ON THE PRICE OF GRAIN. 327 



purchases at 23 s. $d. The Oxford rents are at 25*. Bd. The Win- 

 chester grants are at 251., the purchases at 22,$-. >j\d., the rents at 

 2 is. i id. Oats are very cheap at Cambridge, very dear at Eton, and 

 high (161. id.) at Oxford. The Winchester average is 15^. lod. 

 Oatmeal is still dear. The Johnson estate gives a price of rye, which 

 is low. Beans and peas are at proportionate prices to wheat. 



1684-5. Wheat is a good deal dearer, the price not varying ma- 

 terially during the whole agricultural year. The Cambridge average is 

 42s. 4d. The bakehouse buys at 37*. 2d. The Eton wheat rents are 

 at 5oj. 8</., the purchases at 46*. 6d. The Oxford wheat rents are at 

 47-r. 4d. The Winchester grants are at 46*., the purchases at 49^. 2</., 

 the rents at 48^. Bd. The tendency in Cambridge and Winchester is 

 downwards towards the end of the year, the highest price being at 

 or about Lady Day. Malt prices are higher, but not much higher. 

 The Cambridge average, the changes during the year being slight, is 

 2 is. 4\d., that of Eton 271. 6\d., while Eton purchases are at 27^. 

 The Oxford average is 26s. The Winchester grants are at 28^., the 

 purchases at 2$s. gd. t the rents at 26*. 4\d. Oats are dearer in all 

 places; i6s. at Biggin, 14^. o\d. at Cambridge, 20^. 6d. at Eton, i6s. $d. 

 at Winchester. But oatmeal is a little cheaper. Beans and peas are 

 dear, the latter so dear at Winchester that I am sure they must be 

 garden peas. 



1685-6. Six years of very low prices occur, beginning with this 

 year. The Cambridge wheat rents give an average of 25,9. 6J</., the 

 price rising slightly at the end of the year ; the bakehouse purchases, 

 indicating a similar increase, at an average of 25*. \d. The Eton average 

 is 36^., the purchases being made at 31*. ^d. The Oxford average is 

 32J-. 4</. The Winchester grants, a relic of last year's prices, are 

 at 56*., the purchases at 30^. 4</., while the rents are at $is. id. 

 Wheat is 23*. i\d. at Cuckfield in September, and 22s. on April ist 

 at Portsmouth. There is a small purchase of barley at a high rate in 

 September at Winchester. Malt rents give an average of i8f. +d. at 

 Cambridge, of 26s. 2\d. at Eton, where purchases are made at 231. 6d., 

 at 245. in Oxford. The grants at Winchester are at 261. iod., the 

 purchases at 26*. 7</., the rents at 26;. B\d. The fall in malt is not so 

 considerable as that in wheat, but we have often recognised the fact 

 that the cheapness of wheat by no means implies the cheapness of 

 other kinds of grain. In Cambridge, oats are very cheap, being 

 only Bs. gd. ; at Eton they are, as usual, dear. The average at 

 Winchester is 151. &/. ; and at this place oatmeal is dear, though 

 the average is lowered by a London purchase, which is, strange 



Q* 



