The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1868-08-28
Terms $500 per AMMAN, d, oa,.,,..

| NUMBERS IN the northern seas tho p...,
drought and short crops of hay, the trena,,
dous earthquakes and volcanic eruptiops ,t,a,
have marked the past'year, all are somebov
connected with this immense body of water
flowing from the Caribbean sea and finding
Its way through the Atlantic ocean.
The next thing we may hear from these
philosophers is the prophesy that the region
about the North pole will be thawed out, and
at some future and not very distant day, the
elephants will once more stalk along the
banks of the river Lena and bath themselves
in the pure waters of the lake Baikal. Now
an "old friend Of the Gulf Stream" in the
New York Post lets off the steam against the
savans who lay sonuch blame ON this stream
He says that this body OF water is very reg
ular in its motions and is not disturbed in its
boundaries and never has been, and all the
statements to the contrary are ISLANDERS in
vented to hide the DEFICIENCIES of weather
breeders andlpredictors. He closes his arti-
Gle in the following language: tt"
hereby give notice, that in future, after
Grants election, any remarks from respon-
sible source against the Gulf Stream 1 shall
take up, and demand public discussion be-
fore men OF the stamp of Professors Pierce
and Henry, the penalty of the vanquished to
be TO read one chapter of ''Maurys Sailing
Directions"
But to leave the Gulf Stream to the de-
fence of its "old friend" we win not attempt
to account for the great drought in England,
but speak of its effects upon the business
and industry of our own country, and espec-
tally upon that of our farmers. England
wants hay and must have it, or her 5000,
600 sheep, and numerous herds of cattle and
horses must not only be hungry but starve.
1t is estimated that her horses, cattle and
sheep will require 10000 tons, or about
$4,000 bales per day! How far short OF this
immense quantity the home supply will fail,
and how much will be supplied from the Con-
tinent, we know not. But when we consider
that the drouth has prevailed to some extent
on the continent, and especially in Russia
and France, it is probable that the farmers OF
our country will find ready sale for all their
hay. This will be an immense advantage to
the West and Northwest where bay is abun-
dant and hardly pays for cutting and curing.
The Tribune says: "A cash demand for this
immense product would be res ponded to by a
visible smile by our farmers from Maine to
Iowa.
Vessels could leave our lake ports direct
for Europe, and for once the St. Lawrence
river would bear upon its bosom large fleets
of commerce. The first and most pressing
demand is for hay to keep alive their focks
and herds. Clover and other grass seeds
will be exported to restore the crops should
the drouth be succeeded by rains. Butter,
cheese, lard &c, will be in demand. 1t is
an old adage that "drouth never did breed
dearth in England" but that maxim, we fear,
does not hold good this season. The root
crops have also suffered by the long continu-
ance of the dry weather and the grain is
greatly injured.
The Mark Lane Express says that advces
from France state that the French wheat
crop is variable. In the well cultivated
lands of the North there is full average. In
other departments they do not ealcul ate on
more than two-thirds average crop, so that
it will be necessary to import a considerable
amount to meet the French consumption.
Under such circumstances we may safely cal
culate that there will be large demand for
American wheat. We believe our farmers
have produced double the amount this year
that they did last. 1t would be very for
tunate circumstance if our exports of hay and
breadstufs should set the balance of trade in
our favor, and the prospect for such con-
summation is fattering.
The Tribune well says that "to avail our
selves of the present scarcity in England, we
need only an abundance of agricultural labor
on all our farms from one end of the country
to the other to be pressed promptly into the
service, from the unemployed classes in the
cities, the freedmen of the South aud the i'm
migration from Europe" Now is the time
for American farmers and stockraisers TO i'm
port English cattle which are now being sent
to the shambles for want of fodder. They
can be purchased at reduced prices, and In
that way our stock may be much improved.
We trust that some of the stockraisers of our
State will have enterprise enough to send
over to England cargo OF hay and bring
back cattle aud sheep. Some of our mer-
chants might profitably engage in such an
enterprise. No doubt it would put money in
their pockets. While hay is worth in Eng
land $50 or $50 per ton, and the cattle there
must necessarily be cheap, we think the way
is open for a profitable trade from our port.
Our crop of hay is abundant, and we can see
no reason why our business men in the city
and stocluaisers in the country may not find
profit in such an exchange of commodities.
1t seems to us that the prospects of the sue
cess of such commerce are peculiarly bright
at this time. We hope to see some vessels
chartered for such purposes. To raise the
tone of our stock we need the blooded breeds
of England, and she needs our hay to keep
them from starvation. Who will be the first
to lead the way?
-.,--.. ..... AGRICOIA