and many used to-day:a wooden frame, with the teeth set perhaps more closely than ours; thesingle harrow 4 feet square drawn by one horse, the double harrow 7feet square by two oxen at least. Wheat he says, when the land is dug15 inches deep, and the seed dibbled in, will produce twelve times asmuch as when ploughed; but he admits the 'intricacy and trouble' ofthis method. [307] As to the question of mowing or reaping corn, he isof opinion that though 'it is a custom in many countries of thiskingdom not to sheare the wheat but to mow it, in my conceit it is notso good, for it both maketh the wheate foule and full of weede'. Barley, however, should be mown close to the ground, though many reapit; oats too were to be mown. His directions for planting anorchard[308] are interesting, both as showing the kinds of fruit thengrown, the number of different sorts planted together, and the growthof the olive in England. [309] The orchard, he says, should be asquare, divided into four quarters by alleys, and in the first quartershould be apples of all sorts, in the second pears and wardens of allsorts, in the third quinces and chestnuts, in the fourth medlars andservices. A wall is the best fence, and on the north wall, 'againstwhich the sunne reflects, you shall plant the abricot, verdochio, peache, and damaske plumbe; against the east side the white muskadinegrape, the pescod plumbe, and the Emperiale plumbe; against the west, the grafted cherries and the olive tree; and against the south sidethe almond and the figge tree. ' As if this extraordinary mixture werenot enough, 'round about the skirts of the alleys' were to be plantedplums, damsons, cherries, filberts and nuts of all sorts, and the'horse clog' and 'bulleye', the two latter being inferior wild plums. Plums were to be 5 feet apart, apples and other large fruit 12 feet. 

Young trees should be watered morning and evening in dry summers, andold ones should have the earth dug away from the upper part of theroots from November to March, then the earth, mixed with dung or soapashes, replaced. Moss was carefully to be scraped off the trees withthe back of an old knife, and, to prevent it, the trees manured withswine's dung. Minute distinctions are given as to pruning and washingthe trees with strong brine of water and salt, either with a gardenpump placed in a tub or with 'squirtes which have many hoales', theforerunner of modern spraying. 

Cider was then mostly made in the west, as in Devonshire and Cornwall, and perry in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire; but he leaves outHerefordshire, where it was certainly made at this time. [310]

A curious help to fattening beasts, says Markham, is a lean horse ortwo kept with them, for the beasts delight to feed with them. Fattening cattle were to have first bite at the pastures, then draughtcattle, and then sheep; after Midsummer, when there is anextraordinary sweetness in the grass, suffer the cattle to eat thegrass closer till Lammas (August 1). Though some do not hold with him, he thinks reading and writing not unprofitable to a husbandman, butnot much material 'to his bailiff'; for there is more trust in anhonest score chalked on a trencher than 'in a commen writen scrowle'. Landowners derived a good income from their woods and coppices. Anacre of underwood of twenty-one years' growth, was at this time worthfrom £20 to £30; of twelve years' growth, £5 to £6; but on many of thebest lands it was only cut every thirty years. [311]

In 1742-3 oak timber was worth from 15d. To 18d. Per cubic foot andash about 10d. During the Napoleonic war oak sold for 4s. 6d. A foot. 

In Blyth's _Improver Improved_ we have one of the first accounts ofcovered drains. The draining trench was to be made deep enough to gothe bottom of the 'cold spewing moist water' that feeds the flags andthe rushes; as for the width 'use thine own liberty' but be sure makeit as straight as possible. The bottom was to be filled in withfaggots or stones to a depth of 15 inches, a method in some partsretained till comparatively modern times, with the top turf laid uponthem grass downward, and the drain filled in with the earth dug out ofit. 

A country gentleman at this date could keep up a good establishment onan income which to-day would compel him to live economically in acottage. From the accounts of Mr. Master, a landowner nearChiselhurst, it appears that a man with an income of £300 or £400 ayear could live in some luxury, keep a stud of horses, and aconsiderable number of servants. [312] Some of them had no scruplesabout adding to their incomes by turning corn-dealers, even sellingsuch small quantities as pecks of peas, bushels of rye, and half pecksof oatmeal. From the accounts of one of them, Henry Best, [313] ofElmswell, we learn many valuable details concerning farming inYorkshire about 1641. It was the custom to put the ram to the ewesabout October 18, but Best did so about Michaelmas, and generally usedone ram to 30 or 40 ewes, and he considered it necessary that the ewesshould be two-shear. 'Good handsome ewes', he says, could have beenbought at Kilham fair for 3s. 6d. Each, a price far below the averageof the time. As for wages, mowers of grass had 10d. A day, and foundtheir own food and their scythes, which cost them about 2s. 3d. Each. Haymakers got 4d. A day, and had to 'meat themselves' and find theirown forks and rakes. Shearers or reapers were paid from 8d. To 10d. , and found their own sickles; binders and stackers, 8d. ; mowers of'haver', or oats, 10d. , a good mower cutting 4 acres a day. In 1641 hesold oats for 14s. A quarter, best barley for 22s. , rye 27s. 6d. , wheat 30s. [314] The roads were dreadful, and produce nearly all sentto market on pack-horses. 'Wee seldome send fewer than 8 horse loadsto the market at a time, and with them two men, for one man cannotguide the poakes (sacks) of above four horses. When wee sende oats tothe market wee sack them up in 3 bushel poakes and lay 6 bushels on ahorse; when wee sende wheate, rye, or masseldene (rye and wheat) andbarley to market wee put it into mette poakes (2 bushel sacks), sometimes into half quarter sacks, and these we lay on horses that areshort coupled and well backed. ' When the servants got to market theywere charged a halfpenny a horse for stabling and hay, but if theydined at the inn they paid nothing for their horses, and their dinnerscost them 4d. A head. Butter was sold by the lb. , or the 'cake' of 2lb. , and in the beginning of Lent was 5d. A lb. , by April 20, 3d. , inthe middle of May, 2-1/2d. When William Pinder took 50 acres of land'of my Lord Haye' he paid a fine of £60 and a rent of £40; but thismust have been an extremely choice piece of land, for arable landrented apparently at less than 3s. An acre. [315] The rent of a cottagewas usually 10s. A year, 'though they have not so much as a yard orany backe side belonging to them. ' There is more evidence, if suchwere needed, of the beneficial effect of enclosure, which was said totreble the value of pasture. Good meadow land fetched a great price:'The medow Sykes is about 5 acres of grounde, and was letten in theyear 1628 at £6 per annum, and in 1635 at £6 13s. 4d. 

The requirements of a foreman on a farm were that he could sow, mow, stack peas, go well with 4 horses, and be accustomed to marketing; andfor this when hired by the year he received 5 marks, and perhaps halfa crown as earnest money. The next man got 50s. , the next 46s. 6d. , the fourth 35s. 'Christopher Pearson had the first year he dwelt here£3 5s. 0d. Wages per annum and 5s. To a God's penny (earnest money);next year he had £4 wages, and he was both a good seedsman, ' beforethe invention of drills a very valuable qualification, 'and did sowall our seed both the years. When you are about to hire a servant youare to call them aside and talk privately with them concerning theirwage, and if the servants stand in the churchyard they usually callthem aside and walk to the back side of the church and there treat oftheir wage. I heard a servant asked what he could do, who made thisanswer:

 "I can sowe, I can mowe, And I can stacke; And I can doe My master too When my master turns his backe". '

If we are to judge by the food provided for the thatchers, who werelittle better than ordinary labourers, the Yorkshire farm-hand faredwell on plenty of simple food, his three meals a day consisting ofbutter, milk, cheese, and either eggs, pies, or bacon, sometimesporridge instead of milk. 

Probably, however, few country gentlemen were such industrious farmersas Best; many of them passed their days mostly in hunting and fowlingand their evenings in drinking, though we know too that there wereexceptions who did not care for this rude existence. Deer hunting, andwe must add deer poaching, was the great sport of the wealthy, but thesmaller gentry had to be content with simpler forms of the chase. Forfox hunting each squire had his own little pack, and hunted only overhis own estate and those of his friends. He had also the otter, thebadger, and the hare to amuse him. Fowling was conducted, as in theMiddle Ages, by hawk or net, for the shot gun had not yet come intouse, and was forbidden by an old law. [316] The partridge and pheasant, as now, were the chief game birds. After the Restoration the countrygentlemen seem to have been infected by the dissipation of the Court, and farming was left to the tenant farmer and yeoman: 'our gentry', says Pepys, 'have grown ignorant of everything in good husbandry. '

The middle of the seventeenth century was the Golden Age of theyeoman who owned and farmed his land; even at the end of the Stuartperiod, when their decline had already begun, Gregory King estimatedtheir numbers at 160, 000 families, or about one-seventh of thepopulation. The class included all those between the man who ownedfreehold land worth 40s. A year and the wealthier yeoman who washardly distinguishable from the small gentleman. Owning their ownland they were a sturdy and independent class, and they 'took a jollypride in voting as in fighting on the opposite side of theneighbouring squire'. 'The yeomanry', wrote Fuller, 'is an estate ofpeople almost peculiar to England;' he 'wears russet clothes butmakes golden payment, having tin in his buttons and silver in hispocket He seldom goes abroad, and his credit stretches farther thanhis travel. ' The tenant farmers were nearly as numerous, Kingestimating them at 150, 000 families; economically they were about ona level with the yeoman, their social standing, however, wasconsiderably inferior. 

The greatest improvement of the seventeenth century, the introductionfrom Holland of turnips and clover, was over-estimated by its author, Sir Richard Weston; for he tells his sons that by sowing flax, turnips, and clover they might in five years improve 500 acres of poorland so as to bring in £7, 000 a year. [317] To bring about thisdesirable consummation, he provides his sons with accounts as to thecost, one of which shows the cost of growing an acre of flax and theprofit thereon, though this gentleman's estimates are clearlyoptimistic:

 DR. £ s. D. 

 Devonshiring, i. E. Paring and burning 1 0 0 Lime 0 12 0 Ploughing and harrowing 0 6 0 3 bushels of seed 2 0 0 Weeding 0 1 0 Pulling and binding 0 10 0 Grassing the seed from the flax 0 6 0 Watering, drying, swinging, and beating 4 10 0 ---------- £9 5 0 ==========

 CR. £ s. D. 

 900 lb. Of flax 40 0 0 9 5 0 ----------- Balance profit £30 15 0 ===========

Turnips were to come after flax, and were to be given to the cows asthey did in Flanders; that is, wash them clean, put them in a troughwhere they were to be stamped together with a spitter or small spade;and the turnips were to be followed by clover. All these, says Weston, were already grown in England, but 'there is as much differencebetween what groweth here and there as is between the same thing whichgroweth in a garden and that which groweth wild in the fields'. Worlidge soon after recommended that clover be sown on barley or oatsabout the end of March or in April, and harrowed in, or by itself; andsays, with optimism equal to Weston's, one acre of clover will feedyou as many cows as 6 acres of ordinary grass and make the milkricher. [318]

It has been noticed that the price of wool altered little during thecentury, and from the private accounts of Sir Abel Barker[319] ofHambleton, in the County of Rutland, we learn that in 1642 he sold hiswool to his 'loving friend Mr. William Gladstone' for £1 a tod, thoughby 1648 it had gone up to 29s. , a good price for those days. Duringthe Civil War some of Barker's horses were carried off for the serviceof the State, and he values them at £8 a piece, a fair price then. Some years later, for mowing 44 acres of grass he sets down in hisaccount £2 7s. 0d. , for making the same £2 3s. 0d. , and stacking it3s. 

Simon Hartlib, a Dutchman by birth and a friend of John Milton, published his _Legacy_ in 1651, containing both rash statements anduseful information. We certainly cannot believe him when he statesthat pasture employs more hands than tillage. His estimate of a goodcrop of wheat was from 12 to 16 bushels per acre, and he speaksstrongly of the great fluctuations in prices, for he had known barleysell at Northampton at 6d. A bushel, and within 12 months at 5s. , andwheat in London in one year varied from 3s. 6d. To 15s. A bushel. Theenormous number of dovecotes was still a great nuisance, and thepigeons were reckoned to eat 6, 000, 000 quarters of grain annually. Hartlib recommends his countrymen to sow 'a seed commonly called SaintFoine, which in England is as much as to say Holy Hay, ' as they do inFrance: especially on barren lands, advice which some of themfollowed, and in Wilts. , soon after, sainfoin is said to have soimproved poor land that from a noble (6s. 8d. ) per acre, the rent hadincreased to 30s. [320] They were also to use 'another sort of fodderwhich they call La Lucern at Paris for dry and barren grounds'. Sowasteful were they of labour in some parts that in Kent were to beseen 12 horses and oxen drawing one plough. [321]

The use of the spade was long looked askance at by English husbandmen;old men in Surrey had told Hartlib that they knew the first gardenersthat came into those parts to plant cabbages and 'colleflowers', andto sow turnips, carrots, and parsnips, and that they gave £8 an acrefor their land. The latter statement must be an exaggeration, as it isequivalent to a rent of about £40 in our money; but we may give somecredence to him when he says that the owner was anxious lest the spadeshould spoil his ground, 'so ignorant were we of gardening in thosedays. ' Though it was not the case in Elizabeth's time, by now thelicorice, saffron, cherries, apples, pears, hops, and cabbages ofEngland were the best in the world; but many things were deficient, for instance, many onions came from Flanders and Spain, madder fromZealand, and roses from France. [322] 'It is a great deficiency inEngland that we have not more orchards planted. It is true that inKent, and about London, and in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, andWorcestershire[323] there are many gallant orchards, but in othercountry places they are very rare and thin, I know in Kent someadvance their ground from 5s. Per acre to £5 by this means', and 30acres of cherries near Sittingbourne had realized £1, 000 in one year. His recipe for making old fruit trees bear well savours of a timewhen old women were still burnt as witches. 'First split his root, then apply a compost of pigeon's dung, lees of wine, or stale wine, and a little brimstone'. The tithes of wine in Gloucestershire were'in divers parishes considerably great', and wine was then made inKent and Surrey, notably by Sir Peter Ricard, who made 6 or 8hogsheads yearly. [324] There is no doubt that the vine has been grownin the open in England from very early times until comparativelyrecent ones. The Britons were taught to plant it by the Romans in A. D. 280. [325] In Domesday there are 38 examples of vineyards, chiefly inthe south central counties. Neckham, who wrote in the twelfth century, says the vineyard was an important adjunct to the mediaevalmansion. [326] William of Malmesbury praised the vines and wine ofGloucestershire; and says that the vine was either allowed to trail onthe ground, or trained to small stakes fixed to each plant. Indeed, the mention of them in mediaeval chronicles is frequent. 

Two bushels of green grapes in 1332 fetched 7s. 6d. [327] Richard IIplanted vines in great plenty, according to Stow, within the upperpark of Windsor, and sold some part to his people. The wine made inEngland was sweetened with honey, and probably flavoured and colouredwith blackberries. [328] At the dissolution of the monasteries therewas a vineyard at Barking Nunnery. 'We might have a reasonable goodwine growing in many places of this realme', says Barnaby Googe, about1577, 'as doubtless we had immediately after the Conquest, tyll, partly by slothfulnesse, partly by civil discord long continued, itwas left, and so with time lost.... There is besides Nottingham anancient house called Chylwel in which remaineth yet as an ancientmonument in a great wyndowe of glasse, the whole order of planting, proyning, stamping, and pressing of vines. Upon many cliffes and hillsare yet to be seen the rootes and old remaines of vines. ' Plot, in his_Natural History of Staffordshire_, [329] says 'the vine has beenimproved by Sir Henry Lyttelton at Over (Upper) Arley, which issituate low and warm, so that he has made wine there undistinguishablefrom the best French by the most judicious palates, but this I supposewas done only in some over hot summer, and Dr. Bathurst made very goodclaret at Oxon in 1685, a very mean year for the purpose. ' In 1720 thefamous vineyard at Bath of 6 acres, planted with the 'white muscadene'and the 'black Chester grape, ' produced 66 hogsheads of wine worth £10a hogshead, but in unfavourable years grew very little. '[330] Mr. Peter Collinson, writing from Middlesex in 1747, says, 'the vineyardsturn to good profit, much wine being made this year in England;' andagain in 1748, 'my vineyards are very ripe; a considerable quantity ofwine will this year be made in England. '[331] However, the attemptmade to grow vines on the undercliff at Ventnor at the end of theeighteenth century by Sir Richard Worsley ended in dismal failure, andit is probable that the English climate in its normal years seldomproduced good grapes out of doors whatever it may have done inexceptionally hot ones, unless we assume that it has changedconsiderably, for which there is little ground. 

Hartlib was no friend of commons; they made the poor idle and trainedthem for the gallows or beggary, and there were fewest poor wherethere were fewest commons, [332] as in Kent--a statement re-echoed bymany observant writers; he also recommends enclosures, because theygave warmth and consequent fertility to the soil. He tells us that aneffort had been made by James I to encourage the growth of mulberrytrees and the breeding of silkworms, the lords-lieutenant of thedifferent counties being urged to see to it, but it had littleeffect. [333]

The number of different sorts of wheat was by this time considerable. Hartlib gives the white, red, bearded ('which is not subject tomildews as others'); some sorts with two rows, others with four andsix; some with one ear on a stalk, others with two; the red stalkwheat of Bucks; winter wheat and summer wheat. There were also twentyvarieties of peas that he knew, and the white, black, naked. Scotch, and Poland oats. Markham adds the whole straw wheat, the great brownpollard, the white pollard, the organ, the flaxen, and the chilterwheat. 

There was a sad lack of enterprise in the breeding of stock now andfor many generations before; indeed, it may be doubted if thisimportant branch of farming, except perhaps in the case of sheep, wasmuch attended to until the time of Bakewell and the Collings. InElizabeth's time a Frenchman had twitted England with having only3, 000 or 4, 000 horses worth anything, which was one of the reasonsthat induced the Spaniards to invade us. [334] 'We are negligent, too, in our kine, that we advance not the best species. '

The size of cattle at this date, however, seems to have been greaterthan is often stated. The Report of the Select Committee on theCultivation of Waste Lands in 1795, states that the average weight, dressed, of cattle at Smithfield in 1710 was only 370 lb. , [335] yetthe Household Book of Prince Henry at the commencement of theseventeenth century says that an ox should weigh 600 lb. The fourquarters, and cost about £9 10s. , a sheep about 45 lb. , so that thelatter were apparently relatively smaller than the oxen. In 1603 oxenwere sold at Tostock in Suffolk weighing 1, 000 lb. Apiece, deadweight. [336] According to the records of Winchester College, the oxensold there in the middle of the century averaged, dressed, about 575lb. ; in 1677, 35 oxen sold there averaged 730 lb. 'Some kine, ' it wassaid at the end of the century, 'have grown to be very bulky and agreat many are sold for £10 or £12 apiece; there was lately sold nearBury a beast for £30, and 'twas fatted with cabbage leaves. An ox nearRipon weighed, dressed, 13-1/4 cwt. '[337] They were, of course, chiefly valued as beasts of draught, and no doubt the one Evelyn sawin 1649, 'bred in Kent, 17 foot in length, and much higher than Icould reach, ' was a powerful animal for this purpose. The young oneswere taught to draw by yoking two of them, together with two old onesbefore and two behind, with a man on each side the young ones, 'tokeep them in order and speak them fair, ' for if much beaten theyseldom did well: for the first two or three days they were worked onlythree or four hours a day, but soon they worked as long as the olderones, that is from 6 to 11, then a bait of hay and rest till 1, withwork again till 5, at least in Lancashire. They were kept in the yoketill nine or ten years old, then turned on to the best grass in May, and sold to the butcher. [338]

FOOTNOTES:

[286] _Surveyor's Dialogue_ (ed. 1608), p. 2. 

[287] _Surveyor's Dialogue_, p. 188. 

[288] Ibid. P. 207. 

[289] _Victoria County History: Devon, Agriculture_. 

[290] _Herefordshire Orchards a Pattern for All England_ (ed. 1724). 

[291] See infra, p. 136. 

[292] These extracts are from the original edition in the BodleianLibrary. 

[293] 'The Flanders cherry excels', says Worlidge, _Syst. Agr. _, p. 97. 

[294] Bradley, in 1726, gives a long list of pears all with Frenchnames, hardly any of which are now known in England. 

[295] Worlidge, _Systema Agriculturae_, p. 107. 

[296] _Annotation upon the Legacie of Husbandry_, 1651, p. 105. 

[297] Markham, i. 174 (ed. 1635). 

[298] _Systema Agriculturae_, p. 152. 

[299] Evelyn, _Pomona_ (ed. 1664), p. 2. 

[300] _Compleat Husbandman_ (ed. 1659), p. 75. 

[301] _Most Approved and Long Experienced Waterworks_. London, 1610. 

[302] See Worlidge, _Systema Agriculturae_ (ed. 1669), p. 155. 

[303] Tooke, _History of Prices_, i. 23. 

[304] _Life of Sir S. D'Ewes_, i. 180. 

[305] _Calendar of State Papers, Domestic_, 1629-31, p. 414. 

[306] _Whole Art of Husbandry_ (ed. 1635), i. 50. 

[307] Ibid. I. 100. 

[308] Ibid. I. 121. 

[309] An astonishing statement; cf. Denton, _England in the FifteenthCentury_, p. 56, Neckham, _De Natura Rerum_, cap. Clxvi. And above, p. 93. 

[310] _Whole Art of Husbandry_ (ed. 1635), i. 173. 

[311] _Whole Art of Husbandry_ (ed. 1635), ii. 144. And MS. Accountsof Mr. Chevallier of Aspall Hall, Suffolk. 

[312] Thorold Rogers, _History of Agriculture and Prices_, v. 28. 

[313] _Farming and Account Books of Henry Best of Elmswell_, 1641, Surtees Society, xxxiii. 157. 

[314] Ibid. P. 99. 

[315] _Farming and Account Books of Henry Best of Elmswell_, 1641. Surtees Society, xxxiii. 124. Many districts in the north of Englandwere still much behind the rest of the country. 

[316] Trevelyan, _England under the Stuarts_, 8 sq. Though, as we haveseen, p. 157, the writer of the _Fruiterer's Secrets_ recommends thegun for scaring birds in 1604. 

[317] _The Husbandry of Brabant and Flanders_ (ed. 1652), p. 18. 

[318] _Systema Agriculturae_, p. 26. 

[319] MS. Accounts of Sir Abel Barker, in the possession of G. W. P. Conant, Esq. 

[320] Worlidge, _Systema Agriculturae_, p. 28. 

[321] _Compleat Husbandman_ (1659), p. 5. 

[322] Ibid. P. 9. 

[323] Cf. Supra, p. 136. 

[324] _Compleat Husbandman_ (1659), p. 23. 

[325] _Archaeologia_, i. 324; iii. 53. 

[326] _De Natura Rerum_, Rolls Ser. , lxi. 

[327] Denton, _England in the Fifteenth Century_, 57 n. 

[328] Ibid. 

[329] Ed. 1686, p. 380. 

[330] R. Bradley, _A General Treatise of Husbandry_ (ed. 1726), ii. 52. 

[331] Tooke, _History of Prices_ i. 44. Brandy was made in theeighteenth century from grapes grown in the Beaulieu vineyards inHampshire, and a bottle of it long kept at the abbey. --_HampshireNotes and Queries_, vi. 62. There are two vineyards to-day, of 2-3/4and 4 acres respectively, on the estates of the Marquis of Bute inGlamorganshire; but a vintage is only obtained once in four or fiveyears from them, and they are not profitable. 

[332] _Compleat Husbandman_, 1659, p, 42. 

[333] _Compleat Husbandman_, 1659, p. 57. 

[334] Ibid. P. 73. 

[335] In this apparently repeating Davenant's statement. SeeMcCulloch, _Commercial Dictionary_, 1852, p. 271. 

[336] Thorold Rogers, _History of Agriculture and Prices_, v. 332. 

[337] Houghton, _Collections for Improvement of Husbandry_, i. 294. 

[338] Ibid. , _Collections for Husbandry and Trade_ (ed. 1728), iv. 336. 

CHAPTER XIII

THE EVILS OF COMMON FIELDS. --HOPS. --IMPLEMENTS. --MANURES. --GREGORYKING--CORN LAWS

From what has been said in the preceding pages, it will be gatheredthat a vast amount of compassion has been wasted on the enclosure ofcommons, for it is abundantly evident from contemporary writers thatthere were a large number of people dragging out a miserable existenceon them, by living on the produce of a cow or two, or some sheep and afew poultry, with what game they could sometimes catch, and refusingregular work. Dymock, Hartlib's contemporary, questions 'whethercommons do not rather make poore by causing idlenesse than maintainethem;' and he also asks how it is that there are fewest poor wherethere are fewest commons. 

In the common fields, too, there was continual strife and contentioncaused by the infinite number of trespasses that they were subjectto. [339] The absence of hedges, too, in these great open fields wasbad for the crops, for there was nothing to mitigate drying andscorching winds, while in the open waste and meadows the live stockmust have sadly needed shelter and shade, 'losing more flesh in onehot day than they gained in three cool days. ' Worlidge, a Hampshireman, joins in the chorus of praise of enclosures, for they broughtemployment to the poor, and maintained treble 'the number ofinhabitants' that the open fields did; and he gives further proof ofthe enclosure of land in the seventeenth century, when he mentions'the great quantities of land that have within our memories lain open, and in common of little value, yet when enclosed have proved excellentgood land. ' Why then was this most obvious improvement not moregenerally effected? Because there was a great impediment to it in thenumerous interests and diversity of titles and claims to almost everycommon field and piece of waste land in England, whereby one or moreenvious or ignorant persons could thwart the will of themajority. [340] Another hindrance, he says, was that many roads passedover the commons and wastes, which a statute was needed to stop. 

In the seventeenth century hop growing was not nearly so common inEngland as in the preceding, when Harrison had said, in his_Description of Britain_, 'there are few farmers or occupiers in thecountry which have not gardens and hops growing of their own, andthose far better than do come from Flanders. ' There seems, indeed, tohave been a prejudice against the hop; Worlidge[341] says it wasesteemed an unwholesome herb for the use it was usually put to, 'whichmay also be supplied with several other wholesome and better herbs. 'John Evelyn was very much against them, probably because he was suchan advocate of cider: 'It is little more than an age, ' he says, 'sincehopps transmuted our wholesome ale into beer, which doubtless muchaltered our constitutions. That one ingredient, by some not unworthilysuspected, preserving drink indeed, and so by custom made agreeable, yet repaying the pleasure with tormenting diseases, and a shorterlife, may deservedly abate our fondness for it, especially if withthis be considered likewise the casualties in planting it, as seldomsucceeding more than once in three years. '[342] The City of Londonpetitioned against hops as spoiling the taste of drink. 

Yet its cultivation is said to have advanced the price of land to £40, £50, and sometimes £100 an acre, the latter an almost incredible priceif we consider the value of money then. There were not enough plantedto serve the kingdom, and Flemish hops had to be imported, though notnearly so good as English. A great deal of dishonesty, moreover, wasshown by the foreign importers, so that in 1603 a statute (1 Jac. I, c. 18) was passed against the 'false packinge of forreine hops, ' bywhich it appears that the sacks were filled up with leaves, stalks, powder, sand, straw, wood, and even soil, for increasing the weight, by which English growers it is said lost £20, 000 a year. Such hopswere to be forfeited, and brewers using them were to forfeit theirvalue. The chief cause of their decrease was that few farmers wouldtake the trouble and care required to grow them, in spite of the oftenexcellent prices, which at Winchester at this date averaged from 50s. To 80s. A cwt. , sometimes, however, reaching over 200s. , as in 1665and 1687, though then as now they were subject to great fluctuations, and in 1691 were only 31s. Many, too, were discouraged by the fact'they are the most of any plant that grows subject to the variousmutations of the air, mildews sometimes totally destroying them, ' nodoubt an allusion to the aphis blight. Hop yards were often protectedat this early date by hedges of tall trees, usually ash or poplar, theelm being disapproved of as contracting mildews. Markham[343] saysthat Hertfordshire then contained as good hops as he had seenanywhere, and there the custom was 250 hills to every rood, 'and everyhill will bear 2-1/2 lb. , worth on an average 4 nobles a cwt. (a noble= 6s. 8d. );' hills were to be 6 ft. Apart at least, poles 16 to 18 ft. Long and 9 or 10 inches in circumference at the butt, of ash, oak, beech, alder, maple or willow. 

Some planted the hills in 'plain squares chequerwise, which is thebest way if you intend to plough with horses between the hills. Othersplant them in form of a quincunx, which is better for the hop, andwill do very well where your ground is but small that you may overcomeit with either the breast plough or spade. ' The manure recommended byWorlidge was good mould, or dung and earth mixed. The hills were likemole-hills 3 feet high, and sometimes were large enough to have asmany as 20 poles, so that some hop yards must have looked verydifferent then from what they do now, even when poles are retained;but from two to five poles per hill was the more usual number. Cultivation was much the same as in Reynold Scott's time, and pickingwas still done on a 'floor' prepared by levelling the hills, watering, treading, and sweeping the ground, round which the pickers sat andpicked into baskets, but the hop crib was also used. 

It was considered better not to let the hops get too ripe, as thegrowers were aware of the value of a fresh, green-looking sample; andWorlidge advises the careful exclusion of leaves and stalks, thoughMarkham does not agree with him. Kilns were of two sorts: the Englishkiln made of wood, lath, and clay; the French of brick, lime, andsand, not so liable to burn as the former and therefore better. [344]One method of drying was finely to bed the kiln with wheat straw laidon the hair-cloth, the hops being spread 8 inches thick over this, 'and then you shall keepe a fire a little more fervent than for thedrying of a kiln full of malt, ' the fire not to be of wood, for thatmade the hops smoky and tasted the beer, but of straw! Worlidge, strangely, recommended the bed of the kiln to be covered with tin, asmuch better than hair-cloth, for then any sort of fuel would do aswell as charcoal, since the smoke did not pass through the hops. 

Besides Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Leicestershire, and Rutlandshire; Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire were recommended byMarkham for hop growing, the great hop counties of to-day being passedover by him. 

The growth of hemp and flax had by this time considerably decayed, owing to the want of encouragement to trade in these commodities, thelack of experience in growing them, and the tithes which in some yearsamounted to more than the profits. [345] An acre of good flax was worthfrom £7 to £12; but if 'wrought up fit to sell in the market' from £15to £20. 

Woad was considered a 'very rich commodity', but according to Blyth itrobbed the land if long continued upon it, although if moderately usedit prepared land for corn, drawing a 'different juice from what thecorn requires'. It more than doubled the rent of land, and had beensold at from £6 to £20 a ton, the produce of an acre. John Lawrence, who wrote in the first quarter of the eighteenth century, says woadwas in his time cultivated by companies of people, men, women, andchildren, who hired the land, built huts, and grew and prepared thecrop for the dyer's use, then moved on to another place. [346]

There were proofs that man's inventive genius was at work among farmimplements. Worlidge mentions[347] an engine for setting corn, invented by Gabriel Plat, made of two boards bored with wide holes 4in. Apart, set in a frame, with a funnel to each hole. It was fittedwith iron pins 5 in. Long to 'play up and down', and dibble holes intowhich the corn was to go from the funnels. This machine was sointricate and clumsy that Worlidge found no use for it. However, herecommends another instrument which certainly seems to anticipateTull's drill, though Tull is said to have stated when Bradley showedhim a cut of it that it was only a proposal and it never got fartherthan the cut. [348] It consisted of a frame of small square pieces oftimber 2 inches thick; the breadth of the frame 2 feet, the height 18inches, length 4 feet, placed on four good-sized wheels. In the middleof the frame a coulter was fixed to make a furrow for the corn, whichfell through a wooden pipe behind, that dropped the corn out of ahopper containing about a bushel, the fall of the corn from the hopperbeing regulated by a wooden wheel in its neck. The same frame mightcontain two coulters, pipes, and hoppers, and the instrument could beworked with one horse and one man. It was considered a great advanceon sowing broadcast, and by the use of it 'you may also cover yourgrain with any rich compost you shall prepare for that purpose, eitherwith pigeon dung, dry or granulated, or any other saline or lixirial(alkaline, or of potash) substance, which may drop after the corn fromanother hopper behind the one that drops the corn, or from a separatedrill'. The corn thus sown in rows was found easier to weed and hoe, so that it is clear that this advantage was well understood beforeTull's time. 

There was a great diversity of ploughs at this date, almost everycounty having some variation. [349] The principal sorts were thedouble-wheel plough, useful upon hard land, usually drawn with horsesor oxen two abreast, the wheels 18 in. To 20 in. High. The one-wheelplough, which could be used on almost any sort of land; it was very'light and nimble', so that it could be drawn by one horse and held byone man, and thus ploughed an acre a day. 

Then there was a 'plain plough without either wheel or foot', veryeasy to work and fit for any lands; a double plough worked by fourhorses and two men, of two kinds, one ploughing a double furrow, theother a double depth. 

There were also ploughs with a harrow attached, others constructed toplough, sow, and harrow, but not of much value; and a turfing ploughfor burning sod. Carts and waggons were of many sorts, according tothe locality, the greater wheels of the waggon being usually 18 feetin circumference the lesser 9 feet. A useful implement was thetrenching plough used on grass land to cut out the sides of trenchesor drains, with a long handle and beam and with a coulter or knifefixed in it and sometimes a wheel or wheels. The following is a listof other implements then considered necessary for a farm. 

 _For the field. _

 Harrows Mole spear Beetles Forks Mole traps Roller Sickles Weedhooks Cradle scythe Reaphooks Pitchforks Seedlip[350] Sledds Rakes

 _For the barn and stable. _

 Flails Pannels (pillions) Pails Winnowing fan Pack-saddles Mane combs Sieves Cart lines Goads Sacks Ladders Yokes Bins Corn measures Wanteyes[351] Curry combs Brooms Suffingles (surcingles?) Whips Skeps (baskets) Screens for corn. Harness

 _For the meadows and pastures. _

 Scythes Pitchforks Cutting spade for hayrick Rakes Fetters and clogs Horse-locks. Besides many tools. 

A considerable variety of manures were in use, chalk, lime, marl, fuller's earth, clay, sand, sea-weed, river-weed, oyster shells, fish, dung, ashes, soot, salt, rags, hair, malt dust, bones, horns, and thebark of trees. Of the oyster shells Worlidge says, 'I am crediblyinformed that an ingenious gentleman living near the seaside laid onhis lands great quantities, which made his neighbours laugh at him (asusually they do at anything besides their own clownish road or customof ignorance), ' and after a year or two's exposure to the weather'they exceedingly enriched his land for many years after. ' The bonesthen used were marrow-bones and fish bones, or 'whatever hath anyoiliness or fatness in it', but the bones of horses and other animalswere also used, burnt before being applied to the land, crushing notbeing thought of till many years after. 

In 1688 Gregory King, [352] who was much more accurate than moststatisticians of his time, gave the following estimate of the land ofEngland and Wales:--

 Acres. Per acre. 

 Arable 9, 000, 000 worth to rent 5s. 6d. Pasture and meadow 12, 000, 000 " " 8s. 8d. Woods and coppices 3, 000, 000 " " 5s. Forests and parks 3, 000, 000 " " 3s. 8d. Barren land 10, 000, 000 " " 1s. Houses, gardens, churches, &c. 1, 000, 000 Water and roads 1, 000, 000 ---------- Total: 39, 000, 000

He valued the live stock of England and Wales at £18-1/4 millions, andestimated the produce of the arable land in England at:

 Million Value bushels. Per bushel. 

 Wheat 14 3s. 6d. Rye 10 2s. 6d. Barley 27 2s. 0d. Oats 16 1s. 6d. Peas 7 2s. 6d. Beans 4 2s. 6d. Vetches 1 2s. 6d. 

The same statistician drew up a scheme of the income and expenditureof the 'several families' in England in 1688, the population being5-1/2 millions[353]:--

 No. Of families Class. Income. In class. 

 160 Temporal lords £3, 200 0 0 800 Baronets 880 0 0 600 Knights 650 0 0 3, 000 Esquires 450 0 0 11, 000 Gentlemen 280 0 0 2, 000 Eminent merchants 400 0 0 8, 000 Lesser merchants 198 0 0 10, 000 Lawyers 154 0 0 2, 000 Eminent clergy 72 0 0 8, 000 Lesser clergy 50 0 0 Yeoman: 40, 000 Freeholders of the better sort 91 0 0 120, 000 Freeholders of the lesser sort 55 0 0 120, 000 (Tenant) farmers 42 10 0 50, 000 Shopkeepers and tradesmen 45 0 0 60, 000 Artisans 38 0 0 364, 000 Labouring people and outservants 15 0 0 400, 000 Cottagers and paupers 6 10 0

He calculated that the freeholder of the better sort saved on anaverage £8 15s. 0d. A year per family of 7; and the lesser sort £215s. 0d. A year with a family of 5-1/2. The tenant farmer with afamily of 5, only saved 25s. A year, while labouring families who, hesaid, averaged 3-1/2 (certainly an under estimate), lost annually 7s. , and cottagers and paupers with families of 3-1/4 (also an underestimate) lost 16s. 3d. A year. It will thus be seen that the tenantfarmers, labourers, and cottagers, the bulk of those who worked on theland, were very badly off; the tenant farmer saved considerably lessthan the artisan. It will also be noticed that the rural population ofEngland was about three-quarters of the whole. [354]

The winter of 1683-4 was marked by one of the severest frosts thathave ever visited England. Ice on the Thames is said to have beeneleven inches thick; by Jan. 9 there were streets of booths on it; andby the 24th, the frost continuing more and more severe, all sorts ofshops and trades flourished on the river, 'even to a printing press, where the people and ladies took a fancy to have their names printedand the day and year set down when printed on the Thames. ' Coachesplied, there was bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet plays andinterludes, tippling 'and other lewd places'--a regular carnival onthe water. [355] Altogether the frost which began at Christmas lastedninety-one days and did much damage on land, many of the trees weresplit as if struck by lightning, and men and cattle perished in someparts. Poultry and other birds and many plants and vegetables alsoperished. Wheat, however, was little affected, as the average pricewas under 40s. A quarter. In 1692 a series of very bad seasonscommenced, lasting, with a break in 1694, until 1698, always known asthe 'ill' or 'barren' seasons, and the cause was the usual one inEngland, excessive cold and wet. In 1693 wheat was over 60s. Aquarter, and in Kent turnips were made into bread for the poor. [356]The difference in the price of farm produce in various localities wasstriking, and an eloquent testimony to the wretched means ofcommunication. At Newark, for instance, in 1692-3 wheat was from 36s. To 40s. A quarter, while at Brentford it touched 76s. ; next year inthe same two places it was 32s. And 86s. Respectively. In 1695-6 hayat Newark was 13s. 4d. A ton, at Northampton it was from 35s. To 40s. 

In 1662 was passed the famous statute of parochial settlement, 14 Car. II, c. 12, which forged cruel fetters for the poor, and is said tohave caused the iron of slavery to enter into the soul of the Englishlabourer. [357] The Act states, that the reason for passing it was thecontinual increase of the poor throughout the kingdom, which hadbecome exceeding burdensome owing to the defects in the law. Poorpeople, moreover, wandered from one parish to another in order 'tosettle where there is the best Stocke, the largest commons or wastesto build cotages, and the most woods for them to burn anddestroy. '[358] It was therefore determined to stop these wanderings, and most effectually was it done. Two justices were empowered toremove any person who settled in any tenement under the yearly valueof £10 within forty days to the place where he was last legallysettled, unless he gave sufficient security for the discharge of theparish in case he became a pauper. 

It is true that certain relaxations were subsequently made. The Act of1691, 3 W. & M. , c. 2, allowed derivative settlements on payment oftaxes for one year, serving an annual office, hiring for a year, andapprenticeship; while the Act of 1696, 8 & 9 Wm. III, c. 30, allowedthe grant of a certificate of settlement, under which safeguard theholder could migrate to a district where his labour was required, thenew parish being assured he would not become chargeable to it, andtherefore not troubling to remove him till there was actual need: butthe statute acted as an effectual check on migration and prevented thelabourer carrying his work where it was wanted. [359] It became theobject of parishes to have as few cottages and therefore as few pooras possible. In 'close' parishes, i. E. Where all the land belonged toone owner, as distinguished from 'open' ones where it belonged toseveral, all the cottages were often pulled down so that labourerscoming to work in it had to travel long distances in all weathers. Weshall see further relaxation in the law in 1795, but it was not untilmodern times that this abominable system was destroyed. Theagricultural labourer's difficulty in building a house was aggravatedby the statute 31 Eliz. , c. 7, before noticed, which in order torestrain the building of cottages enacted that none, except in townsand certain other places, were to be built unless 4 acres of land wereattached to them, under a penalty of £10, and 40s. A month forcontinuing to maintain it. This Act was not repealed until the reignof George III. However, it seems to have been frequently winked at. InShropshire, for instance, the fine often was only nominal; in theseventeenth century orders authorizing the building of cottages on thewaste were freely given by the Court of Quarter Sessions, and orderswere also made by the Court for the erection of cottageselsewhere. [360]

At the restoration of Charles II the corn laws had practically beenunaltered since 1571, [361] when it had been enacted that corn might beexported from certain ports in certain ships at all times whenproclamation was not made to the contrary, on a payment of 12d. Aquarter on wheat and 8d. A quarter on other grain. Now both export andimport were subjected to heavy duties, but these caused such highprices in corn that they were reduced in 1663; yet high duties wereagain imposed in 1673, which continued until the revolution. Then, owing to good crops and low prices, which brought distress on thelanded interest, a new policy was introduced: export duties wereabolished and the other extreme resorted to, viz. A bounty on exportof 5s. In the quarter as long as the home price did not exceed 48s. Atthe same time import duties remained high, and this system lasted till1773. Never had the corn-growers of England been so thoroughlyprotected, yet, owing to causes over which the legislators had nocontrol, namely bountiful seasons, the prices of wheat for the nextseventy years was from 15 to 20 per cent. Cheaper than in the previousforty. Modern economists have described this system as one of theworst instances of a class using their legislative power to subsidizethemselves at the expense of the community. As a matter of fact it wasthe firm conviction of the statesmen and economists of the time, thathusbandry, being the main industry and prop of England, and thefoundation on which the whole political power of the country wasbased, should receive every encouragement. At all events, in many waysthe policy was successful. [362] It encouraged investment in land, andmaterially assisted the agricultural improvement for which theeighteenth century was noted, the export too employed Englishshipping, and thus aided industry. Arthur Young said it was thesingular felicity of this country to have devised a plan whichaccomplished the strange paradox of at once lowering the price of cornand encouraging agriculture, for by the system in vogue till 1773 ifcorn was scarce it was imported, while if there was a glut at homeexport was assisted so that great fluctuations in price wereprevented. [363] It seemed of the utmost importance to men of that timethat England should be self-supporting and independent of possibleadversaries for the necessaries of life; the wisdom of the policy wasnever questioned, and was accepted by statesmen of every party. [364]To blame the landowners for adopting what seemed the wisest course toevery sensible person is merely an instance of partisan spite. 

At the Peace of Paris in 1763 the question as to whether England orFrance was to be the great colonizing country of the world was finallysettled, and a great development of English trade ensued. It wasaccompanied by a great increase of population, exports of corn werelargely reduced, and the balance began to incline the other way, sothat the next Act of importance was that of 1773 which permitted theimport of foreign wheat at a nominal duty of 6d. A quarter when it wasover 48s. , but prohibited export and the bounty on export when wheatwas at or above 44s. This was the nearest approach to free tradebefore 1846. 

The time, however, was not yet ripe for this, and the nominal duty onimports was too small for landlords and farmers, so that in 1791 theprice when the same nominal duty was to come into force was raised to54s. , while between 50s. And 54s. A duty of 2s. 6d. Was imposed, andunder 50s. A duty of 24s. 3d. ; and export was allowed without bountywhen wheat was under 46s. Export of corn, however, by this time hadbecome a matter of little moment, England having definitely ceased tobe an exporting country after 1789. 

Not only were English landowners after the Restoration anxious toprotect their corn, but they also took alarm at the imports of Irishcattle which they said lowered English rents, so that in 1665 and 1680(18 Car. II, c. 2, and 32 Car. II, c. 2) laws were framed absolutelyprohibiting the import of Irish cattle, sheep, and swine, as well asof beef, pork, bacon, and mutton, and even butter and cheese. Thestatute 12 Car. II, c. 4, also virtually excluded Irish wool fromEngland by duties amounting to prohibition. It was not until 1759 thatfree imports of cattle from Ireland were allowed for five years, [365]a period prolonged by 5 Geo. III, c. 10, and a statute of 1772. 

In 1699 wool was allowed to be shipped from six specified ports inIreland to eight specified ports in England, [366] and by 16 Geo. II, c. 11, wool might be sent from Ireland to any port in England undercertain restrictions. 

FOOTNOTES:

[339] Worlidge, _Systema Agriculturae_ (ed. 1669), p. 10. 

[340] Ibid. P. 124. 

[341] Ibid. P. 124. 

[342] _Pomona_ (ed. 1664), p. 1. 

[343] Ed. 1635, Book i, p. 175. 

[344] Markham, _op. Cit. _ i. 188. 

[345] Worlidge, _Systema Agriculturae_, p. 38. Plot, however, in his_Natural History of Staffordshire_, 1686, says hemp and flax were sownin small quantities all over the county, p. 109. 

[346] _New System of Agriculture_ (ed. 1726), p. 113. Woad is stillgrown 'in some districts in England' (Morton, _Cyclopaedia ofAgriculture_, ii. 1159), but in the Agricultural Returns of 1907apparently occupies too small an acreage to entitle it to a separatemention. 

[347] Worlidge, _Systema Agriculturae_, p. 43. 

[348] Tull, in his _Horseshoeing Husbandry_ (p. 147), speaks of thedrill as if already in use. 

[349] Worlidge, _Systema Agriculturae_, p. 205. 

[350] The seedlip was a long-shaped basket suspended from the sower'sshoulder and was usually made of wood. 

[351] Horse-girths for securing pack-saddles. 

[352] Houghton, about the same time, said England contained 28 to 29million acres, of which 12 millions lay waste (_Collections_, iv. II). In 1907 the Board of Agriculture returned the total area of Englandand Wales, excluding water, at 37, 130, 344 acres. 

[353] Eden, _State of the Poor_, i. 228. 

[354] If we allow that most of the two last classes enumerated werecountry folk. For the decline of the yeoman class, see chap. Xviii. 

[355] Evelyn's _Diary_. 

[356] Tooke, _History of Prices_, i. 23. 

[357] Fowle, _Poor Law_, p. 63. 

[358] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ p. 66, says, 'the abuses complained of inthe preamble (of the Act) did actually exist. '

[359] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ pp. 67, 134, says the statute of 1662 didnot entail so much evil by hindering migration as is generallysupposed. 

[360] _Shropshire County Records_: Abstracts of the orders made by theCourt of Quarter Sessions, 1638-1782, pp. Xxiv, xxv. 

[361] See above, p. 70. 13 Eliz. , c. 13. McCulloch, _CommercialDictionary_ (1852), p. 412. 

[362] Cunningham, _English Industry and Commerce_, ii. 371. 

[363] _Political Arithmetic_, pp. 27-34, 193, 276. 

[364] Lecky, _England in the Eighteenth Century_, vi. 192. 

[365] McPherson, _Annals of Commerce_, iii. 311. 

[366] Ibid. Ii. 706; iii. 221, 293. 

CHAPTER XIV

1700-1765

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. --CROPS. --CATTLE. --DAIRYING. --POULTRY. --TULL AND THE NEW HUSBANDRY. --BAD TIMES. --FRUIT-GROWING

The history of agriculture in the eighteenth century is remarkable forseveral features of great importance. It first saw the application ofcapital in large quantities to farming, the improvements of the timebeing largely initiated by rich landowners whom Young praises rightlyas public-spirited men who deserved well of their country, thoughThorold Rogers attributes a meaner motive for the improvement of theirestates, namely, their desire not to be outshone by the wealthymerchants. [367] They were often ably assisted by tenant farmers, manyof whom were now men with considerable capital, for whom the smallerfarms were amalgamated into large ones. After the agriculturalrevolution of the latter half of the century, the tendency toconsolidate small holdings into large farms grew apace and was lookedon as a decided mark of progress. This agricultural revolution waslargely a result of the industrial revolution that then took place inEngland. Owing to mechanical inventions and the consequent growth ofthe factory system, the great manufacturing towns arose, whence came agreat demand for food, and, to supply this demand, farms, instead ofbeing small self-sufficing holdings just growing enough for thefarmer and his family and servants, grew larger, and becamemanufactories of corn and meat. The century was also remarkable foranother great change. England, hitherto an exporting country, becamean importing one. The progress of the century was furthered by a bandof men whose names are, or ought to be, household words with Englishfarmers: Jethro Tull, Lord Townshend, Arthur Young, Bakewell, Coke ofHolkham, and the Collings. Further the century witnessed a greatnumber of enclosures, especially when it was drawing to its close. According to the Report of the Committee on Waste Lands in 1797, thenumber of Enclosure Acts was: under Anne, 2 Acts, enclosing 1, 439acres; under Geo. I, 16 Acts, enclosing 17, 960 acres; under Geo. II, 226 Acts, enclosing 318, 778 acres; from 1760 to 1797, 1, 532 Acts, enclosing 2, 804, 197 acres. 

The period from 1700 to 1765 has been called the golden age of theagricultural classes, as the fifteenth century has been called thegolden age of the labourer, but the farmer and landlord were oftenhard pressed; rates were low, wages were fair, and the demand for theproduce of the farm constant owing to the growth of the population, yet prices for wheat, stock, and wool were often unremunerative to thefarmer, and we are told in 1734, 'necessity has compelled our farmersto more carefulness and frugality in laying out their money than theywere accustomed to in better times. '[368] The labourer's wages variedaccording to locality. The assessment of wages by the magistrates inLancashire for 1725 remains, and according to that the ordinarylabourer earned 10d. A day in the summer and 9d. In the winter months, with extras in harvest, and this may be taken as the average pay atthat date. Threshing and winnowing wheat by piece-work cost 2s. Aquarter, oats 1s. A quarter. Making a ditch 4 feet wide at the top, 18inches wide at the bottom, and 3 feet deep, double set with quicks, cost 1s. A rood (8 yards), 10d. If without the quick. [369] Themagistrates remarked in their proclamation on the plenty of the timesand were afraid that for the northern part of the county, which wasthen very backward, the wages were too liberal. Wheat was, unfortunately, that year 46s. 1d. A quarter, but a few years beforeand after that date it was cheap--20s. , 24s. , 28s. A quarter--andfresh meat was only 3d. A lb. , so that their wages went a longway. [370] A considerable portion of the wages was paid in kind, notonly in drink but in food, though this custom became less frequent asthe century went on. [371]

As for his food, Eden tells us[372] that the diet of Bedford workhousein 1730 was much better than that of the most industrious labourer inhis own home, and this was the diet: bread and cheese or broth forbreakfast, boiled beef hot or cold, sometimes with suet pudding fordinner, and bread and cheese or broth for supper. This must have beensufficiently monotonous, and we may be sure the labourer at home veryseldom had boiled beef for dinner; but in the north he was muchcleverer than his southern brother in cooking cereal foods such asoatmeal porridge, crowdie (also of oatmeal), frumenty or barley milk, barley broth, &c. [373]

The village of the first half of the eighteenth century contained amuch better graded society than the village of to-day. It had fewgaps, so that there was a ladder from the lowest to the highest ranks, owing to the existence of many small holders of various degree, soonto be diminished by enclosure and consolidation. [374]

There was a great increase in the number of live stock owing to thespread, gradual though it was, of roots and clover, which increasedthe winter food; 'of late years, ' it was said in 1739, 'there havebeen improvements made in the breed of sheep by changing of rams, andsowing of turnips, grass seeds, &c. '[375] Crops, too, were improving;and enclosed lands about 1726 were said to produce over 20 bushels ofwheat to the acre. [376]

Though the number of Enclosure Acts at the beginning of the centurywas nothing like the number at the end, the process was steadily goingon, often by non-parliamentary enclosure, and was approved by nearlyevery one. Some, however, were opposed to it. John Cowper, who wrotean essay on 'Enclosing Commons' in 1732, said, a common was often thechief support of forty or fifty poor families, and even though theirrights were bought out they were under the necessity of leaving theirold homes, for their occupation was gone; but he says nothing of thewell-known increased demand for labour on the enclosed lands. Theforce of his arguments may be gauged from his answer to Lawrence'sstatement that enclosure is the greatest benefit to good husbandry, and a remedy for idleness. On the contrary, says he, who among thecountry people live lazier lives than the grazier and the dairyman?All the dairyman has to do is to call his cows together to be milked!

Worlidge in 1669 had lamented that turnips were so little grown byEnglish farmers in the field, and that it was a plant 'usuallynourished in gardens', [377] and in a letter to Houghton in 1684, he isthe first to mention the feeding of turnips to sheep. [378] However, in1726 it was said that nothing of late years had turned to greaterprofit to the farmer, who now found it one of his chief treasures; andthere were then three sorts: the round which was most common, theyellow, and the long. [379] For winter use they were to be sown fromthe beginning of June to the middle of August, on fallow which hadbeen brought to a good tilth, the seed harrowed in with a bush harrow, and if necessary rolled. When the plants had two or three leaves eachthey were to be hoed out, leaving them five or six inches apart, though some slovenly farmers did not trouble to do this; but there isno mention of hoeing between the rows. The fly was already recognizedas a pest, and soot and common salt were used to fight it. Foldingsheep in winter on turnips was then little practised, though Lawrencestrongly recommends it. According to Defoe, [380] Suffolk wasremarkable for being the first county where the feeding and fatteningof sheep and other cattle with turnips was first practised in England, to the great improvement of the land, 'whence', he says, 'the practiceis spread over most of the east and south, to the great enriching offarmers and increase of fat cattle. ' There were great disputes as tocollecting the tithe, always a sore subject, on turnips; and thecustom seems to have been that if they were eaten off by store sheepthey went tithe free, if sheep were fattened on them the tithe waspaid. [381]

Clover, the other great novelty of the seventeenth century, was nowgenerally sown with barley, oats, or rye grass, about 15 lb. Per acre. This amount, sown on 2 acres of barley, would next year produce 2loads worth about £5. The next crop stood for seed, which was cut inAugust, the hay being worth £9, and the seed out of it, 300 lb. , wassold much of it for 16d. A lb. , the sum realized in that year from the2 acres being £30, without counting the aftermath. At this time mostof the seed was still imported from Flanders. [382] Much of the commonand waste land of England, not previously worth 6d. An acre, had beenby 1732 vastly improved through sowing artificial grasses on it, sothat various people had gained considerable estates. [383]

Carrots were also now grown as a field crop in places, especially nearLondon, two sorts being known, the yellow and red, used chiefly byfarmers for feeding their hogs. [384] Of wheat the names were many, butthere were apparently only seven distinct sorts, the Double-eared, Eggshell, Red or Kentish, Great-bearded, Pollard, Grey, and Flaxen orLammas. [385] The growth of saffron had declined, though the Englishvariety was the best in the world, according to Lawrence, and exceptin Cambridgeshire and about Saffron Walden it was little known. 

Though it was still some time before the days of Bakewell, increasedattention was given to cattle-breeding; it was urged that awell-shaped bull be put to cows, one that had 'a broad and curledforehead, long horns, fleshy neck, and a belly long and large. '[386]Such in 1726 was the ideal type of the long-horns of the Midland andthe north, but it was noticed that of late years and especially in thenorth the Dutch breed was much sought after, which had short horns andlong necks, the breed with which the Collings were to work suchwonders. The then great price of £20 had been given for a cow of thisbreed. Bradley, Professor of Botany at Cambridge, and a well-knownwriter on agriculture, divided the cattle of England into three sortsaccording to their colour: the black, white, and red. [387] The black, commonly the smallest, was the strongest for labour, chiefly found inmountainous countries; also bred chiefly in Cheshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Derbyshire, sixty years before this, and in those daysCheshire cheese came from these cattle, apparently very much like themodern Welsh breed. [388] The white were much larger, and very commonin Lincolnshire at the end of the seventeenth century. They gave moremilk than the black sort but went dry sooner. They were also found inSuffolk and Surrey. 

The red cattle were the largest in England, their milk rich andnourishing, so much so that it was given specially to consumptives. They were first bred in Somerset, where in Bradley's time particularattention was paid to their breeding, and were evidently the ancestorsof the modern Devons. About London these cows were often fed onturnips, given them tops and all, which made their milk bitter. Theywere also found in Lincolnshire and some other counties, where 'theywere fed on the marshes', and Defoe saw, in the Weald of Kent, 'largeKentish bullocks, generally all red with their horns crooked inward. 'Bradley gives the following balance sheet for a dairy of nine cows:[389]

 DR. £ s. D. 

 6 months' grass keep at 1s. 6d. Per week per head 17 11 0 6 months' winter keep (straw, hay, turnips, and grains) at 2s. Per week per head 23 8 0 --------- £40 19 0 ========= CR. 13, 140 gallons of milk 136 17 6 40 19 0 --------- Balance (profit) £95 18 6 =========

A correspondent, however, pointed out to Bradley that this yield andprofit was far above the average, which was about £5 a cow, on whomBradley retorted that it could be made, though it was exceptional. 

In the eighteenth century the great trade of driving Scottish cattleto London began, Walter Scott's grandfather being the pioneer. Theroute followed diverged from the Great North Road in Yorkshire inorder to avoid turnpikes, and the cattle, grazing leisurely on thestrips of grass by the roadside, generally arrived at Smithfield ingood condition. [390]

Defoe tells us that most of the Scottish cattle which came yearlyinto England were brought to the village of S. Faiths, north ofNorwich, 'where the Norfolk graziers go and buy them. These Scotsrunts, coming out of the cold and barren highlands, feed so eagerly onthe rich pasture in these marshes that they grow very fat. There areabove 40, 000 of these Scots cattle fed in this county every year. Thegentlemen of Galloway go to England with their droves of cattle andtake the money themselves. '[391] It was no uncommon thing for aGalloway nobleman to send 4, 000 black cattle and 4, 000 sheep toEngland in a year, and altogether from 50, 000 to 60, 000 cattle weresaid to come to England from Galloway yearly. Gentlemen on the Borderbefore the Union got a very pretty living by tolls from these cattle;and the Earl of Carlisle made a good income in this way. 

Cattle were sometimes of a great size. In 1697, in the park of SirJohn Fagg near Steyning, Defoe saw four bullocks of Sir John's ownbreeding for which was refused in Defoe's hearing £26 apiece. Theywere driven to Smithfield and realized £25 each, having probably sunkon the way, but dressed they weighed 80 stone a quarter![392] Theseweights must have been very exceptional, but go to prove that cattlethen could be grown to much greater size than is generally credited. Agood price for a bullock in the first half of the eighteenth centurywas from £7 to £10. 

The best poultry at the same date (1736) were said to be 'thewhite-feathered sort', especially those that had short and white legs, which were esteemed for the whiteness of their flesh; but those thathad long yellow legs and yellow beaks were considered good fornothing. [393] Care was to be used in the choice of a cock, for thoseof the game kind were to be avoided as unprofitable. Bradley gives abalance sheet for 12 hens and 2 cocks who had a free run in a farmyardand an orchard:[394]

 DR. £ s. D. 

 39 bushels of barley 3 5 0 Balance, profit 16 0 ---------- £4 1 0 ==========

 CR. £ s. D. 

 Eggs (number unfortunately not given) 1 5 0 20 early chickens at 1s. 1 0 0 72 late chickens at 6d. 1 16 0 ---------- £4 1 0 ==========

He also recommends that in stocking a farm of £200 a year thefollowing poultry should be purchased:

 £ s. D. 

 24 chickens at 4d. 8 0 20 geese 1 0 0 20 turkeys 1 0 0 24 ducks 12 0 6 pair of pigeons 12 0

The best way to fatten chickens, according to Bradley, was to put themin coops and feed them with barley meal, being careful to put a smallquantity of brickdust in their water to give them an appetite. [395]

On this farm were 20 acres of cow pasture besides common, and thiswith some turnips kept 9 cows, which gave about three gallons of milka day at least, the milk being worth 1d. A quart. His pigs were of the'Black Bantham' breed, which were better than the large sort common inEngland, for the flesh was much more delicate. 

Suffolk was famous for supplying London with turkeys. [396] Threehundred droves of turkeys, each numbering from 300 to 1000, had in oneseason passed over Stratford Bridge on the road from Ipswich toLondon. Geese also travelled on foot to London in prodigious numbersfrom Norfolk, Suffolk, and the Fen country, often 1, 000 to 3, 000 in adrove, starting in August when harvest was nearly over, so that thegeese might feed on the stubble by the way; 'and thus they hold on tothe end of October, when the roads begin to be too stiff and deep fortheir broad feet and short legs to march on. ' There was, however, amore rapid method of getting poultry to the great market, by means ofcarts of four stages or stories, one above another, to carry the birdsin, drawn by two horses, which by means of relays travelled night andday, and covered as much as 100 miles in two days and one night, thedriver sitting on the topmost stage. 

Hop growing in 1729, according to Richard Bradley, paid well; he says, 'ground never esteemed before worth a shilling an acre per annum, isrendered worth forty, fifty, or sometimes more pounds a year byplanting hops judiciously. An acre of hops shall bring to the ownerclear profit about £30 yearly; but I have known hop grounds that havecleared above £50 yearly per acre. ' At this date 12, 000 acres inEngland were planted with hops. 

The great market for hops was Stourbridge Fair, once the greatest martin England and still preserving much of its former importance: 'thereis scarce any price fixed for hops in England till they know how theysell in Stourbridge Fair. '[397] Thither they came from Chelmsford, Canterbury, Maidstone, and Farnham, where the bulk of the hops inEngland were then grown, though some were to be found at Wilton nearSalisbury, in Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. Round CanterburyDefoe says there were 6, 000 acres of hops, all planted within livingmemory[398]; but the Maidstone district was called 'the mother of hopgrounds', and with the country round Feversham was famous for applesand cherries. 

The finest wool still, it seems, came from near Leominster, where thesheep in Markham's time were described as small-boned and black-faced, with a light fleece, and apparently they still had the same appearanceat the beginning of the eighteenth century[399]; and large-bonedsheep with coarser wool were to be found in the counties of Warwick, Leicester, Buckingham, Northampton, and Nottingham; in the north ofEngland too were big-boned sheep with inferior wool, the largest withcoarse wool being found in the marshes of Lincolnshire. 

About this time wool had fallen much in price: 'Has nobody told you, 'writes a west country farmer to his absentee landlord in 1737, 'thatwool has fallen to near half its price, and that we cannot findpurchasers for a great part of it at any price whatsoever. When mostof our estates (farms) were taken wool was generally 7d. , 8d. , or moreby the pound; the same is now 4d. And still falling. '[400] But thelatter price was exceptionally low; Smith[401] gives the followingaverage prices per tod of 28 lb. :

 1706 17s. 6d. 1717-8 23s. To 27s. 1737-42 11s. To 14s. 1743 20s. 1743-53 24s. 

After 1753 it fell again, largely owing to the great plague amongcattle, which brought about a 'prodigious increase of sheep'[402];and about 1770 Young[403] favoured corn rather than wool, for therewas always a market for the former, but the foreign demand for clothwas diminishing, especially in the case of France, besides prohibitionof export kept down the price. [404] Yet although wool was beingdeserted for corn it had in Young's time 'been so long supposed thestaple and foundation of all our wealth, that it is somewhat dangerousto hazard an opinion not consonant to its encouragement'. 

At the end of the century, however, there was a rapid increase in theprice, partly due to increased demand by spinners and weavers who, owing to machinery, were working more economically; and partly to theenclosure of commons, and the ploughing up of land for corn. [405]

Cheshire had long been famous for cheese. Barnaby Googe, in the lastquarter of the sixteenth century, says, 'in England the best cheese isthe Cheshyre and the Shropshyre, then the Banbury cheese, next theSuffolk and the Essex, and the very worst the Kentish cheese. ' Camden, who died in 1623, tells us that 'the grasse and fodder (in Cheshire)is of that goodness and vertue that cheeses be made here in greatnumber, and of a most pleasing and delicate taste such as all Englandagain affordeth not the like, no though the best dairywomen otherwiseand skillfullest in cheese making be had from hence;' and a littlelater it was said no other county in the realm could compare withCheshire, not even that wonderful agricultural country Holland fromwhich England learnt so much. [406] In Lawrence's time Cheddar cheesewas also famous, and there it had long been a custom for severalneighbours to join their milk together to make cheeses, which were ofa large size, weighing from 30 lb. To 100 lb. Good cheese came alsofrom Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. The Cheshire men sent greatquantities by sea to London, a long and tedious voyage, or else byland to Burton-on-Trent, and down that river to Hull and then by seato London. The Gloucestershire men took it to Lechlade and sent itdown the Thames; from Warwickshire it went by land all the way, or toOxford and thence down the Thames to London. Stilton, too, had latelybecome famous, and was considered the best of all, selling for thethen great price of 1s. A lb. On the farm, and 2s. 6d. At the BellInn, Stilton, where it seems to have first been sold in largequantities, though Leicestershire perhaps claims the honour of firstmaking it. [407]

The eastern side of Suffolk was, in Defoe's time, famous for the bestbutter and perhaps the worst cheese in England, the butter being'barrelled and sometimes pickled up in small casks'. [408]

Rabbits were occasionally kept in large numbers for profit; at AuborneChase in Wilts, there was a warren of 700 acres surrounded by awall--a most effective way of preventing escape, but somewhatexpensive. In winter time they were fed on hay, and hazel branchesfrom which they ate the bark. They were never allowed to get below8, 000 head, and from these, after deducting losses by poachers, weazles, polecats, foxes, &c. , 24, 000 were sold annually. Theserabbits, owing to the quality of the grass, were famous for thesweetness of their flesh. The proprietor, Mr. Gilbert, began to killthem at Bartholomewtide, Aug. 24, and from then to Michaelmas obtained9s. A dozen for them delivered free in London; but those fromMichaelmas to Christmas realized 10s. 6d. A dozen. 

The difference in price at the two periods is accounted for by thefact that their skins were much better in the latter, and the rabbitskept longer when killed; they must also have been larger. A skinbefore Michaelmas was only worth 1d. , but soon after nearly 6d. ; andin Hertfordshire was a warren where rabbit skins with silvery hairfetched 1s. Each. [409]

We have now reached the period when the result of Jethro Tull'slabours was given to the world, his _Horse-hoeing Husbandry_ appearingin 1733. It is no exaggeration to say that agriculture owes more toTull than to any other man; the principles formulated in his famousbook revolutionized British agriculture, though we shall see that ittook a long time to do it. He has indeed been described as 'thegreatest individual improver agriculture ever knew'. He first realizedthat deep and perfect pulverization is the great secret of vegetablenutrition, and was thus led on to perfect the system of drilling seedwide enough apart to admit of tillage in the intervals, and abandoningthe wide ridges in vogue, laid the land into narrow ridges 5 feet or 6feet wide. He was born at Basildon in Berkshire, heir to a goodestate, and was called to the bar in 1699, but on his marriage in thesame year settled on the paternal farm of Howberry in Oxfordshire. Inhis preface to his book he throws a flash of light on country life ata time when the roads were nearly as bad as in the Middle Ages, sothat they effectually isolated different parts of England, when hespeaks of 'a long confinement within the limits of a lonely farm, in acountry where I am a stranger, having debarred me from allconversation'. [410]

He took to agriculture more by necessity than by choice, for he knewtoo much 'the inconveniency and slavery attending the exorbitant powerof husbandry servants', and he further gives this extraordinarycharacter of the farm labourer of his day: ''Tis the most formidableobjection against our agriculture that the defection of labourers issuch that few gentlemen can keep their land in their own hands, butlet them for a little to tenants who can bear to be insulted, assaulted, kicked, cuffed, and Bridewelled, with more patience thangentlemen are endowed with. '[411] Tull wrote just before it became thefashion for gentlemen to go into farming, and laments that the landsof the country were all, or mostly, in the hands of rack-renters, whose supposed interest it was that they should never be improved forfear of fines and increased rents. Gentlemen then knew so little offarming that they were unable to manage their estates. No doubt hisscathing remarks helped to initiate the well-known change in thisrespect, and soon, over all England, gentlemen of education andposition were engaged in removing this reproach from their class. Thesame complaint as to their ignorance of matters connected with theirland crops up again during the great French war, but they then had agood excuse, as they were busy fighting the French. 

Tull invented his drill about 1701 at Howberry. The first occasion formaking it, he says, was that it 'was very difficult to find a man thatcould sow clover tolerably; they had a habit to throw it once with thehand to two large strides and go twice in each cast; thus, with 9 or10 lb. Of seed to an acre, two-thirds of the ground was unplanted. Toremedy this I made a hopper, to be drawn by a boy, that planted anacre sufficiently with 6 lb. Of seed; but when I added to this hopperan exceeding light plough that made 6 channels eight inches asunder, into which 2 lb. To an acre being drilled the ground was as wellplanted. This drill was easily drawn by a man, and sometimes by aboy. '

His invention was largely prompted by his desire to do without theinsolent farm servant whom he has described above, and the year afterit was invented he certainly had his wish, for they struck in a bodyand were dismissed: 'it were more easy to teach the beasts of thefield than to drive the ploughman out of his way. '

His ideas were largely derived from the mechanism of the organ which, being fond of music, he had mastered in his youth--a rotary mechanism, which is the foundation of all agricultural sowing implements. Hisfirst invention may be described as a drill plough to sow wheat andturnip seed in drills three rows at a time, a harrow to cover the seedbeing attached. Afterwards he invented a turnip drill, so arranged asregards dropping the seed and its subsequent covering with soil thathalf the seed should come up earlier than the rest, to enable aportion at least to escape the dreaded fly. He was a great believer indoing everything himself, and worked so hard at his drill that he hadto go abroad for his health. He was somewhat carried away by hisinvention, and asserts that the expense of a drilled crop of wheat wasone-ninth of that sown in the old way, giving the following figures toprove his assertion:

 _The Old Way_ £ s. D. 

 Seed, 2-1/2 bushels, at 3s. 7 6 Three ploughings, harrrowing, and sowing 16 0 Weeding 2 0 Rent of preceding fallow 10 0 Manure 2 10 0 Reaping 4 6 --------- £ 4 10 0[412] =========

 _The New Way_

 Seed, 3 pecks 2 3 Tillage 4 0 Drilling 6 Weeding 6 Uncovering (removing clods fallen on the wheat) 2 Brine and lime 1 Reaping 2 6 ----- 10 0 =====

It should be noted that he has omitted to charge rent for the year inwhich the crop was grown in both cases. 

He considered fallowing and manure unnecessary, and grew withoutmanure 13 successive wheat crops on the same piece of ground, gettingbetter crops than his neighbours who pursued the ordinary course offarming. His three great principles, indeed, were drilling, reductionof seed, and absence of weeds, and he saw that dung was a greatcarrier of the latter but lacked a due appreciation of its chemicalaction. Of course, like all _improvers_, he was met with unlimitedopposition, and on the publication of his book he was assailed withabuse, which, being a sensitive man, caused him extreme annoyance. Hishealth was bad, his troubles with his labourers unending, his son aspendthrift, and he died at his now famous home, Prosperous Farm, nearHungerford, in 1741, having said not long before his death, 'Some, allowed as good judges, have upon a full view and examination of mypractice declared their opinion that it would one day become thegeneral husbandry of England. '[413] Scotland was the first to perceivethe merits of the system, and it gradually worked southwards intoEngland, but for many years had to fight against ignorance andprejudice, even so intelligent a man as Arthur Young being opposed toit. 

Farm leases had by this time assumed their modern form, andcultivation clauses were numerous. In one of 1732, at Hawsted, thetenant was to keep the hedges in repair, being allowed bushes andstakes for so doing. He was also to bestow on some part of the landsone load of good rotten muck over and above what was made on the farmfor every load of hay, straw, or stover (fodder) which he should carryoff. [414] In another of 1740, he was to leave in the last year of thetenancy one-third of the arable land summer tilled, ploughed, andfallowed, for which he was to be paid according to the custom of thecountry. In 1753, in the lease of Pinford End Farm, there was apenalty of £10 an acre for breaking up pasture; a great increase inthe amount of the penalty. All compost, dung, soil, and ashes arisingon the farm were to be bestowed upon it. 

Only two crops successively were to be taken on any of the arableland, but land sown with clover and rye-grass, if fed off, or withturnips which were fed on some part of the farm, were not to count ascrops. 

The ashes mentioned were those from wood, which were now carefullylooked after, as it had become the custom to sell them to thesoap-boilers, who came round to every farm collecting them. This isthe earliest mention in a Hawsted lease of rye-grass, clover, andturnips, though clover and turnips had been first cultivated thereabout 1700, and soon spread. 

The winter of 1708-9 was very severe, a great frost lasting fromOctober until the spring; wheat was 81s. 9d. A quarter, and highprices lasted until 1715. [415]

From 1715 to 1765 was an era of good seasons and low prices generally;in that half-century Tooke says there were only five bad seasons. In1732 prices of corn were very low, wheat being about 24s. A quarter, so that we are not surprised to find that its cultivation often didnot pay at all. [416]

At Little Gadsden in Hertfordshire, in that year a fair season, and onenclosed land, the following is the balance sheet for an acre:

 DR. £ s. D. 

 Rent 12 0 Dressing (manuring) 1 0 0 2-1/2 bushels of seed 7 6 Ploughing first time 6 0 " twice more 8 0 Harrowing 6 Reaping and carrying 6 6 Threshing 3 9 -------- 3 4 3 ========

 CR. £ s. D. 

 15 bushels of wheat (a poor crop, as 20 bushels was now about the average) 2 2 0 Straw 11 6

 2 13 6 -------- _LOSS_ 10 9 ========

On barley, worth about £1 a quarter, the loss was 3s. 6d. An acre; onoats, worth 13s. A quarter, however, the profit was 21s. ; on beans, 26s. 6d. , these being that year exceptionally good and worth 20s. Aquarter. [417] Ellis objected to the new mode of drilling wheatbecause, he said, the rows are more exposed to the violence of thewinds, rains, &c. , by growing apart, than if close together, when thestalks support each other. [418] This estimate may be compared to thatof Tull for the 'old way' of sowing wheat, [419] and to the followingestimate of fifty years later in Surrey, when wheat was a much betterprice:--

 DR. £ s. D. 

 Rent, tithe, taxes 1 0 0 Team, &c. 1 0 0 2 bushels of seed 10 0 Carting and spreading manure and water furrowing 2 6 Brining 6 Weeding 1 6 Reaping and carrying 9 0 Threshing and cleaning 7 6 Binding straw 1 6 --------- £3 12 6[420] =========

 CR. 20 bushels at 5s. 5 0 0 1-1/2 loads of straw 1 2 6 --------- £6 2 6 =========

The profit was thus £2 10s. 0d. An acre, and for barley it was £3 3s. 6d. , for oats £1 19s. 10d. , for beans £1 13s. 0d. [421]

This crop of wheat was not very good, as the average in that districtwas from 20 to 25 bushels per acre, and Young before this saw crops of30 bushels per acre growing. The over frequent use of fallows, whichhad so long marked agriculture, was in the early half of theeighteenth century beginning to be strongly disapproved of. Bradleyadvocated the continuous cultivation of the ground with differentkinds of crops, 'for I find', he said, 'by experience that if suchcrops are sown as are full of fibrous roots, such roots greatly helpto open the parts of grounds inclining to too much stiffness. '[422]

FOOTNOTES:

[367] _Six Centuries of Work and Wages_, p. 472. 

[368] See Baker, _Record of Seasons and Prices_, p. 185. 

[369] Eden, _State of the Poor_, iii p. Cvii; Thorold Rogers, _Workand Wages_, p. 396. 

[370] In Herefordshire at this time it was 1-1/2d. Per lb. 

[371] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ p. 86. 

[372] Eden, _op. Cit. _ i. 286. 

[373] Ibid. I. 498. 

[374] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ p. 71. 

[375] Smith, _Memoirs of Wool_, ii. 93. 

[376] John Lawrence, _New System of Agriculture_, p. 45. In 1712, anormal season, 48 acres of wheat at Southwick in Hants produced 16bushels per acre, 45 acres of barley 12 bushels per acre, 30 acres ofoats 24 bushels per acre; at the same place 240 sheep realized 8s. Each, cows 65s. , calves £1, horses £6, hay 25s. A ton (_HampshireNotes and Queries_, iii. 120). 

[377] Worlidge, _Systema Agriculturae_, p. 42. 

[378] _Collections_, iv. 142. 

[379] Lawrence, _New System of Agriculture_, p. 109. 

[380] _Tour_ (ed. 1724), i. 87. 

[381] Ellis, _Chiltern and Vale Farming_, p. 353. 

[382] Bradley, _General Treatise_, i. 175. 

[383] Ellis, _Chiltern and Vale Farming_, p. 260. 

[384] J. Lawrence, _New System of Agriculture_, p. 112. 

[385] Ibid. P. 92. About 1757 Lucerne, hitherto little grown inEngland, took its place in the rotation of crops. 

[386] Ibid. P. 130. 

[387] _A General Treatise on Husbandry_ (1726), i. 72; cf. C. 

[388] The black cattle seem to have been spread very generally overEngland, according to previous writers and to Defoe, who oftenmentions them. He saw a 'prodigious quantity' in the meadows by theWaveney in Norfolk. --_Tour_, i. 97. 

[389] Bradley, _General Treatise_, i. 76. 

[390] Slater, _English Peasantry_, p. 52. 

[391] _Tour_ (ed. 1724), i. (1) 97, and iii. (2) 73. 

[392] Ibid. I. 63. 

[393] J. Lawrence, _New System of Agriculture_, p. 151. 

[394] Bradley, _General Treatise_, i. 110. 

[395] _Country Gentleman and Farmer's Director_ (1726), p. 7. 

[396] Defoe, _Tour_, i. 87. 

[397] Defoe, _Tour_ (3rd ed. ), i. 81. 

[398] Defoe, _Tour_ (ed. 1724), ii. 1, 134. 

[399] Bradley, _General Treatise_, i. 160; see also Smith, _Memoirs ofWool_, ii. 169, where the sheep of Leominster, of Cotteswold, and ofthe Isle of Wight are said to be the best in 1719. The great marketfor sheep was Weyhill Fair, and Stourbridge Fair was a great woolmarket. 

[400] _The West Country Farmer, a Representation of the Decay ofTrade_, 1737. 

[401] _Memoirs of Wool_, ii. 243. 

[402] Ibid. Ii. 399. 

[403] _Farmer's Letters_ (3rd ed. ), p. 27. 

[404] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, ii. 384. 

[405] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, ii. 458. 

[406] Ormerod, _Cheshire_, i. 129. These words were written about1656. 

[407] See _Victoria County History: Rutland, Agriculture_. Stilton waseaten in the same condition as many prefer it now, 'with the mitesround it so thick that they bring a spoon for you to eat them. '

[408] Defoe, _Tour_, i. (1) 78. Cheshire cheese was 2d. To 2-1/2d. Perlb. , Cheddar 6d. To 8d. In 1724, an extraordinary difference. 

[409] Bradley, i. 172. 

[410] Preface to _Horse-hoeing Husbandry_, (ed. 1733). 

[411] _Horse-hoeing Husbandry_, p. Vi. 

[412] _The West Country Farmer_, above quoted, says wheat growing (in1737) paid little. Before a bushel can be sold it costs £4 an acre, and the crop probably fetches half the money. 

[413] _R. A. S. E. Journ. _ (3rd Ser. ), ii. 20. 

[414] Cullum, _Hawsted_, p. 216. 

[415] Tooke, _History of Prices_, i. 35. 

[416] Wheat averaged:

1718-22 about 27s. 1730 about 30s. 1750 about 30s. 1724 " 36s. 1732 "24s. 1755 " 35s. 1725 " 46s. 1736 " 30s. 1760 " 38s. 1726 " 35s. 1740" 42s. 1765 " 42s. 1728 " 52s. 1744 " 23s. 

[417] Ellis, _Chiltern and Vale Farming_, p. 209. Nothing is chargedfor tithe and taxes. 

[418] Ibid. P. 352. 

[419] See above, p. 177, also p. 199 for Young's estimate in 1770. 

[420] Nothing is charged for the manure which was carted and spread. 

[421] John Trusler, _Practical Husbandry_, p. 28. 

[422] _Country Gentleman and Farmer's Director_ (1726), p. Xiii. 

CHAPTER XV

1700-1765

TOWNSHEND. --SHEEP-ROT. --CATTLE PLAGUE. FRUIT-GROWING

In 1730 Charles, second Viscount Townshend, retired from politics, onhis quarrel with his brother-in-law Walpole, who remarked that 'aslong as the firm was Townshend and Walpole the utmost harmonyprevailed, but it no sooner became Walpole and Townshend than thingswent wrong'. He devoted himself to the management of his Norfolkestates and set an example to English landlords in wisely anddiligently experimenting in farm practice which was soon followed onall sides, the names of Lords Ducie, Peterborough, and Bolingbrokebeing the best known of his fellow-labourers. A generation afterwardsYoung wrote, 'half the County of Norfolk within the memory of manyielded nothing but sheep feed, whereas those very tracts of land arenow covered with as fine barley and rye as any in the world and greatquantities of wheat besides. '[423] There can be no doubt from thisstatement, made by an eyewitness of exceptional capacity, that hecommenced the work so nobly carried on by Coke. The same authoritytells us that when Townshend began his improvements near Norwich muchof the land was an extensive heath without either tree or shrub, onlya sheepwalk to another farm; so many carriages crossed it that theywould sometimes be a mile abreast of each other in pursuit of the besttrack. By 1760 there was an excellent turnpike road, enclosed on eachside with a good quickset hedge, and all the land let out inenclosures and cultivated on the Norfolk system in superior style; thewhole being let at 15s. An acre, or ten times its original value. Townshend's two special hobbies were the field cultivation of turnips, and improvement in the rotation of crops. Pope says his conversationwas largely of turnips, and he was so zealous in advocating them thathe was nicknamed 'Turnip Townsend'. [424] He initiated the Norfolk orfour-course system of cropping, in which roots, grasses, and cerealswere wisely blended, viz. Turnips, barley, clover and rye grass, wheat. He also reintroduced marling to the light lands of Norfolk, andfollowed Tull's system of drilling and horse-hoeing turnips, with theresult that the poor land of which his estate was largely composed wasconverted into good corn and cattle-growing farms. Like all theprogressive agriculturists of the day, he was an advocate ofenclosures, and he had no small share in the growth of the movement bywhich, in the reigns of Anne and the first two Georges, 244 enclosureActs were passed and 338, 177 acres enclosed. The progress of enclosurewas alleged as a proof that England was never more prosperous thanunder Walpole; the number of private gentlemen in Britain of ampleestates was said to exceed that of any country in the worldproportionately, and was far greater than in the reign of Charles II. The value of land at twenty-six or twenty-seven years' purchase was aconclusive proof of the wealth of England. [425]

Though, however, the first half of the century was generallyprosperous there were bad times for farmer and landlord. We have seenthat wheat-growing paid little, although from 1689 to 1773 the farmerwas protected against imports and aided by a bounty on exports. In1738 Lord Lyttelton wrote: 'In most parts of England, gentlemen'srents are so ill paid and the weight of taxes lies so heavy upon themthat those who have nothing from the Court can scarce support theirfamilies. '[426] Sheep in the damp climate of England have always beensubject to rot, and in 1735 there was, according to Ellis, the mostgeneral rot in the memory of man owing to a very wet season; and, asin the disastrous year of 1879, which must be fresh in many farmers'memories, other animals, deer, hares, and rabbits, were affected also;and the dead bodies of rotten sheep were so numerous in road and fieldthat the stench was offensive to every one. Another bad outbreakoccurred in 1747. It is well known that farmers are always grumblers, probably with an eye to the rent; but even in these much praised timesthey apparently made small profits. The west country farmer quotedbefore, who had been fifty years on the same estate, and writes withthe stamp of sincerity, admits in 1737 that 'with all the skill anddiligence in the world he can hardly keep the cart upon the wheels. Wool had gone down, wheat didn't pay and graziers were doing badly;tho' formerly our cattle and wool was always a sure card'. He saysthat the profits of grazing were reckoned at one-third of theimprovement that ensued from the grazing, but the grazier was not nowgetting this. He attributed much of the distress, however, to theextravagance of the times. Landlords, including his own, preferredLondon to the country, and spent their money there. How different wasthe behaviour of his landlord's grandfather. 'Many a time would hisworship send for me to go a-hunting or shooting with him; often wouldhe take me with him on his visits and would introduce me as hisfriend. The country gentlewoman and the parson's wife, that used tostitch for themselves, are now so hurried with dressings and visitsand other attractions that they hire an Abigail to do it. '

He thought, too, the labourers were getting too high wages; 'they areso puffed up by our provender as to offer us their heels and threatenon any occasion to leave us to do our work ourselves. ' One would liketo hear the labourers' opinion on this point, but they were dumb. Inspite of higher wages the young men and young women flocked to thecities, and those who remain were lazy and extravagant, even thecountry wenches contending about 'double caps, huge petticoats, clockstockings, and other trumpery'. [427]

The bounty now paid on the export of wheat was naturally resented bythe common people, as it raised the price of their bread. In 1737 aload belonging to Farmer Waters of Burford, travelling along the roadto Redbridge for exportation, was stopped near White parish by a crowdof people who knocked down the leading horse, broke the wagon inpieces, cut the sacks, and strewed about the corn, with threats thatthey would do the like to all who sold wheat to export. [428] WhileEngland was paying farmers to export wheat she was also importing, though in plentiful years importers had a very bad time. In 1730 therewere lying at Liverpool 33, 000 windles (a windle--220 lb. ) of importedcorn, unsaleable owing to the great crop in England. [429] The year1740 was distinguished by one of the severest winters on record. FromJanuary 1 to February 5 the thermometer seldom reached 32°, and thecold was so intense that hens and ducks, even cattle in their stallsdied of it, trees were split asunder, crows and other birds fell tothe ground frozen in their flight. This extraordinary winter wasfollowed by a cold and late spring; no verdure had appeared by May; inJuly it was still cold, and thousands of acres of turnips rotted inthe ground. Among minor misfortunes may be noticed the swarms ofgrasshoppers who devastated the pastures near Bristol at the end ofAugust 1742, [430] and the swarms of locusts who came to England in1748 and consumed the vegetables. [431]

The cattle plague of 1745[432] was so severe that owing to thescarcity of stock great quantities of grass land were ploughed up, which helped to account for the fact that in 1750 the export of cornfrom England reached its maximum; though the main cause of this wasthe long series of excellent seasons that set in after 1740. [433] Thecattle plague also raged in 1754 in spite of an Order in Council thatall infected cattle should be shot and buried 4 ft. Deep, and pitch, tar, rosin, and gunpowder burnt where infected cattle had died, andcow-houses washed with vinegar and water. Such were the sanitaryprecautions of the time. [434] In 1756 came another bad year, corn wasso scarce that there were many riots; the king expressed to Parliamenthis concern at the suffering of the poor, and the export of corn wastemporarily prohibited. The fluctuations in price are remarkable: in1756, before the deficiency of the harvest was realized, wheat was22s. And it went up at the following rate: Jan. , 1757, 49s. ; Feb. , 51s. ; March, 54s. ; April, 64s. ; June, 72s. 

About the middle of the century, if we may judge from the _CompleatCyderman_ written in 1754 by experienced hands living in Devon, Cornwall, Herefordshire, and elsewhere, fruit-growing received anamount of attention which diminished greatly in after years. Theauthors fully realized that an orchard under tillage causes appletrees to grow as fast again as under grass, and this was wellunderstood and practised in Kent, where crops of corn were grownbetween the trees. 

A Devonshire 'cyderist' urged that orchards should be well shelteredfrom the east winds, which 'bring over the narrow sea swarms ofimperceptible eggs, or insects in the air, from the vast tracts ofTartarian and other lands, from which proceeded infinite numbers oflice, flies, bugs, caterpillars, cobwebs, &c. ' The best protectionwas a screen of trees, and the best tree for the purpose, a perry peartree. In the hard frosts of 1709, 1716, and 1740 great numbers offruit and other trees had been destroyed. In Devon what was called the'Southams method' was used for top-dressing the roots of old appletrees, which was done in November with soil from the roads andditches, or lime or chalk, laid on furze sometimes, 6 inches thick, for 4 or 5 ft. All round the trees. Great attention was paid there tokeeping the heads of fruit trees in good order, so that branches didnot interfere with each other, [435] and the heads were made to spreadas much as possible. Many of the trees were grown with the firstbranches commencing 4 ft. 6 in. From the ground. It was claimed thatDevon excelled all other parts of England in the management of fruittrees, a reputation that was not maintained, according to the works ofhalf a century later. The best cider apple In the county then was theWhite-sour, white in colour, of a middling size, and early ripe; othergood ones were the 'Deux-Anns, Jersey, French Longtail, Royal Wilding, Culvering, Russet, Holland Pippin, and Cowley Crab. ' In Herefordshireit was the custom to open the earth about the roots of the apple treesand lay them bare and exposed for the 'twelve days of the Christmasholidays', that the wind might loosen them. Then they were coveredwith a compost of dung, mould, and a little lime. 'The best way' toplant was to take off the turf and lay it by itself, then the nextearth or virgin mould, to be laid also by itself. Next put horselitter over the bottom of the hole with some of the virgin mould onthat, on which place the tree, scattering some more virgin mould overthe roots, then spread some old horse-dung over this and upon that theturf, leaving it in a basin shape. The ground between the trees inDevonshire in young orchards was first planted with cabbage plants, next year with potatoes, next with beans, and so on until the heads ofthe trees became large enough, when the land was allowed to return topasture, a proceeding which was quite contrary to their previouslyquoted assertion that tillage was best for fruit trees. Thecider-makers were quite convinced, as many are to-day, that rottenapples were invaluable for cider, and the lady who was famous for thebest cider in the county never allowed one to be thrown away. Ageneration later than this Marshall[436] noted that in Herefordshirethe management of orchards and their produce was far from being wellunderstood, though 'it has ever borne the name of the first cidercounty'. All the old fruits were lost or declining in quality, thefamous Red Streak Apple was given up and the Squash Pear no longermade to flourish. 

As for prices, in 1707 apples were selling at Liverpool for 2s. 6d. Abushel, [437] a very good price if we allow for the difference in thevalue of money, but prices then were entirely dependent on the Englishseasons; no foreign apples were imported, and a night's frost wouldtreble prices in a day. In 1742 at Aspall Hall, Suffolk, apples, apparently for cider, were 10d. A bushel, in 1745 1s. A bushel, in1746 only 4d. , and in 1747 cider there was worth 6d. A gallon. [438] Atthe end of the century, in 'the great hit' of 1784, common apples wereless than 6d. A bushel, the best about 2s. In 1786 the price was twiceas high, owing to a short crop. Incidentally there is mentioned in the_Compleat Cyderman_ a novel implement, 'a most profitable new inventedfive-hoe plough, that after the ground has been once ploughed with acommon plough will plough four or five acres in one day with only fourhorses, and by a little alteration is fitted to hoe turnips or rapecrops as it is now practised by the ordinary farmers'; much toofavourable an estimate of the ordinary farmer, as Young foundhorse-hoeing rare. 

An acre of good orchard land at this time was let at £2 an acre; andthis is a fair balance sheet for an acre[439]:--

 DR. £ s. D. 

 Rent of one acre 2 0 0 Tithe on 10 hogsheads, @ 6d. 5 0 Gathering, making, and carriage to and from the pound, @ 3s. 6d. A hogshead 1 15 0 Racking twice, @ 6d. 5 0 Casks and cooperage 8 0 --------- £4 13 0 =========

 CR. £ s. D. 

 10 hogsheads diminished by racking and waste to 8, @ 12s. 6d. 5 0 0 ========

Leaving a balance of 7s. For spoiling, &c. , so there was not muchprofit in cider-making then. The same authority sets down the cost ofplanting an acre of apples as:--

 £ s. D. 

 132 trees, @ 2s. 13 4 0 (The custom had been to plant 160 trees to the acre, but this was considered too close. ) Carriage per tree, @ 2d. ; manure per tree, @ 3d. ; planting per tree, @ 3d. 4 8 0 Interest on £17 12s. 0d. For fifteen years before orchard is profitable, @ 5 per cent. 13 2 6 Loss of half the rent of the land for the same period, @ 10s. An acre 7 10 0 Building cellarage for product per acre 5 0 0 --------- £43 4 6 =========

For this outlay the landowner would gain an additional rent of £1 ayear, so that, according to this authority, growing cider fruit atthat time paid neither landlord nor tenant. 

FOOTNOTES:

[423] _Farmer's Letters_, i. 10. 

[424] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (3rd Series), iii. 1. 

[425] See the _Hyp Doctor_, No. 49. 

[426] Tooke, _History of Prices_, i. 42. 

[427] Cf. This and Tull's character of servants with Defoe'saccusation of their laziness. 

[428] Salisbury newspaper, quoted by Baker, _Seasons and Prices_, p. 187. 

[429] See _Autobiography of Wm. Stout_, ed. By J. Harland. 

[430] _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1742. 

[431] Baker, _op. Cit. _ p. 194. 

[432] _A Defence of the Farmers of Great Britain_ (1814), p. 30. 

[433] Tooke, _History of Prices_, i. 42. 

[434] See a curious pamphlet called _An Exhortation to all People toConsider the Afflicting Hand of God_ (1754), p. 6. The plague lastedfrom 1745 to 1756. 

[435] _The Compleat Cyderman_, p. 46. 

[436] _Rural Economy of Gloucestershire_ (1788), ii. 206. 

[437] Blundell's _Diary_, p. 55. 

[438] MS. Accounts of Mr. Chevallier, of Aspall Hall. 

[439] _The Case with the County of Devon with respect to the NewExcise Duty on Cider_ (1763). The duty was 4s. A hogshead, but theopposition was so strong it was taken off. 

CHAPTER XVI

1765-1793

ARTHUR YOUNG. --CROPS AND THEIR COST. --THE LABOURERS' WAGES AND DIET. --THEPROSPERITY OF FARMERS. --THE COUNTRY SQUIRE. --ELKINGTON. --BAKEWELL. --THEROADS. --COKE OF HOLKHAM. 

The history of English agriculture in the latter half of theeighteenth century has been so well described by Arthur Young that anyaccount of it at that time must largely be an epitome of his writings. The greatest of English writers on agriculture was born in 1741, andbegan farming early; but, as he confesses himself, was a completefailure. When he was twenty-six he took a farm of 300 acres at SamfordHall in Essex, and after five years of it paid a farmer £100 to takeit off his hands, who thereupon made a fortune out of it. He hadalready begun writing on agriculture, and it must be confessed that hebegan to advise people concerning the art of agriculture on a verylimited experience. It paid him, however, much better than farming, for between 1766 and 1775 he realized £3, 000 on his works, among whichwere _The Farmer's Letters_, _The Southern_, _Northern_, and _EasternTours_. These are his qualifications for writing on agriculture, fromhis own pen: 'I have been a farmer these many years' (he was not yetthirty), 'and that not in a single field or two but upon a tract ofnear 300 acres most part of the time. I have cultivated on varioussoils most of the vegetables common in England and many neverintroduced into field husbandry. I have always kept a minute registerof my business in every detail of culture, expenses, and produce, andan accurate comparison of the old and new husbandry. '[440] It is saidthat though he really understood the theory and practice of farming hefailed utterly in small economies. He was also far too vivacious andfond of society for the monotonous work of the plain farmer. At thesame time his failures gave his observant mind a clear insight intothe principles of agriculture. He was indefatigable in inquiries, researches, and experiments; and the best proof of the value of hisworks is that they were translated into Russian, German, and French. He tells us in the preface to _Rural Economy_ that his constantemployment for the previous seven years, 'when out of my fields, hasbeen registering experiments. ' His pet aversions were absenteelandlords, obsolete methods of cultivation, wastes and commons, andsmall holdings (though towards the end of his life he changed hisopinion as to the last); and the following, according to him, were theespecially needed improvements of the time:--

The knowledge of good rotations of crops so as to do away withfallows, which was to be effected by the general use of turnips, beans, peas, tares, clover, &c. , as preparation for white corn;covered drains; marling, chalking, and claying; irrigation of meadows;cultivation of carrots, cabbages, potatoes, sainfoin, and lucerne;ploughing, &c. , with as few cattle as possible; the use of harness foroxen; cultivation of madden liquorice, hemp, and flax wheresuitable. [441] Above all, the cultivation of waste lands, which he wasto live to see so largely effected. 

There was little knowledge of the various sorts of grasses at thistime, and to Young is due the credit of introducing the cocksfoot, andcrested dog's tail. 

In 1790 he contemplated retiring to France or America, so heavy wastaxation in England. 'Men of large fortune and the poor', he said, inwords which many to-day will heartily endorse, 'have reason to thinkthe government of this country the first in the world; the middleclasses bear the brunt. ' Perhaps to-day 'men of large fortune' havealtered their opinion and only 'the poor' are satisfied. However, heonly visited France, and gave us his vivid picture of that countrybefore the great revolution. 

In 1793 the Board of Agriculture was formed, and Young was madesecretary with a salary of £400 a year. 

About 1810 he wrote that the preceding half-century had been by farthe most interesting in the progress of agriculture, and ascribes theincrease of interest in it to the publication of his _Tours_. GeorgeIII told him he always took with him the _Farmer's Letters_. Theimprovement, Young said, had been largely due to individual effort, for commerce had been predominant in Parliament and agriculture hadbegun to be neglected; a statement which, seeing that Parliament wasthen almost entirely composed of landowners, must be accepted withsome reserve. 

Young died in 1820, having been totally blind for some time, amisfortune which did not prevent him working hard. In his well-known_Tours_ he often had much difficulty in obtaining information, andconfesses that he was forced to make more than one farmer drunk beforehe got anything out of him. 

The exodus from the country to the towns then, as so often in history, was noted by thinking people, but Young says it was merely a naturalconsequence of the demand for profitable employment and was not to beregretted; but he wrote in a time when the country population wasstill numerous, and there was little danger of England becoming, whatshe is to-day, a country without a solid foundation, with no reservoirof good country blood to supply the waste of the towns. 

When Young began to write, the example of Townshend and hiscontemporaries was being followed on all sides, and this good movementwas stimulated by Young's writings. Farming was the reigning taste ofthe day. There was scarce a nobleman without his farm, most of thecountry gentlemen were farmers, and attended closely to their businessinstead of leaving it to stewards, 'who governed in matters of wheatand barley as absolutely as in covenants of leases, ' and the squiredelighted in setting the country a staring at the novelties heintroduced. Even the stable and the kennel were ousted by farming fromrural talk, [442] and citizens who breathed the smoke of London fivedays a week were farmers the other two, and many young fellows ofsmall fortune who had been brought up in the country took farms, andthe fashion was followed by doctors, lawyers, clergymen, soldiers, sailors, and merchants. The American and French War of 1775-83 and thegreat conflict with France from 1793 to 1815 were, however, to divertmany of the upper classes from agriculture, for they very properlythought their duty was then to fight for their country; so that weagain have numerous complaints of agents and stewards managing estateswho knew nothing whatever about their business. It was not to bewondered at that all this activity brought about considerableprogress. 'There have been, ' said Young about 1770, 'more experiments, more discoveries, and more general good sense displayed within theseten years than in a hundred preceding ones, ' a statement which perhapsdid not attach sufficient importance to the work of Townshend and hiscontemporaries, and to the 'new husbandry' of Tull, which Young didnot appreciate at its full value. [443]

The place subsequently taken by the Board of Agriculture, and in ourtime by the Royal Agricultural Society, was then occupied by theSociety for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, which offered premiums for such objects as the cultivation of carrotsin the field for stock, then little practised; for gathering thedifferent sorts of grass seeds and keeping them clean and free fromall mixture with other grasses, a very rare thing at that time; forexperiments in the comparative merits of the old and new husbandry;for the growth of madder; £20 for a turnip-slicing machine, thenapparently unknown, and for experiments whether rolling or harrowinggrass land was better, 'at present one of the most disputed points ofhusbandry. '

In spite of this progress, many crops introduced years before wereunknown to many farmers. Sainfoin, cabbages, potatoes, carrots, werenot common crops in every part of England, though every one of themwas well known in some part or other; not more than half, or at mosttwo-thirds, of the nation cultivated clover. Many, however, of thenobility and gentry in the north had grown cabbages with amazingsuccess, lately, 30 guineas an acre being sometimes the value of thecrop. 

Half the cultivated lands, in spite of the progress of enclosure forcenturies, were still farmed on the old common-field system. Whenanything out of the common was to be done on common farms, all commonwork came to a standstill. 'To carry out corn stops the ploughs, perhaps at a critical season; the fallows are frequently seen overrunwith weeds because it is seed time; in a word, some business is everneglected. '[444] As for the outcry against enclosing commons andwastes, people forgot that the farmers as well as the poor had a rightof common and took special care by their large number of stock tostarve every animal the poor put on the common. [445]

About the same time that Young wrote these words there appeared apamphlet written by 'A Country Gentleman' on the advantages anddisadvantages of enclosing waste lands and common fields, which putsthe arguments against enclosure very forcibly. [446] The writer'sopinion was that it was clearly to the landowner's gain to promoteenclosures, but that the impropriator of tithes reaped most benefitand the small freeholder least, because his expenses increasedinversely to the smallness of his allotment. As to diminution ofemployment, he reckoned that enclosed arable employed about tenfamilies per 1, 000 acres, open field arable twenty families, astatement opposed to the opinion of nearly all the agriculturalwriters of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is surely anincontestable fact that enclosed land meant much better tillage, andbetter tillage meant more labour, the excessive amount of fallownecessary under the common-field system, from the inability to growroots except by special arrangement, is alone enough to prove this. The same writer admitted that common pastures, wastes, &c. , employedonly one family per 2, 000 acres, but enclosed pasture five familiesper 1, 000 acres, and enclosed wastes sixteen families. 

A 'Country Farmer', who wrote in 1786, states that many of the smallfarmers displaced by enclosures sold their few possessions andemigrated to America. [447] The growing manufacturing towns alsoabsorbed a considerable number. That there was a considerable amountof hardship inflicted on small holders and commoners is certain, butindustrial progress is frequently attended by the dislocation ofindustry and consequent distress; the introduction of machinery, forinstance, often causing great suffering to hand-workers, buteventually benefiting the whole community. How many men has theself-binding reaping machine thrown for a time out of work? Soenclosure caused distress to many individuals, but was for the good ofthe whole nation. The history of enclosure is really the history ofprogress in farming; the conversion of land badly tilled in the oldcommon fields, and of waste land little more valuable than theprairies; into well-managed fruitful farms. That much of thecommon-field land when enclosed was laid down to grass is certainlytrue, and certainly inevitable if it paid best under grass. [448] Noone can expect the holders of land naturally best suited for grass tokeep it under tillage for philanthropic purposes. A vast number of thecommoners too were idle thriftless beings, whose rights on a few acresenabled them to live a life of pilfering and poaching; and it was avery good thing when such people were induced to lead a more regularand respectable existence. The great blot on the process was that itmade the English labourer a landless man. Compensation was given himat the time of enclosure in the shape of allotments or sums of money, but the former he was generally compelled to give up owing to theexpense he had been put to at allotment, and the latter he often spentin the public-house. 

At this date the proprietors of large estates who wished to enclose byAct of Parliament, generally settled all the particulars amongthemselves before calling any meeting of the rest of the proprietors. The small proprietor had very little say either in regulating theclauses of the Act, or in the choice of commissioners. Any owner ofone-fifth of the land, however, could negative the measure and oftenused his right to impose unreasonable clauses. It is well known thatthe legal expenses and fencing were very costly. The enclosurecommissioners too often divided the land in an arbitrary and ignorantmanner, and there was no appeal from them except by filing a bill inChancery. Accounts were hardly ever shown by the commissioners, and ifa proprietor refused to pay the sums levied they were empowered todistrain immediately. All these evils attending enclosure made manywho were eager to benefit by it very chary in commencing it. [449]

Then, as now, one of the commonest errors of farmers was that oftaking too much land for their capital; Young considered £6 an acrenecessary on an average, equal to more than £12 to-day; a sum whichfew farmers at any time have in hand when they take a farm. As forgentlemen farmers, who were then rushing into the business, they werewarned that they had no chance of success if they kept any company oramused themselves with anything but their own business, unless perhapsthey had a good bailiff. 

Lime, one of the most ancient of manures, was then the most commonlyused in England, 80 to 100 loads an acre being a common dressing, butmany farmers were very ignorant of its proper use. Marl, which to-dayis seldom used, was considered to last for twenty years, though forthe first year no benefit was observable, and very little the secondand the third, its value then becoming very apparent. In the last fiveyears, however, its value was nearly worn out. But it was much to bequestioned whether marl in its best state anywhere yields an increaseof produce equal to that which a good manuring of dung will give. [450]Marl was applied in huge quantities on arable and grass, and oftenmade the latter look like arable land so thickly was it spread. 

At this date (1770) the average crops on poor, and on good land were[451]:

 On land worth 5s. An acre:

 Wheat 12 bushels per acre. Rye 16 " " Barley 16 " " Oats 20 " " Turnips, to the value of £1. Clover " "

 On land worth 20s. An acre:

 Wheat 28 bushels per acre. Barley 40 " " Oats 48 " " Beans 40 " " Turnips, to the value of £3. Clover " "

The cost of cultivating the latter, which may be given in full, as itaffords an excellent example of the price of growing various crops, and the methods of their cultivation at this period, was as follows:

 First year, turnips: £ s. D. 

 Rent 1 0 0 Tithe and 'town charges' 8 0 Five ploughings, @ 4s. 1 0 0 Three harrowings 1 0 Seed 6 Sowing 3 Twice hand-hoeing 7 0 ----------- £2 16 9 ===========

It will be noticed there was no horse-hoeing. 

 Second year, barley: £ s. D. 

 Rent, tithe, &c. 1 8 0 Three ploughings 12 0 Three harrowings 1 0 Seed 8 0 Sowing 3 Mowing and harvesting 3 0 Water furrowing 6 Threshing, @ 1s. A quarter 5 0 ----------- £2 17 9 ===========

 Third year, clover: £ s. D. 

 Rent, &c. 1 8 0 Seed 5 0 Sowing 3 ---------- £1 13 3 ==========

 Fourth year, [452] wheat: £ s. D. 

 Rent, &c. 1 8 0 One ploughing 4 0 Three harrowings 1 0 Seed 10 0 Sowing 3 Water furrowing 9 Thistling 1 6 Reaping and harvesting 7 0 Threshing, @ 2s. A quarter 7 0 ---------- £2 19 6 ==========

 Fifth year, beans: £ s. D. 

 Rent, &c. 1 8 0 Two ploughings 8 0 Seed, 2 bushels 8 0 Sowing 6 Twice hand-hoeing 12 0 Twice horse-hoeing 3 0 Reaping and harvesting 8 0 Threshing 5 0 ---------- £3 12 6 ==========

 Sixth year, oats: £ s. D. 

 Rent, &c. 1 8 0 Once ploughing 4 0 Two harrowings 8 Four bushels of seed 6 0 Sowing 3 Mowing and harvesting 3 0 Threshing, @ 1s. A quarter 6 0 ---------- £2 7 11 ==========

Good land at a high rent is always better than poor land at a lowrent; the average profit per acre on 5s. Land was then about 8s. 8d. , on 20s. Land, 29s. 

Grass was much more profitable than tillage, the profit on 20 acres ofarable in nine years amounted to £88, whereas on grass it was £212, or9s. 9d. An acre per annum for the former and 23s. For the latter. [453]Yet dairying, at all events, was then on the whole badly managed andunprofitable. The average cow ate 2-1/2 acres of grass, and the rentof this with labour and other expenses made the cost £5 a year percow, and its average produce was not worth more than £5 6s. 3d. [454]This scanty profit was due to the fact that few farmers used roots, cabbages, &c. , for their cows, and to their wrong management of pigs, kept on the surplus dairy food. By good management the nett returncould be made as much as £4 15s. 0d. Per cow. 

The management of sheep in the north of England was wretched. InNorthumberland the profit was reckoned at 1s. A head, partly derivedfrom cheese made from ewes' milk. The fleeces averaged 2 lb. , and thewool was so bad as not to be worth more than 3d. Or 4d. Per lb. [455]

Pigs could be made to pay well, as the following account testifies:

Food and produce of a sow in one year (1763), which produced sevenpigs in April and eleven in October:

 DR. £ s. D. 

 Grains 10 4 Cutting a litter 1 6 5 quarters peas 5 2 0 10 bushels barley 1 0 0 Expenses in selling[456] 11 6 10 bushels peas 1 6 3 ---------- £8 11 7 ==========

 CR. £ s. D. 

 A pig 2 3 A fat hog 1 9 0 Another, 110 lb. Wt. 1 12 9 Another, 116 lb. Wt. 2 0 0 Heads 5 3 3 fat hogs 6 7 0 1 fat hog 2 0 0 10 young pigs 4 16 6 ----------- £18 12 9 8 11 7 ----------- Profit £10 1 2 ===========

We have seen that Young thought little of the 'new husbandry'; he doesnot even give Tull the credit of inventing the drill: 'Mr. Tullperhaps _again_ invented it. He practised it upon an extent of groundfar beyond that of any person preceding him: the spirit of drillingdied with Mr. Tull and was not revived till within a few years. '[457]It was doubtful if 50 acres of corn were then annually drilled inEngland. Lately drilling had been revived and there were keen disputesas to the old and new methods of husbandry, the efficacy of the newbeing far from decided. The cause of the slow adoption of drillhusbandry was the inferiority of the drills hitherto invented. Theywere complex in construction, expensive, and hard to procure. Itseemed impossible to make a drill or drill plough as it was called, for such it then was--a combination of drill, plough, andharrow--capable of sowing at various depths and widths, and at thesame time light enough for ordinary use. All the drills hitherto madewere too light to stand the rough use of farm labourers: 'commonploughs and harrows the fellows tumble about in so violent a mannerthat if they were not strength itself they would drop to pieces. Indrawing such instruments into the field the men generally mount thehorses, and drag them after them; in passing gateways twenty to onethey draw them against the gate post. ' Some of 'these fellows' arestill to be seen!

