Life and Work on the Barony. 207 



rally fed at micl-day -wlien at full work. Male calves were 

 weaned gradually, from the end of the first month to the 

 beginning of the third ; but the heifer calves were not allowed 

 to remain with the cow so long. The average yield of milk 

 varied according to the cow's pasturage. Those cows fed on 

 salt marshes yielded half a wey ^ of cheese, and a quarter of a 

 gallon of butter per week, on the waste ; on aftermath, or on 

 stubbles, somewhat less. The dairy was generally under the 

 management of a woman,^ but supervised by the bailiff. On 

 some manors no cow was milked after Michaelmas, and no ewe 

 after August ; in fact, it is difficult to see any possibility of 

 yield after the grass failed. No doubt salted butter and cheese 

 supplied the wants of the population during the long interval 

 of winter, and the necessity of milk was less felt in an age 

 when tea or coffee had not even been dreamed of. The milk 

 of the cows and sheep was often mixed for the purposes of 

 cheese-making, the busy time for which commenced at 

 trimilchi, a name given to the month of May, since the cows 

 then began to be milked thrice daily. 



The value of a cow's milk during the twenty-eight weeks, 

 from Michaelmas to May was averaged at tenpence on those 

 manors where it was the custom to milk them ; but from May 

 to Michaelmas it was worth three shillings and sixpence, so 

 that the most profitable management was to use or sell the 

 winter's yield of milk and make cheese of the summer's. 

 During the six summer months the average yield of one cow's 

 milk made six stones of cheese.^ The annual value of an ewe's 

 milk, during the period she was milked, averaged sixpence. 



The sheep-fold was sprinkled with fresh earth once a fort- 

 night, a practice which betrays the permanent nature of this 



^ The wey was equivalent to 14 stones in weight. The gallon of butter 

 weighed 7 pounds. Comp. Walter of Henley, Rogers, Prices and Ayric, 

 vol. i., p. 5-1, and Hosebonderie, Royal Hist. Soc. Professor Rogers sur- 

 mises that the butter was melted into the gallon jar. — Prices and Agri- 

 culture, Mediaeval Agriculture, vol. i., p. 54. 



- The dairy woman was technically termed the Deye. It is a common 

 surname in Norfolk even now. 



** Prof. Rogers estimates the largest cheese at not more than 8 lbs. — 

 IVices and Ayric. For prices of dairy produce, vide Hosebonderie, anon. 



