The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1877-09-04 00:00:00

THE HARVEST.
iDerset 0 1111 t Expreos.
The wheat harvest there Is mean to fear will prove
a disappointment this year, for although the grentsr '
part of the crop south of the Thames has been stacked, ' THEIDAT, UMW= 4 1477.
In the Midland cormties and farther north cutting is
very backwart and, with recent wet and unfavourable
weather, seine anxiety is being felt as to the result
The chance+ are that throughout the new iiewon there
will be an active demand for all good dry wheat
for mixing purposes, and much qualitiee, whether of
English or foreign growth, will command a ready
sale. Probably a larger importation than last year
will be n , an the present season closes with
limited s'tEe at thin period lama rear, owing to
the ahnndast receipts in 18Th 6, which were in excess
of our wants, the supplies of foreign wheat in granary
were very large. 'The crone abroad are nowhere
extraordinarily abundant. In America, where it was
Rail a few month* since there would be mach a boun-
tiful harveat that they would have twelve million
quarter* for exportation, the figure is now reduced to
seven million quarters of wheat and llonr, that quantity
extending to the probable exports not to Great Britain
alone but to all qnarters, including the West Indies
and South America, and to be considered in presence
of the fact that th 4 crop in California. swine to the ,
remarkably dry winter, ia very considerably below
that of last year, and also that in the older States teat
year's crop wan nearly exhausted, no that an export
demand must be met almost entirely not of thin year'm
crop. In Hungary and in POMP parts of Russia there
ham been an excellent yield, but from other parte of
the Continent the favrmrable anticipationa which had
been held out have not been entirely verified. In the
northern parts of France and in Prusaia the crops have
been injured by wet weather, and it is probable that
the former country will have to import a moderate
quantity of dry Russian or other wheat for mixing
purpoiss. The heavy strain upon the reeourcee of
Russia and the rieceanty which exists in that country
for parting freely with the produce of the moil are in
favour of our procuring our eupplien of wheat on
reiwonable term.; and in addition to the fact, which
is now regarded an establislned, that the surplus in the
producing countries is fully adequate to meet the
deficiency which exists in Great Britian, it is important
to notice that no evidence at present exist" of any
formidable competition such ea would inevitably raise
prices.

NOTES OF THE WEEK.

On Saturday lest he Act passed in the recent session
to amend the law relating to the fisheries of oysters,
crabs, and lobsters took effect. A person is not to sell,
or expose for sale, oysters known in the trade as "deep
sea oysters" between the 15th June in any year and
the 4th August or any other description ol oysters
between the 14th June and the 4th August, under
penalties. The Eklanl of Trade is empowered to
prohibit or restrict dredging for oysters. Crabs or
lobsters under certain sizes are not to be "taken" or
offered for sale. The act prorides that a person shall
not take, have in his possession, sell, expose for sale.
consign for sale, or buy for sale any lobster which
meannres less than eight inches from the tip of the
beak to the end of the tail when spread as far as
po suible flat.

The sale of Mrs. Bravo's furniture haa created a
great deal of interest at Barham. The mysterious
murder ham had the effect of immensely enhancing the
market value of Mrs. Bravo's effects. Fancy prices
have been paid for all kinds of ornaments and knick-
knacks, and any article which happened to have been
mentioned at the famous inquest has been reckoned
valuable indeed. But, although movables have been
favourably affected in value by the death of Mr.
Bravo it is very different with the estate. It is
reported that the murdered man has been distinctly
seen re-visiting the scene of his brief married life. In
short, the place has a bogie; and even in London, and i
in the nineteenth century. tis very difficult indeed to
sell or let a haunted house.

In spite of the growth f sobriety, there is still a
great amount of drunkenness in the British Army.
According to a return just published it appears that
from the Ist of April, 1869, to the 31st of March.
1876, the fines indicted on soldiers cinvicted of
drunkenness amoonted to £123,343, being an average
of more than £17,600 per annum. These fines, which
vary, according to the stste of the soldier's defaulter-
sheet, from 2s. 6d. to 205., are applied for the purpose
of providing gratuities to well-conducted soldiers on
their discharge from the army, and in the seven years
above alluded to £llO,OOO has been devoted to that
object. In addition to the above sum, £3,550 was
deducted from the pay of militiamen for the above
offence.

