336 Agricultural hiielVigtnci. July 



upon thofe fsterfive trr.£ls, where cl.jya of dlfTfrent varieties, 

 and foft mroriDi foi's, are predomitninr, the confequences 

 arc of a diflercnt nature. There the wheat could not, in nu- 

 merous inflances, he few n with the lead profpefl of advan- 

 tage. The Spring grains have made an imperfect braird. 

 The furface, after being harrowed, baked into a ftrong cruft 

 or palte when dry weailier fet in, which ftinted the growth 

 of the young plants; while the coldnefa of the fubfoil, from 

 the quantity of moifture lodged in the veins of the earth, 

 Icflened their palture, and kept tliem in a languiftiing and 

 unthiiving Hate. 



The grub- worm has, this year, made greater ravages than 

 common, efpecially among oats fown after grafs ; and its in- 

 creafe may fafely be afTigned to the fuperabundant moifture 

 of laft fcafon. Several fields have been nearly deftroyed by 

 the attacks of this deftru£live animal ; and perhaps the lofs 

 fuftained is greater than ever experienced in North Britain. 

 In the northern coimties of England, we learn that the 

 Winter wheat has fufFered in a fimilar way. 



The markets for grain, notwithftanding the extenfive im- 

 portations, have not declined j and in the article of wheat, they 

 have lately met with a confiderable advance. Without this 

 importation, it is is indifputable that a degree of fcarcity would 

 have bettn felt in Britain, fimilar to that which prevailed at 

 the conclufion of the preceding century, when corn could 

 hardly be procured, during the Summer months, upon any 

 terms. From the cuftom houfe returns, it appears that above 

 half a million of quarters of wheat have already been import- 

 ed into London ; and it is believed that nearly the fame quan- 

 tity has been received at the outports- 



Wool, from the intended union with Ireland, or an increafe 

 of mannfadlures at home, promifes to rife in price* Accord- 

 ing to fcveral accounts, very little is yet fold, though the fell- 

 ers, in every inftance, are looking for an advance. 



Butcher-markets have, during this quarter, arrived at a 

 pitch never known in Britain at the molt perilous time j and 

 though now fomewhat reduced, fince lamb became plentiful, 

 yet, from the great failure of the grafs crop, and the avidity 

 with which purchafes are made, it is more than probable that, 

 in the article of beef, they will not foon return to their ordi- 

 nary level. The rife has been general over the whole ifland, 

 and has occafioned a number of half-fed beafts to be flaugh- 

 tercd, which, under different circumftances, would ftill have 

 xemained in the hands of the graziers. 



It 