Another defect in drilling was that the drill plough filled up all thewater furrows, which, at a time when drainage was often neglected, were deemed of especial importance, and they all had to be openedagain. 

Further, said the advocates of the old husbandry, it was a questionwhether all the horse-hoeings, hand-hoeings, and weedings of the newhusbandry, though undoubtedly beneficial, really paid. It was veryhard to get enough labourers for these operations. With more reasonthey objected to the principles of discarding manure and sowing alarge number of white straw crops in succession, but admitted the newsystem was admirably adapted for beans, turnips, cabbages, andlucerne. 

However, there were many followers of Tull. The Author of_Dissertations on Rural Subjects_[458] thought the drill plough anexcellent invention, as it saved seed and facilitated hoeing; but hesaid Tull's drill was defective in that the distances between the rowscould not be altered, a defect which the writer claims to haveremedied. Young's desire for a stronger drill seems to have been soonanswered, as the same writer says the barrel drill invented byDu-Hamel and improved by Craik was strong, cheap, and easily managed. 

The tendency of the latter half of the century was decidedly in favourof larger farms; it was a bad thing for the small holders, but it wasan economic tendency which could not be resisted. The larger farmershad more capital, were more able and ready to execute improvements;they drained their land, others often did not; having sufficientcapital they were able both to buy and sell to the best advantage andnot sacrifice their produce at a low price to meet the rent, as thesmall farmer so often did and does. They could pay better wages and soget better men, kept more stock and better, and more efficientimplements. They also had a great advantage in being able by theirgood teams to haul home plenty of purchased manure, which the smallfarmer often could not do. The small tenants, who had no by-industry, then, as now, had to work and live harder than the ordinary labourerto pay their way. 

Young calculated as early as 1768 that the average size of farms overthe greater part of England was slightly under 300 acres. [459] In his_Tour in France_ Young, speaking of the smallness of French farms ascompared with English ones, and of the consequent great inferiority ofFrench farming, says, 'Where is the little farmer to be found who willcover his whole farm with marl at the rate of 100 to 150 tons peracre; who will drain his land at the expense of £2 to £3 an acre; whowill, to improve the breed of his sheep, give 1, 000 guineas for theuse of a single ram for a single season; who will send across thekingdom to distant provinces for new implements and for men to usethem? Deduct from agriculture all the practices that have made itflourishing in this island, and you have precisely the management ofsmall farms. ' In 1868 the _Report of the Commission on the Agricultureof France_[460] agreed with Young, noting the grave consequences ofthe excessive subdivision of land, loss of time, waste of labour, difficulties in rotation of crops, and of liberty of cultivation. 

For stocking an arable farm of 70 acres Young considered the followingexpenditure necessary, the items of which give us interestinginformation as to prices about 1770:--

 £ s. D. 

 Rent, tithe, and town charges for first year 70 0 0 Household furniture 30 0 0 Wagon 25 0 0 Cart with ladders 12 0 0 Tumbril 10 0 0 Roller for broad lands (of wood) 2 0 0 " narrow " " 1 15 0 Cart harness for 4 horses 8 17 0 Plough " " 2 16 0 2 ploughs 3 0 0 A pair of harrows 1 15 0 Screen, bushel, fan, sieves, forks, rakes, &c. 8 0 0 Dairy furniture 3 0 0 20 sacks 2 10 0 4 horses 32 0 0 Wear and tear, and shoeing one year 13 0 0 Keep of 4 horses from Michaelmas to May Day, @ 2s. 6d. Each a week 14 0 0 5 cows 20 0 0 20 sheep 5 10 0 One sow 15 0 One servant's board and wages for one year 15 0 0 A labourer's wages for one year 20 0 0 Seed for first year, 42 acres, @ 11s. 6d. 24 3 0 Harvest labour 1 10 0 ------------ £326 11 0 ============

Or nearly £5 an acre. 

About the same date the _Complete English Farmer_ reckoned that theoccupier of a farm of 500 acres (300 arable, 200 pasture), ought tohave a capital of £1, 500, and estimated that, after paying expensesand maintaining his family, he could put by £50 a year; 'but thiscapital was much beyond what farmers in general can attain to. '[461]

The controversy of horses versus oxen for working purposes was stillraging, and Young favoured the use of oxen; for the food of horsescost more, so did their harness and their shoeing, they are much moreliable to disease, and oxen when done with could be sold for beef. Onestout lad, moreover, could attend to 8 or 10 oxen, for all he had todo was to put their fodder in the racks and clean the shed; norubbing, no currying or dressing being necessary. No beasts fattenedbetter than oxen that had been worked. A yoke of oxen would plough asmuch as a pair of horses and carry a deeper and truer furrow, whilethey were just as handy as horses in wagons, carts, rollers, &c. William Marshall, the other great agricultural writer of the end ofthe eighteenth century, agreed with Young, yet in spite of all theseadvantages horses were continually supplanting oxen. 

Among the improvements in agriculture was the introduction ofbroad-wheeled wagons; narrow-wheeled ones were usual, and these on theturnpikes were only allowed to be drawn by 4 horses so that the loadwas small, but broad-wheeled wagons might use 8 horses. The cost ofthe latter was £50 against £25 for the former. [462]

Young's opinion of the labouring man, like Tull's, was not a high one. 'I never yet knew', he says, 'one instance of any poor man's workingdiligently while young and in health to escape coming to the parishwhen ill or old. ' This is doubtless too sweeping. There must have beenothers like George Barwell, whom Marshall tells of in his _RuralEconomy of the Midlands_, who had brought up a family of five or sixsons and daughters on a wage of 5s. To 7s. A week, and after they wereout in the world saved enough to support him in his old age. Themajority, however, long before the crushing times of the French War, seem to have been thoroughly demoralized by indiscriminate parishrelief, and habitually looked to the parish to maintain them insickness and old age. Cullum[463] a few years later, remarks on thepoor demanding assistance without the scruple and delicacy they usedto have, and says 'the present age seems to aim at abolishing allsubordination and dependence and reducing all ranks as near a level aspossible. '! Idleness, drunkenness, and what was then often looked onwith disgust and contempt, excessive tea-drinking, were rife. Tea thenwas very expensive, 8s. Or 10s. A lb. Being an ordinary price, so thatthe poor had to put up with a very much adulterated article, mostpernicious to health. The immoderate use of this was stated to haveworse effects than the immoderate use of spirits. The consumption ofit was largely caused by the deficiency of the milk supply, owing tothe decrease of small farms; the large farmers did not retail suchsmall commodities as milk and butter, but sent them to the towns sothat the poor often went without. [464]

In 1767 Young found wages differing according to the distance fromLondon[465]:--

 s. D. 

 20 miles from London they were per week 10 9 From 20 to 60 " " " 7 8 " 60 to 110 " " " 6 4 " 110 to 170 " " " 6 3

Giving an average of 7s. 9d. Which, however, was often exceeded asthere was much piece-work which enabled the men to earn more. 

Young drew up a dietary for a labourer, his wife, and a family ofthree children, which he declared to be sufficient:--

 £ s. D. 

 Food, 6s. Per week[466]; per year 15 12 0 Rent 1 10 0 Clothes 2 10 0 Soap and candles 1 5 0 Loss of time through illness, and medicine 1 0 0 Fuel 2 0 0 ---------- £23 17 0 ==========

 £ s. D. 

 The man's wages were, @ 1s. 3d. A day, for the year 19 10 0 The woman's, @ 3-3/4d. A day, for the year 4 17 6 The boy of fifteen could earn 9 0 0 The boy of ten could earn 4 7 6 ---------- £37 15 0 ==========

Which would give the family a surplus of £13 18s. 0d. A year. 

What the man's food should consist of is shown by a list of 'sevendays' messes for a stout man':--

 s. D. 

 1st day. 2 lb. Of bread made of wheat, rye, and potatoes--'no bread exceeds it' 2 Cheese, 2 oz. @ 4d. A lb 1/2 Beer, 2 quarts 1 2nd day. Three messes of soup 2 3rd day. Rice pudding 2-1/2 4th day. 1/4 lb. Of fat meat and potatoes baked together 2-3/4 Beer 1 5th day. Rice milk 2 6th day. Same as first day 3-1/2 7th day. Potatoes, fat meat, cheese, and beer 4 --------- 1 9-1/4 =========

As Young was a man of large practical experience we may assume thatthis, though it seems a very insufficient diet, was not unlike thefood of some labourers at that date. However, the bread he recommendswas not that eaten by a large number of them. Eden[467] states that in1764 about half the people of England were estimated to be usingwheaten bread, and at the end of the century, although prices hadrisen greatly, he says that in the Home Counties wheaten bread wasuniversal among the peasant class. Young, indeed, acknowledges thatmany insisted on wheaten bread. [468] In Suffolk, according toCullum, [469] pork and bacon were the labourer's delicacies, bread andcheese his ordinary diet. 

The north of England was more thrifty than the south. At the end ofthe eighteenth century barley and oaten bread were much used there. Lancashire people fed largely on oat bread, leavened and unleavened;the 33rd Regiment, which went by the name of the 'Havercake lads', wasusually recruited from the West Riding where oat bread was in commonuse, and was famous for having fine men in its ranks. [470] Thelabourers of the north were also noted for their skill in making soupsin which barley was an important ingredient. In many of the southerncounties tea was drunk at breakfast, dinner, and supper by the poor, often without milk or sugar; but alcoholic liquors were also consumedin great quantities, the southerner apparently always drinking aconsiderable amount, the northerner at rare intervals drinking deep. The drinking in cider counties seems always to have been worse as faras quantity goes than elsewhere, and the drink bills on farms wereenormous. Marshall says that in Gloucestershire drinking a gallon'bottle', generally a little wooden barrel, at a draught was nouncommon feat; and in the Vale of Evesham a labourer who wanted to beeven with his master for short payment emptied a two-gallon bottlewithout taking it from his lips. Even this feat was excelled by 'fourwell-seasoned yeomen, who resolved to have a fresh hogshead tapped, and setting foot to foot emptied it at one sitting. '[471] Yet in thebeer-drinking counties great quantities were consumed; a gallon a dayper man all the year round being no uncommon allowance. [472]

The superior thrift of the north was shown in clothes as well as food, the midland and southern labourer at the end of the century buying allhis clothes, the northerner making them almost all at home; there weremany respectable families in the north who had never bought a pair ofstockings, coat, or waistcoat in their lives, and a purchased coat wasconsidered a mark of extravagance and pride. 

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of Young's dietary is that greenvegetables are absolutely ignored. The peasant was supposed to needthem as little as in the Middle Ages. 

However, Young admits that very few labourers lived as cheaply asthis, and he found the actual ordinary budget for the same family tobe:--

 £ s. D. 

 Food, per week, 7s. 6d. ; per year 19 10 0 Beer " 1s. 6d. " 3 18 0 Soap and candles 1 5 0 Rent 1 10 0 Clothes 2 10 0 Fuel 2 0 0 Illness, &c. 1 0 0 Infant 2 12 0 ---------- £34 5 0 ==========

This, with the same Income as before, left him with a surplus of £310s. 0d. ; but as it was not likely his wife could work all the yearround, or that both his eldest children should be boys, it appearsthat his expenses must often have exceeded his income. This being so, it is not surprising that he was often drunken and reckless, and readyto come on the parish for relief. To labour incessantly, often withwife and boys, to live very poorly, yet not even make both ends meet, was enough to kill all spirit in any one. 

A great evil from which the labourer suffered was the restrictionsthrown on him of settling in another parish. If he desired to take hislabour to a better market he often found it closed to him. Hismarriage was discouraged, [473] because a single man did not want acottage and a married one did. To ease the rates there was open waragainst cottages, and many were pulled down. [474] If a labourer in aparish to which he did not legally belong signified his intention ofmarrying, he immediately had notice to quit the parish and retire tohis own, unless he could procure a certificate that neither he nor hiswould be chargeable. If he went to his own parish he came off verybadly, for they didn't want him, and cottages being scarce he probablyhad to put up with sharing one with one or more families. Sensible mencried out for the total abolition of the poor laws, the worst effectsof which were still to be felt. 

Yet there was a considerable migration of labour at harvest time whenadditional hands were needed. Labourers came from neighbouringcounties, artisans left their workshops in the towns, Scots came tothe Northern counties, Welshmen to the western, and Irishmen appearedin many parts; and they were as a rule supplied by a contractor. [475]

London was regarded as a source of great evil to the country byattracting the young and energetic thither. It used, men said, to beno such easy matter to get there when a stage coach was four or fivedays creeping 100 miles and fares were high; but in 1770 a countryfellow 100 miles from London jumped on a coach in the morning and for8s. Or 10s. Got to town by night, 'and ten times the boasts aresounded in the ears of country fools by those who have seen London toinduce them to quit their healthy clean fields for a region of dirt, stink, and noise. ' A prejudice might well have been entertainedagainst the metropolis at this time, for it literally devoured thepeople of England, the deaths exceeding the births by 8, 000 a year. One of the causes that had hitherto kept people from London was thedread of the small-pox, but that was now said to be removed byinoculation. Among the troubles farmers had to contend with were theaudacious depredations caused by poachers, generally labourers, whoswarmed in many villages. They took the farmer's horses out of hisfields after they had done a hard day's work and rode them all nightto drive the game into their nets, blundering over the hedges, sometimes staking the horses, riding over standing corn, or anythingthat was cover for partridges, and when they had sold their ill-gottengame spent the money openly at the nearest alehouse. Then they wouldgo back and work for the farmers they had robbed, drunk, asleep, oridle the whole day. The subscription packs of foxhounds were also agreat nuisance, many of the followers being townsmen who bored throughhedges and smashed the gates and stiles, conduct not unknown to-day. In spite of these drawbacks the long period of great abundance from1715 to 1765 and the consequent cheapness of food with an increase ofwages was attended with a great improvement in the condition and habitsof the people. Adam Smith refers to 'the peculiarly happy circumstancesof the country'; Hallam described the reign of George II as 'the mostprosperous period that England has ever experienced'[476]; and it wasYoung's opinion about 1770 that England was in a most rich andflourishing situation, 'her agriculture is upon the whole good andspirited and every day improving, her industrious poor are well fed, clothed, and lodged at reasonable rates, the prices of all necessariesbeing moderate, our population increasing, the price of labourgenerally high. '[477] The great degree of luxury to which the countryhad arrived within a few years 'is not only astonishing but almostdreadful to think of. Time was when those articles of indulgence whichnow every mechanic aims at the possession of were enjoyed only by thebaron or lord. '[478] Great towns became the winter residence of thosewho could not afford London, and the country was said to be everywheredeserted, an evil largely attributed to the improvement of posting andcoaches. The true country gentleman was seldom to be found, theluxuries of the age had softened down the hardy roughness of formertimes and the 'country, like the capital, is one scene of dissipation. 'The private gentleman of £300 or £400 a year must have his horses, dogs, carriages, pictures, and parties, and thus goes to ruin. Thearticles of living, says the same writer, were 100 per cent. Dearerthan some time back. This is a very different picture from that inwhich Young represents every one rushing into farming, but no doubtdepicts one phase of national life. 

An excellent observer[479] noticed in 1792 that the preceding forty orfifty years had witnessed the total destruction in England of the oncecommon type of the small country squire. He was:--

 'An independent gentleman of £300 per annum who commonly appeared in a plain drab or plush coat, large silver buttons, a jockey cap, and rarely without boots. His travels never exceeded the distance of the county town, and that only at assize or session time, or to attend an election. Once a week he commonly dined at the next market town with the attorneys and justices. He went to church regularly, read the weekly journal, settled the parochial disputes, and afterwards adjourned to the neighbouring alehouse, where he generally got drunk for the good of his country. He was commonly followed by a couple of greyhounds and a pointer, and announced his arrival at a neighbour's house by smacking his whip and giving a view halloo. His drink was generally ale, except on Christmas Day, the Fifth of November, or some other gala day, when he would make a bowl of strong brandy. The mansion of one of these squires was of plaster striped with timber, not unaptly called callimanco work, or of red brick with large casemented bow windows; a porch with seats in it and over it a study: the eaves of the house well inhabited by swallows, and the court set round with hollyhocks; near the gate a horse-block for mounting. The hall was furnished with flitches of bacon, and the mantelpiece with guns and fishing-rods of different dimensions, accompanied by the broadsword, partisan, and dagger borne by his ancestor in the Civil Wars. Against the wall was posted King Charles's _Golden Rules_, Vincent Wing's _Almanac_ and a portrait of the Duke of Marlborough; in his window lay Baker's _Chronicle_, Foxe's _Book of Martyrs_, Glanvill _On Apparitions_, Quincey's _Dispensatory_, _The Complete Justice_, and a _Book of Farriery_. In a corner by the fireside stood a large wooden two-armed chair with a cushion, and within the chimney corner were a couple of seats. Here at Christmas he entertained his tenants, assembled round a glowing fire made of the roots of trees; and told and heard the traditionary tales of the village about ghosts and witches while a jorum of ale went round. These men and their houses are no more. '

The farmer, in some parts at all events, was becoming a more civilizedindividual; the late race had lived in the midst of their enlightenedneighbours like beings of another order[480]; in their personal labourthey were indefatigable, in their fare hard, in their dress homely, intheir manners rude. The French and American War of 1775-83 was a veryprosperous time, and the farmer's mode of living greatly improved. Farmhouses in England, it was noticed, were in general well furnishedwith every convenient accommodation. Into many of them a 'barometerhad of late years been introduced'. The teapot and the mug of alejointly possessed the breakfast table, and meat and pudding smoked onthe board every noon. Formerly one might see at church what was thecut of a coat half a century ago, now dress was spruce andmodern. [481] As a proof of the spirit of improvement among farmers, Marshall instances the custom in the Midlands of placing their sons aspupils on other farms to widen their experience. 'Their entertainmentsare as expensive as they are elegant, for it is no uncommon thing forone of these new-created farmers to spend £10 or £12, at oneentertainment, and to have the most expensive wines; to set off theentertainment in the greatest splendour an elegant sideboard of plateis provided in the newest fashion. '[482] As to dress, no one couldtell the farmer's daughter from the duke's. Marshall noticed that inWarwickshire the harness of the farmer's teams was often ridiculouslyornamented, and the horses were overfed and underworked to save theirlooks. Before enclosure the farmer entertained his friends with baconfed by himself, washed down with ale brewed from his own malt, in abrown jug, or a glass if he was extravagant. He wore a coat of woollenstuff, the growth of his own flock, spun by his wife and daughters, his stockings came from the same quarter, so did the clothes of hisfamily. 

Some of these farmers were doing their share in helping the progressof agriculture. In 1764 Joseph Elkington, of Princethorpe inWarwickshire, was the first to practise the under drainage of slopingland that was drowned by the bursting of springs. He drained somefields at Princethorpe which were very wet, and dug a trench 4 or 5feet deep for this purpose; but finding this did not reach theprincipal body of subjacent water, he drove an iron bar 4 feet belowthe bottom of his trench and on withdrawing it the water gushed out. He was thus led to combine the system of cutting drains, aided whennecessary by auger holes. His main principles were three: (1) Findingthe main spring, or cause of the mischief. (2) Taking the level ofthat spring and ascertaining its subterranean bearings, for if thedrain is cut a yard below the line of the spring the water issuingfrom it cannot be reached, but on ascertaining the line by levellingthe spring can be cut effectually. (3) Using the auger to tap thespring when the drain was not deep enough for the purpose. [483] It wasowing to the Board of Agriculture at the end of the century that heobtained the vote of £1, 000 from Parliament, and a skilful surveyorwas appointed to observe his methods and give them to the public, forhe was too ignorant himself to give an intelligible account of hissystem. After the publication of the report his system was followedgenerally until Smith of Deanston in 1835 gave the method now in useto his country. 

Robert Bakewell, who did more to improve live stock than any otherman, was born at Dishley, Leicestershire, in 1735, and succeeding tothe management of his father's farm in 1760 began to make experimentsin breeding. [484] He scorned the old idea that the blood must beconstantly varied by the mixture of different breeds, and his newsystem differed from the old in two chief points: (1) small versuslarge bone, and consequently a greater proportion of flesh and agreater tendency to fatten; (2) permissible in-breeding versusperpetual crossing with strange breeds. He took immense pains inselecting the best animals to breed from, and had at Dishley a museumof skeletons and pickled specimens for the comparison of onegeneration with another, and he conducted careful post-mortemexaminations on his stock. His great production was the new Leicesterbreed of sheep, [485] which in half a century spread over every part ofthe United Kingdom, as well as to Europe and America, and gave England2 lb. Of meat where she had one before. Sheep at this time weredivided into two main classes: (1) short-woolled or field sheep, fedin the open fields; (2) long-woolled or pasture sheep, fed inenclosures. That they were not at a very high state of perfection maybe gathered from this description of the chief variety of the latter, the 'Warwickshire' breed: 'his frame large and loose, his bones heavy, his legs long and thick, his chine as well as his rump as sharp as ahatchet, his skin rattling on his ribs like a skeleton covered withparchments. ' The origin of the new Leicester sheep is uncertain, butapparently the old Lincoln breed was the basis of it, though this, like other large breeds of English sheep, was itself an introductionof the last half century. The new sheep was described as having aclean head, straight broad flat back, barrel-like body, fine smalleyes, thin feet, mutton fat, fine-grained and of good flavour, wool 8lb. To the fleece, and wethers at two years old weighed from 20 to 30lb. A quarter. 

By 1770 his rams were hired for 25 guineas a season, and soon after hemade £3, 000 a year by their hire, one named 'Two-pounder' bringing him1, 200 guineas in one year. 

One of his theories was that the poorer the land the more it demandedwell-made sheep, which is no doubt true to a certain extent; but ithas been proved conclusively since that the quality of the breedgradually drops to the level of the land unless artificially assisted. At his death he left two distinct breeds of sheep, for he improved onhis own new Leicester, so that the improved became the 'New Leicester'and the former the 'Old Leicester. ' However, at the time and, afterwards, his sheep were generally called 'New Leicesters', andsometimes the 'Dishley breed'. There was much prejudice among farmersagainst the new breed; in the Midlands most of the farmers would havenothing to do with them, and 'their grounds were stocked withcreatures that would disgrace the meanest lands in the kingdom. ' Yetin April, 1786, yearling wethers of the new breed were sold for 28s. While those of the old were 16s. 

The cattle which he set to work to improve were the famous old longhornbreed, the prevailing breed of the Midlands, which had already beenconsiderably improved by Webster of Canley in Warwickshire, andothers, especially in Lancashire and the north. The kind of cattleesteemed hitherto had been 'the large, long-bodied, big-boned, coarse, flat-sided kind, and often lyery or black-fleshed. '[486] He foundedhis herd upon two heifers of Webster's and a bull from Westmoreland, and from these bred all his cattle. The celebrated bull 'Twopenny' wasa son of the Westmoreland bull and one of these heifers, who came tobe celebrated in agricultural history as 'Old Comely', for she wasslaughtered at the age of twenty-six. He bred his cattle so that theyproduced an enormous amount of fat, as hitherto there had been adifficulty in producing animals to fatten readily; but this he pushedto too great an extreme, so that there has been a reaction. Thefollowing is a description of a six-year-old bull, got by 'Twopenny'out of a Canley cow: 'His head, chest, and neck remarkably fine andclean; his chest extraordinarily deep; his brisket bearing down to hisknees; his chine thin, loin narrow at the chine, but remarkably wideat the hips. Quarters long, round bones snug, but thighs rather fulland remarkably let down. The carcase throughout, chine excepted, large, roomy, deep, and well spread. '[487] The new longhorn, howevergood for the grazier, was not a good milker. Bakewell was a greatbeliever in straw as a food, and strongly objected to having ittrodden into manure; his beasts were largely fed on it, in such smallquantities that they greedily ate what was before them and wastedlittle. His activity was not confined to the breeding of cattle andsheep, for he also produced a breed of black horses, thick and shortin the body, with very short legs and very powerful, two ploughing 4acres a day, a statement which seems much exaggerated; and was famousfor his skill in irrigating meadows, by which he could cut grass fourtimes a year. He was a firm believer in the wisdom of treating stockgently and kindly, and his sheep were kept as clean as racehorses. Avisitor to Dishley saw a bull of huge proportions, with enormoushorns, led about by a boy of seven. He travelled much, and admired thefarms of Norfolk most in England, and those of Holland and Flandersabroad, founding his own system on these. It was his opinion that theDevon breed of cattle were incapable of improvement by a cross of anyother breed, and that from the West Highland heifer the best breed ofcattle might be produced. 

He died in 1795, and apparently did not keep what he made, owinglargely to his boundless hospitality, which had entertained Russianprinces, German royal dukes, English peers, and travellers from allcountries. His breed of cattle has completely disappeared, unlesstraces survive in the lately resuscitated longhorn breed, but hisprinciples are still acted upon, viz. The correlation of form, and thepractice of consanguineous breeding under certain conditions. 

Bakewell's earliest pupil was George Culley, who devoted himself toimproving the breed of cattle, and became one of the most famousagriculturists at the end of the eighteenth and the commencement ofthe nineteenth centuries. Another farmer to whom English agricultureowes much was John Ellman of Glynde, born in 1753, who by carefulselection firmly established the reputation of the Southdown sheepwhich had previously been hardly recognized. He was one of thefounders of the Smithfield Cattle Show in 1793, which helpedmaterially to improve the live stock of the country. 

The relations between landlord and tenant, judging from the accountsof contemporary writers, were generally good. Leases were lessfrequent than agreements voidable by six months' notice on eitherside, and when there was a tenancy-at-will the tenant who entered as ayoung man was often expected to hand on the holding to his posterity, and therefore executed improvements at his own cost, so complete wasthe trust between landlord and tenant. Tenants then did much that theywould refuse to do to-day, as the following lease, common in theMidlands in 1786, shows[488]:

 Tenant agrees to take, &c. , and to pay the stipulated rent within forty days, without any deduction for taxes, and double rent so long as he continues to hold after notice given. 

 To repair buildings, accidents by fire excepted. 

 To repair gates and fences. 

 When required, to cut and plash the hedges, and make the ditches 3 feet by 2 feet, or pay or cause to be paid to the landlord 1s. Per rood for such as shall not be done after three months' notice has been given in writing. 

 Not to break up certain lands specified in the schedule, 'under £20 an acre. '

 Not to plough more than a specified number of acres of the rest of the land in any one year, under the same penalty. 

 To forfeit the same sum for every acre that shall be ploughed for any longer time than three crops successively, without making a clean summer fallow thereof after the third crop. 

 And the like sum for every acre over and above a specified number (clover excepted) that shall be mown in any one year. 

 At the time of laying down arable lands to grass he shall manure them with 8 quarters of lime per acre, and sow the same with 12 lb. Of clover seeds, and one bushel of rye-grass per acre. 

 Shall spend on the premises all hay, straw, and manure, or leave them at the end of the term. 

 Tenant on quitting to be allowed for hay left on the premises, for clover and rye-grass sown in the last year, and for all fallows made within that time. '[489]

A striking picture of the conditions prevailing in many parts ofEngland at this period is given by Mr. Loch in his account of theestates of the Marquis of Stafford. [490] When this nobleman inheritedhis property in Staffordshire and Shropshire, much of the land, as inother parts of England, was held on leases for three lives, a systemsaid to have been ruinous in its effects. Although the farms were heldat one-third of their value, nothing could be worse than the course ofcultivation pursued, no improvements were carried out, and all thatcould be hoped for was that the land would not be entirely run outwhen the lease expired. The closes were extremely small and of themost irregular shape; the straggling fences occupied a large portionof the land; the crookedness of the ditches, by keeping the waterstagnant, added to, rather than relieved, the wetness of the soil. Farms were much scattered, and to enable the occupiers to get at theirland, lanes wound backwards and forwards from field to field, coveringa large quantity of ground. 

It is to the great credit of the Marquis of Stafford that thismiserable state of things was swept away. Lands were laid together, the size of the fields enlarged, hedges and ditches straightened, thedrainage conducted according to a uniform plan, new and substantialbuildings erected, indeed the whole countryside transformed. 

Another evil custom on the estate had been to permit huts of miserableconstruction to be erected to the number of several hundreds by thepoorest, and in many instances the most profligate, of the population. They were not regularly entered in the rental account, but had anominal payment fixed upon them which was paid annually at the courtleet. These cottages were built on the sides of the roads and on thelord's waste, which was gradually absorbed by the encroachment, whichthe occupiers of these huts made from time to time by enclosing theland that lay next them. These wretched holdings gradually fell intothe hands of a body of middlemen, who underlet them at an extravagantrent to the occupiers; and these men began to consider that they hadan interest independent of the landlord, and had at times actuallymortgaged, sold, and devised it. This abuse was also put an end to, the cottagers being made immediate tenants of the landlord, to theirgreat gain, but to this day small aggregations of houses in Shropshirecalled 'Heaths' mark the encroachments of these squatters on theroadside wastes. This class, indeed, has been well known in Englandsince the Middle Ages. Norden speaks of them in 1602, and so do manysubsequent writers. Numbers of small holdings exist to-day obtained inthis manner, and the custom must to some extent have counteracted theeffect of enclosure. [491]

The roads of England up to the end of the eighteenth century weregenerally in a disgraceful condition. Some improvement was effected inthe latter half of the century, but it was not until the days ofTelford and Macadam that they assumed the appearance with which we arefamiliar; and long after that, though the main roads were excellent, the by-roads were often atrocious, as readers of such books as_Handley Cross_, written in the middle of the nineteenth century, willremember. 

Defoe in his tour in 1724 found the road between S. Albans andNottingham 'perfectly frightful, ' and the great number of horseskilled by the 'labour of these heavy ways a great charge to thecountry'. He notes, however, an improvement from turnpikes. Many ofthe roads were much worn by the continual passing of droves of heavycattle on their way to London. Sheep could not travel in the winter toLondon as the roads were too heavy, so that the price of mutton atthat season in town was high. Breeders were often compelled to sellthem cheap before they got to London, because the roads becameimpassable for their flocks when the bad weather set in. [492]

In 1734 Lord Cathcart wrote in his diary: 'All went well until Iarrived within 3 miles of Doncaster, when suddenly my horse fell witha crash and with me under him. I fancied myself crushed to death. Islept at Doncaster and had a bad night. I was so bad all day, that Icould get no further than Wetherby. Next day I was all right again. Ihad another terrible fall between North Allerton and Darlington, butwas not a bit the worse. '[493]

It was owing to this defective condition of the roads that the pricesof corn still differed greatly in various localities; there would be aglut in one place and a deficiency in another, with no means ofequalizing matters. To the same cause must be attributed in greatmeasure the slow progress made in the improvement of agriculture. Newdiscoveries travelled very slowly; the expense of procuring manurebeyond that produced on the farm was prohibitive; and the uncertainreturns which arose from such confined markets caused the farmer tolack both spirit and ability to exert himself in the cultivation ofhis land. [494] Therefore farming was limited to procuring thesubsistence of particular farms rather than feeding the public. Theopposition to better roads was due in great measure to the landowners, who feared that if the markets in their neighbourhood were renderedaccessible to distant farmers their estates would suffer. But theywere not alone in their opposition; in the reign of Queen Anne thepeople of Northampton were against any improvement in the navigationof the Nene, because they feared that corn from Huntingdon andCambridge would come up the river and spoil their market. [495] Hornerwas very enthusiastic over the improvement recently effected: 'ourvery carriages travel with almost winged expedition between every townof consequence in the kingdom and the metropolis' and inlandnavigation was soon likely to be established in every part, inconsequence of which the demand for the produce of the land increasedand the land itself became more valuable and rents rose. 'There neverwas a more astonishing revolution accomplished in the internal systemof any country'; and the carriage of grain was effected with half theformer number of horses. 

It is clear, however, that he was easily satisfied, and this opinionmust be compared with the statements of Young and Marshall, who werecontinually travelling all over England some time after it waswritten, and found the roads, in many parts, in a very bad state. 

Even near London they were often terrible. 'Of all the cursed roadsthat ever disgraced this kingdom in the very ages of barbarism, noneever equalled that from Billericay to the King's Head at Tilbury. [496]It is for near 12 miles so narrow that a mouse cannot pass by anycarriage. I saw a fellow creep under his wagon to assist me to lift, if possible, my chaise over a hedge. The ruts are of an incredibledepth, and everywhere chalk wagons were stuck fast till 20 or 30horses tacked to each drew them out one by one' Others said thatturnpike roads were the enemies of cheapness; as soon as they openedup secluded spots, low prices vanished and all tended to one level. Owing to the work of Telford and Macadam, the high roads by the firstquarter of the nineteenth century attained a high pitch of excellence;and were thronged with traffic, coaches, postchaises, privatecarriages, equestrians, carts and wagons: so animated a sight that ourforefathers built small houses called 'gazebos' on the sides of theroad, where they met to take tea and watch the ever varying stream. Itshould not be forgotten, too, that the inns, where numbers of horsesput up, were splendid markets for the farmers' oats, hay, and straw. 

The seasons in the latter part of the eighteenth century weredistinguished for being frequently bad. In 1774 Gilbert White wrote, 'Such a run of wet seasons as we have had the last ten or eleven yearswould have produced a famine a century or two ago. ' Owing to thedearness of bread in 1767 riots broke out in many places, many liveswere lost, and the gaols were filled with prisoners. [497] 1779 was, however, a year of great fertility and prices were low all round:wheat 33s. 8d. , barley 26s. , oats 13s. 6d. , wool 12s. A tod of 28 lb. :and there were many complaints of ruined farmers and distressedlandlords. Though England was now becoming an importing country, theamount of corn imported was insufficient to have any appreciableeffect on prices, which were mainly influenced by the seasons, as thefollowing instance of the fluctuations caused by a single bad season(1782) testifies[498]:

 Prices after harvest of 1781. Prices after harvest of 1782. 

 £ s. D. £ s. D. 

 Wheat, per bushel 5 0 Wheat, per bushel 10 6 Barley " 2 9 Barley " 7 2 Dutch oats for seed 1 8 Dutch oats for seed 3 6 Clover seed, per cwt. 1 11 6 Clover seed, per cwt. 5 10 0

The summer of 1783 was amazing and portentous and full of horriblephenomena, according to White, with a peculiar haze or smoky fogprevailing for many weeks. 'The sun at noon looked as blank as aclouded moon, and shed a rust-coloured ferruginous light on the groundand floors of rooms. ' This was succeeded by a very severe winter, thethermometer on December 10 being 1° below zero; the worst since1739-40. 

In 1788 occurred a severe drought in the summer, 5, 000 horned cattleperishing for lack of water. [499] In 1791 there was a remarkablechange of temperature in the middle of June, the thermometer in a fewdays falling from 75° to 25°, and the hills of Kent and Surrey werecovered with snow. 

We have now to deal with one of those landowners whose great exampleis one of the glories of English agriculture. Coke of Holkham beganhis great agricultural work about 1776 on an estate where, as old LadyTownshend said, 'all you will see will be one blade of grass and tworabbits fighting for that;' in fact it was little better than a rabbitwarren. It has been said that all the wheat consumed in the county ofNorfolk was at this time imported from abroad; but this is in directcontradiction to Young's assertion, already noted, that there were in1767 great quantities of wheat besides other crops in the county. Coke's estate indeed seems to have been considerably behind many partsof the shire when he began his farming career. [500] When Coke cameinto his estate, in five leases which were about to expire the farmswere held at 3s. 6d. An acre; and in the previous leases they had been1s. 6d. An acre. We may judge of the quality of this land by comparingit with the average rent of 10s. Which Young says prevailed at thistime. With a view to remedy this state of things he studied theagriculture of other counties, and his observations thereon reveal avery poor kind of farming in many places: in Cheshire the rich pasturewas wasted and the poor impoverished by sheer ignorance, in Yorkshireluxuriant grass was understocked, in Shropshire there were hardly anysheep; in his own part of Norfolk the usual rotation was three whitestraw crops and then broadcast turnips. [501] This Coke changed to twowhite crops and two years pasture, and he dug up and brought to thesurface the rich marl which lay under the flint and sand, so thatclover and grasses began to grow. So successful was he in this that in1796 he cut nearly 400 tons of sainfoin from 104 acres of landpreviously valued at 12s. An acre. He increased his flock of sheepfrom 800 worthless animals with backs as narrow as rabbits, thedescription of the Norfolk sheep of the day, to 2, 500 good Southdowns. Encouraged by the Duke of Bedford, another great agriculturist, hestarted a herd of North Devons, and, fattening two Devons against oneShorthorn, found the former weighed 140 stone, the latter 110, and theShorthorn had eaten more food than the two Devons. However, a singleexperiment of this kind is not very conclusive. 

The ploughs of Norfolk were, as in many other counties, absurdlyover-horsed, from three to five being used when only two werenecessary; so Coke set the example of using two whenever possible, andwon a bet with Sir John Sebright by ploughing an acre of stiff land inHertfordshire in a day with a pair of horses. He transformed the bleakbare countryside by planting 50 acres of trees every year until he had3, 000 acres well covered, and in 1832 had probably the uniqueexperience of embarking in a ship which was built of oak grown fromthe acorns he had himself planted. [502] Between 1776 and 1842 (thedate of his death) he is said to have spent £536, 992 on improving hisestate, without reckoning the large sums spent on his house anddemesne, the home farm, and his marsh farm of 459 acres. Thisexpenditure paid in the long run, but when he entered upon it, it musthave seemed very doubtful if this would be the case. A goodunderstanding between landlord and tenant was the basis of his policy, and to further this he let his farms on long leases, at moderaterents, with few restrictions. When farmers improved their holdings onhis estate the rent was not raised on them, so that the estatebenefited greatly, and good tenants were often rewarded by havingexcellent houses built for them; so good, indeed, that his politicalopponents the Tories, whom he, as a staunch Whig detested, made it oneof their complaints against him that he built palaces for farmhouses. At first he met with that stolid opposition to progress which seemsthe particular characteristic of the farmer. For sixteen years no onefollowed him in the use of the drill, though it was no new thing; andwhen it was adopted he reckoned its use spread at the rate of a mile ayear. Yet eventually he had his reward; his estate came to command thepick of English tenant farmers, who never left it except through oldage, and would never live under any other landlord. Even the RadicalCobbett, to whom, as to most of his party, landlords were, and are, the objects of inveterate hatred, said that every one who knew himspoke of him with affection. Coke was the first to distinguish betweenthe adaptability of the different kinds of grass seeds to differentsoils, and thereby made the hitherto barren lands of his estate betterpasture land than that of many rich counties. Carelessness about thequality of grasses sown was universal for a long time. The farmer tookhis seeds from his own foul hayrick, or sent to his neighbour for asupply of rubbish; even Bakewell derived his stock from his hayloft. It was not until the Society for the Encouragement of Arts offeredprizes for clean hay seeds that some improvement was noticeable. InNorfolk, as in other parts of England, there was at this time a strongprejudice against potatoes; the villagers of Holkham refused to haveanything to do with them, but Coke's invincible persistency overcamethis unreasoning dislike and soon they refused to do without them. 

Coke was a great advocate for sowing wheat early and very thick in therows, and for cutting it when ear and stem were green and the grainsoft, declaring that by so doing he got 2s. A quarter more for it; healso believed in the early cutting of oats and peas. It was his customto drill 4 bushels of wheat per acre, which he said preventedtillering and mildew. He was the first to grow swedes on a largescale. [503] The famous Holkham Sheep-shearings, known locally as'Coke's Clippings', which began in 1778 and lasted till 1821, arosefrom his practice of gathering farmers together for consultation onmatters agricultural, and developed into world-famous meetingsattended by all nationalities and all ranks, men journeying fromAmerica especially to attend them, and Lafayette expressed it as oneof his great regrets that he had never attended one. At thesegatherings all were equal, the suggestion of the smallest tenantfarmer was listened to with respect, and the same courtesy andhospitality were shown to all whether prince or farmer. At the lastmeeting in 1821 no less than 7, 000 people were present. His skill, energy, and perseverance worked a revolution in the crops; his ownwheat crops were from 10 to 12 coombs an acre, his barley sometimesnearly 20. The annual income of timber and underwood was £2, 700, andfrom 1776 to 1816 he increased the rent roll of his estate from £2, 200to £20, 000, which, even after allowing for the great advance in pricesduring that period, is a wonderful rise. It is a very significant factthat there was not an alehouse on the estate, and in connexion withthis, and with the fact that his improvements made a constant demandfor labour, we are not surprised to learn that the workhouse waspulled down as useless, for it was always empty, and this at a timewhen the working-classes of England were pauperized to an alarmingdegree. The year 1818 was one of terrible distress all over England incountry and town, yet at his sheep-shearing of that year Coke wasenabled to say he had trebled the population of his estate and not asingle person was out of employment, though everywhere else farmerswere turning off hands and cutting down wages. Principally through hisagency, between 1804 and 1821, no less than 153 enclosures took placein Norfolk, while between 1790 and 1810, 2, 000, 000 acres of waste landin England were brought under cultivation largely by his efforts. Heis said, indeed, to have transformed agriculture throughout England, and, but for that, the country would not have been able to grow enoughfood for its support during the war with Napoleon, and must havesuccumbed. 

FOOTNOTES:

[440] _Northern Tour_, i. 9. For an interesting account of Young, see_R. A. S. E. Journal_ (3rd Series), iv. 1. 

[441] In 1726 Bradley had urged the use of liquorice, madder, woad, and caraway as improvers of the land in the Preface to the _CountryGentleman_. 

[442] _Rural Economy_ (1771), pp. 173-5. Trusler, who wrote in 1780, mentions 'the general rage for farming throughout thekingdom. '--_Practical Husbandry_, p. I. 

[443] In 1780 Sir Thomas Bernard, travelling through Northumberland, saw 'luxuriant plantations, neat hedges, rich crops of corn, comfortable farmhouses' in a county whereof the greater part wasbarren moor dearly rented at 1s. 6d. An acre thirty years before, andhe said the county had increased in annual value fourfold, (Contemporary MS. , unpublished. )

[444] _Rural Economy_, p. 26. 

[445] _Farmer's Letters_ (3rd ed. ), p. 89. 

[446] Slater, _English Peasantry and Enclosure_, p. 95. 

[447] Ibid. P. 101. 

[448] Young, _Northern Tour_, iv. 340, about 1770 estimates thecultivated land of England to be half pasture and half arable, and, inthe absence of reliable statistics, his opinion on this point iscertainly the best available. The conversion of a large portion of thericher land from arable to grass in the eighteenth century wascompensated for, according to Young, by the conversion, on enclosure, of poor sandy soils and heaths or moors into corn land. Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ pp. 370-1. 

[449] Young, _Northern Tour_, i. 222. 

[450] _Rural Economy_, p. 252. 

[451] Ibid. P. 271. 

[452] Cf. Above, p. 180. 

[453] _Farmer's Letters_ (3rd ed), p. 372. 

[454] _Northern Tour_, iv. 167. 

[455] Ibid. Iv. 186. 

[456] This large item is explained by the fact that a bailiff wasemployed to sell, and no bailiff could find customers 'without feelingthe same drought as stage coachmen when they see a sign'. --Young, _Farmer's Letters_, p. 403. 

[457] _Rural Economy_, p. 314. 

[458] 1775, pp. X-xiii. 

[459] _Northern Tour_, iv. 192-202. 

[460] See _Parliamentary Reports Commission_ (1881), xvi. 260. 

[461] _Dissertations on Rural Subjects_, p. 278. 

[462] _Farmer's Letters_, p. 433. 

[463] _History of Hawsted_, p. 169. 

[464] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ p. 127; Kent, _Hints to Gentlemen_, p. 152. 

[465] _Southern Tour_, p. 324. He says nothing of the manufacturingtowns, which had not yet began to influence the wages of farmlabourers near them as they soon afterwards did. 

[466] Some prices at this time were: bread per lb. , 2d. ; butter, 5-1/2d. To 8d. ; cheese, 3-1/2d. To 4d. ; beef, 3d. To 5d. ; mutton, 3-1/2d. To 5d. 

[467] _State of the Poor_, i. 562. 

[468] According to Walter Harte, though the yeoman in the middle ofthe seventeenth century ate bread of rye and barley (maslin), in 1766even the poor cottagers looked upon it with horror and demanded bestwheaten bread. Yet in 1766 the quartern loaf in London was 1s. 6d. --Tooke, _History of Prices_, i. 68. 

[469] _History of Hawsted_, p. 184. 

[470] Eden, _State of the Poor_, i. 513. 

[471] _Rural Economy of Gloucestershire_, i. 53. 

[472] Eden, _op. Cit. _ i. 547. 

[473] _Farmer's Letters_, i. 300

[474] The pulling down of cottages began to be complained of in theseventeenth century; they harboured the poor, who were a charge uponthe parish, and repairs were saved. --_Transactions Royal HistoricalSociety_ (New Series), xix. 120. 

[475] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ 82; Clarke, _General View of Herefordshire_, p. 29; Marshall, _Review of Northern Department_, p. 375. 

[476] Tooke, _History of Prices_, i. 50; Hallam, _ConstitutionalHistory_, iii. 302. 

[477] _Northern Tour_, iv. 420. The increase in population in thefirst half of the eighteenth century was slow; after the Peace ofParis in 1763, when the commerce and manufactures of the country wereextended in an unprecedented degree, it was rapid. 

[478] _The Way to be Rich and Respectable_, London, 1780. 

[479] Grose, _Olio_, pp. 41-4; Lecky, _History of England inEighteenth Century_, vi. 169 et. Seq. 

[480] Cullum, _History of Hawsted_, p. 219. 

[481] Cullum, _History of Hawsted_, p. 225. 

[482] _Thoughts on Enclosure, by a Country Farmer_ (1786), p. 21. 

[483] Johnstone, _Account of Elkington's Draining_ (1797), pp. 8-9. 

[484] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (1894), p. 11, from which this account ofBakewell is mainly taken. 

[485] According to some, Joseph Allom originated the breed, andBakewell vastly improved it. We may safely give the chief credit to socareful and gifted a breeder as Bakewell. 

[486] _Culley on Live Stock_ (1807), p. 56. 

[487] Marshall, _Rural Economy of the Midland Counties_, i. 273. 

[488] _Victoria County History: Warwickshire, Agriculture_. 

[489] In Lancashire at this date it was not uncommon, when a tenantwished for his farm or a particular field to be improved by draining, marling, liming, or laying down to grass, to hand it over to thelandlord for the process; who, when completed, returned it to thetenant with an advanced rent of 10 per cent. Upon theimprovements. --Marshall, _Review of Reports to Board of Agriculture_(under Lancashire). 

[490] 1820, p. 173 et seq. 

[491] See Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ pp. 77 sq. ; _Annals of Agriculture_, xxxvi. 497; Scrutton, _Commons and Common Fields_, p. 139. 

[492] Defoe, _Tour_, ii. 178 et seq. 

[493] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (3rd Ser. ), ii. 9. 

[494] Horner, _Inquiry into the Means of Preserving the Public Roads_(1767), pp. 4 et seq. 

[495] _Victoria County History: Northants. _, ii. 250. 

[496] Young, _Southern Tour_ (ed. 2), p. 88. 

[497] Tooke, _History of Prices_, i. 68. It is difficult to understandthe price of the quartern loaf, 1s. 6d. In 1766, as wheat was only43s. 1d. A quarter. Prices of wheat in these years were:

 s. D. 

 1767 47 4 1768 53 9 1769 40 7 1770 43 6 1771 47 2 1772 50 8 1773 51 0 1774 52 8 1775 48 4 1776 38 2 1777 45 6 1778 42 0 1779 33 8

These returns differ from those of the Board of Agriculture; seeAppendix III. 

[498] _Annals of Agriculture_, iii. 366. 

[499] Baker, _Seasons and Prices_, pp. 224 et seq. 

[500] A. Stirling, _Coke of Holkham_, i. 249. 

[501] But in other parts of it the cultivation of turnips was wellunderstood, for the _Complete Farmer_, s. V. _Turnips_ (ed. 3), saysthat about 1750 Norfolk farmers boasted that turnips had doubled thevalue of their holdings, and Norfolk men were famous for understandinghoeing and thinning, which were little practised elsewhere. Further, Young, _Southern Tour_, p. 273, says: 'the extensive use of turnips isknown but little of except in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. I found nofarmers but in these counties that understood anything of fattingcattle with them; feeding lean sheep being the only use they put themto. '

[502] A. Stirling, _op. Cit. _ i. 264. 

[503] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (1895), p. 12. 

CHAPTER XVII

1793-1815

THE GREAT FRENCH WAR. --THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. --HIGH PRICES, ANDHEAVY TAXATION. 

This period, that of the great war with France, was one generally ofhigh prices and prosperity for landowners and farmers. It was aprosperity, however, that was largely fictitious, and when the highprices of the war time were over, it was succeeded by many disastrousyears. The prosperity, too, was also largely neutralized by a crushingweight of taxation and rates, while the labourer, although his wageswere increased, found prices grow at a much greater rate, and it was, as Thorold Rogers has said, the most miserable period in his history. 

Its commencement was marked by the foundation of the Board ofAgriculture. On May 15, 1793, Sir John Sinclair[504] moved in theHouse of Commons, 'that His Majesty would take into his considerationthe advantages which might be derived from the establishment of such aboard, for though in some particular districts improved methods ofcultivating the soil were practised, yet in the greatest part of thesekingdoms the principles of agriculture are not sufficientlyunderstood, nor are the implements of husbandry or the stock of thefarmer brought to that perfection of which they are capable. HisMajesty's faithful Commons were persuaded that if it were founded aspirit of improvement might be encouraged, which would result inimportant national benefits. 

The motion was carried by 101 to 26. By its charter the boardconsisted of a president, 16 ex-officio and 30 ordinary members, withhonorary and corresponding members. It was not a Government departmentin the modern sense of the term, but a society for the encouragementof agriculture, as the Royal Society is for the encouragement ofscience. It was, indeed, supported by parliamentary grants, receivinga sum of £3, 000 a year, but the Government had only a limited controlover its affairs through the ex-officio members, among whom were theArchbishops of Canterbury and York, the Lord Chancellor, the FirstLord of the Admiralty, and the Speaker. 

The first president was Sir John Sinclair, and the first secretaryArthur Young, with a salary of £400 a year, which he thoughtinsufficient. [505] The first task of the new board was that ofpreparing statistical accounts of English agriculture, and it wasintended to take in hand the commutation of tithes, which would havebeen a great boon to farmers, with whom the prevailing system ofcollecting tithes was very unpopular; but the Primate's oppositionstopped this. The board appointed lecturers, procured a reward forElkington for his draining system, encouraged Macadam in his plans forimproving roads, and Meikle the inventor of the thrashing machine, andobtained the removal of taxes on draining tiles, and other taxesinjurious to agriculture. It also recommended the allotment system, and Sinclair desired 3 acres and a cow for every industrious cottager. During the abnormally high prices of provisions from 1794-6, thequartern loaf in London in 1795 being 1s. 6d. , though next year itdropped to 7-3/4d. , [506] the board made experiments in making breadwith substitutes for wheat, which resulted in a public exhibition ofeighty different sorts of bread. Its efforts were generally followedby increased zeal among agriculturists; but Sinclair, an able butimpetuous man, [507] appears to have taken things too much into his ownhands and pushed them too speedily. 

Financial difficulties came, chiefly owing to the cost of the surveys, which had been hurried on with undue haste and often with greatcarelessness, the surveyors sometimes being men who knew nothing ofthe subject. 

Sinclair was deposed from the presidency in 1798, and succeeded byLord Somerville. He again was succeeded by Lord Carrington, underwhose presidency the board offered premiums (the first of £200), owingto the high price of wheat and consequent distress, for essays on thebest means of converting certain portions of grass land into tillagewithout exhausting the soil, and of returning the same to grass, aftera certain period, in an improved state, or at least without injury. The general report, based on the information derived from theseessays, states that no high price of corn or temporary distress wouldjustify the ploughing up of old meadows or rich pastures, and that oncertain soils well adapted to grass age improves the quality of thepasture to a degree which no system of management on lands broken upand laid down can equal. In spite of this, the cupidity of landownersand farmers, when wheat was a guinea a bushel or at prices near it, led to the ploughing up of much splendid grass land, which was neverlaid down again until, perhaps in recent years, owing to the low priceof grain; so that some of the land at all events has, owing to badtimes, returned to the state best suited to it. 

The board looked upon the enclosure and cultivation of waste lands, which in England they estimated at 6, 000, 000 acres, [508] as a panaceafor the prevailing distress, and after much opposition they managed topass through both Houses in 1801 a Bill cheapening and facilitatingthe process of parliamentary enclosure. This Act, 41 Geo. III, c. 109, 'extracted a number of clauses from various private Acts and enactedthat they should hold good in all cases where the special Act did notexpressly provide to the contrary. ' Another benefit rendered toagriculture was the establishment in 1803 of lectures on agriculturalchemistry, the first lecturer engaged being Mr. , afterwards SirHumphry, Davy, who may be regarded as the father of agriculturalchemistry. 

In 1806 Sinclair was re-elected president, and his second term wasmainly devoted to completing the agricultural surveys of the differentcounties, which, before his retirement in 1813, he had with one or twoexceptions the satisfaction of seeing finished. Though over-impetuous, he rendered valuable service to agriculture, not only by his ownenergy but by stirring up energy in others; as William Wilberforce thephilanthrophist said, 'I have myself seen collected in that small roomseveral of the noblemen and gentlemen of the greatest properties inthe British Isles, all of them catching and cultivating anagricultural spirit, and going forth to spend in the employment oflabourers, and I hope in the improvement of land, immense sums whichmight otherwise have been lavished on hounds and horses, or squanderedon theatricals. '

Among the numerous subjects into which the board inquired was thedivining rod for finding water, which was tested in Hyde Park in 1801, and successfully stood the test. In 1805, Davy the chemist reported ona substance in South America called 'guana', which he had analysed andfound to contain one-third of ammoniacal salt with other salts andcarbon, but its use was not to come for another generation. From thetime of Sinclair's retirement in 1813 the board declined. ArthurYoung, its secretary, had become blind and his capacity thereforeimpaired. One year its lack of energy was shown by the return of£2, 000 of the Government grant to the Treasury because it had nothingto spend it on. The Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, was against it, the clergy feared the commutation of tithe which the board advocated, the legal profession was against the Enclosure Act, the landedinterest thought the surveys were intended for purposes of taxation;and the grant being withdrawn, an effort to maintain the board byvoluntary subscription failed, so that it dissolved in 1822, afterdoing much valuable work for English agriculture. 

Before its extinction it had held in 1821, at Aldridge's Repository, the first national agricultural show. £685 was given in prizes, andthe entries included 10 bulls, 9 cows and heifers, several fat steersand cows, 7 pens of Leicester and Cotswold rams and ewes; 12 pens ofDown, and 9 or 10 pens of Merino rams and ewes. [509] Most of thecattle shown were Shorthorn, or Durham, as they were then called, withsome Herefords, Devons, Longhorns, and Alderneys. There were alsoexhibits of grass, turnip-seed, roots, and implements. 