MARK LANE.—Tan- DAY.

The Illapply of wheat was .mall; many samples were
In bad condition. Some piOted dry lots found buyers
at an advance of la since Monday last, but for bulk
of supply trade was slow at rather irregular prices.
Foreign in many instances wan is. dearer. Oats im-
proved 64. per qr.; other kiwis of erpring corn were
unaltered in value.

Al.l reeco "religion," says "Atlas" in the World,
will shortly have developed itself sufficiently to need
a special organ. This is truly refreahing to all sincere
Christians. I was an, 0, no gratified at an advertise-
ment in a religious contemporary—not the Sporting
Times—last week, that I copy it and give itthe benefit
of an additional circulation among those who may not
yet have been awakened:- -
" Walter Penrose, formerly a costermonger, is open for
the Lord's work, in-doors or open-air, accompanied by his
chromatic concertina.—Address, Costerrnongere Cottage
Mission, Vinegar Ground, City-road, E.C.
Evangelism alone is mighty, but aided by the chro-
matic concertina it must be irresistible. How soon
may we expect the Old Hundreth with a trombone
effect, or St. Paul to the Corinthians punctuated with
castanets and cymbals? One more advertisement from
, the same pious sheet :-
1 " A Christian gentleman, out during the day and
seldom home at night, can be accommodated with com-
fortable apartments in Holloway. Partial board, with
, train and 'bus if required."
I had been artless enough to imagine that Christian
gentlemen, like Mr. John Lawrence Toole, always
came home to tea. Seriously speaking, this thing is a
degradation to religion.

METROPOLITAN CATTLE.— THIS-DAY.
About 2,500 beasts, including 1,000 foreign. Trade
dull, at 41. 4d. to 6s. About 6,500 sheep. Trade
firm, at 5c 6cl. to Ti. 2d. Lambs made 7s. to 8s ;
calves mold at ss. to 6s. 10d. ; and pigs, Bs. 10d. to
44. per Bibs. At Deptford, 2,465 balite and 8,000
sheep were penned.

Saturday morning Lord Dudley, as chief of the coal
trade in South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire,
issued a circular announcing a drop of 2.3. per ton on
all coal. The very best household is now 14s per ton;
furnace coal, Sc. ; steam c al, Bs. ; and slack, N. 3d.
The famine in India begirus to excite supreme atten-
tion. Day after thy a conviction steals upon the
public mind that the calamity is of a far more serious
nature than at first was anticipated. It is eYtimatecl
that at lead ten millions of people will have to sub-
sist, for months to come, on imported food, the dis-
tribution of which will be attended with very con-
siderable trouble awl c.f.. Not less than from 3,500
. .

