214 



The Grain Crops of the United States. 



Vol. X. 



people of Europe wore a meat-eating peo- 

 ple, they could not find a supply in their 

 country. These animals would be killed off 

 in half a dozen years. But they are not a 

 meat-eating- people. They live upon every 

 species of vegetable, much as the animals 

 do. 



In Ireland they depend upon potatoes. In 

 Scotland, in no small degree, upon oatmeal. 

 Strange as it may seem, thousands of people 

 in Spain and France, live, in a great degree, 

 on chesnuts — a food which is scarcely fit for 

 pigs to eat. In some countries they eat rye, 

 and in Russia they mix all the bran of grain, 

 making a very coarse rough bread. 



The pork of the western country is chiefly 

 in demand at the Atlantic seaports, for our 

 commercial marine, now rapidly approach- 

 ing the largest in the world. The adven- 

 turous whaleman, the hardy fislier for cod 

 and mackerel, the thousand coasters, who 

 sail in every bay and inlet, from Penobscot 

 to the Rio Grande, all, more or less, eat 

 pork. It serves both as butter and meat, 

 with the fish and potatoes which they have 

 constantly on hand. 



The demand for American pork, is on the 

 whole, likely to increase; because the class 

 of people who eat it are increasing, and 

 there is no other country to supply the de- 

 mand. — Cincinnati Chronicle. 



The Grain Crops of the United States. 



A LATE number of the London Economist 

 contains quite a long article on the crops of 

 this country. In the course of it some in- 

 teresting statistics are given. The editor 

 expresses the opinion that at the present 

 time, the only part of Europe which can 

 boast of any surplus grain crops, is the coun- 

 try bordering on the Black Sea, and includ- 

 ing the Southern parts of Russia. But the 

 deficiency appears to be so considerable in 

 the countries bordering on the Mediterra- 

 nean, that but a small portion of that sur- 

 plus will be available to the eastern part of 

 Europe. Such being the case, the writer 

 turns to the United States with the object 

 of making some estimate as to the surplus 

 of this country. According to the Report 

 made to Congress by the Commissioner of 

 Patents, it appears that the produce of the 

 harvest of 1844, was somewhat less than 

 that of 1843. Various tables are given, and 

 leaving out the years 1840, 1841, and 1842, 

 it is shown that from 1790 to 1800, the aver- 

 age surplus, taking wheat and flour together, 

 was greater than it had been at any subse- 

 quent period ; while the reduction in the ex- 

 ports of Indian corn has been quite remark- 



able. The writer then proceeds to examine 

 the destination of exports from the United 

 States at various periods of time, and says: 

 in 1801, the quantity of flour exported, was 

 1,102,444 barrels; in 1840, the largest ex- 

 port on record, it was 1,897,501 barrels; in 

 1848, it was only 841,474 barrels ; and the 

 destination of these exports of flour was as 

 follows: 



1801. 1840. 1843. 



Total, 1,102,444 1,897,301 841,474 



The exports of wheat and flour to Great 

 Britain during the last thirty years, have 

 fluctuated very greatly from year to year; 

 and it may be instructive, as showing the 

 disadvantages under which that trade has 

 laboured, to give them for each year, during 

 the whole period since 1815. 



Exports of flour from the United States to 

 Great Britain. 



According to the above, whenever an av- 

 erao-e in Great Britain admitted flour at a 

 moderate dutv, a considerable supply was 

 obtained. In" 1817 and 1818— in 1829, '30, 

 and '31 — and again in 1839, '40, and '41, at 

 all of which periods the duties were low, the 

 amount of shipments to Great Britain imme- 

 diately increased; but they as rapidly di- 

 minished as the duties again rose. There 



