The daily gazette., 1880-01-14
London Letter.
Irregular Correspondent.)
r H..

Irregular CorfespOnueub)
LONDON, Eng, Dec. %, 1879.
The thaw which commenced on SAtur-
day, accompanied by little rain in the
night and on Sunday, did not lookllike
lasting long,as this morning Is clear and
bright. and we may expe,t renewal of
frost IL we do not have the unsettled
weather predict, d bya telegram from the
United Stairs. Autumn sown grain has
8 ,arcely made its appearance above the
soil, and the cold has been In some mea-
sure serviceable TO farmers In checking
the development Of vsrmin, and improv-
ing the condition Of home grown wheat,
which has been freely thrashei to fur
nish growers with the funds requisite at
this season, but, unfortunately, with
very poor results in point Of yield. On
the other hand roots heve in many
places been 81 riously damaged, as the
snow hrs disappeared and exposed them
to the vigor Of the temperature. Great
destitution prevails amongst the poor
classes, who are suffering sadly from the
privations entailed by sickness and
want of employment. The past disas-
trous season hes been absolutely ri.
unous to the agricultural interest, IN
deed. IL Is hard to find a parallel to 1879,
year which, having produced neither
wheat, hops, nor fruit, leaves the coun-
try nearly drained of money, and far
m ers prey to the most dismal forebid-
iDgs. If brighter prospects do not await
them In the iuture, and an abundant har
In fx.EI fh \.
OF deferred hope by bringing back at
any rate some Of the money which has
been flowing so freely into foreign pock-
cts, emigration will De the only alterna.
tive. The first six months Of the pest
year were marked by great inactivity In
the grail n trade ,anj com mparati yely slight
fluctuations in the price of wheat; indeed
1t was not until the end of September
that millers began to pay much atten-
tion to the reiterated assurances Of an
unprecedentedly bad wheat crop in this
country. While other grain exporting
countries were but furnishing us with
their usual quota Of supplies, America
was shipping In enormous quantities,
pAralysing speculative enterprise, and
rendering millers careless of increasing
their stocks. 1t was not until the fact
was well known that the wretched re-
suits OF the home crop would neoessitate
an importation of something like 400O,t
600 qrs. moreithan is required in ordL
nary seasons to meet our requirements,
that anything like substantial advance
In values took place; but the turning
point once arrived at the Improvement
was steady and lasting. Slight interme-
diate fluctuations have obcurred but
speaking roughly, the quotations OF to.
day show an advance OF 40s. per or. in
the value OF wheat since the first symp-
tom of a rise was discernible in Septem-
ber last. A POSSESSION of the bulk Of the
American surplus, and prices are being
forced up on the other side, not only
without any corresponding advance in
this country, but with a strange indiffer-
ence on the part OF English buyers to so
important movement. At the present
time American Quotations arc 3s. per
or. above the level of wheat values in
London. No doubt good deal of un
certainty attaches TO all speculative
movements, and there are those who
anticipate a speedy collapse of the one
in question, but the fact cannot he over.
looked that the position OF America Is
exceptionally strong, and enables her to
embark upon her present venture with
unusual chances of ultimate success .
Concerning the state ot the trade dur
ing the past week little can be said, as,
from holiday reasons, business has been
almost q standstill. In few retail sales
of wheat which have taken place, pre-
vious prices have been repeated, but as
there has been more maize Offering both
on spot and near at hand the sellers
have had to submit to a reduction of
fully I'D. per Or. Oats have favored buy
ers to similar extent, while other feed-
ing stuffs have ruled duh at nominally
late rates.