184 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



fetaure wiiicii seems to indicate atiytbiag lilc inactiTity in the ' 

 demand, We may have increased importations from the Con- 

 tiaent, and those of an improved character ; but the additional 

 wants of the country are clearly not adequately met by our 

 own graziers and feeders. Since we last wrote the importa- 

 tions into London from abroad have been as under : 



HEAD. 



Beasts .. .. .. .. .. 1,543 



Sheep 4,309 



Calves 908 



Total .. 6,760 



Total in 1859 9,264 



1858 2,342 



1857 4,633 



1856 3,292 



18&5 9,102 



1854 7,919 



„ 1853 12,847 



The total numbers of each kind f stock exhibited and sold 

 in the Metropolitan Cattle Market, last month, were : 



HEAD. 



Beasta 20,500 



Cows .. ., ,, .. .. 535 



Sheep 92,4?5 



Calves 1,078 



Pigs 2,0i5 



Comparison of Supplies. 

 Jan. Beasts. Cows. Sheep. Calves. figs. 



1859 19.805 364 90,620 921 2,400 



1858 20,312 572 80,742 1,103 1,759 



1857...... 19,949 355 81,200 1,071 2,355 



1858 17,532 435 101,600 757 2.,930 



1S55 19,717 500 120,470 982 2,625 



1854 19 687 510 95,080 887 2,279 



1833 20,717 480 96,800 2,148 2,360 



Beef has sold at from 3s. 4d. to 5s. ; mutton, 33. 8d. to 

 5^. 6d. ; veal, 4s. 6J. to 5s. 8d. ; and pork, 3s. 6d. to 43. 

 10 J. per 81bs. to sink the oftal. 



Comparison of Prices. 



Jan., 1856. Jan., 1857. 



s. d. 8. d. s. d. s. d. 



Beef, froa 2 10 to 4 10 ... 3 4 to 5 2 



Mutton 2 10 5 0..,. 3 8 5 G 



Veal 4 2 6 .... 3 8 5 



Pork 3 8 5 ..., 3 8 5 2 



Jan,, 1858. Jan., 1859. 



s. d. s. cl. s. d. s. d. 



Beef,from.... 3 2 to 4 G .... 3 to 5 



Mutton 3 4 5 4.... 8 2 5 2 



Veal 4 5 4 .... 3 4 5 2 



Pork 3 6 4 10 .... 3 2 4 2 



The arrivals of beasts from Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and 

 Cambridgeshire, have amounted to 8,000 Scots and crosses; 

 from the northern counties, 4,000 shorthorns ; from other 

 parts of England, 5,000 of various breeds ; from Scotland, 

 1,810 Scots and crosses; and from Ireland, 360 oxen and 

 heifers. 



Newgate and Leadenhall have been well supplied with both 

 town and country-kiiled meat. Trade generally has ruled far 

 from active, nevertheless prices have been supported. 



ISLE OF ELY. 

 The new year ha?, opened upon us without any decided im- 

 provement either in our circumstances or immediate prospects. 

 The bad crop of wheat of last year, and the contiuued low 

 prices, will be more and more felt as the season advances. The 

 stack-yards are already getting very much thinned ; and long 

 ere another harvest is here supplies will be exhausted, and 

 money will be scarce we fear. The prospect as regards the 

 growmg crop, we rejoice to say, is more cheering ; and although 

 there may be no relief before that crop is secured, yet we trust 

 it will prove sufficiently plentiful and abundaat, as ia some 

 measure, when iugatbered, to restore us to a position of pros- 

 perity : although the heavy losses of this year can scarcely be 

 expected to be recovered in any one season, however propitious. 

