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being true; and are calculated to do harm instead of good. We are approaching rapidly a time of scarcity as it regards food for man and beast, and it is better that we should, without attempting to deceive ourselves, look the misfortue full in the face, and by a regular course of careful economy avert as far as possible, the evils consequent upon it. Every year, soon after the wheat harvest, we see such statements as the above in the newspapers; and this is sometimes the case, when we are importing from Europe millions of bushels of grain to supply the deficiency occasioned by a failure of crops at home. In such cases then, we cannot but believe that such articles are procured to be inserted in the papers, by speculators in grain, who wish it hurried into market, in such quantities as to lower the price, until they can monopolize the greater part. When it is thus withdrawn from first hands, they withhold it from market, and the price rises as a matter of course, for their own exclusive benefit. The consequence is, that the advantage is all on the side of the corn dealer who has sufficient capital to hold on to the article until an apparent, but not real scarcity prevails. The farmer is not benefitted by such a course, nor is the price lowered to the consumer.

It is the best policy of the farmers generally, not to hurry their grain into the market, for if they do so all at once, the price will certainly fall far below what it should be, to rise again far above what it ought to be, so soon as ever it ceases to be offered for sale in large quantities. We recollect once being in a great commercial city, when the price of wheat and corn fell in one day ten cents a bushel, from no other cause, than that the wind had changed from northeast to the south; whereby a large number of vessels loaded with grain arrived at the same time; and before they were done unlading, the price was higher than it was before the fall.

The millers and speculators, would purchase every bushel of wheat for sale in the country, within two weeks after harvest, provided it was offered them for sale; and were they sure the stock was exhausted in first hands, they would in two weeks more, raise the price on the consumer fifty per cent. or more. These obser

vations are not made to censure dealers in grain, (for they only do what all other trading persons always do, buy as cheap and sell as dear as they can;) they are merely cautionary to the farmers, that they may not be deceived by such publications as that we have copied above.

From the Philadelphia U. S. Gazette.

THE CROPS OF EUROPE

AND THE UNITED STATES AND THE GRAIN MARKET.

We gave yesterday, a notice of considerable length relative to the corn market of London, with a view of following it up with

some remarks upon the European markets and crops, and the harvests of our own country. The connexion between these, is of course, intimate, and the subject is one of interest to a majority of our readers.

We think ourself warranted in setting down the wheat and rye crop of this country as large, not only in regard to general yield, but also in reference to the number of acres cultivated. There have been failures in some places, and in some others it is probable that the harvest has not quite fulfilled its early promise; but the average of the crop is good, and the amount of the wheat gathered in, is very great. How is this great crop to be made most serviceable to the producer, to the merchant, and to the business of the country? This is a question which can only be answered by a reference to the state of the markets and the grain fields of Europe. This is evident, because there is a superflux which must seek foreign markets, and on the state of supply in those markets will depend the price, and consequently the profit or loss, of those who send breadstuffs thereto.

Let us, then, spend a few moments in examining the state of the principal market of grain, and the means of supplying any deficiencies therein beyond our own produce.

Undoubtedly London must be looked to for a solution of all the questions upon the demand and supply of breadstuffs, which concern the United States.

The crop of 1837 was deficient in England to a considerable degree, and to a far greater extent on the continent, say to the north of France. This state of things was early known; and as soon as the harvest of 1837 closed in England, orders to purchase wheat on English account were despatched to all the ports of export of that grain on the German Ocean and the Baltic. Now it is known that these orders were being executed and contracts made under them, from the December following until the middle of May, 1838, about which time, say the latter end of May, all further proceedings under these orders were arrested by the very considerable advance in prices that occurred in the principal ports of the continent, in consequence of the great prospect of a failure of crops in Germany and Poland.

The wheat purchased between December, 1837, and May, 1838, was regularly shipped, and before the 1st of June, it seemed to be coming into the British ports from all parts of the continent. This sudden influx caused a pause in the rise of the article in England; but early in June the demand was animated in Liverpool, and large sales were made in one market day.

Our readers will recollect that our information relative to the London markets is incomplete, there being a chasm (at least in our information) from the 16th of June to the 3d of July: but we find that the weekly average of the 15th of June is 64s. 11d. and on the 22d it is 65s. 6d. Prices, therefore, of wheat free for home use must advance. Free wheat is quoted in Liverpool on the 3d of Ju

ly, in the regular price current, fully as high as during the week previous, though the sale was rather dull. This brings us to notice the probability of the introduction of foreign wheat; and in order to form a correct opinion upon this subject, especially as to the rate of duties, it is necessary to recur to the production of the former harvest, or more properly to the stocks on hand.

The stocks remaining with the farmers can only be inferred from facts. The harvest was, it is admitted, deficient. The millers and corn dealers; however, as the farmers seemed anxious to sell, or, to use a technical term, seemed to be free sellers, purchased only to supply immediate demands, as we gather distinctly from the quotations and remarks in the prices current from day to day, and they were in turn as free sellers as the farmers-no wheat was hoarded or laid up on speculation. When Lady day came, (25th of March,) and found the corn dealers and millers without stock, and the farmers without their customary deliveries on that pay-day date, there was at once forced upon the public mind the apprehension of a necessity for a large import, and this apprehension has been strengthened by fears of the deficiencies of the coming crops in England. We have, on the 7th of June, the opinion of one of the most intelligent merchants of England, versed in the corn trade, that a million of quarters (8,000,000 of bushels) of corn will be required to be admitted, before the harvest could be made available; and he confidently expected that it would be admitted at a duty of 20s. 8d. to 24s. 8d.; and on the 5th of July, the same gentleman thinks that the duty will be from 18s. 8d. to 20s. 8d. This implies a reduction which could only take place from a proportionate advance in the price of wheat free for consumption.

