In the fourteenth century the long series of corn laws was commenced which was to agitate Englishmen for centuries, and after an apparently final settlement in 1846 to reappear in our day.[166] It was the policy of Edward III to make food plentiful and cheap for the whole nation, without special regard to the agricultural interest: and by 34 Edw. III, c. 20, the export of corn to any foreign part except Calais and Gascony, then British possessions, or to certain places which the king might permit, was forbidden. Richard II, however, reversed this policy in answer to the complaints of agriculturists whose rents were falling,[167] and endeavoured to encourage the farmer and especially the corn-grower; for he saw the landlords turning their attention to sheep instead of corn, owing to the high price of labour. Accordingly, to give the corn-growers a wider market, he allowed his subjects by the statute 17 Ric. II, c. 7, to carry corn, on paying the duties due, to what parts they pleased, except to his enemies, subject however to an order of the Council; and owing to the interference of the Council the law probably became a dead letter, at all events we find it confirmed and amended by 4 Hen. VI, c. 5.
The prohibition of export must have been a serious blow to those counties near the sea, for it was much easier to send corn by ship to foreign parts than over the bad roads of England to some distant market.[168] Indeed, judging by the great and frequent discrepancy of prices in different places at the same date, the dispatch of corn from one inland locality to another was not very frequent. Richard also attempted to stop the movement, which had even then set in, of the countrymen to the growing towns, forbidding by 12 Ric. II, c. 5, those who had served in agriculture until 12 years of age to be apprenticed in the towns, but to 'abide in husbandry'.
One of the most unjust customs of the Middle Ages was that which bade the tenants of manors, except those who held the jus faldae, fold their sheep on the land of the lord, thus losing both the manure and the valuable treading.[169] However, sometimes, as in Surrey, the sheepfold was in a fixed place and the manure from it was from time to time taken out and spread on the land.[170]
In the same district horses had been hitherto used for farm work, as it was considered worthy of note that oxen were beginning to be added to the horse teams. The milk of two good cows in twenty-four weeks was considered able to make a wey of cheese, and in addition half a gallon of butter a week; and the milk of 20 ewes was equal to that of 3 cows.
On the Manor of Flaunchford, near Reigate, the demesne land amounted to 56 acres of arable and two meadows, but there must have been the usual pasture in addition to keep the following head of stock: 13 cows, who in the winter were fed from the racks in the yard; 4 calves, bought at 1s. each; 12 oxen for ploughing, whose food was oats and hay—a very large number for 56 acres of arable, and they were probably used on another manor; 1 stott, used for harrowing; a goat, and a sow.
| £ | s. | d. | |||
| In 1382 the total receipts of this manor were | 8 | 1 | 91/2 | ||
| The total expenses | 7 | 0 | 5 | ||
| ————— | |||||
| Profit | £1 | 1 | 41/2 | ||
| ========= | |||||
| Among the receipts were:— | |||||
| For the lord's plough, let to farmers | |||||
| (perhaps this accounts for the large team of oxen kept) | 6 | 8 | |||
| 14 bushels of apples | 1 | 2 | |||
| 5 loads of charcoal | 16 | 8 | |||
| A cow | 10 | 0 | |||
| Among the payments:— | |||||
| For keeping plough in repair, and the wages of a | |||||
| blacksmith, one year by agreement | 6 | 8 | |||
| Making a new plough from the lord's timber | 6 | ||||
| Mowing 2 acres of meadow | 1 | 0 | |||
| Making and carrying hay of ditto, with | |||||
| help of lord's servants | 4 | ||||
| Threshing wheat, peas, and tares, per quarter | 4 | ||||
| " oats, per quarter | 11/2 | ||||
| Winnowing 3 quarters of corn | 1 | ||||
| Cutting and binding wheat and oats, per acre | 6 | ||||
On the Manor of Dorking the harvest lasted five weeks as a rule; the fore feet only of oxen used for ploughing, and of heifers used for harrowing, were shod. For washing and shearing sheep 10d. a hundred was the price; ploughing for winter corn cost 6d. an acre, and harrowing 1/2d. 301/2 acres of barley produced 411/2 quarters; 28 acres of oats produced 381/2 quarters; 13 cows were let for the season at 5s. each. In the same reign, at Merstham, the demesne lands of 1661/2 acres were let on lease with all the live and dead stock, which was valued at £22 9s. 3d., and the rent was £36 or about 4s. 4d. an acre, an enormous price even including the stock.
FOOTNOTES:
[149] Smyth, Lives of the Berkeleys, ii. 5. There is no doubt the lease system was growing in the thirteenth century. About 1240 the writ Quare ejecit infra terminum protected the person of a tenant for a term of years, who formerly had been regarded as having no more than a personal right enforceable by an action of covenant. Vinogradoff, Villeinage in England, p. 330; but leases for lives and not for years seem the rule at that date.
[150] Cullum, Hawsted, p. 175.