pends on a fupply of food; and, to attain which, no facrifice of property was an obftacle; therefore, that nation, whofe exigences were urgent, was compelled to embark at the national coft, or render no relief. Thus, while we beg to pay our tribute of acknowledgement for that feasonable precaution, allow us to express our opinion that, when the caufes of juftification ceafe, the fcheme fhould alfo; for, except in cafes foextraordinary, the fupplies of grain will find their way to market through the merchant (under regular and permanent laws, adapted to relieve the manufacturer, as well as prudently encourage the farmer), with greater facility, more feadiness, and lefs expence, than through the medium of any government. In the counties of Hereford,' Monmouth, Worcester, Gloucester, Wilts, Somerset, and Devon, the harveft in point of weather for faving it, has been univerfal, and the crop of fpring-fown grain never known to be more abundant; but one general opinion prevails of the defectiveness of the crop of wheat, which may be afcribed to two caufes; the deftruction of the plant by fevere frofts laft winter, when the ground was not covered with fnow, and the effect of a few frofty nights, when the wheat was in bloffom, injuring the top of the ear from filling, and which now affects the yielding very materially. To exemplify it more clearly, the eftimation prevails, that the flock of old and new British wheat on Sept. 29, 1795, was one-third fhort of the ftock of old and new, Sept. 29, 1794; and it is a moft lamentable circumftance to look forward to, when we review the evils likely to refult from the late dearth. A frugal ufe of wheat recommended, and introducing fubftitutes for it in the make of bread, will alleviate in a fmall.degree. The free circulation of corn inland fhould have every attention and fupport; for, the late diftrefs was greater than the ftock in the growers hands juftified, had not interruption been given hy mobs under the fanction of men who ought to have known their duty better. In many diftricts of only 20 miles, the difference in price was full 10s. to 20s. per quar ter more than it ought to have been, comparatively fpeaking. To these two objects, we moft humbly fuggeft to your lordships, fhould be united that of a timely foreign fupply, either by bounty, to encourage the merchants, fhould the markets be free and open; or, in cafe they were reforted to as last year, we conceive the national purle cannot be opened for a more laudable purpofe than fuch national neceffities as the property of individuals is inadequate to. The average confumption of Briftol, and the places immediately dependent on it, is about 2000 facks, or 250 tons of flour; and the effect of inland fituations reforting for relief cannot be more fully elucidated than by reference to the failure of 1774, when 60,000 quarters of wheat, and upwards of 50,000 barrels of flour, were imported in twelve months, and circulated in all the adjacent counties." English wheat fold at the London market, Oct. 18, at 96s. to 98s. per quarter, 1500 quarters, an advance of 6s. per quarter on the last marketday's price; government wheat from 60s. to 82s. per quarter, 5000 quarters, and more could have been fold had it been fresh and sweet. The different corn-factors ftated that the wheat of this year was, in Dorset, Dorfet, in part blighted, which made it produce lefs; the general average defective, but the defect partial. About Yarmouth, the crops one quarter meafure per acre, and 2lb. the bufhel heavier, than laft year. In Kent very defective; and in the fens of Lincolnthire a material deficiency; all owing to the blight. In Hertfordshire, 15 bufhels per acre instead of 22 or 23. The Imall fupply brought to London fince the laft harveft, owing to the deficiency in this year's crop, and the old flock being exhausted, the difficulty of procuring a crop from the additional labour in threshing, arifing from the defective quality of the fheaves, the demand for feed-wheat, which perhaps this year exceeds the demand of ordinary years, as the high price leads the farmer to low more feed. Wheat is generally onetenth of the produce this year; it will be more; and the great part of the fupply which used to come to London is drawn off in confequence of the home demand, and the demand of other diftricts where the crop has been fhort. The fupply will increase when the feed-time is over, which will be about the middle of November. No idea of the fupply being withheld in confequence of combinations, which are believed impoffible. Barley generally underftood to be abundant. Oats a good crop, but not fo many fown as before, but more wheat. Pease a good crop. In Dorfet, people refort to barley bread, that grain being plentiful; but probably, while fo applied, the price will not be fo reafonable as might be expected from the crop. has been for the last 30 years, but Another corn-factor ftates the deficiency of fupply arifing from the feed-time to be not greater at prefent, as to English wheat, than it to eat it. Another fays, the wheat was in general thin on the ground, and yields ill; in confequence of blight, the crop of cone wheat is particularly bad; afcribes the want of fupply to a fickness among the labourers, reduced from five or fix in a barn to one or two; and the late rains have rendered the ground favourable for fowing, to which the farmers apply the corn as faft as threshed. The increase will probably be confiderable, as the markets in October are generally thin; but it will not be great till the feed-time The crop of wheat not is over. fo bad as to juftify the prefent high price, though it will be probably higher than last year. He does not believe the poorer inhabitants of the kingdom will be induced to eat bread made of other forts of grain. The The finer bread is ufed in the poorer parts of the town, fuch as Spitalfields, &e. On the borders of Ef fex, the magiftrates enforced the ufe of the standard wheaten bread; but the poor did not like it, and thought it did not go fo far, and the magiftrates now fuffer the finer wheaten to be made. He agrees with the poor in opinion, that ftandard wheaten bread does not go fo far as the fine wheaten bread. If an inferior fort of bread is to be made, it should be univerfal; but, if this bread was made wholly of English wheat without any mixture of foreign, which is generally bad, it might be wholefome. Another ftated the quantities of wheat fold in the London market for the month of September, and first three weeks of October, in the laft four years, as follows: 1792 1793 the advantageous fpeculation it af fords in Europe. The French minifter purchafed it in the two laft and prefent years, and paid for it in gold coin, or by