608 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



but we do not yet boast of those thick fleeces of grass which our cattle enjoyed 

 abroad on the commencement of the year ; and dependent on the season to 

 come, the great stocks of fodder may yet be shortly in request. The turnip 

 soils cleared early, worked remarkably well ; but where those roots were left 

 to sprout and run, the case in those parts where no sheep could be got to 

 eat them, the roots were a great nuisance upon the land. 



Wheat has long been the great article of production in this country, en- 

 grossing the attention of our farmers to the exclusion of a number of articles, 

 formerly cultivated, but now scarcely heard of. It begins to be pretty gene- 

 rally said, that oats and beans are no longer worth growing ; and remarked, 

 that however scarce fine barley fit for malting may be, it is scarcely moveable 

 at market, and becoming progressively cheaper. As a clincher for this, the 

 story is, that since the repeal of the beer tax, less malt and more adultera- 

 tions have been the order of the day with the brewers. No doubt these 

 important public functionaries rightly judge, that their patrons the public 

 cannot have too much of a good thing ; and more especially of their great 

 favourite, the very hobby-horse of their relish, adulterated, drugged, sweetened, 

 acidulated, and spiced beer. Such has been the fastidious taste of the dis- 

 cerning people of England, during upwards of a century past, as may be seen 

 through undeniable proof, in the pages of a celebrated treatise on poultry and 

 brewing. We have nothing yet for repetition on the subject of the young 

 crop of hops, nor does that market possess the interest of former times. No 

 gentleman of the present day can be so unfashionable as to ruin himself by a 

 speculation in hops. 



In Scotland, the spring season is said to be from eight days to a fortnight 

 later than usual, with the difficulties already described, in effecting the seed 

 process. Their markets, both for corn and cattle, have been brisk, and cer- 

 tainly as high as could be expected, the extent of our last crops and our im- 

 mense imports considered. Their wages for able hands are 95. per week, and 

 they have not hitherto been burdened with numerous unemployed labourers, 

 so long the misfortune of our South country. In Wales a considerable 

 number of cows have slunk, or lost their calves, no doubt from exposure to 

 weather unfriendly to their situation. The weather also has been unfavour- 

 able in the dairy, as to the quantity of milk. The prices of live stock through- 

 out the country, both fat and store, have been upon the advance, with occa- 

 sional backwardations (to use an old Stock Exchange phrase) at the dead 

 markets. Thus we have heard from some parts of the country " Mutton 

 cheaper at the butcher's," with an accompanying account from the fairs and 

 markets of the same neighbourhood " Sheep more and more scarce, and 

 prices advancing." The rot, in one quarter or other, has been thinning and 

 deteriorating the quality of our flocks during five years. There is little alter- 

 ation in Wool. The import has long governed that market. Pigs are some- 

 what cheaper, our Irish friends keeping us well supplied. Good Horses, 

 when discovered, are still said to command high prices ; but modern discove- 

 ries have so contracted the use of animal labour, that we must perhaps look 

 for an annual reduction of the value of this highly-priced animal. It is 

 painful, again to have to conclude with the fact, that incendiarism is proved 

 to be yet lurking in the minds of many of our rural labourers. 



The Dead Markets, by the carcase, per stone of 8lbs. Beef, 2s. 2d. to 

 3*. '8 d. Mutton, 3s. Id. to 4s. Sd. Veal, 3s. Od. to 5s. 4d. Pork, 3s. 2d. 

 to 4s. Wd. Lamb, 5s. 6d. 



Corn Exchange. Wheat, 42s. to 62s. Barley, 21s. to 33s. Oats, 12s. to 

 24s. London Loaf, 4lb., 9^. Hay, 50s. to 75s. Clover ditto, 60s. to 95s. 

 Straw, 22s. to 33s. 



Coal Exchange. Coals in the Pool, 15s. Od. to 26s. per ton. Delivered to 

 the consumer at an addition of Qs. to 12s. per ton. 

 Middlesex, April 22. 



