The Express.
London, England, 1853-09-13 00:00:00

TO Till IDITOIL 01 Till Limnos.

Sin,—Slowly and doubtfully the harvest gets on. A 1
tine day and two wet once, or three dry days followed
by two of drenching rain, harebeen the alternatives by
which the patience and pockets of the British farmer
have been tried during the present season ; sad
though during the last few days the weather has
somewhat improved, the season has become late, and
the dews and fogs, which now too often prevail,
greatly retard all harvest work.
Tho results with which the public will be most
eoncerned seem to be shortly these; the wheat crop
is a rhort one, both from the deficient breadth sown
on the heavy soils, in consequence of the wet autumn
and winter, and from thinness of plant, where,
in spite of wet weather, or lateness of
season, wheat was actually sown ; but the
quality of the new wheat generally exceeds
anticipation, and the yield in proportion to
the straw will certainly prove large. Yet, taking all
favourable circumstances into consideration, our

home growth must be under an average one, and
large importations will be required. The quiet state
of the corn market last week, the moment the foreign
demand for wheat ceased, must satisfy every one
that supplies will be forthcoming to satisfy our
wants at prices which will not materially interfere
with the comforts of our now prosperous population.
Thanks to Free Trade, our markets are now regu-
larly supplied with corn at the natural prices of the
day, and with the commercial resources of this coun-
try those prices will never be extravagantly high.
The barley crop, which this year is of unusually high
value, has yet for the most part to be harvested.
Some of it is late in ripening; a good deal has been
beaten down by violent rains, and the clover and
grass, sown with the barley, have grown through the
straw' injured the quality of the grain, perhaps; whilst
the abundance of clover caused by so much wet
everywhere renders it necessary to keep the barley
for a long time in the fields. So much barley was
sown last spring on land intended for wheat, but
remaining unsown from the wet weather, and the
barley crops having generally proved good, that
it is truly said the money value of this grain will be
greater than was ever before obtained in this country
from a year's growth of barley. To farmers, the
next fortnight must prove an anxious period.
_ _

Oats and beans are likewise very backward, and
though on reasonably well-managed land the crops
are good, they are not so generally abundant as
barley. Horse keepers will find that their hay and
corn bills range somewhat larger than they have been
accustomed to pay of late years. Good hay, too,
must be scarce, for the haymaking season was most
precarious, though inferior hay and aftergrass are
sufficiently abundant.
The prices for live stock are as high as ever, and
meat is unusually dear ;—and all this notwithstanding
large importations of live animals, by which the
political leaders of the farmers formerly told their fol-
lowers the British grazier was to be entirely rained.
In the seven months ending on the sth of August of
last year the numberof oxen imported wa512,722; this
year, during the corresponding period, the number has
increased to 17,8.35. For seven months of 1852 the
importations of sheep amounted to 62,528 ; in 1853
they have increased to 85,079. Yet, despite this
" foreign competition," the British grazier is this
year about as prosperous a gentleman as is to be
found in her MAJESTY'S dominions. Aye, and his
prosperity is likely to be permanent; for, notwith-
standing the high rates at which he deals out his
beef, mutton, and pork, the public are not only able to
pay the price, but demand larger and larger supplies.
The same Board of Trade tables show that vastly in-
creased importations of wheat and flour have not pre-
vented the British farmer from obtaining prices for
his grain which are confessedly " remucerative ;"
and there is no doubt that farmers who
have complete command of their business, holding
over a fair proportion of old wheat, and keeping or
feeding a proper quantity of live stock, have this
year made very satisfactory profits. Of course oc-
cupiers whose means only enable them to get on
upon the hand-to-mouth system, suffer greatly from

the wretched season, but tho substantial capitalist
farmers are better off now than they have bees—as
a body—since 1815, when the attempt was made to
bolster up prices by Protection.
And though all reasonable persons admit these
facts, which are patent as daylight, there are vague
mutterings heard from tithe to time amongst
the discomfited Protectionists, to the prejudice
of Free Trade; _ because, forsooth, open ports

have not prevented the occurrence of a rainy season
and a consequent advance of prices. Such nonsense
finds vent in the Protectionist press, and even the
quondam adherents of the restrictive system cannot
abstain altogether from their old fallacies. Thus, at
the East Suffolk Agricultural Association, though
Lord STRADDROKR, the President, admitted that the
agriculturists had " weathered the storm," that " an
increase of wages of all engaged in laborious pur-
suits," had taken place, and that " the humbler damn
are in the enjoyment of luxuries previously unknown
to then," Sir FITZROY KELLY expatiated on the
"severe trials" farmers had been subjected to, and
intimated that the farming interest had only
" partially risen " from the " depression " occa-
sioned by the change from Protection to Free Trade.
He then proceeded to give the Protectionist version
of " the causes which have led to this appear-
ance of prosperity." First, the influx of gold, next
emigration, and lastly their own exertions, " had
partially relieved the agricultural depression." And
even when afterwards inculcating self-reliance, and
urging the farmers to, diminish as far as possible the
cost of production, he could not forbear to designate
as " unfortunate legislation " the abrogation of that
system which experience has now proved to have
rendered self-reliance possible amongst tenant far-
mers, and greatly enhanced the cost of agricultural

produce. To what contradictions and absurdities are
such politicians as Sir FITzROY KELLY driven.
Fortunately, however, for farmers and farm
labourers, they have escaped from the protective
system, and the erroneous legislation of their self-
styled friends. The prosperity now enjoyed by the
labouring classes was the theme of all the speakers at
the East Suffolk meeting, and a very significant illus-
tration incidentally occurred of the greater advan-
tages these classes enjoy under the laws of sound
political economy, than under the dominion of land-
lords' law. We all recollect the lamentable accounts
of deficient cottage accommodation in the rural
districts, and all who have any intimate acquaint-
ance with these districts are aware that the land-
lords, and the landlords only, are answerable for
such deficiencies. Now, however, the landowners
are beginning to suspect that the "surplus labour'
they once dreaded is a myth, and that the emigra-
tion of labourers is likely to go too fa: for the inte-
rests of rent receivers. They therefore talk of
making the labourer's home more attractive. He is
no longer to be hunted out of close parishes lest he
should possibly fall on the poor's-rate. He is now
to have a dwelling near his work, even if his pre-
sence should disturb the hares or invade the solitude
of the landlord's pheasants. Lord STRADBROKE told
the landowners of East Suffolk "the time had
now arrived when it would be prudent to put a
check on this emigration. In his opinion, the
only feasible way to effect this would be by im-
proving the habitations of the poor, and by erecting
them in the vicinity of those places where their