History of Agricultural Rent in England g 



that led Mr. Seebohm to discover the 

 original meaning of the system. 



The scattering of the long acres was 

 due to the fact that in ancient times, when 

 the open field system was in full swing, 

 the land of the serfs was cultivated 

 on a peculiar co-operative principle. The 

 antiquity of co-operation in agriculture is 

 interesting in the light of recent experi- 

 ence. Each serf with a full holding had, 

 as a rule, two oxen, so that four serfs had 

 to combine to furnish the oxen for a 

 plough team. There was also the expense, 

 at that time very great, of providing the 

 parts of the plough itself — e.g:, iron — the 

 equipment and the labour of working the 

 plough. Co-operation was then necessary. 



We must now notice another peculiarity 

 in the holdings. In the ordinary case they 

 were all equal, each was just thirty acres 

 and no more. This equality of distribution 



