FITZHERBERT.--THE REGULATION OF HOURS AND WAGES
The farming of this period is portrayed for us by Fitzherbert, the
first agricultural writer of any merit since Walter of Henley in the
thirteenth century. He was one of the Justices of Common Pleas, and
had been a farmer for forty years before he wrote his books on
husbandry, and on surveying in 1523, so that he knew what he was
writing about; 'there is nothing touching husbandry contained in this
book but I have had experience thereof and proved the same.' In spite
of the increase of grazing in his time he says the 'plough is the most
necessarie instrument that an husbandman can occupy', and describes
those used in various counties; in Kent, for instance, 'they have some
go with wheeles as they do in many other places'; but the plough of
his time is apparently the same as that of Walter of Henley, and
altered little till the seventeenth century. The rudeness of it may be
judged from the fact that in some places it only cost 10d. or 1s.
though in other parts they were as much as 6s. or even 8s. He
says[205] it was too costly for a farmer to buy all his implements,
wherefore it is necessary for him to learn to make them, as he had
done in the Middle Ages before the era of ready-made implements, when
he always bought the materials and put them together at home. On the
vexed question of whether to use horses or oxen for ploughing, he says
it depends on the locality; for instance, oxen will plough in tough
clay and upon hilly ground, whereas horses will stand still; but
horses go faster than oxen on even ground and light ground, and are
'quicke for carriages, but they be far more costly to keep in winter.'
According to him, oxen had no shoes as horses had.[206] Here is his
description of a harrow: it is 'made of six final peeces of timber
called harow bulles, made either of ashe or oke; they be two yardes
long, and as much as the small of a man's leg; in every bulle are five
sharpe peeces of iron called harow tyndes, set somewhat a slope
forward.' This harrow, drawn by oxen, was good to break the big clods,
and then the horse harrow came after to break the smaller clods. It
differed slightly from the former, some having wooden tines. For
weeding corn the chief instrument 'is a pair of tongs made of wood,
and in dry weather ye must have a weeding hoke with a socket set upon
a staffe a yard long.'[207]
He recommends that grass be mown early, for the younger and greener
the grass is the softer and sweeter it will be when it is hay, and the
seeds will be in it instead of fallen out as when left late; advice
which many slovenly farmers need to-day. He does not approve of the
custom of reaping rye and wheat high up and mowing them after, but
advises that they be cut clean; barley and oats, however, should be
commonly mown. Both wheat and rye were to be sown at Michaelmas, and
were cast upon the fallow and ploughed under, two London bushels of
wheat and rye being the necessary amount of seed per acre. In spite of
his praise of the plough he allows that the sheep 'is the most
profitablest cattel that a man can have', and he gives a list of their
diseases, among the things that rot them being a grass called
sperewort, another called peny grass, while marshy ground, mildewed
grass, and grass growing upon fallow and therefore full of weeds were
all conducive to rot. The chief cause, however, is mildew, the sign of
whose presence is the honeydew on the oak leaves. In buying cattle to
feed the purchaser is to see that the hair stare not, and that the
beast lacks no teeth, has a broad rib, a thick hide, and be loose
skinned, for if it stick hard to his ribs he will not feed[208]; it
should be handled to see if it be soft on the forecrop, behind the
shoulder, on the hindermost rib upon the huck bone, and at the nache
by the tail. Among other diseases of cattle he mentions the gout,
'commonly in the hinder feet'; but he never knew a man who could find
a remedy. He was a great advocate of enclosures; for it was much
better to have several closes and pastures to put his cattle in, which
should be well quick-setted, ditched, and hedged, so as to divide
those of different ages, as this was more profitable than to have his
cattle go before the herdsman (in the common field).
It will be seen from the above that Fitzherbert made no idle boast in
saying he wrote of what he knew, and much of his advice is applicable
to-day, though the time is past for the farmer's wife to 'wynowe all
manner of cornes, to make malte, to shere corne, and in time of nede
to helpe her husbande to fyll the mucke wayne or dounge carte, dryve
the plough, lode heye, corne, and such other'; though she may go or
ride to the market 'to sel butter, cheese, milke, eggs, chekyns,
hennes, and geese.'[209] It appears that the horses of England at this
time had considerably deteriorated, for the statute 27 Hen. VIII, c.
6, mentions the great decay of the breed, the cause it is stated being
that 'in most places of this Realme little horsis and naggis of small
stature and valeu be suffered to depasture and also to covour marys
and felys of very small stature'; therefore owners and farmers of deer
parks shall keep in every such park two brood mares of 13 'hand
fulles' (hands) at least. Another statute, 32 Hen. VIII, c. 13, strove
to remedy this evil by enacting that no entire horse under 15 hands
was to feed on any forest, chase, waste, or common land.
