at the neighbouring ports in Europe, in the
Baltic and the Black Sea, of about 18,000,000 of bushels only,
whenever there is a demand for home consumption, for, say 20,000,000
bushels, as was the case in each of the five years from 1838 to 1843,
larger shipments from America will take place; but whenever there are
good harvests, as in the six years from 1831 to 1837, in which the
deficiency only ranged from 230,000 to 1,000,000 bushels, the trade is
not worth notice. It must be remarked, however, that in a country like
Britain, where capital is abundant, consumption great, speculation
rife, the harvest so uncertain, and the stake so great that a cloudy
day transfers thousands from one broker to another, the importation
cannot be closely assimilated to the actual wants of the country. The
ordinary yield of grain in the United Kingdom after deductions for
seed, is about 400,000,000 bushels, and as nearly 100,000,000 bushels
of grain and meal were imported in 1847, there must have been a
general deficiency of nearly twenty-five per cent.

In the "Statistics of the British Empire," the average extent of land
under grain culture, &c., in 1840, was estimated as follows:--

ENGLAND AND WALES.
Produce per Acre. Total Produce.
Wheat 3,800,000 31/4 quarters. 12,350,000
Barley and rye. 900,000 4 " 3,600,000
Oats and beans. 3,000,000 41/2 " 13,500,000

SCOTLAND.
Wheat 220,000 3 660,000
Barley 280,000 31/2 980,000
Oats 1,275,000 41/2 5,737,500

In Scotland, ten years ago, 150,000 acres were reckoned to be under
cultivation with wheat, 300,000 with barley, and 1,300,000 with oats,
which is the great crop and chief food of the people.

Mr. Braithwaite Poole, in his "Statistics of British Commerce," 1852,
states--"The annual average production of all sorts of corn in the
United Kingdom has been estimated by competent parties at rather more
than 60,000,000 quarters, and L80,000,000 in value; but in the absence
of general official returns, we cannot vouch for its accuracy,
although, from various comparisons, there are reasonable grounds for
assuming this calculation to be as nearly correct as possible. So