The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-10-05 00:00:00

Viz Ribroonl &tanbarD.

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TUESDAY MORNING, OCT. 5, 1847.

BY the last advices received previous to the arri-
val of the Caledonia, we were put in possession of
the fact, which fully bore out what we have all
along maintained in the columns of the LIVER-
POOL STANDARD, that, notwithstanding the enor-
mous shipments of breadstuffs from the United
States to Europe during the past year, the crop of
1846 and previous accumulations were far from
exhausted. We have now before us, in the papers
brought by that vessel, some data which confirm
this fact ; and at the same time enable us to form
some notion of what are our prospects of supply
from this year's crop. In the circular for Europe
contained in the New York Courier and Enquirer,
an able and generally cautious and correct autho-
rity, we find it stated that " in respect to further
exports of breadstuffs to Europe, there is a pause—
and consequently the stocks are accumulating, for
the old crop is far from expended, notwithstanding
the large exports; and the new is now fast coming
into market. This "pause" is easily accounted
for by the feeling created by the latest advices at
that time received from Europe, which contained
reports of unremunerative prices and of monetary
difficulties and failures in Great Britain. The
facts, both of the supply of old not being ex-
hausted and of rapidly-accumulating stocks at the
ports, are further confirmed by the large receipts
of tolls upon the canals for the first week of Sep-
tember as compared with last year, which were this
year 8105,178 12 against 881,481 15 last year.
The amounts received at Buffalo, Rochester, and
Oswego, for the same weeks, were respectively :
1846. 1847.
Buffalo 821,427 47 .... 824,681 76
Rochester 6,167 71 ..., 6,834 2
Oswego.
The bulk of the shipments represented by these
canal tolls, coming so close upon the maturing of
the harvest as the first week of September, must
consist of the remnant of the old crop, which has
still to come forward. Indeed, up to that period
we find few sales of the new crop noted.
Some idea of the extent of the last year's ship-
ments may be formed from the following items,
which we extract from a statement of the receipts
of produce at the port of New Orleans, for the
year ended Ist September, 1846, in the City article
of the New York Herald:—
_ _

Beans, bbls.
Corn Meal, bbls..
Corn in ears, bbls.

1845-6.
16,585
39,005
358,573

1846-7.
24,536
88,159
619,756

Corn shelled, sacks.... 1,166,120 .. 2,386,510
Flour, bbls.
Oats, bbls. and sacks .. 269,386 .. 588,337
Wheat, do. do. .. 403,786 .. 833,649
The receipts of breadstuffs of all kinds at New
Orleans have thus been double those of the last
year ; and the foreign exports of the two years
bear a corresponding proportion to each other.
The following remarks upon the above state-
ment, in the New Orleans Price Current, will be
read with interest by our corn-merchants and im-
porters, and are not unworthy of being perused
attentively by
.our agricultural readers :
in our previous annual reports, the branches of our
commerce embraced under this head have commanded
more and more of our attention, from year to year, ac-
cording to their rapidly extending importance ; but du-
ring the past season, particularly in the department of
breadstuffs, they have attained to a prominence which
gives remarkable evidence of the surprising advancement
of the fertile West in the development of her great re-
sources. In corroboration of this position it will be seen
by reference to our tables that the receipts of flour have
been about double those of last year, being 1,617,675
barrels against 837,985 barrels last season; or about five
times as much as was received ten years ago. The in-
crease in Indian corn has been still more remarkable, the
receipts this season being equal to 7,065,000 bushels,
against 3,543,000 bushels last year ; or more than seven
times as much as was received ten years ago. The re-
ceipts of wheat have always presented great fluctuations ;
but during the past two years the increase has been im-
mense. In 1845-6 the quantity received was more than
quadruple that of any previous year; and the arrivals of
the past season are more than double those of 1845-6;
being equal to 1,670,000 bushels, against 808,000 bushels.
In 1837-8 the receipts of this article did not amount to
5,000 bushels. It is, doubtless, within the knowledge of
all that the remarkable increase in the supplies brought
to market during the past season, has been mainly stimul
lated by the extraordinary foreign demand, to make up
the deficiency in the crops of Europe."
A more extraordinary instance of the rapid deve-
lopment of the resources of a country than is here
evidenced, has never been recorded in the world's
history ; for it is not the fact, as concluded by the
writer of the Price Current, that it is " the increase
of the supplies which have been brought to market"
which has been caused by the necessities of Europe,
but an increase of ability to supply which is shewn.
No emergency of ours could have drawn the food
from the increased population of America. There
must have been an increase of cultivation ; and
..the fact that since the probability of our scarcity,
and the more favourable terms upon which his
grain would be received into our markets, being
known, the American farmer has been able to
double the surplus available to supply us, conveys
to us a startling assurance of the rapidity with
which the fertile prairies of America can be con-
verted into the richest corn lands.
The following remarks by the same writer, upon
the fluctuations in prices which have taken place
during the year, also convey a lesson which ought
not to be lost sight of :
" With regard to prices, there have of course been
important fluctuations. according to the operations .of
speculators, and the tenor of the foreign advices received
from time to time ; but as our space will not permit us
to trace the market in its vacillating course, we must
content ourselves with noticing the extreme rates of the
season, which are as follow :—Flour—Ohio to the best
St. Louis City Mills—lowest point Sept. 12th, 83 25 to
43 87k; highest point June 2d, 86
75 to 47 50. In-
dian corn—lowest point Sept. 12th, 40c. to 45c. ; highest
point Feb. 24th, 41 to 41 10 per bushel in sacks.
Wheat—lowest point Sept. 12th, 40c. to 55c. ; highest
point June 12th, 41 50 to 41 65 per bushel in sacks and
barrels."
Now, if with flour at the comparatively low point
of 83 25 to £'3 871 on the 12th September, 1846,
(and it ruled low for some months previously, in
fact in seed-time,) the American farmer could
afford to still further increase his cultivation, we
must infer that he could grow and sell it without
loss at that price. Yet it is the fact that a vast
increase of cultivation has taken place during the
past year, and, irrespective of an excellent harvest,
America has largely increased in capability of sup-
plying Great Britain and Europe.
" With regard to supplies for the coming season, there
seems a probability that, what with favourable crops and
increased cultivation, our country will furnish a still
larger surplus for export than during the past year, par-
ticularly of Indian corn ; and although the prospect of
good crops throughout the countries of Europe will, if
realised, render them less dependent upon foreign im-
ports than during the season just closed, yet it is supposed
that their usual home stocks are so far exhausted that
there will still exist a large deficiency, to be made up
principally from this country. It is not likely, however,
that prices will rule as high as they have done during the
greater part of the past year ; though it is not improbable
that through the increase of inland and sea tonnage, and
the extension of canal and railroad facilities, the average
cost of transportation, both from the interior and to
foreign countries, may be so far reduced as to leave the
producer an ample remuneration."
The passage which we have marked in italics is
significant. It almost assures us, in direct terms,
that price will not keep back supplies ; and it
really ought to put to flight the notion promresent ul-
gated by many authorities at home, that at p
prices of American flour, which are 40 per cf
the
nt.
higher than the corresponding period last year,
stocks in America are at all likely to be held back.
We fully anticipate immediate and extensive ship-
ments to this country, in which anticipation we
think we are fortified by many circumstances. In
the first place, the papers which went out by the
Britannia on the 4th ult., and which, being met
by the Caledonia off Halifax, could not have influ-
enced the United States markets, took out advices
of advancing prices of breadstuffs in Great Britain.