THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



525 



success. A few such facts as had been stated by gentlemen 

 present would turn the opinion of many who would at first 

 think that the great object was to catch the top water, but 

 his experience had taught hira that they need not trouble 

 themselves about the top water. If they kept their ground 

 in such a state as to receive the water, it would soon go 

 into the pipes. 



Mr. NoAKEs said they appeared to differ widely with 

 regard to draining ; he had drained stiff land at a depth of 

 27 inches and 30 inches, which he had found more benefi- 

 cial than when he had drained them deeper. 



The Rev. J. Gould thought the suggestion which had 

 been thrown out by Mr. Moreland with regard to the dis- 

 cussion of a subject at their annual meetings was a very 

 good one. He should like to have a discussion of that sort, 

 more at large, and not merely local, in which every gentleman 

 might state his own experience ; for instance, upon the sub- 

 ject of drainage, let him state upon what sort of soil the 

 drain had been made, what depth, with what result, what 



he thought would have been better. He should also like to 

 hear a discussion upon green crops, wh ich would form a very 

 interesting topic ; he thought green crops were much ne 

 glected in this neighbourhood, which he could not account" 

 for, considering that they had so many crops which required 

 so much manure. A larger growth would allow them to 

 feed more beasts than they had hitherto done, and would 

 doubtless lead to an improvement of the breed, and other 

 beneficial results. There were several things of that sort 

 which might be considered with much advantage at the an- 

 nual meetings. He suggested the formation of a committee 

 lor the purpose of communicating with the various parishes 

 of the union, by which means members might come prepared 

 to state what they had done with regard to drainage and 

 green crops, how much stock they had been able to keep in 

 comparison with former years, what implements were most 

 useful in different grounds, upon which facts discussions ot 

 a beneficial natm-e might arise. 



THE IMPORT AND EXPORT OF BARLEY PRODUCTIONS. 



In our previous observations on the barley trade, 

 we have shown, by tables extracted from the pub- 

 lished accounts of the Board of Trade (so far at least 

 as they afTord information), the production and con- 

 sumption of that grain in the United Kingdom. We 

 have, however, not yet noticed the quantity of 

 beer and ale exported, which is, of course, in- 

 cluded in the quantity of malt on which the duty is 

 paid. In order, therefoi-e, to complete the statement, 

 we now subjoin the number of barrels of these articles 

 exported in the sixteen years from 1841 to 18.56 inclu- 

 sive, taken from the same official source ; and although 

 the quantity is small comparatively, it will be seen that 

 it is rapidly increasing, and is likely to prove an im- 

 portant item in the general exports of the country. 



Return of the quantities of beer and ale exported from 

 the United Kingdom for sixteen years, from 1841 to 

 1856 inclusive, with the declared value thereof : — 

 Barrels. Declared value. 



1841 148,099 £360,4-20 



1842 141,313 343,740 



1843 146,313 383,131 



1844 169,830 437,373 



1845 156,743 439,066 



1846 133,383 381,799 



1847 134,004 403,759 



1848 1.36,724 410,472 



1849 135,672 418,325 



1850 182,480 558,794 



.... 190,077 577,842 



244,115 754,627 



416,412 1,291,357 



398,941 1,314,817 



384,414 1,398,885 



409,059 1,457,425 



1851 

 1852 

 1853 

 1854 

 1855 

 1856 



3,527,623 



£10,931,832 



Average per year. . 220,476^ £689,489 10s. 



Average price per barrel £'i 23. 6id, 



If wc reckon two bushels of malt to each barrel of 



beer and ale, it gives an average of 440,552 bushels of 

 malt per year for the whole term. But if we take the 

 average of the last six years, it amounts to 340,503 

 barrels, representing 681,006 bushels of malt. Or for 

 the last three years, which will bring the estimate to 

 the present period, it will be 304,138 barrels, and 

 788,276 bushels of malt. This latter quantity, at the 

 rate of ten bushels of inalt to nine bushels of barley, 

 represents 709,449 bushels, or 88,681 quarters of barley 

 exported in the shape of malt liquors. It will be seen 

 by a reference to the above table, that this export trade 

 has largely increased since 1850, the excess having 

 chiefly gone to our own colonies, especially the East 

 Indies and Australia. We may therefore reasonably 

 expect that every year will increase tlie demand, both 

 for malt and malt liquors for those countries ; conse- 

 quently that barley for malting purposes will be in- 

 creasingly in demand ; and as the home-grown pro- 

 duce is what is chiefly used for that purpose, it is 

 most probable that the relative value of that grain, as 

 compared with that of wheat, will continue to be higher 

 than formerly, which was about two-thirds. 



At present, the value of the best malting barley is 

 out of all proportion with that of inferior qualities; the 

 range of that grain being from 24s. the lowest to 48s. 

 the highest price per quarter. This is in a great 

 measure to be ascribed to the influence of the two last 

 seasons, by which both the quantity of produce was less 

 than usual, and a large proportion of the crop was also 

 injured to a very largo extent, so that the proportion 

 of malting barley of the best quality is exceedingly 

 small. It is therefore probable that during the malt- 

 ing season the price of that description of barley will 

 maintain its value, subject however to those fluctua- 

 tions to which every article of commerce, however 

 scarce, is liable. 



The barley exported in the shape of malt liquors, 

 ardent spirits, and malt, with the addition of the foreign 



