MEDIEVAL AGRICULTURE. 35 



of medieval society left little ground, which could be avail- 

 able for cultivation, for park or pleasure, and upland pasture 

 must have been of little value. 



The Tables annexed are intended to suggest what was 

 the rate of production ; what the average under cultivation, 

 with the proportion of seed sown; and what was the stock 

 kept on the several estates which, at that time, were culti- 

 vated by the bailiffs of Merton College, for the profit of 

 that society. 



The original is a long roll, written on both sides, and 

 containing an account for four consecutive years. It com- 

 prises the amount of corn and other agricultural produce 

 obtained in each year ; and states summarily how it was 

 disposed of by sale, in seed, or in consumption on the farm; 

 and acknowledges the remainders under each head as debits 

 to the college. It also states the number of cattle, sheep, 

 and poultry kept, with the losses of the year; and the pro- 

 duce of wool, &c. : presenting a minute and accurate re- 

 sume of the whole condition of the college estates, in so 

 far as they were farmed by the society. 



The upper table in each page of the first series, pp. 38-45, 

 states the amount of corn grown on each estate in quarters, 

 bushels, and pecks. The lower gives the acreage, generally 

 calculated in acres and roods, with the seed sown on the 

 area under cultivation. Sometimes the acreage is left out, 

 as, for instance, in the account for the year 1333-4, on the 

 Wolford and Holywell lands. But such cases present little 

 difficulty. The rate of seed wheat is always two bushels, or 

 a little more, to the acre; of barley, drage, and oats, four; 

 and of other grain, as with wheat ; and the most important 

 inference, the rate of production to seed sown, is supplied. 



The other tables contain accounts of stock and produce 

 other than grain, and suggest, when taken with the amount 

 of land under cultivation, what was the amount of such 

 stock which could be maintained on the produce of the 



D a 



