The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-07-25 00:00:00

HARVEST PROSPECTS.

The following Is en extract from a Stew on the present
position of the harVOSI, eldin appeiu-edii, IV* Times at
Monday :
Respecting the entire growth of the country, I
can now support the opinion expreased in my former
letter by favourable reports tilat lately lb. ye largely
increased in number. Meeers. Sturge, in their lust cir-
cular, have twenty-six letters, twentv-one good, four
fair, and only one tuntatisfactory. The Mark Lane
Ex 4 r- se (July 13th) .ays General accounts of wheat
e more favourable than they NVVIV aome time t-L.ce,
in England and France " and couplirg hew y ad
li,t Cul e, "it is hoped, theretore, that the entire crop
will cone up to a fair average." In the i'armer, "A ,
good vivld, hair quarters or acre roubd, way be ex-
prcti it" In the kotice/t.,rnf ties tor of the 11th of
July, "Growing wheat maturing fast, and advitme re-
present prospect of yield and q:iality as very foot. urable,
on well-managcd soils decidedly over average." This
last opinion is endorsed by a firm of 31a:k-larti factors
in their eit•cillar. ,cal reports roil— Wheat crop well
spoken of in East Norliax, ii Nat,' in Ul"nce"er. ;
Cambridge better than expected,—wheat alone be Cs
f •vourable ; Lincoln, Wisbeacb, crops a fair yield ;
Vortharupion, wheat on the whole favourable York.
Derby, average crops ; Ilampshire, 4 qrs. to the acre ;
Bucks, wheat above average ; ENten, isixeat unusually
prolifid ano early ; Cembridge again, neat generally
a good crop, and fallirg from weight of ear; Glonoest r,
wheat on good land could not be better ; • biotin, on
better class Fen soils around Spalding, fine heaths above
average ; Mitidlese:;„, quite up to average : art elk,
best lands very superior, mixed soils beyond average,
on light land, an average ; Oxford, full ,t ield 0u whmt
soils, shot on hills anti light lands : Surrey, good crop
on good fields, but 2 to 3 ea ka less than promised in
June ; Surrey, Per Mg, very tine erup ; \Val ,on
well fanned lands, a pod yield, very bad nip on
gravels. These several report*, I may mention, follow
consecutively, only some three accounts giving un-
favourable estimates of the a heat crop, the letters ft, on
pewi. Ii complaining of the ravages of the midge, from
which generally the grain in Kent is free.
The Tirol:cation of wheat al ea. in England to other
wen crops is given in the last number of the Stori.o. t
Jour-,,?, through the means of coloured maps, showing
the East Coast counties, the South Nl idland, and the
South east couuties grow much the largest proportion
of the crop in England, and the Farber divided the
whole yield into fourths ; Lincoln, Yori , and NerFols,
one fourth Essex, Suffolk, Cambridge, Devon, Hemp-
thire, and Kent, one fourth ; Sussex. Wilts, Mures-
ter, Salop, Warwink, orthamptoe, Somerset, Notts,
Worcester, and Berke, one tomtit, and the remaitting
s2l counties the vonaiuder. The grow th of Scotland and
Ireland, not much exceeding the crop cf Line In. may,
however, be noticed. Of Scotland, Mee*, Al'Leau
cml Gone. is tit& drool:kr of the 1411 instant, any
"In spite if many drawl ache no Sr. inclined to regard
wheat an a good clip bailey an avertge, oats eonsider-
ably iirder, beagle and and peas deficient, potatees email in
bulk but fine in quality ; an early season is very much
in favour of crops in Scotland." From Ireland the
adviies I have seen are coaaicting ; oats, the principal
crop, nearly equalling the area of England and Wales,
appear likely to be deficient.
the relative areas of wheat, barley, and oats in Eng-
land may be taken as 34, 2, 14, or that barley and oats
about balance wheat ; it is therefore, a serious matter
that the two latter crepe are deficient, barley less so
than supposed a week ago, liut still considoi ably shoit,
while oats wi loot I mbably thresh out half a crop, at
the same time. as wog. outcry ,tien ia di, only to
wheat there can be but little reliance yielded to the
repot.' aid I arlev and oats; the fields I have seen in
the home counties have all been short.