This first national show had been preceded by many local ones. [510]The end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuriessaw the establishment all over England of farmers' clubs, cattleshows, and ploughing matches. 

The period now before us is marked by the great work of the Collings, who next to Bakewell did most to improve the cattle of the UnitedKingdom. Charles Colling was born in 1751, and the scene of his famouslabours was Ketton near Darlington. He had learnt from Bakewell theall-importance of quality in cattle, and determined to improve thelocal Shorthorn breed near his own home, which had been described in1744 as 'the most profitable beasts for the dairyman, butcher, andgrazier, with their wide bags, short horns, and large bodies. ' He wasto make these 'profitable beasts' the best all-round cattle in theworld, and to succeed where George Culley had failed. The first bullof merit he possessed was 'Hubback', [511] described as a littleyellow, red, and white five-year-old, which was mated with cowsafterwards to be famous, named Duchess, Daisy, Cherry, and LadyMaynard. At first Colling was against in-breeding, and not until 1793did he adopt it, more by accident than intention, but the experimentbeing successful he became an enthusiast. The experiment was theputting of Phoenix to Lord Bolingbroke, who was both her half-brotherand her nephew, and the result was the famous Favourite. A youngfarmer who saw Favourite and his sister at Darlington in 1799, was sostruck by them that he paid Colling the first 100 guineas ever givenfor a Shorthorn cow. [512]

One of Hubback's daughters had in 1795, by Favourite, a roan calfwhich grew to be the celebrated Durham Ox, which at five and a halfyears weighed 3, 024 lb. , and was sold for £140. It was sold again for£250, the second purchaser refusing £2, 000 for it, and taking it roundEngland on show made a profitable business out of it, in one day inLondon making £97. A still more famous animal was the bull Comet, born1804, which at the great sale in 1810 fetched 1, 000 guineas. This bullwas the crowning triumph of Colling's career and the result of veryclose breeding, being described as the best bull ever seen, with afine masculine head, broad and deep chest, shoulders well laid back, loins good, hind-quarters long, straight and well packed, thighsthick, with nice straight hocks and hind legs. Perhaps Colling thoughthe had pursued in-and-in breeding too far, at all events in 1810 hedispersed his famous herd. The sale was held at a most propitioustime, for the Durham Ox had advertised the name of Colling far andwide, and owing to the war prices were very high. Comet fetched 1, 000guineas, and the other forty-seven lots averaged £151 8s. 5d. , anunheard-of sale, yet all the auctioneer got was 5 guineas, much of thework of the sale falling on the owner, and the former sold the stockwith a sand-glass. 

After the sale at Ketton, Brampton, the farm of Charles's brotherRobert, became the centre of interest to the Shorthorn world. Robertobtained excellent prices for his stock, five daughters of his famousbull George fetching 200 guineas each. Probably he, like his brother, pursued in-and-in breeding too far, and in 1818 there was anothergreat sale; but war-prices had gone and agriculture was depressed, sothat the cattle fetched less than at Ketton, but still averaged £12814s. 9d. For 61 lots, and 22 rams averaged £39 6s. 4d. Robert died in1820, his brother in 1836. 

It cannot be said that the Collings were the founders of a new breedof cattle; they were the collectors and preservers of an ancient breedthat might otherwise have disappeared. [513] The object of goodbreeders was now to get their cattle fat at an early age, and they sofar succeeded as to sell three-year-old steers for £20 apiece, generally fed thus: in the first winter, hay and turnips; thefollowing summer, coarse pasture; the second winter, straw in thefoldyard and a few turnips; next summer, tolerable good pasture; andthe third winter, as many turnips as they could eat. [514]

Cattle at this time were classified thus: Shorthorns, Devons, Sussex, Herefords (the two latter said by Culley to be varieties of theDevon), Longhorned, Galloway or Polled, Suffolk Duns, Kyloes, andAlderneys. 

Sheep thus: the Dishley Breed (New Leicesters), Lincolns, Teeswaters, Devonshire Notts, Exmoor, Dorsetshire, Herefordshire, Southdown, Norfolk, Heath, Herdwick, Cheviot, Dunfaced, Shetland, Irish. [515]

With the increased demand for corn and meat from the towns thenecessity of new and better implements became apparent, and manypatents were taken out: by Praed, for drill ploughs, in 1781; byHorn, for sowing machines, in 1784; by Heaton, for harrows, in 1787;for sowing machines, by Sandilands, 1788; for reaping machines, byBoyce, 1799; winnowing machines, by Cooch, 1800; haymakers, by Salmon, 1816; and for scarifiers, chaff-cutters, turnip-slicers, andfood-crushers. [516] But the great innovation was the threshing machineof Meikle. Like most inventions, it had forerunners. The firstthreshing machine is mentioned in the _Select Transactions of theSociety of Improvers in the Knowledge of Agriculture in Scotland_, published in 1743 by Maxwell. It was invented by Michael Menzies, andby it one man could do the work of six. One machine was worked by agreat water-wheel and triddles, another by a little wheel of 3 feetdiameter, moved by a small quantity of water. The first attempts tosubstitute horse or other power for manual in threshing were directedto the revolution of jointed flails, which should strike the floor onwhich the corn was spread, but this proved unsatisfactory, so thatrubbing the grain out of the straw by revolving cylinders wastried, [517] Young, in his northern tour, met a Mr. Clarke at Belfordin Northumberland, who was famous for mechanics, [518] among hisinventions being a threshing machine worked by one horse, which doesnot seem to have effected much. Eventually Mr. A. Meikle, of HoustonMill near Haddington, in 1798 erected a machine the principles ofwhich, much modified, are those of to-day; and in 1803 Mr. Aitchison, of Drumore in East Lothian, first applied steam to threshing. It wassome time, however, before this beneficent invention was generallyused, and when the machines were used they were usually driven byhorse--or water-power until about 1850. In 1883 Messrs. Howard, ofBedford, adapted a sheaf-binding apparatus to the threshing machine. With new implements came new crops; the Swede turnip was grown on somefarms in Notts just before 1800, but it is not known who introducedit. [519] The mangel wurzel was introduced about 1780-5 by Parkyns, andprickly comfrey in 1811. 

The year 1795 was one of great scarcity owing to the wet and stormysummer, and in August wheat went up to 108s. A quarter. [520] As usualmany other causes but the right one were put forth, and the oldaccusations of monopoly, forestalling, and regrating were heard again. The war with France, with more reason, was considered to have helpedin raising prices, but the chief cause was the bad season. The membersof both Houses of Parliament bound themselves to reduce theconsumption of bread in their homes by one-third, and recommendedothers to a similar reduction. It was a period of terrible distressfor the agricultural labourer. His wages were about 9s. A week, and itwas impossible for him to live on them, so that what is known as 'theallowance system' came in. At Speenhamland in Berkshire, in this year, the magistrates agreed that it was not expedient to help the labourerby regulating his wages according to the statute of Elizabeth, butrecommended the farmers to increase their pay in proportion to thepresent price of provisions, and they also granted relief to all poorand industrious men according to the price of bread. They were merelygiving effect to Gilbert's Act of 1782, which legalized thesupplementing of the wages of able-bodied men from the rates, and thedecision was nicknamed the 'Speenhamland Act' because it was sogenerally followed. However well meant, the effect was mostdemoralizing and the English labourer, already too prone to look tothe State for help, was induced to depend less on his own exertions. The real remedy would have been a substantial increase of his scantywages. As it was, landowner and farmer were often paying the labourerin rates money that would far better have come to him in wages, andthe rates in some districts became so burdensome that land was thrownout of cultivation. In the same year as the Speenhamland Act thestatute 36 Geo. III, c. 23, forbade the removal of persons from anyparish until they were in actual need of support; but although the lawwas thus relaxed, the fixed principle which caused the refusal of allpermanent relief to labourers who had no settlement in the parishacted as a very efficient check on migration, though, as we have seen, it did not entirely check it. In 1796 the question of regulating thelabourers' wages by Parliament was raised; but Pitt, remembering suchschemes had always failed, was hostile, and the matter dropped. [521]In the same year Eden made his inquiries concerning the rate of wagesand the cost of living. In Bedford, he found the agricultural labourerwas getting 1s. 2d. A day and beer, with extras in harvest[522]; butbacon was 10d. A lb. And wheat 12s. A bushel. However, parishallowances were liberal, a man, his wife, and four children sometimesreceiving 11s. A week from that source. 

In Cumberland the labourer was being paid 10d. To 1s. A day with food, or 1s. 6d. To 1s. 8d. Without; in Hertfordshire, 1s. 6d. A day; inSuffolk, 1s. 4d. A day and beer. 

Nearly everywhere his expenditure was much in excess of his earnings, the yearly budgets of fifty-three families in twelve differentcounties showed generally large annual deficiencies, amounting in onecase to £21 18s. 4d. In one case in Lindsey, where the deficiency wassmall, the family lived on bread alone. The factory system, too, hadalready deprived the labourer of many of his by-industries, and thushelped the pauperism for which landlord and farmer had to pay inrates. 

About 1788 Sir William Young proposed to send the unemployed labourersround to the parishioners to get work, their wages being paid by theiremployers and by the parish. This method of obtaining work was knownas the 'roundsman system'. [523]

Landlords, however, and farmers were profiting greatly by the highprices, which fortunately received a check by the abundant harvest of1796, which, with large imports, [524] caused the price of wheat tofall to 57s. 3d. , and in 1798 to 47s. 10d. It is difficult to conceivewhat instability, speculation, and disaster such fluctuations musthave led to. In 1797 the Bank Restriction Act was passed, suspendingcash payments, and thereby causing a huge growth in credittransactions, a great factor in the inflated prosperity of thisperiod. In January, 1799, wool was 2s. A lb. , and prices atSmithfield:

 s. D. S. D. 

 Beef, per stone of 8 lb. 3 0 to 3 4 Mutton " " 3 0 " 4 2 Pork " " 2 8 " 3 8

The summer of that year was uninterruptedly wet; some corn in thenorth was uncut in November, so that wheat went up to 94s. 2d. , and inJune, 1800, was 134s. 5d. , the scarcity being aggravated by theRussian Government laying an embargo on British shipping. [525] YetPitt denied that the high prices were due to the war. [526] They weredue, indeed, to several causes:

 1. Frequent years of scarcity. 

 2. Increase of consumption, owing to the great growth of the manufacturing population, England during the war having almost a monopoly of the trade of Europe. 

 3. Napoleon's obstructions to importation. 

 4. The unprecedented fall of foreign exchanges. 

 5. The rise in the price of labour, scanty as it was. 

 6. Suspension of cash payments, which produced a medium of circulation of an unlimited nature, and led to speculation. [527]

In March, 1801, wheat was 156s. ; beef at Smithfield, 5s. To 6s. 6d. Astone; and mutton, 6s. 6d. To 8s. A rise in wages was allowed on allsides to be imperative, but the labourer even now got on an averagelittle more than 9s. A week, [528] a very inadequate pittance, thoughgenerally supplemented by the parish. Arthur Young[529] tells of aperson living near Bury in 1801, who, before the era of high prices, earned 5s. A week, and with that could purchase:

 A bushel of wheat. " malt. 1 lb. Of butter. 1 lb. Of cheese. A pennyworth of tobacco. 

But in 1801 the same articles cost him:

 s. D. 

 A bushel of wheat 16 0 " malt 9 0 1 lb. Of butter 1 0 1 lb. Of cheese 4 Tobacco 1 -------- £1 6 5 ========

His wages were now 9s. , and his allowance from the rates 6s. , so thatthere was a deficiency of 11s. 5d. 

The increase in the cost of living in the last thirty years isfurther illustrated by the following table:

 1773. 1793. 1799. 1800. £ s. D. £ s. D. £ s. D. £ s. D. 

 Coomb of malt 12 0 1 3 0 1 3 0 2 0 0 Chaldron of coals 1 11 6 2 0 6 2 6 0 2 11 0 Coomb of oats 5 0 13 0 16 0 1 1 0 Load of hay 2 2 0 4 10 0 5 5 0 7 0 0 Meat, per lb. 4 5 7 9 Butter, " 6 11 11 1 4 Loaf sugar, per lb. 8 1 0 1 3 1 4 Poor rates, in the £ 1 0 2 6 3 0 5 0

It was again proposed by Mr. Whitbread in the House of Commons thatwages should be regulated by the price of provisions, and a minimumwage fixed; but there was enough sense in the House to reject thisreturn to obsolete methods. 

After March, 1801, prices commenced to fall, owing to a favourableseason and the reopening of the Baltic ports, which allowed imports tocome in more freely, for most of our foreign corn at this time camefrom Germany and Denmark. At the end of the year wheat averaged 75s. 6d. , and with fair seasons it came down in the beginning of 1804 to49s. 6d. Beef at Smithfield was from 4s. To 5s. 4d. A stone, muttonfrom 4s. To 4s. 6d. [530] This great drop in prices was accompanied byan increase in wages, the labourer from 1804 to 1810 getting on anaverage 12s. A week[531]; the cost of implements rose, so did the rateof interest, and the cry of agricultural distress in 1804 was heardeverywhere. More protection was demanded by those interested in theland, and accordingly a duty of 24s. 3d. Was imposed when the pricewas 63s. Or under; a bounty was paid on export when it was 40s. Orunder; and wheat might be exported without bounty up to 54s. 

However, 1804 was a very deficient harvest, owing to blight andmildew, and by the end of the year wheat was 86s. 2d. The harveststill 1808 were not as bad as that of 1804, but not good enough tolower the prices. Also, owing to the Berlin and Milan Decrees ofNapoleon and the Non-intercourse Act of the United States of America, imports were restricted so that at the end of 1808 wheat was 92s. Inthis year the exports of wheat exceeded the imports, but it was due tothe requirements of our army in Spain; and 1789 was the last year whenexports were greater under normal circumstances. [532] 1809 was a badharvest, so was 1810; in the former rot being very prevalent amongsheep; and by August, 1810, hay was £11 a load and wheat 116s. , onlylarge imports (1, 567, 126 quarters) preventing a famine. Down wool was2s. 1d. Per lb. , beef and mutton 8-1/2d. , cheese 8d. [533]

In 1811 the whole of July and part of August were wet and cold; andin August, 1812, wheat averaged 155s. , the finest Dantzic selling atMark Lane for 180s. , and oats reached 84s. As our imports of corn thenchiefly came from the north-west of Europe, which has a climate verysimilar to our own, crops there were often deficient from bad seasonsin the same years as our own, and the price consequently high. On theother hand, it is a proof that produce will find the best marketregardless of hindrances, that much of our corn at this time came fromFrance. Corn in 1813 was seized on with such avidity that there was noneed to show samples. As high prices had now prevailed for some timeand were still rising, landlords and farmers jumped to the conclusionthat they would be permanent; so that this is the period when rentsexperienced their greatest increase, in some cases having increasedfivefold since 1790, and speculations in land were most general. Landsold for forty years' purchase, many men of spirit and adventure verydifferent from farmers 'were tempted to risk their property inagricultural speculations', [534] and large sums were sunk in lands andimprovements in the spirit of mercantile enterprise. The land wasconsidered as a kind of manufacturing establishment, and 'such powersof capital and labour were applied as forced almost sterility itselfto become fertile. ' Even good pastures were ploughed up to grow wheatat a guinea a bushel, and much worthless land was sown with corn. Manure was procured from the most remote quarters, and we are told anew science rose up, agricultural chemistry, which, 'with muchfrivolity and many refinements remote from common sense, was notwithout great operation on the productive powers of land. '

Land jobbing and speculation became general, and credit came to theaid of capital. The larger farmers, as we have seen, were before thewar inclined to an extravagance that amazed their oldercontemporaries; now we are told, some insisted on being calledesquire, and some kept liveried servants. [535]

It is somewhat curious to learn that one of the drawbacks from whichfarmers suffered at this time was the ravages of pigeons, which seemto have been as numerous as in the Middle Ages, when the lord'sdovecote was the scourge of the villein's crops. In 1813 there wassaid to be 20, 000 pigeon houses in England and Wales, each on anaverage containing 100 pairs of old pigeons. [536]

Another pest was the large number of 'vermin', whose destruction hadlong before been considered important enough to demand the attentionof the legislature. [537] Some parishes devoted large portions of theirfunds to this object; in 1786 East Budleigh in Devonshire, out of atotal receipt of £20 1s. 8-1/2d. , voted £5 10s. For vermin killing. That now sacred animal the fox was then treated with scant respect, farmers and landlords paying for his destruction as 'vermin'[538]; theparish accounts of Ashburton in Devonshire, for instance, from1761-1820 include payments for killing 18 foxes and 4 vixens, with noless than 153 badgers. 

But the edifice of artificial prosperity was already tottering. After1812 prices fell steadily, [539] the abundant harvest of 1813 and theopening of the continental ports accelerated this, and by December, 1813, wheat was 73s. 3d. Yet agriculture had made solid progress. TheCommittee of the House of Commons which inquired into the state of thecorn trade in 1813 stated that through the extension of, andimprovements in, agriculture the agricultural produce of the kingdomhad increased one-fourth in the preceding ten years. [540] The highprices had attracted a large amount of capital to the land, so thatthere was very rapid and extensive progress, the methods of tillagewere improved, large tracts of inferior pasture converted into arable, much, however, of which was soon to revert to weeds; there were manyenclosures, and many fens, commons, and wastes reclaimed. But therewas a reverse side to this picture of prosperity, even in the case oflandlord and farmer. The burden of taxation was crushing; acontemporary writer, a farmer of twenty-five years standing, [541]wrote that, with the land tax remaining the same, there was a highproperty tax, house and window taxes were doubled, poor rates in someplaces trebled, highway, church, and constable rates doubled andtrebled, and there were oppressive taxes on malt and horses, both nagsand farm animals. A man renting a farm at £70 and keeping twofarm-horses, a nag, and a dog, would pay taxes for them of £5 0s. 6d. , a fourteenth of his rent. [542] Indeed, poor rates of 16s. And 20s. Inthe £ were known, [543] and they were occasionally more than the wholerent received by the landlord forty years before. A Devonshirelandowner complained that seven-sixteenths out of the annual value ofevery estate in the county was taken from owners and occupiers indirect taxes. [544] And the Committee on Agricultural Depression of1822 asserted that during the war taxes and rates were quadrupled. [545]Blacksmiths, whitesmiths, collar makers, ropers, carpenters, and manyother tradesmen with whom the farmer dealt, raised their pricesthreefold; and it was openly asserted that the high prices of grainand stock were not proportionate to the increase of other prices. Muchof the grass land broken up in the earlier years of the war was beforethe close in a miserable condition, for it was cropped year after yearwithout manure, and was worn out. On the whole it may be doubted ifthe bulk of the farmers of England made large profits during the war;many no doubt profited by the extraordinary fluctuations in prices, and it was those men who 'kept liveried servants'; but there must havebeen many who lost heavily by the same means, and the rise of rent, taxes, rates, labour, and tradesmen's prices largely discounted theprices of corn and stock. The landowners at this period have generallybeen described as flourishing at the expense of the community, buttheir increased rents were greatly neutralized by the weight oftaxation and the general rise in prices. A contemporary writer saysthat owing to the heavy taxes, even in the war time, he 'often had nota shilling at the end of the year. '[546]

The following accounts, drawn up in 1805, [547] do not show thatfarmers were making much money with wheat at 10s. A bushel:

Account of the culture of an acre of wheat on good fallow land:

 Dr. £ s. D. 

 Two years' rent 2 0 0 Hauling dung from fold 10 0 Four ploughings 2 0 0 Two harrowings 4 0 Lime 1 18 0 Seed, 2-1/2 bushels 1 5 0 Reaping 5 0 Threshing 10 0 Wages 5 0 Tithes and taxes 15 0 -------- £9 12 0 ========

 Cr. £ s. D. 

 20 bushels of wheat at 10s 10 0 0 The straw was set against the value of the dung. The tailend wheat was Eaten by the family! --------- £10 0 0 =========

And on a farm on good land in the same county the following would bethe annual balance sheet at the same date:

 Dr. £ s. D. 

 Rent 200 0 0 Tithes 40 0 0 Wages 58 0 0 Extra harvestmen 7 0 0 Tradesmen's bills 50 0 0 Taxes and rates 58 0 0 Malt, hops, and cider 60 0 0 Lime 20 0 0 Hop poles 10 0 0 Expenses at fairs and markets 8 0 0 Clothing, groceries, &c. , for the family 45 0 0 Interest on £1, 500 capital, at 5 per cent. 75 0 0 Sundries 15 0 0 ---------- £646 0 0 ==========

 Cr. £ s. D. 

 360 bushels of wheat, @ 10 s. 180 0 0 300 bushels of barley, @ 6s. 90 0 0 100 bushels of peas, @ 6s. 30 0 0 20 cwt. Hops 60 0 0 Sale of oxen, cows and calves 150 0 0 Profits from sheep 100 0 0 " from pigs, poultry, dairy, and sundries 50 0 0 ---------- £660 0 0 ==========

According to this the farmer did little more than pay rent, intereston capital, and get a living. Yet prices of what he had to sell hadgone up greatly: wheat in Herefordshire in 1760 was 3s. A bushel, in1805, 10s. ; butcher's meat in 1760 was 1-1/2d. A lb. , in 1804, 7d. ;fresh butter 4-1/2d. In 1760, 1s. 3d. In 1804; a fat goose in Herefordmarket in 1740, 10d. ; 1760, 1s. ; 1804, 4s. ; a couple of fowls in 1740, 6d. ; 1760, 7d. ; 1804, 2s. 4d. [548] The winter of 1813-4 wasextraordinarily severe, and the wheat crop was seriously injured, butthe increased breadth of cultivation, a large surplus, and greatimportations kept the price down. Many sheep, however, were killed bythe hard winter, which also reduced the quality of the cattle, so thatmeat was higher in 1814 than at any previous period. [549] AtSmithfield beef was 6s. To 7s. A stone, mutton 7s. To 8s. 6d. With thepeace of 1814 the fictitious prosperity came to an end, a large amountof paper was withdrawn from circulation, which lowered the price ofall commodities, and a large number of country banks failed. The firstsufferers were the agricultural classes, who happened at that time tohold larger supplies than usual, the value of which fell at once; theincomes of all were diminished, and the capital of manyannihilated. [550] At the same time the demand for our manufacturesfrom abroad fell off; the towns were impoverished, and bought lessfrom the farmer. 

The short period of war in 1815 had little effect on prices, and inJanuary, 1816, wheat was 52s. 6d. , and the prices of live stock hadfallen considerably. In 1815 protection reached its highest limit, theAct of that year prohibiting import of wheat when the price was under80s. A quarter, and other grain in proportion. [551] However, it was ofno avail; and in the beginning of 1816 the complaints of agriculturaldistress were so loud and deep that the Board of Agriculture issuedcircular letters to every part of the kingdom, asking for informationon the state of agriculture. 

According to the answers given, rent had already fallen on an average25 per cent. And agriculture was in a 'deplorable state. '[552]Bankruptcies, seizures, executions, imprisonments, were rife, manyfarmers had become parish paupers. Rent was much in arrear, tithes andpoor rates unpaid, improvements generally discontinued, live stockdiminished; alarming gangs of poachers and other depredators rangedthe country. The loss was greater on arable than on grass land, and'flock farms' had suffered less than others, though they had begun tofeel it heavily. 

All classes connected with the land suffered severely; the landlordscould not get many of their rents; the farmer's stock had depreciated40 per cent. [553]; many labourers, who during the war had been gettingfrom 15s. To 16s. A week and 18s. In summer, [554] were walking thecountry searching for employment. Many tenants threw up their farms, and it was often noticed that landlords, 'knowing very little ofagriculture and taken by surprise, ' could not manage the farms thrownon their hands, and they went uncultivated. Some farmers paid up theirrent to date, sold their stock, and went off without any notice;others, less scrupulous, drove off their stock and moved theirhousehold furniture in the night without settling. [555]

Farmers and landowners were asked to state the remedies required. Someasked for more rent reduction and further prohibition of import, butthe most general cry was for the lessening of taxation. 

A Herefordshire farmer[556] stated that in 1815 the taxes on a farm of300 acres in that county were:

 £ s. D. 

 Property tax, landlord and tenant 95 16 10 Great tithes 64 17 6 Lesser tithes 29 15 0 Land tax 14 0 0 Window lights 24 1 6 Poor rates, landlord 10 0 0 " tenant 40 0 0 Cart-horse duty, landlord, 3 horses 2 11 0 Two saddle horses, landlord 9 0 0 Gig 6 6 0 Cart-horse duty, [557] tenant 7 2 0 One saddle horse, tenant 2 13 6 Landlord's malt duty on 60 bushels of barley 21 0 0 Tenant's duty for making 120 bushels of barley into malt 42 0 0 New rate for building shire hall, paid by landlord 9 0 0 " " " tenant 3 0 0 Surcharge 2 8 0 ------------ £383 11 4 ============

The parish of Kentchurch, in Herefordshire, paid in direct taxes agreater sum than the lands of the whole parish could be let for. 

Another very general complaint was of the collection of tithe in kind, a most awkward and offensive method, causing great expense and waste, which, however, had given way in many places to compounding. 

Such is the picture of agriculture after twenty years of high pricesand protection. [558] One may naturally ask, if much money had beenmade by farmers during these years, where had it all gone to that theywere reduced at the first breath of adversity to such straits? Someallowance must be made for the fact that these accounts come fromthose interested in the land, who were always ready to make the mostof misfortune with a view to further protection, and the farmer is anotorious grumbler. It seems, however, that most landlords and tenantsbelieved that the high prices would last for ever, and livedaccordingly, and, as we have seen, many made no profit at all becauseof their increased burdens. As a matter of fact, both were grumblingbecause prices had come back to their natural level after an unnaturalinflation. [559]

Hemp at this date was still grown in Lincolnshire and Somerset, andMarshall tells us that in 1803 there was a considerable quantity ofhemp grown in Shropshire. [560] In that county there was a small plotof ground, called 'the hemp-yard, ' appendant to almost everyfarm-house and to many of the best sort of cottages. Whenever acottager had 10 or 15 perches of land to his cottage, worth from 1s. 6d. To 2s. 6d. A year, with the aid of his wife's industry it enabledhim to pay his rent. A peck of hempseed, costing 2s. , sowed about 10perches of land, and this produced from 24 to 36 lb. Of tow whendressed and fit for spinning. A dozen pounds of tow made 10 ells ofcloth, worth generally about 3s. An ell. Thus a good crop on 10perches of land brought in £4 10s. 0d. , half of which was nett profit. The hemp was pulled a little before harvest, and immediately spread ongrass land, where it lay for a month or six weeks. The more rain therewas the sooner it was ready to take off the grass. When the rindpeeled easily from the woody part, it was, on a dry day, taken intothe house, and when harvest was over well dried in fine weather anddressed, being then fit for the tow dresser, who prepared it forspinning. After the crop of hemp the land was sown with turnips, avaluable resource for the winter. 

Since 1815 little hemp or flax has been grown in England[561]; in 1907there were, according to the Agricultural Returns, 355 acres of flaxgrown in England, and hemp was not mentioned. 

FOOTNOTES:

[504] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1896, p. 1, and 1898, p. 1. 

[505] _Autobiography_, p. 242. 

[506] Eden, _State of the Poor_, i. 18. 

[507] 'Had his industry been under the direction of a betterjudgement, he would have been an admirable president. '--Young, _Autobiography_, p. 316. 

[508] _The Report of the Committee on Waste Lands_, 1795, estimatedwastes and commons at 7, 800, 000 acres, p. 221. 

[509] The Merino was largely imported into England by the efforts ofGeorge III, and a Merino Society was formed in 1811; but manycircumstances made it of such little profit to cultivate it inpreference to native breeds, that it was diverted toAustralia. --Burnley, _History of Wool_, p. 17. 

[510] The first, the Bath and West of England, was established in1777. 

[511] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1899, p. 7. 

[512] Higher prices had been realized for the improved Longhorns; in1791, at the sale of Mr. Fowler of Little Rollright, Sultan atwo-year-old bull fetched 210 guineas, and a cow 260 guineas; and atMr. Paget's sale in 1793, a bull of the same breed sold for 400guineas. --_Culley on Live Stock_, p. 59. 

[513] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1899, p. 28. 

[514] _Culley on Live Stock_ (1807), pp. 46-7. 

[515] _Culley on Live Stock_, p. Vi. 

[516] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1892, p. 27. 

[517] Morton, _Cyclopaedia of Agriculture_, ii. 964. 

[518] _Northern Tour_, iii. 49. Clarke also experimented on the effectof electricity on vegetables, electrifying turnips in boxes with theresult that growth was quickened and weight increased. 

[519] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1896, p, 93. 

[520] Tooke, _History of Prices_, p. 182. 

[521] _Autobiography of A. Young_, p. 256. 

[522] _State of the Poor_, i. 565 et seq. ; Thorold Rogers, _Work andWages_, p. 487. It is difficult to calculate the exact income of thelabourer; besides extras in harvest, and relief from the parish, hemight have a small holding, or common rights, also payments in kindand the earnings of his wife and children. 

[523] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ p. 181; Eden, _op. Cit. _ li. 27. 

[524] Imports of wheat and flour in 1796 were 879, 200 quarters. 

[525] Yet imports were comparatively large; 1, 264, 520 quarters ofwheat, against 463, 185 quarters in 1799. 

[526] Tooke, _History of Prices_, p. 219. 

[527] _Farmer's Magazine_, 1817, p. 60. 

[528] Thorold Rogers, _Work and Wages_, c. 18. 

[529] _Annals of Agriculture_, xxxvii. 265. In 1805, in Herefordshire, the labourer was getting about 6s. 6d. A week--See Duncumb, _GeneralView of Agriculture of Herefordshire_. Those who lived in thefarm-house often fared best: in 1808 the diet of a Hampshire farmservant was, for breakfast, bacon, bread, and skim milk; for lunch, bread and cheese and small beer; for dinner, between 3 p. M. And 4p. M. , pickled pork or bacon with potatoes, cabbages, turnips, orgreens, and broths of wheat-flour and garden stuff. Supper consistedof bread and cheese and a pint of ale. His bread was usually made ofwheat, which, considering the price, is remarkable. On Sundays he hadfresh meat. The farmers lived in many cases little better; a statementwhich must be compared with others ascribing great extravagance tothem. --Vancouver, _General View of the Agriculture of Hants_ (1808), p. 383. 

[530] Tooke, _History of Prices_, i. 236. 

[531] Thorold Rogers, _Work and Wages_, c. 18. In many cases he wasgetting 15s. And 16s. A week all the year round. The ParliamentaryCommittee of 1822 put his wages during the war at from 15s. To 16s. Aweek. _Parliamentary Reports Committees_, v. 72; but it is difficultto say how much he received as wages, and how much as parish relief. Recruiting for the war helped to raise wages, as did the increasedgrowth of corn. 

[532] McCulloch, _Commercial Dictionary_ (1847), p. 438. See Appendix, ii. 

[533] Tooke, i. 319, and _Pamphleteer_, vi. 200 (A. Young). Since1770, says the latter, labour by 1810-11 had doubled, but meat hadrisen 146 per cent. , cheese 153 per cent. , bread 100 per cent. Wagestherefore had not risen in proportion to prices. 

[534] _Inquiry into Agricultural Distress_ (1822), p. 38. 

[535] _Thoughts on Present Depressed State of Agricultural Industry_(1817), p. 6. 

[536] Vancouver, _General View of the Agriculture of Devon_, p. 357. 

[537] See 14 Eliz. , c. 11, and 39 Eliz. , c. 18. 

[538] _Transactions of the Devon Association_, xxix. 291-349. 

[539] Average annual prices of wheat were: 1812, 126s. 6d. ; 1813, 109s. 9d. ; 1814, 74s. 4d. ; 1815, 65s. 7d. 

[540] Porter, _Progress of the Nation_, p. 149. 

[541] _A Defence of the Farmers and Landowners of Great Britain_(1814), p. 49. 

[542] Ibid. P. X. 

[543] Ibid. P. 7. 

[544] _Agricultural State of the Kingdom_, p. 67. 

[545] _Parliamentary Reports (Committees)_, v. 72. 

[546] _Thoughts on the Present Depressed State of the AgriculturalInterest_ (1817), p. 4. 

[547] Duncumb, _General View of the Agriculture of Hereford_, 1805. The writer of _A Defence of the Farmers and Landowners of GreatBritain_ (1814) puts the average crop of wheat in the United Kingdomat 15 or 16 bushels an acre, p. 28. A very low estimate. 

[548] Duncumb, _General View of the Agriculture of Hereford_, p. 140. 

[549] Tooke, _History of Prices_, ii. 4. 

[550] _Farmer's Magazine_ (1817), p. 69. 

[551] The duties were often evaded by smuggling; coasting vessels metthe foreign corn ships at sea, received their cargoes, and landed themso as to escape the duty. 

[552] _Agricultural State of the Kingdom_, p. 5. 

[553] _Observations for the Use of Landed Gentlemen_ (1817), p. 7. 

[554] _Defence of the Farmers, &c. _ (1814); and _ParliamentaryReports_, v. 72. 

[555] _Agricultural State of the Kingdom_, p. 64. 

[556] Ibid. P. 105. 

[557] The agricultural horse tax was repealed in 1821, the tax onponies and mules in 1823. 

[558] There were some exceptions, but the overwhelming majority ofreplies to the letters were couched in the above spirit. 

[559] At a time when landlords formed the majority in Parliament, itis curious to find a substantial farmer asserting that 'the landedinterest has been, since the corn law of 1773, held in a state ofcomplete vassalage to the commercial and manufacturing, and thefarmers of the country in a state very little superior to that ofPolish peasants. '

[560] _Review of Western Department_, pp. 249, 250. 

[561] Morton, _Cyclopaedia of Agriculture_, ii. 26. 

CHAPTER XVIII

ENCLOSURE--THE SMALL OWNER

The war period was one of great activity in enclosure; from 1798 to1810 there were 956 Bills; from 1811-20, 771. [562]

It must be remembered, however, that the number of Acts is not aconclusive test of the amount of enclosure, as there was a largeamount that was non-parliamentary: by the principal landlord, and byfreeholders who agreed to amicable changes and transfer, as atPickering, in Yorkshire. [563] Roughly speaking, about one-third of theActs were for enclosing commonable waste, the rest for enclosing openand commonable fields and lands. [564] Owing to the expense an Act wasonly obtained in the last resource. It was also because of theexpense[565] that many landlords desirous to enclose were unable to doso, and therefore devoted their attention to the improvement of thecommon fields. That agriculture benefited by enclosure there is nopossible doubt, but it was attended with great hardships. Thelandowner generally gained, for his rents increased largely. Intwenty-three parishes of Lincolnshire, for instance, his rents doubledon enclosure. But the expenses were so heavy that his gain was oftenvery small, and sometimes he was a loser by the process. As for thefarmers, the poorer ones suffered, for more capital was needed forenclosed lands, and the process generally was so slow, taking fromtwo to six years before the final award was given, that many farmerswere thrown out in the management of their farms, for they did notknow where their future lands would be allotted. That the poorsuffered greatly is indubitable: 'By nineteen Enclosure Acts out oftwenty the poor are injured, in some cases grossly injured, ' wroteYoung in 1801. [566] In the Acts it was endeavoured to treat themfairly, [567] and allotments were made to them, or money paid onenclosure in lieu of their rights of common, or small plots of land;but the expense of enclosing small allotments was proportionately verygreat, generally too great, and they had to be sold, while the sums ofmoney were often spent in the alehouse. The results of sixty-eightActs were investigated in the eastern counties, with the result thatin all but fifteen the poor were injured. It was generally found thatthey had lost their cows. 

Its effect on the smallholder is well described by Davis in his_Report on Wilts_. [568] There, before enclosure, the tenants usuallyoccupied yard-lands consisting of a homestead, 2 acres of meadow, 18acres of arable, generally in eighteen or twenty strips, with a righton the common meadows, common fields and downs for 40 sheep, and asmany cattle as the tenant could winter with the fodder he grew. The 40sheep were kept by a common shepherd with the common herd, were takenevery day to the downs and brought back every night to be folded onthe arable fields, the rule being to fold 1, 000 sheep on a 'tenantry'acre (three-quarters of a statute acre) every night. [569] In breedingsheep regard was had to 'folding quality, ' i. E. The propensity todrop manure only after being folded at night, as much as to qualityand quantity of wool and meat. On enclosure the common flock wasbroken up. The small farmer had no longer any common to turn hishorses on. The down on which he fed his sheep was largely curtailed, the common shepherd was abolished, and the farmer had too few sheep toenable him individually to employ a shepherd. Therefore he had to partwith his flock. Having no cow common and very little pasture land hecould not keep cows. In such circumstances the small farmer, after afew years, succumbed and became a labourer, or emigrated, or went tothe towns. 

In a pamphlet called _The Case of Labourers in Husbandry_, 1795, theRev. David Davies said, 'by enclosure an amazing number of people havebeen reduced from a comfortable state of partial independence to theprecarious condition of mere hirelings, who when out of workimmediately come on the parish. ' It has often been said that the poorwere robbed of their share in the land by the landowners; but as amatter of fact it was the expense of securing the compensation allowedthem, much greater in proportion on small holdings than on large, which went into the pockets of surveyors and lawyers, that did this. It was also often through the farmer that the labourer was deprived ofhis land when he had retained an acre or two after enclosure. Wishingto make the labourer dependent on him, he persuaded the agent to letthe cottages with the farm, and the agent in order to avoid collectinga number of small rents consented. As soon as the farmer had thecottages he took the land from them and added it to his own. Thepeasant's losses engaged the serious attention of many landlords; nearTewkesbury, in 1773, the lord of the manor on enclosure, besidesreserving 25 acres for the use of the poor, allowed land to eachcottage sufficient to keep a horse or a cow, often added a smallbuilding, and gave stocks for raising orchards. Even some of theidlest were thereby made industrious, poor rates sank to 4d. In the £, though the population increased, and the labourer always had for salesome poultry, or the produce of his cow, or some fruit. [570]

In 1800 the Board of Agriculture, composed almost entirely oflandowners, noticing that the poor of Rutland and Lincolnshire, whohad land for one or two cows and some potatoes, had not applied forpoor relief, offered a gold medal for the most satisfactory account ofthe best means of supporting cows on poor land, in a method applicableto cottagers. [571] Young recommended that in the case of extensivewastes every cottage on enclosure should be secured sufficient land onwhich to keep a cow, the land to be inalienable from the cottage andthe ownership vested in the parish. 

Lord Winchelsea[572] urged that a good garden should always go with acottage, and set the example himself, one which has been generallyfollowed in England by the greater landlords with much success. As maybe imagined, these schemes or others similar to them were put intoeffect by the conscientious and energetic, but not by the apatheticand careless. Further, an Act was passed in the fifty-ninth year ofGeorge III, which enabled parishes to lease or buy 20 acres of landfor the employment of their poor. 

In many cases, it must be allowed, the grazing of the commons wasoften worth very little. Let one man, it was said in 1795, put a cowon a common in spring for nothing, and let another pay a farmer 1s. 6d. A week to keep a cow of equal value on enclosed land. When bothare driven to market at Michaelmas the extra weight of the latter willmore than repay the cost of the keep, while her flow of milk meanwhilehas been much superior. 

The Committee on Waste Lands of 1795 attributed the great increase inthe weight of cattle not only to the improved methods of breeding, butto their being fed on good enclosed lands instead of wastes andcommons. [573] Even when commons were stinted they were in generaloverstocked, while disease was always being spread with enormous lossto the commoners. The larger holders, too, who had common rights, often crowded out the smaller. 

There were often, as we have seen, a large number of 'squatters' oncommons who had seized and occupied land without any legal title. As arule, if these people had been in possession twenty-one years theirtitle was respected; if not, no regard was very justly paid to them onenclosure, and they were deprived of what they had seized. 

Eden wrote when enclosure was at its height; he was a competent andaccurate observer, and this is his picture of the 'commoner':[574]'The advantages which cottagers and poor people derive from commonsand wastes are rather apparent than real; instead of stickingregularly to labour they waste their time in picking up a few drysticks or in grubbing on some bleak moor. Their starved pig or two, together with a few wandering goslings, besides involving them inperpetual altercations with their neighbours, are dearly paid for incare, time, and bought food. There are thousands and thousands ofacres in the kingdom, now the sorry pastures of geese, hogs, asses, half-grown horses, and half-starved cattle, which want but to beenclosed to be as rich as any land now in tillage. '

Enclosure worked an important social revolution. Before it theentirely landless labourer was rare: he nearly always had some holdingin the common field or a right on the common pasture. With enclosurehis holding or right had generally disappeared, and he deterioratedsocially. It was very unfortunate, too, that when enclosure was mostactive domestic industries, such as weaving, decayed, and deprived thelabourer and his family of a badly needed addition to his scantyincome. 

In its physical and moral effects the system of domestic manufactureswas immensely preferable to that of the crowded factory, whileeconomically it enabled the tillers of the soil to exist on farmswhich could not support them by agriculture alone. 

This uprooting of a great part of the agricultural population from thesoil by irresistible economic causes brought with it grave moralevils, and created divisions and antagonisms of interest from which weare suffering to-day. [575] If some such scheme as that of Arthur Youngor Lord Winchelsea had been universally adopted, this blot on aninevitable movement might have been removed, and a healthy ruralpopulation planted on English soil. Another result followed, thelabourer no longer boarded as a rule in his employer's house, wherethe farmer worked and lived with his men; the tie of mutual interestwas loosened, and he worked for this or that master indifferently. Oneadvantage, however, arose, in that, having to find a home of his own, he married early, but this was vitiated by his knowledge that theparish would support his children, on which knowledge he was inducedto rely. 

On the other hand, the farmer often rose in the social scale. Withthe abandonment of the handicaps and restrictions of the common-fieldsystem the efficient came more speedily to the front. It was they whohad amassed capital, and capital was now needed more than ever, sothey added field to field, and consolidated holdings. 

The Act of 1845 did away with the necessity for private EnclosureActs, still further reducing the expense; and since that date therehave been 80, 000 or 90, 000 acres of common arable fields and meadowsenclosed without parliamentary sanction, and 139, 517 acres of the samehave been enclosed with it, [576] besides many acres of commons andwaste. 

In the _Report of the Committee of Enclosures_ of 1844, [577] there isa curious description of the way in which common fields were sometimesallotted. There were in some open fields, lands called 'panes', containing forty or sixty different lands, and on a certain day thebest man of the parish appeared to take possession of any lot hethought fit. If his right was called in question there was a fight forit, and the survivor took the first lot, and so they went on throughthe parish. There was also the old 'lot meadow' in which the ownersdrew lots for choice of portions. On some of the grazing lands theright of grazing sheep belonged to a man called a 'flockmaster', whoduring certain months of the year had the exclusive right of turninghis sheep on all the lands of the parish. 

Closely connected with the subject of enclosure is that of the partialdisappearance of the small owner, both the yeoman who farmed his ownlittle estate and the peasant proprietor. We have noticed above[578]Gregory King's statement as to the number of small freeholders inEngland in 1688, no less than 160, 000, or with their families aboutone-seventh of the population of the country. This date, that of theRevolution, marks an epoch in their history, for from that time theybegan to diminish in proportion to the population. Their number in1688 is a sufficient answer to the exaggerated statement ofcontemporaries in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as to thedepopulation caused by enclosures. Chamberlayne, in his _State ofGreat Britain_, published at about the same time as Gregory King'sfigures, says there were more freeholders in England than in anycountry of like extent in Europe: '£40 or £50 a year is very ordinary, £100 or £200 in some counties is not rare, sometimes in Kent and inthe Weald of Sussex £500 or £600 per annum, and £3, 000 or £4, 000 ofstock. ' In the first quarter of the eighteenth century he was aprominent figure. Defoe[579] describes the number and prosperity ofthe Greycoats of Kent (as they were called from their homespungarments), 'whose interest is so considerable that whoever they votefor is always sure to carry it. '

Why has this sturdy class so dwindled in numbers, and left Englandinfinitely the weaker for their decrease? The causes are several;social, economic, and political. The chief, perhaps, is the peculiarform of Government which came in with the Revolution. The landedgentry by that event became supreme, the national and localadministration was entirely in their hands, and land being thefoundation of social and political influence was eagerly sought bythem where it was not already in their hands. [580] At the same timethe successful business men, whose numbers now increased rapidly fromthe development of trade, bought land to 'make themselves gentlemen'. Both these classes bought out the yeomen, who do not seem to have beenvery loath to part with their land. The recently devised system ofstrict family settlements enabled the old and the new gentlemen tokeep this land in their families. The complicated title to land madeits transfer difficult and costly, so that there was little breakingup of estates to correspond with the constant buying up of smallowners. To the smaller freeholder, as has been noticed, the enclosureof waste land did much harm, for it was necessary to his holding. Again, smaller arable farms did not pay as well as large ones, so theytended to disappear. The decay of home industries was also a heavyblow to the smaller yeoman and the peasant proprietor. 

Under this combination of circumstances many of the yeomen left theland. Yet though Young, less than a century after King and Davenant, said that the small freeholder had practically disappeared, there wereat the end of the eighteenth century many left all over England, whohowever largely disappeared during the war and in the bad times afterthe war. [581] But a contrary tendency was at work which helped toreplenish the class. The desire of the Englishman for land is notconfined to the wealthy classes. At the end of the eighteenth centurymen who had made small fortunes in trade were buying small propertiesand taking the place of the yeomen. [582] In the great French War of1793-1815, many yeomen, attracted by the high prices of land, soldtheir properties, but at the same time many farmers, attracted by thehigh prices of produce, which had often enriched them, boughtland. [583] During the 'good times' of 1853-75 many small holders, likethose of Axholme, noticed in the _Report_ of the AgriculturalCommission of 1893, bought land. 

A new class of small owners also has sprung up, who, dwelling in ornear towns and railway stations, have bought small freeholds. Thereturn of the owners of land of 1872-6 gave the following numbers ofthose owning land in England and Wales[584]:

 Total number of owners of: Number. Acreage. 

 less than one acre 703, 289 151, 171 1 acre and under 10 121, 983 478, 679 10 " 50 72, 640 1, 750, 079 50 " 100 25, 839 1, 791, 605 100 " 500 32, 317 6, 827, 346

The great majority of the first class here enumerated, those owningless than one acre, do not concern us, as they were evidently merelyhouses and gardens not of an agricultural character, but a largenumber of the second class and most of the other three must have beenagricultural, though unfortunately no distinction is made. It will beseen, therefore, that there were a considerable number of smallowners in England in 1872, and their numbers have probably increasedsince. Many of them, however, are of the new class mentioned above, and there appears to be no doubt that the number of the peasantproprietors and of the yeomen of the old sort has much diminished, especially in proportion to the growth of population. 

FOOTNOTES:

[562] Cf. Supra, p. 163. 

[563] R. Marshall, _Rural Economy of Yorkshire_, p. 17 et seq. 

[564] Slater, _English Peasantry and Enclosure_, p. 7. 

[565] It was stated in the _Report of the Committee on Enclosures_(1844), p. 31, that the ordinary expense of obtaining an Enclosure Actwas from £1, 000 to £1, 500. In 1814 the enclosure of three farms, amounting to 570 acres, including subdivision fences and money paid toa tenant for relinquishing his agreement, cost the landlord nearly£4, 000. --_Agricultural State of the Kingdom_ (1816), p. 116. 

[566] _Enquiry into the Propriety of Supplying Wastes to the betterSupport of the Poor_, p. 42. 

[567] The usual clause in Enclosure Acts stated that the land shouldbe 'allotted according to the several and respective rights of _all_who had rights and interests' in the enclosed property, and expenseswere to be borne 'in proportion to the respective shares of the peopleinterested'. 

[568] pp. 8 et seq. Slater, _op. Cit. _ p. 113. 

[569] Cf. Marshall's account of the common-field townships inHampshire at the end of the eighteenth century. Each occupier of landin the common fields contributed to the town flock a number of sheepin proportion to his holding, which were placed under a shepherd whofed them and folded them on all parts of the township. A similarpractice was observed with the common herd of cows, which were placedunder one cowherd who tended them by day and brought them back atnight to be milked, distributing them among their respective owners, and in the morning they were collected by the sound of thehorn. --_Rural Economy of Southern Counties_, ii. 351. 

[570] _Report of Committee on Waste Lands_ (1795), p. 204. Ground wasfrequently left by the Acts for the erection of cottages for the poor, and special allotments were made to Guardians for the use of the poor, in addition to the land allotted to all according to their respectiveclaims. Can any one doubt that if there had been a systematic robberyof the smaller holders on enclosure they would not have risen 'enmasse'?

[571] Slater, _op. Cit. _ p. 133. 

[572] _Agricultural State of the Kingdom_ (1816), p. 8. 

[573] _Report_, p. 204. 

[574] _State of the Poor_, pp. I, xviii. 

[575] Lecky, _England in the Eighteenth Century_, vi. 191. 

[576] Slater, _op. Cit. _ p. 191. 

[577] _Report_, p. 27. 

[578] _See_ above. Another estimate puts them at 180, 000. 

[579] _Tour_, i. (2), 37, 38. 

[580] Toynbee, _Industrial Revolution_, p. 62. 

[581] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ p. 71. 

[582] Marshall, _Review of Agriculture, Reports Western Department_, p. 18. 

[583] _Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners_ (1897), xv. 32. 

[584] _Parliamentary Accounts and Papers_, lxxx. 21. The number ofthose owning over 500 acres does not concern the small owner or theyeoman class, but they were: from 500 acres to 1, 000, 4, 799; from1, 000 to 2, 000, 2, 719; from 2, 000 to 5, 000, 1, 815; from 5, 000 to10, 000, 581; from 10, 000 to 20, 000, 223; from 20, 000 to 50, 000, 66;from 50, 000 to 100, 000, 3; over 100, 000, 1. For the numbers of the'holdings' of various sizes in 1875 and 1907 see below, p. 334. Theterm 'holdings', however, includes freeholds and leaseholds. 

CHAPTER XIX

1816-1837

DEPRESSION

The summer of 1816 was wretched; the distress, aggravated by the badseason, caused riots everywhere. At Bideford the mob interfered toprevent the export of a cargo of potatoes; at Bridport they brokeinto the bakers' shops. Incendiary fires broke out night after nightin the eastern counties. At Swanage six people out of seven werepaupers, and in one parish in Cambridgeshire every person but one wasa pauper or a bankrupt. [585] Corn rose again: by June, 1817, it was 117s. , but fell to 77s. In September. 

In 1818 occurred a drought of four months, lasting from May tillSeptember, and great preparations were made to ward off the expectedfamine; immense quantities of wheat came from the Baltic, of maizefrom America, and beans and maize from Italy and Egypt, with hay fromNew York, as it was selling at £10 a ton. However, rain fell inSeptember, brown fields suddenly became green, turnips sprang upwhere none had appeared, and even spring corn that had lain in theparched ground began to grow, so the fear of scarcity passed. 

In 1822 came a good season, which produced a great crop of wheat; inthe lifetime of the existing generation old men declared that such aharvest had been known only once before; imports also came fromIreland to the amount of nearly a million quarters, so that the priceat the end of the year was 38s. , and the average price for the yearwas 44s. 7d. Beef went down to 2s. 5d. A stone and mutton to 2s. 2d. The cry of agricultural distress again rose loudly. Farmers werestill, though some of the war taxes had been remitted, heavily taxed;for the taxes on malt, soap, salt, candles, leather, all pressedheavily. [586] The chief cause of the distress was the long-feltreaction after the war, but it was aggravated by the return to cashpayments in 1819. Gold had fallen to its real value, and the fall ingold had been followed by a fall in the prices of every otherarticle. [587] The produce of many thousand acres in England did notsell that year for as much money as was expended in growing it, without reckoning rent, taxes, and interest on capital. [588] Estatesworth £3, 000 a year, says the same writer, some years since, were nowworth £1, 000. Bacon had gone down from 6s. 6d. To 2s. 4d. A stone;Southdown ewes from 50s. To 15s. , and lambs from 42s. To 5s. 

A Dorset farmer told the Parliamentary committee that since 1815 heknew of fifty farmers, farming 24, 000 acres, who had failedentirely. [589]

In the _Tyne Mercury_ of October 30, 1821, it was recorded that Mr. Thos. Cooper of Bow purchased 3 milch cows and 40 sheep for £18 16s. 6d. Which sum four years previously would only have bought theirskins. Prime beef was sold in Salisbury market at 4d. Retail, and goodjoints of mutton at 3-1/2d. [590] Everywhere the farmers werecomplaining bitterly, but 'hanging on like sailors to the masts orhull of a wreck'. In Sussex labourers were being employed to dig holesand fill them in again, proof enough of distress but also of greatfolly. Many thousands of acres were now a mass of thistles and weeds, once fair grass land ploughed up during the war for wheat, andabandoned at the fall of prices. There were no less than 475 petitionson agricultural distress presented to the House from 1820 to March 31, 1822. In 1822, it was proposed that the Government should purchasewheat grown in England to the value of one million sterling and storeit; also that when the average price of wheat was under 60s. TheGovernment should advance money on such corn grown in the UnitedKingdom as should be deposited in certain warehouses, to an extent notexceeding two-thirds the value of the corn. [591] There were notwanting men, however, who put the other side of the question. In atract called _The Refutation of the Arguments used on the Subject ofthe Agricultural Petition_, written in 1819, it was said that theincrease in the farmer's expenditure was the cause of his discontent. 'He now assumes the manners and demands the equipage of a gentleman, keeps a table like his landlord, anticipates seasons in theirproductions, is as choice in his wines, his horses, and hisfurniture. ' Let him be more thrifty. 'Let him dismiss his steward, acharacter a few years back only known to the great landowner, andcease from degrading the British farmer into a synonym forprodigality. ' Lord Liverpool, in the House of Lords, in a speech whichroused great opposition among agriculturists, minimized the distress;distress there was, he admitted, but it was not confined to England, it was world-wide; neither was it produced by excessive taxation, forsince 1815 taxation had been reduced 25 per cent. , while though rentsand prices had fallen they were much higher than before the war. Another writer said at the time, 'Individuals of all classes have oflate been as it were inflated above their natural size: let thisunnatural growth be reduced; let them resume their proper places andappearances, and the quantum of substantial enjoyment, real comfortand happiness, will not be found lessened. ' It was also asserted thatthe taxes on malt, leather, soap, salt, and candles, were not verypressing. 

The persistent cries of distress produced a Bill giving still furtherprotection to corn-growers, which was fortunately not carried intoeffect. There was no doubt, however, about the reality of the crisisthrough which the landed classes were passing. Many of the landownerswere heavily in debt. Mortgages had been multiplied during the war, and while prices were high payment of interest was easy; but whenprices fell and the tenant threw up his farm, the landlord could notthrow over the mortgage, and the interest hung like a dead weightround his neck. [592]

The price to which wheat fell at the end of 1822 was to be the lowestfor some years; it soon recovered, and until 1834 the average annualprices ranged from 53s. To 68s. 6d. , while in 1825 beef at Smithfieldwas 5s. And mutton 5s. 4d. A stone. 

