166 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



most important of these to be dropped, pettishly, or for some 

 cause uokuowii ? There are hundreds of agriculturists ready 

 to engage in the " labour of love" again. Surely the expense 

 of a paltry dinner to the collectors cannot be the reason why 

 these useful documents are dropped. Statistics of trade are 

 got up at a considerable expense by Government, and con- 

 tinued to form the basis of commercial treaties of other coun- 

 tries, and why not agricultural statistics as well as commer- 

 cial ? The following statistics are extracted from those pub- 

 lished for the years 1854, 1855, 1856, and 1857, the only years 

 compiled from tiie collectors' reports. Those I have put into 

 shape, showiug the acreage of each description of grain, the 

 gross produce iu quarters and tons, fiars prices, and produce iu 

 money, viz : 



Agkicultural Statistics of Scotland for Crops 

 1854, '55, '56, AND '57. 



Descrip- 

 tion of 

 Ci-op. 



Wheat... 

 Bai-ley... 



Oats 



Beans .•. 



Here 



Eye ..... 



Acre- 



Crop 1854 

 Average 

 Produce 



.168216 

 .207607 

 ,932994 

 , 43874 

 . 18118 

 . 3809 



Potatoes , 

 Turnips 



.143032 

 .433915 



per Acre 

 in Bshls. 

 or Tons. 



28-82 

 36-81 

 36-28 

 28-67 

 35-62 

 27-00 



3-70 

 14-77 



Gi'oss 



Produce 



in Qrs. 



or Tons. 



Qrs. 



606062 



955666 



4261630 



135158 



80677 



12830 



Tons. 



529915 



6411419 



Average 

 of Fiar 



Prices of 

 Grain. 



s. d. 



65 9J 



33 5| 



26 IU 



15 



£ 



1993691 



1598747 



6739466 4 



301289 17 



117151 8 



21811 



1987181 15 

 4808564 5 



s. d. 



8 10 



9 

 9 

 1 



TotalofCerealsandtwo principal Green Crops, £16567903 7 10 



Wheat.... 191283 



Barley 186080 



Oats 933611 



Beans .... 42744 

 Bere ..... 17260 

 Rye ...... 3692 



Potatoes ..146963 

 Turnips ..449372 



26-48 

 32-73 

 32-21 

 27-69 

 32-26 

 24-30 



4-98 

 14-38 



Crop 1855. 

 Qrs. 

 632817 

 7G1613 

 3767464 

 147831 

 69609 

 11422 

 Tons. 

 73214! 

 6461476 



s. d. 



70 81 



38 6i 



27 7J 



44 li 



3t Oi 



38 



70 



15 



£ s. d. 



2237771 15 4 



1454204 15 10 



5102849 14 6 



325993 2 6 



118480 6 4 



21701 16 



2562493 10 

 4846107 



TotalofCerealsandtwoprincipalGreenCrops, £16669602 6 



Wheat. ...261842 

 Barley,... 165663 



Oats 918253 



Beans .... 45328 



Bere 15385 



Eye 4620 



23-10 

 33-21 

 34-35 

 26-25 

 3003 

 23-30 



Potatoes ..148930 2-17 



Crop 1856. 

 Qrs. 



908872 



697746 

 3995597 



159930 

 62638 

 13282 

 Tons. 



413890 



s. d. 



45 IJ 



37 li 



23 1 



39 

 34 

 37 



75 



£ s. d. 



2050642 9 



1284463 15 9 



4611815 4 1 



314329 



106745 11 10 



24576 14 



1552087 10 



Turnips ..459741 14-30 6540267 15 4905185 5 



TotalofCerealsandtwoprincipalGreenCrops, £14849845 9 8 



Wheat.... 223 152 



Barley 198387 



Oats 938613 



Beans .... 42873 



Bere 21607 



Eye 17218 



Potatoes ..139819 

 Turnips ..476691 



28-64 

 32-66 

 34-50 

 26-44 

 30-19 

 23-40 



3-00 



Crop 1857. 

 Qrs. 



769366 



811817 

 4093850 



129720 

 83972 

 17218 



Tons. 



430468 



s. d. 

 40 1 

 28 OJ 



21 4 



37 10 



25 10^ 

 30 



£ s. d. 



1541937 13 10 



1138235 11 8 



4366773 2 



245387 



108459 13 4 



26870 



75 1614255 

 14-90 6690109 15 5017586 15 



TotalofCerealsandtwoprincipalGreenCrops,£l4058505 

 It appears from the above that crops 1854 and 1855, from 

 the high prices of grain and large crop of potatoes, must have 

 given a larger return to the farmers than the two following 

 years, 1856 and 1857, by upwards of two millions of money. 

