The Express.
London, England, 1855-01-02 00:00:00

THE BRITISH CORN TRADE.

(Prom the lerls4ese• Lip rug.)

The year now brought to close hue been one of
the most eventful known by a large ponies of the present
generation; after nearly forty years' peace, Europe has
again become involved in war, the end of which so one can
foresee. Teas of thousands hay • el.eady bees numbered
with the dead, and we appear to be only on the threshold of
the gnat straggle. Many, very many, who gathered round
the family hoard hays had this Christmas to deplore the
hen or absence of friend or relative ; for not aloes flu we:
emd all its honors come among us, but the stroke of pest-t-
-hine*, in the shape of that dreaded disorder, cholera, has
=cried off its thousands. The year 1864 hue indeed been
met disastrous ; and, whilst we humbly bow to the dispen-
Misr of Providence, let us hope that the black cloud may
OMB pers away, and that the period of time on which we
sneer may prove more prosperous than the year now num-
bered with the past. Whilst deploring the many and severe
visitations to which the nation has been subjected, we must
not forget the inestimable blessing which has been bestowed
on the country b the abundance of the harvest. Barely
have we been favoured with more auspicious seasons ;
and it is no exaggeration to state that a larger amount
of hod has been raised in the United Kingdom than was
perhaps ever before grown. For this the nation cannot
be sufficiently grateful. Never wu a large harvest more
needed. The exhaustion of old stocks in all parte of the
world in consegastice of the extreme deficiency of the
previous year's crops, and the difficulties thrown in the
way of obtaining supplies from abroad in consequence
of the war with Russia, would have placed this country
in most critical position ; indeed, a deficient harvest
might, and probably would under the circumstances,
have led to want fearful to =template. The foregoing
remarks may perhaps not be altogether appropriate as a
preface to a review of the corn trade, but at a sue= like
the preeent, which is usually characterised by festivity
and sidefeing, it is natural to look back at what we have
passedthrengh, and to contemplate the future. May our
kinds and readers have fortitude and resignation to bear
up oder the misfortunes which may have fallen to their
individual share, and may the New Year bring them peace
end happiness!
We muse now water into that portion of our subject to
white ear euereks ere generally confined. Following our
anal enstroa, we shall at the close of the year lay before
our readers a short retrospect of the courseof the trade
during the twelve menthe. The great event at the opening
of 1864 was the imminent danger of Great Britain and
France bumming involved in the war then going on between
Russia and Turkey. The probability of the supplies of
corn from the Black Sea and Azoir being out off was re-
garded as sufficient cause to calculate on a high range of
prices; and though we were then receiving very large quan-
tities of groin from eastern ports, quotations nee is. to is,
per qr. at Mark-lane in the month of January, and is pro-
portion at most of the principal provincial markets. Is
February the upward movement received a check : France,
which had previously been purchasing largely in the Eng-
lish markets, began maddeely to send us supplies. Consi-
derable re-shipments of American flour were made about
this time from Havre. Belgium also Webbed some
quantity of wheat, and the winds from distant
ports were meanwhile on a liberal seals ; the effect of this
was a decline of 6s. per qr. in prices : the depression in-
creased in March, and a further decline of 6.. to Se
per qr. was the result, bringing prices dews to somewhat
below the point at which they stood previous to the rise in
January. One important cause which operated in f
of the decline was the generally auspicious nature of the
weather throughout the spring. With a larger breadth of
land under wheat than usual, the young plant wore a
healthy and promising
.appearacee—a circumstance which
assisted greatly to allay lineations in regard to the future.
In the month of April war against Russia was officially de-
clared—the immediate effect of which, aid= by decreasing
deliveries of wheat from the growers, was a rise of Be. per
qr. ; but the extreme advance was not maintained to the
close. In May we received very large supplies from ports
east of Gibraltar and from the Baltic, and the erops con-
tinuing to progress favourably, quotatioes did not vary
materially : on the whole the tendency was, however, up
wards, more particularly towards the close Of the month.
During June matter...remained quiet: the advanced
period of the eau= and the prospect of ea excel-
lent harvest were not without their influence, sad though
the foreign supplies had then begun to fell off,
the home deliveries were very small, still wheat rued= Is.
to 2s. per qr. Towards the sloes of July we had a posited of
very hot weather, by which the crops WON fend forward
rapidly ; nada these circumstances, very imengnine Wyss ef
an early and abundant harvest were indulged in, end
something like a panic seised sellout prime fell hem day
to day, and in the space of a month wheat dulls= Me. per
qr. at liark•laue. Early in August samples of the new
crop began to be exhibited: and though these wee net
perhaps all that might be desired la point eilDsnalfty, there
was not much to complain of on that sure, while 4 the re
ports in regard to the yield were highly oath/seem : prices
then ranged fur good new wheat from 60e. to 70s ; some
inferior ill-condittoned lots were sold at 60e. to 655. per qr.:
meanwhile old wheat gave way in value to the extent
of about 2s. per qr. September proved unusually fine,
and the harvest, though commenced later than usual,
was brought is a successful termination. The complete
exhaustion of old stocks, and the fact that the war with
Russia would deprive us of further supplies from the
Black Sea, &a, were for a time wholly overlooked, and
nothing but the abundance of our own sups was dwelt
upon ; the most extraordinary ideas of the probable future
ranee of prices began to be indulged in, and the millers re-
fused to buy except at very low rates. This state of things
lasted until the value of capital new Kent and Essex red
wheat, weighing 631be.r bushel had been depressed to
495. ' and 60s. and floe white was sold at Ms. to Ms. per qr.
Almost immediately afterwards a rally took place, sad is
the course of • fortnight quotations advanced is. per qr.

