The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-24 00:00:00

Agricultural Prospects.

Last week opened with a hot day, thick and
threatening at times, but with no rain. Monday
was fine, with a cool breeze from the north-east ;
thermometer 68 deg. in the forenoon, but later in
the day it touched 75 deg. ; barometer 30.10 inches.
Our advices from Surrey stated : " Such has been

_ _...-
the heat of the weather the last 10 days that--
the
crops have progressed to maturity as quickly asl ever
remember." Sussex and Hampshire says :—" Our
farmers are hacking (cutting) their peas and mowing
their winter oats. Next week they will be reaping
their Talavera wheat and mowing their early pieces
of barley. My nearest neighbour has cut, carried,
and thrashed his trifolium seed, and very fine it is."
Tuesday was again a favourable day, and hay-mak-
ing progresses as fast as hands can be secured. Our
advices bearing that date from Suffolk furnish the
following information : "Many complaints were
made to-day of the wheat crops, especially off the
heavy-land farms, and many of those gentlemen are
greatly discouraged as to the yield as *ell as the
quality, as much of the crop is what they call nickled
down, the straw broken by the storms, and the ear
downwards." From another part of thesame county:
" The weather is wonderfully forcing, and with a
continuance we shall have wheat cutting in three
weeks. Wednesday was a fine day, with rather more
sun than on the previous two days." From the
West Riding of Yorkshire our advices state : " The
weather continues all that could be desired for the
growing crops, and generally they look healthy and
good. Hay-making is progressing favourably, the
crops various, but moderately good on the
whole, and got up comparatively with little
expense. Turnips vary much, and arc not yet
out of danger." From the east coast of Scot-
land on that day our advices remarked : " The
weather is still all that can be desired for the grow-
ing corn ; rain, however, is still wanted." On the
west coast it was remarked—" The weather has been
hot and forcing." Thursday was a fine day, with oc-
casional clouds, but no rain, and hay went up well
in all direction; The advices from Berkshire stated

" We shall be reaping winter oats in the course of
next week. The wheat will not be ready for the
sickle for another fortnight ; the crop is variously
spoken of, but I am certain it will be below an ave-
rage in our neighbourhood." From Suffolk, near the
coast, our information stated--" We continue to
have favourable weather for our crops, which are
coming on nicely for harvest, the cool atmosphere of
the past few days having checked any tendency to
premature ripeness. The barometer falls slightly,
a little rain now would not be unacceptable." From
the interior of the same county it was written—
" With a week of fine summer weather all our crops
are progressing rapidly, and wheat cutting in all
probability will commence within a fortnight." From
Essex, in the neighbourhood of Saffron Walden, our
advices stated—" A large crop of hay, well secured.
Corn promises well, but many plots are ripening
prematurely." From Warwickshire the same day it
was remarked—" Weatherhas been uninterruptedly
fine, and excessively hot during the week. Hay har-
vest, though somewhat later than usual, is now pro-
gressing rapidly, crops being generally larger than
was anticipated. The corn is changing colour, and
we may look for harvest to commence in about three
weeks." From Surrey on the same day it was writ-
ten—" The crops have ripened in Surrey, Sussex,
and Hants even more rapidly than I anticipated in
my last. The Talavera wheat that I then spoke of
the farmer commenced reaping on Monday last,
the 16th inst., and, if he could have got hands
enough, would perhaps have got some of it thrashed
and sent to Guildford market on Saturday next.
It was his intention to have done so, but he
could not spare enough hands for the work, having
so much to do ; in fact, our farmers are in a
fix to get labourers enough just now." Friday was
a dry day, colder in the morning, but warm again in
the afternoon. Our advices from the West Riding
stated :—" The crops are all progressing favourably;"
and from the East Riding--" The weather is very
fine and dry, and harvest now makes rapid progress."
From Devonshire it was stated—" Weather con-
tinues very hot; some pieces of corn have been cut,
.and new oats and barley showing in the market;
many will cut wheat next week if the weather con-
tinues fine." From Lincolnshire it was remarked—
" The weather of late has been excessively hot, and
corn comes on fast and promisingly. Rain would,
however, do good, especially to barley, which on
thin soils is changing colours too rapidly—that is to
say, in one field you have two colours, part green
and part ripening prematurely. By all these ac-
counts people appear agreed that general harvest
will be in full swing in about three weeks, with a
continuance of favourable weather ; meantime early
patches will go on of 'Talavera wheat, winter oats,
and barley, with peas, and samples of these may
be seen at market during the next week."--Mark-
lane Express.