172 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



Iceland haa been in good demand, but sales having, in 

 many cases, been pressed with some precipitancy, had an un- 

 favourable inQueiice ; no sooner, however, waj this pressure 

 removed than the market assume'! a firmer tone; and although 

 the advance from the lowest point is greater than in nearly 

 any other description, they are still much below the highest 

 rates of last year ; and, the remaining stock being chiefly com- 

 posed of good descriptions, is held at full prices. 



Bari<ary continues to show greatly diminished receipt?, 

 partly arising from the Emperor of Morocco having prohibited 

 the export from his dominions, wliich is to be regretted as 

 current qualities have generally been in favour. The loss of 

 other kinds, excepting good clean Tunis, has not been at all 

 missed, aa there is geuarally a strong prejudice against them 

 in this country. 



Domestic Wools. — I'rom various circuraEtauces, a short 

 time before the clip, prices were forced down to a point which 

 subsequent events proved was not at all warranted, but no 

 sooner were the new wools fairly iu the market than a sudden 

 rebound took place, and we have never known a time when the 

 advance has been more rapid or more firmly sustained, and 

 while prices have been remunerative to the grower, they have 

 alsa been profitable to both dealers and consumers. In some 

 cases they have advanced 50 per cent, from the lowest point, 



and are now even higher than before the panic. Stocks 

 are very moderate, and .from the extraordinary demand for 

 lustre wools in particular, present rates are not only likely to 

 be fully maintained, but; the most extravagant e.xpectations 

 are iu some quarters entertained as to the course tliey are 

 likely to take before the new clip. Irhh has sho«n the same 

 buoyancy, but very little stock remained at clip time, and no 

 forced sales took place. The French have not operated so 

 freely as usual, but more has been taken for home consump- 

 tion, and the supply is ver)' moderate for the period of the 

 year. Scotch wools have not been in much request, and laid 

 Cheviot iu particular has been very much neglected, but has 

 been more sought after of late. Laid Highland haa met with 

 more inquiry, but the demand has been far from active, the 

 stocks, however, being very light at present, and in the alsence 

 of similar qualities of low foreign there oeeuis a reasonable 

 prospect of higher price?, as they are still very far short of 

 last year. 



Sheepskins have been rather difficult of sale, except the 

 better qualities heavily woolled in fair condition, but there 

 has been a mpre general inquiry of late for all descriptions; a 

 consi'ierable clearance has been made, and sales can now be 

 freely effected. — Hughes and Ronald, Wool Brokers. 



Liverpool, Dec. 31, 1858. 



REVIEW OF THE TRADE IN MANURES AND OIL.CAKE3 DURING 1858. 



A review of the manure trade of the past year presents it in 

 a similar aspect with other branches of commerce, ahhough 

 the causes which have led to the depression i;i this department 

 are of a differeut character. The high prices farmers had been 

 getting for their produce, together with the scarcity of guano, 

 led them to use artificial manures during 1857 to on enormous 

 extent, and the demand for all kinds of fertilizers in that year 

 was quite unprecedented, driving up the prices of raw mate- 

 rial very considerably. Manufacturers naturally expected a 

 similar amount of business last spring, and provided stocks 

 accordingly. As the season advanced it became evident these 

 anticipations would not be realized. The heavy fall in graii!, 

 and in the autumn the failure of the root crop, rendered far- 

 mers unwilling to part with their money throughout the year. 

 Such a course is clearly false economy, and it is to be hoped 

 practical a;;riculturists will understand their own interests 

 better iu future thau to think of starving the soil by depriving 

 it of the very means necessary to render it productive. It is 

 not by parsimonious cultivation, but, on the contrary, by a 

 liberal expenditure on his land that the British farmer can 

 hope to hold his own in these times, when he has to encounter 

 competition from so many quarters. 



Ilowever, the result is, that heavy stocks of manures are held 

 by makers and dealers all over the country. It is true those 

 parties who have always maintained a reputation for supplying 

 genuine goods have not suffered from the contraction of busi- 

 ness m any measure so severely as others of doubtful cha- 

 racter. 



If really good articles have been dull of sale, inferior and 

 worthless could scarcely even be sold at all. 



Probably in no year has so great a quantity of rubbish 

 been passed upon consumers as in 1857. A better state of 

 thin;is prevailed last season, and such parties have them- 

 sehes been great sufferers, from the impossibility of getting 

 rid of their stocks. No doubt every means will be used to 

 pass off these stocks in the course of the coming season, and 

 consumers should therefore be cautioned to send their 

 orders only to firms of known standing and respectability. 

 Price is no criterion of quality ; for whilst on the one hand 

 bad manure is offered at very low, on the otlier hand it is 

 Bold at extravagantly high prices. 



In SuPERPiiosi'ii.ATEof Li.ME I am disposed to look for a 

 good steady trade during the approaching season ; and any 

 further reduction in Peruvian guano is not likely to have 

 much effect upon the trade if it should take place, the supe- 

 riority of superphosphate over guano for root crops being 

 now pretty generally acknowledged. 



Guano of all descriptions has been imported largely during 

 the year, and the stock of Peruvian in T/)ndon attbepresent time 



is far greater than at any former period, being very little short of 

 300,000 tons ; but owing to the high price placed upon ic by 

 the agents of the Peruvian Government, the consumption has, 

 ill almost every district, fallen short of that of former years. At 

 the c!o5;- of the turuiiJ-sowing season, however, the price was 

 reduced £1 per ton ; but a far greater reduction must be made 

 ' to meet the ideas of agriculturists, with the present low prices 

 obtained by them for their produce. Very little of second 

 quality guano has been used. A few cargoes of a recent dis- 

 discovery from the Island of Sombrero have been introduced 

 lately to the notice of artificial manure manufacturers, with 

 the idea that tr.e phosphate of li-iie it contained would form a 

 basis for their superphosphate ; but after a few trials, they 

 have not found it so useful as bone-ash and coprolitcs, which 

 are now to be obtained at a very much less price, their relative 

 values being taken into account. 



Imports of Peruvian Guano into the 

 United Kingdom. 

 1855*. 1856. 1857. 1858. 



305,061 191,501 288,362 312.000 tons. 



The prices of raw material have varied considerably through- 

 out the year. 



Bones at the beginning were selling readily at £5 15s. to 

 £6 for foreign. In June, the prices had fallen to £4 15s., 

 and at this low rate a goad deal changed hands. Towards the 

 eud of the summer considerable purchases, priixipally of Lon- 

 don bones, were made for Frauce ; and the stocks here being 

 low, the market was soon cleared. A rise taking place in 

 confequence, and the quantity on the way from South An.e- 

 rica being small, some manufacturers, anticipating a further 

 advance, commenced buying for their 1859 consumption, and 

 a brisk trade was done at long prices, say i.'5s. 10s. nett for 

 London bones. At this period it was extremely difficult to 

 get foreign, every cargo being sold as soon as offered on the 

 market. £5 153. was the highest figure obtained in this port, 

 but in Hull as much as £6 was paid. In October the ex- 

 citement abated, and a fall took place; a few parcels of 

 foreign, not of the best sort, having been sold at £4 lOs. to 

 £4 153. in the docks. 



Bone Ash selling at £6 Ts. 6d. to £6 lOs. for 70 per cent. 

 Phosphate in the early part of the year fell to £5 79- 6d. to 

 £5 10s. about the end of May, but shortly improved in value, 

 and by the middle of July had advanced to £5 15s., at which 

 price all the cargoes that offered were quickly disposed of for 

 out-ports. Iu the autumn a heavy decline took place, and the 



* The imports iu 1855 were greater than in any previous 