 Since the intense frost of December, when the thermometer 

 »e%^Vi^c[ aero, the weather has not been very severe, but has 



bfeii characterized by great variableness. Slight frosts, strong 

 gales of wind, pelting storms of rain, and once or twice, for the 

 season of the year, a high temperature, have in succession pre- 

 vailed. The increased amount of rainfall has been one of the 

 distinguishing peculiarities of the present winter, and it is one 

 which, more than any other, inspires hope ia the breast of the 

 fen farmer. For two or three years we have suffered consider- 

 ably — at least, we think so — for want of moisture, causing our 

 dusty soils to become so thoroughly disintegrated and pul- 

 verized, that we have been unable to get them sufficiently com- 

 pressed and consolidated ; and to this circumstance we con- 

 ceive our failure in the wheat crop last harvest was greatly 

 attributable. Our fen lands have now had a good soaking; 

 the rains have been frequent and tolerably copious, a;id the 

 growing wheats are looking strong and healthy. The later 

 sown, which a month ago we reported as not out o{ the ground, 

 have cow made their appearance, and p^eseiit a vigcrous and 

 promising aspect ; and we do not remember to have seen a case 

 of failure in this immediate locality. The work upon the farm 

 just now is not very interesting. The deep cultivation to which 

 we referred in our last report has not ceased to invite attention. 

 Our ouiy further remark upon ;tthis month is, that we are in 

 this respect continuing to do with horses what might be more 

 perfectly and economically effected by sttam; and we trust 

 the day is not far distant — and we believe it is not — when the 

 steam-engine will be largely employed in the cultivation of ojir 

 fen soils. We await the return of good crops and r&munera- 

 tive prices, that we may be enabled to meet the necessary out- 

 lay conveniently ; and the adoption of the principle will not 

 then be long deferred. Ploughing for oats, beans, peas, and 

 other early sprmg crops is being proceeded with, and is hasten- 

 ing to completion. Horee-work on the farm is generally very 

 forward, and, with suitable weather, some of our farmers will 

 ere long begin to deposit the seed for their spring crops. The 

 December frost completely destroyed the coleseeds, which wf re 

 BO eeriou-'ly iojuied by the sudden and intense frosts of Oct. 

 For the last month the sheep have lost, rather thnn gained, 

 hand, and are being sent away to market in much worse condi- 

 tion than was intended. Some fields of colesfed have not been 

 worth 8tocl<i;)g at ail, and have been ploughed in. The loss in 

 sheep-food throughout this entire district has been enormous ; 

 and with a severe and backward spring, sheep-keeping will be 

 very scarce indeed : and sheep themselves, i. e., fat sheep, will 

 be still more scarce. Mangolds are keeping quite as well as 

 could be expected, and are becoming an invaluable root to us, 

 and every year arc increasicgly cultivated. The frost has done 

 them far less injury than our fesrs at the time led us to ex- 

 pect. The corn trade continues heavy and depressed. The 

 weather has been extremely unfavourable for thrashing, and 

 the condition of the grain is consequently ceriously affected, 

 which makes it sell badly. We cannot avoid the impression 

 that some advance must yet take place in the price of wheat. 

 The oeliL-iei^cy of crop iu this country, combined with the fact 

 that ia the wheat-exporting countries the crop is not ex- 

 cessive, indicate to us the probability of a higher range of prices 

 ere another harvest arrives. Meat continues to sell well, and 

 even points to higher price?. Store sheep are high, and are 

 increasing in value every week. — Jan. 17. 



WEST GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 



The coutinnatioa of severe winterly weather that we have 

 experienced during the past month has itnpeded progress in 

 field operations on the tcjaeious soils, of which this district ia 

 mostly composed. The intense frost we experienced before 

 Christmas has been productive of cousiderabie injury, and 

 succeeded as it was by a great downfall of r«in, the benefit 

 the land would otherwise havo derived has been materially 

 negatived. Alternate frosts and rain since that period have 

 not tended to amelioration. The frost, however, afforded fa- 

 vourable opportunities for manuring the grass lands, a process 

 not in all cases completed, and subsequently the land has 

 scarcely been in a fit state to bear the carts without iijury. 

 The effect that will be produced to th^ young wheat crops ia 

 a subject for special inquiry. In many instances the grain had 

 very recently been consigned to the earth when the frost 

 commenced, and subsequently the land has been in such a 

 cold condition that not a vestige of vegetation is discernible 

 above ground. Without any desire to produce alarm, this is 

 a consideration demanding notice. Wheat, it is well known, 



