40 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE 



of wool in the various counties of England, for in that year 

 30,000 sacks of the best wool was ordered to be bought in 

 various districts by merchants for Edward III, to provide 

 the sinews of war against France. The price for the best wool 

 was to be fixed by the king, his council, and the merchants ; 

 the 'gross' wool being bought by agreement between 

 buyer and seller. Of the former the highest price fixed 

 was for the wool of Hereford, then and for long afterwards 

 famous for its excellent quality, 12 marks the sack of 

 364 lb. ; and the lowest for that of the northern counties, 

 5 marks the sack. 



Somewhat more than a century afterwards we have another 

 similar list of wool prices, when in 1454 the Commons 

 petitioned the king that 'as the wools growing within this 

 realm have hitherto been the great commodity, enriching, and 

 welfare of this land, and how of late the price is greatly 

 decayed so that the Commons were not able to pay their 

 rents to their lords ', the king would fix certain prices under 

 which wools should not be bought. The highest price fixed 

 was for the wool of ' Hereford, in Leominster ', ;!^I3 a sack ; the 

 lowest for that of Suffolk, £% i2j. ^ ; the average being about 



The manorial accounts of the Knights' Hospitallers, who 

 then held land all over England, afford valuable information 

 as to agriculture in 1338.2 From these we gather that the 

 rent of arable land varied from id. to is. an acre ; but the latter 

 sum was very exceptional, and there are only two instances 

 of it given, in Lincolnshire and Kent. Most of the tillage 

 rented for less than i j. an acre, more than half being at 6d. or 

 under, and the average about 6d. On the other hand, meadow 

 land is seldom of less value than 2s. an acre, and in Warwick- 

 shire, Oxfordshire, and Norfolk rose to 3^. This is one of the 

 numerous proofs of the great value of meadow land at a time 



^ Rolls of Parliament^ v. 275. 



"^ The Hospitallers in England^ Camden Society. 



