A Short History of English Agriculture Part 42

1401-1540 moderate increase 14s. unaltered 1541-82 55s. 32s. great increase 1583-1700 100s. 60s. 1580-1640 5 to 10 1640-1700 8 to 15

PIGS SHEEP. LAMBS. (GROWN). BOARS.

1259-1400 1s. 2d. to 1s. 5d. 8d. 3s. 4s. 7d.

1401-1540 moderate increase 9d. unaltered 6s.

1541-82 3s. to 4s. 6d. 2s. to 3s. 6s. 8d. to 8s. -- 1583-1700 10s. 7d. -- great increase

POULTRY AND EGGS.

HENS. DUCKS. GEESE. EGGS.

1259-1400 1-6/8d. 2d. 3-5/8d. 4-1/2d. per 120 1401-1540 2-1/4d. 2-1/4d. 4-3/4d. 6-1/2d "

1541-82 4-3/4d. 4-3/4d. 10d. 7-1/2d. "

1583-1700 8d.-1s. 9-1/4d. 2s. 3s. 3d. "

WOOL. CHEESE. b.u.t.tER.

Per lb.

1259-1400 3-5/7d. 4-1/2d. per 7 lb. 4-3/4d. per 7 lb.

1401-1540 3-5/7d. 1/2d. per lb. 1d. per lb.

1541-82 7-1/2d. 1d. " 3d. "

1583-1702 9d.-1s. 3-1/2d. " 4-1/2d. "

HAY. HOPS.

Per load. Per cwt.

1259-1400 3s. 8d. -- 1401-1540 unaltered 14s. 0-1/2d.

1541-82 9s. 6d. 26s. 8d.

1583-1702 26s. 4d. 82s. 9d.

LABOUR.

Reaping Reaping Labourer per wheat oats Mowing day without per acre. per acre. per acre. food.

1261-1350 5-5/8d. 4-7/8d. 5-1/4d. 2d.

1351-1400 8-1/2d. 8-1/4d. 7d. 3d.

1401-1540 9-3/4d. 8-1/4d. 8-1/8d. 4d.

1541-82 --[756] -- -- 6-1/2d.

1583-1640 -- -- 1s. 7d. 8-1/2d.

1640-1700 -- -- 1s. 8d. 10d.

PRICE OF LAND PER ACRE.

To Rent. To Buy.

Arable. Gra.s.s.

1261-1350 4d.-6d. 1s.-2s. 12 years' purchase 1351-1400 6d. 2s. "

1401-1540 6d. 2s. 15-20 years 1541-82 slight increase unaltered 1583-1640 great increase 20 years 1641-1700 5s. 8s. "

1770 10s. 30 years

FOOTNOTES:

[754] Summarized from Thorold Rogers' prices in his _History of Agriculture and Prices_, with some alterations.

[755] Affri, 13s. 5d. cart horses, 19s. 4d. A good saddle horse about 1300 was worth 5. By 1580 it was worth 10 to 15, by 1700 20 to 25.

[756] A decided increase, but prices fluctuate so much that it is hard to strike an average.

APPENDIX II

TABLE SHOWING EXPORTS AND IMPORTS OF WHEAT AND FLOUR FROM AND INTO ENGLAND, UNIMPORTANT YEARS OMITTED

Exports. Imports.

Quarters. Quarters.

England.

1697 14,699 400 1703 166,615 50 1717 22,954 none 1728 3,817 74,574 1733 427,199 7 1750 947,602 279

Great Britain.

1757 11,545 141,562 1758 9,234 20,353 1761 441,956 none 1767 5,071 497,905 1770 75,449 34 1775 91,037 560,988 1776 210,664 20,578 1780 224,059 3,915 1786 205,466 51,463 1787 120,536 59,339 1789 140,014 112,656 1791 70,626 469,056 1796 24,679 879,200 1801 28,406 1,424,765 1808 98,005 84,889 1810 75,785 1,567,126 1815 227,947 384,475 1825 38,796 787,606 1837 308,420 1,109,492 1839 42,512 3,110,729 1842 68,047 3,111,290

The above figures are taken from McCulloch's _Commercial Dictionary_, 1847, p. 438, and agree roughly with those given by McPherson, _Annals of Commerce_, iii. 674, and iv. 216 and 532.

After 1842, exports played a very small part, and imports continued to increase; in 1847, 4,612,110 _quarters_ of wheat and flour came in; and the following figures show their growth in recent times:--

AVERAGE OF ANNUAL IMPORTS OF WHEAT AND FLOUR IN CWTS.

1861-5 34,651,549 1866-70 37,273,678 1871-5 50,495,127 1876-80 63,309,874 1881-5 77,285,881 1886-90 77,794,380 1891-5 96,582,863 1896-1900 95,956,376 1901-5 111,638,817

With regard to the exports and imports of all kinds of corn, large quant.i.ties were exported in the first half of the eighteenth century.

In 1733, 800,000 quarters were sent to France, Portugal, Spain, and Italy,[757] and exports reached their maximum in 1750 with 1,667,778 quarters, but by 1760 had decreased to 600,000, and after that fell considerably; in 1771, for instance, the first year of the corn register, they only amounted to 81,665 quarters, whereas imports were 203,122. The figures of the imports were swollen by the large quant.i.ties of oats which came into England at this time. The following years are typical of the fluctuations in the trade:--

Exports. Imports.

1774 47,961 803,844 1776 376,249 444,121 1780 400,408 219,093 1782 278,955 133,663 1783 104,274 852,389 1784-8 large excess of imports, mainly oats 1789 652,764 478,426

the last year when exports of all kinds of corn exceeded imports.[758]

To sum up, according to these figures, England's exports of wheat regularly exceeded her imports from 1697 until 1757, with the exception of the years 1728-9; then they fluctuated till 1789, the last year in which exports of wheat exceeded imports, and as the same year is the last time when our exports of all kinds of corn exceeded our imports, England at that date ceased to be an exporting country.[759]

FOOTNOTES: