THE XVTH AND XVlTH CENTURIES 79 



with the modern mixed farm, employed a greater 

 number of men than sheep farming, and also gave men 

 work in hedging and ditching. \ 



During the XVth century the manufacture of cloth 

 in home industries and small factories spread through- 

 out England, until, by the middle of the 

 wool trade century, it was said in Parliament that the 



**<* making of cloth was 'the greatest living and 



agriculture. . r ? . _,, 



occupation of poor people. The weaving 



shops, carried on largely in conjunction with small 

 farming, were widespread in the villages of Norfolk, 

 Suffolk, Essex, Kent and Cambridge, in the east ; in 

 Westmorland, Lancashire and Yorkshire in the north ; 

 in Sussex, Hampshire, Devonshire, Dorset and Cornwall 

 in the south, and also in some of the Midland Counties. 

 The cloth so made was eagerly bought up for export, as 

 English cloth had already attained a European reputa- 

 tion. This growth of weaving and the home industry 

 of spinning that accompanied it, went hand in hand 

 with an increase in the flocks of sheep. This increase 

 greatly impressed writers of the time, who constantly 

 refer to the enormous number of sheep to be seen in 

 England. Sheep farming for the sale of wool was 

 undoubtedly profitable, and all classes on the land 

 benefited. It does not follow that arable farming was 

 unprofitable. The government being, as a rule, sympa- 

 thetic to the cultivators and anxious to encourage 

 arable farming, legislation was directed towards keeping 

 corn at a fair price. 1 Exportation of wheat was allowed 

 only when the price fell below 6s. 8d. a quarter, and im- 

 portation was not permitted unless it was above that 

 figure. This tended to keep the price uniform. Similar 

 1 See Appendix, p. 172. 



