Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 5.djvu/403

 IN EARLY TIMES. 303 There is preserved in the otticc of the Duchy of Lancaster an account rendered by the baihff of Henry de Laci, earl of Lincohis of the profits arising from, and the expenditure upon, the earl's garden in Holhorn, in the sul)urbs of London, in the 2ith year of Edward L Wc learn from this curious document that apples, pears, large nuts, and cherries, were produced in sufficient quantities, not only to supply the earl's table, but also to yield a profit by their sale. The compara- tively large sum of nine pounds two shillings and threepence, in money of that time, equal to about one hundred and thirty five j)ounds of modern currency, w^as received in one year from the sale of those fruits alone. The vegetables cultivated in this garden were beans, onions, garlic, leeks and some others, which are not specifically named. Hemp was also grown there, and some description of plant which yielded ver- juice, possibly sorrel. Cuttings of the vines were sold, from which it may be inferred that the earl's trees were held in some estimation. The stock purchased for this garden comprised cuttings or sets of the following varieties of pear-trees ; viz. two of the St. Regie, two of the JNIartin, five of the Caillou, and three of the Pesse-))ucelle : it is stated that these cuttings were for plant- ing. The only flowers named are roses, of which a quantity was sold, producing three shillings and twopence. It appears there was a pond, or vivary, in the garden, as the bailift' expended eight shillings in the purchase of small fish, frogs, and eels, to feed the pikes in it. This account further shews that the garden w^as enclosed by a paling and fosse ; that it was managed by a head gardener who had an annual fee of fifty- two shillings and two pence, together with a robe or livery: his assistants seem to have been numerous, they W'Cre engaged in dressino; the vines and manuring; the e;round : their collective wages for the year amounted to five pounds. Quinces [coi/ncs) and medlars are frequently mentioned in the, royal household accounts of the thirteenth century ; so often, indeed, that there is no reason to doubt that these fruits were extensively cultivated in England. Quinces are named in the fruiterer's accounts of the year 1202, before quoted, and were sold at the rate of four shillings the hundred. Peaches, as already stated, were enumerated as garden stock by Necham in the twelfth century, and slips of peach- i The last of that name who bore the title ; he died in 1312.