161 Domesday and feudal Statistics 



hay and chaff only, would be a defective winter 

 ration for an average modern farm horse ; but, the 

 anonymous writer on Husbandry (in same vol.) 

 appears to give an intelligent record of the practice 

 of his own district : his information can be ex- 

 tended, in matters like the gestation of animals, the 

 terms in that item being nearly agreeable with 

 modern averages. There must of course have 

 been many ancient local variations of measure, not 

 coincident with the quasi-standard : horse loads and- 

 bushels were used as measures /. Hen. I. [Pipe 

 Roll and Chron. Pet.~\, and a modius in 1086 

 (D. .), apparently of considerable capacity [/. 

 Hen. I. app. Chron. Pet.~\ : the rendering of the 

 term seedlip (1124, A. S. Chron.), as bushel in 

 the note on p. 149 must not be taken as evidence 

 of the then existence of a measure so called of like 

 capacity with a modern 1 of a qr., but it seems to 

 demonstrate there was in 1124 an antecessor of 

 the modern bush.) by whatever name called, of like 

 dimensions the curious achersetum (presumably 

 seed, for one acre), of the Peterboro' Inquisition 

 (i 125-8) may also be noted. 



826 



