WHEAT. 



WHEAT. 



remote from the seaports for the grain to be 

 ready, in season, for exportation ; the rapid in- 

 crease of manufactures has withdrawn from 

 tillage, &c. 



In Poland, there is a deficiency of manure, 

 and scarcity of hands, and want of skill in 

 cultivation. 



From Odessa, the report is that the crops are 

 precarious, on account of drought; tillage is 

 defective, and improvement difficult ; distances 

 great; no roads; the rivers unnavigable ; the 

 landholders impoverished, and no improve- 

 ments to be expected. 



It may also be gratifying to some to compare 

 the transportation of flour, &c., from Poland 

 (one of the greatest grain-growing districts) 

 arid the United States to England. 



From Poland to Dantzic, the grain is chiefly 

 brought from the interior in flatboats of the 

 rudest construction, similar to those in use on 

 the western waters of the United States, at an 

 expense of 25 cents per bushel, open to the 

 weather, &c. During the voyage the wheat 

 sprouts, and forms a thick mat or covering for 

 the bulk. On reaching Dantzic, the boat is 

 broken up and sold, the wheat taken out and 

 dried in the fields, then stored in the ware- 

 houses at an expense of 6 cents per bushel. 

 From Dantzic to England the freight, &c., not 

 including the duty, is nearly 8d. equal to about 

 15 cents per bushel ; making in all about 46 

 cents per bushel. From Illinois to Liverpool 

 the whole freight would be 14s. per quarter,*or 

 Is. 9rf. equal to 38 cents per bushel; being 

 about 8 cents in favour of Illinois. There are 

 costs and charges also, in both cases, which 

 would probably be in favour of our export. 



In this connection, it may be interesting to 

 compare a detailed estimate of the exports of 

 wheat from Illinois to England, both by New 

 Orleans and Canada. 



Illinois wheat, via New Orleans to Liverpool. 



Wheat, 4} bushels, at 50 cents, is - - $2 37 



Grinding and barreling (with offal) - 50 



Freight to New Orleans - 62 



Freight to Liverpool .... 66 



4 15 



which is a little less than 90 cents per bushel. 

 Charges would be alike in both cases. 



View the matter in another point of light. 

 Suppose the wheat or flour of the Western 

 States carried through Canada, and, after the 

 5th July, to pay 3s. on an imperial quarter, viz., 

 (8 bushels), which is about 8 cents per bushel : 

 Foreign wheat would have to pay, at the pre- 

 sent sliding rule, about 60 cents per bushel. 



The United States, therefore, could succeed 

 with the greatest competitor; but that compe- 

 titor cannot supply 1,500,000 bushels less 

 than the surplus of some of the smaller states 

 of this Union produce ; and, indeed, all Eu- 

 rope could not supply England with more than 

 18,000,000 bushels, under the most favourable 

 circumstances about three-fourths as much 

 as the state of Ohio now furnishes. 



It may be remarked, too, that the crops on 

 the continent are far more precarious than 

 those of the United States ; and hence the con- 

 tinental governments find it necessary, and are 

 careful to reserve large granaries, to guard 

 1130 



against such a misfortune as a failure of the 

 usual harvest. Exportation thence is also for- 

 bidden in certain cases, but in the United 

 States no such prohibition exists. 



While, therefore, we may look with confi- 

 dence to advantages in our favour in the Bri- 

 tish market, we must remember that we have 

 to compete against almost unpaid labour, and 

 cannot expect a great profit on our culture, un- 

 less the very cheapest mode of production is 

 studied. Labour (as we have before remarked) 

 must doubtless fall very considerably in agri- 

 cultural districts, or else farmers and planters 

 cannot hire. (Ellsworth's Report.) 



With regard to the different kinds of wheat 

 cultivated in the United States, some are best 

 adapted to one latitude and soil, some to an- 

 other. The fine varieties which succeed so well 

 in England and other parts of Northern Eu- 

 rope, very often fail in the United States, and 

 the most common difficulty with them arises 

 from the circumstance of their tardy habit of 

 maturing, which exposes them to rust and mil- 

 dew. Seeds from the southern parts of Eu- 

 rope and shores of the Mediterranean, are those 

 which seem best adapted to the climate of the 

 United States, since these mature very early. A 

 fine red variety, now commonly known as the 

 Mediterranean wheat, is being very extensively 

 cultivated. It seems to have improved under cul- 

 ture in the United States in the essential quali- 

 ties for making flour, since the millers, who at 

 first objected to it and would only purchase at 

 a reduced price, now pay the same as for other 

 red wheat. This wheat has been already men- 

 tioned as resisting the attacks of that great 

 American scourge of wheat crops, the Hes- 

 sian fly. 



For the following valuable table, showing 

 the exports of flour from the United States, 

 during a long series of years, with the prices 

 per barrel, we are indebted to Hunt's Merchant's 

 Magazine. 



Exports of Flour from the United States, and Price, 

 from 1795 to 1843. 



From these tables it appears that, during the 

 period 1795 to 1810, which embraced the Eu- 

 ropean wars, and when the population of the 

 United States averaged 5,000,000, the exports 



