The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-16 00:00:00

THE INDIA MAIL.

MARSEILLES, WEDNESDAY.
The Indian Mail left hero at nine o'clock this

morning.

JOHN BULL.—The English are a calm, reflecting
people ; they will give time and money when theyare con-
vinced ; but they love dates, names, and certificates.
In the midst of the most heart-rending narratives, Bull
requires the day of the month, the year of our Lord, the
name of the parish, and the countersign of three or four
respectable householders. After these affecting circum-
stances, he can no longer hold out ; but gives way to
the kindness of his nature—puffs, blubbers, and sub-
scribes.—Sydney Smith.
THE COAL AND IRON TRADE— There is still a slack-
ness of orders in some descriptions of iron boiler plates,
and bars are not so much in demand as they were, but
sheet-iron and rails are in good request. Some of the
houses are about sending out more circulars declaring a
reduction of 20s. per ton in some sorts of iron. We
have already considered the present price of iron too
high for general purposes, but the high rate of the raw
material having forced up pigs, there was no alterna-
tive, as we then stated, but an advance in merchant
iron, which took place in July last. Pig having receded
in price these last few weeks leaves room for a reduction
in malleable iron ; but some of the first houses are so
full of orders that they will not readily give way.
Ironstone is still scarce, and is realising 225. and 235.
per ten. This being the case, pigs cannot fall in price
much till the other resources are made available. The
coal trade remains good, and if it were not for the
miserable state of the canals through the shortness of
water it would be much brisker. The labour market is
in a highly excited state, and there is no probability of
a diminution. taking place at present in the rate of
wages.—Wolverhampton Herald.
CORN STATISTICS IN FRANCE.—We read in the
Siecle :—" According to the latest statistical returns,
the crops of every kind of corn in an average year in
France now amount to about 180,000,000 hectolitres.
In wheat our country produces 60,000,000 of hecto-
litres ; rye 16,000,000 ; barley, 19.000,000 ; metiel (a
mixture of wheat and rye), 11,500,000; oats, 46,000,000;
buckwheat, 5,000,000 ; maize and millett, 7, 000 000 ;
small grain, pulse, &c., 2,500,000. The crop of ;heat
is, therefore, in the proportion of 60 to 180 ; that of
oats, 30 to 180 ; and that of rye, 23 to 180 ; that is to
say, these three descriptions of corn, compared with all the
others, are in the proportion of 103 to 77 only. This
quantity of 180,000,000 of hectolitres of corn is not all
consumed ; deducting a seventh part, or 25,700,000
hectolitres, for seed, there remains 154,300,000 for the
general consumption. As, however, oats, the net produc-
tion of which is 39,250,000 hectolitres, cannot be reck-
oned as human food, we find that the quantity remaining
for the food of the people is 115,050,000 hectolitres. If
a • now take the different crops by weight, which is
the best means of estimating the nutritive value of each,
it may be said that the average weight of wheat is
77 kilogrammes per hectolitre, that of rye 60 kilogrammes,
barley 60 kilogrammes, metiel 70 kilogrammes, buck-
wheat 60 kilogrammes, maize 78 kilogrammes, and dry
pulse 80 kilogrammes. It follows, therefore, from these
bases that with 51,500,000 hectolitres of wheat, weighing
3 milliards of kilogrammes, and the other quantities
of corn in proportion, we have a total weight of
8,046,800,000 kilogrammes of corn fit for the consump-
tion of man. It has been calculated that on an average,
including women, children, and old people, it requires
220 kilogrammes of corn per year for the food of one
person. This would therefore be for France, where the
population is reckoned at 36,000,000, a total of
7,920,000,000 kilogrammes. If, therefore, from the
8,046,800,000 kilogrammes calculated, as above stated,
for human consumption, there be deducted the
7,920,000,000 for the consumption of France, the
following result, which must be satisfactory to every
one, is come to—namely, that France, in an average
year, has a crop of 127,000,000 kilogrammes of corn be-
yond the wants of the people, and that she could still
feed 600,000 inhabitants more than the present number
of her population."