FARMERS' REGISTER— FOREIGN CORN TRADE. 



173 



The name does not occur in books of natural his- 

 tory, nor do We findanj^ animalof a corresponding 

 description. The only account lliat we liav^e seen 

 of it is in "Long's Second Expedition." - In a 

 residence in this state of eleven years, we have 

 never seen one, nor have we ever conversed with 

 a person who has seen one — we n>ean, who has 

 seen one near enough to examine it, and to he 

 certain that it was not something else. That such 

 -an animal exists is doubtless, but they are very 

 shy, and their numbers small. They burrow in 

 the earth, find are supposed to throw up those 

 hillocks which are seen in such vast abundance 

 over our |)rairies. Tliis is to some extent a mis- 

 take, lor we know that many of these little mounds 

 arc thrown up bycraw-fi^li, and by ants. 



The polecat is very destructiv^e to our poultry. 



The raccoon and opossimi arc very numerous, 

 and extremely troublesome to the farmer, as they 

 not only attack his poultry, but plunder his corn- 

 lields. They are hunted by boys, and large num- 

 bers of them destroyed. The skins of tlie rac- 

 coons pay well fbr the trouble of taking tliem, as 

 the lur is in demand. 



Rabbits are very abundant, and in some places 

 extremely destructive to the joung orchards, and 

 garden vegetables. 



We have the large grey squirrel, and the 

 ground squirrel. 



There are no rats, except along the large rivers, 

 where they have landed from the boats. — Feather- 

 stonhaugh's Journal. 



ON THE FOJIEIGN CORN TRADE. 



By Mr. Isaac Dimsdale, London, Editor of the 

 . Universal Corn Reporter. 



In giving an account of how the corn trade is 

 conducted in different parts of the world, a con- 

 siderable detail must necessarily be introduced. I 

 shall begin by stating the mode in which ibreign 

 corn is obtained. 



As the celebrated report of Mr. Jacob is always 

 quoted on this subject as the "highest known au- 

 thority," I shtUl probably be deemed presumptuous 

 in expressing my opinion that his report is in many 

 instances very erroneous, and I account for it in 

 this way. The letters of introduction, &c. which 

 a gentleman going out on a special mission from 

 the British government would take with him, 

 would be addressed to men of the highest rank and 

 station, who, from this very circumstance, could 

 not be supposed to possess a correct knowledge of 

 the detads of trade ; for if, in this enlightened 

 country, where a nobleman and a merchant are so 

 nearly on a footing in society, it is frequently amu- 

 sing to witness the singular ignorance displayed 

 by large landed proprietors of the corn trade, what 

 must be the case in countries where civilization 

 has not reached to nearly the same height? How 

 could these people in high rank abroad give Mr. 

 Jacob the requisite inlbrmation? But I attribute 

 the incorrectness of Mr. Jacob's report principally 



species yet known, the Gcoimjs Bursariits or Earth 

 Rat loith Pouches. It is the size of a rat, of a reddish 

 grey color, has deep cheek pouches, which open exter- 

 nally, enlarging the sides of the head and neck. When 

 it was first figured in the Transactions of the Linna^n 

 Society, and in Shaw, vol. 2, part 1; these pouches 

 were represented turned inside out, as though it had 

 been a bag on each side of the heak. 



to his ignorance of the German language, the ac- 

 quisition of which must be imUspensably necessa- 

 ry to obtain correct inlbrmation. People are very 

 jealous of writing down aught by which they 

 might commit themselves; but in colloquial inter- 

 courseround the table or elsewhere, the most use- 

 ful hints are occasionally thrown out, where olten 

 "more is ineant than meets the <?«/-." INJr. Jacob's 

 not possessing a knowledge of the German lan- 

 guage lost him many valuable opportunities of 

 improving the advantages which, to a certam ex- 

 tent, he undoubtedly possessed in a pre-eminent 

 degree. 



As Danzig Konigsberg, Elbing, in fact, Poland 

 generally, exports more wheat than any other part 

 of the continent, a short statement of how the 

 trade is carried on at these ports, may serve as a 

 guide to the Ibreign trade generally. And, in the 

 first place, it may not be improper to mention the 

 mode of cultivation practised in Volhynia, one of 

 the principal dictricts lor supplying those markets, 

 and liom whence the finest wheat comes. 



The pojiulation consists entirely of slaves, and 

 either the proprietor farms his own estate, or lets 

 it to what are called "Possessors," at the rate ol"so 

 much per day's labor, calculated for the peasant; 

 thus the proprietor receives so many day's labor, or 

 rather he receives so much money fbr each day's 

 labor of the slave. There is a greater number of 

 days' labor imposerl on some than others. Sup- 

 pose there are 1000 slaves on the estate, a calcu- 

 lation is made out of that number how many days' 

 labor they are to perlorm during the year for the 

 proprietor. A census is then taken of each person 

 and lamily, which is put into the hands of the 

 "possessor," who exacts so many days' labor from 

 the peasantry, .and thus pays so much per day's 

 labor as the rent of his farm to the landlord. 



This rotation of crops is followed; \st, wheat; 

 2d, wheat and rye; then barley and oats; and al- 

 ter that the ground lies fallow. The capabilities 

 of the soil are most extraordinary; and some idea 

 may be tbrmed of the number of' acres under cul- 

 tivation, when I state that from Riga alone the fol- 

 lowing quantities of grain constitute only one year's 

 exportation: wheat, 200,000 quarters; rye, 1,350,000 

 quarters; barley, 75,000 quarters; oats, 101,000 

 quarters; and from 20,000 to 25,000 tons of flax, 

 besides the vast quantity of corn which is eaten 

 by vermin, wasted by exposure in stacks, and de- 

 stroyed for want of a demand. It is no longer, then, 

 a matter of surprise that corn can be produced at 

 so exceedingly low a rate in Poland, Russia, &c. 



It was stated in evidence by John 11. Lander, 

 Esq. belbrethe House of Lords in 1827, that wheat 

 had been selling in Volhynia at 7s. and 8s. per 

 quarter! but that the proprietors of land would be 

 well satisfied if they could obtain r2s. per quarter 

 upon their estates! What do the advocates of 

 tree-trade say. to this? unless, indeed, they wish to 

 drive all our land out of cultivation to benefit the 

 foreigner. 



Taking, then, the maximum price of 12s. per 

 quarter as our guide, we shall see what the wheat 

 will cost, brought to and landed in London via. 

 Danzig. The Prussian and Polish landlord em- 

 ploys a broker to dispose of his wheat at Danzig, 

 tor delivery the following spring, generally consi- 

 dered "the 15tli of May'- in the Avording of corn- 

 contracts on the continent; but, of course, this de- 

 pends on the breaking up of the ice, or, as it is 