TM upward esevemeat benne more &skied In October,
end similar nuts of wheat to those sold early in September
at 60s. per qr. ware, before the Weans' of November,
worth 74a. to 765. per qr., and other sorts nee in proportion.
In November byelaw was comparatively onto, and We
than the factualism@ have not been extreme.
W laveew twit the nurse of the wheat trade from
the .Is die eadi of the year. The amiss have
been efeetaseffirim la say prendiog year for WOW,
hut we re isappp to flat the trod.
.h in genera m-
ated blip 'mien , sod that w have bend of few
lessee et a mains oaten, sash as la bran pedals of ea-
Ward have ham but Ms wain To oar eirleadttual
Meads the yeati.llll4 lane, In a peanalary pain of view,
have beat h*ly Womble ; atot oaly have they secured
=praises ot 'sod quality, bat aff ankles have coup
newerative 'dun Our span will not admit of
ear saleekt" labs a Wade sewn of the changes in quota-
tions defter Wade agora, list, as a general rule, we may
roma& taut the ague of wheat has, as usual, inhumed
the@ of span sues, midi the time sad fall in prate of the
base has bees ragalain a good den by the changes in the
beam. WI shell Mn dismiss that which has passed, and
offer snit ealgerlion so we swan may amidst our readan
in forming ea opines ia mord to the probable future.
The Asa sad men inipseaset matter for oonsideration is
the 'neat of the sleeks as head ; the neat, the prospects
as regards future @applies from abroad. Positive informs-
tioa ea them plate hi not to be arrived at ; 'till, by careful
investleMila a nanny clear one may be made out. With
' feteMliell In Wks of old wheat there is little or no cliff-
' gaily, tits Vona part of what remains being held in Lon-
des and a few of the principal ports on the wan ; the
quantity may, therefore, be pretty nearly ascertained ; but
it 1. widely different when the stocks of satire-grown wheat
are under consideration, as these are spread over the whole
kingdom, and there is no statistical information regarding
tits same. _ _ . _ .

