The Corn Markets in October. 



689 



THE CORN MARKETS IN OCTOBER. 

 C. Kains-Jackson. 



Favourable weather for threshing caused the October markets to 

 be well supplied with new barley and fairly well supplied with new 

 wheat. For reasons not very easy to determine, the offers of new 

 oats have been below the average. Importation of maize has been 

 heavy, fair of wheat and barley, small of oats and flour. Mild weather 

 has enabled cattle to be kept in the fields longer than usual, and has 

 reduced the demand for dry feeding-stuffs. Bakers assert that the 

 sales of bread have likewise witnessed to the effect of a clement 

 season. 



Wheat. — The average price of English has been, for the two com- 

 pleted months of the new cereal year, 305. Sd., as compared with 

 335. for the like two months of 1909. It is not though likely 

 that this decline of 25. 4^., albeit somewhat serious, will affect the 

 autumn sowings much. The crops of 191 1 will determine the selling 

 price presumably of wheat now sown, and the cereal year now in 

 progress will have run its course before the autumn sowings of 19 10 

 are in material market supply. When, however, value gets close down 

 to thirty shillings a feeling of anxiety is set up, and after two or three 

 autumns marked in succession by this lowness of price a general 

 movement towards replacing wheat by some other crop in the rotations 

 is started. Farmers express themselves apprehensive of the recent 

 rate of Russian and S.E. European wheat exports being repeated in 

 future autumns, but the information at the disposal of the markets 

 does not extend to any knowledge justifying a forecast one way or 

 the other. These exports for October were 3,942,000 qrs. from Russia, 

 and 1,954,000 qrs. from Roumania, while 204,000 qrs. additional are 

 credited to ports of Europe S.E. outside the Roumanian. The quan- 

 tity on passage to the United Kingdom on October 31st was very small 

 in proportion, namely, 405,000 qrs. from Russia, and 185,000 qrs. from 

 Europe, S.E.,* but the Continental demand taking the great bulk of 

 such shipments has the effect of making the New World and India 

 unusually dependent on a single customer — Great Britain. Buyers at 

 Mark Lane have consequently been able to get Russian wheat at 25. 

 decline on the month, Indian at is. reduction, and American at various 

 concessions. Manitoba has come down to 385. for fine quality. The 

 shipments of October other than those already given were : — North 

 America, 726,000 qrs. ; South America, 463,000 qrs. ; India, 491,000 

 qrs. ; and Australasia, 285,000 qrs. At the end of the month 2,240,000 qrs. 

 were on passage from all sources, a trivial change from the end of 

 September, but 878,000 qrs. in excess of the quantities a year ago. 



* This expression has come into general use among statisticians, merchants and 

 importers as indicating in a convenient form the following group of countries: 

 Roumania, Servia, Bulgaria, Roumelia, Macedonia, Albania, Epirus, Montenegro 

 and Greece. The term is not limited to shipments other than Russian coming 

 through the Dardanelles, for it includes Aegean and Adriatic Ports. On the other- 

 hand it does not include Bosnia Herzegovina and Dalmatia, which are treated as 

 integral portions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Turkish authorities make 

 no returns. 



