1 88 ON THE PRICE OF GRAIN. 



Colleges give an average of 36-$-. 4f</., wheat being slightly lower in the 

 spring and early summer, and rising, in anticipation of the coming harvest 

 or of a general exaltation of prices, in the latest entries. The bake- 

 house purchases are 302 qrs. 4bshs. 3^ pks., and cost 496 19^.4!^., 

 an average of 32^. io\d. The Eton average is 41.?. ; the Oxford 

 average is 38^. 7 \d., the New College purchases being quite up to the 

 average. Wheat-flour is at proportionate prices. Barley is found at 

 Oxford and Theydon, and rises in price at the latter place. The 

 average price of malt at Cambridge is 2is. 6\d., at Eton 24.?., at 

 Oxford 2is. nd., and at Theydon, where purchases are made nearly 

 every month throughout the year, iSs. $\d. These prices represent, 

 I think, a uniform year. Oats are found at Cambridge only, and the 

 price is very high, oats being generally cheap at this locality. Peas are 

 found at Cambridge, beans at Gawthorp, Oxford, and Theydon, being 

 again cheap at the last-named place, where there is also an entry of 

 tares, i.e. vetches. I infer that, if the crop was rather short, the quality 

 was good. 



1612-3. Prices are still rising. The Cambridge corn rents show 

 an average of 38^. 7^., the rate being highest in the winter. The 

 bakehouse purchases at S. John's, now distributed into thirteen lunar 

 months, give an average of 36^. 6%d. The Eton average is 46^. 4^., 

 and that at Oxford 42,$-. >j\d., the second All Souls price being high, 

 and indicating a progressive alarm about the next year's crop. The 

 quality too appears to be indicated by the excessive price of flour in 

 the second All Souls entry. Barley is found at Theydon, and is not 

 very dear. Malt is 22^. z\d. at Cambridge, 26^. at Eton, 26s. 2\d. at 

 Oxford, where the price declines as the year advances, and 22$. q\d. 

 at Theydon. These prices, which are very uniform, correspond to the 

 price of wheat. Oats are found at Biggin, Cambridge, and Gawthorp, 

 and are cheaper; oatmeal at the last-named place being cheaper 

 than wheat. Beans are found at Oxford and are dear, peas at Biggin, 

 Cambridge, and Theydon, where they are comparatively cheap. There 

 is an entry at Gawthorp by the load, but as I am not sure of the 

 quantity, I have not included it in the materials of the average. 



1613-4. Prices are rising still higher. The Cambridge average is 

 42s. 2\d., the highest prices being towards the end of the year. S. John's 

 purchases 316 qrs. 3 bshs. 3 pks., at a cost of 576 3^. o\d. y and at an 

 average of 36^. 6</., that is at the rate of last year. The Eton average 

 is 47^. 8</., the Oxford 47^. o|</., there being no New College 

 purchases this year. I conclude, from the contrast between the 

 maximum market and the bakehouse prices, that there was a con- 