The importations of foreign wheat have during the last
throe or four months been my much below the usual
avenge ; and though the granaries and warehesuses were
well filled at harvest time, they are now nearly empty.
There is, consequently, no difficulty in coming to a conclu-
sion, and we do not hesitate teay that there is less foreign
wheat in the United Kingdom than has been the case at
any previous period for years past. With respect to what
may remain in farmers' hands, we can only judge by infer-
ence. We shall start, then, by repeating what we
have already asserted, viz., that the last crop was
one of unusual abundance, probably a fourth above
the produce of good avenge seasons ; bat, on the
other hand, it must be recollected that, owing to
the extreme deicieney of the harvest of 1863 there was
little or no old wheat of home growth on band at harvest
time. This being the case, the new produce had to be com-
menced upon almost as soon as it was enured, and so large
have been the deliveries ever since, as to render it ques-
tionable whether growers at this time hold more wheat
than they usually have at the corresponding period of the
year. In addition to a very large consumption, a larger
quantity than anal has been taken for seed, as the pros-
pect of rempenting prices, sad the favourable weather at
seed-time, induced farmers to cultivate wheat more exten-
sively than they otherwise might have done. In addition
to this exports to some extent have been made to France
and Belgium. We think, therefore, that there is reason:to
conclude that farmers as a body hold rather lees than is
generally the case at the commencement of the new year.
If this should really prove to be the case, we should require
very large imports between the present time and autumn.
The next point of considerationis, where are these to come
from ? As long as the war with Russia continue, no sup-
plies of moment can be looked for from sny of the ports
east of Gibraltar. rhere has lately been some talk of the
blockade of the mouths of the Danube being raised, but
there is no positive information on the subject. Granting,
however, that this were the case, we question whether any
ceraitegessatoir eou
thatldthbee :orozyred freugenhthwenheiedi for m
that ast
runs, and the provinces when the corn is grown which fur-
nishes the Danube supplies, have been occupied for more
than twelve months by hostile armies. Corn has been con-
sumed and destroyed, and the cultivation of the land inter-
fered with, and the regular course of business interrupted.
We think it may therefore be fairly concluded that, until
pease shall have been restored, we cannot safely reckon on
any aid from the Black Sea, Azoff, (Lc. The same may be
said in regard to the Mediterraneanparte. The Italian
states do not appear to have grown enough fortheir own oon-
, sumption, and the export of grain from Italy has for some
' time pest been prohibited ; the Preach and Belgian govern-
ments have also adopted that step te guard against high
prices; hence we have only the northern parts of Europe,
Spain, to depend on for our future supplies. That
' our prime are sufficiently high to induce great exertions to be
made by foreign shippers to send all they can collect to
' great Britain cannot be questioned • but the sources from
which supplies can reach us have been so narrowed, u to
render imports on so extensive a scale sa we have of Ist.
years been accustomed to receive almost impossible. The
question, then, resolve' itself into this: have we adequate,
stocks on hand to carry us to the next harvest with di-
minished imports ? On this depends the future range of
prices. We shall not attempt the answer, but shall leave
it to our readers to take each their individual opinion on
the subject. A termination of hostilities against Kuria
would of course work • great change, and the possibility
of peace should not be lost sight sif. We shall now pro-
ceed to notice the transactions at Mark-lane during the pan
week.

Business throughout has been very quiet ; but there have
been no indicatioas of a want of firmness, • and previous
prices have been very steadily supported.
On Wednesday there was a fair show of wheat from
Essex, Kent, and Suffolk, which was held at similar tunas
to thou current the previous week. For white wheat
there was a moderately good demand, and the Fele: stands
were cleared at rates quite equal to those previously paid;
but a considerable quantity of the Heat wheat remained
unsold. Then was no increase of activity on Friday; but,
on the other hand, there wu no inclination to press sales,
and needy buyers had to pay former prices.
Though the wind has been rather more favourable this
week for arrivals from the north of Europe, only 14,236 qn.
of foreign wheat have been reported up to this (Saturday)
evening. The country demand has been of the same retail
character as for some time past, and the town millers have
purchased cautiously; the transactions have, therefore, not
been extensive. Where sales have been made, however,
very full terms have been realised; end so confident are
holders of old wheat as to the future, u to show but little
anxiety to realise at present.
The arrivals off the coast from ports east of Gibraltar
have been quite trifling, and there have been few offers of
cargoes oa plunge ; in which position of affairs no quotetle
change hi. occurred in prices. The operations in Baltic
wheat on passage have been less extensive than heretofore,
owing in a great measure to the high pretensions of seller,
No alteration has taken place in the top price of town-
manufactured flour. Norfolk and similar qualities have
been rather slow of sale, but have not been parted with at
less mosey than before. A few thousand burets of American
float, have come to head this week, for which very full terms
have been asked.
The supply of home-grown barley has not been particu-
larly large ; but the realtsters and distillers having held off,
and the export demand having subsided, this grain has
been difficult of disposal. The sales made on Wednesday
were at prices sanely equal to those current previous to
the holidays; and on Friday a small decline was in some
eases submitted to, to induce purchasers to act. Of foniga
barley scarcely any has come to hand for some weeks past,
and the quantity in the market is so small, that sellers ere
not inclined to accept lower terms: at the urns time, there
is very little demand for the article.
The value of malt has rather tended downwards.
The arrivals of oats coastwise and from Ireland have
been trifling, and we have not bad so many offers by nil as
of late From abroad we have received a fair supply, vim.,
13,405 sin. The dollen have (as is usually the are in the
Christmas week) operated very cautiously ; but the market
having become rather bare, fasters have insisted ea fully
former rates; indeed, on Friday a slight advance was
asked. and in partial instances obtained, for fine corn.
Unless we receive much more abundant supplies from
abroad than we have had of late, a moderate rise in prises
of oats appears probable.
Buns have been neglected, and prices have been the tans
in favour of the purchaser.
Peas have become almost =saleable, and, in the absence
of businese, quotations must be regarded as in a great mea-
sure nominal.