33^ THE PRICE OF LIVE STOCK. 



taken to mean the animal when fit for consumption j porculi, 

 that is, as a rule, lean pigs sold and purchased for fattening ; 

 hoggets, which seem to be lean pigs of full or almost full 

 growth ; porcelli, that is, sucking or at least very young pigs j 

 sows kept for stock, and boars for stock or table, the fatted 

 boar being, by fashion, and perhaps because he reached the 

 largest size, the animal which ordinarily bears the highest 

 price. 



Boars and sows, says Walter de Henley, should be carefully 

 selected for their breed. You should have litters thrice a 

 year. Sows intended for fattening should be spayed before 

 they are able to breed, for in this case their bacons will be 

 as good as those of boar pigs. 



These pigs were driven into the fields and woods after 

 harvest, or in the autumn, to feed on such corn as had dropped or 

 was left, or to pick up acorns and mast. In the spring too, we 

 may be sure, they were also let loose in the latter localities 

 in search for roots, though hog-rings and their use were not 

 unknown to our forefathers, as will be seen in the index to 

 the second volume, and in the passages referred to. All the 

 pigs en the manor seem to have been put under the charge 

 of a single herdsman, who, receiving a proportionate payment 

 from the owner of every pig under his charge, is therefore in 

 receipt, as a rule, of less money and corn wages than any other 

 servant of the manor. 



The pigs were fattened on barley, but rarely, on drage, peas, 

 and beans, and a very considerable quantity of corn was 

 expended in particular cases. Thus the Cuxham account for 

 1303 states that five quarters of drage were used to fatten one 

 boar. In the same year and place, four pigs, sold for Ss. 6^., 

 were fattened on twelve bushels of beans. At Cheddington, 

 in 1310, a boar was sold for us. It is possible, corn having 

 been exceedingly cheap in 1303, that the bailiff received 

 orders to put a boar into the stye for the wants of the college, 

 and to expend so great a quantity of food in order to bring the 

 animal into the best possible condition. 



