J26 AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, TOOLS, ETC. 



straining-cloths, will be adverted to below, in the chapter on 

 textile fabrics. My accounts, however, give considerable infor- 

 mation as to the price of milk-pails or buckets; but nearly 

 the whole of the entries are made before the year 1350. 

 An average taken from thirty-one entries before this time 

 gives nearly i\d. as the price of these articles, which are, as 

 usual, dearest in the ten years 13111320. The two entries 

 given after the year 1350 are too few for the purposes of infer- 

 ence. They give an average of ^\d. But in all probability 

 the ordinary cost was much greater than this amount. 



Pans made of earthenware, and worth about a halfpenny each, 

 were used to hold the milk. 



Churns occur at very various prices between 1286 and 1322, 

 the rate being as high as 7^. and as low as id. It is clear that 

 no inference of any value can be derived from such entries. In 

 all likelihood the churn was rarely bought, but made at home, 

 the services of the village carpenter or cooper being hired for 

 the purpose. 



A hair sieve is given at Wolford under the year 1322. This 

 article was used in the dairy for straining milk. It was probably 

 often bought, but included, as many other such small purchases 

 were, under the head of c expensae minutae' or c res minutae/ 



In the early part of the period, that is between 1298 and 

 1331, certain articles called forma, formula, or pressura, are 

 purchased for the dairy. Though in general butter was mea- 

 sured by the gallon, it seems (ii. 596) that it was, at least 

 occasionally, moulded into pats. These stamps were used 

 either to distinguish the cheese or butter sent from any par- 

 ticular dairy, or, more probably, to mark the different sizes in 

 which it was the custom to sell cheese. The average price of 

 five of these articles is ^\d. 



It has been frequently observed in the preceding chapters, 

 that long before the system of leasing land at farmers' rents 

 commenced there was a custom of leasing cattle. The person 

 who entered into this arrangement engaged to pay an annual 

 sum, for instance, 5*. to 6s. %d. for every cow, and where ewe- 



