The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-14 00:00:00

Agricultural Prospects.

The week opened with a fine day, at times sunny,
and the night hazy. Monday was also a hazy,
doubtful morning, but the day held up, and field
work would go on steadily, wheat sowing being
completed in the earliest districts on light soils ; but
heavy lands were too stiff and hard to be worked with-
out more moisture, and on these much work is yet to
be done. Wind, S.W.; thermometer, 56 deg.; with
the barometer steady at 30in. Tuesday was a fine
day, sunny at times, and very unlike November. A
great deal of field work was accomplished iu the finest
order possible. Wind, S.S.W. ; thermometer, 54 ;
barometer, 30.05. In some parts of the north the
weather has not been so fine. From Northumber-
land it was stated :—" The weather since our last
has been mild, but damp ; wind W. to N.W., strong
and showery." In the West Riding of Yorkshire the
farmers are now tolerably busy, and the land works
well, as they will soon cometo a finish with a continu-
ance of the present favourable time. Turnips and
mangolds are plentiful, and there will be a good
supply of provender for the winter months. The
condition of the grain is improving, but
quality generally is very inferior throughout
Yorkshire. The discoloured barleys are, however,
now working better than they did at first, and
are selling at fair prices, considering this year's yield.
Wednesday was a fair and fine day, being the fourth
in succession, and the land worked still better. In
Scotland a good deal of rain had fallen ; and our
advices from the west coast stated : " The weather
has been very wet." From Lancashire our infor-
mation runs thus : " Though we have had much
changeable weather of late, it has scarcely impeded
the farmers' field labour, and fair progress has been
made in wheat planting, and the seed has gone into
the ground in propitiously fine order. As we do
not hear many complaints here about potatoes, we
may safely infer that the crop for winter use has
been mostly raised and housed ; indeed, those now
coming to market are of unexceptionable quality."
Thursday was a fine day, and at times sunny ; but
the barometer was falling fast, and at 8 p.m. some
heavy rain set in, that lasted for a few hours, and
would prove very acceptable to heavy land farmers.
The barometer had gone down to 29.75 in. From
Norfolk our advices stated : "The weather continues
fine, and enables farmers to proceed with thrashing
and land work." From Suffolk it was remarked :
"The weather continues fine and dry, and in some
cases wheat-seeding is quite stopped for want of
rain." Friday was again a fine bright day, the sun
shining forth at times, and field-work would pro-
gress steadily. From the West Riding of Yorkshire
it was stated : —" Weather on the whole is favour-
able for preparing and sowing the land, and making
good use of the supply of grass, which is plentiful."
From the East Riding our advices stated—" The
weather continues favourable for autumn sowing,
and good progress has been made so far under most
favourable circumstances." Saturday a dense fog
was experienced, which cleared off about noon.
Wind varied from S.E. to the south. Thermometer
43 deg., barometer 30.10 inches. The temperature
became milder in the evening, and at 10 p.m. rain
was experienced, with every indication of a wet
night. On the whole, a good deal of work has been
finished this week, and wheat thrashing may have
gone on; but farmers will not bring much forward
if the least further decline in prices should take place,
as they are generally impressed with an opinion that
ultimately higher rates must result from the last
beinga failing crop. With, however, from 50s. to
s. per qr. to be obtained for the choicest heavy
barley secured without rain, this corn must come out
in preference to wheat, and it will be thrashed vigo-
rously whilst the malting season lasts.—Mark Lane
Express.