BRITISH WHEAT PRICES IN 1883.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1862, 12 June 1884, Page 4

BRITISH WHEAT PRICES IN 1883.

«J There \us been veiy little fluctuation in the prices of wheat in 1833 Throughout the yoav pi ices luvo been low, and are far clown nt the present moment. The animal diagram ot Mi 11. Allnult, of the 1 Estates (iazette, ' London, has come to hand, showing the \aiiations in wheat pi ict"3 dm my the year lately closed. A few notes appended to the sketch and fclalistios indicate that the year has been rcmaikablc foi the absence of high pi ices. Before proceeding with the figures and comments theieon, it should be mentioned that the averages have been influenced considerably by the London pi ices, and aic therefore somewhat over the Scotch money leceipts. The highest average during 1883 was 43s lOd per qr., on the 18th August ; and the lowest was 39a on the 20th December. We need hardly add that this is the London avera°e, because the Scotch has been at least 7s per qr. lcs for some weeks. Mattel s have evidently got woise since the New Year. Theavciagc in Edinburgh market is not now over 32s per qr., and only that figme could have been obtained in Avbroath last Saturday for a beautiful sample of pedigree white wheat. The price was not accepted, and the owner writes us that he is to gnncl the gram for stock feeding. When that is all that a line bright sample, with pedigiee at its back, will command in the open market, it is surely a daik day for wheat growers The ranee of pi ices in London last year was only 4s lOd per qr. In ISB2 it was much greater, reaching then 12s Id per qr. In both yens the maximum was reached in August. It was 51s 3d in 18S2, being Is od more than last year. The average pi ice in 18S3 was 41s 7d, or 3s Gd less per qr. than in ISS2. Just now the weekly a\eiage in London is considerably below that of 18S3, being 37s 3d. As regards annual average, the lowest point was i cached during the present centmy in 1851, when the figin es w eie 38s 7d. In 1 535 it was 39s 4d, and in IS6I 10s 3d per qr. The highest annual aveiagc dm ing last twenty five ycais, which, it will be observed, does not include the Crimean war pi ices, was ()U od per quarter in 1807, and the lowest 40s 3d in 1864. Next to the latter conies ISB3 with only 41s 7d, Generally wheat has been at its highest in August and the summer month 3 , and lowest in December, January, and the eaily spring months. If it. weie not for the stiaw, wheat ha" leally ceased to be woith grow'ng in this highly-iented, costly manured country. Never have piiccs been so low in Scotland as they ai enow. Those who have stock, however, to fatten will use it in that w.i.y lather than accept of the miscuble pi'ico of 30s per qi. 13ufc every one has not cattle, and cannot piocuie them ; they have then no alternative but it'll, and whnt a iriseiablc money letnm pci oue ! But for the value of stiaw for thatch and litter, it looks as if the ruitMi wheat giower was to be fctaivtd out altogcthd. Thib yeai's avuage puce lias cvciy appeal ance of being the pooicst on lccoid.— Pics-s.

' Wiu.iir- .vac you taking me to ' asked I a criminal, JiiMiCaSini; the docteotivo who lud jii!>t nnc-tcil Inni. 'I am taking you to tl-c oUne of the police superintendent,' was tlie iei>ly ' 1 wi-li to obscive in tin- case, then, said thociilpnfc, 'that is the ofliee seeks the man, and not the man the ofhc«. L\i>\ liu\s>Lv"s ■iccount of her " Tour thioiisih F/jjvpt aft. i the Wai" will appear m C-md Words, beginning in the Mai eh pait. Tirh tentli volume of Ficdeiick the (iie.it'b multifarious coiicspondencc is just appeal niginlieilin, under the editorship of l'ioftb->or Yon Syhel. A \Di,uii, on Tonquin, by General Mesney, who li.is been lning for twenty joatsin the heaitof China, will shortly be published. Gcneial Mesney accompanied the late Captain Gill, author of " The River of Golden Sand," through a laiqe portion of his travels, and supplied much infonnalion foi that woik. Mit H. E. Waits, who has for several yiard been engaged on a translation of lor the purpose of having drawings made of places and objects intimately connected "Do.i Quixote, "' is about to stait for Spain with the lristoiy so as to give an interest and "local colouring" to the work. The retidenng is said to be so good that it i» pkely to be recognised eventually as the staiidaid translation of the Spanish mastei piece. A i.ouu stoiy is going the rounds of the D jibct Batialiou of Volunteers. An ofheer in attendance at a shooting cornpet tion the other day noticed two of the men filing with anything but William Tell like precision. Appioaching them, he angiily exclaimed : " You fellows, yon do'i'fc know the way to shoot ; lend me the lifle and let me show ;\ou."' '' Bang,'' and the target was inUsed. A bioad giin ovei spread the two pii 1 ates, but the oHicer was equal to occasion. Turning to the first, with a flown uponjlns countenance, he remarked " That's the way you shoot, sir." A second attempt and a similar result. Tinning to the other he continued.' " And that's the way you shoot, sir. 1 " A thiid shot and an " inner " was fluked. 'With paidonable piidethe woithy officer ictinnid the ulle, tiiiimphantly adding, " And that's the way I shoot." Tlie men e\cr ••nice have entertained a very high opinion of him as a Uiatksuian. Thl Chinese ha\u begun to adopt the Western chemical science, and a tactoiy has lecently been elected for the manutaetiue of sulphuucacid on a large scale. Two well known chemical textbooks, Maljxutti's " Elemental y Chemistry and" " Froqenius' " Chemical Analy*ii," have nlso been translated into Chinese with the help of a great number of new cbaiacteis, and adopted into tlie Impel ial colleges. Jiis Excellency Tong Sung, Fust Minister, and a director of the Tung Won Hinii, has taken the work under Ins immediate pationage, and has written a pieface for t!ic iiist of these books. — Bntifch Tiade Journal. A nj;v paving matciial has just been intioduded into England. It is composed of .stone, wood and asphaltum This pavement it is claimc<l, combines the durability of macadam with the smootline&s of asphaltum. It is said to be springy and not to get slippery. It is called " the Williams Composite Pavement." The London Metropolitan Eays : " Wo should state that in San Fransisco, wheic there is a heavy travel on the toads, the Williams Composite Pavement has been laid and lemainod sound for five or mx .^cai^, and we have seen accredited specimens of it, In London Mr Williams has lecently laid a specimen, near the Mansion Hou&e Station, which will be aseveic test for ifc. Hie locality is, perhaps the woist in London for experimental pui poses. It is o\ er the arched tunnel of the lailway, and theie are scseial gratings and other iron structures, which aie apt to 'skid' the wheels of the vehicles and form gtooves. Mr Williams ha u , however, such confidence in his system, that he is glad to have secured so unfavourable a spot. There is nothing ' patent ' about the materials, neither is any new substance to be tried, for his patent is based entirely upon the novel treatment of these well-known materials (stone, wood and asphalte as he combines them. In the words of a committee of the San Francisco Mechanics' Institute. " The inventor claims to ha\e furnished a device, purely mechanical, for utilizing materials of well-known properties in such a manner as to form, more effectually than by any other known means, a street pavement which combines an elastic and durable surface with A non-decaying base, thereby securing comfort to the public and permanence " ,tp the Btructure." Believing as we now do, in the correctness of the theory of ; >Ir Williams' sjftem, we shall watch its performance in practice, '"-) and in dne time give our readers tlie „k' ^efults of our observations, as the subject &'si#«ttne in .which almost every citizen must,