As early as the 5th of June, there were strong apprehensions that the growing crop would prove considerably deficient. The root had been killed, and the fine weather, by promoting the growth above ground, showed how much had been destroyed. So extensive and general had been this injury, that on the 5th of July the opinion was entertained that in the most favorable state of weather, there could not be expected an average crop-and it is known that England requires a full average of her own and of the Irish growth, to meet her consumption.

We have above expressed the opinion that a million of quarters of wheat (eight millions of bushels) must be admitted into England before the harvest. What proportion of this can be readily obtained, we are unable to state explicitly, and must, for want of data, trust to conjecture.

In London, on the 4th of June, the amount of wheat on bond was 248,000 qrs. and it is a fair calculation to take the amount in London as half that of the whole kingdom. This assumption is found`ed on the fact that London is the great market both of corn and capital-it is situated on the east side of the island, and is contiguous to the continent. We find, however, on recurrence to the "Corn Reporter" of July the 2d, that the official return for the whole

kingdom gives 527,233 qrs. or 4,217,664 bushels. But Holland is also a competitor with England for wheat, and at Rotterdam, on the 25th of June, it is remarked that the duty on bonded wheat introduced for home consumption, was reduced to one shilling, the minimum of duty for wheat admitted for domestic use. This fact has an important bearing upon the subject, because it shows that there is a scarcity of, and of course a demand for, corn in that market.

We have above referred to the fact, that the continental grain fields were not promising, and we may add, that the stock of old wheat, both in England and on the continent, is far less than has been held for many years previous. Of course, then, the demand in Holland, as well as in England, is to be made upon a reduced stock, and it would seem that English grain dealers regard the subject in this light; because, while they speak favorably of the weather in relation to the grain fields, they at the same time remark that "the duty on wheat from foreign ports is reduced one shilling per quarter this week"-a necessary consequence, of course, of the rise in the price of wheat, and that rise in England shows that the landed interests have not the wheat wherewith to keep down the price, and thus prevent a glut of the market by the introduction of foreign wheat into England; though it would seem that the surplus on the continent is so small, that if any considerable portion was sent to England; that is, if an over drain of the continental ports were to be made, the prices in England would become depressed, and the bonded wheat must return to the ports whence it came, to supply the want caused by its own shipment.

The fluctuations in prices of bonded wheat unknown are not always significant of quantities brought to, or taken out of, market. Much wheat is held on speculation, and the prices of that must always be affected by the money wants of the holder, who will rather force a portion of his speculation upon the market at a reduced price, than to suffer for want of the money invested therein-hence we repeat, that fluctuations afford no criterion to judge of the wants for consumption.

We would add that our remarks are not founded upon the supposition of a failure of the English and continental crops-we believe that both will be less than an average, and the want of stock remaining over from last harvest, will produce the demands which we have anticipated; and as the continental crops cannot supply the demand of England before the harvest, we may suppose that she must look elsewhere.

Should our anticipations prove correct, and the demand for flour in England and Holland more than exhaust the supplies of the continent, it will follow as a matter of course, that the surplus of the large harvest of this country will go towards making a balance of trade in our favor, in different parts of the world. The demand in England and the want of abilities to supply in the continent, will leave open to our merchants the West India and South American

markets; and we may add, that while there has been a diminution of supplies in Canada, there has been a large accession to the means of consumption, so that the flour of the western part of New York will probably find a ready market on the British side of the lake.

From the view of circumstanees at home and abroad, we come to the conclusion that a judicious course on the part of our merchants, and a let us alone (laissez nons faire) course on the part of the government, will, with existing means at home, and certain wants abroad, place our commercial relations in a most enviable position, rewarding the producer for his toil, and the merchant for his enterprise and risk, and giving to the government in due time the means of paying off its newly created responsibilities, while at the same time it sees the people enjoying prosperity as the fruits of commercial integrity and honest industry.

We are not unmindful while we speak of grain as entering into the means of our national prosperity, that there is a mutual dependence among the great staples of our country, and that our foreign commercial relations, especially those with Great Britain, are best sustained by an average produce and demand for them all abroad.

THE STRAWBERRY.

As the present month and the beginning of September, is the best season for making strawberry beds, some remarks as to varieties and the mode of culture may not be unacceptable.

The fruit of the strawberry is almost universally esteemed; and is prized as well for its delicious flavor, as for its tendency to promote health, and for its efficacy in mitigating or curing certain diseases. The berries are almost wholly soluble in the stomach, and neither there or elsewhere do they undergo the acetous fermentation. They dissolve the tartareous incrustations of the teeth. They promote perspiration. When used largely they have given relief to those afflicted, with the gout; and Hoffman states that he has known consumptive people cured by them. The principal species and varie

ties are

1. Wood, with oval serrated leaves; the fruit round and small; and white and green. Native of Britain.

2. Scarlet, with leaves like the preceding, roundish and scarletcolored. Native of North America. Varieties; early scarlet, Wilmot's late, common late, Wilmot's scarlet.

3. Roseberry. A Scotch seedling. The plants have few roundish leaves, larger fruit than the scarlet, and are very prolific. Continues bearing till August.

4. Dowton. Fruit large, irregular and coxcomb-like; leaves large:

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