 Farming, like most other professions, has its good and bad 

 years ; but as farmers generally get all the same weather, 

 they cannot complain of being unfairly dealt with. A bad 

 crop ij a grievance and a loss to the farmer, but is, when 

 general, much more so to the consumer. 



Crop 1859 was somewhat like crop 1826, in so far as spring 

 crops were affected by the season, yet the same result did not 



follow with respect to prices. Wheat fell from Ss. to 4s. per 

 quarter on crop 1826, as compared with 1825, and rose 4s. on 

 crop 1859, as compared with 1858. This would make it ap- 

 pear that neither of these droughty seasons were against the 

 wheat crop materially, but told more severely on the spring 

 crops of those years. The rise in 1826 over 1825 reached up- 

 wards of 25 per cent, on barley, oats, and beans ; while in 

 crop 1859 over 1858 the rise was only 11 per cent. Adoiittiug 

 that the spring crops of these years — 1826 and 1859 — were 

 equally bad, the rise ou crop 1859 may have been checked by 

 free imports. 



Crop 1859 must have told severely on farmers in Scotland, 

 and must be mai||ed down as a bad year ; for, besides the 

 heavy loss on grein and green crops, hill and stock farmers 

 have suffered much during winter from the weather and dear 

 feeding materials. 



Underneath I hand a sketch of -what probable loss farmers 

 may have suffered last season. The statement may exceed in 

 some cases, and may be under in others, but I " guess" it is 

 not far off the truth. A little of the shortcome in quantity is 

 made up from higher prices of grain, and reduces the loss. 

 There is no doubt — tho\igh all my statements are open to 

 correction — that the farmiug interest of Scotland has suffered 

 a deficieucy of nearly three millions of money on crop 1859. 

 This will average, on 3^ millions of acres under rotation, 

 something near to sixteen shillings per acre of deficiency. The 

 reverse of these years, 1826 and 1859, appears now on the 

 ground, a light wheat crop, thinned by a severe winter, and a 

 lull spring crop, favoured by a superb seed time and season- 

 able showers since. HoAever, there is much 'twixt the cup 

 and lip. 



Deficiency of Crop 1859 in Quantity, as compared witu 

 THE Average of Crops 1854, 'o6, '56, and '57. 



Average Crop 1859 



acres short Gross Fiar prices Amount 



sown these p. acre bushels crop 1858, in money, 

 fouryears. inbush. short, per bush. 



s. d. £ s. d. 



Wheat 211123 3 633369 5 158342 5 



Barley 189409 9 1704681 3 6 298319 3 6 



Oats 930929 12 11171148 2 8 1489486 8 



Rye 4561 6 27366 3 6 4289 1 



Bere 18092 7 126644 3 8 23213 1 3 



Beans .... 43055 18 785790 4 10 189899 5 



Total short on grain crops £2163549 3 9 



In addition, it is estimated that turnips were 



short a quarter of an average crop— this 



will add 1223590 4 6 



Short on gi-ain and turnips £3387139 8 3 



Thus showing that, on crop 1859 there is a 

 short come in money of £3387139 8s. 3d., 

 calculating at fiar prices for crop 1858. 

 But as the fiar prices of grain were higher 

 for crop 1859, the farmers recovered part 

 of their loss by the additional value of their 

 grain. Thus — 



Estim. crop Excess of 

 in qrs. fiars prices 

 Crop 1859. 1859overl858. 



s. d. £ s. d. 



Wheat.. 650108 4 130021 12 



Barley .. 593625 5 148406 5 



Oats 2633292 2 263329 4 



Rye .... 10270 4 2054 



Bere.... 58394 4 11678 16 



Beans .. 44937 3 5 7676 14 9 



Deduct 5C3166 11 9 



Nett loss on grain and green crops . . . . £2813972 16 5 

 — I am, &c., 



July 12, 1860. MEECATOR. 



—North British Daily Mail. 



BUTTER, CHEESE, AND EGGS.— The quantity of 

 butter imported in 1859 was 421,534 cwt., and the customs' 

 duties received for it amounted to £104,587. The quantity 

 of cheese was 397,225 cwts., and the duties came to 

 £49,656. Eggs have not been counted since 1853, when 

 the number exceeded 123^ millions ; but in 1859 the ex- 

 tent of the packages was 743,572 cubic feet ; and the duty 

 at 8d. per foot amounted to £24,787. 



