MINOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 323 



those of the latter one of 4^. 4^. The only entry of hazel-nuts 

 is at Gawthorp, where Shuttleworth pays 6d. for an eightendole. 

 This measure, according to Houghton, is peculiar to East 

 Lancashire, and means seven quarts. The nuts must have 

 been collected from the hedges by the boys. 



GARDEN-SEEDS. Before I deal with the residual prices, 

 contained in the entries of minor products and some of the 

 sundries, it seems best to designate the dates at which garden 

 seeds were purchased and gardening began. It will be 

 remembered that up to 1582 the only hints of horticulture 

 are entries of onion- seed, and a doubtful one of cabbage seed. 

 There are grounds for believing that later than the date of 

 1582 even cabbages were imported. I do not pretend to say 

 that my notes are conclusive on the subject, and that before 

 their occurrence there was no such thing as horticulture. I 

 am aware that Tusser mentions many potherbs as cultivated 

 in his time. But on the other hand, Hartlib expressly states 

 that English gardening was very backward and that the 

 better kinds of fruits and vegetables were imported from 

 Holland, though the English soil and the English climate were 

 quite adequate to supply what came at present from a foreign 

 country. I may add too that my information comes from the 

 accounts of corporations and individuals who possessed abun- 

 dance of land on their premises, which was readily available 

 for gardening, and that the diet of such persons as belonged 

 to these corporations was very capable of improvement. 



I n *593 a London merchant purchases (for in those days 

 there were many gardens within the walls of the city) seeds of 

 certain potherbs hyssop, thyme, marjoram, and winter savory. 

 In 1608, I find the first purchase of fennel seed at Theydon 

 Gernon. In 1618, Shuttleworth buys two hundred sets of 

 liquorice roots. In 1644, New College, Oxford, buys cabbage 

 plants at a shilling the hundred, carrot seed at 4</. the oz., and 

 turnip seed at 2</., and the next year turnip seed at the same 

 price, all with onions to be sown or planted in the College 

 garden. In 1653 and 1654, the owner of Mounthall, a country 



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