2;8 



Tlic Country Gentleman s Llagazinc 



§iimmanj of Jlgricultural ^bcnts. 



THE SEASON AND CROPS. 



A CONSIDERABLE quantity of rain has 

 fallen since the commer.cement of the 

 month, which has had the effect of reviving 

 the pastures to a wonderful extent, and push- 

 ing on the turnip crop, so that even seed, 

 Avhich had lain dormant for some time, has 

 now come up in many instances. A heavy, or 

 even a good crop of turnips is not, of 

 course, to be expected from such late growth, 

 but if we have favourable weather during 

 the remaining part of the season the crop 

 v.'ill be of great service for sheep. Harvest 

 operations met with a check from the rains, 

 and we regret to say that there has been a 

 good deal of sprouting where the crops were 

 not secured. The wheat crop, and also barley 

 in several places, is turning out well, remarkably 

 good, in fact, but oats are generally short. 

 The potato crop will be light, and there is 

 some reason to fear a second growth in con- 

 sequence of the rains. One of the features 

 of the season, caused by the great heat and 

 long drought, has been the unusual prevalence 

 of fires in plantations, moors, &c., some of 

 which have proved very destructive. Every- 

 thing was like tinder, and it only required a 

 smoker's match to be carelessly thrown aside 

 to set the grass, heath, and trees on hundreds 

 of acres on fire. 



THE GRAIN TRADE. 



July closed with falling markets, and al- 

 though with the beginning of August steadi- 

 ness did not settle down in the corn trade, 

 yet the month had not advanced far when a 

 reaction in the value of wheat took place, 

 amounting to about 2s. per quarter, which 

 was lost, however, at Mark Lane on the 

 17th, and the country markets which followed 



to trade in store stock, and the lamb fairs 

 held in the early part of the month were, 

 therefore, excessively dull, with a decline in 

 prices ranging from 5 s. to 7 s. 6d. a-head, and 

 even more. Store cattle were unsaleable, 

 and some lots of Irish cattle brought over to 

 England for sale Avere returned in conse- 

 quence of the entire absence of demand. 

 The improvement of the pastures consequent 

 on the rains which have fallen of late have 

 tended to improve matters, and a livelier de- 

 mand has been experienced at some recent 

 fairs. The top prices of beef and mutton 

 have ranged as follow : — At London, beef, 

 from 3s. lod. to 5d. and 5 s. 4d. per 8 lb. ; 

 mutton, 4s. 4d. to 5s. 4d. per ditto. At 

 Newcastle, beef, from 7s. 6d. to 9s. per 14 

 lb. ; mutton, 6d. to 7d. per lb. At Edin- 

 burgh, beef, from 7s. 6d. to 9s. per 14 lb. ; 

 mutton, 6d. to 7d. per lb. 



THE WOOL TRADE. 



At the London wool sales competition has 

 been rather quiet, and inferior descriptions 

 id. to i><d. per lb. lower. There has been 

 a tone of confidence in the home trade, espe- 

 cially with regard to good wools ; at the same 

 time trade is quiet. 



THE HEALTH OF STOCK. 



The principal event in connexion with this 

 subject has been the arrival of large numbers 

 of sheep infected with small-pox at the port 

 of London; and 3700 were condemned to 

 be slaughtered on the spot. All the London 

 wharves have been declared infected. Other 

 cargoes have arrived in suspicious condition^ 

 the disease being very general in Holland. 



AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



The show of the Highland and Agricultural 

 Society at Aberdeen was very successful, espe- 



also shewed a similar decline. The quality of ^ially with respect to the exhibition of short- 



the new samples has been remarkably good, 

 66 lb. per bushel being nothing unusual. Oats 

 and barley have been rising in value. 



THE LIVE STOCK TRADE. 



The stale of the pastures put a total stop 



horns, polled cattle, sheep, and implements. 

 Among the shows held during the month were 

 those of the Yorkshire Society at Wetherby, of 

 the Banffshire Society at CuUen, and of the 

 Queen's County Society at Maryborough. 



