10 Jan., 1918.] Farming in England in Early Times. 3$ 



exaggerated reports as to the mortality of the time, but it seems reason- 

 able to conclude that nearly one-half of the labourers in England 

 perished. This disaster jerked men out of the old ruts and necessitated 

 changes in the conditions of tenure and occupation, whilst it finally 

 resulted in the completion of the commutation of services into money 

 rents which had been going on slowly for some time. In many places 

 the calamity was so temble that there were none left to till the land 

 or tend the flocks. Tenants died off and land went " a-begging." 

 This was a serious state of affairs for the lord and threatened him with 

 ruin. For the only time in English history the landlords competed 

 for the services of labour, and wages rose enormously in spite of the 

 attempts made by Parliament to keep them down, and the price of all 

 commodities to which labour added the chief value was often more 

 than doubled. The attempts of the lords to compel men to go back 

 to weekly labour failed, and it was necessary to plan a new system, 

 or rather make use generally of a system which had been already 

 evolved in some districts. This was what is called the " stock and 

 land lease," in which the lord leased the land and provided the stock 

 upon it. It did not, however, continue for more than fifty years, 

 presumably because tenant farmers became opulent and were able 

 to purchase their holdings. Then there was the ordinary lease which 

 became the usual method, although before the Black Death it wa» 

 most uncommon, except on some estates owned by the Church or by 

 other corporations. In many other cases after 1348 the lords were- 

 only too willing to alienate small parcels of the land. Grants of 

 demesne were made at new quit rents, and free-farm rents became 

 general. These fixed rents at first seemed high, but agriculture- 

 improved, and they were easily borne. 



Professor Rogers illustrates the state of affairs from extracts taken 

 from the accounts of Merton College, Oxford. This corporation held 

 lands situated in a great many counties, north, south, east and west, 

 and even before the plague some of its lands were held on lease. After 

 the plague all its lands, except those near Oxford, were let* with the 

 stock, and the rents were payable in money and com. 



Only in the Eastern Counties did the great land-owners continue to 

 practise agriculture on their own account. 



But the most noticeable policy pursued at this time was the 

 conversion of arable land into enclosed shee,p walks. It was impossible 

 to obtain labour to continue the old routine, and there was a great 

 demand on the Continent for English wool. The enclosures then of 

 the fourteenth century did not displace labour, but were necessitated 

 by a dearth of that commodity, and with them capitalist farming 

 may be said to begin. There was wool for sale instead of merely 

 subsistence farming, and farming became a business which was 

 expected to yield a return from the prices fetched in the market. 



Moreover, by the end of the fifteenth century convertible hus- 

 bandry had been introduced in some districts. This involved the 

 breaking up of the permanent fields and the formation of six separate 

 closes. Three were set aside for corn, with the rotation of wheat, 

 barley and fallow, a fourth was for the pasturage of cows, a fifth for 

 sheep, and the last was retained for meadow. This enclosure for 

 tillage and grazing combined was a benefit to the community; more 



* Basingstoke for twenty-one years. 

 16483.— 2 



