CATTLE AND POULTRY. 717 



Oxen, calves, and lambs are the only articles, the average 

 price of which, in the last forty-two years, rises to more than 

 three times the old average. It is possible that the breeds of 

 sheep were improved ; we know how very many varieties there 

 were of wool. It is perhaps the case that, most of my later 

 entries of cattle and sheep being taken from the records of 

 consumption, the quality and size of the animals has to be 

 reckoned in the enhanced price, and thereupon in part ac- 

 counts for it. It is also possible that cattle were improved by 

 selection. The rise in the other articles will not be found to 

 differ materially from that discoverable in other provisions, 

 with two exceptions, swans and rabbits. The entries of the 

 former of these are not numerous, and come mainly from the 

 eastern counties, where swans were common. Rabbits, I make 

 no doubt, became commoner than they were in early times. 

 They were very scarce and dear in the thirteenth and four- 

 teenth centuries; they multiply later on, and in the six- 

 teenth century became a nuisance against which legislation 

 was directed. 



The average rise in three items, oxen, calves, and lambs, is 

 3-46. The average of the residue, excluding swans and rabbits, 

 is 2'44- The difference is marked, but it would have been 

 more significant if I had taken poultry only, when the rise 

 would be found to be only 3* 18. The explanation of the fact 

 must be found in the general maintenance of poultry by the 

 peasants and small occupiers, and the consequent cheapness of 

 the produce. 



