21 8 ON THE PRICE OF GRAIN. 



same average. The Eton rents are at 30.?. q\d. ; the purchases at 

 2gs. if</. ; the second half of the year giving a higher price than the 

 first. At Oxford the average is 2%s. Sd. The Winchester corn rents 

 are at 34^. 7</., the highest average of all ; the grants are at 36^., the 

 purchases at 25^. Besides this, the College made a gift of four 

 quarters to the sick poor in Winchester. It was this discrepancy 

 which strengthened my conviction that the Winchester rent days were 

 post-dated, or rather that they had been collected the year before, and 

 were the liabilities of the tenants in the year following. The assise at 

 Portsmouth on April i was 24$. The malt rents at Cambridge give 

 an average of i6s. o^d. ; those of Eton of 22^. n^d., the purchases 

 of 2is. The Oxford malt rents, unchanged through the year, are at 

 17.?. 4</. The Winchester malt rents are at 23-$-. ij*/., again the 

 highest; the grants are at i8s., the purchases at 17^. %d. Oats are 

 generally cheaper. The purchases at Cambridge are dated from 

 January to September, and give an average of nj. ioj</., the price 

 rising at the end of the agricultural year. There is one very high 

 price at Eton. The Winchester average is 1 2 s. 4^., and the price of oat- 

 meal has fallen considerably. The oat crop was therefore a satisfactory 

 one. Beans are cheap at the two Essex farms, but a small quantity is 

 very dear at Eton. Peas at Biggin are cheap, at Eton rather dear. 



1667-8. There is not much difference in the character of this year 

 as compared with the last, though prices are a little higher. The 

 wheat rent average at Cambridge is 30.?. $\d. ; the bakehouse average 

 26^. Sd. ; the lowest price of the year being that of Midsummer. At 

 Eton the average is 36^., and the lowest price is that of May Day. 

 The Eton purchases, dated from September to July, give an average 

 of 31^. i if/. At Oxford market the average is unchanged, 34^. Sd. 

 The Winchester rents are at 26^. ^d., the lowest of the four, while the 

 grants are at 32^., and the purchases at 27^. The Cambridge malt 

 rents are at igs. 5f </. ; those of Eton, unchanged through the year, 

 at 24^., the purchases being at 2 is. The Oxford malt rents are also 

 unchanged, at 2IJ-. 4</. The Winchester malt rent is at an average of 

 i7,r. 2d. ; the grants are at 17^. 4j</., but the purchases at iSs. %\d. 

 Again Winchester is the cheapest of the four. At Cambridge, oats 

 decline in price towards the conclusion of the year, the general 

 average being I2S. g\d. The average at Winchester is i2s., meal 

 having also fallen slightly in price. But oats are dear at Eton. The 

 Winchester oat rents are to be criticised as the others are. Beans are 

 a good deal dearer, but peas, except in one locality, remain cheap. 



1668-9. Prices are sensibly higher, the highest point being reached 



