THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



423 



orwavd. Upon the whole, tliei-efore, we feel convinced 

 that the present average price of wheat will be main- 

 tained with little variation throughout the season, which 

 will thus prove amply remunerative to the grower, 

 without being oppressive to the consumer. 



The recurrence of two consecutive short crops of 

 spring corn — thatofl85G being occasioned by a large 

 portion of the land in regular course for barley or oats 

 being sown with spring wheat, and that of 1857 the 

 consequence of the excessive drought prevailing through 

 the summer — has caused the price of both barley and 

 oats to rule disproportionately high, and rendered ne- 

 cessary a larger importation than usual to meet the 

 increasing demand. The enormous consumption of 

 these articles of produce is, perhaps, one of the most 

 striking evidences of the prosperity of the country. 

 Wheat is a first necessity ; and whatever retrenchments 

 an Englishman may make in other things, luxuries or 

 nBcessaries, bread must be provided, at whatever price, 

 by importation — increased in proportion as the home 

 crop is deficient. But the bulk of spring corn* is, di- 

 rectly or indii-ectly, consumed in luxury ; barley being 

 employed either in distillation of spirits or the manu- 

 facture of beer, and oats in the feeding of horses, a 

 large proportion of which are kept for pleasure, or in 

 the preparation of pleasurable objects. The increasing 

 consumption, therefore, of these agricultural produc- 

 tions, is a proof of the increasing ability of the people 

 to indulge themselves in those luxuries which those 

 products represent. It was supposed, when radroads 

 began to supersede the ancient mode of transit both 

 of goods and travellers, that the age of horse-flesh was 

 passing away, and the price of horses would soon be 

 reduced so low that they would not be worth breeding. 

 The contrary, however, now appears to be the result. 

 It is a certain fact, not only that there are more 

 horses kept than at any former period, but that the 

 price of good horses has risen higher than before rail- 

 roads were established or thought of. This will account 

 both for the great consumption and the large importa- 

 tions of oats. 



The following table exhibits the quantity of both 

 barley and oats imported and entered for home con- 

 sumption from the year 1841 to Aug. 31 of the present 

 year inclusive, as taken from the Board of Trade 

 returns : 



BARLEY. 



Qrs. 



1841 220,948 



1842 49,521 



1843 223,209 



1844 1,024,322 



1845 297,655 



1846 398,214 



1847 779,394 



1848 888,906 



1849 1,544,822 



1850 1,023,875 



1851 1,042,801 



1852 832,554 



1853 828,670 



1854 560,818 



1855 351,875 



1856 735,892 



1857 8 months.. I,262,l81t 



OATS. 



Qrs. 



1841 20,419 



1842 280,600 



1843 40,801 



1844 259,136 



1845 582,910 



1846 966,134 



1847 1,751,683 



1848 868,706 



1849 1,350,379 



1850 1,149,753 



1851 1,107,177 



1852 1,209,844 



1853 1,035,072 



1854 1,029.305 



1855 1,044,143 



1856 1,156,790 



1857 8 months.. 1,063,616 



* The bulk of spring corn is consumed largely by agricul- 

 tural horses, as regards oats; the remainder by horses kept 

 for luxury or pleasure, &c. 



t The quantity of barley in any given year consumed in 

 malt depends greatly upon the quaUty produced ; in some 

 seasons, as in 1856, not more than two-thirds of the crop could 

 be used for malting purposes. 



A very large proportion of both these articles of 

 produce is brought from J^orthern Europe. Russia 

 supplies more oats than barley ; but the quality and 

 comlition of the Russian oats are generally much in- 

 ferior to those from the Dutch and Danish provinces. 

 The best barley is bi'ought from the district in Ger- 

 many bordering on the river Saale, and is brought 

 down that river and the Elbe to Hamburg. Much of 

 it is bought by the English maltsters, being nearly 

 equal in quality to English malting barley. What 

 barley is brought from the Mediterranean ports, espe- 

 cially those on the Southern or African shoi'es of that 

 sea, is of very inferior quality, and only fit for 

 grinding. 



It is impossible for us to give any correct estimate 

 of the quantity of barley grown in the United King- 

 dom, there being no authentic data in England and 

 Wales on which to found one. The returns of sales at the 

 principal market-towns, collected by the Board of 

 Trade, afibrd no adequate idea of the extent to which 

 it is grown ; and perhaps the quantity of malt on which 

 the duty is paid is a more reliable, but still insufficient 

 criterion. The following is the quantity of malt and 

 spirits entered for home consumption during the period 

 of sixteen years, 1841-56. 



MALT. 



Bushels. 



1841 36,164,448 



1842 35,851,894 



1843 35,693,890 



1844 37,187,186 



18 15 36,545,990 



1846 42,097,085 



1847 35,307,815 



1848 37,545,912 



1849 38,935,460 



1850 40,744,752 



1851 40,337,412 



1852 41,072,486 



1853 41,992,718 



1854 36,812,727 



1855 33,882,006 



1856 36,970,427 



607,007.165 



Exported 



752,550 



SPIRITS. 



Gallons. 



1841 20,642,333 



1842 18,841,890 



1843 18,861,332 



1844 20,608,525 



184 J 23,122,188 



1843 24,10H,697 



1847 20,639,797 



1848 22,202,453 



1849 22,962,012 



1850 23,862,58.') 



1851 23,976,596 



1852 25,200,879 



1853 25,021,317 



1854 25,88.3,581 



1855 21,957.275 



18.56 23.300,556 



361,193,419 



Exported 13,084,960 



Total 607.819,715 Total 354,278,379 



If the above are divided by sixteen, it will give an 

 average per year as follows : 



Malt. Spirits. 



37,988,732 bushels. 22,142,398 gallons. 



Reckoning nine bushels of malt to one quarter of barley, 

 the above quantity of malt represents 4,2-20,970 qrs. 

 of barley. Again: if we allow two gallons of spirits 

 to one bushel and a-half of barley, we obtain the sum 

 of 10,600,798 bu.shels, or 2,075,800 qrs. of barley. 

 Added together, these amount to 0,290,850 qrs. as the 

 average consumption of barley in the manufacture of 

 malt and spirits. To these must then be added the 

 quantities employed in fattening cattle and pigs, &c., 

 of which we have no statistics whatever ; nor do the 

 papers of the Board of Trade throw any light upon the 

 subject, their returns amounting to only an average, for 

 fifteen years, of 2,475,004 qrs.— a very small portion of 

 what is grown in the United Kingdom. 



With regard to oats, we have still loss to guide us in 

 estimating the quantity grown. In England and Wal«s 

 very few are sown by the farmers, beyond what they 

 require for their own horses, except in the fens ; and 

 even these sometimes do not hold out from season to 

 season, a considerable portion of what are imported into 

 London and other large towns being purchased for 