In 1823 there was a marked improvement, and the king's speechcongratulated the country on 'the gradual abatement of thosedifficulties under which agriculture has so long suffered. '[593] In1824 'agriculture was recovering from the depression under which itlaboured. '[594] In 1825 it was said, 'there never was a period in thehistory of this country when all the great interests of the nationwere in so thriving a condition. '[595] In that year over-speculationproduced a panic and agricultural distress was again evident. In 1826Cobbett said, 'the present stock of the farms is not in one-half thecases the property of the farmer, it is borrowed stock. '[596] In 1828all the farmers in Kent were said to be insolvent. [597]

At the meeting of Parliament in 1830 the king lamented the state ofaffairs, and ascribed it to unfavourable seasons and other causesbeyond the reach of legislative remedy. Many had learnt that highprotection was no protection for farmers, and it was stated more thanonce that the large foreign supply of grain, though only then aboutone-third of the home-grown, depressed our markets. At the same time, it must be admitted that agriculture, like all other industries, wassuffering from the crisis of 1825. In 1830, the country was filledwith unrest, in which the farm labourer shared. His motives, however, were hardly political. He had a rooted belief that machinery wasinjuring him, the threshing machine especially; and he avenged himselfby burning the ricks of obnoxious farmers. Letters were sent toemployers demanding higher wages and the disuse of machines, andnotices signed 'Swing' were affixed to gates and buildings. Nightafter night incendiary fires broke out, and emboldened by impunity therioters proceeded to pillage by day. In Hampshire they moved in bodies1, 500 strong. A special Commission was appointed, and the disordersput down at last with a firm hand. In 1828 there had been a relaxationin the duties on corn, the object of the Act passed in that year beingto secure the farmer a constant price of 8s. A bushel instead of 10s. As in 1815, and by a sliding scale to prevent the disastrousfluctuations in prices. The best proof of its failure is afforded bythe appointment of another parliamentary committee in 1833 to inquireinto the distressed state of agriculture. At this inquiry manywitnesses asserted that the cultivation of inferior soils and heavyclays had diminished from one-fourth to one-fifth. [598] It was alsoasserted that farmers were paying rent out of capital. [599] Tooke, however, thought there was much exaggeration of the distress, whichwas proved by the way the farmers weathered the low prices of 1835, when wheat, after a succession of four remarkably good seasons, averaged 39s. 4d. For the year. In these abundant years, too, heasserts that the home supply was equal to the demand, [600] though thecommittee of 1833 had stated that this had ceased to be thecase. [601] Another committee, the last for many years, sat in 1835 toconsider the distress; but although prices were low the whole tenor ofthe evidence established the improvement of farming, the extension ofcultivation, and the increase of produce, and it was noticed at thistime that towns dependent on agriculture were uniformlyprosperous. [602]

On the whole, in spite of exaggeration from interested motives, thedistress for the twenty years after the battle of Waterloo was realand deep; twenty years of depression succeeded the same period offalse exaltation. The progress, too, during that time was real, andmade, as was remarked, _because_ of adversity. From this timeagriculture slowly revived. 

On one point both of the two last committees were agreed, that thecondition of the labourer was improved, and they said he was betteroff than at any former period, for his wages remained the same, whileprices of necessaries had fallen. That his wages went further is true, but they were still miserably low, and he was often housed worse thanthe animals on the farm. 'Wattle and dab' (or mud and straw) formedthe walls of his cottage, the floors were often of mud, and all agesand both sexes frequently slept in one room. A block of ten cottageswere put up in the parish of Holmer[603] at the commencement of thenineteenth century, which were said to have combined 'comfort, convenience, and economy;' they each contained one room 12 feet by 14feet and 6 feet high with a bedroom over, and cost £32 10s. Each. Theywere evidently considered quite superior dwellings, far better thanthe ordinary run of labourer's cottages. Cobbett gives us a picture ofsome in Leicestershire in 1826; 'hovels made of mud and straw, bits ofglass, or of old cast-off windows, without frames or hingesfrequently, and merely stuck in the mud wall. Enter them and look atthe bits of chairs or stools, the wretched boards tacked together toserve for a table, the floor of pebble, broken brick, or of the bareground; look at the thing called a bed, and survey the rags on thebacks of the wretched inhabitants. '[604] The chief exceptions to thisstate of affairs were the estates of many of the great landlords. Onthat of the Earl of Winchelsea in Rutland, the cottages he had builtcontained a kitchen, parlour, dairy, two bedrooms, and a cow-house, and several had small holdings attached of from 5 to 20 acres. [605]Not long before, wages in Hampshire and Wiltshire were 5s. And 6s. Aweek. [606]

In 1822 it was stated that 'beef and mutton are things the taste ofwhich was unknown to the mass of labourers. No one has lived more incottages than I, and I declare solemnly I never remember once to haveseen such a thing. '[607] A group of women labourers, whom Cobbett sawby the roadside in Hampshire, presented 'such an assemblage of rags asI never saw before even amongst the hoppers at Farnham. '[608]

The labourer's wages may have gone a little further, but he had losthis by-industries, his bit of land and rights of common, and wouldhave had a very different tale to tell from that of the framers of thereports above quoted. 

In spite of the complaints made that the improvements of the coachesand of the roads drew the countryman to the towns, many stirred hardlyat all from their native parish, and their lives were now infinitelyduller than in the Middle Ages. The great event of the year was theharvest home, which was usually a scene of great merry-making. InDevonshire, when a farmer's wheat was ripe he sent round notice to theneighbourhood, and men and women from all sides came to reap the crop. As early as eleven or twelve, so much ale and cider had been drunkthat the shouts and ribald jokes of the company were heard to aconsiderable distance, attracting more helpers, who came from far andnear, but none were allowed to come after 12 o'clock. Between 12 and 1came dinner, with copious libations of ale and cider, which lastedtill 2, when reaping was resumed and went on without interruptionexcept from the squabbles of the company till 5, when what were called'drinkings', or more food and drink, were taken into the field andconsumed. After this the corn reaped was bound into sheaves tillevening, when after the sport of throwing their reaping hooks at asheaf which had been set up as a mark for a prize, all proceeded tosupper and more ale and cider till the small hours. [609]

No wages were paid at these harvestings, but the unlimited amount ofeating and drinking was very expensive, and about this date thepractice of using hired labour had largely superseded this old custom. 

The close of this period was marked by two Acts of great benefit tofarmers: the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 (4 & 5 Wm. IV, c. 76), which reduced the rates, [610] and marked 'the beginning of a periodof slow recovery in the labourer's standard of life, moral andmaterial, though at first it brought him not a little adversity'[611];and the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 (6 & 7 Wm. IV, c. 71), whichsubstituted for the tithe paid in kind or the fluctuating commutedtithe, a tithe rent charge equivalent to the market value, on aseptennial average, of the exact quantities of wheat, barley, andoats, which made up the legal tithes by the estimate in 1836. Thus wasremoved a perpetual source of dispute and antagonism betweentithe-payer and tithe-owner. The system hitherto pursued, moreover, was wasteful. In exceptionally favourable circumstances the clergy didnot receive more than two-thirds of the value of the tithe in kind. The delays were a frequent source of loss. In rainy weather, when thefarmer desired to get his crops in quickly, he was obliged to shockhis crops, give the tithe-owners notice to set out their tithes, andwait for their arrival; in the meantime the crop, perhaps, being badlydamaged. [612]

FOOTNOTES:

[585] Walpole, _History of England_, i. 161. 

[586] _Inquiry into Agricultural Distress_ (1822), p. 40. 

[587] Walpole, _op. Cit. _ ii. 22. 

[588] _A Letter to the Earl of Liverpool by an Old Tory_, 1822. TheCommittee on Agricultural Distress found that farmers were paying rentout of capital (_Parliamentary Reports. Committees_, v. 71), and thatleases fixed on the basis of the high prices of the war meant ruin tothe farmer if held to his engagement. 

[589] _Parliamentary Reports, Committees_, ix. 138. 

[590] Cobbett, _Rural Rides_ (ed. 1885), i. 3, 16. 

[591] _Report of the Committee on Agricultural Depression_ (1822), pp. 3, 4. 

[592] Walpole, _History of England_, ii. 23. 

[593] _Hansard_, ix. 1544. 

[594] Ibid. X. 1, 2. 

[595] Ibid. Xii. 1. 

[596] _Rural Rides_, ii. 199. 

[597] Walpole, _History of England_, ii. 526. The distress wasaggravated by rot among sheep, which is said to have destroyedone-fourth of those in the kingdom. See _Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners_ (1836), viii (2), p. 198. 

[598] Tooke, _History of Prices_, ii. 227. 

[599] _Report_ of 1833, p. 6. 

[600] Tooke, _History of Prices_, ii, 238. 

[601] Imports fell considerably at this date; they were:

 1832 1, 254, 351 quarters. 1833 1, 166, 457 " 1834 981, 486 " 1835 750, 808 " 1836 861, 156 " 1837 1, 109, 492 " 1838 1, 923, 400 "

There were also considerable exports:

 1832 289, 558 quarters. 1833 96, 212 " 1834 159, 482 " 1835 134, 076 " 1836 256, 978 " 1837 308, 420 " 1838 158, 621 "

McCulloch, _Commercial Dictionary_ (1847), p. 438. 

[602] Porter, _Progress of the Nation_, p. 151. 

[603] See Duncumb, _General View of Herefordshire_, (1805). 

[604] Rural Rides, ii. 348. 

[605] London, _Encyclopaedia of Agriculture_ (1831), p. 1156. 

[606] Cobbett, _Rural Rides_, i. 149. The average, however, now wasabout 9s. ; see _Parliamentary Reports_, v. 72. 

[607] _A Letter to the Earl of Liverpool by an Old Tory_ (1822), p. 16. 

[608] _Rural Rides_, i. 18. 

[609] Moore, _History of Devonshire_, i. 430. 

[610] By this Act and the various amending Acts the law of settlement, so long a burden on the labourer, is now settled thus: a settlementmay be acquired by birth, parentage, marriage, renting a tenement, bybeing bound apprentice and inhabiting, by estate, payment of taxes, and by residence. --Stephen, _Commentaries on the Laws of England_(1903), iii. 87. 

[611] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ p. 217. 

[612] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (1901), p. 9. 

CHAPTER XX

1837-1875

REVIVAL OF AGRICULTURE. --THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. --CORN LAWREPEAL. --A TEMPORARY SET-BACK. --THE HALCYON DAYS

The revival of agriculture roughly coincided with the accession ofQueen Victoria. 

It was proved that Scotch farmers who had farmed highly had weatheredthe storm. Instead of repeatedly calling on Parliament to help themthey had helped themselves, by spending large sums in draining andmanuring the land; they had adopted the subsoil plough, and thedrainage system of Smith of Deanston, used machinery to economizelabour, and improved the breed of stock. This was an object-lessonfor the English farmer, and he began to profit by it. It was hightime that he did. In spite of the undoubted progress made, farmingwas still often terribly backward. Little or no machinery was used, implements were often bad, teams too large, drilling littlepractised, drainage utterly inefficient; in fact, while one farmerused all the improvements made, a hundred had little to do with them. But better times were at hand. 

About 1835 Elkington's system of drainage, which among the moreadvanced agriculturists, at any rate, had been used for half acentury, was superseded by that of James Smith of Deanston, a systemof thorough drainage and deep ploughing, which effected a completerevolution in the art of draining, and holds the field to-day. Hitherto the draining of land had been done by a few drains where theywere thought necessary, which was often a failure. Smith initiated acomplete system of parallel underground drains, near enough to each, other to catch all the superfluous water, running into a main drainwhich ran along the lowest part of the ground. His system has alsobeen called 'furrow or frequent draining', as the drains weregenerally laid in the furrows from two to two-and-a-half feet deep atshort intervals. Even then the tributary drains were at first filledin with stones 12 inches deep, as they had been for centuries, andsometimes with thorns, or even turves, as tiles were still expensive;and the main was made of stonework. However, the invention of machinesfor making tiles cheapened them, and the substitution of cylindricalpipes for horse-shoe tiles laid on flat soles still further loweredthe cost and increased the efficiency. [613] In 1848, Peel introducedGovernment Drainage Loans, repayable by twenty-two instalments of 61/2 per cent. This was consequently an era of extensive drainage worksall over England, which sorely needed it; but even now the work wasoften badly done. In some cases it was the custom for the tenant toput in as many tiles as his landlord gave him, and they were oftenmerely buried. At Stratfieldsaye, for instance, where the Iron Dukewas a generous and capable landlord, the drains were sometimes a footdeep, while others were 6 feet deep and 60 feet apart, [614] althoughthe soil required nothing of the kind. 

Vast sums were also spent on farm-buildings, still often old andrickety, with deficient and insanitary accommodation; in Devonshirethe farmer was bound by his lease to repair 'old mud and woodenhouses', at a cost of 10 per cent. On his rent, and there were manysuch all over England. Farm-buildings were often at the extreme endof the holding, the cattle were crowded together in draughty sheds, and the farmyard was generally a mass of filth and spoiling manure, spoiling because all the liquid was draining away from it into thepool where the live stock drank; a picture, alas, often true to-day. It was to bring the great mass of landlords and farmers into line withthose who had made the most of what progress there had been, that theRoyal Society was founded in 1838, in imitation of the HighlandSociety, but also owing to the realization of the great benefitsconferred on farming during the last half-century by the exertions ofAgricultural Societies, the Smithfield Club Shows having especiallyaided the breeding of live stock. 

Writing on the subject of the Society, Mr. Handley[615] spoke of thewretched modes of farming still to be seen in the country, especiallyin the case of arable land, though there had been a marked improvementin the breeding of stock. Prejudice, as ever, was rampant. Bonemanure, though in the previous twenty years it had worked wonders, wasin many parts unused. It was felt that what the English farmer neededwas 'practice with science'. The first President of the Society wasEarl Spencer, and it at once set vigorously to work, recommendingprizes for essays on twenty-four subjects, some of which are in thefirst volume of the Society's Journal. Prizes were also offered forthe best draining-plough, the best implement for crushing gorse, for aploughing match to be held at the first country meeting of the Societyfixed at Oxford in 1839, for the best cultivated farm in Oxfordshireand the adjacent counties, and for the invention of any newagricultural implement. 

In 1840 the Society was granted a charter under the title of the RoyalAgricultural Society of England, and its career since then has beenone of continued usefulness, and forms a prominent feature in theagricultural history of the times. 

In 1839[616] the first country meeting of the Society was held atOxford, and its 247 entries of live stock and 54 of implements weredescribed as constituting a show of unprecedented magnitude. Accordingto _Bell's Weekly Messenger_ for July 22, 1839, the show for some timehad been the all-absorbing topic of conversation not only amongagriculturists, but among the community at large, and the first day20, 000 people attended the show, many having come great distances byroad. Everybody and every exhibit had to get to Oxford by road; someShorthorn cattle, belonging to the famous Thomas Bates ofKirkleavington, took nearly three weeks on the road, coming fromLondon to Aylesbury by canal. But such a journey was not unusual then, for cattle were often two or three weeks on the road to great fairs, and stood the journey best on hay; it was surprising how fresh andsound they finished. [617] The show ground covered 7 acres, and amongthe implements tested was a subsoil plough, Biddell's Scarifier, and adrill for depositing manure after turnips. There were only six classesfor cattle--Shorthorns, Herefords, Devons, Cattle of any other breed, Dairy Cattle, and Oxen; one class for horses, and three forsheep--Leicesters, Southdown or other Short Wool, and Long Woolled;with one for pigs. [618] The Shorthorns, with the exception of theKirkleavingtons, were bred in the neighbourhood, and many good judgessaid long afterwards that a finer lot had not been seen since. TheDuchesses especially impressed all who saw them. The rest of the livestock was in no way remarkable. 

From this small beginning, then thought so much of, the show grewfast, and the Warwick meeting[619] of 1892, after several years ofagricultural depression, illustrates the excellent work of the Societyand the enormous progress made by English agriculture. The show groundcovered 90 acres; horses were now divided into Thoroughbred Stallions, Hunters, Coach Horses, Hackneys, Ponies, Harness Horses and Ponies, Shires, Clydesdales, Suffolks, and Agricultural Horses. Cattle wereclassified as Shorthorns, Herefords, Devons, Sussex, Longhorns(described as few in number and of no particular quality, 'a breedwhich has now been many years on the wane', but has recently beenrevived), [620] Welsh, Red Polled, Jerseys, Guernseys, Kerry andDexter-Kerry. 

The increased variety of sheep was also striking; Leicesters, Cotswolds, Lincolns, Oxford Downs, Shropshires, Southdowns, HampshireDowns, Suffolks, Border Leicesters, Clun Forest, and Welsh Mountain. 

Pigs were divided into Large, Middle, and Small white Berkshires, anyother black breed, and Tamworths. 

Altogether the total number of stock exhibited was 1, 858, and thenumber of implements was 5, 430. 

In 1840 appeared Liebig's _Chemistry in its Application to Agricultureand Physiology_, tracing the relations between the nutrition of plantsand the composition of the soil, a book which was received withenthusiasm, and completely changed the attitude which agriculturistsgenerally had maintained towards chemistry; one of contempt, foundedon ignorance. 

But, as Mr. Prothero has said, [621] 'if the new agriculture was bornin the laboratory of Glissen, it grew into strength at theexperimental station of Rothamsted. ' There, for more than half acentury, Lawes and Gilbert conducted experiments, of vast benefit toagriculture, in the objects, method, and effect of manuring; thescientific bases for the rotation of crops, and the results of variousfoods on animals in the production of meat, milk, and manure. 

The use of artificial manures now spread rapidly; bones, used longbefore uncrushed, are said to have been first crushed in 1772, andtheir value was realized by Coke of Holkham, but for long they werecrushed by hammer or horse mill, and their use was consequentlylimited. Then iron rollers worked by steam ground them cheaply andeffectively, and their use soon spread, though it was not till about1840 that it can be said to have become general. Its effects wereoften described as wonderful. In Cheshire, cheese-making hadexhausted the soil, and it was said that by boning and draining anadditional cow could be kept for every 4 acres, and tenants readilypaid 7 per cent. To their landlords for expenditure in bone manure. Its use had indeed raised many struggling farmers to comparativeindependence. [622] A very large quantity of the bones used came fromSouth America. [623] Porter also noticed that 'since 1840 an extensivetrade has been carried on in an article called Guano', the guana ofDavy, 'from the islands of the Pacific and off the coast of Africa'. Nitrate of soda was just coming in, but was not much used till someyears later. In 1840 Liebig suggested the treatment of bones withsulphuric acid, and in 1843 Lawes patented the process and set up hisworks at Deptford. [624]

Italian rye grass, not to be confounded with the old English raygrass, had been introduced by Thomson of Banchory, in 1834, fromMunich;[625] and though the swede was known at the end of theeighteenth century, in many parts it had only just become common. InNotts it was in 1844 described as having recently become 'thesheet-anchor of the farmer'. [626] In Cheshire a writer at the samedate said, 'in the year 1814 there were not 5 acres of Swedish turnipsgrown in the parish where I reside; now there are from 60 to 80, andin many parts of the county the increase has been in a much greaterratio. '[627]

About this time a remedy was found in the south for leaving the landidle during the nine months between harvesting the corn crop inAugust, and sowing the turnip crop in the following June, by sowingrye, which was eaten green by the sheep in May, a good preparation forthe succeeding winter crop. Turnip cutters were at last being used, and corn and cake crushers soon followed. 

The seasons from 1838 to 1841 were bad, and must be characterized asa period of dearth, wheat keeping at a good price. [628] That of 1844-5was remarkable for the first general appearance of the potato disease, not only in these islands but on the continent of Europe. [629] InAugust, 1846, the worst apprehensions of the failure of the crop weremore than realized, and the terrible results in Ireland are wellknown. In the early part of 1847 there was a fear of scarcity in corn, and the price of wheat rose to 102s. 5d. In spite of an importation of4, 500, 000 quarters, but this was largely owing to the absence of anyreliable agricultural statistics, which were not furnished till 1866, and the price soon fell. [630]

We have now reached the period of free trade, when the Corn Laws, which had protected agriculture more or less effectually for so long, were definitely abandoned. That they had failed to prevent greatfluctuations in the price of corn is abundantly evident, it is alsoequally evident that they kept up the average price; in the ten yearsfrom 1837 to 1846, the average price of wheat was 58s. 7d. A quarter, in the seven years from 1848 to 1853, the average price was 48s. 2d. [631]

The average imports of wheat and flour for the same period were2, 161, 813 and 4, 401, 000 quarters respectively. But to obtain the realeffect of free trade on prices, the prices for the period between 1815and 1846 must be compared with those between 1846 and the present day, when the fall is enormous. 

The Act of 1815, which Tooke said had failed to secure any one of theobjects aimed at by its promoters, had received two importantalterations. In 1828 (9 Geo. IV, c. 60) a duty of 36s. 8d. Was imposedwhen the price was 50s. , decreasing to 1s. When it was 73s. 

In 1843 (5 Vict. C. 14) a duty of 20s. Was imposed when the price was50s. , and the duty became 7s. When the price reached 65s. 

A contemporary writer denies that these duties benefited the farmer atall: 'if the present shifting scale of duty was intended to protectthe farmer, keep the prices of corn steady, insure a supply to theconsumer at a moderate price, and benefit the revenue, it has signallyfailed. During the continuation of the Corn Laws the farmers havesuffered the greatest privations. The variations in price have beenextreme, and when a supply of foreign corn has been required it hasonly reached the consumer at a high price, and benefited the revenuelittle. '[632] Rents of farms were often calculated not on the marketprice of wheat, but on the price thought to be fixed by the duties, which was occasionally much higher. [633]

It was also said that but for the restrictions that had been imposedin the supposed interests of agriculture, the skill and enterprise offarmers would have been better directed than it had been. By means ofthese restrictions and the consequent enhancement of the cost ofliving, the cultivation of the land had been injuriously restricted, for the energies of farmers had been limited to producing certaindescriptions of food, and they had neglected others which would havebeen far[634] more profitable. The landlord had profited by higherrents, but, according to Caird, a most competent observer, hadgenerally speaking been induced by a reliance on protection to neglecthis duty to his estates, so that buildings were poor, and drainageneglected. The labourer was little if any better off than eighty yearsbefore. It was a mystery even to farmers how they lived in many partsof the country; 'our common drink, ' said one, 'is burnt crust tea, wenever know what it is to get enough to eat. '[635] Against thesedisadvantages can only be put the fact that protection had kept up theprice of corn, a calamity for the mass of the people. 

The amount of wheat imported into England before the era of Corn Lawrepeal was inconsiderable. Mr. Porter has shown[636] how very small aproportion of wheat used in this country was imported from 1801-44. From 1801 to 1810 the average annual import of wheat into the kingdomwas 600, 946 quarters, or a little over a peck annually per head, theaverage annual consumption per head being about eight bushels. Between1811 and 1820 the average importation was 458, 578 quarters, or for theincreased population a gallon-and-a-half per head, and the same sharefor each person was imported in the next decade 1821-30. From 1831-40the average imports arose to 607, 638 quarters, or two-and-a-quartergallons per head, and in 1841-4 an average import of 1, 901, 495quarters raised the average supply to four-and-a-half gallons perperson, still a very small proportion of the amount consumed. 

In 1836 a small association had been formed in London for advocatingthe repeal of the Corn Laws, and in 1838 a similar association wasformed in Manchester. [637] At one of its earliest meetings appearedRichard Cobden, under whose guidance the association became theAnti-Corn Law League, and at whose invitation John Bright joined theLeague. Under these two men the Anti-Corn Law League commenced itsgreat agitation, its object being 'to convince the manufacturer thatthe Corn Laws were interfering with the growth of trade, to persuadethe people that they were raising the price of food, to teach theagriculturist that they had not even the solitary merit of securing afixed price for corn'. The country was deluged with pamphlets, backedup by constant public meetings; and these efforts, aided byunfavourable seasons, convinced many of the errors of protection. In1840 the League spent £5, 700 in distributing 160, 000 circulars and150, 000 pamphlets, and in delivering 400 lectures to 800, 000 people. Bakers were persuaded to bake taxed and untaxed shilling loaves, and, on the purchaser choosing the larger, to demand the tax from thelandlord; in 1843 the League collected £50, 000, next year £100, 000, and in 1845 £250, 000 in support of their agitation. 

Yet for some years they had little success in Parliament; even in 1842Peel only amended the laws; and it was not until 1846 that, convincedby the League's arguments, as he himself confessed, and stimulated bythe famine in Ireland, he introduced the famous Act, 9 & 10 Vict. C. 22. 

By this the maximum duty on imported wheat was at once to be reducedto 10s. A quarter when the price was under 48s. , to 5s. On barley whenthe price was under 26s. , and to 4s. On oats when the price was under18s. , with lower duties as prices rose above these figures, but themost important part of the Act was that on February 1, 1849, theseduties were to cease, and only a nominal duty of 1s. A quarter onforeign corn be retained, which was abolished in 1860. 

By 9 and 10 Vict. C. 23 the duties on live stock were also abolishedentirely. Down to 1842 the importation of horned cattle, sheep, hogs, and other animals used as food was strictly prohibited, [638] but inthat year the prohibition was withdrawn and they were allowed to enterthe country on a payment of 20s. A head on oxen and bulls, 15s. Oncows, 3s. On sheep, 5s. On hogs; which duties continued till 1846. 

It is interesting to find that so shrewd an observer as McCulloch didnot expect any great increase in the imports of live animals from thereduction of the duties, but he anticipated a great increase in saltedmeat from abroad; cold storage being then undreamt of. 

The full effect of this momentous change was not to be felt for ageneration, but the immediate effect was an agricultural panicapparently justified by falling prices. In 1850 wheat averaged 40s. 3d. And in 1851 38s. 6d. On the other hand, stock farmers were doingwell. But on the corn lands the prices of the protection era had tocome down; many farms were thrown up, some arable turned into pasture;distress was widespread. Owing to the depressed state of agriculturein 1850, the _Times_ sent James Caird on a tour through England, andone of the most important conclusions arrived at in his account of histour is, that owing to protection, the majority of landowners hadneglected their land; but another cause of neglect was that the greatbody of English landlords knew nothing of the management of theirestates, and committed it to agents who knew little more and merelyreceived the rents. The important business of being a landowner is theonly one for which no special training is provided. Many of thelandlords, however, then, as now, were unable to improve their estatesif they desired to do so, as they were hopelessly encumbered, and theexpense of sale was almost prohibitive. The contrast between good andbad farmers was more marked in 1850 than to-day, the efforts of theRoyal Agricultural Society to raise the general standard of farminghad not yet borne much fruit. In many counties, side by side, werefarmers who used every modern improvement, and those who stillemployed the methods of the eighteenth century: on one farm wheatproducing 40 bushels an acre, threshed by steam at a cost of 3s. 6d. , on the next 20 bushels to the acre threshed by the flail at a cost of9s. [639]

Drainage in the counties where it was needed had made considerableprogress, the removal of useless hedgerows often crowded with timber, that kept the sun from the crops and whose roots absorbed much of thenourishment of the soil, was slowly extending, but farm-buildingsalmost everywhere were defective. 'The inconvenient ill-arrangedhovels, the rickety wood and thatch barns and sheds devoid of everyknown improvement for economizing labour, food, and manure, which areto be met with in every county in England, are a reproach to thelandlords in the eyes of all good farmers. '[640] The farm-buildings ofBelgium, Holland, France, and the Rhenish Provinces were muchsuperior. In parts of England indeed no progress seems to have beenmade for generations at this date. Thousands of acres of peat moss inLancashire were unreclaimed, and many parts of the Fylde district weredifficult even to traverse. Even in Warwickshire, in the heart ofEngland, between Knowle and Tamworth, instead of signs of industry andimprovement were narrow winding lanes leading to nothing, traversed bylean pigs and rough cattle, broad copse-like hedges, small andirregular fields of couch, amidst which straggled the stalks of somesmothered cereal; these with gipsy encampments and the occasionalsound of the poacher's gun from woods and thickets around were thecharacteristics of the district. [641]

Leases were the exception throughout England, though more prevalent inthe west. [642] The greater proportion of farms were held on yearlyagreements terminable by six months' notice on either side, a systempreferred by the landlord as enabling him to retain a greater holdover his land, and acquiesced in by the tenant because of easy rents. In spite of this insecurity of tenure and the absence of AgriculturalHoldings Acts, the tenants invested their capital largely with noother security than the landlord's character, 'for in no country ofthe world does the character of any class of men stand so high forfair and generous dealing as that of the great body of the Englishlandlords. '

The custom of tenant-right was unknown except in certain counties, Surrey, Sussex, the Weald of Kent, Lincoln, North Notts, and in partof the West Riding of Yorkshire. [643] Where it existed, theagriculture was on the whole inferior to that of the districts whereit did not, and it had frequently led to fraud in a greater or lessdegree. Many farmers were in the practice of 'working up to aquitting', or making a profit by the difference which their ingenuityand that of their valuer enabled them to demand at leaving as comparedwith what they paid on entry. The best farmers as well as thelandlords were said to be disgusted with the system. The dislike forleases in the days immediately before the repeal of the Corn Laws waspartly due to the uncertainty how long protection would last; butchiefly then, as afterwards, to the fact that if a man improved hisfarm under a lease he had nearly always to pay an increased rent onrenewal, but if he held from year to year his improvement, if any, wasso gradual and imperceptible that it was hardly noticed and the rentwas not raised. It may also be attributable to the moderndisinclination to be bound down to a particular spot for a longperiod. At all events, the general dislike of farmers for leases is acurious commentary on the assertions of those writers who said thatleases were his chief necessity. 

The disparity of the labourer's wages in 1850 was most remarkable, ranging from 15s. A week in parts of Lancashire to 6s. In South Wilts, the average of the northern counties being 11s. 6d. , and of thesouthern 8s. 5d. A difference due wholly to the influence ofmanufactures, which is still further proved by the fact that inLancashire in 1770 wages were below the average for England. In factsince Young's time wages in the north had increased 66 per cent. , inthe south only 14 per cent. In Berkshire and Wiltshire there had beenno increase in that period, and in Suffolk an actual decrease. It isnot surprising to learn that in some southern counties wages were notsufficient for healthy sustenance, and the consequence was, thatthere, the average amount of poor relief per head of population was8s. 8-1/2d. , but in the north 4s. 7-3/4d. , and the percentage ofpaupers was twice as great in the former as in the latter. This wasmainly due to two causes: (1) the ratepayers of parishes in the southwere accustomed to divide among themselves the surplus labour, notaccording to their requirements but in proportion to the size of theirfarms, so that a farmer who was a good economist of labour was reducedby this system to the same level as his unskilful neighbours, and thelabourer himself had no motive to do his best, as every one, good andbad, was employed at the same rate. (2) To the system of close andopen parishes, by which large proprietors could drive the labourerfrom the parish where he worked to live in some distant village incase he should become chargeable to the rates, so that it was a commonthing to see labourers walking three or four miles each day to theirwork and back, and in one county farmers provided donkeys for them. Between 1840 and 1850 the labourer had, however, already benefited byfree trade, for the price of many articles he consumed fell 30%; onthe other hand the rent of his cottage in eighty years had increased100%, and meat 70%, which however did not, unfortunately, affect himmuch. The great development of railway construction also helped him byabsorbing much surplus labour, and the work of his wife and childrenwas more freely exploited at this date to swell the familybudget. [644]

The great difference between the wages of the north and the south isa clear proof that the wages of the agricultural labourer are notdependent on the prices of agricultural produce, for those were thesame in both regions. It was unmistakably due to the greater demandfor labour in the north. 

The housing of the labourer was, especially in the south, often ablack blot on English civilization. From many instances collected byan inquirer in 1844 the following may be taken. At Stourpaine inDorset, one bedroom in a cottage contained three beds occupied byeleven people of all ages and both sexes, with no curtain or partitionwhatever. At Milton Abbas, on the average of the last census therewere thirty-six persons in each house, and so crowded were they thatcottagers with a desire for decency would combine and place all themales in one cottage, and all the females in another. But this wasrare, and licentiousness and immorality of the worst kind werefrequent. [645]

As for the farmer, the stock raiser was doing better than the corngrower. The following table shows the rent of cultivated land peracre, the produce of wheat per acre in bushels, the price ofprovisions, wages of labour, and rent of cottages in England at thedate of Young's tours, about 1770, and of Caird's in 1850[647]:

 Rent of Produce of cultivated land Wheat Price per lb. Of per acre. Per acre. Bread. Meat. Butter. 

 1770 13s. 4d. 23 1-1/2d. 3-1/4d. 6d. 1850 26s. 10d. 26-3/4[646] 1-1/4d. 5d. 1s. 

 Price of Wool Cottage Labourer's wages per lb. Rents. Per week. 

 1770 5-1/2d. 34s. 8d. 7s. 3d. 1850 1s. 74s. 6d. 9s. 7d. 

Thus in eighty years the average rent of arable land rose 100%, theaverage wheat crop 14%, while the price of bread had decreased 16%. But meat had increased 70%, wool over 100%, butter 100%. The chiefbenefit to the farmer therefore lay in the increased value of livestock and its products, and it was found then, as in the presentdepression, that the holders of strong wheat land suffered most, whichwas further illustrated by the fact that the rent of the corn-growingcounties of the east coast averaged 23s. 8d. Per acre; that of themixed corn and grass counties in the midlands and west, 31s. 5d. 

Writing in 1847, Porter said rents had doubled since 1790. [648] InEssex farms could be pointed out which were let in 1790 at less than10s. An acre, but during the war at from 45s. To 50s. In 1818 the rentwent down to 35s. , and in 1847 was 20s. 

In Berks. And Wilts. Farms let at 14s. Per acre in 1790, rose by 1810to 70s. , or fivefold; sank in 1820 to 50s. , and in 1847 to 30s. InStaffordshire farms on one estate let for 8s. An acre in 1790, roseduring the war to 35s. , and at the peace were lowered to 20s. , atwhich price they remained. Owing to better farming light soils hadbeen applied to uses for which heavy lands alone had formerly beenconsidered fit, with a considerable increase of rent. 

On the Duke of Rutland's[649] Belvoir estate, of from 18, 000 to 20, 000acres of above average quality, rents were in--

 1799 19s. 3-3/4d. An acre. 1812 25s. 8-3/4d. " 1830 25s. 1-3/4d. " 1850 36s. 8d. "

But the Dukes of Rutland were indulgent landlords and evidently tookno undue advantage of the high prices during the war, a policy whosewisdom was fully justified afterwards. 

It was the opinion of most competent judges, even after the abolitionof the Corn Laws, that English land would continue to rise in value. Porter stated that the United Kingdom could never be habituallydependent on the soil of other countries for the food of its people, there was not enough shipping to transport it if it could. [650]

Caird prophesied that in the next eighty years the value of land inEngland would more than double. The wellnigh universal opinion wasthat as the land of England could not increase, and the population wasconstantly increasing, land must become dearer. Men failed to foreseethe opening of millions of acres of virgin soil in other parts of theworld, and the improvement of transport to such an extent that wheathas occasionally been carried as ballast. About twenty-five or thirtyyears after these prophecies their fallacy began to be cruellyexposed. [651]

About 1853[652] matters began to mend, chiefly owing to the greatexpansion in trade that followed the great gold discoveries in Americaand Australia. Then, came the Crimean War, with the closing of theBaltic to the export of Russian corn, wheat in 1855 averaging 74s. 8d. , and in the next decade the American War crippled anothercompetitor, the imports of wheat from the United States sinking from16, 140, 000 cwt in 1862, to 635, 000 cwt. In 1866. From 1853 until 1875English agriculture prospered exceedingly, assisted largely by goodseasons. Between 1854 and 1865 there were ten good harvests, and onlytwo below the average. Prices of produce rose almost continuously, andthe price and rent of land with them. The trade of the country wasgood, and the demand for the farmer's products steadily grew; thecapital value of the land, live stock, and crops upon it, increased inthis period by £445, 000, 000. [653]

It appeared as if the abolition of the Corn Laws was not to have anygreat effect after all. 

Now at last the great body of farmers began to approach the standardset them long before by the more energetic and enterprising. Earlymaturity in finishing live stock for the market by scientific feedingprobably added a fourth to their weight The produce of crops per acregrew, and drainage and improvements were carried out on all sides, thegreatest improvement being made in the cultivation and management ofstrong lands, of which drainage was the foundation, and enabled theoccupier to add swedes to his course of cropping. [654]

It was in this period that Shorthorns, Herefords, and Devons attaineda standard of excellence which has made them sought after by the wholeworld; and other breeds were perfected, the Sussex and Aberdeen Angusespecially; while in sheep the improvement was perhaps evengreater. [655] The improved Lincolns, Oxford Downs, Hampshire Downs, and Shropshires took their place as standard breeds at this period. In1866, after many years of expectation and disappointment, agriculturists were furnished with statistics which are trustworthyfor practical purpose, but are somewhat vitiated by the fact that thelive stock census was taken on March 5, which obviously omitted alarge number of young stock; so that those for 1867, when the censuswas taken on June 25, are better for purposes of comparison with thoseof subsequent years, when the census has been taken on June 4 or 5. Between 1867 and 1878 the cattle in England and Wales had increasedfrom 4, 013, 564 to 4, 642, 641, though sheep had diminished from22, 025, 498 to 21, 369, 810. [656] The total acreage under cultivation hadincreased from 25, 451, 526 acres to 27, 164, 326 acres in the sameperiod. 

There was, however, one black shadow in this fair picture: in 1865England was invaded by the rinderpest, which spread with alarmingrapidity, killing 2, 000 cows in a month from its first appearance, andwithin six months infecting thirty-six counties. [657] The alarm wasgeneral, and town and country meetings were held in the variousdistricts where the disease appeared to concert measures of defence. The Privy Council issued an order empowering Justices to appointinspectors authorized to seize and slaughter any animal labouringunder such diseases; but, in spite of this, the plague raged withredoubled fury throughout September. There was gross mismanagement incombating it, for the inspectors were often ignorant men, and nocompensation was paid for slaughter, so that farmers often sold offmost of their diseased stock before hoisting the black flag. Theravages of the disease in the London cow-houses was fearful, as mightbe expected, and they are said to have been left empty; by no means anunmixed evil, as the keeping of cow-houses in towns was a glaringdefiance of the most obvious sanitary laws. In October a Commissionwas appointed to investigate the origin and nature of the disease, andthe first return showed a total of 17, 673 animals attacked. By March9, 1866, 117, 664 animals had died from the plague, and 26, 135 beenkilled in the attempt to stay it. By the end of August the disease hadbeen brought within very narrow limits, and was eventually stamped outby the resolute slaughter of all infected animals. By November 24 thenumber of diseased animals that had died or been killed was209, 332, [658] and the loss to the nation was reckoned at £3, 000, 000. The disease was brought by animals exported from Russia, who came fromRevel, via the Baltic, to Hull. In 1872, cattle brought to the sameport infected the cattle of the East Riding of Yorkshire, but thisoutbreak was checked before much damage had been done, and since 1877there has been no trace of this dreaded disease in the kingdom. Thecattle plague, rinderpest, or steppe murrain, is said[659] to havefirst appeared in England in 1665, the year of the Great Plague, andreappeared in 1714, when it came from Holland, but did little damage, being chiefly confined to the neighbourhood of London. The nextoutbreak was in 1745, and lasted for twelve years, undoubtedly comingfrom Holland; it is said to have caused such destruction among thecattle, that much of the grass land in England was ploughed up andplanted with corn, so that the exports of grain increased largely. In1769 it came again, but only affected a few localities, anddisappeared in 1771, not to return till 1865. 

Foot and mouth disease was first observed in England in 1839, [660]and it was malignant in 1840-1, when cattle, sheep, and pigs wereattacked as they were during the serious outbreak of 1871-2. In 1883no less than 219, 289 cattle were attacked, besides 217, 492 sheep, and24, 332 pigs, when the disease was worse than it has ever been inEngland. Since then, though there have been occasional outbreaks, ithas much abated. Another dread scourge of cattle, pleuro-pneumonia, was at its worst in 1872, a most calamitous year in this respect, when7, 983 cattle were attacked. In 1890 the Board of Agriculture assumedpowers with respect to it under the Diseases of Animals Act of thatyear, and their consequent action has been attended with great successin getting rid of the disease. 

At the end of this halcyon period farmers had to contend with a newdifficulty, the demand for higher wages by their labourers at theinstigation of Joseph Arch. [661] This famous agitator was born atBarford in Warwickshire in 1826, and as a boy worked for neighbouringfarmers, educating himself in his spare time. The miserable state ofthe labourer which he saw all around him entered into his soul, meatwas rarely seen on his table, even bacon was a luxury in manycottages. Tea was 6s. To 7s. A lb. , sugar 8d. , and other prices inproportion; the labourers stole turnips for food, and every other manwas a poacher. Arch made himself master of everything he undertook, became famous as a hedger, mower, and ploughman, and beingconsequently employed all over the Midlands and South Wales, began togauge the discontent of the labourer who was then voiceless, voteless, and hopeless. His wages by 1872 had increased to 12s. A week, but hadnot kept pace with the rise in prices. Bread was 7-1/2d. A loaf; thelabourer had lost the benefit of his children's labour, for they hadnow all gone to school; his food was 'usually potatoes, dry bread, greens, herbs, "kettle broth" made by putting bread in the kettle, weak tea, bacon sometimes, fresh meat hardly ever. '[662] It isdifficult to realize that at the end of the third quarter of thenineteenth century, when Gladstone said the prosperity of the countrywas advancing 'by leaps and bounds', that any class of the community_in full work_ could live under such wretched conditions. Arch came tothe conclusion that labour could only improve its position whenorganized, and the Agricultural Labourers' Union was initiated in1872. Not that the idea of obtaining better conditions by combinationwas new to the rural labourer. It was attempted in 1832 in Dorset, butspeedily crushed, and not till 1865 was a new union founded inScotland, which was followed by a strike in Buckinghamshire in 1867, and the foundation of a union in Herefordshire in 1871. [663] It wasdetermined to ask for 16s. A week and a 9-1/2 hours' working day, which the farmers refused to grant, and the men struck. The agitationspread all over England, and was often conducted unwisely and with abitter spirit, but the labourer was embittered by generations ofsordid misery. Very reluctantly the farmers gave way, and generallyspeaking wages went up during the agitation to 14s. Or 15s. A week, though Arch himself admits that even during the height of it they wereoften only 11s. And 12s. With the bad times, about 1879, wages beganto fall again, and men were leaving the Agricultural Union; by 1882Arch says many were again taking what the farmer chose to give. From1884 the Union steadily declined, and after a temporary revival about1890, practically collapsed in 1894. Other unions had been started, but were then going down hill, and in 1906 only two remained in amoribund condition. Their main object, to raise the labourer's wages, was largely counteracted by the acute depression in agriculture, andthough there has since been considerable recovery, there are districtsin England to-day where he only gets 11s. And 12s. A week. 

The Labourers' Union helped to deal a severe blow to the 'gangsystem', which had grown up at the beginning of the century (when thehigh corn prices led to the breaking up of land where there were nolabourers, so that 'gangs' were collected to cultivate it[664]), bywhich overseers, often coarse bullies, employed and sweated gangssometimes numbering 60 or 70 persons, including small children, andwomen, the latter frequently very bad specimens of their sex. Thesegangs went turnip-singling, bean-dropping, weeding &c. , whilepea-picking gangs ran to 400 or 500. Though some of these gangs wereproperly managed, the system was a bad one, and the Union and theEducation Acts helped its disappearance. 

FOOTNOTES:

[613] Cylindrical pipes came in about 1843, though they had beenrecommended in 1727 by Switzer. 

[614] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (1st series), xxii. 260. 

[615] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1890, pp. 1 sq. 

[616] Ibid. , 1894, pp. 205 sq. 

[617] McCombie, _Cattle and Cattle Breeders_, p. 33. 

[618] These classes, however, did not comprise all the then knownbreeds of live stock. 

[619] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1892, pp. 479 sq. 

[620] At the show at Birmingham In 1898 there were 22 entries ofLonghorns; in 1899 a Longhorn Cattle Society was established, and theherd-book resuscitated. More than twenty herds of the breed are nowwell established. 

[621] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1901, p. 24. 

[622] Caird, _English Agriculture in 1850-1_, pp. 252 sq. 

[623] Porter, _Progress of the Nation_, p. 142. 

[624] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1901, p. 25. 

[625] Ibid. 1896, p. 96. 

[626] Ibid. (1st ser. ), vi. 2. 

[627] Ibid. (1st ser. ), v. 102. 

[628] 1838, 64s. 7d; 1839, 70s. 8d. ; 1840, 66s. 4d. ; 1841, 64s. 4d. 

[629] Tooke, _History of Prices_, iv. 19. 

[630] C. Wren Hoskyns, _Agricultural Statistics_, p. 5. 

[631] The abnormal prices during the Crimean War cannot fairly betaken into account. The home and foreign supplies of wheat and flourfrom 1839-46 were:--

 Home Supplies. Foreign Supplies. Qrs. Qrs. 

 1839-40 4, 022, 000 1, 762, 482 1840-1 3, 870, 648 1, 925, 241 1841-2 3, 626, 173 2, 985, 422 1842-3 5, 078, 989 2, 405, 217 1843-4 5, 213, 454 1, 606, 912 1844-5 6, 664, 368 476, 190 1845-6 5, 699, 969 2, 732, 134

 (Tooke, _History of Prices_, iv. 414. )

1844-5 was a very abundant crop, and the threatened repeal of the CornLaws induced farmers to send all the corn possible to market. 

[632] Tooke, _History of Prices_, iv. 32. 

[633] Cobden's Speech, March 12, 1844. 

[634] Tooke, _History of Prices_, iv. 142. 

[635] From evidence collected by Mr. Austin in the southern counties. 

[636] _Progress of Nation_, pp. 137 sq. For the amount imported beforethat date, see Appendix 2. 

[637] Walpole, _History of England_, iv. 63 sq. Cobden apparentlynever contemplated such low prices for corn as have prevailed since1883. In his speech of March 12, 1844, he mentioned 50s. A quarter asa probable price under free trade, and he died before the full effectof foreign competition was felt by the English farmer. 

[638] McCulloch, _Commercial Dictionary_, 1847, p. 274. See below, pp. 325 sq. 

[639] Caird, _English Agriculture in 1850-1_, p. 498. 

[640] Ibid. P. 490. 

[641] _Victoria County History: Warwickshire_, ii. 277. 

[642] Caird, _op. Cit. _, p. 481. 

[643] Caird, _op. Cit. _ p. 507. 

[644] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _ pp. 220, 226. 

[645] Cobden's Speech, March 12, 1844. 

[646] Mr. Pusey, one of the best informed agriculturists of the day, estimated the produce of wheat per acre in 1840 at 26bushels. --_R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1890, p. 20. 

[647] Caird, _English Farming in 1850-1_, p. 474. 

[648] _Progress of the Nation_. 

[649] Thorold Rogers, _History of Agriculture and Prices_, v. 29. 

[650] _Progress of the Nation_, pp. 137-9. 

[651] Yet as the growth of population overtakes the corn and meatsupply, these prophets may in the end prove correct. 

[652] The Great Exhibition of 1851 was said to have widely diffusedthe use of improved implements. --_R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1856, p. 54. 

[653] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1890, p. 34. 

[654] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1856, p. 60. 

[655] Ibid. 1901, p. 30. See below, p. 343. 

[656] _Board of Agriculture Returns_, 1878, and _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1868, p. 239. Young estimated the number of cattle in England in 1770at 2, 852, 048, including 684, 491 draught cattle. --_Eastern Tour_, iv. 456. 

[657] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, (2nd ser. ), ii. 230. 

[658] Ibid. Iii. 430. 

[659] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (2nd ser. ), ii. 270. 

[660] See _Autobiography of Joseph Arch_. 

[661] Ibid. Ix. 274. 

[662] In many districts, however, his food was better than this. 

[663] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _, pp. 276-7. 

[664] Hasbach, _op. Cit. _, pp. 193, et seq. The Gangs Act (30 & 31Vict. C. 130) had already brought the system under control. 

CHAPTER XXI

1875-1908

AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS AGAIN. --FOREIGN COMPETITION. --AGRICULTURALHOLDINGS ACTS. --NEW IMPLEMENTS. --AGRICULTURAL COMMISSIONS. --THESITUATION IN 1908

About the year 1875 the good times came to an end. The full force offree trade was at last felt. The seasons assisted the decline, andthere was now no compensation in the shape of higher prices. In theeight years between 1874 and 1882 there were only two good crops. Anew and formidable competitor had entered the field; between 1860 and1880 the produce of wheat in the United States had trebled. Vaststretches of virgin soil were opened up with the most astonishingrapidity by railroads, and European immigrants poured in. The cost oftransport fell greatly, and England was flooded with foreign corn andmeat. English land which had to support the landlord, the tithe-owner, the land agent, the farmer, the labourer, and a large army ofpaupers, [665] had to compete with land where often one man was owner, farmer, and labourer, with no tithe and no poor rates. Yet prices heldup fairly well until 1884, when there was a collapse from which theyhave not yet recovered. In 1877 wheat was 56s. 9d. , in 1883 41s. 7d. , and in 1884 35s. 8d. ; by 1894 the average price for the year was 22s. 10d. [666]

Farmers' capital was reduced from 30 to 50 per cent. , and rents andthe purchase value of land in a similar proportion. Poor clays onlyfit for wheat and beans went out of cultivation, though much has sincebeen laid down to grass, and much has 'tumbled down'. In fact most ofthe increased value of the good period between 1853-75 disappeared. 

The year 1879 will long be remembered as 'the Black Year'. It was theworst of a succession of wet seasons in the midland, western andsouthern counties of England, the average rainfall being one-fourthabove the average, and 1880 was little better. The land, saturated andchilled, produced coarser herbage, the finer grasses languished orwere destroyed, fodder and grain were imperfectly matured. Mould andergot were prevalent among plants, and flukes producing liver-rotamong live stock, especially sheep. In 1879 in England and Wales3, 000, 000 sheep died or were sacrificed from rot, [667] by 18815, 000, 000 had perished at an estimated loss of £10, 000, 000, and many, alas! were sent to market full of disease. Cattle also were infected, and hares, rabbits, and deer suffered. In some cases entire flocks ofsheep disappeared. The disease was naturally worst on low-lying andill-drained pastures, but occurred even on the drier uplands hithertoperfectly free from liver-rot, carried thither no doubt by thedroppings of infected sheep, hares, and rabbits, and perhaps by thefeet of men and animals. Apart from medicine, concentrated dry foodgiven systematically, the regular use of common salt, and of courseremoval from low-lying and damp lands, were found the bestpreventives. 

Besides this great calamity, this year was distinguished by one of theworst harvests of the century, outbreaks of foot and mouth disease, ofpleuro-pneumonia, and a disastrous attack of foot-rot. The misfortunesof the landed interest produced a Commission in 1879 under the Duke ofRichmond, which conducted a most laborious and comprehensive inquiry. Their report, issued in 1882, stated that they were unanimouslyconvinced of the great intensity and extent of the distress that hadfallen upon the agricultural community. Owner and occupier had alikebeen involved. Yet, though agricultural distress had prevailed overthe whole country, the degree had varied in different counties, and insome cases in different parts of the same counties. Cheshire, forinstance, had not suffered to anything like the same extent as othercounties, nor was the depression so severe in Cumberland, Westmoreland, Northumberland, and parts of Yorkshire. The rainfall hadbeen less in the northern counties. In the midlands, the eastern, andmost of the southern counties the distress was severe, in Essex thestate of agriculture was deplorable, but Kent, Devon, and Cornwallwere not hardly hit. [668]

The chief causes of the depression were said to be these:--

 1. The succession of unfavourable seasons, causing crops deficient in quantity and quality, and losses of live stock. 

 2. Low prices, partly due to foreign imports and partly to the inferior quality of the home production. 

 3. Increased cost of production. 

 4. Increased pressure of local taxation by the imposition of new rates, viz. The education rate and the sanitary rate; and the increase of old rates, especially the highway rate, in consequence of the abolition of turnpikes. Some exceptionally bad instances of this were given. In the parish of Didmarton, Gloucestershire, the average amount of rates paid for the five years ending March 31, 1858, was £26 6s. 3d. , for the five years ending March 31, 1878, £118 11s. 7d. In the Northleach Union the rates had increased thus in decennial periods from 1850:--

 1850-1 £5, 471 1860-1 5, 534 1870-1 8, 525 1878-9 10, 089

 On one small property in Staffordshire the increase of rates, other than poor rates, amounted to 3s. 6d. In the £ on the rateable value. 

 5. Excessive rates charged by railway companies for the conveyance of produce, and preferential rates given to foreign agricultural produce; the railway companies alleging, in defence of this, that foreign produce was consigned in much greater bulk, by few consignors, than home grown, and could be conveyed much more economically than if picked up at different stations in small quantities. 

As to the effect of restrictive covenants on the depression, thebalance of evidence did not incline either way. [669]

The Agricultural Holdings Act of 1875 was stated to have done muchgood in the matter of compensation to tenants for improvements, notwithstanding its merely permissive character, as it had reversedthe presumption of law in relation to improvements effected by thetenant, prescribed the amount of compensation, and the mode in whichit should be given. 

As to the important subject of freedom of cropping and sale ofproduce, there were diverse opinions, some advocating it wholly, others not believing in it at all, others saying each landlord andeach tenant should make their own bargains since each farm stands onits own footing, others again favouring modified restrictions. Thepreponderance of opinion was in favour of a modification of the law ofdistress. 

The Commission further said that the pressure of foreign competitionwas greatly in excess of the anticipations of the supporters and ofthe apprehensions of the opponents of Corn Law Repeal; if it had notbeen for this, English farmers would have been partly compensated forthe deficient yield by higher prices. On the other hand, the farmerhad had the advantage of an increased and cheapened supply of feedingstuffs, such as maize, linseed and cotton cakes, and of artificialmanures imported from abroad. At the same time the benefit to thecommunity from cheap food was immense. It seemed just, however, thatas agriculture was suffering from low prices, by which the countrygained as a whole, that the proportion of taxation imposed on the landshould be lessened; it was especially unjust that personal propertywas exempted from local rates, contrary to the Act of 43 Eliz. C. 2, and the whole burden thrown on real property. The difficulties offarmers were aggravated by the high price of labour, which hadincreased 25 per cent. In twenty years, largely owing to thecompetition of other industries, and at the same time become lessefficient. As provisions were cheap, and employment abundant, thelabourer had been scarcely affected by the distress. His cottage, however, especially if in the hands of a small owner, with neither themeans nor the will to expend money on improvements, was often stillvery defective. 

Farmers were already complaining of the results of the new system ofeducation, for which they had to pay, while it deprived them of thelabour of boys, and drained from the land the sources of future labourby making the young discontented with farm work. The Commission deniedthat rents had been unduly raised previous to 1875[670]; and in theexceptional cases where they had been, it was due to the imprudentcompetition of tenant farmers encouraged by advances made by countrybankers, the sudden withdrawal of which had greatly contributed to thepresent distress. Districts where dairying was carried on had sufferedleast, yet the yield of milk was much diminished, and the qualitydeteriorated, owing to the inferiority of grass from a continuance ofwet seasons. The production and sale of milk was increasing largely, so that the attention of farmers and landlords was being drawn to thisimportant branch of farming, milk-sellers necessarily suffering lessfrom foreign competition than any other farmers. 

