Two very well known members of the corn trade, Mr.
G. J. S. Broomhall and Mr. J. H. Hubback, have put into print their Corn Trade Memories Recent and Remote (Liverpool : Northern Publishing Company, 10s.). Much ofthe informa- tion thus placed on record could scarcely be found elsewhere ; the notes on hundreds of firms now or formerly in the grain trade will be invaluable to local historians. The authors stress the changes made by the Atlantic cable in trade methods ; the old merchants, having to act blindly, depended on luck or instinct where their successors have prompt and abundant news, and the system of dealing in ' futures " regularizes the market. American readers who condemn the depreciated currencies of Europe are reminded that in 1862-3 the dollar stood at a heavy discount, being worth no more than eighteen- pence. The Liverpool corn trade is justly commended for adopting in 1859 the " cental " of 100 lb. as the standard for grain dealing. It is a pity that the standard could not be enforced universally, even for wheat, and that grain prices are still reckoned differently in different countries.
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