564 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1815. 
been to regulate the charges and 
profits of Bakers; it being stated, 
ummediately after the specification 
of the table of assize in the Act, 
that. then a baker in every quar- 
“ter of wheat (as it is proved 
‘* by the King’s bakers) may gain 
‘“‘fourpence and the bran, and 
‘‘two loaves for advantage; for 
“three servants three halfpence, 
“for two lads one halfpenoy, in 
** salt one halfpenny, for knead- 
“ ing one halfpenny, for candle 
‘fone farthing, for wood two- 
** pence, for his bultel (or bolting) 
*‘three halfpence,” in all six- 
pence fhree farthings, and two 
loaves for advantage. 
Your Committee observing the 
allowance thus stated to be made 
to the bakers was partly in mo- 
ney and partly in bread, proceeded 
to examine in what way the table 
of assize was constructed for the 
purpose of ensuring to them 
that allowance ; and they found, 
that of eight sorts of bread which 
were included in the table, the 
sixth is that which has been called 
Wheaten Bread in the subsequent 
Assize Laws. Of this bread it is 
stated in the table, ‘« when wheat 
shall sell at 12d. the quarter, the 
farthing loaf shall weigh 10/. 11s. 
6d." which weight (as was usual 
im those en being expressed 
in pounds shillings and pence, 
your Committee find to be the 
Saxon or Tower pound, which is 
to the Troy pound, in the propor- 
tion of fifteen to sixteen; and 
accordingly, when the Troy weight 
was established in 18th of Henry 
VIII., the tables of assize were 
duly adjusted in that proportion. 
Subsequently, in the 13th of 
Charles I., when the avoirdupois 
weight was introduced, the tables 
were again adjusted according to, 
the known principle, that seventy- 
three ounces Troy equal eighty 
ounces avoirdupois. 
From which statement it is ap- 
parent, that the quantityofwheaten 
bread expressed in the Statute by 
the denomination of 10/. 11s. 6d., 
is equal to 10°575 lbs. Troy, and 
8°7087 Jbs. Avoirdupois ; as one 
loaf of this weight was to be sold 
for a farthing when a quarter of 
wheat was at 12d. it follows, that 
forty-eight such loaves (which 
weigh 418-02 lbs. Avoirdupois) 
was the exact quantity of bread 
which was to be sold for the price 
of a quarter of wheat; whatever 
bread could be made from it over 
and above 418 lbs. was for the 
baker’s advantage, and thisis stated 
inthe Statutetohave been proved, 
on experiment, to have amounted 
to two loaves; and if these were 
peck loaves, 452 Ibs. 14. oz. of 
wheaten bread was the quantity 
obtained by the King’s bakers 
from a quarter of wheat. 
Your Committee proceeded to 
examine, whether the quantity of 
bread which can be made from a 
quarter of wheat, is such as to 
justify the above interpretation of 
the Statute; and they found in 
the Report of a Committee of the _ 
House which sat in 1774, the de- 
tail of many accurate experiments 
upon that subject; but your Com-. 
mittee beg leave to refer to the 
record of an experiment which 
was reported to the House by the 
Committee on the High Price of 
Provisions in 1800, by which it 
appears, that the flour. from a 
quarter of wheat weighing only 
55 lbs. a bushel, and dressed after: 
the mode new in -use for pre- 
paring flour for the London mar- 
