On most manors, as in Forncett,[66] which contained about 2,700 acres, from the preponderance of arable, the chief source of income to the lord was from the grain crops; other sources may be seen from the following table of the lord's receipts and expenses in 1272-3: RECEIPTS. L s. d. Fixed rents 18 3 7-3/4 Farm of market 0 2 6 Chevage[67] 0 8 6 Foldage 0 3 9-1/2 Sale of works 5 13 2-3/4 Herbage 1 0 4 Hay 2 12 11 Turf, &c. 1 13 6-1/2 Underwood 5 10 2 Grain 61 12 3-1/4 Cider 1 1 11-1/4 Stock 5 3 0 Dairy 4 3 0-3/4 Pleas 14 0 0 Tallage 16 13 4 ------------------ L128 2 2-3/4 EXPENSES. L s. d. Rents paid and allowed 0 3 2-1/2 Ploughs and carts 2 17 4 Buildings and walls 4 5 10-1/2 Small necessaries 0 7 10-3/4 Dairy 0 4 3-1/4 Threshing 1 15 5-1/2 Meadow and autumn expenses 0 1 4 Stock 0 16 7 Bailiff 1 19 0 Steward 1 6 9-1/2 Grain 8 2 4-1/2 Expenses of acct. 1 0 8-1/2 ------------------ L23 0 9-3/4 The manor was almost entirely self-sufficing; of necessity, for towns were few and distant, and the roads to them bad. Each would have its smith, millwright, thatcher, &c., paid generally in kind for their services. There was little trade with the outside world, except for salt--an invaluable article when meat had to be salted down every autumn for winter use, since there were no roots to keep the cattle on--and iron for some of the implements. Nearly everything was made in the village. The mediaeval system of tillage was compulsory; even the freeholders could not manage their plots as they wished, because all the soil of the township formed one whole and was managed by the entire village. Even the lord[68] had to conform to the customs of the community. Any other system than this, which must have been galling to the more enterprising, was impossible, for as the various holdings lay in unfenced strips all over the great common fields, individual initiative was out of the question. As may be imagined, the great number of strips all mixed together often led to great confusion, sometimes 2 or 3 acres could not be found at all, and disputes owing to careless measurement were frequent.