200 ON THE PRICE OF GRAIN. 



on the whole is therefore lower than the average, the largest sales, 

 those from Elham in Kent being effected at low rates. Oats, except 

 in Wales, are cheap. Eye follows wheat, but is rather dear in the 

 north. A large amount, however, is sold at Langley at 3^. Beans, &c. 

 are relative to other kinds of grain. The year is altogether marked 

 by prices below the average. 



1320. The evidence is very abundant, reaching from Northumber- 

 land to Sussex and from Glamorganshire to Essex. The rise in the 

 price of wheat is marked and gradual. At first it appears that the 

 rate was low, the higher quotations commencing at Cuxham with 

 the beginning of March, and the rise being maintained till June, when 

 a slight fall takes place, to be followed by a fresh and considerable 

 rise. There can be no doubt that this rise was anticipatory of the 

 coming harvest. The highest price reached is in Notts and York- 

 shire, the South Wales rate being somewhat lower than ordinary. 

 The rise in the price of barley is not commensurate with that of 

 wheat. Oats are dear in certain localities, but are generally low. 

 Rye follows closely on wheat. Beans, &c. are affected, but not to 

 the full extent. 



1321. The evidence is abundant, though it does not include some 

 of the more -remote counties. The prices of wheat are excessively 

 high. This grain reaches 2is. ^d. in Sussex, the highest quotation 

 given. At Cuxham it rises steadily, reaching its highest point on 

 June 24th. The scarcity is universal. It does not indeed quite come 

 up to the famine of 1 3 i 6, still less to the unprecedentedly high prices of 

 May in 1315-16, but the general result must have fallen little short of 

 the distress experienced at these periods. Barley fully participates in 

 the rise. A valuable series of 'market prices is reproduced from the 

 sales of Holywell, in the north suburb of Oxford, by which we see 

 that the increase in the value of this grain proceeded pari passu with 

 that of wheat. The highest price of barley is however, as before, 

 found in Sussex. The price of oats is also very high, especially on 

 the Shropshire estate, though the highest realized is at Cuxham and 

 Oxford, Some sales from Ponteland are quoted by the celdra. If 

 this be the chaldron of 36 bushels the price was not excessive in that 

 locality. Rye is sold in Oxford at a higher price in July than any 

 wheat from the same estate. The prices, on the whole, follow those 

 of wheat. Beans are fully affected, as also are peas or vetches 

 proportionately to their ordinary relative value. On the whole, the 

 highest prices in this second famine are about 3^ times above the 

 average. 



