52 THE ENCLOSURES IN ENGLAND [208 



century. The acreage reported for the Winchester manors 

 is so extensive that the average yield of the group can be 

 fairly taken to be the average for all of that part of England. 

 Moreover, Witney seems to be representative of the Win- 

 chester group, if the fact that the yield at Witney is close to 

 the group average in the years when this is known can be re- 

 lied upon as an indication of its representativeness in the 

 years when the group average is not known. The average 

 yield for all the manors in 1208- 1209 was ^Yz bushels per 

 acre; for Witney alone, 3^^. In 1 396-1 397 the yield of the 

 group and the yield at Witney are, respectively, 6 and 6j4 

 bushels per acre.^ 



Table III shows the yield of wheat on the manors of the 

 Bishopric of Winchester in the years 1209, 1300 and 1397. 

 If it could be shown that these were representative years, we 

 should have a means of measuring the increase or decrease 



1 Unfortunately, the figures for the year 1299-1300 reveal an error 

 which makes it impossible to use the test of the representativeness of 

 Witn-ey in a third season with accuracy. The acreage planted is ob- 

 viously understated, and it is possible to make only a rough estimate of 

 the correct acreage. The acceptance of the area given by Gras (82 

 acres) results in the conclusion that 22 bushels per acre was reaped. 

 The suspicion that this result must be incorrect is confirmed when it is 

 found, also, that 68^ quarters of seed were sown — ^an amount sufficient 

 for 270 acres at the average rate of 2 , bushels per acre, or for 220 

 acres at the rate of 2]^ bushels per acre, which Ballard gives as the 

 rate usual at Witney. (Levett and Ballard, op. cit, p. 192.) In 

 1277 the acreage sown with wheat at Witney was 180 acres, and in 

 1278, 191. (Ibid., p. 190.) If 3 bushels per acre were sown in 1299, 

 the area in this year also was 180 acres. If these estimates are used 

 instead of the figure 82, as indicating the correct acreage, the yield for 

 the year is found to be between 7 and 10 bushels per acre, in a season 

 in which the average yield for the whole group of manors was 9 bushels 

 per acre. The figures at Witney in the three seasons where a com- 

 parison with the general average for the group is possible deviate from 

 it within limits narrow enough to indicate that conditions at Witney 

 were roughly typical. 