This statute was a useful one, so also was 21 Hen. VIII, c. 8, which
forbade for three years the killing of calves between January 1 and
May 1, under a penalty of 6s. 8d., because so many had been killed by
'covetous persons' that the cattle of the country were dwindling in
number. Others, however, were merely meddlesome, and directed against
that unpopular man the dealer. For instance, owners refusing to sell
cattle at assessed prices were to answer first in the Star Chamber (25
Hen. VIII, c. 1); and by 3 and 4 Edw. VI, c. 19, no cattle were to be
bought but in open fair or market, and not to be resold then alive,
though a man might buy cattle anywhere for his own use. No person,
again, was to resell cattle within five weeks after he bought them (5
Edw. VI, c. 14); and a common drover had by the same Act to have a
licence from three justices before he could buy and sell cattle. We
may be sure that these laws were more honoured in the breach than in
the observance, as they deserved to be.
Hops were said to have been introduced from the Low Countries about
the middle of Henry VIII's reign; but there can be no doubt that this
is a mistake. It has been mentioned that they flourished in the
gardens of Edward I, and a distinguished authority[210] says the hop
may with probability be reckoned a native of Britain; but it was first
used as a salad or vegetable for the table, the young sprouts having
the flavour of asparagus and coming earlier. Hasted, the historian of
Kent, states[211] that a petition was presented to Parliament against
the hop plant in 1428 wherein it was called a 'wicked weed'. Harrison
says, 'Hops in time past were plentiful in this land, afterwards their
maintenance did cease, and now (cir. 1580) being revived where are
anie better to be found?'[212] Even then growers had to face foreign
competition, as the customs accounts prove that considerable
quantities were imported into England. In 1482 a cwt. was sold for 8s.
and 1 cwt. 21 lb. for 19s. 6d., an early example of that fluctuation
in price which has long characterized them.[213] Their average price
about this time seems to have been 14s. 1/2d. a cwt.
During the Tudor period the number of day labourers increased, largely
owing to the enclosures having deprived the small holder and commoner
of their land and rights. But judging by the statutes those paid
yearly and boarded in the farm house were still most numerous.
In 1495 the hours of labourers were first regulated by law. The
statute II Hen. VII, c. 22, says that 23 Hen. VI, c. 12,[214] was
insufficiently observed; and besides increasing wages slightly set
forth the following hours for work on the farm: the labourer was to be
at his work from the middle of March to the middle of September before
5 a.m., and have half an hour for breakfast and an hour and a half for
dinner and sleep, when sleep was allowed, that is from the middle of
May to the middle of August; when sleep was not allowed, an hour for
dinner and half an hour for his nonemete or lunch; and he was to work
till between 7 and 8 p.m. During the rest of the year he was to work
from daylight to dark. The attempt to regulate hours, which seem fair
and reasonable, no doubt met with better success than that to regulate
wages, for 6 Hen. VIII, c. 3 (1514), says the previous statutes had
been very much disregarded, and sets down the rates once more:--
A bailiff's yearly wages, with diet, were to be not more
than £1 6s. 8d., and 5s. for clothes.
A chief hind, carter, or chief shepherd, with diet, not more
than £1, and 5s. for clothes.
A common servant or labourer, with diet, not more than
16s. 8d., and 4s. for clothes.
A woman servant, with diet, not more than 10s., and 4s.
for clothes.
By the day, except in harvest, a common labourer from Easter to
Michaelmas was to have 2d. with food and drink, 4d. without; and from
Michaelmas to Easter 1-1/2d. with food and drink, and 3d. without. In
harvest:--
A mower, with food, 4d. a day; without, 6d.
A reaper, with food, 3d. a day; without, 5d.
A carter, with food, 3d.; without, 5d.
Other labourers, with food, 2-1/2d.; without, 4-1/2d.
Women, with food, 2-1/2d.; without, 4-1/2d.
FOOTNOTES:
[205] _Booke of Husbandry_ (ed. 1568), fol. 5. The surveyor of
Fitzherbert's day combined some of the duties of the modern bailiff
and land agent: he bought and sold for his employer, valued his
property, and supervised the rents.
[206] _Booke of Husbandry_ (ed. 1568), fol. vi.
[207] Ibid. fol. xv.
[208] _Booke of Husbandry_ (ed. 1568), fol. xxix.
[209] Fitzherbert adds pigs and all manner of cornes, so altogether
the farmer's wife seems to have done as much as the farmer.
[210] Sir Jas. E. Smith, _English Flora_, iv. 241.
[211] _History of Kent_ (ed. 1778), i. 123.
[212] _Description of Britain_ (Furnivall ed.), p. 325.
[213] Thorold Rogers, _History of Agriculture and Prices_, iii. 254.
[214] See above.