to 4.000 tone of 'Fain must be distributed every day to
meet the exigencies of the case, and it is thought that
the number to be provided for may increase to fifteen
millions. These statistics are enough to appal the
most generous and hopeful philanthropist who ever
laboured in the cause id humanity. At present, we
g.lther from a graphic letter which has appeared in the
leading journal, the railways connected with the
Presidency of Madras are not carrying more than
2,500 tons a slay, and that "it is extremely doubtful
if they can work up to a much higher figure without
new and powerful engines which it would take months
to supply.. The difficulty of sending food to remote
parte is immense. The drought has killed the beast.
of burden, and railways are unknown in many of the
districts affected. Already cannibalism has been
heard of, and piteous tragedies are being enacted every
week by the famine-stricken population. Men,
women, and children crawl into nooks and corners,
only to die, and mothers offer their infants for sale in
the 'streets of Madras. A moderate estimate shows
that it is absolutely certain "that from two and a half
to three million, of people will die as the direct result
of harvest failures in Southern India following each
other in succession." The editor of the Madras Times,
in his opportune letter, depicts a shocking state of
affairs. The scenes in the city are heartrending.
"Poor creatures," he says, "reduced to mere skin and
bone, most scantily clothed, have congregated on the
beach and along the road whither the imported rice in
bags is conveyed, and for every grain that dropped
upon the ground half a down people eagerly rushed
forward to grasp
.it. A wolfish glare, born of great
hlmger, gleamed in their eyes, and the animal pro-
pensities exhibited called forth a cry of pain in the
onlooker." In an infirmary Mr. Digby found "all
the wards full, mainly of poor creatures injured by
falling bags of rice, or run over by the wheels of rice
c irts—carte drawn by human beings, not by cattle,
for half the cattle are dead." In the midst of all this,
"there have been remarkably few robberies," and the
law has been generally respected. That prompt and
liberal help is needed cannot be doubted, and it is to
be hoped, now that the heart of England has been
touched by a record of the misery which exists in
Southern India an exceptionally generous response
will be made to the earnest appeals for aid on behalf
; of our afflicted fellow-subjects. There must be no
delay, and Lancashire may be expected to set a good
, example to other localities. It has been suggested
, that collections should be made in churches and
; chapels on a Sunday specially appropriated to the
purpose. The idea is not a bad one, and a larr sum
ought to be realised. But the time for action has
arrived, and the labour of love should not be postponed.
The cries of starving millions cannot be listened to
unheeded. Vague and indefinite as may be our
notion,' of India,----the habits, customs, and social life
of the people, their various languages and creeds, their
diversity of race and temperament, we now have some-
thing tangible to deal with in the famine. The wants
of our fellow-imbjects must be alleviated to the very.
best of our ability, and that, too, with swift prompti-
tude. Beyond these regions in the East where the sky
is red with blood, starving millions cry aloud fcr
succour. They are our fellow-subjects; they belong to
a land which has been a 'source of wealth to England;
they have no means of helping themselves, and they
suffer from no fault of their own. Christianity and
humanity alike demand the exercise of self-denying
generosity at the hands of all classes at this critical
, moment in the history of India.

The petitions in favour of the Woman's Disabilities
Removals Bill, for the year 1877, s 0 far as it is gone,
amounted in April to 341, with 103,208 signatures.
Looking at the recent election for North Northampton.
shire, Miss Lydia Becker, has a strong case. No
woman of any sense we firmly believe would ever
have given her vote in favour of the titled idiot Lord
Burghley, whom the free and independents of the
division, have just sent to represent them. This young
nobleman, sums up his qualifications in the words,
"It is said I know nothing of politics. Well, pro-
bably I don't," In his address to his future constitu-
ent* during his canvass, Lori Burghley said that he
could not enlighten them on any political subject.
He said, "You all know what my principles are, and
whether you agree with them or whether you don't
don't matter much." In reply to an elector who asked
his opinion on County Boards, he said, "You are
trying to catch me; you tell me your opinicn, and
then I will tell you mine." Mr. Attenhorough wished
to ask his lordship's opinion about County Boards.
Lord Burghley replied that he had not read of them
before. At another meeting, Mr. Watts asked why a
man living in a town was more entitled to vote than a
man living in the country, and Lord Burghley re-
plied that he supposed that a man who lived in a
borough was a better man than if he lived in the
country, and said te his interrogator, " My opinion is
much the same as yours, knowing little of politics as I
do." Being further preseel with questions, and
having apparently come to the end of his ideas, he
took refuge in physical incapacity, and said he could
not last out much longer; he had got two ears, hut
only one mouth, and concluded by saying, "Well
now, gentlemen, I can't talk to you much longer,
because I shall bu'st if I do." After all, it is very pro-
bable his lordship is • fitting representative of the
intelligence of the men who sent lum to the House.

Some one says the beet way to maintain peace is to
be prepared for war. This is how we do it. The
recent activity at Woolwich and the dockyards has
unite subsided. The War Office is in full holiday, Mr.
Hardy being in Scotland, Sir Charles Ellice having
taken six weeks' leave id absence, and the Duke cf
Cambridge being at Homburg. There is a cessation of
Cabinet Councils also, and it is rumoured that the
Premier has received such ssosrances from RllBll6 as
to her intentions in the event of a temporary occupa-
tion of Constantinople, that even he haa ceased to be
bellicose. And the Queen it is said is going to
Berlin to attend the marriage of a grand-child—the
Prince+s Charlotte of Prussia.— Whotercr will become
of England!