Let us turn once more to the hop yards: in 1878 the acreage of hops inEngland reached its maximum. We have seen that in the first half ofthe eighteenth century hop yards covered 12, 000 acres; which between1750 and 1780 increased to 25, 000, and by 1800 to 32, 000. In 1878, 71, 789 acres were grown. The great increase prior to that year was dueto the abolition of the excise duty in 1862, which on an average wasequal to an annual charge of nearly £7 an acre. [671] This encouragedhop-growing more than the taking off of the import duty in the sameyear discouraged it. In 1882 there was a very small crop in England, which raised the average price to £18 10s. A cwt. ; some choice samplesfetching £30 a cwt. ; growers who had good crops realizing much morethan the freehold value of the hop yards. This, however, was mostunfortunate for them, as it led to a great increase in the use of hopsubstitutes, such as quassia, chiretta, colombo, gentian, &c. , which, with the decreasing consumption of beer and the demand for lighterbeer, has done more than foreign competition to lower the price andthereby cause so large an area to be grubbed up as unprofitable, thatin 1907 it was reduced to 44, 938 acres. Yet the quality of the hopshas in the last generation greatly improved in condition, quality, andappearance. Growers also have in the same period often incurred greatexpense in substituting various methods of wire-work for poles; andwashing, generally with quassia chips and soft soap and water, hasbecome wellnigh universal, so that the expense of growing the crop hasincreased, while the price has been falling. [672] The crop has alwaysbeen an expensive one to grow; Marshall in 1798 put it at £20 an acre, exclusive of picking, drying, and marketing[673]; and Young estimatedthe total cost at the same date at £31 10s. An acre[674]; to-day £40an acre is by no means an outside price. It may be some encouragementto growers to remember that hops have always been subject to greatfluctuations in price; between 1693 and 1700, for instance, theyvaried from 40s. To 240s. A cwt. , so that they may yet see them at aremunerative figure. 'Upon the whole', says an eighteenth-centurywriter, 'though many have acquired large estates by hops, their realadvantage is perhaps questionable. By engrossing the attention of thefarmer they withdraw him from slower and more certain sources ofwealth, and encourage him to rely too much upon chance for his rent, rather than the honest labour of the plough. To the landlord thecultivation of hops is an evil, defrauding the arable land of itsproper quantity of manure and thereby impoverishing his estate. '

It was by this time the general opinion of men with a thoroughexperience of farming, that in many parts of Great Britain nosufficient compensation was secured to the tenant for his unexhaustedimprovements. In some counties and districts this compensation wasgiven by established customs, in others customs existed which wereinsufficient, in many they did not exist at all. It must be confessedthat often when a tenant leaves his farm there is more compensationdue to the landlord than to the tenant. Human nature being what it is, the temptation to get as much out of the land just before leaving itis wellnigh irresistible to many farmers. 

In these days, when the landlord is often called upon by the tenant todo what the tenant used to do himself, the question of compensation tothe tenant must on many estates appear to the landlord extremelyironical. It is, in the greater number of cases, the landlord whoshould receive compensation, and not the tenant; and though he haspower to demand it, such power is over and over again not put inforce. 

At the same time there are bad men in the landlord class as in anyother, and from them the tenant required protection. By theAgricultural Holdings (England) Act of 1875, 38 & 39 Vict. C. 92, improvements for which compensation could be claimed by the tenantwere divided into three classes. First class improvements, such asdrainage of land, erection or enlargement of buildings, laying down ofpermanent pasture, &c. , required the previous consent in writing ofthe landlord to entitle the tenant to compensation. Second classimprovements, such as boning of land with undissolved bones, chalking, claying, liming, and marling the land, the latter now hardly everpractised, required notice in writing by the tenant to the landlord ofhis intention, and if notice to quit had been given or received, theconsent in writing of the landlord was necessary. For third classimprovements, such as the application to the land of purchased manure, and consumption on the holding by cattle, sheep, or pigs, of cake orother feeding stuff not produced on the holding, no consent or noticewas required. Improvements in the first class were deemed to beexhausted in twenty years, in the second in seven, and in the third intwo. It was the opinion of the Richmond Commission of 1879 that, notwithstanding the beneficial effects of this Act, no sufficientcompensation for his unexhausted improvements was secured to thetenant. 

The landlord and tenant also might agree in writing that the Actshould not apply to their contract of tenancy, so in 1883 when theAgricultural Holdings Act of that year (46 & 47 Vict. C. 61)[675] waspassed, it was made compulsory as far as regarded compensation, andthe time limit as regards the tenant's claims for improvements wasabolished, the basis for compensation for all improvements recognizedby the Act being laid down as 'the value of the improvement to anincoming tenant'. Improvements for which compensation could be claimedwere again divided into three classes as before, but the drainage ofland was placed in the second class instead of the first, and so onlyrequired notice to the landlord. This was the only improvement in thesecond class; the other improvements which had been in the secondclass in the Act of 1875 were now placed in the third, where noconsent or notice was required. 

The Act also effected three other important alterations in the law;first, as to 'Notices to Quit', a year's notice being necessary wherehalf a year's notice had been sufficient, though this section might beexcluded by agreement; secondly, after January 1, 1885, the landlordcould only distrain for one year's rent instead of six years asformerly; and thirdly, as to fixtures. These formerly became theproperty of the landlord on the determination of the tenancy, but by14 & 15 Vict. C. 25 an agricultural tenant was enabled to removefixtures put up by him with the consent of his landlord foragricultural purposes. Now all fixtures erected after the commencementof the Act were the property of and removable by the tenant, but thelandlord might elect to purchase them. 

This Act was amended by the Act of 1900 (63 & 64 Vict. 50), and hasbeen much altered by the Agricultural Holdings Act of 1906 (6 Edw. VII, c. 56), which has treated the landlord with a degree of severity, which considering the excellent relations that have for the most partexisted between English landlords and tenants for generations, isutterly unwarranted. In several respects indeed he has been treated bythe Act as if the land did not belong to him, while freedom ofcontract, until recent years one of the most cherished principles ofour law, is arbitrarily interfered with. The chief alterations made bythe Act of 1906 were:--

1. _Improvements. _--By the Act of 1883, in the valuation forimprovements under the first schedule, such part of the improvement asis justly due to the inherent capabilities of the soil was notcredited to the tenant This provision is repealed by the Act of 1906, in reference to which it must be said that the latent fertility of thesoil, sometimes very considerable, may be developed by a small outlayon the part of the tenant for which outlay he is certainly entitled tocompensation. But the greater part of the improvement may be due tothe soil which belongs to the landlord, yet the Act credits the tenantwith the whole of this improvement. An addition is made to the list ofimprovements which a tenant may make without his landlord's consentand for which he is entitled on quitting to compensation, viz. Repairsto buildings, being buildings necessary for the proper working of theholding, other than repairs which the tenant is obliged to execute. 

2. _Damage by Game. _ A tenant may now claim compensation for damage tocrops by deer, pheasants, partridges, grouse, and black game. 

3. _Freedom of Cropping and Disposal of Produce. _ Prior to this Act ithad been the custom for generations to insert covenants in agreementsproviding for the proper cultivation of the farm; as, for instance, forbidding the removal from the holding of hay, straw, roots, greencrops, and manure made on the farm. These and other covenants weremerely in the interests of good farming, and to prevent the soildeteriorating. In recent times vexatious covenants formerly insertedhad practically disappeared, and where still existing were seldomenforced. By this Act, notwithstanding any custom of the country orany contract or agreement, the tenant may follow any system ofcropping, and dispose of any of his produce as he pleases, but afterso doing he must make suitable and adequate provision to protect thefarm from injury thereby: a proviso vague and difficult to enforce, and not sufficient to prevent an unscrupulous tenant greatly injuringhis farm. 

4. _Compensation for unreasonable disturbance. _ If a landlord withoutgood cause, and for reasons inconsistent with good estate management, terminates a tenancy by notice to quit; or refuses to grant a renewalof the tenancy if so requested at least one year before the expirationthereof; or if a tenant quits his holding in consequence of a demandby the landlord for an increased rent, such demand being due to anincreased value in the holding owing to improvements done by thetenant; in either of such events the tenant is entitled tocompensation. 

This compensation for disturbance is in direct opposition to therecommendation of the Commission of 1894, [676] and seems to be anunwarrantable interference with the owner's management of his ownland. 

Another benefit, and one long needed, was conferred on farmers by theGround Game Act of 1880, 43 & 44 Vict. , c. 47. Before the Act thetenant had by common law the exclusive right to the game, includinghares and rabbits, unless it was reserved to the landlord, which wasusually the case. By this Act the right to kill ground game, whichoften worked terrible havoc in the tenant's crops, was renderedinseparable from the occupation of the land, though the owner mayreserve to himself a concurrent right. One consequence of this Act hasbeen that the hare has disappeared from many parts of England. 

The greatest improvement in implements during this period was in thedirection of reaping and mowing machines, which have now attained ahigh degree of perfection. As early as 1780 the Society of Artsoffered a gold medal for a reaping machine, but it was not till 1812that John Common of Denwick, Northumberland, invented a machine whichembodied all the essential principles of the modern reaper. Popularhostility to the machine was so great that Common made his earlytrials by moonlight, and he ceased from working on them. [677] Hismachine was improved by the Browns of Alnwick, who sold some numbersin 1822, and shortly afterwards emigrated to Canada taking with themmodels of Common's reapers. McCormick, the reputed inventor of thereaping machine, knew the Browns, and obtained from them a model ofCommon's machine which was almost certainly the father of the famousmachine exhibited by him at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Variousother inventors have assisted in improving this implement, and in 1873the first wire binder was exhibited in Europe by the American, W. A. Wood, wire soon giving place to string owing to the outcry of farmersand millers. The self-binding reaper is the most ingenious ofagricultural machines, and has been of enormous benefit to farmers insaving labour. Though the hay-tedding machine was invented in 1814 itis only during the last thirty years that its use has become common, the spread of the mowing machine making it a necessity, cutting thegrass so fast that only a very large number of men with the old forkscould keep up with it. The tedder also rendered raking by hand tooslow, and the horse-rake, patented first in 1841, has immenselyimproved in the last thirty years. 

Another enormous labour saver is the hay and straw elevator, havingendless chains furnished with carrying forks at intervals of a fewfeet, driven by horse gear. The steam cultivator invented by JohnFowler is much used, but cannot be said to have superseded theordinary working stock of the farm, though for deep ploughing on largefarms of heavy land it is invaluable. Improvements in dairyingappliances have also been great, but the English farmer has generallyfought shy of factories or creameries, so that his butter still lacksthe uniform quality of his foreign rivals. 

In manures the most important innovation in the last generation hasbeen the constantly growing use of basic slag, formerly left neglectedat the pit mouth and now generally recognized as a wonderful producerof clover. 

Most of the suggestions of the Commission of 1879 were carried intoeffect. Rents were largely reduced, so that between 1880 and 1884 theannual value of agricultural land in England sank £5, 750, 000. [678]Grants were made by the Government in aid of local burdens, cottageswere improved although the landowners' capital was constantlydwindling, Settled Land Acts assisted the transfer of limited estates, a Minister of Agriculture was appointed in 1889, and in 1891 thepayment of the tithe was transferred from the tenant to the landlord, which generally meant that the whole burden was now borne by thelatter. 

Still foreign imports continued to pour in and prices to fall. Wheatland, which was subject to the fiercest competition, began to beconverted to other uses, and between 1878 and 1907 had fallen inEngland from 3, 041, 214 acres to 1, 537, 208, most of it being convertedto pasture or 'tumbling down' to grass, while a large quantity wasused for oats. The price of live stock was now falling greatly beforeincreasing imports of live animals and dead meat, while cheese, butter, wool, and fruit were also pouring in. Farming, too, was nowsuffering from a new enemy, gambling in farm produce, which began toshow itself about 1880 and has since materially contributed tolowering prices. [679] The enormous gold premium in the ArgentineRepublic, with the steady fall in silver, was another factor. As Mr. Prothero says, 'Enterprise gradually weakened, landlords lost theirability to help, and farmers their recuperative power. The capitalboth of landlords and tenants was so reduced that neither could affordto spend an unnecessary penny. Land deteriorated in condition, drainage was practically discontinued ... Less cake and less manurewere bought, labour bills were reduced, and the number of malesemployed in farming dwindled as the wheat area contracted. '[680] Theyear 1893 was remarkable for a prolonged drought in the spring; fromMarch 2 to May 14 hardly any rain fell, and live stock were muchreduced in quality from the parching of the herbage, while in manyparts the difficulty of supplying them with water was immense. 

In the same year another Commission on Agriculture was appointed, whose description of the condition of agriculture was a lamentableone. The Commission in their final report[681] stated that the seasonssince 1882 had on the whole been satisfactory from an agriculturalpoint of view, and the evidence brought forward showed that theexisting depression was to be mainly attributed to the fall in pricesof farm produce. This fall had been most marked in the case of grain, particularly wheat, and wool also had fallen heavily. It was notsurprising therefore to find that the arable counties[682] hadsuffered most; in counties where dairying, market gardening, poultryfarming, and other special industries prevailed the distress was lessacute, but no part of the country could be said to have escaped. Innorth Devon, noted for stock rearing, rents had only fallen 10 to 15per cent. Since 1881, and in many cases there had been no reduction atall. In Herefordshire and Worcestershire good grass lands, hop lands, and dairy farms had maintained their rents in many instances, and thereductions had apparently seldom exceeded 15 per cent. ; on the heavyarable lands, however, the reduction was from 20 to 40 per cent. 

In Cheshire, devoted mainly to dairying, there had been no generalreduction of rent, though there had been remissions, and in some casesreductions, of 10 per cent. 

In fact, grazing and dairy lands, which comprise so large an area ofthe northern and western counties, were not badly affected, though thedepreciation in the value of live stock and the fall in wool hadconsiderably diminished farm profits and rents. But of the easterncounties, those in which there are still large quantities of arableland, a different tale was told. In Essex much of the clay land wasgoing out of cultivation; many farms, after lying derelict for a fewyears, were let as grass runs for stock at a nominal rent The rent ofan estate near Chelmsford of 1, 418 acres had fallen from £1, 314 in1879 to £415 in 1892, or from 18s. 6d. An acre to 5s. 10d. [683] Thenet rental of another had fallen from £7, 682 in 1881 to £2, 224 in1892, and the landlord's income from his estate of 13, 009 acres in1892-3 was 1s. An acre. The balance sheet of the estate for the sameyear is an eloquent example of the landowner's profits in thesedepressed times[684]:

 11:12 AM 7/25/2005RECEIPTS. £ s. D. 

 Tithe received 798 5 9 Cottage rents 495 8 6 Garden " 213 5 10 Estate " 7, 452 14 8 Tithes refunded by tenants 530 15 2 -------------- £9, 490 9 11 ==============

 PAYMENTS. £ s. D. 

 Tithe, rates and taxes 2, 964 1 9 Rent-charge and fee farm rents 179 0 4 Gates and fencing 8 7 8 Estate repairs and buildings 4, 350 12 8 Draining 170 6 1 Brickyard 170 1 8 Management 936 14 7 Insurances 58 11 5 Balance profit 652 13 9 --------------- £9, 490 9 11 ===============

In the great agricultural county of Lincoln rents had fallen from 30to 75 per cent. [685] The average amount realized on an acre of wheathad fallen from £10 6s. 3d. In 1873-7 to £2 18s. 11d. In 1892[686];and the fall in the price of cattle between 1882 and 1893 was a littleover 30 per cent. Many of the large farmers in Lincolnshire before1875 had lived in considerable comfort and even luxury, as became menwho had invested large sums, sometimes £20, 000, in their business. They had carriages, hunters, and servants, and gave their children anexcellent start in life. But all this was changed; a day's huntingoccasionally was the utmost they could afford, and wives and daughterstook the work from the servants. The small farmers had suffered morethan the large ones, and the condition of the small freeholders wassaid to be deplorable; a fact to be noted by those who think smallholdings a panacea for distress. [687]

Even near Boston, where the soil is favourable for market gardening, the evidence of the small holder was 'singularly unanimous' as totheir unfortunate condition. The small occupiers were better off thanthe freeholders, because their rents had been reduced and they couldleave their farms if they did not pay; but their position was veryunsatisfactory. From the evidence given to the assistant commissionerit is clear that the small occupier and freeholder could only get onby working harder and living harder than the labourer. 'We all livehard and never see fresh meat, ' said one. 'We can't afford butcher'smeat, ' said another. Another said, 'In the summer I work from 4 a. M. To 8 p. M. , and often do not take more than an hour off for meals. Thatis penal servitude, except you have your liberty. A foreman who earns£1 a week is better off than I am. He has no anxiety, and not half thework. ' These instances could be multiplied many times, so that it isnot surprising that the children of these men have flocked to thetowns. 

In Norfolk, 'twenty or thirty years ago, no class connected with theland held their heads higher' than the farmers. Many of them owned thewhole or a part of the land they farmed, and lived in good style. Allthis was now largely changed. 'The typical Norfolk farmer of to-day isa harassed and hardworking man, ' engaged in the struggle to make bothends meet. Many were ruined. 

However, there were farmers who, by skill, enterprise, and carefulmanagement, made their business pay even in these times, such as thetenant of the farm at Papplewick in Nottinghamshire who gained thefirst prize in the Royal Agricultural Society's farm competition in1888. [688]. This farm consisted of 522 acres, of which only 61 weregrass, but chiefly owing to the trouble taken in growing fine rootcrops, a large number of live stock were annually purchased and soldoff, the following balance sheet showing a profit of £3 1s. 0d. Peracre:

 DR. £

 Rent, tithes, rates, taxes, &c. 278 Wages 387 Purchase of cake, corn, seeds, manure, &c. 688 Purchase of live stock 2, 654 ----- £4, 007 Profit 1, 589 ------ £5, 596 ======

 CR. £

 Corn, hay, potatoes, and like product sold 655 Live stock, poultry, dairy produce, and wool sold 4, 941 ------ £5, 596 ======

The reductions of rents in various counties were estimated thus[689]:

 Per cent. Per cent. 

 Northumberland 20 to 25 Hereford 20 to 30 Cumberland 20 to 40 Somerset 20 to 40 York 10 to 50 Oxford 25 to 50 Lancaster 5 to 30 Suffolk up to 70 Stafford 10 to 25 Essex 25 to 100 Leicester 40 Kent 15 to 100 Nottingham 14 to 50 Hants 25 to 100 Warwick 25 to 60 Wilts 10 to 75 Huntington 40 to 50 Devon 10 to 25 Derby 14 to 25 Cornwall 10 to 100

This large reduction in the rent rolls of landowners has materiallyaffected their position and weakened their power. Many, indeed, havebeen driven from their estates, while others can only live on them byletting the mansion house and the shooting, and occupying some smallhouse on the lands they are reluctant to leave. The agriculturaldepression, which set in about 1875, may in short be said to haveeffected a minor social revolution, and to have completed the ruin ofthe old landed aristocracy as a class. The depreciation of theirrents may be judged from the following figures[690]:

 Gross annual value of lands, including tithes, under Schedule A in England. Decrease. 

 1879-80 1893-4 Amount. Per cent. £ £ £

 48, 533, 340 36, 999, 846 11, 533, 494 23. 7

These figures, however, are far from indicating the full extent ofthe decline in the rental value of purely agricultural land, as theyinclude ornamental grounds, gardens, and other properties, and do nottake into account temporary remissions of rent. Sir James Caird, asearly as 1886, estimated the average reduction on agricultural rentsat 30 per cent. 

The loss in the capital value of land has inevitably been great fromthis reduction in rents, and has been aggravated by the fact that theconfidence of the public in agricultural land as an investment hasbeen much shaken. In 1875 thirty years' purchase on the gross annualvalue of land was the capital value, in 1894 only eighteen years'purchase; and whereas the capital value of land in the United Kingdomwas in 1875 £2, 007, 330, 000, in 1894 it was £1, 001, 829, 212, a decreaseof 49. 6 per cent. Moreover, landlords have incurred increasedexpenditure on repairs, drainage, and buildings, and taxation hasgrown enormously. On the occupiers of land the effect of thedepression was no less serious, their profits having fallen on anaverage 40 per cent. [691] Occupying owners had suffered as much as anyother class, both yeomen who farmed considerable farms and smallfreeholders. Many of the former had bought land in the good times whenland was dear and left a large portion of the purchase money onmortgage, with the result that the interest on the mortgage was nowmore than the rent of the land. [692]

They were thus worse off than the tenant farmer, for they paid ahigher rent in the shape of interest; moreover, they could not leavetheir land, for it could only be sold at a ruinous loss. The'statesmen' of Cumberland were weighed down by the same burdens andtheir disappearance furthered; for instance, in the parish of AbbeyQuarter, between 1780 and 1812 their number decreased from 51 to 38. By 1837 it was 30; by 1864, 21; and in 1894 only 9 remained. 

The small freeholders were also largely burdened with mortgages, andeven in the Isle of Axholme were said to have suffered more than anyother class; largely because of their passion for acquiring land athigh prices, leaving most of the purchase money on mortgage, andstarting with insufficient capital. 

As regards the agricultural labourer, the chief effect of thedepression had been a reduction of the number employed and aconsequent decrease in the regularity of employment. [693]

Their material condition had everywhere improved, though there werestill striking differences in the wages paid in different parts; andthe improvement, though partly due to increased earnings, was mainlyattributable to the cheapening of the necessaries of life. [694] Thegreat majority of ordinary labourers were hired by the week, exceptthose boarded in the farm-house, who were generally hired by the year. Men, also, who looked after the live stock were hired by the year. Weekly wages ranged from 10s. In Wilts, and Dorset to 18s. InLancashire, and averaged 13s. 6d. For the whole country. 

The fall in the prices of agricultural produce is best represented intabular form:

 TRIENNIAL AVERAGE OF BRITISH WHEAT, BARLEY, AND OATS PER QUARTER. 

 Wheat. Barley. Oats. S. D. S. D. S. D. 

 1876-8 49 9 38 4 25 6 1893-5 24 1 24 0 16 9

Thus wheat had fallen 53 per cent. , barley 37, and oats 34. 

 TRIENNIAL AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CATTLE, PER STONE OF 8 LB. 

 Inferior quality. Second quality. First quality. 

 s. D. S. D. S. D. 

 1876-8 4 5 5 6 6 0 1893-5 2 8 4 0 4 7

Or a fall of 24 per cent. In the best quality, and 40 per cent. Ininferior grades. 

The decline in the prices of all classes of sheep amounted on theaverage to from so to 30 per cent. , and in the price of wool of from40 to 50 per cent. ; that is, from an average of 1s. 6d. A lb. In1874-6, to a little over 9d. In 1893-5. 

Milk, butter, and cheese were stated to have fallen from 25 to 33 percent. Between 1874 and 1891, and there had been a further fall since. In districts, however, near large towns there had been much lessreduction in the price of milk. 

This general fall in prices seems to have been directly connected withthe increase of foreign competition. [695] Wheat has been most affectedby this development, and at the date of the Commission the homeproduction had sunk to 25 per cent. Of the total quantity needed forconsumption. Other home-grown cereals had not been similarlydisplaced, but the large consumption of maize had affected the priceof feeding barley and oats. As regards meat, while foreign beef andmutton had seriously affected the price of inferior British grades, the influence on superior qualities had been much less marked. Foreigncompetition had been, on the whole, perhaps more severe in pork thanin other classes of meat, but had been confined mainly to bacon andhams. 

The successful competition of the foreigner in our butter and cheesemarkets was attributed mainly to the fact that the dairy industry isbetter organized abroad than in Great Britain. 

The Commission found that another cause of the depression was theincreased cost of production, not so much from the increase of wages, as from the smaller amount of work done for a given sum. Where wagesin the previous twenty years had remained stationary, the cost of workhad increased because the labourer did not work so hard or so well ashis forefathers. 

The following table[696] is a striking proof of the increased ratio ofthe cost of labour to gross profits:

 Ratio of Average cost of Acreage Period Average annual Average labour of of gross cost of cost per to gross County. Farm. Acct. Profit. Labour. Acre. Profits. 

 £ s. D. £ s. D. S. D. Per cent. 

 Suffolk 590 1839-43 1, 577 13 3 773 11 0 26 2 49. 03 1863-67 1, 545 0 9 836 9 0 28 4 54. 07 1871-75 1, 725 0 1 1, 026 14 8 35 2 59. 48 1890-94 728 10 5 973 1 5 33 0 133. 50

On a farm in Wilts. , between 1858 and 1893, the ratio of the cost oflabour to gross profits had increased from 47. 0 per cent. To 88. 3 percent. ; on one in Hampshire, between 1873 and 1890, from 44. 4 percent. To 184. 3 per cent. ; and many similar instances are given, illustrating very forcibly the economic revolution which has led tothe transfer of a larger share of the produce of the land to thelabourer. 

On the other hand, this Commission found, like the last, that thefarmer had derived considerable benefit from the decrease in cost ofcake and artificial manure, while the low price of corn had led toits being largely used in place of linseed and cotton cakes. 

Before leaving the subject of this famous Commission it is well tostate the answer of Sir John Lawes, than whom there was no higherauthority, to the oft-repeated assertion that high farming wouldcounteract low prices. 'The result of all our experiments, ' he said, 'is that the reverse is the case. As you increase your crops so eachbushel after a certain amount costs you more and more ... The lastbushel always costs you more than all the others. ' As prices wentlower 'we must contract our farming to what I should call the averageof the seasons'; and in the corn districts, the higher the farmer hadfarmed his land by adding manure the worse had been the financialresults. [697]

In 1896 the injustice of the incidence of rates on agricultural landwas partly remedied, the occupier being relieved of half the rates onthe land apart from the buildings, which Act was continued in1901. [698] But the system is still inequitable, for a farmer who paysa rent of £240 a year even now probably pays more rates than theoccupier of a house rated at £120 a year. Yet the farmer's incomewould very likely not be more than £200 a year, whereas the occupierof the house rated at £120 might have an income of £2, 000 a year. 

In 1901 and 1902 Mr. Rider Haggard, following in the footsteps ofYoung, Marshall, and Caird, made an agricultural tour through England. He considered that, after foreign competition, the great danger toEnglish farming was the lack of labour, [699] for young men and womenwere everywhere leaving the country for the towns, attracted by thenominally high wages, often delusive, and by the glamour of thepavement. Yet the labourer has come better out of the depression ofthe last generation than either landowner or farmer: he is betterhoused, better fed, better clothed, better paid, but filled withdiscontent. Since Mr. Haggard wrote, however, there seems to be areaction, small indeed but still marked, against the townwardmovement, and in most places the supply of labour is sufficient. Thequality, however, is almost universally described as inferior; thelabourer takes no pride in his work, and good hedgers, thatchers, milkers, and men who understand live stock are hard to obtain[700];and the reason for this is in large measure due to the modern systemof education which keeps a boy from farm work until he is too old totake to it. His wages to-day in most parts are good; nearmanufacturing towns the ordinary farm hand is paid from 18s. To 20s. Aweek with extras in harvest, and in purely agricultural districts from13s. To 15s. A week, often with a cottage rent free at the lowerfigure. His cottage has improved vastly, especially on large estates, though often leaving much to be desired, and the rent usually paid is£4 or £5 a year, rising to £7 and £8 near large towns. The wise customof giving him a garden has spread, and is nearly always found to bemuch more helpful than an allotment. The superior or more skilledworkmen, [701] such as the wagoner, stockman, or shepherd, earns inagricultural counties like Herefordshire from 14s. To 18s. A week, andin manufacturing counties like Lancashire from 20s. To 22s. A week, with extras such as 3d. A lamb in lambing time. At the lower wages heoften has a cottage and garden rent free. 

The improved methods of cutting and harvesting crops have so enabledthe farmer to economize labour that the once familiar figure of theIrish labourer with his knee-breeches and tall hat, who came over forthe harvest, has almost disappeared. Women, who formerly shared withthe men most of the farm work, now are little seen in most parts ofEngland at work in the fields, and are better occupied in attending totheir homes. 

The divorce of the labourer from the land by enclosure had earlyexercised men's minds, and many efforts were made to remedy this. About 1836 especially, several landowners in various parts of Englandintroduced allotments, and the movement spread rapidly, so that in1893 the Royal Commission on Labour stated that in most places thesupply was equal to or in excess of the demand. [702] However, previousAllotments and Small Holdings Acts not being considered so successfulas was desired, in 1907 an effort was made to give more effect to thecry of 'back to the land' by a Small Holdings and Allotments Act[703]which enables County Councils to purchase land by agreement or take iton lease, and, if unable to acquire it by agreement, to do socompulsorily, in order to provide small holdings for persons desiringto lease them. The County Council may also arrange with any BoroughCouncil or Urban District Council to act as its agent in providing andmanaging small holdings. The duty of supplying allotments rests in thefirst instance with the Rural Parish Councils, though if they do nottake proper steps to provide allotments, the County Council may itselfprovide them. 

It is a praiseworthy effort, though marked by arbitrary methods andthat contempt for the rights of property, provided it belongs to someone else, that is a characteristic of to-day. That it will succeedwhere the small holder has some other trade, and in exceptionallyfavoured situations, is very probable; most of the small holders whowere successful before the Act had something to fall back upon: theywere dealers, hawkers, butchers, small tradesmen, &c. There is nodoubt, too, that an allotment helps both the town artisan and thecountry labourer to tide over slack times. Whether it will succeed inplanting a rural population on English soil is another matter. It is aconsummation devoutly to be wished, for a country without a soundreserve of healthy country-people is bound to deteriorate. The smallholder, pure and simple, without any by-industry, has hitherto onlybeen able to keep his head above water by a life which withoutexaggeration may be called one of incessant toil and frequentprivation, such a life as the great mass of our 'febrile factoryelement' could not endure. And if there is one tendency more markedthan another in the history of English agriculture, it is thedisappearance of the small holding. In the Middle Ages it is probablethat the average size of a man's farm was 30 acres, with its attendantwaste and wood; since then amalgamation has been almost constant. 

It is true that the occupier of a few acres often brings to bear on itan amount of industry which is greater in proportion than thatbestowed on a large farm; but the large farmer has, as Young pointedout long ago, very great advantages. He is nearly always a man ofsuperior intelligence and training. He has more capital, and can buyand sell in the best markets; he can purchase better stock, and savelabour and the cost of production by using the best machinery. Bybuying in large quantities he gets manures, cakes, seeds, &c. , betterand cheaper than the small holder. 

Besides the small holders who have outside industries to fall backupon, those who are aided by some exceptionally favourable element inthe soil or climate, or proximity to good markets, should do well. Yetin the Isle of Axholme, the paradise of small holders, we have seenthat the Commission of 1894 reported that distress was severe. This, however, seems to have been largely due to the exaggerated land-hungerin the good times, which induced the tenants to buy lands at too higha price; and under normal conditions, such as they are now returningto, the tenants seem to thrive. In this district the preference forownership as opposed to tenancy is, in spite of recent experiences, unqualified, though it is admitted that the best way is to begin byrenting and save enough to buy. [704] The soil is peculiarly favourableto the production of celery and early potatoes; and large tracts ofland are divided into unfenced strips locally known as 'selions' offrom a quarter of an acre to 3 acres each, cultivated by men who livein the villages, each having one or more strips, some as much as 20acres, and it is considered that 10 acres is the smallest area onwhich a man can support a family without any other industry to helphim. 

Yet in the fen districts and on the marsh lands between Boston and theeast coast of Lincolnshire, where the land is naturally veryproductive, many people are making livings out of 5 or 6 acres, mainlyby celery and early potatoes. [705] Other districts adapted naturallyto small holdings are those of Rock and Far Forest, the famous Vale ofEvesham, the Sandy and Biggleswade district of Bedfordshire; Upwey, Dorset; Calstock and St. Dominick, Cornwall; Wisbech, Cambridgeshire;and Tiptree, Essex. Apart, however, from by-industries, andexceptional climate, soil, and situation, the small holding for thepurpose of raising corn and meat, as distinguished from that which isdevoted to dairying, fruit-growing, and market gardening, does notseem to-day to have much chance of success. If farms were stillself-sufficing, and simply provided food and clothing for the farmer, the small producer even of corn and meat might do as well as thelarger farmer on a lower scale, but such conditions have gone; allholdings now are chiefly manufactories of food, and the smallermanufactory has little chance in competition with the greater. 

The example of foreign countries is usually held up to Englishmen inthis connexion, and the argument naturally used is that 'if smallholdings answer in France and Belgium, why can they not do so inEngland?' On this point the testimony of Sir John Lawes is worthquoting. [706] 'In most, if not in all continental countries' he says, 'the success of small holdings depends very materially on whether ornot the soil and the climate are suitable for what may be calledindustrial crops: such as tobacco, hops, sugar beet, colza, flax, hemp, grapes, and other fruit and vegetables; where these conditionsdo not exist the condition of the cultivators is such _as would not betolerated in this country_. ' That is the reason probably why smallholdings, apart from exceptional conditions, do not answer in England;the Englishman of to-day is not anxious to face the hard and grindingconditions under which the continental small holder lives. 

Since Mr. Haggard's tour the black clouds which have so long loweredover agriculture have shown signs of lifting. Rents have been adjustedto a figure at which the farmer has some chance of competing with theforeigner, [707] though the price of grain keeps wretchedly low; stockhas improved, and there is undoubtedly to-day (1908) a brisker demandfor farms, and in some localities rents have even advanced slightly. The yeoman--that is, the man who owns and farms his own land, perhapsthe most sound and independent class in the community--has, unfortunately for England, largely disappeared. Even of those whoremain, some prefer to let their property and rent holdings fromothers! It has been noticed that the labourer's lot has improved inthis generation of adversity; and well it might, for his previouscondition was miserable in the extreme. The farmers have sufferedseverely, many losing all their capital and becoming farm labourers. The landlords have suffered most; they have not been able to throw uptheir land like the farmer, and until quite recently have watched itbecoming poorer and poorer. The depression, in short, has driven fromtheir estates many who had owned them for generations. Those who havesurvived have usually been men with incomes from other sources thanland, and they have generally deserved well of their country bykeeping their estates in good condition in spite of falling rents andincreasing taxation. 

No class of men, indeed, have been more virulently and consistentlyabused than the landlords of England, and none with less justice. There have been many who have forgotten that property has its dutiesas well as its rights; they have erred like other men, but as a rulethey play their part well. Even the worst are to some extent obligedby their very position to be public spirited, for the mere possessionof an estate involves the employment of a number of people in healthyoutdoor occupations which Englishmen to-day so especially need tocounteract the degenerating influences of town life. Many of the greatestates[708] are carried on at a positive loss to their owners, and itmay be doubted whether agricultural property pays the possessor areturn of 2 per cent. Per annum; which is as much as to say that thelandlord furnishes the tenant with capital in the form of land at thatrate for the purpose of his business. What other class is content withsuch a scanty return? They are often charged with not managing theirestates on business principles, and no charge is worse founded. Itwould be a sad day for the tenants on many an estate if they weremanaged on commercial lines. One of the first results would be thatmany properties would be given up as a dead loss. They could only bemade to pay by raising the rents or cutting down the ever-recurringexpenditure on repairs and buildings which are necessary for thewelfare of the tenants. The Duke of Bedford, in his _Story of a GreatEstate_, has said that the rent has completely disappeared from threeof his estates. On the Thorney and Woburn estates over £750, 000 wasspent on new works and permanent improvements alone between 1816 and1895, and the result, owing to agricultural depression and increasedburdens on the land, was a net loss of £7, 000 a year; and every onewith any knowledge of the management of land knows that this is noisolated case, though it may be on an exceptionally large scale. Wherewould many tenants be if commercial principles ruled on rent auditdays? The larger English landlords of to-day are as a rule notdependent on their rent rolls. To their great advantage, and to theadvantage of their tenants, they generally own other property, so thatthey need not regard the land as a commercial investment. They cantherefore support the necessary outlay on a large estate, the capitalexpenditure on improvements of all kinds, and thus relieve the tenantof any expense of this kind. The farms are let at moderate, not rackrents, such as the tenants can easily pay. Also the landlord can makelarge reductions of rent in years of exceptional distress. [709] Rentsare generally collected three months after they are due, aconsiderable concession; and even then arrears are numerous, for anyreasonable excuse for being behind with the rent is generouslylistened to. It is owing to forbearance in this and other matters thatthe relations between landlord and tenant are generally excellent. Where are the best farm buildings, where the best cottages, where doesthe owner carry on a home farm often for the assistance of the tenantby letting him have the use of entire horses, well-bred bulls, andrams, if not on the larger estates? The restrictions in leases, somuch decried of late years, were nearly always in the interest of goodfarming, and their abolition will lead to the deterioration of many aholding. 

Bacon said, 'Where men of great wealth do stoop to husbandry, itmultiplieth riches exceedingly' and wiser words were never uttered. Yet these are the men who are singled out for attack by agitators, whoare only listened to because the greater number of modern Englishmenare ignorant of the land and everything connected with it. At a timewhen rents have dwindled, in some cases almost to vanishing point, taxation has increased, and confiscatory schemes and meddlesomerestrictions have frightened away capital from the land. Many of thelandlords of England would clearly gain by casting off the burden oftheir heavily weighted property, but they nearly all stick nobly totheir duty, and hope for that restoration of confidence in thesanctity of property and of respect for freedom of contract whichwould do so much towards the rehabilitation of what is still thegreatest and most important industry in the country. 

FOOTNOTES:

[665] And an ever increasing burden of taxation. 

[666] See Appendix III. 

[667] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1881, pp. 142, 199. 

[668] _Parliamentary Reports of Commissioners_, 1882, xiv. Pp. 9 sq. 

[669] _Parliamentary Reports of Commissioners_, 1882, xiv. 14. 

[670] The rise between 1857 and 1878 has been estimated at 20 percent. , and between 1867 and 1877 at 11-1/2 per cent. Hasbach, _op. Cit. _, p. 291. 

[671] _R. A. S. E. Journal_, 1890, p. 324. 

[672] See infra, p. 330. 

[673] _Rural Economy of Southern Counties_, i. 285-6. 

[674] _Victoria County History: Hereford, Agriculture_. 

[675] In one respect the Act of 1883 restricted the rights of tenantsto compensation, for while the Act of 1875 had expressly reserved therights of the parties under 'custom of the country', the Act of 1883provided that a tenant 'shall not claim compensation by custom orotherwise than in manner authorized by this Act for any improvementfor which he is entitled to compensation under this Act' (§ 57). 

[676] _Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners_ (1897), xv. 96. 

[677] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (1892), p. 63. 

[678] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (1901), p. 33. Cf. Infra, p. 310. 

[679] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (1893), p. 286; (1894), p. 677. Sometimes toartificially raising them. 

[680] Ibid. (1901), p. 34. 

[681] _Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners_ (1897), xv. 

[682] Broadly speaking, the arable section, or eastern group, includedthe counties of Bedford, Berks. , Bucks, Cambridge, Essex, Hants, Hertford, Huntingdon, Kent, Leicester, Lincoln, Middlesex, Norfolk, Northampton, Notts, Oxford, Rutland, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick, and the East Riding of York; the grass section, or western group, included the remaining counties. 

[683] _Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners_ (1894), xvi. (1), App. B. Ii. 

[684] Ibid. App. B. Iii. 

[685] Ibid. (1895), xvi. 169. 

[686] Ibid. P. 164. 

[687] _Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners_ (1895), xvi. 187-8. 

[688] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (2nd ser. ), xxiv. 538

[689] Ibid. (1894), p. 681. 

[690] _Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners_ (1897), xv. 22. Cf. P. 319 n. 

[691] Ibid. Pp. 30-1. 

[692] _Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners_ (1897), xv. 31. 

[693] Ibid. P. 37:

 NUMBER OF AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS IN ENGLAND AND WALES. 

 1871. 1881. 1891. 1901. 

 996, 642 890, 174 798, 912 595, 702

The figures for 1901 are from Summary Tables, _Parliamentary BlueBook_ (C, d. 1, 523), p. 202, Table xxxvi. 

[694] According to the Report of the Royal Commission on Labour, 1893-4, the labourer was 'better fed, better dressed, his educationand language improved, his amusements less gross, his cottagegenerally improved, though generally on small estates there were manybad ones still'. --_Parliamentary Reports_, 1893, xxxv. Index 5 et seq. 

[695] _Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners_ (1897), xv. 53, 85. SirRobert Giffen suggested that the decline in the price of wheat pay bepartly attributed to the great increase in the supply and consumptionof meat. 

[696] _Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners_ (1897), xv. App. Iii. Table viii. From an examination of the accounts of seventy-sevenfarms, the average expenditure on labour was found to be 31. 4 percent. Of the total outlay. 

[697] _Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners_ (1897), xv. 106. But seeabove, p. 271. 

[698] 59 & 60 Vict. , c. 16; I Edw. VII, c. 13. 

[699] _Rural England_, ii. 539. Yet the census returns of 1871, 1881, and 1891 gave no support to the idea that _young_ men were leavingagriculture for the towns. See _Parl. Reports_ (1893), xxxviii. (2)33. 

[700] The author speaks from information derived from answers toquestions addressed to landowners, farmers, and agents in many partsof England, to whom he is greatly indebted. 

[701] It is, however, a fallacy to assume, as is nearly always done, that the ordinary farm labourer, at all events of the old type, isunskilled. A good man, who can plough well, thatch, hedge, ditch, anddo the innumerable tasks required on a farm efficiently, is a muchmore skilled worker than many who are so called in the towns. 

[702] _Parl. Reports_ (1893), xxxv. Index. 

[703] 7 Edw. VII, c. 54, amending the Allotments Acts of 1887 and 1890and the Small Holdings Act of 1892. The Allotments Act of 1887 definedan 'allotment' as any parcel of land of not more than 2 acres held bya tenant under a landlord; but for the purposes of the Acts of 1892and 1907 a 'small holding' means an agricultural holding which exceedsone acre and either does not exceed 50 acres or, if exceeding 50acres, is of an annual value not exceeding £50. At the same time theAct defines an allotment as a holding of any size up to 5 acres, sothat up to that size a parcel of land may be treated as a smallholding or an allotment. 

[704] Jebb, _Small Holdings_, p. 25. 

[705] Jebb, _op. Cit. _, p. 28. 

[706] _Allotments and Small Holdings_ (1892), p. 19 et seq. 

[707] The gross income derived from the ownership of lands in GreatBritain, as returned under Schedule A of the Income Tax, decreasedfrom £51, 811, 234 in 1876-7 to £36, 609, 884 in 1905-6. In 1850 Cairdestimated the rental of English land, exclusive of Middlesex, at£37, 412, 000. Cf. Above, p. 310. 

[708] According to the Commission of 1894, the amount expended onimprovements and repairs alone on some great estates was: On LordDerby's, in Lancashire, of 43, 217 acres, £200, 000 in twelve years, or£16, 500, or 7s. 8d. An acre, each year. On Lord Sefton's, of 18, 000acres, £286, 000 in twenty-two years, or about £13, 000, or 14s. Anacre, each year. On the Earl of Ancaster's estates in Lincolnshire, of53, 993 acres, £689, 000 was spent in twelve years, or 11s. 7d. An acreeach year; and many similar instances are given. --_ParliamentaryReports, Commissioners_ (1897), xv. 287-9. 

[709] Shaw Lefevre, _Agrarian Tenures_, p. 19. 

CHAPTER XXII

IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. --LIVE STOCK

It is a curious fact that the barriers which protected the Britishfarmer were thrown down shortly before he became by unforeseen causesexposed to the competition of the whole world. Down to 1846 Germanysupplied more than half the wheat that was imported into England, Denmark sent more than Russia, and the United States hardly any. Other competitors who have since arisen were then unknown. By the endof the next decade Russia and the United States sent largequantities, as may be gathered from the following table [710]:

 ANNUAL AVERAGE IMPORTS OF WHEAT AND FLOUR FOR THE SEVEN YEARS 1859-1865. Cwt. 

 Russia 5, 350, 861 Denmark and the Duchies 969, 890 Germany 6, 358, 229 France 3, 828, 691 Spain 331, 463 Wallachia and Moldavia 295, 475 Turkish dominions, not otherwise specified 528, 568 Egypt 1, 423, 193 Canada 2, 223, 809 United States 10, 080, 911 Other countries 1, 036, 968

In the years 1871-5 the United States held the first place, Russiacame next, and Germany third with only about one-sixth of theAmerican imports, and Canada was running Germany close. Otherformidable competitors were now arising, and by 1901 the chiefimporting countries[711] were:

 Cwt. 

 Argentina 8, 309, 706 Russia[712] 2, 580, 805 United States of America 66, 855, 025 Australia 6, 197, 019 Canada 8, 577, 960 India 3, 341, 500

Since then the imports of wheat and flour from the United States havedecreased, and in 1904 India took the first place, Russia the second, Argentina the third, and the United States the fourth. However, in1907 the United States sent more than any other country, followed byArgentina, India, Canada, Russia, and Australia, in the order named. 

It is probable in the near future that the imports from the UnitedStates will decline considerably, for in the last quarter of acentury its population has increased 68 per cent. And its wheat areaonly 25 per cent. On the other hand, the population of Canadaincreased 33 per cent. And her wheat area 158 per cent. In the sametime; while in Argentina an addition of 70 per cent. To thepopulation has been accompanied by an increase of the wheat area fromhalf a million to fourteen million acres. It is probable also thatIndia and Australia will continue to send large supplies, and thereare said to be vast wheat-growing tracts opened up by the SiberianRailway, so that there seems little chance of wheat rising very muchin price for many years to come, apart from exceptional causes suchas bad seasons and 'corners'. 

McCulloch, writing in 1843, [713] says that, except Denmark andIreland, no country of Western Europe 'has been in the habit ofexporting cattle'. Danish cattle, however, could rarely be sold inLondon at a profit, and Irish cattle alone disturbed the equanimityof the English farmer. 

For a few years after the repeal of the corn laws and of theprohibition of imports of live stock, the imports of live stock, meat, and dairy produce were, except from Ireland, almost nil[714]; sincethen they have increased enormously, and in 1907 the value of livecattle, sheep, and pigs imported was £8, 273, 640, not so great, however, as some years before, owing to restrictions imposed; but thisdecrease has been made up by the increase in the imports of meat, which in 1907 touched their highest figure of 18. 751, 555 cwt, valuedat the large sum of £41, 697, 905. [715]

Forty years ago hardly any foreign butter or cheese was imported;to-day it is perhaps no exaggeration to say that not one hundredthpart of the butter eaten in London is British; in 1907 the amount ofbutter imported was 4, 310, 156 cwt. , and of cheese, 2, 372, 233 cwt. Theincrease in the imports was largely assisted by the fact that in thelast half of the nineteenth century English farmers had directed theirattention chiefly to meat-producing animals and neglected the milchcow. However, of late years great efforts have been made to recoverlost ground, and in England the number of cows and heifers in milk orin calf has increased from 1, 567, 789 in 1878 to 2, 020, 340 in 1906. 

The regulation of the imports and exports of live stock did notconcern the legislature so early as those of corn. One of the earlieststatutes on the subject is II Hen. VII, c. 13, which forbade theexport of horses and of mares worth more than 6s. 8d. , because manyhad been conveyed out of the land, so that there were few left for itsdefence and the price of horses had been thereby increased. Asubsequent statute, 22 Hen. VIII, c. 7, says this law was disobeyed bymany who secretly exported horses, so it was enacted that no oneshould export a horse without a licence; and 1 Edw. VI, c. 5, continued this. But after this date the export of horses does not seemto have occupied the attention of Parliament. 

22 Hen. VIII, c. 7, also forbade the export of cattle and sheepwithout a licence because so many had been carried out of the realmthat victual was scarce and cattle dear. By 22 Car. II, c. 13, oxenmight be exported on payment of a duty of 1s. Each, the last statuteon the subject. 

As for sheep, their export without the king's licence had beenforbidden by 3 Hen. VI, c. 2, because men had been in the habit oftaking them to Flanders and other countries, where they sheared themand sold the wool and the mutton. 8 Eliz. , c. 3, forbade their export, and 13 and 14 Car. II, c. 18, declared the export of sheep and wool afelony. 

The importation of cattle was forbidden by 15 Car. II, c. 7, whichstated that the 'comeing in of late of vast numbers of cattle alreadyfatted' had caused 'a very great part of the land of this kingdom tobe much fallen and like dayly to fall more in their rents and values';therefore every head of great cattle imported was to pay 20s. To theking, 10s. To the informer, and 10s. To the poor after July 1, 1664. By 18 Car. II, c. 2, the importation of cattle was declared a commonnuisance, and if any cattle, sheep, or swine were imported they wereto be seized and forfeited. By 32 Car. II, c. 2, this was madeperpetual and continued in force till 1842, though it was repealed asto Ireland, as we have seen. [716]

It appears from the laws dealing with the matter that in the time ofthe Plantagenets England exported butter and cheese. In the reign ofEdward III they were merchandise of the staple, and therefore whenexported had to go to Calais when the staple was fixed there. Thiscaused great damage, it is said, to divers persons in England, for thebutter and cheese would not keep until buyers came; therefore 3 Hen. VI, c 4, enacted that the chancellor might grant licence to exportbutter and cheese to other places than to the staple. 

The regulation of the export of wool frequently occupied the attentionof Parliament It has been noticed[717] that the laws of Edgar fixedits price for export, and Henry of Huntingdon mentions its export inthe twelfth century, while during the reign of Edward I it was forsome time forbidden except by licence, which led to its being smuggledout in wine casks. [718] The _Hundred Rolls_ give the names of severalItalian merchants who were engaged in buying wool for export, theecclesiastical houses, especially the Cistercians, furnishing a greatquantity, and the chief port then for the wool trade was Boston, Theexport was again prohibited in 1337, the great object being to makethe foreigner pay dearly for our staple product: an object which wascertainly effected, for when Queen Philippa redeemed her crown frompawn at Cologne in 1342 by a quantity of English wool, 1s. 3-1/2d. Alb. Was the price, and it was even said to sell in Flanders at 3s. Alb. , a price which, expressed in modern money, seems fabulous. [719]However, in the next reign English wool began to decline in price, owing probably to changes in fashion, but the long wools maintainedtheir superiority and their export was forbidden by Henry VI andElizabeth. [720]

In the reign of James I it was confessed 'that the cloth of thiskingdom hath wanted both estimation and vent in foreign parts, andthat the wools are fallen from their stated values', so that exportwas prohibited entirely; and 13 and 14 Car. II, c. 18, declared theexport of wool a felony, though 7 and 8 Will. III, c. 28, says thisdid not deter people from exporting it, so that the law was made morestringent on the subject, and export continued to be forbidden until1825. [721] In a letter written in 1677 the fall of rents in England, which had caused the value of estates to sink from twenty-one tosixteen or seventeen years' purchase, is ascribed mainly to the lowprice of wool, [722] owing to the prohibition of export and increasedimports from Ireland and Spain. It was now, said the writer, worth 7d. Instead of 12d. , and a great quantity of Spanish wool was being soldin England at low rates. These 'low rates' were 2s. And 2s. 2d. A lb. For the best wool, whereas in 1660 the best Spanish wool was 4s. And4s. 2d. A lb. 

We have seen[723] that Spanish wool was imported into England in theMiddle Ages. In 1677, according to Smith, [724] England imported 2, 000bags of 200 lb. Each from Spain[725]; in the three years 1709-11, 14, 000 bags; in the three years 1713-14, 20, 000 bags; and about 1730some came from Jamaica, Maryland, and Virginia, and down to 1802imports were free. [726] In that year a duty of 5s. 3d. A cwt. Wasimposed, which in 1819 was raised to 56s. A cwt. , which, however, wasreduced to 1d. A lb. On 1s. Wool and 1/2d. A lb. On wool under 1s. In1824. In 1825 colonial wool was admitted free, and in 1844 the dutytaken off altogether, and imports from our colonies and foreigncountries soon assumed enormous proportions. Down to 1814 nearly allour imports of wool came from Spain; after that the greater part camefrom Germany and the East Indies; but Russia and India soon began tosend large quantities, and in recent times Australasia has been ourchief importer, in 1907 sending 321, 470, 554 lb. , while New Zealandsent 158, 406, 255 lb. Out of a total import of 764, 286, 625 lb. About1800 our imports of wool were 8, 609, 368 lb. ![727] Of our enormousimports of wool, however, a very large quantity is re-exported. 

In 1828 it was stated before the House of Lords that English wool haddeteriorated considerably during the previous thirty years, owingchiefly to the farmer increasing the weight of the carcase and thequantity of wool, so that fineness of fleece was injured. The greatextension of turnips and the introduction of a large breed of sheepalso appeared to have lessened the value of the fleece, yet Englishwool to-day still commands a high price in comparison with that ofother countries, though the price in recent years has declinedgreatly; in 1871 it was 1s. 5-1/2d. A lb. , in 1872 1s. 9-1/2d. , in1873 1s. 7d. In 1907 Leicester wool was 12-1/2d. , Southdown 14d. To15d. , and Lincoln 12d. A lb. ; Australian at the same date being 11d. , and New Zealand 11-1/2d. 

The fruit-grower has also had to contend with an enormous foreignsupply, which nearly always has a better appearance than that grown inthese islands, though the quality is often inferior. In 1860 appleswere included with other raw fruits in the returns, so that the exactfigures are not given, but apparently about 500, 000 cwt. Came in; by1903 this had increased to 4, 569, 546 bushels, and in 1907 3, 526, 232bushels arrived. Enormous foreign supplies of grapes, pears, plums, cherries, and even strawberries have also combined to keep the homeprice down. 

The decrease in the acreage of hops, from its maximum of 71, 789 acresin 1878 to 44, 938 in 1907, was ascribed by the recent Commission tothe lessening demand for beer in England, the demand for lighter kindsof beer, and the use of hop substitutes, and not to increase inforeign competition; which the following figures seem to bear out:

 IMPORTS OF HOPS. Cwt. 

 1861 149, 176 1867 296, 117 1869 322, 515 1870 127, 853 1875 256, 444 1877 (the year before the record acreage planted) 250, 039 1879 262, 765 1903 113, 998 1904 313, 667 1905 108, 953 1906 232, 619 1907 202, 324

In recent years they have been a loss to the grower; as the averagecrop is a little under 9 cwt. Per acre, and the total cost of growingand marketing from £35 to £45 an acre, it is obvious that prices ofabout £3 per cwt. , which have ruled lately, are unremunerative. 

