128 
JOURNAL  OP  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  ll,  1897. 
they  were  ready  consumers  of  the  better  quality.  That  they  will 
ever  want  to  return  to  their  old  diet  is  hardly  probable  ;  the 
tendency  of  human  nature  is  to  crave  for  more  luxuries  and 
comforts. 
We  English  farmers  thirty  years  ago,  secure  in  our  position  as 
Wheat  growers,  never  dreamed  of  the  troubles  the  future  had  in 
store  for  us.  If  indeed  we  knew  we  hardly  realised  what  immense 
tracts  of  land  were  opening  out  in  Canada  and  the  States.  We 
never  reckoned  with  the  small  South  American  State  of  Argentina. 
Indeed  it  was  doubtful  we  could  at  first  sight  have  found  it  on 
the  map. 
Alas!  poverty  has  acquainted  us  with  strange  bedfellows,  and 
we  have  been  learning  a  very  severe  lesson.  Low  prices  we  had 
seen  and  met,  but  depression  caused  thereby  passed  till  1879,  when 
depression  came,  not  as  a  passing  guest,  but  to  stay  apparently 
permanently.  In  1878  Wheat  dropped  to  463.  5d.  per  quarter, 
10s.  4i.  less  than  the  preceding  year.  In  1879  43s.  lOd.  was  the 
price  per  quarter  ;  from  1880  to  1882  it  rose  to  45s.  4d.  ;  in  1883 
the  average  was  41s.  7d  ;  in  1894  it  reached  the  lowest  average  of 
the  century — namely,  22s.  101.  “  The  mean  price,”  says  Mr.  Bear, 
“  of  the  last  six  years  is  44 J-  per  cent,  lower  than  that  of  the 
1  seventies.’  ” 
Now  for  the  reason  of  this  great  drop  in  price  ;  it  is  not  far  to 
seek — greater  acreage  under  Wheat  and  some  phenomenal  crops. 
In  one  country — viz.,  the  United  States — there  was  an  increase  of 
nearly  19,000,000  acres  in  the  ten  years  ending  1880.  During  the 
“  eighties  ”  the  U.S.  did  not  develop  their  Wheat-growing  area  ; 
but  we  find  the  harvests  of  the  decade  ending  1890  were  better 
than  those  of  the  former  decade. 
There  seemed  a  chance  in  1891  the  Wheat  prices  would  rise,  as 
Russia  was  threatened  with  famine,  and  the  French  crop  was 
deficient  by  at  least  one-third.  Rye,  too,  on  which  so  many 
of  the  Russian  peasants  subsist,  was  almost  a  failure,  not  only  in 
Russsia,  but  in  other  Rye-growing  countries.  But  this  shortness 
of  supply  only  had  the  effect  of  sending  up  the  English  price 
3j.  2d.  per  quarter.  This  only  lasted  about  twenty-eight  days, 
then  down  it  went  to  363.  6d.  Why?  The  American  crop  was 
the  largest  hitherto  produced.  They  exported  considerably  more 
than  double  the  average  of  the  preceding  four  years.  Argentina 
exported  15,000,000  bushels.  India  sent  to  Europe  nearly  double 
what  she  had  ever  sent  before,  and  Canada  supplied  other 
12,000,000  bushels. 
Although  Russia  and  France  were  in  such  sorry  plight,  the 
one  famine  stricken,  the  other  with  a  crop  much  below  the  average, 
the  world’s  Wheat  crop  was  larger  than  had  ever  formerly  been 
known. 
In  1892  the  price  fell  to  25s.  9d.  ;  this  was  owing  to  the  still 
greater  crop  of  that  year.  In  1893  there  was  a  further  increase 
in  the  Wheat  supply.  The  United  States  fell  off  a  little,  but  Argen¬ 
tina  came  to  the  front  with  a  grand  total  of  57,000,000  bushels. 
The  European  harvest,  too,  was  a  great  one,  India  good,  Australia 
over  an  average  ;  but  it  was  destined  that  we  should  see  in  1894 
the  greatest  Wheat  crop  on  record. 
