88 A HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND 



mother of all other orchards for those kinds of fruit in Kent 

 and diuers other places. And afore that these said grafts were 

 fetched out of Fraunce and the Lowe Countries although that 

 there was some store of fruite in England, yet there wanted 

 both rare fruite and lasting fine fruite. The Dutch and French, 

 finding it to be so scarce especially in these counties neere 

 London, commonly plyed Billingsgate and diuers other places, 

 with such kinde of fruit, but now (thankes bee to God) 

 diuers gentlemen and others taking delight in grafting 

 . . . have planted many orchards fetching their grafts out 

 of that orchard which Harris planted called the New 

 Garden." 



i When Drayton wrote his Polyolbion, in 1619-22, the 

 orchard must still have been flourishing, as he alludes to it 

 thus : 



" Rich Tenham undertakes thy closet to suffice with cherries." 



Song XVIII. 



This orchard is supposed to have produced cherries which sold 

 for £1,000 in the year 1540 1 — an immense sum for those days — 

 and it seems an exaggeration when compared with the ordinary 

 prices of cherries found in the household books about this date 

 — for instance, " Item 9th Julye, 1549, 2 lbs. cherrys at my 

 Ladye's comandemente IVd.," and again, " 27th Julye, 1549, 

 4 pond of cherrys IVd." 2 It is difficult to arrive at the ordinary 

 prices given for garden produce. They must, of course, have 

 varied with the seasons and the quality of the fruit. The diffi- 

 culty of conveying fruit to market would probably keep up the 

 price. One gardener might have great abundance of a certain 

 fruit, while at no great distance a high price was being paid 

 for like wares, but owing to the difficulties of communication, 

 he would be unable to take advantage of this market for his 

 goods. But that they made as much profit as they could, 

 and were not always fair in their dealing, the following law 

 and severe penalties prove : " 2 & 3 Edward VI., c. 15. — Foras- 

 much as of late divers sellers of victuals not contented with 

 moderate and reasonable gain . . . have conspired and 



1 Johnson, History of English Gardening, 1829, p. 56. Philips, Com- 

 panion to the Orchard, ed. 1821, p. 79. 



2 Le Strange, MSS. Household Books at Hunstanton, Norfolk. 



