Country Life
WHEAT IN riir: DEmis.
In Basingstoke market on September 17th, wheat was sold at 14s. 6d. a quarter—the minimum price of the day ; and at £1—the maximum. The 14s. 6d. wheat was not, of course, of first-class quality, but it was good enough for poultry ; and something like a sixth of English wheat is now bought by the poultry keepers. Two years ago I saw green and not very good wheat sold in September in Kent at a higher price than the best wheat fetched a little later : second grade wheat was worth more to the poultryman than first grade to the miller. I should doubt if there is to be found in the annals so low a level of price as this recorded in last week's markets ; and even if the lowest price of the early 'eighties is on paper little different from the lowest prices to-day, it is nevertheless greatly higher in relation to the farmer's costs. Wheat could be grown at a profit for 30s. a quarter in the 'eighties. It cannot be grown at a profit much under 40s. to-day.
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