184 ON THE PRICE OF GRAIN. 



falls, and it is on an average only 14^. i\d. At Eton again it is 

 25-r. 4</. at Michaelmas, iSs. 8d. at Lady Day, while at Oxford, where 

 the average is i6s. g\d., the second All Souls price is only 13^. \d. 

 At Worksop and at Wormleighton malt is dearer. In the former of 

 these localities bigg is again at a higher price than barley. Oats 

 are cheap in the two localities which supply information, and the price 

 of oatmeal or groats is also low. Certain entries of rye, one of which 

 is described as seed, and all at Worksop, are dear. Beans at Oxford 

 and Cambridge are low, and peas are also cheap. This applies even 

 to peas used for cookery, a considerable quantity of which are pur- 

 chased. All kinds of grain are cheap this year ; the information 

 being varied and extensive. 



1602-3. I* 1 tms 7 ear J tne averages of the Cambridge corn rents is 

 22s. 6\d.j the highest price being at or about Lady Day both here and 

 elsewhere. At Eton it is 34^. &/., at Oxford 29^. \\d. At this 

 locality, one of the Colleges begins to purchase wheat for its own 

 domestic baking, and continues the practice for a good many years, 

 thus affording a second price, i. e. of voluntary purchase, as contrasted 

 with the rent price, the highest market price on given days. Theydon 

 Gernon and Worksop prices do not differ from the general average, 

 while Wormleighton gives a monthly average, which is extremely 

 exhaustive and suggestive, the average for the agricultural year being 

 24-r. 2d. Wheat meal is also given at Oxford and Theydon. Barley 

 and bigg seed are also found, the latter nearly as dear as the former. 

 Malt prices are also low, the average being nj. >j$d. at Cambridge, 

 15-r. 8d. at Eton, 13.?. 8J</. at Oxford, the market rising towards the 

 end of the year, and being dear at Worksop only. Oats are cheap at 

 all the localities which give information, and oatmeal is at its normal 

 price. Rye is found at Worksop, where it is cheaper than malt ; 

 beans at Oxford; peas at Cambridge, Worksop, and Wormleighton, 

 at which last white and probably garden peas are recorded. This is 

 another cheap year. 



1603-4. We are still in a series of cheap or abundant years, i.e. 

 relatively to later experience, though these low prices would have been 

 abnormally high a generation before. The Cambridge wheat rents 

 hardly vary through the year. Those at S. John's are at 223. 8</., 

 those at King's 22*. n{d. At Eton they are as usual higher, 31^. Sd., 

 while Oxford is midway between the former two, the New College 

 purchases being for once higher than the corn rents. The prices at 

 Theydon in Essex and Wormleighton in Northants are almost 

 precisely the same. There is also copious evidence of the price of 



