194 ON THE PRICE OF GRAIN. 



30^-. *\\d. These prices strengthen my inference that the season was 

 wet. But oats are cheap and must have been a good crop, for the 

 price of oatmeal is low. Rye is found this year at 34*., a pro- 

 portional price. Peas are almost unchanged. Beans are rather 

 dearer. The price of wheat was higher than it had been since 1608. 



1623-4. The price of wheat is falling throughout the year. The 

 Cambridge corn rents are at an average of 37.?. o\d., the dearest time of 

 the year being about Lady Day. The bakehouse purchases amount 

 to 240 qrs. 2bshs. 2 pks., and cost 379 ios. 5^., or an average of 

 35.$-. gd. The Eton average is 44^. 8d. At Oxford, prices are 

 rather higher as the coming harvest is reached. The New College 

 purchases are at an average of 42^., the highest, 45.?. 4^., being in 

 the last quarter. The Oxford rents and assises are at 40^. 6\d., and 

 the market averages are at 38^. 6d. There are some entries from 

 Theydon, all in October, when the price was low ; and one of July 

 from Elmswell, when the price was a little below the average. Barley 

 has also fallen in price, the Oxford average being 20^. y\d. Malt is 

 22s. 4\d. at Cambridge, 27^. 4d. at Eton, 24^. in the Oxford rents, and 

 23.$-. i-%d. at the average of the Oxford market; but it declines in price 

 as the year goes on. There is but little information as to the price 

 of oats, but oatmeal is steadily at one price through the year. Rye is 

 found at one locality. Beans and peas are at nearly the same price. 



1624-5. Wheat rises decidedly in price, though not greatly. The 

 average of the Cambridge rents is 40^. 3^. The bakehouse purchases 

 amount to 224 qrs. 4 bshs. 3 pks., and cost 419 8s. 4d., or an average 

 of 37J. 4\d. The Eton rents are a great deal higher, the average 

 being 52.$-. In Oxford, as in Cambridge, the highest prices are 

 those from Christmas till Midsummer, the average of the New College 

 purchases being 47,?. The Oxford rents are at 48^. io^/., while 

 the monthly averages of the market give a year's price of 47^. o\d. 

 I conclude therefore that the quantity of the harvest was defective, the 

 quality good. There is an entry of ship's biscuit from Rochester at 

 i8s. the cwt. Barley in November is cheap at Elmswell. The Oxford 

 average is 1 8s. i o%d. Malt rents at Cambridge give an average of 1 9 s. 8d., 

 at Eton of 22.?., at Oxford of 19^. zd., while the average of the 

 Oxford market is i8,r. io\d. I infer from these figures, which show 

 on the whole a cheap year for malt, that the barley harvest was a good 

 one. I have only one entry of oats, at Eton, where all kinds of grain 

 are dear, and the price is high. But the price of oatmeal at Oxford, 

 4os. id., suggests that the quality was good and the general price 

 moderate, There is an entry of a large number of hogsheads of oat- 





