Wilmington daily gazette. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1872-1874, 1874-08-20
The Crops at Home and Abroad.
[ From the Journal Of Commerce, august 10Th
The Wheat Harvest.


Complaint has occasionally been made in
the uncommercial newspapers that the Asso-
ciated Press should put themselves and their
customers to the expense of transmitting the
weather gossip across the Atlantic; but in
point of fact, as harvest time approached
such information has gained in Importance
| from day to day, until it has been of far more
consequence to oil classes of Americans than
the issue Of the Carlist marches and battle ;,
the narration Of which is daily burden OF
the cable. For the price of bread has been to
la considerable extent dependent upon the apl
parently trifing question what kind of wealth.
| er prevailed in England. Last Friday morn.
i ing, for example, we published the cable tele4
gram saying that "heavy rains have fallen
throughout the country the past week." and
the next morning we had to report a general
rise in the price Of wheat at New York, un-'
checked the following day, even though it was
[sncceeded by the cable announcement that
.the weather throughout England to-day is
fair" The warning had been given by a quo
tation from the Mark Lane Erpress, published
there on Thursday, saying that "an immense
amount Of wheat is yet unharveated, and an
increase OF rain would be serious" The tone
OF the Express vas, in fact, so decidedly pam
icky that If it had been supported to its full
textent by opinion here, a still greater rise
would probably have taken place. For though
in the middle Of the British harvest, and the
Ipublic had been assured by Mr.. Thomas C.
Il Scott, writing in the London Times of July 81,
that "the almost ricey quality of the grain
win enable it-barring unexpected weather.
to go straight from the growers to the millers'
hands, the granaries OF Europe have rarely
been swept SO bare of stock. The supply of
English wheat for the last week reported,
lowest point of 1873. And yet the Express, in
the extract telegraphed, undertook to disap-
Ipoint previous advices and expectations by
saying that the new wheat shows nothing to
indicate more than average quality and
growth" thus calling for a supply of old
wheat not seemingly in sight, to mix with the
new, in order to render it Immediately ava;,a-
, Bile for milling purposes.
with the reports concerning the harvest in
France, where wet weather has delayed both
: gathering and ttreshing, but set aside from
the amount and qua 'ity Of the American crop
previous European advices have made it
, Ipr0bable that nothing but serious disaster
would take France the present year out Of
the list of nOu-imI ortiDg, if not of wheat ex-
porting, countries, and that between the low
|, estimate of six n''''on quarters, which some
authorities estimate will supply the British
demand for foreign wheat, and the eleven or
twelve millions needed IN recent years. there
7 Is also room for great enlargement of the
reckoning, aud diminution of the expected
British crop, without making market for
the large surplus which we shall have to ex-
port That Of California alone. it is estimat-
cd by the Sacramento Union of the Sd instant
Is likely not to fall much below 16, ,0OO, ,O0Ocen-
/ Il
! for export as great as 20 100000 centals By
! the July report Of the Agriculture Depart
ment It appears that the acreage sown in
. | wheat has Increased 107 per cent: while its
condition was better than the average of a
series of years. Taking newspaper accounts,
this favorable condition seems to have lasted
up to harvest time. The quality of the grain
Is also generally spoken Of as superior. An
indianapolis correspondent of The Chicago
TRIBUNE reports the yield in Indiana to be
above the average for the whole State. his
remarks as to quality in different sections be-
Il ing thus compared with the average--"beter
quality; ''the whe 1T is very fine''; mot 60
large as In 1860, but OF better quality;
Equality 10 per cent better; "as general
rule the kernal is heavy, solid and healthy.
The same correspondent AYERS thatfn evei y
section of the State the farmers gTaneraner-
: les are full of old wheat-in not a few inst IN
Ices the hold-oyer including the crop of 1871
as vel as that OF 1872 and 1873"
The large eastward movement Of breadslufi.
during the present season gives the latter state
i. ment an element Of surprise, but if we remem-
ber rightly, we have seen reports of the cam,
kind with respect to the supply Of old wheat II
!. Michigan. At any rate, it may be conclude
that the accidents 10 the crop in Great Britain
and Francein view Of prosperous and .abundaL
/ lharvests elsewhere, are not Of consequenC,
> enough to defeat he pubic expectation Of cbea,
bread during the season Of 1874 5. Last yea
not only England, but France, Germany, Italy
Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, and even som,
greater wheat-exporting countI les, bad to import
/, | This year their wants will all be supplied a
home and at the best or worst England will moi
tneed to buy from US anything like tho quantity
she has taken the expiring season.