The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-17 00:00:00

THE 1131?,VEST.

The Times thus remarks upon the weather and th•
:rops :—" The weather up to Saturday night was
exceedingly unfavourable for securing the crops in the
eastern district. Thus far the wheats have not sus-
tained much injury, but fine weather is now urgently
needed for securing the harvest. A report from Bungay,
Suffolk, states that the yield of wheat in that locality will
fall short of that last year. Barley, however, is upon the
whole a fair average crop. The weather has been very un-
propitious about Debenham, Suffolk, for harvest opera-
tions ; nevertheless, several pieces of wheat in the neigh-
bourhood have been cut. A large number of Irish
harvestmen have arrived at Lincoln, but at pre-
sent not much progress has been made with
harvest work in that neighbourhood ; last year
the Irishmen arrived too late ; this year they have
come too early. Wheat cutting has nor become pretty
general in the neighbourhood of Godmanchester, Hunt-
ingdonshire, but the weather has been dull and
showery. The wheats have turned out well, upon
the whole, about Godmanchester. Harvest operations
have become general about Crowland, Lincolnshire ;
farmers complain of the wheat crop being below
the average, as regards both quantity and quality.
Oats and barley are, however, admitted to be
good. Harvest round Kettering, Northamptonshire, is
three weeks later than last year. It is feared that the pro-
bable yield will be two quarters per acre below the crop of
last year; on the stiff soils the result is, however, more
encouraging. Barley will be full average crop about Ketter-
ing, and oats are also good,"

The Magnet says: "Another week of unsettled weather
succeeding the late rains, occurring at a time when a
warm, dry atmosphere is urgently needed for the prosecu-
tion of harvest work, has considerably strengthened the be-
lief that the crops will turn out unsatisfactory, both as
regards quality and quantity. From all parts frequent
complaints are heard of damage sustained by the wheat
from the continuance of wet weather, and, as at the
present moment, the weather !thews no signs of holding
up, apprehensions as to the ultimate safety of the crop
are becoming more general. In some Farts the sheaves
have been so thoroughly drenched as to render it almost
impossible to carry them, and scarcely any wheat has
been carted in good condition. There Is no doubt that
too sanguine expectations have till recently been enter-
tained in respect to the wheat crop. There is no scarcity
of excellent straw, but the ears are small and thin, and
when thrashed out we believe that the yield will turn out
to be even smaller than was expected by comretent
authorities—that it will be under the average, and that
that the quality will be inferior, are.admitted facts. Great
variety is looked for in yield, quality, and weight. The
best-farmed lands slim the best results, but even from
them a heavy crop is not expected. A few samples of
Talavera wheat, exhibited at Mark-lane, were of middl-
ing quality, weighing about 61 to 631bs. per bushel.
Barley promises to yield well, and oats are generally re-
garded with satisfaction ; at the same time, the ravages
committed by fly and lice have not been sufficiently exten-
sive to preclude the possibility of securing a fair crop of
beans and peas. Roots look well. Mangolds and turnips
will be more than an average, the late rains having
increased their bulk. Potatoes, also, are free fioru
disease, and fast improving. The pastures are in excel-
lent condition."

"In the early districts of North Lancashire," says tne
Liverpool Mercury, "the harvest may now be said to have
fairly commenced. The wheat crop is very various. In
the Fylde generally the wheat will he about one-sixth
less than that of last year; but about Cockerham,
and in that neighbourhood, it is expected that the
weight of grain will be almost equal to last year's
growth. The Preston Farming Company, who rent 550
acres of laud reclaimed from the marshes by the Ribble
Navigation Company, aro now in the midst of
their harvest, and have about 200 acres of
wheat and oats already cut. The quantity of
straw will be quite equal to that of last year, but,
having thrashed out a portion of the crop, they
find the yield of grain rather less than was expected.
Throughout the district beans never looked better ; a
considerable breadth of this pulse has been grown, and the
crop is expected to be very heavy. Barley is now cut-
ting in the early districts, and promises a good yield of fine
quality. On the Pilling mosses potatoes aro not doing so
well, but in other parts of the Fylde, and in the districts
south of the Ribble, they present a very favourable appear-
ance. Turnips and mangold wurtzels are doing well, the
late rains haiing had a very beneficial effect upon them,
as well as upon the grass lands, which were getting bare.
The crop of hay is much heavier than that of last year,
and has been secured in excellent condition."

Wheat has sold at two shillings per quarter more money
than on Monday last.

The Church Commission will mcct in Dublin to-
day. Meetings for business will not begin until the
20th of September.

The emigration of Cornish miners continues, more
than 50 having left the country during the past week. The
cause is not want of employment, but the low rate of wages.
Unfortunately, the minors who are emigrating are mostly of
the best class.

An order has been received at Chatham dockyard
directing the construction of a target of unusual strength,
to be used at Shooburyness in the trials which are about be-
ing carried out with various descriptions of artillery, for the
purpose of ascertaining the effects of vertical filing.

The body of Mr. George Evans, the captain of the
steam-tug, the boiler of which blew up last week, was found
on Sunday afternoon lying in the mud on the Lank of the
Thames near the Tower. An inquest will bo held upon it
to-day.

The Vicarage of Doncaster is going a-begging.
Dr. Vaughan has taken so many responsibilities upon him-
self that it is bard to find any one to take his place. Ho
spent the greater part of his official income—X6so—in pro-
viding curates.

The Birmingham papers state that there is no pro-
bability of the Drillers' strike terminatiug at present. Of all
the nail masters that were written to respecting a new jig,
not one returned any answer. The condition of the nailers,
owing to the inclemency of tho weather during the last
fortnight, is most miserable.

The criminal business of the Yorkshire Summer
Assizes at Leeds was brought to a close on Saturday with a
singular trial in the Crown Court, in which Robert Smith,
of Bradford, was charged with having falsely imprisoned
Mercy Wood, a lunatic, and taken possession of her property.
The prisoner hed carried off the lunatic from her relations
and locked her up in his own house. It was not known
what bad become of her until lately, when she was seen at
a window in a state of nudity. It was stated for the defence
that there had been an attachment between Miss Wood and
the prisoner in early life, and that her removal to Lis house
was by his own consent. The learned judge considered
that the case of false imprisonment had been made out, and
the prisoner was found guilty ; but he was discharged on Lis
own recognisances on the understanding that be would give
up the lunatic's property-.
We regret to announce the death of Mr. Charles
Moore, M.P. for the county of Tipperary.
The great battle-fields of the late American civil
war are about to be illustrated by a series of views, pub-
lished in chronao-lithographic style, and taken from oil
pictures painted on the spot. The accomplished artist,
George L. Frankenstein, has been engaged in hard and
incessant labour for three years on these views, and, it is
stated, has travelled at least 4,000 miles to the different
battle-fields. The views, each measuring 14 inches by 10
inches, are to be publishad in one or more volumes, toge-
ther with descriptions of the different battle-fields, con-
tgittiPS liiNt9llC4l OPIWIti9I4.