AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
288 
A Nice Landlord. —A traveller found a buf¬ 
falo robe belonging to a hotel-keeper, who, on 
receiving it, thanked the finder, remarking that 
a “ Thank you” was worth twenty-five cents, 
and “ Thank you kindly,” was worth thirty- 
seven and a half cents. Soon after, the travel¬ 
ler called for a dinner, ate it, and asked the 
landlord what was to pay, “Twent}^-five cents,” 
was the reply. “ I thank you kindly,” said the 
traveller, and moved off. “ Here my good fel¬ 
low, stop and take the change,” remarked the 
landlord, throwing down a ninepence, “your 
dinner was only 25 cents.” 
Cause and Effect. —A Philadelphia cor¬ 
respondent of the Baltimore Sun , in speaking 
of the tightness of the money market, says: 
“I stepped into one of the fashionable jew¬ 
elry stores in Chesnut street, and saw a lady 
purchase a lot of diamonds worth $525, and or¬ 
dered them to be sent home. A few minutes 
afterwards I met the husband of the lady in a 
broker’s office, in Third street, negotiating a note 
of five thousand dollars at a shave of four per 
cent, per month.” 
A merchant broke in New-York the other day, 
who presented his wife with a three thousand 
dollar shawl last winter. 
A Good Hit. —One of the best “ hits ” ever 
made on the impropriety in a lady’s dress, was 
made by Talleyrand. During the revolution, 
when asked by a lady his opinion of her dress, 
he replied, “it began too late and ended too 
soon.” 
- - 
Dating Letters. —Where our correspondents are 
not perfectly well known to us, we wish they would 
in all cases, date their letters very plainly, with their 
post-office address. Nearly every town in the United 
States has half a dozen name-sakes in other States, 
and of some of the most popular, they number by 
fifties. A few years since, there were about thirty 
Washingtons in Ohio alone. Let us, in all cases, 
have the name of their post-office and Stale , at the 
head of their letter, and they will be sure of a right 
direction for their letters in return. 
Pee-payment of Postage.— All correspondents 
are requested to pre-pay their postage on letters to 
us, as they thereby secure pre-payment in return. 
The saving of two cents for each letter may seem a 
small matter to such as seldom write, but the gen¬ 
eral omission to pre-pay would make a difference of 
hundreds of dollars per annum in our own postage 
bills. 
We also suggest the propriety, where correspond 
ents write us expressly on their own business, re¬ 
questing a favor which causes us some trouble, and 
with no corresponding benefit, that they not only 
pre-pay their postage, but also enclose a stamp, to 
pre-pay the answer they solicit in return. 
Marluts. 
From the Mark Lane Express, Dec. 19th. 
REVIEW OF THE BRITISH CORN TRADE. 
The opinion we ventured to express about a 
month ago, when prices of Wheat were rece¬ 
ding in all parts of the kingdom, viz., that any 
decline which might take place would probably 
be of a temporary nature, appears likely to 
prove tolerably correct; indeed, a rally has al¬ 
ready taken place, and the greater portion of 
the reduction has been recovered. Whether 
any material rise on present rates will take place, 
will depend, in a great measure, on the charac¬ 
ter of the winter, and other circumstances, which 
cannot, at present, be determined ; but the pro¬ 
bability is strongly in favor of an advance. The 
wants of this country and France are daily be¬ 
coming more manifest; and it is certain that 
Great Britain, as well as our continental neigh¬ 
bor, will require to import on a very extensive 
scale to keep prices in check. 
The present position of affairs in the East is 
such as to give rise to great doubts whether the 
western countries of Europe will be enabled to 
derive the aid from the Black Sea which they 
might have obtained in moi’e peaceful times. 
England will, at all events, encounter great dif¬ 
ficulties in securing any large quantity in that 
quarter, so long as the Italian and Marseilles 
markets afford relatively higher prices—to say 
nothing of the difference in freight, &c. In 
looking over the lists of shipments from Odessa 
for the last three months, it is really astonishing 
to see how small a proportion of vessels cleared 
out from thence with Grain cargoes have been 
for the United Kingdom. The great bulk has 
gone to Marseilles, without producing any marked 
or lasting impression on prices there; and it 
would appear, from the best sources of informa¬ 
tion within our reach, that the South of France 
will need to import on quite as large a scale as 
hitherto up to the time of next harvest; we 
must therefore be prepared to expect a great 
falling-off in the supplies from the east—the 
quarter from whence Great Britain has of late 
years drawn the major portion of her foreign 
supply of Corn. That this will be in some 
measure compensated by increased shipments 
from the United States and Canada there can 
be no doubt; but the decrease in the Black Sea 
supply can scarcely, we think, be covered by 
the increase in the receipts from America. Hol¬ 
land, Belgium, and the Rhine provinces, &c., 
appear to require aid; and from thence we must 
not reckon on any assistance. In Poland, and 
part of Prussia, the last crop has given an in¬ 
different return ; but in some of the countries 
which furnish the Lower Baltic ports with Wheat, 
the result of the harvest has been more favorable. 
