No. 1. Interesting Statistics for Wheat-growers and Millers. 



19 



Interesting Statistics for Wheat-growers 

 and Millers. 



The decline in prices of flour and wheat 

 this spring, has been the source of disap- 

 pointment to a great many wiio operated 

 last winter at very high rates, calculating 

 upon large profits to be now realized, and 

 as it appears that those views are entirely 

 frustrated, a cahn view into the causes, at 

 this particular juncture, may not perhaps 

 come amiss. Af'ter last harvest the crop of 

 wheat was ascertained to be a very large 

 one, and almost every individual engaged 

 in the trade looked for the ruling of low 

 prices, unless something occurred to create 

 an extra foreign demand. Shortly after- 

 ward we began to receive accounts from 

 England of the probable failure of the crops 

 there, which immediately gave a spur to 

 prices, and purchases were made for ship- 

 ment to that quarter — advices continuing to 

 be received confirmatory in that respect, 

 speculation started, until prices ran up in 

 New York to $7 per barrel for flour. It 

 appears that rate could not be continued — 

 although many anticipated .$8 to $10 — and 

 why? — a few figures will show. The an- 

 nual average crops of wheat in Great Brit- 

 ain for the past few years, has been equal to 

 twenty millions of quarters of eight impe- 

 rial bushels of 70 lbs. According to all 

 well informed sources, the crop of wheat 

 there last year was ascertained shortly after 

 harvest to be about nineteen millions of 

 quarters, requiring one million of quarters 

 to be received from other countries to make 

 up said deficiency. The crops on the conti- 

 nent being rather short of previous years, 

 this country was naturally looked to for 

 what Great Britain stood in need of; hence 

 the continued shipments to that quarter 

 even up to the present time. Now what is 

 the state of matters there. By last advices 

 received from that section, per "Hihernia," 

 the quantity of wheat and flour under lock 

 or in bond, in the United Kingdom, made 

 up to the .5th of April, is thus shown ; 



Wheat, 

 Flour, 



1,227,374 quarters. 

 950,871 cvvt. — reduced 



to wheat, will equal 330,000 quarters — mak- 

 ing total of wheat upward of 1,.500,(X)0 quar- 

 ters — 50 per cent, more than their actual de- 

 ficiency. The above stock in bond has been 

 accumulating since, and it would not be sur- 

 prising if the quantity increase to near two 

 millions of quarters, before any would be re- 

 leased, which is altogether awaiting the ac- 

 tion of Parliament on the new corn bill. 



Our crop of wheat last season no doubt 

 was the largest ever gathered in this coun- 



try. The Commissioner of Patents, who 

 lias for a number of years collected statisti- 

 cal information of such things, puts it down 

 to about 106 millions of bushels, but that is 

 evidently below the quantity: 120 millions 

 would be nearer the mark. With our popu- 

 lation of 20 millions of inhabitants, the con- 

 sumption would be 



Equal to 90,000,000 bush. 



Add for seed 10,000,000 " 



Would leave for export 20,000,000 " 



The quantity left over of the previous 

 crop is not taken in the estimate, as such 

 may average about the same from one crop 

 to another. The number of bushels put 

 down for export, it will be perceived, is 

 about double of what Great Britain required 

 — say ten millions of bushels of 60 lbs. — 

 our ordinary export demand seldom coming 

 up to ten millions of bushels, or 2,000,000 

 barrels of flour. Present indications show 

 that the above estimate of the crop in this 

 country is not far, if at all out of the way. 



The whole error, therefore, has been, that 

 parties did not look far enough to see what 

 Great Britain actually wanted — as that was 

 the only source we could expect to carry off 

 our extra surplus — but went blindly into it, 

 anticipating that they would never be able 

 to send enough there — and because she re- 

 quired a small quantity, a larger amount 

 must necessarily follow. Some would pro- 

 bably say that the failure of the potatoe 

 crop in Ireland, would require an extra con- 

 sumption of flour. The difiiculty in that 

 respect with the poor peasantry of that 

 country, was their deficiency of means to 

 purchase such an article of food — and if any 

 one would take the pains to examine the 

 English papers, they would find evidence of 

 this in the continual arrivals of wheat, &c., 

 at the different ports in England, from the 

 very famished districts in Ireland. No, they 

 wen-t on the coarser articles, such as peas, 

 beans, oatmeal, &c., of which there is an 

 abundance. Again, since the spring has 

 opened, arrivals have taken place in Eng- 

 land, from the Baltic and other ports on the 

 continent, of wheat, notwithstanding the 

 talk of great scarcity there also. 



Prices will now entirely depend on our 

 next crop — for it is apprehended shipments 

 to England are pretty much at an end for 

 the time being — which to all appearances 

 will be large, if not larger than the last — 

 for the high prices last fall no doubt stimu- 

 lated farmers to put in greater breadth of 

 ground, in conjunction with which nothing 

 has as yet appeared materially to affect its 

 yield ; hence low prices must necessarily 

 ensue — unless we have another famishing 



