ME DIE VAL A GR 1C UL TURE. 1 5 



up in this building either in sheaf, or threshed and stored in 

 sacks. These sacks were of very various si'Les, not as now, 

 containing generally four bushels. Some of the crops were 

 stored in ricks, called mayse, or moyae, a word which still 

 lingers in the rural c mow/ Threshing was then, as it re-*' 

 mainedtill our time, when it has been almost superseded by 

 machinery, the chief farm-work of the winter. 



In vol. ii. p. 665, a list is given of the stock transferred to 

 the new bailiff of the Holy well Manor, Oxford, on the re- 

 moval of his predecessor; and the bailiff's roll of Cuxham, 

 p. 617, gives a similar list. It seems that four horses or oxen 

 were ordinarily assigned to each plough, the ploughing horses 

 used being generally called affri, and, judging from their 

 price, of an inferior kind. The plough was plainly of rough 

 and cheap construction, the costliest parts of the fabric being 

 the share and the iron tips called ferripedales, with which 

 the wooden frame of the share was protected. These plough- 

 shares were of various value : a distinction being made between 

 summer and winter shares. The few notes given in pp. 606-8 

 shew that a dry season, and the consequent wear of iron in 

 ploughing, were important events in the economy of the 

 farm. The coulter was rarely used, or, at any rate, is very 

 rarely quoted. 



The land was generally ploughed twice, the latter plough- 

 ing being called rebinatio. Half the arable estate, as a rule, 

 lay in fallow, called warectatio in the language of the time. 

 Occasionally the sheep of a neighbouring farm were hired to 

 lie on the ground, and so to fertilize it. The rate at which 

 this service was paid may be seen in vol. ii. 578. iv. 580. 

 ii. iii. From the last entry it would seem that eight weeks 

 were considered necessary in order to get land in good order 

 by these means. 



It is probable that the ploughing was very shallow. The 

 high price of iron, and the rudeness of the ancient plough, 

 preclude the notion that the soil was turned over very 

 effectually. 



