792 The Corn Markets in December. [Jan., 



400 lb. Scotland, in December, shipped coastwise quite appreciable 

 quantities of barley to London. This was not malting quality, but what 

 is called " bold, chicken barley," worth 26s. to 275. per 416 lb., which 

 is its usual weight. Of imported barley the sort in predominant supply 

 has been Russian. The shipments from the Euxine for December 

 exceeded a million quarters. About a guinea per 400 lb. has been the 

 price on British exchanges. Other arrivals of foreign barley have 

 included fine Moravian at 345. , screened Ouchak at 38s., unscreened 

 Anatolian at 34s., and brewing barley from North Pacific ports at 355. ; 

 all these quotations are by market custom at 448 lb,, and therefore look 

 higher than they are. Persian barley at 205., Casabianca at 215. 6d., 

 and Mogador at 245., are sorts sold per 400 lb. 



Oats.- — -The price of English oats for December showed no appre- 

 ciable change from November last; imported sorts tended in buyers' 

 favour. This, being due to general causes, has been dealt with in some 

 introductory observations. For Russian sorts value at the end of Decern- , 

 ber was as low as 145. 6d. per 304 lb., that is, of course, for the very 

 lowest kinds, whether from Black Sea or Baltic ports. White Sea oats 

 have not fallen below 155. 6d. ; there will be no fresh arrivals before 

 next July. Courland, and the whole region between St. Petersburg and 

 the Prussian frontier, produces somewhat superior oats to those grown 

 in Russia proper. These oats fetch 17s., even when the weight is only 

 304 lb., and 19s. is paid for 320 lb. descriptions. East Prussia grows 

 very good oats, which go up to 205. in price at Mark Lane. The quantity 

 shipped, however, is never large, whereas it is the inferior kinds which 

 La Plata, as well as Russia, produces in superabundant quantity. 

 Argentine oats are quoted at about 155. 6d. to 165. per 304 lb. for the 

 1908 crop ; that of 1909 is now being reaped, and is offered for March 

 shipment at 145. per 304 lb. The determination of Argentina to drive 

 light Russian oats off the London market is apparent, and as neither 

 kind clashes with English produce, a net gain to the importing, country 

 would appear to result. The cheap foreign oats gave us, at the end of 

 1908, some curious by-products, such as oat-husk meal at 655. per ton, 

 and oat husks themselves at 455. per ton. 



Maize. — The yield in the United States was given in the Board of 

 Agriculture Journal for November (p. 701) at 2,642,687,000 bushels, this 

 being the official " first " report of the Bureau of Statistics at Washing- 

 ton. Subsequent details confirm this early estimate, and in some quarters 

 it is even held to be rather below the mark. The surplus available for 

 export is therefore very large, and contracts are being made on a liberal 

 scale for its shipment. The price asked at the end of December was 

 24s. gd. per qr., at which rate the buyer could select his own month for 

 shipment, January to April inclusive. The produce will be in full supply 

 at Mark Lane from early in February, but the arrivals before that date 

 will hardly be in very heavy bulk. The spot value at the end of Decem- 

 ber was 26s. to 26s. 6d. for American and Argentine, 26s. 6d. to 285. for 

 Russian and Roumanian maize. American during the year had touched 

 305., and had been on sale at 245., and although to make an average 

 of these values at 275. would be very empirical, it is probable that an 

 average of sales at the 151 London markets of the year would work out 

 at very closely that mean. The range in Argentine for 1908 was from 

 245. to 285. ; it never was as scarce as American in the period of mini- 

 mum supply. The depressing effect of the large supplies of American 



