438 



The Co2mtry GeiitlemmUs Magazine 



cake shewed a decrease on the month, but 

 an increase in the ten months. On flax and 

 hnseed there is noticeable a very decided 

 increase. Hops were sent in greatly dimi- 

 nished quantities ; so also clover and grass 

 seeds. 



There is an enormous increase in the 

 supply of potatoes consequent upon the 

 failure in our own country — 3,085,852 cwt. 

 have been received at a cost of ;^923,766, 

 while in the corresponding ten months of 

 last year our supplies only amounted to 

 515,695 cwt., obtained at an expense of 

 ^152,275. 



Wool fell off amazingly during the month, 

 not half the quantities we received in the 

 October of 187 1 reaching us. The Australian 

 Colonies were in this instance the principal 

 defaulters. 



QUANTITIES. 



Ten Months Ten Months 



ended ended 



Oct. 31, 187X. Oct. 31, 1872. 



Wool, Sheep, and Lambs. lb. lb. 



From Countries in Europe 47,804,521 33,234,910 

 ,, British Possessions 



in South Africa ... 28,666,926 28,180,955 



,, British India 17,640,859 16,892,194 



,, Australia 178,933,110 166,213,543 



,, Other Countries 27,585,205 30,513,463 



VALUE. 



From Countries in Europe ;^2,6i8,6l7 ;^ 1,892, 998 

 ,, British Possessions 



in South Africa ... i , 5 1 6, 354 



,, British India 621,927 



,, Australia 10,597,648 



,, Other Countries 1,029,223 



1,849,718 



750,661 



10,362,254 



1,472,486 



Total /i6,383,769 ;{:i6,328,n7 



Our export list of home-grown produce is 

 a meagre one, consisting of ;^249,o26 for 

 butter; ^^65, 468 for cheese ; ;^i5i,7ii for 

 horses ; in all cases the sums are lower than 

 those obtained last year. 



The following tables shew the quantity 

 and value of wool exported, and the countries 

 to which the commodity was sent : — 



Total 300,630,621 275,035,065 



THE SUBSOIL AS MANURE. 



AT the May meeting of the Farmers' 

 Club, it will be remembered, Mr 

 Mechi read a paper on " Cultivation, Manur- 

 ing, and Cropping," in which, among other 

 things, he expressed his strong conviction in 

 the efficacy of subsoiling. "Science," he 

 said, " has indicated that in the subsoil we 

 should seek for increased profits, for it teaches 

 us that, in the great majority of soils, the 

 earth at every depth contains a certain por- 

 tion of the elements of plant food, which only 



require aeration and amelioration, by disturb- 

 ance, drainage, and manure, or by burning, 

 to render them gradually available as plant 

 food. Farmers, as a rule, have no faith in 

 the subsoil, but, on the contrary, rather fear 

 it, believing that there is something un- 

 wholesome under the cultivated crust, and 

 that the interior of the pie is of the wrong 

 sort. The fact is, that it is raw and un- 

 cooked, because it has never, like the top 

 soil been stirred, and exposed to the 



