44 Rents, Wages^ and Profits in Agriculture 



some forms of labour the villein received 

 a certain amount of food and other neces- 

 saries, but the manor was in the typical 

 case self-contained and self-sufficing, and 

 the villein may be looked on as obtaining 

 a certain share of the annual produce 

 directly, though the share in the distribu- 

 tion was determined by the custom of the 

 manor. As already seen, the principal 

 payment in return for the labour was the 

 right to occupy so much land. Besides 

 the work exacted in connection with 

 ploughing, hay - making, harvesting, etc., 

 we have various forms of labour remuner- 

 ated by so much land : there was the aver- 

 land, or lod-land, granted to those who 

 performed the duties comprised under 

 averagium (horse - work from offer or 

 aver, a horse), including the carriage of 

 firewood, carting the seignorial produce, 

 etc, ; we find cheese - land for those who 



