1830.] List of New Works. 715 



The Present State of Australia, its VOYAGES. 



Advantages and Prospects. By Robert A Voyage round the World in the 



Dawson, Esq. 8vo. 14s. Years 1823, 4, 5, 6. By Captain Kot- 



The Moravians in Greenland. 18mo. zebue of the Russian Navy. 2 vols. 



3s. 6d. 8vo. 21s. 



MONTHLY AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



THE tone of our country letters and reports has been, for a length of time, and 

 at the present unfortunate crisis especially is, rather political than agricultural : 

 our elders held that, in the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom ; confiding 

 in that axiom, the Legislature can scarcely err, unless from the uncertainty as to 

 what branch of the tree of wisdom it may be expedient to light upon. The 

 autumnal quarter has been singularly favourable, and in perfect contrast to its 

 predecessors, for every operation of husbandry ; the only cause of regret being the 

 length and expensiveness of latter harvest, atoned for yet, in a considerable 

 degree, by the superior condition of the late gathered corn and pulse. The dry 

 weather of October was in the highest degree beneficial to the heavy, wet lands, 

 with the drawback, however, of rendering them, particularly the clover and bean 

 stubbles, cloddy and stubborn, and almost inaccessible to the seed-plough ; this 

 again, to consummate our autumnal good fortune, has found a remedy in the showers 

 of the present month, rendering the clay friable and practicable, and enabling 

 the farmer to deposit his seed in the soil in a manner favourable and early beyond 

 expectation. It has been said that, the season being so inviting has induced many 

 farmers to sow a greater breadth of wheat than they had either intended or hoped. 

 Accounts of the year's crops continue unfavourable, and in a greater degree 

 when brought to the test. It is now asserted, and we fear too much in the guise 

 of demonstration, that wheat, far from being a general average, is more probable 

 to be scarce as consumption advances, and that we must still rely on foreign 

 assistance. The markets have hitherto been very scantily supplied with English 

 wheat, and the price high, though the known necessities of the farmers seemed to 

 lead to a very different result ; but it is said that, with too many of them, the 

 stock of wheat has fallen very short, and that they have but little to dispose of. 

 Certainly, however, the pressing business of a la'te harvest, and the demand for 

 seed, the troubles in some parts of the country, and even the quantity of corn 

 destroyed by abandoned profligacy, must have contributed to keep the markets 

 thin of supply. In many expected large crops of wheat, the abundance has been 

 found chiefly to reside in the straw, and on heavy lands the crop has proved in- 

 ferior to that of 1829. Barley, the next article in value, however partially fine, is 

 a total failure on soils insufficiently light and dry. The condition of all stacked 

 corn has been much improved by the favourable change of weather. The crops 

 of every description seem to have suffered most in our northern border countries, 

 and in Scotland. Much of the distress of the times has been, by our rural econo- 

 mists, laid to the change of the currency ; but we do really apprehend that taxes, 

 tithes, short crops, and high rents, have been far the most active and efficient 

 agents in the business, and but for their presence, we should have heard little 

 about changes of currency. 



The seed season for wheat, rye, and winter tares, is thus, for the most part, 

 completed ; but the state of the lands to which the seed has been committed, pre- 

 sents a most discouraging consideration. Every kind of weed, the growth of our 

 soil and the curse of our husbandry, has been left in full luxuriance, the couch, 

 grass trimmed and pruned by the plough for a new vegetation, which is actually 

 taking place in chivalrous rivalry with its twin brother the wheat ! As an ad- 

 dition to our misfortunes, or our errors, the slug continues to commit enormous 

 depredations on the young wheat, insomuch, that many farmers have judiciously 

 drilled fresh seed upon the bared places : the old remedies, also, of quick-lime, 

 ashes, soot, and salt, nave been called into activitv, and applied chiefly in the after- 

 part of the day. Mangold (beet) proved a middling crop, the roots not of large 

 size, but the vegetation abundant, which was generally ploughed into the soil as 

 a manure. The roots were saved and stored in good order, and the favourable 

 change of weather improved the turnips, but came too late to render them a 

 profitable crop. They are small in the bulb, and perhaps cannot be generally 

 rated at above half a crop. Swedes, though natives of a more rigid climate, 

 cannot resist the vicissitudes of ours. As an atonement for this, there is yet 



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