The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1881-05-12
Wheat and Cotton.

The New York Tribune, of the 9th, in
its review of the business of the previous
week, says of the wheat and cotton mar
kets and prospects 'ln wheat, speculative
influences had caused some advance, which
was partially lost on Saturday, in conse-
quence of highly favorable advices in regard
to the coming crop, and the announcement
that the canals would be opened in part on
the 18th and the remainder on the 18th.
The Erie Canal was not opened last year
until the 18th, though that date was the
latest for twenty years. The opening OF
the Eastern division on Thursday will I'M
lock about |. 23O, 900 bushels OF wheat and
8, 800. 900 bushels of corn. Meanwhile the
accounts collected by Western journals
generally indicate that there has been AN
enormous acreage sown in spring wheat
especially in Minnesota, where the increase
is said to be over 20 per cent for the whole
State. and the prospect for an increased
yield per acre is now said to be unusually
good. 1t would have been better for some
dealers if they had remembered that
gloomy predictions of disaster to the wheat
crop usually come from the West early in
the spring, when there are large quantities
of grain for sale, and that the old proverb
of the farmers warrants the expectation
that long and hard winter may be followed
by an unusually large yield per acre. The
cotton market was depressed by foreign adj
vices and by the extraordinary receipts
from the plantations. Up to May l, the re-
ceipts from the crop OF 1880 had been $685.
1913 bales greater than those of the previous
year to that date, and the Chronicle says
Hence, if there were no further gain 10
the amount received from plantations for
the remainder of the season, the crop even
then would reach 6,423, 900 bales ~ In the
first week of May, there was further gain
of 27.64S bales. When it is remembered
that the bales increase in average weight
each year, that the largest crop ever grown
by slave labor was only 5,723,770 bales, and
that the largest crop ever grown prior to
1880 was only 5,757, 1897 bales, the wonder
is, not that the price of cotton tends to de-
cline, but the consumption has SO increased
that midland uplands still sell at 1855 cents
In provisions a sharp downward movement
seems to be led by some strong operators,
but may be the only natural recoil from the
recent speculative advance. The effect of
the recoil has been to stimulate exports.
| For the present, however, the exports
from New York fall below those of the cor
responding week last year. For four weeks
past the shipments from this port have
amounted to $27, l37 ,976, against $3l 1886 63l
for the corresponding weeks in 1880. There
has been some diversion OF traffic to other
ports, but the shipments of grain from
New Orleans for four weeks ending April
30 were only 1857 Psi bushels, against
1858, 1913 in 1SS0-a gain not sufficient to
materially affect the commerce of New
York. The truth is that foreign buyers
have not been deceived by the speculative
reports as to probable failure of crops and
wholesale destruction of hogs by disease.
and they calmly decline to purchase for eX-
port when prices are pushed so unreason-
bly, high A return of prices to lower fig
urcs Immediately reviyes the demand, and
| it may be presumed that the surplus pro-
duets of the country will find a market this
season sufficiently to preserve the favorable
balance of trade. though perhaps not at
| prices satisfactory to speculative holders"