1825.) 
[ 561 
] 
" “MONTHLY | AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
nae 
OS a a 
YHE™ ‘continuance, to this “moment, of 
_-the équinoctial gales, with deluges of 
rain, has baffled all weather-wisdom ; and 
could Old" Francis Moore himself encounter 
resurrection, he would, under existing cir- 
cumstances, searcely veriture to prognos- 
tieate.’ Grave countrymen’ say one unto 
the other— whence can-all this. rain come 
from ?”’ All that we'can say, is, that there 
must necessarily be a balance of drought at 
some future period. Winter, and its sea- 
ye oat frost, are anxiously expected, for 
iving firmness to the soil and 
gp poor ‘thereon; but a sudden sharp 
frost would be attended with perilous con- 
sequences, to the wheats particularly, and 
to the common turnips, which would be 
soon »rotted and» destroyed. It is argued 
that,”such deluges of rain having fallen, 
little snow.can be expected during the en- 
suing winter. ~The public papers still groan 
under the recital of losses and damages from 
wind and floods ; but, although we of the 
exposed parts of this fortunate emporium 
of abundance ‘and happiness have suffered 
heayily and beyond precedent, our losses 
and distress bear no comparison with those 
endured.on the continent, more especially 
at) St. Petersburgh, where, no doubt, 
some who have escaped with life, but the 
loss of all that ean render life worth hav- 
ing, in the anguish of despair, have cursed 
the memory and the commercial cupidity of 
the saint and the anointed, who could build 
a tity on’a site of such extreme peril. The 
present .month affords little to report be- 
yond the contents of our last. We have 
been. eye-witnesses of such an abundance 
of slugs, as we never before beheld in any 
season; for the. prevention of this pest, 
the weather has throughout been unfavour- 
able. The young wheats look. well, ex- 
er en ig on lands saturated with moisture, 
eré they appear yellow and sickly; 
large breadths, also, being devoured by the 
slug. In some few districts, perhaps, one 
third of the land intended for wheat will 
not be sown. Early wheat sowing is of 
great importance, . the chances being so 
uncertain late in the autumn, or early in 
the winter. “The discreparicies in country 
letters are curious; men judge as they 
feel. «The farmers of distant and poor dis- 
tricts insist that the last crop was deficient 
both ;in..quantity and quality ; that ..the 
ie 
JMontury Mag. No, 404. 
young ‘wheats look poorly, ‘and: that the 
general breadth of wheat sown this year ‘will 
be, considerably deficient. ,. Their more for- 
tunate brethren tell a ‘directly opposite 
story ;, and the fortunate, Scots farmers 
vouch the last crop of wheat to be beyond 
an average, and generally of prime quality. 
The barley and oat crop, even, are said to 
prove beyond expectations. Our guess was 
right—the Christmas ‘supplies of wheat 
have been ample, and. prices have given 
way. The same may be said of Smithfield 
market. A good shew upon the land, in 
the spring, must assuredly reduce. prices,- 
which, however remunerating and comfort- 
able to the farmer, are still above the wages 
of the labourer, notwithstanding some ad- 
vance. Cattle have been, and ought to be, 
taken to the home fold on’ all wet lands, 
where, receiving no benefit, they do much 
mischief. The weather has been‘unfavoura- 
ble for storing potatoes and ‘other roots, 
a beneficial practice. No general rot of 
sheep has yet ~ taken) place 5" the ‘marshy 
parts of Kent have suffered most. Winter 
tares a most productive and advantageous 
crop on heavy lands, their culture extend- 
ing in some parts, and. totally neglected in 
others. . The export trade of horses» has 
been carried to an unprecedented extent ; 
equally so, the stealing of them: and the 
losers, instead of setting theit shoulders to 
the wheel, are kneeling to Jove for that re- 
medy which can only. come from them- 
selves. Hops and long wool are on the 
advance. The Christmas, Smithfield mar- 
ket and annual cattle shew were more nu- 
merously supplied than in. any former 
year; and the latter, full to stuffing last 
year, seemed to be more than full in the 
present. This exhibition is patronized both 
hy town and country, evincing the national 
taste for the embonpomt, the. oleose and the 
luscious. 
Smithfield :—Beef, 3s. 5d. to 4s, 8d.— 
Mutton, 3s. 2d. to 4s. 4d,—Veal, 3s. 2d. 
to 5s. 4d. —Pork, 4s.0d. to: 5s. 8d.—Raw 
Fat, 2s. 53d: ° 
Corn Exchange ;—Wheat, 43s, to '72s.— 
Barley, 30s. to 44s.—Oats, 19s. to 30s,— 
Bread, (London), }1d. the loaf of 41b.— 
Hay, 65s. Od.'to 110s,—Cloyer do. 84s, to 
126s.—Straw 36s. to 45s. 
Coals in the Pool, 27s. 6d. to 39s. Od. — 
Middlesex, Dee, 20. 
4C MONTHLY 