The  United  States  produced  over  an  average,  Argentina  now 
reached  the  grand  total  of  79,000,000  bushels,  there  was  a  record 
crop  in  Europe,  India  had  an  average  Wheat  harvest,  Canada  a 
good  crop,  Australia  a  moderate  one.  All  this  combined  to 
produce  an  embarrassing  supply  of  Wheat,  coming,  as  it  did,  after 
four  good  years,  so  that  in  September  of  that  year  we  had  in  hand 
19,000,000  quarters,  and  added  to  that  the  largest  crop  on  record. 
Down  dropped  prices  again,  absolutely  touching  the  low  figures 
of  17s.  61.  per  quarter.  As  Maize  was  very  dear,  much  of  this 
Wheat  was  consumed  by  stock  in  the  States,  the  quantity  being 
estimated  at  100,000,000  bushels. 
Wet  weather  had  spoilt  a  good  deal  of  the  grand  European 
crop,  and  so  a  tremendous  proportion  was  here  also  consumed  by 
stock  ;  and,  added  to  this  (as  we  remarked  earlier),  the  Rye-eating 
nations  took  to  Wheat  flour  instead.  The  crop  of  1895  was  a  good 
one,  though  less  than  that  of  1894,  and  prices  rose  in  December  to 
25s.  per  quarter. 
Although  early  in  1896  there  were  signs  of  a  coming  scarcity  in 
the  Wheat  crop,  prices  remained  low,  and  (continued  to  fall  till  the 
third  week  in  August.  Even  when  statistics  proved  that  the 
supply  was  from  18,000,000  to  20,000,000  quarters  short  of  1895,  there 
was  no  rise  in  the  markets  till  August  24th.  On  October  19th  there 
was  in  Mark  Lane  an  advance  of  3s.  to  5s.  per  quarter.  This  was 
in  a  measure  owing  to  the  fact  of  the  disappointing  yields  in  the 
States  and  Canada,  a  deficiency  of  5,000,000  quarters  on  the  Russian 
crop,  severe  drought  in  Australia,  and  impending  famine  in  India. 
What  the  price  of  Wheat  will  be  before  next  harvest  is  a  secret 
of  the  future.  A  good  seed  time  this  spring  will  tempt  Argentina 
and  Australasia  to  increase  their  acreage.  We  have  at  present  a  very 
short  supply,  and  that  in  the  face  of  an  increasing  population. 
Dare  we  hope  once  more  to  See  Wheat  growing  assume  its  old 
place  in  the  annals  of  farming,  and  be  again  a  remunerative  crop  ? 
The  cheap  loaf  is  all  very  well,  but  it  may  be  too  cheap,  and  while 
it  saves  the  pockets  of  some,  means  ruin  to  others. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Another  week  has  passed  away,  we  are  well  into  February,  and  farm 
work  is  almost  at  a  standstill.  True  we  can  realise  last  year’s  crops,  and 
by  so  doing  we  are  keeping  markets  in  a  congested  state,  and  prevent¬ 
ing  any  rise  in  price,  but  preparation  for  another  harvest  is  impossible. 
All  we  can  do  is  to  wait  patiently  antil  the  clerk  of  the  weather  is  in  a 
more  genial  humour.  Meanwhile  we  can  gather  a  little  comfort  from 
the  fact  that  the  frost  is  doing  much  good  to  the  soil,  and  that  an 
enormous  amount  of  water  has  drained  off  during  the  last  two  weeks. 
The  consumption  of  food  by  cattle  is  now  very  heavy,  the  supply 
being  anything  but  excessive.  Straw  has  not  stood  as  much  eating  a9 
usual ;  this  is  generally  the  case  after  a  dry  summer  when  the  straw  is 
short,  there  always  seems  to  be  a  larger  proportion  of  pulse  and  waste. 
