TJlc Country Gentleman s Magazine 



to the foot-post //. By lifting the lever j ointed 

 at k, the catch is released of the lever m, 

 which drops and allows the pole ^ ^ to drop 

 also, by releasing the cord or chain ;/. This 

 sketch of an appliance used on the Continent 

 is given here as suggestive, not of what is 

 worthy, but what may not be worthy of adop- 



tion. To which of these two classes it belongs 

 the reader will judge. To point out what is de- 

 fective is as often as practically useful as what 

 is good and perfect ; or, to put it in the words 

 of an agricultural authority of no mean repute, 

 the " answer ?io is frequently as useful as the 

 answer jt'a." 



(Sxnninarg of Jlgrtcitltitral Sbcnti 



THE SEASON AND CROPS. 



THE weather during June has been warm, 

 but dry and parching, so that, on 

 light lands especially, and also in very stifif 

 soils, the crops are not so promising as they 

 were some time ago. Wheat in general looks 

 well, but oats and barley have suffered much 

 from the drought, and the former, in numerous 

 instances, have also been seriously damaged 

 by grub. We have seen several fields which 

 were almost bare of plants, and we learn that 

 fields which had been sown with oats or 

 barley have been ploughed up with the inten- 

 tion of sowing turnips in them. The turnip 

 plants, where early sown, have mostly made 

 satisfactory progress, but the seed of the 

 later sown kinds lie dormant from lack of 

 sufficient moisture to start them. Beans are 

 stunted; potatoes generally look well, but, 

 like all the other crops, require more rain 

 than has yet fallen. Pastures are bare even 

 in the best parts of the country, and on 

 light lands, in many parts of the kingdom, 

 have been quite burned up. The weather, 

 however, has been very favourable for hay- 

 making, and while the crop is certainly light 

 in many places, still, on the whole, the re- 

 ports regarding it are not unfavourable. 

 There have been some heavy thunderstorms 

 towards the latter end of the month, and 

 vegetation was refreshed by the rains which 

 accompanied the thunder, although not suffi- 

 cient to penetrate far into the soil. Samples 



of the new crop are expected to be early in 

 hand, and moist warm weather would still 

 exercise a powerful influence in bringing for- 

 ward those crops which at present are back- 

 ward in their growth. 



THE GRAIN TRADE. 



The markets, as reported all over the king- 

 dom, shewed constantly declining rates for 

 wheat all through May, and the last week of 

 that month reduced the value most of all; 

 yet the fall on any market day was not suffi- 

 cient to stimulate demand. On the ist ot 

 June, at Mark Lane, the corn trade continued 

 heavy, the value of white English wheat being 

 further reduced 4s., red 6s., and foreign sorts 

 3s. per qr. Flour, also, was is. per sack 

 cheaper, or 3s. to 4s. under previous rates. 

 In like manner barley went down is. to 2s. 

 per qr., oats alone remaining firm, but still 

 not selling freely. Country markets gene- 

 rally followed the Mark Lane lead, although 

 farmers did not force their stocks on the 

 market, and supplies were small. A shade 

 of improvement was visible on the 8th of 

 June, and the provincial markets' in most 

 cases during that week reported a higher 

 advance than was obtained at Mark Lane, 

 other articles, except flour, being also dearer. 

 Flour, both in London and at country mar- 

 kets, was cheaper. The value continued to 

 improve at the rate of is. to is. 6d. per qr. 

 on wheat ; and on June 2 2d a small supply 



