"gamble," but of an actual shortage of supplies, of which
the more active dealers were aware. There is grave deficiency in the crops in the American Union, Canada, Russia, and Great Britain. There would be a considerable rise in prices here but that we can attract wheat from all the world, from Argentina, for example, where the area under cereals is always increasing, and from India, where in good years the surplus is sometimes so large as to be positively inconvenient. A. slight rise of price draws millions of quarters from the great peninsula, to the delight of her people, who pay off old debts with the money, deck their children with jewels which are regarded as reserve capital, and for themselves eat grain which is not in such demand in Europe. The habit last mentioned is, we believe, one little-noticed explanation of the increased supplies which sometimes puzzle importers here, and which render " corners " in wheat one of the most dangerous of speculations. It is not only that the amount of capital required for such an operation is enormous, but that the operators never quite know what quantity the exporting countries may be tempted to release.
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