THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



547 



beyond the loth, Beds and rows are uuuif,fled l)y 

 too close cutting. A shoot must always remain 

 untouched to each crown. Scatter rich earth, with 

 droppings, over the beds, but avoid salt, which, 

 falling on wet leaves, decomposes the tissue, and 

 the plant dies. Mix the salt with compost, and 

 thus wash it into the ground. 



Plant young thyme, savory, sweet marjoram, 

 basil, slips of lavender, rosemary, rue, and other 

 hardy sweet-herbs, in cool, shady beds, for sub- 

 sequent transplantation. 



Cut the aromatic herbs for drying, when the 

 flowers begin to appear. 



Thin out onions by degrees for use, leaving the 

 bulbing stock from four to six inches asunder. In 

 very dry weather frecjuent light hoeings prevent 

 the cracking of the surface, attract moisture, and 

 bring on the plants — a practice that has been fully 

 proved in the benefit. 



Apple and pear espalier trees will have produced 

 many young shoots, of which the ill-placed must 

 be removed from the bottom : a total removal is 

 better than shortening. Strawberry rows should 

 be stringed on each side, with the twine fastened 

 to short sticks, so as to support the entire rank of 

 trusses. 



AGRICULTURAL REPORTS. 



GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR MAY, 

 Although the weather during the greater portion of this 

 mouth has not been to say very vegetative, the advices from 

 nearly the whole of our large grain districts are to the effect 

 that the wheats have progressed steadily, that the plants are 

 strong and healthy, and, further, that there is every prospect 

 of a good average crop. Most spring corn has perhaps shown 

 greater progress than wheat ; indeed, the general appearance 

 of bailey, oats, beans, and peas is most promising, even on 

 what may be termed the worse cultivated soils. 



The commencement of hostilities in Piedmont, and the sud- 

 den change in the corn laws in France — in other words the re- 

 imposition of the old sliding scale upon imports and exports 

 of produce, thereby adding materially to the duties — have 

 been productive of considerable excitement in the grain trade. 

 Under the impression that the war would reduce the available 

 amount of food for shipment to this country, wheat, at one 

 time during the month, rapidly advanced in price ; but since 

 then the demand has fallen off, the quotations have given way, 

 and the markets have shown greater calmness. There is one 

 thing quite clear to our minds, that the return to " protection" 

 in France must continue to exercise more or less influence 

 upon price in this country ; and we may observe also that 

 there is every prospect of the aggregate importations of pro- 

 duce during the present year being on what may be termed a 

 very moderate scale when compared with some former seasons, 

 more particularly with 1858. When we bear in mind, how- 

 ever, that a very large quantity of wheat is still in stack here, 

 we are not prepared to say that the assumed deficiency in our 

 importations will lead to further excitement, or that we shall 

 have what is termed " war" prices ; nevertheless, the low 

 period for wheat has unquestionably passed away, and we may 

 look forward to greater steadiness, and a better range in value 

 than we have had to report for many months past. The 

 advices from New York still show a deficiency of food in the 

 interior of the country. That deficiency— we mean the 

 exporting power of the United States— will of course tend to 

 check shipments to England, as well as to all other quarters ; 

 hence there will be very little competition in our markets on 

 the part of the French and American millers. In the event 

 however, of the supplies of wheat in France being on a liberal 

 scale, and of the exports of flour being equal to most former 

 periods, we may look forward to the consumptive demand 

 being easily met, but not to very high rates. Much, however, 



[ will depend upon the future policy of the Emperor of the 

 French, both commercially and politically, and the part which 

 I eventually England may be called upon to take in continental 

 1 politics. A sudden closing of the French ports, as regards 

 I exports of flour, would have a great effect upon price here ; 

 but at present we see no reason to anticipate such a change as 

 we have here alluded to, for the all-important reason that the 

 supplies of grain on hand in the whole of the Departments of 

 France are represented as still large for the time of year, not- 

 withstanding that shipments of both wheat and flour during 

 the present year have been on a liberal scale. 



Barley, oats, beans, and peas, have sold at what may be 

 termed fair quotations, and their present range of value in out 

 markets will, we apprehend, lead to steady arrivals from our 

 usual sources of supply. The extent of the shipments of oats 

 from Russia is estimated at 960,000 quarters ; but our im- 

 pression is that the quantity will exceed that estimate. The 

 stock'" in the United Kingdom are now much reduced, but we 

 doubt whether they are so small as they were at the same time 

 in 1858. 



The war in Piedmont, together with the sudden advance in 

 the value of money at the Bank of England and elsewhere of 

 2 per cent., has had a depressing influence upon the wool trade. 

 At the public sales of colonial, now in progress, very few con- 

 tinental buyers have made their appearance, and the biddings, 

 though somewhat steady on the part of home dealers, have 

 resulted in a decline in the quotations of fromljd.to 3d. 

 per lb. The private market has continued in a depressed 

 state, and English wool has fallen quite 2d. per lb. on the 

 average. The war may, it is true, have led to the decline ; 

 still we see nothing in the state of trade in the manufacturing 

 districts to justify the heavy fall in price. However, buyers 

 have to some extent been influenced by increased importationt 

 in the aggregate. In the first four months of the present 

 year the total receipts into England amounted to 130,990 bales, 

 against 122,382 bales in the same time in 1858. Since then, 

 over 40,000 bales of colonial have arrived in London alone ; 

 so that the stock has continued to accumulate upon a lower 

 range in prices. The latest accounts from Sydney state that 

 the wool trade was heavy, at from Oid. to l^d. per lb. less 

 money. Inferior clips were selling at from Is'. 9d. to 28. OJd. ; 

 fair to good. Is. 6d. to Is. 9d.; low to middling. Is. 4d. to 

 I la. 7d.; grease, 3d. to 11 ^d.; locks, pieces, and broken, 8d 