bullion, or by wine and brandy; the prefent contract is by certificates iffied by the American government for part of the debts owing to France from the United States, which certificates amount to 800,000 dollars; but, as fome of them do not bear fo high an intereft as 6 per cent. American stock, there will probably be a lofs on them of 20 per cent. The whole of the fum paid by France in this mode may amount, including all deductions, to 160,000l. Moft of the fhips carrymg wheat and flour to France cleared out principally for Falmouth, and a market fometimes to Hamburg and fometimes to Spain and Portugal. The French government have fuftained great loffes in this trade by captures of corn and money, amounting to near 200,000l.; and the American merchants made immenfe profits by the high price required for their flour exported on their own risk. Even in the contracts now cartied on the lofles are fuppofed, by well-informed perfons in America, to be about 601. per cent. A number of merchants in America, who confidered the American debt owing to France as a collateral fecurity, finding the debt is applied in the manner here stated, are difcouraged from shipping provifions on their own account; and the payments will not be fo extenfive this year as the laft; and fome merchants at New York, who had made an agreement with M. Fauchet, the French minifter, to fend flour to France, and, in confequence, had drawn bills to a large amount in England, on a fuppofition that the the money would be paid in France, and brought to England in time to fatisfy these bills, which has not been the cafe, are on this account in the greateft diftrefs. The quantity of wheat for exportation in the United States is estimated at about a million of bushels of flour, 1,100,000 barrels. The divifions and their weight were flated, alfo the price of flour made of wheat and barley in feveral proportions, and their produce per bufhel. ✓ Mr. Wm. Malcolm, who drew up the reports of the counties of Surrey and Bucks, is the only perfon who fuggefts a combination of opulent farmers, who play with and feed the markets at their own prices; which demand the interference of parlin ment, to keep open the ports, offer bounties, prevent fmuggling, compel the pitching of grain in the markets, enforce laws againft engroffing, foreftalling, and regrating, and prevent combinations to raife He afcribes the price of labour. the high price of grain to the great increase of population, the emigrants, the very great proportion of land converted from arable to pafture, increafe of buildings and people in manufacturing towns, villages leffened, and great towns, particularly London, increafed nearly 1-8th. The great quantity of potatoes grown this feafon has leflened the quantity of grain. He recommends numbering the people by the affeffors of the taxes, to afcertain the average produce fufficient for the:n compared with the number of acres. Mr. Malcolm fuggefts the following hints:-"The immenfe quantity of meal ufed in the kitchens of large families, to fupply a pint or two of foup for the table, must The brown Nov. 2, a bill was ordered to be prepared, to prevent obftructions to the free paffage of grain and other provifions throughout the kingdom. Recommended to the lord-mayor and aldermen, to take measures for preparing correcter aflize-tables, to extend to bread made of white or household wheaten flour, with onethird, one-fourth, or one-fifth of rye, barley, oats, and Indian-corn flour, that the baker might have fuch a profit profit as might encourage his making it for fale at fuch a reduced price as fhould encourage the purchaser to take it. Nov. 5. Mr. William Cramp, keeper of the house of correction at Lewes, Suffex, gave an account of the mode of making ftarch from horfe-chefnuts. He puts the chefnuts first in water to fwell them till they burft, then took off the kin, and grated the kernel into fresh cold water. When that was done, he ftrained it through a coarfe ftrainer or cheefe-cloth, risfing the pulp well with fresh water, and then strained it again through a very fine ftrainer to take off the internal skin, or little thin red film next to the kernel. The ftrainer cannot be too fine for this fecond ftraining; for, ftarch will get through where water does. It was then left to fettle five or fix hours till the ftarch was effectually fettled at bottom. The water in which it was settled was poured off, and fresh water put on it, and all stirred up again, and left to fettle a fecond time, ferving it in that manner two or three times, till the ftarch was bleached quite white; and, after it had again effectually fettled, the laft water was poured off, and it was put upon boards to dry. The whole procefs in fummer, when the weather is fine to dry it out of doors, may be finifhed in four days, and the ftarch will be fit to box up. It is better to dry it in the open air than on a ftove, as the ftove would probably dry it too faft, and affect the colour, which was alfo the cafe unless the chefnut was very clean of the infide fkin. The whole expence is in grating and breaking the kernels; and that of making 5lb. of starch would not exceed 1s. 6d. One gallon of chef nuts was enough for experiment. Mr. C. imagines that acorns would anfwer the fame purpofe, and might be ground along with the chefnuts, but he had not tried. The proces of making ftarch from chefnuts and potatoes it exactly the fame; and a bufhel of the latter, at 56lb. the bufhel, will make about 6lb. 4 oz. of starch. The first report from the select committee, appointed to take into confideration the prefent high price of corn, printed Nov. 19, 1795, ftates the first and most obvious mode of fupplying the deficiency to be by the importation of grain from foreign ports, by the refloration of the trade on corn to its natural channel, with the additional encouragement of a bounty of 20s. per quarter on wheat, and a proportionate bounty per barrel of flour from Europe South of Cape Finiftere, or the ports in the Mediterranean or Africa, till the quantity of wheat and flour together fhall equal 3,000,000 quar ters, a bounty of 15s, per quarter on a certain quantity of wheat, and 10s. per quarter on all exceeding it from the other ports of Europe, and from America; and of 5s, per quarter, and in proportion on flour of Indian corn. A procla mation prohibiting the exportation and encouraging the importation from Feb. 13, 1795, until the expiration of fix weeks from the commencement of the next feffion of parliament. The report on the affize of bread, Nov. 9, 1795, was that the old ftandard bread, made of flour the whole produce of the wheat, and weighing three quarters of the weight of wheat, would tend to prevent many incor veniencies |