However disastrous to the farmer and landowner, the increasedquantities and low prices of food thus obtained have been ofinestimable benefit to the crowded population of England. In 1851 thewhole corn supply, both English and foreign, afforded 317 lb. Perannum per head of the population of 27 millions. In 1889 the totalsupply gave 400 lb. Per head to a population of 37-1/2 millions at agreatly reduced cost. [728] The supply of animal food presents similarcontrasts; in 1851 each person obtained 90 lb. , in 1889 115 lb. Theaverage value of the imports of food per head in the period 1859-65was about 25s. ; in the period 1901-7, 65s. [729] The products whichhave stood best against foreign competition are fresh milk, hay andstraw, the softer kinds of fruit that will not bear carriage well, andstock of the finest quality. These islands still maintain their greatreputation for the excellent quality of their live stock, and exports, chiefly of pedigree animals, touched their highest figure in 1906:

 Average per No. Total Value. Head. £ £

 Cattle 5, 616 327, 335 58 Sheep 12, 716 204, 061 16 Pigs 2, 221 20, 292 9

 1877. [730]

 Acreage under crops and grass in England 24, 312, 033

 _Corn crops. _ Wheat 2, 987, 129 Barley or bere 2, 000, 531 Oats 1, 489, 999 Rye 48, 604 Beans 470, 153 Peas 306, 356 --------- Total 7, 302, 772

 _Green crops. _ Potatoes 303, 964 Turnips and swedes 1, 495, 885 Mangels 348, 289 Carrots 14, 445 Cabbage, kohl rabi, and rape 176, 218 Vetches and other green crops 420, 373 --------- Total 2, 759, 174

 Flax 7, 210 Hops 71, 239 Barefallow or uncropped arable 576, 235 Clover, sainfoin, and grasses under rotation 2, 737, 387 ---------- Total arable 13, 454, 017

 Permanent grass, exclusive of mountain or heath land 10, 858, 016 ---------- 24, 312, 033

 1907. 

 Total acreage under crops and grass 24, 585, 455

 _Corn crops. _ Wheat 1, 537, 208 Barley 1, 411, 163 Oats 1, 967, 682 Rye 53, 837 Beans 296, 186 Peas 164, 326 ----------- Total 5, 430, 402

 Potatoes 381, 891 Turnips and swedes 1, 058, 292 Mangels 436, 193 Cabbage 65, 262 Kohl rabi 20, 572 Rape 79, 913 Vetches or tares 145, 067 Lucerne 63, 379 Hops 44, 938 Small fruit 73, 372 Clover, sainfoin, and grasses under rotation 2, 611, 722 Other crops 117, 914 Bare fallow 248, 678 ---------- Total arable 10, 777, 595 Permanent grass 13, 807, 860 ---------- 24, 585, 455

 The small fruit was divided into: Strawberries 23, 623 Raspberries 6, 479-1/2 Currants and gooseberries 24, 178-3/4 Others 19, 090 --------------- 73, 371-1/4

As arable land has suffered much more than grass from foreignimports, it was inevitable that this country should become morepastoral; in 1877 the arable land of England amounted to 13, 454, 017acres, and permanent grass to 10, 858, 016. By 1907 this waspractically reversed, the permanent grass amounting to 13, 807, 860acres and the arable to 10, 777, 595. In corn crops the great decreasehas been in the acreage of wheat, but barley, beans, and peas havealso diminished, while oats have increased. In green crops there hasbeen a great decrease in turnips and swedes, compensated to someextent by an increase in mangels, and a sad decrease in hops. Thechanges in thirty years can be gathered from the tables of the Boardof Agriculture given on p. 331. 

In 1877 no separate return of small fruit was made, but in 1878 theorchards of England, including fruit trees of any kind, covered161, 228 acres, which by 1907 had grown to a total area under fruit of294, 910 acres, among which were 168, 576 acres of apples, 8, 365 ofpears, 11, 952 of cherries, and 14, 571 of plums. Much of the smallfruit is included in the orchards. 

'Other crops' were further divided into:

 Acres. 

 Carrots 11, 897 Onions 3, 416 Buckwheat 5, 226 Flax 355 Others 97, 020 ------- 117, 914

The average yield per acre of various crops in England for the tenyears 1897-1906 was:

 Bushels. 

 Wheat 31. 1[731] Barley 32. 88 Oats 41. 38 Beans 29. 28 Peas 27. 15

 Tons. 

 Potatoes 5. 74 Turnips and swedes 12. 19 Mangels 19. 24

 Cwt. 

 Hay from clover, and grasses under rotation 29. 40 Hay from permanent grass 24. 33 Hops 8. 81

The live stock in 1877 consisted of:

 Horses used solely for purposes of agriculture 761, 089 Unbroken horses and mares kept solely for breeding 309, 119 --------- 1, 070, 208 --------- Cattle. Cows and heifers in milk or in calf 1, 557, 574 Two years old and over 1, 072, 407 Under two years of age 1, 349, 669 --------- 3, 979, 650 --------- Sheep 18, 330, 377 Pigs 2, 114, 751

In 1907:

 Horses used solely for agriculture 863, 817 Unbroken 325, 330 --------- 1, 189, 147 --------- Cattle. Cows and heifers in milk or in calf 2, 032, 284 Two years old and over 1, 043, 034 Under two years of age 1, 912, 413 --------- 4, 987, 731 --------- Sheep[732] 15, 098, 928 Pigs 2, 257, 136

The decrease in sheep and the increase in cattle and horses (thoughof late years the latter have shown a tendency to decrease) are to benoted. 

The number of live stock per 1, 000 acres of cultivated land in theUnited Kingdom and other countries is:

 Country. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. Total. 

 United Kingdom 247 619 76 942 Belgium 411 54 240 705 Denmark 264 126 209 599 France 167 207 88 462 Germany 221 90 216 527 Holland 322 116 164 602

It will be observed that in cattle the United Kingdom comes outbadly, but is pre-eminent in sheep and has the largest total; though, as cattle require more acreage, Belgium nearly equals its aggregateproduce for 1, 000 acres. 

As regards prices at the two periods 1871-5 and 1906-7, if we take100 as the price at the former the following are the prices at thelatter:

 Beef 71 Mutton 93 Bacon 121 Wheat 56 Butter 97 Cheese 100

Turning once more to the occupation of land, the percentage of landoccupied by owners in 1907 in England was 12. 4, the rest beingoccupied by tenants, and the following is a statement of the numberof agricultural holdings of various sizes in 1875 and 1907:

 1875. [733]

 50 acres 50 to 100 to 300 to 500 to Above and 100 300 500 1, 000 1, 000 under. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. 

 293, 469 44, 842 58, 450 11, 245 3, 871 463

 1907. 

 Above 1 and Above 5 and Above 50 and Above not exceeding not exceeding not exceeding 300 5 acres. 50 acres. 300 acres. Acres. 

 80, 921 165, 975 109, 927 14, 652

FOOTNOTES:

[710] McCulloch, _Commercial Dictionary_ (1882), p. 449. 

[711] See _Returns of the Board of Agriculture_. 

[712] The imports from Russia were that year exceptionally small. 

[713] McCulloch, _Commercial Dictionary_ (1852), p. 274. 

[714] In 1860 the number of live cattle imported was 104, 569; in 1897, 618, 321; in 1907, 472, 015. 

[715] In 1860 the quantity of beef imported was 283, 332 cwt. ; in 1907, 6, 033, 736 cwt. 

[716] See above. 

[717] Supra, p. 38. 

[718] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 176, 192; _HundredRolls_, i. 405, 414. 

[719] Burnley, _History of Wool_, p. 65. 

[720] Ibid. P. 70. 

[721] Cf. Supra, p. 172. 

[722] Smith, _Memoirs of Wool_, i. 222. 

[723] See above. 

[724] Smith, _Memoirs of Wool_, ii. 252. 

[725] McPherson, _Annals of Commerce_, iii. 156. 

[726] McCulloch, _Commercial Dictionary_, p. 1431. For imports seeAppendix, p. 354. 

[727] Of which 6, 000, 000 lb. Came from Spain. The first Spanish Merinosheep were introduced into Australia in 1797. See Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, ii. 538, and cf. Below. 

[728] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (1890), p. 29. 

[729] _Board of Agriculture Returns_ (1907), p. 187. 

[730] Cf. Appendix IV. 

[731] In 1907 the average wheat crop was 33. 96 bushels per acre inEngland and 39. 18 in Scotland. The average yield per acre of wheat inHolland is 34. 1 bushels; Belgium, 34; Germany, 30. 3; Denmark, 28. 2France, 197. 

[732] The total number of sheep in Great Britain in 1877 was28, 161, 164; in 1907, 26, 115, 455. In 1688 Youatt estimates it at12, 000, 000; In 1741, 17, 000, 000; in 1800 26, 000, 000; in 183032, 000, 000. 

[733] Unfortunately the class 50 acres and under at this time includedholdings _under_ one acre, so that it is useless for the comparison ofthe number of small holdings at the two dates, for in 1907 none appearunder one acre. 

CHAPTER XXIII

MODERN FARM LIVE STOCK

CART HORSES

Arthur Young at the end of the eighteenth century found only twokinds of cart horses worthy of mention, the Shire and the SuffolkPunch; to-day, besides these two, we have the Clydesdale. 

The Shire horse, according to Sir Walter Gilbey, is the purestsurvival of the Great Horse of mediaeval times, known also as the WarHorse, and the Old English Black Horse. It is the largest of draughthorses, attaining a height of 17 to 17. 3 hands and a weight of 2, 200lb. , its general characteristics being immense strength, symmetricalproportions, bold free action, and docile disposition. In 1878 theShire Horse Society was established to improve the breed, anddistribute sound and healthy sires through the country. 

The Clydesdale, whose native home is the valley of the Clyde, is notso large as the Shire, but strong, active, and a fine worker. Theyare either derived from a cross between Flemish stallions andLanarkshire mares, or are an improvement of the old Lanark breed. [734]

The Suffolk Punch looks what he is-a thorough farm horse. He standslower than the two former breeds, but weighs heavily, often 2, 000 lb. They are generally chestnut or light dun in colour, and their legsare without the feather of the Clydesdale and Shire. They have beenlong associated with Suffolk, and were mentioned by Camden in 1586. According to the Suffolk _Stud Book_ of 1880, the Suffolk horsesof to-day are with few exceptions the descendants in the direct maleline of the original breed described by Arthur Young. 

CATTLE

What was the original breed of cattle in this island is uncertain. TheReport of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in1887 favours the view that the herds of wild cattle, such as stillexist at Chillingham, represent the original breed of Great Britain. It states that the 'urus' was the only indigenous wild ox in thiscountry, and the source of all our domesticated breeds as well as ofthe few wild ones that remain, such as the Chillingham breed, which issmall, white, with the inside of the ear red, and a brownish muzzle. Some, however, assert they are merely the descendants of adomesticated breed run wild, which have reverted somewhat to theancient type. [735]

According to Thorold Rogers, the cattle of the Middle Ages were smallrough animals like the mountain breeds of to-day, and at the end ofthe sixteenth century we have seen they had large horns, were low andheavy, and for the most part black. [736] The great variety of cattlein Great Britain may be due to their being the descendants of severalspecies, or to difference of climate and soil, or to spontaneousvariation, but the chief cause is the diligent selection of breeders. Marshall is quite positive[737] that the Hereford, Devon, Sussex, andthe black mountain breeds of Scotland and Wales are all descended fromthe original native breed of this island, that the Shorthorns camefrom the Continent, and the Longhorns probably from Ireland. Bradley'sdivision of cattle into black, white, and red tells us little. [738]There was very little attempt at improvement until the middle of theeighteenth century, for peace was necessary for long continuedeffort, and 1746, the date of Culloden, the last battle fought onBritish soil, may be taken practically as the commencement of the eraof progress. 

The Shorthorn is the most famous and widely-spread breed of thiscountry, if not in the world; it exceeds in number any other breed inthe United Kingdom, and most cross-breds have Shorthorn blood in them. It adapts itself to any climate, and is equally noted for beef-makingand milk-yielding. 

The origin of the Shorthorns is uncertain; they originated from theTeeswater and Holderness varieties, but where these came from is amatter of dispute. Young, in his _Northern Tour_, [739] says, 'InYorkshire the common breed was the short-horned kind of cattle calledHolderness, but really the Dutch sort'; and many have said theHolderness and the Teeswater breeds both came from Holland, and werepractically the same, while others assert the original home of theTeeswaters was the West Highlands. [740]

John Lawrence speaks of the Dutch breed with short horns in 1726;[741]but, unless they were smuggled over, it certainly seems strange thatany Dutch cattle should have been imported in the eighteenth century, for the importation of cattle was strictly forbidden during the wholecentury. It was George Culley's opinion that they came from Holland, because few were found except along the eastern coast; he also knewfarmers who went over to Holland to buy bulls. [742]

Be this as it may, it was the cattle of the Teeswater district inDurham that the Collings improved, and they are still called Durhamsin many parts. The work of the Collings[743] was carried on by ThomasBooth, who farmed his own estate of Killerby in Yorkshire, where heturned his attention to Shorthorns about 1790, and by 1814 he was aswell known as the Collings. He improved the Shorthorns by reducing thebone, especially the length and coarseness of the legs, the tooprominent hips, and the heavy shoulder bones. In 1819 he removed toWarlaby, and died there in 1835, having given up the Killerby estateto his son John, who with his brother Richard ably sustained theirfather's reputation. 'Booth strains' equally with 'Bates strains', theresults of the work of Bates of Kirkleavington, whose cattle we haveseen at the Oxford Show in 1839, and whose herd was dispersed in 1850, have been the foundation of many famous herds, and can be traced inmany a pedigree animal of to-day. 

The palmy days of the Shorthorns were the 'seventies' of the lastcentury, when they made fabulous prices. At the great sale at New YorkMills, in 1873, eleven females of the Duchess tribe averaged £4, 52214s. 2d. , and one cow sold for £8, 458 6s. 8d. In 1877 Mr. Loder boughtThird Duchess of Hillhurst for 4, 100 guineas; in 1876 Lord Bectivegave 4, 300 guineas for Fifth Duchess of Hillhurst, then 16 months old;and in 1875 the bull Duke of Connaught sold for 4, 500 guineas. It wasnot likely that with the advent of bad times these prices wouldcontinue, and nothing like them in the Shorthorn world has occurredsince. 

_Herefords. _[744]

Herefordshire cattle have long been famous as one of the finestbreeds in the world. Marshall, writing in 1788, does not hesitate tosay, 'The Herefordshire breed of cattle, taking it all in all, maywithout risque be deemed the first breed of cattle in the land. 'Their origin has been accounted for in various ways. Some say theywere originally brown or reddish-brown from Normandy or Devon, othersthat they came from Wales, while it is recorded that Lord Scudamorein the latter half of the seventeenth century introduced red cowswith white faces from Flanders. However, they do not emerge fromobscurity until about the middle of the eighteenth century, whenMessrs. Tomkins, Weyman, Yeomans, Hewer, and Tully devoted theirenergies to establishing a county breed. There were four varieties ofHerefords, which have now practically merged into the red with whiteface, mane, and throat: the mottle face, with red marks intermixedwith the parts usually white; the dark greys; light greys; and thered with the white face. The rivalry between the breeders of thewhite and the mottle faces almost caused the failure of the Herd-Bookcommenced in 1845 by Mr. Eyton. The mottle-faced party seems to havebeen then the most influential, but the dark and light grey varietiesalso had strong adherents. In 1857 Mr. Duckham took over themanagement of the Herd-Book, and to his exertions the breed owes adeep debt of gratitude. One of the greatest supporters of theHerefordshire breed was Mr. Westcar of Creslow, who, starting in1779, attended Hereford October Fair for forty years, and when theSmithfield Show commenced in 1799 won innumerable first prizes therewith Herefordshire cattle. Between 1799 and 1811 twenty of hisHerefordshire prize oxen averaged £106 6s. Each, and at the sale ofMr. Ben Tomkins's herd after his death in 1819 twenty-eight breedinganimals averaged £152, one cow fetching £262 15s. Herefords arefamous for their feeding qualities at grass, and good stores arescarce, the best being fattened on their native pastures. They arenot only almost the only breed in their own county, but few Englishcounties south of Shropshire are without them; they have done well inIreland, and in Canada, the United States, South America, andAustralia have attained great success. They are not so well qualifiedfor crossing as Shorthorns, but have blended well with that breed, and produced good crosses with Ayrshires and Jerseys, but not withDevons. It has been said that they are not a favourite sort withLondon butchers, as they require time to ripen, which does not suit ahurrying age. Hence they probably flourished best under the oldschool of graziers, who sometimes kept them to six or seven yearsold. At all events they are a very fine breed for beef purposes, their meat being particularly tender, juicy, and fine-grained. Theyare seldom kept for dairy purposes, being poor milkers; consequentlythe calf is nearly always allowed to run with the dam, which accountsfor the fact that one seldom sees pure-bred Herefords that are notwell grown. The highest price paid for a Hereford was 4, 000 guineasfor Lord Wilton in 1884. 

_Devons. _

The cattle of North Devon can be traced as the peculiar breed of thecounty from which they take their name from the earliest records. Bradley mentioned the red cattle of Somerset in 1726, and no doubtthere were many in Devonshire. [745] William Marshall states (1805), and he is supported by subsequent writers, that 'they are of themiddle horn class', and in his time so nearly resembled theHerefordshire breed in frame, colour, and horn, as not to bedistinguishable from them, except in the greater cleanness of the headand fore-quarters, and their smaller size. Yet they could not have hadthe white faces and throats of the Herefords, as they have always beenfamous for their uniformity in colour--a fine dark red. [746] He alsocompares them to the cattle of Sussex and the native cattle ofNorfolk. [747] The Devons then differed very much in different parts ofthe county; those of North Devon taking the lead, being 'nearly whatcattle ought to be'. They were, considered as draught animals, thebest workers anywhere beyond all comparison, though rather small, forwhich deficiency they made up in exertion and agility. As dairy cattlethey were not very good, since rearing for the east country graziershad long been the main object of Devon cattle farmers, but as grazingcattle they were excellent. 

Vancouver, a few years after this, praised their activity in work andtheir unrivalled aptitude to fatten, but says they were thendeclining in their general standard of excellence, and in numbers, owing to the great demand for them from other parts of England, wherethe buyers (Mr. Coke, who had established a valuable herd of them, and others) spared neither pains nor price to obtain those of thehighest excellence. 

This danger was clearly perceived by Francis Quartly of Molland, whoset to work to remedy it by systematically buying the choicest cows hecould procure. As the reputation and perhaps continuance of the Devonbreed is due to him more than to any other man, his account of his ownefforts on behalf of it is specially valuable. [748] At the end of theeighteenth century the principal North Devon yeomen were all breeders, and every week you might see in the Molton Market, their naturallocality, animals that would now be called choice. There were fewcattle shows in those days, and therefore the relative value ofanimals was not so easily tested. The war prices tempted many farmersto sell their best bulls and cows out of the district, so that goodanimals were becoming scarce, and the breed generally going back. Mr. Quartly therefore for years bought all the best animals he could findwith rare skill and judgement, and continued to improve his stock tillhe brought it to perfection. About the year 1834 cattle shows began atExeter, and for the first year or two Mr. Quartly did not compete;then he allowed his nephews to enter in all the classes, and theybrought home all the prizes. This lead they kept, and at the RoyalShow at Exeter in 1850 their stock obtained nine out of the ten prizesfor Devons. The _Devon Herd-Book_ was first published in 1851 byCaptain T. T. Davy, and a writer in 1858 says that of twenty-nineprize bulls in the first three volumes twenty-seven were descendedfrom the Quartly bull Forester, and of thirty-four prize cowstwenty-nine from the cow Curly, also of their stock. 

Among other famous breeders of Devons contemporary with Quartly wereMessrs. Merson, Davy, Michael Thorne, Yapp, Buckingham, the Halses, and George Turner. 

In 1829 Moore says, 'The young heifers of North Devon, with theirtaper legs, the exact symmetry of their form, and their clear coats ofdark red, are pictures of elegance. ' Their superiority for grazing anddraught was proved by the high prices demanded for them, but they werenot equally esteemed as dairy animals, [749] though of late years thisreproach has been removed. The ploughing of two acres of fallow landwas the common work of four oxen, which, when fattened at five yearsold, would reach eleven score a quarter. 

Since the publication of the Herd-Book, Devons have spread all overthe world, to Mexico, Jamaica, Canada, Australia, France, and UnitedStates, and the fact that in their original home they have beenlargely kept by tenant farmers proves them a good rent-paying breed. Yet it cannot be pretended that away from their native country theyare as much valued as the Shorthorn and Hereford. 

The South Hams breed of South Devon is a distinct variety, though itis believed to be descended from the 'Rubies'[750] and apparently hasat some time been crossed with the Guernsey; they are good milkers andattain a great size, but the quality of the meat is decidedly inferiorto that of North Devon. 

From the earliest times the real Devon colour has been red, varyingfrom a dark to a lighter or almost chestnut shade; half a century agothe lighter ones were more numerous than at present, and they areoften of richer quality though less hardy than the dark ones. 

The Sussex is larger and coarser than the Devon, of a deep brownchestnut colour, very hardy, a beef-producing but not a milk-yieldingsort. 

Longhorns, [751] a generation ago nearly extinct, once the favouritecattle of the midlands and portions of the north, are descended from abreed long established in the Craven district of Yorkshire. 'The trueLancashire, ' said Young in 1770, 'were Longhorns, and in Derbyshirewere a bastard sort of Lancashires. '[752] It was this breed thatBakewell improved, and of late years great efforts, chiefly inWarwickshire and Leicestershire, have been made to revive it. 

The Red Polled, or Norfolk Polled, is the only hornless breed ofEnglish cattle, and they are good milkers and fatteners. 

The Lincoln Red is a small red variety of the Shorthorn. 

Many of the Welsh breeds have spread into the adjacent parts ofEngland, and may be classified as North and South Welsh, or Angleseysand Castle Martins; black in colour, and generally with long horns. 

The Scottish cattle--the Aberdeen Angus, the Galloways, the Highlandbreed, and the Ayrshires--are also seen in England, but not so oftenas the Jerseys and Guernseys from the Channel Islands, while thesmall Dexters and Kerrys from Ireland are favourites with someEnglish farmers. 

SHEEP

The sheep of the British Isles may be divided into three mainclasses:--

1. Longwools, containing Leicesters, Border Leicester's, Cotswolds, Lincolns, Kentish, Devon Longwool, South Devon, Wensleydale, andRoscommon. 

2. Shortwools: the Oxford Downs, Southdowns, Shropshires, HampshireDowns, Suffolks, Ryelands, Somerset and Dorset Horned, and ClunForest. 

3. Mountain breeds: Cheviots, Blackfaced Mountain, Herdwick, Lonk, Dartmoor, Exmoor, Welsh Mountain, and Limestone. 

These are all English except the Border Leicester, Cheviot, andBlackfaced Mountain, which are Scotch; the Welsh Mountain is ofcourse Welsh, and the Roscommon Irish. 

1. The Leicesters, the largest and in many respects the mostimportant of British longwool sheep, are the sheep which Bakewellimproved so greatly. They are capable of being brought to a greatweight, and their long fine wool averages 7 lb. To the fleece. 

The Border Leicesters are an offshoot of the last named, bred on theScottish Border, and originating from the flock which George andMatthew Culley in 1767 took from the Tees to the Tweed. 

The Cotswolds have been on the Gloucestershire hills for ages, andhave long been famous for the length of their fleece, hardiness, andbreeding qualities. 

The Lincoln is the result of the old native breed of the countyimproved by Leicester blood. They have larger heads and denser andheavier wool than the Leicesters, averaging 8 to 9 lb. To the fleece, but have been known to yield 14 lb. 

The Kentish or Romney Marsh have long existed in the district whencethey obtain their name, but are not much known away from thatlocality. 

The Devon Longwool is a result of the infusion of Leicester bloodamong the old Bampton stock of Devonshire called Bampton Notts orpolled sheep. 

The South Devons or South Hams are another local breed, and are aresult of the improvement of the South Hams Notts by the Leicester. 

The Wensleydales are descendants of the old Teeswater breed, itself avariety of the old Leicester and improved by the new Leicesters ofCulley. 

2. Oxford Downs, a modern black-faced breed, now widely spread allover the midland counties, are a mixture of Cotswolds with HampshireDowns and Southdowns, and originated at the beginning of QueenVictoria's reign, but were not definitely so called till 1857. Thiscross of two distinct varieties, the long and the short wool, hasapproximated to the shortwool type. 

The Southdown, formerly Sussex Down, an old breed bred for ages onthe chalky soils of the South Downs, is 'perhaps', says Youatt, 'themost valuable breed in the kingdom. ' It was to John Ellman of Glynde, at the end of the eighteenth century, that they owe their presentperfection, and they have exercised as much influence among theshortwools as the Leicesters among the longwools. 

The Shropshire sheep is a descendant of the original Longmynd or oldShropshire sheep, which began to be crossed by the Southdown at thecommencement of the nineteenth century. [753] They were recognized as adistinct breed in 1853, and since then have become one of the mostvalued breeds, combining the symmetry and quality of the Southdownwith the weight of the Cotswold and the fattening tendency of theLeicester, with a hardier constitution. 

The Hampshire Down is another instance of the widespread influence ofthe Southdown, being the result of crossing that breed with the oldWiltshire sheep, which had long curling horns, and the BerkshireKnott. They are heavier than the Shropshire, and are perhaps moredistinguished for early maturity than any other breed. 

The Suffolk is derived from the old horned Norfolk ewe mated with theSouthdown, and was first granted its name in 1859. 

The Ryeland is a small, hornless, white-faced breed which has been inHerefordshire for centuries, but of late years has dwindled in numbersbefore the advent of the Shropshire. 

The Somerset and Dorset Horned is another old breed, preserved in apure state, much improved in modern times, and very hardy. 

The Clun Forest breed of West Shropshire and the adjacent parts ofWales is a mixture of the Ryeland, Shropshire, and Welsh breeds. 

3. The Cheviot is found on both sides of the hills of that name, though Northumberland is said to be its original home, and it wasimproved in the eighteenth century by crossing with the Lincoln. 

The Blackfaced Mountain breed is found chiefly in Scotland, butthrives on the bleak grazing lands of the north of England. 

The Herdwicks' home is the hills of Cumberland and Westmoreland, where they are hardy enough to fatten on the poor, thin pasture. 

The Lonk is the largest mountain breed, belonging to the fells ofYorkshire and Lancashire. 

The Dartmoors and Exmoors almost certainly came from one stock, though the former are now the larger, and are the few real survivorsof the old forest or mountain breeds of England. The Exmoor ishorned, the Dartmoor hornless. 

The Welsh Mountain is a small, hardy, soft-woolled breed, theirmutton having the best flavour of any sheep, and their wool makingthe famous Welsh flannel. 

The Limestone is little known outside the fells of Westmoreland. 

PIGS

Our pigs may be roughly divided into white, black, and red; the firstcomprising the Large, Middle, and Small Whites, formerly calledYorkshires; the second the Small Black (Suffolk or Essex), the LargeBlack only recently recognized, but apparently very ancient, and theBerkshire, which often has white marks on face, legs, or tail. Thered is the Tamworth, one of the oldest breeds, its skin being redwith dark spots. 

FOOTNOTES:

[734] Youatt, _Complete Grazier_ (1900), p. 388; cf. Pp. 104-5. 

[735] Youatt, _Complete Grazier_ (1900), p. 6. 

[736] See above. 

[737] _Rural Economy of West of England_, i. 235 cf. Above, p. 235. 

[738] See above. 

[739] ii. 126; about 1770. 

[740] Youatt, _Complete Grazier_, p. 18, and see 'Druid', _Saddle andSirloin_. 

[741] Cf. Supra, p. 167. 

[742] _Culley on Live Stock_ (1807), p. 42. 

[743] See p. 233. 

[744] Much of these accounts of Herefords and Devons is from theauthor's articles in the _Victoria County History_. 

[745] See above. 

[746] Risdon, _Survey_ (1810), Introd. P. Viii. 

[747] _Rural Economy of West of England_, i. 235. Risdon says ofDevonshire: 'As to cattle, no part of the Kingdom is better suppliedwith beasts of all sorts, whether for profit or pleasure, ' those forpleasure being apparently wild ones kept in parks. --Chapple's _Reviewof Risdon's Survey_, p. 23. 

[748] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (1st ser. ), xi. 680. See also ibid. Xix. 368, and (2nd ser. ) v. 107; xiv. 663; xx. 691. 

[749] _History of Devon_, i. 456. 

[750] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (3rd ser. ), i. 527. 

[751] See above. 

[752] _Northern Tour_, ii. 126. 

[753] _R. A. S. E. Journal_ (1858), p. 42. 

APPENDIX I

AVERAGE PRICES FROM 1259 TO 1700[754]

CORN PER QUARTER. 

 WHEAT. BARLEY. OATS. 

 1259-1400 5s. 10-3/4d. 4s. 3-3/4d. 2s. 5-3/4d. 1401-1540 5s. 11-3/4d. 3s. 8-3/4d. 2s. 2-1/4d. 1541-82 13s. 10-1/2d. 8s. 5-3/4d. 5s. 5-1/2d. 1583-1700 39s. 0-1/2d. 21s. 4d. 13s. 10d. 

 RYE. BEANS. 

 1259-1400 4s. 4-7/8d. 4s. 3-1/2d. 1401-1540 4s. 7-3/4d. 3s. 9-1/4d. 1541-82 -- 9s. 1-1/2d. 1583-1700 -- 22s. 3-1/4d. 

 LIVE STOCK. 

 OXEN. COWS. CART HORSES. [755]

 1259-1400 13s. 1-1/4d. 9s. 5d. 16s. 4d. 1401-1540 moderate increase 14s. Unaltered 1541-82 55s. 32s. Great increase 1583-1700 100s. 60s. 1580-1640 £5 to £10 1640-1700 £8 to £15

 PIGS SHEEP. LAMBS. (GROWN). BOARS. 

 1259-1400 1s. 2d. To 1s. 5d. 8d. 3s. 4s. 7d. 1401-1540 moderate increase 9d. Unaltered 6s. 1541-82 3s. To 4s. 6d. 2s. To 3s. 6s. 8d. To 8s. -- 1583-1700 10s. 7d. -- great increase

 POULTRY AND EGGS. 

 HENS. DUCKS. GEESE. EGGS. 

 1259-1400 1-6/8d. 2d. 3-5/8d. 4-1/2d. Per 120 1401-1540 2-1/4d. 2-1/4d. 4-3/4d. 6-1/2d " 1541-82 4-3/4d. 4-3/4d. 10d. 7-1/2d. " 1583-1700 8d. -1s. 9-1/4d. 2s. 3s. 3d. "

 WOOL. CHEESE. BUTTER. Per lb. 

 1259-1400 3-5/7d. 4-1/2d. Per 7 lb. 4-3/4d. Per 7 lb. 1401-1540 3-5/7d. 1/2d. Per lb. 1d. Per lb. 1541-82 7-1/2d. 1d. " 3d. " 1583-1702 9d. -1s. 3-1/2d. " 4-1/2d. "

 HAY. HOPS. Per load. Per cwt. 

 1259-1400 3s. 8d. -- 1401-1540 unaltered 14s. 0-1/2d. 1541-82 9s. 6d. 26s. 8d. 1583-1702 26s. 4d. 82s. 9d. 

 LABOUR. 

 Reaping Reaping Labourer per wheat oats Mowing day without per acre. Per acre. Per acre. Food. 

 1261-1350 5-5/8d. 4-7/8d. 5-1/4d. 2d. 1351-1400 8-1/2d. 8-1/4d. 7d. 3d. 1401-1540 9-3/4d. 8-1/4d. 8-1/8d. 4d. 1541-82 --[756] -- -- 6-1/2d. 1583-1640 -- -- 1s. 7d. 8-1/2d. 1640-1700 -- -- 1s. 8d. 10d. 

 PRICE OF LAND PER ACRE. 

 To Rent. To Buy. Arable. Grass. 

 1261-1350 4d. -6d. 1s. -2s. 12 years' purchase 1351-1400 6d. 2s. " 1401-1540 6d. 2s. 15-20 years 1541-82 slight increase unaltered 1583-1640 great increase 20 years 1641-1700 5s. 8s. " 1770 10s. 30 years

FOOTNOTES:

[754] Summarized from Thorold Rogers' prices in his _History ofAgriculture and Prices_, with some alterations. 

[755] Affri, 13s. 5d. Cart horses, 19s. 4d. A good saddle horse about1300 was worth £5. By 1580 it was worth £10 to £15, by 1700 £20 to£25. 

[756] A decided increase, but prices fluctuate so much that it is hardto strike an average. 

APPENDIX II

 TABLE SHOWING EXPORTS AND IMPORTS OF WHEAT AND FLOUR FROM AND INTO ENGLAND, UNIMPORTANT YEARS OMITTED

 Exports. Imports. Quarters. Quarters. 

 England. 1697 14, 699 400 1703 166, 615 50 1717 22, 954 none 1728 3, 817 74, 574 1733 427, 199 7 1750 947, 602 279

 Great Britain. 1757 11, 545 141, 562 1758 9, 234 20, 353 1761 441, 956 none 1767 5, 071 497, 905 1770 75, 449 34 1775 91, 037 560, 988 1776 210, 664 20, 578 1780 224, 059 3, 915 1786 205, 466 51, 463 1787 120, 536 59, 339 1789 140, 014 112, 656 1791 70, 626 469, 056 1796 24, 679 879, 200 1801 28, 406 1, 424, 765 1808 98, 005 84, 889 1810 75, 785 1, 567, 126 1815 227, 947 384, 475 1825 38, 796 787, 606 1837 308, 420 1, 109, 492 1839 42, 512 3, 110, 729 1842 68, 047 3, 111, 290

The above figures are taken from McCulloch's _CommercialDictionary_, 1847, p. 438, and agree roughly with those given byMcPherson, _Annals of Commerce_, iii. 674, and iv. 216 and 532. 

After 1842, exports played a very small part, and imports continuedto increase; in 1847, 4, 612, 110 _quarters_ of wheat and flourcame in; and the following figures show their growth in recenttimes:--

 AVERAGE OF ANNUAL IMPORTS OF WHEAT AND FLOUR IN CWTS. 

 1861-5 34, 651, 549 1866-70 37, 273, 678 1871-5 50, 495, 127 1876-80 63, 309, 874 1881-5 77, 285, 881 1886-90 77, 794, 380 1891-5 96, 582, 863 1896-1900 95, 956, 376 1901-5 111, 638, 817

With regard to the exports and imports of all kinds of corn, largequantities were exported in the first half of the eighteenth century. In 1733, 800, 000 quarters were sent to France, Portugal, Spain, andItaly, [757] and exports reached their maximum in 1750 with 1, 667, 778quarters, but by 1760 had decreased to 600, 000, and after that fellconsiderably; in 1771, for instance, the first year of the cornregister, they only amounted to 81, 665 quarters, whereas imports were203, 122. The figures of the imports were swollen by the largequantities of oats which came into England at this time. The followingyears are typical of the fluctuations in the trade:--

 Exports. Imports. 1774 47, 961 803, 844 1776 376, 249 444, 121 1780 400, 408 219, 093 1782 278, 955 133, 663 1783 104, 274 852, 389 1784-8 large excess of imports, mainly oats 1789 652, 764 478, 426

the last year when exports of all kinds of corn exceeded imports. [758]

To sum up, according to these figures, England's exports of wheatregularly exceeded her imports from 1697 until 1757, with theexception of the years 1728-9; then they fluctuated till 1789, thelast year in which exports of wheat exceeded imports, and as the sameyear is the last time when our exports of all kinds of corn exceededour imports, England at that date ceased to be an exporting country. [759]

FOOTNOTES:

[757] McPherson, _Annals of Commerce_, iii. 198. 

[758] Ibid. Iii. 674; iv. 216, 532. 

[759] The excess of exports of wheat in 1808 was accidentally due tothe requirements of the army in Spain. 

APPENDIX III

AVERAGE PRICES PER IMPERIAL QUARTER OF BRITISH CORN IN ENGLANDAND WALES, IN EACH YEAR FROM 1771 TO 1907 INCLUSIVE, ACCORDING TOTHE RETURNS OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE

 YEARS. WHEAT. BARLEY. OATS. S. D. S. D. S. D. 

 1771 48 7 26 5 17 2 1772 52 3 26 1 16 8 1773 52 7 29 2 17 8 1774 54 3 29 4 18 4 1775 49 10 26 9 17 0

 1776 39 4 20 9 15 5 1777 46 11 21 1 16 1 1778 43 3 23 4 15 7 1779 34 8 20 1 14 5 1780 36 9 17 6 13 2

 1781 46 0 17 8 14 1 1782 49 3 23 2 15 7 1783 54 3 31 3 20 5 1784 50 4 28 8 18 10 1785 43 1 24 9 17 8

 1786 40 0 25 1 18 6 1787 42 5 23 4 17 2 1788 46 4 22 8 16 1 1789 52 9 23 6 16 6 1790 54 9 26 3 19 5

 1791 48 7 26 10 18 1 1792 43 0 27 7 16 9 1793 49 3 31 1 20 6 1794 52 3 31 9 21 3 1795 75 2 37 5 24 5

 1796 78 7 35 4 21 10 1797 53 9 27 2 16 3 1798 51 10 29 0 19 5 1799 69 0 36 2 27 6 1800 113 10 59 10 39 4

 1801 119 6 68 6 37 0 1802 69 10 33 4 20 4 1803 58 10 25 4 21 6 1804 62 3 31 0 24 3 1805 89 9 44 6 28 4

 1806 79 1 38 8 27 7 1807 75 4 39 4 28 4 1808 81 4 43 5 33 4 1809 97 4 47 0 31 5 1810 106 5 48 1 28 7

 1811 95 3 42 3 27 7 1812 126 6 66 9 44 6 1813 109 9 58 6 38 6 1814 74 4 37 4 25 8 1815 65 7 30 3 23 7

 1816 78 6 33 11 27 2 1817 96 11 49 4 32 5 1818 86 3 53 10 32 5 1819 74 6 45 9 28 2 1820 67 10 33 10 24 2

 1821 56 1 26 0 19 6 1822 44 7 21 10 18 1 1823 53 4 31 6 22 11 1824 63 11 36 4 24 10 1825 68 6 40 0 25 8

 1826 58 8 34 4 26 8 1827 58 6 37 7 28 2 1828 60 5 32 10 22 6 1829 66 3 32 6 22 9 1830 64 3 32 7 24 5

 1831 66 4 38 0 25 4 1832 58 8 33 1 20 5 1833 52 11 27 6 18 5 1834 46 2 29 0 20 11 1835 39 4 29 11 22 0

 1836 48 6 32 10 23 1 1837 55 10 30 4 23 1 1838 64 7 31 5 22 5 1839 70 8 39 6 25 11 1840 66 4 36 5 25 8

 1841 64 4 32 10 22 5 1842 57 3 27 6 19 3 1843 50 1 29 6 18 4 1844 51 3 33 8 20 7 1845 50 10 31 8 22 6

 1846 54 8 32 8 23 8 1847 69 9 44 2 28 8 1848 50 6 31 6 20 6 1849 44 3 27 9 17 6 1850 40 3 23 5 16 5

 1851 38 6 24 9 18 7 1852 40 9 28 6 19 1 1853 53 3 33 2 21 0 1854 72 5 36 0 27 11 1855 74 8 34 9 27 5

 1856 69 2 41 1 25 2 1857 56 4 42 1 25 0 1858 44 2 34 8 24 6 1859 43 9 33 6 23 2 1860 53 3 36 7 24 5

 1861 55 4 36 1 23 9 1862 55 5 35 1 22 7 1863 44 9 33 11 21 2 1864 40 2 29 11 20 1 1865 41 10 29 9 21 10

 1866 49 11 37 5 24 7 1867 64 5 40 0 26 0 1868 63 9 43 0 28 1 1869 48 2 39 5 26 0 1870 46 11 34 7 22 10

 1871 56 8 36 2 25 2 1872 57 0 37 4 23 2 1873 58 8 40 5 25 5 1874 55 9 44 11 28 10 1875 45 2 38 5 28 8

 1876 46 2 35 2 26 3 1877 56 9 39 8 25 11 1878 46 5 40 2 24 4 1879 43 10 34 0 21 9 1880 44 4 33 1 23 1

 1881 45 4 31 11 21 9 1882 45 1 31 2 21 10 1883 41 7 31 10 21 5 1884 35 8 30 8 20 3 1885 32 10 30 1 20 7

 1886 31 0 26 7 19 0 1887 32 6 25 4 16 3 1888 31 10 27 10 16 9 1889 29 9 25 10 17 9 1890 31 11 28 8 18 7

 1891 37 0 28 2 20 0 1892 30 3 26 2 19 10 1893 26 4 25 7 18 9 1894 22 10 24 6 17 1 1895 23 1 21 11 14 6

 1896 26 2 22 11 14 9 1897 30 2 23 6 16 11 1898 34 0 27 2 18 5 1899 25 8 25 7 17 0 1900 26 11 24 11 17 7

 1901 26 9 25 2 18 5 1902 28 1 25 8 20 2 1903 26 9 22 8 17 2 1904 28 4 22 4 16 4 1905 29 8 24 4 17 4

 1906 28 3 24 2 18 4 1907 30 7 25 1 18 10

APPENDIX IV

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Gregory King, at the end of the seventeenth century, estimated theacreage of England and Wales at 39, 000, 000--not at all a badestimate, the area, excluding water, according to the Board ofAgriculture Returns of 1907, being 37, 130, 344. The differentestimates by Grew, Templeman, Petty, Young, Halley, Middleton, andothers varied between 31, 648, 000 and 46, 916, 000 acres. The last, thatof Arthur Young, was actually adopted by Pitt for his estimate of theincome-tax. [760]

 * * * * *

Caird in 1850[761] estimated the cultivated lands of England at27, 000, 000 acres (in 1907 they were 24, 585, 455 acres), cultivatedthus:--

 Permanent grass 13, 333, 000 Arable 13, 667, 000

the latter being divided as follows:--

 Acres. Bushels Produce, per acre. Quarters. 

 Wheat 3, 416, 750 27 11, 531, 531 Barley 1, 416, 750 38 6, 729, 562 Oats and rye 2, 000, 000 44 11, 000, 000 Clover and seeds 2, 277, 750 Beans and peas 1, 139, 000 30 4, 271, 250 Turnips, marigolds, & potatoes 2, 116, 750 Rape and fallow 1, 300, 000

Davenant, at the end of the seventeenth century, made the followingestimate showing the importance of wool in English trade[762]:--

 Annual income of England £43, 000, 000 Yearly rent of land 10, 000, 000 Value of wool shorn yearly 2, 000, 000 " woollen manufactures 10, 000, 000

Thus the rents of land formed nearly one-fourth the total income ofthe country, and wool paid one-fifth of the rents. [763]

In the eighteenth century a great quantity of wool was smuggled outof England in defiance of the law; in the space of four months in1754, 4, 000 tods was 'run' into Boulogne. [764]

 FOREIGN AND COLONIAL WOOL IMPORTED INTO ENGLAND. [765]

 lb. 

 1766 1, 926, 000 1771 1, 829, 000 1780 323, 000 1790 2, 582, 000 1800 8, 609, 000 1810 10, 914, 000 1820 9, 775, 000 1830 32, 305, 000 1840 49, 436, 000 1850 74, 326, 000 1855 99, 300, 000 1857 127, 390, 000

 PRICES OF LABOUR IN SURREY IN 1780. [766]

 s. D. 

 Day labourer, per day, in winter 1 4 " " in summer 1 6 Reaping wheat, per acre 7 0 " " and according to the crop up to 12 0 Mowing barley, per acre 2 6 " oats, " 1s. 6d. To 2 0 " grass " 2 6 Hand-hoeing turnips, per acre, first time 6 0 " " second time 4 0 Thatching hayricks, per square of 100 ft. 1 0 Washing and shearing sheep, per score 3 0 Ploughing light land, per acre 5 0 " stiff " " 7s. To 10 0 Common hurdles, each 5

OCCUPIERS OF LAND. 

In 1816 there were said to be 589, 374 occupiers of land in GreatBritain[767]--

 With incomes under £50 114, 778 Between £50 and £150 432, 534 Over £150 42, 062 ------- 589, 374 =======

In 1907 there were 510, 954 occupiers of one acre and more. 

MULHALL'S CALCULATION OF AVERAGE ANNUAL WAGES IN ENGLAND. 

 Bailiff. Shepherd. Labourer. Woman. Boy. 

 1800 £20 £16 £12 £8 £6 1850 40 25 20 10 8 1880 52 36 30 15 10

The average annual cost of living of an agricultural family of fivewas in 1823 £31, in 1883, £37. 

 COMPARATIVE STATEMENT BY A. YOUNG OF PRICES AND WAGES IN ENGLAND FROM 1200 TO 1810 ON THE PRINCIPLE OF REPRESENTING FACTS IN 1810 BY THE NUMBER 20, AND THE FACTS OF THE PRECEDING PERIODS BY THE PROPORTION BORNE BY THEM TO THAT NUMBER. 

 Labourer's Periods. Wheat. Meat. Wool. Wages. Horses. 

 1200-99 5-1/2 ... 3-1/2 ... 1300-99 6-1/4 ... 4-3/4 ... 1400-99 3 ... 5-1/2 ... 1500-99 6 ... 5-1/2 ... 1600-99 9-1/4 ... 8 ... 1700-66 7-3/4 7-1/2 12 10 15-3/4 1767-89 11 11-1/2 15-1/3 12-1/2 17-1/4 1790-1803 13 16-1/2 16-1/6 16-3/4 19-1/2 1804-10 20 20 20 20 20

Thus wheat in 1804-10 had risen 233 per cent. Since the sixteenthcentury. 

THE LABOURER'S WAGES. 

The following table, published by Mr. Barton in 1817, [768] showsthe depreciation of the labourer's wages in purchasing power between1742 and 1808:--

 Weekly Price of Wages in Period. Pay. Wheat. Pints of s. D. S. D. Bread. 

 1742-52 6 0 30 0 102 1761-70 7 6 42 6 90 1780-90 8 0 51 2 80 1795-9 9 0 70 8 65 1800-8 11 0 86 8 60

In answer to inquiries sent by the Poor Law Commissioners in 1834 to900 parishes in England the average weekly wages of labourers were--

 in summer, s. D. 

 in 254 parishes, with beer or cider 10 4-3/4 522 " without beer or cider 10 5-1/2

 in winter, in 200 " with beer or cider 9 2-1/4 544 " without beer or cider 9 11-3/4

The annual average inclusive earnings of the labourer

 £ s. D. 

 himself were stated at 27 17 10 and of his wife and children 13 19 10 ------------ 41 17 8 ============

It will thus be seen that the wife and children provided a third ofthe income. The majority of the parishes said the labourer couldmaintain his family on these wages. 

Here is the weekly budget of a labourer with an average family in1800:--[769]

 Cr. S. D. 

 Wages 15 0 Garden 1 6 Extras 1 0 ----- 17 6 =====

 Dr. S. D. 

 Rent 1 7-1/2 Bread 6 0 Bacon 2 6 Tea and sugar 1 3 Cheese 1 6 Butter 1 6 Fuel 1 3 Candles and soap 0 6 Clothes 1 6 Schooling 0 3 Sundries 0 6 --------- 18 4-1/2 =========

There is no fresh meat, and it is hard to say where any economy couldbe practised. 

 CONTRACT PRICES OF BUTCHER'S MEAT PER CWT. AT GREENWICH HOSPITAL, 1730-1842. [770]

 £ s. D. 

 1730 1 5 8 1740 1 8 0 1750 1 6 6 1760 1 11 6 1770 1 8 6 1780 1 12 6 1790 1 16 10 1800 4 4 1810 3 12 0 1815 3 8 0 1820 3 10 4 1825 2 19 6 1830 2 3 6 1835 2 0 7 1840 2 14 0 1842 2 12 8

FOOTNOTES:

[760] C. Wren Hoskyns, _Pamphlet on Agricultural Statistics_, p. 19. 

[761] _English Agriculture in 1850-1_, p. 521. Cf. Above, p. 331. 

[762] Smith, _Memoirs of Wool_, i. 157. 

[763] In 1908 the rental of agricultural land was 3-1/2 per cent. Ofthe total income of the country. See _The Times_ May 13, 1909. 

[764] Ibid. Ii. 264. 

[765] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, ii. 693. Cf. Above, p. 328. 

[766] Trusler, _Practical Husbandry_, p. 153. 

[767] Farmer's Magazine (1817), p. 6. Statistics at this date, however, must be taken with caution. They were usually estimates. Cf. Above, p. 334, for holdings in England. 

[768] _Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners_ (1881), xvi, 305. 

[769] _Parliamentary Reports, Commissioners_ (1881), xvi. 310. 

[770] McCulloch, _Commercial Dictionary_ (1852), p. 271. 

INDEX

A

Abbot's Ripton, 72. 

Aberdeen Angus cattle, 288, 343. 

Accounts, keeping, 29, 49. 

Accumulation of estates, 123. 

Acre, 2; tenantry, 253. 

Advantages of large farms, 202. 

Affer, the, 35. 

Agricultural Holdings Acts, 283, 296, 299-303. 

Agricultural revolution, the, of eighteenth century, 162. 

Agriculture, state of, 28, 38, 111, 113, 115, 123, 132, 160, 162, 192, 204, 211, 221, 229, 244, 245, 250, 265, 267, 274, 287, 305; seventeenth-century writers on, 127; state of, in eighteenth century, 162, 192, 221, 229; nineteenth, 244, 245, 262-70, 271, 287. 

Aitchison, 237. 

Akermanni, 13. 

Alderney cattle, 233. 

Ale, 10. 

Allotments, 196, 230, 253, 255n. , 315-7. 

Allowance system, 237. 

Allowances, parish, 238, 241, 257, 284. 

Almaine, corn from, 20. 

Almonds, 93, 136. 

Amalgamation of farms, 29, 46, 47, 95, 119, 120, 162, 202, 258, 317. 

America, gold discoveries in, 287; imports from, 262, 293, 323-4. 

Ancaster, Earl of, estate of, 321. 

Andover, 39. 

Anti-Corn Law League, 280. 

Apples, 15, 65, 93, 129, 130, 131, 135-6, 143, 171, 186-9, 329, 332. (_See_ Prices. )

Apprentices, 108. 

Apricots, 93, 136. 

Arable district of England (1893), 306n. 

Arable fields, 1, 2, 4, 16, 73. 

Arable land, 56, 99, 100, 195; amount of, in 1688, 155; decrease of, 59; extent of, in Domesday, 19; in 1770, 199; in 1850, 353; in 1877 and 1907, 332; preponderance of, 25, 30; produce of, in 1688, 155; suffers more than grass, 248, 266, 281, 285, 286, 306; value of, 19, 40, 58, 115-7, 139. 

Arch, Joseph, 290-2. 

Ardley, Inquisition of, 9. 

Argentina, imports from, 324. 

Arley, Upper, wine made at, 145. 

Artificial grasses, _see_ Clover, improve commons, 166. 

Ash timber, value of, 137. 

Assize of beer, 13, 14n. 

Association, British, 336. 

Average crops of corn (1770), 197. (_See under_ Wheat, Oats, Barley, &c. )

Average size of farms in 1768, 202. 

Averagium, 10. 

Australia, gold discoveries in, 287; imports from, 324; sheep introduced into, 328; wool from, 328. 

Axholme, 123, 260, 311, 318. 

Ayrshires, 339, 343. 

B

Bacon, Lord, 322, Bacon, 'the necessary meate' of the labourer, 102, 140; price of, _see_ Prices. 

Badger, a corn dealer, 134. 

Bailiff, 12, 29, 49, 51, 61, 71, 103, 109, 110, 137, 139, 355. 

Bakewell, 146, 163-7, 214-7, 226, 233, 343, 344. 

Balance sheet, estate, 307; farm, in 1805, 247; in 1888, 309. 

Balks, 3. 

Ball, John, 60. 

Banbury cheese, 173. 

Bank Restriction Act, 239, 240, 263. 

Barking Nunnery, vineyard at, 144. 

Barley, 20, 33, 36, 65, 91, 124, 135, 142, 155, 182, 227, 331-2, 353; cost of, per acre, 198; produce, per acre, 165n. , 197-8; profit on, 179, 180. (_See_ Prices. )

Barns, size of, 51. 

Barren years at end of seventeenth century, 115, 157. 

Basic slag, 304. 

Bassingthorpe, 103. 

Bates, Thomas, 274, 338. 

Bath, wine made at, 145. 

Beale, John, 128, 130. 

Beans, 17, 33, 49, 124, 155, 187, 201, 262, 331-2, 353; cost of growing, 199; profit on, 180. (_See_ Prices. )

Bedford, Duke of, 225, 318, 321. 

Bedfordshire, 3, 18, 79, 120, 123, 238, 306. 

Beef, price of, _see_ Prices. 

Beer, 36, 329. 

Belgium, live stock in, 334; wheat crops in, 332n. 

Belvoir estate, 115, 286. 

Berkeley estates, 3, 27n. , 35n. , 48, 56, 64, 74, 75. 

Berkshire, 104, 175, 237, 284, 286, 306n. 

Berkshire Knotts, 345; pigs, 346. 

Berlin decrees, 242. 

Best, Henry, accounts of, 138-40. 

Bideford, 262. 

Biggleswade, 318. 

Birds eating fruit, 129. 

Black Death, 27, 41-3, 59, 75. 

Black Year, the, 294. 

Blight, Hop, 150. 

Blyth, 113, 127, 137, 152. 

Board of Agriculture, 192, 193, 214, 229-33, 255; (Government), 290. 

Bones for manure, 154-5, 273, 275-6, 299. 

Booth, Thomas, 337-8. 

Bordarii, 8, 11. 

Boston, 308, 318, 327. 

Boys' wages, 206. 

Bradley, 152, 167, 168-9, 170, 171, 181, 336. 

Brampton, 235. 

Bread, different kinds of, 54, 102, 206-7, 230; rye, 101, 134, 206; wheaten, a luxury, 101; common, 207, 240; made of turnips, 157; price of (_see_ Prices). 

Breeding of stock, 37, 146, 167, 215-7, 256, 273. 

Brentford, 157. 

Bridport, 262. 

Bright, John, 280. 

Buckinghamshire, 78, 146, 172, 291, 306n. 

Buckwheat, 332. 

Budget, labourer's weekly, 206, 208, 356. 

Buildings, farm, and repairs, 51, 272, 279, 282, 299, 302, 307, 310. 

Bull, description of a (1726), 167. 

Burford, riot at, 185. 

Buri, 8, 11. 

Bury St. Edmunds, 110, 147. 

Butter, 33, 63n. , 66, 114, 138, 140, 161, 174, 205, 206n. , 241, 247 (_see_ Prices), 304, 305, 313, 325; exports of, 326-7. 

By-industries of peasant, 110, 239, 250, 257, 260, 269, 317. 

C

Cabbages, 112, 143, 187, 191, 194, 200, 201, 331. 

Cadaveratores, 13. 

Caird, Sir James, 279, 281, 285, 287, 310, 314, 319n. 

Cake, 296, 300, 305, 314. 

Calstock, 318. 

Calves, killing of, forbidden, 86; rearing, 125. 

Cambridgeshire, 79, 151, 167, 222, 262, 306n. , 318. 

Camden, 173, 335. 

Canada, imports from, 323-4. 

Canterbury, hops from, 171. 

Capital of farmers, 197, 203-4. 

Carrington, Lord, 231. 

Carrots, 112, 128, 143, 167, 191, 194, 331. 332. 

Carter, wages of, 110. 

Cart-horses, price of, 35, 114. 

Carts, 153. 