Stocks of old Wheat are, however, reduced into 
a very narrow compass at all the Baltic ports ; 
and even if this were not the case, no shipments 
from thence could be calculated on till next 
spring, the winter having set in early, and the 
navigation being now completely closed. Under 
these circumstances it may be regarded as very 
fortunate that some accumulation of stocks has 
taken place here, and that we have a prospect 
of receiving a considerable quantity of bread- 
stuffs from the other side of the Atlantic during 
the time that the northern continental ports may 
remain closed by ice. Feeling fully convinced 
that the deficiency of our last Wheat crop has 
not been in any way exaggerated, we arrive at 
this conclusion— that malcing full allowance for 
the quantity of Corn in granary , and estima¬ 
ting the probable aid America may be able to 
afford somewhat higher than we have hitherto 
felt justified in doing; all we have , and all we 
are likely lo receive, will be needed. 
The arrival of nearly 100,000 qrs. of Wheat 
into the port of London within the space of a 
fortnight, has failed to produce the slightest 
effect on prices; on the contrary, a rise has 
taken place here, as well as at all the principal 
provincial markets. This has no doubt been 
caused in a great measure by the revival of the 
export demand for Wheat, and partly also by 
the increased severity of the weather; the latter 
circumstance having made that which was pre¬ 
viously only probable—viz., the closing of the 
Baltic by ice—certain. Besides the purchases 
which have been made this week for France and 
Belgium at the ports where stocks of foreign 
Wheat are held, some quantity of English has, 
we believed, been bought on the east coast for 
shipment; this has caused considerable excite¬ 
ment, and the rise has been greater at the 
places where this has occurred than would have 
been occasioned by transactions of much more 
importance at such markets as London, Liver¬ 
pool, &c. The last named town has also been 
visited by continental buyers, which, with a 
good local and country demand, caused an ad 
vance of 3d. to 4d. per 70 lbs. on Wheat, and 
Is. and 2s. per barrel on American Flour. On 
Tuesday, and later in the week, a further en¬ 
hancement took place. 
There is one circumstance of a cheering cha¬ 
racter, and worthy of remark; we allude to the 
comparative ease existing in Ireland as regards 
the supply of food. Thus far there has been 
hardly any demand from thence for Indian 
Corn—a sure proof that the Potato crop has 
suffered less from disease than was at one period 
supposed. The yield of Oats has also been good 
in the sister isle, and we trust that she will be 
spared the visitation of scarcity. 
The arrivals of Wheat coastwise into the 
port of London have again been small—only 
2,031 qrs. having been reported during the 
week ending this (Saturday) evening. The re¬ 
ceipts from abroad have amounted to 32,000 qrs., 
making an arrival of nearly 90,000 qrs. within 
a fortnight. The wind having been favorable 
during nearly the whole of that period for ves¬ 
sels from the north, we may presume that most 
of the autumn shipments from the Baltic have 
reached us. 
Importers have displayed considerable firm¬ 
ness, and the demand having been active through¬ 
out the week, the tendency of prices has been 
decidedly upwards. Quotations are now as high 
as ever they have been, and the appearance of 
the trade is very firm and healthy. 
Household Flour was held for more money at 
the close than in the beginning of the week. 
The arrivals from America have been moderate, 
whilst the inquiry has been very active; sellers 
have consequently experienced no difficulty in 
establishing an advance of fully Is. per bbl. on 
good, fresh qualities. 
English Barley has come more sparingly to 
hand than of late, and factors have manifested 
much less anxiety to realize. 
The arrivals of Oats coastwise and from Ire¬ 
land have been small. The advance of fid. per 
qr. insisted on has, however, been very unwill¬ 
ingly paid by the dealers, and the operations 
have therefore not been particularly extensive. 
Beans, which were greatly depressed in the 
early part of the month, have this week met 
with a moderate share of attention, and the 
prices paid on Friday were certainly Is. per qr. 
above those at which purchases might have been 
made on Monday. 
Indian Corn has, notwithstanding the improve¬ 
ment in other articles, continued neglected. The 
quantity on sale is small, and holders appearing 
confident of a better demand, the prices asked 
have been rather higher than those of last 
week. —•—- 
THE CONTINENTAL CORN TRADE. 
The frost has continued, and the Baltic ports 
have been closed by ice during the last few 
weeks; further shipments from thence will, 
therefore, in all probability be rendered imprac¬ 
ticable until spring. 
The letters from Danzig are wholly without 
interest. 
The accounts from Konigsberg are of a similar 
character. 
At Stettin, about forty grain-laden vessels had 
been caught in the ice, and it was not expected 
that any of these would get free before spring. 
Letters from Stralsund, of the 12th inst., state 
that the deliveries of new grain from the grow¬ 
ers had been small, and that previous prices had 
been well supported for Wheat as well as spring 
corn. 
From the near continental ports we learn that 
Wheat had been in good request at rising prices. 
Hamburg letters of Tuesday state that several 
purchases had been made there, on French and 
Belgian account, for shipment in spring. 
Letters from Rotterdam inform us that the 
navigation of the Moas had also been closed by 
the frost, and that in the absence of any ship¬ 
ping demand for Wheat, the article had become 
dull of sale. Previous prices had, however, 
been steadily supported. 
In the Belgian markets, Wheat had, according 
to the most recent reports, advanced materially, 
without drawing larger supplies from the grow¬ 
ers. 
The latest advices from France are not of quite 
so excited a character as those received in the 
early part of the week, the advanced prices 
asked having tended to interfere with the sales. 
At Paris, on Wednesday, fine flour was quoted 
100 to 102 francs per sack of 157 kilos—a higher 
rate than had been attained at any previous 
period since harvest. At most of the northern 
markets, the tendency of prices had, it appears, 
