The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-02 00:00:00

Agricultural Prospects.

The week opened with a tolerably dry day, al-
though threatening ; the wind from the S.E., and
with rain at night. Monday was wet up to mid-

day, when it cleared up, but no harvest work could
be performed. Tuesday opened with a dense fog,
which cleared off at 10 a.m., and the day proved a
splendid and brilliant one, finer than any experi-
enced for a long time past, and a good deal of corn
was hurried up, mostly in poor condition ; but the
farmers were determined to take advantage of the
sun and secure as much as . they possibly could.
Wind S.S.W., thermometer 56 degrees, barometer
up to 30 inches. Our advices from the West Rid-
ing of Yorkshire stated—" We have had the wea-
ther very changeable for several days past ; but
notwithstanding the wet, we have very few
fields of grain out in our neighbourhood, as the far-
mers have availed themselves of pushing forward,
carrying whenever a fine day intervened. Last Sun-
day was very fine, as also to-day, but yesterday was
quite the reverse." From the East Riding our ad-
vice says :—" The weather continues unsettled, and
a great deal of rain has fallen during the week ; still
farmers, whenever they have had a chance of even
a few hours of dry weather, have hurried their corn
into stack, and the bulk of the wheat is now secured,
but in very poor condition. A good quantity of
beans and oats still out in the fields." From Bed-
fordshire it was remarked—" Harvest work is com-
pleted in this part of the country. ,Wheat and
barley have been secured generally in good condition
as relates to that portion just carried. The little
standing out since the rain was much injured. Some
fields of oats have also suffered." From Monmouth-
shire the accounts run :—" The weather continues
wet, and farmers are beginning to give up
all hopes of a change taking place, so as to
afford an opportunity of getting in their outstanding
cereal crops." From Northumberland our informa-

don comes to this—" The weather since our last
report has been unsettled. Saturday and yesterday
were very wet ; wind varying from S.W. to N.W.
and N.E." On Wednesday the morning was wet,
and the day was gloomy and showery, putting a
stop to harvest work. From the west coast of Scot-

land accounts were more favourable, stating—" We
have had several *lays of fine weather." From the
east coast, harvest work had gone on better, and
some new wheats have appeared at Edinburgh, of
very various quality and condition, and such was the
case also with barley. From Norfolk it was remarked
—" We had much rain at the close of the week ; and
although all our corn is hereabouts housed, the
weather has had its effect on the minds of the buyers."
Thursday was a thick foggy day, but there were
gleams of sunshine occasionally, and with no rain
farmers carried corn in the late districts to some ex-
tent. Our a dvices from Warwickshire state—" Wea-
ther has again been very unfavourable for the corn-
pletion of the corn harvest. A great quantity of rain
has fallen ; and although Sunday, Tuesday, and
yesterday were fine, the nights have been wet, and
we have not had 24 consecutive hours of fine weather
for upwards of a month. This fact alone will show
in what condition grain in this district must have
been gathered, and there yet. remains in the fields a
considerable amount of barley and beans." From
Suffolk, near the coast, it was remarked : " During

the past week we have had heavy rains, either early
or late, almost daily, which prevent thrashing, and
although our prices have steadily improved our sup-
plies are very scanty for the season." On Friday
morning some slight rain fell, but the afternoon
was sunny and warm. Our advices from the West
Riding of Yorkshire stated : " The weather still
keeps very unsettled, and to-day is very wet." From
the East Riding : " The weather for the past week
has been very unpropitious, much rain having fallen
at intervals ; and the crops, a great part of which
in this district are still in the fields, are in a critical
condition." Saturday was a close, muggy day, sunny
at times, and harvest work would go on generally
where there was yet any corn still out. On the
whole, in the Midland counties and northward, in-
cluding Scotland, more has been secured this week
than last. One week of fine weather would bring
the harvest to a conclusion, and enable farmers to
make a beginning with the ploughing, now so very
backward, while the sowing must this season be
very late. The very high prices paying for barley
will somewhat make amends for the expensive time
of ingathering, and this corn may be thrashed in-
stead of wheat, so long as the present high rates
can be obtained. On 25 days in this month more
or less rain has fallen, and only four dry ones have
been experienced.—Mark-lane Express.

ACCIDENT ON THE SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY.-:
On Sunday morning an accident of a rather serious nature
occurred to the express mail train of the South-Eastern
Railway at Tunbridge Junction. The train leaves Charing-
cross at 7.25, and London-bridge station at 7.38. It pro-
ceeded all right to the Tunbridge Junction, at which point
a portion of the train, containing the passengers for Tun-
bridge-wells and Hastings, is detached, the front portion
running on to Dover. By some misadventure the detached
portion of the train, consisting of four well-filled carriages,
was sent into a siding, instead of forward on the main line
to the station platform. The passenger carriages ran with
considerable speed into a train of empties which was stand-
ing on the siding. A considerable number of the passen-
gers sustained rather severe injuries in scalp wounds,
bruises, contusions, and concussion, bat the rumours afloat
this morning as to the number and severity of the injuries
sustained—of two persons having died of them, &c., are,
we are glad to learn, greatly exaggerated. As far as we
can ascertain there were no broken bones, although three
of the carriages were shivered to pieces. The accident is
supposed to be attributable to two causes—the pointsman
having sent the carriages on to the wrong line, and the
guard of the detached carriages having been too late in
uncoupling, so that he could not check the, momentum.--
Express.

FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO CHINA AND JAPAN.—
New York advices mention that the Colorado steamer will
open the line on Ist January from San Francisco to China,
to be followed by the Montanra and Rising Star, now on
the way from New York to Sart Francisce,—,London and
China Telegraph.