The continuance of unsettled weather increases the anxiety re- specting
the crops and produce of the harvest. There has been heavy rain in all parts of the country, but particularly in the North ; and though the quantity of wheat eventually taken off the ground may be large—equal perhaps to the yield of an average crop, the quality will unquestionably be inferior. Recollecting the enor- mous price of " prime" wheat during the last seed-time, we are not surprised that much of this year's produce is poor in quality— it must have been grown from bad or middling seed, and required genial weather to ripen it into a " fair quality." The price rose on Monday from 3s. to 4s. a quarter ; another advance of 2s. a quarter was obtained by sellers on Wednesday ; and yesterday large purchases, at a further advance of 2s., were made for shipment to Inland and the North. Large orders for foreign corn have been despatched within these few days ; and the considerable export of gold to Hamburg and St. Petersburg, shows whence our supplies veil be drawn, and how they must be paid for. The trade-opera- tion of this exchange of bullion for bread is now well understood. It has been said that the abundance of the American crops will enable English dealers to import large quantities of corn from the other side of the Atlantic, fbr which manuffictures will be returned. But we question whether an extensive trade of this description will be carried on. The cost of conveyance from the place of growth to the seabord and thence to England, must be consider- ably more than from the Baltic to our shores ; and it should be remembered that the delay augments the risk of the operation and tae anxiety of the speculator. The importations must be made chiefly during the winter months, and not by the Liverpool or Great Western, but in sailing-vessels, of less costly freightage. All these circumstances tend to deter the corn-dealers from re- sorting to America for the commodity, which they can procure 119:11't`r 110111,., lleanwhile, the landowners exult in the continuance of high prices. The Duke of Becalm:num was surrounded by "happy faces" at the annual dinner of the Bucks Agricultural Associa- tion ;and at the Meeting of the Suffolk section of the "predomi- nant uant nterest," a determination to maintain the profitable restric- tions on foreign trade was avowed. The opponents of Corn-laws are preparing for action ; and it is plain that the contest of last year will be renewed with increased vigour on both sides.