Cattle, Chillingham, 336; diseases, 85; export of, 326, 330; improvement in, 336, 337, 338 (_see_ Cattle, size of); number of, in 1867 and 1878, 288; in 1907, 333-4; original breed of, 336; price of, _see_ Prices; size of, 37, 104, 146, 169, 288, 336, 342; separation of, for summer pasture, 124; sorts of (1726), 167 (_see under_ Various breeds); about 1800, 235; in 1839, 274; in 1892, 274, 336; time to buy, 125. (_See_ Bakewell, Collings, Exports, _and_ Imports. )

Cattle plagues, of eighteenth century, 172, 185-6, 290; of nineteenth century, 289-90, 294. 

Cauliflowers, 143. 

Causes of high prices at end of eighteenth century, 240. 

Celery, 318. 

Chamberlayne, 259. 

Cheddar cheese, 173. 

Cheese, 33, 63n. , 66, 161, 173, 174, 200, 206n. , 276, 305, 313, 325. (_See_ Prices, Exports, _and_ Imports. )

Chelmsford, 110, 171, 307. 

Chemistry, agricultural, 232, 243, 275. 

Cherries, 15, 129, 130, 131, 136, 143, 171, 329, 332. 

Cheshire, 3, 110, 167, 173, 224, 276, 295, 306. 

Chestnuts, 136. 

Cheviots, 344, 346, Child, Josiah, 117. 

Christ Church, Canterbury, 42. 

Cider, 37, 130, 131, 135-6, 149, 187-9, 207, 269. 

Cistercians, good farmers, 29, 327. 

Civil War, checks improvement, 113; family settlements after, 123. 

Claret made in Oxfordshire, 145. 

Clarke, 236. 

Close parishes, 158, 284. 

Cloth made in England, 69, 70. 

Clothes, part of wages, 28, 109; of labourer, 54, 71, 109, 185, 206-8, 211, 311; of farmer, 105, 213. 

Clover, cost of growing, 198; extent of, 331, 333, 353; introduced, 111, 112; spread of, 115, 141-2, 164, 166, 178, 179, 191, 194; seed, price of, 223; sown with corn, 166. 

Clun Forest sheep, 344, 346. 

Clydesdale horse, 335. 

Cobbett, 107, 226, 265, 268. 

Cobden, Richard, 279n. , 280, 285n. 

Coinage, depreciation of, 44, 59, 89. 

Coke of Holkham, 163, 182, 224-8, 275, 341. 

'Coke's Clippings', 227. 

Coleseed, 115. 

Coliberti, 8. 

Collings, the, 146, 163, 167, 233-5, 337. 

Combe, 53. 

'Comet, ' 234, 235. 

Commissions, Royal, on Agriculture, &c. , 260, 266, 289, 294-6, 300, 303, 304, 305, 311-14, 316, 318, 320, 329. 

Committees, Parliamentary, 256, 258, 263n. , 266, 267. 

Common, John, 303. 

Common fields, 22, 26, 78, 112, 113, 118-9, 120, 194, 253, 258. 

Common land, 3, 145, 148; evils of, 148, 194, 256, 257; improvement of, 166. 

Common pasture, _see_ Pasture _and_ Meadows. 

Commons, advantages of, 165; extent of, in 1795, 231; rights of, lost, 253. 

Communities and corporations contrasted, 2. 

Commutation of labour services for money, 27, 45. 

Compensation for improvements, 296, 299-302. 

Competition, foreign, 296, 297, 312, 315, 319, 323-30. 

Consolidation of farms, _see_ Amalgamation. 

Contractors for labour, 209. 

Co-operation in agriculture, 1. 

Copyholders, 59, 121-2. 

Corn laws, 63, 64, 69, 70, 159, 160, 242, 248, 250, 265-6, 277-80. 

Cornwall, 136, 186, 295, 309, 318. 

Cost of living (1773-1800), 241. 

Cotarii, 8, 11, 25. 

Cotswold sheep, 233, 275, 343, 344; wool, famous, 172. 

Cottages, 52, 117, 121n. , 139, 158, 159, 206, 209, 250, 254, 255, 267-8, 285, 297, 304, 311n. , 315-6. 

Court Rolls, of Manydown, 13. 

Cowper, John, 165. 

Cows, decrease in number of, 96; increase, 325; let out by the year, 34, 57, 65; yield of, 33, 64. (_See_ Prices of Cattle. )

Craik improves drill, 202. 

Craven, migration from, 44. 

Crimean War, effect of, 277n. , 287. 

Crondall, 28. 

Crows' and magpies' nests to be destroyed, 100. 

Culley, George, 217, 234, 337, 344. 

Cultivated land, amount of, in 1685, 120; in 1867, 288. 

Cultivation, Walter of Henley on, 32; of England, in 1688, 155; the old and new ways of, 177, 180, 194, 200-2. 

Cultivation, clauses, 57, 178, 218, 296, 302, 322. 

Cumberland, 238, 295, 309, 311, 346. 

Currants, 331. 

Custom of the country, 299, 300n. , 302 (_see_ Tenant right). 

Cuxham, manor of, 24. 

Cylindrical drain pipes, 272. 

D

Dairy, the, and dairying, 33, 59, 168, 170, 173, 199-200, 297, 307, 306, 313, 319, 325, 340-1. (_See_ Butter, Cheese, _and_ Milk. )

Damsons, 15, 136. 

Danegeld, 6. 

Dartmoor sheep, 344, 346. 

Davenant, 115, 117, 120, 260, 354. 

Daventry, common fields at, 115, 117, 120, 260, 354. 

Davy, Sir H. , 232, 276; T. T. , 342. 

Dealers, legislation against, 86, 93, 134; complaints against, 237. 

Defoe, Daniel, 166, 168, 169, 171, 174, 220, 259. 

Degge, Simon, 122. 

Demesne, 7, 15, 30, 45, 56, 58, 65, 74, 97, 99. 

Denmark, imports from, 241, 262, 323-4; livestock in, 334; wheat crops in, 332n. 

Depression, agricultural, 163, 183, 184, 223, 228, 242, 248, 262-70, 281, 292, 293-6, 305-14. 

Derby, Lord, estate of, 320n. 

Derbyshire, 44, 167, 309, 343. 

Devon cattle, 168, 217, 225, 233, 274, 288, 336, 339, 340-3. (_See_ Southams. )

Devon sheep, 343, 344. 

Devonshire, 37, 73, 107, 113, 128, 132, 136, 186, 187, 244, 245, 269, 272, 295, 306, 309, 338. 

Devonshiring, 141. 

D'Ewes, Sir S. , quoted, 117, 133. 

Dexters, 343. 

Dibbling wheat, 135. 

Digging for wheat, 135. 

Diseases of Animals Act (1890), 290. 

Dishley, 214-6. 

Distress, law of, 296, 301; periods of, 42, 68 (_see_ Depression, agricultural), 237, 242. 

Divining rod, 232. 

Domesday, 5, 14, 16, 19, 60, 79, 144. 

Doncaster, roads near, 221. 

Dorking, manor of, 65. 

Dorset, 3, 263, 285, 291, 312, 318; sheep, 344, 346. 

Dovecotes, _see_ Pigeons. 

Drainage, 16, 32, 113, 128, 129, 137, 154, 163, 201, 202, 213-4, 219, 230, 271, 273, 279, 282, 288, 299, 300, 305, 307, 310. 

Drills, 113, 152, 175-7, 180, 183, 200-2, 226, 227, 271, 274. 

Drinking habits, 207-8, 269. 

Drying hops, 151. 

Duchesses, the, 234, 274, 338. 

Duckham, Mr. , 339. 

Ducks, 170 (_see_ Poultry). 

Dugdale, 77. 

Du-Hamel, 202. 

Durham, 119, 337. 

Durham ox, 234, 235. 

Dutch breed of cattle, _see_ Shorthorns. 

E

Eakring, common meadows at, 22. 

Eardisley, 5. 

East Indies, wool from, 328. 

Eden, account of potatoes, 106, 207, 238, 256. 

Education Acts, 292, 297. 

Egypt, imports from, 323. 

Eighteenth century, general characteristics of, 162. 

Electricity applied to vegetables, 236. 

Elevator, hay and straw, 304. 

Elkington of Princethorpe, 213-4, 230, 271. 

Ellis, Chiltern and Vale Farming, 180. 

Ellman, John, 217, 345. 

Enclosers prosecuted in Star Chamber, 120. 

Enclosure, 74-82, 85, 92, 96, 97, 119, 173, 182, 194, 228, 252-261; agreement as to, 98; acts of, 119, 163, 196, 231, 233, 252, 253, 258; amount of, exaggerated, 121; different kinds of, 73, 119, 165, 196; eighteenth century, 163, 165, 173, 182, 183, 194, 196, 253; evils of, 194, 195, 252-3, 254-61, 316; expense of, 196, 252; non-parliamentary, 165, 253; a deed of, 75; a sign of progress, 76, 114, 139, 145-8, 253; legislation against, 79, 80, 120; checked, 120. 

England, appearance of, in fifteenth century, 78; in the seventeenth, 120-1. 

English invaders, 1. 

Entails, barred, 122. 

Essex, 62, 78, 106, 128, 173, 190, 225, 286, 295, 306, 309, 319. 

Estates, great, accumulation of, 123; advantages of, 322; often a loss, 321. 

Evelyn, John, 127, 149. 

Evesham, Vale of, 318. 

Ewes, milking of, 33, 64, 200. 

Exhibition, Great, 287, 304. 

Exmoor sheep, 344, 346. 

Exporting country, England ceases to be an, 161, 163. 

Exports of butter and cheese, 326-7. 

Exports of corn, 63n. , 64, 70, 159-161, 183, 185, 242, 267, 348-9; reaches its maximum, 186; of livestock, 325-6; of wool, 39, 69, 172, 327. 

Extensive cultivation, 2. 

Extent of the Manor, 10. 

Eyton, Mr. , 339. 

F

Faggots, price of, 114. 

Fairs for hops, 171; horses, 105; sheep, 172n. ; wool, 172n. 

Fallows, utilized, 112, 177, 181, 191, 195; in 1877, 1907, 331; in 1850, 353. 

Families employed on common and on enclosed land, 195. 

Farm or feorm, 5. 

Farmer, day's work of, in seventeenth century, 134; discontent of, 127-8, 184; financial position of, 101, 103, 156, 162, 184, 195, 204, 212-3, 243, 247, 257-8, 264-5, 293, 307, 308, 310, 320; growing more skilful, 101, 132. 

_Farmer's Letters_, Young's, 192. 

Farmhouses, 51, 101, 116, 119, 213, 226. 

Farming, bad, 273, 281; improvement in, 28, 111, 113, 115, 132, 160, 162, 192, 204, 211, 221, 229, 244, 265, 267, 271, 274, 275, 281, 288. 

Farming calendar, 17, 124. 

Farms, in sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 116-7; size of (1768), 202. 

Farnham, hops, 171. 

Fashion, farming becomes the, 192, 193. 

Fattening oxen, 31, 58, 125, 136-7, 166, 214, 216, 225n. , 235, 288; sheep, 112, 166, 225n. ; chickens, 170. 

'Favourite', 234. 

Feeding pigs, 16, 125. 

Fences, legislation as to, 4. 

Fens, the, 78, 123, 170, 318. 

Feversham, fruit growing near, 128, 171. 

Fifteenth century, character of, 68. 

Figs, 15, 93, 136. 

Filberts, 93, 136. 

Fitzherbert, 31, 61, 76, 77, 83-5, 111, 132, 135. 

Fixtures, 301. 

Flanders, cattle, 338; clover from, 111, 166; hops from, 86, 150; wool exported to, 39, 327; sheep exported to, 326. 

Flax, 17, 105, 135, 141, 151-2, 191, 251, 331, 332. 

Fleece, weight of, 37, 41, 104, 200, 215. 

Fleta, quoted, 12, 13. 

Floor, for hop-picking, 91, 151. 

Flour, exports and imports of, 348-9. 

Fluctuations in price of corn, 35, 66, 89, 133, 142, 157, 186, 221, 223, 277. 

Fold soke, 9. 

Folding quality, of sheep, 253. 

Food, labourer's, 9, 25, 34, 37, 53, 54, 61, 62, 102, 110, 134, 139-40, 164, 200-8, 211, 240n. , 268, 290-1, 297, 308, 311; farmer's, 101, 128, 213, 240n. , 246, 308. 

Foot-and-mouth disease, _see_ Cattle Plagues. 

Foot-rot, 294. 

Foreman, requirements of, 139. 

Forncett, manor of, 25, 45, 46. 

Fountains Abbey, 81. 

Four-course rotation, 183. 

Four-field system, 99. 

Fourteenth century, characteristics of, 38. 

Fowler, John, 304. 

Fox, the, 140, 244. 

France, exports to, 349; imports from, 243, 323; livestock in, 334; small holders of, 202-3; wheat crops in, 332. 

Freeholders, _see also_ Yeoman, 119, 121-2. 

Freemen, 7. 

Free tenants, 24, 29, 45. 

Free trade, 161, 277-81, 323; effect of, 281, 284, 288, 293, 296. 

French War, great, _see_ Wars. 

Fruit, 15, 93, 128, 143; imports of 305. 

Fruit-growing in seventeenth century, 129-131, 132, 136; in eighteenth century, 171, 186-9; in nineteenth century, 319, 329, 330. 

Furlongs, 3, 118. 

Furniture of manor house, 52; labourer's home, 52. 

G

Gafol, 9, 10. 

Galloway cattle, 169, 343. 

Game, damage by, 302. 

Game law, the first, 55. 

Gang system, 292. 

Geese, 34, 170. (_See_ Poultry. )

Gentry, at the Revolution, 156; estates of under Walpole, 183; status of 50, 97; supplanted, 122, 128, 137, 140, 156, 184, 211, 312, 310. (_See_ Landlords _and_ Squire). 

Gerard, 106, 111. 

'Gerefa, the', 15. 

Germany, exports to, 63; imports from, 20, 66, 69, 241, 243, 262, 323-4, 328; livestock in, 334; wheat crops in, 332n. 

Gilbert, 275. 

Gilbert's Act, 237. 

Gilbey, Sir W. , 335. 

Glamorganshire, vineyards in, 145. 

Glastonbury Abbey, 13. 

Gleaning, 133. 

Gloucestershire, 19, 78, 128, 136, 143, 144, 173, 207, 295, 344. 

Gloves, gifts of, 62. 

Gold premium, 305. 

Googe, Barnaby, 144, 173. 

Gooseberries, 331. 

Grafting in seventeenth century, 130. 

Grain crops, chief source of lord's income, 25. 

Grapes, 136, 329 (_see_ Vineyards). 

Grass, acreage under, in 1877 and 1907, 331-2; in 1850, 353; arable land laid down to, 56, 58, 75, 79, 91, 93-4, 117-9, 120, 196, 219, 231, 305; converting, to tillage, 231, 263; more profitable than arable, 199; seeds, 165, 191, 194, 226-7. 

Grass land, price of, _see_ Pasture and meadow, price of; ploughed up, 186, 218, 245. 

Grass section of England in 1893, 306n. 

Grasshoppers, plague of, 185. 

Graziers, profits of, 184, Greycoats of Kent, 259. 

Ground Game Act, 303. 

Guano, 232, 276. 

Guernsey cattle, 342, 343. 

Gun, the, in seventeenth century, 140. 

H

Haggard, Rider, Mr. , 314-5. 

Hallam, 210. 

Hambleton, Sir A. Barker of, 142. 

Hamlets, 5. 

Hampshire, 28, 36, 79, 116, 132, 145, 165n. , 240, 253, 266, 268, 306n. , 309, 314; sheep, 275, 288, 344, 345. 

Handborough, 53. 

Harrison, 'Description of England, ' 19, 28, 50, 56, 86, 91, 95, 101, 104, 149. 

Harrow, the, and harrowing, 17, 65, 84, 125, 135, 141, 153-4, 166, 176, 176, 179, 194, 201, 203, 246. 

Hartlib, Simon, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, 142-3. 

Harvest, importance of, 9, 108. 

Harvest homes, 104, 269. 

Harvest work, 25, 62, 125, 138, 209. 

Hatfield Chase, 78. 

Hawsted, 20, 30, 35, 54, 57, 58, 62, 63, 67, 112, 115, 116, 178, 179, 205, 207. 

Hay, 112; price of, _see_ Prices; carrying off, 178, 219, 302; imports of, 262. 

Hay tedder, 304. 

Haymaking, 4, 44, 124, 125, 138, 142. 

Headlands, 3. 

'Heaths', Shropshire, 220. 

Hedges, 124, 148, 150, 163, 178, 282. 

Hemp, 100, 105, 135, 151. 

Henley, Walter of, 19n. , 31, 36, 83. 

Henry of Huntingdon, 327. 

Hens, number of eggs from, 35. 

Herdwick sheep, 344, 346. 

Hereford cattle, 233, 235, 274, 288, 336, 338-40, 342. 

Herefordshire, 5, 40, 128, 130, 132, 136, 143, 171, 186-7, 188, 240, 247, 249, 250, 267, 291, 306, 309, 316. 

Hertfordshire, 150, 174, 179, 225, 238, 306n. 

Hentzner's description of English fanning, 104. 

Hide, 16. 

Highland, West, cattle, 217, 343. 

Hoeing, 153, 166, 188, 201-2, 354; horse, 198, 201. 

Holder, the small, 73, 76, 119, 121-2, 164, 191, 195, 202, 205, 220, 253-61, 268, 308, 310, 311, 316-9; decrease of, causes of, 122, 259; new class of, 260. 

Holderness cattle, 337. 

Holdings, various sizes of, 334. 

Holland, Shorthorns from, 337; live stock in, 334; wheat crops in, 332n. 

Honey, 10, 144. 

Hops, 28, 86-7, 89-91, 111, 125, 128, 143, 149, 150, 171, 297-9, 329-30, 331; acreage of, in 1729, 171, 297-8, 329; average crop, 333; duty on, 297-8; imports of, 329-30; profit on, 90, 150, 171, 298-9, 330; substitutes, 298, 329. 

Horse fairs, 105. 

Horse shoes, 36. 

Horses, deterioration of; 85, 146; export of, 325-6; kinds of, 274, 335; number of, 333; size of, 104, 105, 217; tax on, 249; working powers of, 31, 153, 204. (_See_ Prices. )

Houghton, account of potatoes, 106, 127, 165. 

Houses, wooden, 50 (_see_ Farmhouses); of the squire and yeoman, 103, 212. 

Housing cattle and horses, 126. 

Howberry, 175-6. 

'Hubback', 234. 

Hundred Rolls, 28, 76, 327. 

Hunting, 140, 210. 

Huntingdonshire, 3, 25n. , 72, 120, 123, 222, 306n. , 309. 

Hurdles, 354. 

Husbandry, old and new, _see_ Cultivation. 

I

Implements, cost of, rises, 242; in seventeenth century, 135, 152-3, 154; in eighteenth century, 188, 194, 203, 229, 236; in nineteenth century, 271, 273-5, 276, 287n. , 303-4, 316; improvement in, 113; list of, in eleventh century, 17-52; prices of, 83, 138. 

Importing country, England becomes an, 163. 

Imports cause low prices, 295. 

Imports of clover seed, 166; of corn, 20, 63n. , 66, 69, 70, 159-61, 183, 184, 223, 224, 230, 240, 241-4, 247, 248, 249, 262, 266, 267, 277-80, 287, 293, 305, 323-4, 330, 348-9; of dairy produce, 325; of fruit, 188, 329; of hops, 150; of linen, 105; of livestock, 161, 280-1, 305, 324-6, 337; of meat, 161, 305, 325, 330; of wool, 39, 161, 305, 328, 354. 

Improvements, amount expended in, 320-1; needed in eighteenth century, 191; in farming in eighteenth century, 192 (_see_ Agriculture, state of), 193, 204 (_see_ Farming). 

Inbreeding, Bakewell and, 214; the Collings and, 234-5. 

Income and expenditure of landed classes (1688), 156. 

Incubators, early, 132. 

India, imports from, 324; wool from, 328. 

Ine, laws of, as to fencing, 5. 

Inherent capabilities of the soil, 301. 

Inns, markets for produce, 323. 

Inoculation of fruit trees, 131. 

Intensive cultivation, 2. 

Irish imports, 161, 262, 324-5, 328; labourers, 209, 306. 

Irrigation, 113, 132, 217. 

Isle of Wight, 172n. 

Italy, exports to, 349; wool exported to, 39, 327. 

J

Jamaica, wool from, 328. 

Jersey cattle, 275, 339, (_See_ Alderney. )

Jus faldae, 64. 

Justices regulate wages, 107. 

K

Kent, 40, 128, 143-7, 157, 171, 173, 186, 259, 265, 283, 295, 306n. , 309. 

Kentish cattle, 168; sheep, 343, 344. 

Kerry cattle, 343. 

Kett, rising of, 96. 

Ketton, 233, 235. 

Kilns, hop, 151. 

King's, Gregory, statistics, 120, 140, 141, 155, 258-9, 260, 353. 

Kingston, Lord, estate rents of, 116. 

Knights Hospitallers' estates, 40. 

L

Labour, cost of, per acre, 313; services, 6, 12, 25, 27, 42, 45, 56, 61. 

Labourer, character of, in eighteenth century, 175, 184, 201, 204, 205, 210; condition of, at end of eighteenth century, 237-9; condition of, in nineteenth century, 257, 266-8, 269, 270, 279, 283-4, 285, 290-2, 297, 311-2, 313-4, 315, 320, 355; decrease of, 305, 311n. , 315; life of, in Middle Ages, 53, 54, 67, 71, 103; made a land-less man by enclosure, 196, 257; number of (1688), 156; savings of, 102-3, 156; sports of, 55; the home of the, 52, 158; wages of, _see_ Wages. 

Lambs, to fall March 25, 126. 

Lammas, 4, 112, 137. 

Lancashire, 44, 78, 106, 110, 147, 163, 167, 207, 216, 219, 282, 283, 284, 309, 312, 316, 320, 343, 346. 

Land, value of, 19, 36, 40, 66, 117, 133, 149, 183, 243, 286-7, 293, 304, 310, 328, 348. 

Landlords, absentee, 184, 191; of the fourteenth century, 48; new class of, 59; houses of the 103 (_see_ Cottages); improve estates, 132, 162, 224, 232, 255, 268, 320; protectionists, 160-1; ignorant of estate management, 175, 193, 249, 281; in nineteenth century, 265, 281, 304, 307, 309, 320-2; position, weakened, 309; relations of, and tenant, 218, 226, 282-3, 299, 301, 322; suffered most from present depression, 320; reserve sporting rights, 115; take to farming, 182. 

Landlordship, 6. 

Lawes, Sir John, 275, 276, 314, 319. 

Lawrence, John, 152, 165, 166, 167, 173, 337. 

Laxton, Notts, 22. 

Leases, 45, 56, 57, 65, 81, 97, 113, 115-6, 121-2, 178, 218, 219, 263n. , 272, 282, 283. 

Leicester sheep, 215-6, 235, 274, 275, 343, 344. 

Leicestershire, 8, 78, 79, 120, 151, 172, 174, 214-6, 268, 306n. , 309, 343. 

'Lemmons', 93. 

Leominster, manor of, 18; wool, 40, 171, 172n. 

Liberi homines, 7. 

Liebig, 275, 276. 

Lime, 112, 141, 177, 187, 197. 

Limestone sheep, 344, 346. 

Liming the land, 77, 113, 218, 219, 246, 300. 

Lincoln red cattle, 343; sheep, 215, 235, 275, 288, 343, 344, 346. 

Lincolnshire, 3, 8, 40, 99, 100, 103, 123, 151, 168, 172, 250, 252, 255, 283, 306n. , 307, 318, 321. 

Liquorice, 143, 191. 

Liverpool, apples at, 188; wheat at, 185. 

Liverpool, Lord, 232, 264. 

Live stock, depreciation of, 306, 330; exports of, 325-6, 330; number of (1877 and 1907), 333-4; in England (1688), 155, 164; duty on, repealed, 280. 

Locusts in England, 185. 

London, affects wages, 205; attracts country folk, 209, 210; potato grown near, 106; carrots grown near, 167, 168; roads near, 222; sheep and cattle driven to, 221. 

Longhorn cattle, 167, 216-7, 233, 234, 274, 275n. , 336, 343. 

Longmynd, 345. 

Lonk sheep, 344, 346. 

Lord of the manor, 6, 14, 19, 25, 42, 121, 127, 255; small holder suffers at his hand, 121. 

'Lord Wilton', 340. 

Lucerne, 143, 167n. , 191, 201. 

Luffenham, South, 22; North, 103. 

Luxury, spread of, an, 243, 264. 

Lyttelton, Sir H. , 145; Lord, 183. 

M

Macadam, 220, 223, 230. 

Machinery, use of, 271. 

Madder, 17, 143, 191, 194. 

Maidstone hops, 171. 

Maize, imports of, 262, 296, 313. 

Mangolds, 237, 331-2, 333, 353. 

Manor, regulations of the, 13, 99. 

Manor, the typical, 14. 

Manorial balance sheets, 26, 65. 

Manorial system, 6, 7, 18, 24, 45, 76, 97. 

Manors, 6, 7, 14, 18, 25, 42, 45, 65, 97, 99, 118. 

Mansion house, 14, 50. 

Manufactures, influence of, on wages, 284, 297, 315. 

Manures, 113, 119, 136, 144, 150-4, 177, 178, 179, 187, 191, 197, 201, 219, 221, 254, 275-6, 296, 299, 300, 304, 305, 314. 

Manydown, Hants, 13. 

Market gardening, 306, 308, 319. 

Markham, Gervase, 127, 134-7, 146, 151, 171. 

Marling, 77, 113, 183, 191, 197, 202, 219, 300. 

Marshall, William, 188, 204, 207, 213, 222, 298, 314, 336, 338, 340. 

Maryland, wool from, 328. 

Mattocks for breaking clods, 129. 

McCormick, 303. 

McCulloch, 281, 324, 349. 

Meadowland, 2, 19, 22, 40, 58, 155. 

Meadows, 16, 30, 73, 99, 100, 118, 124, 148, 253, 258; value of, 40, 58, 115-6, 139, 231. 

Meat, imports of, 161, 305, 325. 

Medlars, 136. 

Meikle, 230, 236. 

Menzies, 236. 

Merino sheep, 233, 328n. 

Messor, the, 13. 

Middlesex, 41, 145, 306n. 

Midland counties, enclosure in, 120; sheep in, 216, 218. 

Migration of labourers, 44, 158n. , 209, 238. 

Milk, 63n. , 168 (_see_ Dairy), 170, 205, 275, 297, 330. 

Mill, suit of, 9. 

Mills, excessive number of, 114. 

Minimum wage proposed, 241. 

Minister of Agriculture, 305. 

Mixtil, or mastlin, or mesling, 9, 102, 125, 138, 207n. 

Moles, 114, 124. 

Molton Market, 341. 

Monasteries, 68, 81. 

Money payments, 24, 27, 45, 56. 

Mortimer abuses the law, 74. 

Moryson, 102, 105, 122. 

Mountain sheep, 344, 346. 

Mowing corn, Fitzherbert's advice, 84, 125, 135, 138, 199, 354; machines for, 303-4. 

Mowing grass, cost of, 34, 44, 65, 71, 109, 138, 142, 348, 354; Fitzherbert's advice, 84. 

Mulberries, 15, 146. 

Murrain, 13, 42n. , 68. 

Mutton, price of, _see_ Prices. 

N

New world, influx of precious metals from, 89, 111. 

New Zealand, wool from, 328. 

Newark, 157. 

Nitrate of soda, 276. 

Non-intercourse Act of United States, 242. 

Norden, Sir John, 127-8, 220. 

Norfolk, 8, 40, 45, 63n. , 94, 96, 97, 167n. , 169, 170, 182, 217, 224-8, 306n. , 308, 340. 

Norfolk, or four-course rotation, 183. 

Normandy, 338. 

North, difference of wages between, and South, 283-5; superior thrift in, 207-8. 

Northamptonshire, 8, 78, 79, 120, 151, 157, 172, 222, 306n. 

Northleach, rates at, 295. 

Northumberland, 193n. , 256, 295, 303, 309, 346. 

Norwich, 169, 182. 

Nottinghamshire, 8, 22, 78, 116, 144, 172, 237, 276, 283, 306n. , 308, 309. 

Nowton, Suffolk, 57. 

Nucleated villages, 5. 

Nuts, 136. 

O

Oak timber, value of, 137; Coke's, 225-6. 

Oakham, 110. 

Oats, 20, 33, 65, 91, 124, 135-8, 142, 155, 227, 305, 331-2, 353; cost of growing, in 1770, 199; produce, per acre, in 1712, 105n. ; in 1770, 197-9; profit on, 180. (_See_ Prices. )

Occupiers of land, 355. 

'Old Comely', 216. 

Olives, 93, 136. 

Onions, 143, 332. 

Open parishes, 158, 284. 

Oranges, 93. 

Orchards, 17, 128, 131, 143, 186, 188, 255, 332; seventeenth century, 135-6. 

Owners and occupiers, percentage of, 334. 

Owners of Land, return, 260-1. 

Owners, small, _see_ Holders, small. 

Ox teams, 16, 31, 64, 84, 143, 147, 153, 191, 204, 340. 

Oxen, description of, in 1592, 104; value of, 19, 20, 35, 57, 66, 114. (_See_ Cattle, price of. )

Oxford, 63, 273, 338. 

Oxford Down sheep, 275, 288, 344, 345. 

Oxfordshire, 24, 40, 78, 99, 145, 151. 

P

Pack-horses, use of, 138. 

Packing fruit in seventeenth century, 129, 130. 

Paring and burning, 141, 153. 

Parsnips, 143. 

Pasture, breaking up, 218. 

Pasture, common, 2, 4, 16, 19, 73, 99, 113, 195; often worth little, 256; permanent, in Holdings Act, 299; extent of, in 1688, 155; in 1770, 196; ploughed up during French War, 243; sparing, 124. 

Pasture land, price of, 41, 59, 115-7, 139. 

Patents, 113, 236. 

Peaches, 15, 93, 136. 

Pears, 15, 93, 130, 131, 136, 143, 329, 333. 

Peas, 33, 69, 124, 155, 200, 227, 331-2, 353. 

Peasants' revolt, 60. 

Peel's drainage loans, 272. 

Penalty for breaking up pasture, 178. 

Perry, 130. 

Pestilences, 38, 42, 68, 79. 

Piecework, 28, 163, 206. 

Pigeons, number of, 49, 96, 105, 143, 244, 274, 275. 

Pigs, export of, 330; feeding, 16, 125; foot-and-mouth disease attacks, 290; import of, 326; number of, 333-4; profit on, in 1763, 200; size of, in 1592, 104; value of, 20, 35n. , 96, 200-3; varieties of, 170, 346. (_See_ Prices. )

Pinchbeck, 103. 

Pitt, William, 238, 239. 

Plat, Sir Hugh, 127, 152. 

Plattes, Gabriel, 76, 127. 

Pleuro-pneumonia, _see_ Cattle plagues. 

Plot, 145. 

Plough, eleventh- and twelfth-century, 17. 

Ploughing, cost of, 33, 65, 135, 141, 177, 179, 246; months for, 17, 124. 

Ploughland, the, 16, 18. 

Ploughs and ploughing, 65, 83, 113, 125, 129, 135, 143, 150, 153, 177, 191, 203, 217, 218, 225, 273, 342, 354. 

Plums, 15, 93, 130, 131, 136, 329, 332. 

Poaching, 48; by labourers, 55, 210, 248, 282, 291. 

Population of England, 79, 89, 111, 120, 140, 156, 160, 163, 211, 240, 287. 

Pork, price of, _see_ Prices. 

Porter, 'Progress of Nation, ' 276, 279, 286, 287. 

Portugal, exports to, 349. 

Potatoes, 106, 107, 112, 187, 191, 194, 227, 318, 331-3, 353; disease, 277. 

Poultry, 41n. , 66, 80, 132, 169, 170 (_see_ Prices); carrying, to London, 171. 

Praepositus, 12. 

Precarii, or boon days, 9. 

Precious metals, influx of, 89, 111; scarcity of, 66n. 

Prices: Apples, 15, 65, 188, 189. Bacon and pork, 96, 102, 238, 239, 263, 313, 334. Barley, 20, 35, 69, 114, 133, 138, 142, 155, 179, 223, 247, 312, 347, 350-3. Beans, 35, 155, 180, 347. Beef, 96, 102, 114, 164, 206n. , 239, 240, 241, 242, 247, 262, 263, 265. Bread, 206n. , 207n. , 223, 230, 242n. , 280, 285, 286, 291. Butter, 33, 66, 114, 206n. , 241, 247, 285-6, 312, 334, 347. Carts, 203. Cattle, 19, 20, 35, 41, 65, 89, 105, 114, 119, 133, 146, 163, 165n. , 167, 169, 203, 235, 263, 307, 312, 347. Cheese, 173-4, 206n. , 241, 242, 312, 334, 347. Clover, 166. Eighteenth century, 145, 160, 163, 164, 165n. , 166, 167, 169, 170, 172, 173-4, 179, 180, 186, 188, 189, 200, 203, 206n. , 222, 223, 227, 229, 230, 231, 237, 238, 239, 240, 285, 341, 355. Fifteenth century, 40, 66, 69, 355. Fourteenth century, 39, 40, 41, 59, 65, 327, 355. Flax, 152. Grapes, 144. Harness, 203. Hay, 157, 165n. , 166, 241-2, 262, 347. Hops, 87, 89, 150, 247, 298, 330, 347. Horses, 19, 20, 35, 36, 114, 142, 165n. , 203, 347, 355. Horse-shoes, 96. Implements, 83, 138. Malt, 89, 240, 241. Milk, 168, 170, 312. Mutton, 96, 10-2, 206n. , 239, 240, 241, 247, 262, 263, 265, 313, 334. Nineteenth century, 227, 235, 240, 242-4, 245, 247-8, 262, 263, 264-6, 267, 277-81, 285, 287, 293, 295, 296, 305, 306, 307, 312, 324, 329, 330, 334. Oats, 20, 35, 69, 114, 138, 155, 180, 223, 241, 312, 347, 350-3. Peas, 69, 155, 200, 247. Pedigree cattle, 234, 235. Pigs, 20, 41, 96, 200, 203, 347. Potatoes, 106. Poultry and eggs, 41, 96, 114, 133, 170, 247, 347. Rabbits, 174. Rams, 202, 215, 235. Rollers, 203. Rye, 4, 16, 91, 125, 133, 138, 155, 347. Saffron, 106. Seventeenth century, 89, 110, 111, 114, 118, 119, 127, 133-4, 138, 142, 144, 146, 150, 152, 157, 159, 160, 328, 355. Sheep, 20, 3511. , 36, 41, 80, 114, 138, 165n. , 203, 206n. , 263, 312, 347. Sixteenth century, 80, 87, 89, 95, 96, 102-6, 109, 355. Straw, 179, 180. Tenth century, 19. Thirteenth century, 33, 35, 39, 355. Twelfth century, 20. Vetches, 155. Waggons, 203-4. Wheat, 20, 35, 66, 69, 89, 110, 114, 133, 134, 138, 142, 155, 157, 160, 163, 164, 179, 186, 223, 231, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242-4, 247-8, 262, 265, 277-8, 281, 293, 306, 312, 334, 347, 350-3, 355. Wine, 145. Wool, 39, 40, 80, 89, 96, 114, 118, 119, 142, 163, 172, 173, 223, 239, 242, 285-6, 306, 312, 327, 328, 329, 347. 

Prickly comfrey, 237. 

Proclamation as to wages and prices, 42. 

Production, increased cost of, 295, 313. 

Prosperity, agricultural, 28, 101, 114, 103, 183, 210-1, 229, 243-4, 246, 264, 287; during French War, 243-6, 247, 264. 

Protecting fruit from blight, Sec. , 187. 

Protection, effect of, 250, 278-9, 281; highest limit of, 248; 265, 266, 277-9. 

Provender rents, 6. 

Pruning fruit trees, 131, 136. 

Pulverization of soil, 175. 

Q

Quarter Sessions, assessment of wages by, 108. 

Quartly, Francis, 341. 

Quiet Emptores, statute of, 29. 

Quinces, 15, 136. 

Quit, notice to, 300, 301, 302. 

R

Rabbits, rearing, 174; reserved to landlord, 115. 

Railway rates, 295-6. 

Rake, horse, 304. 

Raleigh introduces potatoes, 106. 

Rams, ewes to, 126, 138; price of, 202, 215, 235. 

Ramsey, 72. 

Raspberries, 331. 

Rates, 229, 238, 241, 245, 247, 248, 249, 255, 269, 284, 295, 296, 307, 314. 

Rathgib, Jacob, 104. , Reaping, cost of, 34, 44, 65, 71, 109, 110, 138, 177, 179, 180, 246, 348, 354; machines, 303-4; time for, 124; versus mowing corn, 135. 

Red Polled cattle, 343. 

Reeve, 12; duties of a, 17. 

Reigate, Flaunchford near, 64. 

Rents: Twelfth century, 27. Thirteenth century, 36, 57, 75, 348. Fourteenth century, 40, 41, 46, 65, 75, 348. Fifteenth century, 57, 58, 66, 348. Sixteenth century, 66, 76, 95, 115, 116, 348. Seventeenth century, 115, 116, 117, 127, 133, 139, 143, 155, 161, 348, 354. Eighteenth century, 116, 177, 179, 183, 189, 193n. , 224, 227, 328, 348. Nineteenth century, 243, 246, 248, 264, 266, 278, 285-6, 287, 297, 304, 306-9, 310, 319n. , 321-2. 

Repairs, _see_ Buildings, farm. 

Restrictive covenants, _see_ Cultivation clauses. 

Revival, recent, in agriculture, 320. 

Revolt, Peasants', 60. 

Revolution, agricultural and industrial, 162. 

Ridges, high, 129, 175. 

Rinderpest, _see_ Cattle plagues. 

Riots, 185, 223, 262, 366, Ripon, 147. 

Roads, 21, 68, 105, 138, 171, 175, 182, 204, 210, 219, 220-3, 269, 274, 295. 

Rock and Far Forest district, 318, Rogers, Thorold, 107, 229. 

Roller, farm, in seventeenth century, 135. 

Rolling, 166, 194. 

Romney Marsh sheep, 344. 

Romsey Abbey, 15n. 

Roots, few, used for cows, 200 (_see_ Turnips). 

Roscommon sheep, 343. 

Roses, 143. 

Ross, John, of Warwick, 76. 

Rot, _see_ Sheep rot. 

Rotation of crops (_see_ Four-course and Three-field system) 225, 275. 

Rothamsted, 275. 

Roundsman system, 239. 

Royal Agrlctttonal Society, 273-4, 281, 308. 

Royal Society, helps agriculture, 114. 

Russia, imports rom, 323-4; wool from, 328. 

Rutland, 22, 102, 109, 110, 120, 134, 143, 151, 255, 268, 306n. ; Dukes of, 115, 286. 

Rye, 4, 16, 91, 125, 133, 138, 155; in Norfolk, 182, 276; produce, per acre, in 1770, 197. 

Rye-grass, 178-9, 218, 276. 

Ryeland sheep, 344, 345, 346. 

S

Saffron, 62, 106, 143, 167; Walden, 106, 167. 

Sainfoin, 112, 115, 143, 191, 194, 225, 331. 

Saint Paul's, manors of, 16, 29, 50, 57, 58. 

Sales, famous, 234n. , 235, 338, 339. 

Salt, value of, 26. 

Samford Hall, 190. 

Scotland, cattle of, 336, 343; wheat crop in, 332n. 

Scott, Reynold, 89, 151. 

Scottish cattle, 168-9. 

Scudamore, Lord, 132, 3^8. 

Seasons, bad, 20, 42n. , 66, 69, 89, 115, 157, 179, 184, 185, 186, 210, 223, 224, 237, 239, 242, 243, 247, 262, 265, 277, 292, 293, 294, 295, 297, 305; good, 239, 244, 262, 266, 287. 

Seed, amount of, for wheat, 33, 67n. , 84, 177, 179, 180, 227, 246; for clover, 112, 166, 176, 218; clover, price of, 166. 

Sefton, Lord, estate of, 320n. 

Selions, 318. 

Self-binding reaper, 304. 

Seneschal, 12. 

Settled Land Acts, 305. 

Settlement, law of parochial, 157-8, 209, 238, 269n. , 284. 

Settlements, family, 123, 259-60. 

Seventeenth century, characteristics of, 111. 

Sheaf-binding apparatus, 237. 

Shearing sheep, 125. 

Sheep, 94, 104, 126, 137, 146, 161, 200, 225, 233, 236, 263, 274, 275, 288, 290; diseases of, 84; export of, 326, 330 (_see_ Live stock); improvement of, 37, 164, 202; number of, in 1867, 288; in 1877 and 1907, 333-4; price of, _see_ Prices; varieties of, 171, 172, 215-7, 233, 235, 275, 288, 343-6; washing, cost of, 65, 125, 354. 

Sheep-rot, 184, 242, 265n. , 294. 

Shepherd, wages of, 61, 71, 87, 109. 

Shire horse, 35, 335; Society, 335. 

Shoeing, 36, 65, 84, 203. 

Shorthorn cattle, 167, 225, 233-5, 274, 288, 336-8, 339, 342. 

Shows, Agricultural, 233, 273-5, 341. 

Shropshire, 11n. , 16n. , 159, 173, 219, 220, 225, 250, 339; sheep, 275, 288, 344, 345, 346. 

Siberian Railway, 324. 

Sicks, uncultivated patches, 99n. 

Sinclair, Sir J. , 229, 230, 232. 

Sittingboume, 128, 143. 

Sixteenth century, character of, 89. 

Slaves, 8, 11, 20. 

Smith, Adam, 134, 210. 

Smith of Deanston, 214, 271-2. 

Smithfield, 168, 169; cattle show, 218, 273, 339; prices at, 239, 240, 241, 247, 265. 

Smyth, John, 111. 

Society, Royal Agricultural, 193. 

Society for Encouragement of Arts, &c. , 194> 227, 303. 

Socmen, 7. 

Somerset, 19, 58, 107, 168, 250, 309, 340; sheep, 344. 

Somerville, Loid, 231. 

Southams cattle, 342. 

Southdown sheep, 217, 225, 233, 236, 263, 274, 275, 344, 345. 

Spade, prejudice against, 112, 143; for hops, 150. 

Spain, exports to, 349; imports from, 323. 

Spanish wool, 38-9, 328. 

Speculation, in land, 243; in produce, 305. 

Speenhamland Act, 237-8. 

Spencer, Earl, 273. 

Sporting rights reserved, 115. 

Spraying fruit, 136. 

Squatters, 220, 256. 

Squire, the, 103, 128, 137, 140, 193, 211-2. 

Stafford, Marquis of, 219. 

Staffordshire, 3, 44, 78, 122, 219, 286, 295, 309. 

Statesmen, 311. 

Statistics, agricultural, 230, 231, 232, 277, 288 (_see_ King, Gregory), 331-2, 353. 

Statute of labourers, 43. 

Statutes _quoted_: 20 Hen. III. C. 4, 73. 25 Edw. III. 2. C. 1, 43. 34 Edw. III. C. 20, 63. 12 Ric. II. C. 4, 61. 12 Ric. II. C. 5, 64. 12 Ric. II. C. 6, 55. 13 Ric. II. C. 13, 55. 15 Ric. II. C. 5, 71. 17 Ric. II. C. 7, 63. 4 Hen. IV. C. 14, 67n. 7 Hen. IV. C. 17, 70. 9 Hen. V. C. 5, 68n. 3 Hen. VI. C. 2, 326. 3 Hen. VI. C. 4, 327. 4 Hen. VI. C. 5, 64. 15 Hen. VI. C. 2, 69. 23 Hen. VI. C. 12, 71, 87. 3 Edw. IV. C. 2, 70. 3 Edw. IV. C. 5, 7in. 22 Edw. IV. C. 1, 7in. 4 Hen. VII. C. 19, 79, 94, 117. 11 Hen. VII. C. 13, 325. 11 Hen. VII. C. 22, 87. 6 Hen. VIII. C. 3, 87. 6 Hen. VIII. C. 5, 79. 21 Hen. VIII. C. 8, 86. 22 Hen. VIII. C. 7, 326. 24 Hen. VIII c. 3, 102. 24 Hen. VIII. C. 4, 105. 24 Hen. VIII. C. 10, 82n. 25 Hen, VIII. C. 1, 86. 25 Hen. VIII. C. 13, 80. 27 Hen. VIII. C. 6, 85. 27 Hen. VIII. C. 22, 94. 32 Hen. VIII. C. 13, 85. I Edw. VI. C. 5, 326. 3 and 4 Edw. VI. C. 19, 86. 5 Edw. VI. C. 14, 86. 2 and 3 Phil. And Mary, c. 3, 96. 5 Eliz. C. 4, 107. 5 Eliz. C. 5, 105. 8 Eliz. C. 3, 326. 8 Eliz. C. 15, 82n. 13 Eliz. C. 25, 96. 14 Eliz. C. 11, 82n. 31 Eliz. C. 7, 121n. , 159. 39 Eliz. C. 1, 117. 39 Eliz, c. 2, 118. 39 Eliz. C. 18, 82n. 43 Eliz. C. 2, 296. 1 Jac. I. C. 18, 150. 21 Jac. I. C. 28, 118n. 12 Car. II. C. 4, 161. 13 and 14 Car. II. C. 18, 326, 327. 14 Car. II. C. 12, 157. 15 Car. II. C. 7, 134, 326. 18 Car. II. C. 2, 161, 326. 22 Car. II. C. 13, 326. 32 Car. II. C. 2, 161, 326. 3 W. And M. C. 2, 158. 8 and 9 W. And M. C. 30, 158. 7 and 8 Wm. III. C. 28, 327. 36 Geo. III. C. 23, 238. 41 Geo. III. C. 109, 231-2. 9 Geo. IV. C. 60, 278. 4 and 5 Wm. IV. C. 76, 269. 6 and 7 Wm. IV. C. 71, 270. 5 Vict. C. 14, 278. 9 and 10 Vict. C. 22, 280. 9 and 10 Vict. C. 23, 280. 14 and 15 Vict. C. 25, 301. 30 and 31 Vict. C. 130, 292. 38 and 39 Vict. C. 92, 299. 43 and 44 Vict. C. 47, 303. 46 and 47 Vict. C. 61, 300. 59 and 60 Vict. C. 16, 314n. 63 and 64 Vict. C. 50, 301. 1 Edw. VII. C. 13, 314n. 6 Edw. VII. C. 56, 301. 7 Edw. VII. C. 54, 316. 

Steam, applied to threshing, 237; cultivator, 304. 

Stilton cheese, 173-4. 

Stinting the common pasture, 4. 

Stock and land leases, 57. 

Stocking a farm, 170, 203. 

Stores, public grain, 133, 264. 

Stott, the, or affer, 35, 57, 65. 

Stourbridge Fair, 171, 172n. 

Stratfieldsaye, 272. 

Straw, as winter food for cattle, 126, 217; carrying off, 178, 219, 302; price of, 179, 180, 330. 

Strawberries, 15, 329, 331. 

Stubble, grazing of, 4, 125. 

Suffolk, 8, 30, 40, 57, 63n. , 78, 112, 128, 147, 166, 168, 170, 173, 174, 188, 207, 225, 238, 284, 306n. , 309, 313; Punch, 335; sheep, 275, 344, 345. 

Supplies of com per head, 330 (_see_ Wheat, home supplies). 

Surrey, 64, 128, 143, 144, 168, 180, 283, 306n. 

Surveyor, the seventeeiith-century, 127. 

Sussex, 54, 78, 259, 263, 283, 306n. ; cattle, 274, 288, 336, 340, 343. 

Swanage, 262. 

Swedes, 227, 237, 276, 288, 331-2, 333. 

'Swing' riots, 266. 

T

Taltarum's case, effect of, 122. 

Tamworth pigs, 346. 

Taunton, manor of, 18; good fanning near, 128. 

Taxes, 247, 263-4, 307, 310; weight of, 183, 191, 229, 245, 246, 249, 250, 263, 320, 321. 

Tea, drinking, 205, 207, 213, 291; price of, 205. 

Teams, composition of, 16. 

Telford, 220, 222. 

Tenant farmers, assist in agricultural progress, 162; number of, 141, 156; origin of, 46, 119. 

Tenant-right, 283. 

Teeswater cattle, 337. 

Tewkesbury, 255. 

Thatchers, 139, 354. 

Thomson of Banchory, 276. 

Thorney and Woburn estates, 321. 

Three-field system, 4, 99. 

Threshing, cost of, 34, 44, 65, 163, 179, 180, 198-9, 246; machine, 230, 236-7, 282; time for, 17, 126. 

Tillage, decrease of, 79, 80, 94; encouragement of, 79, 108, 117-8; reaction against, 118. (_See_ Arable, _and_ Grass. )

Timber (_see_ Oak timber), 227; spoils crops, 282. 

Tiptree, 319. 

Tithe, dispute, 102; on turnips, 166; rent charge, 270. 

Tithes, 116, 144, 151, 189, 195, 230, 332, 247, 248, 249, 250, 270, 305, 307. 

Tooke, 179, 266. 

_Tours_, Young's, 190, 192. 

Towns, movement of rural population towards, 64, 70, 108, 185, 192, 195, 209, 315, 316-7. 

Townshend, Lord, 163, 182-3, 192, 193. 

_Treatise on Husbandry_, 33, 54. 

Tull, Jethro, 152, 163, 174-7, 178, 180, 183, 193, 200-1, 204. 

Turkeys, 170. 

Turkish dominions, imports from, 323. 

Turnip cutters, 276. 

Turnip fly, remedies for, 166. 

Turnips, 93, 111, 112, 115, 141, 143, 157, 164, 166, 168, 178, 183, 251, 331-2, 333; cost of growing, in 1770, 198; injure wool, 329; sheep first fattened on, 112; spread of, in eighteenth century, 165, 166, 179, 191, 194, 200, 201, 225; varieties of, in 1720, 165. 

Tusser, 63, 90, 91, 92, 101, 102, 105, 111, 124, 126. 

Two-field system, 3. 

'Twopenny', 216. 

U

Underwood, value of, in seventeenth century, 137. 

Unions, Agricultural Labourers', 291-2. 

United States, _see_ America. 

Unreasonable disturbance, 302. 

Upwey, 318. 

V

Vanghan, Rowland, 132-3. 

Vegetables, 15, 93, 106, 112n. , 143, 236n. 

Ventnor, vineyard at, 145. 

Vermin, destruction of, 82, 100, 244. 

Vermuyden, Cornelius, 123. 

Vetches, 125, 155, 331. 

Village, the, of the eighteenth century, 164. 

Village smith, the, 35. 

Villeins, 6, 7, 8, 18, 24, 29, 42, 45; disappearance of, 46, 59, 60, 105. 

Vills or villages, 2, 5, 7, 15, 98, 119. 

Vineyards, 15, 16, 111, 144-5. 

Virgate, 8. 

Virginia, potatoes from, 106; wool from, 328. 

W

Wages: Twelfth century, 27. Thirteenth century, 27, 28, 34, 348, 355. Fourteenth century, 27, 28, 41, 43, 59, 61, 62, 348, 355. Fifteenth century, 67, 71, 348, 355. Sixteenth century, 67, 87, 348, 355. Seventeenth century, 119, 138, 139, 348, 355. Eighteenth century, 163, 164, 184, 203, 205-6, 210, 237, 238, 240, 285, 348, 354-5. Nineteenth century, 241, 242, 249, 267, 268, 283-4, 285, 290-2, 297, 309, 311, 312, 313, 315, 355, 356. 

Wages, on a farm in 1805, 247; regulated by statute, 43, 61, 71, 87; by Justices, 107, 109, 110. 

Waggons, 153, 204. 

Wainage, 8. 

Wales, cattle of, 167, 336, 338, 343. 

Wallachia and Moldavia, imports from, 323. 

Walsingham states demands of villeins, 60. 

Wars, effect of, 38, 68, 71, 193, 205, 212, 229, 237, 260, 286, 287, 341. 

Warwickshire, 40, 77, 78, 94, 110, 172, 173, 213, 215, 216, 272, 282, 290, 306n. , 309, 343. 

Waste land, 231; committee on, 255n. , 256; good crops from the, 119; Young and, 191. 

Water carriage, cheapness of, 21, 173. 

Weaning lambs, time for, 125. 

Weaving, 70, 76, 110, 257. 

Webster of Canley, 216. 

Weeding hook and tongs, 84, 152. 

Weeds, 125, 180, 201. 

Week work, 8. 

Welsh mountain sheep, 344, 346. 

Wensleydale sheep, 343, 345. 

Westcar of Creslow, 339. 

Westcote, 128. 

Westmoreland, 216, 295, 346. 

Weston, Sir R. , introduces clover, 111, 127, 141. 

Weyhill Fair, 172. 

Wheat, acreage tinder, in 1907, 331-2; consumption of, per head, 279; cost of growing, 177, 180, 198, 199, 246, 307; crops, 33, 67, 77, 91, 129, 142, 155, 165, 179, 180, 197-9, 227, 246, 282, 285, 286, 332; cultivation of, 4, 16, 32, 36, 113, 125, 135, 177-9, 180, 184, 353; different kinds of, 146, 107; home supplies of, 277, 279, 313, 330; price of, _see_ Prices. 

White, Gilbert, 223. 

Wilton, hops near, 171. 

Wiltshire, 143, 174, 253, 268, 283, 286, 309, 312, 313; sheep, 345. 

Winchelsea, Lord, 255, 257, 268. 

Winchester, 147, 150. 

Wine, 144-5. 

Wire binder, 304. 

Wirral, 66. 

Wisbech, 318. 

Woad, 17, 152. 

Women, work of, on the farm, 62, 85, 206, 316. 

Wood, W. A. , 304. 

Woods, 2, 16, 59, 74, 78, 115, 125, 136, 155. 

Woodstock, 53. 

Wool, 37, 38-41, 69, 75, 80, 94, 104, 114, 118, 119, 142, 161, 163, 171-3, 184, 223, 285, 329, 354, 355; export of, _see_ Exports; import of, _see_ Imports; price of, _see_ Prices. 

Wool, custom of picking refuse, 100; storing, 125. 

Worcestershire, 74, 128, 136, 143, 171, 306. 

Work, hours of, 87, 147, 291. 

Worlidge, John, 127, 131, 132, 142-8, 150-4, 165. 

Worsley, Sir R. , 145. 

Y

Yeoman, the, 50, 71, 123, 128, 140, 156, 207, 258-61, 310, 320; house of, 103. 

Yeomen purchase lands of gentry, 122. 

Yorkshire, 15, 78, 110, 138-9, 167, 168, 207, 225, 253, 283, 295, 306n. , 309, 337, 343, 346. 

Young, Arthur, 160, 162, 163, 172, 180, 182, 188, 190-3, 194, 197, 200-6, 210, 211, 222, 224, 230, 232, 236, 240, 253, 255, 257, 260, 284, 285, 288n. , 298, 314, 317, 335, 336, 337, 343, 353, 355; opposed to drilling, 178; pet aversions of, 191; statements of, as to growth of clover, 112.