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