72 



The Corn Markets in March. [april, 



1908, supplies on passage fell off by 900,000 qrs. The shipments of 

 March were 484,000 qrs. from North America, 2,905,000 qrs. from 

 South America, 642,000 qrs. from Russia, 115,000 qrs. from 

 Roumania and Bulgaria, and 700,000 qrs. from the Australasian 

 Colonies. The shipments from North America were less than usual, 

 and even these were not made at a profit in every case, prices in the 

 United States showing an appreciable rise. The month's sales of 

 wheat, both English and foreign, were above the average. 



Flour. — When bakers advance the price of bread by a halfpenny • 

 on the quartern loaf they are able to pay 45. per sack more money 

 for their flour. Millers, however, seldom are in a position to put up 

 flour prices to the full extent, because there has to be much give-and- 

 take in their business, and bakers, operating by no smaller unit than 

 the equivalent of 45. per sack on flour, have usually been selling at 

 a loss for a fortnight or three weeks before they can arrange for a 

 uniform advance. Top-price flour is now at 36s., while Town House- 

 holds are at 31s. per sack. Each type has risen 35. since the beginning 

 of the cereal year. Country flour has risen from 26s. in mid-February 

 to 285. at the end of March, Iron Duke from 26s. to 275. 6d., and 

 common American bakers' grades from 255. 6d. to 275. Hungarian 

 flour at 445. to 455. is held above the ideas of buyers. North America 

 in March shipped only 324,000 sks., and there are only 180,000 sks. 

 on passage. April and May supplies of foreign flour were, therefore, 

 at the end of March, expected to be very decidedly below the average. 



Barley. — The supply of English barley since harvest has never 

 been equal to the requirements, and prices have consequently 

 moved slowly but surely in an upward direction. In the thirty com- 

 pleted weeks of the cereal year the advance was gd., for the last of 

 the thirty weeks it was 2s. 2d. per qr. The crop of 1908 was appre- 

 ciably smaller than that of 1907. Imports for the same thirty com- 

 pleted weeks have been 4,149,000 qrs. (in round numbers) against 

 3,879,000 qrs. last season, but the deficiency in home deliveries has 

 been by no means made up by the increased supply of foreign, apart 

 from the important fact that, whereas the deficiency has been in 

 416 lb. to 448 lb. sorts, the increase has been limited to cheap and light 

 400 lb. barley, most of it from Russia. Shipments for March were 

 555,000 qrs. from Russia, as compared with 60,000 qrs. from North 

 and South America, and 127,000 qrs. from all old-world sources, 

 except Russia itself. The prices now ruling for barley show that we 

 cannot quite equal Central Europe for the very highest quality. 

 Bohemian and Austrian barley makes 425. per 448 lb., whereas no English 

 exceeds 405., and few samples exceed 365. per qr. The price of light 

 barley from Russia is stationary at 225. to 22s. 6d. per 400 lb. 



Oats. — When English oats averaged between 175. and 175. 6d. 

 only, it was said that at such a price it paid better to use them on 

 the farm. But at the end of March, iSs. 6d. was averaged, and yet 

 the supplies were 15 to 20 per cent, smaller than at the like period 

 of 1908. The increased consumption of oats on the farm probably 

 cannot be separated from a consideration of the maize trade. When 

 the price of oats is high and that of maize low, many farmers are 

 tempted to a double transaction in selling the former and buying the 

 latter. It must be remembered that a single market visit amply 



