ON THE PRICE OF GRAIN. 



There is no record of any local scarcity, though prices come from 

 Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Durham, Norfolk, Essex, 

 and Kent. Barley is very cheap, and malt, of which large quantities 

 are sold at Ormesby (510 quarters) probably for exportation, is equally 

 cheap. The price of oats is a little higher, as is shown by that of 

 meal, which is however cheap. Peas and vetches are cheap. I have 

 found no entry of rye or beans. 



1442-3. The price of wheat is again low, the information being 

 wide and fairly copious. Barley, of which extensive sales are made 

 from Sutton-at-Hone, is also cheap. Oats rise notably, as does also 

 oatmeal. Rye is cheap. Malt is also low priced. There is only one 

 entry of peas, and none of beans and vetches. As before, the harvest 

 must have been abundant, and prices were uniformly low. 



1443-4. The information is fairly full and wide. Wheat prices 

 are still very low, especially in the autumn of 1443. Barley too is 

 cheap, large sales being made at several places at low rates. There 

 are also extensive sales and purchases of malt in Norfolk and Cam- 

 bridge. The price of oats is also low, and, judging from the price of 

 meal, the quality must have been fair. There is no entry of rye, drage, 

 or beans. Peas fetch a fairly full price, the rate for this article and 

 for vetches being enhanced by the Sutton-at-Hone rates, which are 

 probably purchases for seed. 



1444-5. The price of wheat, derived from numerous entries over 

 an extensive area, is very low, and the harvest must have been abun- 

 dant and of good quality. The Heyford Warren entry is the cheapest 

 of the series, but is paralleled at Yeovil. One quarter at Abingdon is 

 even sold at a shilling. A little is bought at Writtle at 6s. 8d., a large 

 quantity at $s. id. But Writtle is the house of an opulent cadet of the 

 royal family. Barley is also very cheap. Malt is also very low priced, 

 a proof that barley was of good quality. Oats are also cheap, the 

 average being a little raised by the price of the very large quantity 

 purchased for the stables at Writtle ; for we may conclude that the 

 consumption of the Duke of Buckingham was of the best quality. 

 A small quantity of beans is bought at Writtle at a rather high price. 

 Peas are at an average. A quarter of seed vetches bought at Sutton 

 is the only entry I find of this article. 



1445-6. The information is abundant and varied. The price 

 of wheat rises universally, especially as the year proceeds. But it is 

 plain that locally the wheat harvest was bad, and especially in the south 

 and east. The Battle home farms of Apuldrum and Lullmgton have 

 a scanty crop, and are valued at the same price. But a sale is 



