150 THE NATURE AND CAUSES OE

an equal quantity of land feed a greater number of cattle thanwhen in natural grass, should somewhat reduce, it might beexpected, the superiority which, in an improved country, theprice of butcher’s meat naturally has over that of bread. Itseems accordingly to have done so; and there is some reasonfor believing that, at least in the London market, the price ofbutcher’s meat, in proportion to the price of bread, is a gooddeal lower in the present times than it was in the beginningof the last century.

In the appendix to the Life of Prince Henry, Doctor Birchlias given us an account of the prices of butcher’s meat ascommonly paid by that prince. It is there said, that the fourquarters of an ox weighing six hundred pounds usually costhim nine pounds ten shillings, or thereabouts; that is, thirty-one shillings and eight-pence per hundred pounds weight.Prince Henry died on the Gth of November, 1012, in the nine-teenth year of his age.

In March, 1704, there was a parliamentary inquiry into thecauses of the high price of provisions at that time. It wasthen, among other proof to the same purpose, given in evi-dence by a Virginia merchant, that in March, 1703, he hadvictualled his ships for twenty-four or twenty-live shillingsthe hundred weight of beef, which he considered as the ordi-nary price; whereas, in that dear year, be had paid twenty-seven shillings for the same weight and sort. This high pricein 1704 is, however, four shillings and eight-pence cheaperthan the ordinary price paid by prince Henry; and it is thebest beef only, it must be observed, which is fit to be saltedfor those distant voyages.

The price paid by prince Henry amounts to per poundweight of the whole carcass, coarse and choice pieces takentogether; and at that rate the choice pieces could not havebeen sold by retail for less than4j</. or 5d. the pound.

In the parliamentary inquiry in 1704, the witnesses statedthe price of the choice pieces of the best beef to be to theconsumer Ad. and A\d. the pound; and the coarse pieces ingeneral to be from seven farthings to 2 hd. and 2 %d.-, and thisthey said was in general one halfpenny dearer than the samesort of pieces had usually been sold in the month of March.But even this high price is still a good deal cheaper thanwhat we can well suppose the ordinary retail price to havebeen in the time of prince Henry.

During the twelve first years of the last century, the average