15 



and are likely to do so, unless heavy shipments come from the continent. 

 Northern Europe has heen somewhat in jeopardy respecting the cereal crops, 

 rough weather having prevailed, and some of the wheat has sprouted. Had it 

 not been for the dull reports from England and France, the markets would, in 

 all probability, have risen. The same untoward weather has been reported in 

 Holland and Belgium, which has kept prices from declining, though most of the 

 cereals there have been secured. In France the markets seem to be in a tempo- 

 rary lull, growers being indiflferent about sales, and buyers not caring to operate, 

 except in retail." 



The Rame paper, of September 1<J, remarks of Scotland and the neighboring 

 English counties : " We hear that heavy losses in the field have occurred from 

 high winds. As respects the wheat trade, it has rather flagged, many samples 

 brought to market having wanted condition. With the price of meat ruling 

 high fiom the long drought, and consequent deficiency of forage, and a prospect 

 of a farther rise as Christmas approaches, it is not to be expected that farmers, 

 with only an average crop of wheat at best, will be very anxious to clear out 

 on unfavorable terms. With about double the yield in malting barley, and 

 prices in many instances equal, their attention is much more likely to be drawn 

 to the paying article, and more reserve be put on human food till prices become 

 remunerating. The weather in Europe has been unsettled, but prices have 

 undergone but little change." 



' The same paper, of September 19, says : " The late high Avinds, it appears, 

 have proved very destnictive in the northern counties and Scotland, where the 

 gi-ain was not harvested, almost reducing the produce to one-half. This, though 

 a severe local calamity, cannot, however, be considered to seriously afiect the 

 general yield, which, for wheat, may probably be taken below the average. Of 

 this, enough is now weekly brought to market to make a very quiet trade, and 

 some decline, say about 1 shilling (24 cents) per quarter (8 bushels) has to be 

 noted. Advices from the continent show little change in the prices of grain, 

 but the tendency is generally downwards. In France markets have been quiet, 

 neither buyers nor sellers caring to operate freely. Belgium and Holland have 

 been dull, as well as the interior of Germany, the weather on the whole having 

 been more favorable for the completion of harvest." 



The same paper, of September 26, alluding to the drought that had prevailed 

 in Great Britain, says : " The heavy rains of the past week will about remove 

 the last vestiges of the drought, and, as a mild temperature has generally ruled, 

 the effects on the grass lands have been surprising, as a new growth has been 

 imparted to the esculents, which were stunted and tough. The wet has, how- 

 ever, been unfavorable to the completion of the harvest in the north, and in 

 Prussia some amount of cereals has yet to be gathered, with very little prospect 

 of sei-viceable condition. Importations having still poured in upon the Kingdom 

 on a scale which could only be justified by the utter failure of the crop, and 

 the necessities of the farmers having forced them to send liberal supplies to 

 market, we have generally to note an extreme dulness in the sale of wheat, 

 with a further decline of 1 shilling (24 cents) to 2 shillings (48 cents) per quar- 

 ter, (8 bushels.) The heavy imports must necessarily go to the granary, the 

 high rate of discount being still against any speculative movement, and in such 

 a state of things there seems to be very little chance of much improvement till 

 Christmas is past, and we can the better estimate not only our own produce, 

 but that of foreign countries. It would indeed seem that our own instances of 

 blight and deficiency have been exaggerated, and that the American advices 

 respecting the shortness of the yield in the federal State.- have been still more 

 Avanting in accuracy, so that the prospect of remunerative prices has become 

 more remote. In France, indeed, some amendment is noted, and as a little 

 cwhile since there was a possibility that French importations would pay in this 

 country, that idea must be given up ; but almost everywhere else a sort of 



