THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



173 



article was a drug; last month, however, a few cargoea were 

 sold, and a better feelinjf spraiif!; up. OwiuK to a fall in the 

 value of leatlicr, coiuparej with the prices ruling during tlie 

 Ru33iau war, the number of Beabt? slaughtered m the South 

 American States was very much 3m;»ller last yctir. There can 

 be no doubt it is owing to the limited imports of bones and 

 bone a«h from that quarter, arising from this cause, that the 

 decline iu value of these articles lias not been far greater. 



Anim.vl Charcoal hits varied from £6 5a. to £5 for 70 

 per cent, phosphate. The consumption seems to be diraiuiah- 

 ing, perhaps owing to the uncertainty as to the quantity of 

 carbonate of lime the analysis may show. For Spring de- 

 livery £5 5a. is asked. 



CopROLiTES had a brisk sale throughout the season, at 

 from 70a. to 758. per ton, for ground Cambridge. This article 

 has since shared in the general depression, and has receded to 

 GOs. The quantity raised is large, and very little is selling; 

 but the principal raisers are not likely to give way, and possess 

 the means to hold their stocks. 



Iu all the foregoing an advance may be confideutly looked 

 for. At the present time uo business of any consequence is 

 doing, but as the season comes on, and man\ifacturers who 

 have been holding out for still lower prices are forced to buy, 

 the trade will receive an impetus. 



The Brimstone market has experienced almost as great 

 fluctuations as iu 1857. About Christmas in that year, in con- 

 sequence of a combination in Sicily, prices advanced from £8 

 to £8 lOs. on the spot (for best seconds). In the month of 

 January following there was great speculation in the article, 

 and stocks iu Newcastle, Bristol, and Liverpool, being ex- 

 hausted, purchases for those markets were made iu London, 

 and the price rose to £10 10s., at which it remained until 

 April, when a decline of fully 25s. took place, owing to large 

 arrivals and diminished consumption. From June to Septem- 

 ber the markets varied from £8 12s. 6d. (being a further fall) 

 to £9 53. (highest price). In the latter month a fall of 153., 

 and in October of 10s., occurred. In the early part of last 

 month sales were made as low as £7 Sa. on the spot, until a 

 large purchase iu Sicily caused a gradual recovery to £7 15s. 

 On Monday last, news from Sicily sent up the price to £8, and 

 the present quotation is £8 to £8 Ss,, or for cargoes C. F. and 

 I,, £7 15s., at which figure two have been sold to a speculator 

 this week. The nominal price in Sicily is £7 on board, and 

 the stock in the port is very limited. In no article have there 

 been greater fluctuations, during the past two years, than in 

 brimstone. The speculation is great, and it is impossible to 

 speak with any degree of certainty as to future prices. 



Sulphate of Ammonia brought £20 in January, and in 



the following month declined to £19, after which it fell steadily 

 to £15. The market then continued iu a very dcpreaaed state 

 for a long peri )d, and there were no buyers to be met with. 

 Sales were made of best white as low as £14 in the early purt of 

 August, but orders arriving from the United Statej caused an 

 advance to £l<i. The large manufaciurers made every effort 

 to force the market higher, but the Autumn trade being small, 

 it has slightly receded. 1 think this article will be rather 

 dearer iu the Spring. 



Nitrate ov Soda fell from 19s. iu January, to ISa. in 

 November. An improvement took place last month. Stocks 

 are very low, and the quantity afloat offering is small. The 

 market is very firm at present ijuotations. 



Iu Sulphuric Acid a fnir trade has been done. Prices 

 continued firm at O^J. and Id. j)er lb. for brown and concen- 

 trated respectively, with a discount of from 2| per cent, to 5 

 per cent, until July; when, the consumption falling off, a re- 

 duction took place, aud in August sales were made at 17^ per 

 cent, discount. 



Sulphur-made Oil of Vitriol is rather dearer dow, and 

 higher rates may be looleJ for. 



OIL SEED CAKES. 



Linseed Cakes have not been imported so freely during 

 the last year as in 1857, more especially Baltic and French 

 descriptions. From America we have had about an average. 

 Prices at the commencement of the year were about the same 

 33 thoae now ruling, although in the month cf September, 

 owing to the general unsatisfactory prospect of the root 

 crops, prices gradually rose, and barrel cake was sold as high 

 as iEl I 5s. per ton, and lag cake £10 15s. per ton. Since 

 then feeders have brought largely into use both wheat and 

 barley, and prices have gradually declined. The stock of cakes 

 is small for the time of year, and a rise may, I think, be looked 

 for as soon as the articies brought into compeiition with it run 

 short. 



Rape Cakes of good quality have been largely dealt in, 

 both as a manure and for feeding, and throughout the year 

 have commanded full rates. 



Cotton-Seed Cakes have not haj as much attention 

 paid to them as they deserve ; they have, however, been ex- 

 tensively used in the Eastern Counties for feeding, preparatory 

 to placing the cattle on linseed cake. I consider the descrip- 

 tioa imported from America, crushed, with the husk taken 

 off, although £2 per ton higher in price, much cheaper than 

 that made from East Indian seed, which is crushed leaving 

 the husk in the cake. 

 35, Leadenhall-street, London, Jan. 1. John Keene. 



THE PRESENT POSITION OF AGRICULTURE 



The present positiou of the farmer is doubtless' 

 one of some anxiety. Seldom has the New Year 

 opened to him under less encouraging auspices. The 

 clouds, indeed, appear to be gathering together over 

 his head, and he must quickly decide how and where 

 he shall seek for shelter. It may not be moi-e 

 than a passing shower; but it is as well to be 

 fully prepared. Let him look about him, and see what 

 he might suffer from a continuance of " bad weather;" 

 how the crops and flocks are protected ; and what will 

 be his best way of proceeding, with the road to market 

 not quite so easy as it has been. Of course one of his 

 first cares will be to go over his expenditure, and to 

 ascertain to what extent any reduction is possible. 

 Farm well he knows he still must ; but these are any- 

 thing but the days to farm over expensively. In fact, as 

 some say, the time of trial is only just dawning upon 

 him ; the storm, that we thought had blown over, is 

 again thickening, and it really looks darker than 

 ever. 



Peculiarly well-timed to the occasion, the new 

 number of the Highland Society's Journal has an 

 article, from the pen of "A Farmer," on the present 



position of agriculture. This paper, too, has some- 

 thing more than the mere merit of being oppor- 

 tune; it is written with ability and fair consi- 

 deration of the important topic it touches on. Let 

 our present purpose be to show how the agricul- 

 turist is now situated, concurring very much as 

 we do with the argument and deduction upon 

 which such a demonstration is made. In the first 

 l)lace, then, the farmer meets the change with two 

 very serious points set dead against him. Despite 

 the continuance of low prices — notwithstanding the 

 small promise of sunshine on the horizon, the 

 two heaviest items in his outlay are as high as in 

 the high range of a few years back. It is almost as 

 much a favour as ever to get the offer of a farm. 

 There are twenty appliranls ready to bid for it. 

 Political economists turn with triumph to the fact, 

 while landlords aud agents are naturally willing to 

 make the best of their market. The labourer, again, 

 is anything but inclined to fall back upon that condi- 

 tion once so directly associated with wheat at a low 

 figure. War and emigration have alike tended to 

 thin his ranks, and if a man does run after a 



