336 ON THE PRICE OF GRAIN 1 . 



are at 25*., the purchases at 23*. 6d. t and the rents at 23*. 

 Some purchases are made at Harting which give an average of 20^. 

 and some seed barley at Foxcomb is bought at 17,?. 2d. Oats are cheap; 

 IO.T. i^d. at Cambridge, iu. 4^. at Harting, 14^. $\d. at Winchester, 

 where the Lady Day oat rent is at 14.?. Oatmeal is cheap at Win- 

 chester. Beans, peas, and vetches are found, each article in one locality. 

 1 702-3. Prices are on the whole a little higher. The Cambridge 

 wheat rents are at an average of 24^. nj</., the bakehouse purchases 

 being effected at 24.?. $d. The Eton average is 30^. 6d., but the College 

 buys at 34^. 7|</. The Oxford average is 27^. Portsmouth gives an 

 October assise of 24^. The Winchester grants are at 28^., the pur- 

 chases at 2gs. 6d., and the rents give an average of 29^. \d. Besides 

 these, Foxcomb supplies a series. It buys seed-wheat at 40^., but the 

 average of all its purchases is only 2gs. The Cambridge malt average 

 is 14^. 8d., that of Eton is 25^. 4^d., the purchases being made at 

 24^. 2d. The Oxford average is at 17^. yd. The Winchester grants 

 are at 22*., the purchases at 23^. %\d., while the rents are at 

 igs. i\d. There is also a price of 2is. 6d. at Harting. Oats are 

 IQS. at Cambridge, 15^. lod. at Eton, los. at Foxcomb, 14^. 8J</. in 

 London, and 1 1 s. Sd. at Winchester, the oat rent at Michaelmas being 

 I2S. Oatmeal fails me at Winchester for the first time since the 

 domestic accounts began, but it is very cheap in London. Beans are 

 cheap in Cambridge and London, dear at Winchester. Seed-peas are 

 a full price at Foxcomb, and tares in London are also dear. 



I have now to deal with Houghton's prices, printed weekly 

 in the two folio volumes entitled Collections for Husbandry 

 and Trade. In extracting these figures, I have taken note of 

 those only which show a change in each successive quarter 

 of the year. Sometimes these changes, especially in dear 

 years and at important corn markets, are very numerous. 

 Thus in 1693 there are no less than forty-five variations in 

 price at Kingston-on-Thames, in one of the quarters every 

 week. Sometimes, especially in remote places, there is no 

 change for the whole year. The variations of the market are 

 far greater in the case of wheat than in that of any other kind 

 of grain. 



The first number of Houghton's weekly paper is dated 

 March 3Oth, 1692, and it is continued till June 27 in the 



