ON THE PRICE OF GRAIN. 24! 



locality where it is even moderately high. The Hey ford price is 

 nearly as low (3^. id.} as at any time. At Lullington it is only ^s. 

 Barley is equally and generally cheap, and malt equally so. Oats and 

 oatmeal are very cheap. Rye is dear, owing to the Finchale entry, 

 in which alone wheat is dear. Beans, peas, and vetches are also 

 cheap. 



1463-4. The evidence is sufficiently copious. Wheat falls again 

 considerably, the price being the same as that in 1440-1, these being 

 the lowest of the century as yet. It is cheaper at Heyford than at 

 any period, and there is proof that the harvest must have been 

 uniformly abundant. Very large purchases are derived from Writtle, 

 at 4.?. 4^. Barley and malt are equally cheap, large quantities of the 

 former being sold from is. %d. to 2s- I have omitted a large entry 

 of malt from Wye. Either the quarter is double or there is an error 

 in the account, as it is an impossible price as it stands. Oats are a 

 little dearer, the price of meal also varying in such a way as to suggest 

 that the price being singularly low in one place and very high in another,, 

 the crop was varied in quantity and quality. Beans and peas are at 

 average proportionate rates. I have here again omitted a very 

 suspicious price of peas from Wye. 



1464-5. Wheat is a shade dearer, but prices are generally very 

 low, being above the average at Wye only, where, however, the price 

 falls after the account is rendered. Barley and malt are also dearer, 

 though large sales, 298 quarters, are made in malt at Ormesby, of 

 which the average is 3^. *\d. the quarter. Only two entries have been 

 found of oats, and in each the price is high, but the price of meal has 

 greatly increased. Rye is in proportion to wheat. Beans and pulse 

 are cheap. One entry of peas at Wye is too suspicious for entry in 

 the averages. 



1465-6. Wheat is a little dearer, though still very cheap. The 

 Cambridge account is dated, and prices scarcely vary, the average 

 from this place, 4.?. 5,V-j being slightly less than the general average. 

 At Heyford the November rate is y$. Only one entry from the 

 Howard accounts is above the average. Barley and malt are also 

 cheap, the Cambridge account of twenty dated entries giving an 

 average of 3^. 4! d. Oats and meal are also cheap. Rye corresponds 

 to wheat. Beans and peas are at average prices. 



1466-7. The evidence is abundant. Wheat has risen in price, 

 and has reached the average at which it ordinarily stands. Barley and 

 malt are also dearer. Prices are higher at Cambridge, and generally 

 in the east and south than elsewhere. The average of wheat at 



VOL. IV. R 



