XXXII ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
the King when travelling through his dominions. These the tenants 
on farms belonging to the Crown were obliged to furnish gratis, and this 
practice came to be adopted by the barons and great men of the King- 
dom, in every tour which they thought proper to make in the country. 
These exactions were so grievous and were levied in so high handed a 
manner, that the farmers when they heard of the approach of the Court, 
often deserted their houses and hid their supplies, just as if the country 
were being invaded by an enemy. ; 
Purveyance is said to have been for several centuries one of the 
chief obstacles to agricultural advancement in Great Britain, and the 
practice continued down to so late a period as the reign of James the 
First. 
The increase in the population cf Great Britain was an important 
factor in stimulating improvements in agriculture, for the more people 
there were to be fed, the greater the need of enlarging the area under 
cultivation and of adopting the best methods known in order to produce 
the largest crops. 
Prior to the taking of the first census in England and Scotland, 
which was in 1801, the method of computing the population was by the 
number of baptisms, which were carefully registered. The total number 
of baptisms was made up every ten years, and these were multiplied by 
33, which was regarded as the average number of years in a human life. 
The number of deaths was also computed, and in so far as the baptisms 
exceeded the burials in number a corresponding increase in the popu- 
Jation was shown. 
Under this method of calculation the population of England and 
Scotland combined amounted in 1710 to 6,015,193. In 1740 it had risen 
to about 7 millions; in 1780 to 914 millions and in 1801, when the first. 
regular census was taken, it was found to be 10,785,840. 
From 1801 to 1811 the increase was still more rapid, the census 
of 1811 showing a population of over 1214 millions, which was more 
than double the number at which it was estimated in 1700. The popu- 
lation of Ireland is not included in these figures since there was no 
attempt to take a census of the people there until 1811 and then it 
was very unsuccessful. 
On taking a general review of the production of grain in Great 
Britain and of the growth of the population there for the period of 119 
years from 1697 to 1815 inclusive, the account stands thus: 
In the first 70 years, from 1697 to 1767, the population increased 
one-third, growing from six millions to over eight millions, and during 
that period there were exported over and above the quantity imported 272 