Fortunately  Swedes  are  taking  up  heavy,  and  are  holding  out  well.  We 
cut  up  all  the  straw,  and  give  pulped  Swedes  with  it  in  about  equal  pro¬ 
portions  ;  this  is  a  much  larger  proportion  of  root  than  we  usually 
can  afford  for  the  holding  stock,  but  they  must  have  it  to  eke  out  the 
straw. 
Very  few  cattle  are  being  fed  off  in  some  districts,  and  we  are  looking 
for  a  rise  in  price  of  beef  shortly.  Let  us  hope  the  Americans  will  not 
flood  qs  with  meat  and  spoil  the  prospect.  There  is  a  better  feeling  in  the 
trade  already,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  pork,  both  fat  and  store  pigs 
being  very  decidedly  dearer.  Ewe  mutton  is  again  bad  to  sell,  and  we 
cannot  wonder  at  it.  We  do  not  own  to  a  partiality  for  it  ourselves, 
and  it  is  not  surprising  that  townspeople  have  similar  tastes.  Even  the 
Oliver  Twist  of  to-day  is  not  snubbed  if  he  complains  that  the  work- 
house  mutton  is  tough  or  too  fat.  He  never  has  any  need  nowadays  to 
ask  for  more,  for  the  Local  Government  Board  insist  on  his  having  more 
than  he  can  eat  ;  but  this  is  good  for  the  meat  trade  if  only  the  farmer 
were  not  the  chief  payer  of  the  bill. 
Breeding  mares  require  great  attention  now.  They  must  not  be  put 
in  shafts  on  any  account,  and  heavy  pulling  of  any  kind  is  bad  for  them  ; 
at  the  same  time  regular  light  work  is  most  desirable. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamden  Squarb,  London. 
Lat.  51°  32' 40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8 /  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
• 
In  the  Day. 
Rain, 
1897. 
January 
and 
February. 
|  Barometer 
1  at  32°,  and 
|  Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday  .. 
31 
29-428 
34-2 
34-0 
N.E. 
34-0 
36-9 
33-5 
40-0 
32-2 
0-194 
Monday  .. 
1 
29-321 
35*2 
34-9 
N.E. 
340 
37-1 
33-4 
382 
30-0 
0-893 
Tuesday  . . 
2 
29-180 
36-2 
36-2 
N. 
34-9 
37-2 
34-9 
39-6 
33-1 
0-456 
Wednesday 
8 
29-768 
34-2 
34-1 
N. 
35-0 
44-6 
32-1 
47-9 
28-1 
0-114 
Thursday . . 
4 
29-852 
44-4 
43-9 
W. 
36-1 
44*6 
34-3 
55-3 
32-2 
0-589 
Friday 
S 
29-506 
41*6 
41-2 
N.E. 
38-6 
46-4 
41-2 
46-8 
40-3 
0-462 
Saturday  . . 
6 
29-537 
38-7 
36-4 
W. 
38-8 
40-4 
36-1 
45-7 
34-7 
— 
29-513 
37-8 
37-2 
35-9 
41-6 
35-1 
44-8 
32-9 
2-208 
REMARKS. 
31st.— Dull  all  day,  and  dark  about  1  P.M. 
1st.— Rain  in  small  hours ;  slight  snow  early  ;  dull  drizzly  day,  with  high  fog  at  1  P.M ., 
and  slight  foj  in  evening  ;  rain  at  night. 
2nd. — Almost  continuous  rain  till  2  P.M.,  and  from  5.80  P.M,,  changing  to  snow  abont 
8  p.M.,  and  continuing  to  midnight. 
3rd.— Overcast  early,  foggy  from  9  '80  A.M.,  and  rainy  from  noon  to  midnight. 
4th.— Mild  and  dull  day  ;  rain  from  7  P.M.  to  9  P.M. 
6th.— Almost  incessant  rain  from  0  A.M.  to  9  p.M.,  and  dark  and  foggy  in  afternoon. 
6th.— Fair  day,  with  a  little  sun  in  morning. 
A  week  of  average  temperature,  and  of  very  heavy  rain,— G.  J.  SYMONS. 
