THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



547 



in consequence of the moisture." " It is, above 



all, for the harvest of next year, from the fearful wea- 

 ther which has prevailed since the month of May, witli 

 veryshort intervals only, thatthe most anxiety is felt. As 

 to the late crop of cereals, this is nearly all housed 

 without very serious injury, because the farmer has 

 availed himself of every interval of cessation from 

 rain, and has generally had recourse, with great fore- 

 sight, to moyettes and other means for the preservation 

 of the grain. In certain parts of the country they 

 have even had crops of a remarkable abundance, as the 

 following letter from M. Schattemann proves." This 

 letter, which is given at length in the Journal, is from 

 one of those enterprising agriculturists, of whom there 

 are a few in France ; and it states that his early rye 

 yielded 35 hectolitres per hectare (or 34| bushels per 

 acre), weighing 70 kilogrammes per hectolitre (or 

 561bs. per bushel) ; wheat yielding 4,535 litres per 

 hectare, weighing 74 kilogrammes per hectare (or 

 nearly 43 bushels per acre, weighing about GOlbs. per 

 bushel), &c., &c. Several other returns, from the 

 same cultivator, are nearly to the same effect, but he 

 admits that they are exceptional ; and M. Barral also 

 adds that however this may be, the state of the weather, 

 and consequently of the grain, will prevent it from 

 being useable or saleable on the market, which is the 

 cause of the advance in price- 

 It would appear, irom the above statements, that the 

 occasional contradictions which prevail in England re- 

 specting the harvest have their counterpart in France; 

 that whilst in some favoured districts of that country 

 the crops of wheat and other grain have been secured in 

 tolerable condition, and with good results as to the 

 yield, in others the consequences of the unseasonable 

 weather have been fatal alike to all crops what- 

 soever. These will certainly tell heavily on the 

 gross produce of the harvest, and alone fully justify 

 the Government in suspending the operations of the 

 sliding scale. We see, from the state of the new 

 wheat in our own markets, and the enormous weekly 



sale of foreign wheat at Mark Lane and other depots 

 of foreign grain, what must have been the consequences 

 and the price, if the fr«o admission of grain at the mi- 

 nimum duty had not been conceded by the Freneh Go- 

 vernment. Whatever may have been the yield of 

 the wheat and other grain of the late harvest, so much 

 of it has been spoiled by the rain, that the amount 

 available for human food will bo reduced much below 

 an average. 



There is one peculiarity in the French harvest which 

 we know nothing oi practically to the same extent here 

 — it is that the climate at the two extremes of that coun- 

 try is so different, that the crops in the south are usually 

 secured, and often thrashed, before the farmers in the 

 north have thought of beginning. And, further, as was 

 the case this season, the south may be suffering fi-om 

 continued drought and heat, whilst the north is equally 

 the subject of wet and cold. This will, in a great mea- 

 sure, account for the conflicting reports given, and 

 must be taken into account in forming an estimateol 

 the general results. 



Upon the whole, it is probable that we shall have 

 France competing with us in the great grain markets 

 of the continent and America, at least throughout the 

 winter season, if not until next harvest. On the ave- 

 rage, France is an importing country ; and although 

 the French merchants will always export whenever 

 their operations will afford a profit, it is frequently at 

 the risk of being compelled afterwards to purchase fo- 

 reign corn at higher rates. This, however, is an affair 

 of their own, and we have only to look at the general 

 question of what will be the effect of the state of the 

 grain trade in France on the supply of food for ourselves? 

 The necessity for an immediate importation of dry fo- 

 reign wheat is imminent for both countries, and it will, 

 we fear, be difficult for either to supply themselves fast 

 enough, if the winter prove severe. There is some rea- 

 son for apprehension thus early, the frost having al- 

 ready set in at the ports of the Baltic. 



THE GRAIN AND PROVISION TRADE OF NEW ORLEANS. 



From some cause or other New Orleans has not receiveii 

 much attention either in the United States or England, 

 although it exported rather more than the half of last sea- 

 son's cotton crop, together with a million barrels of flour 

 and large quantities of other produce. Not a single steam 

 ship aiTives from Liverpool or leaves for that port, but sail- 

 ing ships with valuable cargoes on their bottoms sometimes 

 prolong the voyage to sixty and even seventy days ; in fact, 

 a considerable portion of the export trade of New Orleans 

 is done in an indirect and roundabout way — cotton, wheat, 

 and flour being sent coastwise to New York and other 

 Atlantic ports, and afterwards re-shipped to England. At- 

 tempts have been made repeatedly to put an end to this 

 irregular and unprofitable state of things, and recently the 

 prospectus of a steam-ship company was issued in Liverpool 

 to provide for the facilities that are required. The subject 

 acquires additional importance this season, in consequence 



of the deficient harvest, and from the circumstance of the 

 large supplies received for several months past from the 

 United States being about to cease. New Orleans is so 

 situated, that when the grain movement on the American 

 lakes ceases, which it usually does on tho 14th of the pre- 

 sent month, the movement may be continued by way of that 

 port. Scarcely a more important question than this could 

 be raised at present, as a cessation of the American supply 

 of grain would unquestionably exercise an important 

 influence on prices in Mark-lane. Had the proposed steam- 

 ships been running between New Orleans and Liverpool 

 instead of merely being proposed, the large pent-up Western 

 supplies would have found their way down the Mississippi 

 throughout the winter ; but it will scarcely answer the pur- 

 pose of Western shippers first to incur the risk of shipment 

 to New Orleans and then the risk of shipment to New York 

 and Liverpool. Of course, at no time are Western shippers 



