CORN LAW REPEAL 277 



The seasons from 1838 to 1841 were bad, and must be 

 characterized as a period of dearth, wheat keeping at a good 

 price.^ That of 1844-5 ^^^ remarkable for the first general 

 appearance of the potato disease, not only in these islands 

 but on the continent of Europe.^ In August, 4j i46. the v js 

 apprehensions of the failure of the crop were more than 

 realized, and the terrible results in Ireland are well known. 

 In the early part of 1847 there was a fear of scarcity in corn, 

 and the price of wheat rose to 102s. ^d. in spite of an 

 importation of 4,500,000 quarters, but this was largely owing 

 to the absence of any reliable agricultural statistics, which 

 were not furnished till 1866, and the price soon fell.^ 



We have now reached the period of free trade, when the 

 Corn Laws, which had protected agriculture more or less 

 effectually for so long, were definitely abandoned. That 

 they had failed to prevent great fluctuations in the price 

 of corn is abundantly evident, it is also equally evident that 

 they kept up the average price; in the ten years from 1837 

 to 1846, the average price of wheat was ^%s. "jd. a quarter, 

 in the seven years from 1848 to 1853, the average price 

 was 48^. 2d} The average imports of wheat and flour for 

 the same period were 2,161,813 and 4,401,000 quarters 



* 1838, 64 J. yd. ; 1839, 70s. Sd. ; 1840, 66s. 4^.; 1841, 64s. 4d. 

 "^ Tooke, History of Prices, iv. 19. 



' C. Wren Hoskyns, Agricultural Statistics, p. 5. 



* The abnormal prices during the Crimean War cannot fairly be taken 

 into account. The home and foreign supplies of wheat and flour from 

 1839-46 were: — 



Home Supplies. Foreign Supplies, 

 qrs. qrs. 



1839-40 4,022,000 1,762,482 



1840-1 3,870,648 1,925,241 



1841-2 3,626,173 2,985,422 



1842-3 5,078,989 2,405,217 



1843-4 5,213,454 1,606,912 



1844-5 6,664,368 476,190 



1845-6 5,699,969 2,732,134 



Tooke, History of Prices, iv. 414. 

 1844-5 was a very abundant crop, and the threatened repeal of the 

 Corn Laws induced farmers to send all the corn possible to market. 



